Saint Gerald
Géraud
Patron Saint of Aurillac
Saint Gérault, founder of the abbey of Aurillac, is honored for his great purity, manifested by a posthumous miracle. His relics, although dispersed by the Calvinists in the 16th century, have been the object of a constant pilgrimage for nine centuries in Haute-Auvergne.
Guided reading
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CULT AND RELICS.
Posthumous miracles and burial
After his death, miracles testify to his purity and his body is transported to Aurillac to be interred in the monastery church.
His death was followed by several miracles to which Saint Odo of Cluny and several other serious persons bore witness. It is reported that when his body son corps Principal subject, founder and patron saint of Aurillac. was stripped to be washed and embalmed, he immediately covered himself with his hand; he did this three times, and until he had been covered with a smile, to show how dear purity had been to him during his life. His body was transported with extraordinary pomp to Aurillac, where he h ad desir Aurillac City of origin of Saint Gerald. ed to be buried. He was interred in the monastery church , near the altar of église du monastère Religious institution founded by the saint, which later became a collegiate chapter. Saint Peter; subsequently, several translations of his body were made within the same church.
The Abbey and historical vicissitudes
The abbey gave birth to the city of Aurillac but suffered Calvinist looting in the 16th century and secularization under Pius IV.
In the 16th century, his reliquary, which was made of silver, was taken by the Calvinists, who scattered his bones; but the faithful found a way to collect a portion of them. The Abbey of Aurillac gave birth to the c ity of the same ville de ce nom City of origin of Saint Gerald. name, which subsequently became very significant and was for a long time the ca pital of Upper Haute-Auvergne Historical region of which Aurillac was the capital. Auvergne. This abbey, after maintaining its regular discipline with great reputation until the 15th century, was given at that time to commendatory abbots who allowed laxity to enter. This caused it to pass in the following century to secular canons who changed it into a collegiate chapter, while retaining the commendatory abbot, with the approval of Pope Pius IV.
The cult and current relics
The Saint-Gérault parish preserves the saint's remains in a rebuilt church, attracting pilgrims for nine centuries.
The parish of S aint-Gérault, Saint-Gérault Principal subject, founder and patron saint of Aurillac. in Aurillac, possesses th e venerated re restes vénérés Relics of the saint, formerly contained in a silver shrine. mains of its patron saint. They currently rest in its church, rebuilt on the foundations of the one that the illustrious Saint had raised under the patronage of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. A great gathering of pilgrims has come, for nine centuries, to honor his memory there.
Sources of the biography
Presentation of the historical and ecclesiastical sources used, notably the writings of Odo of Cluny.
To compose this biography, we have made use of Balliet, the *Lives of the Saints of Limousin* by M. Labiche de Belguefort, and *Local Notes* by the Reverend Abbé Peyrac, vicar of the parish of Saint-Gérault, in Aurillac. — Cf. *Life of the Saint* by Odo of Clu ny, and the R Odon de Cluny Second abbot of Cluny and a major monastic reformer. everend Father Dominique de Jésus, in his *Parenetic History* of the three patron saints of Upper Auvergne.
Annexes & related entities
Structured data for exploration: events, miracles, quotes, places, attributes, patronages, and important entities cited in the text.
Key Events
- Death followed by miracles of modesty during the preparation of the body
- Translation of the relics to Aurillac
- Burial near the altar of Saint Peter
- Dispersion of relics by the Calvinists in the 16th century
- Transformation of the abbey into a collegiate chapter under Pius IV
Miracles
- The body is covered three times by the hand during the mortuary toilet to preserve his modesty