Saint Gaud

Thus, when the unrest caused by the war began to subside, and Count Egidius had brought some comte Egidius Roman count who restored tranquility to the Gauls. tranquility to the Gauls through the defeat of the Goths, our Saint made every effort so that the faithful, whom the devastation of the countryside and the terror of the barbarians had scattered, would return to the city and reunite with the few priests or clerics who had remained there. Then, joining himself with some citizens, he went to Germain, Archbishop of Rouen, who had, three yea Germain, archevêque de Rouen Archbishop of Rouen who consecrated Saint Gaud. rs earlier, subscribed to the first Council of Tou rs, and he urged him to premier concile de Tours Council attended by Germanus of Rouen. be willing, in his capacity as metropolitan, to provide a pastor for a church that had been deprived of one for so long.

Moved by the prayers of Gaud, and noticing in his speech and in his whole person a certain character of holiness, the archbishop convened a meeting of bishops at Evreux, where, after mature deliberation, he named, with the common suffrage of the people and the clergy, Gaud as successor to Saint Taurin, and having solemnly consecrated him with the assistance of Erepticius, Bishop of Coutances, and of Sigisbond, Bishop of Séez, he had him seated on the episcopal throne.

Having become bishop, Gaud showed himself on every occasion powerful in words and deeds, and, through his miracles, his doctrine, and his good works, acquired sovereign authority among the people; he used it to extinguish the remnants of idolatry, build churches, and sustain the poor until his most extreme old age. But the Franks having brought back war, the pious prelate, who was broken by his labors, fearing he could no longer bear the burden of the episcopate, had the priest Maronion, whose virtue he knew well , elected and o prêtre Maronion Successor of Saint Gaud to the bishopric of Évreux. rdained in his place. This done, it is reported that he chose for himself a retreat on the slope of a hill, only four miles from the city, to satisfy the desire of the people, whom he would have afflicted by moving further away. There still exists in the same place a chapel named Saint-Marie-de-Gaud.

But because of the multitude of visitors who came to find him there, he went to the country of Coutances and settled in the solitude of Scicy solitude de Scicy Hermetic retreat site near Granville. , near Granville, an important seaport of this region. This solitude was then inhabited by several hermits, such as Saint Pair, Saint Sen saint Pair Bishop of Avranches. ior, Saint Arouste, and Saint Scubillon. Shortly after, he rested there in a holy death, full of years and good works, on the 31st of January 491. His body was discovered for the first time in the year 1131, accompanied by miracles, in the parish church of Saint-Pair, with this inscription: Here rests the blessed Gaud, Bishop of Evreux, which had been engraved on his tomb by Richard, Bishop of Coutances. He had been buried in the oratory of Saint-Pair or Paterne, with whom he had worked for the conversion of the idolaters. Finally, in the year 1664, on the 11th of November, Eustache, Bishop of Coutances, solemnly performed the elevation of his relics. Three canons of Evreux, dep levée de ses reliques Mortal remains of the saint preserved in Saint-Pair and Évreux. uted by the chapter, attended this solemnity. They were given a bone from the leg of the holy bishop to be brought to their church, where it is honored to this day with great respect.

Godescard adds that, in 1760, M. Lefebvre du Quesnoy, Bishop of Coutances, gave an entire bone from the arm of the same Saint to the parish church of Augnigny, in the diocese of Évreux, in memory of having received episcopal unction there in 1750.

Proper of Évreux. — See the Supplement for more details on the relics.