Saint George of Lodève

God willed to reign in the soul of this young and virtuous Christian in a sovereign manner. He therefore inspired in him a taste for the monastic life. Saint George, obeying this secret voice of grace, said farewell to the world and to the brilliant hopes of the century, and in order to serve the Lord with even greater fervor and to make more rapid progress on the path of perfection, he withdrew to the monastery of Sainte-Foy de monastère de Sainte-Foi de Conques Benedictine monastery where the saint took his vows. Conques, then one of the most flourishing in Christendom, after having generously broken the ties that bound him to his noble family.

At Conques, Saint George grew both in age and in virtue. Thus, having taken the habit and the Rule of Saint Benedict, he Saint-Benoît Founder of the Benedictine Order, cited as a chronological reference point. was successively called to the various orders, and finally ordained a priest.

At that time, around the year 862, the Normans Normands Viking raids devastating Flanders and Morinia in the 9th century. had ravaged the monastery of Conques, dispersed the religious, and piled ruin upon ruin, and the abbot of the monastery, to escape the fury of this cruel invasion, had taken refuge in Toulouse with Raymond, who was also Count of Rodez. Now, Providence arran Raymond, qui était en même temps comte de Rodez Noble who founded the monastery of Vabres. ged all things in such a way, in these circumstances, that Raymond felt moved to found a monastery at Vabres in the dioc ese of Vabres Monastery founded by Count Raymond where George lived for 15 years. Rodez, and having placed at the head of the religious the abbot of Conques, who had taken refuge with him, the latter believed he could do no better to organize this foundation than to join Saint George himself, whom he had known at the monastery of Conques, and who seemed to him the man most capable of helping him make the religious spirit and monastic virtues flourish in this new family of monks. It was there that Saint George spent about fifteen years, the first among all the brothers in his fidelity to the rule, in his love of penance, and in his fervor in prayer. Gentle, humble, diligent in work, showing a spirit of selflessness and poverty everywhere and always, in a word a living mirror of all virtues, says the historian of his life. Aliasque virtutes optime edocens.

A life so holy, joined to a well-established reputation for learning, made the name of Saint George popular even among all the neighboring peoples. Thus it happened that the clergy of the city Lodève First episcopal see occupied by Saint Amans. of Lodève called him with a unanimous voice to the episcopal see that had just become vacant. Saint George, although weakened by age and the austerities of his whole life, resigned himself to accepting the burden of the episcopate, which fell as if from heaven upon his shoulders, and he governed the diocese of Lodève holily for several years, fulfilling in all circumstances the duties of a good shepherd, until at last, full of days and merits, he fell asleep gently in the Lord, around the year 884.

The holy body of this worthy pontiff was deposited in the church of Saint-Geniès, which Saint saint Fulcran Successor of George at Lodève, rebuilder of the church of Saint-Geniès. Fulcran, one of his glorious successors to the episcopal see of Lodève, had rebuilt according to a grandiose plan during the 10th century, and which today bears the name of the church of Saint-Fulcran. There, these venerated remains received the testimonies of the confidence and love of the faithful without interruption, until our unfortunate Wars of Rel igion, when calvinistes Religious group that destroyed the relics of Aptone in 1568. the Calvinists, guided by a blind fanaticism, scattered them to the winds after having sacked the city.

The feast of Saint George is set for February 19, in the diocese of Rodez.

We owe this notice to the kindness of Canon Bousqu et, secretary gen chanoine Bousquet Author of the Propre de Rodez and source of the biography. eral of the bishopric of Rodez.