Saint Agricola (Agricol, Agricolus) of Avignon (c. 630–c. 700) was a

bishop of Avignon The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Avignon (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Avenionensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse d'Avignon'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese exercises jurisdiction over the terr ...

. According to tradition, Agricola ("farmer") was the son of Saint Magnus, also a bishop of the city.

Life

At the age of sixteen, he was professed a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

at the

Abbey of Lérins An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conc ...

. However, at the age of thirty, he was summoned by his father Magnus to Avignon, where he was appointed

coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

. When his father died in 660, he succeeded as bishop. He built a church in the city that was staffed by the monks of Lérins. He built a convent for

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s. He was a well-known

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

, and famous for his charity and defense of the poor and sick against civil authorities. He died of

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...

and was succeeded by

Saint Veredemus Saint Veredemus (also ''Veredemius''; french: Saint Vérédème, Vrème, Vrime) was an 8th-century hermit who become bishop of Avignon around 700 AD. According to tradition, he was of Greek origin and was born around 640 AD. Veredemus settled at ...

Veneration

A charter of 919 mentions that Saint Agricola had been buried in the Avignon church dedicated to Saint Peter (Saint-Pierre). At the end of the 11th century, Bishop Arbert of Avignon made a donation that referred to the abbey of Saint-Agricol; the church of Saint-Agricol (Saint Agricola) that seems to have been built in the 12th century was made collegial in 1321 by

Pope John XXII Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by ...

, one of the Avignon-based popes, who equipped it with a statute and income. It is possible that on this occasion that the transfer of the

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

of St. Agricola from the church of Saint-Pierre to Saint-Agricol occurred. They are still preserved in this church. The cult of Saint Agricola increased in the 14th and 15th centuries. 15th-century documents record that he prevented an invasion of

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

s by his blessing. He is thus

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of storks and is depicted with them as his emblem. In 1647, he was declared

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of the city of Avignon by Archbishop César Argelli. Devotees prayed to the saint whose name signifies "cultivator of fields" for good weather, fine harvests, and

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

during times of

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

. He is also invoked against the

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...

and misfortune of all kinds. His feast day is September 2.

References

Sources

*Elizabeth Hallam (ed.), ''Saints: Who They Are and How They Help You'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994), 100.

External links

Patron Saints IndexSaint Patrick's Patron Saints Index

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agricola Of Avignon 630 births 700 deaths 7th-century Burgundian bishops Bishops of Avignon 7th-century Frankish saints