Saint Gaugericus, in French Saint Géry (also known as Gorik, Gau; in Walloon, Djèri) ( 550 – August 11, 619) was a

bishop of Cambrai The Archdiocese of Cambrai ( la, Archdiocesis Cameracensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Cambrai'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, comprising the arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-Help ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Biography

He was born to

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

parents, Gaudentius and Austadiola, at ''Eposium'' (present

Carignan Carignan (also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Mediterra ...

).Van der Essen, Léon. "St. Géry." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 3 June 2018 Tradition states that Bishop

Magnerich Magneric of Tier (also called Magnerich, or Magnericus) (born c. 522, died c. 596) was a Frankish bishop of Trier. He is a Catholic and Orthodox saint, with a feast day on July 25. Magneric was one of the first bishops with a Germanic name. He wa ...

, successor of Saint Nicetas as Bishopr of Trier was so impressed with the piety of the young man that he ordained him deacon, but not before Gaugericus had memorized the entire psalter. Magnerich entrusted Gaugericus with the pastoral care of the city of Cambrai.

Bishop

When the see of Cambrai-Arras fell vacant around 585, Gaugericus was elected bishop with the consent of

Childebert II Childebert II (c.570–596) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia (which included Provence at the time) from 575 until his death in March 596, as the only son of Sigebert I and Brunhilda of Austrasia; and the king of Burgundy from 592 to his ...

.Butler, Alban. “Saint Gery, or Gaugericus, Bishop and Confessor”. ''Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints'', 1866. CatholicSaints.Info. 11 August 2016
/ref> Gaugericus was consecrated by Egidius, bishop of Reims. Bishop Géry devoted himself to fighting paganism, ransoming captives and visiting rural districts and '' villae''. Gaugericus founded churches and abbeys, including a monastery dedicated to St. Medard, to host relics, which contributed powerfully to giving Cambrai both the appearance and functions of a city. He himself went on pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Martin in Tours. Géry also built a church dedicated to Saint Martin, where he had relics of this saint deposited. The bell tower of this church was to become, much later, the city's belfry. His work was crucial to the development of the city, particularly in terms of the number of buildings he left behind and the pilgrimages he attracted. Between 584 and 590, he transferred the episcopal see from Arras to Cambrai. He maintained close relations with King

Chlothar II Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" (French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629), was king of Neustria and king of the Franks, and the son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund. He started his reign as an infant under the ...

, the new lord of Cambrai after the death of Childebert, and assisted at the

Council of Paris The Council of Paris (French: ''Conseil de Paris'') is the deliberative body responsible for governing Paris, the capital of France. It possesses both the powers of a municipal council (''conseil municipal'') and those of a departmental counci ...

in 614.

Traditions

According to tradition, around the year 580, Gaugericus built a chapel on the largest island in the

Senne Senne may refer to: Places * Senne (Germany), a natural region of Germany *Senne, a district of Bielefeld, Germany * Senne (river), a river of Belgium *Senné (disambiguation), places in Slovakia People with the name *Yōkō Senne, a 13th-centur ...

near

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Saint-Géry Island Saint-Géry Island (french: île Saint-Géry) or Sint-Goriks Island ( Dutch: ) was the largest island in the river Senne in Brussels, Belgium. It was named after Saint Gaugericus, nl, Sint-Goriks, link=no of Cambrai, who according to legend, b ...

is named after the church. A legend holds that Géry built a chapel (to Saint Michael, later the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula), which soon became a church and gave birth to the city of Brussels, from which he had chased a dragon whose lair was located where the Impasse de la Poupéeimpasse du Dragon was later built.

Veneration

After serving as bishop for thirty-nine years, he died August 11, 619 and was buried in the church of Saint Médard, which he had founded at Cambrai. Veneration commenced immediately after his death. When the church of Saint Medard was demolished by the emperor Charles V for the building of the citadel, the canons were removed, and took with them the relics of the saint, to the old church of

Saint Vedast Vedast or Vedastus, also known as Saint Vaast (in Flemish, Norman and Picard) or Saint Waast (also in Picard and Walloon), Saint Gaston in French, and Foster in English (died ) was an early bishop in the Frankish realm. After the victory of ...

, which from that time has borne the name of Saint Gery. The Church of Saint-Géry is one of the oldest in Cambrai, and a listed historical monument since 1919. His feast day is mentioned in the

martyrology A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by n ...

of Rabanus Maurus for August 11.

Relics

Relics of the saint were given to Carignan, to the church of Saint-Géry in Valenciennes, to the abbey of Saint-Sépulcre in Cambrai, which became a cathedral after the destruction of the old one after the Revolution, to the abbey of Arras, to the abbey of Liessies, to the collegiate church of Saint-Pierre in Douai, to the church of Saint-Donat in Bruges, to the church of Saint-Géry in Bierne, and to the church of Saint-Géry in Brussels8. His reliquary is still on display in the south transept of the church of Saint-Géry in Cambrai.

Patronage

He is the patron saint of many churches in the regions of Cambrai, Bierne, Valenciennes and Arras, as well as in Belgium. During his wanderings he freed many prisoners, criminals, children taken into slavery. St-Géry is the patron of Cambrai, and of prisoners.Arduino, Fabio. "San Gaugerico di Cambrai", Santi e Beati, May 30, 2006
/ref> Image:Blaregnies 051001 (2).jpg, St. Géry church at Blaregnies Image:040 Arras ( 62000 ).JPG, Church of St. Géry, Arras Image:Goriks kerk.jpg, Church of Saint Gaugericus in Sint-Goriks-Oudenhove Image:Rebecq JPG00.jpg, St. Gaugericus' church, Rebecq, Belgium

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaugericus 550s births 619 deaths Year of birth uncertain Bishops of Cambrai 6th-century Frankish bishops 7th-century Frankish bishops 7th-century Frankish saints Medieval Belgian saints