ஆண்டவருடைய விண்ணேற்றம் மே 12 ஞாயிறு

 † Saint of the Day †

(October 3)

✠ St. Gérard of Brogne ✠

Abbot of Brogne :

Born: 895 AD

Died: October 3, 959

Venerated in: Roman Catholic Church

Major Shrine: Saint-Gérard, Namur

Feast: October 3

Patronage: Saint-Gérard, Namur

Saint Gérard of Brogne was an abbot of Brogne. A native of Staves (Namur), he was a member of the family of dukes of Lower Austrasia. Originally a soldier, he rebuilt a family chapel into a large church and later became a monk at Saint-Denis. He has then ordained priest. He returned to Brogne, where he fought the laxity of clerics there and replaced them with monks. He retired to a cell near the monastery for mortification.

The Archbishop of Cambrai asked him to reform the community of Saint-Ghislain in Hainault. He replaced the canons with monks. He eventually became head of 18 other abbeys in the region of present-day Belgium. When he reformed the Abbey of Saint Bertin in 944, dissident monks fled to King Edmund I of England. At the end of his life, he retired again to Brogne.

He also traveled to Rome to obtain a papal bull to confirm the privileges of Brogne Abbey.

Benedictine abbot. The gentle saint was born to a wealthy family in 895 near Fosse, in France. From his youth, he had a reputation for being very friendly and kind. For a time he was a soldier and courtier of the Count of Namur. One day after a hunting trip with friends the group returned to his family estate tired and hungry. After he had invited everyone in to rest and eat Gerard slipped away to a little chapel that on his property and prayed for a long time.

He found that his tired body seemed rested and he forgot all about his hunger. The idea occurred to Gerard that if people only realized the joy of praying, they would want to pray all the time. He soon gave up life at court and joined the monastery of Saint-Denis. He loved the life there and eventually became a priest.

Gerard remained at St Denis for 11 years, when he was given permission to start a monastery on his own property at Brogne. His community flourished, but, longing for more peace and solitude, Gerard built himself a little hermitage next to the church.

He was not allowed to stay there for very long. His superiors asked him to visit the monasteries in Flanders and Normandy to assist them in their organization and prayer life. For the next 20 years, Gerard traveled around the country visiting monasteries in Flanders and Normandy, including Mont Saint-Michel.

When he realized his life on earth was nearly over, Gerard asked for permission to return to his hermitage back in Brogne. He died there peacefully on this day in 959.