The Lives of the Saints through 100 Masterpieces

Germain

The Lives of the Saints 110 Germain July 30 Two distinct saints are invoked under the name of Germain, both bishops and near contemporaries. Germain of Paris was in charge of the diocese of Paris during the reign of Childebert. In this capacity, he founded an abbey just outside the walls of the city, which became known as Saint-Germain-des-Près. Some years earlier, Amator, bishop of Auxerre, seeking a successor to his see, had chosen the governor of the town, a good Christian and a good husband, who was also named Germain. As soon as he had been installed, Germain of Auxerre relinquished his family and all his wealth to embrace the monastic life, albeit a most active one. In 429, the pope sent him to Britain (which wasn’t yet called “Great”) with Saint Loup of Troyes to fight against Pelagianism, a heresy formulated by a local monk that denied the existence of original sin. It was in the course of this journey, when passing through the outskirts of Paris, that he noticed a small shepherdess whom he consecrated to the Lord—the future Saint Genevieve. Once in Britain, he convinced the people of the errors of Pelagianism by miraculously healing a small blind girl. This trip across the British Channel, followed by at least one other, awakened in him great sympathy for the British. At the time of an uprising in the Isles against the empire, Saint Germain went to the empire’s capital—at that time situated in Ravenna—to plead their cause. It was there that he died, but the empress had his remains transferred to his native town. Noël Coypel (1628–1707) Saint Germain Giving a Medal to Saint Genevieve Musée des BeauxArts , Dijon ...