ST BERTRAN, BISHOP

ST BERTRAN, BISHOP - 3 JULY

Saints celebrated on the 3rd of July

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST BERTRAN, BISHOP OF MANS

Saint Bertran seems to have been born in Poitou, and having dedicated himself to the service of the church, he received the tonsure in the city of Tours. St Germain, bishop of Paris, invited him to his diocese, formed him to virtue, and, in token of esteem for his merit, made him his archdeacon.

HE BECAME BISHOP

After the death of Baldegisil, an unworthy prelate, who sought only to enrich himself by the spoils of his church, St Bertran was chosen his successor in the diocese of Mans in 586.

BY HIS PRUDENCE HE SAVED THE STATE FROM WAR

At first he met some opposition from the corrupt manners of his people, but zealous endeavours to restore them to virtue had soon the deserved success. By his prudence he saved the state from a war which threatened it from Waroc and Windimacle, princes of Brittany. He was called to the court of Gontran, king of Orleans and Burgundy, to negotiate certain interesting matters regarding the church.

HE BUILT AND REPAIRED A GREAT NUMBER OF CHURCHES AND HOSPITALS

He built, endowed, and repaired a great number of hospitals and churches. His will, which he made in 615, is an esteemed piece of church-antiquity. In it are many considerable legacies to churches and monasteries.

But what is singularly remarkable, we see by it, that the holy bishop enjoyed on every occasion the favour and protection of Fredegonda. During the troubles occasioned by the civil wars in France, St Bertran was several times banished from his diocese. This introduced many disorders among his people, which he happily removed with the assistance of Clotaire, who, after long struggles, at length united to his kingdom those of Burgundy and Austrasia.

It is believed that he died June 30, 623. But he is honoured on July 3, being the day on which his relics were translated.

(From Fr Butler's Lives of the Saints)

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