ST VIGOR, BISHOP OF BAYEUX - 5 NOVEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN NOVEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 5th of November

ST VIGOR, BISHOP OF BAYEUX

Saint Vigor, Bishop of Bayeux (Bajocae) in northern France, is listed in the Roman Martyrology. According to the Gall. Chr.* he is the seventh bishop of that See in the succession. Arnold Wion* and the Proper of Bayeux* are the main sources from which his story can be pieced together.

Born in the Artois countryside of wealthy parents, and given by them to St Vedastus for his education, his parents wanted nevertheless to prevent that Vigor entered the monastic state. Feeling called to become a monk, however, Vigor left his homeland with his friend Theodemir. After some time, they arrived in the area around Bayeux. 

There they started working straight away. First the saint laboured to eradicate paganism at Roduerum. God blessed his effort. Vigor brought back to life a child he had baptised. He healed the blind, the mute, and the sick of every kind, and killed a serpent which had long terrified the people. 

After the death of the then Bishop of Bayeux (presumably St Contestus), he was chosen as his successor. To eradicate superstition he dismantled an idol that sat on the nearby hill of Phaunus and built a church in its place for the edification of the population, after which the hill was named Mons chrismatis, Mount of Anointing. He is also credited with founding the monastery of Cerare (Cerisi), which the Normans destroyed afterwards. 

He died most probably before the middle of the 6th century (around 530) and was buried on the Mount of Anointing. His successor was Leucadius, who signed the third Council of Orleans in A.D. 538. 

His festival is celebrated in Bayeux on November 5, in Coutances and Arras on November 3. On March 21 his translation to Centula (St Rignier) is celebrated. The church of his name near Bayeux is a parish church. In Ranbeck* he is depicted as a bishop; at his command Theodemir, who is with him, pulls a dragon into the sea by his stole, which he had wrapped around it. (Guerin).

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 5, Augsburg, 1882)

*A hagiography source used by the authors 

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Vigor may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.