Saints celebrated on the 10th of June
FELIX VIALARD DE HERSE, BISHOP OF CHALONS
Felix Vialard de Herse, Bishop of Chalons on the Marne, descended of a noble family of the Auvergne, was born in Paris in 1603. His mother, Charlotte of Ligny, one of the most virtuous women of her century, was very highly regarded by Saint Francis de Sales. She planted in her son the first seeds of tender piety.
After completing his studies at the College of Navarre, he took up the spiritual position to which God called him. When he had completed his theological courses, he became a doctor. He had only been a priest for a short time when he was appointed abbot of Pibrac in Auvergne and later coadjutor to the bishop of Chalons. The letter of appointment had not yet arrived when he became the real bishop of this district through the death of the person whose place he was supposed to represent. He was only 27 years old when he took over the leadership of the said diocese; but after the example of Saint Charles Borromeo, whom he had chosen as his role model, Felix, right from the beginning of his episcopate, showed the wisdom and prudence of an old man.
He enlarged his seminary and left his palace to make his home there; made frequent visits to the spiritual houses and to pastors in the countryside. He donated a contribution to the founding of an Ursuline monastery for the purpose of educating young people. With his support, three houses were founded to train teachers and Vitry was given a college.
Full of zeal for the instruction of his flock, and full of compassion for the lost sheep who did not listen to the shepherd's voice, he founded missions to convert the Protestants of his diocese; often they returned to the bosom of the church, and even those who did not return to Catholic unity could not deny the bishop's virtues the tribute of respect that was due to him.
Louis XIV chose him as one of the mediators of the so-called Clementine Peace. [Although he did his best, some controversies arose even after his death, although they were not caused by Felix.] The bishop, in his diocese, as in the whole of France, remains highly regarded. He died saintly on June 10, 1680, after 40 years of his episcopate. He left ordinances and pastoral letters, a ritual of Chalons, and a catechism entitled "The Christian School." (Mg.)
| (Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, pp. 192-93) |
Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations
Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org
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