While the barbarians were ravaging Gaul, present-day France, Providence raised St. German of Auxèrre, one of the bishops who gloriously marked the history of that country.
Newsroom (August 10, 2021, 20:00 PM Gaudium Press) Germanus was born in 380, in the city of Auxèrre, located in Burgundy, France, from one of the noblest families of the region. After studying the liberal arts, he went to Rome, where he graduated in Law. While carrying out his activities, he proved to have so many qualities that the Senate appointed him governor of Burgundy.
The Bishop of Auxèrre, foreseeing his imminent death, received a divine revelation that he should choose Germano as his successor. He summoned him to a solemnity celebration, during which he cut Germanus’ hair and declared him bishop of the city.
Shortly after, the prelate died. And the whole town asked Germanus to be the new bishop. Touched by divine grace, he took over the diocese, distributed his goods to the poor, and began to lead a life of prayer, penance, and combat on behalf of the Catholic Church.
Knowing his great apostolic zeal, Pope Saint Boniface I ordered him to go to Great Britain to fight the heresy preached by Pelagius (360-422). He was an Irish monk that denied original sin and divine grace and was causing terrible evil in that nation. And he designated St. Lupo, Bishop of Troyes, to accompany him in this crucial mission.
Meeting with Saint Genevieve
The two prelates began their long journey, full of faith, confidence, and a spirit of sacrifice. When they arrived in the village of Nanterre, near what is now Paris, they went to church to pray.
Among the townspeople who flocked to the temple, Saint Germano discerned a girl named Genoveva. He called her and told her that she should consecrate herself to God. She followed his advice, became a great saint, and later liberated Paris from attack by the barbarians.
It amazes us that a holy pope should send two saintly bishops “to defend a country threatened by heresy. One understands the warmth of sanctity, the intensity of spiritual life, what was, after all, this enormous collection of saints on which the Middle Ages, step by step, had been building up.” [1]
After a painful journey, the two apostles arrived in Britain. St. Germanus performed miracles, opened schools for young people in major cities and monastic centers. And then, returned to France.
In Ravenna, he surrenders his soul to God
The people of Armorica – northwestern France today – having been attacked by the Alans, begged St. Germanus to help them. Although elderly, he traveled to Ravenna, Italy, to ask Emperor Valentinian III to expel these barbarians.
The Bishop of Ravenna, Saint Peter Chrysologus, accompanied by all the clergy, received him at the city gates. Then the Empress Gala Placidia and her son Valentinian III received him in the Imperial Palace with full honors.
St. Germanus remained in Ravenna for some time. And one day, he sent Empress Gala Placidia a piece of bread on a wooden tray. She received the gift with great respect, had the tray placed in a gold reliquary, and kept the bread as medicine for her ailments.
After a short time, Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to St. Germanus and told him that he would soon go to Heaven. He fell ill, and the house where he was staying was surrounded by a crowd of people who day and night prayed for his recovery. Gala Placídia gave her full assistance to the saint, who died in 448.
Sufferings of Gala Placídia
The pious Gala Placídia, who ruled the empire for 25 years, endured terrible sufferings throughout her life.
In 410, Alaric, king of the Visigoths, seized Rome and her hostage, but he died shortly afterward. She then had to marry Alaric’s brother.
When her barbarian husband died, she returned to Ravenna and married Constantius. In 420, he became Emperor under the title of Constantius III. They had two children: Grata Honoria and Valentinian – the future Emperor Valentinian III.
Grata Honoria caused her mother enormous distress. Due to her bad behavior, they sent her to Constantinople, and there she married a senator. But one day, Honoria secretly sent a ring to Attila, king of the Huns, proposing that he marry her.
Asking for a new pardon and a new grace
Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira comments:
“The Spirit of Faith that inspired this sovereign is remarkable. She takes the wooden plate and places it in a gold reliquary because a Saint gave it a gift.
“Although the Catholic Church had not yet canonized by him, the Empress had no doubts of the bishop’s heroic virtues. And the proofs of this spiritual perfection being notorious, solid, incontestable, she kept the bread to use as medicine for her illnesses. And this food certainly worked many miracles!
“Such an attitude on the part of the sovereign indicates another intensity of faith, of divine blessings; another regime of God’s grace toward men in that historical period. […]
“Centuries later, in medieval times, grace was generous, abundant, triumphant. Today, because men receive it so poorly, although it is equally plentiful, it is more difficult for it to triumph.
“There was a specific moment in history in which Hell incited a sin, which determined the ruin of medieval Christendom and changed everything on Earth. Once this sin is forgiven, the Reign of Mary will begin through the favour and mercy of Our Lady.
“We must, therefore, through St. Germanus of Auxèrre, insistently implore that a new grace, a new pardon, come to us from Heaven, and the Blessed Virgin be willing to establish with men a kind of relationship based on a different situation.
“Do not think that simply by defeating the Revolution and the opponents of the Catholic Church everything will be solved. This forgiveness is needed, a fact of a supernatural order that will be the foundation of Mary’s Kingdom.” [2]
By Paulo Francisco Martos
Compiled by Ena Alfaro
[1] CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Saint Genevieve. In the magazine Dr. Plinio. São Paulo. Year XVIII, n. 202 (January 2015), p. 29-30.
[2] Idem. Saint German of Auxèrre, The Apostle of Gaul, Italy and Great Britain. In the magazine Dr. Plinio. São Paulo. Year VIII, n. 88 (July 2005), p. 29.