Gérard of Brogne

Infobox Saint
name= Saint Gérard of Brogne
birth_date= ~895
death_date= October 3, 959
feast_day= October 3
venerated_in= Roman Catholic Church


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caption= Statue of Saint Gerard, behind which stands the church of Saint-Gérard.
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patronage= Saint-Gérard, Namur
major_shrine= Saint-Gérard, Namur
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Saint Gérard (in Walloon Sint-Djuråd) (ca. 895—d. October 3, 959) was an abbot of Brogne. A native of Staves (Namur), he was a member of the family of dukes of Lower Austrasia. Originally a soldier, he rebuilt a family chapel into a large church and later became a monk at Saint-Denis. He was then ordained priest. He returned to Brogne, where he fought the laxity of clerics there and replaced them with monks. He retired to a cell near the monastery for mortification.

The Archbishop of Cambrai asked him to reform the community of Saint-Ghislain in Hainault. He replaced the canons with monks. He eventually became head of 18 other abbeys in the region of present-day Belgium. At the end of his life, he retired again to Brogne.

He also traveled to Rome to obtain a papal bull to confirm the privileges of Brogne Abbey.

Veneration

The saint's feast day is celebrated in the dioceses of Namur, Ghent, and Liege on October 3, for which he is listed in the "Roman Martyrology".

Relics, considered authentic, are preserved at Saint-Gérard, the abbey of Maredsous, Aubange, and Ghent (in the church of Notre-Dame). [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/72650]

External links

* [http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintg23.htm GERARD of Brogne]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06465b.htm Gérard, Abbot of Brogne]
*it icon [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/72650 San Gerardo di Brogne]