Goar of Aquitaine

Infobox Saint
name=Goar of Aquitaine
birth_date=c. 585
death_date=6 July 649
feast_day=6 July
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church


imagesize=250px
caption=Saint Goar from the Nuremberg Chronicle (c. 1493)
birth_place=Aquitaine, Francews|"" in the 1913 "Catholic Encyclopedia"]
death_place=Oberwesel, Germany [Many sources place Goar's life from c. 500-575; however, Catholic Encyclopedia's account of his audience with King Sigebert III, who lived c. 630-660, is coherent.]
titles=Priest and Hermit
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=
canonized_place=
canonized_by=
attributes=Hermit being given milk by three hinds; holding a pitcher; with the devil on his shoulder or under his feet; holding the church of Saint Goar am Rhein; hanging his hat on a sunbeamcite web | last = Jones | first = Terry | title = Goar | work = Patron Saints Index | url=http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintg32.htm | accessdate = 2007-11-09]
patronage=Innkeepers, potters, and vine growers
major_shrine=
suppressed_date=
issues=

Saint Goar of Aquitaine (c. 585 - 6 July 649) was a priest and hermit of the seventh century. He was offered the position of Bishop of Trier, but died before accepting the position. He is noted for his piety, and is revered as a miracle-worker. He is a patron saint of innkeepers, potters, and vine growers.

Life

Goar was born in 585 to a noble family in Aquitaine, and was noted for piety even in his youth. When he was finally ordained a priest, he became famous for his forceful preaching.cite web | last =Butler | first =Alban | authorlink =Alban Butler | title =St. Goar, Priest | work =Lives of the Saints | publisher =sacred-texts.com [Benziger Brothers] | date =1894 | url =http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/lots/lots213.htm | accessdate =2007-11-09] However, Goar wanted to serve God more discreetly, and so traveled abroad to Trier in 618 to become a hermit near the town of Oberwesel. Despite his intention to live in solitude and obscurity, his renown for holiness spread all over the country.

Goar was frequently visited by travelers seeking advice. On one occasion, he was derided by two pilgrims, who told Rusticus, the Bishop of Trier, that the hermit was a hypocrite and did not live true to his vows of poverty and chastity. Goar was called upon by the bishop to defend himself. When Goar appeared to argue his case before Rusticus, legend says that he effected a decisive miracle, by which the hermit proved his innocence; even more, the miracle indicated that Rusticus was guilty of the very same charges of imprudence and lasciviousness. As a result, Sigebert III, King of Austrasia, called Goar to Metz and requested that he fill Rusticus' position in Trier.

Another version of the story states that Goar was accused of sorcery by Rusticus himself, cleared by Sigebert in Metz, and then, after Rusticus was deposed for his dishonesty, the saint was offered the see of Trier.cite web | title =St. Goar | work =Saints and Angels | publisher =Catholic Online | url =http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=3580 | accessdate =2007-11-09]

In any case, it is certain that Goar did not want to saddle himself with the responsibilities and pressures of a bishopric, and asked for time to reflect on the decision. Upon returning to Oberwesel, however, he fell ill and died on 6 July 649, having never become bishop.

Veneration

The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that "a small church" was dedicated to Goar in 1768 "in the little town on the banks of the Rhine which bears his name (St-Goar)." It is also reported that Charlemagne built a church over the site of Goar's hermitage. It is around this church that the town of Sankt Goar am Rhein grew on the left bank of the Rhine between Wesel and Boppard.

A life of Saint Goar ("Vita Sancti Goaris") was written in 839 by a monk, Wandalbert of Prüm. This semi-legendary account of Goar's life details various miracles relevant to the life of the saint. The first was the one by which Goar proved Rusticus' unsavory nature. A , recovered in a near-by church, was brought to the saint. The bishop called upon Goar to name the father of the baby as a proof of his innocence. Goar did not fail the test; he named the bishop Rusticus his father, upon which Rusticus was shocked and begged for forgiveness.cite web | title =Vita Sancti Goaris | publisher =mittelrheintal.de | url =http://www.mittelrheintal.de/viasanctigoaris/vita.html | accessdate =2007-11-09 de icon]

Another miracle explains Goar's depiction as hanging his hat on a sunbeam. When the saint refused Sigebert's invitation to the See of Trier, he threw his "cappa" over a sunbeam: the garment was suspended "as though the shaft of light were solid." The purpose of this miracle was not merely a display of bravado, but to show that the saint's action in refusing the position was divinely justified.cite web | last =Spence | first =Lewis | title =Hero Tales and Legends of the Rhine | publisher =sacred-texts.com [George G. Harrap & Company] | date =1915 | url =http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/lr/lr08.htm | accessdate =2007-11-09]

Goar's feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is 6 July. He is variously depicted in art as a hermit being given milk by three hinds, as holding a pitcher, with the devil on his shoulder or under his feet, and as holding the church of Saint Goar am Rhein.

ee also

* Sankt Goar am Rhein
* Sankt Goarshausen

References

External links

* [http://www.magnificat.ca/cal/engl/07-06.htm#goar Saint Goar at "Lives of the Saints"]
* [http://sacred-texts.com/chr/lots/lots213.htm Saint Goar at "sacred-texts.com" (Butler)]