Gaudiosus of Tarazona

Born in Spain in the early sixth century, Gaudiosus grew up amid the shifting world of the Visigothic kingdom. His father, Guntha, served as a military officer at the court of King Theodoric the Great, yet Gaudiosus himself was formed for a different kind of service. Entrusted to the care of Victorian of Asan, abbot of a monastery near Burgos, he received a spiritual and ecclesial education that prepared him for pastoral leadership. Around the year 530, Gaudiosus was appointed Bishop of Tarazona. Few details of his episcopal labors have survived, but the Church remembers him as a faithful shepherd whose holiness took root in the quiet, steady work of guiding Christ’s flock. After his death, traditionally placed around 540, he was buried at the monastery church where he had been formed; centuries later, in 1573, his relics were reverently translated to the cathedral of Tarazona. Saint Gaudiosus is venerated especially by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarazona. His feast day is celebrated on November 3.