Saint Vigor

Saint Vigor was born into a noble family in Artois in northern France, and as a young man he studied at Arras under Saint Vedast. When his father refused to allow him to pursue the priesthood, Vigor chose obedience to God over comfort and inheritance: he fled home with nothing, accompanied only by an acolyte named Theodimir. He lived as a hermit preacher at Reviers in Calvados, devoting himself to prayer and to missionary work among the people of Normandy. Around the year 514 he was appointed Bishop of Bayeux. As shepherd of his flock he labored zealously to uproot lingering pagan practices, and tradition remembers him for destroying a temple still in use and raising a church on the same ground, a sign of Christ’s triumph and mercy. He is also associated with founding a monastery later known as Saint-Vigor-le-Grand, a place that kept his memory alive. Venerated early in Bayeux, his cult spread as his relics were honored in France and later, through the Normans, in England. He is patron of Saint-Vigor-le-Grand. Saint Vigor died around 537, and his feast is celebrated on November 1.