Gaugericus of Cambrai

Saint Gaugericus of Cambrai (Géry) was bishop of Cambrai and Arras in northern Gaul for thirty-⁠nine years. He was born around 550 at Eposium (present Carignan) of Roman parents, Gaudentius and Austadiola. He reposed on 11 August 619 (the calendars say around 625).

Tradition states that Bishop Magnericus of Trier, successor of Saint Nicetius, was so impressed with the piety of the young man that he ordained him deacon, after Gaugericus had memorized the entire psalter, and entrusted him with the pastoral care of the city of Cambrai. When the see of Cambrai-⁠Arras fell vacant, around 585, he was elected bishop with the consent of Childebert II and consecrated by Egidius, bishop of Reims. He labored against paganism, ransomed captives and visited rural districts. Between 584 and 590 he transferred the episcopal see from Arras to Cambrai, kept close relations with King Chlothar II and took part in the Council of Paris in 614.

According to tradition, around 580 he built a chapel on the largest island in the Senne near Brussels, now called Saint-⁠Géry Island. A legend adds that he chased away a dragon from the place where he built a chapel to Saint Michael (later the Cathedral of Saint Michael and Saint Gudula), which gave birth to the city of Brussels. He was buried in the church of Saint Médard, which he had founded at Cambrai, and veneration began immediately after his death; his feast is mentioned in the martyrology of Rabanus Maurus for 11 August. When the emperor Charles V demolished the church for the building of the citadel, the canons took his relics to the old church of Saint Vedast, which from then on has borne the name of Saint-⁠Géry. He is commemorated on 11 August as a saint of the undivided Church, by the New Calendar.