Paul of Verdun

Holy Hierarch Paul of Verdun was born around 576, into a wealthy family, and reposed in 647 or 648. He was bishop of the city of Verdun in Lorraine in France from 630. According to some accounts he was the brother of Saint Germanus of Paris. He was educated at the court of King Chlothar II, in a small and influential circle of young men that included the future King Dagobert I, Desiderius, later bishop of Cahors, and Eligius, later adviser of Dagobert.

He became a hermit and lived for a time on the Paulsberg, across the Moselle from Trier, in the Vosges; then he joined the monastery of Tholey, in today's Saarland, where he had charge of the school and is said to have become the second abbot (626 to 643/647). King Dagobert I named him bishop of Verdun, around 630. According to his biography he was made bishop against his will, through the influence of one of his students, Adalgisel Grimo, and he found the diocese in a very poor financial state; he was aided by gifts from Adalgisel and the king of Austrasia. Tradition ascribes miracles to him; according to a legend, the oven in the monastery kitchen was not very hot and yet the loaves baked as usual. He is the patron of bakers and pastry cooks. He is commemorated on 8 February, by the Western calendar (new style), as a saint of the undivided Church.