St. Hugh was born at Chateauneuf, in the territory of Valence in Dauphine in 1053, and from the cradle he appeared to be a child of benediction. He embraced the ecclesiastical state, and accepted a canonry in the cathedral of Valence. His virtues rendered him the ornament of that church. Hugh, Bishop of Die, later Archbishop of Lyons and Cardinal Legate of the Holy See, was so pleased with him that he took him into his own household and employed him in numerous affairs of importance.At a Council held at Avignon in 1080, the Saint was forced to accept the See of Grenoble, which had fallen into a deplorable condition. The legate took St. Hug with him Rome, where he received episcopal consecration at the hands of Pope Gregory VII. Returning home, the new Bishop at once began to labor hard for the reformation of his diocese, and soon had the satisfaction of beholding a wonderful change for the better, effected through his zeal.
After two years, presuming the permission of the Holy See, St. Hugh privately resigned his Bishopric and entered the novitiate of the Benedictine Order of Cluny; but the Pope commanded him to resume his pastoral charge. It was to St. Hugh that St. Bruno and his six companions addressed themselves in their design of forsaking the world, and the holy Bishop directed them to the desert of Chartreuse, where they founded the Carthusian Order. The long and penitential life of St. Hugh came to a close April 1, 1132, after a lingering illness, and he was canonized in 1134 by Pope Innocent II.
PRAYER: God, Light and Shepherd of souls, You established St. Hugh as Bishop in Your Church to feed Your flock by his word and form it by his example. Help us through his intercession to keep the Faith he taught by his word and follow the way he showed by his example. Amen.