St. Ceasarius of Arles, Bishop

Patron of the Unmarried

Born at Chalon-sur-Saone in 470 of a good Gallo-Roman family, St. Ceasarius entered the monastery of Lerins at the age of twenty and in 503 he was chosen Bishop of Arles. While retaining the kind of austere life he had adopted as a monk, this devout Bishop played a prominent role in the ecclesiastical administration of southern Gaul and established the claim of Arles to be the primatial See in Gaul.

St. Ceasarius organized his diocese, reestablished and formed the clergy, and zealously defended the Church against heresy. He fought Arianism strenuously and was largely instrumental in securing the condemnation of Semi-Pelagianism at the Council of Orange in 529 (one of several over which he presided by order of the Pope).

The Saint was a celebrated preacher, stressing brevity and clarity of language, as is shown by his Sermons that have come down to us. This dynamic pastor also wrote a Rule for his sister’s nunnery, which he had founded, and it has for a long time remained the frame of life for a great number of religious. The modernity of his Rule can be seen in its provisions that every nun learn to read and write and that the nuns should have the rights to choose their Abbess. He died in 542.

PRAYER: God, Light and Shepherd of souls, You established St. Ceasarius 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.