Saint of the Day – 25 October – Saint Fronto of Périgueux (1st-2nd Centuries) Bishop, Confessor

Saint of the Day – 25 October – Saint Fronto of Périgueux (1st-2nd Centuries) Bishop consecrated by St Peter Apostle, Confessor, Missionary, Miracle-worker. Born at an unknown date in Lycaonia, Asia Minor and died in Périgueux, France of natural causes. Also known as – Fron, Frontón, Frontone, Front. Name means: the clever one (Old High German).

The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Périgueux in France, St Fronto, who, being made Bishop by the blessed Apostle Peter, with a Priest named George, converted to Christ a large number of the people of that place and renowned for miracles, rested in peace.”

Fronto actually lived but at an unknown time. According to tradition, he first lived as a Hermit and then became the first Bishop of Périgueux .

Together with his assistant, the Priest named George, Fronto is believed to have been sent to Gaul by St Peter and Ordained as the first Bishop of Périgueux . George died on the way to France and Fronto returned to Rome. But St Peter gave him a rod, saying: “When you place this rod of mine, on the body of this assistant, say, Arise in Christ’s Name! and carry out the commission which you have received from the Apostle.” So it happened, together they converted the Citizens of Périgueux.

When Fronto fell asleep in his chair one day after the Epistle, Christ appeared to him and caused him to go with Him to Tarascon, to hold the funeral service for St Martha of Bethany, who died there and to help Him to lay her in the grave. In the meantime, when the singing was over in Périgueux and the Deacon was waiting for the Bishop’s blessing, to read the Gospel and woke him, the Bishop sent him away to fetch the ring and gloves which he had left at Martha’s graveside. And thus the Deacon was a witness to the miracle of his bilocation and dual presence.

Fragments of Fronto’s tomb are exhibited in the Museum in Périgueux . The tomb supposedly consisted of a pyramid-shaped roof and many figures dating to antiquity. The first mention of a veneration of Fronto can be found incidentally in the life story of St Gaugericus the Bishop of Cambrai, from the middle of the 7th Century, who prayed at the grave of the Confessor Fronto. It tells of Fronto as a student of St Peter and in the 9th Century, Fronto was included in the Martyrology of Lyon and that of St Rabanus Maurus . In the 10th and 11th Centuries, his life story was revised several times and elements from the legends of Martialis of Limoges and Martha of Bethany were incorporated.

Authentications of his Relics took place in 1261 and 1463. These were largely destroyed by Protestants in 1575. When Périgueux was liberated in 1581, St Fronto’s Cathedral was badly damaged and Saint-Fronto’s was left untouched and in a state of disrepair for decades.

Listen to the chiming of the bells of St Fronto Cathedral, it’s as if you were there!

In 1852 the Architect Paul Abadie, undertook major restoration work to the Cathedral to save it from ruin. He brought it back to life, stone by stone, a colossal project lasting some fifty years. Abadie managed to retain the original plan and volumes of the Cathedral as well as re-designing certain aspects to harmonise the architecture. He used the same architectural model for Saint-Fronto’s as he later used for the Sacré Coeur BaSILICA in Paris.