Saint of the Day – 27 November – Saint Maximus of Riez (Died 460) Bishop of Riez, France, Confessor, Abbot, Hermi, zealous and highly efficient leader, Miracle-worker. Born in Decom, Provence (modern Châteauredon, France) and died in Reiz in 460 of natural causes. Patronages – children, the dying, Agliè, Italy, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Riez, in France, St Maximus, Bishop and Confessor, who, from his tender years, was endowed with every grace and virtue. Being first the Superior of the Monastery of Lérins and afterwards, Bishop of the Church of Riez, he was celebrated for the working of miracles and prodigies.”
Saint Maximus was born in Decomer in Provence in France and was duly Baptised as a very young infant by deeply pious parents. He was thus brought up in a similar manner observing all the devotions and duties of a Christian home. There, at home, he began to live as a kind of recluse, to mortify his senses and practice self-deniel, solitude and prayer.
When he was an adult, he chose the religious life and became a Monk in the Monastery of Lérins, where he was under the Founder, Saint Honoratius.
When, in 426, St Honoratus became the Archbishop of Arles, Maximus was elected as the Monastery’s second Abbot. Saint Sidonius writes that the Monastery received a new spiritual gift due to Saint Maximus’ wise leadership and shining example. The Monks obeyed him with joy and did not complain about the rigour of the religious life.
Maximus was also known for numerous miracles which naturally only increased his reputation as a saint. So many came to ask him for advice and to seek his spiritual counsel that finally, he had to find a home in the forest to concela himself from unwanted renown and to hide from those who wanted him to appoint him as the Bishop of Fréjus.
But later he still, in humble obedience, accepted the elevated role of a Bishop but of Riez in Provence. In 434 he was Ordained by Saint Hilarius (he had been tracked down, after he had first fled along the coast and into Italy, to escape appointment). He became one of the most prominent of the French Bishops, of the time. Even as a Bishop, he continued to wear a hair shirt and Monk’s Habit and followed the Monastic Rule as far as was compatible with his Episcopal obligations.
Some of the sermons formerly attributed to Eusebius of Emesa are now believed to have been by Saint Maximus. He attended the Synods of Riez in 439, Orange I in 441 and Arles in 454. Our Saint died in 460 and is buried in Riez.
AnaStpaul 