Saint of the Day – 26 October – Saint Rusticus of Narbonne (Died 461) Bishop of Narbonne from 3 October 427 (or 430) until his death and Confessor, Monk. Born either at Marseilles or at Narbonnaise, died on 26 Ocober 461 of natural causes. Also known as – Rustique, Rustico, Rustus.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Narbonne, St Rusticus, Bishop and Confessor, who flourished in the time of the Valentinian and Leo.”
Rusticus was the son of a Bishop named Bonose and the nephew, on his mother’s side, of another Bishop named Arator, the seats of both being unknown.
According to trecords, when he had completed his education in France, Rusticus went to Rome, where he soon gained a reputation as a public speaker but, he wished to embrace the religious life and detract himself from worldly persuits.
He wrote to St Jerome, who advised him to continue his studies, commending him to imitate the virtues of St Exuperius of Toulouse and to follow the advice of Proculus, then the Bishop of Marseille. Thus Rusticus entered the Lérins Abbey.
He was Ordained at Marseilles and on 3 October 427 (or 430) was Consecrated as the Bishop of Narbonne. He was present at the First Council of Ephesus in 431. With all his zeal, he could not prevent the progress of the Arian heresy which, the Goths were spreading abroad; there is evidence that an Arian rival Bishop was established in Narbonn too.
The siege of Narbonne by the Goths in 436 and dissensions among the Catholics so disheartened him that he wrote to Pope Leo I, renouncing the Bishopric but Pope Leo dissuaded him (Epistle CLXVII).
Rusticus then endeavoured to consolidate the Catholics. In 444–450, he rebuilt the Cathedral in Narbonne, destroyed by fire in 441, dedicated to Saint Genesius of Arles. The first stone was laid on 18 November 444, and the new building iConsecrated on 29 November 445 (inscription dated this dayis preserved in the Narbo Via Museum) – see below.
Rusticus named his Archdeacon, Hermes as the Bishop of Béziers but the latter could not take possession of his seat; he then wanted to designate him as his successor but Pope Leo, to whom he wrote on this subject, refused. Hermes succeeded him but the matter was referred to Pope Hilary, Leo’s successor, who held a Council in Rome on this matter. Finally, by a letter of 3 December 462, the Pope confirmed Hermes in Narbonne but with diminished powers over the Province.
In 451, he assisted at the convocation of forty-four Bishops of Gaul and approved Pope Leo’s letter to Flavian, concerning Nestorianism. Rusticus was present too at a Council of Arles, with thirteen Bishops, to decide the debate between Theodore, Bishop of Fréjus and the Abbey of Lérins. In 449, Rusticus was one of the twelve Bishops who assembled to elect Ravennius as the new Bishop of Arles. In fact, a letter from Ravennius to Rusticus, proves the high esteem in which he was held. Rusticus’ own letters are lost, with the exception of the one to St Jerome and a long letter written in reply by St Jerome and two others to Pope Leo, written either in 452 or 458.
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