Saint of the Day – 7 December – Saint Geretranus (6th Century) Bishop of Bayeux in Normandy, France. Also known as – Gérétran, Geretrandno, Geretrand.
In the chronology of Bishops, Geretranus is listed eleventh after Leudovald, mentioned after 614 and before Saint Ragnobert, mentioned before 627.
Geretranus is only mentioned in the ancient Episcopal catalogues and we know absolutely nothing about him, his life and his Episcopate.
It should be noted that the Episcopal catalogues of Bayeux from the 12th and 13th Centuries are reliable and historically documented but they only begin with Bishop Hugh of Ivry, who lived at the of the advent of the 1th Century and died in 1049.
Regarding the early Bishops, the catalogues are incomplete, although they present a series of 14 Saintly Bishops, most of whom are derived from hagiographical and liturgical traditions.
In local Martyrologies, Geretranus’ Feast Day was set on 7 December but according to some, even that date does not correspond to ab authentic date i.e. of his death, given that on that day the Bishop St Gerbold (Died c691) was celebrated, who governed the Diocese after some years of Geretranus. However St Gerbold’s Feast is actually now on 5 December due to the conflict with St Ambrose on 7 December.
AnaStpaul 