St. Germanus was born at Auxerre around 389, and studied rhetoric and law at Rome. There he practiced as a lawyer. The emperor Honorius sent him back to Gaul as a provincial governor, with his headquarters at Auxerre. He also married about this time. In 418 he was chosen to succeed Saint Amator as Bishop of Auxerre. From that time on, his faith became deeper, and his prayer more fervent. He gave away his possessions to the poor, and ate coarse barley bread only in the evening. He often fasted for several days, and dressed in simple monastic garb. Pope Celestine I sent him to Britain in 429 with Saint Lupus of Troyes to fight the Pelagian heresy, where they defeated the teachers of this false doctrine. When savage barbarians threatened the city of Armorica (now Brittany), Saint Germanus met their leader, seized his horse’s bridle, and turned him around. After defusing the threat, the saint traveled to Ravenna seeking pardon for the rebels from the emperor Valentian III. He was received with honor, and died there on July 31, 448, which is also his feast day.
