Saint Who?
Saints Who Fostered Vocations to the Priesthood
Saint Caesarius of Arles
Bishop († 543)August 27
Born in Gaul in 470, Caesarius—said to have been more religiously inclined than his family—decided to seek priestly ordination at eighteen. Later he joined a monastery, where he served as cellarer (in charge of provisions), but earned the ire of the other monks when, thinking the community lacked a penitential spirit, he declined to dole out food. He soon left the monastery, but having been ordained a priest, he was made abbot of another monastery which the local bishop judged in need of rigor.
Caesarius was made Bishop of Arles at the age of thirty-three. He required frequent public singing of the Divine Office. He preached frequently, in an unaffected style and without undue length. His primary goal was to accurately transmit the Catholic faith and encourage moral conduct. Texts of his homilies circulated far and wide.
He also concerned himself with the education of future priests. He is said to have been behind the injunction of the Second Council of Vaison that parish priests were to gather a group of boys “that they may give them a Christian upbringing, teach them the Psalms and the lessons of Scripture and the whole law of the Lord, and so prepare worthy successors to themselves.” He lived in community with his own clerics, and would not ordain a man unless he had read the entire Bible at least four times. He died in 543.
Almighty Father, through the prayers of Saint Caesarius, guide our priests in their preaching and their lives.
