GÉRY OF CAMBRAI, ST.

Bishop and patron of Cambrai; b. Carignan, France, mid-6th century; d. Aug. 11, c. 625. He was the son of Gaudentius and Austadiola. Because of his exemplary life, Magneric, Bishop of Trier (d. 596), conferred the tonsure on Géry and according to report, he promised to ordain him a deacon as soon as he knew the Psalter by heart. Upon the death of their bishop, the inhabitants of cambrai chose Géry for the episcopal office. With the approval of Childebert II (d. 596), Archbishop Giles of Reims consecrated him c. 584. Géry appears fourth in the list of bishops of Cambrai, but it is unclear whether he or his predecessor moved the episcopal residence from Arras to Cambrai. The 7th-century vita of Géry, written by a cleric at Cambrai, is too preoccupied with reported miracles to give much biographical detail. The saint was zealous in uprooting paganism, compassionate to prisoners and to the poor. He built a church in honor of St. mÉdard, made a pilgrimage to Tours, and attended a council held at Paris in 614.

The beginnings of Géry's cult are unclear, but by the 9th century his name was in the Litany of All Saints used in Cologne.

Feast: Aug. 11.

Bibliography: Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Concilia (Berlin 1826) 1:191. c. j. von hefele, Histoire des conciles d'après les documents originaux 3.1:251. Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum (Berlin 1826—) 3:649–658. p. gams, Series episcoporum ecclesiae catholicae (Regensburg 1873) 526. Acta Sanctorum Aug. 2:664–693. l. van der essen, Étude critique et littéraire sur les Vitae des saints mérovingiens de l'ancienne Belgique (Louvain 1907) 206–211. j. l. baudot and l. chaussin, Vies des saints et des bienheureux selon l'ordre du calendrier avec l'historique des fêtes 8:198–199. h. platelle, Catholicisme 4:1901. b. gaiffier, Analecta Bollandiana 79 (1961) 288. m. coens, ibid. 77 (1959) 386; 80 (1962) 153.

[h. dressler]