John of Valence, St.
JOHN OF VALENCE, ST.
Bishop; b. diocese of Lyons, France; d. Valence, March 21, 1146. John became a priest and a canon of the Lyons cathedral. He resolved to enter cÎteaux but decided to substitute a pilgrimage to the shrine of santiago de compostela. On his return he had a dream in which Christ complained: "He ought to be Mine, not as a pilgrim, but as a dweller in My house." John then entered Cîteaux (1114) and in 1118 was sent to found the monastery of Bonnevaux (Bona Vallis ) on the Loire, from which he established four daughter-houses. In 1141 John was elected bishop of Valence, where, while maintaining a rigorous way of life for himself, he actively alleviated the sufferings of widows, orphans, and the poor, and in other ways promoted social justice. His cultus was confirmed in 1901.
Feast: April 26.
Bibliography: See the life by John's contemporary and eyewitness, girardus, Vita s. Johannis episcopi Valentinensis in e. martÈne and u. durand, Thesaurus novus anecdotorum 3:1693–1702. Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis 4446. a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige 1:364–366.
[j. r. sommerfeldt]