Today’s teens get a party and maybe a car, but at age 16, this teenager became a monk!
St. Agricolus, also known as Agricola, was born in Avignon, around 630, the son of Saint Magnus of Avignon, who as a layman, served in the French Senate and, upon the death of his wife, became a monk and eventually a bishop.
Agricolus took his monastic professions at Lérins at the tender age of 16. When he was 32, his father, Bishop of Avignon, appointed him his coadjutor, or assistant. And at his father’s death in 660, Agricolus succeeded him as Bishop of Avignon. Dedicated to the life of the Church and its visible presence in the world, he led the construction of a great church in Avignon in which the monks of Lérins could minister to the community. He also founded a Benedictine convent.
Great miracles while he was alive can be attributed to his prayers. During an infestation of storks, a simple blessing seemed to drive the giant birds away. And during a great plague of terrible storms, good weather resulted from the bishop’s dedicated prayers.
Since his death in 700 at age 70, several miracles have been attributed to his intercession, as recorded in 15th-century documents. He is the patron saint for assistance in plague epidemics and for good weather and against rain. Saint Agricolus has also been the patron saint of Avignon since 1647. Represented in art by a stork, his feast day is September 2.
Other Saints We Remember Today
- St. Stephen (1038), King of Hungary
- St. Ingrid of Sweden (1282), Virgin
image: Reinhardhauke / Wikimedia Commons
