Cybard of Angoulême

St. Cybardus as a reading hermit

alleged rock grotto of the saint near Angoulême

Plassac - Église Saint-Cybard

Cybard von Angoulême or Eparchius ( French also Cibard, Ybard or Ybars ; * 504 ?; † 581) was a monk and priest possibly born in Tremolat ( Périgord ) who lived as a hermit in the Angoulême ( Charente ) area in the 6th century . His Latin name was Eparchius ; regionally it is also called Ybard or Ybars .

Lore

According to Gregory of Tours ' account ( Historia Francorum (VI, 8)), Eparchius received from Bishop Aptonius III in 542 . ordination of Angoulême . Another anonymous tradition ( Vita et virtutes Eparchii reclusi Ecolismensis ) reports how one day he retired to a rock grotto far from the city, but close to the source of the Charente, tiredly bedding his head on a stone and falling asleep. At this point he stayed and continued his miraculous work.

Local tradition, on the other hand, locates the hermit's retreat with a rock grotto below the city walls of Angoulême, where a small chapel already stood in the early Middle Ages , above which the regionally important Saint-Cybard abbey , which was supposedly founded by Eparchius himself, was built a few years after the outbreak of the Huguenot Wars (1568) it was razed to the ground with the exception of a few remains; on this occasion the remains ( relics ) of the saint were also burned.

Adoration

However, some of the saint's relics had already reached a large number of Saint Cybard churches in Angoumois and elsewhere in the Middle Ages - the most important are in Roullet and Plassac . Cybard is the patron saint of the Angoulême diocese ; his feast day is July 1st.

presentation

Medieval representations of Cybardus are unknown; Modern statues or glass windows show him as a hermit or in bishop's robe with miter and shepherd's staff .

Web links

Commons : Saint Cybard  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Cybard von Angoulême in the SUDOC catalog (Association of French University Libraries)
• Eparchius of Angoulême in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
• Saint-Cybard - Article from the French dictionary of names (French)
• 504 (c) - 581 - Saint Cybard d'Angoulême: sa vie légendaire par les petits Bollandistes