Vedast
Vedast ( us ), French and Dutch. Vaast , also Waast , Wadast , Gaston , Foster (* near Limoges ; † February 6, 540 in Arras , today in the Pas-de-Calais department ) was Bishop of Arras and Cambrai .
He was born in the second half of the 5th century. Around 500 he was appointed by Remigius of Reims as Bishop of Arras.
Legend and veneration
Vedast's work falls in the key period around the Catholic baptism of Clovis , through which the rising Frankish empire , whose population was partly Catholic, partly pagan , partly Arian , got a common religious basis. Tradition sees Vedast as the catechist who prepared the king for baptism.
In Arras, Vedast is said to have tamed and driven away a predator, a symbol for the forces of chaos ; hence its iconographic saint attribute is a wolf or a bear.
Saint Vaast is venerated in Flanders and the neighboring northern France , where his patronage is frequent. In particular, he is the patron saint of the city , cathedral and diocese of Arras. He is also the patron saint of eye diseases. His feast day is February 6th.
literature
- Ekkart Sauser : Vedast. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 12, Bautz, Herzberg 1997, ISBN 3-88309-068-9 , Sp. 1178.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vedast |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Vedastus; Wadast; Vaast; Gaston; Foster |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bishop of Arras |
| DATE OF BIRTH | before 500 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | at Limoges |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 6, 540 |
| Place of death | Arras |