Le Mans and Paderborn
As for other fourth-century saints, little is known of his life. He was a Gaul, influenced by Latin culture. He is said to have been Bishop of Le Mans for 49 years. He built some churches in its neighbourhood, an indication that his missionary activity was limited to the Gaul of his time. He is said to have ordained, in the course of 96 ordinations, 217 priests and 186 deacons. Saint Martin of Tours assisted him when he was dying. He was buried in the Apostle Basilica of Le Mans, beside his predecessor, Julian, the founder of the bishopric.
Miracles are said to have to occurred at his tomb. In 835 Bishop Aldrich placed some relics of his body into an altar in the cathedral, and in the following year, on the instructions of Emperor Louis the Pious, sent the body to Bishop Badurad of Paderborn, a diocese founded in 799 by Pope Leo III and Emperor Charlemagne that had no saint of its own.
From this arose a "love bond of lasting brotherhood" that has survived all the hostilities of the succeeding centuries and is considered to be the oldest contract still in force. Both churches bound themselves to help each other by prayer and material assistance, as they have in fact done on more than one occasion.
In view of the power that veneration of Saint Liborius has had in binding peoples together, Archbishop Johannes Joachim Degenhardt of Paderborn established in 1977 the "Saint Liborius Medal for Unity and Peace", which is conferred every five years on someone who has contributed to the unity of Europe on Christian principles.
Read more about this topic: Liborius Of Le Mans
Famous quotes containing the word mans:
“There is no single face in nature, because every eye that looks upon it, sees it from its own angle. So every mans spice-box seasons his own food.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)