Saint Avitus I

A zealous pastor, he was the father of the poor, the guardian of orphans, the host of strangers, the consolation of the widow and of all the unfortunate. He converted to the faith a great number of the Jews who inhabited the city of Arverne (the primitive name of Clermont) and baptized more than five hundred of them in a single night. He himself wished to purify them in the regenerating water, to anoint them with the holy chrism, and to admit them into the bosom of the Church. The brilliance of a thousand torches, the dazzling whiteness of the robes of innocence with which the new proselytes were clothed, gave the whole city a festive air, and inspired in it no less joy than Jerusalem felt at the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles.

At the prayer of Saint Avitus, more than once the prisons opened, and the chains of the captives shattered like fragile glass. King Chi ldebert, out o f regard for him, freed the churches from all tribute.

Cherished as much as he was admired by all the famous men of his tim e, Avitus p ersuaded Saint Gregory of Tours, who was then serving as his deacon, to write the history that this learned writer has left us. He repaired or built anew several churches. Around 573, he had the church of Thiers built in honor of Sai nt Genesius, marty r: this chu rch, enriched and endowed with a Chapter by Guy II of Thiers in 1016, and restored in 1197, was burned by the Calvinists in 1578. But the most beautiful monument to his glory is the erection of the basilica of No tre-Dame du Port, so called bec ause the place where it was built was previously like the warehouse where all the goods and merchandise necessary for the inhabitants were brought. It is a 6th-century church, retouched in the 9th, but with a delicacy that respected and maintained in its most important parts, as in its architectural ensemble, the work of Saint Avitus. The shape of this church is a Latin cross, with two side aisles and a choir surrounded by several chapels, rising above a crypt that contains the altar where a miraculous statue of Mary is placed. Notre-Dame du Port is a very popular pilgrimage site: people flock there especially for the great feast of May 15. On December 20, 1851, Pius IX granted a plenary indulgence: 1st for the nov ena ce lebrated from May 15 to 24, provided that one has followed the exercises five times; 2nd for the visit to the sanctuary on the feasts of Christmas and the Epiphany; on the solemnities of the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Purification, the Assumption, and Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows (3rd Sunday of September).

The precious remains of Saint Avit were deposited in this Ba silica of Notre-Dame du Port, a nd were long held there in great veneration.

Taken from the Proper of Clermont, the Chronology of the Bishops of Clermont, and Notre-Dame de France.