St. Gregory of Langres

Gregory of Langres enters first as a public man rather than a monk or cleric. He was a noble Gallo-Roman who held high civil authority for many years and gained a reputation for justice before he ever became a bishop. Only after the death of his wife did the second half of his life begin. Then, already advanced in years, he gave himself wholly to prayer, fasting, pastoral duty, and hidden charity, carrying into the episcopate the same seriousness with which he had once governed civil affairs.

His connection with Dijon remains especially memorable, because the neglected shrine of St. Benignus was restored through his care and Gregory wished to rest there after death. Because the life is short, it depends on shape rather than ornament. What gives it weight is the late conversion of a ruler's gifts into a bishop's holiness. Gregory is a man who did not waste old age in regret, but spent it deliberately in God.