St Hugh of Grenoble

Hugh of Grenoble is one of the best reforming bishops because his strength never feels theatrical. Young, able, and personally drawn toward the hidden life, he was thrust instead into a diocese badly wounded by simony, ignorance, clerical disorder, and the seizure of church goods. He preached, fasted, prayed, corrected, and suffered discouragement in a field that changed only slowly. Even the episode in which he fled toward monastic quiet only deepens the portrait, because the pope sent him back and Hugh obeyed.

He is also remembered as the bishop who recognized St Bruno and opened Chartreuse to the first Carthusians, one more sign that his contemplative instincts were never lost even in government. The life is long strain rather than quick triumph, and that is why it convinces. Hugh helped restore a Church by remaining holy inside work that would have exhausted many stronger tempers.