St. Richarius

Richarius is one of those early medieval missionary saints whose holiness spread almost by hospitality. A layman of Picardy at first, he welcomed foreign missionaries, was touched deeply by their life, and gradually gave himself over to apostolic work. The pattern is simple but beautiful: charity opens into conversion, conversion into preaching, and preaching into the gathering of a community.

Richarius becomes known not only for austerity but for generosity toward the poor and toward travelers, and the monastery that formed around his work gave concrete endurance to what he had begun. The life does not need spectacle. It shows a man whose sanctity created a place where Christian life could grow roots.