Caesarius of Arles

Saint Caesarius of Arles
Caesarius of Arles (retable, Carpentras Cathedral)
Bishop and Church Father
Born	468 470 AD Chalon-sur-Saône
Died	27 August 542(542-08-27) AD
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	August 27

Saint Caesarius of Arles (Latin: Caesarius Arelatensis; 468/470 – 27 August 542 AD), sometimes called "of Chalon" (Cabillonensis or Cabellinensis) from his birthplace Chalon-sur-Saône, was the foremost ecclesiastic of his generation in Merovingian Gaul. Caesarius is considered to be of the last generation of church leaders of Gaul that worked to promote large-scale ascetic elements into the Western Christian tradition. William E. Klingshirn’s study of Caesarius depicts Caesarius as having the reputation of a "popular preacher of great fervour and enduring influence". Among Caesarius's greatest influences were Augustine of Hippo, Pomerius, and Cassian.

Caesarius was born at Chalon-sur-Saône to Roman Burgundian parents. His sister, Caesaria, to whom he addressed his "Regula ad Virgines" (Rule for Virgins), also presided over the convent he had founded. At the time of his birth, Germanic kings governed Burgundy. Unlike his parents, Caesarius was born with a very strong and intense feeling for religion which alienated him from his family for the majority of his adolescence. Caesarius left home at seventeen and studied under Bishop Sylvester for a few years. Afterwards, he found his way to Lérins (Lerinum), an island monastery, which was known to be a major dynamo for creative forces of work in the Church of Roman Gaul. After training as a monk at Lérins he devoted himself to reading and applying the scripture in hopes of improving the quality and organization of Christian life and serving the poor. He rapidly became master of all the learning and discipline the monastery communicated and was appointed cellarer. However, he proved unpopular at Lérins when, as cellarer of the monastery, he withheld food from monks because he felt they were insufficiently austere. As a result, the abbot Porcarius removed Caesarius from his post, whereupon he began starving himself; the abbot intervened and sent Caesarius to Arles ostensibly for medical care. After living at Lérins for over a decade and his health steadily decreasing from monastic over-exertion, Caesarius sought out a different clerical Christian community in Arles.