G

A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

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January 22 · Bishop

St. Gaudentius of Novara

St. Gaudentius of Novara

A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

Traditional feast

January 22
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1914)

Current feast

Not verified yet

Represents

Bishop

Early life

Selected sentences from the original account, unaltered.

Thin entry · the 1914 book gives only 80 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

Gaudentius was a native of Ivrea (Eporœdia), under the shadows of the Alps; he was brought up as a Christian, and exhibited early indications of piety.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Stay faithful when it costs you. This account is about holding firm under pressure.

Learn from the kind of life it was. A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

Read more

The full original · 80 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: From his life by an anonymous writer in, or about, 760; quite trustworthy.

Gaudentius was a native of Ivrea (Eporœdia), under the shadows of the Alps; he was brought up as a Christian, and exhibited early indications of piety. On reaching man's estate he went to Novara, was ordained priest, and became so distinguished for his sanctity, that S. Ambrose [bishop of Milan (d. 397)] visited him. When Constantius, the Arian [followers of Arius, who taught that the Son is a created being, not fully God] Emperor, exiled S. Eusebius [Eusebius of Caesarea (d. c. 339), the first historian of the Church], the Catholic Bishop of Vercelli, Gaudentius went into exile with him; on his return he was elected to the episcopal throne of Novara.

Feast days

Feast: January 22

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Gaudentius of Novara's story, and a nudge to keep going.

Also on January 22
St. Vincent

St. Vincent

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Bl. Walter of Bierbeeke

January 22 · Feast
← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Sources

Credits

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new and revised edition (Edinburgh: John Grant, 1914; first edition 1872). Public domain.

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new and revised edition (Edinburgh: John Grant, 1914; first edition 1872). Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.