Their story
Richarius, called Riquier in France, was born at Centula in Ponthieu to devout parents who had no wealth to leave him, and he grew up doing farm work. Two Irish priests, Cadoc and Frichor, passed through the district and were ill-treated by the people. Richarius took them in, and in return they taught him the way of perfect virtue.
From then on he fasted on barley bread sprinkled with ashes, drank only water, and spent his nights in prayer. He was ordained priest and began to preach. He went to England for a time to deepen his own spiritual life, then came back to preach in his own country. King Dagobert I wanted to hear him, and the saint spoke so movingly about the vanity of the world that the king gave him many gifts. Richarius gave them to the poor and used them to found the monastery of Centula in 638, and later a second house, Forest-Montier.
He ended his life as a hermit in the forest of Cressy with a single companion, living so austerely that, Butler says, he seemed almost to forget he had a body. He died about 645, and his relics became the chief treasure of Centula, which is now called St. Riquier.
