St. Godfrey of Amiens

St. Godfrey of Amiens (c. 1066 – 1115) was a Frenchman offered to God as a child and raised at the abbey of Mont-Saint-Quentin, where he became a monk and was ordained a priest. Appointed abbot of the decayed monastery of Nogent-sous-Coucy, he restored it to fervor and discipline through his own austere example, and his reputation for reform led to his being made bishop of Amiens around 1104, despite his own reluctance to accept the honor.

As bishop he pursued the ideals of the Gregorian reform with uncompromising zeal, combating simony, insisting on clerical celibacy and discipline, and defending the rights and morals of the Church against powerful opponents, which brought him hardship and opposition. Longing at times for the peace of the cloister, he once withdrew to the Grande Chartreuse but was persuaded to return to his flock. Austere, charitable to the poor, and firm in principle, he died in 1115 and is venerated as a saint and a model reforming bishop.