St. Maximus of Riez

St. Maximus of Riez (c. 388 – c. 460) was born in Provence, in southern Gaul, and entered the famous island monastery of Lérins, a great nursery of saints and bishops in the early Church of Gaul. On the departure of St. Honoratus to become bishop of Arles, Maximus was chosen abbot of Lérins, which he governed with wisdom and holiness, drawing many to the monastic life.

So esteemed was he that when neighboring churches sought him as their bishop he fled to avoid the honor, once hiding in a forest to escape election; but at length he was made bishop of Riez, which he served with humility and diligent pastoral care until his death. A friend of the leading churchmen of his day and reputed a worker of miracles, he was praised in sermons by his successors and venerated as a saint, one of the shining lights of the monastic and episcopal tradition of fifth-century Gaul.