Bénézet (Benedict, Benezet, Benet, Benoît; c. 1163 – 1184) was a saint of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Biography

Christian tradition states that he was a shepherd boy who saw a vision during an eclipse in 1177 which led him to build a bridge over the Rhône River at Avignon. He was told that

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

s would watch over his flocks in his absence. He built the bridge single-handedly; ecclesiastical and civil authorities refused to help him. Bénézet, it is said, lifted a huge stone into place, and announced it would be the start of the foundation. This would become the Pont Saint-Bénézet. According to the legend, there were shouts of "Miracle! Miracle!" when Bénézet had laid the first stone. Eighteen miracles occurred in total: the blind had their vision restored, the deaf could hear again, cripples could walk; and hunchbacks had their backs straightened. Bénézet thus won support for his project from wealthy sponsors who, it is claimed, formed themselves into the Bridge-Building Brotherhood to fund its construction.

Veneration

After his death, Bénézet was interred on the bridge itself, in a small chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas,

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of mariners, standing on one of the bridge's surviving piers on the Avignon side. His

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tang ...

were enshrined there until 1669, when a flood washed away part of the bridge. His coffin, recovered, was opened and the body of Bénézet was found to be

incorrupt Incorruptibility is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their ...

. The relics were

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

Avignon Cathedral Avignon Cathedral ( French: ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame des Doms d'Avignon'') is a Roman Catholic church located next to the Palais des Papes in Avignon, France. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Avignon. The cathedral is a Romanesqu ...

and thence to the Celestine church of Saint Didier. The remains of the bridge are still a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

site.*Gross, Ernie. ''This Day in Religion''. New York: Neil-Schuman Publishers, 1990. .

References

External links

Saints of April 14: Bénézet

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benezet Medieval French saints 1163 1184 deaths 12th-century Christian saints Incorrupt saints

Biography

Veneration

See also

References

External links