Saint Cybard (or Eparchius, Eparque, Ybar, Ybard, Separchius, Cybar; 504 – 1 July 581) was a monk and a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

who inhabited a cave beneath the walls of

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

for forty-four years. The Latin form of his name is ''Eparchius'', and it also appears in French as ''Éparche'' and ''Ybars'', as in the commune of

Saint-Ybars Saint-Ybars is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Saint-Ybars are called ''Eparchois''. Geography The Lèze forms part of the commune's western border. See also *Communes of the Ari� ...

Life

Cybard was probably born at

Trémolat Trémolat (; ) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Geography Trémolat is from the town of Périgueux and is situated along the river Dordogne in the Périgord region. Trémolat station has ...

in the

Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; or ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is divided into f ...

. He was ordained a priest by Aptonius III, the

Bishop of Angoulême A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

, in 542. His story is told in

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...

''Historia Francorum'' (VI, 8). An anonymous hagiography entitled ''Vita et virtutes Eparchii reclusi Ecolismensis'' ("The life and virtues of Eparchius the recluse of Angoulême") tells how "alone he ... walked by night to the spot where he should be a recluse. Having finished his journey and his prayers, he lay down his head on a rock." That spot was, according to the same source, at "a remote location, far from the city, and from above on the side of the mountain trickled a stream of flowing water, and the river Charente started out from there."Gervers (1967), 14, note 28: ''locus remotus et civitas procul et desuper latere montis fons aquae fluens manaret, et Carantonis fluvius ab alio excluderet latere.'' The

Abbey of Saint-Cybard The Abbey of Saint-Cybard was a Benedictine monastery located just outside the northern city walls of Angoulême. According to Gregory of Tours in the ''Historia Francorum'' (VI, 8), the monastery was founded by Saint Eparchius in the sixth cen ...

was built over Cybard's cave after his death, a church in La Rochefoucauld is dedicated to him, and a quarter of Angoulême bears his name. He is the

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

of the diocese and his

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is 1 July.

Butler's account

The hagiographer

Alban Butler Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiography, hagiographer. Born in Northamptonshire, he studied at the English College, in Douai, Douay, France where he later taught philosophy and theology. He s ...

wrote in his ''Lives of the Primitive Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints'', under July 1:

Life

Butler's account

Citations

Sources

Further reading