Urban of Langres

Saint Urban of Langres
Born 327
Died ca. 390
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Beatified pre-Congregation
Canonized pre-Congregation
Feast April 2; 23 January in Langres
Attributes bishop with a bunch of grapes or a vine at his side; a book with a wine vessel on it; grapes on a missal as he holds the triple cross[1]
Patronage Langres; Dijon; vine-growers, vine-dressers, gardeners, vintners, and coopers; invoked against blight, frost, storms, alcoholism, and faintness

Saint Urban of Langres (327 – ca. 390) was a French saint and bishop. He served as the sixth bishop of Langres from 374 until his death. Saint Lodegaria was his sister.[2]

Urban was the bishop of Langres, France, beginning in 374. Legend states that soon after taking his position, political turmoil erupted, and he was driven from his house. St. Urban hid from his persecutors in a vineyard. The vine-dressers in the area concealed him, and he took the opportunity to convert them to Christianity. Those same vine-dressers then helped him in his covert ministry, as he moved from one town to another via their vineyards. Due to this work, and to Urban’s devotion to the Holy Blood, he developed great affection to all the people in the wine industry, and they for him. Urban is thus the patron saint of all those who work in the wine industry and is invoked against blight and alcoholism.[3]

Veneration

The feast day of St. Urban is 2 April, or 23 January in Langres, France. The cult of St. Urban of Langres were closely associated with the weather. Several old German sayings reflect this:

Pankraz und Urban ohne Regen / bringen großen Erntesegen
[The feast days of] Pancras and Urban without rain/ bring big rich harvests.[4]

Pancras, one of the so-called Ice Saints, was a saint closely associated with the weather.

Das Wetter auf St. Urban zeigt des Herbstes Wetter an.
The weather on St. Urban's Day will indicate what the autumn weather will be like.[4]

These are sayings that are similar to those said of the feast days of Swithun, Medardus, Godelieve, and other "weather saints." Another saying ties more closely to Urban’s particular patronage of wine growers:

Ist Sonnenschein am Urbanstag / gedeiht der Wein nach alter Sag
If there is sunshine on St. Urban's Day/ the wine thrives afterwards, they say

Notes

  1. ↑ This is because he was confused with Pope Urban I in southern Germany.
  2. ↑ Forum Orthodoxe Francophone
  3. ↑ Saints.SQPN.com
  4. 1 2 Urban von Langres - Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon

References

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