Urban of Langres

Urban of Langres (327 – c. 390) was a Gallo-Roman saint and bishop. He served as the sixth bishop of Langres from 374 until his death. Leodegaria was his sister.^[2]

Saint Urban of Langres
Bishop of Langres
Born	327
Died	c. 390
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church
Canonized	pre-Congregation
Feast	2 April 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

Life

Urban was the bishop of Lingonum (now Langres), Gallia Lugdunensis, beginning in 374. Legend states that soon after taking his position, political turmoil erupted, and he was driven from his house. 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. Urban developed great affection for all the people in the wine industry, and they for him. Urban is thus the patron saint of vine-dressers.^[3]

Wooden statue of St. Urban of Langres, 18th century

Veneration

The feast day of Saint Urban is 2 April,^[4] or 23 January in Langres, France. The cult of Saint Urban of Langres was 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.^[5]

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.^[5]

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

He is often confused with Pope Urban I, who wears a papal tiara.

References

1. . This is because he was confused with Pope Urban I in southern Germany.
2. Dunbar, Agnes Baillie Cunninghame (1904). A Dictionary of Saintly Women. Bell. p. 458. Retrieved 2018-01-01. St. Leodegaria, April 2, sister of St. Urban, Bishop of Langres, Honoured at Dijon, Stadler.
3. Monks of Ramsgate. "Urban". Book of Saints 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 27 June 2017 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
4. "Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome". www.orthodoxengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
5. Urban von Langres - Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon

External links

• "Urban von Langres" (in German). Retrieved 2018-01-01.
• "Urban von Langres" (in German). Archived from the original on 2007-01-12. Retrieved 2018-01-01.