Saint Eustasius

Eustasius was born in France around 560 and became a monk at Luxeuil, the abbey Columbanus had founded around 590. He became his disciple, and one of the best: a skilled teacher, he ran the monastery’s schools, which were open to everyone — monks, lay nobles, and the poor too, which was anything but obvious at the time. In 611 he became abbot of Luxeuil in a difficult situation: Columbanus had had to leave the monastery because of his clashes with the Merovingian nobles, and had even been arrested. It fell to Eustasius to hold the house together. The story most often told about him concerns Fara, a girl who wanted to consecrate herself to God against the will of her father, Count Chagneric, who had promised her in marriage. Columbanus had baptized her and recognized that vocation in her; her father had promised to respect it, then changed his mind. The girl fell seriously ill, lost her sight and sank into a kind of stupor. It was her mother who reminded her husband of the promise he had made, and who called Eustasius. He told the count that if he let his daughter go free she would get well; the father promised again, and after the blessing Fara recovered. That girl is Saint Fara, and the monastery she founded gave its name to the town of Faremoutiers. Eustasius died at Luxeuil in 629. If your name is Eustace or Eustasio, today is your name day.