Goar of Aquitaine

Life

Goar was born in 585 to a noble family in Aquitaine and was noted for piety even in his youth. After ordination as a priest, he became known for forceful preaching but desired to serve God more discreetly. In 618 he traveled to the diocese of Trier to become a hermit near Oberwesel. Despite his intention for solitude, his renown for holiness spread.

He was frequently visited by travelers seeking advice. On one occasion, two pilgrims derided him to Bishop Rusticus of Trier, accusing Goar of hypocrisy regarding his vows of poverty and chastity. Called to defend himself, Goar effected a decisive miracle that proved his innocence and indicated Rusticus was guilty of imprudence and lasciviousness. Another version states Rusticus accused Goar of sorcery, Goar was cleared by Sigebert, and after Rusticus was deposed, the saint was offered the see. Goar asked for time to reflect, returned to Oberwesel, fell ill, and died on 6 July 649, never having become bishop.

Veneration

A small church was dedicated to Goar in 1768 in the town on the Rhine that bears his name (St-Goar). Charlemagne is reported to have built a church over the site of Goar's hermitage, around which the town of Sankt Goar am Rhein grew on the left bank of the Rhine between Wesel and Boppard. A life of Saint Goar (Vita Sancti Goaris) was written in 839 by the monk Wandalbert of Prüm. This semi-legendary account details various miracles.

The first was the one by which Goar proved Rusticus's unsavory nature: a foundling was brought to the saint, and when the bishop called on Goar to name the father, Goar named Rusticus, who begged forgiveness. Another miracle explains Goar's depiction as hanging his hat on a sunbeam; when he refused Sigebert's invitation to the See of Trier, he threw his cappa over a sunbeam, and the garment suspended as though the shaft of light were solid. Goar's feast day is 6 July.

He is variously depicted in art as a hermit being given milk by three hinds, holding a pitcher, with the devil on his shoulder or under his feet, and holding the church of Saint Goar am Rhein.