Ruricius II

Who they were

Saint Ruricius II, or perhaps Proculus, was a bishop of Limoges, fourth in the diocesan list, after Saint Ruricius I and before Blessed Esocius. His name appears in the oldest episcopal catalogue of the diocese, kept in a manuscript of the monk Adémar de Chabannes, later expanded by Bernard Itier and then by Bernard Gui; all the names in these lists are of doubtful historicity before the fifth century.

The dates of his rule are uncertain, but he is thought to have governed the diocese before 535 and after 549; he was the nephew of his namesake and predecessor. Legend says that as a proud young man he lived a loose, luxurious life until God entrusted him to the hermit Saint Junianus, who cured him of an illness doctors could not treat and taught him the true value of humility. His episcopate began before 535, the year of the Council of Clermont, which he attended; he also took part in the fourth Council of Orléans in 541 and sent a representative to the following one in 549, apparently dying soon after. He was buried in the church of Saint Junianus, which he had built over the saint's tomb in gratitude for his cure. There is no evidence of any ancient devotion to him; today his feast is kept on 17 October.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

Sixth-century bishop of Limoges, cured of illness as a young man by the hermit Saint Junianus and later buried in the church he built over his tomb.