Carthusian Saints (PDF) - Charterhouse of the Transfiguration

3.
BLESSED AYRALD
- FRANCE -
(JANUARY 2, 1146)
Ayrald was born to noble parents in Southeastern France toward
the end of the eleventh century. One tradition makes him a son of
Count William of Burgundy. This would, if true, make him the
brother of Archbishop Guido of Vienne who was elected Pope in
1119 and as Calixtus II governed the Church from 1119 to 1124. In
any case, Ayrald spurned his wealthy background and entered still
young at the Charterhouse of Portes. Since his novitiate he stood out
among the other monks by his monastic virtues. No one could meet
him without being attracted by his kindness, humility and obedience,
which were the fruits of his continual union with God. Hence it was
not surprising that eventually the community elected him Prior.
The little town of Saint-Jean-de-
Maurienne, in the French Alps, was in
those days a bishopric and needed a new
Bishop. The cathedral chapter could
think of no one they would rather have
than Dom Ayrald, the renown of whose
virtues had reached them. He, of course,
recoiled, but the Pope and the secular
overlord, the count of Savoy, insisted
and thus overcame his hesitations.
As a Bishop, Ayrald was very faithful
to his pastoral activities and succeeded
to combine fidelity to his Carthusian
monasticism with his new episcopal
duties. He always wore his hair shirt and
his white woolen habit and above all, he
preserved a spirit of silence and solitude
in the midst of the many concerns the
spiritual and material administration of a diocese brings with it.
Whenever possible, he would return to spend a few days at Portes, to
give himself to prayer and fasting.
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