Statue of St. Genesius in the Church Saint-Genès des Carmes de Clermont-Ferrand in France. Photo by Aavitus.
Twenty-first Bishop of Clermont, d. 662. Feast, 3 June. The legend, which is of a rather late date (Acta SS., June, I, 315), says that he was descended from a senatorial family of Auvergne. Having received a liberal education he renounced his worldly prospects for the service of the Church, became archdeacon of Clermont under Bishop Proculus, and succeeded him in the episcopacy in 656. He laboured earnestly for the maintenance of Christian morality, and founded a hospital at Clermont and also the Abbey of Manlieu. After five years, fearing for his own soul, he left Clermont secretly and went to Rome in the garb of a pilgrim. The bereaved flock sent a deputation to the Holy See. Genesius was found and induced to return. He then built a convent at Chantoin. He was buried in the church which he had built at Clermont in honour of St. Symphorian, and which later took his own name. In the life St. Prix (Praejectus), Genesius is mentioned as one of the protectors of his childhood.
DUCHESNE, Fastes episcopaux (Paris, 1907), II, 37; Gallia Chr., Ii, 245.
FRANCIS MERSHMAN (Catholic Encyclopedia)
