Bus, César de, Venerable

BUS, CÉSAR de, venerable. - Priest, b. at Cavaillon on 3 Feb. 1544, d. at Avignon on 15 Apr. 1607. Of a family of Italian, perhaps Milanese, origin, he was captain of the guard of Carlo IX, poet, and dramatist. In 1547 he abandoned his dissolute life and, having become a priest, devoted himself with apostolic zeal to the catechetical instruction of the people. He was joined by his cousin G. B. Romillon, a convert from Calvinism. Other priests followed them, and thus arose the Congregation of Secular Priests of Christian Doctrine, living in community without vows, as the Oratorians of de Bérulle and the Sulpicians were later to do. To facilitate the work of his disciples, he wrote Instructions, which were published in 1666. His cause of beatification is in progress, and in 1821 his virtues were approved as heroic.