GERARD (or GERALD) of SAUVE-MAJEURE (Silva Maior), St., abbot. — Born at Corbie c. 1025, died 5 Apr. 1095. He was a Benedictine monk in his native monastery of Corbie, where he wrote a Life of St Adalard, published in Acta SS. Iunii, I, Paris 1863, pp. 111-37.
Though infirm, he made a first pilgrimage to Rome, the Gargano and Monte Cassino, and a second as far as Jerusalem. On his return the monks of Laon asked him to be their abbot, but he soon left them because of their lack of discipline and in 1077 founded the monastery of Sauve-Majeure (Grande-Selve) near Bordeaux. This became the centre of a monastic congregation which at its height had 55 priories and 111 parishes, and in 1667 was incorporated into the Congregation of St Maur.
Canonized by Celestine III on 27 Apr. 1197. Feast, 5 Apr.