Hierarch
Hierarch Арнольд (Арнульф) Мецкий
ок. 582 — †640
Hierarch Arnulf (Arnold), Bishop of Metz — a Frankish saint of the undivided Church, an ancestor of the Carolingian dynasty; though married, he later became Bishop of Metz, and in his later years withdrew to the Vosges mountains, where he lived as a hermit for 12 years.
Hierarch Arnulf (Arnold) was born around 582 into a noble Frankish family. Before receiving holy orders he was married and became one of the ancestors of the future dynasty of Frankish kings — the Carolingians (through his son Ansegisel, whose descendant Charles Martel became the grandfather of Charlemagne). Around 612 he was made Bishop of the city of Metz in Austrasia (modern Germany/France), where he witnessed and took part in the fierce struggle for power at the Frankish court. According to his life, when a fire broke out in the cellars of the royal palace in Metz, threatening to engulf the whole city, Bishop Arnulf courageously stood before the flames and, making the sign of the cross, halted the fire's spread. In his later years he left his episcopal see and withdrew as a hermit to the Vosges mountains, where he lived an angelic life for 12 years. He reposed peacefully in 640. As a saint of the era of the undivided Church (before 1054), he is also venerated in Orthodoxy. His memory is kept on July 18/31.
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