Hierarch
Hierarch Hubert, Bishop of Liège
ок. 656 — †30 мая 727
Also known as: Губерт Льежский, апостол Арденн
Holy Hierarch Hubert, Bishop of Liège — the "Apostle of the Ardennes," converted by a vision of a crucifix between a stag's antlers while hunting on Good Friday; disciple and successor of Hieromartyr Lambert of Maastricht, whose relics he translated to Liège (720), thereby moving the episcopal see there; patron of hunters.
Holy Hierarch Hubert was born around 656, the son of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine (per Orthodox sources), of a noble Aquitanian lineage.
According to tradition, having been widowed, while hunting on Good Friday he pursued a stag which, turning to face him, revealed a crucifix between its antlers; the hierarch heard a voice calling him to conversion — this event is traditionally regarded as the beginning of his path to the Church and underlies his veneration as patron of hunters.
He became a disciple of Hieromartyr Lambert, Bishop of Maastricht, was ordained by him, and underwent monastic training at Stavelot; he inherited the episcopal see around 705 after Lambert's martyrdom.
He actively preached Christianity to the pagan population of the Ardennes forest and the region of Toxandria (between Tongeren and the confluence of the Waal and Rhine), earning the title "Apostle of the Ardennes"; he was noted for allowing new converts to decide for themselves whether to destroy pagan idols, rather than compelling it.
In 720, following a vision he had received, he solemnly translated the relics of Hieromartyr Lambert from Maastricht to Liège with the assistance of neighboring bishops. A basilica was built on the site of Lambert's martyrdom, becoming a cathedral in 721 — thereby effectively transferring the see from Maastricht to Liège, and St. Hubert became the first Bishop of Liège.
He died on May 30, 727, at Fura (Brabant).