3 November is the feast day of Saint Hubertus.
In 655, Hubertus was born into a noble family in Toulouse, in the south of France. In his youth he went to the Austrasian court in Metz, where he was given a high position by Pepin of Herstal. After a setback, he withdrew to the Ardennes, where he loved to hunt.
On Good Friday in 683, Hubertus went hunting with his pack of dogs, even though this went against the standards of decency of that time. They were chasing a great white stag. Hubertus prepared to shoot, but the stag turned toward him and a radiant cross appeared between its large antlers. A voice was heard telling him to go to Lambertus of Maastricht.
Hubertus was brought to a standstill — both literally and inwardly.
The voice called him to change his life and follow Christ. He left his luxurious life behind, gave away all his possessions, and devoted his life to God.
Lambertus was the Bishop of Maastricht and became Hubertus’s teacher. During this period of learning, Hubertus went on a pilgrimage to Rome, and during that time Bishop Lambertus was murdered.
After returning home, Hubertus succeeded his teacher Lambertus. In this way he became Bishop of Maastricht and Liège.
During his time as bishop, he healed a man suffering from rabies — something people died from in those days.
In the centuries that followed, he became the patron saint of hunters, animals, and nature. On his feast day — today, 3 November — his bread, known as Hubertus bread or Hubkesbrood, is also blessed. It is made with aniseed.
In the Liège region, hundreds of churches, chapels, monasteries, schools, associations, and other institutions are named after him. Many place names and street names also refer to Saint Hubertus.
Another legacy is that his name lives on in the Saint Hubert dog, his hunting dogs — the Bloodhound, or Chien de Saint Hubert.
And as befits a self-respecting saint, he naturally has his own beer.
His symbol became the stag with the cross in its antlers: an image of Christ seeking us out, even when we are chasing in the wrong direction.
