Abstract: | This article uses the sermons in the anonymous collection known as the Eusebius Gallicanus to explore the ways in which preachers in fifth-century Gaul tried to build urban Christian communities, focusing particularly on the subset of sermons which deal with local saints. In these sermons preachers adapt a tradition of Christian language and thought to the specific circumstances they faced. They seize the opportunity provided by their subject matter to evoke a vision which is urban, localized, and which stands in contrast to more 'universal' conceptions of Christian community. |