The patron of Avise is Saint Brice, celebrated on 13 November in the parish church that bears his name.
Brice was educated by Saint Martin in the monastery of Marmoutier, and in 397 succeeded him as bishop of Tours, a see he held for thirty-three years. Some enemies, envious of his fame, bribed a woman to accuse him falsely: Brice, certain of his own honesty, had the woman's newborn son declare in public who the real father was, and the three-month-old baby spoke to say it was not him. When his opponents claimed he had made the child speak by diabolical arts, Brice filled his mitre with burning coals and carried it, unharmed, to Saint Martin's tomb. Despite the miracle he still had to withdraw to Rome, and only returned to Tours seven years later, in 437, welcomed by a rejoicing crowd. He died in 444 and was buried on 13 November in the church of Saint Martin, which he himself had built.
