Feastday: September 25 Patron: Diocese of Macerata-Tolentino Birth: 1745 Death: 1824
Vincent Strambi was the son of a druggist, and was born on January 1 at Civitavecchia, Italy. He resisted his parents' wish that he become a diocesan priest, and though he studied at the diocesan seminary and was ordained in 1767, he joined the Passionists in 1768 after attending a retreat given by St. Paulof the Cross. Vincent became a professor of theology, was made provincial in 1781, and in 1801, was appointed bishop of Macera and Tolentino. He was expelled from his See when he refused to take an oath of alliance to Napoleon in 1808, but returned in 1813 with the downfall of Napoleon. When Napoleon escaped from Elba, Murat made Macerta his headquarters, and when his troops were defeated by the Austrians, Vincent dissuaded him from sacking and destroying the town. He imposed reform in his See that caused threats to his life, labored for his people during a typhus epidemic, and resigned his See on the death of Pope Pius VII to become one of the advisers of his old friend Pope Leo XII in Rome. Vincent died on January 1, and was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950. His feast day is September 25.
Vincenzo Strambi (1 January 1745 - 1 January 1824) - in religious Vincenzo Maria di San Paolo - was an ItalianRoman Catholic prelate who was a professed member from the Passionistsand served as the Bishop of Macerata-Tolentino from 1801 until his resignation in 1823. Strambi became a Passionist despite its founder Saint Paul of the Cross refusing him several times due to Strambi's frail constitution. But he practiced Passionist austerities which continued after his appointment as a bishop that saw him favor his religious habit rather than the usual episcopal garb. He was known for his charitable projects that included the care of the poor and the reduction of diocesan expenditures in order to provide for them; he took special interests in the education and ongoing formation of priests.[2]
Strambi was exiled from his diocese 1808 after he refused to take an oath of allegiance to the First French Empireunder Napoleon who had annexed Macerata as part of his empire. He spent that time in Novara and Milan before he managed to return to his see in a triumphant return in 1814.[3] He served as bishop for the remainder of the pontificate of Pope Pius VII before his successor Pope Leo XII accepted Strambi's resignation and summoned him to Rome as his advisor. But the sudden illness of the pope - which seemed to prove fatal - prompted Strambi to offer his own life to God so that the pope could live. Leo XII rallied to great surprise but Strambi died of a stroke within the week.[4]
His canonization cause opened after his death on 25 June 1845 and he was named as Venerable on 1 April 1894. Pope Pius XI beatified Bishop Strambi in 1925 while Pope Pius XII later canonized him a couple of decades later in 1950.[3]
Contents
1Life
1.1Education and priesthood
1.2Episcopate
1.3Declining health and death
2Sainthood
3References
4Further reading
5External links
Life
Education and priesthood
Vincenzo Strambi was born in 1745 in Civitavecchia[5] as the last of four children to Giuseppe Strambi and Eleonora Gori; his three elder siblings all died in childhood. His father served as a pharmacist known for his charitable works and his mother was noted for her piety.
He was often a troublesome child who excelled in athletics and became more devout in his adolescence. The Friars Minor oversaw his education and he taught his fellow students the catechism. His desire to become a priest was met encouragement from his parents and he commenced his ecclesial studies in November 1762. It was at this time that he became quite attracted to the notion of the religious life though his frail health saw him refused admission into the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and the Vincentians. Strambi was noted for his oratorical gifts and so was sent to Romefor studies in Sacred Eloquence and thereafter continued his theological studies with the Dominicans at Viterbo. While still a student he was appointed prefect of the seminarians in Montefiascone and thereafter acting-rector of seminarians at Bagnorea.
Before his ordination to the priesthoodhe made a retreat at the convent in Vetralla which belonged to the Passionists; it was here that he met the founder Saint Paul of the Cross. Strambi became impressed and enthralled with what he had seen and admired their ardent devotion. This made him ask the founder to be admitted into the order. But he was refused since Paul of the Cross believed that Strambi did not have the stamina for the Passionist life. Strambi left the convent on 18 December 1767 since he was to be ordained.[4]
He was received into the diaconate in Bagnoregio on 14 March 1767.[3] Strambi was ordained to the priesthood on 19 December 1767 and then returned to Rome to further his theological studies. Here he was noted for his studies of the life and works of Saint Thomas Aquinas. He still felt called to the Passionists and made several trips to see Paul of the Cross to beg to be admitted into the order. In September 1768 the founder relented and Strambi commenced his novitiate assuming the name Vincenzo Maria di San Paolo. His parents were not too pleased with this and his father objected to the decision citing his son's frail health as a sign that Strambi would die due to the rigid penances. He made his profession on 24 September 1769 and continued his studies with a particular emphasis on the Church Fathers and on Sacred Scripture.
Strambi preached missions - a focal point of the Passionist charism - and drew large crowds due to the effectiveness of his preaching. There were even several occasions where he preached before bishops and cardinals. In 1773 he was made a professor of theological studies at the order's house in Rome - at Santi Giovanni e Paolo - and it was here that he was present at the death of Paul of the Cross. The founder said to Strambi on his deathbed: "You will do great things! You will do great good!"[2] It was after this that he occupied several high offices in the order such as the rector of the Roman house and the provincial for the Roman province. In 1784 he was relieved of these duties in order to write a biographical account of Paul of the Cross[5] which was later published in London (Blessed Dominic Barberi wrote the preface). The Napoleonic invasion in the Papal Statesand the anti-religious decrees forced Strambi to flee Rome in 1798, though it was in vain as the French forces in May 1799 took him prisoner. He managed to return to Rome not long after this.
Episcopate
The death of Pope Pius VI saw his friend Cardinal Leonardo Antonelli nominate him for the papal see and he even received five votes in the conclave. The new Pope Pius VII - in mid-1801 - appointed Strambi as the Bishop of Macerata-Tolentino[5] and he became the first bishop to come from the Passionists. This news - before it was made public - surprised and frightened him and he rushed to Rome in an effort to get the appointment cancelled before it was publicized. Even his good friend Cardinal Antonelli counselled him to accept the nomination for the welfare of the Church. Strambi took his case to the pope who listened and told Strambi the decision to name him a bishop was "a divine inspiration" he was firm on. Cardinal Antonelli presided over his episcopal consecration at Santi Giovanni e Paolo. But he continued to wear his Passionist habit in private despite his higher office. His episcopate was marked with a concern for the poor and he even begged on their behalf on occasion. He took great care in the education of diocesan priests and paid close attention to the teaching standards in the diocesan seminaries. His charitable works included the establishment of orphanages and homes for the aged. He still practiced the frugalities the Passionists advocated and this applied to his living and eating habits: he never did permit more than two dishes for his meals.[2]
Napoleon - in 1809 - issued a decree that annexed Macerata as part of the French Empire. The French ordered that this decree be read in all churches but Strambi refused to do so. He also refused to provide the French with a list of all the men in his diocese who would be suitable for service in the armed forces. The French arrested him in September 1808 for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the French invaders and was then exiled and cut off from his diocese. He was first sent to Novara but was sent in October 1809 to Milan where he spent the remainder of his exile as a guest of the Barnabites.[4][3] He returned to his see in 1814 with vast crowds lining the route of his return. Pius VII had returned from his own exile and remarked:
"This holy man overwhelms me".[6]
The invaders had left much damage in their wake - not just destruction to infrastructure - but a lax sense of morals and values which Strambi worked hard to rebuild. He instituted strict reforms that ended corruption to the point where he received some death threats. Strambi was also the spiritual director of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi - a friend - as well as Saint Gaspare del Bufalo and Saint Vincenzo Pallotti.[3]
But the French returned to Macerata in 1817, to set up their headquarters aiming to use that location to attack the Austrian forces. The people turned to Bishop Strambi for fear of what the French would do. His response was to gather priests and seminarians in his private chapel to beg for God's intercession and after one and a half hours he rose and declared that Macerata would be saved through the intercession of the Mother of God. The French were indeed defeated though the local people feared what would happen during their retreat. Strambi met with the leader of the French forces and begged him not to enter the town to which General Murat agreed. Strambi then secured the assurances of the Austrian generals that the French soldiers would not be slaughtered.
He was a close friend of Carlo Odescalchi and was pleased to learn that the pope named him as a cardinal on 10 March 1823. Strambi tried several times to secure his resignation from Pius VII but on one occasion the pope reprimanded him for using ill health as a vain excuse and dismissed him. Strambi tried once again in 1823 in a letter to Cardinal Ercole Consalvi to the pope but the letter arrived in Rome when the pontiff broke his thigh in a fall and died soon after.[4]
Declining health and death
In 1823 his health started to decline and Pope Leo XII gave him his permission to retire. He was then appointed as Leo XII's personal advisor and took up residence at the Quirinal Palace in Rome. It was during his time in this office that Napoleon's sister Pauline returned to the faith with Strambi's guidance. Strambi's last private aide around this stage was Monsignor Catervo Serrani.[2] When the pope fell ill he asked God that his life should be taken rather than that of the pope. The pope recovered on 24 December 1823 and Strambi died in 1824 within the week due to a stroke he had suffered on the previous 27 December.[3] His remains were placed at the Quirinal Palace for mourners to see and was then buried in the Santi Giovanni e Paolo church. Mourners who viewed his mortal remains included Cardinal Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari - future pope - who took Strambi's right hand in his own and formed it with the greatest of ease into the sign of the cross.[4] His remains were later transferred on 12 November 1957 to the Chiesa di San Filippo in Macerata.
Sainthood
The cause for Strambi's canonization opened on a diocesan level for the collection of testimonies and documents in relation to his life and his episcopal works. The formal introduction did not come until 25 June 1845 when he was named as a Servant of God. The recognition of his life of heroic virtue led Pope Leo XIII to name him as Venerableon 1 April 1894.[4]
Pope Pius XI presided over the beatification rites on 26 April 1925 and signed a decree on 25 November that allowed the cause to continue. Pope Pius XII canonized Strambi in Saint Peter's Basilica on 11 June 1950.
priest with Iraja (Herais). with brother, Abadir. We are children martyrs of St. Basilides sister. Basilides is called the Father of Kings. We were brought under arrest to Antinoe, Kemet, beheaded with 3685 companions and other martyrs with Cluthus, a physician and priest. Also martyred with us were Apa Paphnutius of Tentyra, priest; Apa Isaac of Tiphre, priest; Apa Shamul of Taraphia, priest; Apa Simeon of Tapcho, priest; Sissiniusof Tantatho, priest; Moses of Psammanius, priest; Philotheus of Pemdje, priest; Macarius, of Fayum, priest; Maximus of Vuchim, priest; Macroni of Thoni, priest; Senuthius, of Buasti, priest; Simeon of Thou, priest; priest Ptolemaeus, son of the Eparch, priest; Thomas of Tanphot, priest. Coptic calendar, 25 Sept.
Abadir and Iraja are saints in the Coptic Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
They are reported to have been children of the sister of Basilides, the father of kings. According to their legendstory, Abadir and Iraja fled from Antioch to Alexandria, were arrested there, brought to Antinoe, Kemet (the Ancient African name of Egypt) and beheaded there with Cluthus, a physician and priest, and other 3,685 companions.[1] These included the following priests:
Apa Paphnutius of Tentyra
Apa Isaac of Tiphre
Apa Shamul of Taraphia
Apa Simon of Tapcho
Sissinus of Tantatho
Theodore of Shotep
Moses of Psammaniu
Philotheus of Pemdje
Macarius of Fayum
Maximus of Vuchim
Macroni of Thoni
Senuthius of Buasti
Simeon of Thou
Ptolemaeus, son of the Eparch, and
Thomas of Tanphot.
Abadir and Iraja had a church dedicated to them in Asyut in Egypt. Their feast dayis on September 25 (Gregorian Calendar) and October 8 (Julian Calendar). The text of their Passion exists in both Sahidic and Bohairic Coptic and fragments can be found at the National Library, Vienna, Wiener Papyrussammlung, K2563 a-l, ed. Orlandi, 1974, the National Library, Paris, Copte 129.16.104 and the Vatican Library, Rome, Copti 63, fols. 1-65, ed. Hyvernat, 1886-1887.[2]
A summary of their lives, commemorated on Tout 28 (October 8), can be found in the Copto-Arabic Synaxarion.[3]
with Iraja (Herais), with brother, Abadir. We are children martyrs of St. Basilides sister. Basilides is called the Father of Kings. We were brought under arrest to Antinoe, Kemet, beheaded with 3685 companions and other martyrs with Cluthus, a physician and priest.
Also martyred with us were Apa Paphnutius of Tentyra, priest; Apa Isaacof Tiphre, priest; Apa Shamul of Taraphia, priest; Apa Simeonof Tapcho, priest; Sissinius of Tantatho, priest; Theodore of Chotep, priest; Mosesof Psammanius, priest; Macarius, of Fayum, priest; Maximus of Vuchim, priest; Macroni of Thoni, priest; Senuthius, of Buasti, priest; Simeon of Thou, priest; priest Ptolemaeus, son of the Eparch, priest; Thomas of Tanphot, priest. Coptic calendar, 25 Sept.
Abadir and Iraja are saints in the Coptic Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
They are reported to have been children of the sister of Basilides, the father of kings. According to their legendstory, Abadir and Iraja fled from Antioch to Alexandria, were arrested there, brought to Antinoe, Kemet (the Ancient African name of Egypt) and beheaded there with Cluthus, a physician and priest, and other 3,685 companions.[1] These included the following priests:
Apa Paphnutius of Tentyra
Apa Isaac of Tiphre
Apa Shamul of Taraphia
Apa Simon of Tapcho
Sissinus of Tantatho
Theodore of Shotep
Moses of Psammaniu
Philotheus of Pemdje
Macarius of Fayum
Maximus of Vuchim
Macroni of Thoni
Senuthius of Buasti
Simeon of Thou
Ptolemaeus, son of the Eparch, and
Thomas of Tanphot.
Abadir and Iraja had a church dedicated to them in Asyut in Egypt. Their feast dayis on September 25 (Gregorian Calendar) and October 8 (Julian Calendar). The text of their Passion exists in both Sahidic and Bohairic Coptic and fragments can be found at the National Library, Vienna, Wiener Papyrussammlung, K2563 a-l, ed. Orlandi, 1974, the National Library, Paris, Copte 129.16.104 and the Vatican Library, Rome, Copti 63, fols. 1-65, ed. Hyvernat, 1886-1887.[2]
A summary of their lives, commemorated on Tout 28 (October 8), can be found in the Copto-Arabic Synaxarion.[3]
Martyred husband and wife. Paul and Tatta were a married couple in Damascus who, with their sons were put to death by Roman authorities during the persecution of the Church. The died under torture.
priest, Iraja (Herais). with brother, Abadir. We are children martyrs of St. Basilides' sister. Basilides is called the Father of Kings. We were brought under arrest to Antinoe, Kemet. Beheaded with 3685 companions and other martyrs with Cluthus, a physician and priest. Also martyred with us were Apa Paphnutius of Tentyra, priest; Apa Isaac of Tiphre, priest; Apa Shamul of Taraphia, priest; Apa Simeon of Tapcho, priest; Sissinius of Tantatho, priest; Theodore of Chotep, priest; Moses of Psammanius, priest; Philotheus of Pemdje, priest; Maximus of Vuchim, priest; Macroni of Thoni, priest; Senuthius, of Buasti, priest; Simeon of Thou, priest; Ptolemaeus, priest,son of the Eparch, priest; Thomas of Tanphot, priest. Coptic calendar, 25 Sept.
Abadir and Iraja are saints in the Coptic Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
They are reported to have been children of the sister of Basilides, the father of kings. According to their legendstory, Abadir and Iraja fled from Antioch to Alexandria, were arrested there, brought to Antinoe, Kemet (the Ancient African name of Egypt) and beheaded there with Cluthus, a physician and priest, and other 3,685 companions.[1] These included the following priests:
Apa Paphnutius of Tentyra
Apa Isaac of Tiphre
Apa Shamul of Taraphia
Apa Simon of Tapcho
Sissinus of Tantatho
Theodore of Shotep
Moses of Psammaniu
Philotheus of Pemdje
Macarius of Fayum
Maximus of Vuchim
Macroni of Thoni
Senuthius of Buasti
Simeon of Thou
Ptolemaeus, son of the Eparch, and
Thomas of Tanphot.
Abadir and Iraja had a church dedicated to them in Asyut in Egypt. Their feast dayis on September 25 (Gregorian Calendar) and October 8 (Julian Calendar). The text of their Passion exists in both Sahidic and Bohairic Coptic and fragments can be found at the National Library, Vienna, Wiener Papyrussammlung, K2563 a-l, ed. Orlandi, 1974, the National Library, Paris, Copte 129.16.104 and the Vatican Library, Rome, Copti 63, fols. 1-65, ed. Hyvernat, 1886-1887.[2]
A summary of their lives, commemorated on Tout 28 (October 8), can be found in the Copto-Arabic Synaxarion.[3]
Archbishop of Lyons, France, who suffered considerably from the political upheavals in the region following the death of Sigismund, King of Burgundy.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lyon(Latin: Archidioecesis Lugdunensis; French: Archidiocèse de Lyon), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Roman CatholicMetropolitan archdiocese in France. The title of Archbishop is currently vacant.[2]The Archbishops of Lyon serve as successors to Saint Pothinus and Saint Irenaeus, the first and second bishops of Lyon, respectively,[4] and are also called Primate of the Gauls.[5] It is one of the more prestigious archbishoprics within the French church, and its holder is usually promptly elevated to being a Cardinal. Currently, the Archdiocese is run by apostolic administrator Michel Dubost.[3]
Contents
1History
1.1Persecution
1.2Merovingian period
1.3Carolingian period
1.4Agobard
1.5Sovereignty
1.6Later Middle Ages
1.7Montazet controversy
1.81800s
1.91900s
2Saints
3Suffragan
3.1Dioceses
3.2Province
4Prelates
4.1Bishops of Lyon
4.2Archbishops of Lyon
4.3Primates of Gauls and Archbishop of Lyon
4.4Primates of Gauls and Archbishop of Lyon-Vienne
5See also
6References
7Bibliography
7.1Reference works
7.2Studies
7.3Sources
8External links
History
Persecution
The "Deacon of Vienne", who was martyred at Lyon during the persecution of 177, was probably a deacon installed at Vienne by the ecclesiastical authority of Lyon. The confluence of the Rhône and the Saône, where sixty Gallic tribes had erected the famous altar to Rome and Augustus, was also the centre from which Christianity was gradually propagated throughout Gaul. The presence at Lyon of numerous Asiatic Christians and their almost daily communications with the Orient were likely to arouse the susceptibilities of the Gallo-Romans. A persecution arose under Marcus Aurelius. Its victims at Lyon numbered forty-eight, half of them of Greek origin, half Gallo-Roman, among others Saint Blandina, and Saint Pothinus, first Bishop of Lyon, sent to Gaul by Saint Polycarp about the middle of the 2nd century. The legend according to which he was sent by Saint Clementdates from the 12th century and is without foundation. The letter addressed to the Christians of Asia and Phrygia in the name of the faithful of Vienne and Lyon, and relating the persecution of 177, is considered by Ernest Renan as one of the most extraordinary documents possessed by any literature; it is the baptismal certificate of Christianity in France. The successor of Saint Pothinus was the illustrious Saint Irenaeus (177-202).[citation needed]
The discovery on the Hill of Saint Sebastian of ruins of a naumachiacapable of being transformed into an amphitheatre, and of some fragments of inscriptions apparently belonging to an altar of Augustus, has led several archæologists to believe that the martyrs of Lyon suffered death on this hill. Very ancient tradition, however, represents the church of Ainay as erected at the place of their martyrdom. The crypt of Saint Pothinus, under the choir of the church of St. Nizier, was destroyed in 1884. But there are still revered at Lyon the prison cell of Saint Pothinus, where Anne of Austria, Louis XIV, and Pius VII came to pray, and the crypt of Saint Irenaeus built at the end of the 5th century by Saint Patiens, which contains the body of Saint Irenaeus. There are numerous funerary inscriptions of primitive Christianity in Lyon; the earliest dates from the year 334. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, the See of Lyon enjoyed great renown throughout Gaul: witness the local legends of Besançon and of several other cities relative to the missionaries sent out by Saint Irenaeus. Faustinus, bishop in the second half of the 3rd century, wrote to Saint Cyprian and Pope Stephen I, in 254, regarding the Novatian tendencies of Marcian, Bishop of Arles. But when Diocletian's new provincial organization (tetrarchy) had taken away from Lyon its position as metropolis of the three Gauls, the prestige of Lyon diminished for a time.
Merovingian period
At the end of the empire and during the Merovingian period several saints, as follows, are counted among the Bishops of Lyon. Saint Justus (374-381) who died in a monastery in the Thebaid (Egypt) and was renowned for the orthodoxy of his doctrine in the struggle against Arianism (the church of the Maccabees, whither his body was brought, was as early as the 5th century a place of pilgrimage under the name of the collegiate church of Saint Justus). Saint Alpinus and Saint Martin (disciple of Saint Martin of Tours; end of 4th century); Saint Antiochus (400-410); Saint Elpidius (410-422); Saint Sicarius (422-33); Saint Eucherius (c. 433-50), a monk of Lérins and the author of homilies, from whom doubtless dates the foundation at Lyon of the "hermitages" of which more will be said below; Saint Patiens (456-98) who successfully combated the famine and Arianism, and whom Sidonius Apollinarispraised in a poem; Saint Lupicinus (491-94); Saint Rusticus (494-501); Saint Stephanus (d. before 515), who with Saint Avitus of Vienne convoked a council at Lyon for the conversion of the Arians; Saint Viventiolus (515-523), who in 517 presided with Saint Avitus at the Council of Epaone; Saint Lupus, a monk, afterwards bishop (535-42), probably the first archbishop, who when signing in 438 the Council of Orléans added the title of "metropolitanus"; Saint Sardot or Sacerdos (549-542), who presided in 549 at the Council of Orléans, and who obtained from King Childebert the foundation of the general hospital; Saint Nicetius or Nizier (552-73), who received from the pope the title of patriarch, and whose tomb was honoured by miracles. The prestige of Saint Nicetius was lasting; his successor Saint Priseus (573-588) bore the title of patriarch, and brought the council of 585 to decide that national synods should be convened every three years at the instance of the patriarch and of the king; Saint Ætherius (588-603), who was a correspondent of Saint Gregory the Great and who perhaps consecrated Saint Augustine, the Apostle of England; Saint Aredius (603-615); Saint Annemundus or Chamond (c. 650), friend of Saint Wilfrid, godfather of Clotaire III, put to death by Ebrointogether with his brother, and patron of the town of Saint-Chamond, Loire; Saint Genesius or Genes (660-679 or 680), Benedictine abbot of Fontenelle, grand almoner and minister of Queen Bathilde; Saint Lambertus (c. 680-690), also abbot of Fontenelle.[citation needed]
At the end of the 5th century Lyon was the capital of the Kingdom of Burgundy, but after 534 it passed under the domination of the kings of France. Ravaged by the Saracens in 725, the city was restored through the liberality of Charlemagne who established a rich library in the monastery of Ile Barbe. In the time of Saint Patiens and the priest Constans (d. 488) the school of Lyon was famous; Sidonius Apollinaris was educated there. The letter of Leidrade to Charlemagne (807) shows the care taken by the emperor for the restoration of learning in Lyon. With the aid of the deacon Florus he made the school so prosperous that in the 10th century Englishmen went there to study.
Carolingian period
Under Charlemagne and his immediate successors, the Bishops of Lyon, whose ascendancy was attested by the number of councils over which they were called to preside, played an important theological part. Adoptionism had no more active enemies than Leidrade (798-814) and Agobard (814-840). When Felix of Urgel continued rebellious to the condemnations pronounced against adoptionism from 791-799 by the Councils of Ciutad, Friuli, Ratisbon, Frankfort, and Rome, Charlemagne conceived the idea of sending to Urgel with Nebridius, Bishop of Narbonne, Benedict of Aniane, and Archbishop Leidrade, a native of Nuremberg and Charlemagne's librarian. They preached against Adoptionism in Spain, conducted Felix in 799 to the Council of Aachenwhere he seemed to submit to the arguments of Alcuin, and then brought him back to his diocese. But the submission of Felix was not complete; Agobard, "Chorepiscopus" of Lyon, convicted him anew of adoptionism in a secret conference, and when Felix died in 815 there was found among his papers a treatise in which he professed adoptionism. Then Agobard, who had become Archbishop of Lyon in 814 after Leidrade's retirement to the Abbey of St. Medard, Soissons, composed a long treatise against that heresy.[citation needed]
Agobard
Agobard displayed great activity as a pastor and a publicist in his opposition to the Jews and to various superstitions. His rooted hatred for all superstition led him in his treatise on images into certain expressions which savoured of Iconoclasm. The five historical treatises which he wrote in 833 to justify the deposition of Louis the Pious, who had been his benefactor, are a stain on his life. Louis the Pious, having been restored to power, caused Agobard to be deposed in 835 by the Council of Thionville, but three years later gave him back his see, in which he died in 840. During the exile of Agobard the See of Lyon had been for a short time administered by Amalarius of Metz, whom the deacon Florus charged with heretical opinions regarding the "triforme corpus Christi", and who took part in the controversies with Gottschalk on the subject of predestination.[citation needed]
Amolon (841-852) and Saint Remy (852-75) continued the struggle against the heresy of Valence, which condemned this heresy, and also was engaged in strife with Hincmar. From 879-1032 Lyon formed part of the Kingdom of Provenceand afterwards of the second Kingdom of Burgundy. In 1032 Rudolph III of Burgundy died and his kingdom eventually went to Conrad II.[6] The portion of Lyon situated on the left bank of the Saône became, at least nominally, an imperial city. Finally Archbishop Burchard II, brother of Rudolph,[7] claimed rights of sovereignty over Lyon as inherited from his mother, Matilda, daughter of Louis IV of France; in this way the government of Lyon, instead of being exercised by the distant emperor, became a matter of dispute between the counts who claimed the inheritance and the successive archbishops.
Lyon attracted the attention of Cardinal Hildebrand, who held a council there in 1055 against the simoniacal bishops. In 1076, as Gregory VII, he deposed Archbishop Humbert (1063–76) for simony.
Saint Gebuin (Jubinus), who succeeded Humbert, was the confidant of Gregory VII and contributed to the reform of the Church by the two councils of 1080 and 1082, at which were excommunicated Manasses of Reims, Fulk of Anjou, and the monks of Marmoutiers.
It was under the episcopate of Saint Gebuin that Gregory VII (20 April 1079) established the primacy of the Church of Lyon over the Provinces of Rouen, Tours, and Sens, which primacy was specially confirmed by Callistus II, despite the letter written to him in 1126 by Louis VIin favour of the church of Sens. As far as it regarded the Province of Rouen this letter was later suppressed by a decree of the king's council in 1702, at the request of Jacques-Nicolas Colbert, Archbishop of Rouen.
Hugh of Die (1081–1106), the successor of Saint Gebuin, friend of Saint Anselm, and for a while legate of Gregory VII in France and Burgundy, had differences later on with Victor III, who excommunicated him for a time. The latter pope came to Lyon in 1106, consecrated the church of Ainay Abbey, and dedicated one of its altars in honour of the Immaculate Conception. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception was solemnized at Lyon about 1128, perhaps at the instance of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, and Saint Bernard wrote to the canons of Lyon to complain that they should not have instituted a feast without consulting the pope.
Sovereignty
As soon as Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, had been proclaimed Blessed (1173), his cult was instituted at Lyon. Lyon of the 12th century thus has a glorious place in the history of Catholicliturgy and even of dogma, but the 12th century was also marked by the heresy of Peter Waldo and the Waldenses, the Poor Men of Lyon, who were opposed by John of Canterbury (1181–1193), and by an important change in the political situation of the archbishops.[citation needed]
In 1157 Emperor Frederick Barbarossaconfirmed the sovereignty of the Archbishops of Lyon; thenceforth there was a lively contest between them and the counts. An arbitration effected by the pope in 1167 had no result, but by the treaty of 1173, Guy, Count of Forez, ceded to the canons of the primatial church of St. John his title of count of Lyon and his temporal authority.
Then came the growth of the Commune, more belated in Lyon than in many other cities, but in 1193 the archbishop had to make some concession to the citizens. The 13th century was a period of conflict. Three times, in 1207, 1269, and 1290, grave troubles broke out between the partisans of the archbishop who dwelt in the château of Pierre Seize, those of the count-canons who lived in a separate quarter near the cathedral, and partisans of the townsfolk. Gregory Xattempted without success to restore peace by two Acts, 2 April 1273 and 11 November 1274. The kings of France were always inclined to side with the commune; after the siege of Lyon by Louis X (1310), the treaty of 10 April 1312 definitively attached Lyon to the Kingdom of France, but until the beginning of the 15th century the Church of Lyon was allowed to coin its own money.
If the 13th century had imperiled the political sovereignty of the archbishops, it had on the other hand made Lyon a kind of second Rome. Gregory X was a former canon of Lyon, while Innocent V, as Peter of Tarantaise, was Archbishop of Lyon from 1272 to 1273. Innocent IVand Gregory X sought refuge at Lyon from the Hohenstaufen, and held there two general councils of Lyon. Local tradition relates that it was on seeing the red hat of the canons of Lyon that the courtiers of Innocent IV conceived the idea of obtaining from the Council of Lyon its decree that the cardinals should henceforth wear red hats. The sojourn of Innocent IV at Lyon was marked by numerous works of public utility, to which the pope gave vigorous encouragement. He granted indulgences to the faithful who should assist in the construction of the bridge over the Rhône, replacing that destroyed about 1190 by the passage of the troops of Richard Cœur de Lion on their way to the Crusade. The building of the churches of St. John and St. Justus was pushed forward with activity; he sent delegates even to England to solicit alms for this purpose and he consecrated the high altar in both churches.
At Lyon were crowned Clement V (1305) and Pope John XXII (1310); at Lyon in 1449 the antipope Felix V renounced the tiara; there, too, was held in 1512, without any definite conclusion, the last session of the schismatical Council of Pisaagainst Julius II. In 1560 the Calvinists took Lyon by surprise, but they were driven out by Antoine d'Albon, Abbot of Savigny and later Archbishop of Lyon. Again masters of Lyon in 1562, they were driven thence by the Maréchal de Vieuville. At the command of the famous Baron des Adrets they committed numerous acts of violence in the region of Montbrison. It was at Lyon that Henry IV of France, the converted Calvinist king, married Marie de' Medici (9 December 1600).
Later Middle Ages
Gerson, whose old age was spent at Lyon in the abbey of St. Paul, where he instructed poor children, died there in 1429. Saint Francis de Sales died at Lyon on 28 December 1622. The Curé Colombet de St. Amour was celebrated at St. Etienne in the 17th century for the generosity with which he founded the Hôtel-Dieu (the charity hospital) and free schools, and also fed the workmen during the famine of 1693.[citation needed]
M. Guigue has catalogued the eleven "hermitages" (eight of them for men and three for women) which were distinctive of the ascetical life of Christian Lyon in the Middle Ages; these were cells in which persons shut themselves up for life after four years of trial. The system of hermitages along the lines described by Grimalaius and Olbredus in the 9th century flourished especially from the 11th to the 13th century, and disappeared completely in the 16th. These hermitages were the private property of a neighbouring church or monastery, which installed therein for life a male or female recluse. The general almshouse of Lyon, or charity hospital, was founded in 1532 after the great famine of 1531, under the supervision of eight administrators chosen from among the more important citizens.
The institution of the jubilee of Saint Nizier dates beyond a doubt to the stay of Innocent IV at Lyon. This jubilee, which had all the privileges of the secular jubilees of Rome, was celebrated each time that Low Thursday, the feast of Saint Nizier, coincided with 2 April, i.e. whenever the feast of Easter itself was on the earliest day allowed by the paschal cycle, namely 22 March. In 1818, when this coincidence occurred, the feast of Saint Nizier was not celebrated. But the cathedral of St. John also enjoys a great jubilee each time that the feast of Saint John the Baptist coincides with Corpus Christi, that is, whenever the feast of Corpus Christi falls on 24 June. It is certain that in 1451 the coincidence of these two feasts was celebrated with special splendour by the population of Lyon, then emerging from the troubles of the Hundred Years' War, but there is no document to prove that the jubilee indulgence existed at that date. However, Lyonnese tradition places the first great jubilee in 1451; subsequent jubilees took place in 1546, 1666, 1734 and 1886.
"Among the Churches of France", wrote Saint Bernard to the canons of Lyon, "that of Lyon has hitherto had ascendancy over all the others, as much for the dignity of its see as for its praiseworthy institutions. It is especially in the Divine Office that this judicious Church has never readily acquiesced in unexpected and sudden novelties, and has never submitted to be tarnished by innovations which are becoming only to youth."
Montazet controversy
In the 18th century Archbishop Antoine de Montazet, contrary to the Bull of Pius V on the breviary, changed the text of the breviary and the missal, from which there resulted a century of conflict for the Church of Lyon. The efforts of Pope Pius IX and Cardinal Bonald to suppress the innovations of Montazet provoked resistance on the part of the canons, who feared an attempt against the traditional Lyonnese ceremonies. This culminated in 1861 in a protest on the part of the clergy and the laity, as much with regard to the civil power as to the Vatican. Finally, on 4 February 1864, at a reception of the parish priests of Lyon, Pius IX declared his displeasure at this agitation and assured them that nothing should be changed in the ancient Lyonnese ceremonies; by a Brief of 17 March 1864, he ordered the progressive introduction of the Roman breviary and missal in the diocese. The primatial church of Lyon adopted them for public services on 8 December 1869. One of the rites of the ancient Gallican liturgy, retained by the Church of Lyon, is the blessing of the people by the bishop at the moment of Communion.[citation needed]
1800s
The Concordat of 1801 assigned as the boundaries of the Archdiocese of Lyon the Departments of the Rhône and Loireand the Ain and as suffragans the Dioceses of Mende, Grenoble, and Chambéry. The Archdiocese of Lyon was authorized by Letters Apostolic of 29 November 1801, to unite with his title the titles of the suppressed metropolitan Sees of Vienne and Embrun.[4] Thus the dioceses of Belley and Mâcon, were suppressed on November 29, 1801 with all of Belley's and some of Mâcon's territory added to the Archdiocese. The Diocese of Belley was restored on October 6, 1822, while the Archdiocese's name changed to Lyon-Vienne,[2] with the title of Embrun passing to the Archbishop of Aix (from whence, 2008, to the Bishop of Gap).
1900s
A new diocese of Saint-Étienne was erected on December 26, 1970, from the Archdiocese's territory. The Archdiocese's name returned to Lyon on December 15, 2006[2] (with the title of Vienne passing to its suffragan Grenoble).
Saints
The Diocese of Lyon honours as saints: Saint Epipodius and his companion Saint Alexander, probably martyrs under Marcus Aurelius; the priest Saint Peregrinus (3rd century); Saint Baldonor(Galmier), a native of Aveizieux, at first a locksmith, whose piety was remarked by the bishop, Saint Viventiolus: he became a cleric at the Abbey of St. Justus, then subdeacon, and died about 760; the thermal resort of "Aquæ Segestæ", in whose church Viventiolus met him, has taken the name of Saint Galmier; Saint Viator (d. about 390), who followed the Bishop Saint Justus to the Thebaid; Saints Romanus and Lupicinus (5th century), natives of the Diocese of Lyon, who lived as solitaries within the present territory of the Diocese of Saint-Claude; Saint Consortia, d. about 578, who, according to a legend criticized by Tillemont, was a daughter of Saint Eucherius; Saint Rambert, soldier and martyr in the 7th century, patron of the town of the same name; Blessed Jean Pierre Néel, b. in 1832 at Ste. Catherine sur Riviere, martyred at Kay-Tcheou in 1862.[citation needed]
Suffragan
Prelates
Bishops of Lyon
incomplete
Saint Pothinus ( –177)
Saint Irenaeus[4]
Archbishops of Lyon
incomplete
Zechariah of Lyon (195 – after 202)
Helios of Lyon
Faustinus (second half of the 3rd century)
Lucius Verus
Julius
Ptolémaeus
Vocius fl.314
Maximus (Maxime)
Tétradius (Tetrade)
Verissimus fl. 343
St. Justus (374–381)
St. Alpinus fl.254
St. Martin (disciple of St. Martin of Tours; end of 4th century)
St. Antiochus (400–410)
St. Elpidius (410–422)
St. Sicarius (422–433)
St. Eucherius (c. 433–450)
St. Patiens (456–498) who successfully combated the famine and Arianism, and whom Sidonius Apollinaris praised in a poem
St. Lupicinus (491–494)
St. Rusticus (494–501)
St. Stephanus (501 – Before 515), who with St. Avitus of Vienne, convoked a council at Lyon for the conversion of the Arians
St. Viventiolus (515–523), who in 517 presided with St. Avitus at the Council of Epaone
St. Lupus (535–542), a monk, probably the first archbishop, who when signing in 538 the Council of Orléans added the title of "metropolitanus"
Licontius (Léonce)
St. Sardot or Sacerdos (549–552)
St. Nicetius or Nizier (552–73), Patriarch
St. Priscus of Lyon (573–588), Patriarch
St. Ætherius (588–603), who was a correspondent of St. Gregory the Great and who perhaps consecrated St. Augustine, the Apostle of England
St. Aredius (603–615)
St. Viventius
St. Annemund or Chamond (c. 650), friend of St. Wilfrid, godfather of Clotaire III, put to death by Ebroin together with his brother, and patron of the town of Saint-Chamond, Loire
St. Genesius or Genes (660–679 or 680), Benedictine Abbot of Fontenelle, grand almoner and minister of Queen Bathilde
St. Lambertus (c. 680–690), also Abbot of Fontenelle
Leidrade (798–814)
Agobard, Chorbishop ( –814)
Agobard (814–834, 837–840)
Amalarius of Metz (834–837) administrator[4]
Amulo, (840-852)
Remigius (852–875)
Burchard II of Lyon (?–?)[7]
Burchard III of Lyon (?–1036)[9]
Halinard (1046–1052)[10]
Primates of Gauls and Archbishop of Lyon
incomplete
1077-1082 Saint Gebuin [4]
1081-1106 Hugh of Die
1128-1129 Renaud of Semur
1131-1139 Peter I
fl. 1180 Guichard of Pontigny
1193–1226 Renaud de Forez
1289 Bérard de Got
1290-1295 Louis of Naples
1301-1308 Louis de Villars
1308-1332 Peter of Savoy
1340-1342 Guy III d'Auvergne, Cardinal de Boulogne, papal diplomat
1342-1354 Henri II de Villars
1356-1358 Raymond Saquet
1358-1365 Guillaume II de Thurey
1365-1375 Charles d'Alençon
1375-1389 Jean II de Talaru
1389-1415 Philippe III de Thurey
1415-1444 Amédée II de Talaru
1444-1446 Geoffroy II de Versailles
1447-1488 Charles II of Bourbon
1488-1499 Hugues II de Talaru
1499-1500 André d'Espinay(cardinal)
1501-1536 François II de Rohan
1537-1539 John, Cardinal of Lorraine
1539-1551 Ippolito II d'Este, whom king Francis I of France named Cardinal protector of the crown of France at the court of Pope Paul III, and a patron of scholars
1551-1562 Cardinal François de Tournon, who negotiated several times between Francis I and Emperor Charles V, combated the Reformation and founded the Collège de Tournon, which the Jesuits later made one of the most celebrated educational establishments of the kingdom
1562-1564 Ippolito II d'Este, whom king Francis I of France named Cardinal protector of the crown of France at the court of Pope Paul III, and a patron of scholars
1564-1573 Antoine d'Albon, editor of Rufinus and Ausonius
1573-1599 Pierre d'Epinac, active auxiliary of the League
1612-1626 Denis-Simon de Marquemont
1628-1653 Alphonse-Louis du Plessis de Richelieu (Sep 1628 – 23 Mar 1653)
1653-1693 Camille de Neufville de Villeroy
1714-1731 François-Paul de Neufville de Villeroy (15 Aug 1714 – 6 Feb 1731)
1732-1739 Charles-François de Châteauneuf de Rochebonne
1740-1758 Pierre Guérin de Tencin(11 Nov 1740 – 2 Mar 1758)
1758-1788 Antoine de Malvin de Montazet (16 Mar 1758 – 2 May 1788), of Jansenist tendencies, and who had published for his seminary by the Oratorian Joseph Valla six volumes of "Institutiones theologicæ" known as "Théologie de Lyon", and spread throughout Italy by Scipio Ricci until condemned by the Index in 1792
1788-1799 Yves-Alexandre de Marbeuf (12 May 1788 – 15 Apr 1799)
1791-1794 Antoine-Adrien Lamourette (1742-1794), constitutional bishop of Lyon from 27 March 1791 to 11 January 1794, the date of his death on the scaffold.
Primates of Gauls and Archbishop of Lyon-Vienne
(Cardinal) Joseph Fesch (29 Jul 1802 – 13 May 1839) Archbishop of Lyon-Vienne-Embrun (until 1822)
(Cardinal) Joachim-Jean d'Isoard(13 Jun 1839 – 7 Oct 1839)
(Cardinal) Louis-Jacques-Maurice de Bonald (4 Dec 1839 – 25 Feb 1870)
Jacques-Marie Ginoulhiac (2 Mar 1870 – 17 Nov 1875), known for his "Histoire du dogme catholique pendant let trois premiers siècles".
(Cardinal) Louis-Marie Caverot (20 Apr 1876 – 23 Jan 1887)
(Cardinal) Joseph-Alfred Foulon (23 Mar 1887 – 23 Jan 1893)
(Cardinal) Pierre-Hector Coullie (14 Jun 1893 – 11 Sep 1912)
(Cardinal) Hector Sévin (2 Dec 1912 – 4 May 1916)
(Cardinal) Louis-Joseph Maurin (1 Dec 1916 – 16 Nov 1936)
(Cardinal) Pierre-Marie Gerlier (30 Jul 1937 – 17 Jan 1965)
(Cardinal) Jean-Marie Villot (17 Jan 1965 – 7 Apr 1967)
(Cardinal) Alexandre Renard (28 May 1967 – 29 Oct 1981)
(Cardinal) Albert Decourtray (29 Oct 1981 – 16 Sep 1994)
(Cardinal) Jean Marie Balland (27 May 1995 – 1 Mar 1998)
(Cardinal) Louis-Marie Billé (10 Jul 1998 – 12 Mar 2002)
(Cardinal) Philippe Barbarin (16 Jul 2002 – 6 Mar 2020)[1]
Feastday: September 25 Patron: of Cork, Diocese of Cork Birth: 550 Death: 620
He was the son of an artisan and a lady of the Irish royal court. Born in Connaught, Ireland, and baptized Lochan, he was educated at Kilmacahil, Kilkenny, where the monks named him Fionnbharr (white head) because of his light hair; he is also known as Bairre and Barr. He went on pilgrimage to Rome with some of the monks, visiting St. David in Wales on the way back. Supposedly, on another visit to Rome the Pope wanted to consecrate him a bishop but was deterred by a vision, notifying the pope that God had reserved that honor to Himself, and Finbar was consecrated from heaven and then returned to Ireland. At any rate, he may have preached in Scotland, definitely did in southern Ireland, lived as a hermit on a small island at Lough Eiroe, and then, on the river Lee, founded a monastery that developed into the city of Cork, of which he was the first bishop. His monastery became famous in southern Ireland and attracted numerous disciples. Many extravagant miracles are attributed to him, and supposedly, the sun did not set for two weeks after he died at Cloyne about the year 633. His feast day is September 25th.
Saint Finbar, Finnbar, or Finnbarr, in IrishFionnbharra, very often abbreviated to Barra, (c. 550–25 September 623) was Bishop of Cork and abbot of a monastery in what is now Cork city, Ireland. He is patron saint of the city and of the Diocese of Cork.[1] His feast day is September 25.
Contents
1Life
2Legacy
3Other Saint Finbarrs
4References
Life
Gougane Barra
Lived in Templemartin, near Bandon, and originally named Lóchán (modern form, Loan), he was the son of Amergin of Maigh Seóla, a skilled craftsman originally from Galway.[2] He studied in Ossory, corresponding approximately to the present County Kilkenny. He was renamed "Fionnbharra" (Fairhead in Irish), reportedly when, on being tonsured, the presiding cleric remarked: "Is fionn barr(find barr, in the Irish of the time) Lócháin", meaning, "Fair is the crest of Loan"), and he then became known as "Findbarr" ("Fionnbarra" in modern Irish).[3] He went on pilgrimage to Rome with some of the monks, visiting St David in Wales on the way back.[4]
On completion of his education he returned home and lived for some time on an island in the small lake then called Loch Irce.[5] The island is now called Gougane Barra (the little rock-fissure of Finnbarr). He is reputed to have built small churches in various other places, including one in Ballineadig, County Cork, called Cell na Cluaine, anglicised as Cellnaclona and sometimes referred to as Cloyne, causing it to be confused with Cloyne (Cluain Uamha) in east Cork.[3]
Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral
He settled for about the last seventeen years of his life in the area then known as Corcach Mór na Mumhan(the Great Marsh of Munster), now the city of Cork, where he gathered around him monks and students. This became an important centre of learning, giving rise to the phrase Ionad Bairre Sgoil na Mumhan.[6]"Where Finbarr taught let Munster learn", is the motto of today's University College Cork in English but is not a translation of the Irish motto Ionad Bairre Sgoil na Mumhan which means "Finbarr's foundation, the School of Munster".
The church and monastery he founded in 606 were on a limestone cliff above the River Lee, an area now known as Gill Abbey, after a 12th-century Bishop of Cork, Giolla Aedha Ó Muidhin.[3] It continued to be the site of the cathedral of his diocese. The present building on the site, owned by the Church of Ireland, is called Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral. The people of Cork often refer to the nearby Catholic church, also dedicated to St Finbarr, in Dunbar Street in the South Parish as 'the South Chapel', distinguishing it from the North Cathedral, the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Anne, sometimes called 'the North Chapel'.[7]
Finnbarr died at Cell na Cluaine, while returning from a visit to Gougane Barra. He was buried in the cemetery attached to his church in Cork.[3]
Legacy
There are at least six St. Finbarr's schools in England, Chelsea, and Australia – at Ashgrove, Byron Bay, Invermay, Tasmania, Sans Souci (South Sydney, spelt St Finbar), East Brighton (Melbourne), Quilpie (South West Queensland) and Glenbrook, in the Blue Mountains. There is a St. Finbarr's school in Lagos, Nigeria.[8] There is also a St. Finn Barr school in San Francisco, California. [9] The original cathedral of the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, in the United States was named in honour of St. Finbarr and remained standing until the Great Fire of Charleston during the Civil War. It is believed to have been named so because John England, the first bishop of Charleston was originally from the County Cork and was consecrated a bishop in Saint Fin Barre's Church before travelling to the United States.[10] In Coventry, England, St Finbarr's Social Club was named in honour of the saint during the late 1980s attracting large numbers from an Irish background to socialise. Upon demolition in 2006, a new housing scheme was completed in 2008 on the same site with the new road name of Finbarr Close.
Other Saint Finbarrs
Portal of Cille Bharra on Barra Island
There are five Irish saints named Finnbarr.[1] One scholar has theorized that the Cork saint is identical with Finnian of Moville, a teacher of Colm Cille.[5]
Scotland has place names that refer to Saint Finnbarr, perhaps due to devotion to him having been carried there by disciples.[5] One such place is the Gaelic-speaking island of Barra, where there is a ruined church called Cille Bharra (Church of Finnbarr).[11] Tradition identifies that Finnbarr with the Cork saint, but it has been argued that he was Scottish
Benedictine abbot who founded Causance Monastery in France. He was a monk at Luxeuil and was trained by St. Waldeburt in the great monastic traditions of the era.
of two disciples who met Christ on the road to Emmaus. He was also identified as the father of Mary, one of whom stood with the Mother of God at the foot of the Cross. He has been identified as the father of St. James the Less and as brother of St. Joseph.
A saint of Wales. He was the son or grandson of the local king of Brecknock. A church at Tregaian in Anglesey is named after him.
St Caian's Church, Tregaian, also known as St Caean's Church, Tregaean, is a small medieval church dating from the 14th century in Anglesey, north Wales. It is dedicated to St Caian, a Christian from the 5th or 6th century about whom little is known. The building contains a late 14th-century east window and a late 15th-century doorway. The churchyard contains the grave of William ap Howel, who died in 1581 at the age of 105, leaving over forty children between the ages of 8 and 89 and over three hundred living descendants.
The church is still used for worship by the Church in Wales, and is one of three churches in a combined parish. It is a Grade II* listed building, a national designation given to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest",[2] in particular because it is regarded as "an excellent late Medieval rural church".[3]
Contents
1History and location
2Architecture and fittings
3Assessment
4References
5External links
History and location
The date of construction of the first Christian building on this site is unknown. The church is dedicated to St Caian, a Christian from the 5th or 6th century, about whom little is known. One manuscript says that his father was St Caw, a king in northern Britain who lost his lands and sought safety in Anglesey, where the ruler Maelgwn Gwynedd gave him land in the north-east of the island, the district known as Twrcelyn.[4][5] If Caian was a son of St Caw, then his sisters included St Cwyllog, who established the nearby church of St Cwyllog, Llangwyllog, in the 6th century.[6][7] Other manuscripts say that he was active in the 5th century and was a son or grandson of Brychan, a king from south Wales.[5][8]
Caian gives his name to the hamlet of Tregaian in which the church is situated: the Welsh word tref (shortened here to tre) means "settlement", and "‑gaian" is a modified form of the saint's name – i.e. "Caian's settlement".[9] Tregaian is about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north of Llangefni, the county town of Anglesey, and the church is in the countryside by a small road.[10]
The present church is medieval, dating from the latter part of the 14th century, which is the period given to the east window. The doorway is from the late 15th century, the roof from the end of the 16th or beginning of the 17th century, and the nave windows and the panelling of the pulpit are from the 17th century.[3]It is still used for worship by the Church in Wales, as one of three churches in the combined benefice of Llangefni with Tregaean with Llanddyfnan (Talwrn).[1] It is within the deanery of Malltraeth, the archdeaconry of Bangor and the Diocese of Bangor.[11] As of 2013, the priest in charge of the parish is the Reverend J Ashley-Roberts.[1]
Architecture and fittings
The church is built from rubble masonry. The roof, which is made from slate, has a stone bellcote at the west end. Entrance is through the doorway on the south side, from the late 15th century; it has decorated surrounds and a square frame. There is no structural division between the nave (where the congregation sit) and the chancel (where the altar is located) apart from a single step up into the chancel.[3] The church is about 40 feet 6 inches (12.3 m) long by 14 feet 6 inches (4.4 m) wide.[12] The east window, from the late 14th century, is set in a pointed arch with decorative edging.[3] It has stained glass from 1916 depicting Christ crowning a knight with the words "Well done thou good and faithful servant / Take unto you the whole armour of God."[3][13] There are two pairs of square-headed windows in the south wall, dating from the 17th century. On the north side of the church, a second entrance was blocked up in the late 19th century, and there is one pair of square-headed windows, also from the 17th century; there is also a small window at the west end of the church, from the 17th or 18th century. The beams of the roof can be seen from inside the church. Behind the altar is a panelled reredosfrom the 19th century.[3]
A memorial by an old gravestone
The church has a 12th-century circular font, decorated with an irregular pattern of chevrons on the side.[3][10] The bell is dated 1717, whilst the pews are from the 19th century.[3] There are memorials tablets from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries on the walls, some of which commemorate the Lloyd family from a nearby house, Plas Tregaian.[3][10] A 1937 survey by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire noted a plain silver cup dated 1714–15.[12] The churchyard contains the grave of William ap Howel, who died at the age of 105 in 1581. Married three times, he fathered 42 or 43 children in and out of wedlock, and more than 300 of his descendants attended his funeral. His children at his death ranged in age from 8 to 89.[10][14]
Assessment
The church has national recognition and statutory protection from alteration as it has been designated as a Grade II* listed building – the second-highest of the three grades of listing, designating "particularly important buildings of more than special interest".[2] It was given this status on 12 May 1970, and has been listed because it is "an excellent late Medieval rural church".[3] Cadw (the Welsh Assembly Government body responsible for the built heritage of Wales and the inclusion of Welsh buildings on the statutory lists) also states that it "retains a strong simple character in the retention of many early features and its original plan, with structurally undivided nave and chancel."[3]
The 19th-century antiquarian Angharad Llwyd described the church as "a small but neat edifice", and noted the "handsome" east window.[15] The 19th-century writer Samuel Lewis said that the church was "simple and primitive in its construction".[14] Writing in 1847, the clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones said that the font was "remarkable" for having no drain, and was "hardly large enough for immersion."[16]He added that the east window was of "rather singular" design.[16]
A 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey notes the "unusually wide" east window.[10] A 2009 guide to the buildings of the region says that the church "gives an impression of what the Anglesey parish churches were like before so many were reassembled in the 19th century" – partly because the walls lean, it adds.[13] The east window has also been compared to that of St Ceidio's Church, Rhodogeidio, also on Anglesey.[17]
Feastday: September 25 Patron: of Glamorgan; Llancarfan; famine victims; deafness; glandular disorders Birth: 497 Death: 580
A Welsh bishop and martyr, a companion of St. Gildas. Cadoc is also called Docus, Cathmael, and Cadvael. He founded Llancarfan Monastery near Cardiff, Wales, before becoming a missionary on the coast of Brittany, in France. Returning to Britain, Cadoc was involved in the Saxon occupation of the British lands. H e was martyred by the Saxons near Weedon, England.
For other uses, see Cadoc (disambiguation).
Saint Cadoc or Cadog (Medieval Latin: Cadocus; also Welsh: Cattwg; born c. 497[1] or before) was a 5th–6th-century Abbot of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorganshire, Wales, a monastery famous from the era of the British church as a centre of learning, where Illtud spent the first period of his religious life under Cadoc's tutelage. Cadoc is credited with the establishment of many churches in Cornwall, Brittany,[2]Dyfed and Scotland. He is known as Cattwg Ddoeth, "the Wise", and a large collection of his maxims and moral sayings were included in Volume III of the Myvyrian Archaiology. He is listed in the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology under 21 September. His Norman-era "Life" is a hagiography of importance to the case for the historicity of Arthur as one of seven saints' lives that mention Arthur independently of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae.[3]
Contents
1Biography
1.1Llancarfan
1.2Scotland
2Legends
2.1Cadoc and Arthur
2.2Other legends
2.3Legendary genealogy
3Liturgical celebration
4See also
5References
6External links
Biography
Cadoc's story appears in a Vita Cadociwritten shortly before 1086 by Lifris of Llancarfan;[4] "it was clearly written at Llancarfan with the purpose of honouring the house and confirming its endowments,"[3] Consequently, it is of limited historical merit though some details are of interest. Llancarfan did not survive the intrusion of Norman power into South Wales, being dissolved about 1086.[5]
Cadoc began life under a cloud of violence. His father, Gwynllyw the Bearded, was one of the lesser kings of Wales, a brother of Saint Petroc, and a robber chieftain. He wanted to propose to Princess Gwladys, daughter of King Brychan of Brycheiniog, a neighboring chieftain, but Brychan turned away the envoys asking for Gwladys' hand. Wildly in love, Gwynllyw and Gwladys eloped from her father’s court at Brecon and escaped over the mountains[6] in a raid in which 200 of Gwynllyw's 300 followers perished.[7]
Born into the royal families of Gwynllwgand Brycheiniog, it is said, he worked miracles even before his birth. Strange lights shone in his parents’ house and the cellars were miraculously filled with food.[6]
Cadoc was born in Monmouthshire[8]around the year 497. An angel announced his birth and summoned the hermit Meuthi to baptise and teach him. A holy well sprang up for his baptism and afterwards flowed with wine and milk.[6]It is thought that he was baptised as Cathmail (Cadfael).[9] After the birth of his son, Gwynllyw went on a wild celebratory raid with a new band of fearless warriors. Among other livestock, he stole the cow of an Irish monk, St. Tathyw of Caerwent. This is probably Tathan, a reputed early abbot of nearby Caerwent whose dedications appear around Llantwit Major.[10] Tathyw was not afraid of Gwynllyw and boldly went to confront him, demanding the return of the cow. On a sudden impulse, or perhaps guided by divine inspiration, Gwynllyw decided Cadoc would go to live under the monk's care, and he was sent away to be educated at Tathyw's monastery in Caerwent. Cadoc picked up a basic knowledge of Latin and received a rudimentary education that prepared him for further studies in Ireland and Wales. Most important, Cadoc learned to appreciate the life of a monk and a priest.[7]
One day while in the Cardiff district of Glamorganshire, Cadoc was being chased by an armed swineherd from an enemy tribe. As he ran through the woods looking for a place to hide, he came upon a wild boar, white with age. Disturbed by his presence, the boar made three fierce bounds in his direction, but Cadoc's life was spared when the boar miraculously disappeared. Cadoc took this as a heavenly sign, and marked the spot with three tree branches. The valley was owned by his uncle, King Pawl of Penychen, who made a present of the land to his nephew. The location later became the site of the great church college and monastery at Llancarvan.[7]
Maches (Latin: Machuta), the sister of Cadoc according to tradition, was killed by robbers who were stealing her finest ram. Tathan, to whom the murderers confessed their crime, built a church on the spot.[11]
In adulthood Cadoc refused to take charge of his father's army, "preferring to fight for Christ". He founded his first monastery at Llancarfan in the Vale of Glamorgan, and from there he went to Ireland to study for three years. Returning to Wales, he studied with Bachan or Pachan, a teacher of rhetoric from Italy.[12] He then travelled to Scotland where he founded a monastery at Cambuslang. Back at Llancarfan, his influence helped it to grow into one of the chief monasteries in South Wales.[9]
One tradition has it that he went on pilgrimage to Rome, but more certain is the knowledge of time spent in Brittany. He settled there on an island in the Etel river, now called L'Ile de Cado, where he built an oratory, founded a monastery and devoted himself to spreading the Gospel.[9] There are chapels dedicated to him at Belz and Locoal-Mendon in Morbihan and at Gouesnac'h in Finistère, where he is called upon to cure the deaf. His name is also the basis of some thirty Breton place-names.
Llancarfan
St Catwg window in Caerphilly
According to Huddleston, most Welsh writers assign the founding of Llancarfan to the period of St. Germanus's visit to Britain in A.D. 447, stating further that the first principal was St. Dubric, or Dubricius, on whose elevation to the episcopate St. Cadoc, or Cattwg, succeeded. On the other hand, he notes that the Life of St. Germanus, written by Constantius, a priest of Lyons, about fifty years after the death of the saint, says nothing at all of any school founded by him or under his auspices, in Britain, nor is mention made of his presence in Wales.[13]
An alternate tradition holds that Llancarvan monastery or "Church of the Stags", in Glamorganshire, and not far from the Bristol Channel, was founded in the latter part of the fifth century by Cadoc. Here he established a monastery and college, which became the seminary of many great and holy men. The spot at first seemed an impossible one, an almost inaccessible marsh, but he and his monks drained and cultivated it, transforming it into one of the most famous and attractive religious homes in South Wales. The plan of the building included a monastery, a college, and a hospital.[14] Having got the community established, he went off to Ireland to study and teach. When he returned three years later, he found the monastery in ruins. Furious, he forced the monks back to manual labour, dragging timber from the woods to begin the work of reconstruction. Two stags came out of the forest to help them, which is said to be why the stream running past the monastery is called the Nant Carfan, the Stag Brook.[6]
Rev. Rees suggests that although the monastery was said to have been situated at Llancarfan, the particular spot on which it stood was called Llanfeithin.[15]
Scotland
About 528, after his father's death, Cadoc is said to have built a stone monastery in Scotland probably at Kilmadock, which was named for the saint, north-west of Stirling,[16] where the Annant Burn enters the River Teith about 2 miles upstream from Doune. Near the ruins of the old Kilmadock church and graveyard is Hermit's Croft, thought to be where he lived for seven years. Seven local churches that were built in his name came under the authority of Inchmahome Priory. It is also said that Cadoc's monastery was "below Mount Bannauc" (generally taken to be the hill southwest of Stirling down which the Bannockburn flows). It has been suggested that the monastery was where the town of St Ninians now stands, two kilometers south of Stirling. Scottish followers were known as "Gille Dog", the servants of Cadog, which appears as a surname, first as Dog, and later as Doig, Dock, and Doak.
Legends
Cadoc and ArthurSt Cadoc's Church, Caerleon
Cadoc came into conflict with Arthur: the Vita depicts Arthur as great and bold, but willful. Lifris writes that Cadoc gave protection to a man who had killed three of Arthur's soldiers and Arthur was awarded a herd of cattle from Cadoc as compensation. Cadoc delivered them, but when Arthur took possession of them they were transformed into bundles of ferns. Similar incidents are often described in mediaeval biographies such as those of Carannog, Padern and Goeznovius: miracles in dealings with temporal authority bolster the case for church freedom.[17] In later Arthurian Welsh Triads Cadoc, with Illtud and Peredur, is one of three knights said to have become keepers of the Holy Grail.[18]
The kings Maelgwn of Gwynedd and Rhain Dremrudd of Brycheiniog also feature in the Vita. Though Saint Cadoc's Church at Caerleon, which, though of Norman origin and much rebuilt, stands on the foundations of the Roman legion headquarters, may memorialize an early cell of Cadoc's. Caerleon was also associated with Arthur.
Other legends
A certain miraculous spot associated with Cadoc had a reputed healing effect until the time of king Hiuguel (Hywel vab weyn, who died in his old age ca. 1041–44) when, due to a malevolent influence, the spot was lost.[19]
This Cadoc, grandson of Brychan Brycheiniog, to whose offspring a large number of south-west British cult sites are dedicated, may be identical to or confused with Cadoc son of Brychan, for whom the churches at Llanspyddid near Brecon and at LlangadogCarmarthenshire, are said to be named along with a former chapel in the parish of Kidwelly.[15] According to Serenus de Cressy this Cadoc died AD 490, is buried in France, and is commemorated in the Calendar on 24 January.
The epithet of Doeth (Welsh for wise) induced some writers to confound him with St. Sophias (Greek for wisdom), bishop of Beneventum in Italy.[15] Hence he is said sometimes to have died at Bannaventa (Weedon, five kilometres east of Daventry in Northamptonshire),[20] in an episode towards the end of his vita Cadoc is carried off in a cloud from Britannia (de terra Britannie) to Beneventum, where a certain prior is warned of the coming of a "western Briton" who is to be renamed Sophias; as Sophias Cadoc becomes abbot, bishop and martyr. A magna basilica was erected over his shrine, which visiting Britons were not allowed to enter. A fictitious "Pope Alexander" is made to figure in the narrative.
Legendary genealogy
The parish church of St Cadoc, Llancarfan
In Lives of the Cambro British saints (1853), Rev W. J Rees wrote:
The genealogy of the blessed Cadoc arises from the most noble emperors of Rome, from the time of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, Augustus Cesar, in whose time Christ was born, begat Octavianus, Octavianus begat Tiberius, Tiberius begat Caius, Caius begat Claudius, Claudius begat Vespasian, Vespasian begat Titus, Titus begat Domitian, Domitian begat Nero, under whom the apostles Peter and Paul suffered, Nero begat Trajan, Trajan begat Adrian, Adrian begat Antonius, Antonius begat Commodus, Commodus begat Meobus, Meobus begat Severus, Severus begat Antonius, Antonius begat Aucanus, Aucanus begat Aurelian, Aurelian begat Alexander, Alexander begat Maximus, Maximus begat Gordian, Gordian begat Philip, Philip begat Decius, Decius begat Gallus, Callus begat Valerian, Valerian begat Cleopatra, Cleopatra begat Aurelian, Aurelian begat Titus, Titus begat Probus, Probus begat Carosius, Carosius begat Dioclesian, who perscuted the Christians throughout the whole world; for in his time the blessed martyrs Alban, that is Julian, Aaron, and many others suffered. Dioclesian begat Galerius, Galerius begat Constantine the Great the son of Helen, Constantine begat Constantius, Constantius begat Maximianus, with whom the British soldiers went from Britain, and he slew Gratian the Roman emperor, and held the government of all Europe; and he did not dismiss the soldiers, which he brought with him from Britain to return to their country on account of their bravery, but gave them many provinces and countries, that is from the pool which is on the top of the mountain of Jupiter to the city named Cantguic, and until the western mound that is Cruc Ochideint; and from those soldiers arose a nation which is called Lettau. Maximianus therefore begat Owain, Owain begat Nor, Nor begat Solor, Solor begat Glywys, Glywys begat Gwynlliw, Gwynlliw begat the most blessed Cadoc of whom we are speaking.[21]
Liturgical celebration
In the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, Cadoc is listed among saints thought to have died on 21 September, with the Latin name Cadóci. He is mentioned as follows: 'In the monastery at Llancarfan in South Wales, Saint Cadoc the Abbot, under whose name many monasteries in Cornwall and Brittany were established.'[2] He does not appear in the current Roman Catholicliturgical calendar of saints celebrated annually in Wales.[22]
21 September is, however, the feast day of the Apostle Saint Matthew, and in Cardiff, St Cadoc's Day has traditionally been kept on 25 September; on the French Île de Saint-Cado [fr], a major pardon is traditionally celebrated on the third Sunday in September. Elsewhere his traditional feast day is 24 January.[9][23
