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Saint Amator of Auxerre | |
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 St. Amador, Chapelle de Locadour, Kervignac | |
| Died | 1 May 418 |
| Canonized | Pre-Congregation |
| Feast | 1 May |
| Attributes | bishop with axe and tree |
Amator(in French)Amadour or Amatre was bishop of Auxerre from 388 until his death on 1 May 418 and venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Amator's feast day is celebrated on 1 May. [1]
Amator studied theology under Valerian, Bishop of Auxerre, but married a holy woman of Langres, venerated locally as Saint Martha, in order to please his parents. After their wedding, they mutually agreed to live together as brother and sister. By mutual consent, Martha subsequently became a nun and Amator received the clerical tonsure. [2]
He later succeeded Eladius as Bishop of Auxerre in 388 and governed the see until his death 30 years later. During this 30-year episcopacy, he built two churches and converted the remaining pagans in his diocese. He introduced the relics of Saint Cyricus into France, thus propagating this saint's cult.
Germanus was one of the six dukes, entrusted by the emperor with the government of the Gallic provinces. He resided at Auxerre. At length he incurred the displeasure of Bishop Amator by hanging hunting trophies on a certain tree, which in earlier times had been the scene of pagan worship. Amator remonstrated with him in vain. One day when the duke was absent, the bishop had the tree cut down and the trophies burnt. Fearing the anger of the duke, who wished to kill him, he fled and appealed to the prefect Julius for permission to confer the tonsure on Germain. This being granted, Amator, who felt that his own life was drawing to a close, returned. When the duke came to the church, Amator caused the doors to be barred and gave him the tonsure against his will, telling him to live as one destined to be his successor, and forthwith made him a deacon. When in a short time Amator died, Germain was unanimously chosen to succeed him as bishop. [3] Germanus subsequently wrote a biography of Amator. In the Middle Ages, a certain Stephen also composed a life of Amator, but it is considered a work of fiction.
J. B. Bury suggests that Amator ordained Saint Patrick to the diaconate at Auxerre; and that Patrick was later ordained priest by Amator's successor Germanus of Auxerre in a church in Auxerre dedicated to Amator. [4]
Amator died in 418 and was buried in the church which he had built in honour of the Martyr Saint Symphorian, and which later bore his own name. [5]
He is depicted as a bishop with an axe and tree.
Amator is sometimes confused with a hermit of legend whose feast day is 20 August. A tradition in Autun also designates him as its first bishop, with an occupancy date of 250, tying him to the seven bishops sent to evangelise Gaul in the time of Decius.
The commune of Rocamadour is said to have been named after Amator, who is believed to have been the founder of the ancient sanctuary. The crypt Saint-Amadour is situated here. The church of Notre Dame (1479) contains a wooden Black Madonna reputed to have been carved by Amator.
Amadour was identified with the Biblical Zacheus, the tax collector of Jericho mentioned in Luke 19:1-10. He is also thought to have been a servant in the house of the Holy Family, who married Veronica, who wiped Jesus' face on the way to Calvary. Driven out of Palestine by persecution, Amadour and Veronica embarked in a frail skiff and, guided by an angel, landed on the coast of Aquitaine, where they met Bishop Martial, who was preaching the Gospel in the south-west of Gaul. After journeying to Rome, where he witnessed the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul, Amadour, having returned to France, on the death of his spouse, withdrew to a wild spot in Quercy where he built a chapel in honour of the Blessed Virgin, near which he died a little later. [6]
Amator's Acts cannot be dated as being older than the 12th century. It is now well established that Martial, Amadour's contemporary in the legend, lived in the 3rd not the 1st century, and Rome has never included him among the members of the Apostolic College. The untrustworthiness of the legend has led some recent authors to suggest that Amadour was an unknown hermit or the actual bishop of Auxerre of the same name.
Confusion is added by the fact that there is also a Amator (Portuguese : Amador of Portugal ) whose feast day is celebrated on 27 March. He was a hermit of Portugal, and several churches in the diocese of Guarda and elsewhere in Portugal are dedicated to him. A "San Amador" is the patron saint of the Spanish town of Martos.
Germanus of Auxerre was a western Roman clergyman who was bishop of Autissiodorum in Late Antique Gaul. He abandoned a career as a high-ranking government official to devote his formidable energy towards the promotion of the church and the protection of his "flock" in dangerous times, personally confronting, for instance, the barbarian king "Goar". In Britain he is best remembered for his journey to combat Pelagianism in or around 429 AD, and the records of this visit provide valuable information on the state of post-Roman British society. He also played an important part in the establishment and promotion of the Cult of Saint Alban. The saint was said to have revealed the story of his martyrdom to Germanus in a dream or holy vision, and Germanus ordered this to be written down for public display. Germanus is venerated as a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, which commemorate him on 31 July.
Palladius was the first bishop of the Christians of Ireland, preceding Saint Patrick. It is possible that some elements of their life stories were later conflated in Irish tradition. Palladius was a deacon and member of one of the prominent families in Gaul. Pope Celestine I consecrated him a bishop and sent him to Ireland "to the Scotti believing in Christ".
Germain was the bishop of Paris and is venerated as a saint in both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to an early biography, he was known as Germain d'Autun, rendered in modern times as the "Father of the Poor".
Genevieve is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January.
Illtud, also known as Illtud Farchog or Illtud the Knight, is venerated as the abbot teacher of the divinity school, Bangor Illtyd, located in Llanilltud Fawr in Glamorgan, Wales. He founded the monastery and college in the 6th century, and the school is believed to be Britain's earliest centre of learning. At its height, it had over a thousand pupils and schooled many of the great saints of the age, such as David, Samson of Dol, and the historian Gildas.
Rocamadour is a commune in the Lot department in southwestern France. It lies in the former province of Quercy.
Saint Alban is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorded at an early date from Roman Britain. He is traditionally believed to have been beheaded in Verulamium sometime during the 3rd or 4th century, and his cult has been celebrated there since ancient times.
Saint Randoald was prior of the Benedictine Moutier-Grandval Abbey under Germanus of Granfelden. He is recognised as a saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches
Amadour is the legendary founder of the shrine of Our Lady of Rocamadour in France. He is believed to have been a hermit. His feast day is 20 August.
Saint Julian of Le Mans is a saint venerated in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church, honored as the first bishop of Le Mans. His feast day is 27 January. The translation of his relics is celebrated on 25 July.
The diocese of Auxerre is a former French Roman Catholic diocese. Its historical episcopal see was in the city of Auxerre in Burgundy, now part of eastern France. Currently the non-metropolitan Archbishop of Sens, ordinary of the diocese of Sens and Auxerre, resides in Auxerre.
Saint Aunarius (Aunacharius) (French: Aunaire, Aunachaire, Anachaire) (c.540–c.603) was bishop of Auxerre during the 6th century.
Symphorian, Timotheus (Timothy), and Hippolytus of Rome are three Christian martyrs who, though they were unrelated and were killed in different places and at different times, shared a common feast day in the General Roman Calendar from at least the 1568 Tridentine calendar to the Mysterii Paschalis. While still a young man, Symphorian was either beheaded or beaten to death with clubs.
Aaron of Auxerre was a bishop of Auxerre. He has been beatified by the Roman Catholic Church, and his relics are venerated in the Church of Saint-Germain in Auxerre, where his feast day is celebrated on 28 September.
Saint Germanus of Granfelden was the first abbot of Moutier-Grandval Abbey. He is venerated as a martyr saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
Saint Maximus of Évreux, called Saint Mauxe locally, is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. His legend states that he was the second bishop of Évreux, and that he died a martyr at Acquigny with his brother, who was his deacon. His brother is called Venerandus (Vénérand) or Victorinus.
Amador of Portugal or of Guarda was a hermit from Portugal. He was venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and his feast day is celebrated on 27 March.
Lupus (French: Loup, Leu, was an early bishop of Troyes. Around 426, the bishops in Britain requested assistance from the bishops of Gaul in dealing with Pelagianism. Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus were sent.
The Vita Germani is a hagiographic text written by Constantius of Lyon in the 5th century AD. It is one of the first hagiographic texts written in Western Europe, and is an important resource for historians studying the origins of saintly veneration and the "cult of saints." It recounts the life and acts of bishop Germanus of Auxerre, who travelled to Britain c. 429 AD, and is the principal source of details about his life. It is one of the few surviving texts from the 5th century with information about Britain and the Pelagian controversy, and is also one of the first texts to identify and promote the cult of Saint Alban.
Patiens of Lyon was bishop of Lyon in the 5th century and recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He succeeded Bishop Eucherius, and died on September 11 before 494, the year in which his second successor Rusticius began his episcopate.
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