Saint Melaine (Latin: Melanius or Mellanus; Breton: Melani; Cornish: Melan; Welsh: Mellon) was a 6th-century Bishop of Rennes in Brittany (now in France).
Saint Melaine (Latin: Melanius or Mellanus; Breton: Melani; Cornish: Melan; Welsh: Mellon) was a 6th-century Bishop of Rennes in Brittany (now in France).
Melaine grew up at Plaz in Brain, near Redon. He was a pious child, often being punished for spending too long at his prayers. He became a monk and then abbot. He was nominated the successor to Bishop Amand of Rennes. Traditions recounted by Baring-Gould state that on the death of Amand, he was compelled by the local population to become the next Bishop, accepting the role with great reluctance; that he performed many miracles and put an end to heathen practices; and that following his death at La Vilaine, his body was placed on a boat which then returned to Rennes against the current without the assistance of rowers or sails. [1] (However, Louis Duchesne is of opinion that the Amandus reckoned among the bishops of Rennes at the end of the fifth century is the same as Amand of Rodez. He therefore excludes him from his list of authentic bishops of Rennes. [2] )
During his rule, Clovis took over the area and Melaine became his trusted advisor. [3] He opposed immigration from Britain and attended the First Council of Orléans in 511. He died at Plaz in 530 [3] and was buried in the Abbey Church of Notre-Dame en Saint-Mélaine in Rennes. [4]
Melaine quickly became revered as a saint, especially after the wooden tower above his grave burnt down and his tomb miraculously survived. He has three feast days: 6 November (death), 6 January (burial)[ dubious ] and 11 October (translation).[ citation needed ]
In Wales, his feast is celebrated locally on 10 October rather than 11 October at St Mellons, in modern-day Cardiff, though there is ambiguity over whether Melaine is the Saint 'Mellonius' said to have been born there.
In Cornwall, he is the patron of the villages of St Mellion and Mullion, where there is a tradition of his visit. [4]
In the English translation of the 1956 edition of the Roman Martyrology, he is listed under 6 January with the citation: At Rennes, in France, St Melanius, Bishop and Confessor, who displayed innumerable virtues, and with his thoughts ever fixed on heaven, passed from the world in glory. [5]
In the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, Melaine is listed under 6 November, with the Latin name Melánii. He is mentioned as follows: 'At Rhedónibus (Rennes) in Brittany, bishop, who passed to God in the place called Plácium on the River Vicenóniam (Vilaine), where with his own hands he built a church and gathered a congregation of monks and servants of God'. [6]
The abbey church of Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melaine in Rennes was dedicated to him.
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department. In 2017, the urban area had a population of 357,327 inhabitants, and the larger metropolitan area had 739,974 inhabitants. The inhabitants of Rennes are called Rennais/Rennaises in French.
April 29 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - May 1
June 30 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - July 2
January 5 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - January 7
Rennes Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Rennes, France. It has been a monument historique since 1906.
Melor was a 10th-century Breton saint who, in England, was venerated in Cornwall and at Amesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, which claimed some of his relics.
Branwalator or Breward, also referred to as Branwalader, was a British saint whose relics lay at Milton Abbas in Dorset and Branscombe in Devon. Believed to come from Brittany, he also gives his name to the parish of Saint Brélade, Jersey. "Brelade" is a corruption of "Branwalader". He is also known as Breward or Branuvelladurus or Brélade and Broladre in French.
Saint Mellonius (229-314) was an early 4th-century Bishop of Rotomagus in the Roman province of Secunda Provincia Lugdunensis. He is known only from a 17th-century 'Life' of little historical value, meaning the historicity of his existence is uncertain.
Breteil is a commune in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany. It is located in northwestern France.
Bédée is a commune in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany.
It is located in the North West of France and is labeled as a village étape since 2009.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese is coextensive with the department of Ille et Vilaine. The Archdiocese has 8 suffragans: the Diocese of Angers, the Diocese of Laval, the Diocese of Le Mans, the Diocese of Luçon, the Diocese of Nantes, the Diocese of Quimper and Léon, the Diocese of Saint-Brieuc and Tréguier, and the Diocese of Vannes.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nantes is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in Nantes, France. The diocese consists of the department of Loire-Atlantique. It has existed since the 4th century. It is now suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo, having previously been suffragan to the Archdiocese of Tours. Its see is Nantes Cathedral in the city of Nantes.
Pleumeleuc is a commune in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany in the northwest of France.
Hatfield Broad Oak Priory, or Hatfield Regis Priory, is a former Benedictine priory in Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex, England. Founded by 1139, it was dissolved in 1536 as part of Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries.
Aignan or Agnan (358–453), seventh Bishop of Orléans, France, assisted Roman general Flavius Aetius in the defense of the city against Attila the Hun in 451. He is known as Saint Aignan.
Redon Abbey, or Abbey of Saint-Sauveur, Redon, in Redon in the present Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, France, is a former Benedictine abbey founded in 832 by Saint Conwoïon, at the point where the Oust flows into the Vilaine, on the border between Neustria and Brittany.
October 21 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - October 23
Saint Teilo, also known by his Cornish name Eliud, was a British Christian monk, bishop, and founder of monasteries and churches. He was from Penalun (Penally) near Tenby in Pembrokeshire, south Wales.
Saint Mommolin of Noyon was a monk who became an abbot in Saint-Omer, then Bishop of Noyon-Tournai in Belgium. His feast day is 16 October.
Saint Salvius of Amiens was a 7th-century bishop of Amiens. His feast day is 11 January.
