Mellonius

Last updated

Saint Mellonius
Baie choeur 208 Saint-Ouen Rouen Mellon.JPG
Bornc. 229 [1]
Llanewrwg (St Mellons), Wales
Died314
Hericourt, France
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church; Church in Wales
Major shrine Church of St Mellon in St Mellons, Cardiff, Wales [2]
Feast 22 October

Saint Mellonius (229-314) was an early 4th-century Bishop of Rotomagus (now Rouen) in the Roman province of Secunda Provincia Lugdunensis (now Normandy in France). He is known only from a 17th-century 'Life' of little historical value, meaning the historicity of his existence is uncertain. [3]

Contents

Legend

Mellonius (surnamed Probus) [1] is said to have been born near Cardiff in Wales, presumably at St Mellons, although the saint there is generally thought to be Saint Melaine, Bishop of Rennes. The two have, unfortunately, been hopelessly confused in many biographies. Mellonius' story tells how he travelled to Rome to pay the British tribute. He was there converted to Christianity by Pope Stephen I, [4] who ordained him priest and later consecrated him a bishop.

Shortly after the martyrdom of Pope Stephen in 257, Mellonius set out for Gaul. He succeeded Nicasius of Rouen as Bishop of Rouen in 261. After a long episcopate, in 311, he retired to a hermit's cell at a place called Hericourt, where he died A.D. 314. [5] Mellonius was succeeded by Avitianus.

He is sometimes confused with Mellonius, Bishop of Troyes, from 390 to 400.

Veneration

His feast day is 22 October. In the English translation of the 1956 edition of the Roman Martyrology, 'St Mellon' is listed under 22 October with the citation: At Rouen, St Mellon, Bishop, who was ordained by Pope St Stephen and sent thither to preach the Gospel. [6]

In the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, Mellonius is listed under the same date, 22 October, with the Latin name Mallóni. He is mentioned as follows: 'At Rothómagi (Rouen), bishop, who in that city announced the Christian faith and handed on the episcopate'. [7]

Bishop Mellonius is depicted in a fifteenth-century illuminated Book of Hours. [8]

Mellonius was buried at Rouen, but his remains were subsequently translated to a church in Pontoise towards the end of the eighth century to protect them from Norse warbands. They remained there until they were lost during the French Revolution.

Legacy

St. Mellon's Parish Church St Mellons Parish Church (1) - geograph.org.uk - 1493805.jpg
St. Mellon's Parish Church

St. Mellon's Church in St. Mellons, Cardiff is dedicated to Mellonius of Rouen. A fair used to be held on his feast day in the village of St Mellons. [2] The church was previously dedicated to St. Lucius, but was changed upon the arrival of the Normans. [1] The church at Thiédeville is dedicated to him at Héricourt, where there was a holy well. There is also a church dedicated to St. Mellon in Plomelin, Brittany.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antipope Felix II</span> Archdeacon of Rome, antipope or pope in 355 (died 365)

Antipope Felix was a Roman archdeacon in the 4th century who was installed irregularly in 355 as an antipope and reigned until 365 after Emperor Constantius II banished the then current pope, Liberius. Constantius, following the refusal of the laity to accept Felix, attempted to have them co-rule, but Felix was forced to retire. He was resented in his lifetime but has enjoyed a more popular memory since. In the Roman Catholic Church, an antipope described any figure attempting to oppose the legitimately elected Bishop of Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Linus</span> Head of the Catholic Church from c. 67 to c. 76 AD

Pope Linus was the bishop of Rome from c. AD 67 to his death. As with all the early popes, he was canonized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Anacletus</span> Head of the Catholic Church from c. 79 to c. 92 AD

Pope Anacletus, also known as Cletus, was the bishop of Rome, following Peter and Linus. Anacletus served between c. AD 79 and his death, c. AD 92. Cletus was a Roman who, during his tenure as pope, ordained a number of priests and is traditionally credited with setting up about twenty-five parishes in Rome. Although the precise dates of his pontificate are uncertain, he "...died a martyr, perhaps about 91". Cletus is mentioned in the Roman Canon of the mass; his feast day is April 26.

Pope Liberius was the bishop of Rome from 17 May 352 until his death. According to the Catalogus Liberianus, he was consecrated on 22 May as the successor to Pope Julius I. He is not mentioned as a saint in the Roman Martyrology. That makes him the earliest pontiff not to be venerated as a saint in the Roman Rite and one of only two popes to be omitted from Roman Catholic sainthood in the first 500 years of church history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Valentine</span> 3rd-century Roman Christian saint

Saint Valentine was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his Saints' Day has been associated with a tradition of courtly love. He is also a patron saint of Terni, epilepsy and beekeepers. Saint Valentine was a clergyman – either a priest or a bishop – in the Roman Empire who ministered to persecuted Christians. He was martyred and his body buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14, which has been observed as the Feast of Saint Valentine since at least the eighth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mellons</span> District of Cardiff, Wales

St Mellons is a district and suburb of eastern Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Prior to 1996 St Mellons was the name given to the community largely north of Newport Road (B4487) which included the old St Mellons village. After 1996 the old community was divided and renamed as Old St Mellons and Pontprennau, with the newer, much larger area of modern housing and business parks to the south of Newport Road retaining the St Mellons name. Historically in Monmouthshire, St Mellons became part of South Glamorgan and Cardiff in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">August 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)</span>

August 1 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - August 3

<span class="mw-page-title-main">August 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)</span>

August 4 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - August 6

Philip Evans and John Lloyd were Welsh Roman Catholic priests. They are among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">January 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)</span>

January 8 – Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar – January 10

The Archbishopric of Vienne, named after its episcopal seat in Vienne in the Isère département of southern France, was a metropolitan Roman Catholic archdiocese. It is now part of the Archdiocese of Lyon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melaine</span> Medieval bishop

Saint Melaine was a 6th-century Bishop of Rennes in Brittany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felician of Foligno</span>

Felician(us) of Foligno is the patron saint of Foligno.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calimerius</span>

Calimerius was an early bishop of Milan. He is honoured as a Saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches and his feast day is on July 31.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleutherius and Antia</span> Christian saints and martyrs in Albania

Eleutherius (or Eleut erus or Eleftherios; sometimes called Liberalis or Liberator, the former transliterations and the latter translations of his and his mother Antia are venerated as Christian saints and martyrs in Greece and Albania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary of the Angels Roman Catholic Church, Canton</span> Church in Cardiff, Wales

St Mary of the Angels Roman Catholic Church is located in Canton, Cardiff. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff. It opened on 3 November 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">October 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)</span>

October 21 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - October 23

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham</span> Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction for former Anglicans

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England and Wales is a personal ordinariate in the Latin Church of the Catholic Church immediately exempt, being directly subject to the Holy See. It is within the territory of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, of which its ordinary is a member, and also encompasses Scotland. It was established on 15 January 2011 for groups of former Anglicans in England and Wales in accordance with the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus of Pope Benedict XVI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanctinus of Meaux</span>

Saint Sanctinus of Meaux was a Gallo-Roman bishop and missionary, traditionally named as the first bishop of Meaux and also of Verdun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mellons Church</span> Church in Cardiff, Wales

St Mellons Parish Church, also previously called St Melan's church, is a Church in Wales parish church in the Diocese of Monmouth in Old St Mellons, Cardiff, Wales. It was built around the 13th century and is a Grade I listed building.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Cormack, George. "St. Mellon", The Red Dragon: The National Magazine of Wales, Vol. 11, (Giuseppe Mattei,ed.), Daniel Owen, Howell and Company, 1887, p. 72 PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  2. 1 2 Kellen, David. "St Mellons Parish Church", The Parish of St. Mellons, The church in Wales
  3. David Hugh Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (5 rev. ed.) (Oxford University Press, 2011) Page 307.
  4. Sabine Baring-Gould (1907). Lives of the British Saints
  5. Monks of Ramsgate. “Mellonius”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 22 October 2016
  6. The Roman Martyrology, 1961, The Newman Press, Westminster & Maryland, page 231.
  7. Martyrologium Romanum, 2004, Vatican Press (Typis Vaticanis), page 584.
  8. Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts, The Morgan Library and Museum