Reverianus

Saint Reverianus of Autun
Saint Reverianus of Autun
	A statue of St. Reverianus holding his head.
Bishop and Martyr
Born	Italy
Died	June 1, 273 AD; Gaul
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Major shrine	Villy-le-Moutier (Canton of Nuits-Saint-Georges), France
Feast	June 1 [1]
Attributes	Depicted as a cephalophore (holding his head in his hands)
Patronage	invoked against drought

Last updated May 05, 2019

Saint Reverianus of Autun (French: Révérien, Rirand, also Revenerius, Rivianus, Reverentianus,^[1]Reveriano, Reverie^[2]) (died June 1, 273 AD) was a 3rd-century bishop of Autun.

Life

According to tradition, Reverianus was of Italian origin, he was sent by Pope Felix I ^[1] to evangelize the Aedui, a Gallic people of Gallia Lugdunensis and is considered the "apostle of the Morvan.”

Pope Felix I was the Bishop of Rome or Pope from 5 January 269 to his death in 274.

The Aedui, Haedui, or Hedui were a Gallic people of Gallia Lugdunensis, who inhabited the country between the Arar (Saône) and Liger (Loire), in today's France. Their territory thus included the greater part of the modern departments of Saône-et-Loire, Côte-d'Or and Nièvre.

Gallia Lugdunensis was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul formerly known as Celtica. It is named after its capital Lugdunum, possibly Roman Europe's major city west of Italy, and a major imperial mint. Outside Lugdunum was the Condate Altar, where representatives of the Three Gauls met to celebrate the cult of Rome and Augustus.

According to Usuard,^[3] he was persecuted during the reign of the Emperor Aurelian. According to tradition, Reverianus' preaching and conversions came to the attention of Emperor Aurelian, who was visiting the province of Sens at the time.^[4] Also executed with Reverianus were his companion, named St. Paul or Paulus of Autun, along with 10 other followers.^[2]^[4]

Usuard was a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and a Carolingian scholar.

Aurelian was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. Born in humble circumstances, he rose through the military ranks to become emperor. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following year he conquered the Gallic Empire in the west, reuniting the Empire in its entirety. He was also responsible for the construction of the Aurelian Walls in Rome, and the abandonment of the province of Dacia.

Sens is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km from Paris.

According to one source, “the name [Reverianus] is not mentioned by earlier writers, and the first bishop of Autun seems to have been Reticius, who was present at the Synod of Rome A.D. 313, and at Arles in the following year."^[3] Reverianus may have been revered as a bishop because he was the leader of this group of preachers.^[1] He may not have been executed at Autun itself but at the site of the town named after him.^[1] According to a tradition at Nevers, Reverianus was executed outside of the city walls of that city.^[4]

Saint Reticius was a bishop of Autun, the first one known to history, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. He was a Gallo-Roman, and an ecclesiastical writer, and served as bishop of this see from around 310 to 334 AD.

The Synod of Rome may refer to a number of synods or councils of the Roman Catholic Church, held in Rome.

Saint-Révérien Commune in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France

Saint-Révérien is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. It takes its name from St. Reverianus.

Veneration

In the 4th century, with freedom of worship granted to Christians by the Edict of Milan (313 AD), a monastic cell was built over the graves of these martyrs.^[5]

The Edict of Milan was the February 313 AD agreement to treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire. Western Roman Emperor Constantine I and Emperor Licinius, who controlled the Balkans, met in Mediolanum and, among other things, agreed to change policies towards Christians following the Edict of Toleration issued by Emperor Galerius two years earlier in Serdica. The Edict of Milan gave Christianity a legal status, but did not make Christianity the State church of the Roman Empire; this took place under Emperor Theodosius I in 380 AD with the Edict of Thessalonica.

This monastic cell became in 866 the oratory of St. Révérien, which was granted by Charles the Fat to the chapter of Nevers.^[5] It had been previously under the jurisdiction of the Benedictines of the Abbey of Saint Martin d'Autun.^[5] In 1076, this monastery became affiliated with Abbey of Cluny.^[5] In the 13th century, the present church of St. Révérien was built according to the Cluniac style.^[5]

Charles III, also known as Charles the Fat, was the Holy Roman Emperor from 881 to 888. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandson of Charlemagne. He was the last Carolingian emperor of legitimate birth and the last to rule over all the realms of the Franks.

Another tradition celebrated by the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Nevers held that Reverianus died with his companions near this site,^[4] near the spring that still bears his name.

Of his relics, only a piece of Reverianus' head have been preserved.^[1] The relic was kept at Villy-le-Moutier (in the Canton of Nuits-Saint-Georges), a village to the east of the city of Beaune. Until 1836, Reverianus' head was carried in procession to the church of Saint-Nicolas de Beaune during times of great drought. Crowds from the city and the surrounding areas would pray for rain.^[6]

Related Research Articles

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 "Reverianus von Autun". Heiligen Lexicon. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
1 2 "Saint Reverianus of Autun". CatholicSaints.Info. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
1 2 Thomas Scott Holmes, The Origin & Development of the Christian Church in Gaul During the First Six Centuries of the Christian Era: Being the Birkbeck Lectures for 1907 and 1908 in Trinity College, Cambridge. Birkbeck lectures ; 1907–1908. Macmillan and Company, limited, 1911. September 25, 2007, page 80.
1 2 3 4 Augustin-Joseph Crosnier, Hagiologie nivernaise: ou, Vies des saints et autres pieux personnages qui ont édifié le diocese de Nevers par leurs vertus (I.-M. Fay, 1860). Digitized October 5, 2007, p. 177.
1 2 3 4 5 "Histoire de Saint Révérien". Mairie de Saint Révérien. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
↑ Mémoires, Volumes 33–34, Société d'archéologie de Beaune (Côte d'Or). Histoire, lettres, sciences et arts, Société d'histoire d'archéologie et de littérature de l'arrondissement de Beaune. Impr. Beaunoise, 1910, pp. 167–8.

Sources

Jacques Baudoin: "Grand livre des Saints, culte et iconographie" Ed Créer. 2006. 519.p. fiche n°484, p. 419.
Abbé François Adolphe Chauve-Bertrand: "L'église romane de Saint Révérien " in Bulletin de la Société scientifique et artistique de Clamecy 74e année 3e sem n°26. 1950; p. 88–110 – idem 85e année 3e sem n°36. 1961: " Sanctus Reverianus". – et n°3 . série 37 de 1962. p. 68–83.
Les moines de Ramsgate: "Livre des Saints". Ed A&C Black Publishers 2002 Anglais.655. p. 7e Edition.(ISBN 0713653000)

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[heiligen-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Reverianus von Autun". Heiligen Lexicon. Retrieved May 20, 2015.

[cath-2] 1 2 "Saint Reverianus of Autun". CatholicSaints.Info. Retrieved May 20, 2015.

[Holmes-3] 1 2 Thomas Scott Holmes, The Origin & Development of the Christian Church in Gaul During the First Six Centuries of the Christian Era: Being the Birkbeck Lectures for 1907 and 1908 in Trinity College, Cambridge. Birkbeck lectures ; 1907–1908. Macmillan and Company, limited, 1911. September 25, 2007, page 80.

[crosnier-4] 1 2 3 4 Augustin-Joseph Crosnier, Hagiologie nivernaise: ou, Vies des saints et autres pieux personnages qui ont édifié le diocese de Nevers par leurs vertus (I.-M. Fay, 1860). Digitized October 5, 2007, p. 177.

[Saint-5] 1 2 3 4 5 "Histoire de Saint Révérien". Mairie de Saint Révérien. Retrieved May 22, 2015.

[memoires-6] Mémoires, Volumes 33–34, Société d'archéologie de Beaune (Côte d'Or). Histoire, lettres, sciences et arts, Société d'histoire d'archéologie et de littérature de l'arrondissement de Beaune. Impr. Beaunoise, 1910, pp. 167–8.