Eucherius of Lyon
Saint Eucherius of Lyon | |
|---|---|
 Statue of Saint Eucherius of Lyon inBeaumont-de-Pertuis | |
| Archbishop of Lyon | |
| Born | c. 380 |
| Died | c. 449 |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | 16 November |
Eucherius(c. 380 – c. 449) was a high-born and high-ranking ecclesiastic in the Christian church inRoman Gaul.He is remembered for his letters advocating extreme self-abnegation. From 439, he served asArchbishop of Lyon,andHenry Waceranked him "the most distinguished occupant of that see" afterIrenaeus.[1]He is venerated as asaintwithin theEastern Orthodox Church[2]and theRoman Catholic Church.[3]
Life
[edit]Eucherius was married to a Gallo-Roman woman namedGalla.[4]They had two sons:VeranusandSalonius,who were born c.400.[5]According to some sources, they also had two daughters, Consortia and Tullia.[6][7]
After their sons were born, Eucherius suggested that they adopt a more ascetic life together.[8][9]Galla and Eucherius' marriage evolved to a 'marriage of friendship' like others undertaken by other religious figures such as Paulinus andTherasia of Nola.[5]The family practised "unwealth" - where life was restricted to the minimum in order to support prayer and devotion.[10]
On the death of his wifeGalla,as was common in the 5th century, Eucherius withdrew with his sons,VeranusandSalonius,to themonastery of Lérinsfor a time.[11]Both sons were later sent to visit Paulinus of Nola.[8]There he lived a severely simple life of study, devoting himself to the education of his sons. Soon afterwards he withdrew further, to the neighbouring island of Lerona (nowÎle Sainte-Marguerite), where he devoted his time to study andmortification of the flesh.With the thought that he might join theanchoritesin the deserts of the East, he consultedJohn Cassian,the famed hermit who had arrived from the East inMarseille.Cassian dedicated the second set of hisCollationes(nos. 11–17) to Eucherius andHonoratus,the founder of Lérins. These describe the daily lives of the hermits of theEgyptian Thebaidand discuss the important themes of grace, free will and scripture.[3]
Though imitating theascetic lifestyleof the Egyptian hermits, Eucherius kept in touch with men renowned for learning and piety: Cassian, Honoratus,Hilary of Arles,Claudianus Mamertus,Agroecius(who dedicated a book to him) andSidonius Apollinaris.The fame of Eucherius was soon so widespread in southeastern Gaul that he was chosen bishop of Lyon.[12]This was probably in 434. It is certain, at least, that he attended the firstcouncil of Orangeas metropolitan of Lyon in 441, and that he retained this dignity until his death.[3]He was succeeded in the bishopric by his son Veranus, while Salonius becameBishop of Geneva.
Works
[edit]Around 428, Eucherius wrote his epistolary essayDe laude eremi( "in praise of the desert" ), addressed to Hilary of Arles.[3]HisLiber formularum spiritalis intelligentiae,[13]addressed to his son Veranus, is a defence of the lawfulness ofallegorical readins of the Bible,bringing to bear the metaphors inPsalmsand such phrases as "the hand of God." The termanagoge(ἀναγωγὴ) is employed for the application of Scripture to the heavenly Jerusalem to come, and there are other examples of what would become classic medieval hermeneutics. Among Eucherius' other letters are hisInstitutiones ad Salonium,addressed to his other son, and a letter toFaustus of Lérinsdescribing his pilgrimage toJerusalem.[14]
Eucherius'Epistola paraenetica ad Valerianum cognatum, de contemptu mundi( "Epistle of exhortation to his kinsman Valerian, On the contempt of the world" ) is an expression of the despair for the present and future of the world in its last throes shared by many educated men ofLate Antiquity,with hope for a world to come.Desiderius Erasmusthought so highly of its Latin style that he edited and published it at Basel (1520).
Notes
[edit]
- ^Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century A.D., with an Account of the Principal Sects and Heresies.Christian Classics Ethereal LibraryArchived2005-02-19 at theWayback Machine
- ^"Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome".www.orthodoxengland.org.uk.Retrieved2024-10-01.
- ^abcdClugnet, Léon (1909). "St. Eucherius".Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 5.New York City.Retrieved30 August2022.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^Jones, A. H. M. (Arnold Hugh Martin), 1904-1970. (1971–1992).The Prosopography of the later Roman Empire.Martindale, J. R. (John Robert),, Morris, John, 1913-1977. Cambridge [England]: University Press. p. 491.ISBN0-521-20160-8.OCLC125134.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^abBeach, Alison I; Cochelin, Isabelle, eds. (2020).The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West.Cambridge University Press.doi:10.1017/9781107323742.ISBN9781108766760.S2CID236305538.
- ^Waarden, Joop van, “Eucherius of Lyon”, Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity Online, General Editor David G. Hunter, Paul J.J. van Geest, Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte
- ^O'Loughlin, Thomas (2023-04-14).Early Medieval Exegesis in the Latin West: Sources and Forms.Taylor & Francis. pp. vii.ISBN978-1-000-94694-9.
- ^abAntelmy, J. (1726). Assertio pro unico S. Eucherio Lugdunensi episcopo. Auctore Jos. Antelmio,... Opus posthumum. Accedit concilium Regiense sub Rostagno metrop. Aquensi, anni MCCLXXXV. Nunc primo prodit integrum, & Notis illustratum operâ Car. Antelmii: apud Ant. Claudium Briasson.
- ^Beach, Alison I.; Cochelin, Isabelle (2020-01-09).The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West.Cambridge University Press. p. 155.ISBN978-1-108-77063-7.
- ^Cecconi, Giovanni Alberto; Lizzi Testa, Rita; Marcone, Arnaldo, eds. (2019).The Past as Present: Essays on Roman History in Honour of Guido Clemente.Studi e testi tardoantichi. Vol. 17. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers.doi:10.1484/m.stta-eb.5.117753.ISBN978-2-503-58524-6.S2CID211588972.
- ^Waarden, Joop van, "Eucherius of Lyon",Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity Online,(General Editor David G. Hunter, Paul J.J. van Geest, Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte)
- ^Monks of Ramsgate. "Eucherius".Book of Saints1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 17 January 2013
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
- ^Curtin, D. P. (February 2017).Formulas for Spiritual Intelligence.Dalcassian Publishing Company.ISBN9781088299579.
- ^John Wilkinson,Jerusalem Pilgrims before the Crusades(Ariel Publishing House, 1977), pp. 3–4
References
[edit]- Salvator Pricoco, 1965.Eucherii De Laude eremi(University of Catania) This edition establishes the best, most recent Latin text.
- Bishop of Tours Gregory,Historia Francorum (The History of the Franks) (London, England: Penguin Books, Ltd., 1974).
- Ford Mommaerts-Browne, "A Speculation",http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/GEN-ANCIENT/2004-03/1079586413.
- Sidonius Apollinaris,The Letters of Sidonius (Oxford: Clarendon, 1915) (orig.), pp. clx–clxxxiii; List of Correspondents, Notes, V.ix.1.
- K. Pollmann, "Poetry and Suffering: Metrical Paraphrases of Eucherius of Lyons’ Passio Acaunensium Martyrum," in Willemien Otten and Karla Pollmann (eds),Poetry and Exegesis in Premodern Latin Christianity: The Encounter between Classical and Christian Strategies of Interpretation(Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2007) (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, 87).
- Vivian, Tim; Vivian, Kim; Russell, Jeffrey Burton (1999). "Appendix III:In Praise of the Desertby Eucherius of Lyon ".The life of the Jura fathers: the life and rule of the holy fathers Romanus, Lupicinus, and Eugendus, abbots of the monasteries in the Jura Mountains.Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications. pp. 197–215.(full English translation ofDe laude eremi,in Appendix III)
External links
[edit]
- Henry Wace,Eucherius,A Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature
- Edgar Henneke inThe New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge:Eucherius
- The World Contemned(De Contemptu mundi)(in English, translated byHenry Vaughan,1654)
- De laude eremi(in Latin) atThe Latin Library
- De laude eremi(Latin Wikisource)
