Saint Nizier of Lyon

Having lost his father at the beginning of his clerical life, he lived peacefully with his mother. Shortly thereafter, a carbuncle, or pestilential pustule, appeared on his face; it grew and inflamed visibly, reducing him to such an extremity that all hope for his life was abandoned. His mother, who had a great devotion to Saint Mart in, invoked saint Martin Spiritual model for Aquilin. him with much fervor in this necessity; and yet, as her son had not spoken for two days, she did not fail to prepare the things necessary for his funeral. But the holy Bishop appeared to the sick man, and, making the sign of the cross over his ailment, he healed him so perfectly that he rose at that very hour, having no other remnant of this carbuncle than a scar that remained with him all his life as a mark of such a great miracle. He was such an enemy of idleness that he joined manual labor, among the servants and other officers of his house, with the study of Holy Scripture and the exercise of prayer. At the age of thirty, he was ordained a priest by Saint Agricola, bishop of Châlons; but he did not cease to work manually for that reason, in order to practice the counsel of the Apostle and to always have the means, according to his advice, to come to the aid of those who suffered some necessity. He took particular care in the instruction of the youth, and strove that all the children of his relatives and his servants learned early to serve God, to read, and to sing. Saint Gregory, later bishop of Tours, and who w as the son of Saint Grégoire Historian and bishop, primary source for the narrative. one of his nieces, prides himself on having been of that number. He also recounts of his holy uncle that he had above all a great care to preserve chastity; when Saint Gregory was only eight years old, Saint Nizier, having ordered him to lie down near him, wrapped his whole body in his tunic, in such a way that he could not touch him, in order to avoid, by this precaution, everything that could have flattered the disordered feelings of sensuality. Although he was already of such a mature age, and honored with the priesthood, he nevertheless bore such respect for his mother that he obeyed her no less punctually than the lowest of his servants could have done.

It was through the practice of these virtues that the holy priest Nizier prepared himself for the episcopate. Here is how he was raised to it. Saint Ser Lyon Episcopal see of Saint Eucher. dot, Archbishop of Lyon, his uncle, havi ng come to Par roi Childebert King of the Franks who supported the saint. is to see King Childebert, fell ill there and died. During his illness, the King, who knew his great merit, honored him with a visit and showed him much affection. The holy Prelate, whose charity for his people could not end with his life, took this opportunity to beg His Majesty to be pleased that the priest Nizier, his nephew, should be his successor, assuring him that he was a good and very chaste man, in whom there was nothing to be desired of all the qualities required in a bishop. The King replied simply: "May the will of God be done." And, in this way, Nizier was made bishop with the consent of the King, and by the suffrage of the clergy and the people of Lyon.

This blessed Prelate displayed a marvelous kindness in his administration; if he felt offended, he would forgive the injury at that very hour, or he would prompt someone to come and intercede for the culprit, so as to have a reason to pardon his fault. Saint Gregory of Tours reports this trait among others: Saint Nizier sent a priest, named Basil, to Count Armentarius, who was at that comte Armentaire Count and judge in Lyon in conflict with Nicetius. time exercising a judicial office in Lyon, to ask him not to interfere in a certain matter that had been settled by the officiality. This judge having rejected this request, even with some words of contempt, the priest came to report it to the Saint while he was at table, and also recounted the uncivil manner in which he had received him; but the man of God did not welcome this account, made Basil withdraw, and even threatened not to give him any eulogies, because he had reported words to him that could make him angry; nevertheless, repenting immediately of this promptness, he signaled to Gregory, who was his deacon, to intercede for Basil: which he did; and immediately the holy Bishop reconciled with him, and then said to all those present: "I pray you, my brothers, never to report to me what you hear said against me; for it is not appropriate for reasonable men to dwell on words that are uttered without reason."

That was a trait of gentleness; let us also see one of severity; it will make us know that to the simplicity of the dove, this holy Prelate joined the prudence of the serpent, which Our Lord requires in apostolic men. He had suspended a deacon from his office, for some reason; but as the latter took no account of it, it happened that the Saint, going to Matins, heard him singing a responsory in the choir; he immediately cried out: "Let him be silent, let him be silent!" and, at that very hour, his mouth was closed, and the demon who already possessed his soul announced with dreadful cries that he was also taking possession of his body. Then the Saint, having compassion on him, pointed out his fault to him, and, after having exhorted him to live better, and to make more account of the censures of the Church, he delivered him in the presence of all those present.

Saint Nizier governed his bishopric holily for the space of twenty years; he atte nded the second Counci second Concile de Lyon Council of 1274 where Philip had his order approved. l of Lyon, celebrated in the year 567, where the peace and tranquility of the Church were discussed; the holy Prelate contributed not a little to it on his part. Finally, after having put his affairs in order and made his will, he ended his life with a happy death, at the age of sixty, in the year of grace 573. Several miracles have been performed since his death at his tomb, and by the touching of things that had belonged to him, such as his bed, his cope, and even the dust of his sepulcher; his historian and nephew, Saint Gregory of Tours, from whom we have this history, reports them quite amply in the eighth chapter of the Life of the Fathers. Among other things, he writes that the priest of the place where the Saint had chosen his burial, blaming the deceased for having given nothing, by his will, to his church, the holy Prelate appeared to him one night, assisted by two other bishops, his predecessors, Saint Justin and Saint Eucher, complaining to them of his murmurs, and pointing out to them that having given his body to this church, he could leave it nothing more precious. Then approaching the priest, he touched him on the throat; immediately it swelled so much and caused him such great pain that he could barely swallow his saliva; finally, recognizing his fault, and asking the Saint for forgiveness, he recovered his health through his merits at the end of forty days.

The feast of Saint Nizier was formerly celebrated in Chalon-sur-Saône with a double office on April 4. The diocese of Lyon celebrates it today under this rite on April 2. His cult spread to many dioceses in France, along with his relics: in Tours, in Troyes, etc.

The life of Saint Nizier was written by an ecclesiastic of his circle a few years after his death, under the care of Etherius, bishop of Lyon, after Priscus, the Saint's successor. Gregory of Tours, who was the son of his niece, having seen it, noted that it lacked many things and composed another much more detailed one, which forms chapter 8 of his Lives of th e Fathers. Bot Vies des Pères Collection of hagiographic accounts concerning the Desert Fathers and Mothers. h are found in the collection of Bollandus with the notes of Heuschenius, who placed at the beginning what the same Saint Gregory also wrote about him in chapter 61 of the book of the Glory of the Confessors.