Saint Elophe
Martyr
A 4th-century martyr under Julian the Apostate, Saint Elophe was beheaded near Soulosse after converting hundreds of people. Tradition recounts that he picked up his head to carry it to the top of a mountain. His relics, formerly kept in the Diocese of Toul, were partially transferred to Cologne.
Guided reading
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SAINT ELOPHE, MARTYR NEAR SOULOSSE,
Youth and persecution
Born in the diocese of Toul, Elophe was imprisoned under Emperor Julian before miraculously escaping to return to his mother.
Our Saint was born in the diocese of Toul. While Em peror Julian was l'empereur Julien Roman emperor and persecutor of Christians. persecuting the Church of Jesus Christ, Jews gathered by his orders with pagans, seized Elophe, and threw him into prison with thirty-three other Christians. By an effect of divine power, the prison door opened during the night; Elophe escaped and his companions followed him. He came to Toul where he performed his final duties to his mother. He was soon troubled there, not only by Jewish and pagan soldiers, but by the principal authorities who threatened him with death if he did not renounce his religion. He fled to Grand (Vosges), and arrived, it is b elieved, in th Grand (Vosges) City where the saint took refuge and was martyred. at city at the moment when Julian himself was there. Elophe devoted himself there to works of holy charity. Crossing the small river Vaire one day, he saw Jews gathered with pagans to offer their worship to idols. These Jews were then failing to follow the prescriptions of the Mosaic law, as their fathers had already done in the past. He zealously rebuked them all, and, taking advantage of the circumstance, he announced to them the Word of Truth, by whose merits sinners receive forgiveness and peace. He did so with such zeal and unction that, not to mention the women, nearly six hundred and twenty men were converted and received baptism. Having learned this, Julian, forgetting the hypocritical gentleness he affected and letting himself be carried away by his hatred against Jesus Christ, ordered that the holy confessor be beheaded. Like his brother Encaire, Elophe picked up his head and c arried Encaire Brother of Saint Elophe, also a cephalophore martyr. it to the summit of the neighboring ramassa sa tête et la porta Hagiographic phenomenon in which a decapitated martyr carries their own head. mountain where, finding a white-colored stone, he rested upon it. It is from this that this mountain is called Saint-Elophe, situated between Fromentières and Grand, six miles from each of these two cities, having Toul to the north and Grand to the south.
Mission and conversions at Grand
Refugee in Grand, Elophe preaches the Gospel to the pagans and the Jews, converting more than six hundred men through his zeal.
The miracles that took place in this location, where the Christians had buried the body of the martyr, subsequently led them to build a church there which, for many long years, served as a parish for several surrounding villages. S aint Gerard, Bishop of Toul, Saint Gérard, évêque de Toul Bishop of Toul who oversaw the translation of relics. having known, through these wonders of which a portion were witnesses, of the credit Saint Elophe enjoyed before God, judged it appropriate to divide his relics. He made three parts of them, one for his cathedral; one, which contained the head of the martyr, for Bruno, Archbishop Brunon, archevêque de Cologne Archbishop of Cologne and brother of Emperor Otto I. of Cologne , brother of Emperor l'empereur Othon Ier Holy Roman Emperor, brother of Bruno of Cologne. Otto I; and the third to remain in the church where, until then, the whole had rested. The Protestants of Germany, in 1587, and the Swedes, in 1633, broke the reliquary of the small church to remove the silver plates and ornaments that covered it, but they abandoned the relics without destroying them. The faithful took care to collect them with devotion, and later they were placed in a very beautiful reliquary offered by Mr. Simon Sallet, Lord of M. Simon Sallet Lord of Lifol and Treasurer of Lorraine, donor of a reliquary. Lifol and Villouxel, Treasurer of Lorraine.
Martyrdom and post-mortem miracle
Condemned to death by Julian, Elophe is beheaded; he then picks up his head to carry it to the summit of a nearby mountain.
There are several churches or chapels placed under the patronage of Saint Elophe. The town of Neufchâteau La ville de Neufchâteau Town with a great devotion to the saint. holds this blessed one in great veneration and invokes him, during public calamities, through solemn supplications.
Cult and translation of the relics
Saint Gerard of Toul organized the distribution of the martyr's relics between his cathedral, the Archbishop of Cologne, and the site of the martyrdom.
Excerpt from the History of the Diocese of Toul and that of Nancy, by Abbé Guillaume.
Destructions and preservation
Despite the looting by the Protestants and the Swedes in the 16th and 17th centuries, the relics were saved and placed in a new reliquary.
The miracles that took place in this location, where the Christians had buried the body of the martyr, led them subsequently to build a church there which, for many years, served as a parish for several surrounding villages. Saint Gerard, Bishop of Toul, having learned, through these wonders of which he was partly a witness, of the credit Saint Elophe enjoyed with God, deemed it appropriate to divide his relics. He made three parts of them, one for his cathedral; one, which contained the head of the martyr, for Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne, brother of Emperor Otto I; and the third to remain in the church where, until then, the whole had rested. The Protestants of Germany, in 1587, and the Swedes, in 1633, broke the shrine of the small church to remove the silver plates and ornaments that covered it, but they abandoned the relics without destroying them. The faithful took care to collect them with devotion, and later they were placed in a very beautiful reliquary offered by Mr. Simon Sallet, Lord of Lifol and Villouxel, Treasurer of Lorraine.
Veneration in Neufchâteau
The saint remains the object of great devotion, particularly in Neufchâteau during public calamities.
There are several churches or chapels placed under the patronage of Saint Elophe. The town of Neufchâteau holds this blessed one in great veneration and invokes him, during public calamities, through solemn supplications.
Excerpt from the History of the Diocese of Toul and that of Nancy, by Abbé Guillaume.
Annexes & related entities
Structured data for exploration: events, miracles, quotes, places, attributes, patronages, and important entities cited in the text.
Key Events
- Imprisonment with thirty-three Christians under Julian the Apostate
- Miraculous liberation from prison
- Return to Toul for his mother's funeral rites
- Flight to Grand (Vosges)
- Conversion and baptism of six hundred and twenty men
- Beheading by order of Emperor Julian
- Carried his own head to the top of a mountain
Miracles
- Miraculous opening of the prison doors
- Cephalophory (carries his head after decapitation)
- Miracles attested by Saint Gerard