Bishop of Soissons at the end of the 4th century and a contemporary of Saint Martin, Onesimus dedicated his episcopate to eradicating the remnants of Druidism and fighting against Arianism. He transformed pagan sites into Christian places and had the Basilica of Saint-Gervais and Saint-Protais built. He died at an advanced age after a life of deprivation and apostolic zeal.
Guided reading
6 reading sections
SAINT ONESIMUS, BISHOP OF SOISSONS (late 4th century).
Struggle against the remnants of paganism
Onesimus strives to extirpate the roots of the Druidic cult in the Gallic countryside, transforming sacred natural sites into places of Christian devotion.
Onesimu Onésime Bishop of Soissons in the 4th century, successor to the first apostles of the region. s, a contemporary of Saint Hilary of Poitiers and Saint Martin of Tours saint Martin de Tours Spiritual model for Aquilin. , those illustrious pontiffs who cast so much glory upon the Church of the Gauls, imitated their zeal by working to extirpate from his diocese the remnants of idolatry that had survived the apostolic efforts of the first bishops, especially in the countryside, in the forests, and on the banks of rivers where the Druidic cult long retained some dominion. It may even be said that it could never be so thoroughly abolished that some reminiscence did not remain in the superstitions of which certain fountains and extraordinary stones are still the object today.
Moreover, to transform the idolatrous worship rendered to ancient trees and rocks by the ancient Gauls into a less superstitious cult, the bishops placed relics there, depicted crosses, and attached the memory of some Saint who would have replaced the divinity to whom they were originally dedicated. But the Druidic beliefs, carried over into the religious and naive customs of the people during the spread of Christianity, nonetheless remained heavily tainted with superstition.
These enormous sandstones, these sacred stones, which one sees near the churches at Brétigny, Neuilly-Saint-Front, Bitry, and Caisne, have been venerated at all times. It is true that, according to popular belief, these are saints who touched them, who rested upon them, who left the imprint of their footsteps as on the Saint-Martin stone at Autréches; but the confidence one has in their virtue, which is more than problematic, recalls only too well the gross errors of our fathers before their conversion to the faith.
Evangelization and miracles
The bishop converted the Soissons region through his preaching, baptisms, and numerous miracles, while protecting his flock from Arian heresy.
“O nesimus Onésime Bishop of Soissons in the 4th century, successor to the first apostles of the region. therefore applied himself to submitting the Soissons region , where the powe pays soissonnais Birthplace and place of death of Geoffrey. r of the demon still dominated, to the light yoke of the Gospel. Everywhere the altars of false gods are overturned, and the pagan temples destroyed.” He administered baptism to numerous neophytes and performed, in the Soissons valley, many miracles necessary for the tender infancy of this nascent Church. He also strove to preserve it from the Arian hérésie arienne Heresy opposed by Columbanus in Italy among the Lombards. heresy that had reached the Gauls.
The support of imperial power
Despite the interlude of Julian the Apostate, Onesimus's actions took place during the period of the definitive proscription of paganism under Emperor Theodosius.
Gallo-Roman bishops were all the more successful in their endeavors for the advancement of Christianity as they were better supported by the imperial power. Julian the Apostate had indeed made some efforts for the restoration of paganism, but, besides the fact that this absurd cult could not withstand the lights of the faith, T heodosiu Théodose Roman emperor under whose reign the narrative begins. s soon made these fleeting attempts forgotten by decreeing the closure of temples and the definitive proscription of the old dying cult (393-395).
A life of asceticism and piety
Of a fragile constitution, Onesimus led a life of privations and voluntary sufferings, compared to a continual martyrdom.
Onesimus, like his colleague Martin of Tours, joined to the ardent speech of an apostle an exemplary piety, the love or rather the passion for suffering, the contempt for riches, and the aversion to pleasures. Of a weak and sickly constitution, he knew how to dominate through the power of his soul the infirmities of a body wracked by pain. He had vowed against himself a hatred that made his life a continual martyrdom.
Death and posterity of the relics
Dying at the end of the 4th century, he was first buried in Crouy before his relics were transferred to Douai and then Donchery.
His death was so edifying and so full of merit that the faithful, who had regarded him as a Saint during his lifetime, canonized him with a unanimous voice after his passing, which occurred in extreme old age on the 3rd of the Ides of May (May 13), towards the end of the fourth century. He was buried in the chapel of Saint-Georges located in the cemetery of the same Crouy Site of the saint's first burial. name, in the fisc of Crouy.
According to the historian of the metropolis of Reims, the body of Saint Onesimus was subsequently transferred to the church of the monastery that rose on the site of the imperial domain of Crouy, where it remained for ninety years, after which it was taken to the église de Saint-Amand, de Douai Place where the saint's relics were transferred in the 10th century. church of Saint-Amand in Douai, whose monks, in the 10th century, gave a portion of it to the priory of Donchery, near Sedan, which depended on the abbey of Saint-Médard.
Foundation of the Cathedral of Soissons
Onesimus is credited with the construction of the Basilica of Saints Gervasius and Protasius, which became the cathedral and the seat of the diocese.
In the absence of any historical monument, it may be conjectured that it was Saint Onesimus who built, at the end of the 4th century, around 388, on the site of the former oratory dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, the Basilica of Saints Gervasius and Protasius , when Saint A saint Ambroise Father of the Church cited for a maxim on strength. mbrose, having discovered their precious relics, distributed, according to Gregory of Tours, a portion among several cities of Gaul and Italy.
According to all probabilities, this basilica, dedicated from time immemorial to the Blessed Virgin and to these two Saints, was from then on the Mother Church (Matrix Ecclesia), the head of the city and of the entire diocese, the one where the bishop sat in his chair (cathedra), surrounded by the elite of his clergy, the cathedral, in a word, which is only authentically mentioned in 646 and which appears to have always existed through all its architectural transformations, at the place it occupies today, in the pure splendor of the great style of the Middle Ages.
Excerpt f rom the Annals of the Church of Annales de l'Église de Soissons Primary historical source for the saint's life. Soissons.
Annexes & related entities
Structured data for exploration: events, miracles, quotes, places, attributes, patronages, and important entities cited in the text.
Key Events
- Struggle against Druidic idolatry in the countryside and forests
- Christianization of pagan places of worship (stones, fountains, trees)
- Administered baptism to numerous neophytes
- Struggle against the Arian heresy
- Presumed construction of the Basilica of Saint-Gervais and Saint-Protais around 388
- Died at an extreme old age
Miracles
- Miracles necessary for the nascent Church in the Soissons valley