Saints Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor and Nazarius

RELICS OF SAINTS NABOR AND NAZARIUS.

The relics of the two saints, N abor Nabor Martyr in Milan in the 4th century. and Nazariu Nazaire 1st-century Roman martyr, son of Saint Perpetua. s, were brought to France. They must not be confused with two other saints of the same name, executed in Milan, in the company, one of Saint Felix, the other of Saint Celsus, a small child, honored on July 12 and 23.

In 763, Sa int Chrodegand, saint Chrodegand Bishop of Metz and friend of Madalvé. Bishop of Metz, had the bodies of the holy martyrs Gorgon, Nabor, and Nazarius transferred from Rome, which he had obta ined from the holy saint pape Paul Ier Pope who authorized the transfer of martyrs' relics to France. Pope Paul I. Some authors say that this prelate went to Rome himself to fetch them; others assert that he was content to have them requested, and that the Sovereign Pontiff sent them to him by Willibarius, Bishop of Sion, in Valais. Be that as it may, one reads in the history of this translation, written by a monk of Gorze, that the people rushed to meet the holy bodies as far as the Alps, and that the monks of Aganne or Saint-Maurice, having stolen during one night that of Saint Gorgon, which had been placed in deposit in their church, Saint Chrodegand complained to King Pepin, who sent the bishops of Toul and Verdun, with the duke of the province, to force the monks to return the relics of the holy Martyr. Arriving in Austrasia, they were deposited at Verengéville, where a church and a priory were later built in honor of Saint Gorgon; from there, they were transferred to the monastery of monastère de Gorze Place of initial formation for Adalberon II. Gorze, which Saint Chrodegand had just founded, and deposited, in 769, in the church, by Saint Angelramnus, his successor. Saint Gorgon became the principal protector of the famous abbey and of the city that formed around it. One of the old parishes of Metz was under the patronage of the holy Martyr, and he is still today the titular saint of several parishes in the diocese.

The body of Saint Nabor saint Nabor Martyr in Milan in the 4th century. was given to the monastery of Hilariacum or Neuve-Celle (Nova-Cella), which took from it the name of Saint-Nabor, by corruption of Saint-Avold. Hilariacum or Helera was, originally, only an oratory or a small monastery built by Saint Fridolin in honor of Saint Hilary of Poitiers. Fridolin, Irish by birth, had left his homeland and gone to the monastery of Saint-Hilaire of Poitiers, of which he became abbot. He left it around the year 509 to go and found the famous abbey of Seckingen on an island in the Rhine. On his way, he founded several monasteries in Austrasia and Burgundy, in particular that of Hilariacum, on the Rosselle, eight leagues from Metz, where he deposited some relics of the great defender of the divinity of Jesus Christ in Gaul. Saint Sigchaud, the predecessor of Saint Chrodegand to the see of Metz, repaired this monastery, re-established the observance there, and increased its revenues; benefits which earned him the regard of being its founder. From that time on, it bore the name of Nova-Cella, under which it was known until it took that of Saint-Nabor. The abbey was later showered with the liberality of Saint Angelram, Bishop of Metz, who had been a monk there. Fully seconded by Charlemagne, he magni ficently ad Charlemagne Emperor of the Franks and uncle of Saint Folquin. orned the tomb of the holy Martyr, as attested by Alcuin (Epig. 164). The illustrious prelate having died in Pannonia in the year 791, following Charlemagne, for whom he served as archchaplain and apocrisiarius of the Holy See, his body was transported and buried at Saint-Nabor, where Saint Sigchaud had been buried. The monks of Saint-Nabor or Saint-Avold were of the Order of Saint Benedict. The abbot occu pied the first rank a Ordre de Saint-Benoît Religious order occupying the monastery of Honnecourt. mong the abbots of the diocese. He took the title of first baron of the bishopric. The bishops of Metz had instituted, in the small town that had risen around the abbey, a court which was presided over by the Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken, the bishop's first vassal and his hereditary advocate.

The convent of Saint-Nabor, or Saint-Avold, has ceased to exist. But the parish church of Saint-Avold, which is none other than that of the convent, still possesses the head of Saint Nabor. The rest of the body of this holy Martyr will undoubtedly have been given, at various times, to other churches or abbeys by the monks of Saint-Avold who were its possessors.

Saint Chrodegang destined the relics of S aint Nazarius saint Nazaire 1st-century Roman martyr, son of Saint Perpetua. for the Abbey of Lauresh Lauresheim Abbey receiving the relics of Saint Nazarius. eim or Lorsch, founded two years earlier (763) by several of his relatives, three leagues from Worms. The report of miracles performed at the tomb of the holy Martyr drew a great multitude of people there.

Saint Nazarius is the patron of Armancourt, in the diocese of Amiens, where people go on pilgrimage on June 12th, to help children walk sooner, or to cure them of rickets.

The cathedral of Coutances has also possessed, for a long time, relics of Saints Nabor and Nazarius.