Aredius

Aredius
Abbot
Born c. 510
Limoges, France
Died 591
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Feast 25 August

Saint Aredius (c. 510–591), also known as Yrieix, was Abbot of Limoges and chancellor to Theudebert II, King of Austrasia in the 6th century. He founded the monastery of Attanum, and the various French communes called St. Yrieix are named after him.

History

Aredius was from a prominent Gallo-Roman family of Limoges. Early in his career he served as chancellor to Theudebert I, King of Austrasia.[1] Nicetius bishop of Trier persuaded Aredius to leave the court. Upon the death of his father, Aredius returned to the Limousin to care for his mother. Entrusting to her the management of his estates, he lived as a hermit in a cave.

Recalled by his mother, he founded a monastery in his own house, which later became the site of the city of Saint Yrieix. He was a friend of Gregory of Tours, who says that the house followed the rule of Cassian and later incorporated some aspects of the rule of St. Basil. Aredius divided his time between agricultural labor and study. Every year he made a pilgrimage to Tours to celebrate the feast of St. Martin. He would also travel annually to the Holy Cross Abbey in Poitiers to visit Queen Radegund.

People in the area believed him to have the gift of healing. Gregory says they crowded to Aredius "like bees to a hive".[2] On more than one occasion, he intervened with the Merovingian princes on behalf of the people regarding oppressive taxes.

He supported the cult of Saint Medard of Soissons and probably built the church in his honor at Excideuil. He was a friend of Gregory of Tours, and bequeathed some of his wealth to the church at Tours.[3]

Legend

He was the son of Jocundus, a wealthy Roman. As a young boy he was sent to monastery at Vigeois to study. At the age of 14, he was sent to Metz, under Theudebert. He became the chancellor. Aredius left the court, where life was dissolute, to join Nicetius, of Trier. He converted to Christianity; when he was singing psalms, a dove came down from the sky and flew around him, Aredius tried to shoo it away, but this one was placed above his head.[4] The dove remained with Aredius during thirty days. When his father died, he joined his mother Pelagia in a villa in Attanum (Attane).

Notes

  1. ↑ Goyau, Georges. "Limoges." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 21 Dec. 2014
  2. ↑ Montalembert Charles Forbes René de. Monks of the West, vol.2, Longmans, Green, 1896, p. 161 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ↑ Fletcher, Richard A., The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity, p. 61, University of California Press, 1999 ISBN 9780520218598
  4. ↑ Montalembert Charles Forbes René de. The Monks of the West, P.J. Kenedy, 1912, p. 477
  • "Reliquary bust of Saint Yrieix [French] (17.190.352a,b)", Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2006
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