Saint of the Day – 2 April – Saint Nizier of Lyon (c513-573) Archbishop of Lyon

Saint of the Day – 2 April – Saint Nizier of Lyon (c513-573) Archbishop of Lyon, He served from 552 or 553 until his death. Nizier was a man of ascetic lifestyle, his care for the poor and his promotion of Church music have since been remembered and praised. Died in 573 of natural causes. Also known as – Nicet, Nicetus, Nicetius, Nicezio, Nikita.

The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Lyon, St Nizier, renowned for his saintly life and miracles.”

Nizier was born in Burgundy (or Geneva) in 513, into a noble Senatorial family. His father renounced the Bishopric of Geneva. He iwas the nephew of St Sacerdos, Bishop of Lyon and the great-uncle of St Gregory of Tours, who later wrote Nizier’s Vita.

Ordained as a Priest around 543 by St Agricola the Bishop of Chalon-sur-Saône, he was appointed as the Bishop of Lyon on 16 February 552 (or 19 January 553) and thus succeeded his uncle who had requested his appointment of the King.

He presided over a Council in Lyon in 566 of the Provinces of Lyons and Vienne. On this occasion he would have received the title of Archbishop from the Pope.

In his youth he had been healed of a facial tumour through the intercession of Saint Martin of Tours. Having become a Priest, he continued to work with his hands so as not to be dependent on anyone and to be able to support the poor. His nephew, St Gregory of Tours, wrote his biography describing how he served the Church of Lyon for twenty years, with supernatural charity, hastening to forgive everyone. He himself knew how to recognise and regret his sometimes annoying liveliness.

He fought to put Clerics under sole Ecclesiastical jurisdiction… He was a promoter of Church Music, the ‘friend of concord and peace‘ and revered for his generosity towards the poor of his time.

Nizier was buried in the Church of the Apostles (now St Nizier) at Lyon, where his Tomb is blessedly still preserved and the source of many miracles. Several localities iand Churches n the region have come under his patronage.