Saint of the Day – 13 January – St Agritius of Trier (c260-c335) the 4th Bishop of Trier Born in Syria and died in 335 of natural causes in his See of Trier. Also known as – Agricius of Trier, Agrecius of Trèves, Agrizio di Treviri, Agrice, Aguy. Additional Memorials – 9 January in Trier , 29 May when the Holy Relics are venerated.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Treves, St Agritius, Bishop.”
In a manuscript from the Monastery of San Massimino, there is a Life of Agritius which constitutes the second part of the Life of Saint Helena. It was almost certainly written in the 11th Century and it is recorded with authority that its author, writing between 1030 and 1045, was a member of the Clergy of the Cathedral of Trier, perhaps Angibaldo, the Chancellor of the Bishop Poppo.
Furthermore, Agritius is remembered as the Bishop in various Calendars of Trier on 13 January and, by the hagiographer of San Massimino.
Of course, we know little of our Saint’s life exce[t that Agritius participated, together with the Exorcist Felix, at the Council of Arles in 314 and that he died before 336, since in the Chronicon of Saint Jerome, it is written that in 336, precisely, St Athanasius, in exile, was welcomed in Trier by Saint Maximinus, Agritius’ successor.
The Life of Agritius, however, although woven with legend, has a considerable historical-literary value, as it is one of the oldest historical documents of Trier and bears witness to the life and mentality dominant in that Church in the 10th Century.
According to this Life, therefore, Agritius, then the Bishop of Antioch, at the request of Helena, mother of Constantine, was appointed by Pope Sylvester as the Bishop of Trier, the 4th shepherd of this Diocese. Trier, two centuries after the first preaching had relapsed into full paganism and Agritius, despite many serious difficulties, undertook the work of rebuilding Christianity, aided by Helena, who gave him precious Relics of the Saviour, a Nail from the Cross and the Holy Tunic and the Relics of Lazarus and Martha. The translation of the latter is represented in an ivory from the Byzantine era depicting Agritius and Pope Sylvester on a cart while carrying the urn to Trier. Sylvester is also said to have given Agritius and his successors, the primacy over the Bishops of Gaul and Germany but this privilege, inserted in the Vita, is undoubtedly apocryphal and probably echoes that granted by Pope John XIII on 22 January 969 to Bishop Thierry.
The date of Agritius’ death, established by some as 344, by others as 368, is almost certainly to be indicated as 335 due to the testimony of Jerome mentioned above. Agritius is celebrated on 13 January and, in the Diocese of Trier, also on 9 January. The translation of the Relics is celebrated on 29 May on the Feast Day of St Maximinus, St Agritius successor. You can read St Maximinus’ life here: Saint of the Day – 29 May – St Maximinus of Trier (Died c 346)
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