Saint of the Day – 22 July – St Meneleus (Died c700) Abbot of Ménat Monastery near Clermont, France. Born in Précigné, France and died at his Ménat Monastery. Also known as – Mauvier, Menele, Men eve, Menevius.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “In the territory of Auvergne, St Meneleus, Abbot.”
According to the Vita, Meneleus was born in Précigné (Sarthe, Anjou). To avoid marriage, he took refuge in Auvergne and there he met Theofredus, the Abbot of Saint-Chaffre. Meneleus entered this Monastery and was trained by the Abbot for several years.
With a companion, St Savinian, Meneleus then received permission to live the solitary silent life of Hermits in constant prayer and fasting. The two companions later plaed themselves under the guidance of Saints Eudo in the Abbey which later took the name of Le Monastier.
After seven years, Meneleus returned to Menat to assume the
direction of that Monastery which was destroyed by fire shortly thereafter. Meneleus oversaw its reconstruction and died in c700.
The memorial of St Meneleus today on 22 July is found in the Martyrology of Usuard, in the Benedictine Martyrologies and was revived by the Roman. Meneleus is commemorated in the Diocese of Clermont. The Saint’s Relics were once located, along with those of Saint Savinian, under the High Altar of Menat but were dispersed during the Revolution, with the exception of a few fragments which, in 1711, had been donated to Précigné, his bikrthplace.
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