Saint of the Day – 22 September – St Sanctinus (c270-356) the 1st Bishop of Verdun and Meaux, Missionary, evangelised the region, some sources consider him a Martyr. Sanctinus was a disciple of St Dionysius, the Bishop of Paris. Also known as – Xantin, Santin, Saintin or Sanctin; Name means: the holy one (Latin). Additional Feasts – 12 October in Verdun, 25 September (translation of Relics).
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Meaux, the blessed Sanctinus, Bishop, Disciple of St Dennis (Dionysius), the Areopagite, who, being Consecrated by St Denn is, as the Bishop of Meaux, was the first to preach the Gospel there.”
Sanctinus was a disciple of St Dionysius, the Bishop of Paris .. He worked as a Missionary in the area around Verdun and became the cCty’s first Bishop.
He is also said to have worked in Picardy and Champagne and is, therefore, considered the 1st Bishop of Meaux. In 332. in Verdun, he built the 1st Church, dedicated to Sts Peter and Paul , on the walls of a pagan temple on the site of the later Abbey of St Vanne —now ruins, within the City’s fortified citadel. According to tradition, he died in prison in Meaux and is, therefore, considered a martyr.
Sanctinus was buried in Meaux . Possibly, because of the Norman invasion, his remains were placed in the consecrated Church of the then Priory at Malemort-sur-Corrèze near Tulle for their protection, as it is dedicated to him as the Church of Saint-Xantin. In 1044, however, his remains were sold from Meaux to Verdun during a severe famine in Meaux; they now lie in the Cathedral in Verdun.
The Abbey of St Vanne in Verdun was closed in 1792 during the French Revolution and demolished in 1838. Today only the remains of a Church tower remain.
AnaStpaul 