Saint of the Day – 15 December – Saint Maximinus (Died c520) Confessor and Abbot of the Abbey of Micy, Orleans, France. He was the 2nd Abbot of Micy Abbey, founded by his uncle, St Eusebius, with Maximinus assistance and was the 1st Abbot. At this time Maximinus was Ordained to the Priesthood and is renowned in his region for Miracles. Later in life Maximinus became a Hermit. Born in Verdun and died in Micy, both in France. Also known as – Mesmin (Maximin.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “In the Diocese of Orleans, St Maximinus, Confessor.”
The oldest document relating to Maximinus, who lived in the late 5th and early 6th Century, is a Vita written in the first half of the 9th Century by a certain Berthold, a Monk of Micy and dedicated to Jonah, the then Bishop of Orléans. Three Centuries separate the events from the account, so the historical facts might require a certain amount of the historian must exercise caution.
According to this Vita, Maximinus was originally from Verdun and the nephew of a Priest of the City named Euspicius, to become a Saint too. The inhabitants of Verdun had rebelled against King Clovis I (481-511), who came to lay siege to the City but then, through the intervention of St Euspicius, pardoned the rebels. Upon retiring from the City, the King took St Euspicius and Maximinus with him and went to Orléans, where he recommended them to the City’s Bishop and donated the district of Micy, located four kilometers west of the City (now Saint-Pryvé Saint-Mesmin), to found a Monastery. St Euspicius, already elderly, had arranged for the deed of gift to be drawn up in Maximinus’ name. Maximinus was Ordained Deacon and Priest and, even before his uncle’s death which occurred two years after their arrival in Orléans, became the Abbot of Micy.
Under Maximinus’ rule, the new Monastery developed rapidly and the community grew significantly. According to his biographer, Maximinus performed several miracles, most notably the slaying of a dragon which had its lair in a cave on the banks of the Loire and is believed to have taken this cave as his cell when he became a Hermit in his last years.
He died on 15 December in an unspecified year and was buried in the Dragon’ Cave by the same Bishop Eusebius (500-530), who had welcomed his uncle and himself upon their arrival in Orléans.
At the end of the 7th Century, Maximinus’s Relics were transferred to Orléans by Bishop Sigobert, who also dedicated a Church to the Saint in the City. Bishop Jonah (818-842) returned them to the Abbey of Micy, restored after a long period of decline.
The cult of Maximinus spread throughout France in the Middle Ages; his Feast is celebrated in the Dioceses of Orléans, Tours, Paris, Beauvais and Bordeaux. He is always listed in the Proper of Orléans on 15 December, the date on which he is inscribed in the Roman Martyrology.
AnaStpaul 