Marcellus of Paris

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Marcellus of Paris (French Marcel de Paris or Saint Marcel ; * in Paris ; † November 1, 436 (?) In Paris) is regarded as the ninth bishop of Paris and is next to Dionysius († around 250), Genoveva († 502 ) and Aurea († 666) one of the city's four patron saints .

His official memorial day is November 1st. Since this coincides with All Saints' Day, Marcellus will be honored in France on November 3rd.

He lived and worked in the time when the administration of the since 52 BC. Gaul , which was under Roman rule, was weakened by the invasion of Germanic tribes, the Roman-Gallic troops mutinied against imperial orders and proclaimed Caesar Julian by raising a shield according to Celtic tradition as emperor (360). These events were among other things the omens for the conquest of Rome by the Visigoths (410) and the imminent fall of the Western Roman Empire (476). These were the years in which Christianity prevailed in the Gallo-Roman Lutetia and the city took on the name Paris after its native inhabitants, the Celtic tribe of the Parisii .

Vita and legend

The year of birth of Marcellus is unknown. According to popular belief , his humble father's house stood at the Petit Pont, not far from the later location of the Cathedral of St. Etienne (see Notre-Dame de Paris ).

Presumably he was ordained a priest by Bishop Prudentius of Paris , whom he followed in office in 417. The Vita , written down in the 6th century at the request of Germanus of Paris (496-576) by Venantius Fortunatus (530-609) underlines the charity and mercy of the saint and reports that he had ruled his office with admirable fervor to endorse the conversion of the Sinners, dedicated to teaching the ignorant and nursing the sick. He is said to have assisted prisoners and promoted friendship between all believers.

Marcellus of Paris died in Paris at a time that is not clearly documented. The various sources give his date of death with early 5th century, with November 1 436 and the period by 430. It was on the as was customary applied outside the populated urban area cemetery buried on the southern arterial road.

The St-Marcel prayer chapel , the oldest documented Christian cult site in Paris (“senior ecclesia in vico Parisiorum”), was built over his grave in the 5th century or the beginning of the 6th century . This gave the Paris suburb called Faubourg Saint-Marcel its name. The name has passed to the current district.

wonder

The legend of the saints tells of numerous miracles. Marcellus is said to have weighed red-hot iron with an intact hand and turned the waters of the Seine into wine. The best known of his miraculous deeds is the taming of the dragon .

A terrible dragon that lived in the grave of an adulteress in the necropolis of the southern suburbs terrified the population. Marcellus gathered the people and led them to the burial ground. Fearlessly he approached the beast and struck it three times on the head with his crook . The monster bowed its head in awe so that Marcellus could wrap his stole around its neck. He carried it on and ordered it to go into the desert or the sea, whereupon it was never seen again. Much later, this event was commemorated with a procession during which a wicker basket in the shape of a dragon was carried through Paris, into which the children threw treats for the clerics and the sick of the Hôtel Dieu.

There are also reports of miracles over his grave, which soon became the destination of pilgrims and numerous sick people from Paris and its surroundings seeking help. According to Gregory of Tours, for example, Ragnemode, Bishop of Paris from 576 to 591, after he had fasted and prayed at the grave for a day and was overwhelmed by fatigue in the evening, was completely affected by a four-day intermittent fever ( fièvre quarte ) the next morning. woke up cured.

iconography

Marcellus is shown with a crook and a dragon. In Paris, his statue can be seen on the central pillar of the south portal of the main facade of Notre-Dame. The depiction takes up the moment when Marcellus thrusts his staff into the jaws of the dragon who crawls out of the adulteress's grave. The sculptures above depict further scenes from his life.

swell

literature

Web links

Commons : Marcellus of Paris  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ^ Vandals , Alemanni , Visigoths , Burgundy (→ Nibelungenlied ), Franconia
  2. ↑ a b Grand Larousse
  3. ↑ Fortunatus' "Vita des Marcellus is summed up in an imprecise chronology, which was created based on oral tradition. The author himself states that most of his deeds were stolen from the jealousy of the time ”(“ La plupart de ses actions ont été dérobées par la jalousie du temps ”). Quoted from the website Nominis
  4. ^ Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists
  5. ^ Codex of St. Germain
  6. ^ A b Gregory of Tours
  7. ↑ Héron de Villefosse
  8. ^ Gregory of Tours, Gloria confessorum , cap. 87
  9. ↑ See Dulaure, p. 262
personal data
SURNAME Marcellus of Paris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Saint Marcel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Paris
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH at November 1, 436
Place of death Paris