Medericus

Representation of St. Medericus on the medallion of a leaded glass window from the 16th century in the apex chapel of the choir of the Catholic parish church of Saint-Merry in the 4th arr. from Paris

Saint Merry frees the prisoners , painting by Simon Vouet in the Saint-Merry church

Saint Medericus ( French Merry or French Merri , * near Autun ; † August 29, around 700 ) is a saint of the Catholic Church . He is the patron saint of the Rive Droite , the metropolitan area of Paris north of the Seine , and the prisoners. His feast day is August 29th.

Vita

According to the Vita des saints, written towards the end of the 9th century , Medericus was born in a village near the town of Autun in what was then the Franconian part of Burgundy . At the age of 13, his parents took him to the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Martin d'Autun , which was about 400 m outside Autun. There he perfected himself in fasting and self-mortification. Because of his severity and his ascetic life, he was elected abbot of the monastery against his will and the reputation spread that he had the power to work miracles. Since he was looking for solitude, he is said to have even fled the monastery. According to another version, the monks rebelled against his strict discipline and he had to seek refuge for some time in the forest of Autun.

Medericus made various trips, on which he campaigned for prisoners and freed thieves who had been arrested too quickly. He is said to have freed a large number of prisoners in the city of Melun . At an advanced age, Medericus made a pilgrimage to Paris with his companion, St. Frodulph or Frou , to the remains of St. Germanus of Paris , who also came from Autun. On this trip, wild animals are said to have pulled his wagon. Together with Frodulph, Medericus settled as Rekluse at the gates of Paris near a chapel dedicated to the Apostle Peter . Here he suffered a painful illness for three years until his death. He was buried in the chapel, where the Saint-Merry parish church named after him was later built.

Relics

The saint's relics are kept in the crypt of the Saint-Merry church in Paris. In 1884 they were reburied in a reliquary .

presentation

Saint Medericus is represented as an abbot or hermit or with prisoners in chains. His attributes are chains in memory of the liberation of the prisoners of Melun. This episode is depicted in the painting by Simon Vouet (1590–1640) Saint Merry Freeing the Prisoners (1640). It is located in the Saint-Merry church in Paris.

Patronage

Saint-Merry in the 4th arrondissement in Paris
Saint-Merry in Linas in the Essonne department

Web links

Commons : Medericus - collection of images, videos and audio files

Medericus. In: Complete Lexicon of Saints. Volume 4. Augsburg 1875, pp. 388-389.
Medericus. In: Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints .

Individual evidence

^ Georges Brunel, Marie-Laure Deschamps-Bourgeon, Yves Gagneux: Dictionnaire des Églises de Paris . Éditions Hervas, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-903118-77-9 , p. 302.

personal data
SURNAME	Medericus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Merri, Merry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Saint, Benedictine abbot
DATE OF BIRTH	7th century
PLACE OF BIRTH	near Autun , France
DATE OF DEATH	August 29 at 700
Place of death	Paris , France

[1] Georges Brunel, Marie-Laure Deschamps-Bourgeon, Yves Gagneux: Dictionnaire des Églises de Paris . Éditions Hervas, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-903118-77-9 , p. 302.