Sicarius of Brantôme

St. Sicarius; Stained glass window in the church of Montagrier

Shrine of St. Sicarius in the Abbey of Brantôme

Sicarius of Brantôme (or sicarius of Bethlehem ) is only in the southwest of France dear children saint whose relics of Charlemagne in 769, he founded the Abbey of Brantôme to have been given.

Legend

The evangelist Matthew reports the following ( Mt 2,1-23  EU ): Shortly after the birth of Christ , “Magi from the East” (later referred to as the Three Kings ) appeared at the court of Herod and asked about the “newborn king of the Jews”. He then questioned his high priests and scribes who named the city of Bethlehem to him . Herod then sent the magicians to Bethlehem to find out the details and to communicate them to him. Although they found the birthplace of Christ and brought him gold, frankincense and myrrh, they returned to their homeland by another route. Soon afterwards Joseph fled to Egypt with Mary and the baby Jesus ( flight to Egypt ) and Herod had all boys under the age of two killed in Bethlehem and the surrounding area ( Bethlehemite child murder ). The murder of the children who were not known by name remained in the people's memory and so they were viewed as early martyrs .

Allegedly Helena , the mother of the Emperor Constantine , is said to have brought some of the relics from the Holy Land in 328; they came to Rome and Constantinople . Centuries later Charlemagne came into their possession and handed over the remains of Sicarius to the Abbey of Brantôme.

Adoration

Sicarius himself is only venerated in and around Brantôme; his relics rest in a shrine. The " Festival of the Innocent Children " has been known since around the year 500.

presentation

Medieval representations of the Sicarius are not known; the few modern depictions show him as a dead child.

Web links

Commons : Saint Sicarius  - Collection of images, videos and audio files