Silvin of Toulouse

Saint-Sylvain in the church of Mazerolles

Silvin of Toulouse or Silvinus of Thérouanne (French: Saint-Sylvain ; * around 650 near Toulouse ; † 717 in Auchy-lès-Hesdin ) is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church who is venerated mainly in the north and west of France .

Lore

Silvin was born near Toulouse around the year 650; he spent part of his childhood and youth at the court of the Merovingian kings Childerich II (r. 662–675) and Theuderich III. (reg. 675-691). At an unexplained point in time, he left Theuderich's court and began an unsteady life as a hermit , pilgrim and preacher . After returning from a pilgrimage to Rome , he was ordained a bishop . He is considered a missionary to Artois and other regions in northern France; According to tradition, he died on February 17, 717 in Auchy-lès-Hesdin .

Adoration

His tomb is in Auchy Abbey . His feast day is February 17th. Several churches and places are named after him (e.g. Saint-Sylvain-d'Anjou or Saint-Sylvain (Calvados) ). The male first name Sylvain is quite common in France, Belgium and Québec .

presentation

Silvin or Sylvain is represented as a bishop and is therefore easy to confuse with Silvanus of Gaza, who is mainly venerated in the Eastern Church, or with other 'bishops' of the same name (e.g. Silvanus of Corinth or Silvanus of Thessaloniki ).

literature

• Stefan Burghardt: Silvinus, saint († 717) . In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon , Volume 10, 1995, Sp. 349-350.

Web links

• Silvinus von Thérouanne in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
• Saint Silvinus of Auchy on CatholicSaints.Info (English)
• Silvinus of Thérouanne on heiligen.net . This German version leaves a lot to be desired in terms of language.
• St. Silvin of Auchy, BC on e-Catholic 2000 .
• Saint Silvin - Short biography based on the Martyrologium Romanum (French)
• First name Sylvain (French)