SAINT LUCIAN

Saint Lucian

 Saint Lucian
 Feast Day  January 8
 Birth: Unknown
 Died 290 AD
January 8
St. Lucian, Apostle of Beauvais, in France, Martyr

HE preached the gospel in Gaul, in the third century; came from Rome, and was probably one of the companions of St. Dionysius of Paris, or at least of St. Quintin. He sealed his mission with his blood at Beauvais, under Julian, vicar or successor to the bloody persecutor Rictius Varus, in the government of Gaul, about the year 290. Maximian, called by the common people Messien, and Julian, the companions of his labours, were crowned with martyrdom at the same place a little before him. His relics, with those of his two colleagues, were discovered in the seventh age, as St. Owen informs us in his life of St. Eligius. They are shown in three gilt shrines, in the abbey which bears his name, and was founded in the eighth century. Rabanus Maurus says, that these relics were famous for miracles in the ninth century.  1
  St. Lucian is styled only martyr, in most calendars down to the sixteenth century, and in the Roman Martyrology, and the calendar of the English protestants, in all which it is presumed that he was only priest; but a calendar compiled in the reign of Lewis le debonnaire, 1 gives him the title of bishop, and he is honoured in that quality at Beauvais. See Bollandus, p. 640; though the two lives of this saint, published by him, and thought to be one of the ninth, the other of the tenth, age, are of little or no authority. T



 Saint Lucian was born at Samosata in Syria. Having lost his parents in his youth, he distributed all his worldly goods, of which he inherited an abundant share, to the poor, and withdrew to Edessa, to live near a holy man named Macarius, who imbued his mind with a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and led him to the practice of the Christian virtues.

Having become a priest, his time was divided between the external duties of his holy state, the performance of works of charity, and the study of sacred literature. He revised the books of the Old and New Testaments, expunging the errors which had found their way into the text either through the negligence of copyists or the malice of heretics, thus preparing the way for St. Jerome, who shortly after was to give to the world the Latin translation known as "The Vulgate."

Having been denounced as a Christian, Lucian was thrown into prison and condemned to the torture, which was protracted for twelve whole days. Some Christian visited him in prison, on the feast of the Epiphany, and brought bread and wine to him; while bound and chained down on his back, he consecrated the divine mysteries upon his own breast, and communicated the faithful who were present. He finished his glorious career in prison, and died with the words, "I am a Christian," on his lips.

Feast Day of Saint Lucian
The Feast Day of Saint Lucian is January 8. The origin of Feast Days: most saints have specially designated feast days and are associated with a specific day of the year and these are referred to as the saint's feast day. The feast days first arose from the very early Christian custom of the annual commemoration of martyrs on the dates of their deaths at the same time celebrating their birth into heaven.