Saint Auxilius, or ''Usaille'',Sabine Baring-Gould, ''The Lives of the Saints'' (J. Hodges, 1898), 275. (d. ca. 459) was an early Christian

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

who is associated with Saint Patrick, Saint Seachnaill (Secundinus), and Saint Iserninus in establishing

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

in the south of that island,Thomas McNeill, Helena Margaret Gamer, ''Medieval handbooks of penance'' (Columbia University Press, 1990), 76n. although more recent studies tend to associate him with the earlier Palladius.

Traditional view

Auxilius may have been ordained a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

with Patrick and Iserninus.

Sabine Baring-Gould Sabine Baring-Gould ( ; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,2 ...

believes that Iserninus and Auxilius were

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

. "They would not have been of much use to atrickhad they not been fluent speakers of the

Celtic language The Celtic languages (usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...

, and we may assume that they were Celts, either from

Armorica Armorica or Aremorica (Gaulish: ; br, Arvorig, ) is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic Coast ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, or

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

.” He was the nephew of St. Patrick,"Killashee", Naas Local History Group, County Kildare
/ref> the son of Patrick's sister, Darerca, and her husband, Restitutus, a Lombard.Grattan-Flood, William. "St. Darerca." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 30 Jan. 2013
/ref> He was one of nine brothers, eight of whom became bishops in Ireland. His early life and training are obscure, but he appears to have studied in

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

at the school of St. Germanus. According to John Francis Shearman, in 438, six years after Patrick left for Ireland, Germanus sent Auxilius and

Iserninus Saint Iserninus (or ''Isernius'') () was an early Christian missionary of Ireland who is associated with Saint Patrick and Saint Auxilius in establishing Christianity in the south of that island. More recent research associates him not with ...

to assist him.

Later perspective

The first documentary evidence that exists is an entry in the ''Irish Annals'' recording the arrival of St. Sechnall and his brother St. Auxilius "to help St. Patrick". Auxilius seems to have been important in the early Irish Christian church as there is a reference to a Synod of Bishops held in 448 or 450, headed up by Patrick, Auxilius and Iserninus. This would suggest that he had some special eminence or authority among the bishops, for the laws made there would have been binding on the whole Irish church at the time. He has also been called a brother of Seachnaill.Grattan-Flood, William. "St. Sechnall." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 30 Jan. 2013
/ref> However, historians have suggested that the connection of Secundinus with St Patrick was a later tradition invented by Armagh historians in favour of their patron saint and that Secundinus is more likely to have been a separate missionary, possibly a companion of Palladius. There is a general consensus among historians that Palladius established a mission in what is today County Meath. Auxilius and Secundinus were probably his assistants. Auxilius is called the founder of the church at Killashee (Co. Kildare), near

Naas Naas ( ; ga, Nás na Ríogh or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 21,393, making it the second largest town in County Kildare after Newbridge. History The name of Naas has been recorded in th ...

in northern Leinster; Killashee being derived from Kill (church) + Usaille.Duffy, Seán. ''Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia'', Routledge, 2005
Both the annals of Innisfallen and Clonmacnoise give 458 A.D as the date when this cleric died, but his date of death is also given as 454 or 455.

Veneration

His feast day varies in old

martyrologies A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by na ...

. In the Martyrology of Gorman, his feast day is 7 February. In the Book of Obits, of Christ Church, his feast day is 19 October, but other martyrologies give the feast day of 16 April or 16 September. In the '' Martyrology of Tallaght'' it is 19 March but in the

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Flood myt ...

, the text gives 27 August as the day of Auxilius' death.

References

Primary sources

*'' Martyrology of Tallaght'' *Martyrology of Gorman * Book of Obits *

Secondary sources