Saint Caprasius of Agen (french: Saint Caprais) is venerated as a
Christian martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
and
saint of the fourth century.
Relics
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tang ...
associated with him were discovered at
Agen
The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux.
Geography
The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department ...
in the fifth century.
[Alban Butler, David Hugh Farmer, Paul Burns, ''Butler's Lives of the Saints'' (Liturgical Press, 2000), 139.] Local legends dating from the 14th century make him the first
bishop of Agen
The Diocese of Agen (Latin: ''Dioecesis Agennensis''; French: ''Diocèse d'Agen'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France.
The Diocese of Agen comprises the ''département'' of Lot-et-Garonne, in t ...
, though, as
Alban Butler
Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer.
Biography
Alban Butler was born in 1710, at Appletree, Aston le Walls, Northamptonshire, the second son of Simon Butler, Esq. His father died when ...
writes, the only evidence to support his existence is the dedication of a church to him in the 6th century.
During the 9th century, his cult was fused with that of
Saint Faith
Saint Faith or Saint Faith of Conques (Latin: Sancta Fides; French: Sainte-Foy; Spanish: Santa Fe) is a saint who is said to have been a girl or young woman of Agen in Aquitaine. Her legend recounts how she was arrested during persecution of Chri ...
and
Alberta of Agen, also associated with Agen.
His cult was also fused with that of Primus and Felician, who are called Caprasius' brothers.[St. Caprasius - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online](_blank)
/ref>
In the year 866, Faith's remains had been transferred to Conques, which was along the pilgrimage route to Compostela. Her cult, centered at the Abbatiale Sainte-Foy de Conques, spread along the pilgrim routes on the Way of St. James. The Church of San Caprasio, built in the beginning of the 11th century, is a First Romanesque church located at Santa Cruz de la Serós
Santa Cruz de la Serós (in Aragonese: Santa Cruz d'as Serors) is a village in the province of Huesca
Huesca ( an, Uesca, ca, Osca), officially Huesca/Uesca, is a province of northeastern Spain, in northern Aragon. The capital is Huesca.
Po ...
, which was on the Way of St. James.
Legend
During the persecutions of Christians by the prefect Dacian, Caprasius fled to Mont-Saint-Vincent, near Agen. He witnessed the execution of Faith from atop the hill. Caprasius was condemned to death, and was joined on his way to execution by Alberta, Faith's sister (also identified as Caprasius' motherbeheaded
Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the ...
.
Dedications
* San Caprasio, a church in Santa Cruz de la Serós, Jacetania, Spain
* San Caprasio, a church in Suellacabras, province of Soria, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain
References
External links
St. Caprasius, Martyr
at th
Christian Iconography
web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caprasius Of Agen
People from Agen
Bishops of Agen
303 deaths
4th-century Christian martyrs
4th-century Romans
Gallo-Roman saints
Year of birth unknown