Eucherius (c. 380c. 449) was a high-born and high-ranking ecclesiastic in the Christian church in

Roman Gaul Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacient parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century ...

. He is remembered for his letters advocating extreme self-abnegation. From 439, he served as

Archbishop of Lyon The Archdiocese of Lyon (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Lugdunensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lyon''), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Archbishops ...

, and Henry Wace ranked him "the most distinguished occupant of that see" after

Irenaeus Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...

. He is venerated as a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

within the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Life

Eucherius was married to Galla. They had two sons: Veranus and

Salonius Salonius (c. 400 – 28 September 475) known as Salonius of Geneva was a confessor and bishop of the 5th century, A son of Eucherius of Lyon and Galla. He was educated at Lérins Abbey, first by Hilary of Arles, then by Salvianus and Vincent ...

, who were born c.400. According to some sources, they also had two daughters, Consortia and Tullia. After their sons were born, Eucherius suggested that they adopt a more ascetic life together.Antelmy, J. (1726). Assertio pro unico S. Eucherio Lugdunensi episcopo. Auctore Jos. Antelmio,... Opus posthumum. Accedit concilium Regiense sub Rostagno metrop. Aquensi, anni MCCLXXXV. Nunc primo prodit integrum, & Notis illustratum operâ Car. Antelmii: apud Ant. Claudium Briasson.
/ref> Galla and Eucherius' marriage evolved to a 'marriage of friendship' like others undertaken by other religious figures such as Paulinus and

Therasia of Nola Therasia (fl. 381 - 408–10) was a Christian aristocrat from Spain. Through her marriage to Paulinus of Nola, she encouraged his conversion to Christianity and was influential in the early church, co-writing epistles and co-patron of the cult o ...

. The family practised "unwealth" - where life was restricted to the minimum in order to support prayer and devotion. On the death of his wife Galla, as was common in the 5th century, Eucherius withdrew with his sons, Veranus and

, to the monastery of Lérins for a time. Both sons were later sent to visit Paulinus of Nola. There he lived a severely simple life of study, devoting himself to the education of his sons. Soon afterwards he withdrew further, to the neighbouring island of Lerona (now

Île Sainte-Marguerite The Île Sainte-Marguerite () is the largest of the Lérins Islands, about half a mile off shore from the French Riviera town of Cannes. The island is approximately in length (east to west) and across. The island is most famous for its fortr ...

), where he devoted his time to study and

mortification of the flesh Mortification of the flesh is an act by which an individual or group seeks to mortify or deaden their sinful nature, as a part of the process of sanctification. In Christianity, mortification of the flesh is undertaken in order to repent for s ...

. With the thought that he might join the anchorites in the deserts of the East, he consulted

John Cassian John Cassian, also known as John the Ascetic and John Cassian the Roman ( la, Ioannes Eremita Cassianus, ''Ioannus Cassianus'', or ''Ioannes Massiliensis''; – ), was a Christian monk and theologian celebrated in both the Western and Eastern c ...

, the famed hermit who had arrived from the East in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. Cassian dedicated the second set of his ''Collationes'' (nos. 11–17) to Eucherius and

Honoratus Honoratus (french: Saint Honorat; c. 350 – 6 January 429) was the founder of Lérins Abbey who later became an early Archbishop of Arles. He is honored as a saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Life Honoratus was born in the ...

, the founder of Lérins. These describe the daily lives of the hermits of the Egyptian Thebaid and discuss the important themes of grace, free will and scripture. Though imitating the ascetic lifestyle of the Egyptian hermits, Eucherius kept in touch with men renowned for learning and piety: Cassian, Honoratus,

Hilary of Arles Hilary of Arles, also known by his Latin name Hilarius (c. 403–449), was a bishop of Arles in Southern France. He is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, with his feast day celebrated on 5 May. Life In hi ...

Claudianus Mamertus Claudianus Ecdidius Mamertus (died c. 473 AD) was a Gallo-Roman theologian and the younger brother of Saint Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne. Biography Descended probably from one of the leading families of the country, Claudianus Mamertus relinquished ...

, Agroecius (who dedicated a book to him) and

Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November of an unknown year, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from 5th-century Gaul ...

. The fame of Eucherius was soon so widespread in southeastern Gaul that he was chosen bishop of Lyon. This was probably in 434. It is certain, at least, that he attended the first council of Orange as metropolitan of Lyon in 441, and that he retained this dignity until his death. He was succeeded in the bishopric by his son Veranus, while Salonius became

Bishop of Geneva The Catholic Diocese of Geneva was a Latin Catholic diocese in part of Switzerland and Savoy from 400 to 1801 when it merged with the Diocese of Chambéry. The merged diocese later lost Swiss territory to the Catholic Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva ...

Works

Eucherius wrote many works in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. Around 428, Eucherius wrote his epistolary essay ''De laude eremi'' ("in praise of the desert"), addressed to Hilary of Arles. His ''Liber formularum spiritalis intelligentiae'', addressed to his son Veranus, is a defence of the lawfulness of allegorical readins of the Bible, bringing to bear the metaphors in

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

and such phrases as "the hand of God." The term ''

anagoge Anagoge (ἀναγωγή), sometimes spelled anagogy, is a Greek word suggesting a "climb" or "ascent" upwards. The anagogical is a method of mystical or spiritual interpretation of statements or events, especially scriptural exegesis, that det ...

'' (ἀναγωγὴ) is employed for the application of Scripture to the heavenly Jerusalem to come, and there are other examples of what would become classic medieval hermeneutics. Among Eucherius' other letters are his ''Institutiones ad Salonium'', addressed to his other son, and a letter to Faustus of Lérins describing his pilgriamge to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

.John Wilkinson, ''Jerusalem Pilgrims before the Crusades'' (Ariel Publishing House, 1977), pp. 3–4 Eucherius' ''Epistola paraenetica ad Valerianum cognatum, de contemptu mundi'' ("Epistle of exhortation to his kinsman Valerian, On the contempt of the world") is an expression of the despair for the present and future of the world in its last throes shared by many educated men of

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

, with hope for a world to come.

Desiderius Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

thought so highly of its Latin style that he edited and published it at Basel (1520). Many homilies have been attributed to Eucherius.

Notes

References

*Salvator Pricoco, 1965. ''Eucherii De Laude eremi'' (University of Catania) This edition establishes the best, most recent Latin text. * Bishop of Tours Gregory, Historia Francorum (The History of the Franks) (London, England: Penguin Books, Ltd., 1974). *Ford Mommaerts-Browne, "A Speculation", http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/GEN-ANCIENT/2004-03/1079586413. *

, The Letters of Sidonius (Oxford: Clarendon, 1915) (orig.), pp. clx–clxxxiii; List of Correspondents, Notes, V.ix.1. *K. Pollmann, "Poetry and Suffering: Metrical Paraphrases of Eucherius of Lyons’ Passio Acaunensium Martyrum," in Willemien Otten and Karla Pollmann (eds), ''Poetry and Exegesis in Premodern Latin Christianity: The Encounter between Classical and Christian Strategies of Interpretation'' (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2007) (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, 87).

External links

* Henry Wace
Eucherius
''A Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature''
Edgar Henneke in ''The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'':
Eucherius

(in English, translated by

Henry Vaughan Henry Vaughan (17 April 1621 – 23 April 1695) was a Welsh metaphysical poet, author and translator writing in English, and a medical physician. His religious poetry appeared in ''Silex Scintillans'' in 1650, with a second part in 1655.''Oxfo ...

, 1654)
''De laude eremi''
(in Latin) at

The Latin Library The Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. It is run by William L. Carey, adjunct professor of Latin and Roman Law at George Mason University. The texts have been drawn from different sources, are not intended for rese ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eucherius Of Lyon 380 births 449 deaths 5th-century bishops in Gaul Bishops of Lyon French Christian monks Gallo-Roman saints 5th-century Latin writers 5th-century Christian saints Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Latin letter writers