Lubentius (c. 300 – c. 370) is a Christian

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 ...

, venerated by 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 ...

. A patron saint of the boatmen on the River Lahn, his feast day is 13 October.

Life

Lubentius was given by his parents when a small child, to

Martin of Tours Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as the ...

, who baptized him and treated him as a son. Martin later sent him to Bishop

Maximin of Trier Maximin (born at Silly near Poitiers; — Poitiers 12 September 346) was the sixth bishop of Trier. Maximin was an opponent of Arianism, and was supported by the courts of Constantine II and Constans, who harboured as an honored guest Athanasi ...

to be educated for the priesthood. When Lubentius came of canonical age, Maximin ordained him priest.Baring-Gould, Sabine. "S. Lubentius", ''The Lives of the Saints'', vol. 11, John C. Nimmo, 1898, p. 322
/ref> He worked as a parish priest in Kobern. In 349, Maximin died while visiting relatives in Acquitaine. His successor,

Paulinus of Trier Saint Paulinus of Trier (died 358) was bishop of Trier and a supporter of Athanasius in the conflict with Arianism. At the Synod of Arles (353) he was targeted by the Arians, and was exiled to Phrygia, being effectively singled out by the Empero ...

, sent Lubentius to retrieve the body. Lubentius traveled to Acquitaine, and after diligent search, discovered the church where Maximin's body lay. One night, he and his companions, stole the keys to the church from the sleeping custodian, and made off with the body, bringing it back to Trier. According to the ''

Gesta Treverorum The ''Gesta Treverorum'' (''Deeds of the Trevians'') is a collection of histories, legends, wars, records of the Archbishops of Trier (Trèves), writings of the Popes, and other records that were collected by the monks of the St. Matthias' Abbey i ...

'' from the 12th century, he worked as a missionary along the

Lahn The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km). It has its source in t ...

river and founded a church at

Dietkirchen Dietkirchen an der Lahn is a borough (''Ortsbezirk'') of Limburg an der Lahn, seat of the district of Limburg-Weilburg in the state of Hesse, Germany. The formerly independent village was incorporated into Limburg in 1971. The town is dominated by ...

.Fuchß, Verena. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen (ed.): ''Kulturdenkmäler in Hessen. Stadt Limburg.'' Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, , S. 455–459 He died in Kobern.

Veneration

After he died, the people would have place his body in the local church but found that, try as they might, the body could not be moved. A reverend individual suggested placing the corpse in a boat and letting it float up or down the Moselle and choose its own burial site. When the boat reached the Rhine, instead of continuing downstream, if floated up the

all the way to Dietkirchen. (A somewhat similar tale is told of

Emmeram of Regensburg Saint Emmeram of Regensburg (also ''Emeram(m)us'', ''Emmeran'', ''Emmerano'', ''Emeran'', ''Heimrammi'', ''Haimeran'', or ''Heimeran'') was a Christian bishop and a martyr born in Poitiers, Aquitaine. Having heard of idolatry in Bavaria, Emmeram ...

.)Delehaye S.J., Hippolyte. "The Development of the Legend", ''The Legends of the Saints: An Introduction to Hagiography'', (V. M. Crawford, trans.), 1907
Baring-Gould describes this as a romantic legend that took the place of a probably very prosaic translation of relics. The remains of the saint were likely moved from Kobern, where he had died, to Dietkirchen some time before 841. His relics are at

St. Lubentius, Dietkirchen The church of St Lubentius in Dietkirchen, now part of Limburg an der Lahn, Hesse, Germany, was the most important church of the region until the 13th century. Located on top of a rock outcrop on the west bank of the river Lahn, it holds relics of ...

, now part of

Limburg an der Lahn Limburg an der Lahn (officially abbreviated ''Limburg a. d. Lahn'') is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Limburg lies in western Hessen between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn. The to ...

. More relics are venerated in Kell, at ,

Lahnstein Lahnstein () is a ''verband''-free town of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Lahn with the Rhine, approximately south of Koblenz. Lahnstein was created in 1969 by the merger of the previou ...

, Limburg and Trier.

Patronage

Saint Lubentius is a patron saint of the boatmen on the Lahn. His feast day is 13 October.

References

Literature

* Lorenz Müller: ''St. Lubentius und Dietkirchen an der Lahn. Eine Untersuchung''. 1969 * (including bibliography) 4th-century Christian clergy 4th-century Christian saints 4th-century deaths Year of birth uncertain {{RC-clergy-stub