Luperculus (''Lupercus, Lupercius'') (french: Luperc, Loubert, es, Lupercio) 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 ...

by the

Roman 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 ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

tradition states that he was a bishop of Eauze and was martyred by the governor Dacian during the reign of

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius ( 201 ADJune 251 AD), sometimes translated as Trajan Decius or Decius, was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was procla ...

.Sabine Baring-Gould, ''The Lives of the Saints'' (J. Hodges, 1874), 410. He was traditionally the second in that episcopal see, the first bishop being

Paternus Padarn ( la, Paternus, Padarnus; cy, Padarn; br, Padern; ? – 550 AD) was an early 6th century British Christian abbot-bishop who founded St Padarn's Church in Ceredigion, Wales. He appears to be one and the same with the first bishop of Bra ...

.Luperculus, S. - Zeno.org
/ref> His legend states that his steadfastness led to the conversion of several pagans to Christianity, including a man named Anatolius, captain of the guard.

Eauze Cathedral Eauze Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Luperc d'Eauze) is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Eauze, France. The former cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the cent ...

(Cathédrale Saint-Luperc) at Eauze is dedicated to him. Eauze is his principal place of veneration, but he was widely venerated in the

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni blanc, traditionally ...

region. He was also venerated at

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba'' ...

. There is a saint of that name who was martyred at

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

around 304 AD, who is mentioned by

Prudentius Aurelius Prudentius Clemens () was a Roman citizen, Roman Christianity, Christian poet, born in the Roman Empire, Roman province of Tarraconensis (now Northern Spain) in 348.H. J. Rose, ''A Handbook of Classical Literature'' (1967) p. 508 He prob ...

. This Saint Luperculus had the

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

of April 16.

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 1,240 ...

writes that the two saints are the same person: "Probably S. Luperculus preached t Eauze and thence traveled to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, where he suffered." A tradition in Spain makes this Lupercus (''San Lupercio'') an uncle of the virgin martyr

Saint Engratia Saint Engratia ( pt, Santa Engrácia, es, Santa Engracia) is venerated as a virgin martyr and saint. Tradition states that she was martyred with eighteen companions in 303 AD. She should not be confused with the 8th-century Spanish martyr of th ...

, who shared the same feast day of April 16. Some sources state that the two saints are not the same person. Another saint Lupercus was said to have been a son of

Marcellus of Tangier Saint Marcellus of Tangier or Saint Marcellus the Centurion ( es, San Marcelo) (c. mid 3rd century – 298 AD) was a Roman centurion who is today venerated as a martyr-saint by the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. His feast day i ...

, and was martyred at

León, Spain León (; ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the province of León, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León, in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. It has a population of 124,303 (2019), ...

with his brothers Claudius and Victoricus.Santi Claudio, Luperco e Vittorico
/ref> Saint-Loubert takes its name from him.

References

External links

Luperculus
{{authority control Saints from Hispania 3rd-century bishops in Gaul 3rd-century Christian martyrs Gallo-Roman saints Year of birth unknown