Ursicinus (also ''Hursannus, Ursitz, Oschanne'', fl. 620) was an
Irish missionary and
hermit
A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...
in the
Jura region.
Information
A ''vita'' of his is preserved in a redaction of the 11th century. According to this account, he was a disciple of
Columbanus at
Luxeuil
Luxeuil-les-Bains () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France.
History
Luxeuil (sometimes rendered Luxeu in older texts) was the Roman Luxovium and contained many fine buildings ...
who followed his master when he was banished from
Burgundy in 610, but then retired as a hermit in the
Doubs valley
The Doubs (; frp, Dubs; german: Dub) is a river in far eastern France which strays into western Switzerland. It is a left-bank tributary of the Saône. It rises near Mouthe in the western Jura mountains, at and its mouth is at Verdun-sur-le ...
. Veneration of Ursicinus is attested since the 7th century.
In
Grandval, a church was dedicated to Ursicinus in 675. By the 11th century, he was part of the local canon of saints of the
Besançon
Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...
diocese. His feast day is on 20 December. Ursicinus' supposed sarcophagus is preserved in
St-Ursanne
Saint-Ursanne is an old town and a former municipality of the district of Porrentruy in the canton of Jura, Switzerland which has preserved much of its medieval character. The town contains many historical buildings, including a Romanesque abbey c ...
in what is now the
canton of Jura
The Republic and Canton of Jura (french: République et canton du Jura), less formally the Canton of Jura or Canton Jura ( , ), is the newest (founded in 1979) of the 26 Swiss cantons, located in the northwestern part of Switzerland. The capital ...
in
Switzerland.
References
Notes
*Andreas Merkt
Ursicinusin ''Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon'', vol. 12 (1997).
External links
Catholic Online: Ursicinus of Saint-UrsanneSaint of the Day, December 20: Ursicinus of Saint-UrsanneSant' Ursicino del Giura
7th-century Irish priests
7th-century Christian saints
Canton of Jura
625 deaths
Medieval Irish saints on the Continent
Colombanian saints
Year of birth unknown
{{Switzerland-bio-stub