Veranus was the fourth

Bishop of Vence The former French Catholic diocese of Vence existed until the French Revolution. Its see was at Vence in Provence, in the modern department of Alpes Maritimes. After the Concordat of 1801, the territory of the diocese passed to the diocese of Ni ...

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

, after a period as a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

. Veranus was the son of

Eucherius of Lyon Eucherius (c. 380c. 449) was a high-born and high-ranking ecclesiastic in the Christian church in Roman Gaul. He is remembered for his letters advocating extreme self-abnegation. From 439, he served as Archbishop of Lyon, and Henry Wace ranked h ...

and his wife Galla. Both he and his brother

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 o ...

were educated at

Lérins Abbey Lérins Abbey () is a Cistercian monastery on the island of Saint-Honorat, one of the Lérins Islands, on the French Riviera, with an active monastic community. There has been a monastic community there since the 5th century. The construction ...

, first by

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 ...

, then by

Salvianus ''Salvianus'' is a genus of shield bugs in the subfamily Phyllocephalinae and the tribe Phyllocephalini, erected by English entomologist William Lucas Distant William Lucas Distant (12 November 1845 Rotherhithe – 4 February 1922 Wanstead) ...

and

Vincent of Lérins Vincent of Lérins ( la, Vincentius; died ) was a Gallic monk and author of early Christian writings. One example was the ''Commonitorium'', c.434, which offers guidance in the orthodox teaching of Christianity. Suspected of semipelagianism, ...

. His father's ''Liber formularum spiritalis intelligentiae'' is addressed to Veranius and is a defence of the lawfulness of reading an allegorical sense in Scripture, bringing to bear the metaphors in Psalms. Veranus became Bishop of Vence around 442 and served at least until 465. In February 464,

Pope Hilarius Pope Hilarius (or Hilary) was the bishop of Rome from 19 November 461 to his death on 29 February 468. In 449, Hilarius served as a legate for Pope Leo I at the Second Council of Ephesus. His opposition to the condemnation of Flavian of Constanti ...

commissioned Bishop Veranus to warn

Mamertus of Vienne Mamertus (died c. 475) was the bishop of Vienne in Gaul, venerated as a saint. His primary contribution to ecclesiastical practice was the introduction of litany, litanies prior to Ascension Day as an intercession against earthquakes and other di ...

that, if in the future he did not refrain from irregular ordinations, (that is, of bishops outside of his diocese) his faculties would be withdrawn. This was to uphold the primatial privileges of the See of Arles as defined by

Pope Leo I Pope Leo I ( 400 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great, was bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death. Pope Benedict XVI said that Leo's papacy "was undoubtedly one of the most important in the Church's history." Leo was ...

.Barmby, J., "Hilarius, bp. of Rome", ''A Dictionary of Early Christian Biography'', (Henry Wace ed.), John Murray and Co., London, 1911
/ref> The bishop's date of death is uncertain. His remains lie in a carved sarcophagus in La Cathedrale Notre-Dame de la Nativite de Vence. The

Morgan Library The Morgan Library & Museum, formerly the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a museum and research library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated at 225 Madison Avenue, between 36th Street to the south and 37th S ...

has a

Book of Hours The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscrip ...

from Rouen from about 1525 illuminated with a miniature depicting Bishop Veranus."Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts", The Morgan Library & Museum
/ref>

Notes

French Roman Catholic saints 5th-century Christian saints 480 deaths 5th-century bishops in Gaul Year of birth unknown {{France-saint-stub