Saint Pontius of Cimiez, also known as Pons of Cimiez (french: Pons de Cimiez, Ponce de Cimiez) was a Christian saint and martyr in third century

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 ...

. His feast day is 14 May.

Life

Born at Rome into a pagan family, Pontius converted to Christianity, giving away his property and preaching the Gospel. He is believed to have evangelized the valley of the Ubaye River. He was martyred at Cemenelum (modern-day Cimiez, now part of

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

) in the south of France in the year 257 under the

Emperor Valerian Valerian (; la, Publius Licinius Valerianus; c. 199 – 260 or 264) was Roman emperor from 253 to spring 260 AD. He persecuted Christians and was later taken captive by the Persian emperor Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the fir ...

.Nominis: Saint Ponce
His name is preserved in the communes of Saint-Pons in the present department of

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the west ...

, and of

Saint-Pons-de-Thomières Saint-Pons-de-Thomières (; Languedocien: ''Sant Ponç de Tomièiras'') is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. History It is named after its patron saint, Saint Pontius of Cimiez (''Pons de Cimiez'' ...

in the department of

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Saint-Pons-de-Thomières Cathedral Saint-Pons-de-Thomières Cathedral (''Cathédrale Saint-Pons de Saint-Pons-de-Thomières'') is a former Roman Catholic church located in Saint-Pons-de-Thomières, France. It is a national monument. It was formerly the seat of the Bishopric of Sa ...

is dedicated to him, as is the Abbey of St Pons in Nice, founded near the site of his martyrdom.

Devotion to Catalonia

A local tradition explains that Pontius came to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and, seeing so much poverty and disease among the people, began to prepare potions with healing herbs. He earned the respect and admiration of the locals, who began to hold a fair of herbs in his honor. San Ponce thus became patron of herbalists and beekeepers. In Catalonia, his feast day occurs on May 11, when revelers sell honey, aromatic and medicinal herbs and candied fruits.

Sources

Gallo-Roman saints 257 deaths Year of birth unknown {{saint-stub