Castor of Apt (died ) was a

bishop of Apt The former French Catholic diocese of Apt, in southeast France, existed from the fourth century until the French Revolution. By the Concordat of 1801, it was suppressed, and its territory was divided between the diocese of Digne and the diocese ...

, in

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

, perhaps the 4th bishop. He was born in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

and may have been the brother of Bishop

Leontius of Fréjus Leontius () (d. 488) was a bishop of Fréjus, in Provence. He was probably born at Nîmes, towards the end of the fourth century;nunnery A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Comm ...

, while Castor founded the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of Saint-Faustin, in Manauque (Monanque) in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, which followed the monastic rule of

John Cassian John Cassian, also known as John the Ascetic and John Cassian the Roman (, ''Ioannes Cassianus'', or ''Ioannes Massiliensis''; Greek: Ίωάννης Κασσιανός ό Ερημίτης; – ), was a Christian monk and theologian celebrated ...

. He refused the post of abbot, until, when the first abbot was near death, he ordered Castor to accept the post as his successor out of obedience. Castor was subsequently made bishop of Apt. When already a bishop, he wrote a letter to

, abbot of S. Vincent in Marseille, requesting him to write a book on the customs of monks of Egypt and Palestine, ''De institutis coenobiorum''. On 13 June 419,

Pope Boniface I Pope Boniface I () was the bishop of Rome from 28 December 418 to his death on 4 September 422. His election was disputed by the supporters of Eulalius until the dispute was settled by Emperor Honorius. Boniface was active in maintaining churc ...

wrote a letter to 14 named bishops and the other bishops of the Gauls and Septimania, ordering them to hold a synod before 1 November concerning crimes imputed to Maximus, Bishop of Valence. One of the names is Castorius.Philippus Jaffé & S. Loewenfeld, ''Regesta pontificum Romanorum'' , Volume 1 (Leipzig: Veit 1885), p. 53, no. 349. Albanès, ''Gallia christiana novissima''
p. 198
He died of

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinc ...

, on 21 September, of a year unknown in the reign of the

Emperor Honorius Honorius (; 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho, ...

, who died on 15 August 423. His

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 does n ...

is September 2. His remains are still preserved in the cathedral of Apt, of which he is one of the patrons.

References

External links

Catholic Online: Castor of AptSaints of September 2: Castor of Apt

Saint Castor
{{Authority control 420s deaths Bishops of Apt 5th-century bishops in Gaul People from Nîmes 5th-century Christian saints Gallo-Roman saints Year of birth unknown