Saint Antoninus of Pamiers (french: Saint Antonin, oc, Sant Antoní, and es, San Antolín) was an early

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 ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

, called the "Apostle of the Rouergue". His life is dated to the first, second, fourth, and fifth century by various sources since he is often confused with various other venerated Antonini. Today he is revered as the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

Pamiers Pamiers (; oc, Pàmias ) is a commune and largest city in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the most populous commune in the Ariège department, although i ...

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...

, and

Medina del Campo Medina del Campo is a town and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Part of the Province of Valladolid, it is the centre of a farming area. History Medina del Campo grew in importance thanks to its fairs ...

. His historicity and exact identity are in doubt. Reportedly born at Fredelacum (Pamiers), he converted to Christianity and made a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

. He returned to preach the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...

, especially in the border regions of the

Rouergue Rouergue (; ) is a former province of France, corresponding roughly with the modern department of Aveyron. Its historical capital is Rodez. It is bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Gévaudan ...

. He is credited with performing many

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

s. He was martyred at Vallis Nobilis, now

Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val (; oc, Sent Antonin) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Having played an influential and somewhat bellicose role in the history of the region from the 12th to the ...

on 2 September, 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 d ...

. His

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

ended up at Pamiers and Palencia.

Veneration

Antoninus was venerated from an early date.

Palencia Cathedral Palencia Cathedral (''Catedral de Palencia'') is a Roman Catholic church located in Palencia, Spain. It is dedicated to Saint Antoninus of Pamiers (''San Antolín''). The cathedral was built from 1172 to 1504 stands over a low-vaulted Visigothic ...

is dedicated to him. According to local tradition, the Cripta de San Antolín at Palencia Cathedral, which supposedly houses his

, was finished during the mid-seventh century episcopate of Ascaric. A

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

dedicated to him had been built near

Foix Foix (; oc, Fois ; ca, Foix ) is a commune, the former capital of the County of Foix. It is the capital of the department of Ariège as it is the seat of the Préfecture of that department. Foix is located in the Occitanie region of south ...

by the eighth century. It claimed to possess his head and part of his body, brought from

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

by a boat that had navigated the rivers Ariège, Tarn,

Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – a ...

, and

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitants ...

with the aid of an

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

. These conflicting traditions suggest that the martyr of Pamiers is the same person as the martyr Antoninus of Syria. Image:Colegiata de San Antolin-Medina del Campo.jpg, Collegiate church of San Antolín, Medina del Campo, attributed to Juan Gil de Hontañon. Image:Catedral de San Antolín en Palencia.JPG, Catedral de San Antolín en Palencia. Image:Cripta Visigoda Palencia.JPG, Cripta de San Antolín, Palencia Cathedral.

References

*Butler, Alban and Burns, Paul (2000). ''Butler's Lives of the Saints: September''. Liturgical Press. . *Englebert, Omer (1994). ''The Lives of the Saints''. Barnes and Noble Publishing. .
Saint Antoninus of Pamiers
at New Catholic Dictionary {{authority control Ante-Nicene Christian martyrs People from Pamiers Converts to Christianity from pagan religions Gallo-Roman saints Year of birth unknown Angelic visionaries