Acta Sanctorum

Aspasius of Melun

2 January · commentary
Latin source: Heiligenlexikon
St. Aspasius, confessor and patron of Melun in Gaul (d. after 549), believed to have been bishop of Eauze. He subscribed to several Gallic councils between 533 and 549 and died of a fever while passing through Melun, where his bones are still preserved in the churches of St. Mary and St. Aspasius. 6th century

ON ST. ASPASIUS, CONFESSOR, AT MELUN IN GAUL.

After A.D. 550.

Commentary

Aspasius, Bishop of Eauze, at Melun in Gaul (St.)

[1] At Melun (a town of Celtic Gaul situated on an island in the Seine, St. Aspasius, patron of Melun. four miles from the royal residence of Fontainebleau), the name of St. Aspasius is venerated with great devotion, as Papirius Masso attests in his book On the Rivers of Gaul. Concerning him, Molanus has the following in his Additions to Usuard under the Kalends of January: "At the fortress of Melun, the Deposition of St. Aspasius the Confessor, whose name entitles the principal church there, although his life is entirely unknown." The German Martyrology has nearly the same on the same day, as does Philippus Ferrarius in his general catalogue of Saints, who adds that he is held to be the patron of that place. His feast is celebrated on January 2, delayed perhaps on account of the feast of the Circumcision.

[2] St. Aspasius was, as some think, Bishop of the Church of Eauze He is thought to have been a Bishop. (Elosensis or Elusensis), which was transferred or united with Auch; but afterward, for at the same time Proculeianus was Bishop of Auch. Aspasius subscribed to the Second Council of Orleans in A.D. 533, the Fourth Council of Orleans in A.D. 541, likewise the Fifth in A.D. 549, and the Second Council of Clermont in A.D. 549, When he lived. as can be seen in Jacobus Sirmond, our confrere, volume 1 of the Councils of Gaul, and in Claude Robert's Catalogue of the Archbishops of Auch. Robert, however, seems to confuse the Bishops of Auch and Eauze, since even in A.D. 630, at the time of the Council of Rheims, they were still distinct.

[3] He died at Melun. While Aspasius was passing through Melun, he is said to have been seized by a fever, from which he subsequently died on January 1 or 2. Sebastianus Rouillard of Melun, an advocate in the Parliament of Paris celebrated for his learning and piety, sang his praises in several hymns. St. Aspasius died (if he was the Bishop of Eauze) before A.D. 573, in which year Laban, Bishop of the Church of Eauze, subscribed to the Fourth Council of Paris. He who is venerated at Melun is called only a Confessor, not a Bishop. His bones are religiously preserved, enclosed in reliquaries, His bones. partly in the church of St. Mary, partly in the church named after him. He is also called Euspasius.