Saint Nicasius of Reims (french: Saint-Nicaise; d. 407 or 451) was a Bishop of Reims. He founded the first

Reims Cathedral , image = Reims Kathedrale.jpg , imagealt = Facade, looking northeast , caption = Façade of the cathedral, looking northeast , pushpin map = France , pushpin map alt = Location within France , ...

and is the patron saint of smallpox victims.

Vandals

Sources placing his death in 407 credit him with prophesying the invasion of France by the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

. He notified his people of this vision, telling them to prepare. When asked if the people should fight or not, Nicasius responded, "Let us abide the mercy of God and pray for our enemies. I am ready to give myself for my people." Later, when the barbarians were at the gates of the city, he decided to attempt to slow them down so that more of his people could escape. He was killed by the Vandals either at the altar of his church or in its doorway. He was killed with Jucundus, his lector, Florentius, his deacon, and Eutropia, his virgin sister. After the killing of Nicasius and his colleagues, the Vandals are said to have been frightened away from the area, according to some sources even leaving the treasure they had already gathered. Accounts of his martyrdom credit him with being among the ''

cephalophores A cephalophore (from the Greek for "head-carrier") is a saint who is generally depicted carrying their own severed head. In Christian art, this was usually meant to signify that the subject in question had been martyred by beheading. Depicting th ...

'' ("head-carriers") like Saint Denis. Nicasius was said to have been reciting

Psalm 119 Psalm 119 is the 119th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English of the King James Version: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord". The Book of Psalms is in the third section of the Hebrew Bible, the ' ...

:Psalm 118 in the Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels us ...

of the time he was then decapitated as he reached the verse ''Adhaesit pavimento anima mea'' ("My soul is attached unto dust") and then continued reciting ''Vivifica me Domine secundum verbum tuum'' ("Revive me, Lord, with your words") even after his head had fallen to the ground. He was sometimes depicted in art walking with the upper part of his head and its

miter The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

in his hand.Jameson, Anna.
Sacred and Legendary Art
'. AMS Press (New York), 1970. Accessed 28 Jan 2013.

Huns

Sources placing his death in 451 record similar acts but concerning the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

rather than the Vandals. These sources but not those concerning the Vandals further relate that Nicasius survived a bout of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) cer ...

,
The History of Smallpox and its Spread around the World
. Accessed 28 Jan 2013. This claim has been made more credible by research showing a long history of smallpox in Egypt, suggestions that it spread through the Roman Empire, and identification of 6th century outbreaks with the disease.

Legacy

From his supposed survival of smallpox, Nicasius became the patron saint of smallpox victims. One prayer ran:

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, may the Lord protect these persons and may the work of these virgins ward off the smallpox. St. Nicaise had the smallpox and he asked the Lord
o preserve O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...
whoever carried his name inscribed. O St. Nicaise! Thou illustrious bishop and martyr, pray for me, a sinner, and defend me by thy intercession from this disease. Amen.Peters, Stephanie T.
Smallpox in the New World
'. Marshall Cavendish, 2004. Accessed 28 Jan 2013.Moore, James C.
The History of the Small Pox
'. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1815. Accessed 28 Jan 2013.

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

abbey in Rheims was later named in his honor. Image:VitrailLouvre.jpg, The life of Saint Nicasius File:Abbaye Saint-Nicaise de Reims dans Monasticon Gallicanum.jpg, Saint Nicasius Abbey

References

External links

santiebeati.it: San Nicasio di Reims
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicasius Of Reims 407 deaths 451 deaths Bishops of Reims 5th-century bishops in Gaul 5th-century Christian saints Cephalophores Gallo-Roman saints Executed French people Year of birth unknown Smallpox