:''"Sigirannus” is also the name of a 7th-century abbot of St. Cales in the department of

Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the '' Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It ha ...

.'' Sigiramnus (also ''Sigirannus'' and similar spellings; ; died 655 AD), also known as Saint Cyran, was an abbot and confessor of the 7th century. A nobleman of

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

,Alban Butler, ''The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints'' (Published by Duffy, 1845), 71. he studied at

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

and then joined the royal court of Clothaire II. He served as cup-bearer but always wore a hair-shirt underneath his garments, devoting himself to prayer. His father, count of

Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

(and later

bishop of Tours The Archdiocese of Tours (; ) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese has roots that go back to the 3rd century, while the formal erection of the diocese dates from the 5th century. The ecclesiastical p ...

), wanted Sigiramnus to marry the daughter of a nobleman.Alban Butler, Kathleen Jones, David Hugh Farmer, Paul Burns, ''Butler's lives of the saints'' (Published by Liturgical Press, 2000), 41-2. Refusing to marry, Sigiramnus took holy orders at the church of St. Martin at Tours in 625 AD, serving as

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

. He refused to gain high position in the secular world, and after his father died, he gave away his goods and money to the poor; he was locked away as a lunatic for this. In 640, after he was released, he made a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

with Flavius, an Irish bishop. According to one account, as they crossed the

diocese of Tours In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

, he insisting on working in the fields with the serfs after he was “seized with compassion at the peasants covered with dust and sweat.” When Sigiramnus returned to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he founded two monasteries with land given to him by Clothaire in the diocese of Bourges: Saint-Pierre de Longoret (Longoretum, Lonrey) and Méobecq (Millepecus), in the forest of Brenne region of the Berry province. Longoret was later renamed Saint-Michel-en-Brenne after him. He served as abbot of Longoret until his death in 655 AD.

Veneration

A life of Sigiramnus was written in the ninth or tenth centuries; the author of this ''Life'' claims to have compiled it from an earlier text. The monastery of Saint-Cyran was dissolved in 1712.

Jean du Vergier de Hauranne Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, the Abbé (Abbot) of Saint-Cyran, (1581 – 6 October 1643) was a French Catholic priest who introduced Jansenism into France. Life Born in the city of Bayonne to a family of Gascon and Basque merchants, Vergier stu ...

(1581–1643), known as the Abbé of Saint-Cyran, took his title from this monastery. Sigiramnus’

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

were kept at the abbey of Saint-Cyran until 1860, when

Eugénie de Montijo Eugénie de Montijo (; born María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick; 5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920) was Second French Empire, Empress of the French from her marriage to Napoleon III on 30 January 1853 until he was overthrown on 4 ...

Empress consort of the French This is a list of the women who were queens or empresses as wives of French monarchs from the 843 Treaty of Verdun, which gave rise to West Francia, until 1870, when the French Third Republic was declared. Living wives of reigning monarchs te ...

, encased them in a

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''Chasse (casket), chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported ...

and gave it to the church of Saint-Michel-en-Brenne.

References

External links

Ouvrage sur l'abbaye Saint Cyran
{{Authority control 655 deaths Frankish Christian monks Year of birth unknown 7th-century Frankish saints