Saint Antoninus of Pamiers (, , and ) was an early

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who 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.Thoma ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, 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 external party. In ...

, 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, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of Pamiers,

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 of ...

, 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. It lies on the banks of the Zapardiel river, in the centre of t ...

. His historicity and exact identity are in doubt.

History

Reportedly born at Fredelacum (Pamiers), Antoninus converted to Christianity and 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, ...

, where he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

. He returned to preach the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

, especially in the border regions of the Rouergue. The traditions of the Diocese of Pamiers mention as its first Apostle of Christianity. Cardinal Caesar Baronius believed that he was one of the martyrs of the

Theban Legion The Theban Legion (also known as the Martyrs of Agaunum) figures in Christianity, Christian hagiography as a Roman legion from Roman Egypt, Egypt —"six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men" — consisting of Christian soldiers who were marty ...

in 286. 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 divi ...

s. He was martyred at Vallis Nobilis, now

Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val (; , before 1962: ''Saint-Antonin'') is a Commune of France, commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region in southern France ...

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 does n ...

. His

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 ...

ended up at Pamiers and Palencia.

Veneration

Antoninus was venerated from an early date. Palencia Cathedral is dedicated to him, as is

Pamiers Cathedral Pamiers Cathedral (French language, French: ''Cathédrale Saint-Antonin de Pamiers'') is a Roman Catholic church architecture, church located in the town of Pamiers, France. The cathedral is a national monument. It is the cathedra, ecclesiastical ...

. According to local tradition, the 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 Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

dedicated to him had been built near

Foix 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 prefecture of that department. Foix is located in the Occitanie region of southwestern France ...

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

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

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

Garonne The Garonne ( , ; Catalan language, Catalan, Basque language, Basque and , ; or ) is a river that flows in southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...

, and

Aveyron Aveyron (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron (river), Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyro ...

with the aid of an

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

. These conflicting traditions suggest that the martyr of Pamiers is the same person as the martyr Antoninus of Syria. The Abbey of St. Antonin was founded near Fredelacum about 960. The town of

is named after him.

Gallery

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

Sources

*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 ancient Roman religions Gallo-Roman saints Year of birth unknown Angelic visionaries