Saint Aventin was a French

Saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

and a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

of the 8th century.

Life

Born near

Bagnères-de-Luchon Bagnères-de-Luchon (; oc, Banhèras de Luishon), also referred to as just Luchon, is a commune and spa town in the Haute-Garonne department in the Occitanie region of south-western France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Luchonn ...

in the Pyrenees, Aventin became a hermit in the valley of Larboust.

Legends

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

says that he performed many

miracles 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 ...

. In one story, he was taken prisoner by

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

invaders, he was locked in the Tower of Castel-Blancat, Saccourvielle. To escape he leapt from the top of the Tower, crossed the entire Valley and fell back without harm on the other side, printing its footprint in a stone. This stone is still visible on the threshold of the

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

built at this location. In another, Aventin was

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

but picked up his head and walked to the place where would be his tomb. Centuries later, this location was revealed to a

shepherd A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...

who put the remains of Aventine on a sled drawn by cows, which stopped at the place where now the village of

Saint-Aventin Saint-Aventin is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. The commune of Saint-Aventin is located in the heart of the Pyrenees, and extends from the Larboust Valley in the north to the Spanish border in the South. The hi ...

stands.''Notice historique sur Saint-Aventin d'Aquitaine, martyr, par un prêtre du diocèse'', Toulouse (Bon et Privat, 1850), 1988. After his death there occurred an outbreak of plague ravaging the region. The local population appealed to the protection of Saint Aventin and the scourge disappeared.

Veneration

The cult of saint Aventin is found in the Val d'Aran and

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

. On his

birthday A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage. Many relig ...

, June 13, there is 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 ...

to his

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

. The

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

saw the end of this tradition.

Gallery

File:Eglise de Saint-Aventin 11.jpg, Bas-relief, portail de l’église Saint-Aventin File:Saccourvielle castel Blancat (3).jpg, La tour de Castel-Blancat File:Eglise de Saint-Aventin 08.jpg, Découverte du corps de saint Aventin par un taureau, église de Saint-Aventin File:Saint-Aventin chapelle (1).JPG, La ''Chapelle du Miracle''

References

{{Authority control 8th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown