Auxilius of Ireland

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Saint Iserninus
Died ~459, Ireland
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Feast (see below)
Saints Portal

Saint Auxilius, or Usaille[1], (d. ca. 459) was an early Christian missionary of Ireland who is associated with Saint Patrick, Saint Seachnaill (Secundinus), and Saint Iserninus in establishing Christianity in the south of that island.[2]

He may have been ordained a deacon at Auxerre with Patrick and Iserninus.[3] Sabine Baring-Gould believes that Iserninus and Auxilius were Celts. “They would not have been of much use to [Patrick] had they not been fluent speakers of the Celtic language, and we may assume that they were Celts, either from Armorica, Cornwall, or Wales.”[4]

He is called a brother of Seachnaill.[5] According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Seachnaill was the son of Restitutus, a Lombard, and Liamain, sister of St. Patrick. He was one of nine brothers, eight of whom became bishops in Ireland. His early life and training are obscure, but he appears to have studied in Gaul, and to have accompanied St. Patrick to Ireland in 432.

The first documentary evidence that exists is an entry in the Irish Annals recording the arrival of St. Sechnall and his brother St. Auxilius "to help St. Patrick".[6]

He is called the founder of the church at Killashee.

Auxilius died around 459 but his date of death is also given as 454 or 455.[7]

[edit] Veneration

His feast day varies in old martyrologies. In the Martyrology of Gorman, his feast day is February 7.[8] In the Book of Obits, of Christ Church, his feast day is October 19, but other martyrologies give the feast day of April 16 or September 16. In the martyrology of Tallaght it is March 19 but in the Annals of the Four Masters, the text gives August 27 as the day of Auxilius’ death.[9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints (J. Hodges, 1898), 275.
  2. ^ Thomas McNeill, Helena Margaret Gamer, Medieval Handbooks of Penance (Columbia University Press, 1990), 76n.
  3. ^ Thomas McNeill, Helena Margaret Gamer, Medieval Handbooks of Penance (Columbia University Press, 1990), 76n.
  4. ^ Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints (J. Hodges, 1898), 275.
  5. ^ CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Sechnall (Secundinus)
  6. ^ CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Sechnall (Secundinus)
  7. ^ Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints (J. Hodges, 1898), 275.
  8. ^ Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints (J. Hodges, 1898), 275.
  9. ^ Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints (J. Hodges, 1898), 275.
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