Portal:Catholicism/Patron Archive/October 9 2007

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saint Denis of Paris (also called Dionysius, Dennis, or Denys) is a Christian martyr and saint. In the third century, he was bishop of Paris. He was martyred in approximately 250, and is venerated especially in the Roman Catholic Church as patron of Paris, France and one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The modern name "Denis" derives from the ancient name Dionysius, "servant of Dionysus".

Gregory of Tours states that Denis was bishop of the Parisii and was martyred by being beheaded by a sword. It appears from the Passio that Denis was sent from Italy to convert Gaul in the third century, forging a link with the "apostles to the Gauls" reputed to have been sent out under the direction of Pope Fabian. This was after the persecutions under Emperor Decius had all but dissolved the small Christian community at Lutetia. Denis, with his inseparable companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, who were martyred with him, settled on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine.

Denis, having irritated the tempers of heathen priests for his many conversions, was executed by beheading on the highest hill near Paris (now Montmartre), which was likely to have been a druidic holy place. The martyrdom of Denis and his companions gave it its current name, which in Old French means "mountain of martyrs". According to the Golden Legend, after his head was chopped off, Denis picked it up and walked several miles, preaching a sermon the entire way. This is the iconographic detail by which he may be identified, whether in the thirteenth-century sculpture at the Musée de Cluny (illustration, left) or in the nineteenth-century figure in the portal of Nôtre Dame de Paris, part of Viollet-le-Duc's restorations (illustration, right).

Attributes: carrying his severed head in his hands; a bishop's mitre; city; furnace
Patronage: France; Paris; against frenzy; against strife; headaches; hydrophobia; possessed people; rabies
Prayer: