SAINT MIRUS, HERMIT - 10 MAY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY

Saints celebrated on the 10th of May

SAINT MIRUS, HERMIT

The holy hermit Mirus is venerated at Sorigo (Soricum) on the northern shore of Lake Como, where his relics rest in the nearby Church of St Michael. His name is actually Aemilius, according to others Imminus, and the name Mirus (the wonderful) is only an epithet, because his mother was already sixty years old when she gave birth to him. (Around the year 1036.) 

His parents are unknown according to one version, according to the other they are called Erasmus and Drusiana and lived in Canzo (Cantium). Prado, situated in the valley of Chiavenna, is said to be the birthplace of his mother. She died a few weeks after his birth. 

After he turned twenty years old, he also lost his father. Then he gave his fortune to the poor, put on the penitential garb and made a pilgrimage to Rome. 

On his way home, in Luntello, a village in Lombardy, the population was in great distress because a prolonged drought was causing great damage in the fields. Mirus prayed for them, and immediately a plentiful rain, lasting several days, refreshed the aching ground . 

Moving on from there, he stayed for a time in Canzo as a hermit, eking out a living on the gifts of pious people; he spent the last years of his life in Sorigo. 

When he died, the inhabitants of Prado, not far from Chiavenna, argued over where to bury his body, but when the coffin was being made, the birds carried some of its splinters to St Michael's Church. This was seen as a sign from heaven and so he found his resting place there. 

Although the saint undoubtedly predates St Francis of Assisi, he has been erroneously counted among the saints of this Order. He is invoked as a weather saint. In the Martyrology of Como he is listed on May 10. His first translation happened under Bishop Anton II of Como on September 10, 1452. Another elevation of his relics took place under Bishop Lazaro II of Carasino on October 25, 1637. The Elenchus* entered his feast day on the latter date. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875)

*A hagiography source used by the authors 

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Mirus may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.