SAINT PORTIAN, ABBOT - 24 NOVEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN NOVEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 24th of November

SAINT PORTIAN, ABBOT

Saint Portian (Portianus), an abbot in Auvergne (Arvernia), proved his Christian heroism by extraordinary penitential exercises. 

When Theodoric, king of Austrasia, devastated the Auvergne area in A.D. 520, St Portian persuaded the hostile king to release the captives. 

The servant of God died at a ripe old age about the year 540, and his holiness was confirmed by various miracles which are documented by St Gregory of Tours.

The monastery took his name, and the town of St Pourçain in Auvergne owes its existence to him. A part of the saint's relics came to the church of St Martin at Laigle in Normandy, and another was deposited at the church of his name at Auvergne. 

The Roman Martyrology mentions him on November 24, adding that he was "shining with miracles." In works of art he is identified by the broken vessel he carries from which a snake emerges.

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

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Portian 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.