Saint Licinius of Angers

A high-minded and conciliatory spirit, Lezin immediately understood the extent of his duties and knew how to fulfill them with as much skill as if he had had long experience with men and things. Chilperic wished to reward the loyalty of this worthy magistrate by giving him a wife worthy of him. Lezin, who had always cherished virginity, was strongly averse to this resolution. God helped him in these difficult circumstances: the young fiancée was suddenly struck with leprosy. Immediately, Lezin prepared to execute a plan he had been meditating on for a long time: he sold everything he owned personally, and, after having distributed everything to the poor, to the churches, and to t he monasteries, he retired to th e abbey of Cha lonnes (founded by Saint Maurilius, Bishop of Angers) where he gave the example of all virtues.

God soon drew him from the obscurity of the cloister. Andoin, Bishop of Angers, having died (around 566), the lords of the province cast their eyes upon their former companion-in-arms, whose reputation proclaimed his eminent holiness everywhere. Lezin, elected by a unanimous voice and acclaimed with enthusiasm, was invested with the episcopal charact er by the famous Saint Gregory of Tours. We renounce describing the works of his episcopate: let us only say that they responded perfectly to the program he had set for himself: to instruct his people, to give them the example of all virtues, to relieve indigence, and to serve as a support to the oppressed. Attracted by the fragrance of his virtues, a great number of gentlemen entered under his guidance into the narrow path of the evangelical counsels. This influx forced the holy bishop to have built, not far from the gates of the city of Angers, a vast monastery which he placed under the pat ronage of Saint John the Baptist and which subsequently took the name of the collegiate church of Saint-Julien.

The day came when this valiant athlete had to succumb under the weight of labors and years. During the heat of August 616, a violent fever seized him. He rejoiced in it as a happy omen, for he sighed incessantly after the heavenly homeland: its doors were opened to him on November 1st of the same year. He was buried in the church of his monastery of Saint-Jean-Baptiste: on the day of his funeral, two blind men recovered their sight, and a great number of the infirm recovered the most perfect health. Some time later, Saint Maimboeuf, on e of his succe ssors, transferred his body to a chapel, on the right side of the choir of this same church. It remained in its new burial place until the middle of the 12th century, at which time it was necessary to hide it from the fury of the Normans. It was only after the siege of Ange rs (573) that it cou ld be transported again to the basilica of the monastery of Saint-Jean-Baptiste. On June 21, 1109, there was a third translation of the holy body: it was placed in a magnificent reliquary where it remained until the Revolution.

Formerly, Saint Lezin was the patron of several parish churches in Anjou, and of the University of Angers. Nowadays, the workers of the slate quarries of this city honor him as their patron. Saint Lezin is also the patron of Blosvill e-ès-Plains (Seine- Inférieure, arrondissement of Yvetot): two stained glass windows in the parish church depict his legend. His feast is celebrated there with pomp on February 13.

Cf. See Saintly Personages of Anjou, by the Rev. Fr. Jean François Chamard; and The Churches of the Arrondissement of Yvetot, by M. Fabbri Cochat.