Saint Stapin of Dourgne

Joseph Sementius, a religious of Milan, states in his Biography of Saint Stapin, reported by the Bollandists, that Saint Stapin has an altar in Milan, in the church of Saint Mary, surrounded by the Reverend Somascan Fathers, and that his feast is celebrated there every year with solemn pomp, as well as in several other places in Italy; that, by a brief given in Rome in 16 71, Pope Alexander VII granted numerous indulgences to a Confraternity of men and women under the patronage of Saint Stapin, established in Lyon, in the church of the Augustinian Fathers, in the Croix-Rouge district; that finally, Mgr de Tulle, Bishop of Lavaur, signed with his own hand, on June 7 of the year 1663, an authentic testimony in favor of the cult of Saint Stapin in the parish of Dourgne, and that a similar testimony was also rendered, on June 2 of the same year, by Mgr d'Anglure de Bouricenout, Bishop of Castres.

Sementius reports several other facts that he assures having collected himself from the monuments of the Church of Carcassonne and from an ancient tradition spread throughout the neighboring regions. He speaks of the s olitary life of Saint Stapin on a mountain not far from Dourgne, of his renown in the surrounding country, and of the influx of people toward him. He recounts that he was raised from his retreat to the episcopal chair of Carcassonne; that this election was greeted by unanimous applause; that he accepted this sacred charge to obey a divine revelation, and that he honored it through his virtues. Furthermore, a constant tradition confirms to us that Saint Stapin, after having led a penitent and solitary life in a valley of the mountain of Dourgne, was raised to the episcopal see of the city of Carcassonne.

Mgr de Royères, Bishop of Castres, and M. Fons, parish priest of Saint-Germain, exiled in Portugal during the Revolution of 1793, found, i n the abbey of Arlo bossa, an image representing Saint Stapin, bishop, honored on August 6, powerful for obtaining the healing of leg ailments, patronus in pod agra. This memory of their homeland deeply moved the two exiles. They brought back this image, which is preciously kept in Dourgne.

As for the period in which he lived and when he must have occupied the see of Carcassonne, reputable authors believe that it was in the interval from 683 to 788.

The custom of the early times was to choose in a synod of all the bishops of the province, presided over by the primate. It is in this manner, Gérard de Vic informs us, that were chosen, in all appearance, eleven bishops of Carcassonne, whom the highest antiquity places in the rank of Saints. In this number, one notes Saint Stapin, of whom the author speaks at greater length than the others.

Since 1832, Saint Stapin has been honored with a particular cult, as a secondary patron, in Dou rgne, a beloved town at the foot of the Montagne-Noire, a canton seat in the Tarn department, and in Vent enac, a parish in the canton of Alzonne, Aude department. In both of these parishes, his feast is celebrated on August 6th. In Dourgne as in Ventenac, this feast, which is held with great solemnity, attracts a large number of pilgrims every year who come to solicit the protection of Saint Stapin through their prayers and to ask for the healing of various bodily infirmities. There is a church in Dourgne dedicated to this Saint, the construction of which appears to date back to the year 1666. This church is one kilometer from the town, situated at the bottom of the mountain, in a pleasant valley. It is there that the solemn offices are held on the day of the feast, and in the evening, one returns in procession, with the Most Blessed Sacrament, to the church of Dourgne.

In the archives of this church, the attestations given by the very people who have experienced the benefit of our Saint's protection are carefully preserved. Moreover, the numerous ex-votos that have been deposited in his chapel will always be there as a sign of the deep gratitude of the relieved infirm and as an imperishable monument to the miracles performed by Saint Stapin.

We owe this notice to the kindness of Abbé Jauxien, parish priest of Dourgne.