Saint Aphrodisius of Béziers

Enlightened in that land of darkness by a ray of divine light, he came to Judea at the report of the wonders performed there by Jesus Christ, his former guest; there, joining the Apostles, he was admitted into the number of the disciples of that adorable master; after the resurrection, he attached him self more pa rticularly to Saint Peter, and subsequently accompanied him on a ll his travels, and especially to Rome, when he came there to establish his see, as in the capital and mistress of the universe.

Saint Paul also came there: in a conference they held regarding what was most expedient for the glory of God and for the preaching of the Gospel, it was resolved that Saint Paul would go to Spain, and that Saint Peter would remain in Italy; Saint Aphrodisius was given as an auxiliary to Saint Paul. He therefore followed him to France, with Sergius Pa ulus, the proconsul, whom that Apostle to the Gentiles had instructed and baptized on the island of Cyprus, as is reported in the Acts of the Apostles. He was consecrated Bishop of Béziers by one or the other of the two Pauls. Aphrodisius found there consciences corrupted by vice, and the country infected by idolatry. He saw in the cities only the disorders of iniquity, the monuments of superstition. Minds were buried in the thickest darkness, and hearts were plunged into all the irregularities of which our corrupted nature is capable. These obstacles, however, did not make him lose courage; on the contrary, they inflamed his zeal all the more, as they were more difficult to overcome: Aphrodisius began to preach with incredible fervor the name of Jesus Christ, and to rebuke the disordered morals of this people.

The pagans, charmed by these holy discourses, showed both astonishment and satisfaction at the same time, and yielded to the principles of virtue he presented to them. But one day, as this good shepherd, all ablaze with a celestial fire, was distributing the bread of the word of God to his flock, a troop of idolaters, armed with fury and rage, threw themselves into the assembly, seized his person, and finally struck off his head and those of three of his companions, Caralippe, A gape, and E usebi us. This t ook place on the Rue Ciriaque, since called Saint-Jacques, in the year of our Lord 65, on April 28, the first year of his episcopate.

The same author of the martyrology of the saints of France adds that the body of Saint Aphrodise, rising up by itself, took its severed head in its hands, and that, passing through the middle of the city, he carried it to a small chapel that he had previously consecrated under the title of Saint-Pierre, where he was buried. God has since rendered him illustrious through several miracles; the faithful built a larger church for him, served by canons: his holy relics were solemnly transferred there. This church still exists, says the Proper of Carcassonne of 1855, and the relics of Saint Aphrodise are still venerated there: it was the cathedral of the ancient bishopric of Béziers, before the construction of the church of Saints Nazaire and Celse .

Saint Aphrodise is represented mounted on a camel, no doubt to recall that he came from Africa. The people of Béziers maintained, until the 18th century, the custom of processing an artificial camel on Ascension Day, in memory of their Apostle who had come from so far away and who was supposed to have been a witness to the Ascension of the Savior.