Constantius of Lyon, in his Life of *Germanus (bishop of Auxerre, ob. c. 448, S00455), recounts how a paralysed woman at Piacenza (northern Italy) was healed by being placed under the bier carrying Germanus' body, when it was being taken back to Auxerre after his death in Ravenna (mid to late 440s). Written in Latin at Lyon (south-east Gaul) between c. 460 and c. 485.
E05849
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives
Constantius of Lyon, Life of Germanus of Auxerre 45
For a full account of Constantius' Life of Germanus, see E05841.
This incident occurs when Germanus' body is being taken from Ravenna, where he died (described in E05847), back to Auxerre for burial.
Placentiam corpus dum praeterit, caeca iam nocte peruenit. Quod in ecclesia conlocatum dum uigiliis sanctae deuotionis excolitur, matrona quaedam loci eius paralisi dissoluta ita ut nullum membrorum suo fungeretur officio, precaria depoposcit, ut feretro corporis subderetur ibique usque ad lucem extenta decubuit. Mature corpus adtollitur, surgit et mulier et uiuificata per mortuum, mirantibus populis, propriis pedibus debitum reddit obsequium.
'The body reached Piacenza on its journey when it was quite dark. It was placed in the church, and, while the liturgical prayers were being recited, a lady of the town who was so badly paralysed that she could use none of her limbs asked as a favour to be placed under the bier. There she remained stretched out till dawn. When, early in the morning, the corpse was taken up again, the woman rose too and astonished everybody by following in the procession on her own feet.'
Constantius goes on, in the final chapter of the Life, to describe the passage of Germanus' body through Gaul (E08587).
Text: Borius 1965.
Translation: Hoare 1954.
Miracle after death
Healing diseases and disabilities
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Women
Source
Germanus of Auxerre (PCBE 4, 'Germanus 1', pp. 878-883) was the most important and revered episcopal saint of 5th-century Gaul. He died between about 445 and 450. The Life of Germanus was written some years later by Constantius, a literary figure, possibly a cleric, attested in Lyon in the 460s and 470s (PCBE 4, 'Constantius 3', pp. 521-522). The precise date when he composed the Life is not documented, but it must have been sometime between the 460s and the early 480s. For full discussion of the authorship and date of the Life of Germanus, see its overview entry: E05841.Discussion
This posthumous miracle takes place during the transportation of Germanus' body from Ravenna back to his see of Auxerre (see E05847 and E08587). Since Germanus died on 31 July, and his body arrived in Auxerre on 22 September (E04964), this event must have occurred in mid to late August. The year is not recorded precisely, but was between about 445 and 450.Bibliography
Editions:Borius, R., Constance de Lyon, Vie de saint Germain d'Auxerre (Sources chrétiennes 112; Paris: Cerf, 1965), with French translation.
Levison, W., Vita Germani episcopi Autissiodorensis auctore Constantio, in: Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici V (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 7; Hannover and Leipzig, 1919), 246-283.
English translation:
Hoare, F.R., The Western Fathers (London, 1954), 283-320. Reprinted in T.F.X. Noble and T. Head (eds.), Soldiers of Christ: Saints and Saints' Lives from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (University Park PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995), 75-106.
David Lambert
16/07/2025
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00455 | Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, ob. 445/450 | Germanus | Certain |
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