Mellonius
{{Short description|4th-century Bishop of Rotomagus (Rouen)}}
{{About|the 4th-century, possibly legendary, Bishop of Rouen|the Bishop of Rennes|Melaine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox saint
|name=Saint Mellonius
|death_date= 314
|feast_day= 22 October
|venerated_in= Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Church in Wales
|image= File:Baie chœur 208 Saint-Ouen Rouen Mellon.JPG
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|birth_place= Llanewrwg (St Mellons), Wales
|death_place= Hericourt, France
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|major_shrine=Church of St Mellon in St Mellons, Cardiff, Wales
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Saint Mellonius (229-314) was an early 4th-century Bishop of Rotomagus (now Rouen) in the Roman province of Secunda Provincia Lugdunensis (now Normandy in France). He is known only from a 17th-century 'Life' of little historical value, meaning the historicity of his existence is uncertain.David Hugh Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (5 rev. ed.) (Oxford University Press, 2011) [https://books.google.com/books?id=_zJJtvK2_KsC&dq=merewenna+dictionary+of+saints&pg=PA307 Page 307].
Legend
Mellonius (surnamed Probus) is said to have been born near Cardiff in Wales, presumably at St Mellons, although the saint there is generally thought to be Saint Melaine, Bishop of Rennes. The two have, unfortunately, been hopelessly confused in many biographies. Mellonius' story tells how he travelled to Rome to pay the British tribute. He was there converted to Christianity by Pope Stephen I,Sabine Baring-Gould (1907). Lives of the British Saints who ordained him priest and later consecrated him a bishop.
Shortly after the martyrdom of Pope Stephen in 257, Mellonius set out for Gaul. He succeeded Nicasius of Rouen as Bishop of Rouen in 261. After a long episcopate, in 311, he retired to a hermit's cell at a place called Hericourt, where he died A.D. 314.[https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-mellonius/ Monks of Ramsgate. “Mellonius”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 22 October 2016] Mellonius was succeeded by Avitianus.
He is sometimes confused with Mellonius, Bishop of Troyes, from 390 to 400.
Veneration
His feast day is 22 October. In the English translation of the 1956 edition of the Roman Martyrology, 'St Mellon' is listed under 22 October with the citation: At Rouen, St Mellon, Bishop, who was ordained by Pope St Stephen and sent thither to preach the Gospel.The Roman Martyrology, 1961, The Newman Press, Westminster & Maryland, page 231.
In the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, Mellonius is listed under the same date, 22 October, with the Latin name Mallóni. He is mentioned as follows: 'At Rothómagi (Rouen), bishop, who in that city announced the Christian faith and handed on the episcopate'.Martyrologium Romanum, 2004, Vatican Press (Typis Vaticanis), page 584.
Bishop Mellonius is depicted in a fifteenth-century illuminated Book of Hours.[http://ica.themorgan.org/manuscript/page/79/76859 Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts, The Morgan Library and Museum]
Mellonius was buried at Rouen, but his remains were subsequently translated to a church in Pontoise towards the end of the eighth century to protect them from Norse warbands. They remained there until they were lost during the French Revolution.
Legacy
File:St Mellons Parish Church (1) - geograph.org.uk - 1493805.jpg]]
St. Mellon's Church in St. Mellons, Cardiff is dedicated to Mellonius of Rouen. A fair used to be held on his feast day in the village of St Mellons.[https://parish.churchinwales.org.uk/m262/churches-en/st-mellons-parish-church/ Kellen, David. "St Mellons Parish Church", The Parish of St. Mellons, The church in Wales] The church was previously dedicated to St. Lucius, but was changed upon the arrival of the Normans.[https://books.google.com/books?id=3hYJAQAAIAAJ&dq=Mellonius+of+Rouen&pg=PA73 Cormack, George. "St. Mellon", The Red Dragon: The National Magazine of Wales, Vol. 11, (Giuseppe Mattei,ed.), Daniel Owen, Howell and Company, 1887, p. 72]{{PD-notice}} The church at Thiédeville is dedicated to him at Héricourt, where there was a holy well. There is also a church dedicated to St. Mellon in Plomelin, Brittany.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://archive.today/20121224043809/http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/parishholding/monmouth/m262-en/history-en/who-was-st-mellon Who Was Saint Mellon?] - article at the parish website of St Mellon's Church in St Mellons, Cardiff
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120313050230/http://www.hallam-co.com/Gloucesterdetails.asp?uid=488 Geographical Essay] appended to estate agent's particulars
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20121003063837/http://www.rumneyhistory.org.uk/main/index.php?topic=Maps Rumney History] summary
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Category:4th-century bishops in Gaul
Category:Welsh Roman Catholic saints
Category:Medieval Welsh saints