Lucian of Beauvais - Legend

Legend

The details of his life are largely unknown; the date of his death was moved backwards in time in order to lend his see more antiquity, a common practice during the Middle Ages. As Hippolyte Delehaye writes, "To have lived amongst the Saviour's immediate following was...honorable...and accordingly old patrons of churches were identified with certain persons in the gospels or who were supposed to have had some part of Christ's life on earth." Tradition holds he came from a noble family of Rome. He was named "Lucius" like his father, but when he was converted to Christianity by Saint Peter himself, he took the name of Lucian. As a young man, he preached in Italy and then he was ordained bishop by Pope Clement I (who actually lived in a different century), who sent him to Gaul with Saint Denis and Saint Rieul, among others (Lucian is also called an associate of Saint Quentin), to preach there. He was imprisoned in Parma, but was freed by Christians there. He converted people in Pavia before arriving in Arles, where he once again met up with Saint Rieul. Denis and Lucian continued towards Lutetia. Denis remained in Lutetia while Lucian continued onto Beauvais, at the time known as Caesaromagus.

At Beauvais, he acquired fame for his mortifications and penances. He preached against the Roman gods. He lived in a house that is considered to be the place now occupied by the collegiate church of Saint-Nicolas. Denis and Rieul visited him here. According to Rolandus, the author of the Acta Sancti Luciani, he retired to a mountain near the city, living as a hermit on grass and water. According to one account, he converted 30,000 people to Christianity, and was assisted in this task by his 2 disciples.

The assassins Latinus, Jarius and Antor were sent by the Roman Emperor (his legendary account gives the contradictory name of Diocletian, though this emperor lived during the 3rd century) to kill him. They killed his disciples first and then beat Lucian with rods, finally slicing his head off. His legend states that after Lucian was decapitated, he picked up his own head and walked towards the town of Beauvais. Having crossed the river Thérain at Miauroy (Beauvais lies at the foot of wooded hills on the left bank of the Thérain at its confluence with the Avelon), Lucian stopped within a quarter mile of Beauvais, and died there, thus indicating to his followers that he wanted to be buried on that very spot. This part of his legend thus makes Lucian one of the legendary cephalophores, whose number also include his alleged companion, Denis.

According to the legend, the angels themselves attended the funeral of the saint, and according to local tradition, vermilion-colored rosebushes blossomed on the spot where Lucian's blood had run.