Aeonius of Arles

Saint Aeonius of Arles, hierarch (Éon), was born at Chalon-⁠sur-⁠Saône in Burgundy and rose to the see of archbishop of Arles, most probably at the beginning of 485. He reposed on 17 August 502. A French source calls him a saint of the Catholic and the Orthodox Church; he is remembered on 18 August.

In March 492 Pope Gelasius I wrote to him announcing his election and charging him to inform the bishops of Gaul, thus recognizing the primacy of the Church of Arles. In 498 a letter of Pope Anastasius II to Aeonius shows the interest of the Church of Gaul in the question of the creation of souls and original sin. In September 499 he took part in the famous episcopal conference of Lyon between Catholics and Arians, in the presence of King Gundobad. In that year he received his young relative (probably a nephew) Caesarius, took him into his clergy, ordained him deacon, then priest, and appointed him abbot to restore order in a men's monastery near Arles. In 500 Pope Symmachus confirmed the archbishop's rights as metropolitan.

Near death, anxious about his successor, he urged the clergy and citizens of Arles to choose no one but his nephew Caesarius. Having received the promise that his wish would be fulfilled, he left by will all his property for the ransom of captives and the relief of the poor of his Church, then fell asleep in the Lord at the end of the summer of 502.