Alpinus of Châlons

Saint Alpinus was bishop of the city of Châlons in Gaul and died on 7 September 480. He is commemorated on 7 September and on 2 May.

He studied at the monastery of Lérins. Around the year 429, before finishing his studies, he went with Saint Germanus of Auxerre and Saint Lupus of Troyes to the British Isles, where they fought against the Pelagian heresy. He became bishop at Châlons in 430, after Provincus, and remained at the head of the diocese until 480.

According to tradition, on 28 May 451, on the day of Pentecost, Alpinus went to Attila to ask him to spare the city from the fury of the Huns.

His day of commemoration was always 7 September, the anniversary of his death. In 1245 Bishop Geoffroy II de Grandpré moved the commemoration to 2 May, the anniversary of the translation of the relics. The martyrology gives his day as 7 September.

He lived before the separation of the Churches, and so he is venerated as a saint of the undivided Church.