Auxilius of Ireland

Saint Auxilius (in Irish Usaille, died around 459) was a missionary and bishop of Ireland, associated with Saint Patrick, Saint Sechnall (Secundinus) and Saint Iserninus in establishing Christianity in the south of the island, although more recent studies tend rather to associate him with the earlier Palladius. He is a saint of the pre-⁠schism West; the sources at our disposal show no Orthodox act of canonization of him, though the Russian source lists his days of commemoration (7 February, 19 March, 16 April, 27 August, 16 September and 19 October), which vary in the old martyrologies.

The traditional view

Auxilius may have been ordained a deacon at Auxerre with Patrick and Iserninus. Sabine Baring-⁠Gould believed Iserninus and Auxilius were Celts: "they would not have been of much use to [Patrick] had they not been fluent speakers of the Celtic language, and we may assume that they were Celts from Armorica, Cornwall or Wales". He was the nephew of Saint Patrick, the son of his sister Darerca and her husband Restitutus, a Lombard. He was one of nine brothers, eight of whom became bishops in Ireland. He is also called the brother of Saint Secundinus (Seachnaill). About his early years and training nothing is certain: he appears to have studied in Gaul, at the school of Saint Germanus. According to John Francis Shearman, in 438, six years after Patrick left for Ireland, Germanus sent Auxilius and Iserninus to help him.

The later perspective

The first documentary evidence is an entry in the Irish annals about the arrival of Saint Sechnall and his brother Auxilius "to help Saint Patrick". Auxilius seems to have had an important role in the early Irish Church: a synod of bishops held in 448 or 450 is mentioned, led by Patrick, Auxilius and Iserninus, which suggests that he had special authority among the bishops, since the decisions there were binding on the whole Church of Ireland of the time. Historians have suggested that the link of Secundinus with Patrick was a later tradition invented by the Armagh historians in favor of their patron, and that Secundinus was rather an independent missionary, perhaps a companion of Palladius. There is a generally received view that Palladius established a mission in what is today County Meath, and Auxilius and Secundinus were probably his assistants. Auxilius is called the founder of the church at Killashee, near Naas in County Kildare, the name Killashee coming from Kill (church in Irish) and Usaille. His year of death is 458 in the annals of Inisfallen and of Clonmacnoise, but 454 or 455 are also given.

Commemoration

His day of commemoration varies in the old martyrologies: in the Martyrology of Gorman it is 7 February; in the Book of Obits of Christ Church, 19 October; other martyrologies give 16 April or 16 September; in the Martyrology of Tallaght it is 19 March, and in the Annals of the Four Masters the day of his death is 27 August.