Baudimus

Saint Baudimus (also called Baudenius, Baudelius, Baudèle, Bauzély, Bauzile, Beauzire or Boil) is venerated in Auvergne as a companion of Saint Nectarius of Auvergne, with whom he is said to have preached the Gospel in the region of the Dores and Dômes at the end of the third century. He is commemorated on 2 June. The legends on which his life rests are partly extraordinary, and the time of Saint Austremonius, first bishop of Auvergne, and of his companions is uncertain.

He is said to have withdrawn afterwards with Nectarius and Auditor near the church they built on Mount Cornadore, on the site of a place of worship dedicated to Irminsul or of a temple of Hermes-⁠Apollo. A legend says that Baudimus slew a dragon that was laying waste the region; one of the capitals of the church of Saint-⁠Nectaire shows him with his feet on a monster. The dragon is interpreted as his triumph over the barbarous customs and superstitions of the people whom he brought to the Gospel.

According to the twelfth-⁠century Life of Nectarius, Nectarius went from Rome to Arvernia with a mission of many priests, among them Baudimus, under the leadership of Austremonius. Arrived at Sutri in Italy, Nectarius died, worn out by labors; Austremonius sent Baudimus to Rome with the sad news. The pope went to Sutri and, in the name of Almighty God, called him back to life and gave him to his companions. Not all lives of Nectarius mention this death and resurrection.

Two churches of Auvergne dedicate veneration to him: the Romanesque church of Saint-⁠Nectaire, where a reliquary bust of the twelfth century is kept, and the church of Notre-⁠Dame de Ronzières, also called Saint-⁠Baudime, both in the Puy-⁠de-⁠Dôme. At Ronzières he is said to have preached beside a spring venerated from ancient times, which he consecrated to the Mother of God; the spring is called Font-⁠Notre-⁠Dame or Fontaine de Saint-⁠Beauzire. The veneration is local.