Elpidius

Saint Elpidius (in French Ilpide) is venerated by both the Catholic and the Orthodox Church. He was a contemporary of Saint Privatus of Mende and, like him, a native of Gévaudan, probably in the third century. He is said to have died a martyr around the year 257. His commemoration is on 16 June.

The legend says that Elpidius was a pagan converted to Christianity. He seems always to have given veneration to the relics of the saints, especially the martyrs of the persecutions of Gallienus and Valerian. It is said that he buried the body of Saint Julian of Brioude and that of Saint Privatus. At the end of his life he lived as a hermit in the gorges of the river Allier. He was discovered by pagans who wanted to make him abandon the new religion; he refused and was killed. He was buried at Brioude. The relics were examined in 1809 and 1828, and in 1855 they were moved to the church of Saint-⁠Julien at Brioude. The village of Saint-⁠Ilpize (Haute-⁠Loire) bears his name; at Mende a chapel bore his name, and later several buildings. He is venerated especially in the dioceses of Mende and Le Puy.