Eucharius of Trier

Holy Hierarch Eucharius of Trier is venerated as the first bishop of Trier in Germany, and is held to have lived in the second half of the 3rd century. He is a saint of the undivided Church.

An ancient legend makes him one of the seventy-⁠two disciples of the Lord, sent to Gaul by Saint Peter as bishop, together with the deacon Valerius and the subdeacon Maternus. At Ellelum in Alsace Maternus died, and the other two hastened back to Peter to ask that he be restored; Peter gave Eucharius his staff, and Maternus, forty days in the grave, returned to life when touched with it. Many pagans were converted; after founding many churches the three came to Trier, where Eucharius made his see. The legend adds that he raised a dead person to life and that an angel announced his coming death and pointed out Valerius as his successor. He was bishop for twenty-⁠five years, reposed on 8 December and was buried in the church of Saint John outside the city. Valerius was bishop fifteen years, then Maternus, who in the meantime had founded the dioceses of Cologne and Tongeren.

The story cannot stand historically, since the three were bishops of dioceses founded more than a century after Peter. In the Middle Ages the founding of a diocese was often dated as early as possible, and the gaps in tradition were filled later, in the Gesta Treverorum, with a mixture of truth and legend. The Orthodox calendars commemorate him on 10 November.

He is commemorated on 10 November, the liturgical date in the Orthodox calendar (the same day number on the old and new calendars).