Gatianus of Tours

Saint Gatianus (Catianus, Gratianus) was the founding bishop of the see of Tours, in the third century, and one of the "seven apostles of Gaul" sent by Pope Fabian to preach in that country. He is commemorated on 18 December.

Life

According to Christian historians, in the time of the emperor Decius and Vettius Gratus (250), Pope Fabian sent seven bishops from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Gatianus to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturninus to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont and Martial to Limoges. A Christian community had existed for many years at Lyon, where Irenaeus had been bishop. Like the other founders of the seven churches of Gaul, above all Martial, Gatianus was counted in later Christian tradition among the "seventy-⁠two disciples of Christ", it being said that he was sent to Gaul as early as the first century by the apostle Peter himself. The other details of his life, although not as easily disproved, are largely legendary. Gregory of Tours, writing in the sixth century, is a more dependable source for the few details about his predecessor. According to the historian Louis Duchesne, the traditions preserved at Tours gave Gregory only the name of Gatianus and perhaps the fifty years of his episcopate; by comparison with a short early life of Saturninus of Toulouse Gregory arrived at the date 250 for the start of Gatianus's ministry at Tours (History of the Franks, 1.30).

There were few Christians at Tours then, and in one of the troubled years of his episcopate he is said to have lain concealed for a time in a cave on the bank of the Loire, at the spot where the great abbey of Marmoutier later rose. Gregory states that Gatianus went into the city only when opportunities for preaching presented themselves. He devoted half a century to evangelization, amid innumerable difficulties, and at his death the diocese of Tours was securely established, he having managed to gather followers around him who went through the country and founded churches. In a part of the empire where Mithraism was a dominant force among the legions, Léon Jaud reports that Gatianus likewise withdrew into a grotto and celebrated there a mystical banquet, but that of Christianity. Gatianus is often portrayed officiating in a cavern-⁠like setting. Two grottos cut into the limestone hill above the Loire, across the river from Tours at the largely demolished Marmoutier Abbey, are designated the first sites where Gatianus celebrated the liturgy; Saint Martin too retired to pray in them. Gatianus established a hospice for the poor outside the walls of Tours, where he lay overcome with weariness after five decades of fasting, penance and toil. Jaud describes how Jesus appeared to him there, saying: "Fear not. Thy crown is ready and the saints await thy arrival in heaven."

Veneration

After Gatianus's death, during renewed persecution of Christians, the see of Tours remained unoccupied for thirty-⁠six years. The Christians were dispersed and any direct connection with the historical Gatianus was irretrievably broken. Gregory records the second bishop as Litorius, traditionally credited with building the predecessor of the present cathedral, and says he was bishop for thirty-⁠three years until about the time Saint Martin arrived at Tours, in 371. Martin, however, found few Christians in the city; local lore nevertheless kept the legend of Gatianus alive. Martin found Gatianus's burial site, always venerated his predecessor and went to pray at his tomb. With the rise in importance of Paris, Gatianus came to be seen more and more as a disciple of Saint Denis. Tours became a major pilgrimage site, focused on the tomb of Saint Martin. The cathedral, originally dedicated to Saint Maurice, was dedicated again to Saint Gatianus at its thirteenth-⁠century rebuilding.