Irenaeus of Ceaucé

Irenaeus of Ceaucé (in French Ernier, Erinée or Ernée) was a hermit evangelizer of the Maine, more exactly of the Passais, in the 6th century, originally from Aquitaine. He was born around 500 and spent several years, with his companions Saints Auvieu and Borner, at the monastery of Micy near Orléans, where they probably came to know Saint Fraimbault. Bishop Saint Innocent of Le Mans (532-543) ordained him a priest and sent him to the remote forests of the Passais, to Ceaucé, to lead according to the monastic rule the religious already living there. Helped by the bishop, who owned vast estates at Ceaucé, Irenaeus built there a church dedicated to Saint Martin and a cloister for his religious, who numbered thirty.

In 560 King Clothar I, son of Clovis, going to punish the rebellion of his bastard son Chramn, who had withdrawn to Brittany, passed through Ceaucé. He met there Saints Alnée and Irenaeus and, pleased with the welcome of the abbot and the religious, gave them rich presents and several lands to help them complete the buildings. He is commemorated on 9 August, in the Western calendar (new style). A saint of the undivided Church, venerated locally.