Lupentius of Javols

Saint Lupentius of Javols, venerable martyr (called in French Louvent or Lupien), was born around 540 at Bois-⁠du-⁠Mont, near Javols in the Gévaudan, and died a martyr in Champagne in 584. He is venerated as a saint in the Western Church and remembered on 22 October in the Western calendar.

From about 564 he embraced the clerical state and then became abbot of the monastery of Saint Privatus in the Gévaudan, near Mende. He was ordained priest by Bishop Evanthius, who in 576 entrusted him with a preaching mission. For words spoken against the scandals of the court of Austrasia and of Queen Brunhilda, Count Innocent of the Gévaudan brought him to trial. Lupentius was found innocent and freed, but on the road back he was killed in Champagne by the count's men. His head was cut off and he was thrown into the river Aisne.

According to the legend, shepherds drew the body from the water, and an eagle brought the head back beside the body. His tomb is shown in the church of Saint-⁠Lupien in the Aube. The body is said to have been first buried in the church of Perthes, and the relics were moved to the cathedral of Châlons-⁠en-⁠Champagne. In 1737 the bishop of Châlons gave a part of the relics to the bishop of Mende.