Marinus of Bodon

Saint Marinus of Bodon (also called Marius or Maurus), the holy monk, was a monk and abbot in Gaul, born at Orléans at the end of the 5th century and reposed in 555 in the monastery of La Val-⁠Benoît near Sisteron. He is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.

Around 506 he founded the monastery of Bodon, in the present département of Drôme, and was its first abbot; some think the monastery already existed before him. In Lent he used to leave the monastery to live as a hermit in the forest. Several pilgrimages are told of him, above all to the tombs of Saint Denis and Saint Martin of Tours. He had prophetic visions and foresaw, according to tradition, that barbarians would devastate his monastery and go down as far as Italy.

His life was written in the second half of the 6th century by his disciple Lucretius, who saw to his burial and later became bishop of Die. After the destruction of the monastery his relics were taken to Forcalquier, to the cathedral of Saint-⁠Mari, then to Notre-⁠Dame-⁠du-⁠Bourguet. He is commemorated on 27 January, by the Western calendar (new style).