Marius of Avenches

Saint Marius of Avenches was bishop of Avenches (Aventicum), in modern Switzerland, in the sixth century, and the author of a brief but valuable chronicle. After his death, at Lausanne, he was venerated as a saint. He is venerated mainly in the West and commemorated on 31 December.

Life

What is known of him, apart from the chronicle, comes largely from the epitaph carved on his tomb, in the church of Saint Thyrsus at Lausanne. He was born about 530, near Autun, to a rich and distinguished family, probably Gallo-⁠Roman. In 573 or 574 he became bishop of Aventicum, bringing to his see, according to one source, his family estate of Marcennai near Dijon, which became the foundation of the wealth of the bishopric. In 585 he took part in the second council of Mâcon, and on 24 June 587 he consecrated the church at Payerne, built at his expense on land that belonged to him. Soon afterwards, because of the rapid decline of the city of Avenches, he moved his see to Lausanne.

The epitaph portrays him as an ideal bishop: a skilled goldsmith who made the sacred vessels of the liturgy with his own hands, a protector and benefactor of the poor who ploughed his own land, a man of prayer and a scholar. The date of his death is not certain. According to tradition he died on 31 December, in 593, 594 or 596 by various reckonings.

The chronicle

His chronicle is a continuation of the Imperial Chronicle attributed to Prosper of Aquitaine. Considering himself a Roman, Marius dated the years by the consuls and the emperors of the Eastern Empire. It covers the years 455 to 581, and until about 555 it is mostly a list of emperors and consuls. For the second half of the sixth century it is a valuable source for the history of the Burgundians and Franks, almost the only one of that time that corrects Gregory of Tours. Marius is the first to use the word variola (smallpox) for the epidemic that struck Gaul and Italy in 570.

Veneration

After his death at Lausanne he was venerated as a saint, and his feast was kept on 9 or 12 February. The church of Saint Thyrsus soon received the name of Saint Marius. Today the Catholic Church commemorates him on 31 December.