Sanctinus of Meaux

Saint Sanctinus (Santin, Saintin) was a Gallo-⁠Roman bishop and missionary, named by tradition the first bishop of the cities of Meaux and Verdun, born by tradition about 270 and dead in prison at Meaux about 356. He is remembered on 11 October, the day of his death; the Roman Martyrology of 1627 remembered him on 22 September. Our sources say that his life is wrapped in obscurity and that the legend cannot be sustained historically.

The legend

According to the legend of Hincmar, of the ninth century, Dionysius of Paris trained several priests to preach in Gaul. Sanctinus he appointed bishop of the cities of Chartres and Meaux. When Dionysius was mortally wounded by the soldiers of the usurper Domitian, he sent Sanctinus and a certain Antoninus to Athens, to inform the Athenians of his martyrdom. On the way, in the Roman fort of Verdun, Sanctinus left behind Antoninus, gravely ill. A local innkeeper promised to care for him, for payment. Sanctinus learned in Rome of the death of Antoninus and of the innkeeper's evil part in it. He returned to Verdun about the year 330, enlightened the city, became its first bishop and founded a church of Saints Peter and Paul.

The story according to tradition

The name Sanctinus, from the Latin sanctus, comes from the fact that his real name is not known. By tradition he was a disciple of Dionysius of Paris, counted the first bishop both at Meaux and at Verdun. He preached the Gospel throughout the region and is said to have preached also in Picardy and in Champagne. His chief helper was the holy priest Antoninus, whom he is said to have raised from the dead. The Bollandists investigated the legend thoroughly and concluded that it cannot be sustained historically. They place his apostolic work in the middle of the fourth century.

As bishop of Verdun, in 332 he built the first Christian oratory on Mount Saint-⁠Vanne, on the site of a pagan temple, and dedicated it to the holy apostles Peter and Paul. A second oratory was dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. A Russian source says the building of a baptistery and a church is also attributed to him, over which seven hundred years later the monastery of Saint-⁠Maur was built. When Sanctinus was forced to join his persecuted community at Meaux, he entrusted the episcopate to Saint Maurus, the first priest ordained at Verdun. It is widely held that he died in prison at Meaux, about 356.

Relics and veneration

In later centuries a quarrel arose whether he was one bishop or two different ones, a quarrel tied to the place of the relics: in the cathedral of Verdun or at Meaux. It is told that about 1044 the starving citizens of Meaux sold his relics to itinerant merchants of Verdun. A tooth of his is kept in a reliquary in the cathedral of Verdun. This explains his veneration both at Meaux, where he is held a martyr, and at Verdun, where he is held a bishop and confessor. In the thirteenth century Meaux gave some of his relics to Saint-⁠Denis. Churches are dedicated to him at Mogeville, Vaux-⁠lès-⁠Palameix and Courgeon, and chapels at Auteuil and Bellême. At Auteuil-⁠le-⁠Roi a votive feast has long been held, on 22 September, in his honour.