Saint Aventinus of Troyes
Also known as
- Aventin
- Aventine
Profile
Almoner for Saint Lupus of Troyes and Saint Camelianus of Troyes; legend says that his wine barrel never ran dry. Hermit in a place now known as Saint-Aventin, France in his honour. People and animals sought refuge with him – animals hiding from hunters, people from their temptations.
Born
- c.538 of natural causes
- relics destroyed during the French Revolution
Readings
One day, according to his custom, Aventine quitted his cell and betook himself to a grove overlooking the vale of Aosta, that he might pray there quietly amidst its mysterious shade. On his knees, with uplifted eyes and glowing heart, he blessed God whom he inwardly adored. A very deep silence favoured his recollection, and his happy soul seemed to be as serene as paradise. Suddenly the silence was broken hy the plaintive roar of a bear which was laboriously coming down from the mountains. Aventine saw it, but was not alarmed; he knew that He who watched over Daniel in the den of lions would also watch over him. It was not the wild animals of the forest that were to shed his blood – this blood was reserved to gratify the rage of human persecutors far more savage than they. As if led by an invisible hand or by some kindly instinct the wounded animal came straight to him as quietly as a lamb, and lifted its heavy paw in which was a long thorn, and laid it quite confidingly in the hands of Aventine, as if imploring help.
The servant of God kindly examined the wound and extracted the cruel thorn, and then the grateful bear left him after loading him with caresses.
This fact, which we have taken from the chronicle, is not without a certain authority. There still exists in a parish of the valley, and not far from the hermitage of Saint Aventine, another ruin, a precious remnant of the little oratory raised by the faithful to preserve the memory of this remarkable event. Tradition persistently reports that it is here that the Saint met the bear. A wood carving on the reredos of the church of Saint Aventine recalls this circumstance in the life of the Saint, and the old wood-work showed a similar incident. A bear was seen standing before the Saint, who was taking the thorn out of its paw with a pointed instrument. – from “The Little Bollandists” by Monsignor Paul Guérin, 1882
MLA Citation
- “Saint Aventinus of Troyes“. CatholicSaints.Info. 19 February 2024. Web. 27 April 2024. <>