AGRICOLA (AGRICOLUS) of AVIGNON, the son of St. Magnus of Avignon (19th August) the thirty-fourth Bishop of Avignon (south-eastern France). At the age of sixteen, St. Agricola received monastic tonsure at the Abbey of Our Lady of Lérins (abbaye Notre Dame de Lérins) on one of the Lérins Islands in the Mediteranian Ocean off the Côte d’Azur in France. At Lérins St. Agricola acquired a reputation for scholarship and holiness of life. At the age of thirty, he was summoned by his father to serve as his co-adjutor, and following the repose of St. Magnus in 660, St. Agricola succeeded his father as Bishop. He governed the See of Avignon for forty years, reposing in 700 of natural causes.

ANTONINUS of PAMIERS, (Date Unknown), the patron saint of Pamiers (south-western France), Palencia (northern Spain), and Medina del Campo (north-western Spain). Not only are there no reliable details of his life extant, there are reasonable doubts to his historicity and exact identity.

CASTOR of APT, a native of Nîmes (southern France) who may have been the brother of St. Leontius of Fréjus (1st December). St. Castor was a lawyer who settled in Marseilles (southern France) following his marriage, but soon he and his wife decided to separate and enter monasteries. St. Castor was the founder of Monanque Abbey (south-eastern France), said to have been the motivation for St. John Cassian (23rd July) to write De Institutis Coenobiorum, and finally served as the fourth Bishop of Apt (south-eastern France). St. Castor reposed circa 420 of natural causes, and his relics enshrined at the Cathedral of St. Anne (Cathédrale Sainte-Anne d'Apt) in Apt.

ELPIDIUS of LYONS, the successor of St. Antiochus of Lyons (15th October) as Bishop of Lyons (east-central France) from 410 until his repose in 422. Though he appears in numerous lists of primates of the See of Lyons, there are no details of his episcopacy, nor an extant Life.

HEIU (HIEU), St. Heiu received monastic tonsure from St. Áedán of Lindisfarne (31st August), and went on the serve as Abbess of Tadcaster in Yorkshire, England. She reposed circa 657 of natural causes. Some sources aver that St. Heiu and St. Bega (6th September) are one in the same saint.

JUSTUS (JUST) of LYONS, (Also 14th October), a deacon in Vienne (south-eastern France) who was consecrated 13th Bishop of Lyons (east-central France) in 350. St. Justus was one of the participants at the Council of Aquileia of 381 which dealt with Arianism. Shortly there after, St. Justus resigned his See and, with his deacon, went to Egypt where he lived as a hermit until his repose in 390. Shortly after his repose, his body was brought back to Lyons where he was buried at what came to be the Basilica of St. Just (basilique de Saint-Just).

LOLANUS, (Fifth Century), a variety of legends regarding the life of St. Lolanus have completely obscured the historical record. While some sources profess that he was a nephew of St. Servan of Culross (1st July), others claim that he was a native of Cana in Galilee who lived in Rome for seven years before travelling to Scotland where he spent the rest of his life. Still other sources maintain that he was a bishop in Scotland.

MAXIMA, a Roman slave and friend of St. Ansanus of Siena (1st December) who was martyred during the Diocletianic Persecution (303–313).

NONNOSUS, very little is known of the life of St. Nonnosus, who does not seem to be listed in any of the ancient martyrologies, however, he is mentioned by St. Gregory the Dialogist (3rd September) in some of his writings on Italian saints. From this we learn that St. Nonnosus was a contemporary of St. Benedict of Nursia (11th July), and a prior at the Monastery of St. Sylvester (Monastero San Silvestre) on Monte Soratte north of Rome, then later a monk at Suppentonia, near Civita Castellana (east-central Italy). St. Nonnosus reposed circa 575.

VALENTINUS (VALENTINE) of STRASBOURG, (Fourth Century), the fourth Bishop of Strasbourg (north-eastern France), of whom nothing further seems to be known.

AICHARDUS (AICARD, ACHARD), the son of a military officer at the Court of Clotaire II, King of the Franks (r. 613–629). It was his father wish that St. Aichardus follow in his foot steps with a career in the military. However, St. Aichardus wanted to enter monastic life, and, with the support of his mother, he eventually was tonsured at the Abbey of St. Jovinus (abbaye Saint-Jouin de Marnes) in the present-day French city of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes. St. Aichardus went on to serve as Abbot of the Abbey of St. Benedict (abbaye Saint-Benoît de Quinçay) at Quinçay near Poitiers, and then succeeding St. Philibert of Jumièges (20th August) as Abbot of the Abbey of St. Peter (abbaye Saint-Pierre de Jumièges) in Jumièges, Normandy (north-western France). St. Aichardus was known throughout his life as a model of prayer, austerity, and observance of Religious Rule, he reposed in 687.

ALBINUS (AUBIN, ALPIN) of LYONS, The successor of St. Justus of Lyons (2nd September, and 14th October) as Bishop of Lyons, though the exact length of his Episcopate is unknown, it is believed to have been from circa 380 to circa 390. St. Albinus reposed circa 390.

APRUS (APER, APRE, EPVRE, EVRE) of TOUL, a native of Trier in the present-day German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, who began life as a lawyer and acquired great fame on account both of his legal skills as well as his scrupulous integrity. After many years he left the law to become a priest, and circa 500 was selected to serve as the seventh Bishop of Toul (north-eastern France). St. Aprus reposed in 507, following an episcopate during which he was deeply loved by his flock.

BOND (BALDUS) of SENS, a seventh century hermit in Sens (north-central France). Some sources say he was a disciple of St. Artemius of Sens (28th April).

EMILAS of CÓRDOBA and JEREMIAH of CÓRDOBA, Martyrs of Córdoba, two young martyrs in Córdoba (southern Spain). St. Emilas, a deacon, and St, Jeremiah, a layman, were imprisoned and then beheaded, during the reign of Emir Abd ar-Rahman II (r. 822–852).

EUTROPIA of AUVERGNE, there is no information on St. Eutropia in any of the old martyrologies, and other than a mention by St. Sidonius Apollinaris (21st August) nothing about her life is known with any certainty. According to tradition, St. Eutropia was a holy woman in Auvergne (south-central France), who is believed to have flourished in the fifth century.

HERNAN (Sixth Century), a native of Britain, who fled to Brittany (north-western France) during the Anglo-Saxon conquest of England. There St. Hernan lived as a hermit at a place which came to be called Locarn, and of which he is also the patron-saint.

LEOBINUS (LUBIN) of CHARTRES, born near Poitiers (west-central France) to a family of peasants, he received monastic tonsure at the Abbey of St. Martin (abbaye Saint-Martin de Ligugé) at Ligugé in Vienne (south-western France), and became an anchorite in early life. St. Leobinus was later ordained to the priesthood, then made Abbot of Brou and finally consecrated Bishop of Chartres (circa 544). As Bishop, St. Leobinus participated in the Fifth Council of Orleans in October 549, and the Second Synod of Paris (551/2). St. Leobinus reposed circa 557.

MAMILLIAN of PALERMO, a Bishop of Palermo in Sicily during the era when the Arian Vandals dominated the island. Exiled by the the Arian Gaiseric, King of the Vandals (r. 428–477), St. Mamillian reposed circa 460 in Tuscany, his relics were later translated to Palermo.

MIRIN (MERINUS, MEADHRAN) of BANGOR, as with many of his contemporaries, it is almost impossible to separate fact from fiction in the limited amount of information that remains on the life of St. Mirin. He is commonly believed to have entered Bangor Abbey while still a youth, where he was a disciple of St. Comgall of Bangor (10th May), serving at one point as Prior. St. Mirin journeyed to Scotland where he founded the monastic community that became Paisley Abbey. Present-day Paisley, Renfrewshire in Scotland, grew up around the Abbey, and St. Mirin is the patron saint of both the town, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paisley. St. Mirin reposed circa 620.

NICOMEDES of ROME, (Date Uncertain), nothing certain is known of St. Nicomedes, the Roman Martyrology and St. Bede the Venerable (25th May) list him on this date, however, the first three manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum make no mention of him, though he has been added to later recensions. It seems safe to say he was an early martyr of the Roman Church. According to most legends St. Nicomedes was a priest, and was martyred at the end of the first century, though there are some sources which place his martyrdom during the reign of the Emperor Maximian (r. 286–305).

PORPHYRIUS the MARTYR, an actor who was performing before the Emperor Julian the Apostate (r. 361–363) on the Emperor’s birthday in either 361 or 362. One of the scenes in the play mimicked the sacrament of baptism; St. Porphyrius was immersed, and the baptismal formula recited. However, as St. Porphyrius emerged, he declared himself to be a Christian. Emperor Julian immediately ordered that St. Porphyrius be tortured and then beheaded.

RIBERT, a seventh century Abbot of the Abbey of St. Valery (abbaye de Saint-Valery-sur-Somme) in present-day Saint-Valery-sur-Somme in northern France. It is possible St. Ribert was a bishop, and if so, it would have been as a regional bishop of Normandy and Picardy.

RITBERT of VARENNES, a monk and disciple of St. Audoenus of Rouen (24th August). St. Ritbert also served as abbot of a monastery in Varennes in Lorraine (north-eastern France) before reposing circa 690.

VALERIAN of CHÂLON-SUR-SAONE, one of the group of fifty Christians, including St. Photinus of Lyons (2nd June), imprisoned at Lyons (east-central France) in the persecution of Christians during the reign of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180). St. Valerian managed to escape and was able to spend some time evangelising in what is now the Burgundy region of France. Unfortunately, he was captured circa 178 and put to death near Châlon-sur-Saone.