- Porcarius
Infobox Saint
name=Saint Porcarius
birth_date=
death_date=c. 732
feast_day=12 August
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death_place=
titles=Martyr
beatified_date=
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issues=Saint Porcarius (died c. 732), known as Saint-Porchaire in French, was a
Benedictine monk, governed the abbey of Lérins, off the coast of theFrench Riviera , (now known asÎle de Saint-Honorat , as the monastery was founded bySaint Honoratus ofArles ) at a time when the monastery included over 500 residents.According to tradition, around the year 732, Porcarius was warned by an
angel in a vision that the monastery was about to be attacked bybarbarian s. Immediately the abbot heeded the warning and sent off to safety by ship all the young students at the abbey and 36 of the younger monks. When the ship left fully loaded, he set about preparing the rest of the community for death and prayed with them for courage.The community was attacked by the
Saracen s, probablyMoors fromSpain orNorth Africa , and were massacred, except four who were taken into slavery. Their feast is kept in thediocese of Fréjus ,France , and the memorial day of Saint Porcarius and his companions isAugust 12 .Note
* A less well-known
Catholic figure also known as Porcarius (or in some documents, "Porcar") was a canon of the cathedral ofNantes , and a monk in the Cistercian abbey ofBuzay . He appears to be the brother "according to the flesh" who received, in Nantes, the then abbotPeter Abelard , when he came to return the visit of the countConan III . [http://www.cc-vallet.fr/abelard/abelard/abelgenealogie.htm]External links
* [http://www.leafletmissal.org/Saint_Month/08_August/Aug_12.html Saint Porcarius and Companions]
* [http://www.diocese-poitiers.com.fr/patrimoine/bressuire-stporchaire.html L'église Saint-Porchaire de Bressuire]
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