Nazarius of Lérins, St.

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NAZARIUS OF LÉRINS, ST.

Abbot; b. c. 584; d. c. 629. He appears in the abbatial list as 14th abbot of lÉrins. Little is known about him. Like his predecessors at Lérins, Nazarius labored to root out the remaining vestiges of pagan worship into which the district frequently lapsed. He is said to have despoiled a sanctuary of Venus near the monastery and to have established there a convent for women that flourished until the Saracen raids of the eighth century. His name is inscribed in the Gallican calendar of saints.

Feast: Nov. 18.

Bibliography: Gallia Christiana 3:1193. p. meyer, "La Vie latine de saint Honorat et Raimon Féraut," Romania 8 (1879) 481508. u. chevalier, Répertoire des sources historiques du moyen-age 2:3291.

[b. f. scherer]