Desiderius of Langres, St.

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DESIDERIUS OF LANGRES, ST.

Listed as third bishop of Langres, France; d. Langres, c. 40711. According to Warnacher, his seventh-century biographer, Desiderius suffered martyrdom with many of his people, though he begged mercy for them from the vandals in 407 or 411, or possibly in some earlier invasion. His feast was February 11 in the Hieronymian martyrology but he was later confused, possibly because of errors in MS copying, with Bp. desideri us of vienne, and took the latter's feast in the Roman martyrology. His name has been given to several churches in France and to the city of Saint-Dizier, of which he is patron.

Feast: May 23.

Bibliography: Acta Sanctae Sedis May 5:244249. Bibliotheca hagiograpica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis (Brussels 18981901) 1:214546. l. duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule (Paris 190715) v. 2. É. griffe, La Gaule chrétienne à l'époque romaine (Paris 1947) 1:226. r. aigrain, Catholicisme 3:753754. r. van doren, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 14:405.

[l. m. coffey]