Domitian of Maastricht, St.

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DOMITIAN OF MAASTRICHT, ST.

Bishop; b. France; d. Maastricht, Netherlands, c. 560. As bishop of Tongeren when the see was transferred to Maastricht, Domitian was present at the Councils of Clermont (535) and Orléans (549). He evangelized the valley of the Meuse, founding churches and hospitals and caring for the poor. His cult was fostered by an annual procession at Huy, Belgium, where according to tradition he slew a dragon that was poisoning the drinking water. He is the patron of Huy, and his relics are preserved in the church of Notre Dame. Only his finger is preserved at Maastricht. He is invoked against fever.

Feast: May 7; June 15 (translation at Huy).

Bibliography: Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis (Brussels 18981901), 1:225156. Monumenta Germaniae Scriptores (Berlin 1825), 7:176; 25:2627,109110, 112. j. p. migne, Patrologia latina (Paris 18781890) 139:103334. Acta Sanctorum (Paris 1863), May 2:145153. É. de moreau, Histoire de l'Église en Belgique (2d ed. Brussels 1945) 1:54, 60, 104, 288. m. coens, "Les Saints vénérés à Huy," Analecta Bollandiana 76 (1958) 316335.

[c. p. loughran]