Julian of Le Mans

Julian of Le Mans (; ; 3rd century; perhaps 4th century) is a saint venerated in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church, honoured as the first bishop of Le Mans. His feast day is 27 January. The translation of his relics is celebrated on 25 July.

Life

It is reported that he may have been a Roman nobleman, but he was also identified with Simon the Leper or as one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ, in keeping with attempts to claim an apostolic origin for the see.

Julian converted many other citizens and Le Mans' new bishop cared for the poor, the infirm, and the orphans. His miracles included the resurrection of a dead man.

Upon reaching old age, he retired to live as a hermit at Sarthe.

Veneration The Cathédrale St-Julien, in Le Mans, is dedicated to him.

The feast of St. Julian of Le Mans was celebrated in England because Henry II of England had been born in Le Mans. Having rested in a shrine at the Benedictine convent of Notre-Dame-du-Pre since the Middle Ages, most of his relics were burnt or scattered by the Huguenots in 1562. Julian's head is still shown at the cathedral of Le Mans, where it has been since 1254.