Mellonius

Legend Mellonius (surnamed Probus) who ordained him priest and later consecrated him a bishop.

Shortly after the martyrdom of Pope Stephen in 257, Mellonius set out for Gaul. He succeeded Nicasius of Rouen as Bishop of Rouen in 261. After a long episcopate, in 311, he retired to a hermit's cell at a place called Hericourt, where he died A.D. 314. Mellonius was succeeded by Avitianus.

He is sometimes confused with Mellonius, Bishop of Troyes, from 390 to 400.

Veneration His feast day is 22 October. In the English translation of the 1956 edition of the Roman Martyrology, 'St Mellon' is listed under 22 October with the citation: At Rouen, St Mellon, Bishop, who was ordained by Pope St Stephen and sent thither to preach the Gospel.

In the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, Mellonius is listed under the same date, 22 October, with the Latin name Mallóni. He is mentioned as follows: 'At Rothómagi (Rouen), bishop, who in that city announced the Christian faith and handed on the episcopate'.

Bishop Mellonius is depicted in a fifteenth-century illuminated Book of Hours.

Mellonius was buried at Rouen, but his remains were subsequently translated to a church in Pontoise towards the end of the eighth century to protect them from Norse warbands. They remained there until they were lost during the French Revolution.

Legacy

St. Mellon's Church in St. Mellons, Cardiff is dedicated to Mellonius of Rouen. A fair used to be held on his feast day in the village of St Mellons. The church was previously dedicated to St. Lucius, but was changed upon the arrival of the Normans. The church at Thiédeville is dedicated to him at Héricourt, where there was a holy well. There is also a church dedicated to St. Mellon in Plomelin, Brittany.