The differents saints arround saint Corcodome (english version)

 The differents saints around saint Corcodome

I will share here the remains of my research on Saint Corcodome, especially those surrounding the saints who knew him. Some things have not caught my attention, because too late and "legendary", but it is always good to take an interest in the culture.

Saint Pèlerin of Auxerre : 

Little Bollandists calendar on May 16

From the first centuries of the Church, the Gospel was announced in the Auxerrois and in the Donziais, which formed the majority of the former diocese of Auxerre. Leboeuf claims that saint Savinien, apostle of the Senonais, had extended his apostolic zeal into the Nivernais, by deputing missionaries there; the two deacons Séronitus and OEoaldus would have come to preach there, and saint Austremoine would have stopped in Nevers before going to settle in Clermont. Despite the persecutions, the faith was therefore spreading in secret, and soon the Christians of Auxerrois made their ardent wishes to have among them a bishop and priests. Saint Sixtus II was then in the chair of St. Peter; he could not refuse to the too legitimate desires of the peoples of the Auxerrois, and he cast his eyes on Pèlerin (or Pérégrin), companion of St. Lawrence of Rome, to fulfill this important mission. After laying hands on him, he ordered him to go to the Gauls.  Cardinal Baronius points out that he was one of the four consecrated by this holy pontiff in December, according to the custom adopted in the Church.

It was around the year 258 or 259 that Pilgrim set out on his journey, having for companion Saint Marse, a priest; Saint Corcodome, a deacon; Saint Jovinien and Saint Alexander, a sub-deacon, and another Saint Jovinien, a reader. They landed in Marseille, then went to Lyon, leaving everywhere on their way unmistakable marks of their zeal and holiness. From there they penetrated to the banks of the Yonne, a river, that is to say, to the land of Gaul, where idolatry had laid deeper roots. The Yonne, source of abundance and prosperity in the country, was worshipped as a goddess under the name of Ieauna, and altars had been erected for it; Apollo, Jupiter, Mercury, all the Roman and Eastern deities received incense offered to them by our ancestors. This was the field which Providence had reserved for the zeal of Pilgrim and his disciples. God blessed their first efforts. The eloquence, holiness and miracles of saint Pilgrim converted the main inhabitants of Auxerre; soon he was able to build a small church on the banks of the Yonne, at the source of some fountains, and he was fortunate to bring the grace of baptism to many of the inhabitants of this land. The cross of Jesus Christ was not long in shining on the nearby hills, places formerly devoted to superstitious practices.

It was not enough for our holy Apostle to have established the reign of Jesus Christ in Auxerre. His zeal needed to be extended. He knew that the spirit of error continued to spread darkness over the rest of the country. There was, ten leagues from Auxerre, a mountainous country, covered with woods that surrounded the lakes formed by valleys; the position of this country favored the cult of pagans; it was the Puisaye, part of which formed the Donziais. Entrains (Interanum) was the capital of this country, a powerful city in the middle of which stood the palace of the Roman prefect who did not fear to take the title of caesar. It contained several temples within its walls, and, following the example of Rome, it had admitted the Greek and Roman deities, to which it had associated the monstrous idols of the East. Many roads came to this city from various points in the neighbouring countries, and it was there that St. Pilgrim led his steps.

An altar had just erected a new temple in honour of the hospitable Jupiter; he had not neglected anything in the construction of this temple, and the richness of the decorations matched the beauty of the architecture. People came running from all sides to visit him, Pilgrim believed that the circumstances were favorable, and that he should take advantage of them to deploy his zeal; so he stepped forward with courage in the midst of this people, and set about turning them away from their mistakes. But as soon as he began to speak, they hurled themselves at him with fury to bring him before the judge, who had him provisionally put in prison.

The place where he was locked up was a subterranean near Boüy, seven kilometers from Entrains; he remained chained there until the moment when he was removed, to make him appear before the Roman prefect. The prison could not slow down his zeal; he seems to say, with the apostle Paul, that one can throw into the irons a disciple of Christ, but there is no human strength that can chain the word of God; He preached the true God to his jailers and all who approached him. When he was led in the presence of the prefect, he did not seem at all frightened by his threats, nor did he let himself be won over by his promises. Tradition has preserved the beautiful words he spoke in court: “Your honour is the loss of the soul, and the gifts you can make are continual supplications. For me I call upon Jesus Christ, who is the redeemer of all; I will confess it without fear unto death; I know that the promises of this great king are not false; I put my trust in Him.”

The judge, irritated, ordered his soldiers to deliver him into the hands of the executioners, and immediately the soldiers trained him by charging him with blows. Exhausted by the ill-treatment and the harshness to which he had been subjected in prison, our saint was about to succumb when one of the soldiers saw that the forces were going to abandon him, cut off his head. His martyrdom took place on 16 May 303 or 304, under the great persecution of Diocletian.

After the martyrdom of saint Pilgrim, some Christians respectfully buried his precious remains in Boüy, place of his torture. His body was still there in the time of saint Germain, and soon a church was erected on his tomb; Later, the body of the saint apostle of Auxerrois was transported to Saint-Denis, near Paris, and he remained at Boüy only his head and his vertebrae. It is said that it was King Dagobert I who obtained for the monastery of Saint-Denis the body of the holy bishop of Auxerre, and who had him transported there. In 1144, when the abbot Suger had the east-facing part of the church of Saint-Denis built, one of the altars was placed under the invocation of Saint Pilgrim.

Saint Mamertin (Golden legend) : 

This story comes from the golden legend (12th century), it is much later than the Vita Secunda of Saint Germain d'Auxerre by Constance de Lyon written in 480, just 32 years after the death of Saint Germain. So I preferred to rely on the writings of Constance de Lyon to work on the acathist and the life of saint Corcodome. But I still present this version which is not without spiritual appeal.

Saint Mamertin, who was first a pagan, once worshiping idols, lost an eye and one of his hands dried up. He thought he had offended the gods, and went to the temple to worship idols, when he met a religious named Savin who asked him how such a great infirmity had occurred to him. Mamertin replied, "I have offended my gods, so I will ask them to give me back in their goodness what they have taken from me in their anger." Savin said, "You are mistaken, my brother, if you take demons for gods. Go instead to Saint Germain, bishop of Auxerre, and if you accept his advice, you will be cured incontinent.” Mamertin set out immediately and arrived at the tomb of Saint Amateur, bishop, and several other holy bishops. The rain forced him to retire at night in a cell on the tomb of Saint Corcodome. After falling asleep, he had an extraordinary vision. He saw a man coming to the door of the cell who called saint Corcodome and invited him to a feast that was being celebrated by saint Pilgrim and saint Amateur with other bishops. Saint Corcodome replied from the bottom of his tomb: "I cannot go now, for I have a host whom I must guard lest he be killed by the serpents that dwell here." The man went away to report the answer he had heard, then he came back and said: "Saint Corcodome, arise, come, and bring with you the sub-deacon Jovinien and the acolyte Jovinien so that they may exercise their order. Alexandre will keep your host.” And it seemed to Mamertin that Saint Corcodome, after having taken his hand, was leading him with him, and when he had arrived at the place where the bishops were, Saint Amatir said to him: "What is the man who has come in with you?" "He is my host," replied Saint Corcodome, and Saint Amateur said, "Cast him out because he is unclean, and he cannot be with us." As Mamertin was being driven out, he bowed to the bishops and claimed the protection of Saint Amateur. He ordered him to go immediately to Saint Germain. Mamertin, upon his awakening, came to find Saint Germain, prostrated at his feet and asked for forgiveness. After telling what had happened to him, they both went to the tomb of saint Corcodome and when they had removed the stone, they saw several snakes more than ten feet long, which all escaped. Then Saint Germain commanded them to go to such place where they are guarded in the future from harming anyone. It was then that Mamertin was baptized and justified. He became a monk in the monastery of Saint Germain, where he was an abbot after Saint Allodius.

There was then in this monastery a holy monk named Marin, whose obedience Mamertin wanted to test. He therefore entrusted him with the most vile task of the monastery, which was to graze the oxen. And Saint Marin, while he kept his oxen and cows in the wood, was so holy that all the birds of the wood came to him for his hand to feed them. Having taken refuge in his cell, a wild boar saved him from the dogs that were chasing him and allowed him to go free. One day, thieves stripped him of his clothes, leaving him with only a small tunic. And here he is running behind them, and shouting to them: “Come back, gentlemen, for I have found the latter again in the lining of my tunic! And maybe you’ll need it!” At once the thieves, returning on their steps, took off his robe with the denier and left him completely naked. After which they returned to their cave; but they walked all night, and at dawn they were before the cell of the saint shepherd. He greeted them tenderly, received them into his cell, washed their feet, and prepared for them food. Seeing this, the thieves, astonished, were ashamed of their conduct and converted all to faith.

One day, a young monk of the monastery of Saint Mamertin had amused himself by setting a trap for a bear that was attacking the sheep; and the bear, at night, had been caught. But saint Mamertin, having guessed the thing from the bottom of his bed, got up, went to find the bear, and said to him: "What are you doing there, you wretch? Go away quickly so you don’t get caught!" And he delivered him and let him go.

When he died, his body was taken to Auxerre. But as one passed near a prison, the body suddenly became so heavy that it could not be moved forward until one of the prisoners, whose chains had been broken miraculously, came running and helped to carry the body to the city. Saint Mamertin was buried in great pomp in the church of Saint-Germain.

Saint Marcellin of Auxerre : 

Saint Marcellin succeeded to Saint Pilgrim, and could be elected bishop of Auxerre from the time of his imprisonment. If this imprisonment was of a long duration, as is probable, one can reconcile the great number of years that give to the episcopate of saint Marcellin the chronologists of the ninth century; without this, notes the abbe Lebeuf, one would be obliged to disturb the chronology of the bishops of Auxerre beyond saint Germain, which it is not possible to admit.

Saint Marcellin was a Gallic nation and one of the inhabitants of the countries converted by the zeal of Pelerin. He saw the worthy collaborators of Saint Pelerin, Saint Marse, Saint Corcodome, Saint Alexander and the two Saint Jovinien die, who were all buried at Mont-Artre (Mons-Autricus), a vast cemetery located southwest of Auxerre, where the church of Saint Amatre was later erected. He himself was buried there on 13 May, about 330, the day when his name is inserted in the various martyrologs.