St. Saturnin was the Bishop of Toulouse in France, and is an early church martyr. He won the martyr’s crown in 257 A.D. His feast day is November 29, to commemorate the day of his death at the hands of pagan priests.
Saturnin was sent to Gaul (modern France) in the third century by Pope Fabian in order to restore the Christian faith after persecutions by the emperor Decius.
This was a dark time in Christian history. Decius’s persecution was the harshest and most systematic yet. Each citizen of the empire was required to offer sacrifice to pagan gods in front of the magistrate. The penalty for failing to do so was death.
Saturnin was one of the seven “apostles to Gaul” sent to France in order to resuscitate the waning Church there where many had left the faith or sacrificed before idols.
Sources describe his successful ministry as including numerous miracles and converting many pagans. Among the converts was the farmer who became St. Honestus, as well as St. Firminus of Amiens. At one point, Saturnin was imprisoned by Roman authorities, but was miraculously freed by an angel.
Saturnin’s most famous story involves the events surrounding his martyrdom. Saturnin lived in a house on the opposite side of the city from the place where his congregation met, so he had to cross the city daily. As he did, he would pass by the city’s chief temple which was renowned for its prophets. Each time he walked by, the demons in the prophets were struck dumb and could no longer prophesize.
Eventually, the temple priests realized that Saturnin was the common denominator, and conspired to kill him. The priests seized him and declared he should appease the offended deities by offering sacrifice, or they would have to appease them with his blood.
Saturnin replied that “I adore only one God, and to him I am ready to offer a sacrifice of praise. Your gods are devils, and are more delighted with the sacrifice of your souls than with those of your bullocks. How can I fear them who, as you acknowledge, tremble before a Christian?”
The priests abused him, and then tied his feet to a bull, which they sent charging through the streets until Saturnin was bludgeoned to death.
In honor of the manner of his death, St. Saturnin is remembered as the patron saint of bullfighters.
Two pious women preserved his body in a small wooden coffin, and eventually a chapel was built over his tomb.
Today, the basilica “Notre Dame de Tour” (Our Lady of the Bull) stands over his tomb, and is one of Toulouse’s proudest landmarks. It is a UNESCO world heritage site.
St. Saturnin reminds us that Christians can thrive in the face of incredible adversity, and that persecution and paganism are not stronger than the Gospel message.
Nick Letts is a former “radical atheist” who converted to Protestantism as a senior in High School, and then converted to Catholicism as a Junior in college. He studies philosophy in the Morrissey College, and loves nothing more than to curl up with a good book. He is engaged to his lovely fiancée Katherine Brown.
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