Saint Euchaire
Évêque de
Trèves (+ 250)
Evêque de Trèves, il fut le premier évangélisateur de cette importante capitale régionale de l'empire romain.
À Trèves en Gaule Belgique (Allemagne), au IIIe siècle, saint Euchaire,
considéré comme le premier évêque de la cité.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/233/Saint-Euchaire.html
Profile
First bishop of Trier, Germany.
A basilica was
built over his tomb in the catacomb of Saint Matthias.
Legend says that he was
one of the 72 disciples of Christ, and that he was sent to Gaul as
its first bishop in
the 1st
century. There, one of his companions, Maternus, died.
Eucharius returned to Saint Peter
the Apostle, borrowed his pastoral staff, returned to Gaul,
touched Maternus with the staff, and brought him back to life.
relics in
the crypt in
the Basilica of Saint Matthias, Trier, Germany,
and in Lisbon, Portugal
bishop holding the Cathedral of Trier
bishop with a dragon
bishop with a dog
bishop with pallium
bishop with a demon
bishop with Venus
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
images
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
websites
in nederlandse
MLA
Citation
“Saint Eucharius of
Trier“. CatholicSaints.Info. 16 May 2022. Web. 23 February 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-eucharius-of-trier/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-eucharius-of-trier/
Article
EUCHARIUS (Saint) Bishop
(December 8) (First century) The second Bishop of Treves, successor and
disciple of Saint Maternus, whom tradition alleges he had raised from the dead
by laying on his corpse the Staff of Saint Peter. He flourished in the first
century and, it is asserted, was Bishop for twenty-three years.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Eucharius”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
17 January 2013. Web. 23 February 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-eucharius/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-eucharius/
New
Catholic Dictionary – Saint Eucharius
Article
(3rd
century) First Bishop of
Trier. According to an ancient legend he was one of the 72 disciples of Christ
and with his companions, Maternus and Valerius, was sent as bishop to Gaul.
When they arrived at Alsace, Maternus died,
whereupon the survivors hastened back to Saint Peter who sent Eucharius his
pastoral staff, with which he raised the dead man to life. For this reason the
staff has become the distinctive mark of an envoy, especially a missionary.
Eucharius subsequently founded the See of Trier, becoming its first bishop.
At present it is believed that the first missionaries came to Trier not earlier
than 250. A basilica was
built over his tomb in the catacomb of Saint Matthias. Feast, 8
December.
MLA
Citation
“Saint Eucharius”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 8
December 2012.
Web. 23 February 2026.
<http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-eucharius/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-eucharius/
St. Eucharius
First Bishop of Trier.
According to an ancient legend, he was one of the seventy-two disciples of
Christ, and was sent to Gaul by St. Peter as bishop, together with the deacon
Valerius and the subdeacon Maternus, to preach the Gospel. They came to the
Rhine and to Elegia (Ehl) in Alsace, where Maternus died. His two companions
hastened back to St. Peter and begged him to restore the dead man to life. St.
Peter gave his pastoral staff to Eucharius, and, upon being touched with it,
Maternus, who had been in his grave for forty days, returned to life. The
Gentiles were then converted in large numbers.
After founding many
churches the three companions went to Trier where the work of evangelization
progressed so rapidly that Eucharius chose that city for his episcopal
residence. Among other miracles related in the legend he raised a dead person
to life. An angel announced to him his approaching death and pointed out
Valerius as his successor. Eucharius died 8 Dec., having been bishop for
twenty-five years, and was interred in the church of St. John outside the city.
Valerius was bishop for fifteen years and was succeeded by Maternus, who had in
the meantime founded the dioceses of Cologne and Tongres, being bishop
altogether for forty years. The staff of St. Peter, with which he had been
raised to life, was preserved at Cologne till the end of the tenth century when
the upper half was presented to Trier, and was afterwards taken to Prague by
Emperor Charles IV.
In the Middle Ages it was
believed that the pope used no crozier, because St. Peter had sent his
episcopal staff to St. Eucharius; Innocent III concurs in this opinion (De
Sacrif. Missæ, I, 62). The same instance, however, is related of several other
alleged disciples of St. Peter, and more recent criticism interprets the staff
as the distinctive mark of an envoy, especially of a missionary. Missionaries
in subsequent centuries, e.g. St. Boniface, were occasionally called
ambassadors of St. Peter, the pope who sent them being the successor of Peter.
Moreover, in medieval
times the foundation of a diocese was often referred to as early a date as
possible, in order thereby to increase its reputation, perhaps also its rights.
Thus Paris gloried in Dionysius Areopagita as its first bishop; similarly ancient
origins were claimed by other Frankish dioceses. In time, especially through
the ravages of the Normans, the more reliable earlier accounts were lost. When
at a later period the lives of primitive holy founders, e.g. the saints of
ancient Trier, came to be written anew, the gaps in tradition were filled out
with various combinations and fanciful legends. In this way there originated in
the monastery of St. Matthias near Trier the famous chronicle of Trier (Gesta
Treverorum, ed. Waitz in Mon. Germ. Hist.; script., VIII, 111-174) in which
there is a curious mixture of truth and error. It contains the account of the
life of St. Eucharius given above. An amplification thereof, containing the
lives of the three saints in question, is said to have been written by the monk
Goldscher or Golscher, who lived in that monastery about the year 1130. From
the “Gesta” the narrative passed unchallenged into numerous medieval works.
More recent criticism has detected many contradictions and inaccuracies in
these ancient records, and it is almost universally believed at present that,
with few exceptions, the first Christian missionaries came to Gaul, to which
Trier then belonged, not earlier than about 250. Following Hontheim, Calmet and
others, the Bollandists, with Marx, Lütolf, and other historians refer these
holy bishops of Trier to a period following 250, though not all of them
consider this as fully established. The feast of St. Eucharius is celebrated on
8 Dec.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/st-eucharius/
St. Eucharius
First Bishop of Trier (Treves) in
the second half of the third century. According to an ancient legend, he was
one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ, and was sent to
Gaul by St. Peter as bishop,
together with the deacon Valerius
and the subdeacon Maternus,
to preach the Gospel. They came to the Rhine and to Elegia (Ehl) in Alsace,
where Maternus died. His two companions hastened back to St. Peter and begged
him to restore the dead man to life. St. Peter gave his pastoral staff to
Eucharius, and, upon being touched with it, Maternus, who had been in his grave
for forty days, returned to life. The Gentiles were then
converted in large numbers. After founding many churches the three
companions went to Trier where
the work of evangelization progressed so rapidly that Eucharius chose that city
for his episcopal residence. Among other miracles related in
the legend he raised a dead person to life.
An angel announced
to him his approaching death and pointed out Valerius as his successor.
Eucharius died 8 Dec., having been bishop for
twenty-five years, and was interred in
the church of
St. John outside the city. Valerius was bishop for fifteen
years and was succeeded by Maternus, who had in the meantime founded the dioceses of Cologne
and Tongres, being bishop altogether
for forty years. The staff of St. Peter, with which he had been raised to life,
was preserved at Cologne till the end of the tenth century when the upper half
was presented to Trier,
and was afterwards taken to Prague by Emperor Charles IV.
In the Middle Ages it was
believed that the pope used
no crozier,
because St. Peter had sent his episcopal staff to St. Eucharius; Innocent III concurs
in this opinion (De Sacrif. Missæ, I, 62). The same instance, however, is
related of several other alleged disciples of St. Peter, and more recent
criticism interprets the staff as the distinctive mark of an envoy, especially
of a missionary. Missionaries in subsequent centuries, e.g. St. Boniface, were
occasionally called ambassadors of St. Peter, the pope who sent them
being the successor of Peter. Moreover, in medieval times the
foundation of a diocese was
often referred to as early a date as possible, in order thereby to increase its
reputation, perhaps also its rights. Thus Paris gloried in
Dionysius Areopagita as its first bishop; similarly
ancient origins were claimed by other Frankish dioceses. In time,
especially through the ravages of the Normans, the more reliable earlier
accounts were lost. When at a later period the lives of primitive holy
founders, e.g. the saints of
ancient Trier,
came to be written anew, the gaps in tradition were filled out with various
combinations and fanciful legends. In this way there originated in the monastery of St.
Matthias near Trier the
famous chronicle of Trier (Gesta
Treverorum, ed. Waitz in Mon. Germ. Hist.; script., VIII, 111-174) in which
there is a curious mixture of truth and error. It contains the
account of the life of St. Eucharius given above. An amplification thereof,
containing the lives of the three saints in question,
is said to have been written by the monk Goldscher or
Golscher, who lived in that monastery about the
year 1130. From the "Gesta" the narrative passed unchallenged into
numerous medieval works.
More recent criticism has detected many contradictions and inaccuracies in
these ancient records, and it is almost universally believed at present that,
with few exceptions, the first Christian missionaries
came to Gaul, to
which Trier then
belonged, not earlier than about 250. Following Hontheim, Calmet and others,
the Bollandists,
with Marx, Lütolf,
and other historians refer these holy bishops of Trier to a period
following 250, though not all of them consider this as fully established. The
feast of St. Eucharius is celebrated on 8 Dec.
Sources
The lives of the three
saints may be found in the Acta SS. Jan., II, 917-22 (feast of St.
Valerius), and in the Mon. Ger. Hist., Scriptores, VIII, 111-174. See
also RETTBERG, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, I, 74-82; HAUCK, Kirchengeschichte
Deutschlands, 2d ed., I, 4 sqq.; MARX, Geschichte des Erzstifts Trier (Trier,
1858), I, 32-60; BEISSEL, Geschichte der Trierer Kirchen (Trier,
1888), I, 10 sqq.
Meier,
Gabriel. "St. Eucharius." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
5. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1909. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05594a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter. Dedicated to
the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John
M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05594a.htm
Festa: 8 dicembre
Martirologio
Romano: A Treviri nella Gallia belgica, nell’odierna Germania,
sant’Eucario, ritenuto primo vescovo di questa città.
Sant’Eucario o Eucherio è il protovescovo di Treviri. Con questo nome si apre la lista dei vescovi della più antica sede per un vescovo della Germania.
I pastori di quella diocesi sono stati documentati dalla prima metà del III secolo.
I primi vescovi, Sant’Eucherio e San Valerio sono attestati da un’antica iscrizione della fine del V secolo mentre i primi vescovi storicamente documentati, sono San Materno che diventerà arcivescovo di Colonia e Sant’Agrizio menzionato nel 314, che partecipò al concilio di Arles.
Nella cattedrale Treviri è conservata la Sacra Tunica, che secondo la tradizione sarebbe stata indossata da Gesù prima della sua crocifissione.
La tunica venne scoperta da Sant’Elena e fu donata dal vescovo Agrizio. La prima menzione della sacra reliquia è del 1196, quando l’arcivescovo Giovanni consacrò l’altare dove era conservata.
Di questo vescovo sappiamo ben poco, si presume che governò la diocesi sul finire del III secolo.
Secondo un’antica leggenda, Sant’Eucario era un discepolo di San Pietro, il quale lo avrebbe inviato con Valerio e Materno, ad evangelizzare la Gallia.
Nella stessa leggenda si narra che il vescovo avrebbe resuscitato il compagno Materno dal suo sarcofago, utilizzando il “bastone pastorale di San Pietro”.
Ma questa leggenda risulta incoerente, poiché i tre santi menzionati furono vescovi in diocesi fondate più di un secolo dopo, l’esistenza di Pietro.
A conferma dell’esistenza di questa leggenda, c’è un antico sigillo di Treviri che mostra il santo mentre riceve da san Pietro le chiavi della città.
Un’altra tradizione su Sant’Eucario di Treviri, ci narra che avrebbe distrutto una statua di Venere ponendovi al posto l'attuale Croce, rimasta fino ai nostri giorni.
Il culto di questo santo vescovo è provato fin dal 455, ed è diffuso nella Germania occidentale, in Svizzera e in molte altre regioni.
Una sua immagine si trova scolpita in rilievo nella Porta Nuova a Treviri, dove lo vediamo con in mano il modello della città posta sotto la sua protezione.
Inoltre su di lui è rimasta una statua del Cinquecento a Balg e in un dipinto conservato nel museo d’Unterlinden di Coilmar.
Nel 457, San Cirillo, tredicesimo vescovo di Treviri, fece costruire due sarcofagi, uno per san Valerio e l'altro per sant'Eucario.
I sarcofagi si trovano nell'Abbazia benedettina di san Mattia a Treviri.
I primi martirologi che portano il suo nome, sono quelli di Rabano Mauro (856) e di Notkero (912).
Ci sono varie feste in memoria del vescovo.
A Limburgo la festa dei vescovi Eucario, Valerio e Materno di Treviri ricorre il giorno 11 settembre mentre la Chiesa ortodossa lo commemorano il 10 novembre.
Nel martirologio romano la sua festa è stata fissata il giorno 8 dicembre.
Autore: Mauro Bonato
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/80770
Eucharius van Trier,
Duitsland; geloofsverkondiger & 1e bisschop; † 2e helft 3e eeuw.
Feest 8 & 9
(Trier) & 10 december.
Eucharius geldt als de eerste bisschop van Trier.
Volgens de legende was hij tezamen met Valerius († vóór 350; feest 29 januari)
en Maternus († na 314; feest 14 september), respectievelijk de tweede en derde
bisschop, nog door Sint Petrus vanuit Rome naar het Rijnland gezonden om er
Christus te verkondigen.
Het komt bij middeleeuwse
vertellers van geloofsverhalen vaak voor dat de paus niet aangeduid wordt met
de woorden 'opvolger van Petrus', maar kortweg 'Petrus'. Daarmee werd bereikt
dat de heilige veel dichter bij de bron van het geloof kwam te staan. In ieder
geval horen we eraan dat de geloofsverkondiging van de heilige in de oren van
de toehoorders direct uit de bron van het evangelie leek te komen.
Het was Petrus, de prins der apostelen zelf, die Maternus met twee gezellen,
Eucharius en Valerius geheten, vanuit Rome naar de Germanen langs de Rijn zond
om hun het evangelie te gaan verkondigen. Na een tocht vol ontberingen en
ongemak, kwamen ze tenslotte aan in het gebied dat tegenwoordig de Elzas heet;
in de buurt van het plaatsje Ell. Door alle mislukkingen en vergeefse inspanningen
was Maternus volkomen uitgeput geraakt. Hij werd ziek, moest het bed houden en
stierf. Zijn beide gezellen gingen wanhopig terug naar Rome om aan Petrus te
gaan vertellen over de mislukking van hun onderneming. De vorst der apostelen
schrok hevig. Hij wierp zich op zijn knieën neer en begon God te bidden om hulp
en uitkomst. Zijn gebed werd verhoord in één van zijn dromen.
Daarop overhandigde hij
aan Valerius en Eucharius zijn bisschopsstaf en beval hun naar het graf van hun
gestorven vriend terug te gaan en hem te doen opstaan: "Zeg hem maar dat
de tijd voor de eeuwige rust voor hem nog niet gekomen is." Vol vertrouwen
brachten ze ten uitvoer wat Petrus hun had opgedragen: met de staf raakten ze
Maternus aan, die er nog geheel gaaf en als een slapende bijlag. De
afgestorvene opende zijn ogen en stond op. Bij het zien van dit wonder kwamen
de mensen in drommen naar hen toe om zich te laten dopen. Zo zou de grondslag
zijn gelegd voor de kerken van Straatsburg, Trier, Keulen en Luik.
[109p:587-588;147p:9-17]
Wellicht op grond van
deze legende leefde de overtuiging bij de middeleeuwse gelovigen, dat Maternus
dezelfde was als de jongeling van Naïm, die destijds door Jezus zelf nog uit de
doden was opgewekt (Lukas 07,12). Vervolgens zou hij behoord hebben tot de zeventig die Jezus voor
zich uit had gezonden om zijn komst voor te bereiden (Lukas 10,01), maar op de
voor het merendeel legendarische naamlijsten die sinds de eerste eeuwen zijn
opgesteld van de zeventig, komt zijn naam nergens voor.
Geschiedkundigen nemen
aan dat hij na de christenvervolgingen onder keizer Decius (249-251) in functie
trad. Hij bouwde een bidkapel, die gelegen moet hebben naast de huidige
St-Matthiasabdij.
Volgens de overlevering
zou hij drieëntwintig jaar lang het ambt van bisschop hebben uitgeoefend. Hij
stierf op een 8e december en werd bijgezet in de grafkapel van de voorname
weduwe Albana. Dit monument ging verloren tijdens de Volksverhuizingen. Maar in
de 5e eeuw werd het door bisschop Cyrillus opnieuw opgebouwd; vlakbij de plek
van het vorige gebouw stichtte hij voor Sint Eucharius een grotere bidkapel.
Verering & Cultuur
Zijn relieken bevinden zich thans - tezamen met die van zijn opvolger Sint
Valerius - in de crypte van de huidige St-Matthiasbasiliek; ook Lissabon heeft
een aantal partikels. Hij wordt vereerd als een van de patroons van Trier.
Daarnaast wordt hij aangeroepen tegen de pest (zie daarvoor Sint Nicetius: † ca
566; feest 5 december). We vinden Valerius' afbeelding op het eerste stadszegel
van Trier uit de 13de eeuw.
Hij wordt afgebeeld als
bisschop (tabberd, mijter, staf) met pallium; met draak, hond
(daarmee wordt aangeduid de hellehond of het heidendom waartegen Eucharius
preekte), duivel of Venus; met model van de dom van Trier.
[000»Gangulf-Trier:bk:49; Bei.1983; Bri.1953; GTV.1985p:157;
Gué.1880/11p:111;HiH.1987p:71; Kr1.1898p:58; Kr2.1898/2p:4; Lin.1999;
Oe1.1985p:133.5; Rgf.1991; S&S.1989»12.09; Süt.1941p:116; Dries van den
Akker s.j./2007.11.24]
© A. van den Akker
s.j. / A.W. Gerritsen
SOURCE : https://heiligen-3s.nl/heiligen/12/08/12-08-0250-eucharius.php
