Saint Merry (Médéric)
Abbé (7ème s.)
St Merry fut offert à l'âge de treize ans au monastère de Saint André d'Autun où il reçut toute son éducation et où il se donna à Dieu pleinement. Les moines remarquèrent son intelligence et sa fidélité religieuse et l'obligèrent à devenir leur abbé avec l'accord de l'évêque. Craignant l'orgueil il alla se cacher dans une forêt près d'Autun. Lieu qui garde le nom de La Celle Saint Merry.
Les disciples se firent nombreux autour de lui et, toujours par recherche de la
solitude, il se rendit à Champeaux en Brie près de Melun où il s'arrêta malade,
mais, dès sa guérison, il reprit sa marche vers Paris, pour être proche de la
tombe de saint Symphorien, fondateur
de l'abbaye d'Autun qui se trouve dans l'église de Saint Germain des
Prés.
Il vécut en reclus, hors des murs de la ville, pendant trois années et s'en fut
vers le Seigneur, vers l'an 700.
La chapelle où il fut enterré devint paroisse sous le nom de Saint Merry ou Saint Merri.
Saint Merry ou Médéric, un peu oublié aujourd’hui, était très populaire autrefois. Moine puis abbé à Autun, il est attiré dans la vieillesse par les tombeaux de saint Denys et de sainte Geneviève. Il gagne Paris, semant des prodiges sur son chemin, délivrant les prisonniers et guérissant les malades. Comme de nombreux autres, établis en ermites autour de Paris, il trouve refuge avec un compagnon près d’une chapelle - Saint-Pierre-des-Bois - rive droite de la Seine, dans une forêt hors de la Cité, au bord de la voie romaine Nord-Sud, qui est l’ancêtre de la rue Saint-Martin. (diocèse de Paris)
Un internaute nous signale: Saint Symphorien fut enterré à Autun. Ses reliques y sont actuellement dans la cathédrale saint-Lazare. A Paris, dans l'église Saint-Germain-des-Prés, c'est le tombeau de Saint-Germain qui se trouve dans la chapelle Saint Symphorien. C'est dans le monastère Saint-Martin et pas Saint-André qu'est enterré Médéric. La chapelle Saint-Pierre était en rive gauche et non droite de la Seine.
À Paris, vers 700, saint Merry (Médéric), prêtre et abbé d’un monastère à
Autun. Devenu vieux, il quitta sa charge et finit sa vie dans un ermitage près
de Paris.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saints_1758.html
Saint Merry (vers 700)
Saint-Merry ou Médéric,
un peu oublié aujourd’hui, était très populaire autrefois. Moine puis abbé
à Autun, il est attiré dans la vieillesse par les tombeaux de saint Denys
et de sainte Geneviève. Il gagne Paris, semant des prodiges sur son chemin,
délivrant les prisonniers et guérissant les malades. Comme de nombreux autres,
établis en ermites autour de Paris, il trouve refuge avec un compagnon près
d’une chapelle – Saint-Pierre-des-Bois – rive droite de la Seine, dans une
forêt hors de la Cité, au bord de la voie romaine Nord-Sud, qui est l’ancêtre
de la rue Saint-Martin.
Il y meurt un 30 août,
vers 700.
Église Saint-Merry
76, rue de la Verrerie, 4e arr. - M° Chatelet
La paroisse Saint-Merry
où il s’est installé est sans doute l’une des plus anciennes de Paris. La
crypte carrée de l’édifice actuel du XVe siècle occupe l’emplacement de la
chapelle primitive qui sert de tombeau au saint.
La châsse fut envoyée à
la Monnaie en 1792.
Sa fête est une
invitation à nous souvenir et à nous réjouir du rôle obscur mais essentiel
de la vie d’ermite pour Dieu et de la prière pour la croissance de notre Église
à Paris.
SOURCE : https://dioceseparis.fr/saint-merry-et-saint-droctovee.html
St-Médéric d'Autun
Après avoir réussi à
convaincre ses parents de son désir d’entrer en religion, ces derniers
acceptent d’accompagner Médéric au monastère Saint-Martin d’Autun, où il est
admis comme novice. Bientôt, son application aux exercices religieux devient un
exemple et lorsque l’abbé du monastère décède, Médéric est choisi pour lui
succéder, malgré son désir de solitude. Un jour cependant, il décide de
s’enfuir nuitamment pour aller s’installer comme ermite dans une région isolée
du Morvan. Partis à sa recherche, ses moines le retrouvent et sur ordre de
l’évêque, Médéric est obligé de reprendre la direction de son monastère. Vers
la fin de sa vie, un religieux de ses amis (Saint-Frodulphe) l’invite à
effectuer à Paris un pèlerinage sur le tombeau de Saint-Germain. Médéric tombe
malade en chemin, ce qui oblige les deux hommes à effectuer une halte près de
Melun. Arrivé enfin à Paris, il se recueille longuement sur le tombeau de
Saint-Germain puis décide de s’installer comme reclus dans une petite cellule
adossée à l’église Saint-Pierre et où il passe les trois dernières années de sa
vie (+ 700)
SOURCE : https://www.saint-dicton.com/0829.html
Ausschnitt
(Fenster in der "Chapelle de la Vierge", Nr. 1) eines
Bleiglasfensters in der katholischen Kirche Saint-Merry in Paris, Darstellung: hl.
Medericus (vgl. Élisabeth Pillet: Le vitrail à Paris au XIXe siècle.
Entretenir, conserver, restaurer. (Corpus Vitrearum France - Études IX) Presses
Universitaires de Rennes, Rennes 2010, S. 281/282, ISBN 978-2-7535-0945-0)
Also
known as
Merry
Mederico
Profile
Monk at
Saint Martin’s Abbey in Autun, France;
he was later chosen abbot there. Hermit near Paris, France;
the church of Saint-Merry now stands on the site of his hermitage.
Born
c.700
in France
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
MLA
Citation
‘Saint Médéricus of
Autun‘. CatholicSaints.Info. 31 January 2024. Web. 24 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-medericus/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-medericus/
Article
(Saint) Abbot (August 29)
(7th
century) Born at Autun (France), he entered a monastery of that city in his
early youth. Later, he was appointed to be its Abbot. He fulfilled the duties
of this office with wonderful success; but, wearying of the responsibilities of
government and of having incessantly to meet crowds of people attracted to the
Abbey by the fame of his virtues and miracles, he retired to a solitude in the
vicinity where he built himself a cell. Later, he was obliged by his Bishop to
reassume his former charge. The last we hear of him is that he made a
pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Germanus
of Paris, and died there (A.D. 700), on a day he had himself fore-announced. In
France he is known as Saint Merri
or Saint Merry.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Medericus”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
25 March 2015. Web. 24 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-medericus/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-medericus/
St. Medericus
Feastday: August 29
Death: 700
St. Medericus died in
700. Born in Autun, France, he entered St. Martin's monastery at thirteen and
later was its abbot. He was a recluse in his last years. He is also called
Merry. His feast day is
August 29th.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=759
Medericus (Merry) of
Autun, OSB Abbot (RM)
Born in Autun, France;
died c. 700. While he was about 13, Saint Merry took the Benedictine habit,
probably at Saint Martin's in Autun, where 54 fervent monks lived, whose
penitential and regular lives were an object of edification to the whole
country. Being chosen abbot much against his own inclination, Merry pointed out
to his brethren the narrow path of true virtue by example, walking before them
in every duty, and the reputation of his sanctity drew the eyes of all men. The
distractions that continual consultations from all parts gave him, and a fear
of becoming vain, caused him to resign his office and retire into a forest four
miles from Autun. There he hid for some time. He earned his living by the work
of his hands. When his hiding place became known and he fell ill about the same
time, he was obliged to return to the monastery.
After edifying his
brethren for many years and strengthening them in religious perfection, he
again left them in old age in order to make a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint
Germanus of Paris (also a native of Autun). In a northern suburb of Paris with
one companion, Saint Frou (Frodulf), he chose to live in a small cell adjoining
a chapel dedicated to Saint Peter. He suffered a painful, lingering illness for
about three years then died happily. On the site of his cell rose the church of
Saint Merry (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Walsh, White).
In art, Saint Medericus
is portrayed as an abbot with prisoners and chains near him. He may also be
shown experiencing a vision of God the Father or teaching monks. Care should be
taken not to confuse him with Saint Leonard, who is always young (Roeder). He
is venerated especially at Autun and Paris (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0829.shtml
August 29
St. Merri, or Medericus,
Abbot
HE was nobly born at
Autun, in the seventh century, and from his infancy turned all his thoughts
towards virtue. In his childhood he disdained the ordinary amusements of that
age, and in all his actions considered the great end of human life the sanctification
and salvation of his soul. That he might wholly attend to his only affair
without distraction, when he was but thirteen years old, he so earnestly
desired to embrace a monastic life, that his parents, who at first violently
opposed his vocation, overcome by his importunities, presented him themselves
to the abbot of St. Martin’s in Autun. In that monastery then lived fifty-four
fervent monks, whose penitential and regular lives were an odour of sanctity to
the whole country. Merri, in this holy company, grew up in the perfect exercise
and habits of every virtue, especially humility, meekness, charity, obedience,
and a scrupulous observance of every point of the rule. Being, in process of
time, chosen abbot, much against his own inclinations, he pointed out to his
brethren the narrow path of true virtue by example, walking before them in
every duty; and the great reputation of his sanctity drew the eyes of all men
upon him. The dissipation which continual consultations from distant parts gave
him, and a fear of the dangers of forgetting himself, and falling into the
snares of vanity, made him resign his office, and retire privately into a
forest four miles from Autun, where he lay hid some time in a place called, to
this day, St. Merri’s cell. He procured himself all necessaries of life by the
labour of his hands, and found this solitude sweet by the liberty it gave him
of employing his whole time in the exercises of heavenly contemplation, prayer,
and penitential manual labour. The place of his retreat having at length become
public, he was obliged to return to his monastery; but after having edified his
brethren some time, and strengthened them in the maxims of religious
perfection, he again left them, in order to prepare himself the better for his
passage to eternity. He came to Paris with one companion called Frou or
Frodulf, and chose his abode in a small cell adjoining a chapel dedicated in
honour of St. Peter, in the north suburbs of that city; where, after two years
and nine months, during which time he bore with astonishing patience the fiery
trial of a painful lingering illness, he happily died about the year 700. He
was buried in the above-mentioned chapel, upon the spot where now a great
church bears his name, in which his relics are placed in a silver shrine over
the high altar. He is named in the Roman Martyrology. See his anonymous life in
Mabillon’s acts of saints of the Order of St. Bennet, and Stilting the
Bollandist, t. 6, Augusti, p. 518.
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume VIII: August. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/8/294.html
Église Saint-Merry (ou Saint-Merri ou Saint-Médéric), communément appelée Saint-Merry, rue Saint Martin au 78 (l’ancienne voie romaine nord-sud) et sur la rue de la Verrerie, 4e arrondissement, Paris,
Église
Saint-Merry (ou Saint-Merri ou Saint-Médéric), communément
appelée Saint-Merry, rue Saint Martin au 78 (l’ancienne
voie romaine nord-sud) et sur la rue de la Verrerie, 4e arrondissement, Paris,
Église
Saint-Merry (ou Saint-Merri ou Saint-Médéric), communément
appelée Saint-Merry, rue Saint Martin au 78 (l’ancienne
voie romaine nord-sud) et sur la rue de la Verrerie, 4e arrondissement, Paris,
San Mederico Venerato
a Parigi
Festa: 29 agosto
† 29 agosto 700
Martirologio
Romano: A Parigi nel territorio della Neustria, in Francia, san Mederíco,
sacerdote e abate di Autun, che visse in una cella vicino alla città.
Il 24 agosto 884 il vescovo di Parigi, fece l’elevazione del corpo di san Mederico (fr. Merry), il cui nome qualche anno prima era stato inserito da Usuardo nel suo Martirologio.
Nel secolo X ne fu composta una Vita che, peraltro, non offre garanzia storica. Secondo questo racconto Mederico era nato da genitori nobili ad Autun; entrato in uno dei monasteri della città, ne divenne abate e si fece notare per la sua santità che si manifestava soprattutto nel potere di scacciare i demoni. Spaventato dagli onori di cui era oggetto, fuggì nella solitudine, ritornando solo per la minaccia di scomunica fattagli dal suo vescovo. Ottenne tuttavia di essere rilevato dalla dignità abbaziale e con il compagno Frodulfo, giunse a Parigi, stabilendosi fuori della città, presso la cappella di St-Pietre-des-Bois, dove morì il 29 agosto 700.
Il nome di Mederico si trova già nel Martirologio Geronimiano (recensione di Sens) dal quale passò nei Martirologi benedettini ed in seguito nel Romano. Attualmente si ritrova nel Proprio di Parigi al 3 settembre; inoltre un tempo vi era anche una festa della traslazione il 22 gennaio.
Il culto di san Mederico divenne assai popolare e lo si invocava specialmente contro le malattie intestinali. Nell’antica diocesi di Parigi gli furono dedicate inoltre molte chiese.
La chiesa di san Merry a Parigi divenne parrocchia prima del secolo XII; fu ricostruita verso il 1200, poi ancora nel secolo XVI e modificata definitiva mente nel secolo XVIII e vi si conservava la maggior parte delle reliquie del santo, in una cassa che fu aperta nel 1271, 1389, 1476, 1625, 1753. Questa cassa, il 21 agosto 1792, venne inviata alla zecca, ma le ossa furono salvate.
Autore: Rombaut van Doren
