La
Sainte Vierge Marie et l’Enfant Jésus ;
Saint Trophime.
Vitrail de l'église Saint-Trophime, Arles.
Saint Trophime
Premier évêque d'Arles (✝ v. 250)
Depuis le synode
d'Arles, l'Église en Provence l'a assimilé à un disciple de saint Paul (2ème lettre à Timothée 4.20 et Livre des Actes des apôtres 21.29), originaire d'Ephèse, ce qui est
pieuse fiction. Il aurait été du nombre des évangélisateurs de la Gaule, qui,
selon la tradition, ont annoncé l'Évangile dès l'époque apostolique. Il serait
ainsi le fondateur de l'évêché d'Arles qui l'honore en ce jour. Il est vrai que
la vallée du Rhône connut très tôt des communautés chrétiennes d'origine
grecque, comme l'attestent les "Actes" de la persécution de Lyon.
L'historien saint Grégoire de Tours en fait l'un des sept évêques envoyés de Rome au moment de la persécution de Dèce afin d'approfondir l'œuvre d'évangélisation.
saint Trophyme - Bormes-les-Mimosas (Histoire des saints de Provence - diocèse de Fréjus-Toulon)
À Arles en Provence, peut-être au IIIe siècle, saint Trophime, considéré comme le premier évêque de le cité.
Martyrologe
romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/330/Saint-Trophime.html
Statue de saint
Trophime au-dessus de la chapelle Saint-Trophime,
Commune de
Buis-les-Baronnies (Drôme, France).
Trophime d’Arles
Évêque, Saint
† 250
Suivant la
tradition de l'église d'Arles, saint Trophime est le même que le Saint de ce
nom qui fut le disciple de saint Paul et le compagnon de ses travaux. Il était
d'Ephèse, et né de parents gentils. Ayant été envoyé dans les Gaules, il prêcha
l'Evangile dans la Provence, et fonda le siège d'Arles. Mais plusieurs savants,
fondés sur l'autorité de saint Grégoire de Tours, soutiennent que la mission de
saint Trophime d'Arles est moins ancienne, et que ce Saint passa dans les
Gaules, vers le milieu du troisième siècle, avec saint Saturnin de Toulouse,
saint Paul de Narbonne, saint Martial de Limoges, saint Austremoine d'Auvergne,
saint Gratien de Tours et saint Denis de Paris. Ils ajoutent cependant qu'on
peut mettre la mission de saint Trophime quelques années plus tôt que celle de
ces autres Saints. Quoi qu'il en soit, il paraît certain que notre Saint fût le
premier évêque d'Arles, et cette église l'a toujours honoré comme son
fondateur. On ignore le détail de ses actions.
Il mourut à la fin du premier siècle, si l'on s'en
rapporte à la tradition de l'église d'Arles : mais ceux qui suivent l'autre
sentiment, mettent sa mort peu après le milieu du troisième siècle. On ne voit
point qu'il ait été tourmenté pour la foi, ce qui a fait juger qu'il était mort
en paix.
Ses reliques furent transférées en 1152, dans la
cathédrale d'Arles, qui prit depuis le nom de Saint-Trophime, au lieu de celui
de Saint-Étienne qu'elle portait auparavant.
Alban Butler : Vies des pères, des martyrs, et des autres principaux saints… traduction
de Jean François Godescard.
SOURCE : http://nova.evangelisation.free.fr/trophime_darles.htmTrophimus of Arles B (RM)
Died c. 280. Trophimus, the first bishop of Arles whose cathedral of St.
Trophime now honors his memory, is often confused with the Trophimus mentioned
by St. Paul. The bishop Trophimus was sent from Rome to Gaul about 240-260.
Saint Gregory of Tours (died 594) testifies that Trophimus was one of several
bishops associated with Saint Sernin of Toulouse, who founded the famous sees
of France.
The cultus of
Trophimus is ancient. Writing to the bishops of Gaul in 417, Pope Zozimus
mentioned him as being sent by the papacy to preach and found the church of
Arles. His church contains a 3rd century crypt, which was discovered in 1835.
Paul's disciple was
a gentile convert from Ephesus who accompanied the Apostle on his third
missionary journey (Acts 20:4) and to Jerusalem, where his presence (as a
gentile) in the Temple provoked violent protests against Paul that almost
resulted in his death (Acts 21:26-36). Paul mentions him again in 2 Timothy
4:20, saying he "left Trophimus ill at Miletus."
Since the Synod of
Arles in 452, the church of Provence has identified their first bishop with St.
Paul's disciple, but this is clearly an impossibility. In essence, both are
honored today because of the confusion (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia,
Farmer).
In art, St.
Trophimus is a bishop carrying his eyes. The picture may show (1) his eyes
being put out, (2) him with lions, or (3) surrounded by the Apostles. (He was
identified with the Trophimus who was a disciple of St. Paul.) He is the patron
of children and invoked against drought (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1229.shtml
Saint Trophimus of Arles
Saint Trophimus of Arles
- 29 December (Roman calendar)
- 30 September (translation of relics)
- 4 January (Greek calendar)
Profile
Evangelist sent from Rome to Gaul
c.250. Worked with Saint
Saturninus of Toulouse and Saint
Denis of Paris. First bishop of Arles, Gaul
(modern France. His cultus
is ancient; Pope Zosimus wrote about him in 417. Often confused with the Trophimus mentioned by Saint
Paul the Apostle, they were actually centuries apart.
- c.280
Trophimus, 1st
bishop of Arles
Trophimus
(3), St., 1st bp.
of Arles, a subject of eager controversy. According to the tradition of the
see, he was the disciple of St. Paul mentioned in Acts and II. Tim., and was
sent forth as a missionary to Arles by St. Peter or St. Paul, or both. As early
as 417 pope Zosimus, in a letter to the bishops of Gaul, speaking of the city
of Arles, says, "Ad quam primum
ex hâc sede Trophimus summus antistes, ex cujus fonte totae Galliae fidei
rivulos acceperunt, directus est"
(Ep. 1, Patr. Lat. xx. 645); and in the same pope's letter to
Hilary, bp. of Narbonne, Trophimus was "quondam ad Arelatensem urbem ab apostolica sede
transmissus" (Ep.
6, Patr. Lat. ib, 667) Again, the 19 bishops of the province of Arles,
writing to pope Leo about the middle of 5th cent., assert that it is known to
all Gaul and to the church of Rome "prima
intra Gallias Arelatensis civitas missum a beatissimo Petro apostolo sanctum
Trophimum habere meruit sacerdotem, et exinde aliis paulatim regionibus
Galliarum bonum fidei et religionis infusum" (Patr. Lat. liv. 1880), though it
should be mentioned that the genuineness of this letter has been questioned.
So, too, Ado, in his Martyrologium (Dec. 29) and Chronicon. On
the other hand, Gregory of Tours, apparently quoting from the Acta of
St. Saturninus, says in effect that Trophimus arrived in Gaul with the first
bishops of Tours, Paris, and other cities in the consulate of Decius and Gratus,
i.e. after the middle of 3rd cent.; and in a very old catalogue of the
archbishops published by Mabillon, Vetera Analecta, p. 220 (Paris,
1723), he is preceded by Dionysius, as though he were the second bishop. The
question, to which some bitterness has been imparted as being closely connected
with the hotly resented claims of the early archbps. of Arles to a sort of
primacy in Gaul, is elaborately discussed by Trichaud (Hist. de l’Eglise
d’Arles, i. 21–143). The cathedral church at Arles was dedicated to
Trophimus, with St. Stephen (Gall. Christ. i. 519).
[S.A.B.]
San Trofimo di Arles Vescovo
Martirologio
Romano: Ad Arles nella Provenza in Francia, san Trófimo, ritenuto primo vescovo
di questa città.
Due
autorevoli citazioni storiche ci parlano di Trofimo come primo vescovo di
Arles.
Il primo è il Papa San Zosimo che nel 417 scrivendo ai vescovi della Gallia fa
cenno di Trofimo dicendo che era stata mandato a compiere attività missionarie
in Gallia e la sua predicazione aveva come fulcro il territorio di Arles di cui
poi venne eletto Vescovo.
La seconda fonte è San Gregorio di Tours che esplicitamente indica in Trofimo
il primo vescovo di Arles, aggiungendo essere uno dei sei vescovi che nel III
secolo giunsero da Roma insieme a san Dionigi. Altra fonte che parla del nostro
santo è la dedicazione della cattedrale di Arles proprio in suo onore, pertanto
il suo ministero e la sua collocazione storica risultano bene delineati da
queste coordinate ecclesiali. Non si possiedono altre notizie su Trofimo,
anche se una tradizione lo vorrebbe identificare con Trofimo di Efeso, un
gentile che accompagnò San Paolo nel suo terzo viaggio missionario e poi
sarebbe giunto in queste lontane terre su mandato apostolico, ovviamente si
tratta di un espediente agiografico che venne posto per avvalorare la
supremazia dei Vescovi di Arles sul territorio della Gallia.
Un'altra curiosità riguarda il suo patronato, veniva invocato contro la
podagra, la gotta era infatti una malattia estremamente dolorosa che colpiva
spesso sistema articolare, la podagra riguarda l’articolazione dell’alluce. Non
è dato sapere il motivo di questo patronato ma la sua invocazione nella
malattia viene riportato da numerose opere devozionali dei secoli scorsi.
Autore: Don Luca
Roveda
Léon Levillain. « Saint Trophime,
confesseur et métropolitain d'Arles, et la mission des Sept en Gaule [Étude
d'un texte de Grégoire de Tours et d'un passage de la Passion de saint
Saturnin.] ». Revue d'histoire de l'Église de
France Année 1927 Volume 13 Numéro 59
pp. 145-189
