Saint Maurice

Life story

According to tradition, Maurice commanded a Roman unit called the Theban Legion, recruited in Egypt, in the third century. The legion was sent to Gaul to help Emperor Maximian suppress a revolt. The earliest text of the story is a letter from Bishop Eucherius of Lyon to Bishop Salvius, written around 434–450, more than a century after the events.

According to that letter, Maurice and his soldiers refused to sacrifice to pagan gods and refused to attack local Christians. Maximian ordered every tenth man executed, twice, and then ordered the rest killed at Agaunum in the Alps, now Saint-Maurice in Switzerland. Tradition usually places the event around 287.

Scholars disagree. Some, such as the Bollandist Hippolyte Delehaye, classed Eucherius's account as historical romance. Others, using archaeology and other evidence, argue that a real group of martyrs died at Agaunum. How many were killed, if any, is unclear.

Veneration at Agaunum grew, and the abbey of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune was founded in 515, according to tradition by King Sigismund of Burgundy. Maurice is venerated as patron of soldiers, and his feast day is 22 September.

Works and witness

• According to tradition, commanded the Theban Legion
• Per Eucherius's letter, refused to sacrifice and was executed with his soldiers
• Place of martyrdom: Agaunum, now Saint-Maurice, Switzerland
• Abbey of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune founded in 515
• Historicity still debated among scholars

Patron of

Soldiers, The Alpini infantry (named by Pius XII in 1941)

Saints from the same country

Saint Anthony of Egypt, Saint Athanasius, Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Saint Catherine of Alexandria

References

• Eucherius of Lyon, Passio Acaunensium martyrum (c. 434–450)
• Martyrologium Romanum
• Hippolyte Delehaye and later studies on the Theban Legion

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.