BENIGNUS, Saint, Martyr. - Venerated at Dijon; until the beginning of the 6th century he was known only to the peasants of the place; the bishop Gregory of Langres (506-39) himself had forbidden his cult, regarding his tomb as pagan. But a revelation received made the truth known, and the cult of B. became established; a basilica was erected over the restored crypt, around which the famous abbey of St. B. later arose. The Passio of the martyr subsequently appeared, due, as has by now been proved, to a vulgar forger who claims that the priest B. was sent into Gaul by St. Polycarp of Smyrna together with the priest Andochius and the deacon Thyrsus. It may be that B. suffered martyrdom under Aurelian. He is commemorated on November 1 by the Hieronymian and Roman Martyrologies.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: S. Gregory of Tours, De gloria Martyrum, 50; BHL. 1153-64; Acta SS. Novembris, I, Brussels 1887, pp. 134-99; L. Duchesne, Fastes Episcopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, 2nd ed., I, Paris 1907, pp. 51-62; H. Quentin, Les Martirologes historiques du Moyen âge, ibid. 1908, pp. 60-62.

Agostino Amore

@incollection{ec2_benigno_santo_martire, author = {Amore, Agostino}, title = {Benigno, santo, martire}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {1348}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/benigno-santo-martire} }

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Benignus, Saint, Martyr

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