MAXIMINUS, bishop of TREVES, saint. — Born at Silly (Sigilliacum) in Aquitaine, of noble family, at the end of the 3rd century, he was educated by Bishop St. Agricius, whom he succeeded in the episcopate around 332.
He hosted St. Athanasius (q.v.) during the two years of his exile in the city (336-38). In 341 he also received Paul, the exiled patriarch of Constantinople, and later worked to restore him to his see. In 342 he rejected four Arian bishops who had come from Antioch to sway the emperor to their side and persuaded him to refuse their insidious proposals. In 343, together with Pope Julius I and Ossius, bishop of Córdoba, he obtained from Constantius the convocation of a synod at Serdica in Illyricum against Arianism, and subscribed to its acts; for this reason the Arian synod of Philippopolis condemned him, along with Julius I and Ossius.
The year of his death is unknown; but by 347 he had already been succeeded by Paulinus. St. Gregory of Tours calls him “episcopus potens in omni sanctitate” (Historia Francorum, I, 37); he was venerated as the patron saint of Treves. In the historical martyrologies his feast is recorded on 29 May; 12 September is the probable date of a translation of relics.