Livarius of Metz, St.
LIVARIUS OF METZ, ST.
According to a twelfth-century legend, a knight, Livarius (Livier), along with Saints Purgentius and Agentius, was martyred by the Huns at Marsal, south of Metz, in Lorraine, where there is a chapel dedicated to them. Other accounts would place the martyrdom of Livarius at Lyons. If there is any historical basis to the legend, it will most likely be found in the Hungarian incursion of the ninth and tenth centuries. Late in the tenth century the relics of Livarius were removed to the abbey church of Saint-Vincent in Metz by Bishop Theodoric I. In the eleventh century they were translated to the church of Saint-Polyeucte in Metz, which was rededicated to Livarius in the twelfth century.
Feast: July 17.
Bibliography: r. harmand, "Les Miracles de Salival: La Légende de Saint Livier …," Bulletin Mensuel de la Société d'Archéologie Lorraine 7 (1907): 190–212, notice of this article in Analecta Bollandiana 27 (1908): 226–227. h. leclercq, Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie 15 v. (Paris 1907–53) 11.1:810–817. j. l. baudot and l. chaussin, Vies des saints et des bienheureux selon l'ordre du calendrier avec l'historique des fêtes, 12 v. (Paris 1935–56) 7:377.
[w. a. jurgens]