Saint Nicasius of Reims

Almost nothing is known of Nicasius before he became bishop. The Norwegian bishops' saints database (katolsk.no) says he was born in the fourth century, in France or perhaps on the Greek island of Nikasia near Naxos. ¹ About the year 400 he succeeded Bishop Severus as bishop of Reims, the eleventh, or by some counts the tenth, to hold the see. ¹

The city was already old in the faith. Georges Goyau, writing on Reims in the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia, says tradition gives the church of Reims a number of martyrs under Diocletian, that its fourth bishop attended the Council of Arles in 314, and that the city was "much exposed to the barbarian invasions." ³ About 366, he says, it was defended successfully by the consul Jovinus, "a Christian." ³ Nicasius would be buried in a church this Jovinus had built. ¹

katolsk.no says that early in the fifth century Nicasius built a church of Our Lady, the forerunner of the cathedral of Notre-Dame of Reims. ¹ Goyau's Reims calls him "the archbishop, St. Nicasius," using the title the see later carried. ³

Goyau gives the encyclopedia's account in one sentence. Reims "saw the Vandals behead the archbishop, St. Nicasius, on the threshold of his church, in 406 or 407, and at the same time kill his sister St. Eutropia, his deacon St. Florens, his lector St. Jucundus, and, a short time after, his disciple St. Oriculus, and Sts. Oricula and Basilica, the sisters of St. Oriculus." ³

katolsk.no tells it a little differently. Nicasius was killed on a December 14, it says, when he placed himself in the door of the church to defend his flock against the invaders. ¹ He was beheaded with several Christians, among them his deacon Florentius and his lector Jucundus. ¹ The invaders were either the Vandals in 407 or, more probably, the Huns in 451, though the tradition of Reims holds that its bishop was killed by the Vandals. ¹

The current Roman Martyrology, as the Italian bishops print it, does not name the attackers. It calls them simply pagans making a raid, and says Nicasius was killed with his sister Eutropia, a virgin consecrated to Christ, with the deacon Florentius and with Jucundus, before the door of the basilica he had himself founded. ²

The longest early account is in the history of the church of Reims written by Flodoard in the tenth century. ¹ katolsk.no says his chapter on Nicasius is, to be honest, full of cliches. ¹ Flodoard blamed the invasion on the bad conduct of the people, read it as divine punishment, and compared his hero with Anianus of Orléans, Lupus of Troyes and Servatius of Tongeren, men who lived fifty years later or fifty years earlier. ¹ katolsk.no notes that these anachronisms sit in Flodoard's commentary rather than in the central account of the martyrdom. ¹

The legend added more. katolsk.no says that after he was beheaded he took up his own head, or the top of it with the miter still on, and walked a few steps praising God before he fell. ¹ With Denis of Paris, it says, he is among the best known of the saints called cephalophores, the head-carriers. ¹

A second legend has him reciting Psalm 119, Psalm 118 in the Latin numbering, as the blow fell. ¹ He was struck at verse 25, "Adhaesit pavimento anima mea," my soul lies in the dust, and his severed head finished the verse: "Vivifica me Domine secundum verbum tuum," give me life, Lord, according to your word. ¹ katolsk.no gives both stories as legend, and so does this page.

Nicasius and his sister were buried in the church that Jovinus had built, which was first dedicated to Saint Agricola and later took Nicasius's name. ¹ In the eleventh century it became the center of a Benedictine abbey of Saint-Nicaise, which lasted until the Revolution. ¹ katolsk.no says Archbishop Fulk of Reims moved his relics in 893, that his head went to the abbey of Saint-Vaast at Arras and other relics to Tournai, and that Rabanus Maurus took some to Fulda while he was abbot there. ¹ His relics are now in the cathedral of Reims. ¹

His cult spread early. katolsk.no says it was widespread by the sixth century and strong in Spain, above all in Aragon. ¹ There is a statue of him on the west front of Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, and his martyrdom is carved on the north portal of the cathedral of Reims. ¹ He is shown as a bishop with a sword, often holding a whole or half head with the miter on it. ¹

Eutropia has a small cult of her own. katolsk.no says that in Limburg, in Belgium, she is counted one of three sisters with Genevieve of Paris and Bertilla of Marolles, and the three are kept together on January 3. ¹

katolsk.no names two patronages. Saint Nicasius has been since time immemorial one of the chief patrons of the city and archdiocese of Reims, together with Saints Piatus and Eleutherius of Tournai. ¹ He is also patron of smallpox victims, because the sources that place his death under the Huns say he had survived the disease. ¹

Saint Nicasius's feast day is December 14. ¹² The current Roman Martyrology enters him on that day with his sister Eutropia and his companions. ² katolsk.no adds that Reims keeps a feast of his translation on July 23, and that because of his several translations he is also found on April 2 and December 12. ¹

What the sources agree on is a single act. The city fell, and its bishop went to the door of his church and stood in it. ¹²³ He was a builder before that day; he had put up the church of Our Lady that became the cathedral. ¹ He died at the door of the church he had built.

He did not die alone. His sister, a consecrated virgin, and two of his clergy died with him, and Goyau adds a disciple and two more women soon after. ²³ Whatever the legend later did with Nicasius, these were people who stayed where they were.

The legend is honest about what it is. It gave him a psalm to finish and his own head to carry, and katolsk.no tells both as stories. ¹ Under them is a man killed for keeping his place, which the Martyrology records without the miracles. ²