Saint Lupus, the bishop who saved his city from the Huns

Summary:

Born into a Gallo-Roman noble family, Lupus (or Leu) was born at the end of the 4th century. The new century (5th c.) was a time of great conflicts and upheavals, resulting the end of the Western Roman Empire (476). Lupus was one of those rare great figure to emerge above this unprecedented chaos and to leave a long legacy, enabling the establishment of a new Christian power in a newly independent Gaul, soon to be known as France.

In the meantime, after studying rhetoric and Latin to become a lawyer, Lupus, son of a wealthy nobleman called Epirocus of Toul, married one of Saint Hilary of Poitiers' sisters, Pimeniola. After seven years together, by mutual agreement husband and wife separated to individually devote their lives to God, and each embraced the monastic life. Lupus entered the Lérins Abbey (on a Mediterranean island off the French Riviera), founded by Saint Honoratus of Arles, a close relative of Hilary - a community renowned for its ascetic rule and the first monastery in the West. But in 426, Lupus retired to Macon where he came to the attention of Germanus of Auxerre, who appointed Lupus the Bishop of Troyes. Or, as another story holds, as he travelled to Macon to sell one of his last possessions, Lupus was "kidnapped" by the inhabitants of Troyes, who elected him bishop against his will, so great was his reputation for holiness.

A few years later, a council appointed him, along with his neighbour Saint Germanus of Auxerre, to go and preach against the Pelagian heresy that was developing in Britain. It was on their way, passing through Nanterre, that they both met the future Saint Genevieve, only ten years old at the time, but whose future destiny they could already foresee. Across the Channel, the two bishops worked wonders, confounding heretics and helping to repel a Saxon invasion. Once his mission was accomplished, Lupus returned to his diocese where - as he did not yet know - a much greater danger awaited him: Attila the Hun had penetrated Gaul, and had sacked Reims, Cambrai, Metz and Auxerre. Defeated at the Catalaunian Plains, near Châlons, by Aetius and a confederation of Germanic peoples, the barbarian ruler had not yet finished wreaking havoc: he was heading for Troyes, whose walls were in ruins and unable to protect the inhabitants. Lupus sent two emissaries to Attila, who derisively killed one of them (the martyr Saint Mesmin) and seriously wounded the other (Camelian, Lupus' future successor as king of Troyes).

However, emboldened by his faith in God, Lupus went to see Attila in person, and it is believed that it was during this meeting that Attila referred to himself as "the scourge of God". The bishop agreed with him on that point, but warned him not to abuse his power. At the end of their talk, the Hun leader spared Troyes and agreed to withdraw to the Rhine region if Lupus accompanied him as a hostage, to protect his troops from attacks. It is said that he would have liked the bishop to follow him further, and that he recommended himself to his prayers. In any case, this miraculous rescue made Lupus famous throughout Gaul. Lupus died while still serving as a bishop, beloved and admired by his people. Shortly after his death, he was raised to the altars. His remains were deposited in the Saint-Loup Abbey in Troyes, which he had founded.

In the city of Troyes, which has always had a great devotion to him, the glory of Saint Loup (as he is known in France) has endured down the centuries. Troyes celebrated an annual festival of the "salted meat", from the 16th to the 18th centuries during Rogations days, with an effigy of a bronze dragon carried around the town, evoking the dragon that Saint Lupus was supposed to have defeated and that was initially preserved by salting its flesh. 

Saint Lupus was one of the great bishops who maintained order in Gaul at a time when everything was falling apart, who protected its people, and helped to complete the Christianisation of the country.

Beyond reasons to believe:

Saint Lupus hold an important place among the great saints who helped build France.

Going further:

The Origin & Development of the Christian Church in Gaul, by Thomas Scott Holmes, Legare Street Press (October 27, 2022)

More information:

• Christianity's Quiet Success: The Eusebius Gallicanus Sermon Collection and the Power of the Church in Late Antique Gaul by Lisa Kaaren Bailey, ‎ University of Notre Dame Press; First Edition (November 15, 2010)

• Bishops and the Politics of Patronage in Merovingian Gaul, by Gregory I. Halfond, Cornell University Press (September 15, 2019)

• St. Germanus of Auxerre, by Howard Huws, Orthodox Logos Foundation (December 21, 2011)

• The Western Fathers Being the Lives of Martin of Tours, Ambrose, Augustine of Hippo, Honoratus of Arles and Germanus of Auxerre, by Sulpicius Severus, Paulinus the Deacon, Possidius, Hilary of Arles, Constantius of Lyons, Harper Torchbooks (January 1, 1965)