Feast of St. Remigius

St. Remigius Baptizes Clovis I, by the
Master of Saint Gilles, C. 1500.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

October 1st is the Feast of St. Remigius, or Rémi, Bishop and Confessor. Bishop of Reims for over seventy years, he is best remembered as the “Apostle of the Franks.” Born around 437 in northern Gaul to a noble Gallo-Roman family, he was noted for his learning and piety from an early age. At just twenty-two years old, he was elected Bishop of Reims.

His most enduring legacy is his role in the conversion of King Clovis I, the pagan ruler of the Franks. After Clovis’s victory at the Battle of Tolbiac in 496, and under the influence of his Christian wife, St. Clotilde, the king sought baptism. On Christmas Day of that year, Remigius baptized Clovis along with three thousand of his warriors in Reims. This moment is considered the symbolic beginning of Catholic France, earning the nation its title as the “Eldest Daughter of the Church.”

Tradition holds that during the baptism, a holy vial of oil—known as the Sainte Ampoule—was miraculously brought by the dove of the Holy Spirit, and it became the sacred chrism used in the coronation of French kings for centuries.

St. Remigius shepherded his flock with wisdom and zeal, strengthening the Church in Gaul, promoting discipline among the clergy, and fostering the spread of Christianity among the Franks. He died on January 13, 533, at the age of ninety-five. His relics are enshrined at the Basilica of Saint-Remi in Reims. St. Remigius, ora pro nobis.

In celebration of his feast, we offer this prayer:

Prayer to St. Remigius

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that the solemn feast of blessed Remigius, Thy Confessor and Bishop, may both increase our devotion and advance our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.