This article is about the third-century Roman saint. For the seventh-century Visigothic rebel, see Flavius Paulus.
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Paul of Narbonne" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(October 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Saint
Paul of Narbonne
Died
3rd century CE Narbonne, France
Venerated in
Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church
Major shrine
Saint Paul Basilica, Narbonne
Feast
22 March[1]
Paul of Narbonne (3rd century CE) was one of the "apostles to the Gauls". They had been sent out (probably by Pope Fabian, 236–250) during the consulate of Decius and Gratus (250-251 AD). Their mission was to Christianise Gaul after the persecutions under Emperor Decius had all but dissolved the small Christian communities. According to the hagiographies, Fabian sent out seven bishops from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Paul to Narbonne, Gatien to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Saturnin to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont, and Martial to Limoges.
Very little about Paul has survived to the present day. That he was among those priests consecrated at Rome and sent to replant the Christian communities in Gaul was affirmed by Gregory of Tours (Historia Francorum I, 30), who was reading the acta of Saturnin. He and Denis had been martyred, but Paul survived to establish the church at Narbonne as its first bishop, and to die of natural causes around 250.
It was in a pagan necropolis, somewhere along the Domitian Way, that Paul was buried. His tomb, the object of substantial veneration and around which were various sanctuaries,[2] was to be the focus of the first Christian cemetery in Narbonne.
Prudentius' claim that Paul brought fame to Narbonne may be hyperbole. Edited by the Bollandists is a brief Vita Antiqua, perhaps of the 6th century. It suggests Paul converted the inhabitants of Béziers, setting over them a bishop, Aphrodisius, before turning his attention to Narbonne, where he founded two churches.
An anecdote suggests two acolytes placed a lady's slippers at the foot of his bed, telling of improprieties, but that this was both confounded and forgiven by Paul miraculously.
Earliest surviving mention of Paul is in a 5th century text, in which his evangelizing and protection of the people of Narbonne drew comparison with that of Cucufas in Barcelona. In the 7th century, the bishop of Arles, Saint Caesarius, in his treatise De mysterio Sanctae Trinitatis also refers to Paul. Another reference to him is in the 7th century Historia Francorum written by Gregory of Tours.
^"St. Paul of Narbonne". Catholic Online. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
^Christians devoted to Paul's memory would have wanted to be buried near his tomb
PaulofNarbonne (3rd century CE) was one of the "apostles to the Gauls". They had been sent out (probably by Pope Fabian, 236–250) during the consulate...
Nathaniel Narbonne High School (NHS) is a school located at 24300 South Western Avenue, in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles, California. Narbonne serves...
Sergius Paullus with PaulofNarbonne. Sergius Paulus may have been the first of several successive senators named Lucius Sergius Paullus, of Antioch, Pisidia...
Catholic diocese ofNarbonne existed from early Christian times until the French Revolution. It was an archdiocese, with its see at Narbonne, from the year...
Club de Narbonne Méditerannée (also known as RCNM) is a French rugby union club that play in the third-level Nationale. They are based in Narbonne in Occitania...
Gaul to preach the Gospel: Gatianus of Tours to Tours, Trophimus of Arles to Arles, PaulofNarbonne to Narbonne, Saturnin to Toulouse, Denis to Paris...
to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Gatien to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturnin to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont, and...
portal History portal List of saints List of canonizations, for a list of Catholic canonizations by date Calendar of saints Doctor of the Church Patron saint...
Catholic tradition, the first bishops in Provence were Trophimus of Arles and PaulofNarbonne. There were active churches and bishops in Arles in 254, in...
Visigothic Kingdom. After the fall ofNarbonne, the capital of the Visigothic rump state, in 720, Umayyad armies composed of Arabs and Berbers turned north...
Epaphroditus Jonathan Edwards (Lutheranism) Lea of Rome Nicholas Owen Paul of Narbonne March 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Earliest day on which Easter Sunday...
Narbonne Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Just-et-Saint-Pasteur de Narbonne) is a Roman Catholic church located in the town ofNarbonne, France. The cathedral...
world sailing speed record in 2022". 19 November 2019. "Leucate and Grand Narbonne, official venue for the World Sailing Speed Record". 4 April 2023. Official...
to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Gatien to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturnin to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont, and...
Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturninus to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont, and Martial to Limoges. Gregory of Tours, apparently...
stratigraphic units of North America — era the Cambrian period is under. Gehling, James G.; Jensen, Sören; Droser, Mary L.; Myrow, Paul M.; Narbonne, Guy M. (2001)...
to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Gatien to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturninus to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Martial to Limoges, and Austromoine...
group of religious dissidents active in the 12th to 14th centuries. Its prefecture is Carcassonne and its subprefectures are Limoux and Narbonne. As of 2019...
metres (53.3 ft) above the base of the unit. Gehling, James G.; Jensen, Sören; Droser, Mary L.; Myrow, Paul M.; Narbonne, Guy M. (2001). "Burrowing below...
Aphrodisius into the acts of PaulofNarbonne. Gregory of Tours, in his History of Franks, mentions Aphrodisius. The first mention of the sanctuary dedicated...