THE church of Bourges in France was founded by St. Ursin, who was sent
from Rome to preach the faith in Gaul. St. Gregory of Tours, in his
history, places his mission in the middle of the third century,[1] yet
in his book on the Glory of Confessors,[2] he tells us that he was
ordained by the disciples of the apostles, and governed many years the
church of Bourges, which he had planted. He was interred in a common
burial-place in a field without the city; but his remains were
translated thence by St. Germanus, bishop of Paris, and abbot of St.
Symphorian's,[3] and by Probianus, bishop of Bourges, and deposited in
the church of St. Symphorian, now called St. Ursin's.[4] This saint is
honored in the Roman Martyrology on the 9th of November; at Lisieux, and
some other places, on the 29th of December. Among the most eminent of
his successors, two are called Sulpicius, and both surnamed Pious; the
first, who is sometimes called the Severe, sat from the year 584 to 591,
and his relics are enshrined in the church of St. Ursin.[5] His name was
inserted in the Roman Martyrology by Baronius, on the 29th of January,
and occurs in other more ancient calendars.[6]
Footnotes:
1. S. Gr. Tur. Hist. l. 1, c. 28.
2. L. de Gl. Conf. c. 80.
3. Fortunat. in Vita S. German Paris
4. Gallia Christ. nova, t. 2, p. 4.
5. See St. Greg. Turon. and Gallia Christ. nov. t. 2, p. 15.
6. See Benedict XIV. Litter. Apost. praefix. Martyr. Rom. Sec.46, p. 33.