Today, 28 May, is the feast of ...
Once again, my Chartres Ordinary lists something out of the ordinary
here, namely the feast of St Cheron, apparently a contemporary of St
Denis, who evangelized the Chartrain region and who is immortalized
in both the sculpture and stained glass of the cathedral. He lived,
apparently in the 5th century, and having left Rome for Marseilles,
Lyons, then Chartres, he met his death en route to Paris. A
monastery was founded on the site of his martyrdom, served first by
monks, and after 1149 by regular canons. His cult was established
fairly late, the earliest vita belonging to the 9th century.
According to research conducted by Jean Villette, the word
"Cheron" designates a heap of stones or cairn: "Caraunus a
tout a fait l'allure d'un nom gaulois. Il repose sur une base
Kar, a present bien connue, qui signifie "pierre" et se trouve
le plus vraisemblement a l'origine du nom des Carnutes (qui
produit le nom de Chartres)." The cult of St Cheron might, in
fact, exploit an ancient devotion to a divine rock. According
to the narrative contained in the stained glass window at
Chartres, Cheron's parents assured him of an education. He
then refused to marry and began working miracles - exorcizing
demons and curing a blind man, for example - and preached
before being martyred by three bandits. Like St Denis, he
carried his decapitated head to where he wanted to be buried,
near the fountain of Saint-Mesme, which was located in the crypt of
his church (as the Puits des Saints Forts was located in the crypt
of Chartres Cathedral). He then began appearing at his tomb and
working miracles. King Clotaire attended his funeral, and Cheron
became well established in the local Chartrain liturgy. It all
sounds a bit like stock hagiographic topoi, to me. Perhaps
Christopher knows more.
Hoping this is of some interest,
Jim Bugslag
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