Avitus of Vienne
Archbishop of Vienne
Feast: 4 February (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Avitus (Alcimus Ecdicius) was Bishop of Vienne in Gaul from 490 until about 518. He came from a leading Gallo-Roman family related to the Emperor Avitus. In the Burgundian kingdom he worked to end the Arian heresy, won the trust of King Gundobad and converted his son, King Sigismund, and he firmly upheld the authority of the pope as the bond of the Church's unity.
He was also one of the last masters of classical rhetoric in Gaul. His long poem on the Bible story from the Fall to the crossing of the Red Sea was much admired, and his letters, including a famous one to Clovis on his baptism, are an important source for the history of his time.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
A bishop who helped win the Burgundian kingdom from Arianism to the Catholic faith.
Connected on this site
- Apollinaris of Valence Saint Brother or sister
- Hesychius I Saint Father, Parent“The Roman Martyrology remembers him on 12 November as a senator who became bishop of Vienne, father of Saints Apollinaris of Valence and Avitus of Vienne.” — this site's research
- Pragmatius of Autun Saint“He was a friend of Sidonius Apollinaris and Avitus of Vienne, and he participated in at least one of the councils of his time.” — Wikipedia
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Avitus
- Roman Martyrology, 5 February (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q225201 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Avitus of Vienne (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.