St. Lupus of Chalons

A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

Read the essentials →
January 27 · Bishop

St. Lupus of Chalons

St. Lupus of Chalons

A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

Traditional feast

January 27
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1914)

Current feast

July 29
Secondary source · Wikipedia

Represents

Bishop

Their story

Adapted in modern English from Baring-Gould (1914) · original text below

Lupus, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Saône, flourished around 610. He was born to honourable parents and won his people's hearts by his generous charity, his self-denial and his tenderness to the sick.

Châlons was short of drinking water and its soil was dry and sandy. The story goes that one hot day Lupus stood with his ivory staff watching the haymakers, who were exhausted, and knowing the muddy river water was unfit to drink, he struck his staff into the sand. A clear spring bubbled up, and it is said to flow still.

As he was dying he sent for the governor of Châlons and begged him to pardon the wretched prisoners waiting under sentence of death. The governor roughly refused. After Lupus died, his funeral passed the prison and the bier was set down there. The prisoners reached their hands through the bars, crying pitifully, and legend says their chains fell off at once and the doors flew open, setting them free.

Early life

Selected sentences from the original account, unaltered.

Thin entry · the 1914 book gives only 201 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

He was the son of honourable parents, and he commended himself to the people by his abundant charity, his self-denial, and his tenderness to the sick.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Look after people who are sick or suffering. The sick come up again and again in this story.

Give to people in need. The account records care for the poor.

Learn from the kind of life it was. A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

Read more

The full original · 201 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: Called in France Loup , Leul , or Leu . He was canonized by Pope John VIII, in 879; he is commemorated on this day at Châlons; also there on April 30th, the day of his canonization. His life is by an anonymous writer, who says that he wrote it from the remembrance of those who had read the Acts of S. Lupus which had been destroyed by fire.

S. Lupus, Bishop of Cabilinum, or Châlons sur Saone, flourished about the year 610. He was the son of honourable parents, and he commended himself to the people by his abundant charity, his self-denial, and his tenderness to the sick. Châlons being ill-provided with drinking water, and the soil dry and sandy, he miraculously provided it with an abundant spring which flows to the present day. The story is thus told. He stood one day with his ivory pastoral staff in hand watching the hay makers; the sun was hot, and the labourers were exhausted. Moved with compassion, and knowing that the turbid waters of the river were unfit to drink, he struck his staff into the sand, and a limpid spring bubbled up. When dying he sent for the governor of Châlons, and begged him to pardon the unfortunate wretches who languished in the prison under sentence of death. The governor roughly refused. After Lupus was dead, his funeral passed the city prison, and the bier was set down at that place. The prisoners stretched their hands through the bars of their windows crying piteously. Instantly their chains fell off, the doors flew open, and they were set at liberty.

Feast days

Feast: July 29
Traditional: January 27

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Lupus of Chalons's story, and a nudge to keep going.

Also on January 27
St. Julian of Mans

St. Julian of Mans

January 27 · Bishop
St. Devota in Corsica

St. Devota in Corsica

January 27 · Virgin, Martyr
St. John Chrysostom

St. John Chrysostom

January 27 · Bishop, Deacon
← All 1727 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Story sources

Sources

Credits

Image: Le Lou-du-Lac (35) Église 19.JPG · GO69 · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new and revised edition (Edinburgh: John Grant, 1914; first edition 1872). Public domain.

Image: GO69, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new and revised edition (Edinburgh: John Grant, 1914; first edition 1872). Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.