St. Marius (May)

As a monk in his native city of Orleans, France, Marius was remembered for his exceptional purity and innocence. He became the founder and first abbot of the monastery of Bodon (in what is now the department of Drome) around the year 506. Having fallen ill, he went on pilgrimage to the shrine of the martyr Saint Denis near Paris to pray for a cure. The night after arriving, Marius had a dream in which Saint Denis appeared and healed him. Upon awaking, Marius found himself truly cured of his malady. He took up the custom of withdrawing from his monastery during Lent to live as a hermit in the forest. To a bishop who had come to see him during one of his sojourns in the woods, Marius related a vision of heaven he had experienced in which he saw the Blessed Virgin Mary prostrate together with the angels at the feet of God, pleading for the peace of Italy. The vision foretold the devastation of Italy by Barbarian invaders.