Calupan

Who they were

Born around 526, Calupan was received as a boy into the monastery of Melitum. Being in poor health and unable to do the ordinary work of the community, he left the abbey to live as a hermit, withdrawing to a cave on a nearby rock, where he fed on bread brought by his former brother monks, fish that God caused to appear in the cave, and water from a spring that sprang up miraculously. He suffered greatly from temptation, once seeing the devil in the form of a dragon, but overcame it through prayer and the sign of the cross.

Visited by Bishop Avitus of Clermont, who found him learned, he was ordained deacon and then priest. According to Gregory of Tours, who knew him personally, Calupan died on 3 March, probably in 576; the Benedictine Order keeps his feast on that day, though no trace of an active veneration now remains.

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

Hermit of Auvergne ordained priest by Saint Avitus of Clermont; feast 3 March.

Connected on this site

• Gregory of Tours Saint
  “According to Gregory of Tours, who knew him personally, Calupan died on 3 March, probably in 576; the Benedictine Order keeps his feast on that day, though no trace of an active veneration now remains.” — this site's research