Céline de Meaux

Who they were

Born to a noble family, Celina wished to consecrate herself to God despite the world around her. The chance came when she met Saint Genevieve, passing through her city of Meaux; overcoming her fiancé's resistance, she took refuge with Genevieve in the cathedral, whose doors, according to the legend, miraculously opened and closed behind them. From then on Celina wore the habit of a consecrated virgin and devoted herself entirely to works of charity.

No contemporary document allows these stories, first recorded by Usuard and later repeated by Fulcanius of Meaux in the 11th century, to be verified. She died after 480 and was buried near Meaux; her relics, hidden during the French Revolution, are now in the cathedral of Meaux. Her feast, 21 October, is shared with another Saint Celina, mother of Saint Remigius, and the sources do not allow certainty as to which of the two the ancient veneration at Meaux truly honours.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: she has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

Virgin of Meaux, companion of Saint Genevieve according to legend; feast 21 October, shared with another saint of the same name.