Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume V: May. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
May 23St. Desiderius, Bishop of Vienne, Martyr
| WHEN Queen Brunehaut governed the courts of her two sons, Theodebert, king of Austrasia, and Theodoric of Burgundy, this zealous pastor boldly reproved her for her incests and cruelties; but a sermon which he preached before her and Theodoric on chastity, chiefly in the words of St. Paul, procured him the crown of martyrdom; for, in his return home, he was by their order and contrivance murdered by three assassins in a village now called St. Didier de Chalaraine, near the brook of that name in the principality of Dombes, in 612. See Fredegarius, Aimoinus, Jonas, &c. quoted by Henschenius the Bollandist; and Acta vel Passio S. Desiderii M. a Sisebuto Rege (Hispaniæ) composita, published by Flores, Espana Sagrada, t. 7, Append. 4, p. 337. | 1 |