Agricius of Trier, St.
AGRICIUS OF TRIER, ST.
Fourth-century bishop of Trier; d. c. 335. Agricius (Agrecius, Agritius) took part in the Council of Arles (314) and was possibly the master and predecessor of Bishop Maximinus, who welcomed the exiled St. athanasius to Trier. The name of Agricius is connected with the legend of the "Holy Tunic of Trier," which he allegedly received from the Empress (St.) Helena and brought to Trier along with the bones of St. matthias and other relics. An eleventh-century legend speaks of him as originally bishop of Antioch and says he changed Helena's palace into a cathedral.
Feast: Jan. 13.
Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum Jan. 2:55–63. h. v. sauerland, Trierer Geschichtsquellen des XI. Jahrhunderts (Trier 1889) 55–212. e. ewig, Trierer Zeitschrift 21 (1952) 30–33. a. heintz, Lexicon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 1:207.
[p. roche]