Elzéar of Sabran, St.
ELZÉAR OF SABRAN, ST.
Count of Ariano (Benevento), Franciscan tertiary(?); b. Ansouis (Provence), France, 1286; d. Paris, Sept. 27, 1323. He married delphina of signe (1299 or 1300), and in 1316 they each took a vow of chastity. In 1312 Elzéar fought for Naples against Emperor henry vii, and he conquered Ariano in 1313. From 1317 on he was counselor to Duke Charles of Calabria, for whom he went in 1323 as ambassador to Paris. He died there and was buried in the Franciscan habit. His remains were brought to Apt the following year. In 1369 he was canonized by his own godchild Urban V, who published the papal bull only in 1371. His remains were transferred to the cathedral of Apt in 1791. Elzéar was a great apostle of Christian charity.
Feast: Sept. 27.
Bibliography: s. bernard, Les époux vierges : Elzéar de Sabran et Delphine de Signe (Paris 1994). p. a. giangrosso, Four Franciscan Saints' Lives : German Texts from Codex Sangallensis 589 (Stuttgart 1987).
[l. hardick]