Donatien of Reims (also known as Donatien or Donat) was a 4th-century French saint[1] and the 8th Bishop of Reims.[2]

Detail of St. Donatian, from Jan van Eyck's Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele (1436)

He died in AD 389, and in AD 863 the count of Flanders Baldwin I transferred his relics to the Church Saint-Agricol de Reims at Bruges, where his cult is still active. He is revered as a saint and his feast day is locally celebrated on 14 October.[1]

Legend

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A legend has it that he was thrown as a child into a river, where a holy man took five candles and placed them on a water wheel which showed where the child had gone, and he was able to recover the child.[3] Saint Donatien is represented holding a wheel bearing candles.

References

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  1. ^ a b Donatien de Reims.
  2. ^ Donatien of Rheims on Wikimedia He died in 421 Vos, Sint Donatianus patroon der kathedrale, stad van CommonsEdmond en ' t bisdom van Brugge. Eenige bladzijden te zijner era, Bruges, 1901.
  3. ^ Des Graviers et Jacomet, Reconnaître les Saints : Symboles et attributs, Massin, 2006 (ISBN 2-7072-0471-4).