Saint Aphrodisius

Aphrodisius (French: Saint Aphrodise, Afrodise, Aphrodyse, Aphrodite) is a saint associated with the diocese of Béziers, in Languedoc, Southern France. According to Gregory of Tours, Aphrodisius was an Egyptian who was martyred in Languedoc along with his followers Caralippus (Caralampus), Agapius, and Eusebius. A Christian tradition states that he was a prefect or high priest of Heliopolis who sheltered the Holy Family at Hermopolis when they fled into Egypt. Aphrodisius learned of the miracles of Jesus from Alexandrian Jews returning from a pilgrimage in Jerusalem. According to Christian legend, Aphrodisius went to Palestine to meet Jesus and became one of his disciples. After the Resurrection, Aphrodisius received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He accompanied Sergius Paulus to Provence. They evangelized Narbonensis: Sergius settled in Narbonne. The legend continues that Aphrodisius arrived at Béziers mounted on a camel and became a hermit in a cave near the city. He lived in it a long time before becoming a bishop. Local traditions assign Aphrodisius as the first Bishop of Béziers and state that he was decapitated by a group of pagans, along with his companions, on the street now known as Place Saint-Cyr, the site of a Roman circus used for gladiators' fights. Aphrodisius was executed by beheading. The head was kicked into a well, but the water gushed out and the decapitated Aphrodisius picked up his own head, and carried it through the city. Townspeople spilt snails on the road and Aphrodisius stepped on them without breaking one. Several stonemasons began to mock him, calling him a madman. They were miraculously punished by being turned into stones (visitors still point out their seven stone heads on the Rue des Têtes, "the street of the heads"). Aphrodisius left his head at the cave that he had previously occupied. This was a spot on which later stood a chapel dedicated to Saint Peter, later a basilica named after Aphrodisius (Saint-Aphrodise).