If you enjoy this daily blog of lesser-known saints, see my book, which contains short biographies of saints for every day of the year.
Saint Marcian was just a young man running away from the destruction caused by Visigoth armies when he entered a monastery at Auxerre, France. He was an obedient, devout novice when his abbot gave him a lowly task: caring for the cows and sheep of the abbey. It wasn’t long before everyone noticed that the animals were thriving under Marcian’s care. Not only domestic animals, but wild animals seemed to obey the humble monk. When he died, the monks changed the name of their abbey to honor Saint Marcian in death, around the year 488.
Saint Marcian, give me your tender devotion to God and His Creation.