E05254: In Gregory of Tours, in his Miracles of Julian (41), recounts how a church of *Julian (martyr of Brioude, S00035) in the Limousin (western Gaul) was dedicated with relics of the saint (wax from his tomb at Brioude, and water from the spring where his head was washed, miraculously transformed into balsam) by *Aredius (monk of Limoges, ob. 591, S00302). Written in Latin in Clermont and Tours (central and north-west Gaul), 573/587.

Gregory of Tours, Miracles of Julian (Liber de passione et virtutibus sancti Iuliani martyris) 41

Cum autem ad me Aridius presbiter ex Lemovicino venisset, vir valde religiosus, cui etiam in secundo virtutum beati Martini libro memini, dum sollicite vitam eius perscrutarer et actionem, inquirere coepi, quae ibidem beatissimus in miraculis prodidisset; in honore enim beati martyris basilicam aedificavit, quam et eius reliquiis inlustravit. Sicut ergo est verecundissimus, diu cunctatus, tandem haec et valde invitus exposuit. 'Quando', inquit, 'primum beati Iuliani adivi basilicam, parumper cerae a sepulchro sustuli. Inde veniens ad fontem, in quo beati sanguis effusus est, abluta aquis facie, parvam ab his pro benedictione conplevi ampullam. Tester omnipotentem Deum, quia, antequam ad domum accederem, colore, spissitudine atque odore in balsamo conmutata est. Veniens vero sacerdos ad dedicandam aedem, cum haec exposuissem, nihil aliud pro reliquiis in sanctum altare condere voluit nisi vasculum cuius aqua in balsamo conmutata fuerat, dicens: ‘Haec sunt certae reliquiae, quas martyr paradisiacis virtutibus inlustravit’.

'Aredius, a priest from Limoges, visited me, a most devout monk whom I have mentioned in my second book about the miracles of the blessed Martin. While I was carefully questioning him about his life and deeds, I began to ask what miracles the most blessed [Julian] had demonstrated there; for, in honour of the blessed martyr, Aredius had built a church and embellished it with his relics. As a very modest man, Aredius hesitated for a long time and then most reluctantly told these stories. He said: ‘When I first went to the church of the blessed Julian, I took a drop of wax from his tomb. Then I came to the spring in which the blessed [Julian’s] blood had been shed, washed my face in the water, and filled a small jar with this water as a blessing. I call omnipotent God as my witness, that before I returned home [this water] had been transformed into the colour, the consistency, and the fragrance of balsam. A bishop came to dedicate a shrine. Once I showed him these relics, he wished to place no other relics in the holy altar except this jar whose water had been transformed into balsam. The bishop said ‘These are certainly relics that the martyr has distinguished with the powers of Paradise.''

Text: Krusch 1969, 130-131. Translation: Van Dam 1993, 189; modified.