Elzéar of Sabran

Elzéar of Sabran was born in 1285 at the castle of Saint-Jean-de-Robians, near Cabrières-d'Aigues in Provence, in southern France. He belonged to the noble house of Sabran and was the son of Hermengaud of Sabran, Baron of Ansouis, and of Laudune of Albe. As a boy he was placed in the care of his uncle William of Sabran, abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Victor in Marseille, who educated him in letters and in a disciplined Christian life. Around 1300 he married Delphine of Glandèves, also known as Delphine of Puimichel, a young woman of similar rank whose upbringing had likewise been strongly religious. By mutual consent the couple bound themselves to perpetual virginity and lived thereafter in continence, a decision attested by contemporaries and later central to both of their reputations for holiness.

After coming of age, Elzéar went to the Kingdom of Naples to take up ancestral lands and in time held the title of Count of Ariano. He served King Robert of Naples as counselor and administrator. Accounts of his government stress equity rather than force: he restrained his officers from unjust exactions, made himself available to the grievances of the poor, and was reputed never to have drawn his sword except in a cause he judged just. In his personal life he heard Mass daily, often remaining for a second celebration, recited the Divine Office, and devoted time to the sick, including lepers. He was received into the Third Order of Saint Francis and sought to shape the life of his household by Franciscan charity and simplicity so far as his rank and public duties allowed.

In 1323 King Robert sent him as ambassador to the court of Charles IV of France in Paris, to negotiate a marriage alliance for Charles, Duke of Calabria, the Angevin heir. During this mission Elzéar fell ill and died in Paris on 27 September 1323. His body was brought back to Provence and buried in the church of the Friars Minor at Apt. His widow Delphine thereafter lived in still greater poverty and itinerant prayer; she died in 1360 and came to be venerated as Blessed Delphine. Elzéar’s cult took root in Provence and among Franciscan tertiaries. He was canonized in 1369 by Pope Urban V, who according to tradition had been his godson. His feast is kept on 27 September.