Saint Narcissus of Gerona

Also known as

• Narcissus of Ausburg
• Narcissus of Girona
• Narciso of….
• Narcis of….

Memorial

• 18 March
• formerly 29 October

Profile

Born to he nobility. Priest, preacher and bishop of Gerona, Spain in the early 4th century. During the persecutions of Diocletian he fled to modern Augsburg, Germany with his deacon, Saint Felix of Gerona. There they befriended Saint Afra of Augsburg. Returning to Gerona, he and Felix were arrested and martyred.

Legend associates him with the miracle of the flies which led to some of his patronage topics and iconography. In 1286 the army of Philip II of Burgundy laid siege to the city of Gerona. When the troops tried to desecrate the tomb of Saint Narcissus, it broke open, a cloud of stinging flies emerged, chased the soldiers and caused to much havoc that the French troops fled, leaving the city in peace.

Died

• c.307 at Gerona, Catalonia, Spain
• relics in an urn in the San Narciso chapel in the church of San Felix in Gerona

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation

Patronage

• against mosquitoes
• against stinging flies
• Augsburg, Germany
• Gerona, Spain

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Catholic Online
• Kirken i Norge
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
• Wikipedia

MLA Citation

• “Saint Narcissus of Gerona“. Saints.SQPN.com. 17 March 2013. Web. 18 May 2013. <>