Saint Denys

Denis of Paris
Saint Denis holding his head. Statue at the left portal of Notre Dame de Paris.
Bishop and Martyr
Born	3rd century AD Italy, Roman Empire
Died	c. 250, 258, or 270 Montmartre, Lutetia, Roman province of Gaul (modern day Paris, France)
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Anglican Communion
Major shrine	Saint Denis Basilica
Feast	9 October
Attributes	carrying his severed head in his hands; a bishop's mitre; city; furnace
Patronage	France; Paris; against frenzy, strife, headaches, hydrophobia, San Dionisio (Parañaque City), possessed people

Saint Denis was a legendary 3rd-century Christian martyr and saint. According to his hagiographies, he was bishop of Paris in the third century and, together with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, was martyred for his faith by decapitation. Some accounts placed this during Domitian's persecution and identified St Denis of Paris with the Areopagite who was converted by St Paul and who served as the first bishop of Athens. Assuming Denis's historicity, it is now considered more likely that he suffered under the persecution of the emperor Decius shortly after AD 250. Denis is the most famous cephalophore in Christian legend, with a popular story claiming that the decapitated bishop picked up his head and walked several miles while preaching a sermon on repentance. He is venerated in the Catholic Church as the patron saint of France and Paris and is accounted one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. A chapel was raised at the site of his burial by a local Christian woman; it was later expanded into an abbey and basilica, around which grew up the French city of Saint-Denis, now a suburb of Paris.