Saint Julian, Bishop of Cenomanis (Le Mans) in Gaul

Julian is honoured as the first bishop of Le Mans (Cenomanis) in Gaul. According to his Life, which was written long after his time, he was sent from Rome by the apostle Peter to preach in Gaul, and some identified him with Simon the leper of the Gospels. The Life tells that people at first mocked his teaching, but that he gained a following by healings and raised the dead son of a nobleman named Jovinianus.

The Life adds that he visited villages around Le Mans, destroyed idols and built churches, and that he lived at first in a small house outside the city, where he was said to have caused a spring to flow. Historians generally place the beginnings of the church of Le Mans later than the 1st century.