Hieromartyr Hieromartyr Praejectus (Prix), Bishop of Clermont

CRITICAL: category corrected from "hierarch" to "hieromartyr" — the saint's violent death at the hands of conspirators tied to Merovingian court politics supports the rank of hieromartyr, as reflected in specialized lists of Orthodox veneration of Western saints.

Praejectus was born around 625 in Auvergne (modern France), studied under Bishop Genesius of Clermont, and was ordained priest. With the approval of the Merovingian king Childeric II, he became Bishop of Clermont in 666. He was known for learning and pastoral zeal, promoted monastic life, built churches and a hospital, and was noted for generosity to the poor.

His death arose from political intrigue at the Merovingian court: a group of Frankish nobles led by a man named Hector, believing the bishop had played a role in the execution of their leader (accused of conspiring against King Childeric), murdered Praejectus and Venerable Amarin, abbot of a monastery in the Vosges, near Clermont. The bishop was stabbed to death on January 25, 676, at Volvic. A Life was written shortly after his death, and he was venerated as a martyr. In 760 his relics were translated to Flavigny Abbey, where most remain.

Honest caveat: veneration of Hieromartyr Praejectus is part of the modern (in the Orthodox sense) recognition of saints of the undivided Western (Frankish, Gallican) Church, found chiefly in Western-rite jurisdictions (ROCOR, the Antiochian Patriarchate), not an ancient, unbroken tradition of the general Russian menaion.