Johnnie St. Vrain: Was there really a saint named Vrain?

Dec. 18—Dear readers: Johnnie St. Vrain is spending some time with St. Nick. Enjoy this column from the archives, about the original St. Vrain, published originally in 2010. Merry Christmas!

Dear St. Johnnie: I know about Ceran St. Vrain. But who is the original St. Vrain? I don't remember a "real" religious saint by that name. Where did the family name originate? — St. Reader

Dear St. Reader: St. Vrain. Saint-Vrain. St. Verain. St. Véran. St. Veranus. All are names I encountered as I sought the answers to your questions.

My search started at the Longmont Public Library, where I found the book "Ceran St. Vrain, 1802-1870," by Edward Broadhead. In this book, I learned that Ceran's father — Jacques Marcellin Ceran de Hault de Lassus — added "de St. Vrain" to his name to distinguish himself from his brother, who was lieutenant governor of Louisiana. (For those of you new to the name, Ceran St. Vrain is the trader after whom our beautiful region is named.)

Given that Jacques Marcellin Ceran de Hault de Lassus de St. Vrain (phew!) added the de St. Vrain while in America, who's to say where it originated? It might have originated only in Jacques' head.

But because Jacques followed his father to America from France, I went to France to see if I could find the name. I traveled via the Internet.

That's where I found a city named St. Verain, a mountain village named St. Véran and two communes named Saint-Vrain. So it is possible that Jacques took the name from his homeland.

This leads us to your question about a saint named Vrain.

I checked the list of saints on Catholic.org. I found no St. Vrain, but I found St. Veranus (four entries, each with a connection to France) and St. Verana (originally from Egypt but who moved to Switzerland). So between those two, Veranus seemed more likely to be a person who also could be St. Vrain. St. Veranus, bishop of Cavaillon, captured my attention. Veranus, who lived in the sixth century, is credited with taming, then banishing, a dragon that terrorized the village of Vaucluse.

I found online a copy of "The Catholic World, a Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science," Volume 34, encompassing October 1881 through March 1882.

In that volume was an article titled "Vaucluse," which included the tale of St. Véran, who was "appointed to the see of Cavaillon in 568." His biography matched that of St. Veranus of Cavaillon on Catholic.org.

Deep in the magazine article, in the last paragraph of page 97, is a statement that in Jargeau, France, Véran is "honored ... under the name of St. Vrain."

Bingo. Veranus is Véran is Vrain.

Whether he meant it or not, Jacques Marcellin Ceran de Hault de Lassus de St. Vrain took on the name of a real saint. That name was passed to his son, Ceran, and eventually to our part of Colorado.

See more questions and answers at https://www.timescall.com/tag/johnnie-st-vrain/.