07 September - In 253, a sixteen-year-old Gaulish girl named Reine, who had converted to Christianity, was grazing her sheep at the foot of Mount Auxois, the presumed site of the Gallic oppidum of Alesia and then the Roman town. A Roman governor of the Gauls, Olibrius or Olimbrius, wanted to abuse her but she resisted and even refused to marry so as not to abjure her faith.
She was martyred and beheaded. From the following century, a cult developed, which has been attested since the 5th century, the martyrdom of this saint later becoming the subject of a great number of mysteries.
Her body was transferred out of the city of Alesia, where a basilica was built over her tomb. Among the miracles performed were the healing of a child named Heriboldus who was cured of a high fever, also the healing of a man from Reome who was healed by applying a piece of wood from the saint's stretcher, as well as the healing of a brother suffering from the stone disease and the partial healing of a blind man.
The cult of this saint could be guaranteed by the discovery in 1909 of the "Eucharistic service" of Alesia, a discovery consisting of a set of one dish and three cups that are supposedly used for the celebration of the Eucharist. The dish bears an engraved fish (ichtus as in Autun), and the name "Regina". The set, dated from the 4th century, no longer casts doubt on the existence of the young martyr.
The village, Alise-Sainte-Reine, which grew up at the foot of Mount Auxois, took her as its patron saint, and every year the inhabitants will organise the representation of a mystery in her memory and in her honour. This tradition has been attested since 866 and continues to this day. It is said to be the oldest mystery celebrated without interruption in France. In 1271, it was re-engraved in a silver reliquary bust with the arms of France, Castile and ancient Burgundy.
The Confraternity of Saint Queen dates back to 1544, created by the monks of Flavigny, and in 1644, with the reform of the Benedictines of Saint Maur, the pilgrimage experienced a revival and the members of the Confraternity were endowed by Monsignor Louis Doni d'Attichy, Bishop of Autun, with 40 days of indulgence in 1659. In the 16th century the monks used to pass the chain of the Saint Reine around the necks of pilgrims. Today this chain is kept in the parish church of Flavigny-sur-Ozerain and is exposed to the veneration of the pilgrims on September 7th, the day of her feast.
Its relics have been kept in the abbey of Flavigny-sur-Ozerain since the middle of the 9th century. Incubation and contact with the saint's sarcophagus is attested in the 9th century. The crypt was fitted out to receive the body of the saint. Crypt with a central nave flanked by an ambulatory which extends to the east by a corridor leading to a rotunda of the same type as that of the Abbey of Saint-Germain d'Auxerre. The relics of the saint were deposited in the 17th century in a cupboard behind the high altar and their display in a theatre on her feast day.
