Maître de Saint Gilles, Baptême de Clovis 1er, roi des Francs, par Saint Rémi, vers 1500, National Gallery of Art de Washington.
Master of Saint Giles, The Baptism of
Clovis , circa 1500, 61,5 x 45,5, National Gallery of Art
Maestro
di Saint Gilles, San Remigio di Reims battezza il re Clodoveo (1500 ca.), olio
su tavola, Washington, National Gallery
Saint Remi
Évêque de Reims (+ 530)
Au propre de France, Rémi
est fêté le 15 janvier (dies natalis).
Au propre du diocèse de
Reims, il est fêté le 1er octobre, jour de la "translation" des
reliques pour y être vénéré par les rémois à l'emplacement où s'élèvera
l'actuelle basilique (attesté dès 585 - installation d'un monastère vers
750-760).
Issu d'une grande famille
gallo-romaine de la région de Laon, il avait pour mère sainte
Céline. A 22 ans, il est choisi comme évêque de Reims et son activité
missionnaire s'étend jusqu'à la Belgique. Il fonde les diocèses de Thérouanne,
Laon et Arras, crée tout un réseau d'assistance pour les pauvres et joue un
rôle de médiateur auprès des Barbares. Quand le chef franc Clovis prend le
pouvoir, saint Rémi lui envoie un message "Soulage tes concitoyens,
secours les affligés, protège les veuves, nourris les orphelins."
La reine sainte Clotilde,
tout naturellement, se tournera vers saint Rémi et vers un autre évêque
contemporain, saint Vaast, pour
acheminer le roi vers la foi. Après le baptême de Reims, saint Rémi restera,
jusqu'à sa mort, l'un des conseillers écoutés du roi et sera l'un des artisans,
en Gaule, du retour à la vérité catholique des Burgondes après le bataille de
Dijon et des Wisigoths à Vouillé, deux populations contaminées par
l'arianisme.
Voir
aussi sur le site du diocèse de Reims.
Au 13 janvier au
martyrologe romain: À Reims, vers 530, la naissance au ciel de saint Remi,
évêque, qui, après avoir lavé le roi Clovis dans la fontaine baptismale et
l’avoir initié aux sacrements de la foi, il convertit au Christ le peuple des
Francs. Il quitta cette vie, célèbre par sa sainteté après plus de soixante ans
d’épiscopat. (En France, sa mémoire est célébrée le 15, jour de sa mise au tombeau.)
Martyrologe romain
Secourez les malheureux,
protégez les veuves, nourrissez les orphelins… Que votre tribunal reste ouvert
à tous et que personne n’en sorte triste ! Toutes les richesses de vos
ancêtres, vous les emploierez à la libération des captifs et au rachat des
esclaves. Admis en votre palais, que nul ne s’y sente étranger ! Plaisantez
avec les jeunes, délibérez avec les vieillards !
Lettre de saint Rémi au
roi Clovis - 482
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/439/Saint-Remi.html
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867),
Saint Rémi, évêque de Reims, carton pour les vitraux de la chapelle Saint-Louis
à Dreux, Eure-et--Loir, France
Saint Remi
Évêque de Reims
La Tradition nous apprend
que Remi naquit dans une famille pieuse et emplie de la crainte de Dieu. Son
père, Émile, comte de Laon, fut dit-on un extraordinaire administrateur, tandis
que sa mère, sainte Céline, alliait toutes les qualités de mère et de grande
dame. Émile et Céline eurent d'abord deux garçons : saint Principe, évêque de
Soissons, et un autre, père de saint Loup, successeur de son oncle à Soissons.
On raconte que l'ermite
Montan reçut trois fois de Dieu l'ordre d'aller avertir Émile et Céline qu'ils
auraient encore un fils et que celui-ci serait l'apôtre des Francs en même
temps que le reconstructeur de l'Église des Gaules. C'est ainsi que naquit
Remi, à Laon, vers le milieu du V° siècle.
Très vite, dit-on, Remi
montra une grande piété et beaucoup d'humilité, en même temps qu'une grande
intelligence ; aussi le mit-on très tôt à l'étude où il progressa vivement.
Vers sa vingtième année, il se claustra dans une petite maison proche du
château de Laon où il continua d'étudier en menant une vie de prière, ne
sortant que pour les offices et l'exercice de la charité. Sa réputation grandit
au point que lorsque mourut Bennadius, évêque de Reims, le clergé et le peuple
de cette ville demandèrent qu'il soit leur évêque bien qu'il n'eût que
vingt-deux ans.
Remi fit toutes les
représentations possibles et imaginables pour échapper à l'élection ; rien n'y
fit, les rémois n'en démordirent pas et répondaient à tout, jusqu'à ce que Dieu
lui-même s'en vint ratifier leur choix lorsqu'Il envoya un rayon de lumière sur
le front de Remi en l'embaumant d'un céleste parfum. Les gens de Reims
enlevèrent alors l'élu et le firent sacrer leur XV° évêque.
À peine sacré, il se mit
à exercer son épiscopat avec l'autorité et le discernement d'un vieil évêque :
homme de prière et de célébration, de pénitence et de charité ; prédicateur de
talent et parfait instructeur du peuple. De plus, il ne tarda guère à opérer
des miracles comme délivrer des possédés de l'emprise du démon, rendre la vue
aux aveugles, préserver de l'incendie et de la mort, changer de l'eau en vin et
même ressusciter des morts.
Or, il advint que Clovis
monta sur un trône des Francs et Remi ne manqua pas de lui écrire promptement
pour le féliciter et aussi pour lui adresser ses conseils :
L'important, c'est que la
justice de Dieu ne chancelle point chez nous.
... Vous devez vous
servir de conseillers capables d'orner votre réputation.
... Vous devrez avoir de
la déférence pour nos prêtres et recourir toujours à leurs conseils : si
l'harmonie règne entre Vous et eux, notre pays en profitera.
... Secourez les
affligés, ayez soin des veuves, nourrissez les orphelins.
... Que tous vous aiment
et vous craignent.
Clovis ne tarda pas à
nourrir une grande estime pour les qualités humaines de l'évêque Remi dont il
fit un de ses conseillers privilégiés. Le chroniqueur Frégédaire affirme que
Remi fut le bénéficiaire de l'histoire du ‘ vase de Soissons ’.
Enfin lorsque la Gaule du
Nord fut conquise, il est vraisemblable que Remi fut l'intermédiaire entre la
population et les Francs, d'autant plus que les autres évêques reconnaissaient
Remi pour leur porte-parole et leur défenseur.
Cependant, il convenait
au plus tôt de réaliser la prophétie de Montan et de convertir Clovis dont
l'épouse, Clotilde, était déjà chrétienne. Remi fit alors le siège de Clovis et
l'encercla par des arguments politiques (les ennemis qu'il restait à vaincre -
Wisigoths, Burgondes, Ostrogoths - étaient hérétiques et le Roi devenu
catholique serait reçu comme un libérateur venu restituer la vraie foi), en
même temps que par des démonstrations spirituelles et intellectuelles. Clovis
se décida lors de la bataille de Tolbiac qu'il gagna, pensa-t-il,
miraculeusement. L'ennemi ayant fait volte-face, Clovis fut acclamé par ses
guerriers et, publiquement, commença le chemin de la conversion sous la
conduite de saint Remi. Le baptême eut lieu à Noël 496 dans la cathédrale de
Reims et une colombe apporta le Saint Chrême du ciel. Trois mille guerriers se
firent baptiser avec leur roi. Clovis devint le nouveau Constantin et rallia
les populations catholiques des Gaules.
Brisé par la maladie,
saint Remi mourut après plus de 70 ans d'épiscopat, le 13 janvier 533, et fut
déposé au tombeau le 15 janvier. La translation solennelle de ses reliques eut
lieu le 1° octobre de la même année.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/01/15.php
Miracle
de saint Remi, école de Reims, XIVe siècle.
Saint Rémi
Archevêque de Reims,
Apôtre des Francs
(438-533)
La naissance de saint
Rémi fut prédite à ses parents déjà avancés en âge par un vieux moine aveugle.
Les talents et les vertus de Rémi le firent consacrer archevêque de Reims, à
l'âge de vingt-deux ans; sa consécration fut marquée par un prodige: le front
de Rémi parut brillant de lumière et fut embaumé d'un parfum tout céleste.
Il montra dès l'abord
toutes les vertus des grands pontifes. Les miracles relevèrent encore l'éclat
de sa sainteté: pendant ses repas, les oiseaux venaient prendre du pain dans
ses mains; il guérit un aveugle possédé du démon; il remplit de vin, par le
signe de la Croix, un vase presque vide; il éteignit, par sa seule présence, un
terrible incendie; il délivra du démon une jeune fille que saint Benoît n'avait
pu délivrer.
L'histoire de sainte
Clotilde nous apprend comment Clovis se tourna vers le Dieu des chrétiens, à la
bataille de Tolbiac, et remporta la victoire. Ce fut saint Rémi qui acheva
d'instruire le prince. Comme il lui racontait, d'une manière touchante, la
Passion du Sauveur: "Ah! s'écria le guerrier, que n'étais-je là avec mes
Francs pour Le délivrer!" La nuit avant le baptême, saint Rémi alla
chercher le roi, la reine et leur suite dans le palais, et les conduisit à
l'église, où il leur fit un éloquent discours sur la vanité des faux dieux et
les grands mystères de la religion chrétienne. Alors l'église se remplit d'une
lumière et d'une odeur célestes, et l'on entendit une voix qui disait: "La
paix soit avec vous!"
Le Saint prédit à Clovis
et à Clotilde les grandeurs futures des rois de France, s'ils restaient fidèles
à Dieu et à l'Église. Quand fut venu le moment du baptême, il dit au roi:
"Courbe la tête, fier Sicambre; adore ce que tu as brûlé, et brûle ce que
tu as adoré." Au moment de faire l'onction du Saint Chrême, le pontife,
s'apercevant que l'huile manquait, leva les yeux au Ciel et pria Dieu d'y
pourvoir. Tout à coup, on aperçut une blanche colombe descendre d'en haut,
portant une fiole pleine d'un baume miraculeux; le saint prélat la prit, et fit
l'onction sur le front du prince. Cette fiole, appelée dans l'histoire la
sainte Ampoule, exista jusqu'en 1793, époque où elle fut brisée par les
révolutionnaires. Outre l'onction du baptême, saint Rémi avait conféré au roi
Clovis l'onction royale. Deux soeurs du roi, trois mille seigneurs, une foule
de soldats, de femmes et d'enfants furent baptisés le même jour.
Saint Rémi devint aveugle
dans sa vieillesse. Ayant recouvré la vue par miracle, il célébra une dernière
fois le Saint Sacrifice et s'éteignit, âgé de quatre-vingt-seize ans.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_remi.html
Saint
Remy et Clovis Ier. Cote : Français 241 ,
Fol.
266v. Jacobus de Voragine, Legenda aurea (traduction de Jean de
Vignay),
France,
Paris, XIVe siècle, Richard de Montbaston.
SAINT REMI
Remi vient de rameur, qui
conduit et dirige le navire. Ou de rames, instruments à l’aide desquels on mène
le vaisseau. Il vient de plus de gyon, lutte. En effet saint Remi gouverna
l’église et la préserva du naufrage ; il la conduisit à la porte du paradis, et
il combattit pour elle contre les embûches du diable.
Saint Remi convertit à
J.-C. le roi et la nation des Francs. En effet ce roi avait épousé une femme
très chrétienne nommée Clotilde qui employait inutilement tous les moyens pour
convertir son mari à la foi: Ayant mis au monde un fils, elle voulut qu'il fût baptisé;
le roi s'y opposa formellement : or, comme elle n'avait pas de plus pressant
désir, elle finit par obtenir le consentement de Clovis; et l’enfant fut
baptisé; mais peu de temps après, il mourut subitement. Le roi dit à Clotilde :
« On voit maintenant que le Christ est un dieu de maigre valeur, puisqu'il n'a
pu conserver à la vie celui par lequel sa croyance pouvait être accrue. »
Clotilde lui dit : « Bien au contraire, c'est en cela que je me sens
singulièrement aimée de mon Dieu, puisque je sais qu'il a repris le premier
fruit de mon sein ; il a donné à mon fils. un royaume infiniment meilleur que
le tien. » Or, elle conçut de nouveau et mit au monde un second fils qu'elle
fit baptiser au plus tôt ainsi que le premier; quand tout à coup, il tomba si gravement
malade qu'on désespéra de sa vie. Alors le roi dit à son épouse : « Vraiment
ton dieu (142) est bien faible pour ne pouvoir conserver à la vie quelqu'un
baptisé en son nom : quand tu en engendrerais un mille et que tu les ferais
baptiser, tous ils périront de même. Cependant l’enfant entra en convalescence
et recouvra la santé ; il régna même après son père. Or, cette femme fidèle
s'efforçait d'amener son mari à 1a foi, mais celui-ci résistait d'une manière
absolue. (Dans une autre fête de saint Remi qui se trouve après l’Épiphanie, on
a dit comment il fut converti,) Et quand le roi Clovis eut été fait chrétien,
il voulut doter l’église de Reims, et dit à saint Remi : « Je vous veux donner
tout le terrain dont vous pourrez faire le, tour pendant ma méridienne
(Flodoard, c. XIV). »Ainsi fut fait. Mais sur un point du terrain que Remi
parcourait, se trouvait un moulin, et le meunier repoussa le saint avec
indignation. Saint Remi lui dit : « Mon ami, souffre sans te plaindre que nous
partagions ce moulin. » Cet homme le repoussa encore, mais aussitôt la roue du
moulin se mit à tourner à rebours ; il appela alors saint Remi en lui disant :
« Serviteur de Dieu, venez, et possédons le moulin en commun. » Le saint lui
répondit : « Ce ne sera ni à toi, ni à moi. » Et à l’instant la terre
s'entr'ouvrit et engloutit entièrement le moulin. Saint Remi, prévoyant qu'il y
aurait une famine, amassa beaucoup de blé ; des paysans ivres, pour se moquer
de la prudence du vieillard mirent le feu au magasin. Quand saint Remi apprit
cela, à raison des glaces de l’âge et du soir qui était arrivé il se mit à Se
chauffer et dit tranquillement : « Le feu est bon en tout temps, cependant les
hommes qui ont agi ainsi, et leurs descendants auront les membres virils rompus
et leurs femmes seront goitreuses. » Il en fut ainsi jusqu'au temps où ils
furent dispersés par Charlemagne (Flodoard (c. XVII) rapporte cette malédiction
du saint ; les hommes auraient eu une affliction qui n'aurait été autre qu'une
hernie. Il se sert du mot ponderosi). Or, il faut noter que la fête de saint
Remi qui se célèbre au mois de janvier est le jour de son bienheureux trépas
tandis que ce jour est la fête de sa translation. Après son décès, son corps
était porté dans un cercueil en l’église des saints Timothée et Apollinaire ;
mais arrivé à l’église de saint Christophe, il devint tellement pesant qu'il
n'y eut plus possibilité de le mouvoir. On fut donc forcé de prier le Seigneur
de daigner indiquer si, par hasard, il ne voulait pas que Remi fût inhumé dans
cette église où il n'y avait encore aucune autre relique de saint : et à
l’instant, on souleva le corps avec grande facilité, tant il était devenu
léger! et on l'y déposa avec beaucoup de pompe. Or, comme il s'y opérait une
infinité de miracles, on agrandit l’église et on construisit une crypte
derrière l’autel; mais quand il fallut lever le corps pour l’y placer, on ne
put le remuer. On passa la nuit en prières et à minuit, tout le monde s'étant
endormi, le lendemain, c'est-à-dire, le jour des calendes (1er) d'octobre, on
trouva que le cercueil avait été porté, dans cette crypte par les anges avec le
corps, de saint Remi.
Ce fut longtemps après
qu'on en fit, à pareil jour, la translation, avec une châsse d'argent, dans la
crypte qui avait reçu de riches décorations (Cf. Flodoard, passim..).
Saint Remi vécut vers
l’an du Seigneur 490.
La Légende dorée de
Jacques de VORAGINE nouvellement traduite en français avec introduction,
notices, notes et recherches sur les sources par l'Abbé J.-B. M. Roze, Chanoine
Honoraire de la cathédrale d'Amiens , Édouard Rouveyre, éditeur, 76, Rue de
Seine, 76, Paris MDCCCCII
SOURCE : http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/voragine/tome03/148.htm
Eikenhouten
reliëf van de doop van Clovis, waarschijnlijk onderdeel van een altaarretabel,
in het Limburgs Museum in Venlo. Zuid-Nederlands of Nederrijns, ca. 1550.
Le Baptême de Clovis
(du livret « Saint Rémi,
Thaumaturge et Apôtre des Francs » par le Marquis de la Franquerie, pages 12 à
14)
« Dans la nuit de Noël
496, au jour anniversaire et à l’heure même de sa naissance, le Christ – lors
de la naissance spirituelle de notre France et de nos Rois - voulut, par un
miracle éclatant, affirmer la Mission providentielle de notre pays et de notre
Race Royale, au moment même ou Saint Rémi va proclamer cette Mission au nom du
Tout-Puissant, pour sanctionner solennellement les paroles (divinement
inspirées) de Son Ministre. A minuit, alors que le Roi, la Reine et leur suite
sont dans l’Eglise Saint Pierre ou l’Archevêque les a convoqués, ‘soudain
raconte Hincmar (1), une lumière plus éclatante que le soleil inonde l’église !
Le visage de l’évêque en est irradié ! En même temps retentit une voix : ‘La
paix soit avec vous ! C’est moi ! N’ayez point peur ! Persévérez en ma
dilection ! Quand la voix eut parlé, ce fut une odeur céleste qui embauma
l’atmosphère. Le Roi, la Reine, toute l’assistance épouvantés, se jetèrent aux
pieds de Saint Rémi qui les rassura et leur déclara que c’est le propre de Dieu
d’étonner au commencement de Ses visites et de se réjouir à la fin. Puis
soudainement illuminé d’une vision d’avenir, la face rayonnante, l’œil en feu,
le nouveau Moïse s’adressant directement à Clovis, Chef du nouveau Peuple de
Dieu, lui tint le langage – identique quant au sens – de l’ancien Moïse à
l’Ancien Peuple de Dieu : ‘Apprenez, mon fils, que le royaume de France est
prédestiné par Dieu à la défense de l’Eglise Romaine, qui est la seule
véritable église du Christ. Ce Royaume sera un jour grand entre tous les
royaumes et il embrassera toutes les limites de l’empire romain ! Et il
soumettra tous les peuples à son sceptre ! Il durera jusqu’à la fin des temps !
Il sera victorieux et prospère tant qu’il sera fidèle à la foi romaine. Mais il
sera rudement châtié toutes les fois qu’il sera infidèle à sa vocation(2)’.
Remarquez le bien : la prophétie est faite directement à la race royale, pour
bien marquer que la race royale doit être aussi inséparable de la France que la
France doit être inséparable de l’Eglise ! Un nouveau miracle devait se
produire le jour même ; laissons parler Hincmar : ‘Dès qu’on fut arrivé au
baptistère, le clerc qui portait le chrême, séparé par la foule de l’officiant,
ne put arriver à le rejoindre. Le Saint Chrême fit défaut. Le Pontife alors
lève au ciel les yeux…et supplie le Seigneur de le secourir en cette nécessité
pressante. ‘Soudain apparaît, voltigeant à la portée de sa main, aux yeux ravis
et étonnés de l’immense foule, une blanche colombe tenant en son bec une
ampoule d’huile sainte dont le parfum d’une inexprimable suavité embauma toute
l’assistance. Dès que le prélat eut reçu l’ampoule, la colombe disparut (3).
C’est avec le Saint Chrême contenu dans cette Ampoule, qu’ont été sacrés nos
Rois. Le cérémonial du Sacre des Rois de France reconnaît que, comme au baptême
du Christ, c’est le ‘Saint Esprit qui, par l’effet d’une grâce singulière,
apparut sous la forme d’une colombe et donna ce baume divin au pontife’. Le
Saint Esprit voulut assister visiblement au Sacre du premier de nos Rois, pour
marquer ainsi d’un signe sacré de toute spéciale prédilection la Monarchie
Française, consacrer tous nos Rois et imprimer sur leur front un caractère
indélébile qui leur assurerait la Primauté sur tous les autres Souverains de la
terre ; enfin pour les munir de Ses sept dons afin qu’ils pussent accomplir
leur Mission providentielle dans le monde. Très véritablement le Roi de France
était l’Oint, le consacré du Seigneur. Ce privilège unique était reconnu dans
le monde entier. Dans toutes les cérémonies diplomatiques, en effet,
l’Ambassadeur du Roi de France avait le pas sur ceux de tous les autres
Souverains parce que son Maître était ‘Sacré d’une huile apportée du Ciel’,
ainsi que le reconnaît un Décret de la République de Venise, daté de 1558 ».
Notes :
(1) : « Migne ‘Patrologie
Latine’, tome 125, page 1159. Hincmar : ‘Vita Sancti Remigii’, chapitre 36 ».
(2) : « Migne ‘Patrologie
Latine’, tome 135, page 51 ; Flodoard : ‘Historia Ecclesiae Remensis, livre 1,
chapitre 13 ».
(3) : « Hincmar :
‘Vita Sancti Remigii’, chapitre 38. Migne ‘Patrologie Latine’, tome 125, page
1160 ».
SOURCE : http://viens-seigneur-jesus.forumactif.com/t1417-le-bapteme-de-clovis-par-saint-remi
Plaque
de reliure en ivoire, Reims, dernier quart du IXème siècle. Musée de Picardie à
Amiens.
Scènes
de la vie de St Remi :
au
registre supérieur, St Remi ressuscite une jeune fille ;
au
centre : la Main de Dieu remplit deux flacons ;
au
registre inférieur, le baptême de Clovis avec le miracle de la Sainte Ampoule.
Also
known as
Apostle of the Franks
Remigius of Reims
Remi…
Remigio…
Remigiusz…
Romieg…
Rémi…
Rémy…
1
October (translation of relics)
15
January (France,
general calendar)
3rd Sunday in September (Arignano, Italy)
Profile
Born to the Gallo-Roman
nobility, the son of Emilius, count of
Laon, and of Saint Celina;
younger brother of Saint Principius
of Soissons; uncle of Saint Lupus
of Soissons. A speaker noted
for his eloquence, he was selected bishop of Rheims (in
modern France)
at age 22 while still a layman,
and served his diocese for
74 years. He evangelized throughout Gaul,
working with Saint Vaast.
Spiritual teacher of Saint Theodoric. Converted Clovis, king of
the Franks, baptising him
on 24
December 496;
this opened the way to the conversion of
all the Franks and
the establishment of the Church throughout France. Blind at
the time of his death.
Born
c.438
13
January 533 of
natural causes
interred on 15
January 533
relics transferred
to the Basilica Saint-Rémy 1
October 1049
against
religious indifference
Rheims, France, archdiocese of
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Golden
Legend: Life of Saint Remigius
Golden
Legend: Translation of Saint Remigius
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Francis
Xavier Weninger
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our
Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
Champions
of Catholic Orthodoxy
Dictionary
of Christian Biography, by Henry Wace
New
Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
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webseiten
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en español
Martirologio
Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
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in italiano
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MLA
Citation
“Saint Remigius of
Rheims“. CatholicSaints.Info. 26 July 2020. Web. 13 January 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-remigius-of-rheims/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-remigius-of-rheims/
Vitrail
de saint Remi et saint Waast.
St. Remigius
Apostle of the Franks, Archbishop of Reims,
b. at Cerny or Laon, 437; d. at Reims,
13 January 533. His feast is
celebrated 1 October. His father was Emile, Count of Laon. He
studied literature at Reims and
soon became so noted for learning and sanctity that
he was elected Archbishop of Reims in
his twenty-second year. Thence-forward his chief aim was the propagation
of Christianity in
the realm of the Franks.
The story of the return of the sacred
vessels, which had been stolen from
the Church of Soissons testifies
to the friendly relations existing between him and Clovis,
King of the Franks,
whom he converted to Christianity with
the assistance of St. Waast (Vedastus, Vaast) and St.
Clotilda, wife of Clovis.
Even before he embraced Christianity Clovis had
showered benefits upon both
the Bishop and Cathedral of Reims,
and after the battle of Tolbiac, he requested Remigius to baptize him
at Reims (24
December, 496) in presence of several bishops of
the Franks and Alemanni and
great numbers of the Frankish army. Clovis granted
Remigius stretches of territory, in which the latter established andendowed many churches.
He erected, with the papal consent, bishoprics at Tournai; Cambrai; Terouanne,
where he ordained the
first bishop in
499; Arras, where he placed St. Waast; Laon, which he gave to
his nephew Gunband. The authors of "Gallia
Christiana" record numerous and
munificent donations made to St. Remigius by members of
the Frankish nobility,
which he presented to the cathedral at Reims.
In 517 he held a synod, at which after a heated discussion he converted a bishop of Arian views.
In 523 he wrote congratulating Pope Hormisdas upon
his election. St.
Medardus, Bishop of
Noyon, was consecrated by
him in 530. Although St. Remigius's influence over people and prelates was
extraordinary, yet upon one occasion, the history of which has come
down to us, his course of action was attacked. His condonement of
the offences of one Claudius, a priest,
brought upon him the rebukes of his episcopal brethren, who
deemed Claudius deserving of degradation. The reply of St.
Remigius, which is still extant, is able and convincing (cf. Labbe,
"Concilia", IV). His relics were
kept in the cathedral of Reims,
whence Hincmar had
them translated to Epernay during the period of the invasion by
the Northmen,
thence, in 1099, at the instance of Leo
IX, to the Abbey of Saint-Remy. His sermons, so much admired
by Sidonius Apollinaris (lib. IX, cap. lxx), are not extant. On
his other works we have four letters, the one containing his defence in
the matter of Claudius, two written to Clovis,
and a fourth to the Bishop of
Tongres. According to several biographers, the Testament of St.
Remigius is apocryphal; Mabillon and Ducange,
however, argue for its authenticity. The attribution of other works
to St. Remigius, particularly a commentary upon St.
Paul's Epistles,
is entirely without foundation.
Sources
Acta Sanct. I October,
59-187; Hist. litt. France, III (Paris, 1735), 155-163; DE
CERIZIERS, Les heureux commencements de la France chrétienne sous St. Remi (Reims,
1633); MARLOT, Tombeau de St. Remi (Reims, 1647); DORIGNY, Vie
de St Remi (Paris, 1714); AUBERT, Vie de St. Remi (Paris, 1849);
MEYER, Notice de deux MSS. de la vie de St. Remi in Notes et extraits de
MSS., XXXV (Paris, 1895), 117-30; D'AVENAY, St. Remi de Reims (Lille,
1896); CARLIER, Vie de St Remi (Tours, 1896).
Dedieu-Barthe,
Joseph. "St. Remigius." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 20 May
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12763b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Thomas M. Barrett. Dedicated to
the memory of St. Remigius.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12763b.htm
Remigiusdarstellung am
Gemeindehaus St. Remigius, Königswinter
Remigius (Rémy, Remi) of
Reims B (RM) +
Born at Cerny near Laon, France, c. 437; died at Rheims on January 13, 530. The
name St. Rémy is intimately connected with that of King Clovis of the Franks,
the bloodthirsty general and collector of vases. Rémy was the son of Count
Emilius of Laon and Saint Celina, daughter of Principius, bishop of Soissons.
Even as a child Rémy was devoted to books and God. These two loves developed
the future saint into a famous preacher. Saint Sidonius Apollinaris, who knew
him, testified to his virtue and eloquence as a preacher.
So great was his renown
that, in 459, when he was only 22 and still a layman, he was elected bishop of
Rheims. Hincmar, testifying that Rémy "was forced into being bishop rather
than elected," adds to our impression of a virtuous man the added quality
of modesty. Other sources note that the saint was refined, tall (over seven
feet(!) in height), with an austere forehead, an aquiline nose, fair hair, a
solemn walk, and stately bearing.
After his ordination and
consecration, he reigned for 74 years--all the time devoting himself to the
evangelization of the Franks. It was said that "by his signs and miracles,
Rémy brought low the heathen altars everywhere." Foregoing the alternative
episcopal path, Rémy chose the way of self-sacrifice. He became a model for his
clergy and was indefatigable in his good works.
At some point between 481
and 486, Rémy wrote to the pagan King Clovis: "May the voice of justice be
heard from your mouth. . . . Respect your bishops and seek their advice. . . .
Be the protector of your subjects, the support of the afflicted, the comfort of
widows, the father of orphans and the master of all, that they might learn to
love you and fear you. . . . Let your court fe open to all and let no one leave
with the grief of not being heard. . . . Divert yourself with young people, but
if you wish truly to reign transact important matters with those who are older.
. . ."
Clovis must have
respected Rémy's advice even if he did not follow it: During his march on
Chalons and Troyes, Clovis bypassed Rheims, Rémy's see. It is possible, though,
that only his wife's civilizing influence prevented him from burning Rheims.
Clovis married the
radiant and beautiful Christian, Saint Clotildis, by proxy at Chalons-sur-
Saone, while she was still living in Lyons under the tutelage of Saint
Blandine. It was not a peaceful union. Clovis, an ambitious autocrat, allowed
his rage to lead to ill-planned actions. The young, pious Clotildis showed him
how much wiser it was to struggle with this wild beast than to give way to his
emotions. At first Clovis resisted being tamed by his wife.
In 496, Clovis,
supposedly in response to a suggestion from his wife, invoked the Christian God
when the invading Alemanni were on the verge of defeating his forces, whereupon
the tide of battle turned and Clovis was victorious at Tolbiac. St. Rémy, aided
by Saint Vedast, instructed him and his chieftains in Christianity. At the
Easter Vigil (or Christmas Day) in 496, Rémy baptized Clovis, his two sisters,
and 3,000 of his subjects. (Most seem to agree on the year, but not the day or
place.)
Though he never took part
in any of the councils held during his life, Rémy was a zealous proponent of
orthodoxy, opposed Arianism, and converted an Arian bishop at a synod of Arian
bishops in 517. He was censured by a group of bishops for ordaining one
Claudius, whom they felt was unworthy of the priesthood, but St. Rémy was
generally held in great veneration for his holiness, learning, and miracles. He
is said to have healed a blind man. Another time, like Jesus, he was confronted
with a host who ran out of wine at a dinner party. Rémy went down to the
cellar, prayed, and at once wine began to spread over the floor!
Rémy's last act was to
draw up a will in which he distributed all his lands and wealth and ordered
that "generous alms be given the poor, that liberty be given to the serfs
on his domain," and concluded by asking God to bless the family of the
first Christian king.
Because he was the most
influential prelate of Gaul and is considered the apostle of the Franks, Rémy
has been the subject of many tales. Rémy's notoriety sometimes difficult to
distinguish the reliable from the untrustworthy in his biographies (Attwater,
Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
In art, St. Remigius is generally portrayed as a bishop carrying holy oils, though he may have other representations. At times he may be shown (1) as a dove brings him the chrism to anoint Clovis; (2) with Clovis kneeling before him; (3) preaching before Clovis and his queen; (4) welcoming another saint led by an angel from prison; (5) exorcising; or (6) contemplating the veil of Saint Veronica (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1001.shtml
_Saint_Remigius_and_the_Burning_Wheat_MET_DT256630.jpg)
Anonyme, Saint Remigius Replenishing the Barrel of Wine; (interior) Saint Remigius and the Burning Wheat, Oil, gold, and white metal on wood, circa 1500–1505, 13,8 x 77,5, Metropolitan Museum of Art
_Saint_Remigius_and_the_Burning_Wheat_MET_DT256631.jpg)
Anonyme,
Saint Remigius Replenishing the Barrel of Wine; (interior) Saint Remigius and
the Burning Wheat, Oil, gold, and white metal on wood, circa 1500–1505, 13,8 x
77,5, Metropolitan Museum of Art
St. Remigius, Archbishop
of Rheims, Confessor
From his ancient life now
lost, but abridged by Fortunatus, and his life compiled by Archbishop Hincmar,
with a history of the translation of his relics. See also St. Gregory of Tours,
l. 2; Fleury, l. 29, n. 44, &c.; Ceillier, t. 16; Rivet, Hist. Littér.
de la Fr. t. 3, p. 155; Suysken the Bollandist, t. 1, Octob. pp. 59, 187.
A.D. 533.
ST. REMIGIUS, the great
apostle of the French nation, was one of the brightest lights of the Gaulish
church, illustrious for his learning, eloquence, sanctity, and miracles. An
episcopacy of seventy years, and many great actions have rendered his name
famous in the annals of the church. His very birth was wonderful, and his life
was almost a continued miracle of divine grace. His father Emilius, and his
mother Cilinia, both descended of noble Gaulish families, enjoyed an affluent
fortune, lived in splendour suitable to their rank at the castle of Laon, and
devoted themselves to the exercise of all Christian virtues. St. Remigius seems
to have been born in the year 439. 1 He
had two brothers older than himself, Principius, bishop of Soissons, and
another whose name is not known, but who was father of St. Lupus, who was
afterwards one of his uncle’s successors in the episcopal see of Soissons. A
hermit named Montanus foretold the birth of our saint to his mother; and the
pious parents had a special care of his education, looked upon him as a child
blessed by heaven, and were careful to put him into the best hands.
His nurse Balsamia is
reckoned among the saints, and is honoured at Rheims in a collegiate church
which bears her name. She had a son called Celsin, who was afterwards a
disciple of our saint, and is known at Laon by the name of St. Soussin. St.
Remigius had an excellent genius, made great progress in learning, and in the
opinion of St. Apollinaris Sidonius, who was acquainted with him in the earlier
part of his life, he became the most eloquent person in that age. 2 He
was remarkable from his youth for his extraordinary devotion and piety, and for
the severity of his morals. A secret apartment in which he spent a great part
of his time in close retirement, in the castle of Laon, whilst he lived there,
was standing in the ninth century, and was visited with devout veneration when
Hincmar wrote. Our saint, earnestly thirsting after greater solitude, and the
means of a more sublime perfection, left his father’s house, and made choice of
a retired abode, where, having only God for witness, he abandoned himself to
the fervour of his zeal in fasting, watching, and prayer. The episcopal see of
Rheims 3 becoming
vacant by the death of Bennagius, Remigius, though only twenty-two years of
age, was compelled, notwithstanding his extreme reluctance, to take upon him
that important charge; his extraordinary abilities seeming to the bishops of
the province a sufficient reason for dispensing with the canons in point of
age. In this new dignity, prayer, meditation on the holy scriptures, the
instruction of the people, and the conversion of infidels, heretics, and
sinners were the constant employment of the holy pastor. Such was the fire and
unction with which he announced the divine oracles to all ranks of men, that he
was called by many a second St. Paul. St. Apollinaris Sidonius 4 was
not able to find terms to express his admiration of the ardent charity and
purity with which this zealous bishop offered at the altar an incense of sweet
odour to God, and of the zeal with which by his words he powerfully subdued the
wildest hearts, and brought them under the yoke of virtue, inspiring the
lustful with the love of purity, and moving hardened sinners to bewail their
offences with tears of sincere compunction. The same author, who, for his
eloquence and piety was one of the greatest lights of the church in that age,
testifies, 5 that
he procured copies of the sermons of this admirable bishop, which he esteemed
an invaluable treasure; and says that in them he admired the loftiness of the
thoughts, the judicious choice of the epithets, the gracefulness and propriety
of the figures, and the justness, strength, and closeness of the reasoning,
which he compares to the vehemence of thunder; the words flowed like a gentle
river, but every part in each discourse was so naturally connected, and the
style so even and smooth, that the whole carried with it an irresistible force.
The delicacy and beauty of the thoughts and expression were at the same time
enchanting, this being so smooth, that it might be compared to the smoothest
ice or crystal upon which a nail runs without meeting with the least rub or
unevenness. Another main excellency of these sermons consisted in the sublimity
of the divine maxims which they contained, and the unction and sincere piety
with which they were delivered; but the holy bishop’s sermons and zealous
labours derived their greatest force from the sanctity of his life, which was
supported by an extraordinary gift of miracles. Thus was St. Remigius qualified
and prepared by God to be made the apostle of a great nation.
The Gauls, who had
formerly extended their conquests by large colonies in Asia, had subdued a
great part of Italy, and brought Rome itself to the very brink of utter
destruction, 6 were
at length reduced under the Roman yoke by Julius Cæsar, fifty years before the
Christian era. It was the custom of those proud conquerors, as St. Austin
observes, 7 to
impose the law of their own language upon the nations which they subdued. 8 After
Gaul had been for the space of about five hundred years one of the richest and
most powerful provinces of the Roman empire, it fell into the hands of the
French; but these new masters, far from extirpating or expelling the old Roman
or Gaulish inhabitants, became, by a coalition with them, one people and took
up their language and manners. 9 Clovis,
at his accession to the crown, was only fifteen years old: he became the
greatest conqueror of his age, and is justly styled the founder of the French
monarchy. Even whilst he was a pagan he treated the Christians, especially the
bishops, very well, spared the churches, and honoured holy men, particularly
St. Remigius, to whom he caused one of the vessels of his church, which a
soldier had taken away, to be returned, and because the man made some demur,
slew him with his own hand. St. Clotildis, whom he married in 493, earnestly
endeavoured to persuade him to embrace the faith of Christ. The first fruit of
their marriage was a son, who, by the mother’s procurement, was baptized, and
called Ingomer. This child died during the time of his wearing the white habit,
within the first week after his baptism. Clovis harshly reproached Clotildis,
and said: “If he had been consecrated in the name of my gods, he had not died;
but having been baptized in the name of yours, he could not live.” The queen
answered: “I thank God, who has thought me worthy of bearing a child whom he
has called to his kingdom.” She had afterwards another son, whom she procured
to be baptized, and who was named Chlodomir. He also fell sick, and the king
said in great anger: “It could not be otherwise: he will die presently in the
same manner his brother did, having been baptized in the name of your Christ.”
God was pleased to put the good queen to this trial; but by her prayers this child
recovered. 10 She
never ceased to exhort the king to forsake his idols, and to acknowledge the
true God; but he held out a long time against all her arguments, till, on the
following occasion, God was pleased wonderfully to bring him to the confession
of his holy name, and to dissipate that fear of the world which chiefly held
him back so long, he being apprehensive lest his pagan subjects should take
umbrage at such a change.
The Suevi and Alemanni in
Germany assembled a numerous and valiant army, and under the command of several
kings, passed the Rhine, hoping to dislodge their countrymen the Franks, and
obtain for themselves the glorious spoils of the Roman empire in Gaul. Clovis
marched to meet them near his frontiers, and one of the fiercest battles
recorded in history was fought at Tolbiac. Some think that the situation of
these German nations, the shortness of the march of Clovis, and the route which
he took, point out the place of this battle to have been somewhere in Upper
Alsace. 11 But
most modern historians agree that Tolbiac is the present Zulpich, situated in
the duchy of Juliers, four leagues from Cologne, between the Meuse and the
Rhine; and this is demonstrated by the judicious and learned d’Anville. 12 In
this engagement the king had given the command of the infantry to his cousin
Sigebert, fighting himself at the head of the cavalry. The shock of the enemy
was so terrible, that Sigebert was in a short time carried wounded out of the
field, and the infantry was entirely routed, and put to flight. Clovis saw the
whole weight of the battle falling on his cavalry; yet stood his ground,
fighting himself like a lion, covered with blood and dust: and encouraging his
men to exert their utmost strength, he performed with them wonderful exploits
of valour. Notwithstanding these efforts, they were at length borne down, and
began to flee and disperse themselves; nor could they be rallied by the
commands and entreaties of their king, who saw the battle upon which his empire
depended, quite desperate. Clotildis had said to him in taking leave: “My lord,
you are going to conquest; but in order to be victorious, invoke the God of the
Christians: he is the sole Lord of the universe, and is styled the God of
armies. If you address yourself to him with confidence, nothing can resist you.
Though your enemies were a hundred against one, you would triumph over them.”
The king called to mind these her words in his present extremity, and lifting
up his eyes to heaven, said, with tears: “O Christ, whom Clotildas invokes as
Son of the living God, I implore thy succour. I have called upon my gods, and
find they have no power. I therefore invoke thee; I believe in thee. Deliver me
from my enemies, and I will be baptized in thy name.” No sooner had he made
this prayer than his scattered cavalry began to rally about his person; the
battle was renewed with fresh vigour, and the chief king and generalissimo of
the enemy being slain, the whole army threw down their arms, and begged for quarter.
Clovis granted them their lives and liberty upon condition that the country of
the Suevi in Germany should pay him an annual tribute. He seems to have also
subdued and imposed the same yoke upon the Boioarians or Bavarians; for his
successors gave that people their first princes or dukes, as F. Daniel shows at
large. This miraculous victory was gained in the fifteenth year of his reign,
of Christ 496.
Clovis, from that
memorable day, thought of nothing but of preparing himself for the holy laver
of regeneration. In his return from this expedition he passed by Toul, and
there took with him St. Vedast, a holy priest who led a retired life in that
city, that he might be instructed by him in the faith during his journey; so
impatient was he to fulfil his vow of becoming a Christian, that the least
wilful delay appeared to him criminal. The queen, upon this news, sent
privately to St. Remigius to come to her, and went with him herself to meet the
king in Champagne. Clovis no sooner saw her, but he cried out to her: “Clovis
has vanquished the Alemanni, and you have triumphed over Clovis. The business
you have so much at heart is done; my baptism can be no longer delayed.” The
queen answered: “To the God of hosts is the glory of both these triumphs due.”
She encouraged him forthwith to accomplish his vow, and presented to him St.
Remigius as the most holy bishop in his dominions. This great prelate continued
his instruction, and prepared him for baptism by the usual practices of
fasting, penance, and prayer. Clovis suggested to him that he apprehended the
people who obeyed him would not be willing to forsake their gods, but said he
would speak to them according to his instructions. He assembled the chiefs of
his nation for this purpose; but they prevented his speaking, and cried out
with a loud voice: “My lord, we abandon mortal gods, and are ready to follow
the immortal God, whom Remigius teaches.” St. Remigius and St. Vedast therefore
instructed and prepared them for baptism. Many bishops repaired to Rheims for this
solemnity, which they judged proper to perform on Christmas-day, rather than to
defer it till Easter. The king set the rest an example of compunction and
devotion, laying aside his purple and crown, and, covered with ashes, imploring
night and day the divine mercy. To give an external pomp to this sacred action,
in order to strike the senses of a barbarous people, and impress a sensible awe
and respect upon their minds, the good queen took care that the streets from
the palace to the great church should be adorned with rich hangings, and that
the church and baptistery should be lighted up with a great number of perfumed
wax tapers, and scented with exquisite odours. The catechumens marched in
procession, carrying crosses, and singing the Litany. St. Remigius conducted
the king by the hand, followed by the queen and the people. Coming near the
sacred font, the holy bishop, who had with great application softened the heart
of this proud barbarian conqueror into sentiments of Christian meekness and
humility, said to him: “Bow down your neck with meekness, great Sicambrian
prince: adore what you have hitherto burnt; and burn what you have hitherto
adored.” Words which may be emphatically addressed to every penitent, to
express the change of his heart and conduct, in renouncing the idols of his
passions, and putting on the spirit of sincere Christian piety and humility.
The king was baptized by St. Remigius on Christmas-day, as St. Avitus assures
us. 13 St.
Remigius afterwards baptized Albofleda, the king’s sister, and three thousand
persons of his army, that is, of the Franks, who were yet only a body of troops
dispersed among the Gauls. Albofleda died soon after, and the king being
extremely afflicted at her loss, St. Remigius wrote him a letter of
consolation, representing to him the happiness of such a death in the grace of
baptism, by which we ought to believe she had received the crown of virgins. 14 Lantilda,
another sister of Clovis, who had fallen into the Arian heresy, was reconciled
to the Catholic faith, and received the unction of the holy chrism, that is,
says Fleury, confirmation; though some think it only a rite used in the reconciliation
of certain heretics. The king, after his baptism, bestowed many lands on St.
Remigius, who distributed them to several churches, as he did the donations of
several others among the Franks, lest they should imagine he had attempted
their conversion out of interest. He gave a considerable part to St. Mary’s
church at Laon, where he had been brought up; and established Genebald, a
nobleman skilled in profane and divine learning, first bishop of that see. He
had married a niece of St. Remigius, but was separated from her to devote
himself to the practices of piety. Such was the original of the bishopric of
Laon, which before was part of the diocess of Rheims. St. Remigius also
constituted Theodore bishop of Tournay in 487. St. Vedast, bishop of Arras in
498, and of Cambray in 510. He sent Antimund to preach the faith to the Morini,
and to found the church of Terouenne. Clovis built churches in many places,
conferred upon them great riches, and by an edict invited all his subjects to
embrace the Christian faith. St. Avitus, bishop of Vienne, wrote to him a
letter of congratulation, upon his baptism, and exhorts him to send ambassadors
to the remotest German nations beyond the Rhine, to solicit them to open their
hearts to the faith.
When Clovis was preparing
to march against Alaric, in 506, St. Remigius sent him a letter of advice how
he ought to govern his people so as to draw down upon himself the divine
blessings.” 15 “Choose,”
said he, “wise counsellors, who will be an honour to your reign. Respect the
clergy. Be the father and protector of your people; let it be your study to
lighten as much as possible all the burdens which the necessities of the state
may oblige them to bear: comfort and relieve the poor; feed the orphans;
protect widows; suffer no extortion. Let the gate of your palace be open to
all, that every one may have recourse to you for justice: employ your great
revenues in redeeming captives,” &c. 16 Clovis
after his victories over the Visigoths, and the conquest of Toulouse, their
capital in Gaul, sent a circular letter to all the bishops in his dominions, in
which he allowed them to give liberty to any of the captives he had taken, but
desired them only to make use of this privilege in favour of persons of whom
they had some knowledge. 17 Upon
the news of these victories of Clovis over the Visigoths, Anastatius, the
eastern emperor, to court his alliance against the Goths, who had principally
concurred to the extinction of the western empire, sent him the ornaments and
titles of Patrician, Consul, and Augustus: from which time he was habited in
purple, and styled himself Augustus. This great conqueror invaded Burgundy to
compel King Gondebald to allow a dower to his queen, and to revenge the murder
of her father and uncle; but was satisfied with the yearly tribute which the
tyrant promised to pay him. The perfidious Arian afterwards murdered his third
brother; whereupon Clovis again attacked and vanquished him; but at the entreaty
of Clotildis, suffered him to reign tributary to him, and allowed his son
Sigismund to ascend the throne after his death. Under the protection of this
great monarch St. Remigius wonderfully propagated the gospel of Christ by the
conversion of a great part of the French nation; in which work God endowed him
with an extraordinary gift of miracles, as we are assured not only by Hincmar,
Flodoard, and all other historians who have mentioned him, but also by other
incontestable monuments and authorities. Not to mention his Testament, in which
mention is made of his miracles, the bishops who were assembled in the
celebrated conference that was held at Lyons against the Arians in his time,
declared they were stirred up to exert their zeal in defence of the Catholic
faith by the example of Remigius, “Who,” say they, 18 “hath
every where destroyed the altars of the idols by a multitude of miracles and
signs.” The chief among these prelates were Stephen bishop of Lyons, St. Avitus
of Vienne, his brother Apollinaris of Valence, and Eonius of Arles. They all
went to wait upon Gondebald, the Arian king of the Burgundians, who was at
Savigny, and entreated him to command his Arian bishops to hold a public
conference with them. When he showed much unwillingness they all prostrated
themselves before him, and wept bitterly. The king was sensibly affected at the
sight, and kindly raising them up, promised to give them an answer soon after.
They went back to Lyons, and the king returning thither the next day, told them
their desire was granted. It was the eve of St. Justus, and the Catholic bishops
passed the whole night in the church of that saint in devout prayer; the next
day, at the hour appointed by the king, they repaired to his palace, and,
before him and many of his senators, entered upon the disputation, St. Avitus
speaking for the Catholics, and one Boniface for the Arians. The latter
answered only by clamours and injurious language, treating the Catholics as
worshippers of three Gods. The issue of a second meeting, some days after, was
the same with that of the first: and many Arians were converted. Gondebald
himself, sometime after, acknowledged to St. Avitus, that he believed the Son
and the Holy Ghost to be equal to the Father, and desired him to give him
privately the unction of the holy chrism. St. Avitus said to him, “Our Lord declares, Whoever
shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father. You are
a king, and have no persecution to fear, as the apostles had. You fear a
sedition among the people, but ought not to cherish such a weakness. God does
not love him, who, for an earthly kingdom, dares not confess him before the
world.” 19 The
king knew not what to answer; but never had the courage to make a public
profession of the Catholic faith. 20 St.
Remigius by his zealous endeavours promoted the Catholic interest in Burgundy,
and entirely crushed both idolatry and the Arian heresy in the French
dominions. In a synod he converted, in his old age, an Arian bishop who came
thither to dispute against him. 21 King
Clovis died in 511. St. Remigius survived him many years, and died in the joint
reign of his four sons, on the 13th of January in the year 533, according to
Rivet, and in the ninety-fourth year of his age, having been bishop above
seventy years. The age before the irruption of the Franks had been of all
others the most fruitful in great and learned men in Gaul; but studies were
there at the lowest ebb from the time of St. Remigius’s death, till they were
revived in the reign of Charlemagne. 22 The
body of this holy archbishop was buried in St. Christopher’s church at Rheims,
and found incorrupt when it was taken up by Archbishop Hincmar in 852. Pope Leo
IX. during a council which he held at Rheims in 1049, translated it into the
church of the Benedictin abbey, which bears his name in that city, on the 1st
of October, on which day, in memory of this and other translations, he
appointed his festival to be celebrated, which, in Florus and other calendars,
was before marked on the 13th of January. In 1646 this saint’s body was again
visited by the archbishop with many honourable witnesses, and found incorrupt
and whole in all its parts; but the skin was dried, and stuck to the
winding-sheet, as it was described by Hinckmar above eight hundred years
before. It is now above twelve hundred years since his death. 23
Care, watchings, and
labours were sweet to this good pastor, for the sake of souls redeemed by the
blood of Jesus. Knowing what pains our Redeemer took, and how much he suffered
for sinners, during the whole course of his mortal life, and how tenderly his
divine heart is ever open to them, this faithful minister was never weary in preaching,
exhorting, mourning, and praying for those that were committed to his charge.
In imitation of the good shepherd and prince of pastors, he was always ready to
lay down his life for their safety: he bore them all in his heart, and watched
over them, always trembling lest any among them should perish, especially
through his neglect: for he considered with what indefatigable rage the wolf
watched continually to devour them. As all human endeavours are too weak to
discover the wiles, and repulse the assaults of the enemy, without the divine
light and strength, this succour he studied to obtain by humble supplications;
and when he was not taken up in external service for his flock, he secretly
poured forth his soul in devout prayer before God for himself and them.
Note 1. The
chronology of this saint’s life is determined by the following circumstances:
historians agree that he was made bishop when he was twenty-two years old. The
saint says, in a letter which he wrote in 512, that he had then been bishop
fifty-three years, and St. Gregory of Tours says, that he held that dignity
above seventy years. Consequently, he died in 533, in the ninety-fourth year of
his age; was born in 439, and in 512 was seventy-five years old. [back]
Note 2. L. 9, ep.
7. [back]
Note 3. The origin
of the episcopal see of Rheims is obscure. On Sixtus and Sinicius, the apostles
of that province, see Marlot. (l. 1, c. 12, t. 1; Hist. Metrop. Rhem. and
chiefly Dom Dionysius de Ste. Marthe, Gallia Christiana Nov. t. 9, p. 2.)
Sixtus and Sinicius were fellow-labourers in first planting this church;
Sinicius survived and succeeded his colleague in this see. Among their
disciples many received the crown of martyrdom under Rictius Varus, about the
year 287, namely Timotheus, Apollinaris, Maurus, a priest, Macra, a virgin, and
many others whose bodies were found in the city itself, in 1640 and 1650, near
the church of St. Nicasius: their heads and arms were pierced with huge nails,
as was St. Quintin under the same tyrant: also St. Piat, &c. St. Nicasius
is counted the eleventh, and St. Remigius, the fifteenth archbishop of this
see. [back]
Note 4. L. 8, c.
14. [back]
Note 5. L. 9, ep.
7. [back]
Note 6. See D.
Brezillac, a Maurist monk, Histoire de Gaules, et des Conquêtes des Gaulois, 2
vols. 4to. printed in 1752; and Cæsar’s Commentaries De Bello Gallico, who
wrote and fought with the same inimitable spirit; also Observations sur la
Religion des Gaulois, et sur celle des Germains, par M. Freret, t. 34, des
Mémoires de Littérature de l’Académie des Inscriptions, An. 1751. [back]
Note 7. De Civ. l.
19, c. 7. [back]
Note 8. The Gauls became so learned and eloquent, that among them several seemed almost to rival the greatest men among the Romans. Not to mention Virgil, Livy, Catullus, Cornelius Nepos, the two Plinies, and other ornaments of the Cisalpine Gaul; in the Transalpine Petronius Arbiter, Terentius Varro, Roscius, Pompeius Trogus, and others are ranked among the foremost in the list of Latin writers. How much the study of eloquence and the sacred sciences nourished in Gaul when the faith was planted there, appears from St. Martin, St. Sulpitius Severus, the two SS. Hilaries, St. Paulinus, Salvian of Marseilles, the glorious St. Remigius, St. Apollinaris Sidonius, &c.
Dom Rivet proves (Hist. Lit. t. 1,) that the Celtic tongue gave place in most parts to the Roman, and seems long since extinct, except in certain proper names, and some few other words. Samuel Bochart, the father of conjectures, (as he is called by Menage in his Phaleg,) derives it from the Phenician. Borel (Pref. sur les Recherches Gauloises) and Marcel (Hist. de l’Origine de la Monarchie Françoise, t. 1, p. 11,) from the Hebrew. The latter ingenious historian observes, that a certain analogy between all languages shows them to have sprang from one primitive tongue; which affinity is far more sensible between all the western languages. St. Jerom, who had visited both countries, assures us, that in the fourth age the language was nearly the same that was spoken at Triers and in Galatia. (in Galat. Præf. 2, p. 255.) Valerius Andræas (in Topogr. Belgic. p. 1,) pretends the ancient Celtic to be preserved in the modern Flemish; but this is certainly a bastard dialect derived from the Teutonic, and no more the Celtic than it was the language of Adam in Paradise, as Goropius Becanus pretended. The received opinion is, that the Welch tongue, and that still used in Lower Brittany (which are originally the same language) are a dialect of the Celtic, though not perfectly pure; and Tacitus assures us, that the Celtic differed very little from the language of the Britons (Vitâ Agricolæ, c. 11,) which is preserved in the Welch tongue.
Dom Pezron, in his Antiquities of the ancient Celtes, has given
abundant proofs that the Greek, Latin, and Teutonic have borrowed a great number
of words from the Celtic, as well as from the Hebrew and Egyptian. M. Bullet,
royal professor of the university of Besançon, has thrown great light on this
subject; he proves that the primeval Celts, and Scytho-Celts, have not only
occupied the western regions of Europe, but extended themselves into Spain and
Italy; that in their progress through the latter fine country, they met the
Grecian colonies who were settled in its southern provinces; and that having
incorporated with one of those colonies on the banks of the Tyber, the Latin
tongue had in course of time been formed out of the Celtic and Greek languages.
Of this coalition of Celts and Grecians in ancient Latium, and of this original
of the Latin language, that learned antiquary has given unexceptionable proofs,
and confirms them by the testimonies of Pliny and Dionysius of Halicarnassus.
In its original the Celtic, like all other eastern tongues, after
the confusion at Babel, was confined to between four and five hundred words,
mostly monosyllables. The wants and ideas of men being but few in the earliest
times, they required but few terms to express them by; and it was in proportion
to the invention of arts, and the slow progress of science, that new terms have
been multiplied, and that signs of abstract ideas have been compounded.
Language, yet in its infancy, came only by degrees to the maturity of copious
expression, and grammatical precision. In the vast regions occupied by the
ancient Celts, their language branched out into several dialects; intermixture
with new nations on the continent, and the revolutions incident to time
produced them; and ultimately these dialects were reduced to distinct tongues,
so different in texture and syntax, that the tracing them to the true stock
would not be easy, had we not an inerrable clue to lead us in the multitude of
Celtic terms common to all. The Cumaraeg of the Welch and Gadelic of the Irish,
are living proofs of this fact. The Welch and Irish tongues preserved to our
own time in ancient writings, are undoubtedly the purest remains of the ancient
Celtic. Formed in very remote periods of time, and confined to our own western
isles, they approached nearer to their original than the Celtic tongues of the
continent; and according to the learned Leibnitz, the Celtic of Ireland (a
country the longest free from all foreign intermixture) bids fairer for
originality than that of any other Celtic people.
It is certain that the Irish Celtic, as we find it in old books,
exhibits a strong proof of its being the language of a cultivated nation.
Nervous, copious, and pathetic in phraseology, it is thoroughly free from the
consonantal harshness, which rendered the Celtic dialects of ancient Gaul
grating to Roman ears; it furnishes the poet and orator very promptly with the
vocal arms, which give energy to expression, and elevation to sentiment. This
language, in use at present among the common people of Ireland, is falling into
the corruptions which ever attend any tongue confined chiefly to the illiterate
vulgar. These corruptions are increasing daily. The Erse of Scotland is still
more corrupt, as the inhabitants of the Highlands have had no schools for the
preservation of their language for several ages, and as none of the old
writings of their bards and senachies have been preserved. The poems therefore
published lately by an able writer under the name of Ossian, are undoubtedly
his own, grafted on traditions still sung among his countrymen; and similar to
the tales lathered on Oisin, the son of Fin-mac-Cumhal, sung at present among
the common people of Ireland. It was a pleasing artifice. The fame of
composition transferred to old Ossian, returned back in due time to the true
author; and criticism, recovered from the surprise of an unguarded moment, did
him justice. The works of Ossian, if any he composed, have been long since
lost, not a trace remains; and it was soon discovered that the Celtic dialect
of a prince, represented by Mr. Macpherson as an illiterate bard of the third
century, could not be produced in the eighteenth, and that a publication of
those poems in modern Erse would prove them modern compositions; for further
observations on the ancient Celtic language, and on the poems of Ossian, we
refer the reader to O’Conor’s excellent Dissertations on the history of
Ireland, Dublin, 1766.
Bonamy (Diss. sur l’Introduct. de la Langue Lantine dans les Gauls,
Mémoires de l’Acad. des Inscriptions, vol. 24,) finds fault with Rivet for
making his assertion too general, and proves that the Franks kept to their own
old Teutonic language for some time at court, and in certain towns where they
were most numerous; and always retained some Teutonic words even after the
Latin language of the old inhabitants prevailed; but he grants, that out of
thirty French words it is hard to find one that is not derived from Latin.
Rivet would probably have granted as much; for he never denied but some few
French words are of Teutonic extraction; or that the Franks for some time
retained their own language amongst themselves, though they also learned
usually the old Latin language of the Gauls, amongst whom they settled, which
is evidently the basis of all the dialects spoken in France, except of that of
Lower-Brittany, and a considerable part of the Burgundian; yet there is
everywhere some foreign alloy, which is very considerable in Gascony, and part
of Normandy. Even the differences in the Provençal and others are mostly a
corrupt Latin. [back]
Note 9. The Franks
or French have been sought for by different authors in every province of
Germany, and by some near the Palus Mœotis; but the best writers now agree with
Spener, the most judicious of the modern German historians, (Notit. Germ.
antiqu. t. 1,) that the Franks were composed of several German nations, which
entered into a confederacy together to seek new settlements, and defend their
liberty and independency; from which liberty, according to some, they took the
name of Franks, unknown among the German nations when Tacitus wrote; but the
word Frenk or Frank signified in the old German tongue Fierce or Cruel, as
Bruzen de la Martinière observes, in his additions to Puffendorf’s Introduction
to Modern History, t. 5. The Franks are first mentioned by the writers of the
Augustan History in the reign of Gallien. From Eumenius’s panegyric in praise
of Constantine, the first book of Claudian upon Stilico, and several passages
of Apollinaris Sidonius, it appears that they originally came chiefly from
nations settled beyond the Elbe, about the present duchies of Sleswick, and
part of Holstein. This opinion is set in a favourable light in a dissertation
printed at Paris in 1748; and in another written by F. Germon, published by F.
Griffet, in his new edition of F. Daniel’s History in 1755. F. Germon places
them in the countries situated between the Lower Rhine, the Maine, the Elbe,
and the Ocean, nearly the same whence the English Saxons afterwards came; after
their first migrations probably some more remote nations had filled the void
they had left. Among the Franks there were Bructeri, Cherisci, Catici, and
Sicambri; but the Salii and Ripuarii or Ansuari, were the most considerable;
the latter for their numbers, the former for their riches, nobility, and power,
say Martinière and Messieurs de Boispreaux and Sellius, in their Histoire
Générale des Provinces Unies. (in 3 vols. 4to. 1757.) Leibnitz derives the name
of Salians from the river Sala, and thinks the Salic laws, so famous among the
French, were originally established by them. F. Daniel and M. Gundling warmly
contend that they are more modern, framed since the conversion of the Franks to
Christianity. De Boispreaux and Sellius will have the laws to be as ancient as
Leibnitz advances; but acknowledge that the preface to them is of Christian
original; perhaps changed, say they, by Clovis after his baptism.
The Franks settled first on the Eastern banks of the Rhine, but soon crossed it; for Vopiscus places them on both sides of that river. The country about the Lower Rhine, from Alsace to the Germanic ocean, is the first that was called France, and afterwards distinguished by the name of Francia Germanica or Vetus, afterwards eastern France, of which the part called Franconia still retains the name. See Eccard at length in Francia Orientalis, and d’Anville, p. 18. Peutinger’s map (or the ancient topographical description of that country, published by Peutinger of Ausburg, but composed in the latter end of the fourth century) places France on the right hand bank or eastern side of the Rhine. The Franks chose their kings by lifting them upon a shield in the army. The names of the first are Pharamund, Clodion, Merovæus, and Childeric. In Merovæus the crown became hereditary, and from him the first race of the French kings is called Merovingian. F. Daniel will not allow the names of these four kings before Clovis, to belong to the history of the French monarchy, being persuaded that they reigned only in old France beyond the Rhine, and possessed nothing in Gaul, though they made frequent excursions into its provinces for plunder. This novelty gave offence to many, and is warmly exploded by Du Bos, Dom Maur, Le Gendre, and others. For it is evident from incontestable monuments produced by Bosquet and others, that the Franks from Pharamund began to extend their conquests in Belgic Gaul, though they sometimes met with checks. Henault observes, they had acquired a fixed settlement about the Rhine in 287, which was confirmed to them by the Emperor Julian in 358; that under King Clodion in 445, they became masters of Cambray and the neighbouring provinces as far as the river Somme in Picardy. Their kings seem to have made Tournay for some time their residence. At least the tomb of Childeric was discovered at Tournay in 1653, with undoubted marks, some of which are deposited in the king’s library at Paris. See the Sieur Chifflet’s relation of this curious discovery, and Mabillon’s Dissertation on the Ancient Burial-places of the kings of France.
It is an idle conceit of many painters, with Chifflet, to imagine from the figures of bees found in this monument, that they were the arms of France above seven hundred years before coat-armoury was thought of, which was a badge of noble personages first invented for the sake of distinction at the tilts and tournaments. A swarm of bees following a leader was a natural emblem for a colony seeking a new settlement. Some think the fleur-de-lis to have been first taken from some ill-shaped half figures of bees on old royal ornaments. See Addition aux Dissertations concernant le Nom Patronimique de l’Auguste Maison de France, showing that it never had a name but in each branch that of its appanage or estate. Amsterdam, 1770, with a second Diss. Extrait concernant les Armes des Princes de la Maison de France. The figure of the lis in the arms of France seems borrowed from the head of the battle-axe called Francische, the usual weapon of the ancient Franks; for it perfectly resembles it, not any of the flowers which bear the name of lis or iris; though some reduce it to the Florentine iris, others to the March lily. See their figures in the botanists. On the tomb of Queen Fredegundes in the abbey of St. Germain-des-Prez, fleur-de-luces or de-lis, are found used as ornaments in the crown and royal robes; and the same occurs in some other ornaments, as we find them sometimes employed in the monuments of the first English Norman kings, &c. See Montfaucon, Antiquités de la Monarchie Francoise, t. 1, p. 31. But Philip Augustus, or rather Lewis VII. was the first that took them for his coat of arms; and Charles VI. reduced their number to three. According to Le Gendre, Clodion began to reign over the Franks in 426, Merovæus in 446, Childeric in 450, and his son Clovis I. or the Great in 481. The Romans sometimes entered into treaties with them, and acknowledged them their allies. The King of the Franks, probably Childeric, with his army, joined Aëtius against the Huns, and was a powerful succour to him in the entire overthrow which he gave to Attila in 481.
Clovis conquered all Gaul, except the southern provinces, which
were before seized, part by the Burgundians, and part by the Goths. The western
empire was extinguished in 476, when the city of Rome and all Italy fell into
the hands of Odoacer, king of the Turcilingi and the Heruli, who marched
thither out of Pannonia. Nevertheless, Syagrius, son of the Roman governor
Ægidius in Gaul, still kept an army on foot there, though without a master,
there being no longer any Roman emperor. Clovis, who passed the five first
years of his reign in peace, marched against him in 486, defeated him in a
great battle near Soissons, and afterwards, in 489, caused his head to be cut
off. Extending his conquests, he possessed himself of Tongres in 491, and of
Rheims in 493, the same year in which he married St. Clotildis. After the
battle of Tolbiac, in 496, he subdued the whole country as far as the Rhine;
and in 497 the Roman army about the Loire, and the people of Armorica, who were
become independent and had received new colonies from Britain, submitted to
him. In 507 he vanquished and slew Alaric, king of the Visigoths, with his own
hands, in a single combat at the head of the two armies near Poitiers, and
conquered all the provinces that lie between the Loire and the Pyreneans; but
being discomfited by Theodoric before Arles in 509, he left the Visigoths in
possession of Septimania, now called Languedoc, and the neighbouring provinces;
and the Burgundians, possessed of those territories which they had seized one
hundred years before. The Abbé Dubos (Histoire Critique de l’Etablissement de
la Monarchie Françoise dans les Gauls, 2 vols. quarto) endeavours to prove that
the Franks became masters of the greater part of Gaul, not as invaders, but by
alliances with the Romans. It is certain they gained the friendship of most of
the old inhabitants, pretending they came only to rescue and protect them in
their liberties; and their government was more mild and desirable than that of
the Goths or Burgundians, to whom the Gauls must have otherwise been left a
prey. Neither did the Franks extirpate the conquered Gauls, but mixed with
them, and even learned their language. Nor did they deprive the old inhabitants
of their private estates, except in some particular cases; these forfeited
estates given to the Francs were called Salic lands, and subject to the Salic
law, by which all contests about them were to be determined by a combat of the
parties and their friends. The other estates enjoyed by the Franks consisted of
civil benefices, after the Roman custom, from which that word was applied to
ecclesiastical livings. These benefices were governments, lucrative dignities,
or estates conferred only for the life of the grantee. Under the second race of
kings in France many powerful persons made these benefices hereditary in their
families, in imitation of the Lombards, from whom fiefs and the feudatory laws
(things unknown among the Romans) were derived. By these fiefs the kingdoms of
Italy, Germany, and France were extremely weakened; the kings in France began
from the twelfth century to recover such alienations, and abolish all petty
sovereignties in their dominions; a great project, which was not entirely
completed till within our memory.
Many additions were made
to the Salic laws by several ancient French kings, so that the primitive
articles are not to be distinguished. The most famous point is the exclusion of
females from the succession to the crown, in which see the learned dissertation
of Abbé Vertot, upon the origin of the Salic law, inserted in Mémoires de
l’Acad. des Inscript. et Belles Lettres, t. 2. The most curious editions of the
Salic law, divided into several chapters, are that of Fr. Pithou at Paris, in
1602, with a glossary of obscure terms and Teutonic words; that of Melchior
Goldast, in his Collectio Constitutionum Imperialium, t. 3, p. 15, at
Offenbach, in 1610. Another beautiful one at Antwerp in 1649, with an excellent
glossary compiled by Godfrey Wendelin; another at Paris, with the notes of the
great magistrate, Jerom Bignon, together with the formularies of Marculsus;
another by Baluze, with the capitulars of Charlemagne, who caused the Salic law
to be revised; that of Eccard, together with the law of the Ripuarians; and
lastly, that in Schitter’s Thesaurus Antiquitatum Teutonicarum, in
1727. On the Original Constitution of the Government of the Franks, see F.
Griffet, Mélanges Historiques et Critiques, t. 1, p. 1; Diss. against
Boulainvilliers et Gourcy, Quel fut l’état des Personnes en France sous la
première et seconde Race de nos Rois, 1769. [back]
Note 10. S. Greg.
Turon. Hist. l. 2, c. 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. [back]
Note 11. See
Henschenius ad 6 Febr. in S. Vedasto, and F. Barre, Hist. d’Allemagne, t. 1,
sub fine. [back]
Note 12. D’Anville
l’Etats formés après la Chute de l’Empire Romain en Occident, 4to. 1771. [back]
Note 13. Fleury, l.
30, n. 46. &c. Avitus, ep. 166, &c. See Suysken, Sec. 7. p. 80. [back]
Note 14. In App. op.
S. Greg. Tur. p. 1326, et apud Marlot, Hist. Eccl. Rhemens. [back]
Note 15. Conc. t. 4,
p. 1402. [back]
Note 16. Conc. t. 4,
p. 1402. Du Chesne, Hist. Francor. Script. t. 1, p. 836, and
Append. Op. S. Greg. Turon. p. 1327. [back]
Note 17. We have two other letters of St. Remigius extant, written to fellow-bishops, in all, four, not five, as Baillet mistook. The Testament of St. Remigius, even without the interpolations found in some copies, is rejected by Rivet, &c., though it is judged genuine by Mabillon, Du Cange, and Ceillier, and was known to Hincmar and Flodoard. The churches of Rheims, Laon, Arras, and others enjoy to this day the lands which are by it bequeathed to them. St. Remigius gave to the church of Rheims a silver chalice, ornamented with several images, and on it he caused three verses to be engraved, which express the Catholic doctrine concerning the blessed eucharist.
“Hauriat hinc populus vitam de sanguine sacro,
Injecto æternus quem fudit vulnere Christus.
Remigius reddit Domino sua vota sacerdos.”
Hincmar. in vità Remigii
This chalice was sold in Hincmar’s time for the ransom of captives taken by the
Normans. [back]
Note 18. Conc. t. 4, p. 1318. Spicileg. t. 5, p. 110. [back]
Note 19. S. Greg. Tur. Hist. l. 2, c. 34. [back]
Note 20. In the Gombette law, framed by this Gondebald, king of Burgundy,
art. 45, the first mention is made of duels, to which men were commanded to
refer those contests which they refused to determine by oaths. The Lombard laws
in Italy authorized the same, but only with a buckler and clubs, cum
fustibus et clypeo. This execrable practice became more pernicious when
more dangerous weapons were used, and it was usurped by private authority; and
though it was of barbarous extraction, unknown to all civilized nations most
renowned for true valour, (as the Jews, Greeks, and Romans,) and itself the
basest as well as the most horrible and unnatural crime, it has been able, by
maxims equally shocking to reason and religion, to pass, by a false
prostitution of those names, for a test of courage, and a point of honour;
especially since the challenge sent by Francis I. of France to the Emperor
Charles V. whom he could no longer face with an army, as Spelman takes
notice. [back]
Note 21. Conc. t. 4, p. 1572, from Hincmar. and Flodoard, c. 16. [back]
Note 22. See Hist. Littérar. de la Fr. t. 1, 2, 3. [back]
Note 23. Gall. Chr. Nov. t. 9, p. 13, et 220. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume X: October. The Lives
of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/10/011.html
Golden Legend – Saint
Remigius
Here followeth of Saint
Remigius, and first the interpretation of his name.
Remigius is said of remi,
that is to say feeding, and geos, that is earth, as who saith feeding the
earthly people with doctrine. Or of geon, that is a wrestler, for he was a
pastor and a wrestler he fed his flock with the word of preaching, with
suffrages of praying, and with example of conversation. There is three manner
of armour that is for the defence, the shield, for to fight, the sword, for his
salvation and health, the habergeon and helm. He wrestled against the devil
with the shield of faith, with the sword of the word of God, and with the
helmet of hope. Ignatius Archbishop of Rheims wrote his life.
Of the Life of Saint
Remigius.
Remigius, an holy doctor,
and confessor glorious of our Lord, was tofore his birth provided of our Lord,
and foreseen of a holy hermit. When the persecution of the Vandals had almost
wasted and destroyed nigh all France, there was a man recluse, holy and
virtuous, which had lost his sight, which oft prayed to our Lord for peace and
welfare of the church of France. He had on a time a vision, and him seemed an
angel came to him and said: Know thou that the woman that thou knowest named
Aline shall bring forth a son that shall be named Remigius, which shall deliver
all the country from this persecution. And when he awoke he came to the house
of this Aline and told to her his vision, and she would not believe it because
of her age. The recluse said: It shall be so as I have said, and when thou hast
given thy child suck, thou shalt give to me of thy milk, to put upon mine eyes,
and therewith I shall be whole and recover my sight again. And like as he said
all these things happened. And the woman had a child named Remigius, which when
he came to the age of discretion, he fled the world, and entered into a
reclusage. And sith after, for the great renown of his
holy life, when he had been twenty-two years therein he was elect and chosen to
be Archbishop of Rheims. He was so debonair that little birds came and ate on
his table and took meat at his hand. It happed on a day that he was lodged in
an house of a good woman which had but a little wine in her tonnel or vessel,
and Saint Remigius went in to the cellar and made the sign of the cross upon
the ton, and prayed a while. Anon the ton was so full that it leapt over, by
the merits of the good saint. Now it happed that Clodovius the king of France,
which was a paynim, might not be converted for any preaching that his wife
might do, which was a christian woman, unto the time that a great host of
Alemans came into France. Then by the admonishment of his wife he made a vow
that if the God that his wife worshipped would give him victory, he would be
baptized at his returning from the battle. Thus, as he demanded, he vanquished
the battle, and after came to Rheims to Saint Remigius and prayed him that he
would christen him. And when Saint Remigius baptized him he had no chrisom
ready, then a dove descended from heaven which brought the chrisom in an ampull
of which the king was anointed and this ampull is kept in the church of Saint
Remigius at Rheims, of which the kings of France be anointed when they be
crowned. Saint Remigius had a niece which was married to a clerk named
Genebaldus, which by devotion left his wife for to enter into religion. Then
Saint Remigius saw that the see of Rheims was over great, and ordained a see of
a bishopric at Laon and made Genebald first bishop of that place. When Genebald
was bishop his wife came thither to see him, and he remembered of the privily
that they were wont to have together, and lay on a night with her, and
engendered on her a child. When his wife knew that she was great and let him
have knowledge thereof, and when he wist that it was a son, he commanded that
it should be named Thief, because he had engendered it by theft. After for to
quench the suspicion and the words of the people, he suffered that his wife
should come to him as she did tofore, and anon after she conceived a daughter,
whom he commanded to name a fox’s whelp, and after came to Saint Remigius and
confessed him of his sin, and took the stole off his neck and would leave his
bishopric, but Saint Remigius, after he had confessed him, comforted him, and
gave him penance, and shut him in a little cell seven years long, and gave to
him bread and water, and in the meanwhile he governed the church himself. At
the end of seven years an angel came to the prison, and said to him that he had
done well his penance, and bade him go out of the prison. To whom he said: I
may not go out, for my lord Saint Remigius hath closed the door and sealed it.
And the angel said to him: Know thou that the door of heaven is opened to thee;
I shall open this door without breaking of the seal which Saint Remigius hath
sealed. And anon the door was opened. Then Genebald fell down in the midst of
the door in manner of a cross, and said: If our Lord Jesu Christ came hither I
shall not go out but if Saint Remigius, which shut and closed me herein, come
and bring me out. And then the angel went anon and fetched Saint Remigius and
brought him to Laon, and he delivered him out of prison, and remised him and
set him again in his see there, where he lived after, all the days of his life,
holily. After his death, Thief his son was made bishop after him, which is also
a saint in heaven, and at the last Saint Remigius, after that God had shown
many miracles for him, he departed out of this life unto everlasting joy the
year of the incarnation of our Lord five hundred.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/golden-legend-the-life-of-saint-remigius/
Saint
Rémi et la sainte Ampoule, estampe, Sur le montage, à l'encre brune :
"L, Jean Valdor dessinateur et graveur né à Liège, en / 1602." (Voir
le cabinet dijonval Paris 1810). […]. Tampon ovale en noir, en bas de l'image,
à droite : "BIBLIOTHEQUE DE NANCY". Au verso, à l'encre noire,
tampon circulaire : "BIBLIOTHEQUE PUBLIQUE NANCY / FONDS
THIERY-SOLET". Ancienne collection Nöel (n°5075), bibliothèque municipale de Nancy
Weninger’s
Lives of the Saints – Saint Remigius, Bishop of Rheims
Article
Saint Remigius, descended
from a noble family of France, was, in his time, one of the most learned and
holy prelates of the church. His parents were Aemilius, Lord of Laon, and Saint
Cilinia. After two sons had been born to them, they remained for a long time
without any other issue, and had given up all hope of seeing their family
increased. Montanus, a saintly hermit, who one day visited the castle in which
they lived, informed them, by divine revelation, that they would receive a son
who, chosen by God, was to illumine all France with his piety and virtues. The
prophecy of Montanus became true: Remigius was born, and the pious parents, who
regarded him as an especial gift of heaven, left nothing undone to give him a
most holy education. In this task they found no difficulty, as Remigius was
naturally inclined to all that was good, while he detested the very shadow of
evil.
Having finished his
studies, he went into the desert, in order that, far from all danger, he might
more fervently serve God. The holy life he there led, made him so famous, that,
on the death of the Archbishop of Rheims, he was unanimously chosen his
successor. Although the Saint most earnestly refused the honor, he had to
consent, as heaven itself had confirmed the choice by a ray of light with which
his head was surrounded in the presence of a multitude of people. The first
care of the Saint, when he had entered upon his new functions, was to abolish
several abuses which were spreading; to exterminate vice and to foster virtue.
He therefore visited every town, village and hamlet of his diocese, and
preached almost daily with great zeal and energy. He took the utmost pains to
deter his flock from the horrible vice of unchastity, as he believed and
publicly maintained that on account of this crime very few grown persons went
to heaven. The beautiful example of virtue which he gave in his own life,
imparted force to his admonitions, and converted a great many hardened sinners.
The gift of miracles, which God had bestowed upon His faithful servant assisted
him greatly in his labors. It is well known that he gave sight to a blind man;
cast the devil out of one possessed, extinguished a raging conflagration with
the sign of the holy cross, and, after a short prayer, recalled a dead maiden
to life. Knowing, by divine revelation, that a famine would come over the land,
he gathered a great quantity of corn in a large barn, that he might be able to
assist the poor, for whom he always evinced a fatherly care. Some wicked
people, thinking that avarice had prompted him to do this, set the barn on
fire. When the Archbishop was informed of it, he hastened to extinguish the
flames; but on seeing that all endeavor to do so would be useless, he quietly
warmed himself by the spreading flames without letting an impatient word pass
his lips. “God will not leave unpunished those who thus wickedly destroy the
food of the poor,” he said with prophetic spirit, when all was over. His words
became true; for, all those who had taken part in this wicked deed became
deformed; besides this, they lost all the fruit they had in their barns, and
their fields became barren.
Many other miraculous
events are found in the life of this Saint, of which the most wonderful is the
conversion of King Clodovaeus or Clovis. Clotildis, the queen, was a Christian,
and neglected no occasion to admonish the king to abandon idolatry in which he
had been born and educated. But she could not persuade him, until the Germans
invaded his dominions, when she again most earnestly spoke to him. As a battle
was to be fought, on the issue of which the welfare of the whole kingdom
depended, she exhorted him to call on the God of the Christians for aid, and to
promise Him to embrace the Christian faith if he should succeed in conquering
his enemies. Clovis won the decisive battle, but not without a miracle. Victory
seemed for a long time, to be on the side of the enemy, and Clovis thought that
all was lost, when he suddenly remembered the admonition of his queen and
exclaimed: “God of Clotildis! if you art the true God, save me, and I will become
a Christian and serve Thee faithfully.” No sooner had he pronounced these
words, than the tide of battle turned in his favor, and the enemy was
completely routed. The king, not to delay the fulfilment of his promise, called
Saint Remigius immediately to be instructed in the Christian faith and was
baptized. How gladly the holy bishop performed this holy act! After the king
and the chief of the nobility had been perfectly prepared, the day on which we
celebrate the nativity of Our Saviour, was appointed on which they should
receive holy baptism. When the bishop had already begun the ceremonies, and was
about to anoint the catechumens with chrism, he perceived that the holy oil had
not been provided. Some maintain that the chaplain could not pass, with the
vessel in which it was kept, through the immense mass of people who were
present. Others say that it had been forgotten. Be this as it may, it is quite
certain that God permitted it in order to place the virtue of His faithful
servant more visibly before the eyes of the world, and to strengthen the king
in his promises for the future. When the bishop, raising his eyes towards
heaven, silently prayed to God for help, a snow-white dove came flying towards
him, holding a little vial in its beak, placed it in the Saint’s hand, and then
vanished. The king and all present saw this miracle and were deeply moved. The
holy bishop found the vial filled with chrism, which exhaled so delicious an
odor, that they all exclaimed that it was not a natural but a heavenly fragrance.
This little vessel is still preserved at this day. By the aid of Providence, it
was saved in the horrors of the Revolution, by a zealous priest. Before Saint
Remigius baptized the king, he addressed to him these memorable words: “Bow
down thy head, O king, and submit to the mild yoke of Christ. Worship what you
hast hitherto burned; and burn what thou hast hitherto worshipped!” The king,
ready to do all that was required of him, received holy baptism with wonderful
devotion. A great number of the nobility followed him, clad like him in white
garments, and manifesting deep reverence while they were baptized. When the
ceremony was over, which for splendor had never before been equalled, the Saint
admonished all to be constant in the true faith and to lead a Christian life.
From that time, the king loved and honored Saint Remigius as his own father,
and the bishop made use of the royal favor to the honor of the church and the
salvation of the inhabitants of the state, of whom he converted many thousands
to Christ. He continued in his apostolic zeal as long as he lived. During the
last years of his life, he had occasion to increase the glory which awaited him
in heaven by exercising patience: he became totally blind. The holy man’s
conduct under this misfortune was like that of the pious Tobias of old. He
submitted to the will of God, and bore, with the greatest equanimity, all the
suffering that accompanies blindness. After some time, God restored sight to
His servant, as He had done to Tobias, and called him to receive an eternal
recompense, by a happy death, in the 96th year of his age, of which 75 had been
spent in his episcopal functions. After 506 years, his holy body was found free
from decay, and was transported, on the 1st October, with great and solemn
ceremonies, to the church of the Abbey, which is named after the Saint His
death took place in the year of our Lord 533.
It is written of this
Saint that he regulated his life according to the following three principles:
• Avoid everything that
is sinful or forbidden; nay, even abstain from that which, although permitted,
is not necessary, but frivolous and tending only to vain amusement
• Suffer and bear
patiently every misfortune that may assail you, of whatever nature it may be.
• Be courageous. Let not
the fear of trouble restrain you from what God or the salvation of your soul
requires of you. Call on God for aid, and then act. You will find by experience
that, with God s help, you can do more than you thought.
Practical Considerations
• Consider well the three
rules by which Saint Remigius regulated his life. If you wish to gain
salvation, regulate yours by the same precepts. Begin now, at the commencement
of this month. Avoid everything that is sinful: this above all, is necessary
for your salvation. For the love of God, avoid sometimes even those amusements
which are permitted, because this will be agreeable to God and beneficial to
yourself. Bear with patience the cross God has laid upon you, and if men,
permitted by heaven, do you wrong, complain not. This also, is necessary for
your salvation; for, it is not suffering alone that leads us to heaven, but
suffering patiently. And lastly, if you should experience difficulties, in the
service of God, in the fulfillment of His commandments, in avoiding sin, in
practising virtue, in suffering adversity and wrong, in uprooting evil habits,
or in some other matters pertaining to your salvation; do not despond, be not
discouraged or troubled, but act with energy. You will find that, strengthened
by Him, nothing is impossible to you. “The Lord is my strength, my refuge and
my deliverer,” says King David. “My God is my helper, and in Him will I put my
trust.” (Psalm 17) The Lord is my strength.” (Psalm 117) “Through my God I
shall go over a wall.” (Psalm 17)
• “Worship what you have
hitherto burned, and burn what you have hitherto worshipped!” Thus spoke Saint
Remigius to King Clovis, as though he wished to say: “You have heretofore, in
the blindness of paganism, worshipped idols and despised the Cross of Christ,
you have burned it and endeavored to destroy it. Do now the contrary. Burn the
idols, honor the holy Cross, and pray to Him who died upon it for us.” Every
true penitent ought to do the same. He must love what he hated and despised,
and hate what he loved. He must seek after that which formerly he could not
endure, and avoid and flee that which he formerly sought. For example, he loved
and sought sinful pleasure or sinful gain: he must now hate and shun these. He
detested all that was burdensome to the flesh, although God or the Church
commanded it; now, after his conversion, he must love all this and practice it.
“In the same manner,” says Saint Chrysostom, “must he, who was intemperate in
eating and drinking, become temperate; he who was avaricious, must become
liberal to the poor; he who seldom frequented the Church, seldom lent an ear to
the word of God, and gave either very little or no time to prayer must appear
oftener in church, hear the word of God more frequently, and give more time to
prayer.” Is your repentance of that kind? Examine your conscience and correct
yourself where you need correction. “As you formerly loved the world, in the
same proportion love now the Creator of the world,” says Saint Augustine.
MLA
Citation
Father Francis Xavier
Weninger, DD, SJ. “Saint Remigius, Bishop of Rheims”. Lives
of the Saints, 1876. CatholicSaints.Info.
9 May 2018. Web. 7 March 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-remigius-bishop-of-rheims/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-remigius-bishop-of-rheims/
Baptism
of Clovis I (Lat 917,f° 1 - BnF), http://expositions.bnf.fr/fouquet/images/3/f630.jpg
Saints and
Saintly Dominicans – 1 October
Saint Remigius, Archbishop of Rheims
For twelve centuries has
the French nation venerated Saint Remigius as her apostle. Before him many of
the “Franks had embraced Christianity, but the nation, as a whole, had not, nor
its chief; neither was the legislation as yet Christian. Saint Remigius gave
Clovis, who had been converted at the battle of Tolbiac, his Christian
education. Filled with a prophetic spirit, he predicted to the prince the
extension of his kingdom and the services his successors would render to the
Roman Church. He added that they would be blessed as long as they walked in the
fear of God, since kingdoms are preserved by justice, and justice is preserved
by religion. It is said, that on the day Clovis was baptized, the priest who
carried the sacred chrism was unable to enter the church on account of the crowd;
but a miraculous dove brought Remigius an ampulla filled with heavenly oil. He
was always faithful to the simplicity and disinterestedness which were his
marked characteristics, never using his influence with Clovis for personal
interests, but only to promote those of religion and the poor. After having
been tried by blindness towards the end of his life, he died at the age of
ninety-six. (545)
Prayer
Saint Remigius, abandon
us not, and preserve from apostasy the people so especially yours, by giving
them bishops and priests worthy of you.
Practice
Recite Psalm 19 for the
intention of princes and all invested with temporal power.
– taken from the
book Saints
and Saintly Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie
Cormier, O.P.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-and-saintly-dominicans-1-october/
Baptême
de Clovis. Il est baptisé par saint Remy, l'évêque de Reims. Le Saint-Esprit
apporte la sainte Ampoule contenant le saint chrême qui servit à l'onction des
rois de France.
Miniature
from "Grandes Chroniques de France de Charles V".
_la_santa_crema.jpg)
Clovis riceve dalla Colomba (Spirito Santo) la Santa Crema
San Remigio di Reims Vescovo
Laon (Francia), ca. 440 -
Reims (Francia), ca. 533
Etimologia: Remigio
= che sta al remo, rematore, dal latino
Emblema: Bastone
pastorale, Fiala d'olio
Martirologio
Romano: A Reims sempre nella Gallia belgica, ora in Francia, deposizione
di san Remigio, vescovo: dopo che il re Clodoveo fu iniziato al sacro fonte
battesimale e ai sacramenti della fede, egli convertì i Franchi a Cristo e,
dopo oltre sessant’anni di episcopato, lasciò questa vita ragguardevole per
santità.
Nato cittadino romano,
Remigio vede crollare nel 476 l’Impero di Occidente e sparire il dominio di
Roma nella sua Gallia, che passa in mano alle tribù barbariche di Burgundi, Alamanni
e Visigoti. Sul finire del V secolo, il popolo germanico dei Franchi occupa via
via il Paese, al quale darà infine anche il proprio nome: Francia. Remigio
appartiene al ceto dei gallo romani, legati da generazioni alla cultura latina,
da cui ora provengono molti uomini di Chiesa. Viene acclamato vescovo di Reims
prima di compiere i trent’anni, e un suo fratello di nome Principio sarà
vescovo di Soissons.
All’epoca, la Gallia è un arcipelago di isole e isolette cattoliche, in un mare
formato da Burgundi e Visigoti di fede ariana, mentre le campagne sono ancora
pagane, come a loro modo pagani sono anche i Franchi, condotti in Gallia dal re
Childerico. Meno evoluti degli altri popoli, i Franchi sono però dei grandi
combattenti (non portano elmo né corazza) e hanno reso buoni servizi militari a
Roma in passato.
Morto nel 482 Childerico, gli succede il figlio Clodoveo quindicenne. A lui Remigio, vescovo cattolico in territorio franco, scrive lettere rispettose e insieme autorevoli. Una di esse dice: "Vegliate a che il Signore non distolga lo sguardo da voi. Consigliatevi con i vostri vescovi. Divertitevi con i giovani, ma deliberate coi vecchi". Da un lato lo ammonisce, dall’altro riconosce la sua sovranità: un muoversi anche da politico, che è inevitabile per Remigio, "evangelizzatore a vita" tra i Franchi.
E’ un aiuto prezioso per Clodoveo, perché favorisce l’adesione degli altri vescovi e dei gruppi galloromani. Così il re giungerà a essere padrone del Paese, dopo la vittoria del 507 a Vouillé sui Visigoti, dando così l’inizio alla dinastia dei Merovingi. Ma non c’è soltanto la politica. Su di lui influisce fortemente in senso religioso la moglie Clotilde, che è già cattolica; influisce Remigio, che lo istruisce personalmente nella fede. E molti atti successivi del re Clodoveo rivelano una religiosità personale autentica. Si arriva così al suo battesimo, per opera del vescovo, a Reims, in un giorno di Natale di un anno incerto. Alcuni sostengono fosse il 497. In un’iscrizione della fine del XV secolo a Reims si legge: "L’an de grace cinq cent le roy Clovis – receut a Reims par saint Remy baptesme". Saremmo allora al 500.
Ma dopo quel Natale, quale che sia, riprende il lungo, feriale lavoro di Remigio per annunciare il Vangelo a chi non è re né principe; senza poeti e cronisti al seguito. Una fatica durata quasi settant’anni, secondo una tradizione. Un’immersione totale nei suoi doveri, oscuramente portata avanti, e di cui si parlerà soltanto dopo la sua morte, quando Remigio sarà acclamato santo direttamente dalla voce popolare.
Autore: Domenico Agasso
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/72600
Statue
of Saint Remigius at the Saint Remigius Church, Simpelveld,
Netherlands
Beeld
Remigius in kerk van Simpelveld, Limburg, Nederland
Den hellige Remigius av
Reims (~437-533)
Minnedag: 13.
januar
Frankrikes nasjonalhelgen
og frankernes apostel; skytshelgen for byen og bispedømmet Reims; mot pest,
epidemier, halssmerter og feber; mot slanger; mot religiøs likegyldighet
Den hellige Remigius (fr:
Rémy, Rémi; it/sp: Remigio; bret: Remig) ble født rundt 437 (rundt 443?),
tradisjonelt i Cerny-en-Laonnois nær Laon i Gallia Belgica, nå i
departementet Aisne i regionen Picardie nord i Frankrike. Dette var midt i
folkevandringstiden, og han kom fra en fornem gallo-romansk familie og ble født
som romersk borger. Hans foreldre var grev Emilius (Emil; fr: Émile) av Laon
(som ikke er nevnt noe annet sted) og den hellige Celinia (d.
458), fra en senatorfamilie i samme by. Remigius’ betydelig eldre bror var den
hellige Principius (ca
420-ca 505), som ble den tolvte biskop av Soissons. Principius (eller en annen
bror) fikk sønnen Lupus, som
etterfulgte sin far/onkel som biskop av Soissons.
Ifølge Pseudo-Fortunatus,
senere gjengitt og utvidet av Hinkmar av Reims, var Celinia svært gammel da hun
fikk sin yngste sønn. Eneboeren Montanus, som bodde i skogen i La Fère, hadde
tre ganger i en drøm fått et varsel om den hellige biskopens komme. Han sa:
«Herren har verdiget seg
til å betrakte jorden fra himmelen, slik at alle nasjoner i verden forkynner
hans makts underverker og slik at kongene anser det som en ære å tjene: Celinia
skal bli mor til en sønn som skal kalles Remigius og som jeg vil bruke til å
sette mitt folk fri».
Ti måneder senere ble
Remigius født i Laon. Da Montanus kunngjorde for Celinia den kommende fødselen,
ble hun overrasket ettersom hun og grev Emilius allerede var gamle. Montanus,
som var blind, insisterte: Når du har avvent barnet, gni mine øyne inn med din
melk, så skal jeg få se lyset. Da Remi var avvent, dryppet Celinia etter
Montanus’ veileding noen dråper av sin melk på øyelokkene til eneboeren, noe
som ga ham synet tilbake.
Da gutten ble født, ble
han døpt med navnet Remigius. Hans amme Balsamia (fr:
Balsamie) regnes også blant de hellige og æres i Reims med tilnavnet Nutrix (fr:
nourrice). Denne gudfryktige kvinnen hadde selv en sønn, den hellige Celsin
(Celsinus), som ble en høyt elsket disippel av Remigius som utmerket seg
gjennom mange mirakler og er kjent i Laon som Saint-Soussin.
Foreldrene overga
Remigius til klerikerne i kirken Sainte-Marie i Laon. Han fikk en kort, men
fremragende utdannelse i Reims, og han ble snart så berømt for sin lærdom og
hellighet, i tillegg til sin høye status, at da biskop Bennadius av Reims (ca.
430-59) (Bennagius; fr: Bennade, Bennage, Bernage) i Champagne døde rundt 459,
ble Remigius utnevnt til biskop av Reims (459-533) i den eksepsjonelt lave
alder av 22 år. Han var da fortsatt legmann, men mottok vielsene og tok opp
sitt embete. Reims var hovedstad i den provinsen som omfattet Nord-Frankrike og
det nåværende Belgia. Tittelen erkebiskop eksisterte ikke ennå, men som biskop
i hovedstaden hadde Remigius stor innflytelse i provinsen. Ifølge fortegnelsen
i Gallia Christiana var han den femtende biskop av Reims.
Det biografiske
materialet om Remigius er ikke særlig tilfredsstillende, men han var kjent for
sin store lærdom, veltalenhet og ikke minst undergjerninger. Han utførte
fantastiske mirakler, helbredet blinde, oppvekket de døde og slukket en brann
med et korstegn. Da han oppholdt seg i Chaumussy, helbredet han en blind som
samtidig var plaget av en ond ånd. I Cerny velsignet han i huset til en
slektning et fat med vin, som hadde vært nesten tomt, men som nå plutselig var
helt fullt. Byen Reims reddet han gjennom sin bønn fra en herjende brann. En
dødssyk mann ble frisk gjennom den oljen som Remigius salvet ham med. En jente
fra Tours befridde han fra en ond ånd og vekket henne tilbake til livet. Men
alt som blir fortalt om Remigius er likevel lite troverdig.
Klodvig I (ca 466-511)
var den første frankiske kongen som forente alle de frankiske stammene under én
hersker. Han etterfulgte i 482 sin far Kilderik I (458-82) som konge for de
saliske frankerne. Den andre hovedgruppen av frankere blir kalt ripuariske
(ripuarisk betyr elve-boende, mens saliske betyr salte, som assosieres med
havet). De saliske frankerne bodde da i et område vest for nedre del av Rhinen,
med sitt senter rundt Tournai og Cambrai langs dagens grense mellom Frankrike
og Belgia, i et område kjent som Toxandria. Klodvig beseiret de frankiske
nabostammene og etablerte seg som enekonge før sin død. Han utvidet sitt område
til nesten hele den gamle romerske provinsen Gallia (grovt sett det moderne
Frankrike). Han betraktes som grunnlegger av både Frankrike, som hans stat
tilsvarte omtrent geografisk ved hans død, og det merovingiske dynastiet, som
hersket over frankerne i de neste to århundrene.
Med hjelp fra sin
slektning Ragnakar bekjempet Klodvig i 486 Syagrius, den siste romerske
herskeren i det nordre Gallia, som styrte området rundt Soissons i dagens
Picardie. Denne seieren ved Soissons utvidet det frankiske herredømmet til det
meste av området nord for Loire.
Historien om
tilbakeleveringen av de hellige kar som var stjålet fra kirken i Soissons,
viser det vennskapelige forholdet mellom Remigius og frankerkongen Klodvig I (Chlodwig;
fr: Clovis) (482-511). Den viktigste gjenstanden som ble stjålet, var Le
vase de Soissons (Vasen fra Soissons), en halvlegendarisk vase,
sannsynligvis i edelt metall, som ifølge den hellige biskopen og hagiografen
Gregor av Tours var av vidunderlig størrelse og skjønnhet og ble stjålet sammen
med de andre hellige kar fra en kirke i plyndringen som fulgte etter slaget ved
Soissons (486), et slag som ble vunnet av kong Klodvig og hans frankere.
Remigius sendte
budbringere til Klodvig og ba om at dersom kirken ikke kunne få tilbake alle
stjålne kar, kunne de i det minste få tilbake vasen. Klodvig gikk med på dette
og krevde den derfor som en del av sitt rettmessige bytte. Men en soldat var
uenig i dette og knuste vasen med sin stridsøks. Klodvig reagerte først ikke på
dette og ga den ødelagte vasen tilbake til Remigius. Men ett år senere drepte
han personlig og offentlig denne soldaten med den samme stridsøksen.
Den hellige Klothilde (ca
474-545) var datter av den burgundiske underkongen Kilperik II (473-93) og hans
hustru Caretena og ble oppdratt som from katolikk, selv om de fleste av hennes
slektninger var arianere. Like etter 480 ba kong Klodvig om Klothildes hånd,
noe som ble innvilget av frykt for frankernes mektige konge. Klothilde fulgte
Klodvigs utsendinger på hjemreisen. Hun vegret seg først mot ekteskapet fordi
Klodvig var hedning, men hun samtykket da han garanterte at hun fritt kunne
utøve sin tro.
I det nye systemet med
germanske kongeriker på romersk jord passet alemannene, som hadde sitt
kjerneområde i Schwarzwald, ikke inn. Men de ville også ha sin del, så de
trengte øst- og vestover fra Schwarzwald. Men da de også forsøkte å trenge
nordover langs Rhinen, kom de i konflikt med frankerne. Det kom til et voldsomt
slag i 496 ved Zülpich, fire mil sør for Köln i nærheten av dagens Bonn. Stedet
var da kjent som Tolbiac (Tolbiacum, Tulpiacum). Legenden forteller at
kong Klodvig i slaget mot de overmektige alemannene svevde i livsfare, men da
husket han oppfordringene fra sin fromme hustru og ba til «Klothildes Gud». Han
lovte at om han ble reddet, ville han offentlig bekjenne sin kristne tro. Knapt
hadde han avlagt dette løftet, før slaget vendte seg til hans fordel og han
vant en stor seier og jagde fienden på flukt. Etter dette slaget betraktet
frankerne alemannene som sine undersåtter. Dermed begynte Klodvig, som Remigius
uttrykte det, «å tilbe det han før hadde brent og brenne det han før hadde
tilbedt».
En annen forklaring er at
Klodvig nå så sin sjanse til å bli den egentlige lederen blant germanerkongene
på romersk jord. Men han manglet noe: Han var ikke katolikk, og romerne hadde
siden 300-tallet hatt katolisismen som statsreligion. En ny romersk stat uten
katolisisme lot seg knapt bygge, og derfor lot Klodvig seg døpe.
Uansett forklaring, da
Klodvig kom tilbake, holdt han sitt løfte, og dronningen ba biskop Remigius av
Reims om å undervise kongen i troen. Biskopen underviste ham personlig, og da
han fortalte om Kristi lidelseshistorie, utbrøt Klodvig: «Ha! Hadde jeg og mine
trofaste frankere vært der, ville jødene aldri våget å gjøre det!» Remigius ble
assistert i undervisningen av den hellige Vedastus av Arras (d.
540) og dronning Klothilde.
Den største ytre
begivenheten i Remigius’ 74 år lange episkopat var da han døpte kong Klodvig.
Det skjedde ifølge tradisjonen i Reims julaften den 24. desember 496, men det
kan godt ha vært i 498 eller 499. De fleste av de nordgalliske biskopene var
til stede, inkludert Remigius’ bror Principius av Soissons. Dåpen skjedde i
nærvær av et stort antall frankere og alemannere, og ifølge Gregor av Tours ble
3 000 frankere døpt sammen med Klodvig.
Dåpskapellet var så
vakkert utsmykket at kongen spurte om han allerede var i himmelen, hvorpå
Remigius svarte at dette var porten og veien dit. Etter dåpen skulle Remigius
krone kongen, og etter legenden kom da en Guds engel fra himmelen med en liten
oljeflaske som etter bibelsk skikk burde følge seremonien, og de tre paddene i
det kongelige våpen forvandlet seg til tre liljer.
Nesten hele hoffet,
kongens to søstre og en stor del av folket fulgte sin herskers eksempel, i alt
3 000 mennesker. Klodvig var den første germanske hersker som ble døpt
katolsk. Den første døpte germanerfyrsten overhode var goterfyrsten Fritigern,
som ble døpt rundt 374 av arianere. Det var første gang en germansk stamme
hadde antatt den katolske tro og dermed sluttet seg til den nikenske
kristenheten. Ved sin dåp ble Klodvig den eneste katolske herskeren i
kristenheten, for den østromerske keiser Anastasios I (491-518) ble regnet som
en fremmer av det monofysittiske kjetteri, og kongene i Italia (ostrogotere),
Burgund, Spania (visigotere) og Nord-Afrika (vandaler) var alle arianere. Denne
julefesten i år 496 var en betydningsfull hendelse i europeisk historie og
kalles den egentlige fødsel for den kristne middelalder. 1500-årsjubileet for
denne begivenheten ble feiret i Reims med en pavemesse den 22. september 1996.
Under Klodvigs
beskyttelse forkynte biskop Remigius i hele det frankiske kongeriket til og med
dagens Belgia og bygde mange kirker. Han grunnla bispeseter i Tournai, Cambrai,
Thérouanne, Laon og Arras. I Thérouanne konsekrerte han personlig den første
biskopen i 499, i Arras plasserte han i 498 Vedastus og i Laon sin nieses ektemann
Gunband (Genebandus). På setet i Tournai plasserte han i 487 abbed Theoderich
av Or. I 530 konsekrerte han biskop Medardus av Noyon (ca
473-ca 560). Andre biskoper han innsatte var Aquilinus av Köln (497) og
sannsynligvis også Alpinus av Châlons. Han sendte de hellige Antimund
(Antimond, Antimundus) og Adelbert til Morini-folket, en folkestamme ved
nordkysten i Gallia i Picardie, som for det meste var hedninger.
Krønikerne som
skrev Gallia Christiana forteller at utallige donasjoner ble gitt til
Remigius fra de frankiske adelsmennene, som han ga til katedralen i Reims.
Remigius kjempet med alle krefter mot arianismen som burgunderne og goterne
hadde brakt med til riket. Selv om Remigius aldri deltok på noen kirkelige
konsiler, holdt han i 517 en synode i Reims, hvor han etter en opphetet
diskusjon omvendte en ariansk biskop. Selv om Remigius’ innflytelse over folk
og prelater var ekstraordinær, ble han en gang irettesatt av en gruppe biskoper
for å ha presteviet en Claudius, som de følte var uverdig for prestestanden,
men generelt ble han æret høyt for sin hellighet, lærdom og mirakler.
Remigius korresponderte i
likhet med broren Principius med den hellige Sidonius Apollinaris (ca
432-ca 482) (bok IX, 8), og brevene gir en idé om den elegante og svært
kultiverte gallo-romanske litterære stil som de tre mennene hadde til felles.
Sidonius Apollinaris vitner om Remigius’ dyder og hans veltalenhet som
forkynner. Snart begynte man å kalle ham «frankernes apostel».
Få autentiske arbeider av
Remigius er bevart. Hans Déclamations ble beundret av Sidonius
Apollinaris i et brev til Remigius, men er nå gått tapt. Det er bevart fire
brev, et til Klodvig hvor han trøster ham etter søsteren Abofledis’ død, det
andre til Klodvig i anledning krigen mot goterne, et brev til tre galliske
biskoper og et til den hellige biskop Falko av
Tongeren-Maastricht (d. 527?). Hans testamente er apokryft. Le
petit testament, som finnes i visse manuskripter av Vita Remigii, er
autentisk. Men apokryft er et brev som gratulerer den hellige pave Hormisdas (514-23)
med hans valg i 523. Det brevet hvor pave Hormisdas synes å ha utnevnt Remigius
til vikar for Klodvigs kongerike (Sedia apostolicae Vicarius in regno
Clodovei), er falskt. Det virker å ha vært et forsøk fra Hinkmar på å skaffe et
grunnlag for hans krav om å heve Reims til fransk primassete. En kommentar til
Paulus’ brev er ikke hans arbeid, men ble skrevet av Remigius av Auxerre.
Remigius døde den 13.
januar 533 i Reims, rundt 96 år gammel og etter 74 år som biskop. Han ble
gravlagt den 15. januar i Saint-Christophe. Han ble etterfulgt som biskop av
den hellige Romanus (fr: Romain (533-35). Hans eldste biografi ble skrevet av
biskop Venantius Fortunatus av Poitiers (ca 530-600), men den var kort og rent
legendarisk (Vita brevis). Likevel bygger alle de senere biografiene
på den, først en som var skrevet av en ukjent forfatter på et ukjent tidspunkt,
og deretter en mer utførlig skrevet av biskop Hinkmar av Reims (845-82). Han
skrev også en lovtale (oncomium) om Remigius som er bevart. Ifølge
den salige Jakop
av Voragine (ca 1226-98) ble en annen biografi skrevet av biskop
Ignatius av Reims (som vi ikke finner på bispelisten). En utførlig
levnetsbeskrivelse gis av krønikeren Flodoard av Reims (894-966) (Flodoardus
Remensis) i hans kirkehistorie om Reims.
En av de mest
bemerkelsesverdige gjenstandene Remigius etterlot seg var en kommunionskalk for
utdeling av Kristi hellige blod. Den bar innskriften:
Hauriat hinc populus
vitam de sanguine sacro, / Injecto aeternus quem fudit vulnere Christus, /
Remigius reddit Domino suo vota sacerdos.
«Drikk, troende folk, din
frelse av det hellige Blod, / som av kjærlighet såret den evige Kristus utgjøt,
/ presten Remigius virker gjennom dette sine løfter.
Denne dyrebare skatten
ble imidlertid solgt under biskop Hinkmar for å kjøpe fri fanger som var tatt
av normannerne.
Remigius’ kult startet
straks etter hans død og har aldri bukket under. Den hellige Bonifatius
forordnet hans fest også for de tyske bispedømmene, og de gamle angelsaksiske kalenderne
inneholdt også allerede hans navn. Hans relikvier ble ofte skrinlagt, første
gang under biskop Sonnantius (fr: Sonnace) (593-631). Den andre skrinleggelsen
foretok erkebiskop Hinkmar av Reims da han fikk overført Remigius’ levninger
til Épernay under vikingenes invasjoner. Ved denne anledning utga han også sin
biografi om sin store forgjenger, i 852. Fra Épernay kom relikviene til
klosteret Orbais. Under erkebiskop Herveus (fr: Hervé, Hérivé) (900-22) kom de
igjen tilbake til kirken Saint-Christophe i Reims, som fra da av bar hans navn.
Praktfullt ombygd ble den vigslet i 1049 av den hellige pave Leo IX (1049-54).
Relikviene ble overført
til den benediktinske klosterbasilikaen Saint-Rémy og skrinlagt den 1. oktober
1049 av pave Leo XI under et konsil han da holdt i Reims. Etter at dette
klosteret ble ødelagt, ble relikvieskrinet overført til den praktfulle
katedralen i Reims, de franske kongenes kroningskirke. I katedralen strømmer
lyset inn gjennom 96 åpninger, like mange som Remigius’ år på jorden. Hans
gravkapell ble fornyet fra 1533 til 1537 av kardinal Lenoncourt. I 1616 ble
relikviene igjen undersøkt av den daværende erkebiskopen med mange høytstående
vitner. Remigius’ legeme ble da funnet helt, men skinnet var tørket og festet
seg til det omliggende kledet.
Under Den franske
revolusjon ble gravkapellet ødelagt, relikviene fjernet den 23. oktober 1703,
skjendet og kastet i en gruve, men i all hemmelighet ble de hentet opp igjen i
juli året etter og bisatt på nytt i katedralen. I 1796 ble de overgitt til
statssogneprest Seraine, som oppbevarte dem i biblioteket i det tidligere
minorittklosteret. Siden 1803 har de igjen hvilt i kirken St. Remigius. Store mirakler
uten tall skjedde ved hans grav. Da man under en pest bar duken som relikviene
var rullet inn i, rundt murene i Reims, ble byen skånet på underfullt vis.
Skrinleggingsdagen 1.
oktober ble tidligere feiret som hans minnedag, bortsett fra i Reims, hvor han
ble feiret på dødsdagen 13. januar. Dette er nå vanligvis hans minnedag, selv
om den franske Kirken feirer ham den 15. januar. Hans navn står i Martyrologium
Romanum, men ved kalenderrevisjonen i 1969 ble hans minnedag fjernet fra
Kirkens universalkalender og henvist til lokale og spesielle kalendere. 29. mai
nevnes også som minnedag.
Hans navn er bevart i
utallige stedsnavn i Frankrike, enten som Saint-Rémy eller i andre
sammenstillinger. I kunsten fremstilles Remigius som biskop med oljeflaske, noen
ganger med en due som bringer ham krisma. På større bilder avbildes oftest
Klodvigs dåp.
Det fantes en tidlig
legende assosiert med Remigius som var kjent som «Legenden om den døende
hedningens dåp».
Den forteller at en
døende hedning ba Remigius om å bli døpt, men da det kom frem at det ikke
fantes noen katekumenolje eller hellig krisma for en korrekt dåp, ga Remigius
ordre om at to tomme ampuller skulle plasseres på et alter, og mens han ba
foran dem, ble de på mirakuløst vis fylt av de nødvendige oljene av Guds egen
hånd.
Da Remigius’ grav ble
åpnet under kong Karl den skallete (843-77) og mens Hinkmar var erkebiskop av
Reims, ble det åpenbart funnet to små ampuller med et innhold som avga
aromatisk vellukt som ingen av de tilstedeværende hadde kjent før. Da Remigius
døde, var den gamle parfymekunsten fortsatt kjent og praktisert i det
kollapsende romerske imperiet, men var ukjent i det karolingiske imperiet 400
år senere. Ampullene kan opprinnelig ha vært brukt for å skjule lukten fra
kisten under begravelsen, men minnet om de to ampullene passet mirakuløst inn i
historien om Den døende hedningens dåp. Vi må også huske at det var vanlig å
gravlegge kalk, patena og andre hellige kar sammen med høyt rangerte prelater.
Erkebiskop Hinkmar
kombinerte raskt oppdagelsen av ampullene med den ukjente duften og den gamle
legenden samt det historiske minnet om at Remigius hadde døpt Klodvig, til en
ny legende som identifiserte en av disse ampullene som den ampullen med krisma
som ble brukt ved Klodvigs dåp. Denne legenden om den hellige ampulle (Sainte
Ampoule), som sier at krismaen som ble brukt av Remigius da han døpte Klodvig,
ble skaffet av himmelen selv på mirakuløst vis. Denne legenden brukte Hinkmar
for å styrke sine krav på at erkebispesetet Reims skulle anerkjennes som
guddommelig utvalgt sted for alle senere kroninger og salvinger av franske
konger. Skjebnen til den andre ampullen er ukjent.
Det har vært antydet at
siden denne ampullen i den originale utgaven av legenden ville ha inneholdt
katekumenolje, og at det franske kroningsritualet foreskrev katekumenolje
heller enn krisma for salvingen av dronninger, at den deretter ble brukt ved
kroninger av dronninger av Frankrike. Det er mulig at en ampulle som for tiden
identifiseres av noen av Bourbon-legitimistene som Sainte Ampoule, i
virkeligheten er denne andre ampullen. Frem til revolusjonen ble Sainte
Ampoule oppbevart i katedralen i Reims og brukt ved alle franske
kroninger. De revolusjonære knuste den i 1794.
Kilder: Attwater/John,
Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Butler (I), Benedictines, Delaney, Bunson, Kaas,
Eilertsen, Engelhart, Schauber/Schindler, Melchers, Gorys, Dammer/Adam, KIR,
CE, CSO, Patron Saints SQPN, Infocatho, Bautz, Heiligenlexikon, santiebeati.it,
en.wikipedia.org, zeno.org, magnificat.ca, catholique-reims.cef.fr,
missel.free.fr, Legenda Aurea, Schaff-Herzog, Butler 1866 - Kompilasjon og
oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden
Opprettet: 6. mars 2004
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/remigius
Tombeau
de saint Remi dans le chœur de la basilique Saint-Remi de Reims
Ökumenischer Namenkalender
Remigius von Reims
Orthodoxe und Katholische Kirche: 13. Januar und 1. Oktober
(Übertragung der Gebeine)
Anglikanische Kirche: 1. Oktober
Evangelische Kirche: 12. Januar
Remigius wurde um 437 in der Nähe von Laon geboren. 459 wurde er Bischof von
Reims. Dieses Amt hatte er bis 533 inne. In seine Amtszeit fiel der
Zusammenbruch des römischen Reiches. In dieser schwierigen Zeit bewahrte er
nicht nur seine Kirche vor dem Niedergang, er engagierte sich in der Mission
bei den Kelten und Franken und versuchte die Arianer in die
römische Kirche zurückzuführen. 486 kam der Frankenkönig Chlodwig nach Reims.
Remigius begegnete ihm unerschrocken und konnte ihn schließlich gemeinsam mit
Klothilde (3.6.), der Gattin Chlodwigs, zur Annahme des christlichen Glaubens
überreden. Am Weihnachtsfest 496 wurde Chlodwig von Remigius getauft. Damit
legte Remigius den Grundstein für die Christianisierung Europas. Er starb am
13.1.533 (oder 535) in Reims. Am 1. Oktober 1049 wurden seine Gebeine in die
Abtei St. Rémi übertragen. Heute ruhen sie in der Kathedrale von Reims.
Remigius ist Patron des Bistums und der Stadt Reims.SOURCE : http://www.glaubenszeugen.de/kalender/r/kalr007.htm
Voir aussi : http://voiemystique.free.fr/remi_de_reims.htm
Albert Lecoy de La
Marche. « De l'interprétation d'une lettre de saint Rémi à Clovis », Bibliothèque
de l'école des chartes, 1866, Volume 27, Numéro 27, pp. 59-74 :
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/bec_0373-6237_1866_num_27_1_446056
