A
hospital
is said to have been
there erected, also, in times very remote.
there erected, also, in times very remote.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v8
437
Columnes. TheanonymouswriterofSt. Fiacre'sLifedeclares,thathehad seen many others who were healed from the same disorder of polypus, and through the merits of God's servant. That it was impossible to write about each instance^3 he states; but, several cases are left on record, which abundantly manifest miraculous assistance afforded by the saint to his devout clients.
The founder of the Trinitarian Order, St. John of Matha,33 cherished a special devotion for St. Fiacre. Not satisfied with emulating his virtues at a distance, he wished to erect a hermitage so near as he could to Breuil, that thus the site of St. Fiacre's former habitation, and where his relics had been preserved, might prove a constant stimulus to popular piety. 3*
In the fourteenth century, Edward the Black Prince ravaged that country about Meaux, but he spared the sanctuary at Breuil. He caused the shrine of the saint to be opened, however, and extracted a portion of the relics, which he desired to bring with him to England. When passing through Normandy, he deposited those relics on an altar at Montloup, not far distant from Tournay, where a chapel had been erected in honour of St. Fiacre. No strength of man was able afterwards to remove the relics from that altar.
The death of the soon after took prince
35 The French regarded this result as a punishment for his want of due reverence towards
the shrine of our saint. 36
When King Henry V. 37 of England took advantage of the dissensions
which arose in France, owing to the insanity of its King, Charles VI. , and had resolved on the conquest of that country, he landed with an army of
nearly 50,000 men, on the 21st of August, 141 5, on the site, where Havre de Grace was built during the succeeding century. On the 25 th of October following, he was victor in the celebrated battle fought at Agincourt. He then marched to Calais, and re-embarked for England, with the prisoners of distinction he had captured. Soon afterwards, he concluded a truce for two years,withKingCharlesVI. However,havingorganizedasecondexpedi- tion to forward his ambitious views, he landed once more in Normandy, on the 1st of August, 1418. A treaty was concluded at Troyes, on the 21st of May, 1420, whereby he was recognised as heir to the French monarchy, havingmarriedthePrincessCatherine,daughtertoCharlesVI. Neverthe- less, the French nobles and people were soon in revolt; while the Scots, guided by a sound policy, despatched a considerable army to aid their allies, and to cement still more that friendship, which had so frequently protected them from the ambitious designs of the English. Leaving his uncle, the Duke of Exeter, in Paris, Henry again hastened to England, and returned with additional reinforcements. At this time, several places in France had
sexus ad monasterium praedicti sancti con-
veniunt, et singuli gaudentes referunt per ejusdem sancti suffragia a diversis infirmita-
35 He died on Trinity Sunday,A. D. I376,and he was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, where his monument is still to be seen. The
"
Lieux d'alentour," chap. cxx. to ccexxv.
36 He had sunk into a mortal languor, which was soon followed by his death. See
"
History of Latin Chris- tianity," vol. viii. , book xiii. , chap, vi. , pp.
172, 175. (Fourth Edition. )
37 His reign commenced on the 2ist of
March, 1413.
38 See Michaud's "BiographieUniverselle,
— Acta
"""
of this valiant are related prince fully
tibus se esse curatos.
tomus vi. , Augusti xxx. Acta S Fiacrii,
auctore anonymo, cap. iv. , sect. 35, 36, 37, p. 610.
33 He wasbom June 24th, 1 169, and he died on the 21st of December, 1213. His festival is kept on the 8th of February. See Rev. Alban Butler's "Lives of the Fathers, Mar- tyrs, and other principal Saints," vol. ii. , February viii.
34 This is related in the " Annales Ordinis SS. Trinitatis," auctore Bonaventura Baro, Ord. Min. Romse, 1684.
Sanctorum,
exploits
in Sir John Froissart's
place. .
people
Chroniques de France, d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse, d'Espagne, de Bretagne, de Gascongne, Flanders, et
Dean Milman's
438 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 30
proclaimed the Dauphin as the true heir to the French throne. The Duke of Clarence, King Henry's brother, was sent to Anjou, to effect the submis-
sion of that province. He met a corps of the Scots' troops at Bauge\ in 1 42 1 ; and having ordered an attack, he was defeated, and killed in that encounter. Nevertheless, King Henry V. arrived in time to arrest the con- sequences of that defeat. He besieged Meaux, which held out against him for eight whole months. 38 To be revenged of the Scots, for having served in the French armies, and reputing St. Fiacre to have been of their race, he allowed his soldiers to pillage the monastery, and to commit other great disorders in the environs of Meaux. 39 However, the English King was punished for that act of irreligion, in the opinion of —the Catholic French. * Some time afterwards, he was attacked by a fistula** called the malady of St. Fiacre—and having retired to the chateau of Vincennes, near Paris, he expired there on the 31st of August, 1422, in the tenth year of his reign, and
a
the thirty-fourth of his age. <
In the tenth year of his pontificate, Pope Gregory IX. « granted indul-
gences, at the request of the Abbot and community of St. Fiacre, to all those
duly penitent, and who had confessed, when assisting on the anniversary of the Translation of his relics, and visiting his church. This concession had
reference to a magnificent ceremony, on the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, a. d. 1234, when at the request of Raynald, Abbot of St, Faro, and of his monks, Peter de Cuisy, Bishop of Meaux, elevated the relics of St. Fiacre, from their shrine, when an arm was separated from the body, and honourably placed in a new reliquary. This was publicly exhibited to the people, in a fieldnearthetownofBrie/* TheBishopalsoruled,thattheheadofSr. Fiacre—which appears to have been kept in a separate shrine—should be brought each year in solemn procession to that same place, and shown to the faithful, on the Festival of the Most Holy Trinity. During that day and the Octave succeeding, the Bishop granted a forty days' indulgence, to all
who should be present, with the requisite dispositions. ** A panegyric of the saint seems to have been always preached on the annual recurrence of that Festival.
In the year 1468, the monks of La Brie spent a considerable sum on the decoration of St. Fiacre's shrine/6 Ten years afterwards, King Lous XI. of France had it covered with silver plates. This reliquary was made in the formofaGothicchurch. Theridge-polewascoveredwithfleurs-de-lysand
Ancienne et Moderne," tome xix. , Art. Henri V. , p. 170.
» " Quhen King Hary had destroyit sindry boundis of Britane with gret heir-
schippis and slauchter, he invadit the landis
and kirk of Sanct Fiacre and be vengeance
of God he was striken with sic infirmite that
naingineof man micht cure him. "—Boece's
4'
History of Scotland. " Bellenden's trans-
Scotorum," lib. vii. , pp. 269, 270.
<2 The Life of this monarch has been very fully written by P. F. Tytler, in two volumes, " Henry of Monmouth, or Memoirs on the Life and Character of Henry V. as Prince of Wales and King of England. " London,
1838, 8vo.
*i He sat in the chair of St. Peter from
a. d. 1227 to a. d. 1241. See Sir Harris Nicholas' "Chronology of History," p. 209.
l'Eglise
lation, vol ii. , 492. Edition of 1821. 40 p. "
See Les Petits Bollandistes, Viesdes Saints," tome x. , xxxe jour d'Aout, p. 336.
41 thuswrites "
** "
Ille morbi vehementia aciiusconflictatus, inhanc vocem prorupissee dicunt, Scotos eo usque Anglis esse infestos, ut non solum in hac mortalitate vivi, dum per corporis con- cretioncm affection ibus possint indulgere, sed etiam mortui, ac in divorum numerum
See Du
Histoire de
repositi,
in
ccelii,
ubi nullus affectioni locus
shrine. See Du Plessis,
"
Histoire de l'Eglise
John Lesley
:
ergo
Plessis,
de Meaux," tome ii. , p. 133.
esse potest, eos aliquo detrimento afficiant
—"De et Rebus Origine, Moribus^
4s His Pastoral concludes with - Datum Anno Domini mccxxxvii. mense Maio. "
*6 This is proved from a Receipt given by the widow of Peter le Maistre, a goldsmith, who had wrought the greater part of that
" gestis
August 30. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 439
decorated with dolphins, to represent the arms of the King of France. On the side of the shrine, and carved in low relief, some of the most striking
passages of St. Fiacre's life are portrayed. One of the figures represents Becnaude insulting the saint, another the wicked woman vomiting a serpent, while a third depicts a sick woman lying on a bed and invoking the just man whom she had slandered. 4?
A considerable distribution of St. Fiacre's relics seems to have taken
aPrioryoftheBenedictines,inthedioceseofRheims. Also,theAbbeyof
St. Faro, at Meaux, the Abbey of Faremoutier, and other churches, obtained portions of his remains at various times/' In the village of Planq, near Douay, some portions of the saint's body had been preserved; and to visit the church in which they were kept, a great concourse of pious pilgrims resorted, especially patients afflicted with haemorrhoids or piles. Also, the Dominicans at Douay had some of his relics. Moreover, the Benedictines of Blangiacensis, in Artois, had some particles of his bones in their abbey. 50
In the year 1557, on the 28th of December, the head of St. Fiacre was carried away by robbers from his oratory, and it was never afterwards recovered. During the disturbances in France, consequent on the Reforma- tion, the shrine and relics were removed in 1562. s 1 The monks at La Brie were expelled from their monastery in 1565. They then hid the shrine of St. Fiacre in a small hut, which had been erected on the side of their pond. Afterwards, they carried it to the chateau Ville-ma-reuil, and for their own safetytooktothewoods. AnativeofSt. Fiacre,andaCanonofMeaux, named Dalibert, discovered the place of their retreat, and advised the monks to deposit the remains of their patron saint, for greater security, within the CathedralChurchofMeaux. Tothispersuasiontheyyielded,onapromise that the relics should be restored to their church, when more peaceable times succeeded. However, that engagement was not afterwards observed. In the year 1561, the Huguenots had pillaged and otherwise injured Meaux; 5» but, on the 13th of September, 1568, the relics of this saint were transferred to its Cathedral. This was done, lest they might suffer desecration at the hands of the Calvinists. There the relics of St. Fiacre were placed tem- porarily in the middle of the choir, until a pyramidical erection was constructed over the chapel of St. Blasius, and behind the high altar of the cathedral. 53
The King of France, Louis XIII. ,54 surnamed the Just, had such a veneration for St. Fiacre, that his relics were preserved in the royal palace,
he being regarded as one of the most powerful patrons of the Kingdom. ss His consorfc, Queen Anne of Austria, attributed the recovery of her husband, who had fallen ill at Lyons, to the prayers of our saint. Wherefore, to manifest her gratitude, she made a pilgrimage in 1641, and on foot, from the
after his death.
the chin of the holy eremite was preserved in the chapel at Monte Lou veto,
place,
at different
periods
Thus,
de Meaux," tome ii. , p. 259.
47 Each year, on the Sunday after the Feast
of Pentecost, which was the anniversary of this first translation, a portion of St. Fiacre's relics was borne in procession through Breuil.
48 This is ascertained from a letter sent to
the Benedictines in favour of their monastery
in 1468, by John Cardinal and Bishop of
4* "
See Du Plessis, Histoire de l'Eglise de
Meaux," tome i. , p. 373, and tome ii. , p. 259. 50 According to Arnoldus Rayssius, in his
work " 190, 444
si They were then placed in the sanctuary of St. Burgundofara i n Meaux. However, pilgrimages continued to be made by the faithful to Breuil as heretofore.
S2 See " Les Plus Belles Cathed rales de France," Saint-Etienne de Meaux, p. 106. S3 See Du Plessis, in M Histoire de l'Eglise
de Meaux. "
S+ His reign commenced in 1610, and
lasted to 1643. See Malingre's "Histoire de Louis XIII," in two volumes, 8vo. , 1646. S5 See Les Petits Bollandistes, "Vies des
xxxe
ss Hence, soon after his birth, this
Angers.
Gazophylaciuru Belgicum," pp. 118,
Saints,"
tome
x. ,
jour
d'Aout
p. 336.
in the fifteenth 8 century,*
44o LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 30.
village of Monceaux, to offer thanksgiving at his shrine. Moreover, this pious Queen had experienced in her own person the efficacy of his interces- sion, as she had through prayer been relieved from a bloody flux, while she believed that through his merits she had given to France the future illus- trious King Louis XIV. s6 In fine, that Queen took care each subsequent
year, that some person should represent her, and pay a visit as pilgrim to the shrine. 5? As her husband, Louis XIII. , entertained a special devotion for
St. Fiacre, when his last illness supervened, Monseigneur Seguier, then Bishop of Meaux, had a particle of the patron's relics sent to him. The monarch made a vow to embellish the saint's shrine ; and for that purpose he
Fiacre, dressed as a friar, and holding a spade in his hand. 59
In 1637, the Canons of Meaux presented one of the vertebres of St. Fiacre to Cardinal Richelieu/ It was deposited in the Parish Church of St. Josse, in Paris, a. d. 1671, through the piety of the Duchesse d'Aiguillon, and for keeping of the confraternity there established from times remote, in honour of St. Fiacre. 61 An ancient tradition, prevailed, that on the site of the chapel of that confraternity, St. Fiacre himself rested, when he arrived as an unknown pilgrim in France, and where he first began that angelic mode of living which he desired to practise.
A hospital is said to have been
there erected, also, in times very remote.
The Bishop of Meaux, Monseigneur Seguier, who lived in the middle of the seventeenth century, acknowledges, that often when suffering from grievous pains, he had invoked the intercession of St. Fiacre, who pro- cured for him very salutary relief. The monks of the Order of St. Benedict at Breuil had often besought him to restore the whole body of St. Fiacre to their church. This request he was unwilling to grant. However, to satisfy their pious importunities, he withdrew a portion of the relics, from that magnificent shrine in the Cathedral, and had it enclosed in a silver-gilt case, ornamented with chrystals, and borne, as it were, by the figures of two angels, also in argtnt-dore. These relics were transferred by the Bishop in person, and with great solemnity, a great number of persons joining in that procession. Moreover, the authentication of such proceedings is contained in the letter of
left a munificent Hedied that same legacy.
*8 In order to
out that wish, his widow, Anne of Austria, spent 1,200 golden ecus in deco- rating it with argent-dore. Her husband, Louis, is there represented attired in a royal mantle, and kneeling before the altar of St. Fiacre, invested with the collar of his order. Over his head an angel bears the arms of France, and in theentablature,sixangelsarerepresentedbearingcrownsofflowers. Inthe space between those figures, and at the four corners, massivefleurs-de-lys are inserted. Under a dome, supported by eight pillars, there is a figure of St.
Monseigneur Seguier,
young prince was designated Dicudoiivt. Impressed with such an idea, she presented the baby clothes, which had been specially blessed by Pope Urban VIII. for the young prince, to the church at Brie. Afterwards, when in a sciious illness, Louis XIV. was under medical treatment, the illustrious Jaques-Benign Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, went himself to the shrine to commence a noyena for that King's recovery, which the religious of the place afterwards completed.
dated St. Fiacre, 63 June 13th, 1649.
etduFils," 1730,410.
s» See Joseph Casimir O'Meagher's paper on Saint Fiacre de la Brie, in "Proceedings
of the Royal Irish Academy," Third Series, vol. ii. , No. 2, sect, xiii. , p. 175.
6o Born in Paris, September' 5th, 1585,11c died in the same city, December 4th, 1642.
"
See Violart's Histoire du Ministere de
Richelieu, 1649, fol.
6l
^"
this confraternity, together with the whole 57 This is related by Du Plessis in royal family. Many other kings of France
Histoire de l'Eglise de Meaux," tome ii. ,
became its patrons.
6* See Du Plessis' " Histoire de
de Meaux," tome i, p. 429.
P-
5\'7S- "
l'Eglise
See Mereray's
Histoire de la Mere
year, 1643.
carry
King Charles VI. desired enrolment in
August 30. ] LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS. 441
In 1673, King Charles II. directed the Earl of Essex to recruit a regiment
of foot in Ireland for the service of France. They served under Turenne on
the Rhine, during the campaigns of 1673, 1674, and 1675, when the Pala-
tinate was devastated. e3 The chapel of St. Fiacre was a special object of
devotion for the Irish soldiers, who were stationed in that quarter of France.
When the storm of Calvinistic disturbance had subsided, the monks of La
Brie applied to have the shrine of their Patron -restored to them. No heed
was paid, however, to their application. When King Louis XIV. 6* was
returning from the conquest of Alsace, in 1683, he went to visit St. Fiacre's
tomb. Then the monks petitioned him, to procure the restoration of his shrine.
Unfortunately for them, the Eagle of Meaux, Jaques-Benign Bossuet,6* was
then Bishop of that see. He opposed their request, and his influence was too
great to be successfully counteracted. The shrine is still to be seen in the
sacristy of that cathedral, as also a silver gilt statuette of St. Fiacre, 20 centi-
metres high, which at its base has a medallion containing a relic of the
66
saint.
6 During that century, the great Apostle of Charity, St. Vincent de Paul, ?
made a pilgrimage to St. Fiacre's shrine. When the sword of persecution had forced many Irish Catholics to seek a home on the Continent, and numbers of them to enter the armies of France and Spain, the shrine of St. Fiacre at Meaux became a favourite resort of those exiles. Even they com- posed Latin Hymns in his honour,68 and these were left as memorials of their visits, as having been sung in the years 1679, 1680, and i68i. 69
In 1627, the Grand Duke of Florence procured a portion of St. Fiacre's
1
relics. ? Again, in 1695, the Grand Duke of Tuscany obtained? from the
illustrious Bishop of Meaux, James Benign Bossuet, a considerable relic of the Irish saint. That nobleman, in gratitude for favours received through
his intercession, built a magnificent church at Florence, where he desired that St. Fiacre should be religiously venerated, Since that time, our saint
e3 They fought against Montecuculi at Altenheim, under Count Hamilton. He fell near Saverne in 1676.
his reign in 1643, on the death of his father, „Rigmb. Louis XIII After a remarkable historic F». p. ^
career,' he died on the 1st of September, „„. ,r. ,,rr,,. r*\r,. ' 1 7 15, at Versailles. The chief events of his
''
private life are to be found in the
du Due de Saint-Simon," The works re- lating to this monarch's reign, in France and abroad, are so numerous, that the list alone forms almost a volume of the catalogue in the National Library, Paris.
65 Born at Uijon the night of the 27th to
the 28th of September, 1627, he died in
Paris, April 1 2th, 1704. The "Histoirede
Bossuet" has been written by Cardinal de
Bausset.
64 This celebrated monarch was born on
The first
walls around St. Fiacre's altar. the 16th of September, 1638, and commenced of these commenced : —
66 onSt. FiacredelaBriein "
See Joseph Casimir O'Meagher's paper
7° "En
de Florence en obtinrent des portions, qu'ils
of the Royal Irish Academy," Third Series,
1627
eten
1695,
les
grands-ducs
vol. ii. , No. 2, sect, xiii. ,
67 He was born April 24th, 1576. He
died September 27th, 1660. His feast is held
on the 19th of July.
68 These were seen by Father Hay, who
had visited that place, when he was sub-
Memoires
ayaeris
>
This is followed by thirty-eight other verses, and at the end is added a notice, that this
was sung by the Irish pilgrims in the year 1679. The second poem is still longer, having 123 verses, with the note, "offered by an Irish choir in the year of our Lord 1680. " Thethirdisstilllonger,having206 verses, and at the clo-=e a notice, "an Irish choir offered this in 1681. "
Proceedings
pp. 175, 176.
prior in the Benedictine Monastery of Essoines, situated on the banks of the River Marne. Thepoemshefoundhangingonthe
F£ Sancte,' maternocremiocorusca
e. .
" Scotia Sacra,"
dans la — de deposerent chapelle Loppai'a,
construite a cet effet. " M. le Dr. Hoefer's " Nouvelle Biographie Generate," tome xvii. , col. 615.
? I Through the instrumentality of the Queen Marie de Medecis.
6> See Father 39.
Hay's
p.
,
;
. osa j
sw^ri« in«nr "
msiar.
44a LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 30.
has been regarded as among the chief Patrons of Tuscany. The illustrious Bishop of Meaux took a great interest in this saint, and, having read a Life of St. Fiacre,73 presented to him by Dom Mabillon, Bossuet returns it with critiques, and suggested corrections^ with a desire expressed to have it returned to him, as soon as possible, when they should have been made. ? * The oratory and shrine of St. Fiacre, at Breuil, were demolished in the revolutionary storm that swept over France towards the close of the last
century. The greater part of his relics was then scattered. w
The grand Cathedral of Meaux, in the Goth. ic style, was commenced during
the twelfth 6 and it was in the sixteenth. It is century,? partially completed
260 feet in length, and its vaulted roof is 105 feet in height. Its restoration was commenced in 1832 and carried on to 1874. 77 However, it still remains unfinished. In the apse of this cathedral, there is a chapel dedicated to St. Fiacre, constructed in the style of the thirteenth century. A stone altar, standing upon four pillars, was erected in 1866, and it was consecrated in 1870. Thebeautifulrailingwhichenclosesthechapelwasputupin1888. 78
SeveralmemorialsofthisholyHermitareinotherFrenchchurches. The writer has seen79 a painted statue of wood, representing St. Fiacre in a shep- herd's garb, erected within the magnificent old cathedral church of St. Omer in France. It is to be found in position, almost immediately opposite a statue of our Irish St. Bridget,* on the Epistle side in the great nave.
The Bollandists have published many miracles, wrought through invoca- tion of St. Fiacre, in the Duke of Burgundy's Chapel, where some of his
Those miracles were noted down in a Manuscript
cures effected were removals of ulcers, gangrene and tumours, that had baffled the skill of the local physicians ; and, in several instances, the medical practitioners had recommended their patients to have recourse to prayer, at the shrine of St. Fiacre. The names of those healed, their par- ticular diseases, and places of residence, are specially mentioned, and witli great particularity, as so many testimonies to the merits and virtues of the holy hermit during his life-time, and to the efficacy of his intercession before
82
the King of Heaven.
intercession during the first period of the seventeenth century, are related by Du Plessis. The names, places, and several diseases of his proteges are
8 given, in each case. *
St. Fiacre is greatly venerated in France ; with which country his Acts,
i* To it had been appended some prayers. undecayed. See Carro's " Histoire de " This letter is dated A Paris, ce 22 Meaux," 1865.
relics had been preserved.
of 8x Dijon,
who that he had both states,
an
seen and had certain knowledge of what he therein related. Most of the
compiled by
anonymous writer,
Mai, 1703.
74 See the AbW
Meaux. tome xi. , part xiv. , Lettres Diverses. I. et. cccxxii. , col. 1218.
78 See Joseph Casimir O'Meagher's Paper
"
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Third Series,
ee he 'j? » ,"?
Ecclesiastical Re-
vol. ii. , No. 2, sect, xiii. , p. 176.
79 On the occasion of a visit in July, 1863. *> See allusion to this in her at the
Migne's
ipletes" de Bossuet, Eveque de
on St. Fiacre de la Brie in
cord, vol. xii. , June, 1876. S66'
s. denng the length of time elapsed since his interment The beard which he wore was
Life,
1st of February, in the Second Volume of
St. Fiacre, p.
Encyclopaedia. " grand cathedral contains the grave and tomb of Hossuet. During these restora- Uons, the coffin of this illustrious prelate was opened, and Ins remains were found to be in a remarkable state of preservation, con-
this work, Art. i.
'! 5" I
Cham " 5>ers's
«»
This city was the capital of the Duchy
Several other cures, effected through St. Fiacre's
edition,
of Burgundy.
8* SeetheBollandists' "ActaSanctorum,"
tomus vi. , Augusti xxx. De S. Fiacrio Ere- mita Conf. in Territorio Meldensi in Gallia, Appendix I. , cap. i. , ii. , num. I to 26.
8* See • Histoire de l'Eglise de Meaux," pp. 174, 175.
August 30. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 443
for the most part, are connected. There, too, scarcely any other saint is held in greater veneration. 8* Many churches and oratories were founded in France, and were dedicated to him. 8* At present, he is especially venerated as the particular patron of Brie, which is about four miles from the city of Meaux ; while he is also regarded as one of the chief patrons of Mcaui diocese. About three miles from Brie is St.
Columnes. TheanonymouswriterofSt. Fiacre'sLifedeclares,thathehad seen many others who were healed from the same disorder of polypus, and through the merits of God's servant. That it was impossible to write about each instance^3 he states; but, several cases are left on record, which abundantly manifest miraculous assistance afforded by the saint to his devout clients.
The founder of the Trinitarian Order, St. John of Matha,33 cherished a special devotion for St. Fiacre. Not satisfied with emulating his virtues at a distance, he wished to erect a hermitage so near as he could to Breuil, that thus the site of St. Fiacre's former habitation, and where his relics had been preserved, might prove a constant stimulus to popular piety. 3*
In the fourteenth century, Edward the Black Prince ravaged that country about Meaux, but he spared the sanctuary at Breuil. He caused the shrine of the saint to be opened, however, and extracted a portion of the relics, which he desired to bring with him to England. When passing through Normandy, he deposited those relics on an altar at Montloup, not far distant from Tournay, where a chapel had been erected in honour of St. Fiacre. No strength of man was able afterwards to remove the relics from that altar.
The death of the soon after took prince
35 The French regarded this result as a punishment for his want of due reverence towards
the shrine of our saint. 36
When King Henry V. 37 of England took advantage of the dissensions
which arose in France, owing to the insanity of its King, Charles VI. , and had resolved on the conquest of that country, he landed with an army of
nearly 50,000 men, on the 21st of August, 141 5, on the site, where Havre de Grace was built during the succeeding century. On the 25 th of October following, he was victor in the celebrated battle fought at Agincourt. He then marched to Calais, and re-embarked for England, with the prisoners of distinction he had captured. Soon afterwards, he concluded a truce for two years,withKingCharlesVI. However,havingorganizedasecondexpedi- tion to forward his ambitious views, he landed once more in Normandy, on the 1st of August, 1418. A treaty was concluded at Troyes, on the 21st of May, 1420, whereby he was recognised as heir to the French monarchy, havingmarriedthePrincessCatherine,daughtertoCharlesVI. Neverthe- less, the French nobles and people were soon in revolt; while the Scots, guided by a sound policy, despatched a considerable army to aid their allies, and to cement still more that friendship, which had so frequently protected them from the ambitious designs of the English. Leaving his uncle, the Duke of Exeter, in Paris, Henry again hastened to England, and returned with additional reinforcements. At this time, several places in France had
sexus ad monasterium praedicti sancti con-
veniunt, et singuli gaudentes referunt per ejusdem sancti suffragia a diversis infirmita-
35 He died on Trinity Sunday,A. D. I376,and he was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, where his monument is still to be seen. The
"
Lieux d'alentour," chap. cxx. to ccexxv.
36 He had sunk into a mortal languor, which was soon followed by his death. See
"
History of Latin Chris- tianity," vol. viii. , book xiii. , chap, vi. , pp.
172, 175. (Fourth Edition. )
37 His reign commenced on the 2ist of
March, 1413.
38 See Michaud's "BiographieUniverselle,
— Acta
"""
of this valiant are related prince fully
tibus se esse curatos.
tomus vi. , Augusti xxx. Acta S Fiacrii,
auctore anonymo, cap. iv. , sect. 35, 36, 37, p. 610.
33 He wasbom June 24th, 1 169, and he died on the 21st of December, 1213. His festival is kept on the 8th of February. See Rev. Alban Butler's "Lives of the Fathers, Mar- tyrs, and other principal Saints," vol. ii. , February viii.
34 This is related in the " Annales Ordinis SS. Trinitatis," auctore Bonaventura Baro, Ord. Min. Romse, 1684.
Sanctorum,
exploits
in Sir John Froissart's
place. .
people
Chroniques de France, d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse, d'Espagne, de Bretagne, de Gascongne, Flanders, et
Dean Milman's
438 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 30
proclaimed the Dauphin as the true heir to the French throne. The Duke of Clarence, King Henry's brother, was sent to Anjou, to effect the submis-
sion of that province. He met a corps of the Scots' troops at Bauge\ in 1 42 1 ; and having ordered an attack, he was defeated, and killed in that encounter. Nevertheless, King Henry V. arrived in time to arrest the con- sequences of that defeat. He besieged Meaux, which held out against him for eight whole months. 38 To be revenged of the Scots, for having served in the French armies, and reputing St. Fiacre to have been of their race, he allowed his soldiers to pillage the monastery, and to commit other great disorders in the environs of Meaux. 39 However, the English King was punished for that act of irreligion, in the opinion of —the Catholic French. * Some time afterwards, he was attacked by a fistula** called the malady of St. Fiacre—and having retired to the chateau of Vincennes, near Paris, he expired there on the 31st of August, 1422, in the tenth year of his reign, and
a
the thirty-fourth of his age. <
In the tenth year of his pontificate, Pope Gregory IX. « granted indul-
gences, at the request of the Abbot and community of St. Fiacre, to all those
duly penitent, and who had confessed, when assisting on the anniversary of the Translation of his relics, and visiting his church. This concession had
reference to a magnificent ceremony, on the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, a. d. 1234, when at the request of Raynald, Abbot of St, Faro, and of his monks, Peter de Cuisy, Bishop of Meaux, elevated the relics of St. Fiacre, from their shrine, when an arm was separated from the body, and honourably placed in a new reliquary. This was publicly exhibited to the people, in a fieldnearthetownofBrie/* TheBishopalsoruled,thattheheadofSr. Fiacre—which appears to have been kept in a separate shrine—should be brought each year in solemn procession to that same place, and shown to the faithful, on the Festival of the Most Holy Trinity. During that day and the Octave succeeding, the Bishop granted a forty days' indulgence, to all
who should be present, with the requisite dispositions. ** A panegyric of the saint seems to have been always preached on the annual recurrence of that Festival.
In the year 1468, the monks of La Brie spent a considerable sum on the decoration of St. Fiacre's shrine/6 Ten years afterwards, King Lous XI. of France had it covered with silver plates. This reliquary was made in the formofaGothicchurch. Theridge-polewascoveredwithfleurs-de-lysand
Ancienne et Moderne," tome xix. , Art. Henri V. , p. 170.
» " Quhen King Hary had destroyit sindry boundis of Britane with gret heir-
schippis and slauchter, he invadit the landis
and kirk of Sanct Fiacre and be vengeance
of God he was striken with sic infirmite that
naingineof man micht cure him. "—Boece's
4'
History of Scotland. " Bellenden's trans-
Scotorum," lib. vii. , pp. 269, 270.
<2 The Life of this monarch has been very fully written by P. F. Tytler, in two volumes, " Henry of Monmouth, or Memoirs on the Life and Character of Henry V. as Prince of Wales and King of England. " London,
1838, 8vo.
*i He sat in the chair of St. Peter from
a. d. 1227 to a. d. 1241. See Sir Harris Nicholas' "Chronology of History," p. 209.
l'Eglise
lation, vol ii. , 492. Edition of 1821. 40 p. "
See Les Petits Bollandistes, Viesdes Saints," tome x. , xxxe jour d'Aout, p. 336.
41 thuswrites "
** "
Ille morbi vehementia aciiusconflictatus, inhanc vocem prorupissee dicunt, Scotos eo usque Anglis esse infestos, ut non solum in hac mortalitate vivi, dum per corporis con- cretioncm affection ibus possint indulgere, sed etiam mortui, ac in divorum numerum
See Du
Histoire de
repositi,
in
ccelii,
ubi nullus affectioni locus
shrine. See Du Plessis,
"
Histoire de l'Eglise
John Lesley
:
ergo
Plessis,
de Meaux," tome ii. , p. 133.
esse potest, eos aliquo detrimento afficiant
—"De et Rebus Origine, Moribus^
4s His Pastoral concludes with - Datum Anno Domini mccxxxvii. mense Maio. "
*6 This is proved from a Receipt given by the widow of Peter le Maistre, a goldsmith, who had wrought the greater part of that
" gestis
August 30. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 439
decorated with dolphins, to represent the arms of the King of France. On the side of the shrine, and carved in low relief, some of the most striking
passages of St. Fiacre's life are portrayed. One of the figures represents Becnaude insulting the saint, another the wicked woman vomiting a serpent, while a third depicts a sick woman lying on a bed and invoking the just man whom she had slandered. 4?
A considerable distribution of St. Fiacre's relics seems to have taken
aPrioryoftheBenedictines,inthedioceseofRheims. Also,theAbbeyof
St. Faro, at Meaux, the Abbey of Faremoutier, and other churches, obtained portions of his remains at various times/' In the village of Planq, near Douay, some portions of the saint's body had been preserved; and to visit the church in which they were kept, a great concourse of pious pilgrims resorted, especially patients afflicted with haemorrhoids or piles. Also, the Dominicans at Douay had some of his relics. Moreover, the Benedictines of Blangiacensis, in Artois, had some particles of his bones in their abbey. 50
In the year 1557, on the 28th of December, the head of St. Fiacre was carried away by robbers from his oratory, and it was never afterwards recovered. During the disturbances in France, consequent on the Reforma- tion, the shrine and relics were removed in 1562. s 1 The monks at La Brie were expelled from their monastery in 1565. They then hid the shrine of St. Fiacre in a small hut, which had been erected on the side of their pond. Afterwards, they carried it to the chateau Ville-ma-reuil, and for their own safetytooktothewoods. AnativeofSt. Fiacre,andaCanonofMeaux, named Dalibert, discovered the place of their retreat, and advised the monks to deposit the remains of their patron saint, for greater security, within the CathedralChurchofMeaux. Tothispersuasiontheyyielded,onapromise that the relics should be restored to their church, when more peaceable times succeeded. However, that engagement was not afterwards observed. In the year 1561, the Huguenots had pillaged and otherwise injured Meaux; 5» but, on the 13th of September, 1568, the relics of this saint were transferred to its Cathedral. This was done, lest they might suffer desecration at the hands of the Calvinists. There the relics of St. Fiacre were placed tem- porarily in the middle of the choir, until a pyramidical erection was constructed over the chapel of St. Blasius, and behind the high altar of the cathedral. 53
The King of France, Louis XIII. ,54 surnamed the Just, had such a veneration for St. Fiacre, that his relics were preserved in the royal palace,
he being regarded as one of the most powerful patrons of the Kingdom. ss His consorfc, Queen Anne of Austria, attributed the recovery of her husband, who had fallen ill at Lyons, to the prayers of our saint. Wherefore, to manifest her gratitude, she made a pilgrimage in 1641, and on foot, from the
after his death.
the chin of the holy eremite was preserved in the chapel at Monte Lou veto,
place,
at different
periods
Thus,
de Meaux," tome ii. , p. 259.
47 Each year, on the Sunday after the Feast
of Pentecost, which was the anniversary of this first translation, a portion of St. Fiacre's relics was borne in procession through Breuil.
48 This is ascertained from a letter sent to
the Benedictines in favour of their monastery
in 1468, by John Cardinal and Bishop of
4* "
See Du Plessis, Histoire de l'Eglise de
Meaux," tome i. , p. 373, and tome ii. , p. 259. 50 According to Arnoldus Rayssius, in his
work " 190, 444
si They were then placed in the sanctuary of St. Burgundofara i n Meaux. However, pilgrimages continued to be made by the faithful to Breuil as heretofore.
S2 See " Les Plus Belles Cathed rales de France," Saint-Etienne de Meaux, p. 106. S3 See Du Plessis, in M Histoire de l'Eglise
de Meaux. "
S+ His reign commenced in 1610, and
lasted to 1643. See Malingre's "Histoire de Louis XIII," in two volumes, 8vo. , 1646. S5 See Les Petits Bollandistes, "Vies des
xxxe
ss Hence, soon after his birth, this
Angers.
Gazophylaciuru Belgicum," pp. 118,
Saints,"
tome
x. ,
jour
d'Aout
p. 336.
in the fifteenth 8 century,*
44o LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 30.
village of Monceaux, to offer thanksgiving at his shrine. Moreover, this pious Queen had experienced in her own person the efficacy of his interces- sion, as she had through prayer been relieved from a bloody flux, while she believed that through his merits she had given to France the future illus- trious King Louis XIV. s6 In fine, that Queen took care each subsequent
year, that some person should represent her, and pay a visit as pilgrim to the shrine. 5? As her husband, Louis XIII. , entertained a special devotion for
St. Fiacre, when his last illness supervened, Monseigneur Seguier, then Bishop of Meaux, had a particle of the patron's relics sent to him. The monarch made a vow to embellish the saint's shrine ; and for that purpose he
Fiacre, dressed as a friar, and holding a spade in his hand. 59
In 1637, the Canons of Meaux presented one of the vertebres of St. Fiacre to Cardinal Richelieu/ It was deposited in the Parish Church of St. Josse, in Paris, a. d. 1671, through the piety of the Duchesse d'Aiguillon, and for keeping of the confraternity there established from times remote, in honour of St. Fiacre. 61 An ancient tradition, prevailed, that on the site of the chapel of that confraternity, St. Fiacre himself rested, when he arrived as an unknown pilgrim in France, and where he first began that angelic mode of living which he desired to practise.
A hospital is said to have been
there erected, also, in times very remote.
The Bishop of Meaux, Monseigneur Seguier, who lived in the middle of the seventeenth century, acknowledges, that often when suffering from grievous pains, he had invoked the intercession of St. Fiacre, who pro- cured for him very salutary relief. The monks of the Order of St. Benedict at Breuil had often besought him to restore the whole body of St. Fiacre to their church. This request he was unwilling to grant. However, to satisfy their pious importunities, he withdrew a portion of the relics, from that magnificent shrine in the Cathedral, and had it enclosed in a silver-gilt case, ornamented with chrystals, and borne, as it were, by the figures of two angels, also in argtnt-dore. These relics were transferred by the Bishop in person, and with great solemnity, a great number of persons joining in that procession. Moreover, the authentication of such proceedings is contained in the letter of
left a munificent Hedied that same legacy.
*8 In order to
out that wish, his widow, Anne of Austria, spent 1,200 golden ecus in deco- rating it with argent-dore. Her husband, Louis, is there represented attired in a royal mantle, and kneeling before the altar of St. Fiacre, invested with the collar of his order. Over his head an angel bears the arms of France, and in theentablature,sixangelsarerepresentedbearingcrownsofflowers. Inthe space between those figures, and at the four corners, massivefleurs-de-lys are inserted. Under a dome, supported by eight pillars, there is a figure of St.
Monseigneur Seguier,
young prince was designated Dicudoiivt. Impressed with such an idea, she presented the baby clothes, which had been specially blessed by Pope Urban VIII. for the young prince, to the church at Brie. Afterwards, when in a sciious illness, Louis XIV. was under medical treatment, the illustrious Jaques-Benign Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, went himself to the shrine to commence a noyena for that King's recovery, which the religious of the place afterwards completed.
dated St. Fiacre, 63 June 13th, 1649.
etduFils," 1730,410.
s» See Joseph Casimir O'Meagher's paper on Saint Fiacre de la Brie, in "Proceedings
of the Royal Irish Academy," Third Series, vol. ii. , No. 2, sect, xiii. , p. 175.
6o Born in Paris, September' 5th, 1585,11c died in the same city, December 4th, 1642.
"
See Violart's Histoire du Ministere de
Richelieu, 1649, fol.
6l
^"
this confraternity, together with the whole 57 This is related by Du Plessis in royal family. Many other kings of France
Histoire de l'Eglise de Meaux," tome ii. ,
became its patrons.
6* See Du Plessis' " Histoire de
de Meaux," tome i, p. 429.
P-
5\'7S- "
l'Eglise
See Mereray's
Histoire de la Mere
year, 1643.
carry
King Charles VI. desired enrolment in
August 30. ] LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS. 441
In 1673, King Charles II. directed the Earl of Essex to recruit a regiment
of foot in Ireland for the service of France. They served under Turenne on
the Rhine, during the campaigns of 1673, 1674, and 1675, when the Pala-
tinate was devastated. e3 The chapel of St. Fiacre was a special object of
devotion for the Irish soldiers, who were stationed in that quarter of France.
When the storm of Calvinistic disturbance had subsided, the monks of La
Brie applied to have the shrine of their Patron -restored to them. No heed
was paid, however, to their application. When King Louis XIV. 6* was
returning from the conquest of Alsace, in 1683, he went to visit St. Fiacre's
tomb. Then the monks petitioned him, to procure the restoration of his shrine.
Unfortunately for them, the Eagle of Meaux, Jaques-Benign Bossuet,6* was
then Bishop of that see. He opposed their request, and his influence was too
great to be successfully counteracted. The shrine is still to be seen in the
sacristy of that cathedral, as also a silver gilt statuette of St. Fiacre, 20 centi-
metres high, which at its base has a medallion containing a relic of the
66
saint.
6 During that century, the great Apostle of Charity, St. Vincent de Paul, ?
made a pilgrimage to St. Fiacre's shrine. When the sword of persecution had forced many Irish Catholics to seek a home on the Continent, and numbers of them to enter the armies of France and Spain, the shrine of St. Fiacre at Meaux became a favourite resort of those exiles. Even they com- posed Latin Hymns in his honour,68 and these were left as memorials of their visits, as having been sung in the years 1679, 1680, and i68i. 69
In 1627, the Grand Duke of Florence procured a portion of St. Fiacre's
1
relics. ? Again, in 1695, the Grand Duke of Tuscany obtained? from the
illustrious Bishop of Meaux, James Benign Bossuet, a considerable relic of the Irish saint. That nobleman, in gratitude for favours received through
his intercession, built a magnificent church at Florence, where he desired that St. Fiacre should be religiously venerated, Since that time, our saint
e3 They fought against Montecuculi at Altenheim, under Count Hamilton. He fell near Saverne in 1676.
his reign in 1643, on the death of his father, „Rigmb. Louis XIII After a remarkable historic F». p. ^
career,' he died on the 1st of September, „„. ,r. ,,rr,,. r*\r,. ' 1 7 15, at Versailles. The chief events of his
''
private life are to be found in the
du Due de Saint-Simon," The works re- lating to this monarch's reign, in France and abroad, are so numerous, that the list alone forms almost a volume of the catalogue in the National Library, Paris.
65 Born at Uijon the night of the 27th to
the 28th of September, 1627, he died in
Paris, April 1 2th, 1704. The "Histoirede
Bossuet" has been written by Cardinal de
Bausset.
64 This celebrated monarch was born on
The first
walls around St. Fiacre's altar. the 16th of September, 1638, and commenced of these commenced : —
66 onSt. FiacredelaBriein "
See Joseph Casimir O'Meagher's paper
7° "En
de Florence en obtinrent des portions, qu'ils
of the Royal Irish Academy," Third Series,
1627
eten
1695,
les
grands-ducs
vol. ii. , No. 2, sect, xiii. ,
67 He was born April 24th, 1576. He
died September 27th, 1660. His feast is held
on the 19th of July.
68 These were seen by Father Hay, who
had visited that place, when he was sub-
Memoires
ayaeris
>
This is followed by thirty-eight other verses, and at the end is added a notice, that this
was sung by the Irish pilgrims in the year 1679. The second poem is still longer, having 123 verses, with the note, "offered by an Irish choir in the year of our Lord 1680. " Thethirdisstilllonger,having206 verses, and at the clo-=e a notice, "an Irish choir offered this in 1681. "
Proceedings
pp. 175, 176.
prior in the Benedictine Monastery of Essoines, situated on the banks of the River Marne. Thepoemshefoundhangingonthe
F£ Sancte,' maternocremiocorusca
e. .
" Scotia Sacra,"
dans la — de deposerent chapelle Loppai'a,
construite a cet effet. " M. le Dr. Hoefer's " Nouvelle Biographie Generate," tome xvii. , col. 615.
? I Through the instrumentality of the Queen Marie de Medecis.
6> See Father 39.
Hay's
p.
,
;
. osa j
sw^ri« in«nr "
msiar.
44a LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 30.
has been regarded as among the chief Patrons of Tuscany. The illustrious Bishop of Meaux took a great interest in this saint, and, having read a Life of St. Fiacre,73 presented to him by Dom Mabillon, Bossuet returns it with critiques, and suggested corrections^ with a desire expressed to have it returned to him, as soon as possible, when they should have been made. ? * The oratory and shrine of St. Fiacre, at Breuil, were demolished in the revolutionary storm that swept over France towards the close of the last
century. The greater part of his relics was then scattered. w
The grand Cathedral of Meaux, in the Goth. ic style, was commenced during
the twelfth 6 and it was in the sixteenth. It is century,? partially completed
260 feet in length, and its vaulted roof is 105 feet in height. Its restoration was commenced in 1832 and carried on to 1874. 77 However, it still remains unfinished. In the apse of this cathedral, there is a chapel dedicated to St. Fiacre, constructed in the style of the thirteenth century. A stone altar, standing upon four pillars, was erected in 1866, and it was consecrated in 1870. Thebeautifulrailingwhichenclosesthechapelwasputupin1888. 78
SeveralmemorialsofthisholyHermitareinotherFrenchchurches. The writer has seen79 a painted statue of wood, representing St. Fiacre in a shep- herd's garb, erected within the magnificent old cathedral church of St. Omer in France. It is to be found in position, almost immediately opposite a statue of our Irish St. Bridget,* on the Epistle side in the great nave.
The Bollandists have published many miracles, wrought through invoca- tion of St. Fiacre, in the Duke of Burgundy's Chapel, where some of his
Those miracles were noted down in a Manuscript
cures effected were removals of ulcers, gangrene and tumours, that had baffled the skill of the local physicians ; and, in several instances, the medical practitioners had recommended their patients to have recourse to prayer, at the shrine of St. Fiacre. The names of those healed, their par- ticular diseases, and places of residence, are specially mentioned, and witli great particularity, as so many testimonies to the merits and virtues of the holy hermit during his life-time, and to the efficacy of his intercession before
82
the King of Heaven.
intercession during the first period of the seventeenth century, are related by Du Plessis. The names, places, and several diseases of his proteges are
8 given, in each case. *
St. Fiacre is greatly venerated in France ; with which country his Acts,
i* To it had been appended some prayers. undecayed. See Carro's " Histoire de " This letter is dated A Paris, ce 22 Meaux," 1865.
relics had been preserved.
of 8x Dijon,
who that he had both states,
an
seen and had certain knowledge of what he therein related. Most of the
compiled by
anonymous writer,
Mai, 1703.
74 See the AbW
Meaux. tome xi. , part xiv. , Lettres Diverses. I. et. cccxxii. , col. 1218.
78 See Joseph Casimir O'Meagher's Paper
"
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Third Series,
ee he 'j? » ,"?
Ecclesiastical Re-
vol. ii. , No. 2, sect, xiii. , p. 176.
79 On the occasion of a visit in July, 1863. *> See allusion to this in her at the
Migne's
ipletes" de Bossuet, Eveque de
on St. Fiacre de la Brie in
cord, vol. xii. , June, 1876. S66'
s. denng the length of time elapsed since his interment The beard which he wore was
Life,
1st of February, in the Second Volume of
St. Fiacre, p.
Encyclopaedia. " grand cathedral contains the grave and tomb of Hossuet. During these restora- Uons, the coffin of this illustrious prelate was opened, and Ins remains were found to be in a remarkable state of preservation, con-
this work, Art. i.
'! 5" I
Cham " 5>ers's
«»
This city was the capital of the Duchy
Several other cures, effected through St. Fiacre's
edition,
of Burgundy.
8* SeetheBollandists' "ActaSanctorum,"
tomus vi. , Augusti xxx. De S. Fiacrio Ere- mita Conf. in Territorio Meldensi in Gallia, Appendix I. , cap. i. , ii. , num. I to 26.
8* See • Histoire de l'Eglise de Meaux," pp. 174, 175.
August 30. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 443
for the most part, are connected. There, too, scarcely any other saint is held in greater veneration. 8* Many churches and oratories were founded in France, and were dedicated to him. 8* At present, he is especially venerated as the particular patron of Brie, which is about four miles from the city of Meaux ; while he is also regarded as one of the chief patrons of Mcaui diocese. About three miles from Brie is St.
