Saint Antimond

Not far from the city of Reims lived a solitary of great holiness. His zeal for the glory of God had first led him to leave the cares of this life to be raised to the sublime functions of the priesthood. Then, jealous to rise to an even higher perfection, he had renounced the exercise of his ministry to live a life of contemplation and union with God, and to occupy himself only with the care of his salvation. It was upon him that Saint Remi fixed his gaze; he thought indeed, and with reason, that a people long hardened and rebellious, such as the Morini were, had much more need of a perfect model of all holiness than of the brilliant discourses and learned controversies of a man versed in human sciences.

He therefore summoned the pious solitary and shared his design with him. Full of fear upon hearing news he so little expected, the holy anchorite at first rejected the archbishop's proposal, who insisted and spoke to him with such force about the excellence of charity, of its preeminence over all other virtues, that the solitary's initial resolution was shaken, without his consent being yet obtained. Finally, Saint Remi painted such a vivid and moving picture of the frightful miseries in which the peoples of Morinia were plunged, and the Holy Spirit gave his words such persuasive force, that the bowels of charity of the blessed servant of God were deeply moved, and he consented to receive upon his shoulders the yoke of the episcopate. He consented from then on to become all things to all men, to become the servant of his brothers, to do the good work par excellence, to give the Lord the greatest possible mark of charity and devotion, he rose to the perfection of the imitation of the Savior; for such is the idea that the holy Fathers have given us of the priesthood in its fullness.

It was then that, transported with holy enthusiasm, Remi exclaimed: 'Until now you have fled the world, now, O man of God, you will have to struggle against the world. You will encounter hard hearts, heads of rock; but the sword of God is stronger than the best-tempered blade. Fight valiantly against the world, overthrow the world, be the declared enemy of the world, and let this title serve at the same time as a name to designate you henceforth: *Esto et vocare Anti-mundus*.' Since then, indeed, it is under the name of Antimond (opposed to the world) that the holy personage has always been designated, to such an extent that the name he bore previou Antimond Bishop of Thérouanne and apostle of the Morini in the 6th century. sly has been completely lost.

However, an unforeseen obstacle, the cause of which is unknown, prevented him for three whole years from going to the diocese entrusted to his care. It is believed that the opposition came fro Chararic Local prince who initially opposed the influence of Clovis and Antimond. m Chararic, as this prince could not suffer anything that came or went from Clovis. Antimond took advantage of these three years to make himself increasingly worthy of the mission that God had given him. He redoubled his ardor in his prayers, his rigor in his fasts, and he had the happiness of enjoying the conversations of Saint Re mi and Sain saint Vaast Bishop of Arras and contemporary of Vulgis. t Vaast very often. Finally, the hour of grace and mercy struck for Morinia, and, in the year 500 of the Incarnation of Our Lord, Antimond was able to set out and make his entry into his diocese. This entry was neither brilliant nor joyful; it resembled much more the painful walk of the Lord ascending to Calvary than the solemn triumph of Palm Sunday. Children, men, and women went everywhere to meet him; the public squares, the crossroads, all the places where the venerable man passed were immediately filled with people; but these women, these children, these men had not come to offer him symbolic gifts or affectionate words. Sarcasm, jokes, imprecations, coarse insults, and words of anger, threats—these were the tributes of welcome that our blind ancestors brought to Saint Antimond. They were on the point of resorting to physical violence and blows; but the admirable reflection of the calm and harmony of all the powers of his soul, which manifested itself in his entire exterior, and the unshakable patience he opposed to all their attacks without his face betraying the slightest emotion, restrained them, much against their will, in their fury.

Finally, the boldest and most provocative of the senseless troop asked him with derision what was so rare and so beautiful that this Christ he preached had come to announce to them, and what wonders he knew how to perform to ask them to believe in him. Antimond contented himself with answering them: "I have not come to perform wonders; I will perform only one, however, and that one will be decisive. Cover me with opprobrium, overwhelm me with insults, continue to treat me as you have done until now, I defy you to ever make me lose the calm and peace that I hold from Jesus Christ: that is the greatest of wonders, to have known how, through Jesus Christ, to win the victory over the passions."

This invincible patience shook Chararic and brought him to more moderate sentiments. He saw clearly that Antimond had not come to conduct the affairs of Clovis, but rather to occupy himself exclusively with the things of heaven. He saw that he did not seek to accumulate, that he was content with little food, with little sleep, that he was of perfect humility and submission in what concerned the temporal domain. He saw that he was constantly occupied, and that he worked immensely night and day in Thérouanne and in Boulogne. The example of the holy bishop made a deep impression on his mind, and, thanks to the freedom the prince granted him, many allowed themselves to be instructed by Antimond and were fortunate enough to receive the gift of faith and baptism, and to be inscribed among the number of the children of the Church.

It appears that the holy bishop did not limit himself to the boundaries of his diocese, and that he also preached the Gospel in various places in Flanders and among the Menapians.

It is believed that it was Saint Antimond, or his successor Athalbert, who built a church on the hill of Clarq ues, nea Clarques Site of the construction of an ancient church by Antimond. r Thérouanne. This tradition is, moreover, confirmed by the custom that was strictly observed until the destruction of Thérouanne. Each of the new bishops of this city, before making his entry into Thérouanne, would first go to the church of Clarques, where he would don his pontifical vestments, and where the entire clergy would come to fetch him to lead him to the church of Notre-Dame, which was the cathedral. The church of Clarques can therefore be regarded as the oldest church built by Christians in this country; for the church of Saint-Martin, situated on an island in the Lys, had been originally consecrated to the god Mars, and built by the pagans.

It was read on a very ancient stone placed in the church of Thérouanne before its destruction, that Saint Antimond governed the church of the Morini for nineteen years. He showed there a gentleness so great and so constant, that to his name, already quite significant, of Antimond, the inhabitants of these regions added another no less glorious. Always, indeed, he has been called the gentle and debonair pastor.

Abbé Van Drival, *Vies des Saints de l'ancien diocèse de Thérouanne*. — Cf. P. Malbrancq and the *Breviaries* of Saint-Omer and Arras.