Saint Arbogast

Happy to have found this solitude, the holy man advanced rapidly on the path of perfection, having no other desire than to live unknown to men: but his virtues could not remain hidden and the people came, in spite of him, to surround him with their tributes. It seems that honors delight in following the humble virtue that flees them; for the forest that Arbogast inhabited soon ceased to be a solitude. The pious anchorite became there the father of a multitude of fervent cenobites, who joined him and enabled him to build a church in honor of the Blessed Virgin and Saint Martin of Tours. The offerings of those who came from all parts to be edified at the sight of his virtues, and especially the liberality of Dagobert II, provide d him with Dagobert II King of Austrasia in the 7th century. the means to build a monastery, which was called Surbourg.

This abbey en joyed, i Surbourg Monastery founded by Arbogast. n its origin, a kind of royal sovereignty, like all abbeys of royal foundation. The Rule of Saint Benedict was still in force there in 830, under Abbot Hildimunde; but later, laxity was introduced. We do not know the date of the secularization, because its titles have been lost. The first dean of Surbourg mentioned in history is a certain Ulrich, in 1227. This collegiate church was composed, in 1364, of twelve canons and a provost: these provosts were always drawn from the leading families of Germany and Alsace, and among whom Frederick of Lichtenberg, Erasmus of Limburg, and John of Manderscheidt were raised to the episcopal see of Strasbourg.

Surbourg, an open village situated in the middle of forests, was often exposed to the fury of brigands and the ravages of enemy armies, which so often devastated Alsace. The losses that resulted led to a capitular deliberation in 1354 tending to transfer this collegiate church to Saverne: but this project was not executed. The various wars, whether of the peasants or caused by religious troubles, reduced this chapter, in 1600, to having no more than four canons. The collegiate church of Surbourg still exists and bears the characteristics of great antiquity. An oratory, placed next to the main road and renewed in 1608, was built on the very spot where the hermitage of Saint Arbogast was located. In 1621 and 1623, the canons made new requests to be transferred to Haguenau, when the Swedish war came to descend upon Alsace. Surbourg was then totally ruined, and the divine office interrupted for forty years. Louis XIV, after the conquest of Alsace, provided the canons with the means to gather and recover their property. Finally, in 1732, Cardinal Armand-Gaston de Rohan, Bishop of Strasbourg, used his influence with the magistrates of Haguenau to make them consent to the translation of the chapter of Surbourg to the parish church of Saint-Georges in their city; the royal confirmation letters are dated May 1738. The chapter consisted, until the revolution, of twelve canonries.

When Dagobert II ascended the throne of Austrasia, he wished to attach the pious hermit to himself, and had him come to his palace of Isenbourg near Rouffach. Arbogast obeyed the wishes of the monarch; but he returned almost immediately to his retreat, preferring the austerities of penance to the comforts and splendor of the earth. Dagobert, however, found a way to draw him out of i t: Lothair Strasbourg City that Bennon leaves at the beginning of his narrative. , Bishop of Strasbourg, had just died, and the king appointed Arbogast to succeed him. This choice was unanimously approved; Arbogast alone opposed it. The authority of the monarch, the wishes of the clergy and the people finally triumphed over his resistance, and he was consecrated amidst general acclamations.

Arbogast remained on the episcopal throne what he had been in solitude. He preserved the same humility in elevation, the same spirit of peace in the tumult of the world, the same love of retreat in the embarrassment of affairs, and the same disinterestedness in the administration of the goods of the Church. His gentleness was that of a tender father; for he followed the wise maxim so often repeated by the Saints, that it was better to govern as a father than to command as a master. He prescribed nothing to others that he did not practice first; if he was obliged to reprimand someone, he did it with such kindness that one was touched by it. If it is impossible to please God without faith, it is no less so to win the hearts of men or to lead them without gentleness. There was no one who did not desire to have as a superior a man who, through kindness and humility, placed himself below all others. One obeyed with pleasure, one even anticipated his desires, so happy was one to do what could be agreeable to him.

His zeal for the spiritual good of his flock was boundless, and he could say, as Saint Augustine once did: "I do not desire to be saved without you. Why should I desire it? What should I say? Why am I a bishop? Why am I in the world? It is to live only in Jesus Christ, but with you: that is my passion, my honor, my glory, my joy; these are my riches."

Idolatry still dominated in some parts of the diocese of Strasbourg, especially in the mountains, and the virtuous pontiff took salutary measures for the conversion of these peoples. He had so much zeal for the salvation of souls that he would have liked to win them to Jesus Christ through the sacrifice of his very life. He was indefatigable in the exercise of apostolic functions; the magnitude of the difficulties only increased his courage and seemed to add new vigor to it. Despite the continuity of his labors, he led a very austere life; he seized with joy every opportunity he found to suffer in the exercise of his ministry; he kept the strictest poverty to protect himself from the secret poison that the possession of riches insinuates into the heart, claiming that a bishop could not be perfectly dead to the world without the spirit of disinterestedness, and he guarded himself on all occasions against everything that would have been capable of weakening this virtue in him. He knew that self-interest is a vice that degrades the ministers of the altars and prevents the fruits of their labors.

A man so perfectly dead to the world and to himself easily won the victory over his passions. He always enjoyed an equanimity of soul that nothing could disturb; for he was so much master of himself that neither complaint nor movement of impatience ever escaped him. These happy dispositions acquired for him an admirable purity of heart, from which resulted in a sublime degree the spirit of prayer, which led him to an eminent piety and which produced such happy successes for the conversion of sinners. Nothing was more tender than his devotion toward the Blessed Virgin; he always implored her help and consecrated his flock to her. It appears that it is to the great devotion that our first pastors constantly had for the august Queen of Heaven that the ancient custom of regarding Mary as the patroness of this diocese is due.

Arbogast covered his labors and his enterprises with the veil of humility: he never boasted of his successes; he likewise hid his alms and the particular graces he received from the Lord. He did not cease to ask God for the conversion of the infidels, and regarded as the greatest happiness that could happen to him the propagation of the Gospel in his diocese.

So many virtues earned him singular favors from God. Sigebert, the only so n of Dag Sigebert King of East Anglia converted by Felix during his exile in France. obert II, was hunting one day in the forest of Ebersheim: a wild boar of enormous size, which was being pursued with fervor, came in a fury to meet the young prince, who was at that moment separated from the other hunters. His horse, frightened, took the bit in its teeth and fled with such speed that Sigebert was thrown to the ground and trampled under the feet of the spirited animal. Some historians say that he was dangerously wounded by this fall; others even claim that he died from it. Who could conceive of the grief of Dagobert and the entire royal family upon learning of the fatal accident that had just befallen this beloved son, upon whom the hopes of the kingdom then rested? The monarch was inconsolable, and the queen thought she would die of sorrow. In this consternation, the only resource found was in the Bishop of Strasbourg. Arbogaste was summoned to the court: the respectable prelate hastened to answer the call of his king; but upon arriving at the palace of Isenbourg, he first poured the balm of consolation into the heart of the pious Dagobert, then asked to be locked alone in the chapel. It is not necessary to say here that the holy prelate offered fervent prayers to God for the king's son and spent the whole night in orisons. He presented to the Lord the sorrow of a desolate family and conjured Him to recall to life the illustrious offspring of so many glorious monarchs: the Lord granted the humble supplications of His servant; Sigebert recovered his health, and Arbogaste had the consolation of presenting him safe and sound to his parents, who were restored to happiness.

The joy of the court was immense upon seeing this young prince again, snatched from the arms of death and returned to the ardent wishes of his family and an entire kingdom. Filled with blessings and praised to the heavens, the holy bishop wished to escape, by a prompt flight, the eagerness and the testimonies of gratitude and veneration that reached him from all sides; but Dagobert kept him by his side and offered him not only honors and riches, but would have surrendered half of his kingdom to him, had the Saint desired it. Arbogaste refused everything for himself; for what could honors and riches be to a man who valued only poverty? Knowing, however, what help the goods of this world can be to the Church, he accepted the king's offers, on the condition of transmitting to his cathedral the gifts that were offered to his person. Dagobert consented and surrendered to Arbogaste Rouffach, the palace of Isenbourg with all its domain, to which the name Haut-Mundat (munus datum) was given from that time on, to disti nguish it f Haut-Mundat Temporal domain granted by Dagobert II to the Bishopric of Strasbourg. rom the mundat of Wissembourg, granted to the abbey of that city by the same prince. Dagobert handed the authentic act of this donation into the hands of Arbogaste, in the presence of the lords of his court, and the prelate, upon his return to Strasbourg, having solemnly deposited it on the high altar of his cathedral in the presence of his clergy, donated it to Our Lady.

This generosity, as well as the miracle that Arbogaste had just performed, won him all hearts, and the people, who were already imbued with the deepest veneration for their first pastor, raised his name to the heavens, comparing him to the great prelates whom the Lord had raised up in His Church during the 4th and 5th centuries to triumph over the stubbornness of idolatry and the ruses of heresy.

This donation of the palace of Isenbourg and its territory was the first seed of the temporal sovereignty of the bishops of Strasbourg; but this domain was not as extensive in its origin as it was later; for several prelates added new lands to it.

It initially included Rouffach, the castle of Isenbourg and the village of Sundheim, destroyed long ago, Soultz and Alschwiller, the latter also destroyed; Wunheim, Rimbachzell, Hartmannsweiler, Gundolsheim, Gueberschwihr, Pfaffenheim, Osenbir, Orschwihr, Soulzmath, Osenbach and Winsfelden, Herlisheim and Westhalten. After the death of the last counts of Egisheim, Sainte-Croix, Egisheim, Wettolsheim and Obermorschwihr also came to the mundat. At the end of the fourteenth century, Jungholz, Bollwiller, Hatstadt, Benwihr and Zeilenberg were also united to it. Nevertheless, the Haut-Mundat depended on the diocese of Basel for spiritual matters.

Arbogast continued to nourish the flock entrusted to him, instructing them in the ways of salvation and edifying them with holy examples. He thus awaited the arrival of the happy moment when the Lord would pour into his bosom a measure of reward, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. His zeal and virtues seemed to increase even more as he approached this end. Often, after spending the day in the labors of a difficult and arduous ministry, he would leave the city toward nightfall to converse with his God in a small cell he had built in a nearby grove on the banks of the river Ill, which reminded him of his desert. It was in this solitude that he came to meditate on the greatness and holiness of his duties. He could say, as David once did: "Your law, O Lord, is the object of my meditation all the day"; for, just like that holy king, he made these conversations with his God a source of refreshment and his dearest delight. It was there that he negotiated the interests of his people and that, like another Moses, he raised suppliant hands to heaven. Nothing could ever stop him or make him lose sight of such a holy occupation. His historian reports that, having arrived one evening on the banks of the river where he was accustomed to finding a small boat to cross to the other side, and this resource not being available at that time, his trust in God was so great that, having made the sign of the cross over the waves, he crossed the river on dry land and thus went to pray in his accustomed place. This small oratory later became an object of veneration for the faithful; it was changed into a monastery of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, which a dean of the Strasbourg cathedral, named Charles, had built there in 1069. Respected for centuries, this oratory and the adjacent monastery could not find grace before the destructive fury of the city's Protestant senate, and it was demolished in the month of December 1530. An inn was built in its place, which still exists.

All ablaze with the sacred fire of the love of God, Arbogast was deeply touched at the sight of disorders when they crept into his flock; despite all his care and solicitude, he had to lament a few and certain abuses, against which he rose up; but he never lost patience, hoping to triumph, in time, over the obstacles he encountered. This patience sustained him in moments of trial and sorrow, gave him the courage to fight against the enemy, and provided him with the necessary means to maintain the good he had begun.

One of Arbogast's main concerns was also to form a good clergy. In those unhappy times, when the Church of Jesus Christ did not have the resources it later found, bishops provided for this need, either by instructing their priests themselves in frequent conversations on religion, or by having them assist in all the functions of the holy ministry. It was not enough to lead a life free from all reproach; this evangelical science was also required, without which the minister of the Gospel dishonors himself and his functions; but this science could only be acquired with great difficulty, and bishops were forced to make many sacrifices to have priests. But Arbogast's enlightened zeal still triumphed over the resistance he experienced, and he had the good fortune to procure good workers, who labored successfully in the Lord's vineyard and won a great number of souls for heaven. The religion of Jesus Christ thus spread more and more under the episcopate of the great man, whose name was held in veneration, not only in Alsace, but also in Gaul and the provinces neighboring the Rhine. It is to be regretted that his episcopate did not last longer, for he occupied the see of Strasbourg for only five or six years. His precious death occurred, according to the most probable opinion, in 678; for Eddius, in his life of Saint Wilfrid, Bishop of York, informs us that this prelate, while passing through Strasbourg on his way to Rome, where he arrived in the spring of 679, paid a visit to King Dagobert, and that this prince, in recognition of the hospitality the English p saint Wilfrid English bishop who visited Strasbourg in 679. relate had shown him during his exile, offered him the bishopric of Strasbourg, which Wilfrid refused. As all historians place the death of Saint Arbogast on July 21, it must be admitted that this death took place in 678, because Dagobert could not have offered, at the beginning of the year 679, a bishopric that was not vacant. As for the opinion of those who claim that Saint Arbogast died in 668, it is erroneous; indeed, it is certain that at that time Dagobert II, who appointed this prelate to the bishopric of Strasbourg, was still in England and did not ascend the throne of Austrasia until 673, the year of the death of Childeric II, who gave, that same year, a diploma to the abbey of Munster.

Saint Arbogast, who had valued in the episcopate only the holiness of the ministry with which he was invested, gave at his death a striking mark of the humility that had been the foundation of his virtues. He asked to be buried outside the city, on a small hill where criminals were executed. This place, which was previously a dwelling of curses, became the theater of the holy bishop's power. As early as the eighth century, a chapel was built there in honor of Saint Michael; Bishop Remi already mentions it when granting it to the monastery of Eschau: Pope Saint Leo IX himself consecrated this chapel, which was located near the church of the Augustinians, where the convent of the nuns of the Congregation of Notre-Dame, commonly called the convent of Saint Barbara, was later built.

## CULT AND RELICS.

Scarcely had Saint Arbogast left this world when his tomb became famous for the number and greatness of the miracles, which were like the seal of his holiness; this is what determined Saint Floren t, his succes saint Florent Disciple of Eutyches, famous for his miracles involving a bear and snakes. sor, to raise his relics and expose them on the altars. The ancient martyrology of the 9th century speaks of him as a Saint whose feast had been celebrated for a long time. The dioceses of Basel, Constance, Worms, and Mainz also pay him public cult, and he has been, from time immemorial, the patron saint of the diocese of Strasbourg.

Wimpheling and Berler inform us that Saint Florent detached the head of Saint Arbogast from his body and presented it to the church of Saint-Thomas, which he had just founded near Strasbourg; as for the body of the holy Bishop, it was not until around the 10th century that it was transported from the chapel of Saint-Michel to the abbey of Surbourg. It appears that in the middle of the 11th century this body was divided and that a portion came into the possession of the Canons Regular of the monastery located on the banks of the Ill, which was mentioned above. The relics that were venerated at Surbourg were enclosed in a gilded shrine.

When in 1631 the Swedes had flooded Alsace, the Canons of Surbourg, not believing themselves to be safe, transported their archives and their relics to the Augustinians of Haguenau. Gustav Horn, after having reduced all of Alsace, forced the city of Haguenau to surrender, and the Augustinians left this city to take refuge in Huningue, taking with them their archives and the relics; but they were surprised, and the Swedes pillaged their effects and destroyed the relics. The same fate befell those kept by the Canons near the Ill; for, their monastery having been destroyed, the relics were profaned and disappeared without the slightest fragment being recovered.

Excerpt from the History of the Saints of Alsace, by Abbé Hunckler.