Saint Exuperius

Three things contributed greatly to this happy success of the new apostle's preaching. The first was the purity of his morals and the holiness of his life; for one saw in him a man who lived in a body as if he had none; who made no more account of the riches and all the grandeurs of the world than of the dust he trod underfoot; who fled honors with more care than the proud have eagerness to procure them; who endured insults and persecutions with invincible gentleness and patience, and whose life was a continuous prayer and fast. The second thing was his zeal and the marvelous strength of his speech; for, besides being naturally eloquent and having further perfected this gift through study and practice, God gave him so much ardor and fire in his preaching that one had to be extremely hardened not to yield to the soundness of his reasons and the vehemence of his exhortations. The third, finally, was the power to perform miracles that he had received from God; for there was no disease that could resist his command, nor any bodily or spiritual necessity that he did not remedy by the power of the name of Jesus and the sign of our salvation and redemption. One day, seven possessed persons having been brought to him, after a long prayer he made to God, with tears in his eyes and prostrate on the ground, he delivered them by the virtue of this salutary sign: which was the cause of their conversion and that of five hundred people who had been witnesses to such a striking miracle. Of this number was the Count of Noroy, named Régnobert, who profited so well from the excellent lessons of his master that he soon became an excellent preacher of th e Gospel Régnobert Disciple and successor of Saint Exuperius to the bishopric of Bayeux. himself, and having been raised to the priesthood by Saint Spire, he was later his successor and the second bishop of Bayeux. It is said that one day a blind pagan, hearing a sermon by Régnobert, converted and had himself led to him to be instructed more perfectly and to receive baptism. Régnobert contented himself with catechizing him; but, for the baptism, he wanted him to receive it from the hands of Saint Spire. He therefore took him by the hand to lead him to the holy prelate; but, while he was holding him, his sight was miraculously restored, and he no longer needed a guide to walk. This miracle frightened Régnobert, making him fear that the honor might be attributed to him, but it consoled Saint Spire marvelously, who was delighted to see his double spirit reflected in his disciples.

This great bishop also delivered seven other demoniacs by the same weapons he had used for the first ones. But the demons withdrew with such terrible cries that all the spectators were terrified and fell to the ground half-dead. This fall was salutary for them. They learned thereby to fear God and to preserve themselves from damnation, where one is for all eternity in the hands of these monsters, whose rage against men is so dreadful. Thus, those who were not yet of the flock of Jesus Christ detested the errors of paganism and urgently requested holy baptism. The principal of these new converts was Zénon, lord of the land, who thereafter walked with such great strides in the ways of perfection that he was soon judged worthy of the priesthood and the dignity of archdea con, Zénon A converted nobleman who became an archdeacon and is recognized as a saint. which he fulfilled holily: the Church has placed him in the catalogue of Saints.

Moreover, one must not believe that Saint Spire always remained in Bayeux: having the entire maritime country of Neustria as his jurisdiction, he did not fail to bring the light of the faith there on all sides. It was in these evangelical labors that he spent his life until a happy old age. When he saw that he was near death, he called his children around him, and, in imitation of Our Lord, he exhorted them to union among themselves, to charity for their neighbor, to zeal for the salvation of souls, to the true love of God, and recommended them in a manner full of tenderness to the heavenly Father, whose children they were more than his own, since he had only begotten them in Jesus Christ so that they might have God as their father. Then, having received the Sacraments with extraordinary reverence and devotion, and seeing the Angels descend from heaven to lead his soul into glory, he addressed these beautiful words to the sovereign Lord who sent them: "O my God! Eternal Light, Fountain of all piety and King of this whole universe, in whom I have believed, whom I have loved, and whose holy doctrine I have announced, I pray you to look with a favorable eye upon the prayer of all those who will have recourse to you through my intercession, so that all your creatures may bless you for ever and ever." The clerics who were present answered: Amen. And, at the same instant, the spirit of the blessed Spire separated from his body, to go and enjoy the possession of his God eternally.

Saint Regnobert, his disciple, taking care of his body, had him buried on a hill outside the city, where the faithful built a small chapel in his honor; it was changed in the course of time into a parish; no one has ever been buried there: when it was attempted, this ground, out of honor for Saint Exupère, rejected the remains that one wished to entrust to it.

## CULT AND RELICS.

The body of Saint Spire was raised by one of his successors, who placed it in a reliquary and transported it to the cathedral church of Bayeux, where it remained until 863. At that time, the Neustrian faithful, fearing that the Normans, who were devastating all their coasts, would lay their sacrilegious hands on such precious relics, brought them themselves to a castle in the Gâtinais called Palluau, along with those of Saint Léo or Loup, bishop o saint Léo ou Loup Companion of Saint Marinus, stonemason and founder of San Leo. f Bayeux.

Eighty years later, a count of Corbei l, name Corbeil Site of the transfer of relics in the 10th century. d Haymon , with Haymon Duke or Count of Ponthieu and protector of Saint Josse. Elizabeth, his wife, had them brought with great magnificence to their city of Corbeil, where they had a church built in their honor, and established there a secular abbot and twelve canons for the perpetual celebration of the divine offices. Haymon wished to be buried in this church, and his tomb is still shown there with his effigy in white marble and various monuments and testimonies of piety. The counts, his successors, and our most Christian kings have granted great privileges to this chapter; as have the sovereign Pontiffs and the bishops of Paris regarding spiritual matters. At the beginning of the 18th century, the number of these chapters was increased by the annexation of the chapter of the royal and collegiate church of Notre-Dame de Corbeil to that of Saint-Spire, in order to leave the church of Notre-Dame to the inhabitants as a parish. King Henry IV had letters patent issued for this in 1602, but they were not registered in the parliament until 1611, one year after his death.

The wonders have made the pilgrimage of Saint-Spire so famous that one ordinarily sees a great influx of people in his church who come to implore his aid. There were other translations of his relics and those of Saint Leo, to place them in new and more magnificent reliquaries: one in 1317, under the reign of Philip the Tall; another in 1454, under the reign of Charles VII, and a third, very solemn one in 1619, under the reign of Louis XIII; and, as they were all performed on the fifth Sunday after Easter, which precedes the feast of the Ascension of Our Lord, the principal feast of Saint Spire and Saint Leo is held every year on this Sunday. The reliquaries are brought down on the eve for ten days, Matins are said at ten o'clock in the evening, and Mass at midnight, and the procession is held during the day at nine o'clock in the morning; then these reliquaries are carried by wise and virtuous men who compose a Confraternity of bearers to whom Pope Gregory XIII granted very beautiful indulgences.

The reliquary of Saint Spire is also brought down for droughts, floods, and fires. In the year 1648, fire having caught in the powder munitions of Essonne, and threatened Corbeil, which is nearby, this city was preserved from this misfortune by the reliquary of Saint Spire, which was opposed to the fury of the flames.

From the year 950 to the year 1791, Corbeil possessed the entire body of this illustrious pontiff, whom it never invoked in vain: it received from him great aid and precious consolations. Thus, the consternation was general in 179 1793 Period during which the saint's relics were hidden and lost. 3, when his precious remains were profaned and delivered to the flames in a public square of the city.

Two notable relics were saved from profanation and destruction: the lower jaw and a bone from the forearm. The former is deposited in Corbeil, and the latter is in the church of Bayeux, where the custom has been restored of carrying it, along with the other relics of the cathedral, in the solemn procession of the Assumption.

The church of Saint-Exupère is still venerated as the place of his burial and that of the holy bishops, his successors, and it still contains the sarcophagi in which their bodies were deposited. Several of them, and in particular that of Saint Exupère, were profaned and broken at the time of the Revolution. Now they are protected and enclosed within the perimeter of an underground chapel where they have remained in their place.

We have completed this biography by means of local notes provided by M. Girard, parish priest of Corbeil, and by M. Le Conte, honorary canon of the cathedral and parish priest of Saint-Exupère, in Bayeux.