Saint Sigrade

To console her, Sa int Leodega saint Léger Bishop of Autun and son of Saint Sigrada, author of a letter of consolation to his mother. r addressed to he r, from the monaster monastère de Fescamp Place of retreat for Maurilius before his episcopate. y of Fécamp, a letter that has come down to us. It is a precious monument of his eloquence and his high piety. After showing her the benefits of suffering through the authority of the Holy Scriptures, he speaks to her of those of the religious life. "No tongue," he tells her, "can express the joy that you must feel in the Lord. You have left what had to be abandoned. The Lord has heard your prayers, He has seen the tears that you have shed in His presence. He has cut away from you what seemed to delay you on the path of salvation, so that, freed from the bonds that attached you to the world, you may henceforth live for God, tasting how sweet Christ is. It is He who is our God, our King, our Redeemer! It is He who is the way, the truth, and the life!... O happy death that gives life! Happy loss of goods, which merits eternal riches! Happy sadness, which procures the joy of the angels! You have already experienced the mercies of the Lord; He has inspired in you a contempt for the world to make you practice the observances of a holy rule. He has delivered your children from the miseries of the century, and has given them the hope of an eternal life; whereas you would have had to weep for them as dead, if, in dying, you had left them on the earth.

The rest of Saint Leodegar's letter is full of the most beautiful traits of firmness in affliction, of love for enemies, and of detachment from created things.

We do not know the date of Saint Sigr ade's death. H sainte Sigrade Mother of Saint Leodegar, a nun at Soissons after suffering the persecutions of Ebroin. er relics were kept with those of Saint Guér in, her son, saint Guérin Son of Saint Sigrada, a count stoned during the persecutions of Ebroin. at Notre-Dame de Soissons. An oratory, located in a valley of the Morvan, is dedi vallée du Morvan Wild region where Merry had retired as a hermit. cated to Saint Sigrade.

Excerpt from the Legendary of Autun.

## 9TH DAY OF AUGUST

The Vigil of Saint Lawrence, martyr. — In Rome, Saint ROMANUS, a soldier, who, touched by the firmness of Saint Lawrence in confessing the faith, asked him for Baptism: immediately presented to the judge, he was beaten with rods, and then beheaded. 258. — In Tuscany, the birth into heaven of the holy martyrs Secundinus or Secundian, Marcellian, and Verian, who, in the time of the Emperor Decius, by order of the consular Promotus, were beaten, stretched on the rack, torn with iron claws, and burned at the Boves. Finally, by losing their heads, they obtained the palm of martyrdom. 261. — In Verona, the holy martyrs Fien and Rusticus, in the time of the Emperor Maximian. — In Africa, the memory of several holy Martyrs, who, during the persecution of Valerian, encouraged by the exhortations of Saint Numidicus, won the crown of heaven through fire, in which they were consumed; as for Saint Numidicus, someone had been thrown with the others into the furnace, and after having been overwhelmed with stones, having nevertheless been pulled from under this heap by his daughter, he was found with still a little life. Care was taken to dress his wounds, and, after his recovery, he merited by his virtue to be made a priest of the Church of Carthage by Saint Cyprian. 3rd c. — In Constantinople, the holy martyrs Julian, Marcian, and eight others, who, for having raised an image of the Savior on the brazen gate, were beheaded after several torments; by the order of the Emperor Leo. 730. — In Châlons-sur-Marne, Saint DOMITIAN, bishop and confessor. 2nd c.

In the diocese of Limoges, Saint Martin of Brive-la-Gaillarde (Briva Curion), in the diocese of Tulle, martyr. He was born in Spain, towards the end of the 4th century, of parents very distinguished by their extraction, but idolaters. He was baptized in his tender childhood, passed into Italy and from there into the Gauls, and stayed for a considerable time in the Périgord. At Brive, he entered the temple of the false gods, at the moment when the idolaters were offering them one of their abominable sacrifices, and overturned the altars of the priests. The crowd rushed upon him and overwhelmed him with stones: a furious man, detaching himself from the troop, severed his head with a blow of a scimitar. He was buried at Brive and a beautiful church soon rose over his tomb: the relics of Saint Martin are preserved with great care in this church: they are enclosed in a very well-made bust which represents a young man of about twenty-five years. Circa 407. — In Rouen, Saint MAUBILLE, archbishop of this see and confessor. 1067. — In Metz, Saint AUTRUR (Adinctor), third bishop of this see and confessor. 5th c. — In Tours, Saint Euphronius, archbishop of this see and confessor, whose life we gave on August 4. 573. — In Soissons, Saint BANDRY, bishop of this see and confessor. 566. — In Saint-Bertrand de Comminges (Lugdunum Convenarum, Haute-Garonne), in the current diocese of Toulouse, Saint Africanus (Africanus), fourth known bishop of this ancient see and confessor. We gave the life on April 28, the day he is honored at Rodez. 540. — In Marseille, Saint SERENUS or SERENE, bishop of this see and confessor. 604. — In Troyes, memory of the translation of a piece of the crown of Jesus Christ, which was given to this city in 1239, and which, saved from the hands of the sacrilegious in 1794, is found today in the cathedral. — In Avignon, Saint AUSPICE, first bishop of the ancient see of Apt (Apta Julia, Vaucluse) and martyr. His death is marked in the martyrology of France on August 2. 122. — In the diocese of Coutances, Saint Spire or Exuperius, whose life we gave on August 1. 140. — In the diocese of Arras, Saint Victricius, archbishop of Rouen and confessor, whose life we gave on August 7. 407. — In the dioceses of Cologne, Lyon, Marseille, Meaux, Metz, Reims, Versailles, and Viviers, memory of the Vigil of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr, and of Saint Romanus, martyr, cited in the Roman martyrology of this day. — In the dioceses of Ajaccio and Reims, Saint Emygdius, bishop and martyr, whose life we gave on August 5. 304. — In Cologne, Saint Margaret, virgin and martyr, whose life we gave on July 20. 275. — In the diocese of Viviers, Saint Venantius, bishop and confessor, whose life we gave on August 5. 544. — In the diocese of Versailles, Saint Yen, priest and martyr, already named in the martyrology of France on August 5, and cited in the Roman on September 22. — In Lyon, the Vigil of Saint Blandina, virgin and martyr, whose life we gave on June 2. 177. — In the diocese of Mainz, Saint Afra and her companions, martyrs, of whom we spoke on August 5. — In the solitudes of the Passais (Orne), in the primitive diocese of Le Mans, Saint ERNEE and his companions ALNEE, BOHAMAD, AUVRIL, FRONT, GAULT or GAL, and BRICE, solitaries. 6th c. — In the diocese of Le Mans, Saint DEMETRIUS, confessor, companion of Saint Martin, bishop of Tours. Uncertain era. — In Franche-Comté, the saints Amour and Viateur, martyrs, who are believed to have been officers of the famous Theban Legion, but whose life is very little known. The small town of Saint-Amour (Jura) prides itself on having possessed relics of these holy Martyrs.