Saint Bertulf

His choice had settled on Luxeuil, where the children of noble families came eagerly to draw upon science and virtue. Sa int Eustasius Saint Eustaïse Abbot of Luxeuil who received Bertulf. was then abbot. He received with open arms the new disciple whom Providence sent him, and gave him, after sufficient trials, the monastic habit. Bertulfe soon showed himself worthy of his vocation. His natural qualities and his virtues made him dear to all. He made such great and rapid progress in perfection that he took a distinguished rank among the members of this flourishing school, the most justly famous that existed then in the Gauls.

Indeed, Sa int Attala h saint Attale Abbot of Bobbio, to whom Bertulf succeeded. aving come from Bobbi Bobbio Abbey founded by Columbanus in the Apennines, a center of scholarship and orthodoxy. o to Luxeuil, and having asked Saint Eustace for some of his monks, with the obligation to give him some of his own in return, the Abbot of Luxeuil did not think he could give his friend a better gift than by yielding Bertulf to him. These kinds of exchanges became like a bond of friendship between the communities. And it required all the love that Saint Eustace bore for his friend Attala to decide to part, in his favor, with a religious who, for several years, had been, within his monastery, a living model of all virtues. Bertulf acquiesced out of obedience, and followed Abbot Attala to Bobbio, shortly before the year 623. The design of Providence, in this event, did not take long to manifest itself: for, Attala having died some time later, Bertulf was designated with one voice to succeed him.

He knew how to live up to his dignity. A faithful imitator of his master Eustasius, he neglected nothing to maintain good discipline and to support the work of his two illustrious predecessors, Columbanus and Attala. He even had to defend the rights of the monastery from the outside, and this is the occasion. The Bishop of Tortona, Provus, claimed to have jurisdiction over the Abbey of Bobbio and used every means to assert his rights. He first sought to win over the neighboring bishops and the lords of the court of Arioald, King of the Lombards Ariowald King of the Lombards, of Arian confession. , with gifts. He then resorted to the prince himself. But the latter wisely replied that it was for ecclesiastical authority, and not royal authority, to decide whether monasteries located at a great distance from cities were or were not dependent on the bishops. One of the lords secretly let Bertulfe know what was being plotted against him. The saint in turn sent envoys to demand justice from the king. Arioald, although half-barbarian and attached to Arianism, declared again that it was for a council, and not for him, to hear such matters. And when the deputies asked him if he supported their adversaries, he replied that he would never lend his support to those who stir up quarrels against the servants of God. Furthermore, the deputies having begged him to provide them with the means to go to Rome, he showed the greatest eagerness to second their desires.

Bertulf therefore traveled to this capital of the Catholic world, toward which, from the beginning, all eyes turned as toward the mistress of the Churches. Pope Honorius I then occupied pape Honorius Ier Pope who received Kilian in Rome. the Holy See. According to the biographer, he was an educated, prudent, and zealous pontiff, remarkable for his knowledge, gentleness, and humility. He welcomed the Abbot of Bobbio favorably, inquired about the state of the monastery with tender interest, and was delighted to learn how flourishing the discipline was there and how monastic virtues were held in honor. As for the substance of the cause, he judged that one should rely on custom; but, upon Bertulf's explanations, he issued to him, on January 11, 628, a letter by which the monastery of Bobbio was declared exempt from all episcopal jurisdiction. He kept the saint near him for some time longer, finding a particular charm in his conversations. He recommended that he hold firm in the path he had entered, and above all to combat, by all possible means, the deadly Arian heresy, which was t hen infecting I hérésie arienne Heresy opposed by Columbanus in Italy among the Lombards. taly. Happy to meet a man to whom he could open his heart, Honorius parted from Bertulf only with regret.

While returning to the monastery, the saint was seized by a burning fever, caused by the excessive heat that prevailed that year. The illness was so violent that his life was feared for. They were in the Apennines, in a wild place; it was necessary to set up a tent to shelter the sick man from the scorching sun. But on the eve of the feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, when all of Bertulf's companions were in the greatest anxiety, Saint Peter appeared to him and said: "Arise, and go join your brothers." — "Who are you?" asked the astonished saint. — "I am the Apostle Peter, whose feast the whole world celebrates tomorrow." Bertulf, moved, called Jonas, the very one who Jonas Monk and biographer of Saint Bertulf. wrote his life, and asked him for an explanation of what had just happened. But the monk, although he was in the tent at the time, had seen and heard nothing. The questions with which he pressed his spiritual father forced the latter to reveal a miracle that his humility would have preferred to hide.

Bertulf, having returned to his monastery, continued to maintain there the integrity of the rule and the practice of virtues, of which he was himself the model. The Lord favored him with the gift of miracles. Being one day in Turin, and coming out of the office of Prime, he met a demoniac named Victorinus, whom he healed on the spot. Another time, he delivered a child, also possessed by the demon. A man, afflicted with a horrible leprosy, came to find him with confidence; the saint prayed and fasted for two days; then, pouring oil on his limbs, already putrefied, he immediately restored them to life and health. Another day, a monk named Bandachaire, sent with thirty others to protect a vineyard against wild beasts, and having for all food only a piece of bread, obtained, through the prayers of the saint, a bird which miraculously sufficed to satisfy everyone.

History gives no other details on the life of Saint Bertulf. He died in 640, three days after Saint Arnulf, his relative and his first master. His body was reunited with those of Saint Columban and Saint Attala, and these three remained inseparably united. The cult of Saint Bertulf dates back to the highest antiquity. Most martyrologies bestow upon him the title of saint.

Excerpt from the Life of the Saints of Franche-Comté.