Saint Philibert

In 674, necessity compelled Saint Philibert to make a journey to the court: he had the courage to reproach Eb roin, Ebroïn Mayor of the palace responsible for the death of Saint Rambert. Mayor of the Palace, for his ambition and his crimes. This minister, in order to take revenge, stirred up a quiet persecution against him. He won over some ecclesiastics of the diocese of Rouen, who disparaged the servant of God and brought Sa int Ouen, saint Ouen Archbishop of Rouen who recovered the martyr's body. their bishop, into their views. Matters reached the point where Saint Philibert was put in prison, in a place in the city that was later called the *poterne*. Some time later, Saint Ouen recognized his innocence and had him set free. But Philibert, not believing himself safe in Neustria, left Jumièges. He withdrew to Poitiers, to Bishop Ansoald, who had jus Ansoald Bishop of Poitiers and friend of Saint Philibert. t succeeded Dido, uncle of Saint Leodegar, Bishop of Autun, a victim of Ebroin's cruelty. Ansoald received him with kindness and would have liked to attach him to his Church. But the love of the solitary life still prevailed in the heart of the religious; and the bishop, no longer hoping to win him over, generously ceded to him, on the borders of his diocese and Brittany, a portion of the island named Her or Hério, to build there a monastery which from then on took the name of Hermoutier (monastery of Her), whi ch was later Noirmoutiers Island and monastery founded by Philibert. called Noirmoutiers (677). To this first gift he added other liberalities, both from his own property and from that of the Church of Poitiers, so that the new house became flourishing in a short time. It was initially populated by some monks from Jumièges. Philibert also occupied himself, at the request of Ansoald, with recompos ing the Benedictine abb Saint-Benoît de Quincay Abbey restored by Philibert in the diocese of Poitiers. ey of Saint-Benoît de Quincay (*Quinciacum*), in the diocese of Poitiers, which had suffered from unfortunate events. He brought there some religious from Jumièges, and deserved to be regarded as the restorer of this monastery, which had begun in the time of Saint Hilary.

Upon the death of Ebroin, which occurred in 681, Philibert wished to see Jumièges again. There he met Saint Ouen, who asked his forgiveness for having allowed himself to be prejudiced against him, and implored him to remain in Normandy. But Philibert preferred to return to Noirmoutiers, and only consented to place Saint Achard, one of his most faithful disciples, at the head of the abbey of Jumièges. Back on his island, he applied himself more and more to the good governance of his flock. Simultaneously, he still directed the progress of the monastery of Notre-Dame de Luçon (Sancta Maria Lucionensis), which had been flourishing since the 15th century, and the beginnings of that of Saint-Michel-en-l'Herm (S. Michael in Eremo), which Ansoald had just founded in 681. Occupied with so many labors, he nonetheless possessed a spirit of recollection and prayer; what he advised others to do, one always saw him accomplish first. If he spoke, one believed they were hearing Jesus Christ; the Spirit seemed to breathe upon his heart and his thoughts. He died on August 20, circa 687, in the midst of his brothers of Noirmoutiers.

Saint Philibert is represented: 1° seated, in abbot's vestments, and caressing a horse or a donkey: this is probably the donkey of Saint Austreberte, abbess of Pavilly, which transported the sacristy linen to Jumièges, which the holy abbess took charge of laundering; 2° saving the monks of Jumièges from a hurricane that occurred during the harvest.

[APPENDIX: CULT AND RELICS.]

The body of the Saint, preserved until 836 in the church of Noirmoutiers, was removed on February 14 of that same year, as a precaution against the Normans who were threatening the island, and transported to the monastery of Déas, a small town in the county of Herbauges, in lower Poitou. During this journey, admirable miracles illuminated for the eyes of the populations that were traversed at Beauvoir-sur-Mer (Ampermum), at Bois-de-Céné (Varinus), and at Paux (Poulus), three stations where the pious convoy stopped successively. Later, the religious were forced to seek another asylum in Cunaud, in Anjou, where they brought the body of their holy Abbot, around the year 857. From there they transported it to Messay, in Poitou, in 862, then to Saint-Pourçain, in Auvergne, towards the end of the year 871. Finally, this co mmunity Tournus Site of the abbacy of Saint Ardaing. , having wandered for so long, came to settle in Tournus, under the leadership of Abbot Geilon, in the year 875. A monastery that existed in this city, under the invocation of Saint Valerian, was ceded to them.

Towards the end of the 10th century, Gilbert, Count of Chalon, having wished on his own authority to give the abbey of Tournus to a religious man he favored, those from Noirmoutiers returned to Saint-Pourçain, taking with them the body of Saint Philibert and the other relics with which they had enriched the monastery of Tournus. They did not return until three years later, upon the invitation of the bishops of the province, and when Abbot Introis had been driven out.

Since that time, the famous abbey has always kept the precious deposit of the relics of Saint Philibert. They escaped all the dangers of wars and revolutions. When, in 1562, the Huguenots devastated the abbey of Tournus, they unfortunately discovered the place where the shrines of Saint Valerian, Saint Vital, and several other Saints had been hidden. But the body of Saint Philibert escaped their fury. Saved also during the Revolution of 1793, it is still honored today in the primary church of Tournus. On August 20, 1841, the Bishop of Autun placed the relics of our Saint in a new reliquary, in the presence of a large gathering of priests and faithful. While verifying the bones of Saint Philibert, the absence of a few was noted; but it is known what became of them. A parchment document, found in the old copper shrine, attests that, on May 19, 1493, at the request of Jacques d'Amboise, Abbot of Cluny and Jumièges, the shrine of Saint Philibert was opened, and some relics were taken from it to be sent to Jumièges. In the 16th century, the same gift was made to other great personages.

Besides the principal feast of Saint Philibert, which is celebrated today, others were celebrated at the abbey of Tournus on the occasion of his various translations, on February 14, June 7, and October 15. There was a fourth one on May 22 at Charlieu, in the former diocese of Mâcon; but it was specific to that church.

We have used, to compose this biography, the Proper of Poitiers; the Godebert; the Lives of the Saints of the Church of Poitiers, by Abbé Anbert; the Legendary of Autun; and the Life of the Monks and Bishops of Luçon, by Abbé Du Trassay, honorary canon of Luçon.