Blessed Jean Bassand of Besançon

At the age of eighteen, Jean Bassand felt inspired to seek in the cloister a safer shelter against the dangers of the world. Besançon possessed at that time a great number of religious houses. But one of the most famous was the A bbey of Saint-Paul, fo l'abbaye de Saint-Paul Monastery where Jean Bassand began his religious life. unded in the 7th century by Saint Donatus, and restored in the 11th century through the care of Blessed Hugh the Great. As early as the year 1252, the canons of Saint-Paul had embraced the Rule of Saint Augustine, and the dean who was at their head had been replaced by an abbot. The one who governed the abbey at that time was named Thiébaud de Nans. Jean Bassand asked him to be admitted among the novices of Saint-Paul. This abbey, moreover, appears to have held the affection of the Bassand family, for two other individuals of this name embraced the religious life there around the same time.

It was around the year 1378 that Jean Bassand entered the Augustinians of Saint-Paul. He brought with him a pure heart, a soul already enlightened in the ways of God, and a great desire to acquire, through the practice of virtue, those spiritual goods which were to take the place of the fortune he was abandoning by leaving the world.

His life at Saint-Paul was that of an accomplished monk. From the first days of his stay among the religious, he became the model of the most fervent through his regularity, his obedience, and his devotion. Henri de Fallerans having been named abbot of Saint-Paul in 1387, Jean Bassand, who had grown in age and wisdom, was then elected prior of one of the monasteries that depended on the abbey. He fulfilled this charge in an honorable manner, and knew how to make it at the same time meritorious for himself and advantageous for others. The talent he had displayed in the functions of prior caused the highest hopes to be conceived for him, and he appeared worthy of being raised one day to the dignity of abbot of Saint-Paul. But these expectations were not to be fulfilled.

The great memories of Saint Donatus and Hugh I, whose remains still rested in the church of Saint-Paul, were always alive in this monastery and maintained the regularity of morals there. However, the austere virtues of the early days no longer flourished there with the same purity. Jean therefore thought of leaving this community, because he desired to observe in a more austere manner the vows that his mouth had pronounced at the foot of the altars. For a century, the Order of the Celestines, established in Italy by Saint Peter Celestine, had been producing wonderful fruits there. As early as the year 1300, the religious of this congregation had been called to France by Philip the Fair, and had founded several flourishing communities there. The most famous of all was that of P Paris Place of birth, ministry, and death of the saint. aris, established in 1318 by Pierre Martel, a bourgeois of that city. This monastery, because of its importance and its position, was considered the head of the Order of the Celestines in the kingdom. It is there that Jean would embrace, in all its primitive rigor, the Rule of Saint Benedict, whose severity responded to the austerity of his character and his desire for perfection. He was then thirty years old (1390), and had spent twelve at the abbey of Saint-Paul.

Under the habit of Saint Benedict, Jean Bassand soon showed all the treasures of virtue that were in his soul. Placed first among the novices, he appeared there less as a disciple than as a master in the spiritual life, so holy was his conduct, his humility deep, and his regularity exemplary. He had as a spiritual father one of his compatriots, named Pierre Pierre Pocquet Spiritual father of Jean Bassand among the Celestines. Pocquet, a native of the County of Burgundy, and who, perhaps, had contributed by his advice to attracting the young religious into the Order of the Celestines. He was a man as pious as he was learned, very well-versed in civil law, and whose decisions carried authority before the courts and the parliament of Paris. After having followed a career at the bar, he had left the world and hidden himself under the habit of a Celestine, in the monastery of Paris, where he fulfilled the function of prior.

Under the guidance of such a master, Jean Bassand made rapid progress. His time was divided between reading, meditation, and prayer, and he showed himself careful to gather everything that could contribute to his perfection. The memory of the great figures who had illustrated his Order was for him a continual subject of emulation, and what he aspired to in their lives was less the glory with which they had shone before men than the virtues by which they had won heaven.

Such was the life of Jean Bassand during the first years he spent in the congregation of the Celestines. His eminent qualities had not escaped his superiors. He was judged worthy to govern with authority the brothers whom he had until then edified by his examples, and he was named sub-prior of the monastery of Paris. This function required as much devotion as intelligence. But the heart of Jean was filled with an active and tireless charity. Thus, all resorted to him with confidence, and he welcomed everyone with the kindness of a father and the authority of a master as zealous as he was prudent. People praised his vigilance in administration, his discretion in counsel, and the sureness of his eye in grasping both the whole and the details of an affair. The community of the Celestines of Paris was then very numerous. When the prior was absent or prevented, Jean Bassand replaced him with success among the novices or the students who were being trained at the monastery, and one did not know then what one should admire most in him, the extent of his knowledge or the benevolence of his manners.

Around this time, some noble figures of Picardy founded a monastery in Amiens that was to depend on the Celestines of Paris. The merit with which Jean Bassand had fulfilled his duties naturally designated him to his superiors to govern this new community. He was therefore appointed prior of the monastery of Amiens and left immediately for that city to oversee the construction work himself, according to the needs and customs of the Order. When all the conditions of the new abbey had been suitably settled, Jean Bassand was solemnly installed in his functions and proved himself worthy of his dignity. In the government of this community, he was as zealous in leading the religious along the path of perfection as he was attentive to maintaining himself therein.

It was during his stay in Amiens that Jean Bassand came to know Saint Colette. This pious young woman, long uncertain about her vocation, sainte Colette Reformer of the Poor Clares whose habit is preserved in Nevers. ardently desired to bury herself in solitude, which had always held great appeal for her. She had been told of the fervor and prudence of the prior of the Celestines recently established in Amiens. She went to that city, addressed herself to Jean Bassand, and made known to him all her anxieties regarding the state of life she should embrace, promising to abandon herself to his guidance with the docility of a child. The prior, already informed by the reputation of Colette's holiness, had no difficulty in recognizing that she was no ordinary soul and that God destined her for great things. He directed her with prudent charity, outlined rules for her to help in the exercise of prayer, and assured her that God would not fail to enlighten her if she persevered in prayer. When he had sufficiently tested her, he did not hesitate to declare that she was called to religious life, and so that she might render herself even more worthy of the favors of heaven, he encouraged her to make a vow of virginity. The humble servant of God welcomed with joy a proposal that responded so well to the purity of her soul, and, after a preparation of a few days, she made, in the hands of Jean Bassand, a vow so dear to her heart. Some time later, Colette returned to Corbie. But she always kept the highest regard for her director and the deepest respect for his advice; for, subsequently, the holy religious wrote her several spiritual letters, and when later he learned that the Saint had gone to Besançon to establish the reform of the Poor Clares there, he wrote to her parents, begging them to show Colette the greatest consideration and to support her in her foundations.

Jean Bassand spent several years at the monastery of Amiens. The proofs he gave there of his talent and virtue led to him being called to an even more eminent position. He was named prior of the abbey of Paris, and returned to take up his post in the midst of this community where he had left such fond memories. In this new role, he displayed an ardent zeal for monastic discipline, and became the model for the flock he had to lead. His example maintained among the religious a noble emulation for virtue, and it was universally said that he who walked with such a sure step in the path followed by the Saints could not fail to be associated one day with their glory.

Prudence was one of his habitual virtues. He never took an important step without having calculated all the consequences. Thus, the Fathers of his Order, full of admiration for the wisdom of his conduct, believed that no one could better than he advantageously fulfill the important functions of provincial. He was therefore unanimously elevated to this dignity in the General Chapter of the Order, held in 1411. This office lasted three years, and Jean Bassand discharged it so well that the Chapter invested him with it five times (from the year 1411 to the year 1441), thus rendering a solemn homage to his virtue and his talents.

Jean Bassand visited the monasteries of his province with care, sometimes traveling on horseback, and always showing an indefatigable courage in enduring fatigue. One day, he arrived during the night near a convent he was to visit. Although he was exhausted from hunger and weariness, he did not want the officers of the monastery to be awakened; he took a light refreshment and threw himself onto a bed to rest for a few moments. At the hour of Matins, he had preceded all the others to the church, and the monks, stunned to find him seated in the choir, admired this ardor in giving everyone the example of punctuality and regularity.

Often, after the night office, when all the others returned to the dormitory to take a few more moments of sleep, the provincial remained in the choir to meditate and pray until the hour of Prime. In his dealings with the monks he visited, he knew how to happily mix firmness with gentleness, and always make reprimands salutary by seasoning them with the oil of charity. He recommended above all to the priors and the elders not to let their zeal dampen and to always strive for a higher perfection. One admired his skill in discerning characters, in probing consciences, in recognizing the inclinations of each one. Without ever showing partiality, he congratulated the young brothers whom he saw animated by a holy zeal for the rules and constitutions. In a word, he knew how to mix encouragement with threats, and to show, according to needs, the severity of a master and the kindness of a father.

During the many years of his provincialate, Jean Bassand traveled through many countries, whether to found new monasteries or to visit old ones. He was seen in turn in England, in Italy, in Aragon, displaying everywhere the same zeal for the growth of his Order. Jealous to procure the glory of God, he always refused the honors that seemed to relate to his person, because he knew that humility must be the basis of religious perfection.

The affairs of the Order called Jean Bassand to Rome, around the year 1413, under the pontificate of Martin V. He appeared before the Pope, who had already been informed of his merit, and who wished to appoint him superior of the Celestines of France for life. Jean Bassand hastened to thank this Pontiff. "Most Holy Father," he said to him, "it is against my will that I accepted, for only three years, the office of provincial, and I am ready to lay it at the feet of Your Holiness, for it is less an honor than a very heavy weight that has been placed upon my shoulders."

The numerous and incessant occupations of the provincialate had not prevented the blessed Bassand from still finding time to cultivate the holy Letters. He was the intimate friend of the famous chancellor of the University , Jean Gers Jean Gerson French theologian to whom the Imitation is sometimes attributed. on, with whom he discussed the highest questions of theology. He asked him one day to compose a small Treatise on the holy Humanity of Jesus Christ, which would be like a commentary on these words of the holy Books: "He has received Israel, his servant, being mindful of his mercy." Gerson hastened to respond to the desire of his friend, and composed the book that we still possess in his works, under this title: *De Susceptione humanitatis Christi*. It is addre De Susceptione humanitatis Christi Theological treatise dedicated to Jean Bassand by Gerson. ssed to Jean Bassand, whom Gerson calls a man full of penetration, to whom he loved to communicate his works and from whom he willingly received advice on what he should correct. He ends this Treatise with these words, which are entirely to the praise of our Blessed one: "Such are, O Father filled with piety and consummate prudence, such are the things that I have written in haste, as an expression of my ardent friendship for you. It is to answer your request that I have entrusted them to this sheet, in the year of the Lord 1426. I began this explanation of the holy canticle the day I received, in the chapel, the visit of your kindness, for whom I shall always keep a sincere respect. Farewell."

Jean Bassand, for his part, composed literary works that he communicated to Jean Gerson. He sent him one day a Treatise, divided into four parts, for which Gerson thanked him in these terms: "Reverend Father, I have received from your beloved and devout person the Treatise that you sent and offered to me, and which is divided into four parts. The second contains about fifty considerations, which are set forth with strength, brevity, and order." This intimate friendship between these two great men proves at once both the piety of Gerson and the learning of Jean Bassand. If the latter did not leave us important works like those of the famous chancellor, it is because his numerous occupations did not leave him the time, or because his humility made him prefer this beautiful maxim of a pious writer of that era: "Love to be unknown and to be counted for nothing."

The holy old man finished his duties as provincial in 1441. He was then nearly eighty-one years old, and he could rest from his long labors with some confidence of not having been a useless servant in the house of God. But the life of a Christian is an incessant combat, which begins in the cradle and ends only at the grave, and Jean Bassand only ceased his arduous travels to recollect himself in retreat and work further for the sanctification of his soul. Having become, so to speak, a simple religious again, he gave everyone the example of obedience, piety, and perfect devotion. He scrupulously observed the rule, took part in all the exercises of the community, and avoided all irregularity and laxity. The shorter the time he had left to spend on earth, the more precious it seemed to him. When the sound of the tablet called the community to some exercise, he would leave everything, even a work begun, to obey the voice of God calling him; for he was accustomed to repeat this word from the holy Books: 'Obedience is better than sacrifice.'

The Order of the Celestines, so fervent at its origin, had already lost, in some monasteries of Italy, the spirit of its holy founder. The monastery of Collemadio, built near Aquila, in the kingdom of Naples, was inhabited by religious who no longer Aquila Italian city where Jean Bassand died and is venerated. followed the regular observance. Jean Bassand, despite his great age, was charged with going to Italy and reforming this monastery by gathering there a community of brothers who would commit themselves to following the regular observance. He arrived in Aquila in 1443. But the inhabitants of this city, won over by the suggestions of the lax monks who inhabited the monastery, showed no eagerness to welcome the pious reformer. Jean Bassand, disconcerted by this coldness, returned to Rome, reported the failure of his mission to the Pope, and asked him for permission to return to France. But Eugene IV had too much at heart to see the monastic spirit flourish again at Col lemadio t Eugène IV Pope who sent Nicholas Albergati to the Council of Basel. o abandon this enterprise. He kept Jean with him. In the meantime, a Benedictine religious arrived in Rome, named Jean of Messina, full of zeal for the regular observance and a great friend of the Blessed. When he learned that the monks of Aquila had refused the reform, he went to find the Pope and strongly urged him to attempt this important work again. Eugene IV then associated two eminent men with the Celestine, and gave them full powers to treat with the citizens of Aquila on all questions relating to the reform of their monastery. The new envoys went immediately to that city, and this time the success of the work was complete. The government of the monastery was entrusted to Jean Bassand, who settled there in the month of March 1444 with some French religious and those of the former monks who consented to embrace the reform. As for those who refused, their fate was provided for in a suitable manner. This was a beautiful triumph for the old age of our Blessed. The joy of reviving the spirit of Saint Celestine in the very places he had sanctified by his presence gave the pious reformer new strength. He provided for everything with a zeal all the more admirable as the monastery, at the moment he took possession of it, lacked everything necessary for a religious community.

But poverty was not the harshest trial he had to undergo in this new position. Those of the former monks who had remained at Collemadio had only submitted to Jean Bassand against their will. Their words and conduct clearly showed that they detested the reform and that they wanted to try to shake off its yoke. At the time of Lent, they secretly agreed to abandon the monastery all together one day, to the great scandal of the people and the shame of the newcomers, who, finding themselves thus too few in number, would not be able to suffice for the religious service of the community. They executed their plan on the fourth Sunday of Lent; but, by an admirable providence, at the moment they were leaving the monastery, seven new brothers arrived from France at Collemadio and entered through the door of the church. The reformer welcomed them with joy, and the people of Aquila, amazed at this happy encounter, had only words of blame and contempt for the unfaithful monks who had taken flight. From then on, the community of Collemadio was most edifying. Jean Bassand gave there, despite his great age, the example of the most austere virtues. He lived there for about a year, surrounded by the respect of the faithful and the clergy, who looked upon him as a Saint.

However, the moral energy he had displayed, while doubling his physical strength, had worn it out more quickly. On the eve of the Assumption, he fell ill and felt that life was soon to escape him. Despite his weakness, he nevertheless wished to attend the office that day, celebrate Holy Mass, and eat with the community. As his illness worsened, he took to his bed and did not cease to recite hymns and prayers to prepare himself for death. When he saw his end approaching, he called all the brothers around his bed, and, amidst their sighs, he strove to reassure them against the persecutions they seemed to fear for the future, when they would no longer have their father and pastor to protect them. "Do not fear," he told them, "as long as you remain faithful to holy obedience. Remain firm, so that the work we have undertaken does not remain unfinished." He spoke to them at length and with the most touching unction; for, despite the pains of illness, he had retained the fullness of his intelligence and all the ardor of his soul. When it was learned in Aquila that John Bassand was reaching the end of his life, the bishop of the city, the Count of Monteri, and the principal magistrates of the city hastened to the monastery to pay a final visit to the blessed Father and receive his blessing. He humbly refused to bless them himself, asking the bishop to do so in his place. All shed tears and contemplated with sorrow the final moments of this good Father, whom they regarded as a Saint. Among the witnesses to this touching scene was the famous preacher Saint John Capistran. He was one of the Blessed's friends and one of the most sincere admirers of his vir saint Jean Capistran Saint present at the death of Jean Bassand. tues. He addressed a few more affectionate words to him and supported the outbursts of his piety while the sacraments of the Church were administered to the pious dying man. John Bassand was worthy to die in the arms of a Saint, who showed him with ardent faith the immortal crown of the elect, which he himself would soon share. The blessed Father held a crucifix in one hand and a torch in the other; he seemed to recollect himself for an instant, murmured with his dying lips the psalm Laudate Dominum in sanctis ejus, and expired peacefully on August 26, 1445.

## CULT AND RELICS.

His disciples rendered the greatest honors to his sacred remains. The body of the deceased, dressed in priestly vestments, was exposed with the face uncovered in the monastery church, and the people came in crowds to contemplate one last time the blessed features of him whom they were already invoking as a Saint. John Capistran delivered, with an eloquent voice, the funeral oration of the one who had been his friend and whom he regarded from that day as his protector. He recounted before an immense audience his life so full of edification and his death so glorious.

God manifested the holiness of his servant from that day. The people rushed in crowds around the coffin to touch the body of the Blessed one, and the influx was so great that it was necessary to place guards around it to contain the multitude. He was then transported to the chapel of Saint John the Baptist, and several sick and infirm persons were miraculously healed upon contact with this virginal body. The inhabitants of Aquila especially had rushed, following the bishop and the clergy, to honor the funeral of the one who had edified them all by the holiness of his final days. All considered themselves happy to kiss his feet and hands devoutly, and to contemplate once more his face, so full of grace, which resembled that of a man resting in a peaceful sleep.

The body of the glorious servant of God remained exposed to the veneration of the faithful in the church of Collemadio. Striking miracles, which the contemporary author of his Life recounts in detail, attested to his holiness. The account of these marvelous graces, passing from mouth to mouth, soon attracted numerous pilgrims around his tomb. The religious covered the body of the Blessed one with quicklime, and it remained thus exposed, in a wooden reliquary, on the altar of Saint John the Baptist, because the inhabitants of Aquila did not want to allow it to be lowered into the vault intended for the ordinary burial of the Celestines. It remained for eighteen years on this altar, and each year, on the anniversary of his death, the magistrates and citizens of Aquila came solemnly to offer two candles before his relics and to attend the holy sacrifice. In 1463, the reliquary was opened in the presence of a large number of witnesses, and the body of the Saint was found intact, despite the quicklime with which it had been surrounded. The devotion of the faithful toward the blessed Bassand has been perpetuated to our days. His venerated remains are still seen in the church of Aquila, where they rest in a glass-fronted shrine placed on the altar of Saint John the Baptist. It is there that pious Christians have gone so many times to implore the protection of this Blessed one. The epitaph placed on his tomb reports the principal circumstances of his life and indicates clearly that since his death he has been honored with the title of Blessed, and that he is publicly invoked as a Saint.

Excerpt from the *Vies des Saints de Franche-Comté*, by the professors of the Saint-François-Xavier college. — Tatera reports the *Life of the blessed Jean Bussard* in his *Histoire des Saints personnages de l'Ordre des Célestins*, written in Italian. The Bollandists have provided it, in a more complete manner and with scholarly remarks, on August 26.