Saint Syagrius of Autun

After the death of Remi—others say Benignus—the successor of Eupardus who had himself replaced Saint Nectarius, no one was judged more worthy than Syagrius to occupy the see of Autun. Saint German Saint Germain Bishop of Paris whose life was written by Fortunatus. us made it his duty and pleasure to come expressly from Paris to take part in his consecration (560). The importance of the ancient church and the renown of the great city of which he became bishop, the authority and high influence he exercised in his homeland which had become his diocese, the esteem and veneration that surrounded him, the eminence of his universally recognized merit, his reputation, and the nobility of his family soon gave him great credit at court. He was all-powerful, first with Guntram, and then with Brunhilda.

Also distinguished by his learning and his zeal, he gathered around him, either in his palace or in the Abbey of Saint-Symphorien, young men belonging to the noblest families who came to place themselves under his direction to be guided in their studies and in the paths of clerical perfection. One may cite among others Eustachius or Eustadius, Bishop of Bourges, Desiderius, Bishop of Vienne, of whom we have already spoken, and another Desiderius, Bishop of Auxerre. Such disciples would suffice to illustrate their master. Here is another to whom a keen interest attaches. Aunacharius o r Aunaire, a young lo Aunachaire ou Aunaire Disciple of Syagrius and future bishop of Auxerre. rd raised at the court of King Guntram, forestalled by grace, suddenly renounced the most brilliant prospects, fled secretly to the tomb of Saint Martin at Tours; and there, stripping off the liveries of the world, entered the clergy to devote himself entirely to the service of God. Having heard of Syagrius as the bishop of the Gauls most eminent for his learning and his virtues, it was into such skillful and holy hands that he went to entrust his soul. The venerable pontiff, full of admiration and tenderness for a young man capable of such a great sacrifice, welcomed him as a father welcomes his most beloved son, was happy to keep him by his person, and communicated to him his lights and his holiness.

However, people continued to turn from all sides, and never in vain, to the great Pontiff who occupied the see of Autun with such distinction. A religious named Baudénus, from the monastery of Saint-Arédius (probably Saint-Arige of Gap), arrived one day in Autun, asking to speak with him. He came from the depths of Provence and held a bundle of papers in his hand. "Lord," he said when he had been introduced, "our monastery is being persecuted by enemies who wish to despoil it, despite our property titles which are here. Full of confidence in your kindness and knowing all the credit you enjoy at court, I come to implore your assistance." Syagrius welcomed him with his usual charity and benevolence, then reassured him by telling him that he would take charge of his affair. The king, at the request of the holy prelate, affixed his signature to the titles, and the good religious went away content. — Another time, a desolate father went to find Fortunatus, bishop of Poitiers: "My son," he said to him, "has just been thrown into prison; please, I beseech you, obtain his freedom through the intercession of the great bishop of Autun." Fortunatus wrote immediately to Syagrius, recounted the fact, explained the object of his request, and added: "This poor man, embittered by grief, after having poured out his bitter complaints before me, designated you as the only one who could bring a remedy to his woes. He believes that a word from you will suffice." Syagrius, who always happily found opportunities to do good, did not fail to take advantage of this one and undoubtedly obtained a grace that was requested of him by an intimate friend.

Our Saint was involved in all the great affairs of his time. The monastery of Sainte-Croix, founded in Poitiers by Saint Radegund, had just been the scene of a singular struggle. This affair took on such proportions that the greatest bishops of Gaul were obliged to get involved. Thus, we find the name of Syagrius cited more than once in the debates; and this illustrious Pontiff was one of those who contributed most to restoring the peace, momentarily troubled by princesses who were ambitious even under the veil. He did not show his zeal only in this circumstance, where he was seen with Gregory of Tours playing an important role and obtaining a happy result through his care and prudence: never, whenever the grave interests of the Church or the people demanded it, did he spare his time or his effort. The longest journeys cost him nothing when it was a matter of going to those august assemblies where the greatest questions relating to faith, morals, and discipline were treated, where everything was organized, where everything was purified in the civil and social order as well as in the ecclesiastical order; for the councils were at that time like councils of state. Syagrius very often brought his insights and his high influence to his brothers in the episcopate gathered in large numbers in Paris, Vienne, Lyon, and Mâcon, where, filled with the spirit of the Church, always a friend to peace and the poor, they concerned themselves with the needs of the latter and sought to bring together kings who were always divided. The signature of the bishop of Autun follows immediately after that of the metropolitan.

The pious King Guntram always held Syagrius in the highest esteem, the greatest veneration, and boundless deference. He gave him marks of this in every circumstance, and again two years before his death, in 591, when he wished to take him to Paris for the baptism of Clotaire, his nephew and godson. But the finest title of glory for Syagrius, and the most imposing testimony rendered to his merit, was the affection and confidence of Saint G regory. This g saint Grégoire Pope contemporary to Saint Psalmodius. reat Pope, having noticed young blond slaves with gentle and thoughtful faces, of a beauty full of nobility and charm, put up for auction in the market of Rome, immediately conceived a project worthy of his immense zeal: that of winning to Jesus Christ a country that gave birth to this elite race. "What a pity," he said, "that such men are not Christians!" Now, these young slaves were Anglo-Saxons. Before his pontificate, he had wanted to go in person to bring them the benefit of the faith. But the Romans, fearing to lose him forever, kept such a close watch on the roads that he could not follow his magnanimous and holy inspiration. Once raised to the chair of Saint Peter, he soon sent (596), to evangelize England, the monk Augustine and several other religio us: this was his le moine Augustin Leader of the evangelical mission to England and first Archbishop of Canterbury. cherished work. Thus, he chose from among all the bishops of the Gauls, Syagrius of Autun, Virgilius of Arles, and Desiderius of Vienne, to entrust his beloved missionaries to them.

Saint Gregory had not presumed too much on the zeal and charity of these great bishops: he was perfectly understood and seconded by them. It is even claimed that Syagrius, not content with helping them with his resources and welcoming the missionaries perfectly in Autun, went far beyond what was asked of him: he wished, after having gone with them to pray at the tombs of Saint Symphorian and our other saints, to accompany them in person as far as England.

Saint Gregory showed again how Angleterre Country of origin of Blessed Ralph. much he counted on Syagrius to be seconded in the government of the Church of the Gauls, through a long letter he addressed to him as well as to Virgilius, Desiderius, and Etherius of Lyon, to charge him with regularly convening councils, to work with his three worthy colleagues to extirpate simony and the ordination of the unworthy, and to maintain the greatest purity of morals and the most exact discipline in the clergy. One sees by this letter what store the sovereign Pontiff set by Syagrius, what a high idea he had at the same time of his credit and his influence, and how much he honored him; for he names him first, even though the three other prelates were metropolitans. It is also he whom he charges, by an exceptional distinction, to send to Rome by the Abbot Cyriacus the acts of the next national council whose convocation he had so strongly recommended. Seconded by the powerful support of Syagrius, he does not fear to place a firm hand on the Church of France. Evidently, the bishop of Autun is in his eyes the first bishop of this great Church and holds the first rank in his esteem. He knows, moreover, that no one can help him more effectively than this venerable prelate, at once so holy and so enlightened, who enjoyed the vastest reputation in the Gauls, exercised the most legitimate ascendancy there, and possessed unparalleled authority at court. This is why he also charges him with several important matters relating to other bishops. Finally, it is to him that he turns to arrange with the Frankish kings a difficulty concerning the creation of the diocese of Maurienne.

Now it remains for us to speak of the magnificent edifices and pious foundations to which the name of Syagrius is attached. Almost at the same time that Childebert and Saint Germanus of Paris were founding the famous basilica of Saint-Vincent (later Saint-Germain-des-Prés), which was entrusted to the religious of Saint-Symphorien, a church also dedicated to Saint Vincent rose at the gates of the Autun monastery. Syagrius was undoubtedly the founder of this religious monument, which was added to so many others on this sacred ground. He wished, following the example of Saint Germanus, to associate the cult of the young martyr of Autun with the then widely spread cult of the young deacon martyr of Saragossa. The first Merovingian kings, when they established their residence at Chalon, abandoned the praetorium and the castrum of the city to the bishops of Autun. It was there that Saint Nazarius had dedicated a basilica under the name of Saint Nectarius and had made it his cathedral. Syagrius, who combined a zeal for the splendor of worship with a taste for the arts and a love for the beautiful and the grand, devoted his care and his happiness to adorning the new edifice, to enlarging it, and to making it worthy of the illustrious church of Autun and the superb city that was still embellished by imposing Gallo-Roman constructions. He added, on the eastern side, a large apse that was decorated with extraordinary richness and splendor. The paneling shone with gold, and magnificent mosaics displayed their varied designs everywhere. All the resources of art were exhausted in a city filled with the rich spoils of antiquity, and where scholarly traditions and a taste more refined than anywhere else had been preserved. These traditions, joined to a zeal for the house of God, produced wonders. Thus, the beauty of the cathedral of Autun became very famous from then on. Not content with magnificently decorating the house of God, our holy bishop ensured the splendor of worship there through the gift of the considerable land of Laisy.

Syagrius had already undoubtedly been helped in the decoration of his church by the royal munificence of Brunhilda, a princess in whom everything was great: the views, the works, the passions, and the crimes; but soon he was helped even more broadly for the foundation of three religious establishments whose importance equaled their extent, grandeur, and magnificence. In accordance with the manner of acting observed formerly by the great bishop of Tours, recommended by Pope Saint Gregory, and invariably followed by the Church, which was always faithful to its plan of transforming without destroying, he wished to turn to the profit of the new faith the ancient habits developed by the cult of false gods, to attack pagan beliefs on their own ground, to sanctify with Christian edifices the places defiled by idols, and in this way to make a more striking and solemn reparation to Jesus Christ. He therefore built, with the ruins and on the very site of the temple of Berecynthia, where it is believed there was already a baptistery, the great abbey of Saint Mary, also called later Saint-Jean-le-Grand, where a numerous swarm of chaste virgins consecrated to God found shelter. Thus, an atmosphere once corrupted by the exhalations of paganism would be purified by the incense of psalmody rising ceaselessly before God and by the celestial perfume of that white flower called Christian virginity; thus would disappear under floods of prayers, and be washed by the innocent tears of penance, the stains imprinted on this ground by a foul goddess whose cult was for too long an insult to virtue; thus would be recalled the martyrdom and glory of the young Symphorian, heroic and virtuous enough to honor Christianity and humanity by refusing, even in the face of death, his homage to the infamous idol. Syagrius wished to give the new abbey a holy and cherished name, in order to recall that the church of Autun was founded by the disciples of Him who had Mary as an adoptive mother, and at the same time presented the most beautiful type of the virgin consecrated to God.

It was not enough for Syagrius to have opened a vast and holy asylum to the chaste spouses of Jesus Christ; the venerable Pontiff also wished to perpetuate at Autun the traditions of charity that had also come, like that of Christian virginity, from Ephesus and Smyrna. This is why he founded a hospice, a holy asylum open to the sick, the poor, the travelers, and the numerous pilgrims attracted by the miraculous tombs of Saint Symphorian and Saint Cassian. This new establishment was also adjacent to a temple, that of Minerva, as is believed, or according to others that of Apollo, in order to replace ancient wisdom—proud, cold, dry, and heartless—with humble and sweet evangelical charity, which is always compassionate and active. The pious edifice occupied, according to tradition, the very place where the home of Faustus and Augusta stood, where Saint Symphorian was born and later baptized, and where the first altar in honor of Jesus Christ was raised in Autun under the name of the prince of the Apostles. The new palace of the poor, built by charity, received the name of the apostle of Autun, who was also a victim of that sublime love of God and men called priestly zeal. Christian memories thus crowded around the hospice or xenodochium of Saint-Andoche, just as in the abbey of Saint Mary; they also made the pagan memories forgotten there; they purified and consecrated this ground that had once been profaned.

Finally, it was on the ruins of the temple and the Druidic school of Saron that Syagrius erected the vast monastery, a monument of imposing grandeur, a peaceful retreat open to one of those colonies of elite men to whom Saint Benedict had just given an admirable code and taught how to lead an almost celestial life on earth, useful to men and glorious to God, where solitude and common life, work, study, and prayer were united in a happy alliance to lead the Christian to evangelical perfection. The new abbey could not receive any other name than that of the great Saint who had founded the first monastery of the Gauls, evangelized the Aeduan country, and broken the old Gallic idol in this very place. Syagrius did for the bishop of Tours what Euphronius had done for Saint Symphorian: both wished to consecrate with pious monuments this ground so full of two inseparably united memories, that of the apostle and that of the martyr. Two abbeys rose side by side: the daughter of Saint Euphronius and her worthy sister, the abbey of Saint-Martin.

The monastery of Saint-Martin was built to receive three hundred monks. The church was built of large blocks of cut stone, like the gates of the city. The old temple of Saron, converted by Saint Martin into a church under the name of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, entered into the new construction as a memento. The eastern wall was demolished and replaced by an apse with a low vault, recalling the catacombs. Moreover, the edifice resembled the ancient basilicas of the fourth century quite closely. It was one hundred and eight feet long by fifty-four feet wide inside and offered three distinct parts. The first part—a portico with columns and a large semicircular arch—was separated from the second by a transverse wall pierced by three doors, one of which, the middle one, was surmounted by a dedicatory painting where one could see the royal founder, Brunhilda, offering religious with her right hand, and with the other, the monaste ry to Sai Brunehaut Queen of Austrasia and Burgundy, principal political opponent of Columbanus. nt Martin and Saint Benedict. The second part, or body of the edifice, was divided by two rows of marble columns into three naves corresponding to the three doors and each ending in an apse. The third part, or the sanctuary, was separated from the nave by a marble balustrade, above which rose the triumphal arch supported by two magnificent columns also of marble. The vault of the apse presented brilliant mosaics on gold and azure backgrounds; the triumphal arch, arabesques and bas-reliefs; and the nave, paneling with gilded compartments. The floor of the sanctuary was in mosaic, and that of the nave in marble. The altar, small and very low, like ancient altars, erected by Saint Martin in the temple of Saron, was set against the wall ending the apse. The Blessed Virgin, whose cult had been brought to these places with such tender veneration by apostles so closely related to Saint John, could not be forgotten in the new church: the crypt was dedicated to her, a subterranean and funerary chapel recalling the Confession where the precious remains of the martyrs were collected. There she seemed to watch, like a good mother, over the sleep of her children lying in their stone beds while awaiting the awakening of eternity. A happy and consoling thought to place thus under the protection and as if under the eye of the sweet Mother of Jesus, alma Redemptoris mater, the dead who sleep in the peace of the Lord.

Some time later, the Sovereign Pontiff, to reward a prelate so great in his enlightenment, virtues, and zeal, for the services he had rendered to the Church, for the good works of which he had been the promoter or instrument, and who for a long time possessed all his esteem and all his confidence, granted him the pallium; but Syagrius did not long enjoy the privileged decoration that the Vicar of Jesus Christ had sent him. One year later, in 600, he went to receive from Jesus Christ himself the eternal reward. No bishop of that era, though so fertile in Saints, enjoyed among his contemporaries and left to posterity a greater reputation for science and virtue. Fortunatus of Poitiers speaks of him with the highest praise; he qualifies him as a most worthy and most holy bishop. Ado of Vienne calls him a man of the most eminent holiness. A council of Metz also gives him the title of Saint; and, citing an ancient canon relating to the Jews, it relies solely on the authority of Syagrius, as if the council in question, where several metropolitans sat nonetheless, were entirely summarized in the person of this great prelate who was at the head of the entire episcopate of the Gauls. Without ever flattering the passions of princes, he knew how to use, and use only for the good, his immense credit with them.

## CULT AND RELICS.

Saint Syagrius was buried in the church of the Saint-Andoche hospice, w hich was a creation of his charit église de l'hospice Saint-Andoche Charitable institution founded by Syagrius and his burial site. y and which he had endowed with his own goods. Father of the poor, he had undoubtedly wished to rest in the midst of his adoptive family. There, every day, those who owed him an asylum and aid attended to pray at his tomb and blessed his memory. The greater part of his dear and precious relics were preserved there, among others his head, which was later enclosed in a silver reliquary in the shape of a bust, given by the abbess of Saint-Jean le Grand. For we read in the obituary of Saint-Andoche, around the year 1460, on March 25: "Jeanne de Montigny, abbess of Saint-Jean d'Autun, who gave the silver head where the head of Monsieur Saint Syagrius is placed." The Val-de-Grâce, in Paris, also possessed some notable relics of our holy Bishop. In a hamlet of the parish of Gravy, there was a chapel under his invocation, at the nomination of the Jarraillon family. The parish of Maltat celebrated Saint Syagrius and Saint Sulpice as patrons.

Excerpt from Saint Symphorien et son culte, by Abbé Dinet.