Saint Fiacre

The number of pilgrims and poor people who came to implore the charity of this good hermit increasing day by day, he found himself unable to receive them all without new help from Saint Faron. He went to find hi saint Faron Bishop of Meaux and mentor to Saint Hildevert. m to beg him to give him enough land in the forest to sow vegetables, with which he could provide for the needs of his guests. This prelate agreed to his request, and granted him as much land near his hermitage as he could, by digging himself for a whole day, enclose with a small ditch: everything that would be contained within the extent of this circumvallation would belong to him as his own and as a patrimonial good. God permitted this condition to be prescribed to him, in order to make the holiness of his servant shine forth all the more. For no sooner had Saint Fiacre returned to his solitude than, taking a staff in his hand, after having made a prayer full of confidence in God, he traced a line on the ground to make the circuit of his garden; but, by a surprising and almost incredible prodigy, as he advanced, the earth opened of its own accord and the trees fell to one side and the other. During this marvel, a woman arrived who, having seen the earth open at the mere presence of the man of God, ran promptly to the bishop to tell him that this hermit, whom he esteemed so much, was only a magician and an enchanter, and that she had seen him, with her own eyes, perform unheard-of sorcery; then, retracing her steps to the forest, she vomited a thousand atrocious insults against the Saint, and ordered him to cease his work, adding that the bishop was going to come himself to confirm this prohibition to him. Saint Fiacre stopped; but as he wanted to sit on a stone to rest while waiting for the arrival of the holy prelate, with prodigies succeeding one another, the stone hollowed itself out in the shape of a chair, so that the Saint might be more at his ease. It can still be seen in the church that was later built in his honor, where it is preserved to

serve as an eternal monument to this great miracle. Meanwhile, Saint Faron arrived; and, seeing the truth of all these wonders, he was even more persuaded than before of the great merit and holiness of the blessed hermit; he loved him more tenderly than ever and honored him thereafter, all his life, with a singular familiarity.

While Saint Fiacre was quietly enjoying the delights of solitude, the king his father died, and Ferchard, his younger brother, succeeded to the crown of Sco Écosse Birthplace of Saint Wiron. tland; but, as this prince allowed himself to be infected by the heresy of the Pelagians, which then dominated that kingdom, and as he prostituted himself to all sorts of crimes, as usually happens to those who abandon the true religion, he drew upon himself such hatred from all his subjects that in a state assembly he was deposed and locked in a prison. It was then deliberated into whose hands the crown should be placed, and all having unanimously agreed to give it to Saint Fiacre, to whom it belonged by full right, ambassadors were sent to Clotaire III , King of Fr Clotaire III King of the Franks who ordered the appointment of Erembert. ance, to beg him to use all his authority to induce him to leave his hermitage and return to Scotland to take the crown of the king his father. Our Saint, having had a revelation of this whole project, asked God, through tears and prayers, not to allow him to leave his dear solitude, where he tasted such great sweetness, to possess honors that were filled only with perils and which he had renounced with all his heart for His love. His prayer was answered. He immediately became like a leper, so that the envoys, finding him in this state, which would cause them horror, would no longer have the thought of raising him to the throne. Indeed, when they saw him so disfigured, they asked him very coldly, and only to fulfill their mission, if he did not want to return to his country to take the crown that the king his father had left him, inwardly desiring that he would refuse, so much disgust did they conceive for his person. "Know," Saint Fiacre replied to them, "that this wound with which you see me covered is not an effect of the intemperance of nature, but a grace that God has granted me to confirm me in my humiliation; and be persuaded that I prefer this small cell to the greatest kingdom in the universe; that here I work out my salvation in assurance, and that with the scepter you offer me, I would be exposed to a thousand dangers of losing myself." The ambassadors returned very satisfied with this refusal; but the Saint had even more joy in remaining solitary; his leprosy, which God had sent him only to favor his humility, dissipated, and his face regained its natural beauty. Our Saint had built a kind of hospital for strangers; he served the poor there himself. But he did not allow women to enter the enclosure of his hermitage; it appears that this was an inviolable rule among Irish monks. It is still seen today that, out of respect for the memory of Saint Fiacre, women do not enter either the place where he lived at Breuil, or the chapel where he was buried. Anne of Austria, Queen of France, having made a pilgrimage there, was content to p ray at Breuil Site of the hermitage and the first monastery of Fiacre. the door of his oratory. Saint Fiacre sp ent the rest of Anne d'Autriche Queen of France who attended the missions of Jean Eudes. his life in his hermitage, from where he sent his soul to heaven on August 30, around the year 670. His body was buried in the chapel he had built in honor of the Blessed Virgin.

So many miracles occurred at his tomb and through his intercession that it would be too long to recount them here; we shall give only a few to stir the faithful to devotion toward a Saint who is so powerful before God. An inhabitant of Monchy, in Picardy, was carrying two of his sick children on a horse to the sepulcher of Saint Fiacre to obtain their healing. As they were passing over a bridge, which was called Rapide because of the violence of the waters, which was extreme in that place, the horse fell into the river with the father and the two children. Those present could not help them, because the river, at the place where they had fallen, was ten or twelve feet deep. But the Saint whom they invoked appeared to them and pulled all three from beneath the waters: then the father, taking his children by the hand, led them to land, walking easily upon the waters without sinking; and, to make the miracle more striking, the children were at the same time delivered from their illness as well as from the peril.

Four young children, bathing in the river Oise, were buried under the waters, without anyone being able to find their bodies, although fishermen had searched for them for several hours. The mother of the two of whom we have just spoken, who were still among that number, had recourse to Saint Fiacre and prayed to him to show once again on this occasion the power he had in heaven, and to save their lives. Immediately they all four appeared on the waters and declared that Saint Fiacre had delivered them. — A man had on his nose a polyp the size of an egg, which made him monstrous; he visited the tomb of our Saint; there, after having said his prayer, he fell asleep, and, upon waking, he found himself perfectly healed. — Seven pilgrims were returning from Saint-Denis, in France, and, passing near the monastery of the servant of God, four of the group said to the others: "Let us go to the sepulcher of Saint Fiacre." "We are not mangy," replied the other three; "we have no business going there; it is only the mangy who go there on pilgrimage": and, mocking their companions, they said to them: "Go away, you who are mangy, to the doctor of the mangy." At the same time they lost their sight and did not recover it except through the merits of the Saint, to whose tomb the others led them.

In 1620, a Scottish religious, having received from the Sovereign Pontiff the order to go to the island of Great Britain to assist the Catholics there, saw, during the crossing, his ship assailed by such a furious storm that the crew had lost all hope. Each invoked the Saint to whom he was devoted. The religious had recourse to Saint Fiacre, who appeared to him immediately and said to him in an intelligible voice: "I am Fiacre, Scottish by nation like you; have confidence in God, and I will pray to Him that He may preserve you from shipwreck." No sooner had he said these words than the storm ceased, to the great astonishment of all the passengers.

Gardeners honor him as their patron. He is ordinarily represented in monastic attire, holding a spade in his hand.

## CULT AND RELICS.

Devotion to Saint Fiacre has always been very famous among the faithful, both in France and in other countries. Louis XIII, sur named the Louis XIII King of France who ordered the construction of the church. Just, King of France, had such veneration for him that he wished to have his relics in his palace, as one of the most powerful protectors of his kingdom. The effects of this protection were felt when he delivered France from Henry V, King of England. This pri nce, ha Henri V King of England who died of the 'Saint-Fiacre disease' after pillaging his monastery. ving been defeated at the Battle of Baugé (1421) by the army of Charles VI, was so indignant that the Scots had served in the army of the King of France that, to take revenge on them, he had his troops plunder the monastery of Saint-Fiacre and cause great damage in the vicinity of Meaux; but he was not long without being punished for his irreligion; for, some time later, he was struck by the disease called Saint Fiacre's disease, from which he died at the Bois de Vincennes, without having been able to receive any relief from human remedies.

A priory was established at the place where Saint Fiacre died and where his relics remained until 1568. The building of this priory and its church are destroyed today; but the faithful still visit this place; they go to the parish church to venerate a relic of the Saint, which was given to the priory by M. Séguier, Bishop of Meaux. In 1568, the relics of Saint Fiacre were, for the most part, transported to the cathedral of Meaux, where, since the Revolution, some remain, but, as we said above, confused and mixed with others; some bones were separated from them to satisfy the devotion of the faithful. The Grand Duke of Tuscany obtained a small one through the favor of Queen Marie de' Medici; and, in recognition of the graces he subsequently received through the intercession of the Saint, he had a beautiful church built in his honor in Florence. In 1637, the canons of Meaux presented one of his vertebrae to Cardinal Richelieu; it was deposited in the parish church of Sain t-Josse, in Paris, in cardinal de Richelieu French prelate who received a relic of the saint. 1671, by the piety of the Duchess of Aiguillon, for the confraternity that was established there in honor of Saint Fiacre. This confraternity is very ancient, and since Charles VI, who wished to be enrolled in it with the entire royal house, the kings of France have taken pride in being part of it. The place where the chapel of this confraternity is built was formerly a hospital, in which it is held, by immemorial tradition, that Saint Fiacre stayed upon arriving from Scotland, under an unknown habit, and that he made there the first trial of the life more angelic than human that he wished to embrace. The church of Tilley-lès-Couty, that of Trilport, and the seminary of Meaux possess some fragments of the relics of Saint Fiacre.

The cult of Saint Fiacre is very widespread, and there are a great number of churches in France dedicated to him. In times of public calamity, his reliquary is brought down. The Roman Martyrology mentions Saint Fiacre on August 30.

His life is found in volume V of Surius. We have also made use of the lessons from the Paris Breviary, and of some memoirs that were communicated to us by the parish priest of Saint-Josse.