Saint Mansuetus

Mansuy was of Scottish origin. He came early to Rome, where he Rome Birthplace of Maximian. studied the dogmas of the Christian religion, and was soon judged worthy, by the Vicar of Jesus Christ, to receive Holy Orders, to be called to the episcopate, and to be sent into the Gauls, to the Leuci peoples, "as a luminous torch to dispel the darkness of error." Saint Mansuy entered among these peoples who had remained idolatrous until then; he entered their capital, ready to suffer generously, if necessary, all torments to bear witness to the good news he had come to bring them.

The preachings of the Apostle produced little fruit at first: the magistrates of the city, and the people, following their example, closed their ears to the great and sublime truths he announced to them. Mansuy was not discouraged by the contempt he endured; he continued to sow the divine word, waiting with confidence for the moment when it would please God to ripen the harvest. Meanwhile, he built himself a hut of foliage outside the city, to establish his dwelling there and to devote himself to the exercises of prayer and meditation.

Now, it happened on a great feast day, while all the people of Toul were given over to joy, that the only son of the governor fell from the top of the ramparts into the Moselle, which at that time bathed the foot of the walls and was very deep at that spot. In vain were the gods invoked; his body could not be found, and the day that had begun in public rejoicing ended in universal desolation. During the night, the princess saw Saint Mansuy in a dream, who promised to return her son to her if she would convert to the true God. Upon waking, she shared this apparition with her husband; he sent for our Saint and promised to be baptized with all his people if he would help him find the body of his child, even if lifeless.

Mansuy headed toward the river, near the place where the young child had fallen; he prostrated himself and prayed: instantly, the child's body floated to the surface of the water, and it was brought back to the bank. "Here is the inanimate body of your son," the holy Bishop said to the father; "but if you have the firm intention of keeping the promise you made to me, the clemency of my God is great, and you shall obtain a more signal benefit." The prince reiterated his promises, and all those present pledged with him to renounce the false gods and embrace the Christian religion if the child returned to life. Mansuy bent his knee again to implore the divine Majesty; some disciples whom he had already converted joined him in prayer; a breath of life then came to revive the frozen limbs of the child; at the voice of the minister of Jesus Christ, he rose and threw himself into the arms of his parents.

Such a new spectacle struck the whole multitude with admiration: the governor, his entire family, and the whole people converted and recognized Saint Mansuy as their pastor.

The holy Bishop purged the city and the territory of Idols and pagan practices. He had two churches built in the capital, one dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint Stephen, the other to Saint John the Baptist. He also raised a small oratory near his dwelling, in honor of Saint Peter. Then, after having conferred the sacrament of Holy Orders upon a great number of priests and deacons, he had churches built in various places of his diocese, to worship and glorify God there and to render to His Majesty the praises that are due to Him.

Finally, after a long life consumed in the labors of the apostolate, the athlete of the Lord rendered his soul to God, on September 3rd, amidst the regrets and tears of his people who venerated him.

Let us say but a word concerning the posthumous glory of Saint Mansuy.

Some peasants from the Barrois were bringing home wagons loaded with salt. As they passed through Gondreville on the feast day of Saint Mansuy, they were rebuked for daring to set out on that day; they mocked this, but they soon felt that one cannot with impunity mock the Saints and profane the days consecrated to them. Scarcely had they entered the Moselle with their wagons, intending to cross it, when the oxen yoked to their carts, no longer heeding either the bit or the voices of their masters, bolted and threatened to drag them into the precipice. Frightened by the danger and touched from above, these poor people confessed their fault, implored the help of Saint Mansuy, and vowed to keep his feast day religiously in the future. This vow was immediately followed by their deliverance.

The shrine of the Saint, carried solemnly in procession during times of great drought, which caused fear of famine, would immediately obtain the necessary rains through his merits.

Seindébard, Count of Toul, ready to have his ha nd amputat Seindébard Count of Toul miraculously healed by the saint. ed due to the great pain it caused him, devoutly invoked the Saint, and his hand, already quite withered, was immediately and entirely healed. Saint Gérard obtained, through his intercession, the cure of a grave illness which doctors despaired of healing by natural means. More than once, when the plague, so frequent in ancient times, devastated the diocese, this terrible scourge was seen to subside suddenly through the merits of Saint Mansuy. In all circumstances, the people of the Toulois region have felt the signal effects of the kindness of their Apostle: they have kept for him, to this day, a great devotion and a filial gratitude.

The Roman Martyrology marks his feast day on September 3; this is also the day on which the Church of Toul, whose see was tr ansfe Nancy Capital of the Duchy of Lorraine where the dukes are buried. rred to Nancy, is accustomed to celebrate him.

Saint Mansuy is represented: 1° resurrecting a child killed by a blow from a palm ball; 2° preaching in a wood to a large crowd; 3° wearing the cape called a superhumeral or rational: this is the ordinary characteristic of the bishops of Toul and some other sees: it indicates a kind of metropolitan superiority.

## CULT AND RELICS.

The body of Saint Mansuy was deposited in the chapel of Saint-Pierre, which he had caused to be built. There were several translations of this Saint. The last took place in 1506. On the site of the oratory of Saint-Pierre, a famous Benedictine abbey had been founded, under the name of Saint-Mansuy. The abbaye de Bénédictins, sous le vocable de Saint-Mansuy Benedictine abbey founded on the burial site of the saint. choir of the abbey church was built above the vault in which the precious relics were enclosed.

This vault is today part of a private property and still contains the sepulchral stone that covered the Saint's tomb. He was represented there wearing pontifical vestments, crushing paganism, with a young child in prayer at his side. The image of the same child is still seen sculpted in a stone of the rampart, at the Saint-Mansuy bastion, no doubt in memory of the miracle of the resurrection performed by the Saint on the child of the chief whom the legend qualifies as king of the Leucoi country.

The main reliquary of the cath edral of Toul was a sort of tomb in vermei principale chasse de la cathédrale de Toul Vermeil reliquary containing the remains of the saint and other bishops. l, with a lid in the shape of a coffin, about one meter long, fifty centimeters wide, and seventy centimeters high. This reliquary contained the relics of Saint Mansuy and the fourteen bishops of Toul who are honored as Saints. It was decorated on the outside with full-length statuettes, also in vermeil, placed at intervals, and representing the Saints whose bones were enclosed in the reliquary. These statuettes rested on a continuous base protruding at the bottom of the reliquary, and rose to the base of the lid. In the middle of the length of the reliquary, on each side, was a glass, in the shape of a medallion, through which one could see the relics inside.

Here is the official report of the distribution made on July 11, 1790, among the canons, of a portion of the relics from this precious reliquary. This document is part of the collection of M. Dufresne, prefectural councilor in Metz.

This day, July 11 of the year 1790, by virtue of a capitular act dated the 9th of the present month, by which the chapter, having regard to the request of the Gentlemen, tending to have granted to them relics from the treasury of our church, orders that they be delivered to them, and has commissioned for this purpose Messrs. de Saint-Bexessan, canon-archdeacon and master of works; Ducrot, canon and treasurer, and Pallas, canon-almoner of this church; consequently:

We, the designated commissioners, have had opened before us the reliquary containing the relics of several holy bishops of Toul, a s well as tha sainte Aprône Saint whose relics were kept with those of Mansuy. t of Saint Aprone, and, after having recognized the seals as sound and intact, we have extracted from it: 1° Several splinters of the shoulder blade of Saint Mansuy; 2° the bones of the vertebra of Saint Gerard, as well as the bones of his arm, joints of his fingers and his ribs; 3° several splinters of the bones of Saint Amon, as well as shreds of his hair shirt and his sandals; 4° the teeth of the lower jaw of Saint Gauzlin, together with several splinters of the said jaw; 5° a joint of the finger of Saint Epvre, which has been reduced into several pieces to be distributed; 6° several small bones and fragments of bone from the body of Saint Aprone. Which holy relics have been shared and delivered to the Gentlemen, as follows:

I. To M. d'Hammouville, canon and archdeacon of Port: 1° a part of the lower jaw of Saint Gerard, a vertebra and a bone of a phalanx of the hand of the same Saint; 2° a particle of the shoulder blade of Saint Mansuy; 3° a particle of the bones of Saint Amon; 4° a tooth and a particle of the jaw of Saint Gauzlin; 5° a splinter of the finger bone of Saint Epvre; 6° two fragments of bone of Saint Aprone.

II. To M. de Saint-Bexessan, canon-archdeacon of Vittal and vicar-general: 1° of Saint Gerard, a vertebra, a foot bone, two halves of ribs and the end of a large bone; 2° a splinter of the shoulder blade of Saint Mansuy; 3° the end of a large bone of Saint Amon; 4° a fragment of the shoulder bone of Saint Aprone.

III. To M. de Montal, canon-archdeacon of Ligny: 1° of Saint Gerard, a vertebra and a bone fragment; 2° of Saint Mansuy, a splinter of the shoulder blade; 3° of Saint Amon, a bone fragment; 4° of Saint Aprone, a part of a rib.

IV. To M. Ducrot, canon-treasurer: 1° of Saint Gerard, a vertebra, a part of the arm bone, a part of a rib, a part of the tibia and a finger joint; 2° a splinter of the shoulder blade of Saint Mansuy; 3° the end of the arm bone of Saint Amon; 4° a part of the jaw of Saint Gauzlin.

V. To M. Pallas, canon-almoner: 1° a finger joint of Saint Gerard; 2° a tooth of Saint Gauzlin; a bone end of Saint Amon; a fragment of the shoulder blade of Saint Mansuy; 3° a particle of the finger of Saint Epvre.

VI. To M. Sirejean, canon: 1° a fragment of a rib of Saint Gerard; 2° a particle of the shoulder blade of Saint Mansuy; 3° the Gers of the arm bone of Saint Amon; 4° a fragment of the jaw of Saint Gauzlin.

VII. To M. d'Heudicourt, canon: 1° a foot bone of Saint Gerard; 2° a part of a rib of Saint Aprone; 3° a bone splinter of Saint Amon; 4° a little of the shoulder blade of Saint Mansuy.

VIII. To M. de Jumillac, canon: 1° of Saint Gerard, two vertebrae and two small bones of the hand; 2° of Saint Amon, a bone fracture, a little of his clothing, his hair shirt and his sandals; 3° a particle of the shoulder blade of Saint Mansuy; 4° a splinter of the finger of Saint Epvre; 5° a small bone of Saint Aprone.

IX. To M. de Manessi, canon: 1° of Saint Gerard, two ribs and a rib fragment, three vertebrae and a vertebra fragment, a finger bone; 2° of Saint Mansuy, three fragments of the shoulder blade and four splinters; 3° of Saint Amon, a hip bone, an arm bone and a rib; 4° of Saint Aprone, a half-rib; 5° of Saint Gauzlin, a tooth, five pieces and three small splinters of his jaw; 6° three particles of the finger joint of Saint Epvre.

X. To M. de Barthélemy, canon: 1° of Saint Gerard, a part of a rib and the top end of his arm bone; 2° a jaw fragment of Saint Gauzlin; 3° a little of the shoulder blade of Saint Mansuy.

XI. To M. Gauthier, canon: 1° of Saint Gerard, the large thigh bone, the large leg bone, the large hip bone, five vertebrae of the spine, a neck vertebra, four joints, two of the hand and two of the feet, two ribs, the breastbone, an arm bone, a collarbone, the two shoulder bones; 2° of Saint Amon, the large thigh bone, two arm bones, the large hip bone, shreds of his clothes, his sandals, his hair shirt; 3° of Saint Mansuy, a particle of the shoulder bone; 4° of Saint Epvre, a particle of his finger joint; 5° of Saint Aprone, the large leg bone, the upper part of the thigh bone, a foot bone joint, a part of the small leg bone; 6° a splinter of the jaw of Saint Gauzlin.

XII. To M. Cæsar, vicar of our church: 1° of Saint Gerard, a vertebra; 2° of Saint Mansuy, two small fragments of the shoulder blade; 3° a fragment of the jaw of Saint Gauzlin; 4° a fragment of a rib of Saint Aprone.

XIII. To M. Aubri, vicar of our church, bone fragments of Saint Mansuy, Saint Gerard, Saint Amon, Saint Epvre and Saint Aprone.

In witness whereof we have signed this present official report at Toul, the day and year aforesaid, and have had the seal of our chapter affixed thereto. — Thiéry de Saint-Bexessan, — Ducrot, — Pallas.

It is difficult to explain this distribution of relics other than by the fear, alas! too well-founded, of an irreparable profanation. The pious intention of the canons of Toul was largely fulfilled; many of these precious relics were saved and returned to the domain of the Church. The head of Saint Mansuy and that of Saint Gerard, saved from profanation, like that of Saint Aprone, through the care of M. Aubry, parish priest of Saint-Gengoult, and preserved in his church, were recognized and clearly identified by Dr. Godron, dean of the Faculty of Sciences of Nancy. Even before this decisive operation, it was easy to establish the distinction of these distinguished relics by the official reports still enclosed in the reliquary where they had been collected, but which indiscreet explorers had moved. Today, the head of Saint Mansuy has returned, along with those of Saint Gerard, Saint Aprone, and one of the eleven thousand virgins of Cologne, to the cathedral of Toul; we shall not say by what path. The humerus of the same Saint, which this basilica possessed, was given, as compensation, to the church of Saint-Gengoult; the cathedral of Nancy has a fragment of a shoulder blade; the chapel of Christian Doctrine has several fragments; the church of Saint-Nicolas-de-Port has one of the first ribs on the right side and several fragments. In the reliquary of this holy bishop, at the abbey of his name, under the walls of Toul, a part of his cope was kept, red in color, with a gold border. A fragment of it exists in the reliquary of Saint Gauzlin, at the cathedral of Nancy. We have used, to compose this life, the History of the Diocese of Toul, by Abbé Guillanour, and Notes provided by MM. de Blaye, parish priest of Imling, and Guillaume, chaplain of the Sainte-Chapelle of Lorraine.