Saint Bertin of Sithiu

He had spent about twenty years in this flourishing solitude when his relative Omer was Omer Bishop of Thérouanne and relative of Saint Bertin. called to occupy the see of Théro uanne. It Thérouanne Episcopal see of Saint Folquin. is probable that it was this prelate who called Bertin, Mommolin, and Ebertramne into his diocese to evangelize it.

Be that as it may, these three apostles went to that country, preaching with success in different parts of Gaul, which they traversed. At their word, idols fell, darkness dissipated, and vices and superstition gave way to Christian virtues; thanks to the cooperation of the three missionaries, and above all to their examples, Saint Omer soon had the joy of seeing the face of his diocese entirely changed.

The duties of apostles in no way diminished their monastic fervor; they combined the zeal of external works with that taste for prayer and solitude which constitutes the true religious. Saint Omer had already built an oratory on a hill, which he intended to be his tomb; he placed the three missionaries there, who built themselves a small edifice known as the Old Monastery, and lived there under the Rule of Saint Columbanus. Saint Omer, according to one author, wished to appoint Bertin as director of this nascent work, although he was the youngest of the three; but he could not overcome his humble resistance. Mommolin, the eldest, had to accept this position; and his two companions, who professed the tenderest respect for him, submitted to his orders with joy. Soon disciples came to join them; and after a few years the number became so considerable that it was necessary to think of creating another establishment.

Among the new converts was the lord Adrowald, who had given Omer one of his lands, called Sithiū, located about a league from the Old Monastery, with the goal of building a hospital there. The presence of the holy missionaries inspired other thoughts in Omer; he considered that a monastery directed by such men would be more useful than any other establishment. He had no difficulty in getting Adrowald to share his opinion. Consequently, he persuaded him to grant the land to the Saints, consisting of a hill and a vast marsh, in the middle of which appeared the island of Sithiū. But already at that time, Ebertramne had been placed by Saint Mommolin at the head of the Abbey of Saint-Quentin; so that Mommolin Companion of Bertin and future bishop of Noyon. the latter and his companion had to take care of the construction of the new monastery alone. They did not want to decide anything without the will of God, clearly manifested; that is why, not knowing where to fix the location, they got into a boat and let it drift without oars, at the mercy of the waves. Going up the course of the river, as if it had been pushed by a vigorous hand, the small boat traversed the vast expanse of water and stopped at a certain place: the two Saints disembarked there, singing this verse of the psalm: "This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it." Now, this place was the island of Sithiū. Immediately they set to work; but, according to the most common opinion, Mommolin was called, in the meantime, to occupy the see of Noyon, so that Bertin remained alone in charge of continuing the enterprise.

In a short time, the monastery was built, with its church dedicated to Saint Peter. One hundred and fifty, and even two hundred monks, immediately came to take their place there. Bertin, having become abbot, established perfect discipline among them; one could admire, in this new offshoot of Luxeuil, the virtues of the mother house. The Saint exercised assiduous vigilance over his flock; but he was careful to always set the example, "lest," says his historian quoting Saint Paul, "after having preached to others, he himself should be cast away." The Rule of Saint Columbanus was observed in all its rigor. The food consisted of a little bread and some herbs or roots; they drank only water. As at Luxeuil, the monks formed different choirs, which relieved each other continually to sing the praises of the Lord. Prayer did not cease, even during work. Silence, the spirit of mortification, of chastity, of obedience, etc., made this retreat a spectacle worthy of the admiration of angels and men. On the other hand, they devoted themselves to the most arduous labors. The eye is still astonished today to consider the patience and effort it took for these pious solitaries to transform a vast marsh into a fertile plain, through embankments that would frighten the boldest entrepreneurs today. A total abandonment to Providence made up for the lack of material resources. But God did not forsake his faithful servants; help always came in proportion to the need. Soon even some nobles of the region enriched the monastery in consideration of the virtues they saw shining there.

The marshy ground on which the new monastery was built allowed access only by small boat, except from one side, making it impossible to establish a cemetery there. Saint Omer granted Bertin, for this purpose, the church he had dedicated to the holy Virgin on the neighboring hill. The act, signed by Saint Omer, who was already blind, is dated May 6, 662, the sixth year o f Clotaire I Clotaire III King of the Franks who ordered the appointment of Erembert. II. It reads in substance that Omer, by the grace of Christ Bishop of Thérouanne, built, in common with the monks and in honor of Saint Mary, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a basilica in which his body was to be buried after his death, among those of the monks who would come from all sides to Sithiu to serve God there under the religious habit. He adds that he places this basilica under the patronage of Abbot Bertin, as well as the monastery of Sithiu itself, under full freedom and immunity from episcopal power, as is customary to grant as a privilege to ancient or new monasteries; so that never in the future may any pontiff or cleric claim or transport to Thérouanne anything that the monks of the said basilica, living regularly under evangelical freedom, may have received either from a king or from an individual, in fields, slaves, gold, silver, sacred books, or any other kind of objects serving divine worship or their own needs, everything that may be offered at the altar, at whatever time they may have received it; that no one may take any meal on their lands, unless invited by the abbot, so that they may live forever without worry and without trouble under the holy rule, and may better pray to God for the good of the Church, for the health of the king and the stability of the kingdom, etc. Saint Mommolin signed this act in his capacity as Bishop of Noyon, along with several other prelates and notable figures.

Following this concession, some monks settled around this church and formed a community there, which was converted into Canons Regular in 820. Around 648, the city of Saint-Omer having been built around the hill and having obtained the honor of an episcopal see, this same church became a cathedral.

In the same year, the sixth of Clotaire III, Saint Bertin exchanged with his friend Mommolin a property named Vausune, in the Cotentin, for four villas that the latter already held through an exchange with Saint Ebertramne, Abbot of Saint-Quentin. King Clotaire and Queen Bathilde signed this treaty. When the holy Bishop of Théro uanne died, Sa reine Bathilde Queen of the Franks, wife of Clovis II. int Bertin hastened to fulfill his vow by burying his sacred remains before the altar dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary.

God rewarded the virtues of the Abbot of Sithiu with the gift of miracles. His historian cites with satisfaction the following incident: A wealthy count named Walbert, whose confessor he was, was accustomed to coming with his wife Regentrude to see the holy abbot to listen to his lessons and receive his blessing after communion. One day when he had failed in this duty, word came to Bertin that his friend Walbert had returned home without paying his customary visit. "I know it," replied the Saint; "and Walbert, before arriving home, will have cause to repent for having neglected the blessing of an old man." Indeed, shortly after, a messenger came to announce that the count had fallen from his horse and was on the point of expiring.

He asked for forgiveness for his fault, accepted the punishment, commended himself to the prayers of his spiritual father, and begged him above all to bless some drink that he might consume before dying. Bertin immediately ordered a young monk to fetch wine in a vessel he pointed out to him: and as the religious affirmed that not a single drop of wine had entered that vessel for a month, the abbot again enjoined him to obey: which having done, he found the vessel filled with delicious wine. Bertin blessed a cup of it which was carried with diligence to Walbert. Upon hearing of the miracle that had just occurred, the dying man drank the blessed beverage with confidence and immediately recovered his health. Full of gratitude toward God, he gave the Abbot of Sithiu numerous estates; and, shortly after, renouncing the world by the counsel of the blessed man, he went to take the monastic habit at Luxeuil. His son, named Bertin, after our Saint, entered Sithiu at a very young age and lived there very holily. His relics were kept in the church of Saint-Omer. Many other lords, newly converted, also came to embrace the rule under the direction of Bertin, who saw the number of his children increase every day.

In 675, the blessed man signed, in the company of Saint Mommolin and several other bishops, the testament of Saint Amand, Bishop of Maastricht, in favor of the abbey of Elnon. In 682, Thierry III, King of Burgundy and Neustria, granted our Saint exemption for everything he possessed in the territory of Attigny. In 684, a lord named Analfride gave Bertin the monastery of Honnecourt, which he had founded on his property on the Scheldt, near Cambrai, and of which his daughter Auriane was abbess. He reserved only the usufruct during his life and that of his daughter. After the death of the latter, the establishment passed into the hands of Bertin, who turned it into a monastery for men.

Another lord, named Heremar, had given Saint Bertin his land of Wormhout. In 695, the Saint had a monastery built there and sent some of his religious there, under the direction of Saint Winnoc, his disciple. He was a young religious whom he had raised from childhood and who had worthily profit ed from his saint Winnoc Disciple of Bertin and founder of Wormhout. lessons. He cast great luster on his new foundation from the beginning. The church was dedicated to Saint Martin. According to John of Ypres, Bertin had a hospital for the poor built between Wormhout and Sithiu, with a path that connected the two monasteries. The same author adds that between the two gates of Sithiu, a community of women called converses had been established, who, without making a regular profession, wore a religious habit, served the poor at the hospital, repaired linens and church ornaments, and were charged with receiving the mothers, sisters, and other relatives of the monks, to whom entry into the monastery was forbidden.

Our Saint had a particular devotion to the Blessed Virgin, to whom his convent was dedicated. An author does not hesitate to say that it is to this initial impulse that the monastery owed its having always maintained such great devotion to Mary, and having given so many Saints to heaven. Thus it was that God seemed to shower His servant with spiritual and temporal favors. The ravages of time, the incursions of the barbarians in 847 and 868, and especially the fires in 881, 1000, 1031, and 1152, by destroying the monuments of the Abbey of Saint-Bertin, have deprived us of details on the long administration of Saint Bertin. We only know that God blessed his labors in all things, and that he was the instrument of many wonders, which his humility did not always manage to hide. But the greatest of his miracles, to use the language of his historian, was this tireless zeal in the service of God, and this incessant vigilance over the souls entrusted to him. He had founded and consolidated a monastery that was second to none of the most flourishing of that era; for fifty-seven years, he had administered it with wisdom, supported by his examples, perfumed by his virtues; the strictest discipline reigned there; he believed that the hour of retirement had come for him: for he had reached nearly one hundred years. He then thought of resigning from his office. His great age was the pretext: at heart, the holy old man wished to devote his final days to preparing for eternity. He chose the pious monk Rigobert as his successor and returned to the common life. From that moment on, he applied himself only to the contemplation of divine things. He had raised, during the lifetime of Saint Omer, a small oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin, near the cemetery of his monks, and had it blessed by the pontiff: it was there that he usually came to shut himself away, spending the nights in prayer, macerating his body with fasts and vigils, with all the fervor of a young soldier of Christ. He ordered Rigobert to build, in the monastery church, a chapel to Saint Martin, for whom he had always had a great devotion. This chapel was carefully preserved throughout the duration of the Abbey of Saint-Bertin.

Despite his age and his virtues, the blessed man was not yet safe from the tempter. History recounts that a young libertine, inspired by the demon, came one day, under the pretext of speaking about the interests of the convent, but with the secret intention of setting traps for him. Saint Martin then appeared to the old man to warn him of this perfidious ruse. And he, full of holy indignation, armed himself with the sign of the cross and drove away this wretched woman. But, to avoid the return of such a peril, he forbade women from entering the monastery, under penalty of excommunication. At the end of the 13th century, this law was still strictly maintained.

Rigobert exercised his office for only a few years. In imitation of his blessed master, he returned to private life and devoted himself exclusively to works of piety. Bertin appointed in his place Erlefride, who had been raised at Sithiu from an early age, and who worthily upheld the work of his predecessors.

Our Saint, full of merits and virtues, calmly awaited his reward. When he felt his hour approaching, he assembled his religious, and recommended that they not leave the place where he had established them, but that they persevere there in the service of God and the practice of good works. Then he fell asleep peacefully in the Lord, on the 5th of the Ides of September (September 9) 709. He had spent fifty-nine years at Sithiu. He was buried with great honors by Abbot Erlefride, in the chapel of Saint Martin, which he had had rebuilt.

## CULT AND RELICS.

A few years after his death, Abbot Erlefride established an altar on the very tomb of the Saint; numerous miracles occurred there subsequently. We shall cite, among others, the healing of Adèle or Alice, wife of Arnulf, Count of Flanders, who, being afflicted with an incurable disease, obtained from the bishops of Thérouanne and Cambrai, and from the Abbot of Saint-Bertin, permission to visit the shrine of the blessed one, a favor that had been granted to no woman before her, not even a queen. Supported by the two bishops, she approached the venerated relics with devotion, prayed there fervently, and was immediately healed.

In 1050 or 1052, the body of Saint Bertin was found in a crypt, under the old chapel of Saint-Martin, where it had been hidden to protect it from the fury of the Normans. In 1237, Peter, Bishop of Thérouanne and Cambrai, enclosed the precious relics in a shrine of gold and silver, enriched with precious stones, and performed the translation with great solemnity.

The monastery founded by Saint Bertin cast great luster upon the Church of France. Its annals count no fewer than twenty-two Saints, in addition to a large number of prelates who emerged from its midst. It also had the glory of sheltering within its walls Saint Anselm and Saint Thomas of Canterbury, persecuted, the one by Henry I and the other by Henry II, kings of England. And later, when the monks of that same city of Canterbury were expelled in 1267 by King John, one hundred of them came to ask for asylum from their brothers of Saint-Bertin, and were received with touching hospitality.

The Roman Martyrology and that of France, those of Usuard, Ado, and Florus, the calendars of Buccelin, Trithemius, du Saussay, Chastelain, Menalus, and Ypez, make mention of Saint Bertin. His feast is fixed for September 5.

When, during the years of the French Revolution, not only were religious driven from their houses, but what was most holy and sacred was also squandered and profaned, the shrine of Saint Bertin, having been purchased by a private individual, a pious woman of the city of Saint-Omer, named the widow Coulon, before whom it was opened, begged this man ins veuve Coulon Pious woman who saved the relics of Bertin during the French Revolution. istently to allow her to take home the bones it contained. Having obtained this, she gathered them with the greatest devotion and kept them until peace was restored to the Church of France. On Monday of Passion Week, March 24, 1806, Mgr Charles de La Tour-d'Auvergne-Lauraguais, Bishop of Arras, accompanied by the clergy, traveled there in procession and with the greatest solemnity, amidst an immense crowd of people who had rushed from all quarters of the city to witness the ceremony performed at the house of the said widow, and likewise the transport of the said bones to the church of Saint-Denis.

There, after the mass which was followed by a discourse appropriate to the ceremony, the Bishop had the box opened in which were enclosed the bones that the widow Coulon had piously kept in her home. This opening took place in the presence of a large number of people. The Bishop recognized the bones, to which the authentic document was attached, as being the precious remains of the mortal remains of Saint Bertin, which had been enclosed in the old shrine when it was opened in 1688; he had a report of the whole drawn up by two notaries and two surgeons, and once again authenticated these precious relics and recommended them for public veneration; then, after showing them to the faithful present at the ceremony, he affixed his seal to the box containing them, after having enclosed the two authentic documents within, and it was deposited in the sacristy, to remain there until it could be enclosed in the shrine intended for it. M. Ducrocq, priest of Saint-Denis, delighted to possess this precious treasure in his church, hastened, in concert with the churchwardens, to provide a chapel to place it in. It is the one that is the first collateral on the Gospel side.

We have extracted this biography from the Vie des Saints de Franche-Comté, and we have supplemented it with local notes provided by M. Villy, priest of Saint-Denis, in Saint-Omer. — Cf. La Légendaire de Morinie and the Vies des Saints du diocèse de Cambrai et d'Arras, by the Abbé Destombes.