Saint Guy (Guidon) the Poor of Anderlecht

The demon, unable to endure these happy advances, undertook to stop them with a trap he set for him, under the pretext of better satisfying his charity toward the poor. A merchant from Brussels, having presented himself one evening at the door of the pastor of Laeken, received from Guy the benevolent welcome he gave to all visitors indiscriminately. After having admired his charity, the stranger persuaded him to enter into trade with him, in order to have more abundantly the means to provide for the needs of his neighbor and particularly those of his relatives. Guy, deceived by these specious reasons, left the service of the Church to engage in trade. But God did not permit the illusion to last long. The ship and the cargo in which the Saint had a share perished when it was on the point of entering the port. This accident made him look into himself; he recognized his fault and conceived extreme regret for it; to perform a harsher penance, he resolved to go to the tomb of the Apostles in Rome, to the sepulcher of Our Lord in Jerusalem, and also to visit the other most famous churches of Christendom. He spent seven whole years in all these pilgrimages; after which he returned to Rome, where he met Wonedulphe, dean of the church of Anderlecht, who was going to t he Holy La Anderlecht Place of death and main center of the saint's cult. nd with some companions. Guy recognized them, made himself known to them, and this dean, wishing to have with him a man who had already made the journey, begged him to retrace his steps to serve as a guide on his pilgrimage. Our Saint very willingly agreed, asking for nothing better than to perform an act of charity where he would find new opportunities to mortify himself and increase his devotion. They all arrived happily in Jerusalem, where they visited the holy places consecrated by the presence, by the actions, and by the blood of the Savior; but the dean and his companions were carried off by a contagious disease when they were on the point of leaving Palestine. When Wonedulphe Wonedulphe Dean of Anderlecht, pilgrimage companion of Guy. saw himself at his last hour, he had Saint Guy come and spoke to him in these terms: "My most amiable Father, I render a thousand thanks to God Almighty that He has the goodness to fulfill the desire of my heart; I also thank you for the good offices you have rendered me during my pilgrimage; I see well that the time of my death has come: but, for you, God has made known to me that you will return to your country; that is why I pray you to assure my friends and all those who await my return that I died on the way: here is a ring that I give you and that you will place in their hands, so that they may add faith to what you will tell them." He recommended several

other things to him; after which, raising his eyes and hands toward heaven, he rendered his soul into the hands of the angels who assisted him in this last moment. He was a holy man, whose charity toward the poor had always been inexhaustible. As his virtue had shone forth through several miracles during his life, God honored him even after his death with similar wonders. Saint Guy was a witness to the healing of three lame men and two blind men at his tomb.

As soon as our Saint had returned to Anderlech Anderlecht Place of death and main center of the saint's cult. t, the sub-dean came to see him with several of his clergy; and, after having heard from his lips the account of the precious death of Wonedulphe, he invited him to come and dwell with him to spend the rest of his days there. But Guy was not there for long, for God, not wishing to leave him any longer in the miseries of this life, delivered him from them as soon as possible to give him an immortal one. On the night of the Sunday which was the day of his death, his room was filled with a celestial light, in the midst of which appeared a dove that articulated these words: "Let our beloved come now to receive the crown of eternal gladness, because he has been faithful." It was thus that he departed peacefully from this world, in the year of Our Lord 1012.

He is usually depicted in the costume of a pilgrim, with a staff in his right hand and two palms in his left; lying beside him are a horse and an ox. Above his head hovers the Holy Spirit, and rays spread around the man of God, whose eyes are fixed on heaven as if to implore the mercies of the Lord. The inhabitants of Laeken also sometimes place keys in the hands of Saint Guy, Laeken Place where the saint served as sacristan. to signify that he was entrusted with the care of their church.

## CULT AND RELICS.

The body of Saint Guy was buried honorably in the cemetery of the canons of Anderlecht. His name, already venerated before the beginning of his travels, became even more so after his blessed passing. Numerous healings performed at his tomb increased the confidence of the people in this new patron that heaven had given them. Indeed, a multitude of the sick and infirm were counted who found the healing of their ailments near his sacred remains. About fifty years after the death of Saint Guy, a chapel was built to the Blessed Virgin, in which pilgrims came to commend themselves to her protection. Later, Gerard II, Bishop of Cambrai and Ar ras, orde Gérard II Bishop of Arras and Cambrai who ordered the exhumation of the remains in 1081. red that his bones be transported to the parish church. Finally, in 1112, Bishop Odo again raised the body of the Saint fro m th Odon Bishop who performed a new elevation of the body in 1112. e earth and placed it in a reliquary, to be exposed to the veneration of the faithful.

Saint Guy is invoked for the preservation of livestock.

Acta Sanctorum Acta Sanctorum Monumental hagiographic collection by the Bollandists. ; Lives of the Saints of the dioceses of Cambrai and Arras, by Abbé Dastembes.