Saint Lambert

The life he led under the splendor of the miter clearly showed that he was worthy of it, and that a better choice could not have been made. The quality of pastor gave him the means to manifest the sentiments of religion and piety with which his heart was filled. He offered the sacrifice of the Mass every day for the people God had entrusted to him, and he offered himself as a holocaust to His divine Majesty, through the rigorous austerities he ceaselessly practiced upon his still tender and delicate flesh. Order and truth were the finest ornaments of his house; equity and justice accompanied his actions everywhere; his ordinary occupation was to preach the maxims of the Gospel to his flock; he rebuked vice with pastoral freedom, encouraged the faint-hearted in the practice of good, and strengthened in virtue those who had a very sincere intention to perfect themselves. He exhorted everyone to lead a Christian life, of which he himself gave admirable examples through his conduct. His gaze was pleasant and engaging, and his spirit enjoyed perfect tranquility and calm; his words were full of unction, and his conversation charming; his soul lived only on the delights of grace, and was entirely dead to all the pleasures of the earth; his hands were open to distribute alms to the needy, his arms extended to receive the miserable, and his heart sensitive to sympathize with the afflicted.

Childeric II, King of Austrasia, having been assassinated in 673, Lambert, who had been attached to this prince and had enjoyed his favor, felt the repercussions of this revolution. He was driven from his see and an intruder named Pharamond was put in his place, who for seven years ruined order and piety in that diocese.

Lambert bore this disgrace with marvelous constancy, and his only sorrow was to leave in the hands of a ravening wolf the souls that Providence had entrusted to him. His people could not see him leave without bursting into tears; voices were heard resounding on all sides in the city saying: "Alas! We are losing our holy pastor. Who will defend us against the fury of our enemies? The most generous will lack courage; the weak will no longer be able to sustain themselves; the poor, the orphans, and the widows will become the prey of a scoundrel; we are all going to be exposed to his violence. Come, come, let us follow our bishop wherever he goes; and, if we must die with him, let us not experience a life that would be, without his presence, more unbearable than death." These words were punctuated by sighs and groans that made the holy prelate shed tears. He tried to console them, assuring them that he was not abandoning them, that he would always carry them in his heart, and that he would ceaselessly pray for them to the sovereign Pastor of souls. He then exhorted them to the fear of God, to patience in their affliction, and to the practice of good works, in order to draw upon themselves the protection of heaven; then, after giving them his blessing, he left them to retire to the monastery of Stavelot, on the borders of his diocese. It was monastère de Stavelot Abbey where Lambert went into exile for seven years. an earthly paradise for the regular observance that was kept there in all its purity, and the religious who inhabited it were as many angels who occupied themselves only with the contemplation of celestial things.

He increased the number of these faithful servants of Jesus Christ, who received him with all the honor due to his character; but, far from allowing himself to be distinguished from the others because of his dignity, he wished to follow the routine of the community as if he were but a simple monk. The smallest observances were for him inviolable rules, and the difference that was noticed in him was that his humility was deeper, his abstinence more rigorous, his prayer longer and more fervent; his submission toward his superiors greater, his conversation more edifying, his mortification more austere, his obedience more prompt, his assiduity to the divine offices more indefatigable; in a word, all his virtues more perfect and more brilliant. Here are several contained in a single incident. Having risen one night in winter to engage in prayer, he let one of his sandals fall, which made a noise. The abbot heard it, and in punishment for this violation of silence, he ordered the culprit, whom he did not know, to go and pray at the foot of the cross planted in front of the church. Lambert obeyed without replying, and went to the designated place barefoot and covered by a simple tunic. He prayed there for three or four hours on his knees. The monks having entered the warming room after Matins, the abbot asked if they were all there. He was told that only the one he had sent to pray before the cross was missing. He was called immediately: but what was the surprise of the whole community when they saw Lambert enter, all covered in snow and almost stiff with cold! The abbot and the religious threw themselves at his feet to ask his pardon. "May God," he said, "forgive you the thought that came to you to judge yourselves guilty for this action. Does not Saint Paul teach me that I must serve God in cold and nakedness?" God made it known that this sacrifice had been very pleasing to Him by a celestial light that was perceived on his face at the end of his penance.

Saint Lambert spent seven years in this holy house, not as in a place of exile, but as in a paradise where he tasted all the delights of the religious life. If he had been driven from his see by the impious,

He saw himself with the blessed citizens of heaven; if he was no longer in an episcopal palace, he found himself in the company of the Saints, and if he no longer had a flock to govern, he worked to govern himself to acquire eternity. At the end of this time, the affairs of the Church and religion changed face. The detestable Pharamond, who had only the name of bishop, without performing any function of a true pastor, was driven out for his horrible crimes, not only from the bishopric of Maastricht but also from the entire province, and Ebroin, mayor of the palace, the most wicked and cruel of all the persecutors of our Saint, received by a violent death the punishment that his perfidy deserved (781). Pepin, surnamed of Hers tal, governed France durin Pépin, surnommé d'Héristal Mayor of the palace of the kings of the Franks and protector of Saint Wiron. g the strange revolutions by which the monarchy was then shaken. This prince, who had much religion, was not unaware of the injustice that had been done to Saint Lambert; informed moreover of his merit and his holiness, he sent ambassadors to him at the monastery of Stavelot, to beg him to return to his episcopal see, from which he had been unjustly deprived. He had much difficulty in leaving his solitude, and his humility made him find new reasons not to resume a charge of which he had always deemed himself unworthy; but the insistence of the ambassadors, and even more his zeal for the salvation of souls, obliged him to return to Maastricht. He entered it all the more gloriously, as he returned only after having endured a harsh persecution. The joy that was felt to see him was equal to the sorrow that had been felt at his loss, and the acclamations of all the people testified enough that they had constantly sighed for his return. One cannot express the public elation that appeared in the voices and on the faces of all the inhabitants. This general joy increased even more wonderfully by the brilliance of his virtues, of which he continued to give his people admirable proofs.

One discovered in his heart the fullness of the divine law; his mouth was the oracle of truth; the greatness of his meekness, the vigor and prudence of his counsels, the justice of his actions, delighted all those who had the honor of approaching him. He made no distinction of persons; the poor could approach him with as much ease as the greatest lords; if he considered the virtuous, he did not for that despise the sinners, whom he strove, by all sorts of ways, to bring back to their duties; everyone found in him the sentiments of a father and a pastor. His conversation was innocent and chaste, his faith constant, his hope firm, his charity entire, his wisdom singular, his doctrine apostolic, and his life entirely holy. He was modest in his furnishings; tapestries and comfortable chairs did not enter his house; his clothes were without ornaments and his principal garment was a hair shirt on his bare flesh. He visited his diocese carefully, without excepting the most distant villages and farms; he had the skill to discover where the souls were who did not care for their salvation, to try to win them to Jesus Christ. The Taxandrians, or inhabitants of the country of Middleburg and the islands of Zeeland, still lived in the darkness of idolatry: he undertook to convert them to the Christia Taxandres Region evangelized by Saint Lambert. n religion, and went to announce the Gospel to them. He first suffered several ill-treatments from these peoples, who wanted to put him to death as soon as they heard him condemn the worship they rendered to idols; but his zeal was not discouraged, he rejoiced in their insults, continued to instruct them, and showed them so well the impiety of their superstition, the unity of one God, the trinity of the divine persons, the creation of the world, original sin, the malice of the demons who had themselves adored as gods, the mystery of the Incarnation, and the death of Jesus Christ for all men, that he brought the greatest part of them to the Church. He baptized them, tore their idols to pieces, consecrated temples for them, and ordained priests for them to confirm them in the faith: which is why he is called the Apostle of the Taxandrians.

Several noble persons, touched by his words and animated by his examples, renounced all the vanities of the world and, despising their riches in view of eternal goods, embraced a penitent life. One notes among others a young lord, named Hubert, a native of Aquit aine, Hubert Disciple and successor of Lambert, he transferred his body to Liège. count of the palace under King Theuderic, learned in human letters and very famous in the armies. Ode, aunt of the same Saint Hubert, widow of a duke of Aquitaine, who, through the exhortations of our Saint, so despised the world that, after having distributed to the poor a large part of her goods, which were very considerable, she used the other part to found a monastery near Liège, where she spent the rest of her days holily. The blessed Landrada, very illustrious by her birth, built in a place on her estate a famous monastery, where she received, from the hands of the holy bishop, the veil of virginity, which she preserved inviolably until death. Several young girls followed her example and consecrated themselves to Jesus Christ in the same house. A marvelous thing is reported of this holy virgin. Being on her deathbed, she sent to ask Saint Lambert to come and see her. As he was very far away, she died before he arrived; but she appeared to him on the way and told him that she was enjoying celestial beatitude. The Saint asked her where she wished her body to be buried: "Look up," she said to him, "and you will see there a light in the shape of a cross, which will mark for you the place of my burial." He raised his eyes and saw that this light fell directly on the village of Wintershoven, where she had lived in her childhood, under Saint Landoald. When he had arrived at the monastery, he recounted his vision to the nuns and signified to them the intention of their holy mother; but these good girls paid no heed to it, and, not wishing to be deprived of her who had loved them so tenderly during her life, they had her interred among them. The Saint let them do so; but as, after three days, he had the tomb opened, the body was no longer found there. It had been miraculously transported by the angels to the very place that the Saint had indicated to the blessed prelate.

Pepin, of whom we have spoken, a prince otherwise commendable for his spirit, his prudence, and his valor, forgot his duty toward God and toward men, and, to the great scandal of all the peoples, repudiated Plectrude, his legitimate wife, to take a concubine named Alpaïs. This great captain, who had won so many illustrious victories over his enemies, could not conquer himself in this matter; he succumbed to an infamous passion, after having made the most formidable warriors of Europe succumb under the strength of his arm. Nothing was lacking in his power, his happiness, his fortune, his glory, and God had favored him in all his enterprises; but, instead of offering thanks for them, he transgressed His law by separating what He Himself had joined by the sacrament of marriage. It was for the bishops of the kingdom to rebuke him and to say to him, with the freedom of the precursor of Jesus Christ: Non licet tibi: "It is not permitted for you to cast away your spouse to keep a concubine as you do." They were well convinced of it, but they dared not open their mouths to do so. Lambert alone, unable to conceal anything when it concerned the glory of God and the salvation of souls, took the boldness to speak. He vividly demonstrated to this prince the horror of his sin, the scandal he was causing everywhere, and the divine punishment he ought to fear, and which he would undoubtedly not avoid if he did not break off this detestable commerce. Alpaïs, fearing that the zeal and authority of such a great prelate might make an impression on the heart of Pepin, and that in the end he might yield to his salutary remonstrances, solicited Dodon, whom some say was her brother, a man powerful through his great wealth and a confidant of the same Pepin, to stop Lambert's exhortations. The latter spared nothing to achieve this. He spoke of it to the holy bishop. He strove to win him over with fair words, or to intimidate him with his threats; but, seeing him intrepid and still equally animated against the adultery, he thought only of having him killed.

These reprimands from the holy bishop did not prevent Pepin from always having for him all the respect he knew was due to his virtue and his character; he even deferred much to his counsel in all matters that did not touch upon his passion. One day, he sent for him to come to Jupille to discuss some affairs of state with him. Alpaïs, who was there at the time, did what she could to bring Saint Lambert into her interests; but it was useless. She had him begged that at least he would not make remonstrances to the prince in public. But no other answer could be drawn from him than that everywhere he would do his duty and speak as a bishop. During his stay in this place, Pepin gave a feast for the great men of his court and invited the holy prelate to be present. When drink was presented to the prince, he gave the cup to the Saint so that, drinking first, he might bless it and then return it into his hands: imitating in this the Emperor Maximus, who did the same for Saint Martin. The bishop did what Pepin required of him. The other courtiers followed this example and begged Saint Lambert to present the cup to them after having blessed it. And as several asked him for this same favor at once, Alpaïs reached out her hand in order to steal, so to speak, the cup with his blessing. The holy bishop, having noticed this, turned toward Pepin and complained to him of this artifice of the concubine, who wished thereby to glorify herself as being of his communion; and, rising immediately from the table, he left the room, resolved to withdraw from the court. Alpaïs was offended by this and won over the prince so well that he forbade Saint Lambert to leave before having first taken leave of her; but the holy bishop answered him generously that he could not do what he wished, the Apostle forbidding him to have any communication with an unchaste woman. "I have a deep sorrow," he added, "that you still keep her, after all the remonstrances I have made to you about it. I fear extremely that, if you do not abandon her, the wrath of God will fall upon you to punish you for the scandal that you give to all of France." Alpaïs, who heard this discourse, fearing more than ever that if Lambert lived longer, he would in the end persuade Pepin to send her away to take back his wife, pressed Dodon to execute his pernicious design as soon as possible. Then the latter, taking with him a handful of soldiers, went to the house of the bishop who had retired to Liège, and surrounded it on all sides to prevent him from escaping. The Saint aw oke a Liège Episcopal see of the saint. t the noise of the soldiers. He could have offered some resistance; but as he knew that the servants of Jesus Christ win the victory only by dying for Him, and not by defending themselves against their enemies, he offered none. He therefore only prostrated himself in prayer, his arms extended in the form of a cross, to ask God for the crown of martyrdom that was prepared for him. Meanwhile

The soldiers entered without being moved by a cross of light that appeared in the air above his house; and, after having massacred two of his nephews, named Peter and Andolet, along with several others, they pierced him himself with sword blows and took his life, on September 17, 696, according to the tradition of the Church of Liège, and 708 or 709, according to the Bollandists.

Gilles d'Orval also says that the true cause of this death was the vengeance of Alpaïs. Anselm, a canon of Liège who lived in the middle of the 14th century, also alleges it as the principal one. Regino and Sigebert, in their chronicles, are of the same opinion; nevertheless, Godeau says that Pepin, touched by the remonstrances of the holy bishop, reconciled with Plectrude, who had retired to Cologne, to the monastery of Saint-Maur of the Capitol, which was of her foundation, and that, more than sixteen years before the death of Saint Lambert, he enclosed Alpaïs in the monastery of Orp, where she performed, for the rest of her days, a very harsh penance that posterity could propose as an example to persons who have fallen into faults similar to hers; he proves it by acts that Pepin made with his wife, after this reconciliation, in 692; in 696, the year of the martyrdom of Saint Lambert; then in 701, 705, and 714. He adds that our Saint was killed as he was praying to God in the oratory of Saints Cosmas and Damian, in Liège, which was then only a village. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that he was put to death for having shown episcopal vigor in rebuking vices and defending the honor of the Church and religion.

Divine justice did not delay in punishing in a terrible manner those who had been involved in the death of this great prelate. Dodon was struck by a disease so shameful that no one could endure him; his body was thrown into the Meuse. The one who had dealt him the mortal blow fought with his brother, and they killed one another. Several of the soldiers perished within the year; and, if any escaped, they lost their minds and their property, or were afflicted by so many calamities that they considered themselves much more miserable to live than to die.

Saint Lambert is represented: 1st, holding a crutch, either to recall that he was cured of his frail state, or because of the sick who went to his fountain to recover their health; 2nd, with a lance in his hand, to indicate the manner of his death; 3rd, with angels bringing him a crown; 4th, sometimes carrying his head like Saint Denis; 5th, holding a book, and behind him two men who are cast down; 6th, at the Cabinet des Estampes in Paris, he is represented holding his crozier and a book; his hands are covered with gloves adorned with precious stones. He is covered by a magnificent shrine.

## CULT AND RELICS.

Those who escaped the fury of the assassins took his body, placed it on the river, and transported themselves to Maastricht, into his cathedral church. It is said that the immodest women who wanted to approach the body to kiss it with the other faithful were repelled by a divine force, to show how much the Saint had abhorred the unchastity of Alpaïs. However, he was not buried in his cathedral; for the canons, fearing that if they rendered him this honor they might attract some ill-treatment from the authors of his death, carried him to a small church of Saint-Pierre, outside the city, and placed him in his father's tomb without even daring to erect any mausoleum for him. But heaven rendered him the honors that the earth refused him: such a pleasant odor exhaled from this place that it surpassed that of the most exquisite perfumes, and a celestial melody was heard there for a long time. Several years later, Saint Hubert had him transferred from there to Liège, into the church he had built at the place where the Saint had suffered martyrdom. He transferred there at the same time the episcopal see of Tongeren, which Saint Servatius had previously transferred to Maastricht; and, since then, this village has become one of the most famous cities of the Low Countries. His body, at the time of its translation, was found whole, without any sign of corruption.

As the church built by Saint Hubert was falling into ruins, the famous bishop Notger rebuilt it around the year 975. It was burned toward the end of the 19th century, then rebuilt around the year 1250. This superb monument was razed by the French revolutionaries. One could see at the extremity of the nave, which was of extraordinary height and width, the vast chapel of Saints Cosmas and Damian. The shrine that enclosed the body of Saint Lambert was a gift from Saint Hubert. The gold reliquary, of finished workmanship, which contained the head of Saint Lambert, was a present from Bishop Erard de la Marck who, in 1594, had the episcopal palace built. The famous gilded bronze mausoleum, which this prelate had had built for himself during his lifetime, was placed in the middle of the choir. The authors of the *Vapage littéraire* say that in terms of burial, nothing approached this monument. The French revolutionaries transported it to a castle near Givet, where they completely broke it into pieces in the year 1794. The church of Liège still possesses today the head of the Saint, which was successfully hidden from the revolutionary bands.

The memory of Saint Lambert is very famous, not only in Flanders, but also in France and in various places in Europe, where one sees several churches built in his honor. One can see the miracles that were performed at his tomb in the historians we have cited. His feast is celebrated with great solemnity in Vaugirard, near Paris, whose church is dedicated in his honor.

Acta Sanctorum; various Lives of the Saint, by Gate scale, disere, and Stephen of Liège; Essai historique sur l'ancienne cathédrale de Saint-Lambert et sur son chapitre, by Baron Xavier Van der Steen de Jchay. — Cf. Darras: *Histoire générale de l'Église*, vol. XVII, p. 61.