Saint Arnulf of Vendôme

So many merits and perfections drew even more precious favors upon our Saint. He is the faithful servant who, in reward for his good administration, receives new talents. Indeed, the superior of the monastery, seeing in this young religious such great virtues and such a pure life, judged him worthy of being raised to the priesthood. How he responded to this call of the Lord, what celestial things occurred in this angel of the earth, what transports of love burst forth in this ardent soul at the moment when the pontiff, by the laying on of hands, conferred upon him the eminent dignity of the priesthood and initiated him into all the secrets of Jesus' charity for men, is something no human mouth could tell. Thus, the grace of the priesthood produced in Arnoux a noticeable increase in zeal and fervor. It was not long before one had to admire in him new wonders of holiness: a profound humility, an incomparable prudence, an angelic purity, a total self-abnegation, an unalterable patience, a love of penance and poverty pushed to the point of heroism, a prompt and blind obedience, a spirit of faith and prayer that made his entire life a continuous act of union with God, a burning fervor in all his religious duties, and finally a tender and generous charity toward his superiors and his brothers; such were the virtues that shone in the new priest with the brightest luster, and which made him that man cherished by God and his fellow men, whose memory shall be in eternal blessing.

The gathering of all these rare and precious qualities, with which nature and grace had enriched our Saint, made him so dear to his venerable abbot that he constantly regarded and loved him as his son, living with him in the greatest intimacy, submitting all things to his insights and his counsel. This unlimited confidence, this honorable benevolence of a superior, were never used by Arnoux to raise himself to positions of favor, or to push himself into less humble employments. He used them solely for his spiritual advancement and the general good of the monastery. A faithful observer of the holy rules of the community, instead of bringing any softening to them, he added even more to their severity, always fearing to advance too slowly on the paths of religious perfection, and fearing incessantly to hear, despite his life entirely of sacrifices and good works, the reproaches of the master to the useless servant.

In the meantime, Geoffrey Martel died, and the Abbey of the Trinity, which he had founded and richly endowed, soon had to suffer from the unjust violence of Foulques, Count of Vendôme, despite the solemn promises of this lord, who had sworn to defend and protect it. Abbot Oderic, having uselessly exhausted the ways of gentleness to stop the thousand vexations of the noble count, resolved to make the journey to Rome and to carry his complaints to the very tribunal of the sovereign Pontiff; the abbey had been given to the Holy See and consequently fell under the jurisdiction of the Pope. Oderic left in 1063, taking with him Arnoux, his cherished disciple.

Alexander II then occupied the Apostolic See. He received the two pilgrims with great distinc tion and man Alexandre II Pope whose election was supported by Peter Damian against the antipope. ifested the liveliest indignation at the account of the persecutions directed against a monastery that was the property of the Holy See. Several bulls were dispatched to maintain and increase its prerogatives, and the venerable Oderic saw all his claims accepted. At the same time, Alexander II, who had known how to appreciate Arnoux, wanted to keep him in Rome. Arnoux submitted with resignation to the honorable exile to which the order of his superior condemned him. The pontiff, charmed by the amiable spirit of the young religious, by the solidity of his judgment, and by the depth of his views, felt his esteem and affection for him increase every day. For nearly four years, our blessed one was in Rome, occupied solely with the sanctification of souls and especially his own; but the moment was coming when God, who delights in exalting the humble, was finally to withdraw this brilliant light from under the bushel, to place it on the candlestick of the Church.

The diocese of Ga Gap Diocese where Gregory was received in the Alps. p was then prey to the greatest disorders. Deprived of a shepherd after having had a bad one, the heritage of Demetrius, Constantine, and Arey, once so flourishing, was cruelly ravaged and offered nothing but ruins. The faith was being lost, morals were depraved; this flock, without a guide and without a shepherd, wandered far from the accustomed pastures, and quenched its thirst at the poisoned cisterns of which the Prophet speaks. In these dire straits, the clergy and the inhabitants of Gap sent trusted men to Rome to inform the Sovereign Pontiff of the deplorable state in which their diocese found itself, and to implore him to provide a prompt and effective remedy. This humble prayer of the Gapençais deputies, the last cry of an agonizing Church, was favorably received. The Pope, for his part, had measured in his mind the extent of the evil. He saw that, to stop its alarming progress, an apostle was needed, a man powerful in words and deeds, and he cast his eyes upon the blessed Arnoux, to whom he proposed the bishopric of Gap. At this opening from his father and friend, the humble soul of Arnoux was troubled. The sublimity of this glorious but heavy dignity terrified him; but the Vicar of Jesus Christ, using his supreme authority, enjoined him to prepare for the formidable sacrifice. The only word of consolation with which he accompanied this severe order was to promise the elect to consecrate him with his own hands, so that he could truly charge him with all his blessings before sending him to occupy the see of Gap, and to console this poor Church in its deplorable widowhood.

This choice from heaven was for the deputies, and soon for all the people who had sent them, the subject of great joy and holy gladness. The blessed bishop knew that eager vows were calling him, that new children were awaiting him, that their needs were urgent, so he did not delay, he departed immediately. It was during this journey that God made the wonders of His omnipotence shine forth, by restoring, through the intercession of Arnoux, a poor child to life and to his mother. It was near Vendôme: he was walking along the banks of the Loir, when cries struck his ears; he approached; a large crowd surrounded the corpse of an unfortunate child who had just been pulled from the water, deprived of life. At this sight, Arnoux was moved with compassion; driven by an inspiration from above, and trusting in divine power, he covered the corpse with his cloak. At that very instant the body seemed to animate, and the child rose before the eyes of all, full of health and life. The Saint gifted the miraculous cloak to the convent of the Trinity, which made it into a cope. After a few days spent in the midst of his brothers in Jesus Christ, the holy and venerated pastor arrived, preceded by the news of this prodigy, into the midst of his flock. He was received like an angel sent from heaven; an enthusiasm difficult to describe manifested on all sides; everywhere along his path the eager populations rushed; they wanted to see this astonishing man to whom death obeyed; they recalled with emulation what fame had published of his virtues; they considered themselves happy to know him, and even happier to possess him.

His gentle and amiable manners, the irresistible unction of his speech, the odor of sanctity that he spread around him, finished by winning him the love and admiration of all.

Arnoux, wishing to take advantage of these happy dispositions, immediately set to work. Similar to the beneficent cloud that pours its sweet showers upon the earth, refreshing and fertilizing it, he spread the dew of grace upon the parched field of the Lord. Under his vivifying action, abuses were reformed, unjust prejudices fell away, faith and piety were reawakened, and the most unexpected and striking conversions took place. Like the divine Master, traveling through towns and countryside, he left everywhere in his path the imprints of his inexhaustible and compelling charity, and soon, through the efforts of this admirable zeal, the Church of Gap became one of the most fervent Churches in the Catholic world.

One of the most characteristic traits of our Saint's episcopal life was an ardent zeal and an intrepid courage in defending, against the enemies of God, the rights and discipline of the Church. He knew well that he was thus exposing himself to great dangers and placing himself as a target for the insults of the wicked; but, sustained by help from above and inaccessible to all human fears, each time the sacred interests of religion required it, he armed himself with the sword of anathemas and struck the rebels. Now, a lord of Charence, named Ley det, a Leydet Lord of Charence, opponent of Saint Arnoux. declared impious man, affected on every occasion a sovereign contempt for the authority of the Church and openly persecuted believing and religious men; he even forgot himself one day to the point of mistreating a venerable canon of the cathedral. Arnoux, after having uselessly employed all the ways of gentleness to bring back this wretch, saw himself in the hard necessity of launching ecclesiastical censures against him: Leydet was excommunicated. In his resentment, he burst into threats and gave himself over to outrageous violence against the Saint himself; but heaven took it upon itself to loudly avenge the honor of its pontiff: Leydet died shortly after, horribly crushed by the fall of a beam.

Another day, as a new Stephen, Arnoux was triumphantly defending the cause of the Gospel, and his ardent word was confounding the wicked and striking down the sinner, one of these impious men who recognized himself in his pathetic apostrophes, pushed by the demon, dared to draw his sword against his bishop and wounded him deeply in the arm. This sacrilegious audacity did not remain unpunished for long; the following night, this wretch, who had thus raised a parricidal hand against the holy pontiff, was struck dead. These terrible judgments of God penetrated all hearts with a religious respect for the person of the blessed bishop and for the acts of his episcopal administration.

A nun, who had lost sight of the holiness of her state, found herself possessed by the demon; she became so furious that it was necessary to bind her with iron chains. This unfortunate woman was presented to the holy bishop who, having prostrated himself before the Lord, with a sign of the cross drove out the spirit of darkness and obtained for this poor sinner, along with the deliverance of her body, the conversion of her soul and the forgiveness of her faults.

On a solemn occasion, Arnoux, surrounded by a numerous people, was occupied with the consecration of a church in his diocese (Valernes, Basses-Alpes); one of the assistants, who had imprudently placed himself in a high place to better see the ceremony, fell, and in his fall broke several limbs. Informed of this unfortunate accident, the Saint ran toward this unfortunate man; deeply moved at the sight of his horrible state, he threw himself on his knees; in the ardor of his charity and his faith, he addressed a fervent prayer to God, and instantly this wretch was restored to perfect health.

Another day, as Arnoux was purifying his hands to go and celebrate the holy mysteries, a poor blind man was presented to him who, having prostrated himself at his feet, asked him, as the blind man of Jericho once did to our divine Savior, to make him see and to invoke upon him the God of mercies. The blessed one, touched by his infirmities and even more by his pious sentiments, poured the water he had in his hands onto the eyes of this blind man who, immediately, completely recovered his sight. The clergy and the people, witnesses of this miraculous deliverance, rendered lively and brilliant thanks to the Lord, who so visibly delighted in manifesting the glory of their holy pontiff.

Thus it was that, through the splendor of his miracles, the holiness of his life, the fervor of his prayers, and the anointing of his words, Arnoux was the apostle, the father, the model, and the delight of his flock. Thus it was that he re-established, among our ancestors to whom heaven had sent him, the purity of the faith and the fervor of piety, and that he spread throughout our regions those precious seeds which have never ceased to produce, to this day, fruits of salvation and immortality. But it was not only the spiritual temple that Arnoux strove to establish, all resplendent with virtues and perfumed with the sweet odor of Jesus Christ: under his fruitful hand, the material temple was rebuilt, and the cathedral of Gap, an ancient monument restored by our Saint, was long the pride of the city and the province.

Finally, the moment arrives when so many precious services are to receive their just reward, the moment when the vigilant pastor is to rest from all his labors. Arnoux had generously completed his course; like the Apostle, he had fought the great battles of the Lord; in the cloister and on the episcopal throne, he had inviolably kept the faith; he had been a perfect model of priestly virtues, a faithful imitator of the divine Master, and it is now that the sovereign Judge is to gird his brow with the crown of justice. Oh! how precious was the death of the beloved pontiff before God! This moment, which holds so much terror for the worldly, was for our Saint a day of celebration and triumph. Full of joy and confidence, says the author of his life, he gently rendered his body to the earth and his soul to heaven, where it ascended in the arms of the angels, to be put in possession of eternal glory. It was September 19, 1070, according to some, and 1074, according to others.

## CULT AND RELICS. — CONFRATERNITY OF SAINT ARNOUX.

The holy remains of the blessed one, watered by the tears of his clergy and his mourning people, were consecrated, with all the pomp of religion, in the church of Saint-Jean le Rond, now destroyed. During the years that followed the death of Saint Arnoux, there was an extraordinary gathering at this church, and God was pleased to glorify His servant by multiplying wonders at his tomb. From all sides and every day, one could see a large crowd of the infirm and the sick pressing around the holy relics, whose confidence and faith were never disappointed. A salutary virtue emanated from the body of the servant of God, to which the most stubborn and violent ailments yielded. At his invocation and through his merits, a cruel disease that was devastating the region ceased its frightful ravages. Finally, pious legends and the history of Saint Arnoux mention several dead restored to life, to the great admiration of the entire city.

Struck by all these wonders that he had seen or that public voice had made known to him, and pressed by the requests made to him from all sides, Armand, who, thirty years after the death of the holy bis hop, o Armand Bishop of Gap who carried out the exhumation of the saint in 1104. ccupied the see of Gap, believed it his duty to exhume the body, transfer the relics, and expose them to the veneration of the people. On June 13, 1104, he therefore went at the head of all his clergy to the tomb of the blessed Arnoux; after a fervent prayer before this glorious tomb, the tombstone was removed with religious respect; but, oh wonder that seized all those present with fear and admiration! the holy body and the garments with which it is covered appeared as intact and as fresh as on the day of the burial. It was then that with pious sparkling, one noticed on one of the arms, still bleeding, the wound that had been inflicted upon him by the wretch whose sacrilegious attack we have recounted. These holy relics, as demonstrated by the feast of their translation which is still celebrated on June 13, were from that day exposed to the veneration of all the faithful people, in the main church of Gap.

In 1232, the allies, guided by the Vendes, crossed the mountains under the command of the Duke of Savoy, and their first blows fell upon the city of Gap, where this prince entered without resistance. The Duke's soldiers, abusing the right of war, pillaged the city, and upon retreating, set fire to it. The fire destroyed the cathedral, and, of the ancient city, left only a few scattered houses. At the news of the invasion, the relics of Saint Arnoux, Saint Arey, Saint Demetrius, and several others, preciously preserved in reliquaries, were buried under the pavement of the sanctuary, behind the high altar, and thus preserved from profanation, pillage, and fire. The following year, Mgr Charles Bénigne d'Hervé, bishop and count of Gap, retrieved the holy relics, recounting them as those that had been hidden underground, and exposed them once again to the piety of his beloved flock. The pious munificence of the inhabitants of Gap did not take long to replace the silver bust, which the allies had seized, with another reliquary of equally rich material and precious workmanship. For their part, Mgr d'Hervé, and after him, Mgr de Mallissolles, also made great repairs to the cathedral.

But a century had not passed before, under the reign of terror that then weighed upon France, it was necessary once again to hide the relics of Saint Arnoux from triumphant impiety. They were deposited in the archives of the chapter, and the silver bust followed the fate of the crosses, chalices, and monstrances of the cathedral; it was sent to the mint in Paris. When later, thanks to the sword of Napoleon, France saw calmer days dawn for her, then the sacred deposit reappeared, to receive once again the homage of public veneration, and to protect the city and the country with its presence.

Gregory XVI, by a brief dated February 19, 1845, deigned to grant a plenary indulgence, applicable to the souls in Purgatory, to all the faithful of both sexes who, being contrite, having confessed and received communion, visit the church of Saint-Arnoux and pray there for a moment according to the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff, on the day of the Saint's feast or one of the days of the octave; furthermore, an indulgence of three hundred days to the faithful, each time that, with a contrite heart, they attend the exercises of the novena, serving as preparation for the feast of Saint Arnoux.

Having been informed of the plan of Bishop Depéry to establish, in the city of Gap, a confraternity under the patronage of Saint Arnoux, for the purpose of procuring, through a more faithful frequenting of the sacraments, the perseverance of children who have made their first communion, and to offer them a novitiate suitable for initiating them into the exercises of the great confraternity of the White Penitents, the same Pope, by another brief also dated February 19, 1845, grants, in perpetuity, under the ordinary conditions, to all those who become members of the new confraternity, a plenary indulgence on the day of their reception, at the hour of death, and on the Sunday when the feast of Saint Arnoux is solemnized in Gap. An indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines is also granted to the same confreres who, on the four solemnities irrevocably designated by the Ordinary, namely: Easter, Corpus Christi, the Assumption, and Christmas, visit the church of Saint-Arnoux and pray there for a moment according to the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff, after having confessed and received communion. Finally, the same confreres shall share in an indulgence of sixty days for all acts of piety they perform devoutly and with a contrite heart. A third brief, of the aforementioned date, declares that all masses said at any altar of the cathedral of Saint-Arnoux, for the repose of the souls of deceased confreres, shall enjoy, in perpetuity, all the favors attached to a privileged altar.

After obtaining all these privileges, Bishop Jean-Irénée Depéry published, on June 28, 1845, the ordinance for the erection of the Confraternity of Saint-Arnoux, and, by an article of the regulations, the confreres were designated to form the honor guard of their glorious patron on the day of his feast. This is why they attend, under a special banner, the solemn procession of Saint Arnoux and walk before his bust, in the middle of the ranks.

Excerpt from the Hagiological History of the Diocese of Gap, by Bishop Depéry.