Saint Faustus of Riez

But what constitutes the finest praise of Faustus is the shining testimony rendered to his virtues and merits by the blessed Maximus, when, compelled to accept the bishopric of Riez, he chose a successor for himself in the abbey of Lérins. Faustus was designated to his brothers as the most worthy and capable for the government of the monastery; and all with one accord proclaimed him Abbot of Lérins (January 434). Elected to this high dignity, Faustus showed himself as humble, as zealous, and as penitent as he had been before. During the twenty-seven years that he governed this monastery, he worthily upheld its reputation and regularity through his vigilance and his examples. But if he was zealous for the observance of discipline, he was no less so for the defense of the rights of his monastery. A conflict of jurisdiction arose between the Abbot of Lérins and the Bishop of Fréjus. The latter, basing his claim on the fact that the Lérins islands depended on his diocese, wished to arrogate to himself full and entire jurisdiction over the monks. Faustus upheld the rights of his office with great strength and energy: this conduct displeased the bishop, who forbade him from exercising his dignity. This act of rigor caused some scandal and disturbed the peace of this solitude. We then saw the holy abbot show himself full of respect and humility: he submitted without resistance to the injunction that stripped him of his prerogatives, and awaited with confidence the decision of the council that gathered at Arles to settle this matter. The council opened on December 4, 453. Thirteen prelates were gathered there under the presidency of the metropolitan Ravennius. Two of them, Maximus of Riez and Valerian of Cimiez, pleaded the cause of the Abbot of Lérins. The council ordered that the Bishop of Fréjus would be satisfied with the reparations that Faustus would make to him, and that the latter would be restored as soon as possible to the government of his monastery. It further ruled that monks who were not in holy orders would be subject solely to the abbot charged with governing them, but that religious destined for holy orders would be ordained and confirmed only by the diocesan bishop. This wise decision restored good harmony between the two parties.

Returned to his monastery, the blessed Faustus continued to be for his religious a model of all virtues. In imitation of his holy predecessor, he addressed frequent instructions which, supported by his example, and further by the unction and eloquence of his speech, caused the root of all evangelical virtues to germinate in their souls. It was in the midst of these holy occupations that the holy abbot saw himself called to the episcopate. After the death of the blessed Maximus, the clergy and the people of Rie Riez Episcopal see of the saint. z judged that no one else was more worthy to occupy this see than the very one whom our Saint had chosen as his successor in the abbey of Lérins. Faustus accepted with trembling this dignity of which it has been said that it is a formidable burden even for the angels. His election to the episcopate had been prepared by Saint Maximus himself, and his acceptance was commanded by obedience to the will of his predecessor and his father.

Faustus took possession of his see on January 16, 461, and brought to it all the virtues that had been admired in him in the cloister. Always a faithful observer of monastic discipline, he added to it even new austerities, never drinking wine and taking for his ordinary food nothing but fruits and raw vegetables. He established in his church the prayers used at Lérins, that is to say, he regulated the divine office according to the customs of that community. Constantly occupied with the salvation of his flock, he gave all his care to the instruction of his people, to the visiting of prisoners, to procuring for the poor the necessary food and clothing, and finally to assisting the sick in their final moments. The burial of the dead was also part of his good works: he was seen several times carrying on his shoulders corpses half-rotted, from which everyone turned away in horror, carrying them to the grave, and rendering them all religious duties. Nothing in his clothing distinguished him from his priests; his activity, his fervor, and his charity alone made him remarkable in the accomplishment of the holy functions of the priesthood. Devoting barely a few hours to sleep, on the bare earth or the floor of his room, he frightened the most fervent anchorites with his austerities. Hard on himself to the point of cruelty, he breathed only sweetness, affability, and compassion for others: thus he easily won all hearts. A vigilant and faithful pastor, he never omitted any duty of his office, traveling through his diocese to recognize his sheep, distributing to them the bread of the word, and bringing them back to the fold if they had had the misfortune to stray from it.

It was not only in his diocese that Faustus had the opportunity to deploy the activity of his zeal for the good of the Church and the glory of religion. He was soon seen involved in all the major affairs that arose in his time, taking an active part in them and resolving them. Thus, in 462, we find him deputed by the Council of Arles to go to Rome, with his colleague Auxonius, to pursue the intrusion of Hermes of Narbonne. Pope Hilary VIII then occupied the Holy See. Hilary received them with all the regard due to their dignity, and having learned the subject of their mission, he convened a council in Rome of various provinces of Italy. Faustus attended this council, not as a simple judge, but as a representative of his colleagues from the Gauls. He was further chosen, with Auxonius, as judge and arbiter in the affair of Leontius of Arles and Mamertus of Vienne, the latter having taken the liberty of giving episcopal consecration to the bishop of Die, without being authorized by the metropolitan of Arles who had inspection over four provinces. The Pope approved the acts of the council and notified them to the bishops of the provinces of Lyonnensis, Viennensis, the two Narbonnenses, and the Maritime Alps, by his letter of December 3, 462. Upon returning to his diocese, Faustus resumed his ordinary exercises of charity with renewed ardor. To renew himself even better in fervor, he often went to visit the caves of Moustiers and the other places in the vicinity that Maximus had populated with monks and anchorites. Several times also he went to Lérins: there, laying down in some way the burden of his dignity, he mingled among the religious, associated himself with all their exercises, rendered them the most humble and humiliating duties, and served them with his own hands. One would have said, seeing him macerate his exhausted body, that he had great crimes to expiate, or that he was barely beginning to serve God. His visits to the religious were thus a continuous preaching of humility, abnegation, and self-renunciation.

In the year 470 and in the month of July, Faustus received in his episcopal city the visit of the famous Sidonius Apol linaris, who, from Sidoine Apollinaire Bishop of Clermont and Gallo-Roman writer. prefect of Rome, had become a patrician, son-in-law of the Emperor Avitus, and finally bishop of Clermont, in Auvergne. This illustrious man professed a profound admiration for the virtues and writings of Faustus. He made the trip to Riez expressly to converse with him and pour into his heart the sentiments that overflowed from his own. Faustus, a just appraiser of the merits and virtues of Sidonius, lavished upon his guest all the duties of the most generous and respectful hospitality. He led him to the principal places in the vicinity and notably to Moustiers, to visit the monks and the church they had built in that place in honor of the Virgin Mother of God. It was on the occasion of this visit and in gratitude for all the pious care of his host that Sidonius composed his Carmen Eucharisticum, where, in a concise but pompous style, he sings the virtues of the bishop of Riez. "Whether you live in the burning Syrtes, in inaccessible places," he writes, "or whether, on the steep summit of the Alps, a dwelling of glacial cold, which nevertheless cannot dampen in your heart the ardent love you bear for Christ, I see you take only a few hours of sleep on bare ground, frighten the anchorites by your austerities, and follow the path where Elijah, John, the two Macarii, Paphnutius, Hilarion call you; whether you restore to Lérins its first father, Lérins where you often go, although broken by old age, to refresh yourself by serving your disciples; where you devote barely a few moments to sleep, avoiding eating cooked food, not drinking wine, fasting incessantly and singing psalms, reminding your brothers how many mountains soared to the heavens from the depths of this island; what was the holy life of old Caprais; with what graces Honoratus, their father, was endowed; what virtues were practiced by this Maximus whose successor you are in a double title, for you govern his Church as pontiff, and you governed his monks as abbot; whether I contemplate you in the midst of the people entrusted to your care, and who begin, according to your exhortations, to despise the customs of their ancestors; whether I consider your eagerness to provide for the needs of the infirm, the pilgrims, and those whose emaciated legs bend under the weight of chains; whether, applied entirely to rendering the last duties to the dead, you do not disdain to carry yourself the livid and infectious remains of the poor; whether placed on the steps of the holy altars, you speak before the people, who press around you to listen to the law of God, and draw the salutary remedies it contains; whatever you do, in whatever place you find yourself, you will always be for me Faustus, Honoratus, and Maximus." This last trait characterizes, much better than we could do, the high opinion of holiness that Sidonius professed for the pious bishop of Riez.

Towards the end of the year 470, Faustus went to Lyon at the invitation of Saint Patient, to attend the dedication of the church that had just been built. A large number of bishops were gathered there for the same object, and for eight days this solemnity was celebrated with extraordinary pomp. Faustus was invited to deliver the customary speeches: which he did to the applause of the entire assembly. It was during his stay in Lyon that he became acquainted and friends with Gundobad, king of the Burgundians, who gave him on several occasions testimonies of esteem and respect.

The charity of the holy bishop was put to a severe test in the year 474. The city and diocese of Riez were crushed under the grip of a horrible famine. In this calamity, the pontiff, becoming all things to all men, lavished upon his starving children all the aid that the most ingenious charity could suggest to him. Poor himself, he stripped himself of the little he still possessed to procure the necessary food for his people. He brought in from neighboring provinces, and notably from Lyon, large quantities of wheat that Saint Patient placed at his disposal and which he distributed generously to his diocesans. To this aid he joined that of his exhortations, his examples, and his austerities to avert the scourge and obtain its cessation from God. It was on this occasion also that he instituted in his church the three days of solemn supplications, known by the name of Rogations; su pplicatio Rogations Liturgical prayers instituted by Faustus of Riez. ns which are still perpetuated in our day, and which, by that very fact, should be for us more holy and more respectable. The Lord heard his servant, and the memory of the terrible scourge only made the pastor dearer to his flock.

The following year (475), Faustus had the opportunity to demonstrate his zeal for the defense of the faith and the conversion of innovators. The priest Lucidus, attached to what was believed at the church of M arseille, had propagated the hérésie de la prédestination Central theological debate concerning salvation and the divine will. heresy of predestination by denying the cooperation of free will with grace. Faustus tried to disabuse him in the letters he wrote to him and in the conferences he held with him; then, seeing the futility of his efforts, he denounced him to the Council of the Province, which the metropolitan Leontius convened at Arles, and which was attended by thirty bishops, among whom were Saint Euphronius of Autun, Saint Patiens of Lyon, and Saint Mamertus of Vienne. The council condemned the error, but suspended proceedings against Lucidus, upon the repeated entreaties of Faustus, who still hoped to bring the innovator back to the Catholic faith. Our pious prelate met with Lucidus again and endeavored to bring the truth into his heart through the ways of gentleness and kindness, supported by the eloquence of his speech and the strength of his reasoning. The innovator, already shaken by such persevering charity, then asked to be instructed by some writing. Faustus took on this task as well, drafting, during the very holding of the council, a long epistle which was signed by eleven bishops in order to give it more authority. This epistle made such a vivid impression on the mind of Lucidus that he affixed his signature to it, and, subsequently called before the council, he solemnly retracted the heresy of predestination by word of mouth and in writing.

As, after the Lord, the resolution of this affair was attributed to the zeal of Faustus and his letter, the Fathers of the Council of Arles urged him to write against the predestinarian heresy, and to organize in order the reasons that had been opposed to it. Faustus willingly yielded to their desires: he composed a work divided into two volumes, on *grace and free will*. Before he had made it public, a second council was convened at Lyon against the Predestinarians. This council confirmed the judgment rendered by that of Arles, and condemned the new errors that had been discovered in these sectarians. Faustus, who was among the number of the Fathers of Lyon, was again requested to publish his work and to add to it the refutation of the new errors. These details are recorded in the very preface of Faustus's work, which the author dedicated to Leontius of Arles, his metropolitan.

It is not only in the affairs of religion or the Church that we find the name of Faustus involved. The high esteem in which he was held by the princes of the earth designated him for their choice in the defense of their temporal interests. The empire, which had often changed masters in a short time, was then governed by Julius Nepos. The Visigoths, having left the borders of Spain and already established under the leadership of Eu Evaric King of the Visigoths who persecuted Catholics. ric in Novempopulania and Narbonne, believed that the opportunity was favorable for them to extend their conquest. They therefore went to besiege the city of the Arverni, and from there they threatened the province of Vienne and the other neighboring provinces. In this conjuncture, Julius Nepos, who was in no state to resist Euric, had recourse to negotiation and entrusted it to four bishops: Leontius of Arles, Graecus of Marseille, Basil of Aix, and Faustus of Riez. The deputies went to the barbarian king with the mission of negotiating peace; but the negotiation was not successful. Euric continued his conquests. He first made himself master of Arles and Marseille, and from there, spreading like a devastating torrent, he subjected to his laws all the part of Provence on this side of the Durance. Gascony and the two Aquitaines were especially prey to his ravages. Provence was less mistreated; but it had much to suffer from the ruses and violence employed to implant the pernicious heresy of Arius.

In this extremity, the zeal of Faustus for the Catholic faith manifested itself with more brilliance than before. He first thought of protecting his flock. He was seen traveling through the cities and towns of his diocese, preaching with extraordinary ardor, demonstrating with as much eloquence as lucidity the Catholic truth distorted by the sectarians, and inspiring in all a vivid horror of the heresy. But it was especially in his episcopal city that he made his zeal shine, gathering his people and his clergy every day, imposing new austerities upon himself, and sighing for the palm of martyrdom so that his blood might ward off the contagion from the flock entrusted to his care. This was not enough for him. Pontiff of the Church and guardian of the deposit of faith, he wished to provide for the needs of all the faithful. To this end, he published a large number of letters against the Arians, and his work against the heresies of Arius and Macedonius. He added to it a special treatise on the Holy Spirit. This zeal could only displease the tyrant: he threatened, but in vain; the holy bishop was only more ardent in the defense of the true faith. Euric then ordered his person to be seized, and, exiling him from his diocese, he assi Limoges Possible birthplace of the saint and origin of the woman who received the miracle. gned him the city of Limoges as his prison.

Persecution is the touchstone of holiness. Faustus did not relax either his zeal or his austerities. Those among whom he was condemned to live, witnesses of his examples, admired his greatness of soul, and were renewed in the faith and the practice of Christian virtues. The land of exile was a new theater, arranged by divine Providence for this generous confessor of the faith. Ruricius, bishop of Limoges, came to visit him often and softened the rigor of his exile through his good offices. He had for Faustus a filial piety, a tender veneration, and a blind confidence, guiding himself according to his advice and leaving him the direction of his conscience.

King Euric having died, Faustus saw his exile end and was able to return to his church in 484. He was received there with transport and with all the honors due to a generous confessor of the faith. His great age had not in the least weakened his zeal and his mortification. Distance had only made the flock entrusted to his care dearer to him. His entry was a true triumph, and sweet tears flowed from every eye. Feeling his last hour approaching, he prepared himself with all possible fervor to sustain the final combat, awaiting with just confidence the reward promised to his labors and his virtues. Finally, after more than 33 years of episcopate spent in all the rigors of monastic life, he died in peace in his church on the 25th of January in the year 493, aged more than one hundred years.

[APPENDIX: CULT AND RELICS. — WRITINGS.]

Faustus was buried in his cathedral church; but his body was subsequently transported, without the motive being known, to Cavaillon, where it is ex Cavaillon City of birth and primary ministry of the saint. posed to the veneration of the faithful under the name of the blessed Faustus, Abbot of Lérins. At Riez, one possessed as relics only his garments and the chair from which he announced the holy word, and pronounced, among other sermons, the panegyric of his holy predecessor Maximus. These precious remains were kept in the ancient basilica of Saint-Albon, later called Saint-Maxime. They perished with all the furnishings of this church in the fire and ravages committed there by the Huguenots in the year 1574.

The public cult rendered to Faustus goes back to the highest antiquity and dates from his death. We find his feast marked with an octave, and inscribed in large characters and in red ink, in the oldest manuscript calendar of the Church of Riez, and the mass in his honor in an old manuscript missal. In the ancient basilica of Saint-Maxime, which was the cathedral church for several centuries, there was a chapel under the invocation of Saint Faustus. The learned Bollandists, under the date of January 17, and Baronius himself, are in error when they say that there exists in the city of Riez a basilica erected in his honor. There has never been a basilica, but rather a chapel in the basilica of Saint-Maxime.

The Church of Riez has always celebrated his feast on the 28th of the month of September, under the double rite of the second class with an octave. That of Cavaillon celebrates it on the 21st of May, under the major double rite. At Lérins and in the churches of the Order, it was held on the 17th of January, which is believed to be the day of his elevation to the episcopate and his consecration.

Among the works of Faustus that have survived the ravages of time, we must distinguish: 1° Homilia de sancto Maximo, which Doni d'Attichi, Bishop of Riez, had reprinted in Latin and French in 1614, under the title: Riegium de sancto Maximo; — 2° Liber de Spiritu Sancto, or treatise on the Holy Spirit against the Macedonians. The author proves the divinity, consubstantiality, and coeternity of the third person of the Holy Trinity. It has often been printed under the name of Paschasius, who was a deacon of the Roman Church under Popes Anastasius and Symmachus. It is found in the Library of the Fathers; — 3° De gratia Dei et humanæ mentis libero arbitrio libri duo. It is in this work, directed against the Predestinarians and judged so diversely by authors, that Faustus is said to have expressed sentiments favorable to the errors of the Semi-Pelagians. It is for this reason that it was censured by Popes Gelasius and Hormisdas, refuted by Saint Isidore and other Fathers, and finally placed in the rank of apocryphal books by a Council of Rome; — 4° Ad Lucidum epistola; this letter is found in the Collection of the Councils of the Gallican Church; — 5° Professio fidei ad Leontium episcopum Arciutensem de Gratia Dei et humanæ mentis arbitrio libero; — 6° Libellus de creaturis. The object of this treatise is to prove against certain heretics that God alone is incorporeal or has no body, and that creatures are not incorporeal; — 7° Adversus Arienos et Macedonianos libellus, or treatise on the unity of nature of the three divine persons; — 8° Ad Graecum diaconum responsio contra Nestorii errorem. In this letter, Faustus combats the heresy of Nestorius and makes a profession of believing that the Blessed Virgin Mary did not bring into the world a mere man who, subsequently, would have been united with or clothed in divinity, but a true God in a true man; — 9° De variis questionibus ad Paulinum; — 10° De Pœnitentia ad Felicem, or exhortation to the fear of God and to penance; — 11° Epistola ad diversos; — 12° Ad Ruricum epistola; — 13° Sermo ad Monachos; — 14° Six sermons on various subjects, which were published for the first time by Fathers Martenne and Durand, in volume IX of the Collection amplissima veterum monumentorum; — 15° Savaron, in his Commentaries on Saint Sidonius, and Bellarmine, in his Ecclesiastical Writers, also attribute to Faustus of Riez the fifty homilies that were falsely published under the name of Eusebius of Emesa and which are found in the Library of the Fathers. This sentiment is shared by Fathers Stilting, Martenne, Rivet, Ceillier, Cave, etc., with the modification, however, that some of the fifty homilies are incontestably by Saint Maximus of Riez. Excerpt from The Titular Saints of the Church of Riez, by Abbé Férand. — Cf. (Works of Saint Sidonius Apollinaris; Simon Bartel, Nomenclature of the Bishops of Riez, and Apology for Saint Faustus; Longuerat, History of the Gallican Church; Gallia Christiana; Acta Sanctorum, under September 28; Godescard, under November 27; Tillemont, Baronius, Ceillier, Rivet, etc., etc.