Saint Enimie

The nobility of her birth and all the beautiful qualities that shone within her soon led to her being asked in marriage; to which her parents consented and even wished to compel her. The preparations were already made, and the ceremony was about to take place. The night before, the young virgin, seeing herself without resources from the side of men, withdrew to her apartments and began to pray to God with all her heart, not to allow her to have any other spouse than Himself. Her prayers were answered. At the moment when they came to fetch her for the ceremony, she was found entirely covered in leprosy. At this news, her parents and friends were seized with grief; but, for her part, she offered fervent thanks to God, in the depths of her heart, for the signal favor He had just granted her. They hastened to try all the remedies of the art to obtain her healing, but they were all useless. God alone could make a disease disappear of which He was directly the author.

Saint Enimie had spent several years in this state of suffering and humiliation, rejoicing God and edifying everyone by her unfailing patience, when an Angel appeared to her and said: "God finally wishes to restore your former health. You will find it by going to wash yourself in the fountain of Burle, in Gévaudan." The day af ter this Gévaudan Historical region evangelized by Severian. vision, she shared it with her parents, who were greatly rejoiced and hastened to provide her with the money necessary for the journey, as well as a well-composed procession to accompany her.

She had to cover a distance of more than one hundred and fifty leagues, and one that became increasingly arduous toward the end, because of the mountains found in the Gévaudan and the neighboring regions. Finally, when she had reached the borders of the land that the Angel had designated for her, she inquired about the place where the mysterious fountain that was to heal her might be. A lady to whom she spoke replied: "I am completely unaware if there is a fountain by the name you give it. All I can tell you is that at some distance from here, there is a spring whose waters have a very effective virtue. It may be that you will find there the healing that was promised to you." This person was referring to the village of Bagnols-les-Bains, where the re are still ther Bagnols-les-Bains Thermal town where the saint stopped during her journey. mal waters that are quite frequented. According to the information, the spring that was there had not been designated to her under the name of Fontaine-de-Burle; she feared with reason that it was not the source to which God was sending her. That is why, after arriving at Bagnols-les-Bains, and while her companions were relaxing in the sweetness of sleep from the fatigues of a long and harsh journey, she spent the night in prayer to know the will of heaven. Then an angel appeared to her again and said: "The waters of Bagnols are not the ones required; you must not be purified in baths of this kind. God wishes to heal you by His own virtue, by means of ordinary cold water; you must go a little further." She hastened to obey this second order from heaven. Then, after having traveled another six to seven leagues on the worst road one could see, and as she was already on the plateau that overlooks the valley where the Fontaine-de-Burle flows, she heard this word pronounced by shepherds. She approached these rustic men and took one of them to serve as her guide.

When she arrived at the fountain, she first knelt to implore the help of the Almighty. Then, after a long and fervent prayer, she plunged with a lively faith into the salutary waters, while, at the same moment, the enormous rock that rose in the shape of a vault above the spring opened its numerous fissures and let escape an abundant water that came to bathe the servant of the Lord. This miracle was soon followed by a greater one. Soon Saint Enimie felt and found herself completely healed, her limbs having become as pure and as clean as those of a small child, and her skin having recovered the whiteness of milk and snow. To say what her joy and that of her companions was, what thanksgivings they all rendered to the Lord with a common voice, would be an impossible thing.

After this, she thought of taking the road back to the capital, and she was already at a certain distance from the place where her health had just been restored to her, when she saw herself seized by leprosy once again. She undoubtedly believed that God only wished to put her faith and patience to the test; that is why she returned to the mysterious fountain, plunged into it again with confidence, and found her health there just as the first time. She gave new thanks to divine goodness for this; then she set out again to return to Paris. But she was never to return there. God wanted her in this distant solitude; and this is what He sought to make her understand by striking her a third time with leprosy. Indeed, at this sight, she understood what the Lord expected of her and generously offered herself to do His most holy will. On the other hand, still full of confidence, she went to plunge herself once more into the waters of the fountain, and this time her health was restored to her forever. Then, turning to those who had accompanied her, she said to them: "The God who healed me obviously wants me to serve Him in these places. I cannot resist His holy will, and I feel the courage to conform to it. As for you, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart for all the care you have kindly given me during my long trials, you are permitted to take the road back to your homeland. However, if some of you wished to stay with me, I would bless God for it, treating you henceforth, no longer as servants, but as brothers and sisters." Such dignified language was far from being without effect. All of Saint Enimie's companions, with few exceptions, replied to her: "We wish to be exiled and to suffer with you in this land, so that we may one day reign with you in heaven."

After the departure of those of the Saint's companions who returned to Paris, and there informed the king and queen of the miraculous healing of their daughter, and the resolution she had taken to obey the will of God who desired her so far from them, she settled as best she could those who had not wished to leave her on the banks of th e Ta Tarn River on the banks of which the saint founded his monastery. rn and near the fountain of Burle; then, climbing the steep mountain that is above this spring herself, towards the west, she chose for the place of her retreat a fairly deep cave, keeping with her only a young girl of whom she was the godmother and to whom she had had her own name given.

It is easy to understand what the way of life of our holy princess was in this solitary and arduous dwelling, what she had to suffer from the inclemency of the seasons and the lack of all things, but also in what intimate relations she must have established herself with her God, through her frequent and long prayers.

Thus, in a few years, the Lord wished to make known to the world how pleasing this innocent victim of His love was in His eyes, by giving her the virtue to perform wonders. The fame of her holiness having spread far into the surrounding areas, people flocked from all parts to her humble dwelling, not only to contemplate her virtues, but also to obtain, through her intercession, extraordinary graces. The ancient authors of her life tell us that she restored health to an infinite number of sick people of all kinds, and recount in detail the healing of a leper and a man crippled in one arm since his childhood, and the resurrection of the only son of a widow who had drowned in the waters of the Tarn.

On the other hand, among the people who went to visit her, there were several who, touched by her holy instructions, drawn by the scent of her virtues, and enlightened by the light from above, asked to serve God as she did and alongside her. Her zeal for the salvation of souls and for the glory of God caused her to overcome her humility and accede to their insistent prayers. She therefore began to build a monastery near the spring where God had healed her of leprosy. Her holy undertaking was greatly tested. The evil spirit, furious to see a new refuge for innocence and virtue rising, appeared on the scene in the form of an enormous dragon, knocking down, every Saturday at the onset of night, the constructions that the workers had made during the week.

In the meantime, she received a visit from Saint Ilère, Bishop of Me nde. This p saint Ilère Bishop of Mende who helped the saint found her monastery. ious prelate who, after having been raised to the episcopal dignity, honored it with all sorts of virtues under the humble habit of a religious, had come in his turn to the Saint, not so much to verify the truth of the reports that had been made to him about her, as to be edified with her and to commend to her the various needs of his flock. For her part, Saint Enimie, receiving him as a heavenly messenger, hastened to open her soul to him and did not fail to make known to him what she had to suffer from the demon. The man of God consoled her, promised to help her before God with his prayers, and during the time he spent in that place, he honored her with frequent visits.

Now, one day when he had gone to see her, and while he was with her, the infernal dragon, of which we have already spoken, advanced toward the monastery to continue its work of destruction. At this sight, the Saint, frightened and bursting into tears, implored the help of her spiritual father. The holy prelate, strong with the weapons of his faith, left the house and headed without fear toward the threatening monster. On his way, he found two pieces of wood under his feet, arranged them in the shape of a cross, and opposed this sign of the instrument of the Redemption to the enemy of our salvation. It took no more than that to give him the victory: at the sight of the cross, the dragon turned back and went to hide in deep gorges from which it was never seen to emerge again.

From then on, it was permitted for Saint Enimie to put the finishing touches to her monastery, for the completion of which Saint Ilère granted her abundant aid. When the building was finished, this same prelate went to consecrate the church, which he placed under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin. He also performed the same ceremony in another sanctuary, built not far from the first and dedicated to the Prince of the Apostles. At the same time, he gave the veil to the holy Princess, as well as to her companions, and established her as their mother and abbess.

God immediately came to the aid of this new swarm of chaste virgins, through the generosity they received from several noble and powerful people of the region. Clotaire II, father of Saint Enimie, and Dagobert I, her brother, al Dagobert Ier King of the Franks petitioned by Sulpicius to annul a tax. so established certain fixed incomes for her and provided her with the means to purchase several neighboring properties. Thus, God has always taken care of those trusting souls who abandon all things to devote themselves solely to His service.

Finally, after having put Saint Enimie through all sorts of trials to purify her virtue and increase her merits, and after her spiritual daughters had sufficiently absorbed her spirit, the Lord, in a way envying the earth this vessel of innocence and purity, deigned to let her know long enough in advance the moment when she would have the happiness of leaving this miserable world to go into the blessed abode to walk with her peers in the footsteps of the spotless Lamb. She kept this heavenly communication to herself, however, contenting herself with preparing as best she could to be in a state to appear before her divine Spouse.

It was only a short time before her death that, gathering her good friends and her pious companions, she said to them: "My dearest brothers, and you, my beloved sisters, I need to share with you the joy I feel; the Lord finally wishes to withdraw me from the midst of the miseries of this world. I am on the eve of my death. I give thanks to this God of goodness that He deigns to call me to the delicious feast of His eternity; I thank Him for the great affliction He once made my body suffer in my youth, for the way in which He delivered me from leprosy, and for having kept me in these places to preserve me from the dangers of the vain and fragile honors of this world. I urge you to persevere yourselves in your generous and holy resolutions; I dare not tell you: Imitate my examples; for, although I have had the honor and the happiness of being your mother, I have never been and I am still only something very small and very miserable. I can only exhort you to fight until the end, so that it may be given to you one day to receive from the hands of your eternal Spouse the palm of virginity, of patience, and of all the other virtues that befit you. It is today, finally, that I leave this life so short and so fragile, to pass into that region where one never dies, to go and contemplate that divine King whom I have sought, whom I have desired with all my heart; for the love of whom I have despised, as a vile nothingness, the honors of the court and the dignities that my birth could have earned me. But, I beseech you, do not grieve too much for my departure from among you. Instead of shedding tears, you must on the contrary rejoice that your mother precedes you: up there I will take an interest in your salvation, before our common Master, much more than I can do here below. I have yet to tell you that my death will soon be followed by that of my dearest goddaughter, who bears the same name as I. I have asked for this grace for myself and for her from Our Lord Jesus Christ, and He has granted it to me. You will take care to bury her body in the same place as mine and to place her sepulcher above mine; for such is the will of God."

Soon after these touching farewells, the supreme hour arrived for the blessed servant of God. She had the last sacraments administered to her, and while, among her spiritual daughters who surrounded her, some recited psalms and others dissolved in tears, she rendered her beautiful soul, which the angels hastened to go and present to her divine Spouse.

God did not delay in manifesting her holiness: when her body was buried, her face was found all radiant with light, while all her other limbs seemed to have experienced no alteration.

She was given a serpent as an attribute, because she is reputed to have delivered the Gévaudan from these dangerous animals.

## CULT AND RELICS.

Some time after the death of Saint Enimie, King Dagobert I, her brother, went as far as the Gévaudan to bring back with him the precious remains of his blessed sister. The intention of this prince was to place this holy deposit in the basilica of Saint-Denis, near Paris, which he had greatly embellished, and where he had gathered the relics of the most illustrious saints of his kingdom. But divine Providence did not judge it appropriate that it should be so. It permitted Dagobert to be mistaken, taking for the coffin of his sister that of her goddaughter: an error that is easy to understand by recalling the last words of the Saint to her spiritual daughters.

However, the tomb of Saint Enimie, initially no doubt so frequented, eventually became unknown to the faithful of the place: this certainly happened because it had been hidden, either for fear that her relics might be taken in one way or another, as was nearly executed by King Dagobert, or to hide it from the profanation of the Saracens, or to shelter it from the disasters of some war.

Finally, after a long space of time, God deigned to manifest to his people the most precious of treasures. He used for this a holy religious named John. This venerable personage was honored with three sup erna Jean Successor of Alexander and predecessor of Marcellus. tural visions, in which it was revealed to him the place where the body of the Saint rested, as well as the signs by which one could recognize it.

Before undertaking anything, the prelate who then governed the diocese was notified, and he was asked to kindly preside over the search. The ecclesiastical notables of the surrounding area were also convened for this purpose.

It was in the very church built by the care of Saint Enimie that the excavations were to be made. When everyone was gathered, they began by singing an antiphon from the office of virgins; after that, they began to dig the earth, and soon they discovered a small vault containing a sepulcher that they hastened to open. The body of the Saint was indeed found there, and such a sweet odor exhaled from it that all those present believed they were experiencing a foretaste of celestial sweetness. At the same time, the candles of the acolytes having extinguished themselves, their light was replaced by a luminous cloud, which filled the whole church, and with such intensity that everyone could barely see their neighbor. And when, after a fairly long interval,

LIVES OF THE SAINTS. — VOLUME XII. 5

the mysterious cloud disappeared, the candles relit themselves. On the other hand, immediately after the opening of the holy tomb, and as soon as one began to smell the delicious odor that exhaled from it, all the sick who had been brought were perfectly healed. All this took place amidst songs of thanksgiving and cries of joy from a whole people transported with gladness.

They transported the body of the Saint from the place where it had just been discovered to the church of a monastery recently built in place of the first. And there, God was pleased to manifest the holiness of his servant through numerous and striking miracles.

This discovery and this translation took place on the eighteenth day of the month of January, though it is not known in which year. It is only known that the relics of the Saint were in the aforementioned monastery in the year 951.

At that time, as long afterwards, the bishops of Mende, in thei Mende Episcopal see and place of manuscript preservation. r capacity as temporal sovereigns of the country, held an annual assembly in their episcopal city, composed of notables of the region, to reach an agreement with them on how to properly administer their small State; and, as in this age of faith one took care, above all, to implore the help and enlightenment from above, it was prescribed to the ecclesiastics and religious to bring with them their most precious relics. This was the reason why the body of Saint Énimie was several times transported to Mende, where it performed a great number of miracles. There she healed, among other sick people, a blind man, a paralytic, and a cripple; and, the first time she was transported there, the crowd was so great in the chapel of Sainte-Colombe where she had been deposited that, to satisfy the devotion of the faithful, it was necessary to take her from there and carry her into the open countryside, not far from the city and under a richly adorned tent.

In the year 1036, the inhabit Puy-en-Velay Birthplace of the saint in France. ants of Le Puy-en-Velay being divided by a civil war, Étienne de Mercœur, their bishop, convened an assembly in his episcopal city for the purpose of considering means to restore peace, invited the neighboring prelates there, and urged them to bring with them the relics of their Saints most renowned for miracles. Raymond, bishop of Mende, went there with the statue of Saint Privat, patron of his diocese, and with only a few of the relics of the same Saint, whose body had not yet been found. This prelate also took with him the relics of Saint Énimie, which the inhabitants of Le Puy received with great satisfaction, placing them in their distinguished basilica of Notre-Dame. For her part, the Queen of Virgins, yielding in a way to her holy imitator the honors of the circumstance, allowed her to perform a great number of wonders. It is undoubtedly as a result of these marvels that the bishop of Le Puy wanted the relics of Saint Énimie to be transferred to the very place where the assembly was to be held that was to remedy the miseries of that time, and God made the power of his beloved servant shine forth even more in that place.

After the assembly had finished its operations, and when the religious of Sainte-Énimie had taken back the body of their patroness, the place where her relics had been deposited retained a kind of supernatural virtue that did not allow any living being to approach it: which was the reason why, to ensure respect for this place, the inhabitants of the area had it surrounded by a wall.

Among other healings performed at Le Puy by the intercession of Saint Énimie, one cites that of two blind ladies who, if they wanted to enjoy the grace that the Saint had obtained for them, were obliged to follow her to her tomb, in Gévaudan, and to spend the rest of their lives there, their blindness returning every time they tried to return to their homeland.

The primitive monastery of Sainte-Énimie was, in 951, ceded by Étienne, bishop of Mende, to the Benedictine monks of Saint -Chaffre, in the diocese of Le Puy, wh religieux bénédictins de Saint-Chaffre Religious order that owned the saint's monastery. o possessed and inhabited it until the revolution of 1789. The relics of the Saint are still preserved in the parish church of the town that bears her name. In 1724, they also had her veil, and it was carried in proce voile Relic carried in procession during calamities. ssion during public calamities. Her feast is celebrated in the diocese of Mende on the 5th of the month of October, under the double rite. The parish churches of the towns of Sainte-Énimie and Bagnols-les-Bains are dedicated to her.

This biography, which M. l'abbé Charbonnel kindly provided us, was extracted from a manuscript of the Imperial Library, which dates back to the 19th century and contains three lives of this Saint, the history of the invention of her body, and the account of several miracles performed by her intercession, in accordance with the Minutes of the diocese of Mende, of 1039 and 1898, as well as the life of the same holy princess, given by the author of the Monarchie sainte, volume IV.