Saint Berarius I

At that time, the city of Le Mans was enriched with a new sanctuary. Towards the beginning of his episcopate, and during a night spent in pious vigils, Saint Berarius had a vision in which he was ordered to send to Italy, to the land of Benevento, on Monte Cassino, s ervants of Mont-Cossin A location in Italy where the relics of Saint Scholastica were kept. God of proven holiness of life, in order to discover and bring back the relics of the virgin Saint Scholastica, sister o f Saint Benedict. S sainte Scholastique Wife of Saint Injuriosus, with whom she shared a vow of chastity. ince the m onastery fou saint Benoît Founder of the Benedictine Order, cited as a chronological reference point. nded by the patriarch of the monks of the West had been destroyed by the Lombards, the body of Saint Benedict and that of his sister had remained buried and hidden under the ruins. Berarius, hastening to obey the order of heaven, chose some virtuous monks, gave them the necessary instructions, and they set off for Italy. Meanwhile, Berarius was building a monastery for virgins, in order to deposit the precious relics he was expecting. This monastery was under the city walls, between the south and the west.

The mission of the monks of Le Mans was a complete success, and they soon returned with the treasure they had gone to seek; as they approached the city, all the clergy and the people, with Berarius at their head, ran to meet this desired pledge of divine protection; everyone pressed around the reliquary and solicited the honor of carrying it. For the reception of this new patroness, all the display of the most beautiful triumph was deployed; crosses, censers, incense, and torches in great numbers surrounded the sacred remains, and the singing of hymns, psalms, and antiphons was heard continuously, until the moment when the holy bishop deposited the sacred deposit behind the altar of the basilica he had already consecrated.

A very wealthy lady, named L opa, Lopa Wealthy noblewoman and founder of the monastery of Tuffé. moved by the zeal that Béraire put into raising his monastery of Sainte-Scholastique, wished to imitate him by also founding a retreat for nuns. She possessed an estate on the banks of the Hulane river, on the side of the Sonnois, named Thusifer us (Tuffi), and sh Thusiferus (Tuffi) Site of the foundation of a monastery by Lopa. e destined it for this foundation. A church was first built which was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and a spacious cloister where one soon saw a great number of servants of God gather to live there under the Rule of Saint Benedict. Not content with having given her fortune to God, the pious Lopa also wished to consecrate the days of her widowhood entirely to Him, and Béraire placed her at the head of the new monastery. Under the ashes of this abbess, virtue flourished in this holy solitude; thus, one soon saw up to one hundred virgins come to consecrate themselves there under the Benedictine cowl.

Saint Béraire Saint Béraire Bishop of Le Mans in the 7th century, successor to Saint Hadouin. died in the domain of Baneth, in the territory of Bordeaux, where he was, after twenty-six years, four months, and four days of episcopate. His body was transported to Le Mans, with all suitable honors, and placed by the priests of his church and by his disciples in the basilica of the monastery of Saint-Martin de Pontfieu. This monast monastère de Saint-Martin de Pontfieu Burial place of Saint Béraire in Le Mans. ery had received great marks of affection from the holy prelate, who had expanded its buildings and renovated the basilica where he chose his tomb. Soon this place became the theater of his glory through the numerous miracles that he did not cease to perform there, in favor of all those who came to implore his help.

Excerpt from the History of the Church of Le Mans, by the R. P. Dom Pont P. Dom Pont P. Iin Author of the History of the Church of Le Mans. Iin.