Saint Aderald of Troyes

As he advanced in age, Aderald grew, following the example of the divine Master, in wisdom and virtue. After having passed through the various degrees of the clergy, he was called to the priesthood; and from that moment on, there was no day, no moment in his life when he did not renew the sacrifice by which he had devoted himself, in his ordination, to the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

To work at this with greater fruit, he made the writings of the Church Fathers and the lives of the Saints his privileged study. In the former, he found the rules of holiness; in the latter, he admired their practice. How often, seeing what the fervent souls of all ages had achieved for the glory of the Lord, did he feel his soul animated with vivid ardor, and cry out, his eyes bathed in tears: "Alas! What a difference between these great servants of God and this miserable priest, who has not yet begun to love Jesus Christ! Why am I here, in the place of another who would have become a saint? I speak always to God, I sing his praises with the heavenly Spirits, and I breathe only the earth, I do not emerge from my imperfections and my miseries."

His humility alone made him use such language; for, one day, it pleased God to reveal to men the intimate communications he had with heaven. Since the feast of the Ascension, he had prepared himself through retreat, fasting, and prayer, to receive more abundantly on the day of Pentecost the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The solemnity having arrived, as he was taking a well-deserved rest after his prolonged hours of prayer, the wonders of Tabor were renewed for him, and his face was seen illuminated by a celestial ray, the brilliance of which all those who witnessed the miracle could not endure. "O Jesus," the holy canon cried out at the same time, "whence comes this flame whose ardor my heart cannot bear?" Then, seeing himself surprised in these spiritual favors with which the Lord intoxicated him, he imposed silence on those who, having seen this marvel, could not doubt that it was the divine Spirit who had descended, as formerly upon the Apostles, in the form of fire and burning rays upon this man so full of zeal and merit.

One will not be surprised at these extraordinary graces when one knows the mortified, recollected, interior life that the illustrious servant of God led. He had taken as models the Saints who had fasted with the greatest austerity, and not only did he nourish himself with barley bread, but he mixed it with ashes, so as to be able to say with the Prophet, that he ate ashes like bread, cinerem tanquam panem manducabam. Never did the cock's crow surprise Aderald in the arms of rest; he never missed the night office, and often he was found in prayer at the door of the church, waiting for it to open to his desires. Often also he spent the nights in meditation on the law of God, and, at the morning office, he was seen so exhausted that he seemed to be returning from an overwhelming struggle. For indeed, the demons waged harsh battles against him to turn him away from his prayer and steal from him the fruits of his tireless vigilance. They appeared to him in the most hideous forms, and uttered the most frightening cries; but their malice could not triumph over his courage and they were forced to take a shameful flight.

His charity was incomparable. It was not enough for him to feed those who were hungry and to exercise hospitality toward strangers; he took particular care of the lepers, washed their wounds, provided them with his own clothes, and embraced them with the tenderness of a brother for the dearest members of his family. He had a list of all the sick and all the indigent of the city. He would go to visit them, giving each what was necessary, accompanying his alms with some consolations, pious instructions, and acts of thanksgiving.

Aderald was not content with merely edifying the city of Troyes; he believed it useful for his spiritu al adv Troyes Episcopal see of Manasses. ancement to undertake pilgrimages. Animated by a true devotion to the Apostolic See, he made the journey to Rome twelve times, in honor of the twelve Apostles. Prostrate before the holy tombs, he wat Rome Birthplace of Maximian. ered the sacred ashes of the Apostles with his pious tears and ardently desired to end his days near these two oracles of the Catholic world. Such was not the will of God: Aderald returned to Troyes. One saw him, upon each of his returns, resume his exercises of devotion with an ever-increasing ardor, becoming more and more insensible to the things of the earth, and more and more desirous of the goods of heaven. The mockery of the world became his consolation; crosses and sufferings were the favorite object of his vows and of all his ambition.

It was not without providential designs that God thus made His servant a mirror of all virtues; He was preparing him for a great and difficult undertaking, the restoration of the community of the cathedral canons.

The incursions and ravages of the Normans in Troyes had caused a relaxation among them. Victims of the fury of the Barbarians, they were deprived of all goods, and forced to engage in trade to provide for the most pressing needs of life. This unfortunate necessity diverted them from their holy functions and involved them in affairs whose entanglement is only suitable for laypeople. Aderald, touched by these serious inconveniences, insisted to Manasses I, then Bishop of Troyes, that he should consider means to br Manassès Ier Bishop of Troyes in the 10th century, reformer and founder. ing back to his clergy the fervor of days of old. This project had long been the object of the pious pastor's solicitude: thus Aderald had no difficulty in persuading him. Manasses first formed a council, at the head of which he placed Aderald with the title of archdeacon. This high office allowed our Saint to pursue his design more easily; he neglected nothing to make its necessity understood, and wishing to add deeds to words, he generously gave the Chapter the greater part of his patrimony. The bishop did not remain behind and joined his liberality to that of his archdeacon, so that the canons were able to renounce the trade that had sustained them in order to apply themselves, in a common life, to the fulfillment of their religious duties.

However, Aderald had conceived the plan to make the journey to Jerusale Jérusalem Holy city where the Cross was lost and subsequently recovered. m. The length and hazards of the crossing frightened the bishop who, responding to the wishes of the Saint's relatives and friends, did not at first permit him to embark. But seeing later that he was unshakable in his resolution, and believing that he was obeying a heavenly inspiration, the Pontiff finally gave him his consent, and his blessing as a protector.

Aderald set out, and, passing through Italy, went to embark at Salerno. The s hip tha Salerne Port of embarkation for the Holy Land. t carried him was almost entirely broken by a storm. Another time, he was pursued and reached by pirates who threatened to slaughter all the passengers, to throw the entire crew into the sea, and to abandon the rest to pillage. Terror took hold of the vessel; the sailors themselves were seized with fright; the Barbarians listened to no prayer and followed only the movements of their senseless fury. In the midst of this pressing danger, the Saint began to pray to implore the help of heaven; immediately the vessel broke free from the enemies, and transported by miracle to a considerable distance from the pirates, it avoided the dreadful fate that awaited it.

Finally, after having escaped all the perils of the sea, Aderald landed on the lands of the Saracens, where he was subjected to new trials. He was stripped, mistreated, and cold and hunger came to complete his misfortune. It was then the custom, according to the statutes of the canons, to keep a profound silence after Compline. Despite his travels, the Saint always observed this law with a rigorous scruple, and nothing could make him break it. In vain the Barbarians employed in turn ill-treatment and caresses to make him speak; never did the man of God, full of respect for his rule, consent to break the silence during the time it was imposed upon him.

Hardly had Aderald set foot in Jerusalem than he flew to Calvary, where he adored Jesus Christ attached to the cross for the redemption of men. A hundred times and more he repeated the touching prayer of the good thief: "Lord, remember me, now that you are in your kingdom!" He reproached himself for having himself crucified his Savior by his sins, for having, by his faults, covered with a veil of opprobrium and ignominy Him who is the glory of the Angels, the splendor of Paradise. With his eyes lovingly turned toward heaven, and his heart broken with vivid contrition, he shed bitter and abundant tears with Peter; and, as if he had seen his Lord expire on that infamous cross, amidst the striking testimonies that all of nature renders to the divinity of its author, he beat his breast, groaned, and cried out with the faith of the Centurion: "Truly, O Jesus! You are the Son of God!"

He traveled through the various places sanctified by the presence of Jesus Christ; he visited the holy manger, where he was rapt in ecstasy, and embraced in spirit the feet of the divine Child who made Himself our brother and took on our mortality. He went as far as the Jordan, whose waters were consecrated by the body of the Savior; he immersed himself there two or three times and asked heaven to make him a participant in this sanctification himself. When at last he had traversed the various places that witnessed the mysteries of our Redemption, he gathered the relics he had been able to procure and returned to his homeland.

His return was a triumph: the canons hastened to show him the liveliest joy at seeing him again; everyone vied to embrace him, to give him the warmest welcome. More than ever he appeared to them as their master and doctor, and, if they had keenly felt his absence, they now believed themselves safe against all peril, being supported by the strength of him whom they regarded as their Pastor and their Father.

However, Adérald had formed a noble project during his journey; it was to reproduce in the diocese of Troyes the form and grandeur of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. He took no rest until he had realized his design, and one soon saw rise at Samblières a monastery of Benedictines of Cluny, which preserved the relics brought from the Holy Land, and took, as did the village, the name of Saint-Sépulcre, in honor of the principal relic: it is today Villacerf, twelve kilometer s northwe Villacerf Site of the monastery's foundation and the saint's burial place. st of Troyes.

The holy archdeacon survived this foundation by only a few years. With his hands full of good works, he went to receive their reward in heaven, on October 20 of the year 1004.

## CULT AND RELICS. Saint Aderald was buried at the monastery of the Holy Sepulchre, as he had desired, and his body was venerated there until 1791, when the fear of revolutionary excesses caused it to be transferred from the priory to the parish church. It was not, however, more respected for this . Durin Terreur Period during which the saint's relics were hidden and lost. g the days of the Terror, the reliquary that contained him was violated and broken; the holy bones were thrown pell-mell with others into the vault of the church of Villacerf. It was not until 1802 that M. Saget, then provisionally in charge of this parish, wished to expose them once again to the piety of the faithful; but the uncertainty in determining with precision which of the bones had belonged to the body of the pious archdeacon led to the decision to wall up the vault to protect the venerated ashes and the oak reliquary that had contained them from further profanation. A monument to the memory of Saint Aderald was erected over the opening. On a square pedestal stood a very tall candle, adorned with a crown, to represent the cardinal virtues, through which the Saint was during his life the support, the pillar, and the edification of the diocese. The feast of Saint Aderald was celebrated, until recent times, on October 20 of each year. Excerpt from the Life of the Saints of the Diocese of Troyes, by Abbé Defors.