Saint Ursula and her companions

However, Emperor Gratian had succeeded his father, Valentinian I. An object of jealousy for Flavius-Clemens-Maximus, commander-in-chief of the Roman legions stationed in Great Britain, he was later to fall under the dagger of Androgatius, who commanded under the orders of the latter.

Maximus, takin g adva Maxime Roman general and imperial usurper in Armorica. ntage of the poor disposition of the legions stationed in Gaul toward Gratian, had himself proclaimed emperor by his soldiers, and sent a portion of his troops to these legions, who were received with benevolence. With the goal of strengthening his power, he himself crossed into Armorica, dr ove out t Armorique Place of Guigner's first exile. he former colonists, and, to further attach the Roman soldiers to himself, distributed these fertile lands among them.

Regulus was charged with the command of Armorica. He thought, following the advice of Conanus, one of the leaders placed under his orders, that it was necessary to think about founding a serious colony; and, for this, he sent ambassadors to Great Britain to request a certain number of young women to marry the Roman soldiers. Conanus perhaps hoped that Ursula would be among the number, for he had not forgotten the one he still considered his fiancée.

The ambassadors succeeded in their mission: their request was favorably received, whether by the desire to be agreeable to the new emperor, or by the hope the parents had of seeing their daughters possess the rich inheritances distributed to the soldiers.

Among the considerable number of young girls destined for these alliances, the most distinguished was Ursula; she was, to use the expression of Ribadeneira, the colonel of this phalanx of virgins. Far from sharing the enthusiasm of their parents, these Christian virgins offered serious resistance when it came time to leave London, where they had been gathered; force was used to place them on the vessels prepared for this purpose, and soon they saw the coasts of Great Britain flee behind them. However, a violent storm prevented the ships from landing in Armorica: they ended up running aground on the coasts of Germania.

These regions were then occupied by the Huns (this name was given to all the hordes of Barbarians). These peoples, thinking only of satisfying their brutal passions, rushed upon these young victims; but the latter did not hesitate to offer vigorous resistance to defend their virginity, and there was a true battle, in which Ursula died pierced by an arrow ; all Ursule Saint whose tomb was discovered by Cunibert in Cologne. her companions were massacred. Their martyrdom took place around 383.

Saint Ursula is represented: 1° covering several pious people with her mantle, or perhaps the companions of her martyrdom; 2° being massacred with her companions; 3° holding a sword; 4° holding a palm, a book, and an arrow; 5° standing, holding a palm and a heart pierced by an arrow. In the air, an angel holds a wheel, another a crown. In the background, the Saint's companions holding palms.

## CULT AND RELICS.

The inhabitants of Cologne Cologne Archiepiscopal see and burial place of the saint. buried the mortal remains of these holy virgins with honor. Already in the 7th century, a church was erected on the very spot where their bodies rested; the chronicles of the land report a miracle that occurred there while Saint Cunibe rt, bishop, wa saint Cunibert Bishop of Cologne who discovered the body of Saint Ursula in the 7th century. s celebrating the holy mysteries.

A dove of dazzling whiteness came to rest on the head of the pontiff, then flew to land on the very spot where the body of Saint Ursula rested. They dug in that place, and soon discovered a tomb with this inscription: SANCTA URSULA, REGINA.

In the church of Saint Ursula in Cologne, they show not only the tomb of the Saint, but also the arrow with which she was pierced.

As for her companions, their bodies were collected and placed with honor within the very walls of the church, which thus became a vast reliquary; one can still see today, in the apsidal region, up to one thousand seven hundred and sixty heads richly decorated with crimson velvet enriched with gold. If one passes from the chur ch to the go chambre d'or Chapel in the Church of Saint Ursula in Cologne containing countless relics. lden chamber that is contiguous to it, one finds countless relics, not including the six hundred and twelve heads that line the entire interior of the walls of this chapel, and the gilded busts containing the precious remains of other companions of Saint Ursula and other Martyrs.

It is easy to be convinced that several of them had borrowed their names from the most famous virgins of the primitive Church; one notes there another Saint Ursula, niece of the first, a Saint Catherine, Saint Clementia, Saint Margaret, Saint Juliana, Saint Sophia, Saint Theodora, Saint Christina, Saint Eugenia, Saint Aurelia, etc.

Besides the relics preserved in Cologne, we know that a great number of cities pride themselves on possessing the heads or bones of other companions of Saint Ursula. Indeed, when the translation of the bodies of these holy Martyrs was performed, there was no fear of bestowing them upon neighboring cities and regions; the churches of Germany, England, Spain, Italy, France, and Belgium hastened to enrich themselves with these pious treasures. The city of Paris alone, before the Revolution of 1793, possessed in various churches twenty-three heads of the companions of Saint Ursula.

The discovery and translation of the relics of Saint Ursula and her companions are said to have taken place at two different times, according to the ecclesiastical historians of the region; first in the 7th century, around 610, by Saint Cunibert, Bishop of Cologne; later, in 1156, Gerlac, Abbot of Deutz, with the authorization of Saint Anno, Bishop of Cologne, conducted new excavations and discovered a large number of new holy bodies, enclosed in tombs, several of which bore inscriptions. Since that time, the cult of Saint Ursula and her companions spread further. In the 13th century, the Sorbonne a dopted h Sorbonne Faculty of Theology of Paris. er as its patron saint, and the Universities of Coimbra, in Portugal, and Vienna, in Austria, imitated the University of Paris.

Excerpt from the Hagiologie Niserweise, by Mgr Crounier.

LIVES OF THE SAINTS. — VOLUME XII.