Saint Front (Fronto) of Lycaonia

Saint Front was baptized by Saint Peter saint Pierre Apostle and first pope, mentioned as the father of Petronilla. at the command of Jesus Christ, and he was one of the seventy-two disciples whom the divine Master chose and sent, two by two, into every city and place where He Himself was to go, having given them the power to heal the sick, to cast out demons, and to perform all kinds of miracles.

In his capacity as a disciple, our Saint was a witness to the admirable life of the God-man. When, after the Ascension and Pentecost, the Apostles and disciples, filled with the divine Spirit, divided the conquest of the world for the Gospel, Saint Front attached himself to the person of Saint Peter and was particularly loved by him. He shared in the holy labors of this Apostle in Palestine, in Antioch, and in Rome. In this latter city, Saint Front drew public attention to himself, not only by his eloquence but also by a great miracle.

The daughter of a senator had been tormented by demons who had possessed her for fourteen years. She was brought to Saint Front, and he was asked to heal her. But the evil spirits could not endure the presence of the apostle; they were forced to admit their powerlessness and to confess, in the presence of all the people, the virtue of the Name of Jesus and the divinity of the doctrine that Saint Front preached. "O envoy of the Most High," they cried out, "why have you come to pursue us in this city? You persecute us wherever we may be. O Jesus of Nazareth! Why are we delivered to such cruel torments? The power of this man is so great that we cannot resist him."

However, the young girl threw herself at the feet of the apostle; and he, touched by her condition, addressed this prayer to God: "Lord, who have given your servants all power over the powers of hell, hear my prayers and glorify your holy Name by healing this girl, your servant, and by delivering her from the legion of demons that master her." And, in an instant, the young girl was delivered, the demons abandoned her, and a bright light spread over her and over the attentive and astonished crowd.

The news of this miracle, performed in a public square in the midst of the people, soon spread throughout the city and placed our Saint in great favor. People flocked to hear his easy and persuasive word; they wanted to be witnesses of his works; for this miracle was not the only one he performed in the city of Rome. It is also reported that he restored sight to two blind men, healed four dropsical persons, a leper, and that he performed several other miraculous healings, assisted by the virtue of God. "When the princes of the Apostles (Saint Peter and Saint Paul)," says Saint Leo, "had planted the victorious standard of the faith of Jesus Christ upon the walls of Rome, and when this capital of the universe, which gave law to the nations, had received it from the hands of poor fishermen, delighted with this happy success that God had granted them against all appearances, they conceived and concerted the perfect conversion of other neighboring regions, and sent first their deputies and ambassadors into the Gauls, who imbued several peoples of this very ancient region with the holiness and honesty of Christian worship."

Saint Front, the beloved disciple of Saint Peter, was sent to Lower Guyenne to catechize, as the legend expresses it, the noble Petrocorians and to give them the principles of the faith. Saint George was given to him as a Saint Georges A saint to whom Theodore had a great devotion. companion, Saint George who had been sent specifically to the peoples of the Velay. After three days of walking, Saint Front and Saint George had arrived at Bolsena, a small tow n situa Bolséna Site of the sudden death and resurrection of George. ted on the lake of the same name (Vulsiviensis lacus), today in the States of the Church. They had judged it appropriate to stop there, and they preached the Gospel to the Gentiles, who flocked in crowds to hear them and to be witnesses of their miracles. Here, the faith of our Saint was to be subjected to a very painful trial, but one necessary to authorize his divine mission through a striking miracle, and to strengthen the newly converted pagans in their belief. God permitted that Saint George, at the height of his preaching, should die suddenly. This death, so precipitate, brought desolation to the heart of Saint Front. A same vocation to the faith, a same commerce with Jesus and the Prince of the Apostles, had closely united Saint Front and Saint George, and they loved each other; and the same mission that they had received from Saint Peter for the conversion of the Gauls had rendered their friendship even more intimate.

Now, Saint Front, inconsolable at this death, and the Holy Spirit not making him understand that it is for the manifestation of the glory of God and the divinity of his doctrine, places in a sepulcher and orders that the body of his friend be guarded with care. Soon he takes up again in all haste the road to Rome, and goes to carry to Saint Peter the news of his misfortune. Melting into tears, he throws himself at the feet of the Apostle, like Martha at the feet of Jesus after the death of Lazarus, and he says to him: "He whom you loved and whom you had given me for a companion is dead; but come and you will resurrect him." — "Rise, my son," the Apostle said to him gently, moved himself as much by the sweetness of Saint Front as by the death of Saint George, "rise. The death of your friend is only for the manifestation of the glory of God. Take this staff and place it on the body of your friend while invoking the holy Name of Jesus, and your friend will be returned to you." These words, simple and imperative like those inspired by the Spirit of God, carry the persuasion of the most unshakeable faith into the heart of Saint Front. He rises, consoled and blessed, and hastens to depart to execute point by point the prescriptions of the Apostle.

Meanwhile, the rumor of the death of one of the preachers of Bolsena had spread among the neighboring tribes. They recounted the desolation of Saint Front, the care he had taken to have the body of his friend guarded, and his precipitate departure for the city of Rome. They expected some extraordinary event, and, on the day presumed for the return of the Saint, they had flocked from all parts and surrounded the sepulcher in which the body of Saint George had been placed. Saint Front appears; his gait is resolute; sadness no longer darkens his face; one sees shining there the joy that the certainty of success gives. He parts the silent, recollected crowd, and he arrives at the sepulcher. He has it opened, as Jesus Christ had done to resurrect Lazarus; then he places the staff of Saint Peter on the body of his friend, and he says to him: "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to rise." And at the instant, Saint George rises, comes out alive from the tomb and throws himself into the arms of Saint Front; and both, with one heart, with one voice, give thanks to God. And the crowd, as moved as it was enthusiastic at this spectacle, proclaims the power of the Name of Jesus Christ and the divinity of his doctrine. Those of the pagans who, until this moment, had been deaf to the preaching of the two apostles and had shown themselves the most opposed to embracing the new faith, throw themselves at the feet of Saint Front, disavow their errors and ask for baptism. And Saint Front and Saint George, admiring their faith and the marvelous change that grace had made in their spirits, hasten to baptize them.

Saint Front was to accompany Saint George to the city that Saint Peter had designated to the latter as the principal theater of his preaching. Having therefore settled everything at Bolsena for the perseverance of the faithful, and leaving them some of the priests and deacons he had ordained, he left with Saint George and his three disciples, Fontaise, Severin, and Severian, and they all headed together toward the country of the Velaisians, preaching the Gospel in all the places where they passed, and making numerous proselytes there. They arrived at Velaunes, then the capital of the Velay (Vellavia or Ruessium, today Saint-Paulien). The Spirit of God had preceded them there and had prepared the ways for them. From their entry into the city, a lady of quality, whose name the chronicles have not preserved for us, came to offer them hospitality in her dwelling, which was bathed by the waters of the Borne. It was a great honor for her to receive the envoys of God, for Jesus said while speaking to his Apostles: "He who receives you receives me myself." Her charity was not without reward. God reserved for the charitable lady of Velaunes and for all the members of her family the first rays of the faith for her generous hospitality toward the evangelical workers. She listened with holy avidity to the preaching of the apostles and was the first whom they baptized, and her family, the first Christian family of the Velay. God did not content himself with calling her to the inestimable benefit of the faith; he also wanted to use her for the accomplishment of his designs of love and mercy for the inhabitants of this country.

One night when she was deeply asleep, an angel appeared to her in a dream and said to her: "Rise and go to the montagne d'Anis Birthplace of the saint in France. mountain of Anis, and there, it will be shown to you what you must do for the glory of God." And, docile to the word of the angel, as soon as it was day she rose and hastened to execute the orders that had been given to her. Now, the mountain of Anis, distant from Velaunes by a few miles, was high, and the path to climb it, long and arduous. The humble servant of God, having arrived at the summit, found herself exhausted from fatigue, and, having sat on a stone to rest, she did not delay in falling asleep. God showed her in a dream, a few steps from the place where she was, a stone fashioned in the form of an altar and surrounded by angels; and, in the midst of these angels, was a virgin of great beauty and crowned with a brilliant diadem. She asked the name of the one who had great beauty; and an angel answered her: "She is called Mother of God; she cherishes particularly the friends of her Son, Front and George, and, in favor of these two apostles, she has chosen this place to be especially honored there." And the pious lady, having awakened, gave thanks to God, and hastened to descend the mountain, to go and recount to the two bishops what she had seen and heard, and she said to them: "An angel of God appeared to me during my sleep, and he said to me: 'Go to the mountain of Anis, and, there, it will be shown to you what you must do for the glory of God.' I went to the top of the mountain, and, there, having sat down to rest, I fell asleep. God showed me in a dream a stone fashioned in the form of an altar and surrounded by angels; and in the midst of these angels, stood a Virgin of great beauty, crowned with a brilliant diadem. I asked the name of the one who had such great beauty; and one of the angels answered me: 'She is called Mother of God; she cherishes particularly the friends of her Son, Front and George, and, in favor of these two apostles, she has chosen this place to be more especially honored there.'"

It was easy for the two Apostles to recognize in this trait the heart of the Mother of Jesus. They hastened therefore to announce the happy news to the people, and predicted to them that, in the centuries to come, this place would be famous for the cult that one would render there to the Mother of God. They went then to the mountain to visit the place that the pious lady had indicated to them. The historians of Notre-Dame du Puy report that this place was found covered with snow, although it was in the hottest season of the year; they add that a stag, traversing this snow, traced there the location of a church, its length and its width. Having seen this, Saint Front and Saint George, full of respect for this place, had it encircled with a wall, in order to preserve it from any profanation. A short time later, Saint George erected an altar there which was consecrated by Saint Martial. The successors of Saint George built a church there and transported their episcopal seat there; a city was formed there: it is the city of Le Puy, which took its name from its elevated position on the mountain and which shows from afar its beautiful cathedral where pilgrims come to pray. Such was the origin of the famous pilgrimage, today so frequented, of Notre-Dame du Puy. This pilgrimage has received in our days a new consecration. A few steps from the cathedral, on the Corneille rock, rises the colossal statue of Notre-Dame de France, made with the cannons that were taken at Sevastopol.

Chroniclers do not agree on the route Saint Front followed to arrive in the capital of the Petrocorii. Some have him appear in Toulouse. It seems more natural to us that he headed through Auvergne and Limousin. His passage through these regions was not sterile; he traversed them while preaching the Gospel, as the Apostles always did when traveling from one place to another, and he finally arrived at the city of Vésone with the three disciples he had b Vésone City near the saint's birthplace and center of his cult. rought from Bolsena: Frontaise, Severin, and Severian. This city was given over to all kinds of idolatry. Saint Front preached there, the day after his arrival, one God in three Persons, creator of all things, Jesus Christ, redeemer of the world; he told them of the life of the Savior, the mission of the Apostles, and the miraculous progress of the Church. That day and the following days, he traveled through the city, going from one place to another, wherever he thought he would find the people gathered. He confirmed his teachings with several miracles. This was always the irresistible argument used by the Apostles, by virtue of the omnipotence that Jesus Christ had given them.

One day, while he was preaching at the theater in the presence of a large crowd of people attentive to listening to him, they brought him a man who had been possessed by a demon for several years and who made him so furious that they were forced to bind him with strong chains. As soon as this wretch was in the presence of the Apostle, he cried out in a tone that made all those present shudder with terror: "O Front, envoy of Jesus of Nazareth, your words and your prayers burn me!" The Saint looked at the possessed man and said with authority to the demon: "Be silent, unclean spirit, and come out of this man's body." And, instantly, the demon obeyed and abandoned this wretch, who, falling at the feet of Saint Front, was overcome with thanksgiving. And during this time the people, in admiration of what they saw, said: "Who is this man to whom the demons obey? Who gave him such power?"

This miracle produced the effect one could expect from it; several of the pagans who witnessed it asked for baptism and received it from the hands of the Apostle. Of this number was an illustrious lady named Maximilla, wife of Chilperic, one of the powerful lords of Vésone. Having received the grace of baptism, she proved, at that moment, that Christian charity had entered her heart along with faith. She invited the holy bishop to come to her palace; for she hoped for the favor she herself had received for Chilperic, for her children, and for her entire household.

Chilperic had been paralyzed for twelve years and crippled in all his limbs. "Perhaps," Maximilla said to herself, "the Saint also has the power to heal the sick." The Apostle did not need much urging to yield to her desires; he followed her. Upon entering the house, he said, as the divine Master had prescribed: "May the peace of the Lord be in this house!" There was a son of peace there, and the peace of the Saint rested upon him. Upon hearing this way of greeting, Chilperic said to the Saint: "I see that you are a Jew by nation. Do you have the power to heal me of my infirmity?" — "I have this power," Saint Front replied to him, "if you believe in Our Lord Jesus Christ." — "If he heals me of my infirmity, I believe he is God." — "Believe, without restriction, that he is God and that he can heal you, renounce the false gods, and receive baptism." Grace had penetrated little by little into the soul of Chilperic. "I believe," he said, "that Jesus Christ is God, I abjure the worship of idols, and I wish to be baptized." — And Saint Front, satisfied with the faith of the paralytic, had water brought to him and baptized him in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Then, taking him by the hand, he said: "May my Lord Jesus, who healed the paralytic of Judea, grant you the complete healing of your illness." And, forming the sign of the cross over Chilperic, he ordered him, in the name of Jesus, to rise and walk. And he rose and walked, no longer feeling his infirmity. Chilperic had two sons, Altime and Gelasius. Witnesses to the miraculous healing performed on the person of their father, they prostrated themselves at the feet of the holy bishop and asked, they too, along with their entire household, composed of two hundred people, to receive baptism. Saint Front imposed a three-day fast on them all, after which he baptized them.

Another miracle, even more remarkable and which had a greater influence, was the healing of Aurelius, a noble and powerful lord, says the legend; perhaps he was governor of the city for the Romans. He was covered with ulcers and prey to sharp pains. The miracle that our Saint had performed in favor of Chilperic made Aurelius desire to see such a skillful and powerful physician. He humbly asked him to come to his house. The Saint hastened to go there, and on the way he met a blind man and healed him, by forming the sign of the cross over him and invoking the holy name of Jesus. Aurelius, in calling Saint Front to his palace, only asked for the life of the body; but the Saint also gave him the life of the soul. After instructing him and ensuring his faith, he baptized him along with several people of his family, not forgetting to prescribe the solemn three-day fast for them. These two favors received through the intercession of Saint Front deeply touched Aurelius. He made such progress in faith and piety, says the legend, and his gratitude was so great, "that he constituted Saint Front and the bishops, his successors, as heads and temporal lords over his person and over the person of his descendants, and gave him his house which was near the theater, to build and set up a church and service there in honor of God, which was built there in the third year of the empire of Claudius, in honor of the Savior, of his blessed Mother, and of Saint John the Baptist."

Another miracle soon followed that one. They had just pulled the son of a poor widow, whom Saint Front had already delivered from the evil spirit, out of a very deep well. The desolate mother had the body of her son brought to the feet of the Apostle and begged him to restore his life. Saint Front was touched by her faith and her tears; he placed his cloak on the dead man and returned the son full of life to his mother.

A few days later, he also resurrected Chronope, at the prayer of Elpidius his father, and of Benedicta his mother. This miracle caused a great sensation in the city of Vésone and had repercussions throughout the province of Périgord. Three hundred people received baptism at the same time as Chronope, Elpidius, and Benedicta. God rewarded the faith of the father and mother in the person of the son; Chronope was, from that moment, a fervent disciple of the Saint and deserved by his virtues to be his immediate successor in the episcopate.

Everything in Saint Front preached the Gospel; the sweetness of his words charmed all hearts; people were eager to hear him, they were enthusiastic about his works. Anyone who had seen Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, in the countryside of Judea, would have easily understood that the Apostle of Vesunna had been trained in his school. He applied himself to imitating the humility of the divine Master, his sweetness, his charity, his patience; to act as he had seen him act, to speak as he had heard him speak. He frequently introduced into his discourses the examples, comparisons, and parables that Jesus used and which exerted such a happy influence on the minds of the crowd. He recalled the father of the family who sends workers to labor in his vineyard, and rewards equally those who arrived only at the eleventh hour and those who arrived at the first; the king who, celebrating his son's wedding, has the banquet hall opened to the blind and the crippled, because the invited guests did not wish to come; the good shepherd who, having found the lost sheep across the mountains, takes it upon his shoulders and carries it with joy to the fold. And then, when he had spent the day fulfilling the ministry of the word, evening having come, following the example of Jesus again, he watched and prayed. He was accustomed to retiring to a small cell, or rather to an oratory that he had built in honor of the Mother of God, on the mountain where the monastery of Périgueux of the Middle Ages was founded, called, from the stay the Apostle made there, Puy-Saint-Front.

The historians and chroniclers who have concerned themselves with the antiquities of Vesunna speak to us of this oratory of the Mother of God, consecrated by Saint Front, and which was, as we shall say later, the place of his burial. We read in Taillefer: "According to the old chronicles, Saint Front, first bishop of Vesunna and apostle of the province, is said to have built an oratory on the site occupied by our cathedral or immediately next to it, towards the southwest, and quite close to the steps that communicate with the episcopal palace; at least such is the idea one can form of the location of this chapel, according to Father Dupuy, who, to better designate it, says that it was on the side of the altar of Saint Catherine."

The priests of the idols, seeing the people deserting the worship of their gods, tried to revive pagan zeal through a great solemnity in honor of Mars. At the hour of the sacrifice, Front went there through an immense crowd; on the way, he resurrected a dead man, then he hurried to the temple of Mars, preceded by the noise of this striking miracle; he entered, overturned the idol of Mars and all the statues of the secondary gods and, by the virtue of the sign of the cross, chased away the evil spirits who hastened to leave the place and take flight while making hideous roars heard. Then, emboldened by the example of the holy Apostle, the new converts hastened to break the simulacra and the statues, which soon became prey to the flames. Shortly after, Saint Front purified this temple and consecrated it to the worship of the true God, under the invocation of Saint Stephen, the first martyr. He made it the principal church of his diocese, fixed his residence there, and established seventy-two clerics to chant there day and night, and to live there according to the Rule of the Apostles, by putting everything in common.

After having conquered Vesunna, the capital of this region, Saint Front, without personally leaving the center, occupied himself with the evangelization of the neighborhood, of the other cities and the countryside through his disciples, among whom we find Frontaise, Severin, Severian, and Silain. And he sent them two by two following the example of Jesus. And they went, as the disciples of Jesus went, from one village to another, preaching the kingdom of God everywhere, instructing and baptizing, fearing neither fatigue nor persecution; and the power of God was with them. For his part, the holy Apostle did not remain idle in the city of Vesunna; but each day he catechized and applied himself to strengthening the new Christians in the faith. He had not yet dealt the final blow to idolatry. There remained the famous temple of Vesunna, built for the worship of Isis, a privileged deity of the Gauls, and in which the Romans had placed a colossal statue of Venus and the statues of several other gods.

While Saint Front prepared to destroy this temple, the pagan priests, for their part, stirred up the people against him. He did not listen to their clamors, much less their threats, and he pursued the execution of his project. One could see him walking with a steady step in the midst of the seething crowd, and heading towards the temple of Vesunna. He arrived there and stopped, motionless for an instant, his gaze fixed towards the sky and his hand stretched towards the temple. Soon he made the sign of the cross and, in the name of Jesus, he ordered the enormous colossus of Venus to fall at his feet and to be reduced to powder. The effect followed closely upon his words, to the great astonishment of the idolaters, an astonishment soon changed into fear, for from the debris of the statue one saw a dragon emerge which rushed upon the pagans, killing seven and wounding several.

An attentive spectator of what was happening, Saint Front soon saw at his feet those who had cried out the most against him, and he heard them pray to him with abundant tears to restore life to the seven men whom the dragon had caused to die. And Saint Front ordered that their bodies be removed from the temple. Then, he recommended to the dragon to go away to a solitary place, without hurting anyone, and the dragon obeyed. And the Apostle, kneeling down, his hands and eyes raised towards the sky, addressed this prayer to God: "Lord, to whom nothing is impossible, who saved the world by the sacred wood of the cross, restored sight to the man born blind, and resurrected Lazarus, command, if it pleases you, that these dead recognize that you hold the keys of life and death, and that you alone are God, who live and reign for ever and ever." Scarcely had he finished this prayer, when the seven men rose up, as if they were coming out of a deep sleep, and began to cry out that there is no other God than the God of Saint Front. Astonished by so many wonders, the pagans also proclaimed the God of Saint Front.

But the holy bishop was not to stop there; the moment had come to strike the final blow. He rose, and with his face turned towards the temple, he formed the sign of the cross and cried out: "In the name of Jesus Christ, crucified by the Jews, and resurrected three days after his death, let a part of this temple, with the idols it contains, fall to the ground, and let the other part remain standing to serve as a testimony to future generations." And, at that instant, a part of the temple collapsed and the other is still there standing, retelling to the generations of the 19th century, as it has told the generations of previous centuries, the wanderings of pagan superstition and the triumphs of Christianity. And the children said to their fathers: What does this movement mean? And the fathers told their children the wonders of the Lord; and the memory of it has been transmitted from age to age, from generation to generation, for the edification of the peoples and the glorification of our blessed Apostle.

While Saint Front was thus triumphing and causing the Church of Vesunna to flour ish, Squi Squirinus Roman governor of Lower Guyenne, persecutor then convert. rinus or Quirinus, in the fourth year of Claudius, Emperor of the Romans, was sent to govern Lower Guyenne and maintain Roman rule there. He was an enemy of the Christian name. Saint Front was denounced to him as a troublemaker. Squirinus had him brought before him. His disciples, Frontaise, Severin, Severian, and Silain, all four animated like him by the Spirit of God and desirous of suffering something for the name of Jesus Christ, accompanied the Saint. After an interrogation in which Saint Front proved and explained the Christian religion, Squirius, irritated above all by being threatened with hell, threatened the apostle and his four disciples with death, and turning abruptly toward his guards: "How long," he said to them, "will these men live who threaten us with eternal torments?" The words and the look of Squirius were understood, and immediately one of his satellites raised his hand and sword to cut off the head of Saint Front. But God protected his servant: the hand and the sword remained suspended, motionless, without being able to strike; and a brilliant light surrounded the holy bishop. At this sight, Squirius and his soldiers, seized with terror, left the place and fled precipitately, as if they feared some misfortune for themselves. As for the soldier who had wanted to attempt the life of the holy Apostle, he entered into a violent fury against himself, tearing at himself with his teeth, and, struck invisibly by the hand of the angel who protected Saint Front, he expired shortly after miserably.

Left alone with his four disciples on the battlefield, where he had just had such a brilliant triumph, Saint Front withdrew with them and returned to his cell near the oratory of Our Lady, thanking God who had sustained him in the combat, and praying for his persecutor with a great outpouring of charity. They spent the rest of the day and part of the night in prayer and the singing of psalms, giving thanks to God, blessing and glorifying his infinite mercy. Saint Front interrupted the words of prayer and the singing of psalms from time to time with pious stories. He foresaw that the hour of great trials was approaching for his disciples and that soon they would have to bear witness to their faith by the sacrifice of their lives, and he sought to strengthen them in the will to suffer everything for the name of Jesus.

Fortified by these holy exhortations, they preached Jesus Christ daily with holy boldness. Denounced by the priests of the idols to the governor Squirius, they were arrested; interrogated, Frontaise replied to the governor: "You ask us for our homeland? Silain is a native of Vesunna; as for Severin, Severian, and myself, we are Romans, like you, O governor, having been born in the city of Bolsena. But why question us? Why ask us by what authority we act, you who, wallowing in the errors of gentility and paganism, condemn all truth and hate all light? Look into yourself a little; recognize the God who formed your body and your soul, and you will be capable of understanding the truth that we preach; for we have learned from our Master that the gods of the Gentiles are the work of the hands of men and have no power to defend themselves nor to protect those who honor them." Squirius replied with threats: "Your life is at stake; if you sacrifice to our gods, you will keep it; if you do not sacrifice, you will die." Frontaise, Severin, and Severian answered him: "Our glory and our happiness are to live and die in Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ."

Vanquished by this energetic response and seeing that their faith is too lively for him to hope to ever make it bend, the governor abandoned Frontaise, Severin, and Severian, and addressing Silain in the hope of triumphing more easily over his youth: "And you, young adolescent," he said to him, "why do you not sacrifice to our gods?" Silain answered him: "I will never sacrifice to any but Jesus Christ, my Savior, who washed the world in the waters of baptism and purified it from the stains of sin."

At this response, Squirius, even more irritated to see these generous athletes, so firm in their faith, resist him so openly in the sight of all the people, ordered that all four be taken outside the city and put to death after having been made to suffer all kinds of torments. He announced that he would go himself to the place of execution to ensure that his orders were faithfully followed. Perhaps he hoped that the rigor of the tortures would wring from the patients some words of apostasy.

The four martyrs were led outside the city walls, beyond the Isle, tightly chained, as Jesus was led outside the walls of Jerusalem. They praised God all along the way. However, they arrived at the place destined for the execution. There began the tortures of the four martyrs. They were tied to posts, and, because they were heard speaking of the death of the Savior Jesus and glorying in dying for him, four crowns were formed from the nearby bush and placed on their heads in mockery. Then their heads were nailed to the posts with nine long iron spikes, and their shoulders pierced at the joint of the bones with burning augers. But such tortures, such refinements of cruelty could not shake their faith; they persevered in the confession of Jesus Christ.

Squirius, unable to extract the admission he had hoped for, ordered that their heads be cut off. The four martyrs were detached from the posts and, kneeling down, they humbly presented their heads to the sword of the soldiers, and thus ended their labors on earth to begin their triumphs in heaven. But at that instant God showed, by a prodigy of which one finds some examples in the sacred annals, how much he is glorified by the death of these generous martyrs. Their bodies, ignominiously abandoned, stood up and, each taking their head in their hands, they began to walk in the presence of the crowd that had witnessed their execution, headed toward the river which they crossed by walking on the waters, climbed the mountain, and arrived at the oratory of Our Lady where Saint Front was praying. There, they knelt down and placed their heads at the feet of the holy bishop, and the four bodies forming a cross remained stretched out on the floor of the oratory. Saint Front blessed them and began their funeral, assisted by the priest Anian, in the presence of a great gathering of the faithful, singing psalms and hymns, praying and praising God. Frontaise, Severin, and Severian were buried in the oratory itself. As for the body of Silain, Saint Front granted it to the prayers of a pious lady who went to bury it not far from there, in her own house. It is perhaps his own mother who performed this charitable office, doubly happy to be a mother, because her son was begotten forever to the life of heaven.

The blood of the martyrs became a seed of Christians. Squirius saw no other way to stop this nascent religion than by banishing the leader. He feared an uprising if he had him put to death. The Christians protested against this decree and spoke of wanting to keep their bishop by force. An uprising was to be feared; Saint Front hastened to stop it by pointing out to the Christians that Saint Peter had been rebuked by the divine Master when he had wanted to use the sword to defend him.

The following night, the Lord Jesus, who promised not to abandon his disciples in any of their trials, appeared to Saint Front, encouraging and strengthening him, and said to him: "Walk courageously into exile; for you must carry the light of the Gospel into many other cities and villages. Have confidence, I will be with you." The divine Savior also deigned to make him understand that his exile would not be long, that he would return to the midst of his flock, and would have the consolation of seeing his persecutor, Squirius, convert to the Christian faith. Encouraged and strengthened by the words of the divine Master, Saint Front thanked him with a great outpouring of love. The next day, the faithful having assembled, he exhorted them to remain firm in the faith, gave them his blessing, and, putting in his place the priest Calepode, his disciple, to govern the church of Vesunna, he took the road of exile, taking with him Anian, Nectaire, and Chronope.

The itinerary followed by the holy apostle upon leaving Vésone is traced for us by the anonymous author of his Life, and confirmed by other historians whom we shall take care to cite. We see him first in a place not far from Vésone, called today Pressac, where he converts a great number of pagans to God. From there, he goes to Brantôme, where he performs the same conversions, having reduced to powder, by the mere sign of the cross, a statue of Mercury that the inhabitants of the place had placed in a grotto where they went to worship it. Here the doctrine of the apostle is confirmed by the miraculous resurrection of a child, whose grief-stricken mother had thrown herself at the Saint's knees and implored him to restore her son to her. Saint Front's zeal requires a vaster theater: he believes he will find it in the capital of the Angoumois, so he goes there. But, if he converts a few inhabitants there, it is only with great difficulty, although he heals two demoniacs and two paralytics in their presence. The glory of establishing Christianity in this city and of being its first bishop was reserved for Ausonius, a disciple of Saint Martial.

Having left Angoulême, he travels through Saintonge, where it is given to him to reap an abundant harvest in a few days. In the capital of this province, where later Eutropius will be sent by Saint Clement, he makes manifest the power he has received from God over demons. Three possessed persons are brought to him. As soon as they are in his presence, these wretches roll on the ground and then remain motionless and as if inanimate. The apostle, full of confidence and wishing to give proof of the divinity of the faith he preaches, immediately commands the evil spirits to leave these bodies they have controlled for so long; and the demons hasten to obey, and they are heard crying out with rage in the air: "O Front, messenger of Jesus, why come here to persecute us? Be content with having defeated us so many times elsewhere by your prayers."

From Saintes, the apostle heads toward Bordeaux. He arrives in front of this city, on the banks of the river, and having no boat to cross it, he remembers that the God he preaches once opened the Red Sea to give passage to the children of Israel and deliver them from the pursuit of Pharaoh. He prostrates himself and implores Him with faith and love to give him the means to cross the river and enter the city with his disciples, to announce His holy Name there. Scarcely has he prayed when a boat detaches itself from the port. Driven by a favorable wind and guided by an invisible hand, it comes to land at the place where Saint Front is. The apostle enters it with his disciples, and immediately the boat sets in motion, returns toward the port, and goes to take back the place it occupied before.

Saint Front has only just entered Bordeaux, and already the idols of the false gods are silent, and the oracles no longer answer those who question them; the lunatics and the possessed complain and let out heart-rending cries. And the priests of the idols, stupefied, ask one another whence the silence of their gods can come, what cause has suddenly closed their mouths. And while they question each other thus in trouble and agitation, they learn, through public rumor, that a man, come from distant lands, is in the city, preaching a new religion and the abolition of the worship of the gods. It is even reported that at the temple of Jupiter, during a solemn sacrifice, the god answered the sacrificing priest: "Do you not know that a disciple of Jesus the Nazarene is in the city and that by his preaching he chains our tongue? If he is not driven out, we will no longer make any answer to your questions from now on."

These words were well capable of exciting the jealousy of the followers of the idols. They immediately begin to make searches throughout the city, and saint Front, the terror of the false gods, is finally discovered. Immediately he is questioned; he is asked what important business made him leave his country to come to this city. The apostle hastens to reply that his Master and Lord sent him to preach the unity of God, the divinity of Jesus Christ, and to destroy the superstitions of paganism. At this answer, the priests of the idols, already frightened and feeling their impotence and the need to rely on human authority for their gods, run to Sigisbert (doubtless the governor of the city), and beg him to protect the gods and to drive out the stranger who permits himself to attack their worship.

Sigisbert, an irascible man strongly attached to all pagan superstitions, has Saint Front seized, and, without taking the trouble to question him, has him beaten with rods by his servants. The apostle suffers this treatment without complaining, remembering the cruel flagellation of his divine Master in Jerusalem. Then he is led out of the city and threatened with death if he permits himself to enter it. Leaving this city where he has cast the first sparks of the faith, which will later produce a vast conflagration, Saint Front believes the moment favorable to confirm the new converts in the faith and to strike terror into the souls of Sigisbert's satellites.

He arrived before the temple where the people of Bordeaux worshipped Priapus and Venus. At this sight, the Saint extends his right hand toward the temple, pronouncing these words: "May the Son of God destroy you"; and, immediately, a part of the temple collapses with a great noise, and the two idols are reduced to powder. A few steps from there, he meets a young girl possessed by the demon. As soon as she is in the presence of the Saint, the demon begins to howl and scream that, if he is forced to leave this body, he should be sent to another place where he can be at peace. "In the name of Jesus," Saint Front says to him, "I command you to leave this body"; and immediately the young girl is delivered, and the demon is heard, paying homage to the virtue of the name of Jesus, crying out: "O terrible name that violates me and forces me to leave!" And Saint Front, having arrived outside the city walls, is abandoned by Sigisbert's soldiers, who return to tell their master what they have seen and heard.

Leaving the surroundings of Bordeaux, our apostle headed toward the city of Blaye. He preached the Gospel there for a few days, and his preaching soon gave him such favor that eighteen captives implored his protection to obtain their freedom. The apostle, moved by compassion, interceded for them with the governor of the city; but the latter answered him only with mockery, and only made the captivity of these wretches harsher. Saint Front had a means of succeeding unknown to the governor; he had recourse through prayer to the mercy of God, always easier to forgive than men. It was not in vain. The next day the prison doors were opened, and the captives saw their chains broken by the ministry of angels. As for the governor, he was far from expecting the grace that God was reserving for him. Saint Front had also prayed for him. Touched inwardly at the sight of the miraculous deliverance of the captives, he ran to the holy bishop, prostrated himself at his feet, and asked him for baptism. Saint Front baptized him, and with him a great number of Gentiles, drawn by the governor's example. All the idols of the city were broken, ground to powder, and a church was built there in honor of and under the title of the Savior.

From Blaye, Saint Front returned to Saintes, where he was honorably received by the Christians. While going there, he had the occasion to perform a miracle of merciful charity; he healed a man blind from birth, by invoking the holy name of Jesus and forming the sign of the cross over his eyes. The apostle did not make a long stay in Saintes; the Holy Spirit pressed him to go to the city of Poitiers, famous then for the worship it rendered to Jupiter, Minerva, Mars, and Aesculapius. As soon as he arrived, he began his preaching; but he did not at first have all the success he expected. Satan raised up against him as an enemy the governor of the city named Arcade, who mistreated him and drove him out, after having had him beaten with rods. But, the following night, he was praying as his divine Master had prescribed, for Arcade his persecutor, when an angel appeared to him and ordered him on behalf of God to re-enter the city. He had the consolation of forming a great number of Christians there, to whom he left the deacon Nectarius, after having consecrated him bishop.

From Poitiers he went to Tours, where he healed a paralytic girl. He made few conversions in this city, because of the Gentiles who rose up against him and forced him to leave and withdraw to Le Mans, where he was received with great honors by the Christians of this city and Saint Julian, who was its bishop. After staying a few days with them, encouraging and strengthening them in the faith, he traveled through the whole province, evangelizing the peoples who flocked along his path, eager to gather his word and to be witnesses of his works.

Saint Front left Maine and headed toward Normandy, accompanied by the blessings of the peoples to whom he had opened the paths of salvation by making Jesus Christ known to them. Having arrived, at nightfall, in the midst of the solitudes of the Passais, at the extremities of the Andaine forest, he stopped there near a river called the Varenne, which flows at the foot of the rock on which the city of Dom-Front is built, the chief town of the arrondissement of the Orne. His presence was soon signaled there by a miracle. He had scarcely arrived when it was announced to him that the son of the master of the place where he was had just died. Saint Front, foreseeing the designs of mercy that God had for the inhabitants of this region, had himself led to the dead man. He spent the night praying, helped by the priest Anian and the deacon Chronope, and, day having come, he returned the son full of life to his father and mother.

The effect of this miracle was not long in coming; this father and mother, happy to have recovered their son, immediately asked for baptism and received it from the hands of Saint Front. A stranger who announced himself by such a miracle was soon to be in favor. The inhabitants of the region flocked to listen to the word of the Apostle, and, a short time later, instructed and baptized by him, they were fervent Christians. As for the young man miraculously resurrected, he felt such a great need to testify his gratitude to God that he wanted to renounce everything to follow Jesus Christ; which he was able to do easily, Saint Front having built a church in this place which he provided with clerics, faithful imitators of the life and customs of the Apostles. This place, in memory of the stay of our Saint, later took the name of Saint-Front which it still bears today, and, near there, on the rock that dominates the Varenne, rose the small town of Dom-Front whose name, with that of the neighboring parish, is an incessant hymn of love and gratitude of the inhabitants of the Passais in honor of the apostle of Périgord. The traditions of the Passais have preserved the memory of the presence of our Saint and his miracles. It is still told today that he built an oratory at the very place where one sees the parish church of Saint-Front; one also speaks of his miracles, but without designating them.

From the Passais, Saint Front advanced toward the Beauvaisis where he was not to stop, but only to cast the first sparks of the faith. The honor of converting the Bellovaci, of being their first apostle, their first bishop, their first martyr, was reserved for Saint Lucian, who was to be sent by Saint Clement.

Leaving the Beauvaisis, the apostle went to Soissons. He preached the Gospel there, and his word and his miracles converted a great number of pagans there who, renouncing the worship of idols, embraced the doctrine of Jesus Christ with joy. At that time, a village of the province, called Nogéliac, was devastated by the presence of a dragon that spread terror throughout the region. The Christians of Soissons prayed to the Saint to go there to destroy the monster. Saint Front admired and praised this charity of the faithful greatly and left for Nogéliac. Scarcely had he arrived when he had himself led to the place where the dragon made its retreat. He walked alone toward the place that the pagans indicated to him from afar by voice and gesture, not daring to approach themselves, so great was the fear that the monster inspired in them.

At the sight of the apostle, the monster, raising its head, let out frightful hisses, trembling with terror as if it had sensed some misfortune. But Saint Front, looking at it with authority: "In the name of Jesus," he said to it, "I command you to die." These words were like lightning; at the same instant the dragon expired. And the pagans, admiring the power of Saint Front, confessed the faith of Jesus Christ, and, prostrating themselves at the feet of the Apostle, they immediately asked for the grace of baptism. The neighboring tribes, attracted by the news that soon spread of this miracle, also flocked to see and hear the extraordinary man whose word had struck down the dragon.

The crowd was more numerous every day; and, to satisfy their pious curiosity, the Saint had to set up a cell in this place and stay there for several months, not ceasing to preach Jesus Christ and to strengthen the new faithful in the faith.

God did not delay in glorifying his apostle in this place by one of the most striking prodigies. One day, when he was celebrating the holy Mysteries, the day of Pentecost, says the chronicle, it was noticed that the wine was missing; now, it was not easy to obtain any in this desert, which did not produce any. This setback greatly afflicted the faithful whose faith already knew how to taste and appreciate the Eucharistic good. Saint Front was also afflicted by it. Soon he was seen deeply recollected: he was praying. His prayer was fervent, as the prayer of the priest at the altar of the Lord must be. Suddenly an immense cry of admiration escaped from the assembly of the faithful; a white dove was seen in the air, holding in its beak a small vial full of wine. It descended, and hovered for a few moments, uncertain, above the head of the pontiff. Finally, it landed on the altar, left the small vial there, and resumed its flight, spreading after it a suave odor, the odor of the sweetest perfume. Saint Front gave thanks to God for such a benefit and continued the oblation of the sacrifice. The faithful, delighted by the prodigy accomplished before their eyes, mingled the expression of their gratitude with that of the pontiff and said with transports of love: "The Lord is great and truly worthy of all praise; it is He who is God, He is our God for eternity and He will reign over us in all ages."

The memory of the stay of our Saint has been preciously preserved in this place which, since that moment, has been called Saint-Front and the small town which was built near there, toward the 8th century, added to its name the name of the Saint and was called Neuilly-Saint-Front (Nogelia cum sancti Frontonis), chief town of the canton in the arrondissement Neuilly-Saint-Front Site of the miracle of the dove and the destruction of a dragon. of Château-Thierry.

Here everything tells of the two miracles of which we have just spoken, and the centuries have not been able to destroy the monuments charged with transmitting the memory of them to the last generation.

As for the miracle of the destruction of the dragon, the memory of which has been transmitted from one generation to the other, it is attested on paintings, statues, and other monuments that are linked to the stay of the apostle in these regions. The very nature of the terrain favors the belief in this miracle: despite the changes that cultivation has made it undergo, it still offers a marshy and peaty aspect, and allows one to suppose that in ancient times the monster could find an easy retreat there.

A powerful lord of Lorraine had an only daughter, cruelly tormented by the demon, who, adjured to leave her body and abandon her, had answered: "I will only leave when I am driven out by the blessed Front, disciple of Jesus of Nazareth." This lord therefore sent to Soissons to fetch the Saint who hastened to come and healed the possessed girl. The news of the miracle flew as far as Metz, of which Clement was bishop, sent at the same time as Saint Front Clément First bishop and apostle of Metz. by the apostle Saint Peter. Clement blessed God for the works that were told to him of Saint Front; he came to him and begged him to honor the city of Metz with his presence.

The meeting of the two bishops was most affectionate. They greeted each other by giving the holy kiss accompanied by the most ardent charity. They had not seen each other since the day they had received their mission together from the head of the Apostles. They therefore spent this day and part of the night in pious conversations, telling each other mutually of their apostolic labors and what they had had to suffer from the pagan peoples, praying together and reciting psalms. They broke the sacred bread together, encouraging and strengthening each other with sweet words.

The next day they took the road to Metz. Now, while they were walking and beguiling the fatigues of the journey with holy conversation, they met a child held by an enormous serpent that had coiled itself around his body. Saint Front, moved by pity, made this prayer to God: "Lord, who have regenerated by your precious blood the human race driven from paradise by the wiles of the serpent, hear my prayer! May this serpent die and may this child be delivered, and may everyone know that you are the liberator of those who believe in you!" At the instant the serpent expired, the child having no wound. And the two holy bishops, thanking and praising God, arrived at the city of Metz.

The presence of our Saint was soon signaled in this city by the deliverance of two possessed persons whom he healed by forming the sign of the cross over them and by invoking the holy name of Jesus. He appeared several times at the assemblies of the faithful, distributing to them both the bread of the word and the Eucharistic bread, and encouraging them to remain firm in the faith.

From the Agenais, Saint Front hastened to enter the Périgord. He was pressed by his charity and divine inspiration to return to the faithful of Vésone. The divine Master had deigned to predict to him that upon his return from exile, he would have the consolation of seeing Squirius, his persecutor, converted to the faith; and Saint Martha had renewed this prediction to him. Indeed, the patience of the Christians in torments and tortures, the charity that reigned among them, the chastity of their morals, and their irreproachable life had deeply touched the governor of Vésone, and the faith, penetrating little by little into his soul, had softened his character.

Learning of the return of Saint Front, he wished to go to meet him. He left the city with some of his most intimate associates who, following his example, had opened their souls to the rays of the faith. As soon as he caught sight of the apostle, he ran to him, threw himself at his feet, confessed his crimes, and begged him to forgive him and grant him the grace of baptism. Saint Front hastened to raise him up and thanked God with a great outpouring of joy. Then, following Squirius, he re-entered the city of Vésone with him, like a conqueror. After instructing him and ensuring the sincerity of his faith, Saint Front baptized him and gave him the name George, in memory of his friend the apostle of the Velay.

As soon as he had returned to his episcopal city, Saint Front occupied himself with repairing the breaches that the demon had made in the Christian edifice during his absence. The presence of the apostle, his preaching, and his miracles soon rekindled the sacred fire in souls. A revelation that God deigned to grant him produced a particularly salutary effect. One day he was preaching not far from the city walls. At the moment when the faithful, eager to receive the holy word, were deeply recollected and attentive, he suddenly ceased speaking and remained in the attitude of a man given over to deep reflection; his gaze was fixed, his body motionless, he seemed not to breathe. However, the features of his face contracted under the impression of pain, and tears flowed down his cheeks; one could see that he was suffering. The faithful, eyes fixed upon him, contemplated him with admiration and did not know what to think of his silence. Shortly after, they sympathized with his state; they too wept, and soon the assembly was nothing but sobs and groans. Finally, the apostle, returned from his ecstasy, cried out three times: "Glory to God! Glory to God! Glory to God!" — "Father," the faithful said to him, "what have you seen? You have suffered greatly." Then the Saint taught them how God had just revealed to him and shown him the martyrdom of the apostle Saint Peter, crucified in Rome by the orders of Nero. He told them how the holy Apostle, the worthy head of the Church, finding himself unworthy to be treated, even in torments, like his divine Master, had asked for and obtained to be crucified head downward. He then took advantage of this occasion to tell them how Saint Peter had been constituted by Jesus Christ as head of his Church, against which the gates of hell shall never prevail. He added that this death of Saint Peter glorified God and proved the divinity of Jesus Christ, who had predicted it to him in the presence of the other apostles and disciples. In recognition of this revelation, and to perpetuate its memory, the holy Bishop wished that a church be built on that very spot under the invocation of Saint Peter, and he laid the foundations on the spot.

But the zeal of the holy apostle was not to be confined within the walls of his episcopal city. He wished to travel through the various parts of the province, not limiting himself this time to being replaced by his disciples. At the prayer of the inhabitants of Lalinde, he drove away an enormous dragon that, for some time, had made its retreat in a cave opposite that city, on the banks of the Dordogne. The memory of this has been preserved in the traditions of the country. The dragon's cave is still shown, and on the summit of the mountain rises a small church called Saint-Front-de-Colabri. And the sailors, when they pass under the rock, while descending or ascending the course of the Dordogne, make the sign of the cross and ask for a safe voyage from the apostle of the Périgord.

It is probable that Saint Front stayed for some time in the vicinity of Lalinde, at Lanquais, where the place of his dwelling is still shown. Hence the origin of the traditions that exist in these places, and which have led some writers to believe that Saint Front was born there.

Other places in the Périgord have preserved the memory of the presence of the holy apostle. The churches of Saint-Front-d'Alemps, Saint-Front-Larivière, Saint-Front-de-Pradoux, Saint-Front-de-Champniers, Saint-Front-de-Clermont, Saint-Front-de-Champagnac, Saint-Front-de-Douville, and Saint-Front-de-Bru were founded in memory of the miracles that Saint Front had performed in those places.

At Saint-Front-de-Pradoux, mainly, we find more marked traces of the passage of our apostle. The church of this parish, which dates back to the 11th century, must undoubtedly have replaced an older church, the latter built in memory of the Saint's stay. Indeed, a tradition, still alive in the country, reports that Saint Front lived in the caves above which this church is built and one of which extends as far as under the sanctuary, formed by a chapel older than the rest of the edifice. A pilgrimage and a devotion were established in this church, and perhaps originally in this cave, which attest to the intention of rendering special worship to Saint Front, and whose existence would be difficult to explain if one refused to admit the stay of the Saint there.

Saint Martha had asked Saint Front to attend her funeral: we have recounted in the life of this Saint how he fulfilled this duty (July 29). The divine Master, who loved him, was pleased to warn him, as he had warned Saint Martha, and to make known to him the day set for the perpetual reward of his labors.

One day when the Saint was at the altar, celebrating the sacred mysteries, Jesus Christ appeared to him in the company of angels and in the midst of a brilliant light, and said to him: "Come to me, my beloved, come into my glory, to be rewarded for your labors." And Saint Front, raising his hands and eyes toward the divine Master, said to him: "My sweet Jesus, who have not wished to hide from me the secrets of your counsels, and who have lavished upon me in my exile your sweet consolations, receive me. For a long time I have desired to see you and to contemplate you! I entrust to you, O sweet love of my soul, the sheep that your vicar has entrusted to me." And Jesus answered him: "Your request is granted, and in eight days I will call you to me."

Saint Front, having descended from the altar, gathered his priests, shared his vision with them, and informed them that, in eight days, he would leave the earth to go to heaven, the tribulations of exile for the joys of the heavenly homeland. He exhorted them to love one another fraternally, and spoke to them of his death with all the ardor of a soul saintly passionate for heaven; then he said to them: "You shall bury my body and place it beside the holy martyrs, my beloved disciples, Frontaise, Severin, and Severian." The news of the approaching death of Saint Front had soon spread from place to place, not only in the city of Vésone but also in the surrounding areas. It had brought consternation everywhere.

His first care was to choose his successor, to leave another father to his children, another pastor to his flock. Calepode, that disciple who had governed the church of Vésone during the Saint's exile, had already received the reward for his labors, and, since his death, Saint Front had cast his eyes on Anian, another very fervent and very zealous disciple. He had applied himself to inspiring in him the virtues proper to forming a holy bishop; and, at the moment when he announced to him that he had chosen him as his successor, he recommended to him in an express manner gentleness and humility, those two virtues that characterized the heart of Jesus Christ; and he said to him: "The divine Master said to us: Learn from me that I am gentle and humble of heart. Be therefore yourself gentle and humble toward all. He gave us the example so that we might do as he has done."

When the eighth day arrived, there was a great gathering of people, who had come to hear the last words of the Saint, to receive his last advice and his last blessing. The face of the happy predestined one was all radiant with joy, a visible symbol of the glory with which he was about to be clothed in heaven. He celebrated the holy Mysteries, preached for a long time to this people who never tired of hearing him; then, in the presence of all the people, he laid his hands on the one he had designated as his successor, and, carrying his gaze toward heaven, he gave thanks to God and recommended to him the souls he had acquired for him; and blessing his flock, he cried out: "May the almighty God bless you in his love! May he pour out upon you the sentiment of wisdom! May he give you perfect charity and preserve you in the faith that I have preached to you! May he always direct your steps in the ways of true life and show you the path of peace and charity!"

The oblation of the sacrifice being finished, the holy Apostle prostrated himself before the altar of Saint-Étienne. He was instantly enveloped in a bright light, and a voice was heard calling him to the crown and to heaven where his name was written in the book of life. Raising his voice, he thanked the most holy Trinity once more and gently rendered his soul to God. It was October 25, the forty-second year after the death of Our Lord, which was, according to Cardinal Baronius, the seventh of the pontificate of Saint Linus and the fifth of the reign of Vespasian.

## CULT AND RELICS. — MONUMENTS.

A famous pilgrimage was established at the tomb of Saint Front, to which men even from distant lands were seen to come. The city of Périgueux, wishing to perpetuate the memory of these pilgrimages, called the street that pilgrims followed to reach the tomb of the holy apostle Hérias, or sacred. Two famous figures came to pray at the tomb of Saint Front: Saint Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers in the 4th century, the distinguished doctor of the Church, the most generous defender of the faith, and Saint Gaugerie, Bishop of Cambrai in the 6th century, whose church possessed rich properties in the Périgord.

The body of Saint Front, first buried in the modest oratory of Notre-Dame, remained there until the 6th century. It was then removed by Chronope II to be placed in a larger church that the pious bishop had built in honor of the Saint, next to the small oratory.

Chronope then ensured the authenticity of the precious relic; to the ancient inscription that we have cited and which he judged too concise for future centuries, he added another engraved on a copper plate, which he placed in the coffin with the first. He then closed the lead coffin, which he covered with a second, very thick wooden coffin surrounded by strong iron bands.

Exhumed from the oratory, the body was placed in the middle of the new church. The translation was carried out with the greatest pomp. God deigned to reward both the zeal of the pastor and the piety of the flock with several miracles; during the translation, seven paralytics were healed, four blind men recovered their sight, and the fire of ten sick people who were burning between flesh and skin was extinguished.

In building the church of Saint-Front, Chronope had also built a monastery whose monks watched over the precious tomb. Destroyed by the Normans in the 9th century, this monastery was rebuilt in the 10th. At the same time, the superb basilica that still exists today was built, at least in part. It was only after the dedication of this latter monument, in 1077, that attention was given to providing the apostle of the Périgord with a tomb worthy of him and the piety of the faithful. Étienne Itier, canon and cellarer of Saint-Front, paid for it. He entrusted its execution to one of the most famous sculptors of the time, Guinomond, a monk of La Chaise-Dieu, whom Bishop Guillaume de Monthron had called to Périgueux to sculpt the interior ornaments of the choir of his cathedral.

Two centuries later, doubts arose regarding the possession of the body of Saint Front. To put an end to them, Bishop Pierre de Saint-Astier had the sepulcher and the double wooden and lead casket that contained the sacred bones opened.

On the 17th of the Kalends of January 1441, the canons of the collegiate church of Saint-Front had obtained from Pope Eugene a bull authorizing them to exhume the body of the holy apostle, to enclose it in a silver reliquary, and to have a Catholic bishop separate the head from the rest of the body, to be kept separately in a tabernacle or precious vase. It was to be placed on the high altar or in any other place in the church from which it could be more conveniently shown to the people.

But it was not until 1463, on the 25th or 27th of May, that Élie de Bourdeille carried out this exhumatio Élie de Bourdeille Bishop of Périgueux who conducted the exhumation of the saint in the 15th century. n, assisted by the Bishop of Sarlat and the Bishop of Nieux, both belonging to the house of Boffignac in Limousin. The head was separated from the body and placed in a tabernacle that the pious bishop had had erected in the middle of the choir and richly decorated with copper plates, enameled and gilded, as was the tomb.

On this occasion, a pious and touching rivalry was seen between the chapter of the cathedral and the chapter of Saint-Front. Both claimed the honor of possessing the head of the Saint. Élie de Bourdeille pacified the spirits by interposing his episcopal authority. He left the head of the Saint in the collegiate church; but, wishing also to satisfy the pious demands of his chapter, he had an arm carried to the cathedral church.

Pope Eugene, in authorizing the elevation of the body of Saint Front, had confirmed the feast of the translation ordered by Pierre de Saint-Astier, which was to be celebrated on the 31st of April. Élie de Bourdeille, having been transferred from the see of Périgueux to the archbishopric of Tours, made the journey to Rome and solicited from Pope Sixtus IV, in honor of the apostle of the Périgord, a three-day Pardon. Sixtus IV, by a bull of 1476, granted this favor for ten years, and, wishing to give Élie de Bourdeille a high proof of the satisfaction he felt at his piety, he appointed him "general penitentiary and superintendent of this Jubilee with the power to absolve and dispense from vows and irregularities."

The Pardon of Saint Front took place on the three days following his feast and attracted a large gathering of pilgrims to his tomb.

In the year 1347, Élie de Talleyrand, Cardinal of Périgord, had the part of the church involved in the rotunda of the eastern branch built or rebuilt; he founded a chapel there under the invocation of Saint Anthony and provided it with sufficient income for the maintenance of twelve vicars or chaplains, who were to perform the service there. Clement VI, by a bull of June 26, 1347, approved this foundation with the regulations that the cardinal had made for the twelve chaplains.

On the 6th of August 1575, the Protestants, having seized Périgueux, carried out looting in the church of Saint-Front. They broke the tomb of the Saint, and the reliquary that contained his relics tempted their greed. They melted down the gold and silver plates of the reliquary and threw the bones of the Saint into the Dordogne.

Such is the account of Father Dupuis, adopted by M. Taillefer. According to a manuscript of 1590, the bones of the Saint were not thrown into the Dordogne. "His holy sepulcher," we read there, "being quite easy to recognize because of the riches with which it was adorned, they [the Protestants] opened it and after having committed a thousand kinds of impieties, they threw his holy relics into the square, trampling them underfoot in derision of this holy apostle of the Périgord."

Be that as it may, the church of Périgueux lost its most beautiful ornament, its most precious treasure, that day. The basilica itself owed it only to its imposing mass not to be destroyed: it was feared that its fall would shake part of the city.

This misfortune was all the greater because the weakening of the cult of Saint Front dates from the destruction of this tomb and the loss of these relics. In the 18th century, in a new liturgy, there seems to be doubt about the existence of Saint Front, or at least his status as a disciple of Jesus Christ and his mission by Saint Peter is denied.

However, in 1826, a reflection of the ancient piety toward Saint Front appeared on the episcopal see of Périgueux. Mgr de Lostanges had discovered a part of the skull of Saint Front in the church of Andrivaux, and having ensured its authenticity, he detached a portion to enrich his cathedral church. On June 24 of the same year, he assembled his chapter to share his joy and happiness with them; and this portion of the skull of our Saint, deposited in a reliquary, perhaps a little too modest, still rests today near the high altar.

A word on the cathedral of Périgueux, dedicated to Saint Front, will not be out of place here.

Saint Front has always attracted the attention of connoisseurs: it is the most complete edifice of all those dating back to the year 1000, the only one of its oriental style, and, one might say, the last monument of the Carolingian era. Ravaged several times by barbarians, hideously outraged by the Protestants, covered at the Revolution with a veil of mourning, protected by the Roman Pontiffs, the object of the constant solicitude of its bishops, piously visited by the crowds in times of faith, one can say of the Byzantine church of Saint-Front that it is the patriarch of the ancient cathedrals of France, a unique monument on our soil and the glory of Périgueux.

The Byzantine monument of Périgueux has the shape of a Greek cross surmounted by five magnificent domes: its oriental style reproduces almost line for line the church of Saint Mark in Venice, which itself is an imitation of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. In Périgueux and in Venice, it is the same plan, the same skeletal framework, the same measurements; there is only the difference between the French foot and the Italian foot, but Saint-Front lacks the elegant mosaics and beautiful marbles that conceal the heaviness of the Venetian basilica.

It is surprising that a Byzantine edifice should be thus transplanted in its entirety to a climate that is not its own. It is known that in the Middle Ages the Venetians had made Limoges an important center of trade. One of these foreigners may have brought the plan of his cathedral to Périgueux. Later, did not the Crusaders of the West transport our ogival style as far as the Holy Land?

An entablature carried on robust modillions goes around Saint-Front and crowns its twelve facades, terminated by as many pediments. These pediments, wide and high, are cut by regularly unequal windows that reproduce everywhere the symbolic number of three. On a lower floor, the windows, longer and narrower, become more numerous; they are four and even five in number. In the East, the sun descends through the openings of the domes; in our paler sky, one could not have too much light.

But the most interesting part of the basilica, the one that gives it its true physiognomy, is the roof or summit, crowned with five domes visible to the eye.

Inside, large ogival arches (the oldest ogives in the world) support the five domes, whose width and elevation offer a unique spectacle to the eye. The hollowed-out pillars, with two stories, are pierced in a cross shape at the top and bottom, so that one finds the cross everywhere; it is the plan of the church, and its four branches are themselves in a cross.

The bell tower of Saint-Front, like the rest of the edifice, is a type apart, which has no equal and which astonishes by its strange shape and the boldness of its structure. The bell tower, crowned at sixty meters by a dome, is a truly beautiful and original conception. "It is," says M. de Verneilh, "the oldest bell tower in France and even the only Byzantine bell tower in the world."

The ornamentation of Saint-Front is no less worthy of attention than its architecture.

"Less ornate than the Romanesque," says Abbé Dion, "and less elegant than the Gothic, the Byzantine genre is more majestic. This grandiose construction, in which stone alone intervenes to the exclusion of any other element, is one of the most beautiful expressions of the religious idea. An oriental church, placed like an exile in the depths of the West, owes a new charm to this extraordinary position. Sister or daughter of Saint Mark of Venice, a distant echo of Hagia Sophia of Constantinople, this magnificent edifice has struck the attention of scholars. It was fitting that a Byzantine church should shelter with these oriental lines the sacred tomb of a disciple of the Savior who came from Judea; there was thus a striking harmony between the tomb that illustrated the basilica and the basilica that contained the tomb."

Men of science have studied Saint-Front with enthusiasm, and they have called it a marvelous monument, a monument truly out of the ordinary, mysterious and worthy of the most serious studies; in short, the most curious monument in France.

To compose this biography, we have only abridged the Life of Saint Front, by M. Pergot, parish priest of Terrasson; a true hagiographer, he has, with much erudition, talent, and piety, revived the traditions that are the honor of the ancient church of Périgord. — Cf. Monograph of Saint-Front, by the R. P. Carles, missionary.