Saint Mathurin of Larchant

Marin was an idolater so zealous that he did not hesitate to accept from the emperors the duty of pursuing and exterminating Christians. He had this son for the happiness of his family and for the glory of his country; he did not fail to inspire in him early on the sacrilegious principles of his religion. But God preserved Mathurin from this impiety. His history states that a holy bishop of Se ns, Sens Archiepiscopal see occupied by Saint Aldric. named Po lycarp, h Polycarpe Bishop of Sens who baptized and instructed Mathurin. aving found his heart disposed to receive the seed of the Gospel, gave him the first understanding of it and instructed him so perfectly in all that he needed to know of the mysteries of our faith that he placed him, at twelve years old, in a state to receive baptism. This bishop is not found in the catalogues that have been given to us of the prelates of this church; but it must be admitted that many are also missing, since, from Saint Savinian and Saint Potentian, who founded the see, only one (Leontius) is marked until Severinus, who subscribed to the Council of Cologne in 346.

The grace of baptism produced at the same time such great effects in the soul of Mathurin that he appeared all ablaze with the love of Jesus Christ. He spent days and nights in fasting, vigils, and prayers, and he knocked continually at the door of divine mercy to obtain the conversion of his parents. His prayer was soon answered. Euphemia, astonished by the virtue of her son, had no difficulty in accepting the doctrine of salvation that he proposed to her; and Marin, who had a mysterious dream in which he saw his son leading many people, as a shepherd leads flocks, recognized the abundance of heavenly favors with which he was anticipated, and consented to share in the grace of baptism that he had received. Polycarp came to their house, and having finished instructing them, he conferred upon both of them the sacrament of spiritual regeneration. Thus Mathurin was spiritually the father of those who had given him life; and Marin, from persecuting Christians, became their refuge, support, and protector.

However, our holy young man, growing ever from virtue to virtue, was judged worthy by his bishop to enter into holy orders. Thus, at the age of twenty, he was promoted to the priesthood and began to offer upon the altar the unbloody sacrifice of the flesh of Jesus Christ. He received at the same time the gift of miracles and such great power over demons that there was no possessed person whom he did not easily deliver. Moreover, God gave him a marvelous facility for explaining the truths of our religion and persuading his listeners of them: which caused Polycarp to order him to preach the Gospel and to announce to the people the great mystery of a crucified God. It is added that, during a journey that this prelate made to Italy, from which he did not return, he left him the charge of his entire diocese, and that Mathurin discharged it with admirable zeal and piety.

After several years he was called to Rome Rome Birthplace of Maximian. to deliver the daughter of a prince, who was violently tormented by a demon. He went there, and his journey had all the success that was expected. He also delivered several other possessed persons there; and, in the three years that he remained there, he acquired, through his preaching and his miracles, a great number of servants for Jesus Christ. Finally, the hour of his reward having come, he died in peace and with the sole desire for martyrdom, although it was in the height of the persecutions. His death occurred in Rome on November 1st, but his feast is celebrated in Paris only on the 9th of that month.

In images of Saint Mathurin, one often sees chains or handcuffs hanging near him as ex-votos, because he was invoked for the deliverance of the possessed, the raving mad, etc. By allusion to his journey to Rome which we have mentioned, he is usually depicted blessing a woman, while the demon escapes through the patient's mouth or skull. — In several popular images, pots and pewter dishes often accompany Saint Mathurin and Saint Fiacre, who were the patron saints of potters in Paris.

Saint Mathurin is invoked for the healing of madness, epilepsy, possession, and for people afflicted with frights and panic terrors. It is also by analogy that Saint Mathurin is the patron saint of jesters, whose profession is to act as fools or simpletons.

[APPENDIX: CULT AND RELICS.]

Mathurin had testified during his illness that he wished for his body to be transferred to Larchant, in France.

Some pious people, who had received particular graces through his intercession, undertook to transport it there. It is said that this sacred deposit rested for some time in Paris, in a house that was formerly outside the city, and that so many miracles occurred there that a chapel was built in his honor; it has since been given to the relig ious of the Most Holy Trinity for t religieux de la très-sainte Trinité Religious of the Redemption of Captives, nicknamed Mathurins. he Redemption of Captives; from which the name Mathurins has remained with them throughout France.

These holy relics were then carried to Sens and from there to Larchant; as the miracles continued, a church was built there so magnificent that it did not yield to the most beautiful edifices of its time. The Calvin Calvinistes Event during which the Cathedral of Meaux was devastated. ists ruined it in their rebellion against the Church and against the State; nothing remains of it but debris, an object of universal admiration. The tower, formerly ninety meters high, still remains almost entirely standing. The chapel of the Virgin and the choir are fairly well preserved; the rest, exposed to the ravages of time, crumbles every day.

The Revolution destroyed the cult of Saint Mathurin just as the Calvinists had destroyed his church. His relics were scattered to the winds; there remains only a small bone whose authenticity is not very certain. The time is no more when all the parishes, for ten leagues around, came in procession to the Saint's sanctuary; this pilgrimage has almost entirely fallen away.

The parish church of the town of Moncontour, in B rittany, p Moncontour Town in Brittany possessing a relic of the saint. ossesses a bone of Saint Mathurin, enclosed in a silver bust. Every year, on his account, a great gathering of pilgrims takes place at the feasts of Pentecost.

We have enriched the account of Father Giry with information due to the kindness of the parish priest of Larchant, and with details drawn from the Caractéristiques des Saints by Father Cahier.