Saint Malo

However, the Anglo-Saxons had invaded the entire eastern part of Great Britain. Around the year 536, the ravages they inflicted on the western coast forced Macout and several holy figures to emigrate to Armorica. Among this number was Saint Samson, who had already saint Samson Bishop of Dol and educator of Budoc. received episcopal consecration as an auxiliary bishop, according to the custom of the time, and who was the first bishop of Dol; then Saint Magloire, Saint Brieuc, Saint Pol, and Saint Méon. These new apostles landed on an island not far from the mainland, called the island of Aaron (to l'île d'Aaron Landing site in Armorica, the future city of Saint-Malo. day the city of Saint-Malo-de-l'Île), named after a holy anchorite who inhabited it. Macout, under the guidance of Samson, thought only of applying himself to monastic virtues and enjoying the charms of solitude, when the Christians of the city of Aleth, separated from this island by a narrow channel, unanimously chose him as bishop, with the assent of their prince whom Bili names Judé-lus, and who is known in history under the name of Judwal or Alain. King Childebert I (557) had just restored this prince to the states of his fathers, usurped in 546 by Canao.

Sigebert, speaking of the election of Macout, says that they made him sit on the episcopal chair. This expression does not seem to indicate the creation of a new bishopric. He would not, therefore, have been its first incumbent, as several have claimed. The acts of Saint Samson name Gurval, the bishop of Aleth who attended the funeral of this Saint in 565. Manet gives as a predecessor to Saint Macout a prelate by the name of Budoc. It would have been more accurate to say that our Saint was the first bishop of Aleth of British origin; all the others before him having belonged to Armorican families.

It was in 575. Until 594, the year of Judwal's death, the holy bishop never ceased to exercise his apostolate in peace, and to edify his diocese and all of Armorica through his words, his examples, and his miracles. Halloch o r Hoël I Hoël III Breton prince and persecutor of the saint. II, son and successor of Judwal, had not inherited his father's piety. He was the first persecutor of the holy bishop. This is the occasion: Macout had made the journey to Luxeuil specifically to learn from the mouth of Saint Columbanus about his Rule, which was already famous. Upon his return to Aleth, he built a monastery at Raux, the place of his birth, which he placed under this Rule. He loved to lead the cenobitic life there himself. The riches of this soon-flourishing abbey had tempted the greed of Hoël. He wanted to destroy the church; but God struck him with blindness. Forced to acknowledge his guilt, he implored his pardon and his healing. Macout, always disposed to do good to his enemies, washed his eyes with oil and water that he had blessed and restored his sight. The prince showed himself grateful for this kindness all his life. At his death, which occurred in 612, the persecution began again. Macout had first had the pain of seeing one of the count's children massacred in his own cell, where he had been hidden. The author of this murder, named Rethwel, wanted to kill all the sons of Hoël III in this way. Three days later, in punishment for his crime, he was himself struck by a shameful death. The spirits were nonetheless stirred up against Macout. God permitted, in order to test him, that he should find adversaries even among his colleagues in the episcopate. He saw himself driven from his see; the prince even dared to tear down his cathedral.

The Saint then resolved to leave this ungrateful land that he had cultivated for nearly forty years. Upon leaving, he called down the curses of heaven upon it, not in a spirit of vengeance, but with the goal of making sinners return to themselves under the blow of temporal punishments. He embarked with thirty-three religious who wished to share his exile. After several days of sailing toward the coasts of Aquitaine, they landed on an island in Saintonge, which Bili calls Agenis, and which appears to us to be the island of Aix (Aia, Agia, Aias, Ais, Ayensis, Aquensis). Macout inquired about the customs and religion of the inhabitants. Learning that they were Catholic, he asked them if he might find in the neighboring city a bishop or some other person of standing exercising works of mercy, who would be willing to give asylum to him and his companions. They named L eontius, Bishop of Sainte Léonce, évêque de Saintes Bishop of Saintes who welcomed Malo during his exile. s, who was at that moment on another island called Euria, which we believe to be that of Hiers. They set sail immediately for this place. Leontius, learning of the high regard Macout had earned through his virtues, welcomed him eagerly and gave him, for his dwelling and that of his monks, a magnificent estate near his episcopal city, with fine revenues. To these liberalities, the neighboring inhabitants added a donkey intended to carry wood for the use of the community. One day, the poorly guarded donkey was devoured by a wolf. Macout then compelled the ferocious beast to take on the donkey's pack and fulfill its various duties. This it did willingly, says the legend, as long as the Saint lived.

God was pleased to manifest through miracles a virtue that strove to make itself forgotten by men. A new circumstance made it better known. The daughter of the governor of Saintes, bitten by a venomous snake, was on the point of expiring. Macout, moved by compassion, ran to her, dipped an ivy leaf in holy water which he applied to the wound, and caused the venom to drain out entirely. The governor, out of gratitude, gave Macout considerable lands to help him in the alms he distributed each day to the indigent. Another day, Saint Leontius had set aside water in which Macout had washed his hands. A blind woman bathed her eyes in it and recovered her sight.

Leontius, desiring to let his whole diocese enjoy the benefits and edification provided by the presence of Macout, invited him to visit the parishes with him. The course of this visit had brought the two bishops to a town that Sigebert calls Brea, the Hérouval manuscript Briage, and the Breviary of 1542 Brya. There were two churches or chapels in this town. The analogy of the name, the ancient importance of the place attested by the imposing remains of an antique dungeon, and above all the existence of two churches, dedicated, one to Saint Peter and the other to Saint Eutropius, as evidenced by charters of Notre-Dame de Saintes, all these circumstances combined lead us to believe that this is the ancient town of Broue. It was then proudly seated, in the Gulf of Brouage, on a high promontory beaten by the waves of the Ocean. Leontius had assigned to Macout one of the two churches to exercise sacred functions there, while he would fulfill them in the other. Now, it happened that a young boy of twelve, from the household of the Bishop of Saintes, fell into a well and drowned. Moved by this sad event, touched by the tears of the child's family, Leontius had the body of the deceased carried into the church he had assigned to Macout. The latter understood what was being asked of him. He spent the whole night in prayer, and the next day, prostrating himself seven times over the child, following the example of the prophet Elisha, he restored him to life. Out of humility, he attributed this miracle solely to the merits of Leontius.

While Saintonge was happy to possess such a brilliant light, the diocese of Aleth presented the most deplorable aspect. Never had so many lame, blind, and lepers been seen there. Foul miasmas spread contagious diseases into every house. The land had become sterile: famine was general. The inhabitants, touched by repentance, asked heaven for the return of their holy pastor. He was urgently begged to return to his flock. At the same time, an angel warned him not to delay in yielding to the desires of his diocese. Upon his arrival, all the plagues ceased; the effects of the holy bishop's curses gave way to abundant blessings.

In leaving Saintonge, Macout had promised to return there to end his days. The end of his career was approaching. God made it known to him that it was His will that he take the road back to Saintes. Scarcely had Léonce learned of Macout's happy landing than he hurried Saintes City in Aquitaine where Psalmodius initially retired. to meet him at a place then called Archembiacum. Girya translates this word as Archembray; but there is no locality of this name in Saintonge. We believe we find Archembiacum, whose name has been lost, at Lugon, otherwise known as Saint-Macout, in the vicinity of Nancras, not far from Brouc, where the Saint could very well have landed. In an 11th-century charter relating to the monastery of Sainte-Gemme, there is mention of that of Lucum (Lugon). It was still, in the last century, a priory under the collation of the Jesuits of Limoges. This place, situated in the ancient forest of Baconais, offered Macout charms that fixed him there. He and Léonce spoke for a long time of the happiness of the afterlife. They had to part. The Bishop of Saintes had barely reached his episcopal city when the Blessed one fell ill. He wanted no other bed than ashes and the hairshirt, his biographers say. He kept his hands and eyes constantly directed toward heaven. It was in this attitude that he expired gently, on November 15, 630, at the age of one hundred and thirty-three, as all the ancient lives, the Breviary of Saintes of 1542, and the Martyrology of France formally affirm.

Saint Malo is represented: 1st, healing a lord who had lost his sight for having attempted to tear down a church built by the holy bishop; 2nd, carried by a mound of earth floating on the waters, as we have recounted; 3rd, making a wolf work that had eaten his donkey, and forcing it to carry bundles of sticks; 4th, saying Mass on the back of a whale. The Bretons maintain that during a prolonged voyage, the saint found himself at sea on Easter day. Then, desiring to be able to celebrate Mass, he had himself landed on an island which turned out to be nothing but a whale. He was, however, able to offer the holy sacrifice on this singular landing spot, without too many accidents, if one is to believe the legend, and the animal did not submerge until after the Mass was finished.

He is the patron of Rouen, Saint-Malo, Valognes, Conflans-sur-Oise, and Dinan. He is invoked with success against dropsy.

[APPENDIX: CULT AND RELICS.]

Saint Leontius hastened to pay his friend the final duties. He had his precious remains transported to Saintes, and gave them the burial befitting those of a Saint, in the beautiful church he had built, outside the walls, to the west of the city, in the district that still bears the name of Saint-Macout today.

At this translation, the Saint performed several miracles, delivering a possessed person, restoring sight to two blind men, and straightening a deformed person. The church built by Saint Leontius, adds the Breviary of Saintes of 1542, was ruined by the English when they invaded Aquitaine in the 15th century. After the war, it was rebuilt; but it was far from having its former splendor.

We learn, from the memoirs of Canon Tabourin, that the Chapter of Saint-Pierre of Saintes came in procession to Saint-Macout on the eve and the day of the Saint's feast, the Thursday after Easter and the day of Saint Mark. On that day, as on the day of Saint-Macout, Mass was said in this church by the local prior, who, in Tabourin's time, was a canon of Saintes. All those who attended the procession heard this Mass, and "there were," he adds, "more outside than inside, because the church was very small."

A manuscript notice, which was read at the office of Saint Macout in several churches, both in France and in Brittany, recounts that the mere touching of his relics resurrected many dead, and that since the Apostles there has not been seen a man more signaled by his miracles, more commendable for his virtues, or more powerful for the conversion of souls.

For several years the body of Saint Macout rested at Saintes, when it was taken by a Breton gentleman named Ménobert. The Bishop of Saint-Malo had promised this gentleman to reinstate him in his property if he brought back to Brittany the precious treasure that it envied from Saintonge. Such thefts were considered at the time as acts of piety. Ménobert therefore came to Saintes and entered the service of the cleric in charge of guarding the Saint's relics. He watched for the absence of this cleric, during which, after having fasted for three days and offered fervent prayers to the Saint, he secretly seized the precious deposit.

Brought to Saint-Malo, the body was placed in the church of Saint-Aaron, where it performed great miracles. Ménobert is said to have left an arm and the head at Saintes. This latter relic was transferred to the abbey of Saint-Jean-d'Angely. It appears on the inventory of those kept there at the time of the wars of religion. The arm, which would have remained at Saintes, if one is to believe an ancient chronicle, would have been put in safety at the castle of Merpins at the approach of the Normans. The treasure of the Saint-Macout church would also have been hidden from the rapacity of these barbarians by burying it under the altar.

During the invasion of the same Normans, the precious bones of our Saint were transported from Aleth to the monastery of Gembloux, and Sigebert, who was a monk there, wrote the life of the Saint on this occasion. From there they were transferred to Paris, where King Lothair had them placed in the church of Saint-Michel du Palais, which was his chapel. The religious of Saint-Magloire then possessed them, either in their small church in front of the palace, or in their abbey on the Rue Saint-Denis, or in the one that was given to them in the Faubourg Saint-Jacques.

The head, kept at Saint-Jean-d'Angely, was destroyed in 1562 by the Calvinists. Twenty years later, the relics honored in Paris fell into the hands of a troop of soldiers. Finding nothing there to satisfy their greed, they left them in the abbey of Saint-Victor, where they were placed in a copper reliquary. The body was almost complete, with the exception, however, of the head and an arm which had been returned to the cathedral of Saint-Malo, of some bones given to the church of Saint-Maclou of Pontoise, and of a rib obtained by the town of Bar-sur-Aube, where a collegiate church was established in honor of the holy bishop. In 1706, the parish of Saint-Maclou of Moisselles, near Versailles, was enriched with a shoulder bone of its patron saint, which it still preserves. This is perhaps the only relic of the Saint existing today. Those that were at Saint-Victor were destroyed or dispersed during the suppression of the abbey in 1794. The persecution was so horrible in the city of Saint-Malo during the revolution that this church lost the relic it possessed.

The cult of Saint Macout is very ancient and almost universal in Brittany and the neighboring provinces. In Saintonge, he had at Saintes, in the suburb of his name, the church founded by Saint Leontius, and near Nancras, that of Lugon. These two churches were originally served by monks. Saint Macout is still the patron of the parishes of Thézac, Colombiers, and Ars, near Cognac.

In Poitou, on the banks of the Claix, at La Folie-Saint-Gelais, formerly Granges-Saint-Gelais, there existed a chapel dedicated to Saint Entrope and Saint Macout. An inscription in hexameter verse informs us that on the day of the Assumption in 1485, Charles de Saint-Gelais, Bishop of Margi, today Passarowitz, and Abbot of Montierneuf, consecrated and dedicated the altar of this chapel to these two Saints. Since the destruction of this sanctuary, the stone bearing the inscription has been inserted into the wall of the basin of a fountain called Saint-Macout, to which people come from very far away on pilgrimage to immerse 'mocouin' children. This is the name given to those whose limbs are knotted.

Our holy bishop is not unknown in Italy, where he is called Saint Mauto. There is in Rome, near the Basilica of Saint Peter, a small church dedicated to him, and an obelisk in that city bore the name of Saint-Macut, which is the same as that of Malo.

This biography, much more accurate than that of Father Giry, is by the Abbé Grasilier, of Saintes. This writer was inspired, for his work, by the scholarly dissertation on Saint Malo, due to the pen of M. Brillouin, and addressed in 1842 to the Abbé Dunnea, parish priest of Saint-Vivien of Saintes.