Blessed Ponce of Balmey

Work was underway to erect this edifice when Ponce resolved to go to the Charterhouse of Grenoble to dedicate himself to the religious life. The venerable Guigues, who was then prior, welcomed him with affectionate kindness, and no sooner had he made his profession than he was sent to Meyria to take charge of the new religious colony that owed its establishment to him and which had just lost Étienne, its prior, who died on January 4, 1118. Everyone rejoiced to have found in him the holy man they so rightly mourned; under his direction, the Charterhouse of Meyria became flourishing.

The fame of Ponce's reputation, accompanied by the sweet odor of his virtues, turned the eyes of the Church of Belley toward him, wido Église de Belley Original diocese and place of education of the saint. wed of its pastor, which requested him to replace Bishop Guillaume, whom death had just taken away. Our Blessed one, frightened by this news, groaned, wept, and only the voice of authority could draw him from solitude and force him to undergo the burden of the episcopate in 1121. In this high dignity, Ponce, not only gave his flock the example of the most sublime virtue, but he also knew how to win them over with his gentle and affable manners, and above all by his indulgent temperament toward sinners; he welcomed the most hardened with paternal kindness, and however deplorable their wanderings were, he never despaired of their return. In this way, he softened for his sheep what was austere in the morality he preached to them. His tone of simplicity contributed not a little to making him cherished: an enemy of ostentation and all magnificence, insensitive to the flattery that often comes crawling to the foot of a bishop's throne, disdaining the eager attentions of the people around him, especially when he noticed that a base sentiment made them act, Ponce only found pleasure in the company of the poor, for whom he always had the bowels of a father.

His love for penance equaled his humility; he was not content with preaching mortification to others, he chastised his body with the harshest discipline, and wore upon his flesh a hairshirt capable of frightening even the penitents of the Thebaid. His bed was as simple and hard as the one he had at Meyria; a little bread and water was his only nourishment on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; on other days, he added only a few coarsely prepared vegetables, sometimes cheese and a few drops of wine; to conform to the rule of the Carthusians, which he foll owed as much as the règle des Chartreux Religious order welcomed by Engelbert in Cologne. duties of his station allowed, he always abstained from meat, even when he was ill.

It is thus that this venerable and vigilant pastor united example with preaching, to teach the souls entrusted to his care the path of eternal life traced by the Savior's cross. His labors bore fruit; he drew several great personages from the paths of iniquity, opened their eyes to the nothingness of the world, and converted them to the Lord. His examples and exhortations gave birth in several of his relatives and friends to the desire to embrace the religious life. Among the number of these were Garnier, his brother, who became a Carthusian at Meyria, where he lived and died holily on June 1, 1140, at the age of over one hundred years, and the blessed Nantelle, his secretary, who went to consecrate himself to God in the solitude of Portes, from where he was drawn to be placed on the episcopal see of Belley, which he illustrated by his virtues. A pastor formed on the model that Saint Paul traces of a true bishop, Ponce always watched attentively over his Church, and put all his solicitude into preserving it from ravenous wolves. Never did favor, intrigue, or wealth cause him to open the sanctuary to mercenaries; knowledge and morals were the only recommendation that had access to him.

One of his principal cares was to rebuild his cathedral, the dwelling of his canons, and the hospitals of Belley, considerably damaged under his predecessors by a fire that had caused great destruction in the city. His vigilance was not limited to Belley; it had no other limits than those of his diocese, which he never ceased to evangelize with all the zeal of an apostle. The authors of his life affirm that heaven often took pleasure in rewarding the holy bishop with extraordinary favors, and that he miraculously healed several people afflicted with inveterate diseases.

In 1138, Ponce was at the Charterhouse of Portes with Humbald, Archbishop of Lyon, and S aint Hugh, Bishop of Grenoble, w saint Hugues, évêque de Grenoble Bishop of Grenoble and friend of Ponce. ho had gone there to consecrate the upper church. He seized this opportunity to reveal to these venerable prelates the resolution he had taken to leave his Church to return to solitude. "Remember," my dearest brother, Saint Hugh replied to him, "how I was blamed by our master Bruno when I wanted to renounce my bishopric to retire with him into the desert, of which I have often spoken to you. Do not, therefore, abandon the sheep that the divine Shepherd has entrusted to your care. Continue to watch over them until death." These wise counsels seemed to have turned him away from his project; he resumed his duties with new courage.

Pope Innocent II had convened a council in Pisa in 1134. Ponce wen pape Innocent II Pope reigning during the saint's lifetime. t there with Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, and a large numbe r of French prelates. He had the saint Bernard, abbé de Clairvaux Abbot of Clairvaux and spiritual master of Raoul. consolation of seeing canonized in this council Hugh, Bishop of Grenoble, his friend, taken two years earlier from the affection of his flock. Upon their return from Pisa, the French bishops were arrested and mistreated in Tuscany by a band of brigands bribed by the antipope Anacletus and Conrad III, King of the Romans, his partisan. Arriving at Pontremoli, they were arrested again; Ponce, seriously wounded, was locked in a narrow prison with many other bishops and abbots. Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny, who was among the number, wrote to the Pope about this lamentable story to beg him to take action against the authors of this crime. Finally, delivered from his prison, the Bishop of Belley returned to his diocese; but weakened by age and his long austerities, he obtained, that same year, from Pope Innocent II, by dint of importunities, the permission to return to solitude. Not wishing, however, to leave his flock without a shepherd, he directed the votes of the clergy and the people toward Berlion, a person who, through a ha ppy uni Berlion Successor of Ponce to the see of Belley. on of all virtues, seemed to him worthy of the episcopate. This nomination having been approved by the Pope, Ponce bade the most touching farewells to his flock, established Berlion at the head of his people, and took the road to Meyria with the joy of the traveler who arrives at port after the shocks of a violent storm. There, he finds with delight the rest that retreat offers him; there, he tastes the charms of solitude and does not cease to savor the sweetness that the fervent soul finds in solitary conversations with its God; there, despising the pomp of episcopal dignity, he aspires only to the last place among the religious whom he regards as his brothers; he wishes to surpass them only by his fervor in following the holy rule. Such was the life of the blessed Ponce until the most advanced age.

As his soul detached itself from his body and seemed to prelude the flight it was about to take toward heaven, one would have said that his words were the oracles of the Divinity, so sublime were the exhortations he addressed to the religious to engage them to live in the holiness of their vocation. After having received the last sacraments, he rendered his spirit to God without effort, amidst the rejoicings of the celestial court and the tears of his brothers, on December 13, 1140. His tomb became famous because of the great number of miracles that were performed there.

Histoire hagiologique du diocèse de Belley, by Mgr Depéry.