Saint Fortunatus of Douplable

While he was studying in that city, where his successes were not as unremarkable as his humility pleased him to say, the assiduity of his work tired his sight so much that he soon had to fear being deprived of it entirely. Worried by this prospect, he was praying one day in the church of Saint John and Saint Paul before an altar erected to Saint Ma rtin of Tours, whose saint Martin de Tours Spiritual model for Aquilin. fame and miracles were celebrated throughout the world. Suddenly, a movement of faith seized his heart. A lamp was burning near the image of the holy bishop. He approached it, rubbed his eyes with a little oil that he took from it, and suddenly he was healed. This same miracle was repeated at the same time for Felix, one of his friends who, suffering from the same ailment, had accompanied him, and who shortly after became bishop of Treviso.

This favor, as one can imagine, could only increase in the young man the feeling of devotion he had held until then for Saint Martin, and for which he was so generously rewarded. From that moment, he resolved to make a journey to France as soon as he could, and to thank the glorious wonder-worker in his famous basilica of Tours. The troubles in Italy soon hastened the execution of this plan. The Lombards threatened this beautiful land, which they entered in 568. Their barbarity devastated everything, and people already trembled in anticipation of an imminent invasion, all the more formidable as the Christian name was more hateful to them. Fortunatus did not wish to wait for these misfortunes; he departed in 566, and after stopping for some time in Douplable to see his family, he continued his long journey sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback, depending on whether the frequent crossing of mountains, plains, or rivers made one or the other means more convenient.

During this difficult journey, the interesting traveler made numerous stops with prominent figures, by whom his talent for poetry, which he was already cultivating with success, made him noticed and detained. People took pleasure in having him recount what he had seen. The charm of his narration and the vivacity of his wit captivated his hosts. To this admiration for his genius was added a genuine esteem for the purity of his conduct and the gentleness of his manner. Thus, by virtue of these literary relationships, which so easily bind those who love them, he made as many friends as admirers everywhere.

Sigebert I, one of the m Sigebert Ier King of Austrasia, husband of Brunhilda. ost enlightened, if not the most virtuous, princes of that time, reigned in Austrasia. He received Fortunatus with kindness, who had the good fortune to captivate him and make a friend of him: he even wished to keep him at his court and made him attractive offers. But the wise traveler soon noticed that the king was poorly advised by his courtiers; he feared a stay for which his virtue was not suited, and excused himself based on the primary goal of his journey, which was to lead him to Tours. Sigebert wished at least to give him an honorable proof of his friendship and his regrets by having him accompanied by one of his officers, who was to provide for his needs and safety throughout the rest of his journey. As this prince was very attached to Saint Radegund, and as he believed he saw in Fortunatus a man who could serve her in her affairs, which were not always without serious difficulties, he wished that after having satisfied his piety toward Saint Martin, he should go to Poitiers and present to the humble and illustrious queen a letter of recommendation on his behalf.

Fortunatus arrived in Tours and fulfilled his duties toward his patron saint, probably in 568. Saint Euphronius was bishop there at the time: between him and Fortunatus began from that moment a close union of sentiments that never ceased, and which led them to regard each other henceforth as son and father. Saint Radegund was onl y thirty leagues sainte Radegonde Queen of the Franks and founder of the Sainte-Croix monastery in Poitiers. from Tours where, like Fortunatus, she had come during the days of her trials to testify to her trust in Saint Martin and to leave in a monastic foundation a monument to her royal piety. For more than ten years she had lived in her monastery of Sainte-Croix, from where the fragrance of her virtues, the renown of her knowledge, and the delicacy of her spirit drew the eyes of the world toward her. For so many reasons, the poet and the Christian could not help but feel a desire to know her as well. Moreover, Italy was on fire under the brands of its savage conquerors. The traveler had become an exile. Too much leisure was left to him far from his homeland. And besides, God was directing in His hidden designs the path of this existence that He wished to settle. Be that as it may, resolved to delay his return to Treviso, he came to Poitiers, visi ted, lis Poitiers City where the saint settled and lived as a recluse. tened to, and admired Saint Radegund. For her part, the great Saint discovered in Fortunatus the rare alliance of an enlightened piety that matched her own, and a lofty genius that pleased her no less. A sweet and pious sympathy soon bound these two souls whom Heaven destined to be separated only by death. When Fortunatus, after having enjoyed for some time this amiable intimacy in which the Abbess Saint Agnes also had a d eserved shar sainte Agnès First abbess of the Sainte-Croix monastery in Poitiers. e, finally wished to return to Tours, which Saint Euphronius made him love, the two religious women joined their entreaties to determine him not to leave them. His high intelligence, the esteem in which he was held at court, and the holiness of his life indicated to them in Fortunatus a man whose influence could be of great advantage to them for their temporal affairs. As for him, were there not also persuasive reasons to attach himself to this prospect of a serious, respected, and useful position, in his already mature age and in this disgust he had experienced for the vanities of the world, which had not been able to diminish upon contact with the great virtues of our two Saints? He decided, and thus already a Poitevin at heart, he became one by the resolution to never leave again.

The Abbot of Saint-Hilaire, Pascentius, had ascended the see of Poitiers in 564. He did not take long to know and appreciate the holy man, and although he was a foreigner, which made him canonically ineligible for ordination, the prelate believed that this solid virtue, which in him was supported by the piety of his habits and sentiments, became a sufficient guarantee for the future: he therefore did not hesitate to admit him into his clergy, where, after the canonical trials and intervals, he arrived through the lower degrees of the clergy to the priestly dignity. This character was to enter into the desires of Saint Radegunde for him. From then on, he could administer, along with the temporalities of her community, the spiritual aid of which she had no less need. From then on also multiplied those holy and amiable relations in which one very often finds the poet yielding, by an innocent impulse, to the genius that colors for him the smallest circumstances of intimate life; and yet the serious negotiator treats at the same time, with all the interest they deserve, affairs of the highest gravity. While this distinguished mind applied itself to the composition of great poems or numerous prose works on the life and miracles of Saint Hilary, Saint Martin, and other illustrious figures dear to the Church, or to a thousand little poems imbued with delicacy and real beauty, he nonetheless dealt with the kings who respected and listened to him, and with the holiest bishops whom he had as friends, regarding the most important matters of the monastery. He entered into negotiations, undertook journeys to various courts, defended Sainte-Croix against the spoliations of the great, and maintained the spirit of the rule there; and among so many details that would not suffice for an ordinary man, he worked no less for himself at the study of the Holy Books, devoted himself to theology, read the Fathers with profit, and made for himself in Latin literature, which was expiring in his time, an immortal reputation, thus adding the prestige of human knowledge to the splendor of his religious virtues. Thus, his most illustrious contemporaries had only one voice to praise him: it was a beautiful glory to merit, as a first crown of his holiness, the approval of such holy prelates as Germanus of Paris, Felix of Nantes, Nicetius and Magneric of Trier, Euphronius of Tours, and Avitus of Clermont.

Although Saint Fortunatus had not yet received all these testimonies of universal esteem in 570, when the precious relic due to the entreaties of Saint Radegunde and the generosity of Emperor Justin II was received at Sainte-Croix, there is no doubt that he was already involved in the affairs of the convent, since on this occasion he composed the beautiful hymn so well known throughout the Church: Vexilla Regis pr odeunt, and that he ad Vexilla Regis prodeunt Famous hymn composed for the reception of the relic of the True Cross. dressed as thanks to Justin and Empress Sophia a letter in verse in the name of Saint Radegunde and her sisters.

Thus, having become as commendable for his eminent piety as for his erudition and eloquence, the good priest lived, sometimes in the care of a complicated administration, sometimes in retreat and study, softening the difficulties of the double ministry of consciences and worldly affairs through the charms of an innocent friendship that great souls always prefer to all pleasures. But deep sorrows and sad anxieties tested him. He saw Saint Radegund die, then soon after Saint Agnes, then also Saint Disciola, the amiable and pious emulator of their virtues. He saw the scandalous troubles brought into the family of Sainte-Croix by the detestable ambition of two proud princesses, Chrodicide and Basine; but the Saints profit from setbacks as well as from consolations to sanctify themselves, and upon reaching an advanced old age, our own could give thanks to God that so many years, spent in His service for the benefit of the illustrious monastery of Poitiers, had produced there, at least in many souls made for heaven, fruits of blessing that nothing could take away from them.

His priestly ministry continued under three bishops who succeeded one another from his arrival in Poitou until the end of the 6th century; Maroveus, who had not always favored, according to the public wish, the beautiful enterprise of Saint Radegund, had replaced Pascentius II and Plato Maroveus. The works of the sacred poet, where these names, venerated for fourteen hundred years, often return with the praises they deserve, prove the relationships of filial submission, holy familiarity, and useful service that Fortunatus always maintained with them.

In 599, he was sixty-nine years old, and nearly half of his life had passed in this continual exercise of modest virtues and good works, which had made him in the eyes of all a model of administrative prudence, charitable zeal, and holy devotion. As soon as Plato, who had held the see for seven years, had left that same year a life that Fortunatus praised worthily, there was no hesitation regarding the choice of his successor. Fortunatus was appointed unanimously. From that moment, he applied himself with the zeal and activity of youth to the great duties of an accomplished pastor. He hastened to work, as if he had felt that time would soon fail him. He was, in fact, to hold the care of his office, perhaps too heavy for a septuagenarian, for barely a full year. He then composed his explanation of the Creed and that of the Lord's Prayer, intended in the form of homilies for the people he was to nourish with the word of God. These works have remained with us and testify, along with many others, that this beautiful imagination which had so often and on so many subjects inspired his poetic language was no less imprinted with the great and solemn thoughts that render the things of faith in features capable of making it loved.

Saint Fortunatus died in 600, probably on December 14, the day on which his feast has always been celebrated in the church of Poitiers. He was buried in the apse of the basilica of Saint-Hilaire. Paul, deacon of Aquileia, having passed through Poitiers towards the middle of the following century, visited his tomb, honored by popular devotion. At the request of Aper, then abbot of the monastery, he composed an epitaph for the pontiff, of whom he boasted of being a compatriot. In it, he offered a beautiful eulogy of his genius and the holiness of his life.