Saint Evroul of Bayeux

His parents and friends having pressed him to contract marriage, so as not to let the name of his family die out, the Saint married a woman worthy of him by her virtues and her birth. But, although he was engaged in the state of marriage, he never ceased to meditate upon and practice this beautiful maxim of the apostle Saint Paul: "The time of life is very short, it is therefore necessary that those who have a wife live as if they had none." He also took care not to forget these other words of the Apostle: "Let those who use this world live as if they did not use it; for the figure of this world passes with rapidity."

Far from displeasing his Creator in the use of His gifts, he worked and breathed only for His glory. By a sentiment of charity quite rare among the great of the earth, he found more pleasure in giving than in receiving. Applied continually to retracing in his conduct the examples of the Saints, he had no greater happiness than to relieve the poor, who are the suffering members of Jesus Christ, to watch and to pray, according to the precept of our Savior. He encouraged his wife to practice the same works of piety, so that this virtuous lady, already inclined to good by the movements of her own heart, was further excited by the lessons and examples of her husband. It is thus that, being still only a layman, and having no other Rule than his fervor, Saint Evroult led in the state of marriage a life as perfect as many religious who live far from the dangers of the world and in the silence of retreat.

However, Our Lord, who never allows Himself to be outdone in generosity, was preparing to shower new blessings upon His humble servant. One day, while attending the divine office, he heard these sweet words that Jesus Christ addresses to His disciples in the holy Gospel: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." These words of the divine Master touched him to the depths of his heart. He engraved them in his memory, as well as those magnificent promises that Jesus Christ makes to those who despise the world for His love: "Amen I say to you, you who abandon all for me, you shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting." Feeling then inflamed with a holy ardor, he was no longer content to distribute to the poor alms regulated by the extent of his income; he began to distribute his goods themselves, and resolved to break as quickly as possible all the ties that still bound him to the world. He communicated his design without fear to his pious wife, and endeavored, by placing before her eyes the magnificent promises of Jesus Christ, to inspire in her the same sentiments. As she loved God with all her heart, she willingly consented to make for His glory the sacrifices most painful to nature. She even left the world first, and, having said farewell forever to her holy husband, she went to take the veil in a religious house. After having given this beloved spouse to the Lord, Saint Evroult remained at the court of Clotaire III only as long as it took him to distribute all his goods to the poor. Then, considering himself as having escaped the reefs of a stormy sea, where an infinity of souls are shipwrecked, he hastened to retire to the monastery of Jumeaux, located in the diocese of Bayeux, as if into a port where he could work more perfectly at h is sanctification diocèse de Bayeux Birthplace of the saint. . He was received with transports of joy by the abbot and his religious, who all looked upon him as their benefactor; for he had long supported the monastery with his alms. There is no need to say what the holiness of his life was in the midst of these fervent religious. Having taken the monastic habit, he faithfully fulfilled this counsel of the Holy Spirit: "He that is holy, let him be sanctified still more, and he that is perfect, let him be perfected more and more." He was of all the religious the most humble, the most obedient, the most gentle, the most charitable, the most assiduous in prayer, and the most applied to work; his fervor was the edification and astonishment of all his brothers. They could not help but give him public marks of their veneration on several occasions. But this great Saint, fearing to conceive vanity from them, resolved to avoid this new reef by retiring into solitude, to lead there the contemplative life.

Driven by the Spirit of God, who had great designs of mercy for him, he shared his project with three good religious men, who, not content with approving it, resolved to accompany our Saint in his retreat. All four left the monastery and, crossing the country of Exmes, arrived at a place in the diocese of Séez called Montfort. This place was covered with tall forests and watered by clear streams. Saint Evroult and his companions believed they could not find a place more favorable for the fulfillment of their designs. They stopped there, therefore, blessing the Lord. For some time, they were able, according to their desire, to lead a solitary life and taste the sweetness of contemplation. But, as there were two important towns in the vicinity, Exmes and Gacé, which attracted a considerable crowd of people for business, the servants of God soon had to complain of the multitude of visitors who came to disturb the peace of their solitude. Indeed, a large number of people, who had known the Saint in the midst of the world and appreciated his inexhaustible kindness, having learned the place of his retreat, often came to consult him about their temporal interests, even when he was most devoted to the contemplation of heavenly things. Tired of these distractions, Saint Evroult and his three companions resolved to leave this place, which they had sanctified by their virtues.

Before them lay the vast forest of Ouche, whose trees were so thick that the sun could barely penetrate the darkness with the full brightn forêt d'Ouche Primary site of the retreat and monastic foundation of Evroul. ess of its rays. But, however frightening this forest already was by its density, it was even more so by the presence of the thieves who infested it and the ferocious beasts that made it their lair. They nevertheless ventured into this dreadful solitude and traversed it in all directions to discover a place suitable for the establishment they were planning. As they could not find any place suitable for the execution of their pious design, Saint Evroult, filled with the Spirit of God, knelt down and, lifting his hands to heaven, addressed this prayer from the depths of his heart to Our Lord: "O sweet Jesus, who once deigned, by means of a pillar of cloud and fire, to lead your people yourself into the desert and show them the way to the promised land, deign, I beseech you, to lead your servants yourself, who are fleeing from this miserable land of Egypt, from this world of sin subject to the tyranny of the demon. Deign to show them the place where they may finally serve you in complete freedom and save their souls redeemed by your precious blood."

Hardly had he finished this prayer when an angel appeared and signaled him to follow. Led by this heavenly guide, Saint Evroult and his companions arrived in a pleasant valley, watered by several streams, whose clear waters flowed into a large pond. At the sight of this happy solitude, for which they had been longing, Saint Evroult and his companions fell to their knees to thank the goodness of God, who never deceives the hopes of his servants. They built a hut of tree branches in this place to shelter themselves from the inclemency of the weather and constructed a small fence around it to defend the entrance against the beasts of the forest.

There, trampling underfoot all the pleasures, all the glory, and all the vanities of a sinful world, they thought only of heaven, lived only for heaven, and sighed only for the possession of God. Thus they sang with mouth and heart with the royal Prophet: "You are my only portion, O Lord; your holy law, O my God, is the only treasure I wish to keep." They kept, in fact, with great fidelity this lovable law of God, and, by their burning charity, they strove to merit at the hour of death to be recognized by him as his children.

While our pious solitaries thus strove to grow each day in the love of God, it happened that one of the thieves who inhabited the forest came to visit them, and, seeing well by their attire that they had no money to be taken, he wished, out of charity for them, to persuade them to leave a dwelling where their lives were so little secure. "Poor solitaries," he said to them, "what change of fortune has forced you to come and hide in this desert? How could you settle in such a horrible solitude? Truly, you do not choose your place well. Do you not know that this place is the refuge of brigands and not of hermits? The inhabitants of this forest live only by rapine, and cannot tolerate those who live by their labor. I warn you charitably, you are not safe here. Moreover, you will find only uncultivated and even sterile lands; by cultivating them, you will give yourselves much trouble to harvest nothing."

The venerable servant of God said to him with that sweet eloquence with which he was gifted: "My dear brother, it is not a change of fortune, but indeed the holy will of God, that has led us here to weep for our sins. And as this good Master is always with us, to protect and defend us, we fear nothing from men. Has He not said Himself in the holy Gospel: 'Fear not those who kill the body, but cannot reach the soul?' We have only one fear, that of offending God. As for the difficulty of cultivating this land, know that our God is powerful enough to feed His servants even in a desert. You yourself, if you wish, may taste with us the sweetness of His infinite mercy, by renouncing for His love this criminal profession that you exercise, and by promising to serve henceforth with fidelity this infinitely good God. For, according to the word of the Prophet, God our Father is so full of mercy that He is willing to forget all the faults of the sinner from the very first day of his conversion. Your faults are very great, my dear brother, but do not despair of the goodness of our God. Follow rather the advice that the King-Prophet gives you here through my mouth: 'O my son, turn away from evil and do good now, holding it for certain that the eyes of the Lord rest with complacency upon the just, and that His ears are attentive to their slightest prayers.' I do not wish to leave you ignorant of the terrible words that the holy King David adds immediately: 'The eyes of the Lord,' he says, 'are also fixed on those who do evil, but it is in order to destroy one day even their memory upon the earth.' Indeed, by the very fact that God is just, He owes it to Himself to reward the good and punish the wicked, according to the multitude of their iniquities. Tremble then, my dear brother, before this great God, or rather come, believe me, and throw yourself into the arms of His infinite mercy."

These words made an impression on the heart of this poor sinner, who returned, all pensive, on the path to his home. The next morning, abandoning all that he possessed in this world, save for three loaves of bread baked under the ashes and a honeycomb that he took with him, he returned promptly to the monastery, threw himself at the feet of Saint Evroult, and offered him the small gifts he had brought. He then solicited the favor of being admitted to profess the religious life to expiate his sins. Having become a model of fervor, he was the first who received the monastic habit in this house. Following his example, a great number of other thieves who inhabited this forest followed the counsels of our Saint, renounced their brigandage, and became gentle and humble religious or honest farmers. Many inhabitants of the neighboring villages, attracted by the renown of Saint Evroult, also came to find him, in order to hear the words of life that came from his mouth and to contemplate this angelic sweetness that was reflected on his face. After having given him a slight alms to help him live in this desert, they returned with joy to the path to their homes, well resolved to put into practice the charitable warnings that the Saint had given them. Several among them were even so touched by his exhortations that they begged him to admit them into his company.

As the number of his brothers increased, Saint Evroult made himself all things to all men, and showed himself more and more worthy of their veneration through his virtues. Indeed, he continually gave his brothers the example of patience and the most perfect mortification. Assiduous in prayer, he drew from it that tenderness and burning charity for his brothers, which was remarked upon in all his discourses. Never did his heart allow itself to be cast down by adversity, nor lifted up by prosperity. All the alms brought to him were, by his orders, immediately distributed to the poor, who came in crowds to commend themselves to him as to their nourishing father. He said that it is unworthy of a religious to concern himself with the morrow, as if God, our heavenly Father, did not watch over us continually, and, in whatever pressing necessity he found himself, he wanted the poor to be treated as his children. Thus, more than once, God, who rewards the charity of His faithful servants a hundredfold in this world, was pleased to bless Saint Evroult visibly, and to assist him when he was in need.

One day, among others, when the supply of bread was exhausted, a poor man, having presented himself at the gate of the monastery, asked for alms for the love of God. As he was crying out for the pity of the Father cellarer, who had sent word that he had nothing left at his disposal, Saint Evroult heard the complaints of this poor man from his cell. He was touched to the depths of his heart. "Ah! my brother," he said to the Father cellarer, "do you not hear the cries of this unfortunate man? By your grace, give alms to this suffering member of Jesus Christ." — "But, my Father," replied the good religious, "I have only half a loaf left that I am keeping for the children being instructed in the monastery. I have already distributed all the others to obey you, although we are on the eve of dying of hunger." — "My dear brother," the Saint said to him, "one must not hesitate to give to this poor man the half-loaf that remains for the love of Our Lord. Have you not heard the King-Prophet say: 'Blessed is he who heeds the prayer of the poor and the needy; in the day of misfortune, the Lord will have pity on him in turn'? Indeed, will our Savior refuse us a piece of bread, after He has given us all His blood on the tree of the cross?"

The good religious obeyed and gave the poor man all the bread he had left. But Providence generously rewarded the admirable faith of Saint Evroult. For, before the sun set, a knock was heard at the monastery gate, and a man, leading a horse loaded with an enormous quantity of bread and wine, asked to see the Father cellarer. After greeting him, he told him that he had come to return to the Saint what he had been kind enough to lend him. Then, setting all these provisions on the ground, he added: "Go, I pray you, and take this to your good abbot." The Father left immediately to fetch Saint Evroult. But the stranger mounted his horse and suddenly disappeared. Saint Evroult and his religious arrived a few moments later to thank this generous benefactor. But the Brother porter reported to them how he had disappeared. They searched for him in every direction in vain, and could not even discover the traces of his passage. The Saint then understood that it was Our Lord who had sent him these provisions, and, his soul flooded with joy, he gave thanks to the infinite Goodness, which showed itself so generous toward him. From that day on, they lacked none of the things necessary for life; they even began little by little to find themselves in comfort.

Let us cite yet another circumstance in which the divine Goodness was pleased to assist them. Two thieves from a neighboring province, learning that God was pouring His blessings upon their goods, judged it appropriate to come to participate in their own way. Having encountered the herd of pigs that belonged to the religious, they resolved to take it out of the forest, in order to then share this loot. They therefore began to drive the whole band quickly before them. But, unfortunately for them, they lost their way by wanting to be too hasty in enjoying their capture. Having entered the paths that crossed the forest in every direction since the arrival of the religious, they finally found themselves enclosed as if in a labyrinth from which they could not find the exit. After many marches and counter-marches, which exhausted them with fatigue, they were quite surprised to perceive the monastery, near which they had returned, and to hear the bell calling the religious to the divine office. Touched by the grace of God, and penetrated with sincere repentance, they went to throw themselves at the feet of Saint Evroult, humbly confessed their faults, and asked him for the monastic habit.

Everything smiled upon the Saint in this pleasant solitude. However, he ardently desired to withdraw into an even deeper solitude, and to flee completely from the company of men in order to live only with God. But, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, he resolved to continue to serve the spiritual advancement of the religious who had placed themselves under his guidance. "Fearing," says the author of his Life, "to overturn the whole edifice if he were to remove the cornerstone, he joyfully made the sacrifice of his own personal happiness to procure that of his brothers. He therefore remained in their midst, like a good father among his dear children, and applied himself more than ever to edify them through his tender instructions and his examples."

However, the fame of his holiness spread throughout all the neighboring provinces, and attracted to him a great number of people animated by the desire to work for their salvation. They offered the Saint their houses, their lands, their treasures, and even their families, and implored him to build them monasteries and to give them the Rule of life that he pleased. Yielding to their entreaties, and to the desires of Sa saint Ainobert Bishop of Séez who encouraged the foundations of Évroult. int Ainobert, Bishop of Séez, who cherished the servant of God, he built up to fifteen monasteries for men and women, and placed at the head of each of these houses superiors of proven virtue. Among the monasteries founded by Saint Evroult, according to tradition, one counts above all the famous monastery of Saint-Martin de Séez, which, for eleven centuries, was for this diocese a source of edification and ecclesiastical science; the monastery of Virgins, founded a short distance from the Saint's monastery, near the church of Notre-Dame; the great and small monastery of Almenèches, governed later by Saint Lanthilde and Saint Op portune; the mon sainte Opportune Saint who governed the monastery of Almenèches founded by Evroult. astery of La Cochère, where Saint Evroult remained for some time, according to tradition, before establishing himself at Montfort; the monastery of If, located in the parish of Saint-Christophe in the canton of Mortrée, a few steps from the castle of Sacy; and fin ally the monastery o monastère de Mortain Site of an important foundation and a lasting cult. f Mortain in the former diocese of Avranches. Saint Evroult sometimes visited these religious houses, whose holy poverty was their principal ornament: he ensured that the Rule was faithfully observed there, and returned as quickly as possible to his abbey, in order to give his religious the example of retreat, and to preserve himself in recollection.

However, Our Lord, who loves to test His elect to purify them, like gold in the crucible of suffering, permitted the pious family of Saint Evroult to be decimated by a contagious disease. In the twenty-second year since the establishment of the monastery, the plague broke out in this holy house, where it made rapid progress. In these sad circumstances, Saint Evroult did not act like a hireling who, at the sight of danger, takes flight and leaves his sheep exposed to the fury of the wolves. Following the example of the Good Shepherd, he resolved to give his life for his flock, if such were the will of God. He therefore remained in the midst of his religious to assist and defend them. Following the counsel of the Apostle, he wept with those who were weeping, and, showing them the heaven where God awaited them to crown their patience: "My dear children," he said to them with an accent of inexpressible charity, "look to the heaven from which your heavenly Father contemplates you; here is the moment to show your confidence in His infinite goodness. Remain firm and patient in the midst of the trials He sends you; hold yourselves ready for all the sacrifices He may ask of you. Act all as worthy children of God, and remember that tribulation leads to patience, which is the treasure of the Christian. Renew then in yourselves the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and fight generously against the ancient serpent. You are all living members of Jesus Christ; have then but one heart and one soul to love Our Lord who comes to you. For here approaches for you the moment to appear before God, and to present to Him the works of your whole life; watch and pray, my beloved brothers, for you know exactly neither the day nor the hour of the visit of Our Lord. Ah! a thousand times happy the servant whom the Lord will find watching at His arrival."

It was with these words borrowed from Our Lord Himself that Saint Evroult disposed his brothers for death, and that he fortified them against the attacks of the demon. However, the religious were rapidly carried off by the terrible scourge. God, who wished to make the holiness of His servant shine with even greater brilliance, permitted a venerable religious, named Ausbert, to die without receiving the holy Viaticum. The Brother who was charged with guarding him came immediately to warn the holy abbot. "Ah! my Father," he said to him, "one of your children has just departed from this world without receiving the holy Viaticum. Pray for him so that God, before whom he now appears, may have mercy on him." The Saint, reproaching himself for this accident as if it had happened through his negligence, went to the bedside of the deceased. All flooded with tears, he prostrated himself with his forehead in the dust and invoked the infinite Mercy. Suddenly, feeling that he is heard, he rises and commands the dead man to live again. At the voice of the Saint, the dead man lifts his head, and, opening his eyes, turns them with love toward his Savior: "Oh! my Father," he said to him, "how I thank you for having come to my aid! Pursued at the tribunal of God by the enemy of men, who wanted to carry off my soul because I had had the misfortune to die without the holy Viaticum, I saw myself on the point of being temporarily distanced from my God, of being delivered to a cruel hunger, and excluded for a time from the feast of the Blessed. Suddenly you came to deliver me from the hands of my enemy. Oh! good Father, be eternally blessed. But, I pray you, go quickly to fetch me the holy communion, in order to give me the bread of the elect, the pledge of eternal life and of the glorious resurrection." Immediately the Saint had the Body of Our Lord brought, and no sooner had the religious received it than, by a very particular design of Providence, he rendered his soul to God once again.

However, the disease continued its ravages and there were as many as seventy-eight monks who succumbed to the contagion, not to mention a considerable number of lay Brothers. It would be unpardonable to pass over in silence the great miracle that the Saint performed in favor of one of them. On Christmas Day, one of these good Brothers, who was fulfilling with the most praiseworthy zeal the office of procurator of the abbey, struck by the scourge, breathed his last. Despite the horror that the corpse of a plague victim should inspire, the religious buried him with tender solicitude, and, having carried him to the cemetery, they placed him on the edge of the grave, while waiting for the end of the Mass that was being celebrated for the repose of his soul. Meanwhile, everyone in the church was weeping for the death of this dear Brother. Saint Evroult, seeing the tears that flowed from all eyes, was touched to the depths of his heart. Suddenly, trembling under the impression of the Holy Spirit, he knelt down and conjured the Lord to be willing to restore life to the dead man. He remained for a long time prostrated, his forehead in the dust, and striking his breast to implore the mercy of God. He did not cease to pray until the dead man, returned to life, came out of his coffin, crossed, still wrapped in his shroud, the ranks of the religious mute with fear, and went to throw himself at the feet of Saint Evroult. At this sight, a great cry of joy rises to heaven, and all the religious bless the God of mercies, who deigns to grant to His servant the power to recall the dead to life.

The fame of Saint Evroult's virtues and miracles spread so widely that it reached the court of Childebert III, wh o was then gov Childebert III King of Neustria who visited Évroult and endowed its abbey. erning Neustria. This prince, ardently desiring to see such a holy man, came to the monastery of Ouche with the queen and several members of the royal family. When he arrived in front of the monastery, at the place where the church raised in honor of the Blessed Virgin now stands, he dismounted from his horse out of respect for the Saint, and commanded his entire retinue to prepare to receive the servant of God with all the veneration due to him. Then the clerics who accompanied him donned their sacred vestments, and, placing their hands upon the holy relics and the cross, which they had laid upon a carpet, they sought to take them up to begin the procession; but it was impossible for them even to move them. Seized with great affliction, all those present knelt and humbly invoked the mercy of God. The queen then made a vow to the Blessed Virgin and said before all the lords: "If the Almighty God grants us the grace to be able to take up and carry our holy relics in procession, I shall have a beautiful church built here in honor of the Mother of God." After hearing these words from the queen, the clerics again placed their hands upon their holy relics to lift them, but they were no more successful than the first time. Then the queen, extremely distressed, said while shedding abundant tears: "I know well, O my God, that my sins make me unworthy to see the servant of God; however, if, through the merits of the Saint, you are willing to cast a look of mercy upon us, and allow us to carry our holy relics in procession, besides the church I have just promised, I shall have a beautiful marble altar made which shall be brought to the Saint." Scarcely had these words been spoken when all the relics began to move of their own accord; the clerics took them up with transports of joy and advanced in procession to meet the servant of God. He was arriving, accompanied by all his brothers and a great multitude of people, who pressed behind him to see the king. This prince, having been received into the monastery with all the honors due to royal majesty, spent three days there with the servant of God. On the point of departing, he commended himself to the prayers of Saint Evroult and gave him ninety-nine farms, designated in a charter that he handed to him. He then returned full of joy to his palace. The queen did not forget her vow. She had a magnificent church built in honor of the Blessed Virgin on the hill that rises between the Charentone and the forest. She also sent to Saint Evroult the marble altar she had promised for the church of his monastery. She only asked the servant of God, in sending this gift, to be willing to pray for her and the royal family during the holy sacrifice.

The Sovereign Pontiff, informed of the admirable virtues of Saint Evroult, also wished to give him a testimony of his particular esteem. He sent him various relics, among ot hers a small reli souverain Pontife Unidentified pope who sent relics of Saint Peter to Évroult. c of Saint Peter, head of the Apostles, to whom Saint Evroult had dedicated his church.

By working with such admirable zeal in the service of God, our Saint had reached the age of eighty. Filled with merits in the eyes of God and men, he sighed ardently for the happy day when it would be given to him to leave this place of exile to go to the heavenly homeland. Very different from unfaithful servants who would, if it were possible, avoid the presence of the sovereign Master forever, he called with all his desires for the coming of his Savior. Finally, Our Lord granted the prayers of his servant. He allowed him to be struck by a continuous fever, which consumed him slowly, and gave him the opportunity to exercise further mortification and the most admirable charity. During the forty-seven days that his illness lasted, he took no other food than the Body and Blood of the Savior, and, as if he had suffered nothing, he did not cease to preach the word of God to his brothers. Some religious from neighboring monasteries, having come to see this good Father, begged him with tears in their eyes to take at least some of the things they had brought him. "I thank you, my dear children," he said to them, "I have no need of any food. Jesus alone is my life. Do not speak to me of anything other than Jesus Christ." Indeed, this great Saint had no need of earthly food, sustained as he was by the Holy Spirit, who gave him heavenly nourishment and fortified him with the hope of soon tasting the delights of the house of God.

Feeling the approach of the day for which he had sighed so much, he had his religious gathered around his funeral bed, and, as he saw them melting into tears, he strove to console them with an ineffable tenderness by showing them the heaven where he would soon see them again. "My dear children," he said to them, "listen to the last recommendations of your dying father. By grace, remain always united by the two bonds of charity, and keep a tender affection for one another. Take care not to let yourselves be deceived by the wiles of the tempter, and be faithful observers of the promises you have made to God. Always cherish temperance, and preserve the treasure of chastity preciously. Live in holy humility, avoid pride more than death. Let each of you seek to surpass his brothers only by his charity and his good works. I also recommend to you one last time, my dear children, always receive strangers with kindness for the love of our good Savior who said: 'I was a stranger, and you received me.' Live thus, my dear children, and soon we shall have the happiness of seeing each other again in heaven."

Having then given all his brothers the kiss of peace, this glorious Confessor rendered his soul into the hands of this God of infinite goodness, whom he had loved so much, and who opened to him, as a reward for his fidelity, the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem. His death occurred on December 29, and in the twelfth year of the reign of Childebert III, which corresponds to the year 707.

[APPENDIX: CULT AND RELICS.]

As soon as Saint Evroult had drawn his last breath, his face shone with such radiance that no one had the slightest doubt that his soul, free from all the bonds of sin, reigned with Jesus Christ in heaven. His monks buried his body and carried it to the church with profound respect. For three days and three nights, they sang hymns and canticles, and kept watch around these holy remains, which they interred on January 2nd in the basilica of Saint-Pierre.

His body, later placed in a magnificent marble tomb, did not take long to perform a great number of miracles. As they were an evident proof of the glory the Saint enjoyed in heaven, one of the bishops of Séez, who sat in the 8th century, after consulting the other prelates of the province, solemnly proposed him for the veneration of the faithful of his diocese. He also had a public office composed in his honor, of which we still possess the lessons. It was on December 29th, the day of Saint Evroult's death, that this office was performed, as we see in the martyrology of Umbert. It was celebrated with much pomp, not only in the monasteries built by the holy Confessor, but also in several churches raised in his honor in the dioceses of Séez, Chartres, and Avranches. It was especially at the monastery of Ouche, since called the monastery of Saint-Evroult, that great solemnity was displayed for this feast. The presence of the relics of our Saint, which were exposed to the veneration of the faithful, powerfully excited their devotion and drew them in crowds to his monastery.

The ravages of the Normans were not able to stop this pious impulse of the peoples of Neustria toward the tomb of this great Saint. The monks of his abbey, protected by their noble poverty and hidden in the depths of their thick forest, were able to hear from afar the roar of the storm that was raging over all of Neustria, without having their monastery overturned, as were almost all the others. After the happy conversion of the Normans to the Catholic faith, the faithful were seen again coming in crowds to the Saint's tomb. But soon a deplorable event came to afflict all hearts zealous for his glory. This was the removal of his relics and those of Saint Evremond and Saint Ansbert, which were violently pulled from their tomb and carried off to Orléans around the year 946.

In the ardor of their devotion to Saint Evroult, the peop le of O Orléans The first diocese of which Roger was bishop. rléans had a church built in his honor at the place where his relics had first stopped when they were brought to their city. Divine Mercy deigned to perform a very great number of miraculous healings in this church in favor of the poor sick who came to claim the protection of the Saint.

However, Raoul de Dragy, seeing the great favors that it pleased Our Lord to grant to his people through the merits of the Saint, asked Chancellor Herluin for his share of the relics of this great servant of God. The holy relics were therefore brought by common agreement, in the presence of judges summoned by the bishop to make this division. Herluin, who was a priest, abbot of Saint-Pierre, and grand chancellor of the Duke of Orléans, received as his share the head and the greater part of the bones of Saint Evroult. He also kept his Book of Hours, his small silver-covered altar, his abbatial crosier, and his belt, along with the charters of the donations made to his abbey. As for the rest of the holy body, it was given to Raoul de Dragy. There was no more difficulty in the division of the other relics. The people of Orléans chose for their part the bones of Saint Evremond, abbot; the relics of Saint Ansbert, a monk of Saint-Evroult, were given to Raoul de Dragy, who hastened to go to the monastery of Rebais and offered the abbot his share of the glorious booty taken in Normandy. At the news of the rich gift tha t this knight was g monastère de Rebais Location where a significant portion of the relics is preserved. oing to make to them, the monks were filled with great joy. They came in procession to meet the relics, dressed in their richest vestments and holding lighted candles. The holy relics were led in triumph to the monastery church, where they remained for several days exposed to the veneration of the faithful. Not content with having these honors rendered to our Saints, Raoul de Dragy also gave the monks large sums of gold and silver so that suitable shrines could be purchased to deposit the holy relics. Finally, wishing to put the monks charged with preserving this precious treasure in their church beyond need forever, he gave them the lands of Bouœuil and Portelmon for their maintenance.

Shortly after, a new translation of the relics of Saint Evroult was made by order of King Hugh Capet, son of Prince Hugh, who ordered the abbot of Saint-Pierre of Orléans to give Geoffrey, son of the Count of Anjou, a portion of the relics of Saint Evroult kept in his abbey. Happy to carry with him this sure pledge of God's blessing, this young prince went to Angers, where he was received with joy by all the people. He deposited his precious treasure in the church of Saint-Maimbœuf. Later, this church took the name of Saint-Evroult because of the miracles that the Saint frequently performed there.

The monks of Saint-Evroult would have been overjoyed to recover the body of their illustrious founder. For several centuries, they made numerous attempts to achieve this, but the monks of Orléans and those of Rebais were too attached to these precious relics to consent to yield them even to the children of Saint Evroult. However, the monks of this abbey managed several times to procure some parts of his relics, which they transferred with great solemnity to their church. Thus, Foulques, provost of the abbey of Saint-Evroult, obtained, through the intermediary of a chaplain of the Countess of Brie, a tooth of Saint Evroult. He hastened to bring this precious relic to his monastery, where it was received with transports of joy by all the monks.

Under the reign of Louis VI, called the Fat, the abbey recovered yet another relic of its founder. A canon of Paris, named Fulbert, had for a long time an entire bone of the spine of Saint Evroult, which a chaplain of Henry I, King of France, had taken from his chapel to give to this canon as a sign of his affection. The latter, fearing that this theft would be discovered and bring him unpleasant trouble, handed this relic over to Guillaume de Montreuil. The latter, transported with joy at the sight of such a treasure, hastened to leave for Saint-Evroult. While he was on the way, he experienced for himself the effects of the protection of his blessed Father. Indeed, having taken in an inn where he had stopped some food that was poisoned, he soon felt cruel sufferings. In this extremity, he had recourse to Saint Evroult and implored him to restore his health. Scarcely had he made this prayer than he vomited the poison he had taken. He continued his journey, giving thanks to God, and brought the holy relic full of joy to the abbey of Ouche. He deposited it himself in a beautiful silver reliquary.

In 1130, Guérin, the seventh abbot of Saint-Evroult, undertook to procure, with the help of God, a more considerable portion of the Saint's relics. Knowing that half of the relics of the holy Confessor were kept at the abbey of Rebais, he left for that city with two fervent monks of his house, Odon de Montreuil and Garin de Sées, and had the joy of obtaining the right arm of the Saint with a box full of small bone fragments. Provided with these precious relics, the abbot of Saint-Evroult took the road back to Normandy with his monks. They arrived on May 24th at their monastery. About four thousand people of both sexes were gathered there to attend the feast of the Translation of the relics and receive the blessing of Saint Evroult upon his return to his abbey.

The Chronicle of the monastery of Ouche reports several other translations of our Saint's relics, which were less solemn than the previous ones, but which nevertheless caused the monks a very lively and legitimate joy.

Thus, towards the end of the 14th century, the troops of Robert, Duke of Normandy, having seized the city of Orléans which they sacked, a valiant knight named Gaston de Montfort ran immediately to the monastery of Saint-Pierre and took as his share of the booty the head of the holy abbot. He deposited it in the parish church of Saint-Evroult of Montfort as a noble trophy of his piety and valor. A few years later, yielding to the urgent requests of the monks of Saint-Evroult, the parish priest of Montfort gave them, with the consent of the Bishop of Lisieux, the anterior part of this glorious head, which was placed in a silver bust and exposed to the veneration of the faithful.

On July 13th of the year 1214, Réginald, abbot of Saint-Evroult, brought from Rebais a part of the jawbone of the holy Confessor with four teeth, a thigh bone, and a finger phalanx. He also brought relics of Saint Agyle, abbot of Rebais, and of Saint Anubert, a monk of Saint-Evroult, which had been given to him on the condition that the feast of Saint Agyle, the first abbot of Rebais, would be celebrated every year in his abbey.

Finally, in 1358, Jean du Bois-Gestin, abbot of Saint-Evroult, brought to his monastery new relics of our Saint: these were a fragment of the humerus and a thumb phalanx.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the miracles of this great Saint continued to attract a considerable number of pilgrims to his monastery. These miracles and this devotion of the people to Saint Evroult persisted until 1792. At that unhappy time, when France, dominated by impiety, cruelly persecuted the religion of its fathers, the abbey of Saint-Evroult, despite the numerous services it rendered to the poor, despite the respect that the name of this great Saint and the presence of his relics should have inspired, was pitilessly ravaged, like all the other monasteries. After having ignominiously driven out the last monks of this Benedictine house, the abbey was given over to pillage, and the chalices, crosses, and ancient bones given to Saint-Evroult by princes and kings were taken away. Then, for the pleasure of destroying, a large part of the abbey buildings was torn down. The beautiful church, raised in honor of the holy Virgin, Saint Peter, and Saint Evroult, was profaned and torn down by impious devastators. Later, the stones of this venerable edifice were used to line roads or to make lime. Nothing remains of this magnificent church but a few sections of walls, which alone would suffice to give us an idea of its grandeur and beauty. One can still distinguish the place where the high altar was, and probably the tomb of our Saint. In the places where the altars of the holy Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, and all the Saints were, one sees nothing but heaps of rubble. At the end of the apse, one can still see the lime kiln that was used to bake a large part of the stones of the venerable edifice.

This blessed land is not the only one where the enemies of religion have accumulated ruins and tried to annihilate the cult of Saint Evroult. At Rebais, where the relics of the holy abbot had been religiously kept for eight centuries, the revolutionary storm also tore down the magnificent Gothic church of the abbey and the buildings that surround it. Nothing remains of this ancient house.

In the city of Angers, the church of Saint-Maimbœuf, where the relics of Saint Evroult had been religiously kept for more than eight centuries, was also overturned and destroyed from top to bottom. With this venerable sanctuary perished the precious relic of Saint Evroult, given by Hugh Capet to Geoffrey, Count of Anjou.

In Orléans, almost all the relics of our Saint were burned by the Protestants in the 17th century; however, some fragments were still venerated in the 18th century, according to the testimony of La Soussaye, historian of the Church of Orléans. He affirms that every year these precious relics were carried solemnly in procession through the city. The Revolution unfortunately completed the work of Protestantism, and today the city of Orléans no longer possesses any of these holy relics that once made its glory. Its church is destroyed and a Protestant temple rises on its ruins.

However, all the efforts of impiety have not been able to completely destroy the cult of Saint Evroult in the different dioceses where he was venerated before the Revolution. Thus, in the diocese of Meaux, the precious relics of Saint Evroult, which were transported there in the middle of the 15th century and which were saved with the other relics of this church during the revolutionary storm, are still kept at Rebais with religious respect; the five shrines that existed in the past are still possessed there. One of these shrines contains a large sachet containing ashes and bones of Saint Evroult, Saint Lazarus, and other Saints. These relics were damaged by the fire that destroyed the Benedictine church in 1592. The recognition of these relics was made by the Bishop of Meaux in 1854. — In Orléans, the memory of Saint Evroult is still in blessing, and the memory of his benefits is preciously kept. — If the city of Angers has lost the relics of the holy abbot, it has kept at least the memory of his miracles, and, to honor his memory, the name of Saint-Evroult was given to the street that led to the church of Saint-Maimbœuf.

In the dioceses of Laval, Blois, and Chartres, several churches dedicated under the invocation of Saint Evroult attest to the veneration of the peoples of these regions for our Saint. These are the churches of Saint-Fort (S. Evuritus), near Château-Gontier, where people come on pilgrimage on Trinity Day, of Lunai, near Montoire, and of Pré-Saint-Evroult. This church, which possesses several relics of Saint Evroult, is the center of a pilgrimage famous throughout the region. Tradition reports that the French army, carrying the relics of Saint Evroult, camped in this parish, which, as a result of this event, took the name of the Saint. It bore this glorious name as early as the year 1080 (S. Ebrulfus). The parish was under the nomination of the Chapter of Chartres.

A hamlet of Villemeux, near Dreux, also bears the name of Saint-Evroult. In the center of this village, there was formerly a chapel dedicated to the holy abbot. It was under the nomination of the abbey of Coulombs.

In the diocese of Coutances, a church famous for its antiquity and the beauty of its forms, the church of Mortain, also recognizes Saint Evroult as patron or titular. A considerable crowd of pilgrims came every year to visit this venerable sanctuary. The respect it inspired led several lords of the region to make rich alms to the Canons of Saint-Evroult. The kings themselves wished to give them marks of their piety. Without speaking of a large number of churches given in France to the Canons of Saint-Evroult, such as the churches of Gorron, Notre-Dame of Tinchebray, Saint-Pierre of Tinchebray, and Condé-sur-Noireau, they possessed large estates in England, which they had received from the generosity of Count Robert of Mortain, brother of William the Conqueror. Philip of Valois, King of France, in 1330, and Henry V, King of England, in 1417, confirmed the franchises and privileges of the dean and the Chapter of Saint-Evroult of Mortain.

This venerable Chapter perished at the time of the Revolution, like all religious establishments. But the people of Mortain preserved the collegiate church, which was the most remarkable monument of the city. This church, having become a parish church, has been enriched in recent years with a fragment of the relics of its holy patron. Another fragment of his relics is kept at the hospice of this city, served by the sisters of Providence of Séez. Every year, in Mortain, the feast of Saint Evroult is celebrated with much pomp, and the beauty of the religious cult responds to the piety of the clergy and the people of this city.

The diocese of Bayeux also celebrates the feast of the holy abbot every year with great devotion. In several parishes of the diocese of Évreux, the faithful testify to a great veneration for Saint Evroult. At the château of Martainville, near Pacy-sur-Eure, there exists a chapel in honor of the holy abbot. The diocese of Sées is the one where devotion to Saint Evroult is most in honor. Several fragments of his relics kept at the cathedral, at the grand seminary, and in some other communities of the city of Sées, are mainly, on the day of his feast, the object of the veneration of the clergy and the faithful.

In the parish of Champs, one still sees a church that was raised in honor of the Saint towards the end of the 15th century. A precious relic of Saint Evroult was formerly kept in this church. It was a part of his head that François de Brissac, Bishop of Orléans, had granted on February 12, 1492, to Thomas Laffilé, parish priest of Saint-Hilaire-lès-Mortagne, and a native of Champs, to be placed in the church of his native parish. It was indeed brought there in great pomp and in the midst of a large concourse of the faithful. From this translation on, pilgrims were seen flocking from all parts to claim the intercession of the holy abbot. Unfortunately, the reliquary was removed from the church in 1793 and its precious relic lost forever. Since that time, the concourse of pilgrims has declined. But the inhabitants of this parish keep a great respect for their holy patron, and his feast is celebrated with solemnity.

At Saint-Christophe-le-Jajolot, Saint Evroult is also venerated since time immemorial. In 1688, Guillaume de Cléraï gave the abbey of Saint-Martin the chapel of Saint-Evroult with its dependencies. This chapel was probably all that remained then of the ancient monastery. In 1248, Innocent IV confirmed the monks of Saint-Martin in the possession of this chapel, which was then united to the parish of Saint-Christophe. The holy Mysteries were celebrated there on solemn feasts, and whenever the devotions of the pilgrims led them to ask for a mass. It was especially on the day of the feast of this chapel, May 4th, that the greatest concourse of people took place. There was a fairly considerable assembly that day, and several pilgrims drank water from a fountain near the chapel, which had, according to common belief, the virtue of curing madness or preventing it. One still sees this fountain at the foot of the terraces of the château. The cells of the solitaries were in the vicinity, towards the hamlet of l'If. The chapel of Saint-Evroult, situated 642 or twelve paces from this fountain, towards the north, having fallen into ruins during the Revolution, the owner of the château of Sacy obtained from the inhabitants of Saint-Christophe the permission to raze it entirely and to rebuild it within the enclosure of the château, on the condition of leaving free access to all those who would come there to claim the protection of Saint Evroult. In 1526, M. d'Ommony, to whom the château belonged, asked the Bishop of Sées for permission to celebrate, as before 1792, the feast of Saint Evroult on May 4th. This permission was granted, and a considerable crowd of pilgrims was seen returning to the chapel, among whom were unfortunately mixed several people attracted less by devotion than by the pleasures of the assembly that took place that day in the woods of the château. Learning of the disorders that were committed there, the parish priest of Saint-Christophe thought he should stop going to say mass on the day of the feast, and the assembly was almost immediately stopped. However, a great veneration for Saint Evroult is still kept in this parish. The chapel, which now belongs to the Duke of Andifret-Pasquier, is all brilliant with decorations, and every Sunday, during a large part of the year, holy mass is celebrated there.

The parish of Saint-Evroult-de-Montfort also glories in being under the patronage of Saint Evroult and in bearing him a profound veneration since time immemorial. It still possesses the head of the Saint, with the exception of a fairly considerable part, which was given to the abbey of Saint-Evroult. It is enclosed in a bust that the Bishop of Sées permitted, in 1840, to be exposed to the veneration of the faithful on the day of the patronal feast, and to be carried in procession on the day of the translation of the relics of Saint Evroult, that is to say, the Sunday in the octave of the Ascension. That day, indeed, from time immemorial, a procession is made at Saint-Evroult-de-Montfort after Vespers to a small chapel, also called Saint-Evroult, and the bust of the Saint is carried there in the midst of marks of general devotion. Every year, on the same day, there is an assembly in the town of Montfort that has succeeded the ancient pilgrimage. In the rest of the year, some people come from time to time to implore the protection of Saint Evroult, especially against madness, from which the Saint has received from God the power to preserve or to cure.

But the parish where the most devotion towards the holy abbot is kept is that of Saint-Evroult-Notre-Dame, in the canton of La Ferté-Fresnel. It is there, indeed, that the holy abbot spent the greater part of his life, there that he died, and that his body rested for centuries. A crowd of religious monuments excites, moreover, the pilgrim who visits this blessed land to devotion towards Saint Evroult. Thus, one perceives, upon arriving in the town, the ruins of the ancient monastery of Saint-Evroult, particularly of the cloister and the church, where so many times he sang the praises of God and made his monks hear the word of life. Next to these venerable ruins, near the gate of the ancient monastery, one still sees a small Gothic chapel that is dedicated to Saint Evroult, and which probably served for strangers. About two hundred meters away is the fountain of Saint-Evroult. A short distance from there, one enters that thick forest that Saint Evroult cleared in part with his monks, and which he so many times watered with his tears. Half a league from the ruins of the monastery, on the west side, one encounters a chapel that was formerly dedicated to Saint Evroult, and which is now under the invocation of the holy Virgin. Twenty paces below, one sees a beautiful fountain flowing that bears the name of Saint-Evroult, because the Saint came several times to quench his thirst at its limpid waters. Before the Revolution, a large number of pilgrims came to visit this chapel and drink water from this source to be cured of their infirmities. In our days, the pilgrims continue to go to the fountain. Some bathe the sick there, others are content to have them drink the water. One has recourse to Saint Evroult for alienation, epilepsy, and all diseases of this kind, for fever, and for the preservation of herds. Often the prayers obtain their effect, and sometimes in a remarkable way.

Returning to the town of Saint-Evroult, the pilgrim perceives on the hill, beyond the Charente, the church of the holy Virgin, which was built by Saint Evroult in execution of the vow of the Queen of Neustria, wife of Childebert III. This church had fallen into ruins in the 15th century as a result of the ravages of time or the barbarians. A noble knight named Gaston de Montfort undertook to rebuild it. In the 17th century, this church was rebuilt as we see it today, and it is the only sanctuary raised by our Saint in this parish that has remained standing. This church possesses a magnificent ivory Christ and several reliquaries taken from the abbey of Saint-Evroult at the moment of the pillage that took place in 1792.

Since the Revolution, the relics of Saint Evroult, formerly kept at the abbey, are venerated in this church. The beautiful silver reliquaries that contained them alone have disappeared. These relics are now enclosed in a humble wooden shrine. Numerous pilgrims still come to kneel before them and recommend their life and death to this powerful protector who has seen so many generations prostrate before him. Some fragments of these relics have been given, with the approval of the Bishop of Sées, to several priests of his diocese. Some are kept at Alençon, Mortagne, Argentan, La Carnoille, Anceins, and Durcet.

The cult of Saint Evroult was approved in Rome for the diocese of Sées in 1857.

Towards Saints of the diocese of Sées, by Father Blin, parish priest of Durcet.