Saint Silvin

Plausible evidence leads the Bollandists to believe that he was bor n in Does Doesbourg Town in Brabant identified by the Bollandists as his probable birthplace. burg, in Brabant. This city, one of the oldest in the country, bore the name Thoas in the early centuries, which may have caused it to be confused with Tholosa. There is one word, only one, in the legend that we wish to point out—it has not yet been—as supporting this latter opinion: "Led by the divine hand," says Antener, "he went to the part of the West, to the country of Thérouanne." Why this expression part and this other West? Thérouanne is not to the West of Toulouse, but to the North, whereas it is to the West of Doesburg. This word part clearly indicates that Silvin inhabited the country upon which Thérouanne depended, that is to say, Gaul-Belgica. He was a regional bishop, that is to say, having no particular see, but destined by the Apostolic See to preach the Gospel in various places. His death is fixed at February 15, 716.

During the time of the Norman insurrection in the 12th century, the body of Saint Silvin was transported to the castle of Héristal, near Liège, from there to the castle of Dijon in Burgundy, and then to the abbey of Bèze, where his relics partially remained. In 951, Arnulf, the first Count of Flanders, had the body of Saint Silvin transported from the monastery of Bèze to Saint-Omer, in the abbey of Sit Saint-Bertin Burial place of Saint Folquin. hieu or Saint-Bertin. The rather curious history of this last translation was reported to us by John Iperius, abbot of Saint-Bertin. "At that time," he says, "Arnulf the Elder brought the body of the blessed Silvin of Auchy to this place; he received it as a pledge, on the condition that if, by the appointed day and before the monastery bells indicated the hour of Prime, it was not redeemed, the body of the Saint would remain at Saint-Bertin. On the fixed day, the monks of Auchy came with the agreed price to redeem the sacred deposit; but they stopped for the night at Thérouanne, and the next day they did not leave until a little late. As they approached Sithieu, they heard the bells of Saint-Bertin ringing for Prime; they immediately spurred their horses, arrived at the convent, and offering the agreed price, they demanded the body of the holy bishop, while claiming that the hour for the ringing of Prime had been anticipated. The abbot replied that it was already late, and that no one had been guilty of such a fraud. After asking who had rung the bells for Prime, they went to the bell tower and saw the bells moving by themselves by a miracle, God thus making it known that the blessed Silvin had chosen this house as the place of his perpetual rest. Witnesses to this prodigy, the monks of Auchy returned to their monastery. Such are the words of Iperius. According to another version, the monks of Saint-Bertin rose later than usual that day, and although the bells had rung for Prime, it was recognized that no one had moved them. Whatever the truth of this miracle, the monastery of Auchy could not recover the body of Saint Silvin.

But on August 5, 1516, Father Antoine de Berges, the famous abbot of Saint-Bertin, made a solemn visitation of the body of Saint Silvin. On the same day, in a solemn procession, the bodies of Saint Tron and Saint Libert were raised; Mass was sung, to the sound of organs and bells, in honor of Saint Silvin, believed to be the bishop of Toulouse. After Mass, the doors of the choir having been closed because of the immense crowd of people, the abbot displayed the holy relics. At the insistence of Oli vier, Auchy Site of the abbey associated with the cult of Silvin and the place of his death. abbot of Auchy, the reliquary of Saint Silvin was opened; a sweet odor was immediately exhaled. The holy body was then seen in its entirety, and the abbot having detached the lower jawbone to offer it as a tribute to the religious of Auchy, Abbot Olivier prostrated himself, vested in his sacred ornaments, and having received this precious treasure amidst the tears of the entire assembly, carried it like a rich trophy to Auchy, where Saint Silvin had died.

The continuators of Godescard add that, since then, the body of Saint Silvin was taken to Senlis Senlis Birthplace and episcopal see of the saint. , where it was kept in the collegiate church of Saint-Fraimbaul until the end of the 18th century.