Saint Rieul of Senlis

An inhabitant o f Senl Senlis Birthplace and episcopal see of the saint. is, having dedicated himself by vow to the service of this church, changed his resolution a few years later and devoted himself to entirely secular employments; but he was punished for his transgression by sudden blindness, and could only be cured by many prayers and tears, and by resuming the sacred functions to which he was bound by his promise. A poor cripple from the vicinity of Auxerre had himself brought to the Saint's tomb, and he found there a healing so perfect that, after having entered the church with the help of others, he left it leaping, and returned on foot, full of strength and vigor, to his own country. The same happened to a lame man from the Gâtinais region, and to a poor girl from Senlis, who was so crippled in all her limbs that she could only move by dragging them miserably along the ground. But the most illustrious healing was that of the daughter of the king and emperor Charles the Bald, named Hermen garde: she Hermengarde Daughter of Charles the Bald, miraculously cured of a fever. was delivered from a fever that had reduced her to the point of death, as soon as she had performed her devotions and received communion at the altar of this holy sepulcher; the king and queen made great gifts to this same church.

The inhabitants o f Senl Senlis Birthplace and episcopal see of the saint. is have often felt the effects of the protection of their beloved Apostle; thus, in critical circumstances, they have always hastened to seek his support: his relics were then carried through the streets of the city with great solemnity. On April 23rd or the Sunday closest to it, Saint Rieul still receives today (1872) the homage of a crowd of pilgrims in memory of an ancient translation of his relics. Two feasts intended to commemorate his miracles were formerly celebrated on February 7th and July 13th. Several chapels have been dedicated to him in the Valois, where his cult has always been very w Valois Region where the saint's cult is very widespread. idespread.

This is what the authors we have cited teach us about Saint Rieul . We know t saint Rieul First bishop and apostle of Senlis. hat several scholars of recent times do not agree on the time of his mission; some place it only under the reign of Decius, and others under that of Diocl etia Dens Roman emperor responsible for the persecution of Christians in 250. n. But we have never been able to subscr Dioclétien Roman emperor under whom the martyrdom is said to have taken place. ibe to the opinion of those authors who would have it that the Popes and apostolic men so neglected the Gauls that they went two or three hundred years without sending missionaries there, while the Gospel was being carried to the Scythians, the Indians, and the Drachmanes. And furthermore, as one of the authors we have followed, and who apparently lived nearly eight hundred years ago, asserts that he drew what he says from several very ancient charters, we believed that we could rely upon it without fear of error.

Some of his relics, kept at the cathedral of Amiens, were sa ved in Amiens Episcopal see of Geoffrey. 1793 by Mr. Lecouvé, mayor of that city, kept until 1852 by Mr. Lejeune, constitutional priest of Notre-Dame, and verified in 1810 and 1829. They are found today mixed with other relics in the reliquary known as that of Saint Honoré.

The opinion that brin gs Saint Rie saint Honoré Predecessor of Salvius on the see of Amiens. ul to Gaul towards the end of the 4th century is supported by the constant tradition of the church of Senlis, and confirmed: 1st by three lives of Saint Rieul dating back to the 15th century; 2nd by the ancient liturgy of Senlis; 3rd by the conforming liturgies of the abbey of Saint-Denis and the church of Arles; 4th abbaye de Saint-Denis Site housing a relic of an Innocent. by the diptychs of that bishopric. — We have limited ourselves to reviewing this biography, compared by Father Givy, who indicates, at the beginning, the sources from which he drew, and we have completed it with the Hagiography of the diocese of Amiens, by Father Corblot.