Saint Schetzelon

Schetzelon Schetzelon 12th-century hermit famous for his extreme asceticism and voluntary nudity. , according to the report of this author, lived in t he solitudes of Lower Germany a solitudes de la Basse-Allemagne Region where the saint practiced his eremitism. t the time when Saint Bernard enlightened all of Europe with his learned writings and his eminent holiness. He was a man entirely celestial and an angel living on earth, who had no other occupation than to contemplate the truths of the other life, to converse familiarly with the blessed, and to sacrifice himself, through penance, for the needs of the Church which still struggles in the miseries of this exile. He treated his body with such rigor and such surprising austerity that one could say of him, not only what Our Lord said of Saint John the Baptist, that he neither ate nor drank, but also what Saint Bernard adds to this praise, namely that he was not clothed. He was similar to those divine men of whom Saint Paul speaks in his Epistle to the Hebrews, and of whom he assures that the world was not worthy, who went, wandering and vagabond, through the mountains and the solitudes, and hid in the holes and caverns of the earth, where they lived only on the food that animals are accustomed to eat. Indeed, this holy hermit had no cell or fixed dwelling; but he went from one desert to another, having no other roof than the sky, no other food than that of the wild beasts that populate the forests: that is to say, wild herbs and roots; if he sometimes ate acorns or those fruits that grow on beech trees, he considered that to be a great delicacy.

He lived for ten years in this manner, suffering hunger, thirst, cold, heat, the stings of gnats, and the wounds caused by thorns and sharp stones upon which he was forced to walk, with invincible courage and patience, and without seeking any relief in the commerce and society of other men. At the end of this time, and during the last four years of his life, when the cold was extreme, when snow or ice covered the entire earth, and it was impossible to pull roots from it, no longer able to prolong his fast for so long, he would approach the most remote farmsteads in the countryside, where the poor people took care to place for him, outside or in the courtyard, a little straw or a sack to lie upon, with a piece of barley or bran bread for his sustenance. He would arrive only at nightfall, and leave before daybreak, so as to see no one and be seen by no one. He knew, by a divine and prophetic light, the cottages to which he should address himself, which were always those of the poorest and most virtuous people. Those to whom God granted the grace of receiving such an illustrious guest held him in such respect that they dared not approach him, nor converse with him without his permission, which they obtained only rarely: and then they would throw him some old rags to cover himself; for, although sensuality was so dead in him, as in Saint Mary of Egypt, that his nakedness no longer caused him shame, he was nevertheless careful not to expose himself in that state to the eyes of the persons to whom he permitted to speak to him. He also accepted sometimes, in these times of ice and snow, a small bag which he hung around his neck, and in which he put the remains of the piece of bread that had been given to him; he would carry them to the desert, so as to be able to remain there longer without returning. Such was all the wealth that this divine man possessed on earth; rich in his poverty, and sovereignly rich, since he had nothing and was content to have nothing.

The reputation of such an extraordinary man soon spread throughout France and reached the ears of Saint Bernard; the latter also learned by revelation that the conduct and way of life of the hermit were from God and that the Holy Spirit had inspired them in him to give the world the model of the greatest poverty and the most perfect destitution that had ever been seen. He therefore wished to have a holy union of friendship with him; and, as he had sent one of his disciples, named Achard, to the diocese of Trier to found the abbey of the Coltre-de-la-Vierge, in a place called Hemmerode, he ordered him to go and find this heavenly man, and, as a testimony of the bond that his Order wished to have with him, to present him with a complete garment of a Cistercian monk, for him to wear. A chard was delighted religieux de Cîteaux Monastic order to which Bertrand and the Abbey of Grandselve belong. with this mission; he immediately inquired where he could find the holy hermit, and, having learned the place where he was to come one night, he went there before daybreak with some other monks from his monastery, who were burning with the desire to converse with this visible Angel. But his vigilance was useless, for Saint Schetzelon, having known by revelation that monks were to come to speak to him, left before midnight the courtyard where he had retired and fled so far into the desert that one could hardly hope to discover him there. The uncertainty of whether he would return to the same farm, or when he would return, broke all of Achard's plans; thus, all he could do was to beg the master of the house that, when the servant of God returned, he tell him that he implored him, for the love of God and out of consideration for the venerable Abbot of Clairvaux, who had sent him, to allow him to see him just once and to enjoy his conversation for a moment. The host did not fail to do so, and Saint Schetzelon, who knew by the spirit of prophecy the incomparable merits of Saint Bernard, finally yielded to what his disciple wished. When Achard and his companions saw the blessed hermit, who had covered himself, as was his custom, with a rag to speak to them, they were filled with marvelous astonishment. The abbot presented to him the respects of his blessed Father and assured him that, although he had never seen him, he was nevertheless bound to him by the bonds of perfect charity; as proof, he offered him on his behalf eulogies, blessed things that the faithful sent to one another as testimonies of the communion that existed between them. Schetzelon received this gift in a very obliging and most courteous manner. Then the abbot begged him to also receive, on behalf of his master, the Cistercian habit that he was sending him. The hermit took it with great respect, kissed it, and put it on, saying: "Blessed be God, who inspired your father, a truly apostolic man, to remember me, who am but a most miserable sinner." Then he took it off, adding that he had put it on out of obedience and respect for such a great man, who had deigned to send it to him; but that he could not keep it any longer, because it was not necessary for him and that, moreover, this Saint had not commanded him to retain it.

Achard and his religious, seeing the gentleness and affability of Schetzelon, however wild his exterior might be, took the liberty of asking him if he was no longer tormented by the temptations of the demon or the goads of the flesh. To which the man of God, after a small smile, for he was cheerful by nature and very pleasant in conversation, answered them in these terms: "It has been a long time, my dearest brothers, since, by the grace of God, I have found myself almost entirely delivered from the revolt of the passions. But, because the life of man is a continuous temptation, who shall boast of having a pure heart? And does not the apostle Saint John say that if we flatter ourselves that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us? There is only an extraordinary protection from the all-powerful hand of God that can make us avoid all the snares of our enemies by which we are perpetually surrounded. I will therefore tell you the strongest temptation I have had in some years, from which you will be able to judge by what attacks and what combats I am sometimes tested. One day when the cold was sharper and the frost stronger than usual, I was lying completely naked on the ground, my limbs stiff and frozen; the Creator of the universe, who, according to the Prophet, makes the snow fall like wool, gave me, instead of clothing, a very large carpet of snow, a cubit thick; my whole body was covered by it, but at the place of my mouth, which still had a little warmth, a small opening was formed. It happened then that a leveret, running here and there through the countryside to find a shelter, chanced upon this opening and, being attracted by the little warmth it felt there, it stopped short and placed itself gently upon my face. This accident made me smile a little, I lost my ordinary gravity and let myself go to some vain joy. It even came into my mind to put my hand on this animal and take it, which was very easy for me, not to keep it, but to stroke it and amuse myself, without fearing to employ in this vain diversion the time that should be consecrated to the praises of God and to penance. However, after having long resisted the violence of this temptation, I finally overcame it and dissipated it by the grace of God. So that, remaining motionless in my place, I let this animal rest upon me without touching it, until it went away of its own accord. That is the greatest temptation that I can remember having had for a long time, and I have been very glad to recount it to you to satisfy your request, in recognition of your dear visit, although perhaps I have reported it a little more freely than I should have, for which I am very sorry. My soul is sometimes troubled by similar vanities that pass through its mind like importunate flies, yet I do not give them my consent; but you see what the weakness of man is."

After Saint Schetzelon had refreshed Abbot Achard and his religious with these conversations full of innocence and piety, he conjured them most earnestly to recommend him to the prayers of their father Saint Bernard, assuring them that he was a great servant of God. Then, to satisfy their desire, he gave them his blessing, and, without stopping any longer, he fled promptly into the desert, like a doe that has escaped from the hunters' nets and a bird that has pulled itself from the fowler's snare. This is how the same Abbot Achard reports it in a conference he gave on this subject to his novices.

There would be many other wonders to tell of this admirable solitary if, by a high wisdom which is the true prudence of the Saints, he had not kept them hidden without having any witness other than God, the Angels, and the Blessed. Finally, having known by a divine revelation that the hour of his death was approaching, he came to the nearest church, where he received the holy Viaticum; after which, without anyone noticing, he fell asleep peacefully in Jesus Christ, on August 6, the day consecrated to the solemnity of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, around the year 1139.

His holy body was buried in the church where he had received the last Sacraments. His tomb immediately became radiant with great miracles and supernatural healings. As this place was not judged strong enough to keep such a great treasure for long, it was transported, for its preservation, to t he castle of Luxembou château de Luxembourg Place of translation and final resting place of the saint's relics. rg, where it rests in the church of Notre-Dame.

Melanus, in his Additions to the Martyrology of Usvard, and Arnold Wien, in his Monastic Martyrology, place him in the Duchy of Mons, in Hainaut; but they wrote Mons for Luxembourg, as noted by the Rev. Fr. Chrysostome Henriques, in his Martyrology of the Index of Cleome. — Besides these authors, one finds the life of Saint Sencelin in the book of Sacred Relics of the Desert, and the Rev. Fr. de Saint-Jans reports a part of it in his work entitled: The Spiritual Man.