A German nobleman fleeing his pagan family, Saint Longis settled in Maine under Bishop Saint Hadouin. He founded the monastery of La Boisselière, brought back a relic of Saint Peter from Rome, and was exonerated by King Clotaire II from slanderous accusations thanks to a miracle. He died around 653 after a life of apostolic zeal.
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S. LONGIS ET SAINTE NOFLETTE OU AGNEFLETTE
Origins and conversion
Of Germanic and noble origin, Longis fled his pagan family to avoid the profession of arms and to convert to Christianity in Gaul.
Saint Longis Saint Longis Abbot of Germanic origin who founded a monastery in Maine. , or more accurately Saint Lenogisilus, came to reside in the diocese of Le Mans at the time when Saint H saint Hadouin Predecessor of Béraire to the see of Le Mans. adouin was beginning his episcopal career in that city. He was of Germanic origin; born into a noble and wealthy family, he escaped from his country because his parents, still attached to the worship of idols, wanted to force him to share their superstitions and to follow the profession of arms.
His youth had been spent in camps when he began to seek out Christians to be instructed in the faith of the true God, whom he knew only imperfectly, not having yet even received baptism. It was among the Arverni, and probably in some cloister, according to custom, that he obtained this grace, and afterwards he visited the most famous sanctuaries and the most renowned monasteries. His intention was to stop in some solitary place and to dedicate the rest of his days to God there. Providence led him first to Rome, and then he returned to Gaul, and as far as Maine. Saint Hadouin exhorted him much to remain in his diocese and to choose the place that he would find most agreeable. The clergy and the inhabitants of a village, then named Busiarus and today Saint-Longis, in the region of Sonnois, urged him to remain among them, and he yielded to their desire.
Foundation of the monastery of La Boisselière
Welcomed by Bishop Hadouin in Le Mans, Longis founded a monastery at La Boisselière with the support of King Clotaire II.
It is added that the village of La Boisselière belonged to the domain of the church of Le Mans, and that Saint Hadouin gave it to Longis, allowing him to build a monastery that would be subject to the cathedral church. Longis, it is said, accepted these conditions, signed an act to confirm this submission, and had it confirm Clotaire II King of Neustria and later sole King of the Franks, protector of Columbanus after his exile. ed by Clotaire II, by several bishops, and by several counts. Hadouin was not content with giving the village of La Boisselière to the holy abbot as property; he also added the farm of Loudon and several others, and he assisted him in the construction of his monastery. However, the authenticity of the documents upon which these facts rest is not entirely demonstrated. One fact alone remains constant: that Saint Longis and his successors enjoyed in peace the retreat that he had built.
Pilgrimage and relics of Saint Peter
During a trip to Rome, Longis miraculously obtains a tooth of Saint Peter, which becomes an object of great devotion in his monastery.
After having built his monastery, our Saint set out again for Rome. His goal Rome Birthplace of Maximian. , in this journey, was to obtain, among other spiritual graces, relics for his basilica. One night as he was praying near the body of Saint Peter, he had a revelation that he would find, the next morning, a tooth of the hol y Apostle on his tom dent du saint Apôtre Relic miraculously found on the tomb of Saint Peter. b. Indeed, he found this precious relic the following day, and brought it to La Boisselière. Saint Hadouin and a great crowd of people went to the monastery to venerate this token of the protection of the Prince of the Apostles. From that day on, the gathering of people at the basilica that Longis had built became very great.
Saint Agneflette and the Trial by Fire
Longis protects the virgin Agneflette; accused of debauchery, they prove their innocence before King Clotaire II through the miracle of the burning coals.
At the same time that Longis was occupied with leading and regulating his monastery, he took care to instruct the neighboring populations. His reputation spread in a short time, and attracted new disciples to him. Among those who came to implore the enlightenment of the holy Abbot, none was more illust rious than Saint sainte Agneflette Disciple of Longis, famous for the miracle of the burning coals. Agneflette, commonly called Saint Noflette.
This holy girl belonged to wealthy parents, who intended to have her marry a young man very eager to obtain her hand; but she had secretly vowed her virginity to God, and she wished to remain faithful to her commitments. Pressed, however, by the insistence of her relatives, and no longer knowing how to resist their desires, she fled their house and retreated into a wood. From there, she had Saint Longis informed of her situation: he encouraged her resolution, and as she had no asylum, he received her into his monastery and gave her the veil of virgins. It took no more than this to excite and arm slander. The young man who aspired to have Agneflette as his wife went to find King Clotaire, and denounced Longis to him as an infamous seducer, and Agneflette as the accomplice of his debaucheries. The simplicity with which they had both acted gave a certain strength to the accusation; however, the king, before pronouncing a sentence, wished to hear the accused. Longis and Agneflette, summoned to the palace, left immediately to present themselves before Clotaire. It was in the midst of the greatest rigors of winter: the king was hunting and the two travelers had to wait a long time for his return. During this delay, Longis, broken with fatigue and frozen with cold, asked the virgin if she could not procure some relief for him. Immediately, to obey him, she ran toward the palace bakeries and asked to be given a little fire. The baker, wanting no doubt to mock her, said to her while presenting her with burning coals: "Here is fire, but since you have nothing to receive them in, hold out your cloak." Agneflette obeyed with simplicity, and, a marvelous thing, she received these burning coals and carried them to Longis in the folds of her cloak, without this garment suffering the slightest damage. The holy Abbot, admiring in secret the wonders of divine Providence, made use of its benefits, and when the cold he felt was relieved, Agneflette took the still-burning coals back in her cloak and carried them back to the oven. This fact soon became the news of the palace: Clotaire, upon his return from the hunt, heard it recounted by those who had been witnesses to it. It was enough to prove the innocence of the two accused; thus the king openly recognized the holiness of their lives, and wished to show them through his actions the esteem and affection he held for them. He made generous offers to the holy Abbot, which the latter refused out of contempt for the goods of the earth; he only asked the king to be the defender of his monastery. Clotaire received this title and office with pleasure, and further wished to commit to providing ten pounds of silver, each year, to the cloister of Saint-Pierre de la Boisselière. After that, our two Saints left the palace and returned to their monastery.
Healing of Dagobert and royal favors
King Dagobert is healed by the prayers of Longis, which leads to significant royal donations for the development of the monastery.
The presence of Longis at the king's palace had left memories there. Dagobert Dagobert King of the Franks petitioned by Sulpicius to annul a tax. , son of Clotaire, having fallen dangerously ill, and the physicians not knowing what remedy to employ, the king entrusted himself with confidence to the prayers of the abbot of La Boisselière. He sent him a silver chalice and paten, begging him to intercede with God for the salvation of his son.
The messenger had not yet covered half the distance when the young prince was already relieved. Dagobert, having ascended the throne after the death of his father, made new gifts to Abbot Longis, and his example was followed by the great men of his kingdom, which allowed the man of God to increase the number of monks living under his guidance.
Death and posterity
After the death of Agneflette and Longis, the monastery, renowned for its charity, took the name of Saint-Pierre-des-Bons-Hommes.
As for Saint Agneflette, she lived for many more years under the veil of virginity; but finally, the time to enjoy her reward having come, she died in a village of the royal domain named Vernus (Vair, and later Saint-Cosme-de-Vair). Clovis II was then governing the kingdom of the Franks (638). Saint Longis immediately had knowledge of her blessed passing; he hastened to go to the place where her remains had stayed, in order to transport them to his monastery. Having reached the small town of Mamertum (Mamers), the holy body suddenly appeared of such weight that no force was capable of moving it from the place where it was; but the man of God prayed for a long time, and finally the body of Agneflette was transported to the monastery where it rested for several centuries, surrounded by the veneration of the people.
Longis also reached an extreme old age, and until the last moment of his life, he did not cease to work for the glory of God. He died on the 4th of the Kalends of April, around the year 653. His body was buried in the basilica of his monastery.
This holy Abbot left behind him a venerated memory, a great number of disciples whom he had converted throughout the region of the Sonnois, where his zeal had still encountered many idolaters, and finally a monastery where eminent virtues continued to shine for a long time under the monastic habit. Such were the examples of humility, devotion, and charity given by the religious of this abbey that the inhabitants of the neighboring regions took the habit of calling their house the Abbey of Saint-Pierre- abbaye de Saint-Pierre-des-Bons-Hommes Monastery founded by Longis, renowned for the virtue of its monks. des-Bons-Hommes. In the last century, it was reduced to the state of a simple priory, united to the monastery of Saint-Vincent of Le Mans.
We have borrowed this engaging account from the remarkable work of Dom Piulin, *L'Église du Mans*.
Annexes & related entities
Structured data for exploration: events, miracles, quotes, places, attributes, patronages, and important entities cited in the text.