Saint Valeria and Saint Pollena

Du Saussay, in his Martyrology of France, expresses himself in these terms: "At Honnecourt, in the diocese of Cambrai, the feast of the virgins Valérie and Pollène, sisters of the holy martyr Liéphard, Bishop of C saint martyr Liéphard Bishop of Canterbury and martyr, traditionally considered the brother of the two saints. anterbury, is celebrated on this day (October 8). They accompanied him on his pilgrimage to Rome, imitated his virtues, consecrated the flower of their virginity to the eternal King, and by the abundance of their tears, by hairshirts, fasts, disciplines, and their assiduous prayers, they subjected the flesh to the spirit and arrived at the summit of perfection. Thus was finally consumed on earth the course of their angelic life, after which they flew away to the abode of the eternal Sion in the society of the blessed spirits. Their bodies rested for a long time in the monastery that Saint Vindicien, Bishop of Cambrai, built at Honnecourt: later, they were trans ported to Sai Saint-Quentin City where the relics were transported before being destroyed in 1557. nt-Quentin, from where they disappeared during the disasters of the war. The memory of these holy virgins subsists nevertheless, both at the monastery of Honnecourt and in the main church of Cambrai, where Saint Valérie is still honored today (1637) with a particular collect."

Various passages of this citation are rejected by the best authors. Some, first of all, while admitting that Saint Valérie and Saint Pollène were sisters of Saint Liéphard, do not wish to accept that they made the journey to Rome with him, for there is no mention of it anywhere, and it is probable, moreover, that they would have perished in the same circumstances had they been in his company. They also do not admit what Gazet says, namely, that these two sisters, having remained in England, learned there of their brother's death, embarked for France, and came to Honnecourt to venerate his relics. Indeed, it is seen that it was only in the 10th century that the relics of Saint Liéphard were transported to the abbey of Honnecourt by Fulbert, Bishop of Cambrai.

Serious historians go so far as to doubt whether these two saints are truly sisters: it seems, they say, that Saint Pollène lived before Saint Valé rie, since in sainte Pollène Virgin honored at Honnecourt, whose cult may predate that of Saint Valeria. the foundation act of the monastery of Honnecourt, about thirty years after the death of Saint Liéphard, the founders requested that the church be consecrated to Saint Mary, Saint Peter, Saint Martin, and Saint Pollène: now, if Saint Liéphard, Saint Valérie, and Saint Pollène had been united by bonds of blood, if they had lived together, would this distinction have been made? One would therefore be quite inclined to believe that Saint Pollène is neither the sister of Saint Liéphard nor even of Saint Valérie; that she already had a cult in the region before the foundation of the abbey of Honnecourt; that subsequently her relics, preserved with theirs, were honored together there and transported at the same time to the city of Saint-Quentin. It is undoubtedly based on these facts that, for lack of documents, the opinion we have just examined prevailed.

Some hagiographers, among others Gazet, say that Saint Valeria was a sainte Valérie Virgin honored at Honnecourt and Cambrai, traditionally said to be the sister of Saint Liephard. bbess of the monastery of Honnecourt: one may believe that she governed this nascent community first, or else that because of the young age of Auriana, daughter of the founders Amalfr ide and Auriana Daughter of the founders of the monastery of Honnecourt. Childeberte, she was given to her as an assistant and director, until she was capable of directing the monastery by herself.

The relics of Saint Valérie and Saint Pollène perished like those of Saint Liéphard, in the looting and burning of Saint-Quent in (1557), du Saint-Quentin City where the relics were transported before being destroyed in 1557. ring the wars of Henry II, Ki ng of Fr Henri II King of France during the wars against Spain. ance, against Philip II, King of Sp Philippe II King of Spain involved in the sack of Saint-Quentin. ain.

Vie des Saints de Cambrai et d'Arras, by Abbé Destombes.