Saint Fulbert of Chartres

His homeland is absolutely unknown to us. Born around the middle of the 10th century, and, as he tells us himself, in the obscure ranks of society, his education was provided by the Church, and he had the good fortune to receive lessons from the greatest masters of his time. The school of Reims, wh ere the Gerbert Tutor of Giraud and future pope. famous Gerbert, later Pope under the name of Sylvester II, taught mathematics and philosophy, then enjoyed a well-deserved renown; the young Fulbert was admitted there, and he soon distinguished himself among all by his work, his aptitude, and his brilliant successes. The keen eye of the scholar Gerbert easily guessed all that such a student promised, and when the learned professor had been placed on the seat of Saint Peter, he remembered Fulbert, called him to his side in the Eternal City, and made use of his talents for the government of the universal Church. After the death of the sovereign Pontiff, Fulbert returned to his homeland, which conferred upon him deserved honors. In 1003, one of his friends, whom he had known at Reims and who was from Chartres, drew him to the latter city where he did not take long to earn the benevolence of Bishop Odon, who gave him a canonry of his church with the title of chancellor. Soon after, having recognized his aptitude for public teaching, he entrusted him with the direction of the canonical schools, already famous, and which became much more so once his eloquence and his reputation had attracted a crowd of disciples there. Among the number of friends that the fine qualities of his mind and heart made for him, the names of Abbo, abbot of Fleury-sur-Loire, in the diocese of Orlé ans, and of saint Odilon Abbot of Cluny in the 10th century, founder of the commemoration of the faithful departed in his order. Saint Odilo, who go verne Cluny Major Benedictine abbey of which Peter was the abbot. d at Cluny one of the most flourishing abbeys of Burgundy, have been retained. The latter especially had the predilections of Fulbert, who respected the purity of his virtues to the point of calling him the Archangel of the monks.

writers who have him born in France; but we must admit that we have found nothing convincing, and here are the reasons that compel us to depart from the latter:

1° The following text from Fulbert's second letter seems very favorable to those who say he is Roman, and difficult to interpret in a contrary sense: « Houture diatrius copi », he says, « an mibi adhuc codicem filum unum hahorem quem a natali patria... dovexeram... quem din qumsitum quoniam non invento, repetita memoria, qun de illo reculo pauca vobis intimare non gravaber ». Further down, he says: « Hoc pauca de multis ad pensens sufficient; dum ego codicem a Romano scriuto prolatum periegam ». If the Codex that Fulbert had brought from the place where he was born — a natali patria — is the same as the Codex brought from Rome — a Romano scriuto proletus — as the sentence seems to insinuate, it will follow that Fulbert was Roman. (Hist. litt. de France, vol. VII, note 7, p. 700, new ed.)

2° Some writers have based themselves on the fact that, in his fifteenth letter, Fulbert calls the Duke of Aquitaine Herus meus, my master, to establish that not only is our Saint French, but that he is Poitevin; in our opinion, either Herus meus means nothing, or it means that the author of the fifteenth letter was a vassal of William; now, what were the domains of the man who wrote of himself:

... Recolens quod non opibus nec sanguine festus Cunvendi Cuthodram, pauper de sevde levatus?

This is what one could answer, even if the authenticity of the fifteenth letter were well established; but it is far from being so. Indeed, this letter bears the inscription in certain manuscripts: Domino sua Regi Fulbert. Andegavorum comes. It is visible that there is a mistake in this inscription, the terms of which are not susceptible to any meaning. Another reading bears: Domino sua regi Ful. et Andegavorum comes. Now, this second title and the constant presence of these words: Andegavorum comes, put one on the path of a conjecture that removes all difficulty. It is in all probability that the letter in question is not from Fulbert, but from Fulk Nerra, Count of Anjou, and that a clu Foniques Nerra Count of Anjou, mentioned in the debate regarding the attribution of certain letters. msy copyist, instead of reading Fulco Andegavorum comes, read Ful et Andegavorum comes. The correction consists only of substituting these two letters en for these two others et. Moreover, everything in this letter conspires to support this conjecture: 1° It was more fitting for Fulk than for Fulbert to be the mediator between the King of France and the Count of Poitiers; 2° It was more fitting for Fulk than for Fulbert, even assuming the latter was Aquitanian, to call the Count of Poitiers herus meus. It is the quality that a vassal gave to his Lord. And Fulk was a vassal of William. (Hist. litt. de France, vol. VII, note 7, p. 700 and 701.)

Rodolphe, dean of the chapter of Chartres, had succeeded Odon on the episcopal see of that city. Having died in 1007, King R obert, who roi Robert King of France who ordered the reconstruction of the church of Saint-Aignan and the translation of the relics. had been a fellow student of our Saint, remembered the school of Reims and his old friendship for Fulbert, and he contributed to having the vacant dignity conferred upon him. In vain the humble professor refused; he had to yield to the insistence of the chapter, of the prince himself, and of his friends; and the Church, which became his bride, could glory in a pastor who owed his elevation only to his vast learning and the holiness of his life.

He was consecrated bishop by the hands of Leuthéric, archbishop and metropolitan of Sens, as Saint Fulbert himself declares in Epistle XXIII which he wrote to that prelate, in which he says that he owes him all kinds of gratitude and perfect fidelity, having had the happiness of receiving from his hands the blessing and the sacred anointing (1007). No sooner was Fulbert charged with the care of his diocese than he began to discharge his duties with extraordinary exactitude and charity. He knew how to unite the delights of contemplation with the arduous labors of a vigilant pastor; he nourished his flock as much by his example as by his words. He was not content to instruct his people in piety; but knowing that the salvation of souls depends on the capacity of those who lead them, he formed schools of theology, over which he presided himself, and in which subjects were raised capable of governing the country parishes with dignity, in order to dispel the thick darkness of ignorance, which is the source of so many evils in the Church.

Many people made it a glory and a pleasure to come and hear the voice of this amiable Pastor, which resounded no less usefully in the schools of theology that he had founded than in the episcopal chair of his Church. His disciples were without number; people flocked from all sides to share in the lessons of this new Solomon, whose every sentence was regarded as an oracle. He deserved to be called the first doctor of the Gauls. The writers of his time say that he was an inexhaustible treasure of wisdom, a man incomparable for his erudition, and a servant of God whose holiness was worthy of all praise and admiration.

Trithème asserts that he surpassed all those of his century in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and human letters; but what is most marvelous is to see the profound humility that this incomparable prelate was able to preserve in the midst of the grandeur and applause of all the people. He called himself the very small bishop of a very great church; and in Epistle LXVIII, which he addressed to Saint Odilo, abbot of Cluny, whom he called his father and his intimate friend, he asks him for the help of his prayers in terms that clearly show the humble sentiments he had of himself. "It is only right," he says to Saint Odilo, "that you should provide some help to one who regards himself as a very small servant, who wishes to depend entirely on you, and who always maintains a singular respect, accompanied by a perfect confidence in your person. I am a man," he continues, "filled with miseries, who, not being even capable of leading myself, have nevertheless been placed, for I know not what reason, in a position where I must answer for the salvation of others." It was in this same spirit that he refused to be the arbiter of an infinity of causes that people wanted to submit to his judgment, believing himself incapable of giving decisions just enough to settle the great affairs proposed to him; he did so, nevertheless, when they concerned his jurisdiction, and he discharged them with such prudence and equity that the parties always had reason to be satisfied. When he gave written answers to those who had consulted him, he explained himself in these terms: "You have been pleased to consult our smallness; we answer you, etc..." It is thus that this great light tried to hide himself, and that one of the greatest men of his century considered himself the smallest. One only needs to open the book of his Epistles to see with what sentiments of humility he expresses himself on all things.

One must not, however, imagine that these humble sentiments he conceived of himself diminished any of that apostolic firmness and rigor with which true pastors, and especially prelates, must be animated when they are obliged to repress vice, to stop disorder, and to act as judges in cases that require it; he was, in truth, a good father toward those who faithfully discharged their duty; but he became a severe and inflexible judge toward those who were rebellious to the laws of the Church. One must read his letters to imagine the zeal with which he opposed the unjust pretensions of the ambitious and of all those who strove to attain ecclesiastical dignities by illicit means. It is known with what generosity he refused to consecrate Theodoric as bishop, whom he judged unworthy of that quality; royal authority was not able to overcome his firmness on that occasion: it is true that it almost cost him his life: but this great heart did not fear to die while defending the rights of the Church. When he found rebels who openly opposed the regulations he published, or who despised the censures he brought against them, then, to compel them to return to their duty, he wisely borrowed royal authority, according to the custom of those times; but if the kings and princes refused to help him, he said that he did not believe he could do better than to groan then in patience, and to serve Jesus Christ in silence, with more fidelity than ever; this is the course that this holy man took when the impious Geoffrey, whom he had cut off from the Church for his disorders, went with a company of soldiers to burn all his farms. Neither the loss of goods nor the threats of the great were capable of changing the resolution of this great Bishop, especially since he never undertook anything lightly, and he always prepared in prayer, before Jesus Christ, the Sovereign of judges, the sentences he was forced to pronounce against the enemies of the Church. The zeal of this great Prelate was supported by that science with which the Apostle wishes pastors to accompany their corrections. He was no less learned in the knowledge of law than in the science of the Holy Scriptures; one can see, in his Epistles, with what accuracy he cites the holy Canons to support his doctrine and his conduct in the regulation of his diocese. Finally, one can assert that he was one of the most generous defenders of the liberties of the Church, by reading the Epistles he wrote to kings, prelates, sovereign Pontiffs, and many others, to engage them to withdraw ecclesiastical goods from the hands of laymen, and to preserve the ancient privileges that had been granted to the churches.

This vigilant pastor, without neglecting the governance of his people, found time to compose pious works that could be useful to ecclesiastics.

Besides his Epistles, of which we have already spoken, he made several sermons filled with piety, among which are some very beautiful ones to the glory of the Blessed Virgin, for whom he had a singular devotion. He was never more eloquent in the pulpit than in the homilies where he exhorted his people to the worship and love of Mary. The august Mother of God was pleased to reward this touching piety with signal favors. It is said that the holy Bishop's life was seriously threatened. Mary caused a celestial liquid to flow onto the lips of the dying man, and the ailment that was consuming him disappeared. He also composed an office for her Nativity, and several other works in her honor. He left several learned proses on different mysteries and different saints. He also wrote against the Jews; but scholars will especially take pleasure in reading the beautiful Epistle he wrote to Adeodatus, concerning the sacrament of the Eucharist, where he proves, by very powerful reasons, the reality of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and the change that occurs from the substance of bread and wine into the substance of the Body and Blood of Our Lord in this Sacrament.

This learned Prelate was such a zealous defender of the truth of this great mystery that he deserved, first, to discover and point out, before it appeared, the first heresy that openly denied the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

Being on his deathbed and about to render his spirit to God, he cast his eyes on all those who were present in his room, and perceived with indignation Berenger, who was still young and fol Berenger Theologian whose Eucharistic doctrines were opposed by Bruno. lowed his lessons; foreseeing the infidelity of this disciple, or rather already sensing in him a heresiarch, he wanted him to be removed from his presence, asserting that he saw near him a frightful dragon whose hypocritical persuasions and poisonous breath would pervert many hearts.

This zealous Pastor gave further great proofs of his vigilance and piety in the care he always showed for the construction and ornamentation of temples. Divine Providence permitted, some time after he had been consecrated Bishop of Chartres, that the cathedral church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, was entirely consumed by a frightful fire. Fulbert showed, on this occasion, his invincible patience, the great breadth of his spirit, and above all his liberality, undertaking to have rebuilt, from top to bottom, in place of the first, a magnificent temple, where neither material nor art was spared. The holy Bishop consecrated the gold and silver he possessed to have work done on this beautiful edifice, and everyone was so convinced of his upright intentions, his selflessness, and the purity of his zeal, that not only did the princes of the kingdom wish to contribute their own funds to the elevation of the temple he was building in honor of the Blessed Virgin; but the King of England, Cnut, having been informed of the singular merit of Saint Fulbert, sent him large sums to assist him in this noble enterprise and to share in the merit before God. One can see, in Epistle XCIII, which the holy Prelate addressed to this monarch, with what sentiments of gratitude he thanked him for his liberality, wishing him all kinds of prosperity in his kingdom, and above all an entire absolution of his sins, through the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

But these royal largesses remained far behind those he received from William the Great, Count of Poitiers, who for a long time h Guillaume le Grand Count of Poitiers and Duke of Aquitaine, great benefactor of Fulbert. ad held for him a tender and respectful affection. Several of the letters of the holy Prelate, the collection of which has come down to us, are acts of thanksgiving for the repeated generosities of the prince, all the more remarkable then that, in that same year 1021, the new cathedral of Poitiers was dedicated, also raised from its ruins after a fire. Moreover, this attachment was founded on a solid piety and a just discernment of the qualities and virtues of the docile Prelate. The Count had given him a precious and incontestable testimony of this when, in 1019, after the death of Gérard, Bishop of Limoges, who held the treasury of Saint-Hilaire of Poitiers, he conferred upon him the survivorship of this dignity, which was the most important of the Chapter. This very importance, the great revenues attached to it, and the obligations imposed by this honorable post, intimidated the humility of the pious Bishop: he refused several times and with insistence a solicitude that he regarded as incompatible with that of his pastoral charge. But the friendly persecutions of the Count prevailed; and, in yielding, Fulbert allowed himself to be consoled, no doubt, by the thought that his new riches would at least be lost in the immense work of the church he was rebuilding. It was, moreover, an increase of laborious vigils that he imposed upon himself by accepting.

Fulbert could only rarely discharge by himself the office with which he was provided in Poitiers. William complained of this with gentleness. An amiable representative was detached from the school of Chartres and sent to the Church of Hilary; it was the cherished child of the pontiff, the one of whom his fellow students spoke with jealousy; Hildier or Hildegaire was his name. What teachings, what charms in the correspondence of the holy Bishop and his delegate! The latter grieving at being separated for a long time from his master and his Our Lady, and asking for news of all his brothers; the former addressing to him learned advice concerning the care of ecclesiastical matters and neglecting no detail: liturgy, administration, even the cultivation of the garden and the orchard...

Another subject of his habitual concerns was his very vocation to the episcopate. The eminence of this office, which imposes the responsibility for so many souls, and the fears it caused him to conceive of failing in his duties, made him think more than once of resigning. He opened his heart to Saint Odilo of Cluny, who, through his counsel, kept him in the position that Divine Providence had designated for him. It was also at the insistence of the King that he continued to involve himself in public affairs and to make use of the just influence that his merit had given him in the councils of the court. In this role, as important as it was delicate, he always strove for the reform of abuses and the triumph of truth, and thus gave his sovereign the surest proofs of his religious and inviolable fidelity.

After this worthy Prelate had happily completed the sumptuous edifice of the cathedral of Chartres, he thought of ways to have God honored and glorified there through a beautiful order that he introduced into the chant and the distribution of the divine offices. He joined the melody and sweetness of music to the hymns, antiphons, proses, and other offices that we have already said he composed; and he took particular care to have all ecclesiastical ceremonies observed very exactly. He established or had celebrated with greater pomp, in this church, the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. These beautiful effects of the piety of this zealous pastor proceeded only from the perfect love with which his heart was inwardly inflamed; the sacred love he had for his God was the primary principle of his conduct; the contempt he felt for the riches and honors of the earth was born of the esteem he had for his God, and if he neglected to be in the company of princes and kings, it was because he took pleasure only in communicating with the Creator of heaven and earth in retreat.

But as the precept of the love of God is the same as that which requires charity for one's neighbor, one should not be surprised if Saint Fulbert always showed such gentleness and benevolence, whether toward the poor, or toward the clerics and other ecclesiastics of his diocese, or toward sinners or even toward the prelates, his brethren, whose affairs sometimes came before his tribunal; he provided for all the needs of the poor with marvelous prudence and economy; he bore with compassion, yet without weakness, the frailties and imperfections of his clerics; he knew how to win over sinners by his preemptive kindness, and he never punished crime, the ugliness and impunity of which he could not suffer, until after having charitably warned them several times to return to the paths of justice.

He had a special talent for consoling those who were in affliction; and one can finally say, after all those who give such beautiful and authentic testimonies of him, that he was a man universal in the sciences, a perfect Christian in the exercise of all virtues, an accomplished bishop who possessed all the qualities marked by the apostle Saint Paul, and a common father to whom everyone could have recourse, with the assurance of finding relief in their needs.

But this great light, which should never have been extinguished, was obliged to disappear from the earth to go and shine with more glory in heaven; and this worthy pastor, who worked tirelessly and with such vigilance and charity in the care of the flock that Jesus Christ had entrusted to him, left this life full of troubles and miseries to go and enjoy the one that is filled with delights and accompanied by eternal happiness. He died on April 10 or 11 of the year 1028 or 1030, after having governed the church of Chartres with admirable wisdom for the space of nearly twenty-two years, as can be seen in the glorious epitaph that was composed in his honor, and which his historians have preserved for us along with his works.

## RELICS, CULT AND WRITINGS OF SAINT FULBERT.

M. Germond, honorary canon and secretary of the bishopric of Chartres, wrote to us on December 31, 1862:

"I have little to say about Saint Fulbert: he was one of the most famous bishops of Chartres and perhaps the most brilliant light of his century. He was buried in the church of the monastery of Saint-Père, in Vallée. The monastery is today a cavalry barracks, and the church, which is contiguous to it, is a parish church under the invocation of Saint Peter. It is presumed that his body was never exhumed and that it would be found in this church if excavations were carried out there. The idea has been had several times, but until now it has not been pursued.

"A kind of legend claims that, shortly after his death, his feast was celebrated in one church in Chartres, while on the same day, a requiem mass was said in another for his intention. The saying deserves, I believe, no credence and is not worth reporting. The fact is that, having had occasion to search through a large number of manuscripts to prepare the proper of our diocese, I have not found it in any calendar, however many have passed through my hands dating back to the 12th century. To this day, the office of Saint Fulbert has not been performed in the liturgy of Chartres, but Mgr Pie, Bishop of Poitiers, having obtained it for his diocese, we did not fail to request it for ourselves, and Rome has also granted it to us. We will therefore begin to celebrate his feast (on April 10) when we adopt the Roman liturgy; which will take place in the course of the year that is about to begin. This will undoubtedly be an opportunity to try to find his body, in order to expose his relics to the veneration of the faithful. Until now, for this reason, we do not have his relics. In 1860, an altar was erected under the invocation of Saint Fulbert in the crypt of Notre-Dame de Chartres, restored by Mgr Regnault: it was justice, since this crypt, the largest of the known underground churches, is the work of Saint Fulbert.

(The current Proper of Chartres, which we have before our eyes, places his feast on April 10. The three lessons of the second nocturn are of the Saint.)

"The treasury of the cathedral of Chartres was very rich before the Revolution. But all the precious relics, which disappeared then, have always been eclipsed, in a way, by the veil of the Blessed Virgin, which we still have an d which we preserve very voile de la Sainte Vierge Major relic of Chartres Cathedral. preciously, as you can easily presume. This holy garment was given by the Empress Irene to Charlemagne, and by Charles the Bald to the church of Chartres around 876. It presents all the characters of authenticity that one could desire. Numerous miracles have been performed, and, in our day, we saw, in 1832, the cholera which was causing great ravages in the city, stop instantly after a procession made in the streets of the city, and in which the holy relic had been carried."

The blessed Fulbert left various monuments of his doctrine, which consist of nine sermons; a very abridged Penitential; a Collection of passages from Scripture on the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Eucharist; hymns, proses, some other poems; and one hundred and thirty-eight letters, but which are not all his; there are some from Isembert, Bishop of Poitiers, from Hildeguère, from William, Duke of Aquitaine, and from some others. Fulbert's letters are much superior to his other works, and full of delicacy and wit. He shows zeal, firmness, accuracy in his decisions, and a great knowledge of the dogmas and discipline of the Church.

Casimir Oudin, having discovered in the abbey of Long-Pont, Order of Cîteaux, diocese of Soissons, a treatise by Fulbert on these words of the second chapter of the Acts: "At that time Blérode employed, etc.", had it printed in 1692, in Leiden, in-8°, with some opuscules by ancient writers of France and Belgium. One finds, under the name of Fulbert, in the Vatican manuscripts, a treatise on the virtues; a collection of sentences of the Fathers on the sovereign good; verses on peace, the pound, and the parts of which it is composed. Charles de Villiers inserted in his notes, on the one hundred and thirteenth letter of Fulbert, verses on the ounce and its parts, and on the scruple and its parts. Trithemius attributes to Fulbert various pieces in honor of the Blessed Virgin. The chronicle of Cambrai makes Fulbert the author of the life of Saint Aubert, Bishop of Cambrai and Arras; but there were, in the 11th century, several writers by the name of Fulbert. Bellarmine also attributes to Fulbert a treatise on the variety of divine offices, which he says is printed under his name in the third volume of the Library of the Fathers, in Paris, second edition: but this treatise is not by him and is not found in the edition he designates.

The works of Fulbert were collected by Papyre le Masson, and printed in Paris in 1585, in-8°. This edition being very imperfect, Charles de Villiers published another in the same city in 1698, by Thomas Blaise, in-8°; but if it is more ample than the first, it is not exempt from faults, which were not corrected in the libraries of the Fathers of Cologne, Paris, and Lyon, where they only copied the edition of Charles de Villiers. — Adalman, a disciple of Fulbert, calls him his venerable Socrates; he highlights the holiness of his life and the greatness of his charity. Jostald, in the life of Saint Odilo, written around the year 1649, also praises the holiness of Fulbert, his admirable wisdom, and says that, at his death, the study of philosophy and the glory of the episcopate seemed to be buried with him. Fulbert's works justify these praises.

The writings of Saint Fulbert were reproduced by M. Migne in volume CXLI of the Patrologia.

We have completed Father Giry by means of the following works: Hist. litt. de France, vol. VII, new ed.; D. Ceillier, vol. XIII, new ed.; M. Auber, Vie des Saints de Poitou; M. Chergé, idem, and the works of the Saint in Migne, vol. CXXI.