Blessed Herve

He had been fulfilling the duties of treasurer for some years when, in 944, a violent fire destroyed "the entire town of Saint-Martin and its own monastery, along with twenty-two other churches, from that of Saint-Hilaire to the suburb of Notre-Dame-la-Pauvre, to the west and on the south side, from the Petrusian gate to the Loire."

The blessed Hervé then undertook to rebuild, at his own expense, the great basilica of the T haumaturge. The body of Saint M grande basilique du Thaumaturge Major edifice rebuilt by Hervé. artin was transported to the collegiate church of Saint-Venant, where it remained during the twenty years that were spent on the reconstruction of the new basilica. When it was completed, the Archbishop of Tours, Hugues de Châteaud un, surrounded by a Hugues de Châteaudun Archbishop who dedicated the basilica in 1014. large number of bishops, performed its solemn dedication on July 4, 1014.

It is said that, a few days before the translation of the body of Saint Martin, the blessed Hervé prayed to the Lord to illustrate this feast with some great miracle, as He had done in the past, at the time of the first translation.

During his prayer, Sai nt Martin ap saint Martin Saint whose relics were honored by missionaries in Tours. peared to him and said with kindness: "Dearest son, what you ask of God, you can obtain and even more; but the miracles of the past suffice for the present time. It is now the time of the harvest, one must ask God for the salvation of souls. As for me, I do not cease to implore His mercy for them, and I do not forget, you cannot doubt it, those who serve my Church. Many are too attached to the things of this world and my prayers have obtained, with difficulty, the salvation of a few. As for you, my dear son, complete with joy the work so pleasing to God that you have undertaken."

Before the dedication of the basilica, Hervé himself repeated these words of Saint Martin to the holiest priests of the assembly.

During the reconstruction of Saint-Martin, another thought preoccupied our Blessed one. The famous monastery of Ecrigoule, founded in 565 by Ingeltrude, daughter of Clotaire I, had been struck by fire and only a small part remained, insufficient to receive the many daughters who wanted to embrace religious life. Moreover, there was no other convent for women in Touraine at that time. The treasurer of Saint-Martin resolved to transfer it to a place called Notre-Dame de Beaumont, at some distance from the city . There was, in this p Notre-Dame de Beaumont Monastery for women founded or transferred by Hervé. lace, an ancient church dedicated to Our Lady of Miracles which was the object of numerous pilgrimages, because of the wonders that were performed there in great numbers. He presented a request to King Robert who welcomed it favorably, and even granted this illustrious abbey numerous privileges and important immunities. Hervé endowed it richly from his own patrimony and from the goods that depended on Saint-Martin, on the sole condition of a fee of twenty sous of census to the chapter for the maintenance of the lamp of the tomb of the great Bishop of Tours.

When the monastery was entirely completed, the Blessed one led these nuns in procession to take possession of it. These holy daughters always, thereafter, remembered the pious treasurer of Saint-Martin, and they honored him as their founder. Their necrology bore, on the date of April 16, the following words: *Happy death of the blessed Hervé, canon and treasurer of the church of Saint-Martin, founder of this monastery*. Every day, they recited a psalter for him.

The monastery of Preuilly, of the Order of Saint Benedict, was also the object of his solicitude. He took it upon himself to send religious men Ordre de Saint-Benoît Religious order occupying the monastery of Honnecourt. there and placed at their head a holy Abbot, named Amblard, whom he drew from the abbey of Maillezais, founded quite recently by William VII, Count of Poitou.

Wishing to unite himself more intimately with God and to rid himself entirely of earthly concerns and all the material interests of this world, he retired, at the age of sixty-seven, to an island located two kilometers from the city. Accompanied by a few religious, he gave himself over to fasting and prayer with incredible ardor. He had a small chapel built which he dedicated to the martyr Sai nt Cosmas, saint Cosme Hermetic retreat site of Hervé. a name that this place henceforth bore.

But the canons of Saint-Martin, understanding all that they had lost by his departure, begged him insistently to return to their midst. They had, they said, need of his counsel and his examples. Herve resisted for a long time, but, overcome by their pressing solicitations, he left his dear solitude and returned to Saint-Martin. He chose for himself a small cell, with the chapel of Saint Basil, neighboring the Ecignole, and there he employed all his time in singing the praises of God, in reading holy books, and in praying.

He had been leading this hermit's life for four years when God revealed to him that the hour of his death was approaching. His reputation for holiness was so great that, at the news of his illness, many people flocked to visit him in the hope of seeing his final moments favored by some particular graces and of being witnesses to a miracle. Herve, with a smile on his lips, disabused them and very humbly asked for the help of their prayers. As the hour of his death approached, he redoubled his fervor, he raised his hands and his eyes toward heaven, saying: "Lord, have mercy on me! Lord, have mercy on me!" He died while uttering these last words.

He was buried in the church of Saint-Martin, opposite the chapel of the Green Crucifix, near the Change gate, in atrio Basilicae mediae ad pedes Crucifixi: he certainly had a right to this honor.

His tomb was likely desecrated in 1562, during the time of the sacrilegious devastations of the H Huguenots Event during which the Cathedral of Meaux was devastated. uguenots, and almost nothing of his relics remains to us. The church of Notre-Dame la Riche alone possesses today a small fragment of his bones.

Although the church of Tours never awarded a liturgical cult to this illustrious ecclesiastic whose name is found mingled with all the remarkable events of his time, his memory has nevertheless always remained in veneration, as that of a Saint. Several very ancient chronicles, in speaking of the treasurer of Saint-Martin, express themselves thus:

*Saint Hervé, treasurer of Saint-Martin, died in the year 1021; — Saint Hervé rebuilt the basilica of Saint-Martin*. Adémar, in his chronicle, says that he was remarkable for his holiness, and Glaber, who lived in the 13th century, assures that if one had taken care to collect all his actions, from his young age, one would have written the life of an incomparable man.

Abbé Rolland, honorary canon, chaplain of the boarding school of the Brothers of the Christian Schools of Tours.

royal favors over the course of the centuries. It depended on the Order of Saint Benedict. A large number of the abbesses who governed it belonged to the most illustrious families of France. It was suppressed in 1792: there remains today only a few dependencies recently purchased by the general hospital of Tours.