Saint Riquier

Ordained a priest later, Saint Riquier traveled throughout the country, spreading along his way, with the benefits of his charity, the good news of salvation. Then, having returned to his dwelling, he prayed and devoted himself to other exercises of piety. His food consisted of barley bread soaked in water. The

poor, strangers, widows, orphans, pilgrims, all felt the effects of his liberality and his love for God.

Such active and generous devotion could not be confined within the limits of a province; an inner feeling drew Saint Riquier across the strait, as if to make him return to England (Britain) the benefit he had received from it. He therefore went to that island, where he won a great number of fishermen and idolaters to Jesus Christ. He also ransomed many captives there, Christians or pagans, and restored their freedom, just as he had previously given it to all the serfs he himself possessed on his lands in Ponthieu. Upon returning to France, Saint Riquier preached the faith in various regions; but the lack of details does not allow us to follow him in his apostolic journeys. We note, however, his relations with Saint Adalbaud, lord of Douai, and Saint Rictrude, his wife, whose first chi sainte Rictrude Stepdaughter of Gertrude, widow of Adalbaud. ld, Saint Mauront, he baptized. An ancient biographer reports that one day, when Saint Riquier had come to this religious family, at the moment of his departure, while he was already on his horse, Saint Rictrude sent for little Mauront so that he might receive a final blessing from his spiritual father. As the Saint held the child in his arms, the horse suddenly became frightened, reared up, and bolted without it being possible to restrain it. Rictrude was distraught, and all the spectators were terrified; it was believed at every moment that the child was going to be crushed and the Saint thrown. At that moment, Saint Riquier addressed a prayer to God from the depths of his heart, and immediately the child slid gently to the ground without the slightest harm, and the animal calmed down.

At the same time that Saint Riquier traveled through the northern provinces, proclaiming the divine word everywhere, he founded a church and a monastery to gather there disciples who asked to live under his guidance. It was at Centule, not far from the place of his birth, that he established this community; it was there that he rested from the fatigues of his missions and that he sometimes received visits from the powerful of the Dagobert King of the Franks petitioned by Sulpicius to annul a tax. world. One day when Dagobert had come to Ponthieu, at the pressing invitation of a lord named Gislemar, he wished to see the man of God, whose name was spread far and wide. He went to the holy old man, who, after blessing the king, gave him, with a modest authority and a truly evangelical freedom, advice too rarely heard by princes. "He reminded him that he should not pride himself on his power, nor hope in passing riches, nor exalt himself through the vain adulations of flatterers, nor place his joy in fragile honors; but rather fear the power of God and give glory to his supreme majesty, to deem as nothing this power and this glory of men which pass like a light shadow, and vanish like the foam of the waves that the wind carries away." The Saint also said to the monarch "that he should above all remember these words of the divine Scriptures: The great of the world are exposed to endure greater torments, and God will demand more from him to whom he has given more. If a king, on the day of judgment, will only with difficulty be able to render a favorable account for himself to the supreme Judge, how will he be able to do so for so many thousands of men who have been entrusted to him? Therefore, prince, continued Saint Riquier, one should rather fear to command than to obey. He who obeys renders account to God only for himself; he, on the contrary, who commands, will render account for all those who are subject to him." Dagobert received these wise lessons from the abbot of Centule well, and, in order to testify to the esteem he had conceived for him, he invited him to take part in the

feast that Count Gislemar had prepared for him. The Saint went to this banquet, where his presence and his discourse made a happy impression on all the guests.

However, age and fatigue had considerably diminished his strength, and he sighed for a deeper solitude where he could prepare for death. His desire became known, and Dagobert sent an order to Gislemar and another lord of the land to give the man of God a suitable place in the forest of Crécy. It was there t hat he retired forêt de Crécy Site of the saint's final retreat. with his disciple Sigobard, after having ent rusted t Sigobard Faithful disciple of Saint Riquier in his retreat. he direction of his monastery to Olciade, a prudent religious of great piety. From that moment on, Saint Riquier gave himself entirely to the meditation of heavenly things. His soul was as if absorbed in God, and despite the weakness of his body, he sometimes felt the strength and vigor of his youth reborn within him. But soon his retreat became known and many had themselves transported to him to be healed of their infirmities. The blind, the deaf, the mute, and the paralyzed crowded around his cell, alongside the great and powerful of the century who came to ask him for advice. Thus the Lord was pleased to surround his servant, even on earth, with respect and homage, which his death would only increase.

Indeed, the end of Saint Riquier was approaching, and God gave him a secret premonition of it, which he communicated to his disciple Sigobard. "My son," he said to him one day, "I know that my death is not far off and that soon I will see my Lord, for whom I have long sighed. You will prepare a coffin, according to custom, to enclose this weak body. At the same time, my son, prepare yourself with the greatest care, so that when the day that approaches for me arrives for you, it may find you well disposed. Behold, I am entering the way of all flesh: may the Savior of the world be merciful to me! May He defend me today from the enemy as He has defended me from him in the past, and may He, after having been my consoler in this life, be my eternal rewarder in the other!" Upon hearing these words, Sigobard burst into tears; then, his heart oppressed by sobs, he set about to obey. He cut the trunk of a tree in the forest and prepared it to receive the body of his beloved master. The work finished, he placed this coffin, watered with his tears, in the indicated place. He would not be long in coming to retrieve it. The illness was making rapid progress, and it reduced the old man to extreme weakness in a short time. In the midst of the failings of nature, his soul was always raised toward God, and it was while completing the acts of his gratitude and his love, after having received the Holy Eucharist, that he fell asleep in the Lord, on April 26, around the year 645.

## RELICS OF SAINT RIQUIER.

His body was first placed in his small cell, which later became the abbey of Foret-Moutier, between Rue and Crécy; but the monks of Centule wished to have the mortal remains of their father with them, and they transported them with honor to their monastery, which, since then, has taken the name of Saint-Riquier. The numerous healings that took place there attracted the people of the region and made the cult of the Patron increasingly famous in Ponthieu, in the neighboring provinces, and throughout France. Charlemagne himself one day visite Charlemagne Emperor of the Franks and uncle of Saint Folquin. d this tomb, which was opened in his presence. The remains of the Saint were found in the same state as at the moment of his death, and the emperor had them enclosed in a magnificent reliquary. Later, this precious body was transported to various places due to the ravages of the Normans.

Saint Angilbert, abbot of Centule during the reign of Charlemagne, contributed greatly to the decoration of the place where Saint Riquier rested.

The church of the former abbey of Saint-Riquier, built on the model of Amiens Cathedral, serves today as a parish church. One can see there, at the back of the second choir, a small painting representing the patron saint. Each year, in the month of October, a procession is held in his honor, which the inhabitants of the town make it a duty to attend.

Abbé A. Leroux wrote to us in 1863:

"The relics of Saint Riquier are still at Saint-Riquier; they are found in the parish church, enclosed in two reliquaries, one of which, containing the head of the holy abbot, is placed on the altar, and the other contains the body. If you desired other details, I have none to give you other than those which are found in the Chronicon Centulense by Hariulf, which is part of the Spicilegium of Dom Luc d'Achery, volume II or IV depending on the edition."

The buildings of the former and splendid abbey of Saint-Riquier are today occupied by a minor seminary.

The History of Abbeville states that this name of Abbevill Abbeville Site of the subsequent translation of the relics. e, which means Town of the Abbot, was given to it because it was formerly part of the domain of the abbot Saint Riquier.

Saint of Cambrai and Arras; Local notes.