Saint Brieuc

Saint Germain, being invited by King Childebert I to come to Paris, brought with him this illustrious disciple, whose virtues were perfectly known to him. And, subsequently, havi ng become Bisho évêque de Paris Spiritual model for Aquilinus. p of Paris, he ordained him a priest and made him his chaplain.

This zealous servant of God, always meditating on higher designs and wishing to set no bounds to his virtues, conceived the thought of returning to the land of his birth, in order to enlighten those who were still languishing in the shadows of death, and to give the life of the soul to those from whom he had received the life of the body. He communicated this resolution to Saint Germanus, who approved it and gave him other religious to accompany and assist him in such a noble enterprise. He therefore departed from Paris, after having received his episcopal blessing, and went to raise the cross of Jesus Christ and the monastic state in Great Britain, and particularly in the province of Coritania, where he arrived safely after having endured a furious storm, which he calmed by the power of his prayers. He preached the doctrine of the Gospel there and baptized his relatives and most of his compatriots. Our Lord further confirmed his word by an infinity of miracles; for he delivered the country from famine and plague, healed several desperate sick people, preserved from rabies a person who, having been bitten by a mad dog, was beginning to feel the onset of this malady; reset a broken thigh, rejoined the thumb of a carpenter who had cut it off, restored sight to a blind man, and performed a host of other wonders. He also planted crosses throughout the province, built churches, erected monasteries, and populated them with religious, to whom he gave the rule he had practiced in France under Saint Germanus; finally, he omitted nothing that he deemed necessary for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls.

Religious affairs being well established in England, the Saint, inspired by God, crossed the sea again and came to Lower Brittany, otherwise called Armorica. He first preached in the country of Tréguier, where he converted the count named Conan; with the help of this prince, he built the monastery of Landebaëron. Later, leaving the government of this house to one of his disciples, he came by sea, with eighty religious, following the coast from west to east, to the port formed by the mouth of the Gouet river: having been well received by Count Rigual, he settled in the valley which, because of him, has since been named Saint-Brieuc-des-Vaux, because t here are several vall Saint-Brieuc-des-Vaux Episcopal see and primary location of the saint's activity. eys. The church of the monastery that he founded there was soon erected into a cathedral, and our Saint was named bishop of this place. As he had a singular devotion to the Blessed Virgin, he had an oratory built in her honor on the edge of a fountain, quite close to his cathedral, which he called, for this reason, Notre-Dame-de-la-Fontaine, and where he often went to say his prayers.

Finally, God, wishing to crown his life with a precious death, revealed to him that the time was near. The Saint gave notice of this to his religious brothers eight days beforehand; he armed himself with all the spiritual weapons and especially the last Sacraments; after which he expired peacefully in their presence, while uttering the holy name of Jesus. He was over ninety years old. There is no consensus on the date of his death: some place it in 502, others in 614. The room where he expired was filled with a delicious odor; one of his religious brothers, named Marcan, saw his soul fly up to heaven in the form of a dove; another, named Siviau, or Sieu, also saw the holy Bishop ascend to heaven on a ladder shining with light and with a procession of angels.

His body was buried in his cathedral: but, during the Norman invasion, to save it, it was placed in a stag-leather bag, and Erispoë, Duke o f Britt Erispoë Successor of Nominoe and cousin of Salomon, assassinated by the latter. any, transported it to the Abbey of S aint-Serge in Angers, where th abbaye de Saint-Serge d'Angers A place of refuge for relics during the Norman invasions. ere was another famous translation in 1066. Later, in the year 1210, Peter, Bishop of Saint-Brieuc, went himself to Angers to obtain some of these holy relics. He was given two ribs, an arm, and a neck vertebra, which he transported himself with great pomp. These holy bones, when they entered the cathedral that was so dear to them, trembled with joy: it was noted that they moved by themselves. They fortunately escaped the profanations of 1793; they rest in a beautiful gilded bronze reliquary, donated in 1820 by Mgr Hyacinthe de Quélen, then coadjutor to the Bish op of Saint-Brieuc, and Mgr Hyacinthe de Quélen Archbishop of Paris who donated a reliquary in 1820. later Archbishop of Paris. The church of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire also possesses a small fragment of the relics of Saint Brieuc, but those that were in Angers, as well as those in Paris, have disappeared. Since 1804, the feast of Saint Brieuc has been fixed on the second Sunday after Easter.

The attribute of Saint Brieuc is a purse or alms bag. He was formerly the patron saint of purse makers or manufacturers of alms bags, probably because this industry once flourished in the city of Saint-Brieuc.

See the *Vies des Saints de Bretagne*, by Dom Lubineau, and the *Vie du Saint par le chanoine La Devision, Saint-Brieuc, 1627, in-13*.