Saint Gertrude of Vaux-en-Dieulet

The martyrdom of Saint Ger trude is report sainte Gertrude Virgin and martyr of the 5th century, patroness of Vaux-en-Dieulet. ed at the time when the Franks, still pagans, were establishing their monarchy in Gaul, before the conversion of King Cl roi Clovis King of the Franks, mentioned to date the existence of the church. ovis to Christianity, that is to say, before the year 480. Although born to a father stubbornly attached to the errors of paganism, she had the happiness of believing in Jesus Christ and being reborn spiritually in the waters of baptism.

Having reached the age to choose a state of life, she preferred that of virginity. She followed the advice of Saint Paul, refusing to ally herself through marriage to a spouse who, not being a Christian, would have hindered her in the exercises of her religion, or would not have permitted her to raise her children in a Christian manner. Her firmness in this holy resolution brought upon her mistreatment from her barbarian father; her own brothers were her persecutors.

Gertrude, in order to escape inhumane treatment and the danger of losing her faith, moved away from her family: God led her into the Dieulet, eighteen leagues from Châlons, in the diocese of Reims.

She first withdrew into a valley, known as the Vnameille, where the abbe y of Belval was abbaye de Belval Premonstratensian abbey whose manuscripts attest to the history of the saint. founded around the year 1130 by the disciples of Saint Norbert. She then moved to the other end of the Dieulet, towards the west, into another small valley (which ancient titles name the Bos or the wood of Noé), called today the end of Noé; where a water spring flows, which has always been called the holy fountain, or la sainte fontaine Miraculous spring that gushed forth at the saint's prayer. the fountain of Saint Gertrude. It is claimed that, upon arriving in this valley of the Argonne which is now cultivated and which terminates the territory of Vaux towards that of Saint-Pierrement, the Saint was very thirsty and there was no water to quench her thirst. At her prayer, an abundant spring gushed forth, which, even today, perpetuates the name and the benefits of Saint Gertrude.

Her two brothers, who had followed her in her flight, having discovered the place of her retreat, pursued her, as she was still fleeing before them, to the top of the hill between the village of Vaux-Dieulet and that of Sommau the, and Sommouthe Village neighboring Vaux, a site associated with martyrdom and devotion. there they pierced her with the arrows with which they were armed. She thus crowned her pure life with a holy and glorious death.

Her body was buried in the same place on the mountain; the faithful flocked to her tomb, where healings took place; her bones were subsequently collected and transported with solemnity to the parish church which was dedicated under her invocation; and the name of Saint Gertrude was since inserted into the litanies sung at the blessing of the baptismal fonts throughout the diocese of Reims.

The translation of the relics of Saint Gertrude was performed on the day of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ; and the feast of this Saint was fixed from then on to the following Friday. Its era is attributed to the time of Charles Martel. This is based on an excerpt from the manuscript of the abbey of Belv manuscrit de l'abbaye de Belval Premonstratensian abbey whose manuscripts attest to the history of the saint. al, which the historian of Reims mentions: and, indeed, the old church, built at that time, whose location can be seen outside the village, and which subsisted until 1774, was in the form and style of those of the region built in the century of Charlemagne.

The great gathering of the faithful, which has been renewed each year, gave rise to a fair, which continues to be held at Vaux-Dieulet on the very day of the Ascension.

The parish priest and the parishioners of Vaux displayed the most praiseworthy zeal to save the relics of Saint Gertrude from the devastation of their church in 1794. They took care to remove them from the reliquary and kept them hidden for five and a half years inside the church wall, only removing them in 1799 to expose them once again to the veneration of the faithful.

The head of Saint Gertrude is enclosed in a copper globe, separately from the rest of the relics. The other bones are contained in an iron chest, very old and completely rusted, which is formed with two locks, the keys of which were undoubtedly taken to Reims; this chest is enclosed in a very old reliquary made of oak wood, decorated with carvings and paintings that recall the main circumstances of the martyrdom of Saint Gertrude.

In the first painting, Gertrude touches the source of the holy fountain with her staff. In the second, her two brothers have their bows drawn to pierce her with their arrows. In the third, the two assassins appear before a judge seated on his tribunal. In the fourth, Saint Gertrude has the crown of martyrdom on her head and the palm in her hand; and beside her are pilgrims on their knees, and the parish priest, in the very old costume of a Premonstratensian regular canon. These paintings were renewed in 1671 and i Chanoine régulier prémontré Religious hospital order where Aldric requested to serve. n 1783 by having the painter's brush pass over them, without changing anything in the figures.

The pilgrims who go to venerate Saint Gertrude at Vaux-en-Dieulet are accustomed to making three stations in the church: one before the high altar, another at the chapel of the Blessed Virgin, and the third at the chapel of Saint Gertrude. Some go to make a fourth station at the Holy Fountain, and a fifth at the tomb of Saint Gertrude, on the mountain.

Those pilgrims who do not go to the holy fountain and the tomb make their procession in the church, or around it, in the cemetery.

The tradition of the region regarding the life and martyrdom of our Saint Gertrude is supported by certain monuments, capable of perpetuating her memory until the end of time. The valley that provided a retreat for this holy maiden, the fountain that bears her name, her tomb on the mountain, the possession of her relics, the old church dedicated (as well as the new one) under her invocation, her feast day solemnized on a fixed date, her name invoked in the litanies of the diocese, the very ancient paintings on the reliquary of her relics, the manuscript of the Abbey of Belval cited in the history of the Church of Reims, the official report of the insertion of a portion of her relics into the altar of Sommauthe (1649); finally, the annual and always numerous gathering of the faithful of the region on the day of her feast are the justifying proofs of her history and her cult.

Notice on Saint Gertrude, virgin and martyr, patroness of the parish of Vaux-en-Dieulet, in the department of the Ardennes, diocese of Reims, communicated to us by Father Titeux, parish priest of Vaux-en-Dieulet. — Cf. Dom Calmet, Hist. of Lorraine, book V, and Dom Martel, Hist. of the diocese of Reims.