The deacon Ache and the subdeacon Acheul are two martyrs of the Amiénois about whom tradition provides few details, other than their courage in the face of persecutors. Their relics, initially buried at Abdalène, were transferred to Amiens in the 8th century and are today divided between the cathedral and the Jesuit house.
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SAINTS ACHE AND ACHEUL (Unknown era).
Martyrdom and tradition
The deacon Ache and the subdeacon Acheul, natives of the Amiens region, suffered martyrdom on a May 1st while affirming their faith.
The deacon Saint Ach Le diacre saint Aché Deacon and martyr of the Amiénois region. e an d the subdeacon Saint Acheu le sous-diacre saint Achéul Subdeacon and martyr of the Amiens region. l, both natives of the Amie ns region, l'Amiénois Episcopal see of Geoffrey. received the palm of martyrdom on a day of May 1st. In the midst of their torments, they limited themselves to saying to their persecutors: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" This is all that tradition teaches us regarding these glorious martyrs.
Burial and translation of the bodies
Buried at Abdalène, their remains were transferred in the 8th century by Saint Salvius to a new church in Amiens.
Saint Ache and Saint Acheul were buried in a place then called Abda lène, wh Abdalène Site of the saints' first burial, which became the village of Saint-Acheul. ere a church was later to be built that would take their name after having left that of Notre-Dame and Saint-Firmin. It was from there that their bodies were transferred by Sain t Salvius, saint Salve Possible predecessor of Berchon to the see of Amiens. Bishop of Amiens at the beginning of the 8th century, to the new church erected by this bishop within the city walls, under the dedication of the Princes of the Apostles, and which, later, took the name of Saint-Firmin the Confessor.
A portion of the relics of the two Saints is currently kept at Notre-Dame, in the reliquary of Saint Honoré. The head of Saint Acheul is found at the Jesuit h ouse of Jésuites Teaching order that educated Josaphat. Saint-Achéul; the reliquary is placed under the altar of the domestic chapel. As far as can be judged, the bones are almost reduced to dust. A pious family had saved the skull of Saint Acheul during the Revolution and donated it to the Jesuits in 1827.
From the primitive church to the abbey
The site of Abdalène became a priory and then an Augustinian abbey, benefiting from papal protection in the Middle Ages.
Saint Firmin the Confessor had a church erected at Abdalène over the tombs where the venerated bodies of Saint Firmin the Martyr, Saint Aché, and Saint Achéul rested, next to the ruins of a Roman temple. This sanctuary was first dedicated to Our Lady and Saint Firmin, martyr. In the course of the Middle Ages, it was designated simultaneously sometimes under the name of Saint-Aché and Saint-Achéul, and sometimes under the name of Notre-Dame-des-Martyrs. For a long time, it has been known almost exclusively by that of Saint-Achéul.
A priory of regular canons was instituted in this church in 1055. This priory embraced the Rule of Saint Augustine in 1109, and was erected into an abbey in 1145. In 1291, Pope Nicholas IV granted one year and forty days of indulgences to persons who would visit the church of Saint-Achéul on the feast day of this holy martyr.
In the last century, the abbey of Saint-Achéul was held by regular canons of the Congregation of Sainte-Geneviève: it still existed at the time of the R evolution of 1793. Sain Saint-Achéul-lez-Amiens Site of the saints' first burial, which became the village of Saint-Acheul. t-Achéul-lez-Amiens is today a small village, the same as the ancient Abdalène. This latter name was that of an estate belonging to the famous Faustin, and in which this pious personage had had the body of Saint Firmin, apostle of the region, honorably buried.
Contemporary Era and Heritage
After the Revolution, the Jesuits occupied the site for education. The church, a former cathedral, bears witness to Christian antiquity in Picardy.
The buildings of the Saint-Achéul abbey were not destroyed during the Revolution. In 1814, the Jesuits had formed a vast and justly famous establishment there, where nearly two thousand young people received the benefit of a Christian education: the educational establishment was suppressed in 1828, and this famous house is today nothing more than a novitiate of the Order.
The church of Saint-Achéul is the first and oldest church in Amiens: i t serv Amiens Episcopal see of Geoffrey. ed as a cathedral until the 8th century, the time when Saint Salvius transferred the episcopal see and the metropolis into the interior of Amiens itself. It appears that this church is today in a state of disrepair that greatly distresses friends of Christian antiquity and the sound traditions of religious architecture. They express their wishes to make Notre-Dame de Saint-Achéul worthy of protecting and preserving the most ancient and holy memories of the faith in Picardy.
A rib of Saint Achéul is preserved at the Amiens Cathedral, in a small reliquary.
Liturgical recognition
The saints appear in ancient martyrologies and the litanies of Amiens, with a cult extending as far as Écouen.
The names of Saint Ache and Saint Acheul are inscribed in the Litanies of Amiens dating from the 13th century, in the martyrology attributed to Saint Jerome, and in all those of the Church of France. The second of these martyrs is the patron of Saint-Achéul, in the canton of Bernavil le, an Écouen Place of which Saint Acheul is the patron. d of Écouen (Seine-et-Oise). The current street from Amiens to Noyon bore the name of Saint-Achéul in the 13th century. The feast, which falls on May 1st, is moved to the 11th due to the occurrence of Saint Philip and Saint James. It has always appeared in the Amiens Breviaries under the simple or semi-double rite.
Consult the Hagiogra phy of Ami M. Corblot Author of the Hagiographie d'Amiens. ens, by M. Corblot, whose scholarly work we have analyzed.
Annexes & related entities
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