Saint Eman

The young pilgrim first directed his steps toward Rome. With what veneration and love he touched the soil of the holy city! The Sovereign Pontiff wished to see him, received him, and spoke with him with fatherly kindness. Finding in him from this first meeting the soul of a Saint, of a priest, of an apostle, he desired to enlist him in the clerical militia and had him begin the necessary studies. The young Cappadocian obeyed the voice of the Vicar of Jesus Christ as if it were Jesus Christ Himself. He set to work and made progress so rapid, so marvelous, that soon nothing was spoken of in Rome but his learning, just as nothing was already spoken of but his virtue.

After a stay of seven years in Rome, Eman, who had heard of the many wonders that God was working in Milan through the intercession of Saint Nazarius, conceived a keen desire to go and pray at the miraculous tomb. He soon arrived in the city, the object of all his wishes. He chose no other dwelling than the church where the body of the glorious Martyr rested. It was there that he spent two years, leading a life that was more of an angel than of a man; there that, in his intimate communications with God, he had a hea venly Autun Burgundian diocese associated with the saint's burial. vision and was inspired to go to Autun to pray saint Symphorien Martyr of Autun under whose patronage the monastery is placed. also at the tomb of Saint Symphorian where, in order to spread more and more and confirm the nascent faith of the barbarian peoples recently established in the Gauls, the divine Master wished, as at that of Saint Nazarius, to work numerous miracles.

Providence arranged for connections between him and Saint Nectarius who was about to return to Autun. The two pilgrims, upon seeing each other at the tomb of the martyr of Milan, had soon known how to understand and appreciate one another: they were therefore delighted to be able to travel together.

Upon finding disciples in Autun, children of the Bishop of Caesarea, he believed he had found his absent homeland there. Saint Eman learned with a thrill of joy that the religious who served the Abb ey of Saint-Symphorien fol abbaye de Saint-Symphorien Abbey that housed the relics of Ardaing. lowed the rule of Saint Basil, his compatriot.

Perhaps the young pilgrim also found a very particular interest in visiting Gaul. Might this region not have been the cradle of his ancestors? For he could very well have been a Galatian by origin, since he bore the same name as that Gallic leader, the Allobrogian Eman, who, according to Justin, was part of the great expedition of Bellovesus. And were the Umbrians, a people of the Milanese, led on that same expedition to Asia, not brothers of the Aedui? The keen interest with which Eman visited Milan and Autun was therefore perhaps both religious and patriotic. Was he not finding in these two cities the memory and the land of his forefathers? Did not the memory of the Saints and the memory of the homeland both speak to his heart!

God did not let His servant enjoy for very long the happiness of the pious retreat of Autun where His hand had led him. The time had arrived when He was to call him to new wanderings and put his courage to new trials. Indeed, in a vision during the sleep of the night, Eman heard a voice that said to him: "Depart for Chartres and go preach the divine word to the populatio ns of th Chartres Episcopal city of the saint. ose regions. It is there that heaven calls you: depart at once and fear nothing." Immediately he arose, set out on his way, and soon arrived, no longer as a pilgrim, but rather as an apostle, at the designated place.

Scarcely had he arrived in the Chartres region than he began to preach to obey the orders of heaven and the impulse of his zeal. God seconded his efforts and rewarded them by giving him the consolation, very dear to an apostle, of bringing about numerous conversions. It was the only one he coveted, because it was merged with the glory of the divine Master. "This," says the biographer, "took place under the great King Theodebert, to whom the in terests of religion grand roi Théodebert King of Austrasia, son of Theuderic I. were no less dear than those of the kingdom" (534-548).

Eman spent two years in Chartres, and his stay in that city was marked by several marvelous deeds.

However, the great feast of Saint Symphorian was approaching. Eman wished to go at least one more time to pray at that cherished tomb which our fathers surrounded with a veneration, a love, and a confidence of which we can barely form an idea in this half-Christian century.

He therefore left for Autun and saw with happiness that city, that abbey, that basilica where affectionate memories called him, where he had left the greater part of his soul. There, as at the time of his first pilgrimage, he spent the nights in prayer in the church of the Martyr and attracted universal admiration. God manifested again the holiness of his servant by giving him the power to cast out demons from the bodies of the possessed; but at the same time, to make his virtue shine forth and be purified more and more, He put him to a very harsh test. Some vile slanderer, driven no doubt by odious jealousy, blackened his name, it seems, to Nectarius; he even succeeded in turning the holy bishop against him to the point of having him thrown into a dark and foul dungeon. The pious pilgrim allowed himself to be led, without opening his mouth to complain, into this place of horror. There he knelt down, adored the designs of God, and prayed like the Savior of the world for his blind enemies. But suddenly, the dreadful prison was flooded with a brilliant light and perfumed with the most sweet odor.

At the same time, the door opened by itself; but the archdeacon Euphronius, who probably attributed this prodigy to some magical power, closed it again immediately. It opened again up to three times. However, the venerable bishop, informed of what was happening, recognized the finger of God; and seeing that Eman had been unworthily slandered, he went to throw himself at his feet, asked his pardon, honored him from then on with an esteem and surrounded him with a veneration greater than ever. Moreover, in order to show him the high regard he had for his merit, he urged him strongly to consent to enter the clergy. The humble servant of God, who until then had not dared to accept the holy ministry of the altars, finally consented to it for fear of going against the divine will by resisting the entreaties of the pontiff. He also thought that the eminent quality of minister of Jesus Christ would be for him one more motive to exercise his zeal, as well as a new means of doing good. Prostrate before the holy bishop of Autun, he therefore received from him the crown of the clerics and an affectionate blessing.

Nectarius undoubtedly hoped to keep him in his diocese; but God had disposed otherwise and did not delay in manifesting His intention. Suddenly, in the midst of the silence and darkness of the night, there appeared to Eman, who was taking a few moments of sleep, a venerable bishop adorned with vestments whiter than snow and accompanied by an adolescent with an angelic face. "Arise," he said to him, "and return to Chartres. From there you shall go to the village called Siberue, and I will show you the place where you must build a church. It is there that you will announce the word of God, that you will exercise the apostolic ministry, and that from now on you will fix your residence until the day when God crowns your life with a glorious martyrdom." — "What is your name," asked Eman, "O you who announce to me such a beautiful destiny, long the object of all my vows?" — "I am," replied the mysterious personage, "Eusebius, form erly bishop of Vercelli." And at th Eusèbe, autrefois évêque de Verceil Close friend of Aemilian and defender of the faith. ese words, the vision disappeared. Eman awoke immediately, gave thanks to God, and, after having made a final prayer at the tomb of Saint Symphorian, hastened to leave for the country where heaven was calling him back: happy to carry with him the assurance of soon seeing again in heaven the venerable pontiff and the amiable adolescent, probably Saint Symphorian, who had appeared to him.

Arrived in Orléans, our holy levite, persuaded that the priesthood was indispensable for him to work more effectively for the salvation of souls, went to find the bishop of that city to communicate his project to him. The latter, struck by the air of holiness that was noticeable in Eman, welcomed him with a benevolence mixed with respect, appreciated him more and more as he knew him better; and seeing that it was an apostle that heaven was sending him, he soon acquiesced to his request. The man of God, strengthened even more by the grace of the priesthood, full of a new zeal for the salvation of souls and a new ardor for martyrdom, went incontinently to Chartres and from there to the place where the nocturnal vision had called him, built a church there, and gave himself over with indefatigable activity to all the labors of the pastoral ministry and the apostolate, while waiting for the palm that had been promised to him. It was then that several adventures happened to him which show at once his charity, his unalterable gentleness, and the protection with which God surrounded him.

— One day, having been invited to the home of Bladiste, a great lord of the region, he believed he should accept, sacrificing, although with regret, his love for humility, mortification, and retreat, to a more imperious duty. As the road was long, he was obliged to stop, on returning, at a house to spend the night there. Not knowing where to put his horse, he made a sign of the cross over it and left it to graze in freedom and under the guard of God on the neighboring lawn. Now, one of the guests of Bladiste, named Abbon, a vile parasite, as greedy as he was poor, seized the animal, mounted it, but could not get away. Eman pretended to believe that the thief needed his horse, asked him very politely to make use of it, and even ended by giving him enough to buy a new shoe, so that he would be less tempted to steal horses.

God, by consecrating through numerous prodigies that we do not report, the eminent holiness of His servant, finished implanting the faith in the rural populations; for it required nothing less than the spectacle of virtues and extraordinary facts to strike these coarse minds.

However, he sighed incessantly for the palm of martyrdom which had been promised to him as the end and reward of his labors; but always humbly submissive to the will of the divine Master, he awaited this favor, the object of his desires, with a resigned and increasingly active patience, thinking only of working to make himself worthy of it. Finally, the moment marked by Providence arrived. One day he went for a walk with his two companions, the worthy co-workers of his apostolate, in a wood near his humble dwelling. Now, there was in those parts a band of brigands who had long desired to attempt the life of the man of God. This mouth that preached the faith and evangelical morality was hateful to them.

These wretches, having caught sight of Eman in the heart of the dark and deserted forest, believed the occasion favorable to execute their hideous project. They therefore immediately emerged from their lair and ran at him brandishing their swords. At this sight, the Saint advanced with a dignified and calm air toward them and invited them with gentleness to leave the path of crime to embrace the law of Jesus Christ. But these words of peace and salvation, far from disarming the brigands, barbaric followers of the ancient Druidism, only inflamed their homicidal fury all the more. "You have preached for too long: die." And at these words, they massacred him with his collaborators, on the 17th of the Kalends of June (May 16), around the year 560. The angels came to gather the souls of the martyrs and accompanied them to heaven.

It is thus that for the soldiers of Jesus Christ the day of death becomes the day of triumph. With what happiness Eman took his place in the midst of those martyrs of Rome and those martyrs of Milan whose relics he had gone to venerate; beside Saint Symphorian, on whose tomb he had so often spent days and nights, asking God for the same courage, the same fate, the same reward! His prayer was answered: he possessed the eternal crown. His body and that of his two companions, Maurille and Almaire, martyred with him, were buried at Islaris-Cella (Ill iers) by religious; and Islaris-Cella (Illiers) Site of the first burial of Saint Eman. to this day, says the biographer, the almighty God has not ceased to work miracles at the tomb of these three faithful servants who died for his cause. Many years later, the precious remains of Saint Eman were transported to Chartres to the church of Saint-Maurice outside the walls, where they became the object of public veneration. "At the time of the great disturbances that marked the end of the 18th century," says the Proper of Chartres, "the sacred ashes of Saint Eman were violated and scattered to the wind. The chapel that the faith of our fathers had raised to him is devoted to profane uses."

Acta Sanctorum; Cult of Saint Symphorian, by M. Dinet. Proper of Chartres.