Blessed Hildemar

Hildemar Hildemar Founder of the Congregation of Arrouaise and martyr. was born in Tournai; as for C onon, Conon Companion of Hildemar, German nobleman and co-founder of Arrouaise. he was a German of noble lineage, son of Eginne, Count of Urrack, and grandson of Camille Knobel of Katzenellebogen. Both had been raised in England: they had embraced the Rule of Saint Augustine there and received the order of the priesthood. "Everything had changed in this kingdom" under the reign of W illiam the Conqueror. T Guillaume le Conquérant Duke of Normandy and successor to Edward on the English throne. o strengthen his authority, having deposed the English prelates, he had substituted them with Normans. All dignities and all offices were in the hands of his creatures. Hildemar and Conon shared in his favors and were masters of his chapel. After his death, which occurred in 1087, they left the court to make some pilgrimages; increasingly disgusted with the perishable grandeurs of this world and desirous of living for God alone, they left the country where they had been honored and came to settle in this dreadful solitude of the Throne of Berenger. They found there a hermit named Roger, a native of Tra nsloy Roger Hermit of Transloy, companion of Hildemar, assassinated with him. , a neighboring village. They became his companions, built themselves a cell, and erected an oratory under the title of the Holy Trinity and Saint Nicholas. Thieves still infested this whole country, but this did not stop them, and even, as often happened then, their establishment was soon seen to contribute to the safety of travelers. Little by little, they associated other companions of retreat and work with themselves, and Hildemar was elected as head or provost of this nascent house. He did not enlarge it much. A passionate lover of holy poverty, in vain was he offered riches and possessions from all sides. He accepted only what was strictly necessary for the small number of his religious. He refused, among other things, the church of Vermand, formerly collegiate, then served by the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, and since given to the Order of Premontre. However, among his disciples was a Judas. A slave to his passions and irritated by the remonstrances of his superior and his brothers, this wretched cleric stabbed Roger and struck down Hildemar himself, who did not succumb until a few months later, on January 13, 1097, without having yet been able to give a legal and solid form to his establishment. Miracles manifested his holiness before and after his death. Fifteen years later, in 1112, an oratory was built over his tomb.

In June 1716, workmen laboring at the chapel of Saint Mary Magdalene discovered in a pit walled at the head and feet the bones of a human body, and beside it a stone on which were engraved these words: *Hic jacet Heldemarus hujus loci fundator*. It was ri Heldemarus Founder of the Congregation of Arrouaise and martyr. ghtly believed that this body was that of the Blessed Hildemar. The news of this discovery spread among the people, and the solemn exhumation of the body was performed by a vicar-general of Arras, in the presence of the Arras City where Frédéric serves as provost. abbot and the religious, on the 29th of the same month. The bones were wrapped in sachets and sealed, then enclosed under the same seals in a chest which was placed under the altar of the chapel of the Blessed Virgin. In the official report of this ceremony, it is stated that "surgeons noticed an old fracture at the extremity of the right parietal bone touching the occiput," the cause of which they could not determine. It is thought that Hildemar received in this part the blow that caused his death: which is, moreover, consistent with tradition.

The memory of Blessed Hildemar was formerly celebrated with great solemnity on the day of his death.

Many writers have spoken with veneration of this holy personage. One may cite Robert Dumont, Cardinal Jacques Vitry, Rosweide, Aubert Lemire, De Loire, and many others. He is also found in the Martyrology of Du Saussay and in that of Châtelain, and finally in the Bollandists and in the *Gallia Christiana*. All have reproduced, with varying degrees of accuracy, a very ancient account, composed by Ga utier, Gautier Abbot of Arrouaise and author of the original biographical account in 1179. abbot of Arrouaise in 1179, and of which the author of the history of Arrouaise has provided the authentic text in his precious work.

We owe this notice to M. Van Drival, canon, director at the major seminary of Arras.