A 5th-century hermit living near La Fère, Montain is famous for having prophesied the birth of Saint Remi to the noble Célinie despite her advanced age. Having become temporarily blind, he regained his sight thanks to the milk of the child's mother. He is the patron saint of the town of La Fère.
Guided reading
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SAINT MONTAIN OR MONTAN, HERMIT AT LA FÈRE (5th century).
Retreat and exile of Montain
In the 5th century, Montain led a hermit's life in Luxembourg before fleeing barbarian invasions to settle in the solitude of La Fère.
While the Gauls, in the 5th century, were the theater of wars, concessions, and pillaging, a solitary, named Montain or M ontan, lived on t Montain ou Montan 5th-century hermit, prophet of the birth of Saint Remigius. he Cher, near Juvigny, in Luxembourg. Formed in virtue from childhood, he lived separated from the world to have commerce only with God and to give himself entirely to the exercises of penance. Disturbed in his retreat by the raids of the Barbarians, he left it and went to seek a deeper solitude at La Fère (Aisne), a place t hen filled with La Fère (Aisne) Place of the saint's final retreat and burial. woods, surrounded by precipices and marshes.
Intercession for the Church
The saint prays intensely for the Church, then tormented by wars and the Nestorian heresy condemned at the Council of Ephesus.
There, Montanus, entirely occupied with the needs of the Church troubled by wars and by the heresy of Nestoriu s which the general council of concile général d'Éphèse (431) Ecumenical council that validated the position of Maximian. Ephesus (431) had just condemned, did not cease to implore the help of heaven. His prayers were not without effect.
The prophetic vision
Montan receives a heavenly vision ordering him to announce to Celinia the miraculous birth of her son Remi, the future savior of the people.
One day, as Montan was resting in a light sleep, he was warned three times to predict to Celinia, a noble lady of the region, that she would have a son, and to declare to her at the same time his name and his merits. Suddenly, it seemed to him that, by divine grace, he was transported into the midst of the choir of angels and the assembly of holy souls, holding counsel together and conferring on the subversion or the restoration of the Church of the Gauls: all declared that the time had come to have pity on her; and, at the same time, a voice that resounded with sweetness was heard from a higher and more secret place:
"The Lord has looked down from the Holy of Holies, and from heaven to earth, to hear the groaning of those who are in chains, and to break the bonds of the sons of those who have perished, so that his name may be announced among the nations, and that peoples and kings may gather together to serve him."
The voice said "that Celinia would conceive a s Remi Bishop of Reims who baptized Clovis. on, named Remi, to whom the people would be entrusted to be saved."
Announcement and birth of Saint Remi
Despite their advanced age, Celina and Emilius conceive Remi; Montan, having become temporarily blind, recovers his sight thanks to Celina's milk.
After having received such a great and sweet consolation, the holy personage, thrice warned to fulfill his mission, came to announce to Celina the oracle of the celestial vision. Now, this blessed mother had had long before, in the flower of her youth, by her one and only husband, Emilius, a son named Principius (or Prince), later Bishop of Soissons, and father of Saint Lupus, his successor to the episcopate of the same city: the blessed Celina is astonished; she cannot understand how, already old, she will give birth to a son and nourish him with her milk, especially since her husband and she herself, greatly advanced in age, exhausted and sterile, had no longer any hope or desire to have children henceforth. But the blessed Montan, having become blind for a time, so that the merits of patience might abound in him, declares to Celina that his eyes must be sprinkled with her milk and that immediately he will recover his sight. Meanwhile, the blessed parents give themselves over to the joy of such a great consolation, and, when the m oment arrived, the future pon futur pontife de Jésus-Christ Bishop of Reims who baptized Clovis. tiff of Jesus Christ comes into the world happily and receives, at the holy baptismal fonts, the name of Remi. The happy promise made to the holy Prophet is also faithfully fulfilled: for, during the nursing, his eyes are sprinkled with the milk of the blessed mother Celina, and he recovers his sight through the merit Dom Lelong Historian of the diocese of Laon cited as a source. s of the child.
Dom Lelong says "that it is at Cerny, where Celina's castle was, that the preceding scene would have taken place."
Death and posterity of the saint
Montan died in La Fère on May 17; his cult developed through his relics preserved in La Fère, Laon, and Juvigny.
If Montan lived for a few more years after recovering his sight, he returned to his solitude in La Fère, at the place called the Fosse de Saint-Montan; he died there on May 17. The town of La Fère and its collegiate church have t aken Saint M saint Montan 5th-century hermit, prophet of the birth of Saint Remigius. ontan as their patron. A small portion of his relics is still preserved today in the parish church and the chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu; they were recognized as authentic by Mgr Leblanc de Beaulieu. The feast of the Saint is celebrated in La Fère with great solemnity on May 17; and, during the following nine days, the faithful continue to come to venerate his relics. — The cathedral of Laon formerly possessed the head and an arm of the solitary sa int; the abbey of abbaye de Juvigny Site of the saint's first retreat and place where his body is preserved. Juvigny had the main part of his body. HENRI CONGNET, Dean of the Chapter. — Soissons, August 17, 1566. G. Flodourt, Histoire de l'église de Reims, book 187; D. Lelong, Histoire du diocèse de Laon, p. 87.
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