Saint Desiderius of Langres

Didier was received with gladness by the people of Langres as the chosen one of Providence. Through prayer and humility, he obtained the graces necessary to be raised to the fullness of the priesthood, and the Holy Spirit, who distributes His gifts as He pleases, enlightened him with His divine lights in the governance of his diocese. He propagated the reign of the Gospel, and his episcopate is one proof among a thousand others that the Catholic Church owes its conquests, not to human resources, but to the action of the Almighty who established it.

Since Our Lord spoke these words: 'The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep', and since He died Himself for us, adding the example to the lesson of sacrifice, an innumerable multitude of bishops have voluntarily immolated themselves for their flocks. Saint Didier has taken an august place among them. At the time he lived, the barbarian peoples from beyond the Rhine began to stir to throw themselves upon the provinces of the Roman Empire as if upon prey. Around the year 264, a horde of Alamanni rushed into the east of Gaul, under the leadership of a chief named Chrocus. They laid siege to Lang Chrocus Leader of the Vandals and persecutor of saints. res, which was not supposed to be fortified at that time, any more than the other cities of Gaul. The hagiographer Warnahaire, however, supposes it to have been defended by ramparts of ashlar masonry. There was no hope of saving it; the first barriers had yielded to the efforts of the besiegers: the massacre was beginning and the barbarians did not even spare the small children in their mothers' arms. The title of Christian only further ignited the fury of the barbarians. Didier did not hesitate to surrender himself, approaching Chrocus to beg him to spare the lives of the inhabitants. The barbarian remained insensible to this sublime devotion. The bishop then threatened him with heavenly vengeance. But Chrocus, without regard for the white hair of the pontiff and defying his curses, ordered his head to be cut off and those who accompanied him to be put to death. The deacon Vincent was among that number.

It is to indicate the beheading of Saint Didier that he is ordinarily represented carrying his severed head in his hands. At the moment he received the mortal blow, he was holding a book upon which the blood gushed; the pages were covered with it, but the letters remained intact and were still readable a thousand years later, as a famous author, Vincent of Beauvais, attests in the 13th century. The wretch who had struck the bishop was seized with a sudden madness; he ran along the ramparts uttering frightful cries, and he went to smash his head against a city gate which thereafter remained walled up in memory of the blood that had defiled it. At the sight of the corpse and his spilled brains, the barbarians ceased their carnage. But the blood of the Martyrs cried out for vengeance; Chrocus, according to the report of Saint Gregory of Tours, threw himself upon the south of France. He was taken pr isone Arles Ecclesiastical metropolis of the province to which Constantine belonged. r before Arles and suffered the fate he had deserved by persecuting the Saints of the Lord. Locked in an iron cage, he was paraded through the middle of the cities he had ravaged: then he was put to death. An ancient Langres tradition reports that his execution took place beyond Saint-Geosmes, at the place named the Croix-d'Arles.

The holy bishop was laid to rest in a stone tomb, in the oratory that has since borne his name and which he had dedicated himself to Saint Mary Magdalene. Regular canons were first established there, and it later became a priory of the Order of Saint Benedict. The crypt where the Martyr rested can still be seen in the part of this church that has been preserved and which houses a museum of Gallo-Roman antiquities.

The miracles that manifested the power of Saint Didier before the Lord inflamed the devotion of the people. History records that no one could swear a false oath at the Saint's tomb without being immediately punished by divine justice.

It is to this same period, that is to say in the year 264 of the Christian era, that the foundation of Saint -Dizier (Hau Saint-Dizier Town founded following the transfer of the saint's relics. te-Marne) dates back. After the pillaging of Langres, a company of Langrois, carrying with them the relics of Saint Dizier or Didier, came to take refuge in the forests that covered part of the expanse of the country. They stopped on the banks of the Marne, erected a chapel intended to receive the precious relics, and grouped their huts all around their modest sanctuary. They thus formed the nucleus of the city of Saint-Dizier.

In 1315, at the request of Étienne de Noyers, prior of Saint-Didier, the Bishop of Langres , Guillaume de Durfo Guillaume de Durfort Bishop of Langres who carried out the translation of 1315. rt, performed the verification and solemn translation of the Martyr's relics. The ceremony took place on January 19 in the presence of neighboring bishops, abbots from throughout the diocese, and an immense gathering of people. Guillaume opened the stone coffin. The relics appeared intact, the head detached from the shoulders and the linens stained with blood. These precious remains were exposed to the gaze of the faithful, and an ancient inscription was read aloud that guaranteed their authenticity; then they were wrapped in silk fabrics and enclosed in a silver reliquary adorned with carvings. The head, with the exception of the lower jaw, was placed in a gilded silver bust shining with precious stones, and the right arm, a rib, the lower jaw, and several other parts of the bones were transferred to the cathedral treasury in silver reliquaries of admirable workmanship. New miracles were seen to break out on this memorable occasion. Since then, the relics of the Martyr spread throughout the Catholic world, especially to Genoa, his homeland, to Bologna in Italy, and to the cities of Arles and Avignon. In 1455, the Bishop of Langres, Guy Bernard, made the celebration of the feast of Saint Didier mandatory for his entire diocese. Bishop Sébastien Zamet o pened the Martyr's Mgr Sébastien Zamet Bishop of Langres in the 17th century. reliquary in 1657 to provide relics to the church of Avignon and to the parishes of Hortes and Frettes. He himself performed the translation to Hortes on May 22. The processions from Rosoy, Rougeux, Maizières, and the abbey of Beaulieu increased the pomp of this ceremony. The relic of Saint Didier was carried to Rosoy, into the house of a woman in labor whose life was in great danger. Upon contact with the relic, the sick woman was saved. This miracle, for which the chronicler Clément Macheret, parish priest of Hortes, drew up a formal report, contributed greatly to spreading the confidence held in the Saint's intercession for a safe delivery.

Saint Didier was always regarded as the patron of the city of Langres, which invoked him solemnly during public calamities. There was a famous confraternity established under his patronage. Kings of France and Dukes of Burgundy considered it an honor to be inscribed on its registers. Most of the Martyr's bones were lost during the Revolution; however, a portion of the lower jaw, which was in the altar of the Saint-Laurent hospital, is still possessed.

A church of relatively little importance as a monument and six centuries old—when it disappeared in 1792 after the suppression of a parish of 1,800 souls, of which it was the center—had dedicated the cult of the holy bishop of Langres in Poitiers: the Notre-Dame church in the capital of Poitou still possesses one of his relics.

This holy pastor was not the only one who suffered martyrdom in this persecution. The Martyrologies join to him on this day several faithful from among his diocesans. They also mark, on October 22, Saint F lorent, one o saint Florent Deacon martyred with Saint Nicaise. f his disciples, who was put to death by the same Vandals, at Tille-Château, between Langres and Dijon, and on the 27th of the sam e month, Sai saint Valère Archdeacon of Desiderius, martyred near Salins. nt Valère, his archdeacon, who was beheaded by the same Barbarians, in a place named Port-Buxin, and commonly the Port-de-Loue, near Salins, in Burgundy. Cf. Saints de la Haute-Marne and Vie de saint Aubin, by M. l'abbé Mazelin.