Saint Germain of Paris

This poor child, being thus exposed to continual persecutions in his own father's house, was obliged to leave and take refuge with Scopilion, his uncle, a man of very holy life, who lived at Luxy. It was there that he received that strong education which accustomed him to put duty above pleasure, and that he laid the foundations of that high perfection to which he later attained: for his prayer was continual, and, although he was a thousand paces from the church, he nevertheless went there every night with this holy uncle, to say Matins and then attend the holy Mysteries. Saint Agrippinus, Bishop of Autun, being informed of his virtue, conferred upon him the order of deacon, and, three years later, ordained him priest. Saint Nectarius, his successor, named him abbot of Saint-Symphorien, outsid e the walls of A Saint-Symphorien Saint to whom the chapel where Anatolius settled was dedicated. utun. Germain made himself, by his vigils, his abstinences, and his assiduity in prayer, the model of all the religious.

Divine love so inflamed his heart that its splendor could be seen shining on his face. He was so sensitive to the miseries of the poor that he could never send any away without assistance: he often gave them all the provisions he had in the monastery, without reserving anything. Several of his religious, not approving of this conduct, complained loudly of the excess of his liberality, which they said would put them in the direst indigence; one day, in fact, it happened that even the daily bread was lacking in the abbey: but Germain having set himself to prayer, one immediately saw arrive at the monastery two horses loaded with bread, which the wife of the lord Ebron had sent, and, the next day, two carts full of provisions came from another direction. These extraordinary and miraculous aids should have been enough to appease the murmurs and unjust complaints. Nevertheless, the religious of Saint-Symphorien defamed their holy abbot so much to the diocesan bishop that this prelate, lending faith too lightly to their reports, had him arrested and put in his prisons, as if he had been guilty of prodigality; but hardly had he entered when the doors reopened of their own accord; nevertheless, Germain did not wish to leave without the blessing of the one who had had him imprisoned. The bishop, better informed, recognized his holiness and treated him with great respect. Another miracle increased the veneration in which he was held. Fire broke out in the monastery: a general conflagration seemed inevitable. But our Saint stopped this fire in an instant with a little holy water that he threw upon it, and by the sign of the cross that he made while singing Alleluia.

Charity was the dominant virtue, the most strongly marked trait of the admirable physiognomy of Germain. Here is a new proof: A certain Sabaricus, a hard and violent man, had a slave named Æsarius. The latter, cruelly mistreated by his merciless master and unable to bear it any longer, ran one day to take refuge in the monastery of Saint-Symphorien, begging Germain to be willing to redeem him at any price. Slavery had become for him in that house a truly intolerable torment. The Saint, moved by pity and full of the spirit of the Church which worked with all its power for the abolition of servitude, immediately entered into negotiation with Sabaricus. This man, furious at the action of his slave, demanded eighty gold pieces for the ransom of this poor wretch, his wife, and his child. The sum was exorbitant: where to find it? But charity is never discouraged and never despairs. Germain therefore consoled Æsarius, promising him freedom anyway and without knowing too well how to pay the price. Finally, he managed to collect the required sum. Sabaricus, whose soul did not open to sweet commiseration because it was closed to Christian piety, the principle and nourishment of all virtues, dared to come in person to touch his money, a cursed ransom of blood, sighs, and tears. Moreover, this wretch, without respect for himself, for men, or for God, did not even deign, while passing in front of the basilica of Saint-Symphorien, to enter to say a prayer. But his barbarity and his impiety did not remain unpunished. From then on, the sight of a church inspired horror in him; he abandoned all exercise of religion and fell into a sort of frenzy. They were even obliged to chain him. Germain, to whom he was led—for who else could have cured him?—forgetting his wrongs and seeing in him only a wretch, made an ardent prayer to God before the tomb of Saint Symphorien, which faith and charity carried to heaven. Immediately, by a double miracle, the sick man recovered with his health more Christian sentiments and the tranquility of the soul: he was cured and his heart changed. Full of regret and sorrow for the past, but also of joy and gratitude, he added twenty gold pieces to the eighty he had received in exchange for the freedom of his slave, and had a beautiful cross made with this gold, which was hung as a memorial of the event above the tomb of Saint Symphorien. "This cross," says the biographer, "still exists today and attests to the prodigy that we have just recounted." Then heavenly blessings entered the house of Sabaricus. His sons and daughters, deeply impressed by a miracle that touched them so closely and yielding to the impression of grace, wished, in order to consecrate themselves entirely to God, to enlist in the various phalanxes of the sacred militia and even governed several monasteries. Is this not an eloquent testimony to the zeal with which the Church worked to destroy slavery little by little, to protect the weak against the strong, to change the customs of the barbarians?

The report of these wonders and many others having spread throughout the kingdom, and having reached Childeber t, King of the Franks, he Childebert, roi des Francs King of the Franks who supported the saint. desired to have such a holy personage in his city of Paris , and Paris Place of birth, ministry, and death of the saint. sent word for him to come and meet him. Saint Germain did not dare to oppose his will, because he learned that it was in accordance with that of God: for, having fallen asleep one day after his prayer, a venerable old man appeared to him in a dream and presented him with the keys to the gates of Paris. The Saint asked him what he wanted him to do with them: "I give you these keys," he replied, "so that you may save this city." This was a prediction that he would be its bishop; but Germain, not making this reflection, understood only that his presence was necessary in Paris; he therefore set out on his way with four of his religious, three of whom, Auctaire, Saint Doctrovée, and Scubilion, were successively abbots of Saint-Vincent, later Saint-Germain-des-Prés. These five religious, after greeting the king and receiving his orders, retired to an oratory dedicated under the name of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, which, subsequently, was called Saint-Germain-le-Vieux, where they practiced all the exercises of the cloister so perfectly that the entire court was delighted by them.

Four years later, the episcopal see of Paris became vacant upon the death of Eusebius, who had been substituted for Saffaracus, deposed at the second Council of the same city, in 565. Saint Germain was raised to this throne by divine Providence, and at the request of Childebert, who desired it so. This new dignity changed nothing in him except the title of abbot to that of bishop, and he kept the same practices of penance and mortification that he had observed in his monastery.

He would go to the church at nine o'clock in the evening and would not leave until the break of day, to take a moment of rest in his palace, and then attend to the relief of the poor, the sick, the prisoners, and all those who had recourse to him. He endured the heat of summer and the cold of winter equally, without covering himself or heating himself more in one season than in another; thus suffering a continual martyrdom and supplementing in the peace of the Church the torments that tyrants could have made him endure in the most violent persecutions.

His table, where the poor were ordinarily found, was covered only with very common dishes; and, as nothing was lacking, likewise nothing superfluous was served. He wanted the soul to be nourished at the same time as the body, and for this purpose, had some good book read during the meal. His preaching had such success that Paris soon changed its face. Vanities ceased, pomps were moderated, superfluities were cut back, luxury was abolished, and finally, vice losing its empire there, virtue took its place and reigned there absolutely.

As the reputation of his virtue grew ever greater, he was implored to be present at Bourges to assist in the consecration of Bishop Felix: he did not fail to go there; and having, by chance, spoken to a Jew named Sigeric, he converted him perfectly and baptized him; but his wife, having remained in her error and unwilling to profit from her husband's example, was soon punished for her obstinacy; for the demon entered her body and did not cease to torment her until the holy prelate, moved by compassion, had delivered her from such an evil guest by the laying on of hands; she thus recognized the truth and finally received holy Baptism.

He possessed a marvelous skill for winning the mind of Childebert; he governed him so well that, although this prince still retained some remnants of that ferocity then natural to the nation, he nevertheless regulated his morals, reformed his court, and applied himself to the foundation of many churches and monasteries. One day, he sent six thousand livres to Saint Germain to distribute to the poor; but the holy prelate, not having found enough to receive all this alms, wished to return half of it to him. The king, far from taking it back and ceasing to send more, had his silver plate broken, removed the gold chains from his neck, and begged the bishop not to cease giving, assuring him that, for his part, he would not tire of providing.

Childebert having died without male children, Clotaire, his yo unger br Clotaire King of the Franks who supported the foundation of the monastery. other, succeeded him. This prince, who, having lived until then far from Paris, did not sufficiently know the merits of Saint Germain, one day made him wait so long at the door of his palace that he was forced to leave. But the king suffered, the following night, such great pains throughout his body, in punishment for this fault, that, recognizing his sin and the injustice of the contempt he had shown the holy bishop, he sent for him at that very hour, threw himself at his feet, and humbly kissed the hem of his robe; the Saint placed his hand on the places that pained him, and, by this touch, he entirely appeased his pain. He then manifested his zeal against King Charibert, who had repudiated Ingoberga, his legitimate wife, and married a servant named Marcovefa, whose sister he was maintaining at the same time. Saint Germain made several remonstrances to him regarding this; and seeing that they were useless and that he would not correct himself, he employed ecclesiastical censures against him. Furthermore, as the nobility of France had at that time usurped the goods of the Church, which had caused the service of God to be abandoned in several parishes, he convened a Council in Paris, in which anathemas were fulminated against those who had seized the patrimony of Jesus Christ. He was also present at the second Council of Tours, which was held to reform the discipline of the Church, which had fallen into decay almost everywhere, and to condemn incestuous marriages, which were quite common among the great.

One should not expect us to recount all the miracles of Saint Germain: the great Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers, after having composed an entire book on them, confesses that he leaves many untold. The straw from his bed, the pieces and threads of his robe, his saliva, his tears, his words, the water that had been used to wash his hands, his gaze, his touch, the dreams in which he appeared during sleep, the letters he wrote, were all remedies for all kinds of illnesses. When he left the church, the sick were placed in rows, and he healed them all as he passed. The inhabitants of Meudon, near Paris, being afflicted by the contagion, were delivered from it with bread he sent them after blessing it. A religious from a monastery near Tours, who had been ill for two years, was healed in an instant by a letter from our Saint, which his abbot gave him. Gertrude, wife of Monsolis, having become blind and no longer able to go to the church or attend processions, recovered her sight after imploring his help. A priest, who had become paralyzed for having worked on a Sunday, having heard a voice at night commanding him to have recourse to the Saint and to publicly declare his fault, came to find him with humility and received health through a little blessed oil with which he anointed his limbs. But he did not only heal the living; he also raised the dead. Attila, a favorite of King Childebert, having broken an arm, was bled so improperly that he lost his life, and as everyone mourned his death, the holy bishop arrived and, after sprinkling holy water on his body, restored him to life and perfect health. He did the same for a dead child; which made the people say that his strength was greater than that of death. He usually gave health of the soul at the same time as that of the body. A lord of Touraine had a daughter at death's door; the holy prelate, touched by his tears and those of his wife, went to see her, healed her, and exhorted her so well to despise the world and its vanities that she renounced them entirely by becoming a nun at the monastery of Poitiers. Another did the same after being delivered by our Saint from an evil spirit.

Germain, who had lived in Autun near places filled with the venerated memory of Saint Martin, loved to go to Tours to celebrate the feast of this great bishop. His reputation accompanied him there; and the sick never failed to present themselves in his path, whether he was entering or leaving the basilica. One day, by rubbing them with a little oil and saliva, he healed two women whose arms were crippled. During one of these pilgrimages, he happened to be in Tours with Clotaire. The king, under the pretext of going to venerate the relics of Saint Martin, was thus drawing closer to Poitiers in order to more easily abduct his wife Radegonde, who had Radegonde Queen of the Franks and wife of Chlothar. taken the veil in a community founded near the tomb of Saint Hilary. The pious queen had only withdrawn from the court with the very formal and spontaneous consent of the king; but the latter soon regretted it deeply, and, pushed by wicked counselors, he wished, in contempt of the most sacred vows of religion, to tear her from the holy retreat where she had given herself to God and lived only for God. Warned and alarmed by Clotaire's impious plan, Radegonde secretly sent a very urgent letter to the holy bishop of Paris to beg him to dissuade the king from his criminal resolution. Germain moistened this letter with his tears and immediately went to throw himself at the feet of Clotaire, before the relics of Saint Martin, and conjured him, in the name of God, not to go to Poitiers. The prince, touched and repentant, cried out: "I had yielded to bad advice; but, I recognize it, I was not worthy to possess such a holy wife." And falling himself to the knees of the august pontiff who dominated him with the full height of his moral ascendancy, he begged him to go himself to Poitiers to ask for pardon and offer his excuses to Radegonde. God had regard for the sincere repentance of Clotaire; but his wicked counselors were punished and died the horrible and shameful death of Arius.

If Germain had kept such a pious devotion for the great bishop of Tours, could he forget Saint Symphorian, and the abbey, and the brothers, or rather the beloved children he had left there? Half of his heart had remained in Autun. Thus, one saw him every year leave Paris to come and attend the great religious solemnity instituted in honor of the Autun hero, and celebrated with the pious enthusiasm of faith united with patriotism. Nothing could ever prevent him from making this pious pilgrimage. The holy tomb of the Martyr, near which he had prayed every night for many years, had not ceased to speak to him from afar and always called him. When the day of the feast dear to his piety and his heart approached, then, making his way toward his homeland, he arrived by the road that follows the banks of the Cure river; and each time he crossed the Morvan, his presence was signaled by some benefit, by some miracle. The demons especially felt his power and found themselves disconcerted. From all over the country, the possessed ran, who felt his approach in advance and announced it by uttering groans or lamentable cries. He touched them, and the evil spirits, forced to leave, said: "Man of God, if you cannot suffer us in inhabited places, if you persist in not wanting us to dwell with men, at least leave to these wretches the permission to wander in peace in the thickness of these forests, in the solitude of these mountains."

Royal officers who treated the people without consideration also had to fear the generous freedom of Germain. One day, while returning from Autun to Paris after the celebration of the feast of Saint Symphorian, he passed through Avallon and learned with sorrow that the castle prisons were filled with tax debtors. Touched with compassion f or thes Avallon Fortress besieged by Robert the Pious, site of a miracle. e poor people, he asked Count Nicaise, who had invited him to dinner, to please soften their lot by giving them their freedom under bail. The count refused pitilessly. Then, the charitable pastor, without even waiting for the end of the meal, went to prostrate himself face to the ground at the door of the underground dungeon where so many unfortunate victims of human justice were groaning, and shed tears in abundance with prayers on this threshold, a sad witness to pain and despair, in order to obtain from the mercy of God what the hardness of men refused him. He was heard. An angel came to open the doors of the prison and break the irons of all these unfortunate detainees whose poverty was their only crime. Scarcely believing in such happiness, they went in the transport of their gratitude to throw themselves at the feet of their benefactor. A new grace awaited them. The king, yielding to the entreaties of the man of God, granted them the entire remission of all they owed to the treasury. — Another time, the same Count Nicaise, while running to meet our Saint whose arrival was announced to him, had a very serious fall, for he was picked up without consciousness or feeling; and it was only by the virtue of Germain's prayers that he could be recalled to life. Eager to show his gratitude to the venerable host to whom he attributed his salvation, he offered him his sword belt and his sword. Germain hastened to accept this precious gift.

Soon the count, regretting having parted so easily with what a soldier holds most dear, reclaimed his weapon. The bishop, who had well foreseen this return, thought that the moment was favorable to increase the purse of his poor. He made the warrior pay, who, moreover, complied with very good grace. Furthermore, touched by the charity of Germain, Nicaise repented of his hardness and was henceforth more humane. He had learned at his own expense, according to the observation of the biographer, that one must sympathize with the miseries of others.

However, the holy pontiff did not cease to use his credit with God to relieve them. — As in another of his annual pilgrimages to the tomb of Saint Symphorian, the holy pontiff was crossing the village of Cervon, near Corbigny in Morvan, the inhabitants told him that bears were ravaging the harvest of a poor widow named Panitia, who had only this resource to live. They conjured him at the same time to come and visit the small field, persuaded that his mere presence on the premises would be enough to ward off the plague. The people who accompanied the Saint could not help but laugh; but he, immediately condescending with his ordinary kindness to the request of these good people, followed them. After having prayed to God to please reward their naive faith and their pious charity, he made the sign of the cross on the widow's field. The next day, the bears were found dead: they had fought and killed each other during the night. One of them, who had wanted to cross the hedge, had remained impaled there.

One of his greatest cares was the construction of the famous A bbey of Saint-Vincent. abbaye de Saint-Vincent Parisian abbey that received a portion of the saint's relics. Childebert had begun it; but it was Clotaire I, his brother, who completed it. When the church was ready, he asked Saint Germain to consecrate it; he did so to the great satisfaction of this monarch, the queen his wife, and the princesses his daughters. And this church, where previously there had been a temple to the goddess Isis, was thereafter the mausoleum for most of the princes and princesses of the crown, until Dagobert I had the one at Saint-Denis, in France, built. These tombs could still be seen in 1685, among others, those of Eleutherius, father of our Saint, and Eusebia, his mother, who, after having treated him so harshly during his childhood, and even before he was born, found herself blessed to come and die in his arms.

It was also while Saint Germain was bishop, and likely at his persuasion, that the same Childebert and Queen Ultrogotha, his spouse, had another church built on the other side of the Seine in honor of Saint Vincent, martyr; it has since borne the title of Saint-Germain, Bishop of Auxerre, to whom our Saint had a singular devotion, and whom he recognized as his patron.

This great prelate was not content with erecting material and inanimate temples to the true God; he also built living and spiritual ones for Him. Fortunatus, his historian, speaking of the clergy of Paris, calls them blessed to have such a great man as pastor and leader. Indeed, he had a seminary so renowned that children of high birth were sent there, not only from all of France but also from foreign kingdoms, to be trained in the sciences and piety; and many excellent ecclesiastics and holy bishops emerged from it, who enlightened the Church by their doctrine and their eminent holiness. We note, among others, Saint Brieuc, whom his parents had sent to him from England when he was still only an abbot at Saint-Symphorien, and who only left his school to go and preach the Gospel in his own country, as we noted in his life on May 1st. Saint Eltude, a very learned abbot from Great Britain, was also of this number (as reported by Trithemius in the third book of *Illustrious Men of the Order of Saint Benedict*); and Saint Bertingrand, or by syncope, Bertrand, who, from Archdeacon of Paris, was raised to the episcopal throne of Le Mans.

The principal occupation of our Saint was to cultivate these young plants to make them bear fruit worthy of the Lord. His recreation consisted of visiting the churches to pray and meditate there; if he found them closed, they opened by themselves as soon as he had made the sign of the cross over them; as happened, according to the report of Fortunatus, at the church of Saint-Gervais and Saint-Protais, which at that time was outside the gates of Paris.

Such were the holy, heroic, and so glorious actions for the Church of this illustrious prelate. At the age of eighty, he was warned of his death in a vision, and even learned that it was to be on the 5th before the Kalends of June. He immediately had this day written on his bed, so as to always have it present, without however declaring what this remark meant. Finally, this happy moment having arrived, he rendered his soul to God on May 28, in the year 576. His body was carried in great pomp to the Abbey of Saint-Vincent, as he had ordered; and, since then, this church has taken the name of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. When it passed before the prisons, it became so heavy that it could never be moved until the prisoners were delivered; they were therefore let out, and they followed the procession, thus using the first moments of their freedom to pay their final respects to the one who had procured it for them.

Saint Germain of Paris is represented with chains in his hand, to recall the effectiveness of his intervention for the prisoners of the treasury; holding in his hand the keys of Paris, which were given to him in a vision as a pledge of salvation for this city, and an image of Our Lady, for it is claimed that he constantly carried this safeguard with him; going before a fire and calming the scourge.

## RELICS AND WRITINGS OF SAINT GERMAIN. — JEAN MABILLON.

He was not buried in the great church of the abbey, but, according to his will, in a chapel of Saint-Symphorien, which he had had built near the portal, in honor of this glorious Martyr, to whom he had always kept a particular devotion since he had been abbot of his monastery in Autun. Several miracles took place in this holy place: Chilperic, having learned that a paralytic had been healed there, came the next day, and had an inscription placed that he had composed, and in which he says that "Saint Germain was an apostolic man, the father, the physician, the pastor, and the love of his people."

In the year 754, nearly two hundred years after his death, Abbot Lantfrède received an order from heaven to have his bones transported into the choir of the great church: he gave notice of this to Pepin the Short, King of France, who wished to attend with his two sons, Carloman and Charles, later surnamed the Great, aged seven; and, as a monument to the miracles that took place at this translation, he gave the village of Palaiseau to the Abbey of Saint-Germain, and confirmed this donation by a solemn oath that he took on the tomb of the Saint, on July 27.

This holy body remained peacefully in this church until the religious, foreseeing the irruptions of the Normans, a nation then barbaric and infidel, saved it in the chapel, or Oratory of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, in Paris, where he had first made his stay, and which, for this reason, has since been named Saint-Germain-le-Vieux. It is said that a blind woman recovered her sight there by the touching of these holy relics. It was then carried back to the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The famous basilica, which still bears today, along with a whole large district of Paris, the name of Saint-Germain, already restored a first time after the ravages of the Normans, was almost entirely rebuilt in the 12th century by Abbot Hugues; and Pope Alexander III made its solemn dedication while, persecuted by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, he had taken refuge in France, sure to find in the bosom of this eldest daughter of the Church an asylum always open against iniquity armed with brutal force. Eudes, Count of Anjou, and later King of France, had a shrine made for him entirely of gold. An abbot later had another one made, much more magnificent, which could still be seen in the 18th century; more than three hundred marks of silver and two hundred and eight precious stones had gone into it, which gave it a marvelous brilliance. But the shrine was looted during the French Revolution, and the holy relics profaned and destroyed (March 1793). The primitive chapel of Saint-Symphorien, where Saint Germain was buried, still exists today; it is used for the parish catechism classes.

We have from Saint Germain an excellent work, which is titled: *Explication of the Liturgy*: it forms a volume in the *Patrologia* of M. Migne. One finds there the ancient Gallican liturgy, which was in use in France before that of Rome had been introduc liturgie gallicane Ancient liturgy used in France before the Carolingian reform. ed there by Pope Adrian I, under the reign of Charlemagne. One sees everywhere a perfect resemblance between these two liturgies. Saint Germain gives very satisfactory explanations of the ancient ceremonies of the Mass, the priestly vestments, etc. The ancient and famous Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés has suffered the fate of the other monasteries of France: all its buildings are destroyed. Those that the Revolution had spared fell under the pickaxe of M. Haussmann (1852-1870). The library, one of the most considerable and precious in Paris, became the prey of flames on August 20, 1794, through the imprudence and perhaps with the connivance of the authorities of that time.

It was at Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris that Mabillon devoted himself to the works that made him famous: we shall introduce the holy religious alongside the scholar.

Jean Mabi llon, one of Jean Mabillon Benedictine monk and historian, author of the Annales benedictinae. the most astonishing men for his erudition in the century of Louis XIV—a century that counted so many illustrations of all kinds—was born in Saint-Pierremont, near Vouziers, in the diocese of Reims, on November 23, 1632. His parents, who belonged to the best families of the region, faithfully fulfilled the obligations imposed by religion. Raised in the fear of God, Jean began his studies with a local parish priest, his relative, and continued them in Reims at the Jesuit college. Everywhere, young Mabillon distinguished himself by his success and his modesty; feeling an attraction to the ecclesiastical state, he entered the seminary of Reims, which was then intended only for clerks of the metropolitan church. It is said that he had a remarkable taste for the ceremonies, rites, and customs of the Church, and that he observed them with religious exactitude. His piety led him, when he had free moments outside of sanctuary functions, to visit churches and especially the tomb of Saint Remi, apostle of the Franks. The church of Saint-Remi was served by Benedictines: the regularity of these religious spoke to his heart and engaged him to enter their ranks. The request was granted. After a year of novitiate, he pronounced his vows on September 5, 1651, at the age of nineteen. The fervor and undoubtedly exaggerated austerities of the young professed monk completely disrupted his health. It was necessary to send him to a country house of the abbey, where his stay was at first very painful, but which he eventually found delightful. Unable to engage in any serious and sustained work, he occupied his time with research in the local libraries. Such was the origin of those archaeological works and historical discoveries in which Dom Mabillon acquired so much reputation.

He went to Corbie to continue these works, which he was not to interrupt again.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1660, he remained at Corbie until 1663, at which time he came to Saint-Denis near Paris, where he was tasked with showing foreigners the treasury and monuments of that ancient abbey. His reputation as a scholar began to dawn, and he was called to occupations more worthy of his talents. Dom Luc d'Achéry having needed a collaborator, Mabillon was chosen and sent to Saint-Germain-des-Prés, where d'Achéry was librarian: the Parisian abbey was, moreover, the center of Benedictine science. It was there that Mabillon spent the rest of his days, sharing, like the ancient monks, his time between work and prayer: his work was study, and his relaxation was the holy psalmody. Nothing was more touching than to see this learned religious, whose reputation was European, living in humility, obedience, and simplicity, like the last of the brothers. Scholars from the entire universe consulted him; princes and the great honored him with their friendship: to all this, he preferred the shadow of the cloister and the silence of the cell.

The Congregation of Saint-Maur had planned to publish new editions of the Fathers; he was put in charge of that of Saint Bernard and disc Congrégation de Saint-Maur Learned monks who edited the works of Ambrose in the 17th century. harged this work with as much diligence as success. The great Colbert, informed of his merit, had a pension of two thousand livres offered to him, which Mabillon had the modesty to refuse, asking that the minister instead bestow these testimonies of royal munificence upon his Congregation. Father Mabillon was sent to Germany in the year 1683 to search in that part of Europe for everything that could serve the history of France and the glory of the nation and the royal house. Dom Mabillon found several curious pieces and made them known in a Journal of his voyage. This scholarly journey having been much applauded, the King sent him to Italy two years later. He was received in Rome with all the distinction he deserved. The Congregation of the Index did him the honor of consulting him regarding some singular opinions contained in the writings of Isaac Vossius; but his opinion, which appeared too indulgent, was not followed. They opened the archives and libraries to him, and he drew from them a quantity of new pieces. Among the objects that piqued his curiosity, none excited him more than the catacombs of Rome. He made frequent visits there, where he brought the spirit of religion and that of criticism. Strongly attached to the faith, but on guard against error, he believed he saw abuse in the exhibition of some holy bodies, and unveiled them in a Latin letter under the name of Eusebius Romanus to Theophilus Francis, concerning the cult of unknown saints. This brochure raised some scholars of Rome against him. There were several writings for and against. The letter of Eusebius was referred to the Congregation of the Index; and it would have been proscribed by this tribunal had he not provided a new edition with changes that satisfied the judges.

Mabillon could not write so much without raising contradictions: he always treated his adversaries with the considerations that charity demands. It even happened often that he opposed only silence to the attacks.

The love of peace, candor, and above all modesty formed his character. Le Tellier, Archbishop of Reims, having presented him to Louis XIV as the most learned religious in the kingdom, Mabillon deserved to hear this remark from the mouth of the great Bossuet: "Add, Monsieur, and the most humble." A foreigner having gone to consult the scholar Du Cange, the latter sent him to Mabillon, his friend and rival in erudition. "You are deceived when you are addressed to me," the Benedictine humbly replied; "go see M. Du Cange." "It is he himself who addresses me to you," said the foreigner. "He is my master," replied Mabillon. "If, however, you honor me with your visits, I will communicate to you the little that I know."

His two main productions were the Acts of the Saints of the Order of Saint Benedict and the Annals of the same Order. While working on the history of the servants of God, he applied himself to imitating their virtues. Arrived at the life of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, he had a premonition of his death and announced that he would end his career at the same age as that illustrious archbishop. On December 1, 1707, he experienced a serious ailment while going to Chelles. Brought back to Paris, he spent three weeks in the infirmary amidst great suffering, which he bore with holy resignation. He died on December 27, in the sentiments of the most vivid faith and the most entire submission to the will of God. Dom Jean Mabillon was in his seventy-sixth year.

Clement XI, upon learning of his death, had it written to Dom Ruinart that it would be a pleasure to inter a man who had so well deserved of letters and the Church in the most distinguished place, "since all the scholars who go to Paris will not fail to ask you where you have put him? Ubi posuistis eum?" The Pope wanted his ashes to be gathered under marble, with an inscription suitable for such precious remains. The intention of the Pontiff was not followed in this regard; but Dom Roussel wrote a eulogy in lapidary style that was well worth a monument. We will report only the following piece:

Omnium hominum sibi conciliavit animos Hominem mitissimus, In ipsis etiam litteratis disceptationibus Nemini asper, Neminem lædit, etiam imens.

The ashes of Mabillon had been deposited during the Revolution at the Museum of French Monuments. They were solemnly returned on February 20, 1819, to the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, where they rest under a mausoleum that the city of Paris had raised for him; his name was given to one of the neighboring streets.

The main works of this pious and learned Benedictine are:

The Acts of the Saints of the Order of Saint Benedict, in Latin, Paris, 1668-1761, 9 vols. in-folio, published with the collaboration of Dom Luc d'Achéry and Dom Ruinart. This work stops at the year 1180.

The Annals of the Order of Saint Benedict, up to the year 1157, in Latin, 6 vols. in-folio, Paris, 1703-39. Dom Ruinart, Dom Massuet, and Dom Martène were the collaborators of Mabillon.

Diplomatics (De re diplomatica libri vi), Paris, 1 vol. in-folio, 1681, and the supplement (Supplementum librorum de re diplomatica), in-folio, 1704. This science owes all its luster to him. The learned Benedictine had an admirable sagacity for unraveling what is most confused in the night of time and for delving into what history offers that is most difficult. He provided the principles for the examination of diplomas and charters of all ages and all countries.

Dom Toustain and Dom Tassin provided, in 1750-65, Paris, 6 vols. in-4°, the New Treatise on Diplomatics, which took its place among the works most esteemed by scholars.

The Museum Italicum, in Latin, or collection of ancient writers, extracted from the libraries of Italy, Paris, 2 vols. in-4°, 1687-89, with the collaboration of Dom Germain.

The Ancient Analecta, in Latin, with the assistance of Dom Luc d'Achéry, 4 vols. in-8°, Paris, 1675. It is a collection of interesting pieces for history and religion, enriched with scholarly dissertations.

Treatise on Monastic Studies, with a chosen catalogue to compose an ecclesiastical library. Paris, 1 vol. in-4°, 1691, or 2 vols. in-12, 1692. This work, published on the occasion of Mabillon's polemic with the Abbot of Rancé, was translated into Latin and Italian.

The Abbot of Rancé had claimed that study was more harmful than useful to religious. The Congregation of Saint-Maur, then entirely occupied with these great works of erudition, which will deserve the eternal gratitude of studious men, charged Mabillon to refute the Abbot of Rancé. The polemic gave rise on both sides to several works, among others the one whose title we have just given.

Three books on the Gallican liturgy, in Latin, in-4°, Paris, 1685 and 1729. A work full of research on the ancient rites used in France before the year 1000 for the celebration of the holy sacrifice.

Mabillon had been named a member of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres in 1701; de Boze pronounced his eulogy before the learned company.

His life was written by Dom Ruinart, 1 vol. in-12, 1709, and by Chavin de Malan, 1845.