Saints Amand, Alexander, Lucius and Audald

Local tradition does not fully agree with the legend of the breviary, in the sense that the latter presents these glorious Martyrs as natives of Caunes, while tradition holds that they came to Caunes to preach the religion of Jesus Christ and there gathered the palm of martyrdom, during the persecution of Diocletian. It is believed that Saint Amand was B saint Amand Spiritual advisor to Gertrude. ishop of Noyon and that he came to Caunes, accompanied by Al exander, Alexandre Roman soldier converted by Victor and martyr. his vicar general, and two others of his priests to announce the Gospel, and that having been pursued by popular hatred against the new religion and by the bloody edict of Diocletian, they met their death there like Saint Sa turnina in Toulo sainte Saturnine Saint and martyr of Toulouse cited for comparison. use, and Saint P apoul in the saint Papoul Martyr saint cited for comparison. city of that name. In all other respects, tradition is in agreement with the legend and with the martyrology.

The same tradition holds that the holy Martyrs, after their death, were buried in a field very close to the city, which still bears the name of Field of the Holy Bodies. T Champ des Corps Saints Site of the first burial and the discovery of the martyrs. heir mortal remains remained there for a long time as if forgotten or unknown. But the divine Master, for whom they had shed their blood, not having permitted these precious remains to remain in oblivion and without profit for the true religion, led a plowman to work so deeply that, the plow being unable to advance and the oxen lacking strength, one wanted to see what this obstacle was that opposed the said work, and the tomb which enclosed these venerated remains was discovered. A small oratory was built nearby in their honor. One can still see at the home of Mr. Grimes, a local marble worker, the debris of a bas-relief removed from this chapel, which presents the Martyrs dragged to torture by soldiers armed with pikes. This oratory having been destroyed by the Revolution to make way for an inn called Bellondrade, and today the Hotel de France, all sorts of misfortunes befell this house, and since then, every year, on the day of the solemn procession where these relics are carried with great pomp and in the midst of an immense gathering of strangers, as at the closing procession, a richly decorated altar of repose is erected in front of the said hotel, in memory of the place where they were discovered and of the chapel which has disappeared, before which the busts of the Martyrs in which their relics are enclosed are placed on tables opposite, and where the Responsory and the Prayer are sung in their honor.

Whatever the place of their birth, one cannot deny that they underwent martyrdom in Caunes itself, for one possesses, besides a large quantity of bones, cloths stained with blood, small vials also full of blood, pontifical ornaments, debris of sacred stone, teeth, a sommier, a box for administering the Sacraments, etc.; precious objects worthy of admiration, even from the point of view of art.

The Benedictine monks, ze religieux Bénédictins Religious order occupying the monastery of Honnecourt. alous to preserve for these sacred remains the honor due to them, transferred them to their monastery and erected a chapel in their honor, a chapel remarkable for the beauty of its marbles and the richness of its design, which would soon be further enhanced by new ornamentation. In 1391, all these precious relics were enclosed in a beautiful gilded wooden reliquary; in 1724, a solemn opening of this reliquary was performed, and the greater part of the relics was distributed into four gilded busts. This ceremony, surrounded by all the magnificence of the Catholic cult, was presided over by the vicar general of His Grace the Archbishop of Narbonne, in the presence of the entire chapter of the abbey, a large number of high-ranking personages, and more than forty gathered priests. The old parchment authentications were examined, a new one was deposited, and the whole was religiously sealed with the archiepiscopal seal.

These blessed Martyrs are the object of eager devotion and extraordinary confidence throughout the region. Many Masses are requested in their honor. In all public or local calamities, in times of drought or mortality, processions with the relics of the holy Martyrs are requested. And the most sustained experience has proven that they are never invoked in vain.

One could multiply the facts drawn from the archives of Caunes, but one must set limits, especially for the work for which these notes are intended.

It is on the Sunday following the octave of the feast of Corpus Christi that the opening of the solemnity of our Saints takes place with an outdoor procession; the relics of the Saints are carried in triumph, and the faithful from neighboring villages come to venerate them. For eight days, the relics are exposed in rich pavilions, and in the evening, Compline is chanted amidst a large gathering of people. On Sunday, a new outdoor procession concludes the feast. These Saints are invoked during public calamities. There is a great devotion to these Saints in the town of Caunes and its surroundings.

Taking it as far back as one can go, Caunes, a very ancie Caunes Principal site of the martyrdom and veneration of the saints. nt city, was a Celtic center, a Druidic seat, a Roman map, a civil and ecclesiastical canton, a justice of the peace, with a court and consulate.

It had a market per week, and, in addition, a famous commendator y Benedictine abbey, founded in 780 abbaye commendataire de Bénédictins Benedictine monastery founded in 780, guardian of relics. , whose abbot was appointed by the Pope; a high lordship, a court of temporality, a chapter with prebends, a hospice, a chapel of the Martyrs, an oratory of White Penitents, forming with the parish church and the abbey church four interesting sanctuaries.

Caunes was surrounded by ramparts and had six gates. It was the scene of several bloody struggles, since weapons, shields, swords, cannonballs, etc., have often been found while demolishing walls and ovens or digging wells.

It still has today a population of two thousand three hundred inhabitants, but only two churches: the parish church, formerly the abbey church, and the venerated sanctuary dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, known as Notre-Dame du Cros, the history or notice of which we are about to read.

Caunes still possesses, a short distance from the town, a sanctuary of the highest interest, dedicated to the immaculate Virgin, Mother of God. This place of pilg rimage, called Not Notre-Dame du Cros Famous Marian pilgrimage site near Caunes. re-Dame du Cros, from a word derived from low Latin *Crosum* or *Cruxum*: hollow, lowland, depth, because it is situated at the bottom of a fairly deep basin or valley, is one of the most famous in our regions. Its foundation, based on a revelation of which we shall speak presently, seems to date back to the 6th or 8th century at the latest. Be that as it may, one can still see today, leaning against a mountain of grey marble cut into a cliff, three dry-stone arches, called in the local idiom *Ios Capellotus*, the little Chapels, which bear the trace of a very remote antiquity. Some think that this is the first origin of this devotion. Not long ago, one could see a statue in each. In the middle was that of the most holy Virgin, on the right that of Saint Joseph, and on the left that of the beloved disciple. It seems that as the piety of the faithful grew for this devotion, the need was felt to erect a sanctuary of larger proportions. Indeed, this oratory, whose vicissitudes have been numerous, bears living traces of several successive transformations; the medieval, Romanesque, Renaissance, and modern styles can be easily distinguished there. This is not the place to give an extensive description. Let us limit ourselves to saying that the church, forming a vast long square, presents three front altars of great richness; a superb baldachin, where one sees the august Mother of God rising into the heavens on a throne of clouds, surrounded by the rays of the sun as if on a background of gold; then four chapels, two of which are of recent construction, dedicated, one to Saint Joseph, the other to Saint Germaine, are of very happy workmanship and entirely formed of precious marbles.

But we have spoken of a revelation or apparition, so let us say upon what the pious local tradition rests, in the absence of documents lost in the fire of the convent library. It is reported that there was a family of shepherds in this place; the shepherdess, a woman very devoted to the cult of the holy Virgin, having seen a fountain of the most beautiful crystal spring up, felt urged to drink of this water; but not daring to touch it with her hands for fear of dirtying it, nor to bend down so as not to drink in the manner of her sheep, she experienced a moment of perplexity; she was contemplating and praying, when a beautiful cup appeared on the water. She understood from whose hand this delicate attention came to her, she drank of this water, and, having a child suffering from intermittent fever, she gave him some and the child instantly recovered his health. Since then, not without great foundation, a febrifugal virtue has been attributed to the water of Le Cros drawn in the bowl. This bowl or cup is of a red material unknown until now and bears characters on the back that no one has been able to decipher. The day of the apparition of this cup was the day of the Nativity of the holy Virgin, and it is this day that has become its titular feast.

The gratitude of these pious shepherds being unable to be expressed otherwise, they built with their own hands with common stones these three arches where they placed the holy family, and which seems to have served as the starting point for this famous devotion.

A chaplain resides there, celebrates masses there, maintains the sanctuary, and gives satisfaction to the piety of the countless pilgrims who flock there all year round.

Abbé Grimes, honorary canon of Évreux.