Saint Ragnebert

Placed early in the hands of chosen masters, he soon reached that degree of holiness and reputation which never fails to excite the hatred of the wicked. Now, at the court was an impious and bloodthirsty man, Ebroin, Mayor of t he Pal Ebroïn Mayor of the palace responsible for the death of Saint Rambert. ace, famous in history for his cruelty. The qualities and virtues that shone in the noble Rambert, the courage he showed in disapproving of the tyrant's infamies, and the tears he shed at the sight of the evils that, through the despot's fault, overwhelmed the Church and the State, were bound to offend the jealous as well as bloodthirsty minister. The death of the servant of God was resolved. However, Saint Ouen saint Onon Author of the eulogy and life of Saint Aurea. , Archbishop of Rouen, who had retained a remnant of influence over Ebroin, obtained a delay. Our Saint was sent into exile in the Bugey Bugey Region of the diocese of Belley. , and placed in the custody of a lord named Theodefroi, who received secret orders several times to put him to death. But the latter, touched by grace, was converted and did no harm to his captive. Ebroin learned of this, and immediately dispatched two assassins to finish off the exiled Saint. Having taken on this odious mission, they set out for the borders of Burgundy; they pursued Rambert and caught up with him in a gorge of the Jura where Saint Do mitian had bui saint Domitien Companion of Landelin during his retreat at Crespin. lt a monastery near the fountain of Bebron, not far from the banks of the Alburine.

Rambert did not take long to realize that these men had been armed by the hatred of Ebroin to cause his death; he begged them to allow him to go and say his prayer in a chapel, not far from the monastery, which Saint Domitian had built in honor of Saint Genesius. Worthy of their master, Ebroin's servants refused this favor to their victim; and this courageous athlete submitted without murmuring to the harsh refusal of his executioners, who pierced him with a spear near the fountain of Bebron where he had knelt to commend his soul to the sovereign Judge, on June 13, 680. A stone cross, placed a few steps from the bridge of Bebron, on the edge of a rock, still indicates today the place where he was put to death.

The body of the holy Martyr, collected by the monks of the neighboring monastery, was buried in the cloister. The faithful, stirred by the reports of the miracles that were taking place at his tomb, flocked to Bébron, raised the body of the holy Martyr from the ground, and placed it inside the church, near the altar. The wonders multiplied with the number of suppliants, whose influx was so great that, in a short time, a town formed nearby which took the name of Saint-Rambert Saint-Rambert Town formed around the monastery and the saint's tomb. .

In 1788, the abbey of Saint-Rambert was secularized; an administrator, appointed by the government, took over the management of the revenues, and the religious left the monastery; but before their separation, the holy body that was at the abbey was granted by the monks to the town church where it was solemnly transported.

When, in 1792, the revolutionary storm broke over France and dispersed the ministers and the stones of the sanctuary, this precious treasure ran the danger of being annihilated. The municipal council had appointed a commission to make it disappear; but three faithful Christians h id the relic of the hol relique du saint Martyr Mortal remains of the saint preserved in Saint-Rambert. y Martyr in the chapel of the Blessed Virgin where they buried it underground: they also saved the reliquary from certain destruction by carrying it to the attic of the municipality.

As soon as peace was restored to the Church, they hastened to reveal this treasure to M. Dupuy, parish priest of Saint-Rambert; they attested that the relics were indeed the same ones they had saved from the profanations of impiety. They were once again exposed to the veneration of the faithful, and on June 10, 1813, His Eminence Cardinal Fesch, Archbishop of Lyon, visited them, sealed them with care, drew up a very detailed report of the recognition he performed, and placed them in a chapel near the choir, above the altar. Every year since then, they have been carried in procession through the town on June 13, the feast day of Saint Rambert.

This state of affairs had lasted for twenty years when the parish priest and the faithful of the parish requ ested that Mgr Alexandre-Ra Mgr Alexandre-Raymond Devie Bishop of Belley in the 19th century, restorer of the cult of Anthelme. ymond Devie, Bishop of Belley, be willing to perform the translation of the reliquary from the overly damp chapel where it rested to another, more decent chapel that had been newly restored. The illustrious prelate hastened to accede to such fully expressed wishes. On April 9, 1833, he went to Saint-Rambert, accompanied by MM. Ruivet and Depéry, two of his vicars general, verified the relics, sealed them with the seal of his coat of arms, and the following Sunday, the prelate came to perform the translation: the reliquary, carried solemnly in procession through the town, amidst a large gathering of the faithful and the clergy, was placed in a niche above the altar of the new Saint-Rambert chapel, on the left side of the parish church.

To nourish the just confidence that the people place in this holy Martyr, Pope G regory XVI, at th pape Grégoire XVI Pope who established the liturgical feast of the blessed. e solicitation of Bishop Devie, deigned to grant in perpetuity, by a brief of February 14, 1834: 1° a plenary indulgence to all the faithful who receive communion in the church of Saint-Rambert on the day of his feast or one of the seven following days; 2° an indulgence of fifty days to all persons who go to recite five Pater, five Ave, and five Gloria Patri in the said church; one may gain this indulgence every day.

We have drawn this notice from the Hagiological History of the Diocese of Belley, by Mgr Depéry, Bishop of Gap.