Saint Antide of Besançon

The grace that God had placed in the heart of Antide never ceased to produce admirable fruits there. A penitent without having been a sinner, he macerated his body with great austerity, visited the poor often, and gave them at the same time the bread that nourishes the body and the gentle word that brings consolation to the soul. Seeming to have a presentiment of his destiny, he aspired only to the incorruptible goods of heaven. Thus, at the death of Saint Fronime, all the votes of the clergy and the people turned to Antide, who could not, despite his efforts, resist the general wish, and who had to unite obedience with humility. Understanding then the full weight of the burden he had just accepted, he lived from then on only for his people.

Filled with love for the truth, he sought to spread it everywhere, uniting the strength of his word with the always effective influence of his example. Of profound humility, of admirable patience and modesty, of angelic purity, he showed his faith and his love for religion everywhere, fulfilled with holy joy all the duties that his office as chief pastor imposed upon him, and knew how to keep, in the midst of the difficult times in which he lived, the deepest peace and serenity. Finally, despite his labors, he still regarded himself as an unprofitable servant, and, placing all his hopes in God, he often repeated these words of Scripture: *Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem, frustra vigilat qui custodit eam*; "unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." His people venerated him as a saint; the poor especially loved him as a father, and all the chronicles agree in saying how great were his detachment from the things of this world and his trust in Providence.

A constant tradition, which revolutions have not caused to disappear, grants Saint Antide the gift of miracles while he was still among his own. Crossing the city of Besançon one day, he met a pri est who Besançon Episcopal see restored by Saint Nicet. was carrying the holy Viaticum to a sick person, approached him, and invited him to return to the church, because the sacred vessel he held in his hands contained no host. The priest, astonished, opened the ciborium, recognized the truth of the fact, and, filled with admiration, asked, as did those present, for the blessing of him who from then on was regarded as a saint. Shortly after, in a similar circumstance, the bishop said to another priest who was carrying an unconsecrated host: "Withdraw, for God is not in the precious vessel that you hold in your hands." Struck and forbidden, the priest bowed his head, confessed his crime, and returned, no doubt to weep for it in the exercises of penance. This double miracle, performed by our holy pontiff, was to have the effect of preserving his province from the heresy of Arius, which was then trou bling the entir hérésie d'Arius Heresy opposed by Columbanus in Italy among the Lombards. e East. Arius, denying the divinity of Jesus Christ, was thereby attacking the dogma of the Eucharist quite openly, while the wonders performed on the occasion of this divine Sacrament proved the divinity of Him who willed to become incarnate therein.

All traditions agree in attributing to our Saint great power over evil spirits. Hence the legends that represent him taming the demon and forcing it to transport him to the capital of the Christian world. Let us be content to see in this marvelous account, preserved by some authors, the embellished memory of a journey that our Saint is said to have made to Rome to strengthen the bonds that have never ceased to exist between the Church of Besançon and the mother of all Churches. In this interview, Saint Antide drew new courage and regained new strength. The times were unhappy, and the storm that had broken over the province in the middle of the 4th century was only the prelude to the universal upheaval which, at the beginning of the following age, was to annihilate in a common ruin both the noble remains of the Sequani and the last vestiges of Roman civilization. For some time, the peoples of the north had been drawing the eyes of the whole world upon themselves. Some attacked the empire with fury, others defended it with fidelity. Despite the valor of the Franks assigned to guard the Rhine, the Barbarians, who were stationed on the borders of Germania, crossed the river and spread throughout Western Europe. Furious bands successively crisscrossed the north, the center, and the south of Gaul. Their ravages were horrible. "If the Ocean," says a poet, "had flooded the countryside of Gaul, its waters would have brought less desolation. Neither high mountains, nor rivers, nor inaccessible rocks can defend cities and castles. Impious pillage and profanation are in the temple of God; one sees the flame that devours it shining. Death, everywhere death." Luxeuil, Port-Abucin, and other cities suffered the horrors of devastation; part of the inhabitants perished by the sword, another was reduced to slavery; Besançon alone resisted the torrent. During the siege of this city, while hunger was already pressing the inhabitants, Saint Antide, having met in the middle of the square four mules loaded with wheat, had them stopped, addressed a fervent prayer to God, and blessed the grain, which multiplied so much that all the people could take their share. However, the storm passed, the enemies moved away, and hope began to be reborn. But this tranquility was to be of short duration: God still reserved other misfortunes for us. The Vandals, Goths by origin, had crossed the Rhine with the other Barbarians. Although inferior in power and courage to all the other peoples of the north, they nevertheless made themselves masters of the most beautiful provinces of the empire, as if Providence had wanted to convince the world that their conquests were due only to the God of armies, who used such a weak, such a despicable enemy to chastise the Romans.

At the head of one of these barbarian hordes was Cr ocus, Crocus King of the Alamanni who invaded Gaul. even more barbaric than the soldiers he led to pillage. He left nothing in his wake but fire and ruins. His mother had advised him, as an infallible means to achieve glory, to fight ardently against the religion of Jesus Christ, to overthrow churches, and to persecute the faithful. Adding his own impiety to these domestic examples, he followed the advice of maternal hatred exactly. Arianism, which he had embraced, inspired in him even further fury. Having taken part in the sack of Mainz, he separated from the other tribes, traveled through Austrasia, seized Metz, and arrived at Reims, where he put to death Saint Nicaise, bishop of that c ity. Soon he saint Nicaise First archbishop of Rouen and martyr of the Vexin. advanced to the gates of Langres. The rage of his troops increased even more at the sight of the preparations the city had made to defend itself. At the top of the ramparts was the bishop Saint Désiré, who was encouraging the c ombatants; b saint Désiré Bishop of Langres martyred by the Vandals. ut neither his prayers nor the valor of the inhabitants of Langres could save the city: it was taken by assault, and the holy pontiff fell under the executioner's axe near the walls. One of the priests who accompanied him, named Vincent, also received the crown of martyrdom. Their bodies were buried in a basilica that was located near the walls. The Vandals continued their route, and, having arrived at Port-Abucin, they reached Saint Valère, archdeacon of Langres, who was fleeing toward the Jura, and put him to death.

The devastating torrent was approaching Besançon, and Saint Antide, in his intimate communications with heaven, foresaw the new misfortunes that were about to descend upon his flock. While placing his trust in God, he did not neglect any of the means that human prudence advised. The chronicle depicts this holy pontiff, like an intrepid leader, going wherever some defensive work was necessary, imposing his authority even on those who had grown old under arms, and then asking his clergy, with holy resignation, if it were not better to suffer death for the love of God than to shed, in combat, the blood of the Barbarians. Already a thousand alarming rumors were circulating in the city; they were spread by some soldiers who were fleeing before the enemy army, and by farmers who were arriving in the great city of the Sequani, hoping to find there the help that their harvests, consumed by fire, could no longer provide. Then Saint Antide prepares his people to accept the will of heaven; he exhorts them to penance, revives the courage of the warriors, distributes to them the bread of the strong, and assures them of the protection of the God of armies. Crocus, after having had his troops follow the Roman road that led from Langres to Port-Abucin, descended the Saône valley to Scey, where his scouts had discovered one of the most beautiful roads of the Sequani. Arrived in the Ognon valley, still so pleasant and fertile despite the recent ruin of its villas, he headed toward the castle of Ruffey, situated on the point of a rock, near the river, for he had le arned that the po château de Ruffey Site of the martyrdom of Saint Antide. pulations of the entire valley were gathered in this place. But Saint Antide had preceded him; the zeal of this good father had been faster than the fury of the tyrant. After having provided for the safety of the faithful of Besançon, the holy pontiff had turned his gaze toward another part of his flock, which he saw exposed to the tooth of a furious wolf. Listening only to his devotion, he had slipped away from the tears and prayers of the inhabitants of the city and was heading alone and on foot toward the castle of Ruffey. Very different from the mercenary guardian who abandons his sheep and flees at the sight of danger, he came, like the good Shepherd, to offer his life generously for his flock. The holy bishop arrived in the midst of his weeping children, who welcomed him with cries of joy. Alas! This happiness was to be of short duration. The acclamations were still lasting at the castle of Ruffey, when suddenly the howls of the Barbarians were heard. Then the sorrow became general. On their knees at the feet of their father, the weeping inhabitants raised their hands toward heaven and implored the help of God. Saint Antide spoke in the midst of the lamentations of the women and children; at times he sought to bring hope into these dejected hearts, at other times he exhorted his flock to die well. The halo of martyrdom already seemed to shine on his brow; his voice had something of the accents of heaven. A voluntary victim, he had already offered himself to God, asking that one might die for all, and the Lord, who loves innocent hosts, had accepted his sacrifice. "My children," said the holy bishop, "may the love of truth be stronger in you than the fear of torments! Remember that the pain lasts only an instant and that the reward is eternal. You have chosen me as your leader, be my imitators today, and let no one recoil before the peril... Follow me then, you who desire to unite your soul with that of Jesus." Saint Antide, having said these words, walked toward the Barbarians. Having reached the first lines of the cohorts, he raised his hands in sign of supplication and asked for mercy for the people who followed him. But the impious and cruel hearts were not at all impressed by the devotion. One of the soldiers, more furious than the others, raised his hand against the Lord's anointed, struck him with violence, and asked him by what right he dared to speak to ask for peace and to stop troops always on the march and always victorious. The torture had begun; the holy bishop answered like all the martyrs: "I am a Christian, I glory in bearing the cross of Jesus Christ, the true and powerful God, who directs the whole universe by his will." Far from being touched by this answer, the soldiers rushed upon Saint Antide, tied his hands behind his back, and led him to their leader.

Crocus, astonished by the nobility that shone on the Saint's face, believes he has before him one of the leaders of the Sequani, and, rejoicing in his pride, questions him haughtily: "What is your rank? Answer, I command you." Saint Antide, with a smile on his lips, raises his voice and says: "I am a Christian, that is the title I honor and which I esteem above all others, for nothing is more noble than the service of God, the only Master who offers eternal rewards." The leader of the Barbarians, admiring this noble and bold response, noticed the divine fire that shone in the eyes of his prisoner. But where does the devil not have his henchmen? Some inhabitants of Ruffey, hoping that the treason they were about to commit would make them pleasing to Crocus, approached the group surrounding Saint Antide and cried out: "This man is the pontiff of the Christian religion." At these words, Crocus gives way to his natural fury; he orders the bishop to be stripped of his clothes and threatens him with cruel flagellation if he does not immediately abandon his religion. The holy confessor kept silent; at once, several executioners, armed with thick leather thongs, struck the face and shoulders of their victim with brutality, who, while his blood streamed over all his limbs, while his wounds widened and laid bare all his bones, raised his eyes to heaven, praying to God to accept his sufferings and to protect his people. At the sight of the serenity that shone on the face of the holy Martyr, Crocus redoubles his fury and orders the executioner to cut off the head of the servant of God. Kneeling on the earth watered by his blood, the holy pontiff raises his voice once more: "O God Creator," he says, "O Christ equal to the Father, O Holy Spirit, visit the wounds of my body, take with you the soul that you have created, in order to reunite it with the celestial spirits. Lord, strengthen my people, protect our city, be always its God." Then, turning to the executioner: "Finish," he adds, "God sustains me, death cannot frighten me." The soldier, seizing his sword, cut off the head of the servant of God, and the savage hordes let out a frightful cry. The legend adds that the Saint's tongue still murmured a few words after his martyrdom, and that this prodigy so frightened the Barbarians that several, in their hasty flight, pierced themselves with their own weapons.

Crocus, cursed by God, then felt an infernal joy in his heart. Having gathered his soldiers, he entered the castle, massacred the garrison, and chained the inhabitants to drag them in his wake, for he wished to unite their suffering with the coming triumph he promised himself before Besançon. However, God watched over the preservation of the relics of Saint Antide. Pious Christians, under the cover of night, penetrated, despite the enemy sentinels, to the place of the execution, gathered the venerable remains of Saint Antide, and buried them outside the castle walls, watering with their tears this corner of land, which became so precious to the Sequania. A little hope mingled with their tears, and they prayed to him whom they regarded as a saint to put an end to so many misfortunes. Having fulfilled their filial duty, they headed toward Besançon, the only refuge that remained for the Sequanian population. At the approach of the Vandals, the inhabitants of the city had prepared for a heroic defense. They recounted to each other, while weeping, the death of their holy pastor, and told themselves that, without a doubt, he was watching over them from the heights of heaven. These conversations revived confidence in their hearts. The Barbarians launched several assaults and were repulsed with losses. Crocus, who had placed his camp on Mount Délie, seeing all his efforts were useless, lifted the siege, penetrated into the Lyonnaise Gaul, and carried his ravages into the noble land of the Arverni. After destroying the old temples of the pagans as well as the new altars of Christianity, he put to death Saint Priscet, Bishop of the Gév audan. Then the hand o Marius, préfet d'Arles Prefect of Arles who captured Crocus. f God struck him. Marius, Prefect of Arles, stopped him in his triumphs. Having surprised him in an ambush, he had him loaded with chains, displayed him to the cities he had ravaged, and had him die amidst tortures. His troops were dispersed and annihilated by the Gauls, and the executioners of Saint Antide were punished even in their descendants. God showed by this example to what punishments one exposes oneself by persecuting those whom He has chosen as ministers of His worship.

Saint Antide is cited in the martyrologies of Usuard, Ferrarius, and Canisius, etc.

## CULT AND RELICS.

The place where Saint Antide had been buried was soon known and venerated by all the populations of the Sequania. The sick and the afflicted flocked to this holy ground, and returned healed and consoled. From the middle of the 5th century, a church was erected there, which is believed to have occupied the site of the current church, located at some distance from the castle. This place, having become famous for pilgrimages, resounded almost continuously with the praises of our Saint.

However, Besançon did not yet possess the body of the pontiff who had protected it against the Barbarians. In the 11th century, Hugh I, Archbishop of Besançon, whose genius restored all the ruins and preciously preserved all the glorious memories of the province, having ordered the reconstruction of the church of Saint-Paul, wished that, on the day of the solemn consecration of this sanctuary, the relics of Saint Antide be brought there. It was on February 24, 1044, or, according to others, January 24, 1042, that this translation took place. Christians, having flocked from all parts, joined the inhabitants of the city to swell the procession of the holy Martyr. The pontiff, at the head of his clergy and accompanied by the notables of the city, went in procession to Buffey. The precious relics, placed on a magnificently decorated chariot, traveled, in the midst of moved and prostrate populations, this path that Saint Antide had traveled, six centuries earlier, alone and in evil days. Such is the glory of the servants of God. One no longer knows the place where the persecutor of our bishop set his foot, while one prostrates oneself on the path sanctified by the presence of the holy victim. The city of Besançon received with as much joy as magnificence this new guest who came to bless it from the depths of his tomb. The precious remains of the illustrious Martyr were deposited near the high altar, on the gospel side, in a large stone sepulcher on which had been engraved the effigy of Saint Antide with this inscription:

*Corpus beati Antidii, egregii martyris, fuit a Buffeo translatum et ibi positum ; qui pro nobis oret. Amen.*

In 1147, Raymond, Count of Burgundy, going to assist Alfonso VII, King of Castile and León, advanced against the Moors with the nobles of the province, having at the head of his troops a miraculous image of Saint Antide. Victory having crowned his efforts and his piety, Alfonso had a chapel erected in the monastery of Saint-Vincent, near Lisbon, where the protective image was placed, and even today it is held in great veneration, justified moreover by a multitude of miracles.

On June 25, 1360, Jean de Vienne, Archbishop of Besançon, had the holy relics removed from the tomb where they had been placed and put them into a silver reli quary, after ha chasse d'argent Reliquary containing the remains of the saint. ving removed the skull which was sent to Dijon, one of the arm bones which was transferred to Flomet, in Faucigny, and another portion which was deposited behind the high altar of our cathedral.

A hospital, known as the Saint-Antide hospital, was founded in Besançon. The sick and the poor flocked there in such numbers that, in 1425, Simon de Clerval, Abbot of Saint-Paul and Gosille, had collections made in the dioceses of Besançon and Langres, in order to provide for the needs of this house of charity. This collection was made with the reliquary of Saint Antide. In 1432, the Abbot of Saint-Paul leased the proceeds of this collection for one hundred pounds and twelve good linens.

Amidst the dangers of the French Revolution, the sacristan of Saint-Paul, in concert with Mr. Gilley, parish priest of that church, secretly removed the relics of Saint Antide and hid them in a cemetery. When calm returned, in 1803, these precious remains were fully recovered and placed in the church of Saint-Maurice, where they were solemnly recognized, in 1807, by Mr. Durand, Vicar General of the diocese of Besançon.

In 1836, at the solicitation of the parish priest of Ruffey and the inhabitants of that parish, a portion of the holy relics was carried with pomp to this village, where they rest today. An antique bust representing Saint Antide in bishop's vestments was given by the parish of Saint-Maurice to Mr. Vanchet, priest of Ruffey, who had it placed in a chapel built by his care, in a very pleasant position, on the road from Marnay to Besançon. On this same occasion, a portion of the forearm was also extracted from the large reliquary to be placed in the reliquary with which the blessing is given to the faithful during the feast and the octave of Saint Antide. All the other relics are enclosed in a precious wood box, surrounded by red velvet and placed in a reliquary that is exposed each year to the veneration of the faithful.

Relics of Saint Antide are kept at Palleau, a parish of Écuelles (diocese of Autun). Enclosed in a gilded copper reliquary, they were verified in 1450 by Jean Germain, in 1630 by Jacques de Nenchèze, both bishops of Châlons, and recently again by the Vicars General of His Lordship the Bishop of Autun.

The feast of Saint Antide is celebrated on June 17 in the diocese of Besançon, and on the 25th of the same month in Rome, no doubt because it was on this day that the precious relics were extracted from the tomb and placed in a silver reliquary.

Here are the names of the parishes whose churches are under the patronage of Saint Antide: Mallorans (canton of Ornans), Passavant (canton of Baume-les-Dames), Naisey (Roulans), Chaux-les-Passavant (Vercel), Aubonne and Chaux-de-Gilley (Montbenoit), Filain (Monthoson), Poutcey (Scey-sur-Saône). There are also relics of Saint Antide at the church of Guyans, in the chapel of Notre-Dame de Consolation. The reliquary in which they are enclosed also contains bones of Saint Prothade and Saint Germain. A notable part of the relics was brought to the church of the priory of Puluelle, in the diocese of Châlon-sur-Saône, and has been fully preserved there to this day.

We have composed this biography with the help of the Life of the Saints of Franche-Comté, by the professors of the Saint-François-Xavier college of Besançon.