Saint Trivier

At that time (540), Theodebert, King of Austrasia, had crossed the Alps and was waging war in Italy: after several alternations of success and reversal, he returned to Austrasia: his troops, while ravaging the lands of Burgundy, dragged a crowd of prisoners in their wake. Among the latter were two young nobles, Radignèse and Salsufur, abducted from the principality of the Dombes, on the banks of the Saône Dombes Historical region where the saint ended his life and where his cult is established. , where they enjoyed great wealth. These two captives were taken to Neustria, in the vicinity of Thérouanne. The abbot of the monastery that this city possessed, informed of the fact and touched by the fate of the young prisoners, made several attempts at ransom with their guards; his proposals were accepted, and Radignèse and Salsufur were handed over to him.

Saint Trivier, who had been involved in this negotiation, asked these young men if the memory of their homeland nourished in them the desire to see it again. These words were met with abundant tears that testified to the longing of their hearts, and in a generous impulse, they promised our saint a third of their patrimony as the price for such a benefit. Delighted to be able to complete his work of charity, the abbot consented to send them back. After three years of absence, provided with clothing and provisions, they resumed the journey to their homeland under the guidance of Saint Trivier himself. The journey was long and difficult: having arrived near a vast forest that they had to cross, they wandered there for three days without a route or a guide. Frightened by this solitude and fearing the attack of some ferocious beasts, our saint knelt to implore the help of Providence. The Legend reports that his prayer was barely finished when they saw, to their great surprise, two wolves approaching them with all the signs of two tamed beasts; the movement of their tails testified to their peaceful mood. They preceded our travelers, who, thanks to these guides, found the path they had lost and finally arrived on the lands of the diocese of Lyon, then in the Dombes, in the village of the two young prisoners, which was later called Saint-Trivier-sur-Mo ignens, named after the so Saint-Trivier-sur-Moignens Town named in honor of the saint where he was buried. litary saint and the small river Moignens that waters this village, six miles from Prissignac (today Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne).

Returned to their homes, Radignèse and Salsufur hastened to fulfill their promise; they laid the tribute of their generosity at the feet of Saint Trivier; but the pious cenobite, fearing for himself the lure of riches, solicited from their munificence only a cell and a small garden: they hastened to satisfy his wishes by entrusting to him, at his request, the care of their flocks. This resolution to fix his dwelling in a solitude and far from the monastery that had received him was determined by the difficulties of returning there and by the fear of encountering among his brothers the burden of a dignity that frightened him.

Prayer, the singing of hymns and psalms, fasts, vigils, and macerations henceforth marked every hour of his existence; he often visited neighboring churches, and particularly that of Prissignac, where he would go to hear Mass on Sundays and feast days. It was on an altar of the latter that he deposited, a few days before his death, the psalter he used: he died on the 17th of the Kalends of February, around 550. The news of his death soon gathered the entire population of the surroundings: his grave was dug in the very place that served as his oratory, as was then practiced with regard to solitaries; his body was placed there without a coffin, and this place was given the name of Nonnifossa. Seventy years had passed over his memory when, at last, unequivocal signs of a wholly celestial protection manifested themselves at his tomb: the blind, the lame, and other sick people obtained their healing. Several of the faithful had revelations that enjoined them to announce to a nun of great renown who lived in that region to have the body exhumed by the clergy, in order to give it a suitable burial.

In the meantime, the news of this exhumation spread to a nearby convent by the name of Ansilla, located three miles from Prissignac: three clerics set out from it on the eve of the ceremony and arrived furtively at the burial site to remove the body: no sooner had they touched it than, suddenly struck with blindness, they remained as if nailed to the spot until the arrival of the procession, whose prayers delivered them. The body of the saint was found intact and spread a delicious fragrance far and wide: it was piously placed in a sepulcher, over which a small cell was built. Some time later (802), Secundinus, Bishop o f Lyon, consecrated an alt Secundinus, évêque de Lyon Bishop of Lyon who consecrated the saint's altar in 802. ar there, and the cult of Saint Trivier was soon accredited by new miracles. From then on, this place took the name of Saint-Trivier, who became the secondary patron.

Long after these events, the relics of the solitary saint were transported to a monastery known as Saint-Pierre, built on the road from Saint-Trivier to Chaleins, the ruins of which could still be seen a few years ago; from there, they went to enrich the chapter of Neuville-les-Dames, where they peris hed in a fire that Neuville-les-Dames Chapter where the relics were destroyed by a fire. destroyed that house. But the place where they had been deposited by Archbishop Secundinus was constantly frequented by the faithful who traveled there in devotion from all parts of the Dombes, whose people recognized him as their patron and protector, as indicated by a painting placed on the altar of his chapel.

The Revolution of 1792, which sought to abolish all worship in France, could not destroy the devotion paid to Saint Trivier, whose chapel was constantly visited, even though it had been sold and dedicated to a profane use; and today the gathering is so great at Saint-Trivier on January 16, the day of his feast, that to satisfy the devotion of all the faithful, it is necessary to have several masses celebrated in the parish church. The chapel, built over his tomb, was returned to worship after the Revolution by Mr. Cointy, mayor of the town of Saint-Trivier; but as the transfer was only made verbally, his heirs took it back; it is to be hoped that the wishes of the inhabitants of the Dombes will be granted, and that it will be once again consecrated to its original purpose.

After the Concordat of 1802, H is Eminence Cardinal Mgr le cardinal Fesch Archbishop of Lyon who confirmed Jean-Marie Vianney. Fesch, Archbishop of Lyon, established the parish of Saint-Trivier as a second-class curacy, and willed that it be under the patronage of this saint and Saint Denis, whose feasts are celebrated with the same pomp in the parish church. The feast of Saint Trivier was raised from simple rite to double rite since the adoption of the Roman liturgy in the diocese of Belley.

Pierre Bullioud, a Jesuit from Lyon, published a life of the solitary Saint of th vie du Saint solitaire des Dombes Biographical work published by the Jesuit Pierre Bullioud. e Dombes, which he had drawn from an ancient Breviary that was used in the church of Saint-Trivier. Quichenne values the notes and dissertations that accompany it. Pernetti, in his Lyonnais dignes de mémoire, vol. IV, p. 286, and Dolandine, Mononetis de la ville de Lyon, vol. III, p. 162, mention this life.

There exists another in Latin, published in Lyon in 1647, in-8°, by Jacques Muiron; Father Lelong recorded it under no. 4702 of the Bibliothèque historique de France. See also A.A. SS., vol. II of January, p. 297. — See Biographie de Belley, by M. P. Dépley.