Saint Grimbald

One of the most learned and holy religious figures presented in the annals of Saint-Bertin in the ninth century is Grimbal d, who s Grimbaud Monk of Saint-Bertin, scholar, and abbot of Winchester. pent the greater part of his life in this abbey. Authors do not agree on the place of his birth. Meyer, in his annals of Flanders, says it was in Tournai; others believe it was in Tournehem or even Thérouanne. This latter opinion seems more probable, especially when one considers that his parents, who were filled with religion, placed him at the monastery of Saint-Bertin at the age of seven so that he might be formed in the practice of good. Gotzelin, one of the historians of this illustrious abbey, speaks of him in these terms: "Like a new Samuel, Grimbald devoted himself to the worship of the Lord from his earliest childhood. Raised at Saint-Bertin, in the school of all virtues, having a taste only for the things of heaven, he became a perfect man and was a delightful spectacle for the angels. Who could describe all his virtues? Nature had lavished external charms upon him. He possessed an unalterable kindness and gentleness. His conversation was in heaven. All earthly objects were insipid to him, and he showed only contempt for them. Holy readings and prayer were his principal occupations; it was always with difficulty that he was obliged to abandon them. He declared a continual war on the infernal powers that attempted to corrupt his heart; he fought them with the weapons that his innocence gave him." Such was the conduct of Grimbald from his earliest years.

According to the calculations of the Bollandists, Saint Grimbald was nineteen years old when Abbot Hugh received him as a religious into the monastery where he had spent his childhood and adolescence. He immediately became an accomplished model for his brothers; thus, his superiors did not delay in raising him to the priesthood. Grimbald was living peacefully in his dear community of Saint-Bert in when Alfred Alfred le Grand King of England who invited Grimbald to restore science and religion. the Great invited him to come and share the treasures of his knowledge with the religious whom he had gathered following the disasters of the Danish invasions. This request from the King of England is not surprising when one knows that this prince, upon returning from a trip to Rome, stopped at the Abbey of Saint-Bertin, where he had the opportunity to appreciate the virtue and learning of Saint Grimbald. Moreover, this monarch, since he had b een on the throne, maintained Foulques, archevêque de Reims Bishop of Reims during the translation of the relics. a correspondence with Fulk, Archbishop of Reims, and formerly Abbot of Saint-Bertin. Serious authors assert that it was in these circumstances that the following letter was written, which is found in the annals of England published by Alford. It contains the most complete praise of the blessed Grimbald, addressed to the king by Fulk himself. Here are some passages: "You ask us, King Alfred, for one of our own, and in particular Grimbald, priest and religious, so that he may be employed to drive away the wolves that have penetrated the Lord's flock, and that he may be charged, as a pastor, with the government of souls. The entire community bears good witness to this religious who, from his tenderest childhood, was nurtured by it in the true faith and holy religion, and whom, according to the rites of the Church, it raised successively through the different orders to the dignity of the priesthood. It even judges him very worthy of the pastoral charge and fit to instruct others in the truth. We would have preferred that he do so in this kingdom, our homeland, and, by the will of God, we were preparing to employ him at the first opportunity. Our desire was to have as a collaborator in our ministry and as a very prudent coadjutor in the fulfillment of our duties, the one whom we regard as our most faithful son; that is why it is not without deep sorrow that we suffer him to be torn from us and that such a great expanse of land and sea separates him from us. For the rest, charity knows no prejudice, nor faith any damage, and there is no interval that can separate those whom the bond of true charity unites; that is why we acquiesce to your request, we who could refuse you nothing..."

Saint Grimbald therefore went to King Alfred, who received him with honor. Almost immediately, the monarch convened a council in London of the bishops, abbots, and principal figures of the kingdom. Saint Grimbald was present there. At the king's request, he delivered a remarkable speech on the dignity of human nature, which God, in His goodness, deigned to create in His image and likeness. He then showed how, through the ingratitude and sin of our first parents, this dignity fell and was annihilated. He then added several considerations to turn his listeners away from carnal passions, and to recall them to a holy, grave, chaste, and severe life, to greatness of soul, and to a generous contempt for all earthly things. He awakened in them the memory of the benefits that God had granted them as well as to all men. And in order to distance them even further from vice and to excite them more effectively to virtue, he reminded them of the rewards promised to the just and the eternal punishments reserved for sinners. This speech was listened to religiously and produced abundant fruits in souls. All blessed the Lord and thanked Him for having sent them a man so holy and so versed in the knowledge of His law.

During his stay in England, Saint Grimbald successfully corresponded to the intentions of King Alfred. He taught the sacred sciences at the University of Oxford, founded or at least re-established by this great monarch. It ev Oxford City in England of which Frideswide is the patron saint. en appears, according to the annals of Winchester, that the humble monk of Saint-Bertin was the first chancellor of this renowned school. Saint Grimbald spent several years there, as did the religious who had followed him. Despite his eminent knowledge and the superiority of his method, he could not satisfy the narrowly jealous spirit of some men. Their claim, moreover, to continue an earlier school, which, according to them, dated back to the time when Saint Germanus of Auxerre came to England, inspired in them a distance, even an opposition, which easily finds its explanation in national self-esteem. Witness to these malevolent dispositions, Saint Grimbald, who sought only the glory of God, withdrew and returned to his dear abbey of Saint-Bertin, where his presence was to become necessary.

Indeed, shortly after his return, Abbot Rodolphe died, and the Count of Flanders, Baldwin II, sought to seize the monastery by imposing himself as abbot, as he had already done elsewhere. Saint Grimbald then showed great presence of mind and admirable selflessness. Deputed to King Charles the Simple by his brothers, who ha d complete confid Charles le Simple King of France to whom Grimbaud pleaded the cause of his abbey. ence in him and whom he had been leading since the death of Rodolphe, he declared to the prince that all the monks were prepared to leave their abbey to seek asylum elsewhere if he yielded to the unjust claims of Baldwin. The monarch, struck by the rare merit of the man of God who was speaking, wished to appoint him abbot of Saint-Bertin himself, but Grimbald refused, and understanding that to impose upon the Count of Flanders and not yield to his violence, a man of great authority was needed, he proposed to the king the blessed Fulk, who, on more than one occasion, had already resisted that lord. This advice was accepted, and the Archbishop of Reims was appointed for the second time as abbot of Saint-Bertin.

We see in the life of this prelate how he perished by the hand of assassins, a victim of his love for the Church and his fidelity in defending its rights. At the news of this murder, Saint Grimbal Saint Grimbaud Monk of Saint-Bertin, scholar, and abbot of Winchester. d understood that Baldwin, an oppressor of ecclesiastical liberties, would not stop at his first victim, and that he would seek to reach him as well. He soon learned, in fact, that he was being pursued, and in order to fulfill the word of the Savior, who commands to flee from one place to another when one is persecuted, he returned to England to King Alfred. The monarch received him with joy, and shortly thereafter named him abbot of the monastery of Winch ester, whi Winchester Royal city and site of the ordeal of Queen Emma. ch he had just built. It was there that this pious child of Saint-Bertin continued, until a very advanced age, the holy works he had practiced since his childhood. Feeling that his end was approaching, the venerable old man asked the Lord to be pleased to send him a long and painful infirmity, which would purify him of his slightest stains and prepare him to enter the heavenly city. His prayer was answered: an acute illness that seized him gave him the means to suffer for God and to offer his children the most touching example of patience and resignation. Saint Grimbald surrendered his soul to his Creator on July 8, 903 or 904, in his eighty-third year. His body, deposited at the monastery of Winchester, did not take long to receive the homage of the faithful, who all held a high opinion of his sanctity. From the middle of the following century, we read the following prayer, which assumes that the memory of the holy abbot was already being celebrated: "Bless, O Lord, all this people, gathered for the solemnity of the most Blessed confessor Grimbald, and grant that, being fortified by his shining examples, they may merit to be inscribed in the book of eternal beatitude."

*Vies des Saints des diocèses de Cambrai et d'Arras* (Lives of the Saints of the dioceses of Cambrai and Arras), by Abbé Dastembes. — *Cfr Acta Sanctorum*, viii julii; *Le Légendaire de la Morinie*.