Saint Procula

As soon as she had reached the age of sixteen or seventeen, they thought of finding her a husband who would be worthy of her and of the great estates of which she was to be the sole heiress. They believed they had found what they desired in the person of a young and wealthy l ord, n Géraud Lord and suitor of Procula, her executioner who later converted and became an anchorite. amed Géraud, who, charmed by Procule's qualities, aspired to become her husband. The Saint's parents hastened to make known to their daughter this desire and this choice of their hearts. Procule replied to them with much respect and gentleness, but with a firmness that was not known in her, that she had already disposed of her affections, and that Jesus Christ alone was the king of her heart and alone would be her husband for eternity.

Her parents, greatly surprised by such an unexpected answer, employed everything that their love suggested to them as most likely to shake her constancy: they spared neither tears, nor caresses, nor even threats, to make her change her design; but all their efforts were useless.

When the Saint had retired to her apartment, she hastened to throw herself on her knees to renew to her divine Spouse the engagement she had already made, and to ask him for the strength to overcome the obstacles that threatened to separate her from him. Jesus Christ, who loves the gift of pure hearts so much and who is pleased to be the spouse of chaste souls, was touched by so much love and generosity. He wished in his turn to honor the Saint with his favors and to grant her a tangible testimony of the acceptance of her heart. He therefore sent her, through the ministr ange Gabriel Archangel bearer of the divine ring. y of the angel Gabriel, a gold ring as a pledge of his love and of the holy alliance that he was contracting with her. Saint Procule was so strengthened by this glorious mark of the love of her celestial Spouse, that she no longer feared to sustain the harshest battles to keep her fidelity to him.

The opportunity did not take long to present itself. The Saint's parents, obstinate in their design, after having spent some time without speaking to her of marriage, resolved to break her resistance by subjecting her to sudden violence. They betrothed her against her will to Géraud, and fixed the time for the wedding ceremony. Procule, firm in her resolution and confident in her faithful Spouse, awaited the dreaded day without fear.

It arrived, and from the morning, everything was prepared for the feast with the pomp and magnificence befitting a family of that rank. The friends of the house had come to attend this brilliant ceremony, and the fiancé Géraud had already arrived, followed by a magnificent retinue: he waited, with all the guests, for Procule his fiancée, who alone was missing, to begin the ceremony.

During this time, Procule, withdrawn alone in her apartment, threw herself at the feet of her divine Jesus, and prayed to him urgently to protect her in such a perilous situation, and to let her know what she should do. She then heard a voice that addressed to her the same words that God had addressed to Abraham: "Go forth from your family and from your country, and come into the land that I will show you."

Immediately she rose, full of strength and courage, left the sumptuous garments with which she had been adorned, and clothed herself in wretched clothes to better hide her flight, and to make herself more conformable to the poverty of her heavenly Spouse. Under this disguise, she slipped furtively out of her parents' house, and fled into the woods and mountains, with no other guide than the guardian angel who accompanied her.

She thus crossed the entire very mountainous country that separates the Rouergue from the Auvergne; nothing stopped her, neither the rocks, nor the precipices, nor the dark forests. She crossed the entire Auvergne as well, escaped all dangers, and overcame all the fatigues to which she was so little accustomed; but the love of her God gave her strength and wings, and protected her against all perils.

She arrived as far as the Bourbonnais, a quarter of a le ague f Gannat Town founded by Antoninus during the mission. rom the small town of Gannat. There she stopped before this picturesque and deserted site: at the bottom, the limpid stream of Andelot, dominated by two graceful hills, and at their foot, a rock in which she discovered a small cavern. The Saint, tired from her journey, established herself in this cavern to rest, and to converse in solitude with her heavenly Spouse, while waiting for him to dispose of her as he would.

Géraud and all those present were in extreme impatience to see the solemnity of the wedding begin; they were only waiting for the bride. Finally, they sent a servant from the house to bring the queen of the feast; she found the apartment deserted and the wedding dress thrown on the ground. She returned immediately to share this sad news, and, at the sight of the festive clothes that Procule had left behind, there was no longer any doubt about her disguise and her flight.

The whole house was then filled with confusion, noise, and trouble; the preparations for the brilliant feast only increased the universal disappointment. Procule's father, dismayed at first, soon fell into a violent rage; he made some excuses to Géraud, permitted him, and even begged him to search for the fugitive, no longer to offer her an alliance of which she had rendered herself unworthy, but to punish her as she deserved; and, in the heat of his fury, he ceded all his rights as a father to him and even recommended that he not spare Procule's life if, after finding her, he could not bring her back. Géraud, more irritated than any other, both by his scorned love and his wounded pride, rushed with ardor in pursuit of the fugitive.

He wandered for some time, as if at random, but he eventually discovered the traces of the one he was seeking, and, from indication to indication, he succeeded in following slowly, but surely, the one who could no longer escape him. He thus crossed the Auvergne and came into the Bourbonnais, right near the retreat of Saint Procule, who believed herself to be safe.

Not far from there, he met shepherds who were guarding their flocks, and he asked them if they had seen a stranger whose portrait he described to them. The shepherds replied that they had seen her; but suspecting some evil design on the part of this young lord, they refused to betray the retreat of the one they already venerated as a saint. Géraud then dangled the lure of a rich reward before their eyes, assuring them that his intention was to bring her back to her parents, from whom she had escaped. The shepherds, dazzled and overcome, gave up their secret and revealed the Saint's retreat.

Géraud advanced toward her; at the sight of her, he regained all the vivacity of his passion and undertook to bring her back through means of gentleness and persuasion. She, after the first moment of surprise, remained inflexible in her resolution and gave only this firm answer to all of Géraud's entreaties: "I will never recognize anyone but Jesus Christ as my spouse, and I will be faithful to Him until the shedding of my blood, if need be."

This refusal changed Géraud's moderation into a violent rage and a senseless hatred; he approached his victim quickly, in order to exercise upon her the authority with which her father had invested him, and to take her away by force or put her to death. Procula immediately took flight, and, to avoid her persecutor who was blocking her path, she passed through inaccessible rocks, which, seeming to want to grant her passage, softened under her weight and still keep the imprint of her fingers and knees.

Her executioner, more insensitive and harder than the rocks themselves, rushed in pursuit and reached her a hundred paces from the town of Gannat. There, he reiterated his orders; the Saint persisted in her resolution, and Géraud, exasperated by such resistance, drew his sword and said to her: "Procula, you are no less unworthy of life than of my alliance; you did not want me as a spouse, you shall have me as an executioner."

The Saint, at these words, fell to her knees, made the sign of the cross, pronounced the name of Jesus, her divine Spouse, while offering Him her heart and her life; and her head rolled under the murderer's blade.

But, oh prodigy! The virgin rose, as if she had been full of life; she took her head in her arms and walked with a steady step toward the town of Gannat, which was very close by. At the sight of such an astonishing miracle, Géraud, enlightened by grace, prostrated himself at the feet of the Saint to implore her forgiveness. The Saint, stopping then, turned toward her executioner, who was bathed in tears of repentance, and, by a new miracle, assured him in a few words of her most generous pardon; then she resumed her w Géraud Lord and suitor of Procula, her executioner who later converted and became an anchorite. alk toward the town.

Géraud persevered in his conversion; in order to expiate his crime, he spent the rest of his days in solitude, leading the life of an anchorite, and, after practicing the most admirable virtues, he died in the odor of sanctity and was even honored as a Saint.

Saint Procula, having arrived in Gannat, walked through several streets, to the astonishment of the inhabitants. Many of them hurled a thousand insults at her, calling her a witch and attributing such a surprising prodigy to the action of the devil. They suffered the penalty for their impiety; some were afflicted with incurable diseases; others were reduced to extreme poverty after having possessed great wealth; others were deprived of burial after a violent or shameful death.

Saint Procula thus arrived at the church of Sainte- église de Sainte-Croix Place where the saint laid her head and where she was buried. Croix and went to prostrate herself at the foot of an altar, where a priest named Paul was celebrating the holy sacrifice. She was seen on her knees, holding her severed and bloody head in her hands, offering it to Jesus Christ as a supreme testimony of her fidelity and a striking proof of her love; then, her failing hands let her head slip, and her body collapsed upon itself, never to rise again. The priests, having assembled, deliberated on the subject of the burial with which such holy relics should be honored; they deputed two of the eldest among them to Clermont to inform the bishop of what had occurred.

At this news, the prelate, accompanied by his archdeacon and the leaders of his clergy, went to Gannat to personally celebrate the funeral of the holy Martyr. The report of these extraordinary prodigies spread quickly throughout the region, and a prodigious crowd of people pressed forward to attend the ceremony and to venerate the body of the Saint, which was subsequently interred near the high altar of the church of Sainte-Croix.

[APPENDIX: CULT AND RELICS. — PILGRIMAGE.]

The tomb of Saint Procula soon became famous; it was the destination of a pilgrimage for a multitude of the faithful who came to venerate it and ask for numerous healings. The miracles that occurred there attracted even more crowds, and the Bishop of Clermont found himself obliged to carry out the translation of these holy relics. He therefore went to Gannat, accompanied by a numerous clergy, enclosed the body of the Saint in a wooden reliquary wrapped in red cloth, and placed it on the altar.

Miracles multiplied there so much, and the inhabitants of Gannat received such signal benefits from them, that gratitude obliged them to perform a second translation of these precious relics into a magnificent silver reliquary, so that they might be better honored. This ceremony took place under the episcopate of Joachim d'Estain g, Bishop of Cler Joachim d'Estaing Bishop of Clermont who presided over a translation of relics. mont.

The fame of the numerous miracles performed by Saint Procula spread as far as Rodez, which had been her homeland. The inhabitants of this city, desirous of rendering a more particular cult to their holy compatriot and of attracting her special favors, conceived the plan of acquiring an illustrious relic of this holy Martyr. The religious and priests of the Saint-Amans fraternity, presided over by Antoine Monmaton, pastor of that church, deputed, on July 17, 1673, two priests of their society to present to the pastor and priests of Sainte-Croix of Gannat a petition asking them for an illustrious relic of their glorious patroness, and offering them in exchange a relic of Saint N aamas, the f saint Naamas Saint whose head is displayed with that of Dalmas. emur bone. The two deputies went to Gannat on August 7 and presented their request, which was accepted by the clergy.

The silver reliquary was opened, and an arm bone, the ulna, was r emoved and placed in a os du bras, le cubitus Notable relic transferred from Gannat to Rodez. sealed box, and all the people with the clergy accompanied the relic in procession to outside the city, with the testimonies of respect due to such an illustrious saint.

When they were notified in Rodez of the arrival of this relic, a crowd of people, preceded by the clergy, all the religious bodies, and all the civil corporations, as well as all the musicians, advanced more than a league outside the city to receive with honor such a venerable and precious treasure.

A part of this relic was lost during the Revolution; what could be saved of it has since been shared with the cathedral.

The inhabitants of Gannat, full of veneration and gratitude for their beneficent patroness, erected a chapel at the place where Saint Procula had stopped upon her arrival in the region; it was named the Pas de Sainte Procula; they built another at the place where she had undergone martyrdom. Furthermore, they established in honor of their Saint two confraternities which were long flourishing and contributed not a little to maintaining the fervor of piety in souls.

The church of Saint-Amans has a chapel adorned with a stained-glass window dedicated to Saint Procula; this saint is one of the principal patronesses of the congregation of young people, and her feast is celebrated each year with particular solemnity. The diocese of Rodez celebrates her martyrdom on September 3; the city of Gannat, on October 13, and the translation of her relics, on July 9.

The miracles that Saint Procula has performed are innumerable; they have attracted a great concourse of pilgrims to Gannat. The relics of Saint Procula were religiously preserved there until the moment when the revolutionary hurricane blew upon them and dispersed them without return. However, when calm and serene days returned after the storm, the city of Rodez, which had obtained from the city of Gannat an illustrious relic of Saint Procula, donated in its turn a fragment of this relic to the still-subsisting piety of the inhabitants of Gannat. It is still preserved today in the chapel of Sainte-Procula, and each year, the young girls of the city, dressed in white robes and girded with purple cords, in order to recall by this double symbol the purity and martyrdom of Saint Procula, make it an honor to carry it in triumph at the procession which takes place around the city of Gannat on the day of her feast. This feast, originally fixed for October 12, is now celebrated throughout the diocese of Moulins on July 9 of each year. In Gannat, when July 9 is not a Sunday, the solemn feast is postponed to the following Sunday.

We have extracted this biography from the Saints of Rouergue, by Abbé Serrières, and from the Life of Saint Procula, by Abbé Cornil, priest of the diocese of Moulins.

LIVES OF THE SAINTS. — VOLUME VIII.