Blessed Milo

In 1120, he returned to his retreat of Runiac, or rather Saint-Josse-aux-Bois, for it had taken this name from the saint who had originally inhabited it; and in accordance with the instructions given by Saint Norbert, he encouraged the hermits he had left there to embrace the Premonstratensian rule. They welcomed the proposal, and Milon became their first abbot.

The eminent holiness of Saint Norbert, whose passage and preaching in these regions were still remembered, and the admirable virtue of his new disciple Milon, led many lords to favor the establishment he was founding at Saint-Josse-aux-Bois. Many of them made donations which the Archbishop of Reims approved, and he himself granted the religious the right to freely elect their abbots. The Blessed Milon rejoiced greatly at these multiplied blessings that Heaven was showering upon his work. In addition to a church he built for his religious, whose number was increasing day by day, he also had a second monastery built in a separate area for the nuns. For ten years, he provided this nascent community with wise direction and inspired in it the sentiments by which he himself was animated. His rare merit could not escape the clergy and many of the inhabitants of the region; thus, almost all voices were raised in his favor when, in 1130, it became necessary to replace the holy Bishop of Thérouanne, John of Warneton, who had just died. Intrigue had already placed on Thérouanne Episcopal see of Saint Folquin. this important see Baldwin, brother of Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders, and this young canon, without experience or vocation, had already accumulated imprudences in taking charge of the affairs of this diocese. A regular assembly, convened by the Archbishop of Reims and the bishops of the province, put an end to this intrusion and gave the Church of Thérouanne a pastor after God's own heart. The election of Milon having been confirmed by Pope Innocent II, the archbishop anointed the new pontiff on February 15, 1131.

The entire episcopate of the blessed Milon was devoted to the development of piety in souls and to the founding of churches and monasteries. This was, especially at that time, the most important of needs and the most popular of institutions. It is also by their dedication to this work that the most zealous and virtuous prelates distinguished themselves.

Scarcely in possession of his episcopal see, Milon thought to endow the city of Thérouanne with a house of the Premonstratensian Order. For this, he chose the site of an old convent ruined during the Norman invasions. He called there religious from the community of Saint-Pierre-les-Selincourt, commonly known by the name of Sainte-Larme. This house took Saint Augustine as its patron, and Milon made donations to it which were confirmed by Pope Eugene III. In the following years, he further contributed to the foundation of the monastery of Notre-Dame-de-Licques, not far from the Strait of Pas-de-Calais, and to that of the regular canons of the congregation of Arrouaise, in the abbey of Saint-Wulmer of Boulogne.

The holy bishop also saw the establishment, in another part of his diocese, of the abbey of Beaulieu in the Boulonnais, founded by Eustace known as the Old, lord of Fiennes and one of the companions of Godfrey of Bouillon in Palestine. Among the other foundations still noted by ancient monuments, one may recall the new establishment of the religious of the castle of Choques, whose church and buildings had been destroyed during the war. The blessed Milon procured for them land outside the town of Choques, near the Clarence. They continued there until 1792. The zeal and example of the holy bishop of Thérouanne contributed much to increasing the number of churches or religious houses, by determining powerful lords to build them on their lands as well. Among the various consecrations reported by authors, the most remarkable is that of the cathedral church of Thérouanne, which took place in 1133. This monument having suffered much for several years, Milon had it repaired and provided it with ornaments. In the midst of the multitude, having flocked from all parts to attend this ceremony, one could notice the shrines containing the relics of Saint Omer, Saint Bertin, Saint Folquin, Saint Erkembode, and Saint Winnoc, apostles of this diocese.

To these multiplied consolations that the holy bishop tasted in the fulfillment of the duties of his ministry, there also came at times just subjects of affliction. If some lords rejoiced him with the testimonies of their piety, others afflicted him significantly by their violence and their crimes. It was above all from the advocate of his episcopal city that he had the most to suffer. This man, named Arnoul, who, by the nature of his functions, was to protect the bishop and the clergy, used his authority on the contrary only to weigh upon them the most cruel oppression. He had built on the Roman road, or road to Tournehem, a castle that dominated the city, and used this fortress to entrench himself there, to disturb the bishop, his chapter, and the entire population. Milon saw himself forced to implore the services of the Count of Flanders to subdue this turbulent neighbor. Thierry of Al sace raised troo Thierry d'Alsace Count of Flanders and political ally of Milon. ps, came to besiege this fort, took it by storm, and had it razed to the foundations. The Pope intervened in this affair and launched anathemas against the advocate Arnoul: furthermore, in an assembly of the clergy and the nobility, it was settled that no one could, in the future, build any fort, not only within the enclosure of Thérouanne, but even less than a league from this place. Here is how Milon recounts the excesses to which this advocate gave himself over. "He came," he says, "armed to violate our dwellings, break the doors of the temple, shed blood in the holy place, burn our barns and the houses of our canons. Summoned to appear before us to give satisfaction for all these wrongs, he refused up to three times, and we then pronounced a canonical judgment."

The learning of the Blessed Milon made him no less remarkable than his zeal and virtue. He was considered one of the lights of his time, and several times recourse was had to his counsel for very important matters. Authors note his presence at the Council held at Reims in 1148, under the presidency of Pope Eugene III. In this assembly, pape Eugène III Pope who transferred the relics of Saint Vannes in 1147. eighteen canons were made on ecclesiastical discipline, and the affair of Gilbert de la Porrée, Bishop of Poitiers, was incidentally treated, which had been stirred up by a writing he had published on the divine substance. The assembled Prelates, among whom were Saint Bernard and Suger, Abbot of Sa int-D Suger Abbot of Saint-Denis and royal advisor present at the Lateran. enis, drew up a symbol and deputed three of their number to present it to the Pope. These deputies were Milon, Suger, and the Bishop of Auxerre.

Such are the principal facts noted in the life of Bishop Milon. Father Longueval, in his *Histoire de l'Église gallicane*, book XXVI, cites a letter addressed to this Prelate by Peter the Venerable, Abbot of the monastery of Cluny. In it, he complains that Milon does not do justice in his speeches to the regularity of his religious and that he judges them with excessive severity. Perhaps the Blessed Milon, whose every desire tended toward the growth of the Premonstratensian Order, had expressed in too general a manner the dissatisfaction that the conduct of some of the Cistercian abbeys encountered in his diocese had inspired in him.

Among the wise regulations that the venerable Bishop of Thérouanne enacted during his administration, those relating to marriages, the transmission of fiefs, the rights of the Churches, and those of the recently enfranchised communes are noted. He took these latter measures in concert with the Count of Flanders, Thierry of Alsace. The wise Prelate knew how to combine the duties of the episcopate with those of the religious profession, the spirit of which he preserved until the last day of his life. His most remarkable virtue was humility, as indicated by this saying of several authors: In Norb erto fi Bernard Abbot of Clairvaux and spiritual master of Raoul. des, in Bernardo charitas, in Milone humilitas: "The faith of Norbert, the charity of Bernard, the humility of Milon."

According to the authors of the Gallia Christiana, the Blessed Milon died on July 16, 1138. "We read in his acts," says Father Malbrancq, "that a woman, blind for four years, recovered her sight near his tomb." Baronius praised the learning of this holy bishop, and du Saussay mentions him in his Gallican martyrology. Raissius also speaks of him on July 16 in his Auctarium ad natales Sanctorum Belgii. The Church of Thérouanne and the Premonstratensian Order have bestowed upon him the title of Blessed.

We have borrowed this biography from the Vie des Saints de Cambrai et d'Arras, by Abbé Destombes. — Cf. Légendaire de Morinie.