Saint Laumer

Scarcely out of adolescence, he resolved to renounce the world and retired to the Abb ey of Micy, ne abbaye de Micy Monastery near Orléans where the saint received the priesthood. ar Orléans, founded by King Clovis, which was then inhabited by a colony of pious solitaries. The Abbot Saint Mesmin, Saint Avy, S aint Lubin, saint Lubin Bishop of Chartres and predecessor of Saint Caletric. later Bishop of Chartres, Saint Calais, Saint Liphard, and other ascetics of proven virtue led the most edifying life in this monastery: their reputation for holiness could not fail to attract numerous and fervent disciples to the banks of the Loiret. Laumer spent twelve years there in the exercises of prayer and meditation; however, not finding himself sufficiently secluded in this religious asylum, he set his sights on the forest of Perche, a va st wilderness w forêt du Perche Location of the saint's second retreat. here no noise of the century reached. To carry out his design, he had to pass through Chartres... There, irresistible entreaties withdrew him against his will and momentarily diverted him from his pronounced vocation for the eremitic life. The Bishop of Chartres, desirous of keeping near him and employing a man of such merit, conferred upon him the sacred orders and promoted him to the priesthood, despite the resistance the humble deacon made to decline this honor. The priests and the canons of the cathedral then lived in community, following the traditions of the primitive church. Laumer, edified by their regularity in fulfilling their duties, consented to remain with them, with which they were very satisfied. To attach him more closely to their interests, they conferred upon him the office of bursar of the chapter: the new incumbent discharged his function faithfully, distributing to each what was necessary, not seeking to profit from the revenues at his disposal for the benefit of the mass, and rather cutting back on his personal needs in order to give more to others. After spending some time in the midst of this priestly family, Laumer returned to his first idea and strengthened himself in the determination to go and live far from the commerce of men: the desire to attain a higher perfection pressed him to abandon the world and temporal affairs completely. One night, therefore, while his brethren were sleeping soundly, he rose, without saying anything to anyone, moved away from Chartres, and penetrated into the forest of Perche for which he had long sighed... He built himself a small cell there with tree branches and gave himself entirely to contemplation, remaining day and night in prayer. Caring not at all to make provisions, trusting only in the providence of Him who feeds the little birds, the Saint lived more like an angel of heaven than a man of the earth. He was living, I say, peacefully in this pleasant solitude, when one night, thieves, persuading themselves that he had money, came to his cell to steal it from him. But the Saint having charitably pointed out their fault to them, and made it known that all his riches were in Jesus Christ, they were touched by such perfect repentance that they promised him to amend, to do penance for their sins, and to begin a better life. Indeed, retiring to their homes and admiring the sweetness and holiness of the life of this good hermit, they began to publish it everywhere; so that many desiring to know him, he found himself visited by a great number of people of all qualities; and this place, ceasing for then to be solitary, was populated by a crowd of good souls who gathered around Laumer to share in his holy instructions and profit from the good examples of his life. To this end, several small dwellings were built in the form of a monastery around his hermitage; this monastery has become, in the course of time, a house of nuns of the Order of Fontevraud, called by the name of our saint, Bellomer. There are still remains of this priory today; it is private property.

He did not remain long in this first retreat. Importuned by frequent visits, he changed his dwelling and settled with his disciples six leagues from Chartres, in a wilderness where he founded, around the year 575, the mo nastery of Corbion, monastère de Corbion Monastery founded by Saint Laumer around 575. since called Le Moûtier-au-Perche. What drew so many people to the Saint was that God, who reveals the most hidden things and who takes all the greater pleasure in raising up the humble the more they lower themselves, soon made the holiness of his servant manifest through the multitude of miracles He performed in his favor and through his intercession. For, by his prayers alone, he extinguished a fire that had caught in wicker baskets filled with wheat for the monastery's provisions. The doors of the church, which were closed, opened of their own accord to grant him entry. By the sole power of prayer, he caused a large oak tree that hindered the layout of his buildings to be moved. Every time the demon, enemy of the light, extinguished his lamp at night, it would relight immediately. By the virtue of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, he restored the perfect use of his legs to a child who was extremely lame. By the sign of the cross and the holy oils, he delivered a man possessed by a demon so furious that he had to be bound with chains. And by the same ceremonies, he restored perfect health to a lord paralyzed in his whole body; which he also did for a woman named Ulphrade, who, with the consent of her husband, later gave in gratitude to his monastery two fine farms, in order to obtain from divine goodness, through the prayers and intercession of Saint Laumer, already deceased, the remission of her sins. But regarding these miraculous healings, we do not wish to omit a thing most worthy of note.

A lord named Ermoa ld fell Ermoald A sick lord whose ill-gotten money Laumer refused. into a grave illness against which he employed all human remedies; seeing that all the care of physicians was of no use to him and that his health was despaired of, he sent forty gold pieces to Saint Laumer, beseeching him to pray to God for him. The Saint was willing to pray for his recovery, but he did not wish to receive this money; nevertheless, due to the importunity of the messenger, he took it and went into his oratory to pray to God that this oblation might be pleasing to Him. But when he had placed the forty pieces on the altar and had handled them all one after the other, he recognized by divine inspiration that only one had been honestly acquired: he kept it and returned the other thirty-nine to the one who had brought them. "This money," he told him, "is ill-gotten; this oblation cannot appease God, nor obtain a longer life, and even less obtain the remission of sins, because it is written: The sacrifices of the wicked are abominable before God, and the vows of the just are pleasing to Him. Return promptly, my brother, to warn your master that he should take care of the salvation of his soul, that he should make restitution for what he has ill-acquired, because assuredly he will die of this illness." Upon this response, the messenger returned to his master whom he found still alive; but immediately afterward he died, according to the prediction of the servant of God.

Thieves stole an ox from the monastery; but after having walked all night, the following day they found themselves still at the gate of the same monastery, which forced them to return their theft.

The Bishop of Chartres, name d Pappo Pappole Bishop of Chartres who opposed the claims of Prometus. lus, a man of a most exemplary life and very distinguished virtue, hearing of the rare qualities of Laumer, desired to see him, in order to be consoled with him through pious conversations. To this end, he wrote to him and begged him to come to Chartres; the Saint, who would have thought it a crime to fail in obedience or charity, went there willingly for the satisfaction of such a great prelate. But a few days after his arrival, he fell ill with a fever that made him judge that his hour had come, because he was very old. The holy bishop, for his part, fulfilled towards him all the duties of a holy friendship, visiting him during his illness and showing by his tears how sensitive his loss would be to him. Saint Laumer consoled him, as much as his indisposition allowed him, and always showed a heart raised towards God and affections detached from the earth. He warned the holy prelate of the misfortunes that were to happen throughout the country, of the ruin and desolation of the cities and the countryside, of the profanation of the altars, of the demolition of the churches, and of other disorders that were capable of making him lose the pleasure of life. He particularly predicted the calamities that threatened the city of Chartres, and the rivers of blood that would flow through all its streets. The truth of these predictions was justified by the event: he assured the bishop, however, that these misfortunes would not happen during his lifetime, from which he was to pass to a better one without having the pain of witnessing so many miseries and without losing the rest he had enjoyed until then. Thus, the holy abbot, aged more than one hundred years, rendered his spirit to his Creator on January 19 of the year 594. Pappolus did not survive him by much, and in the same year he had as his successor the b lessed Bohaire Bishop of Chartres in the 7th century, former hermit and royal chaplain. Bishop Bohaire, who saw the fulfillment of the prophecy of Saint Laumer as early as the year 600, when the troops of Theuderic and Theudebert, who were making war on Clotaire II, took and sacked the city of Chartres. Saint Laumer has been represented: 1st counting gold coins; 2nd followed by a doe that he delivered from the pursuit of a pack of wolves.