Baring-Gould’s sources: Corbet Kalcndar of the 8th cent. Gallican and Roman Martyrologies. Sarum, York, and Hereford Kalendars; Anglican Reformed Kalendar. An ancient Life of S. Remigius existed before the 9th cent., but was lost then; Hincmar of Rheims speaks of it as having existed within the memory of old men; he sought in vain to recover it. A compendium of it, made by Egidius of Rheims, 565 — 590, and a metrical version by Venantius Fortunatus, still exist. Hincmar wrote another Life, based on the verses of Fortunatus, and all the legendary matter he could rake together; it is of no value. This again was used by Flodoard in the 10th cent.] S. Remigius was bom at Laon of noble parents, Emilius and Cylinia. His mother Cylinia occurs in the Gallican and translation of her relics is noted in some martyrologies on April 5. The brother of S. Remigius was S. Principius, Bishop of Soissons, the father of S. Lupus. His nurse in infancy was Balsamia, venerated as a saint in the Church of Rheims. Remigius was bom about the year 435, and was ordained about a.d. 457, when elected, at the age of twentytwo, to the bishopric of Rheims, rendered vacant by the death of Bennadius. A singular and picturesque incident led to his election. He was in the great church at Rheims when the clergy and people were assembled to choose a bishop, when a ray of sun, smiting through a small clerestory window, fell on and illumined his head. In the dark church, ilizecUby-CjO Ic Oct. i.] S. Remigius.
…the irradiated, handsome face of the young noble shone out on the people as though marked by God for their future pastor. He was chosen by acclamation, and notwithstanding the impediment of his being under the canonical age, was ordained Archbishop of Rheims.
A letter of Sidonius Apollinaris to the saint has been preserved, in which the eloquence of Remigius is commended. Sidonius was an accomplished professional flatterer, but his description of the abilities of Remigius is less to be mistrusted, as there was nothing to be got by lauding him to the skies. “ Some one from my part of the world had occasion to go from Auvergne into Belgic Gaul [roughly modern France and Belgium]; what his objects were I know not, nor do I care, for the matter of that; the man I knew however. He halted on his way at Rheims, and found means, when there, of procuring, I do not know whether by purchase or present, with or without your consent, from your secretary or librarian, a voluminous manuscript of your sermons. On his return here, proud of what he had got, though he had at first bought them for the purpose of selling them, like a good citizen, instead of doing that, he made me a present of them. All those who have read them, myself included, having obtained rich fruit from the study of them, have taken pains to learn the greater part of them by heart, and to copy them out. Every one is agreed that at the present day few men are capable of composing such sermons as these. Indeed, it would be difficult to find one who united such skill in disposition of matter, and choice of expression and arrangement of words. Add to this the appositeness of the illustrations, the authority of the testimonies, the propriety of the epithets, the urbanity of the figures, the force of argument, weightiness of thought, flow of words, and flash of conclusion. The structure is strong and sure, all the members of the sentences are united elegantly, the style is flowing, polished, and well arranged; [Oct x.
never does one come across those unhappy stiffnesses or feeblenesses which tease the tongue of the reader, and those rough words, which can only be pronounced by foiling them along the palate, are avoided The language glides along to the end with ease, giving the same pleasurable sensation as when the nail is drawn over a crystal or cornelian, without striking a roughness, or catching in a flaw. “ What shall I say in conclusion? I know no living orator whom you do not easily surpass, and leave far behind. I almost expect, my Lord Bishop, that you are proud of your rich, ineffable eloquence. But be the splendour of your talents as writer or virtues as prelate what it may, I pray you do not disdain us, for though I may not be a great writer, I know how to praise what is well written. Do not then, for the future, shrink from exposing your writings to the judgment of critics when you know that they run no danger of mordant criticism or severe reproach. If you will not consent voluntarily to fertilize our barrenness, we know how to set men on the watch, and suborn them to rob your portfolio; then, finding yourself plundered, you will perhaps be sensible of the robbery, if you will not now pay attention to our prayers and the pleasure of being of use to others.”
S. Remigius [bishop of Reims who baptized Clovis, king of the Franks], as Gregory of Tours [bishop and historian of the Franks (d. 594)] tells us, “was a man of great knowledge, imbued with love of rhetorical studies, and so illustrious for his sanctity, as to equal S. Silvester.” He is described as having been very tall, seven feet in height, with an open face, very aquiline nose, a thick, tawny beard, a slow and stately walk. Many miracles are related of him, but the authority for them is not very satisfactory, as we have not the original life of S. Remigius, and we cannot tell how far they are later legends.
A noble damsel of Toulouse, possessed with a devil, was taken by her parents to the tomb of the apostles Peter and Oct z.J S. Remigius.
Paul, at Rome, to be cured. But no amount of prayers were of the slightest effect. Then the devil was adjured to tell them who alone could expel him. He answered that none but Remigius could cast him out Then, says Fortunatus, the parents took the damsel to that blessed one, 1 and he cast the devil out. Hincmar of Rheims, writing three hundred years after Fortunatus, improved the story. The parents took the damsel from the tomb of the apostles to S. Benedict [father of Western monks (d. c. 547), author of the Rule], but he also failed to cast out the devil, and sent the maiden to S. Remigius, as the only saint who was able to achieve this work. Hincmar saw in the brief life of Fortunatus, that the maiden was taken to “ that Blessed One (Benedictus)," meaning Remigius, and he used the occasion to expand the story into a pilgrimage to S. Benedict, further to enhance the supremacy of the virtue and glory of S. Remigius. In order to carry out this fable, at the birth of which we are present, so to speak, a letter from S. Benedict to S. Remigius on the topic was forged, probably in the nth century. 2 On another occasion a tremendous conflagration broke out in Rheims. S. Remigius came to the rescue when more than half the city was in flames. He went before the raging fire and made the sign of the cross; the flames retreated, he advanced, and continued making the sign, and the fire backed before him step by step, till he drove it through a gate. Then he ordered the gate to be walled up, and forbade any one ever opening it again. Many years after, the owner of the adjoining house, wanting an ash-pit, knocked a hole in the wall, that he might shoot his rubbish through it. Instant 1 y out burst the demon of the conflagration and killed the man, his wife, children, and servants. 1 “Tunc parentes ejus ipsius benedicti... suf&agati," &c. the damsel’s mouth, it cried: “ Be not elate at thy merits, O Remigius 1 1 am not cast out by thy virtue, but by the humility of Benedict.” [Oct x.
In 496, the Allemanni, a Germanic confederation, who had for some time been assailing the Roman Empire on the banks of the Rhine or the frontier of Switzerland, crossed the river, and invaded the settlements of the Franks [the Germanic people who ruled Gaul and gave France its name] on the left bank. Clovis went to the aid of his allies, and attacked the Allemanni at Tolbiac, the modern Ziilpich, near Diiren, between Aix and Cologne. The battle was going ill; the Franks were wavering, and Clovis was anxious. Before setting out he had, according to Fredegar, promised his wife, S. Clothild, to turn Christian if he came off victorious. Other chroniclers say that Aurelian [Roman emperor 270–275], Duke of Melun, seeing the battle in danger of being lost, said to Clovis, “ My lord King, believe only on the Lord of Heaven, whom the Queen, my mistress, preacheth.” Clovis cried out with emotion, “ Christ Jesus ! Thou whom my Queen Clothild calleth the Son of the living God, I have invoked my own gods, and they have withdrawn from me; I believe that they have no power, since they aid not those who call upon them. Thee, very God and Lord, I invoke; if Thou give me victory over my foes, if I find in Thee the power that the people proclaim of Thee, I will believe in Thee, and will be baptized in Thy name.” The tide of battle turned: the Franks recovered confidence and courage; and the Allemanni, beaten, and seeing their king slain, surrendered themselves to Clovis, saying, “ Cease, of thy grace, to cause any more people to perish, for we are thine.”
On the return of Clovis, Clothild, fearing lest he should forget his victory and promise, “ secretly sent,” says Gregory of Tours, “ to S. Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, and prayed him to penetrate the king’s heart with the words of salvation.”
S. Remigius hastened to fulfil the desires of the Queen. “ I will listen to thee, most holy father,” said Clovis, “ willingly; but there is a difficulty. The people that follow me will not give up their gods. But I am about to assemble them, and will speak to them according to thy word.” The king found the people more docile or better prepared than he had represented to the bishop. Even before he opened his mouth the greater part of those present cried out, “ We abjure the mortal gods; we are ready to follow the immortal God whom Remigius preacheth.” About three thousand Frankish warriors, however, persisted in their intention of remaining pagans, and deserting Clovis, betook themselves to Ragnacar, the Frankish king ot Cambrai. As soon as S. Remigius was informed of the good disposition on the part of king and people, he fixed on Easter eve of that year (496) for the ceremony of the baptism. The description of it is given us by Hincmar in his Life of his illustrious predecessor. “ The bishop,” says he, “ went in search of the king at early morning to his bed-chamber, in order that, taking him at the moment of freedom from secular cares, he might more freely communicate to him the mysteries of the holy Word. The king’s chamberlains receive him with great respect, and the king runs forward to meet him. Thereupon they pass together into an oratory dedicated to S. Peter, chief of the apostles, and adjoining the king’s apartment. When the bishop, the king, and the queen had taken their places on the seats prepared for them, and admission had been given to some clerks and also to some friends and household servants of the king, the venerable bishop began his instructions on the subject of salvation. Meanwhile, preparations are being made along the road from the palace to the baptistery; curtains and valuable stuffs are hung up; the houses on both sides of the street are dressed out; the baptistery is sprinkled with balm and all manner of perfume. The procession moves from the palace; the clergy lead the way with the holy gospels, the cross, and the banners, singing hymns and canticles; then comes the [Oct i.
bishop, leading the king by the hand; after him the queen; lastly, the people. On the road it is said that the king asked the bishop if that were the kingdom of heaven promised him ? ‘No,* answered the prelate, 4 but it is the entrance to the road that leads to it.’ When they had reached the baptistery, the priest who bore the consecrated chrism, arrested by the crowd, could not reach the font, so that the chrism was wanting for the benediction of the font Then the holy pontiff raises his eyes to heaven, and prays in silence with tears. Immediately, a dove, white as snow, descends, bearing in his beak a vial full of chrism sent from heaven. It exhaled a delicious fragrance, which intoxicated those present with pleasure. The holy bishop takes the vial, sprinkles the baptismal water with the chrism, and immediately the dove disappears. Transported with- joy at such a miracle of grace, the king renounces Satan, all his pomps and works, and demands baptism. As he bared his head over the fountain of life, 4 Bend thy head, Sicambrian ! ’ said the bishop. 4 Adore what thou hast burned: bum what thou hast adored.’ After having confessed the symbol of the orthodox faith, the king was plunged thrice in the water of Baptism, in the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and the blessed prelate received and consecrated the king with the divine unction. 44 Albofleda and Lantechild, sisters of the king, received baptism at the same time, as well as three thousand men of the Frank army, and many women and children.” The first to mention the apparition of the white dove with the vial of holy chrism, is Hincmar, who died in a.d. 882, three hundred and fifty years after S. Remigius. Fortunatus, who wrote an epitome of his life, about a.d. 570, about thirty-five years after the death of the saint, says nothing about it He relates that S. Remigius was wont to feed sparrows out of his hand, and that at meals they hovered Oct. x.] S. Remigius.
round him without the least fear, and perched on his fingers to peck up the crumbs in his palm. This incident, and those of the miraculous cure of the girl possessed, and the extinction of the conflagration of Rheims, are almost the only events in the episcopal career of S. Remigius which he records, and all these because they were miraculous. Had Fortunatus known the story of the dove and the ampulla, he would certainly not have omitted it The date of the formation of the legend was probably the 9th century. 1 Gregory of Tours, always eager to narrate marvels, knew nothing of the miraculous dove and vial of chrism (d. a.d. 594); it first appears in Hincmar’s “ Life of S. Remigius,” based on popular legend, in Flodoard (d. a.d. 966), and in Aimoin of Fleury (d. a.d. 1008). After that the story became popular enough. 2 The origin of the story is plain enough, it is a reminiscence of the Celtic legend of the Sangreal which has attached itself to a saint. “ And anon there came in a dove at a window, and in her bill there seemed a little saucer of gold, and therewithal there was such a savour as though all the spicery of the world had beene there;... and there came a damosell, passing faire and young, and she beare a vessell of gold betweene her hands, and thereto the king kneeled 1 Not only are Gregory of Tours and Venantius Fortunatus silent on the matter, but also S. A vitus of Vienne, and Pope Anastasius II., who wrote to congratulate Clovis on his baptism, and who would certainly have noticed the incident had it occurred. S. Nicetius of Treves [Trier in Germany], in his letter to Clodoswinda, Q. of the Lombards [a Germanic people who ruled much of Italy from 568 to 774], says no word about the miracle, nor does Fredegar, nor the anonymous author of the Gesta Francorum, who wrote in 725. Alcuin, in his Life of S. Vedast, and the anonymous author of the shorter Life of S. Vedast, although all these describe the baptism of Clovis, yet not one alludes to the sacred ampulla and oil. Not only so, but the Preface to the ancient Gallican mass of S. Remi, although it mentions many of his miracles, and the baptism of Clovis, says not a word about the miraculous chrism. la France,” Versailles, 1863, t iv. p. 1126, concerning the miracle of the sainte ampoule: “ Cest le miracle le plus patent, le plus aVdrd et surtout le mietix prouvl qui soit au monde.” To help the evidence on a little, he makes Aimoin live in the 9th cent, mistaking Aimoin of Fleury, who died a.d. xoo8, for Aimoin of S. Germain, who flourished a.d. 888.
El 4 devoutly and said his prayers, and so did all that were there.” 1 The ampulla and the sacred oil have since been used at the coronation of the kings of France. It was broken at the Revolution, but a fragment of the bottle was preserved with a drop of oil, and is now in the treasury of the Cathedral of Rheims.
Three letters of S. Remigius have been preserved, one to Clovis on the death of his sister Albofleda, another on his engaging in a war, exhorting him to mercy and care of the poor, the suffering, and the orphans, and to show kindness and give release to captives; the third on ecclesiastical immunities.
Finding his diocese too large for his supervision, S. Remigius founded the see of Laon [a bishop’s “see” is his diocese, named from his seat (Latin sedes)], and appointed to it S. Genebald, married to his niece. According to Hincmar, Genebald did not desert his wife, but had by her a son and daughter after he was raised to the episcopacy. Regretting this, he sent for S. Remigius, retired into a cell, did penance, and was then re-instated in his see by S. Remigius. The saint also founded the sees of Atrebatum, afterwards fixed at S. Omer, and placed over it S. Vedast, and that of Cambrai, which was also governed by S. Vedast. A letter from S. Remigius to S. Falco of Tongem exists. Falco had ventured to exercise some acts of jurisdiction at Mouzon on the Meuse. The confines of dioceses were not accurately marked at that time, and a transgression of limits was possible through inadvertency. S. Remigius wrote a sharp, fiery letter in bad taste to S. Falco. “ If your Sanctity was ignorant of the canons, it was indecorous of you to transgress the diocesan limits before learning them. But if you knew the statutes of the Church, the more serious and perilous is the kicking aside of decrees of ancient and also the Life of S. Fronto, Oct. 25.
Oct x.] •S. Remigius. glorious pontiffs, by your folly. Beware, lest in meddling with other’s rights you do not lose your own.” Falco had held an ordination at Mouzon. Remigius refused to acknowledge the orders which had been conferred outside the boundaries of the diocese of Tongem. “ I do not wish you to be ignorant of the fact that I have removed those Levites and priests from their orders whom you have made against all order. It did not become me to acknowledge those whom it did not become you to ordain.”
Another letter of S. Remigius shows him in a more amiable light. At the request of Clovis he had ordained one named Claudius to the priesthood. There was some trifling canonical irregularity in the matter, but no complaint was made so long as Clovis lived. But after the death of the king, Claudius fell into some sin of a grave character — apparently did not pay his debts. S. Remigius was anxious to deal leniently with him, and instead of permanently excluding him from his office, put him to penance, and gave him hopes of ultimate restoration. This highly incensed three bishops, Heradius of Paris, Leo of Sens, and Theodosius [name of Roman emperors; Theodosius I (379–395) made Christianity the state religion] of Auxerre, and they wrote to Remigius rebuking him for having ordained Claudius, and for treating with such lenity his case when he had fallen, and required the archbishop to see to the repayment by Claudius to a certain Celsus of moneys out of which he had swindled him. Two of these bishops are in the Roman Martyrology. 1 The answer of S. Remigius to these bishops, “ bursting with spite against him,” exhibits him as a model of forbearance and charity. As to the ordination of Claudius, he had not been bribed, as the bishops hinted, but had ordained him on the urgent request of a wise and Catholic king. As to his fall, the Ninevites when they repented were pardoned, and the angel of the church of Ephesus was not cast out of S. Leo on April 22, S. Theodosius on July 17. [Oct. z.
his see, but was exhorted to amendment and repentance. As to Celsus, to whom Claudius owed money, Remigius declared himself profoundly ignorant of his whereabouts, whether alive or dead. Finally: “ You write that I am in my second childhood, 1 sneering at rather than rejoicing lovingly with him who is neither accused before you nor comes in for mercy at your hands.”
This letter was probably written in 512. Two testaments purporting to be by S. Remigius have been preserved; the shortest is probably genuine, but that given by Hincmar is a forgery, composed for the purpose of securing to the church of Rheims certain estates which it was pretended that S. Remigius had acquired. Such iniquitous practices were unfortunately too common in the Middle Ages. The forged chronicle of Ingulf of Croyland was composed in order that it might contain charters to the abbey conveying lands, which were never really given to the monastery. Some forged testaments of lands exist at Durham at the present day, whereby the monks of Durham claimed the tenure of certain estates in the county.
Hincmar, who found this will, as well as the story of the miraculous chrism, discovered also the body of S. Remigius, and after the invention, solemnly translated it. The stately Abbey of S. Remi was erected over his shrine. The bones of the saint were buried, at the Revolution, in the adjoining garden, and on the restoration of tranquillity were recovered by the man who had buried them. They are now in the Abbey of S. Remi at Rheims.
1 " Annorum numcro me esse scribilis jubileum.” S. Bavo. Oct. i.]