Baring-Gould’s sources: Gallican and Benedictine Martyrologies. At Tarbes on Oct. n. The day of his translation on Aug. 5. Authority: — a life by an anonymous writer of uncertain date, incorporated in the office for S. Savin in the proper of Tarbes.] It was the good fortune of the writer in boyhood to occupy one summer a chateau in the vale of Lavedan, on the mountain side, opposite the height on which stands the interesting church of S. Savin. The vale of Lavedan, one of the most beautiful in the Pyrenees, is now rendered famous by having Lourdes, the noted place of pilgrimage, at its mouth. It is traversed by those who seek the baths of Cauterets, or the beauties of Luz and the cirque of Gavamie. Arg&ez lies at the mouth of the lateral Val d'Azun, which opens into the Lavedan. Thence a road ascends, shaded by chestnuts and oaks, to the rich Romanesque west entrance of the once famous and still interesting church of S. Savin. The first appearance of S. Savin is eminently striking; the massive walls, the large rude stones with which it is built, its beautiful portal, its exquisite side-door, its strange extinguisher-shaped spire, the large space which it covers, as if it was the sole occupant of that noiseless, deserted village that surrounds it, impress one with mingled sentiments of admiration and regret. The present church dates from the 1 2th century, and has been frequently described by archaeologists.

In the choir of the church, formerly abbatial, there is a series of paintings on wood, in compartments, which set forth the most remarkable events of the life and death of S. Savin. These paintings are ascribed to the 15 th century, and exhibit no small artistic merit It would be desirable that some competent hand were employed to restore them, as the colouring begins to fade and the inscriptions have become indistinct.

S. Savin was bom at Barcelona some time in the 8th century. Shortly after his birth, his mother was left a widow, and devoted herself with assiduity to his education. She directed her labour to form his young mind for God rather than for the world, by imparting early principles of piety and religious knowledge; his precocious intelligence admirably responded to her care.

As he was bom in a high position, it was considered desirable to finish his education by residence in foreign countries; and his mother with difficulty was induced to consent that he should pay a visit to the court of his uncle, Hentilius, Count of Poitiers, 1 which was one of the most brilliant then in France. Savin left his beloved mother with a heavy heart. His secret intention was to seek that knowledge alone which could profit his soul; and accordingly, on his journey he avoided the highways of great cities, and sought his lodging generally in the Benedictine [monks following the Rule of St. Benedict] monasteries. In due time he arrived in Poitiers, where he was cordially received by his uncle, who caressed him as his relative, and treated him with all the dignity due to a young prince. As a mark of his confidence, Hentilius placed him in charge of the education of his son and heir. This employment, which was one of dis1 There was no such Count of Poitiers. The legend has probably magnified some petty noble into a count.

.S. Savin. tinction, had no influence upon the heart of Savin, and he continued to divide his time between prayer, the duties of his situation, and the care of the poor. He lived with the greatest simplicity, fasted rigidly, dressed modestly, and kept a most frugal table. He resisted all the temptations to pleasure which surrounded him in that luxurious court, and laboured to inspire the mind of his pupil with the sentiments of piety and charity by which he himself was animated. There is a pleasing sketch of this event of his life in one of the compartments of the pictures which have been mentioned, with the legend, “ Com S. Sevi instruix lo Filh deu Comte en Santitat.”

The result of this teaching in the heart of the young count was an earnest desire to unite himself to his cousin, and with him devote his life to the service of God in a monastery. With this intention he left his father’s house secretly, and retired to the Monastery of Ligug^, dedicated to S. Martin [St. Martin of Tours (d. 397), soldier turned bishop], under the rule of S. Benedict [father of Western monks (d. c. 547), author of the Rule], near Poitiers. Nothing could exceed the anguish of the countess, his mother, upon learning this intelligence. She sought Savin at once, threw herself at his feet, and in her desolation implored him to bring back to her that idolized son whom she had confided to his care. She cried out: “ Restore to me my child; it is you who have taken him away. You have a mother yourself, think what would be her grief if you were to abandon her for ever.” She called upon Savin instantly to depart, and compel his cousin to leave the monastery and to return to the parental roof. But he replied that he too had left a mother by whom he was adored, that he too had renounced the most brilliant prospects, that he too had resolved to abandon the world, and that he never could advise another to hesitate at a sacrifice which he himself was about to make; that his Divine Master had said, “He who loveth father or mother more than Me, is unworthy of Me.” He hastened to the monastery, but far from advocating the wishes of the countess, he urged his cousin to remain faithful to his call, and on that same day was clothed himself with the habit of S. Benedict. He, with his cousin, entered the noviciate, and during three years these two young friends, to whom the world offered so much of its pleasures and honours, voluntarily subjected themselves, for the love of Jesus Christ, to all the austerities of the cloister, its obedience, its silence, and its poverty. The ceremony of their “ clothing ” is represented in one of the pictures: “ Com S. Sevi et lo Filh deu Comte Receben lors habits a Poeytids.” The ascetic spirit of Savin was not formed to be content with the simple monastic rule; it aspired to higher things and sighed for greater perfection, in the eremitical life. He consulted the abbot, but he prudently refrained from advising him. Savin, however, persevered, and soon overcame all doubting. He bade adieu to his cousin and the monastery, traversed France with the staff and in the garb of a pilgrim, living by the alms which he begged on the way, until divine inspiration directed him to the valley of which he was ordained to be the patron and benefactor.

Having reached Tarbes, he presented himself to the bishop, who then occupied the see of S. Justin and S. Faus. tus, and having informed him of his project, obtained his approbation and benediction. Having penetrated the mountains by the glorious valley of the Lavedan, he found a spot of unspeakable beauty, near where the Pic de Vixon apparently closed the valley. Here there existed a Benedictine monastery, which had been built upon the ruins of in ancient castle, believed to have belonged to the GalloRoman epoch, as its name, Palatium sEmilianum, would indicate. This name it retained until the death of S. Savin. Savin addressed himself to the abbot of this monastery, whose name was Forminius. His reception by him forms the S. Savin.

subject of one of the pictures: “ Com S. Sevi Fo Recebut per lo Abbat Formings et los Religios.” The abbot received him hospitably, and learning from him his design, was not slow to recognize in it the marks of a true vocation. He desired much to retain the hermit in the vicinity of his monastery, and with this object conducted him to a solitary spot in the mountains, called Pouey-Asp^, about two miles and a half distant, wild, uncultivated, abrupt, with the mountains of Cabaldros at its back. However beautiful was the view that met the eye from this spot, it was an interest of a different order that determined Savin to adopt it for his abode. From this place he could see between the rocks, in a solitary valley near Villelongue, the hermitage where a countryman of his, S. Orens, had lived in solitude for many years until called to the see of Auch [a bishop’s “see” is his diocese, named from his seat (Latin sedes)], and this association had a charm for the soul of Savin, giving him as it were a companion from his native land to encourage and support him in the desert.

Under the shadows of these lofty mountains, generally covered with snow and enveloped in frequent fogs, with a climate as cold as if it belonged to the frozen north, Savin found a retreat suited to his mortified spirit. He built with his own hands a small hut, which was scarcely adequate to shelter him from the weather or to protect him from the wolves and bears. It took but little time to construct this cabin, which was eight feet long and five feet broad, the walls of dry stone and thatched with rushes. The Abbot • Forminius frequently visited Savin in his solitude, seeking instruction from his conversation and edification from his example. During one of these visits, a short time after he had completed his hermitage, he was surprised to learn from Savin that he considered his habitation too comfortable, and had determined to arrange for himself a new style of abode. He dug a pit in the earth seVen feet long and five feet deep, I and here he, as it were, buried himself alive — making a grave his bed.

The abbot remonstrated with him, and endeavoured to dissuade him from persevering in what he considered to be an exaggerated penance. " I alone know myself,” replied the hermit; “ I alone can measure the expiation due for my sins. Every person should do what he can; I have done that which I ought.”

In this place, like Elias on Mount Carmel, our saint attained the most perfect spirit of prayer and mortification. Clad in a single garment, which lasted him for thirteen years, he used to walk bare-foot over the rocks, even during the frozen winter. When the snow fell thick upon his hut, and the night-wind shook its slender foundations, when through the darkness no sound disturbed the silence save the roaring of the wild animals, his fearless soul remained unshaken; absorbed in contemplation, he heeded not the tempest that raged nor the beasts that howled about him. Savin suffered much during the summer from thirst, the little spring which supplied him being dried up by the excessive heats. On one of these occasions, in seeking to allay his thirst at a neighbouring well, he had to cross the meadow of a person named Chromasse, belonging to the village of Uz. This man, irritated at seeing a beggar, as he thought, trespassing upon his land, sent his servants to drive him away. They executed his order with much brutality, and one of them struck the hermit and injured him severely. Savin bore this with patience; but, if we may trust the legend, his Divine Master, taking vengeance into His own hands, showed that His servant could not be outraged with impunity. The man who had assaulted him became possessed by the devil, and his master was struck blind. But Savin, in his charity, fell upon his knees and implored the Lord to relieve the afflicted transgressors, and thus enable him to S. Savin.

repay evil with good. Thereupon the servant was delivered from the demon, but his master, Chromasse, was condemned to remain blind for many years, until, touching the saint’s body after his death, he miraculously recovered his sight. This incident is represented by one of the pictures: “ Com S. Sevi Feyta Sa Celia, Cromassio lo Menassa.” Having thus failed in his effort to slake his thirst, he sought relief from God, and, like.Moses of old, striking the rock with his staff, there issued forth an abundant stream which continued to flow to this day.

extended throughout the country. Whenever any misfortune befell the shepherds on the mountains they resorted to him, certain that his prayers would protect or relieve them. His heart and his hut were always open. If he had not wealth to share with them, he had words that consoled, prayers that healed, counsels that supported.

A priest of the valley was one day crossing the bridge of the Gave, near Pierrefitte, when suddenly he and his horse fell into the torrent. At the time the waters were swollen by the melting snow, and the priest felt himself carried along in the flood to destruction. In this position he lifted his soul to God, and his thoughts to the solitary of Pouey-Aspd Savin happened to see the accident from a distance, and, witnessing the struggle with death, he prayed in faith and tears for the deliverance of the drowning man, whose horse by a desperate effort reached the bank. The priest, recognizing in his rescue the interposition of Savin, hastened to Pouey-Asp^ to thank him for his preservation. This incident is portrayed in the series of pictures: “ Com lo Capera Tomba en la Ribera Se Reclama S. Sevi.” There is a tradition in the valley, that one evening, being in his cell and wanting a light, he put the candle to his heart, which emitted a flame that communicated itself to VOL. xl 14 the taper and continued to bum vividly throughout the night.

At last Savin drew near to the close of his earthly pilgrimage. Like so many holy men of all times, he had a presentiment of his approaching death, and accordingly sent for the Abbot Forminius to bid him a last farewell. The abbot answered that he could not come until the next day, as he was detained by business of the monastery; thereupon Savin sent a second messenger to him to say that “ to-morrow it would be too late, for a greater occupation would engross him.” When this intelligence became known, a number of the monks and priests of the neighbouring parishes hurried to attend his death-bed. Even when in this condition, he still occupied himself with the interests of others, and nominated as his successor in the hermitage one whose prayers and macerations should have for their object, like his own, the edification and salvation of the people of the valley of Lavedan.

When the supreme moment had arrived — that moment full of ineffable joy for the elect, full of terrible mystery for those who have loved the world more than God — blessed Savin, fortified by the last sacraments, his hands extended towards heaven, his brow beaming, his lips murmuring, closed his career on earth and began that which knows no ending. His friend, Abbot Forminius, was absent, but the tolling of the death-knell announced to him and the valley that their benefactor, their counsellor, was no longer among them. Orders were issued for the removal of his body from the hermitage to the monastery, whither it was translated with great pomp and much mourning, and deposited in a tomb in the abbatial church, built on the site of the Emilian Palace. Subsequently it was removed to the apse of the church, and there it remains at the present day.