ON SAINT LEUCONIUS,
Bishop of Troyes in Gaul.
ABOUT 665.
CommentaryLeuconius, Bishop of Troyes, in Gaul (Saint)
BY G. H.
Troyes, or of the Tricassi, is numbered among the more illustrious cities of Gaul; whose various holy Bishops, Priests, Abbots, and Virgins are often mentioned in this work: and on the Kalends of April is inscribed in some Martyrologies Leuconius, or Leuthonius, Lenthonius or Leuthenius, the eighteenth Bishop of this city. Concerning him in the Martyrology printed at Cologne and Lübeck in 1490, Memory in various Martyrologies. likewise in Greven's Auctarium of Usuard, and Canisius in the German Martyrology, this is read: "In the territory of Troyes, of Saint Leuthonius, Bishop and Confessor." The same is had in the manuscript Florarium Sanctorum, and
in the more ancient Carmelite manuscript brought from Frankfurt to Cologne: in which, by the fault of the copyists, it says "the Cassinate territory" for "the Tricassinate." Such is the notice of him so far found among the Germans. Maurolycus, the Sicilian Abbot, has this in his Martyrology: "At Troyes, of Leuconius the Prelate." Felicius copied Maurolycus; and Ferrarius, with the same cited and Canisius, delivers: "At Troyes, of Saint Leuconius the Abbot." The bare name, without the title "Blessed" or "Saint," is expressed by Demochares, Chenu, Claude Robert, Pierre Pithou, and the Sainte-Marthe brothers in their Catalogues of the Bishops of Troyes: to whom Nicholas Camuzat, himself a Tricassian, adds in the Promptuary of the Sacred Antiquities of the Diocese of Troyes, folio 158, that concerning Leuconius (otherwise Leoconius), Bertoald, and Wammir, the ancient histories have produced nothing at all, and that knowledge of them has come down to us only by name, yet that the unbroken series of succession of the Bishops of Troyes is known from there. For this reason perhaps Andreas Saussayus makes no mention of him in his Gallican Martyrology.
[2] Veneration in the monastery of Our Lady of the Nuns, One priest and preacher of Troyes at last, Nicolas Des Guerrois, having examined the archives of all the churches and monasteries, produced and published in French at the press of Troyes in 1637 many things previously unknown about the Saints of Troyes: in which he proves at length the Sanctity of Leuconius, the 18th Bishop. And first, in the prefixed Catalogue of Feasts, concerning the Saints of the Diocese of Troyes whose sacred Bodies and Relics are preserved in it, Saint Leuconius the Bishop is placed on the Kalends of April: next in the Alphabetical Index this is read: "The bones of Saint Leuconius the Bishop are preserved in one of the reliquaries of the monastery of the Divine Virgin of the Nuns, in the city of Troyes." Besides, in folio 193 and following he sets forth many things at length, and among other things cites two ancient Martyrologies of Troyes, of the monasteries of Saint Loup and of the Divine Virgin of the Nuns, in which this is had: with the Ecclesiastical Office. "In the territory of Troyes of Saint Leuconius the Prelate"; and conformable to these are what we have produced above from nine Martyrologies. But the chief testimony of public cult is provided by the Breviary of the said monastery of the Divine Virgin of the Nuns, printed from an ancient codex in 1542; in which the celebration of the feast is prescribed on these Kalends of April under double rite, and proper Lessons at Matins, Prayers, and Hymns of this Saint are recited: where he is called by the nuns "Our Father," "Protector," "Master," Was that monastery built by him? and "Preacher"; from which Des Guerrois gathers that it is probable that the first foundations of this monastery were laid by Saint Leuconius. These words are also cited from the Prayer: "Through the prayers of this thy Saint Leuconius, Confessor and Pontiff"; and from the Hymn, "Thy sacred presence." On account of which words Des Guerrois opines that his sacred bones are preserved there, in one of the two gilded wooden reliquaries, in which are many sacred Relics, the names of the Saints having long ago been destroyed by fire or other misfortune. whether his relics are there? Finally from the same Office the eminent doctrine and sanctity of Leuconius is gathered by Des Guerrois, by which his subjects were led from idolatry or heresy to the true and orthodox faith of Christ; and they are invited to lead the life prescribed by him, that they may have him as protector in heaven. The rest is mostly from the Common of Confessor Pontiffs.
[3] That Saint Leuconius was present at the Council of Sens, held in the 11th year of Clotaire III, Charles le Cointe relates in the Ecclesiastical Annals of the Franks, and adds that Saint Leuconius is venerated under double rite on the Kalends of April in the Abbey of Saint Mary, he is said to have been present at the Council of Sens in 657 and that he rests in the church of the girls' abbey of that monastery, and that the nuns acknowledge no other as the first author and founder of their house: but that there is a tradition there that from the beginning there were not nuns, but girls, who were sending back the messenger of idolatry, and were being instructed in the Christian faith by the bishop. These things the said le Cointe refers to the year 657, and rightly: because we have taught accurately above that Clotaire III began to reign in the year 656. How long afterward Saint Leuconius lived is not clear. That he was still living in the year 685, as is read in the Alphabetical Index of Des Guerrois, and perhaps died about the year 665. we judge to be an error, and perhaps the year 665 is to be restored: especially if between him and Felix-Abbo (whom it is established from the Life of Saint Frodobert the Abbot, published on January 8, was bishop near the death of Clotaire III and the year 670) Bertoald and (as some wish) also Wammir have still sat.
[4] These things having been long prepared and about to be sent to press, we receive what, printed in the aforesaid Breviary of 1543, The proper Office forwarded was sent by the lord of Villeprouvée, Royal Counselor in the Chamber of the Elect of Troyes, to Pierre-François Chifflet, a priest of our Society; from whom we had long ago requested them, and who sent them to us from Dijon, with most kindly letters of the said lord, dated July 15, 1671. Before the Lessons, which we give from there, this Benediction is recited: "May the prayer of Leochonius, Bishop and Confessor, be our life and resurrection." Then follow the following things, divided into eight Lessons.
[5] in it the 1st and 2nd Lessons of the Nocturn. "Rejoice, most beloved brothers, in the Lord, you who have come together for the solemnities of our most holy Father and Protector, namely Saint Leochonius the Bishop, and be glad with spiritual joy. From the inmost affection of your heart praise together the clemency of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has deigned to lead us from the errors of idolatry to the knowledge of his holy name, through the preaching of this holy Priest. Let us follow unanimously the footsteps of so holy a Doctor. Let us not be degenerate sons of so great a Father, but by the nobility of our morals let us imitate the sanctity of his life. Let us cast off from ourselves the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, so that we may walk honestly as in the day. Because the night of ignorance has gone before, and the light of true knowledge has shone upon us: that as sons of light we may walk in all chastity of life. Let there be no hidden seeds of any wickedness or malice in us: because man sees in the face, but God considers the heart: nor can anything be hidden from the eyes of His omnipotence. Let us prepare our hearts in all goodness, so that our illustrious Pontiff and pious Preacher, Saint Leochonius the Bishop, rejoicing, may lead us before the tribunal of the Supreme Judge on the last day: that by the multitude of his sons we may be increased with glory, and may merit to hear the desirable sentence, 'Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' He in the heavenly fatherland does not cease daily to aid our struggle with pious prayers, desiring his dearest sons, whom he has begotten in Christ with paternal piety, to attain to the beatitude of perpetual glory. Wherefore, dearest brothers, let each one in his order, according to the faculty of his powers, strongly resist diabolical suggestions, that he may be made worthy to receive the eternal crown of triumph with our pious parent. For the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to come, which shall be revealed in us. Therefore divine piety willed the time of our labor to be brief, and the reward of our struggle to be perpetual: for temporal tribulation to rejoice in the reward of permanent glory. Therefore let no carnal concupiscence, no ambition, impede our journey: let us run through works of piety to the gates of the heavenly fatherland. The citizens of the eternal city await us, and the King Himself, who wills all to be saved, vehemently desires our salvation with his Saints. For it becomes us to be His cooperators in our own salvation, who so loved us that he did not spare his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." Thus far the Lessons of the first and second Nocturns, to which in the third Nocturn is added the Gospel: "I am the true vine," with its Homily. A single Hymn also is sung of this kind.
Hail, Father, ascending to heaven, hail, piously visiting the earth, Annual feasts, gifts, Thy sacred presence. Hymn. Offer, best Priest, our groans and prayers. Strengthen our faith, holy Bishop, and correct our morals. By thy help govern us frail ones, in the sea of this world, And receive us tenderly and kindly when stripped of the body. That without end, Glory to God the Father and to the Son, Together with the Holy Spirit, we may sing with thee forever. Amen.
Antiphon. Holy Leochonius, intercede for us, that we may be made consorts of the glory of the Saints with thee.
Prayer. Grant, Father of eternal consolation, through the prayers of this thy Saint Leochonius, Confessor and Pontiff, Prayer. peace and salvation to thy people: that we may cleave to thy commandments with all love, and may fulfill with all our will the things that are pleasing to thee, through the Lord.