Julian the Hospitaller

ON S. JULIAN THE HOSPITALLER.

Julian, the Hospitaller (S.)

[1] Many hospices were built and founded by our forebears, with praiseworthy piety, for receiving pilgrims with hospitality. Most of them in Belgium venerate S. Julian as their patron, just as hospitals venerate S. Elizabeth the Landgravine, who is celebrated on 19 November. The feast of S. Julian. Some record the feast of S. Julian on 12 February, as Peter de Natalibus, book 3, chapter 116, Maurolycus, and Ferrarius in the General Catalogue of Saints. The latter, however, in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, and in the General Catalogue in the Notes, testifies that he is celebrated in the diocese of Aquileia on this day. He says it is not known of what country he was, or where and when he lived; homeland and date unknown, he adds however: "It is possible that he lived among the Carni, where rivers with swelling waters are customarily forded not without manifest danger." Concerning his native soil, his age, and the place of his parricide or his penance, we consider ourselves at liberty to conjecture nothing at all, since arguments present themselves for no particular conclusion. For that detail about the dangerous crossing of rivers among the Carni is trivial: where in all the world are there not such places in rivers which, whether by the whirling eddies of waters, or by the swift force of waves, or by the uncertain bottom with rocks sticking out, or -- what we think is most frequent -- by the malice of demons envious of human safety and salvation, cannot be crossed without peril?

LIFE, FROM S. ANTONINUS.

Julian, the Hospitaller (S.)

BHL Number: 0000

From manuscripts.

[1] Villers, or Villaria, or Villare, is a monastery of the Cistercian Order in Brabant, not far from the town of Gembloux, near the springs of the River Dyle, founded under the auspices of S. Bernard himself: its distinguished praises are set forth by our Herbert Rosweyde in the preface to the booklet of S. Eucherius, Bishop of Lyon, On the Praise of the Desert, edited by him In the monastery of Villers and dedicated to Henry Vander Heyden, Abbot of Villers. Villers had, many holy men, as Molanus writes in his Feasts of the Saints at 30 June, when he treats of the Blessed Arnold, many holy men, the bodies of nearly all of whom rest honorably together in several tombs. The more celebrated among them are the said Blessed Arnold, or Arnulph; Charles, the eighth Abbot, brother of the Count of Seine; and Conrad, the ninth, son of Egino, Count of Seine, who was afterward Abbot of Clairvaux, then of Citeaux, and finally, through Honorius III, Cardinal of Porto and Apostolic Legate in Germany, where he also celebrated a synod in the year 1225 against certain corruptions of morals. For the rest, the relics of these men are now preserved rather negligently, and in a less fitting place than formerly. Thus Molanus. But Arnold Raisse in his Belgian Sacred Treasury says: "The bones of some of the aforesaid Blessed and of others, Robert Henrion, the forty-eighth Abbot, caused to be transferred from the old tomb into a marble monument, in a chapel magnificently decorated for this purpose, in the year of the Lord 1599."

[2] Yet the bodies of Charles and Conrad are not in that sacred treasury; for the latter was buried at Citeaux, the former in the monastery of S. Agatha. Nevertheless, they are numbered there by Raisse among those who especially distinguished that solitude by their virtues, as also by our Rosweyde in the letter in which he dedicates S. Eucherius's epistle On Contempt of the World to the same Abbot Henry; and concerning Charles indeed (for we shall treat of Conrad on 30 September) he writes thus: "Did not Charles, the eighth Abbot, flourish among you in holiness, who, though born of an illustrious house among his own people, among them Charles, the eighth Abbot, a most praiseworthy man, brother of the Count of Seine, having left the military belt, girded himself with the belt of the Blessed Bernard? Who, when he was dragged unwillingly to the dignity of the abbacy, was not at peace in his mind until he was restored again to his former peace and quiet." That sacred apophthegm of his is celebrated: when asked by a certain nobleman, who had himself been accustomed in the world to sumptuous banquets, how he could now tolerate life on the meager diet of beans and peas, and that poorly seasoned, he replied: "I mix three grains of pepper into our food, by which I make them savory: the first is Manual Labor; the second, Long Vigils; the third, the fact that no more savory dishes are to be expected among us."

[3] Charles seems, as may be gathered from chapter 4 of his Life, number 25, to have died not long before Palm Sunday; yet his feast is recorded on this 29th of January by Chrysostom Henriquez in the Cistercian Menologium, his feast day, with a distinguished encomium drawn from the Chronicles of Villers, and he calls him Blessed. Arnold Raisse also records him on this day in the Supplement to the Feasts of Molanus. But the Calendar of Saints and Blessed published at Dijon records the 28th, as does du Saussay, who counts him among the Blessed. Hugh Menard on 30 March: "In Brabant, of the Blessed Charles, Abbot of Villers."

[4] The Life of Charles was written by a monk of Villers, who carried on the Chronicles of that same monastery to the year of Christ 1333, in which he related the deeds Life written by a monk of Villers of Charles as of the others; he then composed a separate book on the illustrious men of that monastery, where he also treats of Charles. That he is the author of those Chronicles he himself shows in the Prologue of this second booklet, writing thus: "Having dispatched as well as we could the narrative of certain deeds of the Venerable Abbots of Villers, before we descend to describing the illustrious deeds of the brave and virtuous men, namely the monks and lay brothers of the same monastery, we first wish the Reader to know that we have sometimes questioned our Fathers concerning how great the religious life once was at Villers, and they told us," etc. And further: "And first indeed we shall explain the Life of the Most Reverend Lord Charles, the eighth Abbot of Villers, more fully than it was described in its proper place; because, having been taken from another house and elected in ours, he adorned it not a little by his virtues." We give this fuller Life from a manuscript of Rouge-Cloitre.

[5] In the Chronicles he writes that Charles was a brother of the Count of Seine; that the office of Father was committed to him at the Camera of the Blessed Mary near Brussels lineage (concerning which monastery we shall treat on 19 February at the Life of S. Boniface of Lausanne, and elsewhere); that he was elected Abbot of Villers in the year 1197; that he presided for twelve years; and that in the year 1209 Conrad, son of the Count of Seine, was appointed his successor, period of governance, who, when he was one of the senior Canons of the Church of S. Lambert, touched with a desire for a stricter life, bidding farewell to the world, received the religious habit in the monastery of Villers under the venerable Father Lord Charles, under whom, when the time of his probation had elapsed, being made Prior, he discreetly administered the office entrusted to him.

[6] Goswin mentions Charles in the Life of Arnold, which we shall give on 30 June. Caesarius also, book 1, chapter 35: "At one time Lord Charles, Abbot of Villers, who had been our Prior, other deeds, coming to us brought with him the venerable man Godfrey the Sacristan," whose life we shall give on 3 October. And chapter 41: "A certain honorable matron of Cologne, rich in wealth and in the flower of her age, when after her husband's death she wished to be wedded to Christ, for fear of her friends, by whom her desire was being impeded, having taken the counsel of Lord Charles, Abbot of Villers, she put on the habit of a lay brother, and thus, led out of the city by him, was made a nun on the Mount of S. Walburga." And book 3, chapter 13: "These things which I am about to relate happened after my conversion, and were related to me by Lord Charles, formerly our Prior, then Abbot of Villers." And book 3, chapter 41, he narrates what is told below in the Life, number 14, concerning the temptation inflicted upon him by a noblewoman. He treats of him again in book 6, chapter 18.

[7] Other writings about him. Arnold Raisse mentions Charles in his Supplement to the Feasts of Molanus, and in the Belgian Sacred Treasury. Hugh Menard in book 2 of his Observations on the Benedictine Martyrology. Aubert Le Mire in his Cistercian Chronicle at the year 1147, where he treats of the foundation of Villers: "Among the Abbots," he says, "the following shone forth above the rest: Charles, the eighth Abbot," etc.

LIFE. By an anonymous monk of Villers, from a manuscript of Rouge-Cloitre.

Charles, Abbot of Villers, of the Cistercian Order in Belgium.

BHL Number: 1619

From manuscripts.

CHAPTER I. The conversion of Charles from worldly knighthood.

[1] Lord Charles, the eighth Abbot of Villers, formerly a famous and valiant knight in the world, Charles, a valiant knight, was received into knighthood by the Scots: in which he had progressed to such a degree that he was dear and acceptable to Kings and Princes, so that Lord Philip, Archbishop of Cologne, when at the Court of Mainz, at which King Frederick promoted his sons to knighthood, he feared for his life, chose Charles as his special bodyguard.

[2] While therefore he was coming down from Worms to Mainz with Lord Gerard Wascart, a knight, from a certain tournament, by the contemplation of a pleasant meadow he becomes weary of the world, they came upon a most pleasant meadow, filled with flowers of every color, with streams and springs; which they crossed in such a way that neither spoke to the other. In crossing the meadow, therefore, they agreed between themselves that each would reveal his thoughts to the other, and one said: "I considered and attentively contemplated the wonderful and manifold pleasantness of this place, and at the end it was shown to me that whatever flourishes in the world is vain and of brief duration." And the other replied: "My thought was the same." And they said to one another: "Let this bear some useful fruit for us, and let us cross the sea. But we will encounter there the same things that we leave behind here, namely the nobility of horses, the beauty of women, and the apparatus of arms; and they will wound our hearts, and perhaps chastity will be harmed. What then? Let us go over to the wolf-skins of Himmerod, and let us seek a truce of five years from visiting tournaments." He resolves to abstain from tournaments.

[3] They went therefore, with only an armor-bearer for companion, made a conditional vow, and returned to Cologne: and with the devil disturbing them, he is mocked, all Cologne reproached them for their vow. After this they came to Neuss, where Ulrich, a knight surnamed Flasco, who had wanted to draw them overseas, also made a vow and afterward received the religious habit with them. There Lord Gerard Wascart lost part of his hand, he is highly esteemed by his companion, and he said he would rather that this had happened to himself than that even the smallest member of Lord Charles be injured, whom he knew to be a cleric and, by the grace of God, destined for advancement.

[4] He becomes a religious with many others. When a short time had therefore elapsed, Lord Charles, leaving behind his parents and the riches of this world, together with many companions, took up the arms of sacred warfare in the cloister called Himmerod; and by his example and exhortation, noblemen and magnates both from the holy city of Cologne and from more distant lands -- namely Ulrich Flasco, Gerard Wascart, Walter of Birbeck, and very many others brave in secular warfare and no less in spiritual living -- also entered. There was added to them Hermann, a Canon of Bonn, a noble and learned cleric, afterward the first Abbot at the Valley of S. Peter, and then received at Himmerod. Among them Hermann, a Canon, then an Abbot. When he went around the choir to rouse the lay brothers and the Te Deum was being sung, Brother Henry, a lay brother of proven life, saw a dove of snowy whiteness descending upon his head and remaining upon him as long as he went around the choir; but as soon as he left the choir, the dove ascended to the cross of the lay brothers, remaining upon it until the Gospel; moreover, when the Abbot ascended to the lectern, the dove ascended upon the lectern, until the Te decet laus; and afterward it returned to the aforesaid cross, and sitting there a little while, was seen no more.

[5] How much the house of Himmerod profited by the help of Lord Charles and Ulrich Flasco is clearly apparent from what follows. For when the Emperor Frederick had come down to Liege, and a great number of nobles had come to meet him there, when the aforesaid Charles and Ulrich arrived, Philip, Count of Flanders, with a multitude of nobles came to meet them; he is honored by princes so that the Emperor, as if separated from all, was left nearly alone: for just as they had had the Emperor's favor in the world, so in religion he loved and honored them; whence by his help and that of his son the Emperor Henry, they obtained the court of Speyer. The Emperor Henry also gave Lord Charles a precious Cross, and by the Emperor, and adorned it with stones and gems.

[6] Lord Charles therefore served the Lord his God humbly and devoutly, a zealous observer of regular discipline. And by a heavenly sign. Brother Henry, a lay brother at Himmerod, a man of ancient and proven religious life, saw, when Lord Charles was blessed as a novice, a dove of wondrous beauty coming from above and descending upon him, prefiguring, as is believed, the Holy Spirit -- that the Holy Spirit at that hour descended upon him, filling him with his grace -- and showing that the same happens in others at the very reception of the blessing and the sacred habit, in which the Cross of Christ is prefigured.

CHAPTER II. Many converted through Charles.

[7] In the year of the Lord 1188, in the month of April, the community of Himmerod with their Abbot Hermann came to the mount of Stromberg, where Brother Godescalcus of Wolmunstein, formerly a Canon of the Cathedral Church of Cologne and wonderfully devoted to the world (for before his conversion he had been quite dissolute, but afterward well-behaved), together with Albert, a Cellarer and Canon of the holy Church of Cologne, placed himself in the hands of the Abbot of Stromberg, revealing his vow to no person. It happened, however, that a certain Everard, a Canon of S. Gereon and Godescalcus's half-brother, was going to Westphalia, and on the way turned aside to a certain recluse, who was hiding in a cave: she received him with great eagerness, and after edifying conversation said to him: "Sir, tell your brother, Lord Godescalcus, The wondrous conversion of Godescalcus is revealed to a certain recluse, that his lamp is lit before the Lord and shines brightly." He was astonished at these words and said to her: "Sister, see what you say. There is no one in all Cologne like my brother in worldly luxury; nor does he aim at anything other than to satisfy his curiosity, and therefore in such matters see what you say." He further wrung from her by many entreaties what she meant to say. And she replied: "God has worked thus and so, but the lamp of one has not yet been lit." Hearing this about his brother, he was greatly saddened, as being a man given to the world, and returning to Cologne he found in truth what he had heard.

[8] The same Godescalcus left Lord Albert, still wavering and devoted to the world, in the world, and himself, bidding farewell to the world, entered Stromberg, leading a holy life among the holy men gathered there. He had little knowledge of letters, but the spirit of patience and piety had advanced him to great perfection of life. When he was promoted to the priesthood, how great was his fervor and devotion may be proved from this: that when he was once celebrating Mass and held in his hands Him who had made him, Christ appears to him in the Host, in the form of a child, He appeared to him in the form of a child, showing him His grace, as Caesarius recounts in his Dialogue, distinction 9, chapter 2. What sweetness and consolation that hour brought him, no man lives whose tongue could suffice to narrate. He lived afterward for some years as a fervent and devout monk; at last, called by the Lord after a happy expectation, to greater joys. Lord Albert, after some years, came to Stromberg to be tested, but ended his life during the period of probation, consoled by the happy companionship of him by whose help he had hoped that the grace of the Almighty would be with him.

[9] Therefore, at the request of Archbishop Philip, he of whom we speak ascended Mount Stromberg with a community of monks, taking with him from the house of Himmerod nothing of all worldly substance except the books of the rule, a one-eyed horse, and four shillings of Cologne. They were therefore straitened in the narrowness of poverty, but most expansive in the breadth of charity. Whence it happened that great and noble men, leaving behind all Charles converts many to the religious life that they had in abundance in the world, were gathered to their poverty. For Lord Charles was so gentle and affable in his manner of life that he drew many such noblemen with him to the religious life, not only at Himmerod and on Mount Stromberg, but also afterward at Villers.

[10] Whence a certain knight, marveling exceedingly how both he and others, equally noble and accustomed to delicacies and dainties recently in the world, could adapt themselves to the coarse and rough foods of the Order, these insipid foods are mystically seasoned for them, namely beans, lentils, and peas, received this answer from the Abbot himself: "I mix three grains of pepper into our dishes, by which I make them savory, although they are in themselves insipid. The first grain is Manual Labor; the second, the Continuation of Vigils; the third, the Hopelessness of a Finer Course."

[11] Many illustrious men converted through him or with him. Finally, there was converted with him the Major Dean of the Church of Cologne, Odo, with his Canons; the Provost of S. Gereon; the Deans of Bonn, Lord Christian, a man of great authority, and a certain other with their Canons; Peter, Dean of Trier and Protonotary of the Imperial Court; Henry, Dean of Munster; the Abbot of Prum; Caesarius and Peter, Abbots of Koblenz; the Count of Wied; and very many others of the dioceses of Maastricht, Trier, Cologne, and Liege: of whom Lord Charles was elected Abbot in the monastery of Villers, useful not only to that house but also to the adjacent lands; Peter was appointed at Neuburg; Daniel at Schonau; Henry at the Valley of S. Peter; Hermann at Himmerod; Gerard also at the Valley of S. Peter. Likewise Gerard, recently a Canon of Cologne and wonderfully devoted to the vanities of the world, when on a principal feast day he was with others in his church, in which all the collegiate bodies of the city of Cologne were then assembled, was seen by Lord Everard, the Curate of S. James, a very holy man, in the habit and tonsure of a monk, while all the rest appeared in varied and grey garments, as is found more fully in Caesarius's Dialogue, distinction 1, chapter 7.

CHAPTER III. The governance of Villers happily conducted.

[12] He is made Abbot of Villers against his will. Lord Charles, hearing that he had been elected at Villers, did not present himself when summoned but fled, fearing from this promotion the danger threatening his soul, asserting that he had not come to the Order to receive liberties, but rather to bewail the fact that he had had so many in the world. He therefore fled and hid as long as he could, until after the General Chapter he was compelled by sentence to accept the burden imposed upon him. He came therefore to Villers, acceptable not only to the monks of Villers but also to the entire region, he enlarges and adorns the monastery, and according to the sentence given to him he attended to the advancement of the house entrusted to him in both temporal and spiritual matters. He found nothing but little straw-thatched houses, and as it were shepherds' huts, and in a short time he built two stone dormitories for the monks and lay brothers, and certain other workshops: he also enlarged the community with monks and lay brothers, and the granges with buildings and lands.

[13] Distinguished monks under him. He knew how to adapt and conform himself to all, and thereby he drew nobles and commoners alike out of the vain life of the world and, by the grace of God, brought them into the cloister of Villers -- namely Conrad, who later became Cardinal Bishop of Porto, and very many others. While the latter was still a novice at Villers, it happened that Brother Simon, a lay brother of Aulne who truly possessed the spirit of prophecy, was hearing Mass in a certain secular church together with Lord Walter, then a simple monk and afterward Abbot of Villers, among them Conrad, afterward a Cardinal, and certain other monks and lay brothers of the Cistercian Order. During the canon of the aforesaid Mass the same Simon saw the spirit of the aforesaid Conrad, who was physically quite far from him, standing before him and wearing a golden crown on his head, Blessed Simon divinely knows his thoughts and predicts future events for him, and he also saw his thoughts which he was turning over in his heart, and the prayers to which he was then attending at Villers. When Mass was finished, he spoke privately to the aforementioned Lord Walter, saying: "When you see the novice Lord Conrad of Villers, tell him to be on his guard, because he will suffer such-and-such temptations this year: for he has already had such-and-such thoughts and such-and-such prayers during Mass, and know that he will be a great personage in the Order." Afterward, when the same Walter had seen the novice Conrad, he began to ask him in a roundabout way what he was accustomed to pray during Mass, and what to think about. When he replied: "Such and such is my custom in prayer," Walter added: "I also ask you to tell me what was your prayer and your thought on that particular Sunday during Mass." When the novice said to him: "Why do you inquire so diligently about my thoughts?" Walter answered: "Tell me, I beseech you, what I ask, and I will afterward explain the reason." Then the novice recited to him in order what he had prayed and what he had thought during that Mass, and it caused great astonishment, because it did not differ by a single word from the words of Brother Simon. And immediately, informing him about Simon and what he had seen concerning him, and also the manner of the temptation, he warned him to be careful, lest perhaps under the appearance of good he should be deceived by the devil. Wonderful thing: although the same novice was sufficiently warned and forewarned, he could not escape the aforesaid temptation, but was sufficiently vexed by it that same year. How exalted a personage he afterward became, not only in the Order but in the Church, we all know. For first he was made Prior at Villers, then elected Abbot there, afterward Abbot of Clairvaux, then promoted to be Abbot of Citeaux. Nor could he remain at that rank, but he was called by Pope Honorius to be Cardinal and Bishop of Porto.

[14] Although Lord Charles, according to the interpretation of his name, Charles desires to resign from the office of Abbot, was held as dear and acceptable by all, he alone was displeased with himself in his office, with all urgency, whenever a welcome occasion presented itself, asking the Lord of Clairvaux to be absolved, fearing the heavy burden imposed on his shoulders: for he affirmed that he would render an account at the dread judgment of God for the flock committed to him, thence grieving and groaning that his desire was not being fulfilled. Meanwhile, during his governance, a certain noblewoman, speaking with him under the guise of confession about the secrets of her conscience, he generously resists the enticements of a certain woman, said that she was grievously inflamed with love for him. But he, as a just priest fearing God, sealed his heart, and turned her away from her evil approach with what words he could, saying that he was a ragged, old, neglected monk; for she was, as he himself afterward related to a certain monk, a woman so illustrious and noble and powerful that "if," he said, "I were in the world, as I once was, I would never dare to make the slightest mention to her of such a matter." "You see," he said, "how the devil lies in wait for us, already dead to the world?"

[15] He came once to Andenne with his Cellarer Henry and the monk Wiger: where a boy, then quite simple, met him, he prudently helps one in need, and this was in a time of dearth. He begged the Abbot that he would out of piety visit his mother, whose husband had gone overseas. He went to her, and was received by her as an angel of the Lord. What more? She set forth to him the exceedingly bitter hardships of her poverty, asking him with tears to lend her two measures of rye; and he said to her with cheerful words: "Madam, from lending there often arise enmities; I will therefore grant this, on the condition that you consume it neither in wine nor in fish." And she said: "My lord, would that I had so much bread that I should desire even a cup of water."

[16] He departed, and as he was going down the hill near the boat, the Cellarer recognized a certain nobleman coming from afar to meet them in humble dress. The Abbot, as soon as he heard that a nobleman was approaching, immediately dismounted from his horse, and went on foot to meet the one coming, humbly greeting him and mixing consoling words with his conversation. And the nobleman at last said: "Lord, you are going on foot, and it does not befit your dignity; take the palfrey which we have here, the pastures abound, and it can easily be kept on the land, and see if we can otherwise help you, he enriches the monastery of Villers, and we shall do so." That nobleman, comforted by the friendly words of the Abbot, immediately resigned into the hands of Lord Charles everything he possessed in the world and what had come to him by inheritance, and appointed the Church of Villers heir to all his goods. Whence to this day the granges of Grand-Pre and of Werde are located on his allodial lands. He built the grange of Quercetum, a noble property, and the church anew; by the help of God, he acquired for us the goods of Louringe and many other things, not only around the granges but also in scattered places, by his labor.

[17] Never in his days did he permit a measure of land or a cartload of wood to be sold, judging it sacrilege if what had been given to the Church were removed from the Church. With the help of the grace of God, he kept the house without heavy debt and in his days contributed nearly ten marks to other churches. From the great favor he had among the nobles, vineyards along the Rhine and the Moselle were given to us freely; a fishery on the Sambre for the service of the divine office and the comfort of the sick; and also revenues at Dordrecht.

[18] King Philip himself, hearing that he was at the castle of Autwiler, he is honored by the King of France and others, came down from the castle of Drewels and turned aside to his lodging, and gathered him with friendly conversation, and committed his care to his Marshal. Moreover, he gave him as a pledge of pure affection, with his own hand, a precious samite. This, moreover, was wonderful about him: that although he was of such incomparable grace with everyone, he was yet a most tenacious preserver of the goods of the house, generous to the poor, sparing in other things, always solicitous about acquiring, never about paying out soldiers, jesters, or vagabonds, toward whom he always kept his hands closed; while he always helped the poor and desolate with a generous hand, being in such matters both pious and discreet.

[19] Whence it happened that when he had a sister at Duewert, whom he tenderly loved, who had fled with her community to Cologne on account of the Bohemians and was in need, his monk finally gave her six pennies: learning of this through confession, he charged the monk with sacrilege and imposed a heavy penance upon him. His sister is called to the religious life by the Blessed Virgin. This same sister, when she was of marriageable age and was sought by many for marriage, the Blessed Virgin appeared to her, placing a crown of flowers upon her head: who summoned the Abbot of Altenberg and by night placed her on her own palfrey, and so placed her in the cloister of Dunewart.

CHAPTER IV. Resignation of the abbacy. Death.

[20] Although many things could be said about Lord Charles, there is one by which he can be especially commended: that never, from the time he entered the Order, did the sun set upon his anger; but reflecting that he was bound by his monastic vow, he forgave with benign readiness all offenses committed against him, attending to purity of conscience and tranquility of heart. He establishes peace between the Duke of Brabant and the Bishop of Liege. When at a certain time a most grievous war was threatening the lands of the Duke on one side and of the Bishop of Liege on the other, and with forces assembled on both sides the danger of destruction of lands and men alike was imminent, after divine aid they had no one to look to except Lord Charles, Abbot of Villers, alone. Every day a clash of armies was expected, and with the desolation of the wretched, a grave peril to souls. Lord Charles set himself against these great evils, spending continuous nights without sleep, and from one night to the next obtaining the relief of truces with the greatest difficulty. If he could have any rest, he somewhat stole it for himself during a brief space of the day, and refreshed his weary limbs with a little sleep. At last, with Christ helping him, he obtained what he desired, with the joy and exultation of the entire land: the father is returned safe and sound to the orphan, and the husband alive to her who thought herself about to be a widow. Thanksgivings are rendered to God, and Lord Charles is blessed, and the settlement of the peace is entrusted to him by the Princes.

[21] Some time later, when the Duke was devastating that same bishopric, Liege captured and plundered in the year 1212, and on Ascension Day itself entered Liege with a strong force and captured the people of that city and carried away their goods without mercy; and Lord Charles had already left the monks of Villers out of a desire for a more quiet life, the cry went up from people on both sides: "O if that devout man, acceptable to all, Lord Charles of Villers, still held authority! Never would such great and hitherto unheard-of evils have prevailed in the land; but by his industry and help, peace to the lands and quiet to us all would quickly have been restored." For the Lord had given him this singular grace, that by great and small, by the princes of the land and their attendants, he was embraced with singular and special affection, and in their great counsels he was most welcome; although he would never be present where anything against God and the honor of sacred religion was being done.

[22] After many labors and hardships, which he had happily endured at Villers, he finally obtained from the Lord of Clairvaux, with great urgency, the release from his office, which he always judged to be a burden; since Charles had already resigned his governance, and in which he was never for a single day without the greatest fear, fearing for himself on account of the rendering of his account for the souls committed to him at the dreadful last examination. The Abbot of Clairvaux granted this unwillingly, since he had found Charles most necessary to himself in his greatest affairs, whence he said: "This man is honored by the highest princes, is acceptable and beloved in the land where he dwells, and dear and necessary to his community; his house has made very great progress under him in constructing buildings and acquiring possessions; and, what is more, the vigor of the religious life has not cooled under him, but by the grace of God he has added great and honored persons to his community. Nevertheless, having been overcome by him, I can no longer detain him in the office of Abbot."

[23] Having been released, therefore, he returned to Himmerod, to the joyful embraces of Rachel, He had returned to Himmerod, wishing to hide there and to spend what remained of his life in the service of God and in claustral discipline. But his resolution was thwarted, nor could he hide there who had been so necessary to the world, since Kings and princes of the land summoned him to their affairs: and at last the abbey of S. Agatha, which was threatened with ruin, He is placed over the abbey of S. Agatha, flourished again under him, freed from debts and adequately supplied with necessities.

[24] From that abbey he is at last called by the Lord, he pays off its debts, that having finished the course of his happy campaign he might receive the prize, to be joined to the company of the Saints. We heard, while he was still alive, he dies, from Lord Walter, Prior of Aulne, of blessed memory, at whose blessed passing Angels were seen, that he knew most truly that Lord Charles was a man chosen by God.

[25] When after his death the community of nuns was processing on Palm Sunday and singing in the customary manner, a certain matron who had most tenderly loved him was present; she, turning to a certain woman who was herself also full of the Spirit of God, His glory is revealed to a pious religious, and who embraced him with the most tender affection, received this answer: "Do not be anxious, Madam, and do not be troubled at the absence of your dear friend, for Lord Charles has been happily taken up into the choirs of Martyrs, where today he leads in festive joys. Nor should you grieve for him, but rather exult, for he, exulting with the Angels, having become one of the citizens of heaven, possesses joy and gladness without end, where he happily awaits you in glory, who are to be, by God's grace, partakers of his happiness; and to this end he will help you with his prayers, our most happy friend. Amen."