ON S. GODO THE ABBOT
IN THE GALLICAN DIOCESE OF TROYES.
CENT. VII
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Of his Life, miracles, varied cultus.
Godo, Abbot in the Gallican diocese of Troyes (St.)
G. H.
We give the Life of S. Godo from a faithful codex, formerly sent to us by Andrew du Chesne, by very many books published most known. A great part of this is contained in the same words in the Life of S. Wandregisilus, The Life from the Ms. his uncle, which written by a coeval Author & Monk of Fontenelle we shall illustrate at the day XXII July. & the Miracles from the French, We add a few miracles, wrought by his intercession & merits as well living as dead, which are inserted in the French life by Nicolas Des-Guerrois in the book on the Saints of Troyes.
[2] He died on this XXVI of May, on which day he is venerated in the church & diocese of Meaux & Langres, Sacred cultus 26 May, & chiefly in the church built by himself of Auge, commonly the monastery of S.
Peter in Auge, or Oye, which now from his name is called S. Godo, commonly S. Gand: which word because in the vernacular signifies a glove, at Paris (where very great is his cultus, as also in various other churches through France) he is held the Patron of Glovers. There is celebrated also at the said day his memory by Benedict Dorganius in the Benedictine Calendar, by Ferrarius in the general Catalogue, by Saussay in the Gallican Martyrology, with a long eulogy from the Life: but what in this of B. Pippin is said, by him are attributed to Godo. But because S. Godo was a native of the territory of Verdun, the same Ferrarius, as a different one from the former, proposes him a second time, the tables of the Church of Verdun being cited, Menardus & Bucelinus refer the same to the day XXVIII May. 28 May, Another day, dedicated to his veneration in the said monastery, is XIX October, for the Translation of the body. That is kept in a gilded chest, & the head separately in a similarly gilded bust. & 19 Oct. for the translation, But these sacred Relics were extracted before René de Bresle XVI September of the year MDCXXI, with a double sudary placed under & a leaden plate, indicating that it is the body of S. Godo, & that his feast is celebrated on this XXVI of May. In the posterior part of the cranium, with the admiration of the physicians & surgeons, no suture was found. In the old Fontenelle Breviary he is venerated XXIV July, & 24 July among those of Fontenelle. two days after the feast of S. Wandregisilus his uncle.
[3] The said monastery of S. Godo, from the Abbatial dignity in the year MCCCXLIV, the Monks willing, passed to the order of Priories, & was subjected to the Abbot of S. Peter of Celle, by the authority of John of Auxonne Bishop of Troyes, the deed being confirmed by Pope Clement VI. The Priory of S. Godo. The Bull of each at the said year Des-Guerrois published. In this Priory the Benefice, consecrated to the name & memory of S. Godo, for some years commended to himself, a trustee administered Claudius Espencæus, a Parisian Doctor Theologian; & therefore the Life of the said S. Godo in heroic verse he wrote in the year MDLXV, which among his works at Paris in the year MDCXIX struck together, the Reader will find, page 1040 & following, together with scholia pertaining to the same.
LIFE
From the Ms. codex of D. Andrew du Chesne.
Godo, Abbot in the Gallican diocese of Troyes (St.)
BHL Number: 3594
FROM THE MS.
The glorious Confessor of the Lord Godo therefore, before the secular times chosen out by the judgment of the divine Majesty, Nobly born among those of Verdun, represented also in the latest of the Saints' times in the world, of most splendid progenitors & (what is more illustrious) worshipers of the orthodox faith, was born in the territory of Verdun. He was finally the nephew of the most excellent man & most worthy of God a Wandregisilus: who procreated of a most noble stock, of the most excellent Prince of the Franks Pippin had been b a cousin: but also imbued with all the disciplines of worldly things, by King Dagobert was constituted Count of the Palace. That therefore the illustrious origin of the same holy Wandregisilus I may more deeply set forth, with S. Wandregisilus whose nephew he was, since he was born of most noble & most rich parents, more noble he showed himself no less by the morals of a splendid life, & by assiduous examples of pious conversion; reckoning also all the honors of the age to be more a detriment of souls, than an emolument of justice. Therefore, with the aforesaid nephew of his Godo, spurning the allurements of worldly cupidities, & rather choosing sweetly to pluck the fruits of the contemplative life, to the studies of useless glory & earthly cares utterly he renounced: & instituting also to keep the norm of conversion under the monastic habit, he sought a c monastery. But of how great each in the monastery was of abstinence, of how great benignity, embracing the monastic life, humility & patience, who of mortals could set forth? For they strove manfully to insist on the divine offices, & to surpass the sloth of the soul by obedience to the Lord's commands; to bridle the mind from things unlawful; the passions of carnal delights, which daily wound the integrity of the inner man, he excelled with every virtue: by the antidote of humble confession to purge & heal; to burn with ardor of the supernal country; & themselves to the world, the world to themselves to crucify they strove; moreover to watch over the works of mercy, compassion toward the wretched, piety toward the afflicted, solace toward the desolate, obedience to superiors, benignity to inferiors, & every kind of utility of the neighbors to exercise.
[2] With these & spiritual exercises of this kind the aforesaid strove unfailingly to please God the Father, & to become an example of good acts to our Church; For him while S. Wandregisilus prays, & also His sons by frequent admonition to gain. There strove also the most blessed Father Wandregisilus, for the same nephew of his Godo sedulously to entreat the divine clemency, that his mind daily it would deign to increase in constancy, lest it could be made to totter through the craft of the malign deceiver. For although with all the effort of his mind the same eminent youth Godo strove to follow the footsteps of so blessed a man, yet not yet so to the studies of his sublime works did he prevail to equal his contests.
[3] On a certain day therefore, when B. Wandregisilus for him most loftily insisted in prayers, offering them to the divine ears, refreshed by a sweet odor & Angelic voice, in a little cell constituted for himself & apt for such a business; with an odor of incomparable sweetness, & at the same time brightness, that place from heaven is filled; & a voice Angelic to him was brought, Servant of Christ, in the fear of the Lord most devout, peace be to thee ever multiplied: fight the good fight, & ever insist on these works, which through me the bearer daily are offered to the Lord. Because not to those torpid in idleness, but to those running in faith, & with watchful instance most attentively warring for Christ, the gate of eternal life lies open, which now to thee by the Lord is unsealed, that with the companies of the just thou mayest enjoy joys eternally about to remain. Thy nephew also Godo for whom with most frequent prayers thou troublest the ears of the Lord, shall imitate thy footsteps; & all the vanities of this world being abandoned, as a strenuous soldier to the camp of Christ most devoutly shall fly. he learns the serious conversion of Godo: Hearing these things the man of God, prostrate on the ground, most attentively gave himself to prayer; not extolling himself in his heart, because by an Angelic visitation he had merited to be visited; but humbling himself, frail & a sinner he confessed; & that he was not worthy, defiled with the spots of sins, that by a heavenly miracle he should be magnified.
[4] But the eminent worshiper of God himself, desiring to lead a stricter life, the secrets of the desert greatly canvassing, the worldly honors with all effort ever fled, that with Christ he might merit the heavenly ones; & a place altogether opportune he sought apt for such a business: or, if it perchance, the whirlwind of the world forbidding, did not concur with his vows, at least under the yoke of Christ & His pleasing burden a regular life he might most promptly perform, that through him of many Christ going before the salvation might grow. While he turned such things in mind, it happened that, d Erchinoaldus the Prefect bestowing, they construct the monastery of Fontenelle, a not small part of soil he received, where the cœnobium of Fontenelle, together with his venerable nephew Godo, as a rude inhabitant he might construct: which the tradition of the ancients, by reason of the abundance of fountains flowing in that place, by this name called. For there were shown in the same place the traces of buildings, by the industry of the ancient inhabitants once made, but by the bestial ferocity of foreign enemies utterly leveled to the ground; in which more the lairs of beasts, than the habitation of men seemed at that time. This place therefore the man of the Lord Wandregisilus, & the aforesaid venerable nephew of his Godo, by the Patrician granted to him, they strove, with some favoring them, by plucking out all useless things, to cleanse, & at last to lay the foundations of the cœnobium, according to the prophecy of Isaiah; in the lairs, in which before dragons dwelt, shall arise the greenness of reed & rush; namely the fruit of good works should there be born, where before beasts were wont to abide & inhabit. Isa. 35, 7
[5] There built in that place the aforesaid men of the Lord basilicas with eminent worship four in number, they build 4 churches: namely in honor of the Prince of the Apostles Peter, & together of the Doctor of the gentiles Paul, & of holy Laurence, & Pancras the Martyrs of Christ. But the same man of the Lord sent, while he insisted on this work, the aforesaid nephew of his Godo to the city of Rome, for the pledges of the Martyrs of Christ; to which S. Godo having set out to Rome brings Relics, that the basilicas being built they might have ready the Relics of the Saints, to whose name & reverence he had disposed to dedicate them. Who obeying most willingly the vows of the pious Father, sought Rome, e Vitalian at the same time presiding over the See of that Church: & from him very many pledges of the Apostles & Martyrs of Christ received, together with the Apostolic blessing, returning he brought with him, & sacred codices, & of sacred codices a not small abundance: & a prosperous course, the journey being made, exulting he returns to the man of God.
[6] All things which he had brought, the same venerable Wandregisilus received. And the holy-recollection f Audoenus the Prelate being summoned, they are consecrated by S. Audoenus. that the aforesaid churches which he had built he should consecrate, & at the same time the pledges which the aforesaid Godo with his authority at Rome had obtained, on the altars of Christ he should place, suppliant he entreats: which so by the aforesaid Prelate was fulfilled. But the place of that cœnobium so fertile & so pleasant was, that when anyone shall have come there, among the groves of fruit-trees & the pleasantnesses of green gardens, forthwith it would please him to burst into these words; How beautiful are thy tabernacles O Jacob, & thy tents O Israel! as woody valleys, as Paradises beside watering rivers, & tabernacles which the Lord has fixed, as cedars over waters. At whose fame the peoples ran together from everywhere, & to the worship of Religion took care to dedicate very many estates; Three hundred monks being gathered there, that a very great multitude of Monks being united, of three hundred their number was. Thither the children of the noble from everywhere strove to run together, that the delights of the age being spurned, the eternal rewards they might desire with so great fathers to attain.
[7] S. Godo departs to Auge: But the man of the Lord Godo, the companionship of so great a frequentation to bear longer for himself convenient not reckoning, & rather the arena of single combat to enter desiring; bidding farewell to the blessed Father Wandregisilus, & to all the college of the Brethren, alone came to the g place of Auge, where he chose to dedicate to the Lord Christ what of life remained. At that season therefore the place of Auge so quiet & so remote was held, that of solitude he needed not whoever in it preferred to abide. This being obtained from the inhabitants of the region, into a portion of the upholding Lord a basilica raised according to his strength; He erects a Church there: as a rude inhabitant, there he built. In which devoting himself more closely to the service of Christ, a holy & to God pleasing one, free from all the storms of the world, the rest he strove to lead his life. In vigils all night, in prayer sedulous, in fasts continual, in reading frequent, in meditation examining himself before God: & so after the age conquered & triumphed over, as a soldier veteran of his King, about to receive the rewards accomplished, & he dies 26 May. the burden of the flesh leaving to the earth, on the VII Kalends of June, he rendered his spirit to the most benign Creator, whom he had ever served.
[8] Therefore after B. Godo's dissolution, a certain tyrant of the Gentiles through Gaul led an army, The church destroyed, by name i Asthemius: who the abovesaid basilica destroyed, by exceeding ferocity overcome; which after long times again restored Eva the Countess, Eva the Countess restores.
who by infirmity of body had been greatly distressed, but by the kindly Confessor's grace suddenly was restored to health: & therefore in his honor, with a fitting order & number, she established Monks there to serve, who day & night the vows of praises could opportunely pay: but of her own things, for necessary uses, as was fitting, yearly revenues she ordained for them k.
ANNOTATIONS.
MIRACLES
From the French of Nicolas Des-Guerrois.
Godo, Abbot in the Gallican diocese of Troyes (St.)
[9] When S. Godo dwelt at Auge, the sins of the peoples requiring it, a great mortality arose from a pestilent air, & some by a burning fever, others by the falling disease, others by other contagious diseases were extinguished. Health conferred on many by the living one, Then various ones fled to S. Godo, whom he benignly received, & of the sick some with blessed oil he anointed, others with the sign of the salvation-bearing Cross he marked, & so sound to their houses sent back. There were brought also blind men, to whom instructed in the way of virtues he restored sight. Women also, whose breasts the disease of cancer ate away, by the sign of the Cross he freed. Various sick infants also, brought by their parents, by his blessing & the name of Jesus invoked, he healed.
[10] The memory of his miracles persevered among posterity, especially that by the merits of him still living a pestilent mortality had been removed. a mortality removed: Wherefore when after the restored church & monastery, so again the sins of men requiring it, the affliction of the same evil recurred, & men perished in so great a multitude, that without any obsequies several bodies into the same pit were cast; with a public vow to S. Godo all fled, & desired that on Good Friday on the Parasceve his sacred Relics should be carried about in a solemn procession. But that devotion was transferred to the second weekday of Easter, when a great multitude of men running together from the neighboring places, that procession with the highest devotion of all & pious tears was performed, & there followed according to the vow the desired deliverance, the mortality ceasing, so that scarcely any in the said year migrated from life. Des-Guerrois adds, from the mouth of Allementus the Prior, & by it Monks preserved. that no one remembers anyone in the said monastery to have been infected with a contagious disease, although thither there run those laboring with plague & other contagious diseases, to whom are conferred the Sacraments of Penance & the most sacred Eucharist; which the Monks attribute to the merits of S. Godo.