ON ST. SPACIUS, MARTYR, AT LES ANDELYS IN THE TERRITORY OF ROUEN,
AT AN UNCERTAIN TIME
CommentarySpacius, martyr of Bayeux. (S.)
BY H. D.
[1] The memory of St. Spacius. At Andeliacum (Les Andelys, department of Eure), which place is of the diocese of Évreux, formerly of Rouen, St. Spacius is said to have suffered, of whom Andrew du Saussay brings forward a double elogium. And thus indeed in the first place: "On the fourth of the ides of November. At Andeliacum on the Seine, the birthday of St. Spasius, martyr, who, drawing his origin from the outskirts of Bayeux, at the time when the Christian religion was flourishing amid storms, came, that he might render illustrious testimony to Christ, to the stronghold of Andeliacum, defiled with the filth of heathen superstition: where, while he assails the impious rites and preaches and defends the pure worship of Christ, he sealed his confession with the shedding of his blood, and, buried in the same place, earned among our forebears a notable memorial of a contest excellently accomplished" Martyrologium Gallicanum, vol. II, p. 852.. And in the Supplement, in which, besides additional saints, some are reviewed more accurately: "At Andeliacum on the Seine in the territory of Rouen, the veneration of St. Spatius, martyr of Bayeux, whose honourable name, together with his sacred body, is observed there with a most ancient religion" Ibid., p. 1194.. Since there is no mention of this saint in the ancient martyrologies, nor does any Passion of him occur in the codices, these things must have been received from the tradition of the people of Bayeux, and that indeed of a more recent age. For only in the diocese of Bayeux is the memory of St. Spacius kept.
[2] The lessons of the breviary. Whatever, moreover, is circulated about him among the people of Bayeux has been gathered into the threefold lesson of the breviary of Bayeux, which we bring forward from its most recent recension: "In the city of Bayeux itself St. Spacius the martyr was born. He received the Christian faith from his parents, together with the examples of all the virtues; and he himself, walking in his father's footsteps, attained a glory greater than his forebears'. He, the grace of the Holy Spirit impelling him, although he was not distinguished by the dignity of the priesthood, formed the plan of devoting himself wholly to the salvation of souls, and sought and found the occasion of accomplishing a purpose worthy of such praise. There was burning at that time the hatred of Julian the Apostate against the disciples of Christ, whence bloody persecutions arose in certain places. St. Spacius crossed over into the church of Rouen, where the rage of the enemies of Christ was raging, that he might confirm the faithful in the faith by his exhortations. When therefore he had arrived at Andeliacum, betrayed and seized by the guards, he could be brought neither by blandishments nor by threats to desert the faith of Christ, and with certain other Christians he completed a glorious life by a happy martyrdom. In the same place he was buried secretly and without pomp, in the year three hundred and sixty-two or sixty-three. After some time had passed, over the tomb of St. Spacius and his companions a church was built which afterwards was made collegiate. But the relics of the same blessed martyr and his companions were drawn out of the sepulchre and translated to various places. The cathedral church of Bayeux had likewise once been endowed with one foot and one arm of St. Spacius, and venerated the sacred remains of the martyr with exceptional honour [So also Hermant, Histoire du diocese de Bayeux (Caen, 1705), p. 29, from "Invent. eccl. Baioc. ann. 1369". That no trace of this inventory survives, however, is pointed out by the Rev. L. Le Mâle, canon of Bayeux, from whom we gratefully acknowledge that we have received very much else as well on the cult of St. Spacius.]. Of these the city of Bayeux even now rejoices to hold some part, both in the cathedral church [That the relics, carried off by the Calvinists, were afterwards restored, Hermant narrates thus, place cited, from "Reg. eccl. Baioc.": "Lorsque les Calvinistes pillèrent cette église, un bourgeois de Bayeux nommé Senot, de la religion réformée, de la paroisse de Saint-Symphorien, dans le faubourg de Saint-Jean, acheta les deux os de S. Space de celui qui les avait dérobés. Cet homme étant au lit de mort, et mourant malheureusement dans son erreur, remit ces saintes reliques entre les mains de son fils, et lui recommanda qu'il eût à les garder soigneusement, parce qu'il avait expérimenté que dans les grandes sécheresses ou dans les pluies fâcheuses il obtenait les secours dont il avait besoin, en portant ces os secrètement sous son manteau autour de ses champs, comme les ecclésiastiques avaient accoutumé de faire publiquement dans leurs processions. C'est le témoignage qu'en rendit depuis son fils en se convertissant et en restituant à l'église cathédrale ces sacrés ossements." [When the Calvinists pillaged this church, a burgher of Bayeux named Senot, of the reformed religion, of the parish of Saint-Symphorien in the faubourg of Saint-Jean, bought the two bones of St. Space from the man who had stolen them. This man, being on his deathbed and dying unhappily in his error, put these holy relics into the hands of his son, and charged him to keep them carefully, because he had found by experience that in great droughts or in harmful rains he obtained the help he needed by carrying these bones secretly under his cloak around his fields, as the clergy had been accustomed to do publicly in their processions. This is the testimony his son afterwards gave of it, when he was converted and restored these sacred bones to the cathedral church.] On which matter these words also are read in the codex of the library of the Chapter of Bayeux, "Ms. Renauld", of the eighteenth century: "Le 4 août 1595, on apporte au chapitre un os de S. Space, martir, lequel était depuis plus de 33 ans resté à la disposition d'un bourgeois." [On 4 August 1595 there was brought to the chapter a bone of St. Space, martyr, which for more than 33 years had remained at the disposal of a burgher.]] and especially in the chapel of the hospice of the sick, and in both places a fitting cult is shown to them" [Supplementum (Breviarii) pro insigni ecclesia Bajocensi, Pars autumnalis (Bayeux, 1900), pp. 58–59.].
[3] Cult in the diocese of Bayeux. What is brought forward in these lessons about the life and passion of St. Spacius is confirmed by no testimony at all of remote antiquity, and has been fashioned by a hagiographer of a more recent age not to the truth of the matter but to verisimilitude. This one thing is beyond doubt, that in the middle of the thirteenth century St. Spacius was customarily venerated as a martyr in the church of Bayeux. For thus it is found in the Ordinary of the same church, in the month of November, between the feasts of St. Theodore and St. Martin, that is on the 10th day: "Of St. Spasius, martyr, a feast of three lessons, which are taken from the homily of blessed Gregory the bishop on the gospel 'If anyone will come after me'" [U. Chevalier, Ordinaire et coutumier de l'église cathédrale de Bayeux (Paris, 1902), p. 263.]. That on the same day, down to the nineteenth century, the feast of St. Spacius was celebrated by the people of Bayeux [The feast of St. Spacius we also have in the thirteenth-century Breviary of the Holy Sepulchre of Caen (Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, cod. 279).], the breviaries and calendars most plainly testify. From about the year 1860 it was transferred to the 14th of the same month; at length in the year 1914 it returned to the former custom. Relics of St. Spacius, besides those we have mentioned, are kept in the churches of these places of the diocese of Bayeux: Campigny, Thaon, Saint-Contest So the Rev. Le Mâle, from the archive of the bishopric of Bayeux.. And in the city, at least from the seventeenth century on, a casket of relics of St. Spacius used to be carried round in solemn supplication to ask for rain or fair weather, as from the annals for the years 1698, 1715, 1716, 1718,
1719, 1723 is established [M. Béziers, Mémoires pour servir à l'état historique et géographique du diocèse de Bayeux, vol. I (Rouen, 1896), pp. 104, 109, 112, 113, 118.]. The relics which are still kept in the chapel of the hospice of the sick were recognized in the course of the nineteenth century ["Aujourd'hui l'Hôtel-Dieu de Bayeux possède un ossement de S. Space. D'après une note rédigée par la première supérieure des religieuses de l'Hôtel-Dieu, morte en 1680, cet ossement, l'un des deux possédés avant 1562 par la cathédrale, tomba entre les mains d'un huguenot (supra, p. 410, annot. 4), passa entre celles de Mrs Bunel, et enfin à Mademoiselle d'Arganchy-André qui le donna en 1644 aux religieuses de l'Hôtel-Dieu. L'authenticité en a été reconnue au XIXe siècle, et en 1860 on en a extrait une parcelle pour la cathédrale." [Today the Hôtel-Dieu of Bayeux possesses a bone of St. Space. According to a note drawn up by the first superior of the nuns of the Hôtel-Dieu, who died in 1680, this bone, one of the two possessed before 1562 by the cathedral, fell into the hands of a Huguenot (above, p. 410, note 4), passed into those of Messrs Bunel, and finally to Mademoiselle d'Arganchy-André, who gave it in 1644 to the nuns of the Hôtel-Dieu. Its authenticity was recognized in the nineteenth century, and in 1860 a particle was taken from it for the cathedral.] So the Rev. Le Mâle.].