Leodardus

ON ST. LEODARDUS, CONFESSOR, AT SOISSONS IN GAUL,

BEFORE THE NINTH CENTURY.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Leodardus, pastor, at Soissons in the Gauls. (S.)

BY R. D. B.

§ I. The cult and Acts of St. Leodardus.

The most celebrated royal monastery of noble nuns of all Gaul at Soissons, named after the undefiled Virgin Mother of God, The cult of St. Leodardus renowned for many saints of either sex, has more than once had to be mentioned in this work Acta SS., vol. I of August, p. 353. So wrote our predecessor J. B. Solier, illustrating the deeds of St. Sigrada, widow, who had died in the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Soissons. But that monastery, whose history or rather praises Michael Germain, a member of the Congregation of St. Maur, wrote, and which had taken its beginnings in the seventh century, and had suffered no damage even from the Calvinists in the sixteenth century, was adapted as permanent military quarters by the disturbers of civil and religious affairs in the year 1791. Within these enclosures from the remotest times there was celebrated at the 28th day of October the feast-day of St. Leodardus (who is also Leothardus, Leudardus and Ludardus), as we gather from the Breviary of the diocese of Soissons of the year 1743, where after the deeds of St. Faro have been celebrated at the same day, it is said: On the same day is kept the memory of St. Ludardus, who was invoked in the public Litanies already before the times of Charlemagne, and whose name is found inscribed at the fifth of the kalends of November for several centuries in the Martyrology of the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Soissons, where his relics are religiously preserved: then it is beyond doubt that St. Leodardus was honoured with public cult already in the eighth century: for his name occurs in the Litanies of the saints which Mabillon calls Caroline, both because they were recited in the time of Charlemagne (for in them prayer is made for Pope Hadrian, Charlemagne and his sons, both Pippins, Charles, Louis and Queen Fastrada:) and also because it cannot be demonstrated that any of the saints of whom memory is made there lived after Pope Hadrian, who died in the year 795: rather all those whose Acts are known are older than the ninth century. Add that Mabillon conjectured that those litanies were written in the convent of Blessed Mary at Soissons, not only because these litanies celebrate the holy bishops of that city, Bantaridus and Drausius, but chiefly because they celebrate Sts. Vodoalus and Leodardus; of whom the former as a recluse, the latter as a baker lived in the same monastery before the ninth century. And yet these litanies were copied from a manuscript codex of Besançon, and transmitted to our d'Achery, by the learned and religious man Peter Francis Chifflet of the Society of Jesus Analecta vetera, p. 170 and following, edition of 1723.

[2] and Acts. Ancient Acts of St. Leodardus we lack: nor does any hope shine forth that they will ever come to us, since the learned man Michael Germain, having diligently searched the very rich archive of the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which had been kept intact for about ten centuries, did not hesitate to write that he had discovered nothing about St. Leodardus except certain more recent writings Histoire de Notre-Dame de Soissons, p. 299. Nor did Papebroch spare labour to procure documents about St. Leodardus, writing to Hippolytus Vroyer and John Garnier, members of the Society of Jesus; whose investigations lacked all success. Yet it happily fell out for him that Louis Nicquet, librarian of the Celestines of Soissons, to whom also he had applied by letter, communicated with him the lessons of an ancient breviary, once recited in honour of St. Leodardus. Not content with these, I too gave letters to several men distinguished for learning, and very benevolent, that if perhaps any monuments had been more recently brought to light, they would be willing to indicate them; in vain: none of them could indicate any ancient instrument about St. Leodardus.

§ II. The name, native country, condition, death, miracles, burial and relics of St. Leodardus.

The native country and name of St. Leodardus, St. Leodardus was born at Soissons in Gaul: so one reads in his Acts; but of what race, Gallo-Roman or Frankish, is there passed over in complete silence. That the name of Leodardus is of Frankish or Germanic stock is clear: but since not long after the occupation of the Gauls by the Franks, slaves themselves and other men of Gallic or Roman nation were sometimes called by Frankish or Germanic names [Jordanes, De rebus Geticis, ch. IX, in Muratori, Rerum Italicarum scriptores, vol. I, p. 196; Guérard, Polyptique d'Irminon, ch. VI, §214, vol. I, p. 420], we can suspect indeed, but by no means know of what race the ancestors of the most blessed man were born. There is scarcely need for me to note that the name of Leodardus consists of two words, not coalesced, but set side by side: Lud, Hlud, Lod, Clod or Chlod, by which a people is designated, or the kindred Liudi, Liuti, Leodi, Ludi, etc., by which men are signified; and art, whose rather obscure signification approaches the Dutch aerd, which is disposition Wiarda, Ueber deutsche vornamen und geslechtsnamen, p. 51, and nearly corresponds to the Latin ending -osus.

[4] who was not a monk of the monastery of Blessed Mary at Soissons. But since St. Leodardus, who flourished before the ninth century, lived in the monastery of girls of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Soissons, it can be asked whether he too was a monk. There is indeed room for doubt: for St. Drausius, bishop of Soissons and founder of the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in its privilege praises the God-fearing men there, who established the rule and course (ecclesiastical chant) of St. Benedict Histoire de l'abbaye de Notre-Dame, Preuves, p. 422: then an anonymous writer, reporting about the year 700 the translation of the body of St. Drausius from the monastery at St. Vedast across the Aisne *, where the nuns had first been seated, to the palace of Ebroin which had been converted into a monastery, says: Moreover all things pertaining to the aforesaid place being ordered, the assembly of religious MONKS, and the choir of most chaste virgins, and at the same time the CROWD flowing together of men and women living round about, coming together devoutly to the tomb of St. Drausius as to so great a spectacle, took up his most holy little body, and with due honour and most celebrated veneration deposited it in the apse of the aforesaid basilica Acta SS., March, vol. I, p. 409: moreover St. Leodegar in a letter to his mother St. Sigrada, who afterwards piously laid down her soul in the monastery of girls of Soissons, extolling her happiness, says: How the Lord has rewarded you in the present life hear and listen: for the service of male servants, he has given you all HIS BRETHREN, who daily pray for you: for the service of female slaves he has given you holy sisters, in whose fellowship you delight, etc. Ibid., vol. I of Aug., p. 409. Nor was this state of persons changed in the ninth century, as St. Paschasius Radbert testifies in the Exposition of Psalm XLIV, a writer of the ninth century, who laid his novitiate among the monks of Soissons of the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary Works of Paschasius Radbert, col. 995, Migne edition. But that St. Leodardus was not admitted among these monks we gather from the fact that after his happy death he obtained burial neither in the cemetery nor in the basilica of the monastery, but in the basilica of St. Martin outside the city. Let it not be said that at that time the law of Theodosius had not yet altogether fallen out of use, by which the dead were forbidden to be buried in cities Theodosian Code of Godefroy, title 17, p. 159; and thus it is easily understood how St. Leodardus was not given burial in the monastery itself, since this lay within the walls of the city. But the matter did not stand so; for even after Ebroin, shortly after the death of St. Drausius, had transferred within the walls the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which had first been built at the basilica of St. Vedast outside the city, the monks went on burying their own within the church. Hence St. Vodalus, monk or recluse of the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, having died about the year 700, was honourably buried in the basilica dedicated to the kindly Cross, on the left side Acta SS., vol. I of Feb., p. 692. And the basilica of the Holy Cross of Soissons was situated within the enclosure of the monastery of St. Mary. And indeed the custom of burying the dead in the basilica of the Holy Cross had not yet fallen out of use in the ninth century; for at that time Paschasius Radbert wrote to the nuns of this monastery: The place, you have, in which bones are laid after the end of life, was formerly dedicated by your predecessors in honour of the Holy Cross, that the members which long and far bore the cross of Christ in service may rest buried there, as a heap of wheat, walled with lilies, where the triumph and honour of the same Holy Cross is raised up Paschasius Radbert, Exposition on Psalm XLIV, col. 1028.

[5] nor an oblate, but a baker From what we have just argued it is clear that St. Leodardus was not enrolled among the monks. It can be added also that he was not an oblate, since nowhere in monasteries of the eighth century is a trace of this kind of men found

Mabillon, Acta SS. Ordinis S. Benedicti, Sæc. VI, part II, § XI. But if credit is given to the tradition of the church of Soissons, and also to the paintings which once adorned the church of the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to the lessons once communicated by Louis Nicquet to Papebroch; if moreover it is considered that until the end of the century just past the oven which St. Leodardus had used was religiously preserved by the people of Soissons, no one will deny that the most blessed man performed the office of baker among the nuns of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And if anyone opposes to us St. Isidore in rule 19, saying: Let the monks make bread for themselves with their own hands [Rule of St. Isidore of Seville, ch. 19; in Holstenius, vol. II, p. 196, Brockie edition]; or also that in the Life of St. Samson the monk Acta SS. Ordinis S. Benedicti, Sæc. I, p. 170 this is read: But the brother of the same presbyter, the other monks of this monastery taking their turns in order, was made baker: and in the Life of St. Austreberta Ibid., Sæc. III, part I, p. 38: It was the custom that loaves should be baked by the sisters in turn; finally that it is added by Edmond Martène Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict, ch. XLVI, p. 864 and following: That generally however this office was committed to some one of the monks, we reply that in the rule of St. Isidore there is subjoined to the words reported: Moreover for guests and the sick let laymen make the loaves; and thus that to St. Leodardus was committed the province of baking loaves for guests and the sick; and for that reason it was not necessary that (as may seem to follow from his Life) he should be helped by any man in fulfilling this office: to which labour he would have been altogether unequal, if loaves had had to be prepared by him for the whole monastery, as being very numerous.

[6] and a servant. And so St. Leodardus was a perpetual servant of the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Wherefore in his brief Life these things occur: Accordingly the fame of his (Leodardus's) sanctity brought it about that he was afterwards sought by the virgins of the monastery dedicated to holy Mary for the exercise of his art (of baking). Having accepted the condition, therefore, Leudardus performed the office enjoined on him with what fidelity he could: then below one reads that he remained in service until his last day. By which words it is also hinted that St. Leodardus was begotten of a plebeian, yet not of a servile family, and freely and of his own accord took up service. Nor was this so rare: for, as we said in the Life of St. Desiderius of Auxerre, p. 360 of this volume, it very often happened that those who were freeborn and free from all servitude urgently asked, not from piety toward God, but to provide better for the body, to be enrolled among the slaves of some monastery or church. Of which matter several historical documents are supplied by Guérard Polyptique d'Irminon, vol. I, p. 286; vol. II, p. 287 and following, Miraeus Miraeus, Donat. Belg., Opera diplom., vol. I, p. 348, Foppens edition and others.

[7] His death, miracles, burial and relics. In which condition St. Leodardus passed many years: for in lesson VIII it is said: Leudardus, when he had passed several years in that monastery, advanced in virtue and old age alike, met death: and it is added that he was buried in the basilica of St. Martin, in which indeed he had been cleansed in the sacred waters of baptism. From there, when God made known the holiness of his servant by frequent miracles, his remains were translated to the church of the girls of the Blessed Virgin Mary with great pomp (it is not known at what time). These holy relics the people of Soissons venerated in the same place, until at length the disturbers of the end of the eighteenth century, trampling all holy things underfoot, turned their impious rage on the church of the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

* Aisne

LIFE OF ST. LEODARDUS

From an ancient Breviary of Soissons.

Leodardus, pastor, at Soissons in the Gauls. (S.)

BHL Number: 4849

St. Leodardus, baker at Soissons Lesson V. Leudardus, sprung at Soissons from a plebeian family, afterwards made illustrious the obscurity of his birth by the brilliance of his virtues and an excellent affection for heavenly things. On becoming a youth he took up the art of baking; which, when he practised it with outstanding industry, and meanwhile burned with a wondrous love toward those above, he began to be an object of admiration to all. For they were astounded in a man by no means trained in the skill of divine and human letters at a signal piety, joined with an excellent sweetness of morals and modesty of mind. Accordingly the fame of his sanctity brought it about that he was afterwards sought by the virgins of the monastery dedicated to holy Mary for the exercise of his art.

[2] in the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Lesson VI. Having accepted the condition, therefore, Leudardus performed the office enjoined on him with what fidelity of service he could; and he always placed the common benefit of the monastery before his own, thinking empty whatever of perishing substance is acquired on earth. Nor did he help the nuns only by the labour of his hands, but also to them, and indeed to all, he shone before by the example of good works, that they might not go headlong over the precipices of the vices, but rather emulate divine rectitude. He was so given to prayer that he could scarcely be drawn from it by the necessity of the office committed to him. And sometimes at the morning hours, at the time when the unbaked loaves had to be put into the oven, the celebration of Mass being signified by the sound of the bell, he was held by so great a desire of hastening to the church that, bending his knees suppliantly before the image of the Virgin Mother of God, he commended to her the care of the baking occupation, and prayed that meanwhile, while he attended to the sacred rites, she would be willing to perform his duties by the ministry of angels.

[3] where living he became famous for miracles, Lesson VII. Which confidence of a candid soul by no means fell out in vain. For when he withdrew, soon the Virgin herself was present, attended by angelic choirs, to complete that man's work, and with her own hands and those of the blessed spirits she put the loaves in the oven. This so signal a miracle, scarcely credible to the half-learned critics of our age, is declared by a worn-out painting impressed on the walls of the bakehouse itself. There too there still exists the oven itself, commonly called of Blessed Leudardus, paved with brick floor, whose capacity or thickness is held in admiration.

[4] he died and was buried in the basilica of St. Martin. Lesson VIII. But Leudardus, when he had passed several years in that monastery, advanced in virtue and old age alike, met death, and was buried in the parish basilica of St. Martin, which at that time had been founded outside the walls of the city, in which indeed he had been cleansed in the wave of sacred baptism. And it came about, the Lord of all testifying afterwards by frequent miracles to the holiness and beatitude of his life, that he began to be an object of veneration. Wherefore, the bishop consenting, his sacred body was taken from the tomb, translated with due honour into the church of the Virgin Mother of God, and placed on a fitting bier; and the head, in about the year after Christ one thousand three hundred, was laid up in a silver reliquary, in which it is preserved today also.