(A.D. 1163.)
[His festival is observed as a double by the Church of S. Malo, in
Brittany. His name is inserted in Saussaye's supplement to the
Gallican Martyrology. Authorities:--The letters of S. Bernard and
Nicolas of Clairvaux.]
The illustrious prelate S. John, commonly called "Of the Grate,"
because of an iron grating which surrounded his sepulchre, was a
Breton, the son of parents in a middle class of life. He was born
about the year 1098; and from an early age gave indications of piety.
In the schools to which he was sent, in a short time he made rapid
progress. Peter, abbot of Celle, speaking of him, calls him "the holy
bishop, faithful servant of God, a man of courage, loving poverty, a
brilliant light, dissipating the densest darkness." His life, as a
bishop, was spent in a series of lawsuits with the monks of
Marmoutiers. His episcopal seat was at Aleth on the main land, but he
desired to transfer it to the island of Aaron, now called S. Malo, on
account of the peril to which Aleth was exposed through pirates, and
the intestine wars which devastated Brittany. He claimed the island as
belonging to the episcopal property of Aleth, but was opposed by the
monks of Marmoutiers, who claimed the Church of S. Malo. The case was
referred to the Pope, who ordered a commission of French bishops to
try the case, and they decided against John. He considered that his
cause had been prejudged by them, and visited Rome to carry his appeal
in person to the Pope. But Lucius II. would not listen to him, and he
was condemned to lose his see. He then retired under the protection of
S. Bernard, to Clairvaux, till, on the decease of Lucius II., a monk
of Clairvaux was elevated to the papal throne, under the title of
Eugenius III. John at once appealed again, and was heard; a fresh
commission was appointed, and he was restored to all his rights, and
the monks of Marmoutiers were obliged to cede the Church of S. Malo to
the bishop. John obtained decisions conformable to that of Eugenius
III., from his successors, Anastasius IV. and Adrian IV. That the
claim of John was reasonable appears certain. Only three years before
he made it, the inhabitants of Aleth had been obliged to take refuge
in the island of Aaron to escape the ravages of the Normans, who had
already twice pillaged and burnt the city; and it is certain that
several of the predecessors of John of the Grate had borne the title
of bishop of S. Malo, as well as of Aleth.
During his reign a strange heresy broke out. Eon de l'Etoile, a
fanatic, took to himself the title of "Judge of the quick and dead,"
and armed with a forked stick, shared with God the empire of the
universe. When he turned upwards the two prongs of his stick, he gave
to the Almighty the government of two-thirds of the world, and when he
turned the prongs downwards, he assumed them as his own. This poor
visionary was followed by a number of peasants who pillaged churches,
and committed all sorts of disorders. They were condemned, in 1148, by
the Council of Rheims, and were reduced to submission by the temporal
power. John exerted himself, by persuasion and instruction, to
disabuse of their heresy such of the fanatics as over-ran his diocese,
and succeeded in converting many of his wandering sheep.
He died in the odour of sanctity on Feb. 1st, 1163, and was buried on
the Gospel side of the altar in the Church of S. Malo. His reputation
for virtue was so well established, that almost immediately he
received popular reverence as a Saint. Numerous miracles augmented the
devotion of the people. In 1517, one of his successors, Denis
Brigonnet, ambassador of the king to Rome, obtained from Pope Leo X.
permission for him to be commemorated in a solemn office, as a
confessor bishop. This was the year in which began the schism of
Luther.
On the 15th October, 1784, Mgr. Antoine-Joseph des Laurents, last
bishop of S. Malo but one, examined the relics of the blessed one. He
found the bones of S. John enveloped in his pontifical vestments, his
pastoral staff at his side, and ring on his finger. During the
Revolution the relics of the Saint were ordered to be cast into the
sea, but the order was countermanded, and the sexton was required to
bury them on the common fosse in the cemetery. The grave-digger, whose
name was Jean Coquelin, being a good Catholic, disobeyed the order so
far as to lay the bones apart in a portion of the new cemetery as yet
occupied by no other bodies. In November, 1799, he announced the
secret to M. Manet, a priest who had remained through the Reign of
Terror, in S. Malo; and this venerable ecclesiastic assisted by
another priest and some religious, verified the relics. A sealed box
received the precious deposit, and it was restored to its ancient
shrine on 7th March, 1823. Unfortunately the loss of a document which
supplied one necessary link in the chain of evidence authenticating
the relics was missing, consequently they could not be exposed to the
veneration of the faithful. By a strange accident this document was
recovered later; whereupon the bishop wrote to Rome to state the
proofs which were now complete. The necessary sanction having been
received, the sacred relics were enshrined on the 16th November, 1839,
with great ceremony; and are now preserved in the Church of S. Malo.
In French, S. John is called S. Jean de la Grille; in Latin, S.
Joannes de Craticula.