(ABOUT A.D. 684.)
[Roman Martyrology, also an ancient addition to the so-called
Martyrology of S. Jerome, which addition is earlier than 741. Bede
(so-called), Notker, Rabanus, German and Belgian Martyrologies, &c.
In the Church of Maestricht, the 6th Feb. is celebrated as the Feast
of S. Amandus and the other Bishops of Maestricht, with a double.
His ordination and translation are celebrated variously on 26th
October, or on 20th, 25th, 27th, and even on the 19th Sept. Various
other days commemorate translations of his relics. Authorities:--An
ancient anonymous life. Another by Bandemand, monk of Elno, about
680; another by Milo, monk of Elno, d. 871; another by Philip
Harveng, d. after 1180; another by Justus, the Archpriest, about
1128.]
This great apostle of Flanders was a native of Herbauges, near Nantes.
His father, Serenus and his mother, Amantia, were of noble family, and
were wealthy. But Amandus, renouncing all these advantages, left his
paternal house, in his youth, and retired into the isle of Oye, near
La Rochelle, where he embraced the religious life in a monastery which
was there. His father, who looked to his worldly advantage, followed
him, and threatened to disinherit him, if he did not quit the habit he
had assumed. He replied, "My father, I care not for thy property; all
I ask of thee is to suffer me to follow Jesus Christ, who is my true
heritage."
This reply did not satisfy his father, and Amandus, to escape his
solicitations, fled the island, and visited the tomb of S. Martin at
Tours. Kneeling by this shrine, with many tears, he besought God to
grant that he might never more return to his native place. Shortly
after he received the clerical tonsure. He soon distinguished himself
among the clergy of Tours; but the fame of S. Austragisle drew him to
Bourges, when this holy bishop, together with S. Sulpicius, then his
archdeacon, and afterwards his successor, received him with great joy.
They built him a little cell, near the cathedral, in which he lived as
a recluse, to die and be buried to the world. There, lying on ashes,
clothed in sack-cloth, and eating only barley-bread, and drinking
water alone, he spent fifteen years. It was the preparation for his
future apostleship.
At the end of these years, Amandus felt an inspiration to visit Rome.
It was at the tomb of the great Apostles, that he was to receive his
call and mission. One night, as he prayed with fervour before the door
of the basilica of S. Peter, because it was locked for the night, the
prince of the apostles appeared to him, and ordered him to return
instantly to Gaul, and to preach the glad tidings of salvation to the
heathen there. Amandus obeyed promptly, and on his return, he preached
with such success, that King Clothaire II. ordered him to be
consecrated bishop, that he might preach with more authority, but
without any particular see, over which he was to exercise jurisdiction.
The new apostle maintained his dignity by his virtues. He knew how to
make the poor love him, and the rich respect him. He found means of
ransoming young slaves, whom he baptized, instructed in letters, and
ordained; sending them through the country to minister the Word of
God. S. Amandus chose for his mission Belgic Gaul, especially the
territory of Ghent, where idolatry still held its sway. The people
there had rejected former missionaries; their savage manners, and
inflexible obstinacy seemed insurmountable barriers to the stream of
Grace. Amandus visited S. Acharius, bishop of Noyon and Tournai in
whose diocese Ghent then was; and besought him to obtained for him
letters from King Dagobert, to oblige his idolatrous subjects to
listen to Christian instruction. The zeal of the prince seconded that
of the missionary, who, in spite of this powerful support, had much to
endure; but his patience and sweetness triumphed over every obstacle,
and his virtues were more efficacious in persuading the people, than
all the orders of the king.
Whilst S. Amandus was at Tournai, he learnt that a Frankish Count,
named Dotto, had condemned a robber to death. He hastened to implore
pardon for the unhappy man, but was unsuccessful, and the robber was
executed. But Amandus ran to the gallows and cut down the man, and
bore the body home, laid it on his bed, and passed the night in
prayer. Next morning, he summoned his clerks, and bade them bring him
water. They supposed this was for the purpose of washing the corpse,
before burying it; but, what was their surprise on entering the
chamber, to find the man, who had been hung, alive and conversing with
their bishop. He still bore the marks of the rope, but they
disappeared when Amandus had washed them. Bandemand, who relates this
incident, says that he heard it from the mouth of an eye-witness. The
fame of this miracle spread through the country, and many of the
heathen were so convinced thereby, that they cast away their idols,
and submitted their necks to the yoke of Christ's commandments.
After having reaped an abundant harvest in Flanders, Amandus resolved
to preach the faith to the heathen races in Germany; and he made a
second journey to Rome, to obtain approval of his design. Accordingly,
armed with the blessing of the successor of S. Peter, he went to the
Sclavonic races, hoping to convert them to the Gospel, or to receive
the palm of martyrdom. But finding that the people were neither
sufficiently docile to receive the Word, nor ferocious to shed the
blood of him who declared it, he quitted these ungrateful people, and
returned to Gaul, where he found the opportunity of suffering for the
truths he announced, which had been denied him among the barbarians.
Dagobert, the king, was guilty of gross licentiousness; he had, at
once, three wives, not to mention Gomatrudis whom he had repudiated at
Reuilli, nor Ragntrudis, the mother of Sigebert III.; and beside these
wives he had numerous concubines. S. Amandus boldly rebuked him for
the scandal he caused, and for his audacity in so doing was ordered
into exile. He retired to the territory of Charibert, who reigned on
the further side of the Loire; but was soon recalled. A son was born
to Dagobert, in 630, and the king desired to have the child baptized
by some holy bishop, who might draw down on it the benediction of
heaven. He remembered the fearless Amandus, who alone had had the
courage to reprimand him for his iniquities; showing, thereby, that if
princes do not always love those who tell them disagreeable truths,
they can sometimes respect them. Amandus obeyed, and came to salute
the king at Clichy, near Paris. As soon as Dagobert saw him, he cast
himself at his feet, to ask him pardon for what was passed. After
which he said: "The Lord has given me a son, though I merited it not.
I pray thee, baptize him, and regard him as thy spiritual child."
Amandus, at first, refused the honour, but at the entreaty of Ouen and
Eligius, two pious laymen of his court, he yielded and baptized the
child at Orleans, in the year 630; Charibert, his protector in exile,
standing as sponsor at the font. The child was called Sigebert, and is
reckoned among the Saints.[22]
In the year 647, Sigebert, who loved him as a father, and was now king
of Austrasia, obliged him to accept the bishopric of Maestricht, and
thenceforth he exchanged his missionary work over scattered districts
for the supervision of a single diocese. But he soon found that this
was not his vocation, and that it was easier for him to convert the
heathen than to discipline the clergy. He therefore visited Rome,
after holding his diocese three years, and obtained the sanction of
the Pope to his resignation of it into the hands of S. Remacle, then
abbot of Stavelot. Amandus, relieved of the burden of his diocese,
visited Gascony, to preach to the Basques who were still heathen, but
met with little or no success. He therefore returned to Flanders,
where he supervised the many monasteries he had founded. The date of
his death is very uncertain; some place it in 661, others in 676, and
others in 684.