as the _Baoumo de l’Abbat_, only accessible by going down into the
water and wading through a narrow crevice between two tall rocks. It
was here, when St. Porcaire and his five hundred companions were
martyred by the Saracens, that two of the monks, Colomb and Eleuthère,
fled in terror to conceal themselves. But they could still hear the
vociferations of the infidel, and, their eyes being opened, could see
the souls of their brethren ascending to heaven, conducted by the
angels. Ravished by this spectacle, Colomb cried out with holy
enthusiasm: “Let us go forth to be crowned like them. Let us fly to the
Lord!” Eleuthère still shrank with fear, but Colomb went boldly out to
share the glory of his brethren. Eleuthère afterwards gathered together
the monks who had escaped, and became abbot of Lérins. Hence the name
of the Abbot’s Cave, given to the place of his concealment.
Nearly opposite, in the centre of the island, is the octagon chapel of
the Transfiguration, or St. Sauveur, with a star-shaped vault. It is
twenty feet in diameter and twelve high. It has been rudely restored by
the bishop of Fréjus, and has an ancient stone altar pierced with
holes, as if for the passage of liquids. Some consider this chapel the
ancient baptistery. The sailors call a neighboring inlet the _Caranquo
dé Sant Saouvadou_, or Crique de St. Sauveur.
Several of these chapels were used in the construction of batteries by
the Spaniards in the seventeenth century, as that of St. Pierre on the
southern shore, near the remains of which is an old votive altar to
Neptune with the inscription: _Neptvno Veratia Montana_.
The walls of St. Caprais are partly standing. This saint is still
invoked in our day for rheumatism. A portion of his relics, hidden at
the Revolution, is religiously preserved at Chartèves, in the diocese
of Soissons, and is the object of pilgrimages on the 20th of October.
“_Quæ sancta Caprasi vita senis!_” says St. Sidonius Apollinaris—What
an admirable life is that of the aged Caprais!
The chapel of St. Porcaire and the Five Hundred Martyrs, on the place
where they were buried, has recently been repaired, and Father Boniface
says Mass there every morning. Over the altar is a painting of St.
Porcaire pointing to heaven and encouraging his brethren. The seventh
chapel, St. Michael’s, is within the walls of the Cistercian convent.
The isles of Lérins have been a place of pilgrimage for more than a
thousand years. They were already frequented when Pope Eugenius II.
came here early in the ninth century to venerate the traces of the
saints and martyrs. When he landed on the shore of St. Honorat, he put
off his shoes and made the tour of the island in his bare feet. He
consecrated the church, blessed the whole isle, and granted those who
visited it with the proper dispositions between the eve of the
Ascension and Whit Monday all the indulgences to be gained by a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem, as well as smaller ones to those who came here
at other seasons, with the exception of those who had been guilty of
striking their parents or violating their marriage vows. In accordance
with his wish, all who had gained the indulgence used to receive a palm
in testimony thereof. These pilgrimages were called, in the language of
the country, _Romipetæ_. All the towns on the neighboring coast were
numerously represented here at the Grand Pardon. Twenty-seven nobles
are mentioned as coming once from Arles. Pilgrims even came from Italy.
The old records tell how fifty-three came from Pisa to offer thanks for
their miraculous escape after being taken by the corsairs. But the
annual pilgrimage from Rians was the most famous, and has been
celebrated in a quaint old Provençal ballad that is delightfully
redolent of the age. It consisted of the greater part of the villagers,
and to sanctify the journey, they used to halt at all the places of
devotion along the road. Every one of these places had its holy legend
that, like a fragrant flower, embalmed the way. At Cotignac they paused
to drink at the miraculous fountain of St. Joseph—
Foou ana boiro à la sourço
Doou benhurux Sant Jaousé—
which, say the people, sprang up to quench the extreme thirst of a poor
simple country laborer, named Gaspar, to whom the compassionate St.
Joseph appeared under the form of an aged man, and pointed out the spot
where water could be found—a spot since widely known as a place of
miraculous cures and abundant spiritual favors.
Then the pilgrims ascended the hill of Verdale, near Cotignac, to pray
at the altar of Nouastro Damo dé Graci. This is quite a noted chapel.
It was visited in 1600 by Louis XIV. and his mother, Anne of Austria,
for whom a new road was expressly constructed, still known as the
_Chemin de Louis Quartorze_. He hung his _cordon bleu_ on the Virgin’s
breast, and Anne of Austria founded six Masses in the chapel. The king
afterwards sent here copies of his marriage contract and the treaty of
the Pyrenees in a magnificently-bound volume, by way of placing these
important transactions under the protection of our great Lady; and when
his mother died he founded Masses here for her soul, and set up a
marble tablet with a commemorative inscription. Pope Leo X. conferred
indulgences on this chapel.
At the village of Arcs, or near it, the pilgrims turned aside to
venerate the remains of the beautiful St. Rossoline, who sprang from
the barons of Villeneuve and Sabran. Her cradle in infancy was
surrounded by a supernatural light. The miracle of the roses was
renewed in her favor to avert the anger of her father, who was weary of
the importunity of beggars at his castle. At the age of seventeen she
buried her youth and beauty in the Chartreuse of Celle Roubaud, and was
consecrated deaconess by the bishop of Fréjus in 1288, which gave her,
by an exceptional privilege to the nuns of this house, the right of
reading the Gospel in church. Hence she is represented in art, not only
with the crown of roses wherewith she was crowned on the day of her
sacred espousals, but wearing a stole. She spent the remainder of her
life in transcribing the sacred books, in order, as she said, to be
always holding intercourse with God, and, as she could not preach in
public, aid in propagating the Gospel. She held the office of prioress
for a time, but, at her own request, ended her days as a recluse. While
she was breathing her last St. Hugh of Lincoln and St. Hugo of Grenoble
appeared and incensed her cell, and she died with _Deo gratias_ on her
lips.
An old ballad tells how, after her death, St. Rossoline delivered her
brother, Helion de Villeneuve, a crusader, who had been taken prisoner
by the Saracens. She appeared to him in his dungeon, loosed his heavy
chains, opened the doors, and conducted him to the sea-coast, where,
spreading her veil on the waters, they both placed themselves thereon,
and so came safely to Provence. Helion now happened to fall asleep, and
when he awoke his sister was missing. He thought she had gone home to
announce his arrival, but, when he came to the manor-house, learned she
had for some time been dead. Her tomb became noted in Provence, and was
one of the stations where pilgrims loved to pay their vows.
Our villagers next came to Fréjus to see the image of the Holy Child
Jesus venerated in the cathedral. At Esterel the prior gave them
refreshments under the great chestnut-trees near the inn. Cannes
welcomed them with the ringing of bells, and went out to meet them in
procession:
“Canno, villo maritimo—
Remplido dé zèlo è d’estimo
Per leis pélérins dé Rians—
Seis campanos souanoun toutos
Per faire la proucession.”
Then they came with
“_Allegresso
Dins leis ilos dé Lérins_.”
It seemed to them like entering Paradise. They went to shrift, visited
the seven chapels, and finally came to the church of the _glourious
Sant Hounourat_, where they received the Holy Eucharist and their
palms. Besides the latter, they also carried away, as the custom was,
some sprigs of a marine plant still known as the _herbo doou par
doun_—the herb of the Pardon or Indulgence. This is the _cineraire
maritime_, common on the shores of the isle, which has hoary,
pinnatifid leaves and a flower that grows in panicles.
On their way home the pilgrims went to pray at the tomb of Sant
Armentari, a great miracle-worker at Draguignan, specially invoked for
those who have lost their reason. But we shall speak of him further on.
Arriving home, they were met by their fellow-townsmen and led in
triumph to the church, when Benediction was given, thus ending the
pilgrimage.
The expense of the journey, or the gradual lukewarmness of the people,
at length diminished the number from Rians, and finally the pilgrimage
ceased altogether, till a failure of the crops induced the town to
revive it partially by sending a yearly deputation as its
representative.
There is a naïve legend of one Boniface who lived at Oraison—a simple,
upright man whom lack of worldly wisdom had reduced to such want as to
force him to become the swineherd of a wicked usurer, named Garinus,
who was blind. For six successive years he had visited Lérins at the
time of the Grand Pardon, and, when the seventh arrived, he humbly
begged permission of Garinus to go and gain the indulgence. Garinus
refused, and, lest the swineherd should secretly join the other
pilgrims, he carefully fastened him up. Boniface’s grief increased as
the feast of Pentecost drew near. The eve arrived, but he was prevented
from keeping even a lonely vigil by an overpowering drowsiness.
Suddenly the sound of music awoke him, and, opening his eyes, he found
himself before the altar of the church of Lérins. When the stations
were made and the divine offices were over, the monks, as usual,
distributed the palms among the _Rominæ_. Boniface also approached with
the others to receive his, and then retired to an obscure corner of the
church, where he soon fell sound asleep. When he awoke he found himself
once more in the prison where he had been confined by his master. The
rest of the pilgrims from Oraison arrived three days after, and, not
knowing the state of affairs, complimented the usurer on his kindness
to his servant. He denied having given Boniface permission to go, and
summoned him to his presence. The swineherd related with great
simplicity what had happened to him. Garinus was at once astonished and
affected by the account, and besought Boniface to give him the palm he
had brought from the holy isle. Taking it reverently in his hands, he
applied it to his eyes, and at once not only recovered his sight, but
the eyes of his soul were likewise opened.
But to return to the history of the island. The abbey was secularized
in 1788—some say on account of the luxuries and excesses of the monks.
But the inventory shows how few luxuries they really had—not more than
the simplest villagers now possess. The monks withdrew to their
families. Not one was left to guard the graves of the martyrs and
continue the prayers of so many ages. The last prior of Lérins, Dom
Théodule Bon, died at his sister’s residence in Vallauris. The people
of Cannes used to say of him: _Moussu lou Priour es Bouan dé noum et dé
fach_—M. le Prieur is good by name and good by nature.
In 1791 the island was sold at public auction, and the purchaser’s
daughter, who had been an actress, came here to reside. O isle of
saints!... In 1856 Mr. Sims, an Anglican minister, bought it. He showed
some respect for the ancient monuments, and had begun to restore the
citadel when he died. The bishop of Fréjus bought it in 1859. Two
bishops, several dignitaries of the church, and a number of priests
came over to take possession of the island. A great crowd awaited them.
The clergy (those of Cannes bearing the relics of St. Honorat) advanced
toward the old church, chanting the mournful psalm, _Deus, venerunt
gentes_, many verses of which were so particularly applicable. The
walls so long profaned were blessed, and the crowd prostrated
themselves while the Litany of Lérins was solemnly sung. Some
agricultural brothers of the Order of St. Francis were established here
for a time. On the eve of the feast of St. Caprais (St. Honorat’s
spiritual guide) the bishop blessed the chapel of St. Porcaire and the
Five Hundred Martyrs, which had been restored, and Mass was said amid
the ruins of the old church of St. Honorat.
* * * * *
There are several places of great interest on the mainland, associated
with the saints of Lérins, all of which we devoutly visited as a part
of our pilgrimage. One is Cap Roux, at the western termination of the
Bay of Cannes, always dear to the monks of the isle on account of the
_baume_, or cave, on the western side of the cliff, inhabited for some
time by St. Honorat after his return from the East, and still called by
his name. The ascent to this grotto is rather dangerous, and at the
foot was once an oratory where pilgrims stopped to pray before
undertaking the ascent. They used to cry: “Sancte Maguncti!” perhaps
because they associated the name of this saint of Lérins with the
Provençal word _m’aganti_, as if they would say, _Saint I-cling-to_, as
they seized hold of the sides of the cliff.
Denis Faucher, the monk, graved an inscription in Latin verse over the
entrance to the Baume de St. Honorat, which may thus be rendered:
“Reader, in Honorat, our father, thou wilt find an example of lofty
virtue and reason to admire the wonderful gifts of God. Others visit
the holy places and seek afar off the noble models they have not at
home. The renown of Honorat renders sacred every place he approached,
though now devoid of his presence. Behold this retreat, once almost
inaccessible to the wild beasts, now rendered so famous by the holy
bishop as to attract innumerable visitors from every land.” In the cave
there has been for centuries an altar for celebrating the Christian
mysteries. At the left is a well that rarely fails, even in the
greatest drought. At the right is a hollow in the rock like the impress
of the human form, called by the people the _Couche de St. Honorat_.
Over it is also an inscription by the same monk: “Illustrious pontiff,
from the height of heaven reveal thy august presence to him who seeks
thy traces upon earth.”
Another cave in the side of the mount near the sea was inhabited for a
time by St. Eucher, to whom his wife, Galla, came to bring food while
he gave himself up to contemplation. An angel revealed to the people of
Lyons where he lived concealed, and they sent messengers to ask him to
be their bishop.
St. Armentaire, who was bishop of Embrun in the middle of the fifth
century, being deposed by the council of Riez, retired to Cap Roux. It
was he who slew the dragon that infested the neighborhood of
Draguignan. The fame of his sanctity led to his being chosen bishop of
Antibes, but his body was, after his death, brought back to Draguignan
and placed in a church he himself had erected in honor of St. Peter.
The concourse to his tomb was formerly very great, as we have seen in
the case of the pilgrimage from Rians.
There were hermits at Cap Roux as late as the eighteenth century, and
pilgrims used to go there in procession, chanting the litany of Lérins,
to implore the cessation of some scourge. Now it is only visited from
time to time by a solitary devotee, or some naturalist to study the
flora and the formation of the rocks, who pauses awhile at the cave and
drinks at the fountain.
About a league west of Cannes, above Cap Roux, is Mt. Arluc, which
rises out of the plain of Laval. It belongs to the tertiary formation,
and looks so artificial that it has often been regarded as a tumulus
made by the Romans, who, according to tradition, had an intrenched camp
here to protect the Aurelian road[168] that ran through the plain, as
well as the galleys on the coast. After the submission of the province
to the Roman domination a temple was built here in honor of Venus, who
could not have desired a fairer shore, in sight of the very sea from
which she sprang. Her altar was surrounded by trees to veil her unholy
rites, and the mount took the name of _Ara-luci_—altar of the sacred
wood—whence the name of Arluc. This consecrated grove was cut down by
St. Nazaire, abbot of Lérins, who knew the importance of destroying
these high places of the Gentiles. To him, too, the waves beneath were
always whispering of love, but not profane love. They spoke of “love
eternal and illimitable, not bounded by the confines of the world or by
the end of time, but ranging beyond the sea, beyond the sky, to the
invisible country far away.” And he set up an altar to the Infinite
One, and beside the church built a monastery, which he peopled with
holy maidens under the direction of Hélène, a princess of Riez. One of
the first abbesses bore the name of Oratorie. It was to her St. Césaire
of Arles addressed two of his essays: one on the qualities that should
be possessed by those who have the direction of souls; the other on the
text, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge
of God!”
About the year 677 St. Aygulph, abbot of Lérins, rebuilt or enlarged
this monastery at the request of several noble ladies of the region,
and, the house having perhaps been depopulated by the Saracens, a
colony of nuns came here from Blois under the care of St. Angarisma.
When the holy abbot was martyred, Angarisma, learning the fate of her
spiritual father, went with the sisterhood to venerate his remains. The
monks who had escaped described the sufferings and constancy of the
martyrs, and showed their mangled remains. One of the nuns, named
Glauconia, who was blind, applied the right arm of St. Aygulph to her
eyes and at once recovered her sight. Whereupon the abbess begged for
his body, but in vain. The arm which had restored Glauconia’s sight was
given to her, however, and they carried it with them to Arluc. St.
Aygulph is invoked in this region still, under the name of St. Aïgou,
for diseases of the eye, and a statue of him is to be seen at
Châteauneuf in the chapel of Notre Dame de Brusc.
The nuns of Arluc fled several times before the Saracens, but we read
of the monastery in the tenth century, when St. Maxime, of the
illustrious family of De Grasse, came here in search of Christian
perfection. She was afterwards sent to found a house at Callian, where
part of her remains are still preserved.
In the life of St. Honorat there is an interesting legend of one of the
nuns of Arluc, named Cibeline, the daughter of Reybaud, a lord of
Antibes. She had been married in early life, but lost her husband soon
after, and was still renowned for her beauty when she became infected
with leprosy. St. Honorat appeared to Reybaud in a dream and said to
him: “Give me thy daughter as a bride.” He had the same vision three
times, which at last so impressed him that he took Cibeline with him
and went to Lérins to relate it to the holy abbot Porcaire. The latter
at once comprehended its spiritual significance and said to Cibeline:
“Wilt thou, out of love to God and devotion to St. Honorat, lead
henceforth a pure life and take the sacred veil in the monastery of
Arluc?” Cibeline then confessed this had been the earliest desire of
her heart, and that she regarded her disease as the judgment of God for
having violated the vow she had made in yielding to worldly persuasions
and wedding the husband she had lost. St. Porcaire then took pure
water, in which he plunged holy relics, and ordered her to bathe
therein. She was instantly cured of her leprosy, and her father led her
to Arluc and consecrated her to God.
Arluc probably took the name of St. Cassian, by which it is now more
generally known, in the fourteenth century, when it fell under the
jurisdiction of the abbey of St. Victor at Marseilles, which Cassian
had founded. Nor is the name inappropriate for this mount that stands
in sight of the places rendered sacred by St. Honorat and St. Eucher,
for whom Cassian had so great an admiration as to cry in one of his
books on the ascetic life dedicated to them: “O holy brothers! your
virtues shine upon the world like great beacon-lights. Many saints will
be formed by your example, but will scarcely be able to imitate your
perfection.”
Cassian has been regarded as a saint in Provence, and the people of
Cannes used to make a _romérage_, or pilgrimage, to the chapel that
took his name at Arluc, on the 23d of July, the festival of St.
Cassian.
When the Revolution arrived the republicans wished to sell the mount,
and two hundred soldiers were sent to strip the chapel. The number was
none too large, for at the news the people of Cannes sounded the tocsin
and went in crowds to the rescue. The very women were armed. One in
particular aimed her reaping-hook at the neck of the leader. They bore
triumphantly away the relics and ornaments, but the chapel and land
were sold some time after to nine men belonging to Cannes. St. Cassian,
or Arluc, is still crowned with oaks, as in the time when Venus held
sway there, though Bonaparte, when in the vicinity, had many of them
cut down.
The monastery of Arluc gave its name to a village on the sea-shore at
the mouth of the Siagne. This stream, in which the monks of Lérins once
had the sole right to fish, derives its name from the Provençal word
_saignos_ or _siagnos_, given to the cat-tails that grow so abundantly
on its banks. On the Siagne is the hamlet of Mandelieu, on land which
once belonged to St. Consortia, the daughter of St. Eucher. She gave
her fortune to works of charity, and founded here a hospital under the
invocation of St. Stephen. And there is a cape on the coast, near La
Napoule, called Theoule, from another daughter of St. Eucher, named
Tullia. When St. Eucher abandoned the world and retired to Lérins he
took with him his two sons, Véran and Salonius, leaving his wife,
Galla, and her two daughters on his domains near La Napoule, where
Tullia, who died young, was buried.
Such are the memories associated with the isles of Lérins, for many of
which we are indebted to the interesting work by M. l’Abbé Alliez. We
made a second visit to St. Honorat before leaving Cannes, to take a
farewell look at the old donjon on the shore, the holy palm in the
cloister, and the ruined chapels. When we left the isle several of the
white-robed monks accompanied us to the shore, and, on looking back
from our swiftly-receding boat, we saw two of them still standing at
the foot of a huge cross among the sad pines....
“O satis nunquam celebrata tellus!
Dulce solamen, requiesque cordis!
Cœlitum sedes procul a profani
Turbine vulgi!”
—O land that can never be sufficiently praised! Sweet consolation,
repose of the heart! Haven sheltered from the tempests of a profane
world!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
IN RETREAT.
“Break, my heart, and let me die!
Burst with sorrow, drown with love!...
Lord, if Thou the boon deny,
Thou wilt not the wish reprove.” ...
Whence that piercing, burning ray,
Seem’d to reach me from the light
Where, behind the Veil, ’tis day—
Where the Blessèd walk by sight?
Thine, ’twas thine, O Sacred Heart!
Mercy-sent—that I might see
Something of the all Thou art,
Something of the naught in me.
Ah! I saw Thy patient love
Watching o’er me year on year;
Guarding, guiding, move for move—
Always faithful, always near:
Saw Thy pardon’s ceaseless flow
Evermore my soul bedew;
Washing scarlet white as snow,[169]
Sere and blight to morning-new:
Saw this self—how weak, how base!—
Still go sinning, blundering, on;
Thankless with its waste of grace,
Wearied with the little done.
Then I murmur’d: “O my King!
What are all my acts of will?
Each best effort can but bring
Failure and confusion still!
“This poor heart, which ought to burn,
Smoulders feebly; yet may dare
Offer Thine one last return—
One fond, fierce, atoning prayer?
“Let it break, this very hour—
Burst with sorrow, drown with love!
For if Thou withhold thy power,
Thou wilt not the wish reprove.” ...
Pass’d that moment: but, as fall
Lovers’ whispers, answer’d He;
“_Daily_ die[170]—with thy Saint Paul.
Die to self—and live to Me.”
SEPTEMBER, 1877.
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PREACHERS ON THE RAMPAGE.[171]