Among the illustrious saints who adorned the court of king Clotaire
the Great, none is more famous than St. Arnoul. He was a Frenchman,
born of rich and noble parents; and, having been educated in learning
and piety, was called to the court of king Theodebert, in which
he held the second place among the great officers of state, being
next to Gondulph, mayor of the palace. Though young, he was equally
admired for prudence in the council and for valor in the field. By
assiduous prayer, fasting, and excessive alms-deeds, he joined the
virtues of a perfect Christian with the duties of a courtier. Having
married a noble lady called Doda, he had by her two sons, Clodulf and
Ansegisus; by the latter the Carlovingian race of kings of France
descended from St. Arnoul. Fearing the danger of entangling his soul
in many affairs which passed through his hands, he desired to retire
to the monastery of Lerins; but being crossed in the execution of his
project, passed to the court of king Clotaire. That great monarch,
the first year in which he reigned over all France, assented to the
unanimous request of the clergy and people of Metz, demanding Arnoul
for their bishop. Our saint did all that could be done to change the
measures taken, but in vain. He was consecrated bishop in 614, and
his wife Doda took the religious veil at Triers. The king obliged
Arnoul still to assist at his councils, and to fill the first place
at his court. The saint always wore a hair shirt under his garments;
he sometimes passed three days without eating, and his usual food
was only barley and water. He seemed to regard whatever he possessed
as the patrimony of the poor, and his alms seemed to exceed all
bounds. His benevolence took in all the objects of charity, but
his discretion singled out those more particularly whose greater
necessities called more pressingly upon his bounty.
In 622 Clotaire II. divided his dominions, and making his son
Dagobert king of Austrasia, appointed St. Arnoul duke of Austrasia
and chief counsellor and Pepin of Landen mayor of his palace. The
reign of this prince was virtuous, prosperous, and glorious, so long
as Arnoul remained at the helm; but the saint anxiously desiring
to retire from all business, that he might more seriously study to
secure his own salvation before he should be called hence, never
ceased to solicit the king for leave to quit the court. Dagobert
long refused his consent, but at length, out of a scruple lest he
should oppose the call of heaven, granted it, though with the utmost
reluctance. St. Arnoul resigned also his bishopric, and retired into
the deserts of Vosge, near the monastery of Remiremont, on the top
of a high mountain, where a hermitage is at this day standing. Here
the saint labored daily with fresh fervor to advance in the path of
Christian perfection; for the greater progress a person has already
made in virtue, the more does the prospect enlarge upon him, and the
more perfectly does he see how much is yet wanting in him, and how
great a scope is left for exerting his endeavors still more. Who will
pretend to have made equal advances with St. Paul towards perfection?
yet he was far from ever thinking that he had finished his work, or
that he might remit anything in his endeavors. On the contrary, we
find him imitating the alacrity of those who run in a race who do not
so much consider what ground they have already cleared, as how much
still remains to call forth their utmost eagerness and strength. Nor
can there be a more certain sign that a person has not yet arrived at
the lowest and first degree of virtue, than that he should think he
does not need to aim higher. In this vigorous pursuit St. Arnoul died
on the 16th of August in 640. His remains were brought to Metz, and
enrich the great abbey which bears his name. The Roman Martyrology
mentions him on the 18th of July, on which day the translation of his
relics was performed; the Gallican on the 16th of August. See his
life, faithfully compiled by his successor, in Mabillon, Act. Bened.
t. 2, p. 150. Also Calmet, Hist. de Lorraine, t. 1, l. 9, n. 10, &c.
p. 378, 381, &c. Bosch the Bollandist, t. 5, Jul. p. 423; and D.
Cajot, Benedictin monk of St. Arnoul’s Les Antiquités de Metz, an.
1761.