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From : rich
Date : Mon Oct 01 2018 08:40:20

From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

October 2nd =E2=80=93 St. Leodegarius (Leger), OSB (RM)

Born c. 616; died near Arras in 678. Leodegarius was raised at the
court of King Clotaire II and educated by his uncle, Bishop Didon of
Poitiers. He was made archdeacon by Didon, was ordained, and about
651-653 became abbot of Maxentius (Maixent) Abbey, where he introduced
the Rule of St. Benedict. During this time it appears that Saint
Leodegarius acquired a humble spirit and became a true priest.

It is unknown whether Leodegarius was summoned or went to the court of
his own accord. Nevertheless, he counseled Queen Saint Bathildis
during the minority of her son Clotaire III after the death of her
husband, Clovis II, in 656. Leodegarius was appointed bishop of Autun
in 663, though he continued to advise the queen. Autun was in a state
of complete disorder. There had been no bishop for two years and
before that there were two claimants for the episcopal throne. One of
them had been murdered and the other exiled because of his abuses of
power. Leodegarius began by physically restoring the town: its walls
and the cathedral.

It is said, "Those who were not led to peace and concord by preaching,
were forced there by justice and terror." Although Leodegarius had a
reputation as a very strict bishop, he managed to reconcile the
factions that had torn apart the see, introduced reforms, imposed the
Benedictine Rule in all monasteries, and was known for his concern for
the poor.

After Bathildis had retired and on the death of Clotaire III, he
supported young Childeric II for king against his brother Thierry, who
had been backed by Ebroin, mayor of the palace. Ebroin was exiled to
Luxeuil, where he became a tonsured monk and a bitter enemy of
Leodegarius, who became Childeric's adviser. Leodegarius's exalted
position didn't last for long for he alienated many with his severity.
When Leodegarius denounced the marriage of Childeric to his uncle's
daughter, he also incurred the enmity of Childeric.

One Easter Childeric refused Leodegarius's invitation to attend the
Easter Mass at the cathedral of Saint-Nazaire in Autun. Later
Childeric interrupted the Mass. He was drunk and shouted insults, but
as he was king, no one said anything. Because no one said anything,
the king believed that there was nobody there, and left. But the next
day his fury against Leodegarius had not abated. The saint decided to
flee, but he was soon caught, returned to court, judged and banished
to Luxeuil in 675. There he met and was reconciled to his enemy
Ebroin. In Luxeuil they prayed side-by-side and pledged eternal
friendship.

When Childeric was murdered in 675, his successor, Theodoric III,
restored Leodegarius to his see. Ebroin was also restored as mayor of
the palace after he had the incumbent Leudesius murdered and persuaded
the duke of Champagne and the bishops of Chalons and Valence to attack
Autun. To save the town, Leodegarius surrendered himself. Ebroin had
him blinded, his lips cut off, and his tongue pulled out. Leodegarius
accepted his fate. His death did not come at once, and he suffered in
silence and prayer. Ebroin sent him to a forest and ordered that the
blind man should be left there to die of hunger. But Leodegarius's
guard took pity on him and after a few days went to find him. He took
him into his home and cared for him.

Not satisfied, several years later, Ebroin convinced the king that
Childeric had been murdered by Leodegarius and his brother Saint
Gerinus. Gerinus was stoned to death, and Leodegarius was tortured and
imprisoned at F=C3=A9camp monastery in Normandy, a cripple. A letter
written by Leodegarius to his mother about the death of his brother
still exists.

Two years later Leodegarius was summoned to a court at Marly by
Ebroin. A court of bishops declared him deposed from his see. Finally,
his enemies executed him.

His feast is kept in Lucern, Switzerland. Leodegarius is the patron of
millers and is invoked against blindness (Roeder).


Your guardian angel is really present

Be ever more convinced that your guardian angel is really present,
that he is ever at your side. St. Frances of Rome always saw him
standing before her, his arms clasped at his breast, his eyes uplifted
to Heaven; but at the slightest failing, he would cover his face as if
in shame, and at times, turn his back to her.
--Saint John Bosco


<><><><>
October is the Feast of Christ the King, the Kingship of our Lord Jesus Chr=
ist.

Our Lord is King of all His Creation by birth and by conquest.

First is His Kingship as God the Son through the hypostatic union
whereby Divinity is united in humanity in the person of Christ.

The second is His rescue of mankind by the Incarnation, as He came to
the world to save those fallen in the act of Adam and Eve and ravaged
by the temptation of Satan.=C2  He is King by our sanctification through
His passion, death, and resurrection thereby conquering sin and death.

And as King his Body and Blood wash away our iniquities and cleanse us
of our sins present in the Passion and present in the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass.

--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)

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