Subj : =?UTF-8?Q?January_16th_=E2=80=93_St=2E_Fursey_of_Lagny?= To : All From : rich Date : Mon Jan 15 2018 09:05:11 From: rich January 16th =E2=80=93 St. Fursey of Lagny, Abbot, Visionary (also known as Fursa of P=C3=A9rrone) Born Island of Inisquin(?), Lough Corri, Ireland; died in France c. 648. After Saint Columbanus, Fursey is perhaps the best known of the Irish monastic missioners abroad in the earlier middle ages. Born of noble parents, Saint Fursey left home to build a monastery at Rathmat (probably Killursa), attracted throngs of disciples, and then after a time at home began preaching. Twelve years later, sometime after 630, with his brothers SS. Foillan and Ultan, he travelled to East Anglia (England) as a "pilgrim for Christ," and was welcomed by King Saint Sigebert of the East Angles, who was encouraging the work of Saint Felix of Dunwich at just this time. Sigebert gave them the old fortress of Cnobheresburg (Burgh Castle, Suffolk) and its adjacent lands for a monastery. Fursey, therefore, established a monastery on this land, and ministered from there for about ten years. About 642, on the death of Sigebert in battle against King Penda of Mercia, Fursey left on a pilgrimage to Rome. He never returned. Instead he moved on to Gaul, where he was given land by Mayor Erchinoald of Neustria (into whose household Saint Bathildis had recently been sold). There Fursey founded a monastery at Lagny-sur-Marne, near Paris, c. 644. Fursey died at Mezerolles (Somme) while on a journey, and was buried at P=C3=A9ronne (Picardy), where his tomb became a place of pilgrimage and the monastery there an Irish center. Saint Bede wrote more about Fursey than any other Irish missionary, except Saint Aidan. Fursey, says Bede, was 'renowned for his words and works, outstanding in goodness,' and it is Bede who relates the visions of the unseen world of spirits, good and evil, which account for much of Fursey's fame. From time to time he would fall into a trance-like state for a considerable period, during which he would see such things as the fires of falsehood, covetousness, discord, and injustice lying in wait to consume the world. He also had a vision of the afterlife, which Bede recounts--one of the earliest such. Together with those of the English Drithelm (also recorded by Bede), Saint Fursey's visions had considerable influence in the religious thought of western Europe in the later middle ages, notably as expressed in Dante's Divine Comedy. Fursey made a big impression on everyone that met him. So many miracles were attributed to him in his own lifetime that he should be counted among the greatest of saints. He initiated his mission in France by restoring to life the son of a local nobleman, Count Haymon, who begged him to build his monastery on the nobleman's land. The saint declined, but this is the very site on which he died. Fursey's sanctity was a topic of conversation and came to the attention of French kings and nobles, who vied with each other to attract him to their territory, even after his death. Count Haymon intended to inter Fursey in Mezerolles, but the Chancellor of P=C3=A9ronne, Erchinoald, sent a royal guard to seize the remains. His holy body lay in a portico for four years, awaiting the completion of a magnificent new church to receive him. Bede records "concerning the incorruption of his body, we have briefly taken notice so that the sublime character of this man may be better known to the readers." In 654, Fursey's relics were translated to a shrine "in the shape of a little house," supposedly made by Saint Eligius. They were translated again in 1056. King Saint Louis, in 1256, declared his desire to be present for the retranslation of his remains to a new shrine at P=C3=A9ronne. On his return from a crusade, Louis went straight to P=C3=A9r= onne, where he placed his own seal on the sepulchre. Most of the relics remained until the French Revolution; a head reliquary survived even the Prussian bombing of 1870. French, Irish, and English calendars (especially at Canterbury, which claimed his head relics) attest to his cultus. (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Montague). In art Saint Fursey is portrayed as an abbot raising from the dead a youth, son of a nobleman. He may also by shown in ecstasy (Roeder). The figure of Fursey is now carried on the banner of the city of P=C3=A9ronne (Montague). Saint Quote: Thy name, betokening beauty, befits thy life, foretells thy splendor in the glory of Thy holy cross. The cross exalts thee, the blessed cross loves thee, the bitter cross prepares for thee the joys of the light to come. The mystery of the cross shines in thee with a twofold beauty: for by the cross thou dost vanquish insults and dost preach to men the Divine blood shed on the cross. Give fervor to our languid hearts, and take us under thy care, that so, by the victory of the cross, we may reach our home in heaven. Amen --Pope Saint Damasus Bible Quote: In thy sight are all they that afflict me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort me, and I found none. And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." (Ps. 68:21-22) <><><><> Alma Redemptoris Mater Anthem of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of Christ! hear thou thy people's cry. Star of the deep, and portal of the sky, Mother of Him Who thee from nothing made. Sinking we strive and call to thee for aid: Oh, by that joy which Gabriel brought to thee, Pure Virgin first and last, look on our misery. Let us pray: O God, Who by the fruitful virginity of blessed Mary hast given to mankind the rewards of eternal salvation; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may experience her intercession for us, by whom we deserved to receive the Author of life, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen. V. May the divine assistance remain always with us. R. Amen. Pater, Ave, and Credo, in silence. --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .