Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - Litany Lane Blog:
Invoke, Philippians 2:5-11, Psalms 22:26-32, Luke 14:15-24, St Leonard of Noblac, Limousin France
Good Day Bloggers! Invoke, Philippians 2:5-11, Psalms 22:26-32, Luke 14:15-24, St Leonard of Noblac, Limousin France
Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013
P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.
We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift knowledge and free will as well,
make the most of it. Life on earth is a stepping to our eternal home in
Heaven. Its your choice whether to rise towards eternal light or lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to Purgatory and/or Heaven is our Soul, our Spirit...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
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November 02, 2012 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
"Dear children, as a mother I implore you to persevere as my apostles. I am praying to my Son to give you Divine wisdom and strength. I am praying that you may discern everything around you according to God’s truth and to strongly resist everything that wants to distance you from my Son. I am praying that you may witness the love of the Heavenly Father according to my Son. My children, great grace has been given to you to be witnesses of God’s love. Do not take the given responsibility lightly. Do not sadden my motherly heart. As a mother I desire to rely on my children, on my apostles. Through fasting and prayer you are opening the way for me to pray to my Son for Him to be beside you and for His name to be holy through you. Pray for the shepherds because none of this would be possible without them. Thank you."
October 25, 2012 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
"Dear children! Today I call you to pray for my intentions. Renew fasting and prayer because Satan is cunning and attracts many hearts to sin and perdition. I call you, little children, to holiness and to live in grace. Adore my Son so that He may fill you with His peace and love for which you yearn. Thank you for having responded to my call." ~ Blessed Virgin Mary
October 02, 2012 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
"Dear children; I am calling you and am coming among you because I need you. I need apostles with a pure heart. I am praying, and you should also pray, that the Holy Spirit may enable and lead you, that He may illuminate you and fill you with love and humility. Pray that He may fill you with grace and mercy. Only then will you understand me, my children. Only then will you understand my pain because of those who have not come to know the love of God. Then you will be able to help me. You will be my light-bearers of God’s love. You will illuminate the way for those who have been given eyes but do not want to see. I desire for all of my children to see my Son. I desire for all of my children to experience His Kingdom. Again I call you and implore you to pray for those whom my Son has called. Thank you." ~ Blessed Virgin Mary
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Today's Word: invoke in·voke [in-vohk]
Origin: 1480–90; < Latin invocāre, equivalent to in- in-2 + vocāre to call, akin to vōx voice
verb (used with object), in·voked, in·vok·ing.
1. to call for with earnest desire; make supplication or pray for: to invoke God's mercy.
2. to call on (a deity, Muse, etc.), as in prayer or supplication.
3. to declare to be binding or in effect: to invoke the law; to invoke a veto.
4. to appeal to, as for confirmation.
5. to petition or call on for help or aid.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 22:26-32
26 The poor will eat and be filled, those who seek Yahweh will praise him, 'May your heart live for ever.'27 The whole wide world will remember and return to Yahweh, all the families of nations bow down before him.
28 For to Yahweh, ruler of the nations, belongs kingly power!
29 All who prosper on earth will bow before him, all who go down to the dust will do reverence before him. And those who are dead,
30 their descendants will serve him, will proclaim his name to generations
31 still to come; and these will tell of his saving justice to a people yet unborn: he has fulfilled it
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Today's Epistle - Philippians 2:5-11
5 Make your own the mind of Christ Jesus:6 Who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped.
7 But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being,
8 he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross.
9 And for this God raised him high, and gave him the name which is above all other names;
10 so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
11 and that every tongue should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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Today's Gospel Reading - Luke 14:12-14
Jesus said to his host, 'When you give a lunch or a
dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relations or
rich neighbors, in case they invite you back and so repay you. No;
when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the
blind; then you will be blessed, for they have no means to repay you and
so you will be repaid when the upright rise again.'
Reflection
• The Gospel today continues to present the teaching
which Jesus was giving about different themes, all related to the cure
in the environment of a banquet: a cure during a meal (Lk 14, 1-6); an
advice not to take the first places (Lk 14, 7-12); advice to invite the
excluded (Lk 14, 12-14). This organization of the words of Jesus around a
determinate word, for example, table or banquet, helps one to perceive the method used by the first Christians to keep the words of Jesus in their memory.
• Luke 14, 12: Interested invitation. Jesus is eating in the house of a Pharisee who has invited him (Lk 14, 1). The invitation to share at table is the theme of the teaching of today’s Gospel. There are different types of invitations: the interested invitations for the benefit of oneself and disinterested invitations for the benefit of others. Jesus says: "When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relations or rich neighbours, in case they invite you back and so repay you”. That was the normal custom of the people: to invite friends, brothers and relatives to eat. And nobody would sit at table with unknown persons. They would sit around the table only with persons who were their friends. That was the custom of the Jews. And even now we also act in the same way. Jesus thinks differently and orders to invite unknown people; these were invitations which nobody used to make.
• Luke 14, 13-14: Disinterested invitation. Jesus says. “On the contrary, when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; then you will be blessed, for they have no means to repay you. So you will be repaid when the upright rise again.” Jesus orders to break the closed circle and asks to invite the excluded: the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. This was not the custom and it is not either today. But Jesus insists: “Invite these persons”. Why? Because in the disinterested invitation, addressed to excluded and marginalized persons, there is a source of happiness: “And then you will be blessed for they have no means to repay you”. This is a strange type of happiness, a diverse happiness! You will be blessed, for they have no means to repay you. It is the happiness that comes from the fact that you have done a gesture totally gratuitous, without asking for anything. Jesus says that this is the happiness which God will give us in the resurrection; the Resurrection which he will give us not only at the end of history, but even now. To act in this way is already a resurrection!
• It is the Kingdom which will be confirmed. The advice which Jesus gives us in the Gospel today recalls the sending out of the seventy-two on the mission of announcing the Kingdom (Lk 10, 1-9). Among the different recommendations given on that occasion, as signs of the presence of the Kingdom, there is: (a) the invitation to the table and (b) the acceptance of the excluded: “Whenever you go into a town, where they make you welcome, eat what is put before you, cure those who are sick and say: the Kingdom of God is very near to you!” (Lk 10, 8-9) Here, in these recommendations, Jesus orders to transgress that norm of legal purity which prevented fraternal living together.
Personal questions
• An interested or disinterested invitation: which of these takes place in my life?
• If you invited in a disinterested way, would this cause some difficulties? Which ones?
• If you invited in a disinterested way, would this cause some difficulties? Which ones?
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: Saint Leonard of Noblac
Feast Day: November 6
Patron Saint: political prisoners, imprisoned people, prisoners of war, captives, women in labor
According to the romance that accrued to his name, recorded in an 11th-century vita, Leonard was a Frankish noble in the court of Clovis I, founder of the Merovingian dynasty. He was converted to Christianity along with the king, at Christmas 496, by Saint Remigius, Bishop of Reims. Leonard asked Clovis to grant him personally the right to liberate prisoners whom he would find worthy of it, at any time.
Leonard secured the release of a number of prisoners, for whom he has become a patron saint, then, declining the offer of a bishopric— a prerogative of Merovingian nobles— he entered the monastery at Micy near Orléans, under the direction of Saint Mesmin and Saint Lie. Then, according to his legend, Leonard became a hermit in the forest of Limousin, where he gathered a number of followers. Through his prayers the queen of the Franks was safely delivered of a male child, and in recompense Leonard was given royal lands at Noblac, 21 km (13 mi) from Limoges. It is likely that the toponym was derived from the Latin family name Nobilius and the common Celtic element -ac, simply denoting a place. There he founded the abbey of Noblac, around which a village grew, named in his honour Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat. According to legend, prisoners who invoked him from their cells saw their chains break before their eyes. Many came to him afterwards, bringing their heavy chains and irons to offer them in homage. A considerable number remained with him, and he often gave them part of his vast forest to clear and make ready for the labours of the fields, that they might have the means to live an honest life.
Diffusion of cult
In the 12th century, although there is no previous mention of Leonard either in literature, liturgy or in church dedications, his cult rapidly spread, at first through Frankish lands, following the release of Bohemond I of Antioch in 1103 from a Danishmend prison, where the successful diplomacy was inspired by Leonard of Noblac. Bohemond, a charismatic leader of the First Crusade, subsequently visited the Abbey of Noblac, where he made an offering in gratitude for his release. Bohemond's example inspired many similar gifts, enabling the Romanesque church and its prominent landmark belltower to be constructed. About the same time Noblac was becoming a stage in the pilgrimage route that led towards Santiago de Compostela. Leonard's cult spread through all of Western Europe: in England, with its cultural connections to the region, no fewer than 177 churches are dedicated to him. Leonard was venerated in Scotland, the Low Countries, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, particularly in Bavaria, and also in Bohemia, Poland, and elsewhere. Pilgrims and patronage flowed to Saint-Leonard de Noblac.Leonard or Lienard became one of the most venerated saints of the late Middle Ages. His intercession was credited with miracles for the release of prisoners, women in labour and the diseases of cattle. His feast day is November 6, when he is honoured with a festival at Bad Tölz, Bavaria. He is honoured by the parish of Kirkop, Malta on the third Sunday of every August.
Veneration
Since the vita written in the 11th century is without historical value according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, one may approach the legendary Saint Leonard, whose bones lie in the Romanesque collegial church, by means of the historic village, instead of the other way around. The growing tide of pilgrims passing on their way to Santiago inspired romances to publicize more than one locally-venerated saint along the pilgrim routes. Saint Martial is another example of a saint of the Limousin whose dramatic vita helped attract pilgrims to his shrine. The village below the shrine of Saint Leonard, perched on its hilltop site, had its origins in the 11th century, when under the jurisdiction of the château of Noblac it was first encircled with walls, a necessity of life in the region. It developed as a small center of commerce in the 13th century, based on forges and foundries (perhaps the origin of the saint's association with chains) and leatherworking, with communal consuls who were in charge of defending its rights and privileges -its "liberties" in the medieval sense. A history of the commune, written by the local antiquary and historian of the Limousin, Louis Guibert in 1890, was reissued in 1992.Today Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, Haute-Vienne, population 4766 in 1999, is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites connected with the routes to Santiago, St James Way. It retains the Romanesque collegial church and its belltower, 52 m (171 ft) tall. Its old houses follow a medieval street pattern, with many streets converging in a public space by the former abbey church. In the 19th century, a papermill and a porcelain manufactory were added to its commerce. No longer attracting visitors as a stop on the route to Santiago, it is now attracting them as an overnight stop on the Tour de France. The town is also famous for its native son, the scientist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (1778 – 1850); there is a small museum in his honor.
Notable among these is the town of St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex. Sussex is also home to St Leonard's Forest. This part of England has a significant number of dedications to St Leonard. One of the best-known is the Parish church of St Leonard in Hythe, Kent, with its famous ossuary in the ambulatory situated beneath its chancel. There is a cluster of dedications in the West Midlands region, including the original parish churches of Bridgnorth (now a redundant church and used for community purposes) and Bilston, as well as White Ladies Priory, a ruined Augustinian house. The largest hospital in morthern mediaeval England was an Augustinian foundation dedicated to St. Leonard, in York. Its partial ruins are to be found in the Museum Gardens although undercroft remains lie some hundred yards away and are used as a bar under the York Theatre Royal.
The Mediterranean nation of Malta contains a single parish dedicated to this saint, in the town of Kirkop. Kirkop's parish church was founded on May 29, 1592. The saint is known as San Anard Abbati in Maltese.
In Italy almost 225 places are dedicated to saint Léonard, equally distributed in the North (in Friuli there's the oldest Italian church dedicated to this saint 774) as well as in the South where the shrine was introduced by the Normans. The shrine can be found even in Italian islands such as Sicily, Sardinia, Ischia, Procida. In September 2004, a National Meeting of the Italian parish churches dedicated to the Saint took place in the small village of Panza d'Ischia where a small chapel of St. Leonard was transformed into a church in 1536.
References
- Guibert, Louis La commune de Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat au XIIIe siècle. Limoges, 1890 (reprinted 1992) (French)
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Today's Snippet I: Limousin, France
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| The Romanesque church of St Leonard in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, Haute-Vienne. |
Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat
Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat (Occitan: Sent Liunard) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Limousin region in west-central France.
Perched on a hill above the river Vienne, the town is named after Saint Leonard of Noblac, who, as legend suggests, was responsible for the liberation of many prisoners in 11th century France.
The Saint-Léonard Church of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.
Lajoumard, a village that administratively depends of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, is one of the oldest villages in Limousin.
Limoges
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Limoges enamel ciborium
with champlevé enamel,
center rim in pseudo-Kufic
script, circa 1200. |
Limoges (French pronunciation: [li.mɔʒ], Lemòtges or Limòtges in the Limousin dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France. Limoges is known for its medieval enamels (Limoges enamels) on copper, for its 19th-century porcelain (Limoges porcelain) and for its oak barrels (Limousin oak), which are used for Cognac production.
Scarce remains of pre-urban settlements have been found in the area of Limoges. The capital of the Gaulish people of the Lemovices, who lived in the area, was probably some kilometres south-east of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat.
The city proper was founded as Augustoritum by the Romans, around 10 BC. The foundation was part of the reorganization of the province by the emperor Augustus, hence the new name. The Roman city included an amphitheatre measuring 136 x 115 metres, a theatre, a forum, baths and several sanctuaries. According to tradition, a temple consecrated to Venus, Diana, Minerva and Jupiter
was located near the modern cathedral. The city was on the typical
Roman square plan, with two main streets crossing in the centre. It had a
Senate and a currency of its own, a sign of its importance in the
imperial age.
Limoges was evangelized by Saint Martial,
who came to the city around 250 with two companions, Alpinianus and
Austriclinienus. However, in the late 3rd century it was increasingly
abandoned, due to unsafe conditions created by German invasions. The
population was concentrated instead in a more easily fortifiable site,
the modern Puy Saint-Étienne, which is the centre of the modern Limoges.
Starting from the construction of the Abbey of St. Martial (9th century), another settlement grew around the tomb of the saint, while a third area, next to the residence of the viscount (the future Castle of Saint Martial), seems to have been populated from the tenth century.
Starting from the eleventh century, thanks to the presence of the
Abbey of St. Martial and its large library, Limoges became a flourishing
artistic centre. It also was home to an important school of medieval
music composition, which is usually called the St. Martial School; its most famous member was the thirteenth century troubadour Bertran de Born.
In the 13th century, at the peak of its splendour, central Limoges consisted of two different fortified settlements.
- The town proper, with a new line of walls encompassing the Vienne River, inhabited mainly by clerks and the connected workers. It has a bridge named after Saint-Étienne, built by the bishops, and a developed port. Sacked in 1370, it never recovered entirely.
- The castle, with 12 m-high walls, including the abbey and controlled by the abbot, sometimes in contrast with the bishop-ruled town. Traces of the walls can still be seen in the city's centre.
Outside the lines of walls were the popular quarters.
In 1370, Limoges was occupied by Edward, the Black Prince, who massacred some 3,000 residents, according to Froissart. See Massacre of Limoges.
However, Froissart's account is described in Jonathan Sumption's
account of the war as "exaggerated and embroidered with much imaginary
detail." Citing a monk of St. Martial's Abbey, Sumption posits that a
more reliable figure for the number killed is around 300 people,
"perhaps a sixth of the normal population," with another 60 members of
the garrison of 140 dead as well.
The city and castle were united in 1792 to form the single city of Limoges. During the French Revolution several religious edifices, considered symbols of the Ancien Régime, were destroyed by the population: these included the Abbey of St. Martial itself. Some years later the porcelain industry started to develop, favoured by the presence of kaolinite which was discovered near Limoges in 1768.
Many of the inhabitants became employed in the new sector or in
connected activities (including the lumbering of wood needed for firing
the porcelain) in manufacture and exporting needed for European
distribution of Limoges Boxes, dinnerware, and other porcelain wares.
In the 19th century Limoges saw strong construction activity, which
included the destruction and rebuilding of much of the city centre. This
was necessary, as the town was regarded as unhealthy because of
prostitution. The unsafe conditions of the poorer population is highlighted by the outbreak of several riots, including that of July–November 1830; April 1848 and early 1905. The first French confederation of workers, Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) (General Confederation of Labour), was created in Limoges in 1895. During the Holocaust, many Jews from Alsace were evacuated to Limoges.
Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienneis a French department named after the Vienne River. It is one of three departments that together constitute the French region of Limousin. The chief and largest city is Limoges. The other towns in the department each have fewer than 20,000 inhabitants
Lajoumard
Lajoumard is a village in Limousin, France. According to its inhabitants, it is one of the oldest villages in the area. Located between Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat and Le Châtenet-en-Dognon (Haute-Vienne,
87), it has about 20 old houses with stone walls. The two small
driving-roads that cross the village become very narrow in the inner
village, and houses are tangled as in a small Mediterranean town.
Many old trails pass through Lajoumard, which is on Saint James's Christian road.
A typical old French school at the village's entrance has been
converted to a house. Surrounded by fields and forests, Lajoumard is
within nature, which brings prunes, apples, pears or chestnuts depending
on the season. This preserved integration with nature gives an idea of
how villages used to be in early 20th century France.
Limousin
Limousin is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its name is derived from the name of a Celtic tribe, the Lemovices. Limousin was invaded by two people from England described as "Kernts". Aimar V of Limoges was a notable ruler of the region.
The History of Limousin, one of the traditional provinces of France around the city of Limoges, reaches back to the Celtic and Roman times. Limousin lies in the foothills of the western edge of the Massif Central, with cold weather in the winter. Its name is derived from the name of a Celtic tribe, the Lemovices. Limousin was invaded by two people from England described as "Kernts". The region was reconstituted during the Fifth Republic as part of the decentralisation efforts by the government.
Until the 1970s, Occitan
was the primary language of rural areas. There remain several different
Occitan dialects in use in Limousin, although their use is rapidly
declining:
- Limousin (dialect)
- Auvergnat (dialect) in the East/North-East
- Languedocien in the Southern fringe of Corrèze
- in the North, the Crescent transition area is sometimes considered as a separate dialect called Marchois
Perhaps due to its rural character, Limousin has maintained a strong tradition of traditional music, with ancient instruments such as the bagpipe (called chabrette, Chabreta in occitan) and hurdy-gurdy remaining popular. The pâté aux pommes de terre is one of the specialities of the Limousin, as well as of the neighbouring Allier region. The clafoutis is a local dessert.
Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat is the hometown of famous chemist and physicist, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac. Adrien Pressemane was a Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat porcelain painter before serving in parliament for the district.
Another famous inhabitant is Raymond Poulidor,
the legendary bike racer considered to be the most popular one France
ever had. He is in his seventies now and is known as "the eternal
second". Despite beginning as a favourite in several Tours de France, he persistently failed to win. He often lost against his biggest rival, Jacques Anquetil, who won the Tour five times. Later on, he competed with Eddy Merckx, who also won five times. Raymond's most famous victory was the classic Milan - Sanremo.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Limoges
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| The Cathedral of Limoges. |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Limoges is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese comprises the départments of Haute-Vienne and Creuse.
After the Concordat of 1801, the See of Limoges lost twenty-four parishes from the district of Nontron which were annexed to the Diocese of Périgueux, and forty-four from the district of Confolens, transferred to the Diocese of Angoulême; but until 1822 it included the entire ancient Diocese of Tulle, when the latter was reorganized.
Since 2002, the diocese has been suffragan to the Archdiocese of Poitiers, after transferral from the Archdiocese of Bourges. Currently the see is vacant after the promotion of bishop Christophe Dufour as the new coadjutor archbishop of Aix, in the Archdiocese of Aix.
History
Saint Gregory of Tours names St. Martial, who founded the Church of Limoges, as one of the seven bishops sent from Rome to Gaul in the middle of the 3rd century. An anonymous life of St. Martial (Vita primitiva), discovered and published by Abbé Arbellot, represents him as sent to Gaul by St. Peter. Controversy has arisen over the date of this biography. The discovery in the library at Karlsruhe of a manuscript copy written at Reichenau by Regimbertus, a monk who died in 846, places the original before that date. As it is in rhythmical prose, Mgr Bellet thinks it belongs to the 7th century while Charles De Smedt and Louis Duchesne maintain that the "Vita primitiva" is much later than Gregory of Tours. M. de Lasteyrie gives 800 as the date of its origin.
In addition to the manuscript already cited, the Abbey of St. Martial
at the beginning of the 11th century possessed a circumstantial life of
its patron saint, according to which, and to the cycle of later legends
derived from it, St. Martial was one of the seventy-two disciples who
witnessed the Passion and Ascension of Christ, was present on the first Pentecost and at the martyrdom of St. Stephen. followed St. Peter to Antioch and to Rome, and was sent to Gaul by the Prince of the Apostles, who assigned Austriclinium and Alpinian to accompany him. The three were welcomed at Tulle and turned away from Ahun.
They set out towards Limoges, where St. Martial erected on the site of
the present cathedral a shrine in honour of St. Stephen. A pagan priest,
Aurelian,
wished to throw St. Martial into prison, but was struck dead, then
brought to life, baptized, ordained and later consecrated bishop by the
saint. Aurelian is the patron of the guild of butchers in Limoges. Forty
years after the Ascension, Christ appeared to Martial, and announced to
him the approach of death. The churches of Limoges celebrate this event
on 16 June. After labouring for twenty-eight years as a missionary in
Gaul, the saint died at the age of fifty-nine, surrounded by his
converts of Poitou, Berry, Auvergne and Aquitaine.
The writer of this "Life" pretends to be Aurelian, St. Martial's disciple and successor in the See of Limoges. Louis Duchesne thinks it not unlikely that the real authorship of this "apocryphal and lying" work should be attributed to the chronicler Adhémar de Chabannes,
noted for his fabrications; but M. de Lasteyrie is of opinion that it
was written about 955, before the birth of Adhémar. Be that as it may,
this "Vita Aureliana" played an important part at the beginning of the
11th century, when the Abbot Hugh (1019–1025) brought before several
councils the question of the Apostolic date of St. Martial's mission.
Before the Carolingian
period there is no trace of the story that St. Martial was sent to Gaul
by St. Peter. It did not spread until the 11th century and was revived
in the seventeenth by the Carmelite Bonaventure de Saint-Amable, in his voluminous "Histoire de St. Martial". Duchesne and M. de Lasteyrie assert that it cannot be maintained against the direct testimony of St. Gregory of Tours, who places the origin of the Church of Limoges about the year 250.
Prominent Priests
The most distinguished bishops of Limoges are: St. Ruricius (died 507), who built the monastery and church of St. Augustine at Limoges; St. Roricius II (d. about 553), who built the church of St-Pierre-du-Queyroix and the Basilica of St. Junianus at Limoges; St. Ferréol (d. 597), the friend of St. Yrieix; St. Lupus, or Saint Loup (613-629); St. Sacerdos (Saint Sardon), Abbot of Calabrum, afterwards bishop; St. Cessa (740-761), who led the people of Limoges against the Saracens under Charles Martel; Cardinal Jean du Bellay (1541–1545).
Middle Ages
The ecelesiastics who served the crypt of St. Martial organized themselves into a monastery in 848, and built a church beside that of St.-Pierre-du-Sépulchre
which overhung the crypt. This new church, which they called
St-Sauveur, was demolished in 1021 and replaced in 1028 by a larger
edifice in Auvergnat style. Urban II
came in person to reconsecrate it in 1095. In the 13th century the
chapel of St. Benedict arose beside the old church of
St-Pierre-du-Sépulchre. It was also called the church of the Grand
Confraternity of St. Martial. The different organizations which were
grouped around it, anticipated and solved many important sociological
questions.
In the Middle Ages,
Limoges comprised two towns: one called the "City", the other the
"Chateau" or "Castle". The government of the "Castle" belonged at first
to the Abbots of St. Martial who claimed to have received it from king Louis the Pious. Later, the viscounts
of Limoges claimed this authority, and constant friction existed until
the beginning of the 13th century, when owing to the new communal
activity, consuls were appointed, to whose authority the abbots were forced to submit in 1212. After two intervals during which the English kings imposed their rule, king Charles V of France in 1371 united the "Castle" with the royal demesne,
and thus ended the political rule of the Abbey of St. Martial. Until
the end of the old regime, however, the abbots of St. Martial exercised
direct jurisdiction over the Combes quarter of the city.
In 1534, Abbot Matthieu Jouviond, finding that the monastic spirit had almost totally died out in the abbey, thought best to change it into a collegiate church,
and in 1535 the king and the pope gave their consent. It was suppressed
in 1791, and early in the 19th century even the buildings had
disappeared. In the 13th century, the Abbey of St. Martial possessed the
finest library (450 volumes) in France after that of Cluny Abbey (570 volumes). Some have been lost, but 200 of them were bought by Louis XV in 1730, and to-day are one of the most valuable collections in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris. Most manuscripts, ornamented with beautiful miniatures, were written in the abbey itself. M. Emile Molinier
and M. Rupin admit a relation between these miniatures of St. Martial
and the earliest Limoges enamels, but M. de Lasteyrie disputes this
theory. The Franciscans settled at Limoges in 1223. According to the chronicle of Pierre Coral, rector of St. Martin of Limoges, St. Anthony of Padua established a convent there in 1226 and departed in the first months of 1227. On the night of Holy Thursday,
it is said, he was preaching in the church of St. Pierre du Queyroix,
when he stopped for a moment and remained silent. At the same instant he
appeared in the choir of the Franciscan monastery and read a lesson. It
was doubtlessly at Châteauneuf in the territory of Limoges that took place the celebrated apparition of the Infant Jesus to St. Anthony.
Patrons
The diocese specially honours the following: St. Sylvanus (Silvain), a native of Ahun, martyr; St. Adorator disciple of St. Ambrose, suffered martyrdom at Lubersac; St. Victorianus, an Irish hermit; St. Vaast, a native of the diocese who became Bishop of Arras and baptized king Clovis (5th-6th century); St. Psalmodius, a native of Britain, died a hermit at Eymoutiers; St. Yrieix, d. in 591, chancellor to Theudebert II King of Austrasia and founder of the monastery of Attanum (the towns of Saint-Yrieix are named after him); St. Etienne de Muret (1046–1126), who together with Guillaume d'Uriel, Bishop of Limoges, founded the famous Benedictine abbey of Grandmont.
Mention must also be made of the following natives of Limoges: Bernard Guidonis (1261–1313), born at La Roche d'Abeille, Bishop of Lodève and a celebrated canonist; the Aubusson family, one of whom, Pierre d'Aubusson (1483–1503), was Grand Master of the Order of Jerusalem and one of the defenders of Rhodes against the Ottomans; Marc Antoine Muret, called the "Orator of the Popes" (1526–1596). Three popes came from the Diocese of Limoges: Pierre Roger, born at Maumont (today part of the commune of Rosiers-d'Égletons), elected pope in 1342 as Clement VI, died in 1352; Etienne Albert, or Étienne d'Albret, born at Monts, elevated to the papacy in 1352 as Innocent VI, died in 1362. Pierre Roger de Beaufort, nephew of Clement VI, also born at Maumont, reigned as Gregory XI from 1371 till 1378. Maurice Bourdin, Archbishop of Braga (Portugal), antipope for a brief space in 1118, under the name of Gregory VIII, also belonged to this diocese. St. Peter Damian came to Limoges in 1062 as papal legate, to compel the monks to accept the supremacy of the Order of Cluny.
Council of Limoges
The Council of Limoges, held in 1031, is noted not only for
its decision with regard to St. Martial's mission, but because, at the
instigation of Abbot Odolric, it proclaimed the "Truce of God" and threatened with general excommunication those feudal lords who would not swear to maintain it. It was at the priory of Bourganeuf in this diocese that Pierre d'Aubusson received the Ottoman prince Zizin, son of Sultan Mohammed II of Turkey, after he had been defeated in 1483 by his brother, Bajazet II.
Pilgrimages and Feasts
In 994, when the district was devastated by a plague (mal des ardents), the epidemic ceased immediately after a procession ordered by Bishop Hilduin on the Mont de la Joie, which overlooks the city. The Church of Limoges celebrates this event on 12 November.
The principal pilgrimages of the diocese are those of: Saint Valtéric (hermit) at Saint-Vaubry (6th century); Our Lady of Sauvagnac at Saint-Léger-la-Montagne (12th century); Notre-Dame-du-Pont, near St-Junien (14th century), twice visited by Louis XI; NotreDame-d'Arliguet, at Aixe-sur-Vienne (end of the 16th century); Notre-Dame-des-Places, at Crozant (since 1664).
Orders
Before the Associations Law of 1901, there were in the diocese of Limoges Jesuits, Franciscans, Marists, Oblates of Mary Immaculate and Sulpicians. The principal congregations of women which originated here are the Sisters of the Incarnation founded in 1639, contemplatives and teachers, who were restored in 1807 at Azerables, and have houses in Texas and Mexico. The Sisters of St. Alexis, nursing sisters, founded at Limoges in 1659. The Sisters of St. Joseph, founded at Dorat in February, 1841, by Elizabeth Dupleix, who had visited the prisons at Lyons with other pious women since 1805. The Congregation of Our Saviour and the Congregation of the Blessed Virgin, a nursing and teaching congregation founded at la Souterraine, in 1835, by Joséphine du Bourg. The Sisters of the Good Shepherd (also called 'Marie Thérèse nuns'), nursing sisters and teachers, had their mother-house at Limoges
References
- "UNESCO: The Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France". Whc.unesco.org. 1998-12-02. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Limoges". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company
- Limoges". Facstaff.uindy.edu. Retrieved 5 Nov 2012.
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