Saint Maxence

As soon as Maxence knew the dangers to which her pious resolutions were exposed, she prostrated herself at the foot of the altars, and implored the Lord to defend a heart that belonged to Him. Prayer restored calm to her soul, and inspired in her the thought and the courage to seek her salvation in flight. Having confided her plans to an old and faithful servant of the king her f ather, n Brabance Faithful servant of King Malcolm and companion in exile of Maxence. amed Br abance, Rosébie Attendant and companion in martyrdom of Saint Maxence. and to Rosébie, one of her most devoted attendants, she persuaded them to join her in her exile. With them, she secretly left her family and her homeland, and came, led by the hand of the Lord, to gladden the Beauvaisis with the spectacle of her virtues.

After the fatigues of a long and arduous journey, endured with patience, following the example and for the love of a God who died on the cross, Maxence stopped on the banks of the Oise river, not far from the town that bears her name t oday, and w Litasobriga Town in the Beauvaisis region named in honor of the saint. hich was then called Litasobriga. There, helped by the old man Brabance, and by Rosébie, her companion, she built a small hut near a fountain, in which she led an obscure and penitent life.

However, Maxence's flight did not take long to become known to the prince who had obtained her hand. Convinced that he had been deceived by the king and his daughter, this proud suitor went in all haste to Malcolm, and pressed him, with threats, to deliver to him the one who was to be his wife. Malcolm, as afflicted as the prince was irritated, tried to calm him with soft and affectionate words. He took heaven as witness that his daughter had faith without his knowledge, and showed himself willing to execute his promise as soon as Maxence was returned to him. "Go yourself," he added, "in search of her; and, if you succeed in bringing her back to my palace, I consent that she shall immediately become your wife." Without losing an instant, the prince, followed by a numerous escort, ran on the traces of Maxence with the relentlessness of a hunter pursuing his prey. Having learned that she had passed into Gaul, he crossed the sea and succeeded in discovering the asylum where she hid her virtues. Surprised all of a sudden in her solitude, Maxence drew, from her faith and her love for Jesus Christ, the strength to overcome such a difficult trial. Her courage did not falter before flatteries and promises. "Be gone from my presence," she said to the prince, with admirable firmness. "Go away, minister of Satan, and do not hope that there will ever be anything in common between us. I despise even your flatteries and your treasures. You will succeed neither in shaking me nor in seducing me, for I have the Savior as my support and my guide." These words changed the prince's love into a blind fury. Having tried in vain to bring Maxence to his designs through the fear of torture and death, he took her by the hair and cut off her head. This monster also took the lives of Brabance and Rosébie, and returned to his homeland, his conscience stained with three horrible crimes, while his noble victims made their triumphant entry into the kingdom of heaven.

It was on November 20th, in the 5th century of the Christian era, that Maxence received the double crown of virginity and martyrdom. The inhabitants of Litanobriga gathered the body of the Saint and buried it with honor. Later, they erected a chapel and a priory at the site of her martyrdom and adopted her as their patroness. Her cult became so popular in Litanobriga that, starting from the 7th century, this town ceased to bear its name, taking instead that o f Pont-Sainte-Maxen Pont-Sainte-Maxence Town in the Beauvaisis region named in honor of the saint. ce. Her memory was very famous in the churches of the three kingdoms of the British Isles until the time of their break with Rome. In Ireland, the feast of Saint Maxence took place on October 24th; in England, on April 6th; and in Scotland, on November 20th. Although the chapel and priory raised in her honor were destroyed at the end of the 18th century, as were her precious relics, the town of Pont has not ceased to invoke her, and, each year, at the time of Pentecost, a multitude of the faithful still go to venerate the places where the virgin martyr shed her blood.

She is represented: 1st, beheaded by a young debauchee; 2nd, on a bridge or near a bridge, as patroness of Pont-Sainte-Maxence.

Vies des Saints du dio cèse de Beauvais, b diocèse de Beauvais Ecclesiastical district associated with the source of the text. y Abbé Sabatier.