Saint Nicaise of Reims

He was the light of his people, not only through his preaching, filled with a truly heavenly strength and unction, but also through his examples. Everyone saw in his life all that they ought to do. His justice taught to render to each what belongs to him, and to do wrong to no one, as we do not wish for it to be done to us. His moderation taught to be humble, sober, temperate, an enemy of the pleasures of this life, and detached from all that flatters the senses and nature. His charity, in aiding the unfortunate, also invited others to aid them, and showed that the glory of a true pastor is not to cover himself with the spoils of his flock, but to strip himself in order to clothe them. Finally, his devotion drew his diocesans to the frequenting of churches and sacraments and to other exercises of Christian piety. Moreover, he took particular care in the ornamentation and embellishment of churches; he even increased their number: for he had the famous basilica of Notre-Dame built, which became the cat hedral, whereas previou basilique de Notre-Dame Edifice founded by Saint Nicaise. sly it was the basilica of the Apostles, now of Saint Symphorian, martyr, which enjoyed that honor.

After a few years of such wise administration, an angel appeared to him and made it known that God wished to punish the city of Reims for the crimes committed there, and that He would use for this purpose the V andals, Vandales Barbarian people responsible for the saint's martyrdom. a cruel and barbarous people, who would besiege it, take it, sack it, and fill it with murder and blood. He did not fail to warn his people, so that they might strive, through serious penance, to turn aside such a dreadful scourge from their heads, just as the Ninevites turned aside the one with which the prophet Jonah had threatened them; but, whether the sins of these wicked Christians had reached their peak, or whether, regarding these warnings from their holy Pastor only as tales made up for pleasure to frighten them, they did not trouble themselves to appease the wrath of God through a sincere conversion, they finally experienced that his predictions were only too true. Indeed, in the year 407, under the empire of Arcadius and Honorius, sons of Theodosius the Great, and under the consulship of the same Arcadius and Anicius, the Vandals, mixed with the Alans, threw themselves into Gaul; and, after having devastated several other provinces, filling all the places where they passed with murder, fire, rape, and a thousand other evils, they finally entered Champagne and laid siege to Reims, which was then its capital. The inhabitants defended themselves with great courage and withstood the assaults of the enemies for quite some time; but, seeing themselves on the eve of being taken, they then had recourse to their holy prelate and asked him what would be most appropriate for them to do, whether to surrender to the Barbarians by agreement, trusting in the fidelity of their promise, or to hold firm until death. This good shepherd, to whom God had revealed the taking of the city, gave them this generous answer: "You are not unaware, my dear children, that we have brought this great scourge upon ourselves by our iniquities and offenses. God has judged equitably, and He treats us only as we have deserved; let us therefore enter into sentiments of composure at the sight of the evils that surround us and receive the blow of death, not out of fear and despair, but with submission, with patience, and with a firm confidence that it will serve as a remedy for us and will procure for us the grace and mercy of our sovereign Judge. If it were only necessary, to save your lives, to give my own as a sacrifice, I would do so at this very moment most willingly; but, since the sentence is universal and includes the flock with the shepherd, let us all ensure that our execution is a martyrdom and a sacrifice of sweet savor before Jesus Christ. Let us even love our persecutors and offer to God our blood and our lives for their conversion."

While he was speaking thus, a sister he had, named Eutropia, a virgin of consummate innocence and virtue, was using all her eloquence and courage on her side to encourage the Christians to martyrdom. Meanwhile, the Vandals, who were still continuing their assaults, broke down the doors, overturned the walls, and entered the city in a crowd, without anyone being able to stop them. As soon as Saint Nicaise caught sight of them saint Nicaise Archbishop of Reims and martyr of the 5th century. , he walked toward them with marvelous constancy and firmness, having his sister at his side and singing hymns and spiritual canticles with her. He stopped on the threshold of his church of Notre-Dame; and, having asked for a moment of audience from the leaders of these victorious barbarians, he gave them a powerful and pathetic speech to try to soften their hearts and prevent the final acts of violence; but, seeing that there was nothing to expect from their hardness, he begged them to begin their slaughter with his own person, hoping that his blood offered in sacrifice might draw the mercy of God upon this people. He therefore knelt and prostrated himself on the pavement, pronouncing these words of Psalm 119: 'My soul has been as if attached to the earth; Lord, vivify me, according to your word'; and at the same time one of the soldiers dealt him a great blow with an axe that struck off his head. All those who were in his company were also put to the sword, except for Eutropia, his sister, whom the soldiers, charmed by her beauty, wanted to spare in order to later insult her publicly; but the generous virgin, seeing well the sacrilegious design of these impious men, threw herself courageously upon the executioner who had put her brother to death, and, reproaching him for his cruelty, she struck him in the face. The fierce Hun was irritated by this, pierced her with blows, and stretched her lifeless upon the corpse of the bishop.

Among those who were immolated with the holy bishop, one noted particularly a deacon Florent Deacon martyred with Saint Nicaise. named Florent, and a r eader Jocond Lector martyred with Saint Nicaise. named Jocond; they showed admirable zeal and ardor for martyrdom. Their massacre was followed by many others in the city; but finally, an unknown, sudden, terrible noise was heard in the church of Notre-Dame, and the frightened barbarians took flight as quickly as possible without giving themselves the time to strip the dead, to pillage the houses, to burn the city, or even to carry away the booty they had already amassed and which was in their hands.

Saint Nicaise is represented: 1° at the moment he is arrested by the barbarians and his sister, Saint Eutropia, strikes a soldier in the face; 2° killed with his sister: in the sky, three angels threaten his murderers.

## CULT AND RELICS.

The bodies of the Martyrs remained for some time without burial, under the guard of angels, who kept them from corruption and preserved them from the teeth of carnivorous animals; but, as some of the inhabitants had the skill to escape the carnage and withdraw to the neighboring mountains, seeing from afar celestial flames above the place of their martyrdom, and even hearing an angelic concert that seemed to come from the same side, they judged that there was nothing more to fear in Reims and that God, who had saved their lives, required of them that they take care to bury these illustrious victims of Christian piety. They therefore descended as soon as possible into the city and devoutly performed this pious duty; among others, they buried Saint Nicaise, their bishop, and Saint Eutropia, his sister; a very great number of miracles have occurred at their tomb.

The relics possessed by Notre-Dame de Reims have almost all disappeared, dating especially from the day when the precious objects and shrines of the treasury of Reims were seized and sent to La Monnaie (November 14, 1793).

Saint Nicaise and Saint Eutropia, his sister, having been martyred in Reims, were together placed in a tomb in the church of Saint-Agricole, founded by Jovinus, a Remois, prefect of the Gauls, commander of the armies, and Roman consul in the 5th century. On the tomb, one could read these words: "Here is the place and the spot where Monsieur Saint Nicaise, formerly Archbishop of Reims, and Madame Saint Eutropia, his sister, were buried in the earth, after they were martyrs for the Christian faith." The chest-tomb was placed on four columns and enriched with bas-r saint Remi Patron saint of the village of Domrémy. eliefs. Near this tomb, Saint Remi had prepared a cell for himself, and it was even there that he was in prayer when they came to announce to him that fire had just broken out in the city.

In the 7th century, a solemn translation of the relics of Saint Nicaise and Saint E Tournai City associated with the Diocese of Noyon. utropia was performed, and, as the Bishop of Tournai attended as a prelate of the province, he obtained a significant part of the body of Saint Nicaise... The other part remained in the Jovian church (of Saint-Agricole), until the time when Archbishop Fulk had it transported with the body of Saint Eutropia to the cathedral church, where their memory is held in great veneration. Their shrine was often enriched and covered with gold and precious stones.

Under the pontificate of Gervais, the part of the body of Saint Nicaise, which the church of Tournai preciously kept, was taken by a cleric and brought back to Reims: the archbishop immediately had the two parts brought and the bones adjusted to one another; he found that everything matched faithfully; then, not doubting the authenticity of these relics, he gave the part of the body brought back from Tournai to the church of Saint-Nicaise, which he was building, and which he dedicated on the 5th of the Kalends of October.

The relics of Saint Nicaise and Saint Eutropia were visited several times at Notre-Dame and at Saint-Nicaise, in 1307 and 1310, by Robert de Courtenay; in 1359, by Jean de Crann; in 1377, by Emperor Charles IV, uncle of the king, who obtained some of the relics to take to Germany; in 1584, by Louis, Cardinal of Guise; in 1752, at which time the Reverend Carmelite Father Spiridion obtained a relic of Saint Eutropia.

The head of Saint Nicaise was divided into three parts: Notre-Dame possessed the skull, Saint-Vaast of Arras the back of the head, and the abbey of Reims the lower jaw.

The cathedral also possessed the relics of Saint Florent and Saint Jocond, companions of Saint Nicaise, as proven by several official reports, and especially the translation that was made in 1680 by Ch. Maurice le Tellier.

Of these relics, there currently remain at Notre-Dame only a few very small portions; the lower jaw and a part of the spine of Saint Nicaise and some fragments of the bones of Saint Nicaise, Saint Eutropia, Saint Jocond, and Saint Florent: all enclosed in a gilded wooden shrine, where several authentic acts of the 14th century are found, from one of which hangs a magnificent red wax seal of Richard Pique, Archbishop of Reims in 1377.

There is, in the middle of the nave of the cathedral of Reims, a marble stone which indicates the place where Saint Nicaise was beheaded: Hoc in loco sanctus Nicasius Remensis archipræsul, truncato capite, martyr occubuit, anno Domini 406. In place of this stone, there was previously a very precious monument: it was the very stone that Saint Nicaise had watered with his blood. Originally it was embedded in the part of the pavement occupied by the rood screen, and surrounded by an iron grille, which had earned it the name of Saint Nicaise's cage. At the time of the construction of the rood screen, this stone was brought forward into the nave. "In the middle of the nave," says a historian of the cathedral, "near the door of the lectern (rood screen) is a round stone, embedded with others and with a wooden frame out of reverence, which is the place where formerly was the portal of the church of Reims, at which place the holy bishop had his head cut off, and Saint Eutropia, his sister, with several Martyrs.

This monument, so venerable in its simplicity, flattering the canons only moderately, Jean Quinart, chaplain, obtained, in 1668, permission to erect another at his own expense and of his own taste. Here is the description given by a manuscript notice: "The stone of Saint Nicaise is now embedded in a marble mausoleum, with four types of doors in white jasper; there are four openings to see the said stone, on which are a cipher of Saint Nicaise, in gilded copper..." This last mausoleum as well as the rood screen, having the fault of hiding the choir grille, erected by a canon of Reims, was demolished in 1744.

We have completed the account of Father Giry with local notes due to the kindness of M. the Abbé Cerf, honorary canon of Reims.