Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/541

 GERMAIN

473

GERMAIN

fell to his lot. At leiigtli he incurred the displeasure of the bishop, St. Amator. It appears that Germain was accustomed to hang the trophies of the chase on a certain tree, which in earlier times had been the scene of pagan worsliip. Amator remonstrated with him in vain. One day when the duke was absent, the bishop had the tree cut tlown and the trophies burnt. Fearing the anger of the fluke, who wished to kill him, he fletl and appealed to the prefect .Julius for permission to confer the tonsure on (lermain. This being granted, Amator, who felt tliat his own life was drawing to a close, returned. When the duke came to the church, Amator caused tlie doors to be barred and gave him the tonsure against his will, telling him to live as one destined to be his successor, and forthwith made him a deacon.

A wonderful change was instantly wrought in Ger- main, and he accepted everything that had happened as the Divine will. He gave liim.self up to prayer, study, and works of charity, and, when in a short time Amator died, Germain was unanimously chosen to fill the vacant see, being consecrated 7 July, 418. His splendid education now served him in good stead in the government of the diocese, which he administered with great sagacity. He distributed his goods among the poor, and practised great austerities. He built a large monastery dedicated to Sts. Cosmas and Da- mian on the banks of the Yonne, whither he was wont to retire in his spare moments. In 429 the bishops of Britain sent an appeal to the continent for help against the Pelagian heretics who were corrupting the faith of the island. St. Prosper, who was in Rome in 431, tells us in his Chronicle that Pope Celestine com- missioned the Church in Gaul to send help, and Ger- main and Lupus of Troyes were deputed to cross over to Britain. On his way Germain stopped at Nanterre, where he met a young child, Genevieve, destined to be- come the patroness of Paris. One of the early lives of St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, tells us that he formed one of St. Germain's suite on this occasion. Tradition tells us that the main discussion with the representa- tives of Pelagianism took place at St. Alban's, and resulted in the complete discomfiture of the heretics. Germain remained in Britain for some time preaching, and establisheil several schools for the training of the clergy. On his return he went to .\rles to visit the prefect, and obtained the remission of certain taxes that were oppressing the people of Auxerre. He constructed a church in lionour of St. Alban about this time in his episcopal city.

In 447 he was invited to revisit Britain, and went with Severus, Bishop of Treves. It would seem that he did much for the Church there, if one can judge from the traditions handed down in Wales. On one occasion he is saiil to have aided the Britons to gain a great victory (called from the battle-cry. Alleluia! the Alleluia victory) over a marauding body of Saxons and Picts. On his return to (!aul, lie proceeded to Armorica (Brittany) to intercede for the .\rmoricans who had been in rebellion. Their punishment was deferred at his entreaty, till he should have laid their case before the emperor. He set out for Italy, and reached Milan on 17 June, 448. Then he journeyed to Ravenna, where he interviewed the empress- mother, Galla Placidia, on their behalf. The empress and the bishop of the city, St. Peter Chrysologus, gave him a royal welcome, and the pardon he sought was granted. While there he died on 31 July, 450. His body, as he requested when dying, was brought back to Auxerre and interred in the Oratory of St. Maurice, which he had built. Later the oratory was replaced by a large church, which became a celebrated Bene- dictine abbey known as St. Germain's. This tribute to the memory of the saint was the gift of Queen Clotilda, wife of Clovis. Some centuries later, Charles the Bald had the shrine opened, and the body was found intact. It was embalmed and wrapped in

precious cloths, and placed in a more prominent posi- tion in tlie church. There it was preserved till 1567, when Auxerre was taken by the Huguenots, who dese- crated the slirine and cast out the relics. It has been said that the relics were afterwards picked up and placed in the Abbey of St. Marion on the banks of the Yonne, but the autlienticity of the relics in this church has never been canonically recognized. St. Germain was honoured in Cornwall and at St. Alban's in Eng- land's pre-reformation days, and has always been the patron of Auxerre.

TiLLEMoNT, Mi-moires. XV, 8; Bright in Diet. Christ. Bing., s. v.; Gallia Chrijttiana, XII, 262; GoftRlN. Vies des tiainls (Paris, 1880), IX, i:i2-4.'-.: .Arin SS.. VII, .Inly, 184-200; CoN- 8TANTIUS, Vie lie .S'. (i,rriNi/fj ,/',! /, ,. ,/,, /,- fninc. avec une etude (1874); andforhisc..„nrNi..n «itl, Si l':ii rick. Healy. Li/e o/ St. Patrick (Dublin. I'-KIV; r,/,i TnpnrUlnm Rolls SeriPs. ed.

Whitley Stokes (^Lonil iss7i. 2 V..I-., |j-issiin; Bury. Life of

St. Patrick (London, 190.'>), passim; O'Connor. Rerum Hibem, Script. (1825), II, 92.

A. A. MacErlean.

Gennain, Saint, Bishop of Paris; b. near Autun, Saone-et-Loire, c. 496; d. at Paris, 28 May, 57G. He was the son of Eleutherius and Eusebia. He studied at Avalon and also at Luzy under the guidance of his cousin Scapilion, a priest. At the age of thirty-four he was ordained by St. Agrippinus of Autun and be- came Abbot of .Saint-Symphorien near that town. His characteristic virtue^ love for the poor, mani- fested itself so strongly in his alms-giving, that his monks, fearing he would give away everything, re- belled. As he happened to be in Paris, in 555, when Bishop Eu-sebius died, Childebert kept him, and with the unanimous consent of the clergy and people he was consecrated to the vacant see. Under his influ- ence the king, who had been very worldly was re- formed and led a Christian life. In his new state the bishop continued to practise the virtues and austeri- ties of his monastic life and laboured hard to diminish the evils cau.sed liy the incessant wars antl the licence of the nobles. He attended the Third and Fourth CouncUs of Paris (557, 573) and also the Second Coun- cil of Tours (506). He persuaded the king to stamp out the pagan practices still existing in Gaul and to forbid the excess that accompanied the celebration of most Christian festivals. Shortly after 540 Childe- bert making war in Spain, besieged Saragossa. The inhabitants had placed themselves under the protec- tion of St. Vincent, martyr. Childebert learning this, spared the city and in return the bishop presented him with the saint's stole. When he came back to Paris, the king caused a church to be erected in the suburbs in honour of the martyr to receive the relic. Childe- bert fell dangerously ill about this time, at his palace of Celles, but was miraculously healed by Germain, as is attested in the king's letters-patent bestowing the lands of Celles on the church of Paris, in return for the favour he had received. In 588 St. Vincent's church was completed and dedicated by Germain, 23 Decem- ber, the very day Childebert died. Close by the church a monastery was erected. Its abbots had both spiritual and temporal jurisdiction over the suburbs of St. Germain till about the year 1670. The church was frequently plundered and set on fire by the Normans in the ninth century. It was rebuilt in 1014 and dedicated in 1103 by Pope Alexander III.

Childebert was succeeded by Clotaire, whose reign was short. At his death (561) the monarchy was divided among his four sons, Charibert becoming King of Paris. He was a vicious, worthless creature, and Germain was forced to excommunicate him in 568 for his immorality. Charibert died in 570. As his brothers quarrelled over his possessions the bishop encountered great difficulties. He laboured to estab- lish peace, but with little success. Sigebert and Chil- perie, instigated by their wives, Brunehaut and the infamous murderess Fredegunde, went to war, and Chilperic being defeated, Paris fell into Sigebert'a