Saint Valéry
Abbé
(† 619)
Saint Valéry était un enfant de l'Auvergne. Son père l'appliqua tout jeune à la garde des troupeaux, et c'est en s'acquittant de cet emploi qu'il apprit à lire par lui-même. Sa première lecture fut le Psautier. Il aimait à méditer de longues heures en gardant ses troupeaux, et il était ravi toutes les fois qu'il entendait les chants sacrés dans les églises. Jamais on ne le vit entendre sans protestation des paroles inconvenantes, que sa délicatesse de conscience ne pouvait souffrir. Un jour, plein du désir de sa perfection, il s'enfuit, sans la permission de son père, dans un couvent où un de ses oncles était religieux. Son père irrité vint le chercher; mais ni les caresses, ni les menaces paternelles, ni l'intervention des moines, ne purent le faire sortir, et peu de temps après, son père lui-même, assistant à sa prise d'habit, versait des larmes de joie.
Valéry, après avoir édifié longtemps le monastère par sa sainteté, se sentit inspiré d'aller se mettre, à Luxeuil, sous la direction du célèbre saint Colomban. Le Saint lui donna une partie du jardin à cultiver; Valéry y mit tant de zèle et d'application, qu'en très peu de jours tous les insectes qui le dévastaient disparurent, ce que le maître attribua à l'obéissance de son disciple bien plus qu'à son travail.
Un jour, Valéry se sentit enflammé du désir de la conquête des âmes; il obtint du roi Clotaire II la solitude de Leuconay, à l'embouchure de la Somme, et y bâtit un monastère où sa vertu attira bientôt une multitude de disciples. Parmi les miracles nombreux par lesquels le Ciel confirma sa réputation de vertu, on raconte la résurrection d'un supplicié. Il délivra un grand nombre de possédés. A sa seule vue, les démons s'écriaient: "Voilà notre ennemi qui vient nous tourmenter!" Un jour, saisi d'indignation à la vue d'un arbre auquel les païens de la contrée rendaient un culte insensé, il dit à l'enfant qui l'accompagnait: "Va, et au nom de Dieu arrache cet arbre maudit!" L'enfant obéit, l'arbre tombe avec fracas, et les païens ne tardent pas à se convertir.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950.
Apparition
de Saint Valery à Hugues Capet,
miniature des Grandes Chroniques de France, XVe siècle,
ms. conservé à la Bibliothèque nationale de France
Saint Valery
Ermite
à Leuconay (✝ 619)
ou Valéry.
Né en Auvergne, il tente la vie monastique à Issoire, puis à Auxerre et rejoint saint Colomban à Luxeuil, estimant que cette règle de vie lui convient mieux par ses austérités. Il quittera Luxeuil pour fonder un monastère à Leuconay qui deviendra Saint Valery-sur-Somme-80230. D'autres localités conservent aussi sa mémoire comme Saint Valéry en Caux-76460.
Illustration: vitrail de l'église de Saint-Valery-sur-Somme.
À Leuconay près d’Amiens, au VIIe siècle, saint Valery, prêtre, qui attira un grand nombre de disciples à la vie érémitique.
Martyrologe
romain
SAINT VALÉRY
Abbot in Picardy
(†619)
Saint Valery was born at Auvergne in the sixth century, where in his childhood he kept his father’s sheep. He desired to study and begged a teacher in a nearby school to trace the letters and teach them to him, which the schoolmaster was happy to do. He soon knew how to read and write, and the first use he made of his knowledge was to transcribe the Psalter; he then learned it by heart. He began to frequent the church, and love of his religion soon burnt strongly in his heart.
He was still young when he took the monastic habit in the neighboring monastery of Saint Anthony. No persuasion could convince him to return home when his father came to attempt that move, and the Abbot, recognizing that his firmness was of divine origin, said to the monks, “Let us not reject the gift of God.” His father eventually was present when he received the tonsure, and shed tears of joy, having accepted his son’s determination.
It was soon visible to all that God destined him for some high role in the Church. He left for a more distant monastery in Auxerre, and there he seemed to live a life more angelic than human. A rich lord of the region, after talking with him one day, disposed of his entire fortune without even returning home, to embrace religious poverty.
At that time Saint Columban was preaching in Gaul; Valery with some fellow monks desired to hear him and went to Luxeuil, where they were not disappointed. They asked to be received into that monastery in 594 and were accepted. A corner of the garden which Valery was assigned to cultivate was entirely spared when insects devastated the rest. The holy Abbot Columban allowed him to make his religious profession, and he remained at Luxeuil for some fifteen years. He was a witness when the local king drove away Saint Columban from his foundation, as a foreigner in the land. Soon afterward the monastery was invaded by strangers, but finally Saint Valery and the new Abbot, Saint Eustasius, succeeded in recovering it.
Some time afterwards Saint Valery with another monk left to carry the faith elsewhere, and decided with the permission of King Clotaire to remain as hermits in the region of Amiens. He raised to life a poor condemned man after he had been hanged, and the word of the sanctity of this monk soon spread. The wilderness of Leuconaus was transformed into a community, where from the numerous monastic cells and church the praises of the Lord rose up night and day. In 613, three years after his arrival, this locality became a monastery where the religious lived in common.
A man who had become unable to walk was cured by Saint Valery and replaced him later as Abbot of this monastery; he is today Saint Blitmond. Many more miracles illustrated his life of prayer and sacrifice. Saint Valery died in 619, and his tomb became celebrated by numerous miracles. A basilica was raised there in his honor, at the site where one of his disciples had felled a tree, object of pagan superstitions, at a word from the Saint.
Source: Les Petits Bollandistes. Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 4.
SOURCE : http://www.magnificat.ca/cal/engl/12-12.htm#val
Walaricus of Leucone, Abbot (RM)
(also known as Valéry, Walericus)
Born in Auvergne, France; died in Leucone, Picardy, France, on December 12, c. 622; feast of his translation is December 12.
Valéry discovered Benedictine life at Issoire, developed it at Auxerre, fructified it at Luxeuil under Saint Columbanus, and multiplied it with missionary work at Leuconnais (Leuconay), in the Somme region of northern France.
Born into a peasant family in the Auvergne, Valéry tended his father's sheep in his childhood, which gave him plenty of time to develop his prayer life. Out of an ardent desire to grow in spiritual knowledge, he learned to read at an early age and memorized the Psalter. Dissatisfied with his life as a shepherd, he took the monastic habit in the neighboring monastery of St. Antony's at Autumo.
His fervor from the first day of monastic life led him to live the rule perfectly. Sincere humility permitted him to meekly and cheerfully subjected himself to everyone. Seeking a stricter rule, he migrated to the more austere monastery of St. Germanus, where he was received by Bishop Saint Anacharius of Auxerre. He was drawn to Luxeuil by the reputation of the penitential lives of its monks and the spiritual wisdom of Saint Columbanus. There he spent many years, always esteeming himself an unprofitable servant and a slothful monk, who stood in need of the severest and harshest rules and superiors. Next to sin, he dreaded nothing so much as the applause of men or a reputation of sanctity. At Luxeuil he also distinguished himself as a horticulturalist--the preservation of his fruit and vegetables against the ravages of insects that destroyed most other crops was considered miraculous.
When Saint Columbanus was banished from Luxeuil by King Theodoric, the monastery was placed in Valéry's hands until he was sent by Saint Eustasius with his fellow-monk Waldolanus to preach the Gospel in Neustria. There King Clotaire II gave them the territory of Leucone in Picardy, near the mouth of the river Somme. In 611, with the permission of Bishop Bertard of Amiens, they built a chapel and two cells. Saint Valéry by his preaching and the example of his virtue, converted many and attracted fervent disciples with whom he laid the foundation of a monastery.
His fasts he sometimes prolonged for six days, eating only on the Sunday; and he used no other bed than twigs laid on the floor. His time was entirely occupied with preaching, prayer, reading, and manual labor. By this he earned something for the relief of the poor, and he often repeated to others, "The more cheerfully we give to those who are in distress, the more readily will God give us what we ask of him."
When Valéry died, cures were claimed at his tomb and a cultus developed, which eventually spread to England during the Norman Conquest. William the Conqueror exposed Valéry's relics for public veneration. He was invoked for a favorable wind for the expedition in 1066, which sailed from Saint-Valéry
Saint Valery of Leucone
Walaricus of Leucone, Abbot (RM)
(also known as Valéry, Walericus)
Born in Auvergne, France; died in Leucone, Picardy, France, on December 12, c. 622; feast of his translation is December 12.
Valéry discovered Benedictine life at Issoire, developed it at Auxerre, fructified it at Luxeuil under Saint Columbanus, and multiplied it with missionary work at Leuconnais (Leuconay), in the Somme region of northern France.
Born into a peasant family in the Auvergne, Valéry tended his father's sheep in his childhood, which gave him plenty of time to develop his prayer life. Out of an ardent desire to grow in spiritual knowledge, he learned to read at an early age and memorized the Psalter. Dissatisfied with his life as a shepherd, he took the monastic habit in the neighboring monastery of St. Antony's at Autumo.
His fervor from the first day of monastic life led him to live the rule perfectly. Sincere humility permitted him to meekly and cheerfully subjected himself to everyone. Seeking a stricter rule, he migrated to the more austere monastery of St. Germanus, where he was received by Bishop Saint Anacharius of Auxerre. He was drawn to Luxeuil by the reputation of the penitential lives of its monks and the spiritual wisdom of Saint Columbanus. There he spent many years, always esteeming himself an unprofitable servant and a slothful monk, who stood in need of the severest and harshest rules and superiors. Next to sin, he dreaded nothing so much as the applause of men or a reputation of sanctity. At Luxeuil he also distinguished himself as a horticulturalist--the preservation of his fruit and vegetables against the ravages of insects that destroyed most other crops was considered miraculous.
When Saint Columbanus was banished from Luxeuil by King Theodoric, the monastery was placed in Valéry's hands until he was sent by Saint Eustasius with his fellow-monk Waldolanus to preach the Gospel in Neustria. There King Clotaire II gave them the territory of Leucone in Picardy, near the mouth of the river Somme. In 611, with the permission of Bishop Bertard of Amiens, they built a chapel and two cells. Saint Valéry by his preaching and the example of his virtue, converted many and attracted fervent disciples with whom he laid the foundation of a monastery.
His fasts he sometimes prolonged for six days, eating only on the Sunday; and he used no other bed than twigs laid on the floor. His time was entirely occupied with preaching, prayer, reading, and manual labor. By this he earned something for the relief of the poor, and he often repeated to others, "The more cheerfully we give to those who are in distress, the more readily will God give us what we ask of him."
When Valéry died, cures were claimed at his tomb and a cultus developed, which eventually spread to England during the Norman Conquest. William the Conqueror exposed Valéry's relics for public veneration. He was invoked for a favorable wind for the expedition in 1066, which sailed from Saint-Valéry
Valéry
is honored at Chester Abbey in England and in France, where a famous monastery
arose from his cells. His vita was carefully written in 660, by Raimbert,
second abbot of Leucone after him. King Richard the Lion Hearted had his relics
restored to Saint-Valéry-en-Caux; however, his original abbey later recovered
them. Two towns in the Somme district are called Saint- Valéry after him, and there
are several dedications to him in England as well (Attwater2, Benedictines,
Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0401.shtml
St. Valery, Abbot
THIS saint was son to a gentleman of Auvergne, and in
his childhood kept his father’s sheep; but out of an ardent desire of improving
himself in spiritual knowledge, privately learned to read, and got the psalter
by heart. He was yet young when he took the monastic habit in the neighbouring
monastery of St. Antony. From the first day such was his fervour that in his
whole conduct he appeared a living rule of perfection, and, by sincere
humility, esteeming himself below all the world, he meekly and cheerfully subjected
himself to every one. Seeking the most perfect means of advancing in the paths
of all virtues, he passed from this house to the more austere monastery of St.
Germanus of Auxerre, into which he was received by St. Aunarius, bishop of that
church. The reputation of the penitential lives of the monks of Luxeu, and of
the spiritual wisdom of St. Columban, drew him afterwards thither, and he spent
many years in that community, always esteeming himself an unprofitable servant
and a slothful monk, who stood in need of the severest and harshest rules and
superiors; and, next to sin, he dreaded nothing so much as the applause of men
or a reputation of sanctity. Upon the departure of St. Columban, the care of
protecting the monastery from the oppressions of men in power, was committed to
St. Valery, till he was sent by St. Eustasius with Vandolen, a fellow monk, to
preach the gospel to idolaters. The two apostolic men travelled into Neustria,
where King Clotaire II. gave them the territory of Leucone, in Picardy, near
the mouth of the river Somme. There, with the leave of Bertard, bishop of
Amiens, in 611, they built a chapel and two cells. St. Valery, by his preaching
and the example of his virtue, converted many infidels, and assembled certain
fervent disciples with whom he laid the foundation of a monastery. His fasts he
sometimes prolonged for six days, eating only on the Sunday; and he used no
other bed than twigs laid on the floor. His time was all employed in preaching,
prayer, reading, and manual labour. By this he earned something for the relief
of the poor, and he often repeated to others: “The more cheerfully we give to
those who are in distress, the more readily will God give us what we ask of
him.” The saint went to receive the recompense of his happy perseverance on the
12th of December, in 622. He is honoured in France on the 1st of April and on
the 12th of December. From his cells a famous monastery rose, and a town which
bears his name. His life was carefully written in 660, by Raimbert, second abbot
of Leucone, from him. 1 See Mabillon, Act. Ben. t. 2, p. 76, and Annal. l.
11, n. 33. Gallia Christ. Vetus, t. 4, p. 887,
Nova, t. 10, p. 1231, 1234.
Note 1. The work of Raimbert was abridged by an anonymous
monk, by the order of an archbishop named Hugh. Rivet shows that this seems to
have been Hugh, archbishop of Rouen from 722 to 730. The original is lost; but
this abridgement, which Rivet proves to have been made with exactitude, (t. 3,
p. 602,) is extant genuine in Mabillon (sæc. 5, Ben.) and the Bollandists, (ad
1 Apr. p. 14,) but in Surius (ad 1 Apr.) the style is altered. [back]
Rev.
Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume XII: December. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
Saint Valery of Leucone
Also known as
- Valery of Leuconay
- Gualaric of….
- Valéry of….
- Walaric of….
- Walarich of….
- Waleric of….
- Walericus of….
- Walric of….
- 1
April
- 12 December on some calendars
Profile
Monk at Luxeuil
Abbey. Founded the monastery
of Leuconay, France. The town of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme was named for him.
- c.622
- monk
in a white habit holding a staff
San Valerico Abate
† 12 dicembre 622
Emblema: Bastone
pastorale
Nel
Santuario della Consolata di Torino sono venerate le reliquie dell'Abate S.
Valerico, proclamato Compatrono della Città durante l'epidemia di peste del
1598. Dal "Chronicon Novaliciense" (scritto da un monaco anonimo nel
1060 circa, ora conservato nell'Archivio di Stato di Torino) apprendiamo che le
sue spoglie furono portate in città nel 906 dai Benedettini, i quali, fuggiti
dalla Novalesa a causa delle scorribande saracene, trovarono rifugio
nell'Abbazia di S. Andrea (oggi è il noto santuario mariano).
Valerico nacque nel 565 nell' Auvergne, una regione montuosa del centro della
Francia. La sua era una famiglia di umili pastori che non aveva certo il denaro
per farlo studiare. Il nostro pastorello però si ingegnò: fece incidere su
alcune tavolette di legno le lettere dell'alfabeto e, badando solitario al
gregge, cominciò a leggere imparando a memoria un salterio che si era fatto
prestare. Partecipando in modo più attivo alle sacre funzioni sbocciò la
vocazione religiosa. Poco distante sorgeva un monastero benedettino in cui vi
era uno zio e Valerico pensò a quel luogo come la dimora ideale per trascorrere
in preghiera il resto della vita. Di nascosto dai genitori vi chiese asilo ma
dovette subito lottare contro il padre che non si rassegnava a perderlo. Anche
i monaci cercarono di persuaderlo a mutare idea ma, irremovibile, diede prova
della propria vocazione.
Era un modello di umiltà, bontà, mitezza, candore di vita. Per un assurdo
controsenso questi doni fecero sì che per tutta la vita dovesse poi trasferirsi
da un'abbazia ad un altra perché, giunto in un luogo, diffondendosi la fama
della sua santità, era compromessa la tranquillità sua e dei confratelli. Per
qualche tempo visse nel monastero di St. Germain d' Auxerre dove, tra l’altro,
divenne il padre spirituale di Bobone, un nobile del luogo. Questi,
abbracciando poi la regola benedettina, seguì il maestro nel successivo
trasferimento a Luxeuil (Borgogna) in cui il celebre S. Colombano d'Irlanda
(fondatore in seguito dell'Abbazia di Bobbio presso Piacenza) era a capo di
circa duecento monaci. Il nostro Valerico ebbe inizialmente l'incarico di
ortolano ma il suo carisma non tardò a manifestarsi procurandogli incarichi di
responsabilità. S. Colombano esigeva un severo stile di vita: un'equilibrata combinazione
di preghiera e lavoro, seguendo appieno il motto "ora et labora".
Tappa successiva fu il Monastero di Fontanes dove la sua saggezza gli valse
l'amicizia del Re Teodorico che tornò utile contro l'usurpazione delle terre
dell'abbazia ad opera di signorotti locali.
Testimoniò sempre il Vangelo andando incontro a coloro che ancora non
conoscevano Gesù. Insieme ad un compagno di nome Valdoleno si diresse verso
nord alla corte di Clotario, Re di Soissons, dove erano ancora presenti molti
pagani. Ottenne un luogo solitario, in una boscaglia ombrosa, in cui fondare un
nuovo cenobio: questa località era detta Leuconaus e si affacciava sul canale
della Manica. Anche qui, autentica calamita, attirò a sé quanti avevano sete di
Dio.
Ebbe il dono dei miracoli, della profezia, di scrutare i cuori. Donò la sanità
a un paralitico di nome Blitmondo che, professata la Regola, diverrà suo
successore nella carica di Abate. L'Abbazia si ingrandì anche grazie all'aiuto
del Re Dagoberto. Le giornate trascorrevano intense: lunghi viaggi, spesso a
piedi, per portare a tutti la Lieta Novella, alternati a ritiri solitari di
preghiera. Operò molte conversioni, risvegliò la fede sopita nei villaggi in
cui predicava, tanto che si metteva poi mano alla costruzione di edifici sacri
o alla ristrutturazione di quelli in abbandono.
Consumò tutta la propria esistenza al servizio della Chiesa con gli occhi
rivolti sempre all'Altissimo.
Una settimana prima di morire indicò ai fratelli il luogo in cui voleva che la
nuda terra accogliesse il proprio stanco corpo mortale: sotto la quercia in cui
amava maggiormente colloquiare col suo Dio. La chiamata venne il 12 dicembre
622, aveva 57 anni. Oggi è ancora ricordato come l'Apostolo "delle
scogliere" e due cittadine portano il suo nome: St. Valery en Caux e St.
Valery sur Somme.
Un anno dopo la morte il monastero venne devastato dai pagani, il Vescovo di
Amiens si preoccupò che non andassero profanate le sacre spoglie. Il 1° aprile
628 fu costruita una prima cappella che divenne meta di pellegrinaggi. Il corpo
vi rimase per circa due secoli ma, aumentando i pericoli di profanazione,
l'abate Domniverto della Novalesa in Valsusa reclamò a sé le reliquie col
permesso di Carlomagno (Chronicon III 15). Nel 906 furono trasferite
definitivamente a Torino.
Nella capitale subalpina il culto sarà costante per raggiungere l'apice nel
1598 allorquando fu eletto Compatrono della Città contro le pestilenze:
memorabile la processione con le reliquie per le vie cittadine e tra i
lazzaretti che accoglievano i contagiati. Proprio il 12 dicembre di quell'anno
Papa Clemente VIII approvò il culto.
Il Consiglio Comunale il 17 giugno 1599 rese pubblica riconoscenza al santo
finanziando la costruzione di un nuovo altare di patronato municipale, nel 1601
Don Lorenzo Surio scrisse una biografia. Il suo patrocinio venne nuovamente
invocato, insieme a quello di S. Rocco, nel 1629 e nel 1657 quando la peste
tornò a mietere vittime.
Nel 1898 una nuova campana intitolata a S. Valerico venne collocata
nell'imponente campanile del Santuario costruito poco dopo l'arrivo delle sue
reliquie in città. Queste sono oggi venerate nella cappella a lui dedicata, la
prima a sinistra di quelle realizzate nel 1904 durante la ristrutturazione del
Santuario voluta dal Rettore Beato Giuseppe Allamano.
ORAZIONE A S. VALERICO ABATE
O glorioso S. Valerico, che per mirabile disposizione di Dio foste eletto a
special protettore dei Torinesi nelle epidemie, dalle quali i nostri padri
ricorrendo a Voi furono prodigiosamente liberati, continuate anche a noi la
vostra protezione nelle tante miserie che ci affliggono. Liberateci dai mali
del corpo e più ancora da quelli dell’anima. Dissipate lo spirito
d’indifferenza e d’incredulità che offusca le menti e inaridisce i cuori di
tanti nostri fratelli, e fate che fiorisca tra noi quello spirito di fede e di
pietà che è l’unico sollievo e conforto nelle sventure e fonte di gaudio per
l’eternità. Amen.
Autore: Daniele
Bolognini
Voir aussi : La vie complète de Valery - http://www.chapellestvalery.fr/medias/files/histoire-valery-dec2011.pdf
