La
statue de Saint Adjutor dans la collégiale de Vernon
Saint Adjutor
Pénitent (+ 1131)
Saint Adjutor, Seigneur de Vernon dans l'Eure, fils du seigneur Jean, Comte de Vernon, et de Rosamonde de Blaru. Né à Vernon en 1069 ou 1070, donc contemporain de Guillaume le Conquérant. Il partit à la Croisade. Quand il en revint, il éleva une chapelle à sainte Marie-Madeleine pour la remercier de l'avoir ramené sain et sauf au pays. Il se fit bénédictin à l'abbaye de Tiron dans le Perche, mais bientôt préféra la solitude de sa petite chapelle où il passa les dernières années de sa vie en ermite, recevant les malades pour leur apporter quelque guérison et les âmes en peine pour les conduire à la joie de Dieu. Il devint un saint très populaire chez les Normands.
Décédé à Pressagny-l'Orgueilleux le 30 avril 1131.
Fils du seigneur de Vernon, jeune encore, Adjutor partit pour la Première Croisade. Il fut fait prisonnier près de Jérusalem, il resta fidèle à sa foi malgré les tortures.
De retour en France, il prit l'habit monastique à l'abbaye de Thiron (Thiron-Gardais, Eure et Loire). Ensuite il demanda à vivre la vie érémitique dans un petit ermitage près de Vernon.
Il est invoqué comme patron de la navigation fluviale. (Son ermitage se trouvait en bord de Seine à Pressagny-l'Orgueilleux).
À Vernon en Normandie, vers 1131, saint Adjuteur. Fait prisonnier à la croisade
sous les murs de Jérusalem, il subit des sévices à cause de sa foi; revenu dans
son pays, il mena une vie pénitente, reclus dans une cellule.
Martyrologe romain
Église
Saint-Quentin de Poses.
Vernon : Les miracles de
Saint-Adjutor
Objet d'un culte qui ne
dépasse pas les limites de la Haute-Normandie, Saint-Adjutor n'en est pas moins
très célèbre dans la région de Vernon. Il y a de quoi, tant
les détails que nous a transmis sa légende sont fabuleux.
Au départ, l'Histoire se
mêle à la légende. Il semble établi qu'Adjutor est le fils du seigneur Jean,
Comte de Vernon, et de Rosamonde de Blaru. Il naît vers 1070, ce qui en fait un
contemporain de Guillaume le Conquérant. Son éducation est confiée à un abbé,
Bernard, qu'il vénérera toute sa vie.
Un contre sept
En 1095 Adjutor part pour
la croisade avec une compagnie de deux cents hommes. Les croisés arrivent en
Terre Sainte. Mais un jour, près d'Antioche, Adjutor et sa troupe tombent dans
une embuscade où les attendent quinze cents Infidèles. Ils sont coincés. Adjutor
prie alors Sainte Madeleine et fait voeu de donner le relais de chasse qu'il a
au bord de la Seine au monastère de Tyron-au-Perche. Un monastère qu'il connaît
bien puisqu'il y a passé son enfance avec l'abbé Bernard. Il promet aussi qu'il
fera bâtir une chapelle à sainte Madeleine près de cette maison. Aussitôt, une
tempête affreuse mêlée de tonnerre et d'éclairs se déchaîne et sème l'épouvante
dans les rangs des Sarrazins. Saint-Adjutor en profite pour lancer une
contre-offensive qui écrase les Maures.
17 ans de Croisade
Pendant dix-sept ans il
poursuit la croisade qui le mène jusque sur le tombeau du Christ. Mais un jour,
raconte la légende, sans doute pour l'éprouver, Dieu le laisse tomber entre les
mains des Infidèles aux environs de Jérusalem. "On l'enferra
d'horribles chaînes d'une grosseur tout-à-fait extraordinaire. Mais bientôt,
irrités par son calme et son courage, ses geôliers doublèrent ses fers déjà si
pesants et le plongèrent dans une prison plus étroite et plus obscure."Vol
supersonique
C'est encore la prière
qui va le tirer de cette situation désespérée. Le récit de son biographe ne
manque pas de saveur. "Une nuit, comme il reposait, arriva le secours
d'en haut. Il vit Sainte Madeleine à sa droite et à sa gauche saint Bernard qui
le prirent et l'enlevèrent, chargé de ses fers et manotes, sans toutefois en
être lié comme il était auparavant, puis, d'un cours extrêmement vite, en une
seule nuit, des quartiers de Jérusalem le transportèrent près de
Vernon-sur-Seine, en sa maison de chasse." Ce miracle n'en fit
pourtant pas le patron des pilotes de ligne...
Revenu au pays, Adjutor
tient parole. Et se met à vivre en moine dans la chapelle qu'il fait édifier à
Pressagny. C'est là qu'il réalise de nombreux miracles, aidant les pauvres et
soignant les malades.
Patron des mariniers
Cependant le plus célèbre
de ces miracles est celui qu'il accomplit en calmant un tourbillon de la Seine
qui avait causé le naufrage de nombreux bateaux. Avec l'archevêque venu lui
prêter main-forte, et après la messe du Saint-Esprit célébrée dans la chapelle
de la Madeleine, notre saint s'embarque et met le cap sur le tourbillon.
L'archevêque n'en mène pas large... mais Adjutor est confiant. Arrivés au bord
du gouffre, l'archevêque y jette de l'eau bénite et fait le signe de croix.
Saint-Adjutor, de son côté, y lance les chaînes qui le liaient pendant sa
captivité. Miracle : le gouffre se remplit, les eaux se calment. Et
l'archevêque respire. Depuis ce miracle, Saint-Adjutor est le patron des
mariniers.
Les flammes lui obéissent
On prête encore beaucoup
d'autres miracles à Saint Adjutor. De son vivant, il en aurait réalisé un des
plus impressionnants : pendant le siège de Vernon, alors que la ville était
encerclée par un feu provoqué par l'ennemi, saint Adjutor s'adressa aux flammes
et leur demanda de retourner d'où elles venaient. Obéissantes, les flammes se
jetèrent sur les assaillants et les obligèrent à lever le siège.
Une autre fois, saint
Adjutor aurait délivré Vernon de la peste.
Miracles post-mortem
Après sa mort le 30 avril
1131 dans sa chapelle de Pressagny, où sa mère et lui sont enterrés, Saint
Adjutor a continué à être vénéré et à faire de nombreux miracles. Sur son
tombeau les aveugles recouvrent la vue, les malformés se redressent, les sourds
entendent, les langues coupées repoussent, les paralytiques guérissent, les
possédés sont délivrés, les femmes stériles deviennent fécondes... Une vraie
panacée ! C'est pourquoi on peut encore aujourd'hui invoquer Saint Adjutor pour
toutes sortes de maux. Sa fête est fixée le 30 avril.
SOURCE : https://giverny.org/vernon/stadj.htm
Statue
de saint Adjuteur "Chevalier de Terre-Sainte souffre dans les fers pour
Jésus-Christ", abbatiale de Thiron-Gardais, Eure-et-Loir, France.
Also
known as
Adjoutr
Ajutre
Ayutre
1
September on some calendars
Profile
Lord of Vernon-sur-Seine.
Norman knight in
the First
Crusade in 1095 during
which he was captured by
Muslims who tried to force him to abandon his faith.
He escaped, apparently swimming to
freedom, returned to France,
and became a Benedictine monk at
Tiron, France. Hermit in
his later years.
Born
Normandy (part of
modern France)
30 April 1131 at
Tiron, France
Crusader hermit with
a chain nearby
Crusader hermit with
a bird nearby
man throwing part of
his chains over
a precipice
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
books
Dictionary of Saints, by John Delaney
Emblems of the Saints,
by Father Frederick
Charles Husenbeth and Augustus Jessopp
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
1001 Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, Australian
Catholic Truth Society
images
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
MLA
Citation
“Saint Adjutor of
Vernon“. CatholicSaints.Info. 31 August 2021. Web. 1 April 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-adjutor-of-vernon/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-adjutor-of-vernon/
Bas-relief
représentant le miracle de Saint Adjutor
St. Ajutre, or Adjutor,
Confessor
[Recluse, at Vernon in
Normandy.] HE was a Norman gentleman, who, upon motives of holy zeal
and piety followed the Christian standards in the holy war in the east. Being taken
by the Saracens, he suffered great hardships and torments, nothing being able
to shake his constancy in the confession of his faith, and in the exercises of
his religious duties. Having recovered his liberty, he returned home, where,
having consecrated himself and his estate to God, he led an anchoretical life
at Vernon upon the Seine, in the assiduous practices of penance and fervent
prayer. He consummated his sacrifice by a happy death on the 30th of April, in
1131, and is commemorated on this day in the new accurate Martyrology of
Eyreux, and in the calendars of many other churches in Normandy
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume IV: April. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/4/304.html
Saint Ajutre
Feastday: April 30
Death: April 30, 1131
St. Ajutre or Adjoutr,
confessor. April 30 A.D. 1131 He was a Norman gentleman,
who, upon motives of holy zeal and
piety, followed the Christian standards
in the holy war in
the East. Being taken by the Saracens he suffered great hardships and torments,
but nothing shook his constancy in the confession of
his faith, or in the exercises of his religious duties. Having recovered his
liberty, he returned home, whereupon, having consecrated himself and his estate
to God, he led an anchoretical life at
Vernon upon the Seine, in the assiduous practices of penance and
fervent prayer. He consummated his sacrifice by
a happy death on the 30th of April, in 1131, and is commemorated on this day in
the new accurate Martyrology of
Evreux, and in the calendars of many other churches in Normandy.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=875
Vernon : Saint-Adjutor's
Miracles
Worshipped all over the
world as the patron saint of bargemen, yachtsmen and swimmers, Saint Adjutor is
also the patron saint of Vernon.
It is indeed where he accomplished most of his miracles.
In the beginning, History
is mingled with the legend. It appears to be established that Adjutor was
the son of Jean, Count of Vernon, and of Rosamonde of Blaru, a
village in the vicinity of Vernon. He was born around 1070, therefore lived at
the time of William the Conqueror. His education was given to him by an Abbot
called Bernard, whom he worshipped all his life.
One against Seven
In 1095 Adjutor goes off to the crusades with an army of 200 men. The crusaders arrive on Holy Land. One day, near to Antioch, Adjutor and his troops fall into an ambush where 1500 enemies are waiting for them. They are trapped. Adjutor prays Sainte Madeleine and makes a vow to give his hunting relay which he owns along the river Seine to the monastery of Tyron-au-Perche ; a monastery which he knows well, for it is the place where he spent his childhood with Bernard the Abbot. He also promises to build a chapel to Saint Madeleine near to this house. Straight away, a terrible storm with thunder and lightning roared while frightening the Saracens. Saint-Adjutor took the opportunity to make a counter attack and wiped the Moors out.
17 years of Crusades
During seventeen years he
persued the crusades which took him to the tomb of Jesus Christ. One day,
says the legend, probably to try him, God let him fall into the hands of the
Infidels near to Jerusalem. "He was enchained to horrible chains of
quite extraordinary size. But soon, irritated by his calm and his courage, his
jailers doubled his chains already quite heavy and threw him into a smaller and
darker jail."
Supersonic flight
It is once again prayers
that will free him from this terrible situation. The narration of his
biographer is quite exciting. "One night as he was resting, help came
from above. He saw Saint Madeleine on his right and on the left Saint Bernard
who took him and lifted, weighted by his chains and manacles, without however
being tied up like before, in an extremely swift flight, from Jerusalem to
Pressagny, near Vernon-sur-Seine to his hunting house in one night." This
miracle nevertheless does not make him the patron saint of aircraft pilots...
Having come back to his
home land Adjutor kept promise. He lived like a monk in the chapel he had built
in Pressagny. It is from there he made many miracles, helping the poor and
caring for the sickPatron saint for the bargemen
However one of his most
famous miracles is a miracle he accomplished by calming a terrible whirlpool on
the Seine which had caused the wrecking of many boats. With the Archbishop who
came to give him a helping hand and after mass of the Holy Ghost celebrated in
the chapel of La Madeleine, Saint Adjutor took place in a boat and headed for
the whirlpool. The Archbishop was not very comfortable... but Adjutor was
confident. As they neared the whirlpool the arArchbishop threw some holy water
signing it with the sign of the cross and Adjutor threw in the chains he wore
when in captivity. Miracle, the hole was filled, the water became calm, and the
Archbishop tranquilized. Since this miracle Saint Adjutor is the patron saint
for bargemen
The flames obey him
Many other miracles are
said to be of Saint Adjutor. During his lifetime, he acomplished a most
spectacular miracle during the siege of Vernon. Whereas the town was encircled
by flames lit by the enemy, Saint Adjutor spoke to the flames asking
them to return to where they came from. Obeying him they went back onto
the enemy and made them flee from the town.
Another time Adjutor
delivered Vernon from the pest.
Post Mortem Miracles
After his death the 30th April 1131 in his chapel of Pressagny where he and his mother were buried, Saint Adjutor was still venerated and still accomplished many miracles. On his grave, the blind recovered sight, the crooked became straight, the deaf heared, the chopped tongues grew again and the paralyzed heeled, the possessed were delivered and the sterile women became fertile. A real panacea ! That is why today one can still invoke Saint Adjutor to cure all kinds of diseases. His Saints day is on the 30th April.
SOURCE : https://giverny.org/vernon/stadjgb.htm
Le
miracle de Saint Adjutor
Sant' Adiutore di
Vernon Monaco
XII secolo
Crociato normanno, poi
eremita benedettino a Vernon-sur-Seine.
Etimologia: Adiutore
= colui che aiuta, dal latino
Martirologio
Romano: A Vernon-sur-Seine in Francia, sant’Adiutore, che, fatto
prigioniero in guerra, fu torturato per la sua fede e, tornato in patria, si
ritirò in una cella conducendo una vita di penitenza.
Nato a Vernon (Eure) nell'ultimo quarto del sec. XI e andato tra i cavalieri normanni alla prima crociata, fu fatto prigioniero dai Saraceni, dai quali solo dopo diciassette anni fu rimesso in libertà. Fu successivamente monaco dell'abbazia di Tiron (Eure). Fattosi poi eremita, costruì una cappella dedicata a santa Maria Maddalena, attualmente nella parrocchia di Pressagny l'Orgueilleux, vicino a Vernon. Morì il 30 aprile 1131, giorno in cui si celebra la sua festa.
La Vita di Adiutore fu redatta da Ugo III di Amiens, arcivescovo di Rouen. Il suo culto è diffuso nelle diocesi di Rouen, Èvreux e Chartre, come confessore e patrono della nobiltà di Normandia, e anche della città natale.
Autore: Charles Lefebvre
