Reliquaire
de saint Desle et saint Colombin.
Église Saint-Martin de Lure.
Inscription : Sacræ reliquiæ SS Deicoli et Colombini hic
requiescunt : « Les reliques sacrées des Saints Deicoli (Desle) et
Colombini (Colomban) reposent ici ».
Saint
Desle
Fondateur
d'un monastère non loin de Luxeuil (+ 625)
ou Déicole.
Compatriote irlandais de saint Colomban, il fonda un monastère non loin de Luxeuil qui donna plus tard naissance à la ville de Lure en Haute-Saône, journal paroissial 'sur les pas de Saint Desle' (diocèse de Besançon). Saint Desle était d'une extraordinaire gaieté: "C'est parce que le Dieu que je possède, personne ne pourra me le ravir."
Disciple le plus proche de Saint Colomban... son culte est demeuré en honneur à la lisière sud de notre diocèse, et spécialement dans la région de Remiremont... Saint Desle naquit en Irlande, 'l'Ile aux Saints', qui a été, jusqu'au seuil du Moyen Age, la grande pourvoyeuse d'apôtres de tout l'Occident, sorte de Palestine océanique qui a répercuté, avec une fidélité extraordinaire, le message évangélique parti des rives du Jourdain... Entré tout jeune à l'Abbaye de Bangor, 'la Vallée des Anges', sur la côte nord-est de l'Ile... Saint Desle suivit Saint Colomban dans les pérégrinations aventureuses qui aboutirent à Luxeuil. Il y passa les vingt années de sa maturité, de 590 à 610. Vie de silence et d'abnégation... Victime des remous politiques qui agitaient les confins de la Bourgogne et de l'Austrasie, toute l'Abbaye de Luxeuil fut dispersée... Mais à peine avait-on fait une lieue que Saint Desle s'écroula épuisé, suppliant son maître de le laisser là pour ne pas compromettre le sort de ses compagnons fugitifs... Saint Desle allait jeter les bases d'un nouveau monastère. Celui-ci, né, comme Luxeuil vingt ans plus tôt, au cœur de la forêt, fit place, sous l'impulsion du fondateur et des nombreux religieux, aussitôt accourus, à la vaste clairière où se développa par la suite la ville de Lure... (d'après l'histoire des saints des Vosges, ouvrage du chanoine Laurent "Ils sont nos aïeux" - diocèse de Saint-Dié)
- 'Lure s'est créée autour d'une abbaye fondée au VIIe siècle par des moines venus d'Irlande, Saint Desle et son disciple Saint Colombin'.
Au monastère de Lure en Bourgogne, au
VIIe siècle, saint Déicole, abbé. Irlandais d'origine et disciple de saint
Colomban, il fut, dit-on, le fondateur de ce monastère.
Martyrologe
romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/5227/Saint-Desle.html
Église
Saint-Desle et Saint-Bénigne. Dambelin.
Saint
Desle
Saint Desle (Déidole), abbé fondateur de Lure, est né dans le Leinster en Irlande, vers 530. Il est le frère aîné de saint Gall. Entré tout jeune au monastère de Bangor, Desle suivit saint Colomban dans les pérégrinations qui aboutirent à la fondation de Luxeuil en 576. Bien que la vie était fort rude, Desle était connu pour la paix et la joie qui irradiaient de son âme et pouvait être vue sur son visage. Colomban lui demanda un jour :
« Pourquoi souris-tu toujours ? ». Il répondit simplement : « Parce que
personne ne pourra me retirer Dieu ».
Victime des remous politiques qui agitaient les confins de la Bourgogne et de
l’Austrasie, le monastère de Luxeuil fut dispersé... Mais à peine avait-on fait
une lieue que Desle s’écroula épuisé, suppliant son maître de le laisser là
pour ne pas compromettre le sort de ses compagnons. Desle erra un peu dans la
forêt régionale. Lorsqu'il eut soif et ne trouva pas de quoi boire, il
s'agenouilla en prière. Miraculeusement, une source jaillit sous son bâton de
marche. Il s'installa là où l'eau avait jaillit, à Lure (Lutra), dans les
Vosges. Bientôt, une communauté se regroupa autour de Desle. Sa sainteté
éminente et la multitude de ses miracles attirèrent la vénération de tout le
monde et la protection des princes.
Il meurt à Lure en 625.
Saint Desle est fêté le
18 janvier
SOURCE : http://www.eoc-coc.org/accueil/saints-du-mois/janvier/saint-desle/
Saint
Desle
Fil d'Ariane
Témoins vosgiens
Saint Desle nous intéresse au titre de disciple le plus proche de Saint
Colomban, et aussi parce que son culte est demeuré en honneur à la lisière sud
de notre diocèse, et spécialement dans la région de Remiremont.
Comme Saint Colomban,
Saint Desle naquit en Irlande, l' « Ile aux Saints », qui a été, jusqu'au seuil
du Moyen Age, la grande pourvoyeuse d'apôtres de tout l'Occident, sorte de
Palestine océanique qui a répercuté, avec une fidélité extraordinaire, le
message évangélique parti des rives du Jourdain.
La date exacte de sa naissance n'est pas connue ; on sait seulement qu'elle se
situe pendant le pontificat du Pape Vigile (538-555).
Entré tout jeune à
l'Abbaye de Bangor, « la Vallée des Anges », sur la côte nord-est de l'Ile,
Saint Desle vécut pour ainsi dire dans le sillage de Saint Colomban. De ce
fait, la plupart des détails biographiques leur sont communs.
Disons seulement que, très
attaché à son maître en sainteté, Saint Desle suivit Saint Colomban dans les
pérégrinations aventureuses qui aboutirent à Luxeuil. Il y passa les vingt
années de sa maturité, de 590 à 610. Vie de silence et d'abnégation héroïque,
sous une règle qui se distinguait de toutes les autres alors en honneur « par
son caractère énergique et son austère saveur ». Jeûne quotidien,
mortifications continues, travail de l'atelier et des champs, rien ne rebutait
la ferveur de Saint Desle qui retrouvait la détente et la joie à chanter, avec
ses trois cents frères, les louanges divines dans la vaste église abbatiale où
ils se regroupaient pour la messe et les différentes heures de l'office.
Peut-être notre saint
avait-il même l'impression d'être là trop heureux tant Dieu peut se permettre
d'exigences surprenantes à l'égard des âmes qu'Il a appelées à la perfection et
qu'Il soutient de Sa grâce toute puissante.
Vint en effet la terrible
épreuve. Victime des remous politiques qui, en ce siècle de fer — au paroxysme
de l'ère mérovingienne — agitaient les confins de la Bourgogne et de
l'Austrasie, toute l'Abbaye de Luxeuil fut bientôt dispersée, et ses moines
expulsés du domaine dont ils avaient fait, en moins de vingt ans, un admirable
foyer de culture et de civilisation. Au printemps 610, la caravane monastique
prit le chemin de l'exil, le long de la voie romaine conduisant à Besançon.
Mais à peine avait-on fait une lieue que Saint Desle s'écroula épuisé,
suppliant son maître de le laisser là pour ne pas compromettre le sort de ses
compagnons fugitifs. Ce fut pour tous un arrachement douloureux, et le
vieillard se jeta aussitôt dans la forêt, tant pour échapper à la poursuite des
sicaires de la reine Brunehaut que pour découvrir une retraite à sa fatigue. Le
lieu était propice : sous le nom de Vepræ, il évoquait un canton de cette
immensité boisée qui couvrait alors tout le bassin supérieur de la Saône, et
dont notre forêt de Darney constitue encore un remarquable vestige.
Cette forêt, à son tour,
fut propice à la légende qui, à ce moment critique, semble prendre le relais de
l'histoire. Le pieux narrateur se complaît en effet à nous conter le
jaillissement d'une source miraculeuse sous le bâton de Saint Desle, la
rencontre du berger qui le guide jusqu'à une chapelle dédiée à Saint Martin,
près de laquelle le Saint se construit une cabane. Il peut tout à loisir y
prier Dieu dans le silence de la nuit, puisque les portes s'ouvrent par la main
des Anges, dès qu'il en approche.
Il est intéressant de
souligner au passage cette chapelle dédiée, dès ce temps-là, au grand apôtre de
la Gaule, à proximité de la même voie romaine Besançon – Toul qui en comporte
une autre chez nous, près d'Escles et de Vioménil, aux sources du Madon.
Au travers des
persécutions dont Saint Desle triomphe à coups de miracles, Dieu poursuivait
son dessein. S'Il avait permis l'accident survenu au départ de Luxeuil, c'était
précisément pour en assurer la relève. Retrouvant, avec ses forces physiques,
toute sa jeunesse d'âme et le caractère entreprenant de son maître, Saint Desle
allait jeter les bases d'un nouveau monastère. Celui-ci, né, comme Luxeuil
vingt ans plus tôt, au cœur de la forêt, fit place, sous l'impulsion du
fondateur et des nombreux religieux, aussitôt accourus, à la vaste clairière où
se développa par la suite la ville de Lure.
Aidé d'abord par la
générosité de Berthilde, une pieuse châtelaine du voisinage, Saint Desle attira
bientôt, par sa bienfaisance et sa sainteté, l'attention de Clotaire II, le
père de Dagobert. Trop heureux d'expier les excès qui avaient marqué son règne.
Clotaire dota le monastère naissant d'un vaste domaine et de franchises fort
appréciables en ces temps de misère.
En souvenir de Luxeuil,
le fondateur de Lure dédia son église abbatiale à Saint Pierre, et devant
l'afflux des moines et de la population, en bâtit une autre en l'honneur de
Saint Paul.
En bon moine
colombaniste, il reprit la règle de Luxeuil, mais — et c'est là une marque de
son caractère — en atténua certaines rigueurs, se rapprochant ainsi de la règle
bénédictine qui gagnait alors tout l'Occident.
Quoique âgé et perclus
d'infirmités, il entreprit le voyage de Rome. L'histoire ne nous dit pas s'il
passa par Bobbio, sur la tombe de Saint Colomban, décédé en 615. Le Pape reçut
le vénérable Abbé de Lure avec bonté, approuva pleinement sa règle, le comblant
par surcroît de reliques et de présents.
Ce fut sa dernière joie.
Après avoir confié la crosse à son filleul Saint Colombin, il s'éteignit le 18
janvier 625, et fut inhumé, sur sa demande, dans l'oratoire de la Sainte-Trinité
— ne serait-ce pas en souvenir de Saint Patrick et de sa lointaine Irlande ? —
contre lequel il avait établi sa demeure à côté de l'Abbaye.
Il va de soi que Lure a
voué de tout temps un culte de gratitude à son fondateur, gratitude d'ailleurs
perpétuellement entretenue par la protection miraculeuse accordée à la ville
tout au long de l'histoire : au cours des siècles du Moyen Age, pendant les
guerres de Religion, et spécialement lors de l'invasion des Suédois.
Ses reliques,
précieusement conservées, comme le « palladium » de la cité, ont été l'objet
d'une vénération particulière et d'un pèlerinage fort en renom. Passant à Lure
en 1361, Rodolphe IV, duc d'Autriche, s'en fit remettre quelques fragments
qu'on vénère encore dans le trésor de la cathédrale de Vienne.
A l'encontre de tant de
Saints dont les reliques ont totalement disparu en 1789, les restes de Saint
Desle échappèrent au vandalisme révolutionnaire grâce à l'astucieuse audace des
habitants. On peut les voir aujourd'hui encore, avec celles de son disciple
Saint Colombin, dans la belle châsse conservée à l'autel latéral de l'église
paroissiale.
De nombreux prélèvements
opérés au cours des siècles jalonnent l'extension du culte à travers le diocèse
de Besançon, dont plusieurs paroisses l'invoquent comme patron.
On sait que 25 paroisses
vosgiennes, étirées sur les limites de la Haute-Saône — du Val d'Ajol à
Châtillon-sur-Saône — faisaient partie, jusqu'en 1789, du diocèse métropolitain
de Besançon. Si aucune d'elles ne se trouve dédiée à Saint Desle, il est
curieux, par contre, de constater que son culte s'est répandu dans une région
qui a toujours appartenu au diocèse de Toul. Hâtons-nous de dire qu'il s'agit
de l'arrondissement de Remiremont, ce qui s’explique. Le Saint-Mont, berceau de
Remiremont et foyer de chrétienté de cette portion du massif vosgien, est
historiquement une filiale de Luxeuil. Nous l'avons vu à propos de Saint Amé.
Sous une forme ou sous
une autre (oratoire, autel, statue, confrérie ou reliques), Saint Desle est
fidèlement invoqué à Bellefontaine, Gerbamont, Hadol, Plombières-les-Bains,
Ramonchamp, Raon-aux-Bois, Remiremont, Sainte Amé, Saint-Nabord, au Val d'Ajol.
Il suffit de consulter les registres, même actuels, de ces paroisses, de
s'attarder dans leur cimetière à déchiffrer les tombes, pour trouver souvent le
prénom de Del (Delle au féminin). Sans doute est-ce là une pratique
authentiquement chrétienne, alors qu'on voit de nos jours trop de parents
affubler, au baptême, leurs enfants de prénoms fantaisistes ou païens. Ce qui
contraint Monseigneur à leur improviser un autre prénom, valable, quand on les
présente à la Confirmation!
Mais il y a plus : une
marque de confiance et comme un appel. Donner au nouveau-né le nom de Saint
Desle, c'est le placer sous la protection d'un thaumaturge qui, dans la région
qui nous préoccupe, a miraculeusement préservé ou guéri des convulsions de
nombreux enfants en bas âge. Il est certain que les progrès de la médecine,
sinon une baisse de confiance dans le pouvoir des Saints guérisseurs, ont
considérablement réduit le champ d'activité de notre Saint. Quoi qu'il en soit
et jusqu'au début de ce siècle, la chronique de deux localités, Raon-aux-Bois
et Gerbamont, est particulièrement suggestive à cet égard, et le pèlerinage de
Saint Desle, le 18 janvier, y est toujours fidèlement en honneur. Raon-aux-Bois
accueille chaque année un groupe imposant de pèlerins, qui justifie les vastes
proportions données à son église lorsqu'on l'a bâtie en 1866. L'intérêt du
pèlerinage se double d'un aspect peut-être plus terre à terre et néanmoins
touchant : on y bénit du sel et de l'avoine destinés aux bestiaux que Saint
Desle accepte de prendre en charge et de défendre eux aussi de leurs misères,
sans préjudice aucun pour les bébés.
Quoique de moindres
proportions, le pèlerinage de Gerbamont est fort attachant à d'autres titres.
Imaginez une agreste chapelle accrochée au bas des pentes boisées, sur la rive
gauche du Bouchot. Erigée, ou plutôt reconstruite, en 1716, elle se trouve être
le seul édifice de notre diocèse consacré à Saint Desle. Typiquement vosgienne
avec ses allées couvertes de dalles de grès fruste, avec ses bancs faits de
poutrelles de sapin grossièrement équarries et sans dossier.
Dédaigneux du confort —
c'est, après tout, un lieu de pèlerinage — les bâtisseurs et les pèlerins
avaient réservé tous leurs soins pour l'ornementation. Oh ! Ce n'est certes pas
du grand art, que cet autel où trône dans sa niche une originale statue de bois
du Saint Abbé de Lure. Tout le parement de l'autel, toute la statuaire, sont de
la même veine savoureuse, au point que les Beaux-Arts en envisagent le
classement.
Longtemps, comme
Raon-aux-Bois, Gerbamont fut un centre fréquenté du pèlerinage « curatif » en
faveur des petits enfants. Deux ravissantes statuettes en bois doré, sur
l'autel, attestent que Saint Desle, nullement jaloux de son exclusivité,
tolérait jadis que sa chapelle servît de succursale à deux collègues du Paradis
: Saint Hubert qui guérissait de la rage, et Saint Marcoul, des écrouelles.
Et la foi des braves gens
répondait à cette complaisante bonté de nos vieux Saints. Si leur intervention
ne se justifie plus autant à ce titre, il reste que les chrétiens d'aujourd'hui
ont toujours besoin, pour leur âme, de s'inspirer de leur exemple et d'implorer
leur secours.
C'est pourquoi
d'ailleurs, en dépit de certaines déviations contre lesquelles Monseigneur, en
1955, a mis en garde les pèlerins de Gerbamont, on voit chaque année, au matin
du 18 janvier, les fidèles de Ban-de-Vagney, cheminer sur les pentes neigeuses,
se signant devant maintes vieilles croix de pierre où Saint Desle, crosse en
main, les bénit au passage.
SOURCE : https://dp.catho.ahennezel.info/saint-desle
.jpg)
Also known as
Deel
Deicolus
Deille
Delle
Desle
Dichul
Diey
Deicuil
Dicuil
Profile
Older brother of Saint Gall. Monk. Studied at Bangor Abbey under Saint Comgall
of Bangor and Saint Columba. Evangelized in
Austrasia and Burgundy in 567. One of
the twelve who accompanied Saint Columba to France and
helped found the abbey of Luxeuil.
When Saint Columba was exiled by
Thierry II, Deicola, too old to accompany him, founded the monastery of
Lure in the Vosges, France.
He then retired to the monastery as
a hermit.
Born
625 at
Vosges, France of
natural causes
hermit with a wild boar
at his feet
hermit with a ray of
light shining on him
with King Clothair
Additional
Information
Book of
Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Saints
of the Order of Saint Benedict, by Father Aegedius
Ranbeck, O.S.B.
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
images
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
MLA
Citation
“Saint
Deicola“. CatholicSaints.Info. 22 September 2021. Web. 17 January 2022.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-deicola/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-deicola/
L'église
Saint-Desle de Magny-Vernois 70.
St.
Deicolus
(DICHUIL)
Elder brother of St.
Gall, b. in Leinster, Ireland,
c. 530; d. at Lure, France,
18 January, 625. Having studied at Bangor he was selected as one of the twelve
disciples to accompany St. Columbanus in
his missionary enterprise. After a short stay in England he
journeyed to Gaul,
in 576, and laboured with St. Columbanus in Austrasia and Burgundy. At Luxeuil he
was unwearied in his ministrations, and yet was always serene and even joyous. When St.
Columbanus was expelled by Thierry, in 610, St. Deicolus, then eighty tears of
age, determined to follow his master, but was forced, after a short time, to
give up the journey, and settled in a deserted place called Lutre, or Lure
(French Jura), in the Diocese of Besançon, to which he
had been directed by a swineherd. Till his death, he was thenceforth the
apostle of this district, where he was given a little church and a tract of
land by Berthelde, widow of
Weifar, the lord of Lure. Soon a noble abbey was erected
for his many disciples, and the Rule of St. Columbanus was adopted.
Numerous miracles are
recorded of St. Deicolus, including the suspension of his cloak on a sunbeam
and the taming of wild beasts. Clothaire II, King of Burgundy, recognised the
virtues of the saint and
considerably enriched the Abbey of Lure, also granting St. Deicolus the manor,
woods, fisheries, etc. of the town which had grown around the monastery. Feeling his
end approaching, St. Deicolus gave over the government of his abbey to
Columbanus, one of his young monks, and spent his
remaining days in prayer and
meditation. His feast is
celebrated on 18 January. So revered was his memory that his name (Dichuil),
under the slightly disguised form of Deel and Deela, is still borne by most of
the children of the Lure district. His Acts were written by a monk of his
own monastery in
the tenth century.
Sources
COLGAN, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniæ (Louvain,
1645); MABILLON, Annal. Benedict;
O'HANLON, Lives of the Irish Saints,
I; O'LAVERTY, Down and Connor (Dublin,
1880), II; STOKES, Early Christian
Art in Ireland (London, 1887).
Grattan-Flood,
William. "St. Deicolus." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1908. 17 Jan.
2022 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04678b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Anthony J. Stokes.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil
Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley,
Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04678b.htm
L'église
Saint-Desle de Magny-Vernois 70.
DEICOLUS
OF LURE, ST.
One of the famous
Irish peregrini minores; d. c. 625. Deicolus (Deel,
Deicola, Delle, Deille, Desle, or the Irish, Dichul) accompanied columban to
luxeuil in France. When Columban was expelled in 610, Deicolus went with him
but became too ill to continue. He built a hermitage in the vale of Orignon in
the Vosges mountains in Burgundy, and in time he was joined by others. This
became the great Abbey of Lure (later united to murbach), and a monk of this
abbey wrote his life some 300 years after Deicolus died at an advanced age.
Feast: Jan. 18.
Bibliography: J. Colgan, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, ed. B. Jennings
(Louvain 1645; repr. Dublin 1948) 115–127. Acta Sanctae Sedis Jan.
2:564–574. Monumenta Germaniae
Historica: Scriptores 15.2:674–682. L. Besson, Mémoire historique sur l'abbaye et la ville
de Lure (Besançon 1846). W. Wattenbach, Deutschlands
Geschichtsquelen im Mittelalter bis zur Mitte des 13. Jh. (Stuttgart-Berlin
1904) 1:116, n. 2. J. F. Kenney, The
Sources for the Early History of Ireland, v.
1: Ecclesiastical (New York 1929) 208. L. Gougaud, Gaelic Pioneers of Christianity, tr. V. Collins (Dublin
1923) 134–135. J. M. B. Clauss, Die
Heiligen des Elsass (Düsseldorf 1935). J. Girardot, La Vie de saint Desle … (Lure
1946). R. Aigrain, Catholicisme 3:545–546.
[R. T. Meyer]
SOURCE : https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/deicolus-lure-st
Saints of the Day – Deicolus, Abbot
Article
(also known as Deel,
Deicola, Deicuil, Delle, Desle, Dichul, Dicuil)
Born in Leinster,
Ireland, c.530;
died in Lure (diocese of Besançon), France, c.625.
Deicolus, the elder brother of Saint Gall, was one of the 12 disciples of Saint
Columbanus who accompanied him to France in 576 and helped to found the great
abbey of Luxeuil. Deicolus worked with Columbanus in Austrasia and Burgundy.
Though life was not easy, Deicolus was known for the peace and joy that
radiated from his soul and could be seen on his face. Columbanus once asked
him, “Why are you always smiling?” He simply answered, “Because no one can take
God from me.”
When Columbanus was
expelled by Thierry in 610, Deicolus succumbed to fatigue just a few miles from
Luxeuil. Columbanus blessed the monk who was unable to accompany him into exile
because of his age. Deicolus wandered a bit in the forest region. When he
became thirsty with no water in sight, he knelt down in prayer. Miraculously, a
spring gushed forth under his walking stick. He settled where the water arose
at Lure (Lutra) in the Vosges.
But the spring is not the
only miracle attributed to Deicolus. The pastor of the nearby chapel of Saint
Martin objected to the saint coming there each night to pray. He was troubled
by the stranger for whom “doors opened without keys.” Soon, however, a
community gathered around the ancient monk. King Clothaire provided funds for
the monastery he founded on the site. There Deicolus retired to live as a hermit
until his death.
His lonely mountain cell
was the beginning of the city of Lure in northeastern France. The abbots of
Lure were made princes of the Holy Roman Empire more than 1,000 years later.
Deicolus’s cultus is still strong around Lure, where even at the end of the
19th century children’s clothes were washed in the spring because it was
reputed to cure childhood illnesses. Deicolus teaches us that joyful souls
delight the Lord and others (Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson, D’Arcy,
Daniel-Rops, Delaney, Dubois, Encyclopedia, Gougaud, McCarthy, Montague,
Tommasini, Walsh).
Saint Deicolus is
pictured as a hermit. A wild boar hunted by King Clothair takes refuge at his
feet. Sometimes there is a ray of light on him (Roeder).
MLA
Citation
Katherine I Rabenstein. Saints of the Day, 1998. CatholicSaints.Info.
15 May 2020. Web. 17 January 2022.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-deicolus-abbot/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-deicolus-abbot/
Saints of the Order of Saint
Benedict – Saint Deicolus, Abbot
Saint Deicolus was a
friend of Saint Columban, and travelled with him from Ireland to Gaul, where
they lived together at Luxeuil; here they were once reduced to great straits
for want of water; and as they went about to seek some, Saint Deicolus was so
overcome by thirst and weakness that he could go no further, and was unable
even to hold his staff. He besought Columban to excuse him from continuing his
journey, and the Saint consented on condition that if he reached convalescence
he should return to Luxeuil. Saint Columban and his companions travelled
through Burgundy, leaving Deicolus in an almost hopeless state, and the thirst
which so tormented him could find no alleviation, for there was no stream or
river at hand, nor did any rain appear. The Saint raised his eyes to God, “O,
most compassionate Lord,” he said, “who hast preserved my life, be pleased to
quench this terrible thirst; hear, for Thy great love, the prayer of a poor
pilgrim.” He spoke, and suddenly a limpid stream appeared; and this fountain
remains to the present day. Deicolus came upon a man taking care of some swine;
the Saint asked him if he could guide him to some church, and on hearing that
the poor man dare not leave his charge, he told him that the swine should all
gather round the staff which he placed in the ground, and that not one of them
should leave the spot. The swineherd believed the word of Saint Deicolus and
guided him to the village where the church stood. Deicolus after this time
lived a life of contemplation and prayer, and when the Sacristan of the church
died, the Saint, in answer to the earnest entreaties of the poor man’s wife,
raised him from the dead. He afterwards founded the Monastery of Sutra, and so
great was the fame of his sanctity and his numerous miracles, that numbers
hastened to fill it. This community was greatly enriched by King Clothaire.
Here Saint Deicolus died, some time in the sixth century after the Birth of
Christ.
– text and illustration
taken from Saints
of the Order of Saint Benedict by Father Aegedius
Ranbeck, O.S.B.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-order-of-saint-benedict-saint-deicolus-abbot/
January
18
St.
Deicolus, Abbot, Native of Ireland
[In Irish Dichul, called
by the French, St. Deel, or Diey.] HE quitted Ireland, his
native country, with St. Columban, and lived with him, first in the kingdom of
the East Angles, and afterwards at Luxeu; but when his master quitted France,
he founded the abbey of Lutra, or Lure, in the diocess of Besanzon, which was
much enriched by king Clothaire II. 1 Amidst his
austerities, the joy and peace of his soul appeared in his countenance. St.
Columban once said to him in his youth: “Deicolus, why are you always smiling?”
He answered in simplicity: “Because no one can take my God from me.” He died in
the seventh century. See his life and the history of his miracles in F.
Chifflet, and Mabillon, Acta Bened. t. 2. p. 103, both written by a monk of
Lure in the tenth century, as the authors of l’Hist. Lit. de la France take
notice, t. 6. p. 410. By moderns, this saint is called Deicola; but in ancient
MSS. Deicolus. In Franche-comté his name Deel is frequently given in baptism,
and Deele to persons of the female sex.
Note 1. The abbot of
Lure was formerly a prince of the empire. At present the abbey is united to
that of Morbac in Alsace. Lure is situated three leagues from Luxeu, which
stands near Mount Vosge, two leagues from Lorrain towards the south. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume I: January. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : https://www.bartleby.com/210/1/184.html
Saint
Who? Deicolus of Lure
A Saint for Senior Citizens •
ca. 530–January 18, 625 • Memorial: January 18
Circumstances permitting,
we expect the elderly to retire and do their own thing. After all, they have
worked hard for decades; now they should enjoy the rewards of their labors. We
certainly don’t expect them to bear much fruit during this period in their
lives. However, Saint Deicolus of Lure shows us otherwise.
In 576 they arrived in
Gaul, modern-day France, and Columban established his base at Luxeuil. The work
was hard, but Saint Deicolus did whatever his abbot asked of him in the service
of the gospel. People everywhere felt attracted to the monks’ humility,
kindness, and charity, like moths to a flame. These men lived simply,
subsisting on herbs, vegetables, wild berries, and even tree bark. This was in stark
contrast to the barbarians who routinely made raids, the noblemen who pretended
at Christianity but were pagan at heart, and many clergy who edified few by
their behavior.
Soon huge crowds were
flocking to Luxeuil and another monastery Columban established. In fact, so
many aspirants came that the monks had to build a third abbey. For twenty years
life was good.
But it was too good for
some. The local bishops grew jealous of Columban’s popularity and growing
influence, although this alone probably wouldn’t have hurt him too badly. What
really caused Columban trouble was his John the Baptist–like efforts against
royal vice.
King Theuderic II of
Burgundy was under the firmly pressed thumb of his grandmother Brunhild, who
encouraged him toward licentiousness. She feared that if he married, his queen
would either diminish or usurp her power. Theuderic needed little
encouragement, and he sired four sons by as many women. At the same time he
looked up to Columban, so the saint tried to coax him into a moral lifestyle.
This threatened Brunhilda, who stoked the bishops’ resentment of the abbot. In
610, Theuderic sentenced Columban to prison.
Although he was in his
eighties and older than Columban, Deicolus resolved that, as he had followed
Columban this far, he would not leave him now. Walking with him to jail, the
old man lasted just twelve miles. His age and infirmities prevented him from
going any farther. He asked Columban to release him to finish out his years
there in the woods.
Columban didn’t want to
leave the old man. This was his oldest and most faithful companion. But he
couldn’t carry him. Furthermore, given the political situation, he couldn’t
stay with him. Recognizing this as God’s inscrutable will, Columban sadly bid
his countryman Slán a fhágáil ag duine, “Good-bye.” And blessing one another,
they parted, never to see one another again this side of heaven.
Saint Columban had once
asked Deicolus, “How does it happen that your face is always shining with joy
and nothing seems to trouble your soul?”
“Because,” Deicolus said,
“nothing can ever part me from my God.”
Now it was just God and
he alone in the forest, and a marshy, carnivore- and mosquito-filled forest at
that. Deicolus had to find shelter.
Further and further into
the woods he went under a burning sun. But at sundown he hadn’t found a
suitable place to settle.
The next morning, faint
from thirst, he knelt in prayer, asking God to do for him what he had done for
Moses in the desert. Filled with faith, Deicolus rose and struck the ground
with his walking staff, and water bubbled up, allowing him to drink. Refreshed,
he traveled until he came upon a pasture. There he found a herd of swine
feeding themselves. The swineherd was shocked to see another person in such a
remote place and someone so aged besides, wearing what was to him strange garb.
Was this a bandit?
Putting the man at ease,
Deicolus asked where he should establish his home. The herdsman suggested the
nearby wilderness called Lure, since it had water. When Deicolus asked him to
show the way, the man demurred. He couldn’t leave his animals. Deicolus plunged
his staff into the ground, assuring his new friend it would guard the pigs in
his absence. After taking the saint to his new home and helping him set up his
tent, the swineherd returned and found his swine close to the staff.
Not long after Deicolus
had built himself a more suitable home, King Clotaire II—cousin of Theuderic
and great-grandson of Saint Clotilde and King Clovis—was out hunting boar
nearby. Fleeing Clotaire’s hounds, one large porcine specimen sought refuge in
the monk’s cell, hiding behind the saint. Deicolus patted the wild pig on his
head and, smiling, said, “Since thou hast sought charity here, thou shalt find
safety also.”2Out stepped Deicolus onto his stoop. The king’s dogs were in full
pursuit of the beast, but they skidded to a stop short of the door. It was as
if they dared go no further.
When Clotaire arrived,
the scene intrigued him. Who was this aged man living alone in the woods? On
learning of Deicolus’s relation to Columban, whom the king loved, His Highness
began talking with our saint, and Clotaire left awed by the man’s sanctity.
Shortly thereafter he gave Deicolus all the land around Lure as well as the
town of Bredana, its church, and a nearby vineyard.
Now, the pastor didn’t
think much of the king’s gift. Each night the priest made a show of
territoriality by locking the church doors, and each night angels would let
Deicolus in. The curate accused him of sorcery and called him an itinerant
monk.
The parishioners,
however, sensed something else about this strange old fellow. In the spirit of
Gamaliel in Acts, they counseled Father that if this man’s work wasn’t of God,
it would soon become painfully evident. They would see to that. However, if it
was of God, they had no right to stand in his way (see Acts 5:33–39).
Sadly, the more the
monk’s holiness became evident, the more jealous and spiteful the pastor
became. Finally he encircled the entire church with large branches from nearby
thorn bushes. No matter. The next morning Deicolus was found praying before the
Blessed Sacrament as usual.
Now this priest was
really mad, and he asked the nefariously cruel Count Werfarius to have Deicolus
killed. The count agreed. However, immediately on giving the order, the
nobleman fell dead. His widow Berthilda sent for the saint. Arriving hot and
tired from the journey, Deicolus took off his cloak. When a servant came to
take it, he found it suspended, the story says, on a ray of sunlight. Amazed,
Berthilda prostrated herself before the holy man’s feet and begged forgiveness
for what her husband had attempted.
Deicolus labored to
complete a monastery for the many men who had joined him by this time, but the
work taxed what was left of his strength. On January 18, 625, knowing he would
die that day, he called for his monks. He urged them to follow the law of
charity above all others and to persist in their struggle for sanctity and thus
heaven, as nothing else matters. After hugging each of them, he rested his head
and slept, never to reawaken in this world.
Almost twelve hundred
years later, French revolutionaries would destroy Deicolus’s monastery, as they
did so many others. But unlike other saints whose remembrance disappeared once
their shrines were destroyed, Deicolus is not completely obscure. Indeed,
around Lure there are many children named after him. And the water that
miraculously sprang up to quench his thirst that one hot day still flows and
attracts local pilgrims. On
the trees that surround the spring, parents hang their children’s clothes as
votive offerings for cures, since this water is especially beneficial against
childhood diseases.
Why Saint Deicolus deserves
our attention and devotion
Society today so little
values our aged, and yet Saint Deicolus accomplished his greatest work in his
autumn years. The reason is simple: He always worked for God’s glory rather
than his own. “Nothing can ever part me from my God,” he said.
Such beautiful, humble
trust in divine providence usually comes only after much experience. Deicolus
helps us see what is important and why we should value all our brothers and
sisters, regardless of their age or condition. After all, look hard enough at
them, and maybe we’ll see Christ.
Dear Lord Jesus, through
the prayers of Saint Deicolus, help me follow his example of humility,
perseverance in pursuing holiness, and radical reliance on your grace and
providence. Also, please enable me to recognize you in all the persons whom I
encounter, now and for the rest of my life
Deicolus was born in
Ireland, and while a monk there he met and became an early disciple of Saint
Columban. When this great monastic discerned God’s call to win souls for Jesus
in continental Europe, Deicolus and his brother Saint Gall were among the
twelve men chosen to accompany him.
This is an excerpt
from Saint Who?: 39 Holy Unknowns by Brian O'Neel.
SOURCE : https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/saint-who-deicolus-of-lure
Jan.
18, St. Deicolus, Irish missionary
Jan 18, 2010
Columbanus asked,
"Why are you always smiling?"
Deicolus answered,
"Because no one can take God from me."
Today
is the feast of St. Deicolus, a Leinster man, the older brother
of St.
Gall.
Both men entered the monastery at Bangor, County Down. When St.
Columbanus received permission from the abbot to go out as a
missionary, he included Deicolus and Gall among the twelve monks who
accompanied him to Britain and then to France, where they founded the Abbey of
Luxeuil.
When Columbanus was driven out of France in 610, his disciple Gall accompanied
him as far as Lake Constance. Columbanus went on to Italy, where he founded the
monastery of Bobbio, and Gall stayed in Switzerland, where, after his death,
the Abbey of St. Gall would be built on the site of his hermitage.
Deicolus attempted to leave France with Columbanus and Gall, but he was too
old. He was overcome by fatigue a few miles from Luxeuil and remained behind,
alone. He settled in a deserted place called Lure. Soon men joined him at what
would become the Abbey of Lure, destined to be "one of the richest abbeys
of France", that "twelve centuries later numbered princes of the
Roman Empire among its abbots."
In 1895, Margaret Stokes, the Irish archaeologist and
illustrator, published Three Months in the Forests of France: A Pilgrimage in Search
of Vestiges of the Irish Saints in France. She recounted several
charming legends of St. Deicolus, including the story of a "huge
boar" who took refuge in the monk's cell from King Clothair's pack of
hounds. "The saint, laying his hand upon his head, said to him, 'Since
thou has sought charity here, thou shalt find safely also.'"
SOURCE : https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/jan-18-st-deicolus-irish-missionary
San Deicolo Abate
†
625 circa
Martirologio
Romano: Nel monastero di Lure in Burgundia, nell’odierna Francia, san
Deícolo, abate: di origine irlandese e discepolo di san Colombano, si tramanda
che abbia fondato quel cenobio.
San Deicolo era originario dell’Irlanda, verde isola che ha donato alla Chiesa non pochi fiori di santità. Insieme con il celebre San Colombano partì per la Gallia, ove fondò la grande abbazia di Luxeuil nei Vosgi. Quando nel 610 Colombano fu esiliato in Italia, Deicolo fondò l’abbazia di Lure, nel territorio della diocesi di Besancon, divenendone il primo abate e trascorrendovi gli ultimi anni di vita, sino alla morte avvenuta verso l’anno 625. Deicolo era noto per essere sempre di buon umore e per i numerosi miracoli compiuti in vita ed in morte, attribuitigli da una biografia risalente al X secolo, scritta da un monaco di Lure. E’ particolarmente invocato contro le convulsioni. In francese il suo nomu è Desle, nome di battesimo assai diffuso ancora oggi nella Franca Contea.
Autore: Fabio Arduino
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/38240
Voir
aussi : http://www.amisaintcolomban.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/37_Desle.pdf
