Saint Remigius Bishop, Confessor, October 1st

Remigius, also called Remi, is reverenced as the Apostle of the French. He came from a distinguished Christian family: for the title of Saint is in France commonly given to his mother Cilinia ; to his older brother Principius, Bishop of Soissons ; to the son of the latter, named Lupus ; and to his nurse Balsmia. Thus in boyhood he was surrounded with holy people, and grew up both godly and learned. Saint Sidonius Apollinaris, who knew him well, saith he was the most eloquent man of his age. When he was only twenty-two, and still a layman, he was chosen by acclamation to be Bishop of Rheims, and thereafter set out to spread the Gospel widely among the Franks. Now Clovis, King of the Franks, was an heathen, rude and cruel. And Saint Clotilde, his wife, prayed long to bring him to Christ. Finally divine grace prevailed, and under the joint instruction of Saints Vedast and Remigius, not only Clovis, but many of his kinsfolk and army as well, were prepared for Baptism, some three thousand in all, it is said. A story is told of Clovis, that during the instruction which he was given concerning the Passion of our Lord, he grasped his weapons, and stood up in anger, and exclaimed that such injustice would not have happened if the had been there with his warriors! And at the laver of regeneration, blessed Remigius is reputed to have charged Clovis, saying : Bow down thy head, O Sicambrian! Adore what thou hast burned, and burn what thou hast adored. Thenceforward great progress was made in the spread of the Gospel among the Franks ; and after more than three score and ten years as bishop, full of good works and famous for miracles, blessed Remigius died on January 13^th, about the year 533. But his feast is kept on October 1^st, being the day when Saint Pope Leo IX, in 1049, translated his relicks to the great Abbey in Rheims.

 

Antiphon on the Benedictus:
Well done, good and faithful servant: + thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: * enter thou into the joy of thy Lord (Alleluia.)

Collect:
Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God : that the devout observance of this festival of blessed Remigius, thy confessor and Bishop, may be profitable unto us for our advancement in all godliness, and for the attainment of everlasting salvation. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.