Carolyn:
There is a two-page summary of Evurtius' eventful acts in the Petits
Bollandistes _Vie des Saints_, v. 10, pp. 541-42. As Bonnie notes, he was
famous for extinguishing by his prayers a fire that threatened to destroy
the town of Orleans and of finding a treasure under the foundations of the
old church of Sant-Etienne when it was excavated. (The excavations were
prompted by the fact that he had converted so many unbelievers during his
bishopric that a magnificent new basilica of the Holy Cross had to be
constructed to accommodate them, the plans for which an angel had sketched
out in the snow for him.) On the feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, as
he was solemnly performing the office of dedication of the new church, a
radiant cloud descended on his head in the shape of a hand with fingers
extended and blessed him thrice. The fame of this event quickly led to the
baptism of seven thousand more pagans. From this incident is derived the
depiction of a blessing hand surrounded by a cloud which adorned the seal
of the Chapter of Orleans.
Among the relics which were found and brought to the new church were
relics of the true cross, of Crispin and Crispinian and of the apostles
Peter and Paul. Evurtius' evangelism over the next twenty years succeeded
in converting almost all of Orleanais. Before dying, he named St Aignan as
his successor to the see.
Cheers,
Martin
Martin Howley, Humanities Librarian, Tel: (709) 737-8514
QE II Library, Memorial Univ of Newfoundland FAX: (709) 737-2153
St John's, NFLD, Canada A1B 3Y1 E-mail:[log in to unmask]
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On Thu, 7 Sep 2000, Carolyn Muessig wrote:
>
> Last year Jim Bugslag asked the following question:
> As usual, I checked your feasts for today against the 13th-century
> Ordinary of Chartres Cathedral and was fascinated to see that St.
> Cloud was, indeed, commemorated, but a full nine lessons were devoted
> to St Evurtius, who you didn't list.
....[SNIP]...
> Can anyone shed any light on this putatively "famous" story? Thanks, in
> advance, for all replies.
> Nobody could answer Jim's query last year. How about this year?
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