Saint Guy d'Anderlecht
Pèlerin d'Anderlecht (✝ 1012)
Paysan pieux et bon, né vers 950 dans le Brabant, il est choisi comme sacristain de sa paroisse Notre-Dame de Laeken. Mais un marchand de Bruxelles le persuade de s'associer à lui pour gagner de quoi faire davantage d'aumônes. Guy met tout ce qu'il a dans cette affaire. Les catastrophes s'accumulent jusqu'au jour où Guy s'en repent. Comme pénitence, il part en pèlerinage à Rome et à Jérusalem. Rentré sept ans plus tard, vers 1012, il meurt épuisé à Anderlecht. Sa tombe devint un lieu de pèlerinage très fréquenté.
À Anderlecht dans le Brabant, vers 1012, saint Guy, qui fut d’abord gardien de l’église de Sainte-Marie de Laeken, puis pèlerina sept ans dans les lieux saints en se montrant d’une grande générosité envers les pauvres, enfin, revenu dans son pays, il y mourut pieusement.
Martyrologe romain
Dieu n’a besoin de rien mais l’homme a besoin de la communion de Dieu. Car la gloire de l’homme, c’est de persévérer dans le service de Dieu.
Saint Irénée
Saint Guy d'Anderlecht
Sacristain
(1050-1112)
Guy, surnommé le Pauvre d'Anderlecht, vint au monde vers 1050, dans les environs de Bruxelles. Ses parents étaient de simples ouvriers, qui lui répétaient souvent les paroles de Tobie: « Si nous craignons Dieu nous sommes assez riches.» Dès sa jeunesse, Guy passait chaque jour plusieurs heures en prières, partageait son pain noir avec les indigents, et se mettait au service des malades. On l'appelait déjà et il était bien l'ange du village.
Un jour qu'il se trouvait à Læken, il entra dans l'église et resta plus d'une heure à genoux devant l'autel. Le curé, qui s'en aperçut, l'appela, s'entretint avec lui, admira sa piété précoce et lui offrit de le prendre pour sacristain. Balayer l'église, parer les autels, prendre soin des ornements sacrés, servir les messes, mais rien au monde ne convenait mieux au cœur du saint jeune homme: il accepta d'emblée. Le pasteur de Læken ne tarda pas à se réjouir de son choix. Guy était ordonné, propre et ponctuel; la prière le suivait partout dans ses emplois; et son bonheur était de faire à l'église de longues oraisons: parfois il passait la nuit. Ses gages étaient fort modiques; mais il se contentait de si peu pour vivre, il se mortifiait, il jeûnait si souvent ! C'était les pauvres, en définitive, qui émargeaient à sa place. La délicatesse de sa conscience lui découvrait les plus minces imperfections, et il les expiait dans les macérations et les larmes. Avec cela, il charmait par ses manières douces et polies.
Un marchand de Bruxelles, que les qualités aimables de Guy avaient gagné, parvint à lui persuader qu'en s'associant à son commerce, il pourrait faire de plus grandes charités. Le sacristain quitta donc son emploi et suivit le négociant; mais Dieu ne bénit pas son trafic. Il revint sans tarder à sa chère église de Læken, et l'expérience qu'il venait de faire des embarras du monde le rendit plus pieux encore.
Dix ans après, il entreprit le pèlerinage des sanctuaires de l'Italie et de la Palestine. Son but était de faire pénitence et de se soustraire à des marques de vénération qui alarmait sa modestie. Il partit pour Rome à pied et mendia son pain dans tout le voyage. En terre sainte, il visita tous les lieux célèbres, sans interrompre jamais son jeune ni ses grandes austérités. Il mit sept ans pour accomplir ses dévotions. Au retour, il rencontra dans la ville éternelle le doyen de l'église d'Anderlecht et quelques autres compatriotes partant pour Jérusalem. Le bienheureux s'offrit à leur servir de guide. Là, malgré ses soins, ils succombèrent à une maladie contagieuse. Épuisé de fatigues il rentra dans Brabant et alla porter aux chanoines d'Anderlecht la triste nouvelle de la mort de leur doyen. Ces religieux le retinrent au service de leur église; il les édifia quelque temps par ses vertus et sa pénitence, et mourut bientôt en odeur de sainteté.
L'abbé Pradier, La Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année
SOURCE : http://www.magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_guy_d_anderlecht.html
Histoire de St-Guidon Garçon de ferme très pieux, fils d'un couple âgé et pauvre, Guidon est né à Anderlecht dans la seconde partie du X ème. siècle. Un jour, après avoir interrompu son labourage pour offrir sa ration de pain à ses parents, il revient et constate qu? un ange a labouré le champs à sa place. Il met une motte de terre dans sa musette afin de faire croire à la présence du pain. Lorsque le fermier veut voir sa ration de pain, Guidon trouve dans sa musette la motte de terre qui est devenue du pain. Quelques années plus tard, Guidon chavire sur le Senne avec une barque et manque de se noyer. A l'aide d'une rame, il gagne la berge. Sans pouvoir se détacher de celle-ci il aperçoit la petite église de Laeken. Lorsque Il s'agenouille devant la vierge, la rame se détache et Guidon décide de servir cette église. Après des années, il entreprend le pèlerinage vers Jérusalem à travers la Chrétienté? Au retour de Jérusalem, Guidon fait halte à Rome et rencontre des pèlerins Anderlechtois emmenés par leur doyen Wonedulphe (l'existence du chapitre remonterait à l' an 800). Celui-ci convainc Guidon de les emmener à Jérusalem puisque il connaît le chemin. Au retour, leurs compagnons meurent successivement et Wonedulphe confie à Guidon, avant d?expirer, la mission de ramener son anneau et d'annoncer sa mort. Le 12 septembre 1012, Guidon décéde en la maison du Vice Doyen du chapitre après avoir accompli les dernières volontés de Wonedulphe. Guidon a été canonisé le 24 juin 1112, sous Odart évêque de Cambrai, ceci explique que l'on fête longtemps la Saint Guidon également le 24 juin |
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ST. GUY, OF ANDERLECHT.
FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 12.
As a child Guy had two loves, the Church and the poor. The love of prayer growing more and more, he left his poor home at Brussels to seek greater poverty and closer union with God. He arrived at Laeken, near Brussels, and there showed such devotion before our Lady's shrine that the priest besought him to stay and serve the Church. Thenceforth, his great joy was to be always in the church, sweeping the floor and ceiling, polishing the altars, and cleansing the sacred vessels. By day he still found time and means to befriend the poor, so that his alms-giving became famous in all those parts. A merchant of Brussels, hearing of the generosity of this poor sacristan, came to Laeken, and offered him a share in his business. Guy could not bear to leave the church; but the offer seemed providential, and he at last closed with it. Their ship, however, was lost on the first voyage, and on returning to Laeken, Guy found his place filled. The rest of his life was one long penance for his inconstancy. About the year 1033, finding his end at hand, he returned to Anderlecht, in his own country. As he died, a light shone round him, and a voice was heard proclaiming his eternal reward.
REFLECTION.—Jesus was only nine months in the womb of Mary, three hours on the Cross, three days in the sepulchre, but He is always in the tabernacle. Does our reverence before Him bear witness to this most blessed truth?
Guy of Anderlecht (RM)
(also known as Guido(n) or Wye of Láken)
Born near Brabant; died at Brussels, Belgium; c. 950-1012; feast day formerly on September 2.
Saint Guy, commonly called The Poor Man of Anderlecht, was the son of poor, but pious, parents who were richly blessed by their faith. They were not able to give their son a formal education, but were diligent in instructing him in the faith. They taught him the counsels of Saint Augustine that Christians should be detached from earthly possessions. Guy prayed throughout his life to be preserved from greed, to love poverty, and to bear all its hardships with joy. This detachment from the need to own, endowed the saint with love for his neighbor; he gladly fed the poor while he himself fasted and divided the little he had among them.
Legend says that when Guy grew to manhood, he was a farm laborer, who prayed as he plowed the fields, sometimes replaced at the plow by his guardian angel. He then wandered for a time until he arrived at the church of Our Lady at Laeken, near Brussels, whose priest was struck with his piety and hired Guy as sacristan. Guy gladly accepted the offer; and the cleanliness and good order that appeared in everything under his direction struck all who entered the church.
Like many other simple folk of every age, Guy was enticed by a merchant of Brussels to invest his small savings in a commercial venture, with the unusual motive of having more at his disposal to relieve the poor and leisure for contemplation. Unfortunately, the ship carrying their goods was lost leaving the harbor, and Guy, who had resigned his position as sacristan and been replaced, was left destitute. He recognized his mistake in following his own ideas and in forsaking secure and humble employment to embark, though with good intention, on the affairs of the world, and he blamed himself for the loss.
In reparation, Guy made a pilgrimage on foot to Rome and Jerusalem, wandering from shrine to shrine for seven years. Finally, he made his way back to Belgium and Anderlecht, where he was received almost immediately into the public hospital of Anderlecht and he died from exhaustion and illness.
His cultus did not arise immediately. In fact, his grave was forgotten until a horse uncovered it. The horse's owner hired two local boys to enclose the site in a high, solid hedge to ensure that others would not unwittingly trample on Guy's grave. The boys ridiculed the benefactor's act of reverence for the dead and were seized by strange stomach aches. Writhing in agony, they died. For some reason, this moved the local people to make pilgrimages to his grave and to build an oratory over it.
In 1076, a church was constructed and Guy's relics translated therein. Guy's sanctity was confirmed almost immediately thereafter by miracles wrought at his intercession. On June 24, 1112, a bishop acknowledged the relics with a grand ceremony and Guy's vita was composed. In 1595, the relics were enshrined in a new reliquary. During the 17th century, they were moved from place to place to escape pillage during wars. It seems that they were captured by the Protestants in the 18th century, although there is a "last acknowledgement of the venerable treasure" that occurred on September 11, 1851.
Over time his cultus increased locally, until now much folklore has accrued around his name and shrine, particularly associated with horses. Cabdrivers of Brabant lead an annual pilgrimage to Anderlecht until the beginning of World War I in 1914. They and their horses headed the procession followed by farmers, grooms, and stable boys leading their animals to be blessed. The description of the village fair that ended the religious procession sounds like fun. There would be various games, music, and feasting, followed by a competition to ride the carthorses bareback. The winner entered the church on bareback to receive a hat made of roses from the parish pastor (Attwater, Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Walsh).
In art, Saint Guy is depicted as a pilgrim with hat, staff, rosary, and ox at his feet. He might also be shown as a peasant or a pilgrim with a book (Roeder). Guy is venerated at Anderlecht, where he is considered the patron of laborers and sacristans, and protector of sheds and stables. He is invoked to calm infantile convulsions (Encyclopedia).
St. Guy, Confessor
From his life in Surius: also Miræus, in his Fasti, and Annales, Gramaye in Bruxellâ, p. 10, and particularly in Sanderus, in Chron. Brabant, et Lacâ Partheniâ, sect. 41, 42. The Bollandists, t. 3, Sept. p. 36.
About 1012, or rather 1033.
ST. GUY, in Latin Guido, commonly called the Poor Man of Anderlecht, was born in the country near Brussels, of mean parents, but both very virtuous, consequently content and happy in their station. They were not able to give their son a school education, nor did they on that account repine, but redoubled their diligence in instructing him early in the rudiments of the Christian doctrine, and in all the maxims of our holy religion, often repeating to him the lesson which old Toby gave his son: “We shall be rich enough if we fear God.” But their own example was the most powerful constant instruction, and inspired him more strongly than words could do with the Christian spirit of humility, meekness, and piety, and with a fear of God, animated by charity, which is fruitful in all manner of good works. Guy was from his cradle serious, obedient, mild, patient, docile, and an enemy to the least sloth. He conceived the highest sense of all religious duties, and was inured, both by his parents’ care and by his own fervour, to the practice of them. The meanness of his condition much delighted him as soon as he was of an age to know its value. He rejoiced to see himself placed in a state which Christ had chosen for himself. This conformity to his divine Master, who lived and died in extreme poverty, and the humiliation inseparable from his condition, were very pleasing to him, and it was his chief care to make use of the advantages it afforded him for the exercise of all heroic virtues. He showed to the rich and the great ones of the world all possible respect, but never envied or coveted their fortunes, and sighed sincerely to see men in all states so eagerly wedded to the goods of the earth, which they so much over-rate. When he met with poor persons who grieved to see themselves such, he exhorted them not to lose by murmuring, impatience, and unprofitable inordinate desires the treasure which God put into their hands. The painful labour, hardships, inconveniences, and humiliations to which his condition exposed him, he looked upon as its most precious advantages, being sensible that the poverty which our Redeemer chose was not such a one as even worldlings would desire, abounding with all the necessaries and comforts of life, but a poverty which is accompanied with continual privations, sufferings, and denials of the gratifications of the senses. The great curse which Christ denounces against riches regards the inordinate pleasure that is sought in the abundance of earthly goods, and in the delights of sense.
St. Austin says, that God ranks among the reprobate, not only those who shall have received their comfort on earth, but also those who shall have grieved to be deprived of it. This was the misfortune which Guy dreaded. In order to preserve himself from it, he never ceased to beg of God the grace to love the happy state of poverty, in which divine providence had placed him, and to bear all its hardships with joy and perfect resignation, in a spirit of penance, without which all the tribulations of this world are of no advantage for heaven. The charity which Guy had for his neighbour was not less active than his love of mortification and penance. He divided his morsel with the poor, and often fed them whilst he fasted himself. He stole from himself some hours every day to visit the sick, and carried to them all that he was able. At his labour he was faithful and diligent; and a spirit of prayer sanctified all his actions. Such was his life even in his youth. As virtue is infinitely the most precious inheritance that parents can leave to their children, his father and mother entertained, as much as was in their power, this rich stock of pious inclinations which grace had planted in their son, and daily begged of God to preserve and increase in that innocent heart the holy fire which he himself had kindled. Their prayers were heard. Guy’s early virtues, by diligent culture and exercise, grew up with him to greater strength and maturity, and advanced more and more towards perfection.
As Guy was one day praying in the church of our Lady, at Laken, a mile from Brussels, the curate of the place was charmed to see his recollection and devotion, and, taking an opportunity afterwards to discourse with him, was much more struck with the piety and unction of his conversation, and retained him in the service of his church in quality of beadle. This church is the most ancient of all the famous places of devotion to the Blessed Virgin in those parts. The name of Laken signifies a convent or house in a moist or marshy ground, as Sanderus shows. The saint, who rejoiced to have an opportunity of being always employed in the most humble offices of religion, embraced the offer with pleasure. His business was to sweep the church, dress the altars, fold up the vestments, take care of the linen and other moveables used in the service of God, ring the bell for mass and vespers, and provide flowers and other decorations which were used in that church: all which he performed with the utmost exactness and veneration which the most profound sense of religion can inspire. The neatness and good order that appeared in everything under his direction edified all that came to that church; for, out of a true spirit of religion, the servant of God looked upon nothing as small which belonged to the service of God, or to the decency of his house. His religious silence, modesty, and recollection in the church seemed to say to others: “This is the house of the Lord; tremble you that approach his sanctuary.” During his employments, he walked always in the divine presence, praying in his heart. When they were done, he refreshed his soul at the foot of the altar in fervent exercises of devotion; and often passed whole nights in prayer. He chastised his body by rigorous fists, and endeavoured, by constant compunction and the severity of his penance, to prevent the anger of his Judge at the last day. Had it been reasonable to form a judgment of the enormity of his sins by the humble sentiments he entertained of himself, and by the penitential tears he shed, he would have passed for the most grievous sinner on the face of the earth; whereas the sins he so grievously bewailed were only the lightest faults of inadvertence, such as the just fall into, and which only his great purity of heart could have discerned, and which it magnified in his eyes. To wipe away these daily stains (through the merits of Christ’s passion applied to his soul) he lived in constant compunction, learning every day to become more watchful over himself in all his words and actions, and in all the motions of his heart. By humility and meekness he was sweet and courteous to all, showing that true virtue is amiable to men, and that nothing so much civilizes the human soul. Out of his small salary he found a great deal for the poor; and, for their sake, he always lived himself in the greatest poverty, and often begged to procure them relief. For his humiliation God permitted the following trial to befal him.
A certain merchant of Brussels persuaded him to endeavour, by a little commerce, to gain something for the succour of the poor, and offered to put him in a way of thus making a more plentiful provision for them, by admitting him into a partnership in trade with himself. Guy’s compassion for the necessitous wrought more powerfully with him than any other regard could have done; nor was it easy for him to throw off the importunities of his tenderness for them. The bait was specious, and he was taken by it; but God did not suffer him long to remain in that illusion. The vessel, which was chiefly freighted by his partner, perished in going out of the harbour, and Guy, whose place in the church of Laken, upon his quitting, had been given to another, was on a sudden left destitute. He saw his mistake in following his own prudence, and in forsaking a secure and humble employment in which Providence had fixed him, to embark, though with a good intention, in the affairs of the world, in which, by dissipation, his virtue would perhaps have been much impaired, and worldly attachments secretly have taken root in his heart. For, though this employment was good in itself, yet he considered that God had justly punished his rashness in forsaking a station so suitable to the practice of piety, and had, in mercy, turned another way that affluence which might more probably have produced in him an affection to avarice or luxury, than have enlarged this charity. For plenty, riches, and worldly prosperity do not always, like soft distilling rains and dew, cherish, refresh, and increase the tender plant of virtue; but much more frequently, like a flood, wash away the earth from its roots, and either utterly extirpate it, or leave it oppressed and buried in rubbish, according to the maxims of eternal truth, condemning the spirit of the world, which the experience as well as reason of mankind confirms. This St. Guy clearly saw under his disappointment, and he condemned himself for the false step he had taken.
Another danger to which he had lived long exposed, was the persecution, if we may so call it, of the applause and praises of the world, which his virtue drew upon him in his low station. He had always carefully studied to arm himself against this temptation by the most sincere humility and constant watchfulness; but now, upon a review of his heart and whole conduct, he resolved to avoid this flattering enemy, by seeking out some foreign retirement. In this disposition, and in a spirit of penance for his reputed fault, he made an austere pilgrimage, first to Rome, and then to Jerusalem, and visited all the most celebrated places of devotion in the Christian world. Being returned as far as Rome, he there met Wondulf, dean of the church of Anderlech (a little town about two miles from Brussels), who, with some others, was ready to set out for the Holy Land. Guy was prevailed upon by them to be their guide, and to take another penitential journey thither. The dean and his companions were all carried off by a pestilential distemper, just as they were going to set sail from Palestine to return to Europe. Guy attended them in the time of their sickness, took care of their funerals, and, after seven years’ absence, returned to Anderlecht. The subdean of the chapter gave him an apartment in his house, not suffering him to return to Laken. The fatigues of his journeys, and other great hardships he had undergone, brought upon him a complication of distempers, of which he died soon after, on the 12th of September, about the year 1012, or rather 1033. 1 The canons buried him honourably in the ground belonging to their church. Many miracles that were performed by his intercession gave occasion to Gerard II., bishop of Arras and Cambray, about the year 1090, to order his sacred bones to be taken up, and a chapel to be built over the spot where they had been buried in the churchyard; for Anderlecht and Brussels were then in the diocess of Cambray, though they are now in that of Mechlin. In place of this chapel a magnificent collegiate church, under the patronage of St. Guy, was erected, and his relics translated into it in 1112. This church is endowed with very rich canonries, and is famous over the whole country.
Note 1. Baronius and Molanus, by mistake, place the death of St. Guy in 1112; it is more surprising that Baillet fell into the same error, since it has been demonstrated from the original life of the saint, and the deeds of several donations made to his church, that his death happened one hundred years before. See Miræus, both in his Fasti Belgici and his Annales Belgici, ad an. 1012; also Gramaye, professors of laws at Louvain, afterwards public historian of Brabant and Flanders, and provost of Arnheim, Antiquitates Brabantiæ, ann. 1708, p. 10, from memoirs furnished by Dr. Clement, a celebrated English theologian, dean of Anderlecht. This point, and other difficulties relating to the life of St. Guy, are fully cleared up by Sanderus, canon of Ipres, in Chorographia Brabantiæ, in the account of Laca Parthenia, or the Virgin’s Laken, § 41, 42, where he corrects the mistakes of Miræus concerning the first translation of St. Guy’s relics, and proves, against the same author, that he was not a native of Anderlecht, since his life informs us that he was a stranger there. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume IX: September. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/9/122.html
Saint Guy of Anderlecht
Today, September 12, we celebrate the feast day of Saint Guy of Anderlecht (also Saint Guido, 950-1012), a Belgian Christian known as the “Poor Man of Anderlecht.” Saint Guy was poor in material possessions throughout his life, but rich in the love, generosity, and grace of God. He worked tirelessly at the most menial of tasks, and gained a reputation for almsgiving, despite his own lack of the most basic needs. Although he never joined a particular religious order, Saint Guy was visited for spiritual direction by many, and through his model, brought many closer to Christ.
Born in Anderlecht, Belgian, a small village outside of Brussels, Guy was raised and instructed by poor, but pious parents. From an early age, he demonstrated great devotion to the Lord, and to Our Blessed Mother Mary. He proclaimed while still a child his wish to count himself among the special flock of Christ—the poor—for his entire life, and dedicated himself to a life of poverty and service to those who had nothing. Throughout his childhood, he gave away all he had, and spent his days visiting the sick and elderly of the town. It is said that when he worked the fields of his parents, an angel came and pushed the plow so that he might better pray undisturbed. Guy came to be recognized as a saint by many!
As Guy matured, his devotion only multiplied. He spent hours in prayer each day, rarely sleeping but instead contemplating the Lord. He traveled frequently to the church of Our Lady at Laeken, outside Brussels, and demonstrated such devotion to Mary that the priest approached him, and asked him to stay and serve the Church. It was with tremendous joy that Saint Guy remained in the church, constantly cleaning, sweeping, polishing the altars, and attending to the most menial needs during the day—stopping only to befriend and serve those who were poor and came on foot to the church looking for assistance. Each night he spent in prayer, rarely sleeping, but instead could be found kneeling at the foot of the cross, praying for the poor.
After many years of service, a savvy merchant from Brussels sought to take advantage of Guy, and offering him a share of his business, convinced him that through making more money, he could help more people. Guy wished nothing more than to remain in the church, but he saw the benefit in helping others and left his post. Almost immediately the business failed, and Guy, realizing his mistake, returned to the church only to find his position filled. Guy engaged in severe acts of penance for the remainder of his life, offering all he had to the Lord for his inconstancy. He traveled on pilgrimage—on foot—for seven years, visiting Rome and then the Holy Land, returning to Belgium and serving as a guide at the holy shrines.
A merchant of Brussels, hearing of the generosity of this humble sacristan, was prompted by a demon to go to Laeken and offer him a share of his business, telling him he would have the means thereby to give more to the poor. Guy had no desire to leave the church, but the offer seemed providential and he accepted it. The first ship bearing a cargo in which Guy had an interest, however, was lost, and he realized he had made a mistake. When he returned to Laeken, he found his place at the church filled. The rest of his life was one long penance for his inconstancy. For seven years he made pilgrimages of penance, visiting Rome and the Holy Land and other famous shrines.
Eventually, in his early 60s, Guy returned to Anderlecht, and died soon thereafter. In death, a golden light shone around him, and a heavenly voice was heard my many, proclaiming his eternal reward in heaven. He was buried in Anderlecht, and many miracles were attributed to his intercession at his grave. Saint Guy is the patron saint of Anderlecht, animals with horns, bachelors, convulsive children, epileptics, laborers, protection of outbuildings, protection of sheds, protection of stables, sacristans, sextons, work horses; and is invoked against epilepsy, against rabies, against infantile convulsions, and against mad dogs.
Saint Guy of Anderlecht
Also known as
- Guido of Anderlecht
- Guidon of Anderlecht
- Poor Man of Anderlecht
- Wye of Láken
Profile
Born in poverty, he was trained in religion by pious parents. For many years he embraced poverty as God’s will for him, and spent his time caring for the poor and sick. When he worked the fields, an angelwould sometimes man the plow so that Guy could praywithout distraction. He hung around the local church so much the priest made him the parishsacristan; Guy then lived in the church, and often spent all night in prayer.
A merchant from Brussels, Belgium either decided to give the boy a leg up in the world, or figured that Guy was a bumpkin who could be defrauded; versions vary. Either way, he offered Guy a part share in a new project that could make him rich. In the first ocean-going expedition in the project, the ship involved sank; Guy took it as a sign that he was right to begin with, and returned to his old life of poverty.
As penance for his bout of greed, Guy made a pilgrimage on foot to Rome, Italy then to Jerusalemwhere he worked for a while as a guide to pilgrims, then back to Brussels. Though he never joined any order or house, he vowed chastity, and devoted most of his time to prayer, and work as a sacristan.
Many post-mortem miraclesattributed to him. An annual festival grew up in the area around his grave, with most of the activities involving horses and the people who work with them because his grave, which was lost for years, was uncovered by a horse.
Born
- c.950 at Anderlecht, Belgium
- 1012 at Anderlecht, Belgium of exhaustion and related natural causes
- his grave was forgotten for years until uncovered by a horse
- relics translated to a nearby church in 1076
- due to wars, his relics were moved and hidden in several places over the years
- relics destroyed by Protestants in the 18th century
- Anderlecht, Belgium
- against epilepsy
- against hydrophobia
- against infantile convulsions
- against mad dogs
- against rabies
- animals with horns
- bachelors
- convulsive children
- epileptics
- farmers
- horned animals
- laborers
- protection of outbuildings
- protection of sheds
- protection of stables
- sacristans
- sextons
- work horses
- peasantpraying while an angel plows a nearby field
- peasant with a book
- pilgrim with a book
- pilgrim with hat, staff, rosary, and an ox at his feet