The days of old! Let us recall them. Let us renew in our hearts, in a spirit of gratitude and prayer, the memory of the favors God has shown us from our very origins.
Echoing the tradition preserved by Hincmar, Surius, Marlot, and others, Baronius recounts it thus:
"In the palace chapel dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Remigius, Clovis, and Saint Clotilde were seated, surrounded by the clergy who had accompanied the Pontiff, and by the officers of the King and Queen. The prelate was giving the King salutary teachings and instilling in him the evangelical commandments.
To confirm the preaching of the holy bishop, God willed to show visibly what He says to all the faithful:
'Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them'.
Suddenly, indeed, an abundant light, more brilliant than that of the sun, filled the entire chapel, and at the same time these words were heard:
'Peace be with you. It is I, fear not: Abide in my love.'
Then, after these words, the light disappeared, and an odor of incredible sweetness filled the palace, to prove with evidence that the author of light, peace, and sweetness had come there, for, except the bishop, none of those present could see Him, because they were dazzled by the brilliance of the light.
Its splendor penetrated the Holy Pontiff, and the light he radiated illuminated the palace with more brilliance than the torches which would reduce…
A miracle worthy of apostolic times, to use the expression of Hormisdas, followed this apparition, as Aimoin and Hincmar, Bishop of Reims, report; I speak of the ampulla of holy chrism brought from heaven by a dove, which served to anoint Clovis and, following his example, all the kings of France, his successors.
By these resplendent prodigies," continues the great historian of the Church, "God willed to manifest clearly of what weight was the conversion of the king of the Franks and his people."
The miraculous conversion of the Franks followed that of the king. At the request of Saint Remigius, Clovis went to speak to the Franks. But before he could speak, divine power took the lead, and all the people cried out with one voice:
"We reject the mortal gods, pious prince; we are ready to follow the immortal God proclaimed by Remigius."
Upon hearing this news, the Pontiff, filled with joy, ordered the preparation of the sacred bath. The entire temple was filled with a divine fragrance, and God granted the attendants such great grace that they believed themselves perfumed with the scents of heaven.
Baronius adds:
"Instructed in the way of God, the king entered with the courageous nation of the Franks through the gate of eternal light. It believed in Christ and became a holy nation, a people of acquisition, so that in it might be proclaimed the power of HIM who called them from darkness to His admirable light."
It is a legend, some will say; but cannot God work wonders? Did He not have sufficient reason to perform them to consecrate and engage in His service the people He wished to make His right arm? And finally, how can one deny a prodigy recounted by grave and holy historians, implicitly affirmed by the testimony of Pope Hormisdas, who writes to Saint Remigius that miracles equal to those of apostolic times shone forth in France, confirmed by the Holy Ampulla and the gift of healing scrofula, testimony sealed, so to speak, by Christ Himself, who would later call the king of France 'the eldest son of His Sacred Heart'!
"From that time," says Bishop Pie, "a great nation, another tribe of Judah, began in the world. The pontiffs of Rome, in agreement with the bishops of Gaul, were not mistaken. Through the profound darkness which had so long and so painfully veiled from them the mystery of the future, they immediately saluted the new star rising in the West, and they conceived presages which were not deceptive."
A historian, among those least disposed to see divine intervention in human events, Mr. Th. Lavallée, also said:
"The conversion of Clovis was an immense event; it began the greatness of the Franks and of Gaul. From that moment, this country becomes the center of Catholicism, of civilization, and of progress. From that moment, it assumes the magistracy of the West which it has never ceased to exercise."
The popes and bishops foresaw from the earliest days this glorious career and prophesied it.
Pope Anastasius II wrote to Clovis:
"We praise God who has drawn from the power of darkness so great a prince, IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE CHURCH WITH A DEFENDER, and has adorned him with the helmet of salvation to fight its pernicious adversaries. Take courage, then, dear and glorious son, so as to attract upon your most serene person and upon your kingdom the celestial protection of Almighty God; may He command His angels to guard you in all your ways, and give you everywhere victory over your enemies."
"And Saint Remigius, before dying," says Baronius, "inspired by the Holy Spirit, in the manner of the patriarchs, gave to France a blessing recorded in his testament, confirmed by the signatures of bishops (Saint Vedast, Saint Medard, Saint Lupus) and of which here are the terms:
'If my Lord Jesus Christ deigns to hear the prayer I make each day for the royal house, that it may persevere in the way I directed Clovis FOR THE INCREASE OF THE HOLY CHURCH OF GOD, may the blessings which the Holy Spirit poured upon his head through my sinful hand increase through that same Spirit upon the head of his successors!
May kings and emperors come forth from him who will do the will of the Lord for the increase of the Holy Church and who will be, by His power, confirmed and strengthened in justice. May they each day increase their kingdom, preserve it, and merit to reign eternally with the Lord in the heavenly Jerusalem!'"
Saint Avitus, Bishop of Vienne, who had not been able to attend the baptism of Clovis, also wrote him a letter:
"Where one does not know," says Mr. Godefroid Kurth, "what to admire more: the elevation of the language, the accuracy of insight, or the sublime inspiration of thought… Of all your ancient genealogy, you wished to retain nothing but your nobility, and you wished your descendants to begin with you all the glories that adorn a high birth.
Your ancestors prepared great destinies for you; you wished to prepare even greater ones for those who would come after you… Since God, thanks to you, is going to make your people entirely His own, well then! Offer a part of the treasure of faith that fills your heart to those peoples seated beyond you, who, living in their natural ignorance, have not yet been corrupted by perverse doctrines (Arianism); do not fear to send them embassies and plead before them the cause of God who has done everything for yours.
It is the program of the Frankish people that is formulated here. For one who, at fourteen centuries' distance, sees the historical role of this people unfold in the past, then enveloped in the darkness of the future, it seems as if one hears a seer of old predicting the mission of a chosen people.
The Frankish nation took upon itself, for centuries, to realize the program of Avitus: it carried the Gospel to pagan peoples, and, armed at once with the cross and the sword, it merited that its labors be inscribed in history under this title: Gesta Dei per Francos."
At the same time as it was given to them by God, signified by the pope and by the bishops, the mission of being in the world the defenders of the Holy Church was conferred upon the kings of the Franks by the Roman emperors. Although transferred to the East, the Roman Empire long retained its prestige in the West.
Thus Clovis did not feel assured of his conquests until he received from Emperor Anastasius the title and insignia of patrician, consul, and augustus. In his joy, as Gregory of Tours recounts, he solemnly took possession of his new dignity at Saint-Martin of Tours, and had coins struck, to distribute to the people, bearing the effigy of Anastasius, with this motto on the reverse: Victory to Clovis, Augustus, King, illustrious man.
From that day, Clovis was therefore also invested, in the name of the Emperor, with the double mission of protecting the Church and the poor. And from then on, this mission was always regarded as the most precious inheritance of the sovereigns of France.
In conferring the patriciate upon the Merovingian kings, the Eastern emperors said to them:
"As we cannot alone discharge the burden imposed upon us, we grant you the honor of rendering justice to the churches of God and to the poor, remembering that you will render an account to the Sovereign Judge."
When gradually the bonds between East and West broke, the Popes, in the name 'of Peter, present in Rome in his flesh', and with the consent of the Romans, alone gave this mandate.
Gregory III invested Charles Martel with the patriciate, a title which death did not permit him to accept, but which passed to Pepin and his sons. This explains why the Pope was consulted for the election of Pepin to the throne of France. Three years after his anointing, Stephen wrote to him in these terms in the name of Saint Peter and his own:
"Peter, apostle, called by Jesus-Christ, Son of the living God, and with me the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church, mistress of all others, and Stephen, Bishop of Rome.
To you, most excellent men, Pepin, Charles, and Carloman, all three kings; to the bishops, abbots, dukes, counts, to all the armies and to all the peoples of the Franks.
I, Peter, ordained by God to enlighten the world, have chosen you as my adoptive sons, to defend against their enemies the city of Rome, the people God has entrusted to me, and the place where I rest according to the flesh.
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I therefore call upon you to deliver the Church of God which was commended to me from On High; and I press you, because it suffers great afflictions and extreme oppressions… I pray and conjure you, as if I were present before you; for, according to the promise received from Our Lord and Redeemer, I distinguish the people of the Franks among all nations…
Lend to the Romans, lend to your brothers all the support of your forces, so that I, Peter, covering you with my patronage in this world and the next, may set up tents for you in the kingdom of God."
Thus, the Franks are brothers of the Romans, not only as all Catholics are as spiritual sons of Peter, but as his adoptive sons, as fellow citizens, a title which other Popes give us.
Source: The Family Spirit in the Home, in the City, and in the State – Bishop Henri Delassus