Saint Maurilius

Formerly, several feast days were dedicated to him, in memory of several translations of his relics. The first translation, from the crypt where he was buried to the altar of the church that had been raised in his honor, was celebrated on January 15. In the 12th century, his body was transported to the ca thedral, f or fear of the Bre tons wh o were spreading fire, devastation, and death everywhere. In the 10th century, the most famous of the translations took place, which was celebrated on October 19, the day on which all the others were united, from the end of the 15th century. The relics were placed in a rich shrine and the ceremony was accompanied by several brilliant miracles. In 1239, on August 16, there was another translation of the Saint's relics. The head was separated from the body and placed in a rich silver reliquary. The great shrine was placed on the high altar of the cathedral, and on four columns that served as its shelter at the other end. Two centuries later, this shrine, beginning to fall into disrepair, was replaced by another in gilded silver and studded with precious stones of the greatest value. When the holy body had been deposited there, the shrine was replaced on the four columns where it remained until 1700. At this latter date, the high altar having been moved to the place it occupies today, the shrine was also transferred there; it was placed in a vast crystal tomb which was suspended above the altar. At the Revolu tion, the relics of Saint Maurille were sacrilegiously dispersed, and it is barely the case that a few small fragments of this venerated body remain. The church of Saint-Maurille in Chalonn es possesses a bone of it, and that of Notre-Dame in the same town preciously preserves a molar tooth of the Saint.

Many churches and altars are dedicated to Saint Maurille, in Anjou and elsewhere. All ancient and modern martyrologies mention this holy bishop. One can still see, on the borders of the parish of Saint-Maurille of Chalonnes and that of Chandefonds, a rock called the Saint-Maurille Stone, from the top of which the Saint proclaimed the word of God; and, on the road that leads to Montjean , a foun tain, long frequented as miraculous, also recalls the memory of the holy apostle, who, it is said, caused it to spring forth by a supernatural virtue. There still remains a small arch above this fountain, which is almost abandoned today. Entire parishes once came there in procession.

Acta Sanctorum ; — Cf. Histoire de l'Église du Mans, by the R. P. Dom Piolin; and the Vies des saints de l'Anjou, by the R. P. D om François Chamard.

Acta Sanctorum; — Cf. History of the Church of Le Mans, by the Rev. Fr. Dom Piolin; and the Lives of the Saints of Anjou, by the Rev. Fr. Dom François Chamard.