Saint Sarre of Lambres

Authors do not agree on the period in which he lived: some suppose it was in the 6th century, because, they say, the body of Sigebert, King of Austrasia, assassinated at Vitry, near Douai, was transported to the village of Lambres, which perhaps already had Saint Sarre as its patron. It is easy to see how weak and unfounded this reason is. Others suppose that he lived in the 11th century; but their opinion is equally false, since his relics were transported, in 1025, from the church of Notre-Dame de Cambrai to that of Saint-André du Cateau (N ord), and Balderie, author o f the *Chronicle of Cambrai and A rras*, who lived at that time, makes no mention of him. We prefer to follow the sentiment of the learned authors of the *Acta Sanctorum Belgii*, and suppose that Saint Sarre lived in the 7th century, an era so fruitful in Saints in this country. This opinion, while lacking positive proof in its favor, but also lacking any reason that directly contradicts it, appears to be the most probable.

From the moment that Gerard of Florine s, Bishop of Cambrai, had transported the relics of Saint Sarre to his monastery of Saint-André at Le Cateau, the monks regarded him as one of their principal patrons: they celebrated his feast solemnly on November 24, and not on the 23rd as in Cambrai, Lambres, Vred, Estrées, and Courchelettes, all parishes of the current diocese of Cambrai. This office was taken entirely from the common of confessors not bishops.

It is highly doubtful whether the relics of Saint Sarre were preserved at Le Cateau: everything suggests that they perished in 1133, when Gérard Maufilastre burned the town. This opinion appears all the more well-founded in that in 1631, Paul Boudot, Bishop of Arras, with the consent of the pastor and the inhabitants of Lambres, gave to Antoine de Montmorency, abbot of the monastery of Saint-A ndré, a portion of his head preserved from time immemorial in that village.

Saint Sarre is represented in different ways in paintings: at Lambres, he is seen in a hermit's habit, with a scapular, and carrying a sharp instrument in his right hand; perhaps it is intended to express in this way that, like the Apostles, he worked with his hands to live and to give alms to the poor. In the abbey of Saint-André, he was represented dressed in priestly vestments and holding a book in his hand.

*Lives of the Saints of Cambrai and Arras*, by Abbé Destombes.