Saint Ado of Vienne

After a few years, he moved to the monastery of Pruym, in Germany, of which Marcuard, formerly a monk of Ferrières, was abbot; but as his brethren were continually causing him distress, due to the secret jealousy they had conceived of his great merits, he undertook, with the permission of his superiors, journeys to Jerusalem and Rome. For this purpose, he took on the habit of a pilgrim and fulfilled his devotions with all possible fervor. In Rome, where he remained for more than four years, he made himself known to all persons of science and piety. While returning to France, he stopped for some time in Ravenna, and there copied a book that a monk lent him; this book served him later in composing his Martyrology, as he stat Martyrologe Hagiographical work cataloging martyrs and saints. es in his preface.

While passing through Lyon, he was favorably received by Saint Remigius, who was its archbishop, and this prelate, having recognized in a conversation that he was both learned and virtuous, retained him in his diocese after having obtained permission from his abbot, while nevertheless giving him for his retirement, when he wished to live more solitarily, the church of Saint-Romain, near Vienne. His kindnesses toward Ado did not end there; for Agilmar, archbishop of that see, having died in 860, he worked to place him in his stead, and he had no difficulty in succeeding, because the clergy and the people, along with Abbon, Bishop of Grenoble, desired it. A count of the region, named Bernard, opposed it, because the enemies of our Saint spread the rumor that he had left his monastery without per mission; bu Loup Servat Abbot of Ferrières and master of Saint Ado. t Lupus Servatus, his former abbot, justified him against such a dark slander through letter cxxii which he wrote to that count.

As soon as our Saint was on the episcopal throne, he wrote to Pope Nicholas I, pape Nicolas Ier Pope who confirmed the titles of Raoul. making in his letter, according to custom, his profession of faith. His Holiness replied to him and sent him the Pallium, as a mark of his archiepiscopal dignity. In this response, he expressed his surprise that, in his profession of faith, he had mentioned only four general councils, whereas there had already been six. But the Saint had done so in reference to what Saint Gregory the Great said, that he honored the four councils as the four Gospels. Adon subsequently had a holy exchange of letters with this great Pope, and he wrote to him often regarding important matters, both of the Church and of the State. There remains to us a fragment of an apostolic rescript concerning the matter of the divorce of King Lothair, in wh ich Pope Nic roi Lothaire King of Lotharingia whose divorce was a state affair handled by Ado. holas calls him his most holy brother.

The care he took to stir his people to penance led him to build, at the entrance of his cathedral church, a chapel modeled after the sepulcher of Our Lord. Before the door of this chapel, he consecrated an altar under the name of Mary the Sinner, Peter guilty of denial, and the good thief who confessed. The sick who went there to offer their prayers and invoke these illustrious penitents received great relief from their ailments and often returned in health. He practiced hospitality toward strangers, and his charity for the poor was so great that he wished the door of his palace to be always open to them, even during his meals, so that he might say with Job: "My house has been open to strangers, and I have been the father of the poor." Although he occupied himself during the day with many labors in the duties of his office, he rested almost not at all at night; for, after granting very little time to the needs of nature, he spent the rest in prayer or in composing holy books.

As regular observance had slackened in the monasteries, he worked to restore it, and among the fine regulations he made for this subject, he prescribed the manner of chanting the divine Offices day and night, of which he himself gave the example. He also took particular care that the ecclesiastics of his diocese, upon whom the salvation of the people depends, should live in accordance with the holiness of their state, and that they should discharge their ministry with all the decency due to the Divine Majesty. He vigorously opposed the rich and the powerful of the age who undertook anything against the poor. But as much as he was severe towards those who resisted his pastoral exhortations, so much did he have sweetness and tenderness for those who wished to profit from them.

As he did not wish to be useful only by his word to the people of his century, but also to those of centuries to come, he left us in writing very precious monuments of his doctrine, among others a Chronicle, from the beginning of the world until his time; a Treatise on the feasts of the Apostles and the Saints who were their disciples or their successors, or who lived near their times; a Martyrology which he calls Li tanies, and in particular the Live Martyrologe qu'il appelle Litanies Hagiographical work cataloging martyrs and saints. s of Saint Desiderius, Archbishop of Vienne and martyr, and of Saint Theuderic, Abbot of Vienne. He died after these glorious labors, on December 16, 875, at the age of sixty-six, and he was buried with his predecessors in the church of Saint-Pierre, outside the city, which passed from the Benedictines to secular Canons.

Saint Ado is represented: 1st studying the Holy Scripture in the middle of a library; 2nd holding a book in his hand or writing.

Taken from his Life, by Mabillon Mabillon Benedictine monk and historian, author of the Annales benedictinae. . — Cf. Dom Cellier.