Saint Leobard

The Abbey of Marmoutier was the oldest in Alsace. It was located at the foot of the Vosges, seven leagues from Strasbourg, in a town of the same name, to which it gave birth. Historians agree in recognizing as its founder Saint Leobard, a dis ciple of Sain saint Léobard Founder of the Abbey of Marmoutier and disciple of Saint Columbanus. t Columbanus, who establishe saint Colomban Founder of the Abbey of Luxeuil and friend of Saint Nicetius. d it in honor of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and of Saint Martin, Bishop of Tours. Childebert I I, King of Austrasia, granted Childebert II, roi d'Austrasie King of Austrasia, spiritual son and protector of the church of Verdun. the founder, towards the end of the 6th century, the valley in which he had settled. This valley, as well as the surrounding area, was part of the royal domain, then known by the name of the March of Aquileia.

The territory of the abbey extended, in its origin, much further than in later times, and included a large number of villages and hamlets, but many of which were subsequently alienated.

He was replaced in the administration of the abbey by Anastasius, Godfrey, and Leobard II. Leobard II was suc ceed Maur Disciple of Saint Benedict who saved Placidus from drowning. ed by Maur, who was also numbered among the Saints, and who must have been a disciple of Saint Firmin.

A fire had reduced to ashes, under Leobard II, the church and all the buildings of the cloister. Maur found the means to rebuild everything: the holiness of his life, joined to his zeal for the restoration of the monastery, earn ed him the title second fondateur Disciple of Saint Benedict who saved Placidus from drowning. of second founder, and, since that time, the abbey was called by his name, Mauramünster, Maurmoutier, and by corruption Marmoutier.

Studies were flourishing at that time in Marmoutier, and the religious followed the movement given to the renaissance of letters by Charlemagne, when a fire once again consumed, in 827, the abbey and all its archives. Celsus, who was its abbot, neglected nothing to re-establish the monastery, and he believed he should address Louis the Pious to obtain aid. The latter entrusted the restoration of the buildings to Drogo, Bishop o f Metz, and his natura Drogon, évêque de Metz Bishop of Metz who oversaw the exhumation and translation in 830. l brother. This prelate discharged this duty with a zeal worthy of the highest praise, and the buildings were perfectly restored. It appears that the western facade of the church, as it is still seen today, is the one that was built by the orders of Drogo. On May 7, 833, Drogo solemnly transferred into the new church the bodies of two of his predecessors, Saint Caelestius and Saint Autarius, bishops of Metz. This church is built in very good taste and bears the traces of high antiquity. The nave appears to have undergone some changes in the 13th century; the choir, on the contrary, was rebuilt in the last century, but Gothic architecture was imitated to a certain point.

Since Drogo, the abbey of Marmoutier was subject, for its temporal affairs, to the bishopric of Metz. It was, until the days of our troubles, the home of knowledge and good studies.

A quarter of a league from the abbey, one can see, on a hill, a pretty church, the remains of a convent for women called Sindelsberg, founded around 1120 by Richovin, abbot of Marmoutier, and later of Neuwiller. This church was consecrated in 1137 under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin and Saint Blaise. The nuns occupied it for nearly three hundred years, but they were removed in 1488 by the Bishop of Strasbourg, Albert of Bavaria. The Abbey of Marmoutier, which united the assets of Sindelsberg with its own domains, although heavily damaged, nevertheless committed to paying pensions to the nuns. The church of Sindelsberg was ruined during the Peasants' War in 1525, but Abbot Gisbert restored it. Another church, of equally remarkable architecture, located in the village of Zehnackern, near Reutenbourg, must also originate from an ancient convent of nuns that depended on the Abbey of Marmoutier. It is a frequented pilgrimage site in honor of the Blessed Virgin. We must not omit here the famous grotto of Saint Vitus or Saint Guy, located on a mountain in the Z saint Vit ou saint Guy Fourth-century martyr invoked for the healing of chorea. orn valley, opposite Bob-Barr: it is more than sixty feet deep; art and nature appear to have contributed to making it interesting. It had long been inhabited by religious men. A chapel dedicated to Saint Vitus, located at the top of the plateau which this rock is surmounted by, was falling into ruins, and the faithful placed his image in the grotto, which was from then on enlarged and arranged as a chapel. The Saint who is venerated there is a young hero of Christianity, who suffered martyrdom under Diocletian at the beginning of the 4th century. The faithful invoke him for the healing of a disease called by his name, Saint Vitus' dance. This disease, which the credulity of the 15th century attributed to the demon, had become very common in Alsace, and especially in Strasbourg, to the point that the magistrates sent all the unfortunate people who were attacked by it to the chapel of Saint Vitus, and provided them with carriages and provisions.

This grotto continues to be frequented by numerous pilgrims, especially on the 1st of May. Iron toads are brought as an offering to the Saint, because it is claimed that the shape of this hideous animal resembles the part of the body where the ailment for which one implores healing is seated. There was also in the village of Obersteigen a monastery of regular canons of Saint Augustine, which was transferred to Savern Saverne Place of meeting with his father before his departure for Paris. e and erected into a collegiate church. This translation took place in 1308, and the secularization in 1482: this chapter consisted of eight canons, a provost, and a dean. The collegiate church, which was formerly the church of the castle that the bishops of Strasbourg had in this city, communicated with this castle by semi-underground chapels. It offers nothing remarkable, except for a very high square tower: the choir appears to be older than the nave. The parish church of Saint Margaret, located outside the walls, was united to this collegiate church.

The former monastery, built initially for the religious of Obersteigen in Saverne, was given under Bishop Albert, in 1486, to the Recollec Récollets Religious order that occupied the monastery of Saverne starting in 1486. ts, who inhabited it until the French Revolution. The church, which is in very good taste, and the cloister buildings, are presently assigned to the town's college.

Saints of Alsace, by Hunckler.