Saint Modoald of Trier

Modoald received an excellent education from his parents, both in terms of science and piety. He was received at the court of Dagobert, where he met several figures of great virtue, such as Arnulf of Metz and Cunibe rt of Cologne. T Arnault, de Metz A virtuous figure at the court of Dagobert. he li centiousness that re Cunibert, de Cologne Contemporary bishop present at court. igned at court did not cause him to lose any of his piety, which is why Dagobert chose him to raise him to the archiepiscopal see of Trier.

When, after the feast of Saint Arnulf, the king had given himself over to the most dissolute life, our Saint, while carefully watching over his flock, did not cease to warn the king and call him back to self-respect and the observance of the law of God. His counsel finally bore fruit, God having touched and changed the heart of the prince, to the great advantage of the Catholic faith and religion.

From this happy change onwards, Dagobert, weeping for the Dagobert King of the Franks petitioned by Sulpicius to annul a tax. faults of his past life, always looked upon Modoald as his father, and he called him by that name, adding, to his marks of affection, rich gifts intended for the adornment and expansion of the Church of God. It was with these liberalities that Modoald erected numerous monasteries in honor of Christ and his holy Mother, and richly endowed others.

He also founded several congregations of nuns, always with the generosity of Dagobert, who was all the more disposed toward this type of institution as he himself had two daughters of very great piety, and very zealous for the solitary and religious life. One of them, Irmine, founded a monastery at Horren, near Trier, and lived there with other virgins under the direction of Modoald. The other, named Adèle, after the death of her husband, followed the example of her sister and enclosed herself at Pointiolum, another monastery for women.

Modoald did not stop at these foundations; he built, on the banks of the Moselle, a third monastery for women which he placed under the invocation of Saint Symphorian of Autun. Could the holy bishop have better entrusted the care of the chaste spouses of Jesus Christ than to the young martyr who had united so much courage with so much innocence? He established his s Sévéra Sister of Modoald and first abbess of the monastery of Saint-Symphorien. ister, Sévéra, as the first abbess of the community; and this pious virgin sanctified herself there by taking the holy patron of her monastery as her model.

There, without shedding her blood for Jesus Christ, she too was nevertheless a voluntary victim, not of her faith, but of her love: for, did she not immolate each day on the altar of charity, by the sword of mortification, her body, her will, her heart? The fervent abbey that she governed, by following the advice of her brother, with a firmness tempered by the most amiable mildness, was simple and modest. Instead of gold and silver, one saw shining there like precious stones, says the hagiographer, all the religious virtues upon which the white pearl of virginal purity radiated its soft brilliance. What a delightful flowerbed in the eyes of the angels was this holy house where, in the midst of all the others, the admirable abbess rose like a beautiful lily and blossomed under the gaze of God and Saint Symphorian, exhaling her celestial perfume!

Saint Severa is honored on August 20, and her brother, Saint Modoald, on May 12. Both wished to rest after their death next to each other in the church of Saint-Symphorien, having loved each other, the historian adds, like Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica. This monastery was destroyed during the Norman invasion.

Sai nt Modoald at Saint Modould 7th-century Archbishop of Trier and advisor to King Dagobert. tained high perfection: his modesty, his simplicity, his patience, his charity for God and his neighbor were equal to those of the greatest Saints. When he had thus not only practiced piety for his part, but had also made great progress for religion throughout his diocese during the more than twenty years he governed it, he departed from this world to go to God.

Modoald has always been honored as the father of the poor and the refuge of the unfortunate. His head was formerly kept wit Son chef Relic preserved in Trier. h great veneration in the archiepiscopal chapel of Trier.

Saint Modoald is depicted with a church in his hand, to recall the founding of the monastery of Saint-Symphorien.

Proper of Trier; Cult of Saint Symphorien, etc.