Saint Syra

from on high that she would recover her sight in France, and moreover desirous of following her brother in the paths of Christian perfection, she formed the plan to go and find him in his solitude, and, with the help of her good angel, she succeeded in executing her project. She therefore crossed into France with some companions, and the pious hermit welcomed his sister and her followers with joy, exhorting them powerfully to the practice of virtues and above all to the preservation of holy virginity. To preserve them from dangers and to have them instructed in the religious ways, he sent them to Saint Fare, sister of the Bishop of Meaux, who was Abbess o f Brige Jouarre Monastery where Syra was trained in the monastic life. , otherwise known as Jouarre. It was under her guidance that she was formed in the monastic life.

Saint Fiacre Saint Fiacre Irish hermit in France, companion of Saint Kilian. , having also received a revelation that his sister would recover her sight th rough the meri saint Savinien Brother of Saint Sabina, martyr at Troyes. ts of Saint Savini Troyes Episcopal see of Manasses. an, martyr of Troyes, later took her from this monastery and sent her to Troyes to discover the tomb, which was then unknown due to the tumult and calamities of the barbarian invasions, of the martyr who was to save her. She had the good fortune to discover it through an inspiration from above; she prostrated herself there in prayer and poured out her whole soul; she would not rise until she had recovered the sight she had so often asked of God with abundant tears. Her prayer was not long in being answered. To testify her deep gratitude to heaven and to the holy martyr, and to make it in some way perpetual and living, she formed the resolution to fix her dwelling in this place. She had a cell and a chapel built there, where she spent her days and nights in prayers, penances, and all kinds of good works, in the company of some of the virgins who had come from Scotland with her.

It was from this place that she came from time to ti me to C Châlons Territory where the Irish siblings settled. hâlons and withdrew to the pious virgins of the community of Sainte-P ome. How sh Sainte-Pome Saint whom Manne succeeded as head of the Filles-Dieu. e sated them with the heavenly doctrine with which she was filled! She set hearts ablaze with the fire of divine love through those beautiful words that she repeated so often and which would deserve to be written in letters of gold:

"Ah! How vile, despicable, and foul the earth appears to me when I look upon heaven! Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, except to serve God and to love Him alone."

The report of her holiness soon spread and cast a bright light throughout the surrounding region. People came to beg her to leave her dear cell to go to a monastery of maidens, which had fallen far from its former regularity, to revive fervor there. She had great difficulty in agreeing to go, deeming herself too miserable a creature to perform such a wonder, to reform nuns, she who was not one and who knew nothing of the ways of spirituality. Seeing, however, that it concerned the glory of God and the salvation of souls, she went there, worked there diligently, and finally succeeded beyond her own expectations and those of everyone else.

After putting this monastery back in order, she returned to bury herself in her small cell, at the tomb of her benefactor, where she ended her life in the exercise of perfect and solid virtues. The Lord, wishing to reward her for her labors and her piety, withdrew her from this world on June 8, 640. She was buried in the chapel she had built over the tomb of Saint Savinien, and her body was placed in a stone coffin, which could still be seen in her chapel in the 17th century. God illustrated her tomb with a great number of miracles that took place there.

Long after her death, under the episcopate of Jean d'Aubinac and Jean d'Auxay, bishops of Troyes, her remains were placed in a bronze reliquary, adorned with silver carvings and several small images. In the year 1300, Henri de Noa, dean of Troyes, e stablished a Henri de Noa Dean of Troyes who established a foundation for the saint in 1300. rich foundation to have the feast of Saint Syre celebrated in the church of Troyes, with an office of nine lessons. A portion of her relics was transferred to Troyes; the other remained at the very place of her death, where a small church was built, frequented by a crowd of pilgrims.

On March 27, 1794, the reliquary of Saint Syre was thrown into the flames; but God preserved the bones of his servant. Her relics were identified in 1826 and 1835. The parishes of Saint-Martin-ès-Vignes, Rilly-Sainte-Syre, Le Chêne, and Jully -le-Châtel posses Rilly-Sainte-Syre Parish possessing relics of the saint. s fragments of them.

Les Beautés de l'Histoire de la Champagne, by Abbé Boitot; La Vie d'une Sainte pour chaque jour de l'année, by Abbé Chapin; Ancien Propre de Troyes.