Blessed Humbert of Romans

He had first vowed to enter the Order of the Carthusians; but, by a secret inspiration of Providence, he decided upon that of the Friars Preach ers, and receive Frères Prêcheurs Mendicant religious order founded by Saint Dominic. d the habit in the convent of Saint-Jacques, on the feast of Saint Andrew, in 1224.

Shortly after his religious profession, he distinguished himself in Lyon and Paris by his high virtues, his profound knowledge of the Divine Scriptures, and his eloquence as a preacher. Around the same time, he made a journey to Palestine, visited the Holy Places, and upon his return, he was given the government of the Roman province, where he displayed such prudence and knowledge that, according to several historians, after the death of Gregory IX, some cardinals cast their eyes upon him to elevate him to the papacy. The new pope, Innoce nt IV, havi Innocent IV 13th-century pope who testified to the saint's miracles. ng given the Roman purple to Hugh of Saint-Cher, Humbert succeeded him in the government of the province of France, which he held for ten years, until he was named General of his Order in the year 1254. "The votes," says a historian, "were not divided: Father Humbert had them all, and he alone was surprised by it."

Hungary was the first province he visited, and, however vast it may have been, he traveled through it on foot, announcing the word of God to the people everywhere. King Béla IV was not content to honor him with his affection; he also gave him a great mark of his trust and esteem by asking him to remain for some time in his states to receive the vows of the young Princess Margaret of Hungary, his daughter.

From Hungary, Humbert went to Italy, where he received letters from Alexander IV, which prove the high esteem in which this Pope held his learning and virtue. He presided over a general chapter in Milan, where the work of the missions was the primary focus; he returned to Paris, where Saint Louis, wish saint Louis King of France who visited the relics of Saint Hildevert. ing to give him a great mark of his affection, chose him to hold at the baptismal font one of his sons, Prince Robert, Count of Clermont and the first of the House of Bourbon.

Saint Thomas Aquinas, called to Italy around the same time, worked successfully by order of Father Humbert on the refutation of a dangerous book entitled: *On the Perils of the Last Times*, while our tireless General presided over the chapter of Florence and that of Toulouse, from where he addressed a very remarkable letter in Latin to all the religious of his Order.

In the year 1258, Sain saint Louis King of France who visited the relics of Saint Hildevert. t Louis, knowing that Father Humbert was no less a skilled jurisconsult than a learned theologian, admitted him to his council to make him judge of certain disputes that had arisen between the Count of Clermont and the Counts of Anjou and Poitiers.

The following year, he went to hold a chapter in Valenciennes, in Hainaut. There, seconded by the zea l of Albert the Albert le Grand Dominican friar and Bishop of Regensburg. Great, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Peter of Tarentaise, he concerned himself with the means of preserving the Christians of those regions from the fury of the Tartars, who were beginning their incursions and ravages once again. He dissuaded the King of Hungary from any treaty of alliance with these peoples who were enemies of the name of Jesus Christ, and thus saved the faith, which was threatened with imminent ruin. In the meantime, Humbert learned that the Sovereign Pontiff had just chosen Albert the Great for the see of Regensburg. He was deeply afflicted by this, and in his sorrow, he wrote a letter to the blessed Albert that is a true masterpiece, in order to dissuade him from accepting the episcopate. He begged him to consider first the embarrassments that are encountered in the government of the churches of Germany, and how difficult it is, in such high dignities, not to offend God and men. He asked him how, after having loved the Holy Books and the purity of conscience so much, he could see himself engaged in the tumult of temporal affairs, always exposed to continual perils of sin. Finally, he pointed out to him that the good to be done in the episcopate is quite uncertain, while, by his change of state, he would lose the great fruits he was already producing, not only in Germany but in the whole Church, through his reputation, his examples, and his writings. He concluded this vivid and pathetic exhortation by protesting that he would rather see one of his religious carried to the coffin than to an episcopal chair.

However, the desires of the holy General, his prayers, his warnings, and all his remonstrances were then without effect. Albert the Great, it Albert le Grand Dominican friar and Bishop of Regensburg. is true, did not think otherwise than Father Humbert, and he feared as much as he did the peril that he saw more closely. But he was not left the freedom to refuse the burden; the Vicar of Jesus Christ wished to be obeyed, and Albert accepted, trembling, a dignity that he would have reproached himself for having desired. The consequences made his true feelings known.

Three years later, having succeeded in having his resignation accepted by P pape Urbain IV Pope who canonized Felix in 1262. ope Urban IV, the holy doctor returned to his convent in Cologne at the same time as Father Humbert, through the voluntary cession of his office, and resumed his former state as a simple religious. Humbert had held his eighth general chapter in Barcelona and the ninth in Bologna. It was only in the one in London, in the year 1263, that he obtained from the definitors the permission to resign from an office that only obedience could have made him accept, and whose duties he had saintly fulfilled for nine years. Vainly did Pope Urban IV wis h to tear him pape Urbain IV Pope who canonized Felix in 1262. away from the sweetness of solitude to elevate him to the dignity of Patriarch of Jerusalem. Nothing was capable of making him consent to his elevation. Always firm in refusing this dignity, he retired to the convent of Va lence, where he li couvent de Valence Place of Ismidon's early studies. ved for another fourteen years, occupied solely with his salvation and the numerous works he composed. It was in these praiseworthy occupations and in the exercise of the ministry of the word that Father Humbert saw his final hour arrive gently; he died in Valence on July Valence Place of Ismidon's early studies. 14, 1277. His body rested for a long time in the church of the Preaching Friars of Valence, with his epitaph, his eulogy, and the date of his death.

## WRITINGS OF BLESSED HUMBERT OF ROMANS.

Ecclesiastical writers have spoken with praise of the works of Father Humbert, and they have provided the following catalogue:

1° A treatise concerning the three religious vows; 2° A commentary on the Rule of Saint Augustine, and another on the prologue of the constitution of the Order of Preachers; 3° A treatise on the seven degrees of contemplation; 4° An abridged history of the life of Saint Dominic; 5° A short chronicle of his Order from 1203 to 1254; 6° An excellent manuscript, preserved in the Vatican Library, where the author, among other things, discusses the means to retake the Holy Places and to preserve them against the efforts of the infidels; 7° The Religious Mirror; 8° A treatise on true and false virtues, etc.

Taken from the Hagiological History of the Diocese of Valence, by Abbé Nadal.