July
26: Saint Anne – Mother of Mary and Grandmother of Jesus
On Easter AD
792, Charlemagne discovered the relics of Saint Anne with the help of a deaf
handicapped boy. It’s a wonderful tale for this feast day of Saint Anne.
Below is the
account, preserved in the correspondence of Pope Saint Leo III, concerning the
mysterious discovery of the relics of Saint Anne in the presence of the Emperor
Charlemagne.
Fourteen
years after Our Lord’s death, Saint Mary Magdalen, Saint Martha, Saint Lazarus,
and the others of the little band of Christians who were piled into a boat
without sails or oars and pushed out to sea to perish — in the persecution of
the Christians by the Jews of Jerusalem — were careful to carry with them the
tenderly loved body of Our Lady’s mother - Anne. They feared lest it be
profaned in the destruction, which Jesus had told them was to come upon
Jerusalem. When, by the power of God, their boat survived and finally drifted
to the shores of France, the little company of saints buried Saint Anne’s body
in a cave, in a place called Apt, in the south of France. The church,
which was later built over the spot, fell into decay because of wars and
religious persecutions, and as the centuries passed, the place of Saint Anne’s
tomb was forgotten.
The long
years of peace, which Charlemagne’s wise rule gave to southern France,
enabled the people to build a magnificent new church on the site of the old
chapel at Apt. Extraordinary and painstaking labor went into the
building of the great structure, and when the day of its consecration arrived
[Easter Sunday, 792 A.D.], the beloved Charlemagne, little suspecting what was
in store for him, declared himself happy indeed to have journeyed so many miles
to be present for the holy occasion. At the most solemn part of the ceremonies,
a boy of fourteen, blind, deaf and dumb from birth — and usually quiet and
impassive — to the amazement of those who knew him, completely distracted the
attention of the entire congregation by becoming suddenly tremendously excited.
He rose from his seat, walked up the aisle to the altar steps, and to the
consternation of the whole church, struck his stick resoundingly again and
again upon a single step.
His
embarrassed family tried to lead him out, but he would not budge. He continued
frantically to pound the step, straining with his poor muted senses to impart a
knowledge sealed hopelessly within him. The eyes of the people turned upon the
emperor, and he, apparently in spired by God, took the matter into his own
hands. He called for workmen to remove the steps.
A
subterranean passage was revealed directly below the spot, which the boy’s
stick had indicated. Into this passage the blind lad jumped, to be followed by
the emperor, the priests, and the workmen.
They made
their way in the dim light of candles, and when, farther along the pas sage,
they came upon a wall that blocked further advance, the boy signed that this
also should be removed. When the wall fell, there was brought to view still
another long, dark corridor. At the end of this, the searchers found a crypt,
upon which, to their profound wonderment, a vigil lamp, alight and burning in a
little walled recess, cast a heavenly radiance.
As
Charlemagne and his afflicted small guide, with their companions, stood before
the lamp, its light went out. And at the same moment, the boy, blind and deaf
and dumb from birth, felt sight and hearing and speech flood into his young
eyes, his ears, and his tongue.
“It is she!
It is she!” he cried out. The great emperor, not knowing what he meant,
nevertheless repeated the words after him. The call was taken up by the crowds
in the church above, as the people sank to their knees, bowed in the
realization of the presence of something celestial and holy.
The crypt at
last was opened, and a casket was found within it. In the casket was a winding
sheet, and in the sheet were relics, and upon the relics was an inscription
that read, “Here lies the body of Saint Anne, mother of the glorious Virgin
Mary.” The winding sheet, it was noted, was of eastern design and texture.
Charlemagne,
over whelmed, venerated with profound gratitude the relics of the mother of
Heaven’s Queen. He remained a long time in prayer. The priests and the people,
awed by the graces given them in such abundance and by the choice of their
countryside for such a heavenly manifestation, for three days spoke but rarely,
and then in whispers.
The emperor
had an exact and detailed account of the miraculous finding drawn up by a
notary and sent to Pope Saint Leo III, with an accompanying letter from
himself. These documents and the pope’s reply are preserved to this day. Many
papal bulls have attested, over and over again, to the genuineness of Saint
Anne’s relics at Apt.
Canterbury
Tales
Dr. Taylor
Marshall
Irving, Texas
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