Saint Lie (Lié, Lyé, Laetus, Lætus) (died 533) of

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

. He is honored in the

bishopric of Orléans In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

and his

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

are enshrined in the village of

Saint-Lyé-la-Forêt Saint-Lyé-la-Forêt () is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. History Saint-Lyé-la-Forêt takes it name from Saint Lyé, a hermit who had retired to the forest seeking solitude. It was there that he began to work mira ...

in that diocese. His feast day is November 5.

Life

Born of a family in

Berry, France The Duchy of Berry (; ; ) was a former province located in central France. It was a provinces of France, province of France until departments of France, departments replaced the provinces on 4 March 1790, when Berry became divided between the ''d ...

sometime during the reign of

Chlothar I Chlothar I, sometime called "the Old" ( French: le Vieux), (died December 561) also anglicised as Clotaire, was a king of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty and one of the four sons of Clovis I. Chlothar's father, Clovis I, divided the kin ...

, his name suggests a Gallo-Roman background.Brouard, Eugène. ''Saint Lyé (Loiret) Légendes - Histoires - Anecdotes'', Orléans 1904 Small of stature, he was a peasant herd keeper, who is said to have embraced the

monastic Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...

life at the age of 12. He spent some time at the monastery of Micy-Saint Mesmin, near Orléans, where he was welcomed by the abbot Treïcius, ordained him a deacon. While at Micy, Lié provided direction to fellow monk

Leonard of Noblac Leonard of Noblac (also Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard; died 559), is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in Haut ...

. After a few years, he left in search of greater solitude. He headed north and stopped on the edge of the Loges forest (Forest of Orleans), not far from a clearing where poor loggers were cutting down oaks and barking them, hence the hamlet "Les Ecossoires"). There, having found a thick thicket where no sound entered, he built himself a hut and spent his days in prayer there, living only on wild fruits. Lié only left this solitude to visit the sick, to comfort them with a few holy words and to soften the bitterness of the last passage. The blind, the lame, the crippled came to meet him and more than once obtained healing from him. He lived there until the year 534, which he predicted would be the year of his entry into eternal beatitude. He was buried in the place where he had lived and, on his tomb, a chapel was erected. Saint Lié was viewed an example for his humility.

Veneration

His body was later brought by Ermentheus,

bishop of Orleans A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

to the church of

Pithiviers Pithiviers () is a communes of France, commune in the Loiret Departments of France, department, north central France. It is one of the Subprefectures in France, subprefectures of Loiret. It is twinned with Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, Eng ...

. They were burnt by the Huguenots in 1580. However, there were still some fragments of his legs preserved by Christians of Pithiviers. In 1664, they were returned to the village of

Saint-Lyé Saint-Lyé () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. Population See also * Communes of the Aube department The following is a list of the 431 communes of the Aube department of France. The communes cooperate in the ...

after many adventures. They rest in a reliquary placed at the foot of the altar dedicated to him. Many pilgrims would come every year on Pentecost Monday to venerate them and ask for the healing of their infirmities. In 1523 a brotherhood dedicated to venerating the relics of Saint Lie was founded at Mohon, in the department of Ardennes. The brotherhood having obtained an indulgence from Pope Paul V, in 1611 the dedication of the local church was changed from that of Saint Gilles to Saint Lié. Some of his relics were transported to the , probably around 1683.''La vie de Saint Lié confesseur'', dédiée a monsieur de Louvat, Chevalier, Maréchal de Camp des Armées du Roi, Commandant en Chef au Gouvernement de Mezieres, &, par R.P.D.D.S.A.R.D.L.D.C, Charleville, Poncelet&J.Morard, 1675 ; épitre page 2. There he is celebrated on January 2. Saint Lyé is depicted on a pillar of the south porch of

Chartres Cathedral Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Roman Catholic church in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres. Mostly con ...

Patronage

Saint Lié is considered a protector of the sick.

Legacy

is named for him, as is the Parish of Mont Saint Lié in the

Archdiocese of Reims The Archdiocese of Reims (traditionally spelt "Rheims" in English) ( la, Archidiœcesis Remensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese a ...

. There is a church, , dedicated to Saint Lié in

, (

Aube Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),"Statue : Saint Lyé", Ministère de la culture
/ref> and a painting of the "Vision of St Lyé" by one of the Cossards (Pierre or Guillaume II). The located in Ville-Dommange dates from the thirteenth century. Around 1442 it had a silver reliquary containing bone from the arm of the saint.

References

External links

Saints of November 5: Lie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lie 533 deaths 6th-century Frankish saints Year of birth unknown