October 31 is the feast of Saint Foillan, one of a trio of saintly brothers who went as missionaries to seventh-century Gaul. It was in his new territory that Foillan met a martyr’s death, a story recounted by Dame Augusta Drake in her collection of Catholic Legends:
XXVII.
THE MARTYR OF ROEUX.
Gaul,” says an old chronicle, “ there was in Ireland a
king by name Finnloga, who had a brother, the pious
Bishop Brendan. Adfin, one of the kings of Scotland,
had a daughter named Gelgés, who had embraced the
religion of Christ. King Finnloga’ s son was smitten
with her beauty, and married her, but privately, because it was necessary to conceal it from King Adfin,
who was an implacable enemy of the faith. He
soon discovered it, however, and had his daughter seized
and condemned to be burnt. In vain his relations and
other persons of influence represented to him that man
ought not to separate what God had joined; he ordered the stake to be prepared. But no sooner had
Gelgés placed her foot upon the burning wood than it
was extinguished. Her father was not convinced by
this prodigy, but he consented to spare the life of his
daughter, and he condemned her to perpetual exile.
She retired with her husband to good Bishop Brendan,
her uncle, and there gave birth to three sons — Fursy,
Folllan, and Ultan. On the death of the grandfather,
Finnloga, their father was raised to the throne; but
instead of returning to the court, they resolved, by
Brendan’s instructions, to devote themselves to the
service of God, and they embarked as missionaries for
Gaul.” So far the chronicler.
Fursy, after many labours and hardships, attained
the crown of martyrdom. Foillan, the second brother,
was preparing on the 31st October, 655, the day on
which our narrative commences, to leave Nivelles, where
he had been resting for a short space. Gertrude was
at this time the abbess of the convent of Nivelles, and
had given to Foillan, in 633, the domain of Fosses, where
he had built a church and monastery, the tower of
which, in fact, exists to this day. His brother Ultan
was now at the monastery of Fosses, and Foillan was
about to join him; but before doing so he wished to
celebrate the festival of All Saints with his friend the
blessed Vincent Maldegher. He took his journey therefore through an opening in the forest by the route of
Soignies, where he was to receive hospitality for the
night in the monastery of Vincent.
After traversing many intricate paths in solitude
and silence, without meeting any living being; and
having moreover, as he thought, lost his way, he began
to look about for some human habitation where he might
obtain shelter and direction. At last he perceived some
rude straw-built huts, and thither he accordingly directed his steps. This was the hamlet of Soneffe.
Foillan seeing that it was now late, and that he had
not completed half his journey, was glad to enter a hut
and ask for a guide. The frightful appearance and
fierce looks of the inmates of the cabin would have
frightened any one but the holy missionary. But, like
the glass which we read of in the Arabian tale, that
did not reflect any deformed object, the heart of the
saint suspected no evil, and he at once desired two of
the men to accompany him as guides.
Foillan conversed with the men from time to time
as they proceeded along the rough and unequal path;
but they said little in reply. Finding they were still
pagans, he spoke to them of God, His goodness and
mercy, of the redemption of man by the blood of the
Crucified, and of the paradise prepared for those who
believe and do His will. All his words, however, fell
unheeded on their ears, and he could only be silent and
pray for them. At last the saint arrived with his
guides at a part of the forest where an idol was worshipped; and there, whether it was that these pagans
wished to force him to sacrifice like them to their god,
or whether they thought only of robbing him, the four
men threw themselves upon him and dispatched him
with their clubs, heedless alike of his entreaties, or of the
prayers which with his last voice he offered up for his
murderers.
Night now set in cold and dismal. A violent wind
began to howl among the trees; and next morning a
thick snow, which lay for several months, covered the
face of the country.
Meantime, the companions of Foillan became alarmed at his prolonged absence, and at not having
seen him at the feast of Christmas, which he was accustomed to celebrate at Fosses. The most dreadful
fears began to be entertained, which were confirmed
by several visions. His brother Ultan, as he was at
prayers, saw pass before his eyes a dove white as
snow, but with wings reddened with blood; a similar prodigy was seen by the abbess Gertrude; and on the
5th January, 656, information was given her in her
cell at Nivelles, that in a certain spot of the forest of
Soignies the snow was red. Next day she repaired thither, guided by a bloody vapour which hovered in the
sky, and discovered the dead body of Foillan. It was
at first earned with pomp to Nivelles, but Ultan desired
it might be buried at Fosses, as the martyr himself had
requested. In order to arrive at this monastery it was
necessary to cross the Sambre, then swollen by the
melted snow and ice. Not knowing where to cross, it
is related that Gertrude ordering them to leave the
horses free, the latter passed, followed by the crowd,
through the place which has ever since been called the “Ford of St. Gertrude.”
The body of the martyr was afterwards enclosed in a
beautiful chapel; and on the same spot, at a later period,
was raised a magnificent church, to which was added,
in 1123, an abbey of Premonstratensians. The colour
of the snow, which had revealed the place of the crime,
gave to this place the name of Rood (red), which was
afterwards known by the name of Le Roeux, an important
barony in the middle ages, and at this day a thriving
little village. Soneffe, whence the murderers of the
holy Foillan came, continued, and still continues, to
hear the marks of the divine malediction ; for while all
the other hamlets around became flourishing towns, this
alone has remained as in the times of paganism, a collection of miserable huts.
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