Malo – Transcript
Hello, I am Lize Kergonan, today I’d like to tell you the rest of the life of Saint Malo d’Aleth. At the end of the previous video, Malo left Wales and crossed the English Channel with some monks.
They landed on the Island of Aaron in Domnonée, in the north of Armorica. Today it is the city of Saint-Malo. Aaron was a lonely old monk who was delighted to welcome the new generation. He said there wasn’t much to do on his island and he would take care of it. He advised Malo to go and teach the Gospels to the pagans of Aleth (today Saint-Servan).
Malo immediately agreed. He was eager to convert pagan Bretons.
He loved it. He left Aaron and sailed to Aleth on Easter Eve in 578. For those familiar with the area, it is clear that he was not embarking on a Brendan-style voyage. It’s just opposite, at the mouth of the Rance. The next day, he said mass in Saint-Pierre church, with a beautiful and convincing sermon. So many people came to listen to him that he finished in the open air. Here came a funeral procession carrying a dead man to the cemetery. They stopped to listen to him, so he came closer, and…? Of course he resurrected him ! He did even better : he presented him with water in a marble vase which, at a sign of the cross, was transformed into wine in a crystal vase ! The dead, the wine and the crystal, three miracles in one go. He was quite pleased with himself. He was having more and more fun.
When the local lord heard about it, very proud to have a saint in his home, he gave him a plot of land to build a monastery near Aleth. Unfortunately, Malo definitely had no luck with envious people. Judael, son of Judual, was the current king of Domnonée, he had several sons. The eldest was called Judicaël. It was he who was to succeed his father. But the younger son’s tutor decided to seize power by placing the young prince, Haeloc, on the throne. For this, the tutor undertook to murder all the other brothers. Judicaël managed to take refuge in the monastery of Saint Méen, where he became a monk. As for the youngest child, he hid with Malo. He was a very small child.
But the tutor took advantage of a moment when Malo was working in the field to seize the kid. As soon as he was warned, Malo rushed after him on horseback. He begged, urged, threatened… …the tutor slit the child’s throat ! Malo returned to the monastery trying to ease the pain that was crushing him. He gave the little body a worthy burial and prayed… The preceptor died three days later, a shameful death. Nothing was holding Haeloc back from succeeding Judael.
He had been well trained by the evil precepts of his master and his first decision was to raze the monastery to the ground. Faced with disaster, his face turned to the sky, Malo prayed… Haeloc was struck blind. It’s not Malo, it’s God ! A little later, he saw Haeloc arrive, all repentant, ready for all penances, all contritions… he made him fast for seven days… – it was useless, but it made Malo feel better – and he healed him, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, Haeloc was completely transformed. As wicked as he had been, he now did nothing but good deeds. He ended up returning the throne to his brother Judicaël. Having baptized Haeloc, put Judicaël back in power, converted a good number of pagans, Malo realized that it was a never-ending task, he began to doubt whether he would ever be able to change humans, he felt the need to retire to a hermitage. He only took with him a young companion, named Rival, to help him with daily tasks. One evening, he finished his prayers, he was waiting for him to share their meal…
Ah, there is Saint Anne.
Malo. – Hi, Anna.
Anna. – What is it like, my Malo?
Malo. – Fine ! And you ?
Anna. – Very good, I have just come from Saint-Brieuc.
Malo. – Do you want to sit down?
Anna. – Yes, thanks! But I interrupted you…
Malo. – No problem, it’s a lady who’s telling my life story.
Anna. – Ah, well, that’s interesting. Where were you, my little guy?
Malo. – When people from Aleth came to tell me that they had left my companion, tied up on the sand, while the sea was rising and if I wanted to see him alive again, I had better jump on my horse right away.
Anna. – I vaguely remember this episode. And you saved him?
Malo. – Yes, fortunately, and… I took him on
my horse to bring him back to the hermitage.
Anna. – And ?
Malo. – They… they have…
Anna. – What ?
*He looks like he’s going to cry.*
Malo. – They sneered. They have…
*Anna listens attentively while he searches for words*.
Anna. – They have ? Malo. – They said something awful…
Anna. – What, my Malo, what did they tell you?
*Malo is on the verge of tears.*
Malo. – I don’t remember anymore, they talked about straddling… in my cell!
*Anna remains a little doubtful.*
Anna. – Straddling? … No ! Really !
*Malo holds back as much as he can from crying.*
Malo. – Afterwards, I could no longer stay in this city.
Anna. – You know, my boy, human stupidity is not going to get better any time soon. And your Church hasn’t made life easier for gay people.
*He is’nt listening to her.*
Malo. – So I excommunicated the inhabitants of the town of Aleth and I left for Saintonge.
Anna. – Are you still angry?
Malo. – They humiliated me.
Anna. – Okay, Malo, stop whining! Are you going to waste your eternal life because some morons called you a faggot in the 6th century!
*Malo straightens up, stands up and adopts his preacher’s tone.*
Malo. – I’m not queer! “Non sum pædico!”
Anna. – Just a little « homo »?
*Malo senses confusion when he sees Anna’s smart look, but doesn’t know the double meaning of the word. [homo]*
Malo. – Ita homo sum!? Yes, I’m a man!
Anna. – Well, you see, there’s no reason to get angry!
*Malo vaguely feels that she made fun of him.*
Malo. – Women ! Do not mock the man of God!
Anna. – Watch out Malo! You seem to forget who you’re talking to!
*Malo is silent. He sulks.*
My darling, you are not necessarily what the hagiographers wrote. Why would we focus on the delusions of old monks locked in their scriptorium three centuries later? And then, this joke, and the innuendoes it generates, is only mentioned in Bili’s manuscript. We might never have found it! We can change everything. If you want, we write a new Life of Malo, what’s stopping us? And we bring researchers to discover it, hidden for centuries in a library in the Carpathians.
Come sit next to me, big guy. You are a good little boy, my Malo. And the Christian Church was less intransigent when you lived, especially among the Celts. We find married priests, it was later said that they lived in chastity, perhaps… or not! Who cares! No ? In any case, if you left Aleth because of a bunch of low-browed idiots, well, I would have done the same as you.
*Anna takes out her pipe from her bag, a small bottle of chouchen and two small glasses.*
Malo. – What are you doing ?
Anna. – Well, I found some chouchen on the way, it’s time for a drink.
*Anna prepares her pipe. *
Malo. – But Anna, I’m a monk, I don’t drink alcohol.
Anna. – Oh yes ? We know of at least one monk who fell into a well because he was completely drunk!
Malo. – Yes, well, it can happen.
*She hands him a glass with a base of chouchen.*
Anna. – Here, my little guy, a glass to toast with. “yecʼhed mat”
Malo. – Cheers, Anna! *Anna smokes and slowly drinks her chouchen.*
Anna. – Ah, I’m Benaise! Maybe I’ll take a little nap.
Malo. – Make yourself comfortable. You can rest in my cell, if you want.
Anna. – Yeah, good idea. Tro Breiz is a bit tiring. See you later.
Malo. – See you later.
While Saint Anne rests, let us quickly finish the Life of Malo. When he left Aleth, he first went to Luxeuil where he met Colomban. But they didn’t have much to say to each other, so he continued on his way and arrived in Saintonge where Bishop Léonce welcomed him and gave him a small plot of land on which to build a hermitage. After all these adventures, he only felt good when withdrawn from the world. He performed a few miracles to thank his benefactor and spent the rest of his time in prayer. But, in Aleth, his curse was undoubtedly disproportionate, because the inhabitants were struck by plague and famine, the soil was dry, the animals no longer gave birth, the population was terrified. So emissaries were sent to him and when he understood what was happening, he took up his staff and returned to Aleth. Cheerful crowds greeted him on the way, people prostrated themselves, touched him… Everything returned to normal, the rain fell again, the air was purified and the plague disappeared. The parishioners would have liked to keep him, but he felt better in Saintonge, so he blessed them copiously and left, with a few new disciples.
And then he died. Some say 620, others 627, even 649.
As Anna would say, “who cares !” «. And then… what happens next ? …The relics ! Bishop Léonce had a beautiful chapel built on his tomb (in Saintonge) and parishioners came to pray there and ask for miracles. But in Aleth, when news of his death came, the whole town demanded his body, considering that he had spent most of his life with them.
They therefore sent a delegation to Léonce to claim the body, arguing that it should be buried in “his” cathedral. The priests of Saintes laughed in their faces ! You would be crazy enough to part with the body of a saint who works miracles ! With pilgrimages and festivals, the town’s entire economy benefits. Afterwards, legend says that to compromise, it was decided that his skeleton would be placed on the altar, that the parts that could be lifted by the Bretons would belong to them. This is the slightly gory moment in the story ! The skull and one arm came, the rest didn’t want to move. The Bretons left happy, they placed the bones in a beautiful shrine in the cathedral and made it known that the most important thing for miracles was the head. The Saintongeais replied that this was not the case, and everyone prayed while waiting for miracles. Another version says that a Breton had become friends with the sacristan of Saintes, that he was staying with him and that he had taken advantage of his absence to steal the keys to the chapel and steal the skeleton, which he had brought back to Aleth.
Well, anyway, what happened to the relics ? I didn’t find any traces in Saint-Malo, so I assume that as usual the Vikings passed through there,
and that the relics were scattered.
*Anna comes back, fixes her hair and straightens her skirt. She puts away her pipe, her bottle and her glasses.*
Anna. – Well, I’ll leave you, Malo. Malo. – You can stay longer, if you want.
Anna. – How nice. I will continue my tour of the bishoprics.
Malo. – Are you off to Dol, to Samson’s? Anna. – Yes, before taking the road south.
Malo. – So, have a good trip, Anna. Anna. – See you, Malo. And since you know how to regulate the rain, try to watch out for it this summer. Malo. – Okay, I’ll take care of it !
So, here’s to your prayers for the weather! And see you soon for our meeting
with Samson. Kenavo everyone.
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