Hello, it’s Lize, today I tell you about the life of Samson de Dol.
Chronologically, I could have started with Samson. Indeed, the first Vita, the story of his life called the Vita prima in Latin, is the oldest currently known. It precedes all those of the other saints. Researchers are not unanimous on the date of its composition, some consider that it was written as early as the 7th century, others later. They generally agree that it served as a model for many other lives. I remind you that the Lives of the Saints are written by hagiographers whose aim is to produce edifying stories, transmitting the values of the Great Church, even if it means circumventing strict historical plausibility. If you have watched the previous videos, you will find themes already encountered, such as how to treat the sick or paralyzed, how to slay dragons, etc. But I’m not going to spoil this episode.
What do we know about Samson of Dol ? He was born… ? In Wales.
He did his studies… ? At the monastery of LlanIltud, with… Saint Iltud.
Did he feel good in the community…? No, he preferred the solitude of hermits, silence and the harshest austerities. Was he able to withdraw from the world…? No, not always, he was forced to act as guide of his people…
Etc. You see, we are on familiar ground.
But that’s no reason to deprive us of a beautiful story embellished with popular and, let’s admit, a little pagan legends. So let’s go.
Samson was born around 495 in Glamorgan. His parents, Amon and Anne, lived in Wales.
It is said that their respective parents were educators of the royal children of two small kingdoms in south Wales, [ˈdəvɛd] which in French is written Dyfed and Gwent. Amon had a brother, Umbraphel, Anne had a sister, Afrella. They were of the same level of nobility, the two eldest, those who had biblical first names, were married together and the two younger ones as well. Was the arrangement suitable for those involved ? Did they feel a mutual attraction ? History does not say this and is modest on the subject. We note however, that Anne remained sterile for years. Thirty-seven years old, says Albert the Great, but he is renowned for his delusions. However, according to the Vita prima, after a short time, Afrella conceived and gave birth to a son, then two others, “the spouses uniting peacefully in all dignity”.
We are not explained how one has children peacefully with complete dignity :), and monks are not the most experts on the subject. In any case, it became humiliating for Anne and upsetting for Amon who found himself without an heir even though his brother already had three sons.
The situation was sufficiently worrying for them to consult a “copyist”, a “master” who lived in the distant lands of the North and whose rumor assured that all those who “spoke to him saw what he told them verified later. » A seer, then ! A soothsayer ! Perhaps he would have been called a “druid” without the prohibition that weighed on the old religion, or a shaman in the Siberian regions, or a guru today.
Anne and Amon undertook the journey. Arriving there, they found the master surrounded by a noisy crowd, and the latter, as soon as he saw them, said to Amon : “I know the reason for your coming : it is because your wife is barren, but we will fix it. Start by making a silver rod as big as your wife and the thickness of a little finger and God will grant your desires. » Amon, very happy, replies : “To have a son, I am ready to give three silver rods”.
It’s a bit strange, this story of silver rods. Not very “Catholic”, in short. On the other hand, in old Celtic stories and in Welsh law, it was known that golden or silver wands the size of a person were given as compensation for offenses, this was the «price of honor.” In Armorican Brittany, it was the compensation owed by the husband after the consummation of the marriage. All this leaves me perplexed : why did Amon have to give silver rods ? Because of an offense ? Had he cheated on his wife or dishonored someone ? Is this the serious sin he will later confess to his son ? Some historians interpret this sin as an implication of pedophilia. If so, Amon was doing pretty well with his three silver wands of compensation ! Or had he not consummated the marriage ? Did the couple not get along ? On this again, the Vita is silent and we remain with our assumptions. The master, then, offers them to spend the night at his house. When everyone is sound asleep, “the Lord” appears to Anne and tells her that she is blessed because a child will be conceived in her womb. Anne is stunned, she doesn’t dare move or say anything. The angel spoke to her gently as a kind encouragement, he said to her : “Woman, do not be afraid and do not be suspicious, the Lord will indeed deign to comfort your sadness and your tears will turn to joy. »… The angel adds that she must call her son Samson, that he will be a saint and a leader, downright a supreme priest, that all this will be confirmed to her the next day by the master “copyist”. Indeed, the next morning, the latter repeats to him, word for word, in front of Amon, what the angel said during the night.
Anne and Amon return home, Samson is born nine months later, he will have brothers and a sister and when he is five years old, his mother thinks he is mature enough to begin studies at the monastery. The hagiographer places great emphasis on the mother’s obsession with preserving the “purity” of her child. Some commentators suggest that Samson’s alleged precocity was a pretext to keep him away from the risk of physical harm to his innocence.
At first, Amon opposed this project. The appearance in the night of an angry and threatening angel, a Tough Angel, put him in better spirits and at dawn, he said to Anne : “Let us take our son to school without delay, or rather the son of God, for God is with him and commands that it be so. » Anne, very happy, gets up and they leave.
This is the Vita version. We can also suspect Anne of having threatened Amon to leave with his heir and return to live with her family, if he did not do as she wished. Among the Bretons, the will of God and that of women sometimes go hand in hand ! After two days of walking, they arrived at the monastery of LlanIlltud. Saint Illtud welcomes them in person. He says : “Thank you, O my God, for having given birth to this sun which will bring divine light to so many peoples, on both sides of the sea, and which will bring them eternal salvation ! Here is the spiritual guide of the Bretons, the perfect model of so many saints, the honor and glory of our people, the great builder of churches, the most learned since the apostles ! » At these words, Amon feels full of joy ! Jokes aside, if Samson didn’t start showing off immediately it’s because at five years old, he didn’t understand anything about the old man’s incantations. When Anne tries to question Illtud to find out more, he “shuts her mouth” and she is “forced to retreat with Amon”.
But no, Illtud did not “shut Anne’s mouth”! This is just Dom Lobineau’s version in his book The Lives of the Saints of Brittany. In a more recent translation we read that it was the two parents who would have liked to hear more «from the mouth of Illtud » but he replied that he would not tell them more and that it was useless to insist because “there is a time to be silent and a time to speak !” As for this child, he said, hand him over to me to study. « Point. This is called getting fired ! Samson stayed with his master, he said “goodbye” to his parents, they left.
So Illtud took his hand, they walked towards the refectory of the monastery, side by side, the great saint and the tiny boy. He introduced him to his classmates, he was the youngest, obviously, at five years old ! He felt very good at LlanIlltud. It is said that he learned the letters of the alphabet in a day, and the basics of Latin in a month. Perhaps, in any case, he was happy to learn. He recited psalms to himself by heart, for pleasure. He also wanted to imitate the monks, submitting to the same austerities. Around the age of fifteen, he wanted even stricter fasts, longer sleep deprivation… Illtud, wisely, dissuaded him. He told him that he would need a healthy body to carry out God’s intentions and that he would have to wait until he had finished growing before imposing this rigorous discipline on himself.
Illtud was a good teacher who always sought to develop his students’ own abilities.
As soon as he felt them worthy, he spoke to them as equals. Samson spent unforgettable times with him studying the Holy Scriptures. One day, they had both been struggling since the morning with the interpretation of an obscure passage, they had searched in the commentaries of the Old and New Testaments, reread the passage dozens of times… Illtud said : “ There is no point in persisting, we will not find the explanation today. We have to let go for tonight ! » Samson obeyed but he hated to admit defeat.
Good or bad, there must have been some meaning to be found in this passage ! So he prayed, he
told God that he would not eat anything or sleep for a minute until He gave him the solution to this problem. An angel came rushing in and said softly to him : “God hears you, rest and you will have the answer in your sleep.” » Reassured and confident, he fell asleep. And indeed, the next morning, he knew ! He ran to tell his master about his night, proud to confirm that God answered his prayers. Illtud congratulated him, thanked him for lifting the darkness of the passage of Scripture, and he added : “But you know, sleep often brings the requested answers without the need to call on God ! » A few days later, Samson was working in the study room with his master when a monk came in, out of breath and crying. He ran to tell Illtud that a viper had bitten a young monk in a field and that he was dying. Illtud got up to go there, but Samson stood in front of him and begged him to let him try to save his comrade. Illtud frowned and asked him how he would do it. Impulsively, he replied : “My father is learned and skillful, he taught me the words to pronounce. « « Your father ! Amon ! He knows magic !? » exclaimed the master in disbelief. Samson had spoken without thinking. He got out of trouble as usual with a quotation from the Holy Scriptures : “Master, I have no other father than the one of whom the prophet said : “Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me….’ Job, 10.8… which had little to do with the situation since the verse ends «Would You now turn and destroy me ? » Illtud was not fooled by his cunning, with a little amused smile, he said “Go, God’s chosen little one !” » Samson rushed to the field where the monk was lying in agony, and the words and gestures came to him. He spread a little oil and water on the bite, made a sign of the cross and said the words that came to him spontaneously. The monk moved, opened his eyes, he was saved. The other monks shouted their joy, they congratulated Samson, their enthusiasm was limitless. They all returned to the monastery. Illtud was waiting for them at the door. He kissed the miraculous monk and took Samson aside : “You are very young to have this gift. Know that magical techniques are dangerous tools when the soul of the person who practices them is not perfectly pure and free of all pride. Go pray in church. » Poor Samson who expected praise ! Upset, he spent the night standing in the church, refusing to lean on to relieve fatigue, for three days he did not sleep, for a whole week he fasted, allowing himself only a few minutes of rest. Drowsy sitting on the ground, his back against an icy wall… Illtud passed from time to time, looked at him, left again… something in Samson rebelled, defied his master.
On the seventh day, the «something » cracked, Samson felt… he couldn’t have described this feeling. Fullness, warmth, love, gentleness, nobility of heart…? Illtud arrived, his blue eyes sparkled with mischief, he said “So, God’s chosen one ? «, he put his hand on the shoulder of Samson who was staggering a little from fatigue and starvation, and led him to the refectory.
I will tell you the rest of Samson’s life in the next video. In the meantime, Kenavo !
Laisser un commentaire