00:00Today, November 13, the church celebrates Saint Brice of Tours, a 5th-century bishop and direct successor of the Great Saint Martin.
00:10We also commemorate Saint Didas of Cadiz, a 15th-century Spanish Franciscan friar,
00:16but it is Brice who remains the most revered in French tradition, especially in Tours, where he rested alongside his master.
00:23Born around 370 in Tours, Brice grew up in a Gaul still marked by the Roman presence.
00:32It is said that he was orphaned at a very young age, taken in and educated by Saint Martin, then Bishop of Tours.
00:38Martin saw in him a lively, passionate, but also proud temperament, a fiery character which he tried to channel through prayer and humility.
00:48When Brice entered the Marmoutier monastery, he distinguished himself by his brilliant intelligence.
00:53but also by a pride that contrasted with Martin's gentleness.
00:58His master saw him as a future leader, but feared that his heart had not yet been tamed by charity.
01:05And indeed, Brice had fits of anger and vanity.
01:09He loved fine clothes, associated with the powerful, and had a hard time with evangelical poverty.
01:15Yet Martin never rejected him.
01:17He trained him, took him back, and one day said to him
01:21"Brice, you will be Bishop of Tours after me, but you will suffer greatly before you understand holiness."
01:30The prophecy has been fulfilled.
01:32Upon the death of Saint Martin in 397, Brice was elected bishop despite the opposition of some of the clergy who doubted his sincere conversion.
01:40His episcopate was marked by tensions and suspicions.
01:45Some considered him too close to power, too worldly.
01:49One day a slanderous rumor broke out.
01:51A female servant of the clergy accused Brice of being the father of her child.
01:56Brice then took the child in his arms and, according to tradition, cried out
02:00"If I am guilty, may God condemn me."
02:04"If I am innocent, let this child say so."
02:08And the child, still an infant, is said to have answered with a miraculous voice.
02:12"You are not my father."
02:15But the crowd refused to believe him.
02:17Brice was driven out of Tours and forced to live in exile in Rome for several years.
02:22It was there, in solitude and prayer, that he understood the profound meaning of humility that Saint Martin had tried to teach him.
02:30He did penance, visited the basilicas, served the poor, and was transformed inwardly.
02:38When he returned to Tours, he was a changed man.
02:41His pride had given way to gentleness, his ambition to charity.
02:46His followers were moved by his sincere conversion and re-elected.
02:50Brice's final years were those of a loving and peacemaking pastor.
02:55He had a new church built in honor of Saint Martin, whom he had never ceased to love.
02:59He died around 444, at an advanced age, reconciled with God and with his people.
03:08His relics were venerated in Tours, then in Clermont, and his cult spread throughout medieval Gaul.
03:14He is often invoked by those who want to overcome pride and find inner peace after a fall.
03:19Prayer to Saint Brice of Tours
03:24O Saint Brice, you who were tested by the fire of temptation and pride,
03:32and who found peace in humility and reconciliation,
03:36teach us to recognize our mistakes without despair,
03:39to return without shame to the light of Christ.
03:41You who were unjustly accused, support those who suffer slander.
03:49You who have known true conversion, enlighten our hearts full of pride.
03:55May we, like you, know how to get back up after our mistakes.
03:58and return to the path of trust and faith.
04:00Saint Brice, faithful successor of Saint Martin, pray for us.
04:07so that charity may always triumph in our lives.
04:10Amen
04:10Subtitling by Radio-Canada
04:19Subtitling by Radio-Canada
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