Add to favourites
During the dark times of the Middle Ages, the Vallespir region was plagued by fantastical monsters: simiots , dragons, lions, bears, wolves, plague epidemics, and the fury of the elements. To ward off this misfortune, Abbot Arnulphe set out from Arles-sur-Tech in search of a cure for all these ills.
This “dark age” could be situated between the 9th and 10th centuries , during the Reconquista. After the Roman era and following the Moorish invasion, towns and villages had been abandoned. They had gradually reverted to nature. After Charlemagne's liberation of the lands ( the Reconquista ), the Catalans settled in the valleys, which had become wild again, and had to confront the ferocious beasts that inhabited the mountains.
The quest for the holy relics of Abdon and Sennen
from Arles-sur-TechHe found listening and comfort from the Sovereign Pontiff who offered him to choose between all the holy relics preciously preserved in Rome. Arnulphe not knowing which Saints would solve his problem, he entered into meditation. Then two young men appeared to him who introduced themselves under the name ofAbdon and Sennen, ancient princes of Persia and martyrs in Rome. They told him exactly where their remains were buried in the cemetery of Pontien. They also told him to take them with him to heal the ailments of his people. Arnulphe then organized an expedition and had the digging done on the very spot that had been indicated to him. Perfectly preserved bodies were soon found giving off a sweet floral smell characteristic of holy relics.
Fearing for the safety of the relics on the return trip, he had them placed in a barrel. Then this barrel was put in a large barrel which he had filled with water from the baptistery, the very one where Saint Peter baptized the first Christians and from which a large number of miraculous healings are reported.
The barrel was loaded aboard a ship and Arnulphe returned home. He had the barrel loaded onto a mule and began his return to Arles-sur-Tech. During the journey, the mule was thrown and disappeared into the bottom of a chasm. All of Arnulphe's hopes were dashed. Resigned, he continued on his way to the abbey of Arles sur Tech. He soon heard the bells ringing and was astonished to find the mule and its precious cargo on the village square. The wild beasts had fled upon the arrival of the holy relics ofAbdon and SennenThe water from the barrels was emptied into an old tomb at the entrance to the Abbey (which became the holy grave) and installed the holy relics in theArles-sur-Tech Abbey from where they only come out for the procession of the patronal feast of Saint Abdon and Saint Sennen on July 30.
