25 December 496 A.D. CHRISTMAS
DAY: King Clovis Baptized in Rheims by Mr. (Bp.) Remigius: Amidst Chanted Psalms in a Lit Cathedral
Graves, Dan. “King Clovis Took to the Water.” Christianity.com. May 2007.
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/king-clovis-took-to-the-water-11629704.html. Accessed
23 Jun 2014.
The gods were failing king Clovis and his Franks. A
contingent of Germans was about to defeat them. In desperation, the king raised
his hands in the air, praying: "Jesus, if you really are the Son of God as
my wife tells me, grant me victory and I will believe in you." At that
moment the enemy broke ranks and fled. Clovis attributed the victory to the
Christian God.
That day in 496 would be a
dramatic turning point for Gaul (France). Although Clovis had married a
Christian woman, his knowledge of Christianity was slender.
Essentially he knew only what Clotilda, his wife, had told him--a potpourri of
facts, fables and doubtful legends. He was a violent and vindictive man.
Up until his miraculous victory,
Clovis felt that he had good reason to doubt the God of the Christians. Had not the Roman Empire converted to the new faith more than a
hundred years earlier? And yet God had not protected it from the barbarians.
Closer to home, after he had allowed Clotilda to baptize their first-born son,
the boy died within eight days. What kind of God was this who allowed those
baptized into his name to die? For her part, Clotilda bravely rejoiced that she
had been considered worthy to bear a child who was now transported to the
kingdom of heaven.
Despite his suspicion of baptism,
Clovis permitted Clotilda to have their second son baptized. This boy also
sickened. Again Clovis was angry. But this time the boy was spared in answer to
prayer. And then came the battle that forced him to make his desperate appeal
to Christ.
Clovis was as good as his word.
He invited Bishop Remigius to instruct him in the new faith. On this night, December 25,
496, he was baptized in Rheims. In celebration of the event,
Remigius decked the cathedral with lovely carpets and hangings. Hundreds of
candles lighted the building in contrast to the dark December evening. A breath
of incense hung like enchantment in the air. Hearing the solemn chanting of
psalms, the king turned with awe to Remigius, asking if he had entered the
promised kingdom of heaven. "No," answered the bishop; "but it
is the beginning of the way to it."
3,000 of Clovis's Frankish
warriors followed him in baptism. Remigius continued to instruct the warrior
king in the faith. His understanding of what he heard must have lacked
something, however. When Remigius described the abuse and death of Christ, the
king started up angrily, exclaiming, "If I had been there with my Franks,
I would have avenged His wrongs!"
Clovis was one of the first of
the line of French kings known as Merovingians.
Bibliography:
"Clovis." The Oxford Dictionary of the
Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone.
Oxford, 1997.
Kurth, Godefroid. "Clovis." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
Various encyclopedia and internet articles and
paragraphs in histories of Christianity.
Last updated May,
2007.
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