In a mystical vision, the Apostle St. Andrew indicated the place in St. Peter’s Basilica where the Holy Spear that had pierced the Sacred Heart of Jesus was located.
Newsroom ( Gaudium Press) Antioch, taken by the Crusaders, was surrounded by a multitude of Turks, commanded by Kerboglah. The entire valley and the surrounding mountains were covered by their tents. After some time, famine began to rage in the city. They began to eat dogs, cats and soups of fig, vine and cactus leaves, mixed with hides from belts and shoes. God then intervened to help the Crusaders.
The French monk Pierre Barthélemy, even before the conquest of Antioch, had a mystical vision in which the Apostle St. Andrew indicated to him the location of St. Peter’s Basilica, situated inside the city, where the Holy Lance that had pierced the Sacred Heart of Jesus was to be found. And he ordered him to inform the Crusader chiefs about it.
Saint Andrew the Apostle: the Crusade is a divine work
But the monk did not obey this order. Then St. Andrew appeared to him again and rebuked him saying, “Are you ignorant that the Crusade is a divine work?”[1]
In the desperate situation in which the besieged were, St. Andrew appeared other times to the monk who communicated to his superiors the message. They carried out excavations inside the Basilica and the Holy Lance was found.
The news caused excitement, and Godfrey of Bouillon determined that the Crusaders would attack the Turks on the vigil of St. Peter’s: June 28, 1098.
Godofroy cuts off a camel’s head
From dawn, Masses were celebrated. The clergymen, carrying crosses in their hands, went through the ranks of soldiers, calling them to the fight with the certainty of victory.
The gates of the city were opened, and while the warriors came out intrepidly, a huge procession carrying the Holy Lance took place on the top of the walls, in which people unable to fight physically participated, praying and singing fervently.
The Crusaders, led by Godofredo and other chiefs, with their swords cut down the Turks like ears of wheat. Kerbogá managed to escape. 100,000 infidels died, while the Crusaders had 4,000 casualties.
The war ended at night and the victors, exhausted, slept in the luxurious tents of the Turks; the next day they fed on the meals that had been prepared by their enemies.
A few days later, Antioch was struck by a plague that caused the death of thousands of people, among them the valiant Bishop Ademar of Monteil, and the Bishop of Bayeux – Northern France – the brother of King William the Conqueror. Then the Crusaders left the city for Jerusalem.
A knight went deep into a forest and saw a lion coiled by a serpent. He killed it, and the lion followed him on hunts as well as in battle, tearing the infidels apart.
Some time later, the knight took a ship to return to Europe, but the captain did not allow the lion to board. When the ship was under way, the animal launched itself into the sea and, having swum as far as its strength would allow, disappeared in the waves. Here is an example of gratitude given by an irrational being.
After crossing Turkey, the Crusaders reached Syria where news had spread about the strength of Godfrey of Bouillon. One day, “some Arab sheikhs put him to the test and challenged him to cut down a full-grown camel with a single blow of his sword, and at the same instant the head of the animal rolled at his feet.
This fighting man of God also shone for kindness. “In the course of the Crusade, he will be a pious pilgrim, full of benevolence, of meekness, of charity, of Christian humility.”[2]
Trial by fire
The Crusaders arrived at a small town in the vicinity of Tripoli, present-day Lebanon. Along the way they faced a thousand difficulties. The worst of them was the rumor, spread among the Crusaders themselves, that the Holy Lance had been a falsehood invented by the monk Pierre Barthélemy.
To demonstrate his righteousness, Pierre wanted to submit to the trial by fire, which was scheduled for April 10, 1099. They built a huge bonfire in the center of which was a narrow corridor.
Wearing a tunic, barefoot, and holding the Holy Lance in his hands, the monk slowly made his way through the fire and was completely unharmed. The crowd, venerating him as a saint, threw themselves upon him for relics. Pierre fell to the ground, was seriously injured, and died a few days later.
On May 13, 1099, the armies resumed their march and reached Tripoli, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, whose inhabitants wanted to resist, but were crushed by the Crusaders. The emir who ruled the city asked for peace, freed 300 Catholic prisoners, provided the victors with food, clothing, horses, treasures, and promised to convert to Catholicism if the Crusaders took Jerusalem.
Continuing their march, they were well received in Beirut – present-day capital of Lebanon -, passed by Sarepta – where a pious widow had welcomed the Prophet Elijah – and entered the port of St. John d’Acre, whose emir had made an alliance with the Crusaders.
By the tomb of St. George
Being near the city of Caesarea – where Our Lord had appointed St. Peter as Pope – a dove pursued by a hawk fell upon some Crusaders; it was found to carry under its wings a note with the words:
“The emir of Acco [St. John d’Acre] to the emir of Caesarea. A breed of dogs has just crossed my territory (…). If you love the law of the Koran, do not neglect any means to exterminate these dogs. Get this message to all other cities and fortresses!”[3]
The discovery of this plan caused the Crusaders to hasten their trek, before the coalition of enemies could materialize. They entered the city of Lida and, with enormous veneration, prayed in the Church of Saint George, in which he was buried. On several occasions, he had appeared to the Crusaders, helping them in their battles against the infidels[4].
He belonged to a noble Greek Catholic family and had become a soldier of the Roman Empire. The inhabitants of a village were terrified because of a dragon that devoured people. Saint George, with his sword, killed it. Because he was a Catholic, he was martyred by order of Emperor Diocletian in 303. He is one of the patrons of chivalry.
Before they withdrew from Lydda, a Crusader priest was designated as bishop of that city.
May Saint Andrew increase our Faith, confidence and combativeness to fight effectively against the veiled or declared enemies of the one Church of Christ.
By Paulo Francisco Martos
Notions of Church History
[1] DARRAS, Joseph Epiphane. Histoire Génerale de l’Église. Paris: Louis Vivès. 1875, v. 23, p. 541.
[2] GROUSSET, René. La epopeya de las Cruzadas. Madrid: Palabra. 2014, p. 15.
[3] DARRAS. Op. cit., v. 23, p. 592.
[4] Cf. MICHAUD, Joseph-François. History of the Crusades. São Paulo: Editora das Américas. 1956, v. 1, p. 375.
Compiled by Teresa Joseph
