September 17th.

St. Lambert.

Maastricht in Holland is a place name liable to raise the blood pressure of those who are not over-enthusiastic about the European Union, but in less controversial circumstances it was also the birthplace (in 635) of this missioner of the Low Countries.  Of noble birth, he was educated by the Bishop of Maastricht, Theodard, and succeeded him after his murder.  As a result of political intrigue, Lambert was exiled from 675 to 682 but then allowed to return.  He devoted much energy to the mission in Brabant, where he was murdered in 705.  According to one account this was an assassination planned by the King, Pepin; Lambert, following the pattern of St. John the Baptist, had rebuked the king for adultery with his sister-in-law. Lambert’s successor, St. Hubert, built a church around the house where Lambert died, and around this shrine developed the Belgian city of Liège, of which Lambert is patron.