MAURUS
913
MAURY
Surius, and the Martyrol. Usuardi, edit. J. B. du Sollier, S. J., Sept. 22, and October 4, 10, 15 ; ako Tillemont, Me- moires, torn, iv ; Stolberg, ix, 302 sq. ; Kettberg, Kir- chengesch. Deutschlands, i, § 16. — Uerzog, Real-Enct/Mop. ix, 197 sq. ; Wetzer ixnd Welte, Kirchen-Lexikon, vi, 414 sq. (G. M.)
Maurus, a pupil of Benedict of Nursia, is chiefly known by the account given of him by the monks of the Congregation of St. Maur (q. v.). His history is mainly legendary. He is said to have been the first to introduce the Benedictine rule into France ; to have founded its first convent in France at Glanfeuil, in the province of Anjou, and to have died in 584, after havuig performed a great number of miracles. Such at least are the main points to be gathered from his biographj^, much mixed up indeed in regard to dates, which appear- ed in the 9th centur}% Gregory of Tours makes no mention of him whatever. This, however, appears cer- tain, that France was the field of his labors, for his name was known there before his biography appeared. Yet all the Maurimonasteria do not lead us back to him ; thus, for instance, that at the foot of the Vosges is named after an abbot of the 8th century, Mabillon and Kuinart vainly tried to prove the correctness of the old biography (Acta Sanctorum Of J. S. Bened. scec. i, 274 sq. ; Annales ord. S. Betted, scec, i, 107 sq., 629 sq.), whilst not only Protestant but also Roman Catholic writers have found ample reason to doubt its genuine- ness.— Herzog, Real-Eiicyklo}]. ix, 201. (J.N. P.)
Maurus, Rabanus. See Radanus.
Maury, John Siffreix, a French prelate, and noted also as a pulpit orator, was born June 26, 1746, at Vau- reas, in the Venaissm, of poor but respectable parents. He displayed at a very early age great eagerness for learning, and being destined by his parents for the ec- clesiastical profession, he was placed at the Seminary of St. Garde, at Avignon, to pursue his theological studies. About 17G0 he proceeded to Paris, in the expectation of earning a subsistence by the cultivation of his tal- ents. Though he was without friends in that city, his first publication attracted considerable notice. Encoiur- aged by this early success he took orders, and devoted himself to the study of pulpit eloquence. In 1772 an Eloge on Fenelon, which he published, was favorably received by the French Academy, and caused him to be appointed vicar-general of the bishop of Lombez. He however soon returned to Paris, where he became very popular as a preacher. A panegyric of St, Loius, which he delivered before the French Academy, and one of St. Augustine before an assembly of the clergy, met with so much success that king Louis XVI appointed him preacher to the court, and presented him with the living of the abbey Frenade, in the diocese of Saintes. In 1785 he delivered his panegyric on St. Vincent de Paul, which is esteemed a masterpiece ; shortly after he had the honor to be chosen a member of the Academy in the place of the lyric poet Lefranc de Pompignan, and the following year the valuable benefice of the pri- ory of Lioris was conferred upon him. At the assembly of the States-General in 1789 he was named deputy of the clergy for the bailiwick of Peronne, and soon took a prominent part in the debates. From the first he enlisted himself on the aristocratic side, ^vhere his en- ergetic eloquence and peculiar talent at reply rendered him a formidable antagonist to Mirabeau. His im- pressive and impassioned oratory, though it expressed opinions hostile to the great majority of the assembly, was often listened to with admiration and greeted with applause. His great moral courage and firm adherence to the principles which he had adopted, and which, in spite of the most violent opposition and in the face of the greatest danger, he earnestly advocated, secured for him the respect and esteem of the more enlightened portion of his enemies. November 27, 1790, a decree was passed in the National Assembly, by which ever*- ecclesiastic in the kingdom was required to take an oath
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