St Lambertus - defender of the sanctity of marriage

Today is the patronal feast day of a little known Saint - St. Lambertus, patron saint of Kalkum.

The church at Kalkum, a village just up the road from here,  is the sister church to St Suidbertus.

Last night at the Vigil Mass we heard all about St Lambertus and for once I was able to follow a fair amount of the sermon!  

You know, St Lambert should be held up today as a champion of the sanctity of the sacrament of marriage, especially in this often hard-hearted, materialistic and God-less time in which we live.

Here is an extract of the life of St Lambert, which I obtained from the online Catholic Encyclopaedia:

"Lambert was martyred because of his defence of the marriage tie.  Pepin of Heristal lived for many years in irreproachable wedlock with the pious Plectrude, who bore him two sons. Later he entered into unlawful relations with Alpais, who became the mother of Charles Martel. When no one had the courage to remonstrate with Pepin, Lambert went to his court like another John the Baptist. Alpais, fearing that Pepin might heed the admonitions of the saint, appealed to her brother Dodo. The latter sought revenge and caused Lambert to be assassinated in the chapel of Sts. Cosmas and Damian, built by St. Monulphus at Liège. His heart was pierced by a javelin while he was at the altar. "

Interestingly it was the same Pepin who gave Kaiserswerth to our own St Suidbertus and I wonder if Suidbertus and Lambertus knew each other.

Today, on the actual patronal feast day, it was my turn to go to the baker's and get the breakfast croissants.  It was a decidedly chilly morning and as I walked down the path I was struck by the beauty of the morning.  The birds were singing their hearts out and there was no other sound but their cheerful song to interrupt my thoughts.  I was still saying the 'Our Father' on my Rosary when this happened and somehow it seemed the perfect prayer to be reciting at such a moment, on such a glorious morning!  What a lovely start to St Lambertus' special day!

PS

The photo is of a wayside shrine in the countryside near here that I took during the summer.  I didn't have a handy photo of the St Lambertus Church to post.

PPS

On a more secular note it is also the annual potato festival here in Kaiserswerth but I always feel rather disappointed that the great Mr. Potato Head is never in evidence . . .