Vaast, Abbey of Saint, situated at Arras, the an- cient capital of Artois, Department of Pas-de-Calais, France; founded in 667. St. Vaast, or Vedast, was born in western France about 453; d. at Ai-ras in 540. Having lived for some years as a recluse in the Diocese of Toul, he was ordained priest by St. Remi (Remigius), Archbishop of Reims, who deputed him to prepare Clovis for the reception of the Sacrament of Baptism. After this he remained at Reims and acted as archdeacon for St. Remi. In 499 that prelate consecrated him first Bishop of Arras, and his labours in planting the faith in those parts were bl('S.sed by many miracles. Ten years later St. Remi committed to him the care also of the Diocese of Cambrai, and these two sees remained united until the eleventh century. At the death of St. Remi he was chosen to succeed him but decUned the honour. His own death occurred in 540 and he was buried in his cathedral at Arras. In 667 St. Aubert, the seventh bishop of that see, commenced to build an abbey for Benedictine monks on the site of a little chapel which St. Vedast had erected in honour of St. Peter. St. Vedast's relics were transferred to the new abbey, which was completed by St. Aubert's successor and munificently endowed by King Theo- doric, who together with his wife was afterwards buried there. This Abbey of St-Vaast flourished for many centuries and held an important position amongst the monasteries of the Low Countries. It was ruled by many distinguished abbots, a Ust of whom, numbering seventy-nine, is given in "Gallia Christiana." It was exempt from episcopal juris- diction and maintained its independence until 1778 when it was aggregated to the Congregation of Cluny. At the Revolution it was suppressed and the conventual buildings became first a hospital and then a barrack. In 1838 the barrack was purchased by the town, a portion being used as a museum and archivium, and the rest becoming the residence of the bishop. The church, which had been desecrated and partially destroyed, was rebuilt and consecrated in 1833 and now serves as the cathedral.
Ste-Marthe, Gallia Christiana. Ill (Paris, 172.5); Ada Sft. Feb., I (Venice, 1735); de Cardevacque and Tehninck, L'ab- bam de Sainl-VaasI (Arras, 1805); Chevalier, Topo-bibl. (Mont- Mliard. 1S94-1902); Simpson, Life and Legend of St. Vedast (I-ondon, 1896).
G. Cyprian .Alston.
Vacancy, the state of being vacant, free, unoccu- ))icd: a term applied to an office or position devoid of an incumbent, as a vacant benefice, bishojjric, ])arish, I)rofessorship, etc. Vacancies occur by the volun- tary act of the incumbent or through comiMilsion. Generally speaking any cleric, even the pope, for just rea.sons may resign his ullice, the resignation becom- ing effective when (hily accei)te(l by the coin|)etent sui)erior. As the i)ope has no superior, Celestine V, who renounc(ul the papacy, published a special Con- stitution (L. I, tit. 7 in 6°) declaring th.at the College of Cardinals is competent to acc<>j)t the formal abdi- cation of the i)ope. Under certain conditions with approval of proper authority, an exchange of benefices or offices is jjermitted. Certain acts, licit or illicit, are equivalent to tacit renunciation, for example, when one accepts a promotion, makes a solemn re- ligious pr-ifession, violates the canons concerning a plurality of benefices, renounces the clerical state.
Under compulsion one loses his incumbency by death
or removal. Some vacancies are provided for before
they actually occur; for example, coadjutors may be
named with the right of succession, the pope may make
an appointment to go into effect at the death of the
present incumbent, an exercise of the so-called jus
proeventionis, at one time quite common. Removal
ordinarily is a punishment, and no one should be pun-
ished without cause (sine culpa, nisi subsit causa, non
est aliquis puniendus. Reg. 23 in 6°). The cause is
usually, though not always, a crime committed.
Where removal is a penalty, the crime for which it is
inflicted must be proven juridically. If the reason
for dismissal be merely unfitness (causa non cri-
minosa), a judicial trial is not generally obligatory,
though certain formalities are necessarily observed to
establish the existence of sufficient warrant for re-
moval, as well as to give the occupant an opportunity
of being heard. This is particularly true of the admin-
istrative removal of parish priests or rectors in accord-
ance with the Decree "Maxima eura" (S. C. Consist.,
20 Aug., 1910). This decree permits such removal
(without judicial trial) on account of insanity; inex-
perience or ignorance of such nature a,s seriously to
impede a pastor in his work; deafness, blindness or
other ailment, physical or mental, incapacitating a
rector for a long time, unless provision can be made
for a coadjutor; hatred or ill will on the part of the
people, though unjust and not universal; loss of repu-
tation among men of repute; maladministration of
temporal affairs; continual neglect after one or two
admonitions of parochial duties of moment; disobe-
dience after warning of the bishop's precepts in grave
matters.
Some, like removable rectors, are transferable at the will of the bishop. Care however should be taken not to transfer such persons against their will to in- ferior posts, as this would be considered a punish- ment. Vicars-general and deans lose their office by the death or resignation of the bishop or the cessa- tion for any reason whatever of his jurisdiction. A vicar capitular or administrator of a vacant see retains his office till the papal Bulls ajipointing a new bishop are duly presented. No serious change of moment in the status of a diocese is permitted during an in- terregnum in accordance with the prohibition: A'e g('(h' vacanic aliqui/l innovetur (Deer. L., Ill, tit. 9).
In liturgj' a Sunday is said to be vacant when no menli.in of it is made in the Office or Mass; such are the Sun(l:iys that fall on the feast or the Octave of (
Christinas,' St. Stephen, St. John Evangelist, Holy (
Innocents, Epiphany or the vigil of Ei)iphany. Days >
too an? liturgically vacant or free when unoccupied by a feast, privileged vigil or privileged ferial office: they are days to which no special Office is ;i,ssigned.
AxDHEW B. NIeehan.
Vacz. See Waitzen, Diocese of.
Vadstena, .Vhhev ok, niother-hoii.se of the Brigit- tinc Older. situ:ited on Lake Wetter, in the Diocese of Linkcipiiig, Sweden. Though the abbey was founded in 1340 by St. Bridget with the assistance of Magnus II and Blanche of Namur, St. Catherine, on arriving there in 1374, with the relics of her mother St, Bridget, found only a few novices under an Augustinian superior. They chose St. Catherine as their abbess. She died in
