Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints — November

The unabridged November volume of Alban Butler’s Lives, from the P. J. Kenedy 1903 reprint of the twelve-volume edition. Public domain.

NOVEMBER 1 — NOVEMBER I ALL SAINTS

The church in this great festival honors all the saints reigning together in glory; first, to give thanks to God for the graces and crown of all his elect: secondly, to excite ourselves to a fervent imitation of their virtues by considering the holy example of so many faithful servants of God of all ages, sexes, and conditions, and by contemplating the inexpressible and eternal bliss which they already enjoy, and to which we are invited: thirdly, to implore the divine mercy through this multitude of powerful intercessors: fourthly, to repair any failures or sloth in not having duly honored God in his saints on their particular festivals, and to glorify him in the saints which are unknown to us, or for which no particular festivals are appointed. Therefore our fervor on this day ought to be such, that it may be a reparation of our sloth in all the other feasts of the year; they being all comprised in this one solemn commemoration, which is an image of that eternal great feast which God himself continually celebrates in heaven with all his saints, whom we humbly join in praising his adorable goodness for all his mercies, particularly for all treasures of grace which he has most munificently heaped upon them.* In this and all other festivals of the saints, God is the only object of supreme worship, and the whole of that inferior veneration which is paid to the saints is directed to give sovereign honor to God alone, whose gifts their graces are; and our addresses to them are only petitions to holy fellow-creatures for the assistance of their prayers to God for us. When therefore we honor the saints, in them and through them we honor God, and Christ true God and true Man, the Redeemer and Saviour of mankind, and King of the Saints, and the source of all their sanctity and glory. In his blood they have washed their robes; from him they derive all their purity, whiteness, and lustre. We consider their virtues as copies taken from him the great original, as streams from his fountain, or as images of his virtues produced by the effusion of his spirit and grace in them. His divine life is their great exemplar and prototype, and in the characteristical virtues of each saint, some of his most eminent virtues are particularly set forth; his hidden life in the solitude of the anchorets; his spotless purity in the virgins; his patience or charity in some; his divine zeal in others: in them all in some degree his plenitude of all virtue and sanctity. Nor are the virtues of the saints only transcripts and copies of the life or spirit of Christ; they are also the fruit of his redemption; entirely his gifts and graces. And when we honor the saints we honor and praise him who is the author of all their good; so that all festivals of saints are instituted to honor God and our Blessed Redeemer.

In all feasts of saints, especially in this solemn festival of All Saints, it ought to be the first part of our devotion to praise and thank God for the infinite goodness he has displayed in favor of his elect. A primary and most indispensable homage we owe to God, is that of praise, the first act of love, and complacency in God and his adorable perfections. Hence the psalms, the most perfect and inspired model of devotions, repeat no sentiments so frequently or with so much ardor as those of divine adoration and praise. This is the uninterrupted sweet employment of the blessed in heaven to all eternity; and the contemplation of the divine love, and other perfections, is a perpetual incentive inflaming them continually afresh in it, so that they cannot cease pouring forth all their affections, and exhausting all their powers; and conceive every moment new ardor in this happy function of pure love. So many holy solitaries of both sexes in this life have renounced all commerce and pleasures of the world, to devote themselves wholly to the mixed exercises of praise and love, and of compunction and humble supplication. In these, all servants of God find their spiritual strength, refreshment, advancement, delight, and joy. If they are not able here below to praise God incessantly with their voice or actual affections of their hearts, they study to do it always by desire, and by all their actions strive to make the whole tenor of their life an uninterrupted homage of praise to God. This tribute we pay him, first, for his own adorable majesty, justice, sanctity, power, goodness, and glory; rejoicing in the boundless infinitude of his perfections we call forth all our own faculties and all our strength; summon all the choir of the creation to praise him, and find it our delight to be vanquished and overwhelmed by his unexhausted greatness, to which all our praises are infinitely inadequate, and of which all conceptions fall infinitely short; so as not to bear the least degree of proportion to them. To aid our weakness, and supply our insufficiency, in magnifying the infinite Lord of all things, and exalting his glory, we have recourse to the spotless victim, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, put into our hands for us to offer a holocaust of infinite price, equal to the majesty of the Godhead. We also rejoice in the infinite glory which God possesses in himself, and from himself. Deriving from himself infinite greatness and infinite happiness, he stands not in need of our goods, and can receive no accession from our homages as to internal glory; in which consists his sovereign bliss. But there is an external glory which he receives from the obedience and praise of his creatures, which, though it increase not his happiness, is nevertheless indispensably due to him, and an external homage with which all beings are bound to sound forth his sovereign power and sanctity. Nor do we owe him this only for his own greatness and glory, which he possesses in himself, but also for the goodness, justice, wisdom, and power which he manifests in all his works. Compounds of the divine mercies, as we are, we are bound to give to God incessant thanks for all the benefits both in the order of nature and of grace, which he has gratuitously conferred upon us. We owe him also an acknowledgment of praise and thanksgiving for all his creatures from the beginning, and for all the wonders he has wrought in them or in their behalf. For this the psalmist and the prophets so often rehearse his mighty works, and invite all beings to magnify his holy name for them.

It is in his saints that he is wonderful above all his other works.1 For them was this world framed: for their sakes is it preserved and governed. In the revolutions of states and empires, and in the extirpation or conservation of cities and nations, God has his elect chiefly in view. By the secret unerring order of his most tender and all-wise providence, All things work together for good to them.2 For their sake will God shorten the evil days in the last period of the world.3 For the sanctification of one chosen soul he often conducts innumerable second causes, and hidden springs. Nor can we wonder hereat, seeing that for his elect his coeternal Son was born and died, has wrought so many wonders, performed so many mysteries, instituted so many great sacraments, and established his church on earth. The justification of a sinner, the sanctification of a soul, is the fruit of numberless stupendous works, the most wonderful exertion of infinite goodness and mercy, and of almighty power. The creation of the universe out of nothing is a work which can bear no comparison with the salvation of a soul through the redemption of Christ. And with what infinite condescension and tenderness does the Lord of all things watch over every one of his elect! With what unspeakable invisible gifts does he adorn them! To how sublime and astonishing a dignity does he exalt them, making them companions of his blessed angels, and coheirs with his Divine Son! Weak and frail men, plunged in the gulf of sin, he, by his omnipotent arm, and by the most adorable and stupendous mercy, has rescued from the slavery of the devil and jaws of hell; has cleansed them from all stains; and by the ornaments of his grace, has rendered them most beautiful and glorious. And with what honor has he crowned them! To what an immense height of immortal glory has he raised them! and by what means? His grace conducted them by humility, patience, charity, and penance, through ignominies, torments, pains, sorrows, mortifications, and temptations to joy and bliss, by the cross to their crowns. Lazarus, who, here below, was covered with ulcers, and denied the crumbs of bread which fell from the rich man’s table, is now seated on a throne of glory, and replenished with delights, which neither eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard. Poor fishermen, here the outcast of the world, are made assessors with Christ in judging the world at the last day: so great will be the glory and honor with which they will be placed on thrones at his right hand, and bear testimony to the equity of the sentence which he will pronounce against the wicked. Thy friends are exceedingly honored, O God.4 These glorious citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem he has chosen out of all the tribes of the children of Israe1,5 and out of all nations, without any distinction of Greek or barbarian; persons of all ages, showing, there is no age which is not ripe or fit for heaven; and out of all states and conditions; in the throne amidst the pomp of worldly grandeur; in the cottage in the army; in trade; in the magistracy; clergymen, monks, virgins, married persons, widows, slaves, and freemen. In a word, what state is there that has not been honored with its saints? And they were all made saints by the very occupations of their states, and by the ordinary occurrences of life; prosperity and adversity; health and sickness; honor and contempt; riches and poverty; all which they made the means of their sanctification by the constant exercise of patience, humility, meekness, charity, resignation, and devotion. This is the manifold grace of God.6 He has employed all means, he has set all things at work to show in ages to come the abundant riches of his grace.7 How do these happy souls, eternal monuments of God’s infinite power and clemency, praise his goodness without ceasing! I will sing to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously, &c.8 And casting their crowns before his throne they give to him all the glory of their triumphs.9 “His gifts alone in us he crowns.”* We are called upon with the whole church militant on earth to join the church triumphant in heaven in praising and thanking our most merciful God for the graces and glory he has bestowed on his saints. Shall we not, at the same time, earnestly conjure him to exert his omnipotence and mercy in raising us from all our spiritual miseries and sins, healing the disorders of our souls, and conducting us through the paths of true penance to the happy company of his saints, to which he has vouchsafed most graciously to invite us?

Nothing can more powerfully incite us to aspire with all our strength to the incomparable happiness and blessed company of the saints than their example. Nor can any thing more strongly inflame us with holy emulation than the constant meditation on that glory of which they are even now possessed, and in which they earnestly wait for us to join them. How does their immortality inspire us with a contempt of the inconstant, perishable, and false honors of this world! How does the unspeakable joy of that state, which satisfies all the desires, and fills the whole capacity of the heart, make us sovereignly despise the false, empty pleasures of this life, and trample under our feet the threats and persecutions of a blind world, with all that we can suffer from it, or in it! Are we not transported out of ourselves at the thought that, by the divine mercy and grace, we are capable of attaining to this state of immense and endless bliss? And do we not, from our hearts, this moment bid adieu forever to all pursuits, occupations, and desires, which can be an impediment to us herein, and embrace all means which can secure to us the possession of our great and only good. Do we not burn with a holy desire of being admitted into the society of the friends of God, and being crowned by him in this blessed company with eternal joy and glory? A certain general who, from the rank of a common soldier, had, by his valor and conduct, raised himself to the dignity and command of lieutenant-general, used sometimes familiarly to converse with his soldiers, and tell them that he once carried his musket, stood sentry, lived and bore fatigues like them. He used to relate how in sieges he had dug the trenches, carried fascines, been the first man in mounting a breach, making an assault, or forcing a dangerous pass. He gave them an account upon what occasion and by what means he was made a sergeant, and gradually advanced to the posts of lieutenant, captain, colonel, and general officer. It is not to be easily conceived with what ardor his soldiers were fired by such discourses, and by such an example which they had before their eyes. The greatest fatigues and dangers were to them at that time no longer a subject of complaint, but of joy and ambition, while every one seemed to himself to see a door by such means open to him to some degree of preferment. Yet they could not but be sensible how great the odds were against them, through how many dangers the very least promotion was to be purchased, and after all that could be done by them, after the greatest exploits and most happy success on their side, the reward and honor which they had in view was too extraordinary, too precarious, and depended too much upon the caprices of favor and fortune rationally to raise high expectations. In the affair of our salvation the case is quite otherwise. The option is in our own breast: how exalted and how immense soever the glory is to which we aspire, it is God who invites us, and who is our light and our strength: by his grace, which can never fail but through our fault, we are sure to attain to that state of bliss which will never have an end, and which is far beyond all we can imagine possible. So many happy saints are already arrived there. By their example they have pointed out the way to us. We have but to tread their steps. They were once what we now are, travellers on earth; they had the same weaknesses which we have: Elias was a man subject to the same infirmities as we are, says St. James;10 so were all the saints. We have difficulties to encounter, so had all the saints, and many of them far greater than we can meet with. They had the allurements of vice, and several of them the flatteries of courts to resist, with a thousand particular obstacles from kings and princes, from the interest of whole nations, from the seduction and snares of fawning, worldly friends, from the rancor and injustice of enemies, sometimes from the prisons, racks, and swords of persecutors, and from an infinity of other circumstances. Yet they bravely surmounted these difficulties, which they made the very means of their virtue and sanctity by their victories and triumphs over these enemies, and by their extreme watchfulness over themselves, their fervor in continual prayer, mortification, and penance, their plentiful alms-deeds, and their ardor in the exercise of all good works, to which their alarming dangers served much more strongly to excite them.

Do we complain of our frailty? The saints were made of the same mould with us. But being sensible of their weakness, they were careful to retrench all incentives of their passions, to shun all dangerous occasions of sin, to ground themselves in the most profound humility, and to strengthen themselves by the devout use of the sacraments, prayer, an entire distrust in themselves, and other means of grace. It was by the strength they received from above, not by their own, that they triumphed over both their domestic and their external enemies. We have the same succors by which they were victorious. The blood of Christ was shed for us as it was for them; the all-powerful grace of our Redeemer is not wanting to us, but the failure is in ourselves. If difficulties start up, if temptations affright us, if enemies stand in our way like monsters and giants, which seem ready to devour us,11 let us not lose courage, but redouble our earnestness, crying out with Josue,12 The Lord is with us. Why do we fear? If the world pursue us, let us remember that the saints fought against it in all its shapes. If our passions are violent, Jesus has furnished us with arms to tame them, and hold them in subjection. How furious assaults have many saints sustained in which they were supported by victorious grace! Many, with the Baptist, happily prevented the rebellion of these domestic enemies by early watchfulness, abstinence, and retirement. Others God suffered for their own advantage to feel their furious buffets; but animated them to vigilance and fervor, and crowned them with victories, by which they at length brought these enemies into subjection. Of this many are instances who had had the misfortune formerly to have fortified their passions by criminal habits. St. Austin, after having been engaged many years in irregular courses, conquered them. How many other holy penitents broke stronger chains than ours can be, by courageously using violence upon themselves, and became eminent saints! Can we, then, for shame think the difficulties we apprehend an excuse for our sloth, which, when we resolutely encounter them, we shall find to be more imaginary than real? Shall we shrink at the thought of self-denial, penance, or prayer? Shall not we dare to undertake or to do what numberless happy troops of men and women have done, and daily do? So many tender virgins, so many youths of the most delicate complexion and education, so many princes and kings, so many of all ages, constitutions, and conditions, have courageously walked before us! “Canst not thou do what these and those persons of both sexes have done?”* said St. Austin to himself. Their example wonderfully inspires us with resolution, and silences all the pretexts of pusillanimity. To set before our eyes a perfect model of the practice of true virtue, the Son of God became man, and lived among us. That we may not say the example of a God-man is too exalted for us, we have that of innumerable saints, who, inviting us to take up the sweet yoke of Christ, say to us with St. Paul, Be you imitators of me, even as I am of Christ.13 They were men in all respects like ourselves, so that our sloth and cowardice can have no excuse. They form a cloud of witnesses, demonstrating to us, from their own experience, that the practice of Christian perfection is easy and sweet. They will rise up and condemn the wicked at the last day, covering them with inexpressible confusion: Thou raisest up thy witnesses against me.14 To animate and encourage ourselves in the vigorous pursuit of Christian perfection, and in advancing towards the glory of the saints, we ought often to lift up our eyes to heaven, and contemplate these glorious conquerors of the world, clothed with robes of immortality, and say to ourselves: These were once mortal, weak men, subject to passions and miseries as we are now: and if we are faithful to our sacred engagements to God, we shall very shortly be made companions of their glory, and attain to the same bliss. But for this we must walk in their steps; that is to say, we must with them take up our cross, renounce the world and ourselves, and make our lives a course of labor, prayer, and penance. We are lost if we seek any other path. We must either renounce the world and the flesh with the saints, or we renounce heaven with the wicked.

There is but one Gospel, but one Redeemer and divine Legislator, Jesus Christ, and but one Heaven. No other road can lead us thither but that which he has traced out to us the rule of salvation laid down by him is invariable. It is a most pernicious and false persuasion, either that Christians in the world are not bound to aim at perfection, or that they may be saved by a different path from that of the saints. The torrent of example in the world imperceptibly instils this error into the minds of many,—that there is a kind of middle way of going to heaven; and under this notion, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level or standard of the world. It is not by the example of the world that we are to measure the Christian rule, but by the pure maxims of the gospel. All Christians are commanded to labor to become holy and perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear his image, and resemble him by spotless sanctity, that we may be his children. We are obliged, by the law of the gospel, to die to ourselves by the extinction of inordinate self-love in our hearts, by the crucifixion of the old man, and the mastery and regulation of our passions. It is no less indispensable an injunction laid on us than on them, that we be animated with, and live by, the Spirit of Christ; that is, the spirit of sincere and perfect humility, meekness, charity, patience, piety, and all other divine virtues. These are the conditions under which Christ makes us his promises, and enrols us among his children, as is manifest from all the divine instructions which he has given us in the gospel, and those which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made between the apostles, or clergymen, or religious and secular persons. The former indeed take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as means of accomplishing more easily and more perfectly these lessons, but the law of sanctity and of a disengagement of the heart from the world is general, and binds all the followers of Christ, all who can be entitled to inherit his promises. Now, what marks do we find in the lives of Christians of this crucifixion of their passions, and of the Spirit of Christ reigning in their hearts and actions? Do not detraction, envy, jealousy, anger, antipathies, resentments, vanity, love of the world, ambition, and pride, discover themselves in their conversation and conduct, and as strongly as in the very heathens? It is in vain to plead that these are sins of surprise. It is manifest that they are sins of habit, and that these passions hold the empire in their hearts. An interior disposition of charity, meekness, and other virtues, would give a very contrary turn to their conversation and behavior, and would make them like the saints, humble, peaceable, mild, obliging to all, and severe only to themselves. The dirt lies always lurking in their hearts; the provocation and occasion only stirs it up, and shows it to be there. It is in vain that such persons shelter themselves under a pretended course of a pious life, and allege that they are regular in their prayers, in frequenting the sacraments, and in other duties, and are liberal in their alms; all this is imperfect so long as they neglect the foundation, which is the mortification of their passions. They are unacquainted with the very soul of a Christian spirit, which was that of all the saints.

What, then, is the first duty of one who desires to become a disciple of Christ? This is a most important point, which very few sufficiently attend to. The first thing which a Christian is bound to study is, in what manner he is to die to himself and his passions. This is the preliminary article or condition which Christ requires of him, before he can be admitted into his divine school. For this such a practice of the exterior mortification of the senses is necessary that they may be kept under due government; but the interior denial of the will and restraint of the passions is the most essential part, and is chiefly effected by extirpating pride, vanity, revenge, and other irregular passions, and planting in the heart the most perfect spirit of humility, meekness, patience, and charity. The motives and rules of these virtues ought to be studied and meditated upon, according to every one’s capacity; both interior and exterior acts of each must be frequently and fervently exercised, and the contrary vices diligently watched against and vigorously curbed. By diligent self-examination all the foldings of the heart must be laid open, every vicious inclination discovered, and the axe laid to the root, that the disorder may be cut off. Thus must we study to die to ourselves. By the frequent use of the sacraments, assiduous prayer, pious reading, or meditation, and the practice of devout aspirations, we must unite our souls to God. This crucifixion of self-love and union of our hearts to God are the two general means by which the Spirit of Christ must be formed and daily improved in us, and by which we shall be imitators of the saints. This task requires earnest application, and some consideration and leisure from business. How much time do we give to every other improvement of mind or body! the student to cultivate his understanding in any art or science! the artisan to learn his trade! and so of every other profession. And shall we not find time to reform our hearts, and to adorn our souls with virtue?* which is our great and only business, upon which the good use of all other qualifications, and both our temporal and eternal happiness depend. In virtue consists the true excellence and dignity of our nature. Against this great application to the means of our sanctification, some object the dissipation and hurry of the world in which they live; they doubt not but they could do this if they were monks or hermits. All this is mere illusion. Instead of confessing their own sloth to be the source of their disorders, they charge their faults on their state and circumstances in the world. But we have all the reason in the world to conclude that the conduct of such persons would be more scandalous and irregular in a monastery than it is in the world. Every thing is a danger to him who carries the danger about with him.

But can any one pretend that seculars can be excused from the obligation of subduing their passions, retrenching sin, and aiming at perfection? Are they not bound to save their souls; that is, to be saints? God, who commands all to aim at perfection, yet whose will it is at the same time that to live in the world should be the general state of mankind, is not contrary to himself. That all places in the world should be filled, is God’s express command; also that the duties of every station in it be faithfully complied with.15 He requires, not then that men abandon their employs in the world, but that by a disengagement of heart, and religious motive or intention, they sanctify them. Thus has every lawful station in the world been adorned with saints. God obliges not men in the world to leave their business; but on the contrary, he commands them diligently to discharge every branch of their temporal stewardship. The tradesman is bound to attend to his shop, the husbandman to his tillage, the servant to his work, the master to the care of his household and estates. These are essential duties which men owe to God, to the public, to themselves, and to their children and families; a neglect of which, whatever else they do, will suffice to damn them. But then they must always reserve to themselves leisure for spiritual and religious duties; they must also sanctify all the duties of their profession. This is to be done by a good intention. It is the motive of our actions upon which, in a moral and Christian sense, the greatest part, or sometimes the whole of every action depends. This is the soul of our actions; this determines them, forms their character, and makes them virtues or vices. If avarice, vain-glory, sensuality, or the like inordinate inclinations influence the course of our actions, it is evident to what class they belong; and this is the poison which infects even the virtuous part of those who have never studied to mortify their passions. Thus the very virtues of the foolish drudgers for popular fame among the ancient philosophers, were false; they have already received their reward, the empty applause of men. The Christian who would please God, must carefully exclude in his actions all interested views of self-love, and direct all things he does purely to the glory of God, desiring only to accomplish his holy will in the most perfect manner. Thus a spirit of divine love and zeal, of compunction, penance, patience, and other virtues, will animate and sanctify his labor and all that he does. In the course of all these actions he must watch against the dangerous insinuation of his passions, must study on all occasions to exercise humility meekness, charity, and other virtues, the opportunities of which continually occur; and he ought from time to time, by some short fervent aspiration, to raise his heart to God. Thus the Isidores and Homobons sanctified their employs. Did the Pauls or Antonies do more in their deserts? unless perhaps the disengagement of their hearts, and the purity and fervor of their affections and intentions were more perfect, upon which a soul’s progress in sanctity depends.

But slothful Christians allege the difficulty of this precept; they think that perfectly to die to themselves is a severe injunction. God forbid any one should widen the path, which the Saviour of the world has declared to be narrow. It is doubtless difficult, and requires resolution and courage. Who can think that heaven will cost him nothing which cost all the saints so much? What temporal advantage is gained without pains? The bread of laborers, the riches of misers, the honors of the ambitious, cost much anxiety and pains. Yet, what empty shadows, what racking tortures, what real miseries are the enjoyments which worldlings purchase at so dear a rate! But it is only to our inordinate appetites (which we are bound to mortify, and the mortification of which will bring us liberty and true joy) that the doctrine of self-denial appears harsh. And its fruits in the soul are the reign of divine love, and the sweet peace of God which surpasseth all understanding;16 which springs from the government of the passions, and the presence of the Holy Ghost in the soul, and is attended with a pure and holy joy which fills the whole capacity of the heart, and which the whole world can never take from the servant of God. This precious gift and comfort does not totally forsake him under the severest interior trials, with which God suffers his servants to be sometimes visited in this life for their greatest advantage; under which they are also supported by the prospect of eternal glory. And even in this present life their sufferings are often repaid by the inexpressible consolations which the Holy Ghost infuses into their hearts, so that they receive a hundred-fold for all that they have forsaken for God. The wicked have told me their fables; but not as thy law, O Lord.17 A voice of joy and salvation rings in the tabernacles of the just.18 Compare the state of the greatest worldly monarch with that of the humble servant of God.19 Power, riches, and pleasure, constitute the king’s imaginary happiness. Nations conspire to obey his will or even prevent his inclinations. The earth is silent before him. At his orders, armies march, lay whole countries waste, or sacrifice their lives. He punishes by his very countenance, and scatters favors at pleasure, without any one asking him a reason. Even princes approach him with trembling, count it their greatest happiness and honor if he vouchsafes to receive their homages, and, with the countenances of slaves, study in his eyes what sacrifice he requires of them. Is this that happy state of independence and power which the world admires? Certainly there cannot be a baser slavery, than that of the world and the passions. Only the servant of God enjoys true liberty and independence, who fears only God, and has no concern but for his duty, is equally resigned under all vicissitudes of fortune, as much raised above all consideration of human respect as he is disengaged from this world; yet, by charity, shares in the prosperity of all his neighbors as in his own. Neither can injuries or affronts reach his person, who, fenced by meekness, patience, and charity receives them as great opportunities of his spiritual advantage, and considers them as sent by God in infinite wisdom and tender love and mercy. A king is exposed to greater disappointments and troubles, as his concerns are greater, and his passions usually more impetuous. And is not the very grandeur and happiness of a king dependen upon others? and upon men whose favor is caprice? If he would reign by being feared, so as to say in his heart, “Let them hate, provided they fear me,” he bears in his heart all the seeds of tyranny and pride, and will be sure to have almost as many secret enemies as he has subjects. If he studies to gain the affections and love of his people by clemency and kindnesses, he will find the generality so blind as neither to know what is for their good, nor what they themselves desire; likewise ungrateful, whom benefits only embolden to be more insolent. If his power be so frail and so troublesome, shall we admire his riches? Is not he rather the poorest of men, whose wants are the greatest, and whose desires are usually the most craving? Him we ought justly to esteem the richest, whose necessities are fewest, and who knows not what more to ask or desire; and this, whether he live in a cell or a palace. A king’s pleasures are much abated because cheaper than those of others; for human enjoyments consist greatly in the pursuit; or, at least, it is by the eagerness of the pursuit that they are chiefly enhanced. If he be a stranger to virtue, his breast, amidst the glittering pomp which surrounds him, will often be miserably torn by all those passions which successively tyrannize over him, and will be a prey to corroding cares which embitter all enjoyments. The beautiful fat ox in the fable could not taste the rich pasture, but ran and roared, as it were, to call for compassion and help, because a contemptible insect, a little gnat, shot its sting into his nostrils. A man who governed the Persian empire under the king, could not take his rest, or find any pleasure in all that he possessed, because Mordecai, the Jew, refused to bow down to him at the gate of the palace. Thus does the most trifling check, or the most petty rage or envy, raise storms in the breasts of the wicked. Their pleasures are base, empty, and vain; whatever false joy they may give for a passing moment, this is dearly earned by succeeding pains; however these may be disguised from others, they are not less sharp or gnawing. Many who are seated on the pinnacle of human grandeur, are a burden to themselves, while they are the object of others’ envy.

Have we not then reason to conclude with St. Chrysostom, that happiness is not to be sought in the gratification of pride and worldly passions; which the oracles of eternal truth clearly confirm? But we are assured by the same unerring authority, that it is to be found in a steady practice of virtue. Hence the virtues in which the renunciation of ourselves consists, as humility, compunction, meekness, and the rest,20 are by our divine Redeemer himself styled Beatitudes, because they not only lead to happiness, but also bring with them a present happiness, such as our state of trial is capable of. This Christ gives in the bargain as an earnest of his love and promises But the recompense of the saints reserved in the kingdom of God’s glory is such as alone to make every thing that can be suffered here, for so great a crown, light and of no consideration. The examples of the saints show us the path; and their glory strongly animates our hope, and excites our fervor. “It is our interest,” says St. Bernard,21 “to honor the memory of the saints, not theirs. Would you know how it is our interest? From the remembrance of them I feel, I confess, a triple vehement desire kindled in my breast; of their company, of their bliss, and of their intercession. First, of their company. To think of the saints is in some measure to see them. Thus we are in part, and this the better part of ourselves, in the land of the living, provided our affection goes along with our thoughts or remembrance yet not as they are. The saints are there present, and in their persons; we are there only in affection and desires. Ah! when shall we join our fathers? when shall we be made the fellow-citizens of the blessed spirits, of the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and virgins? when shall we be mixed in the choir of the saints? The remembrance of each one among the saints is, as it were, a new spark, or rather torch which sets our souls more vehemently on fire, and makes us ardently sigh to behold and embrace them, so that we seem to ourselves even now to be amongst them. And from this distant place of banishment we dart our affections sometimes towards the whole assembly, sometimes towards this, and sometimes that happy spirit. What sloth is it, that we do not launch our souls into the midst of those happy troops, and burst hence by continual sighs! The church of the first-born waits for us; yet we loiter. The saints earnestly long for our arrival; yet we despise them. Let us with all the ardor of our souls prevent those who are expecting us; let us hasten to those who are waiting for us.” Secondly, he mentions the desire of their bliss; and, lastly, the succor of their intercession, and adds: “Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends. You know our danger, our frail mould, our ignorance, and the snares of our enemies; you know our weakness, and the fury of their assaults. For I speak to you who have been under the like temptation; who have overcome the like assaults; have escaped the like snares, and have learned compassion from what yourselves have suffered. We are members of the same Head. Your glory is not to be consummated without us,” &c.

This succor of the saints’ intercession is another advantage which we reap by celebrating their festivals, of which the same St. Bernard22 writes: “He who was powerful on earth is more powerful in heaven, where he stands before the face of his Lord. And if he had compassion on sinners and prayed for them while he lived on earth, he now prays to the Father for us so much the more earnestly as he more truly knows our extreme necessities and miseries; his blessed country has not changed, but increased his charity. Though now impassible, he is not a stranger to compassion: by standing before the throne of mercy he has put on the tender bowels of mercy,” &c.

NOVEMBER 1 — ST. CÆSARIUS, M

At Terracina in Italy it was an impious and barbarous custom, on certain very solemn occasions, for a young man to make himself a voluntary sacrifice to Apollo, the tutelar deity of the city. After having been long caressed and pampered by the citizens, apparelled in rich gaudy ornaments, he offered sacrifice to Apollo, and running full speed from this ceremony, threw himself headlong from a precipice into the sea, and was swallowed up by the waves. Cæsarius, a holy deacon from Africa, happened once to be present at this tragical scene, and not being able to contain his zeal, spoke openly against so abominable a superstition. The priest of the idol caused him to be apprehended, and accused him before the governor, by whose sentence the holy deacon, together with a Christian priest named Lucian, was put into a sack, and cast into the sea, in 300, the persecution of Dioclesian then raging. St. Gregory the Great mentions an ancient church of St. Cæsarius in Rome.1 It had lain long in ruins, when it was magnificently rebuilt by Clement VIII., who created his little nephew Sylvester Aldobrandini cardinal deacon of this church. St. Cæsarius is mentioned with distinction in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, in the Martyrology of the seventh age, published by the learned Jesuit Fronto le Duc, and in those of Bede, Usuard, &c. His modern acts in Surius are of small authority.

NOVEMBER 1 — ST. MARY, M

God, who, in the distribution of his graces, makes no distinction of condition amongst men, raised a humble female slave to the dignity of martyrdom; and, in the proud capital of the world, the boasted triumphs of its deified conquerors and heroes were all eclipsed by the admirable courage and virtue of a weak woman. Mary was slave to Tertullus, a Roman senator, a Christian from her cradle, though the only person in that great family who was favored with that grace. She prayed much, and fasted frequently, especially on all the idolatrous festivals. This devotion displeased her superstitious mistress; but her fidelity, diligence, and approved probity endeared her to her master. Dioclesian’s bloody edicts against the Christians filling all places with terror, Tertullus privately made use of every artifice to engage Mary to renounce her faith. But neither the caresses of an indulgent master, nor the apprehension of his indignation and chastisements, could shake her constancy. The senator fearing to lose her if she fell into the hands of the prefect, out of a barbarous compassion, in hopes of making her change her resolution, caused her to be unmercifully whipped, and then to be locked up in a dark cellar for thirty days, where no other sustenance was allowed her but bread and water. Prayer, in the mean time, was her comfort and strength, and it was her joy to lose all the favor she could promise to herself in this world, and to suffer torments for Christ. The matter at length taking wind, the judge made it a crime in Tertullus that he had concealed a Christian in his house, and the slave was forthwith delivered up to him. At her examination her answers were firm but modest. The mob in the court hearing her confess the name of Christ, demanded with loud clamors that she should be burnt alive. The martyr stood praying secretly that God would give her constancy, and said to the judge: “God, whom I serve, is with me; and I fear not your torments, which can only take away a life which I desire to lay down for Jesus Christ.” The judge commanded her to be tormented; which was executed with such cruelty, that the unconstant giddy mob tumultuously cried out that they were not able any longer to bear so horrible a spectacle, and entreated that she might be released. The judge, to appease the commotion, ordered the lictors to take her from the rack, and committed her to the custody of a soldier. The virgin, fearing chiefly for her chastity, found means to escape out of her keeper’s hands, and fled to the mountains. She finished her course by a happy death, though not by the sword. She is styled a martyr in the Roman and other Martyrologies, that title being usually given by St. Cyprian in his epistles, and by other ancient writers, to all who had suffered torments with constancy and perseverance for Christ. See her genuine acts published by Baluze, Miscel. t. 2, p. 115; also the Martyrologies of Bede, Ado, Usuard, &c.

NOVEMBER 1 — ST. MARCELLUS, BISHOP OF PARIS, C

He was born at Paris in the fourth age, of parents not conspicuous for any rank in the world, but on whom his virtue reflected the greatest honor. Purity of heart, modesty, meekness, mortification, and charity, were the ingredients of his character in his youth; and he gave himself entirely to the discipline of virtue and prayer, so as to seem, while he lived in the flesh disengaged both from the world and the flesh, says the author of his life. The uncommon gravity of his manners, and his progress in sacred learning so strongly recommended him to Prudentius, bishop of Paris, that when he was yet young this prelate ordained him reader of that church. From this tune the saint is said to have given frequent proofs of a wonderful gift of miracles. He was afterwards promoted to the dignity of priesthood, and upon the decease of Prudentius was unanimously chosen bishop of Paris. As he undertook this charge by compulsion and with trembling, so a just apprehension of its obligations made him always humble, watchful, and indefatigable in all his functions. It is related that among other miracles he freed the country from a great serpent which inhabited the sepulchre of an adulteress. But the circumstances of this action depend upon the authority of one who wrote near two hundred years after the time, and who, being a foreigner, took them upon trust, and probably upon popular reports. The saint died in the beginning of the fifth century, on the 1st of November, on which day he is named in the Roman Martyrology, though in the Gallican his feast is deferred to the 3d. His body was buried about a quarter of a league from Paris, in a village which is now joined to the town, and called the suburb of St. Marceau. His relics have been long since kept in the cathedral. See the life of St. Marcellus by Fortunatus,* published by Surius.

NOVEMBER 1 — ST. BENIGNUS, PRIEST, MARTYR APOSTLE OF BURGUNDY

Among the holy Roman missionaries who preached the faith in Gaul, in the third century, St. Benignus laid the foundation of the church of Burgundy, and received the crown of martyrdom near Dijon, probably in the reign of Aurelian, who, in 272, raised a cruel persecution against the Christians, and after his victory over Zenobia in the East, waged war in Gaul, and led Tetricus, the Gaulish general, in triumph. This emperor is said to have built the town of Dijon, which was a place of no great note till long after this it became the seat of many of the sovereign dukes of Burgundy; since which time, there are few gayer cities in France. St. Gregory of Tours relates several miracles hat were wrought at the tomb of St. Benignus in this town, and says that his mother, by watching all night before it in prayer, on the eve of his festival, on the 1st of November, obtained of God that her whole family in Auvergne was preserved from a pestilence called lues inguinaria. In the life of St. Anno, archbishop of Cologne, we are told that the relics of St. Benignus were afterwards translated into Germany. The abbey of St. Benignus at Dijon was founded in the sixth century. See St. Gregory of Tours,1. de Glor. Mart. c. 51, 55; Tillemont, t. 3, p. 422. The acts of St. Benignus are of no authority.

NOVEMBER 1 — ST. AUSTREMONIUS

Who in the third century planted the faith with great zeal in Auvergne, and died a holy confessor, is also honored on this day. His head is preserved in the abbey which bears his name at Issoire in Lower Auvergne; the rest of his relics chiefly in the abbey of Mauzac near Riom; and at Pierre-Encise or St. Guoine in Aquitaine. His name was famous in France in the eighth century, and is mentioned in the Roman Martyrology. See St. Gregory of Tours, Hist.1. 1, c. 30, and de Glor. Confes. c. 30; Tillem. t. 4. Baillet, &c. Mabillon has published the history of the translation of his relics to Mauzac, with remarks, sec. 3, Bened. part 2.

NOVEMBER 1 — ST. HAROLD VI., KING OF DENMARK, M

The archbishops of Bremen from St. Willehad the apostle of Saxony, and St. Anscharius, the first archbishop of Bremen, labored successively in planting the faith in the northern parts of Europe. Eric the Younger, king of Denmark, was converted to the faith by St. Anscharius. But his successors persecuted the Christians till Fronto VI. king of Denmark, brother and successor of Swein I., embraced the faith of Christ in his wars in England, and sent an ambassador to pope Agapetus II., about the year 950; but died before the return of the embassy, so that his conversion produced little fruit in that nation. Gormo III., the third king from him, was a cruel persecutor of the Christians, and demolished a church which they had built at Sleswic. But marrying Thyra, an English princess, he promised to become a Christian. His son and successor, Harold VI., surnamed Blodrand, embraced the faith with great ardor, and filled his dominions with churches and preachers; in which he was chiefly assisted by Adalbag, the most zealous archbishop of Bremen, the seventh from St. Anscharius, contemporary with Otho the Great, who, about the same time, founded the city and church of Magdeburgh. Adalbag instituted three bishoprics in Jutland, which this king endowed. When he had reigned many years, his son Swein, surnamed Tweskegk, who remained at that time an idolater,* stirred up the people to demand the restoration of their idols, and their ancient liberty to plunder their neighbors. The king was wounded in battle by one Toko, a leader of the malecontents, and died some days after of his wounds, on the 1st of November, 980. He was buried in the church of the Holy Trinity, which he had founded at Roschilde, and which continues to this day the burial-place of the Danish kings. On a pillar in the choir, over the grave of this king, is his effigies, with this inscription: “Harold king of Dacia, (or Denmark,) England, and Norway, founder of this church.” Though many historians style him martyr, he is not named in the Roman Martyrology. See Vetus Historia Regum Dani, prefixed to Lindenbruch’s edition of Adam Bremensis.

NOVEMBER 2 — ALL SOULS; OR, THE COMMEMORATION OF THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED

By purgatory, no more is meant by Catholics than a middle state of souls, viz. of purgation from sin by temporary chastisements, or a punishment of some sin inflicted after death, which is not eterna1.1 As to the place, manner, or kind of these sufferings, nothing has been defined by the church; and all who with Dr. Deacon except against this doctrine, on account of the circumstance of a material fire,2 quarrel about a mere scholastic question in which a person is at liberty to choose either side. This doctrine of a state of temporary punishment after death for some sins, is interwoven with the fundamental articles of the Christian religion. For, as eternal torments are the portion of all souls which depart this life under the guilt of mortal sin, and everlasting bliss of those who die in the state of grace, so it is an obvious consequence that among the latter, many souls may be defiled with lesser stains, and cannot enter immediately into the joy of the Lord. Repentance may be sincere, though something be wanting to its perfection; some part of the debt which the penitent owes to the Divine Justice may remain uncancelled, as appears from several instances mentioned in the holy scriptures, as of David,3 of the Israelites in the wilderness,4 of Moses and Aaron,5 and of the prophet slain by a lion,6 which debt is to be satisfied for, either in this life or in the next. Certainly, some sins are venial, which deserve not eternal death; yet if not effaced by condign penance in this world, must be punished in the next. Every wound is not mortal; not does every small offence totally destroy friendship. The scriptures frequently mention these venial sins, from which ordinarily the just are not exempt, who certainly would not be just if these lesser sins into which men easily fall by surprise, destroyed grace in them, or if they fell from charity.7 Yet the smallest sin excludes a soul from heaven so long as it is not blotted out. Nothing which is not perfectly pure and spotless can stand before God, who is infinite purity and sanctity, and cannot bear the sight of the least iniquity. Whence it is said of heaven: There shall in no wise enter into it any thing defiled.8 It is the great employment of all the saints or pious persons here below by rigorous self-examination to try their actions and thoughts, and narrowly to look into all the doublings and recesses of their hearts; continually to accuse and judge themselves, and by daily tears of compunction, works of penance, and the use of the sacraments, to correct all secret disorders, and wipe away all filth which their affections may contract. Yet who is there who keeps so constant a guard upon his heart and whole conduct as to avoid all insensible self-deceptions? Who is there upon whose heart no inordinate attachments steal; into whose actions no sloth, remissness, or some other irregularity ever insinuates itself? Or whose compunction and penance is so humble and clear-sighted, so fervent and perfect, that no lurking disorder of his whole life escapes him, and is not perfectly washed away by the sacred blood of Christ, applied by these means or conditions to the soul? Who has perfectly subdued and regulated all his passions, and grounded his heart in perfect humility, meekness, charity, piety, and all other virtues, so as to bear the image of God in himself, or to be holy and perfect even as he is, without spot? Perhaps scarce in any moment of our lives is our intention or motive so fervent, and so pure or exempt from the least imperceptible sinister influence and mixture of sloth, self-complacency, or other inordinate affection or passion; and all other ingredients or circumstances of our action so perfect and holy, as to be entirely without failure in the eyes of God, which nothing can escape. Assiduous conversation with heaven, constant watchfulness, self-denial, and a great purity of heart, with the assistance of an extraordinary grace, give the saints a wonderful light to discover and correct the irregularities of their affections. Yet it is only by the fervent spirit and practice of penance that they can be purified in the sight of God.

The Blessed Virgin was preserved by an extraordinary grace from the least sin in the whole tenor of her life and actions; but, without such a singular privilege, even the saints are obliged to say that they sin daily; but they forthwith rise again by living in constant compunction and watchfulness over themselves.9 Venial sins of surprise are readily effaced by penance, as we hope of the divine mercy: even such sins which are not discovered by us, are virtually repented of by a sincere compunction, if it be such as effectually destroys them. Venial sins of malice, or committed with full deliberation, are of a different nature, far more grievous and fatal, usually of habit, and lead even to mortal sin. Those Christians who shun these more wilful offences, yet are not very watchful over themselves, and labor not very strenuously in subduing all their passions, have just reason to fear that some inordinate affections taint almost the whole body of their actions, without being sufficiently repented of. And the very best Christians must always tremble at the thought of the dreadful account they have to give to God for every idle word or thought. No one can be justified before God but by his pure and free mercy. But how few even among fervent Christians bring, by his grace, the necessary conditions of cleanness and disengagement of heart and penance, in so perfect a manner as to obtain such a mercy, that no blemishes or spots remain in their souls? Hence a saint prayed: Enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.10 No soul which leaves this world defiled with the least stain, or charged with the least debt to the Divine Justice, can be admitted in the kingdom of perfect purity and unspotted sanctity, till she be perfectly purged and purified. Yet no man will say, that a venial sin which destroys not sanctifying grace, will be punished with eternal orments. Hence there must be a relaxation of some sin in the world to come, as is sufficiently implied, according to the remark of St. Austin, in these words of Christ where he says, that the sin against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven in this world, nor in the world to come.11 Christ, exhorting us to agree with our adversary or accuser by appeasing our conscience, mentions a place of punishment out of which souls shall be delivered, though not before they shall have paid the last farthing.12 St. Paul tells us,13 that he whose work shall abide the trial, shall be rewarded; but he who shall have built upon the foundation (which is Christ or his sanctifying grace) wood, hay, or stubble, or whose imperfect and defective works shall not be able to stand the fiery trial, shall be saved, yet so as by fire. The last sentence in the general judgment only mentions heaven and hell, which are the two great receptacles of all men, both the good and bad, for eternity, and after the last judgment there will be no purgatory. It is also very true of every man at his death that on whatever side the tree falls, on that it shall always lie; the doom of the soul is then fixed forever either to life or death: but this excludes not a temporary state of purgation before the last judgment, through which some souls enter into everlasting life. This doctrine of a purgatory will be more evidently proved from the following demonstration of the Catholic practice of praying for the souls of the faithful departed.

The church of Christ is composed of three different parts: the Triumphant in heaven, the Militant on earth, and the patient or suffering in purgatory. Our charity embraces all the members of Christ. Our love for him engages and binds us to his whole body, and teaches us to share both the miseries and afflictions, and the comforts and blessings of all that are comprised in it. The communion of saints which we profess in our Creed implies a communication of certain good works and offices, and a mutual intercourse among all the members of Christ. This we maintain with the saints in heaven by thanking and praising God for their triumphs and crowns, imploring their intercession, and receiving the succors of their charitable solicitude and prayers for us: likewise with the souls in purgatory, by soliciting the divine mercy in their favor. Nor does it seem to be doubted but they, as they are in a state of grace and charity, pray also for us; though the church never addresses public suffrages to them, not being warranted by primitive practice and tradition so to do. That to pray for the faithful departed is a pious and wholesome charity and devotion, is proved clearly from the Old Testament, and from the doctrine and practice of the Jewish synagogue. The baptisms or legal purifications which the Jews sometimes used for the dead, demonstrate their belief that the dead receive spiritual succors from the devotion of the living.14 In the second book of the Machabees15 it is related, that Judas the Machabee sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to the temple for sacrifices to be offered for the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection.—It is therefore a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins. This book is ranked among the canonical scriptures by the Apostolical canons, Tertullian, St. Cyprian, St. Hilary, St. Ambrose, St. Austin, the third council of Carthage, &c. Some ancients call it apocryphal, meaning that it was not in the Hebrew canon compiled by Esdras, it being written after his time: and Origen and St. Jerom, who give it that epithet, sometimes quoted it as of divine authority. The Catholic church admits the deutero-canonical books of those which were compiled after the time of Esdras, as written equally by divine inspiration. If some among the ancients doubted of them before tradition in this point had been examined and cleared, several parts of the New Testament which are admitted by Protestants, have been no less called in question. Protestants, who at least allow this book an historical credit, must acknowledge this to have been the belief and practice of the most virtuous and zealous high-priest, of all the priests and doctors attached to the service of the temple, and of the whole Jewish nation: and a belief and custom which our Blessed Redeemer nowhere reprehended in them. Whence the learned Protestant, Dr. Jeremy Taylor, writes thus:16 “We find by the history of the Machabees, that the Jews did pray and make offerings for the dead, which appears by other testimonies, and by their form of prayer still extant, which they used in the captivity. Now it is very considerable, that since our Blessed Saviour did reprove all the evil doctrines and traditions of the Scribes and Pharisees, and did argue concerning the dead and the resurrection, yet he spake no word against this public practice, but left it as he found it; which he who came to declare to us all the will of his Father, would not have done, if it had not been innocent, pious, and full of charity. The practice of it was at first, and was universal: it being plain in Tertullian and St. Cyprian,” &c.

The faith and practice of the Christian church from the beginning is manifest from the writings of the primitive fathers. In all ancient liturgies (or masses) express mention is made of prayer and sacrifice for the dead.* St. Cyril of Jerusalem, expounding to the catechumens the several parts of the liturgy, says,17 that in it we pray for the emperor and all the living: we also name the martyrs and saints to commend ourselves to their prayers; then mention the faithful departed to pray for them. “We remember,” says he, “those that are deceased, first the patriarchs, apostles, and martyrs, that God would receive our supplications through their prayers and intercession. Then we pray for our fathers and bishops, and in general for all among us who are departed this life, believing that this will be the greatest relief to them for whom it is made while the holy and tremendous victim lies present.” These words of this father are quoted by Eustratius, in the sixth age, and by Nico the Monk.18 St. Cyril goes on, and illustrates the efficacy of such a prayer by the comparison of a whole nation which, in a joint body, should address their king in favor of persons whom he should have banished, offering him at the same time a crown. “Will not he,” says the father, “grant them a remission of their banishment? In like manner, we, offering our prayers for the dead, though they are sinners, offer not a crown, but Christ sacrificed for our sins, studying to render the merciful God propitious to us and to them.” Arnobius, speaking of our public liturgies, says:19 “In which peace and pardon are begged of God for kings, magistrates, friends and enemies, both the living and those who are delivered from the body.” In the Apostolical Constitutions is extant a very ancient fragment of a liturgy, from which Grabe, Hicks, and Deacon borrow many things for their new models of primitive liturgies, and which Whiston pretended to rank among the canonical scriptures. In it occurs a prayer for the dead: “Let us pray for those who are departed in peace.”20 There is no liturgy used by any sect of Oriential Christians, though some have been separated from the communion of the church ever since the fifth or sixth centuries, in which prayer for the dead does not occur.21 The most ancient fathers frequently speak of the offering the holy sacrifice of the altar for the faithful departed. Tertullian, the oldest among the Latin Christian writers, mentioning certain apostolical traditions, says: “We make yearly offerings (or sacrifices) for the dead, and for the feasts of the martyrs.”22 He says, “that a widow prays for the soul of her deceased husband, and begs repose for him, and his company in the first resurrection, and offers (sacrifice) on the anniversary days of his death. For if she does not these things, she has, as much as lies in her, divorced him.”23 St. Cyprian mentions the usual custom of celebrating sacrifice for every deceased Christian.24 Nor can it be said that he speaks in the same manner of martyrs. The distinction he makes is evident:25 “It is one thing to be cast into prison not to be released till the last farthing is paid, and another thing through the ardor of faith, immediately to attain to the reward: it is very different by long punishment for sin to be cleansed a long time by fire, and to have purged away all sin by suffering.” St. Chrysostom reckons it amongst the dreadful obligations of a priest, “that he is the intercessor to God for the sins both of the living and the dead.”26 In another place he says: “It is not in vain that in the divine mysteries we remember the dead, appearing in their behalf, praying the Lamb who has taken away the sins of the world, that comfort may thence be derived upon them. He who stands at the altar, cries not out in vain: Let us pray for them who have slept in Christ. Let us not fail to succor the departed: for the common expiation of the world is offered.”27 The Protestant translators of Du Pin observe, that St. Chrysostom, in his thirty-eighth homily on the Philippians, says, that to pray for the faithful departed in the tremendous mysteries was decreed by the apostles.28 Mr. Thorndike, a Protestant theologian, says:29 “The practice of the church of interceding for the dead at the celebration of the eucharist, is so general and so ancient, that it cannot be thought to have come in upon imposture, but that the same aspersion will seem to take hold of the common Christianity.” Prayer for the faithful departed is mentioned by the fathers on other occasions. St. Clement of Alexandria, who flourished in the year 200, says, that by punishment after death men must expiate every the least sin, before they can enter heaven.30 The vision of St. Perpetua is related by St. Austin, and in her acts.31 Origen in many places,32 and Lactantius,33 teach at large, that all souls are purged by the punishment of fire before they enter into bliss, unless they are so pure as not to stand in need of it.

To omit others, St. Austin expounds those words of the thirty-seventh psalm, Rebuke me not in thy fury, of hell; and those which follow: Neither chastise me in thy wrath, of purgatory, as follows: “That you purify me in this life, and render me such that I may not stand in need of that purging fire.”34 In his Enchiridion,35 he says: “Nor is it to be denied that the souls of the departed are relieved by the piety of their living friends, when the sacrifice of the Mediator is offered for them, or alms are given in the church. But these things are profitable to those who, while they lived, deserved that they might avail them.—There is a life so good as not to require them; and there is another so wicked, that after death it can receive no benefit from them. When, therefore, the sacrifices of the altar or alms are offered for all Christians, for the very good they are thanksgivings; they are propitiations for those who are not very bad. For the very wicked, they are some kind of comfort to the living.” This father teaches that a funeral pomp and monument are comforts of the living, but no succor of the dead; but that prayer, sacrifices, and alms, relieve the departed.36 He repeats often that sacrifice is offered in thanksgiving to God for martyrs, but never for their repose. “It is an injury,” says he, “to pray for a martyr, to whose prayers we ought to be ourselves recommended.”37 And again: “You know in what place (of the liturgy) the martyrs are named. The church prays not for them. She justly prays for other deceased persons, but prays not for the martyrs, but rather recommends herself to their prayers.” This he often repeats in other places. St. Austin,38 and St. Epiphanius,39 relate, that when Arius, an impious Arian priest, denied suffrages for the dead, this heresy was condemned by the universal church. How earnestly St. Monica on her death-bed begged the sacrifices and prayers of the church after her departure, and how warmly St. Austin recommended the souls of his parents to the prayers of others is related in their lives.40

The like earnest desire we discover in all ancient Christians and saints. St. Ephrem, in his testament, entreats his friends to offer for him, after his departure, alms, prayers, and oblations, (or masses,) especially on the thirtieth day.41 St. Athanasius tells Constantius, that he had prayed earnestly for the soul of that emperor’s deceased brother, Constans.42 Eusebius relates,43 that Constantine the Great would be buried in the porch of the church of the apostles, “that he might enjoy the communication of the holy prayers, the mystical sacrifice, and the divine ceremonies.” The same historian testifies44 that after his death, “numberless multitudes poured forth prayers to God with sighs and tears for the soul of the emperor, repaying a most grateful office to their pious prince. St. Paulinus upon his brother’s death wrote to his friends, earnestly recommending him to their prayers, that by them his poor soul amidst scorching flames might receive the dew of refreshment and comfort.45 St. Ambrose, writing to one Faustinus, who grieved immoderately for the death of his sister, says: “I do not think your sister ought to excite your tears, but your prayers: nor that her soul is to be dishonored by weeping, but rather recommended to God by sacrifices.”46 In his funeral oration on the great Theodosius he prays thus: “Give perfect rest to thy servant Theodosius.”* And again: “I loved him, therefore I follow him unto the country of the living. Neither will I forsake him till by tears and prayers I shall bring the man whither his merits call him, unto the holy mountain of the Lord.”† He mentions the most solemn obsequies and sacrifices on the thirtieth, sometimes fortieth day;47 for so long they were continued; but, on third, seventh, and thirtieth days, with particular solemnity.48 St. Gregory the Great mentions that he having ordered thirty masses to be sung for a monk named Justus, on the thirtieth day after the last mass was said, Justus appeared to Copiosus his provos and said: “I was in pain, but now am well.”

It appears from Ven. Bede’s history, and the account of his death,49 also from a great number of letters of St. Boniface, St. Lullus,50 and others, how earnest and careful our ancestors were, from their conversion to the faith, in mutually desiring and offering sacrifices and prayers for their deceased brethren, even in distant countries. In the foundations of churches monasteries, and colleges, in pious instruments of donations, charters, sepulchral monuments, accounts of funerals, or last wills and testaments, as high as any extant, from the time of Constantine the Great, especially from the sixth and seventh ages downwards,51 mention is usually made of prayer for the dead. In the great provincial council of all the bishops subject to the metropolitical see of Canterbury, held at Cealchythe, or Celchythe, by archbishop Wulfred, in presence of Kenulf, king of Mercia, with his princes and great officers in 816, it was enacted:52 “As soon as a bishop is dead, let prayers and alms forthwith be offered. At the sounding of a signal in every church throughout our parishes* let every congregation of the servants of God meet at the basilic, and there sing thirty psalms together, for the soul of the deceased. Afterwards let every prelate and abbot sing six hundred psalms, and cause one hundred and twenty masses to be celebrated, and set at liberty three slaves, and give three shillings to every one of them; and let all the servants of God fast one day. And for thirty days after the canonical hours are finished in the assembly, let seven Belts of Pater Nosters† also be sung for him. And when this is done let the Obit be renewed on the thirtieth day (i.e. dirge and mass sung with the utmost solemnity.) And let them act with as much fidelity in this respect in all churches as they do by custom for the faithful of their own family, by praying for them, that by the favor of common intercession, they may deserve to receive the eternal kingdom, which is common to all the saints.” What was here ordered for bishops was customary in each family for their own friends, sacrifices being continued for thirty days: doles distributed, which were alms for the repose of the departed soul; and beadsmen and beadswomen for alms received were obliged to say the beads daily at the tomb of the deceased person: monuments of which are found on many ancient grave-stones, and in the old writings of all our churches, where such things have escaped the injuries of the times. St. Odilo, abbot of Cluni, in 998, instituted the Commemoration of all the faithful departed in all the monasteries of his Congregation, on the 1st of November; which was soon adopted by the whole western church. The council of Oxford, in 1222, declared it a holiday of the second class, on which certain necessary and important kinds of work were allowed. Some dioceses kept it a holiday of precept till noon: only those of Vienne and Tours and the order of Cluni the whole day: in most places it is only a day of devotion.‡ The Greeks have long kept on Saturday day sevennight before Lent, and on Saturday before Whitsunday, the solemn commemoration of all the faithful departed; but offer up mass every Saturday for them.53

It is certainly a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead.54 Holy and pious because most acceptable to God, to whom no sacrifices are more honorable and pleasing than those of charity and mercy, especially spiritual, and when offered to persons most dear to him. The suffering souls in purgatory are the chosen heirs of heaven, the eternal possession of which kingdom is secured to them, and their names are now written there amongst its glorious princes. God most tenderly loves them, declares them his spouses, enriches them with the precious gifts and ornaments of his grace, and desires to shower down upon them the torrents of his delights, and disclose to them the light of his glory. Only his justice opposes and obliges him to detain them in this distant banishment, and in this place of torments till their debts are discharged to the last farthing. Such is his hatred of the least sin, and such is the opposition which the stain of sin bears to his infinite justice and sanctity. Yet his tender mercy recommends them to the charitable succours which we, as their fellow-members in Christ, have in our power to afford them, and he invites us to appease his anger by interposing our prayers in order to avert them from the weight of his justice. If a compassionate charity towards all that are in any distress, even towards the most flagitious, and those who only labor under temporal miseries and necessities, be a most essential ingredient of a Christian spirit; and that in which the very soul of religion and piety towards God consists: if the least alms given to the poor be highly rewarded by him, will he not exceedingly recompense our charity to his friends and most beloved children, in their extreme necessity? All works of mercy draw down his most abundant graces, and will be richly repaid by Him, who at the last day will adjudge the immortal crowns of his glory to this virtue. But except the leading others to God by our instructions and prayers, what charity, what mercy can we exercise equal to this of succoring the souls in purgatory? A charity not less wholesome and profitable both to them and to ourselves, than pious in itself, and honorable to God. If we consider who they are, and what they suffer, we shall want no other motives to excite us to fervor in it. They are all of them our fellow-members in Jesus Christ. We are united with them by the bands of sincere charity, and by the communion of saints. Every one of them is that brother whom we are bound to love as ourselves. The members of one and the same body conspire mutually to assist one another, as the apostle puts us in mind; so that if one of these members suffers, the others suffer with it; and if one be in honor, the others rejoice with it. If our foot be pricked with a thorn, the whole body suffers with it, and all the other members set themselves at work to relieve it. So ought we in our mystical body. It would be impious and cruel to see a brother in the flames, and not to give him a hand, or afford him some refreshment if we can do it. The dignity of these souls more strongly recommends them to our compassion, and at the same time to our veneration. Though they lie at present at a distance from God, buried in frightful dungeons, under waves of fire, they belong to the happy number of the elect. They are united to God by his grace; they love him above all things, and amidst their torments never cease to bless and praise him, adoring the severity of his justice with perfect resignation and love.

These of whom we speak are not damned souls, enemies of God, separated or alienated from him: but illustrious conquerors of the devil, the world, and hell; holy spirits laded with merits and graces, and bearing the precious badge of their dignity and honor by the nuptial robe of the Lamb with which by an indefeasible right they are clothed. They are the sons of God, heirs of his glory and saints. Yet they are now in a state of suffering, and endure greater torments, than it is possible for any one to suffer, or for our imagination to represent to itself, in this mortal life. They suffer the privation of God, says the council of Florence, the most dreadful of all torments. No tongue can express what a cruel pain this is to a soul separated from the body, impetuously desiring to attain to God, her centre. She seems just enjoying him, attracted by his infinite charms, and carried towards him by a strong innate bent not to be conceived; yet is violently repelled and held back. Whence the poor soul suffers an incomprehensible agony and torment. It is also the opinion of St. Austin and other learned fathers, founded in the words of St. Paul, and the traditionary authority of eminent prelates of the first ages, that they also suffer a material fire like that of hell, which, being created merely for an instrument of the divine vengeance, and blown up by the anger of God, with the most piercing activity torments even spirits not clothed with bodies, as our souls in this life feel the pain of the corporeal senses by the natural law of their union with our bodies. Though it be no article of faith, that the fire here spoken of is not metaphorical, to express the sharpness of these torments, yet that it is real and material is the most probable opinion, grounded in the most venerable authority. “The same fire torments the damned in hell and the just in purgatory,” says St. Thomas;55 who adds:56 “The least pain in purgatory exceeds the greatest in this life.” St. Austin speaks to this point as follows:57 “It is said, He will be saved, as it were, by fire. Because it is said, He will be saved, that fire is contemned. Yet it will be more grievous than whatever a man can suffer in this life. You know how much wicked men have suffered here, and can suffer. Good men may undergo as much; and what did any malefactor ever endure which martyrs have not suffered for Christ? All these torments are much more tolerable. Yet see how men do all things rather than suffer them. How much more reason have they to do what God commands them, that they may escape his torments!” Venerable Bede says, “Purgatory fire will be more intolerable than all the torments that can be felt or conceived in this life.” Which words are but a repetition of what St. Cæsarius of Arles had written before to this purpose.58 “A person,” says he, “may say, I am not much concerned how long I remain in purgatory, provided I may come to eternal life. Let no one reason thus. Purgatory fire will be more dreadful than whatever torments can be seen, imagined, or endured in this world. And how does any one know whether he will stay days, months, or years? He who is afraid now to put his finger into the fire, does he not fear lest he be then all buried in torments for a long time?” Do we think that God can find torments in nature sufficient to satisfy his provoked vengeance? No, no. He creates new instruments more violent, pains utterly inconceivable to us.59 A soul for one venial sin shall suffer more than all the pains of distempers, the most violent colics, gout, and stone joined in complication; more than all the most cruel torments undergone by malefactors, or invented by the most barbarous tyrants: more than all the tortures of the martyrs summed up together. This is the idea which the fathers give us of purgatory. And how long many souls may have to suffer there we know not.

The church approves perpetual anniversaries for the dead; for some souls may be detained in pains to the end of the world, though after the day of judgment no third state will any longer subsist: God may at the end of the world make the torments of souls which have not then satisfied his justice so intense in one moment that their debts may be discharged. For we know that he will exact a satisfaction to the last farthing. How inexorable was he in punishing his most faithful servant Moses for one small offence!60 How inflexible with regard to David61 and other penitents! nay, in the person of his own divine Son!62 This, even in the days of his mercy; but, after death, his justice is all rigor and severity, and can no longer be mitigated by patience. A circumstance which ought particularly to excite our compassion for these suffering souls is, that these holy and illustrious prisoners and debtors to the divine justice, being no longer in the state of meriting, are not able in the least to assist themselves. A sick man afflicted in all his limbs, and a beggar in the most painful and destitute condition, has a tongue left to ask relief; the very sight of his sufferings cannot fail exciting others to pity, comfort, and succor him. At least he can implore heaven: it is never deaf to his prayers. But these souls have no resource but that of patience, resignation, and hope. God answers their moans, that his justice must be satisfied to the last farthing, and that their night is come in which no man can work.63 But they address themselves to us, and not having a voice to be heard, they borrow that of the church and its preachers, who, to express their moans, and excite our compassion, cry out to us for them in the words of Job: Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, at least you my friends; for the hand of God hath smitten me.64 Gerson, the pious and learned chancellor of Paris, represents them crying out to us as follows:65 “Pray for us, because we are unable to help ourselves. You who can do it, lend us your assistance. You who have known us on earth, you who have loved us, will you now forget and neglect us? It is commonly said, that a friend is tried in the day of need. What necessity can be equal to ours? Let it move your compassion. A hard heart shall fare ill at the last day.66 Be moved by your own advantage,” &c.

Did we behold those dungeons open under our feet, or had we a view of the torments which these souls endure, how would this spectacle affect us! How would their pains alone speak to us more pathetically than any words! How would our eyes stream with tears, and our bowels be moved, to behold innumerable holy and illustrious servants of God, and our brethren in Christ, suffering “by wonderful, but real ways,”67 more than our imagination can represent to itself! Here perhaps lies a parent, a brother, a bosom-friend and companion. For if we may be permitted to dive into the secrets of the divine judgments, we shall be persuaded that the number is very small of those that departing this life pass immediately to glory without having some satisfaction to make, some debt to cancel. Who can flatter himself that his soul is so pure before God, as to have no unperceived irregular attachment or affection, no stain which he has not perfectly washed away? How rare is the grace for a soul to leave this infected region without the least spot! the judgments of God are hidden and unsearchable: but their very inscrutability makes us tremble. For we know that he will judge justice, and wo even to the commendable life of man if it be discussed according to the rigor of justice, as St. Austin says. Does not St. Peter assure us, that the just man himself will scarce be saved? If then we have lost any dear friends in Christ, while we confide in his mercy, and rejoice in their passage from the region of death to that of life, light, and eternal joy, we have reason to fear some lesser stains may retard their bliss. In this uncertainty why do not we earnestly recommend them to the divine clemency Why do not we say with St. Ambrose in his funeral discourse on Valentinian the Younger, who was murdered in 392, at twenty years of age, while a Catechumen:68 “Give the holy mysteries to the dead. Let us, with pious earnestness, beg repose for his soul. Lift up your hands with me, O people, that at least by this duty we may make some return for his benefits.” Afterwards joining with this emperor his brother Gratian, who was dead before him in 383, he says:69 “Both blessed, if my prayers can be of any force! No duty shall pass you over in silence: no prayer of mine shall ever be closed without remembering you. No night shall pass you over without some vows of my supplications. You shall have a share in all my sacrifices. If I forget you let my own right hand be forgotten.” With the like earnestness this father offered the holy sacrifice for his brother Satyrus.70 Perhaps the souls of some dear friends may be suffering on our account; perhaps for their fondness for us, or for sins of which we were the occasion by scandal, provocation, or otherwise; in which cases motives not only of charity, but also of justice call upon us to endeavour to procure them all the relief in our power.

If other motives have less weight with us, we certainly cannot be insensible to that of our own interest. What a comfort shall we find to eternity in the happy company of souls whose enjoyment of bliss we shall have contributed to hasten! What an honor to have ever been able to serve so holy and glorious saints! With what gratitude and earnestness will they repay the favor by their supplications for us, while we still labor amidst the dangers and conflicts of this world! When Joseph foretold Pharaoh’s chief butler the recovery of his dignity, he said to him: Remember me, when it shall be well with thee, and mention me to Pharaoh, that he may bring me out of this place.71 Yet he remembered not Joseph, but forgot his fellow-sufferer and benefactor. Not so these pious souls, as St. Bernard observes:72 only the wicked and depraved, who are strangers to all feelings of virtue, can be ungrateful. This vice is far from the breasts of saints, who are all goodness and charity. Souls delivered and brought to glory by our endeavors will amply repay our kindness by obtaining divine graces for us. God himself will be inclined by our charity to show us also mercy, and to shower down upon us his most precious favors. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.73 By having shown this mercy to the suffering souls in purgatory, we shall be particularly entitled to be treated with mercy at our departure hence, and to share more abundantly in the general suffrages of the church, continually offered for all that have slept in Christ. The principal means by which we obtain relief for the suffering souls in purgatory are sacrifice, prayer, and almsdeeds. The unbloody sacrifice has always been offered for the faithful departed no less than for the living.74 “It was not in vain,” says St. Chrysostom,75 “that the apostles ordained a commemoration of the deceased in the holy and tremendous mysteries. They were sensible of the benefit and advantage which accrues to them from this practice. For, when the congregation stands with open arms as well as the priests, and the tremendous sacrifice is before them, how should our prayers for them not appease God? But this is said of such as have departed in faith.”

NOVEMBER 2 — ST. VICTORINUS, B. M

St. Jerom styles this father one of the pillars of the church, and tells us, that his works were sublime in sense, though the Latin style was low the author being by birth a Grecian. He professed oratory, probably in some city of Greece; but, considering the vanity of all earthly pursuits, consecrated both his learning and labors wholly to the advancement of virtue and religion, and was made a bishop of Pettau, in Upper Pannonia, now in Stiria. This father wrote against most heresies of that age, and comments on a great part of the holy scriptures; but all his works are lost except a little treatise on the creation of the world, published by Cave,1 from a Lambeth manuscript; and a treatise on the Apocalypse, extant in the library of the fathers, though not entire. St. Victorinus flourished in 290, and died a martyr, as St. Jerom testifies, probably in 304. See St. Jerom, Cat. Vir. Illustr. c. 74, et Prf. in Isai. ep. ad Magn. &c.; Cassiodor. de div. Lect. c. 5, 7, 9; Tillem. t. 5; Fabricius, Bibl. Eccl. in S. Hier. Cat. c. 74, et Bibl. Lat.1. 4, c. 2, sect. 23; Le Long, Bibl. Sacr. p. 1003.

NOVEMBER 2 — ST. MARCIAN ANCHORET, C

The city of Cyrus, in Syria, was the birthplace of St. Marcian; his father was of a patrician family, and enjoyed several honorable posts in the empire. Marcian himself was educated at the court; but, in the flower of his age, took a resolution to renounce the world, in which he saw nothing but emptiness, folly, and snares. He considered that those who seem blessed with the greatest share of worldly enjoyments are strangers to true happiness, and by flying from object to object, and relieving the disappointment of success in one by the novelty of some other pursuit, as incapable of satisfying their hearts, or giving them true contentment or rest as the former, justify their levity and inconstancy by proclaiming the falsehood of all their boasted enjoyments; but, at the same time, condemn their erroneous and dangerous choice, in seeking happiness where they are sure to find only affliction of spirit, and bitterness of heart, and generally the loss of their virtue. He therefore said to himself, with the royal prophet: Be converted, my soul, into thy rest. Seek thy happiness in God thy centre; by the mastery over thy own passions settle a lasting calm and peace within thyself, or thy domestic kingdom, and establish in thy heart the reign of divine love and grace. Animated with this noble and truly heroic desire, he forsook his friends and country, and that he might not do things by halves, took his measures that he might entirely both forget and be forgotten by the world. He retired secretly into the desert of Chalcis, in Syria, upon the borders of Arabia, and chose in it the most remote and secret part. Here he shut himself up in a small enclosure, which he never went out of, and in the midst of which he built himself a cell so narrow and low, that he could neither stand nor lie in it without bending his body. This solitude was to him a paradise, and he had in it no communication but with heaven. His whole employment was to sing psalms, read, pray, and work. Bread was all his subsistence, and this in a small quantity, that he might be always hungry; but he never fasted above a day without taking some food, lest he should not have strength to do what God required of him. He received such a gift of sublime contemplation that, in this exercise, days seemed to him hours, and hours scarce more than minutes. The supernatural light which he received in his secret communications with heaven, gave him a feeling knowledge of the great truths and mysteries of faith; and God poured down his sweetest consolations, as it were, in torrents into the heart of his servant, which was filled with him alone.

Notwithstanding the saint’s care to live unknown to men, the reputation of his sanctity discovered him, and he was prevailed upon to admit first two disciples. Eusebius and Agapetus, who lived in a cell near his, sang psalms with him in the day, and had frequent spiritual conferences with him. He afterwards suffered a numerous monastery to be erected near his enclosure, appointed Eusebius abbot, and himself gave the plan of the institute, and frequent instructions to the monks who resorted to him. Once St. Flavian, patriarch of Antioch, Acacius of Berœa, Isidore of Cyrus, Eusebius of Chalcis, and Theodorus of Hieropolis, at that time the most renowned bishops in Syria, with the chief officers and magistrates of the country, paid him a visit together, and standing before the door of his cell, begged he would give them some spiritual instructions according to his custom. The dignity of this numerous company alarmed his humility, and he stood some time silent. Being importuned to speak, he said sighing “Alas! God speaks to us every day by his creatures, and this universe which we behold: he speaks to us by his gospel; he teaches us what we ought to do both for ourselves and others. He terrifies and he encourages us. Yet we make no advantage of all these lessons. What can Marcian say that can be of use, who does not improve himself by all these excellent instructions?” The bishops proposed among themselves to ordain him priest; but perceiving how grievous a mortification this suggestion was to his humility, they dropped the design, to his great joy. Several miracles which the saint wrought increased the veneration which every one had for his sanctity; and several built chapels in different places in hopes to procure his body to bury it in one of them after his death. This gave him extreme trouble, and he made his two disciples promise to bury his body in some unknown secret place. He died about the year 387; and they did as he had enjoined them. His grave was discovered soon after, and his body, with great solemnity, removed and put into a stone coffin. His tomb became a place of great devotion, and famed for miracles. See Theodoret’s Philothea, or Religious History, c. 2, and the Roman Martyrology on this day.

NOVEMBER 2 — ST. VUIGAN, C. TITULAR SAINT OF THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH, AND PATRON OF THE TOWN OF LENS, IN ARTOIS

He was an Irishman, (or, according to his manuscript life kept at Lens, an Englishman or Briton,) who preached the faith some time in those parts, and died in a cell not far from the abbey of St. Vedast at Arras, soon after it was erected in the seventh century. Colgan calls him a bishop, and places his death about the beginning of the eighth century. A portion of his relics is kept in the abbey of Liesse, brought from Lens. See Basseur, Thes. reliq. Hannoni, p. 163. Also Mirus, Fasti Belgici, p. 647; Colgan, Act. SS. Hib. p. 377, n. 5, Molanus, &c.

NOVEMBER 3 — SAINT MALACHY, CONFESSOR ARCHBISHOP OF ARDMACH OR ARMAGH

From St. Bernard’s Life,1. 4, c. 4, and the Life of St. Malachy, written by St. Bernard himself, partly from his own knowledge, and partly from relations sent him from Ireland by the abbot Congan, t. 2, p. 663 ad p. 698. ed. Mabill. Also St. Bernard’s Letters, ep. 341, (p. 314, t. 1,) ad Malachiam Hiberni Archiep anno 1140, ep. 356, (p. 223, anno 1141,) ad Malachiam Hiberni Archiep. sedis Apostolic legatum: and ep. 374, anno 1148, (p. 337,) ad Fratres de Hibernia. de Transitu Malachi, giving his brethren in Ireland an account of his death. Also St. Bernard’s two Sermons, one spoken at his funeral, in transitu S. Malachi, (p. 1048, t. 3,) the other on his anniversary festival, entitled. De S. Malachi, p, 1052, t. 3, ed. Mabill. See the bull of the canonization of St. Malachy, published by Mabillon, ib. p. 698. St. Bernard’s discourses on St. Malachy are ranked amongst the most methodical and elegant of his writings. He seems to surpass himself when he speaks of this saint. The Jesuit Maffei, a true judge and passionate student of eloquence, placed his translation of St. Bernard’s Life of St. Malachy the first among the seventeen elegant lives of confessors which he published in Italian.

A. D. 1148.

IN the fifth century Ireland was converted from heathenism to Christianity. Through the three succeeding ages it became the principal seat of learning in Christendom. So happy a distinction was owing to the labors and apostolic lives of the native ecclesiastics, who were never known to abuse the great immunities and secular endowments conferred on them by the Irish princes. This change from idolatry to the gospel was brought about in a period when the Roman empire in the West was torn to pieces, and when inundations of pagan nations seized on the greater part of Europe. In that state, providence, ever watchful over the church, erected an asylum in this remote island for its repose and extension. For three hundred years the Christian youth of the continent flocked hither to be instructed in the science of the saints, and in the literature which leads to it. In the ninth century, Ireland began to feel the grievances which followed the invasion of the sanctuary in other countries. It was infested in its turn by heathen barbarians, who under the general name of Normans, ravaged at the same time the maritime districts of France, England, and Scotland; and, finally, made establishments in all. Nothing sacred had escaped their depredations: wherever their power prevailed they massacred the ecclesiastics, demolished the monasteries, and committed their libraries to the flames. In these confusions the civil power was weakened; and kings contending with a foreign enemy, and with vassals often equally dangerous, lost much of their authority. The national assemblies, the guardians and framers of law, were seldom convened; and when convened, they wanted the power, perhaps the wisdom, to restore the old constitution, or establish a better on its ruins. Through a long and unavoidable intercourse between the natives and the oppressors of religion and law, a great relaxation of piety and morals gradually took place. Vice and ignorance succeeded to the Christian virtues, and to knowledge. Factions among the governors of provinces ended in a dissolution of the Irish monarchy, on the demise of Malachy II., in 1022; and, through the accumulation of so many evils, the nation was, in a great degree, sunk in barbarism.

It was in this state of the nation that the glorious saint, whose life we are writing, was born. Malachy,* called in Irish Maol-Maodhog O Morgair,1 was a native of Armagh: his parents were persons of the first rank, and very virtuous, especially his mother, who was most solicitous to train him up in the fear of God. When he was of age to go to school, not content to procure him pious tutors while he studied grammar at Armagh,* she never ceased at home to instil into his tender mind the most perfect sentiments and maxims of piety; which were deeply imprinted in his heart by that interior master in whose school he was from his infancy a great proficient. He was meek, humble, obedient, modest, obliging to all, and very diligent in his studies; he was temperate in diet, vanquished sleep, and had no inclination to childish sports and diversions, so that he far outstripped his fellow students in learning, and his very masters in virtue. In his studies, devotions, and little practices of penance he was very cautious and circumspect to shun as much as possible the eyes of others, and all danger of vain-glory, the most baneful poison of virtues. For this reason he spent not so much time in churches as he desired to do, but prayed much in retired places, and at all times frequently lifted up his pure hands and heart to heaven in such a manner as not to be taken notice of. When his master took a walk to a neighboring village without any other company but this beloved scholar, the pious youth often remained a little behind to send up with more liberty, as it were by stealth, short inflamed ejaculations from the bow of his heart, which was always bent, says St. Bernard.

To learn more perfectly the art of dying to himself, and living wholly to God and his love, Malachy put himself under the discipline of a holy recluse named Imar, or Imarius, who led a most austere life in continual prayer in a cell near the great church of Armagh. This step in one of his age and quality astonished the whole city, and many severely censured and laughed at him for it; many ascribed this undertaking to melancholy, fickleness, or the rash heat of youth; and his friends grieved and reproached him, not being able to bear the thought that one of so delicate a constitution and so fine accomplishments and dispositions for the world, should embrace a state of such rigor, and, in their eyes, so mean and contemptible. The saint valued not their censures, and learned by despising them with humility and meekness to vanquish both the world and himself. To attain to the true love of God he condemned himself while alive, as it were, to the grave, says St. Bernard, and submitted himself to the rule of a man; not being like those who undertake to teach what they have never learned, and by seeking to gather and multiply scholars without having ever been at school, become blind guides of the blind. The simplicity of the disciple’s obedience, his love of silence, and his fervor in mortification and prayer, were both the means and the marks of his spiritual progress, which infinitely endeared him to his master, and edified even those who at first had condemned his choice. Their railleries were soon converted into praises, and their contempt into admiration: and many, moved by the example of his virtue, desired to be his imitators and companions in that manner of life. Malachy prevailed upon Imar to admit the most fervent among these petitioners, and they soon formed a considerable community. Malachy was by his eminent virtues a model to all the rest, though he always looked upon himself as the least and most unworthy of that religious society. A disciple so meek, so humble, so obedient, so mortified and devout, could not fail, by the assiduous exercises of penance and prayer, to advance apace to the summit of evangelical perfection. Imar, his superior, and Celsus or Ceallach, archbishop of Armagh,* judged him worthy of holy orders, and this prelate obliged him, notwithstanding all the resistance he could make, to receive at his hands the order of deacon, and some time after, the priesthood, when he was twenty-five years old, though the age which the canons then required for priestly orders was thirty years, as St. Bernard testifies; but his extraordinary merit was just reason for dispensing with that rule. At the same time, the archbishop made him his vicar to preach the word of God to the rude people and to extirpate evil customs, which were many, grievous, and inveterate, and most horribly disfigured the face of that church. Wonderful was the zeal with which St. Malachy discharged this commission; abuses and vices were quite defeated and dispersed before his face; barbarous customs were abolished, diabolical charms and superstitions were banished; and whatever squared not with the rule of the gospel could not stand before him. He seemed to be a flame amidst the forests, or a hook extirpating noxious plants: with a giant’s heart he appeared at work on every side. He made several regulations in ecclesiastical discipline, which were authorized by the bishops, and settled the regular solemn rehearsal of the canonical hours in all the churches of the diocese, which, since the Danish invasions, had been omitted even in cities: in which it was of service to him that from his youth he had applied himself to the church music. What was yet of much greater importance, he renewed the use of the sacraments, especially of confession or penance, of confirmation, and regular matrimony. St. Malachy, fearing lest he was not sufficiently skilled in the canons of the church to carry on a thorough reformation of discipline, and often laboring under great anxiety of mind on this account, resolved, with the approbation of his prelate, to repair for some time to Malchus, bishop of Lismore, who had been educated in England where he became a monk of Winchester, and was then for his learning and sanctity reputed the oracle of all Ireland. Being courteously received by this good old man, he was diligently instructed by him in all things belonging to the divine service, and to the care of souls, and, at the same time, he employed his ministry in that church.

Ireland being at that time divided into several little kingdoms,† it happened that Cormac, king of Munster, was dethroned by his wicked brother, and, in his misfortunes, had recourse to bishop Malchus, not to recover his crown, but to save his soul; fearing him who takes away the spirit of princes, and being averse from shedding more blood for temporal interests. At the news of the arrival of such a guest, Malchus made preparations to receive him with due honor; but the king would by no means consent to his desires, declaring it was his intention to think no more of worldly pomp, but to live among his canons, to put on sackcloth, and labor by penance to secure to himself the possession of an eternal kingdom. Malchus made him a suitable exhortation on the conditions of his sacrifice, and of a contrite heart, and assigned him a little house to lodge in, and appointed St. Malachy his master, with bread and water for his sustenance. Through our saint’s exhortations the king began to relish the sweetness of the incorruptible heavenly food of the soul, his heart was softened by compunction; and while he subdued his flesh by austerities, he washed his soul with penitential tears, like another David, never ceasing to cry out with him to God: Behold my baseness and my misery, and pardon me all my offences. The sovereign judge was not deaf to his prayer, but (according to his infinite goodness) heard it not only in the sense in which it was uttered, purely for spiritual benefits, but also with regard to the greatest temporal favors, granting him his holy grace which he asked, and in the bargain restoring him to his earthly kingdom. For a neighboring king, moved with indignation at the injury done to the majesty of kings in his expulsion, sought out the penitent in his cell, and finding him insensible to all worldly motives of interest, pressed him with those of piety, and the justice which he owed to his own subjects; and not being able yet to succeed, engaged both Malchus the bishop, and St. Malachy, to employ their authority and command, and to represent to him that justice to his people, and the divine honor, obliged him not to oppose the design. Therefore, with the succors of this king, and the activity of many loyal subjects, he was easily placed again upon the throne; and he ever after loved and honored St. Malachy as his father. Our saint was soon after called back by Celsus and Imar, both by letters and messages, to Armagh.

The great abbey of Benchor,* now in the county of Down, lay at that time in a desolate condition, and its revenues were possessed by an uncle of St. Malachy, till it should be re-established. This uncle resigned it to his holy nephew that he might settle in it regular observance, and became himself a monk under his direction in this house, which, by the care of the saint, became a flourishing seminary of learning and piety, though not so numerous as it had formerly been. St. Malachy governed this house some time, and, to use St. Bernard’s words, was in his deportment a living rule, and a bright glass, or, as it were, a book laid open in which all might learn the true precepts of religious conversation. He not only always went before his little flock, in all monastic observances, but also did particular penances, and other actions of perfection, which no man was able to equal, and he worked with his brethren in hewing timber, and in the like manual labor.

Several miraculous cures of sick persons, some of which St. Bernard recounts, added to our saint’s reputation. But the whole tenor of his life, says this saint, was the greatest of his miracles; and the composure of his mind, and the inward sanctity of his soul, appeared in his countenance, which was always modestly cheerful. A sister of our saint, who had led a worldly life, died, and he recommended her soul to God for a long time in the sacrifice of the altar. Having intermitted this for thirty days, he seemed one night to be advertised in his sleep that his sister waited with sorrow in the churchyard, and had been thirty days without food. This he understood of spiritual food; and having resumed the custom of saying mass, or causing one to be said for her every day, saw her after some time admitted to the door of the church, then within the church, and some days after to the altar, where she appeared in joy, in the midst of a troop of happy spirits; which vision gave him great comfort.2

St. Malachy, in the thirtieth year of his age, was chosen bishop of Connor, (now in the county of Antrim,) and, as he peremptorily refused to acquiesce in the election, he was at length obliged by the command of Imar and the archbishop Celsus, to submit. Upon beginning the exercise of his functions he found that his flock were Christians in name only, but in their manners savage, vicious, and worse than pagans. However, he would not run away like a hireling, but resolved to spare no pains to turn these wolves into sheep. He preached in public with an apostolical vigor, mingling tenderness with a wholesome severity; and when they would not come to the church to hear him, he sought them in the streets and in their houses, exhorted them with tenderness, and often shed tears over them. He offered to God for them the sacrifice of a contrite and humble heart, and sometimes passed whole nights weeping and with his hands stretched forth to heaven in their behalf. The remotest villages and cottages of his diocese he visited, going always on foot, and he received all manner of affronts and sufferings with invincible patience. The most savage hearts were at length softened into humanity and a sense of religion, and the saint restored the frequent use of the sacraments among the people; and whereas he found among them very few priests, and those both slothful and ignorant, he filled the diocese with zealous pastors, by whose assistance he banished ignorance and superstition, and established all religious observances, and the practice of piety. In the whole comportment of this holy man, nothing was more admirable than his invincible patience and meekness. All his actions breathed this spirit in such a manner as often to infuse the same into others. Among his miracles St. Bernard mentions, that a certain passionate woman, who was before intolerable to all that approached her, was converted into the mildest of women by the saint commanding her in the name of Christ never to be angry more, hearing her confession, and enjoining her a suitable penance; from which time no injuries or tribulations could disturb her.

After some years the city of Connor was taken and sacked by the king of Ulster; upon which St. Malachy, with a hundred and twenty disciples, retired into Munster, and there, with the assistance of king Cormac, built the monastery of Ibrac, which some suppose to have been near Cork, others in the isle of Beg-erin, where St. Imar formerly resided. While our saint governed this holy family in the strictest monastic discipline, humbling himself even to the meanest offices of the community, and, in point of holy poverty and penance, going beyond all his brethren, the archbishop Celsus was taken with that illness of which he died. In his infirmity he appointed St. Malachy to be his successor, conjuring all persons concerned, in the name of St. Patrick, the founder of that see, to concur to that promotion, and oppose the intrusion of any other person. This he not only most earnestly declared by word of mouth, but also recommended by letters to persons of the greatest interest and power in the country, particularly to the two kings of Upper and Lower Munster. This he did out of a zealous desire to abolish a most scandalous abuse which had been the source of all other disorders in the churches of Ireland. For two hundred years past, the family out of which Celsus had been assumed, and which was the most powerful in the country, had, during fifteen generations, usurped the archbishopric as an inheritance; insomuch, that when there was no clergyman of their kindred, they intruded some married man and layman of their family, who, without any holy orders, had the administration, and enjoyed the revenues of that see, and even exercised a despotic tyranny over the other bishops of the island. Notwithstanding the precaution taken by Celsus, who was a good man, after his death, though Malachy was canonically elected pursuant to his desire, Maurice, one of the above-mentioned family got possession. Malachy declined the promotion, and alleged the dangers of a tumult and bloodshed. Thus three years passed till Malchus, bishop of Lismore, and Gillebert, bishop of Limerick, who was the pope’s legate in Ireland, assembled the bishops and great men of the island, and threatened Malachy with excommunication if he refused to accept the archbishopric. Hereupon he submitted, but said, “You drag me to death. I obey in hopes of martyrdom; but, on this condition, that if the business succeed according to your desires, when all things are settled, you shall permit me to return to my former spouse, and my beloved poverty.” They promised he should have the liberty so to do, and he took upon him that charge, and exercised his functions with great zeal through the whole province, except in the city of Armagh, which he did not enter for fear of bloodshed, so long as Maurice lived, which was two years more.

At the end of five years, after the demise of Celsus, Maurice died, and, to complete his iniquities and increase his damnation, named his kinsman Nigellus for his successor. But king Cormac, and the bishops, resolved to install St. Malachy in that see, and he was acknowledged the only lawful metropolitan in the year 1133, the thirty-eighth of his age. Nigellus was obliged to leave Armagh, but carried with him two relics held by the Irish in great veneration; and the common people were foolishly persuaded that he was archbishop who had them in his possession. These were a book of the gospels which had belonged to St. Patrick, and a crosier called the staff of Jesus, which was covered with gold, and ornamented with rich jewels. By this fallacy some still adhered to him, and his kindred violently persecuted St. Malachy. One of the chief amongst them invited him to a conference at his house with a secret design to murder him. The saint, against the advice of all his friends, went thither, offering himself to martyrdom for the sake of peace; he was accompanied only by three disciples who were ready to die with him. But the courage and heavenly mildness of his countenance disarmed his enemies as soon as he appeared amongst them; and he who had designed to murder him, rose up to do him honor, and a peace was concluded on all sides. Nigellus not long after surrendered the sacred book and crosier into his hands; and several of the saint’s enemies were cut off by visible judgments. A raging pestilence, which broke out at Armagh, was suddenly averted by his prayers, and he wrought many other miracles. Having rescued that church from oppression, and restored discipline and peace, he insisted upon resigning the archiepiscopal dignity, according to covenant, and ordained Gelasius, a worthy ecclesiastic, in his place. He then returned to his former see; but whereas the two sees of Connor and Down had been long united, he again divided them, consecrated another bishop for Connor, and reserved to himself only that of Down, which was the smaller and poorer. Here he established a community of regular canons, with whom he attended to prayer and meditation, as much as the external duties of his charge would permit him. He regulated every thing and formed great designs for the divine honor.

To obtain the confirmation of many things which he had done, he undertook a journey to Rome: in which one of his motives was to procure palls for two archbishops; namely, for the see of Armagh, which had long wanted that honor through the neglect and abuses of the late usurpers, and for another metropolitical see which Celsus had formed a project of, but which had not been confirmed by the pope.* St. Malachy left Ireland in 1139; conversed some time at York with a holy priest named Sycar, an eminent servant of God, and in his way through France visited Clairvaux, where St. Bernard first became acquainted with him, and conceived the greatest affection and veneration for him on account of his sanctity. St. Malachy was so edified with the wonderful spirit of piety which he discovered in St. Bernard and his monks, that he most earnestly desired to join them in their holy exercises of penance and contemplation, and to end his days in their company; but he was never able to gain the pope’s consent to leave his bishopric. Proceeding on his journey, at Yvree in Piedmont he restored to health the child of the host with whom he lodged, who was at the point of death. Pope Innocent II. received him with great honor; but would not hear of his petition for spending the remainder of his life at Clairvaux. He confirmed all he had done in Ireland, made him his legate in that island, and promised him the pall. The saint in his return called again at Clairvaux, where, says St. Bernard, he gave us a second time his blessing. Not being able to remain himself with those servants of God, he left his heart there, and four of his companions, who taking the Cistercian habit, afterwards came over into Ireland, and instituted the abbey of Mellifont, of that order, and the parent of many others in those parts. St. Malachy went home through Scotland, where king David earnestly entreated him to restore to health his son Henry, who lay dangerously ill. The saint said to the sick prince: “Be of good courage; you will not die this time.” Then sprinkled him with holy water, and the next day the prince was perfectly recovered.

St. Malachy was received in Ireland with the greatest joy, and discharged his office of legate with wonderful zeal and fruit, preaching everywhere, holding synods, making excellent regulations, abolishing abuses, and working many miracles. One of these St. Charles Borromeo used to repeat to his priests, when he exhorted them not to fail being watchful and diligent in administering in due time the sacrament of extreme unction to the sick. It is related by St. Bernard as follows:3 The lady of a certain knight who dwelt near Benchor being at the article of death, St. Malachy was sent for; and after suitable exhortations he prepared himself to give her extreme unction. It seemed to all her friends better to postpone that sacrament till the next morning, when she might be better disposed to receive it. St. Malachy yielded to their earnest entreaties, though with great unwillingness. The holy man having made the sign of the cross upon the sick woman, retired to his chamber; but was disturbed in the beginning of the night with an uproar through the whole house, and lamentations and cries, that their mistress was dead. The bishop ran to her chamber, and found her departed; whereupon, lifting up his hands to heaven, he said with bitter grief and remorse: “It is I myself who have sinned by this delay, not this poor creature.” Desiring earnestly to render to the dead what he accused himself that he by his neglect had robbed her of, he continued standing over the corpse, and praying with many bitter tears and sighs; and from time to time turning towards the company, he said to them: “Watch and pray.” They passed the whole night in sighs, and reciting the psalter, and other devout prayers; when, at break of day, the deceased lady opened her eyes, sat up, and knowing St. Malachy, with devout bow saluted him: at which sight all present were exceedingly amazed, and their sadness was turned into joy. St. Malachy would anoint her without delay, knowing well that by this sacrament sins are remitted, and the body receives help as is most expedient. The lady, to the greater glory of God, recovered and lived some time to perform the penance imposed on her by St. Malachy; then relapsed, and with the usual succors of the church, happily departed.

St. Malachy built a church of stone at Benchor on a new plan, such as he had seen in other countries; at which unusual edifice the people of the country were struck with great admiration.4 He likewise rebuilt or repaired the cathedral church at Down, famous for the tomb of St. Patrick; whither also the bodies of St. Columba and St. Bridget were afterwards removed.* St. Malachy’s zeal for the re-establishment of the Irish church in its splendour moved him to meditate a second journey into France, in order to meet pope Eugenius III., who was come into that kingdom. Innocent II. died before the two palls which he had promised could be prepared and sent. Celestine II. and Lucius II. died in less than a year and a half. This affair having been so long delayed, St. Malachy convened the bishops of Ireland, and received from them a deputation to make fresh application to the apostolic see. In his journey through England, while he lodged with the holy canons at Gisburn, a woman was brought to him, who had a loathsome cancer in her breast, whom he sprinkled with water which he had blessed, and the next day she was perfectly healed. Before he reached France the pope was returned to Rome, but St. Malachy determined not to cross the Alps without first visiting his beloved Clairvaux. He arrived there in October, 1148, and was received with great joy by St. Bernard and his holy monks, in whose happy company he was soon to end his mortal pilgrimage. Having celebrated mass with his usual devotion on the feast of St. Luke, he was seized with a fever, which obliged him to take to his bed. The good monks were very active in assisting him; but he assured them that all the pains they took about him was to no purpose, because he should not recover. St. Bernard doubts not but he had a foreknowledge of the day of his departure. How sick and weak soever he was, he would needs rise and crawl down stairs into the church, that he might there receive the extreme unction and the viaticum, which he did lying on ashes strewed on the floor. He earnestly begged that all persons would continue their prayers for him after his death, promising to remember them before God; he tenderly commended also to their prayers all the souls which had been recommitted to his charge, and sweetly reposed in our Lord on All Souls’-day, the 2d of November, in the year 1148, of his age fifty-four; and was interred in the chapel of our Lady at Clairvaux, and carried to the grave on the shoulders of abbots. At his burial was present a youth, one of whose arms was struck with a dead palsy, so that it hung useless and without life by his side. Him St. Bernard called, and taking up the dead arm, applied it to the hand of the deceased saint, and it was wonderfully restored to itself, as this venerable author himself assures us.5 St. Bernard, in his second discourse on this saint, says to his monks:6 “May he protect us by his merits, whom he has instructed by his example, and confirmed by his miracles.” At his funeral, having sung a mass of requiem for his soul, he added to the mass a collect to implore the divine grace through his intercession; having been assured of his glory by a revelation at the altar, as his disciple Geoffroy relates in the fourth book of his life. St. Malachy was canonized by a bull of pope Clement, (either the third or fourth,) addressed to the general chapter of the Cistercians, in the third year of his pontificate.7

Two things, says St. Bernard,8 made Malachy a saint, perfect meekness (which is always founded in sincere profound humility) and a lively faith: by the first, he was dead to himself; by the second, his soul was closely united to God in the exercises of assiduous prayer and contemplation. He sanctified him in faith and mildness.9 It is only by the same means we can become saints. How perfectly Malachy was dead to himself, appeared by his holding the metropolitical dignity so long as it was attended with extraordinary dangers and tribulations, and by his quitting it as soon as he could enjoy it in peace: how entirely he was dead to the world, he showed by his love of sufferings and poverty, and by the state of voluntary privations and self-denial in which he lived in the midst of prosperity, being always poor to himself, and rich to the poor, as he is styled by St. Bernard. In him this father draws the true character of a good pastor, when he tells us, that self-love and the world were crucified in his heart, and that he joined the closest interior solitude with the most diligent application to all the exterior functions of his ministry. “He seemed to live wholly to himself, yet so devoted to the service of his neighbor as if he lived wholly for them.* So perfectly did neither charity withdraw him from the strictest watchfulness over himself, nor the care of his own soul hinder him in any thing from attending to the service of others. If you saw him amidst the cares and functions of his pastoral charge, you would say he was born for others, not for himself. Yet if you considered him in his retirement, or observed his constant recollection, you would think that he lived only to God and himself.”

NOVEMBER 3 — ST. HUBERT, BISHOP OF LIEGE, C

God, who is wonderful in his mercies above all his works, called St. Hubert from a worldly life to his service in an extraordinary manner; though the circumstances of this event are so obscured by popular inconsistent relations, that we have no authentic account of his actions before he was engaged in the service of the church under the discipline of St. Lambert, bishop of Maestricht. He is said to have been a nobleman of Aquitaine passed his youth in the court of Theodoric III., and probably spent some time in the service of Pepin of Herstal, who became mayor of the palace of Austrasia in 681. He is also said to have been passionately addicted to the diversion of hunting, and was entirely taken up in worldly pursuits, when, moved by divine grace, he resolved at once to renounce the school of vanity, and enter himself in that of Christ, in which his name had been enrolled in baptism. St. Lambert was the experienced and skilful master by whose direction he studied to divest himself of the spirit of the world, and to put on that of Jesus Christ: and to learn to overcome enemies and injuries by meekness and patience, not by revenge and pride, rather to sink under, than to vanquish them. His extraordinary fervor, and the great progress which he made in virtue and learning strongly recommended him to St. Lambert, who ordained him priest, and intrusted him with the principal share in the administration of his diocese. That holy prelate being barbarously murdered in 681, St. Hubert was unanimously chosen his successor and the death of his dear master inflamed him with a holy desire of martyrdom, of which he sought all occasions. For charity conceives no other sentiments from wrongs, and knows no other revenge for the most atrocious injuries than the most tender concern and regard for sinners, and a desire of returning all good offices for evil received; thus to overcome evil by good, and invincibly maintain justice. St. Hubert never ceased with David to deplore his banishment from the face of God, and tears almost continually watered his cheeks. His revenues he consecrated to the service of the poor, and his labors to the extirpation of vice and of the remains of idolatry. His fervour in fasting, watching, and prayer, far from ever abating, seemed every day to increase; and he preached the word of God assiduously, with so much sweetness and energy, and with such unction of the Holy Ghost, that it was truly in his mouth a two-edged sword, and the people flocked from distant places to hear it from him. Out of devotion to the memory of St. Lambert, in the thirteenth year of his episcopal dignity, he translated his bones from Maestricht to Liege, then a very commodious and agreeable village upon the banks of the Meuse, which from this treasure very soon grew into a flourishing city, to which the ruins of Herstal, a mile distant, and of several other palaces and fortresses on the Meuse, contributed not a little. St. Hubert placed the relics of the martyr in a stately church which he built upon the spot where he had spilt his blood, which our saint made his cathedral, removing thither the episcopal see from Maestricht in 721, which St. Servatius had translated from Tongres to Maestricht in 382. Hence St. Lambert is honored at Liege as principal patron, and St. Hubert as founder of the city and church, and its first bishop.

The great forest of Ardenne, famous in the Commentaries of Julius Csar and later writers, was in many parts a shelter for idolatry down to that age.* St. Hubert with incredible zeal penetrated into the most remote and barbarous places of this country, and abolished the worship of idols; and as he performed the office of the apostles, God bestowed on him a like gift of miracles. Amongst others the author of his life relates as an eye-witness, that on the three days’ fast of the Rogations which the whole church observes, the holy bishop went out of the city of Maestricht in procession, through the fields and villages with his clergy and people, according to custom, following the standard of the cross and the relics of the saints, and singing the litany. This religious procession was disturbed in its devotions by a woman possessed by an evil spirit; but the holy bishop silenced her and restored her to her health by signing her with the cross. In the time of a great drought he obtained rain by his prayers. A year before his happy death he was advertised of it in a vision, and favored with a sight of a place prepared for him in glory. Though the foreknowledge which faith gives us of the great change for which we wait the divine will, be equally sufficient to raise up our hearts thither, the saint from that time redoubled his fervour in sighing after that bliss, and in putting his house in order; and reserved to himself more time for visiting the altars, and the shrines of the saints, especially the tomb of St. Lambert, and the altar of St. Albinus, commending his soul to God through the intercession of the saints with many tears. Going to dedicate a new church at Fur, (which seems to be Terture in Brabant,) twelve leagues from Liege, he preached there his farewell sermon; immediately after which he betook himself to bed ill of a fever, and on the sixth day of his sickness, reciting to his last breath the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, sweetly reposed in Christ, on the 30th of May, in 727. His body was conveyed to Liege, and deposited in the collegiate church of St. Peter.* With the leave of the bishop, and of the emperor Leuis Dbonnaire, it was translated, in 825, to the abbey of Andain, since called St. Hubert’s, in the Ardennes, on the frontiers of the duchy of Luxemburg. The abbot is lord of the territory, which comprises sixteen villages. The shrine of St. Hubert is resorted to by many pilgrims, and has been honored by many miraculous cures, especially of persons bit by mad dogs.† The principal feast of St. Hubert, probably on account of some translation, is kept on the 3rd of November. See the history of his life from the time of his conversion, written by one who had conversed familiarly with him; also the History of the Translation of his relics to Andain (or St. Hubert’s) by Jonas, (probably the Bishop of Orleans,) and an anonymous history of his miracles compiled in the eleventh age, all published by Mabillon, Sc. Ben. 4, p. 293, &c. Likewise Le Cointe and Mirus, in their Annals of France and Belgium; Placentius, Hist. Episcoporum Leod. p. 272; Buxhorn, Antiq. Leod. p. 7, &c.

NOVEMBER 3 — ST. WENEFRIDE, OR WINEFRIDE,‡ VIRGIN, MARTYR

Her father, whose name was Thevith, was very rich, and one of the prime nobility in the country, being son to Eluth, the chief magistrate, and second man in the kingdom, of North Wales, next to the king.§ Her virtuous parents desired above all things to breed her up in the fear of God, and to preserve her soul untainted amidst the corrupt air of the world. About that time St. Beuno, Benno, or Benow, a holy priest and monk, who is said to have been uncle to our saint by the mother, having founded certain religious houses in other places, came and settled in that neighborhood. Thevith rejoiced at his arrival, gave him a spot of ground free from all burden or tribute, to build a church on, and recommended his daughter to be instructed by him in Christian piety.1 When the holy priest preached to the people, Wenefride was placed at his feet, and her tender soul eagerly imbibed his heavenly doctrine, and was wonderfully affected with the great truths which he delivered, or rather which God addressed to her by his mouth. The love of the sovereign and infinite good growing daily in her heart, her affections were quite weaned from all the things of this world: and it was her earnest desire to consecrate her virginity by vow to God, and, instead of an earthly bridegroom, to choose Jesus Christ for her spouse. Her parents readily gave their consent, shedding tears of joy, and thanking God for her holy resolution. She first made a private vow of virginity in the hands of St. Beuno, and some time after received the religious veil from him, with certain other pious virgins, in whose company she served God in a small nunnery which her father had built for her, under the direction of St. Beuno, near Holy-Well.* After this, St. Beuno returned to the first monastery which he had built at Clunnock, or Clynog Vaur, about forty miles distant, and there soon after slept in our Lord. His tomb was famous there in the thirteenth century. Leland mentions,2 that St. Beuno founded Clunnock Vaur, a monastery of white monks, in a place given him by Guithin, uncle to one of the princes of North-Wales. His name occurs in the English Martyrology.

After the death of St. Beuno, St. Wenefride left Holy-Well, and after putting herself for a short time under the direction of St. Deifer, entered the nunnery of Gutherin in Denbighshire, under the direction of a very holy abbot called Elerius, who governed there a double monastery. After the death of the abbess Theonia, St. Wenefride was chosen to succeed her. Leland speaks of St. Elerius as follows:3 “Elerius was anciently, and is at present in esteem among the Welsh. I guess that he studied at the banks of the Elivi where now St. Asaph’s stands. He afterwards retired in the deserts. It is most certain that he built a monastery in the vale of Cluide, which was double, and very numerous of both sexes. Among these was the most noble virgin Guenvrede, who had been educated by Beuno, and who suffered death, having her head cut off by the furious Caradoc.”* Leland mentions not the stupendous miracles which Robert of Salop and others relate on that occasion,† though in the abstract of her life inserted in an appendix to the fourth volume of the last edition of Leland’s Itinerary,4 she is said to have been raised to life by the prayers of St. Beuno. In all monuments and calendars she is styled a martyr: all the accounts we have of her agree that Caradoc, or Cradoc, son of Alain, prince of that country, being violently fallen in love with her, gave so far way to his brutish passion, that, finding it impossible to extort her consent to marry him, or gratify his desires, in his rage he one day pursued her, and cut off her head, as she was flying from him to take refuge in the church which St. Beuno had built at Holy-Well. Robert of Shrewsbury and some others add, that Cradoc was swallowed up by the earth upon the spot; secondly, that in the place where the head fell, the wonderful well which is seen there sprang up, with pebble stones and large parts of the rock in the bottom stained with red streaks, and with moss growing on the sides under the water, which renders a sweet fragrant smell;‡ and thirdly, that the martyr was raised to life by the prayers of St. Beuno, and bore ever after a mark of her martyrdom by a red circle on her skin about her neck. If these authors, who lived a long time after these transactions, were by some of their guides led into any mistakes in any of these circumstances, neither the sanctity of the martyr nor the devotion of the place can be hereby made liable to censure. St. Wenefride died on the 22d of June, as the old panegyric preached on her festival, mentioned in the notes, and several of her lives testify: the most ancient life of this saint, in the Cottonian manuscript, places her death, or rather her burial at Guthurin on the 24th of June. The words are: “The place where she lived with the holy virgins was called Guthurin, where sleeping, on the eighth before the calends of July, she was buried, and rests in the Lord.” Her festival was removed to the 3d of November, probably on account of some translation; and in 1391, Thomas Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury, with his clergy in convocation assembled, ordered her festival to be kept on that day throughout his province with an office of nine lessons,5 which is inserted in the Sarum Breviary. The time when this saint lived is not mentioned in any of her lives: most, with Alford and Cressy, think it was about the close of the seventh century. Her relics were translated from Guthurin to Shrewsbury in the year 1138, and deposited with great honor in the church of the Benedictin abbey which had been founded there, without the walls, in 1083, by Roger earl of Montgomery. Herbert, abbot of that house, procured the consent of the diocesan, the bishop of Bangor, (for the bishopric of St. Asaph’s, in which Guthurin is situated, was only restored in 1143,) and caused the translation to be performed with great solemnity, as is related by Robert, then prior of that house, (probably the same who was made bishop of Bangor in 1210,) who mentions some miraculous cures performed on that occasion to which he was eye-witness. The shrine of this saint was plundered at the dissolution of monasteries.

Several miracles were wrought through the intercession of this saint at Guthurin, Shrewsbury, and especially Holy-Well. To instance some examples: Sir Roger Bodenham, knight of the Bath, after he was abandoned by the ablest physicians and the most famous colleges of that faculty, was cured of a terrible leprosy by bathing in this miraculous fountain, in 1606, upon which he became himself a Catholic, and gave an ample certificate of his wonderful cure, signed by many others. Mrs. Jane Wakeman of Sussex, in 1630, brought to the last extremity by a terrible ulcerated breast, was perfectly healed in one night by bathing thrice in that well, as she and her husband attested. A poor widow of Kidderminster in Worcestershire, had been long lame and bedridden, when she sent a single penny to Holy-Well to be given to the first poor body the person should meet with there; and at the very time it was given at the Holy-Well, the patient arose in perfect health at Kidderminster. This fact was examined and juridically attested by Mr James Bridges, who was afterwards sheriff of Worcester, in 1651. Mrs. Mary Newman had been reduced to a skeleton, and to such a decrepit state and lameness that for eighteen years she had not been able to point or set her foot on the ground. She tried all helps in England, France, and Portugal; but in vain. At last she was perfectly cured in the very well while she was bathing herself the fifth time. Roger Whetstone, a quaker near Bromsgrove, by bathing at Holy-Well was cured of an inveterate lameness and palsy, by which he was converted to the Catholic faith. Innumerable such instances might be collected. Cardinal Baronius6 expresses his astonishment at the wonderful cures which the pious bishop of St. Asaph’s, the pope’s vicegerent for the episcopal functions at Rome, related to him as an eye-witness. See St. Wenefride’s life, written by Robert prior of Shrewsbury, translated into English with frequent abridgments, and some few additions from other authors, (but not without some mistakes,) first by F. Alford, whose true name was Griffith, afterwards by J. F., both Jesuits; and printed in 1635, and again with some alterations and additional late miracles by F. Metcalf, S. J., in 1712. Lluydh, in his catalogue of Welsh manuscripts, mentions two lives of St. Wenefride in that language, one in the hands of Humphrey, then bishop of Hereford, the other in the college of Jesus, Oxon.

NOVEMBER 3 — ST. PAPOUL, OR PAPULUS, PRIEST, M

He is mentioned in the Acts of St. Saturninus, the first bishop of Toulouse, whose colleague he was in preaching the faith in the southern parts of France in the third century. The crown of martyrdom was the recompence of his zeal, which he received about the beginning of Dioclesian’s reign, in the Lauragais, (a small territory in Languedoc,) nine leagues from Toulouse. A famous church and abbey was built there, and much augmented by Charlemagne, which was secularized and made an episcopal see by John XXII., in 1317, being now a considerable town in Languedoc, called St. Papoul. The saint’s relics are kept in a rich shrine in a cathedral of Toulouse. See Bosquet. Histor. Eccl. Gallic.1. 3, c. 29. Tillem, t. 3, p. 302.

NOVEMBER 3 — ST. FLOUR, B. C

Was the apostle and first bishop of Lodeve in Languedoc, and of the Cevennes, and died about the year 389. A church was built on the spot where his relics were interred. St. Odilo founded there an abbey which was converted into a bishopric by John XXII. The saint’s relics are kept in the cathedral. The town is situated in Upper Auvergne. See Saussay and Hist. de Lodeve.

NOVEMBER 3 — ST. RUMWALD, C. PATRON OF BRACKLEY AND BUCKINGHAM

His father was king of Northumberland, his mother a daughter of Penda, king of the Mercians. He was born at Sutthun, and baptized by Widerin, a bishop, the holy priest Eadwold being his godfather. He died very young on the 3rd of November, and was buried in Sutthun by Eadwold. The year following his remains were translated by Widelin to Brackley in Northamptonshire, and on the third year after his death to Buckingham, where his shrineeek Synaxary, and the Menology of the votion. The 28th of August was celebrated at Brackley, probably the day of the translation of his relics. See an abstract of his life in Leland’s Itiner., p. 34, alias 48. Brown-Willis in the history of the county-town of Buckingham, &c.

NOVEMBER 4 — SAINT CHARLES BORROMEO, CARDINAL ARCHBISHOP OF MILAN, AND CONFESSOR

His life was originally and accurately written by three eminent persons, who had all had the happiness of living some time with him; by two in Latin, Austin Valerio, afterwards cardinal and bishop of Veron, and Charles Bascap, or a Basilic S. Petri, general of the Barnabites, afterwards bishop of Novara; and more in detail in Italian, by Peter Giussano, a priest of the Congregation of the Oblates at Milan. Many others have since compiled lives of this saint, principally Ripamont, (who, in his history of Milan, employs eight books chiefly about St. Charles.) Ciaconius speaks of him, (In vitis Pontif. et Cardin. t. 3, p. 891,) and the eloquent Godeau, bishop of Venice, who wrote the life of this saint at the request of the French clergy, to whom he dedicated that performance, which is less useful than that of Giussano, because the history of public transactions leaves too little room for a just detail of the saint’s private actions and virtues, in which his spirit chiefly shines. See also Vagliano. Sommario delle vite degli arcivescovi di Milano, in Milano, an. 1715, c. 126, p. 340; and his life by John Baptist. Possevini, priest of Mantua. Likewise Lettera di Agata Sfondrata, priora di S. Paolo in Milano alla priora de Angeliche di S. Marta di Cremona, per la morte di San Carlo. Inter sermones S. Caroli per Saxium, t. 5, p. 292. Lades S. Carolo tribut, ib. p. 299; and Oltrocchi, Not. in Giuss., printed at Milan, 1751.

A. D. 1584.

ST. CHARLES BORROMEO, the model of pastors, and the reformer of ecclesiastical discipline in these degenerate ages, was son of Gilbert Borromeo count of Arona, and his lady, Margaret of Medicis, sister to John James of Medicis, marquis of Marignan, and of Cardinal John Angelus of Medicis, afterwards Pope Pius IV. The family of Borromeo is one of the most ancient in Lombardy, and has been famous for several great men, both in the church and state. The saint’s parents were remarkable for their discretion and piety. Count Gilbert behaved in such a manner in the wars between the French and Spaniards in Lombardy, as to preserve the favor of both courts; and the Emperor Charles V., when he was left in quiet possession of the dutchy of Milan, made him senator of the city and colonel, and honored him with other considerable posts. The count was so pious that he communicated every Sunday, said every day the office of the church on his knees, and often shut himself up for many hours together, in a little retired chapel which he made in the castle of Arona, where, covered with sackcloth, in the habit of a penitent, he spent a considerable part of his time alone at his devotions. By much praying his knees became hard and brawny. He was a tender father to all his tenants and vassals, took care of all orphans, and was so charitable that his friends often told him he injured his children. To whom he made answer: “If I have care of the poor, God will have care of my children.” It was a custom with him never to take any meal without first giving some alms. His abstemiousness and rigorous fasts were not less remarkable than his charities. The countess was by her pious deportment a living rule to all the ladies in Milan, and to cut off all dangerous visits scarce ever went out of doors but to some church or monastery. Their family consisted of six children, Count Frederic, who afterwards married the sister of the Duke of Urbino, and our saint, and four daughters; Isabel, who became a nun in the monastery called of the Virgins in Milan, Camilla, married to Csar Gonzaga, prince of Malfetto, Jeronima, married to Fabricio Gesualdi, eldest son to the Prince of Venosa; and Anne married to Fabricio, eldest sort of Mark-Antony Colonna, a Roman prince and viceroy of Sicily. All these children were very virtuous: Anne though engaged in the world, imitated all the religious exercises and austerities of her brother Charles, prayed many hours together with a recollection that astonished every one; and in order to increase the fund of her excessive charities, retrenched every superfluous expense in her table, clothes, and housekeeping. By her virtue, and the saintly education of her children, she was the admiration of all Italy and Sicily, and died at Palermo in 1582.

St. Charles was born on the 2d of October, in 1538, in the castle of Arona, upon the borders of Lake-Major,* fourteen miles from Milan. The saint in his infancy gave proofs of his future sanctity, loved prayer, was from the beginning very diligent in his studies; and it was his usual amusement to build little chapels, adorn altars, and sing the divine office. By his happy inclination to piety and love of ecclesiastical functions, his parents judged him to be designed by God for the clerical state, and initiated him in it as soon as his age would allow him to receive the tonsure. This destination was the saint’s earnest choice; and though by the canons he was not yet capable of taking upon him an irrevocable obligation, both he and his father were far from the sacrilegious abuse of those who determine their children, or make choice of the inheritance of Christ, with a view merely to temporal interest, or the convenience of their family. Charles was careful, even in his childhood, that the gravity of his dress and his whole conduct should be such as became the sanctity of his profession. When he was twelve years old, his uncle, Julius Csar Borromeo, resigned to him the rich Benedictin abbey of SS. Gratinian and Felin, martyrs, in the territory of Arona, which had been long enjoyed by some clergymen of that family in commendam. St. Charles, as young as he was, put his father in mind, that the revenue, except what was expended on his necessary education at his studies, for the service of the church, was the patrimony of the poor, and could not be applied to any other uses, or blended with his other money. The father wept for joy at the pious solicitude of the child; and though during his son’s nonage the administration of the revenues was committed to him, he gave this up to the young saint that he might himself dispose of the overplus in alms; which he did with the most scrupulous fidelity in his accounts St. Charles learned Latin and humanity at Milan, and was afterwards sent by his father to the university of Pavia, where he studied the civil and canon law under Francis Alciat, the eminent civilian, who was afterwards promoted, by St. Charles’s interest, to the dignity of cardinal, and who had then succeeded in the professorship to Andrew Alciat, whom De Thou commends for banishing barbarism of style out of the schools and writings of lawyers. In a judicious course of the canon law, the articles of our holy faith and the condemnation of heresies are expounded, and often a fuller resolution of practical cases, and of Christian duties, enforced, not only from the canons, but also from scriptures, tradition, and the law of nature or reason, than is found in courses of moral theology; and this study, which presupposes some acquaintance with the civil or imperial law, is of great importance for the care of souls, especially in the chief pastors. St. Charles, though on account of an impediment in his speech, and his love of silence, was by some esteemed slow, yet by the soundness of his judgment, and a diligent application, made good progress in it. And the prudence, piety, and strictness of his conduct rendered him a model of the youth in the university, and proof against evil company, and all other dangers which he watchfully shunned. Such was the corruption of that place that several snares were laid for his virtue; but prayer and retirement were his arms against all assaults, and the grace of God carried him through difficulties which seemed almost insurmountable. He communicated every eight days, after the example of his father; and shunned all connections or visits which could interrupt his regular exercises, or hours of retirement: yet was he very obliging to all who desired to speak to him. His father’s death brought him to Milan in 1558: but when he had settled the affairs of his family with surprising prudence and address, he went back to Pavia, and after completing his studies took the degree of doctor in the laws towards the end of the year 1559.

A little before this, his uncle, the cardinal of Medicis, resigned to him another abbey and priory; but the saint made no addition to his private expenses, so that the poor were the only gainers by this increase of his fortune. It was only with a view to the foundation of a college at Pavia that he accepted these benefices. When he had taken the degree of doctor he returned to Milan, where he soon after received news that his uncle, the cardinal of Medicis, by whom he was tenderly beloved, was chosen pope on the 25th of December in 1559, in the conclave held after the death of Paul IV. The new pope being a patrician of Milan, that city made extraordinary rejoicings, and complimented his two nephews in the most pompous and solemn manner. St. Charles gave no signs of joy on the occasion; but only persuaded his brother Frederic to go with him to confession and communion; which they did. Count Frederic went to Rome to compliment his holiness; but St. Charles stayed at Milan, living in the same manner he did before, till his uncle sent for him, and on the last day of the same year created him cardinal, and on the 8th of February following nominated him archbishop of Milan, when he was in the twenty-third year of his age. The pope, however, detained him at Rome, placed him at the head of the consult or council, with power to sign in his name all requests, and intrusted him with the entire administration of the ecclesiastical state. St. Charles endeavored as much as possible to decline these posts, and absolutely refused the camerlingate, the second and most lucrative dignity in the Roman court; but after he was made priest, he accepted the office of grand penitentiary, wherein he was to labor for God and the people. He was also legate of Bologna, Romaniola, and the marquisate of Ancona, and protector of Portugal, the Low Countries, the Catholic cantons of Switzerland, and the orders of St. Francis, the Carmelites, the Knights of Malta, and others. By the entire confidence which his uncle reposed in him, he may be said to have governed the church during his pontificate; and as he received from him daily the most sensible tokens of the strongest and most sincere affection, so, full of the most tender sentiments of gratitude, he constantly made him the best return of duty, tenderness, and affection, he was able, and studied by his fidelity and diligence in all affairs to be to him a firm support, and to ease and comfort him in all difficulties and perplexities. The sole end which he proposed to himself in all his actions and undertakings, was the glory of God and the good of his church: and nothing was more admirable in him than his perfect disinterestedness, and the little regard he had for the most pressing human considerations. For fear of ever deceiving himself, he had about him several persons of approved wisdom and virtue, without whose advice he took no resolution, and to whom he listened with great humility and prudence. In the government of the ecclesiastical state he was very careful that provisions should be everywhere plentiful and cheap, and that all judges and magistrates should be persons of consummate prudence and inflexible integrity. His patience in bearing contradictions and hearing the complaints of persons of all ranks, was a proof of his sincere charity. It is incredible what a multiplicity of business he dispatched without ever being in a hurry, merely by the dint of unwearied application, by his a version to idle amusements, and being regular and methodical in all that he did. He always found time, in the first place, for his devotions and sacred studies, and for conversing with himself by reflection and pious reading. He read also some of the ancient Stoic philosophers, and reaped much benefit from the Enchyridion of Epictetus, as he frequently expressed. He was a great patron of learning, and promoted exceedingly all its useful branches among the clergy; and among other establishments for this end, having also in view to banish idleness out of the pope’s court, he instituted in the Vatican an academy of clergymen and seculars whose conferences and studies tended to enforce the practice of virtue, and to promote sacred learning.* This academy produced many bishops and cardinals, and one pope, who was Gregory XIII. By the conferences which St. Charles made in this public assembly, he, with much difficulty, overcame a natural bashfulness, and a great imperfection in his speech when he harangued, and he acquired a habit of delivering himself slowly and distinctly, by which he qualified himself to preach the word of God with dignity and fruit: the object of his most earnest desires.1 To fashion and perfect his style he read diligently the philosophical works of Cicero, in which he took great delight.2

St. Charles judged it so far necessary to conform to the custom of the court as to have a magnificent palace well furnished, to keep a sumptuous equipage, and a table suitable to his rank, and to give entertainments. Yet he was in his heart most perfectly disengaged from all these things, most mortified in his senses, humble, meek, and patient, in all his conduct Honored and caressed by the whole Christian world, having in his power the distribution of riches and honors, and enjoying himself whatever the world could bestow, he considered in all this nothing but dangers; and far from taking any delight herein, watched with trembling over his own heart lest any subtle poison of the love of the world should insinuate itself, and in all things sought only the establishment of the kingdom of God. Many are converted to God by adversity; but St. Charles, in the softest gale of prosperity, by taking a near view of the emptiness, and arming himself against the snares of the world, became every day more and more disentangled from it, and more an inhabitant of heaven. He sighed after the liberty of the saints, and trembled at the sight both of the dangers, and of the obligations of his situation; he also considered that obedience to the chief pastor fixed him for a time at a distance from the church of Milan, the charge of which he had taken upon himself. And though he had provided for its government and the remedying of its disorders in the best manner he was able, by excellent regulations, by a suffragan bishop named Jerom Ferragata, (whom he sent thither to make the visitation and to officiate in his place,) and by a vicar-general of great experience, learning, and piety, called Nicholas Ormanetto, (who had formerly been grand-vicar of Verona, had afterwards attended cardinal Pole in his legation in England, and been there his chief assistant, and after his return would take upon him no other charge but that of a single curacy in the diocese of Verona,) yet St. Charles considered the duty of personal service and residence; neither did the command of the pope, by which he was obliged to attend for some time the government of the universal church for a greater good and necessity, make him easy.

It happened that Bartholomew de Martyribus, the most pious and learned archbishop of Braga, came from Trent to Rome to wait upon his holiness. To him as to a faithful servant of God, enlightened by him, and best able to direct others in perplexing circumstances, the saint opened his heart, in the manner following: “For this long time I have begged of God, with all the earnestness I am able, to enlighten me with regard to the state in which I live. You see my condition. You know what it is to be a pope’s nephew, and a nephew most tenderly beloved by him: nor are you ignorant what it is to live in the court of Rome. The dangers which encompass me are infinite. I see a great number; and there are a great many more which I do not discern. What then ought I to do, young as I am, and without experience; and having no part or ingredient of virtue but through the divine grace, an earnest desire of obtaining it?” The holy cardinal proceeded to explain his difficulties and fears; then added: “God has inspired me with a vehement ardor for penance, and an earnest desire to prefer his fear and my salvation to all things: and I have some thoughts of breaking my bonds, and retiring into some monastery, there to live as if there were only God and myself in the world.” This he said with an amiable sincerity which charmed the director who, after a short pause, cleared all his doubts, assuring him by solid reasons, that he ought not to quit his hold of the helm which God put into his hands for the necessary and most important service of the universal church, his uncle being very old; but that he ought to contrive means to attend his own church as soon as God should open him a way to it. St. Charles rising up embraced him, and said God had sent him thither for his sake, and that his words had removed a heavy weight from his heart: and he begged that God, who by his grace had shown him the station in which it was his will that he should labor in his service, would vouchsafe to support him in it by his divine grace.3 The Chrysostoms, the Austins, and the Gregories trembled at the charge of one soul, a burden which would appear dreadful even to angels: he who does not tremble is undone by his presumption. This fear makes the pastor humble, solicitous, always watchful, and earnest in prayer. But this distrust of himself is no longer humility, but abjection and pusillanimity, if it weakens the necessary confidence he ought to have in God, when called to undertake any thing for his glory. He chooses the weak and the things that are not, to confound and beat down the wise and the strong. I can do all things in him who strengthens me, said the apostle. In the same sentiments St. Charles spared not himself, but humbly having continual recourse to God, did wonders for the advancement of his honor.

In November, 1562, the saint’s elder and only brother was carried off in the bloom of life and the most flourishing fortune, by a sudden fever. St. Charles, who had never forsaken him during his illness, bore his death, which overwhelmed all other friends with consternation and grief, with surprising resignation; the sentiments of a lively faith being stronger in him than those of flesh and blood. In profound recollection he adored the decrees of Providence, and was penetrated more seriously than ever with a sense of eternity, and of the instability of human things. All his friends, and the pope himself, pressed him to resign his ecclesiastical dignities, and marry to support his family: but more effectually to rid himself of their solicitations, he made more haste to engage himself in orders, and was ordained priest before the end of that year. The pope soon after created him grand-penitentiary, and arch-priest of St. Mary Major. St. Charles founded at that time the noble college of the Borromeos at Pavia, for the education of the clergy of Milan, and obtained several bulls for the reformation of many abuses in ecclesiastical discipline. The council of Trent,* which had been often interrupted and resumed, was brought to a conclusion in 1563, the last session being held on the 5th of December, in which the decrees of all the former sessions under Paul III., Julius III., and Pius VI., were confirmed, and subscribed by two hundred and fifty-five fathers, viz.: four legates of the holy see, two cardinals, three patriarchs, twenty-five archbishops, one hundred and sixty-eight bishops, thirty-nine deputies of absent prelates seven abbots, and seven generals of religious orders. Difficulties which seemed insurmountable had been thrown in the way, sometimes by the emperor, sometimes by the king of France, sometimes by the king of Spain, or others; and it was owing to the unwearied zeal and prudence, and doubtless to the prayers of St. Charles Borromeo, that they were all happily removed; who informing the prelates and princes of his uncle’s sickness, engaged them by his pressing solicitations to hasten the close of that venerable assembly. No sooner was it finished but St. Charles began strenuously to enforce the execution of all its decrees for the reformation of discipline. At his instigation, the pope pressed earnestly all bishops to found seminaries according to the decree of the council, and set the example by establishing such a seminary at Rome, the care of which was committed to the Jesuits.4 In opposition to the new errors, his holiness published, in 1564, the Creed which bears his name, and commanded all who are preferred to ecclesiastical livings, dignities, &c., to subscribe the same.5 The council had recommended to the pope6 the revisal of the Missal and Breviary; likewise the composition of a catechism. To compile this last work Charles detained at Rome for some time F. Francisco Foreiro, a very learned and pious Dominican, who had attended the council in quality of theologian from the king of Portugal. Foreiro was assisted in this work by Leonardus Marini, archbishop of Lanciano, and Giles Forscarari, bishop of Modena, all three Dominicans. The work was revised by cardinal Sirlet. Paulus Manutius is said to have corrected the style.7 This is the catechism called of Trent, or the Roman, or ad Parochos; which is recommended both by the erudition, exactness, and conciseness with which it is written, and by the neatness and elegance of the style, as an excellent judge and master of the Latin style observes.8 He says the same of the acts of the church of Milan, or St. Charles’s councils. A barbarous and half Latin language disgraces and derogates from the dignity of the sublime oracles of religion, which by the dress they wear, appear quite different things, as secretary Lucchesini elegantly shows.9 The Roman catechism was published in 1566.*

St. Charles had always about him several very learned and virtuous persons. His spiritual director in Rome was F. Ribera, a learned Jesuit, and by his advice he regulated his retreats and devotions. He had the greatest confidence in F. Foreiro during the year that he detained him in Rome before he returned to Portugal; and the saint conversed much with other pious and religious men, and was assisted by some in reviewing a course of theological studies. He retrenched his retinue, discharging the greatest part of his domestics, after handsomely recompensing every one of them; he neither wore any silk, nor allowed any in his family to do it; he banished all superfluities from his house and table, fasted once a week on bread and water, and made every day two meditations of an hour. Full of tenderness for his flock, he wrote every week long and most zealous and affectionate letters to his grand-vicar, and sent some learned Jesuits thither to preach, whom he settled in the church of St. Vitus. Ormanetto began to build a seminary, published the council of Trent, held a diocesan synod, in which twelve hundred persons were assembled, and made the visitation of the churches and monasteries of the city, and part of the country. But finding it impossible to reform all abuses, he wrote to St. Charles, begging leave to return to his curacy, and representing to him that no other but himself could put things upon a proper footing. This advice pierced the good pastor to the quick, and he renewed his solicitations with his uncle with so much earnestness that he obtained leave to go to Milan, but only to hold a provincial council, and make his visitation.

King Philip II. had settled upon St. Charles a yearly pension of nine thousand crowns, and confirmed to him the gift of the principality of Oria which he had before bestowed on his elder brother, Frederic. The pope before his departure created him legate a latere through all Italy. The saint left Rome on the 1st of September in 1565, stopped some days at Bologna where he was legate, and was received at Milan with the utmost joy and pomp that can be imagined, the people calling him in their acclamations a second St. Ambrose. After having prayed a long time prostrate before the blessed sacrament in the great church, he went to his palace, and received visits, but made this necessary ceremony of civility as short as possible. On Sunday he made a pathetic sermon, and soon after opened his first provincial council, at which assisted two foreign cardinals, and eleven suffragan bishops, among whom were Bernardin Scoti, cardinal of Trani, bishop of Placentia, Guy Ferrier, bishop of Vercelli, (to whom St. Charles gave the cardinal’s hat in this council by his uncle’s deputation,) Jerom Vida, the famous bishop of Alba,* and Nicholas Sfondrat, bishop of Cremona, afterwards pope Gregory XIV. Five suffragan bishops (of whom two were cardinals) sent deputies, being themselves hindered from making their appearance; the suffragan see of Ventimil was vacant. The dignity, majesty, and piety with which this council was celebrated by a young cardinal, only twenty-six years of age, and the excellence of its regulations for the reception and observance of the council of Trent, for the reformation of the clergy, the celebration of the divine office, the administration of the sacraments, the manner of giving catechism in all parish churches on Sundays and holydays, and many other points, surprised every one; and the pope wrote to St. Charles a letter of congratulation.10 When the council was broke up, St. Charles set about the visitation of his diocese; but went through Verona to Trent, by the pope’s orders, to receive the two sisters of the emperor Maximilian II.: Barbara, married to Alphonsus of Esti, duke of Ferrara, and Jane, married to Francis of Medicis, duke of Florence. The former he attended to Ferrara, and the latter as far as Fiorenzola in Tuscany, where he received news by an express that the pope lay dangerously ill. He hastened to Rome, and being informed by the physicians that his uncle’s life was despaired of, he went into his chamber, and showing him a crucifix which he held in his hand, said to him: “Most holy father, all your desires and thoughts ought to be turned towards heaven. Behold Jesus Christ crucified, who is the only foundation of our hope; he is our mediator and advocate; the victim and sacrifice for our sins. He is goodness and patience itself; his mercy is moved by the tears of sinners, and he never refuses pardon and grace to those who ask it with a truly contrite and humble heart.” He then conjured his holiness to grant him one favor, as the greatest he had ever received from him. The pope said, any thing in his power should be granted him. “The favor which I most earnestly beg,” said the saint, “is, that as you have but a very short time to live, you lay aside all worldly business and thoughts, and employ your strength and all your powers in thinking on your salvation, and in preparing yourself to the best of your power for your last passage.” His holiness received this tender advice with great comfort, and the cardinal gave strict orders that no one should speak to the pope upon any other subject. He continued by his uncle’s bed side to his last breath, never ceasing to dispose him for death by all the pious practices and sentiments which his charity could suggest; and administering himself the viaticum and extreme unction. Pope Pius IV. was also assisted in his last moments by St. Philip Neri, and died on the 10th of December, in 1565, being sixty-six years and nine months old, and having sat six years wanting sixteen days. His last words as he expired were: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.” In the conclave, in which St. Charles had much the greatest sway, our saint’s conduct was such as convinced his colleagues that he had nothing but the glory of God and the good of the church at heart, and that the most subtle passions which so often blind men in their views, and insinuate themselves into their actions, had no place in his heart. At first he had thoughts of preferring cardinal Morone, whose moderation, zeal, and experience had recommended him at Trent, or the most pious cardinal Sirlet; but finding obstacles raised, he concurred strenuously to the promotion of St. Pius V., though he was a creature of the Caraffas, and consequently esteemed no friend to his uncle and his family. The saint in his letter to Cardinal Henry of Portugal, giving an account of this election says, that entering into the conclave, he had looked upon it as his principal duty and care to watch over himself with great circumspection, and examined narrowly his heart for fear of being seduced by any personal affection or interest which might have any secret influence, and infect the purity of his views and intention. St. Pius V., who was chosen on the 7th of January, in 1566, did all in his power to engage St. Charles to stay at Rome, and accept of the same employments which he had enjoyed under his predecessor. But the holy archbishop feared that even to resign his church without having remedied the disorders which had taken root in it, would have been to abandon it; and pressed his return to his people with such zeal that the pope, after having taken his advice for several days, dismissed him with his blessing.

St. Charles arrived at Milan in April, 1566, and went vigorously to work for the reformation of his diocese. He began by the regulation of his own family, considering that the task would be easier when all he could prescribe to others was already practised at home. He labored, in the first place, for the most perfect sanctification of his own soul, the episcopal character being a state of the greatest perfection and sanctity, and was most severe towards himself. The austerities which he practised amidst the incredible fatigues of his apostolic life seem almost excessive. His fasts were at first moderate, that he might inure his body by degrees to greater severities; but for a long time he continued every week to increase them out of an earnest desire of practising every means of advancing in the path of Christian perfection. Yet his austerities were discreet, and even at the end of his life his strength seemed never to fail him for his functions; it seemed to redouble through his zeal when extraordinary fatigues presented themselves, so that he never sunk under any burden. To exclude the imperfection of secretly seeking his own will in his austerities, (which he said was to corrupt our penance,) he treated his body with an entire indifference, and ate either wheat, or black bread, or chesnuts; and drank either clear, dirty, or snow water, such as he met with where he came. For several years before his death he fasted every day on bread and water, Sundays and holydays only excepted, on which he took with his bread some pulse, herbs, or apples; but never touched any flesh, fish, eggs, or wine; nor would he allow the water he drank to have been warmed. In Lent he abstained even from bread, and lived on dried figs and boiled beans; in Holy week his food was only a small bitter sort of peas which he ate raw. The whole year he never ate oftener than once a day. From a violent cold and long sickness which he had contracted while he was a student at Pavia, in the twentieth year of his age, he was for many years troubled with phlegm, which caused frequent disorders in his health; and which no remedies could cure, till, by this excessive abstemiousness, it was perfectly removed. Whence it became a proverb to call a long and rigorous abstinence, “The remedy of cardinal Borromeo.”* The archbishop of Valentia, in Spain, and F. Lewis of Granada, for whom the saint had the highest esteem, both wrote to him in the strongest manner, insisting that such excessive rigors were incompatible with the labors of the episcopal charge. St. Charles answered the former, that he found the contrary by experience; and that, as to the fatigues of the ministry, a bishop must look upon it as the greatest happiness that could befall him if he lost his life in serving his church, for which Christ died: therefore he ought not too nicely to spare himself in the discharge of his functions. To F. Granada the saint answered, that the Chrysostoms, the Spiridions, the Basils, and many other bishops of very extensive sees, lived in the practice of perpetual watchings and fasts, yet many of them arrived at a very advanced age. Pope Gregory XIII. commanded him by a brief to moderate his austerities. The saint received this order after he had passed the Lent to the last week without any other food than dried figs; and, in compliance, mitigated some little of his intended rigors in Holy-Week. He wrote to his holiness, declaring his readiness to obey, but assuring him that he found by experience that a spare diet was conducive to his health. Whereupon the pope left him to his discretion; and the same rigid life he continued to his death. St. Charles constantly wore a rough hair shirt; took very little rest: and before great festivals passed the whole night in watching. When others advised him to allow more to the necessity of nature, he used to say, his uncle, John James of Medicis, a famous captain, and many other generals only slept a short time in a chair in the night: “and ought not a bishop who is engaged in a warfare against hell,” said he, “to do as much?” The saint only slept sitting in a chair, or lying down upon a rough bed in his clothes, till, at the earnest request of the bishops of his province, he consented to alter this custom. From which time he lay on a bed of straw, having for his pillow a sack filled with straw, without any other covering than a poor counterpane stuffed with straw, and two coarse sheets laid on a straw bed.

His patience in bearing cold and all other hardships he carried to a like excess. When one would have had a bed aired for him, he said with a smile: “The best way not to find the bed cold is to go colder to bed than the bed is.” The bishop of Asti, in his funeral oration, said of him: “Out of his revenues he expended nothing for his own use except what was necessary for buying a little bread and water for his diet, and straw for his bed. When I attended him in making a visitation in the valley Mesolcina, a very cold country, I found him studying in the night in a single black tattered old gown. I entreated him, if he would not perish with cold, to put on some better garment. He answered me smiling: ‘What will you say if I have no other? The robes which I am obliged to wear in the day belong to the dignity of cardinal: but this garment is my own, and I will have no other either for winter or summer.’ ” Out of the most scrupulous love of purity he would never suffer any servant to see his arm, or foot, or any other part of his body that was usually covered, bare; neither would he speak to any woman, not even to his pious aunt, or sisters, or any nun, but in sight at least of two persons, and in as few words as possible. Seeing one of his chaplains drink once out of meals, he severely chid him, saying: “It is better to suffer thirst than to gratify sensuality.” His austerities are not mentioned as imitable; yet ought to excite all to the constant practice of some mortification, in order to keep the senses in due subjection, and to make our lives a constant martyrdom of penance. But the essential mortification is that of the will and the passions, to which this exterior is a great help. How eminently St. Charles excelled herein appears by his humility, meekness, and entire disengagement from all earthly things. So deeply was he grounded in the knowledge and contempt of himself, that the highest honors which he enjoyed under his uncle made no impression upon his mind; he regarded them as burdens, and declined all except those which he was obliged to accept for the good of the church and the salvation of souls. In his undertakings he never suffered any thing to be ascribed to himself but faults. At Milan he removed out of his palace the fine sculptures, paintings, and hangings, and especially the arms of his family, which some had put up before his arrival: nor would he suffer his name, or the arms of his family, but only those of his bishopric, to be set up upon any edifices which he raised. Under his robes he wore a very poor garment which he called his own, and which was so mean, and usually so old and ragged, that once a beggar refused to accept of it. His servants he chiefly employed in other affairs, but did every thing for himself that he could, and it was his delight even to serve others: though he did this in such a manner as never to do any thing unbecoming his dignity, being sensible what he owed to his rank. The least shadow of praise or flattery was most hateful to him. All supernatural favors and interior graces and consolations which he received in prayer, he was most careful to conceal; and he had a little cell in the garrets of his palace at a distance from the chambers of others, to which he often retired. He never spoke of his own actions unless to ask advice or to condemn himself. It was an extreme pleasure to him to converse with, and to catechise the poor, which he did among the poor inhabitants of the wildest mountains. The bishop of Ferrara coming to meet him when he was occupied in the visitation of a poor valley, found him sick of an ague, lying on a coarse bed in a very poor cottage. At the sight, he was so struck as to be scarce able to speak. St. Charles perceiving his confusion, told him he was treated very well, and much better than he deserved. The accent with which he spoke this astonished the bishop much more than what he saw. If he was put in mind of any fault, he expressed the most sincere gratitude; and he gave a commission to two prudent and pious priests of his household to put him in mind of every thing they saw amiss in his actions, and he often begged that favor of strangers. The sweetness and gravity with which he reproved or exhorted others was the fruit of his sincere humility and charity. From his childhood mildness seemed to form his character, and even in his youth he seemed never to feel any emotion of anger against schoolfellows or others. This virtue was daily more and more perfected in him as he advanced in the victory over himself. The most atrocious injuries, even accusations sent to the king of Spain against him, and the blackest actions of ingratitude, never discomposed his mind: and defamatory libels published against him he burnt without reading them, or inquiring after the authors. A certain priest who took delight in finding fault with his actions he kept constantly in his family, treated him with the greatest regard, and in his will left him a pension for life upon his estate. The saint’s tongue was always the interpreter of his heart: his candor and sincerity appeared in all his words and transactions, and his promises were inviolable. The confidence which every one on this account reposed in him showed the incomparable advantage which a character of strict sincerity and veracity gives over lying and hypocrisy, which the saint could never bear in any one. He refused dispensations and grants which seemed unjust, with invincible firmness, but with so much sweetness as to make the parties themselves enter into his reasons. Thus when a lady of great quality desired leave to go into a monastery to see her daughter who lay dying, the saint represented to her, that such a visit would be a very short satisfaction; but that the edification of her example, in preferring the rule of enclosure, would be of great advantage to the church: in which the lady voluntarily acquiesced.

The management of his temporalities he left entirely to stewards of approved probity and experience, whose accounts he took once a-year. To inspire his clergy with the love of holy poverty he severely reproved even bishops who discovered a spirit of interestedness; and he used to repeat to them the prayer of St. Austin, who often begged of God that he would take from his heart the love of riches, which strangely withdraws a man from the love of God, and alienates his affections from spiritual exercises: certainly nothing can be baser in a minister of the altar, or more unworthy and more contrary to his character than that foul passion. When others told him he ought to have a garden at Milan to take the air in, his answer was, that the holy scriptures ought to be the garden of a bishop. If any spoke to him of fine palaces or gardens, he said, We ought to build and to think of eternal houses in heaven. When he came to reside at Milan, though his revenues when he left Rome amounted to above one hundred thousand crowns a-year, including his legations or governments, he reduced them to twenty thousand crowns, for he reserved nothing besides the income of his archbishopric, the pension which the king of Spain had granted him, and a pension upon his own estate. His other benefices he resigned, or converted into colleges and seminaries for the education of youth. He made over the marquisate of Romagonora to Frederic Ferrier his kinsman, and his other estates in the Milanese to his uncles the counts of Borromeo, those estates being feoffments or perpetual entails in the family, though his for life. The principality of Oria in the kingdom of Naples, which yielded him ten thousand ducats a-year for his life, he sold for forty thousand crowns: which sum was brought to his palace, according to the terms of the sale. But he could not bear the thought of a treasure lodged in a bishop’s house, and ordered his almoner to distribute the whole without delay among the poor and the hospitals. When the list which the almoner showed him for the distribution, amounted by mistake to forty-two thousand crowns, the saint said the mistake was too much to the advantage of the poor to be corrected: and the forty-two thousand crowns were accordingly distributed in one day. When the officers of king Philip II. seized the castle of Arona for the crown, in which a garrison was always kept, and which was the most honorable title of the family of Borromeo, and of the whole country, the saint could not be prevailed upon to send any remonstrances to the court, or to make interest to recover it. Upon the death of his brother Frederic, he caused the rich furniture, jewels, paintings, and other precious effects to be sold at Rome, Milan, and Venice, and the price which amounted to thirty thousand crowns, he gave to the poor. When he came first to reside at Milan, he sold plate and other effects to the value of thirty thousand crowns, and applied the whole sum for the relief of distressed families in that diocese. Count Frederic’s widow, Virginia of Rouera, left him by will a legacy of twenty thousand crowns; which he made over to the poor without touching a farthing of it. His chief almoner, who was a pious priest named Julius Petrucci, was ordered to give among the poor of Milan, of whom he kept an exact list, two hundred crowns a month, besides whatever extraordinary sums he should call upon the stewards for, which were very frequent, and so great that they were obliged to contract considerable debts to satisfy them, of which they often complained to St. Charles, but could not prevail with him to moderate his alms. The saint would never suffer any beggar to be dismissed without some alms, wherever he was.

Hospitality the saint looked upon as a bishop’s indispensable duty, and he was most obliging and liberal in entertaining princes, prelates, and strangers of all ranks, but often at the table at which his upper family ate all together, and without dainties or luxury; and he endeavored as much as possible to conceal his own abstemiousness; of which he would not suffer the least sign to be given or notice taken, every one being free to eat as he pleased at his table. His liberality appears in many monuments which yet remain at Rome, Milan, and in many parts of that diocese. The church of St. Praxedes at Rome, which gave him the title of cardinal, was magnificently repaired and almost rebuilt by him. He adorned the church of St. Mary Major, of which he was arch-priest. At Bologna, while he was legate there, he built the public schools in a stately and finished manner, with a beautiful fountain in the middle of the city. At Milan he did many things to adorn the metropolitical church, and built houses for all the canons of an admirable architecture, with a subterraneous passage for them to go to the church without being seen by any one; also a dwelling-place for the rest of the clergy of that church: and the archiepiscopal palace, chapel, prisons, and stables; the great seminary at Milan, and two other seminaries there: three more in other parts of the diocese: the convent of capuchins, (whom he established at Milan,) with apartments for his clergy to make retreats there, near one of his seminaries. He settled at Milan the Theatins; also the Jesuits, whose college of Brera he founded at Milan, and to whom he made over for the foundation of their novitiate, his abbey of St. Gratinian at Arona. It would be tedious to enumerate the pious settlements he made for his Oblats, and the churches, hospitals, and other public buildings which he repaired or adorned. The revenues of his archbishopric he divided into three parts, one of which was appropriated to his household, another to the poor, and the third to the reparation of churches: and the account of these revenues, to the last farthing, he laid before his provincial councils, saying he was no more than the administrator and steward. Though he tenderly loved his relations, he visited them only twice or thrice a-year; and if they sent him any recommendations he was more scrupulous and severe in examining the affairs or parties than in any others, fearing the danger of any bias upon his mind. He employed no clergyman of his kindred in the government of his diocese, and resigned none of the benefices which had been conferred on him in his youth to any of them. He indeed educated his cousin-german Frederic Borromeo in the college he had founded in Pavia, and he became one of the greatest ornaments of the church.*

The saint expressed always a particular joy when he found any opportunity of serving his enemies, or of returning good for evil. This watchfulness over his heart against all inordinate affections made him also watchful in his words, in which he was very sparing, and careful never to say anything superfluous. Fearing to mispend, or rob from the great obligations of his charge, one moment of his time, he laid it all out in serious employments; at table, or whilst his hair was cutting, he listened to some pious book that was read to him, or he dictated letters or instructions. When he fasted on bread and water, and dined in private, he ate and read at the same time, and on his knees when the book was the holy scripture; and, at the same time, his cheeks were often watered abundantly with his tears. After dinner he gave audience to his country vicars† and curates, instead of conversing. In his journeys he always either prayed or studied on the road, and in the regular distribution of his time allowed himself none for recreation, finding in the different employments of his charge both corporal exercise and relaxation of the mind sufficient for maintaining the vigor of the mind and health of body. He said, that “A bishop ought never to take a walk either alone or with others.” Certain persons telling him, that a very experienced and pious director said a person ought generally to allow himself seven hours for rest every night, he said bishops must be excepted from that rule. When some persons told him he ought to read some newspapers in order to be acquainted with certain public transactions, for his own conduct on certain occasions, and might spare now and then three or four minutes for this, he made answer, that a bishop ought totally to employ his mind and heart in meditating on the law of God: which he cannot do who fills his soul with the vain curiosities of the world: and he attends more easily to God who hears least of them. To make recreations an employ, or to give to them any considerable time, or to indulge an eagerness or passion after hearing news is a vicious and vain curiosity, sloth and dissipation of mind, most pernicious to the spirit of devotion, and particularly contrary to the gravity and sanctity of a clerical state. Motives of charity to ourselves or others may sanctify some small degree of such amusements or actions which St. Charles’s great dignity and authority allowed him the happy liberty of entirely retrenching, and practising in the world a virtue no less severe than that of the most austere penitential religious order.

It was a rule, which he inviolably observed, to go every morning to confession, before he said mass, and to make a spiritual retreat twice every year, in each of which he made a general confession for the time since his last spiritual exercises. After employing many hours on his knees in astonishing sentiments of compunction, he accused himself of the least failings and omissions with abundance of tears. His confessors at Milan were F. Francis Adorno, a very pious Jesuit, and an interior man whom he had invited from Genoa; under whose direction he most frequently made his retreats; but sometimes under F. Alexander Saulo, a Barnabite, (afterwards bishop of Pavia,) of whose virtue and prudence he had from experience the highest opinion. The first retreat and general confession which he made with this holy director in 1568, the saint ever after called his conversion to God: so great was the spiritual profit which he reaped from it. But St. Charles’s ordinary confessor was Mr. Gryffydh Roberts,* a Welshman, a canon and theologal of the great church. A priest, from once hearing the saint’s confession, might learn the most perfect lessons of his duties in all his actions: nor could those who had any acquaintance with his interior, sufficiently admire the purity of his conscience, the wonderful light with which he discerned the least failings, or the fervour of his compunction, and the sincerity of his humility, by which he esteemed himself the last of creatures, and of all others the most unfaithful and ungrateful to God. It happened once that in giving the holy communion at Brescia, by the fault of him who served at mass, he let the host fall: for which, in the deepest compunction and humiliation, he fasted most rigorously eight days, and abstained four days from saying mass. Except on this occasion he never omitted to say mass every day, even in his journeys, and greatest hurries of business, unless in extreme fits of illness, and then he at least received every day the holy communion. Out of respect and devotion to the adorable sacrifice he always kept a religious silence (unless some important business intervened) from the evening prayer and meditation till the next day after mass, and his long thanksgiving. He prepared himself to offer the sacrifice by the sacrament of penance, and by many vocal and mental prayers; and used to say that it was unbecoming a priest to apply his mind to any temporal business before that great duty.

He always recited the divine office on his knees with his head bare, and his soul seemed all the while absorbed in God. The better to fix his attention, he never said any part of it by heart, but read it all in the breviary: which practice he recommended to all his clergy. He never would be excused from any part of it in any sickness, how grievous soever, except the day before he died; and on that would have his chaplain recite it by him upon his knees, and attended to it with great devotion. He always said each part as near as might be to the canonical hour to which it corresponded; but on Sundays and holidays sung it all in choir in the great church, and passed there the greatest part of those days after the public office on his knees before a private altar. He had an extraordinary devotion to the Blessed Virgin, under whose patronage he put all his colleges: he had a singular devotion to St. Ambrose and the other saints of his church, and had a great veneration for holy relics. He carried always about him, among others in a gold cross, a particle of the true cross of Christ, and a small image of St. Ambrose. He always kept with great respect a little picture of bishop Fisher, who was put to death for his religion under Henry VIII., in England.* The passion of Christ was a constant object of his devotions and meditations. At Rome he frequently spent five hours together on his knees in the chapel of the holy pillar, in the church of St. Praxedes, and so in other places of devotion; sometimes whole days or nights. Having once passed the night in the church of St. Sebastian at the Catacombs, he spent the day following in that of St. Agnes. But what was most astonishing and edifying was the extraordinary exterior and interior recollection with which he prayed. His extreme care that neither persons nor business (unless in some pressing necessity) should interrupt or disturb him at that time, and his strict watchfulness over his eyes and all his senses, made it easy for his soul to remain totally absorbed in the divine presence: and condemned those, who, by neglecting these precautions, and the due preparation of their souls, present themselves before God rather to mock him than to pray. The foot of the altar was the centre of this saint’s delights, as he sometimes called it. When he was drawn away he left his heart there in desire to continue paying to God without interruption the homage of praise and love, and imploring his mercy. He never said any prayer, or performed any religious ceremony with precipitation, whatever business of importance he had upon his hands, how much soever he was pressed for time, or how long soever his functions continued, which was sometimes from morning till late in the night. In giving audience, and in the greatest hurry of exterior affairs, his very countenance, all his words, and his modesty, showed his mind to be perfectly recollected in God, the centre of his heart, his repose, strength, and comfort. From this spirit of prayer, and the ardent love of God which burned in his breast, his words infused a certain spiritual joy into others, gained their hearts, and kindled in them a strong desire of persevering in virtue, and cheerfully suffering all things for its sake. One word spoken by him frequently so animated slothful or desponding priests, that they counted labors their gain, and braved dangers without fear. St. Philip Neri testified that he once saw the saint’s countenance shining with a heavenly brightness. The practice of always walking in the divine presence he strongly recommended as the principal means of attaining to Christian virtue. To a gentleman who begged he would prescribe him the rules of advancing in piety, he gave this answer: “He who desires to make any progress in the service of God must begin every day of his life with new ardor, must keep himself in the presence of God as much as possible, and must have no other view or end in all his actions but the divine honor.”

The saint, who labored so strenuously for the sanctification of his own soul, began the reformation of his diocese by the regulation of his own family: including the vicars and the officers of their courts, it consisted of about a hundred persons, the greater part being clergymen whom he employed in his own affairs, and in those of his diocese. All the priests were obliged to go to confession once a week, the others at least once a month, and to communicate at the archbishop’s hands. The priests said mass every day: all assisted every day at regular prayers at night and morning, meditations, and pious reading: abstained from flesh all Wednesdays, and all Advent: fasted many vigils besides those of precept; and on fast-days had no regular collation; but those that called for it were allowed to take an ounce and a half of bread. No person in his family was ever to expect any benefice from him; so much did he dread the danger of simony stealing into any one’s intention in serving him. When one of them had obtained a small benefice from his grand vicar, St. Charles discharged him; though he had a good opinion of his learning and virtue, and afterwards recommended him to another bishop. All were allowed handsome salaries, and were strictly forbid to receive presents from any one. Idleness was banished his house, and those who at any time were not employed, were obliged to read the lives of saints or other pious books. St. Charles had about him persons of the greatest learning and piety, whose advice he took in all matters of moment: and he took no resolution of importance without having earnestly implored the light of heaven by his own and others’ prayers; whence his resolutions were most prudent and happy. His household was a most regular community, and all dined together in a common refectory. Out of the clergy that composed his family, twelve became eminent bishops, and many were employed by popes in quality of nuncios, and in other great posts in the government of the church. Ormanetto, his grand vicar, (who was afterwards bishop of Padua,) had two other assistants who were also grand vicars; for St. Charles established a vicariat, that things might be done with deliberation and counsel, which many other bishops imitated. He also appointed sixty foraneous or country vicars, (whose authority and commission was limited by particular mandates;) these were mostly the rural deans: they held frequent conferences, and inspected the behavior of the curates under their jurisdiction, admonished them of their faults, and, if necessary, informed the archbishop or vicar-general.

The diocese of Milan, when the saint arrived in it, with regard to ignorance and disorders, was in the most deplorable condition. The great truths of salvation were little known or understood, and religious practices were profaned by gross abuses, and disgraced by superstition. The sacraments were generally neglected, the priests scarce knew how to administer them, and were slothful, ignorant, and debauched; and the monasteries were full of disorder. St. Charles, by six provincial councils, and eleven diocesan synods, also by many pastoral instructions and mandates, made excellent regulations for the reformation of the manners both of the clergy and people, which all zealous pastors have since regarded as a finished model, and have studied to square their conduct by them. The first part of these, St. Charles collected into one volume in folio; which work, that his name might not be mentioned in it, he, out of humility, entitled the Acts of the Church of Milan. The rest were gathered into a second volume after his death.* Partly by the most tender and zealous entreaties and remonstrances, and partly by an inflexible firmness in the most rigorous execution of these most wholesome decrees, without favor, distinction of persons, or regard to rank or pretended privileges, the saint overcame the most obstinate, and broke through difficulties which would have daunted the most courageous. Preaching being the means established by God for the conversion of souls, and the principal obligation of a pastor, St. Charles applied himself to it with an unwearied zeal, though every thing in this function cost him much time and pains. A natural impediment in his speech seemed to disqualify him for it: yet this he overcame by much labor and attention.11 By his disputations and harangues in the Vatican palace he perfectly overcame a natural bashfulness and timidity, which at first gave him great difficulty. It was a more painful task still to break a custom of speaking his discourses too fast, and of conquering a thickness of speech, and other impediments. But his pains were at length crowned with incredible success. The composition also cost him a great deal of study; though an excellent judgment compensated this difficulty. That liveliness of genius, those sprightly thoughts, witty turns, and beautiful flowers, which we admire in the Basils and Chrysostoms, seemed not to be his talent. But zeal, sincere piety, and a thorough acquaintance with the lessons and motives of Christian virtue, could not fail to qualify him for this function. His sermons were solid and pathetic, and he spoke with a vehemence which strongly affects a soul, and with an unction which always penetrates the heart. While those preachers who tickle the ears with the harmonious turn of their periods were dry and barren, the saint’s sermons produced, wherever he came, infinite fruits among all ranks of people. He preached every Sunday and holiday, and often in his visitations two or three times a day. F. Charles Bascape assures us, that hearing him preach he was so strongly affected with the excellent things he said, and the holy energy with which he spoke them, that though he desired to take notice of the preacher and his manner of delivery, it was not in his power to do it; but, in spite of his endeavours, he forgot the sacred orator, being wholly transported and possessed with the great truths he preached; thought his longest sermons short, and was very sorry when he concluded his discourse, that it was over. Possevinus and others assure us of the same. The saint’s zeal in procuring that all children and others throughout his diocese should be perfectly instructed in the catechism or Christian doctrine, was fruitful in expedients to promote and perpetuate this most important duty of religion. Not content with strictly enjoining all parish priests to give public catechism every Sunday and holiday, he established everywhere, under admirable regulations, schools of the Christian doctrine, which amounted to the number of seven hundred and forty, in which were three thousand and forty catechists, and forty thousand and ninety-eight scholars, as Giussano testifies.

The congregation of regular clerks called Barnabites, in Milan, abounding at that time with spiritual and interior men, the saint conceived a particular esteem and affection for this order, and employed very much these good religious men in the most important spiritual functions. To supply his diocese with good pastors he founded many colleges and seminaries and with the same view instituted, in 1578, the congregation of secular priests, called Oblats of St. Ambrose, because they voluntarily offer themselves to the bishop, making a simple vow of obedience to him, and being ready at his discretion to be employed in any manner whatever in laboring for the salvation of souls.12 St. Charles made excellent regulations for their frequent conferences in all parts of the diocese under proper superiors, who assembled them together; also for their exercises, private conduct, and government. For their chief house he gave them the church of the Holy Sepulchre, with a convenient contiguous building, where a certain number always reside to be ready for any commission or emergency. Out of these Oblats he chose his ablest curates and vicars, and employed others in particular missions and other important services. His great seminary, which he had first committed to the care of the Jesuits, he took from them with their free consent, and put it in the hands of the Oblats. He associated several pious ladies of Milan in regular exercises of devotion and Christian perfection, by whose examples others were engaged to spend much time devoutly in churches, to assist at all the sermons they could, and to be always taken up with serious employments, and withdrawn from that fatal sloth and round of dangerous amusements which many seem to look upon as a privilege of their rank; as if this could make void the maxims of the gospel, or exempt any Christian from the obligation of his baptismal engagements. These sacred vows, made by every one at the font, St. Charles often inculcated, and induced persons to renew them frequently in a solemn manner with incredible fruit.

Immediately after his first provincial council he began the visitation of his diocese with the churches of Milan. Several monasteries, especially of nuns, that were subject to the superiors of their own order, refused to give him admission, and opposed the rules of reformation which he prescribed them. It cost him infinite trouble to effect his good designs amongst them; but no entreaties or interest could soften him, nor were dangers and difficulties which would have discouraged any other person, able to slacken his vigorous endeavors, which were at length crowned everywhere with success. Some nunneries which before were under the obedience of their order only, by special bulls which he procured, he subjected to the archiepiscopal jurisdiction. Every one of these undertakings was a work of time and much labor, and cost the holy prelate many prayers and tears. The reformation of his chapter was his first essay, and he established the divine service in the metropolitical church with the most edifying devotion, and in the utmost splendor, and obliged the canons to give constant attendance in the choir. The saint founded in it three new prebends, each of which proved singularly useful: the first was given to a theologian, who was to preach every Sunday, and to read lectures in divinity twice a week. The second to a penitentiary, whose business it was to absolve penitents from reserved cases, to be assiduous in hearing confessions, and to hold every week a meeting with four sub-penitentiaries that were under him, and with certain other able divines and canonists, in order to decide difficult cases upon which curates or others from all parts of the diocese should consult them. The third prebend, called the Doctoral, was bestowed on a doctor in laws, whose duty it was to instruct young clergymen in the canon law. St. Charles repaired the choir of the great church with great magnificence and decency, forbade any layman, of whatever rank, to come within the chancel during the divine office, removed the escutcheons of noble families and whatever was profane, and took care that all persons were hindered from making the churches a passage in going from one place to another.

In 1567, the saint had a contest with the officers of justice. Certain lay persons who lived in public adultery, or kept concubines, and could not be reclaimed by remonstrances, were imprisoned by his order. The senate threatened the sergeants of the archiepiscopal court for this action; and one of the king’s judges caused their barigel or provost to be apprehended, and punished in a public square with three strappados. The archbishop treated with the magistrates with great calmness and meekness; but, after much deliberation, declared the judge, the king’s fiscal, the notary, and jailer, excommunicated, for having seized and punished an officer of the ecclesiastical court. Philip II., to whom both parties made their complaint, ordered the affair to be left to the pope’s decision: to whom a senator was sent as deputy to plead the cause, and the duke of Albuquerque, governor of Milan, expressed an extreme displeasure at the treatment of the archbishop’s officer. In the mean time, St. Charles set out in October to perform the visitation of the three valleys of Levantine, Bregno, and Riparie, subject to the three Swiss cantons of Uri, Switz, and Underwald; for the see of Milan is extended in the Alps, as far as Mount St. Goddard’s. Not to give umbrage to the temporal sovereignties, he entreated each to send a deputy to accompany him through their territories, which they did in a very obliging manner. These valleys had been, as it were, abandoned by former archbishops, were full of disorders, and the priests there were more corrupt than the laity. The saint travelled through snows and torrents, and over rocks which were almost inaccessible, having iron spikes on his shoes to climb them, and suffering with joy, cold, hunger, thirst, and continual weariness. He preached and catechised everywhere, displaced the ignorant and scandalous priests, and put in their room others endowed with learning, zeal, and piety, who were capable of restoring the faith and morals of the people to their original purity. In some corners of his diocese the Zuinglian heresy had got footing; to them he made his way through incredible difficulties, reconciled many to the church, and settled all this northern part of his diocese in very good order. His method of making his visitation was as follows: he always travelled on horseback or on foot; had never more than six horses with him, and every one carried his own little necessaries on his own horse before him. He had no mules, but was followed by a horse loaded with a sack full of books. He called at no houses of noblemen or gentlemen, and lodged in those of the curates, how mean soever they were, often laying himself on some table, and yielding the beds to those that attended him. At dinner he would only allow a pottage, some fruit, and one dish of meat to be served up; though he never touched the meat himself, and in the last years of his life subsisted only on bread and water, which he took privately in his chamber, and did not make his appearance at table. Certain priests went before him to prepare the people to receive the holy communion, which he gave to all himself; he allowed himself no interval of repose from his functions except a short time in the night; and he inquired into the necessities, both corporal and spiritual, even of particular persons in every parish, took down some account of them, and afterwards would be informed how the evils he had observed had been remedied.

In 1568, he took in hand the reformation of the Humiliati, a religious order of which he was the protector. Their institute was founded by certain gentlemen of Milan, in 1134, who, with the consent of their wives, made religious vows. They adopted the rule of St. Bennet, with certain particular constitutions, and their order was approved by Innocent III., in 1200. In the beginning of the sixteenth century they fell into such relaxations, that in ninety monasteries they had only a hundred and seventy monks; the superiors, who were called provosts, spending the revenues and living at discretion. St. Charles procured two briefs from the pope, by which he was empowered to ordain and execute what he thought necessary for their reformation; and he published regulations for that purpose in a general chapter of the order which he assembled at Cremona. The monks received them willingly; but the provosts and lay brothers obstinately refused to submit to them. Our saint also assembled the Franciscans called Conventuals, in their convent at Milan, and published decrees for the reformation of certain abuses among them, for which he was authorized by pope Pius V. Upon hearing his new regulations, some of the friars got up, and, by their outrageous clamors and running to the bells, raised a furious uproar, threatening the cardinal himself if he proceeded.13 He therefore calmly withdrew for the present, but afterwards carried every point into execution, and united their several branches into one body. In many particular commissions of popes to reform abuses in distant cities or in religious bodies, he showed such prudence and disinterested piety and zeal as to seem rather an angel than a man. In 1568, he held a diocesan synod. His method was first to inform himself of the necessities of every part of his diocese by previous assemblies of sixty country vicars. The synod continued three days, in which he published several regulations, and preached to the curates twice every day, whom he always wonderfully inflamed with sincere piety, disinterested zeal, and ardent charity. In 1569, he assembled his second provincial council, and obliged a bishop of his province, who was a cardinal, and excused himself upon various pretences, to assist at it. On another occasion he obliged a bishop to come from an embassy, in which he was employed by his prince, to the council, and even to quit his secular embassy and reside in his diocese. Hearing that one of his suffragans had said in company that he had nothing to do, the saint sent to him a prefect of his household to represent to him the necessities of his flock and the obligations of his charge. The bishop answered him, coldly, that cardinal Borromeo required too much. The saint was extremely grieved at his insensibility and neglect, and wrote him a letter of several leaves, in which he summed up various obligations of the episcopal charge, repeating almost after each of them, “Shall a bishop ever say that he has nothing to do?” Hearing a cardinal, who was bishop of a small diocese, say it was too little to require constant residence, he found himself pierced to the quick, and strongly represented to his colleague that such is the price of one soul, as to deserve the residence and whole time of the greatest man in the world.

The tranquillity which St. Charles had for some time enjoyed, stirred up the malice of the enemy of souls, and the storms which were formerly raised against the saint were renewed with greater fury than ever, upon the following occasion. The collegiate church of St. Mary de la Scala, so called from the foundress, Beatrice de la Scala, wife of Barnaby Visconti, lord of Milan, enjoyed great privileges and exemptions, which had been obtained from the apostolic see by Francis Sforza II., duke of Milan, a munificent benefactor. The conduct of some of these canons not being conformable to their state, St. Charles consulted able canonists at Milan, and the pope himself, who all answered him that he had a right, in quality of archbishop, to make the visitation of this church, and, in case of misdemeanors to proceed against any of the clergy belonging to it. The archbishop therefore went to the church in solemnity to make a canonical visitation; but was thrust from the door by the canons, and the cross which was carried before him, and which in the tumult he had taken into his own hands, was shot at. One of their party caused a bell to be rung; then declared that the archbishop had incurred suspension and other censures for having violated the privileges of their church. The grand vicar upon the spot pronounced a sentence of excommunication against the authors of this insult; which the archbishop confirmed the next day in the great church, after having spent a long time in prayer at the foot of the altar. Most of the king’s judges and the senate warmly espoused the cause of these canons, and sent the most virulent invectives against the archbishop to the king of Spain, accusing him of ambition and high treason in invading the king’s rights, this church being under the royal patronage. The governor of Milan wrote to pope Pius V. in the strongest terms, threatening to banish the cardinal as a traitor. The pope answered him that nothing could be more glorious to the cardinal than to suffer banishment and death in the faithful discharge of his duty, and in laboring to exterminate vice and abuses from the sanctuary, and that the devil had stirred up this persecution to hinder the good effect of the archbishop’s zealous endeavors and upright intentions. Nevertheless, his holiness was very reserved in declaring in favor of the cardinal, and it is incredible how virulent and outrageous his enemies at Milan were in their invectives. The saint never spoke of any of them but with regard and tenderness; and in justifying his conduct to the pope and king of Spain, discovered his charity towards his persecutors. All this time he ceased not to pray and weep for them, and to beg of God that no resentment might find place in his heart. At length the king wrote to the governor, ordering him to repeal an edict which he had published injurious to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and to support the archbishop; saying he was much obliged to him for the trouble he took for the reformation of the canons of Scala, which undertaking he begged he would accomplish. Hereupon the governor was reconciled to the saint; and the provost of the canons, who had been the least guilty, begged and received absolution from his censures. The canons persisted some time obstinate; but at length submitted, and were absolved by the saint. The pope insisted that the most guilty persons, who had shot at the cross, should be punished in an exemplary manner; but by many earnest solicitations the saint at length obtained their pardon.

Before this affair was concluded by the king’s letter to the governor, an attempt was made upon the life of the saint, whose preservation was owing to a visible miracle. The Humiliati, among whom St. Charles had established a reform, employed the interest of princes and every other means to prevail upon the pope to annul the regulations which our saint had made for their order, but in vain. In the rage of their despair, three provosts of that order entered into a diabolical conspiracy to murder the archbishop, and drew some others into the plot. To such excess of phrensy and malice do passions which are not restrained, lead men. A priest of the same order, named La Farina, engaged for a sum of money to execute this horrid design, imagining that the suspicion would rather fall upon some of the king’s officers who were then at variance with the prelate. On the 26th of October, 1569, the villain found means to post himself at the door of the chapel in the archbishop’s palace, while the prelate with his family was at his devotions, which lasted an hour every evening, from six to seven o’clock. An anthem was then singing at these words, Non turbetur cor meum neque formidet, and the prelate was upon his knees, before the altar, when the assassin, who was not above five or six paces from him, discharged at him a blunderbuss, with a large bullet. At the report the music ceased, and every one got up in the utmost consternation; but the saint, without stirring from his place, made them a sign to kneel down again, and finished his prayer with the same sweetness and tranquillity in his countenance as if nothing had happened. This gave the murderer an opportunity of escaping. St. Charles, imagining himself mortally wounded, lifting up his hands and eyes to God, offered his life to him. But after the prayer was finished, rising up, he found that the ball had only struck upon his rochet, near the middle vertebr of the back, and, leaving a mark upon the rochet, had fallen down at his feet. Some small shot had pierced his clothes, but stopped at his skin: and his cassock was pierced with small shot in several places. When he was retired to his chamber, and the part that was struck examined, a light bruise was discovered with a small swelling on the skin, which mark continued even after his death. At the same time that he was wounded, some small shot penetrated a table of hard wood, as thick as a finger, that was close by him, and struck the wall with a great force and noise.14 The duke of Albuquerque, governor of Milan, came immediately to see the saint, and earnestly begged that he might be allowed to make a search in his family, and examine his servants, in order to discover the author of so black an attempt; but to this St. Charles would never consent. After a solemn thanksgiving to God and a procession, he shut himself up for some days in the chartreuse of Carignan, to consecrate his life anew to God. The world knew not which to call the greater miracle, his serenity of mind under such an accident, or his wonderful preservation, by which all pastors were taught not to fear the world in the discharge of their pastoral duties. St. Charles’s rochet became a proverb in Italy for a thing impenetrable. It is preserved at the chartreuse at Bourdeaux; and the ball in the church of the Oblats at Milan. Some of the Humiliati discovered enough to St. Charles for him to trace the crime to its authors; but he never disclosed it; and always answered with simplicity that so many had taken offence at his regulations, that it was not possible to know who had carried their resentment so far. Certain words which some persons of that order let fall, gave suspicions to the public, so that they were examined, and the four authors convicted. They all confessed the crime with marks of sincere repentance; two provosts who were of noble families were beheaded; the third provost and the assassin were hanged, though St. Charles did every thing in his power that their lives might be spared, and took care of their relations. The punishment of a fifth, who was only condemned to the galleys, was mitigated, to content the saint in some measure, and he was confined for some time in a monastery, and afterwards set at liberty. In execration of this crime pope Pius V. abolished the order of the Humiliati, applying their revenues to other pious uses, notwithstanding the intercession which St. Charles made in their favor. It never appeared more clearly than under these dangers and persecutions, how much this great saint was beloved by his people, and reverenced by princes and the whole church. Nor did it seem possible that an Ignatius or a Chrysostom could love their flocks with a more tender and ardent affection than St. Charles did the people of his diocese, for whose sake all labors and dangers were sweet: and he looked upon it as nothing to lay down his life to procure them the least spiritual advantage, as the whole tenor of his conduct showed.

Before the execution of the assassins he returned to three valleys of his diocese situated in the Alps, and took that opportunity of paying a visit to the states of each of the Catholic cantons, whose breasts he by his exhortations warmed with an ardent love of virtue and zeal against all disorders which are a scandal to religion. The harvest having failed in 1569, the country was afflicted the following year with great scarcity: under which calamity St. Charles, by his care and immense charities, procured abundant supplies for the relief of the poor throughout his whole diocese. That year he assisted the duke of Albuquerque at his death; and at length succeeded in almost abolishing the disorders of the Carnival or Shrovetide, and turning the attention of the people to religious processions, prayer, and compunction at that season. To extirpate the custom of profaning the holy name of God, or sentences of the holy scripture, the saint armed himself with all his zeal, and had recourse to various pious institutions. Upon the death of St. Pius V. in 1572, St. Charles concurred strenuously to the election of cardinal Buoncampagno, who took the name of Gregory XIII., is famous for the institution of many colleges, for the propagation of the faith, and surpassed, if possible, his two predecessors in his esteem for our saint, whom he detained some time at Rome to take his advice; and he appointed him apostolic visitor of the dioceses of all his suffragans. In 1575, St. Charles went to Rome with the most edifying devotion to gain the jubilee, and, in the following year, opened it at Milan. With all his zeal, he was not able to hinder the exhibition of profane diversions of tilts and tournaments, that very year. While the people were taken up in them he clearly foretold the plague, which broke out before they were over. The news of this calamity reached the saint at Lodi, whither he was gone to assist the bishop of that see at his death, as it was his custom to do towards all his suffragans. The governor fled to Vigevano, and all the rest of the nobility left the town. St. Charles made haste thither, visited the pesthouse whither the infected were sent by the magistrates, and provided both the sick and the poor with every succor spiritual and corporal. According to his custom in all difficulties, he consulted his vicars and canonists, whether he was obliged to remain with the infected, or to withdraw to some other part of his diocese. They answered him with warm solicitations in the negative, entreating him not to expose his life, which was at that time of infinite importance, both to the sick and to those parts of his diocese which were not visited with that calamity. But St. Charles proved to them that a pastor, who is obliged to lay down his life for his flock, must not abandon them in the time of danger. All granted this was the more perfect. And is not a bishop, said the saint, obliged to choose what is most perfect? Sin being the cause of scourges, he strongly exhorted the people to have recourse to the divine mercy by humble penance, and he redoubled his prayers and austerities. In three general processions he walked barefoot, having on a purple cope, as in times of penance, with a halter about his neck, and a crucifix in his hands, from which he seemed never to turn his eyes, which were drowned in tears. Thus he offered himself a victim for the sins of the people. He preached almost every day, and never ceased admonishing his fellow-laborers to contemn life in such a cause, himself exhorting the sick and administering the sacraments. For the relief of those that were destitute, he melted down all his plate, and gave all his furniture, even the straw bed on which he lay, taking his rest on the boards. The number of priests chiefly of his own clergy, whom he at first appointed to attend the sick, not being sufficient, he assembled the superiors of the religious communities, and begging their concurrence, made them a most pathetic discourse, in which he shows how great a happiness it was for any to lose their lives (which are always uncertain and short) in such a cause of the most noble charity, though the danger was not so great as was commonly imagined, and they were under the divine protection.15 Such was the effect of this zealous discourse, that about twenty-eight priests immediately presented themselves out of that body, and the saint allotted to them their diet and lodgings in his own palace. The magistrates found fault with his numerous processions and assemblies of devotion, for fear of spreading the contagion. The saint justified his conduct by the example of St. Gregory, St. Mammertus, and other great prelates, alleged, that all human remedies failing, it was more necessary to have recourse to those which are divine, and assured them that those devotions, far from increasing, would remove the calamity; which seemed a prophecy: for though fourscore died in the procession which St. Gregory made, no one catched the infection in those of St. Charles, nor any one of those that attended him in his visits of the sick: only two of his family died, who never went to the infected houses. So abandoned to iniquity were some persons, that this scourge itself was not able to reclaim them. Persuading themselves that mirth, jollity, pleasure, and high living, were the best means to preserve them from the contagion, they lived together in a pleasant row of houses near the town, in debauchery and intemperance, and despised the serious admonitions of their holy pastor; but they were more severely visited with the pestilence than any other part, so that not one of their houses escaped it. This dreadful distemper, after raging four months, began to abate in November, and quite ceased about the beginning of the ensuing year. The saint appointed a public solemn thanksgiving, and three days’ prayer for such as had died during the pestilence. The two governors who had succeeded Albuquerque gave the saint much to suffer, chiefly on account of his abolishing the extravagances of Shrovetide, and of the first Sunday in Lent; and, on account of the processions he had made during the pestilence; to which they were stirred up by incorrigible sinners, and persons who were enemies to all reformation of manners, as Giussano shows at large.16 After the death of the latter of these governors, in 1580, the king of Spain did the saint justice, and pope Gregory XIII., full of admiration at the wisdom and apostolic spirit which appeared in his whole conduct, approved of all his regulations, and commended his zeal; also the duke of Terra Nuova, the fourth governor of Milan, from the time of our saint’s promotion, lived constantly in good intelligence with the saint, and often assisted at his sermons.

St. Charles made twice the visitation of his whole diocese, and once of his province: he took a journey into the Valteline, and into the country of the Grisons, where he animated the Catholics to the practice of piety, and converted many Zuinglianists. The diocese of Milan is filled with monuments of his charity and zeal, and in that city itself he founded a convent of Capuchinesses, (in which a daughter of his uncle, John Baptist Borromeo, embraced that austere order, and died in the odor of sanctity,) one of Ursulines, for the instruction of poor girls, who were educated there gratis; an hospital for beggars, into which all the poor were received; another of Convalescents who were dismissed out of the great hospital, &c. After he had established the college of the Jesuits at Milan, in which grammar, philosophy, and theology are taught, he committed a college which he founded for the Switzers, his six seminaries, (three in the city, and three in other parts of his diocese,) and all the other houses which he instituted, to the care of his Oblats; except a house at Pavia, which he gave to the regular clerks of Somascha, so called from a place of that name between Bergamo and Milan, where their founder, St. Jerom miliani, a nobleman of Venice, established their chief seminary.17 Though the saint preferred public and general duties, as preaching, to those which regarded only private persons; yet he spent much time in the direction of particulars, in which his prudence was most remarkable. He was very severe in examining, and much upon his guard in believing visions and ecstasies, especially in women, whose imagination is easily susceptible of impressions: on such occasions, he recommended the practice of humility and solid virtues. When a young woman in Milan, who was one of those who, making a vow of chastity, are called Devotes, (in Italy Beates,) was much spoken of on account of extraordinary favors which it was pretended she had received from God; though F. Adorno, who examined her, judged them real, the saint would not be prevailed upon by any entreaties so much as to go to see her, but ordered her to be shut up in a nunnery, sufficiently testifying that he looked upon the whole as an illusion; as was made manifest some time after the saint’s death. He was no less strict in the scrutiny of miracles and relics, and exploded all those that were not authentic; but visited other holy relics with singular devotion, and translated and adorned the shrines of many saints. It was to him, as he often expressed, a singular pleasure to assist dying persons. In 1583, hearing the duke of Savoy was fallen sick at Vercelli, and given over by his physicians, he posted thither, and found him, as it was thought, at the last gasp. The duke seeing him come into his chamber, cried out: “I am cured.” The saint gave him the holy communion the next day, and ordered the forty hours’ prayer for his recovery. The duke was restored to his health, as he was persuaded by the prayers of St. Charles, and after the saint’s death, sent a silver lamp to be hung up at his tomb in memory of this benefit.

For closer solitude St. Charles sometimes used to make his retreats at Camaldoli and other places; but none seemed so agreeable to his devotion as Mount Varalli, situate in the diocese of Novara, upon the borders of Switzerland, a famous place of devotion to the sufferings of Christ, the mysteries of which are curiously carved in thirty-eight chapels of good architecture, besides the great church, which is served by Franciscans. Thither St. Charles went in 1584, to make his annual retreat and confession having with him F. Adorno, who proposed to him the points of his meditations. He had before clearly foretold to several persons that he should not remain long with them; and in this retreat redoubled his fervour in his austerities and devotions, and seemed more than ordinarily absorbed in God, and disengaged from his body, and all earthly ties. The abundance of his tears obliged him often to stop in saying mass; and a bishop deposed, that he saw his countenance one day at the altar darting a ray of bright light, which seemed to proceed from that interior light which filled his soul, and to be a presage of that glory with which he was going to be crowned. He spent most time in the chapel, called, Of the prayer in the garden, and in that, Of our Redeemer in the sepulchre; endeavoring to put himself in a state of death with him, by a perfect renunciation of all sentiments and thoughts of self-love; and praying that whatever remained in him of the life of Adam, might be entirely destroyed by the death of the Son of God. On the 24th of October, he was taken ill of a tertian ague; but concealed it: on the 26th he had a second fit, and by the order of F. Adorno, abridged the hours of his prayers, had a little straw laid on the boards on which he lay, and took a panado, suffering the bread to be toasted, which he ate with water, but would not use any salt or butter. On the fifth day of his retreat he spent eight hours on his knees with such fervor and compunction, that he could not be persuaded he had been near so long; after this he made his annual confession, and the next day, it being the 29th of October, he went to Arona, and there alighted at the curate’s according to his custom, not at the palace, which had been seized by the governors, but was afterwards restored to him without his solicitations. Having taken a mess of panado he went, though it was night, across the lake to Ascona, to finish the foundation of a college there, though the plague was then in that town. He took a little rest in the boat, and dispatched his business the next morning; he returned by water to Conobbio, though in a fit of the ague. The next day he went to Arona; but it being the eve of All-Saints, fasted as usual; except that he took the drugs prescribed him by his physician. His cousin Renatus Borromeo could not induce him to lodge at the castle, but he lay at the Jesuits, and rested well that night, and rose to his prayers at two in the morning. After his confession he said mass at seven: his physicians persuaded him not to set out, that being the day of the return of his ague, and they ordered him to drink a great quantity of ptisan. He obeyed them; but the ptisan had a contrary effect to what they expected, it being too strong for a constitution accustomed to no other fare than bread and water, or pulse. His ptisan and drugs were to him cordials, instead of coolers, and his fever was much increased by them, so that it became from that time continued, and never after left him.

On All-Souls-day he arrived at Milan in a liter, called in the ablest physicians, and gave himself up to their direction, which he scrupulously followed in every point. They declared his distemper very dangerous; but the next day, finding his fever much abated, had great hopes of his recovery. The saint gave no signs of joy at this news, and continued his pious exercises, chiefly on the passion of Christ, sometimes by himself, sometimes with F. Adorno, F. charles Bascape, and other devout persons. In the next paroxysm of his fever the physicians found the state of his health desperate: he received the news with a surprising serenity, received the viaticum and extreme unction with great devotion, and with these words, Ecce venio, Behold I come, expired in the first part of the night between the 3d and 4th of November. He left by his will his plate to his cathedral, his library to his canons, and his manuscripts to the bishop of Vercelli, and declared the general hospital his heir. His funeral he ordered to be made as privately as might be, and chose for his burial-place a vault near the choir, with this inscription, which remains there to there to this day, in a small marble stone; “Charles, cardinal of the title of St. Praxedes, archbishop of Milan, desiring to be recommended to the frequent prayers of the clergy, people, and the devout sex, living, chose for himself this monument.” There follows this addition: “He lived forty-six years, one month, and one day; governed this church twenty-four years, eight months, twenty-four days, and died November the 4th, in 1584.” F. Adorno soon after his departure in a slumber, saw him in great light and glory, and the saint said to him: “I am happy; you will soon follow me.” This F. Adorno told several friends with great comfort, and once affirmed it publicly in a sermon. He returned to Genoa. his own country, and died there very soon after in the odour of sanctity.18 Several instantaneous miraculous cures were wrought by this saint’s relics and intercession.19 In 1601, the venerable cardinal Baronius, confessor to Clement VIII., sent to the clergy of Milan an order of his holiness, to change the anniversary mass de Requiem, which the saint had founded to perpetuity in the great hospital, into a mass of the saint: and St. Charles was solemnly canonized by Paul V. in 1610. His sacred remains are now deposited in a rich subterraneous chapel just under the cupola in the great church, and laid in a crystal shrine of an immense value. The altar in this chapel is of solid silver; plates of silver cover the walls of a considerable part of the vault, and a great number of large silver and gold lamps burn there night and day, not to mention the great images and other donaries of gold and silver, with which this chapel is filled by the devotion of many distant princes, cardinals, and bishops. Besides the richest vestments and like ornaments, Giussano tells us that in eight years the donaries here amounted to above the value of one hundred and fifty thousand crowns of gold.20 Thus is he honored on earth who despised the whole world for Christ.

St. Charles was raised by God to revive an ecclesiastical spirit in the clergy. Priests are called by our Blessed Redeemer the salt of the earth. Through them the world is to be seasoned, as it were, with the Christian spirit of perfect humility, meekness, patience, charity, devotion, and contempt of the world. How can they infuse these virtues into others who are themselves unacquainted with this spirit? For this, much more is required than barely to know the names of virtues. To be disengaged from the world, and dead to themselves; to love retirement, and to be always employed in the business of their heavenly Father, is the characteristic of the ministers of the altar. Such were the pastors who formed so many saints. The reformation of the manners of the people depends very much upon that of the clergy. Judgment must begin from the house of God.21 A clergyman is one separated from the people, as his name and office imply; separated not only in his education and ministry, but, in some degree, in his life and conversation. How much soever he is filled with the spirit of his profession, this will be soon extinguished, and the contagion of the world or love of vanity, pleasure, riches, and honor, insensibly contracted by too great familiarity with it. It shall be as with the people, so with the priest.22

NOVEMBER 4 — SS. VITALIS AND AGRICOLA, MM

St. Ambrose informs us that Agricola was a gentleman of Bologna, whose behavior in the world had engaged the affection of the idolaters amongst whom he lived. Vitalis, his slave, learned from him the Christian religion, and first received the crown; for the servant and the freeman are one and the same thing in Christ, nor is there any difference from their condition in their reward. They were both seized, probably in the year 304, and Vitalis first put to the torture. He ceased not to praise God so long as he had the use of his tongue; and seeing no part of his body left which was not covered with wounds and blood, he prayed Jesus Christ to receive his soul, and to bestow on him that crown which his angel had shown him. His prayer was no sooner ended than he gave up the ghost. Agricola’s execution was deferred out of a cruel compassion, that time and the sight of the sufferings of his faithful servant might daunt his resolution. But he was animated and encouraged by such an example. Whereupon the affection of the judges and people was converted into fury; and the martyr was hung on a cross, and his body pierced with so many huge nails that the number of his wounds surpassed that of his limbs. The bodies of the martyrs were laid in the burial-place of the Jews. St. Ambrose flying from the arms of the tyrant Eugenius, came to Bologna in 393, and there discovered these relics. He took to himself some of the blood that was found in the bottom of the grave, and the cross and nails which were the instruments of Agricola’s martyrdom. Juliana, a devout widow of Florence, invited him to dedicate a church she had built in that city, and begged of him this treasure, which he was not able to refuse her, and the value of which he much extols to her three daughters, bidding them receive with respect these presents of salvation, which were laid under the altar. See St. Ambrose, Exhort. ad Virginit. c. 1, 2; St. Gregory of Tours,1. de Glor. Mart. c. 44.

NOVEMBER 4 — ST. JOANNICIUS, ABBOT

This saint, by holy penance after a dissolute youth, arrived at so eminent a degree of sanctity, as to be ranked by the Greek church amongst the most illustrious saints of the monastic order. He was a native of Bithynia, and a hog-driver; afterwards he rode in the guards of Constantine Copronymus, or at least of his son and successor Leo IV., surnamed Chazares, and was distinguished by a robust constitution, big stature, intrepid courage, and many military exploits, but was carried away with the torrent of the times, and became a violent persecutor of holy images. By the conversation of a holy monk in the reign of the Catholic empress Irene, he was reclaimed from his error and dissolute life, and, touched with compunction, spent his time in tears, fasting, and prayer for six years, during which he continued in the army. These sentiments making every day deeper wounds in his heart, at forty years of age he quitted the service, and retiring to Mount Olympus in Bithynia, near Prusa, lived in several monasteries till he had learned to read, and to recite the psalter by heart, and had instructed and exercised himself in all the duties of a monastic life. His prayer was continual; and he had always a devout aspiration in his mouth, which he called the seasoning of his heart. He afterwards led an eremitical life for twelve years: then took the religious habit in the monastery of Ereste, and became famous over all the East for the gifts of miracles and prophecy, and for his heavenly prudence in directing others in the paths of perfect virtue. He zealously defended the use which the church makes of holy images, in the persecuting reigns of Leo the Armenian, and Theophilus; and had a share in the triumph of the truth, when the pious empress Theodora restored holy images. In his old age he built himself a cell near his monastery on mount Antides, and in this retirement prepared himself for his passage to eternity, which happened in 845. Three days before his death he received a visit from the patriarch St. Methodias. Some make him a hundred and sixteen years old at his death; others ninety-four, and others only eighty-one. See his life in Surius, which Baronius and Baillet ascribe to Metaphrastes; but Pagi to some anonymous author. Papebroke (in Ephrem. Gr. Mosch.) promises more authentic memoirs of this saint from Sabas and Peter, both monks of his community. See Lambecius, t. 8, p. 266.

NOVEMBER 4 — ST. CLARUS, M

This saint was an Englishman by birth, of very noble extraction, was ordained priest, and leaving his own country led many years an angelical life in the county of Vexin in France. He often preached the truths of salvation to the inhabitants, and died a martyr of chastity, being murdered by two ruffians, employed by an impious and lewd lady of quality, about the year 894. He is named in the Roman and Gallican Martyrologies, and honored with singular veneration in the dioceses of Rouen, Beauvais, and Paris. The village where he suffered martyrdom, situate upon the river Epte, (which separates the Norman and French Vexins,) nine leagues from Pontoise, and twelve from Rouen, bears his name, and is become a considerable town by the devotion of the people to this saint. His rich shrine is resorted to by crowds of pilgrims, who also visit a hermitage which stands upon the spot which was watered with his blood near the town. Another town in the diocese of Coutances in Normandy, which is said also to have been sanctified by his dwelling there before he retired to the Epte, is called by his name St. Clair. See his acts in Capgrave; Saussaye; Moutier, Neustria pia; and Trigan, Hist. Eccles. de Norm. t. 2, p. 201.

NOVEMBER 4 — ST. BRINSTAN, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER

Was raised for his eminent sanctity to that see in 931, on the resignation of the pious bishop Trithestan, who died the following year. It was his daily custom to wash the feet of a number of poor whom he served at table; he also every day said mass, and at night repeated the psalms for the faithful departed. He died the 4th of Nov. 934. See Malmesb. de Pontif.1. 2, p. 242; Godwin, de Ep. Ang., &c.

NOVEMBER 5 — ST. BERTILLE, ABBESS OF CHELLES

From her life written soon after her death in Mabillon, Act. Ben. t. 3, p. 21; Du Plessis, Hist. de Meaux,1. 1, n. 47, 48, 50.

A. D. 692.

ST. BERTILLE was born of one of the most illustrious families in the territory of Soissons, in the reign of Dagobert I., and by her piety acquired the true nobility of the children of God. From her infancy she preferred the love of God to that of creatures, shunned as much as possible the company and amusements of the world, and employed her time in serious duties, and chiefly in holy prayer. As she grew up, by relishing daily more and more the sweetness of conversing with God, she learned perfectly to despise the world, and earnestly desired to renounce it. Not daring to discover this inclination to her parents, she first opened herself to St. Oen, by whom she was encouraged in her resolution; but they both took some time to pray the Father of lights that he would guide her according to his holy will, and manifest by what spirit she was directed; knowing that every impulse is not from the Holy Ghost. Self-love early disguises itself in every shape, and the devil often transforms himself into an angel of light. Not to be deceived through precipitation and rashness, in so important a choice as that of a state of life, impartial advice, prayer, careful self-examination and mature deliberation are necessary. These means having been employed, the saint’s parents were made acquainted with her desire, which God inclined them not to oppose. They conducted her to Jouarre, a great monastery in Brie, four leagues from Meaux, founded not long before, about the year 630, by Ado, the elder brother of St. Oen, who took the monastic habit there with many other young noblemen, and established a nunnery in the neighborhood, which became the principal house.* St. Thelchildes, a virgin of noble descent, who seems to have been educated or first professed in the monastery of Faremoutier, was the first abbess of Jouarre, and governed that house till about the year 660. By her and her religious community St. Bertille was received with great joy and trained up in the strictest practice of monastic perfection. Our saint looking upon this solitude as a secure harbor, never ceased to return thanks to God for his infinite mercy in having drawn her out of the tempestuous ocean of the world; but was persuaded she could never deserve to become the spouse of Jesus Christ, unless she endeavored to follow him in the path of humiliation and self-denial. By her perfect submission to all her sisters she seemed every one’s servant, and in her whole conduct was a model of humility, obedience, regularity, and devotion. Though she was yet young, her prudence and virtue appeared consummate, and the care of entertaining strangers, of the sick, and of the children that were educated in the monastery, was successively committed to her. In all these employments she had acquitted herself with great charity and edification when she was chosen prioress to assist the abbess in her administration. In this office, her tender devotion, her habitual sense of the divine presence, and her other virtues shone forth with new lustre, and had a wonderful influence in the direction of the whole community. Every one, by her example, was ashamed to fail in any part of the practice of the like devotion, or in the most punctual and scrupulous observance of the least rule of monastic discipline.

When St. Bathildes, wife of Clovis II., munificently refounded the abbey of Chelles, which St. Clotildis had instituted near the Marne, four leagues from Paris,† she desired St. Thelchildes to furnish this new community with a small colony of the most experienced and virtuous nuns of Jouarre, who might direct the novices in the rule of monastic perfection. Bertille was sent at the head of this holy company, and was appointed first abbess of Chelles, in 646, or thereabouts.‡ The reputation of the sanctity and prudence of our saint, and the excellent discipline which she established in this house, drew several foreign princesses thither. Among others Bede mentions Hereswith, queen of the East-Angles. She was daughter of Hereric, brother, or brother-in-law, to St. Edwin, king of Northumberland, and married the religious king Annas, with whose consent she renounced the world, and passing into France in 646, became a nun at Chelles, and there happily finished her earthly pilgrimage. In Wilson’s English Martyrology she is placed among the saints on the 20th of September. Queen Bathildes, after the death of her husband, in 655, was left regent of the kingdom during the minority of her son Clotaire III., but as soon as he was of age to govern, in 665, she retired hither, took the religious habit from the hands of St. Bertille, obeyed her as if she had been the last sister in the house, and passed to the glory of the angels in 680. In this numerous family of holy queens, princesses, and virgins, no contests arose but those of humility and charity; no strife was ever known but who should first submit, or humble herself lowest, and who should outdo the rest in meekness, devotion, penance, and in all the exercises of monastic discipline. The holy abbess, who saw two great queens every day at her feet, seemed the most humble and the most fervent among her sisters, and showed by her conduct that no one commands well or with safety who has not first learned, and is not always ready, to obey well. This humble disposition of soul extinguishes pride and removes the fatal pleasure of power which that vice inspires, and which is the seed of tyranny, the worst corruption of the human heart. This virtue alone makes command sweet and amiable in its very severity, and renders us patient and firm in every observance and duty. St. Bertille governed this great monastery for the space of forty-six years with equal vigor and discretion. In her old age, far from abating her fervor, she strove daily to redouble it both in her penances and in her devotions; as the courser exerts himself with fresh vigor when he sees himself almost touching the goal, or as the laborer makes the strongest efforts in his last strokes to finish well his task. In these holy dispositions of fervor the saint closed her penitential life in 692.

One who has truly in spirit renounced the world, sees its figure pass before his eyes, contemns the smoke of its enjoyments, shudders at the tragical scenes of its ambition, dreads its snares, and abhors its cheating promises, magnificent impostures, and poisonous pleasures by which it ceases not to enchant many unhappy souls. With the security and tranquillity of a man who is in the harbor, he beholds the boisterous raging and the violent tossings of this tempestuous sea, in the midst of which the unhappy Egyptians struggle against the fury of the waves, and after toiling for some time sink on a sudden one after another, and are buried in the abyss. Those only escape this ruin whose souls soar above it, so that their affections are no way entangled or engaged.

NOVEMBER 6 — ST. LEONARD, HERMIT, C

His life published in Surius was written a considerable time after his death. Baronius in his notes on the Martyrology, mentions another life of this saint which he saw in manuscript. Several ancient monuments mention him.

Sixth Age

ST. LEONARD, or LIENARD, was a French nobleman of great reputation in the court of Clovis I., and in the flower of his age was converted to the faith by St. Remigius, probably after the battle of Tolbiac. Being instructed in the obligations of our heavenly warfare, wherein the prize of the victory is an assured crown of immortal glory, he resolved to lay aside all worldly pursuits, quitted the court, and became a constant disciple of St. Remigius. The holy instructions and example of that saint made every day deeper impressions upon his tender soul, and Leonard seemed to have inherited the very spirit of his master, and to be animated with the same simplicity, disinterestedness, modesty, zeal, and charity. He preached the faith some time; but finding it very difficult to resist the king’s importunities, who would needs call him to court, and, burning with a desire of giving himself up entirely to the exercises of penance and contemplation, he retired privately into the territory of Orleans, where St. Mesmin or Maximin governed the monastery of Micy, (called afterwards St. Mesmin’s,) which his uncle St. Euspicius had founded, two leagues from the city, in 508. In this house St. Leonard took the religious habit, and inured himself to the fervent practices of regular discipline, under the direction of St. Mesmin, and of St. Lie or Ltus, a holy monk of that house, who afterwards died a hermit. St. Lifard, brother to our saint, who had renounced the world in the fortieth year of his age, laid the foundation of a religious community at Meun, in that country, which is at present a collegiate church of canons which bears his name.

St. Leonard himself aspiring after a closer solitude, with the leave of St. Mesmin left his monastery, travelled through Berry, where he converted many idolaters, and coming into Limousin, chose for his retirement a forest, four leagues from Limoges. Here, in a place called Nobiliac, he built himself an oratory, lived on wild herbs and fruits, and had for some time no other witness of his penance and virtues but God alone. His zeal and devotion sometimes carried him to the neighboring churches, and some who by his discourses were inflamed with a desire of imitating his manner of life joined him in his desert, and formed a community which, in succeeding times, out of devotion to the saint’s memory, became a flourishing monastery, called first Noblat, afterwards St. Leonard le Noblat. The reputation of his sanctity and miracles being spread very wide, the king bestowed on him and his fellow-hermits a considerable part of the forest where they lived. The saint, even before he retired to Micy, had been most remarkable for his charity towards captives and prisoners, and he laid himself out with unwearied zeal in affording them both corporal and spiritual help and comfort, and he obtained of the governors the liberty of many. This was also the favorite object of his charity after he had discovered himself to the world in Limousin, and began to make frequent excursions to preach and instruct the people of that country. It is related that some were miraculously delivered from their chains by his prayers, and that the king, out of respect for his eminent sanctity, granted him a special privilege of sometimes setting prisoners at liberty, which about that time was frequently allowed to certain holy bishops and others. But the saint’s chief aim and endeavors in this charitable employment, were to bring malefactors and all persons who fell under this affliction, to a true sense of the enormity of their sins, and to a sincere spirit of compunction and penance, and a perfect reformation of their lives. When he had filled up the measure of his good works, his labors were crowned with a happy death about the year 559, according to the new Paris Breviary. In honor of the saint, his church, which has been long served by regular canons, (though new half the number is secularized,) enjoys still great exemptions from public burdens and exactions. Many other places in France bear his name, and he is honored there with particular devotion. Many great churches in England, of which he is the titular saint, and our ancient calendars, show his name to have been formerly no less famous in England. In a list of holidays published at Worcester, in 1240, St. Leonard’s festival is ordered to be kept a half-holyday, with an obligation of hearing mass, and a prohibition of labor except that of the plough.1 He was particularly invoked in favor of prisoners and several miracles are ascribed to him.* His name occurs in the Roman and other Martyrologies.

Solitude has always charms to the devout servant of God, because retirement from the world is very serviceable to his conversing with heaven. This appears from the practice of the Nazarites, prophets, and devout persons in the old law, and from that of Christ and all the saints in the new. Isaac went out into the field when he would meditate; and when Moses met God, it was in the desert. Solitude and silence settle and compose the thoughts; the mind augments its strength and vigor by rest and collection within itself, and in this state of serenity is most fit to reflect upon itself and its own wants, and to contemplate the mysteries of divine grace and love, the joys of heaven, and the grounds of our hope. This solitude must be chiefly interior, that of the mind still more than of the place, by freeing and disengaging ourselves from worldly cares and business, from the attachment to our senses, and from all those things, and even thoughts, which soften, allure, disturb, or distract us, or which breed in us vanity or vexation. If we cut not off these things, under the name of retirement, we shall be more persecuted with a dissipation of thoughts, and the noise and cravings of our passions, than in the midst of the most active and busy life. How shall a Christian, who lives in the world, practise this retirement? By not moving its spirit and maxims, by being as recollected as may be in the midst of business, and bearing always in mind that salvation is the most important and only affair; by shunning superfluous amusements, and idle conversation and visits; and by consecrating every day some time, and a considerable part of Sundays and great festivals, to the exercises of religious retirement, especially devout prayer, self-examination meditation, and pious reading.

NOVEMBER 6 — S. WINOC, ABBOT

Among the Britons, who, flying from the swords of the English Saxons took refuge in the maritime province of Armorica in Gaul, several turned their afflictions into their greatest spiritual advantage, and from them learned to despise transitory things, and to seek with their whole hearts those which are eternal. Hence Armorica, called from them Brittany, was for some ages a country particularly fruitful in saints. Conan founded this principality of Lesser Britain, in 383. His grandson and successor, Solomon1., was murdered by his own subjects, provoked by his zeal to reform their morals, in 434. Some think this prince, rather than the third of that name, to be the Solomon whose name has been inserted in some Armorican calendars. Gratton, the third prince, founded the abbey of Landevenec. Budic, the seventh of these princes, was defeated by the Franks, and seems to have been slain by king Clovis about the year 509. His son Riowald, or Hoel I., gathered an army of Britons dispersed in the islands about Great Britain, and returning in 513, recovered the principality in the reign of Childebert, and is called by many the first duke of Brittany. St. Winoc was of blood-royal, descending from Riowald, and kinsman to St. Judoc.† The example and instructions of holy tutors made a deep impression upon his tender soul. He learned very early to be thoroughly sensible of the dangers, instability, and emptiness of all worldly enjoyments, and understood how great watchfulness and diligence are required for a Christian to stand his ground, and daily to advance in virtue. The most excellent precepts which a person has received from his masters in a spiritual life, become useless to him, if he ever thinks himself sufficiently instructed, and ceases to preach these important lessons over and over again to himself, and to improve daily in spiritual knowledge and sentiments by pious attention and assiduous earnest meditation.

Winoc was careful by this method to nourish the good seed which had been sown in his soul. In company with three virtuous young noblemen of his country he made several journeys of devotion, in one of which he visited the new monastery of Sithiu or St. Peter’s, now St. Bertin’s, at St. Omer; and was so edified with the fervor and discipline of the monks, and the wisdom and sanctity of the holy abbot St. Bertin, that he and his three companions all agreed to take the habit together. This they did, not in 660, as Mabillon conjectured, but later than the year 670, perhaps nearer 690. St. Winoc’s three companions were, Quedenoc, Ingenoc, and Madoc. The edifying lives of these servants of God spread an odor of sanctity through the whole country: and the chronicle of St. Bertin’s testifies that St. Winoc shone like a morning star among the hundred and fifty fervent monks who inhabited that sanctuary of piety.

It was judged proper to found a new monastery in a remoter part of the vast diocese of Terouenne, which might be a seminary of religion for the instruction and example of the inhabitants of that part of the country. For the Morini who composed that diocese, comprised, besides Artois and part of Picardy, a considerable part of what was soon after called Flanders.* Heremar, a pious nobleman, who had lately embraced the faith, bestowed on St. Bertin the estate of Wormhoult, very convenient for that purpose, six leagues from Sithiu. St. Bertin sent thither his four illustrious British monks to found a new monastery, not in the year 660, as Mabillon imagined, but some years later; Stilting says, in his life of St. Bertin. in 690. Mabillon tells us, from the traditionary report of the monks, that St. Winoc first led a solitary life at Groenberg, where the monastery now stands: but no mention is made of this in his life. Having built their monastery at Wormhoult, Quedenoc, Ingenoc, and Madoc, who were elder in years, successively governed this little colony. After their demise St. Winoc was appointed abbot by St. Bertin. He and his brethren worked themselves in building their church and cells, together with an hospital for poor sick; for nothing in their whole lives was more agreeable to them than to labor for he service of God, and that of the poor.

St. Winoc saw his community in a short time very numerous, and conducted them in the practices of admirable humility, penance, devotion, and charity. The reputation of his sanctity was enhanced by many miracles which be wrought. Such was his readiness to serve all his brethren, that he seemed every one’s servant; and appeared the superior chiefly by being the first and most fervent in every religious duty. It was his greatest pleasure to wait on the sick in the hospital. Even in his decrepit old age he ground the corn for the use of the poor and his community, turning the wheel with his own hand without any assistance. When others were astonished he should have strength enough to ply constantly such hard labor, they looked through a chink into the room, and saw the wheel turning without being touched, which they ascribed to a miracle. At work he never ceased praying with his lips, or at least in his heart; and only interrupted his manual labor to attend the altar or choir, or for some other devotions or monastic duties. His ardent sighs to be dissolved and to be with Christ were accomplished by a happy death, which put him in possession of his desired bliss on the 6th of November, before the middle of the eighth century. For fear of the Danish plunderers, who, in the following century, made a descent upon the coast of Flanders, his bones were carried to Sithiu. Baldwin the Bald, count of Flanders, having built and fortified the town of Berg, in 920, that it might be a strong barrier to his dominions; count Baldwin IV., or the Bearded, in 1028, built and founded there a stately abbey in honor of St. Martin and St. Winoc, which he peopled with a colony from St. Bertin’s, and he enriched it with the relics of St. Winoc; and the lands or estates of the monastery of Wormhoult, which were not far distant were settled by the founder upon this house, and the town bears the name of Berg-St.-Winoc.

Dom. de Cousser, actual prior of St. Winoc’s, in his MS. annals of his monastery, endeavors to prove that a succession of monks had continued to inhabit a cell at Wormhoult, from the destruction of that abbey to its restoration in the city of Berg. The walls of the fortress did not take in the abbey till, in 1420, the abbot Moer raised a wall round the hill. The abbey of Berg was burnt with the town, by the French in 1383, when twelve candlesticks of massy gold, of an incredible weight and size, and other immense riches, were consumed in the church, and with them many shrines and relics of saints, particularly of St. Oswald the English king and martyr, and his cousin the holy virgin St. Hisberga, whom Molanus by mistake confounds with the Flandrican St. Isberge. Nothing of these relics escaped the flames, except a small parcel of little bones of St. Oswald kept separate. They are still exposed in that church in a reliquary made in the figure of an arm.* The relics of St. Winoc were not damaged. They are now preserved in a triple shrine raised over the high altar, and the head in a large silver bust apart. See the life of St. Winoc, with a relation of many miracles after his death, written probably in the ninth century before the devastation of the Normans in 880, MSS. in the Library of Berg-St.-Winoc, published by Surius, and more correctly by Mabillon, sc. 3, Ben. p. 1. Also, see the Chronology of St. Winoc’s nearly of the same age. Thirdly Drogo or Dreuoc, a monk of St. Winoc’s in the middle of the eleventh century, in his history of the miracles of St. Winoc, to many of which he had been an eye-witness. He prefixed a life of St. Winoc, in Mabillon, sc. 3, p. 310. He likewise composed a life of St. Lewina, an English virgin, in Mabillon, ib. and the Bollandists, 24 Julii, p. 613, and of St. Oswald, king and martyr, in Surius, 5 Aug. Some make this writer the same who was bishop of Terouenne from 1031 to 1078, and who wrote the life of St. Godeleva, virgin. But the monk expressly mentions this bishop his namesake and contemporary. See also on St. Winoc, Thomas the Deacon, a monk of Berg, who wrote in the fourteenth century, was eye witness to the plunder and burning of the abbey and city by the French in 1383; a most faithful and accurate historian.

St. Winoc’s history is abridged by Anian de Coussere, monk of Berg, and abbot of St. Peter’s of Aldenburg, who wrote a chronicle from the birth of Christ, and the translation of St. Arnulph, abbot of Aldenburg, and died in 1468.

Likewise by Peter of Wallen Capelle, prior of Berg, abbot of Broin at Namur, from 1585 to 1592, while his brother Francis, a Franciscan, was bishop of that city. Peter returned to Berg, and there died. He is author of two excellent treatises on the monastic state, the one called Illustrationes the other Institutiones Monastic, to which the learned Vanespen was much indebted in what he wrote on this subject. Consult also on St. Winoc, Mirus in Fastis Belgicis, and Chron. Belgico. Meyer, Chronic; Gramaie Descr. Historica Winoci Bergens. Abbati, pp. 148–153, &c.

NOVEMBER 6 — ST. ILTUTUS, ABBOT

Iltut or ELCHUT, was a noble Briton, a native of Glamorganshire, and kinsman to king Arthur, in whose army he served for some part of his youth, and acquired a great reputation for his valor. St. Cadocus, abbot of Llan-carvan, three miles from Cowbridge in Glamorganshire, who had formerly been a scholar of St. Germanus, and afterwards of St. Dubricius, and was then bishop of Llandaff, inspired Iltut with a contempt of the world, and a thirst after true wisdom; insomuch, that renouncing the world, he received the tonsure at the hands of St. Dubricius, and studied many years in the great school of Cadocus, so as to surpass his master in his skill in the sacred sciences. He afterwards founded, and governed for many years, the most famous monastery and school then in Britain, called from him Llan-Iltut or Llan-twit, situate near the sea-coast, not far from Llan-carvan. Amongst his scholars are reckoned St. David, St. Samson, St. Magloire, St. Gildas, and many other great saints and learned prelates. The saint labored with his own hands, and exercised himself in much watching, fasting, and prayer. Out of a love of holy retirement, he at length resigned the care of his school to Isham, one of his disciples, and passed three years in a lone-some cave in great austerity, and assiduous prayer. Before his death, he took a journey into Brittany, to visit his disciples and friends there, and died at Dole, in the sixth century. He is to this day titular saint of a church in Glamorganshire, near the Severn sea, very famous to this time, says Leland: it was originally founded by him. Bale and Pits mention two doctrinal letters written by him. But almost all the writings of the famous British doctors have been destroyed by the injuries of time, as Leland grievously laments See Usher’s Antiquities of the British Church; F. Alford’s Anna.3, Leland de Scriptor. p. 488, ed. Tanner, an. 1748

NOVEMBER 7 — ST. WILLIBRORD, CONFESSOR FIRST BISHOP OF UTRECHT

From his life, written by Alcuin, in two books, the one in prose, the other in verse, together with a homily, and an elegant poem in his honor. Also Bede,1. 5, Hist. c.11, 12, and St. Boniface, ep 97. See Batavia Sacra, p. 36, and Mabillon, Annal. Bened. t.1. t. 18, sec. 4, and Acta Sand. Ord. S. Bened., Sc. 3, part 1, p. 601; Calmet, Hist. de Lorraine, t. 3, pr. et t.1, app. Fabricius, Salutar. Luce Evang. c. 19. p. 442.

A. D. 738.

ST. WILLIBRORD was born in the kingdom of Northumberland, towards the year 658, and placed by his virtuous parents, before he was seven years old, in the monastery of Rippon, which was at that time governed by St. Wilfrid, its founder. Wilgis, our saint’s father, retired also into a monastery, afterwards became a hermit, and in his old age founded and governed a small monastery between the ocean and the Humber. He is honored among the saints in the monastery of Epternac, and in the English calendars. Alcuir has left us an account of his life. Willibrord, by carrying the yoke of our Lord with fervor from his infancy, found it always easy and sweet, and the better to preserve the first fruits which he had gathered, made his monastic profession when he was very young. He had made great progress in virtue and sacred learning, when, out of a desire for further improvement, in the twentieth year of his age, he went over into Ireland, with the consent of his abbot and brethren, where he joined St. Egbert or Ecgbright, and the blessed Wigbert, who were gone thither before upon the same errand. In their company, our saint spent twelve years in the study of the sacred sciences, and in the most fervent exercise of all virtues. Though his constitution was weak, in fervor and exactness he outdid the most advanced: he was humble, modest, and of an easy, obliging temper: and his whole conduct was regular and uniform. St. Egbert had long entertained an ardent desire of going to preach the gospel to the inhabitants of those unhappy countries, in which barbarism and idolatry still reigned without control, and he had chiefly Friesland. or Lower Germany in his eye. But he was diverted from that apostolical design by persons of piety and authority, who engaged him to employ his zealous labors in the islands between Ireland and Scotland, in all which he settled the true manner of celebrating Easter; especially at Hij, where he died a little before Bede wrote his history. St. Egbert is honored in the English Calendar on the 24th of April. Bede gives a most edifying account of his austere penance, devotion, zeal, and charity. His companion, the holy priest Wigbert, went in the mean time to Friesland; but after staying there two years came back without having met with any prospect of success. This disappointment did not discourage Egbert, and other zealous promoters of this mission; but excited them the more earnestly to solicit the divine mercy with prayers and tears in favor of so may souls, who were perishing eternally. Willibrord, who was then about thirty-one years of age, and had been ordained priest a year before, expressed a grea desire to be allowed by his superiors to undertake this laborious and dangerous charge. St. Egbert, by the known zeal and great talents of our saint, and by his cheerfulness, which sufficiently showed him prepared to encounter all difficulties in the prosecution of such a work, doubted not but God had reserved to him the conversion of that nation, and encouraged him in this zealous design. St. Willibrord was joined by St. Swidbert and ten other English monks in this mission.

The Frisons, who had formerly occupied a large tract of country on the coasts of the German ocean, crossing the Rhine into Belgic Gaul, had possessed themselves of those provinces about the mouth of the Rhine, which the Catti, who were also originally Germans, then held.* Among all the German nations none maintained their liberty against the Romans, with greater success and courage, than the Frisons. Procopius tells us,1 that some of them came into Britain with the English Saxons: and by their situation they were doubtless the most expert in maritime affairs. St. Ludger2 mentions that Swidbert, and the rest of these zealous preachers, were desirous to carry the light of the faith to these people, because their ancestors sprang from them. St. Eligius, bishop of Noyon, had preached in part of Friesland, and St. Wilfrid had sown there the seeds of our holy faith in 678. But these seem to have been almost rooted out3 before St. Willibrord’s arrival in 690 or 691. The authors of Batavia Sacra4 doubt not but our twelve missionaries landed at Catwic upon the sea, which was at the mouth of the Rhine before it was blocked up with sands, and thither the English were accustomed to export corn, even from the north coasting part of their island: the British tower, as it was called, was built by the Romans at Catwic to defend this harbor.† This old channel was not entirely obstructed in 1050, as appears from the Chronicle of Woerden.5 And Alcuin expressly says, that these missionaries landed at the mouth of the Rhine, and travelled thence to Utrecht, a town built by the Romans at the great passage over the Rhine; whence it was called Trajectum, afterwards Trecht, and lastly Utrecht, (from Outrecht, the Old Passage, and Ultrajectum, or Passage at the town Vulta,) to distinguish it from the ancient town of Maestricht, or Passage over the Maese. Pepin of Herstal, or the Big, who was at that time duke of the French, and mayor of the king’s palace, and had lately conquered part of Friesland, received courteously St. Willibrord and his companions. But Willibrord set out for Rome, and cast himself at the feet of pope Sergius, begging his apostolic blessing and authority to preach the gospel to idolatrous nations. The pope, charmed with his zeal and sanctity, granted him the most ample licenses for that purpose, and gave him a great quantity of relics for the consecration of churches. With this treasure the saint returned with all possible expedition to his province, considering the pressing necessities and dangers of so many souls which called for his compassion and relief St. Swidbert was taken from him, and ordained bishop of the Borroctuarians who seem to have inhabited the territory of Berg, and the neighboring country towards Cologne.

St. Willibrord, with his ten other companions, under the protection of Pepin, preached the gospel with wonderful success in that part of Friesland that had been conquered by the French; so that after six years, Pepin, by the advice of his bishops, sent the saint to Rome, with strong letters of recommendation that he might be ordained bishop. His humility made him endeavor that some other should be pitched upon for that dignity; but he was not heard. Pope Sergius, who still sat in St. Peter’s chair, received him with great marks of honor, changed his name into that of Clement, with great solemnity ordained him archbishop of the Frisons in St. Peter’s church, and gave him the pallium with authority to fix his see in what part of the country he should think most convenient. The holy man stayed only fourteen days in Rome, being impatient to return to his flock, and regretting an hour’s absence from them, more than was necessary to procure them greater advantages. He came back to Utrecht the same year, 696, and chose that city for his residence, Pepin having bestowed on him the royal castle of Viltaburg, which, as Bede assures us,6 was at Utrecht, though Cluverius will have it to have been the present Wiltenburg, three miles and a half from Utrecht: but this town itself was called Vulta, or the city of the Vult.7 St. Willibrord built at Utrecht the church of our Saviour, in which he fixed his metropolitical see, says St. Boniface,8 and that of St. Martin, though this latter he only restored, for it had been a church, but destroyed by the pagans.9 Heda and Beka think it had been built by king Dagobert, at the desire of St. Wilfrid. This latter church became afterwards the cathedral, and both were served by colleges of canons. The archbishop’s indefatigable application to the conversion of souls seemed to prove, that with the new obligation he had received at his consecration, of laboring to enlarge the kingdom of his Divine Master, he had acquired fresh strength and a considerable augmentation of his zeal. In the second year after his episcopal consecration, assisted by the liberality of Pepin, and the abbess Irmina, who is said to have been daughter of Dagobert II., he founded, in 698, the abbey of Epternac, in the diocese of Triers, and now in the duchy of Luxemburg,10 which he governed to his death. Alcuin relates, that the nunnery of Horrea, of which Irmina was abbess, had been delivered from a pestilence by water, blessed by St. Willibrord, and by his saying mass in the church. Pepin of Herstal before his death put away his concubine Alpais, by whom he had Charles Martel, and was reconciled to his wife Plectrudis, and in his last will, which is signed by Plectrudis, he recommended to St. Willibrord, his nephews, (without any mention of his natural son Charles,) and bestowed on our saint the village of Swestram, now Susteren, in the duchy of Juliers, near the Meuse, with which the holy man endowed a nunnery which he built there.11

Pepin of Herstal died in December, 714. A little before his death, Charles Martel’s son, Pepin the Short, afterwards king of France, was born, and baptized by St. Willibrord, who on that occasion is related by Alcuin to have prophesied that the child would surpass in glory all his ancestors. Charles Martel in a short time became mayor of the palace, and approved himself equally the first general and statesman of his age. In 723, he settled upon the monastery which St. Willibrord had erected at Utrecht to serve his cathedral, all the royal revenues belonging to his castle there.12 Of this monastery St. Gregory was afterwards abbot; in succeeding times it was secularized. Several other donations of estates made by Charles Martel to several churches founded by our saint, may be seen in Mirus, and others. By a charter, that prince conferred on him the royalties of the city of Utrecht with its dependencies and appurtenances.13 By such establishments our saint sought to perpetuate the work of God. Not content to have planted the faith in the country which the French had conquered, he extended his labors into West-Friesland, which obeyed Radbod, prince or king of the Frisons, who continued an obstinate idolater; yet hindered not the saint’s preaching to his subjects, and himself sometimes listened to him. The new apostle penetrated also into Denmark; but Ongend, (perhaps Biorn,) who then reigned there, a monster of cruelty rather than a man, was hardened in his malice, and his example had a great influence over his subjects. The man of God, however, for the first fruits of this country, purchased thirty young Danish boys, whom he instructed, baptized, and brought back with him. In his return he was driven by stress of weather upon the famous pagan island, called Fositeland, now Amelandt, on the coast of Friesland, six leagues from Leuwarden, to the north, a place then esteemed by the Danes and Frisons as most sacred in honor of the idol Fosite. It was looked upon as an unpardonable sacrilege, for any one to kill any living creature in that island, to eat of any thing that grew in it, or to draw water out of a spring there without observing the strictest silence. St. Willibrord, to undeceive the inhabitants, killed some of the beasts for his companions to eat, and baptized three persons in the fountain, pronouncing the words aloud. The idolaters expected to see them run mad or drop down dead; and seeing no such judgment befall them, could not determine whether this was to be attributed to the patience of their god, or to his want of power. They informed Radbod, who, transported with rage, ordered lots to be cast three times a day, for three days together, and the fate of the delinquents to be determined by them. God so directed it that the lot never fell upon Willibrord; but one of his company was sacrificed to the superstition of the people, and died a martyr for Jesus Christ.

The saint, upon leaving Amelandt, directed his course to Warckeren, one of the chief islands belonging to Zealand. His charity and patience made considerable conquests to the Christian religion there, and he established several churches. After the death of Radbod, which happened in 719, Willibrord was at full liberty to preach in every part of the country. He was joined in his apostolical labors, in 720, by St. Boniface, who spent three years in Friesland: then went into Germany, Bede says, when he wrote his history in 731, “Willibrord, surnamed Clement, is still living, venerable for his old age, having been bishop thirty-six years, and sighing after the rewards of the heavenly life, after many conflicts in the heavenly warfare.”14 He was, says Alcuin, of a becoming stature, venerable in his aspect, comely in his person, graceful and always cheerful in his speech and countenance, wise in his counsel, unwearied in preaching and all apostolic functions, amidst which he was careful to nourish the interior life of his soul by assiduous prayer, singing of psalms, watching, and fasting. Alcuin, who wrote about fifty years after his death, assures us, that this apostle was endowed with the gift of miracles, and relates, that while he preached in the isle of Warckeren, where the towns of Flessingue and Middleburg are since built, going from village to village, he found in one of them a famous idol, to which the people were offering their vows and sacrifices, and full of holy zeal threw it down, and broke it in pieces. In the mean time an idolater, who was the priest and guardian of the idol, gave him a blow on the head with his back-sword, with which, nevertheless, the saint was not hurt; and he would not suffer the assassin to be touched, or prosecuted. But the unhappy man was soon after possessed with a devil, and lost his senses. By the tears, prayers, and zealous labors of this apostle and his colleagues, the faith was planted in most parts of Holland, Zealand, and all the remaining part of the Netherlands, whither St. Amand and St. Lebwin had never penetrated; and the Frisons, till then a rough and most barbarous people, were civilized, and became eminent for virtue, and the culture of arts and sciences. St. Wulfran, archbishop of Sens, and others, excited by the success of our saint’s missions, were ambitious to share in so great a work under his direction. St. Willibrord was exceeding cautious in admitting persons to holy orders, fearing lest one unworthy or slothful minister should defeat, by scandal, all the good which the divine mercy had begun for the salvation of many souls. It is also mentioned of him, that he was very strict and diligent in examining and preparing thoroughly those whom he admitted to baptism, dreading the condemnation which those incur, who, by sloth or facility, open a door to the profanation of our most tremendous mysteries. The schools which St. Willibrord left at Utrecht, were very famous.15 Being at length quite broken with old age, he resigned the administration of his diocese to a coadjutor whom he ordained bishop,* and in retirement prepared himself for eternity. He died according to Pagi, in 739; according to Mabillon, in 740 or 741, and according to Mr. Smith,16 in 745, some adhering to Alcuin, others to Bede, &c. St. Boniface says, that St. Willibrord spent fifty years in preaching the gospe1,17 which Mr. Smith dates from his episcopal consecration; Mabillon,18 from his coming into Friesland; but others think these fifty years mean only thereabouts. For Alcuin says, he came into Friesland in the thirty-third year of his age, and lived eighty-one years; which account only allows him forty-eight years employed in preaching. But, if St. Boniface comprises the two years in which he preached in Ireland and the Scottish islands, his Chronology agrees with Alcuin’s dates, and it follows that St. Willibrord died in 738: which is confirmed by the Chronicle of Epternac, compiled from the Necrology and manuscript registers of that monastery. Alcuin and Rabanus Maurus place his death on the 6th of November; but the Chronicle of Epternac, Usuard, Ado, and the Roman and Benedictin Martyrologies commemorate him on the 7th. He was buried, as he had desired, at his monastery of Epternac, and his relics are there enshrined at this day. The portative altar which he made use of for the celebration of the divine mysteries, in travelling through Friesland, Zealand, and Holland, is kept in the Benedictin abbey of our Lady ad martyres, at Triers.19 St. Willibrord’s Testament in favor of his monastery of Epternac was published by F. Ch. Scribanius, S. J. in his Antwerp, by Mirus,20 with notes by Boschart, and by Calmet, among the proofs of his History of Lorraine.*

A true pastor, who is animated with fervor and zeal, allows himself no repose, while he can comfort, instruct, exhort, or weep and pray for the souls which are intrusted to his charge, and whose spiritual dangers are continually near his heart. He whose life is regular and methodical, and who is solicitous and earnest, finds time to do with ease, and without a single thought of it, more business than seems credible to the slothful. This every Christian may experience; and, without the obligations of the pastoral charge, every one owes so many and so great duties, both to others and to himself, that unless he is supinely slothful and wilfully blind, he will find business enough constantly upon his hands to employ earnestly all his moments. Nor is it our misfortune that we have not time, but that through sloth and thoughtlessness we misspend it.

NOVEMBER 7 — SAINT WERENFRID, PRIEST AND CONFESSOR

He was an English monk, and, according to Mabillon, accompanied, or as the Bollandists rather think, followed St. Willibrord into Friesland, and assisted him in preaching the gospel. St. Werenfrid planted the faith in the isle or territory of Betawe, or Batavia, in Holland, lying between the Rhine, the Leek, the Maese, and Merve, especially at Elste, a town in that territory, where he was buried. His tomb was famous for pilgrimages, and the miraculous cures of sick persons, especially those afflicted with the gout. Baldericus, the fifteenth bishop of Utrecht, founded there a collegiate church in his honor, with eight canonries. St, Werenfrid is honored in Holland on the 14th of August. See his life in Surius, and much more correctly in the Bollandists, on the 28th of August. Also John Leidia,1. 2, c. 42; Wilhelmus Heda, p. 30; Batavia Sacra, p. 42.

NOVEMBER 7 — ST. PROSDECIMUS, FIRST BISHOP OF PADUA, C

He was a Grecian, a disciple of St. Peter, and is said to have been appointed by him bishop of Padua, where he planted the faith, and in the neighboring cities of Concordia, Vicenzi, &c. He died on the 7th of November, about the year 103, or later. His body was buried out of the walls of the city, where the church and rich Benedictin monastery of St. Justina were founded, in which a sumptuous marble chapel bears the title of St. Prosdecimus. The same church was also enriched with the relics of St. Daniel, martyr, levite of St. Prosdecimus, who suffered death for the faith in the persecution of Nero. The church of St. Justina was the cathedral, till it was made a rich Benedictin abbatial church, before the year 1000 Since that time, the new cathedral of St. Sophia possesses the relict of St. Daniel the martyr. See Scardeonius, Hist. Patavina, pp. 100, 114, 115.

NOVEMBER 8 — THE FOUR CROWNED BROTHERS, MARTYRS

See Bosius and Ariught, in Rom Subterranea,1. 3, c. 8, Baronius, Annot. In Martyr. Thilem t. 5, Persee. de Diocl. art. 49. Their Acts are of no account.

A. D. 304.

FOUR brothers in the persecution of Dioclesian, employed in offices of trust and honor at Rome, were apprehended for declaring against the worship of idols, and whipped with scourges loaded with plummets of lead, till they expired in the hands of their tormentors. They were buried on the Lavican Way, three miles from Rome, and were at first called the Four Crowned Martyrs. Their names were, Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorius. Pope Gregory the Great mentions an old church of the four crowned martyrs in Rome. Pope Leo IV., in 841, caused the church to be repaired, and the relics of these martyrs to be translated thither out of the cemetery on the Lavican Way. When this church had been consumed by fire, Paschal II. rebuilt it; upon which occasion the relics of these martyrs were discovered under the altar in two rich urns, the one of porphyry, the other of serpentine marble, deposited in a stone vault. The new altar was built upon the same spot; and these relics were again (bund in the same situation under Paul V. This church is an ancient title of a cardinal-priest Five other martyrs, called Claudius, Nicostratus, Symphorianus, Castorius, and Simplicius. who had suffered in the same persecution, were buried in the same cemetery. Their precious remains were translated by Leo IV. into the same church, and are likewise, honored there to this day. These martyrs are named in the Martyrology of Bede and others. These five are said to have been put to death, because, being carvers by profession, they refused to make idols.

The rage of tyrants, who were masters of the world, spread the faith which they vainly endeavored, by fighting against heaven, to extinguish. The martyrs, who died for it, sealed it with their blood, and gave a testimony to Jesus Christ, which was, of all others, the strongest and most persuasive. Other Christians, who fled, became the apostles of the countries whither they went. Whence St. Austin compares them to torches, which; if you attempt to put them out by shaking them, are kindled, and flame so much the more. The martyrs, by the meekness and fervor of their lives, and their constancy in resisting evil to death, converted an infidel world, and disarmed the obstinacy of the most implacable enemies of the truth. But what judgments must await those Christians who, by the scandal of their sloth and worldly spirit, dishonor their religion, blaspheme Christ, withdraw even the faithful from the practice of the gospel, and tempt a Christian world to turn infidel?

NOVEMBER 8 — ST. WILLEHAD, CONFESSOR BISHOP OF BREMEN AND APOSTLE OF SAXONY

Willehad was an Englishman, a native of the kingdom of Northum berland, and was educated from his infancy in learning and piety. The austerity of his life, his humility, the readiness of his obedience, and his constant attendance on prayer, engaged his bishop to promote him to the dignity of the priesthood. The great spiritual conquests which many of his countrymen had made to Christ, with St. Willibrord in Friesland, and St. Boniface in Germany, seemed a reproach to him, and he desired to carry the saving knowledge of the true God to some of those barbarous nations which remained still in the darkness of idolatry and in the shades of death. King Alchred favored his resolution, and the bishops and other pious persons unanimously approved of his zeal; whereupon he was allowed to follow the divine call. He landed in Friesland, and being desirous to preach in the first place to those nations which had the least acquaintance with our holy faith, about the year 772, began his mission at Dockum, in West Friesland, the place near which St. Boniface and his companions had received the crown of martyrdom in 754. The blood of the martyr contributed powerfully to soften the hearts and open the eyes of the barbarians, and disposed them to receive the faith. Saint Willehad prayed with many tears upon the spot which had been watered with the blood of the holy victims of faith, earnestly desiring to attain to the like happiness, and begging of God the salvation of those who continued obstinate in their infidelity. His prayers in their favor were heard. The infidels willingly listened to his instructions, and he baptized an incredible multitude. His stay about Dockum was not very long; and, crossing the Lavinca or Issel, he made his way through the country, now called Over-Issel, and several other parts. At a village called Humark, the inhabitants, who were all idolaters, cast lots whether he and his companions should be put to death; but Providence determined the lots, which the people foolishly imagined to be directed by the powers they worshipped, for the preservation of the holy missionaries. Having escaped out of their hands, our saint preached in the country then called Trentonia, or Drentia, and many were initiated by him in the holy mysteries. But some of his disciples proceeding to demolish the places dedicated to the practice of superstition and idolatry, the pagans were so incensed that they resolved to massacre the saint and his colleagues, and one of them directed his sword to his neck, with such force as must have cut off his head if Providence had not diverted the stroke; but St. Anscharius assures us that it was entirely broken by cutting a string about the saint’s neck, at which hung a case of relics, which he always carried with him. This deliverance surprised the idolaters, and struck them with a profound veneration for the servant of God.

The saint thence proceeded into Wigmore, the country where Bremen now stands, and was the first missionary who passed the Elbe. The Saxons at that time had spread themselves from the Oder to the Rhine and the Germanic ocean, occupying the greatest part of the northern provinces of Germany Though divided into several cantons or tribes, which were distinct governments, they all followed the same rites and customs, and, in case of a general war, united under one commander. St. Willehad preached in this country seven years, till the great rebellion of the Saxons against Charlemagne broke out, in 782. They had made inroads upon his territories, and had been compelled to pay him a tribute in 772; in which war he destroyed the famous idol Irmensul, with its rich temple, in the for tress called Ebresburg, which some place near the Weser, others not far from Ratisbon.* In 774, Charlemagne was busy against the Lombards in Italy, which occasion the Saxons took to revolt; but, being defeated by him, obtained their pardon in 776. Though Desiderius, the last king of the Lombards, had been sent into France, where he probably died a monk, the duke of Benevento and other Lombard princes raised commotions in Italy, which Charlemagne quelled in four months, and returned to curb the Saxons, who had at that time again revolted. They renewed their homage to him in 777; only Witikind, a Westphalian Saxon, who had been at the head of this rebellion, fled into Denmark. In 780, the Saxons were again in arms, and again subdued. But, in 782, at the instigation of Witikind, they entered into a general conspiracy, and renewed hostilities with unparalleled rage and cruelty, raising a dreadful persecution against all the teachers of the Christian religion, and putting to death all the missionaries that fell into their hands. Several suffered martyrdom on this occasion, among whom was one named Folcard, a priest, with his companion, Emming; also Benjamin, Attrebanus, and Gerwal, with their companions. Saint Willehad, who had governed this whole mission seven years, escaped by sea into Friesland, and, while the tumult of the war rendered his missionary duties impossible, took an opportunity of going to Rome, and laying before pope Adrian the state of his mission. He was honorably received by the pope, and, with his apostolic blessing, made haste back to France, where, waiting the end of the war, he passed almost two years in the monastery of Epternac, in watching, fasting, study, and assiduous contemplation. He prayed often at the tomb of St. Willibrord. He also copied the epistles of St. Paul and some other books; and here he assembled his fellow-laborers, whom the war had dispersed.

In 785, duke Witikind being baptized,1 and peace restored in Saxony, St. Willehad returned to his province. Charlemagne, whose protection he implored, allowed him a dwelling in Wigmore, or the country between the Wescr and the Elbe: and, two years after, when the saint had founded many churches, that prince procured him to be ordained bishop of the Saxons, on the 15th of July, in 787. The saint fixed his see at Bremen, which city seems only to have been founded at that time, and was afterwards much enriched by its archbishops. St. Willehad having received the episcopal character, redoubled his zeal and his solicitude in preaching, baptizing, administering penance, and ordaining priests. His food was only bread, with honey, herbs, or apples; except that, when his health was much impaired, and he was afflicted with frequent distempers, pope Adrian commanded him to allow himself a little fish. Wine or any other intoxicating liquor he never touched, except the wine he took at the altar. Unless some very extraordinary impediment fell out, he never missed saying mass every day, and usually offered that adorable sacrifice with many tears. Holy reading and meditation were his favorite exercises: and he usually recited the whole psalter every day, and frequently two or three times a day, with wonderful alacrity and devotion. His cathedral church he built of wood, which his successor Willeroc rebuilt of stone. The saint consecrated it on the 1st of November, in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the invocation of St. Peter the apostle. In his old age, and in a very weak state of health, he could never be induced to intermit his functions, and scarce to mitigate any of his austerities. If Vespasian used to say that an emperor, considering his great obligations and duties, ought to die standing, how much more justly ought a bishop to die in the field of battle with arms in his hands? When St. Willehad lay dying, one of his disciples said to him, weeping, “Forsake not so soon your tender flock, exposed to the fury of wolves.” The holy prelate answered, “Withhold me not from going to God. These sheep of mine I recommend to him who intrusted them to me, and whose mercy is able to protect them.” St. Willehad died in a village of Friesland, in his diocese, called Bleckensee, now Plexem; and his body was with great pomp conveyed to Bremen, and buried in his cathedral. He had labored in his missions thirty-five years, and been bishop two years, three months, and twenty-six days. On account of many miracles wrought at his tomb, St. Anscharius, his third successor at Bremen, and the first archbishop of Hamburgh, by the authority of the apostolic see enrolled him among the saints, and made a solemn translation of his relics. The see from St. Anscharius’s time remained united with that of Hamburgh: but the archbishops soon returned to reside at Bremen. See St. Willehad’s Life, compiled by St. Anscharius, fourth bishop of Bremen in Mabillon, Annal. Bened.1. 24, sec. 36, &c. And in Batavia Sacra, p. 85. Also Adam of Bremen, in his accurate history of the archbishops of Bremen, c. 1, p. 1.

NOVEMBER 8 — SAINT GODFREY, BISHOP OF AMIENS, C

Godfrey was born in the territory of Soissons, of noble and pious parents: his father, Fulco, was no sooner a widower than he consecrated himself to God in the monastic habit. Our saint was educated from five years of age, when he was weaned, in the monastery of Mount St. Quintin’s, under the care of the holy abbot, Godfrey, who was his godfather, and uncle to B. Ida, countess of Boulogne and Namur, and mother to Godfrey and Baldwin, the kings and conquerors of Jerusalem. The saint in his youth always gave the better part of his meals to the poor, and sometimes did not make his appearance at all in the refectory, spending his time in some private oratory; and he often watched great part of the night in prayer. The streams of tears which frequenly watered his cheeks at his prayers were proofs of the tender compunction and devotion of his soul. At twenty-five years of age, having made good proficiency in the sacred studies, he was ordained priest by the bishop of Noyon, though only obedience could overcome his fears of approaching the holy altar. Soon after he was chosen abbot of Nogent, in Champagne. Under his direction this house flourished in such regularity of discipline, that two abbots resigned their dignities to learn to serve God there more perfectly.

The saint, by long habits of watchfulness over himself and mortification, was so perfectly master of his senses that no superfluous word or glance of an eye seemed ever to escape him, and his modesty and silence were the risible marks of his continual interior recollection. The cook having one day mixed a few crumbs of white bread with the herbs which he usually are with only salt and water, he would by no means suffer that delicacy, saying, “Do not you know that the flesh rebels if it be not named?” When the archbishop of Rheims and a whole council pressed the saint to take upon him the government of the great abbey of St. Remigius at Rheims, he started into the midst of the assembly, alleged the canons with great vehemence, and said, “God forbid I should ever contemn a poor spouse by preferring a rich one.” Some time after, in 1103, he was not able by his importunities to resist the violence with which he was installed bishop of Amiens. He entered that city barefoot, and, arriving at the church of St. Firminus, he first opened his mouth to his flock by a most pathetic sermon His palace was truly the house of a disciple of Christ. Every day he served at his own table thirteen poor people, and washed their feet. To attend the most loathsome lepers seemed his greatest pleasure. He exerted an episcopal vigor and firmness in reproving obstinate and powerful sinners, and in reforming his clergy, and especially the monastery of St. Valery, though this work cost him a journey to Rheims, and another to Rome. When he celebrated the divine office at the court of Robert, count of Artois, held at St. Omer’s at Christmas, he refused to receive the offerings of all persons, though sovereign princes, who presented themselves with their hair effeminately curled; so that many were obliged to step out of the church to cut off their curled locks with a knife or sword, that they might not be deprived of the holy prelate’s blessing. As he was going to Rheims to confer with his metropolitan upon certain matters of importance, he was taken ill of a fever on the road; and, having received the holy sacraments, joyfully departed to our Lord on the 8th of November, in 1118, in the abbey of St. Crispin at Soissons, and was there interred. His name is honored in the Roman Martyrology. See his life, written by Nicholas, a monk of Soissons in the same century.

NOVEMBER 9 — THE DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR (COMMONLY CALLED ST. JOHN LATERAN.)

From the beginning of the world altars were erected for offering sacrifices to God, and the places which were deputed for this supreme act of religion were always looked upon as sacred. Abel, No. Abraham, and the other patriarchs raised altars in retired and sanctified places, where they sometimes assembled their families or tribes to pay to God the most solemn religious worship. Abraham, to make the place more awful and retired, planted a grove around his altar at Beersabe,1 and went thither religiously with his family to offer prayers and sacrifices. Jacob erected an altar of stone at Bethel, pouring oil upon it, called the place the house of God, and vowed to pay to him the tithes of all his possessions.2 When God gave to the Jews a complete law of religious rites and ceremonies, he commanded a moveable tabernacle to be built and consecrated with oi1,3 and a golden altar for offering incense, and another altar (of holocausts) to be erected and anointed with oil, by way of consecration.4 By the divine appointment, a temple was afterwards built with the utmost religious respect.5 Christians had from the beginning chambers or oratories in private nouses, set apart for their religious assemblies and sacrifices, as appears from St. Pau1,6 and from the Upper Room, in which the apostles are frequently mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles to have assembled,7 which seems to have been in the house of John Mark.8 In the time of St. John the Evangelist, the place for the assembly of the faithful with the bishop is called the church, or Ecclesia.9 St. Clement of Rome10 says, that God had appointed places to be appropriated to his worship. St. Ignatius often mentions one altar in every church, and one bishop.11 Tertullian calls the place of the assembly in which the baptismal renunciations were made, the Eucharist offered, &c. Ecclesia, or the church, and the house of God.12 The heathen author of the dialogue called Philopatris, mentions the Christians’ place of religious assemblies. Lampridius, in the life of Alexander Severus, reports that that emperor adjudged to the Christians a place for their religious worship, which the victuallers claimed. St. Gregory Thaumaturgus built many churches, as St. Gregory of Nyssa relates in his life. That ancient doctor, in his canonical epistle,13 and St. Dionysius of Alexandria,14 distinctly mention the church. St. Cyprian often speaks of the church, which he sometimes calls the Lord’s house, or Dominicum. Eusebius says15 that, during the peace which the church enjoyed, from the persecution of Valerian to that of Dioclesian, the ancient churches were not large enough to contain the faithful, “and therefore they erected from the foundation new ones more ample and spacious in every city.” Origen, indeed,16 Minutius Felix, and Lactantius17 say, Christians had no temples or altars; but evidently mean for idols and bloody sacrifices, like those of the heathens. Lactantius himself18 speaks of a Christian church in Phrygia, which the heathens burnt with the whole assembly in it. And he not only mentions the demolishing the stately church of Nicomedia,19 but says that even in Gaul, where the mild Constantius ruled, the churches were pulled down;20 in which he could not have been mistaken, who was in Gaul at that time with Crispus Csar. So that when Eusebius says, “Constantius destroyed no churches,”21 he could only mean that he gave no positive orders to destroy any; but that prince durst not oppose the other emperors, so far as not to allow officers or magistrates, so disposed, to put in execution the edicts of Dioclesian. Gildas22 and Bede23 testify that the churches were demolished in Britain in the persecution of Dioclesian, and rebuilt when it was over. St. Optatus says, there were forty churches in Rome before the last persecution,24 which were taken away, but restored to the Christians by Maxentius.25 It is a very ancient tradition at Rome that the house of the senator Pudens was converted into a church by St. Peter, or rather that he established an oratory in that palace.26

Constantine the Great, by his victory over Maxentius, gained on the 28th of October, in 312, became master of Italy and Africa, and under his protection and the favor of Licinius, who reigned in the East till the year 323, the Christians began to build everywhere sumptuous churches. That of Tyre, begun by the citizens, under the direction of Paulinus, their bishop in 313, is minutely described by Eusebius. The persecution, which Licinius renewed in 319, put a stop to such works in the East; but, after his defeat, and especially after the council of Nice, Constantine built and adorned many churches at his own expense. Among these Eusebius mentions a most magnificent one at Nicomedia, another at Antioch in the form of an octagon, which, from its rich ornaments, was called the Golden Church; others at Jerusalem, and in several other parts of Palestine, and at Constantinople. The great church of Sancta Sophia there, dedicated to Christ, the increated Wisdom, which was magnificently rebuilt by Justinian, was first founded by Constantine,27 and finished by Constantius in 360. Constantine built also at Constantinople the beautiful church of the twelve apostles, which, as Eusebius28 describes it, “was vastly high; yet had all its walls covered with marble, its roof overlaid with gold, and the outside covered with gilded brass instead of tiles.” Among a great number of churches which this pious emperor built, the principal is that of our Saviour, which he founded on mount Cœlio in Rome. It stood upon the spot, and was built in part with the materials of the palace of Lateran, which gave name to that part of the hill, and which had been the house of Plautius Lateranus, a rich Roman senator, whom Nero put to death as an accomplice in Piso’s conspiracy. Constantine inherited it by his wife Fausta; whence it was called Faustina, and more frequently the Constantinian Basilic. The founder built a chapel within the enclosed area of this church, and dependent upon it, dedicated in honor of St. John Baptist, with a second altar dedicated in honor of St. John Evangelist. This chapel was the Baptisterion, a fine structure, and most richly ornamented. Upon the font was placed an image of St. John Baptist. We find by the ancient memorials of the Church of Rome, that Constantine gave to this Baptisterion or chapel thirteen thousand nine hundred and thirty four golden pence yearly income, in houses and lands, not only in Italy, but also in Sicily, Africa, and Greece,29 which amounts to about ten thousand four hundred and fifty pounds, for the golden penny at that time was worth fifteen shillings of our money. But if we consider the difference of the prices of things, the sum would be now of a much greater value. This chapel having always been a place of great fame and devotion, from it the whole church, though dedicated to our Saviour has been generally called the church of St. John Lateran. The popes usually resided at this church, till Gregory IX., returning from Avignon, began to reside at St. Peter’s, or the Vatican. This church nevertheless retains the pre-eminence above all other churches in Rome, or in Christendom, which has been confirmed to it by the bulls of Gregory IX. and Pius V., when the precedence was contested by the canons of St. Peter. The popes officiate here on certain great festivals of the year; and their stately Lateran palace, contiguous to this church, was repaired by Benedict XIII., though, on account of the remarkable unwholesomeness of the air in this part,* the popes usually reside either at the great Vatican palace, or more frequently at that of Monte Cavallo. The Lateran church is styled the head, the mother, and the mistress of all churches, as an inscription on its walls imports. It would be too long to enumerate the precious relics of our divine Redeemer’s passion, and of innumerable martyrs with which it is enriched Pope Leo I. established among the canons of the Lateran basilic the regular observance which St. Austin had instituted in Africa. Alexander II. placed here reformed regular canons, which he called from St. Frigidian’s at Lucca, in 1061, and declared this church the head of that reformed congregation, which still bears the name of the regular canons of St. John of Lateran; though these canons have been removed hence to the church of our Lady della pace, and secular canons with the title of prelates serve this basilic according to the constitutions of Sixtus III. in 1456. and Sixtus IV. in 1483.*

Solomon’s temple was dedicated to the divine worship, by the most solemn religious rites and prayers. The Christians who blessed their food, their houses, and whatever they used, could not fail to consecrate or bless oratories which they deputed for divine service: though during the persecutions they celebrated the sacred mysteries in houses, prisons, private places, &c.30 It was doubtless from apostolic tradition, that the consecration of churches was performed with the utmost devotion and solemnity. To assist at this ceremony a synod of the neighboring and provincial bishops usually met. To perform the dedication of the church of Tyre, and that of the holy sepulcher at Jerusalem, in 335, bishops were convened by Constantine out of all the East.31 St. Ambrose relates a prayer used at the consecration of a church.32 In the writings of the fathers we have several sermons or discourses which they made on the festivals of the dedication of churches.33 It was always severely forbid by the canons under pain of deprivation, for any priest to found a church or monastery without the approbation of the bishop.34 The emperor Justinian orders, that the bishop fix a cross upon the spot, and pray there. St. Cuthbert, St. Chad, and other English bishops used to spend whole nights, or sometimes forty days in fasting, watching, and prayer upon the place, before the church or monastery was there founded, as Bede recounts of them. Nor can any church or alter be consecrated without the relics of martyrs.35 Some portion is deposited on the altar-stone, or under the altar. Churches are properly dedicated only to God, though under the title and invocation, and in honor and memory of the saints.36 Altars also are memorials of martyrs, but dedicated to God. The ancient councils order them to be consecrated by the unction of chrism, and the blessing of priests.37 This was an imitation of the ancient holy patriarchs, and of what the Jews did by divine appointment. The world is defiled, and is the seat of the devil, who is become its ruler.38 Creatures in it groan under his empire, and are made the instruments of sinners and sin. Hence the Church orders every thing to be blessed before it is used in the church for the divine service. God strictly forbade in the old law, sacrifice to be offered to him in any place, except such as should be chosen by Him, which were afterwards consecrated for that purpose.39

Hence churches have been usually consecrated by solemn rites and prayers: and it is a grievous sacrilege to profane them, or do in them any thin: but what has an immediate relation to the divine service: the church being the house of God. Though he be everywhere, he is said to reside particularly in heaven, because he there displays his presence by his glory and gifts. In like manner he honors the church with his special presence, being there in a particular manner ready to receive our public homages, listen to our petitions, and bestow on us his choicest graces. How wonderful were the privileges which he annexed, how magnificent the promises which he made to the Jewish temple!40 With what religious awe did his servants honor it! how severely were they punished, who sacrilegiously profaned it or its sacred vessels! There was then but one temple of the true God in the whole world; and his temple no infidel was ever suffered to enter further than the outer enclosure, or court of the Gentiles. Pompey’s boldness and presumption in viewing it all over when he had conquered the country, was, in the opinion of the Jewish historians, the cause of all the misfortunes with which he was afterwards overwhelmed. The Jews, that is, the faithful, had an inner court allotted to them, where they beheld the offering of the sacrifices, and performed their devotions at a distance from the holy place: but were never permitted to go any further, nor even to enter this court till they had been purified from all legal uncleannesses, by the ablutions and other rites prescribed by the law, an emblem of the interior purity of the soul. It is recorded by the Rabbins,41 that it was not lawful for any one to spit on any part of the mountain where the temple stood, ever to go through it to another place, or ever to gaze about in it: but entering it with trembling and gravity, they went to the place where they performed their prayer. The Levites, though devoted to the divine service, were not admitted beyond the part allotted for the bloody sacrifices. None but priests could enter the sanctuary or holy place, and of these, but one a-week, by lot, could approach the golden altar to offer the daily sacrifice of frankincense. As for the holy of holles, or innermost sanctuary, which God sanctified by his more immediate presence, and where the ark, the tables of the law, and Aaron’s rod were kept; this no one could ever enter on any account, except the high priest alone, and he only once a year, on the solemn feast of expiation, carrying the blood of victims sacrificed. Neither was he to do this without having been prepared by solemn purifications and expiations, and the smoke of perfumes was to cover the ark, and the propitiatory or oracle, called the Seat of God, before the blood was offered. Yet, the temple of Solomon and the holy of holies were only types of our sacred tabernacles in which is offered, not the blood of sheep and goats, but the adorable blood of the immaculate Lamb of God. Verily, the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.42 When the Jewish temple was consecrated, to inspire the people with an awe for the holy house, God filled it with a cloud; nor could the priests stand and minister, by reason of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.43 This miracle was repeated when the holocausts were first offered in it.44 The like wonder had often happened when Moses and Aaron entered the tabernacle. When God came to give the law, Moses himself was affrighted and trembled,45 and the people, being terrified, stood afar off.46 Yet all these things were but shadows to our tremendous mysteries, in which we are sprinkled with the precious blood of our Redeemer; and it is offered by our hands,47 and we are thereby associated to the company of many thousands of angels, &c.

If Christians fill the taverns and worldly assemblies with their impieties let them at least spare and respect God’s holy place, which he has commanded to be kept undefiled for his own sake, and where Christ is daily offered, and presents his blood to his Father in propitiation for our sins. If even infidels polluted these sacred places, we should shudder with horror: but is it possible that Christians themselves should be guilty of such sacrileges, by which they expose our most holy mysteries to the blasphemies of these infidels? How astonishing is the respect which the Mahometans and the most savage idolaters have for their mosques and pagods! Is it only those who possess the truth, and know the divine mysteries, that lose all sense of awe and respect for what is most sacred in religion? Christ, who received meekly the greatest sinners, and bore all injuries in silence, twice exerted his zeal and indignation in expelling the buyers and sellers out of the temple,48 once, soon after he had entered upon his public ministry, and once before he closed it.49 And let Christians, agreeably to the holy name they bear, exert their zeal to defend the churches from profanations: if they have not authority to prevent them, let them at least weep over such abuses, which tend to extirpate all sense of religion. A ray of the divine presence ought to pierce our souls when we approach the sanctuary, and we ought with trembling to say to ourselves: How terrible is this place! this is no other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven.50 Do we not enter the awful gates as we should have done the miraculous cloud Do we no seem to hear with Moses that vice from the bush: Approach not hither: put off the shoes from thy feet, for the ground on which thou standest is holy?51 Do we not put away all earthly thoughts and affections? Do we not veil our faces by the awe with which we are penetrated, and the strict guard we place upon our senses when we appear before him in his holy place, before whose face the heavens and the earth withdraw themselves, and their place is not found?52 The seraphim tremble in his presence, and veil their faces with their wings.53 Cassian mentions54 that the Egyptian monks put off their sandals whenever they went to celebrate or receive the holy mysteries. As the Jews upon entering the temple bowed themselves towards the mercy seat, so it seems to have been derived from them in the beginning of the church, as Mr. Mede and Mr. Bingham observe, that the Greek and all the Oriental Christians took up the custom which they still retain, of going into the middle of the church at their ingress, and bowing towards the altar, repeating those words of the Publican in the gospel: God, be merciful to me a sinner: which all know who have visited any of their churches at Rome. Ancona, or in the East. The custom of sprinkling the forehead with holy-water in entering the church, is of primitive antiquity; and the use of holy-water is recommended by tradition and miracles.55 In taking it as an emblem of interior purity, we pray in sincere compunction and holy fear, that God in his mercy sprinkle us with hyssop dipped, not in the blood of goats and calves, which could not take away sin, but in the adorable blood of Christ, which may perfectly cleanse our souls, that we may present ourselves spotless in his holy house, and divine presence. From the ancient custom of celebrating the festival of the dedication of each parish church, during an octave, with watching and great solemnity and devotion, are derived our Wakes.

NOVEMBER 9 — ST. THEODORUS, SURNAMED TYRO, M

St. Gregory of Nyssa begins the panegyric which he pronounced upon this martyr on his festival, at his tomb near Amasea, by gratefully ascribing to his intercession the preservation of that country from the inroads of the Scythians, who had laid waste all the neighboring provinces. Imploring his patronage, he says, “As a soldier defend us; as a martyr speak for us—ask peace: if we want a stronger intercession, gather together your brother martyrs, and with them all pray for us. Stir up Peter, Paul, and John, that they be solicitous for the churches which they founded. May no heresies sprout up: may the Christian commonwealth become, by your and your companions’ prayers, a flourishing field.” The panegyrist testifies that by his intercession, devils were expelled, and distempers cured; that many resorted to his church, and admired the stateliness of the buildings, and the actions of the saint painted on the wall; approached the tomb. being persuaded that the touch thereof imparted a blessing; that they carried the dust of the sepulchre, as a treasure of great value, and if any were allowed the happiness to touch the sacred relics, they respectfully applied them to their eyes, mouth, ears, and other organs of their senses. “Then,” says the same St. Gregory, shedding tears of devotion, “they address themselves to the martyr as if he were present, and pray and invoke him, who is before God, and obtains gifts as he pleases.” The venerable panegyrist proceeds to give a short account of the martyr’s triumph.

Theodorus was a native of Syria or Armenia, young, and newly enlisted in the Roman army, whence he was surnamed Tyro. With his legion he was sent into winter-quarters in Pontus, and was at Amasea when fresh edicts were published by Maximian Galerius and Maximin, for continuing with the utmost rigor the persecution which had been raised by Dioclesian. Our young soldier was so far from concealing his faith, that he seemed to carry it written on his forehead. Being seized and presented to the governor of the province, and the tribune of his legion, he was asked by them how he dared to profess a religion which the emperors punished with death; to whom he boldly made the following declaration: “I know not your gods. Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, is my God. Beat, tear, or burn me; and if my words offend you, cut out my tongue: every part of my body is ready when God calls for it as a sacrifice.” His judges, with a pretended compassion for his youth, allowed him time to give the affair a second thought, and dismissed him for the present. Theodorus employed the interval in prayer for perseverance, and being resolved to convince his judges that his resolution was inflexible, by an extraordinary impulse he set fire to a temple of Cybele, which stood upon the banks of the river Iris, in the middle of the city; and the fabric was reduced to ashes. When he was carried a second time before the governor and his assistant, he was ready to prevent their questions by his confession. They endeavored to terrify him with threats of torments, and allure him by promising to make him the priest of the goddess, if he would offer sacrifice. His answer was, that their priests were of all idolaters the most miserable, because the most criminal. His body was unmercifully torn with whips; and afterwards hoisted on the rack. Under all manner of torments the saint maintained his former tranquillity and greatness of soul, and, seemingly insensible to the smart of his wounds, ceased not to repeat those words of the psalmist: I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall be always in my mouth. When the governor’s cruelty was tired, the martyr was remanded to prison where, in the night, he was wonderfully comforted by God and his holy angels. After a third examination, Theodorus was condemned to be burnt alive in a furnace; which sentence was executed in the year 306, probably on the 17th of February, on which day the Greeks and Muscovites celebrate his festival, though the Latins keep it on the 9th of November, with the Sacramentary of St. Gregory the Great, Bede, &c. The body of this martyr was translated in the twelfth century to Brindisi, and is there enshrined, except the head, which is at Cajeta. The ancient church of Venice, of which he is titular saint, is said to have been built by Narses. A collegiate church in Rome, which originally was a temple of Romulus, and several churches in the East bear his name.* See St. Gregory of Nyssa’s Panegyric on this martyr, t. 2, Op. p. 1002, and in Ruinart. His acts in Metaphrastes, though conformable to St. Gregory in the man, have been interpolated. Papebroke, ad 17 Febr. promised another encomium of St. Theodorus Tyro by Nicetas Paphlago; also one by Nectarius of Constantinople. This last Lipomanus and Surius have published in Latin. Lambecius mentions a Greek copy in the imperial library of Vienna.

NOVEMBER 9 — ST. MATHURIN, PRIEST, C

When the Christian faith had spread its beams over most parts of Gaul in the third century, Mathurin, an inhabitant about Montargis, now the capital of Gatinois, had the happiness to open his eyes to the divine light. No sooner had he discovered this infinite treasure, than he sold all things, and renounced the world like the apostles, to secure to himself the possession of the inestimable jewel of divine grace, and its everlasting reward; and being promoted to the priesthood, he labored to impart the same blessing to others, with such success, that he converted his whole province to Christ Loaded with the merits of his zealous labors and good works, he died in peace some time before the year 388, says the new Paris Breviary, and is honored as the apostle and patron of the province of Gatinois. His mortal remains were first deposited at Sens; but the greater part was afterwards translated to Larchant, a village near Nemours, where his shrine was famous for pilgrimages, till it was burnt by the Huguenots, in 1568. Two churches in Paris bear the name of this saint, and both formerly depended upon the cathedral, commonly called Our Lady’s. The bishop and canons, in 1228, bestowed one of them upon the Trinitarians, who, from it, were called in France, Mathurins. The other continues under the jurisdiction of the metropolitical church of Our Lady, and is possessed of a considerable part of the relics of this saint, which are carried in a rich case in solemn religious processions of the city. The acts of St. Mathurin in Mombritius are of no authority. See Gallia Christian. Hist. de l’Eglise de Paris, and the new Paris Breviary, Saussaye, and Baillet, p. 123.

NOVEMBER 9 — ST. VANNE, OR VITONIUS. BISHOP OF VERDUN CONFESSOR

After having borne the yoke of our Lord from his youth in a monastic habit he was chosen bishop of Verdun about the year 498. In this charge he labored with unwearied zeal for the salvation of his flock twenty-six years, and, exhausted with austerities and conflicts, departed to our Lord about the year 525. A celebrated congregation of reformed Benedictins in Lorraine, formed in the abbey of St. Vanne at Verdun, in 1604, takes him for patron, and, from this famous abbey and that of Moyen-Monstier, dedicated in honor of St. Hydulphus, bears the name of St. Vanne and St. Hydulphus. The abbeys of St. Michael, St. Hubert in Ardenne, Senones, Munster, St. Avold, and several others, embraced this reform. Many in France desires to accede to it, but, on account of the wars then subsisting, a union was thought too difficult: a reformation on the same plan was set on foot in France, under the name of the Congregation of St. Maur, begun in the abbey of St. Austin’s at Limoges in 1613, and confirmed by Gregory XV. in 1627, which now comprises above one hundred and eighty abbeys and priories, and, among these, St. Germain-de-prez, St. Denys, Fescamp in Normandy, Vendome, St. Bennet’s, &c., under their own general. The strictest union has always subsisted between the sister congregations of St. Vanne and St. Maur, and both adopt almost the same constitutions. The life of St. Vanne, in Surius, is neither ancient nor authentic. On him see Le Cointe, Annal. Fr. ad ann. 498 et 525, and Calmet, Hist. de Lorraine.

NOVEMBER 9 — ST. BENIGNUS, OR BINEN, BISHOP

He was a disciple of St. Patrick, by whom he was appointed to the see of Armagh, after that apostle had resigned it. He was eminent for piety and virtue, and for the gentleness of his disposition; and resigned his see three years before his death, which happened in 468. See Colgan and Ware.

NOVEMBER 10 — ST. ANDREW AVELLINO, C

See his life, written five years after his death, by F. John Baptist Castaldo, Pr. of his Order, printed at Naples, 1613. Also Historia Clericorum Regularium, authore Jos. de’ Silos, 3 vols. fol. Rom, 1658, et Historia della Religione de’ Padri Chierici Regolari dal P. Glo. Battista del Tuffo, 2 vols. In fol. Roma. 1609, Likewise the bull of his canonization by Clement XI., published in the Bullar. t.10.

A. D. 1608.

ST. ANDREW AVELLINO was a native of Castro Nuovo, a small town in the kingdom of Naples, and born in 1520. In his infancy he gave early tokens of the most happy dispositions to virtue. At school he had the fear of God always before his eyes, and dreaded the very shadow of the least sin. A beautiful complexion exposed his chastity to several snares and dangers; which he escaped by assiduous prayer, mortification, watchfulness over himself, and care in shunning all dangerous company. To pretend a desire to serve God, and resist the world and vice, without a strenuous application to all the exercises of virtue, especially penance and prayer, he called a vain and foolish illusion. In the strait passage which leads to life we are sure to meet with many temptations and persecutions, which the world and the devil will not fail to raise against us. And, as watermen, who row against the wind and tide, exert their whole strength in plying their oars, so must we strive with all our might to maintain and daily gain ground against our malicious enemies, and the unruly sway of our passions. If any one lets go his hold, his soul, like a boat driven with the tide, will speedily be hurried into the gulf from which he may never be recovered. Andrew never looked back, and never lost sight of the goal to which he strove happily to arrive. After mature deliberation he took the ecclesiastical tonsure, and was sent to Naples to study the civil and canon law. Being there promoted to the degree of doctor in laws, and to the dignity of the priesthood, he began to plead such causes in the ecclesiastical court, as the canons allow clergymen to undertake. This employment, however, en grossed his thoughts, too much dissipated his mind, and insensibly weakened his affection for holy meditation and prayer. A fault into which he fell opened his eyes, and made him see the precipice which lay before him. Once in pleading a cause, in a matter indeed which was of no weight, a lie escaped him; for which, upon reading these words of holy scripture, The mouth that lieth killeth the soul, he was struck with so great remorse and deep compunction, that he resolved immediately to renounce his profession and to give himself up entirely to a penitential life, and to the spiritual care of souls. This he did with so great ardor, that his whole conduct was model of perfect virtue.

The archbishop judging no one more proper than Andrew to be the director of souls that were engaged by the obligations of their state in the career of evangelical perfection, committed to him the care of a certain nunnery in that city. The holy man’s zeal for removing all obstacles to the recollection of those spouses of Christ, in which consists the very essence of their state and virtue, stirred up the malice and rage of certain wicked men in the city, whom he had forbid being ever admitted to the grate to speak to any of the nuns. He once narrowly escaped death, with which they threatened him, and another time received three wounds in his face. These injuries he bore with invincible meekness, being ready with joy to lay down his life for the spiritual interest of souls, and for the defence of justice and virtue. Out of an earnest desire of more readily attaining to a perfect disengagement of his heart from all earthly things, in 1556 he embraced at Naples the rule of the Regular Clerks, called Theatins, in whom flourished at that time, to the great edification of the whole city, the religious spirit and fervor which they had inherited of St. Cajetan, who died there in the convent of St. Paul, in 1547. Our saint, out of the love he bore to the cross, on this occasion changed his name of Lancelot into that of Andrew. By the humiliations and persecutions which he had met with even among his dearest friends, (which trials are always the most severe to flesh and blood,) he learned what incomparable sweetness and spiritual advantages are found in suffering with patience and joy, and in studying in that state to conform ourselves to the holy spirit and sentiments of Christ crucified for us. Nor can it be conceived what improvement a soul makes by this means in experimental perfect meekness, in patience, humility, and the crucifixion of self-love, and all her passions, by which Christ (or his Spirit) begins to live in her, and to establish the reign of his pure love in all her affections. Of this St. Andrew was an example. To bind himself the more strictly to the most fervent pursuit of perfect virtue in all his actions, he made two private vows which only an extraordinary impulse of fervor could suggest, or, even according to the necessary rules of Christian prudence, make allowable or lawful, for fear of sacrilegious transgressions, or scrupulous anxious fears. The first was, perpetually to fight against his own will: the second, always to advance to the utmost of his power in Christian perfection. Wonderful were his abstinence and exterior mortifications, and the indifference with which he treated his body: but much more his love of abjection and hatred of himself, that is, of his flesh and his own will. He bore without the least disturbance of mind the barbarous murder of his nephew; and, not content to withdraw all his friends from prosecuting the assassin, became himself an earnest supplicant to the judges for his pardon. His exactitude in the observance of regular discipline in every point, and his care to promote the same in others, especially while he was superior in his order, were equal to the ardor of his zeal for the divine honor in all things. All the hours that wore free from exterior employments of duty or charity, were by him devoted to prayer and contemplation, and these were the source of his interior eminent spirit of piety and charity, by which his labors in the conversion and direction of innumerable souls were miraculously successful. By the eminent sanctity of many of both religious and secular persons who had the happiness to be his penitents, it appeared visible that saints possess the art of forming saints.*

Cardinal Paul Aresi, bishop of Tortona, the author of many works of piety and ecclesiastical learning, and the Mecnas of his age, had a particular esteem for our saint, and often made use of his advice and assistance in his most important affairs. St. Charles Borromeo did the same, and obtained of him some religious men formed by his hand, and animated with his spirit, for the foundation of a convent of his order, at Milan. That great saint had nothing so much at heart as such a reformation of the clergy, that all among them might be replenished with the spirit of the apostles. For this end so many orders of regular canons and clerks have been instituted, from St. Austin down to our time. Yet into their houses, through the negligence of superiors, and the propensity of the human heart to the gratification of its passions, the spirit of the world has too often found admittance to the aggravation of the scandal. For the same purpose have congregations of secular clergy, living in common without vows, been sometimes erected: among which scarcely any was more famous than that of Windesheim, established by Gerard the Great, or Groot, in Holland, who died in the odor of sanctity in 1384, leaving his plan to be finished by his worthy successor, Dr. Florentius: it was continued in the same spirit by John Cacabus or Kettle.† St. Charles Borromeo had a design of engaging his canons to live in this manner in common without vows; but the execution was prevented by his death. He had, soon after he was made archbishop, pitched upon the Theatins, whom St. Andrew had formed to a perfect ecclesiastical spirit, to set before the eyes of his clergy a model and living example from which they might learn the apostolic spirit of the most perfect disengagement from the world. Our saint founded new convents of his order at Placentia, and in some other places; and was honored by God with the gifts of prophecy and miracles. After having given the world an example of the most heroic virtues, being broken with labors and old age, he was seized with an apoplexy at the altar as he was beginning mass, at those words, Introibt ad altare Dei; which he repeated thrice, and was not able to proceed. He was prepared for his passage by the holy sacraments, and calmly resigned his soul into the hands of his Creator, on the 10th of November, 1608. His body is kept with honor in the church of his convent of St. Paul at Naples; and he was canonized by Clement XI.

This saint was a fit instrument of the Holy Ghost, in directing others in the paths of perfect virtue, because dead to himself, and a man of prayer. He never spoke of himself, never thought of his own actions, except of his weaknesses, which he had always before his eyes in the most profound sense of his own nothingness, baseness, total insufficiency, and weakness. Those who talk often of themselves, discover that they are deeply infected with the disease of the devil, which is pride, or with the poison of vanity, its eldest daughter. They have no other reward to expect, but what they now receive, the empty breath of sinners. Even this incense is only affected hypocrisy. For men, by that base passion which they betray, become justly contemptible and odious to those very persons whose vain applause they seem to court. St. Teresa advises all persons to shun such directors, as pernicious to souls, both by the contagion of self-conceit and vain-glory which they spread, and by banishing the Holy Ghost with his light and blessing; for nothing is more contrary to him than a spirit of vanity and pride. The most perfect disinterestedness, contempt of the world, self-denial, obedience, and charity, are no less essential ingredients of a Christian, and especially an ecclesiastical spirit, than meekness and humility. The vows of Regular Canons, and their strictest rules, only point out what are the duties, and what ought essentially to be the spirit of every clergyman by the obligation of his state, without the tie of particular vows, as he example of Christ and his apostle shows.

NOVEMBER 10 — SAINTS TRYPHO AND RESPICIUS, MM., AND NYMPHA VIRGIN

Trypho and RESPICIUS were natives of Bithynia, at or near Apamea and upon the opening of Decius’s persecution, in 250, were seized, loaded with chains, and conducted to Nice, where Aquilinus, governor of Bithynia, and prefect of the East, then resided. After some days’ confinement, they were brought to their trial before him, and upon their confession of their faith, an officer that stood by them, told them that all who refused to offer sacrifice were to be burned alive, and exhorted them to have compassion on themselves. Respicius answered, “We cannot better have compassion on ourselves than by confessing Jesus Christ, the true judge, who will come to call everyone to an account for all their actions.” Aquilinus told them they were old enough to know what they ought to do. “Yes,” said Trypho, “and therefore we desire to attain the perfection of true wisdom by following Jesus Christ.” The judge ordered them to be put on the rack. The martyrs, to express their readiness to suffer, forthwith stripped themselves, and stepped forward with surprising alacrity. They bore the torture near three hours with admirable patience and tranquillity; and only opened their mouths to invoke God, and extol his mercy and power, and to give the judge to understand to what dangers he exposed himself by his blindness. When they were taken down from the rack, Aquilinus, who was going out on a party of hunting, ordered them to be tied to the tails of horses, and led out into the fields, naked and torn and bruised all over as they were, that they might be exposed in that condition to the cold air; for it was winter, and the severity of the frost was so great that they were disabled from walking or standing without exquisite pain, for their feet were cloven by it. After this torment the governor asked them if they did not yet relent; and finding their constancy invincible, ordered them again to prison, threatening them that they should be treated with the utmost rigor. Soon after this, Aquilinus set out to make the tour of some other cities that were under his jurisdiction, and at his return to Nice called for the two prisoners, and promising them great riches and honors if they complied, conjured them to consider their own good before it was too late. The martyrs, who had only God before their eyes, replied, “We cannot better follow your advice, and consider our own good, than by persevering firm in the confession of the name of Jesus Christ.” Aquilinus finding himself defeated in all his attacks in a fit of impotent rage commanded their feet to be pierced with large nails, and the martyrs to be dragged in that condition in the cold weather through the streets. He who is the strength of martyrs, gave them a courage superior to the malice of the enemy. The governor, surprised and confounded at their meek patience, ordered them to be whipped, which was done till the executioners were wearied. This enraged the judge still more, and he commanded their flesh to be torn with hooks, and afterwards lighted torches to be applied to their sides. The saints remaining the same in the midst of these tortments, the governor cried out to the tormentors, bidding them exert their skill in torturing the obstinate wretches in the most exquisite manner. But the saints were invincible, and prayed thus: “Lord Jesus Christ, for whom we fight, suffer not the devil to vanquish us, strengthen and enable us to finish our course. The combat is yours; may the victory be yours.” The next day they were examined a third time, and being as constant as before, were beaten with plummets of lead, and afterwards beheaded, in the year 250. See their authentic, though not original acts in Ruinart, Tillemont, t. 3, &c. Those in Metaphrastes are counterfeit.

With these two martyrs, the Roman Martyrology joins ST. NYMPHA, because her body reposes with theirs at Rome. She was a virgin of Palermo in Sicily, and, in the invasion of the Goths, in the fifth century, fled into Italy, where she served God in great sanctity, and died in peace at Suana in Tuscany. The Greeks honor St. Trypho on the 1st of February, and there stood formerly a church in Constantinople, near that of Sancta Sophia, which bore his name.1 The ancient church of St. Trypho in Rome, being fallen to decay in 1604, it was united to the church of St. Austin, which is now possessed of part of the relics of these three saints. But the principal parts of those of SS. Trypho, Respicius, and Nympha, repose under the high altar in the church of the Holy Ghost in Saxia, belonging to a great hospital in Rome. This street lying between St. Peter’s church and the Tiber, is called Saxia, from a colony of Saxons whom Charlemagne, after he had defeated them in Germany, placed there,2 that they might be instructed in the faith.

NOVEMBER 10 — SAINT JUSTUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, C

He was a Roman by birth, and a learned and virtuous monk of St. Gregory’s monastery, by whom he was sent into England in 601, to assist St. Austin in preaching the faith there. In 604, he was consecrated the first bishop of Rochester, and, in 624, upon the death of St. Mellitus, translated to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury. Pope Boniface accompanied the pall which he sent him, with a letter in which he admired the fruit of his labors, in the great number of souls which he had initiated in the faithful service of God; and extolled his patience and zeal, exhorting him to persevere to the end, lest he should lose his crown. St. Justus ordained St. Romanus his successor at Rochester, and St. Paulinus the first archbishop of York, and went to receive his reward at the hands of the Prince of pastors, on the 10th of November, in 627. He was interred with his two predecessors, and is named on this day in the Roman and English Martyrologies.

NOVEMBER 10 — SS. MILLES, BISHOP OF SUSA, ABROSIMUS, PRIEST, AND SINA, DEACON, MM., IN PERSIA

St. Milles was born in the province of the Razichans,* was educated in the Persian court, and had a considerable post in the army, till, being converted to the Christian faith, he withdrew from the court of Lapeta, and retired to Ham, of Elam, near Susa. By his example and exhortations he converted many to the faith, and to the fervent practice of virtue; and for the service of that infant church, consented to receive holy orders. Not long after, he was chosen bishop of Susa, and consecrated by St. Gadiabes, bishop of Lapeta. afterwards a martyr. Our saint took much pains for some years to reclaim men from superstition and vice, but reaped no other advantages than that of discharging his own duty, and of suffering for the faith. The infidels often dragged him through the streets and highways, beat him unmercifully, and treated him with unheard-of cruelty and indignities. Riches, sloth, and plenty, were the bane of this great city, and though it had been plundered by Alexander the Great, it was still in a flourishing condition; and the old palace, which was said to have been built by Mardochai, and was one of the largest in extent, and most stately that ever was erected in the world, was still standing. But pride and luxury were not perhaps carried higher in Sodom than in this city. The small number of Christians that were there, were infected in some measure with the vices of the infidels with whom they conversed. St. Milles finding them incorrigible and seeing his residence among them rendered impossible by the rage of the persecutors, and by the tumults of a civil war, left the city, having first denounced the divine vengeance to the inhabitants. Three months after his departure, king Sapor, for punishment of a rebellion which this city and the Elamites had raised, sent hither an army and three hundred elephants, with an order to put the inhabitants to the sword, raze the houses and all the other buildings to the ground, remove their very foundations, plough up the soil, and sow corn upon it. This order was rigorously executed, but the city has been since rebuilt, and Susa shows at this day stupendous ruins of its ancient grandeur. It had been the winter-seat of the ancient kings of Persia, from Cyrus; the summer they spent in a colder climate, at Ecbatana.

As for St. Milles, a desire of seeing holy places, and conversing with eminent servants of God for his improvement in sacred knowledge and devotion, led him to travel to Jerusalem and Alexandria. He carried nothing with him but a book of the gospels, and made this truly a journey of penance, piety, and recollection. In Egypt he visited St. Ammonius, the disciple of St. Antony, the father of the Mourners, as the Persians and Syrians to this day call monks, because they wear black or mourning habits. In those deserts he stayed some time in a cave with a certain monk, who used to feed a serpent of the species called Nosephus, which came to his cave at certain hours, without doing him any hurt. St. Milles liked not such a guest, and burst the serpent, perhaps by poisoning its food. In his return he made a visit to St. James of Nisibis, who was then building his great church. After some days stay with that holy prelate, he went into Assyria, and bought there a great quantity of silk, which he sent to St. James for the use of his church. Coming to Seleucia and Ctesiphon,* he found the numerous church there thrown into great disorder by the insufferable pride and arrogance of Papas the primate, who had alienated the minds of the clergy, and by a very irregular conduct given occasion to a pernicious schism which was raised among them. A synod being assembled at Seleucia to reform the abuses which Papas had introduced in the discipline, and to hear the complaints of several bishops against him, St. Milles spoke to him with great liberty and gravity. “Whence comes it,” said he, “that you despise your colleagues? Do you forget the precept of Christ:1 He that is the greatest among you, let him be as a servant?” Papas replied in a fit of brutish anger: “Foolish man, would you pretend to teach me, as if I knew not my duty!” St. Milles taking the book of the gospels out of his pocket, laid it upon the table, and addressing himself to Papas, said: “If yon are ashamed to learn your duty of me, who am a base mortal man, learn it at least from the holy gospel.” Papas no longer possessing himself, in his rage, striking the book with his hand, said: “Speak, then, gospel, speak.” St. Milles, shocked at these impious words, took up the sacred book, respectfully applied it to his mouth and eyes, and then raising his voice, said to Papas: “The angel of the Lord will punish the insult you have offered to the word of life. Half your body shall this moment become without motion; neither yet shall you soon die. God will prolong your life some years, that you may be to others a living example of his justice.” That instant Papas was struck with a palsy, which seized one side of his body, and he fell to the ground.2 This happened in 314 Beausobre thinks3 his palsy might be naturally produced by the extravagant fit of rage into which he threw himself, yet be an effect of the divine vengeance, for which natural causes are often employed. Papas survived this accident twelve years, took for his coadjutor St. Simeon, and died in 326 the year after the council of Nice, at which St. Sciadustes or Sadoth assisted as deputy for him.

St. Milles retired into the country of Maisan, called by the Latins Mesene, upon the Euphrates, and took up his abode with a hermit. The lord of that country who had been sick two years recovered his health by our saint’s prayers, and this miracle converted many infidels. Our saint afterwards returned into the province of the Razichans, his own country, and there baptized many. In 341, the bloody edicts of Sapor against the Christians coming abroad, Hormisda Guphrizius, governor of that province, caused him and his two disciples, Abrosimus a priest, and Sina a deacon to be apprehended, and sent them in chains to Maheldagdar, the capital city of the Razichans. They were twice scourged, and solicited many ways to offer sacrifice to the sun. The martyrs ceased not repeating the divine praises in their dungeons. In the beginning of the year, that is, in October, (for the Chaldans to this day begin their year on the 1st of that month,) Hormisda had made preparations for a great hunt of wild beasts. The day before this diversion he sent for St. Milles, and after many reproachful words, threatened to dispatch him like one of the wild beasts in the woods, unless he demonstrated to him the truth of his religion. The martyr’s answers were modest, but firm; and the inhuman governor put an end to his discourse, by rushing upon him and stabbing him through the shoulder. Narses, Hormisda’s brother, seeing this, drew his sword, and ran him through the other shoulder, of which wound he died. Hormisda commanded Abrosimus and Sina to be stoned to death by the soldiers, upon the tops of two hills which faced each other: which was forthwith executed. The two impious brothers were both slain on the day following, by chance arrows shot at a stag; and their bodies were left upon the spot, that the flesh might be devoured by the beasts and birds of prey: after which the bones were gathered and buried, according to the ancient Persian custom, which subsisted till the sixth century, as appears from Agathias,4 but was extirpated by the Mahometans when they became masters of the country. The Christians always interred their dead in Persia, as in other countries. The bodies of these three martyrs were conveyed to the castle of Malcan, and deposited in a tomb prepared for them. The inhabitants attributed to the blessing of God for the sake of his martyrs, that the Saban Arabs, who had often infested that country, never made their appearance there from that time. These martyrs suffered in the year 341, the 32d of Sapor II., on the 13th day of the moon of November, which that year was the 5th of November, according to the solar computation. The Roman Martyrology joins these with several other Persian martyrs on the 22d of April: the Grecian Mena mentions them on the 10th of November, which was perhaps the day of their burial. See their genuine Chaldaic Acts, with the notes of Monsignor Steph.; Evodius Assemani, Act. Mart. Orient, t. 1, p. 66. See also Sozomen.1. 2, c.13.

NOVEMBER 11 — ST. MARTIN, BISHOP OF TOURS, C

For the history of St. Martin, we are chiefly indebted to his illustrious disciple St. Sulpicius Severus, who, in an elegant and classical style wrote his life some time before his death. The name of Constantius for Constantine, and some other such mistakes, crept into this work through the negligence of copyers, who often use abbreviations, especially in names. To supply omissions in this life, eight years after St. Martin’s death, St. Sulpicius wrote three dialogues; in the first, Posthumian introduces the discourse by relating certain miracles and edifying instances of virtue, especially of the love of poverty and the blind obedience of several Egyptian monks. In the second and third dialogues, St. Sulpicius under the name of Gallus. a disciple of St. Martin, recounts several remarkable circumstances of his life. Others he mentions in four of his epistles; and in that to Bassula, his wife’s mother, then living at Triers, he relates the circumstances that attended the holy bishop’s happy death. He speaks of him also in the account he gives of the Priscillianists, with which he closes his sacred history,1. 2, c. 50, 51. Though this author imitates the style of the purest ages, yet he declares that he neglects elegance; and he takes the liberty to use certain terms and phrases familiar in his time, or necessary to express our holy mysteries, which are not of the Augustan standard. These Clerc finds fault with; but even Cicero allows philosophers to invent new terms to express new notions or things. How shocking is the delicacy of Bembo, who conjures the Venetians per Deos immortales, and uses the words Dea Lauretana! or that of Justus Lipsius, who used fatum or destiny for providence, because this is not a Ciceronian word, for which some of his works were condemned, and by him recalled. A certain Paulinus of Perigueux. in 461, and Fortunatus of Poictiers, about the year 590, wrote the life of St. Martin, in rough heroic verse; wholly copied from St. Sulpicius Severus, so as only to have disfigured the colors by changing the canvass. St. Gregory of Tours speaks of St. Martin in his history,1. 1, et 10, and in 594, finished his four books of the Virtues and Miracles of St. Martin; some of which miracles were wrought upon himself; to others he was an eye-witness, and the rest he learned from persons of credit See on St. Martin, Tillemont, t.10, p. 309, and Vie de S. Martin, in 450, at Tours, 1699, by abb Gervaise, then provost of St. Martin’s at Tours, afterwards bishop of Horren, who was massacred in his mission, with all his attendants, by the Caraibes or Cannibals the 20th of November, 1729. See also the criticisms of Dom. Badier the Maurist monk, Hist. de l’Abbaye de Marmoutier, et de l’Eglise Royale de S Martin de Tours.

A. D. 397.

THE great St. Martin, the glory of Gaul, and the light of the western church in the fourth age, was a native of Sabaria, a town of Upper Pannonia, the ruins of which appear upon the river Gunez, in Lower Hungary, two leagues from Sarwar, upon the Raab, near the confines of Austria and Stiria. St. Gregory of Tours places his birth in the year 316, or before Easter in 317, the eleventh of Constantine the Great. His parents carried him with them in his infancy to Pavia in Italy, whither they removed, and the saint had his education in that city. His father was an officer in the army, and rose to the commission of a military tribune, not much different from that of a colonel, or rather of a brigadier among us. Our saint from his infancy seemed animated with the spirit of God, and to have no relish for any thing but for his service, though his parents were idolaters. At ten years of age he made his way to the church against the will of his parents and desired to be enrolled among the catechumens. His request was granted, and he assisted as often as possible at the instructions that were given to such at the church: by which he conceived so ardent a love of God that, at twelve years of age, he was for retiring into the desert; and would have done it had not the tenderness of his age hindered him. His heart, however, was always set upon the church and monasteries. An imperial order being issued to oblige the sons of veteran officers and soldiers to bear arms, the saint’s own father, who very much desired that his son should follow that profession, discovered him, and at fifteen years of age he was compelled to take the military oath, and was entered in the cavalry. He contented himself with one servant, and him he treated as if he were his equal: they ate together, and the master frequently performed for him the lowest offices. All the time he remained in the army, he kept himself free from those vices which too frequently sully and degrade that profession, and, by his virtue, goodness, and charity, gained the love and esteem of all his companions. He was humble and patient above what human nature seemed capable of, though he was not yet baptized. He comforted all those that suffered affliction, and relieved the distressed, reserving to himself out of his pay only what was sufficient for his daily support.

Of his compassion and charity St. Sulpicius has recorded the following illustrious example. One day, in the midst of a very hard winter, and severe frost, when many perished with cold, as he was marching with other officers and soldiers, he met at the gate of the city of Amiens a poor man, almost naked, trembling and shaking for cold, and begging alms of those that passed by. Martin seeing those that went before him take no notice of this miserable object, thought he was reserved for himself: by his charities to others he had nothing left but his arms and clothes upon his back; when, drawing his sword, he cut his cloak into two pieces, gave one to the beggar, and wrapped himself in the other half. Some of the by-standers laughed at the figure he made in that dress, while others were ashamed not to have relieved the poor man. In the following night St. Martin saw in his sleep Jesus Christ dressed in that half of the garment which he had given away, and was bid to look at it well, and asked whether he knew it. He then heard Jesus say to a troop of angels that surrounded him: “Martin, yet a catechumen, has clothed me with this garment.” This vision inspired the saint with fresh ardor, and determined him speedily to receive baptism, which he did in the eighteenth year of his age; but still continued almost two years in the army at the request of his tribune, with whom he lived in the most intimate friendship, and who promised to renounce the world when the term of the service and commission in which he was then employed, should be elapsed. During this interval Martin was so entirely taken up with the obligations of his baptism, that he had little more than the name of a soldier, and expressed much impatience at being detained one moment from devoting himself solely to the divine service. Upon an irruption which the Germans made into Gaul, the troops were assembled to march against them, and a donative was distributed among the soldiers. Martin thought it would be ungenerous and unjust to receive the donative when he had thoughts of quitting the service. He therefore begged that his donative might be bestowed on some other person. and asked his dismission, that he might give himself up totally to the service of Christ. He was told that it was for fear of the battle that was expected next day, that he desired his dismission. Martin, with surprising intrepidity, offered to be placed in the front without arms, saying, “In the name of the Lord Jesus, and protected not by a helmet and buckler, but by he sign of the cross, I, will thrust myself into the thickest squadrons of the enemy without fear.” That night the barbarians demanded and obtained peace; upon which Martin easily procured leave to retire, after having served in the army about five years, according to the most probable account.*

St. Martin, having quitted the camp, went to St. Hilary, who had beer made bishop of Poitiers in the year 353 or 354. That great prelate soon became acquainted with the saint’s extraordinary merit, and, in order to fix him in his diocese, would fain have ordained him deacon, but was not able to overcome his humility, and was obliged to be content only to make him exorcist. Martin was very desirous to pay his parents a visit in Pannonia; for which he obtained the leave of St. Hilary, who made him promise he would return to him again. In crossing the Alps he fell into the hands of a company of robbers, and one of them lifted up his sword over his head to kill him; but another held his arm. They admired his modesty and intrepidity, and asked him who he was, and whether he was not struck with fear at the sight of a sword lifted up to kill him. He answered that he was a Christian, and that he had never been more calm and secure than under that danger, because he certainly knew that the divine goodness is always most ready to protect us in life or in death, and is never more present to us than in the greatest dangers; but said he was only grieved that they, by the lives which they led, deprived themselves of the mercy of Christ. The robbers listened to him, admired the courage and confidence in God which virtue inspires, and he who had attempted to kill the saint put him in his road, became a Christian, led a penitential religious life in a monastery, and himself afterwards related this circumstance. Martin continued his journey through Milan into Pannonia, and converted his mother and many others; but his father remained in his infidelity. In Illyricum he with so much zeal opposed the Arians who prevailed there without control, that he was publicly scourged by them and banished the country. In Italy he heard that the church of Gaul was sorely oppressed by those heretics, and St. Hilary banished: upon which melancholy news he chose a retreat near the walls of Milan, where he entered upon a monastic life. Auxentius the Arian invader of the see of Milan, soon became acquainted with his zeal for the orthodox faith, and the council of Nice, and drove him out of that diocese. The saint in this distress fell into the company of a very virtuous priest, with whom he agreed to retire to the little desert island of Gallinaria, upon the coast of Liguria, near Albenga. Here, while he lived in great abstinence or roots and wild herbs, he happened unawares to eat a considerable quantity of hellebore, enough to have caused his death, if he had not been restored to his health when brought to the last extremity, by having recourse to prayer. Understanding, in 360, that St. Hilary was returning to his bishopric, he went to Rome to meet him on his road, and finding there that he was already gone by, speedily followed and overtook him, and being most affectionately received by him, accompanied him to Poitiers. It being Martin’s earnest desire to pursue his vocation in holy solitude, St. Hilary gave him a little spot of land, called Locociagum, now Lugug, two leagues from the city, where our saint built a monastery which was standing in the eighth century, and seems to have been the first that was erected in Gaul. Among others who were received by the saint in this house, was a certain catechumen, who, shortly after, while St. Martin was absent for three days upon business relating to the divine service, fell ill of a fever, and died suddenly, beyond all expectation, and without baptism. The saint, returning home found his monks in great affliction and the corpse laid out in order to be buried. Bursting into a flood of tears he fixed his eyes on the corpse; and feeling in himself a divine impulse to work a miracle, he ordered the rest to go out of the chamber, and, like an other Eliseus, stretched himself upon the dead body, and prayed for some time with great earnestness, till, perceiving that it began to revive, he rose up and stood by it, while, in less than two hours, the deceased person began to move his limbs, and at last opened his eyes. Being restored to life he related how, after his departure, his soul seemed to be presented before the divine tribunal, and sentenced to a dark dungeon, but that two angels represented to the judge that St. Martin poured forth his prayers in her behalf; and that the judge ordered them to restore her to the body, and raise it to life. The person was immediately baptized, and lived many years. Another time the saint restored to life, in the same manner, a slave of a neighboring rich man, who had hanged himself. These two miracles exceedingly spread his reputation, and in the year 371 he was chosen the third bishop of Tours, and consecrated on the 3d of July. St. Gatian, who came from Rome about the same time with St. Dionysius of Paris, in 250, had first preached the faith there, founded that see, and governed it fifty years, as St. Gregory of Tours affirms. His successor, after the see had been several years vacant, was St. Litorius: upon whose death the people demanded St. Martin for their bishop. A stratagem was made use of to call him to the door of his monastery to give his blessing to a sick person, and he was forcibly conveyed to Tours under a strong guard. Some of the neighboring bishops, who were called to assist at the election, urged that the meanness of his dress and appearance, and his slovenly air, showed him to be unfit for such a dignity. But such objections were commendations of the servant of God, who was installed in the episcopal chair.

St. Martin in this new dignity continued the same manner of life, retaining the same humility of mind, austerity of life, and meanness of dress. He lived at first in a little cell near the church, but, not being able to endure the interruption which he met with from the many visits he there received, he retired to a monastery which he built two miles from the city, which is the famous abbey of Marmoutier, the most ancient that now subsists in France, and belongs to the congregation of St. Maur. The place was then a desert, enclosed by a high steep rock on one side, and by the river Loire on the other, and the entrance into it was only by one very narrow passage. The holy bishop had a cell built of wood: several of his monks had cells made in the same manner, but the greater part took up their dwellings in narrow holes which they dug in the side of the rock: one is still shown in which St. Martin is said to have lodged for some time. He had here in a short time about fourscore monks: among them no one had any distinct property: no one was allowed to buy or sell, as was the practice of the greater part of the monks with regard to their work and sustenance. No art or business was permitted among them, except that of writing, to which only the younger were deputed: the more ancient attended to nothing else but to prayer and spiritual functions. Very rarely any went out of his cell, except to the oratory where they assembled at the hours of public prayer; and they ate all together in the evening after the hour of the fast. Wine was never afforded to any one, unless sickness required it. Most of them had garments of camel’s hair, that is, of coarse camlet, and it was esteemed a crime to wear any soft clothing. There were nevertheless many persons of quality among them, who had been educated in a tender and delicate manner. Many bishops were chosen out of this monastery; for there was not a city which did not desire to have a pastor who had been bred under the discipline of St. Martin. The bishop himself was frequently employed in visiting all the parts of his diocese. Not far from his monastery stood a chapel and an altar, erected by the concession of his predecessors, over the tomb of a pretended martyr. The place was much reverenced by the people: but St. Martin, who was not over-credulous, would not go thither to pray, not hearing any assured account of the relics. He asked the eldest of the clergy what they knew of them, and not receiving satisfaction, he went one day to the place with some of his brethren, and standing over the tomb, besought God to show him who was buried there. Then turning to the left he saw near him a pale ghost of a fierce aspect, whom he commanded to speak. The ghost told his name, and it appeared that he had been a robber who was executed for his crimes, whom the people had honored as a martyr. None but St. Martin saw him: the rest only heard his voice. He thereupon caused the altar to be removed, and freed the people from this superstition.1 I Formerly bishops canonized saints, or declared them such; but, to prevent the danger of abuses, this has been long since reserved to the most mature discussion and solemn approbation of the apostolic see of Rome. To honor relics without a prudent or moral assurance of their authenticity, or without the due authority of pastors as the canons require, is to fall into superstition. Where these rules of prudence are observed, even though a mistake should happen, it is of the same nature as if a person by inculpable inadvertence, kissed some other book instead of the Bible; and the primary object of such religious actions, which is to glorify God in his saints, is always certain, whatever mistakes may happen in facts, or such like human means which excite our devotion. But the example of St. Martin, St. Gregory the Great, St. Charles Borromeo, and all other holy prelates ought to excite all pastors to be diligent and severe in examining and removing relics which are not sufficiently warranted.

The utter extirpation of idolatry out of the diocese of Tours and all that part of Gaul, was the fruit of the edifying piety, miracles, and zealous labors and instructions of St. Martin. Soon after he had entered upon his episcopal charge he was obliged (probably on account of the heathenish temples, or some such affairs) to repair to the court of Valentinian I., who generally resided in Gaul. That prince, who was a good soldier, was a most passionate, rough, and proud man, and though he had been remarkable for his zeal in the reign of Julian the Apostate, seemed on certain occasions afterwards too favorable to idolatry, or too indifferent about religion, as appears amongst other instances from the following: The church never admitted comedians to baptism till they had quitted that profession, so that the pagans dreaded lest any of their comedians should turn Christians, as a prejudice to their public diversions. Valentinian therefore decreed that if any comedians in sickness desired baptism, the magistrates should be informed, that they might cause them to be visited, and see if they were really in danger, before they were allowed to be baptized.2 This prince, knowing that St. Martin was come to beg of him something in favor of the Christian religion which he had no mind to grant, gave orders that he should not be admitted into the palace. Also his wife Justina, who was a furious Arian, endeavored to prepossess him against the holy bishop. St. Martin, having attempted in vain twice or thrice to get access, had recourse to his ordinary weapons. He put on hair-cloth, covered his head with ashes, abstained from eating and drinking, and prayed day and night. On the seventh day he was ordered by an angel to go boldly to the palace. Accordingly he went thither, found the doors open, and nobody stopping him he went to the emperor, who seeing him at a distance, asked in passion why they had let him in, and would not vouchsafe to rise; but the place where he sat was suddenly all in a flame; which soon forced him to get up, says Sulpicius Severus.3 Then finding that he had felt the divine power, he embraced the saint several times, and granted him all that he desired, ever before he had time to mention his requests. After this, he gave him audience several times, often made him eat at his table, and, at his departure, offered him great presents, which the saint modestly refused, out of love to the poverty he professed. This must have happened before the year 375, in which this emperor died.

St. Martin destroyed many temples of idols, and felled several trees that were held as sacred by the pagans. Having demolished a very ancient temple, he would also have cut down a pine that stood near it. The chief priest and other pagans opposed; but at length agreed that they themselves would fell it, upon condition that he who trusted so strongly in the God whom he preached would stand under it where they should place him. The saint, who was directed in these extraordinary events by a divine inspiration, consented, and suffered himself to be tied to that side of the tree on which it leaned. When it seemed just ready to fall upon him he made the sign of the cross, and it fell on the contrary side. There was not one in a prodigious multitude of pagans that were present, who did not upon the spot demand the imposition of hands in order to be received amongst the catechumens. Another time, as he was pulling down a temple in the country of dui, that is, in the territory of Autun, a great number of pagans fell upon him with great fury, and one attacked him sword in hand. The saint took away his mantle, and presented his bare neck to him: but the pagan, being miraculously terrified, fell backwards, and begged he would forgive him. His zeal exposed him on many occasions to the hazard of his life. Wherever he destroyed temples, he immediately built churches or monasteries; and continued frequently to perform great miracles. At Triers he cured a maid who was sick of a palsy, and just ready to expire, by putting some oil that was blessed into her mouth. He restored to health a slave who belonged to Tetradius, formerly proconsul, that was possessed with a devil. At Paris, as he entered the gate of the city, followed by a great crowd, he kissed a most loathsome leper, and gave him his blessing, and he was forthwith healed. Small threads of the clothes or hair shirt of St. Martin often cured the sick when applied to them. One time the saint, as he was going to Chartres, passed through a village, the inhabitants of which were all idolaters, yet they all came out to see him pass by. The holy prelate seeing this multitude of infidels was moved with extreme compassion, and with earnest affection lifted up his eyes to heaven. Then he began to preach to them the word of God in the manner that he was accustomed, and sweetly to invite them to eternal salvation, with such pathetic words, voice, and energy, that it appeared plainly that it was not he who spoke, but God in him. A woman brought to him at that very time her only son, a child who was dead, and besought him, as the friend of God, to restore him to life. The saint judging that this miracle might occasion the conversion of many, made his prayer, and, in the presence of all the people, restored the child alive to the mother, who was amazed and out of herself for joy. The people who had seen this miracle, cried out aloud to heaven, ran to the saint, and cast themselves at his feet, beseeching him to make them catechumens, and to prepare them for baptism. St. Martin rejoiced at the conversion of so many souls to God, much more than any one could have done for the conquest of a kingdom, or all temporal advantages. Paulinus, who flourished with so great reputation for sanctity at Nola, being seized with a violent pain in his eye, where a cataract was beginning to be formed, St. Martin touched him with a pencil, and he was immediately cured.4 Many other miracles wrought by St. Martin are related by St. Sulpicius Severus, especially in casting out devils, whom he did not expel with threats and terrors as other exorcists were accustomed to do; but clothed with rough hair cloth, and covered with ashes, he prostrated himself upon the ground, and, with the arms of holy prayer, subdued them, and forced them at length to yield. The same venerable author recounts several instances of revelations, visions, and the spirit of prophecy with which the saint was favored by God. An extraordinary prudence, particularly in the discernment of spirits, was the fruit of his profound humility, perfect purity of heart, spirit of prayer, and contemplation. By this he discovered various subtle illusions and snares of the spirit of darkness. One day, when St. Martin was praying in his cell, the devil came to him environed with light, clothed in royal robes, with a crown of gold and precious stones upon his head, and with a gracious and pleasant countenance, told him twice that he was Christ. Humility is the touchstone which discovers the devil’s artifices, in all which a spirit of pride reigns. By this the saint after some pause discerned the evident marks of the angel of darkness, and said to him: “The Lord Jesus said not that he was to come clothed with purple, and crowned and adorned with a diadem. Nor will I ever believe him to be Christ who shall not come in the habit and figure in which Christ suffered, and who shall not bear the marks of the cross in his body.” At these words the fiend vanished, and left the cell filled with an intolerable stench.

While St. Martin was employed in making spiritual conquests, and in peaceably propagating the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the western empire was shaken with horrible convulsions. Maximus was proclaimed emperor by the Roman legions in Britain in 383, and, passing into Gaul, was acknowledged by the mutinous soldiery there, made Triers the seat of his empire, and defeated Gratian near Paris, who was betrayed by his own forces, and assassinated by Andragathius at Lyons on the 25th of August, in 383. The churches in Spain and Gaul were at that time disturbed by the Priscillianists,* who renewed many errors of Simon Magus, the Gnostics, and the Manichees, to which they added their favorite tenet of dissimulation and lying, it being an avowed principle amongst them, “Swear, forswear thyself; betray not the secret.” Maximus found Ithacius a Spanish bishop the warmest accuser of the Priscillianists, waiting for him at Triers. Idacius his colleague joined him there. The new emperor received them favorably, and commanded the ringleaders of the heretics to be conducted thither from Spain, and confronted with their two accusers. St. Martin happened to go to Triers to intercede with the tyrant in favor of certain persons who were condemned to death for adhering to their late master, Gratian. Many at the same time came from different parts to pay their court to Maximus with the most fawning adulation. But our saint always maintained his apostolical authority, imitating herein St. Ambrose, who had been there before him upon an embassy from Valentinian II., Gratian’s younger brother, who remained in possession of Italy. Though St. Martin was Maximus’s subject, which the other was not, he discovered the utmost reluctance to communicate with Maximus; and, when he was invited to dine at the emperor’s table, he refused a long while, saying boldly, that he could not eat at the same table with a man who had deprived one emperor of his dominions, and another of his life. Maximus protested that he had not accepted of the empire voluntarily, but that it had been forced upon him by the soldiery; that his incredible success seemed to testify the will of God, and that not one of his enemies had perished, except those who lost their lives in the battle. St. Martin at length was prevailed upon to accept the invitation, which gave the emperor the utmost satisfaction, who ordered a great entertainment to be made, and invited the most considerable persons of his court, and, among others, his uncle and brother, both counts, and the prefect of the prtorium. The priest who accompanied St. Martin was seated in a most honorable place between two counts, and on the same couch; and St. Martin on a low seat near the emperor. In the midst of the entertainment, an officer presented the cup as usual to Maximus, who ordered it to be given to St. Martin, expecting to receive it from his hand; but, when the bishop had drank, he gave it to his priest, as the most worthy person in the company; which action was exceedingly applauded by the emperor and the whole court. The empress, who attended night and day to the bishop’s discourses, sat always at his feet upon the ground, and would needs give him an entertainment in her turn, to which she invited the emperor. St. Martin consented with the utmost reluctance, for though he was above seventy years old, he never conversed with women except on necessary spiritual affairs. But he found it unavoidable, as he had several things to petition for; such as the delivery of prisoners, the recalling several that were in banishment, and restoring estates that had been confiscated. The empress herself waited upon him at table in the humble posture of a servant.

Neither St. Ambrose nor St. Martin would communicate with Ithacius or those bishops who held communion with him, because they sought to put heretics to death. We cannot wonder at the offence these saints took at their prosecuting Priscillian in such a manner, when we consider how much the church abhorred the shedding of the blood even of criminals, and never suffered any of her clergy to have any share in such causes. St. Martin continually reproved Ithacius for his conduct, and pressed him to desist from his accusation. He also besought Maximus not to spill the blood of the guilty; saying, it was sufficient that they had been declared heretics, and excommunicated by the bishops, and that there was no precedent of an ecclesiastical cause being brought before a secular judge Ithacius, far from hearkening to his advice, presumed to accuse him of this heresy, as he usually did those whose manner of life seemed to him too rigid. But Maximus, out of regard to St. Martin’s remonstrances, caused the trial to be deferred all the while he stayed at Triers, and even promised him that the blood of the persons accused should not be spilled. But after the saint had left Triers, he suffered himself to be prevailed upon, and committed the cause of the Priscillianists to Evodius, whom he had made prefect of the prtorium. This severe judge convicted Priscillian of several crimes by his own confession, as of holding nocturnal assemblies with lewd women, of praying naked, and other such things. Ithacius was the accuser, and was even present when Priscillian was put to the torture.5 Though after this he withdrew, and did not assist at their condemnation to death. Evodius laid the whole proceeding before Maximus, who declared Priscillian and his accomplices worthy of death. Evodius therefore pronounced sentence. Priscillian, his two clerks named Felicissimus and Armenius, Latrocinius a layman, and Euchrocia were beheaded. The bishop Instantius, who had been condemned by the council of Bourdeaux, was banished to the islands of Sylina, or the isles of Scilly, beyond Britain. Soon after Afarinus and Aurelius, two deacons, were condemned to death: Tiberian was sent to the same islands, and his estate confiscated, and others were punished for the same cause.6 Ithacius and his associate bishops were supported by the emperor, so that several who disapproved their conduct, durst not condemn them. Only one bishop, named Theognostus, publicly declared against him.

The Ithacians prevailed upon the emperor to send tribunes into Spain with a sovereign power to search out heretics, and deprive them of their lives and possessions. No one doubted but many innocent persons would fall undistinguished in this search: for the paleness of a man’s countenance, or his dress, was enough to bring him into suspicion with those people. The day after they had obtained this order, they heard, when they least expected it, that St. Martin was almost got to Triers; for he was obliged to go there very often about affairs of charity. The Ithacians were greatly alarmed at his coming, and when they found that he abstained from their communion, they told the emperor that, if the obstinacy of Theognostus was supported by Martin’s authority, their reputation would be entirely ruined. Maximus therefore represented mildly to the holy man that the heretics had been justly condemned for their crimes by the imperial judges, not by the bishops. But perceiving that St. Martin was not moved, but urged that the bishops had carried on the prosecutions, Maximus fell into a passion, and going away, gave immediate orders that the persons for whom he came to intercede should be put to death. These were count Narses, and the governor Leucadius, who were obnoxious to Maximus for having adhered to Gratian’s party. The holy man had still more at heart to prevent the tribunes being sent into Spain, and this not only for the sake of many Catholics, out also for the heretics, whose lives he was extremely desirous to save. His not communicating with the Ithacians was only meant by him to prevent the mischiefs which might arise from the scandal of their unjust de portment: but, as they were not excommunicated, it was no violation of any canon to communicate with them. St. Martin therefore in this extremity ran to the palace again, and promised the emperor to communicate with Ithacius, provided he would pardon those unfortunate persons, and recall he tribunes which had been sent into Spain. Maximus immediately complied with his demands. The next day being pitched upon by the Ithacians for the ordination of Felix, the newly elected bishop of Triers, St. Martin communicated with them upon that occasion, that so many people might be rescued from slaughter. The day following, he left Triers with some remorse, or a grief for his condescension. But he was comforted by an angel at prayer in the wood near Andethanna, now Echternach, five miles from Triers, who said to him, that he had reason to grieve for a condescension which was a misery, but charity rendered it necessary and excusable.7 St. Sulpicius adds, that St. Martin used to tell them with tears in his eyes, that, from this time, it cost him more difficulty and longer prayers to cast out devils than formerly. Some weakness, imperfection, or venial sin is often an occasion of a substraction of sensible devotion or grace, till it be recovered by greater humility and compunction; though such substractions are frequently sent merely for trials.

St. Martin continued his journey to Tours, where he was received as the tutelar angel of his people. In his great age he relaxed nothing of his austerities, or of his zealous labors for the salvation of others; and he continued to the end of his life to confirm his doctrine by frequent and wonderful miracles, as we are assured by St. Sulpicius Severus. This great man* renouncing the world, chose for his first retreat a little cottage upon an estate which he had at a village upon the borders of Aquitaine now in Lan guedoc, called Primuliac, and afterwards Mount Primlau, a place not now known. He made several visits to St. Martin, and squared his life by his direction. Upon his arrival, the blessed man himself presented water to him and his companions to wash their hands before eating, ordered them to be served with a moderate corporal refection: then fed them with the spiritual food of his heavenly discourses, strongly exhorting them to renounce sensuality, and the pleasures and distraction of the world, that, without hinderance, they might follow the Lord Jesus with their whole hearts. In the evening he washed their feet with his own hands. St. Sulpicius assures us, that though a stranger to secular learning, he was in his discourses clear, methodical, pathetically vehement, and powerfully eloquent: that he was very ready in solving intricate difficulties of holy writ, in answering questions upon spiritual matters, and in giving to every one suitable advice that no one confuted errors and infidelity, or set off the truth of the Christian religion with greater perspicuity or force. This illustrious author adds, that he never heard any man speak with so much good sense, with so much knowledge and penetration, or with purer language: and that the gravity, dignity and humility, with which he delivered himself, were not to be expressed Nevertheless, his strongest exhortation to perfect virtue was the almos irresistible influence of his example and wonderful sanctity. No one ever saw him angry, disturbed, sad, or vainly laughing: the same tranquillity of mind, the same serenity of countenance appeared in him in prosperity and adversity, and under all the vicissitudes of human accidents, even beyond what seemed possible in this mortal life. Christ was always in his mouth, and in his heart. Nothing reigned there but sincere humility, piety, peace, mercy, and goodness. He was very cautious never to judge others, and to interpret every one’s actions, if it was possible, in the best part. Injuries, slanders, envy, and the jealousy of persecutors, which, in the whole course of his life were never wanting, he recompensed by weeping bitterly for their sins, and by seeking every opportunity of serving them, and of heaping benefits upon them, never excluding any one from his holy friendship.8 He would never lose any time in the day, and often passed whole nights in labors and watchings. To his body he allowed only that refreshment and repose which extreme necessity required, lying on the bare ground, covered with a coarse sackcloth. Amidst his exterior employments his heart was always closely united to God, and he seemed never to lose sight of his presence, either in words or actions. And as smiths, when they have no iron bar before them to work on, strike sometimes on the anvil through use; so St. Martin, whether he read, or wrote, or treated with men, through habit was continually recollected in the interior man, and conversed sweetly with the heavenly Spouse, and with the Giver of all graces. He was accustomed to gather profitable spiritual lessons and thoughts, and to kindle holy affections from all things which occurred. Once when he saw a sheep newly shorn, he pleasantly said to those that were with him: “This sheep hath fulfilled the precept of the gospel, because having enough for two coats, it hath parted with one to such as have need: so should you likewise do.” Seeing a man keeping swine, very cold, and but half covered with a poor scanty coat of skins, he said: “Behold Adam driven out of Paradise; but let us, leaving the old Adam, clothe ourselves with the new.” In visiting his diocese, arriving once at a river, he saw a great quantity of fowl very busy in gorging up the fish; whereupon he said: “These ravenous birds resemble much our infernal enemies, which lie always in wait to catch unwary souls, and suddenly make them their prey.” But he commanded the fowls to leave the waters, and betake themselves to the hills and moors; which they instantly did. In this manner every creature served the saint’s purified eyes as a lively glass of truth; and, from all things, he gathered, without study or labor, and even with delight, wholesome lessons, to maintain his heart always in pure and heavenly thoughts. In like manner he endeavored that his subjects should exercise their souls constantly in prayer, that they might be disposed to afford a clean and agreeable lodging to the heavenly Spouse. It was by keeping his mind ever fixed on God, and by the excellent purity of his heart much more than by the natural vivacity of his with, and by his reading, that he attained to so high a degree of true science, and heavenly eloquence, and acquired that strength with which, as a great captain of the spiritual warfare, he by all means continually waged war against the prince of this world, and wherever he went, dispossessed him of his ancient tyranny.

St. Martin was above fourscore years old, when God was pleased to put a happy end to his labors. Long before his departure he had knowledge of his approaching death, which he clearly foretold to his disciples. Being informed that a scandalous difference had arose amongst the clergy at Cande, a parish at the extremity of his diocese, at the confluence of the Loire and the Vienne in Touraine, upon the borders of Poitou and Anjou, ho went thither to compose the disturbance, attended as usual by a great number of his disciples. Having remained there some time, and settled all things to his satisfaction, he was preparing for his return, when he was seized with his last sickness, and found, on a sudden, his strength fail him. As soon as he was taken ill, he called his religious brethren about him, and told them that the time of his departure was come. At this news they all with tears and with one voice said to him: “Father, why do you forsake us? or to whom do you recommend us? The ravening wolves will fall upon your flock. We know you desire to be with Jesus Christ; but your reward is secure; nor will be a whit diminished by being deferred awhile. Have pity on our necessity, who are left amidst great dangers.” The servan of God, moved with their tears, wept also, and prayed thus: “Lord, if I am still necessary to thy people, I refuse no labor. Thy holy will be done. As if he had said, says St. Sulpicius; my soul is unconquered by old age, weakness, or fatigues, and ready to sustain new conflicts, if you call me to them. But if you spare my age, and take me to yourself, be the guardian and protector of those souls for which I fear. By these words he showed that he knew not which was dearest to him, either to remain on earth for Christ, or to leave the earth for Christ; and has taught us in prayer for temporal things to remit ourselves with perfect resignation and indifference to the divine will, begging that God may direct all things in us and through us to his greater glory. The saint had a fever which lasted some days: notwithstanding which he spent the night in prayer, lying on ashes and hair cloth. His disciples earnestly entreated him that he would suffer them at least to put a little straw under him. But he replied: “It becomes not a Christian to die otherwise than upon ashes. I shall have sinned if I leave you any other example.” He continually held up his eyes and hands to heaven, never interrupting his prayer, so that the priests that stood about him, begged he would turn himself on one side, to afford his body a little rest. He answered: “Allow me, my brethren, to look rather towards heaven than upon the earth, that my soul may be directed to take its flight to the Lord to whom it is going.” Afterwards, seeing the devil near him, he said: “What dost thou here, cruel beast? Thou shall find nothing in me. Abraham’s bosom is open to receive me.” Saying these words, he expired on the 8th of November, probably in 397.* He died seven months after St. Ambrose, as St. Gregory of Tours assures us. They who were present wondered at the brightness of his face and whole body, which seemed to them as if it were already glorified.9 The inhabitants of Poitiers warmly disputed the possession of his body; but the people of Tours carried it off. The whole city came out to meet it: all the country people and many from neighboring cities flocked thither, with about two thousand monks, and a great company of virgins. They all melted into tears, though no one doubted of his glory, He was carried with hymns to the place of his interment, which was in a little grove at some distance from the monastery, where certain monks lived in saparate cells. The place was then five hundred and thirty paces from the city, as St. Gregory of Tours informs us. though at present it is part of it, and the walls were carried so far as to encompass it in the beginning of the inroads of the Normans. St. Brice, St. Martin’s successor, built a chapel over his tomb, and St. Perpetuus, the sixth bishop of Tours, about the year 470, founded upon that spot the great church and monastery, the saint’s sumptuous tomb being placed behind the high altar.* These monks secularized themselves in the seventh century. Towards the close of the eighth, pope Adrian I. at the request of Charlemagne, placed there regular canons, and Alcuin was shortly after appointed their abbot.† These canons were secularized in the reign of Charles the Bald, in 849, and have continued so ever since. The king of France, from the time of Hugh Capet, is the abbot and first canon: besides eleven dignitaries, and fifty-one canons, &c., here are ecclesiastical honorary canons, namely, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the archbishops of Mentz, Cologne, Compostella, Sens, and Bourges; the bishops of Liege, Strasbourg, Angers, Auxerre, and Quebec; and the abbots of Marmoutier, and St. Julian’s at Tours; and lay honorary canons, the dauphin, the dukes of Burgundy, Anjou, Brittany, Bourbon, Vendome, and Nevers: the counts of Flanders, Dunois, and Angouleme: also the earl of Douglas, in Scotland, before that family had changed its religion. The extraordinary devotion which the French and all Europe have expressed to St. Martin, and to this church for the sake of his precious tomb, would furnish matter for a large history. The Huguenots rifled the shrine and scattered the relics of this saint. But this church recovered a bone of his arm and part of his sku11.10 Before this dispersion, certain churches had obtained small portions which they still preserve. The priory of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields at Paris is possessed of a part: two of his teeth are shown in St. Martin’s at Tournay. The cathedral at Tours was built by St. Martin in honor of St. Maurice: but since the year 1096, bears the title of St. Gatian’s. Its chapter is one of the most illustrious in France; the bishop of Tours was suffragan to Rouen till he was made a metropolitan. A vial of sacred oil is kept at St. Martin’s; with which Henry IV. was anointed king instead of that from Rheims. St. Sulpicius relates that St. Martin sometimes cured distempers by oil which he had blessed,‡ and that this oil was sometimes miraculously increased.11

Many miracles wrought at the shrine of St. Martin, or through his intercession, immediately after his happy death, some of which are recounted by St. Gregory of Tours, Fortunatus, and others, excited exceedingly the devotion of the people. Some have imagined that he was the first saint publicly honored by the church as a confessor; but this is not so much as insinuated by any ancient author: and St. John the Evangelist, St. Thecla, and many others, were not properly martyrs, not to mention St. Petronilla, St. Praxedes, and St. Prudentiana. The principal feast of St. Martin is kept on the 11th of November; that of his ordination and the translation of his relics, on the 4th of July; that of bringing them back from Auxerre to Tours, called Relatio, on the 13th of December.

The virtue of St. Martin, which was the miracle of the world, was founded in the most profound humility, perfect meekness, and self-denial by which he was dead to himself, in his continual meditation on religious truths, in his love of heavenly things, and contempt of the world, to which his heart was crucified; lastly, in the constant union of his soul to God, by the exercise of holy prayer, and by the entire resignation of himself to the divine will in all things, without reserve. Such a disposition could not but be accompanied with the most ardent fraternal charity, zeal for the divine honor, and all other virtues. Whatever our state and circumstances may be in the world, unless by learning the same virtues, and studying daily to improve them in our hearts, we put on the spirit of Christ, bear his image in our souls, and wear his livery, we cannot hope to be owned by him at the last day, or to find admittance into the company of his elect; but shall be cast forth with the reprobate into outer darkness.

NOVEMBER 11 — ST. MENNAS, M

The edicts of Dioclesian were rigorously executed in the East, when Mennas or Menas, an Egyptian by birth, a soldier in the Roman troops, then quartered at Cotyus in Phrygia, was apprehended, and, boldly confessing his faith, cruelly scourged, then tormented in the most inhuman manner on the rack, and at length beheaded, by the command of Pyrrhus, the president, probably about the year 304. His name has been always very famous in the calendars of the church, especially in the East. See the first acts of this martyr, translated in Surius, who borrowed them from Metaphrastes. They begin, ???????????? ???????????? ??? ??????????, and are warmly defended and extolled by Falconius, p. 30. The second acts in Surius, ascribed to Timothy, patriarch of Alexandria, in 380, deserve little credit. (See Tillem. t. 5, in Peter of Alex. n. 4.) Lambecius mentions other acts of this saint, t. 8, p. 269. See Fabricius, Bibl. Gr. t. 6, p. 548.

in Lybia, under Maximian, is named in the Eastern and Western Martyrologies on the 10th of December. Procopius (1. 1, de dif. Justin.) mentions a church built at Constantinople by Justinian, in honor of St. Mennas, whose body was translated thither. This Baronius understands of the Lybian; Jos. Assemani of Mennas, the coldier under Dioclesian, (t. 5, p. 461.) The acts of Mennas the Lybian, in Surius. are of no authority.

NOVEMBER 12 — SAINT MARTIN, POPE, M

From his letters, Theophaues, and especially Anastasius, in Pontific. et in ep. ad Martin. Narnieus. episc. The Vener. Card. Baronius, Fleury,1. 38, et Jos. Assemani. Comm in Kalend. t. 6, p. 253.

A. D. 655.

ST. MARTIN was a native of Todi in Tuscany, and became renowned is the clergy of Rome for his learning and sanctity. While he was deacon of that church he was sent by pope Theodorus in quality of apocrisiarius of nuncio to Constantinople, where he showed his zeal against the reigning heresy of the Monothelites. Upon the death of Theodorus, after a vacancy of near three weeks, Martin was elected pope in July, 649, and, in the October following, held in the Lateran church a council of one hundred and five bishops, against the Monothelites, in which he condemned the ring leaders of that sect, particularly Sergius and Pyrrhus, who had been formerly bishops of Constantinople, and Paul, who was then in possession of that see. The Ecthesis of Heraclius and the Typus of Constans, two imperial edicts, were likewise censured; the former, because it contained an exposition of faith entirely favorable to the Monothelites; the latter, because it was a formulary by which silence was imposed on both parties, and it was forbid by it to mention either one or two operations in Christ. “The Lord,” said the Lateran fathers,” hath commanded us to shun evil and do good; but not to reject the good with the evil. We are not to deny at the same time both truth and error.”

The emperor Constans sent Olympius, his chamberlain, in quality of exarch into Italy, with an order either to cause Martin to be massacred, or to send him prisoner into the East. Olympius, coming to Rome while the council was assembled, endeavored to raise a schism; but not succeeding by open violence, had recourse to treachery, and commanded one of his attendants to murder the pope while he was administering the communion in the church of St. Mary Major, which might be more easily done, as the pope carried the communion to every one in his own place. The servant who had undertaken to execute this commission, afterwards swore that he had been struck with blindness, and could not see the pope. Olympius, therefore, seeing the pope had been thus protected by heaven, declared to him the orders which he had received, made his peace with him, and marched into Sicily, then in the hands of the Saracens, where his army perished, and he died of sickness. The emperor then sent Theodorus Calliopas exarch, with Theodorus Pellurus, one of his chamberlains, with a strict charge to seize Martin, whom he accused of heresy, because he condemned the type; and charged him with Nestorianism, as the Egyptians did all Catholics. The new exarch and the chamberlain arrived at Rome with the army from Ravenna, on Saturday, the 15th of June, 653. The pope, who had been sick ever since October, shut himself up in the Lateran church, but sent some of his clergy to salute the exarch, who inquired where the pope was1, saying, he desired to adore him,* which he repeated the next day. Two days after, on Monday, Calliopas accused him of having arms concealed; but the pope bade him search his palace, which he did; and no arms being found, the pope said, “Thus have calumnies been always employed against us.” Half an hour after, the soldiers returned and seized the pope, who lay sick on a couch near the gate of the church; and Calliopas presented the clergy a rescript of the emperor, commanding St. Martin to be deposed as unworthy of the popedom. The clergy cried out, “Anathema to him who shall say that pope Martin hath changed any point of faith, and to him who perseveres not in the Catholic faith till death.” Calliopas, fearing the multitude, said, “There is no other faith but yours; nor have I any other:” several of the bishops said, “We will live and die with him.” The pope was led out of the church into the palace, and on the 18th of June, taken thence at midnight, and carried in a boat down the Tiber to Porto, where he was put, on board of a vessel to be conveyed to Constantinople. After three months’ sail he arrived at the isle of Naxos, where he stayed with his guards a whole year, being allowed to lodge in a house For a long time he was afflicted with a dysentery and a loathing of food When the bishops and inhabitants sent him any provisions, the guards plun dered them, and abused with injurious language and blows those who brought him presents, saying, “Whoever shows any kindness to this man is an enemy to the state.” St. Martin was more afflicted at the injuries which his benefactors received than at his own sufferings. He was brought to Constantinople on the 17th of September, in 654, and, after much ill usage, lay in a dungeon without speaking to anybody but his keepers for near three months, from the 17th of September to the 15th of December. In one of his letters he wrote as follows: “It is now forty-seven days since I have been permitted to wash myself either in cold or warm water. I am quite wasted and chilled, and have had no respite, either upon sea or land, from the flux which I suffer. My body is broken and spent, and, when I would take any nourishment, I want such kind of food as is necessary to support me; and have a perfect aversion and loathing to what I have. But I hope that God, who knows all things, when he shall have taken me out of this world, will bring my persecutors to repentance.”2 On the 15th of December, he was examined by the Sacellarius, or treasurer, in the chamber of that magistrate, in presence of the senate, which was then assembled there. He was removed thence to a terrace, where the emperor might have a sight of him from his window; and the Sacellarius ordered his guards to divest him of the marks of his episcopal dignity. Then, delivering him into the hands of the prefect of the city, he said, “Take him, my lord prefect, and pull him to pieces immediately.” He likewise commanded those that were present to anathematize him. But not above twenty persons cried out anathema: all the rest hung down their heads, and retired overwhelmed with grief.

The executioners, laying hold of the saint, took away his sacerdotal pallium, and stripped him of all his clothes, except a tunic which they left him without a girdle, having torn it from the top to the bottom, so that his naked body was exposed to sight. They put an iron collar about his neck, and dragged him in this manner from the palace through the midst of the city, the jailer being fastened to him, and an executioner carrying the sword before him, to show that he was condemned to die. The people wept and sighed, except a small number who insulted him; but the martyr preserved a calm and serene countenance. Being come to the prtorium he was thrown into a prison with murderers; but about an hour afterwards was taken thence, and cast into the prison of Diomedes, so much hurt and bruised, that he left the staircase besmeared with his blood, and seemed ready to give up the ghost. He was placed on a bench, chained as he was, and almost dead with cold; for the winter was very severe. He had none of his own mends or servants about him, but a young clerk who had followed him weeping. The jailer was chained to him, and the order for his execution was expected every moment: and the holy pope impatiently waited for martyrdom. But it was delayed, and his irons were knocked oil. The emperor went next day to visit the patriarch Paul, who lay very sick, and related to him all that had been done against the pope. Paul sighed, and said, “Alas! this is still to augment my punishment.” And he conjured the emperor to be satisfied with what the pope had suffered. Paul lied soon after, and Pyrrhus, who had been formerly patriarch, was very desirous to recover that see. During his exile he had abjured the Monothelite heresy under pope Theodorus at Rome, and had been entertained as a bishop by that church according to its accustomed law of hospitality towards strangers. Constans sent Demosthenes, deputy to the Sacellarius, to ex amine St. Martin in prison, whether Pyrrhus had made his recantation at Rome of his own accord, or through solicitations. St. Martin satisfied him that he had done it of his own accord; though he had soon relapsed again. Demosthenes said, “Consider in what glory you once lived, and to what a condition you are now reduced. This is entirely owing to yourself.” The pope only replied, “God be praised for all things.”

St. Martin continued in the prison of Diomedes near three months, to the 10th of March, 655, when he was ordained to be banished to the Taurica Chersonesus on the 15th of May. The famine was so great in that country that the pope assured his friends, in one of his letters: “Bread is talked of here, but never seen. If some relief is not sent us from Italy, or Pontus, it is impossible to live.”3 He wrote another letter in September, wherein he says:4 “We are not only separated from the rest of the world, but are even deprived of the means to live. The inhabitants of the country are all pagans; and they who come hither, besides their learning the manners of the people of the country, have no charity, nor even that natural compassion which is to be found among barbarians. Neither do they bring any thing from other places in the barks which come hither to be loaded with salt; nor have I been able to buy any thing but one bushel of corn, which cost me four gold pence. I admire the insensibility of all those who have heretofore had some relation to me, who have so entirely forgot me, that they do lot so much as seem to know whether I am in the world. I wonder still more at those who belong to the church of St. Peter, for the little concern they show for one of their body. If that church has no money, it wants not corn, oil, or other provisions, out of which they might send us some small supply. What fear hath seized all these men, which can hinder them from fulfilling the commands of God, in relieving the distressed? Have I appeared such an enemy to the whole church, or to them in particular? However, I pray God, by the intercession of St. Peter, to preserve them steadfast and immoveable in the orthodox faith. As to this wretched body, God will have care of it. He is at hand; why should I give myself any trouble? I hope in his mercy, he will not prolong my course.” The good pope was not disappointed of his hope; for he died on the 16th of September, in 655, having held the holy see six years, one month, and twenty-six days. He was interred in a church of the Blessed Virgin, within a furlong from the city of Chersona: a great concourse of people resorted to his tomb. His relics were afterwards carried to Rome, and deposited in a church dedicated long before in honor of St. Martin of Tours. He is honored by the Latins, on the 12th of November, the day of the translation of his relics to Rome, and by the Greeks on the 13th of April; also on the 15th and 20th of September. By the Muscovites on the 14th of April. His constancy and firmness appear in his letters. They are well written, with strength and wisdom: the style is great and noble, worthy of the majesty of the holy see.

The saints equally despised the goods and the evils of this life, because they had before their eyes the eternal glory with which momentary labors and sufferings will be abundantly recompensed. Can we be called Christians, who, by our murmuring and impatience under the least trials, and by recoiling at the least harsh word, show ourselves to be strangers to the spirit, and enemies to the cross of Christ? It is only by bearing the marks of his sufferings, and by practising the heroic virtues which tribulation calls forth, that we can enter into the bliss which he has purchased for us by his cross. If with the saints we look up at the joys which are to be the recompense of our patience, and consider attentively the example of Christ, we shall receive our sufferings, not only with resignation, but with joy as graces of which we are most unworthy.

NOVEMBER 12 — ST. NILUS, ANCHORET, FATHER OF THE CHURCH, C

Nobility, dignities, honors, and riches, have not given so great lustre to the name of St. Nilus, as the contempt of those things for the love of Christ. In his retreat, such was his care to live unknown to the world, that he has concealed from us the very manner of life which he led in the desert, and all we know of him is reduced to certain general circumstances. He seems to have been a native of Ancyra in Galatia, says Orsi: it appears by his writings that he had a regular education, in which piety and religion had always the ascendant. It is uncertain at what time of life he had St, Chrysostom for master; but it must have been at Antioch, whither the reputation of that holy doctor must have drawn him, perhaps when he resigned his government in order to retire from the world. St. Nilus was married, had two sons, lived in great splendour and dignity, and was raised by the emperor to the post of prefect or governor of Constantinople. The ambition, avarice, jealousies, and other vices which reigned in the court of Arcadius, could not fail to alarm the conscience of a pious and timorous magistrate, who, in all his actions, feared nothing so much as to authorize or connive at injustice or sin. And the desire of living only to God and himself worked go strongly in his heart, that he obtained, though with some difficulty, his wife’s consent to withdraw himself from the world, about the year 390. His eldest son he left to her care to be trained up to the duties of his station in the world, and with the younger, named Theodulus, betook himself to a solitary life in the desert of Sinai. In this retreat they lived together in the most fervent exercise of the monastic state, and sustained many conflicts against both their visible and invisible enemies.

The works which St. Nilus hath left us were in great request among the ancients, and, as Photius justly remarks,1 demonstrate the excellent perfection of his virtue, and his great talent of eloquence.* In his treatise, On the Monastic Life, he observes that Christ came from heaven to teach men the true way of virtue and wisdom, to which all the sages of the ancients were strangers. He adds, that the first Christians imitated their master in all things; but that this primitive zeal being cooled, some persons look a resolution to abandon the perplexing business of the world, and renounced riches and pleasures, the better to apply themselves to the exercise of all virtues and to curb their passions. But that this state, so holy in its original, had then so much degenerated, that many professors of it disgraced it by their irregularities. These disorders he censures with great fervor and acuteness, in this and his other ascetic works, in which he strongly recommends voluntary poverty, obedience, concord, and humility. In his book on prayer a work particularly admired by Photius, many excellent maxims are laid down. The saint recommends, that we beg of God, in the first place, the gift of prayer, and entreat the Holy Ghost to form in our hearts those pure and ardent desires which he has promised always to hear, and that he vouchsafe to teach us interiorly to pray: this holy doctor will have us only to ask of God, that his will be done in the most perfect manner. To per sons in the world he inculcates temperance, humility, prayer, contempt of the world, continual meditation on death, and the obligation of giving large alms. The saint was always ready to communicate to others his spiritual science. For, in the tranquillity of his solitude, he had learned to know God in a manner in which he is not known in the tumult of the world, and to taste the sweets of his peace. What proficiency he had made in the maxims of an interior life, and in the study of the holy Scriptures, and how much he was consulted by persons of all ranks, appears from the great number of his letters, which are still extant. They are short, but elegant, and written with spirit and vehemehcy, especially when any vice is the theme. By an express treatise, he endeavors to show the state of anchorets or hermits to be preferable to that of religious who live in communities in cities, because the latter find it more difficult to preserve their virtue and recollection, and to subdue their passions; but he must speak of hermits, who have been first well exercised under some experienced master: and he takes notice that hermits have their particular difficulties and great trials. This he himself had experienced by violent interior temptations and troubles of mind, with which the devil long assaulted him; but he overcame them by assiduous reading, prayer, singing of psalms, frequent genuflexions, patience, the practice of humility, and the sign of the cross, with which he armed himself upon the sudden appearance of an enemy.2 The same arms he recommended to others under the like temptations.3 He lays down excellen rules against all vices in his treatises On Evil Thoughts, On Vices, and Or. the Eight Vicious Thoughts or Capital Sins, on which he says excellent things, especially on the dangers of vain-glory and sloth. Who would not have thought that St. Nilus, by forsaking the world, was out of the reach of exterior trials and afflictions: yet, in the wilderness, he met with the most grievous. The Saracens making an inroad into the deserts of Sinai, massacred a great number of the monks, and finding Theodulus, our saint’s son, in a certain monastery, they carried him away captive with several others. The anxious father sought him on every side, and fell himself into the hands of the invaders, but soon procured his liberty. At length he found his son at Eleusa, with the bishop of that city, who had ransomed him out of charity. The good prelate with joy restored him to his father, whom he obliged to receive the holy order of priesthood at his hands.4 Nilus was then fifty years old. He lived to a very great age, and died in the reign of the emperor Martian. His love of obscurity followed him to the grave, so that the year and circumstances of his happy death are concealed from us. His remains were brought to Constantinople in the reign of Justin the Younger, and deposited in the church of the apostles there. On St. Nilus see the accurate Leo Allatius, Diatriba de Nilis et eorum scriptis, in the end of his epistles; Fabricius, Bibl. Gr. ad Leon. Allat. Diatrib. de Nilis, ad calcem, vol. 5; Tillemont, t. 14; Orsi,1. 28, n. 83, 84, 85, 94; Jos Assemani in Calend. ad 14 Jan. t. 6, p. 68.

NOVEMBER 12 — ST. LIVIN, B. M

This saint was a learned and zealous Irish bishop, who went over into Flanders to preach the faith to the idolaters. To enter upon that work by dedicating himself a holocaust to God, he spent thirty days in prayer at the tomb of St. Bavo, at Ghent, and offered there every day the holy sacrifice. After this solemn consecration of himself to his Redeemer, he began to announce the word of life, and converted many about the country of Alost and Hantem. Having cultivated the study of poetry in his youth, he composed an elegy on St. Bavo, who died only six years before him.* St. Livin was massacred by the pagans, at Esche, in the year 633, according to Colgan, who mentions him to have been bishop of Dublin before he went to the mission of Flanders. His death is placed by others in 656. He was buried at Hantem, three miles from Ghent; and his relics were translated to the great monastery of St. Peter’s at Ghent, in 1006. In a shrine by that of St. Livin are preserved the relics of St. Craphaildes, a lady in whose house St. Livin was martyred. She was murdered by the same barbarians, for lamenting his death, and her infant son Brictius, whom St. Livin had lately baptized. The infant martyr’s bones are kept in the same shrine with those of St. Livin. St. Brictius is commemorated in a collect with other saints of this monastery. Usher1 and Mabillon have also published a letter of St. Livin, whose name occurs in the Roman Martyrology on this day. See his life written by one Boniface in the same age, in Mabillon, Sc. 2, Ben. p. 251; Cointe, Annal. Fr. ad an. 651; Fleury,1. 38, n. 58; Mirus, in Fastis Belg. Sanders, Rerum Gandav.1. 4, p. 342; and Colgan, Trias Thaum. p. 112, n. 69.

NOVEMBER 12 — SAINT LEBWIN, PATRON OF DAVENTER, C

This saint was by birth an English Saxon, and in his own language was called Liafwin. From his infancy he was a child of grace, a lover of retirement, an enemy to the pleasures of the world, and much given to prayer, watching, the mortification of the senses, and to all works of mercy. By praying fervently for the divine wisdom he deserved to be abundantly replenished with it. And having once been at the expense of laying the foundation of solid virtue, which always costs dear to flesh and blood, in the destruction of the old man, he saw the spiritual edifice rise in his heart with joy; yet always labored to perfect it with fear and trembling. He was amiable and venerable to all, and something divine seemed to shine in his countenance. Being promoted to priest’s orders, that he might employ his talent for the salvation of souls, he went over into Lower Germany, where several apostolic missionaries were employed in planting the gospel. He addressed himself to St. Gregory, whom St. Boniface had appointed his vicar at Utrecht, for the administration of that diocese. This holy man received him with great joy, and sent him with Marcellin, or Marchlem, who had been from his childhood a disciple of St. Willibrord, to carry the light of the gospel into the country which is now called Over-Yssel. St. Lebwin was received as an angel from heaven by a lady named Abachilde, and many being converted, the man of God built a chapel on the west bank of the river at Hiulpe, now called Wulpe, about a league from Daventer, about the year 772. But many shut their ears to the truth, from whom the sain had much to suffer; but he seemed to gather greater courage from persecutions, and feared no danger in so great a cause. The Saxons who inhabited the neighboring country, held a yearly assembly at Marklo, upon the river Weser, to deliberate on the public affairs of their nation. They were divided into three ranks or classes; the Edlinges or noblemen, the Frilinges or yeomen, and the servile tribe. Out of every rank twelve men were chosen from each village to meet at this great council. St. Lebwin repaired thither, and, clothed in his priestly ornaments, entered the assembly, holding a cross before his breast in his right hand, and having a book of the gospels under his other arm. While the multitude were intent upon their superstitious sacrifices, with a countenance full of dignity and majesty, he cried out to them with a loud voice, saying: “Hear me, all of you. Listen to me, or rather to God who speaks to you by my mouth. Know that the Lord, the Maker of the heavens, the earth, and all things, is one only true God.” He went on affirming that he came an ambassador from God, to make him known to them, foretelling that if they refused to hear his voice, they should be speedily destroyed by a prince, whom God in his indignation would raise up against them. While he spoke, many of the Saxons ran to the hedges, plucked up stakes and sharpened them in order to murder him; but the saint, protected by God, passed through the midst of them, and escaped. Then an honorable person among them stood up, and said, they had often received with humanity and respect ambassadors from men; much more ought they to honor an ambassador from God, who will punish an affront offered to him. Whereupon, it was agreed that the messenger of God should be permitted to travel and preach where he pleased; of which liberty he made good use. But afterwards, when the Saxons waged war against Charlemagne, they persecuted the Christians; and a troop, making an inroad as far as Daventer, burned the church which our saint had erected there. After their departure he rebuilt it, and, being denied the more compendious sacrifice of himself, finished his martyrdom by labors and austerities before the close of the eighth century, and was buried in his church at Daventer, where his relics have been famous for miracles. Bertulf, the twentieth bishop of Utrecht, founded there a collegiate church of canons, of which St. Lebwin is titular saint. See his life authentically written by Hucbald, monk of Elnon or St. Amand’s, in the reign of Charles the Bald, also St. Radbod’s, bishop of Utrecht, Eclogue in his praise, and Altfrid in the life of St. Ludger; Pagi, Crit., t. 3, p. 336; Mabill. Annal. Ben., t. 2, and Batavia Sacra, p. 93.

NOVEMBER 13 — ST. HOMOBONUS, MERCHANT, C

From his life in Surius, and the bull of his canonization.

A. D. 1197.

ALL lawful secular professions have furnished heaven with saints, that the slothful in all states may be without excuse. In the infancy of the world men were chiefly shepherds and graziers, and before the improvement of agriculture were obliged to live in moveable tents, and as soon as the produce of the earth was consumed in one place, they removed to another. The useful arts were at first few and very imperfect: clothing was simple and mean, and houses, so necessary a shelter to men, were at fire, even in the coldest climates, raised of mud, or made with boughs: trunks felled, and unhewn, set upright for walls, were once looked upon as a great improvement in building.1 Industry, convenience, and luxury have discovered and perfected arts in the world, which their progress shows against modern deists not to exceed the age which the sacred history of Moses assigns it. Commerce originally consisted in bartering goods of one kind for those of another; but since the invention of money as one common or general kind of goods, trade has become as important in the republic of mankind as agriculture itself, and is as great a source of wealth, and the strength, support, and ornament of a nation; though the tillage of the earth, which raises a mine from the ground without giving any thing in exchange, and by which all mankind subsists, always deserves the first consideration in the eye of the public, and the chief encouragement from its hands, far from being suffered to sink into contempt, or give up its hands too frequently to the pursuit of refined, or useless, or even pernicious professions. Trade is often looked upon as an occasion of too great attachment to the things of this world, and of too eager a desire of gain; also of lying frauds and injustice. That these are the vices of men, not the faults of the profession, is clear from the example of this and many other saints.

Homobonus was son to a merchant of Cremona, in Lombardy, who gave him this name (which signifies Good Man) at his baptism: the name of his family was Tucinge. While he trained him up to his own mercantile business in shop-keeping, without any school education, he inspired in him, both by his example and instructions, the most perfect sentiments of probity, integrity, religion, and virtue. The saint from his infancy abhorred the very shadow of the least untruth or injustice, and having always the fear of God before his eyes, would have chosen with joy rather to forego the greatest advantages, and to suffer the loss of his whole fortune, than to stain his soul with the least sin. This rule is the more necessary to persons engaged in trade, as they are more easily betrayed unawares into occasions of such sins, and are more apt to palliate, or extenuate them to themselves, unless a steady resolution put them infinitely upon their guard. A man who is content, and ready to meet cheerfully the most grievous disappointments, and even the ruin of his temporal affairs rather than to tell the least lie, or any other way wilfully offend God, makes to him a constant sacrifice of obedience by this disposition of his soul, and secures to himself a lasting peace; for a mind which finds its comfort and joy in the divine grace and love, and in the goods of eternity, is out of the reach of anxiety and troubles on account of the uncertain and perishable goods of this life, especially when they were sacrificed to religion. But probity is usually attended also with temporal success; for though a person may be a gainer by injustice in some particular occasions, it is an undeniable maxim, that honesty is the best policy, and that a man thrives in business by nothing so much as by unshaken integrity and veracity, which cannot fail to draw down the divine blessing, and gain a man the highest credit and reputation in all his dealings, which is his stock and his best fortune. This St. Homobonus experienced by his unexpected success in his business, which under the divine blessing, was also owing to his economy, care, and industry. His business he looked upon as an employment given him by God, and he pursued it with diligence upon the motives of obedience to the divine law, and of justice to himself, his family, and the commonwealth of which he thus approved himself a useful member. If a tradesman’s books are not well kept, if there is not order and regularity in the whole conduct of his business, if he does not give his mind seriously to it, with assiduous attendance, he neglects an essential duty, and is unworthy to bear the name of a Christian. Homobonus is a saint by acquitting himself diligently, upon perfect motives of virtue and religion, of all the obligations of his profession.

By the advice of his parents, he took to wife a virtuous virgin, who was a prudent and faithful assistant in the government of his household, which, by the piety and regularity of all those who composed it, bespoke the sanctity and attention of the master. Men’s passions, which they neglect to subdue, as in every state of life, so particularly in this, are their greatest slavery and the cause of their miseries and troubles. Instead of rejoicing how many repine at the prosperity of other traders, and expose their faults with a rancor which all who hear them ascribe only to their envy, jealousy, and want of charity! how many seek to raise a family by meanness and sordidness! how many fall into an inordinate passion for riches! For though wealth may be a blessing of God, if neither coveted nor abused, yet immoderately to thirst after it, is always a grievous and most fatal vice. This one thing is the philosophy of the trader, a point of the utmost importance of a trading life, that a man curb the lust of riches, regulate his desires of them, and be in all events calmly and sweetly resigned to the will of God, who knows what is best for us. As to the pretence of a provision for children, a prudent care for them is a point of justice; but, under all disappointments, we know that the blessing of God and his grace is the best inheritance, and that that provision for them is often the wisest which lays a sufficient foundation for their industry to build on, and leaves them under an obligation to business and employment. Ambition, vanity, and pride are often no less preposterous than destructive vices in this class of life, which is best set off by modesty, moderation, and simplicity. Whatever exceeds this in dress, housekeeping, or other expenses, is unnatural and affected; consequently ungrateful and offensive to others, and uneasy and painful to the persons themselves. A man of low stature only becomes frightful by strutting upon stilts. Nothing unnatural or distorted can ever be becoming. The merchant is the honor and support of society; but an ostentatious parade is what least of all suits his character or concurs to the happiness of his state. This vanity shows itself either in extravagant expenses, in the neglect or affected contempt of business, or in engaging a man in bold and hazardous projects, which proves often in the end a most grievous robbery, injustice, and cheat committed upon widows and orphans, the dearest friends and nearest relations. Sloth, or love of diversions and pleasure are in men of business, crimes of the same tendency and enormity. The Christian moderation and government of the passions is the fence of the soul against these dangers, and the most consummate prudence. By this St. Homobonus avoided the common rocks on which so many traders dash. He, moreover, by his profession, attained the great end which every Christian is bound to propose to himself, the sanctification of his soul; for which he found in this state opportunities of exercising all virtues in a heroic degree. The capriciousness, unreasonableness, injustice, and peevishness of many with whom he interfered in his dealings, he bore with admirable meekness and humility; and by patient silence, or soft answers, or by a return of gentleness and obsequiousness, he overcame perverseness and malice, and remained always master of his own soul. This appeared so admirable that it was commonly said of him at Cremona that he was born without passions.

Charity to the poor is a distinguishing part of the character of every disciple of Christ, and, provided that justice takes place, a tribute which the merchant owes to God out of his gains; and this was the favorite virtue of Homobonus. Not content with giving his tenths to the distressed members of Christ, after the death of his father (of whom he inherited a considerable stock in trade, besides a house in the town, and a small villa in the country) he seemed to set no bounds to his alms: he sought out the poor in their cottages, and while he cheerfully relieved their corporal necessities, he tenderly exhorted them to repentance and holy life. His wife sometimes complained that by his excessive alms he would soon reduce his family to beggary; but he mildly answered her, that giving to the poor is putting out money to the best interest, for a hundred fold, for payment whereof Christ himself has given us his bond. The author of his life assures us, that God often recompensed his charities by miracles in favor of those whom he relieved, and by multiplying his stores. His abstinence and temperance were not less remarkable than his almsdeeds. His assiduity in prayer condemns the false maxim which some make a pretence for their sloth, that business and a life of prayer are incompatible. The saint spent a considerable part of his time in this holy exercise, and joined prayer with his business by the frequent aspirations by which he often raised his mind to God in sentiments of compunction and the divine praise and love amidst the greatest hurry, so that his shop, his chamber, the street, and every place was to him a place of prayer. It was his custom every night to go to the church of St. Giles, a little before midnight, and to assist at matins, which it was then usual for many of the laity to do; and he left not the church till after high mass the next morning. At mass the example of his fervor and recollection was such, as to inspire all who saw him with devotion. He waited some time prostrate on the pavement, before a crucifix in the church, till the priest began mass. The slothful were quickened to virtue, and many sinners converted from vice by the example of his life, and the unction of his discourses. Sundays and holidays he always consecrated entire to his devotions: prayer accompanied all his actions, and it was in the heavenly exercise of prayer that he gave up his soul to God. For, on the 13th of November in 1197, he was present at matins, according to his custom, and remained kneeling before the crucifix till mass began. At the Gloria in excelsis he stretched out his arms in the figure of a cross: and soon after fell on his face to the ground; which those who saw him thought he had done out of devotion. When he did not stand up at the gospel they took more notice of him, and some persons coming to him perceived that he had calmly expired. Sicard, bishop of Cremona, after a rigorous examination of his virtues and miracles, went himself to Rome with many other venerable persons, to solicit his canonization; which pope Innocent III. performed after the necessary scrutinies, the bull of which he published in 1198. The saint’s body was taken up in 1356, and translated to the cathedral; but his head remains at the church of St. Giles. Vida, the Christian Virgil, has honored the memory of St. Homobonus, the patron of his native city, with a hymn.*

Both religion and the law of nature dictate that no man is to be idle of useless in the republic of the world. Man is born to labor and industry Our capacities on one side, and, on the other, our necessities and wants, urge us to it: and this we owe to human society. For it is not just that he who contributes nothing to its support, should, like a drone, be feasted and maintained by the labor of others. A circle of amusements and pleasures cannot be the life of a rational being, much less of a Christian. A gentleman who applies not himself with earnestness to some serious employment, finds his very life a burden, and is a stranger to the obligations of his state, and to all true enjoyment. A man is never more happy than when he is most eagerly and commendably employed; the activity of his soul is a fire which must be exercised. Hence business is necessary for man’s temporal happiness; and the situation of the working and trading part of mankind is more happy than most are sensible of. It is still more necessary to a moral or Christian life. Trades which minister to sin are always unlawful: others are honorable and commendable in proportion as they contribute to the comfort and welfare of mankind, and as they concur to supply the wants and necessities of our species, or to promote virtue. Religion teaches men to sanctify them by motives of piety, and to refer them to God, and the great ends for which only we are created. Every one’s secular calling indeed is a part of religion, if thus directed by its influence: and no spiritual duties can ever excuse a neglect of it. Arts and trades, which immediately minister to corporal necessities, have not indeed in themselves any direct tendency to the improvement of reason, or production of virtue; though, if they are consecrated by principles of religion, become acceptable sacrifices to God. For this they must be accompanied with the exercise of all virtues, especially humility, meekness, patience, charity, confidence in God, and self-resignation, which prevents anxiety, and those fears to which the uncertainty of human things expose men. Without self-consideration, prayer, and pious reading or meditation, it is impossible that a man should be really possessed of these virtues, how finely soever he may talk of them by way of notion or speculation. It is also by prayer and holy meditation that he pays to God the homage of praise and compunction, and improves himself as a rational or spiritual being, and as a Christian. Every one, therefore, must, in the first place, reserve time for these employments, even preferably to all others, if any should seem incompatible. But who cannot find time for pleasures and conversation? Sure then he may for prayer. By this even a man’s secular life and employs will become spiritual and holy.

NOVEMBER 13 — ST. DIDACUS, C

Didacus or Diego (that is, in Spanish, James) was a native of the little town of St. Nicholas, in the diocese of Seville, in Andalusia, of mean condition, but from his childhood fervent in the love of God, and the practice of all virtues. Near that town a holy priest led an eremitical life, and Didacus in his youth obtained his consent to live with him. Though very young he imitated the austerities and devotions of his master, and they cultivated together a little garden; and also employed themselves in making wooden spoons, trenchers, and such like mean utensils. After having lived thus a recluse for some years, he was obliged to return to his parents: but desiring most ardently to walk in the footsteps of his divine Redeemer, he soon after betook himself to a convent of the Observantin Friar Minors, called St. Francis’s of Arrizafa, and there took the habit among the lay-brothers who belong not to the choir, but serve the convent in humble offices, and are much employed in manual labor. After this profession he was sent with a priest of his order into the Canary islands, where he did wonders in instructing and converting many idolaters, and though only a lay-brother, was appointed by his superiors the first guardian or warden of a convent which was erected in one of those islands called Forteventura. By the mortification of his flesh, and of his own will, and assiduous prayer, he offered himself a continual sacrifice to our Lord, and by this long martyrdom prepared himself to shed his blood for the faith among the barbarians, if such had been the will of God. After some time he was recalled into Spain, and lived in divers convents about Seville with great fervor, simplicity, austerity, and recollection: he seemed so much absorbed in God as scarce to be able to speak but to him, or of him; and the humility, ardor, and lively sentiments with which he always discoursed of heavenly things, discovered how much he was dead to himself, and replenished with the divine Spirit.

In the year 1450, a great jubilee was celebrated at Rome; and St. Bernardin of Sienna being canonized at the same time, three thousand eight hundred religious persons of the order of St. Francis were assembled there, in their great convent, called Aracli. Didacus went thither with F. Alfonsus de Castro. In this journey our saint attended his companion during a dangerous illness with such fervor of spirit, and such an ardent charity, that it was easy to see how much God aided and favored him, and how wonderfully he was animated with his spirit in all the pains he took night and day for his love. This appeared still more in the charity and devotion with which he waited on many others of his order that were sick at Rome, during thirteen weeks that he stayed there. From Rome the servant of God returned back to Seville, and lived thirteen years longer in the convent, first of Saussaye and chiefly of Alcala of Henares, in Castile, shining in all kinds of virtue, going forward every day in perfection, and moving wonderfully all who conversed with him to aspire to the same. Not content punctually to keep the rule of his holy father St. Francis, he endeavored with all his strength to draw in himself the most perfect portraiture of his heavenly life. His admirable humility, by which he put himself under the feet of every one, was a great source of the constant peace of mind which he enjoyed; for, so perfect was the mastery which he had gained over his passions, and his soul was so much raised above all earthly things, that nobody ever saw him troubled, heard from his mouth an angry or unbeseeming word, or discerned any thing in his conduct which did not seem to breathe an air of perfect virtue. Having no other will but that of our Lord, in whose cross he gloried, he accepted every thing with equal cheerfulness from his hand, and equally praised him in adversity and prosperity. He treated his body very rigorously: his habit was always mean, and his attire and whole exterior deportment was an image of the interior mortification of his soul. With the perfect spirit and practice of penance he joined her good sister, continual prayer, and the elevation of his soul to God. In contemplation his body was sometimes seen raised from the ground, while his soul was ravished and absorbed in God. The passion of our divine Redeemer was the ordinary object on which his thoughts and affections were employed; he often meditated upon it with a crucifix in his hand, and with frequent raptures. When he passed from the contemplation of the bloody sacrifice of the Son of God to the unbloody sacrifice in which the same sacred victim continues daily to be offered on our altars, his love and fervor were redoubled. A God in the holy eucharist made the spiritual food of our souls was the object of his admiration, and the nourishment of his love; and the oftener he received this God of love in his breast, the more were the flames of his love increased. His tender devotion to the Son extended to the mother, whom he honored as his advocate.

In 1463, he was taken ill at Alcala, where he had spent the last years of his life. His distemper began by an imposthume in his arm. During this illness his preparation for his last hour was most fervent and edifying. In his agony he called for a cord (such as the friars wear) and put it about his neck, and holding a cross of wood in his hands, with tears in his eyes he begged pardon of all his religious brethren that were assembled about his bed in prayer. Then fixing his eyes on the crucifix he repeated with great tenderness the words of the hymn on the cross: Dulce lignum, dulces clavos, &c., and calmly expired on the 12th of November, in 1463. Several miracles were performed by him in his lifetime; and many more through his intercession after his death. Don Carlos, son of king Philip II, having by a fall at the palace of Alcala, hurt his head so grievously that the wound was judged mortal by the surgeons; and miracles being then frequently wrought at the tomb of St. Didacus, the king caused his shrine to be brought into the chamber of the dying prince, which was done with great devotion and holy pomp: and thereupon the prince’s wound was immediately healed. Philip II, out of gratitude, solicited the saint’s canonization, which was performed by Sixtus V. in 1588. Innocent XI. appointed his office in the Roman Breviary, and ordered his feast to be transferred to the 13th of November, though in his order it continues to be observed on the 12th. See on this saint, Mark of Lisbon in the chronicle of his order; and the history of his life, miracles, and canonization, compiled by Peter Gelasinius, apostolic prothonotary, and Francis Pegna, the celebrated auditor of the Rota, by order of his holiness. See also Sedulius’s Historia Seraphica.

NOVEMBER 13 — ST. STANISLAS KOSTKA, C

Youth is the amiable bloom of age in which sanctity has particular advantages and charms; a circumstance which recommends to our admiration this saint, who in his tender years surpassed the most advanced in the gifts of grace and virtue. Stanislas was the youngest son of John Kostka, senator of Poland, and of Margaret Kriska, sister to the palatine of Masovia, and was born in the castle of Rostkou, on the 28th of October, in 1550. His mother engraved in his tender heart early and deep impressions of piety; and the first use the saint made of his reason was to consecrate himself to God with a fervor beyond his age. The first elements of letters he learned at home under a private tutor named John Bilinski, who attended him and his elder brother, Paul, to the numerous college of the Jesuits at Vienna, when the saint was fourteen years old. From the first dawn of reason he showed no inclination to any thing but to piety; and, as soon as he was capable, he gave as much of his time as possible to prayer and study. His nicety in the point of purity, and his dread of detraction, and all dangers of sin, made him infinitely cautious in the choice of his company. When he arrived at Vienna, and was lodged among the pensioners of the Jesuits, every one was struck with admiration to see the profound recollection and devotion with which he poured forth his soul before God in prayer: the modesty and glowing fervor which appeared in his countenance at those times, raised in all who beheld him a veneration for his person. He sometimes fell into raptures, and often even at public prayer torrents of sweet tears gushed from his eyes with such impetuosity that he was not able to contain them. He always came from his devotions so full of the spirit of God, that he communicated the same to those who conversed with him. The fire of divine love which burned in his breast, he kindled in the hearts several devout companions, with whom it was his delight to discourse God and heavenly things: on which subjects he spoke with such energy, imparted to others some sparks of that joy with which his heart and words overflowed.

His innocence and virtue stood yet in need of being perfected by trials. Upon the death of the emperor Ferdinand, in 1564, his successor Maximilian II., who had not the same zeal for religion, took from the Jesuits the house which Ferdinand had lent them for the lodging of their pensioners. Paul Kostka, who was two years older than the saint, and who had their tutor Bilinski always in his interest, was fond of liberty and diversions; and to indulge this inclination prevailed with Bilinski to take lodgings in a Lutheran’s house; and looking upon his brother’s conduct as a censure of his own, treated him continually with injuries, and often struck and beat him. Bilinski was still a more dangerous tempter and persecutor, not only by declaring always for the elder brother against him, but also by endeavoring to persuade him, by flattering insinuations and severe rebukes, that he ought to allow more to the world, and that so much was not necessary for a person in his station to save his soul. Stanislas, far from being overcome, stood the more firmly upon his guard, and opposed these assaults by redoubling his fervor. He communicated every Sunday and great holiday and always fasted the day before his communion: never went to school morning or afternoon, without first going to church to salute the blessed sacrament; heard every day two masses, and made his meditation, slept little, and always rose at midnight to pray; he often wore a hair shirt, frequently took the discipline, never made his appearance in company only at table, and instantly rose up and left it, if any unbecoming word was let fall by any one in his presence. When he was not at church or college, he was always to be found at his devotions, or studies in his closet, except for a short time after meals. By this conduct he deserved to be interiorly enlightened and strengthened by the Holy Ghost, who, by his inspirations, showed him how opposite the false maxims of worldly prudence are to those of the gospel; that it is an error to pretend to salvation by following them, and that what is usually called learning the world, is properly learning its spirit and maxims, which is to forget those of Jesus Christ.

The saint suffered these dangerous solicitations and persecutions for two years, and then fell very ill. Finding his distemper dangerous, he desired to receive the viaticum; but his Lutheran landlord would not suffer it to be brought publicly to his house, and the tutor and brother would have it deferred. The pious youth, in extreme affliction, recommended himself to the intercession of St. Barbara, who is particularly invoked in the northern kingdoms, for the grace of a happy death and the benefit of receiving the, last sacraments. His prayer was heard; and he seemed in a vision to be communicated by two angels. The Blessed Virgin, in another vision, told him, that the hour of his death was not yet come, and bade him devote himself to God in the Society of Jesus. He had then for about a year entertained thoughts of embracing that state; and after his recovery petitioned the superiors to be admitted. F. Magius, provincial of that part of Germany, who happened then to be at Vienna, durst not receive him, for fear of incurring the indignation of his father, who warmly declared he never would consent that his son should become a religious man. Cardinal Commendon, legate of Pope Pius V. at Vienna, whom the saint desired to recommend him to the provincial, durst not undertake to do it. Stanislas, therefore, having discovered his resolution to his confessor, and by a tender and edifying letter laid in his room, left notice of his design to his tutor and brother, stole away privately to Ausburg, and thence went to Dilingen, to make the same request to the pious F. Canisius, provincial of Upper Germany. F. Canisius, to try his vocation, ordered him to wait on the pensioners of the college at table, and cleanse out their rooms; which the sain did with such extraordinary affection and humility, that the students were exceedingly astonished at his meekness, charity, devotion, and spirit of mortification, though he was utterly unknown to them. F. Canisius, after having kept him three weeks, sent him to Rome, where the saint threw himself at the feet of St. Francis Borgia, then general of the society, and earnestly renewed his petition. St. Francis received him with great joy. Stanislas had no desire to see the curiosities of Rome, but without further delay entered upon a retreat under the master of novices, during the whole course of which he was favored with the sweetest consolations of the Holy Ghost, and extraordinary heavenly communications. He took the habit on SS. Simon and Jude’s day, in 1567; and a few days after received from his father a most passionate letter, with threats that he would procure the banishment of the Jesuits out of Poland, and would make them feel the weight of his indignation for having concurred to such a dishonor of his family. Stanislas answered it in the most modest and dutiful manner, but expressed a firm purpose of serving God according to his vocation. And, without the least disturbance or trouble of mind, applied himself to his religious duties, calmly recommending all things to God.

It was the saint’s utmost study and endeavor to regulate and sanctify, in the most perfect manner, all his ordinary actions in every circumstance, particularly by the most pure and fervent intention of fulfilling the will of God, and by the greatest exactitude in every point of duty. Christianity teaches us that we are not to listen to the prudence of the flesh, which is death to the soul. Stanislas, therefore, set no bounds to his mortifications but what obedience to his director prescribed him. In the practice of obedience to his superiors such was his exactitude, that, as he was one day carrying wood with a fellow-novice, he would not help the other in taking up a load upon his shoulders, till he had made it less, because it was larger than the brother who superintended the work had directed, though the other had taken no notice of such an order. His own faults he always exaggerated with unfeigned simplicity, so as to set them in a light in which only humility, which makes a person most severe in condemning himself, could have represented them. Whence others said of him, that he was his own grievous calumniator. As pride feels a pleasure in public actions, so his greatest delight was secrecy, or some humbling circumstance whenever he made his appearance in public; as, a more than ordinary threadbare habit by which he might seem to strangers to be a person of no consideration in the house, as he looked upon himself, and desired to be regarded by others. Nothing gave him so much confusion and displeasure as to hear himself commended; and he was ingenious in preventing all occasions of it, and in shunning every thing by which he might appear to others humble. The whole life of this fervent novice seemed almost a continual prayer; nor was his prayer almost any other than an uninterrupted exercise of the most tender love of God, which often vented itself in torrents of sweet tears, or in holy transports or raptures. By the habitual union of his heart with God, he seemed, in the opinion of his directors, never to be molested with distractions at his prayers. Several, by having recommended themselves with confidence to his good thoughts, have suddenly found themselves comforted, and freed from bitter anguish of soul, and interior trouble of mind. The ardent love which the saint had for Jesus Christ in the holy sacrament was so sensible, that his face appeared all on fire as soon as he entered the church. He was often seen in a kind of ecstasy at mass, and always after receiving the holy communion. The whole day on which he communicated, he could not, without great difficulty and reluctance, speak of any thing but the excess of the love which Jesus Christ has expressed for us in that adorable sacrament; and of this he discoursed with such interior feeling and joy, and in so pathetic a manner, that the most experienced and spiritual fathers took great delight in conversing with him.

This holy seraph, glowing with divine love, was inflamed with an uncommon ardor to be speedily united to the object of his love a considerable time before his happy death, which he distinctly foretold to several. In the beginning of August he said to several together, that all men are bound to watch, because they may die any day; but that this lesson particularly regarded him, because he should certainly die before the end of that month Four days after, discoursing with F. Emmanuel Sa, concerning the feast of the Assumption of our Lady, he said, in a kind of transport of devotion “O father, how happy a day to all the saints, was that on which the Blessed Virgin was received into heaven! I doubt not but they all celebrate the anniversary of it with extraordinary joy, as we do on earth. I hope myself to see the next feast they will keep of it.” His youth, and the perfect health which he then enjoyed, made others give no credit to this prediction. Yet they perceived that he made all immediate preparations for the great journey of eternity. On St. Laurence’s day, in the evening, he found himself indisposed; upon which he could not contain his joy that the end of his mortal pilgrimage drew near. Being carried to the infirmary, he made the sign of the cross upon his bed, saying, he should never more rise out of it. His fever proved at first only intermitting; yet he repeated the same assurances. On the 14th day of the month he said, in the morning, that he should die the night following; a little after mid-day he fell into a swoon, which was followed with a cold sweat, and he demanded and received the viaticum and extreme unction with the most tender devotion; during which, according to his desire, he was laid upon a blanket on the floor. He begged pardon of all his brethren for whatever offences he had committed against any one, and continued repeating frequent aspirations of compunction and divine love. Some time after, he said that he saw the Blessed Virgin accompanied with many angels, and happily expired a little after three o’clock in the morning of the 15th of August, in 1568, having completed only nine months and eighteen days of his novitiate, and of his age, seventeen years, nine months, and eighteen days. The sanctity of his life, and several manifest miracles, engaged Clement VIII. to beatify him, that is, declare him happy, in 1604. Paul V. allowed an office to be said in his honor, in all the churches of Poland: Clement X. granted that privilege to the Society, and settled his feast on the 13th of November, on which his body, which was found sound, and without the least signs of decay or corruption, was translated from the old chapel and laid in the new church of the Novitiate at Rome, founded by prince Pamphili. The saint was canonized by Benedict XIII. in 1727. The Poles have chosen him, jointly with St. Casimir chief patron of their kingdom; and he is particular patron of the cities of Warsaw, Posna, Lublin, and Leopold. The Poles ascribe to his intercession the deliverance of their country from a pestilence, and several victories of king Ladislas over the Turks, and others of his brother and successor, Casimir, over the Tartars and Cosaques, in 1651. Many miraculous cures have been wrought through his intervention. A relation of this that follows, with the attestations of five eminent physicians and a surgeon, and of all the Jesuits then living at Lima, and witnesses to the fact, approved by the vicariat, (the archbishopric being then vacant,) was printed at Madrid, in 1674. A novice in the convent of the Jesuits at Lima, after a malignant fever, in the month of October, was deprived by a palsy of all motion on the whole right side of his body, so that he was not able to stir in the least that hand or foot. A loathing of all food, with a fever and other bad symptoms, attended the disorder, which the physicians judged incurable. On the feast of St. Stanislas, the 13th of November, by applying a picture of the saint to that side, he found the motion and feeling in those parts instantly restored, and himself in perfect health. Certain companions who were present called the rector, and the whole house followed him. The novice who was recovered, arose and dressed himself, and walked to the church as well as if he had never been sick. The whole community accompanied him, and sung a solemn Te Deum. See the new edition of this saint’s life, compiled by F. Orleans, published since his canonization.

NOVEMBER 13 — ST. MITRIUS, M

This ancient martyr suffered under Dioclesian, at Aix in Provence, and is honored as principal patron of that city. St. Gregory of Tours1 makes honorable mention of him. His torments were various and dreadful, but a miraculous constancy enabled him to bear them with joy. No authentic acts of his triumph have reached our times.

NOVEMBER 13 — ST. BRICE, B. C

He was a native of Tours, and a monk under St. Martin, whose patience he exercised by his sloth and pride. That saint foretold his remarkable conversion, and that he should be his successor in the see of Tours, which accordingly happened in 339. Upon slanders spread to his disadvantage he was expelled the city by the people, and lived many years an exile at Rome. By holy patience he triumphed over malice; and being restored to his see, governed it with great sanctity to his happy death, in 444. His name was held in particular veneration in France and England, and maintains its place in the calendar of the English Protestants. See St. Gregory of Tours, Hist.1. 10, c. 31; Fortunatus, Bede, Ado, and Usuard, on the 13th of November.

NOVEMBER 13 — ST. CONSTANT

A Holy Irish priest and anchoret, in Logherne, famous for his sanctity and miracles. He died in 777. See Colgan, Act. SS. p. 222, and MSS.

NOVEMBER 13 — ST. CHILLEN, OR KILLIAN, PRIEST

He was a native of Ireland, and a near kinsman of St. Fiaker; and on his return from Rome, where he had been on a pilgrimage, visited that saint in his solitude of Brie, where he spent some time with him in divine meditation and heavenly conversation. He was afterwards sent by St. Faro bishop of Meaux, to preach the gospel in Artois; which commission he executed with admirable sanctity and fruit, bringing many souls to the knowledge of Christ, and happily ended his days in the seventh century. His body is kept at Aubigny, near Arras, in a priory of canon-regulars which bears his name. He is styled a bishop in Colgan’s MSS. See Le Cointe Annal., t. 3, p. 625; Mabillon, Act. SS. Ben., t. 2, p. 619.

NOVEMBER 14 — ST. LAURENCE, CONFESSOR ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN

From his Life, authentically written by a regular canon of Eu, not many years after his death. In Surius; Chron. Rotoinag. F. Fontenal, Contin. de l’Hist. de l’Eglise de France,1. 31, p. 46, &c.

A. D. 1180.

LAURENCE* was youngest son to Maurice O’Tool,† a rich and powerful prince in Leinster, whose ancestors for many ages had been princes of the territories of Hy-Murray, and Hy-Mal, in the vicinity of Dublin. Laurence was but ten years old when his father delivered him up a hostage to Dermod Mac Murchad, king of Leinster.‡ The barbarous king kept the child in a desert place, where he was treated with great inhumanity; till his father being informed that by such usage his son was fallen into a bad state of health, obliged the tyrant to put him in the hands of the pious bishop of Glendaloch,* by whom he was carefully instructed in the service of God, and at twelve years of age sent back to his father. Maurice took Laurence with him, and went to thank the good bishop. At the same time he mentioned to that prelate his design of casting lots which of his four sons he should destine to the service of the church. Laurence, who was present, was justly startled at such a mad superstitious project, but glad to find so favorable an overture to his desires, cried out with great earnestness: “There is no need of casting lots. It is my most hearty desire to have for my inheritance no other portion than God in the service of the church.” Hereupon the father, taking him by the hand, offered him to God by delivering him to the bishop, in whose hands he left him, having first recommended him to the patronage of St. Comgen, founder of the great monastery there, and patron of that diocese, which has been since united to the see of Dublin. The good prelate performed excellently the part of an Ananias to his pupil, who, by his fidelity in corresponding with the divine grace, deserved to find the Holy Ghost an interior master in all virtues especially humility and the spirit of prayer.

Upon the death of the bishop of Glendaloch, who was at the same time abbot of the monastery, Laurence, though but twenty-five years old, was chosen abbot, and only shunned the episcopal dignity by alleging that the canons require in a bishop thirty years of age. The saint governed his numerous community with admirable virtue and prudence, and in a great famine which raged during the first four months of his administration, like another Joseph, was the saviour of his country by his boundless charities. Trials however, were not wanting for the exercise of his virtue. For certain false brethren whose eyes could not bear the refulgency of his virtue, the regularity of his conduct, and the zeal with which he condemned their disorders, attacked his reputation by slanders, to which he opposed no other arms than silence and patience.

Gregory, the archbishop of Dublin,† happening to die about the time that our saint was thirty years of age, he was unanimously chosen to fill that metropolitical see, and was consecrated in 1162, by Gelasius, archbishop of Armagh, and successor of St. Malachy. In this exalted station he watched over himself and his flock with fear, and with unwearied application to every part of his office, having always before his eyes the account which he was to give to the sovereign pastor of souls. His first care was to reform the manners of his clergy, and to furnish his church with worthy ministers. His exhortations to others were most powerful, because enforced with sweetness and vigor, animated with an apostolic spirit, and strongly impressed by the admirable example of his own life, which every one who had any sparks of piety in his breast, was ashamed to see himself fall so infinitely short of. About the year 1163, he engaged the secular canons of his cathedral of the Holy Trinity,* to receive the rule of the regular canons of Arouasia, an abbey which was founded in the diocese of Arras about fourscore years before, with such reputation for sanctity and discipline, that it became the head or mother house of a numerous congregation. Our saint took himself the religious habit, which he always wore under his pontifical attire. He usually ate with the religious in the refectory, observed their hours of silence, and always assisted with them at the midnight office; after which he continued a long time in the church in private prayer before a crucifix, and towards break of day went to the burial-place to pour forth certain prayers for the souls of the faithful departed. He never ate flesh, and fasted all Fridays, on bread and water, and oftentimes without taking any sustenance at all. He wore a rough hair shirt, and used frequent disciplines. Every day he entertained at table thirty poor persons, and often many more, besides great numbers which he maintained in private houses. All found him a father both in their temporal and spiritual necessities; and he was most indefatigable in the sacred functions of his charge, especially in announcing assiduously to his flock the word of life. To watch over, and examine more narrowly into his own heart and conduct, and to repair his interior spirit, he used often to retire for some days into some close solitude. When he was made bishop, king Dermod Mac Murchad preferred to the abbey of Glendaloch, one so notoriously unworthy of that dignity, that he was in a short time expelled, and Thomas, a nephew of the saint by whom he had been brought up, was canonically elected. By the care of this young, pious, and learned abbot, discipline and piety again flourished in that house. And from that time St. Laurence frequently made choice of Glendaloch for his retreats; but he usually hid himself in a solitary cave at some distance from the monastery, between a rock and a deep lake, in which St. Comgen had lived. When our saint came out of these retreats he seemed like another Moses coming from conversing with God, full of a heavenly fire and divine light.

St. Laurence found the greatest part of his flock so blinded with the love of the world, and enslaved to their passions, that the zealous pains he took seemed lost upon them. He threatened them with the divine judgments in case they did not speedily and effectually reform their manners by sincere repentance: but, like No when he preached to a world drowned in sin, he seemed to them to speak in jest, till they were overtaken on a sudden by those calamities which he had foretold, which served to purify the elect, and, doubtless, brought many who before had been deaf to the saint’s remonstrances, to a sense of their spiritual miseries. Dermod Mac Murchad, king of Leinster, having violated the wife of Tigernan O’Ruarc, (prince of Breffny and occasional administrator of Meath,) Tordelvach O’Connor, then monarch of Ireland, took cognizance of the injury, and obliged the violator to restore that princess to her family, together with her effects. So slight a reparation of a public as well as domestic crime, involved bad consequences. Dermod, growing daring from impunity, became intolerable to his vassals, whom he despoiled by various acts of tyranny, and Roderic, the son and successor of Tordelvach on the throne of Ireland, was put under the necessity of expelling him from his government of Leinster. To gratify his revenge, and regain his former power, Dermod solicited the aid of Henry II., king of England, a very powerful monarch, who scrupled not to permit some of his subjects to join their arms to the tyrant’s. The times were favorable to that attempt, and the adventurers found but a weak resistance from a monarch ill obeyed, and from a people divided by internal factions. Dermod’s success in this event was principally due to Richard earl of Pembroke, commonly called Strongbow, who brought with him several noblemen, with the best soldiers among their vassals; and, having lauded at Waterford, overran the greater part of Leinster and Ossory. Dermod dying in 1171, the earl of Pembroke, being left his heir, claimed the principality of Leinster, (in right of his wife, Eva, who was Dermod’s daughter,) took Dublin sword in hand, and massacred a great number of the inhabitants. In this dreadful disaster the good pastor was employed in relieving the distressed, in imploring for them the compassion of the conquerors, and in inducing the sufferers at least to make a good use of their afflictions. This invasion of Ireland was begun by private noblemen, whose success gave umbrage to the court, and king Henry II. commanded Strongbow and his associates to return to England: but they declared they only conquered Ireland in his name. Whereupon, he went thither, and, in 1171, received at Dublin the homage of some of the princes and petty kings, and was acknowledged by them lord and sovereign of Ireland. Some time after this, St. Laurence was obliged, for the affairs of his church, to go over to England, in order to make application to king Henry II., who happened then to be at Canterbury. St. Laurence repaired thither, and was received by the monks at Christ church with the honor due to his sanctity, and desired by them to sing high mass the next day. That whole night he spent in prayer before the shrine of St. Thomas, to whose intercession he recommended himself and the business which brought him thither. On the day following, as he was going up to the altar to officiate, a madman who had heard much of his sanctity, out of an extravagant notion of making so holy a man a martyr, and another St. Thomas, gave him so violent a blow on the head with a staff, as knocked him down. All that were present concluded that he was mortally wounded, and expressed their concern by their tears. But the saint, coming to himself again, called for water, which he blessed with the sign of the cross, and then directed the wound to be washed with it. This was no sooner done but the blood was immediately staunched, and the saint said mass. To this miracle, the author of his life, who was then at Canterbury, was an eye-witness, and assures us that the fracture was to be seen in the saint’s skull after his death. The king ordered the frantic as sassin to be hanged; but the holy prelate interceded in his favor, and obtained his pardon.

The third general council of Lateran was held at Rome, in 1179, by pope Alexander III, with three hundred bishops, for the reformation of manners, and the extirpation of heretical errors. St. Laurence went on from England to Rome, and with the archbishop of Tuam, five other Irish, and four English bishops, assisted at this council. Our saint laid before his holiness the state of the Irish church, and begged that effectual remedies might be applied to many disorders which reigned in that country, and care taken for preserving the liberties of that national church. The pope was wonderfully pleased with his wise and zealous proposals, and so satisfied of his virtue and prudence, that he readily made the regulations which the saint desired, and appointed him legate of the holy see in the kingdom of Ireland. As soon as the saint was returned home, he began vigorously to execute his legatine power, by reforming the manners of the clergy, and making whole-some regulations. He found the whole country afflicted with a terrible famine which continued to rage for three years. The saint said himself under an obligation of feeding every day fifty strangers, and three hundred poor persons of his own diocese, besides many others whom he furnished with clothes, victuals, and the other necessaries of life. Several mothers who were reduced so low as not to be able to keep their own children, laid them at the bishop’s door, or in other places where he would see them, and the saint took care of them all: sometimes he provided for three hundred of them together.

Henry II., king of England, was offended at Roderic, the Irish monarch, * and our saint undertook another journey into England to negotiate a reconciliation between them. Henry would not hear of a peace, and immediately after the saint’s arrival, set out for Normandy. Laurence retired to the monastery of Abingdon; and, after staying there three weeks, followed him into France. Henry, who had always repulsed him, was at length so much moved by his piety, prudence, and charity, that he granted him every thing he asked, and left the whole negotiation to his discretion It was only to obtain this that charity had made the saint desire to remain longer upon earth. Having discharged his commission, he was obliged, by a fever which seized him upon the road, to stop his journey. He took up his quarters in the monastery of regular canons at Eu, upon the confines of Normandy, an abbey depending upon that of St. Victor’s in Paris. Going into this house he recited that verse of the psalmist: This is my resting-place for ever: in this place will I dwell, because I have chosen it. He made his confession to the abbot, and received the viaticum and extreme muction from his hands. To one who put him in mind to make a will, he answered with a smile: “Of what do you speak? I thank God I have not a penny left in the world to dispose of.” Indeed, whatever he possessed always became immediately the treasure of the poor. The saint died happily on the 14th of November, in 1180, and was buried in the church of the abbey. Theobald, archbishop of Rouen, and three other commissioners, by order of pope Honorius III., took juridical informations of several miracles wrought at the tomb through the intercession of the servant of God, and sent an authentic relation to Rome; and Honorius published the bull of his canonization, in 1226, in which he mentions that seven dead persons had been raised by him to life. This archbishop, in 1227, caused his body to be taken up and enshrined, forty-two years after his death. The abbey of our Lady at Eu still possesses the greatest part of his relics, though some churches at Paris and elsewhere have been enriched with certain portions.

The saintly deportment, the zeal, the prayers, and the miracles of St. Laurence were not able to awake many of those hardened sinners whom he labored to convert. How few among the Jews, especially among the Pharisees, obeyed the voice of our Redeemer himself! If a pastor’s labors were constantly attended with easy success, he would meet with nothing for the exercise of his patience, by which he is to purchase his own crown, and perfect the sanctification of his soul. No degree of obstinacy, malice, or perverseness, must either disturb or discourage him. The greater the blindness, the more desperate the spiritual wounds of others are, the more lender ought his compassion to be, the greater his patience, and his earnestness in praying and laboring for their recovery and salvation. He is never to despair of any one, so long as the divine mercy still waits for his return. If opportunities of exhorting fail, or if charitable remonstrances only exasperate, so that prudence makes them unseasonable for a time, he ought never to cease earnestly importuning the Father of mercies in their behalf.

NOVEMBER 14 — ST. DUBRICIUS, B. C

How great soever the corruption of vice was which had sunk deep into the hearts of many in the degenerate ages of the ancient Britons before the invasion of the English Saxons, God raised amongst them many eminent saints, who, by their zealous exhortations and example, invited their countrymen by penance to avert the divine wrath which was kindled over their heads. One of the most illustrious fathers and instructors of these saints was St. Dubricius, who flourished chiefly in that part which is now called South-Wales.* He erected two great schools of sacred literature at Hentlan and Mochrhes, both places situate upon the river Wye, or Vaga, which waters Brecknockshire, Radnorshire, and Monmouthshire. In this place St. Samson, St. Theliau, and many other eminent saints and pastors of God’s church, were formed to virtue and the sacred ministry under the discipline of St. Dubricius; and persons of all ranks and conditions resorting to him from every part of Britain, he had 4 thousand scholars with him for years together. It was this great master’s first study to cultivate well his own soul, and to learn the interior sentiments of all virtues by listening much to the Holy Ghost in close solitude and holy meditation on divine things. He was consecrated the first archbishop of Llandaff, by St. Germanus, in a synod about the year 444, and was afterwards constituted archbishop of Caerleon, which dignity he resigned to St. David in the synod of Brevi in 522. After this, St. Dubricius retired into the solitary island of Bardsey or Euly, on the coast of Caernarvonshire, where he died and was buried: twenty thousand saints (that is, holy hermits and religious persons) are said in Camden and others to have been interred in that island. The bones of St. Dubricius were afterwards removed to Llandaff. See Alford’s Annals, Leland’s Itinerary, and St. Dubricius’s life, written, as some maintain, by St. Theliau’s own hand, in the Llandaff register. Also his life compiled by Benedict, a monk of Gloucester, in 1120, in Wharton’s Anglia Sacra, t. 2, p. 654.

NOVEMBER 15 — ST. GERTRUDE, V. ABBESS

From her book of Divine Insinuations, and her Life compiled by Dom. Mege, prefixed to his edition of that work, In 1664. See also Dr. Cave, Hist. Liter, t. 2, p. 301.

A. D. 1292.

ST. GERTRUDE was of an illustrious family, born at Eisleben, or Islebe in Upper Saxony, and sister to St. Mechtildes. At five years of age she was offered to God in the Benedictin nunnery of Rodalsdorf, and at thirty was chosen abbess of that house, in 1251: and, the year following, was obliged to take upon her the government of the monastery of Heldelfs, to which she removed with her nuns. In her youth she studied Latin, as it was then customary for nuns to do; she wrote and composed in that language very well, and was versed in sacred literature. Divine contemplation and devout prayer, she always looked upon as the principal duty and employment of her state, and consecrated to those exercises the greatest part of her time. The passion of our Redeemer was the favorite object of her devotions; and, in meditating on it, or on the blessed Eucharist, frequently she was not able to contain the torrents of tears which flowed from her eyes. She spoke of Christ, and of the mysteries of his adorable life, with so much unction, and in such transports of holy love, as to ravish those who heard her. Ecstasies and raptures of the divine love, and the gifts of divine union in prayer, were familiar to her. She mentions that once hearing those words, I have seen the Lord face to face, sung in the church, she saw, as it were, a divine face, most beautiful and charming, whoso eyes pierced her heart, and filled both her soul and body with inexpressible delight which no tongue could express.1 The divine love which burned in her breast, and consumed her soul, seemed the only spring of all her affections and actions. For this precious grace her pure soul was prepared by the crucifixion of her heart to the world, and to inordinate self-love in all its shapes. Watching, fasting, abstinence, perfect obedience, and the constant denial of her own will, were the means by which she tamed her flesh, and extirpated or subdued whatever could oppose the reign of the most holy will of God in her affections. But profound humility and perfect meekness had the chief part in this work, and laid the foundation of the great virtues and graces to which the divine mercy raised her. Though she was possessed of the greatest natural talents, and of most extraordinary gifts of divine grace, her mind was penetrated, and entirely filled only with the deepest sentiments of her own nothingness, baseness, and imperfections. It was her sincere desire that all others should have the same contempt of her, which she had of herself, and she used to say, that it seemed to her one of the greatest of all the miracles of God’s infinite goodness, that his divine majesty was pleased to suffer the earth to bear her. Though she was the superior and mother of the rest, she behaved towards them as if she had been the lowest servant, and one that was unworthy ever to approach them: and such were the sincere sentiments of her heart. How much soever she gave herself up to the exercises of heavenly contemplation, she neglected not the duties of Martha, and was very solicitous in attending to all the necessities of every one, and in providing all things for them, especially all spiritual helps. In their progress in all the exercises and virtues of an interior and religious life, she found the happy fruits of her zealous endeavors, and pious instructions. Her tender devotion to the Mother of God, sprang from the ardor of her love for the divine Son. The suffering souls in purgatory had a very great share in her compassion and charity.

We have a living portraiture of her pure and holy soul in her short book Of Divine Insinuations, or Communications and Sentiments of Love, perhaps the most useful production, next to the writings of St. Teresa, with which any female saint ever enriched the church, for nourishing piety in a contemplative state.* The saint proposes exercises for the renovation of the baptismal vows, by which the soul entirely renounces the world and herself, consecrates herself to the pure love of God, and devotes herself to pursue in all things his holy will. The like exercises she prescribes for the conversion of a soul to God, and for the renovation of her holy spiritual espousals, and the consecration of herself to her Redeemer, by a bond of indissoluble love, praying that she may totally die to herself, and be buried in him, so that he alone, who is her holy love, be acquainted with this her hidden state or sepulchre, and that she may have no other employment but that of love, or what his love directs. These sentiments she repeats with, admirable variety throughout the work, and, in the latter part, dwells chiefly on the most ardent desires of being speedily united to her love in everlasting glory, entreating her divine Redeemer, by all his sufferings and infinite mercies, to cleanse her perfectly from all earthly affections and spots, that she may be admitted to his divine presence. Some of these sighs, by which she expresses her thirst after this happy union with her God in bliss, are so heavenly, that they seem rather to proceed from one who was already an inhabitant of heaven, than a pilgrim in this mortal life; so strongly were the affections of the saint fixed there. This is particularly observable in that exercise, wherein she advises the devout soul sometimes to set apart a day to be devoted without interruption to praise and thanksgiving, in order to supply any defects in this double duty in daily devotions and to endeavor as perfectly as possible to be associated in this function to the heavenly spirits. The like exercises she proposes for supplying all defects in the divine love, by dedicating an entire day to the most fervent acts of pure love. The saint, as a chaste turtle, never interrupted her sweet sighs and moans, admitting no human consolation so long as her desire was delayed; yet rejoicing in hope and love, in perfect resignation to the will of God, in the visits of the Divine Spirit, in suffering with and for her loving Redeemer, and in laboring for his service. Her desires were at length fulfilled, and, having been abbess forty years, she was called to the embraces of her heavenly Spouse in 1292, her sister, Mechtildes, being dead some time before. The last sickness of St. Gertrude seemed rather a languishing of divine love than a natural fever; so abundantly did her soul enjoy in it the sweetest comforts and presence of the Holy Ghost. Miracles attested how precious her death was in the sight of God. She is honored with an office in the Roman Breviary on this day. The Lypsanographia, or catalogue of relics kept in the electoral palace of Brunswick-Lunenbourg, printed at Hanover, in 1713, in folio, mentions, among others, the relics of St. Gertrude in a rich shrine.

The exercises by which St. Gertrude made such sublime advances in the school of divine love, all tended to the closest union of her heart to God by the most inflamed desires and purest affections; and were directed at the same time to remove all obstacles to this union, by cleansing her soul and purifying her affections, by tears of compunction, by the renunciation of sensual delights, and the most perfect denial of herself. Hence she prayed continually that by the grace of the omnipotent divine love she might be strengthened to resign herself to holy love, so that nothing of self should remain in her, but should be totally consumed by the flame of holy love, like dust carried away by the wind, so as not to leave the least grain or trace behind.2 For this exterior action, both of self-denial and of charity, zeal, and all other virtues are necessary; but interior exercises are far more essential, in which the soul must frequently in the day raise herself up to God by the most ardent desires of love, praise, and thanksgiving, and study to die to herself by sincere and repeated sentiments of humility, compunction, meekness, patience, and self-denial.

NOVEMBER 15 — ST. LEOPOLD, MARQUIS OF AUSTRIA, C

Leopold, the fourth of that name, from his infancy commonly called The Pious, was son of Leopold III., and Itta, daughter to the emperor Henry IV.* By attending diligently to the instructions of God’s ministers, and meditating assiduously on the pure maxims of the gospel, he learned that there is but one common rule of salvation for princes and private persons this he studied, and from his cradle he labored to square by it his whole life. In his youth he laid a good foundation of learning; but it was his chief study to live only for eternity, to curb his passions, to mortify his senses, to renounce worldly pleasures, to give much of his time to prayer and holy meditation, and to apply himself to the exercise of all manner of good works, especially those of almsdeeds and charity. By the death of his father, in 1096, he saw it was become his indispensable duty to study and procure in all things the happiness of a numerous nation committed by God to his charge. The Austrians were then a very gross and superstitious people: it was necessary to soften their minds, to imbue them with the principles of reason and society, and make them Christians. The work was tedious and difficult. The saint prepared himself for it by earnestly asking of God that wisdom which he stood in need of for it; and by active endeavors, through the divine blessing, succeeded beyond what could have been hoped for. He was affable to all, studied to do good to every one, and eased as much as possible all public burdens of the people. His palace seemed the seat of virtue, justice, and universal goodness. When he was constrained to proceed to punishments, he endeavored to engage the criminals to receive them with patience, and in a spirit of penance, and to acknowledge the severity which he used to be necessary and just. He pardoned malefactors as often as prudence allowed him to do it; for he considered that the maintenance of justice and the public peace and safety depended upon the strict execution of the laws.

When the civil war broke out between the unnatural excommunicated emperor, Henry IV., and his own son, Henry V., Leopold was prevailed upon to join the latter, to whose cause he gave the greatest weight. Motives of justice and religion, and the authority of others determined him to take this step; yet Cuspinian tells us,1 that he afterwards did remarkable penance for the share which he had in those transactions. In 1106 he took to wife Agnes, a most virtuous and accomplished princess, daughter to the emperor Henry IV., sister to Henry V., and widow of Frederic, duke of Suabia, by whom she had Conrad, afterwards emperor, and Frederic, father of Frederic Barbarossa. To St. Leopold she bore eighteen children, of which seven died in their infancy: the rest rendered their names famous by great and virtuous actions. Albert, the eldest, having given uncommon proofs of his valor and military skill, died in Pannonia, a few days after his father. Leopold, the second, succeeded his father in Austria, and reigned also in Bavaria. Otho, the fifth son, made great progress in his studies at Paris, became first a Cistercian monk, and abbot of Morimond, was afterwards chosen bishop of Frisingen, accompanied the emperor Conrad into the Holy Land, and died at Morimond in great sentiments of piety. His famous Chronicle from the beginning of the world, and other works, are monuments of his application to his studies. The marchioness Agnes would have her part in all her husband’s good works. With him she read the holy scriptures, and with joy interrupted her sleep in the night to rise to the usual midnight devotions of the church, to which this religious couple added together long meditations on the truths of everlasting life. Leopold, in the year 1117, founded the monastery of the Holy Cross, of the Cistercian order, twelve Italian miles from Vienna, near the castle of Kalnperg, where he lived. The saint and his religious marchioness were desirous to have been able to watch continually at the foot of the altar in singing the divine praises; but being obliged by their station in the world often to attend other affairs, though in all these they found God, whose holy will and greater glory they proposed to themselves in every thing they did; they resolved to found a great monastery of fervent regular canons, who might be substituted in their places, to attend night and day to this angelical function. This they executed by the foundation of the noble monastery of Our Lady of New Clausterberg, eight miles from Vienna. The marquis out of humility would not lay the first stone, but caused that ceremony to be performed by a priest. The church was dedicated in 1118 by the archbishop of Saltzburg, assisted by the bishop of Passau, the diocesan, and the bishop of Gurck. The foundation was confirmed by the pope, and by a charter of Leopold,* signed by Ottacar, marquis of Stiria, and many other counts and noblemen, in presence of the bishops, who fulminated an excommunication. with dreadful anathemas, against any who should invade the rights or lands of this monastery, or injure or molest the poor servants of Christ who there followed the rule of St. Austin.

Stephen II. king of Hungary, invaded Austria, but was repulsed by St. Leopold, who defeated his troops in a pitched battle. The Hungarians returned some years after, but were met by the holy marquis on his frontiers, and their army so ill handled that they were glad to save their remains by a precipitate flight. Upon the death of Henry V. in 1125, some of the electors and many others desired to see Leopold raised to the imperial dignity; but the election of Lothaire II., duke of Saxony, prevailed. Conrad and Frederic, sons of the marchioness Agnes by the duke of Suabia, who had also stood candidates, raised great disturbances in the empire, to which they afterwards both succeeded. But Leopold adhered with such fidelity to Lothaire, as to give manifest proofs of his sincere disinterestedness, and to show how perfectly a stranger he was to jealousy and ambition. He attended the emperor as his friend in his journey into Italy. After a glorious and happy reign he was visited with his last sickness, in which he confessed his sins with many tears, received extreme unction and the other rites of the church, and never ceasing to call on Christ his Redeemer, and to recommend his soul, through his precious death, into his divine hands with admirable tranquillity and resignation, passed to a state of happy immortality on the 15th of November, in 1136. He was buried at his monastery of New Clausterberg, two German miles from Vienna, and on his and his holy consort’s anniversaries two large doles are still distributed by the community to all the poor that come to receive it. St. Leopold was honored by God with many miracles, and was canonized by Innocent VIII., in 1485. See his life by Vitus Erempercht, published by F. Rader, in Bavaria Sancta, vol. 3, p. 143; the History of the foundation of Medlic, quoted at large by Lambecius, (Bibl. Vindob. vol. 2;) and Francis of Possac’s oration before Innocent VIII. in order to the saint’s canonization, (in Surius, t. 79,) in which many miracles are recited. See other manuscript monuments quoted by F. Rader.

NOVEMBER 15 — ST. EUGENIUS, M

Was a disciple of St. Dionysius, first bishop of Paris, and suffered martyrdom at Paris soon after him, according to the New Paris Breviary in 275. His relics were translated to Toledo, in Spain, in 1148, as is rested by Mariana. It is by mistake that some have confounded this martyr with Eugenius, the pious and learned archbishop of Toledo.*

NOVEMBER 15 — ST. MALO, OR MACLOU FIRST BISHOP OF ALETH IN BRITTANY

He was a native of England, and cousin-german to St. Sampson and St. Magloire. At an early age he was sent for his education into Ireland where he made a rapid progress in learning and virtue. Being ordained priest, he was soon after elected to a bishopric by the suffrages of the people; but he declined that dignity, and retired into Brittany, where he put himself under the direction of a holy recluse, named Aron, near Aleth. About the year 541 he was made bishop of this city, and died the 15th of November, 565.† It is from him the city of St. Malo has its name; for his sacred remains were carried thither after Aleth had been reduced to a village, and the episcopal see transferred to St. Malo. See Leland, Collect. t. 2, p. 430.

NOVEMBER 16 — ST. EDMUND, C. ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

His life is accurately written by several hands: by his own brother Robert, who accompanied him in his journeys to Rome, (MS. in Bibl. Cotton. incipit B. Edmundus Cantnar;) also by Bertrand, the saint’s companion and secretary in his exile, and after his death a monk, and at length prior of Pontigny, published by Dom. Martenne, (Thesaur. Anecdot. t. 3;) with curious dissertations and remarks. See also Matthew Paris, Nicholas Trivet, Annal. 6 Regum, Wood, Hist. et Antiq. Oxon. p. 9, 61; Godwin, Prsul. Angl p 130. Also Testimonia plurium, de sanctitate Edmundi Cant. MS. in Bibl. Coll Corp Christi Oxon. n. 154.

A. D. 1242.

ST. EDMUND RICH was the eldest son of Reynold Rich, a tradesman of Abingdon in Berkshire, and his wife Mabilia. His parents were but slenderly provided with the goods of this world, but possessed abundantly the true riches of virtue and divine grace. Reynold from the sale of his stock, leaving a moderate competence for the education of his children, and for a foundation for their industry to work upon, committed them to the care of his prudent and virtuous consort; and with her free consent made his religious profession in the monastery of Evesham, where he finished his mortal course with great fervor. Mabilia, who remained in the world, was not behindhand with him in aspiring ardently to Christian perfection. To accomplish the course of her penance, and to tame her flesh she practised great austerities, and constantly wore a rough hair cloth: she always went to church at midnight to matins, and by her own example excited her children to the heroic practice of virtue. Our saint in his childhood, by her advice, recited the whole psalter on his knees every Sunday and holyday before he broke his fast, and on Fridays contented himself with only bread and water. How zealous soever the mother was in inspiring into the tender minds of her children a contempt of earthly things, and the greatest ardor in the pursuit of virtue, and in suggesting to them every means of attaining to the summit of Christian perfection, Edmund not only complied joyfully with her advice, but always went beyond her directions, desiring in all his actions to carry virtue to the greatest heights; though in all his penances and devotions he studied secrecy as much as possible, and was careful to shun in them the least danger of attachment to his own sense. For that fundamental maxim of virtue he had always before his eyes, that even devotion infected with self-will and humor becomes vicious, and nourishes self-love and self-conceit, the bane of all virtue and grace in the heart. As for our young saint he seemed to have no will of his own, so mild, complying, and obliging was he to every one, and so dutiful and obedient to his mother and masters. And the sweetness and cheerfulness wherewith he most readily obeyed, and seemed even to prevent their directions, showed his obedience to be the interior sacrifice of his heart, in which the essence of that virtue consists: for a mere exterior compliance accompanied with reluctance, and, much more, if it break out into complaints and murmuring, is a miserable state of constraint and compulsion, and a wilful and obstinate slavery to self-will, that domestic tyrant, which it fosters, arms, and strengthens, instead of subduing it. How grievously are those parents the enemies and spiritual murderers of their own children, who teach them to place their happiness in the gratification of their senses: and by pampering their bodies, and flattering their humors and passions, make their cravings and appetites restless, insatiable, and boundless, and their very bodies unfit for, and almost incapable of, the duties of penance, and even of the labors of civil life. Abstemiousness and temperance were easy and agreeable, and a penitential life, which appears so difficult to those who have been educated in sloth, softness, and delights, was, as it were, natural to our saint, who had, from his cradle, under the direction of his prudent and virtuous mother, inured his senses to frequent privations, his body to little severities, and his will to constant denials, by perfect meekness, humility, charity, and obedience, so that it seemed as naturally pliant to the direction of reason and virtue, as a glove is to the hand, to use the expression of one of his historians; and he was always a stranger to the conflicts of headstrong passions.

The saint performed the first part of his studies at Oxford, in which he gave very early indications of a genius above the common standard. It is indeed easy to understand with what ardor and perseverance a person of good abilities, and deeply impressed with a sense of religion, always applies himself to study, when this becomes an essential part of his duty to God. An uncommon fervor and assiduity in all religions exercises, and a genuine simplicity in his whole conduct, discovered his internal virtues, and betrayed the desire he had of concealing them. Retirement and prayer were his delight, and he sought no companions but those in whom he observed the like pious inclinations. He was yet young when Mabilia sent him and his brother Robert to finish their studies at Paris. At parting she gave each of them a hair shirt, which she advised them to use two or three days in a week, to fortify their souls against the love of pleasures, a dangerous snare to youth. It was her custom never to send them any huen. clothes, or other things, but she made some new instrument of penance a part of her present, to put them in mind of assiduously practising Christian mortification. Edmund had spent some time in that seat of arts and sciences, when his mother falling sick of a lingering illness, and perceiving that she drew near her end, ordered him over to England that she might recommend to him the care of settling his brother and his two sisters in the world. Before she died she gave him her last blessing. The saint begged the same for his brother and sisters, but she answered: “I have given them my blessing in you: for through you they will share abundantly in the blessings of heaven.” When he had closed her eyes, and paid her his last duties, he was solicitous where to place his sisters, and how to secure them against the dangers of the world, particularly as they were both extremely beautiful. But they were yet far more virtuous, and soon put him out of this pain, by declaring that it was their earnest desire to live only to God in a religious state. The saint was, in the next place, perplexed where to find a sanctuary, in which they might most securely attain to that perfection to which they aspired. Many preferred those religious houses which seem to hold a rank in the world, and are richly founded; a thing very absurd in persons who renounce the world, to profess a state of abjection and poverty; though it may be often a part of prudence to choose a retreat which is free from the moral danger of distraction and anxiety, too apt to disturb the mind when under the pressure of extreme want. St. Edmund had no views to temporal advantages in this inquiry; all his care was to find a nunnery, out of which the world was banished, and where the manner of life, regularity, example, and reigning maxims breathed the most perfect spirit of the holy institute. “To embrace a religious state,” says the saint,1 “is the part of perfection: but to live imperfectly in it, is the most grievous damnation.” A fear of entangling himself, or others in any danger of sin, made him shun all houses in which a fortune was exacted for the admission of postulants, which the canons condemn as simony in monasteries sufficiently founded; for though presents may be received, nothing can be asked or expected for the admission, which is something spiritual: nor for the person’s maintenance, which the house in those circumstances is able and obliged to afford. After a diligent inquiry and search, the saint placed his two sisters in the small Benedictin nunnery of Catesby, in Northamptonshire,* famous for strictness of its discipline, where both served God with great fervor, were eminent for the innocence and sanctity of their lives, and died both successively prioresses.

St. Edmund had no sooner settled his sisters, but he went back to Paris to pursue his studies. While he lived at Oxford he had consecrated himself to God by a vow of perpetual chastity, under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, in whom, under God, he placed a special confidence; and this vow he observed with the utmost fidelity his whole life, shunning, with the most scrupulous care, all levity in the least action, every dangerous liberty of his senses, and all company that could be an occasion of temptation. In his study he had an image of the Mother of God before his eyes, round which were represented the mysteries of our redemption; and, in the midst of his most profound studies, his frequent ejaculations to God were so ardent, that in them he sometimes fell into raptures. How desirous soever he appeared to become learned, his zeal to become a saint was much greater. By virtue he sanctified all his studies, and the purity of his heart replenished his soul with light, which enabled him to penetrate, in them, the most knotty questions, and the most sublime truths. By his progress in learning he was the admiration of his masters, and for the purity of his life he was regarded as a miracle of sanctity. He constantly attended at the midnight office in St. Martin’s church, and after that was over, spent some hours there in prayer, early heard mass in the morning, and then repaired to the public school, without taking food or rest. He went to vespers every day: studies works of charity, holy meditation, and private prayer, took up the rest of his time. He fasted much, and every Friday on bread and water; wore a hair shirt, and mortified his senses in every thing. Allowing very little for his own necessities, he employed in alms the rest of the money which he received for his own uses. He seldom ate above once a day, and then very sparingly, slept on the bare floor, or on a bench, and for thirty years never undressed himself to sleep, and never lay down on a bed, though he had one in his room, decently covered, in order to conceal his austerities. After matins, at midnight, he usually continued his meditation and prayer till morning, and very rarely slept any more: if he did. it was only leaning his head against the wall, as he knelt or sat a little while. Many years before he was in holy orders, he said every day the priest’s office, with salutations of the wounds of our Divine Redeemer, and a meditation on his sufferings. After he had gone through a course of the liberal arts and mathematics, and had taken the degree of master of arts, he was employed six years in teachings those sciences, especially the mathematics. Though, to avoid the danger of the distraction of the mind from heavenly things, to which these studies generally expose a soul, he used, as a counterbalance, much prayer and meditation, to nourish constantly in his heart a spirit of devotion. Yet this at length suffered some abatement; and he seemed one night to see his mother in a dream, who, pointing to certain geometrical figures before him, asked him what all that signified? and bade him rather make the adorable Trinity the object of his studies. From that time he gave himself up entirely to the study of theology, and though out of humility he was long unwilling, he suffered himself to be overcome by the importunity of his friends, and proceeded doctor in that faculty, though whether this was at Paris, or Oxford, after his return to England, authors disagree. He interpreted the holy scriptures some time at Paris: it was his custom always to kiss that divine book out of religious respect, as often as he took it into his hands. As soon as he was ordained priest, he began to preach with wonderful unction and fruit. Even the lectures which he delivered in school, and his ordinary discourse were seasoned with heavenly sentiments of the divine love and praises, and breathed a spirit of God which extremely edified all that were present. Several of his auditors and scholars became afterwards eminent for sanctity and learning. Seven left his school in one day to take the Cistercian habit; one of whom was Stephen, afterwards abbot of Clairvaux, and founder of the monastery of the Bernardins at Paris.

Returning to England, he was the first that taught Aristotle’s logic at Oxford,2 where he remained from 1219 to 1226; but in frequent missions travelled often through all Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire, preaching the word of God with great fruit and zeal. After having refused many ecclesiastical preferments, he at length accepted of a canonry, with the dignity of treasurer, in the cathedral of Salisbury; but gave far the greatest part of the revenue to the poor, leaving himself destitute the greatest part of the year. He had not been long in this post, when the pope sent him an order to preach the crusade against the Saracens, with a commission to receive an honorary stipend for his maintenance, from the several churches in which he should discharge that office. The saint executed the commission with great zeal; but would receive no honorary stipend, or any kind of present for his maintenance. As he was preaching in the open air near the church at Worcester, a heavy shower fell all around the place, but the saint having given his blessing, and bade the people not to disperse, not a single drop touched any of them, or fell on the spot where they stood. When he preached, the words which came from his inflamed heart were words of fire, which powerfully converted souls. Persons the most profoundly learned were moved to tears at his sermons, and many became imitators of his penance and virtues. William, surnamed Longspear, the famous earl of Salisbury, who had lived a long time in the neglect of the essential duties of a Christian, and without ever approaching the sacraments, was so entirely converted by hearing a sermon which the saint preached, and by conversing some hours with him, that from that time he laid aside all other business to make the salvation of his soul his whole employment. The saint formed many excellent men of prayer, and was himself one of the most experienced doctors of an interior life, and most enlightened contemplatives in the church. What he chiefly inculcated was a sincere spirit of humility, mortification, and holy prayer; and he was principally solicitous to teach Christians to pray in affection and spirit. “A hundred thousand persons,” says the saint,3 “are deceived in multiplying prayers. I would rather say five words devoutly with my heart, than five thousand which my soul does not relish with affection and understanding. Sing to the Lord wisely.4 What a man repeats by his mouth, that let him feel in his soul.” A late French critical author5 of a book entitled the Tradition of the Church concerning contemplation, says of St. Edmund: “He applied himself from his youth to the contemplation of eternal truths; and so well united in himself (which is very rare) the science of the heart with that of the school, the mystical theology with the speculative, that by letting into his heart the lights of his understanding, he became a perfect contemplative, or mystic theologian; and he has no less enlightened the church by the sanctity of his life, than by the admirable spiritual tract, called, the Mirror of the Church, in which are found many excellent things relating to contemplation.”

The see of Canterbury had been long vacant, when pope Gregory IX. pitched upon Edmund to fill it. The chapter of Canterbury was unanimous in his favor, king Henry III. gave his consent, and the election was confirmed by his holiness. Matters were gone thus far, when a deputation was sent to Salisbury, to give notice to the saint of his election, and to conduct him to his flock. Edmund, who was till then a stranger to these proceedings, protested loudly against the violence that was offered him. The deputies thus repulsed by him, applied to the bishop of Salisbury, who exerted his authority to compel the saint to acquiesce. Edmund submitted after much resistance, but had not quite conquered his fears and difficulties when he was consecrated, on the 2d of April, 1234. This dignity made no alteration in the humble sentiments or behavior of our saint. He had still the same mean opinion of himself, and observed the same simplicity and modesty in his dress, notwithstanding the contrary fashions of the bishops of that age. His chief employment was to inquire into and relieve the corporal and spiritual necessities of his flock, and he soon got the reputation of a primitive pastor. His revenues he chiefly consecrated to the poor, and had a particular care to provide portions for young women, whose circumstances would have otherwise exposed them to great dangers. He gave vice no quarter, maintained church discipline with an apostolic vigor, and was most scrupulously solicitous and careful that justice was impartially administered in all his courts, abhorred the very shadow of bribes in all his officers, and detested the love of filthy lucre, especially in the clergy. For the reformation of abuses, he published his Constitutions in thirty-six canons, extant in Lindwood, Spelman, Wilkins, Johnson, and in Labbe’s editions of the councils.*

Amidst a great corruption of manners, and decay of discipline, his zeal could not fail to raise him adversaries. Even the children of his own mother, the monks of his chapter, and many of his clergy, who ought to have been his comfort and his support, were the first to oppose him, and defeat his holy endeavors for restoring regularity, the purity of Christian morals, and the true spirit of our divine religion, which its founder came from heaven to plant among men. Mr. Johnson says,6 “Archbishop Edmund was a man of very scrupulous notions.” Scrupulosity is a great defect and weakness, often a grievous vice, always contrary to perfect virtue; though a passing state of scrupulosity which is humble, always ready to obey, and attended with unaffected simplicity of heart, is a usual trial of persons when they first begin to serve God in earnest, but this is easily cured. A scrupulosity which arises from constitution, is a severe trial of patience, but that which is founded in self-love and the passions, and is accompanied with wilful obstinacy, is a most dangerous and vicious disorder. But a timorousness of conscience differs infinitely from scrupulosity, and is the disposition of all that truly desire to be saved. In this path all the saints walked, with holy Job, fearing all their actions, with constant watchfulness over themselves, and attention to the general rules of the gospel, from which they never suffered custom, example, or the false maxims of the multitude, to turn them aside. Upon this principle, Edmund guided himself by the rules of Christ and his church, and opposed abuses that seemed authorized by custom, and had taken deep root.

There perhaps was never a greater lover of charity and peace than our saint; yet he chose to see his dearest friends break with him, and turn his implacable enemies and persecutors, rather than approve or tolerate the least point which seemed to endanger both his own and their souls. And, from their malice, he reaped the invaluable advantage of holy patience. For their bitterness and injustice against him never altered the peace of his mind, or his dispositions of the most sincere charity and tenderness towards them; and he never seemed sensible of any injuries or injustices that were done him. When some told him that he carried his charity too far, he made answer: “Why should others cause me to offend God, or to lose the charity which I owe and bear them? if any persons were to cut off my arms, or pluck out my eyes, they would be the dearer to me, and would seem the more to deserve my tenderness and compassion.” He often used to say that tribulations were a milk which God prepared for the nourishment of his soul, and that if ever they had any bitterness in them, this was mixed with much sweetness; adding, that they were, as it were, a wild honey, with which his soul had need to be fed in the desert of this world, like John Baptist in the wilderness. He added, that Christ had taught him by his own example to go to meet and salute his persecutors, and only to answer their injuries by earnestly recommending their souls to his heavenly Father. The more the saint suffered from the world, the greater were the consolations he received from God, and the more eagerly he plunged his heart into the ocean of his boundless sweetness, in heavenly contemplation and prayer. Nicholas Trivet, a learned English Dominican, in his accurate history of the reigns of six kings from Stephen,7 tells us that St. Edmund had always some pious and learned Dominican with him wherever he went, and that one of those who lived to be very old, assured him and many others that the saint was found in a wonderful ecstasy. “One day,” says he, “when the saint had invited several persons of great quality to dine with him at his palace, he made them wait a long while before he came out to them. When dinner had been ready some time, St. Richard, who was his chancellor, went to call him, and found him in the chapel, raised a considerable height above the ground, in prayer.” St. Edmund, while he was archbishop, kept a decent table for others, but contrived secretly to practise at it himself the greatest abstemiousness and mortification.

The saint’s trials grew every day heavier, and threatened to overwhelm him; yet he was always calm, as the halcyon riding on, the waves amidst a violent tempest. King Henry III., being by his bad economy, and the insatiable thirst of his minions, always needy, not content to exact of his subjects, both clergy and laity, exorbitant sums, kept bishoprics, abbeys, and other benefices, a long time vacant, only that, under the title of protecting the goods of the church, he might appropriate the revenues to his own use; and, when he nominated new incumbents, preferred his own creatures, who were usually strangers, or at least persons no ways qualified for such posts St. Edmund, not bearing an abuse which was a source of infinite disorders, obtained of pope Gregory IX. a bull, by which he was empowered and ordered to fill such vacant benefices, in case the king nominated no one within six months after they fell vacant. But, upon the king’s complaint, his holiness repealed this concession. The zealous prelate, fearing to injure his own conscience, and appear to connive at crying abuses which he was not able to redress, passed secretly into France, thus testifying to the whole world how much he condemned such fatal enormities. Making his way to the court of France, he was graciously received by St. Louis, all the royal family, and city of Paris, where his virtue was well known. Thence he retired to Pontigny, a Cistercian abbey in Champagne, in the diocese of Auxerre, which had formerly harbored two of his predecessors, St. Thomas, under Henry II., and Stephen Langton, in the late reign of king John. In this retreat the saint gave himself up to fasting and prayer, and preached frequently in the neighboring churches. His bad state of health obliging him, in compliance to the advice of physicians, to change air, he removed to a convent of regular canons at Soissy, or Seysi, Seeing the monks of Pontigny in tears at his departure, he told them he should return to them on the feast of St. Edmund the Martyr; which was verified by his body, after his death, being brought thither on that day. His distemper increasing, he desired to receive the viaticum, and said, in presence of the holy sacrament: “In Thee, O Lord, I have believed; Thee I have preached and taught. Thou art my witness, that I have desired nothing on earth but Thee alone. As Thou seest my heart to desire only Thy holy will, may it be accomplished in me.” After receiving the holy sacrament, he continued that whole day in wonderful devotion and spiritual jubilation, so as to seem entirely to forget, and not to feel his distemper. Tears of joy and piety never ceased trickling down his cheeks, and the serenity of his countenance discovered the interior contentment of his holy soul. This, his joy, he expressed by alluding to a proverb then in vogue, as follows: “Men say that delight (or sport) goeth into the belly, but I say, it goeth into the heart.”* This inexpressible interior comfort which his soul enjoyed, wonderfully discovered itself by a cheerfulness and glow which cannot be imagined, but which then appeared in his cheeks, which were before as pale as ashes. The next day he received the holy oils, and from that time always held a crucifix in his hands, kissing and saluting affectionately the precious wounds, particularly that of the side, keeping it long applied to his lips with many tears and sighs, accompanied with wonderful interior cheerfulness and joy to his last breath. From his tender years he had always found incredible sweetness in the name of Jesus, which he had constantly in his heart, and which he repeated most affectionately in his last moments. In his agony he did not lie down, but sat in a chair, sometimes leaning upon his hand, and sometimes he stood up. At length, fainting away, without any contortions or convulsions he calmly expired, never seeming to interrupt those holy exercises which conducted his happy soul to the company of the blessed, there to continue the same praises, world without end. St. Edmund died at Soissy, near Provins in Champagne, on the 16th of November, 1242, according to Godwin, having been archbishop eight years. His bowels were buried at Provins; but his body was conveyed to Pontigny, and, after seven days, deposited with great solemnity. Many miraculous cures wrought through his intercession, proclaimed his power with God in the kingdom of his glory, and the saint was canonized by Innocent V., in 1246. In 1247, his body was taken up, and found entire, and the joints flexible. It was translated with great pomp, in presence of St. Louis, queen Blanche, and a number of prelates and noblemen. These precious relics remain to this day the glory of that monastery, which, from our saint, is called St. Edmund’s of Pontigny. Dom. Marienne, the learned Maurist monk, tells us, that he saw and examined his body, which is perfectly without the least sign of corruption. The head is seen naked through a crystal glass; the rest of the body is covered with his pontifical garments. The color of the flesh is everywhere very white. It it placed above the high altar, in a shrine of wood gilt over. One arm was separated at the desire of St. Louis, who caused it to be shut in a gold case so as to be seen through crystal glasses. But the flesh of this, arm is black, which is ascribed to an embalming when it was taken from the body. English women were allowed to enter this church, though the Cistercian order torbade the entrance of women into their churches, which now is nowhere observed among them except in the churches of Citeaux and Clairvaux. In the treasury at Pontigny are shown, St. Edmund’s pastoral ring, chalice, and paten; also his chasuble, or vestment, in which he said mass, which is quite round at the bottom, according to the ancient form of such vestments. Martenne adds, that the conservation of this sacred body free from corruption, is evidently miraculous, and cannot be ascribed to any embalming during above five hundred years, without any change even in the color Several miracles, wrought through this saint’s intercession, were authentically approved and attested by many English bishops, as Stephen, a sub-deacon, who had been six years his secretary, assures us, who adds: “Numberless miracles have been performed by his invocation since his deposition, of the truth whereof I am no less certain than if I had seen them with my own eyes.” One he mentions that was wrought upon himself. He had suffered an intolerable toothache, with a painful inflammation of his left jaw for two days, without being able to take any rest, till, calling to mind his blessed father Edmund, he with prayers and tears implored his intercession, and quickly fell into a gentle slumber. When he waked he found himself perfectly freed from the toothache, and the swelling entirely dissipated.

St. Edmund was a great proficient in the school of divine love and heavenly contemplation, because he learned perfectly to die to himself. Man’s heart is, as it were, naturally full of corruption and poison, and abandoned to many inordinate appetites, and subtle passions which successively exercise their empire over it, artfully disguise themselves, and infect even his virtues. God often condemns the hearts of those whose actions the world admires; because, having chiefly a regard to the interior dispositions, and the purity and fervor of the intention, he often sees virtues, which shine brightest in the eyes of men, to be false, and no better than disguised vice and self-love. A sincere spirit of humility, meekness, patience, obedience, compunction, and self-denial, with the practice of self-examination, penance, and assiduous prayer, must crucify inordinate self-love, disengage the affections from earthly things, and, purifying the heart, open it to the rays of divine light and grace.

NOVEMBER 16 — ST. EUCHERIUS, BISHOP OF LYONS, C

Next to St. Irenus, no name has done so great honor to the church of Lyons, as that of the great Eucherius. By birth he was most illustrious in the world; and his cousin Valerian had a father and father-in-law possessed of the first dignities in the empire: but the saint by despising the empty honors and riches of the world, became far more illustrious in the school of Christ. A lofty and penetrating genius, an uncommon stock of learning, and a commanding eloquence, which made him admired by all the orators of his time, were talents which gained him the esteem of all the great men in the empire. In the former part, of his life he was married to a lady called Galla, by whom he had two sons, Salonius and Veranus, whom he placed very young in the monastery of Lerins, under the conduct of its holy founder, St. Honoratus, and the tutorship of Salvianus, the eloquent and zealous priest of Marseilles: St. Eucherius lived to see them both raised to the episcopal character. An extraordinary piety had been his distinguishing character from his childhood, from which he never departed.8 The more he conversed with the world, the more he was disgusted at its emptiness, and affrighted at its dangers; so that about the year 422, with the consent of his wife, who readily agreed also to forsake the world herself, he retired to the monastery of Lerins. Cassian, then abbot of St. Victor’s at Marseilles addressed his eleventh, and the six following conferences to Eucherius and Honoratus, and calls them the two admirable models of that house of saints. Out of a desire of closer retirement, Eucherius left Lerins, to settle in the neighboring small island of Lero, now called St. Margaret’s. There he wrote his book, On a Solitary Life, which is an elegant and finished commendation of that state, and in particular of the desert of Lerius, then inhabited by many saints. In the same place, about the year 127, he wrote to his cousin Valerian his incomparable exhortation, On the Contempt of the World. The purity of the Latin language in this piece, falls very little short of the Augustan age: the style is easy and smooth, the turns of thought and expression equally admirable, the method and order most beautiful, and the images lively and natural, so that Erasmus sticks not to say, that among all productions of Christian writers, he knows nothing comparable to it: the author appears in every part a complete master. Du Pin1 says, that in purity and elegance of style he equals the best writers of the most polite ages. Godeau2 goes still higher, and tells us that all the beauties of eloquence, and strength of genius and reasoning, are here united with an air of the most affecting piety,* so that it seems impossible to read this little treatise without being inspired with a contempt of the world, and quickened to a strong resolution of making the service of God our great and only concern, as it is our only solid gain both in time and eternity. As for the world, he shows that most of the mirth which appears in it, is not mirth, but art: its honors, applause, and company, are an empty pageantry, and a slavery which only the activity of men’s passions make to seem tolerable. Of the vanity, falsehood, and illusion of the world, and of the transitoriness, instability, and uncertainty of all its enjoyments, he paints so striking an image, that the world seems to pass as a phantom, and like a sudden dash of lightning before the eyes of the reader, making its appearance to sink away in a moment, never to return. “I have seen,” says he, “men raised to the highest pitch of worldly honors and riches. Fortune seemed to be in their pay, throwing every thing upon them, without their having the trouble of asking or seeking its favors. Their prosperity in all things outwent their very desires and passions: but in a moment they disappeared. Their vast possessions were fled, and the masters themselves were no more,” &c. This exhortation was addressed to Valerian, the saint’s near kinsman, who was deeply engaged in the world. He continued still in his secular employments, if he be the same person with Priscus Valerian, to whom St. Sidonitis addressed his panegyric upon the emperor Avitus, about the year 456, as Dom. Rivet takes him to be,3 though Rosweide4 and Joffrede5 think him to be the same St. Valerian† who became a monk of Lerins, was afterwards the last bishop of Cimella, before that see was united to Nice, assisted at the councils of Orange, Arles, and Ries, and died about the year 460.‡

Our saint, who, as Cassian says,6 shone first as a bright star in the world by the perfection of his virtue, was afterwards by the example of his life a model to the monastic order. Being at length forced from his religious retirement, be was placed in the see of Lyons, probably about the year 434, in which station he approved himself a faithful pastor, sighing continually after heaven, humble in mind, rich in the merit of good works, powerful in eloquence, and accomplished in all science; he far surpassed all the great prelates of his time, as we are assured by the testimony of Mamertus Claudian. In 441 he assisted at the first council of Orange. The foundation of several churches and pious establishments at Lyons is ascribed to him. He ended an excellent life, by a holy death, in 449, according to Prosper Tyro; or rather in 4507 St. Paulinus of Nola,8 St. Honoratus, St. Hilary of Aries, Mamertus Claudian, St. Sidonius, and all the great men of that age sought his friendship, and are lavish in commendation of his virtue. He was a zealous defender of the doctrine of St. Austin and the church against the Semipelagians. See Theophilus Raynaudus, in Indiculo Sanct. Lugdun. Tillemont, t. 15; Ceillier, t. 13; Fabricius, Bibl. Eccl. ad Gennad. c. 63; Rivet, Hist. Littr, de la France, t. 2, pp. 275–293.

NOVEMBER 17 — ST. GREGORY THAUMATURGUS, BISHOP, C

From his life by St. Gregory of Nyssa, Eusebius,1. 6, c. 23; St. Jeram in Catal., and the saint’s Oranon a Origen; also St. Basil, 1. de Spir. Soc. c. 29, ep. 62–65. See Tillemont, t. 4; Ceillier, t. 3, p. 307; Cave’s Primitive Fathers.

A. D. 270.

THEODORUS, afterwards called Gregory, and, from his extraordinary miracles, surnamed Thaumaturgus, or Worker of Wonders, was of Neocsarea in Pontus, born of parents eminent for their rank and fortune, but engaged in the superstitions of idolatry. At fourteen years of age he lost his father, and from that time began to discover the vanity of the heathenish religion, as his reason grew more quick and manly, and was improved by education; and by this means his inclinations were insensibly turned towards the belief of the unity of the Deity and the Christian faith.1 His mother pursued the plan, begun by his father, in giving him a literary education, with an intention of bringing him up to the bar, and the practice of oratory. In the study of rhetoric he made such surprising progress, that it was easy to foresee he would one day be one of the greatest orators of the age. He learned the Latin tongue, which was a necessary qualification for preferment to great dignities in the Roman empire: his masters also persuaded him to study the Roman laws, an acquaintance with which they said would be a great advantage to him in whatever profession he should afterwards embark. His sister being married to the assessor, or assistant of the governor of Csarea in Palestine, she was conducted thither at the public charge, with such as she was disposed to take with her. Gregory accompanied her upon this occasion, with his brother Athenodorus, who was afterwards a bishop and suffered much for the faith of Jesus Christ. From Csarea the two brothers went to Berytus, to attend a famous school of the Roman law in that neighborhood. After a short stay there, they returned to Csarea.

Origen had arrived there a little before, in 231, having left Alexandria to avoid the trouble which Demetrius gave him there. That great man opened a school at Csarea with extraordinary reputation, and, at the first interview with our saint and his brother, discovered in them an admirable capacity for learning, and excellent dispositions to virtue; which encouraged him to inspire them with a love of truth, and an eager desire of attaining the sovereign or chief good of man. Charmed with his discourses they entered his school, and laid aside all thoughts of going back to Berytus. Origen began with the praise of philosophy, by which term he understood true wisdom. He observed to them, that self-knowledge is the first step to the true life of a rational being; but no one can deserve that appellation who does not know his last end, and the means by which he is to attain to it, and to perfect the abilities which are in him; likewise the impediments which he is to remove, the vices which he must conquer, and the like. Indeed, what can be more ridiculous than for a man to pretend to the knowledge of all things that are out of himself, and foreign to his happiness, while he is unacquainted with himself, and what it most essentially concerns him to know? For this he must carry his inquiries to real good and evil, in order to embrace the former and avoid the latter. Origen pursued his point several days; but never put on the air of a disputant who aimed at confounding his adversaries. He, on the contrary, behaved himself in the whole course of his conversation like one who had no other view but that of making his scholars happy by bringing them acquainted with what is really good; and he spoke with such a lovely mixture of sweetness and strong reasoning, that it seemed impossible to hold out against the attack; and the two young men soon forgot their own country, their friends, and all their former designs and views. Origen having thus gained their hearts, and engaged their attention, sounded their dispositions, and explored the strength of their genius, with a judgment and sagacity peculiar to that great man; and having thus prepared them, he undertook to give them a regular course of instructions. In this procedure masters have an admirable lesson what method they ought to take with their scholars, not beginning by laying down dry, dull rules, but by laying open the reasons, and showing the importance of these rules, to render the study rational, instructive, and agreeable.

Origen entered upon his course of philosophy with them by logic, which, as laid down by him, taught them neither to admit nor reject a proof at a venture, but to examine an argument to the bottom, without being dazzled at or amused with terms. He then proceeds to natural philosophy, which, as managed by that religious and learned man, led them to consider and adore the infinite power and wisdom of God, and admire the various and beautiful works of the creation with a becoming humility. The mathematics were their next employment, under which astronomy and geometry were comprehended; but all this master’s lessons tended to raise the minds of his scholars above the earth, and to warm their hearts to the love and eager pursuit of truth. These studies were succeeded by lectures of morality, and St. Gregory does justice to Origen by assuring us that he excited them to virtue no loss by his example than by his discourses; and tells us that he inculcated to them that, in all things, the most valuable knowledge is that of the first cause, and thus he led them on to theology. Upon this head he put into their hands and opened to their view all that the philosophers and poets had written concerning God, observing to them what was true and what was erroneous in the doctrine of each, and showing them the incompetence of human reason for attaining to certain knowledge in the most important of all points, that of religion, which manifestly appears from the capital errors into which the most considerable philosophers fell, whose monstrous opinions destroy one another, and by their absurdity and inconsistency confute themselves. Having brought them thus far on their way, he clearly set forth that, in what regards the Deity, we can only give credit to God himself, who speaks to us by his prophets, and he expounded to them the scriptures. Gregory and his brother were so charmed with this admirable light, that they were ready to quit every thing that interfered with their design of making God the object of their thoughts. In the mean time, the persecution broke out in the East under Maximian, which obliged Origen to leave Csrea, in 235, and he concealed that and the two following years.

Gregory in the mean time repaired to Alexandria, where then flourished a famous school of the Platonic philosophy and another of physic. His morals at Alexandria were so strict and regular, that the young students grew jealous of his virtue, and looked upon his behavior as a tacit censure of their own irregularities. To be revenged, they instructed an infamous prostitute to affront him in the following manner: while Gregory was engaged in a serious discourse with some of his learned particular friends, she impudently went up to him and made a demand of arrears due to her, as she falsely pretended, upon contract for criminal familiarities. Those who knew his virtue, were fired with resentment at so base a calumny and aspersion; but he, without the least emotion, desired one of his friends to satisfy her demands that she might be gone, and their, conversation might suffer no interruption by her importunities. This easy compliance made some of his friends suspect him guilty, and begin to reproach him; but God rewarded his patience and meekness by clearing his innocence; for no sooner had the strumpet received the money, but she was seized with an evil spirit, howled in a frightful manner, and fell down tearing her hair, foaming at the mouth, and staring with all the fury and distraction of a fiend. Gregory’s charity prompted him to call upon God in her favor; and she immediately recovered.2 Gregory remained at Alexandria from 235 to 238 when, the persecution being over, he returned to Csarea, and finished his studies under Origen in two years more, so that he passed five years in his school, and three at Alexandria—in all eight. Whether he received baptism in this latter city, or after his return to Csarea, is uncertain. Before he took leave of Origen, to testify his gratitude to such a master, he thanked him publicly by an oration, which he made before him in a numerous auditory, and which Du Pin calls one of the most finished and elegant panegyrics extant; Gerard Vossius, Casaubon, Fabricius, and other critics, agree that it is an excellent and elegant performance. In it he extols the method and wisdom by which his great master conducted him through his studies; and thanks God, who had given him such a master, and his guardian angel, for having conducted him to this school; gives a wonderful character of Origen, and elegantly bewails his departure from his school as a kind of banishment from paradise. He clearly teaches original sin, and the divinity of God the Son,3 and in the close prays that his guardian angel may conduct him in his way.*

Gregory and his brother were scarce arrived at Neocsarea, but Origen wrote a tender letter to our saint, in which he calls him his holy lord, and his true son; and exhorts him to employ for the service of religion all the talents which he had received from God, and to borrow from the heathenish philosophy only what might serve that purpose, as the Jews converted the spoils of the Egyptians to the building of the tabernacle of the true God, recommending to him the study of the holy scripture with prayer. At his return his countrymen expected to see great fruits of his studies, the wise and great men importuned him to aspire to posts of honor and authority, and to display his abilities among them. But, relinquishing all that he possessed in the world, he retired to a solitary place in the country, there to converse solely with God and his own mind. Phedimus, archbishop of Amasea, metropolitan of Pontus, cast his eye upon him to raise him to the episcopal dignity, judging that his ripe parts and piety more than made up for his want of age. The good man, hearing of this, shifted his quarters, and no sooner was he sought for in one desert but he tied to another. However, at length he compounded that a delay should be allowed him, to prepare himself for that sacred character; after which he received the episcopal ordination with the accustomed ceremonies. About the same time he received and committed to writing the famous creed or rule of faith, concerning the mystery of the Holy Trinity, which is extant in his works, and of which we have in Lambecius a most valuable ancient Latin translation, published from a copy which was sent by Charlemagne a present to pope Adrian I. St. Gregory of Nyssa assures us, that this creed was delivered to the saint by the Blessed Virgin and St. John Evangelist, in a vision, which he relates as follows: one night, while St. Gregory was taken up in a profound meditation on the mysteries of our holy faith, a venerable old man appeared to him, and said he was sent by God to teach him the truth of the holy faith. A woman stood by, who appeared above the condition of what is human, and, calling the other by his name, John the Evangelist, bade, him discover to the young man the mystery of the true religion, He answered that, seeing it was the desire of the mother of our Lord, he was ready to do it. He then delivered the doctrine by word of mouth, which Gregory committed to writing, and the vision immediately disappeared. St. Gregory made this creed the rule of his preaching, and left the same a legacy to his church, which, by following it, has to this day, says St. Gregory of Nyssa, remained free from all heresy, namely, of the Ariaus and Semiarians; for this creed clearly explains the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.4 St. Gregory of Nyssa testifies that in his time the original copy was preserved in the archives of the church of Neocsarea; it is quoted by St. Gregory Nazianzen, Rufinus, &c.

The city of Neocsarea was rich, large, and populous, but so deeply buried in vice, and so miserably addicted to superstition and idolatry, that it seemed to be the place where Satan had fixed his seat, and Christianity had as yet scarce been able to approach its neighborhood, though it was in a flourishing condition in many parts of Pontus. St. Gregory, animated with zeal and charity, applied himself vigorously to the charge commuted to him, and God was pleased to confer upon him an extraordinary power of working miracles, of some of which St. Gregory of Nyssa gives us the following account. As the saint was returning from the city to the wilderness, a violent rain obliged him to take shelter in a heathenish temple, the most famous in the country, upon account of oracles and devinations, delivered there. At his entrance he made the sign of the cross several times to purify the air, and then spent the night there with his companion in prayer, according to custom. The next morning he pursued his journey, and the idolatrous priest performed his usual superstitions in the temple; but the devils declared they could stay there no longer, being forced away by the man who had passed the last night there. After several vain attempts to bring those powers back, the priest hastened after the saint, threatening to carry his complaints against him to the magistrates and to the emperor Gregory, without the least emotion, told him, that with the help of God he could drive away or call the devils when he pleased. When the idolater saw he disregarded all his menaces, and heard that he had a power of commanding demons at pleasure, his fury was turned into admiration, and he entreated the bishop, as a further evidence of the divine authority, to bring the demons back again to the temple. The saint complied with his request, and dismissed him with a scrip of paper, in which he had written, “Gregory to Satan Enter.” This being laid upon the altar, and the usual oblation made, the demons gave their answers as usual. The priest, surprised at what he saw, went after the holy bishop, and begged he would give him some account of that God whom his gods so readily obeyed. Gregory explained to him the principles of the Christian faith, and finding the priest mocked at the doctrine of the incarnation, told him, that great truth was not to be enforced by words or human reasoning, but by the wonders of the divine power. The priest hereupon pointing to a great stone, desired the saint to command that it should change its place to another, which he named, St. Gregory did so, and the stone obeyed, by the power of him who promised his disciples that by faith they should be able to remove mountains. The priest was converted by this miracle, and, forsaking his house, friends, and relations, resigned himself up to the instructions of divine wisdom.

The people of Neocsarea, hearing of the miraculous actions of Gregory, were all ambitious to see so wonderful a man, and received him with great applause when he first arrived among them. But he passed unconcerned through the crowd, without so much as casting his eye on one side or another. His friends, who had accompanied him out of the wilderness, were solicitous where he should meet with entertainment. The saint asked them if they were banished the divine protection; and bade them not be solicitous concerning their bodies, but about their minds, which are of infinitely greater importance, and are to be prepared and built up for heaven. Many were ready to open their doors to so welcome a guest; and he accepted the invitation of Musouius, a person of great honor and esteem in the city, and lodged with him. That very day he fell to preaching, and, before night, had converted a number sufficient to form a little church. Early the next morning the doors were crowded with sick persons, whose distempers he cured, and at the same time he wrought the conversion of their souls. The body of Christians soon became so numerous that the saint was enabled to build a church for their use, to which all contributed either money or labor. Though churches were afterwards demolished in the days of Dioclesian, and though an earthquake threw down most of the neighboring buildings, this escaped both dangers, and not a stone of it was shaken to the ground. St. Jerom and venerable Bede mention, that when St. Gregory built this famous church near the sea, he commanded a rock, which obstructed the work, to yield place; which it did. The river Lycus, now called Casalmach, which passed by the walls of Neocsarea, falling from the mountains of Armenia, some times by its impetuous floods swept away inhabitants, cattle, houses, and crops. St. Gregory, moved with compassion, fixed his staff near the bank and prayed that the waters might not exceed those bounds, and they obeyed his voice; and no such floods happened again to the time when St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote: the staff also took root, and became a large tree. Once when the saint was upon a journey, he was espied by two Jews, who, knowing his charitable disposition, made use of a stratagem to impose upon him. One lay on the ground, feigning himself dead, and the other, lamenting his miserable fate, begged somewhat of the bishop towards his burial; who took his coat and cast it on the man that lay as dead. When St. Gregory was got out of sight, the impostor came back laughing, and required his companion to rise; but found him really dead. The miracles and wisdom of the saint brought him into such reputation, that, even in civil causes, wherever the case was knotty and difficult, it was usually referred to his decision. Two brothers happened to be at law about a lake, both challenging it to belong to their part of the inheritance; nor was the saint able by words to accommodate the difference between them; but each resolved to maintain his right by force of arms, and a day was set when they were to bring into the field all the force they could raise with their tenants. To prevent unjust bloodshed, St. Gregory continued all the night before the intended engagement in prayer upon the spot, and the next day the lake was turned into solid land, whereby the contention was removed: the remains of the lake were shown long after. The saint being invited to assist at the election of a bishop at Comana, the people set their eyes upon persons honorable for their birth and eloquence, and much esteemed in the world. The saint told them, that sanctity, virtue, and prudence were more to be considered than such qualifications. Then, said one, we may take Alexander, the collier for bishop. This Alexander was a wise and holy man, who, leaving his books, had put on the disguise of a collier in the city of Comana, where he lived by the labor of his hands. God revealing to our saint what kind of man he was, he caused him to be brought in, and, by putting many questions to him, showed the people that he was much more than he seemed to be, and that under that mean clothing was hidden great wisdom and sanctity. Then calling him aside he obliged him to confess who he was; and having caused his clothes to be changed, gave him the people for their bishop. This Alexander discharged the episcopal office with great zeal and sanctity and dying a martyr for the faith, is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on the 11th of August. These miracles of St. Gregory Thauinaturgus are related by St. Gregory of Nyssa: some of them are also mentioned by St. Basil, who both lived within less than a hundred years after him, and whose grandmother Macrina, who taught them in their youth, and had care of their education, had known him and heard him preach in her younger years. St. Basil says, that he was a man of a prophetic and apostolic temper, and that the whole tenor of his life expressed the height of evangelical conversation. In all his devotions he showed the greatest reverence and deepest recollection, and never covered his head at prayer. The simplicity and modesty of his speech were such that yea and nay were the measure of his conversation. He abhorred lies and falsehood, especially all cunning and artificial methods of detraction. Envy and pride he was a stranger to Slandering and reproaching others he greatly hated: no anger, wrath, or bitterness ever appeared in his words or carriage.

The persecution of Decius breaking out in 250, St. Gregory advised his flock rather to save their souls by flying, than by abiding the fierce conflicts, to expose themselves to the danger of losing their faith: by which means, and by his zealous exhortation, not one among them fell. Setting them an example he withdrew himself into the desert, accompanied only with the Gentile priest whom he had before converted, and who then served him in the office of deacon. The persecutors were informed that he was concealed upon a certain mountain, and sent soldiers to apprehend him. These returned, saying they had seen nothing but two trees; upon which the informer went again to the place, and finding the bishop and his deacon a their prayers, whom the soldiers had mistaken for two trees, judged their escape to have been miraculous, threw himself at the bishop’s feet, and became a Christian, and the companion of his retreat and dangers. The wolves despairing to meet with the shepherd, fell with the fiercer rage upon that part of his flock which stayed behind, and seizing upon men, women, and children who had any reverence for the name of Christ, cast them into prisons. St. Gregory in his wilderness saw in spirit the conflict of the holy martyr Troadius, a young man of distinction in the city, who, after a great variety of torments gained a glorious triumph by dying for the faith. The persecution ending with the life of the emperor, in 251, Gregory returned to Neocsarea, and soon after undertook a general visitation of the whole country, made excellent regulations for repairing the damage done by the late storm, and instituted solemn anniversary festivals, in honor of the martyrs who had suffered in the persecution. On a day devoted to the solemn worship of one of the heathen deities, the whole country flocked to the diversions at the theatre in Neocsarea, and some of them finding the crowd troublesome, prayed that Jupiter would make room for them. This being told the holy bishop he said, they should soon have no reason to complain for want of room. At that time a dreadful pestilence broke out, which ravaged all Pontus. It was at length stopped in that part by the prayers of Gregory; upon which occasion most of the remaining infidels were converted to the faith. During the weak administration of the emperor Gallienus, the Goths and Scythians overran Thrace and Macedon, and passing into Asia burnt the temple of Diana, at Ephesus, and plundered Pontus and other countries, committing the most horrible disorders. In those times of confusion several Christians who had been plundered by the barbarians plundered others in their turn, or purchased of the infidels their unjust booty. St. Gregory being consulted by another bishop concerning the penance which was to be enjoined for these crimes, wrote his canonical epistle, which holds an eminent rank among the penitential canons of the ancient church.5 In it he says:6 “Let no one deceive himself under the presence of having found a thing; it is not even lawful to make use of that which we find. If in the time of peace it is not lawful to advantage ourselves at the expense of a brother, or even of an enemy who neglects what belongs to him through carelessness; how much less at the expense of an unfortunate person who leaves it, through necessity, in order to fly from enemies? Others deceive themselves in keeping what belongs to another because they have found it in the place of their own. Thus because the Borades and Goths exercise hostilities against them, they become Borades and Goths to others.” He adds,7 “They who (in restoring what they have found) fulfil the commandment of God, ought to do it without any secular views, without making any demand, either as having discovered, or saved, or found a thing, or on any other pretence whatever.” Which maxim of justice is excellently inculcated by St. Austin. St. Gregory Thaumaturgus mentions the distinct orders of penitents, as the hearers, the prostrati, &c.

In 264 a council was held at Antioch against the heresies broached by Paul of Samosata, who had been four years bishop of that city. He asserted that there was but one person in the Godhead, and that our Saviour was no more than a mere man, with other monstrous errors.8 He was also one of the most haughty and vain of mortals, and caused hymns in his own praise to be sung in the church. In this synod St. Gregory and his brother Athenodorus are named the first among the subscribers. Paul only escaped personal censures by dissembling his errors, which he afterwards renewed and was therefore condemned and deposed in the second council of Antioch in 270, though he kept possession of the episcopal house till after the defeat of Zenobia, queen of the east, his protectress, in 272. Our saint seems to have passed to eternal glory in that interval; but the year is uncertain: it seems to have been in 270 or 271, on the 17th of November. A little before his death, being sensible of its near approach, he inquired how many infidels yet remained in the city, and being told there were seventeen, he sighed, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, expressed his grief that any continued strangers to the true religion, but thankfully acknowledged as a great mercy, that having found but seventeen Christians at his first coming thither, he left but seventeen idolaters. Having then heartily prayed for the conversion of the infidels, and the confirmation and perfect sanctification of those that believed in the true God, he enjoined his friends not to procure him my peculiar place of burial, but that as he lived as a pilgrim in the world, claiming nothing for himself, so after death he might enjoy the portion of a stranger, and be cast into the common lot. He peaceably resigned his soul into the hands of his Redeemer, and is named in all eastern and western Martyrologies on the 17th of November. Neocsarea, the capital of that part of Pontus, became afterwards an archiepiscopal see, and at present is called by the Greeks, Nixar, (which is a corruption of its original name,) by the Turks, Tocate, and is the seat of a Beglierberg.

The greatest geniuses which the world ever produced, men the most penetrating, the most judicious, the most learned, and at the same time the most sincere, the most free from all bias of interest or passions, the most disengaged from the world, whose very sanctity and perfect victory over pride and all the passions of the human mind was the most visible miracle of divine grace, and the prodigy of the world, are venerable vouchers of the truth of the divine revelation of the Christian religion, and of the evident miracles by which it was confirmed and established. Their testimony is the more unexceptionable, as they maintained it in the most perfect spirit of humility, meekness, and charity, and in opposition to every view of pride and all human interest. Yet, if we believe modern freethinkers, their party alone is that of good sense, and in proportion as a man is endowed with better understanding, and a more sublime genius, the more he is inclined to religious skepticism and incredulity. But they attempt in vain by an overbearing impudence, impertinence, and ridicule, to bring the faith of a divine revelation into contempt, and too visibly betray, that pride or other base passions have corrupted their hearts; whence arise these clouds which darken their understanding. Let them impartially examine into the causes of their error, and they will find that they accuse and shut their eyes to the clearest light, because it condemns them, and that they turn infidels because it is the interest of their vices to be so. Let them correct the irregularities of their own hearts, and bring to the inquiry sincere simplicity, and a teachable mind: then all their difficulties will immediately vanish, and the evidence of the divine revelation will appear manifest. The most monstrous absurdities, evident falsehoods, glaring inconsistencies, and wretched sophistry, which we meet with in almost every line or rather word of their most boasted writings, suffice to prove how much it is in spite of reason that they declaim, and how ridiculous their claim to it is. A submission to divine revelation authentically manifested to us, in the judgment of all who impartially consider its triumphant motives, to the eyes of reason will always appear to be the most just and glorious use that man can make of his reason.

NOVEMBER 17 — S. DIONYSIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, C

St. Basil and other Greeks usually honor this holy prelate with the epithet of The Great: and he is called by St. Athanasius the doctor of the Catholic church. His parents were rich and of high rank in the world: according to the patriarchal chronicle of Alexandria, published by Abraham Echellensis, he was by birth a Sabaite, of one of the principal families of that country in Arabia Felix. Alexandria, which seems to have been the place of his education, was then the centre of the sciences, and Dionysius, while yet a heathen, ran through the whole circle of profane learning, and professed oratory.1 Falling, at length, upon the epistles of St. Paul, he found in them charms which he had not met with in the writings of the philosophers, and opening his heart to the truth, he renounced the errors of idolatry. He assures us that he was converted to the faith by a vision and a voice which spake to him, and by diligent reading, and an impartial examination. At the same time that his understanding was opened to the heavenly light, he turned his heart so perfectly to God, that he trampled under his feet all the glory of the world, and the applause which his merit quality, senatorial dignity, and prefectures, drew upon him from the most honorable persons. He became a humble scholar in the catechetical school of Origen, and made such progress that he was ordained priest; and when Heraclas was made bishop, the care of that school was committed by him to our saint, in 221, who, upon his death, in the beginning of the year 247, the fourth of the emperor Philip, was chosen archbishop. Though the reign of this prince was favorable to the Christians, soon after the exaltation of St. Dionysius, the populace, stirred up by a certain heathen false prophet, at Alexandria, raised a tumultuary persecution: on which, see the life of St. Apollonia, February the 9th. When Decius had murdered his master, Philip, and usurped the empire, in 249, his violent persecution put arms into the hands of the enraged enemies of the Christian name. Many of all ages, ranks, and professions, were put to the most exquisite tortures: multitudes fled into the mountains and woods, where many perished by hunger, cold, wild beasts, or thieves, and several falling into the hands of the Saracens, were reduced to a state of slavery worse than death itself. But the most dreadful affliction to the holy bishop was the apostacy of several, who, in this terrible time of trial, denied their faith. The scandal, indeed, which these gave, was, in some measure, repaired by the invincible constancy wherewith others of both sexes, and of every age and condition, maintained their faith under the sharpest torments, and most cruel deaths, and by the wonderful conversion of several enemies; for, some who scoffed and insulted the martyrs, were so powerfully overcome by the example of their meekness, and courage in their sufferings, that they suddenly declared themselves Christians, and ready to undergo all torments for that profession. Two did this under the judge’s eyes, with such undaunted resolution that he was strangely surprised, and seized with trembling; and sentence being passed upon them, they went out of the court rejoicing to give so glorious a testimony to Christ.2

Decius’s sanguinary edict reached Alexandria in the beginning of 25 Dionysius was particularly active in arming and preparing the soldiers Christ for the combat, and though Sabinus, the prefect of Egypt, despatch a guard in quest of him, he escaped by lying four days concealed in his house; then left it by divine direction, as he assures us, with a view of seeking a safe retreat; but, with several persons who accompanied him, fell into the hands of the persecutors, who, by the prefect’s orders, conducted them to a small town called Taposiris, in the province of Mareotis, about three leagues from Alexandria. A considerable body of peasants taking arms and making their appearance there in defence of the bishop, the guards were alarmed and fled, leaving the prisoners behind them. The bishop, who was every moment waiting for death, was carried off by them by main force, and set at liberty to choose a safe retreat. St. Dionysius, attended by Peter, Caius, Paul, and Faustus, made his way to a desert in the province of Marmarica, in Lybia, where he lay concealed with Peter and Caius, two priests, till the end of the persecution in the middle of the year 251, but, during that interval, often sent priests with directions and letters for the comfort of his flock, especially of those who suffered for the faith. Our saint was returned to Alexandria when he was informed of the schism formed by Novatian against pope Cornelius. The antipope sent him notice of his election in form. St. Dionysius, in his answer, said to him: “You ought rather to have suffered all things than have raised a schism in the church. To die in defence of its unity would be as glorious as laying down one’s life rather than to sacrifice to idols; and, in my opinion, more glorious; because, here the safety of the whole church is consulted.—If you bring your brethren to union, this will overbalance your fault, which will be forgot, and you will receive commendation. If you cannot gain others, at least save your own soul.” Our saint wrote thrice to the clergy and to those confessors who supported the schism at Rome, and had the satisfaction of seeing the confessors abandon it before the end of the year. To oppose the heresy of Novatian, who denied in the church the power of remitting certain sins, he ordered that the communion should be refused to no one that asked it at the hour of death. Fabian, bishop of Antioch, seemed inclined to favor the rigorism of Novatian towards the lapsed. The great Dionysius wrote to him several letters against that principle; in one of which, he relates that an old man called Serapion, who had offered sacrifice, and had therefore been refused the communion, and detained among the penitents, in his last sickness lay senseless and speechless three days: then, coming to himself, cried out: “Why am I detained here? I beg to be delivered.” And he sent his little grandson to the priest, who, being sick, and not able to come, sent the holy encharist by the child, directing him to moisten it, and give it his grandfather: for, during the primitive persecutions, the blessed sacrament was allowed to be so carried and received in domestic communion. When the child entered the room, Serapion cried out: “The priest cannot come: do as he ordered you, and dismiss me immediately.” The old man expired with a gentle sigh, as soon as he had swallowed it. St. Dionysius observes that his life was miraculously preserved that he might receive the holy communion. In 250, a pestilence began to rage, and made great havoc for several years. By St. Dionysius’s direction, many, in Egypt, died martyrs of charity on that occasion.3

The opinion that Christ will reign on earth with his elect a thousand years before the day of judgment, was an error founded chiefly on certain mistaken passages of the Apocalypse or Revelation of St. John. Those who, with Corinthus, understood this of a reign in sensual pleasures, were always deemed abominable heretics. But some Catholics admitted it in spiritual delights; which opinion was for some time tolerated in the church Nepos, a zealous and learned bishop of Arsino, who died in the communion of the church, propagated this mistaken notion in all that part of Egypt, an wrote in defence of it two books entitled. On the Promises. This work St. Dionysius confuted by two books against the Millenarian heresy. He also took a journey to Arsino, and held a public conference with Coracion, the chief of the Milienarians, in which he confuted them with no less mildness and charity, than strength of reasoning, and with such advantage, that Coracion publicly revoked that mistaken interpretation, which was exploded out of the whole country, and was unanimously condemned upon examination into the sound constant tradition, which could not be obscured by the disagreement of some few persons or particular churches. When pope Stephen threatened to excommunicate the Africans for rebaptizing all heretics, St. Dionysius prevailed with him by letters to suspend the execution. St. Jerom was misinformed when he attributed the opinion of the Africans to St. Dionysius, who, as St. Basil testifies,4 admitted even the baptism of the Pepuzeni, which was rejected in Asia, because the heretics (who, as it were, by a constant rule, differ from themselves in different ages and countries) in certain places corrupted the essential form of baptism, which the same sect retained in others.* The persecution being renewed by Valerian, in 257, Emilian, prefect of Egypt, caused St. Dionysius, with Maximus a priest, Faustus, Eusebius, and Queremon, deacons, and one Marcellus, a Roman, to be apprehended and brought before him and pressed them to sacrifice to the gods, the conservators of the empire. St. Dionysius replied: “All men adore not the same deities. We adore only one God, the Creator of all things, who hath bestowed the empire on Valerian and Gallien. We offer up prayers to him without ceasing for the peace and prosperity of their reign.” The prefect attempted in vain to persuade them to adore the Roman deities with their own God: and at length sent them into banishment to Kephro, in Lybia. And he forbade the Christians to hold assemblies, or go to the places called Cemeteries; that is, the tombs of martyrs. St. Dionysius converted the pagan savages of the country to which he was sent; but, by an order of the prefect, the saint and his companions were afterwards removed to Collouthion near Mareotis, now called the Lake of Alexandria. The neighborhood of that city afforded him in this place an opportunity of receiving from and sending thither frequent messages and directions. His exile continued two years, and during it he wrote two paschal letters.

The captivity of Valerian, who was taken prisoner by the Persians in 260, and the peace which Gallien granted the church by public edicts, restored St. Dionysius to his flock. But the region of this lower world is stormy, and one wave perpetually presses upon the neck of another. The prefect, Emilian, seized upon the public store-houses of Alexandria, which were the granary of Rome, and assumed the imperial dignity. This revolt filled the city and country with the calamities which attend on civil wars, till Emilian was defeated by Theodotus, whom Gallien sent against him; and, being taken, he was sent to Rome, and strangled. A trifling incident gave occasion to another sedition in that populous city. A servant to one of the civil magistrates happening to tell a soldier that his shoes were finer than another man’s, he was taken up, and beaten for this affront. The whole town ran to arms to revenge this quarrel, the streets were filled with dead bodies, and the waters ran with blood. The peaceable demeanor of the Christians could not screen them from violences, as St. Dionysius complains; and, for a long time, a man could neither keep at home nor stir out of doors without danger. The pestilence still continued its havoc, and while the Christians attended the sick, with inexpressible pains and charity, the heathens threw the putrid carcasses into the highways, and often put their dying friends out of doors, and left them to perish in the streets, hoping, by their caution, to avoid the contagion, to which the apprehension which seized their imagination, exposed them the more. The heresies, which at that time disturbed the church, also exercised the zeal of our holy pastor. Sabellius of Ptolemais, in Lydia, a disciple of Notus of Smyrna, renewed the heresy of Praxeas, denying the real distinction of the three Divine Persons. St. Dionysius, to whom belonged the care of the churches of Pentapolis, sent thither to admonish the authors of this error to forsake it; but they defended their impious doctrine with greater impudence. He therefore condemned them in a council at Alexandria, in 261. Before this, by a letter, of which Eusebius has preserved a fragment, he had given information of the blasphemies of Sabellius to St. Sixtus II, bishop of Rome, who sat from 257 to 259.5 In his letter to Euphranor and Ammonius against this heresy, he insists much on the proofs of Christ’s human nature, to show that the Father is not the Son. Some persons took offence at his doctrine, and their slanders were carried to St. Dionysius, bishop of Rome, who had succeeded St. Sixtus. That pope wrote to our saint upon the subject, who cleared himself by showing that when he called Christ a creature, and differing in substance from the Father, he spoke only of his human nature. This was the subject of his Apology to Dionysius, bishop of Rome, in which he demonstrated that the Son, as to his divine nature, is of the same substance with the Father, as is clearly shown by St. Athanasius, in his book On the Opinion of Dionysius. In the same work our saint established the divinity of the Holy Ghost, as St. Basil testifies by quotations extracted from it in his book on that subject.

The loss of our saint’s works is extremely regretted; for of them nothing has reached us except some fragments quoted by others, and his canonical epistle to Basilides, which has a place among the canons of the church. In the first canon he mentions a difficulty then often propounded, at what hour on Easter morning the fast of Lent might be lawfully broken; and says that though midnight was looked upon to close the fast (which is long since certain as to the church precept) yet this being not a natural or usual hour for eating, he thought it could not be excused from intemperance, to eat then, and advised the morning to be waited for, though all Christians spent that whole night in watching at their devotions. He speaks of the fasts of superposition observed in the last week of Lent, and says, that some fasted the whole six days before Easter, without taking any nourishment; others five three, two, or one day, according to their strength and devotion, this not being a matter of precept as to the superposition of several days. He inculcates, that great purity, both of mind and body, is required in all who approach the holy table, and receive the body and blood of our Lord.6 St. Dionysius of Alexandria, a little before his death, defended the divinity of Jesus Christ against Paul of Samosata. bishop of Antioch, a man infamous both for his abominable heresies, and also for his intolerable haughtiness, vanity, avarice, extortions, and other crimes. St. Dionysius, being invited to the synod that was held at Antioch against this heretic, in 264, and not being able to go thither, by reason of his old age and infirmities, wrote several letters to the church of Antioch, wherein he refuted the heresiarch’s errors, but would not condescend to salute him.7 Nevertheless, the crafty fox dissembled his sentiments, and palliated his disorders in this council renouncing what he could not conceal, so that he continued some time longer in his station.* Towards the end of the year 265, soon after the Antiochian synod was over, St. Dionysius died at Alexandria, after he had governed that church with great wisdom and sanctity about seventeen years.† His memory, says St. Epiphanius, was preserved at Alexandria by a church dedicated in his honor, but much more by his incomparable virtues and excellent writings. See Eus. Hist.1. 6 and 7: St. Jerom, in Catal. &c., also Tillemont, t. 4; Cave, Prim. Fathers, t. 2; Ceillier, t. 3, p. 241, Corn, Bie the Bollandist, ad 3 Oct t. 2, p. 8.

NOVEMBER 17 — ST. GREGORY, BISHOP OF TOURS, C

The second ornament of the church of Tours after the great St. Martin, was George Florentius Gregory. He was born at Auvergne, of one of the most illustrious families of that country, both for riches and nobility; and, what was far more valuable, piety seemed hereditary in it. Leocadia, his grandmother, descended from Vettius Epagatus, the illustrious martyr of Lyons. His father was brother to St. Gallus, bishop of Clermont, under whom, and his successor St. Avitus, Gregory had his education. He received the clerical tonsure from the former, and was ordained deacon by the latter. Having contracted a dangerous distemper, for the recovery of his health he made a visit of devotion to the tomb of St. Martin at Tours, and had scarce left that city when, upon the death of St. Euphronius, the clergy and people, who had been charmed with his piety, learning, and humility chose him bishop. Their deputies overtook him at the court of Sigebert, king of Austrasia, and the saint being compelled to acquiesce, though much against his will, he was consecrated by Giles, bishop of Rheims, on the 22d day of August in 573, being thirty-four years old.‡ Faith and piety, in the diocese of Tours, received a new increase under his conduct. He rebuilt his cathedral (which was founded by St. Martin) and several other churches; he assisted at the council of Paris in 577, and there defended St. Prtextatus, bishop of Rouen, with so much zeal and prudence as to gain the applause of king Chilperic himself, the persecutor of that injured prelate. The Arians and Sabellians in France were often confounded by him, and the greatest part of them were brought over to the unity of faith by his mildness and erudition. St. Odo extols his meekness, profound humility, ardent zeal for religion, and charity towards all, especially his enemies. The admirable purity of his life and manners could not shelter him from slanders and persecutions, and he was accused of a design of surrendering the city of Tours to king Childebert; but cleared in a council held at Braine, a royal palace three leagues from Soissons, in 580. Chilperic condemned at Braine a nobleman named Dacco, accused by treachery, to be put to death. Dacco besought a priest, without the king’s privity, to admit him to venance; which being done, he was executed. This is an instance of secret penance and confession at the point of death,1 and of the impious maxim which anciently prevailed, sometimes in the civil courts in France, of refusing the sacraments to dying criminals that were guilty of grievous crimes. The stupidity and vanity of king Chilperic appear in his rash disputations with St. Gregory about the fundamental articles of our faith, in which the saint vigorous y opposed his extravagances.2 In 594 our saint went to Rome out of devotion, and was received with distinction by St. Gregory the Great, who made him a present of a gold chain. That pope admired the great graces and virtues of his soul, and the lowness of his stature. To whom the bishop of Tours replied: “We are such as God has framed us but he is the same in the little and in the great;” meaning, that God is the author of all the good that is in us, and to him alone all praise is due. Several miracles are ascribed to St. Gregory of Tours, which he attributed to St. Martin and other saints, whose relics he always carried about him. When certain thieves who had robbed the church of St. Martin were taken, St. Gregory was afraid lest king Chilperic should put them to death, and wrote to him to save their lives; and as no one appeared to carry on the prosecution against them, they were pardoned.* This saint was bishop twenty-three years, and died on the 17th of November in 596. Before his death he ordered his body to be buried in a place where all who came to the church should walk over his grave, and where no memorial could be erected. But the clergy afterwards raised a monument to his honor on the left hand of St. Martin’s tomb. See his works most correctly published by Ruinart, in folio, 1699, and the life of the saint compiled by St. Odo, abbot of Cluni, prefixed to that edition. See also Rivet, Hist. Litter t. 3, p. 372; Ceillier. t. 17, p. 1; Maun, Hist. de l’Egl. de Tours.

NOVEMBER 17 — ST. HUGH, BISHOP OF LINCOLN, C

The foundations of an interior life are most safely laid in holy solitude, which is the best preparation for the functions of the active life, and the support of a spirit of piety amidst its distractions. In the desert of Chartreuse St. Hugh learned first to govern himself, and treasured up in his hear the most lively sentiments of pure and perfect virtue, the most essential qualification of a minister of Christ. He was born of a good family in Burgundy in 1140: lost his mother before he was eight years old, and was educated from that age in a convent of regular canons, situate near his father’s seat, who, after having served as an officer in the army with great reputation for honor and piety, retired himself to the same place, and there ended his days in the exercises of a devout and penitential religious life. Hugh, being blessed with a happy genius and good natural parts, made great progress in every branch of learning to which he applied himself. A venerable ancient priest was appointed by the abbot to instruct him in his studies and in religious discipline, whose serious admonitions made a deep impression on his soul. When he was nineteen years old the abbot took the saint with him to the Chartreuse near Grenoble, on an annual visit which he was accustomed to make to that holy company. The retirement and silence of the desert, and the assiduous contemplation and saintly deportment of the monks who inhabited it, kindled in Hugh’s breast a strong desire of embracing that institute. Nor were the canons, his brethren, able to dissuade him from this resolution after his return; so that being persuaded that God called him to this state, he secretly went back to the Chartreuse, and was admitted to the habit. The interior conflicts which he sustained served to purify his soul, and make him more fervent and watchful. Under these trials he was often refreshed with consolations and great heavenly sweetness; and, by mortification and humble continual prayer, the fiery darts of the enemy were at length extinguished. The time approaching when he was to be promoted to priest’s orders, an old father whom he served according to the custom of the order, asked him if he was willing to be ordained priest. Hugh answered him with simplicity, out of the vehement desire he had of offering daily to God the holy victim of the altar, that there was nothing in the world he more earnestly desired. The old man, fearing the danger of presumption, and a want of the great apprehension which every one is bound to have of that tremendous function, said to him with a severe countenance: “How dare you aspire to a degree, to which no one, how holy soever, is advanced, but with trembling, and by constraint?” At this rebuke, St. Hugh, struck with holy fear, fell on the ground, and begged pardon with many tears. The other, moved at his humility, told him he knew the purity of his desires; and said he would be advanced not only to the priesthood, but also to the episcopal dignity. The saint had passed ten years in his private cell when the general procuratorship of the monastery was committed to him: in which weighty charge the reputation of his prudence and sanctity was spread over all France.

King Henry II. of England founded the first house of Carthusian monks in England, at Witham in Somersetshire; but so great difficulties occurred in the undertaking, under the two first priors, that the monastery could not be settled. The king, therefore, sent Reginald, bishop of Bath, with other honorable persons, to the great Chartreuse, to desire that the holy monk, Hugh, might be sent over to take upon him the government of this monastery. After much debating in the house it was determined that it became not Christian charity so to confine their views to one family as to refuse what was required for the benefit of many others; and though the saint protested that of all others he was most unfit for the charge, he was ordered by the chapter to accompany the deputies to England. As soon as he landed, without going to court, he went directly to Witham, and wonderfully comforted and encouraged the few monks he found there. Being sent for by the king, he received from his royal bounty many presents, and a large provision of all things necessary for his monastery, and set himself to finish the buildings; at which he worked with his own hands, and carried stones and mortar on his shoulders. By the humility and meekness of his deportment, and the sanctity of his manners, he gained the hearts of the most savage and inveterate enemies of that holy foundation; and several persons, charmed with the piety of the good prior and his little colony, began to relish their close solitude, and, abandoning the cares of the world, consecrated themselves to God under the discipline of the saint, who became in a short time the father of a numerous and flourishing family. The king, as he returned with his army from Normandy to England, was in great danger at sea, in a furious storm which defeated all the art of the sailors. All fell to their prayers: but their safety seemed despaired of when the king made aloud the following address to heaven: “O blessed God, whom the prior of Witham truly serves, vouchsafe through the merits and intercession of thy faithful servant, with an eye of pity to regard our distress and affliction. This invocation was scarce finished but a calm ensued, and the whole company, who never ceased to give thanks to the divine clemency, continued their voyage safe to England.

The confidence which king Henry reposed in St. Hugh, above all other persons in his dominions, was from that time much increased. The see of Lincoln having been kept by his majesty some years vacant, he was pleased to give leave to the dean and chapter to choose a pastor, and the election fell upon St. Hugh. His excuses were not admitted, and he was obliged by the authority of Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, to drop the strong opposition which he had made, and to receive the episcopal consecration in 1186, on the 21st of September. As soon as he was raised to the episcopal chair, he engaged several clergymen of the greatest learning and piety to be his assistants; and he employed all the authority which his station gave him, in restoring ecclesiastical discipline, especially among his clergy. By sermons and private exhortations he labored to quicken in all men the spirit of faith, and in ordinary conversation incited others to divine love by instructions adapted to their particular condition and circumstances; but was always cheerful and affable, with decent gravity. In administering the sacraments, or consecrating churches, he sometimes spent whole days, beginning before break of day, and persevering some hours in the night, without allowing himself any corporal refection. Good part of his time he always bestowed in inquiring into, and relieving the necessities of the poor, whom he frequently visited, and affectionately comforted. The hospitals of lepers he attended above others, and with singular tenderness kissed the most loathsome ulcers of the infected. To one who jeeringly said to him, that St. Martin did so to heal their ulcers, which he did not do, the good bishop answered: “St. Martin’s kiss healed the leper’s flesh, but their kiss heals my soul.” In travelling he was so recollected that he usually never cast his eyes about him, or saw any thing but the mane of the horse on which he rode. Devotion seemed always to give him vigor and strength, and the sentiments with which he nourished his soul in reciting the psalms, seemed more than human. He was so punctual in observing the canonical hours of the divine office, that once he would not stir out of the inn till he had said his morning office, though his attendants brought him word, trembling, that if he did not get away as fast as he could his life would be in danger from a troop of madmen who were coming into the road where he was to pass, and who spared nothing that came in their way. It was the holy bishop’s custom to retire at least once a year to his beloved cloister at Witham, and there pass some time observing the common rule, without any difference but that of wearing the episcopal ring on his finger. In this retirement, as from a high tower, he surveyed the vanity of human things, the shortness of life, and the immense greatness of eternity. Also turning his eyes inward upon himself, he took an impartial review of the affections of his own hear and of all his actions; he also considered the obligations and infinite difficulties of spiritual government, and the dreadful precipice upon which all prelacies stand. By letters and agents which he sent to the holy see, he besought with importunity to be disburdened of the episcopal administration, and restored to his cell. But his supplications were never heard, and he was sometimes commanded silence with rebukes. Though mild and obliging to all the world, he seemed by his sovereign contempt of earthly things to be above the reach of temptations of human respect.

Henry II., a prince most impatient of advice, and uncontrollable in his resolutions, stood in awe of this holy prelate, and received his admonitions with seeming deference, though it, was only by afflictions in the decline of life that he learned effectually to reform his passions. The king’s foresters, or overseers of the royal forests and chases, exercised an inhuman tyranny in the country, putting to death, or maiming upon the spot, any one who had killed or maimed a wild beast, or any game, whatever loss the farmers sustained by the deer in their harvest or gardens; and these foresters, upon the slightest suspicion, put whomever they pleased to the water-ordeal trial, which, notwithstanding the prohibitions of the church, remained still in frequent use among these officers of the crown,1 who immediately put to death whoever was cast by that trial. And by customs usurped a good while, of by unjust and tyrannical forest laws, as the learned and pious Peter of Biois (who lived some time at the court of Henry II.) sticks not to call them, it was in the power of these foresters to require limb for limb, or life for life of that of a beast. A company of these rangers had, upon a slight occasion, laid hands on a clerk, and condemned him in a considerable sum of money. St. Hugh, after due summons, and a triple citation, excommunicated the head of them. This action king Henry took very ill. However, he dissembled his resentment, and soon after by a messenger and letters requested of him a prebend, then vacant in the diocese of Lincoln, in favor of one of his courtiers. St. Hugh, having read the petition, returned this answer by the messenger: “These places are to be conferred upon clerks, not upon courtiers; nor does the king want means to reward his servants.” Neither could the bishop be prevailed upon, at the king’s request, to absolve the ranger till he acknowledged his crime, with signs of repentance. Here upon his majesty sent for the bishop, and summing up the favors he had done him, upbraided him with ingratitude, and complained bitterly of the treatment he had received. The bishop, no ways troubled or daunted, with a grave and sweet countenance, demonstrated to him how, in the whole affair, he had had a regard purely to the service of God, and to the salvation of his majesty’s soul, which incurred manifest danger if oppressors of the church were protected, or ecclesiastical benefices rashly conferred on unworthy persons. The king was so moved by his discourse as to remain perfectly satisfied. The ranger showed himself penitent, and was absolved by the bishop in the usual form, in a public manner, and by his exhortation appeared truly reformed, and from that time became the saint’s most steady friend. It was a custom for the clergy to present yearly a precious mantle to the king at the charge of the people, for which they made a large collection, and retained the overplus for their own use. This St. Hugh abolished, and obtained of the king a renunciation of the present. Punishments in the ecclesiastical court, consisting chiefly in pecuniary mulects which the rich little regarded, St. Hugh changed them into other chastisements which carried with them marks of infamy. St. Hugh finished the building of his cathedral.* Henry II died in 1189, after a reign of thirty-four years.

Hugh, with the same liberty, exhorted king Richard I. to shun incontinence and all oppression of his subjects, and defended the immunities of the church in his reign, and in that of king John, who came to the crown in 1199. St. Hugh was sent ambassador by this latter into France, to king Philip Augustus, to conclude a peace between the two crowns; in which negotiation, the reputation of his sanctity contributed greatly to the success.2 This important affair being finished, he paid a visit to his brethren at the grand Chartreuse. In his return, while he lodged at a Chartreuse called Arneria, some of the nonks asked him what news? At which question he was startled, and answered that a bishop who is engaged in the commerce of the world, may sometimes hear and tell news; but that such inquiries in religious men are an idle curiosity, and a dissipation repugnant to their state. The saint arrived at London just as a national council was ready to be opened at Lincoln. It was his intention to assist at it, but he was seized with a fever which followed a loss of appetite he had been afflicted with some time, and which the author of his life attributes to his excessive abstemiousness. He distinctly foretold his death; spent almost his whole time in fervent addresses to God, or to the Blessed Virgin, or in devout colloquies with his angel-guardian, or the saints. He received the viaticum and extreme unction on St. Matthew’s day, but survived till the 17th of November. On that day he caused many monks and priests, besides his chaplains, to recite the divine office in his chamber. Seeing them weep, he said many tender things to comfort them; and laying his hand upon them, one by one, recommended them to the divine custody. His voice beginning to fail, he ordered the floor to be swept, and a cross of blessed ashes to be strewed upon it. And while the ninetieth psalm at Compline was said, would be lifted out of bed, and laid upon that cross; in which posture, as he was repeating the canticle, Nunc dimittis, &c., he calmly expired, in the year of our Lord, 1200, of his age sixty, of his episcopal charge fifteen. His body was embalmed, and with great pomp conveyed from London to Lincoln, where two kings, John of England, and William of Scotland, (the latter, who had dearly loved the saint, bathed in tears,) three archbishops, fourteen bishops, above a hundred abbots, and a great number of earls and barons, came out to meet the corpse and the two kings put their shoulders under the bier as it was carried into the church. Three paralytic persons, and some others, recovered their health at his tomb. St. Hugh was canonized by Honorius III. or IV., and is named in the Roman Martyrology. See his life written by Adam, D. D., a Carthusian at London, in 1340.*

NOVEMBER 17 — ST. ANIAN, BISHOP OF ORLEANS, C

(In French Agnan.)

THE name of St. Anian is famous in the Gallican church. He was a native of Vienne, and consecrated his youth to the exercises of prayer and penance, in a cell which he built for himself near that city. Hearing of the great reputation of St. Evertius, bishop of Orleans, for sanctity, he repaired to that city, and, becoming his disciple, distinguished himself by his fervor and virtue. St. Evertius died in 390, and was buried in St. Mary’s, now an abbey of regular canons, called from him St. Evuerte. St. Anian was his coadjutor, and succeeded him, and is reckoned the seventh bishop of Orleans. The governor of the city refused to release the prisoners at his request, on account of his installation, according to custom; but falling sick, immediately set them at liberty. It is related in St. Anian’s life quoted by Florus, that his election was made by a child drawing his name out among several billets laid upon the altar: but this circumstance seems foisted in. When Attila, the Hun, entered Gaul, St. Anian went to Aries to implore the protection of Atius, the Roman general, and speedily returned to his flock. The barbarian marching from Metz sat down before Orleans. The citizens in the utmost consternation ran to their holy pastor as to their common father, who encouraged them to a vigorous defence, and bade them prostrate themselves before God in compunction and humble prayer. They persevered praying with tears and loud cries. The walls shook, and seemed already falling under the shocks of the battering-rams, when Atius with Theudo, king of the Goths, and Thorismond his son, came up with a powerful army, raised the siege, and soon after defeated Attila. St. Gregory of Tours tells us, that the deliverance of the city was ascribed to the merits and prayers of the holy pastor. St. Anian died happily two years after, in 453, and was interred in the royal collegiate church of St. Peter, now called St. Anian’s: but his relics are now possessed by the abbey of St. Laurence, of which he had been once abbot. He is honored in the Roman Martyrology, and in the Paris and many other Breviaries. See St. Gregory of Tours,1. 2, c. 7. And his life older than Florus, who lived in the time of Louis Dbonnaire.

NOVEMBER 18 — THE DEDICATION OF THE CHURCHES OF SS. PETER AND PAUL, AT ROME

The Vatican church, dedicated in honor of St. Peter, is the second patriarchal church at Rome, and in it reposes one half of the precious remains of the bodies of SS. Peter and Paul. The tombs of the great conquerors and lords of the world have been long since destroyed and forgotten: but those of the martyrs are glorious by the veneration which the faithful pay to their memory. Among all the places which the blood of martyrs has rendered illustrious, that part of the Vatican hill which was consecrated with the blood, and enriched with the relics of the prince of the apostles, has always been most venerable. “The sepulchres of those who have served Christ crucified,” says St. Chrysostom,1 “surpass the palaces of kings, not so much in the greatness and beauty of the buildings, (though in this also they go beyond them,) as in another thing of more importance, namely, in the multitude of those who, with devotion and joy, repair to them. For the emperor himself, who is clothed in purple, goes to the sepulchres of the saints, and kisses them; and, humbly prostrate on the ground, beseeches the same saints to pray to God for him; and he who wears a royal crown upon his head, holds it for a great favor of God, that a tent-maker and a fisherman, and these dead, should be his protectors and defenders and this he begs with great earnestness” And St. Austin, or another ancient father:2 “Now at the memory of the fisherman the knees of the emperor are bowed, and the precious stones of the imperial crown shine most where the benefits of the fisherman are most felt.”

The body of St. Peter is said to have been buried immediately after his martyrdom, upon this spot, on the Vatican hi11,3 which was then without the walls, and near the suburb inhabited by the Jews. The remains of this apostle were removed hence, into the cemetery of Calixtus, but brought back to the Vatican. Those of St. Paul were deposited on the Ostian Way, where his church now stands. The tombs of the two princes of the apostles, from the beginning, were visited by Christians with extraordinary devotion above those of other martyrs. Caius, the learned and eloquent priest of Rome, in 210, in his dialogue with Proclus, the Montanist,4 speaks thus of them: “I can show you the trophies of the apostles. For, whether you go to the Vatican hill, or to the Ostian road, you will meet with the monuments of them, who by their preaching and miracles founded this church.” The Christians, even in the times of persecution, adorned the tombs of the martyrs, and the oratories which they erected over them, where they frequently prayed. Constantine the Great, after founding the Lateran church, built seven other churches at Rome, and many more in other parts of Italy. The first of these were, the churches of St. Peter on the Vatican hill, (where a temple of Apollo, and another of Ida. mother of the gods,5 before stood,) in honor of the place where the prince of the apostles had suffered martyrdom, and was buried:6 and that of St. Paul, at his tomb on the Ostian road. The yearly revenues which Constantine granted to all these churches, amounted to seventeen thousand seven hundred and seventy golden pence, which is above thirteen thousand pounds sterling, counting the prices, gold for gold; but, as the value of gold and silver was then much higher than at present, the sum in our money at this day would be much greater. These churches had also a yearly income of above one thousand six hundred pounds upon the spices which Egypt and the East furnished. The churches of St. Peter had houses at Antioch, and lands round about that city; at Tarsus, in Cilicia, and at Tyre: also in Egypt, near Alexandria, in the province of Euphrates, and elsewhere. A part of these lands was appointed every year to furnish a certain quantity of spikenard, frankincense, balm, storax, cinnamon, saffron, and other precious drugs for the censers and lamps. Anastasius gives a large account of the rich vessels of gold and silver which Constantine gave for the service of these churches; but perhaps confounded some later presents with those of this emperor.7 These churches were built by Constantine in so stately and magnificent a manner as to vie with the finest structures in the empire, as appears from the description which Eusebius gives us of the church of Tyre; for we find that the rest were erected upon the same model, which was consequently of great antiquity.* St. Peter’s church on the Vatican, being fallen to decay, it was begun to be rebuilt under Julius II., in 1506 and was dedicated by Urban VIII., in 1626, on this day; the same on which the dedication of the old church was celebrated.* The precious remains of many popes, martyrs, and other saints, are deposited partly under the altars of this vast and beautiful church, and partly in a spacious subter raneous church under the other. But the richest treasure of this venerable place consists in the relics of SS. Peter and Paul, which lie in a sumptuous vault beyond the middle of the church towards the upper end, under a magnificent altar, at which only the pope says mass, unless he commissions another to officiate there. This sacred vault is called, The confession of St. Peter, or, The threshold of the Apostles, (Limina Apostolorum,) to which devout persons have flocked, in pilgrimages, from the primitive ages.

Churches are dedicated only to God, though often under the patronage of some saint; that the faithful may be excited to implore, with united suffrages, the intercession of such a saint, and that churches may be distinguished by bearing different titles.8 “Neither do we,” says St. Austin, “erect churches, or appoint priesthoods, sacred rites, and sacrifices to the martyrs; because, not the martyrs, but the God of the martyrs, is our God. Who, among the faithful, ever heard a priest, standing at the altar which is erected over the body of a martyr to the honor and worship of God, say, in praying: We offer up sacrifice to thee, O Peter, or Paul, or Cyprian; when at their memories (or titular altars) it is offered to God, who made them both men and martyrs, and has associated them to his angels in heavenly honor.”9 And again:10 “We build not churches to martyrs as to gods, but memories as to men departed this life, whose souls live with God. Nor do we erect altars to sacrifice on them to the martyrs, but to the God of the martyrs, and our God.” Constantine the Great gave proofs of his piety and religion by the foundation of so many magnificent churches, in which he desired that the name of God should be glorified on earth, to the end of time. Do we show ours by our awful deportment and devotion in holy places, and by our assiduity in frequenting them? God is everywhere present, and is to be honored by the homages of our affections in all places. But in those which are sacred to him, in which our most holy mysteries are performed, and in which his faithful servants unite their suffrages, greater is the glory which redounds to him from them, and he is usually more ready to receive our requests: the prayers of many assembled together being a holy violence to his mercy.

NOVEMBER 18 — SS. ALPHUS AND ZACHUS; ALSO ROMANUS AND BARULAS, MM

In the first year of Dioclesian’s general persecution, and the nineteenth of his reign, upon the approach of the vicennial games for the twentieth year of his reign, the governor of Palestine, who resided at Csarea, obtained the emperor’s pardon for all criminals, (as it was the custom at the quinquennial, decennial, and vicennial games of the emperors,) only the Christians excepted, as worse than murderers. At that very time, Zachus, deacon at Gadara, beyond the Jordan, was apprehended, and presented to the prefect, loaded with chains. By the judge’s order, he was inhumanly scourged, then torn with iron combs, and afterwards thrown into prison, where his feet were stretched to the fourth hole; by which his body was almost rent asunder: yet he lay in this condition very cheerful, praising God night and day. Here he was soon joined by Alphus, his cousin, a man of desires, that is, endowed with an eminent spirit of prayer. He was a native of Eleutheropolis, of a good family, lector and exorcist in the church of Csarea. In the persecution, he boldly encouraged the faithful to constancy, and, being seized, baffled the prefect in his first examination, and was committed to prison. At a second appearance in court, his flesh was torn, first with whips, then with iron hooks: after which, he was cast into the same dungeon with Zachus, and put in like manner in the stocks. In a third examination, they were both condemned to die, and were beheaded together, on the 17th of November. Eusebius gives, in his history of the martyrs of Palestine, an abstract of their Acts which we have entire by the same hand among the Acts of the western martyrs, published in the original Chaldaic by Steph. Evod. Assemani, t. 2, p. 177.

The name of St. Romanus is the most illustrious among these martyrs. Eusebius has joined his history to the former, because, though he suffered at Antioch, he was a native of Palestine. We have also a panegyric of St. Chrysostom on this saint, which he delivered at Antioch, on his festiva1,1 and another among his works, which seems to be the performance of some other priest at Antioch, who was his contemporary under Flavian. There is also one on this martyr among the homilies, which go under the name of Eusebius Emisenus.2 Romanus was exorcist in a village which was under the jurisdiction of Csarea, in Palestine. When the persecution broke out with great fury, he went about exhorting the faithful to stand firm in the day of battle and made a journey to Antioch on purpose to encourage those who were called to the trial. In the very court of the judge, whom Prudentius calls Asclepiades, Romanus, observing certain Christian prisoners betray symptoms of fear, cried out aloud, bidding them call to mind the joys of heaven, and the eternal torments of hell. That instant violent hands were laid on him, and after he had been scourged, and his body torn with hooks, the judge condemned him to be burned alive. The emperor Dioclesian, (not Galerius, as Ruinart and Tillemont imagined,) coming to Antioch, while the fire was making ready, he thought the punishment too light for such an offender, put a stop to the execution, and ordered the martyr’s tongue to be plucked out by the root. This was punctually executed; yet the martyr spoke as distinctly as ever, exhorting all persons to love and worship the true and only God: nor die be cease to render thanks to the author of miracles. The emperor, to remove him out of the sight of the people, caused him to be sent back to prison, his legs to be stretched in the stocks to the fifth hole, and his body raised up. He had suffered this torture a considerable time, when he finished his martyrdom, being secretly strangled in prison on the 17th of November, the same day on which the former martyrs received their crowns in Palestine; yet the Greeks commemorate them all, and the Latins St. Romanus, on the 18th. Prudentius3 begs, that as he stood ranked among the goats, he might, by the prayers of Romanus, pass to the right hand, and be placed among the sheep. Prudentius mentions St. Barulas, a child, who, at the instigation of St. Romanus, confessed one God, and condemned a multitude of gods; was scourged and beheaded, his mother all the time looking on with joy, and encouraging him to constancy.4 Barulas, or Barallaha, by contraction Barlaha, in Chaldaic signifies Child or Servant of God; whence, in the old Breviary of Toledo, this martyr is called Theodulus, which is a Greek word of the same import, as Joseph Assemani observes.5

NOVEMBER 18 — ST. ODO, ABBOT OF CLUNI, C

Abbo, father to this saint, was a nobleman of the first rank. Odo was born at Tours in 879, and was brought up first in the family of Fulk II., count of Anjou, and afterwards in that of William, count of Auvergne, and duke of Aquitaine, who, some years after, founded the abbey of Cluni. From his childhood the saint was much given to prayer, and piety made him regret the time that he threw away in hunting and other amusements and exercises of a court life. At nineteen years of age he received the tonsure, and was instituted to a canonry in St. Martin’s church, at Tours, and from that time bade adieu to Virgil and other profane authors, resolving only to read such books as tended to nourish in his heart compunction, devotion, and divine love. However, he spent four years at Paris in completing a course of theological studies. But, upon his return to Tours, he shut himself up in a cell, determined to have no other employment but prayer and meditation upon the holy Scriptures. One day, in reading the rule of St. Bennet, he was confounded within himself to see how much his life fell short of the maxims and rules of perfection which are there laid down, and he determined to embrace a monastic state. The count of Anjou, his patron, refusing to consent, Odo spent almost three years in a cell, with one companion, in the assiduous practice of penance and contemplation. At length, resolving that no impediments should any longer withhold him from consecrating himself to God in a monastic state, he resigned his canonry, and secretly repaired to the monastery of Beaume, in the diocese of Besanon, where the holy abbot, St. Berno, admitted him to the habit, in 909.* He brought nothing with him but his library, which consisted of about a hundred volumes. The great abbey of Cluni was founded in 910, and committed to the care of St. Berno, who was obliged to govern six other monasteries at the same time. Upon his death, in 927, the bishops of that country established St. Odo abbot of three of those monasteries, namely, Cluni, Massay, and Deols. The first he made his residence; and the reputation of his sanctity, and of the regularity and good discipline which he established, drew thither many illustrious and fervent persons, who sincerely desired to serve God. The saint established there the rule of St. Bennet in great purity, and endeavored to carry its observance to the highest perfection. It was his usual saying, that no one can be called a monk who is not a true lover, and strict observer of silence, a condition absolutely necessary for interior solitude and the commerce of a soul with God. Silence and the most perfect practices of humility, obedience, and self-denial, were the chief objects of his reformation. Many distant monasteries received his regulations, and subjected themselves to his jurisdiction, so that the congregation of Cluni became most numerous and flourishing; though the severity which he established in it has been long since mitigated. The saint was employed by popes and princes in several difficult public negotiations, in all which he succeeded with admirable piety, address, and prudence. Out of devotion to St. Martin, he was desirous to die at Tours, and, being seized with his last sickness, hastened thither, and there happily slept in our Lord on the 18th of November, 942. He was buried in the church of St. Julian; but the Huguenots burnt the greatest part of his remains. St. Odo is named in the Roman Martyrology. See the life of St. Odo, written by John, his disciple, extant in the library of Cluni, published by Marrier, and Duchesne: also in Mabillon, with other pieces relating to the history of this saint, Sc. 5, Ben.

NOVEMBER 18 — ST. HILDA OR HILD, ABBESS

By despising the world for Christ, this saint became greater, even in the eyes of men, than royalty itself could have made her: but she was truly great only because the applause and veneration of this whole island was to her a most grievous persecution, the dangers of which alarmed her humble soul more than the threats of fire and sword could have done. Hilda was daughter of Hereric, nephew to St. Edwin, king of the Northumbers; and she was baptized by St. Paulinus, together with that prince, when she was but fourteen years old. The grace of this sacrament she always preserved without spot, and, from the moment she became a member of the kingdom of God, the obligations and happiness of this great spiritual dignity took up all her thoughts, and engrossed her whole soul. The better to attend to them alone she left her friends and country, and went into the kingdom of the East Angles, where her cousin, the most religious king Annas, reigned. Her first design was to retire to Chelles, in France, where her sister, St. Hereswide, served God: with her she passed one year, till, upon her death St. Aidan prevailed upon Hilda to return into Northumberland, where he settled her in the small nunnery upon the river Were, founded by the first Northumbrian nun, Heiu. After living there one year, she was made abbess of a numerous monastery at Heortea,* or Heterslie, now Hartlepool, in the bishopric of Durham; and some years after called to found a great double monastery, the one of men, and the other of women, at Streaneshalch, (that is, bay of the Light-house,) afterwards called Prestby, from the number of priests that lived there, and at present Whitby, (or Whitebay,) in Yorkshire.† All her monasteries were destroyed by the Danes, about two hundred and fifty years after her death; only this last was rebuilt in 1067, for Benedic tin monks, and flourished till the suppression of religious houses. St. Hilda, for her sanctity and her wisdom, in conducting souls to God, was most dear to St. Aidan and other holy prelates; and kings and princes frequently repaired to Streaneshalch to consult her in affairs of the greatest difficulty and importance. This holy abbess, who was eminent in all virtues, excelled particularly in prudence, and had a singular talent in reconciling differences, and in maintaining concord, being herself endowed with the spirit of charity, meekness, and peace.

The monastery of men at Streaneshalch, became a nursery of holy and learned prelates; and out of it St. Bosa, St. Hedda, Ostfor, St. John of Beverley, and St. Wilfrid were raised to the episcopal dignity. In this monastery St. Wilfrid confuted Colman and the Scottish monks concerning the due celebration of Easter. The nunnery of St. Hilda was not less famous, Oswy, king of the Northumbers, was the chief benefactor, or founder of this house. He had reigned twelve years, endured many devastations of his dominions from Penda, the cruel Mercian king, and in vain attempted by presents to gain his friendship, when that sworn enemy of the Christian name, who had already murdered five Christian kings, (Annas, Sigebert, Egric, Oswald, and Edwin,) undertook the entire conquest of Northumberland, though in the seventy-eighth year of his age. Oswy, finding himself too weak for human relief, and all his offers and gifts rejected, turned them into vows to implore the divine assistance, and devoted his daughter, then lately born, to perpetual virginity, with certain portions of land for endowing monasteries. His vows produced greater effects than his treaties; for, with a small army, he defeated the Mercians and their allies, though thirty times more in number; and slew Penda himself upon the banks of the Aire, near Seacroft, a village about three miles from Leeds, in Yorkshire, in 655.1 From this victory, the village of Winfield seems to have taken its name; and by it Oswy was raised to the height of power; so that in three years he subdued all Mercia, and the greatest part of the country of the Picts, in the north. According to his promise, he gave his daughter Elfleda, scarce then a year old, to be consecrated to God under the care of St. Hilda, at Heortea, by whom she was removed, two years after, to Streaneshalch. The king gave to this house twelve estates of land for maintaining religious persons, each estate being ten families. Oswy dying in 670, after a reign of twenty-eight years, his widow, Ealflede, who was daughter to the holy king Edwin, retired to this monastery, and there ended her days in the exercises of a religious life. St. Hilda died in 680, being sixty-three years old, of which she had spent thirty-three in a monastic life. A nun at Hakenes, thirteen miles from Whitby, on the strand, saw her soul carried up to bliss by angels. She was succeeded in the government of her monastery by the royal virgin, Elfleda, who, after serving God sixty years, went to his eternal embraces. In the church of St. Peter, besides St. Hilda, and the royal virgin Elfleda, were interred king Oswy, his mother Eanfled, his mother’s father Edwin, and many other great persons. The body of St. Hilda, after the devastation of the monastery by the Danes, Inguar and Hubba, was carried to Glastonbury by Titus, the abbot, who fled thither. In the time of Hugh, earl of Chester, in the reign of the conqueror, William de Percy, ancestor to the Percies, earls of Northumberland, rebuilt the monastery for Benedictin monks, in which state it continued till the suppression of monasteries. See Bede, Hist.1. 3, c. 24, 25;1. 4, c. 23, and Registrum de Whitby, quoted by Burton, in Monasticon Eboracense, t. 1, pp. 68, 69, 88; Leland’s Collectan. t. 2, pp. 141, 150.

NOVEMBER 19 — ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY, WIDOW

Her life compiled by Cæsarius, monk of Heisterbach, is lost. Theodoric of Thuringle, a Dominican, (who seems to be the famous Theodoric of Apoldo, in 1289, author of die life of St. Dominic,) wrote that of St. Elizabeth in eight books, extant in Canisius, (Lect. Antiq. t. 5) Lambecius (t. 2, Bibl. Vind.) published an additional fragment, with several pieces relative to her canonization. Her life by James Montanus of Spire, published by Sedulius, abridged by D’Andilly, &c., is taken from the work of Theodoric. The letter of the holy priest, Conrad of Marpurg, the saint’s confessor, to pope Gregory IX. soon after her death, bears authentic testimony to her heroic virtues. Conrad’s letter Is published in an Appendix to the supplement of the Byzantine Historians, printed at Venice in 1723. It Is accompanied with the authentic relation of miracles examined before Sifrid, archbishop of Mentz, Reymond, the Cistercian abbot of Eberbac, and master, or doctor Conrad, preacher of the word of God, by commission of the holy see, who jointly sent the relation to the pope. See also St. Bonaventure, Serm. de S. Elizabeth, t. 5.

A. D. 1231.

ELIZABETH, daughter to Alexander II., the valiant and religious king of Hungary, and his queen, Gertrude, daughter to the duke of Carinthia, was born in Hungary in 1207. Herman, landgrave of Thuringia and Hesse, had a son born about the same time, and named Lewis. This prince obtained by ambassadors, a promise from the king of Hungary that his daughter should be given in marriage to his new-born son; and, to secure the effect of this engagement, at the landgrave’s request, the princess, at four years of age, was sent to his court, and there brought up under the care of a virtuous lady. Five years after, Herman died, and Lewis became landgrave. Elizabeth, from her cradle, was so happily prevented with the love of God, that no room for creatures could be found in her heart; and though surrounded, and, as it were, besieged by worldly pleasures in their most engaging shapes, she had no relish for them, prayed with an astonishing recollection, and seemed scarce to know any other use of money than to give it to the poor; for her father allowed her, till her marriage was solemnized, a competent yearly revenue for maintaining a court suitable to her rank. This child of heaven, in her very recreations, studied to practise frequent humiliations and self-denials; and stole often to the chapel, and there knelt down and said a short prayer before every altar, bowing her body reverently, or, if nobody was there, prostrating herself upon the ground. If she found the doors of the chapel in the palace shut, not to lose her labor, she knelt down at the threshold, and always put up her petition to the throne of God. Her devotion she indulged with more liberty in her private closet. She was very devout to her angel-guardian and the saints, particularly St. John the Evangelist. She was educated with Agnes, sister to the young landgrave and upon their first appearing together at church, they were dressed alike, and wore coronets set with jewels. At their entering the house of God Sophia, the landgrave’s mother, observing our saint take off her coronet asked why she did so; to which the princess replied, that she could no bear to appear with jewels on her head, where she saw that of Jesus Christ crowned with thorns. Agnes and her mother, who were strangers to such kind of sentiments, and fond of what Elizabeth trampled upon, conceived an aversion for the young princess, and said, that since she seemed to have so little relish for a court, a convent would be the properest place for her. The courtiers carried their reflections much further, and did all in their power to bring the saint into contempt, saying that neither her fortune nor her person were such as the landgrave had a right to expect, that he had no inclination for her, and that she would either be sent back to Hungary, or married to some nobleman in the country. These taunts and trials were more severe and continual, as the landgrave, Herman, dying when Elizabeth was only nine years old, the government fell into the hands of his widow in the name of her son till he should be of age. These persecutions and injuries were to the saint, occasions of the greatest spiritual advantages; for by them she daily learned a more perfect contempt of all earthly things, to which the heavenly lover exhorts his spouse, saying: “Hearken, daughter, forget thy people.” She learned also the evangelical hatred of herself, and crucifixion of self-love; by which she was enabled to say with the apostles: Behold, we have left all things. In this entire disengagement of her heart, she learned to take up her cross and follow Christ by the exercise of meekness, humility, patience, and charity, towards unjust persecutors; and to cleave to God by the closest union of her soul to him, by resignation, love, and prayer, contemning herself, and esteeming the vanity of the world as filth and dung. She desired to please God only, and in this spirit she was wont to pray: “O sovereign spouse of my soul, never suffer me to love any thing but in Thee, or for Thee. May every thing which tends not to Thee, be bitter and painful, and Thy will alone sweet. May Thy will be always mine: as in heaven Thy will is punctually performed, so may it be done on earth by all creatures, particularly in me and by me. And as love requires a union, and entire resignation of all things into the hands of the beloved, I give up my whole self to thee without reserve. In my heart I renounce all riches and pomp: if I had many worlds I would leave them all to adhere to Thee alone in poverty and nakedness of spirit, as Thou madest Thyself poor for me. O Spouse of my heart, so great is the love I bear Thee, and holy poverty for thy sake, that with joy I leave all that I am, that I may be transformed into Thee and that abandoned state so amiable to Thee.”

The saint was in her fourteenth year when Lewis, the young landgrave, returned home after a long absence, on account of his education. Address in martial exercises and other great accomplishments introduced the young prince into the world with a mighty reputation: but nothing was so remarkable in him as a sincere love of piety. The eminent virtue of Elizabeth gave him the highest esteem for her person. However, he seldom saw or spoke to her, even in public, and never in private, till the question was one day put to him, what his thoughts were with regard to marrying her, and he was told what rumors were spread in the court to her disadvantage. Hereat he expressed much displeasure, and said, that he prized her virtue above all the mountains of gold and rubies that the world could afford. Forthwith he sent her by a nobleman a glass garnished with precious stones of inestimable value, with two crystals opening on each side, in the one of which was a looking-glass; on the other a figure of Christ crucified was most curiously wrought. And not long after he solemnized his marriage with her, and the ceremony was performed with the utmost pomp, and with extraordinary public rejoicings. The stream of public applause followed the favour of the prince; the whole court expressed the most profound veneration for the saint, and all the clouds which had so long nung over her head were at once dispersed. Conrad of Marpurg, a most holy and learned priest, and an eloquent pathetic preacher, whose disinterestedness, and love of holy poverty, mortified life, and extraordinary devotion and spirit of prayer, rendered him a model to the clergy of that age, was the person whom she chose for her spiritual director, and to his advice she submitted herself in all things relating to her spiritual concerns. This holy and experienced guide, observing how deep root the seeds of virtue had taken in her soul applied himself by cultivating them to conduct her to the summit of Christian perfection, and encouraged her in the path of mortification and penance, but was obliged often to moderate her corporal austerities by the precept of obedience. The landgrave also reposed an entire confidence in Conrad, and gave this holy man the privilege of disposing of all ecclesiastical benefices in the prince’s gift. Elizabeth, with her pious husband’s consent, often rose in the night to pray, and consecrated great part of her time to her devotions, insomuch that on Sundays and holidays she never allowed herself much leisure to dress herself. The rest of her time which was not spent in prayer or reading, she devoted to works of charity, and to spinning, or carding wool, in which she would only work very coarse wool for the use of the poor, or of the Franciscan friars. The mysteries of the life and sufferings of our Saviour were the subjects of her most tender and daily meditation. Weighing of what importance prayer and mortification, or penance are in a spiritual life, she studied to make her prayer virtually continual, by breaking forth into fervent acts of compunction and divine love amidst all her employments. The austerity of her life surpassed that of recluses. When she sat at table, next to the landgrave, to dissemble her abstinence from flesh and savory dishes, she used to deceive the attention of others by discoursing with the guests, or with the prince, carving for others, sending her maids upon errands, often changing her plates, and a thousand other artifices. Her meal frequently consisted only of bread and honey, or a dry crust, with a cup of the smallest wine, or the like; especially when she dined privately in her chamber, with two maids, who voluntarily followed her rules as to diet. She never ate but what came out of her own kitchen, that she might be sure nothing was mixed contrary to the severe rules she had laid down; and this kitchen she kept out of her own private purse, not to be the least charge to her husband. She was a great enemy to rich apparel though in compliance to the landgrave, she on certain public occasions conformed in some degree to the fashions of the court. When ambassadors came from her father, the king of Hungary, her husband desired her not to appear in that homely apparel which she usually wore; but she prevailed upon him to suffer it; and God was pleased to give so extraordinary a gracefulness to her person, that the ambassadors were exceedingly struck at the comeliness and majesty of the appearance she made. In the absence of her husband she commonly wore only coarse cloth, not dyed, but in the natural color of the wool, such as the poor people used. She so strongly recommended to her maids of honor simplicity of dress, penance, and assiduous prayer, that several of them were warmed into an imitation of her virtues; but they could only follow her at a distance, for she seemed inimitable in her heroic practices, especially in her profound humility, with which she courted the most mortifying humiliations. In attending the poor and the sick, she cheerfully washed and cleansed the most filthy sores, and waited on those that were infected with the most loathsome diseases.

Her alms seemed at all times to nave no bounds; in which the good landgrave rejoiced exceedingly, and gave her full liberty. In 1225, Germany being severely visited by a famine, she exhausted the treasury and distributed her whole crop of corn amongst those who felt the weight of that calamity heaviest. The landgrave was then in Apulia with the emperor; and at his return the officers of his household complained loudly to him of her profusion in favor of the poor. But the prince was so well assured of her piety and prudence, that without examining into the matter, he asked if she had alienated his dominions. They answered: “No.” “As for her charities,” said he, “they will entail upon us the divine blessings: and we shall not want so long as we suffer her to relieve the poor as she does.” The castle of Marpurg, the residence of the landgrave, was built on a steep rock, which the infirm and weak were not able to climb. The holy margravine therefore built an hospital at the foot of the rock for their reception and entertainment; where she often fed them with her own hands, made their beds, and attended them even in the heat of summer, when that place seemed insupportable to all those who were strangers to the sentiments of her generous and indefatigable charity. The helpless children, especially all orphans, were provided for at her expense. Elizabeth was the foundress of another hospital, in which twenty-eight persons were constantly relieved: she fed nine hundred daily at her own gate, besides an incredible number in the different parts of the dominions, so that the revenue in her hands was truly the patrimony of the distressed. But the saint’s charity was tempered with discretion; and instead of encouraging in idleness such as were able to work, she employed them in a way suitable to their strength and capacity. Her husband, edified and charmed with her extraordinary piety, not only approved of all she did, but was himself an imitator of her charity, devotion, and other virtues: insomuch that he is deservedly styled by historians the Pious Landgrave. He had by her three children, Herman, Sophia, whc was afterwards married to the duke of Brabant, and Gertrude, who became a nun, and died abbess of Aldemburg. Purely upon motives of religion, the landgrave took the cross to accompany the emperor Frederic Barbarossa, in the holy war, to Palestine. The separation of this pious and loving couple was a great trial; though moderated by the heroic spirit of religion with which both were animated. The landgrave joined the emperor in the kingdom of Naples; but as he was going to embark, fell ill of a malignant fever at Otranto, and having received the last sacraments at the hands of the patriarch of Jerusalem, expired in great sentiments of piety, on the 11th of September, 1227. Many miracles are related to have been wrought by him, in the history of Thuringia, and in that of the crusades.1 Elizabeth, who at his departure had put on the dress of a widow, upon hearing this melancholy news, wept bitterly, and said: “If my husband be dead, I promise to die henceforth to myself, and to the world with all its vanities.” God himself was pleased to complete this her sacrifice by a train of other afflictions into which she fell, being a sensible instance of the instability of human things, in which nothing is more constant than an unsteadiness of fortune: the life of man being a perpetual scene of interludes, and virtue being his only support, a check to pride in prosperity, and a solid comfort in adversity.

Envy, jealousy, and rancor, all broke loose at once against the virtuous landgravine, which, during her husband’s life, for the great love and respect which he bore her, had been raked up and covered over as fire under the ashes. As pretences are never wanting to cloak ambition, envy, and other passions, which never dare show themselves barefaced, it was alleged that the saint had squandered away the public revenue upon the poor; that the infant Herman being unfit for the government of the state, it ought to be given to one who was able to defend and even extend the dominions of the landgraviate; and that therefore Henry, younger brother to the late landgrave, ought to be advanced to the principality. The mob being soothed by the fine speeches of certain powerful factious men, Henry got possession, and turned Elizabeth out of the castle without furniture, provision, or necessaries for the support of nature, and all persons in the town were forbid to let her any lodgings. The princess bore this unjust treatment with a patience far transcending the power of nature, showing nothing in her gestures which was not as composed as if she had been in the greatest tranquillity possible. And rejoicing in her heart to see herself so ill treated, the went down the castle-hill to the town, placing her whole confidence in God, and with her damsels and maids went into a common inn, or, as others say, a poor woman’s cottage, where she remained till midnight, when the bell ringing to matins at the church of the Franciscan friars, she went thither, and desired the good fathers to sing a Te Deum with solemnity, to give God thanks for his mercies to her in visiting her with afflictions. Though she sent about the next day, and used all her endeavors to procure some kind of lodging in the town, no one durst afford her any for fear of the usurper and his associates. She stayed the whole day in the church of the friars, and at evening had the additional affliction to see her three children, whom their barbarous uncle had sent out of the castle, coming down the hill. She received them in the church porch, with undaunted fortitude, but could not refrain from tenderly weeping to see the innocent babes so insensible of their condition as to smile upon her, rejoicing that they had recovered their mother. Reduced to the lowest ebb she applied to a priest for relief, who received her into his little house, where she had but one straight poor chamber for herself, her maids, and children. Her enemies soon forced her from thence, so that with thanks to those who had given her and hers some kind of shelter from the severities of a very sharp winter season, she returned to the inn or cottage. Thus she, who had entertained thousands of poor, could find no entertainment or harbor; and she, who had been a mother to so many infants and orphans of others, was glad to beg an alms for her own, and to receive it from her enemies. God failed not to comfort her in her distress, and she addressed herself to him in raptures of love, praying that she might be wholly converted into his love, and that his pure love might reign in her. Melting in the sweetness of divine love she poured forth her soul in inflamed ejaculations, saying, for example: “Ah. my Lord and my God, may Thou be all mine, and I all Thine. What is this, my God and my love? Thou all mine and I all Thine. Let me love Thee, my God, above all things, and let me not love myself but for Thee, and all other things in Thee Let me love Thee, with all my soul, with all my memory,” &c. In these fervent aspirations, overflowing with interior joy, she sometimes fell into wonderful raptures, which astonished Hentrude, a lady of honor, particularly beloved by her, and her companion in her devotions and mortifications.

The abbess of Kitzingen, in the diocese of Wurtzburg, our saint’s aunt, sister to her mother, hearing of her misfortunes, invited her to her monastery, and being extremely moved at the sight of her desolate condition and poverty, advised her to repair to her uncle, the bishop of Bamberg, a man of great power, charity, and prudence. The bishop received her with many tears, which compassion drew from his eyes, and from those of all the clergy that were with him; and provided for her a commodious house near his palace. His first views were, as she was young and beautiful, to endeavor to look out for a suitable party, that, marrying some powerful prince, she might strengthen her interest, and that of her family, by a new alliance, which might enable her to recover her right: but such projects she entirely put a stop to, declaring it was her fixed resolution to devote herself to the divine service in a state of perpetual chastity. In the mean time the body of her late husband, which had been buried at Otranto, was taken up, and, the flesh being entirely consumed, the bones were put into a rich chest, and carried into Germany. The hearse was attended by a great many princes and dukes, and by counts, barons, and knights without number, marching in martial order, with ensigns folded up, the mournful sound of drums all covered with black, and other warlike instruments in like manner. Where some of these princes left the corpse to return home, the nobility of each country through which it passed took their place; and every night it was lodged in some church or monastery where masses and dirges were said, and gifts offered. When the funeral pomp approached Bamberg, the bishop went out with the clergy and monks in procession to meet it, having left the nobility and knights with the disconsolate pious margravine. At the sight of the hearse her grief was inexpressible; yet, while there was not a dry eye in the church, she showed by restraining her sorrow how great command she had of her passions. Yet, when the chest was opened, her tears burst forth against her will. But, recollecting herself in God, she gave thanks to his Divine Majesty for having so disposed of her honored husband, as to take him into his eternal tabernacles, so seasonably for himself, though to her severe trial. The corpse remained several days at Bamberg, during which the funeral rites were continued with the utmost solemnity, and it was then conducted with great state into Thuringia. The princess entreated the barons and knights that attended it to use their interest with her brother-in-law to do her justice, not blaming him for the treatment she had received, but imputing it to evil counsellors. Fired with indignation at the indignities she had received, they engaged to neglect no means of restoring her to her right: so that it was necessary for her to moderate their resentment, and to beg they would only use humble remonstrances. This they did, reproaching Henry for having brought so foul a blot and dishonor upon his house, and having violated all laws divine, civil, and natural, and broke the strongest ties of humanity. They conjured him by God, who beholds all things, and asked him in what point a weak woman, full of peace and piety, could offend him: and what innocent princely babes, who were his own blood, could have done, the tenderness of whose years made them very unfit to suffer such injuries. Ambition strangely steals a heart to all sentiments of justice, charity, or humanity. Yet these remonstrances, made by the chief barons of the principality, softened the heart of Henry, and he promised them to restore to Elizabeth her dower and all the rights of her widowhood, and even to put the government of the dominions into her hands. This last she voluntarily chose to renounce, provided it was reserved for her son. Hereupon she was conducted back to the castle out of which she had been expelled, and from that time Henry began to treat her as princess, and obsequiously executed whatever she intinated to be her pleasure. Yet her persecutions were often renewed till her death.

The devout priest Conrad had attended her in great part of her travels, and returned to Marpurg, which was his usual residence. Elizabeth, loathing the grandeur and dreading the distractions of the world, with his advice, bound herself by a vow which she made in his presence, in the church of the Franciscans, to observe the third rule of St. Francis, and secretly put on a little habit under her clothes. Her confessor relates that, laying her hands on the altar in the church of the friars minors, she by vow renounced the pomps of the world, she was going to add the vow of poverty, but he stopped her, saying she was obliged, in order to discharge many obligations of her late husband, and what she owed to the poor, to keep in her own hands the disposal of her revenues. Her dower she converted to the use of the poor; and as her director Conrad, in whom she reposed an entire confidence, was obliged to live in the town of Marpurg, when she quitted her palace she made that which was on the boundary of her husband’s dominions, her place of residence, living first in a little cottage near the town, while a house was building for her, in which she spent the last three years of her life in the most fervent practices of devotion, charity, and penance. In her speech she was so reserved and modest that if she affirmed or denied any thing, her words seemed to imply a fear of some mistake. She spoke little, always with gravity, and most commonly of God; and never let drop any thing that tended to her own praise. Out of a love of religious silence she shunned tattlers: in all things she praised God, and being intent on spiritual things was never puffed up with prosperity, or troubled at adversity. She tied herself by vow to obey her confessor Conrad, and received at his hands a habit made of coarse cloth of the natural color of the wool without being dyed Whence pope Gregory IX., who had corresponded with her, says she took the religious habit, and subjected herself to the yoke of obedience. Thus she imitated the state of nuns, though, by the advice of her confessor, she remained a secular, that she might better dispose of her alms for the relief of the poor. Conrad, having observed that her attachment to her two principal maids, Isentrude and Guta, seemed too strong, and an impediment to her spiritual progress, proposed to her to dismiss them: and, without making any reply, she instantly obeyed him, though the sacrifice cost mutual tears. The saint, by spinning coarse wool, earned her own maintenance, and, with her maids, dressed her own victuals, which were chiefly herbs, bread, and water. While her hands were busy, in her heart she conversed with God. The king of Hungary, her father, earnestly invited her to his court; but she preferred a state of humiliation and suffering. She chose by preference to do every kind of service in attending the most loathsome lepers among the poor. Spiritual and corporal works of mercy occupied her even to her last moments, and by her moving exhortations many obstinate sinners were converted to God. It seemed, indeed, impossible for any thing to resist the eminent spirit of prayer with which she was endowed. In prayer she found her comfort and her strength in her mortal pilgrimage, and was favored in it with frequent raptures, and heavenly communications. Her confessor, Conrad, assures us, that when she returned from secret prayer, her countenance often seemed to dart forth rays of light from the divine conversation. Being forewarned by God of her approaching passage to eternity, which she mentioned to her confessor four days before she fell ill, as he assures us, she redoubled her fervor, by her last will made Christ her heir in his poor, made a general confession of her whole life on the twelfth day, survived yet four days, received the last sacraments, and, to her last breath, ceased not to pray, or to discourse in the most pathetic manner on the mysteries of the sacred life and sufferings of our Redeemer, and on his coming to Judge us. The day of her happy death was on the 19th of November, in 1231, in the twenty-fourth year of her age. Her venerable body was deposited in a chapel near the hospital which she had founded. Many sick persons were restored to health at her tomb; an account of which miracles Siffrid, archbishop of Mentz, sent to Rome, having first caused them to be authenticated by a juridical examination, before himself and others. Pope Gregory IX., after a long and mature discussion, performed the ceremony of her canonization on Whit-Sunday, in 1235, four years after her death. Siffrid, upon news hereof, appointed a day for the translation of her relics, which he performed at Marpurg in 1236. The emperor Frederic II. would be present took up the first stone of the saint’s grave, and gave and placed on the shrine with his own hands a rich crown of gold. St. Elizabeth’s son, Herman, then landgrave, and his two sisters, Sophia and Gertrude, assisted at this august ceremony; also the archbishops of Cologne and Bremen, and an incredible number of other princes, prelates, and people, so that the number is said to have amounted to above two hundred thousand persons. The relics were enshrined in a rich vermilion case, and placed upon the altar in the church of the hospital. A Cistercian monk affirmed upon oath that, a little before this translation, praying at the tomb of the saint, he was cured of a palpitation of the heart and grievous melancholy, with which he had been grievously troubled for forty years, and had in vain sought remedies from physicians and every other means. Many instances are mentioned by Montanus, and by the archbishop of Mentz, and the confessor Conrad, of persons afflicted with palsies, and other inveterate diseases, who recovered their health at her tomb, or by invoking her intercession; as, of a boy blind from his birth, by the mother’s invocation of St. Elizabeth at her sepulchre, applying some of the dust to his eyes, upon which a skin, which covered each eye, burst, and he saw, as several witnesses declared upon oath, and Master Conrad saw the eyes thus healed: of a boy three years old, dead, cold, and stiff a whole night. raised to life the next morning by a pious grandmother praying to God through the intercession of St. Elizabeth, with a vow of an alms to her hospital, and of dedicating the child to the divine service attested in every circumstance by the depositions of the mother, father, grandmother, uncle, and others, recorded by Conrad: of a boy dead and stiff for many hours, just going to be carried to burial, raised by the invocation of St. Elizabeth: of a youth drowned, restored to life by the like prayer: of a boy drawn out of a well, dead, black, &c., and a child still-born, brought to life: others cured of palsies, falling-sickness, fevers, madness, lameness, blindness, the bloody flux, &c., in the authentic relation. A portion of her relics is kept in the church of the Carmelites at Brussels; another in the magnificent chapel of La Roche-Guyon, upon the Seine, and a considerable part in a precious shrine is in the electoral treasury of Hanover.2 Some persons of the third order of St. Francis having raised that institute into a religious order long after the death of our saint, (without prejudice to the secular state of this order, which is still embraced by many who live in the world,) the religious women of this order chose her for their patroness, and are sometimes called the nuns of Saint Elizabeth.

Perfection consists not essentially in mortification, but in charity; and he is most perfect who is most united to God by love. But humility and self-denial remove the impediments to this love, by retrenching the inordinate appetites and evil inclinations which wed the heart to creatures. The affections must be untied by mortification, and the heart set at liberty by an entire disengagement from the slavery of the senses, and all irregular affections. Then will a soul, by the assistance of grace, easily raise her affections to God, and adhere purely to him; and his holy love will take possession of them. A stone cannot fall down to its centre so long as the lets which hold it up are not taken away. So neither can a soul attain to the pure love of God, while the strings of earthly attachments hold her down. Hence the maxims of the gospel and the example of the saints strongly in culcate the necessity of dying to ourselves by humility, meekness, patience, self-denial, and obedience. Nor does any thing so much advance this interior crucifixion of the old man as the patient suffering of afflictions.

NOVEMBER 19 — ST. PONTIAN, POPE, M

The Liberian Calendar informs us that this pope sat five years from the death of St. Urban, in 230, the church then enjoying peace in the reign of Alexander Severus. But Maximus, who, by contriving the assassination of the best of the Roman emperors, in May, 235, opened to himself a way to the imperial throne, began his reign by raising a bloody persecution. He was by birth a barbarian, a native of Thrace, and of a gigantic stature. For his cruelty towards all men he is surnamed Busiris, Typhon, and Phalaris and was a monster of gluttony. St. Pontian was banished by him in the beginning of his reign into the isle of Sardinia, where he died the same year, if not by the sword, at least by the hardships of his exile and the unhealthfulness of the air. See Tillemont, t. 3.

NOVEMBER 19 — ST. BARLAAM, M

An obscure country life, which this saint had led from his childhood in a village near Antioch, in manual labor, which he sanctified by an heroic spirit and practice of Christian piety, prepared him for the crown of martyrdom. Though he was a stranger to every other language but his mothertongue, and to all learning, except that of the maxims of the gospel, he was an overmatch for the pride and tyranny of the masters of the world. His zealous confession of the name of Christ provoked the persecutors, who detained him a long time in the dungeons at Antioch before he was brought to his trial; during which rigorous confinement, in the simplicity of an upright heart, he continually entertained himself with God, so as to want no worldly company to relieve his mind, and God had embellished his soul with his choicest graces. When he was called to the bar, the judge laughed at his rustic language and mien; but, in spite of his prepossessions and rage, could not but admire exceedingly his greatness of soul, his virtue, and his meek constancy, which even gathered strength by his long imprisonment. He was cruelly scourged; but no sigh, no word of complaint was extorted from him. He was then hoisted on the rack, and his bones in many parts dislocated. Amidst these torments, such was the joy which was painted in his countenance, that one would have judged he had been seated at some delicious banquet, or on a throne. The prefect threatened him with death, and caused swords and axes fresh stained with the blood of martyrs to be displayed before him; but Barlaam beheld them without being daunted, and, without words, his meek and composed countenance spoke a language which confounded and disconcerted the persecutors. He was therefore remanded to prison, and the judge, who was ashamed to see himself vanquished by an illiterate peasant, studied to invent some new artifice or torment, resolving to revenge his gods, whom he thought injured by the saint’s constancy. At length he flattered himself that he had found out a method by which the martyr should be compelled, in spite of all bis resolution, to offer sacrifice. Barlaam was brought out of prison, and an altar with burning coals upon it being made ready for sacrifice, the martyr’s hand was forcibly held over the flames, and incense with live coals was laid upon it, that, if he shook the coals off his hand, he might be said to offer sacrifice by throwing the incense into the fire upon the altar. The saint, fearing the scandal and very shadow of the crime, though by throwing off the fire to save his hand, he could not be reasonably esteemed to have meant to sacrifice, kept his hand steady while the coals burnt quite through it, and so, with the incense, dropped upon the altar. At such an instance of fortitude, the taunts and scoffs of the heathens were converted into admiration God, soon after this victory, called his soldier to himself, to crown him with glory. This happened during the course of the persecution firs raised by Dioclesian. See St. Basil, t. 2, p. 138: St. Chrysostom, t. 2, p. 681, in their panegyrics on this saint; his Greek acts in Lambecius, t. 8, p. 277; and a homily of Severus, patriarch of Antioch, extant in a Syriat manuscript quoted by Jos. Assemani, t. 1, Bibl. Orient. p. 571.

NOVEMBER 20 — SAINT EDMUND, KING AND MARTYR

From his life, written in 985, from the relation of St. Dunstan, by Abbo of Fleury, who lived then a monk at Canterbury; but died abbot of Fleury in France. To this work, published by Surius, is subjoined another containing a history of miracles wrought by this saint’s intercession, probably by another hand, as the authors of the Hist. Littr, de la France observe, t. 7, p. 175. A MS. copy of this book in Jesus’ College is called Liber Feretrariorum, i.e., the book of the treasurers or keepers of the relics. Abbo was assassinated by a Gascon, while he was employed in reforming the monastery of Reole in Gascony, on the 13th of November, 1004; was one of the most learned men of his age, and was honored in several churches as a martyr, as appears from the council of Limoges in 1031. His festival is still kept with solemnity at Fleury and Reole. See also St. Edmund’s life in verse, compiled by John Lydgate, the most learned professor, celebrated poet, and monk of St. Edmundsbury, who dedicated this book to Henry VI.* On the manuscript copies of this work see bishop Tanner, p. 490, who yet omits, among others, the original book which was presented by the author to Henry VI., in the Harleian library, one of the most beautiful manuscript books in the world. See also Lydgate’s account of the miracles of St. Edmund, and prayers to him, manuscripts, in several libraries, as (with other manuscripts relating to this saint) in the Norfolk library, belonging to the Royal Society. See on his virtues, Asserius, Annales Britan., (inter Script. Angl. per Gale.) p. 159–161; Hearne, Pref. to Langtoft’s Chronicle, p. 66, and S. Edmundi regis vit per Osbertum de Clare, Westmonasterii Priorem in the Cottonian library in the British Museum, MSS. Vespasianus, A. viii. 4; also S. Edmundi regis vit, in the king’s library, ib. 8, c. vi. 20; Leland, Collect. vol. 1, p. 245.

A. D. 870.

THOUGH from the time of King Egbert, in 802, the kings of the West Saxons were monarchs of all England, yet several kings reigned in certain parts after that time, in some measure subordinate to them. One Offa was king of the East-Angles, who, being desirous to end his days in penance and devotion at Rome, resigned his crown to St. Edmund, at that time only fifteen years of age, but a most virtuous prince, and descended from the old English-Saxon kings of this isle.† The saint was placed on the throne of his ancestors, as Lydgate, Abbo, and others express themselves, and was crowned by Hunbert, bishop of Elman, on Christmas-day in 855, at Burum, a royal villa on he Stour, now called Bures or Buers.‡ Though very young he was by his piety, goodness, humility, and all other virtues, the model of good princes. He was a declared enemy of flatterers and informers, and would see with his own eyes and hear with his own ears, to avoid being surprised into a wrong judgment, or imposed upon by the passions or ill designs of others. The peace and happiness of his people were his whole concern, which he endeavored to establish by an impartial administration of justice and religious regulations in his dominions. He was the father of his subjects, particularly of the poor, the protector of widows and orphans, and the support of the weak. Religion and piety were the most distinguishing part of his character. Monks and devout persons used to know the psalter without book, that they might recite the psalm at work, in travelling, and on every other occasion. To get it by heart S. Edmund lived in retirement a whole year in his royal tower at Hunstanton, (which he had built for a country solitude,) which place is now a village in Norfolk. The book which the saint used for that purpose was religiously kept at St. Edmundsbury till the dissolution of abbeys.1

The holy king had reigned fifteen years when the Danes infested his dominions. The Danish Chronicle relates,2 that Regner Lodbrog, king of Denmark, was taken prisoner, and put to death in Ireland, which he had invaded. Harald Klag, who had fled from his tyranny to Louis Dbonnaire in Germany, and received the Christain faith, succeeded him, but relapsed into idolatry. After him Syward III., and Eric I. and II., reigned; the latter, towards the end of his life, was converted to the faith by St. Anscharius. In his time the sons of Regner Lodbrog, after having subdued Norway, laid England waste. Their names were Eric, Orebic, Godfrey, Hinguar, Hubba, Ulfo, and Biorno, who, with mighty armies which they collected in the northern kingdoms, all commenced adventurers and pirates. Hinguar and Hubba, two of these brothers, the most barbarous of all the Danish plunderers, landing in England, wintered among the East Angles; then, having made a truce with that nation, they in summer sailed to the north, and, landing at the mouth of the Tweed, plundered with fire and sword Northumberland, and afterwards Mercia, directing their march through Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and Cambridgeshire. Out of a lust of rage and cruelty, and the most implacable aversion to the Christian name, they everywhere destroyed the churches and monasteries; and, as it were in barbarous sport, massacred all priests and religious persons whom they met with. In the great monastery of Coldingham, beyond Berwick, the nuns fearing not death, but insults which might be offered to their chastity, at the instigation of St. Ebba, the holy abbess, cut off their noses and upper lips, that, appearing to the barbarians frightful spectacles of horror, they might preserve their virtue from danger: the infidels accordingly were disconcerted at such a sight, and spared their virtue, but put them all to the sword. In their march, among other monasteries, those of Bardney, Croyland, Peterborough, Ely, and Huntingdon were levelled with the ground, and the religious inhabitants murdered. In the cathedral of Peterborough is shown a monument (removed thither from a place without the building) called Monk’s-stone, on which are the effigies of an abbot and several monks. It stood over the pit in which fourscore monks of this house were interred, whom Hinguar and Hubba massacred in 870. The barbarians, reeking with blood, poured down upon St. Edmund’s dominions, burning Thetford, the first town they met with, and laying waste all before them. The people, relying upon the faith of treaties, thought themselves secure, and were unprepared. However, the good king raised what forces he could, met the infidels, or at least a part of their army, near Thetford, and discomfited them. But seeing them soon after reinforced with fresh numbers against which his small body was not able to make any stand, and being unwilling to sacrifice the lives of his soldiers in vain, and grieving for the eternal loss of the souls of his enemies, who would be slain in a fruitless engagement, he disbanded his troops, and retired himself towards his castle of Framlingham in Suffolk.* The barbarian had sent him proposals which were inconsistent both with religion and with the justice which he owed to his people. These the saint rejected, being resolved rather to die a victim of his faith and duty to God, than to do any thing against his conscience and religion. In his flight he was overtaken and surrounded by infidels at Oxon, upon the Waveney: he concealed himself for some short time, but, being discovered, was bound with heavy chains, and conducted to the general’s tent. Terms were again offered him equally prejudicial to religion and to his people, which the holy king refused to confirm, declaring that religion was dearer to him than his life, which he would never purchase by offending God. Hinguar, exasperated at this answer, in his barbarous rage caused him to be cruelly beaten with cudgels; then to be tied to a tree, and torn a long time together with whips. All this he bore with invincible meekness and patience, never ceasing to call upon the name of Jesus. The infidels were the more exasperated, and as he stood bound to the tree, they made him a mark wantonly to shoot at, till his body was covered with arrows, like a porcupine. Hinguar at length, in order to put an end to the butchery, commanded his head to be struck off. Thus the saint finished his martyrdom on the 20th of November, in 870, the fifteenth of his reign, and twenty-ninth of his age; the circumstances of which St. Dunstan learned from one who was armor-bearer to the saint and an eye-witness. The place was then called Henglesdun, now Hoxon or Hoxne; a priory of monks was afterwards built there, which bore the name of the martyr.

The saint’s head was carried by the infidels into a wood, and thrown into a brake of bushes; but miraculously found by a pillar of light, and deposited with the body at Hoxon. These sacred remains were very soon after conveyed to Bedricsworth, or Kingston, since called St. Edmundsbury, because this place was St. Edmund’s own town and private patrimony; not on account of his burial, for Bury in the English-Saxon language signified a court or palace.3 A church of timber was erected over the place where he was interred; which was thus built, according to the fashion of those times. Trunks of large trees were sawn lengthwise in the middle, and reared up with one end fixed in the ground, with the bark or rough side outermost. These trunks being made of an equal height, and set up close to one another and the interstices filled up with mud or mortar, formed the four walls, upon which was raised a thatched roof.† Nor can we be surprised at the homeliness of this structure, since the same was the fabric of the royal rich abbey of Glastenbury, the work of the mast munificent and powerful West Saxon kings, till in latter ages it was built in a stately manner of stone. The precious remains of St. Edmund were honored with many miracles. In 920, for fear of the barbarians under Turkil the Dane in the reign of king Ethelred, they were conveyed to London by Alfun, bishop of that city and the monk Egelwin, or Ailwin, the keeper of this sacred treasure, who never abandoned it. After remaining three years in the church of St. Gregory in London, it was translated again with honor to St. Edmundsbury, in 923.4 The great church of timber-work stood till king Knute, or Canutus, to make reparation for the injuries his father Swein, or Sweno, had done to this place, and to the relies of the martyr, built and founded there, in 1020, a new and most magnificent church and abbey in honor of this holy martyr.* The unparalleled piety, humility, meekness, and other virtues of St. Edmund are admirably set forth by our historians.5 This incomparable prince and holy martyr was considered by succeeding English kings as their special patron, and as an accomplished model of all royal virtues. Henry VI. who, with a weak understanding in secular matters, joined an uncommon goodness of heart, made the practice of religion the study of his whole life, and shared largely in afflictions, the portion of the elect, had a singular devotion to this saint, and enjoyed nowhere so much comfort, peace, and joy as in the retreats which he made in the monastery of St. Edmundsbury. The feast of St. Edmund is reckoned among the holidays of precept in this kingdom by the national council of Oxford, in 1222; but is omitted in the constitutions of archbishop Simon Islep, who retrenched certain holidays in 1362.6

No Christian can be surprised that innocence should suffer. Prosperity is often the most grievous judgment that God exercises upon a wicked man, who by it is suffered, in punishment of his impiety, to blind and harden himself in his evil courses, and to plunge himself deeper in iniquity. On the other hand, God, in his merciful providence, conducts second causes, so that afflictions fall to the share of those souls whose sanctification he has particularly in view. By tribulation a man learns perfectly to die to the world and himself, a work which without its aid, even the severest self-denial, and the most perfect obedience, leave imperfect. By tribulation we learn the perfect exercise of humility, patience, meekness, resignation, and pure love of God; which are neither practised nor learned without such occasions. By a good use of tribulation a person becomes a saint in a very short time, and at a cheap rate. The opportunity and grace of suffering well is a mercy in favor of chosen souls; and a mercy to which every saint from Abel to the last of the elect is indebted for his crown. We meet with sufferings from ourselves, from disappointments, from friends, and from enemies. We are on every side beset with crosses. But we bear them with impatience and complaints. Thus we cherish our passions, and multiply sins by the very means which are given us to crucify and overcome them. To learn to bear crosses well is one of the most essential and most important duties of a Christian life. To make a good use of the little crosses which we continually meet with, is the means of making the greatest progress in all virtue, and of obtaining strength to stand our ground under great trials. St. Edmund’s whole life was a preparation for martyrdom.

NOVEMBER 20 — ST. HUMBERT, BISHOP OF THE EAST ANGLES, M

St. Edmund was crowned king by this holy prelate on the 25th of December, in 855; and St. Humbert was martyred by the hands of the same Danes, and about the same time with him, and was likewise honored by our ancestors among the martyrs on the same day.

NOVEMBER 20 — ST. FELIX OF VALOIS, C

The surname of Valois was given to this saint, according to some, because he was of the royal branch of Valois in France;* but according to Jaffred,1 Baillet, and many others, because he was of the province of Valois. The saint was born in 1127, and when grown up renounced his estate, which was very considerable, and retired into a great wood, in the diocese of Meaux, called Cerfroi. Here, sequestered from the world, and forgetting its shadows and appearances, which grossly impose upon its deluded votaries, he enjoyed himself and God, and studied to purify, reform, and govern his own heart, and to live only to his Creator. In the calm and serenity of this silent retreat, letting others amuse themselves with the airy bubbles of ambition, and enjoy the cheats of fancy, and the flatteries of sense, he abandoned himself to the heavenly delights of holy contemplation, (which raised his soul above all created things,) and to the greatest rigors of penance, which were known only to God, but which fervor, love, and compunction rendered sweeter to him than the joys of theatres. The devout hermit had no thoughts but of dying in the obscurity of this silent retreat, when Divine Providence called him thence to make him a great instrument of advancing his honor among men.

St. John of Matha, a young nobleman, a native of Provence, and doctor of divinity, who was lately ordained priest, having heard much of the wonderful sanctity of the holy hermit of Cerfroi, sought him out in his desert, and put himself under his direction. Felix soon perceived that his new guest was no novice in the exercises of a spiritual life; and it is not to be expressed with what fervor the two servants of God applied themselves to the practice of all virtues. Their fasts and watchings exceeded the strength of those who have not inured themselves by long habits to such extraordinary austerities: prayer and contemplation were their ordinary employment, and all their conversation tended to inflame each other to the most ardent love of God. After some time St. John proposed to the other a project of establishing a religious order for the redemption of captives, a design with which he was inspired when he said his first mass. Felix, though seventy years of age, readily offered himself to do and suffer whatever it should please God in the execution of so charitable a design. They agreed to consult heaven by redoubling their fasts and prayers for three days: after which term they resolved to beg the approbation of the holy see, and made an austere pilgrimage together to Rome, in the depth of winter, and arrived there in January, 1198. Innocent III., who was lately installed in St. Peter’s chair, having read the strong letters of recommendation which the bishop of Paris sent him in their favor, received them as if they had been two angels sent by God, and lodged them in his own palace. After many audiences, and several deliberations with his cardinals and prelates, having consulted God by prayer and fasting, his holiness was persuaded the two hermits were moved by the Holy Ghost, and gave a solemn approbation of a new religious institute which he would have called of the Holy Trinity, and of which he appointed St. John of Matha the superior-general. Eudo of Sully, bishop of Paris, and the abbot of St. Victor were commissioned by him to draw up a rule or constitutions, which they had already projected; and they were confirmed by his holiness on the 17th of December following. The holy founders who had taken a second journey to Rome to present their rule to the pope, returned into France with its confirmation, and were everywhere received with applause and benedictions. King Philip Augustus authorized the establishment of their order in France, and promoted it by his liberalities. Margaret of Blois gave them twenty acres of the wood where their hermitage was situate, with other benefactions; and they built the monastery of Cerfroi, which is the mother and chief house of the order, about a mile from their old cells.* This order within the space of forty years was so much increased as to be possessed of six hundred monasteries. St. John being obliged to go to Rome to settle his institute there in the church of St. Thomas della Navicella, upon Mount Clius, the direction of the new convents which were erected in France, was left to St. Felix, who, among other houses, founded one at Paris, in the church of St. Maturinus, though the house was afterwards rebuilt more spacious by Robert Gaguin, the learned and famous general of this order, who died in 1501. St. John, after two voyages to Barbary, spent the two last years of his life at Rome, where he died on the 21st of December, in 1213.† St. Felix died in his solitude at Cerfroi a year and about six weeks before him, on the 4th of November in the year 1212, being fourscore and five years and seven months old. It is related, that a little time before his death, coming to choir to matins before the rest, he saw there the Blessed Virgin with a company of heavenly spirits singing the divine office; which vision is frequently represented in pictures of this saint. It is the constant tradition of the order, that these two founders were canonized by a bull of Urban IV. in 1260: though the bull is nowhere extant. That the festival of St. Felix was kept in the whole diocese of Meaux in 1219, is proved by an authentic act, produced by Du Plessis.2 Alexander VII. in 1666 declared his veneration to be of time immemorial. Innocent XI. in 1679 transferred the feast of St. John to the 8th of February; and that of St. Felix to the 20th of November. See Gaguin, Hist. Franc. in Philip Aug. and in the Chronicles of his order; Ciaconius in Innocent III., Francis a S. Laurentio, Compendium Vit SS. Johannis et Felicis; Joffred, Nica Illustr. p. 123; Du Plessis, Hist. de l’Eglise de Meaux,1. 2, c. 116, 135, p. 172, &c.

NOVEMBER 20 — ST. BERNWARD, BISHOP OF HILDESHEIM, C

He was chaplain to Otho III., king of Germany, afterwards emperor, being made bishop of Hildesheim, in 992, he spent the day in his functions, and a great part of the night in prayer, and died in 1021, on the 20th of November. His name was enrolled among the saints by Celestin III. in 1194. See his life begun by Tangmar, his preceptor, and continued by two others who knew the saint, in Brower’s Sider. Illustr. and in Surius.

NOVEMBER 20 — ST. MAXENTIA V. M

This saint was a Scottish, or rather Irish lady, and is said to have been of royal extraction. To preserve her virginity, which she had consecrated to God by vow, she retired into France, where she lived a recluse near the river Oise, two leagues from Senlis. She was pursued, discovered, and murdered by a child of Belial who had not been able to shake her virtuous resolution. One of the continuators of Fredegarius mentions in the seventh century her veneration1 at the passage of the Oise, which town is, from her precious relics which are honored there, called Pont-Sainte-Maxence. Her festival was kept in Ireland and England on the 24th of October: in some places in England on the 16th of April, to which Wilson transfers it in the second edition of his English Martyrology: in Scotland, and in the diocese of Beauvais, it is celebrated on the 20th of November, as appears from the Breviaries of Aberdeen and Beauvais. See Henschenius, t. 2, Apr., p. 402.

NOVEMBER 21 — THE PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Religious parents never fail by devout prayer to consecrate their children to the divine service and love, both before and after their birth. Some, among the Jews, not content with this general consecration of their children, offered them to God in their infancy, by the hands of the priests in the temple, to be lodged in apartments belonging to the temple, and brought up in attending the priests and Levites in the sacred ministry. Thus Samuel and others were dedicated to God in their tender age. There were also apartments in which women devoted themselves to the divine service in the temple: witness Josabeth, the wife of Joiada,1 and Anne, the daughter of Phanue1.2 It is an ancient tradition, that the Blessed Virgin Mary was thus solemnly offered to God in the temple in her infancy.3 This festival of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, or, as it is often called by the Greeks, the entrance of the Blessed Virgin into the temple, is mentioned in the most ancient Greek Menologies extant: also in a constitution of the emperor Emanuel recited by Balsamon.4 Upon this festival we have several sermons of Germanus, patriarch of Constantinople, in the thirteenth century,5 of St. Tarasius, patriarch of Constantinople, of the emperor Leo the Wise,6 of George, not archbishop of Nicomedia, as Surius calls him, but chancellor* of the see of Constantinople, &c. This festival passed from the Greeks into the West, and was kept at Avignon in 1372.7 Three years after this it is mentioned in a letter of Charles V. the French king.8 Sixtus V., in 1585,† commanded the office of this day to be recited by the whole church. Molanus tells us, it had been published before by Pius II. and Paul II., with indulgences annexed.

By the consecration which the Blessed Virgin made of herself to God in the first use which she made of her reason, we are admonished of the most important and strict obligation which all persons lie under, of an early dedication of themselves to the divine love and service. It is agreed among all masters of Christian morality, that every one is bound in the first moral instant of the use of reason to convert his heart to God by love; and if divine faith be then duly proposed to him (which is the case of Christian children) by a supernatural assent to it, he is bound then to make an act of faith: also an act of hope in God as a supernatural rewarder and helper, and an act of divine charity. Who can be secure that in the very moment in which he entered into his moral life, and was capable of living to God, he did not stain his innocence by a capital omission of this duty? Of this we can only judge by the care which is taken in the great duty of prayer about that age. How diligent and solicitous are parents bound to be in instructing their children in the first fundamental mysteries of faith, and in the duty of prayer, and in impressing upon their tender minds a sense of spiritual things in a manner in which their age may be capable of receiving it. These first fruits of the heart are a sacrifice of which God is infinitely jealous, an emblem of which, were all the sacrifices of first fruits prescribed in the old law, in token that he is our beginning and last end. Such a heart, adorned with the baptismal grace of innocence, has particular charms. A victim which bears the divine image perfect and entire, without having ever been stained with any spot, or tainted with the least corruption, is most agreeable to God. Grace recovered by penance is not like that of innocence which has never been defiled; nor is it the same happiness for a soul to return to God from the slavery of sin, as for one to give him her first affections, and to open her understanding and will to his love before the world has found any entrance there. This is a present suiting the spotless and infinite sanctity of God, and a pure holocaust most acceptable in his holy eyes. In return he will pour forth his most precious grace upon such a soul, whose affections, on the other side, will flow more easily and strongly towards him, not having been hampered in the inordinate love of creatures and easily conquering all lets and impediments which might abate their ardor. The tender soul of Mary was then adorned with the most precious graces, an object of astonishment and praise to the angels, and of the highest complacence to the adorable Trinity, the Father looking upon her as his beloved daughter, the Son, as one chosen and prepared to become his mother, and the Holy Ghost as his darling spouse.

Her first presentation to God, made by the hands of her parents and by her own devotion, was then an offering most acceptable in his sight. Let our consecration of ourselves to God be made under her patronage, and assisted by her powerful intercession and the union of her merits. If we have reason to fear that we criminally neglected this duty at the first dawning of our reason, or, if we have since been unfaithful to our sacred baptismal engagements, such is the mercy and goodness of our gracious God, that he disdains not our late offerings. But that these may be accepted by him, we must first prepare the present he requires of us, that is, our hearts. They must be washed and cleansed in the sacred laver of Christ’s adorable blood, by means of sincere compunction and penance; and all inordinate affections must be pared away by our perfectly renouncing in spirit, honors, riches, and pleasures, and being perfectly disengaged from creatures, and ready to do and suffer all for God, that we may be entirely his, and that neither the world nor pride, nor any irregular passion may have any place in us. What secret affections to this or that creature lurk in our souls, which hinder us from being altogether his, unless they are perfectly cut off or reformed! What constant watchfulness and fidelity are necessary to maintain and increase the fervor of this consecration of ourselves to God, daily renewing the same, and studying to render it more perfect! This Mary did by spending her youth in holy retirement, at a distance from the commerce and corruption of the world, and by the most assiduous application to all the duties and exercises of a religious and interior life. Mary was the first who set up the standard of virginity; and, by consecrating it by a perpetual vow to our Lord, she opened the way to all virgins who have since followed her example. They, in particular, ought to take her for their special patroness, and, as her life was the most perfect model of their state, they ought always to have her example before their eyes, and imitate her in prayer, humility, modesty, silence, and retirement. “She who had the good company of holy thoughts,” says St. Ambrose, “did not desire the conversation of other virgins; but then she was least alone, when she was alone: for, how can it be said that she was alone who had with her so many devout books, so many archangels, so many prophets. If she was troubled when the angel Gabriel entered, it was not because she was not accustomed to converse with angels, but because he appeared in the shape of a man.—Hence, we may understand the wariness of her religious and chaste ears, and of her venerable and chaste eyes.”

Mary lived retired till she was introduced into the world and espoused to St. Joseph. Some think her espousals were at first only a promise or betrothing: but the ends assigned by the fathers, seem rather to show them to have been a marriage. These are summed up by St. Jerom, as follows:9 that by the pedigree of Joseph, the descent of Mary, from the tribe of Juda, might be demonstrated: that she might not be stoned by the Jews as an adulteress: that, fleeing into Egypt, she might have the comfort and protection of a spouse. A fourth reason, says St. Jerom, is added by the martyr Ignatius: that the birth of the Son of God might be concealed from the devil. The words of that apostolic father are: “Three mysteries wrought by God in silence were concealed from the prince of this world; the virginity of Mary; the bringing forth of her Son: and the death of the Lord.”10 Not that God could fear any impediment to his designs, from the devil; but he was pleased to effect these mysteries in silence and without worldly show and noise, that pride and hell might, by his all-wise and sweet providence, be more meetly triumphed over, while the devil himself hastened his own overthrow by concurring to the mystery of the cross. From the marriage of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, St. Austin shows,11 that marriage requires no more than the mutual consent of the will between parties which lie under no impediment or inability, to an indissoluble individual society of life. In this holy marriage we admire the incomparable chastity of Mary and Joseph; and the sanctity and honor, as well as the patronage and example which that holy state receives from this mystery. In certain particular churches the espousals of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph are honored with an office on the 23d of January.

NOVEMBER 21 — ST. COLUMBAN, ABBOT, C

He was a native of Leinster, one of the four principal provinces of Ireland, and was born about the middle of the sixth century. The monastic institute received at that time the greatest lustre in that country, from the eminent sanctity and great learning of those who professed it, who rendered it an Island of Saints, and the mart of sacred literature. It abounded in monasteries, which were so many great schools of sacred learning, and in which many fervent persons, by a special call of God, led an abstracted life, devoted to retirement, contemplation, and the practice of penance, sequestered not only from the distraction of secular business, but also from ordinary conversation with the world, that they might more freely converse with God and his heavenly spirits. The most numerous and most celebrated of these monasteries was that of Benchor, in the county of Down, founded by St. Comgal, about the year 550; and under his direction a great number of fervent servants of God seemed to lead an angelical life in mortal flesh. They tilled the ground with their own hands, and followed other manual labor which did not interrupt their prayer and heavenly contemplation. They also applied themselves to sacred studies, in which St. Comgal was himself an excellent master.* Their rule was originally borrowed from those of St. Basil, and other orientals.

St. Columban, after having learned the first elements of the sciences under St. Sinellus at Cluain-Inys, took the religious habit at Benchor, and lived there several years, inuring himself to the most austere practices of mortification. Such was the progress he made in the sacred sciences as to be esteemed a kind of oracle in them; and, when very young, he composed a commentary on the Psalms, to be a help to devotion to himself and others in reciting those divine prayers: but this work is long since lost. To disengage himself more perfectly from the world and all earthly ties, he desired, like Abraham, to travel into some foreign country; and, having communicated his design to St. Comgal, obtained his leave and blessing, though with some difficulty. For the holy abbot was sorry to be deprived of such an assistant, and only consented because he was satisfied that the desire of Columban was an inspiration of God for the advancement of his honor Our saint departed from Benchor with twelve other monks, being about thirty years of age. He passed into Britain, and thence into Gaul, where he arrived about the year 585. Ecclesiastical discipline was there much neglected, partly by the incursions of the barbarians, and partly through the remissness of some of the prelates. There were few places where penance was observed, or mortification practised. Columban preached in all places through which he passed and the sanctity of his life added great weight to his instructions. He was so humble that he always contended with his twelve companions for the lowest place. They were all of one mind; their modesty, sobriety, gentleness, patience, and charity made them universally admired. If any one was guilty of the least fault, they all joined in reforming his error. Every thing was in common; nor was ever any contradiction or harsh word heard among them. In whatever place they abode, their example inspired a universal piety.

Columban’s reputation reached the court of the king of Burgundy. This was Gontran, (not Sigebert, as some have mistaken,) who entreated him to stay in his kingdom, and offered him whatever spot of ground he should choose in all his dominions for building a monastery. Columban pitched upon the ruinous old castle of Anegrai, situate in the desert of Voge, in the mountainous part of what is now called Lorraine. Here he erected his first monastery, which is long ago extinct. This house became soon too small to contain the great numbers that desired to live under the discipline of the saint. He therefore built a second monastery called Luxeu, eight miles from the former. This became the chief house of his order, and still subsists. A third monastery was built by St. Columban, about three miles from Luxeu, which, on account of the abundance of springs in that place, was called Fountains. It is now no more than a priory dependent of Luxeu. St. Columban appointed superiors, who were persons of approved piety, over each of these monasteries, and resided himself in each by turns. Sixteen discourses or instructions which he made to his monks, out of many others which he appears by some of these to have written, are published in the Library of the Fathers.1 In them we discern the author’s great penetration and light in spiritual things, and admire his affective piety and unction, and a doctrine above what is human, to use the expression of a contemporary writer.2 Speaking of the contempt of the world the saint cries out. “O transitory life, how many hast thou deceived, seduced, and blinded! If I consider the rapidity of thy flight, thou seemest a nothing: thy existence is little more than a shadow. They who set their hearts on thee, know thee not; they only understand thee who despise thy enjoyments. When thou showest thyself, thou art again withdrawn as if thou wert no more than a phantom. What art thou but a swift course on a road, passing as a bird on the wing, uncertain as a cloud, trail as a vapor, vanishing as a shadow.”

The short poems of St. Columban on moral and pious subjects, show him to have been a good poet for the age in which he lived, and to have been acquainted with profane history and mythology.3 Among the works of St. Columban, nothing was so much admired as his Rule, which St. Benedict Anian has inserted in his collection of monastic rules, and which is full of wisdom and spiritual instruction. The author lays down for the foundation of his rule, the love of God and of our neighbor, as a general precept, upon which the superstructure of all the rest is to be raised. He inculcates obedience, poverty, disinterestedness, humility, chastity, mortification both external (or of the senses) and internal, or of the will, in doing nothing according to self-will; silence and prudence to discern between good and evil: each of these he enforces and grounds upon some text of scripture of principle of morality. He appoints, that monks shall eat only towards the evening, and only the meanest food, herbs, pulse, or meal moistened in water, with a little bread: the food to be proportioned to their labor. He will have them to eat every day that they may be able to perform all duties! and he prescribes every day to be spent in fasting, prayer, reading, and, except on festivals, manual labor. In prescribing the office which was called The Course, he mentions the number of psalms and verses to be recited at every hour. St. Columban adds, that he received these rules from his fathers, that is, the monks of Ireland. He says, that it was customary to kneel down at the end of each psalm, and mentions the obligation of every one’s praying also privately in his own chamber; and adds, that the essential parts are prayer of the heart, and the continual application of the mind to God.4 After the rule follows the saint’s penitential, containing prescriptions of penances to be imposed upon monks for every fault, how light so-ever. He that shall not answer Amen at grace, before and after meals, shall have six lashes; he that shall talk in the refectory, as many; he that shall not forbear coughing at the beginning of a psalm, shall be treated after the same manner; likewise he that shall touch the chalice with his teeth, or shall smile in the time of divine service. They that have spoken roughly or frowardly, shall receive fifty lashes, as well as they that shall have answered again to their superior. Six lashes were the chastisement of small faults: for greater, especially relating to neglects in the holy mass, sometimes two hundred, but never more than twenty-five at a time. Penance was enjoined a monk who, after finishing his task of work, did not ask for more; or did any thing without orders. Other penances were prescribed besides the discipline, as extraordinary fasts, silence, separation from the table and humiliations. St. Columban distinguishes two sorts of sins mortal sins, which were to be confessed to the priest; and lesser sins which might often be confessed to the abbot, or others who were not priests before they sat down to table, or went to bed.5 Confession preceded the penance Fleury6 and Ceillier7 observe from this penitential, that the monks, at going out or coming into the house, asked the blessing of the superior, and presented themselves before the cross; and that they made the sign of the cross upon a spoon, lamp, or whatever else they used, before they touched it: an omission of which was chastised with six lashes. There is another penitential of St. Columban, which contains canonical punishments for all kinds of sins, and all sorts of persons. The rule of St. Columban was highly esteemed, was observed in many great monasteries, and is still followed in some jointly with that of St. Bennet. The monks of St. Columban in the beginning lived on herbs and the bark of trees: and were sometimes reduced to extreme necessity, and relieved by God in a miraculous manner. It was the saint’s custom to pass some time before all great festivals in a closer solitude; for which purpose he retired to a secret cavern some miles from his monastery.

St. Columban kept the feast of Easter on the 14th day of the first moon after the spring equinox, though it fell on a Sunday, according to the custom he had learned in Ireland. Being reproved on this account by the French bishops, he consulted the holy pope St. Gregory, insisting upon the authority of Anatolius, bishop of Laodicea, in 280, and the practice of the western, that is, the Irish church.8 Though he wrote twice to St. Gregory he received no answer, and probably his letters were never delivered. He wrote about the same time, twelve years after his arrival in France, to certain French bishops assembled in a council. He presses their own duties upon them, and gives them lessons of humility and charitableness, begging that as to the time of celebrating Easter, every one might keep his own custom. After the death of St. Gregory, in 604, Sabinian held the apostolic see five months and nineteen days, and Boniface III. eight months and twenty-three days. To this pope, or to his successor, Boniface IV., St. Columban again applied himself for leave to observe the tradition of his own country in the celebration of Easter.9 But a storm was raised against him which drove him out of the kingdom of Burgundy. Childebert dying in 596, left two sons, Theodebert the elder, king of Austrasia, and Theodoric, king of Burgundy, both under the care of their grandmother, Brunehault. Theodoric had a great respect for St. Columban, who lived in his dominions; and he often visited him. The abbot reproved him for keeping concubines instead of marrying a queen, and the king promised to reform his manners according to his advice. Brunehault, fearing lest a queen should ruin her credit with her grandson, was much provoked against the holy man. Her resentment was much increased by his refusing to bless, at her desire, the king’s four natural children, saying: “They shall not inherit the kingdom; they are the fruit of debauchery.” St. Columban also denied her entrance into his monastery, when she came to visit him: for this he did to all women, and even to all seculars. At this, however, her wrath against him was rekindled.10 The abbot, seeing the king did not keep his word with him about dismissing his concubines, wrote him a severe letter, with threats of excommunication if he altered not his course of life. Brunehault took that opportunity to stir up the king against him, who banished him, first to Bensanon, and afterwards ordered two noblemen to conduct him to Nantes, and there see him shipped off for Ireland, in 610, after he had sanctified the desert of Voge for twenty-five years. It seems to have been at Nantes that he wrote a letter to his monks at Luxeu, full of discretion and charity, exhorting them to patience and union. He put to sea, but the vessel being driven back by contrary winds, he went to Clotaire II., who then reigned in Neustria. To him he foretold that the whole French monarchy would come into his power in less than three years: the same he had confidently affirmed on two other occasions on his road. He returned through Paris and Meaux, and repaired to the court of Theodebert, by whom he was well received. Under his protection he went with some of his disciples who had joined him, to preach to the infidels near the lake of Zurich. He took up his dwelling in a solitude there, near Zug. The inhabitants were cruel, and impious worshippers of idols.* St. Columban, having begun to preach the true God to them, found them one day making ready a sacrifice, and a large tub filled with beer being placed in the midst of the people, he asked them what they intended to do with it. They answered, it was to offer to their god Wodan.11 St. Columban blowed upon it, and immediately the vessel burst into splinters with a great noise, and all the beer was spilled. The barbarians were surprised, and said he had a strong breath. He exhorted them to forsake their superstitions, and retire home. Many were converted and baptized: others, who had been formerly baptized, and had apostatized, returned to the obedience of the gospel. St. Gall,* who accompanied the saint from Ireland, prompted by zeal, set fire to the pagan temples, and threw all the offerings which he found there into the lake; which he could only do upon the presumptive approbation of the people. But some that remained obstinate in their idolatry were enraged at this action, and resolved to murder him, and to scourge St. Columban, and banish him from their country. The holy men, having notice of their design, retired to Arbone, upon the lake of Constance, where a virtuous priest, named Villemar, received them courteously, and showed them a fruitful pleasant valley amidst the mountains, where stood the ruins of a little city called Brigantium, now Bregentz. In this place St. Columban and his companions found an oratory dedicated in honor of St. Aurelia, near which they built themselves cells. The people had been formerly instructed slightly in the faith, and had again relapsed into idolatry, and set up in this very oratory three brass images gilt, which they called the tutelar gods of the country. St. Columban ordered St. Gall, who understood the language of the country, to preach to the people. He did so, and afterwards broke the idols in pieces with stones, and threw the metal into the lake. St. Columban blessed the church, sprinkled it with holy water, and, together with his disciples, went round it singing psalms. After having thus solemnized the dedication, he anointed the altar, deposited the relics of St. Aurelia under it, and said mass upon it. The people showed great satisfaction; and returned to the worship of the true God. St. Columban continued at Bregentz near three years, and built there a small monastery. Some of his disciples worked in the kitchen-garden, others cultivated fruit-trees, others were fishermen, and he himself made nets. In the mean time. Theodoric and Theodebert were at variance, and Theodebert, being defeated, was treacherously delivered up by his own men, and sent by his brother to their grandmother Brunehault, who, having sided with Theodoric, obliged the vanquished prince to receive holy orders, and not many days after put him to death.

St. Columban, seeing Theodoric, his enemy, was become master of the country where he lived, and perceiving that he could no longer remain there with safety, went with many of his disciples into Italy. St. Gall, hindered by a fever, stayed behind, and afterwards built, not far from thence, the monastery which bears his name. St. Columban met with a kind reception from Agilulph, king of the Lombards, and under his protection erected the famous monastery of Bobio, in a desert amidst the Appenine mountains, near the river Trebia. He also built an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, near which he lived himself in a cave, in strict fasting and retirement all Lent, and at several other seasons of the year: at which time he visited his monastery only on Sundays and festivals. The affair of The Three Chapters, or writings which were condemned in the East by the fifth council at Constantinople, and by pope Vigilius, as favoring Nestorianism, made at that time a great noise in Italy. The bishops of Istria, and some in Africa, defended these writings with such warmth as to break off communion with the pope and the whole Catholic church, and to set up an open schism. Several among the Lombards harbored mistaken prejudices in favor of the three chapters grounded upon misinformations, imagining that by their condemnation the council of Chalcedon was condemned, with many other mistakes about the remote transactions of the orientals in that controversy; which mistakes were very easy, the greatest part of the West being, for want of commerce, and through their ignorance of the Greek tongue, strangers to the affairs of the East, except as to what they learned by vague and often false and imperfect relations. Pope Gregory the Great tolerated the conduct of those in the West, chiefly in Lombardy, who, upon mistakes concerning facts which passed in the East, defended the three chapters, but did not on that account break off communion, till they could be better informed, as their faith was in all respects orthodox. Hence he constantly communicated with them, and honored the warmest sticklers among them with frequent kind letters and presents. Of this number were king Agilulph and his queen Theodelinda, who were persons of singular zeal and piety, had converted their subjects from the Arian heresy, and founded many monasteries and churches. St. Columban coming into Lombardy, received his informations concerning this debate from these mistakes informations, and declared himself in favor of the three chapters. At the solicitation of king Agilulph and queen Theodelinda, his patrons, and the founders of his monastery, he wrote to pope Boniface IV. a strong letter in defence of the three chapters, and against pope Vigilius, imagining he had condemned in the East the council of Chalcedon, as Liberius had signed a confession of faith favorable to the Arians. Dr. Cave takes notice that, “It is evident from this very epistle of Columban, that he was not rightly informed in the affair of the three chapters.”12 In the same letter the author expresses great zeal for the honor of the Roman see, and professes himself inviolably attached to it.* He continued to his dying day in its communion, and never joined the schismatics in Istria.

In France king Theodoric died some months after the murder of his brother Theodebert, in 613, and was succeeded by his son Sigebert, an infant, under the government of his great-grandmother, Brunehault. King Clotaire made war upon them, took Sigebert and two of his brothers prisoners, and put Brunehault to a cruel death. Thus he remained sole king of the Franks in the same manner as his grandfather Clotaire had been, in the year 511, the thirty-first of his reign. Seeing the prophecy of St. Columban so fully accomplished, he sent Eustasius, whom the holy man had left abbot of Luxeu, to invite him back into France. The saint alleged he could not then abandon Italy, but he wrote to the king earnestly exhorting him to reform his present course of life. Clotaire, for his sake, powerfully protected his monastery of Luxeu, enriched it with considerable revenues, and enlarged its limits. Luxeu is still in a flourishing condition, and the chief monastery of those which the reformed congregation of St. Vanne possesses in the Franche-compt.13 The abbot Jonas, in the life of St. Columban, informs us, that he had confuted the Arians among the Lombards with great strength and success, particularly at Milan, and that he composed a very learned work against that heresy, though it is long since lost. St. Columban lived to govern his new monastery of Bobio only about a year, and died on the 21st of November, in 615. In his poem on Fedolius, which he seems to have written a little before his death, he says he was then arrived at his eighteenth Olympiad; he was, consequently, at that time at least seventy-two years old. The breviary of the French Benedictins styles him one of the chief patriarchs of the monastic institute, especially in France, where many of the principal monasteries followed his rule, till in the reign of Charlemagne, for the sake of uniformity, they all receive that of St. Bennet. St. Columban is honored in many churches of France Italy, and other countries, and is named in the Roman Martyrology. See his life well written by Jonas, abbot of Luxeu, in 650;* Rivet, Hist. Lit. de la France, t. 3, p. 505; Helyot, t. 5, p. 65; Ceillier, t. 17, p. 462; Fleming’s Collectanea, &c.

NOVEMBER 21 — ST. GELASIUS, POPE, C

Pope Felix II., or, as he is often styled, III., died on the 25th of February, in 492, and soon after Gelasius, of an African family, but a native of Rome, was ordained bishop of that city. He governed the church four years, eight months, and eighteen days. This pope was a very learned man, and very skilful and knowing in the customs and usages of the church: and is extolled for the purity of his manners, his extraordinary humility, temperance, austerity of life, and liberality to the poor, for whose sake he kept himself always poor, as Dionysius Exiguus, who died before the year 556, tells us.1 Facundus of Hermione, who wrote within a few years after his death, says, “He was famous over the whole world for his learning, and the sanctity of his life.”2 To his other great virtues he joined a love of order and discipline, with an uncommon prudence and courage. Upon his accession to the pontifical chair, he refused to send letters of communion to Euphemius, bishop of Constantinople, because he refused to expunge out of the dyptics (or register of orthodox bishops deceased, who were named at the altar) the name of Acacius, one of his late predecessors, who indeed, never rejected the council of Chalcedon, but had shown too much condescension to his master, the emperor, in favoring the Eutychians, and in living in communion with Peter, the notorious, most artful Eutychian usurper of the see of Alexandria, and other ringleaders of that sect. Euphemius, who, after the short episcopacy of Fravitas, had succeeded Acacius, was a zealous Catholic, and was afterwards banished for his faith by the emperor Anastasius, and died at Ancyra, in 515. His name is placed by the Greeks in their Calendar; and Natalis Alexander shows that neither he nor his successor Macedonius were schismatics; for though the popes refused them the usual public tokens of communion, this was not an excommunication, much less was it extended to their subjects, as Bower and some other notorious slanderers pretend. This the Bollandists also prove by the like examples of St. Flavian of Antioch and St. Elias of Jerusalem, named in the Roman Martyrology. This intermission of the tokens of communion was, however, a mark of displeasure, as when in our days the popes have addressed their commissions to neighboring prelates, not to certain diocesans in France, who were suspected of favoring the Jansenists, or on other accounts. This interruption of the usual marks of communion between the see of Rome and the principal sees in the East, continued till, by order of the orthodox emperor Justin, in 518, John, patriarch of Constantinople, and the rest made satisfaction to Hormisdas by erasing the name of Acacius.

Pope Gelasius in several epistles,3 and in his Roman council, strenuously asserts the supremacy of his see, founded in the words of Christ to St. Peter, which see from the beginning has had the care of all the churches over the world, and from which lies no appeal to any other church. Among many rules which he lays down for the ministers of the church, he declares that its revenues are to be exactly divided into four parts whereof one is for the bishop; another for his clergy, the third for the poor and the fourth for the fabric.4 Andromachus a Roman senator and many others, attempted to restore the Lupercalia, which were riotous feasts and diversions in honor of the god Pan, which Gelasius had abolished. He enforced his prohibition by a treatise on that subject, entitled, Against Andromachus. This holy pope labored with great zeal to extirpate the Pelagian heresy, and several abuses which prevailed in the Marca of Ancona, especially simony; and he severely forbade ecclesiastics to traffic. The Manichees who concealed themselves in Rome, he detected by commanding all to receive the communion in both kinds, because those heretics abstained from the cup, reputing wine impure. This their affectation was a long time unobserved, and they received the sacrament from the Catholics, as we learn from St. Le0,5 in the year 443. They continued this practice till the prohibition of Gelasius, in 496, who justly calls the division which they made upon a superstitious motive, sacrilegious.6 His very prohibition (which ceased by disuse when that heresy was abolished) suffices to demonstrate that the use of one or both kinds was then promiscuous, and at discretion, which many instances of that and preceding ages demonstrate. Gennadius informs us, that pope Gelasius composed sacred hymns in imitation of St. Ambrose, but these are now lost.* It is manifest from the letters of St. Innocent I., St. Celestine, and St. Leo, that the church of Rome had a written order of the mass before Gelasius. This doubtless was the basis of his Sacramentary, which was printed at Rome in 1680, from a manuscript copy nine hundred years old by the care of Thomasi, a Theatin, afterwards cardina1.7 In it occur the solemn veneration of the cross on Good Friday, and the reservation of the particle of the eucharist offered the foregoing day for the communion that day; the blessing of the holy oils, the anointing, and other ceremonies used at baptism; blessing of holy water; prayers for entering new houses, &c.; several masses for the feasts of saints, expressing their invocation, and the veneration of their relics; votive masses for travellers, for obtaining charity and other virtues; for marriage with the nuptial benediction, for birth-days, for the sick, for the dead, &c. In 494, pope Gelasius held at Rome a council of seventy bishops, in which he published his famous decree, containing a list of the canonical books of scripture then universally received another of orthodox fathers; and a third of apocryphal books, which are of two classes; some forgeries, as the Acts of St. George, &c.; others genuine and useful in many things, but containing some falsity or error, and to be read with caution, or at least excluded the canon of scriptures.8 This great pope’s manner of writing is elegant and noble, but sometimes obscure and perplexed. He died in 496, on the 21st of November, on which day his name occurs in the Roman Martyrology, and those of Bede, Usuard, &c. See the works of St. Gelasius, and the councils; Anastasius, in Pontificali ap. Muratori, t. 3, p. 122; Ceillier, t. 15, p. 288.

NOVEMBER 22 — SAINT CECILY, V. M

A. D. 230.

THE name of St. Cecily has always been most illustrious in the church, and ever since the primitive ages is mentioned with distinction in the canon of the mass, and in the sacramentaries and calendars of the church. Her spouse Valerian, Tiburtius, and Maximus, an officer, who were her companions in martyrdom, are also mentioned in the same authentic and venerable writings. St. Cecily was a native of Rome, of a good family, and educated in the principles and perfect practice of the Catholic religion. In her youth she by vow consecrated her virginity to God, yet was compelled by her parents to marry a nobleman named Valerian. Him she converted to the faith, and soon after gained to the same his brother Tiburtius. The men first suffered martyrdom, being beheaded for the faith. St. Cecily finished her glorious triumph some days after them. Their acts, which are of very small authority, make them contemporary with pope Urban I., and consequently place their martyrdom about the year 230, under Alexander Severus; for, though that emperor was very favorable to the Christians, sometimes in popular commotions, or by the tyranny of prefects, several martyrs suffered in his reign.1 Ulpian, the prefect of the prtorian guards and prime minister, was a declared enemy and persecutor: but was at length murdered by the prtorian troops which were under his command. Others, however, place the triumph of these martyrs under Marcus Aurchus, between the years 176 and 180. Their sacred bodies were deposited in part of the cemetery of Calixtus, which part from our saint was called St. Cecily’s cemetery. Mention is made of an ancient church of St. Cecily in Rome in the fifth century, in which pope Symmachus held a council in the year 500. This church being fallen to decay, pope Paschal I. began to rebuild it; but was in some pain how he should find the body of the saint, for it was thought that the Lombards had taken it away, as they had many others from the cemeteries of Rome, when they besteged that city under king Astulphus, in 755. One Sunday, as this pope was assisting at matins, as he was wont, at St. Peter’s, he fell into a slumber, in which he was advertised by St. Cecily herself that the Lombards had in vain sought for her body, and that he should find it; and he accordingly discovered it in the cemetery called by her name, clothed in a robe of gold tissue, with linen cloths at her feet, dipped in her blood. With her body was found that of Valerian, her husband, and the pope caused them to be translated to her church in the city: as also the bodies of Tiburtius and Maximus, martyrs and of the popes Urban and Lucius, which lay in the adjoining cemetery of Prtextatus, on the same Appian road.2 This translation was made in 821 Pope Paschal founded a monastery in honor of these saints, near the church of St. Cecily, that the monks might perform the office day and night. He adorned that church with great magnificence, and gave to it silver plate to the amount of about nine hundred pounds,—among other things a ciborium, or tabernacle, of five hundred pounds weight; and a great many pieces of rich stuffs for veils, and such kinds of ornaments, in one of which was represented the angel crowning St. Cecily, Valerian, and Tiburtius. This church, which gives title to a cardinal priest, was sumptuously rebuilt, in 1599, by cardinal Paul Emilius Sfondrati, nephew to pope Gregory XIV.,* when Clement VIII. caused the bodies of these saints to be removed from under the high altar, and deposited in a most sumptuous vault in the same church, called the Confession of St. Cecily. It was enriched in such a manner by cardinal Paul Emilius Sfondrati as to dazzle the eye and astonish the spectator. This church of St. Cecily is called In Trastevere, or, Beyond the Tiber, to distinguish it from two other churches in Rome which bear the name of this saint.

St. Cecily, from her assiduity in singing the divine praises, (in which, according to her Acts, she often joined instrumental music with vocal,) is regarded as patroness of church music. The psalms, and many sacred canticles in several other parts of the holy scripture, and the universal practice both of the ancient Jewish and of the Christian church, recommend the religious custom of sometimes employing a decent and grave music in sounding forth the divine praises. By this homage of praise we join the heavenly spirits in their uninterrupted songs of adoration, love, and praise.† And by such music we express the spiritual joy of our hearts in this heavenly function, and excite ourselves therein to holy jubilation and devotion. Divine love and praise are the work of the heart, without which all words or exterior signs are hypocrisy and mockery. Yet as we are bound to consecrate to God our voices, and all our organs and faculties, and all creatures which we use; so we ought to employ them all in magnifying his sanctity, greatness, and glory, and sometimes to accompany our interior affections of devotion with the most expressive exterior signs. St. Chrysostom elegantly extols the good effects of sacred music, and shows how strongly the fire of divine love is kindled in the soul by devout psalmody.3 St. Austin teaches that “it is useful in moving piously the mind, and kindling the affections of divine love.”4 And he mentions that when he was but lately converted to God, by the sacred singing at church, he was moved to shed abundance of sweet tears.5 But he much bewails the danger of being too much carried away by the delight of the harmony, and confesses that he had sometimes been more pleased with the music than affected with what was sung, for which he severely condemns himself. St. Charles Borromeo in his youth allowed himself no other amusement but that of grave music, with a view to that of the church. As to music as an amusement, too much time must never be given to it, and extreme care ought to be taken, as a judicious and experienced tutor observes, that children be not set to learn it very young because it is a thing which bewitches the senses, dissipates the mind exceedingly, and alienates it from serious studies, as daily experience shows. Soft and effeminate music is to be always shunned with abhorrence, as the corrupter of the heart, and the poison of virtue.

NOVEMBER 22 — ST. THEODORUS THE STUDITE, ABBOT

St. Plato, the holy abbot of Symboleon, upon Mount Olympus, in Bithynia, being obliged to come to Constantinople for certain affairs, was received there as an angel sent from heaven, and numberless conversions were the fruit of his example and pious exhortations. He reconciled families that were at variance, promoted all virtue, and corrected vice. Soon after his return to Symboleon, the whole illustrious family of his sister Theoctista resolved to imitate his example, and, renouncing the world, founded the abbey of Saccudion, near Constantinople, in 781. Among these novices no one was more fervent in every practice of virtue than Theodorus, the son of Theoctista, then in the twenty-second year of his age. St. Plato was with difficulty prevailed upon to resign his abbacy in Bithynia to take upon him the government of this new monastery, in 782. Theodorus made so great progress in virtue and learning, that in 794 his uncle abdicated the government of the house, and, by the unanimous consent of the community, invested him in that dignity, shutting himself up in a narrow cell.

The young emperor Constantine having, in 795, put away Mary, his law ful wife, after seven years’ cohabitation, and taken to his bed Theodota, a near relation of SS. Plato and Theodorus, the saints declared loudly against such scandalous enormities. The emperor desired exceedingly to gain Theodorus, and employed for that purpose his new empress Theodota; but, though she used her utmost endeavors, by promises of large sums of money and great presents, and by the consideration of their kindred, her attempts were fruitless. The emperor then went himself to the monastery; but neither the abbot nor any of his monks were there to receive him. The prince returned to his palace in a great rage, and sent two officers with an order to see Theodorus and those monks who were his most resolute adherents severely scourged. The punishment was inflicted on the abbot and ten monks with such cruelty that the blood ran down their bodies in streams; which they suffered with great meekness and patience. After this they were banished to Thessalonica, and a strict order was published forbidding any one to receive or entertain them, so that even the abbots of that country durst not afford them any relief. St. Plato was confined in the abbey of St. Michael. St. Theodorus wrote him from Thessalonica an account of his sufferings, with the particulars of his journey.1 He wrote also to pope Leo III., and received an answer highly commending his wisdom and constancy. The emperor’s mother, Irene, having gained the principal officers, dethroned her son, and ordered his eyes to be put out; which was executed with such violence that he died of the wounds in 797. After this Irene reigned five years alone, and recalled the exiles. St. Theodorus returned to Saccudion, and reassembled his scattered flock; but, finding this monastery exposed to the insults of the Mussulmans or Saracens, who made incursions to the gates of Constantinople, took shelter within the walls of the city. The patriarch and the empress pressed him to settle in the famous monastery of S udius, so called from its founder, a patrician and consul who, coming from Rome to Constantinople, had formerly built that monastery. Constantine Copronymus had expelled the monks; but St. Theodorus restored this famous abbey, and had the comfort to see in it above a thousand monks.

In 802 the empress Irene was deposed by Nicephorus, her chief treasurer, and banished to a monastery in Prince’s Island, and afterwards to the isle of Lesbos, where she died in close confinement in 803. Nicephorus assumed the imperial diadem on the last day of October, in 802. He was one of the most treacherous and perfidious of men, dissimulation being his chief talent, and it was accompanied with the basest cruelty against all whom he but suspected to be his enemies; of which the chronicles of Theophanes and Nicephorus have preserved most shocking instances. He was a fast friend to the Manichees or Paulicians, who were numerous in Phrygia and Lycaonia, near his own country, and was fond of their oracles and superstitions to a degree of phrensy. He grievously oppressed the Catholic bishops and monasteries, and when remonstrances were made to him by a prudent friend, how odious he had rendered himself to the whole empire by his avarice and impiety, his answer was, “My heart is hardened. Never expect any thing but what you see from Nicephorus.” Setting out in May, 811, to invade Bulgaria, he desired to gain St. Theodorus, who had boldly reproved him for his impiety. He sent certain magistrates to the holy abbot for this purpose. The saint answered them as if he was speaking to the emperor, and said, “You ought to repent, and not make the evil incurable. Not content to bring yourself to the brink of the precipice, you drag others headlong after you. He whose eye beholdeth all things, declareth by my mouth that you shall not return from this expedition.” Nicephorus entered Bulgaria with a superior force, and refused all terms which Crummius, king of the Bulgarians, offered him. The barbarian, being driven to despair, came upon him by surprise, enclosed, attacked, and slew him in his tent on the 25th of July, in 811, when he had reigned eight years and nine months. Many patricians and the flower of the Christian army perished in this action. Great numbers were made prisoners, and many of these were tormented, hanged, beheaded, or shot to death with arrows, rather than consent to renounce their faith, as the Bulgarians, who were then pagans, would have forced them to do. These are honored by the Greeks as martyrs on the 23d of July. King Crummius caused a drinking-cup to be made of the emperor’s head, to be used on solemn festivals, according to the custom of the ancient Scythians. Stauracius, the son of Nicephorus, was proclaimed emperor; but he, being wounded in the late battle, took the monastic habit, and died of his wounds in the beginning of the following year. Two months after the death of Nicephorus, Michael Curopolates, surnamed Rangab, who had married Procopia, the daughter of Nicephorus, was crowned emperor on the 2d of October. He was magnificent, liberal, pious, and a zealous Catholic. By his endeavors all divisions in the church of Constantinople were made up, and the patriarch St. Nicephorus reconciled with St. Plato and St. Theodorus. Michael commanded the Paulicians to be punished with death; and some were beheaded. But St. Nicephorus put a stop to the further execution of that edict, by persuading him that it was better to leave those heretics room for repentance, though the abominations which they practised were most execrable. An Armenian, called Paul, who made his escape from Constantinople into Cappadocia, and there, setting up a school, and pretending to inspiration, continued chief of this sect for thirty years: from him these Manichees were called Paulicians, but, by his sons and others, were soon divided into several sects, all infamous for abominable impurities.2 St. Plato died in 813, on the 19th of March, and the emperor Michael, having been shamefully defeated by the Bulgarians, resolved to resign the empire. This design he communicated to Leo, the Armenian, governor of Natolia, and son of the patrician Bardas, who thereupon was chosen and crowned emperor, on the 11th of July. Michael, with his wife and children, took sanctuary in a church, and all of them embraced the monastic state. Leo defended Constantinople against the barbarians; but, having perfidiously attempted to kill their king, under pretence of a conference, that prince, in a rage, took Adrianople, and carried the archbishop Manuel and the rest of the inhabitants captives into Bulgaria, where they converted many to the Christian faith. For their zeal in preaching Christ, the archbishop and three hundred and seventy-six other Christian captives were put to cruel deaths by order of the successor of Crummius. The Greek church honors them as martyrs on the 22d of January.

During these public commotions St. Theodorus enjoyed the sweet calm of his retirement, studying every day to advance in the perfection of holy charity, and to die more perfectly to himself. He was versed in the sciences, but was the more solicitous to acquire a settled humility of heart, without which learning serves only to puff up. Humility and purity of heart give light of understanding, purge the affections, and illustrate the mind; for it is impossible, as Cassian remarks,1 that an unclean mind should obtain the gift of spiritual knowledge, or an unmortified heart that of divine charity. Our saint’s solitude was disturbed by a storm which threatened the Eastern church. The heresy of the Iconoclasts, which Leo the Isaurian had set up in the East in 725, was espoused by Leo the Armenian, who, in December, 814, signified his intention of abolishing holy images to the patriarch St. Nicephorus. The patriarch replied: “We cannot alter the ancient traditions. We venerate images as we do the cross and the book of the gospels, though there is nothing written concerning them,” (for the Iconoclasts agreed to reverence the cross and the gospels.) The holy patriarch was deprived in 815, and Theodotus Cassiteris, an Iconoclast, at that time equerry to the emperor, an illiterate layman, was ordained in his room. As soon as Nicephorus was deposed, the enemies of holy images began to deface, pull down, burn, and profane them all manner of ways St. Theodorus the Studite, to repair this scandal as much as in him lay, ordered all his monks to take images in their hands, and to carry them solemnly lifted up in the procession on Palm-Sunday, singing a hymn which begins, “We reverence thy most pure image,” and others of the like nature, in honor of Christ. The emperor, upon notice hereof, sent him a prohibition to do the like upon pain of scourging and death. The holy abbot, nevertheless, continued to encourage all to honor holy images, for which the emperor banished him into Mysia, and commanded him to be there closely confined in the castle of Mesope, near Apollonia. He forbore not still to animate the Catholics by letters, of which a great number are extant. His correspondence being discovered, the emperor ordered him to be conveyed to the tower Bonitus, at a greater distance, in Natolias and afterwards sent Nicetas, his commissary, to see him severely scourged. Nicetas, seeing the cheerfulness with which St. Theodorus put off his tunie, and offered his naked body, wasted with fasting, to the blows, was moved with compassion and conceived the highest veneration for the servant of God. In order to spare him, as often as the sentence was to be executed he contrived, under pretence of decency, to send all others out of the dungeon; then, throwing a sheepskin over Theodorus’s back, he discharged upon it a great number of blows, which were heard by those without, then pricking his arm, to stain the whips with blood, he showed them when he came out, and seemed out of breath with the pains he had taken. By his indulgence, St. Theodorus was able to write several letters in support of the Catholic cause. The most remarkable are those which he sent to all the patriarchs, and to pope Paschal. To this last he writes: “Give ear, O apostolic prelate, shepherd appointed by God over the flock of Jesus Christ; who have received the keys of the kingdom of heaven; the rock on which the Catholic church is built; for you are Peter, since you fill his see. Come to our assistance.”4 The pope having vigorously ejected from his communion Theodotus and all the Iconoclasts, St. Theodorus wrote him a letter of thanks, in which he said: “You are from the beginning the pure source of the orthodox faith: you are the secure harbor of the universal church, her shelter against the storms of heretics, and the city of refuge chosen by God for safety.”5 All the five patriarchs were unanimous in the condemnation of the Iconoclasts, as appears by the letters of St. Theodorus and other monuments.

Several famous Iconoclasts having been converted by our saint, he and his disciple Nicholas were both hung in the air, and cruelly torn with whips each receiving a hundred strip’s. After this they were shut up in a close and noisome prison, so strictly guarded, that no one could come near them Here they remained three years, enduring extreme cold in winter, and almost stifled in summer; eaten by all sorts of vermin, and tormented with hunger and thirst: for their guards, who were continually scoffing at them threw them in at a hole in a window only a little piece of bread every other day. St. Theodorus testifies, that he expected they would be left very soon to perish with hunger; and adds, “God is yet but too merciful to us.”6 He strenuously maintained the rigorous discipline of canonical penances, which all penitents were to undergo, who, for fear of torments or otherwise, had conformed to the Iconoclasts.7 One of his letters being at length intercepted, the emperor sent orders to the governor of the East to cause him to be severely chastised. The governor committed the execution to an officer, who caused Nicholas, the disciple who had written the letter, to be cruelly scourged; then a hundred stripes to be given to Theodorus; and after this, Nicholas to be again scourged, and then to be left lying on the ground, exposed to the cold air, in the month of February. The abbot Theodorus also lay stretched on the ground, out of breath, and was a long time unable to take any rest, or receive almost any nourishment. His disciple, seeing him in this condition, forgetting his own pain, moistened his tongue with a little broth, and, after he had brought him to himself, endeavored to dress his wounds, from which he was forced to cut away a great deal of mortified and corrupted flesh. Theodorus was in a high fever, and for three months in excessive pain. Before he was recovered, an officer arrived, sent by the emperor to conduct him and Nicholas to Smyrna, in June, 819. They were forced to walk in the daytime, and at night were put in irons.

At Smyrna, the archbishop, who was one of the most furious among the Iconoclasts, kept Theodorus confined in a dark dungeon under ground eighteen months, and caused him to receive a third time a hundred stripes. When the saint set out from thence to be conveyed to Constantinople, the inhuman archbishop said he would desire the emperor to send an officer to cut off his head, or at least to cut out his tongue. The persecution ended the same year, with the life of him who had raised it. Michael, commander of the confederates, (a body of troops so called,) was cast into prison by the emperor for a conspiracy against him, and his execution was only deferred one day, out of respect to the feast of Christmas, at the intercession of the impress. In the mean time the rest of the onspirators slew Leo at matins on Christmas night: his four sons and their mother were banished to the isle of Prote; and Michael was taken out of his dungeon, and, his fetters being knocked off, was crowned emperor. He was a native of Phrygia, and, from an impediment in his speech, is surnamed Michael the Stutterer. He had been educated in a certain heresy, in which was a mixture of Judaism, most of its laws being observed by this sect, except that baptism is substituted for circumcision, as Theophanes informs us. He denied the resurrection, maintained fornication to be lawful, and contemned studies, valuing himself only in the knowledge of mules, horses, and sheep. He at first affected great moderation towards the Catholics, but soon threw off the mask, and became a great persecutor. In the beginning of his reign the exiles were restored, and, among others, St. Theodorus the Studite came out of his dungeon, after full seven years’ imprisonment, from 815 to 821. He wrote a letter of thanks to Michael, exhorting him to be united with Rome, the first of the churches, and by her with the patriarchs, &c. Going towards Constantinople, he was received with the greatest honors, and wrought many miracles on the road. The new emperor refused to suffer any images in the city of Constantinople: on which account St. Theodorus, after making fruitless remonstrances to that prince, left it, and retired into the peninsula of St. Tryphon, and was followed by his disciples. He was taken ill in the beginning of November, yet walked to church on the fourth day, which was Sunday, and celebrated the holy sacrifice. His distemper increasing, he was not able to speak aloud, but he dictated to a secretary his last instructions, and to a great number of bishops and devout persons, who came to visit him in his sickness; and he left his monks an excellent testament, recommending to them fervor in all monastic duties, never to have any property, not so much as of a needle; to leave the care of temporal things to their steward, exacting from them an account, and reserving to themselves only the care of souls; to admit no delicacy in eating, not even in the entertainment of guests; to keep no money in the monastery, and to give all superfluity to the poor; to walk on foot, and, when necessary to ride in long journeys, to make use only of an ass; not to open the gate of the monastery to any woman, nor ever to speak to any except in presence of two witnesses; to catechize or hold conferences three times a week; to transact no business, spiritual or temporal, without taking the advice of the master, &c. These rules were then observed by the monks in the East, and are more enlarged upon in his greater catechism. When his last hour approached, he desired the usual prayers of the church to be read, received extreme unction, and afterwards the viaticum. After this, the wax tapers were lighted, and his brethren, placing themselves round about him in a circle, began the prayers appointed for dying persons. They were singing the hundred and eighteenth psalm, which the Greeks still sing at funerals, when he expired, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. He died in the peninsula of Tryphon, on the coast of Bithynia, near Constantinople, on the 11th of November: and is commemorated by the Latins on the day following. His successor, Naucratius, abbot of Studius, wrote the circumstances of his death in a circular letter. His body was translated to the monastery of Studius, eighteen years after his death. See the letter of Naucratius, and the saint’s authentic anonymous life; also Theophanes in Chronogr. &c.

NOVEMBER 22 — SS. PHILEMON AND APPIA

Philemon, a citizen of Coloss in Phrygia, a man of quality and very rich, had been converted either by St. Paul, when he preached at Ephesus or by his disciple Epaphras, who first announced the gospel at Coloss. So great was the progress he had made in virtue in a short time, that his house was become like a church, by the devotion and piety of those who composed it, and the religious exercises which were constantly performed in it: the assemblies of the faithful seem also to have been kept there. Onesimus, a slave, far from profiting by the good example before his eyes, became even the more wicked. He robbed his master, and fled to Rome, where God permitted him to find out St. Paul, who was then prisoner the first time in that city, in the year 62. That apostle, who was all to all to gain the whole world to Jesus Christ, received this slave with the tenderness of a father, showing so much the greater compassion as his wounds were the deeper. Habits of theft are most difficult to be cured: Onesimus was probably engaged in other evil courses, such crimes seldom go alone. Perhaps only distress had brought him to St. Paul. Yet the spirit of sincere charity and piety, with which the apostle treated him, wrought an entire change of his heart, so that its whole frame was renewed, and the stream of all his appetites so turned, that of a passionate, false, self-interested man, he was now humble, meek, patient, devout, and full of charity. True conversions are very rare, because nothing under a total and thorough change will suffice. Neither tears, nor good desires, nor intentions, nor the relinquishment of some sins, nor the performance of some good works, will avail any thing, but a new creature; a word that comprehends more in it than words can express, and which can only be understood by those who feel it within themselves. Such was the conversion of Onesimus, when he was instructed in the faith, and baptized by St. Paul. The apostle desired to detain him that he might do him those services which the convert could have wished himself to have rendered to his spiritual master. But he would not do it without the consent of him to whom he belonged; nor deprive Philemon of the merit of a good work, to which he was persuaded it would be his great pleasure to concured in justice the slave owed a satisfaction and restitution to his master. St. Paul, therefore, sent Onesimus back with an excellent epistle to Philemon in which he writes with an inimitable tenderness and power of persuasion, yet with authority and dignity. He styles himself prisoner of Jesus Christ, the more feelingly to touch the heart of Philemon, and to move him to regard his prayer. He joins Timothy, well known to Philemon, with himself, and calls Philemon his beloved, and his assistant, who shared with him the fruit and labor of the apostleship, to which the other contributed all the succors in his power. Appia, his pious and worthy wife, the apostle calls his dear sister, on the account of her faith and virtue. He would also interest in his petition the whole church of Coloss. Archippus who governed it for Epaphras, then in chains at Rome, and the domestic church or faithful house of Philemon. He wishes them grace and peace. This was his ordinary salutation. And what could he ask of God greater for them than grace, which is the source and principle of Christian virtue, and peace, which is its fruit and recompense? To praise a man to his face is a most delicate and difficult task: this he does by thanking God for Philemon, which is the only manner of praising another worthy of a Christian, who knows that all good is the gift of God. Thus he apostle commends his faith, charity, and liberality to all as a member of Christ, and declares his own affection by the strongest token, that of always remembering him, and commending him to God in all his prayers, than which no one can give a more certain mark of his sincere friendship. He uses the tender epithet of brother; and says, that the saints have found comfort by him in the assistance he afforded to all the afflicted brethren. whose interests were common among them. At last he comes to the point, but proposes it with authority, modestly putting Philemon in mind that, as an apostle, he could command him in Christ; but is content to pray him, mentioning whatever could render his entreaties more tender; as his name which expressed a great deal, his age and his chains: he intercedes for one whom he calls his own bowels, and his son begotten in his chains: he speaks of his theft and flight in soft terms, and mentions how serviceable he had himself found him. He entreats and begs for his own sake, and prays that the obligations which Philemon had to him, for the eternal salvation of his own soul, and his all, might acquit Onesimus of his debt and injustice. He concludes, conjuring him by their strict union and brotherhood in Christ. Philemon, upon such a recommendation, with joy granted Onesimus his liberty, forgave him his crimes, and all satisfaction, and shortly after sent him back to St. Paul, to serve him at Rome; but the apostle wanted not his corporal services, and made him a worthy fellow-laborer in the gospel. Both Latins and Greeks honor SS. Philemon and Appia on this or the following day. Some Greeks say Philemon died a martyr.

NOVEMBER 23 — ST. CLEMENT, POPE, M

See Tillemont t. 2, p. 162; Celliler, Wake, Pagi ad an 100, n. 2; Schelstrate, Ant. Illustr. Diss. 3, c. 2, p 340; Adnotatores in Anast. Bibi. t. 2, p. 55, ed. an. 1723; Oral, t. 1,1. 2.

A. D. 100.

ST. CLEMENT, the son of Faustinus, a Roman by birth, was of Jewish extraction; for he tells us himself, that he was of the race of Jacob.1 He was converted to the faith by St. Peter or St. Paul, and was so constant in his attendance on these apostles, and so active in assisting them in their ministry, that St. Jerom and other fathers call him an apostolic man; St. Clement of Alexandria2 styles him an apostle; and Rufinus,3 almost an apostle. Some authors attribute his conversion to St. Peter, whom he met at Csarea with St. Barnabas: but he attended St. Paul at Philippi in 62, and shared in his sufferings there. We are assured by St. Chrysostom,4 that he was a companion of this latter, with SS. Luke and Timothy, in many of his apostolie journeys, labors, and dangers. St. Paul (Phil. 4:3) calls him his fellow-laoorer, and ranks him among those whose names are written in the book of life; a privilege and matter of joy far beyond the power of commanding devils. (Luke 10:17) St. Clement followed St. Paul to Rome, where he also heard St. Peter preach, and was instructed in his school, as St. Irenus,5 and pope Zozimus testify. Tertullian tells us,6 that St. Peter ordained him bishop, by which some understand that he made him a bishop of nations to preach the gospel in many countries; others, with Epiphanius,7 that he made him his vicar at Rome, with an episcopal character to govern tha church during his absence in his frequent missions. Others suppose he might at first be made bishop of the Jewish church in that city. After the martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul, St. Linus was appointed bishop of Rome, and, after eleven years, succeeded by St. Cletus. Upon his demise, in 89, or rather in 91, St. Clement was placed in the apostolic chair. According to the Liborian Calendar he sat nine years, eleven months, and twenty days.

At Corinth, an impious and detestable division, as our saint called it, happened amongst the faithful, like that which St. Paul had appeased in the same church; and a party rebelled against holy and irreproachable priests, and presumed to depose them. It seems to have been soon after the death of Domitian, in 96,* that St. Clement, in the name of the church of Rome, wrote to them his excellent epistle, a piece highly extolled and esteemed in the primitive church as an admirable work, as Eusebius calls it.8 It was placed in rank next to the canonical books of the holy scriptures, and with them read in the churches. Whence it was found in the very ancient Alexandrian manuscript copy of the Bible which Cyril Lucaris sent to our king James I., from which Patrick Young, the learned keeper of that king’s library, published it at Oxford in 1633. St. Clement begins his letter by conciliating the benevolence of those who were at variance, tenderly putting them in mind, how edifying their behavior was when they were all humble-minded, not boasting of any thing, desiring rather to be subject than to govern, to give than to receive, content with the portion God had dispensed to them, listening diligently to his word, having an insatiable desire of doing good and a plentiful effusion of the Holy Ghost upon all of them. At that time they were sincere, without offence, not mindful of injuries, and all sedition and schism was an abomination to them. The saint laments that they had then forsaken the fear of the Lord, and were fallen into pride, envy, strife, and sedition, and pathetically exhorts them to lay aside all pride and anger, for Christ is theirs who are humble, and not theirs who exalt themselves The sceptre of the majesty of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, came not in the show of pride, though he could have done so; but with humility. He bids them look up to the Creator of the world, and think how gentle and patient he is towards his whole creation: also with what peace it all obeys his will, and the heavens, earth, impassable ocean, and worlds beyond it,† are governed by the commands of this great master. Considering how near God is to us, and that none of our thoughts are hid from him, how ought we never to do any thing contrary to his will, and honor them who are set over use showing with a sincere affection of meekness, and manifesting the government of our tongues by a love of silence. “Let your children,” says the saint, “be bred up in the instruction of the Lord, and learn how great a power humility has with God, how much a pure and holy charity avails with him, and how excellent and great his fear is.”

It appears by what follows, that some at Corinth boggled at the belief of a resurrection of the flesh, which the saint beautifully shows to be easy to the almighty power, and illustrates by the vine which sheds its leaves, then buds, spreads its leaves, flowers, and afterwards produces first sour grapes, then ripe fruit; by the morning rising from night, and corn brought forth from seed. The resurrection of the fabulous Phœnix in Arabia, which he adds was at that time very strongly affirmed and believed by judicious Roman critics,9 and might be made use of for illustration; and whether the author of this epistle believed it or no, is a point of small importance, whatever some may have said upon that subject.10 The saint adds a strong exhortation to shake off all sluggishness and laziness, for it is only the good workman who receives the bread of his labor. “We must hasten,” says he, “with all earnestness and readiness of mind, to perfect every good work, laboring with cheerfulness: for even the Creator and Lord of all things rejoices in his own works.” The latter part of this epistle is a pathetic recommendation of humility, peace, and charity. “Let every one,” says the saint, “be subject to another, according to the order in which he is placed by the gift of God. Let not the strong man neglect the care of the weak; let the weak see that he reverence the strong. Let the rich man distribute to the necessity of the poor, and let the poor bless God who giveth him one to supply his want. Let the wise man show forth his wisdom, not in words, but in good works. Let him that is humble, never speak of himself, or make show of his actions. Let him that is pure in the flesh, not grow proud of it, knowing that it was another who gave him the gift of continence.11 They who are great cannot yet subsist without those that are little: nor the little without the great.—In our body, the head without the feet is nothing: neither the feet without the head. And the smallest members of our body are yet both necessary and useful to the whole.”12 Thus the saint teaches that the lowest in the church may be the greatest before God, if they are most faithful in the discharge of their respective duties; which maxim Epictetus, the heathen philosopher, illustrates by a simile taken from a play, in which we inquire not so much who acts the part of the king, and who that of the beggar, as who acts best the character which he sustains, and to him we give our applause. St. Clement puts pastors and superiors in mind, that, with trembling and humility, they should have nothing but the fear of God in view, and take no pleasure in their own power and authority. “Let us.” says he, “pray for all such as fall into any trouble or distress: that being endued with humility and moderation, they may submit, not to us but to the will of God.”13 Fortunatus, who is mentioned by St. Pau1,14 was come from the church of Corinth to Rome, to inform that holy see of their unhappy schism. St. Clement says, he had dispatched four messengers to Corinth with him, and adds: “Send them back to us again with all speed in peace and joy, that they may the sooner acquaint us with your peace and concord so much prayed for and desired by us; and that we may rejoice in your good order.”

We have a large fragment of a second epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians, found in the same Alexandrian manuscript of the Bible; from which circumstance it appears to have been also read like the former in many churches, which St. Dionysius of Corinth expressly testifies of that church15 though it was not so celebrated among the ancients as the other. In it our saint exhorts the faithful to despise this world and its false enjoyments, and to have those which are promised us always before our eyes; to parsue virtue with all our strength, and its peace will follow us with the inexpressible delights of the promise of what is to come. The necessity of perfectly subduing both the irascible and concupiscible passions of our soul, he lays down as the foundation of a Christian life, in words which St. Clement of Alexandria enforces and illustrates. Besides these letters of St. Clement to the Corinthians, two others have been lately discovered, which are addressed to spiritual eunuchs, or virgins. Of these St. Jerom speaks, when he says of certain epistles of St. Clement:16 “In the epistles which Clement, the successor of the apostle Peter, wrote to them, that is, to such eunuchs, almost his whole discourse turns upon the excellence of virginity.” Doctor Cave,17 having in his eye the letters of this saint to the Corinthians, is angry with St. Jerom for these words, and accuses him of calling a period or two in this saint’s first epistle to the Corinthians, in which virginity is commended, the whole epistle. But this learned writer, and his friend Dr. Grabe,18 founded this false charge upon a gross mistake, being strangers to these two letters, which were found in a manuscript copy of a Syriac New Testament, by John James Westein, in 1752, and printed by him with a Latin translation at Amsterdam, in 1752, and again in 1757.* A French translation of them has been published with short critical notes. These letters are not unworthy this great disciple of St. Peter; and in them the counsels of St. Paul concerning celibacy and virginity are explained, that state is pathetically recommended, without prejudice to the honor due to the holy state of marriage; and the necessity of shunning all familiarity with persons of a different sex, and the like occasions of incontinence, is set in a true light.†

St. Clement with patience and prudence got through the persecution of Domitian. Nerva’s peaceable reign being very short, the tempest increased under Trajan, who, even from the beginning of his reign, never allowed the Christian assemblies. It was in the year 100, that the third general perse cution was raised by him, which was the more afflicting, as this reign was in other respects generally famed for justice and moderation. Rufin,19 pope Zosimus,20 and the council of Bazas in 452,21 expressly style St. Clement a martyr. In the ancient canon of the Roman mass, he is ranked among the martyrs. There stood in Rome, in the eighth century, a famous church of St. Clement, in which the cause of Celestus the Pelagian was discussed. This was one of the titles, or parishes of the city; for Renatus, legate from St. Leo to the false council of Ephesus, was priest of the title of St. Clement’s. At that time only martyrs gave titles to churches.‡ Eusebius tells us, that St. Clement departed this life in the third year of Trajan, of Christ 100 From this expression some will have it that he died a natural death. But St. Clement says of St. Paul, who certainly died a martyr, that the departed out of the world.”22 It is also objected, that St. Irenus gives the title of martyr only to St. Telesphorus among the popes before St. Eleutherius.23 But it is certain that some others were martyrs, whatever was the cause of his omission. St. Irenus mentions the epistle of St. Clement, yet omits those of St. Ignatius, though in some places he quotes him. Shall we hence argue, that St. Ignatius wrote none? When the emperor Louis Dbonnaire founded the great abbey of Cava in Abruzzo, four miles from Salerno, in 872, he enriched it with the relics of St. Clement, pope and martyr, which pope Adrian sent him, as is related at length in the chronicle of that abbey, with a history of many miracles. These relics remain there to this day.24 The ancient church of St. Clement in Rome, in which St. Gregory the Great preached several of his homilies, still retains part of his relics. It was repaired by Clement XI., but still shows entire the old structure of Christian churches, divided into three parts, the narthex, the ambo, and the sanctuary.25

St. Clement inculcates,26 that the spirit of Christianity is a spirit of perfect disengagement from the things of this world. “We must,” says he, “look upon all the things of this world, as none of ours, and not desire them This world and that to come are two enemies. We cannot therefore be friends to both; but we must resolve which we would forsake, and which we would enjoy. And we think, that it is better to hate the present things, as little, short-lived, and corruptible; and to love those which are to come, which are truly good and incorruptible.—Let us contend with all earnestness, knowing that we are now called to the combat.—Let us run in the strait road, the race that is incorruptible.—This is what Christ saith: ‘Keep your bodies pure, and your souls without spot, that ye may receive eternal life.’ ”

NOVEMBER 23 — ST. AMPHILOCHIUS, BISHOP OF ICONIUM, C

This saint was a learned and eminent father of the fourth age, an intimate friend of St. Basil and St. Gregory Nazianzen, though much younger than they were. He was a native of Cappadocia, and of a noble family; in his youth he studied oratory and the law, afterwards pleaded at the bar, acquired a great reputation for his probity, and discharged the office of judge, when St. Gregory Nazianzen recommended to him the affairs of his friends.1 Amphilochius was yet young, when, by the advice of his friend St. Gregory, he bid adieu to the world and its honors, in order to serve God in retirement, before the year 373, as appears from St. Basi1.2 The place of his retreat was a solitary part of Cappadocia, called Ozizala, so barren that no corn grew in all that country. St. Gregory Nazianzen supplied his friend with that commodity, who in return required him with presents of fruits and legumes, the produce of a garden which be curtivated Amphilochius’s aged and infirm father followed him into his retreat, and the same acquitted himself of the obligations of a most dutiful son, by the tender care he took of him. An acquaintance which he had contracted with St. Basil, had been improved into a strict league of friendship, and when that holy doctor was made archbishop of Csarea, our saint would have followed him thither, if he had not been prevented by two obstacles. The first was, the necessity of attending his father, and affording him the comfort of his presence. The second was a fear lest his friend should engage him in the ecclesiastical ministry; which apprehension made him on all occasions shun St. Basil, from the time he was raised to the dignity of metropolitan, as that saint testifies.3 But God, who called him to that charge which he dreaded, conducted him to it by means against which he never thought of taking any precautions. Divine providence led him to Iconium, at a time when that church was destitute of a pastor. This city was capital of the second Pisidia, otherwise called Lycaonia. Upon information that he was passing through the country, the ciergy and people with one voice elected him bishop. Amphilochius, astonished at this accident, thought of nothing but betaking himself to flight; but God deprived him of the means of executing such a design. St. Basil, who looked upon his ordination as something miraculous, wrote to compliment him upon it, and exhorted him strenuously to oppose vice and heresies,4 and correct ill customs, never suffering himself to be drawn into a connivance at what is evil, because it is become fashionable, or authorized by example; for he was not to be led, but to guide others. It was some time before our saint could be comforted. His father also was extremely grieved at his promotion, which deprived him of the support of his old age; and he laid the blame on St. Gregory Nazianzen, as if he had by some contrivance concurred to it. St. Amphilochius, immediately after his ordination, which was in 374, paid a visit to St. Basil at Csarea, and preached, as was usual for bishops who were strangers, before the people, who relished his sermons above those of any stranger they had heard. St. Amphilochius often consulted St. Basil upon difficult points of doctrine and discipline, which the other answered with extraordinary modesty, showing that he rather sought an opportunity of receiving instructions himself. He invited St. Amphilochius to come again to Csarea, for the festival of St. Eupsychius, and our saint seems to have complied with his request; but was not able to do it again in 375, on account of the sickness. Soon after this, St. Basil, in a dangerous fit of illness, recommended to him the care of his own church of Csarea, in case of death.

In 376, St. Amphilochius held a council at Iconium against the Macedonian heretics, who denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost. He assisted at the general council of Constantinople against the same heretics in 381, and at another council in the same city in 383. In a law enacted by Theodosius in 381, he is regarded as one of the centres of the Catholic communion in the East. Theodoret relates,5 that St. Amphilochius, when he was at Constantinople, petitioned the emperor Theodosius that by a law he would forbid the Arians to hold their assemblies, or to blaspheme the Son of God, which the emperor judged too rigorous, and refused to do. Amphilochius returning some time after to the palace, and seeing Arcadius the emperor’s son, who had been already proclaimed emperor, close by his father, saluted the father but took no notice of the son; and when Theodosius put him in mind to do it refused to comply. Whereupon Theodosius fell into a passion. Then the bishop said to him: “You cannot bear an injury done to the emperor your son; and how can you suffer those who dishonor the Son of God.” The emperor, surprised at his reply, immediately made a law extant in the code, whereby he forbade the Arians, Eunomians, Macedonians, and Mani chees to hold their meetings: to these heretics he afterwards added the Apollinarists. Theodoret informs us, that St. Amphilochius zealously opposed the rising heresy of the Messalians, or Euchites, that is, the Prayers for the word Messal in Syriac, and Euchites in Greek have the same signification. These were a set of fanatics who sprang up in Mesopotamia, and gave much disturbance to the church; pretending to an extraordinary perfection, they placed the whole essence of religion in prayer alone, rejected the use of the sacraments, and all other practices of religion, even fasting, lived in the fields with their wives and children, leading idle vagabond lives, meeting every night and morning in their oratories, (which were buildings open at the top,) by the light of lamps, to sing spiritual songs, and applying themselves to prayer without interruption, especially reciting often the Lord’s prayer.6 St. Epiphanius tells us they explained the texts of scripture concerning selling all their goods, and of praying without intermission according to the rigor of the letter. They pretended to visions and wonderful illuminations, in which much is to be ascribed to a heated imagination though it seems not to be doubted but, by the divine permission, they sometimes suffered extraordinary impulses and illusions from the devil; in which it is easy to discover in the imperfect relations which we have of them, an affinity with the modern fanatics of several sects, as those of the Cevennes among the Huguenots,* the Convulsionarists among the Jansenists at Paris,† and several English sects.

St. Amphilochius procured the condemnation of the Messalians in the council of Sida in Pamphilia, wherein he presided, and he confuted them by several works. Of these and his other writings we have nothing extant except large fragments quoted by the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, by Theodoret, Facundus, St. John Damascen, Photius, &c. For the eight sermons ascribed to him by Combefis, are unworthy his pen, and evidently of a later date, perhaps the works of Amphilochius of Cyzicus, the friend of Photius in 860. The life of St. Basil attributed to our saint is a fabulous piece, and appears plainly the work of a modern Greek; and the poem to Seleucus, containing an enumeration of the canonical books, has the style of St. Gregory Nazianzen, who perhaps wrote it for St. Amphilochius, though he has given also a catalogue of the sacred books in his three hundred and thirty-eighth poem. St. Gregory Nazianzen calls St. Amphilochius a pontiff without reproach, an angel, and a herald of the truth. By the testimony of this father we are assured that our saint cured the sick by his prayers, the invocation of the Holy Trinity, and the oblation of the sacrifice. We find no mention made of St. Amphilochius beyond the year 394, about which time he seems to have died in a good old age. He is honored in the Roman Martyrology, and by the Greeks on the 23d of November. See Ceillier t. 7, p. 307; and on his three Greek lives, Combetis in St. Amphilochio, p. 228, et Fabricius Bibl. Gr. t. 9, p. 52.

NOVEMBER 23 — ST. TRON, C

In the territory of Hasbein, in Brabant, idolatry had still many votaries, when St. Tron illustrated that country by the bright light of his sanctity. His parents were persons of rank and fortune in that province; but after their death, the saint, who was then young, repaired to Metz, and there lived under the direction of Clodulphus, the pious bishop. The time he was not employed in study, he consecrated to works of charity, or to reciting or meditating on the Psalms, or other exercises of religion. After having received priestly orders, he returned into his native country, and, by preaching the word of God, extirpated the remains of infidelity. Upon his own estate he built a monastery, which is now situate in the territory of Liege, is a great abbey of St. Bennet’s order, and is called from our saint St. Tron’s, or St. Truyen’s. The holy founder died in 693. See his life by Theodoricus; also Molanus, &c.

NOVEMBER 23 — ST. DANIEL, B. C

The great veneration which the British churches testified for this holy prelate, gives us a high idea of his sanctity. He flourished in the former part of the sixth century, and in 516 instituted a college or monastery near the arm of the sea that divides Anglesey from Wales, where a city was soon after built by king Mailgo, the same who took upon him to defray the charges of St. David’s burial. The place was called from this monastery Ben-chor, or Bangor, that is, beautiful, or lofty choir, says bishop Usher.* St. Daniel was ordained by St. Dubricius the first bishop of the place, was present at the synod of Brevi, died in 545, and was buried in the isle of Berdsey. Le Neve was not able to find the names of any other bishops of Bangor before the twelfth century.1 The cathedral is dedicated to God in the name of St. Daniel. See Usher’s Antiquities, c. 14, p. 274; Brown Willis on Cathedrals, &c.

NOVEMBER 24 — ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS, C

From his life prefixed to his works; Villefore’s life of St. Teresa, t. 1, pp. 292, 318, t. 2, p. 132. See his life compiled by F. Honoratus of St. Mary, the judicious critic of the same order, In 12mo., and more at large by F. Dositheus of St. Alexis, in two vols. 4to. Paris, 1727.

A. D. 1591.

ST. JOHN, by his family name called Yepes, was youngest child of Gonzales of Yepes, and born at Fontibere, near Avila, in Old Castile, in 1542. With his mother’s milk he sucked in the most tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and was preserved from many dangers by the visible protection of her intercession. The death of his father left his mother destitute of all succors with three little children, with whom she settled at Medina. John learned the first elements of letters at a college. The administrator of the hospital, delighted with his extraordinary piety, employed him in serving the sick; an office which was very agreeable to the devotion of the youth, who acquitted himself with the feelings of charity much above his years, especially when he exhorted the sick to acts of virtue. He practised, at the same time, excessive austerities, and continued his studies in the college of the Jesuits. At twenty-one years of age, to satisfy his devotion to the mother of God, he took the religious habit among the Carmelite friars at Medina, in 1563. Never did any novice give greater proofs of obedience, humility, fervor, and love of the cross. His zeal, far from abating after his novitiate, was continually upon the increase. When he arrived at Salamanca, in order to commence his higher studies, the austerities which he practised were excessive. He chose for his cell a little dark hole at the bottom of the dormitory. A hollow board, something like a grave, was his bed. He platted himself so rough a hair shirt, that, at the least motion, it pricked his body to blood. His fasts and other mortifications were incredible. By these means he studied to die to the world and to himself; but by assiduous prayer and contemplation in silence and retirement, he gave wings to his soul. He lays down in his works as a fundamental maxim of perfection that a person study, in the first place, to do all actions in union with those of Jesus Christ, desiring to imitate him, and to put on his spirit. This was his own practice. His second rule was to mortify his senses in all things, denying them whatever did not seem most to contribute to the glory of God, whether in his hearing, seeing, or other senses. It was his desire to be a lay-brother, but this was refused him. He had distinguished himself in his course of theological studies, when, in 1567, being twenty-five years old, he was promoted to the priesthood. He prepared himself to offer his first sacrifice by humiliations, fasts, penitential tears, fervent prayers, and long meditations on the sufferings of our Divine Redeemer; deeply imprinting his precious wounds in his heart, and sacrificing himself, his will, and all his actions with his Saviour, in raptures of love and devotion. The graces which he received from the holy mysteries, inflamed him with a desire of greater retirement; for which purpose he deliberated with himself to enter the order of the Carthusians.

St. Teresa was then busy in establishing her reformation of the Carmelites, and coming to Medina del Campo heard speak of the extraordinary virtue of brother John. Whereupon she desired to see him, admired his spirit, and told him that God had called him to sanctify himself in the order of our Lady of Mount Carmel; that she had received authority from the general to found two reformed houses of men, and that he himself should be the first instrument of so great a work. Soon after, she founded her first monastery of men in a poor house in the village of Durvelle. John, who had acquiesced in her proposal, entered this new Bethlehem, in a perfect spirit of sacrifice, and about two months after was joined by some others, who all renewed their profession on Advent Sunday, 1568. This was the beginning of the Barefooted Carmelite Friars, whose institute was approved by pope Pius V., and, in 1580, confirmed by Gregory XIII. So great were the austerities of these primitive Carmelites, that St. Teresa saw it necessary to prescribe them a mitigation. The odor of their sanctity in their poor obscure house spread overall Spain; and St. Teresa soon after estab lished a second convent at Pastrane, and, in 1568, a third at Maureza whither she translated that from Durvelle, and, in 1572, a fourth at Alcala. The example and the exhortations of St. John inspired the religious with a perfect spirit of solitude, humility, and mortification. His wonderful love of the cross appeared in all his actions, and it was by meditating continually on the sufferings of Christ that it increased daily in his soul: for love made him desire to resemble his crucified Redeemer in all manner of humiliations and sufferings. And Almighty God, to purify his heart from all natural weaknesses and attachments, made him to pass through the crucible by the most severe interior and exterior trials; which is his ordinary conduct towards those souls which he prepares to raise to an eminent sanctity and to enrich with his extraordinary graces.

St. John, after tasting the first sweets of holy contemplation, found himself deprived of all sensible devotion. This spiritual dryness was followed by interior trouble of mind, scruples, and a disrelish of spiritual exercises which yet he was careful never to forsake. The devils at the same time assaulted him with violent temptations, and men persecuted him by calumnies. But the most terrible of all these pains was that of scrupulosity and interior desolation, in which he seemed to see hell open, ready to swallow him up. He describes admirably what a soul feels in this trial in his book called The Obscure Night. This state of interior desolation, contemplative souls, in some degree or other, first pass through before their hearts are prepared to receive the communication of God’s special graces. By it our saint obtained a perfect poverty and nakedness of spirit, freed from all the refined passions of self-love, and an excellent conformity to the holy will of God, which can only be built on the destruction of self-will, a heroic patience, and a courageous perseverance. After some time certain rays of light, comfort, and divine sweetness scattered these mists, and translated the soul of the servant of God into a paradise of interior delights, and heavenly sweetness. This was again succeeded by another more grievous trial of spiritual darkness which spread itself over his soul, accompanied with interior pains and temptations, in which God seemed to have forsaken him, and to be become deaf to his sighs and tears. So violent was his sorrow in this state of privation, that it seemed he must have died of grief if God had not supported him by his grace. In the calm which followed this terrible tempest he was wonderfully repaid in divine comforts. Surrounded with a new light, he saw clearly the incomparable advantages of suffering especially by the severest interior trials; he saw how by them the soul is purified from imperfections; he now enjoyed a continual sweet presence of God, was always recollected, and felt in his heart a most ardent love of God, and vehement desire to imitate Jesus Christ in his sufferings, to carry his cross, to meet him under his humiliations, and to serve his neighbor for his sake: he found in himself an invincible courage, enjoyed a sovereign peace, and was often raised to the divine union in sweet love, which is the sublimest elevation of supernatural contemplation. This love with which his heart burned, was often accompanied with an excess of spiritual joy, in which his soul was penetrated with, and, as it were, drowned in a torrent of delights; yet with a pain which he called the wound of love. He explains this himself by saying, that the soul seems to herself wounded with repeated arrows of fire which leave her all consuming with love, and she is so inflamed as to seem to go out of herself, and to commence a new creature. His life was a continual vicissitude of crosses and privations, and of heavenly visits and caresses. He never received any extraordinary favor which was not preceded by some great tribulation; which is an ordinary conduct of the sweet providence of God in regard to his servants for their great spiritual advantage. God, in the sensible visits of his grace, draws a soul by his charms to run in the sweet paths of his love: but her virtue is chiefly perfected by tribulations. The brilliant diamond receives from the hammer and chisel its lustre and polish. Trials were, by grace, the chief instruments of the admirable perfection to which our saint arrived. St. Teresa made use of him to impart the spirit of her reform to the religious in all the houses which she established. The convent in which she had made her first profession at Avila, had always opposed her reformation. Yet the bishop of Avila thought it necessary that she should be made pripress there, to retrench at least the frequent visits of seculars. She sent for St. John, and appointed him the spiritual director of this house, in 1576 He soon engaged them to shut up their parlors, and to cut off the scandalous abuses which were inconsistent with a religious life of retirement and penance. Many seculars likewise put themselves under his direction, and he preached the word of God with wonderful unction and fruit. But God would be glorified by his sufferings, and to make them the more sensible to him, permitted his own brethren to be the instruments thereof, as Christ himself was betrayed by a disciple. The old Carmelite friars looked on this reformation, though undertaken with the license and approbation of the general given to St. Teresa, as a rebellion against their order; and, in their chapter at Placentia, condemned St. John as a fugitive and an apostate. This resolution being taken, they sent soldiers and sergeants who broke open his door, and tumultuously carried him to the prison of his convent; and, knowing the veneration which the people at Avila had for his person, removed him from thence to Toledo, where he was locked up in a dark noisome cell, into which no light had admittance but through a little hole three fingers broad. Scarce any other nourishment was allowed him during nine months which he remained there, but bread, a little fish called sardines, and water. He was released after nine months by the credit of St. Teresa, and by the protection of the Mother of God. In this destitute condition he had been favored with many heavenly comforts, which made him afterwards say: “Be not surprised, if I show so great a love for sufferings: God gave me a high idea of their merit and value when I was in the prison of Toledo.”

He had no sooner recovered his liberty but he was made superior of the little convent of Calvary, situate in a desert, and, in 1579, founded that of Baza. In 1581, he was chosen prior of Granada, in 1585, viear-provincial of Andalusia, and in 1588, first definitor of the order. He founded at the same time the convent of Segovia. In all his employments the austerities which he practised seemed to exceed bounds; and he only slept two or three hours in a night, employing the rest in prayer, in presence of the blessed sacrament. He showed always the most sincere and profound humility and even love of abjection, an inimitable fervor and zeal for all the exercises of religion, and an insatiable desire of suffering. He used to say: “To suffer for the sake of God is the true characteristic of his love, as we see in Christ, and in the martyrs. And persecutions are the means to enter into the depth, or attain to the knowledge of the mystery of the cross, a necessary condition for comprehending the depth of the wisdom of God and of his love.” Hearing Christ once say to him: “John, what recompense dost thou ask of thy labors?” He answered: “Lord. I ask no other recompense than to suffer and be condemned for thy love.” At the very name of the cross he fell into an ecstasy in the presence of mother Anne of Jesus. Three things he frequently asked of God: 1st, That he might not pass one day of his life without suffering something. 2dly, That he might not die superior. 3dly, That he might end his life in humiliation, disgrace, and contempt. The very name of the sufferings of Christ, or sight of a crucifix, threw him into raptures of sweet love, and made him melt in tears. The passion of our Redeemer was the usual subject of his meditations, and he exceedingly recommends the same to others in his writings. His confidence in God made him often give his own necessaries to the poor, and deserved miraculous supplies for his monasteries. This firm confidence in divine providence he called the patrimony of the poor, especially of religious persons. The love of God so powerfully possessed his soul, and its fire was so violent, that his words sufficed to kindle a flame in others. He was frequently so absorbed in God that he was obliged often to offer violence to himself, to treat of temporal affairs, and sometimes when called out from prayer was incapable of doing it. Coming to himself from sudden raptures, he would cry out with words, as it were of fire: “Let us take wing and fly on high. What do we do here, dear brethren? Let us go to eternal life.” This love appeared in a certain brightness which darted from his countenance on many occasions, especially when he came from the altar, or from prayer. A person of distinction was one day so moved with the sight of it, perceiving the heavenly light of his face to dazzle his eyes, and pierce his heart with divine love, that on the spot he took a resolution to renounce the world, and embraced the order of St. Dominick. A lady coming to confession to him was so struck with a heavenly light which shone from his countenance and penetrated her soul, that she immediately laid aside her jewels and gaudy attire, and consecrated herself to God in strict retirement, to the astonishment of the whole city of Segovia. His heart seemed an immense fire of love, (to use his expression in his Flame of Divine Love,) which could not contain itself within his breast, but showed itself by these exterior marks. His love of his neighbor was no less wonderful, especially towards the poor, the sick, and sinners; his continual tenderness and affection for his enemies, and the benefactions and kindness with which he always studied to return good for evil, were most admirable. For fear of contracting any attachments to earthly things, he was a rigorous observer and lover of poverty. All the furniture of his little cell or chamber consisted in a paper image and a cross made of rushes, and he would have the meanest beads and breviary, and wear the most threadbare habit he could get. A profound sentiment of religion made him bear an extreme respect to whatever belonged, even remotely, to churches, or to the service of God. The same motive of the honor of God sanctified all his actions. He employed many hours every day and night in prayer, and often before the blessed sacrament with extraordinary fervor. True devotion he described to be humble, not loving to be lofty; silent, not active; without attachment to any thing; without singularity or presumption, full of distrust in itself, following with ardor simple and common rules. By experience in spiritual things, and an extraordinary light of the Holy Ghost, he had a singular gift in discerning spirits, and could not be easily imposed upon in what came from God. He discovered, by the first examination, that the pretended visions of a certain woman were only illusions; and the same of a nun in Portugal. In 1591, the chapter of his order met at Madrid, in which St. John opposed too severe measures used in the punishment of disobedience against father Gratian, who had been a great assistant to St. Teresa; and likewise strenuously spoke against a motion supported by some of the chiefs for casting off the direction of the Teresian nuns. This gave offence to some whom envy and jealousy had indisposed against him, and by their means the servant of God was thrust out of all employments in his order. It was with joy that he saw himself in disgrace and at liberty, and retired into the little solitary convent of Pegnuela, in the mountains of Sierra Morena.*

God was pleased to finish his martyrdom by a second grievous persecution from his own brethren before his death. His banishment to Pegnuela he thought his happiness, and always excused and commended father commissary and the other authors of his disgrace, and hindered all others from writing to the vicar-general of the injustices done him. There were in the order two fathers of great authority, who declared themselves his implacable enemies, harboring malice and envy in their breasts, which they cloaked under the sanctified name of holy zeal. They were puffed up with an opinion of their learning, and with the applause which they acquired by their talents in the pulpit, on which pretence they neglected all the duties of their rule. St. John, when provincial of Andalusia, after frequent admonitions of this irregularity, which tended to the destruction of religious discipline in their order, finding no other remedy took effect, forbade them to preach, and confined them to their convents. Instead of humble submission, they were stung with bitter gall in their hearts, and regarded this treatment as an unjust and unreasonable impediment to the exercise of their zeal, for which they thought themselves qualified; as if any other disposition than that of distrust in themselves and perfect humility could draw down the blessing of God upon their functions. This presumption hurried them blindly into many other more grievous sins, which passion palliated under the names of virtues. In the saint’s disgrace, one of them, called F. Diego Evangelista, ran over the whole province to beg and trump up accusations against the servant of God, and boasted that he had sufficient proofs to have him expelled the order. The saint said nothing all this while only that he was ready to receive with joy any punishment. Everybody at that time forsook him; all were afraid of seeming to have any commerce with him, and burned the letters which they had received from him, lost they might be involved in his disgrace. St. John had no other comfort or refuge but prayer, in which the abundant consolations of the Holy Ghost rendered his sufferings sweet to him. This storm ceased when the informations of Diego were laid before the superiors; for had they been all true, they amounted to nothing which deserved any chastisement. The sweetness of the divine love and peace which overflowed the soul of the servant of God all this time, filled him with interior joy, which increased in proportion as he was more abandoned by creatures. “The soul of one who serves God,” says the saint,1 “always swims in joy, always keeps holiday, is always in her palace of jubiation, ever singing with fresh ardor and fresh pleasure, a new song, of joy and love.”

St. John, living in the practice of extreme austerities, and in continual contemplation, fell sick, and when he could no longer conceal his distemper, the provincial ordered him to leave Pegnuela, that place being destitute of all relief, and gave him the choice either to go to Baeza or to Ubeda. The first was a very convenient convent, and had for prior an intimate friend of the saint. The other was poor, and F. Francis Chrysostom was prior there, the other person whom he had formerly corrected, and who was no less his enemy than F. Diego. The love of suffering made St. John prefer this house of Ubeda. The fatigue of his journey had caused his leg to swell exceedingly, and it burst in many places from the heel quite to the knee, besides five ulcers or wounds under his foot. He suffered excessive pains from the violence of the inflammation, and from the frequent incisions and operations of the surgeons, from the top to the bottom of his leg. His fever all this time allowed him no rest. These racking pains he suffered three whole months with admirable patience, in continual peace, tranquillity, and joy, never making the least complaint, but often embracing the crucifix, and pressing it close upon his breast when the pain was very sharp. The unworthy prior treated him with the utmost inhumanity, forbade any one to be admitted to see him, changed the infirmarian because he served him with tenderness, locked him up in a little cell, made him continual harsh reproaches, and would not allow any thing but the hardest bread and food, refusing him even what seculars sent in for him: all which the saint suffered with joy in his countenance. God himself was pleased to complete his sacrifice, and abandoned him for some time to a great spiritual dryness, and a state of interior desolation. But his love and patience were the more heroic. God likewise stretched out his hand to bring the dove into the ark when she seemed almost sinking in the waters, overwhelming his chaste soul again with the torrent of his delights with which he so often strengthened the martyrs, converting their torments into pleasures. The provincial happening to come to Ubeda a few days before his death, was grieved to see this barbarous usage, opened the door of his cell, and said, that such an example of invincible patience and virtue ought to be public, not only to his religious brethren, but to the whole world. The prior of Ubeda opened his eyes begged the saint’s pardon, received his instructions for the government of his community, and afterwards accused and condemned himself with many tears. As for the saint himself, we cannot give a better description of the situation of his holy soul in his last moments than in his own words, where he speaks of the death of a saint:2 “Perfect love of God makes death welcome, and most sweet to a soul. They who love thus, die with burning ardors and impetuous flights, through the vehemence of their desires of mounting up to their beloved. The rivers of love in the heart, now swell almost beyond all bounds, being just going to enter the ocean of love. So vast and so serene are they that they seem even now calm seas, and the soul overflows with torrents of joy, upon the point of entering into the full possession of God. She seems already to behold that glory, and all things in her seem already turned into love, seeing there remains no other separation than a thin web, the prison of the body being almost broken.” Though the Holy Ghost varies his operations and gifts in his servants, this seems the exac portraiture of the soul of our saint upon the point of leaving this world. Two hours before he died he repeated aloud the Miserere psalm with his brethren; then he desired one to read to him part of the book of Canticles appearing himself in transports of joy. He at length cried out: Glory be to God; pressed the crucifix on his breast, and after some time said: Lord into thy hands I commend my soul: with which words he calmly breathed forth his soul on the 14th of December in 1591, being forty-nine years old of which he had spent twenty-eight in a religious state. St. Teresa in her epistles and other works styles him a saint even before he had embraced her reformed order, and says that he was one of the most pure souls in the church, to whom God had communicated great treasures of light, and whose understanding he had filled with the science of the saints. Almighty God exalted him after his death by several miracles; amongst which the cure of a nun of the Annunciation, at Neuf-Chateau in Lorraine, struck with a palsy, in 1705, effected on the ninth day of a Novena of devotion to this saint, was juridically proved in the court of the bishop of Toul. St. John was canonized by Benedict XIII. in 1726, and his office in the Roman Breviary was appointed on this 24th of November. His body remains at Segovia A history of his revelations, and many miracles, with an exact account of his writings, and mystical theology, may be read in his life by F. Dositheus of St. Alexis.

The spirit of Christianity is the spirit of the cross. To attain to, and to live by, pure love, we must live and die upon the cross, or at least in the spirit of the cross. Jesus merited all the graces we receive by suffering for us; and it is by suffering with him that we are best prepared to be enriched with them. Hence afflictions are part of the portion which, together with the hundred-fold of his consolations, he has promised to his most beloved servants. His most holy and innocent mother bore a large share in all his sufferings. His apostles and other most faithful servants, in proportion to the high degree in which they stood in his favor, drank of this cup. Those souls which he has raised to the highest degree of familiarity in this life he always prepared for that grace by severe trials. Dr. Henry Boudon, archdeacon of Evreux, whose progress in an interior life is manifest from his Reign of God in a Soul, and several other works, was attacked by slanders, persecuted by his own bishop, and expelled with so much infamy that scarce was he able to find any one, even in distant provinces, that would receive him under his roof. He was, moreover perfectly acquainted with the state of interior anguish and desolation; which he describes from his own experience in his Holy Paths of the Cross. M. de Bernieres Louvigni, a gentleman of Normandy, and treasurer of France at Can, who trained up Dr. Boudon and other eminent clergymen infused into them the maxims of true piety, and sent zealous missionaries into the East and West Indies, and other remote kingdoms, living always a layman in the world, was one of the most excellent contemplatives of the last century. The perfection of an interior life he attained by the most profound humility, perfect disengagement of his heart from earthly things, and assiduous prayer and holy meditation. Yet this preparation for those sublime graces would have remained imperfect, had not the good use of many severe afflictions completed the crucifixion of the old man in his heart. The same all the saints assure us by their own example. But in the divine love they found a recompense, which richly paid them for all its cost, this love being its own present reward, as it is a fire which is its own fuel.

NOVEMBER 24 — ST. CHRYSOGONUS, M

The name of this holy martyr, who was apprehended at Rome, but be headed at Aquileia in the persecution of Dioclesian, occurs in the canon of the mass, and is mentioned in the ancient Calendar of Carthage of the fifth century,1 and in all Western Martyrologies since that time. The church in Rome of which he is titular saint, is mentioned in a council held by pope Symmachus, and in the epistles of St. Gregory the Great; it gives title to a cardinal priest. The head of St. Chrysogonus is shown there in a rich case, but his body is at Venice.

NOVEMBER 24 — SS. FLORA AND MARY, VV. MM

In the reign of Abderramene II., king of the Saracens at Cordova in Spain, Flora, because she was of Mahometan extraction by her father, but had been secretly instructed in the faith by her mother, was impeached by her own brother before the cadi, or judge of the city. This magistrate caused her to be scourged, and beaten on the head till in some parts her skull was bare. Then he put her into the hands of her brother that he might overcome her resolution. After some time she made her escape over a high wall, and took shelter with a sister at Ossaria. Having lain concealed some time she ventured back to Cordova, and prayed publicly in the church of St. Aciclus the martyr. There she met with Mary, sister to the deacon Valabonsus, who had lately received the crown of martyrdom. The zealous virgins agreed to present themselves in the court of the cadi, by whose order they were apprehended, and confined to a close dungeon, where no one had access to them but certain impious lewd women. St. Eulogius, who was at that time detained in another prison, wrote and sent to them his Exhortation to Martyrdom. After a third examination the cadi commanded them both to be beheaded. The sentence was executed on the same day, the 24th of November, in 851. They are named in the Roman Martyrology. See St. Eulogius, Memor.1. 2, c. 8

NOVEMBER 24 — SAINT CIANAN OR KENAN BISHOP OF DULEEK, IN IRELAND

According to his acts quoted by Usher, he was a pupil of the religious man, Nathan; and, when a youth, was one of the fifty hostages whom the princes of Ireland gave to king Leogair, by whom he was set free at the intercession of bishop Kiaran. He then went into France, and passed some time with great fervor at Tours in the monastery of St. Martin. Returning to his native country, he converted great numbers to Christianity in Connaught. Thence he proceeded to Leinster, and founded a church in a place called to this day The wood of Cianan. At length he went into the territory of Owen, (that is, Tir-oen,) so called from king Owen, whose niece, Ethne, was St. Cianan’s mother. There he broke down an idol with an altar that was dedicated to it, and on the place built a Christian church. In the office of St. Cianan extant in MS. in the library at Cambridge, it is said that the saint built here a church of stone, on that account called Damliag,* corrupted into Duleek. St. Cianan was descended from the royal blood of the kings of Munster. He died on the 24th of November, in 489. Duleek having suffered greatly by several fires and devastations of the Danes, its episcopal see was united to Meath. See Usher, Antiq.1. 29, and Primord. p. 1070; Ind. Chron. ad ann. 450; Ware’s bishops, p. 137, and on St. Ultan, 4 Sept. p. 39.

NOVEMBER 25 — ST. CATHARINE, V. M

Jos. Assemani in Calend. Univ. ad Nov. 24, t. 5, p. 375.

ST. CATHARINE, whom the Greeks call catherina, glorified God by an illustrious confession of the faith of Christ, at Alexandria, under Maximinus II. Her acts are so much adulterated that little use can be made of them. The emperor Basil, in his Greek Menology, relates with them that this saint, who was of the royal blood, and an excellent scholar, confuted a company of the ablest heathen philosophers, whom Maximinus had commanded to enter into a disputation with her, and that being converted by her to the faith, they were all burned in one fire, for confessing the same. He adds, that Catharine was at length beheaded. She is said first to have been put upon an engine made of four wheels joined together, and stuck with sharp pointed spikes, that, when the wheels were moved, her body might be torn to pieces. The acts add, that at the first stirring of the terrible engine, the cords with which the martyr was tied were broke asunder by the invisible power of an angel, and, the engine falling to pieces by the wheels being separated from one another, she was delivered from that death. Hence the name of St. Catharine’s wheel.

The learned Joseph Assemani thinks that all the account we have of the particulars relating to this saint upon which we can depend, is what we meet with in Eusebius, though that historian mentions not her name. His relation is as follows:1 “There was a certain woman, a Christian, and the richest and most noble of all the ladies of Alexandria, who, when the rest suffered themselves to be defloured by the tyrant, (Maximin,) resisted and vanquished his unbounded and worse than beastly lust. This lady was most illustrious for her high birth and great wealth; and likewise for her singular learning: but she preferred her virtue and her chastity to all worldly advantages. The tyrant, having in vain made several assaults upon her virtue, would not behead her, seeing her ready to die, but stripped her of all her estates and goods, and sent her into banishment.” Maximin, not long after, declared war against Licinius, and, after several engagements, was at length defeated by him in 313. Having lost his empire after a reign of five years, he fled to Tarsus, and there died in extreme misery. The body of St. Catharine was discovered by the Christians in Egypt about the eighth century, when they groaned under the yoke of the Saracens. It was soon after translated to the great monastery on the top of Mount Sinai in Arabia, built by St. Helen, and sumptuously enlarged and beautified by the emperor Justinian, as several old inscriptions and pictures in mosaic work in that place testify.2 Falconius, archbishop of San-Severmo, speaks of this translation as follows:3 “As to what is said, that the body of this saint was conveyed by angels to Mount Sinai, the meaning is, that it was carried by the monks of Sinai to their monastery, that they might devoutly enrich their dwelling with such a treasure.—It is well known that the name of an angelic habit* was often used for a monastic habit, and that monks, on account of their heavenly purity and functions, were anciently called angels.” From that time we find more frequent mention made of the festival and relies of St. Catharine. St. Paul of Latra kept her feast with extraordinary solemnity and devotion. In the eleventh age, Simeon, a monk of Sinai, coming to Rouen to receive an annual alms of Richard, duke of Normandy, brought with him some of her relies, which he left there. The principal part of the mortal remains of this saint is still kept in a marble chest in the church of this monastery on Mount Sinai, described by Dr. Richard Pocock.4

From this martyr’s uncommon erudition, and the extraordinary spirit of piety by which she sanctified her learning, and the use she made of it, she is chosen in the schools the patroness and model of Christian philosopher Learning is, next to virtue, the most noble ornament, and the highest improvement of the human mind, by which all its natural faculties obtain an eminent degree of perfection. The memory is exceedingly improved by exercise; those who complain that in them this faculty is like a sieve may, especially in youth, render it by use retensive of whatever is necessary, and particularly adapted to be a storehouse of names, facts, or entire discourses, according to every one’s exigency or purposes. But nothing ought to be learned by heart by children but what is excellent or absolutely necessary. To load a mind with other men’s lumber, and to make it a magazine of errors, trumpery, or toys, is to pervert all the purposes of this faculty, and a certain proof of the sloth, ignorance, and stupidity of a master. As the understanding is the light of the soul, so is it plain how exceedingly this is enlarged both by exercise and by the acquisition of solid science and useful knowledge. Judgment, the most valuable of all the properties of the mind, and by which the other faculties are poised, governed, and directed, is formed and perfected by experience and regular well-digested studies and reflection; and by them it attains to true justness and taste. The mind by the same means acquires a steadiness, and conquers the aversion which sloth raises against the serious employment of its talents. It is doubtless the will of the Creator that all his works be raised to that degree of perfection of which they are capable, and, where our industry is required to this, it becomes a duty incumbent upon us. This is in nothing so essential and important as in our own mind, the dignity of our being, and the masterpiece of the visible world. How much its perfection depends upon culture appears in the difference of understanding between the savages (who, except in treachery, cunning. and shape, scarce seem to differ from the apes which inhabit their forests) and the most elegant civilized nations. A piece of ground left wild produces nothing but weeds and briers, which by culture would be covered with corn, flowers, and fruit. The difference is not less between a rough mind and one that is well cultivated. The same culture, indeed, suits not all persons. Geniuses must be explored, and the manner of instructing proportioned to them. Conditions and circumstances must be considered.* Generally the more sublime theological studies suit not those who are excluded from teaching, though women, upon whom the domestic instruction of children in their infancy mainly depends, ought to be well instructed in the motives of religion, articles of faith, and all the practical duties and maxims of piety. Then history, geography, and some tincture or works of genius and spirit may be joined with suitable arts and other accomplishments of their sex and condition, provided they be guided by, and referred to religion, and provided books of piety and exercises of devotion always have the first place both in their hearts and in their time.

NOVEMBER 25 — ST. ERASMUS, OR ELME, B. M

He is said to have been a native of Antioch, and a bishop in some part of Syria; who, in the persecution, hid himself on Mount Libanus, where he led an eremitical life for seventeen years, often visiting his flock, till he was crowned with martyrdom, probably in the persecution of Licinius, which had been begun by Dioclesian. He is named in the Roman. Sclavonian or Muscovite, and other calendars.†

NOVEMBER 26 — SAINT PETER, MARTYR BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA

From Euseblus, Theodoret, &c. See Tillemont, t. 5; Celliler, t. 4, p. 17; Oral, t. 4,1. 10.

A. D. 311.

EUSEBIUS1 calls this great prelate the excellent doctor of the Christian religion, and the chief and divine ornament of bishops; and tells us that he was admirable both for his extraordinary virtue, and for his skill in the sciences, and profound knowledge of the holy scriptures. In the year 300 he succeeded Theonas in the see of Alexandria, being the sixteenth archbishop from St. Mark; he governed that church with the highest commendation, says the same historian, during the space of twelve years; for the nine last of which he sustained the fury of the most violent persecutions carried on by Dioclesian and his successors. Virtue is tried and made perfect by sufferings; and Eusebius observes that the fervor of our saint’s piety and the rigor of his penance increased with the calamities of the church. That violent storm which affrighted and disheartened several bishops and inferior ministers of the church, did but awake his attention, inflame his charity, and inspire him with fresh vigor. He never ceased begging of God for himself and his flock necessary grace and courage, and exhorting them to die daily to their passions, that they might be prepared to die for Christ. The confessors he comforted and encouraged by word and example, and was the father of many martyrs who sealed their faith with their blood. His watchfulness and care were extended to all the churches of Egypt, Thebais or Upper Egypt, and Lybia, which were under his immediate inspection. Notwithstanding the activity of St. Peter’s charity and zeal, several in whom the love of this world prevailed, basely betrayed their faith, to escape torments and death. Some, who had entered the combat with excellent resolutions, and had endured severe torments, had been weak enough to yield at last. Others bore the loss of their liberty and the hardships of imprisonment, who yet shrunk at the sight of torments, and deserted their colors when they were called to battle. A third sort prevented the inquiries of the persecutors, and ran over to the enemy before they had suffered any thing for the faith. Some, seeking false cloaks to palliate their apostacy, sent heathens to sacrifice in their name, or accepted of attestations from the magistrates, setting forth that they had complied with the imperial edict, though in reality they had not. These different degrees of apostacy were distinctly considered by the holy bishop, who prescribed a suitable term of public penance for each in his canonical epistle.2

Among those who fell during this storm, none was more considerable than Meletius, bishop of Lycopolis in Thebais. That bishop was charged with several crimes; but apostacy was the main article alleged against him. St. Peter called a council, in which Meletius was convicted of having sacrificed to idols, and of other crimes, and sentence of deposition was passed against him. The apostate had not humility enough to submit, or to seek the remedy of his deep wounds by condign repentance, but put himself at the head of a discontented party which appeared ready to follow him to any lengths. To justify his disobedience, and to impose upon men by pretending a holy zeal for discipline, he published many calumnies against St. Peter and his council; and had the assurance to tell the world that he had left the archbishop’s communion, because he was too indulgent to the lapsed in receiving them too soon and too easily to communion. Thus he formed a pernicious schism which took its name from him, and subsisted a hundred and fifty years. The author laid several snares for St. Peter’s life, and though, by an overruling providence, these were rendered ineffectual, he succeeded in disturbing the whole church of Egypt with his factions and violent proceedings: for he infringed the saint’s patriarchal authority, ordained bishops within his jurisdiction, and even placed one in his metropolitical see. Sozomen tells us, these usurpations were carried on with less opposition during a certain time when St. Peter was obliged to retire, to avoid the fury of the persecution. Arius, who was then among the clergy of Alexandria, gave signs of his pride and turbulent spirit by espousing Meletius’s cause as soon as the breach was open, but soon after quitted that party, and was ordained deacon by St. Peter. It was not long before he relapsed again to the Meletians, and blamed St. Peter for excommunicating the schismatics, and forbidding them to baptize. The holy bishop, by his knowledge of mankind, was by this time convinced that pride, the source of uneasiness and inconstancy, had taken deep root in the heart of this unhappy man; and that so long as this evil was not radically cured, the wound of his soul was only skinned over by a pretended conversion, and would break out again with greater violence than ever. He therefore excommunicated him, and could never be prevailed with to revoke that sentence. St. Peter wrote a book on the Divinity, out of which some quotations are preserved in the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon.3 Also a paschal treatise of which some fragments are extant.4 From St. Epiphanius5 it appears that St. Peter was in prison for the faith in the reign of Dioclesian, or rather of Galerius Maximian; but after some time recovered his liberty. Maximin Daia, Csar in the East, renewed the persecution in 311, which had been considerably abated by a letter written the same year by the emperor Galerius in favor of the Christians. Eusebius informs us, that Maximin coming himself to Alexandria, St. Peter was immediately seized, when no one expected such a storm, and, without any form of trial, by the sole order of the tyrant, hurried to execution. With him were beheaded three of his priests, Faustus, Dio, and Ammonius. This Faustus seems by what Eusebius writes, to be the same person of that name who, sixty years before, was deacon to St. Dionysius, and the companion of his exile.*

The canons of the church are holy laws framed by the wisest and most experienced pastors and saints for the regulation of the manners of the faithful, according to the most pure maxims of our divine religion and the law of nature, many intricate rules of which are frequently explained, and many articles of faith expounded in them. Every clergyman is bound to be thoroughly acquainted with the great obligations of his state and profession: for it is one of the general and most just rules of the canon law, and even of the law of nature, that “No man is excused from a fault by his ignorance in things which, by his office, he is bound to know.”† That any one among the clergy should be a stranger to those decrees of the universal church and statutes of his own diocese, which regard the conduct and reformation of the clergy, is a neglect and an affected ignorance which aggravates the guilt of every transgression of which it is the cause, according to a well-known maxim of morality. After the knowledge of the holy scriptures of the articles of faith, and the rules of a sound Christian morality, every one who is charged with the direction of others, is obliged to have a competent tincture of those parts of the canon law which may fall in the way of his practice: bishops and their assistants stand in need of a more profound and universal skill both in what regards their own office, (in which Barbosa6 may be a manuduction,) and others.

NOVEMBER 26 — ST. NICON, SURNAMED METANOITE, CONFESSOR

Nicon, a native of Pontus, and of a noble family, in his youth fled privately from his friends to a monastery called the stone of God, where he lived twelve years in the practice of the most austere penance and humble prayer, by which he studied perfectly to die to himself. His heart became quite penetrated with holy compunction and the purest love of God, and he spoke on virtue with an unction which pierced the souls of those that heard him discourse on heavenly things. The incredible spiritual fruit which his conferences and private exhortations produced, induced his superiors to employ him in preaching the word of God to the people. This office he exercised in quality of apostolic missionary in most parts of Armema, and afterwards passed into Crete, which island was then in the hands of the Saracens. Penance was the great duty which the saint announced to the people in imitation of St. John Baptist, and he began all his sermons with these words: Metanoite, or do penance; whence this surname was given him. The necessity and obligation that all men lie under of doing penance, he inculcated according to the maxims of the gospel; and he excellently explained the conditions of sincere repentance. For thousands and thousands befool themselves, and mock God in this point, when, by venting a few sighs and groans they persuade themselves that they have repented, though their hearts all the while deceive them. A true penitent must apply himself to the difficult work of self-examination by a strict scrutiny into, and survey of, the whole state of his soul, in order to discover every latent inordinate affection or passion. He must pursue sin home to his inclinations, and dislodge it thence; otherwise all he does will be to little purpose; so long as the root of sin remains lurking in the affections, it will shoot out again, and God who sees it there, pays no regard to lying vows and protestations. By earnest prayer, mortification, alms, and holy meditation, the penitential sorrow must be improved, till it has forced its way into the very innermost corners and recesses of the soul, shaken all the powers of sin, and formed that new creature which is little understood among Christians, though the very essence of a Christian life. By teaching penitents thus to lay the axe to the very root of sin, St. Nicon had the comfort to see in my wonderful conversions wrought among Christians, by which the face of religion seemed changed among them through the whole island. The saint, fearing lest the infant principles of conversion might be stifled and overland by the cares of the world, was infinitely solicitous to engage penitents to cut off and renounce all occasions of sin, to strengthen their souls in the fervent practice of all virtues and good works, and to cultivate the seeds of piety which the divine grace had sown in them. The sweetness with which the holy preacher recommended the most severe maxims of the gospel, made our faith appear amiable to the Mahometans themselves. After having preached in Crete almost twenty years, and settled all the churches of that island in good order, he passed to the continent in Europe, and announced the divine word in Peloponnesus, Achaia, Epirus, and other parts of Greece confirming his doctrine with miracles. He died in a monastery in Pelo ponnesus in 998, and is honored both in the Greek and Roman Calendars See his authentic life in Baronius, Annal. t. 10.

NOVEMBER 26 — ST. SYLVESTER GOZZOLINI, ABBOT OF OSIMO INSTITUTOR OF THE SYLVESTRIN MONKS

This saint was born of a noble family at Osimo or Osmo, about fourteen miles from Loretto, in 1177. He studied the laws and theology at Bologna and Padua, and being instituted to a canonry at Osimo, made prayer, pious reading, and the instruction of others his whole employment. His zeal in reproving vice raised him enemies, and his bishop, whom he admonished of certain neglects in the discharge of his office, declared himself his persecutor. These trials served to purify the heart of the servant of God, and prepared him for the grace of the pure love of God. The sight of the carcass of a man who had been admired in his lifetime for his beauty and great accomplishments, completed his abhorrence and contempt of this treacherous world, so that, deploring its scandals and blindness, he left the city privately, and retired into a desert thirty miles from Osimo, being then forty years old. To satisfy the importunity of others, in 1231, he built a monastery upon Monte Fano, two miles from Fabriano, in the marquisate of Ancona. In this house he settled the rule of St. Bennet without any mitigation; and, in 1248, obtained of Innocent IV., who was then at Lyons, the confirmation of his institute. He lived to found twenty-five monasteries in Italy, and leaving his disciples heirs of his double spirit of penance and prayer, departed to the Lord on the 26th of November, in 1267, being ninety years old. God was pleased to work several miracles at his tomb, and his name is inserted in the Roman Martyrology. See his life by Fabrini, fourth general of his order, in Breve Chron. della Congreg. de Monachi Sylvestrini; and Helyot, Hist. des Ordres Relig. t. 6, p. 170.

NOVEMBER 26 — ST. CONRAD, BISHOP OF CONSTANCE, C

This eminent servant of God was, by his humility and sanctity, the bright ornament of the most illustrious house of the Guelphs, in Germany, which so many princes have honored with their martial achievements and sovereign dignities. Their pedigree is derived by some from Clodion, king of the Franks, and Wittekind the Great, (who was created by Charlemagne first duke of Saxony,) and consequently from Woden, the chief god, and the stock of the principal royal families of the Saxons which founded the Heptarchy in England. The name of Guelph or Guelf was taken by this family in the reign of Charlemagne,* at which time they were counts of Altorff, now called Weingarten in Suabia, not Altorff, the university near Nuremberg in Franconia; nor the capital of Uri in Switzerland. Conrad, abbot of Ursperg, who gives the noble pedigree of this family, exceedingly extols the devotion of its princes and princesses, their piety towards God, and their most religious attachment to the apostolic see.1 Guelph I., whose name was retained by his descendants, was son of Isenbart, count of Altorff, and his wife Irmentrudis, sister-in-law to Charlemagne, and foundress of the great Benedictin abbey of Altorff.* Judith, daughter of Guelph I., was married to the emperor Louis Dbonnaire, and is famous in the history of his troubles. Two of her brothers became dukes of Bavaria. Conrad Rudolf brother of Judith, was the second count of Altorff of this name, and his son Henry the third count, and founder of the monastery of Altonmunster. He left two sons, St. Conrad and Rudolf, fourth count of Altorff, whom Rimucalls Henry II. against the authority of the abbot of Ursperg and Manlius the former of whom was intimately acquainted with this illustrious family in the twelfth age, and copied his account of it from original records.

Conrad was a saint from the cradle, and was sent young to the famous schools which then flourished at Constance under the direction of the bishop of that city. For the city of Vendonissa or Vindisch, near Bader, being destroyed by Childebert II., king of France, in 594, the episcopal see which had been founded there by St. Bert, about the year 490, was removed to Constance, a city so called from the emperor Constans. As the love of God had moved Conrad to despise the vanities of the world, so it inspired him with an uncommon fervor in his service, lest he should lose the crown by sloth, to purchase which he had forsaken all things. His seriousness showed how deeply the great concerns of eternity were impressed upon his mind, and restrained all sloth, levity, or dissolute mirth: yet was it far from carrying with it any thing of sourness or melancholy, which no less than all capriciousness, changeableness of temper, and uneasiness of mind, are certain signs of pride and unmortified passions. The temper of our saint’s mind was always even, serene, and cheerful, which discovered at the bottom a lasting joy, which is always the fruit of inward peace, and produces an unalterable sweetness in conversation even under the greatest disappointments. An unaffected simplicity, which is also an attendant of sincere virtue, shone with lustre in all his actions, and, joined with his perfect humility and religious piety, gave him in his whole deportment an air of dignity which belongs to virtue only, and is far superior to that which worldly greatness bestows. Hence every one approached him with awe and veneration mixed with confidence and affection, which the charms of his tender and obliging charity and humility inspired. Soon after he was ordained priest, the provostship of the cathedral, the next dignity to that of the bishop, was conferred upon him: and that prelate, whose name was Noting, dying in 934, our saint was unanimously chosen to fill the episcopal chair, though it was a considerable time before his consent could by any means be extorted. St. Ulric, bishop of Ausburg, who had strenuously promoted his election frequently visited him for the sake of holding pious conferences together and so close were the bands of holy friendship in which these two great prelates were linked together, that they almost seemed to have but one soul which animated two bodies. St. Conrad having dedicated himself with all that he possessed to God, made an exchange of his estates with his brother for other lands situate near Constance, and settled them all upon that church and the poor, having first built and endowed three stately churches at Constance, in honor of St. Maurice, St. John Evangelist, and St. Paul.

The holy wars having made pilgrimages to Jerusalem very frequent in that age, our saint thrice visited those holy places, making his journeys truly pilgrimages of austere penance and devotion. Worldly conversation the saint always shunned as much as possible, not only as a loss of time, (which is of all things the most precious to the servant of God,) but also as the bane of the spirit of recollection and compunction, which in one who has dedicated himself to the divine service, and to the daily ministry of the altar, ought always to be most perfect. How religiously exact the holy bishop was in whatever belonged to his sacred functions, particularly to the adorable sacrifice of the mass, appears from the following instance It happened that a great spider dropped into the chalice while the prelate was saying mass on Easter-day: the insect might have been taken out, and then decently burnt, some spiders being poisonous and dangerous; but out of devotion and respect for the holy mysteries, the bishop swallowed the spider; which he vomited up some hours after without receiving any harm.* In comforting and relieving the poor, in instructing and exhorting his flock, and in all other functions of his charge our saint was indefatigable; and he labored in the vineyard of the Lord with equal fervor and watchfulness from the very beginning of the morning to the last hour of the day. He went to receive his salary in eternal joys in the year 976, having been bishop forty-two years. He was buried in the church of St. Maurice, and two blind men recovered their sight, and other sick their health, at his tomb. Other miracles are recorded in the Chronicle of Constance, subjoined to his life, and he was canonized by Calixtus II. about the year 1120. The Roman Martyrology commemorates him on the 26th of November. See his life published by Leibnitz, Scriptor Brunswicens, t. 3, p. 1; also in the History of the Illustrious Family of the Guelphs, ib. t. 2, p. 783, likewise in F. Raderus’s Brevaria Sancta, t. 1. p. 101.

NOVEMBER 27 — ST. MAXIMUS, BISHOP OF RIEZ, C

See his life written by Dynamius, a patrician In Gaul, some time governor of Provence, and recelver of this rents of the Roman see In Gaul, as appears from St. Greg.,1. 3, ep. 33. This work he dedicated to Us bricus. Faustus’s successor in the see of Riez, who died a hermit in 601. See Thilmont. t. 15; Fabriclus. Bibl. Medi et infim Latini1.1. 5, vol. 2. p. 209: Rivet. Hist. Litter. t. 2, p. 357. See also the homily of this saint’s successor. Faustus, bishop of Riez in his euloglum, published to Latin and French by Dom. d’Ahichi, in 1644.

About the Year 460.

ST. MAXIMUS was born in Provence at Decomer, now called Chateau-Redon, near Dignie. His truly Christian parents saw him baptized in his infancy, and brought him up in the love and practice of virtue, and an enemy to its bane, the pleasure of the senses, which the saint from his childhood made it his study to subdue and often mortify, so that in his youth he was an excellent example of profound humility, and an absolute conquest of his passions; and his virtue increased with his years. He was well made, and by the sweetness of his temper, and the overflowings of a generous heart, engaged the esteem of all that knew him; but was aware of the dangerous snare of being betrayed into a love of company and the world; and, leading a very retired life in his father’s house, gave himself up to prayer, reading, and serious studies, in which he gave early displays of genius. His mind and heart were so engaged by heavenly things that he trampled on all worldly advantages, and made a resolution of observing a perpetual continence. Thus he remained some years in the world without living by its maxims, or seeming to belong to it; and, though among his friends, and in his own country, had no more relish for his situation than if he had been in exile, and surrounded by strangers. At last he broke the chain which seemed to fix him to the world, and, distributing his fortune among the poor, retired to the monastery of Lerins, where he was kindly received by St. Honoratus. When that holy founder was made archbishop of Arles, in 426, Maximus was chosen the second abbot of Lerins. St. Sidonius assures us1 that the monastery of Lerins seemed to acquire a new lustre by his prudent conduct and bright example, under which the monks scarce felt the severities of the rule, so great was the cheerfulness and alacrity with which they obeyed him. The gift of miracles with which he was favored, and the great reputation of his sanctity drew great crowds to his monastery from the continent, which, breaking in upon his retirement, obliged him to quit the house, and conceal himself some days in a forest in the island; though we are assured that the chief reason why he thus lay hid in a very rainy season was, that the clergy and people of Frejus had demanded him for bishop. After this danger was over he again made his appearance at Lerins. It happened, however, no long after, when he had governed the abbey of Lerins about seven years that the see of Riez in Provence became vacant about the year 433, and he was compelled to fill it; for though he had fled to the coast of Italy to shun that dignity, he was pursued and brought back. His parents being originally of that city, the saint was looked upon there as a citizen, and, on account of his sanctity, received as an angel from heaven.* In this dignity he continued to wear his hair shirt and habit, and to observe the monastic rule as far as was compatible with his functions: he still retained the same love of poverty, the same spirit of penance and prayer, the same indifference to the world, and the same humility for which he had been so conspicuous in the cloister. But his patience and his charity found more employment, he being by his office the physician, pastor, and teacher, of a numerous people, and charged with the conduct of their souls to lead them to eternal life. Among the sermons which pass under the name of Eusebius Emisenus, three or four are ascribed to St. Maximus,2 and the first among those of Faustus of Riez.3 He assisted at the council of Riez in 439, the first of Orange in 441, that of Arles in 454, and died on the 27th of November before the year 462. His body lies now in the cathedral of Riez, which bears jointly the names of the Blessed Virgin and St. Maximus.*

The study of the saints was the art of living well, and of putting on the spirit of Christ. This was their employment both in their deserts and in the world: this is the only end of man, the only means which can conduct him to present and future happiness. In the language of the holy scriptures this alone is called science: every other science is termed folly. Not but profane sciences teach many useful truths; but if compared with the infinite importance of this knowledge, they are of no value; and unless they are made subservient to it, and are directed and regulated by it, lead into frequent gross and fatal errors. This science is learned by listening to instructions, pious reading, and meditation, and opening to the heavenly doctrine not only our understandings, but also our hearts. And it is to be deeply and experimentally imprinted in our souls by the practice of all virtues. The disciples, going to Emmas, heard attentively the world’s Redeemer, but were only enlightened in the exercise of charity. Christ learned obedience from the things which he suffered. Humility, patience, meekness, and all other virtues acquire a new and heroic degree of perfection by being exerted and exercised with fervor, especially in times of trial.

NOVEMBER 27 — ST. JAMES, SURNAMED INTERCISUS, M

St. James was a native of Beth-Lapeta, a royal city in Persia, and a nobleman of the first rank, and of the highest reputation in that kingdom for his birth and great qualifications, both natural and acquired, and for the extraordinary honors and marks of favor which the king conferred upon him, and which were his most dangerous temptation. For when his prince declared war against the Christian religion,† this courtier had not the courage to renounce his royal master and benefactor’s friendship; and, rather than forfeit his favor, abandoned the worship of the true God, which he before professed. His mother and wife were extremely afflicted at his fall, which they ceased not every day bitterly to deplore before God, and earnestly to recommend his unhappy soul to the divine mercy. Upon the death of king Isdegerdes they wrote to him the following letter: “We were informed long ago that, for the sake of the king’s favor and for worldly riches, you have forsaken the love of the immortal God. Think where that king now lies, on whose favor you set so high a value. Unhappy man! behold he is fallen to dust, which is the fate of all mortals; nor can you any longer hope to receive the least succor from him, much less to be protected by him from eternal torments. And know that if you persevere in your crimes, you yourself, by the divine justice, will fall under that punishment, together with the king your friend. As for our parts, we will have no more commerce with you.” James was strongly affected by reading this letter, and began to reflect with himself what just reproaches his apostacy would deserve at the last day from the mouth of the great Judge. He appeared no more at court, shunned the company of those who would have endeavored to seduce him, and renounced honors, pomp, and pleasures, the fatal lure which had occasioned his ruin. We see every day pretended penitents forget the danger they have just been rescued from; lay their hands again upon the hole of the aspic which stung them before, and unadvisedly put their foot into the snare out of which they had just escaped. The very beasts which have been once taken in a gin, if they have broken it and recovered their liberty, by bare instinct never venture themselves again in that place. Infinitely more will every man who governs himself by reason or religion, or who sincerely abhors sin above all evils, fly all the approaches of his mortal enemy. This was the disposition of our true penitent; nor did he stick, in the bitterness of his grief for his crime, openly to condemn himself. His words were soon carried to the new king, who immediately sent for him. The saint boldly confessed himself a Christian. Vararanes, with indignation and fury, reproached him with ingratitude, enumerating the many high favors and honors he had received from his royal father. St. James calmly said, “Where is he at present? What is now become of him?” These words exceedingly exasperated the tyrant, who threatened that his punishment should not be a speedy death, but lingering torments. St. James said, “Any kind of death is no more than a sleep. May my soul die the death of the just.”1 “Death,” said the tyrant, “is not a sleep; it is a terror to lords and kings.” The martyr answered, “It indeed terrifies kings, and all others who contemn God; because the hope of the wicked shall perish.”2 The king took him up at these words, and sharply said, “Do you then call us wicked men, O idle race, who neither worship God, nor the sun, moon, fire, or water, the illustrious offspring of the gods?” “I accuse you not,” replied St. James, “but I say that you give the incommunicable name of God to creatures.”

The king, whose wrath was more and more kindled, called together his ministers and the judges of his empire, in order to deliberate what new cruel death could be invented for the chastisement of so notorious an offender. After a long consultation the council came to a resolution, that, unless the pretended criminal renounced Christ he should be hung on the rack, and his limbs cut off one after another, joint by joint. The sentence was no sooner made public but the whole city flocked to see his uncommon execution, and the Christians, falling prostrate on the ground, poured forth their prayers to God for the martyr’s perseverance, who had been carried out from the court without delay to the place of execution. When he was arrived there he begged a moment’s respite, and, turning his face towards the east, fell on his knees, and, lifting up his eyes to heaven, prayed with great fervor. After waiting some time the executioners approached the intrepid servant of Christ, and displayed their naked cimeters and other frightful weapons and instruments before his eyes; then they took hold of his hand, and violently stretched out his arm; and in that posture explained to him the cruel death he was just going to suffer, and pressed him to avert so terrible a punishment by obeying the king. His birth, and the high rank which he had held in the empire, the flower of his age, and the comeliness and majesty of his person, moved the whole multitude of spectators to tears at the sight. The heathens conjured him with the most passionate and moving expressions and gestures to dissemble his religion only for the present time, saying he might immediately return to it again. The martyr answered them, “This death, which appeared to them to wear so dreadful a face, was very little for the purchase of eternal life.” Then, turning to the executioners, he said, “Why stand ye idle looking on? Why begin ye not your work?” They therefore cut off his right thumb. Upon which he prayed thus aloud: “O Saviour of Christians, receive a branch of the tree. It will putrefy, but will bud again, and, as I am assured, will be clothed with glory.” The judge, who had been appointed by the king to oversee the execution, burst into tears at this spectacle, and all the people that were present did the same, and many cried out to the martyr, “It is enough that you have lost thus much for the sake of religion. Suffer not your most tender body thus to be cut piecemeal, and destroyed. You have riches: bestow part of them on the poor for the good of your soul; but die not in this manner.” St. James answered, “The vine dies in winter, yet revives in spring; and shall not the body when cut down sprout up again?” When his first finger was cut off, he cried out, “My heart hath rejoiced in the Lord; and my soul hath exulted in his salvation.3 Receive, O Lord, another branch.” Here the joy of his heart seemed sensibly to overcome the pain he suffered, and appeared visibly in his countenance. At the lopping off every finger he exulted and thanked God afresh. After the loss of the fingers of his right hand, and again after those of his left, he was conjured by the judges to conform, and save himself. To whom he meekly answered, “He is not worthy of God, who, after putting his hand to the plough, shall look back.” The great toe of his right foot was next cut off, and followed by the rest; then the little toe of the left foot, and all the others after it. At the loss of each part the martyr repeated the praises of God, exulting as at a subject of fresh joy. When his fingers and toes were lopped off, he cheerfully said to the executioners, “Now the boughs are gone, cut down the trunk. Do not pity me; for my heart hath rejoiced in the Lord, and my soul is lifted up to him who loveth the humble and the little ones.” Then his right foot, after that his left foot: next the right, then he left hand were cut off. The right arm and the left: then the right, and after that the left leg felt the knife. While he lay weltering in his own blood, his thighs were torn from the hips. Lying a naked trunk, and having already lost half his body, he still continued to pray and praise God with cheerfulness, till a guard, by severing his head from his body, completed his martyrdom. This was executed on the 27th of November, in the year of our Lord 421, the second of king Vararanes. The Christians offered a considerable sum of money for the martyr’s relics, but were not allowed to redeem them. However, they afterwards watched an opportunity, and carried them off by stealth. They found them in twenty-eight different pieces, and put them with the trunk into a chest or urn, together with the congealed blood, and that which had been received in linen cloths. But part of the blood had been sucked up by the sun, and its rays were so strongly dyed therewith as to unge the sacred limbs of the martyr, upon which they darted, with a red color. The author of these acts, who was an eye-witness, adds, “We all, supplaint implored the aid of the blessed James.” The faithful buried his remains in a place unknown to the heathens. The triumph of this illustrious penitent and martyr has, in all succeeding ages, been most renowned in the churches of the Persians, Syrians, Coptes, Greeks, and Latins. See his genuine Chaldaic Acts in Steph. Assemani, Acta Mart. Orient, t. 1, p. 237. The Greek translation, copied by Metaphrastes, &c., has been interpolated See likewise the learned Jos. Assemani, Bibl. Orient, pp. 181 and 402 Also in Calendaria Univ. t. 5, p. 387, and Orsi,1. 27, n. 6, t. 12, p. 9.

NOVEMBER 27 — ST. MAHARSAPOR, M

This glorious martyr was a Persian prince of noble extraction, but far more distinguished by his virtue, and by his zeal for the Christian faith. On this account the persecution was no sooner raised by Isdegerdes, but Maharsapor was seized the first of all others, together with Parses and Sabutaca. The two latter, after divers tortures, finished their martyrdom by the order and sentence of a judge named Hormisdavarus, a man raised to that dignity from a slave, but still baser by his manners than by his birth. By this inhuman and vile magistrate Maharsapor was often examined, and put to the torture; after which he was left to languish three years in prison, in stench and hunger. This term being elapsed, the same judge again examined the champion of Christ, and, finding him steadfast and invincible in confessing Christ, he condemned him to be thrown into a dark pit, there to perish with hunger. Several days after this sentence had been executed, certain officers and soldiers opened the pit, and found the martyr’s body without life indeed, but in light, and on his knees, as if he had been at prayer, in which posture the saint, triumphing by such a death over his enemies, had breathed out his pure soul. St. Maharsapor suffered in October, in the year of our Lord 421, the second of Vararanes V. See Stephen Evodius Assemani, Act. Mart. Orient, t. 1, p. 234.

NOVEMBER 27 — SAINT VIRGIL, BISHOP OF SALTZBURG, C

St. Virgil was born in Ireland, and distinguished at home for his learning and virtue. Travelling into France in the reign of king Pepin, he was courteously received by that prince, who kept him two years near his person, till the see of uvave, since called Saltzburg, falling vacant, he recommended him to that bishopric, and wrote in his favor to Odilo, duke of Bavaria, his friend and brother-in-law. Virgil trembled at the prospect, and, for two years, commissioned Dobda, a bishop whom he had brought with him from Ireland, to perform the episcopal functions, reserving to himself only the office of preaching and instructing, till he was compelled by his colleagues to receive the episcopal consecration in 766. He rebuilt, magnificently, the abbey of St. Peter, at Saltzburg, of which he had been himself for some time abbot, and he translated thither the body of St. Ruper founder of that see. This church became afterwards the cathedral. St. Virgil baptized at Saltzburg two successive dukes of Carinthia, Chetimar and Vetune, and sent thither fourteen preachers under the conduct of Modestus, a bishop, who planted the faith in that country. Having settled the affairs of his own church, he made a visitation of that of Carinthia, as far as the borders of the Huns, where the Drave falls into the Danube. Soon after his return home he was taken il! of a slow fever, and, after a fervent preparation, cheerfully departed to our Lord on the 27th of November, 784. Among the many saints who governed the see of Saltzburg, whose lives Canisius has collected, there is none to whom that church and its temporal principality are more indebted than to St. Virgil. See his life in Canisius, Lect. Ant., and in Mabillon, Act. Ben. t. 4, p. 310. Also Ware’s Writers of Ireland; Colgan, &c.

NOVEMBER 27 — ST. SECUNDIN BISHOP OF DUNSEACHLIN, OR DUNSAGHLIN, IN MEATH, CALLED BY THE IRISH SEACHNAL

He was nephew and disciple to St. Patrick, and died, 447. See Colgan, Ware, and the note on St. Ultan, 4th of Sept., p. 599.

NOVEMBER 28 — ST. STEPHEN THE YOUNGER, M

From his authentic Acts, carefully complied forty-two years after his death by Stephen of Constantinople; also from Cedrenus and Theophanes. See Celliler, t. 18, p. 521, and Jos. Assemant in Calend. Univ. t. 5, p. 389.

A. D. 764.

ST. STEPHEN, surnamed the Younger, or of St. Auxentius’s Mount, one of the most renowned martyrs in the persecution of the Iconoclasts, was born at Constantinople in 714, and dedicated to God by his parents before he came into the world. They were rich in temporal possessions, but much richer in virtue; and took special care to see their son provided with proper masters, and grounded in pious sentiments from his infancy. Thus he was instructed in the perfect knowledge of the Catholic Faith, and his tender breast was fortified by the love and practice of the duties of religion; by which antidotes he was afterwards preserved from the poison of profane novelties. Leo the Isaurian, who was infamous for the sacrilegious plunder of many churches, and for several other crimes, as Theophanes relates, to the vices of impiety and tyranny, added that of heresy, being prevailed upon by the Jews whom he had persecuted a little before, to oppose the respect paid by the faithful to holy images. The tyrant endeavored to establish his error by a cruel persecution, and the parents of our saint with many others left their country, that they might not be exposed to the danger of offending God by staying there. To dispose of their son in a way suitable to his pious inclinations, and their own views in his education, they placed him when he was fifteen years old in the monastery of St. Auxentius, not far from Chalcedon, and the abbot admitted him in the year following to the monastic habit and profession. Our saint entered into all the penitential exercises of the community with incredible ardor, and his first employment was to fetch in the daily provisions for the monastery. The death of his father, which happened some time after, obliged him to make a journey to Constantinople, where he sold his whole fortune, and distributed the price among the poor. He had two sisters; one of which was already a nun at Constantinople; the other he took with his mother into Bithynia, where he placed them in a monastery. Stephen made sacred studies and meditation on the holy scriptures, his principal employment, and the works of St. Chrysostom were his Commentary on the Divine Oracles. John the abbot dying, the saint, though but thirty years of age, was unanimously placed at the head of the monastery. This was only a number of small cells scattered up and down the mountain, one of the highest in that province; and the new abbot succeeded his predecessor in a very small cave on the summit, where he joined labor with prayer, copying books, and making nets; by which he gained his own subsistence, and increased the stock of his monastery for the relief of the poor. His only garment was a thin sheep’s skin, and he wore an iron girdle round his loins. Great numbers renounced the world to serve God under his direction. And a young widow of great quality, who changed her name to that of Anne, became his spiritual daughter, and took the religious veil in a nunnery situate at the foot of his mountain. After some years, Stephen, out of a love of closer retirement, and a severer course of life, resigned his abbacy to one Marinus, built himself a remote cell, much narrower than his cave, so that it was impossible for him to lie or stand up in it at his ease, and shut himself up in this sepulchre in the forty-second year of his age.

Constantine Copronymus carried on for twenty years the war which his father Leo had begun against holy images. In 754 he caused a pretended council of three hundred and thirty-eight Iconoclast bishops to meet at Constantinople, and to condemn the use of holy images as a remnant of idolatry,1 and in all parts of the empire persecuted the Catholics to compel them to subscribe to this decree. His malice was chiefly levelled against the monks, from whom he apprehended the most resolute opposition. Being sensible of the influence of the example of our saint, and the weight which the reputation of his sanctity gave to his actions, he was particularly solicitous to engage his subscription. Callistus, a patrician, was dispatched to him on that errand, and used all the arts in his power to prevail with the saint to consent to the emperor’s desire: but he was obliged to return full of confusion at a miscarriage where he had promised himself certain success. Constantine, incensed at St. Stephen’s resolute answers, which the patrician reported to him, sent Callistus back with a party of soldiers with an order to drag him out of his cell. They found him so wasted with fasting and his limbs so much weakened by the straitness of his cell, that they were obliged to carry him on their shoulders to the bottom of the mountain, and there they kept him under a strong guard. Witnesses were suborned to accuse the saint, and he was charged with having criminally conversed with the holy widow Anne. This lady protested he was innocent, and called him a holy man; and because she would not come into the emperor’s measures, she was severely whipped, and then confined to a monastery at Constantinople, where she died soon after of the hard usage she suffered.

The emperor, seeking a new occasion to put Stephen to death, persuade I one of his courtiers, called George Syncletus, to draw him into a scare Constantine had forbil the monasteries to receive any novice to the habit George, going to Mount St. Auxentius, fell on his knees to St. Stephen and begged to receive the monastic habit. The saint knew him to belong to the court, because he was shaved: the emperor having forbid any at his court to wear beards. But the more St. Stephen urged the emperor’s prohibition, the more earnestly the impostor pressed him to admit him to the habit, pretending that both his temporal safety from the persecutors, and his eternal salvation depended upon it. Soon after he had received the habit he ran with it to the court, and the next day the emperor produced him in that garb in the amphitheatre before the people, who were assembled by his order for that purpose. The emperor inflamed them by a violent invective against the saint and the monastic order: then publicly tore his habit off his back, and the populace trampled upon it. The emperor immediately sent a body of armed men to St. Auxentius’s Mount, who dispersed all the monks, and burnt down the monastery and church to the very foundation. They took St. Stephen from the place of his confinement there, and carried him to the seaside, striking him with clubs, taking him by the throat, tearing his legs in the thorns, and treating him with injurious language. In the port of Chalcedon they put him on board of a small vessel, and carried him to a monastery at Chrysopolis, a small town not very far from Constantinople, where Callistus and several Iconoclast bishops, with a secretary of state, and another officer, came to visit and examine him. They treated him first with civility, and afterwards with extreme harshness. He boldly asked them how they could call that a general council which was not approved by the pope of Rome, without whose participation the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs was forbid by a canon. Neither had the patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, or Jerusalem approved of that assembly. He, with the liberty of a martyr, defended the honor due to holy images, insomuch that Caliistus, when they returned to Constantinople, said to the emperor: “My lord, we are overcome: this man is very powerful in argument and learning; and despises death.” The emperor, transported with rage, condemned the holy man to be carried into banishment into the island of Proconesus, in the Propontis. In that place he was joined by many of his monks, and his miracles increased the reputation of his sanctity, and multiplied the defenders of holy images. This circumstance mortified the tyrant, who, two years after, ordered him to be removed to a prison in Constantinople, and loaded with irons. Some days after the saint was carried before the emperor, who asked him whether he believed that men trampled on Christ by trampling on his image. “God forbid,” said the martyr. Then taking a piece of money in his hand, he asked what treatment he should deserve who should stamp upon that image of the emperor. The assembly cried out that he ought to be severely punished. “Is it then,” said the saint, “so great a crimo to insult the image of the emperor of the earth, and none to cast into the fire that of the king of heaven?” Some days after this examination the emperor commanded that he should be beheaded, but recalled the sentence before the martyr arrived at the place of execution, resolving to reserve him for a more cruel death; and, after some deliberation, sent an order that he should be scourged to death in prison. They who undertook this barbarous execution left the work imperfect. The tyrant, understanding that he was yet alive, cried out, “Will no one rid me of this monk?” Whereupon certain courtiers stirred up a mob of impious wretches, who running to the jail, seized the martyr, dragged him through the streets of the city, with his feet tied with cords, and many struck him with stones and staves, till one dispatched him by dashing out his brains with a club The rest continued their insults on his dead body till his limbs were torn asunder, and his brains and bowels left on the ground. Cedrenus places his martyrdom in the year 764, who seems to have been better informed than Theophanes, who mentions it in 757

The martyrs under their torments and the ignominy of a barbarous death, seem the most miserable of men to carnal eyes, but to those of faith nothing is more glorious, nothing more happy. What can be greater or more noble than for a man to love those who most unjustly hate and persecute him, and only to wish and pray for their temporal and eternal happiness? To bear the loss of all that the world can enjoy, and to suffer all pains rather than to depart in the least tittle from his duty to God? What marks do we show of this heroic fortitude, of this complete victory over our passions, of this steady adherence to God and the cause of virtue? This heroic disposition of true virtue would appear in smaller trials, such as we daily meet with, if we inherited the spirit of our holy faith. Let us take a review of our own hearts, and of our conduct, and examine whether this meekness, this humility, this charity, and this fortitude appear to be the spirit by which our souls are governed? if not, it behooves us without loss of time to neglect nothing for attaining that grace by which our affections will be moulded into this heavenly frame, the great fruit of our divine religion.

NOVEMBER 28 — ST. JAMES OF LA MARCA OF ANCONA, C

The small town of Montbrandon, in the Marca of Ancona, the ancient Picenum, a province of the ecclesiastical state in Italy, gave birth to this saint. His parents, though of low condition, were very virtuous, and educated him in sentiments of true piety and religion. A neighboring priest taught him Latin, and he was young when he was sent to the university of Perugia, where his progress in learning soon qualified him to be chosen preceptor to a young gentleman of Florence. This student’s father, who was a magistrate in that city, was much taken with the virtue and prudence of our saint, engaged him to accompany his son to Florence, and procured him a considerable post in that republic. St. James observed, that in the hurry of worldly business, men easily forget to converse sufficiently with God and themselves, and that shutting themselves up in it, they become part of that vortex which hurries time and the world away without looking any further, also, that while we hear continually the discourse of men, we are apt insensibly to take in, and freight ourselves with the vices of men. Against these dangers, persons who live in the world, must use the antidote of conversing much with God. This James did by assiduous prayer and recollection, in which exercises he found such charms that he resolved to embrace a religious and penitential life. These were the dispositions of his soul when travelling near Assisium, he went into the great church of the Portiuncula to pray, and being animated by the fervor of the holy religious men who there served God, and by the example of their blessed founder St. Francis, he determined to petition in that very place for the habit of the order. The brethren received him with open arms, and he was sent to perform his novitiate in a small austere convent near Assisium, called, Of the Prisons He began his spiritual war against the devil, the world, and the flesh, with assiduous prayer, and extraordinary fasts and watchings; and the fervor of his first beginnings was, by his fidelity in corresponding with divine grace, crowned with such constancy and perseverance as never to suffer any abatement. After the year of his probation was completed, he returned to the Portiuncula, and by his solemn vows offered himself a holocaust to God. For forty years he never passed a day without taking the discipline; be always wore either a rough hair shirt, or an iron coat of mail armed with short sharp spikes; allowing himself only three hours for sleep, he spent the rest of the night in holy meditation and prayer; flesh-meat he never touched, and he ate so little that it seemed a miracle how he could live. He said mass every day with wonderful devotion. Out of a true spirit of humility and penance he was a great lover of poverty, and it was a subject of joy to him to see himself often destitute of the most necessary things. He copied for himself most of the few books he allowed himself the use of, and he always wore a mean threadbare habit. His purity during the course of his whole life was spotless; and he shunned as much as possible all conversation with persons of the other sex, and made this very short, when it was necessary for their spiritual direction; and he never looked any woman in the face. In the practice of obedience he was so exact, that, once having received an order to go abroad, when he had lifted up the cup near his mouth to drink he set it down again, and went out immediately without drinking; for he was afraid to lose the merit of obedience by the least delay.

His zeal for the salvation of souls seemed to have no bounds, and for forty years together he never passed a single day without preaching the word of God either to the people or to the religious of his own order. His exhortations were vehement and efficacious; by one sermon at Milan he converted thirty-six lewd women to a most fervent course of penance. Being chosen archbishop of that city he fled, and being taken, he prevailed by entreaties and persuasions to be allowed to pursue his call in the functions of a private religious missionary. He accompanied St. John Capistran in some of his missions in Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary, and was sent thrice by the popes Eugenius IV., Nicholas V., and Calixtus III. into this last kingdom. He wrought several miracles at Venice, and at other places, and raised from dangerous sicknesses the duke of Calabria, and king of Naples. A question was at that time agitated with great warmth, particularly between the Franciscan and Dominican friars, whether the precious blood of Christ, which was separated from the body during his passion, remained always hypostatically united to the divine word; and St. James was accused in the inquisition of having advanced the negative, but was dismissed with honor. The saint died of a most painful colic in the convent of the Holy Trinity of his order, near Naples, on the 28th of November, in the year 1476, being ninety years old, of which he had spent seventy in a religious state. His body is enshrined in a rich chapel which bears his name in the church called our Lady’s the New, at Naples. He was beatified by Urban VIII., and canonized in 1726, by Benedict XIII., who had been himself an eye-witness to a miracle performed in favor of a person that had recourse to his intercession. See his life by Mark of Lisbon, bishop of Porto, and in verse be Sanazar; also the life of Benedict XIII. by Touron, t. 6

NOVEMBER 29 — ST. SATURNINUS, BISHOP OF TOULOUSE, M

From his authentic acts in Surfus and Ruinart, quoted by St. Gregory of Tours,1. 1, Hist. c. 28. See Tillemont, t. 3, p. 297; Calmet, Hist. de Lorraine,1. 3, p. 130; Rivet, Hist. Litter. de la France, t. 1. p. 306.

A. D. 257.

ST. SATURNINUS went from Rome by the direction of pope Fabian, about the year 245, to preach the faith in Gaul, where St. Trophimus, the first bishop of Arles, had some time before gathered a plentiful harvest. In the year 250, when Decius and Gratus were consuls, St. Saturninus fixed his episcopal see at Toulouse. Fortunatus tells us,1 that he converted a great number of idolaters by his preaching and miracles. This is all the account we have of him till the time of his holy martyrdom. The author of his acts, who wrote about fifty years after his death, relates, that he assembled his flock in a small church; and that the capitol, which was the chief temple in the city, lay in the way between that church and the saint’s habitation. In this temple oracles were given; but the devils were struck dumb by the presence of the saint as he passed that way. The priests spied him one day going by, and seized and dragged him into the temple, declaring that he should either appease the offended deities by offering sacrifice to them, or expiate the crime with his blood. Saturninus boldly replied: “I adore one only God, and to him I am ready to offer a sacrifice of praise. Your gods are devils, and are more delighted with the sacrifice of your souls than with those of your bullocks. How can I fear them who, as you acknowledge, tremble before a Christian?” The infidels, incensed at this reply, abused the saint with all the rage that a mad zeal could inspire, and after a great variety of indignities, tied his feet to a wild bull, which was brought thither to be sacrificed. The beast being driven from the temple, ran violently down the hill, so that the martyr’s scull was broken, and his brains dashed out. His happy soul was released from the body by death, and fled to the kingdom of peace and glory, and the bull continued to drag the sacred body, and the limbs and blood were scattered on every side, till, the cord breaking, what remained of the trunk was left in the plain without the gates of the city. Two devout women laid the sacred remains on a bier, and hid them in a deep ditch, to secure them from any further insult, where they lay in a wooden coffin till the reign of Constantine the Great. Then Hilary, bishop of Toulouse, built a small chapel over this his holy predecessor’s body Sylvius, bishop of that city towards the close of the fourth century, began to build a magnificent church in honor of the martyr, which was finished and consecrated by his successor Exuperius, who, with great pomp and piety, translated the venerable relics into it. This precious treasure remains there to this day with due honor. The martyrdom of this saint probably happened in the reign of Valerian, in 257.

is named on this day in the Roman Martyrology, who was beheaded for the faith, at Rome, with St. Sisinnius, in the reign of Dioclesian, in 304, and interred two miles from the city on the road to Nomen um.

In the spirit of the primitive apostles of nations, we see what that of a true disciple of Christ ought to be. What was a Christian in those happy times of fervor? He was a man penetrated with the most lively sentiments of his own nothingness; yet courageous and magnanimous in his humility; disengaged from and raised above the world; crucified to his senses, and dead to himself: having no interest but that of Jesus Christ; mild, affable, patient, full of tenderness and charity for others, burning with zeal for religion, always ready to fly to the remotest parts of the globe to carry the light of the gospel to infidels, or to die with the martyrs in defence of the divine truth. Such a spirit and such a life, is something far greater and more astonishing than any signs or external miracles. What wonder if such men converted an infidel world, subdued the hearts of many immersed in vice, and wedded to the earth; and infused into others the spirit of that holy and divine religion which their lives and whole conduct preached more powerfully than their words?

NOVEMBER 29 — ST. RADBOD, BISHOP OF UTRECHT C

This holy prelate was, by his father, of noble French extraction; and by his mother, Radbod, the last king or prince of the Frisons was his great grandfather, whose name was given him by his mother. The first tincture of learning and piety he received under the tuition of Gunther, bishop of Cologne, his uncle by the mother; his education was completed in the courts of the emperors Charles the Bald and his son Louis the Stammerer, to which he repaired, not to aspire after honors, but to perfect himself in the sciences, which were taught there by the ablest masters. The hymns and office of St. Martin, an eclogue on St. Lebwin, a hymn on St. Swidbert, and some other pious poems which are extant, are monuments of his piety and application to polite literature, as it was then cultivated: but the sacred luties principally employed him. In a short chronicle which he compiled, he says upon the year 900: “I Radbod, a sinner, have been assumed, though unworthy, into the company of the ministers of the church of Utrecht; with whom I pray that I may attain to eternal life.” Before the end of that year he was unanimously chosen bishop of that church; but opposed his election, understanding how much more difficult and dangerous it is to command than to obey. The obstacles which his humility and apprehensions raised, being at length removed, he put on the monastic habit, his most holy predecessors having been monks, because the church of Utrecht had been founded by priests of the monastic order. After he had received the episcopal consecration, he never tasted any flesh-meat, often fasted two or three days together, and allowed himself only the coarsest and most insipid fare. His charity to the poor was excessive. By a persecution raised by obstinate sinners he was obliged to leave Utrecht; and died happily at Daventer on the 29th of November, in 918. See his life written by one in the same century, in Mabillon, sc. 5; Ben. et Annal. Ben. t. 3,1. 40, NAK 26; Usuard Molanus, Mirus, Becka. &c.

NOVEMBER 30 — ST. ANDREW, APOSTLE

The acts of this apostle’s martyrdom, though rejected by Tillemont, &c., are maintained to be genuine by Nat. Alexander, Hist. t. 1, and by Mr. Woog, professor of history and antiquities at Leipsic, in learned dissertations published in 1748 and 1751. The authority of this piece being contested, little stress is laid upon it; and the following account is gathered from the sacred writings, and those of the fathers.

ST. ANDREW was a native of Bethsaida, a town in Galilee, upon the banks of the lake of Genesareth. He was the son of Jonas or John a fisherman of that town, and brother to Simon Peter, but whether elder or vounger the holy scriptures have not acquainted us. They had afterwards a house at Capharnaum, where Jesus lodged when he preached in that city. It is no small proof of the piety and good inclinations of St. Andrew, that when St. John Baptist began to preach penance in the desert, he was not content with going to hear him as others did, but became his disciple, passed much of his time in hearing his instructions, and studied punctually to practise all his lessons and copy his example; but he often returned home to his fishing trade. He was with his master when St. John Baptist seeing Jesus pass by the day after he had been baptized by him, said: Behold the Lamb of God.1 Andrew, by the ardor and purity of his desires, and his fidelity in every religious practice, deserved to be so far enlightened as to comprehend this mysterious saying, and, without delay, he and another disciple of the Baptist went after Jesus, who drew them secretly by the invisible bands of his grace, and saw them with the eyes of his spirit before he beheld them with his corporal eyes. Turning back as he walked, and seeing them follow him, he said, What seek ye? They said, they desired to know where he dwelt: and he bade them come and see. There remained but two hours of that day, which they spent with him, and according to several fathers, the whole night following. “O how happy a day, how happy a night did they pass!” cries out St. Austin.2 “Who will tell us what things they then learned from the mouth of their Saviour. Let us build ourselves a dwelling for him in our hearts, to which he may come, and where he may converse with us” For this happiness is enjoyed by a soul which opens her affections to God, and receives the rays of his divine light in heavenly contemplation. The joy and comfort which St. Andrew felt in that conversation are not to be expressed by words. By it he clearly learned that Jesus was the Messias and the Redeemer of the world, and resolved from that moment to follow him: he was the first of his disciples, and therefore is styled by the Greeks the Protoclet or First Called.

Andrew, who loved affectionately his brother Simon, called afterwards Peter, could not rest till he had imparted to him the infinite treasure which he had discovered, and brought him to Christ, that he might also know him. Simon was no sooner come to Jesus, but the Saviour of the world admitted him as a disciple, and gave him the name of Peter. The brothers carried one day with him to hear his divine doctrine and the next day returned home again. From this time they became Jesus’s disciples, not constantly attending upon him, as they afterwards did, but hearing him frequently, as their business would permit, and returning to their trade and family affairs again Jesus, in order to prove the truth of his divine doctrine by his works wrought his first miracle at the marriage at Cana in Galilee, and was pleased that these two brothers should be present at it with his holy mother. Jesus, going up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, stayed some days in Juda and baptized in the Jordan. Peter and Andrew also baptized by his authority, and in his name. Our Saviour being come back into Lower Galilee in autumn, and meeting one day Peter and Andrew fishing in the lake, before the end of the same year, he called them to a constant attendance upon the ministry of the gospel, saying, that he would make them fishers of men. Whereupon, they immediately left their nets to follow him, and never went from him again. The year following the Son of God formed the college of his apostles, in which our two brothers are named by the evangelists at the head of the rest. Not long after, Jesus went down to Capharnaum, and lodged at the house of Peter and Andrew, and, at the request of them both, cured Peter’s wife’s mother of a fever, by taking her by the hand, and rebuking the fever, by which it left her. When Christ would not send away the multitude of five thousand persons who had followed him into the desert, till they were refreshed with some food, St. Philip said two hundred pennyworth of bread would not suffice. But Andrew seemed to express a stronger faith, saying, there was a boy who had five barley loaves and two small fishes: which, indeed, were nothing among so many: but Christ could, if he pleased, exert his power, seeing he was greater than Eliseus who, with twenty loaves, fed a hundred men.3 When Christ was at Bethania, at the house of Lazarus, a little before his Sacred Passion, certain Greeks who came to worship God at the festival, addressed themselves to Philip, begging him to introduce them to Jesus. Philip did not undertake to do it alone; but spoke to St. Andrew, and they both together spoke to their divine master, and procured these strangers that happiness. This shows the great credit St. Andrew had with Christ; on which account St. Bede calls him the Introductor to Christ, and says he had this honor, because he brought St. Peter to him. Christ having foretold the destruction of the temple, Peter, John, James, and Andrew, asked him privately when that should come to pass, that they might forewarn their brethren to escape the danger.

After Christ’s resurrection and the descent of the Holy Ghost, St. Andrew preached the gospel in Scythia, as Origen testifies.4 Sophronius, who wrote soon after St. Jerom, and translated his catalogue of illustrious men, and some other works into Greek, adds Sogdiana and Colchis. Theodoret tells us,5 that he passed into Greece; St. Gregory Nazianzen mentions particularly Epirus,6 and St. Jerom Achaia.7 St. Paulinus says,8 this divine fisherman, preaching at Argos, put all the philosophers there to silence. St. Philastrius tells us,9 that he came out of Pontus into Greece, and that in his time people at Sinope were persuaded that they had his true picture, and the pulpit in which he had preached in that city. The Muscovites have long gloried that St. Andrew carried the gospel into their country as far as the mouth of the Borysthenes, and to the mountains where the city of Kiow now stands, and to the frontiers of Poland.10 If the ancients mean European Scythia, when they speak of the theatre of his labors, this authority is favorable to the pretensions of the Muscovites. The Greeks11 understand it of Scythia, beyond Sebastopolis in Colchis, and perhaps also of the European: for they say he planted the faith in Thrace, and particularly at Byzantium, afterwards called Constantinople. But of this we meet with no traces in antiquity. Several Calendars commemorate the feast of the chair of St. Andrew at Patr in Achaia. It is agreed that he laid down his life there for Christ. St. Paulinus says,12 that having taken many people in the nets of Christ, he confirmed the faith which he had preached by his blood at Patr. St. Sophronius, St. Gaudentius, and St. Austin assure us, that he was crucified: St. Peter Chrysologus says,13 on a tree: Pseudo-Hippolytus adds, on an olive-tree. In the hymn of pope Damasus it is barely mentioned that he was crucified. When the apostle saw his cross at a distance, he is said to have cried out;14 “Hail precious cross, that hast been consecrated by the body of my Lord, and adorned with his limbs as with rich jewels.—I come to thee exulting and glad; receive me with joy into thy arms. O good cross, that hast received beauty from our Lord’s limbs: I have ardently loved thee; long have I desired and sought thee: now thou art found by me, and art made ready for my longing soul: receive me into thy arms, taking me from among men, and present me to my master, that he who redeemed me on thee, may receive me by thee.” Upon these ardent breathings St. Bernard writes:15 “When he saw at a distance the cross prepared for him, his countenance did not change, nor did his blood freeze in his veins, not did his hair stand on end, nor did he lose his voice, nor did his body tremble, nor was his soul troubled, nor did his senses fail him, as it happens to human frailty: but the flame of charity which burned in his breast, cast forth sparks through his mouth.” The saint goes on, showing that fervor and love will make penance and labor sweet, seeing it can sweeten death itself, and, by the unction of the Holy Ghost, make even its torments desirable. The body of St. Andrew was translated from Patr to Constantinople in 357, together with those of St. Luke and St. Timothy, and deposited in the church of the apostles, which Constantine the Great had built a little before, St. Paulinus and St. Jerom mention miracles wrought on that occasion. The churches of Milan, Nola, Brescia, and some other places were, at the same time, enriched with small portions of these relics, as we are informed by St. Ambrose, St. Gaudentius, St. Paulinus, &c.

When the city of Constantinople was taken by the French, cardinal Peter of Capua brought the relies of St. Andrew thence into Italy in 1210, and deposited them in the cathedral of Amalphi, where they still remain.16 Thomas the Despot, when the Turks had made themselves masters of Constantinople, going from Greece into Italy, and carrying with him the head of St. Andrew, presented it to pope Plus II. in the year 1461, who allotted him a monastery for his dwelling, with a competent revenue, as is related by George Phranza, the last of the Byzantine historians, who wrote in four books the history of the Greek emperors after the Latins had lost Constantinople, with a curious account of the siege and plunder of that city by the Turks, in which tragical scene he had a great share, being Protovestiarinus, one of the chief officers in the emperor’s court and army.17 It is the common opinion that the cross of St. Andrew was in the form of the letter X, styled a cross decussate, composed of two pieces of number crossing each other obliquely in the middle. That such crosses were sometimes used is certain:18 yet no clear proofs are produced as to the form of St. Andrew’s cross. It is mentioned in the records of the duchy of Burgundy, that the cross of St. Andrew was brought out of Achara, and placed in the nunnery of Weaune near Marseilles. It was thence removed into the abbey of St. Victor in Marseilles, before the year 1250, and is still shown there. A part thereof, enclosed in a silver case gilt, was carried to Brussels by Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy and Brabant, who, in honor of it, instituted the Knights of the Golden Fleece, who, for the badge of their order, wear a figure of this cross, called St. Andrew’s cross, or the cross of Burgundy.* The Scots honor St. Andrew as principal patron of their country, and their historians tell us, that a certain abbot called Regulus, brought thither from Patr, in 369, or rather from Constantinople some years later, certain relics of this apostle which he reposited in a church which he built in his honor, with a monastery called Abernethy, where now the city of St. Andrew’s stands.19 Usher proves that many pilgrims resorted to this church from foreign countries, and that the Scottish monks of that place were the first who were called Culdees.20 Hungus, king of the Picts, soon after the year 800, in thanksgiving for a great victory which he had gained over the Northumbrians, gave to this church the tenth part of all the land of his dominions. Kenneth II., king of the Scots, having overcome the Picts, and entirely extinguished their kingdom in North Britain in 845, repaired and richly endowed the church of St. Regulus or Rueil, in which the arm of St. Andrew was reverently kept.† The Muscovites say he preached the faith among them, and honor him as the principal titular saint of their empire. Peter the Great instituted under his name the first and most noble order of knighthood, or of the blue riband: leaving the project of a second order of St. Alexander Newski, or of the red riband, to be carried into execution by his widow.

St. Andrew, by conversing with Christ, extinguished in his breast ali earthly passions and desires, and attained to the happiness of his pure divine love. We often say to ourselves, that we also desire to purchase holy love, the most valuable of all treasures, and the summit of dignity and happiness. But these desires are fruitless and mere mockery, unless we earnestly set about the means. In the first place, we must be at the expense (if that can be called an expense, which is the first step to true liberty and happiness) of laying a deep foundation of humility, meekness, and self-denial. We must first with the apostle leave all things; that is to say, we must sincerely and in spirit forsake the world, (though we live in it,) and must also renounce and die to ourselves before we can be admitted to the familiar converse of our Redeemer and God, or before he receives us to his chaste spiritual embraces, and opens to us the treasure of his choicest graces. This preparation and disposition of soul, it must be our constant care always to improve; for, in the same proportion that the world and self love are banished from our hearts, shall we advance in divine love. But this great virtue, the queen, the form, and the soul of all perfect virtue, is learned, exercised, and improved, by conversing much with God in holy meditation, reading, and assiduous fervent prayer and recollection; also by its external acts, in all manner of good works, especially those of fraternal charity and spiritual mercy.21

NOVEMBER 30 — ST. NARSES, BISHOP, AND COMPANIONS, MM

In the fourth year of the great persecution raised by Sapor II., were apprehended Narses, bishop of Schiahareadat, (the capital of Beth-Germa, a province in the heart of Persia,) and Joseph, his disciple, while the king happened to be in that city. When they were brought before him he said to Narses: “Your venerable gray hairs, and the comeliness and bloom of your pupil’s youth, strongly incline me in your favor. Consult your own safety and advantage; receive the sacred rites of the sun, and I will confer on you most ample rewards and honors; for I am exceedingly taken with your persons.” The blessed Narses answered: “Your flattery is very disagreeable to us, because ensnaring, and tending to draw us over to a treacherous world. Even you who enjoy whatever the world can give, and who promise it to others, will find it fleeting from you like a dream, and falling away like the morning dew. As for my part, I am now above four score years old, and have served God from my infancy. I pray him again and again, that I may be preserved from so grievous an evil, and may never betray the fidelity which I owe him by adoring the sun, the work of his hands.” The king angrily said: “If you obey not without more ado, you shall this instant be led to execution.” Narses replied: “If you had power, O king, to put us to death seven times over, we should never yield to your desire.” The king then pronounced sentence, and the martyrs were immediately put into the hands of the executioners. The king was there in a manzal or chan, that is, a resting-place on his journey. The martyrs were led out of the tents, and followed by an incredible multitude of people. At the place of execution Narses cast his eyes round about him on the crowd, and Joseph said to him: “See how the people gaze at you. They are waiting that you dismiss them and go to your own home.” The bishop embracing him replied: “You are most happy, my blessed Joseph who have broken the snares of the world, and have entered with joy, the narrow path of the kingdom of heaven.” Joseph presented his head first to the executioner, which was struck off. They suffered on the 10th day of the moon of November, in 343.

In the same acts, the martyrdom of several others about the same time as recorded. John, bishop of Beth-Seleucia, was put to death in the castle of Beth-Hascita, by order of Ardascirus prince of Persia, probably a son of Sapor. Isaac, priest of the town Hulsar, was stoned to death without the walls of Beth-Seleucia, by the command of the president of Adargusnasaphus. Papa, priest of Herminum, was put to death in the castle of Gabal. by prince Ardascirus, when he was viceroy of Hadiabus. Uhanam, a young clergyman, was stoned to death by certain apostate gentlewomen of Beth-Seleucia, by order of the same prince. Guhsciatazades, a eunuch in the palace of Ardascirus, refused to sacrifice to the sun; whereupon that prince commanded Vartranes, an apostate priest who had shrunk a his trial and renounced his faith, to kill him with his own hand. The wretch advanced; but at first sight of the holy martyr trembled, and stopped short, not daring for a considerable time to give a thrust. The martyr said to him: “Do you who are a priest come to kill me? I certainly mistake when I call you a priest. Accomplish your design, but remember the apostacy and end of Judas.” At last the impious Vartranes made a trembling push, and stabbed the holy eunuch. The martyrs whose names follow, were of the laity: Sasannes, Mares, Timus, and Zaron, sealed their faith with their blood in the province of the Huzites. Bahutha, a most noble lady of Beth-Seleucia, was put to death for the same by order of the president. Tecla and Danacla, virgins of the same city, suffered death soon after her, under the same judge. Tatona, Mama, Mazachia, and Anne, virgins and citizens of Beth-Seleucia, suffered martyrdom without the walls of the city of Burcatha. The virgins Abiatha, Hathes, and Mamlacha, of the province of Beth-Germa, were massacred by order of king Sapor, when he made a progress through that country. See their genuine Chaldaic acts published by Steph. Assemani, Act. Mart. Orient. t. 1, p. 97.

NOVEMBER 30 — SS. SAPOR AND ISAAC, BB., MAHANES, ABRAHAM, AND SIMEON, MM

In the thirtieth year of Sapor II., the magians accused the Christians to the king, with loud complaints, saying: “No longer are we able to worship the sun, nor the air, nor the water, nor the earth, for the Christians despise and insult them.” Sapor, incensed by their discourse against the servants of God, laid aside his intended journey to Aspharesa, and published a severe edict commanding the Christians everywhere to be taken into custody. Mahanes, Abraham, and Simeon, were the first who fell into the hands of his messengers. The next day the magians laid a new information before the king, saying: “Sapor, bishop of Beth-Nictor, and Isaac, bishop of Beth-Seleucia, build churches, and seduce many.”* The king answered in great wrath: “It is my command that strict search be made to discover the criminals throughout my dominions, and that they be brought to their trials within three days.” The king’s horsemen immediately flew day and night in swift journeys over the kingdom, and brought up the prisoners whom the magians had particularly accused, and they were thrown into the same prison with the aforesaid confessors. The day after the arrival of this new company of holy champions, Sapor, Isaac, Mahanes, Abraham, and Simeon, were presented to the king, who said to them: “Have not you heard that I derive my pedigree from the gods? yet I sacrifice to the sun, and pay divine honors to the moon. And who are you who resist my laws, and despise the sun and fire?” The martyrs with one voice answered: “We acknowledge one God, and Him alone we worship.” Sapor said: “What God is better than Hormisdatas, or stronger than the angry Armanes? and who is ignorant that the sun is to be worshipped.”† The holy bishop Sapor replied: “We confess one only God, who made all things, and Jesus Christ born of him.” The king commanded that he should be beaten on the mouth; which order was executed with such cruelty that all his teeth were knocked out. Then the tyrant ordered him to be beaten with clubs, till his whole body was bruised and his bones broken. After this he was loaded with chains. Isaac appeared next. The king reproached him bitterly for having presumed to build churches; but the martyr maintained the cause of Christ with inflexible constancy. By the king’s command, several of the chief men of the city who had embraced the faith, and abandoned it for fear of torments, were sent for, and by threats engaged to carry off the servant of God, and stone him to death. At the news of his happy martyrdom, St. Sapor exulted with holy joy, and expired himself two days after in prison, of his wounds. The barbarous king, nevertheless, to be sure of his death, caused his head to be cut off, and brought to him. The other three were then called by him to the bar; and the tyrant finding them no less invincible than those who were gone before them, caused the skin of Mahanes to be flayed from the top of his head to the navel; under which torment he expired. Abraham’s eyes were bored out with a hot iron, in such a manner that he died of his wounds two days after. Simeon was buried in the earth up to his breast, and shot to death with arrows. The Christians privately interred their bodies. The glorious triumph of these martyrs happened in the year 339 See their genuine Chaldaic acts in Steph. Evod. Assemani, Acta Mart Orient. t. 1, p. 226.