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CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

l,wj

Cornell Unrversity Library

BR 1710.B25 1898
V.5

Lives ot the saints.

Ili'lll

3' 1924 026 082 572

Cornell University
Library

The original of tliis book is in
tine Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026082572

THE

ilibes? of tlje t)atnt0

REV. S. BARING-GOULD

SIXTEEN VOLUMES

VOLUME THE FIFTH

THE

ILities of tlje g)amt6

BY THE

REV. S. BARING-GOULD, M.A.
New Edition in i6 Volumes

Revised with Introduction and Additional Lives of

English Martyrs, Cornish and Welsh Saints,

and a full Index to the Entire Work

ILLUSTRATED BY OVER 400 ENGRAVINGS
VOLUME THE FIFTH

LONDON
JOHN C. NFMMO

NEW YORK . LONGMANS, GREEN. &-• CO.

MDCCCXCVIll / ,

>1< ^-Hi-^^'^ -^

/ :S'^6 <d -^ ^'

Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson &> CO.
At the Ballantyne Press

-»5<

CONTENTS

SS. Achilles and comp. . 158

B. Alcuin 263

S. Aldhelm .... 346
„ Alexander I., Pope . 54

SS. Alexanderandcomp. 418
S. Amator .... n

SS. Andrew and comp. . 205
S. Angela of Merici . 430

Apparition of S. Michael 1 1 5
S. Asaph .... 16

„ Athanasius the Great 29
„ Augustine . . . 384
„ Avia 94

S. Basilla .... 306

,, Beatus 136

,, Bede the Venerable 398
„ Benedict IL, Pope . 108

PAGE

Bernardine . . 309

Boniface of Tarsus . 191
Boniface IV., Pope . 345
Brendan of Clonfert 217

Brioch 20

Britwin of Beverley 213

Cffisarea . . . .

SS.

Calepodius and

comp. . . .

1,39

Cantius, Cantianus,

and Cantianilla .

428

Carantog .

21^

Caraunus . . . .

408

Carnech . . .

214

))

Carthagh of Lis-

more , . . .

196

Comgall . . .

141

SS.

Conon and Son . .

417

f^-

Contents

PAGE

S. Constantine, Em-
peror . . .314
SS. Ctesiphon and

comp. . 204

S. Desiderius of Lan-

gres 334

„ Desiderius of Vienne 335

SS. Dionysia and comp. 205

S. Domitian .... 108

„ Dunstan, Abp. . 276

SS. DymphnaandGere-

bern 207

E
S. Eadbert . . 96

„ Elfgyva 254

B. Elizabeth of Hun-
gary 100

SS. Epimachus and

Gordian . . .141
S. Epiphanius . 164

„ Erick . . , . 256

„ Ethelbert . . 308

„ Everma'r . . 24

,, Evodius . 93

S. Felix of Cantalice . 258
„ Felix of Spalato . . 253
„ Ferdinand III., K. . 421

„ Fidolus 216

„ Flavia Domitilla . 106
SS. Flavia Domitilla

and comp. . . .158
S. Francis of Girolamo 156
„ Frederick of Liege . 405
„ Fremtmd . . . .154

S. Gengulf . .151

B. Gerard ... .187

SS. Gerebern and Dym-
phna

S. Germain of Paris .

„ Germanus of Con-
stantinople . .

„ Gibrian

13. Gizur of Skalholt .

S. Glyceria ....

„ Godrick ....
SS. Gordian and Epi-
machus ....

S. Gothard of Hilde-
sheim ....

„ Gregory Nazianzen

„ Gregory VII., Pope

H
S. Hallvard . . .

„ Heliconis
„ Hermas

,, Hermias ....
SS. Hesperius and Zee.
S. Hilary of Aries

I
S. Iduberga . . .
SS. InjuriosusandScho-
lastica . . .
Invention of the Cross .
S. Isberga .
„ Isidora . .
,, Isidore .
„ Itta .

J
S. James the Less 5

„ John I., Pope . 395

„ John of Beverley . 109
,, John Damascene . 96
„ John of Nepomuk . 227
„ John the Silentiary 185
„ Judas or Quiriacus . 64

J, Julia 332

)! Julius 394

207
412

174
114

413
181
322

141

125

350

202
407
124
428
28
75

116

344
56

320
\m

146

116

->J,

'^-

Contents

Vll

»J<-

PAGE

S. Petronilla .

427

S. Kellach . . ,

„ Philip of Agyra

161

„ Philip, Ap.

„ Philip Neri .

391

„ Pius v., Pope . .

S. Madern

239

„ Pontius

188

„ Majolus

154

SS. Pudens and Puden-

„ Mamertius .

ISO

tiana . . . .

262

„ Marculf

B. Marianna of Jesus

392

SS. Martyriusandcomp.

418

„ Martyrs of Alex-

S. Quadratus . . . ,

383

andria .

181

„ Quiriacus . . .

„ Martyrs of Nismes .

312

„ Quiteria

333

S. Mary Magdalen of

Pazzi . . .

381

„ Maurontius . .
„ Maximus of Jeru-
salern . • .
SS. Maximus and Vener-

S. Restituta .

„ Rictrudis . . .

„ Rolenda . . . .

238
170
187

andus . . .

343

S. Michael, Apparition

115

SS. Scholastica and In-

„ MochudaofLismore

196

juriosus . . . .

344

„ Monica . .

,, Secundus and comp.

319

S. Servatus of Tongres

183

,, Sigismund. . . .

SS. Nereus and comp. ,

158

„ Simon Stock . .
SS. Sisinnius and comp.

226
418

S. Solangia . . . .

145

„ Stanislaus of Cracow

1 10

S. Oriens . . . .

„ Sylvanus of Gaza .

S. Pachomius

192

SS. Thallelffius and

„ Pancras

159

comp

307

„ Paschal Baylon . .

242

S. Theodard . . . .

„ Paschal I., Pope .

199

SS. Theodotus and

SS. Pasicrates and Va-

comp. . . .

245

lentio

342

S. Theodulus the Sty-

„ Paul and comp.

305

lite ...

409

S. Pelagia . . . .

S.S. Timothy and Maura

„ Peter Celestine . .

288

S. Torpes ....

237

„ Peter of Tarentaise

117

SS. Torquatus and comp.

204

SS. Peter and comp.

205

S. Theodosia . . . .

420

VOL. V.

»J(

Vlll

Contents

PAGE

S. Ubald . . . . 223

„ Urban I., Pope . . 341

S. Venantius . . . 244

SS. Venerandus and

Maximus . . 343
S. Vincent of Lerins . 337

PAGE

S. William of Roches-
ter .. . . 336
„ Wiro . 116

S. Yvo .

. 301

SS. Zoe and Hesperus . 28

>J< »J«

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Canterbury Cathedral .... Frontispiece

S. Marculf ...... tofacep. 14

After Cahier.

S. Bertha ..,..., ,,24

After Cahiek.

S. Athanasius .... . >! 32

From a Picture by DoMINICHINO in the Church
of Grotta Ferrata, near Ro?ne.

S. Helena (Invention of the Cross) . „ 56

Cross from S. Mauritius at Munster . . onp. 92

Group of Angels . . . . . „ 113

S. Solangia tofacep. 144

After Cahier.

S, Isidore ...... ,,148

After Cahier.

Font in the Cathedral at Hildesheim. . onp. 157

S. Hugo and the B. Gerard . . . to face p. 186

In Festo Beate Maria Virginis Titulo

AuxiLiUM Christianorum ... „ 192

FrOTn the Vienna Missal.
ix

* — >J<

List of Illustrations

S. Paschal, Pope {see p. 199)

From a Mosaic.

S. John of NepoiiIUK
S. Felix of Cantalice .

Afte7- Cahier.
S. PUDENTIANA AND S. PRAXEDIS RENDERING

their last services to the martyred
Saints

From t/ie Church of Sta. Pudentienna at Rome.

S. Yvo

After Cahier.

S. DUNSTAN {see p. 288) .

S. Bernardine of Siena

After Cahier.

The Conversion of Constantine

After ]X!'LES ROMAIN.

The Baptism of Constantine

S Aldhelm {see p. 346) .

S. Augustine, Abp. Canterbury.

From, a Drawing by A. Welby Pugin.

S. Bede the Venerable
The Ascension

From, the Vienna Missal.

The Ascension . . . ,

After Giotto's Fresco in the Arena at Padua.

. on p. 203

to face p. 232
258

262

304

. on p.
to face p.

30s
310

314

316

. on

■P- 331

to fact

^•384

))

402

426

428

-■^

Ij,_ ^

Lives of the Saints.

May 1,

Jeeemiah, Prophet, slain in Egypt.

S. Philip, Ap. M. at Hierapolis, hi Phrygia, ist cent.

S. James the Less, Ap., B.M. ofjerusalevi, ist cent.

S AndeoluSj M. in the ViTjarais, in France, a.d. 207.

SS. AcHius AND AcHEOLUs, MM. at Amiens,

S. IsiDORA, V, at Ta&e7i7ia, in Egypt. "

S. Amatoe, jB. of Auxerre, a.d. 41S.

S. OeienSj B. of Atich, iti Pra?zce, a.d. 439.

S. Afeicanus, B. of Comminges, Stkcent.

S. Marculf, Ab. at Coutances, in Nortnandy, circ. a.d, 558.

S. SiGiSMUNDj K.H. at S. Maurice, in the Valais, a.d. 524.

S. Asaph, B. in Wales, end ofSik ce?it.

S. Brioch, B. in Brittany, abottt 6th cent.

S. Theodulus, Ad. ofS. Thierzy, at Rheims, end of 6th cent.

S. KellacHj B. in Ireland, -jih cent.

S. Aeegius, B, of Gap, circ. a.d. 610.

S. Bertha, Ahss. V.M. at Avenay, in the diocese of Chalons-s7ir-Marne^

'jth cent.
S. XJltan, Ab. of Fosses, near Per onjie, circ. a.d. 680.
S. EvERMAE, M. at Tongres, in Belgium, circ. a.d. 700.
S. Theodaed, Archb. of Narbonne, circ. a.d. 893.
S. ViVALD, H. at Montajone, in Tuscany, circ. a.d. 1310.

S. PHILIP, AP. M.
(ist cent.)

[Roman Martyrology. That attributed to S. Jerome, Bede, Hrabanus,
Usuardus, Ado, Notker. Ancient and Reformed Anglican Kalendars.
By the Greeks on Nov. 14th, also by Copts. The Acts are apocryphal,
but may, and probably do contain some foundation of truth. The testi-
mony of Papias and Polycrates, quoted by Eusebius, may, however, be
relied on ; Papias had spoken with the daughters of S. Philip.]

|AINT PHILIP was bom at Bethsaida, a town

near the Sea of Tiberias, the city of SS. Andrew

and Peter. Of his parents and way of life

the Gospel history takes no notice, though

probably he was a fisherman — -the ordinary trade of that

VOL. V. 1
^ (J(

place. He had the honour of being first called to the
discipleship, which thus came to pass : — Our Lord soon
after His return from the wilderness, having met with
S. Andrew and his brother S. Peter, after some short dis-
course parted from them ; and the very next day, as He
was passing through Galilee, He found S. Philip, whom He
presently commanded to follow Him ; so that He had the
prerogative of being the first of our Lord's disciples. For
though SS. Andrew and Peter were the first that came to
and conversed with Christ, yet they immediately returned
to their trade again, and were not called to the discipleship
till above a whole year after, when S. John the Baptist was
cast into prison.

S. Clement of Alexandria reports, as a well-known fact,
that S. Philip was the one who asked Christ to be allowed
to first go and bury his father, before he followed Him, and
received from Christ the answer, " Let the dead bury their
dead." (Matt viii. 22.)

It is related that, in the distribution of the several regions
of the w'orld made by the Apostles, Upper Asia was
allotted to S. Philip as his province, where he applied him-
self with indefatigable diligence and industry to recover
men out of the snare of the devil, to the embracing and
acknowledgment of the truth. By the constancy of his
preaching and the efficacy of his miracles, he gained
numerous converts, whom he baptized into the Christian
faith, at once curing both souls and bodies, dispossessing
demons, settling churches and appointing pastors to them.
Having for many years successfully exercised his apostolical
office in all those parts, he came at length to Hierapolis, in
Phrygia, a rich and prosperous city, but a stronghold of
idolatry. Amongst the many false gods to which adoration
was there paid was a huge serpent. S. PhiHp was troubled
to see the people so wretchedly enslaved to error, and,

«-

May I.] ^. Philip. 3

therefore, continually besought God, till by prayer and
calhng upon the name of Jesus Christ, he had procured
the death of the monster. Upon this S. Philip took
occasion to convince the people of the vainness of their
superstitions with such success that many renounced their
errors. Enraged at this, the magistrates of the city seized
the apostle, and having cast him into prison caused him to
be severely scourged. After this preparatory cruelty he
was led to execution, and having been bound, he was hung
up by the neck against a pillar ; though others relate that
he was crucified. It is further recorded that at his exe-
cution the earth began suddenly to quake, and the ground
whereon the people stood to sink under them ; but when
they perceived this and bewailed it as an evident act of
Divine vengeance pursuing them for their sins, it as
suddenly stopped and went no further. The apostle being
dead, his body was taken down by S. Bartholomew — his
fellow-sufferer, afterwards executed — and Mariamne, S.
Philip's sister (who is said to have been the constant
companion of his travels), and decently buried; after
which, having confirmed the people in the faith of Christ,
they departed from them. S. Philip was married, and had
several daughters. Some of them, says Clement of Alex-
andria, were married.^ Two lived single, and died at a
great age, and were buried at Hierapolis, as we learn from
Polycrates, quoted by Eusebius;^ another was buried at
Ephesus.^ Sozomen says that the daughters of Philip raised
a dead man to hfe;* but Papias, whom Eusebius quotes,
speaks also of this resurrection, which he says he heard
from their lips, but does not say that they raised the man
to life.s

The fact of S. Philip having had daughters has led some

1 Stromata III. 2 Hist. Eccl. iii. c. 31. » Ibid. * Hist. Eccl.vii. 27.
s Hist, Eccl, iii. 39.

4 Lives of the Saints. [Mayi.

writers to confound him with Philip the Deacon, who Hved
at Csesarea, and of whose four virgin daughters mention is
made in the Acts of the Holy Apostles. He was one of
the apostles who left no sacred writings behind him, the
greater part of the apostles, as Eusebius observes, having
little leisure to write books, through being employed in
ministries more immediately useful and subservient to the
happiness of mankind. But S. Epiphanius relates that the
Gnostics were wont to produce a Gospel forged under S.
Philip's name, which they abused to the farthering of their
strange heresies.

S. Philip appears "young and beardless" in the Greek
paintings ; in Western art he is generally in the prime of
life, but with little beard. He usually carries in his hand a
long staff, surmounted by a cross ; sometimes it is in the
Tau form, and more rarely a double cross ; he often bears
a basket with loaves and fishes, in allusion to S. John
vi. 5-7-

The arm of S. Philip was translated in 1204 from Con-
stantinople to Florence, where it is still shewn. The
crown of his head is at Troyes, obtained at the same time,
other relics are at Toulouse. The body of the saint is
preserved in the church of the Apostles Phihp and James,
at Rome, which was dedicated by Pope John III. In
Cyprus, however, the head is preserved together with
several bones; one of the bones was removed in 1616, and
taken to Naples. But another head was given by John
III., duke of Berry, son of King John II. of France, to the
cathedral church of Notre Dame at Paris. Another head
is shewn in Portugal, at Montemayor, in the church of S.
Francis. This was given to Don Fernando Mascarenhas,
envoy of king Sebastian to the council of Trent, by the Pope.

The Emperor Charles IV. obtained many relics of S.
PhUip, which he gave to the churches of Prague, amongst

>&-

»5< ^

May I.] 6". y antes the Less. 5

others an arm of the apostle. This arm and another head
of S. Philip were brought from Rome in 1355. But the head,
and one whole arm, and a portion of another, are shewn in
the monastery church of Andechs or Heiligen-Berg, near
the Ammer-See, in Bavaria. In 1148, Pope Eugenius III.
consecrated the church of S. Matthias, at Treves, and relics
of S. Philip were then given to it. Gelenius says that relics
of the same apostle are preserved in ten or more of the
churches in Cologne.

The Spanish historians and martyrologists affirm, without
a shadow of evidence, that the Greeks whom S. Philip
brought to S. Andrew, and S. Andrew to our Lord (John
xii. 20), consisted of a party of Spaniards.

S. JAMES THE LESS, AP.

(iST CENT.)

[Roman Martyrology, Anglican Reformed Kalendar. By Copts on
Feb. 4th, by Maronites on Oct. 9th. In the Egyptian Kalendars, pub-
lished by Selden, on the loth and 12th Feb. By the Russian Church on
Oct. 9th, and on the same day by the Greeks. By the ancient Roman and
almost all the old Latin Martyrologies on June 22nd. He is sometimes
called "James the Lord's Brother," and sometimes "James the son of
Alphaeus." Some think that these were two distinct persons, and that
the festivals are for each. S. James the Great was the son of Zebedee,
and was a third person. Authorities : — Besides mention in the Gospels,
Hegesippus quoted by Eusebius.]

The parentage of S. James is so confused that it is
impossible to decide with, any thing approaching to certainty
who was his father, and what was his relationship to our
Blessed Lord. The term brother, applied to him by the
Evangelists, is of wide significance, and it may mean that
he was a son of Joseph by a former wife, or that he was a
cousin, the son of Alphsus, who married the sister of the

6 Lives of the Saints. [May i.

Blessed Virgin Mary. The reader is referred to what has
already been said on this topic in the article on Mary the
wife of Cleopas (April 9th). Of the birth-place of S. James
the sacred story makes no mention. In the Talmud he is
more than once styled " a man of the town of Sechania."
No distinct account is given of him during our Saviour's
ministry until after His Resurrection, when S. James was
honoured with a special appearance of our Lord to him,
which, though silently passed over by the Evangelists, is
recorded by S. Paul — ^next to the manifesting Himself to
the five hundred brethren at once, "He was seen of James."
Of this S. Jerome (September 30th) gives a fuller relation
out of the Hebrew Gospel of the Nazarenes (see Life of S.
Matthew, September 21st), viz. : That S. James had
solemnly sworn that from the time that he had drunk of the
Cup at the Last Supper, he would eat bread no more till
he saw the Lord risen from the dead. Our Lord, there-
fore, being returned from the grave, came and appeared to
him, commanded bread to be set before him, which He
took, blessed, and brake, and gave to S. James, saying,
" Eat thy bread, my brother, for the Son of Man is truly
risen from among them that sleep." After Christ's Ascen-
sion he was chosen bishop of Jerusalem, preferred before
all the rest for his near relationship unto Christ ; and this
was afterwards the reason why Simeon was chosen to be his
immediate successor in that see, because he was, after S.
James, our Lord's next kinsman. This consideration
made S. Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, though they
had been peculiarly honoured by our Saviour, not contend
for this high and honourable place, but freely choose
James the Just to be its bishop. It was to S. James that
S. Paul made his address after his conversion, and was by
him honoured with the right hand of fellowship ; to him S.
Peter sent the news of his miraculous deliverance out of

•^ .gi

*— : .

Mayi-] 6". y antes the Less. 7

prison, "Go show these things unto James and to the
brethren." S. James presided at the Synod at Jerusalem
in the great controversy about the Mosaic rites ; and thereat
passed the final and decretory sentence that the Gentile
converts were not to be troubled with the bondage of the
Jewish yoke. He exercised his office with all possible care
and industry, omitting no part of a diligent and faithful
guide of souls, strengthening the weak, informing the
ignorant, reducing the erroneous, reproving the obstinate,
and by the constancy of his preaching, conquering the
stubbornness of that perverse and refractory generation
with which he had to deal, many of the nobler and the
better sort being brought over from Judaism to the
Christian Faith. He was so careful, so successful in his
charge, that it stirred up the malice of enemies to con-
spire his ruin. Not being able to affect this under the
government of Festus, they more effectually attempted it
before the assumption of the procuratorship by his successor,
Aibinus. Ananias the Younger, then high priest, and of the
sect of the Sadducees, resolved to despatch him before the
new governor could arrive. To this end a council was hastily
summoned, and the apostle, with some others, arraigned and
condemned as violators of the law. But that the thing might
be carried on in a more plausible way, they set the Scribes
and Pharisees at work to ensnare him ; and they, coming to
him, began by flattering insinuations to entrap him. They
told him that they all had great confidence in him, and
that the whole nation as well as themselves regarded him as
a most just man, and one who was no respecter of persons ;
that, therefore, they desired he would correct the errors
into which the people had fallen, who regarded Jesus
as the Messiah, and they desired to take the oppor-
tunity of the congress to the Paschal solemnity, to have
them set right in their notions about these things. For

* ^)j,

Ij, ■ *

8 Lives of the Saints. [Mayi.

tliis purpose they undertook to place him on the top of the
Temple, where he might be seen and heard by aU. On the
day appointed, being advantageously placed upon a pinnacle
or wing of the Temple, the Scribes thus addressed him :
"Tell us, O Justus ! whom we have all the reason in the
world to beUeve, that seeing the people are thus generally
led away with the doctrine of Jesus that was crucified, tell
us what is this institution of the crucified Jesus." To which
the apostle answered in an audible voice, "Why do ye
inquire of Jesus, the Son of Man ? He sits in heaven, on
the right hand of the Majesty on High, and will come again
in the clouds of heaven." The people below hearing
this, glorified the blessed Jesus, and shouted, " Hosanna
to the Son of David !"

The Scribes and Pharisees perceiving now that they had
overshot their mark, and that instead of reclaiming, they
had confirmed the people in their reverence for Christ, saw
that there was no way left but to despatch James at once,
in order that by his sad fate others might be warned not to
believe him. Whereupon, suddenly crying out that Justus
himself was seduced and become an impostor, they threw
him down from the place where he stood. Though bruised,
he was not killed by the fall, but recovered sufficient
strength to get upon his knees and pray for them. A
Rechabite who stood by, who Epiphanius says was Simeon,
the apostle's kinsman and successor, then stepped in and
entreated the Jews to spare him, a just and righteous man,
and who was then praying for them. But they cast a-
shower of stones upon S. James, till one, more mercifully
cruel than the rest, beat out his brains with a fuller's club.
Thus died the holy apostle in the year of grace 62, in the
ninety-sixth year of his age, and about twenty-four years
after our Lord's Ascension, taken away, as we are told by
Josephus, to the great grief and regret of all good men, yea,

* _ ^

•51-

May I.] 6". James the Less. 9

of all sober and just persons, even among the Jews
themselves. S. Gregory, of Tours, relates that S. James
was buried upon Mount Olivet in a tomb which he had
buUt for himself, and wherein he had buried Zacharias
and S. Simeon.

The Catholic Epistle of S. James, his only authentic
work, was probably written not long before his martyrdom,
as appears by some passages in it relating to the near ap-
proaching ruin of the Jewish nation. Besides this Epistle
there is a Gospel ascribed to him, called the Protevangelium,
containing the early life of our Lord and of His Mother.
This book is, however, certainly apocryphal. It can in no
case have been written before the 2nd century, and in its
actual form it belongs to a later century. It is full of
blunders and inconsistencies.

S. James the Less is generally represented with a club of
peculiar shape, called the fuller's bat, which was the instru-
ment of his martyrdom. According to an early tradition
he so nearly resembled our Lord in person, in features, and
in deportment, that it was difficult to distinguish them, and
a touching legend says that this exact resemblance rendered
necessary the kiss of the traitor Judas in order to point out
his Victim to the soldiers.

The body of S. James the Less was taken from Jerusalem,
where it was buried, and carried to Constantinople. The
head is now shown at Compostella, in Spain, brought from
Jerusalem by the Bishop Didacus Gelmirez in the 13th
century.

But the head is claimed as possessed also by the church
of S. Marrie de Mare, at Camargo, in Provence. A jaw is
preserved at Forli, in Italy ; another portion of the head at
Ancona ; an arm at Gembloux, in Belgium. But the relics
of S. James are said to have been found in 1395 on Monti
Grigiano, near Verona. The body is preserved in the

* ^

IK ^»J<

lO Lives of the Saints. [Mayi.

church of SS. Philip and James at Rome, together with
that of S. Philip, in the high altar, but the arm is separately-
enshrined, and is exhibited there on this day. The head and
other relics, according to Saussaye, were at Toulouse, and
at Langres was an arm of S. James. Three portions of the
skull are in the church of S. Charles, at Antwerp.

S. ISIDORA, V.

(date uncertain.)

[Greek Menasa. Authority : — Mention in the Lives of the Fathers of
the Desert, as related by S. Basil. J

In a convent of religious women at Tabenna, in Upper
Egypt, was a sister named Isidora, whom the rest of the
nuns regarded as half-witted, and they despised her, played
her tricks, and put all the work upon her. She had only
an old tattered dish-clout over her head, and no clean veil
as the rest. And they swept past in solemn order to the
devotions in the church, and Isidora was left to look to the
kitchen and sweep the floors. And sometimes the sisters
slapped her face, and if they found her asleep for weariness,
they put mustard into her nostrils, or they threw the
scrapings of their plates over her. But all she bore without
a murmur, and went on as the kitchen drudge as con-
tentedly as if she had found her true vocation.

Now one day the aged hermit Pyoterius, who dwelt
among the rocks on the bank of the Nile, saw an angel of
God, who said to him, " Go to a certain convent at Tabenna
and there shalt thou find an elect vessel full of the grace of
God, and thou shalt know her by the crown that shines
above her head." So Pyoterius went forth and tarried not
till he came to the convent, and related his vision and bade
the abbess bring all the sisters before him. And they

^ •$(

May I.] S. Amator. ii

passed in order, and as each went by he said, " The Lord
hath not chosen thee." Then he said, " Are there yet any
more?" The superior answered, " All are here save only
a half-witted creature who is kitchen-slut." " Bring her to
me," said the hermit And when Isidora came in, her gar-
ments stained and dirty, with the old clout on her head, he
saw the clout encircled with a thread of light, and he fell at
her feet and prayed her to bless him. Then she bowed to
him humbly and besought him to bless her. "And is this
she whom the Lord hath chosen !" exclaimed the sisters.
Then one said, "I slapped her on the face only yesterday."
And another said, "I put mustard up her nose.'' And
another said, " And I threw the scraps of my dinner at her
head." And now all honoured her as a saint. But the
poor cinder-slut, ashamed of the veneration she had ac-
quired, fled away. And here the story ends. All we know
fiirther is, that the Menaea adds that she flew to heaven at
length as a bee to its hive, laden with the honey of good
works.

S. AMATOR, B. OF AUXEE.RE.
(a.d. 418.)

[All Latin Martyrologies, Roman Included. The life of S. Amator was
written by Stephen, an African priest, at the request of S. Aunarius, Bishop
of Auxerre, A.D. 580.]

Amator was the only son of wealthy and noble parents at
Auxerre, brought up in all the accomphshments suited to
his birth and future prospects. When he reached manhood
he was espoused to a beautiful girl of good family, named
Martha. On the wedding day the old bishop of Auxerre,
S. Valerian, was invited to give the nuptial benediction^ in

1 Invitatur de more religiosorum, ad introitum thalami, illico Valerianus
Episcopus.

^ *

12 Lives of the Saints. [Mayi.

the house. The historian describes at length the splendour
of the adornments of the chamber and of the bride. The
aged bishop, now nearly in his second childhood, took his
book of prayers, and mumbled the office for the ordination
of a clerk, by mistake, and the assistants were none the
wiser, except Amator, who was paying close attention to
the words of the childish and toothless old man. Then
when all had withdrawn, he said to his girlish bride, as he
took her hands in his, " KJaowest thou what the bishop
read from his book?" "Yes," she answered, "he blessed
our union." "No, my dear one," said the young man,
" he consecrated us to the Lord. And now, though he did
it unwittingly, he did it not without God's will, and it may
be His purpose that we should serve Him in the highest
and hohest estate." So she cast herself into his arms and
said, "What thou wiliest, I will too." Then they knelt
together and offered themselves of their own free-will to
serve God. And there came a sweet perfume into the
room, as from roses. Then said Martha, "Whence comes
this fragrance, my brother ?" And he answered, "It is the
odour of Paradise, where they neither marry nor are given
in marriage, but are as the angels of God." So they went
to rest, and the lamp died out in the socket, and as it
became dark, Amator saw the luminous form of an angel
growing out of the darkness, holding two lily crowns, which
he laid on the heads of the virgin pair. >

Now during the marriage festivities, which were pro-
tracted several days, the old bishop Valerian died, and in
his place was chosen S. Helladius. And when the feasting
was at an end, the young couple went to the new bishop,
and disclosed to him what was their design, and when he
heard them, he was filled with wonder, and he blessed them
both, and Amator he consecrated deacon, and then priest,
and to Martha he gave the veil, and she became a nun.

»i*-

May I.] 6". Amator. 13

After a few years S. Helladius was gathered to his prede-
cessors in the see, and Amator was chosen by the unani-
mous voice of the clergy and people to fill his vacant chair.

The chief man of Auxerre was a certain Germanus, a
man of noble qualities, but not attending much to his
religious duties. He was passionately fond of hunting, and
he was wont to hang up the heads of the wild boars and
stags he killed to the branches of a large pear tree that
grew in the middle of the town. This was an old heathen
custom, and was, in fact, an oblation to Woden; and as
such, it gave the bishop great offence. He complained to
Germanus, but the sportsman paid no attention to his
remonstrances. Then Amator one day, whilst Germanus
was abroad hunting, cut down the tree, and threw all the
anders and boar's heads away outside the town. Germanus
was greatly incensed, and vowed vengeance against the
bishop, who to escape his wrath, fled the town, and made
the best of his way to Autun, to count Julius, governor of
the province. He now adopted one of those extraordinary
expedients to escape from the difficulty in which he had
involved himself, which can only be paUiated by the
customs of the time in which Amator lived. He had, no
doubt, formed an high opinion of Germanus, and had
conceived an affection for the frank, rough noble. His
wealth and position would signally aid the Church at
Auxerre if he could be enlisted among the clergy; and the
zeal wherewith he had pursued game, might be diverted to
enthusiasm in the pursuit of souls. So thought Amator,
we may presume, when he abruptly demanded of the
governor his sanction to the nomination and consecration
of Germanus to the episcopal throne of Auxerre in the
room of himself. " For," said S. Amator, " God has re-
vealed to me that my life draweth to a close." The
astonished governor gave his consent, and Amator at once

^ *

14 Lives of the Saints.

returned to Auxerre, where Germanus was still storming at
the destruction of his trophy, and vowing vengeance.
Amator at once went to the church, and a crowd of people
rushed after him, amongst them Germanus. " Let everyone
divest himself of his weapons, and lay spear and sword
outside the doors," said the bishop ; and he was obeyed.
Then at a signal, the gates were closed. Instantly Amator
rushed upon Germanus, caught him by the arm, and
assisted by some of his clergy, dragged him to the altar
steps, and then and there ordained him. Then, when
silence was made, Amator called on the people to elect
Germanus to be their bishop, as he who spake to them was
about to die. And so it was, Amator died a few days
after, and Germanus, chosen by the clergy and the people,
was consecrated bishop, and ruled the see well.

S. ORIENS, B. OF AUCH.
(a.d. 439.)

[Roman and Gallican Martyrologies. Authorities :— Two lives of un-
certain date.]

S. Oriens, Orientius, or Orens, was born at Huescar,
in the marches of Aragon. He sold his property, gave the
price to the poor, and retired as a hermit to the valley of
Lavedan. He became Bishop of Auch, about a.d. 419, and
was sent as ambassador from Theodoric the Ostrogoth to
sue for peace to the Roman general Aetius, in which he
was successful. He is author of a religious poem called
" Commonitorium " still extant, and died in a.d. 439, after
having laboured diligently to root out the relics of paganism
in his diocese.

* ^,

I \

S. MARCULF. After Cahier.

May I.

* — *

Mayi.i 6'. Marculf. f5

S. MARCULF, AB.

(about A.D. 558.)

[Gallican Martyrology, Usuardus. Authorities ;— Two ancient lives.
Three festivals are observed in his honour in the diocese of Coutances,
May ist, July 7th, Oct. nth.]

S. Marculf was born at Bayeux, and was of Frank
parentage, as his name shows (Forest- wolf. ) He preached
in the diocese of Coutances, and obtained from king
Childebert a grant of land at Nanteuil, on the coast, for a
monastery. He spent every Lent in an islet off the coast.
Taking with him a companion, Romardus, he visited
Jersey, where he found a hermit named Helier, occupying
a cave in the rock, now crowned by Elizabeth Castle.
Whilst he was in Jersey a pirate fleet of Saxons appeared
off the island. The natives implored the prayers of S.
Marculf. A storm rose, when a large body of the pirates
was advancing over the sand flats, swept some of their
ships upon the Violets, a reef of sunken rocks, carried
others out to sea, and the rising tide rushing over the sands,
assisted the islanders in disposing of their invaders.

S. Marculf returned to Nanteuil, and made a second
visit to the king. On this occasion he lay down to rest
near Compiegne. A hare that was being pursued by
hunters took refuge in his hood. Marculf awoke to find
himself surrounded by yelping hounds. He protected the
hare from them in spite of the threats of the hunters.

The relics of the saint are preserved at Corbeny, in the
diocese of Laon ; and it was the custom of the French
kings after their coronation at Rheims, to make a pilgrim-
age to Corbeny, and there after touching the relics of
S. Marculf, heal those sick with king's evil. The relics
were saved at the Revolution, and are now restored to
their place in the church of Corbeny. When Charles X.

^ *

)lj — ^ *

1 6 Lives of the Saints. [Mayi.

was crowned, in 1825, the relics were brought to the
hospital of S. Marcoul, at Rheims, and the king there
touched several scrofulous persons.

S. Marculf is represented touching the chin of a sick
person, to represent him as the patron invoked against
king's evil.

S. ASAPH, B.
(6th cent.)

[Roman Martyrology, Aberdeen Breviary. Authority : — Mention in
the life of S. Keutjgern.]

S. Kentigern having been expelled his see in
Scotland, founded a monastery at Llan-Elwy, in North
Wales. " There were assembled in this monastery," says
John of Tynemouth, "no fewer than 995 brethren, who all
lived under monastic discipline, serving God in great
continence. Of which number, 300, who were ilUterate,
he appointed to till the ground, to take care of the cattle,
and do other works outside the sanctuary. Other 300 he
appointed to prepare the food, and perform other necessary
works within the monastery, and 365 who were learned, he
deputed to say the daily offices. Of these he would not
suffer any, without great necessity, to leave the monas-
tery ; but appointed them to attend there continually, as in
God's sanctuary. Now this part of the community he
divided in such manner into companies, that when one
company had finished the divine service in the church
another presently entered, and began it anew; and these
having ended, a third immediately succeeded them. So
that by this means prayer was offered up in the church
without intermission, and the praises of God were ever in
their mouths.

* — ■ -^

*- ^

Mayi.j vS. Sigismund. 17

" Among these was one named Asaph, more particularly-
illustrious for his descent and his beauty, who from his child-
hood shone forth brightly, both with virtues and miracles.
He daily endeavoured to imitate his master, S. Kentigem,
in all sanctity and abstinence ; and to him the man of God
bore ever a special affection, insomuch that to his prudence
he committed the care of the monastery."

The story is told that one frosty bitter night, Kentigern
had performed his usual discipline by standing in the cold
river whilst he recited certain psalms, and when he crawled
to his cell, he was so numb with cold that he thought to
die. Then Asaph ran to fetch fire, that the saintly bishop
might warm himself But finding no pan in which to bring
the burning charcoal, and fearing to delay, he raked the
fire into the lap of his woollen habit and ran and cast them
down in the hearth before the frozen saint.

S. Asaph became abbot, when S. Kentigern returned to
Glasgow, and was also consecrated bishop, and converted
Llan-Elwy into the seat of his diocese in North Wales.

S. SIGISMUND, K. H.
(a.d. 524-)

fRoman and Gallican Martyrologies. Usuardus, Ado, Notker, Hrabanus.
Authorities : — S. Gregory of Tours in his Hist. Francorum, cc. 5 and 6.]

S. Sigismund was the son of Gundebald, king of Bur-
gundy. He was converted from Arianism by S. Avitus,
bishop of Vienne, in 515. His father died in 516, and
thereupon he ascended the throne. Sigismund was a muni-
ficent benefactor to the monastery of Agaunum or S.
Maurice in the Valais, which he may be said to have
founded, though religious men dwelt there before, yet it is
probable that they inhabited the cave in the precipice
VOL. v. 2 I

* ^^

above the town, which is still a hermitage. The stately
tower of the abbey church in part dates from the foundation
of S. Sigismund. S. Avitus preached at the dedication of
the monastery.!

But Sigismund, if imbued with strong religious feelings,
was not without frantic outbursts of barbarian rage, in one
of which he was guilty of a horrible crime, which embittered
the rest of his life. His first wife was Astrogotha or Amal-
berga, the daughter of Theodoric the Goth, king of Italy, by
whom he had a son named Sigeric. On her death, he
married another wife, probably of inferior rank. The lad
Sigeric bore his step-mother no warm love, and seeing her
one day wearing the clothes of his own mother, burst
forth into an angry exclamation of "Your mistress's clothes
do not become the back of her servant !" His step-mother
never forgave this remark, and schemed his death. She
gradually worked upon the feelings of her husband, awaken-
ing his fears of the power and ambition of Theodoric, and
then pretending to discover a plot of the king of Italy to
dethrone Sigismund and set up Sigeric in his place. The
Burgundian king gave way to his ferocious passion, and in
the blindness of his jealousy ordered the death of his son.
A thong was slipped by two young men round the neck of
Sigeric, as he slept, and the prince was strangled. No
sooner was the crime committed, than the most agonizing
remorse took possession of the king. He cast himself on
the body of his son, and bathed the dead face with his
tears. "Weep not for him, for he is at rest,'' said an old
courtier standing by; "but weep, sire, for thyself, that by ill
advice thou hast become a murderer of thy son." The king

1 One cannot sufficiently deplore the barbarous way in which this venerable
church has of late years been renovated, so that by the mean gim-crack tracery of
the windows and wall-paper embellishments of the interior every token of dignity
and religious gravity has been swept away.

* ^

5< *

May I.] .S". Sigismund. 19

hastened to Agaunum, and remained in the monastery for
some time fasting and weeping. He prayed in his sorrow
that God would punish him in this world rather than in the
next. The storm that was to overwhelm him was already
gathering. Clothildis, wife of Clovis I., king of the
Franks, was the daughter of Chilperic, king of Burgundy,
who had been put to death, together with his wife and two
sons, by Gundebald, the father of Sigismund. Consequently
Clothildis not only desired to revenge the death of her
father and brothers, but also laid claim to the kingdom of
Burgundy. She, therefore, instigated her sons, Chlodomer,
king of Orleans, Childebert, king of Paris, and Clothaire, king
of Soissons, against Sigismund, and gathering an army, they
advanced against him, and his brother Gondomar fled. The
Burgundian army was routed, and Sigismund endeavoured
to find refuge at Agaunum ; but was overtaken in a forest
with his wife and her sons, and Chlodomer carried them
back with him captives to Orleans. Gondomar collected
the dispersed army of his brother and recovered Burgundy.
Chlodomer in the ■ following year, 524, marched into Bur-
gundy against Gondomar ; but, before starting, flung Sigis-
mund, his wife and her sons, into a well at Columelle, near
Orleans, saying, "I am not going to leave my enemy
behind my back." As he advanced he called his half-
brother, Theodoric, King of Belgic Gaul, to his aid.

Theodoric had married Suavigotha, the daughter of
Sigismund, and though he pretended to be ready to assist
Chlodomer, he resolved to revenge the death of his father-
in-law, and at the same time advance his own ambition.
In a battle engaged with Gondomar, he went over to the
enemy, and Chlodomer fell.

The body of S. Sigismund was taken to S. Maurice, and
there buried. It was removed to the Cathedral of Prague
by the Emperor Charles IV. Of this there is abundant

20 Lives of the Saints. [Mayi;

historical evidence. But the head is preserved at Hock on
the Vistula, in Poland, and the Poles assert that it was
given by Wenceslas I., king of Bohemia, to Sigismund I.,
king of Poland, his brother. However, an entire body of
S. Sigismund, the head alone excepted, is shown at Imola
to this day ; and the absence of the skull is accounted for
by Charles IV., having taken it to Prague. This body is
said to have been brought there, in 1146, by Rudolf the
abbot, afterwards Bishop of Imola. But this statement is cer-
tainly inaccurate, for Rudolf was translated to Ravenna in
1 1 40. But another body, entire with the exception of the
skull, exists and excites veneration at Monseve, near Bar-
celona ; and Tamayus Salazar says that it was from this
body that Charles IV. took the head to Prague. Other
bodies are shown at Aquileia, in the Cathedral of Milan,
and anciently at Cahors. There can be no question about
the spuriousness of all these relics with the exception of
those at Prague, whose genuineness is well established.

S. BRIOCH, B.

(about 6th cent.)

[Venerated as patron at S. Brieux, in Brittany. Feast of the translation
of his relics, Oct. i8th. His life in the proper lections for his festival in the
Church of S. Brieux is of little historical value.]

The life of S. Brioch, as it has come to us, is singularly
deficient in interest. Like so many similar compositions drawn
up long subsequent to the event, it contains scarcely a feature
of interest, and few of the statements can be relied on as
historically correct. All we are justified in concluding from
the "life" is that he was a Briton, born probably in
Cardigan. He is said to have become a disciple of S.
Germain, but whether of S. Germain of Auxerre, or S.

May I.] S. Kellach. 21

Germain of Paris, or of some other saint of the same name,
is unknown. He preached in Brittany, where his know-
ledge of the Keltic tongue made him useful as an apostle.
At Trdguier he converted a chief named Conan, who gave
him lands at Landebaeron whereon to found a monastery.
He afterwards went Eastward, and was well received by
the chief Rignal, who lived near the mouth of the river
Gonet, and who gave him a site, whereon he built a
monastery, called S. Brieuc-des-Vaux, because it is at the
junction of several valleys. For himself he established a
hermitage near a spring, now called Notre-Dame-de-la-
Fontaine. The church of his monastery was afterwards
converted into a cathedral. A portion of his relics are
preserved at S. Brieux, a small portion also in the church
of Benoit-sur-Loire. The festival of S. Brioch is celebrated
in the diocese of S. Brieux on the second Sunday after
Easter.

His name has undergone various transformations, as
Briocus, Briomaclus, Vriomoclus. He is represented
treading on a dragon, or with a column of fire, which,
according to tradition, designated him for ordination.

S. KELLACH, B. OF KILLALA.

(7TH CENT.)

[Irish Martyrologies. Authority : — A Ufe in Irish, less extravagant in
marvels than most other lives of Irish saints, but yet late ; and mention in
the Annals of the Four Masters.]

S. Ceallach or Kellach, was the son of Eoghan Beul,
son of Ceallach, son of Oilioll Molt His brother's name
was Muireadhach or Cuchongilt. The family was that of
Hy-Fiach. Fiach had two sons, Daud, king of Ireland,

* tj«

22 Lives of ' the Saints. [Mayi.

and Amalgad, king of Connaught. The father of Daud
(Dathias) was the famous Niall of the Nine Hostages
(d. 404.) Fergus and Donald, descendants of Niall by
another son, attacked Eoghan the Fair, and in' a battle on
the banks of the Moy, he was grievously wounded, and
died three days after. Eoghan left two sons, Ceallach, a
monk at Clonmacnois, his eldest, and Cuchongilt, then a
child. The chiefs of Connaught went to Clonmacnois, and
invited Kellach to ascend the throne. He accepted the
invitation, greatly to the disapproval of S. Kieran his abbot.
But wearied speedily with the dissensions among his nobles,
and their intrigues with the enemy, he deserted his throne,
and took refuge in a forest, where he remained concealed
for a whole year. He then returned to Clonmacnois, and
was received by S. Kieran as a returning prodigal. After a
few years he was ordained priest, and then bishop of
Killala. Being on a visit to his diocese, he was invited by
Guaire, king of Connaught (d. 662) to visit him. Guahe
was the son of Colman, of the Neill family, and he had
assumed the throne on its being vacated by Kellach. The
messenger sent to invite KeUach received as answer that
the bishop would visit the king after he had said mass on
Sunday, but he could not come before. The messenger
instead of giving the exact answer, said that Kellach had
refused to accompany him. Thereupon Guaire was angry,
and sent orders that Kellach should be expelled his diocese.
The saintly bishop retired to the islet of Edghair, in Lough
Conn, and there remained with four of his disciples.

Guaire, who was jealous and fearful of the bishop, whose
throne he had usurped, determined to rid himself of
Kellach. He therefore bribed his four disciples, who were
also his foster-brothers, and they brought the bishop to the
mainland, and murdered him in a wood. Guaire granted
the territory of Tirawley to the four murderers as a reward

* ■ 5,

* — — ^ . .

May I.] 6^. Kelldch. 23

for their services, and they thereupon erected a fort at Dun-
Fine. Soon after the perpetration of the deed, Muireadhach
or Cuchongilt, the brother of Kellach, came to visit his
brother in his liermitage, but not finding him there, and
hearing of what Guaire had done for the four foster-
brothers, he at once suspected that his brother had been
murdered. After some enquiries and searches, he found
the body in the hollow trunk of an oak, torn by ravens,
scald-crows, and wolves. Cuchongilt carried the mangled
body to the church of Turloch for interment, but the clergy
dreading the vengeance of king Guaire, would not permit
it to be buried there; upon which it was taken to the church
of Eiscreacha, where it was interred with due honour.

Cuchongilt, after having chanted a short dirge over the
grave of his brother, in which he vowed vengeance against
the murderers, assembled an armed band of three hundred
of his relatives and adherents, with whom, after having lived
one year in Hy-Many, and some time in Meath, where he
married Aifi, the daughter of Blathmac, king of Ireland, he
at length returned to Tirawley, his own Fleasc lamha, or
patrimonial inheritance, where, by the assistance of a swine-
herd, he procured admittance to the fort of Dun-Fine, in
which the murderers of his brother were banqueting. He
remained at the banquet in the disguise of a swine-herd,
until he observed that the four murderers and all their
guests and attendants were stupid with intoxication, upon
which he sent his friend, the swine-herd, for his armed band,
who were concealed in the neighbourhood, and they rushing
into the fort, slew all the guards and attendants, and seized
upon the four murderers of Bishop Ceallach.

The guests, by no means recovered firom their intoxi-
cation, on learning that it was Cuchongilt, the second son
of king Eoghan Bel, and the brother of the murdered
bishop, had thus disturbed their festivities, instead of

* — (^

24 Lives of the Saints. [May i.

grieving at the occurrence, thought it suitable to finisn
their potations in honour of the rightful heir.

On the next day Cuchongilt carried the four murderers
in chains, southwards, through the territory from Dun-
Fine to a place called Durlus Muaidhe, and across Lee
Durluis, until he arrived at a place near the river Moy,
since called Ard-na-riadh (now Ardnarea), i.e., the hill of
executions, where he executed the four, cutting off all their
limbs while they were living.

After this Cuchongilt obtained the hostages of Tir Fia-
chract and Tir Amhalgaidh, and compelled Guaire to live
in Tir Fiachrach Aidhne, in the south of the province.

S. EVERMAR, M.
(about a.d. 700.)

[Belgian Martyrologies. Originally on July 25th, now on May lat.
Authority :— An ancient life.]

EvERMAR, a native of Friesland, born of noble parents,
came in the days of Pepin of Herstal on pilgrimage
through Belgium to visit the tomb of S. Servais at Maes-
tricht, and those of other saints in that part. He and his
fellow pilgrims were overtaken by darkness at the entrance
of the great forest of Ruth, in the Hesbaye, and seeing a
light, they made their way towards it, and found a cottage.
They tapped at the door, and asked for shelter. A woman
admitted them, and told them that her husband, Hako, was
the chief of a gang of robbers, and that they were in danger
there, but as he would be likely to be out that night, she
gave them food and lodging, and sent them away early
next morning, cautioning them to avoid the direction in
which the robbers had gone. The chief on his return found
that some persons had been given shelter in his house,

S. BEBTHA. After Cahier.

[Mayl.

^. — ^

Mayi.i 6". Theodard. 25

pursued them with several of his men, and overtook
them about mid-day beside a fountain where they were
reposing. He slew them all, and robbed them of their
purses. The bodies were found by Pepin of Herstal, who
was hunting in the wood, and he gave them decent burial.
A village rose about the tomb of S. Evermar, which was
called Rothem, and is now called Russon. The relics of
S. Evermar were placed in a chapel on the scene of the
murder, in 1073. It has been lately restored. The chapel
stands in a meadow surrounded by beech trees. The high
altar is furnished with a painting representing the martyr-
dom,, and the two side altars are adorned with images, one
of S. Mary, the other of S. Evermar. A very singular
procession and spectacle is enacted here on the ist of May
every year. The procession is headed by two "green-
men," to represent savages, clothed in leaves, and armed
with clubs. They are followed by seven men dressed as
pilgrims, and behind them ride Hako and his robbers in
suitable costume. On reaching the chapel high mass is
sung, after which the martyrdom is enacted in the meadow
near the fountain. One of the pilgrims runs away, and
Hako brings him down with a shot from his pistol. Finally
all the pilgrims are killed, but they soon revive, and wind
up the evening in the village tavern.

S. THEODARD, ABP. OF NARBONNE.

(CIRC. A.D. 893.)

[Gallican Martyrologies. Authority :— A life founded partly on written
accounts, partly on oral tradition, and when it was compiled is uncertain.]

The writer of the "Lives of the Saints" is presumed to
be their panegyrist, but if he relates their lives as they
really were, taking Holy Scripture as his model, it is his

— *

^ — *

26 Lives 0/ the Saints. tMayi.

duty not to gloss over their failings, and omit all mention
of their faults. Holy Scripture mentions the fall of David,
the apostasy of Solomon, the denial of S. Peter, and the
hagiographer is dealing falsely with his materials if he does
not relate what is blameworthy as well as what is to the
praise of the saint whose life he is recording.

S. Theodard is chiefly known through an event in his life
which first brought him into notice, and which we cannot
fail to regard with the strongest reprobation. At his time
at Toulouse it was the custom on Christmas Day, on Good
Friday, and on the Feast of the Assumption, for a Jew to
have his cheeks rudely boxed publicly before the cathedral
doors, as part of the religious ceremonial. The Jews
complained to the king, Carloman, son of Louis the
Stammerer (d. 879), who reigned with his brother Louis
III. The king bade the count of Toulouse call a council
at Toulouse and investigate the case. Sigebod was
then bishop, and the Jews made their complaint against
him and the clergy of the cathedral. One would have
supposed that the bishop would have been only too glad to
have abandoned a custom as insulting as it was unchristian,
but instead of doing so he resisted strenuously, and ap-
pointed the youthful Theodard, who offered to argue the
case, to be his advocate. Theodard then produced a
document, which was unquestionably a forgery, and which
purported to be a charter of Charlemagne requiring the
perpetuation of the offensive ceremony, because the Jews
of Toulouse had invited into the country the forces of
Abdelraman, which he had just succeeded in defeating.
As it happened, it was not Charlemagne but Charles Martel
who defeated the Saracens and drove them out of the
South of France ; but this may be an error of the writer of
the life, and not of Theodard the advocate. Suffice it to
say that the Jews were utterly confounded by the produc-

^ ^^

f — »J(

May I.] .S. Theodard. 27

tion of this charter, as well as they might be; and
Theodard, pursuing the advantage thus unscrupulously
gained, obtained that on each of the three festivals, the
Jew exposed to the stroke at the cathedral gate should be
required to exclaim, " This I receive because my people
crucified Jesus Christ, God of Gods, and Lord of Lords."
And should he refuse, he was to receive seven blows in-
stead of one. Theodard condescended to argue with the
unfortunate Jews; but, as Henschenius justly observes, "his
arguments are more deserving of the name of quibbles."

The archbishop of Narbonne was so satisfied with the
conduct of Theodard in this scandalous affair, that he
ordained him and made him his archdeacon. On the
death of the archbishop, Theodard was elected to fill his
room, and he was consecrated amidst general rejoicings,
even those of the Jews, we are told, which the Jew Apella
may believe if he lists.

As archbishop he behaved with justice and was a model
of piety. His seat was contested by a rival prelate, but
Theodard obtained papal sanction and excommunicated
his adversary.

* li*

->$(

Lives of the Saints, [Mays.

May 2.

S. Secundus, B. ofAvila, ht Spain, \st cent.

SS. Hesperus and 2oe and their Sons, MM. at Attalia, 'znd cent.

S. Flamina, V.M. in Auvergne, \ih cent.

S. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria^ a.u. 373.

S. Germain, B,M. at AmzeTis, ^th cent.

S. ViNDEMALis, B.C. in Africa, sth cent.

S. Waldebert, Ab. of Liixeuil, K.ii. 665.

S. WiBORADA, M. at S. Gall, in Switzerland, a.d. 905

S. Antony, Ahp. of Florence, a.d. 1459.

SS. HESPERUS AND ZOE, MM.

(2ND CENT.)

[Greek Mensea, whence Baronius inserted the names in the Modem
Roman Martyrology, but by a mistake he called Hesperus, Exuperius.
Authority :— Mention in the Menology and the Greek Acts, neither very
trustworthy.

ESPERUS AND ZOE were two slaves, the ser-
vants of a wealthy man named Catalus, at
Attalia, in Pamphylia. Their sons were called
Cyriac and Theodulus, and the boys as well as
their parents were Christians. One day the boys said to
their mother, " Why should we who serve Christ be slaves
to this heathen man? Did not S. Paul say. Be not un-
equally yoked together with unbelievers?" The mother
was not much more instructed in S. Paul than her sons,
and she urged them to resist their roaster, rather than to
obey him. She was wrong, and they were wrong ; but they
acted ignorantly, and their ignorance must excuse them.
Anyhow they suffered for their disobedience, for their
master, after having racked them, cast them all into a furnace,
and by their blood they expiated their offence.

lit *

May 2.] S, Athanasius. 29

S. ATHANASIUS THE GREAT, B.D.
(a-d. 375.)

[Roman Martyrology. By the Greeks on the i8th Jan. Authorities :—
The works of S. Athanasius, especially the historical tracts ; Socrates,
Sozomen, Theodoret, Rufinus, the 21st oration of S. Gregory Nazianzen,
and the letters of S. Basil.]

Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, was entertaining his
clergy in a house overlooking the sea. He observed a
group of children playing on the sands, and was struck by
the grave appearance of their game. His attendant clergy
went, at his orders, to catch the boys and bring them before
the bishop, who taxed them with having played at religious
ceremonies. At first, like boys caught at a mischievous
game, they denied ; but at last confessed that they had
been imitating the sacrament of baptism ; that one of them
had been selected to perform the part of bishop, and that
he had duly dipped them in the sea, with all the proper
questions, and with the proper invocation. When Alex-
ander found that all the essential forms which render
baptism valid had been compUed with, he added the con-
secrating oil of confirmation, to seal the sacrament that had
been administered; and was so much struck with the
knowledge and gravity of the boy-bishop, that he took him
under his charge. This little boy was Athanasius, already
showing the seriousness which was to stamp his future life.

From this incident arose the connection of Athanasitis
with the aged Alexander. He became his archdeacon, the
head of that body of deacons whose duty it was to attend
upon the bishop.

And now a period of trial was coming on the Church,
more severe than persecution from without, from which she
had just escaped. She was to be proved with heresy. All
the power of the greatest empire of the old world had been

* i^

30 Lives of the Saints. [Maya.

directed by Satan against the Church to crush her by
violence, and it had failed ; now he sought her overthrow-
by stirring up heresy within. The heresy which was to
disturb the peace of the Church and imperil her existence
was an assault upon the foundation of her faith, the nature
of Jesus Christ.

At Alexandria was a church called the Baucalis, which
was presided over by a priest of the name of Arius, a man
of talents and eloquence, who had aspired to the throne
of Alexandria, and bitterly resented the election of S.
Alexander in preference to himself. First in private, then
openly in his church, Arius began to dispute the truth of
the Eternal Godhead of Jesus Christ. The bishop hesi-
tated long before he took action, lest he should seem to be
acting out of personal feeling against a rival aspirant to the
see ; but when one of the priests of Alexandria, condemn-
ing his inaction, formed a sect among the orthodox, and
presumed to ordain priests, he felt that he could remain
inactive no longer, and he cited Arius to a synod, and then
summoned a council of the African Church to hear his
doctrines and to decide upon them.

These doctrines spread rapidly. It was so much easier
to believe that Jesus was a divinely inspired man, than that ■
He is God of the substance of the Father, begotten eter-
nally, before all time ; and Man, of the substance of His
Mother, born in the world, perfect God and perfect man.

We can form, by means of the descriptions which have
come down to us, a vivid image of the great heresiarch.
He was a tall elderly man, with a worn, pallid face, and
downcast eyes. The quiet gravity of his bearing, the
sweet persuasive voice, with its ready greetings and its
fluent logic, exerted a wonderful fascination on many with
whom he came in contact.

A hundred bishops met in council at Alexandria, in 320.

— *

Mays.j S. Athanasius. 31

It was ascertained by this assembly that, according to the
doctrine of Arius, Christ was the first of creatures, and in
that sense the Only-begotten. The Arians were asked
whether Christ Jesus could become bad. They answered,
" Yes, He can." The council replied to this fearful utter-
ance by a solemn condemnation of Arius, with two bishops
who adhered to him, five priests and six deacons.'

Arius, expelled from Alexandria, not indeed before his
opinions had spread through the whole of Egypt and Libya,
retired to the more congenial atmosphere of Syria. There
his vague theory caught the less severely reasoning, and
more imaginative minds of the Syrian bishops. The most
learned, the most influential, even some of the most pious,
imited themselves to his party. The chief of these were
the two prelates named Eusebius — one the ecclesiastical
historian, the other the bishop of the important city of
Nicomedia. Throughout the East, the controversy was
propagated with earnest rapidity. It was not repressed by
the attempts of the emperor Licinius to interrupt the free
intercourse between the Christian communities, and his
prohibition of the ecclesiastical synods. The ill-smothered
flame burst into ten-fold fury on the re-union of the East to
the empire of Constantine. The interference of the em-
peror was loudly demanded to allay the strife which dis-
tracted the Christendom of the East.

1 '? We can never understand the history of error until we to some extent appre-
ciate its attractions. What was the charm that Arianism possessed, daring so
many years, for adherents so diverse both in race and character? First, it was a
form of rationalism, and therefore a relief to minds that shrunk from so awful a
mystery as the Incarnation of the Eternal. Secondly, it was a vague, elastic
creed, congenial to those who dislilced all definite doctrine. Thirdly, it appealed
to many by its affinity to older heresies. Fourthly, its assertion of a created and
inferior godhead would come home to persons in transition from polytheism to
Christianity. Fifthly, the scope which it practically allowed to a profane and
worldly temper was agreeable to the multitudes for whom the Church was too
austere, who desired a relaxed and adapted Gospel." Canon Bright's Church
Hist., p. 13.

^ ■ *

* — - — — )5

32 Lives of the Saints. [Mays.

A general council of the bishops of the whole Catholic
Church was summoned by the imperial mandate to establisK
the true doctrine of the Church.

"In the close of the month of May, 1853," writes Dean
Stanley,! " it was my good fortune to be descending, in the
moonlight of an early morning, from the wooded steeps of
one of the mountain ranges of Bithynia. As the dawn
rose, and as we approached the foot of these hills, through
the thick mists which lay over the plain, there gradually
broke upon our view the two features which mark the city
of Nicsea. Beneath us lay the long inland lake — the As-
canian Lake — which, communicating at its western ex-
tremity by a small inlet with the Sea of Marmora, fills np
almost the whole valley. At the head of the lake appeared
the oblong space enclosed by the ancient walls, of which
the rectangular form indicates with unmistakable precision
the original founders of the city. It was the outline given
to all the Oriental towns built by the successors of Alex-
ander. Alexandria, Antioch, Damascus, Palmyra, were all
constructed on the same model of a complete square,
intersected by four straight streets adorned with a colonnade
on each side. This we know to have been the appearance
of Nicsa, as founded by Lysimachus and re-built by
Antigonus ; and this is still the form of the present walls,
which although they enclose a larger space than the first
Greek city, yet are evidently as early as the time of the
Roman Empire. Within this circuit all is now a wilderness,
over broken columns, and through tangled thickets, the
traveller with difficulty makes his way to the wretched
Turkish village of Isnik, which occupies the centre of the
vacant space. In the midst of this village, surrounded by
a few ruined mosques on whose summits stand the never-
failing storks of the deserted cities of the East, remains a

^ Lectures on the Eastern Church, lec. iiL

{..'■

S. ATHANASIU3.
From a Picture by Dommichino, in the Church of Grotta Ferrata, near Rome.

May 2.

* ^ ^

^^'■i S. Ath/inasius. 33

solitary Christian Church, dedicated to 'the Repose of the
Virgm.' Within the church is a rude picture commemo-
rating the one event which, amidst all the vicissitudes of
NicKa, has secured for it an immortal name."

Such was the place, the chestnut woods green with the
first burst of summer, the same sloping hills, the same
tranquil lake, the same snow-capped Olympus from afar
brooding over the whole scene ; but, in every other respect,
how entirely different, when met in the spring of 325 the
memorable first General Council of the Church.

The actual number of bishops present, variously stated
in the earlier authorides as 218, 250, 270, or 300, was finally
believed to have been 320 or 318, and this in the Eastern
Church has so completely been identified with the event,
that the council is often known as that of ' the 318.' But it
was the diversity of the persons, and the strongly marked
characters dividing each from each, which, more than any
mere display of numbers, constituted this peculiar interest.
Eusebius, himself an eye-witness, as he enumerates the
various bishops firom various countries, of various ages and
positions, thus collected, compares the scene to a garland
of flowers gathered in season, of all manner of colours,
or to the assembly of diverse nations at Pentecost. Many
there had lost friend or brother in persecution. Many still
bore the marks of their sufferings. Some uncovered their
sides and backs to show the wounds they had received for
Christ, the God-Man, to whose Divinity they had come
to testify, having felt, in the hour of need, His divine
power. On others were the traces of that peculiar
cruelty which distinguished the last persecution, the loss of
a right eye, or the searing of the sinews of the leg.

Alexander, the " Pope " of Alexandria, was there, who
had bravely in his old age contended for the faith once
delivered to the saints. The shadow of death was already

VOL. V. 3
* *

^ ^

34 Lives of the Saints. iMavz.

upon him ; in a few months he would have gained the
crown he had merited as confessing Christ before meru
Close beside the old bishop is a small, insignificant young
man,i of hardly twenty-five years of age, of hvely manners
and speech, and of a bright, serene countenance of angelic
beauty. His nose is aquiline, his mouth small, and his
hair of that rich auburn which is still found on the heads of
Egyptian mummies, and is therefore compatible with a pure
Egyptian descent. This is Athanasius the archdeacon,
Athanasius the Great in soul, if puny in body. On the
steadfastness of that little man, humanly speaking, the faith
and fate of the Catholic Church depended. Next after the
pope and deacon of Alexandria, we must turn to one of its
most important priests, he on account of whom this great
council is gathered, Arius the Heresiarch. We have al-
ready sketched his appearance, let us fill in the outline
here. He is at this period sixty years of age, very tall and
thin, and bowed, as if unable to support his long back. He
has an odd way of contorting and twisting himself, which
his enemies compared to the wrigglings of a snake. The
old sweet expression of his face is changed into one of
bitterness, and he blinks in the glare of the sun, being near-
sighted. At times his veins throb and swell, and his limbs
tremble, as if suffering from some violent internal com-
plaint,— the same, perhaps, that will terminate one day in
his sudden and dreadful death. There is a wild look about
him, which at first sight is startling. His grizzled hair
hangs in a tangled mass over his head. He is usually
silent, with his ashy grey lips tightly compressed, but at
times his wild eye flashes, and he bursts into fierce excite-
ment, such as give the impression of madness. We need
not describe the great saints present, they will march before

1 Julian the Apostate calls him "a puny little fellow." S. Gregory Nazianzen
speaks of the angelic beauty of his countenance.

*- — — ii

May=.] 6". Athanasms. 35

us in solemn order, singly, as we follow the course of our
history of the Holy Ones of God's Church.

Before the emperor's arrival, the council met in the
cathedral of Nicsea. Arius was summoned and examined.
He boldly declared that he held the Son to be a creature
who once did not exist, who was made by God out of
nothing, and who might have fallen into sin. A thrill of
horror ran through the assembly; many bishops stopped
their ears ; Nicolas of Myra, if we may beheve the per-
sistent tradition of the Eastern Church, smote Arius on
the mouth, and for having so far forgot himself, was
condemned by the bishops assembled to lay aside his
mitre during the session of the council. Some of the
bishops said they had heard enough ; others insisted on a
thorough discussion. On the 3rd of July the council was
transferred to the palace. Constantine appeared in purple
and gold, but without guards. Modest and graceful in
address, he listened to all with attentive patience, dis-
claiming all thought of dictation to the prelates, and before
him Arius was heard again. The bishop of Nicomedia
attempted to defend him. When it appeared that the very
Godhead of the Redeemer must be proclaimed in un-
mistakeable terms, in order that the Church might be
preserved from encouraging error, the Nicene Creed was
drawn up declaring the very and essential Godhead of the
Son. Seventeen Arianizing bishops objected to sign the
Creed ; Eusebius of Caesarea among the number ; but
after some consideration he gave way, on grounds which
cannot be called satisfactory as regards his personal faith.
Others yielded under menace of civil penalties, for the
emperor was resolved to enforce unity ; until at last only
five were left.

Throughout the proceedings of the council, Athanasius
the deacon was conspicuoas by his zeal, the clearness of

* ^ ^ *

his perception of the gravity of the points at issue, and his
argumentative power in disconcerting the Arians.

A S)modal letter was addressed by the council to the
Egyptian and Libyan churches, recounting what had been
done, praising the venerable Alexander, and concluding
thus : — " Pray for us all, that what we have thought good
to determine may remain inviolate, through God Almighty,
and through our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, to
Whom be glory for evermore. Amen.''

Ultimately this prayer was granted to the full ; and it
was the council's loyalty to inherited faith which secured
for it a position of such unrivalled majesty. When its
sessions were closed on the 25th of August, individual
Catholics might still have much to suffer, but the cause of
the Catholic faith was won.

A few weeks after the close of the council, Alexander
died, and Athanasius succeeded to the vacant see. It was
a marked epoch, in every sense, for the Egyptian Primacy.
Down to this time the election to this great post had been
conducted in a manner unlike that of the other sees of
Christendom. Twelve priests endowed with full episcopal
character — that is having received full episcopal conse-
cration— but without any jurisdiction, were the electors
and nominators, and according to Eutychius, the conse-
crators. It formed an apostolic college, modelled on that
of the first twelve, and endowed with all apostolic power,
but not having territorial jurisdiction. It was on the death
of Alexander that this ancient custom was exchanged for
one more nearly resembling that which prevailed elsewhere.
Fifty bishops of the neighbouring dioceses were convened,
and proceeded with the election. Athanasius had been
named both by the dying primate and by the people as
the new bishop. He fled, but was brought back and
solemnly consecrated, amid the rejoicings of the people

^3.y2.-\ S. Athanasius. 37

who had besought the bishops to give them " the good, the
pious, the Christian, the ascetic Athanasius."

The consecration of S. Athanasius took place in the end
of 326 ; and shordy afterwards we see him seated in council
with his brethren, to hear tidings of great interest from the
South. It was indeed a wonderful story of unexpected
providences. The narrator was Frumentius, who had been
regent of Abyssinia. His story was simple and touching.
A philosopher of Tyre, Moripius by name, had embarked
on a voyage of investigation down the Red Sea. He had
taken with him two children, relations of his own. At a
seaport of Ethiopia the savage inhabitants attacked them,
and massacred all the crew. The two boys, Frumentius
and Edesius, were taken prisoners before the king, who
received them, and they gradually rose into his confidence,
and that of his widow, as the instructors of his son. When
the prince came of age, Edesius departed to Tyre, but
Frumentius came to the archbishop of Alexandria to
announce that a door was opened in Abyssinia, and that
labourers were needed to gather in there an abundant
harvest of souls. Then S. Athanasius ordained Frumentius
as bishop of Axum ; and the newly formed community
grew into a national Church, which honoured Frumentius
as its father and apostle.

Towards the close of 328, the Arian troubles began
anew. Eusebius of Nicomedia had gained the ear of
Constantine, and everywhere the disbelievers in the Eternal
Godhead of Jesus rose into imperial favour. Their first
victim was Eustathius of Antioch, who was deposed and
banished by a synod of Arians, in 331. Other faithful
bishops were persecuted by the faction. Constantine wrote
to Athanasius in the tone of a despot to a rebellious subject,
ordering him immediately to receive Arius into communion.

But Constantine found, to his astonishment, that an

* )i(

^ ^

38 Lives of the Saints. [May 2.

imperial edict, which would have been obeyed in trembling
submission from one end of the Roman empire to the
other, even if it had enacted a complete political revolution,
or endangered the property and privileges of thousands,
was received with deliberate and steady disregard by a
single Christian bishop.

Then Eusebius of Nicomedia devised a series of charges
against Athanasius, in the hopes of ruining him. He was
accused of having murdered a certain bishop named
Arsenius, and cut off his hand and kept it for magical
purposes. A prince of the imperial family was sent to
enquire into this matter, and sent the Archbishop notice to
prepare for a trial at Antioch. At first Athanasius treated
the charge with scorn. But as Constantine was disturbed
by it, a deacon was sent to enquire throughout Egypt
whether Arsenius were dead or alive. The messenger fell
in with four persons, who confessed that he was concealed
in a monastery in Thebaid. The superior, who was in league
with the enemies of Athanasius, lost no time in sending
Arsenius away. The deacon, however, arrested the superior,
and had him examined by the military officer in command
at Alexandria. Then the truth came out. Shortly after-
wards the man Arsenius himself was recognized in the
streets of Tyre by some friends of Athanasius, who at once
denounced him.

After an ineffectual attempt by the Arians to ruin
Athanasius by a council at Ceesarea, which he refused to
attend, he was warned in the next year, 335, to attend a
council at Tyre, with the threat that if he refused he should
be carried thither by force. Forty-nine Egyptian bishops
attended Athanasius, and protested agamst several of the
judges as avowedly hostile to him.

One of the Egyptians, Potamon, who had lost an eye in
the persecution, exclaimed aloud to the Arian Eusebius of

— — . ^

Csesarea, " Do you sit there as a judge of the innocent
Athanasius? When I was maimed for the Lord's cause,
how came you to escape without betraying it?"

Supported by the Count Dionysius, who presided over
the assembly, the Arians were masters of the position ; and
one reckless charge followed fast upon another. A woman
was suborned to denounce Athanasius, and put to shame her
employers by mistaking one of his priests for the man
whom she -was bribed to accuse. When she had made her
charge, Athanasius was silent; while one of his friends,
with ready wit assuming great indignation, demanded, "Do
you accuse me of the crime ?" " Yes," replied the woman,
turning upon him, and supposing him to be Athanasius,
" You are the man I accused." Then they produced the
hand of Arsenius in a wooden box, and excited by the
display of it a cry of horror. Athanasius calmly asked,
" Did any of you know Arsenius ?" "We knew him well."
A muffled figure was introduced. He showed the face first,
and asked all round : "Is this Arsenius whom I murdered?''
He drew out from behind the cloak, first one hand and
then the other. " Let no one now ask for a third ; for God
has only given a man two hands." Incredible as it may
appear, the Arians met this exposure of the worthlessness
of their charges by raising a clamour of witchcraft. " Away
with the sorcerer ! " and the authorities had to rescue
Athanasius by hurrying him on board ship.

Another charge against him was that he had violently
interrupted the holy Sacrifice whilst it was being performed
by a certain man who had been uncanonically ordained
priest, and had broken the chalice. The Council of Tyre
appointed six of the bitterest enemies of Athanasius to
gather information on this charge. Athanasius had already
disproved it as completely as the other charges. His
enemies obtained the support of Philagrius, the prsefect of

* — ^

^. ^

40 Lives 0/ the Saints. [May^

Egypt, an apostate to heathenism, who attended to intimi-
date the witnesses. Unfortunately for their accusation, it
came out that the man who was said to have been acting
as celebrant was at the very time when the alleged outrage
took place, lying sick in his bed elsewhere.

The emperor Constantine was entering Constantinople
in state. A small figure darted across his path in the
middle of the square, and stopped his horse. The emperor,
thunderstruck, tried to pass on ; he could not guess who
the petitioner could be. It was Athanasius, come to insist
on justice, which was denied him. Meanwhile the council
at Tyre had condemned him on the ground of the accusa-
tions ; and Arsenius signed the sentence against his alleged
murderer with the hand Athanasius was charged with
having cut off.

The bishops then proceeded to Jerusalem, where the
dedication of the Church of the Resurrection Constantine
liad built over the Holy Sepulchre was celebrated with
great splendour, Sept. 13th, 335.

Constantine now wrote a peremptory letter, blaming the
bishops of the Council of Tyre for their disregard of justice.
They received the letter at Jerusalem, and Eusebian craft
was equal to the emergency. They dropped the recent
charges against Athanasius, and resolved to take the
emperor on his weak side.

The six most active foes of Athanasius went up to court,
and put forward a new charge — that he had tried to prevent
the sailing of the corn ships from Alexandria, which sup-
plied the market at Constantinople. Athanasius protested
that the thing was impossible for one like himself, a poor
man in a private station. Eusebius of Nicomedia affirmed
with an oath, that Athanasius was a rich man who could
do anything ; and Constantine, who in the hands of
Eusebius was a child, turned a deaf ear to Athanasius and

^ -^

* ^

May 2.] ^. Athanasius. 41

banished him to Treves, where the bishop, S. Maximus,
received him with all honour, in February, 336.

The last act of Constantine, as he lay dying (337) was to
recall the banished Athanasius. Constantius, the second
son of the great emperor, secured for himself the dominion
of the East. Constantius was only twenty at his accession.
His character was singularly repulsive. In the weakness
which made him a tool of household favourites, in the
despotic arrogance which took the place of moral dignity,
in the suspiciousness which hardened his heart and defiled
his palace with kindred blood, the worst features of his
father's character appear exaggerated. He fell under the
influence of the wily Eusebius of Nicomedia, and was
readily converted to the lax creed of Arianism.

The exiled bishops were however recalled in 338. Con-
stantine II., writing on June 17th from Treves, informed
the Alexandrians that he was but fulfilling his father's
intentions in sending back their bishops.

The Arians again set to work against Athanasius.
Three priests were sent to accuse him on old and new
charges, before Julius, Pope of Rome. But a great council
of the Catholic prelates of Egypt put forth a solemn
encyclic, testifying to the innocence of their chief, and
denouncing the murderous animosity of his accusers.
Pistus, an excommunicated Arian, was consecrated by an
Arian prelate, and set up as a rival at Alexandria. In 341
the Arian bishops relying on the support of the emperor,
held a council at Antioch, in which they confirmed the
condemnation of Athanasius pronounced at Tyre, and
appointed a Cappadocian, named Gregory, to be bishop of
Alexandria, in the room of Athanasius. In the Lent of the
same year, he was installed by the renegade prefect,
Philagrius. Hideous outrages by pagan soldiers attended
his intrusion. The altar candles were lighted before pagan

(j, ■ -^

i5«-

<^ i^

42 Lives of the Saints. [May 2,

idols; Catholics, male and female, were insulted and beaten
on Good Friday and Easter Day, to the dehght of the
unbelievers ; the old confessor, Potamon, was so cruelly
scourged, that careful nursing could only tor a time restore
him, and Athanasius' aunt was denied a grave. The last
extremity of sacrilege was reached by casting the Holy
Eucharist on the ground. This league between Pagans
and Arians is significant ; the former saw that in the hands
of the latter Christianity lost the main part of what they
abhorred.

Athanasius, acting on the command to flee from perse-
cution, withdrew to Rome, and laid his case before the
Roman Church. Pope Julius summoned the Eastern
bishops to a council to try the case, but as they did not
come, Julius and fifty bishops met, and recognized Atha-
nasius as innocent.

Constans, emperor of the West, determined on a council

which might restore peace to the distracted Church. He

told Athanasius that he had written to his brother Con-

stantius, who agreed to the proposal. The place selected

was Sardica. About 170 bishops assembled in the year

347. The Allan prelates, about seventy-six in number, at

first expected that the assembly would be like those with

which they were familiar, in which counts and soldiers were

ready to overawe their opponents. Finding that, on the

contrary, those opponents would confront them, they

resolved, while on their journey, to take no real part in

the proceedings, but simply to announce their arrival.

Accordingly, on coming to Sardica, they shut themselves up

in the palace where they lodged, and sent word that they

would not attend, until their opponents were deprived of

seats in the council. "This is a General Council," was the

reply; "the whole case is to be laid before its judgment.

Come and present your own statements ; Athanasius and

— i^

* -^

May 2.] S. Atkanashis. 43

his friends are ready to meet you, and the council is ready
to hear both sides." But this the Arians were not disposed
to abide, and they decamped, on the pretext that Con-
stantius had sent them news of a victory over the
Persians. On receiving this message, the council rebuked
their "indecent and suspicious flight," in a letter which
announced that unless they returned they would be held
as guilty. Instead of returning, they established them-
selves at Philippopolis, formed themselves into a petty
council, and re-affirmed their former sentences against
Athanasius. The true council, meanwhile, proceeded to
examine the case before them, and Athanasius and his
brethren were acknowledged as innocent men, and ortho-
dox bishops. A Western council at Milan accepted the
decree of the council of Sardica, absolving Athanasius
of all criminality, and proclaiming his doctrine as orthodox.

And now, on a sudden, affairs took a new turn.

Athanasius had spent eight years in exile, when the
emperor Constantius found it politically expedient to
restore him. He was about to engage in a Persian war ;
and at this dangerous crisis, the admonitions of his brother
Constans, Emperor of the West, a zealous supporter of
Athanasius, not unmingled with warlike menace, enforced
the expediency of a temporary reconcihation with Atha-
nasius. In 349 Constantius recalled the great bishop, met
him at Antioch with expressions of respect and cordiality,
ordered all the accusations against him to be erased from
the registers of the city, and commended the prelate to the
people of Alexandria in terms of courtly flattery. The
Arian bishop Gregory was dead, and Athanasius, amid
universal joy, returned to Alexandria. There was awe,
almost amounting to consternation at the greatness of the
event. The scene is described by S. Gregory Nazianzen.
It lingered in the recollections of all who had seen it, as

^—- ^ ■ ■ tj*

44 Lives of the Saints. [May 3.

the most splendid spectacle of the age. The population
of Alexandria poured forth, as was their habit on such
occasions, not in the indiscriminate confusion of a modern
populace, but in a certain stateliness of arrangement.
Each trade and profession kept its own place. The men
and women were apart. The children formed a mass by
themselves. As the mighty stream rolled out of the gates,
it was as if the Nile, at the height of its flood, had turned
in its course, and flowed backwards from Alexandria to-
wards the first outpost of the city. Branches of trees were
waved aloft, carpets of the gayest colours and richest
textures were spread under the feet of the ass on which
Athanasius rode. There was a long unbroken shout of
applause; thousands of hands clapped with delight; the
air was scented with the ointments poured out ; the city at
night flashed with illuminations. Long afterwards, when a
popular prefect of Alexandria was received with vast en-
thusiasm, and two bystanders were comparing it with all
possible demonstrations that they could imagine, and the
younger had said, "Even if the Emperor Constantine him-
self were to come, he could not be so received;'' the other
rephed with a smile and an Egyptian oath, "Do you call
that a wonderful sight? The only thing to which you ought
to compare it is the reception of the great Athanasius."

The poUtical troubles of three years left Athanasius in
quiet possession of his see. The war of Persia brought
some fame to the arms of Constantius ; and m the more
honourable character, not of the antagonist, but the avenger
of his murdered brother Constans, the surviving son of
Constantine again united the East and West under his
sole dominion. Magnentius, who had usurped the Western
Empire and mounted the throne over the bloody corpse of
the murdered Constans, fell before the avenging arm of
Constantius.

-fit

Maya.] ^. Athauasius. 45

But with the death of Constans, Athanasius had lost his
protector, and he was left at the mercy of his enemies. But
either the fears of the emperor, or the caution of the Axian
party, delayed yet for three or four years to execute their
revenge on Athanasius. Paul, the Catholic bishop of
Constantinople, was deposed, and the Arian Macedonius
was installed in his place. But before the decisive blow
was struck against Athanasius, Constantius endeavoured to
subdue the West to Arian views. He summoned a council
at Milan (355), and that the proceedings might take place
more immediately under his own supervision, adjourned the
assembly to the palace. The controversy became a per-
sonal question between the emperor and his refractory
subject, Athanasius. New charges were raked up against
the great bulwark of the faith. He was accused of
treasonable correspondence with the usurper Magnentius.
Athanasius repeUed the charge with natural indignation.
He defied his enemies to produce the smallest evidence of
such conduct. Tne emperor descended into the arena,
and mingled in the contest ; he was resolved to force the
Western Church into the adoption of an Arian Creed, and
the condemnation of Athanasius. The obsequious and
almost adoring court of the emperor stood aghast at the
audacity of the ecclesiastical synod in refusing acquies-
cence. Constantius, concealed behind a curtain, hstened
to the debate, he heard his own name coupled with that of
heretic, of Antichrist. His indignation knew no bounds.
He proclaimed himself the champion of Arian doctrines,
and the accuser of Athanasius. The bishops demanded a
free council, in which the emperor should neither preside
in person, nor by his commissary. They lifted up their
hands and entreated the angry Constantius not to mingle up
the affairs of the state and of the Church. Three prelates,
Lucifer of CagUari, Eusebius of Vercelte, Dionysius of
ij,. ij(

»J( tj*

46 Lives of the Saiitts. [May 2.

Milan, were banished, and shortly after Liberius, Pope of
Rome.

And now the scene darkened to its deepest about
Athanasius, and one light after another was eclipsed in the
firmament of the Church. First the aged Hosius, the
champion of orthodoxy at Nicssa, now an old man of over
a hundred years, tottering on the brink of the grave, was
beguiled into signing an Arian creed, but he stead-
fastly refused to denounce Athanasius. But a worse blow
was the fall of Liberius, the Roman Pontiff. He wrote to
the Orientals : " I do not defend Athanasius — I have been
convinced that he was justly condemned ;" and added that
he renounced communion with him, and accepted the
Arian creed drawn up at Sirmium. " This I have received ;
this I follow; this I hold." S. Hilary, who transcribes this
letter, in his agony of shame and wrath, adds some com-
ments of his own: "This is the perfidious Arian faith.
(This is my remark, not the apostate's.) I say anathema
to thee, Liberius, and thy fellows ; again, and a third time,
anathema to thee, thou prevaricator Liberius 1"^

On Jan. 17th, 356, Antony, the great hermit, died, aged
105, calmly bequeathing " a garment and a sheep skin to
the bishop Athanasius." On Thursday night, the 8th of
February, Athanasius was presiding over a vigil service at
S. Theonas' Church, in preparation for a communion on
the morrow. Syrianus, the governor of Egypt, suddenly
beset the church at the head of more than five thousand
armed men. The presence of mind for which he was
famous did not desert the bishop. Behind the altar was
the episcopal throne. On this he took his seat, and
ordered his attendant deacon to chant the i3Sth (a. v. 136)
Psalm j the response to every verse was thundered by the
congregation, "For his mercy endureth for ever." The

1 Hil. Fragm. 6. 6.
* .^

^ -*

Mays.] 6". Atkaftasius. 47

psalm was not finished when the doors were burst open ;
with a loud shout, a deadly discharge of arrows, and
swords brandished, the soldiers rushed in, killing some of
the people, and trampling down others, as they pressed on
to secure their main object by seizing Athanasius. The
bishop refused to go till most of the congregation had
retired. But now he was swept away in the crowd. In
his own version of the story, he is at a loss to account for
his escape. But his diminutive figure may well have
passed unseen ; and we learn, besides, that he was actually
carried out in a swoon, which sufficiently explains his own
ignorance of the means of his deliverance. The church was
piled with dead, and the floor was strewn with the swords
and arrows of the soldiers. Athanasius had vanished, no
one knew whither, into the darkness of the winter night.

The Arians were prepared to replace the deposed
prelate; their choice fell on another Cappadocian, more
savage and unprincipled than the former one. Constantius
commended George of Cappadociai ^q the people of
Alexandria, as a prelate above praise, the wisest of teachers,
the fittest guide to the kingdom of heaven. He entered
Alexandria environed by the troops of Syrianus. His
presence let loose the rabid violence of his party. Houses
were plundered ; monasteries burned ; tombs broken open,
search made for concealed Catholics, or for Athanasius
himself, who still eluded their pursuit; bishops were in-
sulted ; virgins scourged ; the soldiery encouraged to break
up every meeting of the Catholics by violence, and even by
inhuman tortures. Everywhere the Athanasian bishops were
expelled from their sees; they were driven into banishment
Athanasius, after many strange adventures, having been
concealed in a dry cistern, and in the chamber of a pious
woman, found refuge at length among the monks of the

1 See an account of this Arian prelate in the life of S. George, April zsrd.

48 Lives of the Saints. [Maya.

desert. Egypt is bordered on all sides by wastes of sand,
or by barren rocks, broken into caves and intricate passes,
and all these solitudes were now peopled by hermits.
They were all devoted to the Catholic faith, and attached
to the person of Athanasius. As he had been the great
example of a dignified, active, and zealous bishop, so now
was he of an ascetic and mortified solitary. Among these
devoted adherents his security was complete ; their pas-
sionate reverence admitted not the fear of treachery. The
more active and inquisitive the search of his enemies, he
had only to plunge deeper into the inaccessible and in-
scrutable desert. From this solitude Athanasius himself is
supposed sometimes to have issued forth, and, passing the
seas, to have traversed even parts of the West, animating
his followers, and confirming the faith of the Catholics.
Perhaps — indeed the expressions used in his own writings
lead us to believe it — Athanasius was present in disguise at
the council of Rimini. It was then that any one but
Athanasius would have sunk into despair. That council
consisted of at least four hundred bishops, of whom above
eighty were Arians. The resolutions of the majority were
firm and peremptory. They repudiated the Arian doctrines;
they expressed their rigid adherence to the formulary of
Nicsea, but by degrees the council, from which its firmest
and most resolute members had gradually departed, and in
which many poor and aged bishops still retained their seats^
wearied, perplexed, worn out by the expense and discomfort
of a long residence in a foreign city, yielding to the flatteries
or to the threats of the emperor, consented to sign a creed
in which the contested word consubstantial was care-
fully suppressed. Arianism was thus adopted by a council,
of which the authority seemed paramount. The world, says
S. Jerome, groaned to find itself Arian. But, on their
return to their dioceses, the indignant prelates everywhere

^ 1*

^ (^

Maya.] 6". Athafiasius. 40

protested against the fraud and violence which had been
practised against them.

On the 4th November, 361, Constantius expired at the
foot of Mount Taurus, and the reins of government feU
into the hands of Julian the Apostate. About the same
time, George, the Arian bishop of Alexandria, had been torn
to pieces by a furious pagan mob, for having desecrated
their temples. Athanasius did not return to Alexandria
before the death of George. After hearing of it he emerged
from his retirement, in August, 362, and his people enjoyed
another such "glorious festivity'' as had welcomed him
back in 349. All Egypt seemed to assemble in the city
which blazed with lights and rang with acclamations ; the
air was fragrant with incense burnt in token of joy; men
formed a choir to precede the archbishop; to hear his
voice, to catch a glimpse of his face, even to see his
shadow was deemed happiness. Lucius, the new Arian
bishop, was obliged to give way ; the churches were again
occupied by the faithful, and Athanasius signalized his
triumph, not by violence of any sort, but by impartial
kindness to all, by the noble labours of a peacemaker, and
by the loving earnestness which could conquer hearts.

A councD. was gathered at Alexandria to settle various
matters, as a difference of doctrinal phraseology had
sprung up between two parties of the orthodox, and to
allow the bishops an opportunity of erasing the scandal of
their subscription to the creed of Rimini.

But the stay of Athanasius was brief. In November in
the same year, 362, three months after his return, the new
emperor, Julian, ordered him to leave Alexandria without
delay. He had never, he wrote, permitted the exiles to
return to their churches. The "mean little fellow," the
meddling knave, the wretch who had dared to baptize
Greek ladies while he, Julian, was emperor, should find no

VOL. v. 4

1^ — -e&

^ i^

. 50 Lives of the Saints. [May 2.

place in all Egypt. He even proposed, we are told, to put
Athanasius to death. Again we find jiaganism leagued
with Arianism against the true faith.

The faithful, all in tears, surrounded tlie archbishop,
who calmly said, "Let us retire for a little while; the cloud
will soon pass." He was pursued by his enemies up the
Nile. They met a boat descending the stream. They hailed
it with the shout so familiar to Egyptian travellers on the
great river, and asked, "Where is Athanasius?" "Not very
far off," was the answer. The wind carried on the pursuers,
the current carried down the pursued. It was Athanasius,
who, hearing of their approach, took advantage of a bend
in the stream, to turn, and meet, and mislead, and escape
them. But the cloud, as Athanasius had foreseen, passed
rapidly. In June, 363, Julian the Apostate was dead, and
Jovian, the commander of the body guards, who had
confessed Christianity before Julian, was hastily chosen
emperor. Imperial edicts went forth, undoing the anti-
Christian work of the apostate; and Jovian, a frank straight-
forward soldier, adopted a religious policy not only Christian,
but unequivocally Catholic. He wrote at once to Athana-
sius, praising his loyalty to Christ, and recalling him.
But Athanasius had returned before he had received the
emperor's letter, and had assembled a council which put
forth an important doctrinal epistle on the true doctrine of
the nature of Jesus Christ Athanasius brought the letter
to Jovian at Antioch, and was treated with distinguished
honour, whilst Lucius and other Arians were repulsed.
They met him at first as he was riding out of the city.
"We pray your majesty to hear us." "Who and whence
are ye?" " Christians, sire, firom Alexandria." "What do
you want?" "We pray you, give us a bishop." "I have
bidden your former bishop, Athanasius, to be enthroned."
"So please you, he has been many years under accusation

* — ^^

May 2.] 6". Athanasius. 51

and in exile." A Catholic soldier interrupted them, " May
it please your majesty, inquire about these men; they are
the leavings of the vile Cappadocian George, who have laid
waste the city and the world." Jovian spurred his horse,
and rode into the country. Again they presented them-
selves before him, and talked of the accusations which had
sent Athanasius into exile. Jovian threw aside these
accusations as of too remote a date, and said, " Do not
talk to me about Athanasius ; I know of what he is accused,
and how he was exiled." "So please you," they persisted,
"give us any one but Athanasius." Jovian's patience gave
way, " I have made up my mind about Athanasius." " He
speaks well enough," said the Arians incautiously; "but
his meaning is insincere." "Enough !" said Jovian; "you
attest the orthodoxy of his words ; his meaning is beyond
man's scrutiny."

Jovian died in February, 364, and Valentinian succeeded
him in the empire of the West, but Valens, an Arian, in
that of the East. The consequence of the change was soon
felt. In 367 an edict of banishment came to Alexandria,
and the prefect of Egypt prepared to expel Athanasius.
Athanasius secretly left his house before it was invested by
the soldiers. A few hours later, his house was entered and
searched in vain, from the uppermost rooms to the base-
ment. Athanasius had found a refuge in the tomb of his
father, where he remained concealed for four months. At
last the emperor found it best to quiet the agitation of
Alexandria, and prevent any difficulties which might arise
from his elder brother Valentinian's stedfast orthodoxy, by
terminating this fifth and last dispossession of Athanasius ;
so he was left untroubled till his death, which occurred
on May 2nd, 373. He had sat on the throne of S. Mark
for forty-six years, and was past seventy when he ended his
life and labours.

*- ^ *

^ — ^ *

52 Lives of the Saints. [Mays

In conclusion, we cannot do better than quote the follow-
ing beautiful estimate of his work and character from the
pen of one of the most accomplished ecclesiastical historians
of the day.i "His glorious career illustrates 'the incredible
power of an orthodox faith, held with inflexible earnestness,
especially when its champion is an able and energetic
man.'^ One is struck with the variety of gifts and the
unity of aim which it exhibits. The infidel historian deemed
him fit to rule an empire, and obviously he had to the
fullest extent the power of dealing with men, yet he was
publicly called for as ' the Ascetic ' at his election, and in
exile he was a model of monastic piety. If he is great as a
theologian, and intensely given to Scripture and sacred
studies, he is 'pre-eminently quick in seeing the right
course, and full of practical energy in pursuing it.'^ He is
as kindly in his judgments of Liberius, and Hosius, and
the council of Ariminum, as if he were not the bravest of
confessors. He can make allowance for the difficulties of
semi-Arians, and recognize their real brotherhood with
himself. ' Out of the strong comes forth sweetness.' It is
this union of inflexibility and discretion, of firmness and
charity, this many-sidedness as a pattern for imitation,^
which makes him emphatically Athanasius the Great ; and
wherever we find him, — confronting opponents, baffling
conspirators, biding his time in Gaul or Italy, turning his
hour of triumph to good account for his flock, calling on
them in the hour of deadliest peril to praise the everlasting
mercies, burying himself in cells and dens of the earth,
bearing honour and dishonour with the same kingliness of
soul, uniting the freshness of early enthusiasm with the
settled strength of heroic manhood, writing, praying, preach-
ing, sufiering, — he is kindled and sustained throughout by

* Canon Bri^-ht. Church Hist., pp. 148-150. "Ranke, Popes ii., 222.

s S. Basil, Ep. iS 2. * S. Greg. Drat. xxi. 9.

>i»- ^

)J( ^

M^y^-] S. Athanasitts. 53

one clear purpose. What lay closest to his heart was no
formula, however authoritative — no council, however oecu-
menic. His zeal for the consubstantiality had its root in
his loyalty to the consubstantial.i He felt that in the
Nicene dogma were involved the worship of Christ, and
the life of Christianity. The inestimable creed which he
was said to have composed in a cave at Treves, is his
only in this sense, that, on the whole, it sums up his teach-
ing ; but its hymn-like form may remind us that his main-
tenance of dogma was a hfe-long act of devotion. The
union of these two elements is tlie lesson of his life, as it
was the secret of his power ; and by virtue of it, although
again and again it is Aihanasius contra mundum^ yet
Athanasius is in truth the immortal, and ever in the end
prevails. ' This is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith."'

!*• Athanasius was inflamed, from his childhood, with the passion that makes
saints, the iove of Jesus Christ. The day that he thought he saw in the words of
Arius a blow struclc at the honour of that dear Lord, he started with indignation,
and consecrated thenceforth, without weariness to the defence of the Incarnate
Word, all the resources of a vast learning, and an invincible eloquence, directed by
a great common sense, and by a will of iron," De Broglie, l*Eglise et I'Empire,
i. 372.

^"Athanasius against the world" was, indeed, also "Athanasius for the
Church."

* *

(J( ^ *

Lives of the Saints. twayj.

May 3.

S. Alexander I.j Pope M. at Rome, a.d. 117.

SS. Timothy and Mauka, MM. in the Thebaid, circ. a.d. 286.

S. Genius, C, and XXX. Soldiers, MM. at Lecture, in. France.

The Invention of the Holy Cross at Jerusalem, a.d. 326.

S. Juvenal, B. of Narni, in Italy, A.D. 376.

S. FuMACK, H. at Botriphnie, Scotland.

S. Philip, F. at Celle, in the Nahegau, Germany, Zth cent.

S. Aufried, B. of Utrecht, a.d. 1008.

S. ALEXANDER I., POPE.
(a.d. 117.)

[Roman Martyrology. Bede, Hrabanus, Ado, Notker, Usuardus.
Authority : — Mention in the Catalogue of Roman Pontiffs. The Acts of
S. Alexander are fabulous.]

|CCORDING to the Acts of S. Alexander,
which are not deserving of much credence, the
pope converted Hermes, prefect of Rome
(Aug. 28th), and all his household, consisting
of twelve hundred souls, by healing his infirm son. Aurelian,
the governor, hearing of this, ordered S. Alexander to be
cast into prison, where he was visited by the tribune,
Quirinus (March 30th), who professed his readiness to
believe, if Alexander, laden with three chains, could transfer
himself to the cell where Hermes was confined. In the
night an angel in the form of a little child bearing a torch
brought Alexander forth laden with his chains, and con-
veyed him to tlie cell of Hermes. The conversion of
S. Quirinus led to that of his daughters, S. Balbina (March
31st), and all the other prisoners. They received baptism
from the hands of Evantius and Theodulus, priests im-
prisoned with S. Alexander. Finally the pope and the
two priests were thrown into a fiery furnace ; but as they

^~- *

Maya.] 6".S'. Timothy and Matira. 55

were unhurt, the priests were executed with the sword, and
Alexander was stabbed to death in all his limbs. Relics in
the church of S. Sabina, in Rome.

SS. TIMOTHY AND MAURA, MM.
■ (about a.d. 286.)

[Greek Menasa and Menology of the Emperor Basil, modern Roman
Martyrology. Authority : — Mention in the Men£ea and Menology ; also
the Greek Acts.]

S. Timothy was a lector or reader of the Church in the
Thebaid, at the time when Arianus, the governor of Upper
Egypt, carried on a grievous persecution of the Church, in
which, as has been already related, S. Asclas (Jan. 23rd),
SS. Philemon and ApoUonius (March 8th), suffered.

Timothy had been married only twenty days to Maura.
Arianus ordered Timothy to produce the sacred books of
the Christians, and when he refused, he ordered red-hot
irons to be applied to his ears, and the lids to be cut off his
eyes, and then that he should be bound to a wheel and
exposed to the full glare of the sun. As he remained
inflexible, Arianus ordered his young wife Maura to use her
persuasions with her husband, but she preferred to suffer
with him. Then Arianus ordered her hair to be torn out
in handfuls, and finally that both she and her husband
should be nailed to a wall. And as they were stretched in
this their mortal agony, before their dim eyes rose a
glorious vision of angels beckoning to them, and pointing
to thrones in heaven at the side of Jesus Christ, for whom
they died.

Iff ^ *

56 Lives of the Saints. [Maya.

THE INVENTION OF THE CROSS.

(a.d. 326 ?)

[Roman Martyrology, some copies of that of Jerome (so called), and all
other Western Martyrologles.J

The date and details of the history of the Invention of
the Holy Cross is involved in great uncertainty, owing to
the silence of two authorities, whose testimony is most
important.

The first testimony is that of S. Cyril of Jerusalem, bom
in 316, ordained deacon by the patriarch Macarius, about
335, and priest in 345. It was his duty as priest to give
lectures to the catechumens at Jerusalem. In several of
these addresses he speaks of the wood of the true cross,
" which is to be seen among us at the present day," and of
which he says particles were already dispersed throughout
the whole world. Later, in 351, when patriarch of Jeru-
salem, S. Cyril wrote to the emperor Constantius, and
stated distinctly that " the salvation-bringing wood of the
cross was found in Jerusalem,'' in the days of his father
Constantine the Great.

The next authority is S. Ambrose, archbishop of Milan,
who, in a funeral sermon on the emperor Theodosius, relates
that S. Helena, the mother of Constantine, went to the
Holy Land to visit the grave of Christ, and other holy
places, and that, inspired by the Holy Ghost to seek the
cross, she dug the soil of Golgotha, and found in the earth
three crosses, and knew the cross of Christ from the others
by its title. She also found the nails, one of which she
converted into a bit for a horse, the other into a crown, and
gave both to her son, the emperor.^

Next S. Chrysostom (d. 407) gives his testimony. He

^ Ambros. in obit, Tiieod., ed Venet. 1751. iv, 294.
*" -)J(

S. HELENA.
(Tnvention of the Cross.)

May 3.

May 3.] Xhe Invention of the Cross. 5 7

says that the cross had been found lately, and that it was
identified by being between the other two crosses, and by
its title.i He does not mention S. Helena.

Rufinus, who went to Jerusalem about a.d. 374, and
remained there till 397, wrote his continuation and enlarge-
ment of " Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History " in 400. He
says that Helena found with great difficulty the place of the
crucifixion, as a temple of Venus had been erected at
Golgotha, to obliterate the Christian reverence for the
spot ; but that she removed the ruins and dug, and found
three crosses, together with the title, but this title being
apart from the crosses, she could not tell which was that of
the Saviour. Then, on the advice of Macarius, patriarch
of Jerusalem, a sick person was laid on the three crosses,
and was miraculously healed on one, and this one was
decided to be the cross of Christ. The nails she also
found, and gave them to Constantine, who made out of
them a horse's bit and a helmet. She also sent a portion
of the cross to her son, the rest was preserved in a silver
chest in Jerusalem.^

Socrates, about 488, tells the story much as does Rufinus,
adding only what is not in the earlier historian, that
Constantine placed the fragment of the cross given him on
a porphyry pillar in the forum at Constantinople.^

Sozomen, about the same date, adds a few more details.
The place of the sepulchre was discovered ; either, as some
say, by means of a Jew, whose father had told him where it
was, or, as Sozomen thought was more probable, by a
heavenly revelation. Not only was the true cross distin-
guished from the other two by its healing a sick woman, but
also by its raising a dead man to life.*

Theodoret (about 450) tells the story exactly as does

1 Chrysost. Horn, in Job. 85. 2 Ruffin., Hist. Eccl. i. c. }-8.

' Socrates, Hist. Eccl. i. <-. 13. * Sozomen, Hist. Eccl. ii. c. i.

^ ^

<&-

-1^

58 Lives of the Saints. [Mays.

Socrates, both he and Sozomen evidently deriving their
information from him.

As we get later the story is amplified, and all the details
are given with wonderful minuteness. Indeed the story
was worked up into the apocryphal acts of Cyriacus, a Jew,
who was converted by the marvels attending the discovery,
and was baptized. Pope Gelasius, in his decree, "De
libris recipiendis,'' (a.d. 496), and later, in his " Corpus
juris Canonici," (c. 3, dist. 15), rejected these Acts as
apocryphal, under the title, " De inventione Crucis," and
he says they were modern, and read by Catholics. Never,
theless these Acts forced their way into the Liturgy of the
Church, and were publicly read.^ A monk of Auxerre, in
the 13th cent, uttered his protest. "We cannot sufficiently
marvel," said he, " that this writing, in which the fictitious
history of the Invention of the Cross is described at full,
should have been introduced into the lessons of the Church ;
for it cannot hold its ground if the dates be considered,

and its truth be investigated And if any one

assert that it ought to be retained because it has long been
recited in the Church, let him know that where reason
opposes usage, it behoves usage to give way to reason."^

It is hardly worth while following the story further, and
giving what is unmistakably late and apocryphal. But if
we omit these amplifications of the story, we must not leave
out one curious fact, namely, the existence of an apocry-
phal letter from Pope Eusebius (309-311) to the bishops of

^ The Antiphons for Lauds on the Feast of the Invention of the Cross, in the
Treves Breviary, are taicen from tile apocryphal works condemned by Pope
Gelasius, but this is the only liturgical relic of it that remains.

^ " A golden sentence, to be inculcated a hundred times to those to whom U
seems impious and intolerable, if anything of those which have been, or still are in
use in the Church, be proved to be fabulous, and introduced through ignorance of
true history." Zaccarias : Diss, de Invent. Crucis, quoted by Papebroeck, Acta
SS. Mai, T. vii.

May 3] The InventioTi of the Ctoss, 59

Campania and Tuscany, in which he says : " The cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ having been lately discovered,
whilst we hold the rudder of the Holy Roman Church, on
May 4th, we command you all solemnly to celebrate on the
aforesaid day the festival of the Invention of that Cross.''^
The same is related by Anastasius the Librarian, in his
"Lives of the Popes." In relating the life of Eusebius,
he says, " In his time was discovered the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ on May 4th, and Judas was baptized, who is
also Cyriacus."2 And so it was accepted by many of the
medieval chronologists, as for instance, by Regino of
Priim (d. 966), who says, under the year 243, "The cross
of our Lord was found by Judas, but, as we read in the
Acts of the Roman Pontiffs, under Constantius, the father
of Constantine ; and it was discovered whilst Eusebius was
Pope of Rome." This Judas, who figures in the apocry-
phal " Acts of Cyriacus," was the son of Simon, brother of
S. Stephen, the first martyr, and grandson of Zacharias.
Judas had heard from his father Simon where the cross
and tomb were, and he revealed it to S. Helena, and was
baptized under the name of Cyriacus, by Pope Eusebius, or
as some say, by Pope Sylvester. One has hardly patience
to notice such fables. How could Judas have been the
nephew of S. Stephen, when the cross was found nearly
three hundred years after Christ, unless this said Simon was
the wandering, never-dying Jew !

In the East we find the fable of the Jew Cyriacus.

S. Andrew of Crete (circ. 732) uses expressions which
seem to refer to it; but more distinct are the words of two
anonymous writers, quoted by Gretser in his Book on the
Cross. In these we find the whole story of how Judas was
brought by S. Helena to confession, by throwing him into

^ Mansius :— Coll. Concil. ii. 424. This letter is one of the forgeries of the
Pseudo-Isidore, or at least was inserted in his collection of decretals.
* Vitt. Pontiff. Ed. Blanchini, Rom, 1718. i. 33.
^

^ — *

60 Lives of the Saints. [Maya.

a well, and keeping him there fasting till he confessed
ivhere the cross was. And we are told that Judas afterwards
became bishop of Jerusalem. This took place, we are in-
formed, in the year 303.

If we turn to quite another quarter, we find Moses of
Khorene, the Armenian historian (between 450-477), say
that "Constantine sent his mother, Helena, to Jerusalem,
in order that she might search for the cross ; Helena found
the saving wood together with five nails. "^

It has been seen that the earliest to mention S. Helena in
connexion with the discovery of the cross is S. Ambrose,
in the year 395. The first to mention the discovery, with-
out naming S. Helena, is S. Cyril of Jerusalem, about the
year 350. But this difiiculty meets us, which is one
sufficiently hard to overcome. Eusebius, the Father of
Ecclesiastical History, lived at the time when the cross is
said to have been found, and he mentions in his " Life of
Constantine," the expedition of Helena to the East, but not
one word does he say about the finding of the cross. He
tells how S. Helena went to Palestine, to thank God for
her son, and that she venerated the foot-prints of the
Saviour (on the Mount of the Ascension) which were then
shown, and that she erected two churches, one at Beth-
lehem, the other on the mount of the Ascension. That is
all. What makes it more extraordinary is that Eusebius
was at Jerusalem in 335, at the dedication of the church of
the Resurrection, which Constantine built, and has de-
scribed the Church and the ceremonies used ; but again,
not one word about the cross.

1 Moses of Khorene, Hist. Arm. Ed. Florival, ii. c. 8;. It is not necessary to
do mare than note here the medals of Constantine, engraved by Freker, in iGoo,
and by Gretser, "De Cruce," with a representation of the Invention of the Cross.
They are not original, as the fact of the date on them being in Arabic numerals,
234, 23^, sufficiently proves. Du Cange reproduced the medal, but omitted the
numerals, T, viii. PI. 4.

^ ijl

Mays.] The Invention of the Cross. 6i

But this is not the only negative evidence against the
cross having been found by S. Helena. There exists a
very interesting Itinerary of the Holy Land, by a pilgrim
of Burdigala, or Bordeaux, who visited Jerusalem and the
great places of pilgrimage, in the year 333. He gives an
accurate description of all the relics shown in Jerusalem,
the well or vault in which Solomon tormented the demons,
the blood of Zacharias between the porch and the altar, as
fresh as if it had only been shed yesterday ; the impression
of the nails in the shoes of his murderers, on the marble
floor, as distinct as if they had been made in wax; the
pillar at which Christ was scourged ; the stone which the
builders refused ; the palm from which the branches were
torn off in the entry of Christ into Jerusalem ; the sycamore
tree into which Zacchseus climbed, — but not a word about
the cross, so that it is evident it could not have been shown
at Jerusalem in 333. Constantine died in 337, and the
discovery of the cross must have occurred between these
two years. But S. Helena was in Jerusalem in 326. The
cross certainly was exhibited in Jerusalem when S. Cyril
was a priest, 345.^ Thus stands the case, and it is not
possible to come to any certain conclusion as to who found
the cross, and at what date it was discovered.

With respect to the nails found with it, much variety of
tradition exists. According to a late authority, Caspar
Bugatus, 1587, the iron crown of Lombardy is formed of
the nail sent to Constantine, and placed by him in his
helmet. But there is absolutely no earlier authority than
Bugatus for this story, and all the mediseval writers
who mention the crown are silent on this particular. The
other nails that are shown as having belonged to the cross

'Samuel of Ani, an Armenian chronicler of the 12th century, on the authority
of Armenian writers who preceded him, gives 344 as the date of the Invention of
the Cross,

® ■ ■*

62 Lives of the Saints. [Mays.

of Christ, and been found by S. Helena are : — (i) at Rome
in the church of S. Croce in Gerusalemme ; (2) at Milan,
in the cathedral ; (3) at Clermont, in the CarmeUte church,
was one which came to be regarded as an original nail ;
but it was only a model of that at Milan made by S.
Charles Borromeo ; (4) at Torno, on the Lake of Como ;
at Venice in (5) the patriarchal church of S. Mark, in (6)
the doge's chapel, and (7) in the church of the Clares ;
(8) another in the church of S. Antony at Toricelli ; (9)
at Spoleto, in the church of the Redeemer; (10) at Siena;
(11) at CoUe, in Tuscany; (12) at Naples, in the church
of S. Patricius ; (13) at Catanea, in Sicily; (14) in the
church of S. Laurence, in the Escurial. This, now re-
garded as an original nail, is probably that given by S.
Charles Borromeo to Philip II., modelled after the original
preserved at Milan. (15) At Carpentras, in the south of
France. This nail is miraculous, and is said to have been
that used by Constantine as a bit for his horse. (16) At
Cologne were four, or at least four portions, one indul-
genced in the church of S. Mary " ad Gradus,'' another in
the church of S. Mary "in Capitolo," another, an imi-
tation, in the Carthusian monastery, a fourth in the Domini-
can church of S. Gertrude. What has become of some of
these at the present date is unknown. (17) In the church
at Andechs, in Bavaria; (18) another in the cathedral at
Treves; (19) another in the cathedral church of Toul, in
Lorraine; (20) another at Cracow, given by the pope to
King Ladislas IV. ; (21) another at Vienna. Many others
are mentioned by historians in the Middle Ages, but all
trace of them have been lost. S. Helena is said to have
cast another into the Adriatic to quell the storms which
rendered navigation in that sea dangerous. (22) Another
nail is still shown at Aix, given to the cathedral by
Charlemagne, who is said to have Obtained it from Con-

^ -^

■Ij. — -^ ^

Mays.] TAe Invention of the Cross. 63

stantinople. (23-25) Three holy nails are preserved in the
cathedral of Notre Dame at Paris. The reliquary to contain
them was exhibited in the Great Exhibition of London in
1862. Some ten others existed in churches in Europe during
the Middle Ages, but disappeared either at the Reformation,
or in the troubles in France. There can be little doubt as
to the origin of these holy nails. They were probably made
in imitation of some held to be original, and came themselves
in course of time to be regarded as original. S. Charles
Borromeo we know had eight made after the nail in Milan,
which he sent to different persons and churches, and one of
these, the nail given to Philip II., is now regarded as an
original nail, and as such is shown in the Escurial.

It is impossible to enumerate all the places where relics
of the True Cross are preserved. Much ridicule has been
heaped on these relics, and it has been asserted repeatedly
that there are enough such relics to build a man-of-war.
It is sufficient to say, to refute this ignorant calumny, that
the particles of the Holy Cross are often as minute as the
head of a pin, or as fine as a hair.

S. FUMACK, B.
(date uncertain.)

[A MS. account of the Scottish Bishops in the Library at Slains, 1726.]

The well of the patron saint of Botriphnie, which is a
very copious spring, is situated in the manse garden, and
there S. Fumack bathed every morning, summer and winter,
then dressed himself in green tartans, and crawled round the
parish bounds on his hands and knees. The image of the
saint in wood was long preserved in the parish. It seems to
have escaped the rage of the Reformation, and to have been de-
graded into a local idol. A note, dated about 1726, states that
"it was washed yearly with much formality by an old woman,
who keeps it, at his Fair (May 3rd) in his own well here."

,j,_ )j(

64 Lives of the Saints, t^ay.

May 4.

S. Judas Quieiacus, B.M. of Jerusalem, a.d. 133.

S. Pelagia, M. at Tarsus, -^rd cent.

S. Florian, M. at Lorck, in Swabia, -^rd cent.

S. Sylvanus, B.M. of Gaza, a.d. 311.

S. Monica, W.^ mother of S. Aug7isti7ie, a.d. 388.

S. Valerian, M. at For U, $th cent.

S. GoTHAED, B. of Hildesheim, in Gertnafvy, a.d. 1038.

S. Helena, V. at Treves, in France.

S. JUDAS OR QUIRIACUS, B.
(A.D. 133)

[The Ancient Roman Martyrology attributed to S. Jerome in May i,
Also otlier Martyrologies which have on this day " the Elevation cf S.'
Quirinus (Quiriacus) on the Appian way." Hrabanus and Notker say, "The
passion of S. Jude or Quiriacus the bishop, to whom was revealed the
wood of the Lord's cross," on April 30th.]

lUDAS was, according to Eusebius, the fifteenth
bishop of Jerusalem. This Jude is venerated
on the loth April, but is supposed to be
the same Jude also called Quiriacus by the
Martyrologists, commemorated on this day. That he was
the true discoverer of the wood of the true cross is hardly
possible ; there is no evidence to support the assertion of
Usuardus ; and that he was a martyr in the reign of Julian,
another statement in some martyrologies, is also wholly un-
supported. "All the history of his passion we may set down as
pure and unmixed fiction," says Le Quien,i "nevertheless
it is not impossible that he who is set down May ist, in
the Martyrology of Jerome (or that which passes under his
name) was the last bishop of the circumcision, and that he
died a martyr." The history of his passion is that apociy-

' Oriens Christiana, HI., p. ,46.

•*-

May 4.] ^. y%das or Qidriacus. 65

phal "Acts of Judas or Quiriacus" already alluded to in
the article on the Invention of the Cross. He is said to
have been a Jew who was the nephew of S. Stephen the
first martyr, and grandson of Zacharias. He revealed to
S. Helena the place where the cross of Christ was hidden,
and was converted by the miracles wrought on its dis-
covery, and was baptized under the name of Quiriacus
or Cyriacus, and became bishop of Jerusalem. The story
is too absurd to need refutation. There was no Patriarch
of the name of Cyriacus, and Judas died in 133; S. Helena
did not visit Jerusalem till 326. However, his relics are to
be found at Ancona, of which city he is patron, and
on the old coins of the city he is represented in Greek
pontifical habits, with his full title of Patriarch. The feast
of the translation of these relics is celebrated at Ancona on
August 8th. There can be little doubt that the Cyriacus
or Quiriacus there venerated is some utterly different
martyr of the same name, and that mediaeval ignor-
ance and local pride have combined to regard him as
the famous Jew of the romance condemned as apocryphal
by Pope Gelasius. According to Baronius, on what authority
we do not know, he was a bishop of Ancona, who was
martyred by Julian when visiting Jerusalem. A portion of
his relics were translated by Henry I., count of Champagne,
from the East to the town of Provins, where he built a
church under his invocation. This translation is commemo-
rated in the diocese of Meaux, on July 29th. A portion
of his skull is still shown at Provins. It is hopeless to
attempt to unravel the confusion that has arisen from there
being so many saints and martyrs of the same name, and
from the popularity of the apocryphal Acts having affected
the traditions of churches preserving such relics.

VOL. V. 5
* *

^ — — *

66 Lives of the Saints. m^i.-

S. PELAGIA, V.M.

(3RD CENT.)
[Greek Mensea and Menologium, and Modern Roman Martyrology.
Authority :— Her Greek Acts, which are utterly untrustworthy, being a
religious romance, only possibly founded on lacts.]

Pelagia was a young girl living at Tarsus in the reign
of Diocletian; seeing Christians martyred, she desired to
hear somewhat of their faith, and having seen in a dream a
bishop baptizing, she asked permission of her mother to
visit her nurse, who she believed was a Christian. The
mother gave her consent, and the old nurse instructed her
in the faith and brought her to the bishop, Clino, who
baptized her, and communicated her. She thenceforward
refused to marry the son of Diocletian, who was desperately
in love with her.^ The poor young man committed suicide
when he found his suit was vain, and Diocletian, highly
incensed, ordered Pelagia to be enclosed in a brazen bull
over a fire.

S. SYLVANUS, B.M. OF GAZA.
(a.d. 311.)

[Greek Menology of the Emperor Basil, Usuardus and Roman Martyr-
ology. Authority : — Eusebius in his account of the Martyrs of Palestine ;
a perfectly trustworthy accoiint by a contemporary.]

Sylvanus, the venerable bishop of Gaza, was one of the
multitude of confessors in Palestine sent to labour in the
copper mines. But being too old to work, he with others
similarly incapacitated by age, or blindness, or other
bodily infirmities, to the number of thirty-nine, was be-
headed in one day.

^ A3 it happened, Diocletian had no son. It is, however, possible that Pelagia
Buffered for having refused to marry the son of some prefect or pro-consul, and that
the ignorance of the writer may have transformed him into the son of the
Emperor.

1^ >i«

May 4-1 ,5". Monica. 67

S. MONICA, W.

(A.D. 388.)

[All Monastic Kalendars, and modern Roman Martyrology. Authority.'
— The Confessions of her son, S. Augustine.]

S. Monica was born in the year 332, in Africa, of a
Christian family, and was educated by a relative, perhaps
an aunt, with a strictness in a degree advantageous, in
a degree dangerous to a young girl. This lady forbade
the young Monica to take a drop of water except at
meal times, and the reason given by this prim old maid
was, " If you get into the habit of drinking water now,
when you are married and have the keys of the cellar, you
will tipple wine.''

What her governess dreaded actually took place before
Monica was married, for she was sent by her father with the
pitcher to the cellar, every day, to draw the wine for table, and
she got into the habit of sipping from the pitcher before
she brought it up to the dining hall, and as the habit grew
upon her, so did she enlarge the amount she drank. She
was fortunately brought to see the danger of the course she
was entering upon before the habit had become inveterate,
by the retort of a slave whom she was reprimanding, and
who cast her tippling in her teeth. Monica was so ashamed
of her failing being known, and commented on by the
servants, that she corrected it from that day. Soon after she
was baptized, and from her baptism lived an edifying life.

She was married young to Patricius, a gentleman of
Tagaste, a pagan, but honourable and upright. His great
faihng was a hot and hasty temper, from which Monica
endured much suffering, though he never struck her. By
him she had two sons, Augustine and Navigius, and though
she laboured to instil Christian truth into their hearts, yet
she was unable to obtain their baptism, and Augustine

^ .(J,

68 Lives of the Saints. [May 4.

leaped rather to his father's example than to that of his
mother. As Patricius grew older his conduct softened
towards the patient wife, who never answered his sharp
words nor resented his mrkind actions ; and won by her
sweetness, he allowed himself to be instructed in the
truths of the faith, and to be baptized. A year after he
died. It is said that when Monica heard other wives
complaining of their husbands' ill-humour or neglect, she
said, "Who are to blame? Is it not we and our sharp
tongues ?" Some matrons, moved by her success in securing
the affection and taming the irritability of her husband,
adopted her method, and, we need hardly add, found that
it led to the happiest results.

Monica was wont daily to assist at mass, and her
reverence was so great, that she never turned her back on
the holy altar.

Patricius died in 371, when Augustine was aged seven-
teen. This, her best loved son, was then at Carthage
studying. Monica learned to her grief that he had been
seduced by the doctrine of the Manichees, a sect heathen
rather than Christian, which acknowledged two principles
in mutual war, the good the source of spirit, the bad the
origin of matter. This heresy subsisted through the Middle
Ages, and its adherents received the names of Albigenses,
and Paulicians, and Lollards. It still survives in some of
the coarser sects of Protestantism.

This was great grief to Monica. There was nothing she
could do for her dear son but pray for him, and this she
did incessantly. Her tears and entreaties did not move
him, and for a while he lived in a separate house. It was
too painful for her to hear his arguments, and see the
gradual deterioration of his noble character under the in-
fluence of this pernicious heresy, and he, on his side,
showed impatience of his mother's advice.

May 4] kS. Monica. 69

And so years passed, Augustine involved in false doc-
trine, and sinking into a life of dissolute morals. Monica
prayed on. She urged some bishops to discuss his errors
with Augustine, but the son, with the hot-headed im-
petuosity of youth, refused to hsten to them. "Wait," said
one old bishop to Monica; "your son's heart is not now
disposed to receive the truth. Wait the Lord's good time."
And when the poor woman seemed sinking with despair,
he spoke to her those blessed words which have been
repeated again and again as ages have passed, and mothers
have wept, and sons have been prodigal, " Go on praying ;
the child of so many tears cannot perish." She was com-
forted, and prayed on.

Arrived at the age of twenty-nine, Augustine resolved to
go to Rome and teach rhetoric there. His mother, dread-
ing to lose sight of him, endeavoured to dissuade him from
his journey. He pretended to yield to her entreaties, only
that he might escape her importunities, and whilst she was
spending the night in prayer in a chapel dedicated to S.
Cyprian, he embarked and set sail for Italy.

"I deceived my mother," says Augustine in his Con-
fessions, " by a lie, whilst she was weeping and praying for
me. O, my God ! what did she ask of Thee, but that
Thou wouldst stay me from sailing? But Thy purposes
were not as were hers. Thou didst refuse her that which
she then demanded so earnestly, to give her in the end
that which she had all along prayed for.''

On the morrow, Monica found her son gone ; she rushed
to the shore, and the white sail on the dark blue horizon of
sea was the only trace left of him. She returned to prayer
weeping.

Shortly after his arrival at Rome, Augustine fell danger-
ously ill, and he attributed his recovery to the prayers of
his mother.

^ ti<

^ ^ ^

70 Lives of the Saints. [May 4.

In 384 he left Rome to teach rhetoric at Milan. There
he fell in with S. Ambrose, who quickly dispersed the
errors of Manicheism into which he had fallen; but
Augustine, though dissatisfied with the dualism which had
captivated his opening understanding, and had seemed to
him to solve the mystery of the world's creation and man's
existence, was not convinced of the truth of Christianity.
He had formed an union with a woman of bad character,
who bore him a son, and this union restrained him from
giving his heart to the truth.

Monica's aching heart could bear absence no more.
She took ship and came to Italy, and to Milan, seeking hei
dear erring son; and now, in S. Ambrose, she found a
teacher who refreshed her weary soul, and encouraged her
to perseverance.

She was growing old, the silver was in her hair, lines
were traced by sorrow on her brow. Years of tears and
prayer and hope deferred had sweetened that face, once
fair as an opening rose, into a spiritual beauty, not of this
earth.

Daily was she now seen in the basilica at Milan kneeling
at mass, or bringing her offerings to the poor. At first,
following the African custom, she brought an oblation of
bread and wine to the tombs of the saints, thence to be
distributed among the poor, but finding that this had been
forbidden by S. Ambrose, she relinquished the custom.
At Tagaste and at Rome it was usual to fast on the Sabbath
(Saturday), but not at Milan. She consulted S. Ambrose,
who gave her the wise advice, "When I am here in Milan
I fast not on the Sabbath, but when I am in Rome I fast
on that day. Do the same. Always follow the custom of
the Church where you are.''

At length what the holy mother had so long wished for
was accomplished, and God was about to answer all her

ij, — _ ^

prayers in good measure, pressed down, and running over.
All their fulfilment she was not to see, but she was suffered
to behold the baptism of her son Augustine and his boy
Alypius, on the same day, at Easter, 387. Then she felt
that her work was accomplished, and she yearned for home,
— first for the home where she had been as a little girl,
playing under the date palm, under the eye of the good yet
severe governess, who would not let her taste a drop of
water, though she was thirsty, because it was not meal time ;
the home where she had spent happy years with her hus-
band Patricius, who, if he had been rough and passionate,
yet had held her heart fast for many years ; the little church
where she had wept and prayed day after day and year
after year; she must return and give thanks there. Who
can describe the many memories bound up with a longing
to re-visit these scenes, which drew Monica back towards
Africa, now that the object of her life was won? But next
there was a longing for another and better home, one
eternal in the heavens, where she would meet again her
father and her mother, her husband, and perhaps the little
daughter who we hear was born to her, and of whom we
hear no more, and whom we may therefore conclude died
early. But all these longings sprang from one source, a
desire for rest after her long besieging of heaven's doors.
The gate had been unclosed, and mercy had shot down,
and she yearned to enter in and rest in the presence of the
Lord of all grace.

So she persuaded Augustine and Navigius his brother to
return with her to Ostia. They bade farewell to stately
Milan with the fire-fly haunted marshes surrounding it,
and made for Ostia, the seaport at the mouth of the
Tiber. It was at Ostia that occurred the memorable even-
ing conversation which Augustine has described for us,
•and which a modern painter has sought to portray on

* ^

72 Lives of the Saints. [May 4.

canvas ; but which only the heart of a mother and a son
can fully realise.

"She and I were standing at a window," says Augustine,
"and it overlooked the garden of the house in which we
were lodging. We were at Ostia Tiberina, far away from
the crowd, after a long and tedious journey, preparing for
our voyage. And there we began sweetly to talk together
alone, and forgetting the past, to search into present truth.
What Thou art, O God ! and what is in store in eternal
life for the saints, which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither hath entered into the heart of man to conceive.
Thus we drank with our hearts from Thy fountain above,
the fount of life which is with Thee."

Augustine in his Confessions tells us at full all they
talked about, at the window, that last memorable evening.
He did not know then that it was the last he was thus to
spend with her. But in after years the whole scene rose
up before him, the evening light playing on the inspired
face and silvery hair of his mother, the vine leaves flutter-
iag around the window in the cool sea breeze, the green
glow on the horizon, where the sun had gone down, looking
like the plains of Paradise, and the mother speaking of
heaven and God, and her desire to be at rest.

She fell ill and died at Ostia, lovingly nursed by Augus-
tine, Navigius, and the boy Alypius. She was asked if she
wished to be buried in her own country; but no, she said,
she was content to lie at Ostia. " Only," she added, " do
not, I pray you, forget to remember me at the altar of
God !" She died in the fifty-sixth year of her age, in the
year 387. "If anyone thinks it wrong that I wept so
bitterly for my mother part of one hour, for a mother who
wept through many years for me that I might live to Thee,
O Lord, let him not despise me for it; but rather let him
weep for my sins committed against Thee !"

1*-

* — — i^

May 4.] 6". Gothard. 73

There is uncertainty about her rehcs, which are claimed
by two places, Rome and Arouaise. Martin V. translated
the body from Ostia to Rome in 1430, and it was placed
in the church of S. Augustine; but Walter, a canon of
Arouaise, relates that he translated the rehcs of S. Monica,
"whom the Latins call Prima," to Arouaise in 1162.
Prima is a very bad translation of the name Monica, and
in all probability Walter of Arouaise was mistaken, though
the BoUandists give credence to his account.

S. GOTHARD, B. OF HILDESHEIM.

(a.d. 1038.)

[German Kalendars, May 5th, at Hildesheim, the day of his deposition.
May 4th, of his death and translation. Also Prague, and Liege, and Bene-
dictine Martyrologies. Authority : — A life by his disciple Wulfhere.]

S. Gothard was born in Bavaria, and was first prior
and then abbot of Altaich, where he kept such good dis-
cipline that he was chosen to restore the discipline in other
abbeys which had become relaxed. He was sent for this
purpose to Tegemsee, in the diocese of Freising, to
Kxemsmiinster, and elsewhere. In 1021 he was appointed
by S. Henry, the emperor, to the see of Hildesheim. He
died on the 4th May, 1038, and was canonized by Inno-
cent II. in the year 1131. His life is singularly deficient
in incidents awakening interest.

* — — ^

74 Lives of the Saints. [May^

May 5.

S. Maximus, B. of Jerusalemt cite. a.d. 358.

S. NiCETius, -b'. of Fienne, in Gaul, ^.th cent,

S. Gerontius, £. of Milan, ^thcent»

S. Hilary, B. of Jrles, a.d. 449.

S. SaCERDos, B. of LimogeSf circ. a.d. 530.

S. Maurontius, ^h. of Breuil, a.d. 701.

S. AvERTiNE, D.C- at Fin%ay, near T'ours, a.d. iiSg.

S. Angelus, P.m. at jilicate, in Sicily^ a.d. 1220.

S. Pius V., Pope of Rome, a.d. 1572.

S. MAXIMUS, B. OF JERUSALEM.

(CIRC. A.D. 358.)

[Roman Martyrology. Authorities : — Sozomen, Theodoret, and men-
tion by S, Jerome.]

|AXIMUS, bishop of Jerusalem, suffered in the
persecution of Maximian. One of his eyes was
plucked out, and a leg was lamed by the appli-
cation of red hot irons to the sinews. In the
troubles that broke out in the East, consequent to the
broaching of heresy by Arius, Maximus was unfortu-
nately inveigled by the partisans of Eusebius of Csesarea and
Eusebius of Nicomedia into signing the condemnation of S.
Athanasius; but directly he discovered the rights of the case,
he repented and refused to attend the Arian synods, and in
the council held at Jerusalem in 349 was the first to sign
the recognition of S. Athanasius.

* -^

S. HILARY, B. OF ARLES.
(a.d. 449.)

[Roman Martyrology. The ancient one attributed to S. Jerome, Hra-
banus and Usuardus, Ado and Notker. Authority : — A Hfe written by a
contemporary, either S. Honoratus, Bishop of Marseilles, or by Ravennus,
his successor in the see, and mention in the letters of S. Leo the Great
and his own writings.]

S. Hilary was born of noble parents in the year 401,
and was a relative of S. Honoratus of Aries, who was then
in the island of Lerins, abbot of the community he had
there founded. Honoratus left his retirement to seek his
kinsman Hilary, and draw him to embrace the same life,
but all his persuasion was at first in vain. " What floods of
tears," says S. HUary, " did this true friend shed to soften
my hard heart ? How often did he embrace me with the
most tender and compassionate affection, to obtain of me a
resolve that I would consider the salvation of my soul.
Yet, by an unhappy victory, I resisted his persuasion."
"Well, then," said Honoratus, "I will obtain of God what
you wiU not now grant to me." And he left him, that in
his island sanctuary he might pray for his relation. Three
days after, S. Hilary had changed his mind, and went to
Lerins to place himself under the discipline of Honoratus.
" On one side," he says, " I thought I saw God calling me,
on the other the world seducing me with its charms and
pleasures. How often did I embrace and reject, will and
not will the same thing. But in the end Jesus Christ
triumphed in me."

Aspiring to perfection, he sold all his estates to his
brother, and distributed the money among the poor.

In 426 S. Honoratus was chosen to the archbishopric of
Aries, and S. Hilary followed him to the city ; but soon the
longing came upon him to return to the islet of Lerins, and

»i<-

-•i<

Ij,. -■ — >^

76 Lives of the Saints. [Mayj.

he left Aries and rejoined the monastic community there.
But God, who had other designs for him, did not suffer
him to enjoy long his beloved retirement. S. Honoratus
recalled Hilary to Aries, and he remained with the arch-
bishop till his death, which took place in 428 or 429.
Then he set out on his return to the peaceful isle of Lerins.
But the citizens of Aries, apprized of his departure, sent
messengers after him, who overtook him, brought him
back, and he was forthwith elected, confirmed, and conse-
crated archbishop, though only twenty-nine years of age.i

He presided in the council of Riez in 439, in the first
council of Orange in 441, in the council of Vaison in 442,
and in the second council of Aries in 443.

His impetuous character precipitated him into actions
of more than questionable canonicity, on account of which
he fell into disfavour with S. Leo the Great, pope of Rome
(April nth). He was accustomed to make visitations,
accompanied by his friend, S. Germain of Auxerre, not
improbably beyond the doubtful or undefined limits of his
metropolitan power. During one of these visitations,
charges of disqualification for the episcopal office were
exhibited against Celidonius, bishop, according to some
accounts, of Besangon. Hilary hastily summoned a council
of bishops, and pronounced sentence of deposition
against him. On the intelligence that Celidonius had gone
to Rome to appeal against this decree, Hilary set forth, it
is said, on foot, crossed the Alps, and travelled without
horse or sumpter-mule to the Great City. He presented
himself before Leo, and with respectful earnestness en-
treated him not. to infringe the ancient usages of the Gallic
Churches. Leo proceeded to annul the sentence of Hilary

n-le was designated as bishop by his predecessor. The messengers, acconi-
panied by soldiers, sent to bring him back did not know him. A dove settled on
bis head, and they recognized him by that sign.

Mays.] vS". Hilary. j'j

and to restore Celidonius to his bishopric. He summoned
Hilary to rebut the evidence adduced by Celidonius, to
disprove the justice of his condemnation. So haughty was
the language of Hilary, " that," says the writer of his life,
"no layman would dare to utter, no ecclesiastic would
endure to hear such words." He inflexibly resisted the
authority of the pope, confronting him with the bold asser-
tion of his own unbounded metropolitan power. Hilary
thought his life in danger, or he feared he should be seized
and compelled to communicate with the deposed Celi-
donius. He stole out of Rome, and though it was the
depth of winter, found his way back to Aries. The
accounts of S. Hilary, hitherto reconcilable, now diverge
into strange contradiction. The author of his hfe repre-
sents him as having made overtures of reconcihation to
Leo, as wasting himself out with toils, austerities, and
devotions, and dying before he had completed his forty-first
year. He died, visited by visions of glory, in ecstatic
peace ; his splendid funeral was honoured by the tears of
the whole city; the very Jews were clamorous in their
sorrow for the beneficent prelate.

The counter-statement fills up the interval before the
death of Hilary with other important events. Leo addresses
a letter to the bishops of the province of Vienne, denounc-
ing the impious resistance of Hilary to the authority of S.
Peter, and releasing them from all allegiance to the see of
Aries. For hardly had the affair of Celidonius been de-
cided by the see of Rome than a new charge of breach of
canonical discipline was brought against Hilary. The
bishop Projectus complained that, while he was afflicted
with illness, Hilary, to whose province he did not belong,
had consecrated another bishop in his place, and this in
such haste that he had respected none of the canonical
forms of election ; he had awaited neither the suffrage of

^ ^

78 Lives of the Saints. [Mayj.

the citizens, the testimonials of the more distinguished, noi
the election of the clergy. In this, and in other instances
of irregular ordinations, Hilary had called in the military
power, and tumultuously interfered in the affairs of many
churches. It is significantly suggested that on every occa-
sion Hilary had been prodigal of the last and most awful
power possessed by the Church, that of excommunication.
But we have only the statement of his enemies, and we do
not know how highly-coloured the charges were, and how
some of his acts may have been falsified. Hilary was
commanded by S. Leo to confine himself to his own
diocese, was deprived of the authority he claimed over the
province of Vienne, and forbidden to be present at any
future ordination. At the avowed instance of Leo, also,
the Emperor Valentinian promulgated an imperial edict,
denouncing the contumacy of Hilary against the primacy
of the apostoUc throne. He and all the bishops were
warned to observe this perpetual edict, which solemnly
enacted that nothing should be done in Gaul, contrary to
ancient usage, without the authority of the bishop of the
Eternal City.

S. MAURONTIUS, AB.
(a.d. 701.)

[Greven and Molanus in their additions to Usuardus, the Belgian and
Gallican and Benedictine Martyrologies. Authority : — An account of
him in the life of S. Rictrudis, his mother, by Hucbald, abbot of Elnone.
See May 12th.]

Adalbald, and his saintly wife Rictrudis, were the
parents of Maurontius. His father was murdered in
Pe'rigord, and is numbered among the blessed.^ His

iVol. ii., p. 41.

•J( ^

May S.J S. Maicrontms. 79

sisters Clotsendis (June 30th), Eusebia (March i6th), and
Adalsendis (Dec. 24th), are numbered among the saints.
Maurontius was baptized by S. Richarius (Riquier) when
on a visit to Adalbald and Rictrudis. When the saintly
priest was mounted on his horse at the door, and about to
leave, Rictrudis brought the babe out, and Richarius,
stooping in his saddle, took the little one in his arms to
kiss it. But something frightened the horse, which reared
and plunged, and the babe fell into the grass. Provi-
dentially it was unhurt, and when the mother rushed to
pick it up, the child crowed and extended its arms to her.
Maurontius spent his youth at court, but at last resolved
to quit the world like his mother and his sisters, and live
to God alone in the peaceful cloister. He visited Mar-
chiennes and informed his mother of his intention. She
was uneasy, fearing lest his young mind should change,
and then sigh for the life in the world he had so rashly
deserted. She consulted S. Amandus, and he bade her
and the young man hear mass, and pray God to guide
them aright in choosing a course of life for Maurontius.
Then he vested himself, and the tapers were lit by the
youth, who served him as he said mass. Now all three
lifted up their prayer to God that He would show if He
had chosen the boy, and during the sacrifice through the
little window came a summer bee, flying down the ray of
light that penetrated into the chapel, and the bee flew
thruming thrice round the head of Maurontius. Then
Amandus took it for a sign, and he set apart the youth for
the religious life. But, though ordained, he must needs
return to the palace, and there, as high honour, to him was
given to hold the regal orb of gold, and afterwards King
Thierri gave him his signet and constituted him his secre-
tary.

Maurontius built the abbey of Breuil on his own pro-

* -^ ii<

So Lives of the Saints. [Mays.

perty at the confines of Artois and Flanders, on the river
Lys. There he received S. Amatus when driven from his
see of Sens by the king. He died when on a visit to
Marchiennes, where his sister Clotsendis was abbess after
her mother's death, and over which Maurontius exercised
supervision, according to dying request of Rictrudis.

His relics at Douai, of which city he is patron; at
Margival, near Soissons, is a fountain dedicated to him ;
an object of pilgrimage, at Levergies, is a small relic, and
a hill once crowned by a statue of him destroyed at the
revolution, but still the object of pilgrimage.

S. PIUS v., POPE.
(a.d. 1572.)

[Roman Martyrology, beatified by Ciement X., in 1672; canonized by
Clement XT., in 1712. Authorities : — A life by Jerome Catena, in Italian ;
another in Latin by Antonio Gabutio.]

MicHELE Ghisliere, afterwards Pius V., was of humble
extraction; he was bom at Bosco, near Alexandria, in
1504, and entered a convent of Dominicans at the age of
fourteen. Here he resigned himself, body and spirit, to
the devotion and monastic poverty enjoined by his order.
Of the alms he gathered, he did not retain so much for
himself as would have bought him a cloak for the winter.
Though confessor to the governor of Milan, he always
travelled on foot with his wallet on his back. When he
taught, his instructions were given with zeal and precision ;
when, as prior, it was his office to administer the affairs of
a monastery, he did this with the utmost rigour and
frugality. More than one house was freed from debt by his
careful management. The formation of his character was
effected during those years when the strife between Protes-

^- ^

5< ■ *

May,'.] 6'. Pius V. 8l

tant innovation and the ancient doctrine of the Church had
extended into Italy. He was early invested with the
office of Inquisitor, and was called on to perform his duties
in places of peculiar danger, as Como and Bergamo. In
these cities an intercourse with the Swiss and Germans was
not to be avoided ; he was also appointed to the Valteline,
which, as belonging to the Grisons, was in like manner
infested by heretics. In this employment he displayed
resolution and enthusiasm. On entering the city of Como,
he was sometimes received with volleys of stones ; to save
his life he was frequently compelled to steal away like an
outlaw, and conceal himself by night in the huts of the
peasantry ; but. he suffered no personal danger to deter
him from his purposes. On one occasion the Count della
Trinita threatened to have him thrown into a well. " As
to that, it shall be as God pleases," was the Dominican's
reply. Moreover, he took eager part in the contest of
intellectual and political powers then existing in Italy ; and
as the side to which he attached himself was victorious, he
advanced in importance.

Having been appointed commissary of the Inquisition in
Rome, he was soon marked by Paul IV., who declared Fra
Michek an eminent servant of God, and worthy of higher
honours. He promoted him to the bishopric of Nepi, and,
byway of placing "a chain round his foot,'' as Michele
himself tells us, " that he might not creep back again to the
repose of his cloister," in 1577 he nominated him cardinal.
In this new dignity Ghisliere continued, as ever, poor,
austere, and unpretending. He told his household that
they must fancy themselves hving in a monastery j for him-
self, his sole interest was still centred in devotional exer-
cises and the business of the Inquisition. Pope Paul IV.
died in 1559, and was succeeded by Pius IV., who trans-
lated Cardinal Ghisliere to the bishopric of Mondovi, in Pied-

VOL. V.

82 Lives of the Saints. [Mays.

mont, a church reduced by the wars to a deplorable condition.
The saint hastened to his new flock ; and by his zeal and
energy re-established peace, reformed abuses, and repaired
the material devastations of war, so far as lay in his power.

His strict sense of what was right made him oppose
the appointment of Ferdinand of Medicis, a boy of only
thirteen years, to the dignity of cardinal, by Pius IV.

On the death of that pope, December 9th, 1565, at the
instigation of S. Charles Borromeo, Michele Ghisliere was
elected to fill the vacant chair of S. Peter. He maintained
all the monastic severity of his life even when pope ; his
fasts were kept with the same rigour and punctuality ; he
permitted himself no garment of finer texture than his
wont. Yet he was careful that his private devotions should
offer no impediment to his public duties, and, though
rising with the first light of day, he would not indulge him-
self vrith the customary afternoon nap. But the cares and
business of the papacy were a grievance to him. He
complained that they impeded the progress of his soul
towards salvation and the joys of paradise. " But for the
support of prayer, the weight of this burden would be
more than I could endure."

The warmth of his devotion often brought tears to his
eyes, and he constantly arose from his knees with the
assurance that his prayers had received fulfilment. When
the people beheld him in processions, barefoot, and with
uncovered head, his face beaming with piety, and his I'ong
white beard sweeping his breast, they were excited to
enthusiastic reverence ; they believed that so pious a pope
had never before existed, and stories were current among
them of his having converted Protestants by the mere
aspect of his countenance. Pius was, moreover, kind
and affable ; his manner towards his old servants was
extremely cordial. Humble, resigned, and child-like as he

Mays.] 6". Pius V. 83

was, yet his character had its narrow, harsh, and almost
forbidding side. He was a complete contrast to that other
great pope venerated in the same month of May, Gregory
VII. Their minds were cast in wholly different moulds.
Gregory was a man of great intellectual power, and a
commanding authority. Pius was narrow in mind, and his
virtues, not his intellectual superiority, gave him influence.
Yet both were actuated by the same principle, each was as
rigid in following with unswerving pertinacity the track
marked out by conscience. Pius V. could not endure contra-
diction, and was impatient of views not coincident with his
own. He did not indeed permit himself to act on his first
impressions, as regarded individuals, and those with whom
he came in contact; but having once made up his mind
about any man, for good or evil, nothing could afterwards
shake his opinion.'- Never would he mitigate a penal
sentence ; this was constantly remarked of him ; rather
would he express his disapproval of the lenity of a punish-
ment decreed. But he never resented a wrong done to
himself personally. A young man had caricatured him ;
was caught and brought before him. "Go," said the
pontiff, " and consider yourself fortunate. Had you turned
the pope into ridicule, and not Michele Ghislieri, you would
have fared otherwise." His predecessor, Pius IV., had not
cordially maintained the Inquisition. Soranzo said of that
pontiff, " It is well known that he dislikes the great severity
with which the Inquisitors handle those accused. He
makes it known that it would better please him were they
to proceed with gentleness rather than harshness j" it was
the reverse with Pius V. If there were any town wherein
few punishments were inflicted, he ascribed the fact solely

1 Informatione di Pio V.— "It is more difficult to free him from a bad im-
pression than a good one; especially with regard to people of whom he knows but
little."

84 Lives of the Saints. [Mays.

to the negligence of the officials. He was not satisfied to
see the Inquisition visiting offences of recent date, but
caused it to enquire into such as were of ten or twenty
years standing.^ The severity with which he insisted on
the maintenance of Church discipline is characteristic.
"We forbid," says he, in one of his bulls, "that any
physician, attending a patient confined to his bed, should
visit him longer than three days, without receiving a
certificate that the sick man has confessed his sins anew."^
A second bull sets forth the punishments for violation of
the Sunday, and for blasphemy. There were fines for the
rich ; but " for the common man, who cannot pay, he shall
stand before the church door, for one whole day, with his
hands tied behind his back, for the first ofi'ence ; for the
second, he shall be whipped through the city; but his
tongue, for the third, shall be bored through, and he shall
be sent to the galleys." But if this severity was calculated
to defeat its object, there can be no question as to the
earnestness and religious zeal of the man who exercised
it. That men cannot be made Christians and virtuous
by compulsion he failed to see, but it was his love of
Christianity and virtue that made him attempt it. He
drove all the courtesans out of Rome, and when he was
remonstrated with, " If they return, I leave the city," was
his reply.

The bull "In Ccena Domini" had been often com-
plained of by the princes of Europe, and Pius IV. had
openly stated that the policy of his predecessors had lost
several nations to the Church. But Pius V. proclaimed
the obnoxious bull anew, and even rendered it more

1 When he sent forces to the aid of the French Catholics, he enj oined their leader,
Count Santafiore, to " take no Huguenot prisoners, but instantly to kill everyone
that should fall into his hands." And Catena says, " He complained of the Count
for not having obeyed his command."

2 Supra gregem Dominicum : Bull iv. ii., p. 218.

-»J<

M^J'so vS. Pius V. 85

onerous, by adding special clauses of his own. Even
Philip of Spain, though usually so devout, was once
moved to warn the pontiff to beware of driving princes
to desperation. Pius V. felt this rebuke deeply. He was
sometimes most unhappy in his high station, and declared
himself "weary of living." He complained that from
having acted without respect of persons he had made him
enemies, and that he had never been free from vex-
ations and persecutions since he had ascended the papal
throne.

But though Pius V. could no more give satisfaction to
the whole world than other men, it is certain that his
upright character and sincerity of purpose did exercise
incalculable influence over his contemporaries, to the
general advantage of the Church. The reformation of
the papal court, so often promised, was at length com-
menced in fact and reality. The expenditure of the
household was greatly reduced. Pius V. required little
for his own wants, and was accustomed to say, that "he
who would govern others must begin by ruling himself."
For such of his servants as had served him truly, he
provided well ; but his dependents generally were held
within closer limits than had ever been known under
any other pope. He made his nephew, Bonelli, cardinal,
only because he was told this was expedient to his main-
taining a more confidential intercourse with the temporal
princes. He would, however, confer on him only a very
moderate endowment ; and when the new cardinal once
invited his father to Rome, Pius commanded that he should
instantly quit the city. The rest of his relations he would
never raise above the middle station ; and woe to that one
among them whom he detected in any offence, for he was
driven without mercy from the pontiffs presence. He
proceeded zealously to the removal of abuses. His

*- ^ <f

86 Lives of the Saints. [Mayj.

auditor-general was commanded to proceed against all
bishops and archbishops who should neglect to reside in
their diocese, and to report the refractory to himself, in
order to their instant deposition. He commanded both
monks and nuns to remain in the strictest seclusion. The
Orders complained that he enforced on them rules of more
stringent severity than those to which they had bound
themselves. Not content with earnestly enjoining on all
magistrates a strict attention to their duties, he held him-
self a public session with the cardinals, on the last
Wednesday in every month, when any person, who might
consider himself aggrieved by the ordinary tribunals, was
at liberty to appeal to him.

He visited the hospitals in Rome, and gave muni-
ficently towards their support. One of his kindest and
most beneficial charities was a dowry he gave yearly to a
certain number of poor girls. At a time of great famine
he imported com at his own expense from Sicily and
France, part of which he sold at a low rate, and the rest
he distributed freely to the most poor.

Finding that the poor suffered much fromi being driven
to borrow of the Jews at an exorbitant interest, and that
they fell into debt, from which they were unable to extricate
themselves, he encouraged the savings-banks instituted by
Paul III. in 1559. His troops scoured the country and
put down the brigandage which had become almost as
great and recognized an institution as in the Abruzzi at the
present day. The chief of the bandits, Mariana d'Ascoli,
however, escaped all pursuit. A peasant offered to deliver
him up to the pope. " He is intimate with me, and I can
take advantage of the trust he reposes in me to betray
him." "Never, never, so help me God!" exclaimed, the
pontiff. " Trust and friendship must for ever be held
sacred." When Mariana heard that the pope had refused

to take this advantage, he withdrew from the pontifical
states, and never appeared in them again.

The pope obtained great power in all the Catholic
kingdoms and states ; and he used it incessantly for the
purpose of combining their rulers against the advance of
Protestantism. The miserable jealousy of France and
Spain had principally facilitated the spread of heresy in
Germany, France, and the Low Countries; the rivalry of
Charles V. and Francis I. had occupied the attention and
arms of these great sovereigns, and had diverted their
energies from the suppression of the religious revolt.

Pius V. laboured indefatigably to remedy, as far as
was possible, the disastrous consequences of this policy.
France involved in civil wars, had either renounced her
former hostility to Spain, or was unable to give it effect.
Philip 11. of Spain was devoted to the pope, and enforced
his bulls. The Inquisition was allowed in Spain to execute
its judgment with extreme rigour, and to strike even the
archbishop of Toledo, and bring him to the stake. One
auto-da-fe followed another, till every germ of heresy was
extirpated. Duke Cosmo of Florence gave up to the pope,
without hesitation, whomsoever the Inquisition had con-
demned, and Casnesecchi, though connected with the
reigning house, perished in the flames. Cosmo was
entirely devoted to the pope; he assisted him in all his
enterprises, and did not hesitate to admit all his spiritual
claims. Pius was moved by this subservience to gratify
the ambition of Cosmo, by crowning him grand duke of
Tuscany.

Not altogether so friendly were the terms on which the
pope stood with the Venetians. He nevertheless took
great pains to avoid a rupture with them. " The republic "
he declared to be " firmly seated in the faith, ever had she
maintained herself most Catholic, she alone had been

^ ^ ^

exempt from the incursions of barbarians, the honours of
Italy repose on her head." The Venetians, also, con-
ceded more to him than they had ever done to any other
pontiff. The unhappy Guido Zanetti of Fario, whose
religious opinions had become suspected, they resigned^
into his hands, a thing never before recorded in their
annals. The clergy of their city was brought into strict
discipline. The churches of Verona became models of
order. Milan, under the care of S. Charles Borromeo, was
universally renovmed for its piety and regularity.

In England a great rising of the Catholics had taken
place in the north, which had been put down and punished
with sanguinary cruelty. Mary, Queen of Scots, had
placed herself in the hands of Elizabeth, who, instigated
by her jealousy, treated her as a prisoner.

Pius V. thought himself called upon to interfere. He
hoped, by an open exercise of his authority, to unite France
and Spain in a crusade against England. On the 28 th
February, 1570, he suddenly, that there might be no re-
monstrance, drew up a bull, by which he declared Eliza-
beth to be cut off, as a minister of iniquity, from the
communion of the faithful. He released her subjects from
their allegiance, and he forbade them, under pain of
incurring the same sentence as herself, to recognize her
any longer as their sovereign. At the same time, ignorant
of the completeness of the collapse of the insurrection in
England, he wrote a letter of encouragement to the Earls
of Westmoreland and Northumberland, who were at the
head of it.

But now Pius V. foresaw and prevented a danger that
menaced all Eastern and Southern Europe. The Ottoman
power was making rapid progress. Its ascendency was
secured in the Mediterranean, and its various attempts,
first upon Malta, and next on Cyprus, rendered obvious

•^ ^ij,

the fact, that it was earnestly bent on the subjugation of
the yet unconquered islands. Italy herself was menaced
from Hungary and Greece. After long efforts, Pius suc-
ceeded in awakening the Catholic sovereigns to the per-
ception that there was indeed imminent danger. The idea
of a league between these princes was suggested to the
pope by the attack on Cyprus ; this he proposed to Venice
on the one hand, and to Spain on the other. " When I
received permission to negotiate with him on that subject,"
says the Venetian ambassador, "and communicated my
instructions to that effect, he raised his hands to heaven,
offering thanks to God, and promising that his every
thought, and all the force he could command, should be
devoted to that purpose."

Infinite were the troubles and labours the pontiff had to
undergo before he could remove the difficulties impeding
the union of the two maritime powers ; he contrived to
associate with them the other States of Italy, and although,
in the beginning, he had neither money, ships, nor arms,
he yet found means to reinforce the fleet with some few
papal galleys. He also contributed to the selection of
Don John of Austria as general ; and made Antony
Colonna admiral. To avoid the jealousies and dis-
sensions hkely to spring up among the princes uniting in
the undertaking, the pope was declared chief of the league
and expedition. The pope, together with his apostolic
blessing, sent the general an assurance of victory, and an
order to disband aU soldiers who seemed to have joined
the expedition merely for the sake of plunder, and all
scandalous livers, whose crimes might draw down the
wrath of God upon them, and blight their prospects of
success.

The Christians sailed from Corfu, and found the Turkish
fleet at anchor in the harbour of Lepanto. Six hundred

ij, '^

(Jf *

90 Lives of the Saints. [Mayj.

vessels of war met face to face on October 7th, 1571.
Rarely in history had so gorgeous a scene of martial array
been witnessed. An October sun gilded the thousand
beauties of an Ionian landscape. Athens and Corinth were
behind the combatants; the mountains of Alexander's
Macedon rose in the distance, and the heights of Actium
were before their eyes. Since the day when the world
had been lost and won beneath that famous promontary,
no such combat as the one now approaching had been
fought upon the waves. Don John of Austria despatched
energetic messages to his fellow-captains. Colonna
answered his chief in the language of S. Peter, " Though I
die, yet will I not deny thee." Crucifix in hand, the High
Admiral rowed from ship to ship exhorting generals and
soldiers to show themselves worthy of so holy a cause.
Don John knelt upon his deck and offered a prayer. He
then ordered the trumpets to sound the assault, com-
manded his sailing-master to lay him alongside the Turkish
Admiral, and the battle began. The Venetians, who were
first attacked, destroyed ship after ship of their assailants,
after a close and obstinate contest. But the action speedily
became general. From noon till evening it raged, with a
carnage rarely recorded in history. By sunset the battle
had been won. Of nearly three hundred Turkish galleys,
but fifty made their escape. From twenty-five to thirty
thousand Turks were slain, and perhaps ten thousand
Christians. The meagre result of the contest is as no-
torious as the victory. While Constantinople, almost
undefended, was quivering with apprehension, the rival
generals were already wrangling with animosity. Had the
Christian fleet advanced, the capital would have yielded
without a blow, and the power of the Crescent in Europe
have been at an end for ever. But the mutual jealousies
of the commanders prevented them taking this final step,

Mays.] ^. Pius V. 9 1

and Don John sailed westward with his ships. Neverthe-
less a great blow had been struck which crippled the
Turkish power, and from that hour its advances in Europe
and its supremacy in the Mediterranean were at an end.

The pope, from the beginning of the expedition, had
ordered public prayers and fasts, and had not ceased to
solicit heaven, like Moses on the mount, with outspread
hands, for victory on the Christian arms. At the hour of
the engagement, the procession of the Rosary was pouring
forth prayers for the army in the church of the Minerva.
The pope was then conversing with some cardinals on
business, when on a sudden, he left them abruptly, threw
open a window, stood for some time with his eyes fixed on
heaven, and then turning to the astonished cardinals, said,
" No more business, let us give thanks to God for the
great victory He has accorded to the arms of the Christians."
This fact was carefully attested, and recorded both at the
time, and again in the process of canonization of the saint.
In memory of this glorious victory, the pope instituted the
Festival of the Rosary, to be observed on the first Sunday
in October, and ordered the words "Succour of Christians"
to be inserted in the Litany of Our Lady.

His next design was the formation of a league against
England. He promised that he would expend the whole
treasure of the Church, the very chalices and crosses
included, on an expedition against that country; he even
declared that he would, himself, head the undertaking.
The principal subject of his last words was the league, and
the last coins sent from his hand were destined for this
purpose. But death approached, and it was reserved
for a successor to see the attempt made and fail.

When he felt that death was approaching, he once more
visited the seven Basilican churches, "in order," as he said,
"to take leave of the holy places." Thrice did he kiss the

*- 1^

.*-

Lives of the Saints.

[May 5.

lowest steps of the Scala Santa. Then he returned to die in
the Vatican, on May the ist, 1572, at the age of sixty-eight,
having governed the Church six years and almost four
months.

His relics lie in the church of S. Maria Maggiore, at
Rome.

Crob-Q from S, Mauutius at Munater.

«-

May 6.] ^. EvoduCS. 93

May 6.

S. EvoDius, B.M. of jintioch, circ. a.d. 66.

S. JuHN BEFORE THE Latin Gate, at Rome, A.D. 9^ (see Dec. 2'}th),

S. Lucius of Cyrene, £., zst cent.^

S. Justus, B.M. of Fienne in Gaul, a.d. 178.

S. Avis f^.M. near Cologne, k.vi. 451 (?)

S- Eadbert, B. of Lindisfarne, a.d. 698.

S. John Damascene, Mk.yC, in Palestine, circ. a.d. 770.

B. Elizabeth of Hungary, F. at Toss, in Snvitxerland, a.d. 1338,

S. EVODIUS, B. OF ANTIOCH.
(about a.d. 66.)

[All Western Martyrologies. Authorities :— Mention in the Epistle of
i. Paul to the Philippians iv. 2 ; also in the Epistle of S. Ignatius to the
Antiocene Church. The Greeks commemorate SS. Evodius and Onesi-
phorus together on the same day, April 2gth ; the Latins venerate S.
Onesiphorus on Sept. 6th.]

AINT EVODIUS or EUODIAS, to whom S.
Paul the Apostle sends greeting in his Epistle
to the Philippians, was the first bishop of Antioch
after S. Peter, as S. Ignatius tells us, consecrated
to it by the aposties themselves. He is supposed to have
suffered martyrdom, but it is very uncertain as to when,
and by what manner of death he was called to glorify God ;
and indeed it is very questionable whether there is any
authority for regarding him as a martyr.

1 Roman Martyrology. Mentioned Acts xiii. i. Nothing more is known of
him; by some he is called bishop of Cyrene, by others bishop of Olympias, by
others bishop of Laodlcea j but none have any authority tor so styling him.

15 ^ -^

^ ^ -*

94 Lives of the Saints. [Maye.

S. AVI A, V.M.
(uncertain.!)

[Gallican Martyrology. Venerated at Auray, near Vannes, in Brittany,
at Meulan-sur-Seine, and at Paris. Her festival is generally celebrated
on the 1st Sunday in May. The Bollandists mention her on May 2nd,
and say that no life of this virgin martyr exists, not even in the Ursuline
convent of S. Avoye, at Paris, where her relics reposed till the Revolution.
Some writers identify her with S. Aurea (Oct. 4th). The only authority
for her legend is a metrical life in French, probably of the 13th or r4th
cent., on which the P6re Giry has founded a life. It is almost needless to
say that the whole story is fabulous.]

S. AviA, or Aveze, as she is called in France, according
to the legend, was born in Sicily, at the beginning of the
3rd cent. Her father, Quintianus, was a king of that
country, and he persecuted the Christians with great fury.
But Gerasina, his queen, who was a British lady, believed
in Christ, and after a while converted her husband. By
him she had nine children, three sons and six daughters.
The youngest of the latter was named Avia or Aurea.
After the death of King Quintianus, in the year 234,
Dioned, king of Cornwall,^ who had married Dara, sister of
Gerasina, began to make preparations for the marriage of
his only daughter, the famous S. Ursula, with Holo-
phernes (!) son of the king of Britain (!!). He invited
his sister from Sicily to the wedding festivities, and
she started for " Cornwall in Ireland," with her daughter
Avia, and three other daughters, whose names were dis-
covered by revelation, in the middle of the 1 2th cent, to
Elizabeth ofSchonau (d. 1165), and the Blessed Hermann,
Joseph of Steinfeld (d. circ. 1230) j^ they were Babila,
Juliana, and Victoria, and her youngest son Adrian.

iGuerin and Giry say 3rd cent. The Legendaire de la Morine says 5th cent.

2 " In Ireland," says P. Giry. The geography and the history in this wonderful
story are quite in keeping with each other. It is unnecessary to point out the
glaring absurdities and anachronisms in the tale.
' See April 5th.

* -^

On the arrival of Gerasina and her children at the court
of Dioned, Ursula informed her aunt of her intention to
evade the projected marriage. Gerasina highly approved
of her purpose, and with her four daughters, accompanied
S. Ursula on that famous expedition with eleven thousand
virgins, which ended in their martyrdom at Cologne (Oct.
2ist) at the hands of the Huns.i

Only three of the eleven thousand were spared. One of
these three was Avia, but her martyrdom was only deferred.

" It must have been very touching," says the Pere Giry,
"to see this tender virgin, after witnessing the massacre of
her mother, her sisters, and all her companions, alone in
an unknown land, in the power of barbarians, who had
nothing in them human except their faces, and who, to their
idolatry and impiety, added a ferocious humour, and a
brutality equal to that of the most savage animals, so that
like S. Ignatius the Martyr, she might have called them a
troop of tigers." She was shut into a prison, but the
Blessed Virgin brought three loaves or cakes every day,
and passed them to her through the bars of the window.
No menaces, no torments could shake the constancy of
the captive. The Huns, either having caught some lions
which haunted the forest neighbourhood of Cologne, or
having brought the beasts with them from the cold banks
of the Volga, turned them into the prison of Avia, but the
royal beasts would not touch her. Then the Huns tor-
mented her with savage cruelty, cut off her breasts, plucked
out her eyes, and beat her to death.

She is pretended to have appeared in the parish of
Ploermel, near Auray, in the diocese of Vannes in Brittany,
and that she touched a stone and a fountain. To this day
infants are placed on this stone, which is hollowed out in the
middle, and are dipped in the fountain, to enable them to walk.

iWhose invasion of the Rhine did not occur till a.d, 4S1.
5, *

^ — — Ijl

96 Lives of the Saints. [Haj^o.

S. EADBERT, B. OF LINDISFARNE.

(A.D. 698.)

[Roman and Anglican Martyrologies. Some late Martyrologists, as
Maurolycus, Canisius, Menardus, Bucelious, &c., have confounded
him with S. Egbert, who died at lona, and who is commemorated on
April 24th. Authority: — Bede's Eccl. Hist. iv. 29, 30, and his life of
S. Cuthbert, t. 12-]

S. Eadbert is said to have been born amongst the South
Saxons. He succeeded S. Cuthbert in the see of Lindis-
farne, and Bede describes him as a man excelling in know-
ledge of the Holy Scriptures, and in observance of the
angelic precepts. He administered the Church of Lindis-
farne for about ten years; during which time it was his
custom twice in the year — Advent and Lent — to make a
retreat into the islet, where S. Cuthbert had resided, before
he went to Fame. There he could be alone with God and
his own soul, surrounded by the tumbling grey waves of
the Northern ocean. He was present when the body of
S. Cuthbert was translated, eleven years after the death of
this great prelate, and the body was found perfectly fresh
and incorrupt. Shortly after this event, Eadbert fell
sick and died. He was placed in the sepulchre of S.
Cuthbert

S. JOHN DAMASCENE, MK. C.
(about a.d. 770.)

[By the Greeks and Russians on Nov. 29th and Dec. 4th. By the
modern Roman Martyrology on May 6th. Authority : — His life written by
John, Patriarch of Jerusalem, before the year 969. J

S. John Damascene has the double honour of being
the last but one of the Fathers of the Eastern Church, and
the greatest of her poets. It is surprising, however, how

*— — ^-

*— ' : ^

May 6.] ^. J oku Damasccne. 97

little that is authentic is known of his life. The account
of him by John of Jerusalem, written some two hundred
years after his death, contains an admixture of legendary
matter, and it is not easy to say where truth ends and
fiction begins.

The ancestors of John, according to his biographer,
when Damascus fell into the hands of the Arabs, had
alone remained faithful to Christianity. They commanded
the respect of the conqueror, and were employed in judicial
offices of trust and dignity, to administer, no doubt, the
Christian law to the Christian subjects of the Sultan. His
father, besides this honourable rank, had amassed great
wealth ; all this he devoted to the redemption of Christian
slaves, on whom he bestowed their freedom. John was
the reward of these pious actions. John was baptized
immediately on his birth, probably by Peter II., bishop of
Damascus, afterwards a sufferer for the Faith. The father
was anxious to keep his son aloof from the savage habits
of war and piracy, to which the youths of Damascus were
addicted, and to devote him to the pursuit of knowledge.
The Saracen pirates of the sea-shore neighbouring to
Damascus, swept the Mediterranean, and brought in
Christian captives from all quarters. A monk named
Cosmas had the misfortune to fall into the hands of these
freebooters. He was set apart for death, when his exe-
cutioners, Christian slaves no doubt, fell at his feet and
entreated his intercession with the Redeemer. The
Saracens enquired of Cosmas who he was. He replied
that he had not the dignity of a priest; he was a simple
monk, and burst into tears. The father of John was stand-
ing by, and expressed his surprise at this exhibition of
timidity. Cosmas answered, " It is not for the loss of my
life, but of my learning, that I weep." Then he recounted
his attainments, and the father of John, thinking he would

VOL. v, 7

a^ i^

tj,, -^ ^

98 Lives of the Saints. [Maye.

make a valuable tutor for his son, begged or bought his life
of the Saracen governor ; gave him his freedom, and placed
his son under his tuition. The pupil in time exhausted all
the acquirements of his teacher. The monk then obtained
his dismissal, and retired to the monastery of S. Sabas,
where he would have closed his days in peace, had he not
been compelled to take on himself the bishopric of Majuma,
the port of Gaza.

The attainments of the young John of Damascus^ com-
manded the veneration of the Saracens ; he was compelled
reluctantly to accept an office of higher trust and dignity
than that held by his father. As the Iconoclastic contro-
versy became more violent, John of Damascus entered the
field against the Emperor of the East, and wrote the first
of his three treaties on the Veneration due to Images.
This was probably composed immediately after the decree
of Leo the Isaurian against images, in 730.

Before he wrote the second, he was apparently ordained
priest, for he speaks as one having authority and commis-
sion. The third treatise is a recapitulation of the arguments
used in the other two. These three treatises were dis-
seminated with the utmost activity throughout Christianity.

The biographer of John relates a story which is disproved
not only by its exceeding improbability, but also by being
opposed to the chronology of his history. It is one of
those legends of which the East is so fertile, and cannot be
traced, even in allusion, to any document earlier than the
biography written two hundred years later. Leo the
Isaurian, having obtained, through his emissaries, one of
John's circular epistles in his own handwriting — so runs
the tale — caused a letter to be forged, containing a pro-
posal from John of Damascus to betray his native/ city to
the Christians. The emperor, with specious magnanimity,

ElMansur (i.^,, "The Victorious") was the name he went byannongthc Saracens.

May 6.] ^. J okfi Damascenc. 99

sent this letter to the Sultan. The indignant Mahommedan
ordered the guilty hand of John to be cut off. John
entreated that the hand might be restored to him, knelt
before the image of the Virgin, prayed, fell asleep, and
woke with his hand as before. John, convinced by this
miracle, that he was under the special protection of our
Lady, resolved to devote himself wholly to a life of
prayer and praise, and retired to the monastery of S.
Sabas.

That the Sultan should have contented himself with
cutting off the hand of one of his magistrates for an act of
high treason is in itself improbable, but it is rendered more
improbable by the fact that it has been proved by Father
Lequien, the learned editor of his works, that S. John
Damascene was already a monk at S. Sabas before the
breaking out of the Iconoclastic dispute.

In 743, the Khalif Ahlid 11. persecuted the Christians.
He cut off the tongue of Peter, metropolitan of Damascus,
and banished him to Arabia Felix. Peter, bishop of Majuma,
suffered decapitation at the same time, and S. John of
Damascus wrote an eulogium on his memory.

Another legend is as follows; it is probably not as
apocryphal as that of the severed hand : — The abbot sent S.
John in the meanest and most beggarly attire to sell baskets
in the market-place of Damascus, where he had been
accustomed to appear in the dignity of office, and to vend
his poor ware at exorbitant prices. Nor did the harsh-
ness of the abbot end there. A man had lost his brother,
and broken-hearted at his bereaval, besought S. John to
compose him a sweet hymn that might be sung at his
brother's funeral, and which at the same time would soothe
his own sorrow. John asked leave of the abbot, and was
curtly refused permission. But when he saw the distress
of the mourner he yielded, and sang him a beautiful lament. .

ij( ib

The abbot was passing at the time, and heard the voice of
his disciple raised in song. Highly incensed, he expelled
him from the monastery, and only re-admitted him on
condition of his daily cleaning the filth from all the cells of
his brethren. An opportune vision rebuked the abbot for
thus wasting the splendid talents of his inmate. John was
allowed to devote himself to religious poetry, which became
the heritage of the Eastern Church, and to theological
arguments in defence of the doctrines of the Church, and
refutation of all heresies. His three great hymns or
" canons," are those on Easter, the Ascension, and S.
Thomas's Sunday. Probably also many of the Idiomela
and Stichera which are scattered about the office-books
under the title of jFohn and J^ohn the Hermit are his.i
His eloquent defence of images has deservedly procured
him the title of The Doctor of Christian Art. The date of
his death cannot be fixed with any certainty ; but it lies
between 754 and before 787.

B. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY, V.
(a.d. 1338.)

[Anciently venerated at Toss, near Winterthur, in Tiiurgau. Authority :
— A life by Heinrich Murer (1670), derived from the chronicle of the con-
vent of Toss.]

S. Elizabeth of Hungary,^ who married the landgrave
of Hesse and Thuringia, was the daughter of Andrew, king
of Hungary, by his wife Gertrude, daughter of Berchthold,
duke of Meran. The same king Andrew in second
marriage took Beatrice, daughter of Aldobrandini, marquis
of Este, and died in 1228. His wife bore him a posthumous

1 Translations of some of his exquisite sacred poetry will be found in Dr. Neale's
Hymns of theEastern Cliurcli. London : Hayes, 1862.
^Commemorated on Nov. jpth.

^ -^

^. *

May 6.] jB. EHzabetk. loi

son, named Stephen, who married a Venetian lady, by
whom he had a son, Andrew of Venice, who succeeded to
the throne of Hungary in 1290. Andrew had a daughter
by a Sicihan wife, whom he named Ehzabeth, after her
great and saintly ancestor ; she was born and baptized at
Buda in 1297, and in honour of her birth all the fountains
of the city were made to spout wine, and the bells pealed
all day long.

On the death of his wife, Fenna of Sicily, Andrew
married Agnes, daughter of Albert of Austria, king of the
Romans. On the death of Andrew, in 1301, Agnes
resolved on betrothing the young Ehzabeth, then aged four,
to her brother Henry, duke of Austria, and her dowry was
fixed at three hundred thousand crowns. But in 1308 an
event took place which affected and altered the fate of the
princess. The Emperor Albert of Austria, the father of
Agnes, was in that year invading Switzerland with his army,
and had crossed the ferry of the Reuss in a small boat,
leaving his suite on the opposite bank. In the boat with
him were four men, John of Suabia, his nephew, whom he
had wrongfully kept out of his inheritance, and who had
leagued with others to slay him. The other three in the
boat were Balm, Walter of Essenbach, and Wart. On
reaching the bank. Balm ran the emperor through with his
sword, and Walter cleft his skull with a felling-axe. Wart
the fourth took no share in the murder. The imperial
retainers, terrified, took to flight, leaving their dying master
to breathe his last in the arms of a poor peasant who
happened to pass.

" A peasant girl that royal head upon her bosom laid,

' And, shrinking not for woman's dread, the face of death surveyed,

Alone she sate. From hill and wood low sunk the mournful sun ;

Fast gushed the fount of noble blood. Treason his worst had done.

With her long hair she vainly pressed the wounds, to staunch their tide.

Unknown, on that meek, humble breast, imperial Albert died."

Mrs. Hemans.

1^ ^

1 02 Lives of the Saints. [Maye.

A direful vengeance was wreaked by the children of the
murdered monarch; not, however, upon the murderers —
for, with the exception of Wart, the only one who did not
raise his hand against him, they all escaped-^ — but upon
their families, relations, and friends ; and one thousand
victims are believed to have expiated, with their lives, a
crime of which they were totally innocent. Queen Agnes
gratified her spirit of revenge with the sight of these horrid
executions, exclaiming, while sixty-three unfortunate men
were butchered before her, "Now I bathe in May-dew!"
But ere long the dead men came back to haunt the
ferocious queen, and in the agony of her remorse she
founded the convent of Konigsfelden, near Brugg, in 1310,
and endowed it with the confiscated property of those she
had slaughtered. She retired into it, and endeavoured by
penance, prayer, and almsgiving, to stifle the qualms of a
guilty conscience for the bloody deeds which she had
committed. It is recorded that a holy hermit, to whom
she applied for absolution, replied to her, " Woman ! God
is not to be served with bloody hands, nor by the slaughter
of innocent persons, nor by convents built with the plunder
of orphans and widows, but by mercy and forgiveness of
injuries."

The horror of this great crime must have weighed on the
princess Elizabeth, then a child, and the tears and frenzied
remorse of her stepmother and guardian were some of first
storms of life which swept before her young eyes.^ They
had their effect. She shrank from a position in the world,
and at the head of a state, which might involve her in
crime either as the instigator or as the victim; and she
quitted the world to seek peace and safety and innocence

^ John of Suabia died a monk at Pisa in 1313.
2 Thus we are expressly told by the chronicler, " Snper quibus mails tantoquc
cfFuso sanguine graviter compuncta Elizabeth est."

* ^

May 6.] B. Elizabeth.

103

in the cloister. Her stepmother desired her to remain
with her in the convent of Konigsfelden, but Elizabeth
recoiled from that home founded in blood, and the con-
stant presence of the wolfish queen. She declared she
must reside elsewhere, and she entered her noviciate in the
Dominican convent of Toss, when aged thirteen, under a
harsh superior placed over her through the influence of her
stepmother Agnes, who treated Elizabeth with such severity
that all the sisters pitied her. The object of the queen of
Hungary was to disgust Elizabeth with cloister life, that
she might return to the world, and fulfil her engagement to
Henry of Austria. Before she took the veil, Henry visited
the convent to claim his bride. Henry was so angry to
see her in the religious habit, that he rudely plucked the
veil off her head, and tore and stamped on it. He then
urged his suit in a manner more likely to address itself to
her heart, and Elizabeth promised to give him an answer
after a brief delay. When he had left, she cast herself
before the Blessed Sacrament in the Church, and besought
guidance. On the return of the duke, she refused him,
and was thenceforth left unmolested in her tranquil home.
At one time she had for director a friar of the same order,
whose rough treatment distressed her greatly. The man
was bluff and uncultivated, and could not sympathise with
the conscientious scruples and sensitive pains of her deli-
cate soul, and showed great impatience at the recital of her
troubles, which he regarded as the results of a morbid
sentimentality. She then had recourse to the Divine Guide,
and kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament, poured out her
griefs in His ear. Nor was it much better when the friar,
informed that his penitent was a princess, changed his tone
to one of obsequious apology.

She was thoroughly unpresuming, and the sister who
served as cook, declared that in all the twenty-four years

^ . — : )J(

104 Lives of the Saints. [Mays.

that she had known her, she never found fault- with her
food. Her garments were threadbare, so as to call forth
the angry remonstrance of her stepmother, when she went
to visit her in her convent at Konigsfelden, " What ! you, a
king's daughter, wear an old gown like this !" Her cell
was perfectly plain, with a crucifix, a pallet bed with straw
mattress, a coverlet and blankets. The washing utensils
were of wood, and were kept scrupulously clean. She was
very devout at all the choir offices, and one of the sisters
in a dream saw Elizabeth singing matins, and every word
came sparkling out of her mouth as a diamond or a pearl,
and fell into a bowl she held. These were the only jewels
she possessed. Her stepmother kept from her all her
fortune, and only allowed her just enough for her sub-
sistence, and on one occasion added insult to injury by
showing her all the jewels that had belonged to her father,
King Andrew, which Agnes kept for herself in a great oak
chest in her cell at Konigsfelden.^ She did not give
Elizabeth a single gem. This was when Elizabeth,
after an illness, was sent to the baths at Baden, in Thurgau,
and she took the opportunity to visit the old queen. Be-
fore she returned to Toss she made a pilgrimage to
Einsiedeln. She was ill again four years after, and her life
was despaired of; when on S. Elizabeth's feast in the
night, after the bell had called all the sisters to matins,
S. Elizabeth, her patron, appeared to her, leaning over her
bed, and taking her head in her hands, laid it on her
bosom. Next morning Elizabeth was better, and in a few
days was well. For the four last years of her life she
suffered from tertian fever.

In her last sickness, which was long and painful, we are
told that two sisters were deputed to sit up with her at
night. One night both fell asleep ; a sudden flash of light

^Tbe chest still exists, and is shown at the secularised abbey.
* -. *

* ■ — ^

Mays.] B. Elizabeth. 105

aroused one, but Elizabeth told her to go to sleep again,
and she remained wearily longing for the dawn. Then
suddenly the extinguished pendant lamp above her bed
kindled of itself, and shed its soft radiance over her,
illumining also the form of the Crucified at the foot of her
bed, to which she could look, and meditating on His
passion, bear her own pains with resignation. And when
the last night came, she rose from her bed, and went to
the choir and knelt before the adorable Sacrament, and
then crawled back to her cell without the sisters who were
deputed to watch her, but who had fallen asleep, being
aware till too late to prevent it. As the day returned, she
bade them throw open the window, and she looked out at
the May buds and the blue sky, whilst the fresh spring air
wafted into her sick room. Then, with her eyes fixed on
the sky, she prayed, " My Lord and my God, Creator and
Redeemer of my soul, and He who rewards all our labours
in the end, look on me this day with the eyes of Thy
mercy, and receive me from this world of woe into Thy
celestial country, for the sake of Thy bitter passion and
death." Then turning to the prioress and all the sisters,
she thanked them for their kindness to her, and after that,
relapsed into silent prayer, and fell asleep in Christ, on the
6th May, 1338, in the forty-first year of her age.

She was buried at Toss in the convent church. The
convent has been suppressed, and its buildings converted
into a factor)'. The monument of the Blessed Elizabeth,
with the arms of Hungary on it, is still visible in ,the exist-
ing church, and her remains have been left therein undis-
turbed.

ij<. -^ ■ -^

^ *^

106 Lives 0/ the Saiitts. [May?.

May 7-

S. Flavia Domitilla, V.M. at Terracina, a.d. 99.

S. Onadeatus, M. at Nicomedia, -^rd cent.

S. DoMiTiAN, B. of Maestricht, circ. a.d. 560.

S. Generic, D. at Seez, ht France, endofjik cent.

S. Benedict II., Po^e of Rome, a.d. 685.

S. John of Beverley, Archb. of York, a.d. 721.

S. Stanislaus, B.M. at Cracow ^ in Poland^ a.d. 1079,

S. FLAVIA DOMITILLA, V. M.
(a.d. 99.)

[Ado, Roman Martyrology, also with SS. Nereus and Achilles on
May 12th. Authorities : — Dio Cassius, liv. Ixvii, and Eusebius Hist.
Eccl., lib. iii., c. i8.]

|I0 CASSIUS, the heathen historian (b. 155)
says: — "In the same year (a.d. 95) Domitian
executed, amongst many otliers, the consul
Flavius Clemens, although he was his kins-
man, and was married to Flavia Domitilla, also his relative.
Both were accused of atheism {i.e., Christianity) on which
charge also many others who had strayed to Jewish customs
were condemned, some to death, others to confiscation of
goods. Domitilla was, however, only exiled to Pandateria
(the isle of Ischia)." The account given by Eusebius
differs so materially, that it has been supposed there were
two of the name of Flavia Domitilla. He says, " To such
an extent did the doctrine which we profess flourish, that
even historians that are far from befriending our religion,
have not hesitated to record this persecution and its martyr-
doms in their histories. These, also, have accurately
noted the time, for it happened, according to them, in the
fifteenth year of Domitian (a.d. 95). At the same time, for

* — -^

-Ijl

May}.] ^. Flavia Domitilla. 107

professing Christ, Flavia Domitilla, the niece of Flavins
Clemens, one of the consuls of Rome at that time, was
transported, with many others, by way of punishment, to
the island of Pontia.'"

Flavins Clemens was cousin germain of the emperor^
and was certainly consul in 95. He had two sons, whom
the emperor had resolved should succeed him on the throne,
and he had changed their names to Vespasian and Domitian.
But Flavius Clemens was executed, and his wife, Domitilla,
was banished to Pontia, whilst — so the two accounts are
reconciled — his niece FlaviaDomitilla was sent to Pandateria.
Domitian was succeeded by Nerva, who died in 98, after a
reign of little more than a year, and Trajan mounted the
throne. Nerva had recalled the exiles, and — if we may
believe the apocryphal Acts of SS. Nereus and Achilles — S.
Flavia Domitilla the younger, the niece of Flavius Clemens,
was then at Terracina. Trajan persecuted the Church, and
Domitilla was burnt in her house, together with her two
servants, Euphrosyne and Theodora. Her eunuchs, Nereus
and AchiUes, had already suffered. All this, however, is
very questionable as history. For further information we
refer to the account of SS. Nereus and Achilles (May 12th.)

It is difficult to say whether the S. Flavia Domitilla, com-
memorated on May 7th, be not the elder saint, who was
not a martyr, though, as S. Jerome says, her life was one
long martyrdom in exile ; and the S. Flavia Domitilla, on
May 1 2th, be the younger, if there really were two of this
name. It is by no means improbable that Eusebius made
a mistake, and that this mistake has led to the making of
two saints of the same name. The Acts are of no authority.

it. ^

^ — )l(

io8 Lives of the Saints. [Mavj.

S. DOMITIAN, B. OF MAESTRICHT.

(A.D. 560.)

[Belgian Martyrologies. Authority : — Two lives, one of uncertain date.
The other written after 1183.]

S. DoMiTiAN, the patron of Huy, on the Meuse, was
born in France ; he was made Bishop of Tongres, but on
the see of Maestricht becoming vacant, he was elevated
thereto by the people and clergy of that diocese. Accord-
ing to a popular tradition at Huy, he delivered the neigh-
bourhood from an enormous serpent which infected with its
venom the water of a fountain. He spent a long time at
Huy, but died at Maestricht His body is preserved at
Huy, in a magnificent medieval reliquary in the church of
Notre-Dame. He is invoked against fever. Anciently, on
May 7th, a procession carrying his shrine made the circuit
of Huy, followed by all fever-struck patients in their shirts,
candle in hand. To this day the shrine is borne proces-
sionally to the fountain where S. Domitian is said to have
slain the serpent.

S. BENEDICT II., POPE.

(A.D. 685.)

[Roman Martyrology. Not in Bede, Notker, or Usuardus. Au-
thority : — His life in the collection of Anastasius the Librarian.]

Pope Leo II. was buried on July 3rd, 683, and the
Chair of S. Peter remained vacant for more than a twelve-
month, till Benedict II. was crowned on June 26th, 684.
This was owing to the necessity of obtaining imperial
confirmation of the election. But the inconvenience was
so great, that Constantine Pogonatus, the emperor, issued
an edict, which enacted that, on the unanimous suffrage of
the clergy, the people, and the soldiery (who now asserted

* '^

May J.] ^S. yohn of Beverley, 109

a right in the election of the pontiff, similar to the privilege
of the Prsetorian Guard in the election of the emperor), the
pope might at once proceed to his coronation. Benedict
was a Roman by birth, and from his earhest infancy had
exhibited every mark of piety. He reigned only nine
months ; but in his brief reign he found time to adorn and
enrich several of the churches of Rome. Constantine, as
a mark of especial favour, cut locks off the hair of his two
sons, Justinian and Heraclius, and sent them to the pope,
who went forth in solemn procession with his clergy and
all the troops in Rome to receive, with becoming gravity
and respect, the august donation.

S. JOHN OF BEVERLEY, ABR

(a.d. 721.)

[Roman and Anglican Martyrologies. York and Sarum Kalendars,
October 28th, as the day of his Translation. Authority :— A life by
Folcard, monk of Canterbury (fi. 1066), at the request of Aldred, Arch
bishop of York ; too late to contain much that is life-Uke and of great
interest. Bede also mentions S. John in several places. Bede is an
excellent authority, for he was a pupil of S. John, and was ordained by
him. J

S. John was educated at the famous school of S. Theo-
dore, Archbishop of Canterbury, under the holy abbot
Adrian (January 9th.) On his return to the North of
England, his native country, he entered the monastery of
Whitby, governed by the abbess Hilda. On the death oi
Eata, he was appointed and consecrated to the bishopric of
Hagulstad, or Hexham, by Archbishop Theodore. When
S. Wilfred was recalled from banishment in 68^, by Aldfrid,
King of Northumbria, all the bishops appointed by Arch-
bishop Theodore in the province of York, viz., three, Hex-
ham, Ripon, and York, were displaced. S. Cuthbert volun-

^. — ^

1^ ^1

no Lives of the Saints. [May,.

tarily resigned his see of Lindisfarne, and for a brief space S.
Wilfred recovered what he considered to be his rights. But
the restoration lasted only a year, and Wilfred was again
driven into banishment. Probably S. John then resumed
the government of the see of Hexham. But this is un-
certain. On the death of Wilfred, Bosa was appointed to
the see of York, and when Bosa died, John was chosen to
fill the see.

He founded the monastery of Beverley, in the midst of
the wood then called Deirwald, or the Forest of Deira,
among the ruins of the deserted Roman settlement of
Petuaria. This monastery, like so many others of the
Anglo-Saxons, was a double community of monks and
nuns. In 717, broken with age and fatigue, S. John
ordained his chaplain, Wilfred the Younger, and having
appointed him to govern the see of York, retired for the
remaining years of his life to Beverley, where he died
in 721.

S. STANISLAUS, B. M.
(a.d. 1079.)

[Roman Martyrology. But the Prague Martyrology, those of Cologne,
and Lubek, Graven, Molanus and Canisius, &c., on May 8th. The'
reason that the feast of S. Stanislaus was transferred back to the yth, was
so as not to obscure the feast of the Apparition of S. Michael. But May
-8th, the day of his martyrdom, is that on which anciently the feast was
celebrated. Authorities : — A hfe in the Polish History of John Longinus
Dlugoss, canon of Cracow (d. 1480) ; ^ also a life written in 1252, and
another life, ancient, but of uncertain date.]

S. Stanislaus was bom on the 26th of July, 1030, at
Sezepanow, near Bochnia, a town in Austrian Galicia,
formerly part of the kingdom of Poland.

1 Longinus Dlugoss is not very trustworthy about dates ; his account contains
some strange mistakes m chronology.

^ -i^

May 7. J 6". Stanislaus. iii

He was educated at Gnesen, and in Paris, and on the
death of his parents, he resolved to devote his great wealth
to the service of the Church. He was ordained by Lambert
Zula, bishop of Cracow, who gave him a canonry in his
cathedral. On the death of Lambert, in 1072, he was
chosen to the bishopric of Cracow. At this time Boleslaus
II. was King of Poland. This prince made himself
abhorred by his subjects on account of his atrocious
cruelty and unbridled lust. No one had courage to remon-
strate against him, and at last, when he had carried off the
beautiful wife of one of his nobles, Stanislaus boldly inter-
fered, remonstrating, and threatening him with excommuni-
cation. A story is told of this period of his life, which
must be received with caution, as we have nothing like
contemporary evidence to substantiate it. The bishop had
bought some land of a man named Peter, who was now
dead, and had built on it a churc;h. The king persuaded
the heirs of Peter to reclaim the land. Stanislaus had not
a receipt for the money, as the transaction had been
conducted in good faith between him and the deceased,
but he produced witnesses to prove that he had paid the
money. The king, however, determined to judge the case,
and he so browbeat the witnesses that they were afraid to
speak the truth. The king was about to give judgment
against the bishop, when Stanislaus suddenly exclaimed,
" Sire ! delay thy judgment three days, and the dead man
shall himself speak." Then he went forth and spent three
days and nights fasting and in prayer. And on the
appointed day he went to the tomb of Peter, and bade it
to be opened, and when they had discovered the dead
man, " Peter, arise !" exclaimed the bishop, touching him
with his pastoral staff Then the dead man, ghastly, with
his mouldering grave clothes flapping about him, rose and
followed the bishop between awestruck crowds to the court

. _ ^

^ i^

1 1 2 Lives of the Satnts, [May 5.

of justice, where he stood in the place of witnesses, and
gave his testimony, and then went back to his grave, and
was stark as before.

At length the cruelty and profligacy of Boleslaus sur-
passed all bounds, and he rivalled the fiendish wickedness
ot some of the old Roman emperors. Then the bishop
again confronted him, and this time with the threat of
excommunication. The king in a paroxysm of rage sent
servants after him to murder himj but overawed by the
sanctity of the prelate, they returned without having accom-
plished the deed. Boleslaus, blind with fury, himself
rushed to chastise the daring prelate, and found him in the
chapel of S. Michael at some distance from the walls of
Cracow ; he fell upon him with his sword, cut open his
head, and in his brutal rage mutilated the face of the
dying man. Then his attendants hacked the body and
cast it into the field, where three eagles are said to have
defended it from the wild dogs till some of the faithful
found means to remove it secretly and bury it.^ Pope

1 The story of S. Stanislaus cannot be trusted in all its details. Longinus
1 Dlugoss not only makes chronological errors, but when he tells such stories as the
following, the reader loses all confidence in his judgment, if not in his common
sense. In 1254 the body of S. Stanislaus was solemnly elevated in the cathedral to
a new shrine. From Hungary came a pious family in a coach drawn by a horse,
to be present at the ceremony. On the way, the horse fell down exhausted, and
died. Thereupon the coachman descended and flayed the horse, hung the skin
over his stick, and shouldering it, marched ahead. But the master sat down
stubbornly on the bank and refused to proceed. His wife implored him to trust
in the merits of S. Stanislaus, and go forward. But he declared his intention to
return. Then she had recourse to tears, and finally he gave way, she carrying the
children, and he with the food of the party on his back. After they had gone
some way, they heard the neighing of a horse behind them, and the wife looking
back, exclaimed, "Here is our old horse coming after us at a trot, or I am very
much mistaken." " You fool," said the husband, "has not the horse been flayed ?
Look ! there is the driver carrying the skin on his stick." But lo ! when he looked^
the skin was gone, and the coachman could not account for the loss. So it was.
By the merits of S. Stanislaus the horse had recovered its skin and its life, and the
worthy family were able to harness it again in their waggon, and continue their
journey, singing loud praises to the saint; and on their arrival at Cracow they
offered a wax horse at his shrine.

* *

May 7.]

6". Stanislaus.

113

Gregory VII. excommunicated the tyrant and all his
accomplices in this sacrilegious act, placed a ban upon the
kingdom, and released all his subjects from their allegiance
to him. Boleslaus fled into Hungary where he died,
according to some, by his own hand. S. Stanislaus was
canonized by Innocent IV., in 1253.

The body of the saint is contained in a silver sarco-
phagus, borne by silver cherubim, in th? cathedral of
Cracow. Some portions also at Prague and Pilsen.

'^ s

VOL. V.

-«&

* _5i

114 Lives of the Saints. [Mays.

May 8.

S. AuRELiAN, B. of Limoges.

S. Victor the Moor, M. at Milan, a.d. 303.

S. GiBRiAN, P.O., near Rheims, a.d. 40^.

SS. Agatho and Comp., H.M. at Byzantium, a.d. 409,

The Apparition of S. Michael on Monte Gargano, a.d. 493.

S. Desideratus, B. of Bourges, A.D, ^^o.

S. Iduberga or Itta, Matr. at Ni'velles, A.D. 6^2.

S. WiRO, B. at Roermund, in Holland, ^th cent.

S. Peter, B, of the Tarentaise, a.d. 1175.

S. GIBRIAN, P.C.

(A.D. 409.)

[Galilean Marlyrology, venerated especially at Rheims. The feast of
his Translation, April i6th. Authority : — Mention by Flodoard (d. 966),
his Historia Ecclesise Remensis. Also in the Acts of S. Tressan.]

fAINT TRESSAN, an illustrious Irishman, is said
to have gone to France with his six brothers,
Gibrian, Helan, German, Veran, Abran, Petran,
and three sisters Fracla, Promptia and Posemna,
all very devout persons. He stopped in the territory of
Rheims, near the Marne, in the days of S. Remigius, who
baptized Clovis I. The brethren and sisters dispersed
among the forests around the Marne, and lived solitary live s
S. Gibrian settled near the little stream Cole, where it flows
into the Marne. His body, after his death, was taken to
Rheims, and buried in the Abbey Church of S. Remi, but
it was torn from its grave and the dust scattered at the French
Revolution.

Maysj Apparition of S. Michael. 115

APPARITION OF S. MICHAEL.
(a.d. 492.)

[Roman Martyrology, Usuardus, Ado, Notker, &c. A double according
to the Roman Rite.]

On this day is commemorated the apparition of S. Michael
the Archangel on Monte Gargano, near Manfredonia.
Baronius remarks on the story that many of the particulars
are certainly apocryphal.

In the year 492, a rich man, named Gargan, had large
herds of oxen which were pastured on the mountains. One
of the bulls, on a certain day, separated from the herd and
disappeared among the rocks. It was sought for a day or two
in vain, and was found in a cavern wounded by an arrow in
its side. As the herdsman attempted to draw the arrow, it
flew out of the wound spontaneously and struck the man in
the breast and wounded him. His companions, very much
astonished at the marvel, told the story to the Bishop of
Siponto, now Manfredonia. The bishop enjoined a fast of
three days, and exhorted the faithful to pray incessantly for
enlightenment as to the signification of the wonderful arrow.
At the end of three days, S. Michael appeared to the prelate,
and informed him that the cavern into which the bull had
audaciously penetrated was his favourite resort, and that it
was his will that a church should be erected there to his
honour.

The bishop and all his clergy went in reverent procession
to the awful cave, and celebrated the divine mysteries
therein till a noble church was reared above it, and dedi-
cated to the Archangel. The consecration of the church
took place on Sept. 29th.

ii6 Lives of the Saints. [Mays.

S. IDUBERGA OR ITTA, MAT.
(a.d. 652.)

[Gallican, Belgian and Benedictine Martyrologies. Authorities: — Mention
in the hfe of S. Gertrude, her daughter, and in the Chronicle of Sigebert
of Gemblours.]

This blessed woman, the wife of the saintly Pepin of
Landen (Feb. 21st), mayor of the Palace, was the mother
of S. Gertrade (March 21st) and S. Begga (Dec. 17th), who
married Duke Ansegis, and became the mother of Pepin
of Herstal, the father of Charles Martel. She became a
widow about 646, and retired to the convent of Nivelles,
governed by her daughter Gertrude, where she peacefully
ended her days.

S. WIRO, B.

(7TH CENT.)

[Roman, Belgian Martyrologies, Also in the dioceses of Utrecht,
Deventer and Groningen on this day. But at Roermund on May loth to-
gether with his companions Plechelm andOtger. Authority : — A life written'
before the middle of the 14th cent. ; but how muchearher is uncertain.]

S. WiRO was an Irishman by birth, who, with two com-
panions, Plechelm and Otger, by their names apparently of
Saxon race, like so many of his countrymen, was filled with
a desire to wander. He visited Rome, where he and
Plechelm were ordained bishops, and then returned to Ireland.
But again he left his native land, and this time came into
Guelders, and having sought the court of Pepin of Herstal,
mayor of the Palace, the father of Charles Martel, was given
by him the Hill of S. Peter, afterwards called the Odilie-
berg, near Roermund, where he built a cell, and there died.
His body was translated to Roermund in 1341. S. Wiro
belonged to an ancient Irish family, settled at Corcobaskin,

la* 1^

May 8.] 6". Peter of Tarentaise. 1 1 7

in the county of Clare, from which sprung S. Senan of
Inniscathy. The Bollandists, Dempster, and other writers
are wrong in numbering liim among the Scottish saints. The
writer of liis life says he came from Scotia, but Scotia means
the north part of Ireland, and in another place he speaks of
the island from which Wiro came. Moreover, we find him
mentioned in various old Irish documents and Kalendars.

S. PETER, B. OF TARENTAISE.
(A.D. 1175.)

[Roman, Gallican and Cistercian Martyrologies. Authority : — A life
written by a contemporary, Gaufred, Abbot of Hautecombe, by order of
Pope Alexander III. (d. 1181).]

This Saint was born about the year 1102, near Vienne
in Dauphind, and was educated in the monastery of Bon-
neraux, which had just been founded under the strict rule of
S. Bernard. After ten years he was sent to found the
monastery of Tamie, in the Tarentaise, among the mountains
in a bleak and elevated spot, where a monastery might serve
as a refuge to the travellers who crossed the pass into Savoy.
This was in X132. He met with such success, and governed
his monastery so well, that he was elected to the arch-
bishopric of the Tarentaise, in 1142. He found the
diocese in sad disorder, and he rested not till he had restored
discipline throughout it His charity was very great. On
one vraiter day, as he was crossing the Alps, he came up
with a poor woman thinly clad, crying with cold. He in-
stantly plucked off his white woollen habit, gave it to her, and
proceeded to the hospice of little S. Bernard with his cloak
wrapped round him. But the chill caused by exposure pros-
trated him, and he lay long in the hospital ill with feverish
cold. His goodness and his charity endeared him to the
ij( — — ■ ' *

poor, who crowded to the place where they heard he was,
and often caused him great inconvenience. At S. Claude
he went up into a tower, furnished with a pair of stairs, and
those who desired to see him ascended by one flight of steps,
and when they had received his benediction and advice
descended by the other.

But this notoriety displeased the weary bishop, who
longed for the tranquillity of the cloister, and one day he
disappeared. The people were in dismay. No traces of
their archbishop could be found ; they knew not whether
he were alive or dead. Then one of his disciples, a young
man, undertook to find him, and he went about for a whole
year, visiting different monasteries ; and at last, one day,
as he stood watching the monks go forth to their work
from the gates of a monastery in Switzerland, either Lucella,
near Basle, or Salmanswyler, near Ueberlingen, he recog-
nized the archbishop. He at once ran to him and claimed
him. The astonished monks fell at the feet of the prelate
whom they had treated as a humble lay-brother. The
young man returned to Moutier S. Jean with his bishop,
and the road was lined with rejoicing people (1157).

S. Peter had come back to be cast headlong into the
troubles which then distracted Europe. Some account of
these must now be given, that the labours of the saint may
be appreciated.

n'he popes had for long been troubled with dissensions
in Rome itself Two parties existed in that city, one
which supported the pope in his attempt to reduce the city
to complete subjection to his rule as its temporal sovereign,
the other party insisting on the independence of Rome,
and the retention of authority in the hands of the senate.
Arnold of Brescia had headed the republican party of late,
but had been crushed. The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
had combined with Pope Adrian IV. to suppress him.

May 8.] S. Peter of Tarentaise. 119

and Adrian had executed and burnt and cast into the
Tiber the favourite of the Roman mob, before they were
aware that he was in danger. But though Frederick made
common cause with Adrian against the republican leader,
he had no sympathy with the papal pretensions. Adrian
made five demands — I. Absolute dominion over the city
of Rome. The emperor was to send no officer to act in
his name within the city without permission of the pope ;
the whole magistracy of the city was to be appointed by
the pope. II. The imperial armies were not to cross tlie
papal frontier. III. The bishops of Italy were to swear
allegiance, but not do homage to the emperor. IV. The
ambassadors of the emperor were not to be lodged of right
in the episcopal palaces. V. The domains of the Countess
Matilda, the Duchy of Spoleto, and the islands of Corsica
and Sardinia were to be restored to the Church of Rome.

Frederick refused some of these demands till he had
consulted his counsellors, but on some points he answered
at once. Those bishops who did not hold fiefs should not
be required to do homage, but those who did must either
surrender their fiefs or submit to the customary homage.
If they enjoyed the privileges of princes they must fulfil
the obligations entailed by feudal tenure. He would not
require that his ambassadors should be lodged in the
episcopal palaces when those palaces stood on lands
belonging to the bishops, but only if they stood on the
lands of the empire. " For the city of Rome, by the grace
of God, I am emperor of Rome ; if Rome be entirely widi-
drawn from my authority, the empire is an idle name, the
mockery of a title."

The senate of Rome thought now to take advantage of
the rupture between the pope and the emperor, to enforce
their claims, and a deputation attended on Frederick, who
received them with favour.

4( — ■*

* -■ ^ — ,

1 20 Lives of the Saints. [Mays.

Adrian at once opened negotiations with the cities of
Lombardy, which were impatient of the iron rule of the
emperor, and stirred them up to revolt. The situation was
strange, each antagonist was encouraging the repubhcan
party in the heart of his enemy's position. Adrian was
preparing for the last act of defiance, the excommunication
of the emperor, when his death put an end to the conflict.
But the death of Adrian opened the door to a schism.

The conclave met to elect a successor, and the electors
were broken into two factions. On one side were the
zealous churchmen, who were determined to make the city
of Rome the absolute principality of the pope, supported
by a faction of the nobles, headed by the Frangipani.
There was much to be said for their scheme. It was im-
possible for the successor of S. Peter to freely execute his
authority, so long as he was not master of the city, so long
as that city was in constant ebullition with party strife, and
the person of the pope was incessantly exposed to violence,
often to imprisonment, more often to exile. On the other
side were those who were attached to the emperor; the
republican party, and a few, perhaps, who loved peace,
and thought it the best wisdom of the Church to conciliate
the emperor. The conflicting accounts of the proceedings
in the conclave were made public on both sides. On the
third day of the debate fourteen of the cardinals agreed in
the choice of Roland the Chancellor of the Apostolic See,
a man of unimpeachable morals and a firm assertor of
papal supremacy and independence. The cope was
brought forth in which he was to be invested. Then three
cardinals of the adverse faction plucked the cope from his
shoulders, and proclaimed Octavian cardinal of S. Cecilia.
A Roman senator who was present (the conclave was then
an open court), indignant at this violence, seized the cope,
and snatched it from the hand of Octavian. But Octavian's

-4<

<*-

May 8.] 6". PcteT of Tareutaise. 121

party were prepared for such an accident. His chaplain
produced another cope, in which he was invested with
such indecent haste that, as it was declared, the front part
appeared behind, the hinder part before. Upon this the
assembly burst into derisive laughter. At that instant the
gates were burst open, a hired soldiery rushed in, and sur-
rounding Octavian, carried him forth in state. Roland
(Alexander III.) and the cardinals of his faction were glad
to escape with their lives, but the Frangipani rallied about
them. Octavian assumed the name of Victor IV., and
was acknowledged as lawful pope by a great part of the
senators and people.

According to the opposite statement, the division was
not of three to fourteen, but of nine to fourteen, and this
majority was made by means of bribery, freely employed
by William, king of Sicily. There can be, however, no
question but that Alexander III. was the lawful pope.

The emperor, on receiving the intimation of election
from each of the rival popes, summoned a council of all
Christendom to meet at Pavia, and cited both popes to
submit their claims to its decision. The summons to
Alexander was addressed to the Cardinal Roland. Alex-
ander refused to receive a mandate so addressed, and pro-
tested against the right of the emperor to summon a council
without the permission of the pope. When the council
assembled, Alexander was not present, nor did he send
attestations of his lawful election. After a grave debate,
and hearing many witnesses, which were all on the side of
Victor, the council with one accord (Feb. 12th, 1160)
declared Victor pope, condemned and excommunicated
the contumacious Cardinal Roland. To Victor the em-
peror paid the customary honours, held his stirrup, and
kissed his feet. There was a secret cause behind, which
no doubt strongly worked on the emperor, and on the

1^ ^

122 Lives of the Saints. [Mays.

council through the emperor ; letters of Alexander to the
insurgent Lombard cities had been seized, and were in the
hands of Frederick.

The Archbishop of Cologne set out for France, the
Bishop of Mantua for England, the Bishop of Prague for
Hungary, to announce the decision of the council to
Christendom, and to demand allegiance to Pope Victor.

Alexander did not shrink from the contest. From
Anagni he issued his excommunication against the Em-
peror Frederick, the anti-pope, and all his adherents.

Throughout the German empire, Victor was regarded as
the legitimate head of Christendom. The Archbishop of
Tarentaise was almost the only subject of the empire who
ventured to declare openly in favour of Alexander III.
He took his part in several councils ; he travelled from
place to place, stirring up the faithful to reject Victor and
acknowledge Alexander. The whole Cistercian Order
followed his lead, and before long he could reckon on
several bishops and seven hundred abbots devoted to the
cause of Alexander, and ready with tongue and pen to
proclaim him as the lawful pope, and Victor as an usurper.

Peter even braved the displeasure of the emperor by
addressing him personally, " Sire ! cease persecuting the
Church and its head ; the priests and monks, the peoples
and cities, that have sided with their legitimate pastor.
There is a King above kings to whom thou must give
account." The emperor did not resent this bold rebuke,
so great was his respect for the virtues of the archbishop.

Alexander III. desired to see this bold champion of his
cause, and summoned him to Rome. For Alexander,
knowing that Frederick would be engaged in the north of
Italy with the rebellious cities, made a sudden descent upon
Rome, in order to add to the dignity of his cause by his
possession of the capital city. But Rome, which would

*■ ^

f Ijl

Mays.] ^. Peter of Tarentadse. 123

hardly endure the power of a pope with undisputed autho-
rity, was no safe residence for one with a contested title.
Leaving a representative of his authority, he took refuge in
France, where he was received with demonstrations of the
utmost respect. The rival kings of France and England
forgot their differences in paying honour to Alexander. He
was met by both at Courcy, on the Loire, on Feb. 9th,
1 162 J the two kings walked one on each side of his horse,
holding his bridle, and so conducted him into the town.

During the eventful years that ensued, S. Peter remained
in his diocese labouring among his Alpine shepherds ; but
in 1 1 74 he was called forth from obscurity by a mandate
from the pope, which sent him to attempt a reconciliation
between Louis VII., of France, and Henry IL, of England.
Louis VII. and Henry, the son of the English king, whom
he had instigated to rebellion, met the aged prelate at
Chaumont in the Vexin, and Prince Henry alighted from
his horse, kissed the old bishop's tattered mantle, and begged
it of him. The king of England met him near Gisors, and
also shewed him great honour, but his meditation proved of
little effect, and he returned to the Tarentaise to die. On
his way, as he was approaching the abbey of Bellevaux, his
strength deserted him, and he lay down beside a stream that
rushed down the mountain-side. There it became evident
to his attendants that he was dying. He was carried to the,
monastery and breathed his last as he entered within its
walls. He was canonized in 11 91 by Celestine VII. In
1827 Pope Leo XII. accorded, in two briefs, an indulgence
for seven years to those who kept his festival, and Pius IX.,
by a new brief, made the indulgence perpetual.

The relics of the saint are preserved at Cirey, and in the
Trappist convent of Grace-Dieu, and at Vesoul.

)i( .^

124 Lives of the Saints. [Mays.

May 9.

S. Hermas, B. of Philippic ist cent.

S. Beatus, C. at rendame and Laon, ^rdlcent.

S. GREnoRY Nazianzen, Archb, of Constantinople, a.d. 3yi.

S. Gerontius, B.M. of Cewia, a.d. 501.

S. Beatus, B. on the Lake of Thun in Sivitzerl and, 'jth cent.

Tr. S. Andrew, Ap. to Amalfi, a.d. 1298.

S. HERMAS, B.
(ist cent.)

[Roman Martyrology, Usuardus, &c. By the Greeks on March Sth.j

|AINT HERMAS is mentioned by S. Paul in
his Epistle to the Romans (xvi. 14). In the
Menology of the Emperor Basil he is said
to have been consecrated bishop of Philippi.
The ancient writers of the Church attribute to him the
book called " The Shepherd," which is one of the earliest
Christian, not canonical works, of the apostolic age that we
possess. Origen says, " I beheve that it was this Hermas
who wrote the Pastor." 1 With this agrees the testimony
of Eusebius,2 and of S. Jerome.^ Nevertheless the justice
of this conclusion has been much shaken by the discovery
of an ancient fragment containing a list of canonical books
in use by the Roman Church, composed towards the end
of the 2nd century, and published by Muratori, in which it
is stated that Hermas was the brother of Pope Pius I., who
reigned between 140 and 152. "This book of Hermas,
brother of Pope Pius, has been published recently in our
days." *

^Com. in Ep. ad Rom. xvi. 14.
s Euseb. Hist. Eccl. iii. J . 2 Hieron. Catal. Cap. 10

I •' Murat. Antiq. Ital. iii. p. SJ3.

Ij« ^

May 9.] vS". Gregory Nazianzen. 125

S. GREGORY NAZIANZEN, B.D.
(a.d. 391.)

[By the Greeks on Jan. 25th. Some Latin Martyrologies on Jan. nth.
Maurolycus on Jan. 13th ; a Treves Martyrology on March 29th. But
Usuardus, Ado, Notker, and Modern Roman Martyrology on May gth.
Authority : — His life written by himself nine years before his death ; the
Orations and Epistles, also Sozomen, Socrates, Theodoret, &c.]

This great saint and doctor of the Church was born in
329, at Arianza, a small village of Nazianzus in Cappadocia,
not far from Caesarea. His father, Gregory, was at one
time a heathen, but was converted by his Christian wife,
Nonna, and was baptized, and then, the same year that
Gregory was bom (329), was elected and consecrated bishop
of Nazianzus. They had three children, a daughter Gorgonia,
Gregory, and the youngest, Csesarius (Feb. 25th), bom after
he was made bishop. Gregory was intended for the bar,
and was sent to study at Csesarea in Palestine, and then to
Alexandria. He afterwards sailed for Athens to complete
his education, and was nearly wrecked. In his alarm, he
vowed to defer his baptism no longer.

At Athens he made the acquaintance of S. Basil (June
14th), and was also, in 355, a fellow pupil with Julian,
afterwards emperor. In 356, Gregory left Athens and took
Constantinople on his way home. There he found his
brother Csesarius practising as a physician. On arriving
at Nazianzus, Gregory was baptized by his father, and
in 358 joined S. Basil, in a solitude to which he had re-
treated near the river Iris in Pontus, in answer to the call
of his friend. " I believe," wrote S. Basil to Gregory, " I
have found at last the end of my wanderings ; my hopes of
uniting myself with thee — my pleasing dream, I should
rather say, for the hopes of men have been justly called
waking dreams — have remained unfulfilled. God has
caused me to find a place, such as has often hovered before

ij( . ib

* ' i^

126 Lives of the Saints. [May 9.

fancy of us both ; and that which imagination showed us
afar off, I now see present before me. A high mountain,
clothed with thick forest, is watered towards the north by-
fresh and everflowing streams; and at the foot of the
mountain extends a wide plain, which is rendered fruitful
by these streams. The surrounding forest, in which grow
many kinds of trees, shuts me in as in a strong fortress.
This wilderness is bounded by two deep ravines ; on one
side the river, dashing in foam from the mountains, forms
a barrier hard to overcome ; and the other side is enclosed
by a broad ridge of hills. My hut is so placed on the
summit of the mountain, that I overlook the extensive
plain, and the whole course of the Iris, which is far more
beautiful and abundant in water than the Strymon near
Amphipolis. The river of my wilderness, which is the
most rapid that I have ever seen, breaks over a jutting
precipice, and throws itself foaming into the deep pool
below- — to the mountain traveller an object on which he
gazes with delight and admiration, and valuable to the
native for the numerous fish it affords. Shall I describe
to thee the fertilizing vapours that rise from the moist
earth, and the cool breezes from the broken water? Shall
I speak of the lovely singing of the birds, and the profusion
of flowers ? What charms me most of all is the undisturbed
tranquilhty of the spot ; it is only visited occasionally by
hunters ; for my wilderness feeds deer and herds of wild
goats, not your bears and wolves. How should I exchange
this nook for any other ? Alcmaon, when he had found the
Echinades, would not wander further." ^ "In this simple
description of the landscape, and of the life of the forest,"
says Humboldt, in that beautiful chapter of his Cosmos in
which he shows that Christianity opened the eyes of men
to see the loveliness of creation, " there speak feelings

1 Basil. M. Ep. 14 and 223.

1^-

* — — *

Mai's.] 6*. Gregory Nazianzen. 127

more intimately allied to those of modern times than
anything that Greek or Roman antiquity has bequeathed
to us."

In after years, when the friends had been called to the
painful toils of the episcopate, Gregory loved to recall to
BasU the pleasant times when they had cultivated together
the garden of their hermitage. " Who shall bring back
to us," he wrote to his friend, "those days when we
laboured together from morning till evening? When
sometimes we cut wood, sometimes we hewed stone?
when we planted and watered our trees, when we drew
together that heavy wagon, the galls of which so long
remained on our hands ? " '

But Gregory was not long to enjoy this peaceful life.
He was recalled by his father, then above eighty, to assist
him in the government of his flock. He ordained him
priest by force, on a great festival, probably the Epiphany,
in 361. Gregory, full of grief, flew back to his solitude, and
sought relief in the friendship of S. Basil; but there he
began to reflect on his conduct, and remembering the
punishment of Jonah for disobeying the command of God,
after a ten weeks' absence returned to Nazianzus, where
he preached his first sermon on Easter Day. This
was followed by another, which was an apology for his
flight, and which is extant . and is placed first among his
orations.

He was soon called upon to interfere in a matter of
peculiar delicacy. The bishop, his father, hoping to effect
an union of the Semi-Arians with the Cathohcs, had signed
a compromise. This had alarmed the strictest of the
Catholic party, who thereupon refused to communicate with
the elder Gregory. The son, with great care, moderation,
and at the same time firmness, healed this incipient schism ;

3 Greg. Nazian. Ep. 9 and 13.

128 Lives of the Saints. [May 9,

and on the occasion of the re-union pronounced an oration
which has been preserved to us.

His brother Cssarius died in 369 and was buried at
Nazianzus. S. Gregory preached his funeral oration, as
he did also that of his sister Gorgonia, who died soon after.

In 372 Cappadocia was divided by the emperor into
two provinces, and Tyana was made the capital of
Cappadocia the second. Anthimus, bishop of that city,
thereupon laid claim to jurisdiction over this province.
S. Basil, who was bishop of Cssarea and metropolitan of
Cappadocia, maintained that the civil division of the
province in no way affected his spiritual jurisdiction, and
Basil thought it advisable to plant his friend in a new see
which he determined to found at Sasima, in order to
strengthen the see of Cssarea against the aggression of
Anthimus. Sasima was a comfortless, unhealthy town,
full of dust, at the meeting of three roads, noisy from the
constant passage of travellers, the disputes with extortionate
custom-house officers, and all the tumult and drunkenness
belonging to a town inhabited by loose and passing
strangers ; of all places the least fitted to be a home for
the shrinking and sensitive Gregory. Regardless of
Gregory's objections, Basil compelled him to receive
consecration ; he attempted to settle at Sasima, but was
driven away by the violent Anthimus, who had on one
occasion stopped Basil's way home by a band of free-
booters.

Gregory took up his abode at Nazianzus as his father's
coadjutor ; and the unhappy result of the matter was that
he never again felt thoroughly at home with Basil, and one
of the most beautiful of Christian friendships was per-
manently marred by a strong will on one side, and a lack
of sympathy on the other.

S. Gregory the elder, bishop of Nazianzus, died the

^_ ^

* ^ *^

May 9,] ^. Gregory Nazianzen. 129

following year, in 373, after an episcopate of forty-five years,
and S. Gregory the younger continued for awhile to
administer the diocese without assuming the episcopal
title. But in 375, his health giving way, he withdrew to
Seleucia, the capital of Isauria, where he continued five
years. S. Basil died on the ist of January, 369, and
Gregory composed in his memory twelve short poems.
Eighteen days after S. Basil's death, the Emperor Gratian
made Theodosius, the son of a general who had reconquered
Britain, emperor of the East. Constantinople had been
for nearly thirty-two years a domain of Arianism. It was
resolved to reclaim it by the ministry of Gregory of Nazian-
zus, who was now living as a recluse at Seleucia; and he
consented, although with reluctance, to devote himself to
this great work, " Since in God's providence he was abso-
lutely compelled to be a sufferer."^ He went accordingly
to Constantinople, and lodged in a kinsman's house. He
was welcomed by the suffering remnant of Catholics with
exceeding joy. The congregation was formed early in 379,
and the house dedicated as "the Anastasia," the place where
the true faith was to rise again. There Gregory exhibited
before a population corrupted by heresy and irreverence,
the living energy of the Church as a spiritual body. Daily
services were accompanied by eloquent preaching. "The
worship of the Trinity" was the missionary's watchword.
After earnestly warning his hearers against the miserable
levity which, in conformity with the spirit of Arianism, was
filling every place from the forum to the supper-room, ^ with
fearless disputation on the most awful topics, he delivered
the four great discourses on the Nicene faith ^ which secured
to him the title of Theologies, the maintainer, that is, of the
Divinity of the Word. * But while proclaiming the Trinity,

^ Ep, 14, "^ Or. xxxiii. 7. ^ Or. xxxiv. — xxxvil.

' In Or. XXXV, 15, he speaks of the Blessed Virgin as Theotocos, " Mother of God."

VOL. V. 9

^ ■ — »jl

q<- ^ ^

130 Lives of the Saints. [May 9.

he was careful to guard the Unity ; he set forth the
CathoHc doctrine as the middle way between Sabellian
confusion and Tritheistic severance. Yet the Arians de-
nounced him as a Tritheist, stirred up mobs to pelt him in
the street, and a base crowd of women, monks, and beggars
to profane the Anastasia by their wanton insolence. He
was content to be a mark for public scorn. "They had the
churches and the people, he had God and the angels !
They had wealth, he had the Faith; they menaced, he
prayed ; his was but a little flock, but it was screened from
the wolves, and some of the wolves might become sheep.''
Many such conversions took place ; the charm of Gregory's
eloquence, the spiritual beauty of his character, the winning
sweetness which was combined with his zeal for the truth,
the conspicuous unworldliness which contrasted with Arian
self-seeking, the profound reverence so different from Arian
flippancy, could not be unimpressive even in Constantinople.
His eloquence wrought wonders in the busy and versatile
capital. The Arians themselves crowded to hear him.
S. Jerome came to Constantinople, listened with delight to
Gregory's sermons, and conversed with him on passages of
Scripture. Peter of Alexandria approved of his work,
and united with others in the desire to see him regularly
established in the see of Constantinople; but ere long,
unhappily, he lent himself to the nefarious schemes of an
unprincipled and plausible adventurer named Maximus,
who retained the long hair, the staff, and the white dress of
a Cynic philosopher, while professing to be a zealous Chris-
tian. This man, who came to Constantinople with an in-
tention of securing the bishopric, found it easy to win the
confidence of one so childlike as Gregory. By assiduous
attendance at his sermons, and profession of zeal and
orthodoxy he had so completely imposed on him, that Gre-
gory actually panegyrized him in open church, as having

^ -^ *

May 9.] ^. Gregory Nazianzen. 131

suffered for the true religion. This was precisely what
Maximus desired. Attention was attracted to him. Certain
Egyptian bishops, deputed by Peter, the orthodox bishop
of Alexandria, and seven Alexandrians of low birth, sud-
denly enthroned Maximus in the night, whilst Gregory was
ill, as CathoHc bishop of Constantinople.

A number of Egyptian mariners, probably belonging to
the corn-fleet, had assisted at the ceremony, and raised the
customary acclamations. They were driven out of the
church next morning by the indignant multitude, and
completed the ceremonial in a flute-player's house, cutting
off at the same time the Cyme's long hair. He and they
were obliged to leave Constantinople, for the Catholics
adhered with unshaken fidelity to Gregory ; and he fled to
the court of Theodosius, but the earliest measure adopted
by the emperor to restore strength to the orthodox party,
was the rejection of the intrusive prelate.

Early in 380, Theodosius, having fallen ill at Thessalo-
nica, received baptism from its bishop, whose orthodoxy he
had ascertained ; and he then addressed, on February 28th,
an edict to the people of Constantinople, commanding all
his subjects to observe the faith which S. Peter had delivered
to the Romans, and which the Pope of Rome and the
Patriarch of Alexandria then professed ; that faith which
alone deserved the name of Catholic, and which recognized
the one Godhead of Father, Son, and Spirit, of co-equal
majesty in the Holy Trinity.

It was clear now that the power which had so long been
in the hands of Arians was now passed into those of
Catholics. " Let us never be insolent when the times are
favourable," Gregory had already said to the faithful,
delivered from the persecution of Julian ; " Let us never
show ourselves hard to those who have done us wrong ; let
us not imitate the acts which we have blamed. Let us
rejoice that we have escaped from the peril, and abhor
U< ■ ^*

1^ .Ijl

132 Lives of the Saints. [May 9.

everything that tends to reprisals. Let us not think of
exiles and prescription ; drag no one before the judge ; let
not the whip remain in our hand ; in a word, do nothing
like that which you have suffered." ^

Still he was subjected to "the scornful reproof of the
wealthy." They jeered at his community. It was small
and poor. Gregory admitted the fact, and inquired in
righteous indignation, whether the sands are more precious
than the stars of heaven, or the pebbles than pearls,
because they are more numerous. ^

The worldly and wealthy people of Constantinople
objected to Gregory. There was nothing in him, they said,
save the preaching faculty ; he was quite a poor man, low-
bom, country-bred, with no dignity of manner and no
power of conversation. He was out of his element in high
society, seldom appeared in public, could not make himself
agreeable, nor take his proper place among the citizens.'
His gentleness, after all, was nothing but feebleness. To
this bitter taunt Gregory replied, ' that at any rate he had
not been guilty of such outrages as had made up the
vigorous administration of Arian bishops. Yet he felt that
his temperament and habits were to some extent a dis-
qualification for so trying a post; and was only dissuaded
from resigning it by the passionate entreaties of his flock,
including mothers and children, that he would not forsake
them. After a day had been spent in contending against
their loving urgency, Gregory yielded to the solemn
remonstrance, " If you depart, the Faith departs with you." °
He consented to remain until a fitter man could be
appointed.

On the 24th of November Theodosius came to Con-
stantinople, and proposed to Demophilus, the Arian bishop,
that he should subscribe to the Nicene creed, and thereby

' Orat. V. 36, 37. "^ Orat. xxv. ^ Orat. xxv. 28 ; xxxii, 74. '' Orat. xxv.

^ Carm. de vitse sua, 76.

«( ■fi^

May 9.] 6*. Gregory NcLzianzen. 133

re-unite the people. He declined to do so, and profess
faith in the Godhead of Christ, and was at once ordered to
surrender the churches. He summoned his people, reminded
them of the text which prescribed flight from persecution,
and transferred their worship to ground outside the city.

Till now Gregory had been only a Catholic bishop in the
city. Theodosius resolved to exalt him to be the bishop
of the city. Environed by the armed legionaries, in mili-
tary pomp, accompanied by the emperor himself, Gregory,
amazed and bewildered, was led to be enthroned in S.
Sophia. All around he saw the sullen and menacing faces
of the Arian multitude, and his ear caught their suppressed
murmurs ; even the heavens, for the morning was bleak and
cloudy, seemed to look down with cold indifference on the
scene. No sooner, however, had Gregory, with the
emperor, passed the rails which divided the sanctuary from
the nave of the church, than the sun burst forth in all his
splendour, the clouds dispersed, and the glorious light came
streaming in on the gray bald-headed bishop, bowed,
trembling with nervousness, and the applauding congre-
gation. At once a shout of acclamation demanded the
enthronization of Gregory. But his nerves were so shaken
by the excitement, and by having seen one man draw a
sword against him, that he was obliged to depute a priest
to address the people, " For the present our duty is to
thank God; other matters may be reserved for another
time." The words were received with the clapping of
hands so common in that state of society, when the lively
Greek temperament was too strong for Christian reverence.
Gregory seldom visited the palace, and never exerted
himself, after the manner of Arian prelates, by flattery
and bribes, to secure the favour of chamberlains and
courtiers. He was even blamed by his own people for
remissness in using his influence on their behalf He went
on his own way, as a meek, unworldly pastor, preaching,
ij, ih

^ Ijl

134 Lives of the Saints. [May 9.

praying, visiting the sick, never enriching himself, winning
all hearts by single-hearted charity. One day his sick-
chamber was thronged by affectionate adherents, who after
thanking God that they had lived to see his episcopate,
withdrew. A young man, pale and haggard, remained at
the foot of the bed, in mournful silence, and in a suppliant
attitude. "Who are you, and what do you want?" asked
Gregory. The youth groaned bitterly, and wrung his hands.
Gregory was moved to tears, and on learning from another
person that this was the man who had sought his life, said
to the weeping penitent, " God be gracious to you ; all I
ask is, that henceforth you give up yourself to Him ! "

On Jan. loth, 381, Theodosius, by a second edict, forbade
heretics, the Arians included by name, to hold assemblies
within towns ; gave back all churches to Catholic bishops ;
and assigned the Catholic name to all believers in the un-
divided essence of the Trinity. Gregory perhaps wanted
the firmness and vigour necessary for a prelate of the great
metropolis, perhaps he disliked the high-handed dealing of
the emperor, so much at variance with what he himself
had advised in former years. Theodosius summoned the
council of Constantinople ; and Gregory, embarrassed by
the multipHcity of affairs; harassed by objections to the
validity of his own election ; entangled in the feuds which
arose out of tlie contested election to the see of Antioch,"^
entreated, and obtained the reluctant assent of the bishops
and the emperor to abdicate his dignity and to retire to his
beloved privacy. He delivered in the Council his cele-
brated Farewell.^ He gave an account of his mission,
and glorified God for the success which had attended it.
Had not the little wrath been followed by the great mercy ?
Had not stumbling-blocks been removed from his path?
Constantinople was now an "emporium" of the faith. It
had a living and working CathoHc Church, a venerable pres-

' See S. Meletius, Feb. 12. '^ Oral, xxxii,

■ih iJ"

Ijl ^

May 9.] 5". Gregory Nazianzen. 135

bytery, deacons and readers well ordered ; a docile, zealous,
and true-hearted people, who were ready to die for the
worship of the Trinity. Something, at least, he had done
" towards the weaving of this crown of glory : " and he
could appeal, like Samuel, to their knowledge of his un-
selfishness. But he was growing old and weak; he could
not wrestle with adversaries who ought to have been friends ;
he knew not that he had been expected to assume the state-
liness of consuls and prefects, and he begged, as a worn-out
soldier, to receive the warrant of his discharge. Then, in a
tone more loving and more pathetic, he bade farewell to the
Anastasia, to the cathedral, to the other churches, to the
sacred relics, to the episcopal throne, to the bishops and
clergy who " ministered at the holy Table, approaching the
approaching God ;'' to the " Nazarites," the widows, orphans,
and poor ; the hospitals, the crowds who had attended his
preaching, the Emperor and his Court, the city, the East
and the West. "They lose not God who abandon their
thrones ; rather, they win a throne above. Little children,
keep the deposit ; remember how I was stoned. The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all."

The vacant throne was speedily filled by the election of
Nectarius. The people of Constantinople by choosing
this man, and Theodosius by ratifying the appointment,
showed why they had been to a great extent dissatisfied
with Gregory.^ They did not want a bishop of genius or
saintliness, but a well-born, dignified, and courteous gentle-
man. Nectarius appears to have been this, and little more.

Gregory retired into privacy. His retreat, in some
degree disturbed by the interest which he took in the see
of Nazianzus, gradually became more complete, till at
length he withdrew into solitude, and ended his days in
that peace, which was not less sincerely enjoyed from his

^ Sozomen, vii. 8, says that Theodosius preferred Nectarius to the saintly
Gregory. *
*■ *

»J<-

136 Lives of the Saints. [May 9.

experience of the cares and vexations of worldly dignity.
Arianza, his native village, was the place of his seclusion ;
the gardens, the trees, the fountains, familiar to his youth,
welcomed his old age. There he ended his life, after two
years divided between the hardest austerities of monastic
life and the cultivation of poetry, which he continued to
pursue, that the pagans might not be left in sole possession
of the palm of literature, and also to give a free course to
the noble and delicate sadness of his soul. His graceful,
melancholy, and sometimes sublime verses, have gained
him a place almost as high as his profound knowledge of
divine things ; and the monastic order may boast of having
produced in him the father of Christian poetry, as well as the
doctor who has merited the name of Theologian of the East.
His body was translated from Cappadocia to Constanti-
nople in 950, and thence, before the fall of Constantinople,
to Rome, where it now reposes under an altar in the
church of the Vatican.

S. BEATUS, H.

(7TH CENT.)

[Many German and other Martyrologies. But there is great confusion,
Beatus of Vendome being confounded with Beatus of Thun. Beatus of
Vendome is said to have come into Gaul at a very early age, having been
sent by S. Peter. But this is certainly a mistake of an early writer vifho
found in some record that he had been sent by the Apostolic See, and
so made his mission to be from the apostle himself. S. Beatus, the Swiss
hermit, is certainly a different person, but the incidents of the life of the
two Beati are attributed first to one, and then to the other. There seems
every probability that S. Beatus of Thun was one of the companions of
S. Gall.]

It was on Whitsun evening, in the year 1868, that
I visited the cave of S. Beatus, in the face of a precipice
above the Lake of Thun, in Switzerland.

i^-

MaysO kS". Beatus.

A more lovely walk cannot be conceived. The path
scrambled along the edge of precipices overhanging the
still, green lake, which reflected the glow of the evening in
the sky overhead. Tufts of pinks clung to the rock, and
bunches of campanula dangled their blue bells at dizzy
heights over the still water. Yellow cistus, golden poten-
tilla, and spires of blue salvia made glorious harmonies of
colour in the little dells that sank in green grassy slopes
to tiny coves where nestled cottages, and a gaily painted
boat was moored. The cave of the saint is screened by a
fir wood, clinging to the rock ledges. Its wide entrance
was once walled up, so as to leave only a door and win-
dow, but the stones have fallen. The altar within is over-
thrown. Shortly after the Reformation, crowds of pilgrims
came, as in earlier times, to visit the cave of the apostle of
this part of Switzerland, and the authorities of Berne were
obliged in the. interests ofZwinglianism, after having violently
forced heresy on the reluctant peasants of Haslithal and
Interlachen, to drive them away from the cave of their
Apostle at the point of the spear. Now the cave is only
visited by a few sight-seers. But at Lungern, on the nearest
point of the Canton of Ob-walden, where the ancient faith
still maintains its ground, loving hearts have built a little
chapel dedicated to Beatus, and this is now visited by great
crowds, who love to honour the memory of their apostle, on
May 9th, in every year, when a sermon is preached by one
of the Capuchin friars of Sarnen.

Of the history of S. Beatus little is known, save that he
came from Britain or Ireland, probably in company with
S. Columbanus and S. Gall, and settled in this cave,
whence, according to the popular legend, he expelled a
monstrous serpent, and precipitated it into the lake. About
30 feet below the mouth of the cave a large stream spouts
out of the rock, and forming a fine cascade of 800 feet,

* -*

fi^ ■ lj(

138 Lives of the Saints. [May,.

plunges into the still mirror of the lake, which it strews with
bubbles. The sun set as I sat in the door of the hermit's
cave ; and as I walked back to Unterseen, its orange fires
fell and touched with flame every white and heaven
aspiring peak; and the spotless Jungfrau seated amidst a
glorious company of mountain forms, each with its flaming
brow, called up a thought of the events of that first Whitsun
day, when —

"The fires that rushed on Sinai down
In sudden torrents dread,
Now gently light, a glorious crown,
On every saintly head."

)J< ™)5(

Mayio,] S, Calepodius & Others, 139

May 10.

S. Job, Prophet^ ht the laiidofUz.

SS. Calepodius, PM.-, Palmatius, Simplicius, Felix, Elanda, and

Others, MM. at Rome, a.d. 222.
SS. Alphius, Adelphus, and Cyrinus, MM. at Lentiniin Sicily.
SS. Goedian (zm^^^Epimachus, MM. at Rojne, a.d. 362.
SS. Quartus and Quintus, MM. at Rome.
S. CatalduSj B. of Tarentum.
S. Comgall, Ah, of Banckorin Ireland, A.n. 601.
S. SoLANGiA, V.M. at Bonrges, abotd a.^. 844.
S. Isidore the Husbandman, C. at Madrid, czrc. a.d. 1130.

SS. CALEPODIUS, P.M., AND OTHERS MML
(a.d. 222.)

[Roman and other Latin Martyrologies. Authorities ; — The Acts, which
are, however, fabulous, form apart of those of S. Calixtus, and pretend to
have been written by the Notaries of the Roman Church ; but they are
forgeries. The account of S. Calepodius begins, " In the days of Macrinus
and Alexander, a great fire occurred which consumed the south of the
Capitol. " Now Macrinus was killed in 218 and was succeeded by Helio-
gabalus, who was murdered in 224, and then only was the boy Alexander
invested with the purple. Moreover, the description given of Alexander,
hisdesiringthe consul topersecute the Christians, isquiteopposedtohistory.
It is true that some Christians suffered at the beginning of his reign, but
that was through the severity of Ulpian the regent. In the Acts, however,
it is Alexander himself who directs the persecution. Then again the
consul at the time is Palmatius. There was no such consul at the time, and
none of the name occur in the Fasti Consulares, so that the forgery is as
clumsy as it is dishonest. ]

ACCORDING to the very untrustworthy Acts,

about the year 222 a fire broke out in Rome, and

the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was so injured,

that the golden hand of the idol was melted offi^

Alexander the Emperor consulted the augurs, who declared

* History knows nothing of this fire.
* *

140 Lives of the Saints. [May 10

that the cause of this disaster was the presence of Christians
in the city. Thereupon Alexander ordered the city to be
purified of them, and that they should be punished with the
utmost rigour. The consul Palmatius, at the head of a band
of soldiers, penetrated into the catacombs, and captured a
priest, Calepodius. Soon after, a virgin in one of the heathen
temples, possessed by a demon, and regarded by the people
of Rome as an oracle, cried out that the God of the
Christians was the only true God. Thereupon the Consul
Palmatius believed and went to pope Calixtus, and asked
to be baptized. Calixtus made him lay aside his garments
and descend into the font, and then he put to him the
following liturgical questions : — " Dost thou believe with all
thy heart in God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things
visible and invisible." He answered, "I believe." "And
in Jesus Christ His Son." " I believe." " And in the Holy
Ghost, the Catholic Church, the remission of sins, the
resurrection of the flesh ? " And he answered, " Lord, I
believe." '^ Then the pope poured water over him and
baptized him in the name of the Trinity. After this
Palmatius converted a friend, Simplicius, a senator, and
healed Blanda, the sick wife of a certain Felix, both of whom,
professing their faith in Jesus Christ, were baptized by Ca-
lixtus. All these were apprehended, and having withstood
all promises, flattery, and the pangs of cruel torture, were
finally taken out of the city and beheaded, and the body of
Calepodius was cast into the Tiber, but having been caught
in the nets of some fishermen, was brought to the pope, who
buried it in a catacomb.

^ This form of the Baptismal Creed stamps the composition as later than the
days of S. Gregory the Great (d. 604), for previously it was briefer, and then were
introduced " Maker of Heaven and Earth," and the word " Catholic " as qualifying
the Church. The form in the Sacramentary of Gelasius (d. 495) is without these.
See Muratori " Liturgia Romana."

Ij,, ^

->J<

Mayio.] SS. Gordian & Epimachus. 141

SS. GORDIAN AND EPIMACHUS, MM.
(a.d. 362.)

[Roman Martyrology. By the Greeks the Translation of the body of
S. Epimachus to Constantinople on March nth. Authority : — The Acts,
which, however, are not trustworthy, as they make the martyrs suffer at
Rome after interrogation before Julian the Emperor. Nowitiscertain that
Julian never was at Rome during his brief reign.]

G0E.DIAN was a magistrate (vicarious) of Julian the Apos-
tate, and was sent by the emperor to visit a Christian priest,
named Janisarius, who was imprisoned for his faith, and
endeavour to make him abjure Christ. But the result of
the interview was the conversion of Gordian. Gordian was
degraded from his office, and was cruelly martyred. His
body was buried by a servant in the same tomb as S.
Epimachus, a martyr of Alexandria, which had been brought
to Rome in the previous reign. The Greeks claimed to
have had the bones of S. Epimachus translated from Rome
to Constantinople. But the relics of both saints are now
in the abbey of Kempten in Bavaria.

S. COMGALL, AB.

(a.d. 601.)

[IrishMartyrologiesand Aberdeen Breviary. Authority: — Two lives, the
first of little importance ; the second, in Irish, a valuable one.]

S. CoMGALL, or, as he is more properly called, Coemgall
(the goodly-pledge), was of a distinguished family of
Dalriadha. His father's name was Sedna, and his mother's
Briga. According to the annals of Ulster he was born in
the year 516. He early embraced the monastic life under
a master of very relaxed morals. Comgall one night
took his master's tunic, threw it into the sheep-fold and

»J( *

142 Lives of the Saints. [May 10

trampled it in the dung. Next morning the master asked
him the reason, with some justifiable indignation. "Why
care you for your gown, when your soul is more sullied
even than that ?" asked the boy, and the master hid his
face in shame. Then he ran away from him, and placed
himself under the direction of S. Fintan at Clonenagh in
Leinster. Another story told of his youth is as follows : —
Much against his wish he was forced to appear in arms
under his liege prince in a war. It was winter-time, and
the army encamped on a bleak moor for the night. Great
flakes of snow fell, and covered the shivering warriors, the
wind drifting it over the temporary huts thrown up to
screen them from the cold. But it was noticed that no
snow fell over the unsheltered Comgall, but that in the
morning a wall of snow stood round him protecting him
from the northern ice-laden blast.

After having completed his instruction under S. Fintan,'
Comgall set out for his own country to found cells there.
Comgall had been hitherto unwilling to enter into holy
orders; but it is said that, before proceeding straight to
Dalriadha, he turned aside to Clomhacnois, and was or-
dained priest by a Bishop Lugid. On his arrival in Ulster
he retreated with several disciples to an island in Lough
Erne, where they lived with such severity that seven of his
companions died of hunger and cold. Bishop Lugid
remonstrated with him on the plea of Christian charity,
and Comgall relaxed his rule for the benefit of the monks,
though he observed it in all its rigour himself. We are
told that he intended to leave Ireland, and spend the
remainder of his days in Britain, but was dissuaded by the
pressing solicitations of Bishop Lugid. Comgall then
founded the monastery of Banchor, now Bangor, on the

^ Fintan, if we are to believe what his Acts say, that he was younger than S.
Columba, must also have been younger than his pupil Comgall.

■^ ■»!(

»j^ ^ >h

Mayio.] S. Comgall. 143

shores of the Irish sea facing Britain/ in the year 559.
For the direction of this monastery he drew up a rule,
which was long reverenced in Ireland. The number of
disciples who flocked to Banchor was so great that, as one
place could not contain them, it became necessary to
establish several monasteries and cells, in which, taken
together, it was computed that there were three thousand
monks, all observing his rule, and superintended by him.
Amongst them is mentioned Cormac, king of South
Leinster or Hy-Kinselagh, who in his old age retired to
Banchor.

In a certain time of scarceness, says the legend, the
monks were sorely in want of food. Now in the neigh-
bourhood lived a nobleman named Croadh, who had his
granaries full. And the mother of Croadh was hight Luch,
which being interpreted, means " the Mouse." So Comgall
took a silver goblet that had been given to him, and went
before Croadh and said, " Give me and my monks of your
com, and I will give thee this cup." But the chief answered
scofi&ng, " Not so ; keep your silver, and I will keep my
com. Your beggarly followers shall not devour it ; I want
it all for my old Mouse," thereby meaning his venerable
mother. Then said Comgall, " As thou hast said, so shall
it be," and he went away. Then came a legion of mice
into the granary of the hard-hearted chief, and devoured
all his com.^

^ It is now only a village on the shore of the Bay of Belfast, without the slightest
vestige of the famous monastery.

2 An Irish version of the Bishop Hatto myth. Here is another story :— " Quadam
die cum ibi esset S. Comgallus in quodam loco solus, expandebat manus suas ad
coelumj post jejunium trium dierum lassus et sitiens, et salivas in pavimentum
projiciebat; vir enim mlrse ahstinentiaa erat S. Comgallus. Et ecce elevans
sanctus vultum suum siursum in coelum, quidam leprosus mendicus petens auxi-
lium venit ad eum tacite, vidensque salivas sancti super terram, perrexit paulatim,
et de pavimento eas collegitj et commiscuit eas in aqua, lavansque se inde, plenus
fide, statim e lepra sua sanatus est."

^ -^ ^

^. ^

1 44 Lives of the Saints. [May lo.

The reputation of the monastery of Banchor was much
enhanced by the celebrity of some eminent men who
issued from it, especially S. Columbanus, one of the
greatest men of his age, so that the fame of Banchor spread
far and wide throughout all Europe. It is said that in the
seventh year after the foundation of Banchor, i.e., in 566,
Comgall went to Britain and established a monastery at a
place called Heth/ It is not unlikely that it was on this
occasion that he paid a visit, together with S. Brendan, to
S. Columba, in the Western Isles. He is said to have
contributed to the conversion of Brideus, king of the
Northern Picts. Having returned to Ireland, he continued
to govern his monastery and its dependencies till his death,
which occurred on the loth of May, a.d. 601, after he had
received the holy viaticum from S. Fiachra, abbot of
Congbail and afterwards of Clonard.

A few of the strange and grotesque stories which have
attached themselves to this saint may be read with amuse-
ment. One day S. Columba was dining with S. Comgall,
when the former, pointing to a seat at the board, asked
whose it was. " That is our cook's place," said Comgall.
" But a devil is now occupying it,'' said Columba. " Wait
till the cook returns and finds some one in his chair, and
see what he does.'' Presently in came the cook, and find-
ing his seat occupied, rushed up to the intruder, and
knowing him at once to be a demon, with flaming eyes
exclaimed, "You wretch of a devil, what are you doing
here? Be off on the spot (alioquin tu profer modo) !"
Then he banished him to the bottom of the sea. "And
all were highly edified."

Comgall sent a bell to his nephews at a distance by the
hand of an angel. We have already heard of one marvel

^ Probably Hythe, but not any place so called now. Hytbe means in Keltic a
bank or shore ; and many places may have borne that name in the 6th cent.

^___ lj<

S. SOLANGIA. After Cahier

[May 10.

* ^

"^ayio-] S. Solangia. 145

wrought by his saliva. Here are others. A beggar once
importuned the saint, then Comgall spat into his pocket,
and the saliva was instantly converted into a gold ring. A
king was very hard of heart, and no exhortations of the
saint could melt him. Then Comgall spat at a great stone,
and spHt it into quarters; thereupon the king burst into
tears of penitence.

One story alone is pretty. He and some of his monks
were walking by the side of a lake, when they saw swans
floating on the mere, singing. "O, father! may we coax
the swans?" asked the monks. He gave them leave.
Then they felt for some crusts of bread ; but not finding
them, knew not how to entice the birds. But Comgall
called, and the swans sailed up to the bank, and one
fluttered into the old man's lap, and let him stroke its
white feathers.

S. SOLANGIA, V.M.
(about a.d. 844.)

[Galilean Martyrologies. Patroness of Bourges. Authority : — The
lessons for the festival based on tradition in the Bourges Breviary. ]

Solangia was a poor shepherdess of Villemont, near
Bourges, young and very beautiful, and as simple and
modest as she was fair. According to the popular legend
she was so pious that a star was given her to twinkle above
her head, brightening at the hour of prayer. Her beauty
attracted the attention of Bernard, son of the Count of
Poitiers,^ and he sought opportunity to deceive her. One

^ The legend in no way contradicts history. Bernard and Herve were the sons of
Reginald, Count of Poitiers, killed in battle against the King of Brittany and the
Count of Nantes, in 843. Herve became Count of Auvergne, and Bernard Count of
Poitiers. Both were killed in battle against the same Count of Nantes, in 845.
Herve left as successor Raymond I., and a son Stephen, who was killed by the

VOL. V. 1°

^ ■ '^

i^. ■ ^

146 L-ives of the Saints. [May 10.

day he found her on a moor pasturing her sheep quite
alone. He dismounted from his horse, and attempted to
dazzle her by flattery and specious promises. But when
Solangia found what his designs were, she started from the
stone on which she had been sitting, and ran away. He
pursued her, and mounting his horse, threw her over the
saddle in front of him, and attempted to carry her off to
his castle. The girl struggled desperately, and managed
to fall from the horse, and was injured. Bernard leaped
down, and his love having given way to violent anger, or
fearing that his attempt at abduction would arouse the
country, he being then in the territories of his uncle, he
despatched her with his hunting knife.

Solangia is represented either carrying her head in her
hands, or with a hunting knife thrust into her throat, and
with sheep at her side and a star above her head.

Some of her relics at S. Solange, Bourges, M6ry-fes-Bois
and Nevers.

S. ISIDORE, C.
(about a.d. II 30.)

[Canonized by Pope Gregoiy XV. in 1622. Roman and Spanish Mar-
tyrologies. The Bollandists on May 15. Authority ; — His life writtenin
the year 1261, an amplification and continuation of an earlier life. This
life was again added to in 1275. The additions are miracles wrought at
the tomb or by the intercession of the saint.]

The traveller, visiting Madrid on May isth, would find
the city keeping high festival. Church bells ringing, the
streets lined with tapestries and coloured curtains, banners
streaming, and a procession winding through the streets

Normans in 886, and left no successor. Bernard left a son Bernard, the murderer
of Solangia, wlio was Count of Poitiers, and also of Auvergne, after the death of
his brother Stephen. He was killed in 886 in a battle against Boso, King of
Aries.

t5( ^

May 10.] 5". Isidore. 147

with military band, and cross and lights and song of clergy.
Why this joyous festival ? the traveller would ask ; and he
would be told that the capital was observing the feast of
its patron. And who is the patron of this royal city, the
capital of great Spain ? A king, a prelate, a doctor ? No !
only a poor ploughman. God " taketh up the simple out
of the dust : and lifteth the poor out of the mire ; that he
may set him with the princes : even with the princes of his
people." (Ps. cxii. 7, 8 ; A.V. cxiii. 6, 7.)

The story of this good man is short and very simple. It
is merely that of a devout peasant serving God faithfully
in that condition of life to which God had called him.
The Church, to show models to all in every condition of
life, has enrolled in her sacred calendar the servant girl
Veronica of Milan, the shepherd Wendelin, the beggar
Cuthman, and the ploughman Isidore, as well as saintly
kings, wise prelates, learned doctors and valiant martyrs.

Isidore was a day-labourer in the employment of a
gentleman of Madrid, engaged on his farm outside the
town. He was a hard-working faithful servant, yet he did
not escape the voice of slander, and he was accused to his
master of coming late to his work in the mornings on
account of his going early into Madrid to attend Mass in
one of the churches. His master sent for him and charged
him with it. " Sir," said the simple ploughman, " it may
be true that I am later at my work than some of the other
labourers, but I do my utmost to make up for the few
minutes snatched for prayer ; I pray you compare my
work with theirs, and if you find I have defrauded you in
the least, gladly will I make amends by paying you out of
my private store." The gentleman was ashamed and said
nothing; nevertheless he was not satisfied, and one morn-
ing he rose before daybreak to watch for himself and see
if Isidore was really late at his work. He hid himself

1^ . ^

* - — = — ■ ■ — ■ — •*

148 Lives of the Saints. [Mayio.

beside the farm, and saw the steady peasant go to church
as the first pale streaks of light appeared in the east, and
he returned to his work certainly after the other workmen
had gone to theirs. The master saw him enter the field
and take the plough, and he left his retreat that he might
rate him soundly. But suddenly he stood still. In the
field was a second plough, drawn by white oxen, urged on
by an angel. He saw it in the slant rays of the rising sun
through the thin vapours rising from the dewy soil. Up
the field and then down again went the strange team,
cutting a clean furrow and cutting it rapidly. Then the
gentleman ran towards the field ; but as he opened the
gate the vision disappeared, and he saw Isidore bowed
upon his plough, and his little son running by the head of
the red oxen. Then he went to him and asked him who
were his assistants. " Sir ! " said Isidore in surprise, " I
work alone and know of none save God to whom I look
for strength.''

Now this Isidore was a man of a very kind heart, and
he never omitted doing an act of kindness when the oppor-
tunity offered; and though he was poor, and could not
give much to the needy, what he did give was given
without grudging and with so much sympathy and readi-
ness, that to the recipient it was worth more than the gift
of many a rich man. One pretty instance of this charity
is told, to show that it extended to the dumb creation as
well as to men. One morning when the snow was spark-
ling on the ground and the trees and hedges were covered
with hoar frost, he set out to the mill with a sack of corn,
his wife's gleanings, that he wished to have ground.
Presently he passed a tree on which a number of wood-
pigeons were sitting, whilst others fluttered over the glisten-
ing surface of the snow vainly searching for food. " Stop,"
called Isidore to his boy, who was leading the ass that

ij« -iji

S. ISIDORE. Alter Cahier.

May 10.

i5<-

May 10.] S'. Isidore. 149

bore the sack. He cast the sack down, opened it, took out
a good double handful of wheat, strewed it before the
dehghted birds, and lifting the sack on the back of the ass,
went on to the mill.

His wife Mary was a virtuous and pious woman, and
loved to accompany her husband to the churches and on
pilgrimages.

At length he died, reverenced and beloved by all the
neighbourhood, at the age of forty, and was buried in the
cemetery of S. Andr^ a church he was vront to frequent,
but was speedily afterwards taken up and brought into the
church, and then, we are told, all the bells of the church
rang untouched by human hands.

I JO Lives of the Saints, [Mayn.

May II.

S. EvELT-Tus, M. at Rome, circ. a.d. 65.*

S. Anthimius, P.m. at Rome, ^ih cent. '

S. Mamertius, B. o/ViejtTze, circ. a.d. 480.

SS. Walbeet, and Beetilla, at Cotcrtsohre in HainaitU, circ. a.d. 619.

S. Gengulf, M. at Varennes, circ. A.D. 760.

S. Fremund, K.M. at Harhury in Warwickshire, circ. a.d. 796.

S. Majolus, Ab. at Clnny, a.d. 994.

S. Walter, Ab. of Lesterpes, near Limoges ^ a.d. 1070.

S. Francis of Girolamo, S.y. at Grotaglia, a.d. 1716.

S. MAMERTIUS, B.
(about a.d. 480.)

[Some copies of the Martyrology attributed to S. Jerome, Notker,
Galilean and Roman Martyrologies. The translation of his body on Oct.
13th, and of his head on Nov. 14th, in the diocese of Orleans. Authority;
— A homily of S. Avitus, his spiritual son.]

AINT MAMERTIUS, bishop of Vienne in
Gaul, is chiefly famous for having instituted the
Rogation processions. Gaul was groaning and
bleeding from the incursion of the barbarians,
the Goths and Huns. • Vienne had been shaken repeatedly
by earthquakes, flames had burst from the hill-tops and
consumed large tracts of forest, and driven the wolves and
bears into the city. Added to these disasters came a
conflagration of Vienne, which broke out on Easter night.
S. Mamertius, prostrate before the altar, conceived the
idea of instituting annually a procession with litanies and
psalms and prayers, before Ascension, to supplicate God
to have mercy on His people, and to turn from them their
afflictions, and to bless their crops during the year. " We
shall pray God," says he in a sermon,^ "that he will

' Converted by the sight of the passion of S. Torpes (May 17th).
* The sermon is found among those of Eusebius of Emesa, but it is generally
attributed to S. Mamertius.

^ ; — 1^

May II.] S. Gengulf. 151

turn away the plagues from us, and preserve us from all
ill, from the pestilence, the hailstorm, the drought, the
fury of our enemies; to give us favourable seasons, that
our bodies may enjoy health, and our lands fertility, and
that we may have peace and tranquillity, and obtain pardon
for our sins." Processions with litanies and psalms had
been in use before, but never before fixed for the Rogation
season. S. Mamertius built a church at Vienne in honour
of S. Ferreolus the martyr. He was at the council of Aries
in 475, and died probably in 477. His brother Claudianus
Mamertius, who died between 470 and 474, was a monk,
and was distinguished for his sacred poetry. He composed
the world-famous hymn

" Pange lingua, gloriosi
Lauream certaminis,'"

commonly but erroneously attributed to "Venantius Fortu-
natus.

The body of S. Mamertius was translated to Orleans, but
was burnt by the Huguenots in the i6th century.

S. GENGULF, M.
(about a.d. 760.)

[Roman, Liege, and Prague Martyrologies. Cologne Martjfrology on
May I3tli, that of Utrecht on May gth. Brussels, Tournai, and Bruges
Breviaries on October I2tli. Authorities : — A metrical life by Roswytha
(d. cca. 984), but this is based on the " Vita S. Genulphi," written about
915. This life was written after the Norman incursions, in which the early
monuments were destroyed, consequently the writer was obliged to rely
on popidar tradition. Gengulf or Gengulphus is in French Gengoul, or
GingiU, in English Gingo, and in German Golf.'\

The story of S. Gengulf is sadly obscured by fable, but it
is not difficult to distinguish the facts of his history from
the romantic as well as the coarse additions which have

' " Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle," Hymn for Passion Sunday.

-»;i

^— ■ — —

£52 Lives of the Saints [Mayii.

been made to it by popular fancy, in its transmission from
mouth to mouth, through one hundred and fifty years.

He is said to have been a nobleman of Burgundy, high
in favour with Pepin the Short, whom he accompanied in
his wars. The king highly valued him for his integrity and
for his valour, and when engaged in war made him sleep in
his tent, as his trustiest friend and guard. One night, says
the legend, the lamp that hung in the tent above the head
of Gengulf kindled of itself. The king rose from his bed,
and blew it out, but almost instantly it kindled again.
He blew it out again, and again it rekindled, and when this
was repeated the third time, Pepin felt satisfied that the
circumstance was not without its significance, and that it
portended the sanctity of the sleeper beneath.

A stranger story is that he bought a beautiful spring of
water at Bassigny, and on reaching his castle at Varennes, \
he struck his staff into the ground, and forthwith the foun-
tain boiled up there, leaving its source at Bassigny dry.
This is no doubt a popular tradition made to account for
the drying up of one spring and the bursting out of another. '
It is, however, by no means improbable that Gengulf
may have sunk a well and tapped a copious spring at
Varennes.''

Gengulf s wife was false to him ; when he was absent at
court, or with the army, she associated with a man whom
she passionately loved. Rumours of his wife's infidelity
reached Gengulf, and instead of dealing rigorously with
her, he drew her one day into the garden, and very tenderly
mentioned to her what he had heard, expressed his pain at
receiving such evil reports, and his readiness to disbelieve
if she would satisfy him with frankness, that they were

' A chapel was built over this fountain, which welled up in the crypt. The
chapel is now a private house, the crypt a cellar, and the spring of water has been
drained off.

i^ _ ^

5< *

May II.] 5*. Gengulf. 153

without foundation. She indignantly denied the charge of
infidehty. "Well, my wife," said Gengulf, according to
the popular story, " here is this clear cold fountain, thrust
in thine arm. If thou art innocent it will not hurt thee.
If thou art guilty God shall judge." She plunged in her
arm, and was scalded.

Then Gengulf separated from her, but still he would not
put in force the severe laws against adulteresses, but rather
hoped to reclaim her, at least to penitence, by his gentle-
ness. He gave her one of his estates, and allotted to her
a comfortable annual revenue. He had loved and trusted
her, and now his heart broke, and he lived a grave, sad,
retired life, praying with many tears for himself, and for
her who had been his wife, and distributing large alms to
the poor.

The wicked woman could not endure the restraint of
being still nominally the wife of Gengulf, and she and her
paramour determined to make away with him, that they
might marry, and take his large possessions. Accordingly
one night the adulterer contrived to enter the castle^ of the
man he had injured, to penetrate into his bed-chamber,
where he found him sleeping, with his sword hung above
his bed. The murderer took down the sword, and pre-
pared to strike. At the same moment Gengulf opened his
eyes, and threw up his arm, so that the sword glanced
aside and wounded him on the thigh. The murderer
threw down the weapon, and escaped before Gengulf could
give the alarm. The wound, however, was mortal, and he
died shortly after, on May iith.^
The body was brought by his aunts Wiltrudis and

* Gengulf was then in his castle of Avallon on the Cussin, between Auxerre
and Autun.

'It is impossible, even in Latin, to give the account of the miraculj>»i
punishments inflicted on the murderer and the wife.

154 Lives of the Saints. [Mayn.

Wilgisa to Varennes ; but was afterwards translated to
Langres, where some few fragments saved from the
Revolutionary fury remain. Others at Florennes, near
Namur.

S. FREMUND, K.M.

(ciRC. A.D. 796.)

[Additions to Usuardus and Anglican Martyrologies. Authority : — A
legend given by Capgrave.]

S. Fremund is said to have been a prince, the son of
Offa, king of the Mercians (d. 794), and to have fought
against the Danes. He was murdered by Oswy, an officer
of his father, perhaps at the instigation of Cenwulf. But
there is no certainty about this. Fremund is not men-
tioned by any chroniclers ; Offa was succeeded by his son
Egfrid, who only reigned a year and a hundred and forty
days, and was succeeded by Kenulf, or Cenwulf.

S. MAJOLUS, AB.
(a.d. 994.)

[Roman and Benedictine Martyrologies, but some on May 4th, or
April 14th. Authority : — A life written by Nalgod, his disciple. Majolus
in French is Mayeal.']

S. Majolus was born about the year 906, of a wealthy
family at Valenzola, in the diocese of Riez. But having
lost all his family possessions through the incursions of the
Saracens and Huns, he retired to Macon to his uncle
Berno, bishop of that city, who constituted him his arch-
deacon. He afterwards became monk at Cluny, under the
abbot Aymard.

The aged Aymard, oppressed with years, was at length

^_ ^^

9- ■ iif

May II.] S. Majolus. 155

obliged to surrender the government of the abbey into the
hands of S. Majolus (948). But the old man in the
infirmary, having one day fancied a bit of cheese, and
ordered ineffectually that it should be brought to him, took
it into his head that he was neglected, and he suddenly
resumed his authority, and put Majolus to penance. In
fact the old man had asked for his piece of cheese when
the monks were at dinner, and the serving brothers had
their hands full of work, so that it was impossible to attend
to his caprice at that moment. However, Aymard, finding
that he was really unable to do the work required of an
abbot, and satisfied that Majolus was not really neglectful
of him, and desirous of usurping his dignity, returned to
inaction, and on his death Majolus was elected abbot.

On his way to Rome, a monk who was accompanying
him, disobeyed him in an important matter, and afterwards
apologized and asked pardon. "And set me a penance
for my fault," he asked. " Are you in earnest, my son ? "
asked the abbot. " I am," answered the monk. " Then,"
said Majolus, " Go and kiss yon poor leper." The monk
went at once to the leper and embraced him. The
obedient kiss healed the leper.

On his way back from Rome, as he crossed the S.
Bernard, Majolus was taken by the Saracens and imprisoned
at Pont-Oursier, on the Dranse above Martigny. Seeing a
Saracen about to cleave the head of one of his companions
with his scimitar, Majolus sprang forward, and caught the
blow on his arm. He saved the life of his comrade, but
long suffered from the wound, and bore the scar to his
dying day. He was shut up in a cave, and the only book
he had to while away the tedious hours of captivity was a
treatise on the Assumption of the Virgin, falsely attributed
to S. Jerome. This interested S. Majolus so much that he
prayed he might be released before the feast of the

^. -^

156 Lives of the Saints. tMayii.

Assumption. His prayer was heard, he was ransomed by
the monks of Cluny for a thousand pounds of silver.

When the Holy See was vacant in 974, the emperor
Otho II. endeavoured to persuade S. Majolus to accept the
papacy, but he steadfastly refused the proffered honour.
In 991, feeling that his powers were exhausted, he chose S.
Odilo (Jan i) to be his successor, and he was unanimously
elected by the brethren.

Majolus died on the nth May, 994, on Friday the
morrow of the Ascension, and was buried in the church of
S. Peter at Cluny. His body was translated in 1096, by
Pope Urban II. to Souvigny, and again under Honorius IV.
in 1286. The relics of S. Majolus were burnt at the
French Revolution, and all that remains of him at Souvigny
is a comb.

S. FRANCIS OF GIROLAMO, S.J.
(a.d. 1716.)

[Roman Martyrology. Beatified by Pope Pius VII., in 1806, and
canonized by Gregory XVI., in 1837.]

S. Francis of Hieronimo, or of Girolamo, was born
the i6th of December, 1643, at Grottaglia, in the province
of Otranto, in the kingdom of Naples. He was the eldest
of twelve children, who distinguished themselves in after-
life by their virtues. Francis especially made himself re-
markable from his earliest childhood by his fervour. He
received the tonsure at the age of sixteen, and was ordained
priest at Naples in 1666, and he joined the Society of Jesus
in 1682. His life was spent in fervent mission work among
the people of Naples, and was the means of converting
innumerable sinners. His heart glowed with a consuming
fire of zeal for the salvation of souls. One night he felt a

i— -*

May II.]

6". Francis.

157

call to go to the corner of a street and preach. He went
forth in the dark night, and standing at the windy corner,
in the deserted street, preached. Next day a poor woman
came weeping to his confessional, a woman living in sin,
who had heard through her window the words of life.
There is little of stirring incident in his career ; but he was
one of the most loving missionaries to sinful souls the
Church has reared.

Kont in the Oatheclral at HildeBheLm.

4«-

^ ^ tj(

158 Lives of the Saints. [May 12.

May 12.

SS, Nereus, Achilles, and Flavia Domitilla, MM. at Terracina.

1st cent.
S. Pancras, M. at Rome, a.d. 304.
S. Philip of Agyra, P. in Sicily, st^^ cent.
S. Epiphanius, B. ofSahmtis, a.d. 403.
S. MoDOALDj Ab^. of Treves, circ. a.d. 640.
S. RiCTEUDiS, Abss. of Marchiennes, circ. a.d. 688.
S. Germain, Pair, of Constantinople^ circ. a.d. 732.
S. Dominic of Calzada, C. in Castille, a.d. 1109.

SS. NEREUS, ACHILLES, AND FLAVIA
DOMITILLA, MM.

(iST CENT.)

[Roman Martyrology. S. Flavia Domitilla also on May 7tli. SS.
Nereus and Achilles in most ancient Latin Martyrologies. Authority : —
Eusebius, Lib. iii. c. l8. The Acts are manifestly full of fable and are a
late fabrication.]

USEBIUS the historian says :— "In the fifteenth

year of Domitian, for professing Christ, Flavia

Domitilla, the niece of Flavius Clemens, one of

the consuls of Rome at that time, was transported

with many others, by way of punishment, to the island of

Pontia." Nereus and Achilles are in the Acts said to

have been two eunuchs. ■■■ They were beheaded at TerracLna,if

we may so far trust these Acts. Flavia Domitilla is also

said to have been burnt alive. But no reliance can be placed

on the Acts. As a specimen of the absurdities it contains, is

a story of a contest between Simon Magus and S. Peter,

in which the former was defeated, and to escape the jeers

of the people, transformed himself into a dog and ran

away. Then he brought a very fierce hound to a friend of

^ An anachronism; eunuchs were not introduced into Roman families till the
reign of Domitian.

^ =^^ ^^ -»j(

^ -^

May 12.] ^. Pancras. 159

S. Peter, and chained it up at his door, hoping that the beast
would rend the Apostle, but on the appearance of S. Peter
the hound became docile. Then the Apostle loosed him ;
but forbade him to bite the flesh of Simon Magus. There-
fore the dog contented itself with rending off all the clothes
of the sorcerer, to the infinite amusement of the people in
the street and the confusion of Simon.

The festival of SS. Nereus and Achilles was kept at
Rome with great solemnity in the 6th century, for S.
Gregory the Great has a homily on this festival.

The relics of SS. Nereus and Achilles are preserved in
the church of their title at Rome. Before the Revolution,
at Limoges, were some of S. Domitilla. Also, now in the
parish church of Satilien, in the diocese of Viviers. But the
college of S. Vitus at Elwangen claims to possess the body
of S. Flavia Domitilla, and asserts it to have been given
by Pope Hadrian I.

Garraye, anciently Numantia, in Spain, also claims to
possess the bodies of SS. Nereus and Achilles. The heads
of SS. Nereus and AchiUes are pretended to be shown at'
Ariano near Benevento. Large portions of the bones
also at Douai, in the church of S. Peter, and at Bertin
near S. Omer ; also at Bologna, and at the church of
S. Zacharias at Venice.

S. PANCRAS, M.
(a.d. 304.)

[Roman Martyrology. In the most ancient copies of the Roman Martyr-
ology, called that of S. Jerome, with SS. Nereus and Achilles. Also all
Western Martyrologies. Authority: — The Acts, not altogether trustworthy,
and certainlynotvery ancient, for they contain a grievous anachronism, they
make S. Pancras to be baptized by S. Cornelius, A.D. 251. The BoUan-
dists conjecture that this may be an error of a scribe who wrote Cornelius

i -*

Ij, — Ij,

1 60 Lives of the Saints. [May 12.

instead of Cains (d. 296), but this is hardly probable. Had the name oc-
curred once, such a mistake might have been made, but not when it recurs
six times. There is nothing improbable in the narrative, but the style and
the anachronism point out unmistakably the lateness of the composition
of the Acts, which perhaps date from the 6th century.]

S. Pancras was the son of Cleon and Cyriada, a wealthy
and noble couple in Synrada in Phrygia. Cyriada died
whilst her son was quite young, and Cleon followed her
soon after. Before his death he entrusted Pancras to the
care of his brother Dionysius, adjuring him by all the
gods to take care of the child. ^ Dionysius moved with his
nephew to Rome, and took a house on the Cselian hill.
There they became acquainted with the bishop of Rome,
who baptized them. A few days after his baptism,
Dionysius died.

The persecution of Diocletian was then raging. Pancras,
then aged fourteen, was denounced, and was executed with
the sword, and buried on the Aurelian way by a pious
woman named Octavilla.

The first church consecrated in England by S. Augustine
was dedicated to S. Pancras. It was at Canterbury. Its
ruins still stand. A curious legend is to the effect that
when S. Augustine said mass on the altar, the devil flew
away, leaving the impression of his claws on the stone.
The fragment of wall containing the impression still
remains.

The relics of S. Pancras abound. His body is in the
church of his name at Rome, his head in the Lateran.
Portions at Alba, in Venice, at Bologna, where is shewn
another head as that of S. Pancras. But the body is also

' It is curious that Cardinal Wiseman should not have consulted the Acts of
S. Pancras before writing his charming story of Fabiola; had he done so, he
would not have made Pancras the son of a martyred father, and with his mother
in Rome. Both father and mother were heathens, and the mother died before the
father. The error has no doubt arisen from his taking only the Breviary account,
and supposing it contained all that was in the Acts.

* *

-1*

May 12.] S.Philip of Agyra. i6i

enshrined at Treves. Also relics anciently at Marseilles,
Saintes, and many others in France. Also at Giesen in
Hesse, of which university town he was regarded the patron.
Other relics at Ghent, Douai, Mechlin, Utrecht, Leyden,
Cologne, Prague, at Guarda in Portugal, and anciently in
several churches in England.

In Art, S. Pancras appears as a boy with a sword in one
hand and a palm in the other.

S. PHILIP OF AGYRA, P.C.

(5TH century).

Roman Martyrology, Molanus in his addition to Usuardus, Ferrarius,
&o. Authority : — A life in Greek attributed incorrectly to Eusebius the
monk, his companion. The style of the earlier part of this hfe is certainly
ancient, the latter part consists of miracles, and has less appearance ol
antiquity. There is another life wholly apocryphal, falsely attributed to S,
Athanasius. This was forged at Agyra by some one who was not satisfied
with the late date given in the more gennine life to the Saint, and wished
to make him a companion and disciple ofS. Peter, being zealous rather for
the honour of his city than for historic truth. The following account is
from the first life which, in its main outlines, is no doubt trustworthy.]

In the reign of Arcadius the emperor there lived in
Thrace a S)Tian named Theodosius, whose wife was a Roman
woman named Augia. They had three sons, who were
employed in bujdng and selling horses. Now it fell out that
before the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross,i the
young men were driving a number of young colts to-
wards Constantinople, where was a large horse-fair, and as
they were traversing the river Sangaris, which was full of
water, owing to recent storms, some of the colts were swept
down, and the young men were drowned in endeavouring
to rescue them. And when the news reached Theodosius,

1 Sept. 14th according to the Greeks.
VOT.. v. 11

-8&

5( *

162 Lives of the Saints. [Mayi,.

he was grieved sore, but being full of trust in God, he said,
" The Lord's Name be praised, now and for evermore," and
he prayed for the souls of his boys, and gave large alms.

But Augia could not be comforted, but wept sore night
and day. Then the prayers and alms-deeds of Theodosius
came up as a memorial before God, and He looked upon
His handmaid in compassion, and she conceived and bare a
son, and they called his name Philip. Now Augia was com-
forted, and being full of gratitude to God, she dedicated her
child to Him, as of old did the holy Hannah devote the
infant Samuel. When PhUip was aged twenty-one he was
ordained deacon, and he spoke fluently the Syrian tongue, and
was well instructed in ecclesiastical discipline. But he had
often heard his mother commend the piety of the Romans,
how that in the churches at Rome all were serious and recol-
lected, and none turned their heads over their shoulders to see
who were coming in at the door, " and there it was thought a
great crime to whisper and giggle on entering the church.''
Hearing this, Philip ardently desired to visit Rome, and he
confided his desire to his father. Now Theodosius was a
good man who always bent his will to what he considered to
be the will of God, and seeing the fixity of his son's purpose,
he took his hand and turning to the east, prayed in the
Syrian tongue, saying, " God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
into thy hands I commend this thy servant. Do with him
as seemeth best in thine eyes ! " Then they embraced, and
he sent him away without having told Augia that she was to
lose her son. And when the young deacon's form disap-
peared on the horizon, the old man came slowly back to
his home to break the news to his wife.

But Philip set sail for Rome, and a storm fell on the ship,
and it was in sore distress. Then he prayed, standing in the
bows facing the wind and rain, "O my God! To Thee did
my father confide me. Let me not be lost in the sea as my

ih -*

^- -*

May 120 kS". Philip of Agyra. 163

brothers were lost in the river." And by God's help the
vessel came to land. With Philip travelled a certain
Eusebius, a Greek monk, and they came to Rome, and stood
beside the door of the basilica of S. Peter. Then the pope
was told in the spirit to go to the door, and on the left side
he would find a young deacon in a cloak (phelonion) and
he was to make him minister that day at the altar. But
when the Holy Father spoke to Philip, the young deacon
reddened with shame, for he could not speak a word of Latin,
'v^and the pope knew not a word of Syriac. Then the pope
signed his lips and bade him serve, and the young man went
and ministered to him at the altar, and he responded all in
the Latin tongue.^

And the pope was pleased with the young man, and he
gave him a book^ written with his own hand, "by the
virtue of the Holy Ghost," and ordained him priest, and
sent him to Sicily, saying, "Take this apostolic book
to-day, and when thou hast reached the eastern parts of
Sicily, thou wilt find a place called Agyra, in the region of
Mount Etna, from which mountain fire breaks forth, and it
vomits perpetual flame, and there Satan dwells with his
spirits and all his armies, possessing it by a sort of right of
inheritance." So Philip went to Sicily, and he reached
the foot of Etna, and saw smoke and flame burst from the
summit. Then, taking the book in his hand, he ascended
to the crater, and having prayed, he cried, " Show, O Lord,
Thy face, and drive away all this host of devils !" and he
signed the cross over the crater with the book. And as he

1 As Eusebius, or whoever wrote the life, gives the responses, and they are from
Ihe Greek liturgy and not from the Roman, it is probable that tljere really
was no great marvel wrought, but that Philip responded as he was wont
in the East, and served as well as he could, considering the difference in the
rites,

2 What book it was—" Apostolic volume " it is called— is not clear. It may have
been the Gospels, or the Canonical Epistles, or itjnay have been, as Henschenins
thinks, a book of exorcisms.

|J4 *

»J(— ^

it^ Lives of the Saints. cwaYu-

came down, the cinders started under his feet and skipped
down the cone in great multitudes, and occasionally he
dislodged pieces of lava, which went down with bounds, and
in his excited imagination he fancied they were demons
racing down the mountain before him.

Philip settled at Agyra, the modern S. Filippo d'Aazira,
where he wrought many miracles, and died at the age of
sixty-three.

S. EPIPHANIUS, B. OF SALAMIS.
(a.d. 403.)

[Greek Mensea, Russian Kalendar, Roman Martyrology, Ado, Bede,
Usuardus, &c. Authorities : — Sozomen, Socrates, and his own writings 1^]

S. Epiphanius was born at Besanduc, in the territory of
Eleutheropolis, in Palestine. From early childhood he
embraced the religious life, and became a disciple of S.
Hilarion. He visited Egypt, where he was thrown among
Gnostics, and became acquainted with their peculiar tenets
and rites. He was ordained bishop of Salamis, the metro-
polis of Cyprus. In 374 he composed his Anchor, a treatise
on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and in 376 he began
his great work on heresies. He was at Rome at the
council in 382, with PauHnus of Antioch and S. Jerome.
He lodged in the house of S. Paula, the illustrious widow,
who afterwards went to Bethlehem to be near her spiritual
father, S. Jerome. Having spent the winter in Rome, he
returned the following spring to his diocese, in company
with Paulinus. S. Jerome remained in Rome till after the
death of Pope Damasus, in 385, when he left for the East,
and was warmly received on his way by S. Epiphanius. S.
Paula, on her way to Bethlehem, also landed in Cyprus,

1 There Is a life pretending to be written by three disciples of S. Epiphanius, but
it is a forgery and unworthy of the smallest reliance

* *

May "-3 S. Epiphanius. 165

and the Bishop of Salamis was able to return her hos-
pitality. He insisted on her spending ten days with him,
to repose after her voyage ; but she spent the time in visit-
ing the monasteries in his diocese.

ApoUinarianism was a heresy which at this time troubled
the Church. It was about 369 that this error assumed its
most definite form. It started from the idea of the true
Divinity of Christ ; and professing exceeding reverence for
Him, argued that if He had had a true human nature. He
must have had sinful instincts, but as this was not to be
believed, then the nature of Christ was not truly human.
The Incarnation was only a converse of God with man.
Christ's body was not really bom of Mary, but was a fresh
and pure creation of the Godhead. And as Apollinaris
had denied the Blessed Virgin to be the real Mother of the
Word Incarnate, some were led on to a denial of her per-
petual virginity, and others, by reaction, made her the
object of an idolatrous homage. First in Thrace, and then
among the women in Arabia, there grew up a custom of
placing cakes (coUyrides) on a stool covered with linen,
offering them up to S. Mary, and then eating them as
sacrificial food. S. Epiphanius severely condemned these
two extremes. He denounced those who denied Christ's
Mother to be ever-virgin as " Antidicomarians," adversaries
of Mary, who deprived her of the honour due to her ; but
he insisted that worship, in the true acceptation of the
word, was due to the Trinity alone.

He undertook a journey to Antioch in 376 to endeavour
to convert the ApoUinarian bishop, Vitahs ; but in that he
was not successful.

The contest about Origenism now broke out. The

writings of Origen certamly contained daring conjectures,

and in the midst of much that was admirable, the critical

eye could detect heretical speculations. The notion that

^ ^ *

^ .i^

1 66 Lives of the Saints. [Mayu.

the reign of Christ was finite was rather an inference from
his writings than a tenet of Origen. He thought that all
bodies would be finally annihilated, and if so, the humanity
of Christ, and consequently His personal reign, would
cease also. The possibility that the devil might, after long
purification, be saved, and that the risen body might, after
a period again, fall into corruption, were doctrines un-
questionably repugnant to Catholic orthodox belief, if
seriously maintained.

The most intimate friend of S. Jerome was Ruffinus of
Aquileia, now living as a priest under John, Bishop of
Jerusalem, who had succeeded S. Cyril in 386. Ruffinus
was a great admirer of the writings of Origen; and Jerome,
nine years before, had told Paula that the charge of heresy
brought against them was got up by the jealousy of inferior
minds,! , But when, in 393, a pilgrim from the West,
named Aterbius, denounced Ruffinus and Jerome as
Origenists, S. Jerome at once disclaimed all sympathy with
Origen, while Ruffinus kept within doors, in order to avoid
the sight of his denouncer. John of Jerusalem was in-
clined to Origenism, or at least was an admirer of his
writings, and in the inflamed and irritable temper of the
religious world at that moment, to admire the excellencies
of Origan's writings, even though his errors were rejected,
was regarded with mistrust.

S. Epiphanius, who looked on Origenism with horror,
visited Jerusalem in the Lent of 394. John received the
old prelate into his house, and invited him to preach in the
church of the Resurrection. S. Epiphanius took the oppor-
tunity of denouncing Origenism, in such a way as to shew
what he thought of his host,^ the archbishop then present,

'In his peculiar style, he says that the impugners of Origen's orthodoxy were
"mad dogs." Ep. 33.
2 S. Jerome admits this, Cont. Joan n. "You and your company," he adds,
I 'sneered, rubbed your heads, and nodded to each other, as much as to say, 'the
1 old man is in his dotai^e.'"
*—- — .4*

•?•

Mayjs.i ^. Epiphanius. 167

who exhibited his impatience and contempt by signs equally
unmistakeable, and sent his archdeacon to bid him be silent
John preached in his turn, and reprobated the "Anthropo-
morphists," who took literally the texts which ascribed
to God " a body, parts, and passions." While he
spoke, he looked hard at S. Epiphanius, who afterwards
quietly rose and said, " I too condemn the Anthropomor-
phists, but we must also condemn Origenism." A shout of
laughter from the congregation exhibited their enjoyment
of this retort.

On another occasion, when on his way to celebrate ser-
vice with John at Bethel, Epiphanius found on a village
church-door a curtain, on which was painted a figure of
Christ, or of a saint. The sight offended his rigid scruples;
and being wont to take his own course, with small regard
for circumstances, he forthwith tore the curtain, and advised
that it should be used as a shroud for the poor. The
keepers of the church naturally observed, " If he tears our
curtain, he is bound to provide us with another." " So I
will," said Epiphanius ; and he did in fact send them the
best he could procure.

Finding John estranged from him, he withdrew to Beth-
lehem, where he received a cordial welcome. One of the
monks at Bethlehem was Paulinianus, the brother of S.
Jerome. The monastery needed a priest, for Jerome's morbid
humility would not allow him to officiate, and Epiphanius
contrived to seize Paulinianus at Eleutheropolis, which was
not within the diocese of Jerusalem, and ordained him
there. But the act was unjustifiable, for he sent him to
minister in the diocese of another bishop, and John indig-
nantly complained. S. Epiphanius wrote a letter in which
he endeavoured to defend the ordination, and charged the
bishop of Jerusalem with Origenist heretical tenets. Of
these the chief were, that souis haa existed and sinned

*- *

^ — i^

1 68 Lives of the Saints. [May 12.

before they came into bodies ; and that the salvation of
Satan was a possibility. However, he seems to have felt
that he had acted inconsiderately, and had laid himself
open to blame, for he took Paulinianus back with him to
Cyprus to minister there. In the strife between John and Epi-
phanius, Ruffinus and Jerome naturally took opposite sides.

Theophilus of Alexandria had put down Paganism by
force of arms. He suppressed Arianism by the same
violent and coercive means. 1'he tone of this prelate's
epistles is invariably harsh and criminatory. He opposed
the vulgar Anthropomorphism into which certain of the
monks in the neighbourhood of Alexandria were falling,
and insisted on the pure scriptural nature of the Deity.
Yet he condescended to appease these turbulent adversaries
by an unmanly artifice. He consented to condemn Origen,
who having reposed quietly in his tomb for many years, in
general respect, was exhumed, so to speak, by the zeal of
late times, as a dangerous heresiarch. Theophilus quarrelled
with Isidore, an old priest, who fled from his persecution to
theNitrian monks. Theophilus attacked the monastery, and
drove the monks from their cells into exile, charging them
with Origenism. Four of these monks, known as the Tall
Brothers, fled to Constantinople and appealed for protection
to S. John Chrysostom, who wrote gently to Theophilus to
remonstrate with him for his high-handed and cruel pro-
ceedings. But Theophilus, who denied his right to
interfere, called in S. Epiphanius as his ally, and held a
synod against Origenism.

S. Jerome supported Theophilus unreservedly. He was
now in the full tide of controversy with RufiSnus. One
augr/ tract called forth another, until Jerome himself became
sensible of the wretchedness of such a quarrel, and S,
Augustine entreated him to close a scene that chilled and
saddened every true friendship.

^ ■■ ^

May 12.] ^. Epiphctnius. 169

The Tall Brothers appealed to the Emperor and Empress,
who summoned Theophilus to Constantinople to shew
cause for his ill-treatment of the monks. Theophilus sent
Epiphanius^ to Constantinople to carry on the war against
Origenism. The old man on this occasion exhibited more
plainly than ever the faults of character which had marred
his usefulness. One of his first acts after landing was to
ordain a deacon. He spurned S. Chrysostom's offers oi
hospitality, refused to eat or to pray with him, and en-
deavoured to procure from the bishops then at Constanti-
nople an assent to the decree of his own synod against
Origenism. Theotimus, bishop of Scythia, answered him
curtly, "Epiphanius ! I choose not to insult the memory of
one who ended his life piously long ago ; nor dare I con-
demn one whom my predecessors did not reject." At the
desire of the Empress the Tall Brothers paid him a visit :
"Who are ye?" "Father, we are the Tall Brothers.
What do you know of our doctrine or of our writings ? "
" Nothing." " Why then," asked one of them, " have you
condemned us as heretics unheard ? " All that the hasty
old man could say was, "You were reported to be heretics."
They shamed him by replying, " We treated you far other-
wise when we defended your books against a like imputa-
tion."

Soon afterwards, in May, 403, he quitted Constantinople.
He was humbled by his conference with the Tall Brothers,
and felt that he had been acting with a zeal not sufficiently
tempered with discretion, and that charity that hopeth all
things, and thinketh not evil; and he could hardly have
failed to contrast his own conduct with that of S. Chrysos-

' This exhibits the meanness of Theophilus. He had formerly blamed S.
Epiphanius as holding Anthropomorphistic views ; but now, thinlcing it would be
advantageous to him to have the support of so holy a man, ho wrote to him to
inform him that he had come round to his views. Sozamen viii. 14, Socrates vi.
10.

^ ^ ii<

f^ *

170 Lives of the Saints. [Mayn.

torn, whose admonitions cut him to the quick. "'Sou
have done many things contrary to the canons, Epiphanius;
you have ordained in churches under my jurisdiction; you
have ministered in them unauthorized by me ; I invited you,
and you rejected my invitation; and now you would in an
assembly denounce me. Beware, lest you stir up a tumult
and endanger yourself." As he was mounting his boat he
half acknowledged his error. " I leave you the city and
the palace," said he to S. Chrysostom; and then with a
flash of temper which spoilt the apology, " and their plea-
sures."

He died on his homeward voyage.^

S. RICTRUDIS, W. ABSS.

(about a.d. 688.)

[Gallican, Belgian, and Benedictine Martyrologies. Authority : — A life
compiled from earlier notices by Hucbald, monk of Elnone, in 907.]

S. RiCTRUDis was born in Gascony, of Christian parents
named Ernold and Lichia. "Gentle and modest in her
conduct, with the innocence of her soul as a seal on her
brow, full of charity and thought for others, the young
Rictrudis grew up in favour with the Lord, and in the first
dawn of life shone like a pure star of righteousness and
discretion."

S. Amandus preached in the neighbourhood of Toulouse,
when driven into exile for reproaching King Dagobert for
his incontinency, and he lodged in the house of Ernold.

Gascony was then governed by Aribert, who died shortly
afterwards and left his territories to his brother Dagobert,
and intercourse between the Franks and the Gascons
became more common. Adalbald, a noble Frank, visiting

1 Parts of this life are from Canon Bright's "Church History."
^ -*

*. ^

May 12.] 6". Rictrudis. xyx

Gascony on some mission from the sovereign, saw and
loved Rictrudis, and married her with the consent of her
parents. She then followed him to the north, into Flanders
to Ostrevaen,^ where he had large possessions. She bore
him four children, S. Maurontus (May 5th), B. Clotsendis
(June 30th), S. Eusebia (March i6th), and B. Adalsendis
(Dec. 24th). It may be well imagined that this house-
hold of saints was an united and happy one. The ancient
writer thus describes it : — " They assisted the poor, and
softened their labours and fatigue; they were ever ready
to relieve the hungry and the thirsty, to find clothes for the
naked, and to give shelter to the traveller. Sometimes
Rictrudis and her husband might be seen going out sur-
rounded by their little children, who played their innocent
games about them, and it was with their children that
Adalbald and Rictrudis entered the houses of the sick and
needy to bring consolation and assistance. Their hands
were ready to shroud the dead, and often did their words
bring repentance and peace to hearts that had been
hardened by crime, or ulcerated by hatred."

But this blessed life of mutual love and good works was
too bright to remain long without the cross making it with
pain. Adalbald was obliged to make a journey into Gascony,
and was murdered in P^rigord, as has been already related
(Vol. II., p. 41). On receiving news of his death, Rictrudis
turned to the sole source of consolation, and resolved to
dedicate the rest of her days to the undivided service of
God. But with the true prudence of unselfish piety, she
deferred taking the veil till her son Maurontus was of a
sufficient age to be admitted into the court of the king.
When she had sent him forth, and had ascertained that he
was living uprightly, purely, and modestly, beloved by all,

' Or Austrebant, the portion of Flanders inclosed by the Schelde, the Scharpe
and the Somme.

lj( *

5< *

172 Lives of the Saints. cMay^.

the ties that attached her to the world parted of their own
accord, and she prepared to retire to Marchiennes, when
she was surprised and pained by a message from the king
requesting her to marry one of his nobles. The requests
of a monarch were at that time equivalent to commands,
and Rictrudis in alarm sought S. Amandus, and persuaded
him to plead her cause with the king. Not many days
after, the king, Clovis II., was in the neighbourhood.
Rictrudis invited him to her castle, and prepared for him
and his attendants a magnificent repast. During the
banquet Rictrudis rose from her place, and bending her
knee before the king, asked his permission to fulfil her
duty and desire. Clovis, supposing she meant that she
was wishing to bring round and offer the grace cup, replied
in the afiirmative.

"Sire!" said Rictrudis, suddenly producing a black veil,
and throwing it over her head, " to this, duty and incli-
nation call me."

The king burst into an explosion of anger, started from
the table, and went forth followed by his attendants.
S. Amandus then hastened after the king, and pleaded
the cause of the saint so effectually that Clovis gave
his consent and withdrew all opposition to her retirement
into the cloister.

She then assumed the veil at Marchiennes, taking
with her her daughters Clotsendis and Adalsendis, who
were still young. Her eldest daughter, Eusebia, was with
S. Gertrude, her grandmother, at Hamage. She was
speedily called to sacrifice her child Adalsendis to God,
for she fell sick and died on Christmas Day. For three
days the mother restrained her tears. But on the Feast of
the Holy Innocents, when she heard the Gospel read, in
which that prophecy is rehearsed which tells of Rachel
weeping for her' children, and would not be comforted, her
^, ^

Mayivi kS". Rictrudis. 173

tears burst forth, and her sobs convulsed her frame. When
the service was concluded, and the nuns were going to the
refectory, Rictrudis turned to them weeping and said, "Go,
dear sisters, without me, I must be like Rachel this day at
least."

Not many years after, she heard that her son Maurontus,
who had lived innocent and God-fearing in the court of
the Frank king, proposed retiring from the world. She was
full of alarm, knowing the offence this would give to the
king and to his relatives, and fearing for himself lest his
vocation should not be sincere. She asked the opinion of
S. Amandus, and he calmed her apprehensions by telling
her how her son had conducted himself at court. Maur-
ontus came to Marchiennes and told his mother how sincere
was his purpose, and then, in the abbey church before his
mother's eyes, the young noble stripped off his armour,
and received the tonsure from the hands of S. Amandus.
He then retired to Breuil (Merville) where he built a
monastery on his own estate.

S. Pictrudis died at the age of seventy-six, and left the
government of the abbey of Marchiennes to her daughter
Clotsendis.

The relics of S. Rictrudis were preserved at Marchiennes
in a magnificent shrine which was sent to Paris during the
Revolution, in 1793, to be coined. A workman saved the
bones and hid them, and gave them on the restoration of
tranquillity to the Archbishop of Paris, and they were
preserved in the palace. But in the sack of July 24th,
1830, they were dispersed.

— ^

174 Lives of the Saints. [May ,3.

S. GERMANUS, PATR. OF CONSTANTINOPLE, C
(about a.d. 732.)

[The Menology of Emperor Basil and the ancient Constantinopolitan
Synaxarium, and the Greek Menasa. Gallican Martyrology of Saussaye
and Modern Roman Martyrology. Authority : — Notices in Theophanes
and the life of S. Stephen the Younger, one of the sufferers in the perse-
cution of Constantine Copronymus.]

Justinian II., Emperor of the East, had been driven
into exile to the Chersonese. He obtained help from the
Bulgarians, and returned to wreak his vengeance on his
enemies. His vessel was assaulted by a violent tempest ;
and one of his pious companions advised him to deserve
the mercy of God by a vow of general forgiveness, if he
should be restored to the throne. "Of forgiveness?" re-
plied the intrepid tyrant. "May I perish this instant if I
consent to spare the head of one of my enemies." He
returned to Constantinople at the head of his Bulgarian
allies, and rewarded their chief, who retired after sweeping
away a heap of gold coin which he measured with his Scythian
whip. But never was vow more religiously observed than
the sacred oath of vengeance he had taken amidst the
storms of the Euxine. The two usurpers, Leontius and
Apsimar, were cast prostrate in chains before the throne of
the emperor; and Justinian, planting a foot on each of
their necks, contemplated above an hour a chariot race,
whilst the inconstant people shouted, in the words of the
psalmist, "Thou shalt go upon the lion and adder, the
young lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet."
During the six years of his new reign, he considered the
axe, the cord, and the rack as the only instruments of
royalty. In 711 the troops revolted, weary of serving such
a tyrant, and Bardanes, under the name of Philippicus, was
invested with the purple. Justinian fell under the hand of

1^ ^

^ *^

Mayia.] S. Germanus. 175

an assassin, and Philippicus was hailed at Constantinople
as a hero who had delivered his country from a tyrant

PhUippicus was a Monothelite, and his first act on
entering the vestibule of the palace was to order the
removal of the painting of the Sixth Council (Constanti-
nople, A.D. 680-1), which had condemned Monothelitism.
The emperor also deposed C3n:us the Patriarch, whom he
confined in the monastery of Chora, and enthroned John,
a Monothelite, in his place. Germanus, metropolitan of
Cyzicus, and Andrew, bishop of Crete, supported him. He at
once set about persecuting those who adhered to the Catholic
Faith, and he placed on the diptychs the name of Pope
Honorius, whom the Sixth General Council had anathe-
matized as a Monothelite heretic. Shortly after, having
found in the palace the acts of this council written by the
hand of Agatho the deacon and librarian, he burnt them
publicly. On the festival of his birthday, in 714, Philippicus
entertained the multitude with the games of the circus ;
from thence he paraded through the streets with a thousand
banners and a thousand trumpets, and returning to the
palace, entertained his nobles with a sumptuous banquet.
At the meridian hour he withdrew to his chamber, intoxi-
cated with wine and flattery. Some bold conspirators
introduced themselves into his room, bound, blinded, and
deposed the slumbering monarch, before he was awake to
his danger. Yet the traitors were deprived of their reward,
and the free voice of the senate and people raised Artemus,
the secretary, under the title of Anastasius II., to the
imperial throne, and he was crowned in the sanctuary by
the patriarch John. Then, finding that the new emperor
was a Catholic, the patriarch, the bishops, and all the
clergy present, hasted to proclaim the authority of the
Sixth General Council. John then wrote to Pope Constan-
tine a quibbling letter, in which he endeavoured to excuse

^ . — 5^

1 76 Lives of the Saints. iMay m

his conduct in anathematizing the Council of Constanti-
nople against the Monothelites, during the brief reign of
Philippicus. But Constantine was dead, and the famous
Gregory II. sat in the throne of S. Peter.

Anastasius deposed John from his patriarchial seat, and
elevated to it S. Germanus, bishop of Cyzicus, with whose
orthodoxy he was satisfied, though Germanus had played
an unmistakeable Monothelite part under the late emperor.
But at this age men were too ready to shift their opinions
to accord with the views of the reigning sovereign, and if
Germanus proved compliant in one instance, he held
firmly in another. Germanus was the son of the patrician
Justinian, who had been compromised in the murder of
Constans II., the father of Constantine Pogonatus. For
this cause the emperor had executed Justinian and made
an eunuch of Germanus.

In a mutiny of the fleet, an obscure and reluctant officer
of the revenue was forcibly invested with the purple, and
after a reign of a year and two months, Anastasius re-
signed the sceptre, to be followed speedily into the
retirement of the cloister by Theodosius II., who had
supplanted him, and who in turn yielded his throne to
Leo III. It is agreed that Leo was a native of Isauria,
and that Conon was his primitive name. The writers,
whose vindictive satire is praise, describe him as an
itinerant pedlar who drove an ass with some paltry
merchandise to the country fairs. A more probable
account relates the migration of his father from Asia
Minor to Thrace, where he exercised the lucrative trade of
a grazier. Leo's first service was in the guard of Justinian,
where he attracted the notice and awakened the jealousy
of the tyrant. From Anastasius he received the command
of the Anatolian Legions, and by the suffrage of the soldiers
he was raised to the empire in 717, and occupied the

throne twenty-four years.
^- *

-»J«

'^-

Mayi2.] ^. Germamts. 177

Leo had reigned for ten years before he declared his
hostiUty to images. But his persecuting spirit had betrayed
itself in the compulsory baptism of the Jews and the
Montanists in Constantinople.

At the close of these ten years in the reign of Leo, in
the summer of 726, a, volcanic explosion at sea, in the
Archipelago, between the islands Thera and Therasia,
accompanied by volumes of smoke and fire, and the
elevation of a new island, was regarded by Leo as a signal
of Divine wrath against those who venerated images. An
edict was fulminated interdicting the veneration of images.
His adviser was said to be a certain Besor, a Syrian
renegade from Christianity, deeply imbued with Mahom-
medan antipathies.

The first edict prohibited paying any sort of religious
reverence to statues and pictures which represented the
Saviour, the Virgin, and the Saints. The statues and those
pictures which hung upon the walls were to be raised to a
greater height, so as not to receive pious kisses, or other
marks of veneration. This edict was followed, at what
interval it is difficult to determine, by a second, of far
greater severity. It commanded the total destruction of
all images, the whitewashing the walls of the churches.
But if the first edict was everywhere received with the
most determined aversion, the second maddened the vast
mass of the people, the clergy and the monks. In the
capital the presence of the emperor did not in the least
overawe the populace. An imperial officer had orders to
destroy a statue of the Saviour in a part of Constantinople
called Chaleopratia. The thronging multitude saw with
horror the officer mount the ladder. Thrice he struck with
impious axe the holy countenance, which had so benignly
looked down upon them. Then the endurance of the
people broke down, horror and indignation over-

VOL. V. 12
■ *

>^- — ^^

lyS Lives of the Saints. [May^.

mastered them. Some women shook the ladder, and the
officer fell and was beaten to death with clubs. The
emperor sent an armed guard to suppress the tumult; and
a frightful massacre took place.

This was the beginning of a savage persecution. The
pious were punished with mutilations, scourgings, exile and
confiscation.

The aged Germain now spoke out. He wrote three
letters which are extant. In the first, addressed to John,
bishop of Synnada, he said, " We do not adore the works
of men, but we believe the holy martyrs are worthy of all
honour, and we ask their intercession. To God alone
does Christian faith, worship and adoration belong, as it
is written : — Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and
Him only shalt thou serve. To Him alone is our doxology
and our worship addressed. God forbid that we should
worship the creature with the worship due to the Creator.
When we prostrate ourselves before emperors and princes,
it is not giving them the adoration due to God. The
prophet Nathan fell on his face before David, who was
only a man, and was not blamed therefor. And when we
allow images, it is not to diminish the perfection of Divine
worship, for we make no representations of the invisible
and incomprehensible Divinity. But as the Son of God
condescended to become Man for our salvation, we make
representations of His human form to fortify our faith, to
assure us that He assumed our real, veritable nature, and
not a phantom form, as heretics declare. We salute
images and render them suitable honour and reverence, as
recalling to us the Incarnation. We also make representa-
tions of Christ's Holy Mother, to show that she being
a woman of like nature with us, conceived and brought
forth Almighty God. We admire the martyrs, prophets,
and all other holy servants of God, and we paint their

May 13.] 6". Germanus. 179

likenesses as memorials of their courage and of the service
they rendered to God. Not that we pretend they par-
ticipate in the Divine Nature, nor do we give them the
honour and adoration due to God, but we show our affection
for them, and by painting them fortify the faith of men in the
verities they have heard through their ears. As we are
men of flesh and blood, we need such assistance." He
entrusted this letter to Constantine, bishop of Nacolia, to
take to his metropolitan, John; but Constantine was
resolved to trim his sails to the breeze that blew from court,
and suppressed the letter.

S. Germanus then wrote him a letter of remonstrance.
He also wrote to Thomas, bishop of ClaudiopoKs, who had
declared himself against images. From this letter may be
extracted the following striking passage : —

" Pictures are an abridged history, and all tend to the
sole glory of the Celestial Father. When we show rever-
ence to the representation of Jesus Christ, we do not adore
the colours applied to the wood ; we are adoring the invisible
God who is in the bosom of the Father ; and Him we
worship in spirit and in truth."

He also wrote to Pope Gregory II., who replied to him
in a long letter, in which he congratulated him on the
vigour with which he had defended Catholic tradition.

The enterprise of Leo the Isaurian against sacred art
occasioned a revolt of the people of Greece and the
Cyclades, who armed a fleet under the command of
Agallian and Stephen, which sailed for Constantinople,
but was completely defeated on the i8th of April, 727.
Agallian was cast into the sea, and Stephen was decapi-
tated.

This success encouraged Leo, and he made fresh efforts
to gain the patriarch Germanus, who had declared against
the rebels, although they had sailed under the plea of a
iji *

^ _ - . — -^

1 80 Lives of the Saints. [Mays,.

holy war. The emperor sent for him, spoke flatteringly to
liim, and urged him to yield.

"Sire," said the aged patriarch, "we have received
orders to remove our images; but let the persecutor be
Conon, not Leo." " True," said the emperor, "I received
the name of Conon at my baptism." " God forbid, sire,"
said Germanus, " that thy reign should see this accursed
work carried out. It is a war not against images, but
against the reality of the Incarnation."

At the opening of the year 730 Leo held a council of
those who favoured his views, and endeavoured to force
the patriarch to subscribe its decree against the use of
images and pictures, but he preferred to resign his dignity,
and removing his pall, he turned to the emperor, and
said, " Sire, I may not innovate, nor make an alteration
without the authority of au (Ecumenical Council." And he
retired to the patriarchal palace. The emperor sent officers
to expel him, and the old man, then aged eighty, was
driven forth with blows and insults. He retired to his
paternal mansion after having occupied the see fourteen
years, five months, and three days. In his home he hved
as a monk, and died peacefully about the year 732.

It -^

May 13.] S. Glyceria, 1 8 T

May 13.

S. Glyceria, V.M. at Heraclea, in Thrace, cite. a.d. i^^.

S. Onesimus, £. of Soissons, circ. a.d. 360.

SS- Martyrs at Alexandria, in the Church of S. Theonai, a.h 372-

S. Servatus, B. of Tongres and Maastricht, a.d. 384.

S. John the Silentiary, Monk at S. Sabas, in Palestine, a.d. 558.

S. RoLENDA, y. at Gerpines, near Namur, ^th or 8th cent-

S. MoELDAD, Jb. of Monaghan, about ^th cent.

B. Gerard, H. near Florence, a.d, i26'7.

S- Peter Regalate, C. at Jquileria, in Spain, a.d. 1436.

S. GLYCERIA, V. M.
(about a.d. 177.)

[Commemorated on this day by the Greeks, especially at Jerusalem,
also in the Arabic Egyptian Martyrology, the Menology of the Emperor
Basil, the Menaea, and the Modem Roman Martyrology. Authority : —
The Greek Acts, not trustworthy.]

ILYCERIA was a maiden of Trajanopolis, in
Thrace, who refused to obey the edict of the
emperor, and sacrifice to tlie idols. She was
cruelly tortured by order of the governor
Sabinus, being suspended by her hair and beaten. She
was taken to Heraclea, where she was executed.

SS. MARTYRS OF ALEXANDRIA.
(a.d. 372.)

[Modem Roman Martyrology. Authority :— A Letter of Peter, Bishop
of Alexandria, a contemporary, quoted by Theodoret, lib. iv., c. 22.]

After the death of S. Athanasius, one Peter was elected
to fill his place as Patriarch of Alexandria. He had shared
in the labours and afHictions of S. Athanasius, and had

ijf-^ __ — __ . — ^^— ^ ^— — ,<^

^ ^ <^

1 8 2 Lives of the Saints. [May 13.

endeared himself to the people of Alexandria. But the
Emperor Valens was an Arian, and a persecutor, and
Peter was driven from his see, and an Arian named Lucius
was installed in his place, who dispersed and exiled the
hermits of the desert, on account of their inflexible ad-
herence to the faith of Nicaea. He was supported by
Palladius, the governor of the province, a heathen ; but
this was not the first time that heresy and heathenism
combined against the true faith. Palladius, at the insti-
gation of Lucius, attacked the Catholics in their churches,
and the most atrocious crimes were committed. " But,"
says the Bishop Peter, "when I try to speak of them, the
remembrance overcomes me, and draws tears from my
eyes. The people entered the Church of Theonas, singing
the praises of their idols, clapping their hands, and uttering
insults against the Christian virgins which my tongue
refuses to repeat. Would that they had confined them-
selves to words ! But they tore the garments of the virgins
of Christ, whose purity rendered them like angels. They
dragged them in a state of complete nudity about the city,
and treated them in the most wanton and insulting manner,
and with unheard-of cruelty. If any one, touched with
compassion, interfered, he was attacked and wounded.
Many of these virgins were beaten about their heads with
clubs, and expired beneath the blows. Many of the corpses
have not yet been found, to the grief of their parents. A
young man, dressed as a woman, danced upon the holy
altar where we invoke the Holy Ghost, making grimaces to
the diversion of the mob, who laughed immoderately.
Another stripped himself naked and seated himself as
naked as he was born in the episcopal chair. When these
acts of impiety had been perpetrated I left the church."

^— *

May 13.] >S. Sevvatus. i%-\

S. SERVATUS, B. OF TONGRES.

(A.D. 384.)

[Ado, Usuardus, the Belgian Martyrologies, the Modem Roman Mar-
tyrology, Authorities :— The life of S. Servais by Heriger, abbot of
Lobbes, at the end of the loth or beginning of the nth century, and
mention by S. Gregory of Tours. J

It is not known whence S. Servais (Servatus) came. He
was bishop of Tongres, near Maestricht, and was present at
the council of Cologne, held in 346, in which the bishop of
Cologne was deposed for his Arianism. The words used by
S. Servais on that occasion were : " I know for certain what
this false bishop teaches. I know it not from hearsay, but
from having heard him with my own ears. As our dioceses
adjoin, I have often remonstrated with him when he denied
the divinity of Jesus Christ. I have done so in private
and in public, before Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria.
My advice is, that he should no longer be a Christian
bishop, and that they who communicate with him should
not be regarded as Christians." He must have been in the
presence of S. Athanasius when that saint was exiled to
Treves, between the years 336 and 338.

He was present at the council of Sardica in 347, and at
the council of Rimini in 359, in which he long stood out
against the Arians. The bishops of the West there assembled
were told that the Eastern bishops assembled at Seleucia had
accepted the Arian creed as the emperor insisted. This was
most false, but the bishops yielded one after another. Never-
theless, above twenty held out, headed by S. Servais and S.
Phcebadius. of Agen. They were menaced,, but Phcebadius
replied, "Any suffering rather than an Arian creed." The
Emperor Valens, after some days had thus been spent,
equivocated, pretended he was not an Arian, and fire
minority, hoodwinked and wearied out, yielded. But no

j, — — k

* — — —

184 Lives of the Saints. [May 13.

sooner had they returned to their sees, and discovered the
treachery to which they had been victims, than they
vehemently repudiated all sympathy with Arianism.

Whilst S. Servais was engaged, after the council of
Rimini, in confirming the faith of his flock, the Huns broke
into Gaul, ravaging and slaying. He made a pilgrimage to
Rome, and on his way back was taken by the Huns, and
thrown into a dungeon. But a bright light filling his prison
at night, the Huns were frightened and released him, and
he hastened home over the Alps of Savoy and the Vosges.

On his return to Tongres, he informed his people that
they must not expect to escape the ravages of the Huns,
and that he must leave them to seek elsewhere a peaceful
grave. He retired to Maestricht, where he died on May
the 13th, 384.

His relics are preserved in an ancient shrine at Maes-
tricht.

In Art he appears sometimes with an eagle over his
head ; for, according to tradition, one day an eagle sheltered
him from the sun with his expanded wings. But his special
symbol is a silver key, which he is said by popular legend
to have received from S. Peter himself in a vision, and this
key was wrought in heaven by angelic hands.

In truth the key was one of the daves confessionis S.
Petri, which the popes were wont to bestow on special
favourites, and in which particles or filings of the chains 0/
S. Peter were inserted. Pope Pelagius II. gave such a key
of pure gold to the Lombard king, and S. Gregory the
Great sent others to Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch,i the
ex-consul John," to the Bishop Columbus,^ to Childebert,
king of the Franks,* and to Reccared, king of the

^"Amatores autem vestri B, Petri Apostoli vobis claves transmisi qucE super
asgros positffi multis Solent miraculis coruscare." S. Greg. Magn. Opera, lib. i./
Ep. 6.

"Lib. i., Ep. 31. s Lib. iii., Ep. 48. »Lib. iv., Ep. 6.

May 13.] 6". John the Silentiary. 185

Visigoths.^ These keys were called daves confessionis S.
Petri, because they were copies of the key which unlocked
the crypt in which the body of the Prince of the Apostles
lay, in the old basilica of S. Peter.^

Pope Vitalian in 657, to take one more instance, sent
such a key containing a filing of the chains of S. Peter, to
the queen of Oswy, king of Northumberland.^ Such a
key is preserved to this day at Lie'ge, and others in the
Middle Ages in Corsica and Laon. The workmanship of
the key at Maestricht may belong to the 4th cent., but it
certainly has all the appearance of belonging to the nth.
It appears to have been gilt*

At Maestricht are preserved also the drinking cup and
the staff of the saint, as also are his bones in one of the
most splendid reliquaries of the Middle Ages that have
been preserved to the present day.

S. JOHN THE SILENTIARY, MK.

(A.D. 558.)

[Roman Martjnrology. In the Menology of the Emperor Basil on Dec.
8th ; but in the Synaxarium of the Church of Constantinople on Dec. 7th.
Authority : — His life by Cyril the Monk, who wrote the lives of S. Sabas
and S. Euthymius ; he was id. contemporary and an eye-witness of most
that he describes.]

S. John the Silentiary was born at Nicopolis of
Armenia, on Jan. 8th, 454, of an honourable and wealthy
family. Upon the death of his parents he divided the

1 Lib. ix, Ep. 122, 2 s, Greg. Turon. "De Gloria Martyrum," lib. i. c. 28.

SBede, lib. iii., c. 29,
*The remark of the Pere Giry is too sublime in its superiority to common sense
and critical acumen to be passed over. " There are authors who think this key
was given to S. Servais by the pope, and that it was one of those keys in which
were inserted a filing of the chains of S. Peter. This is a. conjecture which has
some plausibility, but as it is supported by no proof, it is not to be compared to
the tradition of the churches of Maestricht and Liege, which declares that this key
was given by S. Peter himself."

iji __ -^

1 86 Lives of the Saints. [May 13,

inheritance among his brothers, and shortly after retired
into a cell with ten companions. He was then aged
eighteen, and he spent ten years in solitude till he was
drawn from it by the Bishop of Sebaste, who ordained him
Bishop of Colonia. His sister was married to Pasinicus,
governor of the province, a man who exercised tyrannical
rule, and interfered with the bishops and other ecclesiastics
in the discharge of their duties, so that after having been
subjected to intolerable vexations, S. John was forced to
appeal to the emperor against his brother-in-law. As soon
as he had obtained redress, he suddenly disappeared from
his see, having wearied of its cares and responsibilities,
and secreted himself in the laura of S. Sabas, in Pales-
tine, where he was employed first in carrying stones for the
labourers engaged in building, and afterwards as cook.
Many years after, S. Sabas, admiring his virtue, brought him
to Jerusalem to be ordained priest by the Patriarch Elias,
but John asked to speak privately to the patriarch, and he
told him that he was already a bishop. Elias then spoke
to S. Sabas, saying, " John has revealed to me something
which makes it impossible for me to ordain him."

The venerable abbot burst into tears, thinking that the
monk had fallen into some sin, and he spent many nights
in prayer for him, till it was revealed to him that his con-
jecture was erroneous, and then going to John he was told
aU. John afterwards retired into a hovel built against the
face of a rock in the desert, and there he planted a fig,
and it grew in the face of the crag and overshadowed his
hut, and this caused much astonishment, for no figs grew
in the garden of the laura. Now when an incursion of the
Saracens filled all the land with fear, the monks sent to
him to take refuge in their fortified monastery; but he
refused, saying, " If God will not protect me, why should I
care?" And all the while the Saracens were devastating

^:TiV&Qr-^^ B.GERARJJVS^-

May 13.

* — >J<

May 130 ^. Rolenda, V. 187

the land a lion paced in the glen, or couched on the rock
before his cell, and none dared approach.
He died at the age of one hundred and four.

S. ROLENDA, V.
(7TH OR 8th cent.)

[Belgian Martyrologies and the Scottish Menology of Dempster.
Authority : — A life written in the 12th century, based on tradition, wholly
fabulous.]

S. Rolenda is said to have been the daughter of a
I'rank prince named Desiderius; and her hand to have
been sought by a Scottish prince then serving in the court
of the Frank monarch. In alarm the maiden fled to
Cologne, where she purposed joining S. Ursula and her
party of eleven thousand virgins, who she heard were on
their way to Rome. But she fell sick and died at Gerpines,
a vUlage on a stream flowing into the Sambre above Namur.

The relics are preserved at Gerpines and attract
numerous pilgrims, and she is invoked against gravel and
lumbago. A procession with her rehcs takes place annually
on Whitsun Monday.

B. GERARD, H.

(a.d. 1267.)
R GERARD of Villamagna, brother of the order of S. John
of Jerusalem, became a hermit at Florence during the latter
years of his life. The cut is from the Bollandists (AA. SS.
May, vol. vii.), and exhibits also another Saint of the same
order by which the similar habit of the hermit is shown.
The beard and bare feet of B. Gerard indicate the hermit
life which he embraced. He is represented holding a bunch
of cherries, in allusion to a story related of him by his

chroniclers.

ij, — ij,

^— *

1 88 Lives of the Saints, [Mayr^.

May 14.

SS. Victor and Corona, MM. in Egypt, circ. a.d. 177.

S. Pontius, M. at Cimella, 7iear Nice, in France, circ. a.d. 257.

S. Boniface, M. at Tarsus, in Cilicia, a.d. 290.

S. Pachomius, Ab. at Tabenna, in Egypt, a.u. 349.

S. Theodore, H. at Tahenna^ a.d. 36S.

S. AmpeliuSj H. at Genoa, ^ih cent.

S. Boniface, B, of Fere7ito, in Italy, bth cent.

S. PoMPONius, B. 0/ Naples, circ. a.d. 536.

S. Carthagh, B. 0/ Lisinore, a.d. 637. ^

S. Eremeert, B. 0/ Toulouse, afterwards Mk. of Fontenelle, after a.T}. 6S0

S. Paschal I., Pope q/Jloyne, a.d. 824.

S. Hallvard, M. in Norway, iith cent.

S. PONTIUS, M.

(about A.D. 257.)

[Usuardus and the Roman Martyrology. Authority : — His life by
Valerius, his companion, an eye-witness of his passion. This has probably
gone through amplifications, but in the main it is authentic. One mark of its
authenticity is that there are no anachronisms in the names of popes and
emperors, as is invariably the case in forgeries. At the same time it is un-
questionable that late hands have done much to trick it out with exaggera-
tion, long speeches, and marvels.]

|T Rome lived a senator named Marcus and his

wife Julia. One day when she was approaching

her confinement, she visited the temple of Jupiter

to ask an augury concerning the child that was to

be bom; then the priest, veiling himself and puttingthe sacred

fillet about his head, pretended to become filled with the spirit

of prophecy, and hepredicted that ruin should befall the temple

through the unborn child. Julia ran home in horror, and struck

herself with stones in hopes of destroying the child, and when,

notwithstanding, it was born shortly after, she would have

exposed it, had not her husband interfered, with the sensible

remark that Jupiter was the one concerned in the child's

* -*

May 14.] 6". Pontius. 189

living, and if the child was likely to be obnoxious to him
he would have slain it. As the boy grew up he was sent
to a tutor. One morning very early he left his bed to
seek his master, when, passing a house, he heard sweet
strains of music issuing from it, subdued, but swelling and
falling in cadence, like the voices of many people softly
chanting. He crept to a place where he could hear the words,
and they were these, "Wherefore shall the heathen say;
Where is now their God ? As for our God, He is in heaven ;
He hath done whatsoever pleased Him. Their idols are
silver and gold ; even the work of men's hands. They have
mouths and speak not ; eyes have they, and see not.
They have ears, and hear not; noses have they, and
smell not. They have hands, and handle not ; feet have
they, and walk hot; neither speak they through their
throat. They that make them are like unto them ; and so
are all such as put their trust in them. But thou house of
Israel, trust thou in the Lord ; He is their succour and
defence." 1 As the boy stood hstening to these solemn
words before the house over which the morning star was
paling, in the fresh air of day-break, the light of conviction
illumined his soul. This that he now heard was so
different from the miserable popular idolatry of the masses,
so different also from the abstract philosophy of his master,
that he struck with hand and foot at the door, eager to hear
more. The doorkeeper looked out at a window, and then
turning to S. Pontianus, the bishop of Rome, who was within,
said, " It is only a little fellow kicking at the door." " Well,
open and let him in," said the pope, " for of such is the
kingdom of heaven." So he was admitted and led up into
the chamber where the sacred mysteries were celebrated,
and when the sacred rite was over, he went to Pope Pon-
tianus and said, with boyish confidence, " Teach me that

^ Ps. cxiii. (A.V. cxv. 2-9. J
I^ *

^ ^

190 Lives of the Saints. [May 14.

wonderful song about ' our God who is in heaven, who
hath done whatsoever pleaseth Him,' that I heard you
singing, not long ago. And," added he, "it is all so true.
You sang that they had feet and walked not. I know that
they not only cannot move, but that people are afraid of their
being blown over by the wind, or stolen, or knocked
down by accident, and I have myself seen how they are
fastened into their pedestals with melted solder or lead."

Then the blessed Pontianus was astonished at the
quickness of the boy, and he asked him, "Are your mother
and father alive?" The boy Pontius answered, "My
mother died two years ago, but father and grandfather are
alive." "Are they heathens or Christians?" "Christians
they certainly are not." " Well, my child," said the bishop,
" God in his own good time may enlighten thy father as
He is illumining thee." And for three hours he instructed
him in the rudiments of the faith.

On his return home, Pontius was far too full of what he had
heard to keep it to himself, so he went to his father and
told him all. The father, Marcus, a sensible man, listened
with interest, and eventually became a catechumen with his
son, and was baptized. After his death, which took place
when Pontius was aged twenty, the young man had liberty
to do what he would with his goods, and he gave much to
the bishop to be distributed among the poor. He saw
Pontianus suffer a martyr's death, and he lived in close
familiarity with the humane Emperor Philip, with whom
and his son Philip he had many opportunites of con-
versing on the subject of Christianity. On the accession
of Valerian and Gallienus to the throne, Pontius fled to
Cimella, a city near the present Nice in the south of
France, under the shelter of the Maritime Alps. There he
was arrested by the governor, Claudius, who exposed him
to bears in the amphitheatre, but the bears hugged to death

•? -^

tI-( ■ . _)5,

May 14 J iS. Boniface. rgi

two " venatores," men armed with whips and goads who
tried to urge them against the martyr, and then lay down
on the sand in the sunshine, without attempting to injure
him. Seeing this, the governor ordered him to be decapi-
tated, and his order was promptly executed.

His relics are said to be preserved in the monastery of
S. Pontd, near Nice ; but his head was anciently shown at
Marseilles.

S. BONIFACE, M.

(a.d. 290.)

[Roman Martyrology ; in the Greek Menaea on December 19th. Au-
thority : — The Acts, which may in the main be true, but which are
certainly not ancient and trustworthy as a whole.]

Boniface was a debauched, drunken fellow, a servant
of Aglae, daughter of the pro-consul Acacius, who lived on
terms of undue familiarity with his mistress, in the reigns
of Diocletian and Maximus. But one day, at Tarsus, he
saw some Christian martyrs hung up over a slow fire by
their hands tied behind their backs ; others with their flesh
torn off by scrapers ; others with their hands cut off.
The sight of their constancy and faith so overpowered him,
that he ran up to them and besought them to pray for him,
for he was a miserable sinner. Then feeling the pricking
of his conscience, and an earnest resolve to submit to any
torment to redeem the past, he delivered himself up to the
governor, and declared himself to be a Christian. He was
tortured in the most excruciating manner, and was then
decapitated when more dead than alive, and so received
the baptism of blood.

Relics in the church of S. Alexis at Rome.

5, .(^

192 Lives of the Saints. [MayM.

S. PACHOMIUS, AB.

(A.D. 349.)

[The Menology of the Emperor Basil on May 6th ; the Men^a on May
iSth. Bade, Usuardus, Ado, Nctker, and the Roman Martyrology on
May 14th. Authority : — His life written by a monk of Tabenna, his
disciple, who had seen him, as he says himself. Sozomen also praises
S. Pachomius in his Eccl. History, lib. iii., c. 14.]

S. Pachomius was the child of heathen parents in
Upper Egypt. He was first attracted to Christianity by
the charity of the Christians towards himself and some
young companions when they had been taken by conscrip-
tion to serve in a war that was being carried on. When
the war was at an end, and he was released from military
service, he placed himself under instruction, and was
baptized. Shortly after he made the acquaintance of the
hermit Palsemon (January nth), and became his disciple.
After some years S. Pachomius felt himself called to found
a monastery at Tabenna; he communicated his purpose to
S. Palsemon, who at once followed his disciple and took
up his abode with him.

The rule of S. Pachomius was very simple. Each
brother was allowed to eat and drink as much as he
thought fit. All were required to work, but the work was
to be adapted to their ages and constitutions.

The monks were to live three together in separate cells,
but all were to assemble in a refectory for their meals, and
in the church for divine service.

They were to wear linen nightshirts when they went to
bed, and white girded goatskins night and day; when
they approached the altar to communicate they were to
come in their hoods, and with ungirded loins, without their
goatskins. They were not to lie flat on their backs in
sleeping, but in chairs with sloping backs. They were to
be classified according to their proficiency, each class to

ii< . ji,

IN FESTO BEATE MARIA VIRGINIS TITULO AUXILIUM

CHEISTIAMORUM.

li'roin the Vienna ]«lissal.

May 14.

5* 1=&

May 14. .5. Pachomius. 193

be designated by a letter of the alphabet. Thus I repre-
sented the very docile, Z the very troublesome.

The number of his disciples grew so rapidly that the
monastery of Tabenna would not contain them all, and he
was obliged to found others, one in a desert called Pabau,
another at Thebeu, another at Panes, another at Men,
another at Pachnum or Chnum, on the Nile, near Latopolis.
All these foundations were in Upper Egypt, and not far
from one another. Latopolis is the modern Esneh. The
situation of Tabenna is not so certain. It was probably
near Dendera.

Many stories of the patience of Pachomius are related.
One or two must suffice. An abbot of another monastery
had been pestered by one of his monks, who solicited the
office of steward to the monastery. The abbot refused,
and thinking that the name of Pachomius would carry
weight, said what was untrue, that he was acting on the
advice of that father. The monk, very angry, rushed to
Tabenna, and caught Pachomius engaged with some of his
brethren in building a wall. He stormed at him for his
interference, to the great surprise and no small perplexity
of the abbot. S. Pachomius, however, did not lose his
temper, but said meekly, as he proceeded with his build-
ing, " I grieve, my brother, that I have done wrong ; I
apologize to thee and ask pardon of God." A moment
after the superior of the monk came up, much ashamed of
himself, and told S. Pachomhis what was the meaning of
this scene. The old abbot mused a moment, and then
said, " The fellow has set his heart on the office, and if it
be refused him any longer, he wUl fall into spite and
passion, therefore let him have his desire." And it was so,
that when the monk was offered the stewardship, he saw
how wrong he had been, and refused to accept it.

S. Pachomius was gifted with great discretion in ruling his

VOL. V. ^3

monks. A monk had platted two mats one day instead of one,
and that others might admire his industry, he hung up his
palm-mats before his door in the sight of the community.
" Take the mats to the refectory and into the church," said
Pachomius, " and then none can possibly fail to see how
industrious you have been." Then the monk was ashamed,
and saw that he had given way to vanity. Another monk
fasted excessively, and said very long prayers. Pachomius
feared that he did it out of self-esteem rather than out of
genuine piety, so he bade him eat the vegetables and soup
that were served in the refectory, and not pray except in
church with the rest of the brethren. The monk was
highly indignant and refused to obey. " I thought there
was no true humility in his asceticism," said the abbot ;
" now run, Theodore, to his cell and see what he is about."
His disciple Theodore went, and found the monk praying,
so he returned and told his master. " Go and interrupt
him several times." So Theodore went, and presently
disturbed him again. At last the monk's temper got the
better of him, and swearing at Theodore, he caught up a
stick and plunged after him to chastise him. "Ah !" said
Pachomius, ''now it is quite evident that he needs true
conversion."

A monk repeatedly besought Pachomius to pray for him,
that he might become a martyr. The abbot reproved him.
" This is mere pride," said he. But the man continued to
entreat him. ," Go thy way, my son," said Pachomius, one
day; "behold now is the accepted day, behold now is
the day of salvation ; nevertheless, be not high-minded, but
fear !" and he sent him out to the banks of the Nile to cut
rushes. Whilst he was thus engaged some Blemmians, a
negro people apparently, took him, and carrying him off,
with his hands tied behind his back, to the mountains,
placed him before a fetish, and insisted on his adoring it.

* 4f

*■ *

May 14.] S. Pachomius. 195

He refused, but the negroes howled and danced round him,
brandishing their spears and swords, and then all his cour-
age gave way, and he prostrated himself before the image.
After this he was let go, and he returned to the monastery
overwhelmed with shame.

One day Pachomius visited one of his monasteries.
Then a young brother complained to him that no salads
and cooked vegetables had been served on table for a Ions'
time,- but only bread and salt. The venerable abbot went
into the kitchen, where he found the cook platting mats.
"How is this?" exclaimed the saint. "What is there for
dinner to-day?" " Bread and salt." "But the rule com-
mands vegetables and soup." " My father, so many of the
monks deny themselves anything except bread, and it is
such trouble preparing the vegetables and the salads, and
besides it is so disappointing to see them come from table
almost untouched, when I have spent so much time in
getting them ready, that I thought I could employ my time
more profitably in making mats."

"And, prithee, how long has the table been without
vegetables on it." "Some two or three months." "Bring
all the mats thou hast made here and show me them." So
the cook with no small pride produced them, and pUed
them up before the abbot. Then Pachomius plucked a
brand from the fire and set them all in a blaze. "What !"
said he, "withdraw from some of the monks the oppor-
tunity of denying themselves, and from those who are
sickly the necessary delicacies, and from the young their
needful support, because it gives thee a little trouble, and
because thou thoughtest thou couldest do better platting.
To obey is better than sacrifice."

He was wont every day to preach to his monks ; but
one day he told his disciple Theodore, who was only
twenty years old, and looked much younger, to take his

^- — — ^

196 Lives of the Saints. [Mav,4.

place. Some of the older monks were surprised and in-
dignant at seeing a beardless stripling rise up to instruct
them, and they stalked out of the church with a con-
temptuous shrug of the shoulders. The abbot sent for
them. "My sons;" said he, "you turned your backs — I
beg you to bear it well in mind — upon the Word of God.
Despise no man's youth. I listened, and my soul was
comforted."

Having built a handsome church and adorned it with
pillars, he entered it, when complete, with some of his
monks, and was suddenly aware of a spirit of pride rising
in his heart at the beauty of the building that had risen
from his designs, and under his supervision. "Quick,"
called he to his companions, "get ropes and pull these
pillars a little out of the perpendicular, to tease my eye
whenever I enter this house of God."

A plague broke out in the monastery of Tabenna, and
carried off a hundred of the monks. S. Pachomius was
himself attacked, and died in the fifty-seventh year of his
age and the thirty-fifth of his monastic life.

S. CARTHAGH, OR MOCHUDA, B. OF LISMORE.
(a.d. 637.)

[Tallaght and other Irish Martyrologies ; also the Anglican Martyr-
ology of Wytford. Greven in his additions to Molanus, on May 13th ;
so also Canisius in his German Martyrology, and Ferrarius in his
General Catalogue of the Saints, but the Irish Martyrologies and the
BoUandists on the 14th. Authority : — Two lives, ancient, but long subse-
quent to S. Carthagh, and based on tradition.]

S. Carthagh of Lismore is sometimes called S. Carthagh
the Younger, to distinguish him from his master, S. Car-
thagh the Elder. In all probability it is a mistake to call
him Carthagh, for his baptismal name seems to have been

May 14.] S. CaHkagh, or Mochicda. 197

Chudd (Cuddy), and S. Carthagh, his master, called him
Mochuda, or My Cuddy, and as he was often termed
S. Carthagh's Mochuda, to describe him as a disciple of
that saint, this led to his being supposed to have borne the
same name as his master.

He was a native of Kerry, and is said to have been of
noble family. Yet we find him, when a boy, employed in
tending his father's swine near the banks of the river
Maug, when Providence put him in the way of being intro-
duced to the holy Bishop Carthagh the Elder. It is related
that, as the bishop and some of his clergy were passing
through the neighbourhood chanting psalms, which they
probably accompanied on harps, they were overheard by
the young Cuddy, who was so delighted with their psal-
mody, that forsaking his swine, he followed them as far as
the monastery of Thuaim, in the barony of Barrets (county
Cork), and there he remained the night. He did not
enter the monastery, but unknown to the bishop and the
monks, remained outside near the chamber allotted to the
bishop's party, listening to them, as they sang till the hour
of sleep. In the meantime Moeltuili, the chief, uneasy at
Mochuda not returning in the evening with his herd of
swine, sent his servants in all directions to seek him, and
far on in the night he was found crouched under the walls
of the monastery. He was brought to the castle of Moel-
tuili, who next day asked him what had induced him to
run away and desert his charge.

" My lord," answered Mochuda, " I was so bewitched
with the song of the bishop and his clergy, that I followed
them, longing to hear more of, and to learn those sweet
strains." The chief at once sent for the bishop, and bade
him take the young swineherd under his care, and instruct
him in religion. The bishop gladly obeyed, and in due
course promoted Mochuda to the priesthood. This was

^ ^

198 Lives of the Saints. [MayM.

probably about the year 580. Mochuda then constructed a
cell, called Killtulach, somewhere not far from Maug; but he
did not remain there long ; for, we are told, he went thence
to Bangor, to place himself under the direction of S.
Comgall, and, after having made some stay there, he
returned to Kerry, where he laboured as a missionary
priest. Next we find him visiting S. Molua of Clonfert-
molua, and afterwards Colman-elo, with whom he wished
to remain, but the saint advised him to form an establish-
ment for himself at a place not far distant, called Trathyne,
in Westmeath. S. Mochuda acted as he was directed, and
there built a monastery, which soon became celebrated.
He drew up a rule for the direction of his monks, who
flocked to him from all quarters, and at length he had as
many as eight hundred and sixty-seven under his charge.

Whilst abbot of Rathyne he was consecrated bishop.
In 630 he was expelled with all his monks by Blathmac,
the prince of that district, and he went to Drumcuillin (in
the barony of English, adjoining Munster), the monastery
of S. Barrindeus, and having stopped there a while, he
proceeded to Saighir, and then to Roscrea, and thence to
Cashel, where he was kindly received by the king, Failbhe
Fland, who offered him a place for erecting a monastery,
and whom he cured of an inflamed eye. Declining this
ofier, the saint went to Ardfinan, and there erected a cell,
but shortly after Moelochtride, prince of Nandesi, made
him a grant of the district in which Lismore is situated.
Thither he moved, and there he founded a monastery and
a see, and the place becoming populous, acquired the
name of Lismore (Liosmor, the great village.) Shortly
after he had completed his establishment, he died, having
spent the last eighteen months of his life in retirement, in
a lone portion of the valley to the east of the town. He
was buried at Lismore, of which he was the first bishop.

* 3(

May 14.: S. Paschal I. 199

S. PASCHAL I., POPE.
(a.d. 824.)

[Roman Martyrology. Authorities : — His life by Anastasius the
Librarian, almost o. contemporary, and mention in Eginhard's Annals,
Thegan's life of Louis the Pious, and the anonymous author, commonly
called the Astronomer, in his life of the Emperor Louis the Pious, all
contemporary writers.]

Pope Leo III. and the Romans had been in constant
feud ; and he was obliged to appeal to Charlemagne to
support him against his rebellious vassals. A conspiracy-
was formed in 815 to depose Pope Leo and to put him to
death. Leo attempted to suppress the tumult with un-
wonted vigour ; he seized, and publicly executed the
conspirators. The city burst into rebellion. Rome became
a scene of plunder, carnage and conflagration. Intelli-
gence was rapidly conveyed to the court of Louis the
Pious, who had succeeded Charlemagne. He sent his
kinsman Bernard to interpose, and whilst he was in Rom.e
all was quiet. But no sooner had he withdrawn than, on
the illness of Leo, a new insurrection broke out. The
Romans sallied forth, plundered and burned the farms on
the pope's estates in the neighbourhood. They were only
compelled to peace by the armed interference of the Duke
of Spoleto.

The death of Leo, and the impopular election of his
successor, Stephen IV., exasperated rather than allayed
the tumult; and in the third month of his pontificate,
Stephen was compelled to take refuge, or seek protection,
at the feet of the emperor, against his intractable subjects.
In Rome the awe of Louis commanded at least some
temporary cessation of the conflict, and a general amnesty.
Stephen returned to Rome, and died almostly immediately
after, in 817.

On his death. Paschal I. was chosen by the impatient
fji- ■ . -^

clergy and people, and compelled to assume the pontifi-
cate without the Imperial sanction. But Paschal was too
prudent to defy the emperor and entail thereby on his
people a sharp castigation, he therefore sent a deprecatory
embassy across the Alps, throwing the blame of his ele-
vation on the disloyal precipitancy of the people.

Louis sent his son Lothair to be king of Italy and the
Rhine country, invested with imperial dignity. Lothair visited
Rome to be crowned by Pope Paschal, and to reduce the
turbulent Romans to obedience. Hardly, however, had he
recrossed the Alps when he was overtaken with intelligence
of new tumults.

Two men of the highest rank, Theoderic, Primicerius
of the church, and Leo the Nomenclator, had been seized,
dragged to the Lateran palace, blinded, and afterwards
beheaded. The faction opposed to the pope accused him
of being privy to, if not the instigator of this inhuman
act.i Two imperial commissioners, Adelung, abbot of
S. Vedast, and Hunfred, count of Coire, were despatched
with full power from the emperor to investigate the affair.
The imperial commissioners were baffled in their inquiry.
Paschal refused to produce the murderers ; he asserted that
they were guilty of no crime in putting to death men them-
selves guilty of treason ; he secured them by throwing
around them a half-sacred character as servants of the
church of S. Peter. ^ Himself he exculpated by a solemn
expurgatorial oath, before thirty bishops, from all participa-
tion in the deed. The emperor received with respect the
exculpation of the pope, sent him by legates, John, bishop of
Silva Candida, the librarian Sergius, and two others. On

1 " Erant et qui dixerunt, veljnssu vel consilio Paschalis Pontificis rem fuisse
perpetratam." — Eginhard, Annal. sub ann. 823. ''Qua in re ^ama Pontificis
quoque ludebatur, dum ejus consensui totum ascriberetut." — Vita S. Hludovici
imp. auct. anonym.

* Thegan., Vit. Hludovic. apud Pertz, c. 30. Eginhard sub ann.

^ _ ^

May 14.] 6". Paschal I. 201

their return to Rome they found the pope dying, and he
expired on May the nth, 824, after having occupied the
see seven years, three months, and seventeen days.

Paschal has made himself to be remembered by his care
for the churches in Rome, many of which he restored or
rebuilt with great splendour. He discovered the body of
S. Ceciha. From the year 500 there had been a church in
Rome dedicated to the Virgin Martyr, but it had fallen
into decay. Pope Paschal began to rebuild it, but he
hardly hoped to find the body of the saint, thinking it might
have been lost or carried away by the Lombards when
they besieged Rome, under their King Astolf, in 755. But
one morning, as the pope was assisting at matins, he fell
asleep, and saw S. Cecilia in a dream, who told him where
her body lay, in the catacomb of Prastextatus on the
Appian way.

In the persecution of the Iconoclasts at Constantinople,
the patriarch Theodotus, who had been intruded into the
see, wrote to him, but the pope refused to receive his letters.
He received letters from the great champion of the images,
S. Theodore of the Studium, and wrote to Constantinople
in hopes of allaying the violence of the persecutors, but in
vain.

It is not very clear what claims S. Paschal has to his
place among the Saints, as little is known of him that gives
token of his having been at all eminent in sanctity, and in
the case of the murder of the two men in his palace, he
acted with unquestionable indiscretion, to use the mildest
term by which his conduct can be designated. Though he
may not have been in any way guilty of the crime that was
committed, he was certainly wrong in screening the mur-
derers from justice.

-»i<

1^ — ,Jf

202 Lives of the Saints. May ;<,

S. HALLVARD, M.
(a.d. 1043.)

[Scandinavian and Utrecht lUCartyrologies. Authority : — The Utrecht
Breviary; the Saga of Ingi Haraldsonar, that of Sigurd Slembidiakn,'
the Knytlinga Saga, the Elder Olafs Saga him Helga, the Fragra. His-
tor. S. Hallvardi in Langebek, T. III., p. 603, the Histor. Vitse et Passionis
S. Hallvardi, in the same, p. 604, and the Nidaros Breviary, p; 606. The
Icelandic Annals give the date of his death as 1043. J

S. Hallvard, a son of Tomey, sister of Olaf the Fat, king
of Norway,^ was a youth of blithe! countenance, pure morals,
and honourable conduct. He went trading in the Baltic,
and came to the island of Gothland, where he was well
received by a rich man named Botvid, who foretold that
he would be glorious in his future career. Next spring
Hallvard sailed trading, and as he was one day thrusting
his boat from the land, a pregnant woman came running
and implored to be taken into his boat. Seeing her sorely
distressed, he complied. Immediately three men rushed
to the shore, and shouted to him to give her up, as she
had stolen something. "How so?" asked Hallvard.
"She broke into the house of our brother last night."
" How did she break in ? " asked the young man. " She
smashed the iron handle and wrenched out the staple.'''
"No woman could have done that," said Hallvard; "it
must have been the work of a strong man." Then the
poor woman, sobbing, flung herself at his feet, and implored
him not to give her up, swearing that she was innocent.
Then Hallvard, standing in the stern of the boat said, " I
believe that she is guiltless, but guilty or not guilty, she is in
no condition to be hunted and ill-treated. I will pay you

1 These mention only circumstances connected with the fortunes of the shrine
of S. Halvard.

2 The mother of Thorney was the daughter of Gudbrand, the father of Aska
mother of S. Olaf.

May x4,]

S. Hallvard.

203

the value of what you allege she stole." But one of the
men suddenly drew a bow, and shot, and the arrow entered
Hallvard's heart and he sank down in the boat dead.
Then the men rushed into the water, dragged the poor
woman out, hung a stone round her neck, and flung her
into the sea. In 1130 a stone church stood at Oslo, where
the body of the saint was enshrined, and his festival began
to be observed about the same period.

His symbol in Art is a halbert, a play on his name.

/■

^i — . — ^ — ^ n^

204 Lives of the Saints, [May 15,

May 15,

The Coming of SS- Torquatus, Ctesiphon, Secundus, Indalesitis,

CiECiLius, Hesychius, EupHRASius, BB' to Spain, 1st cent.
S. Isidore, M. in Chios, a.d. ago.
SS. Peter, Andrew, Paul, MM., Dionysia, F.M. at Lampsacus,

A-D. 2^0.
SS. Castus, Victorinus, Maximus, and Comp., mm. at Clermont in

France, circ. a.d. 264.
S. SiMPLicius, M. in Sardinia.
S. Primael, P.H. in Brittany, 6th cent.
S. Mantius, M. at E'uora in Portugal,6th cent.'-
SS. Dymphna, r.M., AND Gerebern, P.m. at Gheel in Belgium,

*}th cent.
S. C^SAREA, /^. near Castro in Otranto.
S. Britwin, Ab. of Beverley, a.d. ^33.
S" Rupert, Count Palatini of the Rhine, and B. Bertha, his

Mother, at Bingen on the Rhine, gth cent.
S. Nicolas the Mystic, Pat. of Constantinople, a.d. 935.

SS. TORQUATUS, CTESIPHON, AND OTHERS, BE.

(iST CENT.)

[Usuardus on this day. From him Baronius -adopted this festival into
the Modern Roman Breviary. But in Spain on May ist, except in the
Compostella Missal, where it is observed on May 7th. This is the festival
of the coming of these seven bishops of Spain, but each is separately
commemorated. S. Euphrasius on Jan. 14th, S. Csecilius on Feb. ist^ S.
Hesychius on March ist, S. Ctesiphon on April ist, S. Indalesius on April
30th, S. Secundus on May nth, and S, Torquatus on this day alone.
There is no evidence, except tradition, to authorize the statement in some of
the Martyrologies, that they were ordained by the Apostles Peter and Paul
and sent into Spain, but there is nothing improbable in it. Gregory VII.,
in a letter to King Alphonso, mentions the tradition.]

CCORDING to the legend, which, however, is
of little historical value, these seven bishops
were sent by SS. Peter and Paul to preach the
Word of God in Spain. They arrived at Guadix^

1 Another victim to the Jews. The Acts are fabulous. The Jews try to pei-
Buade Mantius to worship their " false gods I " At Evora on the 21st May.
^ Said to be the most ancient bishopric in Spain. It is in Granada.

* ^

Ij, ^

May IS.] 6"6". Peter, Andrew, Paul, &c. 205

and pitched their tent in a flowery meadow near the city,
and sent servants into Cadiz to buy them food. There
was at that time a great feast of the idols celebrating in
Guadix. The pagans set upon the Christians, and drove
them out of the town and pursued them to the river, when
suddenly there appeared a stone bridge over which they
escaped ; but when the heathens pursued them, the bridge
gave way, and they perished in the waters of the Guadia.
This was the occasion of the conversion of many who saw
the marvel

SS. PETER, ANDREW, PAUL, MM., AND
DIONYSIA, V. M.

(about A.D. 250.)

[Ancient Martyrology, attributed to S. Jerome, Usuardus, Ado, Notker,
and Modem Roman IWartyrology. By the Greeks on separate days, on
May isth, i6th, and i8th. Autliority : —The ancient and apparently
trustworthy Acts.]

At Lampsacus, the modern Chardah in Turkey in Asia, a
young Christian named Peter, comely in body and fair in
soul, was brought before the pro-consul Optimus, who said
to him, "You see the commands of the unconquered
emperors. Sacrifice to the great goddess Venus." " What !"
exclaimed Peter, " to one whose hfe was a scandal, and
who if she now lived in this town you would summon before
your tribunal and order to the lock-up for her dissolute
conduct ! I have no mind to worship a harlot." It was too
true, and the pro-consul felt it was so, and therefore had
recourse to the only argument left to the powerful when
defeated in a contest of words— violence. He ordered
Peter to be attached to a wheel, his legs and arms twisted
among the spokes, and held in place with uron chains.
After he had borne this torture with great patience some

206 Lives of t}ie Saints. [Mayu.

little while, the pro-consul ordered his head to be struck oif.
And so he gained his palm.

After this the pro-consul went to Troas, and there three
Christians were brought before him, named Andrew, Paul,
and Nicomachus. The governor began with Nicomachus,
who, on professing himself to be a Christian, was hung up
by the wrists and tortured. In his agony under the flames,
red hot pincers, and iron rakes, he shrieked out, " Let me
down ; I will sacrifice !" So he was cast down. And
instantly he was seized with madness, and cried, and bit
the dust, and expired foaming.

Then a young girl in the crowd, looking on, named
Dionysia, aged sixteen, cried out, "Oh wretched man! for
one hour's respite to have to endure endless torment."
The pro-consul angrily asked who cried this, and ordered
her to be brought before him. Dionysia, a fair young
maiden, modestly blushing, stood before his tribunal.
Optimus bade her sacrifice, and threatened to have her
burnt alive if she refused. But Dionysia firmly protested
that she was a Christian, and that Christ would give her
constancy to bear every torture he might devise against her.
Then with that horrible, fiendish malice that characterised
many of the heathen governors when dealing with Christian
maidens, he gave her to two young men to take with them
and insult. But Christ was with His martyr, and he sent
an angel, and all night long a white silvery figure, as of
moonshine, stood with a drawn sword of light extended over
the maiden guarding her from harm.

Now when morning dawned the mob assembled, headed
by two priests of Diana, roaring for their prey, and the
pro-consul opened the prison and brought forth Andrew
and Paul, and delivered them to the crowd. With a shout
the mob rushed away, dragging the two Christians with
them to a place outside the walls, where they stoned them.

ij( . ^

^. — ^

May 13,] 6"6". Dymphna and Gerebern. 207

But Dionysia heard the roar of fierce voices, like the roar
of wild beasts, as the crowd rolled down the street, and she
burst forth and ran after the martjnrs, and forced her way
through the crowd and flung herself on the bodies. Then,
when Optimus heard what had taken place, he said,
"Strike off her head," and he was obeyed.

SS. DYMPHNA, V. M., AND GEREBERN, P. M.

(7TH CENT.)

[Roman and Belgian Martyrologies. The translation of S. Dymphna
on Oct. 27th, that of S. Gerebern on July 20th. There is no ancient
account of the martyrdom of these saints, which rests on tradition, and
there can be little doubt that there is much fable in the story — indeed, it
is difficult to conjecture how much of truth is enshrined in the popular
romance of S. Dymphna. i]

Gheel is one of the villages of North Brabant, situated
in the sandy Kempenland, near the ancient town of
Herrenthals. It has that quaint Dutch toy-like character
which marks, more or less, all Flemish villages. It con-
sists principally of one long straggling street, which appears
wider than it really is, because of the unpretending archi-
tecture and low stature of the houses. But it contains two
ancient churches, one of which contains the shrine of S.
Dymphna, and around this shrine the interest and im-
portance of Gheel centres.

In the 7th century, the legend relates, a heathen Irish
prince — according to another version a British king — had a
very beautiful wife, whom he passionately loved. But she
died, leaving behind her a daughter aged sixteen, as

1 There is every appearance of all the earlier part of the story being localization
of the wide-spread household tale "Catskin/' the German **Allerleirauch," Grimm's
Kinder iVfahrchen 65. The story is found among the Highlanders, Neapolitans,
Greeks, Germans, Lithuanians, Hungarians, &c,

* ^ r*

^ — _ )J(

208 Lives of the Saints. [Mayij.

beautiful, and the living image of herself. The maiden had
been baptized, and was called Dymphna.

Now the king had resolved to marry no one who was
not as beautiful as his wife, and one who resembled her, so
that her image might never fade from his heart ; and when
no one else could be found combining these qualities, he
resolved to marry his own daughter. Dymphna, in alarm,
took comisel of her mother's aged chaplain, a priest named
Gerebem, and he advised her to fly the country with him.
She accordingly escaped with the old man in a ship bound
for Antwerp, and landing there, took their course over the
heathy Kempenland to a little chapel dedicated to S.
Martin, where they purposed to serve God in prayer and
in peace, among the simple villagers, and in the face of
calm nature.

Meanwhile the king, having discovered the flight of his
daughter and the aged Gerebern, tracked them in hot
haste, discovered the route they had followed, pursued'
them with an armed force, and arriving at Antwerp, sent
emissaries in every direction, to scour the country, and
report their whereabouts. Halting at a village not far from
Herenthals, called Oolen, a party of these scouts tendered
in payment at the inn where they were lodged, some pieces
of money which the hostess refused to accept, alleging that
she had already been troubled enough with some similar
coins, which she had had the greatest difficulty to pass.
Further enquiries led to the discovery of the place of
refuge of the princess.

No sooner was the king apprised of the fact than he
started for the spot indicated, and entering the house where
his daughter was, commanded her at once to make prepar-
ations for her marriage with him. Dymphna, mildly but
firmly declared that nothing would induce her to consent
to so odious a proposal. The king's rage knew no bounds.

»j(— -)J(

May ISO 6"6'. Dymphna and Gerebern. 209

Dymphna neither lost her composure, nor wavered in her
reply; she fell on her knees and besought the protection
of God. The tyrant, now more exasperated than before,
called to his attendants to seize the maiden and despatch
her. But not one of them moved ; they seemed awed by
the youth, beauty, and innocence of the defenceless victim.
On this the king, no longer able to contain himself, fell
upon her himself, seizing her by her long waving hair, and
mortally wounding Gerebern, who tried to throw himself
between them. With a cry of horror Dymphna sank at
his feet, bathed in the blood of her old and trusted friend,
and as she lay there swooning and helpless, the barbarous
father severed her beautiful head from her body. Having
perpetrated this crime, he hastened from the spot, and
returned to his northern home.

The blood of these saintly martyrs had, however, irri-
gated the ground for some purpose; for, says the legend, so
numerous were the miracles which occurred on the conse-
crated spot, that the circumstance led the inhabitants
to search for their bones among the heather which
covered the place. Excavations were accordingly made,
and, to the surprise of those who directed the operations,
they came upon two magnificent white marble tombs,
adorned with elaborate sculpture and enriched with gilding,
the handiwork of angels, who in the night time had come
down from heaven to enshrine their remains, but which
were in all probability two Roman sarcophagi used for the
purpose, for Roman remains found in the neighbourhood
of Gheel show that the place was occupied by the con-
querors of the world.

Maniacs recovered at the tomb of S. Dymphna, and
thenceforth S. Dymphna became the patroness of the
insane. All the people in the neighbourhood sent their
lunatics to the village which formed itself round S. Martin's

VOL. V. 14

ij, _ -^i

2IO Lives of the Saints. [Mayij.

chapel, believing that proximity to the shrine of the saintly-
virgin would be the means of their recovering their reason.
The sufferers v/ere allowed to board with the peasants,
and as many went away healed, the fame of Gheel
spread.

About the year 1200, a church was dedicated to the
saint, on the spot where the murder had been com-
mitted. This church retains its curious interest. Above
the altar is a figure of S. Dymphna, in a cloud, im-
ploring the divine mercy for several lunatics grouped
around her, their hands and feet bound by golden
chains, similar to those still used to fetter the most violent
maniacs.

Gheel is administered by four doctors and one superin-
tendent. The peasants in the place are all nurses, and
take in one or two patients to board with them. They
have to submit to the inspection of the doctors, and to the
rules imposed by the administration. The lunatic, once
fixed in his abode, becomes one of the family, and many
have been the touching scenes of aflfection, when for some
reason they have been obliged to part. The nurse takes
pride in his charge ; his own children are brought up with
the stranger, and it is affirmed that a Gheelois would be
the last man on earth to lose his senses. The lunatic
gradually takes an interest in those around him ; he sees
them at work in the fields, and gradually follows their
example, being prompted thereto by offers of pocket
money. An energetic lunatic is of great value to his
keeper, and this is the reason why those inclined to be
violent are always preferred. Thus the poor lunatic, im-
prisoned elsewhere, is free at Gheel, though cared for by
the most experienced men. The country air is invigorating,
daily labour checks melancholy, and above all the kindness
of the nurses helps the lunatic to live a peaceful life. His

>^ *

May IS.] vS. CcBsarea. 211

mind, no longer irritated by captivity and asylum rules,
gives fair hope of recovery.'

The relics of S. Dymphna are exhibited at Gheel, in a
handsome shrine, and are carried in procession round the
village, followed by the inhabitants and lunatics, on May
15th, every year ; on each day of the octave, the lunatics
crawl on all fours round and under the shrine nine times,
and the same is done by those who are seeking the inter-
cession of the saint for relatives or friends mentally
afflicted.

The relics of S. Gerebem were translated to the Sons-
beck, near Xanten, on the Rhine, but the head is still
preserved at Gheel.

S. G^SAREA, V.

(date uncertain.)

[Her festival is observed on the Feast of the Ascension, which is move-
able, but which generally falls in May. The story is legendary, and much
resembles that of S. Dymphna, except in its termination.]

The romantic story of S. Csesarea is an Italian version of
the Flemish legend of S. Dymphna, but with elements of
beauty absent from the history of the northern saint.
There was a rich man named Aloysius, of Franca-villa,
near Castro by Otranto, in South Italy, who was married
to a beautiful wife, named Lucretia. On the death of
Lucretia, Aloysius was inconsolable, and resolved on
marrying his daughter Csesarea, who resembled her mother
exactly. The maiden took counsel of a hermit who had
directed her mother, and whose name was Joseph Benigni,
and he advised her to fly. So one night she told her father

IPOT further information about this very original and interesting colony see
Mrs. Byrne's " Gheel, or the City of the Simple." Chapman and Hal), 1869.

% ■- -^

•If ^

212 Lives of the Saints. [May 15.

she was going to have a bath, and she tied two pigeons
together by the legs, and threw them into a tub full of
water. Then he, hearing the splashing in her room, made
by the birds fluttering their wings in the water, had not
bis suspicions aroused. Next morning he found that she
had escaped, and he set off in pursuit. During the night she
had wandered near the sea, and her father saw her in the
distance on the shore. With a shout he pursued her, but
just as he approached, a sea-mist rose and enveloped him,
so that he lost his way, and falling over some rocks, was
drowned, but to her the rock gaped, and she saw a cavern
full of light, and she went in, and the rock closed behind
her.

And there sits the virgin Csesarea in a brilliantly lighted
hall in the sea-cliff, only seen by lucky mortals. On
Ascension Eve, and through the Octave, sometimes those
who are on the shore, or boatmen at sea, perceive the
cave open, and rays of light shoot out from it ; and once a
little boy, straying on the sands, was lost. A year after he
returned to his parents, and told a wondrous tale of a
beautiful maiden in a lighted hall in the rock who had
sheltered him from the rising tide, and in one half hour, as
he thought, passed in her presence, a whole twelvemonth
had rolled away.

Throughout the Octave of the Ascension the people of
the neighbouring country visit the cave of S. C^sarea on
the shore, and carry away water from a fountain strongly
impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen which rises in the
floor. Near the cave is a church dedicated to the saint,
and in it on the Ascension is sung a mass in her honour,
attended by the chapter of the collegiate church of Castro ;
after which a fair is held there.

It is in this case very evident that popular tradition has
attached legendary matter of a mythological character to

* — — — ^

1^ i^

May ISO 6". Britwm. 213

the memory of a virtuous and persecuted maiden, who
probably perished among the rocks at Castro.

S. BRITWIN, AB. OF BEVERLEY.
(a-d. 733-)

[Wytford, in his Anglican Martyrology, printed in 1526 ; Wilson and
Mayhew in theirs ; and the Benedictine Martyrology of Menardus.
Authorities : — Bade in his Eccl, Hist., lib. v., c. 2 ; and John of Tyne-
mouth.l

S. John of Beverley, having resigned the bishopric of
York, retired in his old age to the monastery of Deirwood,
afterwards called Beverley, where his faithful friend Brit-
win was abbot. On the death of S. John he was buried
by the abbot in the porch, and Britwin, or Bertwin, as he
is sometimes called, after having served God faithfully,
and ruled his abbey prudently, was buried in the same
church.

^ — »f(

*- — :l5l

214 Lives of the Saints. [May i6.

May 16.

S- Peregrine, Af.B. of Auxerre, 3rd cent.

S. Carnech, Ab. B. in Ireland circ. ad. 530.

S* Carantog, Ab. in fValeSf 6th cent,

S. FiDOLUS, Ab. at Troyes in France, circ. a.d. 549.

S. Germerius, B. of Toulouse, circ. a.d. 560.

S. Brendan, Ab. of Clonferty a.d. 577.

S. DoUNOLlus, B. of Le Mans, a.d. ^81.

S. H0NORATU&, B. of Amiens, circ. a.d. 600.

SS- Ragnobert B' C, and Zeno, D. C. at Bayeuoc, ijih cent.

S. Ubaldus, B. of Gubbio in Italy a.d. 1160.

S. Simon Stock, Prior in England and at Bordeaux, A.n. 1255.

S. John Nepomucen, M. at Prague, a.d. 1393.

B. Andrew Bobola, S. J-, M. in Poland, a.d. 1657.

S. CARNECH, AB. B.

(about A.D, 530.)

[Irish Martyrologies on March 28th. He is by some supposed to be the
same as S. Carantog, who is said in his hfe to have gone to Ireland, and
to have been there called Camoch or Carnech ; and the Irish historians
are referred to as authorities for his deeds. It is, however, probable that
Carantog and Carnech are distinct personages, and that the English
hagiographers have confounded the two. Little, however, is known of S.
Carnech, and no detailed account of his acts remains.]

|AINT CARNECH was of the princely house
of Orgiel, and maternal grandson of Loarn, the
first chief of the Irish or Scottish settlers in
North Britain. As his mother was sister to
Erka, he was therefore first cousin to the then king of
Ireland, Murchertach. He was abbot and bishop, some-
where to the west of Lough-foyle, and not far from Liffbrd.
Little more is known of him, yet his memory has been
held in high veneration ; and two brothers of his, Ronan
and Brecan, are likewise reckoned among the Irish Saints.

ijf — ij,

May i6.] ^. Carantog. 2 1 5

S. CARANTOG, AB.
(6th cent.)

[Wytford in his Anglican Martyrology ; and the BoUandists. Anciently
venerated in Cardiganshire, where, at Llangrannog, a fair is annually held
on May 27th, which according to the Old Style is the feast of the saint.
Authorities :— John of Tynemouth, and a life in the British Museum,
Cottonian MSS., Vesp. A. xiv.J

Carantog, in Latin Carantocus, son of Coran ab
Ceredig, prince of Cardigan and brother of S. Tyssul, was
the founder of the church of Llangrannog in Cardiganshire.
He is said early to have embraced the religious life, and to
have passed into Ireland, where he preached the Gospel
with great success, being constantly attended by a white
dove, which the people supposed to be a guardian angel.
He returned to Wales and retired into a cave, accompanied
by many disciples. Now the dove fluttered before him
and darted away, and came back, as though desiring him
to follow. So he said, "I will go and see whither the
white bird leads." And it led him through the forest to a
smooth grassy spot, and rested there. Then he said,
" Here will I build a church." And this is the origin of
the church of Llangrannog.

Next follows a wondrous story of how a great serpent
scared and devastated the Carr, a marshy district in Wales.
Now it fell out that Christ cast an altar of a marvellous
colour out of heaven, and Carantog took it; and as he
was conveying it in a boat over the Severn, it fell over-
board into the sea ; and the hermit said, " God will wash
it with His waves to the place where it shall be set up."
And he went to King Arthur, and asked him if he knew
whether his altar had come ashore anywhere. Then
Arthur said, " Bind me the serpent in the Carr and I will
tell thee."

Then the hermit went to the morass and called the

(^ — ' >if

2i6 Lives of the Saints. [May 16,

venomous beast, and it came, and he cast his stole about
it, and brought it into the hall where the king and his
knights sat, and there Carantog fed it. And after that he
let the serpent go, having first commanded it to do no
injury to man or beast. So Arthur gave him up the altar,
which had been washed ashore, and which he had purposed
to make into a table for himself and his knights. And
Carantog set it up and built a church, and it is at the
place called Carrow (Cardigan). Afterwards he went back
to Ireland, and there he died.

S. FIDOLUS, AB.

(a.d. 549.)

[Roman and Gallican Martyrologies. In French lie is called S. Phal,
or .S. FaU. Authorities ; — The Acts of S. Aventine of Troyes, Feb. 4th ;
and his life written some time after his death.]

S. FiDOLus was a youth of noble birth, reduced to
slavery by Thierry, son of Clovis, king of the Franks. As
he was being led chained with other slaves past the abbey
gates of Celle, S. Aventine saw and pitied him, and bought
him. He placed the young man in the cloister, and
educated him as his son. Fidolus became a model of
monastic virtues, and was elected abbot on the death of
S. Aventine. He died in 549. Since 1791, the relics of
S. Phal have rested in the church of S. Ande-les-Troyes.
The parish church of S. Phal also possesses some portions.

ij,_ f^

^ . ^

May i6.] S. Brendan. 2 1 7

S. BRENDAN, AB. OF CLONFERT.
(a.d. 577.)

[Irish Martyrologies. Authorities :— A life written by Augustine Mac
Gradin, in 1403. Also an account of his voyage in the lite of S. Malo,
written by Sigebert of Gembloux, about the year 1100, from Breton
traditions. The legend of the Voyage of S. Brendan was very popular
in the Middle Ages. A Latin account in prose of the nth cent., and a
French prose, one of the 12th, have been published by M. Jubinal, "La
Legende Latine de S. Brandaines." Two old English versions have been
edited by Mr. Thomas Wright for the Percy Society, vol. xiv. One is in
verse, and of the earUer part of the 14th cent., the olher is in prose, and
was printed by Wynkyn de Worde, in his edition of the ' ' Golden
Legend," 1527, Also " Vita S. Brendani, ex MSS. Cott. Vesp. A. xix."
Eccl. Bees., Llandovery, 1853.]

The accounts we have of this great man are extremely
confused. In the first place, opinions differ as to the place
of his birth. Some writers make him a native of Con-
naught ; but this is a mistake founded on his having
erected a monastery at Clonfert, in which he spent the
latter part of his life, and whence he got his name, Brendan
of Clonfert, in contradistinction to another Brendan, less
famous, who is called Brendan of Birr.

According to the most ancient and trustworthy authori-
ties he was born in Kerry. His father was Finlog, of the
distinguished family of Hua Alta. Brendan came into the
world in the year 484, and is said to have received the first
rudiments of liis educution under a bishop Ercus, who was,
perhaps, the celebrated bishop of Slane, and who, being of
a Munster family, might have been connected with that of
Brendan. How long Brendan remained under his care, it
is impossible to discover. Next we are told that, when a
young man, he studied theology under S. Jarlath of Tuam,
who was then old and infirm. This statement cannot be
reconciled with what is known concerning the times in
which Jarlath flourished, and nothing more can be allowed
^ -tj.

^ ■ tjl

2i8 Lives of the Saints. [Mayi6.

than that these two saints, being contemporaries, used to
confer with each other on reUgious subjects, or that
Brendan, although about the same age as Jarlath, had
perhaps attended his lectures for some time.

In somewhat like manner must be understood what is
said of Brendan's having been at the school of Clonard ;
whereas it is very probable that he was not younger than
S. Finnian, who taught there. To atone for the death of a
person who had been drowned at sea, and to which
Brendan feared that he had involuntarily contributed, he is
said to have gone to Brittany, by the advice of S. Itta.
Having visited Gildas, who was then living there, and was
advanced in years, he went to another part of Brittany,
and formed a monastery or school at Aleth, on the main-
land, near the modem S. Malo.^

If there be any foundation of truth, as there probably is,
in the marvellous story of the voyage of S. Brendan, it
must have taken place after his arrival in Brittany, though,
according to Irish accounts it was undertaken from a
port in Kerry, and had terminated before he set out for
Brittany. Although the narrative of his voyages abounds
in fables, yet it may be admitted that Brendan sailed, in
company with some other monks, towards the West, in
search of some island or country that lay beyond wliere the
sun went down into the sea. We have independent
testimony to the fact that the Irish monks were great
voyagers and explorers. The ancient chroniclers of
Iceland relate that when that island was first colonized by
the Norse, in 870, on it were found Irish hermits.^ We
have also extant the work of the Irish monk Dicuil, written

1 See Life of S. John of the Grate. (Vol. II., February, p. 26.)

* Tslendinga Bok, c. i. " Anciently there lived here Christian folk whom the

Norsemen ealled Papar ; they afterwards went away, as they could not endure the

society of heathens, and they left behind them Irish b ooks, bells and pastoral

staved; so that oue could ascertain therefrom that they were Irish." Landnama-

i^. , ^

Ij< . lj(

Mayi6.] ^. Bvcndan. 219

in 825,1 in which he gives an account of a voyage of some
Irish monks in 795 to the Faroe isles. It is also certain
that the Icelanders first heard of the existence of America
in Ireland, and Icelandic historians relate that in a portion
of America, which they describe as far West over the ocean
from Ireland, and which they called Greater Ireland, was a
district colonized by Irish, where Christianity had been
introduced and established.^ And we have accounts of
visits of Icelanders to this district, where, they say an Irish
dialect was then spoken.^

Adamnan, in his life of S. Columba, tells of more than
one such voyage, and of the wondrous things that occurred
in them. Even as late as the year 891, says the Anglo-
Saxon Chronicle : " Three Scots (Irish) came to king
Alfred, in a boat without oars, from Ireland, whence they
had stolen away, because for the love of God they desired
to be on pilgrimage, they recked not whither. The boat
in which they came was made of two hides and a half; and
they took with them provisions for seven days ; and about
the seventh day they came on shore in Cornwall, and soon
after went to king Alfred."

" Out of such wild feats as these," says Mr. Kingsley ;*
"out of dim reports of fairy islands in the West; of the
Canaries and Azores ; of icebergs and floes sailing in the
far northern sea, upon the edge of the six-months' night ;

bok. " But before Iceland was peopled by the Norsemen, there were folk here who
were called by the 'Norsemen Papar ; they were Christians, and it is thought that
they came from the West over the sea, for they left behind them Irish books, bells
and staves, and many other articles from which one might conjecture they were
West-men (Irish)." Thordicus the monk, "De regibus vet. Norwegicis c. 3 (in
Langebek, V.) says much the same.

' Dicuili Liber de mensura orbis terr^, ed. Walckenaer, Paris, 1807.
2 Landnama, II. i-. 22.
Eyrbyggja Saga, c. 64 ; Thorfinus S. Karlsefnis, c. ig ; also a passage from an
ancient MS. quoted in the Antiquitates Americanje, p. 21 ;, 5.
* « The Hermits," MacmiUan, p. 257.

^ — — tf

2 20 Lives of the Saints. [May 16.

out of Edda stories of the Midgard snake, which is coiled
round the world ; out of scraps of Greek and Arab myth,
from the Odyssey or the Arabian Nights, brought home by
vikings who had been for pilgrimage and plunder up the
Straits of Gibraltar into the far East; — out of all these
materials were made up, as years rolled on, the famous
legend of S. Brendan and his seven years' voyage in search
of the ' land promised to the saints.'

"This tale was so popular in the Middle Ages, that it
appears, in different shapes, in almost every early P^uropean
language. It was not only the delight of monks, but it
stirred up to wild voyages many a secular man in search of
S. Brendan's Isle, ' which is not found when it is sought,'
but was said to be visible at times, from Palma in the
Canaries. The myth must have been well-known to
Columbus, and may have helped to send him forth in
search of Cathay.

" The tale, from whatever dim reports of fact it may have
sprung, is truly (as M. Jubinal calls it) a monkish Odyssey,
and nothing more. It is a dream of the hermit's cell. No
woman, no city, nor nation, is ever seen during the seven
years' voyage. Ideal monasteries and ideal hermits people
the ' deserts of the ocean.' All beings therein (save
daemons and Cyclops) are Christians, even to the very
birds, and keep the festivals of the Church as eternal laws
of nature. The voyage succeeds, not by seamanship, or
geographic knowledge, nor even by chance : but by the
miraculous prescience of the saint, or of those whom he
meets ; and the wanderings of Ulysses, or of Sinbad, are
rational and human in comparison with those of S.
Brendan.

"Yet there are in them, as was to be expected, elements
in which the Greek and the Arab legends are altogether
deficient ; perfect innocence, patience, and justice ; utter

►J, ^

^ *

Mayi6.j 6". Brendan. 221

faith in a God who prospers the innocent and punishes the
guilty ; ennobHng obedience to the saint, who stands out a
truly heroic figure above his trembling crew; and even
more valuable still, the belief in, the craving for, an ideal,
even though the ideal be that of a mere earthly Paradise ;
the ' divine discontent,' as it has been well called, which
is the root of all true progress; which leaves (thank God)
no man at peace save him who has said, ' Let us eat and
drink, for to-morrow we die/ "

The story of the sailing of S. Brendan is as follows : — We
shall not follow the adventures of the expedition, which are
fabulous, but narrate only the starting, which may be true.

There came to Brendan one evening a hermit named
Barintus, of the royal race of Neill; and when he was
questioned, he did nought but cast himself on the ground,
and weep and pray. And when S. Brendan asked him to
make better cheer for him and his monks, he told him a
strange tale, — how a nephew of his had fled away to be a
solitary, and had found a delicious island, and established a
monastery therein; and how he himself had gone to seehis
nephew, and sailed with him to the eastward to an island,
which was called "the Land of promise of the Saints," wide
and grassy, and bearing all manner of fruits ; wherein was
no night, for the Lord Jesus Christ was the light thereof;
and how they abode there for a long while without eating
and drinking ; and when they returned to his nephew's
monastery, the brethren knew well where they had been,
for the fragrance of Paradise lingered on their garments
for nearly forty days.

So Barintus told his story, and went back to his cell.
But S. Brendan called together his most loving fellow-
warriors, as he called them, and told them how he had set
his heart on seeking that Promised Land. And he went
up to the top of the hill in Kerry, which is still called

^ -fb

222 Lives of the Saints. [May i6.

Mount Brendan, with fourteen chosen monks ; and there,
at the utmost corner of the world, he built him a coracle
of wattle, and covered it with hides tanned in oak-bark
and softened with butter, and set up in it a mast and a
sail, and took forty days' provision, and commanded his
monks to enter the boat, in the name of the Holy Trinity.
And as he stood alone, praying on the shore, three more
monks from his monastery came up, and fell at his feet,
and begged to go too, or they would die in that place of
hunger and thirst; for they were determined to wander
with him all the days of their hfe. So he gave them leave.
Then he sailed, and was away for seven years, and saw
great marvels, icebergs floating on the sea, a burning
mountain, and things that are not and never were. And
at the end of seven years he returned and founded in
Galway the great monastery of Clonfert.

For this monastery and several others connected with it,
he drew up a rule, which was so highly esteemed that it
was supposed to have been dictated by an angel. He is
said to have presided over three thousand monks, pardy at
Clonfert, and partly in other houses of his founding in
various parts of Ireland, all of whom maintained them-
selves by the labour of their hands. He established a
nunnery at Enach-duin, over which he placed his sister
Briga. He is said also to have erected a cell in an island
in Lough Corrib, called Inisquin. According to some
writers S. Brendan was a bishop, and was the first bishop
of Clonfert; but it is more probable that he was only
abbot.

At a late period of his life he paid a visit to the isle
of lona, the monastic metropolis of Western Scotland.
There is reason to think that, prior to his death, the saint
retired from Clonfert, to the lonely retreat of Inisquin.
He died in his sister's convent, which was near Lough

^ ■ ^

Mayi6.] ^. Ubald. 2 23

Corrib, on May i6th, 577, in the ninety -fourth year of

his age. From that place his remains were conveyed to

Clonfert, and were there buried.

S. UBALD, B. OF GUBBIO.

(a.d. 1160.)

[Canonised by Pope Celestine III. in 1192. Roman Martyrology.

Ferrarius and other Italian tiagiographers. Authority : — A life written by
his successor in the see of Gubbio, Isbald, in 1162, for it was sent to the
Emperor Fredericlc Barbarossa, whilst besieging Milan.]

S. Ubald was born of noble parents at Gubbio, in the
Papal States. He was appointed prior of the cathedral
chapter by the bishop, who was his uncle, as soon as he
had reached the age of manhood. The condition of the
chapter was scandalous above measure. The bells were
regularly rung for service, but not a canon appeared. The
canons lived in their private apartments in the utmost
luxury, and not one of them was unmarried. The cloister
gates were open day and night, for any one who liked to
come in or go out of the canons' residences.

Ubald was resolved on effecting a reform. His attempt
to enforce decency and order aroused violent opposition.
However, he found three of the canons weary of the
disorders in which they lived, and ready to support him in
his plan of reformation. He at once began to live with
them in strict discipline, but finding it necessary to gain
some practical experience of the manner of conducting a
religious house, he resolved to visit the Canons Regular
instituted by Peter de Honestis in the territory of Ravenna.
A terrible fire, which consumed a large portion of Gubbio,
and reduced the canons' house and cloister to ruins, gave
him an opportunity of leaving the cathedral. After three

* *

224 Lives of the Saints. [May ,6.

months spent with the Regular Canons, he returned to
Gubbio, and succeeded in time, by gentleness and firm-
ness, in reducing his canons to order.

The bishop of Gubbio dying in 11 28, Ubald was
unanimously elected to fill his place, and he was conse-
crated the following year by Pope Honorius II.

A pretty story is told of him whilst bishop, which speaks
more for his character than pages of panegyric. The walls
of Gubbio were being repaired, and the masons had
invaded the bishop's vineyard for the purpose; he found
that in their carelessness they were seriously damaging his
vines. He therefore went to the master mason and
remonstrated with him. The fellow, a passionate and in-
considerate man, perhaps not knowing who was the com-
plainer, swore at him and thrust him out with so much
violence, that the bishop who had broken his thigh
formerly, and now hmped, fell into the liquid mortar that
the masons had prepared. Ubaldus rose, and concealing
the mortar that adhered to his clothes as well as he was
able under his reversed cloak, hastened back to the palace
without a word. But the people of Gubbio heard of the
outrage, and broke forth into indignation. The master
mason was seized and dragged before the magistrates by
an incensed crowd, clamouring for punishment, by banish-
ment and confiscation of goods. But suddenly the bishop
appeared in the hall of justice. " This is an ecclesiastical
offence, an injury done to a clerk, and it therefore must
not be tried in a secular, but in an ecclesiastical court."
And going up to the mason he said, " I am thine accuser,
and thy judge. I denounce thee, I try thee, and I
condemn thee — kiss me.'' Then he embraced him and
said, "My son, go in peace.''

A party feud having broken out in the city one day, and
the combatants having come to blows, the bishop limped

^ ^

1^- — ^..^ . Ij,

Mayic] S. Ubald. 225

into the market-place to separate them; stones were flying
and swords were drawn. Being unable to make himself
heard and regarded, Ubald suddenly staggered. as though
struck by a paving stone, and fell on his face. The
combat ceased at once ; the citizens of both parties loved
their bishop, and those who had been foes a minute before
united to raise the prostrate saint. Then Ubald rose and
said, " My friends, I am not struck with a stone, but my
heart is pierced with grief at your animosities. Separate
and keep peace." And now that he had obtained a hearing,
he made good use of the opportunity to appease the
tumult.

S. Ubald was an infirm man; he had twice broken his
thigh and once his right arm, and the fractures not having
been perfectly set, he suffered from abscesses and the
coming away of pieces of bone. In his last illness, the
people of Gubbio were heart-broken because Easter
approached, and he would not appear to communicate
them with his beloved hand. Hearing of their sorrow, the
bishop made an eifort, and on Easter Day celebrated
the holy mass, preached to the people, gave them his
pastoral benediction, and went back to bed, never to rise
from it again. On the vigil and feast of Pentecost, the
bishop allowed the people to visit him for the last time.
All Gubbio was there, women and men and children poured
into his sick-room in a long train, to kiss his hand and
receive his blessing; then all entered the church bearing
tapers to pray for him during his passage into eternity.
He died the same night murmuring psalms.

His body is preserved in the church of the regular
canons on Monte Ubaldo, near Gubbio.

VOL. v. 15

* *

>?<— — >^

226 Lives of the Saints. [Mayib

S. SIMON STOCK, C.
(a.d. 1265.)

[Martyrology of the Carmelites. Pope Nicolas III. granted an office to
be celebrated in his honour at Bordeaux on the loth May, and this Paul V.
extended to the whole Order of Mount Carmel, Authorities : — A life
written not long after his death, Stevens, Monast, Anglican. II, p.s 159, &c.j

This saint was born of a good family in Kent. His
desire for a solitary and religious life was early formed.
At twelve years of age he withdrew from the world into a
forest, and took up his abode in the hollow trunk of a
venerable oak, from which he was popularly nicknamed
Simon of the Stock, or Simon Stock. Thus he spent sixty
years, till Ralph Frebum and Ivo, two hermits of Mount
Carmel, came to England in 1240; and were given houses
by John, Lord Vesey and Richard, Lord Grey, in the forest
of Holme, near Alnwick, in Northumberland, and in the
wood of Aylesford in Kent. Many joined the new com-
munity, amongst others, Simon Stock, and at the next
chapter held at Aylesford, in 1245, he was elected General
of the Order. He is said, in a vision, to have seen the
Blessed Virgin, who gave him the scapular, promising that
whoever wore it should not burn eternally. This proved
a great attraction to the new Order, and many people
applied for scapulars. In 1266, Simon went to Bordeaux
to visit a house of the order, and there died. He was
buried in the cathedral of Bordeaux, where his relics are
still preserved.

^ -^

|J( : tj«

May 16.] ^. yohn of Nepomuk. 22'j

S. JOHN OF NEPOMUK, P.M.
(A.D. 1393.)

[Canonized in 1729. Roman Martyrology. Authorities quoted in the
article.]

This saint is especially venerated as the martyr of the
confessional.

He was the son of Wayland Wolflein of Pomuk, or
Nepomuk,'- a village in Bohemia, was born in the year
1330, and was a sickly child, whose life was despaired of,
but the prayers of his mother prevailed, and he grew to
maturity. The piety of the child drew attention to him,
and he was sent to study Latin at Staab, that he might
follow the bent of his vocation, and enter holy orders. In
the year 1378 he was appointed first notary to the arch-
bishop, as is proved by a deed executed under his hand,
now extant. The last time his signature occurs in this
capacity is in 1380. In 1381 he was made incumbent of
the church of S. Gall at Prague, and in the same year took
his degree as licentiate of canon law.^ His sermons are
said to have produced a great effect. Everyone crowded
to hear him, with the rest came the students of the uni-
versity, and many whose lives had been irregular were
melted by his appeals, and renounced their dissolute lives,
to tread in future in the ways of sobriety and righteousness.
His influence determined the archbishop to advance him
to higher honours. In 1387, he was made canon of
S. ./Egidius in Old Prague, and the same year he took the
degree of doctor of canon law. Itpeems probable, how-
ever, that before receiving this canonry, he was advanced
temporally to the deanery of Prague, in 1382, for we find

^ In the Libri Erectionum, or Registers of Foundations, &c., belonging to the gee
of Prague, S. John signs himself m 1372, as " John, son of Wayland Wolflein of
Pomuk," as also in two other documents bearing the dates 1374 and 1378.

^ Tliis is proved by the lists of candidates preserved in the university archives,
.J, ,J,

Ij( — i^

228 Lives of the Saints. [Mayio.

"John the Licentiate" appointed in 1382, the year after
he had passed as Hcentiate; but this office he held only
provisionally, for in 1383 he vacated it, and was recom-
pensed with the canonry, and the offer of the bishopric of
Leitomischl, which became vacant in 1387, by the ele-
vation of John III. to the bishopric of Olmutz, and the
patriarchate of Aquileia.

In 1389 he was made canon of Wischehrad, in Prague,
and in the same year was appointed vicar-general of the
arch-diocese. As such his signature recurs over and over
again in the diocesan registers. His colleague in the
administration of the affairs of the see was Nicolas Puch-
nik, afterwards archbishop.

In 1390, he resigned the cure of S. Gallus to be invested
with the archdeaconry of Saatz, which was vacated for hirn
by one Leonhardt, who received in exchange the incum-
bency of S. Gallus, and thus John of Nepomuk became a
member of the cathedral chapter.

Wenceslas IV., king of Bohemia and emperor,^ suc-
ceeded his father, the Emperor Charles IV., in 1378, at the
age of sixteen. Wenceslas had been brought up in pomp
and luxury, at an early age initiated into the affairs of the
empire, and, during his father's life-time, declared his
successor to the imperial throne by the bribed electors.
Wenceslas, called at too early an age to participate in the
government of the empire, treated affairs of state with
ridicule, or entirely neglected them, to devote himself to
idleness and drunkenness. At one moment he jested, at
another burst into the most brutal fits of rage. The
Germans, with whom he never interfered, beyond occasion-
ally holding a useless diet at Niirnberg, deemed him a
fool, whilst the Bohemians, who, on account of his resi-
dence at Prague, were continually exposed to his savage

1 He was crowned emperor at Aix-la-Chapelle.
* ijt

^- ^ f

Miiyi6j ,5". yohn of Nepomuk. 229

caprices, regarded him as a ferocious tyrant. The posses-
sions with which the Bohemian nobility had formerly been
invested by the crown exciting his cupidity, he invited the
whole of the aristocracy to meet him at Williamow, where
he received them under a black tent that opened into two
other tents, or wings, one white, the other red. The
nobles were summoned into the imperial presence one by
one, and were forced to declare that they received their
land as fiefs of the crown. Those who voluntarily sub-
mitted were feasted in the white tent, those who refused
were executed in the red tent. The massacre of three
thousand Jews in Prague, on account of one of that nation
having ridiculed the Holy Sacrament, gave Wenceslas the
idea of declaring all debts owed by Christians to Jews to
be null and void. He married Joanna, daughter of Albert
of Bavaria. She died a shocking death in 1387. King
Wenceslas had many large hunting-dogs, purchased for
■ him in all countries ; of these the two largest and greatest
favourites shared his bed room; and it is related that
Queen Joanna was throttled by one of them, as she
chanced to raise herself in bed, on the night of December
31st, 1386.

Wenceslas married again in 1389, his second wife being
Sophia of Bavaria. He behaved to her with great brutality,
publicly exhibiting his preference for his mistress, Susanna,
the Bathwoman.

The unfortunate Joanna chose John of Nepomuk as her
conTessor, and after her death he became the confessor of
Sophia. This queen was very beautiful,^ and the king
became suspicious of her fidelity to him. He is said to
have endeavoured to induce John of Nepomuk to break
the seal of confession, and tell him what she had confided

1 "Mulier forma insigni ac corpore vaUle eleganti." Cuspinianus, p. 390.
" Commendant ejus formam et venustatem oris plurimi scriptores." Balbinns,
ib. iv., c, I.

^ ^ *

230 Lives of the Saints. v^^-i i«-

to his ear. The saint steadfastly refused. He incurred
the king's anger in another way. It happened one day
that a fowl was sent to his table insufficiently roasted. In
a fury, he ordered the cook to be spitted and roasted alive
at the same fire at which the fowl had been dressed. The
poor servant was already placed before the fire, and the
officers were preparing to execute the barbarous sentence,
when S. John heard of it, and rushed into the dining-hall,
flung himself before the king, and implored him to spare
the unfortunate wretch. Wenceslas spurned him away,
and ordered him to be cast into a dungeon. Whilst he
lay in chains, the king again attempted to extort from him
the secret of his wife's confession, but S. John remained
inflexible. Wencenlas then ordered his release, and at-
tempted to gain his object by favour and flattery. About
the same time, a quarrel broke out between the archbishop
and the king. Wenceslas was contemplating the erection
of a new episcopal see in the south-west of his kingdom for
the benefit of a creature of his own, and he was waiting for
the death of the old abbot of Kladrau, to confiscate the
revenues of the abbey for the establishment of the bishopric.
But the abbot was scarcely dead, when the monks pro-
ceeded to the election of a successor, and the archbishop
confirmed their choice by his two vicars-general, so rapidly,
and contrary to the express orders of the king, that the
latter received intelligence of both events at one and the
same time. Another cause of offence was the excom-
munication of the royal chamberlain for having executed
two priests convicted of a dreadful crime. This the arch-
bishop regarded as an encroachment on the prerogative of
the Church, and resented it accordingly. An attempt at
reconciliation was made by the king's councillors, and on
March 20th, 1393, a meeting between the king and the
archbishop was arranged at Prague. But Wenceslas sent the

.J« — — ^

^ — ^

May .6.] ^. J okfi of NcpOI-nuk. 23 I

prelate, John of Genzenstein, an insulting letter, written in
German : — ■" You archbishop, give me up my castle of
Rudnicz, and my other castles, and be off out of my lands
of Bohemia; and if you do anything against me or my
men, I will drown you, and so make an end of the strife."

But the king himself burst into the chapter-house where
the archbishop and the chapter were assembled, maltreated
the old dean, by striking him over the head with his sword-
handle, and having bound the two vicars-general, the provost
of Meissen, and the marshal Niepro, carried them off to
the castle. During the evening he tortured them on the
rack, or at least one of them, John ot Nepomuk, stretching
him out on the rack, and applying lighted torches to his
sides with his own hands. The others were allowed to
depart with a reprimand, but John of Nepomuk was taken
down half dead, a piece of wood was placed in his mouth
to prevent him from speaking, and he was, by the king's
orders, taken to the bridge over the Moldau and cast into
the river, with his hands tied behind his back.i This took
place at nine o'clock in the evening of March 30th, 1393.

That night lights appeared on the water, above where
the saint had been cast in, and towards morning the body
floated ashore, the lights twinkling on the water above it,
till it was cast up on the bank. It was then taken to the
church of the Holy Cross, and a few days afterwards was
buried in the cathedral.

The last deed bearing the signature of John of Nepomuk
in the Registers of Foundations, bears date March 3rd,

'Alban Butler, following Balblnus, tells the story differently. His account is
certainly erroneous, as it cannot be reconciled with ihe facts as stated above,
which are derived from the statement drawn up by the archbishop and sent to
the pope in his appeal against Wenceslas next year. Balbinus says that after
racking and torture, S. John went a pilgrimage to the miraculous image of S.
Mary at Buntzel, and that Wenceslas saw him on his return, as he was looking
out of a window in his palace, and ordered him to immediate execution. S John
may have made the'pilgrimage after the first imprisonment, or shortly before this
second one.

,j, , ^ ^

. Ij,

232 Lives of the Saints, [May 16,

1393; the last in the Register of Confirmations of the See
is March 14th, 1393, six days before his death.

In the list of memorial masses, belonging to the
cathedral, is the following entry: — "In the year 1396,
Janeczko gives a charge of seven groschen per annum to
be levied on his house at Aujezd, to be paid to Nicolas
Puchnik (the coadjutor of S. John) for a yearly memorial
of the dean and archdeacon of Saatz, John of Pomuk, who
was drowned in 1393."

The contemporary chronicler Hagen, in his addition to
the " Chronica des Landes Oesterreich," says : — " King
Wenceslas, in the year 1393, in May, shockingly drowned
a venerable priest and professor of canon law, named
Master John."

Andrew of Ratisbon, who was also a contemporary (he
wrote in 1422), gives the same account under the same
date. The chronicler who continued Pulkawa to 1450,
says under the date 1393, "In this year John, the honour-
able doctor and vicar-general of the archbishop was
drowned." An anonymous Chronicle of Prague, ending
1419, and therefore by a contemporary, places the drowning
of John of Nepomuk between 1389 and 1394, without
giving the exact date ; but the Chronicon Palatinum,
written in 1438, says, " In the year 1393, Doctor John
was drowned." The Chronicon Bohemia or Lipsense,
also by a contemporary, written in 141 1, says, "In the
year 1393, on the day of S. Benedict, John of Nepomuk
was drowned."^

1 it is curious that one of tlie charges brought against Huss at the Council of
Constance had reference to the murder of John of Nepomuk. " Item. Ponitur
quod in domo Wencesiai Piscaritoris post prandium immediate, coram magistro
quodam et presbytero et aliqaibus laicis, dicere non erubuit atque dixit quando
facta fuit mentio de sabmersione D. Joannis piffi memoriae et Piichniack et decani
Pragensis detentione, quod interdictum poni debuisset, praedictus M. Joann Huss
scandalose dixit: — IMagnum quid quod illi propones detinetur ! Dicatisrationem.
quare a laude Dei cessare deberet." t^it. el Documenta, p. 165.

(j( _ -^

S. JOHN OP NBPOMUK.

May i6.

Immediately after this outrage, the bishop, John of
Genzenstein, escaped from Bohemia, where he deemed his
life was endangered, and in the same year appealed
formally to the pope against the king, and in that appeal
he complained of the tortures and murder of his vicar-
general, John of Nepomuk.i He afterwards resigned his
see, and was not long after succeeded by Nicholas von
Puchnik,^ the coadjutor of the saint, a man who speedily
made himself odious in Bohemia for his avarice.

There can be no manner of doubt therefore, that John
of Nepomuk was drowned by order of the king in 1393.
But the bull of canonization of S. John places his death in
1383, mislead by Balbinus, who wrote his "Bohemia
Sancta" in 1670. Balbinus gave 1383 instead of 1393,
as the date of the martyrdom of the saint, and made him
the confessor of Joanna only, and not of Sophia. Balbinus
was misled by Hajec a Liboczan, who wrote the Annals
of Bohemia in 1540. Hajec died in 1553. He was not
an accurate historian, and he was probably misled by
John having resigned the deanery of Prague in 1383, if the
supposition be admitted that " John the Licentiate," who
occupied the deanery for a twelvemonth, was the same as
John of Nepomuk, who was licentiate in that year, and
who may have been put in as a stop-gap. Or Hajec may

not have liked to represent the saintly John as the prede

cesser of John Huss the heretic in the direction of the
conscience of Queen Sophia, and therefore may have
antedated his martyrdom to free him from all suspicion of
having sowed the seeds of error in the queen's mind. Or
what is more probable still, the mistake of ten years was a
mere piece of carelessness.

' Acta in curia Romana Johan, a Genzenstein ; in Pelzel's Geschichte Wenzeis,
p. I4i, 164.

2 He resigned in 1396, andwasimmediately succeeded by Wolfram von Slcworek,
but Wolfram died in 1402 ; and was succeeded by Nicolas Puciinik.

^ ^^

)3& *

234 Lives of the Saints. [May 16.

The error was pointed out by the Jesuit Andreas
Freiberger, in 1680, but his correction was overlooked at
the canonization of S. John.

Another objection has been raised against the received
story of the martyrdom of S. John. In all the contem-
porary notices of the murder, there is no mention of the
execution having taken place because he refused to divulge
the queen's confession, but only because he had acted
against the king's wishes in the matter of the abbey of
Kladrau. It is, therefore, asserted that the story of his
being a martyr because he refused to break the seal of
confession is fabulous. But it may be remarked that the
king could not have proceeded against the priest for his
refusal to divulge the secrets of the confessional, without
raising such a storm against him as would have driven him
from his throne, and the matter of the abbey was just such
an one as he (lould allege as an excuse for his barbarous
treatment of the vicar-general. That the matter of Kladrau
was only an ostensible reason for the murder appears from
the fact of the king letting the real offender, the archbishop,
depart unmolested, and also from his having dismissed
Nicolas Puchnik, the other vicar-general, and the provost of
Meissen. On John alone did he vent his fiendish rage, and
repay what must have been a personal grudge, by torturing
him with his own hands, till the priest was almost dead.

That there was some covert reason for this murder
hidden under the reason openly alleged, is rendered also
very probable from the following testimonies. The Prague
Chronicle says that Wenceslas killed the canon " because
John had remonstrated with the king for his crimes," and
Andrew of Ratisbon, in 1422, and therefore a contem-
porary, says that one reason of the drowning of John was
that he had rebuked the king for his misgovernment, as
rendering him unworthy of his crown.

* ■■ ^— ' -^

*- -^

May 16.3 ,51 yokn of Nepomuk. 235

But there is other evidence. Thomas Ebendorfer of
Haselbach (d. 1460), who wrote the "Chronicon Austri-
acum," and the Acts of the Council of Basle, the first session
of which was in 1431, says in his " Liber Augustalis '' tha*
John of Nepomuk — " Confessor to the wife of Wenceslas —
was drowned in the Moldau, as it is reported, because he re-
fused to break the seal of confession." Paul Zidek, dean of
All Saints, at Prague (in 1470), says that "the king having a
bad opinion of his wife . . . came to John of Nepomuk, and
asked him to tell him with whom she had held forbidden re-
lations . . . and as John would not tell him, the king
drowned him."

A passage was extracted by Berghauer, "Protomartyr
Poenitentiae," 1736, from the Zittau Chronicle, tells the
same tale, but gives the wrong date. But this passage is
suspicious. The Zittau Chronicle does not now exist.
The style in which the event is related precludes the
possibihty of its having been written by a contemporary.^

At any rate Ebendorfer shows that some thirty or forty
years after the death of John of Nepomuk the belief
existed that he had died because he would not break the
seal of confession, and this opinion could hardly have
arisen without some good cause. And this, moreover, has
been the constant tradition in Bohemia. It has been
objected that the bishop in his appeal to the pope referred
only to the reason for the murder alleged by the king, and
that, therefore, there was no ulterior reason. But this is
not self-evident The object of the archbishop was to show
that the plea put forward by the king to justify his act did
not do so ; and the archbishop could not in a formal appeal
make the accusation that the king suspected his wife's
fidelity, and had endeavoured to force her confessor to

' '• In the year 1383 there was a king in Bohemia, who iiad a wife, who went \.r^
her cenfessor," &c.

i ^tj

q* ^ ^

236 Lives of the Saints. [May t6,

betray her secret confession, without causing pubhc

scandal.

The tomb of the saint was opened in 17 19, on April

14th, and though the rest of the body was reduced to bone

and dust, the tongue was found to be incorrupt.

Pope Innocent XIII. confirmed the veneration in which
the saint was regarded in Bohemia, by a decree equivalent
to a beatification, and the bull of his solemn canonization
was published by Benedict XIII. in 1729. The saint now
reposes in a silver shrine in the cathedral of Prague. March
20th, the day on which S. John suffered, being the double
feast of S. Benedict, the feast of S. John Nepomucen has
been transferred to May i6th.

In art S. John is represented with surplice and purple
stole, his finger to his lip, a canon's fur liripipit over his
shoulders, and a doctor's four-horned biretta on his head.
Seven stars, to represent the flames that were seen above
his body, surround his head. On the bridge over the
Moldau is a metal plate marked with the seven stars, to
indicate the place where the body of the saint was thrown
into the river.

* _ ,j,

^. >^

Mayi).] S. Torpes, '^2>7

]VEay 17.

SS. Andronicus and Junia, mentioned by S. Paul, isi cent

S. ToEPES, M. at Pisay circ, A.D. 65.

S. Restituta, V.M. in Africa^ ^^d cent.

S. POSIDONIUS, B. of Calaina, in Nmnidia, circ. A.D. 432.

S. Madern, H. in Cornwall.^

S. Framechild, Abss. of Montr euil, -jih cent.

S. Bruno, B. of Wnrtzbitrg, a.d. 1155.

S. Paschal Eaylon, C„ O.M. at Villa Reale,, near Valencia, a.d. 1592.

S. TORPES, M.
(about a.d. 65.)

[Roman Martyrology, and all the ancient Latin ones. Authority : —
The Apocryphal Acts, which existed before Usuardus, Hrabanus Maurus
(9th cent), Ado, &c. Papebroeck has completely disposed of their claim
to be written by an eye-witness. That they may preserve a tradition of
what were the sufferings of S. Torpes is possible, but as they stand they
are a forgery.]

|ORPES was the name of a Christian at Pisa, in

the reign of Nero, who was cast to wild beasts,

but a lion would not be goaded on to slay him,

and a leopard that was let loose upon him licked

his feet. He was then conducted to the side of the river,

decapitated, and his body cast adrift in an old boat with a

cock and a dog. It came ashore at " Sinus." This was no

doubt somewhere on the curved shore between the mouth

of the Amo and the Gulf of Spezia. Tacitus calls this the

"Sinus Pisanus."^ Plowever the term was broad enough

to cover other places. So the Provengales claimed the

body of S. Torpes, as having drifted into the Gulf of

Grim.aud, now called the Golfe de S. Tropez, and to have

' Atban Butler gives on this day tiie Cornish hermit S. Mawe, but on what
authority I cannot discovCT'.

2 Lib. iii., *.. 42.

^ ^

^ — tj(

238 Lives of the Saints. [Mayi».

come ashore at the place now called S. Tropez. But the
Portugese have a village called Sines, and so they claim to
have the body there, and the Evora Breviary published in
1548, made the feast of S, Torpes a double on that
account. This claim is, however, too absurd to receive
credence. It seems to rest on no grounds except the
similarity of the name Sines to Sinus, and on the forged
chronicle of Dexter, by Higuera, in the i6th century. On
the strength of this the clergy of Sines dug for the body
and found it. The mistake of the Provengales has
probably arisen from the church on the Gulf of Grimaud
being dedicated to a saint Eutropius, who has been
forgotten, and the popular corruption of the name into
S. Tropez has led to the supposition that the dedication is
to S. Torpes.

In art S. Torpes is represented with a boat

RESTITUTA, V. M.

(3RD CENT.)

[Roman Martyrology. Venerated especially at Naples. Authority :—
The Acts, which are not, however, in their primitive and genuine form, but
have suffered amplifications and re-writings. Papebroeclc the Bollandist,
says, "The acts are sufficiently gravely and not inelegantly written ; but
seem to have been filled in with rhetorical and lengthy discussions
between the martyr and the judge, and with the prayers she addressed to
God, all out of the imagination of the author, as supposed to be appro-
priate to the time and the occasion. Would that writers had not made
use of a similar liberty in amplifying the various tortures of the saint,
and adding other circumstances.'' The same may be said of very many
other Acts.]

S. Restituta was an African, and lived in the reign of
the Emperor Valerian. A judge, named Proculus, who
persecuted the Christians at Carthage, tried her for being a
Christian, and ordered her to be placed in an old boat

>J( .^

May I).] ^. Madern. 539

filled with pitch and other combustibles, and sent adrift.
She was accordingly bound in the boat, the pitch was
lighted, the wind blew off shore, and the fiery boat con-
taining the martyr, was carried rapidly out to sea, till it
faded like a dying spark on the horizon. The burnt boat
and the body of the virgin martyr were thrown up on the
island of Ischia, near Naples, where the Emperor Constan-
tine afterwards erected a magnificent church over her
remains.

S. MADERN, H.

(date uncertain.)

[Honoured on this day in Brittany. Two churches in the diocese of
S. Malo are dedicated to him.]

Nothing is known of S. Madern except that he occupied
a hermitage in Cornwall at the place called after him
Madron, About a mile north-west of Madron church, in a
desolate moor, is S. Madern's well. About two hundred
yards from it is S. Madern's Oratory, a ruined chapel about
twenty-five feet long by sixteen feet broad. It contains an
excavation which was probably used as a font, the water
being supplied firom the well, for which purpose a channel
was made through the wall, and a drain ran along the
west-end of the chapel to carry off the water. In the
preface to a poem, " The petition of an old uninhabited
house in Penzance," pubUshed in 1823, is the following
note : — " Perhaps it may not be known, but I find it related
in an old MS., that what appears a seat on the side of
Maddem well was called S. Maddern's Bed, on which the
patient who came to be cured reclined. Those who were
benefited, left a donation at Maddem church for the
poor. This may account for the preservation of the

15,— *

240 Lives of the Saints. [May 17.

well. Donations were left so late as the middle of the
17th century.''

The chapel was partially destroyed, in the time of
Cromwell, by Mayor Ceely of S. Ives.

Bishop Hall of Exeter, in his last visitation of the
diocese of Exeter, previous to his translation, in 1641, to
the see of Norwich, attests several miraculous cures per-
formed by the water of the holy well of S. Madern.

"The commerce that we have with the good spirits is
not now discerned by the eye, but is, like themselves,
spiritual. Yet not so, but that even in bodily occasions
we have many times insensible helps from them ; in such
a manner as that by the effects we can boldly say. Here
hath been an angel, though we see him not. Of this kind
was that (no less than miraculous) cure which at S.
Madem's in Cornwall was wrought upon a poor cripple,
John Trelille, whereof (besides the attestation of many
hundreds of neighbours) I took a strict and personal
examination in that last visitation which I either did or
ever shall hold. This man, that for sixteen years together
was fain to walk upon his hands, by reason of the close
contraction of the sinews of his legs (upon three admo-
nitions in a dream to wash in that well), was suddenly so
restored to his limbs, that I saw him able to walk and get
his own maintenance. I found here was neither art nor
collusion ; the thing done, the author invisible."^ Another
writer of the same period gives a fuUer account of the same
miraculous cure.^ " I will relate one miracle more done
in our own country, to the great wonder of the neighbour-
ing inhabitants, but a few years ago, viz., about the year
1640. The process of the business was told the king
when at Oxford, which he caused to be farther ex-

I Bishop Hall " On the Invisible World."
2 Franciscus Coventriensis ; Paralipom. Philosophia; c. 4.

•i* '- *

Iff f<

Mayi7j i5". Madem. 241

amined. It was this : — A certain boy of twelve years old,
called John Trelille, in the county of Cornwall, not far
from the Land's End, as they were playing at foot-ball,
snatching up the ball ran away with it ; whereupon, a girl
in anger struck him with a thick stick on the backbone,
and so bruised or broke it, that for sixteen years after he
was forced to go creeping on the ground. In this con-
dition he arrived to the twenty-eighth year of his age, when
he dreamed that if he did but bathe in St. Madern's well,
or in the stream running from it, he should recover his
former strength and health. This is a place in Cornwall,
from the remains of ancient devotion, still frequented by
Protestants on the Thursdays in May, and especially on
the feast of Corpus Christi ; near to which well is a chapel
dedicated to St. Madern, where is yet an altar, and right
against it a grassy hillock (made every year anew by the
country people) which they call St. Madern's bed. The
chapel roof is quite decayed ; but a kind of thorn of itself
shooting forth of the old walls, so extends its boughs that it
covers the whole chapel, and supplies as it were a roof.
On a Thursday in May, assisted by one Periman, his
neighbour, entertaining great hopes from his dream, thither
he crept, and lying before the altar, and praying very
fervently that he might regain his health and the strength
of his limbs, he washed his whole body in the stream that
flowed from the well and ran through the chapel : after
which, having slept about an hour and a half on S.
Madern's bed, through the extremity of pain he felt in his
nerves and arteries, he began to cry out, and his com-
panion helping and lifting him up, he perceived his hams
and joints somewhat extended, and himself becoming
stronger, insomuch that partly with his feet, partly with
his hands, he went much more erect than before. Before
the following Thursday he got two crutches, resting on

VOL. V. 16

^ . ^ 8p

* 15

242 Lives of the Saints . [May 17.

which he could make a shift to walk, which before he
could not do. And coming to the chapel as before, after
having bathed himself, he slept on the same bed, and
awaking found himself much stronger and more upright)
and so, leaving one crutch in the chapel, he went home
with the others. The third Thursday he returned to the
chapel, and bathed as before, slept, and when he awoke,
rose up quite cured ; yea, grew so strong, that he wrought
day labour among other hired servants ; and four years after
listed himself a soldier in the king's army, where he
behaved himself with great stoutness, both of mind and
body: at length, in 1644, he was slain at Lyme, in Dorset-
shire."

S. PASCHAL BAYLON, C.
(a.d. 1592.)

[Beatified by Pope Paul V., in 1618, and canonized by Alexander
VIII., in 1690. Authority: — The life of the saint written by John
Ximenes, his disciple, in 1598. It was printed at Valentia in 1601,]

S. Paschal Baylon was born of very poor parents at
Torre-Hermosa, in Aragon, in the year 1540, on Easter
Day. As a boy he served a master named Martin Garcia,
as shepherd, and was so good, obedient, and trustworthy,
that his master offered to adopt him as his own son. But
Paschal had set his heart on embracing the religious life,
and he went to Montfort, in Valentia, where was a convent
of discalced Franciscans, and entered their society as a
lay-brother. In 1565 he took full vows, being then aged
twenty-five. The general of the order being in Paris,
Paschal was sent to see him on some affairs of the com-
munity. At that time France was ravaged by the Hugue-
nots. The life of Paschal was frequently endangered
by the heretics. At Orleans he was surrounded by a mob

* — *

* ^ *

May 17.] S. Pasckal Bayloft. 243

of furious Calvinists, who asfeed him if he believed in the
presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. When he boldly
confessed his faith, they set on him with stones, and
he had great difficulty in escaping. As it was, his shoulder
was so injured that he never completely recovered the use
of that arm. He then asked for alms at the gate of a
chateau, but the owner, a Calvinist, threw him into a
dungeon, from which, however, he was liberated by the
gentleman's wife. He would have perished by falling
again into the hands of the mob, had not a peasant
concealed him all night in his stable, and sent him off
on the Paris road before dawn.

He died on May iSth, in the year 1592, in the convent
of the Friars Minors at Villa Reale, in Valentia, at the
age of fifty-two. His body is preserved in the convent
church.

i^. <&.

244 Lives of the Saints. [May is.

May 18.

S. Venantius.. M. at Camerino hi Italy.

SS. Theodotus and Companions, MM. at Ancyra, a.c 304.

S. Felix, B. of Sfalato in Daltnatia, circ. a.d. 304.

SS. Urban. Theodore and Lxxviii. Comp., MM. at Cojistantinojile,

A.D. 370.
S. Elfgiva, O. at Shaftesbury, a.d, 971.
S. Erick, K. M. ofSwedeii, a.d. 1160.
S. Felix of Cantauce, O.M. at Rome, a.d. 1587,

S. VENANTIUS, M.
(date uncertain.)

[Roman- Martyrology. Venerated as Patron of Camerino. No trust-
worthy Acts exist. Those which profess to be the Acts of S. Venantius
are simply those of S. Agapitus, with the name of the saint and of the
place changed. They begin "In thedaysof Antiochus theking, there was
in the city of Camerino a youth named Venantius." What Autiochus the
king had to do with Italy is not very evident. But when we turn to the
Acts of S. Agapitus (Aug. i8th) we find they begin, "In the days of
Antiochus the king, there was in the city of Prasneste a youth named Aga-
pitus." The whole is manifestly apocryphal from beginning to end.]

HE body of this saint is preserved at Camerino.
Pope Clement X. had a singular devotion to
him, and decreed the observance of his festival
on this day. The false Acts assert that he was
arrested at the age of fifteen, and was thrown to wild beasts,
but they did not touch him. He was then dragged over
thorns, thrown down a precipice, and his head struck off.
There is not a particle of trustworthy history in the story
of this saint.

* *,

Mayis.] 5"^. Theodotus & Comp. 245

SS. THEODOTUS AND COMP., MM.
(a.d. 304.)

[Venerated on this day, especially in the Laura of S. Sabas between
Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. The Menology of the Emperor Basil, and
the Modem Roman Martyrology. Authority ; — The Greek Acts by Nilus,
an eye-witness of a great part of what he describes. These Acts are of
special interest, both on account of the freshness of the style, and because
of the introduction of many words of the Galatian dialect. The authen-
ticity of these Acts is beyond a doubt.]

Theodotus was an innkeeper near Ancyra in Galatia,
a worthy man, and a good Christian, who, in time of
persecution, sheltered many of the faithful in his house.
At that time the governor Theotecnus was using his best
endeavours to destroy Christianity in Ancyra. A man
named Victor was brought before him, accused of having
spoken mockingly of the gods, and Theotecnus ordered
him to be scourged. Under the excess of his anguish
Victor asked to be taken down and allowed a respite to
reconsider his determination. He was led back to prison,
but died there, "leaving us in doubt," says the author, "as
to what was the end of his confession, and to this day his
memory is obscured by uncertainty."

One day Theodotus the innkeeper was returning to
Ancyra from the river Halys, whence he had recovered the
body of a martyr named Valens, who had been flung into
it, when at the fortieth milestone from Ancyra, he and
a party of fellow- Christians who were with him, rested in
a pleasant shady place on the grass, opened their baskets,
and produced their food. Near at hand was the village of
Malos, and Theodotus sent one of his companions into
it to find the Christian priest, named Fronto, who lived
there, to share their meal. Fronto came, and found the
party lying on the grass enjoying the shade, and he was
warmly greeted by Theodotus. The priest urged them all

k ^

^ — »J<

246 Lives of the Saints. [May 18.

to come to his farm and shelter there, but they were so
pleased with the beauty of the spot that they declined,
preferring to eat in the open air. Then Theodotus said,
suddenly, " Oh ! what a spot for a confession." By this
name the oratories and afterwards the churches were
called which were built over the tombs of martyrs. And he
added, " Fronto, build one here." " My friend," said
the priest, "you are too precipitate; we must have the
martyr before we can have the church." "Ancyra is the
scene of many a conflict now," said Theodotus, " build the
church, and I will provide you with the martjT. Here,
take this as token, and return it me when I have redeemed
the pledge." Then he plucked a gold ring off his finger,
and placed it on that of the priest.

After this they parted, and Theodotus returned to the
city. Now about this time seven virgins were accused and
brought before the magistrate. Their names were Tecusa,
Alexandra, Phaina, Claudia, Euphrasia, Matrona, and Julitta.
Of these the three first were consecrated virgins (Apotactitse),
and Tecusa was the aunt of Theodotus the innkeeper. As
the magistrate, Theotecnus, was unable to move the con-
stancy of these virgins, he gave them up to be insulted by
some young men, who began to address them in the most
offensive terms. Tecusa suddenly turned upon the most
insolent of these reprobates, and plucking off the veil
which had covered her head and concealed the features
said, " Boy, cease your impertinence ; look on my wrinkles
and white hair; perchance you have an old mother with
grey head, reverence that grey head in me." She shamed
him, and the others put to the blush as well, by the dignified
modesty of the virgins, left them without further annoyance.

But Theotecnus, the magistrate, was determined to
break their constancy, and to effect this he had recourse
to an expedient of almost unparalleled cruelty. The next

,j, *

^< — — 4.

Biayis.] .S^". Theodotus & Comp. 247

day was a celebrated festival at Ancyra, which consisted in
the solemn and public washing of the image of the
goddess Diana in a shallow pool or marsh near the city.
But one of the most offensive rites of heathen worship was
associated with this ceremony. It was customary for those
women who consecrated themselves to become priestesses
of Diana to bathe publicly with the idol.

Taking advantage of this festival, Theotecnus gave
orders that the seven virgins should be stripped, their
hands bound behind them, and that they should be
carried on carts in the procession with the idol to
the pond, and that they should be bathed with it, and
be thus consecrated priestesses whether they willed it or
not.

The writer then describes the hideous procession, each
poor woman upright in one cart, and seven carts preceding
that in which was the idol, a band going before with
trumpets, cymbals and shawns, and a roaring, laughing,
mad multitude on either side eager for the sport, pouring
towards the marshy pool.

In the meantime Theodotus and several Christians were
assembled in a cottage near at hand, belonging to a poor
man, named Theocharis, where they remained instant in
prayer, ashamed to go forth to such a spectacle, and bleed-
ing at heart for the poor sufferers. But the wife of Theo-
charis was sent out to watch the proceedings and to bring
them news of what took place. The blare of trumpets, the
rush of feet, and the roar of voices passed, and all was
still. Presently the woman came to the door, and an-
nounced that the seven virgins had all been drowned. In
vain had they been offered the white robes and crowns of
flowers belonging to a priestess of Diana, they had thrust
them away with indignation, and the governor had ordered
stones to be attached to the necks of the seven virgins and

^ •*

^. f

248 Lives of the Saints. [May is.

that they should be flung into the water, and so they all
had been drowned.

Then the Christians rose from the floor on which they
had cast themselves, weeping and praying, and standing
they stretched their hands to heaven and cried, " Thanks,
thanks, be to Thee, O God." And after a pause Theodotus
asked eagerly, " Where were they cast, in the shallow part
or near the middle ? "

" About two acres of water lie between the place where
they have been sunk and the shore."

In the evening Theodotus consulted with his younger
brother Polychronius and with Theocharis as to the possi-
bility of recovering the bodies. The water was nowhere very
deep. But having sent a boy to examine the spot, they
were told by him that a guard of soldiers was stationed by
the lake to prevent the Christians from approaching it to
recover the corpses.

This disheartened Theodotus ; but that night he dreamt
that his aunt appeared to him, and bade him not fear, but
rescue the bodies. " Only," she added, "beware of traitors."

Next morning early the boy — his name was Glycerins —
was sent again to observe the lake. He returned with the
news that the soldiers were still there. However, as the
day was a great festival to Diana, they suspected that the
guard would be withdrawn, and later in the morning
Theocharis and Glycerius were sent again to see. They
returned with the news that the watch was still on guard.

Theodotus accordingly remained within all day. As soon
as night fell, Theodotus and the others went out armed with
sickles wherewith to cut the cords that attached the stones to
the necks of the dead women. The night was pitch dark.
Not a star was visible. Their way led through the place
of public execution, '' a place carefully avoided by every
one after sunset," where grinning heads were erect on

*- ^

May i8.i ^ykS". Tkcodotus & Cowip. 249

poles, and charred bodies stood attached to the posts by-
iron hoops, leaning forward, with drooping arms ; and here
and there a headless corpse lay on the ground. Imagine
all this, lit by sudden flashes of lightning, and with thunder
rumbling in the distance, and you may well beheve Nilus
when he says that they were dreadfully frightened. How-
ever, they signed themselves with the cross, and pushed on.
The night became so dark that one could not see the
other, and now rain began to fall in torrents, and the
lightning blazed with dazzling effulgence, leaving next
moment everything darker by contrast. The advancing
party were uncertain of their way, the road became muddy,
and they slipped about. Then, in their uncertainty, they
stood still and prayed. Instantly they saw two lanterns
going along the road before them in the direction of the
lake, they followed till they found themselves at the spot
where the guards had been posted, but the guards were
not there, they had taken shelter from the storm. The
Christians then went into the water and waded on till they
came to the bodies, when they severed the cords, and
brought them all to the shore, and having carried them to
where some packhorses had been brought for the purpose,
they conveyed them away and buried them.

Next morning it was discovered that the bodies had
been stolen, and the governor was furious.

Polychronius went into the town, disguised as a country-
man, but was taken and brought before the governor, who
threatened him with torture unless he would renounce
Christ. The wretched man, in his abject fear to escape the
rack, betrayed what he knew, and told Theotecnus that
the bodies of the seven martyred virgins had been stolen
by Theodotus, and showed the governor where they were
concealed.

Theotecnus ordered the bodies to be cast into a huge

^ ■i^

^ tj(

250 Lives of the Saints. [Mayis.

fire and consumed, and that Theodotus should be sought
out and brought before him.

In the meantime Theodotus was in the cottage of
Theocharis, wondering at the delay of his brother. At last
he resolved to go forth and see what had become of him.
He bade farewell to his friends and left the house. He had
not gone far before he met two Christians, running, to warn
him to fly, as Polychronius had turned traitor. Theodotus
knew that flight was now in vain, and he walked boldly
forward into the town, strode into the court before the gover-
nor, and said with unmoved countenance, " Here am I."

It would answer his purpose better to obtain the apostasy
than the execution of Theodotus, therefore the governor
tried hard to persuade the innkeeper into compliance with
his will. But Theodotus remained inflexible. And then
the governor lost all control over himself, and ordered him
to immediate torture. The martyr looked round with a
bright unclouded face on the braziers containing pincers
red-hot, the molten lead, the rack, and the hideous flesh-
rakes clotted with skin and gore.

He was tied to the rack, and his sides were lacerated with
the hooks. These were little iron rakes which tore the flesh
to the bones. The people shouted, the idol-priests ran about
exciting them against the martyr, and clamouring for keener
torments. When his body was a mass of wounds, Theotecnus
ordered vinegar to be poured over it, and torches to be
applied to his sides. Then, stung by the acid, and shrink-
ing from the fire, the martyr turned his head with a sharp
movement. " Ah ! " shouted the governor, leaping down
into the place of execution, " where is your boasting ? See
what your contempt of the gods has brought you to."

" I scorn thy gods, I despise thy emperors, and thee I
regard but as their freed-man," said the martyr.

" Smash that publican's jaw," said Theotecnus furiously,

® ^ -^

i5< ^

Mayis.] 5*5". Theodotus & Comp. 251

and the martyr's cheeks and teeth were beaten with a stone.
After that the governor ordered him to be removed from
the rack and cast into prison.

There the sufferer languished for five days, at the end of
which he was again brought out, and Theotecnus ordered
him to be placed on red-hot coals, and afterwards to be
re-hung on the rack and all the old wounds which had
begun to skin over, to be ripped open again. Then, weary
with torturing him, he bade him to be taken on a tumbril
out of the town and executed.

So he was carried forth, and all Ancyra rushed to the
spot of execution, men, women, and children, shouting,
running, and jeering the martyr. And when Theodotus
was at the place, he raised his eyes to heaven and prayed,
"Lord Jesus Christ, I thank Thee that Thou hast given
me strength to crush the head of the old dragon. Give
rest to Thy servants, and restrain the violence of the enemy ;
give peace to Thy Church, and save it from the tyranny of
the evil one." So saying, he received the mortal stroke.

Then by the commands of the governor a quantity of
wood was collected and the body was thrown on the heap,
and the soldiers attempted to light the pile to consume
the corpse, but the rains had so moistened the sticks that
they would not kindle, and as the day was far advanced,
the burning of the body of the martyr was postponed till
the following day. But lest the Christians should steal it
away, a guard was detailed to watch it.

No sooner had dusk set in than the soldiers, expecting
a rainy night, set to work with hatchets and cut and drove
four posts into the ground, for the construction of a lodge,
wattled the sides with branches, and thatched the top with
broom and rushes, leaving the hut open towards the pile
on which lay the body, covered with grass and branches.

Now it chanced that late the same night the priest
Fronto came towards Ancyra driving an ass laden with some

^ — f^

^ tj(

252 Lives of the Saints. [May 18.

old wine which he purposed selling in the city. The way
was long, forty miles, the ass slow, and he did not approach
his destination till near midnight. Passing the bivouac of
the soldiers, they called to him and asked him where he
was going. He answered that he was going into the city.
" Friend, all the taverns are closed long ago," said one of
the guard ; " come and keep us company till the day
breaks.'' Fronto, seeing that this was his best course,
tethered the ass, unladed it, and sat himself by the bivouac
fire among the soldiers. Then follows an amusing account
of the talk of the guards, how they puzzled Fronto with
their allusions to the martyrdoms that had taken place,
how their slang expressions were incomprehensible to
him, and he was obliged to tell them that as he had not
brought an interpreter with him, they must talk more in-
telligibly. At last he grasped the whole position. A
martyr's body lay on the faggots outside, and the martyr
was his friend Theodotus. Perhaps at the same moment
the story of the master-thief and King Rhampsinitas, as
related by Herodotus, flashed into his memory ; perhaps he
only caught at the readiest expedient that presented itself
At any rate an incident in that old legend was repeated on
this occasion. The priest' produced some of his old wine.

" This is rare wine," said one of the soldiers ; " how old is
it ? " " Five years." " I shan't forget it in a hurry ; no, not
till I take my sip of better," said another. "Ah !" quoth
a third, " I need a good draught of strong wine to forget
the hiding I got for letting the bodies of those old women
be whisked off, the other night." So talking, they drank,
and Fronto spared not the liquor, till the whole party had
fallen into a drunken slumber.

Then he softly stole out, uncovered the body, recog-
nized it, and saying, " Ah ! Theodotus, dost thou thus
redeem thy pledge ? " placed the gold ring on the dead

1^ _ — _ —^

man's finger, tied his body on the ass, loosed the tether,
and let the ass go, trusting that it would at once make the
best of its way back to the stable. Then he arranged the
grass and bushes on the pyre, as though nothing had
been touched, and then began to cry and beat his hands,
as if in despair. Some of the soldiers woke and ran to
him and asked what was the matter. " My ass has
broken his tether and has run away ! "

Had Fronto gone off with his ass, the soldiers would
have suspected mischief, but by this expedient he com-
pletely threw them off their guard, and after they had
quaffed some more of his wine, they allowed him to depart.
Fronto at once hurried home, and found the ass with its
load at his stable door. He removed the body to the
grove where Theodotus had desired to see a " confession "
erected, and there buried him.

S. FELIX, B. OF SPALATO.
(about a.d. 304.)

[Usuardus, Ado, Notker, and Roman Martyrology. Bellinus in his
Martyrology published in 1498, put S. Felix down as Bishop of Spoleto
in Umbria, instead of Spalato in Dalmatia. He was followed by
Maurolycus, Felicius, and Galesinius. The Roman Martyrology perpetu-
ates the mistake. Ferrarius made the matter worse by calling him Bishop
of Hispalis, in Umbria. Spoleto forthwith adopted him as patron of the
city. But that was not all. The door was opened to the Spaniards by
this error, and Tamajus Salazar at once entered him in his Spanish
Martyrology as Bishop of Guadix, martyred at Spali, in Vascongades, in
the North of Spain. He would no doubt have made him Bishop of
Seville (Hispalis) had the list of bishops of that see admitted of his
insertion. But finding a Felix in the catalogue of bishops of Guadix, he
conveyed him to the next nearest place with a name sounding something
like Hispalis, for the purpose of becoming a martyr there. Authority:^
The Acts, how far genuine it is impossible to decide.]

Spalato contains the ruins of the palace of Diocletian,
that cruel persecutor of the Church. To Spalato he

ij<— — — — ^

Ijl-

254 Lives of the Saints. [Mayis.

retired, leaving the reins of the government in the
hands of Maximian. At this time Felix was bishop of
the city where he fixed his residence ; and it was not
possible for him to escape condemnation, being under the
eye of the aged lion. Accordingly he was soon taken,
brought before the tribunal of the emperor, and sentenced
to death, first being tortured with fire, and afterwards
executed with the sword.

S. ELFGYVA, Q.

(a.d. 971.)

[Anglican Martyrologies, but by some on May 5th. By Mayliew on
June 30th. Authorities : — William of Malmesbuiy, Florence of Wor-
cester, and Roger of Hoveden. ]

S. Elfgyva was queen of Edmund the Magnificent,
who came to the throne of England in 940, succeeding his
brother Athelstan. Edmund did not reign long. In the
year 945 he was keeping the feast of S. Augustine of
Canterbury at Pucklechmch, in Gloucestershire, and there
came into the hall one Liofa, a robber, whom he had
banished six years before. This man went and sat down
by one of the chiefs, near the king himself. Edmund bade
his cup-bearer remove him; but instead of going, Liofa
tried to kill the cup-bearer. Then the king got up and
went to help his servant, and seized Liofa by the hair and
threw him on the ground, but the robber had a dagger,
and stabbed the king from below. Liofa was cut to
pieces at once by the king's men, but Edmund died of the
wound. Elfgyva and Edmund had two sons, Edwy and
Edgar, but as they were very young, Edred, the brother of
Edmund, was chosen to succeed him. He must have
been a young man himself, for his elder brother Edmund

^ >i,

|J( : _lj,

Mayi8.] S. Elfgyva. 255

was only twenty-four when he was killed. Edgar was
bom in 943.

The poor young queen had lost her husband early, but
this was the least of her sorrows. In her widowhood she
laboured to heal the wounds of the sufferers. "She was
the adviser and ennobler of the whole kingdom, the con-
soler of the Church, the support of the needy and the
oppressed." ^

But her heart was wrung by the vicious conduct of
Edwy, her eldest son, whose wantonness became a general
scandal. Edwy became king in 955, and was succeeded
by his brother Edgar, whose morals were in no way
superior. William of Malmesbury says of the queen-
mother, " She was a woman intent on good works, and
gifted with such affection and kindness, that she would
even secretly discharge the penalties of those culprits
whom the sad sentences of the judges had publicly
condemned. That costly clothing, which, to many women,
is the occasion of evil, was to her a means of liberality ; as
she would give a garment of the most beautiful workman-
ship to the first poor person she saw. Even malice itself,
as there was nothing to carp at, might praise the beauty of
her person, and the work of her hands." ^

She retired at length into the convent of Shaftesbury,
which had been founded by King Alfred, and there died.

^ Osbem in Vit. S. Dunstani.
^ William of Malmesbury . English Chron., lib. ii., u. 8.

^ >J,

256 Lives of the Saints. [Mayis.

S. ERICK, K. M.
(a.d. 1160.)

[Roman and Scandinavian Martyrologies. Authority : — Tlie Acts
written by Israel, Canon of Upsal, after 1409, and the Swedish rhymed
Chronicle, Adam of Bremen, &c.]

S. Erick's father was called Edward, "a good and
wealthy yeoman," says the old Swedish chronicle; his
mother, Cecilia, was the sister of Erick, king of Swedeland.
He was himself married to Christina, daughter of Ingi the
Younger, or as others state, of Ingi the Elder. " Three
things did holy King Erick endeavour," says the legend,
"to build churches, and reform religion, to govern the
people as law and justice pointed out, and to overcome
the enemies of his faith and realm." The establishment
of Christianity in Upper Sweden was undoubtedly his
work. Before his reign, even at Upsala, there were neither
priests nor a convenient church, wherefore he first applied
himself to the completion of the church, "now called Old
Upsala, and appointed clerks for the ministry of the altar."
An old table of kings denominates him the Lawgiver, and
the rights of Swedish matrons to the place of honour and
housewifedom, to lock and key, to the half of the marriage-
bed, and the legal third of the property, as the law of
Upland expresses it, are said to have been conferred by the
law of S. Eric. Against the heathens of Finland, whose
piracies harassed the Swedish coast, he undertook a
crusade, and by introducing Christianity, as also probably
by transplanting Swedish colonists thither, he laid the
foundation of the connection which so long subsisted
between Sweden and that country. S. Henry, the first
bishop of Upsala, of whose active exertions in propagating
Christianity, history has preserved some record, accom-
panied the king on this expedition ; he was the first

ii(— ^

^ — ^

Mayi8.] ,5". Erick. 257

apostle of the Finns, and sufiFered at their hands the death
of a martyr. At last, Erick was unexpectedly beleaguered
in Upsala by the Danish prince, Magnus, during the
celebration of divine service. The king heard the
mass out, and marched against the enemy. After a
short but valiant resistance he fell dead, covered with
wounds,^ May, 1160. His virtues, and the austerity of
his life, procured him after death the reputation of a
saint. He was reverenced as the protector of Sweden;
his banner waved in the field to encourage the Swedes
in battle with enemies of the realm ; the anniversary of his
death was kept sacred throughout all the provinces ; the
town of Stockholm bears his eiSgy on its arms, and the
cathedral of Upsala still preserves his relics, once the
objects of veneration. By the Church he was never
canonized, although a hundred years after his death, the
popes, informed of the homage which the people con-
tinued to pay to his memory, exhorted the devout to make
pilgrimages to his tomb. The Roman Court, however,
was far from being well-inclined to him at one time, for in a
papal rescript of 1208, his family is represented as having
violently usurped the crown, to the injury of the house of
Swerker, its legitimate owners. The old accounts unani-
mously assign him a reign of ten years ; he was therefore
raised to the crown in 1150, five years before the death of
Swerker. His sovereignty at first extended only over
Sweden Proper ; indeed he was acknowledged but for a
time in Gothland, whose inhabitants had nominated
Charles Swerkerson. The latter is said to have held real
possession of the government for two years before the
death of Erick, and is even accused of being a party to the
plot against him.

^ At East Aros, the present Upsala, on the i8th of May, 1160.

VOL. V. 17

* -. -*.

^. ^

258 Lives of the Saints. [Mayis

S. FELIX OF CANTALICE, O.M.

(A.D. 1587.)

[Beatified by Pope Urban VIII. in 1625 ; canonized by Clement XI.
in 1712 ; but the bull of canonization was not published till 1724, by
Benedict XIII. Authorities : — A life by Fr. Sancti, Guardian of the
Capuchin Convent at Rome, in which he lived and died ; and another
contemporary Ufe by Matthias Salodiensis. ]

This good Capuchin was bom at Cantalice, at the foot
of the Apennines, on the confines of the Duchy of Spoleto,
in the year 1513. His parents were very poor, and worked
for their daily bread. His father's name was Sante, or
Saint, and he was a good man, and had even a sort of
prophetic power, for it is told of him that as he watched
the death of a little grandson, he said, " Go forth in peace,
my little saint, with God's blessing and thy grandfather's,
on Saturday next we shall meet again." And though he
was hale when he spoke, on the day he had named the old
man died. Felix was the third of four children. Even
from his childhood he showed a marked leaning towards
rehgion, so that the children used to point him out as
" Felix the little saint." His childhood was passed keep-
ing sheep. He was wont to take his rest in the heat of
noon, and say his prayers under a great oak, in the bark of
which he cut a cross. When sufficiently old, he was placed
at the plough. His conduct was always unimpeachable,
always quiet, self-contained, seeking peace and ensuing it.
When any of his companions ill-treated or abused him, his
usual soft answer to turn away wrath was, " May God make
a saint of thee, my friend ! "

One day he heard read the lives of some of the Egyptian
hermits, and he felt a great longing to embrace the life of a
recluse ; but, on further consideration, he thought himself
not equal to sucli a life, and he preferred entering a
religious house. Yet he postponed the day from year to

C>^' '

S. FELIX OP CANTALlCiii. Afcer Cahier.

May i3

>J, _ ^

Mayi8.] S. FcHx of Cantalice. 259

year, till an accident made him resolve to delay his renun-
ciation of the world no longer. He was driving two
bullocks in a plough, when his master suddenly opened
the gate into the field and entered in a black dress. This
scared the oxen, and they dashed over Felix, trampling
him under foot, and drew the plough over him. Provi-
dentially he was unhurt, though his clothes were cut and
torn. He delayed no longer, but went to the nearest
convent of Capuchins, and asked to be admitted as a lay
novice. The superior took him by the hand, led him
before a crucifix, and said, " Look up, Jesus Christ suffered
for thee. Hast thou courage to follow His traces ? " The
tears rolled down the ploughman's cheeks, and he ex-
pressed his desire to take up his cross in such fervent
words, that the superior gave him a letter of introduction,
and sent him to the provincial at Rome. He was then
thirty years old. He passed his noviciate in the convent
of Anticola. Four years after he was sent to Rome, and
there spent the rest of his life. As his deficiency in edu-
cation prevented him from aspiring to be a choir brother,
he was employed in going about begging for food and
money for the convent. When given anything he at once
responded Deo gratias, "Thanks be to God." And this
expression became so familiar to his lips that he uttered it
on every occasion. Once he came upon two gentlemen
fighting a duel, he rushed between them, beat down their
swords, crying, "Deo gratias; my brethren, say Deo
gratias, each of you." And there he stood grasping their
swords in his firm hands, and looking from one to the
other. At last the gentlemen said the required words.
" Now your battle is done," said the Capuchin ; " let me
hear the occasion of your quarrel and reconcile you." And
he succeeded in sending them away friends.

" Oh, how fair is creation ! " he would exclaim on issuing

* >&

^ -^

260 Lives of the Saints. [Mayis.

from the convent gates, "Deo gratias ! All the creatures
of God serve only to raise our hearts to the giver of all
good things, and make us cry out in love and thankfulness,
Deo gratias ! "

And when he came on little children playing with flowers,
or plucking fruit, or full of merriment over some innocent
toy, he would stop, point up to the blue sky, as recalling
to them the source of all beauty, pleasure, and happiness,
and say "Deo gratias!" He became so well known by
this expression that the little ones used to call him Brother
Deo gratias ; and from a distance, when they saw the old
white-bearded Capuchin coming along in his snuff-coloured
habit, they would cry out, " Deo gratias ! brother Felix,
Deo gratias ! " Then the old man's eyes would fill with
tears, and a smile would light up his rugged features, and
he would exclaim, "My dear children, yes, Deo gratias !
God bless you all ! "

When he returned from his begging expeditions, he
loved to retire to the church and kneel before the Blessed
Sacrament in a rapture of love and thankfulness, and pour
forth his prayer. He was watched once, and was seen
standing before the altar, with outspread arms, supplicating,
" Lord, I recommend to Thee my poor people ; I recom-
mend to Thee the kind persons who have been our bene-
factors. Great God, have mercy on them all." It was a
short, simple prayer, but it expressed all the charily of his
heart.

He was asked once why he walked barefoot instead of
wearing sandals like the other friars. " Only because it is
easier for my feet," said he, though in reality he had
rejected sandals out of humility. In his old age the
guardian once said something about his being loo aged to
carry the sack of food he had begged. " Nay, nay," said
S. Felix, " let the old ass carry its load till it falls under it."

^ ij

May 18.]

S. Felix of Cantalice.

261

When he was very ill and confined to his bed, if not
closely watched, he would crawl to the church and faint
away before the altar. In his last agony he was as though
engaged in conflict with the enemy of souls, for he rose
partly in bed, on one elbow, and waving the other arm in
the air, as his dim eyes looked into vacancy, he said, " No,
I cannot despair; it is my own Saviour Who will judge
me, and I will not doubt His mercy.'' Then he laid him-
self down again and sighed forth his innocent and happy
soul.

His body is in the church of his Order in Rome. He
is represented with a sack over his shoulder, on which is
written Deo gratias, or leading an ass laden with the sack ;
sometimes giving S. Philip Neri to drink out of a bottle in
the midst of a street, this incident being related of him.

^ — tj(

262 Lives of the Saints. [May 19.

May 19.

SS. PuDENTiANA, V.M., AND PuDENs, HER FATHER, at RofHe, rind Cent.

SS. Calocerus AND Parthenius, mm. at Rome, a.d. 250.

SS. Philet/erus and Eubiotus, MM. at Cyzictis, a.d. 311 and 2,^%.

S. Theodore, B. of Lucca, A,th cent.

B. Alcuin, Mk. at Totirs, a.d. 804.

S. DuNSTAN, Archb. of Canterbury, a.d. 968.

S. Petee Ccelestine, Pofe of Rome, a.d. 1296.

S. Yvo, P.C. at Treguier, in Brittany, a.d. 1303.

SS. PUDENS AND PUDENTIANA.

(2ND CENT.)

[Roman Martyrology. Mentioned in the Sacramentary of Pope Gela-
sius. S. Pudens her father also in the Roman Martyrology, and in that
of Usuardus, Ado, Bellinus and Maurolycus. S. Praxedis, the sister of
S. Pudentiana, is commemorated on July 2lst. Authority : — The Acts,
which purport to be written by S. Pastor (July 27th), a contemporary.
But their authenticity is very questionable.]

A.INT PUDENS was a Roman senator, who
had the honour of receiving S. Peter into his
house, when the prince of the Apostles came
to Rome. He was probably converted by
S. Paul, for that Apostle mentions him as his disciple in
his second Epistle to S. Timothy. He died in the inno-
cence of his baptismal condition, and left behind him two
daughters, Praxedis and Pudentiana. These saintly virgins
gave great alms to the poor, and their palace was used
for the celebration of the Divine Mysteries. S. Pudentiana
is said to have died a martyr's death in the year 160,' but
this is hardly possible, and it is more probable that there
were two saints of the same name, and that a similar
confusion has been made in her case to that which exists

* The Acts by S. Pastor say nothing about her dying by martyrdom, but simply
state that .she died at the age of sixteen. Consequently the Pudentiana who died
in 160 must have been another.

B
PS
<!

C5 B tM

g g a

S <i M

H m ■«

I
O

* ^

MayigO B. Alcuifi. 263

in the case of S. Prisca. She was buried in the catacomb
of S. Priscilla, the wife of Punicus, and mother of S.
Pudens.

The relics of S. Pudentiana have been conveyed to
France, and repose in the church of Chatillon-sur-long, in
the diocese of Orleans.

B. ALCUIN, P. MK.
(a.d. 804.)

[Gallican Martyrologies. Hrabanus, Greven and Molanus in their
additions to Usuardus. Authority : — A life by a writer almost his con-
temporary, and his own writings. The life was written before 829, accord-
ing to Sigulf tire disciple of Alcuin, who furnished the writer with much of
his information. But this life is colourless and poor. Far richer details
may be gathered from the epistles of Alcuin. A good modem life of Alcuin
is that of Dr. F. Lorenz, professor of history to the University of Halle.]

The last of the distinguished Anglo-Saxons whose name
shed lustre on the empire of the Frankish monarchs in the
eighth century, was Alcuin. Born at York, about the year
735, of a noble family, Alcuin ^ was scarcely weaned from
his mother's breast when he was dedicated to the Church,
and entrusted to the care of the inmates of a monastery,
and on reaching the proper age, he was placed in the
school of Archbishop Egbert, then celebrated for the
number of noble youths who crowded thither to imbibe
instruction from the lips of that saintly prelate. Alcuin
was distinguished above his fellows by his application to
the study of the sciences, which were taught by Egbert's
kinsman Aelbert, who succeeded him in 766 in the see of
York, and in the management of the school. Alcuin was
Aelbert's favourite pupil ; when about twenty years of age,
he was chosen to accompany him on a visit to the conti-

' His name was originally Albeis, why and when he changed it does not
appear.

J,. _ — *

264 Lives of the Saints. CMayig.

nent in search of books, and of new discoveries in science,
and on that occasion he resided for a short time in Rome.
Immediately after Aelbert's accession to the archiepiscopal
see, he ordained Alcuin deacon, appointed him to fill the
place which he had himself occupied in the school, and
gave him the care of the extensive library attached to it.
Under Alcuin's superintendence the school increased in
reputation, and many foreigners came to partake of the ad-
vantages derived from his teaching. Archbishop Aelbert
died on the 8th November, 780, and was succeeded by
Eanbald, one of Alcuin's pupils, who, in the following year,
sent his instructor to Rome to obtain for him the pall at
the hands of Pope Adrian I. On his return, Alcuin visited
Parma, and there met Charlemagne, who had also been at
Rome. That monarch was then meditating the foundation
of scholastic institutions throughout his dominions, and he
seized the opportunity to persuade Alcuin to settle in
France, and become his adviser and assistant in his projects
of reform.

There must have been something peculiarly engaging in
Charlemagne. Alcuin met a great mind, full of noble aspira-
tions, in advance of his age, and he saw that the emperor
was a man whom he might direct aright, and who was one
to render him every facility for raising the religious, moral and
intellectual tone of the mighty empire over which Charle-
magne had been placed. But before he joined the king,
Alcuin continued his journey home, to fulfil his original
commission, and to obtain the consent of the archbishop of
York, and of Alfwold, king of Northumbria, to the proposed
arrangement. He felt, and so did his spiritual and temporal
superiors, that a door had been opened before him, and
that it was not for them to attempt to close it. In 782,
followed by some of his chosen disciples, Alcuin left
England for France. In the court of Charlemagne, Alcuin

^ ■ ^

May 19.] B. Alcuin. 265

became, as one great writer^ calls him, the intellectual
prime minister of the emperor.

A slight sketch of the condition of the Church in the
empire is necessary, that the reader may judge of the
abuses Charlemagne and Alcuin had united to rectify.

The higher classes of the clergy under the Franks at
the time of the Merovingian princes were, according to the
testimony of their contemporary and fellow-clerk, Gregory
of Tours, to the last extent barbarous, dissolute, and
corrupt. Adultery, murder, simony, false swearing, avarice,
abounded among the bishops and dignitaries, and the
example of the higher clergy corrupted those below them,
and demoralized the laity.

The episcopal thrones in Germany were occupied by
Franks, and when S. Boniface came in the eighth century
into Germany to convert the heathen, he found occasion
to vehemently inveigh against the morals and conduct of
the German bishops. His account of the Frankish clergy
gives a terrible picture of disorder. He wrote to Pope
Zacharias : " For long religion has been prostrate. In the
course of eighty years the Franks have not held a single
council, nor published a new decree, nor renewed a single
old one. The possessors of the bishoprics are avaricious
laymen, or adulterous priests, who only aim at temporal
profit. Their deacons live from youth up in adultery and
all uncleanness, and whilst still deacons have as many as
four or five concubines. Nevertheless they are so bold
that they read the Gospel publicly, and are not ashamed
to style themselves deacons. If they attain the priestly
office, laden with all their crimes, they lead the same
criminal life, heap one sin upon another, and yet pretend
to intercede for the people, and offer the Holy Sacrifice.
The worst is that these men advance from one dignity to

' Agobard, Archbishop of Lyons.
)J, *

266 Lives of the Saints. [Mayig.

another, and finally become bishops. If there are any
among them who remain chaste, yet they give themselves
up to drinking, hunting, and injustice, or go armed to
battle, and shed with their own hands human blood,
sometimes that of heathen, but sometimes also that of
Christians."

Bishop Gewilieb, of Mayence, was charged by S. Boni-
face with murder, before a council at Worms, because he
had killed in duel a Saxon who had assassinated his father,
Bishop Gerold of Worms. S. Boniface also charged
Bishop Gewilieb with being addicted to hawking and
hunting, and endeavoured to obtain his deposition.

The cause of the decay of discipline and general disorder
in morals was probably this. The Frank kings saw how-
much their power would be supported and strengthened if
the widely ramifying authority of the Church were made a
base for their throne. They therefore richly endowed
bishoprics and abbeys, and made the bishops and abbots to
be vassals {ministrales) of the king. Thus Fredegar, in 740
speaks of the Burgundian barons, whether bishops or other
feudatories. 1 They were often employed in affairs of the
State, and were thus invested with a very important political
influence. The possessions of the Church were regarded
by the kings as feudal tenures (benefida), and the bishops
and abbots holding them were bound to arm and fight as
vassals for their king. It was stipulated by law that the
choice of a bishop should be confirmed by the king ; ^ but
for the most part, the kings themselves appointed to the
vacant sees, in spite of the often reiterated protests of the
councils. Synods could not assemble without the royal
permission ; their decrees had to be confirmed by the
king, being previously invalid. In the meantime the
affairs of the Church were discussed and ordered, even

^ Fredigar, Chron., caps. 4, 76. ^ Cone. Aurelian, ann. 849.

May 19.] B. Alcuin. 267

in the meetings of the king's council of Vassals, the
■placitum regis, synodus regia , and the government of
ecclesiastical affairs having thus passed into the hands
of the State, synods of bishops and clergy became
more rare, and at length ceased altogether. This arrange-
ment completed the downfall of the metropolitan system.
The king became the sole and sovereign judge of the
bishops. " If one of us, O King," wrote Gregory of Tours
to King Chilperic, " shall have wished to transgress the
path of justice, he is judged by thee, but if thou trans-
gressest, who is to call thee to order ? We may speak to
thee, and if it pleases thee, thou mayest attend; but if
thou wiliest not to listen, who is to condemn thee, except
He Who is very Justice ? " ^

In proportion as the bishops rose higher in political in-
fluence, the other clergy sank deeper. No free man was
allowed to receive orders without royal permission. Hence
the clergy were chosen for the most part from among the
serfs, and on this very account the bishops acquired an
unlimited power over them, which frequently manifested
itself in the most tyrannical conduct.

S. Boniface found the German Church in this deplorable
condition ; bishops and abbots mere creatures of the State,
wealthy, and sometimes not even in holy orders, but enjoy-
ing the temporalities without a thought of qualifying to
administer the spiritualities of their charge. He strove to
bring the bishops from this servitude to the crown into
responsibility to the pope, hoping thereby to check the evil.
But this could not be done without an alteration in the law.
The abbots and bishops who held many feudal tenures
were bound by a law of Charles Martel to march to war at
the head of their retainers ; they were often engaged for a
long period in fighting, and their abode in the camp

* Hist. Franc, v. ig.

^ ii(

268 Lives of the Saints. [May 19.

speedily assimilated them in morals and sentiments to the
other feudal lords. For the extension of Christianity, the
first missionaries had established numerous monastic colo-
nies throughout Germany, and these were supported by
the agricultural labours ofthe m onks. But by degrees the
farming interest prevailed over the spiritual in these houses.
The monks proved themselves admirable agriculturists,
and for the sake of the cultivation of their fields neglected
the harvest of souls. When Charlemagne ascended the
throne, he found the Frank and German episcopal thrones
and abbots' chairs occupied by men without learning and
without morals, fighting, drinking, hunting, and utterly
neglectful of their spiritual calling. Charlemagne was
resolved to raise the people committed to his charge from
the chains of ignorance and barbarism which held them
fast. To eifect this he must begin by correcting the evil
in head-quarters. He cut off the chief occasion of evil by
exempting the bishops and abbots from military service,
and he forbade them to hunt with hawks and hounds in
the forests. This latter regulation, though repeatedly
formulated, he found it impossible to enforce. The prelates
were ready enough to be exempt from war, which broke in
on their ease, but the chase was to them a darling pleasure
of which they would not be deprived. At length Charle-
magne, finding it impracticable to enforce his rule, and
unwilling to acknowledge the impracticability, by law
permitted the higher clergy to hunt, on condition that the
skins of the beasts killed were used for binding books.

This reminds us of a story told of Charlemagne which
we should be sorry to suppose is fabulous. He was one
day hunting in a forest, and lost his way. As night fell he
came to a little church and priest's house, and asked for a
lodging. It was readily accorded him, but his fare was
scanty, though the best the poor priest could offer. On

* — li

5, <^

May 19.] B. Alcuin. 269

the morrow the priest made the emperor hear mass, which
he celebrated very devoutly, and then gave his guest, of
whose rank he was ignorant, a plain breakfast, and dis-
missed him with his blessing. The emperor, pleased with
his piety, and compassionating the poverty of his host,
offered him a piece of gold, which the priest refused,
saying, " Sir, I need not thy money, but if thou killest
a hind to-day, I pray thee give me the skin, for my old
Breviary sadly needs a cover." Charlemagne, ever ready
to advance good men, did not forget the poor priest in the
forest, but on the see of Trbyes falling vacant, appointed
to it his host of that night. If this story rests on a
true foundation, the priest was Amalarius, who afterwards
as archbishop became a confidential adviser of the emperor.

Charlemagne, under the direction of Alcuin, founded
schools in which young clerics could be educated and
disciplined, to shine as lights in the world, and not become
a scandal to Christendom like the clergy under his prede-
cessors. By the determination and zeal of the emperor
and Alcuin, the sees were one after another filled with
worthy bishops, men of learning and piety, and Charle-
magne was able to entrust to them the execution of justice
in matters temporal within their dioceses as well as spiritual
government. He also chose from among them extra-
ordinary judges (Missi dominici) whom he sent round every
year into every province to exercise the highest oversight
and power in things ecclesiastical as well as civil. With
every bishop thus appointed was also a count. Bishops and
counts were ever}rwhere instructed to work together, and
mutually to support one another ; ecclesiastical usurpations
were not endured,' and the oppressions of the counts and
dukes weighing on the people were removed.

In addition to these duties, the bishops were required to

' See Capitulars for A.D. 779 (Baluz., i., 197, 387.)
Ij, — ■^

^ -^ :

2 70 Lives of the Saints. [May 19

make a visitation of their dioceses every year, to maintain
ecclesiastical discipline and correct religious abuses.
Where there was encroachment on ecclesiastical rights, the
bishop might not judge alone, as an interested party,
but was obliged to have seven assistants to try the case.

Ecclesiastical legislation, the highest judicial power in
Church affairs, the management and confirmation of eccle-
siastical decrees, still remained with the king, who sum-
moned the spiritual as well as the civil feudatories to diets,
conducted spiritual causes by the Apocrisiarius or Archica-
pellanus, afterwards Archicancellarius, as he did civil causes
by the Counts Palatine {Comites Palatii).

At the time of Charlemagne, and afterwards, the bishops
lived in some splendour, and in travelling were followed by
a large company of servants, as may be judged from the
amount of daily provision allowed to them when on a
journey. According to a capitulary of Louis the Pious, in
819, every bishop received daily for his provision, when on
a journey, 40 loaves, i pig, 3 sucking-pigs, 3 hens, 15 eggs,

3 tons of beer, and 4 sacks of grain for the horses.
In spite of all Charlemagne's efforts to rectify the morals

of the clergy, the religious condition of the priests was not
raised to the level he desired. It was not possible to
remedy abuses in a generation, but much, very much, is
certainly due to that great king. In the capitularies for 811
those clergy are censured who endeavour to obtain the
goods of a dying man by promising him Heaven if he
makes the priest his heir, and threaten him with hell if he
leaves it to the rightful heirs ; they are also censured for
caring rather to adorn their churches than advance Chris-
tian virtue, to improve the singing rather than stimulate
their clerks to a holy life, and also for using compulsion to
force men into the service of God. However, the moral
tone of the clergy must have been much higher at this time,

for we find certain decrees of earlier capitularies, such as
those forbidding priests to have more wives than one, and
to attend buffooneries and coarse spectacles, no longer re-
peated. Later we know that Hinkmar, archbishop of
Rheims, commanded his clergy "not to indulge in vulgar
sports with bears and tumblers," and that monks were
forbidden spending their time in sporting with baiting
bears and other wild beasts/

Charlemagne was not content with leaving the bishops
to their own devices. At times he sent orders that they
were to preach and cause to be preached in their dioceses
on some doctrine or moral theme he designated, and at
other times he sent a question in theology to his bishops,
requiring them to write answers to it, so that he might be
satisfied of their theological knowledge and orthodoxy. By
this means no ignorant prelate remained undetected, no
unworthy bishop unmasked ; for if a bishop did not reach
his standard in intellectual or moral requirements, he was
forthwith deposed. By this means also Charlemagne
raised the character, and thereby the influence of the
whole body of clergy, and from being the disgrace they
became the honour of his empire. But this dignity to
which he elevated them, and the authority it acquired for
them, tended to their corruption under his unworthy and
feeble successors.

With what justice Charlemagne ruled the Church may
be gathered from an incident which exhibits his conduct in
the brightest colours. Bishop Theodulf of Orleans and
Alcuin had quarrelled. Alcuin had been for many years
the teacher, friend, and confidant of the emperor, who
reverenced and loved this virtuous man, and made him his
adviser in matters of the deepest import to the church and
the empire. Now it fell out that a priest who had received

' Raumer, " Hohenstaufen,'" vi,, pp. 410, 432.
* -)J(

272 Lives of the Saints. [May 19.

sentence for his crimes from Bishop Theodulf escaped
from prison, and fled to Tours, where he took refuge in
the sanctuary of S. Martin's abbey. Theodulf reclaimed
the runaway ; the monks of S. Martin's vehemently main-
tained their privilege of sanctuary, and armed their re-
tainers against the officers of the bishop. All this took
place without the knowledge of Alcuin, who was abbot of
S. Martin's, but when he did hear of it he took the side of
his monks, and refused to deliver up the culprit to the
imperial officer sent by orders of Charlemagne to claim
him. Alcuin wrote to the emperor a vehement letter
maintaining the rights of the sanctuary ; but Charlemagne
earnestly deprecated the warmth and opposition of his
bosom friend and preceptor, and insisted on the surrender
of the culprit. This firmness no doubt cost him a pang,
and it hastened Alcuin's death, but it shows that Charle-
magne'preferred justice to every other consideration.

A great improvement was also wrought by Charlemagne
and Alcuin in the condition of the monks. To wean them
from absorption in agricultural pursuits, they laboured to
impress on them the importance of learning, and by
appointing to the monasteries abbots who had been trained
in the schools founded and watched over by Alcuin, an
impulse was given to learning which made the monasteries
of S. Gall, Fulda, and in later times Corbey and others,
famous nurseries of science and book knowledge.

But to return to the main outline of the life of this great
instigator of all the reforms wrought by Charlemagne,
whose influence on the condition of the Church in
that and the succeeding reigns can hardly be over
estimated.

It is probable that Alcuin attended Charlemagne in
many of his expeditions ; he lost no opportunity in making
his influence with the king subservient to the interests of

May 19.] B. Alcuin. 273

his native country; and after remaining about eight years
in France, he resolved to return to York. Charlemagne
exacted from him a promise that he would return speedily,
and make the court of France his lasting home ; a promise
Alcuin was not unwilling to give, for he saw that God had
given him a mighty work to accomplish, and that he dare
not withdraw from it.

"Although,'' said he, "I possess no small inheritance in
my own country, I will willingly resign it, and in poverty
serve thee, and remain with thee; let it be thy care to
obtain the permission of my king and my bishop."

Alcuin came to England in the year 790, as ambassador
from Charlemagne to King Offa, to arrange some mis-
understanding which had arisen between the two great
monarchs, and it appears to have been his intention to
return the same year. But he found the kingdom of
Northumbria involved in troubles ; and in a letter written
at this period, he laments that he should not be able to
return to France at the time he expected. It was not till
792 that, pressed by the letters of Charlemagne, who
desired his assistance in repressing a heresy which threat-
ened to cause a division in the Frank Church, Alcuin left
England for the last time, with the permission of Bishop
Eanbald and King Ethelred. He took with him a
number of English ecclesiastics, who were afterwards
present at the council held in 794, at Frankfort-on-the
Maine, where the doctrinal innovations of Felix of Urgel
and Elipandus of Toledo, who taught that Christ was the
Son of God by adoption, were condemned. From 792
to 796 Alcuin continued to reside at the court of Charle-
magne, in the same relation to his patron as before his
visit to England. His position was rendered agreeable
not only by the favour of the royal family, but by being
in the society of the most learned and enlightened men of

VOL. V. 18
4( — ■©

274 Lives of the Saints. [May 19.

his time. Yet his happiness was frequently clouded by grief
at the troubles with which his native country was visited,
and of which he heard from his Northumbrian friends. In
793, the Norsemen devastated the island of Lindisfarne,
profaned its church, and murdered several of the monks.
This calamity, which Alcuin made the subject of one of the
best of his poems, is alluded to in several of his letters, and
appears to have afforded him keen distress, as well it might,
for Lindisfarne was the ancient Christian metropolis of the
North of England, endeared by the memory of S. Cuthbert,
S. Aidan, and many another illustrious saint.

During the years which preceded a.d. 796, Charlemagne
had been occupied in wars against the Saxons and Huns,
and in that year, having reduced both these nations to his
obedience, his mind was occupied with measures for the
propagation of Christianity among the latter people. He
consulted Alcuin, who, in an interesting letter, congratu-
lated him on his conquests, and advised him to proceed
with mildness rather than harshness in the work of con-
version. Alcuin's liberality of sentiment is remarkably
conspicuous in this letter ; he recommends the king in the
first place to select with care the missionaries whom he is
about to send amongst them, and to avoid burdening the
converts by the imposition of heavy rates for the support of
the Church. He warns him against the immediate ex-
action of tithes, and entreats him to consider that a tax
which established Christians reluctantly consented to pay,
would prove intolerable to new converts, and might em-
bitter the people against the religion of Christ.

The correspondence of Alcuin during the year 796 is
unusually interesting, and exhibits his intelligent mind in a
new light. Among the scholars at the court of Charle-
magne it was a custom, not unknown in other times, of
taking literary names and surnames. In this learned

— ^*

May 19.] B. Alcuin. 2 75

nomenclature Alcuin himself took the name of Flaccus
Albinus, which in after ages was frequently appended to
his writings ; the common name whereby Charlemagne was
designated was David ; among Alcuin's more immediate
friends, Riculf, archbishop of Mainz, was addressed as
Damoetas ; the name of Arno was changed into Aquila,
and to Angilbert was given the name of Homer.

At last, at the age of sixty, Alcuin resolved to leave the
court, and spend the rest of his days in seclusion. He
determined to return to his native country, and repose for
the remainder of his life in the cloister of the monastery
of York. He had already made preparations for his
departure, and was entrusted with rich presents for King
Offa, when the intelligence of new troubles in the kingdom
of Northumbria, and of the murder of King Ethelred,
diverted him from his project. " I was prepared with gifts
of King Charles to visit you, and to return to my country,''
he wrote to OfFa; " but I have thought it better on account
of the peace of my people to remain in pilgrimage, not
knowing what I should do amongst those with whom no one
can be secure, and who cannot profit by healthful counsel."
From this moment Alcuin resolved to spend the re-
mainder of his life in the Frankish empire ; but persisting
in his intention of living in solitude, he demanded the
permission of his royal patron to retire to Fulda. Charles
was unwilling to lose the society of his favourite instructor
and adviser, and refused his consent; but shortly after-
wards he gave him the abbey of S. Martin, at Tours, which
had become vacant by the opportune death of the abbot
Itherius, with permission to spend as much of his time as
he liked within the walls of that monastic house. Alcuin's
mode of life at Tours was one rather of splendid retire-
ment than of pure renunciation of the world. His theo-
logical opponent, Elipandus, blamed him for his enormous

4,.- *

276 Lives of the Saints. [Mayig.

wealth. Though he seldom quitted his monastery, he
continued still to be the favourite counsellor of the king,
who in cases of emergency went to consult him at Tours.
The monastic school which Alcuin established there,
produced some of the most remarkable scholars of the
following age. He sent a mission to England to procure
books for its library, and it was there that he composed
most of his writings.

In 803 the quarrel between himself and Bishop Theodulf
of Orleans, already mentioned, led to a temporary estrange-
ment between himself and Charlemagne.

Alcuin died at Tours, on Whit-Sunday, the 19th of May,
804, and was buried with great pomp in the church of
S. Martin. In the Lyceum at Bamberg is preserved a Bible
written by the hand of Alcuin for Charlemagne.

S. DUNSTAN, ARCHB. OF CANTERBURY.
(a.d. 968.)

[Sarum and York Kalendars. Roman Martyrology and modem
Anglican Kalendar. Also in some Martyrologies on Sept. 7. Autho-
rities : — A life by Bridferth the priest, a contemporary and eye-witness of
much that he describes. He died about 980. Secondly, a life by Eadmer
(d. 1 124) ; thirdly, one by Osbern, monk of Canterbury, written shortly
after 1070 ; and fourthly, a life by Osbert, a monk, in the 12th cent, of
which only fragments exist. In addition to these are notices in the early
Chroniclers of England, as the Saxon Chronicle, the Chronicle of Henry
of Huntingdon, William of Malmesbury, &c.]

S. DuNSTAN was born in the iirst year of King Athelstan,
in 925, if we may trust the Saxon chronicle, near Glaston-
bury, where his father, Heorstan, was a great Thane. His
mother's name was Cynethrith. He was sent as a boy to
the famous abbey of Glastonbury to be instructed. There
he was attacked with brain fever, which made him so noisy
in the dormitory that he was given into the charge of a

* ij.

* ■

May 19.] S. Dunstau. 277

woman to nurse him. One night he started out of his bed
and ran out, beating the air as if he were driving off savage
dogs, rushed up a spiral staircase that led to the roof of the
church, ran out on the lead, and was seen balancing himself
on the sharp ridge. After a while he came down and
entered the church, where he dropped into a refreshing
sleep, and next morning when he awoke had no remem-
brance of his nocturnal exploit.

After a while he was introduced to the court of King
Athelstan, where he did not stay long, as he made some
enemies there. Indeed, his fellow pages, probably jealous
of the favour with which he was regarded by the king,
ducked him in a horse-pond, and set the dogs on him,
when he crawled out covered with mud. At court he fell
desperately in love with a beautiful and amiable girl, and
wished to marry her, but his kinsman, Alphege the Bald,
Bishop of Winchester, urged him to elect the life of self-
renunciation, and to become a monk. Dunstan sharply
answered that he preferred a pretty young wife, and her
loving society to the woollen {bidentenus) smock of a monk.
Not long after Dunstan was afflicted with a violent eruption
over his body, which was intolerably irritating, and made
him fear for his life. Then he resolved to renounce the idea
of marriage, and to become a monk. And he went to his
kinsman Alphege. Now one day Bishop Alphege was
dedicating the church of S. Gregory that had been newly
built in the city of Winchester, and towards evening, ere he
went away, the bishop said to Dunstan, "The hour of com-
pline is come, say the office with me in the church.'' So
they went in both together, and after the first versicles they
put their heads together for their mutual confession,^ and
then separated them for the absolution. And just at that

1 "Jungentes capita sua in unum ; quo confessiones suas solita consuetudine
vicessim proderent."

2 78 Lives of the Saints. [May 19.

moment down came a great stone between their heads,
brushing the hair of each, but doing no harm to either.
We should say that the masons had not done their work in
the new church as thoroughly as might be. Birdferth the
biographer says that evidently the devil had thrown it at
Dunstan, but missed his aim.

At Glastonbury he made the acquaintance of S. Ethel-
fleda (April 13) who lived near the church and was old and
infirm. Another lady of his acquaintance was a noble
matron named Ethelbyra, who used to do needlework for
the church and its ministers. Dunstan, who was skilful
with his brush, painted a stole, and then took it to her to
fill in with silk and precious stones ; and as she was fond
of music, and he was a skilful musician, he took with him
his harp to sing and play to her whilst she embroidered his
stole. But after dinner he hung up his harp against the
wall, near the open window, as the lady was obhged to
attend to her servants ; and, to every one's astonishment,
the harp played faint chiming chords of seolian music.^
This astonished all, who looked upon the circumstance as
a prestige of the future greatness and sanctity of the harper.
The sound was, in fact, drawn out by the current of air
setting the strings in vibration, as in the beautiful toy, the
aeolian harp.

Dunstan occupied his monastic life at Glastonbury in
acquiring all the learning of the time, and he devoted him-
self as well to various arts useful for the service of the
Church as music and painting, and he became especially
skilful as a metal-worker. A MS. illuminated by his hand
still exists in the British Museum. On the death of King
Athelstan, Edmund the Magnificent, his brother, was elected
king ; and he recalled Dunstan to court. The saint went,

1 The imagination of the hearers led them to detect in the harp music the melody
of a well-known antiphon.

* — *

^ — ^

May 19.] 5". Duns tan. 279

but again got into trouble with the courtiers and the king
through the severity of his virtue, and was obliged to leave.
One day, almost immediately after, the king was hunting a
stag on the Cheddar (Ceoddir) hills, when the hart rushed
to the edge oi' the rock and plunged over the precipice.
The king was galloping with relaxed rein, and saw instantly
his peril. " God help me, and I will bring Dunstan back ! "
and he drew in his rein. The horse rose in the air on its
hind legs, and reeled back, and the king was saved. He
instantly recalled Dunstan and said to him, " Quick, saddle
your nag, and accompany me." Dunstan obeyed, wonder-
ing much at this change in the king's mood, and Edmund
led the way in the direction of Glastonbury. After they
had reached the abbey, Edmund entered the church and
prayed j then rising, he took Dunstan's hand, and leading
him into the abbatial chair, seated him, and said, " Be
thou the possessor and staunch defender of this throne, and
whatever thou findest deficient for the conduct of Divine
worship, I will supply out of my treasury."

This was in 943, and if we are to believe the date of his
birth given by the Saxon Chronicle, and confirmed by Bird-
ferth, he can only have been eighteen at the time Edmund
died by the hand of Liofa at Pucklechurch in 946. The
body of the murdered king was brought to Glastonbury,
and was there buried by Abbot Dunstan.

King Edmund left two sons, Edwy and Edgar, but as
they were very young, his brother Edred was chosen to
succeed him. Edred was crowned at Kingston by Arch-
bishop, Oda, and was acknowledged by the Northumbrians,
who, however, revolted in 948 or thereabouts, and chose
Eric, son of Harold Blue-tooth, king of Denmark, to be
their king. Edred marched against them and defeated
them. During the war Dunstan persuaded him to send his
treasures to Glastonbury to be under the care of the monks.

ij( *

280 Lives of the Saints. [May 19.

On the death of Ethelgar, bishop of Crediton in Devon,
the king urged Dunstan to accept the vacant see, but he
steadily refused. Edred died at Frome in 955, and was
buried at Winchester. He was succeeded by Eadwig, or
Edwy, the eldest son of King Edmund. He was still very
young, only sixteen. His reign, like those of his father and
uncle, was very short, and, unlike theirs, it was also very
unlucky.

It is difficult to arrive at the truth of the events that
occurred in the reign of King Edwy, both because the
Saxon Chronicle is very short, and because all other accounts
contradict one another so that one hardly knows what to
believe. For S. Dunstan had by this time taken a very
decided line, and this made two great parties in the Church
and in the country generally ; one favoured his scheme of
reform, and the other as vehemently opposed it. And as
historians favoured one or other side, so is their history
coloured. Edwy was the enemy of Dunstan ; therefore the
admirers of Dunstan have tried to make out Edwy as bad
as possible. On the other hand, most modern writers have
a prejudice against S. Dunstan, and try to make the best of
Edwy, and the worst of S. Dunstan. If the Saxon Chronicle
gave us a full account we should know better what to believe.
But as it is we must put the story together as well as we can
by comparing the different accounts. The Chronicle does
not tell us any harm of Edwy, and Ethelwerd and Henry of
Huntingdon give him a good character, and lament his early
death. On the other hand it is certain that he drove S.
Dunstan out of the kingdom. Now when we see how well
things went on both under Edred, and afterwards under
Edgar, when S. Dunstan was again in power, and how badly
they went on under Edwy, we shall think that Edwy did a
very injudicious as well as blameworthy act in driving S.
Dunstan away. Dunstan was unquestionably a great and

* ^

* . i^

May 19.] -5". Dunstan. 281

wise minister, but it was very natural for several reasons
that Edwy should dislike him.

S. Dunstan's great object was the reformation of the
Church. Among the Anglo-Saxon clergy, before S. Dunstan,
marriage was rather the rule, celibacy the exception. The
clergy attached to the cathedrals lived under a kind of
canonical rule, but were almost universally married. In the
richer conventual foundations, ruled mostly by noble and
warlike abbots, and noble abbesses, they took no vow of
chastity; they married or remained unmarried at their will.^
The only true monks were the Benedictines, who had been
introduced by S. Wilfred. They were chiefly in the northern
kingdoms, but throughout England their monasteries had
been mercilessly wasted by the Danes ; a white cowl was
as rare as a ghost. When Dunstan began his career there
were true monks only at Abingdon and Glastonbury. These
things S. Dunstan and Bishop Ethelwald, of Winchester,
and others who acted with them, set themselves heartily to
reform. And besides, Dunstan was very anxious to get all
the cathedrals and other great churches into the hands of
monks instead of secular priests of any kind, whether
married or not. This he succeeded in doing afterwards,
under King Edgar, to a very great extent.

Now it could not but happen that different men should
think very differently about changes like these. King Edred
had been S. Dunstan's friend throughout, and had supported
him in effecting his reform ; but King Edwy took the other
side. He does not appear to have been at all an enemy of
the Church or a robber of monasteries, as some have made
him out, for he was a benefactor of the churches both of

1 "Monasteria nempe Anglias ante Reformationem a Dunstano et Edgaro rege
instituta, totidem erant conventus clericorum SEecularium ; qui amplissimis posses-
sionibus dotati et certis sibi invicem regulis astricti, officia sua in ecclesiis quotidie
frequentarunt ; omnibus interim aliorum clericorum privilegiis, atque ipsa uxores
ducendi licentia gaudebant." — Wharton, Anglia Sacra^ I. p. 218.

Ij. lj(

Abingdon and Glastonbury. But he did not like S. Dun-
stan, and did not approve of his schemes. So far from
turning out secular priests to put in monks, he seems to
have sometimes intruded secular priests into churches where
there had always been monks. William of Malmesbury
bitterly complains that secular priests were put into his own
church at Malmesbury, making it what he calls "a stable
of clerks," as if secular priests were no better than beasts-
It is no wonder then that we find the whole history both of
Edwy and Edgar perverted by party spirit. S. Dunstan's
friends make out all the ill they can against Edwy, and S.
Dunstan's enemies all the ill they can against Edgar. Hence
both Edwy and Edgar are charged with crimes which most
likely neither of them ever committed. As far as can be
made out, it is most likely that Edwy, before he was chosen
king, or directly after, married, or took to live with him — it
is impossible to decide which — a beautiful young girl named
Elgiva. She was so near of kin to him that according to
the laws of the Church he could not lawfully marry her.
Anyhow, this union caused great scandal and offence.
Now on the very day of the coronation of Edwy, during
the banquet, the king left the hall where were his nobles,
bishops, and aldermen, and went into another room to visit
his wife and her mother. This was resented by the guests
as an insult, and they were very angry. S. Dunstan rose
from his seat, and with the Bishop of London, pursued the
king into the apartment of his wife, and insisted on his
return. We may well believe that much strong language
was used on both sides, and that neither Edwy nor Elgiva
ever forgave S. Dunstan. It so happened that a party of
the monks at Glastonbury were displeased at the changes
effected by their abbot, and complained to the king.
Edwy caught at the opportunity, and either in 956 or 957,
S. Dunstan was driven out of the kingdom and took refuge

in Flanders.
^ .ij(

»5<- ^

May 19.] S. Dunstan. 283

Now, either by the banishment of Dunstan, or his way
of governing in general, Edwy gave great offence to his
subjects. In 957 Mercia and all England north of the
Thames revolted, and chose Edgar, the brother of Edwy, to
be king. Edgar, king of the Mercians, as he is now called,
at once sent for S. Dunstan to come to him, and pre-
sently gave him the bishopric of Worcester, and afterwards
that of London. S. Dunstan held both these bishoprics at
once, a thing clearly against the laws of the Church, and
only perhaps justified by the necessities of the time. The
next year, 958, Archbishop Oda, acting in concert with S.
Dunstan, forced Edwy to separate from Elgiva. This we
know from the Saxon Chronicle, and it looks very much
as if the intercourse between the king and Elgiva was such
as very generally to outrage the public sense of decency,
so that Wessex was getting discontented as well as Mercia,
and the only resource for Edwy, if he hoped to retain his
crown, was to surrender Elgiva. It is difEcult to decide
what happened next. All we know for certain is that
Archbishop Oda died the same year that he divorced
Elgiva, and that Edwy died the year after, 959. But there
are all sorts of stories, told by later writers, too readily
accepted as true by prejudiced modern historians, which
are so utterly contradictory and so confused as to their
dates, that we may hope they are false. Some woman
or other, by whom they mean Elgiva, was killed by the
Mercians in their revolt; according to another account.
Archbishop Oda had her branded in the face with a red-
hot iron to destroy her seductive beauty, and then banished
her to Ireland ; and when she ventured to come back,
Oda's men caught her at Gloucester, and cut the sinews of
her legs, so that she died in this horrible way. Now it is
clear that Elgiva could not have been killed in the revolt of
Mercia, because she was divorced afterwards, and the other

^ ■ ^

284 Lives of the Saints. [May 19.

dreadful tale rests on no contemporary authority.' Some
say that Edwy was killed, but this is uncertain. Anyhow
he died in 959, and was buried at Winchester.

On the death of Edwy, his brother Edgar, king of the
Mercians, was chosen king by the whole nation, and he
reigned over the West Saxons, Mercians, and Northum-
brians. He was only sixteen years old when he was
elected king.

It is almost as hard to write about Edgar as about his
brother, because the accounts which we have of him are
very contradictory. The earUest and best writers glorify
him as the best and greatest of kings ; the Saxon Chro-
nicle can hardly speak of him without bursting forth into
poetry. On the other hand there is no king about whom
there are more stories to his discredit. Here we can see
party spirit. There is no doubt that under Edgar England
was wonderfully prosperous and wonderfully peaceful.
His chief adviser was S. Dunstan, and he was the great
friend of the monks. This was enough to make one side
call him everything that was good, and the other side
call him everything that was bad. Most likely he was
neither so good nor so bad as he is pictured. But
the prosperity of his reign is certain, while the crimes
attributed to him are very doubtful. They come mostly
from stories in William of Malmesbury, who allows that he
got them from popular ballads, the most untrustworthy of
all sources of history ; but some are on better authority.^
Archbishop Oda died a little time before King Edwy, and
in his place Elfsine, bishop of Winchester, was appointed.
But Elfsine set out to Rome to get his pall from the pope,
and died of cold in crossing the Alps. In 959, the first

^ It is first told by Osbem, who wrote about 1070.

^ As Osbem, who relates the story of the outraged nun, for which S. Dunstan put
the king to penance.

1^ Ij,

May 19.] S. Dunstan. 285

year of King Edgar, Dunstan was chosen to the arch-
bishopric of Canterbury/ and the next year he went to
Rome and got his pall from Pope John XII. For
the time Dunstan had all his own way, and he and
Ethelwald, bishop of Winchester, Oswald, bishop of Wor-
cester, and others of their party, turned the secular priests
out of many of the chief churches of England, and put in
monks. Dunstan was the king's chief adviser, and the
laws of Edgar, his strict government, the peace and pros-
perity of England under him, and his authority over all the
other princes of Britain, speak for themselves, and we cannot
doubt the wisdom and prudence of the great counsellor.

That the cares of office in Church and State did not
prevent S. Dunstan from cultivating his darling art of
music appears from a pretty story told by his biographer.
One night the archbishop dreamt that he was at a royal
wedding feast, and was listening to the song of the
minstrels, when one of the harpers, a youth in white
raiment, came to him, and asked why he did not join in
the nuptial hymn. "Because I know not the words and
the strain," said the sleeper. Then the young harper
played and sang to him, " O Rex gentium dominator
omnium, propter sedem Majestatis tuae da nobis indul-
gentiam. Rex Christe, peccatorum. Alleluia." On awaking
he repeated to himself the words and music, and calling
together the singers of Canterbury, taught them the anti-
phon, and committed it to writing, lest it should be for-
gotten. Nor did he forget his monks at Glastonbury, but
visited them and knew each personally, and not they only,
but all the little scholars in the monastery school.

One day Dunstan was at Bath, which he visited yearly

^ On the day that he said mass for the first time in Canterbury Cathedral, a white
dove appeared fluttering over his head. The bird afterwards perched on Bishop
Odo's tomb.

li— _ »ii

286 Lives of the Saints. [May 19.

for the sake of the hot springs. After dinner, falling into
an abstracted mood, he saw one of the little boys of
Glastonbury borne heavenward by angels. A day or two
after a monk from Glastonbury came to Bath to see
Dunstan. " How are all the brethren ? " asked the abbot.
"All are well," answered the monk. "What all?" again
asked Dunstan." " All but one Httle fellow, a boy who is
dead." " God rest his happy spirit," said S. Dunstan ; " I
have seen him borne by angels to everlasting peace."

Now Dunstan was the friend and counsellor of the king,
whom he probably loved. But Edgar, if an excellent
administrator of the laws, was not a man of peculiarly
virtuous life. Some of the stories told of him are most
probably false, but others must be true. Osbern, the
biographer of S. Dunstan, says that the king had been
guilty of a great crime. He had dishonoured a nun.
Shortly after, Dunstan came into his presence. The king,
as usual, extended his hand to him, but the archbishop,
with flashing eye, folded his arms, and turned abruptly
away, exclaiming, " I am no friend to the enemy of Christ. "

The king, awed, threw himself at his feet. Then S.
Dunstan bitterly reproached him, and he saw that Edgar
was moved to true contrition ; he laid on him a penance,
that for seven years he was not to wear his crown, and
was to fast twice in the week.

He was determined to enforce the celibacy of the
clergy, and his efforts drew on him bitter hatred. " Let
them live canonically or go out of the Church," said he.
A gathering of both parties was held at Calne, in a large
hall. The opposition was headed by a Scottish bishop
called Heornel, or Bernal.^ After a long altercation,
Dunstan, now very aged, exclaimed, " We have wasted

^ Hector Boece calls him Fothadh, and pretends that he obtained the victory over
S. Dunstan.

* ^

tj< ^ ^ _lj,

May 19.) S. Dunstan. 287

much time in endless dispute; I confess I cannot force
you to obedience. But I appeal to Christ, to His judg-
ment I commit the cause of His Church." Scarcely had
he said the words than, with a crash, a portion of the roof
fell on his opponents, and they escaped from the ruins
bruised and with broken bones.

On the death of King Edgar, before another king could
be chosen, there was a great movement against the monks.
Elthere, alderman of the Mercians, and others, began to
turn the monks out of several churches, and to bring back
the secular canons with their wives. But Ethelwin, alder-
man of the East-Angles, whom men called " the Friend of
God," gathered a meeting of the wise-men of his own earl-
dom, and they determined to keep the monks, and they
joined with Brithnorth, alderman of the East-Saxons, and
assembled an army to defend the monasteries. Mean-
while there was a dispute who should be king. Both the
sons of Edgar were very young ; Ethelred was about seven,
Edward about thirteen. Of the two it was most natural
to choose Edward, and King Edgar, before he died, had
said that he wished it to be so. But some were in favour
of Ethelred. An assembly was called for the election of a
king. Then Dunstan took his cross, and leading Edward
into the midst of the assembly, stood and demanded the
throne for him. All bowed to the authority, and Edward
was consecrated by the archbishop, in 975. The story of
his death has been already told (March i8th). When
Dunstan was called to crown Ethelred, in 979, as he
placed the golden circle on the boy's brow, he said, if we
may trust Osbern, " Since thou hast attained the kingdom
through the death of thy brother, whom thy mother hath
shamefully slain, the sword shall never depart from thy
house, till it hath cut it off, and the crown shall pass to one
of another race and language."

^- ,j,

On the feast of the Ascension, in the year 968, S. Dun-
stan sang mass and preached to the people with singular
unction. After he had returned to the altar to complete
the sacrifice, he turned to give the benediction, and then
again he addressed the people, and announced to them
that he was about to die. After the conclusion of mass, he
went to the refectory and dined, then returned to the
church and pointed out the place where he desired to be
laid. Three days after, he was no more.

In Art S. Dunstan is chiefly honoured by a foolish repre-
sentation of the devil caught by the nose by a pair of
blacksmith's pincers. The legend relates that Satan
tempted him as he was at work at his forge, by assuming
the form of a beautiful girl. Dunstan at once attacked him
with his pincers and put him to flight.

S. PETER CELESTINE, POPE.

(a.d. 1296.)

[Canonized by Clement V., in 1313. Authorities : — His early life was
written by himself. A metrical life by his contemporary, James Cardinal of
S. George, another metrical account of the election and coronation of
Boniface VIII. , a metrical account of the canonization of Peter Celestine,
both by the same Cardinal of S. George. A prose life compiled from the
above and other contemporary accounts by Peter de AUiaco (d. 1495).
AlsoPtolemydeLuccaorde Fiadonibus ( 1 32 7 ) in his Annals, and Historia
Ecclesiastica. Ptolemy was a witness of several of the events in the brief
reign of this pope.]

" The names of my parents were Angelerius and Maria,"
says S. Peter, " they were just before God, as I trust, and
were praised among men ; simple and upright, and fearing
God ; humble and peaceable, not rendering evil for evil ;
but giving alms and showing hospitality to the poor. After
the similitude of the patriarch Jacob, they begat twelve

^ ^

*. — ■ . ^

May 19 J ^. Peter Celestine. 289

sons, and ever they asked of God, that one of them might
be his true servant." The childhood of Peter, one of these
sons, was full of visions and marvels, which all tended to
foster his desire of leading a solitary and religious life.
Yet he was retarded by fear. He thought that a hermit's
life in a lone place must be fearful at night, and he
shuddered at the prospect of dreams, and weird sights and
sounds, far from the dwellings of men. He was twenty
before he mastered this fear, and then he set out with a
companion, somewhat older than himself They had not
gone far along a mountainous road, before his comrade
changed his mind, and deserted him. Peter pursued his
way till he came to a bridge ; the night was falling, the wind
moaned and filled the young man with alarm. But pluck-
ing up his courage, he ran across the bridge, and entering a
chapel at the end of it, dedicated to S. Nicolas, implored
courage to overcome his natural timidity. Near this
chapel, in a solitary place among the rocks, he heard there
was an ancient abandoned hermitage. It was then winter,
and great snow-flakes fell and drifted and rushed in eddies
about the mountain side. Two peasant women, com-
passionating the young man, endeavoured to dissuade him
from seeking the hermitage, but he resisted their kindly
intentions and persevered. He found the hermitage empty,
save for the snow which had been swept in. He
entered, and cast himself on the ground, hugging two loaves
he had bought and brought with him. In the night he
was solaced with visions of angels showering red roses
about him. But after a few days he found a large rock, and
he burrowed beneath it, and made himself a cell, in which
he could not stand upright, and in this he spent three
years, among toads, lizards, and scorpions. Sometimes
when he slept toads would creep into his bosom, and when
he awoke, he shook them out, by loosing his belt. " And,"

VOL. V. 19

^^ f

290 Lives of the Saints. [May 19.

says the historian, " when he saw them spitting at his feet,
he knew they were toads."

After three years spent in this miserable hole, he went
to Monte Moroni, and found a cave there in which he took
up his abode, and at this time he was ordained priest, that
he might minister to those who gathered around him as his
disciples, or came on pilgrimages to consult him. But he
soon wearied of this new retreat, and not liking his com-
panions, he fled away and found a spacious cavern among
the rocks of Monte Magella, in whose curved sides echoed
the merry bells of a distant church, to his no small wonder.
He was soon discovered and followed by his disciples, and
they planted green bushes before the yawning mouth of the
cave, and found it right pleasant there on a burning sum-
mer's day to see the light come in green and cool through
the leaves, and listen to the echo of the distant bells.
And near to the cave they erected a little chapel, on a
ledge where they noticed a dove loved to rest, and in the
chapel they placed an altar, where the hermit priest said
his mass daily. The chapel was of logs and rudely built,
but it was the gate of heaven to many who worshipped
there. And when Peter Moroni turned at the altar to
give benediction, through the rude door he saw a pleasant
sunny picture, a grassy foreground sprinkled with hare-
bells quivering in the mountain air, bold precipices, their
mossy ledges blue with gentian, and ancient pines clinging
to the rock and balancing themselves above a gorge. But
in winter the scene was changed. The rocks were glazed
with frozen streams, the rents in the mountain sides choked
with snow, and the wind heaped the white drifts about the
cavern, and penetrated to the interior, freezing the brothers,
so that some lost their fingers, and one lost both hands
through frost-bite and subsequent mortification.

But a change was to take place in the life of Peret

May 19.] S. Peter Celestine. 291

Moroni for which he was quite unprepared, so unexpected
was it.

Rome was torn by factions. The Orsini and the
Colonnas were at the head of two powerful opposed
parties. Pope Nicolas IV. had closed his short pontificate
in disaster, shame and unpopularity. The total loss of the
last Christian possessions in the East, the fatal and igno-
minious close of the Crusades, the disgrace thereby which
was supposed to have fallen on all Christendom, but with
especial weight on its head, bowed Nicolas down in shame
and sorrow. Italy was a prey to civil war, and the pope
had become enslaved to the Colonnas and favoured their
schemes of aggrandizement. There were acts in these
terrible wars that raged in almost every part of Italy, which
might have grieved the heart of a wise and humane pontiff
more than the loss of the Holy Land. The mercy of
Christendom might seem at a lower ebb than its valour.
Nicolas is said to have died in sorrow and humiliation ; he
died accused by the Guelphs of unpapal GhibeUinism, still
more on account of his favour to the Colonnas, Ghibelline
by descent and by tradition, and hereafter to become more
obstinately, furiously, and fatally Ghibelline in their im-
placable feud with Boniface VIII.^

Nicolas IV. died on the 4th of April, 1292. Only
twelve cardinals met to form the conclave for the election
of his successor. Six of these cardinals were Romans, of
these two were Orsini, and two were Colonnas; four
Italians; two French. Each of the twelve might aspire to
the supreme dignity. The Romans prevailed in numbers,
but were separated by implacable hostility; on one side
stood the Orsini, on the other the Colonnas. Three

1 Guelph and Ghibelline were names given to the papal and the imperial factions
whose conflicts destroyed the peace of Italy from the lath to the end of the 15th
century.

ij ^

^ _ -tjf

292 Lives of the Saints. [May 19

times they met without being able to come to an election.
The heats of June, and a dangerous fever, drove them out
of Rome ; and Rome became such a scene of disorder,
feud, and murder, that they dared not re-assemble within
the walls. Two rival senators, an Orsini and a Colonna,
were at the head of the two factions. Above a year had
elapsed, when the conclave agreed to meet again at
Perugia. The contest lasted eight months longer. Charles,
king of Naples, came to Perugia to overawe the conclave
by his personal presence. No one of the cardinals would
yield his post to his adversary ; yet all seemed resolute to
confine the nomination to their own body.

Matters had come to a dead lock, when a sudden and
unexpected mode of solving the difficulty was proposed
and readily accepted by ' all as a means of disappointing
the opposite faction, if not of satisfying their own. Latino
Malebranca, cardinal of Ostia, designedly, or accidentally,
spoke of the wonderful virtues of the hermit Peter Moroni ;
the weary conclave listened with interest. It was in that
perplexed and exhausted state, when men seize desperately
on any strange counsel to extricate themselves from their
difficulty. Peter Moroni was unanimously elected to fill
the chair of S. Peter. The fatal sentence was hardly
uttered when the brief unanimity ceased. Some of the
cardinals began to repent or be ashamed of their precipi-
tate decree. No one of them would undertake the office
of bearing the tidings of his elevation to the pope. The
deputation consisted of the archbishop of Lyons, two
bishops, and two notaries of the court.

The place of Moroni's retreat was a cave in a wild
mountain, above the pleasant valley of Sulmona. The
ambassadors of the conclave with difficulty found guides to
conduct them to the solitude. As they toiled up the
rocks, they were overtaken by Cardinal Colonna, who had

* ■ ^

qf. ^

Mayigo 6". Petev Celestinc. 293

come to take advantage of any opportunity that might
present itself of influencing the simple-minded pope to
favour his interests and those of his family and faction.
The ambassadors found an old man with long shaggy
beard, sunken eyes, overhung with heavy brows, and lids
swollen with perpetual weeping, pale, hollow cheeks, and
limbs meagre with fasting. They fell on their knees before
him, and Peter Moroni, the hermit, saw an archbishop, a
cardinal, and two bishops, prostrate before him, hailing him
as head of the Church. He stared through the bars that
closed his den, blank and bewildered, and thought it was
a dream. But when he knew that all this was sober
earnest, his terror and reluctance knew no bounds, and he
protested with tears his utter inability to cope with the
affairs, and to administer the sacred trust, that had thus
unexpectedly devolved upon him.

The hermit in vain tried to escape ; he was brought back
with respectful force, and guarded with reverential vigilance

The king of Naples, accompanied by his son, hastened
to do honour to his holy subject, and secure him as an
useful ally. The hermit-pope was conducted from his
lowly cave to the monastery of Santo Spirito, at the foot
of the mountain. Over his shaggy sackcloth the hermit
put on the gorgeous attire of the pontiff, and followed by
a train of his brother hermits, he entered the city of Aquila
riding on an ass, with a king on each side of him to hold
his bridle.

If there had been more splendid, never was there so
popular an election. Two hundred thousand spectators,
(of whom the historian, Ptolemy of Lucca, was one),
crowded the streets. In the evening the pope was com-
pelled again and again to come to the window to bestow
his benediction on the enthusiastic crowd.

But already the cardinals might gravely reflect on their

ij *

^ ^

294 Lives of the Saints . [May 19.

strange election. Peter refused to go to Perugia, and even
to Rome, and they declined to accompany him to Naples,
whither King Charles for state policy was bent on drawing
him. Two only, Hugh of Auvergne, and Napoleon
Orsini, accompanied him to Aquila. But the way in
which the pope began to use his vast powers still more
appalled and offended them. He bestowed the offices
in his court and about his person on rude Abruzzese
hermits, whose virtues he knew, but who were unknown to
political intrigue and party faction. High at once in his
favour rose the French prelate, Hugh de Billiome, cardinal
of S. Sabina, who had been the first to follow Malebranca
in the acclamation of Pope Moroni. On the death of
Malebranca, Hugh was raised to the bishopric of Ostia and
Velletri, and became dean of the College of Cardinals.
Large pensions, charged on great abbeys in France, gilded
his elevation, and the Frenchman seemed destined to rule
with undivided sway over the feeble and simple old man.
The Italians looked with undisguised jealousy and aversion
on the foreign prelate, whose influence they dreaded.

Cardinal Napoleon Orsini assisted at the inauguration,
gave to the pope the scarlet mantle, the mitre set with gold
and jewels ; and it was he who announced to the people
that Peter had taken the name of Ccelestine V. The foot
of the lowly hermit was kissed by kings, cardinals, bishops,
nobles. The number of the clergy present caused singular
astonishment. The cardinals, though reluctant, would not
allow the coronation to proceed without them. They
came slowly and in unwilling haste.

A few months showed that meekness, humility, holiness,
unworldliness might make a saint, but they were not the
virtues best calculated to adorn a pope at that period,
when intrigue, party-strife, and political entanglements,
needed a clear head, a firm will, and a resolute hand, to

-_ lii

^ -i^

May 19.] S. Peter Celestine. 295

guide the vessel of S. Peter. Coelestine V. was one swayed
by his advisers rather than one capable of directing events.
To Naples he had been led, as it were, in submissive
triumph, by King Charles ; he took up his abode in the
royal palace, an unsuspecting prisoner, treated with the
most ostentatious veneration. So totally did the harmless
Coelestine surrender himself to his royal protector, that he
stubbornly refused to leave Naples. His utter incapacity
for business soon appeared ; he lavished offices, dignities,
bishoprics, with profuse hand ; he granted and revoked
grants, bestowed benefices vacant, or about to be vacant.
He was duped by the officers of his court, and gave the
same benefices over and over again : but still the greater
share fell to his brethren from the Abruzzi, and in this he
acted wisely and well, for he knew these men to be faithful
and pious. His officers issued orders of all kinds in his
name. He shrank from publicity, loving retirement, and
when he was required for the ceremonial duties of his
office, the old man was found weary and weeping before
the altar of his oratory. His weakness made him as
prodigal of his power as of his gifts. At the dictation of
King Charles he created at once thirteen new cardinals,
thus outnumbering the actual conclave, all in the French
and Neapolitan interest, thus disturbing or overthrowing
the balance of parties in that assembly. Unsuspicious of
the designs of the king, he re-enacted the conclave law of
Gregory X., which required the papal election to take place
immediately on the death of a pope, and the complete
seclusion of the cardinals till a successor was " chosen.
This King Charles was eager to see carried into effect, that
on the death of Ccelestine V., whom he was resolved to
retain in Naples, the nomination of his successor might be
under Neapolitan influence.

The weary man became anxious to lay down the heavy

j, ^

■ '■ *

296 Lives of the Saints. [May 19.

burden his shoulders had never been fitted to bear. Two of
his new cardinals were old Abruzzi companions, members
of his congregation, and he appointed them that they might
be his constant associates in the cell he had constructed in
the palace, where they might fast and pray together.

He issued a bull organizing the congregation of solitaries
who had gathered around him in the mountains, into a
religious Ordei-, called after him Celestines, and he made
them independent of episcopal authority, depending solely
on the Apostolic see. He even attempted to reduce the whole
Order of S. Benedict to his rule, and passing through Monte
Cassino, he persuaded the abbot to abandon the black habit
for that of his Order, which was grey. He sent fifty of his
monks to Monte Cassino, appointed a superior from among
them, and exiled those Benedictines who refused to submit
to the change. The majority waited with submission till the
end of his pontificate, when they reverted to their ancient
rule. But a more serious mistake was his giving the Arch-
bishopric of Leon, with the right to administer both the
spiritualities and the temporalities, to Louis, second son of
Charles, king of Naples, a youth aged twenty-one, who was
not even in minor orders.

On all sides rose murmurs, and none were more sensible of
his incapacity to govern the Church than the humble old
man who had been so suddenly elevated to this place of
responsibility. Advent approached, and he could not
endure the thought of that holy season being interrupted
by the din of politics and the excitement of business. He
drew out a bull empowering three cardinals to administer
the affairs of the Church during Advent, intending to retire
into his cell, shut the door, and be alone with God and his
own heart. But Cardinal Rossi Orsini, hearing of this,
fortunately arrested the Pope's hand before the bull was
signed and sealed, and warned him on no account to run

^ -4

*- — )5«

May 19.] ^, Peter Celestine. 297

such a risk as to constitute three popes at a time. The old
man submitted with a sad sigh. But now all his mind was
bent on resignation of his office. To this he was urged by
several of the cardinals, who assured him that his unfitness
was ruining the Church and imperilling his own soul. " Oh
wretched man that I am ! " cried the aged man, weeping.
" They tell me that I have all power on earth over souls,
and yet I cannot be sure of the salvation of my own.
Why may I not cast off this burden, too heavy for me to
bear? God asks of no man to perform impossibilities, and
for this I am unfit. I see the cardinals divided ; I hear
complaints made against me on all sides. O that I might
go back and rest in my solitude."

So he made up his mind to abdicate. But such a pro-
ceeding little accorded with the schemes of King Charles ;
and he resolved to frustrate it by appealing to the conscience
of the Pope. A solemn procession was appointed from
the great church of Naples to the royal palace where the
Pope resided ; in it were many bishops and a great multi-
tude of people. On their arrival before the windows of the
Pope, the whole procession cried out for his benediction.
Ccelestine came to the window, then one of the bishops in
the procession besought an audience on behalf of this great
multitude. It was granted ; then falling on his knees he sup-
plicated the Pope in the name of the king, the clergy, and
all the people of Naples not to abandon them, but to remain
their pastor, exercising the office wherewith he was entrusted
by God. The Pope faltered, and gave his reluctant consent.
Then all broke into a joyful Te Deum, and the procession
returned to the cathedral.

This was at the beginning of December, 1294. The
king thought that the danger was overpassed. But on a
sudden, on S. Lucy's day, the conclave was summoned.
The Pope sat in his scarlet mantle, and with the tiara on

51- -^

i^. Ijl

298 Lives of the Saitds. [May 19.

his head. Suddenly he drew forth a written abdication,
and presented it to the cardinals. He alleged his age, his
rude manners and ruder speech, his incapacity, his inex-
perience, as causes of his abdication. He confessed humbly
his manifold errors, and entreated the conclave to
bestow upon Christendom a pastor not liable to so
many infirmities. The conclave urged the Pope first, while
his authority was yet full and above appeal, to issue a con-
stitution declaring that a pope might at any time lay down
his dignity, and that the cardinals were at liberty to receive
that voluntary demission of the popedom. No sooner was
this done than Coelestine retired ; he stripped off at once
the cumbrous magnificence of his papal robes, and with it
seemed to lay aside the care that had weighed him down.
Joyously the old man returned to the conclave in his coarse
and ragged habit of brown serge ; and the cardinals were
melted to tears at the sight.

As soon as he could, the discrowned pope withdrew to his
old mountain hermitage. He had occupied the Holy See
five months and a few days since his election, and since his
consecration three months and a half His abdication, in
his own time, was viewed in a different light by different
minds. None could question his sanctity, his holy simplicity
and angelic purity of aim, but men differed in their opinions
as to the propriety of his resignation. The monastic
writers held it up as the most perfect example of Christian
perfection ; but the scorn of men has been expressed in the
undying verse of Dante, who condemned him who was guilty
of the baseness of the " great refusal " to that circle of hell
where are those disdained alike by mercy and justice, on
whom the poet would not condescend to look. But Petrarch,
in his declamation on the duty of a solitary life, has counter-
acted this adverse sentence by his poetic praise. Assuredly
the act of Coelestine was no contemptuous rejection of a great

* ■^i

I May 19. »S". Peter Celestine. 299

place offered him by God, but was the natural result of the
weariness, the regret of an old man suddenly wrenched from
all his habits and pursuits and plunged in the turmoil of a
life for which he was unfitted by nature and by training.

The old man had returned to his mountain cave, and
hoped there to lay his bones in peace. But it was not so
to be. He was succeeded on the papal throne by Bene-
detto Gaetani, who assumed the name of Boniface VIII.
At once a hostile party manifested itself, and the new pope
feared lest the name of Ccelestine should be used as an
excuse for revolt against his supremacy. Boniface was not
the man to allow any advantage to his adversaries, and ad-
versaries he knew well that he had, and would have more,
and these more formidable, if they could gain possession
of the person of Ccelestine. Ccelestine had abandoned the
pomp and anthority, he could not shake off the dangers
and troubles, which belonged to his former state. The
solitude, in which he hoped to live and die in peace, was
closely watched. Once he escaped, and hid himself among
some other hermits in a wood. But he could not elude
the emissaries of Boniface. He received an alarming
warning of danger, and fled to the sea coast, in order to
take refuge in the untrodden mountain fastnesses of Dal-
matia. His little vessel was cast back by contrary winds ;
he was taken and sent, by order of Boniface, to Anagni.
All alone the road, for above one hundred and fifty miles,
the people, deeply impressed with the sanctity of Ccelestine,
crowded around him with perilous homage. Some of the
more zealous implored him to resume the pontificate. The
humility of Ccelestine did not forsake him for an instant ;
everywhere he professed that his resignation was volun-
tary, rendered necessary by his incapacity. He was
brought into the presence of Boniface. Like the meanest
son of the Church, he fell down at the feet of the pope ;

^ — *

)jl. ^ ^

306 Lives of the Saints. [May 19.

his only prayer, a prayer urged with tears, was that he
might be permitted to return and rest unmolested in his
mountain hermitage. Boniface addressed him in harsh
terms. He was committed to safe custody in the castle of
Fumone, watched day and night by soldiers, like a prisoner
of state. His treatment is described as more or less severe,
according as the writer is more or less favourable to Boni-
face. By one account his cell was so narrow that he had
not room to move ; where his feet stood when he cele-
brated mass by day, there his head reposed at night. He
obtained with difficulty permission for two of his brethren
to be with him ; but so unwholesome and noisome was the
place, that they were obliged to resign their charitable
office. According to another statement the narrowness of
his cell was his own choice ; his brethren were allowed free
access to him ; he suffered no insult, but was treated with
the utmost humanity and respect. Death released him
before long from his spontaneous or enforced wretchedness.
He was seized with a fever, generated perhaps by the un-
healthy confinement, accustomed as he had been to the
pure mountain air. He died May 19th, 1296, and was
buried with ostentatious pomp in the church of Ferentino,
that the world might know that Boniface now reigned
without a rival. Immediately on the death of Boniface, the
canonization of Coelestine was urgently demanded. It was
granted by Clement V. in 1313.

* ^

^ : _ *

May 19.] S. YVO. 3O I

S. YVO, P.C.
(a.d. 1303.)

[Canonized by Clement VI. in 1347. His elevation is celebrated in the
diocese of Treguier on Oct. 29th. Authority : — The Acts of his canoni-
zation, begun in 1330, from which several condensations have been made j
amongst others a life by Maurice Gaufred. The Acts contain the testi-
mony of many who saw and knew S. Yvo.]

In looking through the names and lives of saints, we see
the deadening effect of prosperity and wealth on the
religious susceptibihties of man. Rich and flourishing
countries have produced few saints, whereas sad and poor
ones have developed them in crowds. Brittany and Ire-
land have brought forth thousands ; Normandy not one, at
least of Norman race. Few have come of the shopkeeper
class, and few from the ranks exercising legal professions.
All are kings or beggars, prelates or monks, warriors or
hermits. There are one or two physicians, but their
legends are apocryphal. Brittany has had the privilege of
adopting a saintly lawyer, S. Yvo ; but the popular con-
science protests to this day against the intrusion, by sing-
ing on his festival, " Advocatus et non latro, Res miranda
populo " (a lawyer and not a thief, a marvel to people).

S. Yvo or Yves, called " the advocate of the poor," was
born in the year 1253, at Kermartin, near Treguier. His
father Heler was Lord of Kermartin. His mother's name
was Azon du Quenquis. To this day Kermartin is in the
possession of a descendant.' The house in which S. Yvo
was bom was pulled down only in 1834, but the bed has
been preserved, and is still shown.

' It remained in the direct line till the 15th century, when Olivier de Kermartin
married Plesson de Quelin ; their great grand-daughter married Maurice de
Quelen, From this family it passed to that of La Riviere, which possessed it in
1790. The heiress of La Riviere was the wife of the famous Lafayette, who sold
Kermartin to the Count of Quelen, and it belongs to the family of this name at
the present day.

302 Lives of the Saints. [Mayi».

At the age of fourteen, Yvo was sent by his parents to
the Paris schools, where he studied canon law. At the
age of twenty-four he studied civil law at Orleans. On his
return to Brittany he was appointed by the bishop of
Rennes to be ecclesiastical judge in the diocese. At that
time a great number of cases, which now come under the
jurisdiction of the civil courts, were heard in the ecclesi-
astical courts. At Rennes he received minor orders, as it
was considered necessary for the bishop's judge to be a
clerk, but it was not till 1579 that the judge was required
to be in priest's orders.

But Alain de Bruc, bishop of Trdguier, having claimed
Yvo for his diocese, he obeyed the appeal of his bishop
and changed his tribunal, though not his office. In 1285
he was ordained priest and made incumbent of Tredrez.
He held this cure eight years, and then received that of
Lohanec, which he retained till his death.

As judge and lawyer he proved himself to be strictly
just, and what was a marvel in those days — inaccessible to
bribes. When people were at variance, he sought by all
means to reconcile them, and adjust their quarrels amic-
ably, without bringing them into court. When a poor
person was summoned before him by a richer for some
wrong done, he endeavoured to dissuade the prosecutor
from bringing the law to bear on the offender, and to per-
suade him to accept instead an apology and a promise
of amendment. In countless instances, he saved the
expenditure of large sums in lawsuits, and prevented
quarrels from developing into estrangement and hostility.
He was an umpire rather than a judge ; or rather, he only
assumed his judicial authority as a last resource, when all
means of reconciliation proved ineffectual. He also
pleaded the cause of the poor when oppressed, before the
civil tribunal, taking no payment, but acting solely from his
love of justice and desire to see wrongs redressed.

His living brought him in a good revenue, which he
spent in charity. He turned his parsonage into an orphan-
age, and those orphans whom he could not receive he
provided for in other houses, and when they were arrived
at a proper age, he apprenticed them to different trades.
His sympathy with the poor was unbounded. One morning
he found a poor half-naked man lying on his door-step.
He had spent the night there, shivering with cold. Yvo,
shocked, made the beggar sleep in his bed the following
night, and lay himself outside the house on his door-step,
that he might learn by experience what the sufferings of
the poor are, and knowing them, might be always ready to
feel for them.

On another occasion, he was being fitted by a tailor with
a new coat. As the tailor was walking round him, putting
the coat about his person and admiring the fit, Yvo's eyes
were gazing through his window into the yard, and there
he saw a miserable man with only a tattered coat on his
back, through the rents of which his flesh was exposed.
He plucked off his new coat, ran down stairs, and gave it
to the beggar, saying to the astonished tailor, " There is
plenty of wear still in my old coats. I will content myself
with them."

Again, one day he visited a hospital, and when he saw
how ill-clothed some of the sick persons were, he pulled off
his own garments and gave them away, then wrapping a
coverlet round him, sat on the side of a bed, till his servant
had brought him another suit from home. As a priest he
was full of zeal, and preached with unction. Wherever he
went, he sought to instil the love of God, and a knowledge
of their duties into the hearts of those with whom he was
cast. In the fields he walked by the ploughman, and
taught him prayers. He sat under a furze bush on the
moor beside shepherd boys and instructed them in the use

*. — — -*

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304 Lives oj the Saints. [May 19.

of the rosary, and he caught little children in the street,
and told them Bible stories of God and Jesus Christ.
His Bible was his constant companion, and when he
slept, he laid his head on the Sacred Book as his pillow.

One story of his advocacy of the poor must not be
omitted. Two rogues brought a heavy chest to a widow
lady, which they said contained twelve hundred pieces of
gold, and requested her to take charge of it for them, till
they reclaimed it. Some weeks after, one of the rogues
returned, claimed the box and carried it off. A few days
later the other rogue came and asked for the chest, and
because the widow could not produce it, brought her before
the court and sued her for twelve hundred pieces of gold.
Yvo heard that the case was going against her, when he
entered the court, offered to take her defence, and then
said, " My client is ready to restore the money to both of
the men who committed it to her trust ; therefore both
must appear to claim it."

At this the accuser turned uneasy, and attempted to
escape, but he was restrained, and then confessed that this
was a plot between him and his companion to extort money
from the widow, and that the chest really contained nothing
but bits of old iron.

On the Good Friday before his death, S. Yvo preached
on the Passion in seven different parishes, one after
another, for he was so earnest, eloquent, and his Breton
sermons were listened to with such emotion by the
peasants, that the clergy in his neighbourhood sought his
aid in the pulpit, and he never denied it, when it was
possible for him to give it. He said his last mass on the
Vigil of the Ascension, and died on the 19th May, 1303,
at the age of fifty.

At the French revolution his reliquary was destroyed,
but the bones were preserved, and have been re-enshrined

* — ij*

S. YVO. After Cahier.

>b-

May 19.

-*h

May ig."!

^. Vvo.

305

at Tr^guier. S. Yvo is generally represented with the cat as
his symbol ; the cat being regarded as in some sort sym-
bolizing a lawyer, who watches for his prey, darts on it
at the proper moment with alacrity, and when he has got
his victim, delights to play with him, but never lets him
escape from his clutches.

Q. Dunatan. See p. ;

VOL. V.

-«&

^ ^

306 Lives of the Saints. [May 20.

May 20.

S. Plantilla, Mair. at Rome, circ. a.d. ^^.^

S. Basilla, V.M. at Rome, -^rd cent.

SS. Thallel^us and Comp., MM. at JEg(E, in Cilzcia, a.d. 284.

S. Baudelius, M. at Nis7nes.

S. Anastasius, Archh. of Botirges, a.d. 624.

S. Ethelbert, K. of East Anglia, a.d. 792,

S. Ivo, B of Chartres, a.d. 1115.

S. Bernaedine of Siena, 0,M., a.d. 1444.

B. COLUMBA OF ReaTI, K., A.D. 1501.

SS, Martyrs, at Nismes, a.d. 1567.

S. BASILLA, V.M.

(3RD CENT.)

[Roman Martyrology, and those of Usuardus, Ado, Notker, &c. ; also
three copies of the ancient Roman Martyrology called that of S. Jerome.
Authority :— The ancient Acts of S. Eiigenia (Dec. 25th), which were
known and quoted in the 5th cent., at the Council of Epaone ; but these
acts are nevertheless to be rejected as fabulous, as Papebroeck shows, by
pointing out such egregious blunders in history as divest them of all claim
on our attention as trustworthy. Nevertheless, Giry and Guerin give
them without a hint that they are not trustworthy authority.]

HE ancient martyrologies say that on this day
Basilla, a virgin, suffered death on the Salarian
way at Rome. In 1654 the catacomb of S.
Cyriacus was being investigated, when on the
third story was found a white marble slab covering a
sepulchre, on which was engraved Basilla, with the symbols
of a palm-branch and a dove, emblems of martyrdom and
virginity. Within were found the bones, together with a
phial such as that frequently found in the catacombs, and
supposed to contain some of the blood of the martyr.

> The mother of S. Flavia Domitilla (May 12th) ; she is said to have been baptized
by b. Peter, and to have been present at the martyrdom of S. Paul,

«(-

5( )J(

MayaoJ S. Thallel(ZUS. 3O7

The bones were enshrined and given the Hospital Sisters
of the Hotel-Dieu at Bayeux, in Normandy. In 1833 two
portions of the bones were removed and given by the
bishop to the hospital at Rennes, and to the nuns of
Notre Dame de la Charit^ at Bayeux.

SS. THALLEL^US AND COMP., MM.
(a.d. 284.)

[By the Greeks on this day. Also the Modern Roman Martyrology,
which, however, wrongly calls him martyr at Edessa ; Baronias, who in-
serted the name, being misled by the Mensaa ; but it is clear from the Acts
tliat he suffered at ^gas. Authority :— The ancient Greek Acts, written in
a simple style, are not altogether trustworthy, for they have received inser-
tions of fabulous matter. Later Greek Acts exist , composed evidently by
some one who had never seen the older Acts, and the discrepancy between
the two accounts is very wide. In one, the executioners, Alexander and
Asterius, are converted and suffer. In the other Alexander and Asterius
are not executioners at all, but bystanders. In one Thallelseus is thrown
into the sea at ^Egse, in the other he is cast overboard at Edessa. The
torments are different in both. The ancient Acts tell the story of the
governor adhering to his throne, the later Acts are silent on this point.]

ThalleLjEUS was a physician of Anazarbus, a city of
Cilicia. On the promulgation of the decree of the Em-
peror Numerian against Christianity, he took refuge in an
olive plantation, but was caught and dragged to Mg^ on
the sea coast, where he was brought before the governor,
Theodoras, who ordered a rope to be passed between the
bone and tendon of his feet behind the ankle, and that
Thallelseus should be thus suspended, head downwards.
The executioners, Alexander and Asterius, attempted to
evade the performance of this cruel sentence, and were
punished for their compassion with death.' Then the

* The story heri has a strong touch of the grotesque. The .Ancient Acts say
" Et iratus Prseses dixit ; Ponite mihi sellam : ego ipse consurgam et terehrabo

governor ordered the martyr to be cast into the sea, and
when he scrambled on shore, bade his head be struck off.

S. ETHELBERT, K.
(a.d. 792.)

[Cologne and Lubeck Martyrology of 1490. Graven in his additions to
Usuardus. Anglican Martyrologies, and the Bollandists. Authorities : —
Mention in tlie Saxon Chronicle, the Chronicle of John of Brompton,
Matthew of Westminster, Florence of Worcester, William of Malmes-
bury, &c.]

Ethelbert was the son and successor of Ethelred, king
of the East Angles. He came to the throne very young,
at the time that the powerful Offa was king of the Mercians.
Offa was in many things a good and just ruler, but he was
guilty of a signal act of treachery to Ethelbert, prompted
thereto by his wife Quendritha.

The young prince, disregarding the forebodings of his
mother, came to the court of Offa at Sutton Wallis, in
Herefordshire, to seek the hand of his beautiful and pious
daughter Alfreda. Offa received him with great respect
and hospitality. But the queen, Quendritha, was full of
ambitious schemes, and she said to the king, " Behold,
God has this day given your enemy into your hands, whose
kingdom you have so long and daily coveted ; now destroy
him secretly, and his kingdom will be yours and for your
heirs for ever.'' The king hesitated. It was the old story
of Jezebel and Ahab coveting Naboth's vineyard over

ejus talos. S. Thallelffius dixit ; Surge Prjeses et veniens perfora talos meos.
Ut autem surrexit Prseses thronus in quo sederat adha2sit posterioribus ejus, et
omnes qui sedebant in templo elata voce exclamaverunt. Magnus est Deus
Christianorum, qui ejusmodi mirabilia facit. Praises autem non ferens vere-
cundiam, vocavit B. ThallelEeum dicens, Ora Deum tuum, ThallelKe, et
excidat a me thronus ; vere enim Deus tuus magnus est. Orante autem B.
Thallelseo, decidit ab illo thronus."

4t- *

May 20.] .S*. Bernardine. 309

again. How it ended is not clear. The Saxon Chronicle
says that Ethelbert's head was struck off, but Matthew of
Westminster tells another tale, on what authority is doubt-
ful. He says that the queen placed a richly adorned chair
in the bedroom of the young king over a trap door in the
floor, and on the chair placed silk cushions. The young
man, on reaching his room after a banquet, flung himself
into the chair, when the trap gave way, and he was pre-
cipitated into a vault where some of the servants of the
queen were stationed, and they suffocated him with the
silk cushions.

It can hardly be doubted that Offa was privy to the
commission of the murder. He certainly lost no time in
taking advantage of it, for he sent troops into East Anglia
and annexed it at once to his own possessions. Then, as
usual, he built churches and monasteries to atone for his
wickedness, especially Hereford Cathedral, which was
dedicated to S. Ethelbert, and where he was buried.
Some say that he went a pilgrimage to Rome ; at any rate
he gave much to churches at Rome, and especially to the
English school there. Alfreda, abhorring the crime that
had been committed by her parents, retired to Croyland,
where she spent forty years in seclusion, and died in the
odour of sanctity.

S. BERNARDINE OF SIENA, O.M.

(a. d. 1444.)

[Canonized by Nicholas V. in 1450. Authority : — His life, written a few
months after his death by his disciple, Bishop John Capistran. Another
by Maphseus Vegius, an eye-witness of much that he relates.]

On the 8th September, 1380, S. Bernardine was born at
Dassa, a little town near Siena. He lost his mother when
he was aged three, and his father when he was six years

ij, ^ ^

(J,- ^

310 Lives of the Saints. [May 20.

old, and was then taken by one of his aunts to live with
her. This good woman educated him in virtue, and the
boy grew up gentle, pious, bashful. At school he retained
the same simplicity and purity, inspiring reverence even in
the school-boys who were his associates, to such an extent
that they were careful not to use improper words before
him. If some of them were conversing on unbecoming topics,
and the saintly child drew nigh, " Hush," one of them would
say, " here comes little Bernardine."

He is said once at table to have rebuked a gentleman
who began to make coarse jokes and tell unseemly stories.
The boy's cheek grew scarlet, his eye flashed, and he started
up exclaiming, " Remember, you are a Christian.'' The
gentleman looked at his noble, excited young face, and was
silent.

In the year 1400 a terrible plague broke out in Italy, and
Siena was not spared. Bernardine devoted himself to the
care of the sick at a time when fear of infection dried up
the ordinary springs of compassion. He collected twelve
young men like himself, and together they served the sick,
removed corpses from the houses, carried those infected to
the hospital, and were unremitting in their attendance to the
plague stricken during the four months that the pestilence
raged. When the plague abated, and his energies were less
taxed, he fell ill, and for some time hovered between life and
death. On his recovery he devoted himself to an aged aunt of
ninety years named Bartholomea, who was blind and palsied ;
he bore with her infirmities and tended her with the most
loving gentleness till her death. After he had closed her
eyes he went to live with a friend outside Siena ; in his house
one day as he prayed before his crucifix, it seemed to him
as if the nakedness of his Saviour on the cross, bereft of
friends, possessions, clothes, without even a grave, reproached
him, and he resolved to give up all that was his own, and

•i(— *

S. BERNAEDINE OF SIENA, After Cahier.

»JH

May 20.] S. Bernardine. 311

enter the Order of S. Francis. He took the habit in the
convent of Colembiprro, at some Kttle distance from Siena,
in his twenty-ninth year. He soon became remarkable as
a preacher, and his sermons produced an astonishing effect
on sinners, melting them to tears and bringing them to re-
pentance. He was accursed to the Pope of heresy, but
when called to Rome by Martin V. he completely satisfied
the Holy Father of his orthodoxy. The accusation was
founded on his carrying about with him the name of Jesus
written on a piece of paper, surrounded with rays of light.
This he was wont to show to the people, when in a trans-
port of love for that sacred Name, he called them to the
Lord who bought them.

This had been exaggerated, and the story altered, and an
accusation built on it, but when the Pope found out how
baseless was the charge, he dismissed Bernardine with
honour. His labours to advance true religion tended at
the same time to the extension of the Order of the Friars
Minors. When he joined it, the Order had only twenty
convents in Italy, ere his death there were about two hun-
dred. He was appointed by Pope Eugenius IV. to be
Vicar-General of the Order in Italy. He was offered several
bishoprics, but he refused them all. He died at Aquila in
the Abruzzi on the vigil of the Ascension in 1444, at the
hour of vespers, as the friars were chanting in choir the
proper antiphon, " I have manifested Thy Name unto the
men which Thou gavest me out of the world : Thine they
were, and Thou gavest them me ; and they have kept Thy
Word."

He is represented in art in the habit of a Minorite, with
an I.H.S. or the name of Jesus surrounded by rays, on his
breast, and with the three mitres he refused to accept at his
side. Or with a trumpet, as from his preaching power he
obtained the appellation of " the Gospel trumpet."

* ^1^

^ -^ ^ — ^

312 Lives of the Saints. [Mayao.

SS. MARTYRS OF NISMES.
(a.d. 1567.)

[Venerated only at Nismes. They have never been canonized. Au-
thorities : — Baragnon: Hist, de Nismes, &c.]

It is hard to say on which side most atrocities were
committed in the religious wars in France, in the i6th
century. If the CathoKc cause was sulhed by the cruelty
of Monluc, the Calvinist side was disgraced by the bar-
barity of Des Adrets. The horrible crime of the massacre
of S. Bartholomew produced so vivid an effect on men
of the time, and has attracted such attention since, that
men have forgotten that the Huguenots had provoked the
king and his party to a frenzy of alarm for the safety of
his crown and of the Catholic religion. France was at the
height of her prosperity, and at peace, when the spread of,
Calvin's doctrines disturbed the faith and consciences
of men, and led to revolts, desecration of churches, and
horrible outrages committed upon priests and monks, and
faithful Catholic laymen. In taking revenge for these
crimes, the leaders of the Catholic party conducted them-
selves with such barbarity as did not beseem Christians ;
but we must not forget the intense provocation they had
received.

At Nismes the Huguenots attacked the churches, de-
stroyed the altars, broke the sculptured ornaments,
trampled and spat on the Blessed Sacrament, and taking
the large crucifix from the principal church, publicly
whipped it, and then hacked the figure of the Redeemer to
pieces. All the Catholic clergy were driven out of the
city, and the exercise of the Catholic religion was rigidly
suppressed. On September 30th, 1567, the Huguenots
rose against the Catholics, and drove a number of Catho-
lics, including the consul, Gui Rochette, into the episcopal

* ■ ^

May 2oo .SkS*. Martyrs of Nismes. 3 1 3

palace, shouting, " Kill all the Papists ! " The Catholics
were shut up in the cellars of the palace. About an hour
before midnight they were dragged out and led into that
grey old courtyard, where the imagination can still detect
the traces of that cruel massacre. One by one the victims
came forth ; a few steps, and they fell pierced by sword or
pike. Some struggled with their murderers, and tried to
escape, but only prolonged their agony. By the dim light
of a few torches, between seventy and eighty unhappy
wretches were butchered in cold blood, and their bodies,
some only half-dead, were thrown into the well in one
corner of the yard, not far from an orange -tree, the leaves
of which (says local tradition) were ever afterwards marked
with the blood-stains of this massacre.

In the September of the following year, the brutal scenes
of violence were renewed ; the city was plundered, and its
streets were dyed with Catholic blood. The governor,
S. Andrfe, was shot and thrown out of the window, and his
corpse was torn in pieces by the Calvinist mob. In the
country round Nismes, forty-eight unresisting Catholics
were murdered ; and at Alais the Huguenots massacred
seven canons, two grey-friars, and several other church-
men.

ij, — ^)j<

^ ^

314 Lives of the Saints, [May 21,

May 21,

S. EuSTALiA, V.M. aiSamtes, -^rdcent.^

S. CoNSTANTlNE, First Christian Emperor, A,D, 337.

SS. Secundus, P.m., and Comp., MM. at Alexaiidria, a.d. 356.

SS. Bishops and Confessors under Constantius, in Egypt, a.d. 356.

S. HospiTUS, H. at Villafranca, ^tear Nice, a.d. 581.^

S. Iberga, V. at Yberghe, in Artois, circ. a.d. 800.

SS. Ehrenfeied, Count Palatine, Mathilda, his Wife, and their

Daughter, B. Richeza, Q. of Poland, a,d. 1025, 1035, 1063.
S. Silas, B, at Lticca, a.d. 1094.
S. Gqdeick, H. at Finchale, in Durham, a.d. 1170.

S. CONSTANTINE, EMP.
(a-d. 337.)

[Greek Menology and Mentea, and Arabic - Egyptian Kalendar.
Venerated in the Greek Church as Isapostolos, " Equal to an Apostle."
Also by the Russian Church. His veneration in the Western Church has
never been very general. He receives local veneration at Prague, in
Sicily and Calabria. In England also several churches and altars veere
dedicated to him. Authorities : — Eusebius' Life of Constantine, and
Panegyric on Constantine (264-340), Lactantius De Mort. Persec.
(250-330); theLetters and TreatisesofS.Athanasius (296-373), Eumenius,
Panegyric at Treves (310); Nazarius, Panegyric at Rome (321); and
Zosimus (circ. 430.)

T is impossible into the compass of a brief

article, such as is admissible into this volume,

to compress a life of this great emperor, so as

to do it justice. And I am not disposed to

accord to Constantine a more lengthy notice than was

given to Charlemagne, for two reasons. First, his life,

like that of Charlemagne, is readily accessible to any

^ See Life of S. Eutropius (April 30th). S. Eustalia, or Eustella, is said to
have been cruelly put to death by her own brother. Her body was laid in the
same tomb with S. Eutropius.

" Called at Nice, S. Sospes.

* -*

/^'\

^1^

mf^'^t,-

-JN. _^ —

' r

A - *-

■k

'' r^

t^ftf^"

^— — )J(

May 21.] S. Constantine. 315

reader of history, and the lives of these two emperors
being of so great importance in their times, and in the
evolution of subsequent history, have been dwelt upon at
considerable length by writers of profane and ecclesiastical
history. Secondly, the claim of Constantine to a place in
the ranks of the saints is very questionable. His life was
sullied by crimes of the blackest dye, he postponed his
baptism to the last moment of his life, and was then
admitted to the Church by an Arian.

Yet to him the Church has ever felt grateful, as having
delivered her from persecution.

If Constantine was not an Englishman by birth, yet un-
questionably he was proclaimed emperor at York. He
probably never visited our shores again. Yet the remem-
brance of that early connexion long continued. It shaped
itself into the legend of his British birth, of which, within
the walls of York, the scene is still shown. His mother's
name lives still in the numerous British churches dedicated
to her. London wall was ascribed to him. Handsome,
tall, stout, broad-shouldered, he was a high specimen of
the military chief of the declining ' empire. His eye was
remarkable for a brightness, almost a glare, which reminded
his courtiers of that of a Hon. He had a contemptuous
trick of throwing back his head, which, by bringing out the
full proportions of his thick neck, procured for him the
nickname of Trachala. His voice was remarkable for its
gentleness and softness. In dress and outward demeanour
the military commander was almost lost in the vanity and
aifectation of Oriental splendour. He was not an ordinary
man. He had a presence of mind which was never
thrown off its guard. He had the capacity of casting him-
self, with almost fanatical energy, into whatsoever cause
came before him for the moment.

Every student of ecclesiastical history must pause for a

316 Lives of the Saints. [May 21.

moment before the story of the conversion of Constantine.
No conversion of such magnitude had occurred since the
apostolic age. His rival, Maxentius, was a fierce fanatical
pagan. Constantine was approaching Rome ; his fate hung on
the result of a battle, he would be the emperor of the world,
or be trampled under the feet of the tyrant. Eusebius, on
the testimony of Constantine himself, says that as he was in
prayer on his march and that about noon, a flaming cross
appeared in the sky with the words " In this conquer ; "
and the following night he saw in a dream Christ bearing
the standard of the cross. On consultation with some
Christian priests in his camp, Constantine adopted this
sacred banner instead of the Roman eagles, and professed
himself a convert to the Christian faith. The victory of
Constantine over Maxentius was complete. Everywhere
the Roman eagles gave way before the standard of the
cross, and Christianity became established as the recog-
nized religion of the empire, when Constantine assumed
the purple.

This was in 312, and it was not till 337 that he was
baptized, and that not till he lay a-dying. He was pre-
paring for his Persian expedition when an illness super-
vened ; he went to Helenopolis, to try the mineral waters
in the neighbourhood. The illness increased ; a sinister
suspicion of poison stole through the palace. He felt that his
sickness was mortal, and now at last he determined on taking
the step, long delayed, of admission to the Christian Church.

Incredible as it may seem to our notions, he who had

five-and-twenty years ago been convinced of the Christian

faith ; he who had opened the first general council of the

Church ; he who had joined in the deepest discussions of

theology ; he who had preached to rapt audiences ; he

who had established Christianity as the religion of the

empire, was himself not yet received into the Christian

Church.
* ■ ^

— 4

it.

< * ? -llhifflrTiir-T. %. %i* v.

•i^-

May2ij 6". Constantine. 317

The whole event of his baptism is related in the utmost
detail. In the church of Helenopolis, in a kneeling
posture of devotion, he was . admitted to be a catechumen
by the imposition of hands. He then moved to a palace
in the suburb of Nicomedia, and then calling the bishops
around him, amongst whom the celebrated Arian, Eusebius
of Nicomedia was chief, announced that once he had
hoped to have received baptism in the waters of Jordan ;
but that as God willed otherwise, he desired to receive the
rite without delay. The imperial purple was removed ; he
was clothed, instead, in robes of dazzling whiteness ; his
couch was covered with white also ; in the white robes of
baptism, on a white death-bed, he lay in expectation of his
end. Then he did an act of justice to the greatest saint of
his day, one whom he had harshly treated and persecuted.
In spite of the opposition of Eusebius, he ordered the
recall of the exiled Athanasius. The Arian influence,
though it was enough to make him content with Arian
consolations, and Arian sacraments, was not enough to
make him refuse justice at that supreme moment to the
oppressed chief of the Catholic part)' .

At noon, on the feast of Pentecost, the 22nd May, in the
sixty-fourth year of his reign, he expired. A wild wail of
grief arose from the army and the people, on hearing that
Constantine was dead.

The body was laid out in a coffin of gold, and carried
by a procession of the whole army, headed by his son
Constans to Constantinople. For three months it lay there
in state in the palace, lights burning round, and guards
watching. During all this time the empire was without a
head. Constans, the youngest son, was there alone. The
two elder sons had not arrived. One dark shadow it is
pretended rests on this scene. It is said that the bishop
of Nicomedia, to whom the emperor's will had been con-

ij(- ^tjt

318 Lives of the Saints. [May 21.

fided, alarmed at its contents, immediately placed it for
security in the dead man's hand, wrapped in the vestments
of death. There it lay, till Constantius arrived, and read
his father's dying bequest. It was believed to express the
emperor's conviction that he had been poisoned by his
brothers and their children, and to call on Constantius to
avenge his death. That bequest was obeyed by the
massacre of six out of the surviving princes of the im-
perial family. With such a mingling of light and darkness
did Constantine close his career.^ This story rests on
the authority of Philostorgius (d. 430). Although it has
been given some prominence by certain writers who
delight in casting the suspicion of crime on any great
man who has served the Church, it is impossible to admit
it as probable. The great crime of Constantine's life was
the precipitate execution of his son Crispus and his wife
Fausta. How far they were guilty, how far Constantine had
been deceived by false accusation, it is impossible to say ;
we have no information on which to ground an opinion.
But what is certain is, that these executions preyed on the
mind of Constantine, and troubled his conscience to the
last. Is it likely that he would stain his baptismal inno-
cence by inciting his son Constantine to a butchery of the
survivors in his family? And that on an obscure sus-
picion ? Again, if the will of Constantine was open to be
read by Eusebius of Nicomedia, and remained thus for
three months, during all which time Constans was in
possession of it, is it probable that Constans would have
allowed the document denouncing him to death, to remain
till the executioner came to receive it from the dead man's
hand?

' See Stanley's Eastern Church, Lect. vi.

^ »^

May 21.] S. Secundus and Comp. 319

SS. SECUNDUS, P.M., AND COMPANIONS, MM.
(a.d. 356.)

[Roman Martyrology. Authority : — The Apologia De Fuga and Ep,
Ad. Solit. of S. Athanasius.]

In the persecution of the CathoHcs of Alexandria by
George, the Arian bishop, whom the Emperor Constantius
had set in the place of S. Athanasius, Secundus, a priest,
and several others were killed whilst keeping the feast of
Pentecost. George has been already described (see life of
S. George, April 24). He is said to have been ordained by
Arian bishops in 354. He made his entry into Alexandria
during the Lent of 356, and began his high-handed acts of
violence immediately on the celebration of Easter. The
Catholics assembled for that festival in a desert place near
the cemetery, as they would not communicate in the
churches from the hands of Arian clergy who denied the
Eternal Godhead of the Son. They assembled again in the
same place to keep the Whitsun festival. George having
heard of it, persuadad the governor, Sebastian, who was a
Manichsean, to send troops to punish them. The soldiers
rushed sword in hand among the worshippers, and killed
the priest Secundus and several of those present. Sebas-
tian lit a great fire, and brought several virgins before it to
make them confess themselves ready to submit to the false
doctrine of Arius. But when he found that they could not
be terrified, he stripped them, and beat them on the face
till their features were unrecognizable. He took forty men,
tied them back to back, and beat them so severely with
sharp palm branches that many died of their wounds. Their
bodies were cast to the dogs, and their relatives were for-
bidden to bury them. Those who survived were banished
to the great Oasis By the authority of Sebastian the
Catholic clergy were all expelled the city. Virgins were

320 Lives of the Saints. [May 21.

tied to stakes and their sides torn ; the faithful laity had
their houses pillaged, and were driven from the town.

The persecution extended throughout Egypt and Libya.
Con Stan tius, the emperor, had ordered that all the
churches should be given up to Arians, and Sebastian was
required to carry this order into execution. He wrote to
the governors and military officers of the different districts.
The bishops were everywhere imprisoned, the priests and
monks thrown into chains and banished. Venerable pre-
lates of great age, some who had been bishops under S.
Alexander, others under S. Achilles, and some even who
had been ordained by S. Peter of Alexandria, the great
bishop, who had suffered forty-five years before, were
hurried across burning deserts. Several died in exile,
several died on their way. Sixteen bishops were sent into
banishment, thirty were driven from their sees.

S. ISBERGA, V.

(about a.d. 800.)

[Gallican and Belgian Martyrologies. Regarded as patroness of Artois.
Great difficulties stand in the way of giving her history accurately. It is
uncertain whether she is to be identified with Gisela, the sister of Charle-
magne, or not.]

According to the Artesian tradition, enshrined in the
lections of the Breviary of Artois, Isberga was a daughter
of Pepin the Short, and sister of Charlemagne. But Egin-
hard says that Pepin had only one daughter, Gisela. Gisela
is said, in the life of S. Drausinus, to have become abbess
of Soissons. Eginhard simply says that Gisela was dedi-
cated to a religous Hfe from her childhood, and that she
died shortly before he wrote, in her monastery. It is
supposed that Gisela came to the hill on which she founded
her monastery, and that it was called after her, Gisliberg,

^— ^

*■ ■ *

May 21.] ^. Isberga. 321

the hill of Gisela, and this was in time contracted into
Isberg, and the name of the monastery was given to the
virgin abbess who founded it. The legend of S. Gisela,
or Isberga, is as follows, as given in the "Ldgendaire de
La Morine."

Gisela was the daughter of Pepin the Short and Queen
Bertha, and had for her sponsor, by proxy, at the font,
Pope Stephen IV., and from him received her name of
Ghirla, the Teutonic for a wreath, a word surviving in our
English garland. She was so called in honour of her
sponsor Stephen, whose name in Greek signifies also a
wreath. But the Franks altered the r into s in their
vulgar dialect, and called her Ghisla or Gisela. Pepin had
built a castle at Ybergh, or Aire, in Artois, and there
Gisela made the acquaintance of S. Venantius, a hermit in
the neighbourhood, who gave her wise advice, and directed
her conscience.

Gisela was sought in marriage by' the Emperor of Con-
stantinople, and afterwards by a son of one of the English
kings, we are not told which. She refused all offers, and
beseeching God to remove the occasion of these impor-
tunities, was afflicted with an eruption over her face which
disfigured her. According to one story, the Anglo-Saxon
ambassadors attributed this malady to the witchcraft of
S. Venantius, and they attacked and murdered him in his
hermitage, and flung his body into the Lys.^

The princess speedily recovered her beauty and health,
and was again importuned to give her hand in marriage,
this time to a Lombard prince. To escape further annoy-
ance, she took the veil, and erected a nunnery on the hill
of S. Peter at Aire, near her father's palace, and there
spent the rest of her days.

Near the church of S. Iberga, which contains her relics,

' See his life, October loth.
VOL. V. 21
iH: — *

►K- -. *

322 Lives of the Saints. [May 21.

is a fountain called after her name, about five minutes
walk on the " Voyette de S. Ibergue," or path of the saint,
leading to Wastelau, where was the hermitage of S.
Venantius. This path is now cut by the canal of Aire, to
La Basde. A little chapel overshadowed by elms stands
above the weU, which is walled round, and has in its side a
niche containing an image of the saint. Before the chapel
is a broad, turfy terrace, which is crowded with pilgrims on
May 2ist, and during the octave, when mass is said in the
little chapel.

S. GODRICK, H.

(a.d. 1 170.)

[Anglican and Monastic Martyrologies, Molanus and the BoUandists.
Authorities : — A life by Reginald of Durliam, written at the request of S.
Ailred of Rievaulx, whilst S. Godrick was still alive, and presented to S.
Ailred. It must have been written before 1166, the year in which S.
Ailred died. This life, from an early copy in the British Museum, has
been published by the Surtees Society, Durham, 1845. Another life, also
by a contemporary, Galfred monk of Finchale, derived mostly from
Reginald. The following life is condensed from the charming sketch of
S, Godrick by Mr. C. Kingsley in " The Hermits."]

In a loop of the river Wear, near Durham, there settled
in the days of Bishop Flambard, between 1099 and 11 28,
a man whose parentage and history was for many years
unknown to the good folks of the neighbourhood. He
had come, it seems, from a hermitage in Eskdale, in the
parish of Whitby, whence he had been driven by the
Percys, lords of the soil. He had gone to Durham, be-
come the doorkeeper of S. Giles's Church, and gradually
learnt by heart (he was no scholar) the whole Psalter.
Then he had gone to S. Mary's Church, where, as was the
fashion of the times, there was a children's school ; and,
listening to the little ones at their lessons, picked up such

May 21.] 5. Godrick. 323

hymns and prayers as he thought would suffice his spiritual
wants. And then, by leave of the bishop, he had gone
away into the woods, and devoted himself to the soHtary
life in Finchale.

Buried in the woods and crags of the " Royal Park,'' as
it was then called, which swarmed with every kind of
game, there was a little flat meadow, rough with sweet-gale
and bramble and willow, beside a teeming salmon-pool.
Great wolves haunted the woods, but Godrick cared
nought for them ; and the shingles swarmed with snakes, —
probably only the harmless collared snakes of wet meadows,
but reputed, as all snakes are by the vulgar, venomous ;
but he did not object to become " the companion of
serpents and poisonous asps.'' He handled them, caressed
them, let them lie by the fire in swarms on winter nights,
in the little cave which he had hollowed in the ground and
thatched with turf Men told soon how the snakes obeyed
him; how two especially huge ones used to lie twined
about his legs ; till after many years, annoyed by their
importunity, he turned them all gently out of doors, with
solemn adjurations never to return, and they, of course,
obeyed.

His austerities knew no bounds. He lived on roots
and berries, flowers and leaves; and when the good folk
found him out, and put gifts of food near his cell, . he
carried them up to the crags above, and, offering them
solemnly up to the God who feeds the ravens when they
call on him, left them there for the wild birds. He
watched, fasted, and scourged himself, and wore always a
hair shirt and an iron cuirass. He sat, night after night,
even in mid-winter, in the cold Wear, the waters of which
had hollowed out a rock near by into a natural bath, and
afterwards in a barrel sunk in the floor of a little chapel of
wattle, which he built and dedicated to the blessed Virgin

)j, — — ^»j(

324 Lives of the Saints. [May 21.

Mary. He tilled a scrap of ground, and ate the grain from
it, mingled with ashes. He kept his food till it was
decayed before he tasted it ; and led a life, the records of
which fill the reader with astonishment, not only at the
man's iron strength of will, but at the iron strength of the
constitution which could support such hardships, in such a
climate, for a single year.

A strong and healthy man must Godrick have been, to
judge from the accounts (there are two, both written by
eye-witnesses) of his personal appearance — a man of great
breadth of chest and strength of arm ; black-haired, hook-
nosed, deep-browed, with flashing grey eyes; altogether a
personable and able man, who might have done much
work and made his way in many lands. But what his
former life had been he would not tell.

The prologue to the Harleian manuscript (which the
learned editor, Mr. Stevenson, believes to be an early
edition of Reginald's own composition) confesses that
Reginald, compelled by Ailred of Rievaulx, tried in vain
for a long while to get the hermit's story from him.

" You wish to write my life ? " he said. " Know then
that Godrick's life is such as this : — Godrick, at first a gross
rustic, an unclean liver, an usurer, a cheat, a perjurer, a
flatterer, a wanderer, pilfering and greedy; now a dead
flea, a decayed dog, a yile worm; not a hermit, but a
hypocrite; not a solitary, but a gad-about in mind; a
devourer of alms, dainty over good things, greedy and
negligent, lazy and snoring, ambitious and prodigal, one
who is not worthy to serve others, and yet every day beats
and scolds those who serve him ; this, and worse than this,
you may write of Godrick." "Then he was silent as one
indignant," says Reginald, " and I went off in some con-
fusion," and the grand old man was left to himself and to
his God.

* ^ ^(j,

Ii( -1^

May 21.] ^y. Godrick. 325

The ecclesiastical Boswell dared not mention the subject
again to his hero for several years, though he came often
from Durham to visit him, and celebrate mass for him in
his little chapel. After some years, however, he approached
the matter again, and the old man began to answer questions,
and Reginald delighted to listen and note down till he had
finished, he says, that book of his life and miracles ; ' and
after a while brought it to the saint, and falling on his
knees, begged him to bless, in the name of God, and for
the benefit of the faithful, the deeds of a certain religious
man, who had suffered much for God in this life, which he
(Reginald) had composed accurately. The old man per-
ceived that he himself was the subject, blessed the book
with solemn words, and bade Reginald conceal it till his
death, warning him that a time would come when he
should suffer rough and bitter things on account of that
book, from those who envied him. That prophecy, says
Reginald, came to pass ; but how, or why, he does not
tell.

The story which Godrick told was wild and beautiful;
and though we must not depend too much on the accuracy
of the old man's recollections, or on the honesty of
Reginald's report, who would naturally omit all incidents
which were made against his hero's perfection, it is worth
listening to, as a vivid sketch of the doings of a real
human being, in that misty distance of the Early Middle
Age.

He was born, he said, at Walpole, in Norfolk, on the
old Roman sea-bank, between the Wash and the deep
Fens. His father's name was ^dlward ; his mother's,
^dwen — " the Keeper of Blessedness," and " the Friend
of Blessedness,'' as Reginald translates them — poor and

*■ The earlier one ; that of the Harleian MSS., which (Mr. Stevenson thinks) was
twice afterwards expanded and decorated by him.

326 Lives of the Saints. [May 21.

pious folk; and, being a sharp boy, he did not take to
field-work, but preferred wandering the Fens as a pedlar,
first round the villages, then, as he grew older, to castles
and to towns, buying and selling — what, Reginald does not
tell us : but we should be glad to know.

One day he had a great deliverance. Wandering along
the great tide-flats near Spalding and the old Well-stream,
in search of waifs and strays, of wreck or eatables, he saw
three porpoises stranded far out upon the banks. Two were
alive, and the boy took pity on them (so he said) and let
tliem be : but one was dead, and oif it (in those days poor
folk ate anything) he cut as much flesh and blubber as he
could carry, and toiled back towards the high-tide mark.
But whether he lost his way among the banks, or whether
he delayed too long, the tide came in on him up to his
knees, his waist, his chin, and at last, at times, over his
head. The boy made the sign of the cross, and struggled
on valiantly a full mile through the sea, like a brave lad,
never loosening his hold of the precious porpoise-meat till
he reached the shore at the very spot from which he had
set out.

As he grew, his pedlar journeys became longer. Repeat-
ing to himself, as he walked, the Creed and the Lord's
Prayer — his only lore — he walked for four years through
Lindsey ; then went to S. Andrew's, in Scotland ; after
that, for the first time, to Rome. Then the love of a
wandering sea life came on him, and he sailed with his
wares round the east coasts ; not merely as a pedlar, but
as a sailor himself, he went to Denmark and to Flanders,
buying and selling, till he owned (in what port we are not
told, but probably in Lynn or Wisbeach) half one merchant
ship, and the quarter of another. A crafty steersman he
was, a wise weather-prophet, a shipman stout in body and
in heart.

^ _ ^

* — tj,

May 21.] ^y. Godrick. 327

But gradually there grew on the sturdy merchantman
the thought that there was something more to be done in
the world than making money. He became a pious man.
He worshipped at S. Cuthbert's hermitage at Fame, and
there, he said afterwards, he longed for the first time
for the rest and solitude of the hermitage. He had been
sixteen years a seaman now, with a seaman's temptations —
it may be (as he told Reginald plainly) with some of a
seaman's vices. He may have done things which lay
heavy on his conscience. But it was getting time to think
about his soul. He took the cross, and went off to
Jerusalem, as many a man did then, under difficulties
incredible, dying, too of ten, on the way. But Godrick not
only got safe thither, but went out of his way home by Spain
to visit the sanctuary of S. James of Compostella.

Then he appears as steward to a rich man in the Fens,
whose sons and young retainers, after the lawless fashion
of those Anglo-Norman times, rode out into the country
round to steal the peasants' sheep and cattle, skin them on
the spot, and pass them off to the master of the house as
venison taken in hunting. They ate and drank, roystered
and rioted, like most other young Normans; and vexed
the staid soul of Godrick, whose nose told him plainly
enough, whenever he entered the kitchen, that what was
roasting had never come off a deer. In vain he protested
and warned them, getting only insults for his pains. At
last he told his lord. The lord, as was to be expected,
cared nought about the matter. Let the lads rob the
EngUsh villains : for what other end had their grandfathers
conquered the land? Godrick punished himself, as he
could not punish them, for the unwilling share which he
had had in the wrong. It may be that he, too, had eaten
of that stolen food. So away he went into France, and
down the Rhone, on pilgrimage to the hermitage of

1*'-

*- ■ ^

328 Lives of the Saints. [May 21

S. Giles, the patron saint of the wild deer; and then on to
Rome a second time, and back to his poor parents in the
Fens.

And now follows a strange and beautiful story. AH
love of seafaring and merchandise had left the deep-
hearted sailor. The heavenly and the eternal, the sal-
vation of his sinful soul, had become all in all to him; and
yet he could not rest in the little dreary village on the
Roman bank. He would go on pilgrimage again. Then
his mother would go likewise, and see S. Peter's church,
and the pope, and all the wonders of Rome. So off they
set on foot ; and when they came to ford or ditch,
Godrick carried his mother on his back, until they came
to London town. And there ^Edwen took off her shoes,
and vowed out of devotion to the holy apostles Peter and
Paul to walk barefoot to Rome and barefoot back again.

Now just as they went out of London, on the Dover
road, there met them in the way the loveliest maiden they
had ever seen, who asked to bear them company in their
pilgrimage. And when they agreed, she walked with
them, sat with them, and talked with them with super-
human courtesy and grace; and when they turned into an
inn, she ministered to them herself, and washed and
kissed their feet, and then lay down with them to sleep,
after the simple fashion of those days. But a holy awe of
her, as of some Saint or Angel, fell on the wild sea-
farer; and he never, so he used to aver, thought of her for a
moment save as a sister. Never did either ask the other
who they were, and whence they came; and Godrick
reported (but this was long after the event) that no one of
the company of pilgrims could see that fair maid, save he
and his mother alone. So they came safe from Rome, and
back to London town ; and when they were at the place
outside Southwark, where the fair maid had met them first,

* ~ — ■ — -1^

May 21.] 5". Godrick. 329

she asked permission to leave them, for she "must go to
her own land, where she had a tabernacle of rest, and
dwelt in the house of her God. " And then, bidding them
bless God, who had brought them safe over the Alps and
across the sea, and all along that weary road, she went on
her way, and they saw her no more

Then with this fair mysterious face clinging to his
memory, and it may be never leaving it, Godrick took his
mother safe home, and delivered her to his father, and bade
them both after awhile farewell, and wandered across
England to Penrith, and hung about the churches there,
till some kinsmen of his recognised him, and gave him a
psalter (he must have taught himself to read upon his
travels), which he learnt by heart. Then, wandering ever
in search of solitude, he went into the woods and found a
cave, and passed his time therein in prayer, living on green
herbs and wild honey, acorns and crabs ; and when he
went about to gather food, he fell down on his knees every
few yards and said a prayer, and rose and went on.

After awhile he wandered on again, until at Wolsingham,
in Durham, he met with another holy hermit, who had
been a monk at Durham, living in a cave in forests in
which no man dare dwell, so did they swam with packs of
wolves ; and there the two good men dwelt together till
the old hermit fell sick, and was like to die. Godrick
nursed him, and sat by him, to watch for his last breath.
For the same longing had come over him which came over
Marguerite d'Angouleme when she sat by the dying bed of
her favourite maid of honour — to see if the spirit, when it
left the body, were visible, and what kind of thing it was :
whether, for instance, it was really like the little naked
babe which is seen in mediaeval illuminations flying out of
the mouths of d3dng men. But, worn out with watching,
Godrick could not keep from sleep. All but desparing of

)^ -iji

^__ n^

330 Lives of the Saints. [May 21.

his desire, he turned to the dying man, and spoke, says
Reginald, some such words as these: — "O spirit! who art
diffused in that body in the Ukeness of God, and art still
inside that breast, I adjure thee by the Highest, that thou
leave not the prison of this thine habitation while I am
overcome by sleep, and know not of it." And so he fell
asleep : but when he woke, the old hermit lay motionless
and breathless. Poor Godrick wept, called on the dead
man, called on God; his simple heart was set on seeing
this one thing. And behold, he was consoled in a won-
drous fashion. For about the third hour of the day the
breath returned. Godrick hung over him, watching his lips.
Three heavy sighs he drew, then a shudder, another sigh :
and then (so Godrick was believed to have said in after
years) he saw the spirit flit.

What it was like, he did not like to say, for the most
obvious reason — that he saw nothing, and was an honest
man. A monk teased him much to impart to him this
great discovery. Godrick answered wisely enough, that
"no man could perceive the substance of the spiritual
soul."

Another pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre did Godrick
make before he went to the hermitage in Eskdale, and
settled finally at Finchale. And there about the hills of
Judffia he found hermits dwelling in rock-caves as they had
dwelt since the time of S. Jerome. He washed himself,
and his hair shirt and little cross, in the sacred waters of
the Jordan, and returned, after incredible suffering, to
become the saint of Finchale.

At Finchale S. Godrick died on the octave of the Ascen-
sion, May 2 1 St. This fixes the date of his death as 1179,
for in that year Easter Day fell on April 5th.

His hermitage became, in due time, a stately priory,
with its community of monks, who loved the memory of

* -^

May 21.]

6". Godrick.

331

their holy father Godrick. The place is all ruinate now ;
the memory of S. Godrick gone ; and not one in ten
thousand, perhaps, who visit those crumbling walls beside
the rushing Wear, has heard of the sailor-saint, and
his mother, and that fair maid who tended them on their
pilgrimage.

8. Aidhelm CMay 25). See p. 346.

332 Lwes of the Saints, [May 22.

May 22.

S. Maecian, B. of Ravenna, circ. A.D. 127.

SS. Castus and Emilius, MM. iji Africa, a.d, 210.

S. Helena, V. at Auxerre, sth cejit.

S. Romanus, Mk. at Atitim, 6th cent.

S. Julia, V.M. in Corsica, 6th or yth cent.

S. Quiteria, V.Mf. at Aire in Gasc07iy.

S. Agulf, ArcJih. of Botirges, a.d. 835.

S. JULIA, V.M.

(6th or 7TH CENT.)

[Roman Martyrology ; also the ancient Roman Martyrology called by
the name of S. Jerome, Ado, Notker, Usuardus, &c The Acts, as the
writer says in his prologue, are derived from tradition.]

j|AINT JULIA was a Christian maiden, a slave
to a Syrian merchant at Carthage, named
Eusebius. Her master treated her kindly,
having learned to respect her strict integrity
and diligence in exactly discharging her duties in his
house. His business having called him from home, he
took Juha with him; and the vessel anchored off the
modern Cape Corso of Corsica. Julia and her master went
on shore, and found that a pagan sacrifice was being offered.
Julia was invited to share in the festival, but indignantly
refused, denouncing the sacrifice as idolatrous. Upon this
she was dragged before the ruler Felix, who had her
beaten on the mouth and then crucified. Her body was
carried to the island of Gorgone, whence it was transported
to Brescia by Ariza, wife of Didier, king of the Lombards,
who built a magnificent church to contain it.

* -tj(,

^ lj(

May 22.] ^. Quiteria. 333

S. QUITERIA, V.M.

(date unknown.)

[Unknown to all the ancient Martyrologists. But claimed by the later
Spanish, Portuguese, and Gallican Martyrologists. Her acts are alto-
gether fabulous, being taken from the fabulous story of Queen Calsia, the
wife of King Catillias, who bore nine daughters at a birth, and, being
afraid of what her husband would say, gave the babes to the nurse to
drown. The nurse, being a Christian, brought them up as her own, and
instructed them in the true faith. In time of persecution by King Catillias,
the nine virgins separated, and, after meeting with various adventures,
suffered martyrdom in different places. The old wives' tale has been
adopted by Tamayus Salazar, and all these nine virgin martyrs have
been given a place by him in the Spanish Martyrology, on Jan. i8th. The
Acts of S. Quiteria are an excerpt from this religious romance. The
names of places, as of people in it, are all of romantic origin, no such
places ever existed. The names of some of the sisters are like Quiteria,
of Gothic origin, Doda, Genivera, Wilgefortis. Her body is claimed
by the Spaniards, Portuguese, and was also by the cathedral of Aire in
Gascony, before the French Revolution.]

The following is the story of S. Quiteria from the
Breviary of the diocese of Bordeaux ; it is founded on the
fable above referred to, the name of the king and his
capital being judiciously omitted. Quiteria was the
daughter of a prince of Galicia in Spain. Baptized with-
out her father's knowledge, she early dedicated her virginity
to God. Her father sought to make her marry, but she
fled from home and took refuge in the solitary valley of
"Aufragia." Here she was found by some soldiers sent
after her by the king, and her head was struck off, by his
orders, as she refused to return and accept the hand of the
prince he had chosen for her.

* — ^ *

^ ^ ^

334 Lwes of the Saints, ^^y =3-

May 23,

S. EupHEBius, B. of Naples, -^rdcent.

S. Desiderius, B.M., at La7Lg7'es, in France, circ. a.d. 407.

S. EuTYCHius, Ab., a«i^ Florentius, Mk., at Nursia, circ. a.d. 540

and 547.
S. Desiderius, B.M., at Vieti^ie in France, a.d. 608.
S. William of Rochester, i!/., z« England.
B. John Baptist de Rossi, C. atRome, a.d. 1764.

S. DESIDERIUS OF LANGRES, B.M,

(about a.d. 407.)

[E Oman and Gallican Martyrologies. Usuardus and Ado. Autho-
rity : — An account by Wamaharius, priest of Langres in the 7th cent.]

HAINT DESIDERIUS, whose name is corrupted
in French into Didier ; in Champagne into
Dizier; in Languedoc and Italy into Deseri
and Drezeri, and in Flanders into Desir, was a
native of Genoa. He is supposed to have assisted at the
Council of Cologne in 346, as Bishop of Langres ; but this
must have been another Desiderius, or he must have been
extremely aged when he died. The Vandal incursion into
the Champagne in 406 filled him with distress, and he went
to the Vandal king, Croco, to implore his clemency towards
the poor people of his diocese. The king, instead of lis-
tening to him, gave him to some of his soldiers to despatch,
and he was executed with the sword. The blood spirted
over his book of the Gospels which he held before his eyes
when he received the fatal stroke.

•Ji^ ^ >f(

1^- _,J,

May 23.] ^. Desiderius of Vienne. 335

S. DESIDERIUS OF VIENNE, B.M.
■ (a.d. 608.)

[Roman and Gallican Martyrologies. Authority : — A life by a con-
temporary.]

The famous Brunehaut had fled from the kingdom of the
elder of her royal grandchildren, Theodebert of Austrasia,
and had taken refuge with the younger, Thierri, king of
Burgundy. She ruled the realm by the ascendancy of that
strong and unscrupulous mind which for more than forty
years raised her into a rival of the yet more famous Fre-
degunda, her rival in the number of murders which she
committed. She ruled the king through his vices. Thierri
had degenerated, like the rest of the race of Clovis, from
the old Teutonic virtues, and plunged headlong into Roman
licence. In vain his subjects had attempted to wean him
from his countless mistresses by a marriage with the daughter
of the Visigothic king. Neglected, mortified, persecuted
by the arts of Brunehaut, the unhappy princess returned
home. Desiderius, or Didier, Bishop of Vienne, came
boldly forward and rebuked the incontinence of Thierri
and his ill-usage of his wife. Brunehaut had no mind to
see the king wakened from his lethargy and take the reins
of government from her hands, and resenting the conduct
of S. Desiderius, she sent three assassins to waylay him on
his return and murder him. They attacked him with stones
and killed him at Prissignac, in the principality of Dombes,
afterwards called Saint-Didier de Chalarone.

ij( ^

^ — — *

336 Lives of the Saints. [Maya4-

S. WILLIAM OF ROCHESTER, M.
(date uncertain.)

[Anglican Martyrologies. Authority : — A life by Thomas of Mon-
mouth, a monk who flourished about 11 60, inserted in Capgrave. Pro-
bably the date of S. William is the early part of the same century.]

S. William was a baker at Perth, who in his early life

lived a careless and godless life, but afterwards changed and

became a model of virtue, as a good father of a household.

Of every ten loaves he baked he gave one to the poor.

One morning early as he went to mass he found a little

babe crying on the door-step of the church. He took the

poor child up, had it baptized by the name of David, and

brought it up as his own. The foundling grew up to man's

estate, and obtained the nickname of Cockerman, which,

says the medieeval author, is the Scottish for foundling.

But the kindness of the good baker was ill-repaid by David

Cockerman, whose heart was full of envy and spite,

and he looked with jealousy on the children of the

baker. When William was well advanced in years, he

resolved to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and he chose

only David to be his companion. AH went smoothly for

some time. But wicked thoughts were working in the

foundling's mind. He wearied of the journey, and

determined to rob his adopted father and live independently

away from Scotland, and the remembrance of his condition.

In the meantime every day saw William's purse grow

lighter. At last, when they had reached Rochester, David

Cockerman resolved to murder and rob the baker without

further delay. As they left the city, he led William into a

narrow lane, and dropping behind him, felled him with a

hatchet, took his purse and ran away. As miracles were

wrought when the body was brought into Rochester, the

people concluded he was a saint, and he received general

veneration in the diocese.
^ -^

May 24.] S, Vincent of Lerins, 337

May 24.

S. Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward at Jerusalem^

1st cent. ^
S. Manaen, Prophet at A7tiiock, ist cent?
S. Afea, M, at Brescia in Italy, circ. a.d. 133.
SS. Donatian and Rogatian, Brothers, MM. at Nantes, cirt,

A.D. 186.
S. Vincent op Lerins, P. Mk, in Provence, circ. a.d. 445.
S. Simeon Stylites, the Younger, H. near Antiock, a.d. 596.
S. Meletius and Comp., MM.^
B. John de Prado, M. in Morocco, a.d. 1636.

S. VINCENT OF LERINS, P. MK.
(about a.d. 445.)

[Roman Martyrology ; inserted by Baronius from the first edition of
MoJanus, but on what authority Molanus attributed this day to S. Vincent
of Lerins is unknown, and Molanus omitted him in his subsequent edi-
tions of his additions to Usuardus. Peter de NataUbus places S. Vincent
on June ist. Authority : — Gennadius of Marseilles (d. 492), "De viris
illustribus."]

HAT God has given man a free-will ; that God

has made man for perfect happiness ; that perfect

happiness is only to be attained by the vsdll of

man freely according with the will of God ;

that the will of man is weakened by the Fall; that to

' S. Luke viii. 3 ; xxiii. 49, 56. Roman Martyrology. By the Greeks on the 2nd
Sunday after Easter is the Commemoration of Joseph the Just and the holy woman
who anointed Christ's body.

^ Acts xiii., Roman Martyrology.

3 The Acts are so utterly fabulous that it is impossible to make out where and
when these martyrs suffered, if they ever existed. There were some 252 of them,
and when slain they suddenly vanished, and no trace of their bodies could be
detected. The Acts inform us that they suffered under the Roman emperor
Antoninus, who was struck dead by lightning, and his successor, the Emperor Leo.
When the place of these emperors in history has been fixed, we may determine the
date of these martyrs.

VOL. V. 2 2
^ — _ 9b

338 Lives of the Saints. [May 24-

remedy this weakness, God provides man with grace to
strengthen him to follow the will of God ; that to obtain
happiness man must will to serve God ; and that his will
without grace is unable, to attain this end; — such is the
Catholic doctrine of Predestination and Grace. It will be
seen that the slightest disturbance of the equilibrium
destroys the doctrine, and makes man's will all-sufficient,
or makes God's grace overmaster man's will. But if Grace
be so powerful, then God is destroying His own work. He
is obliterating man's free-will and reducing him to the
level of a beast or a plant. Either exaggeration is heresy.
To make man's will all-sufficient without the co-operation
of Grace is Pelagianism, to make God's grace absolute is
Calvinism. The vehemence wherewith the sole sufficiency
of man's free-will was asserted by the Pelagians led S.
Augustine to dwell with force on the power of Grace. In
some passages he possibly employed language capable of a
dangerous interpretation. In his time there was no fear of
its being misunderstood. But it has since been claimed
in support of one of the heresies most fatally numbing to
the conscience which the world has produced. The
Calvinist and Jansenist doctrine of predestinarianism,
makes man powerless in the hands of God to will
or to refuse. If God wills, Grace sweeps man away
to heaven, however indifferent or restive his will may
be. Man's free-will is annihilated.

The truth may thus be fairly stated : Grace without the
co-operation of man's free-will is inoperative to effect his
salvation; and man's free-will without the assistance of
Grace is powerless to obtain salvation. To exaggerate the
power of free-will, or the function of Grace, is to lapse into
heresy.

While the West in general bowed before the command-
ing authority of S. Augustine ; trembled and shrank from

May24J 5'. Vinceiit of Lerins. 339

any opinion which might even seem to limit the sovereignity
of God, semi-Pelagianism arose in another quarter, and
under different auspices. This school grew up among the
monasteries in the south of France. Among its partisans
were some of the most eminent bishops of that province.
The most distinguished, if not the first founder, of this
Gallic semi-Pelagianism was the monk St. John Cassian. He
probably saw that the predestinarianism of Augustine was
being exaggerated by his disciples into a fatalism destruc-
tive of all human independence. It is the habit of inferior
minds to exaggerate the teaching of their master, and the
exaggeration of any one doctrine of Christianity to the
obscuration or denial of the correlative truth is heresy.
Against this Cassian arose. He may have somewhat
exaggerated the independence of the human will, but his
teaching was not much beyond Molinism, the accredited
doctrine on free-will and Grace in the Western Church at
the present day.

Semi-Pelagianism aspired to hold the balance between
Pelagius and Augustine ; to steer a safe and middle course
between the abysses into which each, on either side, had
plunged. It emphatically repudiated the heresy of
Pelagius in the denial of original sin ; it asserted Divine
Grace, but refused to accept the system of Augustine,
which seemed to harden the grace of God into an iron
necessity. But on one point it took up untenable ground.

The semi-Pelagians taught that Grace, as a general rule,
was dependent on a pre-existing will in man to obtain salva-
tion, whereas the Catholic doctrine is that the will must
receive its first incentive from God. It is God who stimu-
lates the will, and then leaves man by an act of free-will to
resist or to concur with Grace, to reject Grace, to enable it
to advance, or to seek it for that purpose.

Prosper, a layman of Riez, a vehement Augustinian,

*■- *

^ — (J(

340 Lives of the Saints. [May 24,

wrote against the semi-Pelagians, in answer to a series of
objections raised against Augustinianism by a certain
Vincent of Lerins, who, he said, had misrepresented Pre-
destinarianism. In the same year, 434, Vincent brought
out his famous " Commonitory," which was designed to be
a preservative '' against the profane novelties of all heretics."
The general principle of this famous book, to whose
author one opinion would ascribe the Quicunque vult, is
well known ; the formula in which he states the Catholic
rule of Scriptural interpretation has taken its place among
ecclesiastical proverbs.'

It has been doubted whether the Vincent of Lerins who
wrote the " Commonitorium " is the Vincent of Lerins
venerated this day, but on no adequate grounds. He was
a Gaul by birth, born probably at Toul. S. Eucherius of
Lyons says that he was the brother of Lupus of Troyes,
but Gennadius does not say this. He first followed a
military career, but abandoned arms to retire to the island
of Lerins, the monastic metropolis of Provence, as Lindis-
farne was the religious capital of Northumbria. He was
ordained priest, and charged with the education of Salonus
and Veran, sons of S. Eucherius. He died about the
year 445.

^ " Curandum. est ut id teneamus, quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus
credltum est ; " c. 3.

* 1^

»J( — *

May 25.] S. Urban I. 341

May 25.

SS. Mary the Mother of James, and Mary the Wife of Salome,

at Aries, is£ cent.^
S. Urban 1., Pope M. at Rome, a.d. 230.

S. Pasicrates and Valentio, mm. at Dorostoriuin hi Bulgaria.
S. Cantio, B.C. in Africa.
SS. Maximus and Venerandus, Brothers^ MM. at Acguzgny, in the

diocese of Evreux.
S. DiONYSius, B. of Milan, before a,d. 360.
SS. Injuriosus, C. and his wife Scholastica, in Auvergne, circ,

A.D. 500.
S. Zenobius, B. of Florence, ^tkcent.
S. Leo, Ab. at Troyes, in Fraiice, 6th cent.
S. Boniface IV., Poj)e of Rovte, a.d. 615.
S. AldhelMj B. of Sherborne, hi Dorsetshire, a.d. 709.
S. Gregory VII., Pope of Rome, a.d. 1085.
S. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi. O.M.C. at Florence, a.d. 1607. ^

S. URBAN I., POPE,M.
(a.d. 230.)

[Roman Martyrology ; thesacramentary ofS. Gregory the Great, Bede,
Usuardus, Ado, Notker, &c. Authority : — The Acts in the catalogue of
Roman Pontiffs, written by the Roman Church Notaries. This catalogue
appears to have been drawn up by order of S. Anterius, pope (d. 235),
and to have been continued by S. Damasus. Other Acts exist, but they
are amplified with marvels which do not exist in the more authentic Acts
written apparently at the time, or shortly after the time, of themartyrdom.]

A.INT URBAN I. was a Roman by birth; he

was chosen to fill the vacant see of S. Peter on

the death of S. Calixtus I. in 223. Under the

Emperor Alexander and his mother Mammaea,

the Church had rest from general persecution j but the

governors and magistrates were able to carry on the war

against Christianity by means of indirect accusations.

Under such an accusation S. Urban was drawn from the

^ See April 9th, Mary the wife of Cleopas.
^ li<

342 Lives of the Saints. [May 25.

catacomb in which he was hiding with two priests and
three deacons, and was brought before the prefect of the
city, named Turcius Almachius. He was accused of
having stirred up sedition, and being the cause of the
martyrdoms in the prewous reign. " Five thousand fell in
that persecution, and thou, wretch, wast the cause of their
destruction ! " said vUmachius. The charge showed in-
genuity certainly. Another accusation brought against
him was that he had received all the vast possessions of S.
CecUia, which had been confiscated to the State ; and he
was ordered at once to deliver them up. "All has been
distributed among the poor," said Urban.

He was beaten and then cast into prison, where he
converted his jailor Anulinus (May i8th), and on May
25th, after Almachius had vainly endeavoured to extort
the wealth of S. CeciUa from him, he was executed with
the sword. His body was buried by a devout lady named
Marmenia, according to the Acts. This was probably
Armenia, a lady of the Armenian gens, from Comana in
Cappadocia, settled in Rome. They were hereditary priests
of Ma, or Bellona, whose licentious worship they introduced
to Rome. Yet, wondrous efBcacy of grace ! of this family
names have been recovered from the Catacombs.

SS. PASICRATES AND VALENTIO, MM.
(uncertain date.)

[Bythe Greeks on April 24th. Roman Martyrolog)', Usuardus, Ado,
Notker, on May 25th. Authority : — The account in the Mensea.]

SS. Pasicrates and Valentio were soldiers, natives of
Rhodostolus, or Dorostolus, the modem SiUstria in Bul-
garia. They were discovered to be Christians, and were
brought before the prsetor Pappian. The brother of Pasi-
crates came weeping to him, imploring him to yield to the
|J( ^

May 25-] 6'iS', Maximus auci Venerandus. 343

wishes of the magistrate, and worship the idols. Then
Pasicrates walked to the altar of Jove, where a fire was
burning, thrust his hand in among the red-hot coals, and
said, " Thou seest my mortal flesh is consumed in this fire,
but my soul is free, and cannot be hurt by any torment
man can devise ; my soul is constant, destined to immortal
life." Then he and Valentio were ordered to have their
heads stricken off with an axe. Pasicrates was aged
twenty-two, and Valentio thirty years, when they suffered.

SS. MAXIMUS AND VENERANDUS, MM.
(about a.d. 512.)

[Gallican Martyrologies. Greatly venerated in the diocese of Evreux.
Authority : — The legend of these saints contained in the Evreux Breviary
is altogether untrustworthy. It makes the saints leave Italy because per-
secution was raging, in the reign of the Emperor Valentian the Younger,
and his mother Placida. They are sent to preach the faith by S. Damasus.
At this time Vitalius and Sabinus were consuls, we are told. They come
to Evreux, where S. Etemus is bishop. Now let us see how these points
of the story agree with history. Valentinian the Younger began to reign
with his mother Placida in 425. S. Damasus was created pope in 366.
Here is an interval of fifty-nine years. The consuls, Vitalius and Sabinus,
never were consuls together. There was a consul of the name of Vitellius,
in the year follovping our Lord's death, and consuls of the name of Sabinus
in the reigns of Domitian and Caracalla. By these consuls they are tried
and tortured for being Christians, in the reign of a Christian emperor !
and then, flying from persecution, are martyred in Gaul, after having
visited S. Germanus of Auxerre (d. 448), and S. Lupus of Troyes (d. 479).
The consul Sabinus, however, marches out of Italy after the runaways at
the head of an army. The Seine opens to let the saints pass, but rolls
back and drowns those of the pursuers who went in after them into the
bed of the river. However, three days after, Sabinus overtakes them and
kills them in the island formed by the confluence of the river Eure and
Iton, near Acquigny. S. Eternus, who buries their bodies, occurs in the
lists of the bishops of Evreux as dying in 5 1 2. The geographical blunders
are as gross as the anachronisms,]

ij, i^

^ ^

344 Lives of the Saints. [May 25.

SS. INJURIOSUS AND SCHOLASTICA.

(CIRC. A.D. 500.)

[Gallican Martyrologies. Venerated in Auvergne, where they are
called " Les deux Amants" the two lovers. Au*hority : — S. Gregory of
Tours, in his book De Gloria Confessorum, c. 32, and in his Historia
Francorum, lib. i., c. 41.

In Auvergne lived a youth named Injuriosus, who was
married to a fair young girl called Scholastica. Now when
the bridal feast was over, and the bridal torches were
extinguished, he went to the marriage chamber, and he
found her lying on her bed with her face to the wall, softly
crying. He asked her the cause of her tears, and hesitatingly
she told him that she had been happy as a simple girl, and she
shrank from the cares and obligations of her new condition.
"Be to me but a dearly loved brother rather than a
husband," she said, and he kissed her, and took her hand
in his, and promised that so it should be. So they lived
many years together, in the tenderest respect and love to
one another. At length Scholastica died, and was taken
to the church to be buried ; then, as she lay in the vault,
ere the stone slab was laid down over her, Injuriosus stood
contemplating the dear face, and he hfted his hands and
said, " I thank Thee, O Eternal Father, that Thou didst
give me this treasure. And now I give her back to Thee,
pure as she came to me." And all who looked down into
the grave thought that the dead maiden smiled. So they
closed the vault, and Injuriosus went to his home, now
desolate and silent, and there his heart broke, and a few
days after he was carried forth.

" They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in
death they were not divided." The husband was laid on
the opposite side of the church to his wife, and the church
was closed for the night before the slab was mortared

*— )j«

May 25.] 6". Boniface IV. 345

down. Next morning the body was gone, and when
search was made for it, the dead Injuriosus was found with
his arms crossed on his breast, lying beside his dear wife
Scholastica in her grave.

S. BONIFACE IV., POPE.
(a.d. 615.)

[Roman Martyrology. Authority : — Anastasius Bibliochecarius.]

Boniface IV., a Marsian, of the city of Valeria, the son
of a physician, is celebrated for the conversion of the
Pantheon into a Christian Church. With the sanction of
the Emperor Phocas, this famous temple, in which were
assembled all the gods of the Roman world, was purified
and dedicated on Sept. isth, 608, to the Blessed Virgin Mary
and all the martyrs. He also turned his own house into a
monastery. Having convoked a council of all the bishops
of Italy, measures were taken for the restoration of ancient
discipline, which had fallen into abeyance.

Mellitus, Bishop of London, who was then in Rome,
about the affairs of the English Church, is said to have
been present at this council, and to have carried back its
decrees, together with the letters of Boniface, to England.
Nothing further is known of the pontiff'.

g, -)Ji

346 Lives of the Saints. [May 25-

S. ALDHELM, B. OF SHERBORNE.
(a.d. 709.)

[Roman and Anglican Martyrologies. His translation on March 31st.
Authorities: — A life by William of Malmesbury, written towards the
middle of the 1 2th century ; another life written in the latter years of the
nth century, by Faricius, a foreign monk of Malmesbury, who became
abbot of Abingdon in 1 100, and died in 1 1 1 7. A copy of the first is pre-
served in MS., Cotton., Claudius A. v., written in the 12th cent. ; fuller
copies have been printed by Wharton and Gale from very modern MSS.
Bede, though he speaks of the works of Aldhelm in terms of admiration,
gives a very brief account of him. Malmesbury had before him a kind
of common-place book written by King Alfred, which he quotes more
than once for circumstances relating to Aldhelm, who seems to have
been a favourite writer with that great monarch. Faricius says that there
were, among the materials he used, some English documents, which he,
as an Italian, calls "barbarice scripta."]

Aldhelm was born in Wessex, about the year 656. His
father's name was Kenter, a near kinsman of King Ina;
but a comparison of the dates is enough to show that
Aldhelm was not, as Faricius states, King Ina's nephew.
When but a boy {pusio), Aldhelm was sent to Adrian, abbot
of Canterbury (Jan. 9), and soon excited the wonder
even of his teachers by his progress in the study of Latin
and Greek. When somewhat more advanced in years
(inajicscuhis), he returned to his native land of Wessex.

Near the beginning of the same century, an Irish monk
named Maeldhu, which the Anglo-Saxons transformed into
Meildulf, a voluntary exile from the land of his nativity,
had taken up his abode among the solitudes of the vast
forests which then covered the north-eastern districts of
Wiltshire. He seems to have formed himself a cell amongst
the ruins of an ancient British town. Maeldhu, after
living for a short time as a hermit, found it necessary to
secure for himself a less precarious subsistence by instruct-
ing the youths of the neighbouring districts ; and thus the
hermitage became gradually a seat of learning, and continued

ij, _ ij

^- >J(

May^s.] 5. Aldhelm. 347

to be inhabited by Maeldhu's scholars after his death.
People gave to the place the name of Meildulfes-byrig,
which, softened down into Malmesbury, it still retains.

After his return to Wessex, Aldhelm joined this com-
munity of scholars, in imitation of whom he embraced the
monastic life. His stay was not, however, of long duration ;
he made a second visit to Kent, and continued to attend
the school of S. Adrian, until sickness compelled him to re-
visit the country of the West Saxons. He again sought the
greenwood shades of Malmesbury; and after a lapse of three
years he wrote a letter to his old master Adrian, describing
the studies in which he was occupied, and pointing out the
difficulties which he still encountered. This was in 680.
From being the companion of the monks in their studies,
Aldhelm soon became their teacher ; and his reputation
for learning spread so rapidly that the small society he
had formed at Malmesbury was increased by scholars from
France and Scotland. He is said to have been able to
write and speak Greek, to have been fluent in Latin, and
able to read the Old Testament in Hebrew. At this period
the monks and scholars appear to have formed only a
voluntary association, held together by similarity of pursuits
and the fame of their teacher ; and they do not appear to
have been subjected to rules. How long they continued
to live in this manner is uncertain ; at a subsequent period,
either at their own solicitation, or by the will of the West
Saxon monarch and the bishop, they were formed into a
regular monastery, and Aldhelm was appointed their abbot
(circ. A.D. 683).'

Under Aldhelm the abbey of Malmesbury continued
long to be the seat of piety as well as learning, and was

' A cliarter by Leutherius exists authorizing the foundation and appointing Aldhelm
as its abbot, dated according to William of Malmesbury 67s, according to the Malmes-
bury Chronicle 680 ; but it is almost certainly a forgei-y. See Wright : Biographia
Brit. Literaria, I. p. 212.

*. ^ *

^ . 1^

348 Lives of the Saints. [May 25.

enriched with many gifts by the West-Saxon kings and
nobles. Its abbot founded smaller houses at Frome and
Bradford, in the neighbourhood. At Malmesbury he found
a small but ancient church, then in ruins; this he rebuilt
or repaired, and dedicated it to SS. Peter and Paul, in that
age the favourite saints of the Anglo-Saxons. His biogra-
phers have preserved the verses which Aldhelm composed
to celebrate its consecration.

Aldhelm may be considered the father of Anglo-Latin
poetry. But he also composed in Anglo-Saxon. King
Alfred placed him in the first rank of the vernacular poets
of his country ; and we learn from William of Malmesbury,
that, even so late as the 12th century, some ballads he had
composed continued to be popular. To be a poet, it was
then necessary to be a musician also; and Aldhelm's
biographers assure us that he excelled on all the different
instruments then in use, the fiddle and the pipes, &c.
Long after he became abbot of Malmesbury, he appears to
have devoted much of his leisure to music and poetry.
King Alfred entered into his note-book an anecdote which
is peculiarly characteristic of the age, and which probably
belongs to the period that preceded the foundation of the
abbey. Aldhelm observed with pain that the peasantry,
instead of assisting as the monks sung mass, ran about from
house to house gossiping, and could hardly be persuaded to
attend to the exhortations of the preacher. He watched
the occasion, and stationed himself in the character of a
minstrel on the bridge over which the people had to pass,
and soon collected a crowd of hearers, by the beauty of
his verse. When he found that he had gained possession of
their attention, he gradually introduced, among the popular
ballads he was reciting to them, words of a more serious
nature, till at length he succeeded in impressing upon their
minds a truer feeling of religious devotion; "Whereas if,"

May 25.] S. Aldhelm. 349

as William of Malmesbury observes, "he had proceeded
with severity and excommunication, he would have made
no impression whatever upon them." "^

Few details of the latter part of Aldhelm's life have
been preserved. We know that his reputation continued
to be extensive. After he had been made abbot of
Malmesbury, he received an invitation from Pope Sergius I.
to visit Rome, and he is supposed to have accompanied
Coedwalla, king of the West Saxons, who was baptized by
that pope, and died at Rome in 689. Whether this be
true, or not, Aldhelm's visit to Rome cannot be placed
earlier than 688, because Sergius had been raised to the
papal chair only in the December of the preceding year.

Aldhelm did not long remain at Rome. In 692, he
appears, from his letter on the subject quoted by his
biographers, to have taken part to a certain degree, though
not very decidedly, with S. Wilfrid, in his great controversy
against the Keltic usages of the Northumbrian Church.
Soon after this, we find him employed in the dispute about
the celebration of Easter with the Britons of Cornwall. A
synod was called by King Ina, about 693, to attempt a
reconciliation between the remains of the ancient British
Church in the extreme west with the Anglo-Saxon Church,
and Aldhelm was appointed to write a letter on the subject

* In after times Stephen Langton did something of the same sort. He sang a
dancing-song and then moralized on it as his text. The sermon is preserved in the
British Museum. This was the song, somewhat modernized in spelling : —

" Belle Alez matin leva
Son corps vesti et para
Enz un verger s'en entra
Cinq fleurettes y trouva,
Un chapelet fit en a

de rose fleurie
Par Dieu trahex vous en la

vous hinc aimez mie."

The mediseval preacher Maillard did much the same thing when preaching at
Toulouse, singing at the top of his voice as a text the ballad " Bergeronette
Savoisienne."

^ *

^ ^ — *

350 Lives of the Saints. tMayss.

to Geraint, king of Cornwall, which is still preserved.
We hear nothing further of the abbot of Malmesbury till
the year 705, when, on the death of Hedda, the bishopric
of Wessex was divided into two dioceses, of which one,
that of Sherborne, was given to S. Aldhelm, who appears
to have been allowed to retain at the same time the abbacy,
and the other, Winchester, to one named Daniel.

Four years afterwards he died at Dilton, near Westbury,
in Wiltshire, on the 25th May, 709. His body was carried
to Malmesbury, where it was buried in the presence of
Egwin, bishop of Worcester.

S. Aldhelm was not a voluminous writer. The works
which alone have given celebrity to his name, are his two
treatises on Virginity and his ^nigmata. It is impossible
to admire their style. Even so far back as the 12th century,
William of Malmesbury felt himself obliged to offer an
apology for him, grounded on the taste of that age in which
he lived. "The Greek language is involved, the Roman
splendid, and the English pompous," is Malmesbury's
account of the characteristics of these three languages.
Certainly Aldhelm made English pomposity transpire
through the splendour of Latin, which he involved like
Greek.

S. GREGORY VII., POPE.

(a.d. 1085.)

[Roman Martyrology, into which his name was introduced in 1584 by
Gregory XIII. His translation, May 4th. Authorities: — His life by
Paul Bernried, canon of Ratisbon (d. 1 120) ; also the annals of Lambert
of Hersfeld or of Aschaffenburg {1077). A life by Nicolas, cardinal of
Aragon (d. 1362); another by Pandolf of Pisa (circ. 1130). Benzo,
bishop of Alba, Panegyricus rhythwHS 'n Henricmii IV., a violent
opponent, the Epistles of Gregory, himself Bonizo, bishop of Sutri,
Sigeber of Glembours and other historians of the time.]

It is impossible in the brief compass of such an article

May 25.] ^. Gregory VII. 351

as can here be devoted to Gregory VII., to give in any-
thing Uke fulness the Hfe of a man, whose history is that of
contemporary Europe.

Gregory was a man whom many modern historians have
misunderstood. He has been exhibited to the detestation
of mankind as a monster of ambition and priestly arrogance.
That his acts savoured of harshness, and that, on more
occasions than one, he fell into fatal mistakes, can scarcely
be disputed, but we read his character wrong if we attribute
his actions to such mean motives as ambition or arrogance.
From first to last, Hildebrand was governed by zeal for the
glory of God, and the purification of the Church, and to
him the only means that lay open for effecting his purpose,
was the complete emancipation of the Church from the
fatal subserviency into which it had been brought by the
well-intentioned but dangerous precedents adopted by the
Emperor Henry III., at a time when the papacy had fallen
into the lowest depths of degradation, and when only the
interference of the secular arm could lift its glory out of
the mire.

Upon the death of John XVIII. in 1033, so little regard
did his brother, the Count of Tusculum, then all potent in
Rome, deem it necessary to pay to appearances, that he
directed the election and consecration of his son, Theophy-
lact, a boy of ten or twelve years old, to the chair of S.
Peter.' The unhappy youth was consecrated under the
title of Benedict IX., and soon exemphfied the unfitness of
the selection by the giddy and precipitous manner in which,
as soon as his years admitted it, he plunged into every
species of debauchery and crime.^ At length, as if deter-

' " Puer ferme decennis," — Radolf Glaier. " Grdinatus quidam puer annonim
circiter duodecim contra jus, fasque, quern sciliet sola pecunia auri et argenti plus
commendavit, quam ajtas aut sanctitas." — ISi'd.

"* "Cujus vita quam turpis, quam fceda, quamqu execrauda extiterit, liorresco
referre." — Victor III. Dialog. " Post multa turpia adalteria et homicidia manibus
suis psrpetrata, postremo," &c. — Bonino.

it ■ *

352 Lives of the Saints. [May 25.

mined to outrage public feeling to the utmost, he had the
madness to think of marrying his first cousin. The father
of the damsel refused to permit the marriage unless Bene-
dict should resign the throne of S. Peter. The young pope
sold the papacy to the arch-priest John Gratian, and con-
secrated him with his own hands as his successor, by the
name of Gregory VI. Another party in Rome at once
elected and consecrated a rival pontiff, Sylvester III., and
then Benedict, finding his intended spouse withheld from
him, and not feeling himself bound in honour by his bar-
gain with Gratian, after an absence of three months, re-ap-
peared in Rome, and asserted his former pretensions. But
though he succeeded in occupying the Lateran palace, he
was not able to drive either of his competitors entirely out
of the city. The world, therefore, beheld for some time
the shameful spectacle of three popes opposed to each other,
living at the same time in different palaces, and officiating at
different altars of the papal city.

Averse as the Romans usually and naturally were to
German control, the name of the young and energetic
Henry III., who now filled the imperial throne, became
familiar in their mouths as that of a desired and expected
deliverer; and in a rhythmical saying which passed from
mouth to mouth, he was implored to come, and, as the
vice-gerent of the Almighty, rescue the Church of Rome
from the climax of degradation it had reached.^

Henry III. entered Italy in 1046, and summoned a
Council to meet at Sutri to settle the affairs of the Church.
The Council deposed all three popes ; and with the view of
preventing, for the future, the scandals which had marked
the election of the pontiffs for a long period, Henry exacted
of the Romans that the elections should be placed for the

^ ** Una Sunamitis nupsit tribus maritis.

Rex Henrice, Omnipotentis vice.

Solve connubium triforme dubium." — Annalisia. Saxo.

* ^ -^

* ^ >^

May 25.] ^. Gregory VII. 353

future under his entire control, and that no one should pre-
sume to nominate a pastor to the Apostolic see without the
previous sanction of the imperial authority.' Thereupon
Henry having assumed the green mantle, the golden circlet,
and the ring, which designated the dignity of Patrician of
Rome, took the hand of Suidger, bishop of Bamberg, led
him to the papal chair, and required the Church to acknow-
ledge him as the new pope, under the title of Clement II.
This estimable pontiff died, almost certainly by poison, in
1047, and he had scarcely breathed his last, when the Tus-
culan faction arose once more in arms, and summoning
their wretched creature, Benedict IX., from his retirement,
seated the unhappy man once more upon the throne of S.
Peter ; a position in which he was enabled, by the swords of
his partizans, to maintain himself during several months,
whilst the evils and disorders to which Henry flattered him-
self he had put an effectual stop, began to reign anew.

Many, therefore, of those who had most indignantly
murmured at the complete subjection of the Church to an
imperial master, were driven, by their sad circumstances, once
more to entreat that master to become the arbiter of her fate.
Henry, truly anxious to make a good selection, fixed his
choice on Poppo, bishop of Brixen, who was installed under
the name of Damasus II. But Damasus closed his
earthly career within the brief space of three or four weeks
from his formal assumption of the duties of his office ; and
the rapidity with which the one event succeeded the other,
could not but tend to corroborate the suspicions already
current respecting the decease of Clement, as well as to
give rise to similar ones on the present occasion.^ Henry

1 " Ut ad ejus mutum sancta Romana Ecclesia nunc ordinetur, ac prseter ejus
auctoritatem apostolicse sedi nemo prorsus eligat sacerdotem." — Dccmian. Opusc,
vi. c. 36.

2 "Hunc pontificem (Damasum II.) veneno a Benedicto IX. propinato exdnc-
tum asserit Beimo."—Pa^', Breviar.

VOL. V. 23

^ >J|

^^ .. »J«

354 Lives of the Saints. [May2s-

found among his German prelates, whom he first sounded
on the subject, a general reluctance to accept a dignity
which, if splendid, was fraught with peril. He therefore
appointed Bruno, bishop of Toul, a kinsman, who ascended
the Apostolic throne under the title of Leo IX.

It will be seen by this sketch that the emperor had created
a dangerous precedent, driven to it by the exigencies of
the times ; but it was one, the full danger of which was not
slow in manifesting itself. He had converted the Church
into a department of the state. The Pope was the creature
of the emperor, as before he had been the creature of the
faction which had set him up.

There was a growing party in Rome which trembled for
the Church, as they saw that the imperial power was thus
overshadowing her, and this party desired to emancipate
the Church from imperial control. It was not only the
Papacy which, by the zeal of Henry III. had been made
subservient to the State, but throughout the empire the
whole Church was more or less under State control, and
was employed as a political rather than as a religious engine.
In Germany and Italy the bishoprics and abbacies were
donatives of the crown, and the emperor gave these eccle-
siastical offices to his friends, or if needy, sold them to the
highest bidder, and the bishops, to indemnify themselves
for the purchase of their sees, sold the benefices in their
patronage, so that simony had infected the whole of the
German and Italian Church. It is obvious that in such
a condition of affairs the moral authority of the Church
languished, and that for a restoration of discipline and a
reformation of abuses, the right of investiture by the
monarch must be done away with. The princes claimed
to confer bishoprics by the outward symbols of ring and
staff, and the people would speedily be led to suppose that
spiritual jurisdiction sprang from the crown.

ij, , ^

^ • >^

May 25.] 6^. Gregory VII. 355

The history of Gregory VII. is the history of his warfare
against the encroachment of imperial power upon spirituali-
ties. It was not ambition to exalt himself which forced
the great pope into contest with the emperor, it was zeal
for the Church of God, over which he had been appointed
overseer. We may regret the manner in which the contest
was carried on, but we are bound to respect the motive
which forced the pope to wage it.

Another of the purposes that animated Hildebrand was
the abolition of clerical marriage, and the elevation of the
moral tone of the clergy. Several of his predecessors had
pronounced against it, but their words had fallen on ears
unwilling to receive them, and neither the bishops nor the
princes had cared to enforce their mandates. The battle
that had to be fought was that of purity against impurity,
of holiness against corruption. The clergy in the West
who were married, were conscious that they had trans-
gressed the decrees of popes and synods ; and the priests
who had habituated themselves to trample upon one pre-
cept bearing the impress of the Church's authority, had
passed the great moral barrier which separates the syste-
matically, though imperfectly, dutiful from the habitually
godless and profane ; the consistency of their character
was marred ; and their progress to the worst excesses of
vice, perhaps accomplished, by an easier transition than
had been their first bold step from obedience to its
opposite. One of two courses was open to the reforming
pope, either to remove the married priest from his position
of fellowship with every class of the licentious and profane,
by adopting the less stringent code of the Greek Church,
or to combat clerical incontinence by force. Seizing the
means in his power, Gregory VII. adopted the latter
cause, and set himself to achieve^ and did achieve, a most
important reformation.

356 Lives of the Saints. [May 25.

To estimate aright the character of this great pope we
must appreciate the magnitude of the opposition he en-
countered. It is a mistake to pass over lightly this oppo-
sition, rather let us note its vehemence, its universality,
and then we shall be able to see how great was the reso-
lution of that one man to master and crush it.

Hildebrand, if not a Roman by birth, was an adopted
Roman by education. He was of humble origin. His
father was a carpenter in Saona, a small town on the
southern border of Tuscany. His name implies a Teutonic
descent. His youth was passed in a monastic house in
Rome, S. Mary on the Aventine, of which his uncle was
abbot. The disposition of Hildebrand was congenial to
his education. He was a monk from his boyhood. Morti-
fication in the smallest things taught him that self-command
and rigour which he was afterwards to enforce on mankind.
If he was stern to others, he was not gentle to himself.
Rome was no favourable school for monastic perfection ;
yet perhaps the gross and revolting licentiousness of the
city, and the abuses in the monastic system, may have
hardened his austerity. Arrived at manhood, he deter-
mined to seek some better school for his ardent devotion,
and to suppress in some cloister affording more shelter from
temptation the yet mutinous passions of his adolescence.
There were still, 'in the general degeneracy of the monastic
institutes, some renowned for their sanctity. At no period
were there wanting men who preserved in all their rigour
the rules of Benedict or Columban. Among these was
Odilo, abbot of Clugny, in Burgundy. With him Hilde-
brand found a congenial retreat, and he was strongly
tempted to spend his days in the peaceful shades of
Clugny. But holy retirement was not the vocation of his
energetic spirit. Hildebrand is again in Rome; he is
attached to that one of the three conflicting popes, whose

* _,j,

^ ^

May 25-] S. Gregory VII. 357

cause was most sure to command the sympathy of a man
of devout feeHng rigidly attached to canonical order.
When Gregory VI., compelled to abdicate the papacy, retired
into Germany, Hildebrand re-appears as the counsellor
of Leo IX., then of Nicholas II., and of Alexander II. For
a long period in the papal annals, Hildebrand alone seems
permanent. Pope after pope dies, disappears ; Hildebrand
still stands unmoved. One by one they fall off, Clement,
Damasus, Leo, Victor, Nicolas. The only one who rules
for ten years is Alexander II.

While Hildebrand was thus rising to the height of power,
and becoming more and more immersed in the affairs of
the world, which he was soon to rule, S. Peter Damiani,
his aged colleague under the reforming pope, S. Leo IX.
(see April 19th), beheld his progress with amazement and
regret. The similitude and contrast between these two
men is characteristic. Damiani was still a monk at heart,
and he had struggled with restless impatience against the
burden of the episcopate laid on his shoulders by Pope
Stephen. Damiani saw the monk in Hildebrand dis-
appearing in the statesman, and trembled for his salvation.
Hildebrand could not comprehend the shrinking of
Damiani from the fore-front of the battle, when the Church
was in peril. They separated to tread different paths ;
Damiani to subdue the world within himself; Hildebrand
to subdue the world without.

Pope Alexander II. died April 21st, 1073. The clergy
were assembled in the Lateran Church to celebrate his
obsequies ; Hildebrand, as archdeacon, was performing the
mournful service. At once from the whole multitude of
clergy and people burst a simultaneous cry, " Hildebrand
is pope \" "S. Peter chooses the Archdeacon Hildebrand !"
The archdeacon rushed towards the pulpit to allay the
tumult, and repel the proffered honour; but Cardinal

ij, ^ *

358 Lives of the Saints. [May 25.

Hugh the White came forward and made himself heard
above the acclamations of the multitude.

"Well know ye," he said, "that since the days of
the blessed Leo this prudent archdeacon has exalted
the Roman see, and delivered this city from many perils.
Wherefore we, the bishops and cardinals, with one voice,
elect him as the pastor and bishop of your souls."

The voice of Hugh was drowned in universal cries, " It
is the will of S. Peter; Hildebrand is pope.'' Hildebrand
was immediately led to the papal throne, arrayed with the
scarlet robe, crowned with the papal tiara, and reluctant
and in tears, enthroned in the chair of S. Peter. Hilde-
brand might well weep. The future before him was black
with storm. Never did the Church need a firmer hand on
the helm, never could a pope show firmness with less safety
to himself It was a momentary weakness. Then, like
S. Peter, who first girt his fishei;'s coat about him, and
plunged into the waves, Hildebrand prepared himself for
conflict, shook off his fears, and boldly struck out for him-
self the course which conscience indicated. He com-
menced his reign with cautiously securing an uncontested
title. The decree of Nicolas II. had acknowledged that,
after the nomination by the cardinals, the ratification by
the clergy and people of Rome, the assent of the emperor
was necessary to complete the full legal title. Hildebrand
despatched messengers to Germany to inform Henry IV.
of his elevation, and to solicit his assent Gregory, bishop
of Vercelli, chancellor of Italy, was sent to Rome with the
imperial ratification, and Hildebrand ascended the throne
of S. Peter, under the title of Gregory VII., which he
assumed in compliment to his unfortunate teacher and
friend Gratian, who had been elevated to the chair of
S. Peter by that name, but who had been deposed for
simony.

^ __ ,j.

* — -^

May2s.] 6". Gregory VII. 359

/ __^^_____

The first official act of Gregory was to send Hugh the
White as his legate into Spain, to insist on the abolition of
the Mozarabic liturgy, and the reception in its place of the
Roman ritual. But this mission had a further object, a
more startling assertion of right, new to the king of Spain.
Gregory in a letter addressed on April 30th, 1073, to the
grandees of Spain, and committed to his newly-appointed
legate, wrote : " Ye are not ignorant that the kingdom of
Spain was of old time the property of S. Peter, nor that,
notwithstanding its long occupation by Pagans, it still
belongs of right to no mortal, but to the apostolic see."
And therefore he granted to a certain Count Eboli of
Roceio as much land as he could conquer from the Moors,
to be held by him as a fief of the see of Rome. " Of this
we warn you all that, unless ye are prepared to recognize
S. Peter's claim upon those territories, we will oppose you,
by exerting our apostolic authority to forbid your attacking
them." The claim thus advanced by Gregory was new to
those to whom it was addressed, and was unsupported by
documentary or even traditionary proof But the Spanish
princes, feeling, no doubt, that some advantages would
accrue to themselves from the admission of such a claim,
do not appear to have opposed it. Engaged, as they were,
in a perpetual holy war, the more complete identification
of their cause with that of the Church would enable them,
when occasion required it, to appeal, the more confidently,
to the zeal and courage of their subjects.

Almost the first public act of Gregory VII. was a de-
claration of implacable war against simony and the mar-
riage of the clergy. The decree of the synod held in
Rome in the eleventh month of his pontificate is not
extant, but in its memorable provisions it went beyond the
sternest of his predecessors. It almost invalidated all
sacraments performed by simoniacal or married priests.

^ ^

360 Lives of the Saints. [Mayas.

If it did not declare that baptism, absolution, and the
consecration of the Host were no baptisms, no absolutions,
and no consecrations, when performed by their hands, by
forbidding the laity to acknowledge them, it necessarily
encouraged the idea that they were so ; and thus directly
led to the horrible impieties which we shall have shortly to
describe. The laity were thrown into the position of
judges of the priesthood and punishers of its irregularities.
The same course had been adopted by Pope Victor at
Milan, who had encouraged Ariald to stir up the people to
plunder, mutilate, and expel the married clergy, with some
success, and this policy was now to be applied over the
whole empire.

Throughout Western Christendom these decrees met
with furious or with sullen and obstinate opposition.
Siegfried, archbishop of Mainz, would not promulgate the
decree till he was formally threatened with the papal cen-
sure. Even then he attempted to temporize. He did not
summon the clergy at once to show their obedience; he
allowed them six months of delay for consideration. A
synod met at Erfurt. The partisans of the marriage of the
clergy assembled in prevailing numbers. Their language
was unmeasured. They appealed to custom, to Scripture,
to reason. Some of the more violent, with confused but
intelligible menace, called for vengeance on him who dared
to promulgate this execrable decree. The affrighted
primate expressed his readiness to appeal to Rome, and to
endeavour to obtain some mitigation at least of the ob-
noxious law. But the zeal of Hildebrand would brook no
modification or delay. And in the matter of his opposition
to simony, he carried most consciences with him. Either
the conflict about appointment to benefices must be fought
at once, or the Church would sink into utter subserviency

>5- iis

ijr — •©

Mayas.] 6". Gregory VII. 361

and degradation.'- Gregory justly saw that it was impos-
sible to suppress the wretched traffic in holy things so long
as the power to confer and sell spiritual benefices lay in
the hands of the temporal sovereign. In a council held at
Rome, at the beginning of the year 1075, Gregory abro-
gated by one decree the whole right of investiture by the
temporal princes. The prohibition was couched in the
most comprehensive terms. It absolutely deposed every
bishop, abbot, or inferior ecclesiastic, who should receive
investiture of his spiritual benefice from any lay person.
And if any emperor or nobleman should presume to grant
such investiture of bishopric or inferior dignity, he was to
be excommunicated. From this moment Henry IV. and
Gregory "VII. became resolute, declared, and remorseless
enemies. Henry considered that the pope was robbing
him of a cherished prerogative, and an important element
of political power, one indispensable to his authority.
Gregory regarded the emperor as his opponent in the
reformation of the Church. Each was determined to put
forth his full powers, each to enlist in his party the subjects
of the other. Henry was not in a condition tamely to
endure what he considered to be an aggression of the
pope. He was supported by powerful allies, pledged by
their interests to his cause, and incensed by the uncom-
promising manner in which the pope asserted his supre-

* We may take, almost at haphazard, a passage from the history of the past in
Italy, to instance the flagrant abuses that arose out of lay investiture. In 938
Hugh of Provence made one of his bastards bishop of Piacenza ; another, arch-
deacon, with hopes of succession to the archbishopric of Milan. A relative,
Hilduin, who had been expelled from his see in France, he made archbishop of
Milan. He gave the bishoprics of Trent, Verona, and Mantua, to the ambitious
Manasseh of Aries. Berengar, Marquis of Ivrea, bribed Adelard, the officer of
Manasseh, into treason by promising him the bishopric of Como : but instead of
fulfilling his engagement, gave the bishopric to Waldo, a lawless robber, who
plundered the highways, and blinded his captives, and to Adelard he gave the see
of Reggio.

>h __ ,j,

362 Lives of the Saints. [May 25.

macy. The German Church, as shown at Erfurt, had a
strong inclination to independence. Of the more powerful
prelates some were old, some irresolute ; but some, sharing
in the condemnation of the emperor, were committed to
his side. Siegfried of Mainz was timid and wavering. By
the same Roman synod Lietmar, archbishop of Bremen,
Werner of Strasburg, Herman of Bamberg, Henry of Spires,
William of Pava, Cunibert of Turin, Dionysius of
Piacenza, besides the three bishops of Constance, Zeitz,
and Lausanne, were interdicted, as simoniacs, from the
performance of their functions. Few of the bishops were
disposed, by denying the legality of lay investiture, to
imperil their own right to the estates of their churches.
But the most determined and reckless resistance was
among the partisans of the married clergy. Siegfried,
yielding to the urgent commands of the pope, called a
second synod at Mainz, and displayed the mandate of the
apostolic see, that the bishops in their several dioceses
should compel the priests to renounce their wives. The
whole assembly rose ; so resolute was their language, so
fierce their gestures, that the archbishop again trembled for
his life. He declared that from thenceforth he would not
concern himself in such perilous matters. At Passau
Bishop Altmann, on S. Stephen's Day, 1074, mounted the
pulpit, and read the papal brief. He would have been
torn in pieces but for the intervention of some of the
powerful citizens. Bishop Henry of Coire hardly escaped
with his life when he promulgated the decree.

But the execution of the decree was 'left to the people.
They were constituted by the dangerous fourth clause the
judges and executioners of their clergy. And such an
invitation, thus made, was, of course, readily and generally
attended to. The occasion seemed to the selfish, the
irreverent, and the profane, to sanction the gratification

* 1^

May 25.] .S. Gregory VII. 363

of all the bad feelings, with which persons of those
dispositions must ever regard the ministers of the Church ;
and priests, whose disobedience to the papal authority
furnished any excuse for such conduct, were openly beaten,
abused, and insulted by their rebellious flocks.' Some
were forced to fly with the loss of all that they possessed,
some were deprived of limbs, and some were put to death
in lingering torments. And to lengths, even more horrible
than these, did the popular violence thus unhappily
sanctioned proceed. Too many were delighted to find
what they could consider as a religious excuse for neglect-
ing religion itself, for depriving their children of baptism,
and for making the holy sacrament of the altar the subject
of the most degrading mockery, or of the most atrocious
profanation.^

Many other distressing scenes occurred. The wives of
the priests who had been married to them with ring
and religious rite, and notarial deed, were torn from
them and driven forth with the indignity of harlots, their
children were degraded as bastards. In some cases these

* " Plebeius errot, quam semper quEesivit, opportunitate adepta, usque ad furorls
sui satietatem injuncta sibi, ut ait, in clericorum contumelias obedientia,
crudeliter abutitur. Hi . . quocumque prodeunt, clamores insultantium,
digitos ostendentium, colaphos pulsantium proferunt. Alii . . . egeni et pauperes
profugiunt. Alii membris mutilati . . . Alii per longos cruciatus superbe
necati." Epist. cujusdam in Marlen. et Durand. Thesaurus Nov. Anecdotor.
T. L,p. 231.

2 " Quot parvuli salutari lavacro violenter fraudati. Quot omnis conditionis
homines a secundje purificationis, quas in posnitentia et reconciliatione consistit,
remedio repulsi." Epist. citat., M. et D. T. I., p. 240. "Laici sacra mysteria
temerant, et de bis disputant, infantes baptizant, sordido humore aurium pro
sacra oleo et christmate utentes, in extreme vitas viaticum Dominicum, et usitatum
ecclesias obsequium sepulturas a presbyteris conjugatis accipere parvipendunt,
decimas presbyteris deputatas igni cremant ; et ut in uno ca5tera perpendas laici
corpus Domini a presbyteris conjugatis consecratum, ssepe pedibus conculcave-
runt, et sanguinem Domini voluntarie effuderunt." — Sigebert Gemblac, an. 1074.
At Milan the people were taught that if they received the Communion from married
priests they ate and drank to their own damnation." — Vit. Arialdi.

ti( — ii<

)i«

364 Lives of the Saints. [May as-

wretched women committed suicide, they flung themselves
into the fires that consumed their homes, or were found
dead in their beds fi-om grief, or by their own hands.

It was not only in Germany that the Hildebrandine
decrees encountered fierce opposition. At the Council of
Paris, when the decree was read, there was a loud outcry
of appeal to S. Paul's Epistle to Timothy. The abbot of
Pont Isfere dared to say that the pope's mandate must be
obeyed. He was dragged out of the assembly, spat upon,
struck in the face, and hardly rescued alive. The arch-
bishop of Rouen, when endeavouring to read the decrees
in his cathedral, was assailed by a shower of stones, and
compelled to secure his safety by flight.' Nor was this extra-
ordinary ; for it seems that the system of clerical marriage
was so completely established and recognized in Normandy,
that churches had become property heritable by the sons,
and even by the daughters, of the clergy who enjoyed
them.^ And this fact may be taken as as indication of the
general condition of the Galilean Church, in which the
process of secularization had made further strides than in
her German sister. At the same time the French king
continued to practise a simoniacal traflic in bishoprics and
abbeys without remorse or shame. And in Germany
Henry IV. sold or gave away bishoprics and abbeys in
insolent defiance of the mandate of the pope, and to the
grief of all right-thinking men.'

' "Fugiensque de ecclesia, Deus, venerunt gentes in hsereditatem tuam ! for-
titer clamavit." — Ordericus Vitalis, ]ib. iv.

2 Gaufredus Grossus, in Vita Bernardi Ab. Tironiensis Mon, u. vi.

8 When Pope Gregory had deposed Hermann, bishop of Bamberg, for simony,
Henry nominated in his room, and invested with the sbe, one Rupert, a. man of
infamous report among the people, being regarded as a mere creature of the
king, and an instigator and abettor of all the disgraceful actions ascribed to
Henry by the general voice. On the day immediately following Rupert's nomi-
nation, while the king sat in council with his nobles on the disposal of the
vacant abbey of Fulda, a crowd of abbots and monks bid publicly and unblush-

* *

Ij, (J,

Mayas.] 6^. Gvegovy VII. 365

In April, 1074, Gregory wrote to William the Conqueror,
in the tone of a friend, adjuring him to seek the glory of
God above all things in the government of the comatry
which he had acquired. But neither in this, nor in an
epistle written on the same day, with the view of support-
ing the above, to William's queen, Mathilda, did Gregory
make any allusion to his recent decrees ; he did not, it
would seem, conceive that his footing in England was
sufficiently firm to warrant their promulgation. At any
rate those relating to simony would hardly have been
needed there. Nor did his friend Lanfranc, though he
held in the following year a council in S. Paul's for the
reformation of the Church, venture, on this occasion, openly
to promulgate them. And even the council of Winchester
in 1076 — while enacting that no married priests should be
admitted to orders — decreed that priests in burghs or
villages who had wives already should be permitted to
retain them. The ultimate adhesion of the Anghcan
Church to the principle of clerical celibacy was slow; for
even in 1237, the council held in S. Paul's cathedral, was
obliged to pass a canon to prevent benefices becoming
hereditary.^ The same may be said of the Churches of
Spain and Hungary. In the former of these countries, the
papal legate, Richard, abbot of Marseilles, was assailed by
the clergy with menaces and outrages when attempting to
enforce the observance of celibacy among them in 1089, at

ingly before him, as at an auction, for that much coveted dignity. Some, says
Lambert of Aschaffenburg, proffered mountains of gold ; some offered to make
over to the crown large portions of the territory they sought to possess ; some
undertook to perform greater services than the fief had been accustomed to pay;
promises were lavished without moderation or modesty. Even Henry was dis-
gusted with the scene, and on this occasion acted with good feeling. Perceiving,
amid the greedy crowd, a monk of Hersfeld, who had come to court upon some
business of his abbey, and took no part in the nefarious traffic, the king beckoned
him to approach, suddenly invested him with the pastoral staff, and hailed him
abbot.

1 Matthew Paris, Chron. sub ann. 1237.

Ii< ■ *

366 Lives of the Saints. [May 25.

the council of Burgos. And in the latter, even as late as
1092, the synod assembled at Szabulcha, under Ladislaus,
prohibited to priests and deacons .second marriages, as
well as marriages with widows, or with those who had been
divorced ; but decreed that to priests who had contracted
a first and legitimate marriage indulgence must be given.

Thus, everywhere, in Italy, in Rome itself, in Spain, in
France, throughout Germany, the decrees of Gregory were
received with the most vigorous and stubborn oppugnance,
and where carried out, occasioned scenes full of scandal
and sacrilege.

Gregory acknowledges in his letters the reluctance with
which his decree was submitted to by the clergy, the
tardiness of the bishops in enforcing its penalties. Yet,
not for one moment did he hesitate in his purpose. In
obeying what he considered to be his duty, he was rigid as
a rock. His course aroused the most implacable ani-
mosity. There is no epithet of scorn, no imaginable
charge of venality, incapacity, cruelty, or even licentious-
ness, which was not heaped upon him, and that even by
bishops.

In the meantime the pope's position in Rome was im-
perilled. Cencius, a descendant of the turbulent barons
of the Romagna, had availed himself of the various towers,
or strongholds, which he possessed in Rome, to subject his
fellow-citizens to a regular system of oppression and plunder.
For this he had been imprisoned by the prefect of the city,
and censured by the pontiff; and considering both these
measures in the light of deadly insults, he awaited an
opportunity of revenge. Taking advantage of the estrange-
ment which existed between the emperor and the pope, now
grown into bitter hostility, possibly with the sanction of
Henry, almost certainly with the connivance of Guibert,
Archbishop of Ravenna, Cencius planned a daring attempt

^ — i|i

^ -tih

May 25.] pS". Gregory VII. 367

to gain possession of the person of the pope, and make
himself master of Rome.

On the eve of Christmas-day whilst the pope was saying
midnight mass in the Church of S. Maria Maggiore, the
soldiers of Cencius burst in, rushed to the altar, and seized
the pontiff. One fatal blow might have ended the life of
Hildebrand, and changed the course of events ; it glanced
aside, and only wounded his forehead. Bleeding, stripped
of his holy vestments, but patient and gentle, the pope was
led away, and imprisoned in a strong tower. The rumour
ran rapidly through the city ; all the night trumpets pealed,
bells tolled. The clergy broke off their services, and ran
about the streets summoning the populace to rescue. At
dawn of day the prison of the pope was surrounded by a
multitude, roaring, angry, threatening vengeance. Cencius
shuddered at his own deed. One faithful friend and one
noble matron had followed the pope into the dungeon.
The man had covered his shivering body with furs, and was
cherishing his chilled feet in his bosom ; the woman had
bound up the wound in his head, and sat weeping beside
him. Cencius, cowardly as he was cruel, threw himself on
the mercy of the outraged pontiff, and was promptly
pardoned.

Gregory was brought out, and was earned in triumph to
the Lateran. Cencius and his kindred fled; their houses
were razed by the indignant populace. Two weeks after,
Jan. 8th, 1076, Gregory wrote to the Emperor Henry IV.,
complaining of his resistance to the decrees, and requiring
him peremptorily to appear on the 22nd of February
following, at Rome, to answer for his offences, in support-
ing and encouraging prelates excommunicated by the
pope. Thus the king of the Germans was solemnly cited
as a criminal to the bar of the papal tribunal. The legates
who brought the message to the emperor were dismissed

5, — -fif.

* ^

368 Lives of the Saints. [Mayas.

with ignominy. Henry resolved on wiping out the insult
by dethroning the pope. Messengers were despatched
with breathless haste to summon the prelates to Germany
to meet at Worms on Septuagesima Sunday, Jan. 24th,
1076.

The day appointed beheld a numerous assemblage of
bishops and abbots in the appointed city. Siegfried, the
primate of Germany, was attended by the bishops of
Treves, Utrecht, Metz, Spires, Toul, Strasbourg, and many
others. And when the assembly was seated, and the
session opened in form, the unprincipled Hugh the White,
who had acted so conspicuous a part in Gregory's election,
stood forward as his accuser. This unhappy man, by his
repeated misconduct, had drawn down on himself, for the
third time, the censures of the apostolic see, and feeling the
breach irreconcileable, now regarded him, whom he had
assisted in raising to the papal chair, with the most
determined hostility. Hugh laid before the council a
variety of letters, purporting to come from different arch-
bishops and bishops, and from the cardinals, senate, and
people of Rome ; but which were, in truth, forgeries of his
own, or of his employers. They were filled with com-
plaints of the pontiff's conduct, and with entreaties for his
immediate expulsion from the apostolic throne. And then,
as though in explanation of these epistles, the apostate
cardinal read, before the assembly, a document which,
professing to contain an account of Gregory's life and
manner, was filled with calamities the most unfounded and
incredible. Henry, if not himself accessory to the
guilt of the forgery, must have been, at any rate, too well
informed to believe in the truth of the greater part of the
cardinal's assertions. Such misrepresentations, however,
suited his purpose, and he therefore raised no question
respecting the accuser's veracity.

»j, )|(

May2s] kS". Gregory VII. 369

With loud, unanimous acclamation, the synod declared
that Gregory VII. had forfeited the power of binding and
loosing, he was no more Pope. The form of renunciation
of allegiance was drawn up in the most expHcit form. But
two of them, Adalbert of Wurzburg, and Hermann of
Metz, spoke out against the impropriety of condemning
any prelate, much more the Pope, without his having been
cited to appear, or heard in his own defence. But the
urgency of William, bishop of Utrecht, one of Henry's
most ardent partizans, prevailed upon them at length to
add their signatures to those of their brethren; and the
king himself placed his name at the head of the list. In
Lombardy, Guibert, archbishop of Ravenna, and a large
number of the clergy, joined in the revolt against Gregory.
A synod held at Piacenza ratified the decree of Worms. A
priest of the church of Parma, Roland by name, under-
took to bear a copy of the acts of the two councils
together with Henry's letters, to those whom they
concerned in Rome ; and setting forth and without delay
to execute his mission, he arrived in the papal city at the
moment in which the synod, to which Henry had been
summoned, was meeting, in the second week in Lent.
The council being assembled, the echoes of the solemn
strain, "Veni Creator Spiritus," and having scarcely died
away amid the holy aisles of the Lateran, Roland suddenly
stepped forward before the pontiff and his prelates. " The
king," said he, addressing Gregory, " and the united bishops,
as well of Germany as of Italy, transmit to thee this com-
mand— Come down without delay frord the throne of S.
Peter ! " And then, turning to the bishops and clergy
present, " To you, brethren, it is commanded, at the feast
of Pentecost, to present yourselves before the king, to
receive a pope and father from his hands."

The synod in vehement indignation burst forth into an

VOL. V. 24

5, _ ^

i^. >fl

370 Lives of the Saints. [May 35.

unanimous cry for judgment on the sovereign who had
dared to trample on the Holy See. What follows exhibits
in strange contrast puerility combined with power. Gravely,
before the excited throng of bishops, Hildebrand produced
an egg from his bosom, which had been found outside the
church of S. Peter, and on which was visible in strange
relief something like a serpent armed with sword and shield,
attempting to rise, but falling back, twisting as in mortal
agony. On this sight sat gazing the mute ecclesiastical
senate, whilst the Pope, with the gravity of an ancient
augur, proceeded to expound the sign. The serpent was
the dragon of the Apocalypse raging against the Church;
and in the same old Roman spirit, he drew the omen of
victory from its discomfiture. The synod broke forth in a
cry, " Most holy Father, utter such a sentence against this
blasphemer, this tyrant, as may crush him to the earth, and
make him a warning to future ages ! "

The formal sentence of excommunication was delayed
till the next day. On the morning arrived letters from
prelates of Germany and Italy, disclaiming the acts of the
synod at Worms and Piacenza. The pontiff again took his
seat in the Lateran, encircled by no bishops and abbots.
The first sentence fell on the prelates who had concurred
in the proceedings at Worms. They were suspended from
their episcopal functions, interdicted from the holy Euchar-
ist, unless in the hour of death, and after due penance.
The prelates who met at Piacenza were condemned to the
same punishment. Then Hildebrand pronounced sentence
against the Emperor, interdicting him from the government
of the whole realm of Germany and of Italy ; absolving all
Christians from the oaths which they had sworn to him, and
forbidding all obedience to him as king. Henry heard in
Utrecht, March 27, the sentence of the Pope. His first
impression was that of dismay; but he soon recovered

* 15<

May 25.] 6". Gregory VII. 371

himself, and affected to treat it with contempt. The
first measure, which, when he had time to collect his
thoughts, suggested itself, was that Gregory should be
pubHcly excommunicated by some of the prelates of his
court. And as Pibo, bishop of Toul, was suspected by him
to waver in his adhesion to his cause, he resolved to put
that prelate to the proof, by directing him to perform the
ceremony on the following morning. Pibo durst not
openly refuse; but he, together with Dietrich, bishop of
Verdun, fled in the night from Utrecht, where the king then
was. Ignorant of his flight, the king in the morning took
his seat in the Cathedral, and, for some time, impatiently
awaited his appearance. At length, the truth becoming
known, and it being felt that every appearance of failure
should, at this critical moment, be avoided, William of
Utrecht himself pronounced the sentence, and poured forth
from the altar a torrent of virulent abuse ; calling Gregory
perjured, an adulterer, a false apostle.

One circumstance could not fail to strike those who were
disposed to act aright without sufficient information to
investigate for themselves the intricacies of the question at
issue. All the habitually irreligious, all the notoriously
profane, seemed to have attached themselves, as it were
naturally, to the party of the king. The excommunicated
nobles, the most worldly prelates, and the most dissolute
of the clergy, the patrons and practisers of simony through-
out the empire, were all ranged on Henry's side : nor
could thoughtful people well believe that a cause was that
of zeal for the Church which gathered, as though by a
natural process, to its support, all those by whom her laws
were openly broken, or her authority was openly defied.

Most strenuous amongst the opponents of Gregory was
William, bishop of Utrecht, whose indecent violence had
rudely shocked the religious feelings of the people in his

)J( . -^

372 Lives of the Saints. [May 25-

excommunication of Gregory VII., in his cathedral. But
a month had not intervened since that event when the ir-
reverent prelate was seized with a rapid disease, and ended
his life in a state of delirious despair, forbidding his friends
to pray for one who was irretrievably lost.

The sentence which had been pronounced at Utrecht
was conveyed to Italy. A council met at Pavia, summoned
by Guibert, Archbishop of Ravenna, and it concurred in
anathematizing Gregory.

But while these vain thunders had no effect on the rigid
churchmen and the laity who adhered to the pope, the ex-
communication was working in the depths of the German
mind, and mingling itself up with, and seeming to hallow
all the other motives of jealousy, hatred and revenge,
which prevailed in so many parts of the empire. A vast
and formidable conspiracy began to organise itself. Henry
saw on all sides of him hostility, disaffection, and desertion ;
the princes meditating revolt ; the prelates either openly
renouncing or shaken in their allegiance. Everything
seemed blasted with a curse and turned against him. His
strength ebbed daily away. An expedition into Saxony to
quell the insurrection then ended in total and disgraceful
failure. A diet met at Tribur (October i6th, 1076), near
Darmstadt. Thither came Rudolf of Swabia, Otto of Saxony,
Guelf of Bavaria, the two first of whom were rivals for the
throne, if it should be vacant by the deposition of Henry.
All his old enemies, all his revolted friends, the bishops
who had opposed, the bishops who had consented, some
even who had advised his lofty demeanour towards the
Pope, appeared drawn together by their ambition, by their
conscientious churchmanship, or by their base resolution to
be on the stronger side. The two legates of the pope were
present to lend their weight and sanction to the proceed-
ings. On the other side of the Rhine, at Oppenheim, the

* i

® -*

Mayas.] 6". Gregovy VII. 373

deserted Henry, with a few faithful nobles, and still fewer
bishops, kept his diminished and still dwindling Court. The
vigour of Henry's character seemed crushed by the universal
defection. He sank into abject submission and accepted the
hard terms the diet imposed upon him. The terms were
that his conduct as Emperor should be investigated and
judged by the supreme Pontiff, who was to hold a council
at Augsburg for the purpose on the feast of the Purification
in the ensuing year, and in the meantime to resign the in-
signia of royalty and disband his army. Henry bowed to
his fate. He dismissed his councillors, disbanded his army,
and sank into a private station.

But in this intolerable condition he could not remain;
he could not endure the prospect of a trial before the Pontiff
with his rebellious subjects as his accusers, in the heart of
his own empire. He resolved to undergo, if it must be
undergone, the deep humiliation of submission in Italy
rather than the Diet of the empire, in the face, amid the
scorn and triumph, of his revolted subjects. He resolved
to anticipate the journey of the Pope to Germany. Before
the feast of the Purification he must meet Gregory in Italy.
But his design became known. The dukes of Bavaria and
Carinthia, enemies of Henry, jealously watched the passes
of the Alps. With difficulty Henry collected from his
still diminishing partisans sufficient money to defray the
expenses of his journey. With his wife and infant son,
and one faithful attendant, the emperor began his journey.
Nature seemed to conspire with the Pope against the fallen
king. So hard a winter had not been known for years.
The passage of Mont Cenis was blocked with snow. But
the fatal day was hastening on ; the king must reach Italy
or forfeit the crown for ever. With incredible suffering and
danger the icy pass was surmounted. The queen and her
infant son were lowered from the summit in the skins of

^ ^ *

>h '^

374 Lives of the Saints. [May 25.

oxen, as in sledges. No sooner was the king's unexpected
arrival made known in Italy than the princes and the bishops
assembled in great numbers, and received him with the
highest honours ; in a few days he found himself at the
head of a formidable army. The great cause of his popu-
larity with them was the notion that he had crossed the
Alps to depose the Pope. He did not undeceive them.
He could not risk the total loss of Germany for the sake of
their precarious favours. He hurried forward to Canossa, a
fortress on a craggy hill, where was Gregory at the moment.
On a dreary winter morning (Jan. 25, 1077), with the
ground deep in snow, the king, the heir of a long line of
emperors, was permitted to enter within the two outer of
the three walls which girded the castle of Canossa. He
had laid aside every mark of royalty ; clad in the thin
white linen dress of the penitent, he stood fasting, and
blue with cold, at the door, in humble patience waiting on
the pleasure of the Pope. But the gates did not unclose.
A second day he stood cold, hungry, and mocked by vain
hope. And yet a third day dragged on from morning to
evening over the unsheltered head of the discrowned king.
Every heart was moved except that of the stern Gregory.
Even in the presence of the Pope there was low deep
murmurs against his severity. The patience of Henry
could endure no more ; he took refuge in an adjacent
chapel of S. Nicolas, where he found the Countess
Mathilda, the great patroness and benefactress of Gregory,
and with tears he implored her to use her merciful
interference. Gregory at length yielded an ungracious
permission for the king to approach his presence. With
bare feet, still in the garb of penitence, stood the king, a
man of singularly tall and noble person, with a countenance
accustomed to flash command and terror upon his
adversaries, before the Pope, the poor carpenter's son, a grey-
haired man, bowed with years, of small unimposing stature.
^^ ^

* *

May 23. 6". Gregory VII. 375

The terms exacted from Henry, who was far too deeply
humihated to dispute anything, had no redeeming touch of
gentleness and compassion. He was to appear in the
place and at the time which the Pope should name to
answer the charges of his subjects before the Pope himself
If he should repel these charges, he was to receive his
kingdom back from the hands of the Pope. If found
guilty, he was peaceably to resign his kingdom. On these
conditions the Pope consented to grant absolution. But
even yet Henry had not tasted the dregs of humiliation.
He had been degraded before men, he was to be degraded
in the presence of God.

After the absolution had been granted in due form, the
Pope proceeded to celebrate the awful mystery of the
Eucharist. He called the king towards the altar, he lifted
in his hands the Body of the Lord, and said, "I have been
accused by thee of having usurped the Apostolic See by
simoniacal practices. Behold the Lord's Body. If I be
guilty, may God strike me dead at once.'' He took and
ate the Sacrament. A pause ensued. " Do thou, my son,
as I have done ! The Princes of the German Empire have
accused thee of crimes heinous and capital. If thou art
guiltless, take and eat." The king shrank away, self-
convicted.

When Henry left Canossa, he met with sullen and
averted faces. The Lombards had come not to see the
king, but the Pope humbled. Angry discontent spread
through the camp. There was a general cry that the king
should abdicate, and that his son Conrad should be
proclaimed. With him at their head they would march to
Rome, elect another Pope, who should crown him
emperor, and annul all the acts of Gregory VII. The
tumult was with difficulty quelled, and Henry retired in
shame and sorrow to Reggio.

J, ^-^ , ^- ^ •J(

376 Lives of the Saints. [May =5.

But Hildebrand had overshot his mark. The severity
with which he had treated the emperor was felt in Germany
as an insult to the nation ; and on all sides men returned
to their allegiance. The revolted German princes had
gone too far to retreat. They assembled a diet at
Forscheim, on March 13, 1077, and elected Rudolf of
Swabia to be king in the room of Henry. He was
consecrated at Mainz by Archbishop Siegfried, and the
papal legates gave the sanction of their presence to the
ceremony. Thus was civil war proclaimed throughout
Germany. For seventeen years wars and seditions raged
throughout the Roman Empire. Bishops rose against
bishops, the clergy against the clergy, the people against the
people, father against son, son against father, brother
against brother. The assumption of the throne by a rival
monarch called into action all the slumbering forces of
Henry's cause. The people of Mainz broke out in a
sudden access of fidelity to the king. Worms shut her
gates against Rudolf. The three bishops of Wurtzburg,
Metz and Passau, alone adhered to Rudolf; some at once
declared for Henry. The emperor had in the mean time
invested Canossa, to prevent the pope from making his
way to Augsburg, where the German princes awaited him.
The emperor's army rapidly grew. Sieghardt, patriarch of
Aquileia, opened Carniola to him, and Henry marched
into Germany. On reaching Ulm, he held a diet, and
placed Rudolf and his adherents under the ban of the
empire.

The whole of Germany was divided into two parties,
that of the emperor, and that of S. Peter, and this gave
rise to the great division in the German nation, which, at a
later period, attained such melancholy celebrity as the
strife between the Welfs and the Waiblinger, or Guelphs
and Ghibellines. The nobility and the bishops were

^- — — ^ ■ ~'k

May 250 ^. Gregory VII. 377

divided in their allegiance; the cities and free states all
pronounced in favour of the emperor. In Augsburg,
Matthias Corsany preached against, and Geroch in favour
of the Pope ; the latter was driven by the citizens out of
the town.

Gregory, greatly disconcerted by this turn in affairs,
temporized. The Saxons, irritated by this conduct, incited
by Gebhardt, archbishop of Salzburg, who had been
deposed by Henry, addressed three letters to him, which
received the nickname of "the cockcrowing," being in-
tended, like the voice of S. Peter's cock, to move his
successor to remorse. The low state of Rudolf's affairs
compelled Gregory to a decision. If he allowed Rudolf
to be crushed, the conqueror of Germany would remorse-
lessly close his iron hand upon himself At Rome, on
March 7th, 1080, he fulminated once more the terrific
sentence of excommunication and deposition against King
Henry ; and he prophesied that, unless Henry made his
submission before the 29th of June, he would be deposed
or dead ; and if his vaticination failed, he bade men cease
to believe in the authority of Gregory. And then, as the
genuine crown of Charlemagne was in Henry's possession,
the pope sent to Rudolf a new diadem, for which he was
to hold the empire as a papal fief; the inscription it bore
ran thus, "Petra dedit Petro, Petrus diadema Rudolpho."
It was a maxim of Gregory that all sovereigns derived their
rights, and held their thrones from the see of S. Peter.
" The Pope," said he, " is the sun, the emperor is the moon
that shines with borrowed light."

But the anathema had lost its terrors even in the popular
mind. No defections took place ; no desertions from the
court, the council, or the army. All disclaimed at once
further allegiance to Gregory. At Mainz ninteen bishops
met, and with one voice renounced Hildebrand as pope.

>jr -^

378 Lives of the Saints. [May 25.

The archbishops of Milan and Ravenna assembled with
thirty other bishops in a council at Brixen, confirmed the
deposition of Gregory VII., and the archbishop of Ravenna
was nominated in his stead, as Pope Clement III. Only
fifteen bishops in Germany and Italy permanently sided
with the pope.

On Oct. 25, 1080, the armies of Henry and Rudolf met
for a decisive battle near the Elster, in the great plain lying
between Merseburg and Leipzig, famous for the victory
gained by Henry the Fowler over the Hungarians.^ It
might seem a religious no less than a civil war. Henry was
accompanied to the battle by the Archbishop of Cologne and
Treves, and fourteen other prelates. The Saxons advanced
to the charge with the bishops of their party chanting the
eighty-first (a. v. 82nd) psalm, " God standeth in the con-
gregation of the princes.'' Henry was defeated, but his
reverse was more than counterbalanced by the fall of his
rival. Some misgivings as to the justice of his cause em-
bittered the last moments of Rudolf. His hand had been
struck off by a sabre : as he gazed at it he said, " With this
hand I ratified my oath of fidelity to my sovereign. I have
now lost life and kingdom. Bethink ye, ye who have led
me, whether ye have guided me right." The death of
Rudolf paralysed the adversaries of Henry for a time, and
gave him leisure to turn his forces to chastise his more irre-
concilable enemy. In the spring of the year 1081 Henry
crossed the Alps in far different condition from that in which
four years before he had stolen, a deserted and broken-
spirited penitent, to the feet of the Pope. Heaven had
not ratified the predictions of Gregory. Instead of defeat
and death Henry had met with success, and now he came in
the pride of conquest against the Pope.

He laid siege to Rome, but for three successive years

' See March Vol. p. 261-2.
* ^

May 25-] S. Gregory VII. 379

without success. Year after year, summer, by its intoler-
able heats, and by sickness, thinned the ranks of the Ger-
mans, and compelled them to withdraw. At length, at
Christmas, in 1083, Henry made himself master of Rome,
but not of the person of the pope, who had hastily shut
himself up within the impregnable walls of the castle of S.
Angelo. But succour was at hand. The Norman invaders
of Southern Italy had been under excommunication on
account of their devastations. They had defeated Leo IX.
in his ill-advised expedition against them. Now Gregory
VII. removed the ban, and called them to his assistance.
Robert Guiscard advanced rapidly to his aid at the head
of a mixed body of adventures, Norman free-booters, and
Saracens, seeking only pillage. Henry was not strong
enough to cope with this formidable host. He evacuated
the city three days before the Norman army appeared under
its walls. But now that the deliverers of the Pope had
arrived, the Romans refused to open their gates to them.
They dreaded the Normans and Saracens, and adventurers
of all lands who formed the army, far more than the disci-
plined troops of the emperor. But the Normans surprised
the gate of S. Lorenzo and made themselves masters of
Rome. Their first act was to release the Pope from his
inprisonment in the castle of S. Angelo. They conducted
him to the Lateran palace, and then spread over the city
pillaging, violating, murdering, wherever they met with
opposition. The Romans rushed upon the invaders when
revelling in careless security, and began to cut them down.
But with the discipline of practised soldiers they flew to
arms; the whole city was in conflict. The remorseless
Guiscard gave the word to fire the houses. From every
quarter the flames rushed up — houses, palaces, convents,
churches, as the night darkened, were seen in awful
conflagration. The distracted inhabitants dashed wildly

^ — »j(

5( *

380 Lives of the Saints. [May 25-

into the streets, no longer endeavouring to defend them-
selves, but to save their families. They were hewn down
by hundreds. The Saracen allies of the Pope had been
foremost in the pillage, they were now the foremost in the
conflagration and the massacre. No house, no monastery,
was secure from plunder, murder, and rape. Nuns were
outraged, matrons forced, the rings cut from their living
fingers. Gregory exerted himself, not without success, in
saving the principal churches. It is probable, however,
that neither Goth nor Vandal, neither Greek nor German,
brought such desolation on the city as the capture by the
Normans. From this period dates the desertion of the
older part of the city, and the gradual extension of Rome
over the site of the modern city.

Guiscard was at length master of the ruins of Rome,
but his vengeance was yet unappeased. Many thousand
Romans were sold publicly as slaves.

Unprotected by his Norman guard, the Pope could not
now trust himself in the city. The miserable people re-
garded him as the author of their woes, they would have
torn him to pieces in their rage. In the company of his
ally and deliverer, Robert Guiscard, but oppressed with
shame and affliction, he retired from the smoking ruins and
desolated streets of the city of S. Peter, to the Norman's
strong tower of Salerno. In the meantime Henry was
troubled with the news of another claimant to the throne,
Hermann of Luxemburg, whom the Saxons had proclaimed
their king, at Eisleben. He was nicknamed "the garlic
king " on account of the quantity of garlic that grew around
Eisleben.

Gregory, unshaken by the horrors he had witnessed, and
the perils he had escaped, thundered out again his excom-
munication of Henry, from the castle of Salerno. From
thence he watched the angry storm raging over the empire,

* )i

* ' )5

May 25.] ^. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi. 381

but there was no break on the horizon, and three years
after, he died at Salerno bitterly murmuring, " I have
loved justice and hated iniquity, and therefore I die in
exile." Before his death he pronounced a general absolu-
tion over all mankind, yet stern to the last, excepting from
it Henry and the bishops who adhered to him.

S. MARY MAGDALEN OF PAZZI, V.
(a.d. 1607.)

[Roman and Carmelite Martyrology. Beatified by Pope Urban VIII.
in 1626, canonized by Alexander VII. in 1669. Authorities: — A life from
notes by Vincent Puccini, who was confessor to the convent after 1605 ;
this was dedicated to Q. Mary de Medici, in 1609. Also another life
written in 1625, by Virgilius Cepari, S. J., her confessor.]

This saint belonged to the ancient family of Pazzi,
at Florence; she was born in 1566, and received
at the font the name of Catherine. From her earliest
childhood her desire was to devote herself to the re-
ligious life. Her father having been appointed governor
of Cortina, placed his child in the convent of S. John
at Florence. At the end of fifteen months he returned
to Florence, and wished to provide for his daughter
a suitable marriage, but she so earnestly besought him
to allow her to enter religion, that he consented, and
she took the habit in 1583, when she was eighteen years
old, in the order of Mount Carmel. She professed the
following year, and took the name of Mary Magdalen in
religion. In 1585, on the vigil of Pentecost she saw
herself transported in vision to a horrible swamp filled with
the most revolting forms. This vision made a deep
impression on her, and feared it was sent to forewarn her of
an impending temptation. She resolved to meet all trials

382 Lives of the Saints. [May^s-

with submission to the sweet Will of God, in which she
experienced the liveliest confidence. On the following
Trinity Sunday the signification of her vision was made
manifest, for she entered that " Den of Lions," as she called
the dismal swamp of her vision, by becoming a prey to the
most distressing thoughts. Ideas of indescribable pro-
fanity and sensuality forced themselves into her mind.
The face of God seemed to be withdrawn from her, all was
desolation and a horror of foul imaginations. She
combated them by crying perpetually, "Thy will, Thy will
be done, O my God, but suffer me not to fall from Thee."
This harrowing condition lasted five years. Her colour
went, and she became thin, and worn in face; but
suddenly, in 1590, as the sisters were chanting Te Deum
in choir, she felt that she was released from her den of
hons; and when Matins were over, she rushed to the
prioress, radiant with joy, exclaiming, "Rejoice with me,
my mother, the storm is passed." In her last sickness,
her confessor urged her to pray for some alleviations of
her sufferings. " Let the will of God be done," was her
answer.

She died on May 15, in the year 1607, aged 41 years.
She was buried in the Church of her Order in Florence.
She generally appears in art represented with a ring on
her finger, because she is said once in vision to have seen
the Saviour, who placed the ring on her finger, betrothing
her to His service.

^ ^ —i^

May 26.]

S, Qttadratus.

383

May 26.

S. Alph^us, Father 0/ SS. Matthew a7id J a77ies, at Caper7iauin, 1st

cent?-
S. Carpus, B. of Bercea, ist cent.
S. QuADKATUS, B. of Athens, circ. a.d. 130.
SS. Symmetrius and Comp., MM. at Rome, circ. a.d. 159.
S. Eleutherius, Po^e of Rome, a.d. 185.
SS. Priscus and Cottus, MM. at Tottssi-sur-Yonjte, near Auxerre,

■^rd cent.
S. Augustine, A6^. of Canterbury, Ap. of the English, a.d. 605.
S. Philip Neri, Founder of the Oratorians, at Rome, a.d. 1595.
B. Marianna of Jesus, V., co7n7nonly called the Lily of Quito ^ at

Quito, ill Peru, a.d. 1645.

S. QUADRATUS, B. OF ATHENS.
(about a.d. 130.)

[Roman Martyrology. In the Greek Mensea, on Sept. 22nd, he is
venerated as a martyr ; but probably this is a mistake, Quadratus,
bishop of Magnesia, and the menology of the Emperor Basil so styles
him. There is no evidence that he was a martyr. Authority : — Eusebius,
Hist. Eccl., lib. iii., c. 36, and iv., c. 3, 25.]

AINT quadratus, disciple of the apostles,
succeeded Publius in the bishopric of Athens,
about the year 125. He composed a defence
of the Christian religion, or an " Apology,"
which he presented to the Emperor Hadrian, and this
work induced the emperor to abate the persecution of the
Church. S. Jerome speaks highly of this apology.

' Greek Men^a. Nothing known of him except his name as mentioned in the
Gospels.

•i<-

* >^

384 Lives of the Saints. [May 2s.

S. AUGUSTINE, ABP. OF CANTERBURY, APOSTLE

OF THE ENGLISH.

(a.d. 605.)

[Roman and Anglican Martyrologies ; also Reformed Anglican Kalen-
dar ; Bede, Hrabauus, Ado, Notker, &c. Authority : — Bede's Eccl.
Hist. , the life of S. Augustine by Gotselin, d. 1098, contains no original
matter.]

The account of the mission of S. Augustine to England,
and of his landing in Kent, and the establishment of the
see of Canterbury has been already given in the Lives of
S. Gregory the Great (March 12th), and S. Ethelbert (Feb.
24th), and it need not be repeated in full here.

The monastery of S. Andrew, on the Ccelian hill, had
been founded by S. Gregory the Great, while still a simple
monk, at the time when he transformed his patrimonial
mansion into a cloister. In the church of the monastery is
still shown the pulpit from which Gregory preached, the
altar before which he must often have prayed for the
conversion of his beloved English. On the fagade of the
church an inscription records that thence set out the first
apostles of the Anglo-Saxons, and preserves their names.
Absolutely nothing is known of Augustine's history previous
to the solemn days on which, in obedience to the com-
mands of the pontiff, who had been his abbot, he and his
forty companions (in 396), went forth on their sacred
mission. He must, as prior of the monastery, have ex-
hibited distinguished qualifications ere he could have been
chosen by Gregory for such a mission. They arrived in
Provence, and stopped for some time at Lerins, in that
Mediterranean isle of the saints, where, a century and a
half before, Patrick, the monastic apostle of Ireland, had
sojourned before he was sent on his evangelical mission by
Pope Celestine. But there, the Roman monks received

* *

S. AUGUSTINE, AB?. CANTERBURY.
From a drawing by A. Welby Pugin.

•i<-

May 26.

Mayss.] S. Augustine of Canterbury 385

frightful accounts of the country which they were going to
convert. They took fright, and persuaded Augustine to
return to Rome and obtain from the pope permission to
abandon their dangerous enterprise. Instead of listening
to their request, Gregory sent Augustine back to them
with a letter which ordered them to obey Augustine im-
plicitly as their abbot, and to continue their journey forth-
with. Thus stimulated, Augustine and his monks took
courage, and again set out upon their way. They traversed
France, and brought their journey to a close on the
southern shore of Great Britain, at Ebbsfieet, near Sand-
wich. It was there that Julius Csesar had landed with his
legions. The new conquerors, like Julius Csesar, arrived
under the ensigns of Rome — but of Rome the eternal, not
the imperial. The rock which received the first print of
the footsteps of Augustine was long preserved and vene-
rated, and was the object of many pilgrimages.

Immediately on his arrival, Augustine sent interpreters
whom he had brought with him from France, to Ethelbert
king of Kent. The king appointed them to meet him in
the Isle of Thanet. " The history of the Church,'' says
Bossuet, " contains nothing finer than the entrance of the
holy monk Augustine into the kingdom of Kent with forty
of his companions, who preceded by the cross and the
image of the great king, our Lord Jesus Christ, offered their
solemn prayers for the conversion of England." At their
head marched Augustine, whose lofty stature and patrician
presence attracted every eye, for, like Saul, " he was higher
than any of the people from his shoulders and upwards."
The king received the missionaries graciously, and per-
mitted them freely to preach Christianity among his
subjects. He allowed them to follow him to Canterbury,
where he assigned them a dwelHng, which still exists
under the name of the Stable Gate.

VOL. V. 25
^ -ib

* *

386 Lives of the Saints. [May 26.

There was outside the town, to the east, a small church
dedicated to S. Martin, dating from the time of the
Romans, whither Bertha, the Christian queen of Ethelbert,
was in the habit of going to pray. Thither also went
Augustine and his companions to chant their monastic
office, to celebrate mass, to preach and to baptize. Here
then we behold them, provided, thanks to the royal
munificence, with the necessaries of life, endowed with the
supreme blessing of liberty, and using that liberty in labour-
ing to propagate the truth. The innocent simplicity of their
lives, the heavenly sweetness of their doctrine, appeared to
the Saxons arguments of invincible eloquence, and every
day the number of candidates for baptism increased.

The good king Ethelbert did not lose sight of them,
he sought and obtained baptism at the hand of Augustine.
A crowd of Saxons followed his example. Augustine now
perceived that he would be henceforward at the head of
an important Christian community, and in conformity to
his instructions, returned to France to be consecrated
archbishop of the English by Virgilius, the celebrated
metropolitan of Aries. On his return to Canterbury he
found that the example of the king and the labours of his
companions had borne fruit beyond all expectation ; so
much so, that at Christmas in the same year, 597, more
than ten thousand Anglo-Saxons presented themselves for
baptism ; and that sacrament was administered to them in
the Thames at the mouth of the Medway, opposite the Isle
of Sheppey.

The first of the converts was also the first of the
benefactors of the infant church. Ethelbert gave his
palace in the town of Canterbury to Augustine to be
converted into a monastery ; and by its side Augustine
laid the foundations of Christ Church, the metropolitan
Church of England. To the west of the royal city, and

May 26.] S. Augustine of Canterbury. 387

halfway to the church of S. Martin, Augustine discovered
the site of an ancient British church which had been trans-
formed into a pagan temple. Ethelbert gave up to him
the temple, with the ground surrounding it. The arch-
bishop forthwith restored it to its original use as a church,
and dedicated it to S. Pancras. Round the new sanctuary
he raised another monastery, of which Peter, one of his
companions, was the first abbot. He consecrated this new
foundation to SS. Peter and Paul ; but it is under his own
name that the famous abbey became one of the most
opulent and revered sanctuaries of Christendom. Seven
years were needed to complete the monastery, but some
months before his death, Augustine had the satisfaction
of seeing his foundation sanctioned by the solemn charter
of the king and the chief of the nation whom he had con ■
verted, 9th Jan., 605.

Some time before the solemn consecration of his work,
Augustine had sent to Rome two of his companions,
Laurence, who was to succeed him as archbishop, and
Peter, who was to be the first abbot of the new monastery
of SS. Peter and Paul, to announce to the Pope the great
and good news of the conversion of the king, with his
kingdom of Kent, and to demand from him new assistants
in the work. His appeal was promptly responded to, and
Mellitus and Justus at the head of a new swarm of monks
descended on Kent. The Pope sent to Augustine the
pall, as a reward for having estabUshed the new English
Church, and constituted him metropolitan of twelve
bishoprics, which he enjoined him to erect in southern
England. He gave him authority to appoint whom he
would metropolitan bishop at York, subordinating to the
see of York twelve new bishoprics yet to be created, but
securing to Augustine during his lifetime the primacy over
the northern metropolitan.

ij, *

(Jl — *

388 Lives of the Saints. [May 26.

The British Church, though secluded in the fastnesses of
Wales to Cornwall, could not but hear of the arrival of the
Roman missionaries, and of their success in the conversion
of the Saxons. Augustine and his followers could not but
inquire with deep interest concerning the relics of that
ancient Christianity which had formerly embraced all Britain,
but which had been thrust back at the point of the Saxon
spears into the mountain fastnesses of the West. The
British Church followed a different usage from Rome in
the time of the celebration of Easter. It claimed, but
erroneously, Eastern authority ; the real cause of the
divergence lay in erroneous computation. The Church of
Alexandria had discovered an astronomical error, originat-
ing in the employment of the ancient Jewish computation
by the Christians, and had introduced a more exact calcula-
tion, which was adopted by all the Eastern Churches ; and
the result was, that from the pontificate of S. Leo the
Great (440-61) a difference of an entire month had arisen
between Easter Day at Rome and Easter Day at Alex-
andria. Towards the middle of the sixth century, the
difference ceased. But Ireland and Britain had been
converted before the correction of the calendar, and there-
fore adhered to the old computation, which was at variance
not only with Rome and the whole West, but also with the
East, which celebrated that festival, like the Jews, on the
precise day of the week on which it fell.

The zealous missionaries of Gregory did not know the
origin of the error ; all they saw was that error existed, and
that the British Church adhered tenaciously to it. The
Roman and British clergy met, it is said, in solemn synod,
on the confines of Wessex, near the banks of the Severn,
which separated the Saxons from the Britons. The inter-
view, like that of Augustine with Ethelbert, after his
landing in Kent, took place in the open air, and under

* tj(

May 26.] S. Augustine of Canterbury. 389

an oak, which for a long time afterwards was known as
Augustine's oak. The Romans demanded submission to
their disciphne, and the impUcit adoption of the Western
ceremonial on the contested points. The British bishops
demurred ; Augustine proposed to place the issue of the
dispute on the decision of a miracle. The miracle was
duly performed, — a blind man brought forward and re-
stored to sight. But the miracle made no impression on
the obdurate Britons. They demanded a second meeting,
and at the advice of a hermit, resolved to put the Christi-
anity of the strangers to a moral test. " True Christianity,"
they said, " is meek and lowly of heart. Such will be this
man (Augustine), if he be a servant of God. If he be
"haughty and ungentle, he is not of God, and we may
disregard his words. Let the Romans arrive first at the
synod. If on our approach he rises from his seat to
receive us with meekness and humility, he is the servant
of Christ, and we will obey him. If he despises us, and
remains seated, let us despise him." Augustine sat, more
Romano, says the historian,^ as they drew near, in un-
bending dignity. The Britons at once refused obedience
to his commands, and disclaimed him as their metro-
politan. The indignant Augustine burst forth into stern
denunciations of their guilt, in not having carried the light
of the Gospel to their enemies. It was a charge that
could then be made with justice, but it was one speedily
and gloriously to be refuted by the conversion of Northum-
bria and Mercia through missionaries of the Keltic Church.
Augustine prophesied the divine vengeance by the hands
of the Saxons. So complete was the alienation, so entirely
did the Anglo-Saxon clergy espouse the fierce animosities
of the Anglo-Saxons, and even embitter them by their
theologic hatred, that the gentle Bede relates with triumph,

* Henry of Huntingdon.

^ i^

»J, *

390 Lives of the Saints. [May 26.

as a manifest proof of the divine wrath against the refrac-
tory Britons, a great victory over that wicked race, pre-
ceded by a massacre of 1 200 of their clergy, chiefly monks
of Bangor, who stood aloof on an eminence, praying for
the success of their countrymen.

Condemned by the obstinacy of the British to deprive
himself of their assistance, Augustine none the less
continued his "hunt of men,'' as his biographer calls it,
by evangelizing the Saxons. In so doing he sometimes
encountered an opposition which expressed itself in insult
and derision, especially when he passed the bounds of
Ethelbert's kingdom. On one occasion, whilst traversing
Dorsetshire, he and his companions found themselves in
the midst of a sea-faring population, who heaped on them
affronts and outrages, hunted them from their territory,
and with a rude derision fastened fish-tails to the black
robes of the Italian monks.^ Augustine was not a man to
be discouraged by such trifles. Besides, he found in other
places crowds more attentive and more impressible. And
thus he persevered for seven years, until his death, in his
apostolic journeys.

S. Gregory died in the early months of the year 605,
and two months after, Augustine followed his father and
fiiend to the tomb. The great apostle of the English was
buried in the unfinished church of the famous monastery
which was about to assume and to preserve his name.

^ Jolin Bale, the coarse reformer in Edward VI. 's time, says, "John Capgrave
and Alexander of Esseby sayth, that for castynge of fyshe tayles at thys Augus-
tyne, Dorsettshyre men had tayles ever after. But Polydorus applieth it unto
Kentish men at Stroud, by Rochester, for cuttinge off Thomas Becket's horse's
tail. Thus hath England in all other land .x perpetual infamy of tayles . . that
an Englyshman now cannot travayle in another land by way of merchandyse, or any
other honest occupyinge, but it is most contumeliously thrown in his tethe that all
Englyshmen have tayls."

^ . -^

May 26.] S-PhUipNcri. 391

S. PHILIP NERI, C.
(a.d. 1595.)

[Roman Martyrology. Canonized by Gregory XV. in 1622. Authori-
ties : — His life written by F. Antonio Galloni, one of his favourite
disciples, in i6oi ; another by Hieronymus Bamabseus, a contemporary ;
another by Jacobus Bacci, pub. in 1645.]

S. Philip of Neri, founder of the congregation of the
oratory of Italy, was born at Florence, in 1515, and from
his childhood was so blameless in life, that he went
familiarly by the name of " Good Philip." His father, who
was a lawyer, gave him an excellent education, and sent
him into the counting-house of his uncle at S. Germano, at
the foot of Monte Cassino, but Philip felt that he had no
vocation for a commercial life, and he left for Rome,
where he studied philosophy and canon law. In time he
became so remarkable for his learning that he was con-
sulted by those who had been his masters. But, resolving
to devote himself only to the service of God, and the
salvation of souls, he sold his books, distributed the money
to the poor, and spent his time in the hospitals, or in going
among the worldly and irreligious, endeavouring to reclaim
them. He saw that a society with this end in view was
much needed, and in 1548 he formed fourteen companions
into a congregation, attached to the church of S. Salvatore-
del-Campo. Two years after he transferred it to the church
of the Trinity, and erected a hospital in connection with it,
which still exists. At the age of thirty-six he was ordained
priest, and after his ordination retired into the community
of the Hieronymites. His sermons attracted crowds, and
his discernment of hearts in the confessional made his
ministrations to be in great request. He found it advan-
tageous to hold conferences in his chamber on theological
questions of the day, and these were attended by men, with

^ ifi

^ ^ >^

392 Lives of the Saints. [May 26.

great fruit. The advantage became so conspicuous that he
united to him some of the priests and young ecclesiastics
of great promise to continue his conferences, and these he
extended to the people generally in the church of the
Trinitk. In 1564 some of his disciples, amongst them
Baronius, afterwards the great ecclesiastical historian, were
presented by him for ordination. He collected them into
a congregation without vows, gave them rules, and ap-
pointed them to carry on the special work he had under-
taken, and which the exigencies of the day had called
forth. This congregation was approved by Gregory XIII.,
in 1675, who gave up to it the church of S. Maria de
Vallicella.

He died on May 26th, 1595, having received the
Viaticum from the hands of Cardinal Frederick Borromeo,
the same whose character has been so exquisitely drawn in
the noble romance of the Promessi Sposi.

B. MARIANNA OF JESUS, V.
(a.d. 1645.)

[Roman Martyrology. Beatified in 1850 by Pius IX.]

The blessed Marianna was born on Oct. 31st, 1618,
at Quito, in Peru, and was left an orphan at an early age.
She devoted her life from an early age to mortification,
and lived the life of a religious in a chamber of her own
house. She was wont to sleep in a coffin, or on a cross,
and on Fridays she hung for two hours on a cross, attached
to it by her hair and by ropes. Her fasting was excessive,
and she loved on hot days to deny herself a drop of water
to quench an almost intolerable thirst. In her last sick-
ness she was bled, and the blood was thrown into the

* ^

•Jl-

May 26.]

B. Marianna of Jesus.

393

garden. After her death a tall white lily grew up where her
blood had been thrown. She died on May 26th, 1645, and
her burial was attended by immense crowds. Many miracles
were believed to have been performed at her tomb and by her
intercession.

She is usually called the " Lily of Quito."

»Ji-

394 Lives of the Saints, [May 27.

May 27,

S. Restituta, V.M. at Sorain Cavtpaiiia^circ. a.d. 272.

S. Julius, M. at Dorostolunt in Mysia., circ. a.d. 302.

S. EuTROPius, B. of Orange, circ. a.d. 488.

S. John I., Pope, M. at Rome, a.d. 526.

S. BiLDEVERT, B. at Meaux^circ. a.d. 680.

S. Bede the Vknerable, Mk. 0/ yarrow in Northuviherlatid, a. d. 734

S. Frederick, B. of Liege, a.d. 1121.

S. JULIUS, M.

(circ. A.D. 302.)

[Floras in his addition to Bede, Usuardus, Ado, Notker, &c. Roman
Martyrology. Authority : — The authentic Acts.]

E have already given the account of the martyr-
dom of Pasicrates and Valentio, soldiers in the
Roman army, at Dorostolum, in the persecution
of Diocletian. Julius was a veteran in the
same regiment, and was called to suffer in the same cause
two days after his companions. As he went to execution,
Hesychius, a Christian soldier, who was also a prisoner, and
suffered martyrdom a few days later, said, " Go with courage
and run to win the crown the Lord hath promised ; and
remember me, who am shortly to follow thee. Commend
me to the servants of God, Pasicrates and Valentio, who
are gone before us.'' Julius embracing him said, " Dear
brother, make haste to join us ; they whom you have
saluted have already heard thy commission." Julius bound
his eyes with a handkerchief, and presenting his neck to
the executioner, said, " Lord Jesus, for whose name I suffer
death, receive me into the number of Thy saints."

* it

May 37.] 5. yoAn I. 395

S. JOHN I., POPE M.

(a.d. 526.)

[Roman Martyrology. Ado, Notker, Hrabanus, &c. Authorities : —
The anonymous historian of the C^sars from Constantius Chlorus to
Theodoric, published by Valesius, Anastatius Bibliothecarius, &c.]

Theodoric the Goth, in all the earlier part of his reign,
showed a spirit of remarkable toleration. Though inherit-
ing the Arian tenets of his Ostrogoth forefathers, he
behaved to the Catholics with rigid impartiality. Towards
the close of the Gothic monarchy the royal ambassadors to
Belisarius defied their enemies to prove a case in which the
Goths had persecuted the Catholics.^ Theodoric treated
the pope, the bishops, and clergy, with grave respect, in
the more distinguished he ever placed the highest confi-
dence. He showed as much reverence, and even bounty,
to the church of S. Peter, as though he had been a
Catholic. Theodoric himself adhered firmly but calmly
to his native Arianism; but, all the conversions seem to
have been from the religion of the king ; even his mother
became a Catholic, and some other distinguished persons
of the Court embraced a different creed from their sovereign
without forfeiting his favour. Theodoric was the protector
of Church property, which he himself increased by large
grants.

But towards the close of his reign a change of policy
was forced on by the imprudence of the Eastern Emperor
Justin. In 523 Justin in a terrible edict commanded all
Manichjeans to leave the empire on pain of death ; other
heretics were incapacitated for holding all civil and military
ofiSce. The Arians, deprived of their churches and their
rights as citizens, appealed to the Gothic king of Italy. It
was precisely at this juncture that rumours of conspiracy

* Procop. de Bell, Gothic ii., c. 6.
5, -ijl

396 Lives of the Saints. [Maya?.

reached his ear. Vague intelligence of a correspondence
carried on by the heads of the Roman senate with the
emperor of the East, arrived at Ravenna. Indignation, not
without apprehension, at this sudden, and as it seemed
simultaneous, movement of hostility, seized the soul of
Theodoric. The whole circumstances of his position
demanded careful consideration. Nothing could be more
unprovoked than the religious measures of Constantinople,
as far as they menaced the West, and assailed those in the
East who held the same faith as Theodoric. His equity to
his Catholic and Arian subjects was unimpeachable ; to
the pope he had always shown respectful deference, he had
taken no advantage of the contention for the pontificate
by Symmachus and Laurentius to promote his own tenets.
Even as late as this very year, he had bestowed on the church
of S. Peter two magnificent chandeliers of solid silver.

He at once arrested Albinus, the chief of the Roman
senate, on the charge of holding treasonable correspondence
with Constantinople. Severianus Boethius, the senator,
was involved in the charge. This consummate master of
all the arts and sciences known at that period had been
raised to the consulate, and had received high marks of his
sovereign's esteem. His signature, forged as he declared,
was shown at the foot of an address, inviting the emperor
of the East to re-conquer Italy. He was condemned to
imprisonment, and was incarcerated at Calvenzano, a castle
between Milan and Pavia.

In the meantime the religious affairs of the East became
more threatening to those who held the same religious
creed with Theodoric. The correspondence between the
monarchs had produced no effect, and Theodoric adopted
the strange expedient of sending the pope to Constanti-
nople to remonstrate with the Eastern emperor, and
obtain toleration for the Arians. To the pope's remon-

* ^

May 27.] ^. John I. 397

strances and attempts to limit his mediatorial ofiSce to points
less unsuited to his character, Theodoric angrily replied, by
commanding the envoys instantly to embark in the vessels
which were ready for the voyage.

John I., a Tuscan by birth, was then pope, he had suc-
ceeded Hormisdas in 523. Of his acts little is known before
he was sent on this expedition, except that he repaired the
catacombs of SS. Nereus and Achilles, of SS. Felix and
Adauctus, and of S. Priscilla.

S. Gregory the Great, in his dialogues, relates of his
journey, how on the way he healed a blind man, and how
he rode a horse which after it had borne the pope would
never suffer a woman to mount his back. John was
received in Constantinople with the most flattering honours.
The whole city, with the emperor at its head, came forth to
meet him with tapers, as far as the tenth milestone from
the gates. The emperor knelt at his feet to receive his
apostolic benediction. On Easter Day he said mass in the
■great church, Epiphanius the bishop ceding the first place
to the more holy stranger. But of the course and success
of his negotiations all is utterly confused and contradictory.
By one account, now abandoned as a later forgery, he
boldly confirmed the emperor in the rejection of all con-
cessions. By another, he was so far faithful to his mission,
as to obtain liberty of worship, and the restitution of their
churches to the Arians. All that is certainly known is, that
John the pope, on his return, was received as a traitor by
Theodoric, thrown into prison, and there the highest eccle-
siastic of the West languished for nearly a year and died.

Even before his return, Boethius had been sacrificed to
the suspicions and fears of Theodoric.

In prison Boethius wrote his great book, " The Consola-
tion of Philosophy," which appears as the last work of
Roman letters, rather than as eminent among Christian

5, ^ -iif.

^ ^

398 Lives of the Saints. May 37,

writings. It is equally surprising that in such an age and
by such a man, in his imprisonment and under the terrors
of approaching death, consolation should have been sought
in philosophy rather than in religion; and that he should
have sought his example of Patience in Socrates rather than
in Christ. From the beginning of the book to the end,
there is nothing distinctively Christian; its religion is no
higher than Theism, almost the whole might have been
written by Cicero in exile. This accomplished man was
put to death with peculiar barbarity, and his name has
found its way into some martyrologies, which commemo-
rate S. Severianus Boethius on October 23rd. On that day
he is venerated in the church of S. Peter at Pavia, but, as
a modern hagiographer remarks, " Before giving the
biography of Boethius among those of the saints, I wait till
history has determined that he was a Christian." ^

S. BEDE THE VENERABLE, MK., D.
(a.d. 734.)

[Bede died on May 26tli, but his festival has been transferred to May
27th, because of the former day being the festival of S. Augustine, the
apostle of England. Salisbury Kalendar, Reformed Anglican Kalendar.
Some copies of Usuardus, Wyon, Menardus, the Anglican Kalendar of
Wilson, Roman Martyrology. The loth of May is noted in some
Kalendars as the day of his deposition at Durham. Authorities : — His
life by Turgot, prior of Durham, d. 1 1 1 5, in his History of Durham. But
the only accurate information relating to the life of Bede is given by Bede
himself, at the end of his Ecclesiastical History. To this must be added
Cuthbert's account of his last moments. Notices more or less detailed
are found in William of Malmesbury, and other historians.]

Bede was born in 672 or 673,^ near the place where
Benedict Biscop (January 12th), soon afterwards founded"

' Dom. Guerin, Vies des Saints, T. V., p. 514.

' The Ecclesiastical History was finished in 731, and at the end of it Bede states
himself to be at that time 59 years of age.

* tj,

May 27.] S. Bede the Venerable. 399

the religious house of Wearmouth, perhaps in the parish of
Monkton, which appears to have been one of the earHest
endowments of the monastery. As soon as he had reached
his seventh year, Bede was sent to Wearmouth, and then
to Jarrow, to profit by the teaching of Biscop, from which
period to his death he continued to be an inmate of the
later monastery. After the death of Benedict Biscop,
Bede pursued his studies under his successor Ceol-
frid, and at the age of nineteen, about a.d. 692, was
admitted to deacon's orders by S. John of Beverley,
then newly restored to his see of Hexham ; and in his
thirtieth year he was ordained to the priesthood by the
same prelate. The early age at which Bede received
holy orders, shows that he was then already distinguishing
himself by his learning and piety; and there can be little
doubt that his fame was widely spread before the com-
mencement of the eighth century. At that period, accord-
ing to that account which has been generally received,
Bede was invited to Rome by Pope Sergius I., to advise
with that pontiff on some difficult points of church disci-
pline. The authority for this circumstance is a letter of
the pope to Ceolfrid, expressing his wish to see Bede at
Rome, which has been inserted by William of Malmesbury
in his History of England. It seems, however, nearly
certain that Bede did not go to Rome on this occasion ;
and reasons have been stated for supposing the whole
story, as far as Bede was concerned in it, to be a mis-
representation. If Bede was invited, we may suppose
that the death of the pope the same year in which the
letter was sent, released him from the labours of the
journey.

The remainder of Bede's life appears to have passed in
the tranquillity of study. He clung through life to the
dear retreat that was his home, and within its peaceful

•i<-

400 Lives of the Saints. CMay 27.

walls composed his numerous books. But occasionally he
went forth to other religious houses for brief visits. In
733 he spent some days in the monastery of York in
company with his friend, Archbishop Egbert ; but he
declined another invitation from the same prelate, towards
the close of 734, on the plea of ill health, in a letter still
preserved. Bede was at this time labouring under an
asthmatic complaint, which shortly afterwards carried him
from the scene of his mortal labours.

It is evident from various passages of his works that his
days and nights were divided between the studies and
researches which he pursued to his last hour, and the
instructions he gave to the six hundred monks of Wear-
mouth and Jarrow. An existence more completely
occupied it would be difficult to imagine. Except during
the course of his last illness, he had no assistant in his
work. " I am my own secretary,'' he said, " I dictate, I
compose, I copy all myself"

His greatest work, that most precious to Englishmen, is
unquestionably his Ecclesiastical History of England, our
chief, almost our only authority for the early history of
Christianity in our island. He was urged to undertake
this by Albinus, abbot of S. Augustine's, Canterbury.
Albinus furnished him with memoranda of all that had
happened in Kent and the neighbouring counties in the
time of the missionaries sent by S. Gregory ; he even sent
a priest to Rome, to search the archives of the Roman
Church, with the permission of Gregory II., for the letters
of his predecessors and other documents relative to the
mission to England. All the bishops of England also
assisted in the work by transmitting to the author what
information they could collect concerning the origin of the
faith in their dioceses. The abbots of the most important
monasteries also furnished their contingent.

U( . ^

May 373 5'. Bede the Venerable. 401

This pleasant and glorious life was not, however, without
a cloud. He excited the criticism of narrow spirits ; they
even went so far as to treat him as a heretic, because he
had in his Chronology combated the general opinion that
the world would last only six thousand years. He grew
pale with surprise and horror, as he says to one of his
friends, in an apologetic letter, which he charges his
correspondent to read to Wilfrid, bishop of York, who
seems to have given a certain encouragement to the slander
by suffering it to pass in his hearing unrebuked.

If, however, he had some enemies, he had more friends.
Among these, in the first rank, it is pleasant to find the
Keltic monks of Lindisfarne, Bede asks that his name
should be inscribed on the roll of monks in the monastery
founded by S. Aidan. He especially desired this favour in
order that his soul after death might have a share in the
masses and prayers of that numerous community, as if he
had been one of themselves.

The details of his last sickness and death have been
revealed to us in minute detail by an eye-witness, the
monk Cuthbert. "Nearly a fortnight before Easter (17th
April, 734) he was seized by an extreme weakness, in con-
sequence of his difficulty of breathing, but without great
pain. He continued thus till the Ascension (26th May),
always joyous and happy, giving thanks to God day and
night, and even every hour of the night and day. He gave
us our lessons daily, and employed the rest of his time in
chanting psalms, and passed every night, after a short
sleep, in joy and thanksgiving, but without closing his eyes.
From the moment of awaking he resumed his prayers and
praises to God, with his arms outstretched as a cross. O
happy man ! He sang sometimes texts from S. Paul and
other scriptures, sometimes lines in our own language, for
he was very able in English poetry, to this effect ; — -None

VOL. V. 26

!^ , *

402 Lives of the Saints. [May 27.

is wiser than him needeth, ere his departure, than to ponder
ere the soul flits, what good, what evil it hath wrought, and
how after death it will be judged.

" He also sang antiphons according to our ritual and his
own, one of which is, ' O glorious King, Lord of all power,
who, triumphing this day, didst ascend up above the
heavens, leave us not orphans ; but send down on us from
the Father the .Spirit of Truth which Thou hast promised.
Hallelujah.' And when he came to the words, 'leave us
not orphans,' he burst into tears, and continued weeping.
But an hour after he ralhed himself and began to repeat
the antiphon he had begun. By turns we read, and by
turns we wept — nay, we wept whilst we read. In such joy
we passed the days of Lent, till the aforesaid day. He
often repeated, ' The Lord scourgeth every son whom He
receiveth,' and much more out of Scripture ; as also this
sentence from S. Ambrose, ' T have not lived so as to be
ashamed to live among you, nor do I fear to die, for our
God is gracious.' During these days he laboured to com-
pose two works, besides his giving us our lessons, and
singing psalms. He was engaged on translating the Gospel
of S. John into the vulgar tongue, for the benefit of the
Church, and had got as far as the words, ' But what are
these among so many ' (S. John vi. 9) ; and he was also
making some notes out of the book of Bishop Isidore ; for
he said, ' I will not have my pupils read what is untrue,
nor labour on what is profitless after my death.' On the
Tuesday before the Ascension, his breath became much
affected, and his feet swelled ; but he passed all that day
cheerfully, and continued his dictation, saying, ' Be quick
with your writing, for I shall not hold out much longer.'
So he spent the night, awake, giving thanks, and when
morning broke, that is Wednesday, he ordered us to write
with all speed what he had begun ; and there was one of

* ®

S. BEDS THE VENERABLE.

May 27.

May 27.] iS, Bede the Venerable. 403

us who said to him, ' Most dear master, there is still one
chapter wanting ; will it trouble you if I ask a few ques-
tions ? ' for the rest of us had gone to make the Rogation
procession. He answered, ' It is no trouble. Take your
pen, and write fast.' And when it came to the ninth hour
he said to me, 'There are some articles of value in my
chest, as peppercorns, napkins, and incense ; run quickly,
and bring the priests of the monastery to me, that I may
distribute among them the gifts which God has bestowed
on me.' And when they were come he spoke to each of
them in turn, and entreated them to pray and offer the
Holy Sacrifice for his soul, which they all readily promised,
but they were all weeping, for he said * Ye shall see my
face again no more in this life. It is time for me to return
to Him who formed me out of nothing. The time of my
dissolution is at hand ; I desire to be dissolved, and to be
with Christ.'

" Now when even came on, the boy £,bove mentioned
said, ' Dear master, there is yet one sentence not written.'
He answered, ' Then write it quickly now.' Soon after the
boy said, ' It is finished. The sentence is now written.'
He replied, ' It was well said, it is finished. Raise my old
head in your arms, that I may look once more at the
happy, holy place, where I was wont to pray, that sitting
up in my bed, I may call on my Father.' And thus on
the pavement of his little cell, singing ' Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,' he breathed
his last, as he uttered the name of the Holy Ghost, and so
departed to the heavenly kingdom. All who were present
thought they had never seen any one die with so much
devotion, and in so peaceful a state of mind."

The monastic sanctuary towards which the dying look of
Bede was turned still remains in part, if we may believe
the best archaeologists, in the recently -restored parish

ij,- *

q<-

404 Lives of the Saints. [Maya?.

church of Jarrow, which has been carefully renovated in
honour of England's first great historian, every relic of the
ancient building as old as Bede being carefully preserved.
An old oak chair is still shown, which the saint is pretended
to have used. Like all the other saints of the period,
without exception, he was canonized by popular veneration,
tacitly approved by the Church. Many pilgrims came to
Jarrow to visit his tomb. His rehcs were stolen in the
nth century, and carried to Durham, where they were
placed with those of S. Cuthbert. They were an object of
veneration to the faithful up to the general profanation
under Henry VIII., who pulled down the shrine and buried
them with those of all the other holy apostles and martyrs
of Northumbria.

Towards the 9th century Bede received the appellation
of the Venerable, which has ever since been attached to his
name. As a specimen of the fables by which his biography
was gradually obscured, we may cite the legends invented
to account for the origin of this latter title. According to
one, the Anglo-Saxon scholars were on a visit to Rome, and
there saw a gate of iron, on which was inscribed the letters
P.P.P., S.S.S., R.R.R., F.F.R, which no one was able to
interpret. Whilst Bede was attentively considering the
inscription, a Roman who was passing by said to him
rudely, " What seest thou there, English ox ? " to which
Bede replied, " I see your confusion," and he immediately
explained the character thus ; — Pater Patri» Perditus,
Sapientia Secum Sublata, Ruet Regnum Romse, Ferro
Flamma Fame.^ The Romans were astonished at the
acuteness of their English visitor, and decreed that the
title of Venerable should be thenceforth given to him.

1 "The father of his country lost, wisdom carried away with him, the realm of
Rome will fall hy sword, hy flame, by famine." The story is evidently altered and
adapted from that of Virgil, and the famous lines, " Sic vos non vobis mellificatis
apes, &c."

>j^ ii(

* lj<

May 27.] S. Frederick. 405

According to another story, Bede, having become blind in
his old age, was walking abroad with one of his disciples
for a guide, when they arrived at an open place, where
there was a large heap of stones, and Bede's companion
persuaded his master to preach to the people who, as he
pretended, were assembled to hear him. Bede delivered a
moving discourse, and when he uttered the concluding
words, " per sscula s^culorum," to the great admiration of
his disciple, the stones immediately cried out " Amen,
Venerable Bede !" There is also a third legend on this
subject, which informs us that, soon after Bede's death,
one of his disciples was appointed to compose an epitaph
in Latin leonines, and carve it on. his monument, and he
began thus —

Hac sunt in fossa Bedee ossa,

intending to introduce the word sancti or presbyteri ; but as
neither of these words would suit the metre, he left it
blank and fell asleep. On awaking he found that an angel
had completed the line, and that it stood thus —
Hac sunt in fossa Bedis Venerabilis ossa.

S. FREDERICK, B. OF LIEGE.

(a.d. 1 12 1.)

[Venerated as a saint in the diocese of Liege. Greven in his additions
to Usuardus. Roman Martyrology witli additions of Belgian saints,
published at Liege in 1624. Authority : — Renier, monk of S. Laurence,
at Liege, a contemporary, the Codex Alnenis quoted by Chapeauville.]

The contest on the subject of investitures that had
broken out between Pope Gregory VII. and the Emperor
Henry IV., was continued after the decease of both with
unflagging energy. On the death of Obert, the fifty-fifth
bishop of Liege, Alexander, canon and treasurer of S.

ij— ^

4o6 ' Lives of the Saints. [Mays?.

Lambert's, the cathedral church, at the instigation of
Godfrey, count of Louvain, bought his presentation to the
vacant see from the Emperor Henry V. Henry invested
Alexander with the cross and ring, and sent him to Lidge.
But the dean, Frederick, assembled the chapter and
clergy, and refused to receive him. The archbishop of
Cologne at the same time sent them word on no account
to recognize the authority of Alexander, and to proceed
canonically to elect a new bishop. An assembly was held
at Li^ge, but opinions were divided, some, were for accept-
ing Alexander, backed up with the powerful support of
the count of Louvain, others were for electing Frederick,
the dean. As the election could not be proceeded with at
Lidge, the chapter retired to Cologne, where they elected
Frederick.

In 1 1 19, Calixtus. H excommunicated the Emperor
Henry V. As soon as Frederick was consecrated, he
returned to Li^ge, walking thither barefoot. In the mean
time the rival bishop, Alexander, occupied the castle of
Huy, higher up the Meuse. Frederick, supported by his
brother, the Count of Namur, marched against his rival, and
began the siege of the castle. But the count of Louvain
speedily arrived to its relief, and a battle ensued. Night
put an end to the bloodshed, and in the disorder that
reigned, Alexander fled the castle, and coming to Frederick,
submitted to his discretion.

The count of Louvain, enraged at the failure of his
. schemes, is said to have resolved on the destruction of the
bishop by poison, and to have suborned a servant to
administer the dose. But the contemporary historian,
Renier, says nothing of this, and it is probably a later
invention. Certainly the symptoms of death described by
the Codex Alnensis are not those of poison.

*— ■ -^

May28.] ^. Heliconis. 407

May 28.

S. Heliconis, M. at Corinth^ a.d. 244.

SS. Emilius, Felix, Lucian, amd Others, MM. in Sardinia.

S. Caraunus, M. at Chartres, sih cent.

SS. Monks, MM. at Thema, in Palestine, circ. A.D. 410.

S. Theodulus the Stylite, ff. at Edessa, about A.D.410.

S. MANV^iEUS, B. of Bayeux, circ. A.D. 480.

S. Justus, B. 0/ Urgel, in Spain, circ. A.D. 550.

S. Germain, B. of Paris, a.d. 576.

S. William, burnt at Toulouse, Mk. ofValGelon.

B. Lanfranc, Archb. of Canterbury A.D. 1089.^

B. GizUE, B. ofSkalholt, in Iceland, A.D. 1118.

S. HELICONIS, M.
(a.d. 244.)

[Menology of the Emperor Basil, and Greek Men^a. Inserted in the
modem Roman Martyrology by Baronius. Also Maronite Kalendar.
Authority : — The Greek Acts, pretending to be written by an eye-
witness, but they are a forgery.]

HIS woman is said to have been martyred

under the emperors Gordian and Philip, who

issued an edict against the Christians, when

they were consuls together. And during the

persecution consequent on the promulgation of this edict,

Heliconis suffered at Corinth. But as Gordian and Philip

never were consuls together, and as neither issued any

such edict, so is the persecution more than questionable.

Heliconis may have suffered in some local uprising of the

people, or under some feigned charge by a hostile governor,

but the fact of the acts being manifestly a forgery, throws

the greatest doubt over everything connected with her

martyrdom, and indeed over her existence.

' Given by the BoUandists, but as there is no evidence of his having received pubHc
veneration, and he appears in no other Martyrologies, his life is not included in this
collection.

* ^*

tj( *

408 Lives of the Saints. [May 28.

S. CARAUNUS, M.

(5TH CENT.)

[Modem Roman and Gallican Martyrologies. Usuardus and Mau-
rolycus. The Acts or Life is a Mediaeval composition, of very uncertain
authority ; as it is unknown on what evidence it was composed.]

S. Caraunus, or, as he is commonly called, S. Cheron,
was a Roman by birth. He owed his conversion to the
Epistles of S. Paul, which fell by chance into his hands.
And when he had read them he said, " This wisdom is not
of this world," and he sought further instruction, and was
baptized. On the death of his parents, he entered holy
orders ; but it is not stated that he ever proceeded beyond
the diaconate. Under the reign of Domitian he left Rome
and came into Gaul. He visited Marseilles and Lyons,
and finally arrived at Chartres, where he confirmed in the
faith those who had been converted by SS. Potentianus
and Altinus. He was on his way to Paris with some
companions when his party was attacked by robbers. At
his advice his companions took to flight and secreted
themselves. The robbers finding no money on the person
of Caraunus, smote off his head. Towards evening his
companions quitted their hiding-places, and takmg up his
body, buried it on a hill hard by, called at this day
Montagne-Sainte. He is generally represented with his
head in his hands. His relics are still shown at S. Ch&on,
near Chartres.

^- ^

May 28.] S. Theodulus the Sty lite. 409

S. THEODULUS THE STYLITE, H.
(about a.d. 410.)

[Greek Mensea. Authority :— His life in Greek, not by a contemporary,
but sufBciently correct in dates and details. The same story sUghtly varied
occurs also in the life of S. Paphnutius. A mediaeval Jewish legend of the
Rabbi Raschi (Scholmo ben Isaac), vifho lived in the twelfth century, is to
the same effect.

In the reign of Theodosius the Great there was at
Constantinople a prefect of the city, named Theodulus, a
good man who feared God with all his house. Now he
read how Solomon tried all manner of things to satisfy the
longing of his heart, and found all to be vanity and vexa-
tion of spirit; and he felt that his own heart spoke the
same language. Then he yearned with an unspeakable
longing to live to God alone. So he told his desire to
Procula, his wife, to whom he had been married only two
years. But when she heard him, she uttered a cry of
grief " What, man ! have I not been to thee faithful in
every way? Have I not been to thee modest and un-
selfish? And now wilt thou divorce me? Never did the
apostle utter such a command, as that thou shouldst desert
thy true wife for ever ! " But he burst from her and went
forth, and resigned his office into the hands of the emperor ;
and returned to her. Then she fell at his feet weeping,
and held him fast and implored him not to leave her, and
she said, " Beware ! should evil befall me, thou wilt have
to answer for my soul at the judgment bar of God." Then
rising, " Come ! " said she, " let us be as monk and nun in
this house, dressing in mean apparel, and sleeping in
different chambers, and faring on poor thin diet. I was not
bom and bred to this, but I will endure this all rather than
lose thee ! " Then the brave true woman tore oif her costly
robes, and threw away her necklaces, and went weeping to
her room and shut the door. And her heart broke, and
next morning she was found dead, with tears on her cheek.

^ ■ »i(

410 Lives of the Saints. [May 28.

Then Theodulus left Constantinople, and arrived at
Edessa, where he found a pillar, and he ascended that
pillar, and fasted and prayed, and watched thereon, winter
and summer, night and day, for forty and eight years.

" In hungers and thirsts, fevers and cold,

In coughs, aches, stitches, ulcerous throes and cramps,

A sign betwixt the meadow and the cloud,

Patient on this tall pillar I have borne

Rain, wind, frost, heat, hail, damp, and sleet, and snow."

And at last, when the forty and eight years were over,
Theodulus thought that he must be nigh perfection. Had
he not given up house and land, and wife for the sake of
Christ? surely his would be the palm and crown. Then
he prayed that God would reveal to him, who would be his
equal in heavenly glory. So the Lord appeared to him in
a dream, and answered, and said, " Cornelius the clown."
Then the old hermit was aghast, and his soul melted away,
and he was as one dead with shame and dismay. And
when he was come to himself, he called for a ladder, and
he came stumbling down the steps, and caught up a stick,
and went, grey, ragged, and dazed into Edessa, asking at
every step, " Where is Cornelius the clown ? " And so,
after awhile he came on the merry fellow, capering with
double pipes in his mouth, and a hideous mask, before a
laughing crowd. Then the old hermit plucked him by the
sleeve, and drew him away, and said, wild with dismay,
" What good thing hast thou done to inherit eternal life ?
I have given up houses and land and a dear wife, I
have spent forty-eight years on a pillar, exposed to the
glaring sun by day, and to the numbing frost at night. I
have worn out my body with fasting. I have eaten but a
crust and a raw olive in the day. What hast thou done ?
I have become stiff in my joints, my feet are sore and
swollen with long standing, I have prayed night and day.

^ ^ *

May 28.] 6*. Theodulus the Stylite. 411

some hundred prayers by day, and I have watched by
night as the stars wheeled above me. What hast thou
done ? "

" I have done nothing," answered the clown, humbly.
" I cannot compare with thee."

"But thou hast done something," said Theodulus,
roughly shaking him ; " I know that thou wilt be accounted
great in heaven, tell me what hast thou done ? "

" I am vile as dirt, i have not even served God purely
and honestly," said the clown.

"Bethink thee," again urged the hermit; "what good
thing hast thou done ? "

Then the clown reddening said, "There is one little
thing I did, but it is not worth mentioning. Some time
ago there was a virtuous young wife in this town who had
been married only two years, when her husband fell into
difEculties, and was cast into the debtor's prison. And
she, poor thing, was constrained to beg for food and
money to keep him and herself alive. And she was very
fair, and she feared lest she should attract rude eyes, and
was withal as modest as a young maiden, and when she
begged, she held out both her hands, and hung her face,
and only murmured inarticulate words. And so I saw her
one day. And I was grieved, for I had piped and danced
in the court of her house for a few coppers not many
months before. Then I went to her and asked her how
much her husband owed, and she said ' Four hundred
pieces of silver.' Then I ran home, and turned out my
money box, and found therein two hundred and thirty
pieces. So then I took a pair of gold bracelets and some
brooches which had belonged to my dear dead wife, and
they were worth seventy pieces of silver. But that was
not enough. So then I got together some of my silk
theatrical dresses, and I rolled them all up in a piece of

5( *

412 Lives of the Saints. [May 28.

linen, and took it all to the woman, and I said to her,
'There, take all, and release your husband from jail.'
Then I ran away. And this, I believe, is the only good
thing I have ever done."

Then Theodulus saw how this man had sacrificed him-
self for a strange woman, bound to him by no tie, whereas
he had cast away his own wife, and had broken her heart,
seeking only his own self

Then the old hermit smote his breast, and lifted his
hands to heaven and blessed the poor clown, and thanked
God, and went back to his pillar, and re-ascended it, and
there, not many years after, he died.

S. GERMAIN, B. OF PARIS.
(a.d. 576.)

[Roman and Galilean Martyrologies. Authority: — Life by Venantius
Fortunatus, a contemporary. ]

S. Germain was the child of Burgundian parents,
named Eleutherius and Eusebia. His mother endeavoured
to destroy her unborn child, but ineffectually, injuring her
own constitution without hurting him. His- grandmother
also bore the poor boy, after he was born, the same
malice, and wishing his brother Stratidius to enjoy the
whole of the parental inheritance, gave a servant a poisoned
cup for Germain, and a cup of wine for Stratidius, telling
her which cup was intended for each child, but the servant,
not knowing that mischief was intended, carelessly changed
the cups, and Stratidius, though he did not die of the
effects, was severely injured by the poison. It was not safe
for Germain to remain in his father's house, therefore his
uncle Scopilio, at Lazy near Autun, took charge of him. He

^ ^

May 28.] B. Gizur. 413

was a very pious man, and from him Germain derived his
first religious impressions.

Germain was educated in the abbey of S. Symphorian
at Autun, and was created abbot of the monastery, by
S. Nectarius, the bishop. He was ordained priest by S.
Agrippinus of Autun. The fame of his virtue reaching tire
ears of* King Childebert, he was ordered to come to Paris,
where he became abbot of the monastery of S. Vincent,
afterwards called after himself, S. Germain-des-Pr^s. Four
years after, he was appointed to the episcopal throne of
Paris, on the death of Eusebius. Childebert, at his request,
built the church of S. Germain I'Auxerrois on the further
side of the Seine. The saint showed great courage in
opposing the king and nobles for their violence and
dissolute manners ; he even excommunicated king Charibert,
who had repudiated his legitimate wife Ingoberga, that he
might marry a woman named Marcoveva, at the same time
that he was living in concubinage with her sister.

S. Germain died on May 28th, in the year' 576. His
body was laid in the abbey of S. Vincent, but his relics
were dispersed at the Revolution.

B. GIZUR, B. OF SKALHOLT.

(a.d. 1 1 18.)

[Necrologium Islandicum. Authorities : — The Kristni Saga, the
Sagas of S. John of Holurti. The Hungurvaka and Thattr of Isleif.]

On the maps of Iceland, one is pretty sure to see
Skalholt marked as a town, and in some geography books
it is set down as the capital of the island. Yet it consists of
a farm and a church. The situation is beautiful : from a
vast green swamp rises a verdant mound, swept on the
south by a mighty river. Picturesque hills rise out of the

^ ^^ ^^

* — *

414 Lives of the Saints. [May 28.

plain, and far away, blue and silver in the distance, rise
the vast masses of Eyaiialla and Hechla. Skalholt was the
first episcopal seat in Iceland, it was given to the church
by Gizur, the second bishop, and remained the seat of
a bishop, the metropolitan of the island till the change of
religion.

The first resident bishop in Iceland was Islief, son of
Gizur the White, who had persuaded his countrymen to
adopt Christianity. For the maintenance of the bishop
the old temple-tax was awarded; this was a rate levied in
heathen times on the landowners, for the support of the
ancient religion and its rites, and it became now the
revenue of the bishop. But the sum was too small for the
purpose, and it was of necessity that the head of the
Icelandic Church should be a man of large private
means.

Of Isleif we are told : — " He was pinched in his house-
keeping, in such demand was his money; the incomings
were small, and the outgoings great, consequently his
housekeeping was a matter of difficulty;"'^ and again: —
" When he returned to his bishop's seat he was at Skalholt,
but because half of his land was the personal property of
his wife, Dalla, it was difficult for him to manage, for at
that time there was no tithe." ^

Isleif died on July 5th, 1080; and his son Gizur was
elected to the vacant bishopric. He accordingly sailed for
Germany and went to Rome, where he was well received
by Pope Gregory VII., the famous Hildebrand, in 1012,
and was sent by him to be ordained by Archbishop
Hartwig of Magdeburg, one of the Saxon prelates who
adhered to his cause, against the emperor. Gizur crossed
the Alps, reached Magdeburg, and was consecrated bishop
on September 4th, in the same year. He then returned to

^ Hungurvaka, c. 2. 3 isleif 's Thattr.
* — »j«

Ma^yas.] B. Gizur. 415

Iceland, which he reached in the spring of 1084, having
spent the winter in Denmark.

In Iceland he became extremely popular. It was some
time before he could take possession of Skalholt, as it was
the property of his mother, Dalla, but on her death he gave
the farm to the Church, and thenceforward it became the
seat of the bishop. He then built a cathedral church of
wood, and dedicated it to S. Peter. We are also told that
Bishop Gizur gave the church at Skalholt "the white
vestment with purple ornaments, which since has been
used as the best."^

The condition of the Church was greatly improved by
the introduction of the tithe, which was imposed on all the
land in 1097, during the episcopate of Gizur. The
*' Hungurvaka " says : —

" These men were coeval with Bishop Gizur, the priest
Sagmund of Oddi, who was so able a man, and better
educated than most, and Marcus Skeggjason, the law-
giver, who was the wisest man and greatest poet of his
time. These men took counsel together, and brought
other chiefs into conference with them, and decided to
introduce a law that the people should value and tithe
their property half-yearly, as is the custom in other Chris-
tian lands. They, by their recommendation and urgency,
persuaded the people to submit to the tithe, and the
money so obtained was thus portioned : — One share went
to the bishop, one to the church fabrics, one to the main-
tenance of the clergy, and the fourth to the poor, and no
such support to the well-being of the see was after obtained
as this introduction of tithe, which was brought about
through Bishop Gizur's care, and which was granted
because he was so much beloved." — Hungurvaka, c. 6.

After Gizur had been bishop more than twenty years, he

^ Hungurvaka, ^. 5.
^. ^ *

416 Lives of the Saints. [May 28.

resolved to divide his immense diocese, and he appointed
John Ogmundson to be bishop of the northern half
of the island. The southern half he reserved for the
diocese of Skalholt. In the year 11 17 he fell ill, being
then aged seventy-five years. He was afflicted with ulcers
over his whole body, which gave him great pain, and
prevented him from sleeping. His wife ' asked him what
he would hke his friends to ask of God for him. " Not
that my pains may be loosened," he answered ; " for I am
ready to bear the chastisements of the Lord." When
asked if he would like to be buried beside his father,
Bishop Isleif, he answered, "No, I am not worthy." All
his sons died before their father except one ; and he left a
daughter behind him. He was buried beside Isleif. He
was forty years old when he was made bishop, and he
ruled the see thirty-two years. His death was lamented
throughout Iceland.

n The bishops and clergy of Iceland were married till the 13th century.

* ^

* _____ ^

May 29] ^. Conon and his Son. 4 1 7

May 29.

S. Conon and his Son, MM. at Iconium^ a.d. 275.

S. Restitutus, M, at Rome.

S. Maximinus, B. of Treves, a.d. 349.

S. Maximus, B. of Verotia, i,th cent.

S. Burian, V. in Cornwall.

SS. SisiNNius, Maetyeius and Alexandee, mm. at Trent, a.d. 397.

S. Mary of Antioch, V. in Syria.

S. Theodosia, V.M. at Constantinople, A.D. 726.

S. Bona, V., O.M.C. at Pisa, a.d. 1207.

S. Andrew of Chios, M. at Constantinople, a.d. 1465.

S. CONON AND HIS SON, MM.
(a.d. 275.)

[Roman Martyrology, Ado, and Usuardus. Authority : — The ancient
Greek Acts. The main portion almost certainly genuine, but the first
part interpolated. The examination before the governor has all the
character of authentic acts. ]

ONON was an old Christian deacon at Iconium
in Isauria, when Aurelian was emperor. He
was brought before the Count Domitian. The
following was the interrogation : — Domitian the
count said : — " Why do you not adore the gods ? What is
the impediment ? Are you a priest or a deacon ? " Conon
answered : — •" I adore the living God. I am a layman.''
Domitian: — "Have you a wife?" Conon: — ^"She died
some while ago, and now she is with Christ." Domitian
said : — " I will search out your life. Have you had
children ? " Conon answered : — " I have a son." Domi-
tian : — " Is he impious to the gods also ? " Conon : — " As is
the root, so are the branches." Domitian: — "Let the
son be brought hither." An oiEcer :— " He is here."
Domitian asked : — " How old is the boy ? " Conon re-

VOL. V. 27

^ *

plied: — "He is twelve years old, and can read fluently."
Domitian said : — " Now decide. Will you believe in the
Gods and offer sacrifice?" "No," said Conon, " do your
pleasure with us." Domitian exclaimed : — " Set red-hot
irons on their flesh." "As you will," said Conon, "you
shall see the virtue of Christ made manifest." So hot
irons were placed on both father and son. Then Domitian
said, " Throw oil on them ! " and they did so. Then
Conon cried, "Did I not say, do with us as you will?"
" Turn them over on their bellies," said Domitian ; " burn
their backs." "Think not to make us yield with fire.''
said Conon. Then Domitian, very angry, ordered them to
be placed on iron grates over a charcoal fire. And whilst
the grates were heating, Domitian bade their hands be
crushed with iron hammers. Then Conon said, "Art
thou not ashamed to be conquered by two servants of
God ? " And so Conon and his son died, and the brethren
came and buried their holy bodies.

SS. SISINNIUS, MARTYRIUS, AND ALEX-
ANDER, MM.

(a.d. 397.)

[Modem Roman Martyrology. Usuardus, Ado, Notker. Authority : —
Two letters from S. Vigilius, Bishop of Trent at the time ; one to John,
patriarch of Constantinople, the other to S. Simplicianus, Bishop of
Milan, giving an account of their martyrdom. They are also mentioned
by S. Augustine, S. Gaudentius, and by Paulimis the priest, in his life of
S. Ambrose. There is not the smallest doubt as to the perfect authen-
ticity of the account]

From the village of Tajo, in the Ronsthal, in Tyrol, a
steep and tedious path along the left bank of the Roce
leads to the village church of Sanzeno, where lie the bones
of Sisinnius, Martyrius, and Alexander, who here suffered

* -^

* ^

May 29.] ,5*6". Sisinnius <5f Comp. 419

martyrdom when they came, sent by S. Vigilius of Trent,
to bear the torch of truth into the mountain fastnesses of
Tyrol, then buried in the darkness of paganism.

These three men were natives of Cappadocia, who
came to Milan, where they placed themselves at the
disposal of S. Ambrose. After awhile S. Ambrose sent
them to his friend, S. Vigilius of Trent, who ordained
Sisinnius deacon, Martyrius lector, and his brother Alex-
ander he ordained ostiarius; and then bade them bear
the Gospel to the pagan mountaineers. Sisinnius em-
ployed an alpine lure, or long wooden horn, wherewith to
call the shepherds together to hear the word of truth. But
the pagans, angry at his interference with their celebration
of a heathen festival, beat him about the head with his
lure, and then killed him with the axes wherewith they
felled the pines. Martyrius was hiding in a rosebush,
when a girl saw him and betrayed him. The rude moun-
taineers at once dragged him from his place of conceal-
ment, drove their Alpen-stocks, hardened in the fire, into
his flesh, and beat him till he died. Alexander's feet
were tied with a rope, and then, fastening a bell round the
neck of Sisinnius, they drew all three to where they were
performing their idolatrous rites. Alexander was so torn
by the brambles, and bruised by the stones over which he
was dragged, that he died on the way. The mountaineers
then made a large pile of fir boughs, laid the three bodies
on it, and set fire to the heap.

,j, ^

1^— .^

420 Lives of the Saints. [May 29.

S. THEODOSIA, M.
(a.d. 726.)

[Greek Menssa. Authority ; — An encomium by Constantius Acropolita,
Magnus Logotheta (fl. 1294), and the account in the Menssa, which is
far more trustworthy, and differs materially in details from the bombastic
story of Constantius.]

S. Theodosia was a nun among the crowd of women
who witnessed the destruction of the great image of the
Redeemer, by the soldiers of the Emperor Leo the
Isaurian, as already described elsewhere. The women
shook the ladders placed against the gate, over which was
the figure, and precipitated from them the men engaged
on the sacrilegious work. Soldiers were sent to drive off
the crowd, and a considerable number of women were
butchered. Theodosia, with others, was driven at the
point of their spears into the shambles, where one of the
soldiers, flourishing a ram's horn, struck her with the point
on her throat, and tore her windpipe. She died of the
wound.

^. — ^

May 30.] S. Ferdinand. 421

May 30.

SS. Gabinus and Crispulus, MM. at Torre, in Sardinia, rznd cent.

S. Felix I., M., Pope of Rome, a.d. 274.

SS. Basil and Emmelia, tJie parents ofS. Basilthe Great and S. Gregory

Nyssen, at NeoccEsarea, in Cappadocia, ^th cent.
S. ExuPERANTius, B. of Raveitna, a.d. 418.
S. Anastasius, B. ofPavia, a.d. 680.
S. Ferdinand HI., K. of Castille and Leon, at Seulls, a.d. 1252.

S. FERDINAND III., K.
(a.d. 1252.)

[Roman and Spanish Martyrologies. Authorities : — A life by Roderick
Ximenes, Archbishop of Toledo, a contemporary (d. 1247) in his Spanish
Chronicle. Another life by Lucas of Tuy, a contemporary. ]

[jOWARDS the end of May, 1217, whilst the
minor Enrique I., King of Castille, was playing
in the court-yard of .the episcopal palace at
Palencia, he was killed by a faUing tile. His
sister Berengaria, who had been married to Alfonso IX.
of Leon, from whom she had been reluctantly divorced
through the influence of Pope Innocent III., on the score
of consanguinity, was now, by the laws of Castille, heiress
to the crown. She was proclaimed queen by the nobles,
who swore allegiance to her at Valladolid. Immediately
afterwards, a stage was erected at the entrance of the city,
and there, on August 31st, 12 17, nearly three months after
the death of Enrique, the queen, in presence of her barons,
prelates and people, solemnly resigned the sovereignty into
the hands of her son, Ferdinand, son of Alfonso IX. of Leon,
who was immediately proclaimed king of Castille.

But Ferdinand III. was not yet in peaceable possession
of the crown. He had to reduce the towns which he held for
Don Alvaro, who had acted as regent during the minority

^ — ijl

/J.22 Lives of the Saints. [May 30.

of Enrique, and what was worse, to withstand his father, the
king of Leon, who now invaded the kingdom. Aided by
the party of that restless traitor, Alvaro, Alfonso aspired to
the sovereignty. He marched to Burgos, which had just
acknowledged his son, and in opposition to the entreaties
of the clergy, laid waste the domains of that son's
adherents. The Castihan nobles were not slow in com-
bining for the defence of their king ; they hastened to
Burgos in such numbers, and were animated by such a
spirit that Alfonso, despairing of success, desisted from his
enterprise, and returned home.

Don Alvaro had already been made prisoner by a party
of the royal forces ; but released on surrendering the forti-
fied places which he held. Of this ill-judged clemency,
Ferdinand had soon reason to repent, if the statements of
a contemporary authority are to be relied on ; that Alvaro
again appeared in arms, and prevailed on the king of Leon
again to disturb the tranquilhty of Castille. It is, however,
certain that no actual hostilities broke out a second time
between the father and the son, and Alvaro died in dis-
grace and poverty in 12 19. A complete reconciliation
having been effected, the kings of Leon and Castille com-
bined to drive the Moslem, a common foe, out of fair
Spain. The crusade was published by the Archbishop,
Rodrigo Ximenes, and the same indulgences granted to
those who assumed the cross in Spain as to those who
visited the Holy Land. A multitude from all parts of the
peninsula assembled at Toledo, burning to redress the
wrongs of Christendom upon the Mohammedan, and drive
the infidel into Africa, before the Cross of Christ. The
result, however, by no means corresponded with the an-
ticipations of the kings, and ended in desultory warfare,
irruptions into the territories of the Moors, from Aragon,
Castille, Leon, and Portugal. Ferdinand headed none of

* -' *

May 30.] S. Ferdinand, 423

them; he was detained at home, exterminating more for-
midable bands of free-booters, who ravaged his own
kingdom.

It was not until 1225 that the career of conquest com-
menced, which ended in the annihilation of the African
power, and of all the petty kingdoms which had risen on
its ruins. In that and the two following years, Murcia was
invaded, the Alhambra was taken, and Jaen besieged by
Ferdinand. Valencia was invaded by King Jayme of
Aragon, Badajos was taken by Alfonso, and Elvas by the
King of Portugal. S. Ferdinand set his soldiers the
example of a chivalrous honour and Christian piety. Be-
fore each battle he spent the night in prayer. An image
of the Blessed Virgin was borne before his army, and he
wore a representation of her slung round his neck, or erect
on the pommel of his saddle. He was before Jaen, which
his armies had invested two whole years, when intelligence
reached him of his father's death (in 1230) after a success-
ful irruption into Estremadura. The inestimable advantage
which this event was calculated to produce for Christian
Spain — the consolidation of two kingdoms often hostile to
each other — was near being lost. In his last will Alfonso
named his two daughters — for the kingdom had long ceased
to be elective — joint heiresses of his state. Fortunately
for Spain the Leonese took a sounder view of the interests
than Alfonso ; Leon, Astorga, Oviedo, Lugo, Mondonedo,
Salamanca, Ciudad-Rodrigo, and Coria declared for Ferdi-
nand. Nobles, clergy, and people were too numerous in
favour of the King of Castille to leave the princesses the
remotest chance. No sooner did Ferdinand hear how
powerful a party supported his just pretensions, than he
hastened from Andalusia into Leon. As he advanced,
accompanied by his mother Berengaria, to whose wisdom
he was indebted for most of his successes, every city threw

^ __ ^ ^ . ti(

424 Lives of the Saints. rMaysc

open its gates to welcome him. He entered the capital in
triumph, and received the homage of the clergy and people
in the cathedral.

He at once set out for Galicia, where the infantas with
their mother Theresa had formed a party. Berengaria,
Ferdinand's mother, begged an interview with Theresa.
The latter yielded to the justice or power of her rival ; in
consideration of an annual pension secured to her two
daughters, she renounced, in their name, all right to the
crown of Leon, and the fortified places which held for the
infantas were consequently surrendered into the hands of
the king.

Ferdinand IH., now lord of Spain from the Bay of
Biscay to the vicinity of the Guadalquivir, and from the
confines of Portugal to those of Aragon and Valencia, put
into execution his long meditated schemes of conquest.
In 1234 he laid siege to Ubeda, and captured it. In the
meantime his son Alfonso, with fifteen hundred men, had
defeated at Xeres the formidable army of the Moorish king
of Seville, divided into seven bodies, each more numerous
than the Christian army. It was then that — if we may
give credence to the legend — S. James was seen on a white
horse, gleaming before the Christian host, flashing a light-
ning blade, and bearing the banner of victory. This won-
drous victory cost the Christian army but one knight and
ten soldiers.

The joy of these victories was allayed by the death of
Beatrice, the virtuous wife of Ferdinand. She was the
daughter of Philip of Swabia, emperor of Germany, and
Ferdinand had married her in r2i9, when he was twenty
years old. The union had been a very happy one, and
had been blessed with seven sons and three daughters.
The same year, 1236, James, king of Aragon, wrested
from the Moors the kingdom of Majorca and that of

*- *

Mayso.] vS. Ferdinand. 425

Valencia, and Ferdinand completed the conquest of the
Moorish kingdoms of Baezo and Cordova. He entered
Cordova on the feast of SS. Peter and Paul, in 1236. The
great Mosque was purified and converted into a cathedral,
and the great bells of Compostella, which Almansor had
caused to be brought thither on the backs of Christians, S.
Ferdinand commanded to be carried back on the backs of
Moors.

One after another, the minor kingdoms of the Moors in
Spain yielded to his victorious sword, or submitted volun-
tarily to pay tribute.

The siege of Seville lasted sixteen months, for it was the
largest and strongest city in Spain.. Its double walls were
very strong, and were defended at intervals by sixty-six
towers. The city surrendered on the 23rd of November,
1249, and all the Moors were banished from it. Three
hundred thousand removed to Xeres, one hundred thou-
sand passed over into Africa.

Ferdinand was seized with dropsy at the beginning of
1252, at Seville, and prepared for his approaching end by
extraordinary acts of austere devotion. His last advice to
his son and successor Alfonso, was an inculcation of the
eternal obligations of justice and mercy. Having caused
the ensigns of majesty to be removed from his presence,
he bade a tender farewell to his family and friends, and,
fortified by the sacraments of the Church for his last great
journey, breathed his last, May 30th, 1252, amidst the
lamentations of all Seville.

The following account of a visit to his relics at Seville
by the late unfortunate Emperor Maximilian will not be
read without interest : — "The wall behind the altar in the
cathedral is ornamented with pictures, and here hung a
large red curtain covering the tomb of my patron, the holy
Ferdinand. I had forgotten, if I ever knew, that this bold

ij, _ — ^ — _ ^ ^

426 Lives of the Saints. [May 30.

king was buried here, in Seville ; therefore it made a great
impression on me, when the servant told me on a sudden
that here rest the remains of him after whom I was
christened, from whom I have the good luck to descend,
and who, by the Church, has been appointed my chief
advocate at the throne of God. The cofiSn with the red
cloth stands in the middle ; to the right and left are high
niches, in each of which stands, under a velvet canopy, a
coffin ornamented with golden cover, crown and sceptre.
Here repose two children of Ferdinand the Saint — Al-
phonso the Wise, and his sister. It was strange to see
these coffins standing out, as if they had been exhibited to
the eyes of the people only yesterday, and yet showing
traces of great age. The saint and his children are united
in that house of God which they wrested from the Moors,
and selected for themselves as a place of rest. The tombs
are full of dignity and sanctity, not like those monuments
of a sensual mythological kind, without sign of faith or
devotion, such as the proud Medici have erected for them-
selves. Here one stands by the graves of a holy family,
in which simplicity and grandeur humble themselves be-
neath the sign of the cross. On the railing that separates
the chapel from the church is represented the holy king on
horseback, and before him the Moorish prince kneeling,
and presenting the keys of the city to the conqueror.'"-

' " Recollections of My Life," Vol. i. p. 172.

»5, — ^ -..^ — ^ ^ __„. — „_____. — ^

-;fe^^^*^^^^

THE ASCENSION.
From the Vienna Missal.

i;^-

^ -^

May 31.] S. Petronilla, 427

May 31.

S. Petronilla, V, at Rome, ist cent.

S. Crescentian, M. at Torre, zVz Sardinia, znd cent.

S. Hermias, M. at Cotnano, in Cappadocia, circ. a.d. i66.

SS. Cantius, Cantian, and Cantianilla, and Pectus, MM. at

Aguileia, a.d. 290.
S. LupiCINUS, B. of Verona^ 6ihcent.
S. Angela of Merici, V., Foundress of the Ursidines, at Brescia,

A,D. 1540.

S. PETRONILLA, V.

(iST CENT.)

[Roman Martyrology. Usuardus, Ado, Notker. Authority : — Mention
in tlie Acts of SS. Nereus and Achilles (May I2th). But these, as has
been already pointed out, are quite untrustworthy.]

A.INT PETRONILLA is said to have been a
daughter of S. Peter the apostle. He took her
with him to Rome, where she became para-
lysed, but Simon Magus having asked him
why, if he could perform miracles, he allowed his daughter
to remain infirm, S. Peter answered that " It was expedient
for her." Then he added, " Nevertheless, to show the
power of God, she shall rise from her bed and walk.''
Then he called her, and she rose, and was restored to her
full health.

A certain officer or "Count" Flaccus having greatly
admired her beauty, sent soldiers to her, to ask her to be
his wife. She replied sharply, " If he wants me to marry
him, let him not send rough soldiers to woo me, but
respectable matrons, and give me time to make up my
mind." Whereupon the soldiers withdrew abashed. But
before Flaccus had obtained matrons to convey his offer,
Petronilla was dead.

^ , — ■ ^ — ijt

At Rome is a catacomb named after her, a church, and
an altar in the Vatican, which enshrines her body. Accord-
ing to some, S. Petronilla was only the spiritual child of
S. Peter.

S. HERMIAS, M.

(ciRC. A.D. l66.)

[Roman Martyrology, inserted by Baronius from the Greek Menology.
But he has fallen into several mistakes. Hermias was martyr at
Comana, in Cappadocia, not at the place of the same name in Pontus,
as the Roman Martyrology asserts ; Baronius was also mistaken in the
facts. Authority : — The Greek Acts, a late, and not very trustworthy
composition.]

S. Hermias was a soldier who suffered in the reign of
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, at Comana, in Cappadocia.
His jaws were broken with a stone, and his sides, after
having been torn, were irritated by the application of
vinegar. His head was finally struck off.

SS. CANTIUS, CANTIAN, AND CANTIANILLA, M.

(about A.D. 290.)

[Roman and Gallican Martyrologies. Martyrology of S. Jerome, Ado,
Notker, Usuardus, Hrabanus. Authority : — The Acts attributed, but
erroneously, to S. Ambrose. They are probably by S. Maximus of
Turin.]

The Emperor Carus died when on his march against
the Persians. His death was attended with ambiguous
circumstances. He was said to have been struck with
lightning in his tent. He was succeeded (284) by his
sons, Carinus and Numerian ; Carinus, a sensual despot,
soft but cruel, devoted to pleasure, but destitute of taste ;
and though exquisitely susceptible of vanity, indiiferent to
public esteem. Numerian was cast in a difierent mould.

'// ■■' ^/ ^'

^ JJV..-^

fc-^

THE ASCENSION.

After Giotto's Fresco m the Arena at Fadua.

"And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up : and a cl
received Him from their sight. And while they looked steadfastly towards Heaven, as He v
up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel ; whicli said. Ye men of Galdee, why si
ye gazing up into Heaven? this same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven, sha
come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven." — ACT.s 1., 9, 10, 11.

* »5

May 31.] ^. Cantius & Comps. 429

He was virtuous and accomplished, but his constitution
was delicate, and he sank into an early grave. Carinus
lost his life by the hand of a tribune, whose wife he had
dishonoured, and the upstart Diocletian assumed the
imperial purple. But there lived two youths, Cantius and
Cantianus, and their sister, Cantiana, or Cantianilla,
of the blue Anician blood, grandsons, or grand-nephews
of the Emperor Carus. Their tutor, a Christian named
Protus, saw that they could not with safety remain in
Rome, and he fled with them to Aquileia. Into their
young hearts he had succeeded in instilling the divine
lessons of the Gospel, and the young princes had in all
probability been baptized. At Aquileia, Dulcitius and
Sisinnius were governors. They sent word to the usurper
Diocletian of the presence of the youths and their sister in
Aquileia, and they insinuated that, being Christians, this
charge would cover their condemnation. Order for their
arrest speedily followed; they were to be arrested and
tried on the charge of being Christians. But in the mean-
time, the guardian, Protus, had heard of the message to
Diocletian, and he hurried the children from the city.
Diocletian ordered them to be pursued, and put to death,
wherever they were taken. An accident to the litter in
which the children were being conveyed away, delayed
them on the road, and the soldiers overtaking them, the
three children and their guardian were promptly executed.
The place of the martyrdom was at Aquffi Gradatse, since
called San-Cantiano. The bodies of the martyrs were
buried by a priest, and they remained for seven hundred
years at Aquileia, till they were obtained by King Robert
the Good of France for the church of Etampes, which he
had just erected. In 1793, the revolutionary mob broke
the reliquary, and scattered the bones, but some portions
were preserved by the faithful, and are to this day objects

430 Lives of the Saints. [May 31.

of veneration. Every year at Etampes, on May 31st, a
procession of the "Corps saints" takes place, to which
great numbers of children are brought by their mothers.

S. ANGELA OF MERICI, V.
(a.d. 1540.)

[Roman Martyrology. Beatified by Pius IV. , and canonized by Pius
VII. Authority : — Life by Ottavio Florentino.]

Angela was the youngest daughter of a worthy couple
who lived at Desenzano, near Brescia, in Lombardy. She
was born in 1474, and was left an orphan with an elder
sister, when she was ten years old. The two sisters were
taken home by an uncle. In his house her sister died
suddenly, without receiving the last sacraments. This
distressed the little Angela, and she prayed that she might
be told the condition of her sister. A few days after, her
uncle finding the child greatly depressed, sent her into the
country. On her way she saw a luminous haze, and on
Hearing it, saw the form of her sister. She was satisfied by
this vision that her sister was in bliss. On the death of
her uncle she returned to her paternal house, and seeing
that the great need of her day was instruction for the
young girls, she collected children to her, and taught them.
Others joined her, and she became the founder of the
Ursulines, whose special mission is the education of girls.
Under Angela, the society was without vows or peculiar
dress, all which it assumed after her death, which took
place on the night of the 27-28th of January, 1540. Her
body was buried in the church of S. Afra, at Brescia.

END OF VOL. v.

Printid by ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
Ediftburgh and Ls7idon

ii< ■■ -iji

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