{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_49604/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_49604","id":"gutenberg_49604","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/49604","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian patron saints -- Biography","Christian saints -- Biography"],"text":"\u250c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2510\n \u2502 \u2502\n \u2502 Transcriber\u2019s Notes \u2502\n \u2502 \u2502\n \u2502 \u2502\n \u2502 Punctuation has been standardized. \u2502\n \u2502 \u2502\n \u2502 Characters in small caps have been replaced by all caps. \u2502\n \u2502 \u2502\n \u2502 Non-printable characteristics have been given the following \u2502\n \u2502 transliteration: \u2502\n \u2502 Italic text: --> _text_ \u2502\n \u2502 \u2502\n \u2502 This book was written in a period when many words had \u2502\n \u2502 not become standardized in their spelling. Words may have \u2502\n \u2502 multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in \u2502\n \u2502 the text. These have been left unchanged unless indicated \u2502\n \u2502 with a Transcriber\u2019s Note. \u2502\n \u2502 \u2502\n \u2502 Footnotes are identified in the text with a number in \u2502\n \u2502 brackets [2] and have been accumulated in a single section \u2502\n \u2502 at the end of the text. \u2502\n \u2502 \u2502\n \u2502 Transcriber\u2019s Notes are used when making corrections to the \u2502\n \u2502 text or to provide additional information for the modern \u2502\n \u2502 reader. These notes are not identified in the text, but have \u2502\n \u2502 been accumulated in a single section at the end of the book. \u2502\n \u2502 \u2502\n \u2514\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2518\n\n\n\n\n_Only Complete and Unabridged Edition with nearly 100 pages of\nChronological and General Index, Alphabetical and Centenary Table,\netc._\n\n\n THE\n LIVES\n OF\n THE FATHERS, MARTYRS,\n AND OTHER\n PRINCIPAL SAINTS;\n\n COMPILED FROM\n\n ORIGINAL MONUMENTS, AND OTHER AUTHENTIC RECORDS;\n\n ILLUSTRATED WITH THE\n\n REMARKS OF JUDICIOUS MODERN CRITICS AND HISTORIANS.\n\n\n BY THE REV. ALBAN BUTLER.\n\n\n _With the approbation of\n MOST REV. M. A. CORRIGAN, D.D.,\n Archbishop of New York._\n\n\n VOL. VII.\n\n\n NEW YORK:\n P. J. KENEDY,\n PUBLISHER TO THE HOLY SEE,\n EXCELSIOR CATHOLIC PUBLISHING HOUSE,\n 5 BARCLAY STREET.\n 1908\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS.\n\n\n JULY.\n\n 1.\n\n St. Rumold, Bishop and Martyr\n SS. Julius and Aaron, Martyrs\n St. Theobald, Confessor\n St. Gal, Bishop\n Another St. Gal, Bishop\n St. Calais, Abbot\n St. Leonorus, Bishop\n St. Simeon\n St. Thierri, Abbot\n St. Cybar, Recluse\n\n\n 2.\n\n The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin\n SS. Processus and Martinian, Martyrs\n St. Otho, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Monegondes, Recluse\n St. Oudoceus, Bishop\n\n\n 3.\n\n St. Phocas, Martyr\n St. Guthagon, Recluse\n St. Gunthiern, Abbot\n St. Bertran, Bishop\n\n\n 4.\n\n St. Ulric, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Odo, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Sisoes, Anchoret\n St. Bertha, Widow, Abbess\n St. Finbar, Abbot in Ireland\n St. Bolcan, Abbot in Ireland\n\n\n 5.\n\n St. Peter, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Modwena, Virgin in Ireland\n St. Edana, Virgin in Ireland\n\n\n 6.\n\n St. Palladius, Bishop and Confessor, Apostle of the Scots\n Account of ancient principal Scottish Saints commemorated in\n an ancient Scottish Calendar published by Mr. Robert Keith\n St. Julian, Anchoret\n St. Sexburgh, Abbess\n St. Goar, Priest, Confessor\n St. Moninna, Virgin in Ireland\n\n\n 7.\n\n St. Pant\u00e6nus, Father of the Church\n St. Willibald, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Hedda, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Edelburga, Virgin\n St. Felix, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Benedict XI., Pope and Confessor\n\n\n 8.\n\n St. Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal\n St. Procopius, Martyr\n SS. Kilian, Bishop, Colman, Priest, and Totnan, Deacon, Martyrs\n St. Withburge, Virgin\n B. Theobald, Abbot\n St. Grimbald, Abbot\n\n\n 9.\n\n St. Ephrem, Doctor of the Church\n Appendix on the Writings of St. Ephrem\n SS. Martyrs of Gorcum\n St. Everildis, Virgin\n St. Veronica Giuliani\n\n\n 10.\n\n The Seven Brothers, and St. Felicitas, their mother, Martyrs\n SS. Rufina and Secunda, Virgins, Martyrs\n\n\n 11.\n\n St. James, Bishop and Confessor\n His Writings\n St. Hidulphus, Bishop\n St. Pius I., Pope and Martyr\n St. Drostan, Abbot in Scotland\n\n\n 12.\n\n St. John Gualbert, Abbot\n SS. Nabor and Felix, Martyrs\n\n\n 13.\n\n St. Eugenius, Bishop, &c., Confessors\n St. Anacletus, Pope and Martyr\n St. Turiaf, Bishop\n\n\n 14.\n\n St. Bonaventure, Cardinal, Bishop, and Doctor of the Church\n Life of B. Giles of Assisio\n Lives and Writings of Peter Lombard, surnamed Master of the\n Sentences, Bishop of Paris, John Duns Scotus, Professor of\n Divinity at Oxford, and William Ockham\n St. Camillus de Lellis, Confessor\n St. Idus, Bishop in Ireland\n\n\n 15.\n\n St. Henry II., Emperor\n Some account of the Territories conferred by Pepin, and\n confirmed by Charlemagne, on the Holy See\n St. Plechelm, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Swithin, Bishop and Confessor\n\n\n 16.\n\n St. Eustathius, Patriarch of Antioch, Confessor\n Life and Writings of Eusebius, Bishop of C\u00e6sarea\n St. Elier, Hermit and Martyr\n\n\n 17.\n\n St. Alexius, Confessor\n St. Speratus, &c., Martyrs\n Life and Writings of Tertullian\n St. Marcellina, Virgin\n St. Ennodius, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Leo IV., Pope and Confessor\n Some Account of the Slander of Pope Joan\n St. Turninus, Confessor, of Ireland\n\n\n 18.\n\n St. Symphorosa and her seven Sons, Martyrs\n St. Philastrius, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Arnoul, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Arnoul, Martyr\n St. Frederic, Bishop and Martyr\n St. Odulph, Confessor\n St. Bruno, Bishop and Confessor\n\n\n 19.\n\n St. Vincent of Paul, Confessor\n Some Account of Jansenism\n St. Arsenius, Anchoret of Scet\u00e9\n St. Symmachus, Pope and Confessor\n St. Macrina, Virgin\n\n\n 20.\n\n St. Joseph Barsabas, Confessor\n St. Margaret, Virgin and Martyr\n SS. Justa and Rufina, Martyrs\n St. Ceslas, Confessor\n St. Aurelius, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Ulmar, Abbot\n St. Jerom \u00c6miliani, Confessor\n\n\n 21.\n\n St. Praxedes, Virgin\n St. Zoticus, Bishop and Martyr\n St. Barhadbesciabas, Martyr\n St. Victor, Martyr\n Life and Writings of Cassian\n Lives and Writings of Hugh and Richard, Canon Regulars of\n St. Victor\n St. Arbogastus, Bishop and Confessor\n\n\n 22.\n\n St. Mary Magdalen\n St. Vandrille, Abbot\n St. Joseph of Palestine\n St. Meneve, Abbot\n St. Dabius, Confessor, of Ireland\n\n\n 23.\n\n St. Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr\n St. Liborius, Bishop and Confessor\n\n\n 24.\n\n St. Lupus, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Francis Solano, Confessor\n SS. Romanus and David, Martyrs\n Some Account of the Russians, their Saints, &c.\n St. Christina, Virgin and Martyr\n SS. Wulfhad and Ruffin, Martyrs\n St. Lewine, Virgin and Martyr\n St. Declan, Bishop in Ireland\n St. Kinga, Virgin\n\n\n 25.\n\n St. James the Great, Apostle\n St. Christopher, Martyr\n SS. Thea and Valentine, Virgins, and St. Paul, Martyrs\n St. Cucufas, Martyr\n St. Nissen, Abbot in Ireland\n\n\n 26.\n\n St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin\n St. Germanus, Bishop and Confessor\n\n\n 27.\n\n St. Pantaleon, Martyr\n SS. Maximian, Malchus, Martinian, Dionysius, John, Serapion,\n and Constantine, Martyrs\n St. Congall, Abbot in Ireland\n St. Lucian, Confessor in Ireland\n\n\n 28.\n\n SS. Nazarius and Celsus, Martyrs\n St. Victor, Pope and Martyr\n St. Innocent I., Pope and Confessor\n St. Sampson, Bishop and Confessor\n\n\n 29.\n\n St. Martha, Virgin\n SS. Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrice, Martyrs\n St. Felix, Pope and Martyr\n St. William, Bishop and Confessor\n St. Olaus, King and Martyr\n Another St. Olaus, King and Martyr\n\n\n 30.\n\n SS. Abdon and Sennen, Martyrs\n St. Julitta, Martyr\n\n\n 31.\n\n St. Ignatius of Loyola, Confessor\n St. John Columbini, Confessor\n St. Helen, Martyr\n\n\n\n\n JULY 1.\n\n\n SAINT RUMOLD, B. M.\n\n PATRON OF MECHLIN.[1]\n\n From the Bollandists. Ward, Act. &c. S. Rumoldi, Lov. 1662,\n 4to. Sellerii Act. S. Rumoldi, An. 1718, &c.\n\n A. D. 775.\n\nSt. Rumold renounced the world in his youth and embraced a state\nof voluntary poverty, being convinced that whatever exceeds the\ncalls of nature is a useless load and a perfect burden to him that\nbears it. He was the most declared enemy to voluptuousness; and by\nfrugality, moderation, and a heart pure and disengaged from all\nseducing vanities, and desires of what is superfluous, he tasted\nthe most solid pleasure which virtue gives in freeing a man from\nthe tyranny of his passions, when he feels them subjected to him,\nand finds himself above them. Victorious over himself, by humility,\nmeekness, and mortification, he reaped in his soul, without any\nobstacles from self-love or inordinate attachments, the sweet and\nhappy fruits of assiduous prayer and contemplation, whereby he\nsanctified his studies, in which he made great progress, and at the\nsame time advanced daily in Christian perfection. He had faithfully\nserved God many years in his own country, when an ardent zeal for the\ndivine honor and the salvation of souls induced him to travel into\nLower Germany to preach the faith to the idolaters. He made a journey\nfirst to Rome to receive his mission from the chief pastor, and\nwith the apostolic blessing went into Brabant, great part of which\ncountry about Mechlin he converted to the faith. He was ordained a\nregionary or missionary bishop without any fixed see. He frequently\ninterrupted his exterior functions to renew his spirit before God in\nholy solitude. In his retirement he was slain on the 24th of June in\n775, by two sons of Belial, one of whom he had reproved for adultery.\nHis body was thrown into a river, but being miraculously discovered,\nit was honorably interred by his virtuous friend and protector, count\nAdo. A great and sumptuous church was built at Mechlin to receive\nhis precious relics, which is still possessed of that treasure, and\nbears the name of this saint. The city of Mechlin keeps his feast a\nsolemn holiday, and honors him as its patron and apostle. Janning the\nBollandist gives a long history of his miracles. His great church at\nMechlin was raised to the metropolitical dignity by Paul IV. Ware\nsays that the feast of St. Rumold was celebrated as a double festival\nwith an office of nine lessons throughout the province of Dublin\nbefore the reformation. It was extended to the whole kingdom of\nIreland in the year 1741.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt was from the spirit of prayer that the saints derived all their\nlights and all their strength. This was the source of all the\nblessings which heaven through their intercession showered down\non the world, and the means which they employed to communicate an\nangelical purity to their souls. \u201cThis spirit,\u201d says a father of the\nChurch,[2] \u201cis nourished by retreat, which in some manner may be\ncalled the parent of purity.\u201d This admirable transformation of our\nsouls produced by prayer is to be attributed to God\u2019s glory, which by\nprayer he makes to shine in the secret of our hearts. In fine, when\nall the avenues of our senses are closed against the creature, and\nthat God dwells with us, and we with God; when freed from the tumult\nand distractions of the world we apply all our attention to interior\nthings and consider ourselves such as we are, we then become capable\nof clearly contemplating the kingdom of God, established in us by\nthat charity and ardent love which consumes all the rust of earthly\naffections. For the kingdom of heaven, or rather the Lord of heaven\nitself, is within us, as Jesus Christ himself assures us.\n\n\n SS. JULIUS AND AARON, MM.\n\nThese saints were Britons, and seem to have taken, the one a Roman\nand the other a Hebrew name at their baptism. They glorified God by\nmartyrdom at Caerleon upon Usk in Monmouthshire, in the persecution\nof Dioclesian, probably about the year 303. St Gildas,[3] St.\nBede,[4] and others, speak of their triumph as having been most\nillustrious. Leland and Bale say, SS. Julius and Aaron had travelled\nto Rome, and \u201cthere applied themselves to the sacred studies.\u201d Bede\nadds, \u201cvery many others of both sexes, by unheard-of tortures,\nattained to the crown of heavenly glory.\u201d Giraldus Cambrensis informs\nus, that their bodies were honored at Caerleon in the year 1200, when\nhe wrote. Each of these martyrs had a titular church in that city;\nthat of St. Julius, belonged to a nunnery, and that of St. Aaron\nto a monastery of canons. See Godwin De Episc. Landav. Geoffrey of\nMonmouth, Giraldus Cambrensis, Leland, and Tanner, Bibl. Britan. p. 1.\n\n\n ST. THEOBALD OR THIBAULT, C.\n\nHe was of the family of the counts palatine of Champagne, and son of\ncount Arnoul. He was born at Provins in Brie in 1017, and was called\nTheobald from the most virtuous archbishop of Vienne, who was his\nuncle. In his youth he preserved his heart free from the corruption\nof the world amidst its vanities; and the more pains others took\nto make him conceive a relish for them, the more diligent he was\nin fencing his heart against their dangers, the more perfectly he\ndiscovered their emptiness and secret poison. In reading the lives\nof the fathers of the desert he was much affected by the admirable\nexamples of penance, self-denial, holy contemplation, and Christian\nperfection, which were set before his eyes as it were in a glass,\nand he earnestly desired to imitate them. The lives of St. John the\nBaptist, of St. Paul the hermit, St. Antony, and St. Arsenius in\ntheir wildernesses, charmed him, and he sighed after the like sweet\nretirement, in which he might without interruption converse with God\nby prayer and contemplation. He often resorted to an holy hermit\nnamed Burchard, who lived in a little island in the Seine; and by\nmaking essays he began to inure himself to fasting, watching, long\nprayers, and every rigorous practice of penance. He declined all\nthe advantageous matches and places at court or in the army which\nhis father could propose to him. His cousin Eudo, count palatine of\nChampagne, and count of Chartres and Blois, upon the death of his\nuncle Rodolph, the last king of Burgundy, in 1034, laid claim to that\ncrown as next heir in blood; but the emperor Conrad the Salic seized\nupon it by virtue of the testament of the late king.[5] Hereupon\nensued a war, and count Arnoul ordered his son to lead a body of\ntroops to the succor of his cousin. But the young general represented\nso respectfully to his father the obligation of a vow by which he\nhad bound himself to quit the world, that he at length extorted his\nconsent.\n\nSoon after the saint and another young nobleman called Walter, his\nintimate friend, each taking one servant, went to the abbey of St.\nRemigius in Rheims, and thence having sent back their servants\nwith their baggage, they set out privately; and in the clothes of\ntwo beggars, in exchange for which they had given their own rich\ngarments, they travelled barefoot into Germany. Finding the forest\nof Petingen in Suabia a convenient solitude for their purpose, they\nbuilt themselves there two little cells. Having learned from Burchard\nthat manual labor is a necessary duty of an ascetic or penitential\nlife, and not being skilled in the manner of working to make mats\nor baskets, they often went into the neighboring villages and there\nhired themselves by the day to serve the masons, or to work in the\nfields, to carry stones and mortar, to load and unload carriages, to\ncleanse the stables under the servants of the farmers, or to blow\nthe bellows and to make fires for the forges. With their wages they\nbought coarse brown bread, which was their whole subsistence. Whilst\nthey worked with their hands, their hearts were secretly employed in\nprayer; and at night retiring again into their forest, they watched\nlong, singing together the divine praises, and continuing in holy\ncontemplation. Their carriage and the tenderness of their complexion\ndiscovered that they had not been trained up in manual labor, and\nthe reputation of their sanctity after some time drew the eyes of\nmen upon them. To shun which they resolved to forsake a place where\nthey were no longer able to live in humiliation and obscurity. They\nperformed barefoot a pilgrimage to Compostella, and returned into\nGermany.\n\nPassing through Triers, it happened that Theobald there met his\nfather count Arnoul; but with his tanned face, and in his ragged\nclothes, passing for a beggar, he was not known by him. He was\nstrongly affected, and was scarcely able to stifle the tender\nsentiments with which his heart was quite overcome at the sight of\nso dear and affectionate a parent. However, he suppressed them;\nbut to quit the neighborhood where he might be again exposed to\nthe like trial, he undertook a pilgrimage to Rome. The two fervent\npenitents travelled everywhere barefoot; and after they had visited\nall the holy places in Italy, they chose for their retirement a\nhideous woody place called Salanigo, near Vicenza, where with the\nleave of the lord of the manor they built themselves two cells, near\nan old ruinous chapel. Prayer and the exercises of penance were\ntheir constant employment, till after two years God called Walter\nto himself. Theobald looked upon this loss as a warning that he had\nnot long to live, and he exerted his whole strength, redoubling his\npace to run with greater vigor as he drew near the end of his race.\nHe had lived on oat bread and water, with roots and herbs, but at\nlength he interdicted himself even the use of bread, taking no other\nfood but herbs and roots. He always wore a rough hair shirt; his\nbed was a board, and for the five last years of his life he took\nhis rest sitting on a wooden seat. The bishop of Vicenza promoted\nhim to priest\u2019s orders, and several persons put themselves under\nhis direction. His lineage and quality being discovered, his aged\nparents were no sooner informed that their son was alive, and that\nthe hermit of Salanigo, the reputation of whose sanctity, prophecies,\nand miracles filled all Europe, was that very son whose absence\nhad been to them the cause of so long a mourning; but they set out\nwith great joy to see him. His frightful desert, his poor cell, his\ntattered clothes, and above all his emaciated body, made so strong\nimpressions upon their hearts at the first sight that they both\ncast themselves at his feet, and for a considerable time were only\nable to speak to him by their tears. When they were raised from the\nground, and had recovered from their first surprise, faith overcame\nin them the sentiments of nature, and converted their sorrow into\njoy. The sight of so moving an example extinguished in their hearts\nall love of the world, and they both resolved upon the spot to\ndedicate themselves to the divine service. The count was obliged\nby his affairs to return into Brie, but Gisla, the saint\u2019s mother,\nobtained her husband\u2019s consent to finish her course near the cell of\nher son. The saint made her a little hut at some distance from his\nown, and took great pains to instruct her in the practice of true\nperfection. He was shortly after visited with his last sickness;\nhis body was covered over with blotches and ulcers, and every limb\nafflicted with some painful disorder. The servant of God suffered\nthis distemper with a most edifying patience and joy. A little before\nhis death he sent for Peter the abbot of Vangadice, of the order of\nCamaldoli, from whose hands he had received the religious habit a\nyear before. To him he recommended his mother and his disciples: and\nhaving received the viaticum he expired in peace on the last day of\nJune, 1066, being about thirty-three years old, of which he had spent\ntwelve at Salanigo and three in Suabia, and in his pilgrimages. His\nrelics were translated to the church dependent on the abbey of St.\nColumba, at Sens, and afterward to a chapel near Auxerre called St.\nThibaud aux Bois. He was canonized by Alexander III. and his name is\nin great veneration at Sens, Provins, Paris, Auxerre, Langres, Toul,\nTriers, Autun, and Beauvais. See his life faithfully written by a\ncontemporary author.\n\n\n SAINT GAL, CALLED THE FIRST.\n\n BISHOP OF CLERMONT, IN AUVERGNE.\n\nHe was born about the year 489. His father George was of the first\nhouses of that province, and his mother Leocadia was descended from\nthe family of Vettius Apagatus, the celebrated Roman, who suffered\nat Lyons for the faith of Christ. They both took special care of\nthe education of their son; and when he arrived at a proper age,\nproposed to have him married to the daughter of a respectable\nsenator. The saint, who had taken a resolution to consecrate himself\nto God, withdrew privately from his father\u2019s house to the monastery\nof Cournon, near the city of Auvergne, and earnestly prayed to be\nadmitted there amongst the monks; and having soon after obtained the\nconsent of his parents, he with joy renounced all worldly vanities to\nembrace religious poverty. Here his eminent virtues distinguished him\nin a particular manner, and recommended him to Quintianus, bishop of\nAuvergne, who promoted him to holy orders.\n\nThe bishop dying in 527, St. Gal was appointed to succeed him; and in\nthis new character his humility, charity, and zeal were conspicuous;\nbut, above all, his patience in bearing injuries. Being once struck\non the head by a brutal man, he discovered not the least emotion of\nanger or resentment, and by this meekness disarmed the savage of his\nrage. At another time Evodius, who from a senator became a priest,\nhaving so far forgot himself as to treat him in the most insulting\nmanner, the saint, without making the least reply, arose meekly from\nhis seat and went to visit the churches of the city. Evodius was so\ntouched by this conduct, that he cast himself at the saint\u2019s feet\nin the middle of the street and asked his pardon. From this time\nthey both lived on terms of the most cordial friendship. St. Gal\nwas favored with the gift of miracles; and died about the year 553.\nHe is mentioned this day in the Roman Martyrology. See St. Greg. of\nTours, his nephew, Vit. Patr. c. 6. Hist. Franc. l. 4, c. 5; also the\nremarks of Mabillon, sec. 1. Bened. Gall. Christ, Nov. t. 2, p. 237,\nand Selier the Bollandist, t. 1, Jul. p. 103.\n\nAnother St. Gal, called the Second, is honored at Clermont on the\n1st of November. He was bishop of that see in 650. See Gall. Christ.\nNova, t. 2, p. 245.\n\n\n ST. CALAIS, IN LATIN CARILEPHUS.\n\n FIRST ABBOT OF ANILLE IN MAINE.\n\nHe was born in Auvergne, of a family equally virtuous and noble.\nHe was yet a child when they sent him to the monastery of Menat\nin the diocess of Clermont, in order to be early principled in\nknowledge and piety. Here he became a religious, and practised all\nthe prescriptions of the rule with the greatest fervor. After some\ntime he quitted the monastery with St. Avi, and they both retired\nto the abbey of Micy near Orleans. The bishop of this city having\ndestined them for holy orders, they withdrew themselves from the\nabbey, and advancing together as far as Perche, led by their fervor\nto the austerities of an eremitical life, they separated. St. Calais\nwas followed by two persons, who by no means would consent to quit\nhim, and with these he went to Maine, where he perfectly revived the\nrigorous discipline of the ancient eastern hermits. But as he was\nconstantly visited by numbers who sought to live under his direction,\nhe at length consented to receive them. King Childebert gave him\nland whereon to build a monastery, which was first called Anisole or\nAnille, from the river on which it was situated,[6] but it is now,\nas well as the little town built round it, called after the saint.\nThe life of the holy founder was not only extraordinary for penance\nand prayer, but he excelled in the exact observance of his rules;\ninsomuch that he constantly refused the visit of queen Ultrogotha\nwife of Childebert, because one of the statutes forbade to enter the\nmonastery. He died in 542, and his name is mentioned this day in the\nRoman Martyrology. A portion of his relics is kept in the abbey of\nSt. Calais, but the greatest part is in the chapel of the castle of\nBlois, which also bears his name. See the life of St. Calais, written\nby Siviard, fifth abbot of Anille, with the notes of Mabillon, and\nthe Bollandist, t. 1, Jul. p. 85, and Martenne Ampl. Coll. t. 1,\npr\u00e6f. p. 4, &c.\n\n\n SAINT LEONORUS, IN FRENCH LUNAIRE, B.\n\nHe was of a noble family in Wales, and educated under the care of St.\nIltut; and passing over into that part of France called the province\nof Domnone, he founded a monastery between the rivers of Ranc\u00e9 and\nArguenon, on a piece of ground which was given him by Jona, the lord\nof the country. His many extraordinary virtues drew the attention of\nking Childebert, who very pressingly invited him to Paris, where he\nwas received by this prince and his royal consort Ultrogotha with\nevery possible demonstration of the highest respect. At his return he\nhad the affliction to hear that his protector Jona was stripped of\nhis possessions, and murdered by Conomor. Happily however he arrived\ntime enough to shelter that unfortunate nobleman\u2019s son Judual from\nthe bloody tyrant\u2019s cruelty, and conveyed him safely to England:\nwhence Judual afterward returned, and recovered his inheritance. The\nsaint is styled bishop, though he had no fixed see. For it was then\nan established custom in Brittany to honor the principal abbots with\nthe episcopal dignity. The year in which St. Leonorus died is not\nknown. His body was translated to a parochial church near St. Malo,\nwhich still retains the name of St. Lunaire: here his tomb is shown,\nwhich is empty, his relics being inclosed in a shrine. The feast of\nhis translation is on the 13th of October, but he is principally\nhonored in the several diocesses of Brittany on the 1st of July. He\nis patron of many churches. See the Breviary of Leon, of the abbey of\nSt. Meen, &c. also Lobineau, Vies des SS. de Bretagne, p. 91, and the\nMartyrology of Usuard.\n\n\n ST. SIMEON, SURNAMED SALUS.[7]\n\nHe was a native of Egypt, and born about the year 522. Having\nperformed a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he retired to a desert near\nthe Red Sea, where he remained twenty-nine years in the constant\npractice of a most austere penitential life. Here he was constantly\nrevolving in mind that we must love humiliations if we would be truly\nhumble; that at least we should receive those which God sends us with\nresignation, and own them exceedingly less than the measure of our\ndemerits; that it is even sometimes our advantage to seek them; that\nhuman prudence should not always be our guide in this regard; and\nthat there are circumstances where we ought to follow the impulse\nof the Holy Spirit, though not unless we have an assurance of his\ninspiration. The servant of God, animated by an ardent desire to be\ncontemptible among men, quitted the desert, and at Emesus succeeded\nto his wish; for by affecting the manners of those who want sense,\nhe passed for a fool. He was then sixty years old, and lived six or\nseven years in that city, when it was destroyed by an earthquake\nin 588. His love for humility was not without reward, God having\nbestowed on him extraordinary graces, and even honored him with the\ngift of miracles. The year of his death is unknown. Although we are\nnot obliged in every instance to imitate St. Simeon, and that it\nwould be rash even to attempt it without a special call; yet his\nexample ought to make us blush, when we consider with what an ill\nwill we suffer the least thing that hurts our pride. See Evagrius, a\ncontemporary writer, l. 4, c. 5; the life of the saint by Leontius,\nbishop of Napoli in Cyprus; that of St. John the Almoner; and the\nBollandists, t. 1, Jul. p. 129.\n\n\n SAINT THIERRI, ABBOT OF MONT-D\u2019HOR, NEAR RHEIMS.\n\nHe was born in the district of Rheims. His father Marquard was\nabandoned to every infamous disorder. An education formed on the best\nChristian principles in the house of such a person would more than\nprobably be blasted by his bad example; but our saint was happily\nremoved, and educated in learning and piety, under the edifying\nexample of the holy bishop Remigius.\n\nHe married in complaisance to his relations; but easily persuaded his\nwife to embrace the virgin state; and becoming himself a monk, he was\nmade superior of an abbey founded by St. Remigius on Mont-d\u2019Hor, near\nRheims. Some time after he received holy orders, and became famous\nby the many extraordinary conversions he wrought through the zeal\nand unction wherewith he exhorted sinners to repentance; among these\nwas his own father, who persevered to his death under the direction\nof his son. He succeeded also, in conjunction with St. Remigius,\nin converting an infamous house into a nunnery of pious virgins.\nAccording to the most common opinion he died on the 1st of July, 533.\nIt is said that king Thierri assisted at his funeral, and esteemed\nhimself honored in being one of his bearers to the grave. His\nrelics, lest they should be exposed to the impiety of the Normans,\nwere hidden under ground, but discovered in 976, and are still\npreserved in a silver shrine. He is mentioned on this day in the\nRoman Martyrology. See Mabillon, Act. t. 1, p. 614. Bulteau, Hist. de\nl\u2019Ordre de St. Ben. t. 1, p. 287; Baillet ad l. Jul. and Gal. Christ.\nNov. t. 9, p. 180.\n\n\n SAINT CYBAR, A RECLUSE AT ANGOULEME.\n\nEparcus, commonly called Cybar, quitted the world in spite of his\nparents, who would hinder him to follow his vocation; and retiring\nto the monastery of Sedaciac in Perigord, he there served God some\ntime under abbot Martin, and soon became known and admired for his\nextraordinary virtues and miracles. Wherefore, in dread of the\nseduction of vain-glory, he left his monastery to hide himself\nin absolute solitude. It was near Angouleme, with the bishop of\nPerigueux\u2019s and his abbot\u2019s leave, he shut himself up in a cell. But\nhis virtues were too striking for concealment, and the bishop of\nAngouleme obliged him to accept the priesthood. Cybar was extremely\naustere in his food and apparel, especially during Lent. Although a\nrecluse, he did not refuse to admit disciples; but he would not allow\nthem manual labor, as, after his own example, he willed they should\nbe constantly occupied in prayer. When any of them would complain for\nwant of necessaries, he would tell them with St. Jerom, that \u201cFaith\nnever feared hunger.\u201d Nor was he deceived in his trust on Providence,\nas he always found abundance for himself and his disciples in the\nbeneficence of the faithful; insomuch that he was even enabled to\nredeem a great number of captives. He died the 1st of July, 581,\nhaving lived about forty years in his cell. His relics were kept in\nthe abbey church of his name until 1568, when they were burnt by the\nHuguenots. See Mabillon, Act. t. 1, p. 267; Bulteau, Histoire de\nl\u2019Ordre de St. Benoit, t. 1, p. 235; Gallia Chr. Nov. t. 2, p. 978,\n979, &c.\n\n\n\n\n JULY II.\n\n\n THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.\n\nFrom the example of Christ, his blessed Mother, and the apostles,\nSt. Thomas shows[8] that state to be in itself the most perfect which\njoins together the functions of Martha and Mary, or of the active\nand contemplative life. This is endeavored by those persons who so\nemploy themselves in the service of their neighbor, as amidst their\nexternal employs or conversation often to raise their minds to God,\nfeeding always on their heavenly invisible food, as the angel did\nin Toby\u2019s company on earth. Who also, by the practice and love of\ndaily recollection and much solitude, fit themselves to appear in\npublic; and who by having learned the necessary art of silence in\nits proper season, and by loving to speak little among men,[9] study\nto be in the first place their own friends, and by reflection and\nserious consideration to be thoroughly acquainted with themselves,\nand to converse often in heaven.[10] Such will be able to acquit\nthemselves of external employs without prejudice to their own virtue,\nwhen called to them by duty, justice, or charity. They may avoid\nthe snares of the world, and sanctify their conversation with men.\nOf this the Blessed Virgin is to us a perfect model in the visit\npaid to her cousin Elizabeth, as St. Francis of Sales takes notice,\nwho borrowed from this mystery the name which he gave to his Order\nof nuns, who, according to the first plan of their institute, were\ndevoted to visit and attend on the sick.\n\nThe angel Gabriel, in the mystery of the Annunciation, informed the\nmother of God, that her cousin Elizabeth had miraculously conceived,\nand was then in the sixth month of her pregnancy. The Blessed\nVirgin, out of humility, concealed the favor she had received and\nthe wonderful dignity to which she was raised by the incarnation\nof the Son of God in her womb; but in the transport of her holy\njoy and gratitude, she would go to congratulate the mother of the\nBaptist; with which resolution the Holy Ghost inspired her for his\ngreat designs in favor of her Son\u2019s precursor not yet born. _Mary_\ntherefore _arose_, saith St. Luke, _and with haste went into the\nhilly-country into a city of Juda; and entering into the house of\nZachary saluted Elizabeth_. She made this visit to a saint, because\nthe company of the servants of God is principally to be sought,\nfrom whose example and very silence the heart will always treasure\nup something, and the understanding receive some new light and\nimprovement in charity. As glowing coals increase their flame by\ncontact, so is the fire of divine love kindled in a fervent soul by\nthe words and example of those who truly love God. In this journey\nwhat lessons of humility does the holy Virgin give us! She had been\njust saluted mother of God, and exalted above all mere creatures,\neven the highest seraphim of heaven; yet far from being elated with\nthe thoughts of her incomprehensible dignity, she appears but the\nmore humble by it. She prevents the mother of the Baptist in this\noffice of charity; the mother of God pays a visit to the mother of\nher Son\u2019s servant; the Redeemer of the world goes to his precursor.\nWhat a subject of confusion is this to the pride of the children\nof the world! who, not content with the rules of respect which the\nlaw of subordination requires, carry their vanity to an excess of\nceremoniousness contrary even to good manners, and to the freedom of\nconversation, which they make an art of constraint and of torture\nboth to themselves and others; and in which they seek not any duty\nof piety or improvement in virtue, but loathsome means of foolish\nflattery, the gratification of vanity, or that dissipation of mind\nwhich continually entertains it with trifles and idleness, and is an\nenemy to serious consideration and virtue.\n\nWhen the office of charity called upon Mary, she thought of no\ndangers or difficulties in so painful and long a journey of above\nfourscore miles from Nazareth in Galilee to Hebron, a sacerdotal\ncity in the mountainous country on the western side of the tribe of\nJuda. The inspired writer takes notice, that she went with haste or\nwith speed and diligence, to express her eagerness to perform this\ngood office. Charity knows not what sloth is, but always acts with\nfervor. She likewise would hasten her steps out of modesty, not\nchoosing to appear abroad, but as compelled by necessity or charity;\nnot travelling out of vanity, idleness, or curiosity, but careful in\nher journey to shun the dissipation of the world, according to the\nremarks of St. Ambrose. Whence we may also gather with what care she\nguarded her eyes, and what was the entertainment of her pious soul\nwith God upon the road. Being arrived at the house of Zachary, she\nentered it, and saluted Elizabeth. What a blessing did the presence\nof the God-man bring to this house, the first which he honored in\nhis humanity with his visit! But Mary is the instrument and means by\nwhich he imparts to it his divine benediction; to show us that she is\na channel through which he delights to communicate to us his graces,\nand to encourage us to ask them of him through her intercession.\nAt the voice of the mother of God, but by the power and grace of\nher Divine Son, in her womb, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy\nGhost and the infant in her womb was sanctified; and miraculously\nanticipating the use of reason, knew by divine inspiration the\nmystery of the incarnation, and who it was that came to visit him.\nFrom this knowledge he conceived so great, so extraordinary a joy as\nto leap and exult in the womb.[11] If Abraham and all the ancient\nprophets exulted only to foresee in spirit that day when it was at\nthe distance of so many ages, what wonder the little Baptist felt\nso great a joy to see it then present! How eagerly did he desire\nto take up his office of precursor, and already to announce to men\ntheir Redeemer that he might be known and adored by all! But how do\nwe think he adored and reverenced him present in his mother\u2019s womb?\nand what were the blessings with which he was favored by him? He was\ncleansed from original sin, and filled with sanctifying grace, was\nmade a prophet, and adored the Messiah before he was yet born.\n\nAt the same time Elizabeth was likewise filled with the Holy Ghost;\nand by his infused light, she understood the great mystery of the\nIncarnation which God had wrought in Mary, whom humility prevented\nfrom disclosing it even to a saint, and an intimate friend. In\nraptures of astonishment, Elizabeth pronounced her blessed above all\nother women, she being made by God the instrument of his blessing to\nthe world, and of removing the malediction which through Eve had been\nentailed on mankind. But the fruit of her womb she called blessed\nin a sense still infinitely higher, he being the immense source of\nall graces, by whom only Mary herself was blessed. Elizabeth, then\nturning her eyes upon herself, cried out--_Whence is this to me that\nthe mother of my Lord should come to me?_ She herself had conceived\nbarren and by a miracle; but Mary, a virgin, and by the Holy Ghost;\nshe conceived one greater than the prophets, but Mary the eternal\nSon of God, himself true God. The Baptist, her son, used the like\nexclamation to express his confusion and humility when Christ came to\nbe baptized by his hands. In the like words and profound sentiments\nought we to receive all the visits of God in his graces, especially\nin the holy sacraments. Elizabeth styles Mary, Mother of her Lord,\nthat is, mother of God; and she foretells that all things would\nbefall her and her Son which had been spoken by the prophets.\n\nMary hearing her own praise, sunk the lower in the abyss of her\nnothingness, and converting all good gifts to the glory of God, whose\ngratuitous mercy had bestowed them, in the transport of her humility,\nand melting in an ecstasy of love and gratitude, burst into that\nadmirable canticle called the _Magnificat_. It is the first record in\nthe New Testament, and both in the noble sentiments which compose it,\nand in the majesty of the style, surpasses all those of the ancient\nprophets. It is the most perfect model of thanksgiving and praise for\nthe incarnation of the Son of God, and the most precious monument of\nthe profound humility of Mary. In it she glorifies God with all the\npowers of her soul for his boundless mercies, and gives to him alone\nall the glory. In the spiritual gladness of her heart she adores her\nSaviour, who had cast his merciful eyes upon her lowliness. Though\nall nations will call her blessed, she declares that nothing is her\ndue but abjection, and that this mystery is the effect of the pure\npower and mercy of God; and that he who had dethroned tyrants, fed\nthe hungry in the wilderness, and wrought so many wonders in favor of\nhis people, had now vouchsafed himself to visit them, to live among\nthem, to die for them, and to fulfil all things which he had promised\nby his prophets from the beginning. Mary stayed with her cousin\nalmost three months; after which she returned to Nazareth.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhilst with the Church we praise God for the mercies and wonders\nwhich he wrought in this mystery, we ought to apply ourselves to the\nimitation of the virtues of which Mary sets us a perfect example.\nFrom her we ought particularly to learn the lessons by which we shall\nsanctify our visits and conversation; actions which are to so many\nChristians the sources of innumerable dangers and sins. We must shun\nnot only scurrilous and profane discourse, but whatever is idle,\nlight, airy, or unprofitable; whilst we unbend our mind, we ought\nas much as possible to see that conversation which is conducive\nto the improvement of our hearts or understandings, and to the\nadvancement of virtue and solid useful knowledge. If we suffer our\nmind to be puffed up with empty wind, it will become itself such as\nis the nourishment upon which it feeds. We should shun the vice of\ntalkativeness, did we but consult that detestable vanity itself which\nbetrays us into this folly. For nothing is more tyrannical or more\nodious and insupportable in company than to usurp a monopoly of the\ndiscourse. Nothing can more degrade us in the opinion of others than\nfor us to justle, as it were, for the word; to vent all we have in\nour hearts, at least a great deal that we ought to conceal there; and\nwithout understanding ourselves, or taking a review of our meaning\nor words, to pour out embryos of half-formed conceptions, and speak\nof the most noble subjects in an undress of thoughts. What proofs\nof our vanity and folly, what disgraces, what perplexities, what\ndetractions, and other evils and sins should we avoid, if we were but\nsparing and reserved in our words! If we find ourselves to swell with\nan itch of talking, big with our own thoughts, and impatient to give\nthem vent, we must by silence curb this dangerous passion, and learn\nto be masters of our words.\n\n\n SS. PROCESSUS AND MARTINIAN, MARTYRS.\n\nBy the preaching and miracles of SS. Peter and Paul at Rome, many\nwere converted to the faith, and among others several servants\nand courtiers of the emperor Nero, of whom St. Paul[12] makes\nmention.[13] In the year 64 that tyrant first drew his sword against\nthe Christians, who were in a very short time become very numerous\nand remarkable in Rome. A journey which he made into Greece in 67,\nseems to have given a short respite to the Church in Rome. He made a\ntour through the chief cities of that country, attended by a great\narmy of singers, pantomimes, and musicians, carrying instead of arms,\ninstruments of music, masks, and theatrical dresses. He was declared\nconqueror at all the public diversions over Greece, particularly at\nthe Olympian, Isthmian, Pythian, and Nem\u00e6an games, and gained there\none thousand eight hundred various sorts of crowns. Yet Greece saw\nits nobility murdered, the estates of its rich men confiscated, and\nits temples plundered by this progress of Nero. He returned to Rome\nonly to make the streets of that great city again to stream with\nblood. The apostles SS. Peter and Paul, after a long imprisonment,\nwere crowned with martyrdom. And soon after them their two faithful\ndisciples Processus and Martinian gained the same crown. Their acts\ntell us that they were the keepers of the Mamertine jail during the\nimprisonment of SS. Peter and Paul, by whom they were converted and\nbaptized. St. Gregory the Great preached his thirty-second homily on\ntheir festival, in a church in which their bodies lay, at which, he\nsays, the sick recovered their health, those that were possessed by\nevil spirits were freed, and those who had forsworn themselves were\ntormented by the devils. Their ancient church on the Aurelian road\nbeing fallen to decay, pope Paschal I. translated their relics to St.\nPeter\u2019s church on the Vatican hill, as Anastasius informs us. Their\nnames occur in the ancient Martyrologies. See Tillemont, Hist. Eccl.\nt. 1, p. 179, and Hist. des Emp. Crevier, &c.\n\n\n ST. OTHO, BISHOP OF BAMBERG, CONFESSOR.\n\nHe was a native of Swabia, in Germany, and being a clergyman eminent\nfor piety and learning, was chosen by the emperor Henry IV. to attend\nhis sister Judith in quality of chaplain when she was married to\nBoleslas III. duke of Poland, that state remaining deprived of the\nroyal dignity[14] from the year 1079 till it was restored in 1295,\nin favor of Premislas II. After the death of that princess, Otho\nreturned, and was made by Henry IV. his chancellor. That prince\ncaused the seals and crosses of every deceased bishop and great\nabbot to be delivered to him, and he sold them to whom he pleased.\nThis notorious simony and oppression of the Church was zealously\ncondemned by the pope, in opposition to whom the emperor set up the\nantipope Guibert. Otho labored to bring his prince to sentiments\nof repentance and submission, and refused to approve his schism or\nother crimes. Notwithstanding which, so great was the esteem which\nthe emperor had for his virtue, that, resolving to make choice at\nleast of one good bishop, he nominated him bishop of Bamberg in 1103.\nThe saint, notwithstanding the schism, went to Rome and received\nhis confirmation together with the pall from pope Paschal II. He\nlabored to extinguish the schism, and to obviate the mischiefs which\nit produced; and for this purpose he displayed his eloquence and\nabilities in the diet at Ratisbon in 1104. Henry V. succeeding his\nfather in 1106, continued to foment the schism; yet inherited the\nesteem of his predecessor for our saint, though he always adhered\nto the holy see, and was in the highest credit with all the popes\nof his time; so strongly does virtue command respect even in its\nadversaries, and such is the power of meekness in disarming the\nfiercest tyrants. St. Otho joined always with the functions of\nhis charge the exercises of an interior life, in which he was an\nadmirable proficient. He made many pious foundations, calling them\ninns which we erect on our road to eternity.\n\nBoleslas IV. duke of Poland, son of that Boleslas who had married the\nsister of Henry IV. having succeeded his elder brother Ladislas II.\nand conquered part of Pomerania, entreated St. Otho to undertake a\nmission among the idolaters of that country. The good bishop having\nsettled his own diocess in good order, and obtained of pope Honorius\nII. a commission for that purpose, took with him a considerable\nnumber of zealous priests and catechists, and passed through Poland\ninto Prussia, and thence into eastern Pomerania. He was met by\nUratislas II. duke of Upper Pomerania, who received the sacrament\nof baptism with the greatest part of his people in 1124. St. Otho\nreturned to Bamberg for Easter the following year, having appointed\npriests every where to attend the new converts, and finish the work\nhe had so happily begun. The towns of Stetin and Julin having again\nrelapsed into idolatry, St. Otho, with a second blessing of pope\nHonorius II. returned into Pomerania in 1128, brought those cities\nback to the faith, and through innumerable hardships and dangers\ncarried the light of the gospel into Noim, and other remote barbarous\nprovinces. He returned again to the care of his own flock, amidst\nwhich he died the death of the saints on the 30th of June, 1139. He\nwas buried on the 2d of July, on which day he is commemorated in the\nRoman Martyrology. He was canonized by Clement III. in 1189. The\nrich shrine which contains his sacred remains is preserved in the\nelectoral treasury at Hanover. See Thesaurus Reliquiarum Electoris\nBrunswico-Luneburgensis, folio, printed at Hanover in 1713. See also\nthe accurate life of this saint in the latter editions of Surius, and\nin Acta Sanctorum, by the Bollandists, t. 1, Julii.\n\n\n ST. MONEGONDES, A RECLUSE AT TOURS.\n\nShe was a native of Chartres, and honorably married. She had two\ndaughters, who were the objects of her happiness and most ardent\ndesires in this world till God was pleased, in mercy towards her,\nto deprive her of them both by death. Her grief for this loss was\nat first excessive, and by it she began to be sensible that her\nattachment to them had degenerated into immoderate passion; though\nshe had not till then perceived the disorder of a fondness which had\nmuch weakened in her breast the love of God, and the disposition\nof perfect conformity to his holy will above all things and in all\nthings. A fear of offending God obliged her to overcome this grief,\nand she confessed the divine mercy in the cure of her inordinate\naffection which stood in need of so severe a remedy. However,\nresolving to bid adieu to this transitory treacherous world, she,\nwith her husband\u2019s consent, built herself a cell at Chartres, in\nwhich she shut herself up, serving God in great austerity and\nassiduous prayer. She had no other furniture than a mat strewed\non the floor on which she took her short repose, and she allowed\nherself no other sustenance than coarse oat bread with water which\nwas brought her by a servant. She afterward removed to Tours, where\nshe continued the same manner of life in a cell which she built near\nSt. Martin\u2019s. Many fervent women joining her, this cell grew into a\nfamous nunnery, which has been since changed into a collegiate church\nof secular canons. St. Monegondes lived many years a model of perfect\nsanctity, and died in 570. She is named in the Roman Martyrology.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe loss of dear friends is a sensible affliction, under which\nsomething may be allowed to the tenderness of nature. Insensibility\nis no part of virtue. The bowels of saints are always tender, and\nfar from that false apathy of which the stoics boasted. \u201cI condemn\nnot grief for the death of a friend,\u201d says St. Chrysostom,[15] \u201cbut\nexcess of grief. To mourn is a part of nature; but to mourn with\nimpatience is to injure your departed friend, to offend God, and\nto hurt yourself. If you give thanks to God for his mercies and\nbenefits, you glorify him, honor the deceased, and procure great\nadvantages for yourself.\u201d Motives of faith must silence the cries of\nnature. \u201cHow absurd is it to call heaven much better than this earth,\nand yet to mourn for those who depart thither in peace,\u201d says the\nsame father in another place.[16]\n\n\n ST. OUDOCEUS.\n\n THIRD BISHOP OF LANDAFF, IN ENGLAND.\n\nThis saint, dedicated to God from his infancy by his parents, was\nreared in Christian principles under the inspection of his uncle\nSaint Theliau, bishop of Landaff; and succeeded him in this see\nabout the year 580.[17] Mauric, king of Glamorgan, held him in the\nhighest veneration, and assisted him in all his endeavors to promote\nthe glory of God; being however excommunicated by the saint for\nassassinating a prince called Cynedu, he, by his humble submission\nand penance, was at length restored to the communion of the Church.\nSt. Oudoceus dying about the end of the sixth century, is mentioned\nin the English Calendars on the 2d of July. See Usher, Antiquit.\nBritan. p. 291; Wharton, Anglia Sacra, t. 2, p. 669; Alford, in\nAnnal. and Lobineau, Vies des SS. de Bretagne, p. 89.\n\n\n\n\n JULY III.\n\n\n ST. PHOCAS, GARDENER, M.\n\n From his panegyric, written by St. Asterius, and another by\n St. Chrysostom, t. 2, ed. Ben. p. 704, Ruinart, p. 627.\n\n A. D. 303.\n\nSt. Phocas dwelt near the gate of Sinope, a city of Pontus, and lived\nby cultivating a garden, which yielded him a handsome subsistence,\nand wherewith plentifully to relieve the indigent. In his humble\nprofession he imitated the virtue of the most holy anchorets, and\nseemed in part restored to the happy condition of our first parents\nin Eden. To prune the garden without labor and toil was their sweet\nemployment and pleasure. Since their sin, the earth yields not its\nfruit but by the sweat of our brow. But still, no labor is more\nuseful or necessary, or more natural to man, and better adapted\nto maintain in him vigor of mind or health of body than that of\ntillage; nor does any part of the universe rival the innocent charms\nwhich a garden presents to all our senses, by the fragrancy of its\nflowers, by the riches of its produce, and the sweetness and variety\nof its fruits; by the melodious concert of its musicians, by the\nworlds of wonders which every stem, leaf, and fibre exhibit to the\ncontemplation of the inquisitive philosopher, and by that beauty and\nvariegated lustre of colors which clothe the numberless tribes of\nits smallest inhabitants, and adorn its shining landscapes, vying\nwith the brightest splendor of the heavens, and in a single lily\nsurpassing the dazzling lustre with which Solomon was surrounded\non his throne in the midst of all his glory. And what a field for\ncontemplation does a garden offer to our view in every part, raising\nour souls to God in raptures of love and praise, stimulating us\nto fervor, by the fruitfulness with which it repays our labor,\nand multiplies the seed it receives; and exciting us to tears of\ncompunction from our insensibility to God by the barrenness with\nwhich it is changed into a frightful desert, unless subdued by\nassiduous toil! Our saint joining prayer with his labor, found in his\ngarden itself an instructive book, and an inexhausted fund of holy\nmeditation. His house was opened to all strangers and travellers who\nhad no lodging in the place; and after having for many years most\nliberally bestowed the fruit of his labor on the poor, he was found\nworthy also to give his life for Christ. Though his profession was\nobscure, he was well known over the whole country by the reputation\nof his charity and virtue.\n\nWhen a cruel persecution, probably that of Dioclesian in 303, was\nsuddenly raised in the Church, Phocas was immediately impeached as a\nChristian, and such was the notoriety of his pretended crime, that\nthe formality of a trial was superseded by the persecutors, and\nexecutioners were despatched with an order to kill him on the spot\nwherever they should find him. Arriving near Sinope, they would not\nenter the town, but stopping at his house without knowing it, at his\nkind invitation they took up their lodging with him. Being charmed\nwith his courteous entertainment, they at supper disclosed to him\nthe errand upon which they were sent, and desired him to inform them\nwhere this Phocas could be most easily met with. The servant of\nGod, without the least surprise, told them he was well acquainted\nwith the man, and would give them certain intelligence of him next\nmorning. After they were retired to bed he dug a grave, prepared\neverything for his burial, and spent the night in disposing his soul\nfor his last hour. When it was day he went to his guests, and told\nthem Phocas was found, and in their power whenever they pleased to\napprehend him. Glad at this news, they inquired where he was. \u201cHe is\nhere present,\u201d said the martyr,--\u201cI myself am the man.\u201d Struck at his\nundaunted resolution, and at the composure of his mind, they stood\na considerable time as if they had been motionless, nor could they\nat first think of imbruing their hands in the blood of a person in\nwhom they discovered so heroic a virtue, and by whom they had been\nso courteously entertained. He indirectly encouraged them saying,\nthat as for himself, he looked upon such a death as the greatest of\nfavors, and his highest advantage. At length, recovering themselves\nfrom their surprise, they struck off his head. The Christians of\nthat city, after peace was restored to the Church, built a stately\nchurch which bore his name, and was famous over all the East. In it\nwere deposited the sacred relics, though some portions of them were\ndispersed in other churches.\n\nSt. Asterius, bishop of Amasea about the year 400, pronounced the\npanegyric of this martyr, on his festival, in a church, probably\nnear Amasea, which possessed a small part of his remains. In this\ndiscourse[18] he says, \u201cthat Phocas from the time of his death was\nbecome a pillar and support of the churches on earth: he draws all\nmen to his house; the highways are filled with persons resorting from\nevery country to this place of prayer. The magnificent church which\n(at Sinope) is possessed of his body, is the comfort and ease of the\nafflicted, the health of the sick, the magazine plentifully supplying\nthe wants of the poor. If in any other place, as in this, some small\nportion of his relics be found, it also becomes admirable, and most\ndesired by all Christians.\u201d He adds, that the head of St. Phocas was\nkept in his beautiful church in Rome, and says, \u201cThe Romans honor him\nby the concourse of the whole people in the same manner they do Peter\nand Paul.\u201d He bears testimony that the sailors in the Euxine, \u00c6gean,\nand Adriatic seas, and in the ocean, sing hymns in his honor, and\nthat the martyr has often succored and preserved them; and that the\nportion of gain which they in every voyage set apart for the poor is\ncalled Phocas\u2019s part. He mentions that a certain king of barbarians\nhad sent his royal diadem set with jewels, and his rich helmet a\npresent to the church of St. Phocas, praying the martyr to offer it\nto the Lord in thanksgiving for the kingdom which his divine majesty\nhad bestowed upon him. St. Chrysostom received a portion of the\nrelics of Saint Phocas, not at Antioch, as Baronius thought, and as\nFronto le Duc and Baillet doubt, but at Constantinople as Montfaucon\ndemonstrates.[19] On that solemn occasion the city kept a great\nfestival two days, and St. Chrysostom preached two sermons, only one\nof which is extant.[20] In this he says, that the emperors left their\npalaces to reverence these relics, and strove to share with the rest\nin the blessings which they procure men. The emperor Phocas built\nafterward another great church at Constantinople in honor of this\nmartyr, and caused a considerable part of his relics to be translated\nthither. The Greeks only style Saint Phocas hiero-martyr or sacred\nmartyr, which epithet they sometimes give to eminent martyrs who were\nnot bishops, as Ruinart demonstrates against Baronius.\n\n\n ST. GUTHAGON, RECLUSE.\n\nHe was an Irishman of royal blood, who forsaking the world to labor\nin securing eternal happiness, led a penitential, contemplative life\nat Oosterk, near Bruges, in Flanders, with B. Gillon, an individual\ncompanion. He was famed for his eminent sanctity, attested by\nmiracles after his death. His shrine is there held in veneration, and\na chapel built in his honor. He is said to have lived in the eighth\ncentury. Gerard, bishop of Tournay, translated the relics of this\nsaint on the 3d of July, 1059, in the presence of the abbots of Dun,\nOubenbourg, and Ececkout; and on the 1st of October, 1444, they were\nvisited by Nicholas, suffragan bishop of Tournay. See Colgan in MSS.\nand Molanus, p. 136.\n\n\n SAINT GUNTHIERN, ABBOT IN BRITTANY.\n\nThis saint flourished in the sixth century. He was a prince in\nWales, which he left in his youth, and retired into Armorica to live\na recluse. He stopt at the isle of Groie, which is about a league\nfrom the mouth of the Blavet. Grallon was then lord of the isle, and\nwas so edified at his conversation, that he bestowed on him, for\nfounding a monastery, the land between the confluence of the river\nIsol and Ell\u00e9. For which reason even to this day, the abbey is called\nKemperle, which in the old British language signifies the conflux of\nEll\u00e9. One year that a prodigious swarm of insects devoured the corn,\nGuerech I., count of Vannes, dreading a famine, deputed three persons\nof quality to engage the saint\u2019s prayers to God for turning away\nthe scourge. Gunthiern sent him water which he had blessed, which\nhe desired to be sprinkled over the fields, and the insects were\ndestroyed. The count, in gratitude for this extraordinary blessing,\ngave him the land near the river Blavet, which was then called\nVernac; but is now known by the name of Hervegnac or Chervegnac.\nThe saint, it is thought, died at Kemperle. During the incursions\nof the Normans, his body was concealed in the isle of Groie. It was\ndiscovered in the eleventh century, and brought to the monastery\nof Kemperle,[21] which now belongs to the Benedictine Order. St.\nGunthiern is patron of this abbey as well as of many other churches\nand chapels in Brittany. He is mentioned in ancient calendars on the\n29th of June, but the moderns place his feast on the 3d of July. See\nLobineau, Vies des SS. de Bretagne, p. 49.\n\n\n ST. BERTRAN,[22] BISHOP OF MANS.\n\nHe seems to have been born in Poitou, and having dedicated himself\nto the service of the Church, he received the tonsure in the city\nof Tours. St. Germain, bishop of Paris, invited him to his diocess,\nformed him to virtue, and, in token of esteem for his merit, made him\nhis archdeacon. After the death of Baldegisil, an unworthy prelate,\nwho sought only to enrich himself by the spoils of his church, St.\nBertran was chosen his successor in the diocess of Mans in 586.\nAt first he met some opposition from the corrupt manners of his\npeople, but zealous endeavors to restore them to virtue had soon the\ndeserved success. By his prudence he saved the state from a war which\nthreatened it from Waroc and Windimacle, princes of Brittany. He was\ncalled to the court of Gontran, king of Orleans and Burgundy, to\nnegotiate certain interesting matters regarding the Church. He built,\nendowed, and repaired a great number of hospitals and churches. His\nwill, which he made in 615, is an esteemed piece of church-antiquity.\nIn it are many considerable legacies to churches and monasteries. But\nwhat is singularly remarkable, we see by it, that the holy bishop\nenjoyed on every occasion the favor and protection of Fredegonda.\nDuring the troubles occasioned by the civil wars in France, St.\nBertran was three several times banished from his diocess. This\nintroduced many disorders among his people, which he happily removed\nwith the assistance of Clotaire, who after long struggles at length\nunited to his kingdom those of Burgundy and Austrasia. It is believed\nthat he died the 30th of June, 623. But he is honored on the 3d of\nJuly, being the day on which his relics were translated. See St.\nGregory of Tours, Hist. l. 8, c. 39, and l. 9, c. 18; and the saint\u2019s\nwill published with excellent notes by Papebroke, 6 Jun. and Baillet,\nunder the 3d of July.\n\n\n\n\n JULY IV.\n\n\n ST. ULRIC, BISHOP OF AUSBURG, CONFESSOR.\n\n From his accurate life, written by Gerard of Ausburg, in\n Mabillon, s\u00e6c. 2, Ben. &c. See the Bollandists.\n\n A. D. 973.\n\nSt. Ulric or Udalric was son of count Hucbald, and of Thietberga,\ndaughter of Burchard, one of the first dukes of Higher Germany. He\nwas born in 893, and was educated from seven years of age in the\nabbey of St. Gal. Guiborate, a holy virgin who lived a recluse near\nthat monastery, foretold him that he should one day be a bishop,\nand should meet with severe trials, but exhorted him to courage and\nconstancy under them. So delicate and tender was the complexion\nof the young nobleman that all who knew him judged he could never\nlive long. But regularity and temperance preserved a life, and\nstrengthened a constitution which excessive tenderness of parents,\ncare of physicians, and all other arts would probably have the sooner\nworn out and destroyed: which cardinal Lugo shows to have often\nhappened by several instances in austere religious Orders.[23] The\nrecovery of the young count was looked upon as miraculous. As he\ngrew up, his sprightly genius, his innocence and sincere piety, and\nthe sweetness of his temper and manners charmed the good monks; and\nhe had already made a considerable progress in his studies when his\nfather removed him to Ausburg, where he placed him under the care\nof Adalberon, bishop of that city. The prelate, according to the\ncustom of those times, made him his chamberlain when he was only\nsixteen years old, afterward promoted him to the first orders, and\ninstituted him to a canonry in his cathedral. The young clergyman\nwas well apprised of the dangers, and instructed in the duties of\nhis state, which he set himself with all his strength faithfully to\ndischarge. Prayer and study filled almost all his time, and the poor\nhad much the greatest share in his revenues. During a pilgrimage\nwhich he made to Rome, this bishop died, and was succeeded by Hiltin.\nAfter his return he continued his former manner of life, advancing\ndaily in fervor and devotion, and in the practices of humility and\nmortification. He was most scrupulously careful to shun as much\nas possible the very shadow of danger, especially with regard to\ntemptations against purity, and it was his usual saying to others:\n\u201cTake away the fuel, and you take away the flame.\u201d\n\nHilton dying in 924, Henry the Fowler, king of Germany, nominated\nour saint, who was then thirty-one years of age, to the bishopric\nof Ausburg, and he was consecrated on Holy Innocents\u2019 day. The\nHungarians and Sclavonians had lately pillaged that country, murdered\nthe holy recluse Saint Guiborate, whom the Germans honor as a martyr,\nplundered the city of Ausburg, and burnt the cathedral. The new\nbishop, not to lose time, built for the present a small church,\nin which he assembled the people, who in their universal distress\nstood in extreme need of instruction, comfort, and relief; all which\nthey found so abundantly in Ulric, that every one thought all the\ncalamities they had suffered sufficiently repaired by the happiness\nthey enjoyed in possessing such a pastor. He excused himself from\nattending the court, knowing of what importance the presence of a\nbishop is to his flock, for which he is to give a severe account to\nGod. The levying and care of his troops, which in quality of prince\nof the empire he was obliged to send to the army, he entrusted to\na nephew, devoting himself entirely to his spiritual functions. He\nrose every morning at three o\u2019clock to assist with his canons at\nmatins and lauds: after which he recited the psalter, litany, and\nother prayers. At break of day he said in choir the office for the\ndead, and prime, and was present at high mass. After tierce and long\nprivate devotions he said mass. He only left the church after none,\nand then went to the hospital, where he comforted the sick, and\nevery day washed the feet of twelve poor people, giving to each of\nthem a liberal alms. The rest of the day he employed in instructing,\npreaching, visiting the sick, and discharging all the duties of a\nvigilant pastor. He took his frugal meal only in the evening before\ncomplin. In this the poor always shared with him, for whom and for\nstrangers meat was served up, except on fast-days, though he never\ntouched it himself. He allowed himself very little time for sleep,\nlay on straw, and never used any linen. In Lent he redoubled his\nausterities and devotions. He made every year the visit of his whole\ndiocess, and held a synod of his clergy twice a year. Upon the death\nof Henry I. Otho I. succeeded in the kingdom of Germany, between\nwhom and his unnatural son Luitolf, a civil war broke out. St. Ulric\nstrenuously declared himself against the rebels, who on that account\nharassed and plundered his diocess. But Arnold, count palatine, being\nslain before the walls of Ratisbon, St. Ulric obtained the king\u2019s\npardon for his son and the rest of the rebels.\n\nThe saint had fenced the city of Ausburg with strong walls, and\nerected several fortresses to secure the people from the inroads of\nbarbarians. This was a precaution of the utmost importance; for the\nHungarians made a second incursion, and laid siege to Ausburg. The\ngood pastor continued in prayer, like Moses on the mountain, for\nhis people, whom he convened in frequent processions and devotions.\nHis prayers were heard, and the barbarians, being seized with a\nsudden panic fear, raised the siege and fled in great confusion.\nThey were met and cut to pieces by Otho, who, in 962, was crowned\nEmperor by the pope. St. Ulric built his cathedral in a stately\nmanner, and dedicated it again to God in honor of St. Afra, the\ncelebrated patroness of Ausburg, in which city she received the crown\nof martyrdom in the persecution of Dioclesian. She is commemorated\non the 5th of August. The saint earnestly desired to resign his\nbishopric, and retired to the monastery of St. Gal, some time before\nhis death; but met with too great opposition. He made a second\njourney of devotion to Rome, and was received with extraordinary\nmarks of esteem by the pope, and at Ravenna by the emperor and his\npious empress. Otho I. died in May, 973, and from that time the\nsaint\u2019s health began sensibly to decline. During his last sickness\nhe redoubled his fervor. In his agony he caused himself to be laid\non ashes blessed and strewed on the floor in the form of a cross,\nin which posture he died amidst the prayers of his clergy, on the\n4th of July, 973, being about fourscore years old, and having been\nbishop fifty years. He was buried in the church of St. Afra, which at\npresent bears his name. His sanctity was attested by miracles, and he\nwas canonized by pope John XV. in 993.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe saints living by faith had recourse to God in all their actions,\nand by that means drew down his blessing on their undertakings. It\nwas the saying of a great man, that persons who expose themselves to\nmany dangers and sins, often meet with temporal miscarriages,[24]\nlike the Israelites when they were deceived by the Gabaonites,\nbecause they neglect to commend their enterprises to God by fervent\nprayer and to consult his will.\n\n\n SAINT ODO, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, C.\n\nHe was born in the province of East Angles, of noble Danish parents,\nwho, about the year 870, had accompanied Inguar and Hubba in their\nbarbarous expedition, and had acquired a peaceable plentiful\nsettlement in that part of England. Odo from a child loved the\nChristian religion, frequented the churches, and often spoke with\nhonor of Christ to his parents; for which he was frequently severely\nchastised by them, and at length disinherited and turned out of\ndoors. The young nobleman, rejoicing to see himself naked, and found\nworthy to suffer something for God, chose him for his inheritance;\nand, fearing lest by sloth he should lose the advantages he had\nalready gained, resolved to give himself wholly to God, and embrace\nan ecclesiastical state. He was enabled to perform his studies by\nthe liberality of the most noble and virtuous duke Athelm, who seems\nto have been son of the ealderman Athelm, who in the reign of king\nEthelwolf, being assisted by the Dorsetshire men, had defeated the\nDanes near Portland, in 838. The duke or governor Athelm was one of\nthe principal noblemen of England in the reign of king Alfred, and\nin the Saxon annals, is styled ealderman of Wiltshire. Being a most\nreligious man, he was much taken with the piety of Odo. In 887 he\nmade a devout pilgrimage to Rome, and carried thither the alms of\nking Alfred and of the West-Saxons, as the Saxon Annals testify. He\nhad before that time procured Odo to be ordained priest, and made use\nof him for his confessarius, as did many others who belonged to the\ncourt. He recited every day the church office with him, as it was\nthen customary for pious persons among the laity to do. Our saint\naccompanied him to Rome in quality of chaplain. On the road, this\nnobleman fell sick of a fever which in seven days reduced him almost\nto extremity. But Odo, after praying for him, presented him a glass\nof wine on which he had made the sign of the cross, bidding him have\nan entire confidence in God. Athelm had no sooner drunk the glass,\nthan he found himself perfectly cured, and able to get on horseback.\nAthelm died in 898.\n\nOdo continued to be caressed as much as ever, and was often employed\nby the kings Alfred and his son Edward the Elder, who began his reign\nin 901. King Alfred had by his wisdom and prowess raised the English\nmonarchy to the highest pitch of grandeur, and the Danes who, from\nthe time of the martyrdom of St. Edmund, were possessed of part of\nNorthumberland, and of the kingdom of the East-Angles, were confined\nwithin those territories, and restrained in the eastern provinces\nfrom making inroads by the famous ditch running from the northern\nfens to the river Ouse, and into Suffolk, separating Mercia and the\nkingdom of the East-Angles, called at this day, from a town of that\nname, Reech-dike, and by the common people Devil\u2019s-dike. This great\nditch, mentioned by the Saxon Annals in the reign of Edward the\nElder, seems made about this time. When the Danes broke the truce,\nking Edward entirely subdued them in the country of the East-Angles;\nhe also defeated the Scots, Cumbrians, and Welch. He built towns\nand fortresses in many parts of the kingdom, as Ethelred, earl\nof Mercia, and after his death his courageous and virtuous widow\nEthelfleda, daughter to king Alfred, did in the middle counties. But\nnothing reflects greater honor on the name of this king, and on his\nwise counsellors, than the body or code of laws which he added to\nthose of his father Alfred,[25] in enacting which the Danish king\nof the East-Angles, Guthrun, or rather Guthrun\u2019s successor, Eoric,\nconcurred. In these laws only pecuniary fines are prescribed for\ntheft, and most other crimes; for which capital punishments were\nnot generally instituted before the thirteenth century. Edward the\nElder reigned twenty-four years, and dying in 925 was buried in the\nmonastery which his father Alfred had founded at Winchester.\n\nAthelstan, his eldest son, reigned fourteen years with great prudence\nand valor. His father Edward having extinguished the kingdom of\nthe Danes among the East-Angles, Athelstan expelled them out of\nNorthumberland; obliged the Welch to pay him a considerable annual\ntribute; and in 938 vanquished also the Scots. For their king,\nConstantine, protecting the Danes in Northumberland under their\nlast king Guthfrith and his son Anlaff, drew on himself the arms of\nking Athelstan, who marched with his victorious army to the very\nnorth of Scotland, in 934, as William of Malmesbury relates. In the\nsame year Constantine invaded England with a great army of Scots,\nDanes, and Irish, another Anlaff, king of Dublin and some of the\nWestern Islands, coming over to his assistance. Athelstan met them at\nBrunanburgh, a place at present unknown, near the Humber, and with\nhis valiant West-Saxons attacking Anlaff, whilst his cousin Turketil,\nat the head of the Londoners, fell on the Scots, he gained a most\ncomplete victory, which he ascribed to the intercession of Saint John\nof Beverly. Having on the other side driven the Welch out of Exeter\nhe founded there a noble monastery, which was afterward made the\ncathedral when the bishopric was removed from Crediton to that city.\nAlfred of Beverly calls Athelstan the first monarch of all England,\nthough out of modesty he never assumed that title, but left it to\nhis brother Edred to take. For after the extinction of the Danish\nkingdom in Northumberland, and the death of Ethelfleda, countess of\nMercia, there remained no petty sovereign in his dominions, which had\nalways been the case from Egbert to his time. Athelstan also subdued\nthe Welch and the Scots, and according to our historians made not\nonly the former, but likewise the latter tributary, though this the\nScottish writers deny with regard to their country. King Athelstan\nwas a great lover of peace, piety, and religion: he was devout,\naffable to all, learned himself, and a patron of learned men; and\nhe was as much admired and beloved by his subjects for his humility\nand humanity as he was feared by enemies and rebels for his military\nskill and invincible courage. He framed many good laws, in which he\ninflicted chiefly pecuniary penalties for crimes; for which purpose\nhe fixed for every offence a value or price according to every one\u2019s\nrank and estate. This great king reposed an entire confidence in the\nprudence and sanctity of his chaplain, and not content to make use of\nhis counsels in his most weighty concerns, he carried him with him\nin his war, that he might always animate himself to virtue by his\nexample and holy advice. The kingdom of the West-Saxons was for some\ntime all comprised under the diocess of Winchester, till in the reign\nof king Ina, about the year 705, the see of Shirburne was erected,\nand in 905 that of Wilton for Wiltshire, though these two sees were\nagain united and fixed at Salisbury in 1046. King Athelstan about the\nbeginning of his reign procured St. Odo to be chosen second bishop of\nWilton, according to Le Neve\u2019s Fasti, though some say of Shirburne.\nNevertheless, the saint was obliged often to attend the king, and\nwas present at the great battle of Brunanburgh, against the Danes,\nScots, and Irish, in which Athelstan, being attacked by Anlaff, and\nalmost surrounded by enemies, having also broken or lost his sword,\ncalled aloud for help. St. Odo ran in upon this occasion, and first\ndiscovered to the king a sword hanging by his side, which was thought\nto have been sent from heaven, with which, animated by the saint, he\ngained one of the most glorious and advantageous victories that ever\nwas won by the English nation.\n\nAthelstan dying in 941, left the crown to his brother Edmund, at that\ntime only eighteen years of age. This prince reduced a second time\nthe Northumbers and Anlaff the Dane, who had again revolted; and\ngoverned by the wise counsels of St. Odo, he enacted many wholesome\nlaws, especially to prevent family feuds and murders. By one of\nthese it is ordained that if several thieves combine together, the\neldest shall be hanged, the rest whipped thrice. This seems the\nfirst law by which robbery was punished in England by death. The\nking was religious and valiant, and being a judge of men, reposed\nan entire confidence in St. Odo, who, in 942, was translated to\nthe metropolitan see of Canterbury. The saint had consented to his\nfirst promotion with great reluctance. But he opposed the second a\nlong time with a dread which saints are usually filled with on such\noccasions. He alleged first, his unworthiness, secondly, the canons\nagainst translations, and thirdly, that he was no monk. His two\nfirst difficulties were overruled; and as to the third, he at length\nconsented to receive the Benedictin habit from the hands of the abbot\nof Fleuri, now St. Bennet\u2019s on the Loire, a house then famous for\nits regularity. The abbot was therefore invited into England for\nthis purpose, or according to others, St. Odo travelled to Fleuri,\nand received the habit from his hands; after which he was installed\narchbishop. King Edmund was assassinated by Leof, an outlawed thief,\nwho had insolently seated himself at the king\u2019s table, in a great\nbanquet which the king gave on the feast of St. Austin, archbishop of\nCanterbury, in 948.\n\nEdmund left two sons very young, Edwy and Edgar, but was succeeded\nby his brother Edred, in whose days happened the following miracle,\nrelated by Eadmer in his exact life of our saint; also by William of\nMalmesbury, and the Chronicles of the Church of Canterbury, quoted in\nParker\u2019s British Antiquities, and Du Pin.[26] Some of the clergy at\nCanterbury being tempted to doubt of the real presence of Christ\u2019s\nbody in the holy eucharist, St. Odo begged by his prayers that God\nwould be pleased mercifully to demonstrate to them the truth of this\nsacred mystery; and at this petition, whilst he was saying mass in\nhis cathedral, at the breaking of the host, blood was seen by all the\npeople distilling from it into the chalice; the saint called up to\nthe altar those who labored under the temptation before-mentioned,\nand others then present, to bear witness to the miracle. Full\nof gratitude, they afterward celebrated with their archbishop a\nsolemn thanksgiving for this wonderful miracle, in which Christ had\nmanifested himself visible in the flesh to their corporeal eyes. King\nEdred died in 955, after a lingering illness, which he sanctified by\nthe most edifying patience and acts of devotion, having reigned nine\nyears and a half. He took the title of king of Great Britain, as he\nstyles himself in a charter which he gave to the abbey of Croyland,\nrecited by Ingulphus. In another, given to the abbey of Reculver,[27]\nhe calls himself _Monarch of all England_.\n\nEdwy, the eldest son of king Edmund, succeeded next to the throne,\nand was crowned at Kingston by St. Odo. But being a youth abandoned\nto excessive lust, after the coronation dinner he left his bishops\nand nobles to go to his mistress Ethelgiva, who was his own near\nrelation. St. Dunstan, then abbot of Glastenbury, reproved him by\norder of St. Odo, but was banished by the tyrant, and the monks\nturned out of Glastenbury and many other monasteries. St. Odo exerted\nhis zeal against the adulteress, but the king repaired to Gloucester\nwhen she fled to that city. The enormities of his reign stirred up\nthe Mercians and Northumbers to take up arms against him, and to\ncrown his younger brother Edgar. Edwy retained the kingdom of the\nWest-Saxons till his death, which happened in 959, according to\nFlorence of Worcester and Laud\u2019s copy of the Saxon annals.\n\nEdgar exceedingly honored St. Odo, recalled St. Dunstan, and advanced\nhim to the bishopric of Worcester. He reigned about sixteen years in\nuninterrupted peace and prosperity, till his death in 975, beloved by\nall his subjects, and revered by foreigners. William of Malmesbury\nand Florence of Worcester mention his two great fleets, said to have\nconsisted of three thousand six hundred ships, with which he yearly\nscoured the British seas; and he had six or eight petty kings often\nto wait on him, namely, Kenneth of the Scots, Malcolm of Cumberland,\nMaccus, lord of Man and the Isles, and five princes of Wales, who\nall rowed his galley from Chester down the river Dee. These princes\nof Wales were the successors of Howel Dha, the wise legislator and\npowerful prince of all Wales.[28] King Edgar\u2019s salutary laws are\nchiefly to be ascribed to St. Odo and St. Dunstan. This great king,\nby the direction of these holy men, set himself earnestly to repair\nthe damages which the Church and State had received under the tyranny\nof his brother.\n\nSt. Odo never intermitted the daily instruction of his clergy and\nflock, notwithstanding his great age, and strenuously labored to\nadvance daily in the divine love. He died in 961. His relics, when\nhis shrine was plundered at the change of religion, seem to have\nbeen deposited under a small tomb which is seen at this day in the\nsame place where the shrine formerly stood. His name was famous in\nour English Martyrologies. For his virtue he was usually styled\nwhilst living, _Odo se gode_, that is, in the Saxon language, _Odo\nthe Good_. The Constitutions of St. Odo seem charges delivered by\nhim to the clergy.[29] The laws of the kings Athelstan, Edmund, and\nEdgar, are part laws of the State, part of the Church. They were\nenacted in general assemblies or synods, and are for the most part\nto be ascribed to St. Odo. See Matthew of Westminster, Florence of\nWorcester, and the life of St. Odo, written, not by Osbern the famous\nmonk of Canterbury, in 1070, as Mabillon conjectured, S\u00e6c. Ben. V.\np. 203, but by Eadmer, the disciple of St. Anselm, in 1121, as Henry\nWharton demonstrates in his Preface, vol. 2, p. 10, Anglia Sacra.\nThe Life of St. Odo, written by Osbern, and quoted by William of\nMalmesbury, seems nowhere to be extant. The History of St. Odo is\ncompiled by Ericus Pantopidanus in his Gesta Danorum extra Daniam.\nHafni\u00e6. 1740. t. 2, \u00a7 2, \u00a7 8, p. 157.\n\n\n ST. SISOES OR SISOY, ANACHORET IN EGYPT.\n\nAfter the death of St. Antony, St. Sisoes was one of the most shining\nlights of the Egyptian deserts. He was an Egyptian by birth. Having\nquitted the world from his youth, he retired to the desert of Scet\u00e9,\nand lived some time under the direction of abbot Hor. The desire of\nfinding a retreat yet more unfrequented induced him to cross the\nNile and hide himself in the mountain where Saint Antony died some\ntime before. The memory of that great man\u2019s virtues being still\nfresh, wonderfully supported his fervor. He imagined he saw him,\nand heard the instructions he was wont to deliver to his disciples;\nand he strained every nerve to imitate his most heroic exercises,\nthe austerity of his penance, the rigor of his silence, the almost\nunremitting ardor of his prayer, insomuch that the reputation of his\nsanctity became so illustrious as to merit the full confidence of all\nthe neighboring solitaries. Some even came a great distance to be\nguided in the interior ways of perfection; and, in spite of the pains\nhe took, he was forced to submit his love of silence and retreat\nto the greater duty of charity. He often passed two days without\neating, and was so rapt in God that he forgot his food, so that it\nwas necessary for his disciple Abraham to remind him that it was\ntime to break his fast. He would sometimes be even surprised at the\nnotice, and contend that he had already made his meal; so small was\nthe attention he paid to the wants of his body.[30] His prayer was so\nfervent that it often passed into ecstasy. At other times his heart\nwas so inflamed with divine love, that, scarce able to support its\nviolence, he only obtained relief from his sighs, which frequently\nescaped without his knowledge, and even against his will.[31] It was\na maxim with him, that a solitary ought not to choose the manual\nlabor which is most pleasing to him.[32] His ordinary work was making\nbaskets. He was tempted one day as he was selling them, to anger;\ninstantly he threw the baskets away and ran off. By efforts like\nthese to command his temper he acquired a meekness which nothing\ncould disturb. His zeal against vice was without bitterness; and\nwhen his monks fell into faults, far from affecting astonishment\nor the language of reproach, he helped them to rise again with a\ntenderness truly paternal.[33] When he once recommended patience\nand the exact observance of rules, he told the following anecdote:\n\u201cTwelve monks, benighted on the road, observed that their guide was\ngoing astray. This, for fear of breaking their rule of silence, they\nforbore to notice, thinking within themselves that at daybreak he\nwould see his mistake and put them in the right road. Accordingly,\nthe guide discovering his error, with much confusion, was making many\napologies; when the monks being now at liberty to speak, only said,\nwith the greatest good humor, \u2018Friend, we saw very well that you\nwent out of your road; but we were then bound to silence.\u2019 The man\nwas struck with astonishment, and very much edified at this answer\nexpressive of such patience and strictness of observance.\u201d[34]\n\nSome Arians had the impudence to come to his mount, and utter their\nheresy before his disciples. The saint, instead of an answer, desired\none of the monks to read St. Athanasius\u2019s treatise against Arianism,\nwhich at once stopped their mouths and confounded them. He then\ndismissed them with his usual good temper. St. Sisoes was singularly\ndevoted to humility; and in all his advices and instructions to\nothers, held constantly before their eyes this most necessary\nvirtue. A recluse saying to him one day, \u201cFather, I always place\nmyself in the presence of God;\u201d he replied, \u201cIt would be much more\nyour advantage to place yourself below every creature, in order to\nbe securely humble.\u201d Thus, while he never lost sight of the divine\npresence, it was ever accompanied with the consciousness of his\nown nothingness and misery.[35] \u201cMake yourself little,\u201d said he to\na monk, \u201crenounce all sensual satisfactions, disengage yourself\nfrom the empty cares of the world, and you will find true peace of\nmind.\u201d[36] To another, who complained that he had not yet arrived at\nthe perfection of St. Antony, he said, \u201cAh! if I had but one only\nof that great man\u2019s feelings, I would be all one flame of divine\nlove.\u201d[37] Notwithstanding his extraordinary mortifications, they\nappeared so trifling in his mind, that he called himself a sensual\nman, and would have every one else to be of the same opinion.[38]\nIf charity for strangers sometimes constrained him to anticipate\ndinner-hour, at another season, by way of indemnification, he\nprotracted his fast, as if his body were indebted to so laudable\na condescension.[39] He dreaded praise so much, that in prayer,\nas was his custom, with hands lifted up to heaven, when sometimes\nhe apprehended observation, he would suddenly drop them down. He\nwas always ready to blame himself, and saw nothing praiseworthy in\nothers which did not serve him for an occasion to censure his own\nlukewarmness.[40] On a visit of three solitaries wanting instruction,\none of them said, \u201cFather, what shall I do to shun hell-fire?\u201d He\nmade no reply. \u201cAnd for my part,\u201d added another, \u201chow shall I escape\nthe gnashing of teeth, and the worm that never dies?\u201d \u201cWhat also\nwill become of me,\u201d concluded the third, \u201cfor every time I think on\nutter darkness I am ready to die with fear?\u201d Then the saint breaking\nsilence, answered, \u201cI confess that these are subjects which never\nemploy my thoughts, and as I know that God is merciful, I trust he\nwill have compassion on me. You are happy,\u201d he added, \u201cand I envy\nyour virtue. You speak of the torments of hell, and your fears on\nthis account must be powerful guards against the admission of sin.\nAlas! then, it is I should exclaim, What shall become of me? I, who\nam so insensible as never even to reflect on the place of torments\ndestined to punish the wicked after death. Undoubtedly this is the\nreason I am guilty of so much sin.\u201d The solitaries retired much\nedified with this humble reply.[41] The saint said one time, \u201cI am\nnow thirty years praying daily that my Lord Jesus may preserve me\nfrom saying an idle word, and yet I am always relapsing.\u201d This could\nonly be the language which humility dictates; for he was singularly\nobservant of the times of retirement and silence, and kept his cell\nconstantly locked to avoid interruption, and always gave his answers\nto those who asked his advice in the fewest words.[42] The servant\nof God, worn out with sickness and old age, yielded at last to his\ndisciple Abraham\u2019s advice, and went to reside a while at Clysma,\na town on the border, or at least in the neighborhood of the Red\nSea.[43] Here he received a visit from Ammon, or Amun, abbot of\nRaithe, who, observing his affliction for being absent from his\nretreat, endeavored to comfort him by representing that his present\nill state of health wanted the remedies which could not be applied in\nthe desert. \u201cWhat do you say,\u201d returned the saint, with a countenance\nfull of grief, \u201cwas not the ease of mind I enjoyed there everything\nfor my comfort?\u201d He was not at ease till he returned to his retreat,\nwhere he finished his holy course. The solitaries of the desert\nassisting at his agony, heard him, as Rufinus relates, cry out,\n\u201cBehold, abbot Antony, the choir of prophets and the angels come to\ntake my soul.\u201d At the same time his countenance shone, and being some\ntime interiorly recollected with God, he cried out anew, \u201cBehold! our\nLord comes for me.\u201d At the instant he expired, his cell was perfumed\nwith a heavenly odor.[44] He died about the year 429, after a retreat\nof at least sixty-two years in St. Antony\u2019s Mount. His feast is\ninserted in the Greek Menologies on the 6th of July; and in some\nof the Latin Calendars on the 4th of the same month. See Rosweide,\nCotelier, Tillemont, t. 12, p. 453, and the Bollandists ad diem 6\nJulii, t. 2, p. 280.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThis saint must not be confounded with two other Sisoes, who lived\nin the same age. One, surnamed the Theban, lived at Calamon, in\nthe territory of Arsinoe. Another had his cell at Petra. It is of\nSisoes the Theban that the following passage is related, though some\nauthors by mistake have ascribed it to St. Sisoes of Scet\u00e9. A certain\nrecluse having received some offence, went to Sisoes to tell him\nthat he must have revenge. The holy old man conjured him to leave\nhis revenge to God, to pardon his brother, and forget the injury he\nhad received. But seeing that his advice had no weight with him,\n\u201cAt least,\u201d said he, \u201clet us both join in an address to God,\u201d then\nstanding up, he prayed thus aloud: \u201cLord, we no longer want your\ncare of our interests or your protection, since this monk maintains\nthat we can and ought to be our own avengers.\u201d This extraordinary\npetition exceedingly moved the poor recluse, and throwing himself at\nthe saint\u2019s feet, he begged his pardon, protesting that from that\nmoment he would forget he had ever been injured.[45] This holy man\nloved retirement so much that he delayed not a moment even in the\nchurch after the mass to hasten to his cell. This was not to indulge\nself-love or an affected singularity, but to shun the danger of\ndissipation, and enjoy in silence and prayer the sweet conversation\nof God. For at proper seasons, especially when charity required it,\nhe was far from being backward in giving himself to the duties of\nsociety. Such was his self-denial that he seldom or ever eat bread.\nHowever, being invited one time by the neighboring solitaries to a\nsmall repast, in condescension, and to show how little he was guided\nby self-will, observing that it would be agreeable, \u201cI will eat,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cbread, or anything you lay before me.\u201d[46] See Bulteau,\nHist. Mon. d\u2019Orient, l. 1, c. 3, n. 7, p. 56. Tillemont, t. 12, and\nPinius, one of the continuators of Bollandus, on the 6th of July.\n\n\n SAINT BERTHA, WIDOW.\n\n ABBESS OF BLANGY IN ARTOIS.\n\nShe was the daughter of count Rigobert and Ursana, related to one\nof the kings of Kent in England. In the twentieth year of her age\nshe was married to Sigefroi, by whom she had five daughters, two of\nwhom, Gertrude and Deotila, were saints. After her husband\u2019s death,\nshe put on the veil in the nunnery which she had built at Blangy in\nArtois, a little distance from Hesdin. Her daughters Gertrude and\nDeotila followed her example. She was persecuted by Roger or Rotgar,\nwho endeavored to asperse her with king Thierri III. to revenge his\nbeing refused Gertrude in marriage. But this prince, convinced of\nthe innocence of Bertha, then abbess over her nunnery, gave her a\nkind reception, and took her under his protection. On her return to\nBlangy, Bertha finished her nunnery, and caused three churches to\nbe built, one in honor of St. Omer, another she called after St.\nVaast, and the third in honor of St. Martin of Tours. And then, after\nestablishing a regular observance in her community, she left St.\nDeotila abbess in her stead, having shut herself in a cell, to be\nemployed only in prayer. She died about the year 725. A great part of\nher relics are kept at Blangy.[47] See Mabillon, sec. 3, Ben. part.\n1, p. 451, Bulteau, Hist. de l\u2019Ordre de St. Benoit, t. 2, l. 4, c.\n31, and Baillet on the 4th of July.\n\n\n ST. FINBAR, ABBOT.\n\n AND FOUNDER OF A FAMOUS MONASTERY IN THE ISLE OF CRIMLEN,\n BETWEEN KINSELECH AND DESIES.\n\nSee Colgan in MSS. ad 4 Julii. He is not to be confounded with St.\nFinbar, the first bishop of Cork, who is honored on the 25th of\nSeptember.\n\n\n ST. BOLCAN, ABBOT.\n\nA Disciple of St. Patrick in Ireland. His relics remain at Kilmore,\n_i. e._ Great Cell, where his monastery stood. See Colgan, ib.\n\n\n\n\n JULY V.\n\n\n ST. PETER OF LUXEMBURG, C.\n\n CARDINAL, BISHOP OF METZ.\n\n From his life, written by John de la Marche, his professor\n in laws, the year after his death, with the notes of Pinius\n the Bollandist, Julii, t. 1, p. 486. See also the bull\n of his beatification in Mir\u00e6us, and a history of a great\n number of miracles wrought by his intercession and relics\n in Pinius, ib. His life is compiled by a Celestine monk\n from original authentic MSS. kept in the houses of the\n Celestines at Avignon, Paris, Nantes, &c., printed at Paris\n in 1681.\n\n A. D. 1387.\n\nThe most illustrious houses of the dukes and counts of Luxemburg and\nSt. Pol, not only have held for several centuries the first rank\namong the nobility of the Low Countries, but vie with most royal\nfamilies in Europe; the former having given five emperors to the\nGermans, several kings to Hungary and Bohemia, a queen to France,\nand innumerable renowned heroes, whose great actions are famous in\nthe histories of Europe and the East. But none of their exploits\nhave reflected so great a lustre on these families as the humility\nof our Saint Peter. He was son to Guy of Luxemburg, count of Ligny,\nand to Maud, countess of St. Pol; and was born at Ligny, a small town\nin Lorrain, in the diocess of Toul, in 1369. He was nearly related\nto the emperor Wenceslas, Sigismund, king of Hungary, and Charles\nVI., king of France. He lost his pious father at three years of age,\nand his most virtuous mother a year after; but his devout aunt, the\ncountess of Orgieres and countess dowager of St. Pol,[48] took care\nof his education, and made a prudent choice of most virtuous persons\nwhom she placed about him. By the excellent example and precepts of\nhis masters, and the strong impressions of an early grace, he seemed\nformed by nature to perfect virtue. In his tender age the least\nsallies of the passions seemed rather prevented than subdued; and his\nardor in the pursuit of virtue so far surpassed the ordinary capacity\nof children of his tender age, that it was a matter of astonishment\nto all that knew him. His assiduity and fervor in prayer, his secret\nself-denials, great abstemiousness, and, above all, his love of\nhumility in an age when others are usually governed only by the\nsenses, seemed a miracle of divine grace. He made a private vow of\nperpetual chastity before he was seven years of age, and he contrived\nby a hundred little artifices that no poor person should ever be\ndismissed wherever he was without an alms. At ten years of age he\nwas sent to Paris, where he studied Latin, philosophy, and the canon\nlaw. In the meantime his eldest brother Valeran, count of St. Pol,\nwas taken prisoner by the English in a battle in which they defeated\nthe French and Flemings in Flanders. Upon the news that his brother\nwas made prisoner and sent to Calais, Peter, in 1381, interrupted\nhis studies, went over to London, and delivered himself up a hostage\nfor his brother till his ransom should be paid. The English were\ncharmed with his extraordinary virtue, and after he had stayed a\nyear in London, generously gave him his liberty, saying his word was\na sufficient pledge and security for the ransom stipulated. King\nRichard II. invited him to his court; but Peter excused himself, and\nhastened back to Paris to his studies. His watchings and fasts were\nvery austere, and he made no visits but such as were indispensable,\nor to persons of extraordinary virtue, from whose conversation and\nexample he might draw great spiritual advantage for the benefit of\nhis own soul. With this view he often resorted to Philip of Maisiers,\na person eminently endowed with the double spirit of penance and\nprayer, who, having been formerly chancellor of the kingdoms of\nJerusalem and Cyprus, led for twenty-five years a retired life in\nthe convent of the Celestines in Paris, without taking any vows, or\nprofessing that Order. From this devout servant of God our saint\nreceived important instructions and advice, which gave him great\nlight in the exercises of prayer, and in the paths of interior\nspiritual perfection.\n\nIn 1383 his brother, the count of St. Pol, obtained for him a canonry\nin our Lady\u2019s at Paris; which ecclesiastical preferment was to him a\nnew motive to increase his fervor in the divine service. His devotion\nand assiduity in choir, his charity towards all, his innocence,\nhis perfect spirit of mortification, and his meekness, edified\nexceedingly the whole city; and the modesty with which he endeavored\nto conceal his virtues was like a fine transparent veil through which\nthey shone with redoubled lustre. His humility was most conspicuous,\nof which the following instance, among others, is recorded: When a\nyoung clerk refused to carry the cross at a solemn procession, the\nnew canon took it up, and carried it with so much devotion, that the\nwhole city was struck with admiration to see him. Peter strove only\nto advance in humility and Christian perfection: this was the sole\npoint which he had in view in all his actions and undertakings; and\nhe was very far from aspiring to the least ecclesiastical dignity.\nBut the reputation of his extraordinary sanctity reaching Avignon,\nClement VII., who, in the great schism, was acknowledged by France\nfor true pope, nominated him archdeacon of Dreux, in the diocess of\nChartres, and soon after, in 1384, bishop of Metz, his great sanctity\nand prudence seeming to many a sufficient reason for dispensing with\nhis want of age. But Peter\u2019s reluctance and remonstrances could only\nbe overcome by a scruple which was much exaggerated to him, that\nby too obstinate a disobedience he would offend God. He made his\npublic entry at Metz barefoot, and riding on an ass, to imitate the\nhumility of our Redeemer. He would suffer no other magnificence on\nthat occasion than the distribution of great arms and largesses among\nthe poor; nor would he admit any attendants but what might inspire\nmodesty and piety.\n\nHe had no sooner taken possession of his church than with the\nsuffragan, Bertrand, a Dominican, who was given him for his\nassistant, and consecrated bishop of Thessaly, he performed the\nvisitation of his diocess, in which he everywhere corrected abuses,\nand gave astonishing proofs of his zeal, activity, and prudence.\nHe divided his revenues into three parts, allotting one to his\nchurch, a second to the poor, and reserving a third for himself and\nfamily, though the greatest share of this he added to the portion\nof the poor. On fast-days commanded by the Church he took no other\nsustenance than bread and water; and he fasted in the same austere\nmanner all Advent, and all Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays throughout\nthe year. When several towns had revolted from him and created for\nthemselves new magistrates, his brother, the count of St. Pol,\nreduced them to their duty by force of arms. The holy bishop was\nexceedingly mortified at this accident, and out of his own patrimony\nmade amends to every one even among the rebels for all losses they\nhad sustained, which unparalleled charity gained him all their\nhearts. Though he was judged, by those who were best acquainted\nwith his interior, during his whole life never to have stained his\nbaptismal innocence by any mortal sin, he had so high an idea of\nthe purity in which a soul ought always to appear in the divine\npresence, especially when she approaches the holy mysteries, that\nhe went every day to confession with extraordinary compunction, and\nbewailed the least imperfections with many tears. The very shadow of\nthe least sloth or failing in any action affrighted him. In the year\n1384, Clement VII., soon after he had nominated him bishop, created\nhim cardinal, under the title of St. George, and in 1386 called him\nto Avignon, and obliged him to reside there near his person. Peter\ncontinued all his former austerities in the midst of a court, till\nClement commanded him to mitigate them for the sake of his health,\nwhich seemed to be in a declining condition. His answer was: \u201cHoly\nFather, I shall always be an unprofitable servant, but I can at least\nobey.\u201d He desired to compensate for what he lost in the practices\nof penance by redoubling his alms-deeds. By his excessive charities\nhis purse was always empty; his table was most frugal, his family\nvery small, his furniture mean, and his clothes poor, and these he\nnever changed till they were worn out. It seemed that he could not\nincrease his alms, yet he found means to do it by distributing his\nlittle furniture and his equipage among the indigent, and selling\nfor them the episcopal ring which he wore on his finger. Everything\nabout him breathed an extraordinary spirit of poverty, and published\nhis affection for the poor. At his death his whole treasure amounted\nonly to twenty-pence. In all his actions he seemed attentive only to\nGod; and he fell into raptures sometimes in the street, or whilst he\nwaited on the pope at court. An ancient picture of the saint is kept\nin the collegiate church of our Lady at Autun, in which he is painted\nin an ecstasy, and in which are written these words which he was\naccustomed frequently to repeat: \u201cContempt of the world, contempt of\nthyself: rejoice in thy own contempt, but despise no other person.\u201d\n\nTen months after his promotion to the dignity of cardinal, the\nsaint was seized with a sharp fever, which so much undermined his\nconstitution that his imperfect recovery was succeeded by a dangerous\nslow fever. For his health he was advised to retire to Villeneuve, an\nagreeable town situate opposite to Avignon, on the other side of the\nRhone. He was glad by this opportunity to see himself removed from\nthe noise and hurry of the court. During his last illness he went\nto confession twice every day; never passed a day without receiving\nthe holy communion; and the constant union of his soul with God,\nand the tenderness of his devotion, seemed continually to increase\nas he drew near his end. His brother Andrew coming to see him, the\nsaint spoke to him with such energy on the vanity of the world, and\non the advantages of piety, that his words left a deep impression on\nhis heart during his whole life. This brother afterward taking holy\norders was made bishop of Cambray, and became one of the most holy\nprelates of that age. Our saint recommended to him in particular\nhis sister Jane of Luxemburg, whom he had induced to make a vow of\nperpetual chastity, and whose whole life was a perfect pattern of\nChristian perfection. Saint Peter sent her by this brother a small\ntreatise containing certain rules of perfection, which he had drawn\nup for her. Finding his strength quite exhausted, he desired and\nreceived the last sacraments; after which he called all his servants,\nand as they stood weeping round his bed, he begged their pardon for\nnot having edified them by his example as he ought to have done.\nHe then conjured them all to promise to do for his sake one thing\nwhich he was going to ask of them. To this they most readily engaged\nthemselves. But they were much surprised when he ordered them to\ntake a discipline which lay under his pillow, and every one to give\nhim many stripes on his back, in punishment for the faults he had\ncommitted in regard to them, who were, as he said, his brethren in\nChrist and his masters. Notwithstanding their extreme unwillingness\nthey were obliged to comply with his request in order to satisfy\nhim. After this act of penance and humiliation, he conversed with\nGod in silent prayer till he gave up his innocent soul into his\nhands, on the 2d of July, 1387, being eighteen years old, wanting\neighteen days. Though he had the administration of a diocess, he had\nnot received priestly orders, but seems to have been deacon, and his\ndalmatic is shown at Avignon. He was buried without pomp, according\nto his orders, in the church-yard of St. Michael.\n\nOn account of many miracles that were wrought both before and after\nhis interment, the citizens of Avignon built a rich chapel over his\ngrave. The convent and church of the Celestines have been since\nbuilt over that very spot, and in this church is the saint\u2019s body\nat present enshrined under a stately mausoleum. The history of the\nmiracles which have been wrought at his tomb fills whole volumes. A\nfamous one in 1432, moved the city of Avignon to choose him for its\npatron. It is related as follows: A child about twelve years old\nfell from a high tower in the palace of Avignon upon a sharp rock,\nby which fall his skull was split, his brains dashed out, and his\nbody terribly bruised. The father of the child, almost distracted at\nthis accident, ran to the place, and falling on his knees with many\ntears, implored the intercession of St. Peter. Then gathering up the\nscattered bloody pieces of the child\u2019s skull, he carried them with\nthe body in a sack, and laid them on the saint\u2019s tomb. The people\nand the Celestine monks joined their earnest prayers; and after\nsome time the child returned to life, and was placed upon the altar\nthat all might see him thus wonderfully raised from the dead. This\nmiracle happened on the 5th of July, on which day the festival of\nthe saint has ever since been celebrated at Avignon. After juridical\ninformations on his life and miracles, the bull of his beatification\nwas published by the true pope Clement VII. of the family of Medicis,\nin 1527.\n\nSt. Peter was a saint from the cradle, because he always strove to\nlive only for God, and his divine honor. If one spark of that ardent\nlove of God which inflamed the saints in their actions animated our\nbreasts, it would give wings to our souls in all we do. We should\ndevote ourselves every moment to God with our whole strength; and\nby our fidelity, and by the purity and fervor of our intention, we\nshould with the saints make all our actions perfect sacrifices of\nour hearts to him. \u201cGod considers not how much, but with how ardent\nan affection the thing is given,\u201d says St. Cyprian.[49] And, as St.\nAmbrose writes,[50] \u201cThy affection stamps the name and value on thy\naction. It is just rated at so much as is the ardor from which it\nproceeds. See how just is this judge--He asks thy own soul what value\nhe is to set on thy work.\u201d\n\n\n SAINT MODWENA, A NOBLE IRISH VIRGIN.\n\nHaving led a religious life several years in her own country, she\ncame into England in the reign of king Ethelwolf, about the year\n840. That pious and great king being acquainted with her sanctity,\ncommitted to her care the education of his daughter Editha, and\nfounded for her the monastery of Pollesworth, near the forest of\nArden in Warwickshire, which flourished till the dissolution, bearing\nusually the name of St. Editha, its patroness and second abbess. St.\nModwena had before established two famous nunneries in Scotland,\none at Stirling, the other in Edinburgh. She made some other pious\nfoundations in England, but to apply herself more perfectly to\nthe sanctification of her own soul, she led during seven years in\nanachoretical life in an isle in the Trent, which was called Andresey\nfrom the apostle St. Andrew, in whose honor she procured her oratory\nto be dedicated. When the great abbey of Burton-upon-Trent was\nfounded in the year 1004, it was dedicated under the patronage of\nthe Blessed Virgin and St. Modwena, and was enriched with the relics\nof this saint, which were translated thither from Andresey; whence\nLeland calls the monastery of Burton Modwenestow. See Pinius the\nBollandist, t. 2, Julij, p. 241. Tanner\u2019s Notitia Mon. &c.\n\n\n SAINT EDANA, OR EDAENE, IN IRELAND, V.\n\nShe is titular saint of the parish of new Tuamia, in the diocess of\nElphin, and another in that of Tuam. A famous holy well bears her\nname, much resorted to by the sick. See Colgan, ad 5 Jul.\n\n\n\n\n JULY VI.\n\n\n SAINT PALLADIUS, B. C.\n\n APOSTLE OF THE SCOTS.[51]\n\n From St. Prosper and other historians, quoted by Usher,\n Antiq. Brit. Eccles. c. 16, p. 416, 424; Keith. Cat. Episc.\n Scot. p. 233; and the Bollandists 6 Jul. t. 2, Jul. p. 286.\n\n ABOUT THE YEAR 450.\n\nThe name of Palladius shows this saint to have been a Roman, and\nmost authors agree that he was deacon of the church of Rome. At\nleast St. Prosper in his chronicle informs us, that when Agricola,\na noted Pelagian, had corrupted the churches of Britain with the\ninsinuation of that pestilential heresy, pope Celestine, at the\ninstance of Palladius the deacon, in 429, sent thither St. Germanus,\nbishop of Auxerre, in quality of his legate, who, having ejected the\nheretics, brought back the Britons to the Catholic faith. The concern\nof Palladius for these islands stopped not here; for it seems not\nto be doubted, but it was the same person of whom St. Prosper again\nspeaks, when he afterwards says, that in 431 pope Celestine sent\nPalladius, the first bishop, to the Scots then believing in Christ.\nFrom the lives of SS. Albeus, Declan, Ibar, and Kiaran Saigir, Usher\nshows[52] that these four saints preached separately in different\nparts of Ireland, which was their native country before the mission\nof St. Patrick. St. Ibar had been converted to the faith in Britain;\nthe other three had been instructed at Rome, and were directed thence\nback into their own country, and according to the histories of their\nlives, were all honored with the episcopal character. St. Kiaran\nSaigir (who is commemorated on the 5th of March) preceded St. Patrick\nin preaching the gospel to the Ossorians, and was seventy-five years\nof age on St. Patrick\u2019s arrival in Ireland. Hence it is easy to\nunderstand what is said of St. Palladius, that he was sent bishop to\nthe Scots believing in Christ: though the number of Christians among\nthem must have been then very small. St. Prosper, in his book against\nthe _Author of the conferences_,[53] having commended pope Celestine\nfor his care in delivering Britain from the Pelagian heresy, adds,\nthat \u201che also ordained a bishop for the Scots, and thus, whilst he\nendeavored to preserve the Roman island _Catholic_, he likewise\nmade a barbarous island _Christian_.\u201d Usher observes that this can\nbe understood only of Ireland; for though part of North-Britain was\nnever subject to the Romans, and the greatest part of it was then\ninhabited by the Picts, yet it never could be called a distinct\nisland. It is also clear from Tertullian, Eusebius, St. Chrysostom,\nand others, that the light of the gospel had penetrated among the\nPicts beyond the Roman territories in Britain, near the times of the\napostles. These people, therefore, who had lately begun to receive\nsome tincture of the faith when our saint undertook his mission, were\ndoubtless the Scots who were settled in Ireland.\n\nThe Irish writers of the lives of St. Patrick say, that Palladius\nhad preached in Ireland a little before St. Patrick, but that he\nwas soon banished by the king of Leinster, and returned to North\nBritain, where they tell us he had first opened his mission. It\nseems not to be doubted but he was sent to the whole nation of the\nScots, several colonies of whom had passed from Ireland into North\nBritain, and possessed themselves of part of the country, since\ncalled Scotland.[54] After St. Palladius had left Ireland, he arrived\namong the Scots in North Britain, according to St. Prosper, in the\nconsulate of Bassus and Antiochus, in the year of Christ 431.[55] He\npreached there with great zeal, and formed a considerable church.\nThe Scottish historians tell us, that the faith was planted in North\nBritain about the year 200, in the time of king Donald, when Victor\nwas pope of Rome. But they all acknowledge that Palladius was the\nfirst bishop in that country, and style him their first apostle.[56]\nThe saint died at Fordun, the capital town of the little county of\nMernis, fifteen miles from Aberdeen to the south, about the year 450.\nHis relics were preserved with religious respect in the monastery of\nFordun, as Hector Boetius[57] and Camden testify. In the year 1409,\nWilliam Scenes, archbishop of St. Andrew\u2019s and primate of Scotland,\nenclosed them in a new shrine enriched with gold and precious stones.\nHis festival is marked on the 6th of July in the Breviary of Aberdeen\nand the Scottish Calendars; but in some of the English on the 15th of\nDecember. Scottish writers, and calendars of the middle ages, mention\nSt. Servanus and St. Ternan as disciples of St. Palladius, and by him\nmade bishops, the former of Orkney, the latter of the Picts. But from\nUsher\u2019s chronology it appears that they both lived later.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt is easy to conceive how painful and laborious the mission of this\nsaint must have been; but where there is ardent love, labor seems a\npleasure, and either is not felt or is a delight. It is a mark of\nsloth and impatience for a man to count his labors, or so much as\nto think of pains or sufferings in so glorious an undertaking. St.\nPalladius surmounted every obstacle which a fierce nation had opposed\nto the establishment of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Ought not our\nhearts to be impressed with the most lively sentiments of love and\ngratitude to our merciful God, for having raised up such great and\nzealous men, by whose ministry the light of true faith has been\nconveyed to us.\n\n\n ST. JULIAN, ANCHORET.\n\nThis saint was carried away captive from some Western country when he\nwas very young, and sold for a slave in Syria. For some years he much\naggravated the weight of his chains by his impatience under them;\ntill having the happiness to receive the light of faith he found them\nexceedingly lightened by the comfort which religion afforded him. A\nright use of his afflictions from that moment contributed much to\nthe sanctification of his soul. Not long after, he recovered his\nliberty by the death of his master, and immediately in the fervor of\nhis devotion dedicated himself to the service of God in an austere\nmonastery in Mesopotamia. He frequently resorted to the great St.\nEphrem for advice and instructions in the exercises of virtue; and\nthat holy man went often to see him, that he might edify himself by\nhis saintly conversation. This learned doctor of the Syriac church\ntells us, that he could not forbear always admiring the sublime\nsentiments and spiritual lights with which God favored a man who\nappeared in the eyes of the world ignorant and a barbarian. Julian\nwas of a robust body, inured to labor, but he weakened and emaciated\nit by great austerities. He worked with his hands, making sails for\nships; and wept almost continually at the consideration of his past\nsins, and of the divine judgments. St. Ephrem tells us that he often\nadmired to find that in the copies of the holy Bible after Julian had\nused them some days, several words were effaced, and others rendered\nscarcely legible, though the manuscripts were entire and fair before;\nand that the holy man candidly confessed to him when he one day\nasked him the reason, that the tears which he shed in reading often\nblotted out letters and words. Our saint always looked upon himself\nas a criminal, trembling, and expecting every moment the coming of\nhis judge to call him to an account. It is easy to imagine how remote\nsuch a disposition of mind was from being capable of entertaining\nthe very thought of amusements. His extreme humility appeared in his\nwords, dress, and all his actions. He had much to suffer from certain\ntepid and slothful monks, but regarded himself as happy to meet with\nso favorable opportunities of redeeming his sins, and of exercising\nacts of penance, patience, meekness, and charity. Prayer was almost\nthe uninterrupted employment of his heart. He made in his little cell\na kind of a sepulchre, where he lived retired for greater solitude\nwhenever his presence was not required at duties of the community. He\nassisted at the divine office without ever moving his body, keeping\nhis whole attention fixed on God, as if he had been standing before\nthe tribunal of his sovereign judge. Saint Ephrem assures us that God\nhonored him with the gift of miracles. Sozomen writes[58] that his\nlife was so austere, that he seemed almost to live without a body.\nThus he spent twenty-five years in his monastery, purifying his soul\nby patience, obedience, and the labors of penance. He passed to a\nglorious immortality about the year 370. See his life written by his\nfriend St. Ephrem, Op. t. 3, p. 254, ed. Vatic.\n\n\n ST. SEXBURGH, ABBESS.\n\nShe was daughter of Anna the religious king of the East-Angles, and\nhis devout queen Hereswide, sister to St. Hilda. A pious education\nlaid in her the foundation of that eminent sanctity for which she\nwas most conspicuous during the whole course of her life. She was\ngiven in marriage to Ercombert, king of Kent, a prince of excellent\ndispositions, which she contributed exceedingly to improve by her\ncounsels and example. She had a great share in all his zealous\nundertakings for promoting virtue and the happiness of his people,\nespecially in extirpating the last remains of idolatry in his\ndominions, and in enforcing the observance of Lent, and other\nprecepts of the Church, by wholesome laws. Her virtue commanded the\nreverence, and her humility and devotion raised the admiration of\nall her subjects; and her goodness and unbounded charity gained her\nthe love of all, especially the poor. She had a longing desire to\nconsecrate herself wholly to God in religious retirement, and that\nothers at least might attend the divine service for her night and\nday without impediment, she began in her husband\u2019s lifetime to found\na monastery of holy virgins in the isle of Sheppey, on the coast\nof Kent, which she finished after his death in 664, whilst her son\nEgbert sat on the throne. Here she assembled seventy-four nuns, but\nhearing of the great sanctity of St. Etheldreda at Ely, and being\ndesirous to live in greater obscurity, and to be more at liberty to\nemploy all her thoughts on heaven, she left the kingdom of Kent,\nand retired to Ely before the year 679, in which she was chosen to\nsucceed her sister St. Etheldreda, or Audry, in the government of\nthat house. Sixteen years after she caused the body of that saint to\nbe taken up, and passed herself to bliss in a good old age, on the\n6th of July, toward the end of the seventh century. Her monastery in\nSheppey, called Le Mynstre in Sheppey, was destroyed by the Danes,\nbut rebuilt in 1130, and consecrated by William, archbishop of\nCanterbury, in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Sexburgh; and\nit subsisted in the hands of Benedictin nuns till the dissolution of\nabbeys. St. Ermenilda, daughter of king Ercombert and St. Sexburgh,\nwas married to Wulpher, king of Mercia, but after his death retired\nto Ely, near her mother and her two aunts St. Audry and St. Withburg,\nthree daughters of king Anna. St. Wereburgh, daughter of St.\nErmenilda and king Wulpher, was a nun at Hearburgh (which seems to\nhave been near Stanford or Croyland). Her relics were venerated at\nHearburgh, till in the ninth century they were removed to Leicester.\nSee the life of St. Sexburgh in Capgrave; also Bede and Narratio de\nSanctis qui in Anglia quiescunt, in Hickes, Diss. Epistol. p. 117.\nThesaur. t. 1, and Monast. Anglic. t. 1, p. 88, et 152. Weever\u2019s\nFuneral Monuments, p. 283, and Kalendarium in quo annotantur dies\nobit\u00fbs Sororum Monasterii de Sheppey. MS. Bibliot. Cotton.\n\n\n ST. GOAR, PRIEST, C.\n\nAquitain gave this saint his birth and education; but out of a\ndesire of serving God entirely unknown to the world, in 519 he\ntravelled into Germany, and settling in the territory of Triers,\nhe shut himself in his cell, and arrived at such an eminent degree\nof sanctity as to be esteemed the oracle and miracle of the whole\ncountry. He resolutely refused the archbishopric of Triers, and died\nin 575. Round his cell arose the town of St. Guver, on the left bank\nof the Rhine between Wesel and Boppard. See Brower and Pinius the\nBollandist, t. 2, Julij, p. 328.\n\n\n ST. MONINNA, VIRGIN.\n\nOf Sliabh-Cuillin, _i. e._ Mount Cullen, where she led a most holy\nlife in austere penance and heavenly contemplation. She died in 518,\nand is much honored in that part of Ireland. See Colgan ad 6 Jul.\n\n\n\n\n JULY VII.\n\n\n ST. PANT\u00c6NUS.\n\n FATHER OF THE CHURCH.\n\n See St. Jerom, Catal. Clem. Alex. and Eusebius. Also\n Ceillier, t. 2, p. 237.\n\nThis learned father and apostolic man flourished in the second age.\nHe was by birth a Sicilian, by profession a stoic philosopher. For\nhis eloquence he is styled by St. Clement of Alexandria the Sicilian\nBee. His esteem for virtue led him into an acquaintance with the\nChristians, and being charmed with the innocence and sanctity of\ntheir conversation he opened his eyes to the truth. He studied the\nholy scriptures under the disciples of the apostles, and his thirst\nafter sacred learning brought him to Alexandria in Egypt, where the\ndisciples of St. Mark had instituted a celebrated school of the\nChristian doctrine. Pant\u00e6nus sought not to display his talents in\nthat great mart of literature and commerce; but his great progress\nin sacred learning was after some time discovered, and he was drawn\nout of that obscurity in which his humility sought to live buried.\nBeing placed at the head of the Christian school some time before\nthe year 179, which was the first of Commodus, by his learning and\nexcellent manner of teaching he raised its reputation above all the\nschools of the philosophers, and the lessons which he read, and which\nwere gathered from the flowers of the prophets and apostles, conveyed\nlight and knowledge into the minds of all his hearers, as St. Clement\nof Alexandria, his eminent scholar, says of him. The Indians who\ntraded to Alexandria, entreated him to pay their country a visit, in\norder to confute their Brachmans. Hereupon he forsook his school, and\nwas established by Demetrius, who was made bishop of Alexandria in\n189, preacher of the gospel to the Eastern nations. Eusebius tells\nus that St. Pant\u00e6nus found some seeds of the faith already sown in\nthe Indies, and a book of the gospel of St. Matthew in Hebrew, which\nSt. Bartholomew had carried thither. He brought it back with him to\nAlexandria, whither he returned after he had zealously employed some\nyears in instructing the Indians in the faith. The public school was\nat that time governed by St. Clement, but St. Pant\u00e6nus continued\nto teach in private till in the reign of Caracalla, consequently\nbefore the year 216, he closed a noble and excellent life by a happy\ndeath, as Rufinus writes.[59] His name is inserted in all Western\nMartyrologies on the 7th of July.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe beauty of the Christian morality, and the sanctity of its\nfaithful professors, which by their charms converted this true\nphilosopher, appear nowhere to greater advantage than when they\nare compared with the imperfect and often false virtue of the most\nfamous sages of the heathen world.[60] Into what contradictions and\ngross errors did they fall, even about the divinity itself and the\nsovereign good! To how many vices did they give the name of virtues!\nHow many crimes did they canonize! It is true they showed indeed a\nzeal for justice, a contempt of riches and pleasures, moderation\nin prosperity, patience in adversities, generosity, courage, and\ndisinterestedness. But these were rather shadows and phantoms than\nreal virtues, if they sprang from a principle of vanity and pride, or\nwere infected with the poison of interestedness or any other vitiated\nintention, which they often betrayed, nay, sometimes openly avowed,\nand made a subject of their vain boasts.\n\n\n SAINT WILLIBALD, BISHOP OF AICHSTADT, C.\n\nHe was son of the holy king St. Richard, and was born about the\nyear 704 in the kingdom of the West-Saxons, about the place where\nSouthampton now stands. When he was three years old his life was\ndespaired of in a violent sickness; but when all natural remedies\nproved unsuccessful, his parents carried him and laid him at the\nfoot of a great cross which was erected in a public place near their\nhouse, according to the custom in Catholic countries to this day.\nThere they poured forth their prayers with great fervor, and made a\npromise to God that in case the child recovered they would consecrate\nhim to the divine service. God accepted their pious offering, and the\nchild was immediately restored to his health. St. Richard kept the\nchild two years longer at home, but only regarded him as a sacred\ndepositum committed to him by God; and when he was five years old\nplaced him under the abbot Egbald, and other holy tutors in the\nmonastery of Waltheim. The young saint, from the first use of his\nreason, in all his thoughts and actions seemed to aspire only to\nheaven, and his heart seemed full only of God and his holy love. He\nleft this monastery about the year 721, when he was seventeen years\nold, and his brother Winibald nineteen, to accompany his father and\nbrother in a pilgrimage of devotion to the tombs of the apostles at\nRome, and to the Holy Land. They visited many churches in France on\ntheir road; but St. Richard died at Lucca, where his relics are still\nvenerated in the church of St. Fridian, and he is commemorated in the\nRoman Martyrology on the 7th of February. The two sons went on to\nRome, and there took the monastic habit.\n\nAbove two years after this, Winibald having been obliged to return\nto England, St. Willibald with two or three young Englishmen set out\nto visit the holy places which Christ had sanctified by his sacred\npresence on earth. They added most severe mortifications to the\nincredible fatigues of their journey, living only on bread and water,\nand at land using no other bed than the bare ground. They sailed\nfirst to Cyprus and thence into Syria. At Emesa St. Willibald was\ntaken by the Saracens for a spy, was loaded with irons, and suffered\nmuch in severe confinement for several months, till certain persons\nwho were charmed with his wonderful virtue, and moved with compassion\nfor his disaster, satisfied the caliph of his innocence, and procured\nhis enlargement. The holy pilgrims expressed their gratitude to\ntheir benefactors, and pursued their journey to the holy places.\nThey resolved in visiting them to follow our Divine Redeemer in the\ncourse of his mortal life; and therefore they began their devotions\nat Nazareth. Our saint passed there some days with his companions in\nthe continual contemplation of the infinite mercies of God in the\ngreat mystery of the incarnation; and the sight of the place in which\nit was wrought drew from his eyes streams of devout tears during\nall the time of his stay in that town. From Nazareth he went to\nBethlehem, and thence into Egypt, making no account of the fatigues\nand hardships of his journey, and assiduously meditating on what our\nBlessed Redeemer had suffered in the same. He returned to Nazareth,\nand thence travelled to Cana, Capharnaum, and Jerusalem. In this last\nplace he made a long stay to satisfy his fervor in adoring Christ in\nthe places where he wrought so many great mysteries, particularly\non the mountains of Calvary and Olivet, the theatres of his sacred\ndeath and ascension. He likewise visited all the famous monasteries,\nlauras, and hermitages in that country, with an ardent desire of\nlearning and imitating all the most perfect practices of virtue, and\nwhatever might seem most conducive to the sanctification of his soul.\nThe tender and lively sentiments of devotion with which his fervent\ncontemplation on the holy mysteries of our redemption inspired him\nat the sight of all those sacred places, filled his devout soul with\nheavenly consolations, and made on it strong and lasting impressions.\nIn his return a severe sickness at Acon exercised his patience and\nresignation. After seven years employed in this pilgrimage he arrived\nsafe with his companions in Italy.\n\nThe celebrated monastery of Mount Cassino having been lately repaired\nby pope Gregory II. the saint chose that house for his residence,\nand his fervent example contributed very much to settle in it the\nprimitive spirit of its holy institute during the ten years that he\nlived there. He was first appointed sacristan, afterward dean or\nsuperior over ten monks, and during the last eight years porter,\nwhich was an office of great trust and importance, and required a\nrooted habit of virtue which might suffer no abatement by external\nemploys and frequent commerce with seculars. It happened that in\n738 St. Boniface coming to Rome begged of pope Gregory III. that\nWillibald, who was his cousin, might be sent to assist him in his\nmissions in Germany. The pope desired to see the monk, and was much\ndelighted with the history of his travels, and edified with his\nvirtue. In the close of their conversation he acquainted him of\nbishop Boniface\u2019s request. Willibald desired to go back at least to\nobtain the leave and blessing of his abbot; but the pope told him\nhis order sufficed, and commanded him to go without more ado into\nGermany. The saint replied that he was ready to go wheresoever his\nholiness should think fit. Accordingly he set out for Thuringia where\nSt. Boniface then was, by whom he was ordained priest. His labors in\nthe country about Aichstadt, in Franconia and Bavaria, were crowned\nwith incredible success, and he was no less powerful in words than in\nworks.\n\nIn 746 he was consecrated by St. Boniface bishop of Aichstadt.\nThis dignity gave his humility much to suffer, but it exceedingly\nexcited his zeal. The cultivation of so rough a vineyard was a\nlaborious and painful task; but his heroic patience and invincible\nmeekness overcame all difficulties. His charity was most tender\nand compassionate, and he had a singular talent in comforting the\nafflicted. He founded a monastery which resembled in discipline\nthat of Mount Cassino, to which he often retired. But his love of\nsolitude diminished not his pastoral solicitude for his flock. He was\nattentive to all their spiritual necessities, he visited often every\npart of his charge, and instructed all his people with indefatigable\nzeal and charity. His fasts were most austere, nor did he allow\nhimself any indulgence in them or in his labors on account of his\ngreat age, till his strength was entirely exhausted. Having labored\nalmost forty-five years in regulating and sanctifying his diocess, he\ndied at Aichstadt on the 7th of June, 790, being eighty-seven years\nold. He was honored with miracles, and buried in his own cathedral.\nPope Leo VII. canonized him in 938. In 1270 the bishop Hildebrand\nbuilt a church in his honor, into which his relics were translated,\nand are honorably preserved to this day; but a portion is honored\nat Furnes in Flanders. See the three lives of St. Willibald written\nby contemporary authors, especially that by a nun of his sister St.\nWalburga\u2019s monastery. She gives from the saint\u2019s own relation a\ncurious and useful description of the Holy Land, as it stood in that\nage; which is rendered more curious by the notes of Mabillon, and\nthose of Basnage in his edition of Canisius\u2019s Lect. Antiqu\u00e6. On St.\nWillibald, see Solier the Bollandist, t. 2, Julij, p. 485.\n\n\n ST. HEDDA, B. C.\n\nHe was an English Saxon, a monk of the monastery of St. Hilda, and\nwas made bishop of the West-Saxons in 676. He resided first at\nDorchester near Oxford, but afterward removed his see to Winchester.\nKing Ceadwal going to Rome to be baptized died there, and was buried\nin the church of St. Peter in 688. His kinsman Ina succeeded him in\nthe throne.[61] In his wise and wholesome laws, the most ancient\nextant among those of our English Saxon kings, enacted by him in a\ngreat council of bishops and ealdermen in 693, he declares that in\ndrawing them up he had been assisted by the counsels of St. Hedda and\nSt. Erconwald.[62] In these laws theft is ordained to be punished\nwith cutting off a hand or a foot; robbery on the highway, committed\nby a band not under seven in number, with death, unless the criminal\nredeem his life according to the estimation of his head. Church dues\nare ordered to be paid under a penalty of forty shillings; and if any\nmaster order a servant to do any work on a Sunday, the servant is\nmade free and the master amerced thirty shillings. St. Hedda governed\nhis church with great sanctity about thirty years, and departed to\nthe Lord on the 7th of July, 705. Bede[63] and William of Malmesbury\nassure us, that his tomb was illustrated by many miracles. His name\nis placed in the Roman Martyrology. See Solier the Bollandist, t. 2,\nJulij, p. 482.\n\n\n ST. EDELBURGA, V.\n\nShe was daughter to Anna king of the East Angles, and out of a\ndesire of attaining to Christian perfection, went into France, and\nthere consecrated herself to God in the monastery of Faremoutier,\nin the forest of Brie, in the government of which she succeeded its\nfoundress St. Fara. After her death her body remained uncorrupt,\nas Bede testifies.[64] She is honored in the Roman, French, and\nEnglish Martyrologies on this day.[65] In these latter her niece\nSt. Earcongota is named with her. She was daughter to Earconbercht\nking of Kent, and of St. Sexburga; accompanied St. Edelburga to\nFaremoutier, and there taking the veil with her, lived a great\nexample of all virtues, and was honored after her happy death by many\nmiracles, as Bede relates. Hereswide, the wife of king Anna, the\nmother of many saints, after the death of her husband, retired also\ninto France, and consecrated herself to God in the famous monastery\nof Cale or Chelles, five leagues from Paris, near the marne (founded\nby St. Clotilda, but chiefly endowed by St. Bathildes), where she\npersevered, advancing daily in holy fervor to her happy death. See\nthe history of the monastery of Chelles in the sixth tome of the late\nhistory of the diocess of Paris, by Abb\u00e9 Lebeuf, and Solier on this\nday, p. 481, &c.\n\n\n ST. FELIX, BISHOP OF NANTES, C.\n\nThe most illustrious among the bishops of Nantes was saint Felix,\na person of the first rank in Aquitain, some say of Bourges in the\nFirst Aquitain; others more probably think of the Second Aquitain\non the sea-coast and nearer Brittany. In the world he was more\nillustrious by his virtue, his eloquence, and learning, than by his\ndignities and high birth. The Greek language was as familiar to him\nas his own; he was a poet and orator, and seems from Fortunatus\u2019s\nexpression to have written a panegyric on the queen St. Radegundes\nin verse. He had been married when he was called to succeed Evemer,\nthe holy bishop of Nantes, toward the close of the year 549, in\nthe 37th year of his age. His zeal for discipline and good order\nappeared in the regulations he made for his own diocess, and in the\ndecrees of the third council of Paris in 557, in the second of Tours\nin 566, and the fourth of Paris in 573. His charity to the poor had\nno other bounds but those of their necessities, and considering\nthat the revenues of the Church were the patrimony of the poor, he\nreserved to himself only the prudent and troublesome administration\nof them for their use. He sold for them and the Church his own\npatrimony, and made it his study and earnest endeavor that no one\nin his diocess should pass unrelieved in distress. His predecessor\nhad formed a project of building a cathedral within the walls of the\ncity of Nantes, which Felix executed in the most magnificent manner.\nFortunatus describes it to have been composed of three naves, of\nwhich the middle was supported by great pillars. A great cupola was\nraised in the middle. The church was covered with tin, and within was\nonly azure, gold, mosaic, paintings, pilasters, foliages, various\nfigures, and other ornaments. Euphronius archbishop of Tours, and the\nbishops of Angers, Mans, Rennes, Poitiers, and Angouleme performed\nthe dedication; no bishop of the Britons was invited to the ceremony;\nfor which it appears that their commerce with the French was not\nentirely free. The Britons were then possessed of no lands in the\ndiocess of Nantes except the territory of Croisic, in which was the\npalace of Aula Quiriaca or Guerrande, vulgarly Warand, probably so\ncalled from Guerech I. the British count of Vannes, who resided\nthere. Canao, one of his successors, when Felix was made bishop, had\nput to death three of his brothers, and held a fourth named Macliau\nin prison. St. Felix by his intercession saved his life, and obtained\nhis liberty. St. Gregory of Tours complains that bishop Felix had\nbeen prepossessed by false informations against Peter, Gregory\u2019s\nbrother, and accused him of favoring an unworthy nephew; but in\nother places bears testimony to his eminent sanctity, which is much\nextolled by Fortunatus and others. Guerech II. count of Vannes,\nplundered the diocesses of Rennes and Vannes, and repulsed the troops\nwhich king Chilperic sent against him; but, at the entreaties of St.\nFelix, withdrew his forces, and made peace. The holy prelate died on\nthe 8th of January in 584, the seventieth year of his age, of his\nepiscopal dignity thirty-three.\n\nHe is honored at Nantes, of which he was the sixteenth bishop from\nSt. Clair, on the 7th of July, the day of the translation of his\nrelics. See Fortunatus, l. 3, c. 4, 5, 6, 7. St. Gregory of Tours,\nl. 5, c. 5. Ceillier, t. 16, p. 562. M. Travers, Histoire abr\u00e9g\u00e9e\ndes Ev\u00eaques de Nantes, tome 7, part 2, des M\u00e9moires de Litt\u00e9rature\nrecueillis par P. Desmolets de l\u2019Oratoire. Stilting the Bollandist,\nt. 2, Jul. p. 470. Lobineau, Vies des SS. de Bretagne, p. 121.\n\n\n ST. BENEDICT XI. POPE, C.\n\nHis family name was Nicholas Bocasini. He was a native of Treviso,\nwhich city was then an independent commonwealth, but since the year\n1336 is subject to that of Venice. He was born in 1240, and studied\nfirst at Treviso, and afterwards at Venice, where, at fourteen years\nof age, he took the habit of St. Dominick. He seemed desirous to\nset no bounds to his fervor and fidelity in the practice of every\nmeans of improving his soul daily in virtue: and, during fourteen\nyears, enriched his mind with an uncommon store of sacred learning.\nAfter this term he was appointed professor and preacher at Venice\nand Bologna, and with incredible fruit communicated to others\nthose spiritual riches which he had treasured up in silence and\nretirement, being always careful by the same means to preserve and\nincrease his own stock. He wrote several sermons and comments on the\nholy scripture, which are still extant. He was chosen provincial\nof Lombardy, and, in 1296, the ninth general of his Order. On that\noccasion, by a pathetic circular letter,[66] he exhorted his brethren\nto a love of poverty, humility, retirement, prayer, charity, and\nobedience. In 1297 he was sent by Boniface VIII. nuncio into France,\nto be the mediator of peace between that nation and the English; and\nwas created cardinal during his residence there in 1298. Nothing\nbut the strict command of his Holiness could have obliged him to\naccept that dignity, which cost him many tears. He was made soon\nafter bishop of Ostia, and dean of the sacred college; and in 1301\nwent legate _a latere_ into Hungary, to endeavor to compose the\ndifferences which divided that nation into factions, and had already\nlaid it waste by a dreadful civil war; in which cardinal Boncasini\nsucceeded to a miracle. He also abolished in that country several\nsuperstitious practices, and other abuses and scandals. He afterward\nexerted his zeal in Austria and at Venice, being successively legate\nin both those places.\n\nBoniface VIII. dying on the 11th of October, 1303, the cardinals\nentered the conclave on the 21st of the same month, and on the\nday following unanimously chose our saint pope. He was seized\nwith trembling at the news; but being compelled to acquiesce, was\ncrowned on the following Sunday. He continued his former practices\nof humility, mortification, and penance. When his mother came to\nhis court in rich attire, he refused to see her till she had put on\nagain her former mean apparel. Rome was at that time torn by civil\ndivisions, especially by the factions of the Colonnas against the\nlate pope, but the moderation, meekness, and prudence of our saint\nsoon restored the whole country to perfect tranquillity. He pardoned\nthe Colonnas and other rebels, Sciarra Colonna and William of Nogaret\nexcepted, who remained under the former sentence of proscription.\nHe pacified Denmark, and other kingdoms of the North, and appeased\nthe State and Church of France. He reconciled the cities of Venice\nand Padua without effusion of blood. He joined his zealous endeavors\nwith Helena, queen of Servia, in the conversion of her son Orosius.\nThis good pope died the martyr of peace, to make which reign over\nthe whole Christian world he seemed only to have lived. Having sat\nonly eight months and seventeen days, he departed this life at\nPerugia, on the 6th of July, in the year of our Lord, 1304, of his\nage sixty-three. Some say he died of poison secretly given him by\nthe contrivance of certain wicked men who were enemies to the public\ntranquillity. He was honored by miracles, examined and approved by\nthe bishop of Perugia, and attested by Platina and other historians.\nSee Conc. t. 10, also his life collected by Pagi, in his Annals, and\nin an express work by the late learned Dominican, F. Peter Thomas\nCampana; and Vie de S. Benoit XI. ou Caract\u00e8re de la Saintet\u00e9 du B.\nBenoit XI. \u00e0 Toulouse, 1739. See also F. Touron, Hommes Illustres, t.\n1, l. 7, p. 655, and Benedict XIV. de Canoniz, t. 4, Append. and in\nhis new Roman Martyrology on the 7th of July.\n\n\n\n\n JULY VIII.\n\n\n SAINT ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF PORTUGAL.\n\n From her Authentic Life, written by a Franciscan friar;\n Mariana, and other Spanish historians. See Janning the\n Bollandist, Julij, t. 2, ad diem 4, p. 169.\n\n A. D. 1336.\n\nSt. Elizabeth was daughter of Peter III. king of Arragon, and\ngrand-daughter of James I. who had been educated under the care of\nSt. Peter Nolasco, and was surnamed the Saint, and from the taking\nof Majorca and Valentia, Expugnator or the Conqueror. Her mother,\nConstantia, was daughter of Manfred king of Sicily, and grandchild\nto the Emperor Frederic II. Our saint was born in 1271, and received\nat the baptismal font by the name of Elizabeth, from her aunt, St.\nElizabeth of Hungary, who had been canonized by Gregory IX. in 1235.\nHer birth established a good understanding between her grandfather\nJames, who was then on the throne, and her father, whose quarrel had\ndivided the whole kingdom. The former took upon himself the care of\nher education, inspired her with an ardor for piety above her age,\nthough he died in 1276 (having reigned sixty-three years), before she\nhad completed the sixth year of her age.\n\nHer father succeeded to the crown, and was careful to place most\nvirtuous persons about his daughter, whose example might be to her\na constant spur to all virtue. The young princess was of a most\nsweet and mild disposition, and from her tender years had no relish\nfor anything but what was conducive to piety and devotion. It was\ndoing her the most sensible pleasure if any one promised to lead her\nto some chapel to say a prayer. At eight years of age she began to\nfast on vigils, and to practise great self-denials; nor could she\nbear to hear the tenderness of her years and constitution alleged\nas a reason that she ought not to fast or macerate her tender body.\nHer fervor made her eagerly to desire that she might have a share\nin every exercise of virtue which she saw practised by others, and\nshe had been already taught that the frequent mortification of the\nsenses, and still more of the will, is to be joined with prayer to\nobtain the grace which restrains the passions, and prevents their\nrevolt. How little is this most important maxim considered by those\nparents who excite and fortify the passions of children, by teaching\nthem a love of vanities, and indulging them in gratifications of\nsense! If rigorous fasts suit not their tender age, a submission of\nthe will, perfect obedience, and humble modesty, are in no time of\nlife more indispensably to be inculcated; nor is any abstinence more\nnecessary than that by which children are taught never to drink or\neat out of meals, to bear several little denials in them without\nuneasiness, and never eagerly to crave anything. The easy and happy\nvictory of Elizabeth over herself was owing to this early and perfect\ntemperance, submissiveness, and sincere humility. Esteeming virtue\nher only advantage and delight, she abhorred romances and idle\nentertainments, shunned the usual amusements of children, and was an\nenemy to all the vanities of the world. She could bear no other songs\nthan sacred hymns and psalms; and from her childhood said every day\nthe whole office of the breviary, in which no priest could be more\nscrupulously exact. Her tenderness and compassion for the poor made\nher, even in that tender age, to be styled their mother.\n\nAt twelve years of age she was given in marriage to Dionysius, king\nof Portugal. That prince had considered in her, birth, beauty,\nriches, and sprightliness of genius, more than virtue; yet he allowed\nher an entire liberty in her devotions, and exceedingly esteemed and\nadmired her extraordinary piety. She found no temptation to pride in\nthe dazzling splendor of a crown, and could say with Esther, that her\nheart never found any delight in the glory, riches, and grandeur with\nwhich she was surrounded. She was sensible that regularity in our\nactions is necessary to virtue, this being in itself most agreeable\nto God, who shows in all his works how much he is the lover of order;\nalso a prudent distribution of time fixes the fickleness of the\nhuman mind, hinders frequent omissions of pious exercises, and is a\nmeans to prevent our being ever idle and being governed by humor and\ncaprice in what we do, by which motives a disguised self-love easily\ninsinuates itself into our ordinary actions. Our saint therefore\nplanned for herself a regular distribution of her whole time, and\nof her religious exercises, which she never interrupted, unless\nextraordinary occasions of duty or charity obliged her to change the\norder of her daily practices. She rose very early every morning, and\nafter a long morning exercise, and a pious meditation, she recited\nmatins, lauds and prime of the Church office. Then she heard mass,\nat which she communicated frequently every week. She said every day\nalso the little office of our Lady, and that of the dead: and in the\nafternoon had other regular devotions after even-song or vespers.\nShe retired often into her oratory to her pious books, and allotted\ncertain hours to attend her domestic affairs, public business, or\nwhat she owed to others. All her spare time she employed in pious\nreading, or in working for the altar, or the poor, and she made her\nladies of honor do the like. She found no time to spend in vain\nsports and recreations, or in idle discourse or entertainments. She\nwas most abstemious in her diet, mean in her attire, humble, meek,\nand affable in conversation, and wholly bent upon the service of\nGod in all her actions. Admirable was her spirit of compunction,\nand of holy prayer; and she poured forth her heart before God with\nmost feeling sentiments of divine love, and often watered her cheeks\nand the very ground with abundant tears of sweet devotion. Frequent\nattempts were made to prevail with her to moderate her austerities,\nbut she always answered that if Christ assures us that his spirit\ncannot find place in a life of softness and pleasure, mortification\nis nowhere more necessary than on the throne, where the passions\nfind more dangerous incentives. She fasted three days a week, many\nvigils besides those prescribed by the Church; all Advent; a Lent\nof devotion, from the feast of St. John Baptist to the feast of the\nAssumption; and soon after this she began another Lent, which she\ncontinued to St. Michael\u2019s day. On all Fridays and Saturdays, on the\neves of all festivals of the Blessed Virgin and the apostles, and on\nmany other days, her fast was on bread and water. She often visited\nchurches and places of devotion on foot.\n\nCharity to the poor was a distinguishing part of her character.\nShe gave constant orders to have all pilgrims and poor strangers\nprovided for with lodging and necessaries. She made it her business\nto seek out and secretly relieve persons of good condition who were\nreduced to necessity, yet out of shame durst not make known their\nwants. She was very liberal in furnishing fortunes to poor young\nwomen, that they might marry according to their condition, and not\nbe exposed to the danger of losing their virtue. She visited the\nsick, served them, and dressed and kissed their most loathsome\nsores. She founded in different parts of the kingdom many pious\nestablishments, particularly an hospital near her own palace at\nCo\u00efmbra, a house for penitent women who had been seduced into evil\ncourses, at Torres-Novas, and an hospital for foundlings, or those\nchildren who, for want of due provision, are exposed to the danger\nof perishing by poverty, or the neglect and cruelty of unnatural\nparents. She was utterly regardless of her own conveniences, and so\nattentive to the poor and afflicted persons of the whole kingdom,\nthat she seemed almost wholly to belong to them; not that she\nneglected any other duties which she owed to her neighbor, for she\nmade it her principal study to pay to her husband the most dutiful\nrespect, love, and obedience, and bore his injuries with invincible\nmeekness and patience. Though king Dionysius was a friend of justice,\nand a valiant, bountiful, and compassionate prince, yet he was, in\nhis youth, a worldly man, and defiled the sanctity of the nuptial\nstate with abominable lusts. The good queen used all her endeavors\nto reclaim him, grieving most sensibly for the offence of God,\nand the scandal given to the people; and she never ceased to weep\nherself, and to procure the prayers of others for his conversion.\nShe strove to gain him only by courtesy, and with constant sweetness\nand cheerfulness cherished his natural children, and took great care\nof their education. By these means she softened the heart of the\nking, who, by the succor of a powerful grace, rose out of the filthy\npuddle in which he had wallowed for a long time, and kept ever after\nthe fidelity that was due to his virtuous consort. He instituted the\norder of Christ in 1318; founded, with a truly royal magnificence,\nthe university of Co\u00efmbra, and adorned his kingdom with public\nbuildings. His extraordinary virtues, particularly his liberality,\njustice, and constancy, are highly extolled by the Portuguese,\nand after his entire conversion, he was the idol and glory of his\npeople. A little time before his perfect conversion there happened an\nextraordinary accident. The queen had a very pious, faithful page,\nwhom she employed in the distribution of her secret alms. A wicked\nfellow-page envying him on account of this favor, to which his virtue\nand services entitled him, treacherously suggested to his majesty\nthat the queen showed a fondness for that page. The prince, who by\nhis own sensual heart was easily inclined to judge ill of others,\ngave credit to the slander, and resolved to take away the life of\nthe innocent youth. For this purpose he gave order to a lime-burner,\nthat if on such a day he sent to him a page with this errand to\ninquire, \u201cWhether he had fulfilled the king\u2019s commands?\u201d he should\ntake him and cast him into the lime-kiln, there to be burnt; for\nthat death he had justly incurred, and the execution was expedient\nfor the king\u2019s service. On the day appointed he despatched the page\nwith this message to the lime-kiln; but the devout youth on the road\npassing by a church, heard the bell ring at the elevation at mass,\nwent in and prayed there devoutly; for it was his pious custom, if\nhe ever heard the sign given by the bell for the elevation, always\nto go thither, and not depart till mass was ended. It happened, on\nthat occasion, that as the first was not a whole mass, and it was\nwith him a constant rule to hear mass every day, he stayed in the\nchurch, and heard successively two other masses. In the meantime, the\nking, who was impatient to know if his orders had been executed, sent\nthe informer to the lime-kiln, to inquire whether his commands had\nbeen obeyed; but as soon as he was come to the kiln, and had asked\nthe question, the man, supposing him to be the messenger meant by\nthe king\u2019s order, seized him, and threw him into the burning lime,\nwhere he was soon consumed. Thus was the innocent protected by his\ndevotion, and the slanderer was overtaken by divine justice. The page\nwho had heard the masses went afterward to the lime-kiln, and having\nasked whether his majesty\u2019s commands had been yet executed, brought\nhim back word that they were. The king was almost out of himself\nwith surprise when he saw him come back with this message, and being\nsoon informed of the particulars, he easily discovered the innocence\nof the pious youth, adored the divine judgments, and ever after\nrespected the great virtue and sanctity of his queen.\n\nSt. Elizabeth had by the king two children, Alphonsus, who afterward\nsucceeded his father, and Constantia, who was married to Ferdinand\nIV., king of Castille. This son, when grown up, married the infanta\nof Castille, and soon after revolting against his own father, put\nhimself at the head of an army of malecontents. St. Elizabeth had\nrecourse to weeping, prayer, fasting, and almsdeeds, and exhorted\nher son in the strongest terms to return to his duty, conjuring\nher husband at the same time to forgive him. Pope John XXII. wrote\nto her, commending her religious and prudent conduct; but certain\ncourt flatterers whispering to the king that she was suspected of\nfavoring her son, he, whom jealousy made credulous, banished her to\nthe city of Alanquer. The queen received this disgrace with admirable\npatience and peace of mind, and made use of the opportunity which\nher retirement afforded, to redouble her austerities and devotions.\nShe never would entertain any correspondence with the malecontents,\nnor listen to any suggestions from them. The king himself admired\nher goodness, meekness, and humility under her disgrace; and shortly\nafter called her back to court, and showed her greater love and\nrespect than ever. In all her troubles she committed herself to the\nsweet disposal of divine providence, considering that she was always\nunder the protection of God, her merciful father.\n\nBeing herself of the most sweet and peaceable disposition, she was\nalways most active and industrious in composing all differences\nbetween neighbors, especially in averting war, with the train of all\nthe most terrible evils which attend it. She reconciled her husband\nand son, when their armies were marching one against the other; and\nshe reduced all the subjects to duty and obedience. She made peace\nbetween Ferdinand IV., king of Castille, and Alphonsus de la Cerda,\nhis cousin-german, who disputed the crown: likewise between James\nII., king of Arragon, her own brother, and Ferdinand IV., the king\nof Castille, her son-in-law. In order to effect this last she took\na journey with her husband into both those kingdoms, and to the\ngreat satisfaction of the Christian world, put a happy period to all\ndissensions and debates between those states. After this charitable\nwork, king Dionysius, having reigned forty-five years, fell sick. St.\nElizabeth gave him most signal testimonies of her love and affection,\nscarce ever leaving his chamber during his illness, unless to go to\nthe church, and taking infinite pains to serve and attend him. But\nher main care and solicitude was to secure his eternal happiness, and\nto procure that he might depart this life in sentiments of perfect\nrepentance and piety. For this purpose she gave bountiful alms,\nand caused many prayers and masses to be said. During his long and\ntedious illness he gave great marks of sincere compunction, and died\nat Santaren, on the 6th of January, 1325. As soon as he had expired,\nthe queen retired into her oratory, commended his soul to God, and\nconsecrating herself to the divine service, put on the habit of the\nthird Order of Saint Francis. She attended the funeral procession,\nwith her husband\u2019s corpse, to Odiveras, where he had chosen his\nburying-place in a famous church of Cistercian monks. After a\nconsiderable stay there, she made a pilgrimage to Compostella, and\nreturning to Odiveras, celebrated there her husband\u2019s anniversary\nwith great solemnity; after which she retired to a convent of Clares,\nwhich she had begun to rebuild before the death of her husband. She\nwas desirous to make her religious profession, but was diverted\nfrom that design for some time upon a motive of charity, that she\nmight continue to support an infinity of poor people by her alms and\nprotection. She therefore contented herself at first with wearing\nthe habit of the third Order, living in a house which she built\ncontiguous to her great nunnery, in which she assembled ninety devout\nnuns. She often visited them, and sometimes served them at table,\nhaving for her companion in this practice of charity and humility\nher daughter-in-law, Beatrix, the queen then reigning. However, by\nauthentic historical proofs it is evinced that before her death\nshe made her religious profession in the aforesaid third Order, as\npope Urban VIII., after mature discussion of those monuments, has\ndeclared.[67]\n\nA war being lighted up between her son Alphonsus IV., surnamed the\nbrave, king of Portugal, and her grandson, Alphonsus XI., king of\nCastille, and armies being set on foot, she was startled at the news,\nand resolved to set out to reconcile them, and extinguish the fire\nthat was kindling. Her servants endeavored to persuade her to defer\nher journey, on account of the excessive heats, but she made answer\nthat she could not better expend her health and her life than by\nseeking to prevent the miseries and calamities of a war. The very\nnews of her journey disposed both parties to peace. She went to\nEstremoz, upon the frontiers of Portugal and Castille, where her son\nwas; but she arrived ill of a violent fever, which she looked upon\nas a messenger sent by God to warn her that the time was at hand\nwherein he called her to himself. She strongly exhorted her son to\nthe love of peace and to a holy life; she confessed several times,\nreceived the holy viaticum on her knees at the foot of the altar,\nand shortly after extreme unction; from which time she continued in\nfervent prayer, often invoking the Blessed Virgin, and repeating\nthese words: \u201cMary, mother of grace, mother of mercy, defend us from\nthe wicked enemy, and receive us at the hour of our death.\u201d She\nappeared overflowing with heavenly joy, and with those consolations\nof the Holy Ghost which make death so sweet to the saints; and in the\npresence of her son, the king, and of her daughter-in-law, she gave\nup her happy soul to God on the 4th of July, in the year 1336, of her\nage sixty-five. She was buried with royal pomp in the church of her\nmonastery of poor Clares, at Co\u00efmbra, and honored by miracles. Leo\nX. and Paul IV. granted an office on her festival; and in 1612 her\nbody was taken up and found entire. It is now richly enshrined in\na magnificent chapel, built on purpose. She was canonized by Urban\nVIII. in 1625, and the 8th of July appointed for her festival.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe characteristical virtue of St. Elizabeth was a love of peace.\nChrist, the prince of peace, declares his spirit to be the spirit of\nhumility and meekness; consequently the spirit of peace. Variance,\nwrath, and strife, are the works of the flesh, of envy, and pride,\nwhich he condemns, and which exclude from the kingdom of heaven.\nBitterness and contention shut out reason, make the soul deaf to the\nmotives of religion, and open the understanding to nothing but what\nis sinful. To find the way of peace we must be meek and patient,\neven under the most violent provocations; we must never resent\nany wrong, nor return railing for railing, but good for evil; we\nmust regard passion as the worst of monsters, and must judge it as\nunreasonable to hearken to its suggestions as to choose a madman\nfor our counsellor in matters of concern and difficulty; above all,\nwe must abhor it not only as a sin, but as leading to a numberless\nvariety of other grievous sins and spiritual evils. _Blessed are the\npeacemakers_, and all who love and cultivate this virtue among men,\n_they shall be called the children of God_, whose badge and image\nthey bear.\n\n\n ST. PROCOPIUS, M.\n\nHe was a native of Jerusalem, but lived at Bethsan, otherwise called\nScythopolis, where he was reader in the church, and also performed\nthe function of exorcist, and dispossessing demoniacs, and that of\ninterpreter of the Greek tongue into the Syro-Chaldaic.[68] He was\na divine man, say his acts, and had always lived in the practice of\ngreat austerity and patience, and in perpetual chastity. He took no\nother sustenance than bread and water, and usually abstained from\nall food for two or three days together. He was well skilled in the\nscience of the Greeks, but much more in that of the holy scriptures;\nthe assiduous meditation on which nourished his soul, and seemed also\nto give vigor and strength to his emaciated body. He was admirable\nin all virtues, particularly in a heavenly meekness and humility.\nDioclesian\u2019s bloody edicts against the Christians reached Palestine\nin April, 303, and Procopius was the first person who received the\ncrown of martyrdom in that country, in the aforesaid persecution.\nHe was apprehended at Bethsan and led, with several others, bound\nto C\u00e6sarea, our city, say the acts, and was hurried straight before\nPaulinus, prefect of the province.[69] The judge commanded the martyr\nto sacrifice to the gods. The servant of Christ answered he never\ncould do it; and this he declared with a firmness and resolution\nthat seemed to wound the heart of the prefect as if it had been\npierced with a dagger. The martyr added, there is no God but one,\nwho is the author and preserver of the world. The prefect then bade\nhim sacrifice to the four emperors, namely Dioclesian, Herculius,\nGalerius, and Constantius. This the saint again refused to do, and\nhad scarce returned his answer but the judge passed sentence upon\nhim, and he was immediately led to execution and beheaded. He is\nhonored by the Greeks with the title of The Great Martyr. See his\noriginal Chaldaic Acts, published by Steph. Assemani, t. 2, p. 166,\nand a less accurate old Latin translation; given by Ruinart, and\nby Henry Valois, Not. in Euseb. l. 8. The author of these acts was\nEusebius of C\u00e6sarea, an eye-witness.\n\n\n SS. KILIAN BISHOP, COLMAN PRIEST, AND TOTNAN DEACON, MM.\n\nKilian or Kuln was a holy Irish monk, of noble Scottish extraction.\nWith two zealous companions he travelled to Rome in 686, and obtained\nof pope Conon a commission to preach the gospel to the German\nidolaters in Franconia; upon which occasion Kilian was invested\nwith episcopal authority. The missionaries converted and baptized\ngreat numbers at Wurtzburg, and among others Gosbert, the duke of\nthat name. This prince had taken to wife Geilana, the relict of his\ndeceased brother; and though he loved her tenderly, being put in mind\nby St. Kilian that such a marriage was condemned and void by the law\nof the gospel, he promised to dismiss her, saying that we are bound\nto love God above father, mother, or wife. Geilana was tormented in\nmind beyond measure at this resolution; jealousy and ambition equally\ninflamed her breast; and, as the vengeance of a wicked woman has no\nbounds, during the absence of the duke in a military expedition, she\nsent assassins, who privately murdered the three holy missionaries in\n688. The ruffians were themselves pursued by divine vengeance, and\nall perished miserably. St. Burchard, who, in the following century,\nwas placed by St. Boniface in the episcopal see of Wurtzburg,\ntranslated their relics into his cathedral. A portion of those of\nSt. Kilian, in a rich shrine, was preserved in the treasury of the\nelector of Brunswic-Lunenburg in 1713, as appears from the printed\ndescription of that cabinet. See the acts of these martyrs compiled\nby Egilward, monk of St. Burchard\u2019s at Wurtzburg, extant imperfect\nin the eleventh century, in Surius, t. 4, entire in Canisius, t. 4,\npar. 2, p. 628, and t. 3, ed. Basn., p. 174. Also among the Opuscula\nof Serrarius, printed at Mentz in 1611, in the collection of the\nwriters of Wurtzburg published by Ludewig, p. 966, and in Mabillon\nand the Bollandists. See also Thesaurus reliquiarum Electoralis\nBrunsvico-Luneburgicus. Hanover\u00e6, 1713, and Solier, t. 2, Julij, p.\n600.\n\n\n ST. WITHBURGE, V.\n\nShe was the youngest of the four sisters, all saints, daughters of\nAnnas the holy king of the East-Angles. In her tender years she\ndevoted herself to the divine service, and led an austere life in\nclose solitude for several years at Holkham, an estate of the king\nher father, near the sea-coast in Norfolk, where a church, afterward\ncalled Withburgstow, was built. After the death of her father she\nchanged her dwelling to another estate of the crown called Dereham.\nThis is at present a considerable market-town in Norfolk, but was\nthen an obscure retired place. Withburge assembled there many devout\nvirgins, and laid the foundation of a great church and nunnery, but\ndid not live to finish the buildings. Her holy death happened on\nthe 17th of March, 743. Her body was interred in the church-yard of\nDereham, and fifty-five years after, found uncorrupt, and translated\ninto the church. One hundred and seventy-six years after this, in\n974, Brithnoth (the first abbot of Ely, after that house, which had\nbeen destroyed by the Danes, was rebuilt), with the consent of king\nEdgar, removed it to Ely, and deposited it near the bodies of her\ntwo sisters. In 1106 the remains of the four saints were translated\ninto the new church and laid near the high altar. The bodies of SS.\nSexburga and Ermenilda were reduced to dust, except the bones. That\nof St. Audry was entire, and that of St. Withburge was not only sound\nbut also fresh, and the limbs perfectly flexible. Warner, a monk of\nWestminster, showed this to all the people, by lifting up and moving\nseveral ways the hands, arms, and feet. Herbert bishop of Thetford,\nwho in 1094 translated his see to Norwich, and many other persons of\ndistinction, were eye-witnesses hereof. This is related by Thomas,\nmonk of Ely, in his history of Ely,[70] which he wrote the year\nfollowing, 1107. This author tells us, that in the place where St.\nWithburge was first buried, in the church-yard of Dereham, a large\nfine spring of most clear water gushes forth.[71] It is to this day\ncalled St. Withburge\u2019s well, was formerly very famous, and is paved,\ncovered, and inclosed; a stream from it forms another small well\nwithout the church-yard. See her life, and Leland, Collect. vol. iii.\np. 167.\n\n\n B. THEOBALD, ABBOT.\n\nHe was by his virtue the great ornament of the illustrious family\nof Montmorency in France. He was born in the castle of Marli. His\nfather, Bouchard of Montmorency, gave him an education suitable to\nhis birth, and trained him up to the profession of arms, in which so\nmany heroes of that family have signalized themselves. But Theobald\nmanifested from his infancy a strong inclination to a state of\nholy retirement, dreading the least shadow of danger which could\nthreaten his innocence. He spent great part of his time in prayer,\nand resorted often to the church of the nunnery called Port-Royal,\nwhich had been founded in 1204 by Matthew of Montmorency, and on\nwhich his father Bouchard had bestowed so many estates that he was\nregarded as a second founder. Theobald took the Cistercian habit at\nVaux de Cernay in 1220, and was chosen abbot of that house in 1234.\nHe lived in the midst of his brethren as the servant of every one,\nand surpassed all others in his love of poverty, silence, and holy\nprayer. He was highly esteemed by St. Lewis. His happy death happened\nin 1247. His shrine in his abbey is visited by a great concourse of\npeople on the Whitsun-holidays. His solemn festival is there kept on\nthe 8th, and in some places on the 9th of July, probably the day on\nwhich the first translation of his relics was made. The Bollandists\ndefer his life to the 8th of December, the day of his death. See Le\nNain, Histoire de Citeaux, t. 9.\n\n\n SAINT GRIMBALD, NATIVE OF ST. OMER, ABBOT.\n\nHe was a monk at St. Bertin\u2019s, and with his abbot entertained king\nAlfred in that abbey when that prince was going to Rome. This king,\nafterward by the advice of Eldred archbishop of Canterbury, sent\nmessengers to St. Bertin\u2019s to invite Grimbald over into England,\nwhere he arrived, Hugh being twelfth abbot of that monastery, in\nthe year 885. Asserius, a monk of Menevia or St. David\u2019s, whom king\nAlfred honored with his particular esteem, and who was afterward\nbishop of Shireburn, was one of these messengers.\n\nThe Oxonian writers tell us that Grimbald was appointed first\nprofessor of divinity at Oxford, when he is said to have founded\nthat university; and that Asserius, John Erigena, and St. Neot\ntaught there at the same time. The learned Mr. Hearne says not only\nthat Grimbald built St. Peter\u2019s church in the East, but also that\nthe eastern vault of his ancient structure is standing to this day,\nof which he gives a plan. Upon the death of Eldred archbishop of\nCanterbury, king Alfred pressed Grimbald to accept that dignity; but\nwas not able to extort his consent, and was obliged to allow him to\nretire to the church of Winchester. King Alfred\u2019s son and successor\nEdward, in compliance with his father\u2019s will, built the New Minstre\nclose to the old, in which he placed secular canons, says Tanner,\nand appointed St. Grimbald abbot over them; this title being then\ngiven to a superior of secular or regular priests. About sixty years\nafter, bishop Ethelwolph brought in monks in place of those secular\ncanons. King Henry I. removed this monastery of New Minstre out of\nthe walls of the city to the place called Hide, which still continued\nsometimes to be called St. Grimbald\u2019s monastery. The body of the\ngreat king Alfred was removed by his son from the Old Minstre, and\nthat of his queen Alswithe from the nunnery of Nunnaminstre, and\ndeposited together in the New Minstre, afterward in Hide-Monastery.\nNunnaminstre was founded by king Alfred, or rather by his queen\nAlswithe. St. Edburge, a daughter of king Edward, was a nun, and,\naccording to Leland, abbess there. St. Grimbald in his last sickness,\nthough extremely feeble, gathered strength when the sacred viaticum\nwas brought, rose out of bed, and received it prostrate on the\nground. After this he desired to be left alone for three days, which\nhe spent in close union of his heart with God. On the fourth day the\ncommunity was called into his chamber, and amidst their prayers the\nsaint calmly breathed forth his happy soul on the 8th of July in\nthe year 903, of his age eighty-three. His body was reposed in this\nchurch, and honored amongst its most precious relics. It was taken up\nby St. Elphegus, and exposed in a silver shrine. See his life written\nby Goscelin, monk of St. Bertin\u2019s; Capgrave; Leland, Collect. t. 1,\np. 18. John Yperius in Chron. S. Bertini; Molan. in Natal. Sanct.\nBelgii; Hearne, Pr\u00e6f. in Lelandi Collect. t. 1, p. 28, t. 2, p. 217,\nand Pr\u00e6f. in Thom\u00e6 Caii Vindicias Oxon. contra Joan. Caium Cantabrig.\np. 27. Woode Ant. Oxon. t. 1, p. 9.\n\n\n\n\n JULY IX.\n\n\n ST. EPHREM OF EDESSA, C.\n\n DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH.\n\n From his works in the late Vatican edition; also from St.\n Gregory of Nyssa, in his panegyric of St. Ephrem; and\n from Palladius, Theodoret, Sozomen, &c. See t. 1, Op. St.\n Ephrem, Rom\u00e6, An. 1743, or St. Ephrem Syri Opera Omnia\n Latine. Venetiis, 1755, 2 tomis.\n\n A. D. 378.\n\nThis humble deacon was the most illustrious of all the doctors, who,\nby their doctrine and writings, have adorned the Syriac church. He\nwas born in the territory of Nisibis, a strong city on the banks\nof the Tigris, in Mesopotamia. His parents lived in the country,\nand earned their bread with the sweat of their brows, but were\nennobled by the blood of martyrs in their family, and had themselves\nboth confessed Christ before the persecutors under Dioclesian, or\nhis successors. They consecrated Ephrem to God from his cradle,\nlike another Samuel, but he was eighteen years old when he was\nbaptized. Before that time he had committed certain faults which\nhis enlightened conscience extremely exaggerated to him after his\nperfect conversion to God, and he never ceased to bewail, with floods\nof tears, his ingratitude towards God, in having ever offended him.\nSozomen[72] says these sins were little sallies of anger, into which\nhe had sometimes fallen with his playfellows in his childhood. The\nsaint himself mentions in his confession[73] two crimes (as he styles\nthem) of this age, which called for his tears during his whole life.\nThe first was, that in play he had driven a neighbor\u2019s cow among the\nmountains, where it happened to be killed by a wild beast; the second\nwas a doubt which once came into his mind in his childhood, whether\nGod\u2019s particular providence reached to an immediate superintendency\nover all our individual actions. This sin he exceedingly magnifies\nin his contrition, though it happened before his baptism, and never\nproceeded further than a fluctuating thought from ignorance in\nhis childhood; and in his Testament he thanks God for having been\nalways preserved by his mercy since his baptism from any error in\nfaith. Himself assures us that the divine goodness was pleased in\na wonderful manner to discover to him, after this temptation, the\nfolly of his error, and the wretched blindness of his soul in having\npretended to fathom the secrets of providence.\n\nWithin a month after he had been assaulted by the temptation of the\naforesaid doubt, he happened in travelling through the country to be\nbenighted, and was forced to take up his quarters with a shepherd who\nhad lost in the wilderness the flock committed to his charge. The\nmaster of the shepherd suspected him guilty of theft, and pursuing\nhim, found him and Ephrem together, and cast them both into prison,\nupon suspicion that they had stolen his sheep. Ephrem was extremely\nafflicted at his misfortune, and in the dungeon found seven other\nprisoners, who were all falsely accused or suspected of different\ncrimes, though really guilty of others. When he had lain seven days\nin prison in great anguish of mind, an angel appearing to him in\nhis sleep told him he was sent to show him the justice and wisdom\nof divine providence in governing and directing all human events;\nand that this should be manifested to him in the case of those\nprisoners who seemed to suffer in his company unjustly. The next day\nthe judge called the prisoners before him, and put two of them to\nthe torture, in order to compel them to confess their crimes. While\nothers were tormented, Ephrem stood by the rack trembling and weeping\nfor himself, under the apprehension of being every moment put to the\nquestion. The bystanders rallied him for his fears, and said--\u201cAy,\nit is thy turn next; it is to no purpose now to weep: why didst thou\nnot fear to commit the crime?\u201d However, he was not put on the rack,\nbut sent back to prison. The other prisoners, though innocent of the\ncrimes of which they were first arraigned, were all convicted of\nother misdemeanors, and each of them received the chastisement due\nto his offence. As to Ephrem, the true thief having been discovered,\nhe was honorably acquitted, after seventy days\u2019 confinement. This\nevent the saint relates at length in his confession.[74] God was\npleased to give him this sensible proof of the sweetness, justice,\nand tender goodness of his holy providence, which we are bound to\nadore in resignation and silence; waiting until the curtain shall be\ndrawn aside, and the whole economy of his loving dispensations to his\nelect displayed in its true amiable light, and placed in its full\nview before our eyes in the next life. Though, to take a view of the\ninfinite wisdom, justice, and sanctity which God displayeth in all\nthe dispensations of his providence, we must take into the prospect\nthe rewards and punishments of the next world, and all the hidden\nsprings of this adorable mystery of faith; yet his divine goodness\nto excite our confidence in him, was pleased, by this revelation to\nhis servant, to manifest in this instance his attributes justified in\npart, even in this life, of which he hath given us a most illustrious\nexample with regard to holy Job.\n\nSt. Ephrem, from the time of his baptism, which he received soon\nafter this accident, began to be more deeply penetrated with the\nfear of the divine judgment, and he had always present to his mind\nthe rigorous account he was to give to God of all his actions, the\nremembrance of which was to him a source of almost uninterrupted\ntears. Hoping more easily to secure his salvation in a state in\nwhich his thoughts would never be diverted from it, soon after he\nwas baptized he took the monastic habit, and put himself under the\ndirection of a holy abbot, with whose leave he chose for his abode\na little hermitage in the neighborhood of the monastery. He seemed\nto set no bounds to his fervor. He lay on the bare ground, often\nfasted whole days without eating, and watched a great part of the\nnight in prayer. It was a rule observed in all the monasteries of\nMesopotamia and Egypt, that every religious man should perform his\ntask of manual labor, of which he gave an account to his superior at\nthe end of every week. The work of these monks was always painful,\nthat it might be a part of their penance; and it was such as was\ncompatible with private prayer, and a constant attention of the mind\nto God; for they always prayed or meditated at their work; and for\nthis purpose, the first task which was enjoined a young monk was\nto get the psalter by heart. The profits of their labor, above the\nlittle pittance which was necessary for their mean subsistence in\ntheir penitential state, were always given to the poor. St. Ephrem\nmade sails for ships. Of his poverty he writes thus in his Testament:\n\u201cEphrem hath never possessed purse, staff, or scrip, or any other\ntemporal estate; my heart hath known no affection for gold or silver,\nor any earthly goods.\u201d He was naturally choleric, but so perfectly\ndid he subdue this passion, that meekness was one of the most\nconspicuous virtues in his character, and he was usually styled _The\nmeek_, or _the peaceable man of God_. He was never known to dispute\nor contend with any one; with the most obstinate sinners he used only\ntears and entreaties. Once, when he had fasted several days, the\nbrother who was bringing him a mess of pottage made with a few herbs\nfor his meal, let fall the pot, and broke it. The saint seeing him\nin confusion, said cheerfully,--\u201cAs our supper will not come to us,\nlet us go to it.\u201d And sitting down on the ground by the broken pot,\nhe picked up his meal as well as he could. Humility made the saint\nrejoice in the contempt of himself, and sincerely desire that all men\nhad such a knowledge and opinion of his baseness and nothingness as\nto despise him from their hearts, and to look upon him most unworthy\nto hold any rank among creatures. This sincere spirit of profound\nhumility all his words, actions, and writings breathed in a most\naffecting manner.\n\nHonors and commendations served to increase the saint\u2019s humility.\nHearing himself one day praised, he was not able to speak, and\nhis whole body was covered with a violent sweat, caused by the\ninward agony and confusion of his soul at the consideration of the\nlast day; for he was seized with extreme fear and dread, thinking\nthat he should be then overwhelmed with shame, when his baseness\nand hypocrisy should be proclaimed and made manifest before all\ncreatures, especially those very persons who here commended him, and\nwhom he had deceived by his hypocrisy. We may hence easily judge how\nmuch the thought of any elevation or honor affrighted him. When a\ncertain city sought to choose him bishop, he counterfeited himself\nmad.\n\nCompunction of heart is the sister of sincere humility and penance,\nand nothing seemed more admirable in our saint than this virtue.\nTears seemed always ready to be called forth in torrents as often\nas he raised his heart to God, or remembered the sweetness of his\ndivine love, the rigor of his judgments, or the spiritual miseries\nof our souls. \u201cWe cannot call to mind his perpetual tears,\u201d says\nSt. Gregory of Nyssa, \u201cwithout melting into tears. To weep seemed\nalmost as natural to him as it is for other men to breathe. Night\nand day his eyes seemed always swimming in tears. No one could meet\nhim at any time, who did not see them trickling down his cheeks.\u201d He\nappeared always drowned in an abyss of compunction. This was always\npainted in most striking features on his countenance, the sight of\nwhich was, even in his silence, a moving instruction to all that\nbeheld him. This spirit of compunction gave a singular energy to all\nhis words and writings; it never forsakes him, even in panegyrics\nor in treating of subjects of spiritual joy. Where he speaks of the\nfelicity of paradise or the sweetness of divine love in transports\nof overflowing hope and joy, he never lost sight of the motives\nof compunction, and always returns to his tears. By the continual\nremembrance of the last judgment he nourished in his soul this\nconstant profound spirit of compunction.\n\nSt. Gregory of Nyssa writes, that no one can read his discourses on\nthe last judgment without dissolving into tears, so awful is the\nrepresentation, and so strong and lively the image which he paints\nof that dreadful day. Almost every object he saw called it afresh\nto his mind. The spotless purity of our saint was the fruit of his\nsincere humility, and constant watchfulness over himself. He says\nthat the great St. Antony, out of modesty, would never wash his feet,\nor suffer any part of his body, except his face and hands, to be seen\nnaked by any one.\n\nSt. Ephrem spent many years in the desert, collected within himself,\nhaving his mind raised above all earthly things, and living as it\nwere out of the flesh, and out of the world, to use the expression\nof St. Gregory Nazianzen. His zeal drew several severe persecutions\nupon him from certain tepid monks, but he found a great support in\nthe example and advice of St. Julian, whose life he has written. He\nlost this comfort by the death of that great servant of God; and\nabout the same time died in 338 (not 350, as Tillemont mistakes), St.\nJames, bishop of Nisibis, his spiritual director and patron. Not long\nafter this, God inspired St. Ephrem to leave his own country, and go\nto Edessa, there to venerate the relics of the saints, by which are\nprobably meant chiefly those of the apostle St. Thomas. He likewise\ndesired to enjoy the conversation of certain holy anchorets who\ninhabited the mountains near that city, which was sometimes reckoned\nin Mesopotamia and sometimes in Syria. Under the weak reigns of the\nlast of the Seleucid\u00e6, kings of Asia, it was erected into a small\nkingdom by the princes called Abgars. As the saint was going into\nEdessa, a certain courtezan fixed her eyes upon him, which when he\nperceived he turned away his face, and said with indignation: \u201cWhy\ndost thou gaze upon me?\u201d To which she made this smart reply. \u201cWoman\nwas formed from man; but you ought always to keep your eyes cast down\non the earth, out of which man was framed.\u201d St. Ephrem, whose heart\nwas always filled with the most profound sentiments of humility,\nwas much struck and pleased with this reflection, and admired the\nprovidence of God, which sends us admonitions by all sorts of means.\nHe wrote a book on those words of the courtezan, which the Syrians\nanciently esteemed the most useful and the best of all the writings\nof this incomparable doctor, but it is now lost. It seems to have\ncontained maxims of humility.\n\nSt. Ephrem lived at Edessa, highly honored by all ranks and orders\nof men. Being ordained deacon of that church, he became an apostle\nof penance, which he preached with incredible zeal and fruit. He\nfrom time to time returned into his desert, there to renew in his\nheart the spirit of compunction and prayer; but always came out of\nhis wilderness, inflamed with the ardor of a Baptist, to announce\nthe divine truths to a world buried in spiritual darkness and\ninsensibility. The saint was educated with great natural talents,\nwhich he had improved by study and contemplation. He was a poet, and\nhad read something of logic; but had no tincture of the rest of the\nGrecian philosophy. This want of the heathenish learning and profane\nscience was supplied by his good sense and uncommon penetration,\nand the diligence with which he cultivated his faculties by more\nsublime sacred studies. He learned very accurately the doctrine of\nthe Catholic faith, was well versed in the holy scriptures, and was\na perfect master of the Syriac tongue, in which he wrote with great\nelegance and propriety. He was possessed of an extraordinary faculty\nof natural eloquence. Words flowed from him like a torrent, which\nyet were too slow for the impetuosity and multitude of thoughts with\nwhich he was overwhelmed in speaking on spiritual subjects. His\nconceptions were always clear, his diction pure and agreeable. He\nspoke with admirable perspicuity, copiousness, and sententiousness,\nin an easy unaffected style; and with so much sweetness, so pathetic\na vehemence, so natural an accent, and so strong emotions of his\nown heart, that his words seemed to carry with them an irresistible\npower. His writings derive great strength from the genius and natural\nbold tropes of the Oriental languages applied by so great a master,\nand have a graceful beauty and force which no translation can attain;\nthough his works are only impetuous effusions of an overflowing\nheart, not studied compositions. What recommends them beyond all\nother advantages of eloquence, is, they are all the language of\nthe heart, and a heart penetrated with the most perfect sentiments\nof divine love, confidence, compunction, humility, and all other\nvirtues. They present his ardent, humble, and meek soul such as it\nwas, and show how ardently he was occupied only on the great truths\nof salvation; how much he humbled himself without intermission, under\nthe almighty hand of God, infinite in sanctity and terrible in his\njustice; with what profound awe he trembled in the constant attention\nto his adorable presence, and at the remembrance of his dreadful\njudgment, and with what fervor he both preached and practised the\nmost austere penance, laboring continually with all his strength\n\u201cto prepare himself a treasure for the last hour,\u201d as he expresses\nhimself. His words strongly imprint upon the souls of others those\nsentiments with which he was penetrated: they carry light and\nconviction; they never fail to strike, and pierce to the very bottom\nof the soul. Nor is the fire which they kindle in the breast a\npassing warmth, but a flame which devours and destroys all earthly\naffections, transforms the soul into itself, and continues without\nabating, the lasting force of its activity.[75] \u201cWho that is proud,\u201d\nsays St. Gregory of Nyssa, \u201cwould not become the humblest of men by\nreading his discourse on humility? Who would not be inflamed with a\ndivine fire by reading his treatise on charity? Who would not wish to\nbe chaste in heart and spirit, by reading the praises he has given to\nvirginity?\u201d\n\nThe saint, though most austere to himself, was discreet in the\ndirection of others, and often repeated this advice, that it is\na dangerous stratagem of the enemy to induce fervent converts to\nembrace in the beginning excessive mortifications.[76] Wherefore\nit behooves them not to undertake without prudent counsel any\nextraordinary practices of penance; but always such in which they\nwill be able to persevere with constancy and cheerfulness. Who ever\nlaid on a child a burden of a hundred pounds weight, under which he\nis sure to fall?\n\nSt. Ephrem brought many idolaters to the faith, and converted great\nnumbers of Arians, Sabellians, and other heretics. Saint Jerom\ncommends a book which he wrote against the Macedonians, to prove\nthe divinity of the Holy Ghost. He established the perfect efficacy\nof penance against the Novatians, who, though the boldest and most\ninsolent of men, seemed like children without strength before this\nexperienced champion, as St. Gregory of Nyssa assures us. Not less\nglorious were his triumphs over the Millenarians, Marcionites,\nManichees, and the disciples of the impious Bardesanes, who denied\nthe resurrection of the flesh, and had in the foregoing century\nspread his errors at Edessa, by songs which the people learned\nto sing. St. Ephrem, to minister a proper antidote against this\npoison, composed elegant Catholic songs and poems which he taught\nthe inhabitants both of the city and country with great spiritual\nadvantage. Apollinaris began openly to broach his heresy a little\nbefore the year 376, denying in Christ a human soul, which he\npretended that the divine person supplied in the humanity: whence\nit would have followed that he was not truly man, but only assumed\na human body, not the complete human nature. St. Ephrem was then\nvery old, but he opposed this new monster with great vigor. Several\nheresies he crushed in their birth, and he suffered much from the\nfury of the Arians under Constantius, and of the Heathens under\nJulian, but in both these persecutions reaped glorious laurels and\ntrophies.\n\nIt was by a divine admonition, as himself assures us,[77] that about\nthe year 372, he undertook a long journey to pay a visit to Basil.\nBeing arrived at C\u00e6sarea he went to the great church, where he found\nthe holy bishop preaching. After the sermon, St. Basil sent for him,\nand asked him by an interpreter, if he was not Ephrem the servant of\nChrist.[78] \u201cI am that Ephrem,\u201d said he, \u201cwho have wandered astray\nfrom the path of heaven.\u201d Then melting into tears, and raising his\nvoice, he cried out,--\u201cO my father, have pity on a sinful wretch,\nand lead me into the narrow path.\u201d St. Basil gave him many rules of\nholy life, and after long spiritual conferences dismissed him with\ngreat esteem, having first ordained his companion priest. St. Ephrem\nhimself never would consent to be promoted to the sacerdotal dignity,\nof which he expresses the greatest dread and apprehension, in his\nsermon on the priesthood.[79] Being returned to Edessa he retired\nto a little solitary cell, where he prepared himself for his last\npassage, and composed the latter part of his works. For, not content\nto labor for the advantage of one age, or one people, he studied\nto promote that of all mankind, and all times to come. The public\ndistress under a great famine called him again out of his retirement\nin order to serve, and procure relief for the poor. He engaged the\nrich freely to open their coffers, placed beds for the sick in all\nthe public porticos, visited them every day, and served them with\nhis own hands. The public calamity being over, he hastened back to\nhis solitude, where he shortly after sickened of a fever. He wrote\nabout that time his seventy-six Par\u00e6neses or moving exhortations to\npenance, consisting in a great measure of most effective prayers;\nseveral of which are used by the Syrians in their Church office. His\nconfidence in the precious fruits of the holy sacrament of the altar\nraised his hope, and inflamed his love, especially in his passage\nto eternity. Thus he expresses himself:[80] \u201cEntering upon so long\nand dangerous a journey I have my viaticum, even Thee, O Son of God.\nIn my extreme spiritual hunger, I will feed on thee, the repairer\nof mankind. So it shall be that no fire will dare to approach me;\nfor it will not be able to bear the sweet saving odor of thy body\nand blood.\u201d The circumstances of our saint\u2019s death are edifying and\ndeserve our notice. For nothing more strongly affects our heart, or\nmakes on it a more sensible impression, than the behavior and words\nof great men in their last moments.\n\nSt. Ephrem was always filled with grief, indignation, and confusion\nwhen he perceived others to treat him as a saint, or to express any\nregard or esteem for him. In his last sickness he laid this strict\ninjunction on his disciples and friends:[81] \u201cSing no funeral hymns\nat Ephrem\u2019s burial: suffer no encomiastic oration. Wrap not my\ncarcase in any costly shroud: erect no monument to my memory. Allow\nme only the portion and place of a pilgrim; for I am a pilgrim and\na stranger as all my fathers were on earth.\u201d Seeing that several\npersons had prepared rich shrouds for his interment, he was much\nafflicted, and he charged all those who had such a design to drop it,\nand give the money to the poor, which he in particular obliged a rich\nnobleman, who had bought a most sumptuous shroud for that purpose,\nto do. St. Ephrem, as long as he was able to speak, continued to\nexhort all men to the fervent pursuit of virtue, as his last words\nsufficiently show, says St. Gregory of Nyssa, meaning the saint\u2019s\nTestament, which is still extant genuine, and the same that was\nquoted by St. Gregory, Sozomen, &c. In it he says: \u201cI Ephrem die. Be\nit known to you all that I write this Testament to conjure you always\nto remember me in your prayers after my decease.\u201d[82] This he often\nrepeats. He protests that he had always lived in the true faith, to\nwhich he exhorts all most firmly to adhere. Deploring and confessing\naloud the vanity and sinfulness of his life, he adjures all present\nthat no one would suffer his sinful dust to be laid under the altar,\nand that no one would take any of his rags for relics, nor show him\nany honor, for he was a sinner and the last of creatures. \u201cBut,\u201d\nsays he, \u201cthrow my body hastily on your shoulders, and cast me into\nmy grave, as the abomination of the universe. Let no one praise me;\nfor I am full of confusion, and the very abstract of baseness. To\nshow what I am, rather spit upon me, and cover my body with phlegm.\nDid you smell the stench of my actions, you would fly from me, and\nleave me unburied, not being able to bear the horrible corruption of\nmy sins.\u201d He forbids any torches or perfumes, ordering his corpse\nto be thrown into the common burying-place among poor strangers.\nHe expresses most feeling sentiments of compunction, and gives his\nblessing to his disciples, with a prediction of divine mercy in\ntheir favor; but excepts two among them, Aruad and Paulonas, both\npersons famed for eloquence; yet he foresaw that they would afterward\napostatize from the Catholic faith. The whole city was assembled\nbefore the saint\u2019s door, every one being bathed in tears; and all\nstrove to get as near to him as possible, and to listen to his last\ninstructions. A lady of great quality named Lamprotata, falling at\nhis feet, begged his leave to buy a coffin for his interment; to\nwhich he assented, on condition that it should be a very mean one,\nand that the lady would promise to renounce all vanities in a spirit\nof penance, and never again to be carried on the shoulders of men,\nor in a chair; all which she cheerfully engaged herself to perform.\nThe saint, having ceased to speak, continued in silent prayer till\nhe calmly gave up his soul to God. He died in a very advanced age\nabout the year 378. His festival was kept at Edessa immediately after\nhis death. On it St. Gregory of Nyssa soon after spoke his panegyric\nat the request of one Ephrem, who having been taken captive by the\nIsmaelites had recommended himself to this saint his patron, and had\nbeen wonderfully delivered from his chains and from many dangers. St.\nGregory closes his discourse with this address to the saint. \u201cYou\nare now assisting at the divine altar, and before the prince of life\nwith the angels, praising the most holy Trinity: remember us all, and\nobtain for us the pardon of our sins.\u201d The true Martyrology of Bede\ncalls the 9th of July the day of his deposition; which agrees with\nPalladius, who places his death in harvest-time, though the Latins\nhave long kept his festival on the 1st of February, and the Greeks on\nthe 28th of January. His perpetual tears, far from disfiguring his\nface, made it appear more serene and beautiful, and his very aspect\nraised the veneration of all who beheld him. The Greeks paint him\nvery tall, bent with old age, of a sweet and beautiful countenance,\nwith his eyes swimming in tears, and the venerable marks of sanctity\nin his looks and habit.\n\nSaint Austin says, that Adam in paradise praised God and did not\nsigh; but in our present state, a principal function of our prayer\nconsists in sighs and compunction. Divine love, as St. Gregory\nobserves,[83] our banishment from God, our dangers, our past sins,\nour daily offences, and the weight of our own spiritual miseries,\nand those of the whole world, call upon us continually to weep, at\nleast spiritually and in the desire of our heart, if we cannot always\nwith our eyes. Every object round about us suggests many motives to\nexcite our tears. We ought to mingle them even with our hymns of\npraise and love. Can we make an act of divine love without being\npierced with bitter grief and contrition, reflecting that we have\nbeen so base and ungrateful as to have offended our infinitely good\nGod? Can we presume without trembling to sing his praises with our\nimpure affections, or to pronounce his adorable name with our defiled\nlips? And do we not first endeavor by tears of compunction to wash\naway the stains of our souls, begging to be sprinkled and cleansed by\nhyssop dipped, not in the blood of sheep or goats, but in the blood\nof the spotless lamb who died to take away the sins of the world? If\nthe most innocent among the saints weeps continually from motives of\nholy love, how much more ought the sinner to mourn! \u201cThe voice of the\nturtle hath been heard in our land.\u201d[84] If the turtle, the emblem\nof innocence and fidelity, makes its delight to mourn solitary in\nthis desert, what ought not the unfaithful soul to do? The penitent\nsinner, instead of the sighs of the turtle, ought to pour forth his\ngrief in loud groans, imitating the doleful cries of the ostrich, and\nin torrents of tears, by which the deepest sorrow for having offended\nso good a God, forces his broken heart to give it vent.\n\n\n ON THE WRITINGS OF SAINT EPHREM.\n\n The first volume of the Vatican edition of this father\u2019s\n works begins with his sermon On Virtues and Vices. He\n expresses in it a surprise to see the full seek food from\n him who was empty, and says he is confounded to speak,\n seeing every word would accuse and condemn himself.\n However, trembling, he recommends to his hearers the fear\n of God; charity, by which we are meek, patient, tender to\n all, desirous to serve, give to all; hope, and longanimity,\n by which we bear all; patience, meekness, sweetness to all;\n inviolable love of truth in the smallest things, obedience,\n temperance, &c., and speaks against all the contrary vices,\n envy, detraction, &c.\n\n His two Confessions or Reprehensions of himself are only\n effusions of his heart in these dispositions. The first\n he begins as follows: \u201cHave pity on me, all ye that have\n bowels of compassion.\u201d Then he earnestly begs their prayers\n that he may find mercy with God, though he was from his\n infancy an useless abandoned vessel. He laments his\n spiritual miseries in the most moving words, declaring that\n he trembles lest, as flames from heaven devoured him who\n presumed to offer profane fire on the altar, so he should\n meet with the same judgment for appearing before God in\n prayer without having the fire of his divine love in his\n heart. He invites all men to weep and pray for him, making\n a public confession of the failings which his pure lights\n discovered in his affections; for in these, notwithstanding\n his extraordinary progress in the contrary virtues, he\n seemed to himself to discern covetousness, jealousy, and\n sloth, though he appeared of all men the most remote from\n the very shadow of those vices; and by tears of compunction\n he studied more and more to purify his heart, that God\n might vouchsafe perfectly to reign in it. The second part\n of this work is a bitter accusation of his pride; which\n sin, as he adds, destroys even the gifts of God in a soul,\n blasts all her virtues, and renders them a most filthy\n abomination; for all our virtues will be tried at the last\n day by a fire which only humility can stand. He laments\n how pride infects the whole world; that some, by a strange\n frenzy, seek to gratify it in earthly fooleries, and the\n most silly vanities, on which the opinion of madmen has\n stamped a pretended dignity and imaginary value. He laments\n bitterly, that even spiritual men are in danger of sinning,\n by taking pride in virtue itself, though this be the pure\n gift of God; and when by his mercy we are enriched with it,\n we are, nevertheless, base and unprofitable servants.\n\n In his second Reprehension of himself, after having\n elegantly demonstrated a particular providence inspecting\n and governing the minutest affairs and circumstances, he\n grievously accuses himself of having entertained a doubt of\n it in his youth, before his conversion to God. He condemns\n himself as guilty of vain-glory, sloth, lukewarmness,\n immortification, irreverence in the church, talkativeness,\n contentiousness, and other sins. He fears lest his\n repentance should be like that of Esau, and begs the pity\n and prayers of all men for an infamous blind leper. He\n weeps to see that some men had conceived an esteem for\n him to whom none was due; and he cries out to them--\u201cTake\n off my false covering, and you will see in me nothing but\n worms, stench, and filth: remove the cloak of hypocrisy,\n and you will find me a hideous and nauseous sepulchre.\u201d\n He compares himself to the Pharisees, as wearing only\n the habit of the prophets and saints, to his heavier\n condemnation; for vice, covered with a mask of virtue, is\n always more odious and detestable. In another Confession\n (t. 3, p. 439), after accusing himself of sloth, pride,\n uncharitableness, and other sins, he most movingly entreats\n all men to weep for him; wishing they could see the extreme\n miseries of his heart, which could not fail most powerfully\n to excite their compassion, though they could not be able\n to bear the hideous sight of the load of his monstrous\n iniquities.\n\n His treatise on the Passions is of the same nature, a\n lamentation that from his infancy he had been a contemner\n of grace, and slothful to virtue, strengthened daily his\n passions, and groaned in the midst of snares which made him\n fear to live lest he should go on relapsing into sloth.\n\n He has left us many tracts on Compunction, which indeed all\n his writings breathe. In the first which bears this title,\n he invites all, rich and poor, old and young, to join him\n in weeping, to purchase eternal life and to be delivered\n from everlasting death: by weeping and crying to see with\n the blind man in the gospel, the soul will be enlightened\n to see her miseries. God, the angels, all heaven expect and\n invite us earnestly to these tears: God\u2019s terrible judgment\n is at hand which he describes, and then adds, to prevent\n its justice we must weep not one day only, but all the\n days of our life, as David did, in affliction, continual\n prayer, austerities, and alms. The narrow gate does not\n admit others; the Judge will exclude those who sought their\n joy on earth and pampered their flesh. Then it will be\n too late to trim our lamps, or seek for the oil of good\n works; then no more poor will stand at any door for us to\n redeem our sins by alms. He laments our spiritual miseries,\n especially his sins and sloth continued all his life now\n to the eleventh hour. He awakes his soul by the short time\n that remains, and that uncertain too.\n\n In his second he relates, that going out of Edessa early\n one morning, accompanied with two brethren, and beholding\n the heavens beautifully spangled with bright stars, he\n said to himself--\u201cIf the lustre of these luminaries be so\n dazzling, how will the saints shine when Christ shall come\n in glory! But suddenly the thought of that terrible day\n struck my mind, and I trembled in all my joints, and was\n seized with convulsions, and in an agony of fear, sighing\n and overwhelmed with a flood of tears, I cried out in\n bitter anguish of mind: \u2018How shall I be then found! How\n shall I stand before that tribunal! A monster infected with\n pride among the humble and the perfect, a goat among the\n sheep, and a barren tree without fruit. The martyrs will\n show their torment, and the monks their virtues; but thou,\n alas! O sinful, vain, and arrogant soul, wilt only bear thy\n sloth and negligence.\u2019\u201d His two companions, moved by the\n excess of his tears, wept with him.\n\n In his Discourse, that we ought never to laugh with a\n worldly joy, but to always weep, he enforces the obligation\n of perpetual compunction and tears.\n\n In his ascetic Sermon, he says grief and zeal compel him\n to speak, but his unworthiness and his sins persuade him\n to be silent, his eyes delight only in tears to bewail\n night and day in floods the wounds of his soul, and above\n all that pride which conceals them from him. He laments\n tepidity and love of earthly things should be found among\n monks, and that some interrupt their mortifications,\n weeping one day and laughing the next, lying one night on\n the ground, the next on a soft bed, whereas all our life\n ought to be a course of penance; he extols the humility and\n constant mortification of the ancient and all true monks,\n like shining diamonds in the world. The rest of this long\n discourse is a vehement exhortation of the monks to fervor\n and zeal, this life being a time of traffic, and very\n short, and a nothing; the recompense immense, and the rigor\n of God\u2019s justice terrible to all. He pronounces woes to\n himself in the confusion he expected in the last day before\n all who esteemed him here. Begs earnestly all pray for\n him. One of the principal means to preserve this fervor,\n is a strict examen every night and morning. A trader casts\n up every day his losses and gains, and is solicitous to\n repair any losses; so do you, says he, every morning and\n night make up your accounts carefully; examine yourself:\n Have I to-day spoken any idle words, despised any, &c.?\n Have I this night watched, prayed, &c.? He advises not to\n undertake too much in austerities, but such as the soul\n will not relax in, than which nothing is more pernicious.\n\n His par\u00e6netic Sermon is also addressed to young monks,\n whom he advises to the continual presence of God in their\n minds most earnestly under temptations. Against sloth,\n he observes, this succeeding fervor by fits makes a life\n one chain of risings and falling again; building by\n mortification and destroying again by relaxing. He bids\n them have this inscription in the beginning of their book:\n Sloth banished for ever and ever from my soul.\n\n His two sermons on the Fathers deceased, are also to monks,\n showing and lamenting their tepidity by the fervor of their\n fathers in the deserts. His Hypomnisticon is an exhortatory\n epistle to the same.\n\n His treatise on Virtue is to a novice; he tells him\n obedience has no merit unless in hard and harsh things, for\n even wild beasts grow tame by mild treatment.\n\n Next follows his book in Imitation of Proverbs, in\n definitions and strong sentences on all virtues, in which\n he teaches tears in prayer are the beginning of a good\n life; vain-glory is like a worm in a tree. He speaks\n much on humility, presumption, charity, tears out of the\n desire of eternal happiness, and weeps to consider his own\n wretchedness and poverty.\n\n His treatise for the Correction of those who live wickedly,\n is full of zeal, humility, and an extraordinary contempt of\n himself, and spirit of compunction.\n\n That on Penance is a pathetic exhortation to sinners\n to return by the mercy of God, who expects them before\n the dawning of the day of life which is coming on; by\n the comfort which the angels will receive, and from the\n frightful trial at the last day, against which he prays for\n himself.\n\n His discourse On the Fear of Souls, is a lamentation and\n prayer for himself at the sight of the heavens, still in\n stronger expressions and tears.\n\n His sermon On the Second Coming of Christ, shows the joy\n of the blessed, and exaggerates the severity of that trial\n from the immensity of God\u2019s benefits to us.\n\n In his Tetrasyllabus he explains how the devil vanquished\n by the fervent, always says, I will then go to my friends,\n the slothful, where I shall have no labor, nor want\n stratagems. I have but to fetter them in the chains with\n which they are pleased, and I shall have them always\n willing subjects. He exhorts all therefore to constant\n fervor. In another place he exhorts all continually to\n repeat to themselves against sloth; \u201cYet a little of thy\n journey remains and thou wilt arrive at thy place of rest.\n Then take thy rest not now on the road.\u201d\n\n In his book on those words, _Attende Tibi_, to a monk,\n he presses the precept of being always fervent, never\n relaxing, in every virtue, especially in purity; and adds\n the example of St. Anthony, who, as St. Athanasius relates,\n notwithstanding his great mortifications, which he never\n relaxed from his youth to his old age, would never bathe or\n so much as wash his feet, or ever suffered any part of his\n body to be seen, except his face and hands, till after his\n death.\n\n He has left us an excellent long prayer for a soul to say\n in time of any temptation; another for grace and pardon of\n sins.\n\n A novice among the monks often had begged of St. Ephrem\n some direction. The saint extols his zeal and humility in\n desiring advice from a sinner, whose intolerable stench\n infects all his works. His first lesson to him is that\n he always remember the presence of God, and avoid all\n unnecessary words. He recommends then to him, in ninety-six\n lessons, perfect obedience, abstinence, silence, solitude,\n which frees a man from three dangers, viz., of the eyes,\n ears, and tongue; never to have so much compassion for any\n novice as to offend God, and so perish with him; if he be\n tepid, it is better he should perish alone than you also\n by condescension; never to speak to a superior in favor of\n an expelled brother, without most evident proofs of his\n perfect conversion; for a little spark falling into a barn,\n easily destroys all the labors of a whole year: to avoid\n frequent long conversations with any young man about piety\n or other things, for fear of fond love; never to desire\n anything great or public, for God\u2019s honor, but rather\n to love to be hid and unknown; many in dens and deserts\n were the greatest saints, but without humility the most\n glorious virtues and the greatest actions are lost; never\n to seek the care of souls, but to employ in it the utmost\n diligence, if it be laid upon him: always to walk in the\n narrow way of compunction and mourning. His other lessons\n conduce to humility and other virtues.\n\n His fifty-five Beatitudes comprise the happiness of all\n virtues, as of ever glorifying God, which is to be as the\n cherubim and seraphim. He closes them bursting into tears\n at the reflection how far he is from any of them by his\n sloth under a holy garb, and how distant from the holy\n servants of God, who persevered some in sackcloth and\n chains, others on pillars, others in enclosure and fasting,\n others in obedience, &c. He adds twenty other beatitudes.\n\n His book of one hundred chapters on humility, consists\n chiefly of short examples; as, a certain novice always\n kept silence. Some said to him, He is silent because he\n knows not how to speak. Others said, No, but it is because\n he has a devil. He, hearing all this, gave no answer, but\n glorified God in his heart.\n\n In the second volume we have the life of St. Abraham;\n a long panegyric on the Patriarch Joseph; a sermon on\n the Transfiguration; one on the Last Judgment, and on\n the necessity and advantage of spending this life in\n tears; a treatise of ninety chapters on the right way of\n living; fifty par\u00e6neses or exhortations to the monks, on\n obedience, humility, &c.; a most pathetic sermon on the\n second coming of Christ, in which he expresses himself as\n follows: \u201cBeloved of Christ, lend a favorable attention to\n what I am going to say on the dreadful coming of our Lord.\n Remembering that hour, I tremble with an excess of fear.\n For who can relate those horrible things? what tongue can\n express them? When the King of kings, arising from his\n throne of glory, shall descend, and sit the just judge,\n calling to an account all the inhabitants of the earth.\n At this thought I am ready to swoon away: my limbs quake\n for fear, my eyes swim in tears, my voice fails, my lips\n shrink, my tongue falters, and my thoughts are wrapt up\n in silence. I am obliged to denounce these things to you;\n yet fear will not suffer me to speak. A loud thunder now\n affrights us; how then shall we stand at the sound of the\n last trumpet, louder than any thunder, summoning the dead\n to rise! Then the bones of all men in the bowels of the\n earth, hearing this voice, shall suddenly run, and seek out\n their joints; and, in the twinkling of an eye, we shall see\n all men risen and assembled to judgment. The great king\n shall command, and instantly the earth quaking, and the\n troubled sea shall give up the dead which they possess,\n whether devoured by fish, beast, or fowl. All in a moment\n shall appear present, and not a hair will be wanting.\u201d\n He goes on describing the frightful fire consuming all\n things on the earth; the angels separating the sheep and\n the goats; the standard of the great king, that cross on\n which he was nailed, shining bright, and borne before him;\n men standing to meet this tremendous majesty, revolving\n their own deeds; the just with joy, the wicked worse\n than dead with fear; the angels and cherubim appearing,\n singing, Holy, Holy, Holy; the heavens opened, and the\n King of kings revealed in such incomparable glory, that\n the heavens and the earth will fly from before his face.\n \u201cWho then,\u201d says he, \u201ccan stand? He places before our eyes\n the books opened, and all our actions, thoughts, and words\n called to an account!\u201d He then cries out: \u201cWhat tears\n ought we not to shed night and day without intermission,\n for that terrible appearance!\u201d Here the venerable old man\n was no longer able to break through his sighs and tears,\n and stood silent. The auditory cried out--\u201cTell us what\n more terrible things will follow.\u201d He answered, \u201cThen all\n mankind will stand with eyes cast down, between life and\n death, heaven and damnation, before the tribunal; and all\n degrees of men shall be called to a rigorous examination.\n Wo to me! I desire to tell you what things will follow,\n but my voice fails me through fear, and I am lost in\n confusion and anxiety; the very rehearsal of these things\n is most dreadful.\u201d The audience repeated again: \u201cTell us\n the rest, for God\u2019s sake, for our advantage and salvation.\u201d\n He therefore proceeded, \u201cThen, beloved of Christ, shall\n be required in all Christians the seal of baptism, entire\n faith, and that beautiful renunciation which they made\n before witnesses, saying, I renounce Satan, and all his\n works; not one, or two, or five, but all the works of the\n devil. In that hour this renunciation will be demanded of\n us, and happy is he who shall have kept it faithfully as he\n promised.\u201d Here, he stopping in tears, they cried again:\n \u201cTell us also what follows this.\u201d He answered: \u201cI will tell\n you in my grief, I will speak through my sighs and tears;\n these things cannot be related without tears, for they are\n extremely dreadful.\u201d The people entreated again: \u201cO servant\n of God, we beseech you to instruct us fully.\u201d The holy man,\n again striking his breast, and weeping bitterly, said: \u201cO\n my brethren, beloved of Christ, how sorrowful, and how\n frightful things do you desire to hear! O terrible hour!\n Wo to me, wo to me! Who will dare to relate, or who will\n bear to hear this last and horrible rehearsal; all you who\n have tears, sigh with me! and you who have not, hear what\n will befall you; and let us not neglect our salvation. Then\n shall they be separated, without hopes of ever returning to\n each other again, bishops from fellow-bishops, priests from\n fellow-priests, deacons from fellow-deacons, subdeacons and\n lectors from their fellows; those who were kings as the\n basest slaves; children from parents; friends from kindred\n and intimates. Then princes, philosophers, wise men of the\n world, seeing themselves thus parted, shall cry out to the\n saints with bitter tears; \u2018Farewell eternally, saints and\n servants of God; farewell parents, children, relations, and\n friends; farewell prophets, apostles, and martyrs; farewell\n Lady Mother of God; you prayed much for us that we might\n be saved, but we would not. Farewell life-giving cross;\n farewell paradise of delights, kingdom without end, the\n heavenly Jerusalem. Farewell ye all; we shall never more\n behold one of you, hastening to our torment without end or\n rest,\u2019\u201d &c.\n\n A Sermon on fraternal Charity, and on the Last Judgment,\n in which his tears again hindered him from pursuing his\n subject. Nothing can be more terrifying or more moving\n than these discourses, or than the next on Antichrist,\n or that after on the Cross, or that of Interrogations.\n There follow his Testament, his Sermon on the Cross and\n on Charity, in which he salutes and honors that holy\n instrument of our redemption in the strongest words and\n highest epithets, which, as he says, all nations adore, and\n which saving sign we mark on our doors, foreheads, eyes,\n mouths, breast, and our whole body. His Sermon against\n heretics on the precious margarite, to prove the Virgin\n Mary mother of God; that on the vice of the tongue; his\n Panegyric on St. Basil; his Sermon on the Sinful Woman in\n the gospel; on the Forty Martyrs; on Abraham and Isaac; on\n Daniel and the three children. Sermons on the eight capital\n bad thoughts; gluttony, fornication, avarice, anger,\n sadness, sloth, vain-glory, and pride; on perfection, on\n patience, and suffering; and many small tracts to monks.\n One contains a relation of a holy virgin in a monastery\n of three hundred, who was never seen eating, but worked\n washing the dishes and cleaning the scullery, feigning\n herself a fool, and bearing blows and all insults without\n murmuring or answering a word; called by derision, Salla or\n Sallop. St. Pityrumus, an anchoret, was admonished by an\n angel to go and see in her one who surpassed him and the\n others in virtue: having seen all the nuns he found not\n her, she being left behind in the kitchen. At his desire,\n which all laughed at, she was brought out. The anchoret\n immediately fell at her feet, crying, \u201cBless me, Amma\u201d (_i.\n e._ spiritual mother). She also fell at his feet. The nuns\n said to him, \u201cDon\u2019t incur such a disgrace; this is Salla.\u201d\n \u201cNo (said he), you are all Sal\u00e6.\u201d Upon this all honored\n her, and one confessed, that she had thrown on her the\n washings of the dishes; another had struck her; another had\n thrust mustard up her nostrils, &c. She not bearing esteem,\n retired thence unknown, and was never more heard of.\n\n The third volume contains many Sermons and Discourses,\n chiefly on the judgments of God and the last day; on\n penance, compunction, prayer, charity, and other virtues;\n and on vices and passions. Also the life of St. Julian\n the anchoret. Pious poems and several panegyrics of, and\n prayers to the Blessed Virgin, whose virginity and dignity\n of mother of God he clearly asserts.\n\n The fourth volume consists of his Commentaries on the five\n books of Moses, on Joshua, Judges, and the four books of\n Kings. St. Gregory of Nyssa says, he studied and meditated\n assiduously on the holy scriptures, and expounded them\n all from the first book of Genesis to the last in the New\n Testament, with an extraordinary light, with which the Holy\n Ghost filled him. Many other Oriental writers testify the\n same. His exposition is very literal, full, and learned;\n nothing escapes him in them.\n\n The fifth volume gives us his Commentaries on Job and\n on all the prophets. Eleven sermons on several passages\n of holy scripture, in which he exhorts principally to\n avoid all occasions of sin, and to perpetual tears and\n penance. Thirteen sermons on the birth of Christ; and\n fifty-six polemical sermons against heresies, viz. of\n the Marcionites, Manicheans, especially their judiciary\n astrology; of the Novatians, Messalians, &c. His zeal was\n moved seeing these errors spread in his country. He employs\n the Church\u2019s authority, scriptures, and reasons to confute\n them.\n\n The sixth volume gives us ninety other polemical Discourses\n against the Arian and Eunomian heretics or Searchers, as\n he calls them, because they attempted to penetrate the\n divine mysteries, and the incomprehensible nature of God\n himself. They are equally solid and strong; not dry, as\n most writings of controversy, but full of unction and of\n the greatest sentiments of devotion, and an inexpressible\n ardor to ever love and praise our great God and Redeemer.\n His sermon against the Jews is no less remarkable.\n\n His Necrosima or eighty-five funeral canons, were written\n on Death and God\u2019s judgments, which he had always before\n his eyes. He teaches evidently in them the use of\n ecclesiastical funeral rites and prayers at burials; that\n the souls of the departed immediately are judged by a\n particular judgment; the good immediately admitted to the\n enjoyment of God; those who die without having expiated\n venial sin, suffer in the flames of purgatory till it be\n satisfied for, but are relieved by the sacrifices, prayers,\n and other pious works of the faithful on earth. Of these\n fifty-four are short funeral discourses on the death of\n bishops, monks, and persons of all conditions. They are\n full of his extreme fear of the divine judgment, and a\n great contempt of the vanity of the world. He says in the\n eighty-first canon, \u201cEntering on so long and dangerous\n a journey, I have my viaticum, thee, O Son of God; when\n hungry, I will eat thee, repairer of mankind; so it shall\n be, that no fire will dare approach my members, for it\n will not be able to bear the sweet saving odor of thy body\n and blood,\u201d &c. He uses the same motive of confidence of\n immortality, from being fed with the body and blood of\n Christ, and employs that endearing divine grace to move God\n to have mercy on him. He repeats the same prayer in his\n thirteenth Par\u00e6nesis. Nothing can be clearer than the texts\n collected by Ceillier (t. 8, p. 101) from the writings of\n St. Ephrem, in favor of the real presence of the sacred\n body of Christ in the holy eucharist. See on them the\n judicious remarks of an able critic, M\u00e9m. de Trev. Jan.\n 1756, p. 55.\n\n Here follow four sermons on Freewill; also seventy-six\n moving Par\u00e6neses or exhortations to penance. In the\n forty-second, he tells us, that when he lay down to take a\n little repose in the night, he reflected on the excessive\n and boundless love of God, and instantly rose again to\n pay him the tribute of the most fervent praise and thanks\n he was able. \u201cBut being deterred,\u201d says he, \u201cby the\n remembrance of my sins, I began to melt into tears, and\n should have been disturbed beyond my strength, had not the\n thief, the publican, the sinful woman, the Cananean, the\n Samaritan, and other examples of mercy, given me comfort\n and courage.\u201d He says that at other times, when he was\n going to fall asleep, the remembrance of his sins banished\n all thoughts of giving rest to his wearied body, and made\n sleep yield to sighs, groans, and floods of tears, to which\n he invited himself by the example of the penitent David,\n washing his bed with briny torrents; for the silence of\n night is the most proper season for our tears. It appears\n he composed this work, at least part, a little before his\n death; for in the forty-third Par\u00e6nesis he writes, \u201cI\n Ephrem am now dying. I write my last will and testament\n to all lovers of truth, who shall rise up after me.\n Persevere night and day in prayer. The husbandman reapeth\n a great crop by assiduous labor; so will you, if you never\n interrupt your devotion. Pray without ceasing.\u201d\n\n His book in fifteen elegant discourses on the Terrestrial\n Paradise, explaining its history in Genesis, and comforting\n himself with the name and happiness of the good thief on\n the cross, makes a transition to the heavenly Paradise,\n on the felicity of which he speaks with incredible joy\n and pleasure. In his eighth discourse he teaches the soul\n cannot perfectly see God before the resurrection; but means\n by the perfectly complete enjoyment, for he is very express\n (loc. cit. supra) that the blessed behold God immediately\n on their death; as Muratori demonstrates against Burnet, in\n his dissertation on Paradise, c. 2.\n\n Eighteen very devout sermons on divers subjects close his\n works; on Christ\u2019s Nativity and Resurrection; on Prayer,\n on Humility, which he teaches is the weapon our Redeemer\n conquered hell by, and has put into our hands as our\n principal and only armor against our spiritual enemies.\n\n The works of this father demonstrate the uniformity in\n faith of the Syriac church in the fourth century, with that\n of the universal church of all ages.\n\n Several of St. Ephrem\u2019s works were translated into Latin,\n and published at Rome in 1589, by Gerard Vossius or\n Volkens, provost of Tongres. A Greek edition of the same\n was printed at Oxford in 1709, by the care of Mr. Edward\n Thwaites. A more complete edition of this father\u2019s works\n was given to the public at Rome in six volumes in folio,\n in 1732 and 1743, under the direction of cardinal Querini,\n librarian of the Vatican, and Monsignor Joseph Assemani,\n first prefect of the same library. In this we have the\n original Syriac text of a good part of these works, and the\n ancient Greek version of the rest. The Latin translation\n is the work partly of Gerard Vossius, partly of F. Peter\n Benedetti, a Maronite Jesuit who lived at Rome; and in the\n last volumes of Stephen Assemani archbishop of Apamea, who\n also published the Chaldaic acts of the Martyrs, and is\n nephew of the aforesaid Joseph Assemani. The Greek text in\n the last volumes, especially in the sixth, is published\n very incorrect. See M\u00e9moires de Trevoux for January, 1756,\n p. 146.\n\n\n THE MARTYRS OF GORCUM.\n\nNineteen priests and religious men, who were taken by the Calvinists\nin Gorcum, after suffering many insults, were hanged on account of\ntheir religion at Bril, on the 9th of July, 1572. Of these, eleven\nwere Franciscan friars, called Recollects, of the convent of Gorcum,\namongst whom were Nicholas Pick the guardian, and Jerom Werden,\nvicar of the same convent. The former was thirty-eight years old,\nan eminent preacher, and a man endued with the primitive spirit of\nhis order, especially the love of holy poverty and mortification. He\nfeared the least superfluity even in the meanest and most necessary\nthings, especially in meals; and he would often say: \u201cI fear if\nSt. Francis were living, he would not approve of this or that.\u201d He\nwas most zealous to preserve this spirit of poverty and penance in\nhis house, and he used to call property and superfluity the bane\nof a religious state. His constant cheerfulness rendered piety and\npenance itself amiable. He often had these words in his mouth:\n\u201cWe must always serve God with cheerfulness.\u201d He had frequently\nexpressed an earnest desire to die a martyr, but sincerely confessed\nhimself altogether unworthy of that honor. The other martyrs were a\nDominican, two Norbertins, one Canon Regular of St. Austin, called\nJohn Oosterwican,[85] three curates, and another secular priest.\nThe first of these curates was Leonard Vechel, the elder pastor at\nGorcum. He had gained great reputation in his theological studies\nat Louvain under the celebrated Ruard Tapper; and in the discharge\nof pastoral duties at Gorcum, had joined an uncommon zeal, piety,\neloquence, and learning with such success, that his practice and\nconduct in difficult cases was a rule for other curates of the\ncountry, and his decisions were regarded as oracles at the university\nitself. For the relief of the poor, especially those that were sick,\nhe gave his temporal substance with such tenderness and profusion as\nto seem desirous, had it been possible, to have given them himself.\nHe reproved vice without respect to persons; and by his invincible\nmeekness and patience disarmed and conquered many who had been long\ndeaf to all his remonstrances, and added only insults to their\nobstinacy. Nicholas Poppel was the second pastor at Gorcum, and\nthough inferior in abilities, was in zeal worthy to be the colleague\nof Vechel, and to attain to the same crown with him. The rest of this\nhappy company had made their lives an apprenticeship to martyrdom.\nThey were declared martyrs, and beatified by Clement X. in 1674. The\nrelation of several miracles performed by their intercession and\nrelics which was sent to Rome in order to their beatification, is\npublished by the Bollandists.[86] The greatest part of their relics\nis kept in the church of the Franciscan friars at Brussels, whither\nthey were secretly conveyed from Bril. See the accurate history of\ntheir martyrdom written by the learned doctor William Estius, printed\nat Douay in 1603. Also Batavia Sacra, part 2, p. 174, and various\nmemoirs collected by Solier the Bollandist, t. 2, Julij, p. 736.\n\n\n ST. EVERILDIS, V. IN ENGLAND.\n\nKinegils, king of the West-Saxons, having been baptized by St.\nBerinus in 635, this holy virgin had the happiness of being brought\nto the knowledge of Christ. In order to devote herself most perfectly\nto the service and love of her heavenly spouse, she fled secretly\nfrom the house of her parents to seek some holy monastery of nuns,\nand was joined in the way by two other virgins named Bega and\nWuldreda. St. Wilfrid gave her a spot called before the Bishop\u2019s\nDwelling, but since her time Everildisham, that is, the dwelling\nof Everildis. Neither F. Alford nor F. Solier were able to find\nthe situation of this place. Here she trained up many virgins to\nthe perfection of divine love, the summit of Christian virtue, by\nanimating them with the true spirit, and continually encouraging them\nin the most fervent and most faithful discharge of all the duties,\nand application to all the exercises of their holy profession. She\nwent to God on the 9th of July, on which day Solier the Bollandist\nfound her name in an ancient copy of Usuard\u2019s Martyrology. F. Alford\nsent to Bollandus a transcript of lessons used formerly in some\nchurch now unknown. Her name does not occur in any English or Irish\nCalendar now extant, nor has Alford mentioned her in his annals. See\nSolier, t. 2, Julij, p. 713.\n\n\n ST. VERONICA GIULIANI, V.\n\n The following account is an abridgment of her Life, written\n by P. M. Salvatori, the promoter of the Cause in the\n process of her Canonization. His work was published in Rome\n in 1803, entitled _Vita della B. Veronica Giuliana_.\n\n SUPPLEMENT TO SADLIER\u2019S ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF\n BUTLER\u2019S LIVES OF THE SAINTS.\n\n A. D. 1727.\n\nWe earnestly beseech the devout reader, whilst he is reading the life\nof her whose wonderful history we are about to relate, not to decide\nupon its merits, until he shall have carefully considered, not only\nthe events themselves, but how, in every case, the graces which the\nservant of God received, are not only remarkable signs of Divine\nfavor, but ever produced in her heart deeper humility, more ardent\ncharity, and a wish to conceal them from the eyes of men;--that\nthey were particularly communicated to her during prayer;--and\nthat, to the desire of suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ, she\nadded the most rigorous mortification of her flesh; all which the\nimmortal pontiff, Benedict XIV., has laid down as criterions whereby\nto determine the reality of such supernatural gifts. In order to\nglorify his servant, it pleased God, during her lifetime, to make\nknown her virtues and the graces which he had conferred upon her,\nto many of her companions, and to no less than four bishops of the\ncity wherein she lived, and thirteen religious men of various orders,\nwho were her directors, by whom an exact and faithful record of all\nher actions has been handed down to us. From their attestations, and\nother authentic accounts, the following narrative has been formed of\nactions and virtues which many volumes would not be sufficient to\ndetail.\n\nSaint Veronica Giuliani was born on the Feast of St. John the\nEvangelist, in 1660, at Mercatello, in the States of the Church. She\nreceived in baptism the name of Ursula, for God destined her, like\nthat holy martyr, to be a virgin and the leader of many other virgins\nto the kingdom of heaven. In her very infancy her future sanctity\nwas foreshadowed; for, on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, which the\nChurch keeps as days of penance, she would never take nourishment,\nsave a small quantity in the morning and the evening: and before she\nwas six months old, seeing a picture representing the most Blessed\nTrinity, in whose honor that day was dedicated (12th June, 1661), she\nleft her mother\u2019s arms of her own accord, and, without any assistance\nwhatever, walked to it, and with many signs of reverence, remained as\nif enchanted before it;[87] and being carried, at the age of a year\nand a half, to a shop, by a servant who wanted some soil, in selling\nwhich the shopkeeper used a false measure, her tongue was loosed,\nand she cried out, in a clear voice, \u201cAct fairly, for God sees you.\u201d\nAt the age of three years, these seeds of virtue began to develope\nthemselves still more. They produced in her those extraordinary\nfeelings of love and affection towards Our Blessed Saviour and his\nVirgin Mother, which have only been communicated to the most favored\nsouls. When she was about four years of age, her mother fell so\ndangerously ill, that the Viaticum was brought to her. The moment the\npriest entered the house, Ursula saw such a bright light surrounding\nhim, that she ran to him, and earnestly begged to receive the blessed\nsacrament. To keep her quiet, she was told that there were no more\nparticles left; but she at once answered, that, he might safely break\na portion off that intended for her mother, because, as the mirror,\nwhen broken, does not cease to reflect the images that it represented\nwhen entire, so is Jesus equally present in the smallest fragment as\nwell as in the entire host from which it has been separated. As soon\nas her mother had communicated, she sprang upon the bed, exclaiming,\n\u201cO what sweet things you have had!\u201d And coming near her mouth, she\nsaid, \u201cO what a sweet scent!\u201d Nor could the attendants succeed in\nmaking her leave her mother in peace. Before her death, she called\nher five children to her bed-side, and recommended each of them to\none of the five wounds of the passion. To Ursula she gave that in\nour Saviour\u2019s side; to which the devotion of her after-life was\ndirected, and through it she received those many graces of which we\nshall afterwards speak. On the night following her mother\u2019s death,\nshe refused to go to bed, until the servants placed a picture of Our\nLady and Jesus upon the bed, when she immediately lay down and slept\npeacefully.\n\nAt the age of seven she was admitted to the sacrament of\nConfirmation, and, during the ceremony, her godmother saw her\nguardian angel by her side. Similar visions, which occurred in the\nseventh or eighth year of her age, we have recorded in her own\nwords:--\u201cI remember,\u201d she says, \u201cthat when I was about seven or eight\nyears old, twice during the Holy Week, Jesus appeared to me covered\nwith wounds, and telling me to be devout to His most holy passion,\ninstantly disappeared. I wept bitterly, and every time that I heard\nspeak of the torments and sufferings of Our Lord, I felt something\nat my heart; and everything that I undertook I offered up in honor\nof His passion. A desire came into my head of asking my confessor\nfor some mortification, but I did not yield to it. Still I made\nsufferings for myself, but all without my confessor\u2019s leave; such\nas the discipline, walking on my bare knees, piercing myself with a\npin, and beating myself with thistles. If I heard of the works of\npenance performed by others, I went to the image of my Saviour, and\nsaid, \u2018Lord, if I had their instruments of mortification, I would\ndo the same; but since I have them not, I offer Thee my desire.\u2019 He\nhas often let me know and remember that He made me (at that age)\naffectionate invitations. Thus, for example, when I had determined on\ntaking some recreation, and could never find time to do so, I heard\nJesus in my interior, asking me, \u2018What dost thou seek, what dost thou\ndesire? I am thy real contentment;\u2019 and I at once replied, \u2018Lord, for\nThy sake I will deprive myself of the pleasure which I sought.\u2019 How\nthese answers were uttered, I know not; but this I know, that I did\nmake them.... Sometimes, whilst I was gazing at the crucifix, Jesus\nspoke to my heart, and said, \u2018I will be Thy guide and spouse;\u2019 and I\nstretched out my arms, and exclaimed, \u2018I will be Thy spouse, and no\none shall move me from it. I promise it with all my heart; grant that\nI may never separate myself from Thee.\u2019\u201d\n\nHer father having obtained a lucrative situation at Placentia,\nremoved thither with his family. In that city, Ursula, who was\nabout ten years old. made her first communion, on the feast of the\nPurification, in 1670. When she had received Our Lord, she felt an\nunusual fire burning within her breast, which continued after her\nreturn home; so that thinking it to be an ordinary effect in all\ncommunicants, she, in her innocent way, asked her sisters how long it\ngenerally lasted. But perceiving, from their surprise, that it was a\nspecial grace imparted by her Saviour, she did not again speak of it,\nbut endeavored to receive the holy sacrament of love as frequently as\npossible.\n\nAt this time the gift of mental prayer was communicated to her. In\nwhat manner she received it, the following account, which she wrote\nafterwards, by the command of her directors, will explain:--\u201cWhen\nI was about twelve years of age, I think, a desire frequently came\ninto my mind, of placing myself in mental prayer; but I did not know\nhow to set about it. It seemed mere folly to ask my confessor to\ninstruct me in it, because he knew my wickedness; and I thought that\nnone ought to apply to it except the good and those who are really\ninclined to virtue; but in myself there was nothing but inconstancy,\nand want of perseverance. I went on making my altars, although,\nwhile I was making them, I felt at times an application of my mind\nto prayer. As soon as I had finished, I knelt down before them, and\nremained on my knees for a long time; but what I did I know not,\nfor I was, so to speak, out of myself. I felt such pleasure, that I\nshould not have cared to eat or do anything else. I desired that all\ncreatures should love and honor God. I ran to ask my sisters to come\nand sing with me. They did so, and I felt great comfort therein. As\nsoon as my father returned home, I led him to my altar, and induced\nhim to say some prayers with me. When the Nativity drew near, I could\nnot contain myself for joy; and several times, whilst I was looking\nat the representation of Our Lord in the crib, I think I saw Him\nsurrounded with glory; He drew me to a union with Himself, but I\nknow not how. Of this I spoke to no one, nor did I derive any profit\ntherefrom, for I soon returned to my usual childish follies. On the\nday of communion, all my delight was to be about my altar. Although\nI knew not how to pray mentally, my mind became all recollected in\nGod. I seemed to feel my Lord in a special manner within my heart. I\nplaced myself in prayer; and the longer I was employed therein, the\nlonger I wished to remain. I had a certain interior light that showed\nme the inconstancy of worldly things, and I was inclined to abandon\neverything. I knew no other good but God. These considerations\nstrengthened my desire of becoming a religious. The desire of\nsuffering, I think, I had from my infancy, and afterwards; but, alas!\nit profited me in nothing. I had no sooner left the altar, than I set\nabout annoying some one or other.\n\n\u201cAlthough I sought amusement in worldly diversions, I felt my mind\nwholly turned to God. As well as I can remember, the passion of\nmy Redeemer moved me very much; at times even to tears. The more\nI exercised myself in mental prayer, the more tedious I found the\nthings of the world. At times, I had some particular insight into\nmyself; but this I did not mention to my confessor. It is true that\nsuch lights made me advance farther than ever in the way of prayer;\nand, in order that I might not be observed, I told the servant\nto call me early in the morning; she did so, and I rose at once.\nI remained in prayer for several hours, but what I did I cannot\nrelate. I know that I was out of myself, and felt a willingness and\ndesire to be employed in all the work of the house, but this was\nforbidden, lest it should injure me. I seldom rose up from prayer,\nbefore I had been told by the Lord that I was to be His spouse.\nStill I remained steadfast in my desire of entering a religious\norder, and this desire increased daily. When a festival occurred, I\nfelt a flame in my heart, which set my whole soul on fire. I could\nnot remain quiet, I ran about the house as if I were mad, and made\npeople laugh at me. Sometimes all my delight was in making altars;\nand although, in my uncle\u2019s house, this was not so easy as at home,\nI never left off making them. For work I had not much inclination,\nbut I could do as much in an hour as another in a day. I did not\ncare to learn anything, but whatever I saw done, I found myself\nable to do, and succeeded when I set about it. I was the torment of\neverybody, and yet all wished me well, and liked me better than my\nsisters. When I thought of this, it surprised me beyond measure. No\none spoke harshly to me; and yet I performed all sorts of naughty\ntricks. I was naturally hasty, and whenever I was vexed, I stamped\nand beat the ground like a horse; and believe me, I did so through\nmere wickedness, for no one ever provoked me to it. At times I took a\nthing into my head, and wished it to turn out as I desired. I felt an\ninternal reproach for not mortifying myself, but I paid no attention\nto it. It seemed to me, that whenever I placed myself in prayer,\nGod gave me to understand what he wished me to do; but I thought\nit was a mere fancy of my own, although the same light returned to\nmy soul. It improved me much in virtue, and I began to accustom\nmyself to silence, which enabled me to apply better to prayer; and\nalthough I did not mortify myself, I was encouraged to do so. Thus,\nby degrees, I became more and more in love with suffering. Oftentimes\nI rose during the night, and spent a short time in prayer; I had a\npeculiar affection for it, which led to _application_, but not to\n_recollections_.[88] In the manner here described I spent the last\ntwo years that I remained in the world, that is, the fourteenth and\nfifteenth of my age. Still I gave way to many vanities, and often\nfelt satisfaction in them; but, at the same time, I felt the internal\nreproach, which did not let me rest until I had withdrawn from many\namusements which I was used to seek.\u201d\n\nThese were the beginnings of those high gifts of prayer and\ncontemplation to which she afterwards attained; but it must not be\nsupposed that the exercise of them was at all times attended with\ncomfort and delight to her soul; for her writings mention the violent\nrepugnance of the flesh, the strong temptations, the obscurity of\nmind, and dryness of affection, with which she had to contend in the\nstruggle between the world and grace.\n\nBesides these interior trials, her perseverance and constancy to her\nVirgin Spouse were put to the most severe test, in the endeavors made\nby her father and other relations to induce her to join in the vain\nand idle occupations of others in her state of life, and to yield\nto their repeated arguments and even snares, to induce her to enter\nthe married state. \u201cOur father wished,\u201d she writes, \u201cthat I should\nbe more finely dressed than others, and one day I wore one vanity,\nand another day another. He was so fond of me, that, when at home,\nhe would always have me beside him. All this I complied with. But I\nbegan to perceive that he was not willing that I should become a nun,\nand he told me I must marry, and that as long as he lived I must not\nleave him. But this news filled me with sorrow, because every time he\nspoke in this manner, I felt a stronger desire of being a nun. I told\nothers so, but no one would believe me, and everybody was against my\nintention, especially my father, who even shed tears, and told me\npositively that he would never consent; and in order to drive the\nthought out of my head, he brought other gentlemen into the house\nand then called me. In their presence, he promised me all sorts of\npleasures and amusements, and they did the same. They talked about\nthe things of the world, in order to persuade me to set my fancy\nupon them, but their discourses led me to a contrary desire. At that\nmoment, worldly things appeared so disgusting, that I could not hear\nthem mentioned; and more than once I told these persons that they\nmust not speak again on such subjects, because the more I heard, the\nmore my soul was withdrawn from them. But all that I said, availed me\nnothing; every day my martyrdom was renewed. I had patience for some\ntime; but at last, I declared in their presence that such discourses\ndisgusted me, and before them all, I expressed my deep commiseration\nfor the wretchedness of the unfortunate persons who are attached to\nworldly things. I spoke as little as possible, because I knew that my\nfather took great delight in hearing me talk, and I did everything in\nmy power to diminish his attachment, by avoiding all those actions in\nwhich he took delight; but all to no purpose; his affections seemed\nto increase daily. At times, he said to me, \u2018I wish to content you\nin everything; the only thing I beg of you is, that you will not\nturn nun.\u2019 With these words, he wept through affection. I said to\nhim, \u2018If you wish to content me, I do not want any other favor from\nyou, except that you would put me in a convent; all my desires are\nthere. Content me in this, and you will content me in everything\nelse, and depend upon it, it will be a source of comfort to yourself\nafterwards.\u2019\u201d\n\nHer father, finding all his efforts unsuccessful, sent her to live\nwith her uncle, whom he secretly instructed to use all his influence\nand artifice to dissuade her from her design. Here she had an\nillness, for which the physicians could discover no remedy; until\nsome of her attendants, perceiving that she grew sensibly better,\nwhenever they talked of nuns and convents, informed her father,\nwho thereupon gave up his opposition to her entreaties, and, as\nsoon as he had allowed her to choose the convent in which she would\nbe professed, she rose from her bed, and all symptoms of sickness\nimmediately disappeared.\n\nShe then begged him to allow her to enter the rigorous convent of\ncapuchine nuns at Citt\u00e0 di Castello, and was conducted by her uncle\nto the bishop of the diocese, to obtain his permission. He told them\nthat all the places in the convent were filled up, and they left him,\nto return home. But Ursula besought her uncle to return with her to\nhis presence, where, falling on her knees, she prayed him in such\nearnest accents to comfort her by granting her request, that he was\ninclined to make an exception in her favor. He put several questions\nto her, and asked her amongst the rest, if she knew Latin. Her uncle\nat once replied in the negative, but Ursula, full of confidence in\nGod\u2019s aid, took up the breviary, and read it with the most correct\npronunciation; and although she had never studied Latin, she was\nable, during the rest of her life, to quote the texts of Scripture\nwith perfect aptness and propriety. The bishop accordingly granted\nher leave to enter the convent, into which she was admitted on the\n17th of July, 1677, and was vested on the Feast of SS. Simon and\nJude, in the same year. The devil sought to weaken her love of her\nnew state, by representing it as one leading to despair: at one time,\nhe filled her imagination with the remembrance of the many proposals\nof marriage and the young men that she had rejected; at another, he\nmade the time of prayer tedious and disgusting to her. \u201cIt seems,\u201d\nshe says, \u201cas if all hell were let loose against me, but I heeded it\nnot. When I felt more than usually agitated by their attacks, I went\nalone into my cell, and there poured out my soul in prayer to God,\nand represented my necessities to him. Sometimes I offered up acts of\nprayer, and besought Him not to desert me; and said to him, full of\nfaith, \u2018My God, Thou knowest that I am Thy spouse, grant, therefore,\nthat I may never be separated from Thee. Now, for ever, I place\nmyself in Thy hands; I am ready for whatever Thou shalt command. I am\nThine, I am Thine, that is enough.\u2019\u201d God did not fail to strengthen\nher, by saying to her heart, \u201cFear not, thou art mine. It is my will\nthat thou shouldst suffer and combat; fear not.\u201d At her reception,\nshe took the name of Veronica, by which we shall henceforth call her.\n\nWe pass over the numerous instances of suffering and obedience which\nshe gave during her novitiate; at the end of which she was admitted\nto make her profession on All Saints\u2019 day, 1678. Her writings contain\nmany allusions to the joy which she derived from the recurrence\nof this day of solemn renunciation of the world and dedication of\nherself to her Heavenly Spouse. The first years she passed in the\norder were distinguished by the most extraordinary marks of Divine\ngrace; all of which produced in her, compunction and sorrow for her\nsins, and love of mortification, and the cross of Christ. One of\nher raptures she thus describes: \u201cThe first time that I had these\n_recollections_ with a vision, it seemed to me that I saw, on a\nsudden, Our Lord with a heavy cross on His shoulders, when He invited\nme to take a part in that precious treasure. This invitation was\ngiven by communication rather than by words. At that instant I felt a\nstrong desire of sufferings, and it seemed that the Lord planted the\ncross in my heart, giving me to understand the value of suffering.\nThis understanding I received in the following manner. It appeared\nas if all sorts of torments were represented to me, and, at the same\nmoment, I saw them transformed into jewels and precious stones, all\nof which were made in the figure of the cross. During this time, I\nwas given to know that God wished pure suffering in me; and then the\nvision disappeared. When I came to myself, I felt a violent pain in\nmy head, which has never since left me, and so eager was my desire\nof suffering, that I would willingly have faced every torment that\ncan be conceived. From that moment I have ever had in my mouth these\nwords, \u2018The cross and sufferings are jewels and joys.\u2019\u201d From this\naccount it may be collected, that, on this occasion, Jesus impressed\nthat visible mark of the cross upon her heart, which was seen, after\nher death, by several persons, when her body was opened for that\npurpose.\n\nVeronica was successively appointed to fill every office of the\ncommunity, in all of which she displayed the same wonderful examples\nof virtue, and love of obedience and suffering; and many signs of\nDivine favor proved to her sisters how pleasing her actions were\nto Almighty God. She was appointed Mistress of the Novices, in her\nthirty-fourth year, and continued for twenty-two years in that\noffice, until she was chosen abbess, in 1716; and even then, so\nextraordinary had been the efficacy of her prayers, and zeal in the\ndischarge of it, that her sisters forced her, contrary to the usual\norder, to retain it during the eleven years she was abbess. More\nthan once, to free them from sickness, and other inconveniences,\nshe obtained of God, that she might suffer in their stead; and some\nof them were relieved by her, in their anxiety and trouble of mind,\nwhich had been supernaturally made known to her. On one occasion\nwas revealed to her the severe judgment which God will make of\nsuperiors and directors of religious communities, by whose fault\nany relaxation of fervor creeps amongst those committed to their\ncare. On the 9th of November, she fell dangerously ill, and during\nthe agony which succeeded, was carried in spirit before the throne\nof the Divine Judge. She beheld Christ, with a severe countenance,\nseated on a throne of majesty, surrounded by angels; Our blessed\nLady on one side, and her patron saints on the other. When her\ngood angel presented her to the awful judgment, she expected to be\ncondemned to hell,--so severe, she tells us, were the reproaches of\nthe Judge, and so unprovided was she with good works; but so earnest\nwere the prayers of Mary, and of her holy advocates, that the divine\ncountenance of Christ at last grew calm; and, after giving her\nvarious salutary admonitions, He dismissed her.\n\nOn the morning after her agony, she called her novices; and, having\nobtained leave from her confessor to speak to them respecting their\nfailings, and her own negligence in correcting them, which had been\nrevealed to her during her vision of judgment, she whispered to them\nwith such earnestness, that they burst into a flood of tears, and,\nat the end, she said to them, \u201cDo not learn of me, who have been\nthe scandal of all in all my conduct; for in the observance of the\nrules, as well as in obedience, love and charity, I have been ever\nproud and devoid of humility.\u201d The nuns interrupted her with tears\nand sobs, charging themselves with the fault, in not having followed\nher instructions, but she rejoined, \u201ctake heed of little things, for,\nbefore God, things are very different from what we suppose.\u201d\n\nWe must now pass to the sublime novitiate and preparation of grace,\nby which she became, during the last thirty-five years of her life,\nan exact image of Our crucified Lord. In the year 1693, she beheld,\nin a vision, a mysterious chalice or cup, which she knew to be the\npresage of the Divine passion, whereof she was to be a perfect copy.\nThis vision was repeated in various forms during the following years.\nAt one time, the chalice appeared upon a bright cloud, surrounded\nwith glory; at another, without any ornament: sometimes the liquor\ncontained in it, boiled and ran over in great abundance; at other\ntimes, it issued from it, drop by drop. Her spirit was ready to quaff\nit to the bottom, but the flesh shuddered and drew back, as did our\nLord\u2019s in the garden; but she subdued it by severe mortifications.\n\u201cI must not be too confident,\u201d she writes, \u201cbecause I know that,\nas yet, it is not dead. The spirit I have always found eager and\ndesirous of drinking it, and willing to taste of such bitterness, in\norder to fulfil the will of God. At times I felt these desires, and I\nexclaimed: \u2018When will the hour come, O my God, when Thou wilt allow\nme to drink of Thy cup? I await Thy will, but Thou alone knowest my\nthirst: I thirst, I thirst, but not for comforts, but for bitterness\nand sufferings.\u2019 I felt that I could wait no longer. One night,\nwhilst I was in prayer, being quite out of myself, it seems that Our\nLord appeared to me, and, holding the cup in His hand, said: \u2018This\nis for thee, and I present it to thee, that thou mayest taste, as\nmuch as I have tasted, for thy sake, but not yet. Prepare thyself,\nfor thou also shalt taste it.\u2019 He then disappeared, leaving the\nremembrance of that chalice so deeply impressed on my mind, that it\nhas ever since remained there.\u201d\n\nThe anxiety and dread inspired by the constant appearance of this cup\nbefore her mind\u2019s eyes, threw her into a violent fever, which was\nsucceeded by such weakness of body, that her superiors forced her to\nsubmit to the prescriptions and treatment of physicians, which served\nonly to increase her torments.\n\nBut the most sensible torment was, the privation of the light of God.\n\u201cAll these sufferings were a mere nothing in comparison with what I\nexperienced in myself, deserted, abandoned in blackest darkness, at\nsuch a distance from God, that I could not even breathe nor sigh to\nGod.... O, intolerable agony of the soul! to see herself stript of\nevery support, and utterly separated to a distance from its Sovereign\nGood. She sighs, but is not heard; she calls her Spouse, but He comes\nnot; she seeks Him, but he flies still farther off; she prays to Him,\nbut he will not hear.... My soul was in such torment, that the agony\nof death cannot, I think, be more bitter. I had no relief, save in\nseeing the cup approach nearer and nearer.... God be praised! for His\nlove, all is little. Welcome the naked cross, welcome pure suffering.\nI am ready for all things to give delight to my Lord, and to fulfil\nHis divine will.\u201d\n\nGod recompensed her readiness to drink the chalice of sufferings, by\nmaking her a partaker of the torments of His passion. On the fourth\nof April, 1694, as near as can be ascertained, He appeared to her,\nand presented her with His crown of thorns. In obedience to her\nconfessor, she thus describes her vision. \u201cOn the fourth of April,\nwhilst I was in prayer during the night, I fell into a recollection,\nand in it had an intellectual vision, wherein Our Lord appeared to\nme, with a large crown of thorns upon His head. Immediately I cried\nout, \u2018My spouse, give me a part of these thorns, I deserve them,\nnot Thou, my Sovereign Good!\u2019 I heard him reply, \u2018I am now come to\ncrown thee, my beloved;\u2019 and then He took the crown off his head, and\nplaced it upon mine. The pain I suffered, at that instant, was so\nexcessive, that I have never, as far as I can understand, suffered\nanything like it. But it seemed to me that such suffering was a great\njoy to me; I felt as if I should die, if I had not some torment to\nundergo.\u201d\n\nFinding herself unable to go through her ordinary duties, and being\nanxious, at the same time, to conceal these divine favors from her\ncompanions, she prayed to God,--\u201cMy God, I beseech Thee, if it be\nThy will, to give me strength to perform the work and other duties\nprescribed for me, and let these Thy graces never be manifest, but\nalways in secret.\u201d We pray the reader to observe how exactly all\nthe prayers of Veronica, and the effects produced in her soul, are\nconformable to the rules whereby Benedict XIV. teaches us to judge of\nthe truth or falsehood of such supernatural favors as she received.\nThey are always communicated during prayer; they excite in her a more\nardent desire of undergoing still greater torments for the sake of\nGod,--they lead above all to humility and anxiety to hide them from\nthe eyes of the world. Let us now see how another of his criterions\ncorresponds with the reality of her visions and other graces: we mean\nhow they inflamed her with burning charity and zeal for the glory\nof God, and the conversion of sinners. \u201cThis pain (of the crown of\nthorns) inspired me with such compassion for sinners, that, offering\nto the Eternal Father all the sufferings of Jesus, and all His merits\nwith those of Our Lady for the conversion of sinners, I prayed more\nearnestly than ever for sufferings, begging Him to send me more\ntorments. At that instant, I felt a fresh renewal of the crown of\nthorns, not only round my head, as usual, but all over it; and, for\nseveral hours, I remained rejoicing amid thousands of torments. It is\nonly a few days since I had this renewal, and it was signified to me,\nat the same time, that this was a warning that I was to spend this\nLent in continual suffering. God be praised! Everything is little for\nHis sake!\u201d\n\nThis crowning was renewed several times during the course of her\nlife. Her directors, being informed that it had taken place,\ncommissioned Sister Florida Ceoli to observe if there were\nany visible marks of it on her head. She deposed, on oath, as\nfollows:--\u201cI visited her, and saw that she had upon her forehead\nsomething like a circle, tending to a red color. Sometimes I have\nobserved upon it certain pimples, about the size of a pin-head, in\nthe form of little buttons. At other times she had her forehead\nsprinkled with marks of a purple color all round, like the figure of\nthorns which came down towards the eyes; and, in particular, I saw\none of these marks, like thorns, come down towards the right eye, and\neven passed quite under it, filling it with tears; and I saw that the\ntears were blood, from the veil wherewith she wiped them away; as I\nhave frequently told her confessors who enjoined me to watch her.\u201d\n\nBut not content with these observations made by her companions, and\nwishing fully to ascertain if such effects proceeded from natural\nor supernatural causes, the bishop of the city caused her to be\nplaced under the care of physicians and surgeons; but, after they\nhad exhausted all the resources of their art, and applied remedies\nso cruel and so violent that none of the sisterhood would assist at\nthem, but left Veronica herself to hold the heated instruments for\nthem, they abandoned the attempt; and the bishop and her directors\nwere persuaded that He alone, who had imprinted such marks of love\nupon His servant, was capable of curing them, and that he had thereby\nwished to render her more and more conformable to Himself.\n\nThe sacred Scriptures use the word _espousals_ to denote a more\nintimate union formed between God and the soul by the most perfect\nlove. In the book of Canticles the Holy Ghost describes the\ncorrespondence of a soul with grace, under the figure of two spouses,\nand in the New Testament, Our Lord speaks of the virgins whom He\nadmits to His heavenly marriage-feast. This spiritual union with\ncertain devout souls God has been pleased to make manifest to them by\nmore sensible signs, accompanied by formalities like those used in\nordinary marriages. Of such we read in the life of the ecstatic St.\nCatharine of Siena. To this exalted dignity God was pleased to raise\nVeronica, as he revealed to her, during the crowning with thorns, of\nwhich we have already spoken.\n\nOne of the commands given to Veronica, after her espousals, was that\nshe should increase her fasting; and about a year after that event,\nshe received a direct injunction from God to fast for three whole\nyears upon nothing but bread and water. But Almighty God, wishing\nat the same time to put her obedience to her superiors to the test,\ncaused them all to refuse her their permission, without which she\ncould not put the Divine command in practice. And, although He\ncontinued to repeat His command and even to reproach her for not\nfulfilling it; and although her stomach rejected every other food\nbut bread, yet her superiors obstinately refused to accede to her\npetition. \u201cI was full of joy,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause in this way I\nsuffered much, but I felt that the flesh could bear no more.\u201d At\nlength, after she had undergone the severest torments, from the\nrefusal of her superiors, the weakness of her body, and her sorrow of\nmind, at not being able to comply with the will of God, from March\nto September, God was pleased to support her by milk miraculously\nsupplied in the same manner as is related by the Bollandists of\nthe holy virgins, Lidwige, or Lidwina, in Holland, and Geltrude in\nBelgium.\n\nThe most severe trial to which she was exposed, was from desolation\nand sadness of spirit, and from the bitter malice and fierce assaults\nof the devil against her purity, during 1696, the year after her\nmystic espousals.\n\nUnder the 17th of October, we read as follows: \u201cAmongst my other\ntribulations came this also. Whilst I was in prayer, there came\nupon me such, and so many evil thoughts of impurity and of grievous\nsins, and they threw me into such anguish, that at one time they\ncovered me with perspiration, and at another made me freeze, with\nan internal agony, which confused and disturbed my soul. I did not\nwish to disquiet myself, nor to give myself trouble and pain, but\nI could not help it; I felt myself so oppressed and sunk in these\nfilthy thoughts, and my mind so completely obscured, that I could do\nnothing. The demon tempted me, and I seemed to hear a dreadful voice,\nwhich continually repeated, \u2018See, these are the fruits of praying for\nsinners. All their sins are crowding upon thy head. Do good now, if\nthou canst.\u2019 As he spoke these words, the devil seemed to make merry\nand rejoice. O God, what torment it gave me! As well as I could, I\nbegged of God the salvation of souls, and I said, \u2018My sovereign good,\nSpouse of my soul, I do not offend Thee in will, and therefore I\ndetest and abhor every wicked thought; and now and for ever, I tell\nThee, that my will does not wish to entertain them. Rather death,\nand a thousand deaths, than that I should ever consent to a single\nthought that can offend Thee.\u2019 As I said this, though with great\ndifficulty, the devil tormented me by suggesting worse thoughts than\never, and telling me that no hope was left me. I replied, \u2018Liar that\nthou art, I will not yield to thy falsehoods. Jesus will I love,\nJesus will I serve; I have no other good but Jesus.\u2019 In this struggle\nI remained for several hours, always with desolation, dryness, and\ntemptations. God be blessed for all!\u201d The like temptations and\nassaults, both from her flesh and from the devil, are described\nunder December of the same year, but she repeated with the glorious\nmartyr St. Cecily, _fiat cor meum et corpus meum immaculatum ut non\nconfundar_, \u201cLet my heart and body be immaculate, that I may not be\nconfounded.\u201d On Christmas eve she made an incision upon her heart in\nthe form of a cross, with a pen-knife. With the blood, which issued\nfrom it, she wrote a fervent protestation of love, and a dedication\nof her will to her infant Saviour. Four other writings of the same\nkind, made during the course of that and the following year, 1697,\nall breathe the same feelings of consecration of her will to Jesus,\nand especially of ardent charity and zeal for the salvation of her\nneighbors, whose mediatrix she had promised to be. In one of them,\nshe writes, \u201cI intend at this moment to confirm all the protestations\nwhich I have made with my own blood. Lo! I am ready to give my life\nand blood for the conversion of sinners, and the confirmation of the\nHoly Faith. O my God! with your heart, with your love, I make this\ninvitation. O souls redeemed with the blood of Jesus, I speak to you;\nO sinners, come all to the heart of Jesus, to the fountain, to the\nboundless sea of His love. Come, all of you, men and women, come all!\nleave sin; come to Jesus!\u201d Her loving spouse rewarded her constancy\nand love.\n\nOn Good Friday, the 5th of April, 1697, she received those rich\npledges of love which were vouchsafed to the seraphic St. Francis,\nSt. Catharine, and other saints; for Our Lord, after having\npreviously foretold these graces, and after displaying his mercies in\nother ways, to her, was pleased to imprint upon her hands and feet,\nthe stigmata or wounds of his most sacred passion. These wounds were\nafterwards renewed upon several other occasions, and their reality\nwas made known to many persons. For the Tribunal of the Holy Office\nat Rome, having received information thereof, ordered the bishop of\nthe city to make an inquiry into the truth of the report. He repaired\nto the grate of the convent, with several other ecclesiastics, who\nseverally saw the wounds which her blessed Spouse had made. Those\nin the hands and feet, as Florida Ceoli and other sisters attest,\nwere on the upper side round, and about the size of a farthing, but\nless on the under side, deep and red when open, and covered with a\nthin cicatrix or crust, when closed. The wound in the left side,\nabove the left breast, was between four and five fingers in length,\nand about one finger broad in the middle, growing thinner towards\nthe two extremities, exactly like the wound of a lance. Veronica\nwas so alarmed at the thought of undergoing these examinations so\ndreadful to her virginal modesty, that she told sister Florida Ceoli,\nin confidence, she should have died of confusion, if God had not\ndeprived her of her senses, during them. And her profound humility\nsuggested to her to beg earnestly of her beloved Saviour to leave her\nthe pain, but hide the marks of these wounds from the eyes of the\nworld, as he had done to St. Catharine of Siena, and other saints;\nbut he ordered her to tell her confessor, that these wounds were\nto remain, that by the rigorous investigations of the Congregation\nof the Holy Office, it might be known that they had been imprinted\nby His divine hand; and that for this purpose, they were to remain\nvisible for three years. So in effect it happened; for after three\nyears, on the 5th of April, 1700, the wounds closed, but not until\nit had been proved to many that they were indeed the work of divine\nlove. But, although they were closed to the eyes of others, it is\nattested by several witnesses, that the pain still continued, and\nthat they were renewed after that date upon the greater festivals\nof the church, the feasts of St. Francis and of his stigmata, and\nas often as her superiors commanded. She herself mentions their\nbeing renewed in 1703, three years after their closing; and her\nconfessor, Father Ranier Guelfi, as late as holy Saturday, the 19th\nof April, 1726, having been informed by her, that Jesus had renewed\nher wounds twice upon that same day, commanded her to pray that\nthey might be renewed for the third time. She obeyed, and after\nremaining in ecstasy at his feet for some time, told him that she\nhad obtained the grace. To his astonishment he beheld the wounds\nopen, and blood issuing from them. To have additional witnesses, he\npretended to disbelieve her, and ordered her to show them to two\nof her companions, who both saw them open and covered with blood,\nas they testify in the process. Besides the testimony of these and\nthe many others, both ecclesiastics and nuns, who saw these wounds,\nthe reality of their existence was proved by the fact that the most\ndiligent endeavors of surgeons to cure them served only to inflame\nthem still more. But the most undoubted proof is, that she was able\nin spite of them, to live and perform her duties during a space of\nthirty years; especially when we reflect that the physician and\nsurgeon, who inspected her body, after her death, agreed that the\nwound in her left side was enough, at any instant, to have caused her\ndeath, so that they considered her very continuance in life a miracle.\n\nVeronica foretold that twenty-four marks would be found engraven\nupon her heart; and, by the order of her confessor, she described\nthe exact form and disposition of them, by cutting them out in red\nand white paper; and after her death, they were found to correspond\nin every particular with the account and picture which she had made\nof them. They were as follows:--a Latin cross, with a C in the top\nof the upright piece; the centre of the transverse an F; in the\nright point of the transverse a V; and in the left an O. Above the\ncross was, on one side, a crown of thorns; on the left of which was\na banner upon a staff, which passed transversely over the cross, and\nthe flag of the banner was divided into two tongues, on the upper of\nwhich was a large I, and on the lower an _m_ in running hand. At the\ntop of the banner was a flame, and, lower down, a hammer, a pair of\npincers, a lance, and a reed with a sponge represented upon the top.\nOn the right of the cross, beginning from above, was a small garment\nto represent the seamless vest of Our Lord, another flame, a chalice,\ntwo wounds, a column, three nails, a scourge, and seven swords; with\nthe letters P.P.V. on other parts of the heart. All these marks were\nexactly described by her upon paper, which being compared with her\nheart, soon after death, were found to agree in every particular. Her\nconfessor attests that the meaning of the above letters and emblems\nis:--The seven swords are the seven dolors of Mary; the banner, the\nensign of her victories over the Devil, the world and herself; the\ntwo letters, _I_ (_J_) and _m_, Jesus and Mary; _C_, Charity; _F_,\nFaith and Fidelity to God; _O_, Obedience; the two _VV_, Humility\nand the Will of God (_U_milt\u00e0, and Volont\u00e0 di Dio), _P P_, Patience\nand Suffering (_P_atire); the two flames, the love of God and her\nneighbor.\n\nBut we have now reached the point towards which all her aspirations\nwere directed; the happy moment when she was to be united to that\nSpouse, towards whom her soul had hastened, as the thirsty hart\nflieth to the fountains of living waters. She endured, as she had\nforetold, in this her last stage of more than mortal agony and\nbitterness, a three-fold purgatory; first, in the persecutions and\nharshness of men, on the part of her physicians, and those who\nattended her, then on the part of the devil, who tempted her to\ndespair; and, lastly, from holy obedience; for, although she had so\nfervently longed for the moment wherein she was to be dissolved, and\nto be with Christ, it had been made known to her that she was not to\ndie, without the command of her confessor; that so the obedience,\nwhich had been so perfect in life, might be crowned even on earth,\nby opening for her the gate of heavenly bliss. And, as in her\nburning charity, and her eager desire and incomparable endurance of\nsuffering, as well as in the pains of His blessed passion, she had\nso closely copied our Lord, so it pleased Him to make the days of\nher last illness of the same number as the years of His sojourn in\nthis vale of tears; and on the thirty-third day, to close her life by\nan agony of three hours, like to his own upon the cross. As she lay\nmotionless and tranquil, her confessor, perceiving that her life was\ndrawing near its term, said, \u201cBe glad of heart, sister Veronica, what\nyou have so much longed for, is near at hand.\u201d As she heard these\nwords, she gave a sign of her unspeakable joy, and then turned and\nfastened her eyes upon him. He began to recite the \u201cRecommendation\nof a Departing Soul,\u201d and suggest acts of virtue and resignation,\nwithout being able to understand why she looked at him with so fixed\nan eye. At length, enlightened by Almighty God, he recollected that\nshe had told him that she would not wish to die, save with the leave\nof her superiors, and through holy obedience, which permission she\nnow craved by the fixed and earnest eye wherewith she regarded him.\nAnimated, therefore, with a lively faith in God, he approached her\nand said, \u201cSister Veronica, since it is the will of God that you\nshould now go to enjoy Him, and since it is the pleasure of His\nDivine Majesty, that for your departure, the leave of His minister\nshould also be granted,--I now give it to you.\u201d Scarcely were these\nwords uttered, than she bent her eyes in token of submission; then\nturning towards her spiritual daughters, as if to give them her last\nblessing, she bowed her head, and yielded up her soul, in the peace\nof the Lord, on Friday, the 9th of July, 1727, in the sixty-seventh\nyear of her age, and the fiftieth of her religious profession.\n\nOf her perfection in the discharge of all the duties of her state\nof life,--of her faith, hope, and love of God and her neighbor,--of\nher meekness and humility, which she practised in the most heroic\ndegree,--it is unnecessary here to say more, than that in them she\nwas an exact copy of that virtue which her loving Spouse displayed\nin His life amongst men. Even upon earth, her sanctity was made\nmanifest by the accomplishment of the events which she had foretold,\nand by the miracles that she performed; and since her death, the\nmost wonderful favors have been obtained by her intercession. From\nthe many that are recorded in the acts of her beatification, we\nselect only two. The first is that of her confidential companion and\nfriend, sister Mary Magdalen Boscaini, who, in the course of the\nyears 1729-30, was attacked by such a complication of disorders, that\nshe could neither taste food, nor lie down, without considerable\ndifficulty; she was subject to frequent fainting-fits and vomitings,\nand remained in this state for eleven months, being declared by her\nphysicians to have reached an advanced stage of consumption. At\nlast, on the vigil of St. Matthias, in 1730, eleven months since the\nbeginning of her illness, her confessor exhorted her to place a firm\nreliance upon Veronica, under whom she had passed her novitiate; and\nwhen he had excited her confidence and hope, he gave her to drink\nsome water, in which a relic of the saint had been. She drank it,\nand instantly sprang out of bed, and ran to see one of her sisters,\nwho was also sick; and afterwards to meet the physician at the door,\nwho was coming to make his usual visit. He carefully examined her;\nand, after feeling her pulse, pronounced it to be a miracle, as the\neffect proved, for she lived twelve years longer,--when a second\nillness attacked her, from which she recovered, in like manner, by\nthe intercession of Veronica; and so lived for twenty-two years more,\ndying in 1765. The second miracle was the sudden and perfect cure\nof Maria Pacciarini, of an arthritic rheumatism of long duration;\nfrom which she instantaneously and perfectly recovered, by the\nintercession of Veronica.\n\nVeronica was beatified by Pius VII., in 1804, the Cardinal Duke of\nYork being the reporter of the Cause to the Congregation of Rites.\nShe was solemnly canonized by Gregory XVI., on Trinity Sunday, 26th\nMay, 1839.\n\n\u201cThere are often found, in the lives of those who enjoy a reputation\nfor sanctity, certain extraordinary marks, which the profane rashly\nand foolishly scoff at, as empty and dreamy visions: and the\ninexperienced multitude, on the other hand, receives as irrefragable\nproofs of virtue: nor are those wanting, who, misled by a deceitful\nsemblance of prudence and caution, blindly pronounce them the result\nof artifice and cunning. The prudent man avoids all these extremes;\nand, whilst he silently admires things beyond the reach of ordinary\nunderstandings, inquires into their causes; but, still, not from\nsuch effects does he decide upon the virtues of those in whom they\nare conspicuous, but looks chiefly to the conduct and actions they\nhave produced in them, that from the fruits, as our Divine Master\nteacheth, the quality of the tree may be known.\u201d[89]\n\n\n\n\n JULY X.\n\n\n THE SEVEN BROTHERS, MARTYRS, AND ST. FELICITAS THEIR MOTHER.\n\n From their genuine acts in Ruinart, and Tillemont, t. 2.\n See the remarks of Pinius the Bollandist, t. 3, Julij, p. 5.\n\n IN THE SECOND CENTURY.\n\nThe illustrious martyrdom of these saints has been justly celebrated\nby the holy fathers. It happened at Rome under the emperor Antoninus,\nthat is, according to several ancient copies of the acts, Antoninus\nPius.[90] The seven brothers were the sons of St. Felicitas, a noble\npious Christian widow in Rome, who brought them up in the most\nperfect sentiments and practice of heroic virtue. After the death of\nher husband she served God in a state of continency[91] and employed\nherself wholly in prayer, fasting, and works of charity. By the\npublic and edifying example of this lady and her whole family, many\nidolators were moved to renounce the worship of their false gods,\nand to embrace the faith of Christ, which Christians were likewise\nencouraged by so illustrious a pattern openly to profess. This\nraised the spleen of the heathenish priests, who complained to the\nemperor Antoninus that the boldness with which Felicitas publicly\npractised the Christian religion, drew many from the worship of the\nimmortal gods who were the guardians and protectors of the empire,\nand that it was a continual insult on them; who, on that account,\nwere extremely offended and angry with the city and whole state. They\nadded, that in order to appease them, it was necessary to compel\nthis lady and her children to sacrifice to them. Antoninus being\nhimself superstitious was prevailed upon by this remonstrance to\nsend an order to Publius the prefect of Rome, to take care that the\npriests should be satisfied, and the gods appeased in this matter.\nPublius caused the mother and her sons to be apprehended and brought\nbefore him. When this was done he took Felicitas aside, and used the\nstrongest inducements to bring her freely to sacrifice to the gods,\nthat he might not be obliged to proceed with severity against her and\nher sons; but she returned him this answer: \u201cDo not think to frighten\nme by threats, or to win me by fair speeches. The spirit of God\nwithin me will not suffer me to be overcome by Satan, and will make\nme victorious over all your assaults.\u201d Publius said in a great rage:\n\u201cUnhappy woman, is it possible you should think death so desirable\nas not to permit even your children to live, but force me to destroy\nthem by the most cruel torments?\u201d \u201cMy children,\u201d said she, \u201cwill live\neternally with Christ if they are faithful to him; but must expect\neternal death if they sacrifice to idols.\u201d The next day the prefect,\nsitting in the square of Mars before his temple, sent for Felicitas\nand her sons, and addressing his speech to her, said: \u201cTake pity\nof your children, Felicitas; they are in the bloom of youth, and\nmay aspire to the greatest honors and preferments.\u201d The holy mother\nanswered: \u201cYour pity is really impiety, and the compassion to which\nyou exhort me would make me the most cruel of mothers.\u201d Then turning\nherself towards her children, she said to them, \u201cMy sons, look up to\nheaven where Jesus Christ with his saints expects you. Be faithful\nin his love, and fight courageously for your souls.\u201d Publius being\nexasperated at this behavior, commanded her to be cruelly buffeted,\nsaying: \u201cYou are insolent indeed, to give them such advice as this in\nmy presence, in contempt of the orders of our princes.\u201d\n\nThe judge then called the children to him one after another, and\nused many artful speeches, mingling promises with threats to induce\nthem to adore the gods. Januarius, the eldest, experienced his\nassaults the first, but resolutely answered him: \u201cYou advise me to\ndo a thing that is very foolish, and contrary to all reason; but I\nconfide in my Lord Jesus Christ, that he will preserve me from such\nan impiety.\u201d Publius ordered him to be stripped and cruelly scourged,\nafter which he sent him back to prison. Felix, the second brother,\nwas called next, and commanded to sacrifice. But the generous youth\nreplied, \u201cThere is one only God. To him we offer the sacrifice of our\nhearts. We will never forsake the love which we owe to Jesus Christ.\nEmploy all your artifices; exhaust all inventions of cruelty; you\nwill never be able to overcome our faith.\u201d The other brothers made\ntheir answers separately, that they feared not a passing death, but\neverlasting torments; and that having before their eyes the immortal\nrecompenses of the just, they despised the threats of men. Martialis,\nwho spoke last, said: \u201cAll who do not confess Christ to be the true\nGod, shall be cast into eternal flames.\u201d[92] The brothers, after\nbeing whipped, were remanded to prison, and the prefect, despairing\nto be able ever to overcome their resolution, laid the whole process\nbefore the emperor. Antoninus having read the interrogatory, gave an\norder that they should be sent to different judges, and be condemned\nto different deaths. Januarius was scourged to death with whips\nloaded with plummets of lead. The two next, Felix and Philip, were\nbeaten with clubs till they expired. Sylvanus, the fourth, was thrown\nheadlong down a steep precipice. The three youngest, Alexander,\nVitalis, and Martialis, were beheaded, and the same sentence was\nexecuted upon the mother four months after. St. Felicitas is\ncommemorated in the Roman Martyrology on the 23d of November; the\nsons on the 10th of July, on which day their festival is marked in\nthe old Roman Calendar, published by Bucherius.[93]\n\n * * * * *\n\nSt. Gregory the Great delivered his third homily on the Gospels, on\nthe festival of St. Felicitas, in the church built over her tomb on\nthe Salarian road. In this discourse he says, that this saint \u201chaving\nseven children was as much afraid of leaving them behind her on\nearth, as other mothers are of surviving theirs. She was more than a\nmartyr, for seeing her seven dear children martyred before her eyes,\nshe was in some sort a martyr in each of them. She was the eighth in\nthe order of time, but was from the first to the last in pain, and\nbegan her martyrdom in the eldest, which she only finished in her\nown death. She received a crown not only for herself, but likewise\nfor all her children. Seeing them in torments she remained constant,\nfeeling their pains by nature as their mother, but rejoicing for them\nin her heart by hope.\u201d The same father takes notice how weak faith\nis in us: in her it was victorious over flesh and blood; but in us\nis not able to check the sallies of our passions, or wean our hearts\nfrom a wicked and deceitful world. \u201cLet us be covered with shame and\nconfusion,\u201d says he, \u201cthat we should fall so far short of the virtue\nof this martyr, and should suffer our passions still to triumph\nover faith in our hearts. Often one word spoken against us disturbs\nour minds; at the least blast of contradiction we are discouraged\nor provoked; but neither torments nor death were able to shake her\ncourageous soul. We weep without ceasing when God requires of us the\nchildren he hath lent us; and she bewailed her children when they\ndid not die for Christ, and rejoiced when she saw them die.\u201d What\nafflictions do parents daily meet with from the disorders into which\ntheir children fall through their own bad example or neglect! Let\nthem imitate the earnestness of St. Felicitas in forming to perfect\nvirtue the tender souls which God hath committed to their charge, and\nwith this saint they will have the greatest of all comforts in them;\nand will by his grace count as many saints in their family as they\nare blessed with children.\n\n\n SAINTS RUFINA AND SECUNDA, VIRGINS, MM.\n\nThey were sisters, and the daughters of one Asterius, a man of a\nsenatorian family in Rome. Their father promised them in marriage,\nthe first to Armentarius, and the second to Verinus, who were then\nboth Christians, but afterward apostatized from the faith when the\nstorm raised by Valerian and Gallien in 257, fell upon the Church.\nThe two virgins resisted their solicitations to imitate their\nimpiety, and fled out of Rome; but were overtaken, brought back, and\nafter other torments condemned by Junius Donatus, prefect of Rome,\nto lose their heads. They were conducted twelve miles out of Rome,\nexecuted in a forest on the Aurelian Way, and buried in the same\nplace. It was then called the Black Forest, Sylva Nigra, but from\nthese martyrs this name was changed into that of Sylva Candia or the\nWhite Forest. A chapel was built over their tomb, which pope Damasus\ndemolished, erecting a large church in its room. A town rose in the\nsame place, which was called Sylva Candia, and made an episcopal see.\nBut the city being destroyed by barbarians in the twelfth century,\nthe bishopric was united by Calixtus II. to that of Porto, and the\nrelics of the saints were translated at the same time, in the year\n1120, to the Lateran basilic, where they are kept near the baptistery\nof Constantine. See their Acts abridged by Tillemont, t. 4, p. 5.\nAlso the remarks of Pinius the Bollandist, t. 3, Julij, p. 28, and\nLaderchius Diss. de Basilicis SS. Marcellini et Petri, c. 2, p. 6.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XI.\n\n\n ST. JAMES, BISHOP OF NISIBIS, C.\n\n From Theodoret, Phil. c. 1, et Aist. l. 1, c. 7. Gennadius,\n c. 1. Tillemont, t. 7, p. 263. Ceillier, t. 4. Assemani,\n Bibl. Orient. t. 1, p. 186. Cuper the Bollandist, and the\n saint\u2019s works, published in Armenian and Latin, by Nic.\n Antonelli, at Rome, in 1755; add the accounts given of\n this saint in the Menology of the Armenians at Venice,\n on the seventh day of the month Caghozi, the 15th of\n our December; in the Synaxary of the Egyptians on the\n eighteenth of Tobi, our 12th of January, by St. Gregory of\n Nariegha, an Armenian bishop, in 980, author of many devout\n Armenian orations and prayers. (Orat. 99, in St. Jacob.\n in libro Precum edito Constantinopoli, An. 1700.) Also by\n Moyses Cheronensis, Histor. Armen\u00e6 l. 3, art. 7, though\n this author flourished not in the fifth century (as the\n Whistons imagine with those who confound him with Moyses\n the grammarian, who translated the Bible from the Greek and\n Syriac into the Armenian tongue, in the reign of Theodosius\n the Younger, as Galanus mentions), but after the year 727,\n in which arose the great schism of which this historian\n speaks, and of which the patriarch John IV. of Oznium was\n author. See James Villotte, the Jesuit, in Diction. Armen.\n in Serie Patriarcharum.\n\n A. D. 350.\n\nThis eminent saint, and glorious doctor of the Syriac church, was a\nnative of Nisibis, in Mesopotamia, which country was then subject\nto the eastern empire.[94] He had a genius rich by nature, which he\ncultivated with indefatigable application; though after laying a\nfoundation of the sciences, he confined himself to sacred studies. In\nhis youth entering the world, he became soon apprised of its dangers.\nHe saw that in it only ambition, vanity, and voluptuousness reign;\nthat men here usually live in a hurry and a crowd, without finding\nleisure to look into themselves, or to study that great science which\nought to be their only affair. He trembled at the sight of its vices,\nand the slippery path of its pleasures, which, though they seem\nagreeable at first, yet when tasted are nothing but bitterness and\nmortal poison, and whilst they flatter the senses, destroy the soul;\nand he thought it the safer part to conquer by flight, or at least,\nwith the Baptist, to prepare and strengthen himself in retirement,\nthat he might afterward be the better able to stand his ground in\nthe field. He accordingly chose the highest mountains for his abode,\nsheltering himself in a cave in the winter, and the rest of the year\nliving in the woods, continually exposed to the open air; and knowing\nthat our greatest conquest is to subdue ourselves, in order to\nfacilitate this important victory, he joined to assiduous prayer the\npractice of great austerities. He lived only on wild roots and herbs,\nwhich he ate raw, and had no other garments than a tunic and cloak,\nboth made of goat\u2019s hair very coarse. Notwithstanding his desire to\nlive unknown to men, yet he was discovered, and many were not afraid\nto climb the rugged rocks that they might recommend themselves to\nhis prayers, and receive the comfort of his spiritual advice. He\nwas favored with the gifts of prophecy and miracles in an uncommon\nmeasure, of which he gave several proofs in a journey he took into\nPersia to visit the new churches that were planting there, and\nstrengthen the young converts laboring under grievous persecutions.\nHis presence fortified them in their good resolutions, and inspired\nthem with that spirit of martyrdom which afterwards showed itself in\ntheir glorious triumphs. He converted many idolaters, and wrought\nseveral miracles in that country. He suffered torments for the faith\nin the persecution continued by Maximinus II. for Gennadius places\nhim in the number of confessors under that tyrant; and Nicephorus\nnames him among the holy bishops in the council of Nice, who bore the\nglorious marks of their sufferings for Christ. His personal merit and\ngreat reputation occasioned his promotion to the see of Nisibis; but\nhere he still followed the same course of life he had inured himself\nto on the mountains, to his fasts and austerities adding the care\nof the poor, the correction of sinners, and all the other toils and\nhardships of episcopacy. Such was his charity for the poor, that he\nseemed to possess nothing but for their relief. In the acts of St.\nMiles and his companions, Persian martyrs, it is related that St.\nJames built at Nisibis a very stately church. St. Miles coming to\nthat city was astonished at the majesty of the edifice, and having\nmade some stay there with St. James, returned to Adiab, whence he\nsent the holy bishop a present of a great quantity of silk for the\nornaments of his church.\n\nTheodoret relates[95] of him that one day as he was travelling, he\nwas accosted by a gang of beggars who had concerted a plot whereby\nto impose upon the servant of God, with the view of extorting money\nfrom him on pretence to bury their companion, who lay stretched on\nthe ground as if he had been dead. The holy man gave them what they\nasked, and \u201coffering up supplications to God as for a soul departed,\nhe prayed that his divine majesty would pardon him the sins he had\ncommitted whilst he lived, and that he would admit him into the\ncompany of the saints,\u201d says Theodoret. As soon as the saint was gone\nby, his companions calling upon him to rise and take his share of the\nbooty, were strangely surprised to find him really dead. Seized with\nsudden fear and grief, they shrieked in the utmost consternation,\nand immediately ran after the man of God, cast themselves at his\nfeet, confessed the cheat, begged forgiveness, and by entreaties and\nmournful looks pleaded for pity, and besought him by his prayers to\nrestore their unhappy companion to life, which the saint performed,\nas this grave author assures us. When the heresy of Arius was set\nabroach, and began to infect many churches, St. James strenuously\nexerted himself in defending his church from the contagion, and\nlabored to crush the growing evil. He assisted at the council of Nice\nin 325, as Theodoret and Gennadius testify; likewise at the council\nof Antioch held under St. Eustathius, about the year 326. Being at\nConstantinople in 336, when Constantine commanded St. Alexander, the\nholy bishop of that city, to leave his see in case he persisted to\nrefuse admitting to communion Arius, who had imposed on that prince\nby an hypocritical confession of faith; St. James exhorted the people\nto have recourse to God by fasting and prayer during seven days; and\non the eighth day, which was the very Sunday on which Arius was to\nhave been admitted, the unhappy man was found dead in a privy into\nwhich he had stepped to ease nature.[96]\n\nThe most famous miracle of our Thaumaturgus was that by which he\nprotected the city of Nisibis from the barbarians, as is related\nby Theodoret both in his religious and ecclesiastical history; by\nTheophanes, the Alexandrian Chronicle, and even by Philostorgius\nhimself,[97] who was a rank Arian, cannot be suspected of being too\nfavorable to St. James. Sapor II. the haughty king of Persia, twice\nbesieged Nisibis with the whole strength of his empire, whilst our\nsaint was bishop; and the city was every time miraculously protected\nby the prayers of St. James. Of these sieges the first was laid\nsoon after the death of Constantine the Great, which happened on\nthe 22nd of May, in 337, after that prince had reigned thirty-nine\nyears, nine months, and twenty-seven days. His valor had kept the\nbarbarians in awe. But upon his demise Sapor came, and in 338\nsat down before Nisibis with a prodigious army of foot, horse,\nelephants, and all sorts of warlike engines. But after continuing\nthe siege sixty-three days, he was compelled shamefully to raise\nit, and return into Persia; and his army, harassed by the enemy in\nits march, and exhausted by fatigues, was at length destroyed by\nfamine and epidemical diseases.[98] The emperor Constantius, when\nthe Persians again invaded the territories of the Romans in 348, by\nhis pusillanimity and misconduct gave them a great superiority in\nthe field. And Cosro\u00ebs, elated with success, and enriched by the\nplunder of many provinces, ventured a second time with an army still\nmuch stronger than before to lay siege to Nisibis in 350. His troops\nhaving seized all the avenues, and made their approaches with a fury\nbeyond example, he first endeavored to make a breach in the walls by\nbattering rams and mines, but all to no purpose. At length, after\nseventy days\u2019 labor, he caused a dam to be raised at a considerable\ndistance from the city, thereby to stop the river Mygdon, which ran\nthrough it; this he ordered to be broken down when the water was at\nits full height; so that the violence with which it beat against\nthe wall of the city made a wide breach in it. At this the Persians\nrent the air with loud shouts of joy, but deferred the assault till\nthe next day, that the waters might be first carried off, they not\nbeing able to make their approaches by reason of the inundation.\nWhen they came up to the breach they were strangely surprised to\nfind another wall which the inhabitants had raised behind the former\nwith an astonishing expedition, being encouraged by St. James, who\nremained himself all the time in the church at his prayers, by which\nhe conquered, like Moses on the mountain. Sapor marching up to the\nbreach in person, fancied he saw a man in royal apparel on the wall,\nwhose purple and diadem cast an uncommon brightness. This person\nhe believed was the Roman emperor Constantius, and threatened to\nput to death those who had told him the emperor was at Antioch. But\nupon their giving him fresh assurances that Constantius was really\nthere, and convinced that heaven fought for the Romans, he threw up a\njavelin into the air, out of impotent revenge because heaven seemed\nto take part against him. Then St. Ephrem, deacon of Edessa and St.\nJames\u2019s disciple, being present, entreated him to go upon the walls\nto take a view of the Persians, and pray to God that he would defeat\nthe infidel army. The bishop would not pray for the destruction of\nany one, but he implored the divine mercy that the city might be\ndelivered from the calamities of so long a siege. Afterwards, going\nto the top of a high tower, and turning his face towards the enemy,\nand seeing the prodigious multitude of men and beasts which covered\nthe whole country, he said: \u201cLord, thou art able by the weakest means\nto humble the pride of thy enemies; defeat these multitudes by an\narmy of gnats.\u201d God heard the humble prayers of his servant, as he\nhad done that of Moses against the Egyptians, and as he had by the\nlike means vanquished the enemies of his people when he conducted\nthem out of Egypt.[99] For scarce had the saint spoken these words,\nwhen whole clouds of gnats and flies came pouring down upon the\nPersians, got into the elephants\u2019 trunks, and the horses\u2019 ears and\nnostrils, which made them chafe and foam, throw their riders, and\nput the whole army into confusion and disorder.[100] A famine and\npestilence which followed, carried off a great part of the army; and\nSapor, after lying above three months before the place, set fire to\nall his own engines of war, and was forced to abandon the siege and\nreturn home with the loss of twenty thousand men. Sapor received a\nthird foil under the walls of Nisibis, in 359, upon which he turned\nhis arms against Amidus, took that strong city, and put the garrison\nand the greatest part of the inhabitants to the sword.[101] The\ncitizens of Nisibis attributed their preservation to the intercession\nof their glorious patron, St. James, though he seems to have been\ntranslated to glory before this last siege. Gennadius says he died\nin the reign of Constantius, whose death happened in 361.[102]\nThat of St. James is placed by most moderns in 350, soon after the\nsecond siege of Nisibis. Gennadius informs us, that out of a pious\nconfidence that the saint\u2019s earthly remains would be a pledge of\nhis intercession with God for the protection of the city against\nthe barbarians, by an order of the emperor Constantius, though an\nArian, pursuant to an express injunction of his father Constantine\nthe Great, notwithstanding the severe laws to the contrary then in\nforce, the body of St. James was buried within the walls of the city.\nJulian, the Apostate, in 361, envying the saint this distinguished\nprivilege, commanded these sacred remains to be removed without\nthe city. Soon after, upon his death the emperor Jovian, in 363,\nin order to purchase peace of the Persians, was obliged to yield\nup to them Nisibis, with the five Roman provinces situated on the\nTigris, and great part of Mesopotamia. But the inhabitants of Nisibis\nwho were compelled by Jovian to remove before he delivered up the\ncity, carried with them the sacred relics of this saint, which,\naccording to the Menology of the Armenians at Venice, were brought\nto Constantinople about the year 970. His name is famous both in the\nEastern and Western Martyrologies. His festival is kept by the Latins\non the 15th of July, by the Greeks on the 13th of January and the\n31st of October, by the Syrians on the 18th of January, and by the\nArmenians on a Saturday in the month of December. The last honor him\nwith no less solemnity than the Assyrians, and observe before his\nfeast a fast of five days with the same severity with that of Lent.\nIn his office they sing the long devout Armenian hymns, which were\ncompiled in his honor by Saint Nierses, patriarch of Armenia, the\nfourth of that name, surnamed of Ghelaia, who strenuously defended\nthe union with the Latin church against the Greek emperor, Michael\nCommenus, in the twelfth century, and is honored by the orthodox\nArmenians among the saints.[104]\n\nSt. James\u2019s learning and writings have procured him a rank next to\nSt. Ephrem among the doctors of the Syriac church; and the Armenians\nhonor him as one of the principal doctors of their national church.\nFor though St. James was a Syrian, he wrote excellent treatises in\nthe Armenian language for their instruction,[105] at the request of\na holy bishop of that nation called Gregory, whose letter to our\nsaint is still extant. In it he promises himself the happiness of\npaying St. James a visit, and passing some time with him, in order\nto improve himself more perfectly by his lessons in the knowledge\nand practice of true virtue: in the mean time he earnestly conjures\nhim to favor him with some short instructions, and teach him what\nis the true foundation of a spiritual life of faith, by what means\nthe edifice is to be raised in our souls, and by what good works,\nby what virtue it is to be finished and brought to perfection. St.\nJames complied with his desire in eighteen excellent discourses still\nextant.[106] They are published at Rome in one volume, folio, in\n1756, in Armenian and Latin, by M. Nicholas Antonelli, canon of the\nLateran basilic.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe visible protection with which God watches over his servants ought\nto excite our confidence in him. He assures us that his tenderness\nfor them surpasses the bowels of the most affectionate mother, and he\nstyles himself their protector and their safeguard.[107] This made\nSt. Chrysostom cry out,[108] \u201cBehold, I testify and proclaim to all\nmen with a loud voice, and would raise it, were it possible, louder\nthan any trumpet, that no man on earth can hurt a good Christian, nor\neven the tyrant the devil. _If God be for us, who is against us?_\nsays the apostle.\u201d How far otherwise is it with the wicked! They are\ncast off by their God; they are not his people; not fed or watched\nover by that special tender providence which he affords his servants:\nthey are a forsaken, abandoned vineyard.[109] He is their enemy, and\nhath set his eyes upon them for evil, not for good.[110] What rest\nor comfort can the sinner enjoy who knows he hath an almighty arm\ncontinually stretched out against him?\n\n\n ST. HIDULPHUS, BISHOP AND ABBOT.\n\n From Richerius, in his Chronicle of Senones, t. 3,\n Spicileg. and the saint\u2019s three imperfect lives, with the\n remarks of Solier the Bollandist, t. 3, Jul. p. 205. See\n also Calmet, Hist. de Lorraine, l. 10, p. 445, &c.\n\n A. D. 707.\n\nSt. Hidulph, or Hildulph, was born at Ratisbon in Bavaria, of one\nof the most illustrious families in the country, and renounced\ngreat temporal possessions in his youth to consecrate himself to\nGod in an ecclesiastical state, which he embraced with his brother\nSt. Erard, who was advanced to the episcopal see at Ratisbon, was\nburied in Moyen-Moutier, and is honored among the saints on the 8th\nof January.[111] Hidulph was consecrated archbishop of Triers, and\ndischarged for some time all the duties of a vigilant and zealous\npastor. The monastery of St. Maximin had been founded in the fourth\ncentury, and doubtless observed the discipline of the oriental monks.\nHidulph introduced into it the Benedictin Order about the year 665,\nand so much augmented it in revenues and settled in it so perfect a\nspirit of monastic virtue, that it was the admiration of that age,\nand is to this day one of the most flourishing abbeys in Germany.\n\nHidulph was much taken with the charms of holy retirement, with the\nhappy security and liberty of that state, its exercises of humility,\npenance, and prayer, and the liberty which it affords of living\ndisengaged from worldly attachments and distractions, in a continual\napplication to heavenly things. He was also strongly affected by the\nexample and conversation of many divine men who then adorned the\nChurch, and maintained in it the true spirit of Christ, by the odor\nof sanctity which their angelic minds and deportment spread, and who\nwere raised to this heroic virtue by the exercises of a monastic\nlife. The obligations of his own charge (which he could not abandon\nunless his reasons for resigning it were such as to be approved of by\na superior authority, as that of a primate, and rather of the pope\nas patriarch of the West) withheld him some time, but at length he\nfound means to resign his see to St. Veomade, abbot of St. Maximin\u2019s,\nand hid himself in that monastery.[112] But finding it impossible\nto live in the obscurity which he sought, in the midst of his own\ndiocess, he retired secretly amidst the mountains of Voge, on the\nconfines of Lorrain, and settled in a small hermitage on the spot\nwhich the monks of Senones and Estival gave him, and on which he soon\nafter, about the year 676, built the monastery of Moyen-Moutier.\nThis name was given it from its situation between the abbeys of\nSenones to the east, of Estival to the west, of Bodon-Moutier to the\nnorth, and to the south that of Jointures, now the collegiate church\nof canons, and the town of St. Die. Three hundred monks served God\nunder his direction; for, besides those who composed the monastery\nof Moyen-Moutier, at the request of his friend St. Die, upon his\ndeath-bed, and of his community, he took upon him also the charge\nof that abbey, and many lived under his conduct in separate cells.\nSt. Hidulph governed his own monastery above thirty years, though\nfor some time, whilst he was obliged to reside at St. Die\u2019s, he\nappointed a vicar in his room at Moyen-Moutier. He returned thither\nbefore his death, which happened in 707, or, according to others, in\n713. His relics are kept in a silver shrine in this monastery, which\nat present bears his name, and in union with that of St. Vannes,\nbegan the reformation of the Benedictin Order, which is so famous in\nLorrain, and in France. Saint Hidulph\u2019s name is not inserted in the\nRoman Martyrology, but is famous in German, French, and Benedictin\nCalendars.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe sanctity of those ancient monks who, by the exercises of humility\nand holy solitude, attained to so wonderful a victory over their\npassions, so sublime a degree of virtue, and so heavenly a temper\nas to have seemed rather angels than men, was the admiration even\nof infidels, and the edification of all those who had the happiness\nof enjoying their conversation. \u201cFor my part,\u201d said Saint Sulpicius\nSeverus, or his friend Posthumianus,[113] \u201cso long as I shall keep\nalive and in my senses, I shall ever celebrate the monks of Egypt,\npraise the anchorets, and admire the hermits.\u201d Of the same another\nancient eye-witness says,[114] \u201cThere have I seen many fathers\nleading an angelic life, and walking after the example of Jesus.\u201d The\nmore happy and the more perfect a religious state is, the greater\nought to be the watchfulness and the fervor of those who are engaged\nin it not to fall short of their obligations, and lose the precious\ngraces of their vocation.\n\nPersons in the world are usually inclined to show no indulgence for\nthe least failings which they observe in religious persons. How\nmuch soever the reformation and perfect sanctification of the more\nillustrious portion of the flock of Christ be to be desired and\nprayed for by all, and promoted by the chief pastors, these severe\ncensors would better employ their zeal in looking into, and reforming\ntheir own hearts. They must never forget that all Christians, by\ntheir baptismal engagements and the sacred law of the gospel which\nthey profess, are bound to sanctify their souls, and to serve God\nin the perfect sentiments and practice of all virtues. If in this\ndegenerate age many religious establishments stand in need of a spur\nor some reformation, we may believe an enemy \u201cthat there is no class\nor condition of Christians in general which does not want it still\nmuch more.\u201d\n\n\n ST. PIUS I. POPE, M.\n\nAccording to the pontificals, he was the son of one Rufinus, and a\nnative of Aquileia. He had served the Church among the clergy at Rome\nmany years under Adrian and Antoninus Pius,[115] when, according to\nTillemont, in the fourth year of the reign of the latter he succeeded\nSt. Hyginus in the papacy in 142. He condemned the heresiarch\nValentinus, and rejected Marcion, who came from Pontus to Rome after\nthe death of Hyginus, as we have related elsewhere. The conflicts\nwhich St. Pius sustained obtained him the title of martyr, which is\ngiven him not only in Usuard\u2019s Martyrology, but also in many others\nmore ancient; though Fontanini, a most judicious and learned critic,\nstrenuously maintains, against Tillemont, that he died by the sword.\nHe passed to a better life in 157, and was buried at the foot of the\nVatican hill on the 11th of July. See Tillemont, t. 2, p. 312, and\nespecially Fontanini, who discusses at length all things relating to\nthis pope, in his Historia Literaria Aquileiensis, l. 2, c. 3 and 4.\n\n\n ST. DROSTAN, ABBOT.\n\nWas a prince of royal blood in Scotland, educated under the\ndiscipline of the great Saint Columba. He was afterward abbot of\nDalcongaile; but in his old age lived a recluse in a forest. He died\nabout the year 809. His sacred remains were deposited in a stone\ncoffin at Aberdeen. See Colgan, ad 11 Jul.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XII.\n\n\n ST. JOHN GUALBERT, ABBOT.\n\n FOUNDER OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDER OF VALLIS UMBROSA.\n\n From his exact life compiled by Blaise Melanisius, general\n of his Order, with the long notes of Cuper the Bollandist.\n See also two other lives of the saint with a long history\n of his miracles, ib., t. 3, Julij, p. 311.\n\n A. D. 1073.\n\nSt. John Gualbert was born at Florence of rich and noble parents,\nand in his youth was carefully instructed in the Christian doctrine\nand in the elements of the sciences; but afterward, by conversing\nwith the world, he imbibed a relish for its vanities and follies.\nWhile a thirst of worldly pleasure kept possession of his desires,\nand seemed to him innocent, and while he thought a certain degree\nof worldly pride the privilege of his birth, he was a stranger to\nthe gospel maxims of penance, meekness, and lowliness of heart;\nand all arguments of virtue lost their force upon him. But God was\npleased by a remarkable accident to open his eyes, and to discover\nto him his errors, and the extent of his obligations. Hugo, his only\nbrother, was murdered by a gentleman of the country; and our young\nnobleman determined to revenge the crime by the death of him who had\nperpetrated it, and who seemed out of the reach of the laws. Under\nthe influence of his resentment, which was much heightened by the\ninvectives and persuasion of his own father Gualbert, he neither\nlistened to the voice of reason nor of religion. The motive of\nrevenge is criminal if it creeps into the breast even in demanding\nthe just punishment of a delinquent; much more if it push men to\nvindicate their own cause themselves by returning injury for injury,\nand wreaking wrongs on those that inflicted them. But passion stifled\nremorse, and John was falsely persuaded that his honor in the world\nrequired that he should not suffer so flagrant an outrage to pass\nunpunished. It happened that riding with his man home to Florence\non Good Friday, he met his enemy in so narrow a passage that it\nwas impossible for either of them to avoid the other. John seeing\nthe murderer, drew his sword, and was going to despatch him. But\nthe other, alighting from his horse, fell upon his knees, and with\nhis arms across, besought him by the passion of Jesus Christ, who\nsuffered on that day, to spare his life. The remembrance of Christ,\nwho prayed for his murderers on the cross, exceedingly affected the\nyoung nobleman; and meekly raising the supplicant from the ground\nwith his hand, he said, \u201cI can refuse nothing that is asked of me\nfor the sake of Jesus Christ. I not only give you your life, but\nalso my friendship for ever. Pray for me that God may pardon me my\nsin.\u201d After embracing each other they parted, and John went forward\non his road till he came to the monastery of St. Minias,[116] of\nthe holy Order of St. Bennet. Going into the church, he offered up\nhis prayers before a great crucifix, begging with many tears and\nextraordinary fervor that God would mercifully grant him the pardon\nof his sins. Whilst he continued his prayer the crucifix miraculously\nbowed its head to him, as it were to give him a token how acceptable\nthe sacrifice of his resentment, and his sincere repentance were.\nThe divine grace made such deep impressions on his heart, that\nrising from his devotions he cast himself at the feet of the abbot,\nearnestly begging to be admitted to the religious habit. The abbot\nwas apprehensive of his father\u2019s displeasure; but at length was\nprevailed upon with much ado to allow him to live in the community in\nhis secular habit. After a few days John cut off his hair himself,\nand put on a habit which he borrowed. His father, at this news of the\nstep his son had taken, hastened to the monastery, and stormed and\ncomplained dreadfully; till after some time seeing the steadiness of\nhis son\u2019s resolution, and hearing his reasons and motives, he was so\nwell satisfied, that he gave him his blessing, and exhorted him to\npersevere in his good purposes.\n\nSt. John devoted himself to the exercises of his new state in the\nmost perfect dispositions of a true penitent. He was most exact in\nevery religious observance. He subdued his body with much fasting\nand watching; never gave way to idleness, but kept himself day and\nnight employed almost in continual prayer. His corporeal austerities\nhe animated with a perfect interior spirit of penance, or desire\nof punishing sin in himself, the more powerfully to move God to\ncompassion and mercy towards him; and he endeavored by them to\nfacilitate the subjection of his passions, which victory he completed\nby a watchfulness over the motions of his own heart, and heroic acts\nof all virtues, especially meekness and humility. But assiduous and\nhumble prayer and meditation were the principal means by which this\nwonderful change was effected in all the affections of his soul, so\nthat he became entirely a new man. Nothing can have so prevalent a\npower to still the agitation of passion in the breast, nothing is\nso fit to induce a smooth and easy flow, and a constant evenness\nof temper, as a frequent application to the throne of grace. This\npresence of the mind with the Lord is an absence from the body, or\nfrom the tumult of carnal passions. The pure and serene tranquillity\nthat springs up in the soul by an intercourse with heaven, shows that\nhere she is nearest the centre of her true happiness, where earthly\nthings lose all their power of attraction. The very preparation of\nthe heart to wait upon God in this solemn exercise is of admirable\nuse to remove that corruption which inflames the passions. Especially\na lively sense of God\u2019s infinite greatness, and of our littleness and\ninfirmities, powerfully impressed on our minds by assiduous prayer,\nsoon brings us to a conviction that pride is the root of all our\ndisorders; and enables us to discover its disguises, and to banish it\nout of our souls. By fidelity and perseverance St. John obtained the\nvictory over himself, and became most eminent in meekness, humility,\nsilence, obedience, modesty, and patience.\n\nWhen the abbot died our saint was earnestly entreated by the greatest\npart of the monks to accept that dignity; but his consent could by\nno means be extorted. Not long after, he left this house with one\ncompanion, and went in quest of a closer solitude. He paid a visit\nto the hermitage of Camaldoli; and having edified himself with the\nexample of its fervent inhabitants, he proceeded further to an\nagreeable shady valley covered with willow trees, commonly called\nVallis Umbrosa, in the diocess of Fiesoli, half a day\u2019s journey from\nFlorence, in Tuscany. He found in that place two devout hermits, with\nwhom he and his companion concerted a project to build themselves\na small monastery of timber and mud-walls, and to form together a\nlittle community, serving God according to the primitive austere\nrule and spirit of the Order of St. Bennet. The abbess of St. Hilary\ngave them the ground on which they desired to build, and when the\nmonastery was finished, the bishop of Paderborn, who attended the\nemperor Henry III. into Italy, consecrated the chapel. Pope Alexander\nII. in 1070 approved this new Order, together with the rule in which\nthe saint added certain particular constitutions to the original rule\nof St. Bennet. From this confirmation is dated the foundation of the\nOrder of Vallis-Umbrosa. St. John was chosen the first abbot, nor was\nhe able to decline that dignity. He gave his monks a habit of an ash\ncolor; and settled among them retirement, silence, disengagement of\ntheir hearts from all earthly things, the most austere practice of\npenance, profound humility, and the most universal charity.\n\nThough most humble and mild, he severely reproved the least tepidity\nor sloth in others. For the virtue of meekness is not further removed\nfrom intemperate anger which clouds or dethrones reason, than from\na vicious defect or tameness and stupidity which beholds vice with\nindifference. God has committed to every man a kind of trust and\nguardianship of virtue, whose rights we are obliged to maintain in\nproportion to our power not only by example, but also by advice,\nexhortation, and reproof, as often as it is reasonable. And he who\nregards the sins of others with a careless unconcernedness, makes\nhimself accountable for them, when it is in his power to prevent\nthem. Superiors especially lie under the most grievous obligations to\ncheck and chastise the irregularities and faults of those under their\nimmediate care and inspection. Our saint feared no less the danger of\ntoo great lenity and forbearance than that of harshness; and was a\ntrue imitator both of the mildness and zeal of the Jewish legislator,\nwhom the Holy Ghost calls \u201cthe meekest of all men upon the face of\nthe earth.\u201d St. John was himself a perfect model of all virtues,\nand tender and compassionate towards all, especially the sick. This\ncompassion for them he learned by his own perpetual infirmities,\nand weakness of stomach. Such was his humility that he would never\nbe promoted even to Minor Orders, never presumed to approach nearer\nthe altar than was necessary to receive the holy communion, and\nnever would open the church door, but always prayed one in Minor\nOrders to open it for him. He was very zealous for holy poverty, and\nwould not allow any monasteries to be built in a costly or sumptuous\nmanner, thinking such edifices not agreeable to a spirit of poverty.\nHe founded the monastery of St. Salvi, that of Moscetta, that of\nPassignano, another at Rozzuolo, and another at Monte Salario. He\nreformed some other monasteries, and left about twelve houses of his\nOrder at his death. Besides monks he received lay-brothers, who were\nexempt from choir and silence, and employed in external offices.\nThis is said to be the first example of such a distinction; but it\nwas soon imitated by other Orders. The saint\u2019s charity to the poor\nwas not less active than his love for holy poverty. He would have no\npoor person sent from his door without an alms, and often emptied\nall the granaries and stores of his monasteries in relieving them.\nIn a great dearth he supplied, sometimes by miracle, the multitudes\nof poor people that flocked to his monastery of Rozzuolo. The saint\nwas endowed with the spirit of prophecy, and by his prayers restored\nmany sick persons to perfect health. The holy pope Leo IX. went to\nPassignano on purpose to see and converse with this holy man. Stephen\nIX. and Alexander II. had the greatest esteem for him. This latter\ntestifies that the whole country where he lived owed to his zeal the\nentire extinction of simony. The holy man at length fell sick of a\nsharp fever at Passignano. He called for all the abbots and superiors\nof his Order, and telling them he was soon to leave them, strongly\nexhorted them to watch vigilantly over the most exact observance\nof their rule, and to maintain peace and fraternal charity. After\nthis, having most devoutly received the last sacraments, he died\nhappily on the 12th of July in 1073, being seventy-four years old.\nPope Celestine III. having caused juridical informations to be taken\nconcerning his virtues and miracles, solemnly enrolled him among the\nsaints in the year 1193.\n\nThe eminent degree of penance and sanctity to which the divine grace\nraised this saint, was the fruit of his mildness in forgiving an\ninjury. Christ not only commands us to pardon all offences, but\nhas recommended this precept to us with his expiring breath, with\nhis head crowned with thorns and his hands stretched out for us.\nWe renounce the glorious title of being his disciples if, whilst\nwe behold him hanging on the cross, and hear his last prayers, we\ntrample on his sacred law, and harbor malice in our hearts against\na brother whom our dying Redeemer commands us to forgive for his\nsake. Can we be angry with him who is by so many sacred ties our\nbrother, the living son and member of our common Redeemer and Father,\nand whom we expect to be the associate of our happiness for all\neternity? We owe infinitely more to Christ than any brother can owe\nto us: the least venial sin is an immense debt. Our Divine Master\nnot only conjures us to forgive our brother for His sake, but also\nmakes it our own infinite interest so to do, promising to pardon us\nour immense debts in the same manner as we pardon others. Shall we\nbase worms who have nothing to boast of before men only our having\nconcealed from them our baseness and ignominy; and to whom the\nmost cruel outrages from creatures would be too mild a treatment,\nconsidering our sins; shall we, I say, complain of injuries which\nwe ought to receive with patience and joy as the easy means of\ncancelling our own sins, and procuring for ourselves the greatest\ngraces and mercy.\n\n\n SS. NABOR AND FELIX, MM.\n\nThey suffered at Milan under Maximian Herculeus about the year 304.\nTheir bodies were first interred without the walls of the city,\nbut afterward brought into it, and deposited in the place where a\nchurch was built over their tomb, to which great multitudes of people\nresorted with wonderful devotion, as Paulinus testifies in his life\nof St. Ambrose. In the same church St. Ambrose discovered the relics\nof SS. Gervasius and Protasius, as himself relates in his letter to\nhis sister Marcellina. The people continued to venerate the relics\nof SS. Nabor and Felix with the same ardor of devotion, as that holy\ndoctor assures us.[117] They are still honored in the same church,\nwhich at present bears the name of St. Francis. See Solier the\nBollandist, t. 3, Julij, p. 280.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XIII.\n\n\n SAINT EUGENIUS, BISHOP OF CARTHAGE, AND HIS COMPANIONS, CC.\n\n From Victor Vitensis, Hist. Persec. Vandal. l. 2 and 3. See\n Tillemont, t. 16, Ceillier, t. 15, p. 206, Rivet, Hist.\n Lit. de la Fr. t. p. 38, Ruinart, &c.\n\n A. D. 505.\n\nThe Roman provinces in Africa were for a long time one of the richest\nand most noble portions of the empire. The Carthaginian barbarism\nand perfidy had given place to the most flourishing reign of the\nsciences, arts, and religion. The nobles of this country were all\nprinces, and for riches and state, seemed to vie with kings; its\npeace seemed on every side secure. But the strongest cities and\nempires are often nearest a fall; they are founded, to be again\nsooner or later torn to pieces. Every state has even within itself\nthe seeds of its own destruction; these will occasion the dissolution\nof every body politic no less certainly than the internal weakness\nof the animal body must bring it to a fatal period. This was the\ncondition of the Roman empire in its decline, when its rulers, to\npreserve Italy which they regarded as its heart or head, abandoned\nits extremities to the Goths and Vandals. At a time when Africa\nthought of no danger, in the reign of the emperor Valentinian III.\nin 428, Genseric, king of the Vandals and Alans, having lately\nmade a settlement in part of Spain,[118] passed into this country,\nand in a short time became master of those fertile provinces. This\npolitic barbarian king kept great armies perpetually prepared for\nany expedition, by which he prevented the vigilance of his enemies,\nand astonished all the world with the rapidity of his enterprises.\nThe Vandals, who were mostly Christians, but infected with the Arian\nheresy, laid the whole country waste by fire and sword, plundered all\nplaces, even churches and monasteries; burned alive two bishops, and\ntortured others to extort from them the treasures of their churches;\nrazed the public buildings at Carthage, and banished Quodvultdeus,\nbishop of that city, with many others. But in 454, at the request of\nthe emperor Valentinian, Genseric allowed the Catholics to choose a\nbishop of Carthage, and St. Deogratias was raised to that dignity,\nwho died soon after Genseric was returned from the plunder of Rome.\nThe persecution growing hotter, many suffered torments for the\nfaith, and several received the crown of martyrdom. The Arians, by a\nsacrilege never before heard of, made themselves shirts and breeches\nof the altar-cloths, and at Tinuzuda spilt and scattered the body and\nblood of Christ on the pavement.[119] Catholics being by an edict\ndisqualified for bearing any office in the government, Armogastes,\na nobleman who held an honorable post in the household of Theodoric\nthe king\u2019s son, was condemned by the tyrant to keep cattle. Genseric\ndying after a reign of thirty-seven years, was succeeded by his son\nHuneric, a more barbarous persecutor than his father had ever been.\n\nThe episcopal see of Carthage had remained vacant twenty-four years,\nwhen in 481, Huneric permitted the Catholics on certain conditions\nto choose one who should fill it. The people, impatient to enjoy the\ncomfort of a pastor, pitched upon Eugenius, a citizen of Carthage,\neminent for his learning, zeal, piety, and prudence; and such was\nhis deportment in this dignity, that he was venerable to the very\nheretics, and so dear to the Catholics that every one of them would\nhave thought it a happiness to lay down his life for him. His\ncharities to the distressed were excessive, especially considering\nhis poverty. But he always found resources for their necessities in\nthe hearts of his people; and he refused himself everything that he\nmight give all to the poor. When others put him in mind that he ought\nto reserve something for his own necessaries, his answer was: \u201cIf the\ngood pastor must lay down his life for his flock, can it be excusable\nfor me to be solicitous for the necessities of my body?\u201d He fasted\nevery day, and often allowed himself only a most slender evening\nrefection of bread and water. His virtue gained him the respect and\nesteem even of the Arians; but at length envy and blind zeal got the\nascendant in their breasts, and the king sent him an order never to\nsit in the episcopal throne, preach to the people, or admit into\nhis chapel any Vandals among whom several were Catholics. The saint\nboldly answered the messenger, that the laws of God commanded him\nnot to shut the door of his church to any that desired to serve him\nin it. Huneric, enraged at this answer, persecuted the Catholics\nmany ways, especially the Vandals who had embraced the faith. He\ncommanded guards to be placed at the doors of the Catholic churches,\nwho when they saw any man or woman going in clothed in the habit\nof the Vandals, struck them on the head with short staffs jagged\nand indented, which being twisted into their hair, and drawn back\nwith great violence, tore off the hair and skin together. Some lost\ntheir eyes by this means, and others died with the extreme pain;\nbut many lived a long time after. Women with their heads flayed in\nthis manner, were publicly led through the streets, with a crier\ngoing before them to show them to the people. But this barbarous\nusage did not cause any one to forsake the true religion. Next, the\ntyrant deprived the Catholics who were at court of their pensions,\nand sent them to work in the country. He also ordered that none\nshould be admitted to bear any office in his palace, or any public\ncharge, who was not an Arian. He afterward turned them out of their\nhouses, stripped them of all their wealth, and sent them to Sicily,\nor Sardinia. After this, his persecution fell on all Catholics. One\nedict followed another against them, and the cloud thickened every\nday over their heads. Many nuns were so cruelly tortured that several\ndied on the rack. Great numbers of bishops, priests, deacons, and\neminent Catholic laymen were banished to the number of four thousand\nnine hundred and seventy-six, all of whom the tyrant sent into a\ndesert, where they were fed with barley like horses. This desert\nwas filled with scorpions and venomous serpents; but they did not\ndestroy any of the servants of God. The people followed their bishops\nand priests with lighted tapers in their hands, and mothers carried\ntheir little babes in their arms, and laid them at the feet of the\nconfessors, all crying out with tears,--\u201cGoing yourselves to your\ncrowns, to whom do you leave us? Who will baptize our children? Who\nwill impart to us the benefit of penance, and discharge us from the\nbonds of sins by the favor of reconciliation and pardon? Who will\nbury us with solemn supplications at our death? By whom will divine\nsacrifices be made?\u201d[120]\n\nThe bishop Eugenius was spared in the first storm, probably that the\ninhabitants of the capital might seem to be somewhat considered. But\nin May, 483, the king sent him a summons requiring the Catholics,\nwhom he called Homoousians, to hold a conference or disputation with\nhis Arian bishops at Carthage on the 1st day of February ensuing.\nEugenius answered the terms were not equal, seeing their enemies were\nto be judges; and that as it was the common cause of all churches,\nother foreign churches ought to be invited and consulted, \u201cespecially\nthe church of Rome, which is the head of all churches.\u201d[121] About\nthat time one Felix, who had been long blind, addressed himself to\nSt. Eugenius desiring him to pray that he might recover his sight,\nsaying he had been admonished by a vision so to do. The bishop showed\ngreat reluctance and confusion, alleging that he was a base sinner;\nbut at length, after blessing the font for the solemn administration\nof baptism on the Epiphany, he said to the blind man,--\u201cI have told\nyou that I am a sinner, and the last of all men; but I pray God\nthat he show you mercy according to your faith, and restore to you\nyour sight.\u201d Then he made the sign of the cross on his eyes, and\nthe blind man saw; the whole city was witness to the triumph of\nthe faith. The king sent for Felix, and examined himself all the\ncircumstances of the miracle, which he found too evident to be called\nin question. However, the Arian bishops told him that Eugenius had\nperformed it by recourse to art magic. The Catholics made choice of\nten disputants for the conference, which was opened on the 5th of\nFebruary. Cyrila, patriarch of the Arians, was seated on a throne;\nthe Catholics who were standing, asked who were the commissaries to\ntake down in writing what should pass in the disputation; and were\nanswered that Cyrila would perform that office. The Catholics asked\nby what authority he claimed the jurisdiction and rank of patriarch.\nThe Arians not being able to produce any sufficient warrant for his\nusurpation, filled the hall with noise and tumult and obtained an\norder that every lay Catholic there present should receive a hundred\nbastinadoes. Cyrila sought various pretences to defer the conference.\nThe Catholics, however, presented a written confession of their\nfaith. This takes up the whole third book of Victor\u2019s history, though\nhe has only inserted the first part, in which the consubstantiality\nof God the Son is proved from the scriptures. The second part, which\nconfirmed the same from the writings of the fathers, is lost. This\nconfession seems to have been drawn up by St. Eugenius, to whom\nGennadius ascribes a confession of faith against the Arians.[122]\n\nWhen this was read the Arians quarrelled that the orthodox took\nthe name of Catholics, though this was given them by the whole\nworld, even by the heretics themselves, as St. Austin observed a\nlittle before this time in that very country. Upon this, however,\nthe Arians abruptly broke up the conference, and the king, on the\n25th of February in 484, published a severe edict for a general\npersecution, which he had already prepared for that purpose. By this\nall the Catholic clergy were banished out of towns, and forbidden\nto perform any functions even in the country; all Catholics were\ndeclared incapable of inheriting, or disposing of any estates real or\npersonal, with other such articles. Executioners were despatched to\nall parts of the kingdom, and many Catholics were put to barbarous\ndeaths, and many more inhumanly tormented. One Dionysia, after having\nbeen herself cruelly scourged, seeing her son Majoricus, a tender\nyouth, tremble at the sign of the torments prepared for him, she\nlooked on him with a stern countenance, and said,--\u201cRemember, son,\nwe were baptized in the name of the Trinity, and in the bosom of\nour mother the Church.\u201d The young man, encouraged by these words,\nsuffered martyrdom with undaunted resolution, and his mother buried\nhim within her own house, that she might every day offer to the holy\nTrinity her prayers over his grave, in the lively hope of a glorious\nresurrection with him at the last day. Her cousin Emilius, her sister\nDativa, and innumerable others in different parts of Africa, received\nthe like crowns. At Typasus, in Mauritania C\u00e6sariensis, certain\nCatholics who had assisted at the celebration of the divine mysteries\nin a private house, were informed against; and by the king\u2019s order\nhad their tongues plucked out, and their right hands cut off; yet\nthey spoke as well as ever, as St. Victor Vitensis, an eye-witness,\nassures us.[123] He says, Reparatus, a subdeacon, one of this number,\nwas entertained when he wrote, in the court of the emperor Zena at\nConstantinople, and was there highly honored, especially by the\nempress; and that though entirely deprived of his tongue, he spoke\ngracefully, and without the least defect or imperfection. \u00c6neas of\nGaza, a Platonic philosopher, who was then at Constantinople, and\nwrote in 533,[124] says, he himself had seen them in that city, and\nhad heard them speak distinctly; and not being able to believe his\nown ears, he had examined their mouths, and seen that their tongues\nwere plucked out to the very roots, so that he wondered they could\nhave survived so cruel a torment. Procopius, who wrote soon after,\nsays also[125] that he had seen these persons at Constantinople,\nand had heard them speak freely, without feeling anything of their\npunishment; but that two of them, by falling into a grievous sin of\nthe flesh, lost the use of their speech, which they had till then\nenjoyed.\n\nThe tyrant wreaked his impotent vengeance on many others, especially\non Vandals who had been converted to the Catholic faith; but was not\nable to overcome their heroic constancy. The streets of Carthage were\nfilled with spectacles of his cruelty; and one was there meeting\ncontinually some without hands, others without eyes, nose, or ears,\nothers whose heads appeared sunk in between their shoulders by having\nbeen hung up by the hands on the tops of houses for sights to the\npeople. Above four hundred and sixty bishops were brought to Carthage\nin order to be sent into banishment: of this number eighty-eight died\nunder great hardships at Carthage, some few made their escape, and\nthe rest were banished. St. Eugenius after having long encouraged\nothers to the conflict was himself at length on a sudden carried\ninto exile, without being allowed to take leave of his friends. He\nfound means, however, to write a letter to his flock, which St.\nGregory of Tours has preserved.[126] In it he says,--\u201cI with tears\nbeg, exhort, and conjure you by the dreadful day of judgment, and the\nawful light of the coming of Christ, that you hold fast the Catholic\nfaith. Preserve the grace of the holy baptism, and the unction of\nthe chrism. Let no man born again of water return to the water.\u201d\nThis he mentions, because the Arians in Africa, like the Donatists,\nrebaptized those that came over to their sect. St. Eugenius protests\nto his flock that if they remain constant, no distance nor death\ncould separate him from them in spirit; but that he was innocent of\nthe blood of those that should perish, and that this his letter would\nbe read before the tribunal of Christ at the last day for severer\ncondemnation of such base apostates. \u201cIf I return to Carthage,\u201d says\nhe, \u201cI shall see you in this life; if not, I shall meet you in the\nother. Pray for us, and fast; fasting and alms have never failed to\nmove God to mercy. Above all things remember that we are not to fear\nthose who can only kill the body.\u201d\n\nWe have a catalogue of all the bishops of the provinces of Africa\nwho came to the conference, and were sent into banishment;[127]\nnamely, fifty-four of the proconsular province, one hundred and\ntwenty-five of Numidia, one hundred and seven of the province of\nByzacena, one hundred and twenty of the province of Mauritania\nC\u00e6sariensis, forty-four from the province of Sitifi, five from that\nof Tripolis, besides ten from Sardinia and other places; in all\nfour hundred and sixty-four bishops, of which number eighty-eight\ndied at Carthage before their departure into exile, forty-six were\nbanished to Corsica, three hundred and three to other places, and\ntwenty-eight made their escape. St. Eugenius was carried into the\nuninhabited desert country in the province of Tripolis, and committed\nto the guard of Antony, an inhuman Arian bishop, who treated him with\nthe utmost barbarity. The saint added to his sufferings voluntary\nausterities, wore a rough hair-shirt, lay on the ground, and passed\ngreat part of the night in prayer and tears. When he was afflicted\nwith a palsy, Antony, because vinegar was contrary to his distemper,\nobliged him to drink it in large quantities. Yet God was pleased to\nrestore his servant to his health. It is observed by our historian,\nthat the Arian bishops were all cruel persecutors, and went through\nthe cities and provinces, filling all places with scenes of horror,\nrebaptizing persons by force and violence, scourging, mangling,\ntorturing, and banishing even women and children. The fifth book\nof the history of this persecution is filled with examples. The\napostates signalized themselves above others by the cruelties which\nthey exercised upon the orthodox. Elpidophorus, one of this number,\nwas appointed judge at Carthage to condemn the more zealous to be\ntortured. Muritta, the deacon who had assisted when he was baptized\nin the bosom of the Catholic Church, being brought before him, took\nwith him the chrismale or white garment, with which at the time he\nreceived the apostate coming out of the font he had clothed him, as\nan emblem of that innocence which he engaged himself to preserve\nalways unspotted; and producing it before the whole assembly, he\nsays,--\u201cThis robe will accuse you when the judge shall appear in\nmajesty at the last day. It will bear testimony against you to your\ncondemnation.\u201d[128] This relation is gathered from Saint Victor,\nbishop of Vita, in the province of Byzacena; who being banished by\nking Huneric for the faith in 487, retired to Constantinople, and\nwrote (probably in that city) in five books, the history of the\nVandalic persecution.[129]\n\nSt. Victor relates that Huneric, the great persecutor of the Church,\ndied miserably, being devoured by worms, in December, 484, having\nreigned almost eight years. Nor was he succeeded, as he had earnestly\ndesired, by his son Hilderic, but by Gontamund, a nephew, whom the\nmaturity of his age rendered better able to bear the burden of the\nstate. This prince, in the year 488, which was the fourth of his\nreign, recalled St. Eugenius to Carthage, and at his request opened\nthe churches of the Catholics, and permitted the exiled priests also\nto return. Gontamund died in 496, and his brother Thrasimund was\ncalled to the crown, of whom mention hath been made in the life of\nSt. Fulgentius. Though this king often affected a show of moderation,\nhe sometimes used the sword and every other violent measure to\ndepress the cause of truth, which at other times he pretended to\nseek after. But his inconstancy betrayed his want of sincerity. True\nvirtue is steady, but the fool changeth like the moon; he who is\ngoverned by his passions, is everything by fits, and if he one day\npretends to condemn his vices, he by relapses soon repents again\nof this very repentance, which frequently springs rather from a\ndisgust of sin, than from any principle of true virtue. Thrasimund\nby this levity or hypocrisy never deserved to arrive at the light\nof the true faith, and often persecuted its most holy champions,\nof which among many others the sufferings of St. Eugenius are an\ninstance. St. Gregory of Tours relates[130] that by his authority\nthe judges condemned our saint, one Longinus, and St. Vindemial,\nbishop of Capsa, in Africa, to be beheaded. St. Vindemial died by the\nsword; but the tyrant commanded St. Eugenius to be led to the place\nof execution, and though he protested under the axe that he would\nrather lose his life than depart from the Catholic faith, he was\nagain brought back to Carthage, and banished into Languedoc, which\ncountry was then subject to Alaric, king of the Visigoths, who was\nalso an Arian. He died in his exile in a monastery which he built and\ngoverned at Viance (since called St. Amaranth\u2019s from the tomb of that\nmartyr), about a mile from Albi. He passed to a better life in 505,\non the 13th of July. King Hilderic afterward recalled the surviving\nexiled prelates; but peace was not perfectly restored to that church\nbefore the year 534, when Belisarius, a general who was master of\nall the maxims of the first Romans with regard to the art of war,\nvanquished Gelimer, the last Vandal king in Africa, and sent him\nprisoner to Constantinople.[131]\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe saints chose to suffer every temporal loss, torment, or death\nwith which the world could threaten them rather than lose the holy\ntreasure of faith. This gift is a light which shineth upon us[132]\nfrom God, to direct us amidst our darkness in the path to eternal\nlife, as the pillar of fire conducted the Israelites through the\nwilderness. It is the seed, or rather the root of a spiritual life,\nand of every virtue that is meritorious of everlasting glory. \u201cFaith\nis the solid foundation of all virtues,\u201d says St. Ambrose.[133]\nAnd in another place he cries out:[134] \u201cO faith, richer than all\ntreasures! more healing and sovereign than all medicines!\u201d Our faith\nif true must have three conditions or qualities. 1. It must be\nfirm, admitting no doubt or wavering; ready to brave all dangers,\ntorments, and death; thus it filled the martyrs with joy under the\nmost affrighting trials, and made them triumph over fires and the\nsword.[135] 2. It must be entire; for the least wilful obstinate\nerror concerning one article destroys the whole fabric of faith,\nby rejecting its motive which is everywhere the same testimony of\ndivine revelation. \u201cYou who believe what you please, and reject what\nyou please, believe yourselves or your own fancy, rather than the\ngospel,\u201d as St. Austin says. 3. Faith must be active, animated by\ncharity, fruitful in good works. A dead or a barren faith is compared\nby St. James to a carcass without a soul, and to the faith of the\ndevils who believe and tremble. How active and animated was faith in\nthe souls of all the saints! the eminent virtues which we admire in\nthem were all the fruit of their faith, and sprang from this root.\nWith what care ought we to nourish and improve this holy seed in our\nbreasts? Gardeners cultivate most diligently those seeds which are\nmost precious.\n\n\n ST. ANACLETUS, POPE, M.\n\nHe governed the Church after St. Clement nine years three months,\naccording to the Liberian pontifical, and according to another\nvery old Vatican manuscript register; but according to some later\npontificals, twelve years and three months. He perhaps sat three\nyears as vicar to St. Clement during his banishment, says Berti.[136]\nTrajan raised the third persecution against the Church whilst he was\nin the East in 107. In those difficult times St. Anacletus suffered\nmuch, and is styled a martyr in very ancient Martyrologies.\n\n\n SAINT TURIAF, BISHOP OF DOL, IN BRITTANY.\n\n CALLED OFTEN TURIAVE, SOMETIMES THIVISIAU.\n\nWas born in the diocess of Vannes, in the neighborhood of the abbey\nof Ballon, near which Charles the Bald was defeated by the Britons\nin 845; in which war this monastery seems to have been destroyed.\nTuriaf went young to Dol, was instructed in piety and learning, and\npromoted to holy orders by St. Thiarmail, abbot of St. Samson\u2019s\nand bishop of Dol. This prelate afterward appointed him his vicar\nand chorepiscopus, and at his death, probably in 733, our saint\nwas placed in that episcopal chair. Admirable was the austerity of\nhis life, his zeal, his charity, his watchfulness, his fervor in\nprayer, and his firmness in maintaining discipline. A powerful lord\nnamed Rivallon having committed many acts of violence, the bishop\nwent to his castle at Lanncafrut, and by his strong remonstrances\nmade him sensible of the enormity of his crimes. By the bishop\u2019s\ninjunction he underwent a canonical penance during seven years, and\nrepaired all injustices and oppressions by a sevenfold satisfaction.\nSt. Turiaf died on the 13th of July, probably about the year 749,\nthough even the age is not certain. In the wars of the Normans his\nrelics were brought to Paris, and are still kept in the abbey of St.\nGermain-des-Prez. The new Paris breviary mentions that dreadful fires\nhave been sometimes miraculously extinguished by them. The life of\nSt. Turiaf, written in the tenth century, is a confused eulogium, in\nwhich prodigies take place of facts. The notes of the Bollandists\nare incomparably more valuable than the text, ad 13 Jul. p. 614. See\nBarrali, Chronic. Lirin. t. 2, p. 186. Lobineau, Vies des SS. de\nBret. p. 177.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XIV.\n\n\n ST. BONAVENTURE, CARDINAL.\n\n BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH.\n\n From his works, Wadding\u2019s Annals of the Friar Minors, the\n discourse of Octavian de Marinis for his canonization,\n and from his Life, written by Peter Galesini, by order\n of Sixtus V. See also Boule, Raynaud de Colonia, and the\n Bollandists.\n\n A. D. 1274.\n\nSt. Bonaventure, the great light and ornament of the holy Order of\nSt. Francis, for his extraordinary devotion, ardent charity, and\neminent skill in sacred learning, is surnamed the Seraphic Doctor.\nHe was born at Bagnarea in Tuscany, in the year 1221, of pious\nparents, named John of Fidenza and Mary Ritelli. He was christened\nby the name of John; but afterward received that of Bonaventure on\nthe following occasion. In the fourth year of his age he fell so\ndangerously sick that his life was despaired of by the physicians.\nThe mother in excessive grief had recourse to the Almighty physician\nby earnest prayer, and going into Umbria cast herself at the feet of\nSt. Francis of Assisium, with many tears begging his intercession\nwith God for the life of her son. Would Christians address themselves\nto God with an humble confidence in all their corporal necessities,\ntheir afflictions would never fail to be turned into divine\nblessings. But their neglect of this duty deserves to be chastised\nby spiritual misfortunes, and often also by temporal disappointments\nwithout comfort or remedy. St. Francis was moved to compassion by\nthe tears of the mother, and at his prayer the child recovered so\nperfect a state of health that he was never known to be sick from\nthat time till the illness of which he died.[137] The glorious\nsaint, at whose petition God granted this favor, saw himself near\nthe end of his mortal course, and foretelling the graces which the\ndivine goodness prepared for this child, cried out in prophetic\nrapture; _O buona ventura_, that is, in Italian, _Good luck_. Whence\nthe name of Bonaventura was given our saint. The devout mother in\ngratitude consecrated her son to God by a vow, and was careful to\ninspire into him from the cradle the most ardent sentiments of piety,\nand to inure him betimes to assiduous practices of self-denial,\nhumility, obedience, and devotion. Bonaventure from his infancy\nentered upon a religious course, and appeared inflamed with the\nlove of God as soon as he was capable of knowing him. His progress\nin his studies surprised his masters, but that which he made in the\nscience of the saints, and in the practice of every virtue was far\nmore extraordinary. It was his highest pleasure and joy to hear by\nhow many titles he belonged to God, and he made it his most earnest\nstudy and endeavor to devote his heart with his whole strength to the\ndivine service.\n\nIn 1243, being twenty-two years of age, he entered into the Order\nof St. Francis, and received the habit in the province of Rome from\nthe hands of Haymo, an Englishman, at that time general of the\nOrder.[138] St. Bonaventure mentions in his prologue to the life of\nSaint Francis, that he entered this state, and made his vows with\nextraordinary sentiments of gratitude for the preservation of his\nlife through the intercession of St. Francis, resolving with the\ngreatest ardor to serve God with his whole heart. Shortly after,\nhe was sent to Paris to complete his studies under the celebrated\nAlexander of Hales, surnamed the Irrefragable Doctor.[139] After\nhis death in 1245, St. Bonaventure continued his course under his\nsuccessor, John of Rochelle. His penetrating genius was poised by\nthe most exquisite judgment, by which, while he easily dived to the\nbottom of every subtle inquiry, he cut off whatever was superfluous,\ndwelling only on that knowledge which is useful and solid, or at\nleast was then necessary to unravel the false principles and artful\nsophistry of the adversaries of truth. Thus he became a masterly\nproficient in the scholastic philosophy, and in the most sublime\nparts of theology. Whilst he referred all his studies to the divine\nhonor and his own sanctification he was most careful not to lose\nthe end in the means, and suffer his application to degenerate into\na dissipation of mind and a vicious idle curiosity. This opens an\navenue into the heart for self-conceit, jealousy, envy, and a total\nextinction of the spirit of prayer, with a numberless train of other\nspiritual evils, which lay waste the affections of the soul, and\nbanish thence the precious fruits of the Holy Ghost. To shun those\nrocks often fatal to piety, he seemed never to turn his attention\nfrom God, and by the earnest invocation of the divine light in\nthe beginning of every action, and holy aspirations with which he\naccompanied all his studies, he may be said to have made them a\ncontinued prayer. When he turned his eyes to his book, they were\nswimming with tears of love and devotion excited by his assiduous\nmeditation on the wounds of Christ, and his heart still continued to\ninflame its affections from that its beloved object, which he seemed\nto read in every line. St. Thomas Aquinas coming one day to pay a\nvisit to our saint, asked him in what books he had learned his sacred\nscience. St. Bonaventure, pointing to his crucifix before him, said,\n\u201cThis is the source of all my knowledge. I study only Jesus Christ,\nand him crucified.\u201d\n\nNot content to make his studies in some sort a continuation of\nprayer, he devoted entirely to that heavenly exercise the greater\npart of his time, knowing this to be the key of divine graces and of\na spiritual life. For only the Spirit of God, as St. Paul teaches,\ncan lead us into the secrets and designs of God, and engrave his holy\nmaxims on our hearts. He alone can make himself known, as no other\nlight can discover the sun to us but its own; and it is in prayer\nthat God communicates himself to us. He here enlightens the souls of\nhis servants, and is their interior instructor. But as St. Austin\nsays, honey cannot be poured into a vessel that is full of wormwood:\nneither can this excellent grace or gift of prayer find place in a\nsoul which is not first prepared to receive the sensible presence of\nthe Holy Ghost by holy compunction, and by the practice of penance,\nhumility, and self-denial. These virtues fitted the soul of our saint\nto be admitted to the chaste embraces of the heavenly bridegroom.\nSuch was the innocence and purity in which he lived, and so perfect\na mastery he had obtained over his passions, that Alexander of Hales\nused to say to him, that he seemed not to have sinned in Adam. An\neminent spirit of penance was the principal guardian of this grace\nof innocence. The austerities of Saint Bonaventure were excessive,\nyet amidst his penitential tears a remarkable cheerfulness appeared\nalways in his countenance, which resulted from the inward peace of\nhis soul. Himself lays down this maxim:[140] \u201cA spiritual joy is the\ngreatest sign of the divine grace dwelling in a soul.\u201d\n\nTo his mortifications he added the practice of the greatest\nhumiliations. In attending the sick he was particularly ambitious\nto serve them in the lowest and most humbling offices. In this\ncharitable duty he seemed prodigal of his own life and health, and\nchose always to be about those whose distempers were most loathsome\nor contagious and dangerous. He had no eyes to see anything in\nhimself but faults and imperfections, and wonderful was the care\nwith which he endeavored to conceal from others his extraordinary\npractices of virtue. When their rays broke through the veil of his\nhumility, and shone forth to others, the saint in order to cast a\nshade over them before men, or at least to strengthen his own heart\nagainst the danger, and to indulge his love of abjection, embraced\nthe greatest humiliations. He always regarded himself as the most\nungrateful and the basest of sinners, unworthy to walk upon the\nearth, or to breathe the air; and these humble sentiments were\naccompanied with the deepest compunction, and abundant tears. This\nhumility sometimes withheld him from the holy table notwithstanding\nthe burning desires of his soul to be united daily afresh to the\nobject of his love, and to approach the fountain of grace. But God\nwas pleased by a miracle to overcome his fears, and to recompense\nhis humility. \u201cSeveral days had passed,\u201d say the acts of his\ncanonization, \u201cnor durst he yet presume to present himself at the\nheavenly banquet. But whilst he was hearing mass, and meditating\non the passion of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, to crown his humility\nand love, put into his mouth, by the ministry of an angel, part of\nthe consecrated host, taken from the hand of the priest.\u201d By this\nprecious favor his soul was drowned in a torrent of pure delights;\nand from that time he was encouraged to approach with an humble\nconfidence to the bread of angels which gives life and strength.\n\nFrom this time his communions were accompanied with overflowing\nsweetness and consolations, and with raptures of divine joy and\nlove. If in our communions we seem to receive, instead of torrents,\nscarce a small portion of heavenly grace, the reason is, because\nour hearts are too narrow. The vessel which we bring is too small.\nIf we dilated our souls by humility, burning desires, and love, we\nshould receive, like the saints, an abundant supply of these living\nwaters. St. Bonaventure prepared himself to receive the holy order\nof priesthood by long fasts, humiliations, and fervent prayer, that\nhe might obtain in it an abundant measure of graces proportioned\nto so high a function. He considered that sacred dignity with fear\nand trembling, and the higher and more incomprehensible it appeared\nto him, so much the more did he humble himself when he saw himself\ninvested with it. As often as he approached the altar, the profound\nannihilation of himself, and the tender love with which he offered,\nbeheld in his hands, and received into his breast, the Lamb without\nspot, appeared by his tears, and his whole exterior. A devout prayer\nwhich he composed for his own use after Mass, beginning with these\nwords, _Transfige dulcissime domine_, is recommended by the Church to\nall priests on that most solemn occasion.\n\nBonaventure looked upon himself as called by the obligations of his\npriestly character to labor for the salvation of his neighbor, and\nto this he devoted himself with extraordinary zeal. He announced the\nword of God to the people with an energy and unction which kindled\na flame in the hearts of those that heard him; everything was\ninflamed that came from his mouth. For an assistance to himself in\nthis function he compiled his treatise called Pharetra, consisting\nof animated sentiments gathered from the writings of the fathers.\nIn the meantime, he was employed in teaching privately in his own\nconvent, till he succeeded his late master, John of Rochelle, in a\npublic chair of the university. The age required by the statutes\nfor this professorship was thirty-five, whereas the saint was only\nthirty-three years old; but his abilities amply supplied that defect,\nand on this literary theatre he soon displayed them to the admiration\nof the whole Church. He continued always to study at the foot of the\ncrucifix. The disagreement between the university and the regulars\nbeing terminated by pope Alexander IV. in 1256, Saint Thomas and\nSt. Bonaventure were invited to take the doctor\u2019s cap together. As\nothers contend for precedence, the two saints had a vehement contest\nof humility, each endeavoring to yield the first place to the other.\nThey knew no pretexts of the interest of their Orders, nor were they\nsensible of any prerogatives but those of humility. St. Bonaventure\nprayed and entreated him with so much earnestness, that at length\nSt. Thomas acquiesced to receive the degree first, and our saint\ntriumphed over both his friend and himself.\n\nThe holy king of St. Lewis honored St. Bonaventure with his\nparticular esteem, invited him often to his own table, and consulted\nhim in his most intricate concerns, placing an entire confidence in\nhis advice. He engaged him to compile an office of the passion of\nChrist for his use. St. Bonaventure drew up a rule for St. Isabella,\nthe king\u2019s sister, and for her nunnery of mitigated Clares at\nLong-Champs. His book On the Government of the Soul, his Meditations\nfor every day in the week, and most of his other lesser tracts were\nwritten to satisfy the requests of several devout persons of the\ncourt. The unction which every word breathes in the writings of this\nholy doctor pierces the heart, and his concise expression is an\nabyss, or rather a treasure of most profound sentiments of humility,\ncompunction, love, and devotion, the riches of which a pious heart\nfinds everywhere boundless. Especially his tender sentiments of\nthe love of God, and on the sacred passion of Christ, exceedingly\nrecommend to all devout persons his meditations on this latter\nsubject, and express the burning affections with which his pure soul\nglowed towards that stupendous mystery of infinite love, goodness,\nand mercy, that perfect model of all virtue and sanctity, and source\nof all our good.\n\nThe celebrated Gerson, the most learned and devout chancellor of\nParis, writes of the works of St. Bonaventure.[141] \u201cAmong all the\nCatholic doctors, Eustachius (for so we may translate his name of\nBonaventure) seems to me the most proper for conveying light to the\nunderstanding, and at the same time warming the heart. In particular\nhis Brevioloquium and Itinerarium are written with so much force,\nart, and conciseness, that nothing can be beyond them.\u201d In another\nbook he says:[142] \u201cSt. Bonaventure\u2019s works seem to me the most\nproper for the instruction of the faithful. They are solid, safe,\npious, and devout; and he keeps as far as he can from niceties; not\nmeddling with logical or physical questions which are foreign to the\nmatter in hand. Nor is there any doctrine more sublime, more divine,\nor more conducive to piety.\u201d Trithemius recommends this doctor\u2019s\nwritings in the following words: \u201cHis expressions are full of fire,\nthey no less warm with divine love the hearts of those who read them,\nthan they fill their understanding with the most holy light. His\nworks surpass those of all the doctors of his time, if we consider\nthe spirit of divine love and of Christian devotion that speaks in\nhim. He is profound in few words, penetrating without curiosity,\neloquent without vanity; his discourse is inflamed without being\nbloated. Whoever would be both learned and devout, let him read the\nworks of St. Bonaventure.\u201d[143]\n\nThis is chiefly to be understood of his spiritual tracts. In these\nthe author discovers everywhere a most profound spirit of humility\nand holy poverty, with a heart perfectly disengaged from all earthly\nthings, and full of the most ardent love of God, and the most tender\ndevotion to the sacred passion of our Divine Redeemer. The eternal\njoys of heaven were the frequent entertainment of his pious soul, and\nhe seems never to have interrupted his ardent sighs after them. He\nendeavored by his writings to excite in all others the same fervent\ndesires of our heavenly country. He writes[144] that \u201cGod himself,\nall the glorious spirits, and the whole family of the eternal King\nwait for us, and desire that we should be associated to them; and\nshall not we pant above all things to be admitted into their happy\ncompany? He would appear amongst them with great confusion, who had\nnot in this valley of tears continually raised his soul above all\nthings visible to become already, in ardent desire, an inhabitant\nof those blessed regions.\u201d He clearly shows that he was not able\nto express the transports of holy joy that overflowed his soul, as\noften as he contemplated its future union with God in immortal bliss\nand uninterrupted love and praise. He revolved in mind the raptures\nof gratitude and joy in which the blessed spirits behold themselves\nin the state of security for ever, whilst they see so many souls on\nearth every day overthrown by their spiritual enemies, and so many\nothers lost in hell. He was strongly affected with the thought of the\nglorious company of millions of angels and saints, all most holy,\nloving, and glorious, adorned each with their distinguishing trophies\nand graces; in which every one will possess in others every gift\nwhich he hath not, and all those gifts which himself hath, doubled so\nmany times as he hath partners in bliss. For loving every companion\nas himself he will rejoice for the felicity of each no less than for\nhis own. Whereupon, with St. Anselm, he often asked his own heart,\nhere so poor, so weak, and overwhelmed with miseries, if then it\nwould be able, without being strengthened and raised above itself by\nan extraordinary grace, to contain its joy for its own felicity; how\nit could be able to contain so many and such excess of joys. But this\nsaint\u2019s sublime sentiments of piety and devotion are best learned\nfrom his own works. His love of an interior life did not hinder his\napplication to promote the divine honor in others by various exterior\nemployments; but these he animated and sanctified by a constant\nspirit of recollection and prayer.\n\nWhilst he continued to teach at Paris he was chosen general of his\nOrder in a chapter held in the convent called Ara-C\u0153li, at Rome,\nin 1256. The saint was only thirty-five years old. Nevertheless\npope Alexander IV. confirmed the election. St. Bonaventure was\nthunderstruck at this news, and prostrating himself on the ground, he\nwith many tears implored the divine light and direction. After which\nhe set out immediately for Rome. The Franciscan Order was at that\ntime divided by intestine dissensions, some of the friars being for\nan inflexible severity, others demanding certain mitigations of the\nletter of the rule. The young general no sooner appeared among them,\nbut by the force of his exhortations which he tempered with mildness\nand charity, he restored a perfect calm; and all the brethren marched\nunder this new Josue with one heart, in the same spirit, and in the\nsame path. William of Saint-Amour, a member of the university of\nParis, having published a bitter invective against the Mendicant\nOrders, entitled, \u201cOn the Dangers of the Latter Times,\u201d St. Thomas\nanswered it. St. Bonaventure also confuted it by a book, which he\ncalled, \u201cOn the Poverty of the Lord Jesus,\u201d in which his mildness in\nhandling the controversy against a most virulent adversary reflected\na double advantage on his victory.\n\nOur saint, in his return to the schools at Paris, visited several of\nhis convents in the way, in which he showed everywhere that he was\nonly become superior to be the most humble, the most charitable, and\nthe most compassionate of all his brethren, and the servant of his\nwhole Order. Notwithstanding his great employments, he never omitted\nhis usual exercises of devotion, but laid out his time and regulated\nhis functions with such wonderful prudence as to find leisure for\neverything. He composed several works at Paris, but often retired to\nMante for greater solitude. A stone, which he used for his pillow, is\nshown to this day in that convent. In 1260 the saint held a general\nchapter at Narbonne, and in concert with the definitors, gave a new\nform to the old Constitutions, added certain new rules, and reduced\nthem all into twelve chapters. At the request of the friars assembled\nin this chapter, he undertook to write the life of St. Francis; but\nwent first from Narbonne to Mount Alverno, and there assisted at the\ndedication of a great church. In a little oratory, built upon the\nvery place where Saint Francis had received the miraculous marks of\nthe wounds of our Saviour, St. Bonaventure continued a long while\nabstracted, and in an ecstasy, in holy meditation. He there wrote\nhis incomparable treatise, called Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, or the\nWay of the Soul to God, showing that all her comfort and riches are\nto be found in God alone, and tracing out the sure way that leads to\nhim. Whilst he was in Italy he gathered the most authentic memoirs\nfor the life of St. Francis, which he compiled with the spirit which\nshows him to have been filled with all the heroic virtues of his\nfounder, whose life he wrote. St. Thomas Aquinas coming one day to\npay him a visit whilst he was employed in this work, saw him through\nthe door of his cell, raised in contemplation above the ground, and\ngoing away, said: \u201cLet us leave a saint to write for a saint.\u201d In\n1230 St. Bonaventure assisted at the translation of the relics of\nSt. Antony, which was performed at Padua. From that city he went to\nhold a general chapter at Pisa, in which, by words and example, he\nexhorted his brethren to a great love of holy solitude. He gave on\nthat and every other occasion proofs of his tender devotion to the\nBlessed Virgin. When he was first made general he put his Order under\nher special patronage. He regulated many pious exercises of devotion\nto her, composed his Mirror of the Virgin, setting forth her graces,\nvirtues, and prerogatives, with many prayers, which are tender and\nrespectful effusions of the heart, to implore her intercession. He\nwrote a pathetic paraphrase in verse of the anthem Salve Regina.[145]\nHe published the praises of the Mother out of devotion to the Son,\nand to extend His glory. To propagate his honor and saving faith he\nsent, by the pope\u2019s authority, preachers into many barbarous nations,\nand lamented his situation that he could not go himself, and expose\nhis life among the infidels.\n\nThe venerable brother Giles, the third companion of St. Francis at\nAssisio,[146] said one day to St. Bonaventure: \u201cFather, God has shown\nus great mercy and bestowed on us many graces. But we who are poor\nand ignorant idiots, what can we do to correspond to his immense\ngoodness, and to be saved?\u201d St. Bonaventure answered; \u201cIf God were\nto bestow on any one no other talents besides the grace of loving\nhim, this alone suffices, and is every spiritual treasure,\u201d B. Giles\nsaid,--\u201cCan a dull idiot love God as perfectly as a great scholar?\u201d\nSt. Bonaventure replied: \u201cA poor old woman may love him more than the\nmost learned master and doctor in theology.\u201d At this brother Giles,\nin a sudden fervor and jubilation of spirit, went into a garden, and\nstanding at a gate toward the city (of Rome) he looked that way, and\ncried out with a loud voice,--\u201cCome, the poorest, most simple, and\nmost illiterate old woman, love the Lord our God, and you may attain\nto a higher degree of eminence and happiness than brother Bonaventure\nwith all his learning.\u201d After this he fell into an ecstasy, in which\nhe continued in sweet contemplation without motion for the space of\nthree hours.[147]\n\nPope Clement IV. in 1265, nominated St. Bonaventure archbishop of\nYork, being assured how agreeable he would be to that church, to the\nking of England, and his whole kingdom. But St. Bonaventure having\nfirst by earnest prayer, begged that God would preserve him from so\ngreat a danger, went and cast himself at the feet of his holiness,\nand by tears and entreaties extorted from him a discharge from that\nburden. He held a general chapter at Paris in 1266; and in the next,\nwhich he assembled at Assisium, he ordered the triple salutation of\nthe Blessed Virgin called the Angelus Domini to be recited every\nevening at six o\u2019clock, to honor the incomprehensible mystery of the\nIncarnation, which ought to be the object of our perpetual praises\nand thanksgiving.\n\nIn 1272, Theobald, the holy archdeacon of Liege, a native of\nPlacentia, then absent in the Holy Land, was chosen pope, and took\nthe name of Gregory X., a person of such eminent sanctity that a\nprocess has been set on foot for his canonization; and Benedict XIV.,\nin 1745, ordered his name to be inserted in the Roman Martyrology.\nHe was a man of an extraordinary reputation throughout all his\nlife, for prudence in the conduct of his affairs; for courage,\ngreatness of mind, and contempt of money; for devotion, clemency,\nand charity to the poor. He died on the 10th of January, 1276, on\nhis return from the council at Abruzzo in Tuscany, of which city he\nis the titular patron. Miracles have rendered his name illustrious.\nBonaventure fearing this holy pope would compel him to accept of\nsome ecclesiastical dignity, left Italy and went to Paris, where he\nwrote his Hexa\u00ebmeron or pious exposition of the creation, or work of\nsix days. He had scarce finished it, when at Whitsuntide he received\nfrom the pope a brief by which he was nominated cardinal, and bishop\nof Albano, one of the six suffragans of Rome. His holiness added a\nprecept to him to accept that double charge without alleging any\npretext against it, and immediately to repair to Rome. He sent two\nnuncios to meet him on the road with the hat and other ensigns of his\ndignities. They found the saint reposing on his journey in a convent\nof his Order at Migel, four leagues from Florence, and employed in\nwashing the dishes. He desired them to hang the cardinal\u2019s hat on\nthe bough of a tree, because he could not decently take it in his\nhands, and left them to walk in the garden till he had finished his\nwork. Then taking up the hat he went to the nuncios, and paid them\nthe respect due to their character. Gregory X. came from Orvietto\nto Florence, and there meeting Bonaventure ordained him bishop with\nhis own hands; then ordered him to prepare himself to speak in the\ngeneral council which he had called to meet at Lyons for the reunion\nof the Greeks.\n\nThe emperor Michael Pal\u00e6ologus had made proposals to pope Clement\nIV. for a union. Pope Gregory X. zealously pursued this affair.\nJoseph, patriarch of Constantinople, made a violent opposition, but\nwas obliged by the emperor to retire into a monastery. To bring\nthis affair to a happy conclusion, Gregory X. invited the Greeks to\ncome to the general council which he assembled at Lyons for this\nvery purpose, and also to concert measures for pushing on a war for\nthe recovery of the Holy Land, which the pope promoted with all his\nmight. This was the fourteenth general council and the second of\nLyons. At it were present five hundred bishops, seventy abbots, James\nking of Arragon, and the ambassadors of the emperor Michael and of\nother Christian princes. St. Thomas of Aquin died on the road to this\nsynod. St. Bonaventure accompanied the pope through Milan to it, and\narrived at Lyons in November, though the council was only opened\non the 7th of May, 1274.[148] Bonaventure sat on the pope\u2019s right\nhand, and first harangued the assembly. Between the second and third\nsessions he held his last general chapter of his Order, in which he\nabdicated the office of general. He found leisure to preach, and he\nestablished at Lyons a pious confraternity called Del Gonfalone,\nwhich he had formerly instituted at Rome. In it pious persons\nassociated themselves in certain daily devotions, under the patronage\nof the mother of God. The deputies of the Greeks being arrived at\nLyons, St. Bonaventure was ordered by the pope to confer with them.\nThey were charmed with his sweetness, and convinced by his reasoning,\nand they acquiesced in every point. In thanksgiving the pope sung\nmass on the feast of SS. Peter and Paul, and the gospel was sung\nfirst in Latin, then in Greek. After this St. Bonaventure preached\non the unity of faith. Then the creed was sung first in Latin, then\nin Greek, and as a seal of the reunion of the two Churches, those\nwords were thrice repeated: \u201cWho proceedeth from the Father and the\nSon.\u201d In memory of this solemn function two crosses are placed on\nthe high altar of the metropolitan church of St. John at Lyons.[149]\nSt. Bonaventure was taken ill after this session; nevertheless he\nassisted at the fourth, in which the Logothete or high chancellor\nof Constantinople abjured the schism. But the next day the saint\u2019s\nstrength began entirely to fail him, insomuch that he was no longer\nable to attend business. From that time he gave himself up entirely\nto his private devotions, and the constant amiable serenity of his\ncountenance demonstrated the holy peace and joy of his soul in those\nmost awful moments. The pope himself gave him extreme unction, as\nis attested by an inscription which hath been preserved in the same\nchamber in which he died, to our times. The saint kept his eyes\nconstantly fixed on a crucifix, and expired in great tranquillity on\nthe 14th of July, in the year 1274, of his age the fifty-third. The\npope and the whole council solemnized his obsequies on the same day\nin the church of the Franciscans at Lyons. Peter of Tarentaise, a\nDominican friar, cardinal and bishop of Ostia, afterward pope under\nthe name of Innocent V., preached his funeral panegyric, in which he\nsaid,--\u201cNo one ever beheld him who did not conceive a great esteem\nand affection for him; and even strangers, by hearing him speak,\nwere desirous to follow his counsel and advice; for he was gentle,\naffable, humble, pleasing to all, compassionate, prudent, chaste, and\nadorned with all virtues.\u201d\n\nThe body of St. Bonaventure was translated into the new church of the\nFranciscans on the 14th of March, 1434. King Charles VIII. founded\ntheir new convent at Lyons, at the foot of the castle of Pierre\nIncise, in 1494, with a rich chapel in which the saint\u2019s remains were\nenshrined, except a part of the lower jaw, which that king caused\nto be conveyed to Fontainbleau, and it is now in the church of the\nCordeliers in Paris: the bones of an arm are kept at Bagnarea, and a\nlittle bone at Venice. In 1562 the Calvinists plundered his shrine,\nburned his relics in the market-place, and scattered the ashes in\nthe river Saone, as is related by the learned Jesuit Possevinus,\nwho was then at Lyons.[150] They stabbed to death the guardian with\na Catholic captain whom they had made prisoner; they burned the\narchives of the library and set fire to the convent. The saint\u2019s\nhead and some other relics escaped the fury of the rebels by having\nbeen concealed. St. Bonaventure was canonized by Sixtus IV. in 1482.\nSixtus V. enrolled his name among the doctors of the Church, in the\nsame manner as Pius V. had done that of St. Thomas Aquinas. The\nacts of his canonization record several approved miracles wrought\nby his intercession. The city of Lyons, in 1628, being grievously\nafflicted with the plague, the raging distemper began to cease from\nthe time in which certain relics of our saint were devoutly carried\nin procession. That and other cities have experienced the divine\nmercy in like manner, in several other public calamities, by invoking\nSt. Bonaventure\u2019s intercession. Charles of Orleans, father of Louis\nXII. king of France, was taken prisoner by the English in the battle\nof Agincourt, in 1425. During his captivity he fell ill of a fever,\nunder which no human remedies gave him any relief. The more desperate\nhis situation appeared, with the more earnestness he set himself to\nimplore the patronage of St. Bonaventure, and a perfect recovery\nwas the recompense of his devotion. In gratitude, as soon as he was\nset at liberty, he went to Lyons to offer up his thanksgivings and\nprayers at the tomb of the saint, on which he bestowed magnificent\npresents.[151]\n\nSt. Bonaventure, this great master of a spiritual life, places\nnot the perfection of Christian virtue so much in the more heroic\nexercises of a religious state as in the performing well our ordinary\nactions. \u201cThe best perfection of a religious man,\u201d says he, \u201cis to do\ncommon things in a perfect manner.[152] A constant fidelity in small\nthings is a great and heroic virtue.\u201d It is a continual crucifixion\nof self-love and all the passions; a complete sacrifice of all our\nactions, moments, and affections, and the entire reign of God\u2019s grace\nthroughout our whole lives. Quintilian lays it down for the great\nrule in forming an orator, that he accustom himself never to write\nor speak carelessly even on the most trifling subject or in common\nconversation, but that he study always to express himself in the most\nproper manner possible; with far greater diligence ought every one\nto strive to perform all even the meanest of his actions in the most\nperfect manner, and to improve every grace, every moment of time to\nadvance in virtue.\n\n\n ST. CAMILLUS DE LELLIS, C.\n\nHe was born in 1550 at Bacchianico in Abruzzo, in the kingdom of\nNaples. He lost his mother in his infancy, and six years after his\nfather, who was a gentleman, and had been an officer, first in the\nNeapolitan and afterward in the French troops in Italy. Camillus\nhaving learned only to read and write, entered himself young in\nthe army, and served first in the Venetian, and afterward in the\nNeapolitan troops, till, in 1574, his company was disbanded. He\nhad contracted so violent a passion for cards and gaming, that he\nsometimes lost even necessaries. All playing at lawful games for\nexorbitant sums, and absolutely all games of hazard for considerable\nsums are forbidden by the law of nature, by the imperial or civil\nlaw,[153] by the severest laws of all Christian or civilized nations,\nand by the canons of the Church.[154] No contract is justifiable\nin which neither reason nor proportion is observed. Nor can it be\nconsistent with the natural law of justice for a plan to stake any\nsum on blind chance, or to expose, without a reasonable equivalent\nor necessity, so much of his own or antagonist\u2019s money, that the\nloss would notably distress himself or any other person. Also many\nother sins are inseparable from a spirit of gaming, which springs\nfrom avarice, is so hardened as to rejoice in the loss of others,\nand is the source and immediate occasion of many other vices. The\nbest remedy for this vice is, that those who are infected with it be\nobliged, or at least exhorted, to give whatever they have won to the\npoor.\n\nCamillus was insensible of the evils attending gaming, till necessity\ncompelled him to open his eyes; for he at length was reduced to\nsuch straits, that for a subsistence he was obliged to drive two\nasses, and to work at a building which belonged to the Capuchin\nfriars. The divine mercy had not abandoned him through all his\nwanderings, but had often visited him with strong interior calls to\npenance. A moving exhortation which the guardian of the Capuchins\none day made him, completed his conversion. Ruminating on it as he\nrode from him upon his business, he at length alighted, fell on\nhis knees, and vehemently striking his breast, with many tears and\nloud groans deplored his past unthinking sinful life, and cried to\nheaven for mercy. This happened in February in the year 1575, the\ntwenty-fifth of his age; and from that time to his last breath he\nnever interrupted his penitential course. He made an essay of a\nnovitiate both among the Capuchins and the Grey Friars, but could\nnot be admitted to his religious profession among either on account\nof a running sore in one of his legs, which was judged incurable.\nTherefore leaving his own country he went to Rome, and there served\nthe sick in St. James\u2019s hospital of incurables four years with great\nfervor. He wore a knotty hair shirt, and a rough brass girdle next\nhis skin; watched night and day about the sick, especially those that\nwere dying, with the most scrupulous attention. He was most zealous\nto suggest to them devout acts of virtue and to procure them every\nspiritual help. Fervent humble prayer was the assiduous exercise\nof his soul, and he received the holy communion every Sunday and\nholiday, making use of St. Philip Neri for his confessarius. The\nprovisors or administrators having been witnesses to his charity,\nprudence, and piety, after some time appointed him director of the\nhospital.\n\nCamillus grieving to see the sloth of hired servants in attending\nthe sick, formed a project of associating certain pious persons for\nthat office who should be desirous to devote themselves to it out of\na motive of fervent charity. He found proper persons so disposed,\nbut met with great obstacles in the execution of his design. With a\nview of rendering himself more useful in spiritually assisting the\nsick, he took a resolution to prepare himself to receive holy orders.\nFor this purpose he went through a course of studies with incredible\nalacrity and ardor, and received all his orders from Thomas Goldwell,\nbishop of St. Asaph\u2019s, suffragan to cardinal Savelli, the bishop\nvicegerent in Rome, under pope Gregory XIII. A certain gentleman of\nRome named Firmo Calmo, gave the saint six hundred Roman sequines of\ngold (about two hundred and fifty pounds sterling), which he put out\nfor an annuity of thirty-six sequines a year during his life; this\namounting to a competent patrimony for the title of his ordination,\nrequired by the council of Trent and the laws of the diocess. The\nsame pious gentleman, besides frequent great benefactions during his\nlife, bequeathed his whole estate real and personal on Camillus\u2019s\nhospital at his death. The saint was ordained priest at Whitsuntide\nin 1584, and being nominated to serve a little chapel called our\nLady\u2019s _ad miracula_, he quitted the direction of the hospital.\nBefore the close of the same year he laid the foundation of his\ncongregation for serving the sick, giving to those who were admitted\ninto it a long black garment with a black cloth for their habit. The\nsaint prescribed them certain short rules, and they went every day to\nthe great hospital of the Holy Ghost, where they served the sick with\nso much affection, piety, and diligence, that it was visible to all\nwho saw them, that they considered Christ himself as lying sick or\nwounded in his members.\n\nThey made the beds of the patients, paid them every office of\ncharity, and by their short pathetic exhortations disposed them for\nthe last sacraments, and a happy death. The founder had powerful\nadversaries and great difficulties to struggle with; but by\nconfidence in God he conquered them all. In 1585 his friends hired\nfor him a large house, and the success of his undertaking encouraged\nhim to extend further his pious views; for he ordained that the\nmembers of his congregation should bind themselves by the obligation\nof their institute, to serve persons infected with the plague,\nprisoners, and those who lie dying in private houses.\n\nSickness is often the most severe and grievous of all trials, whence\nthe devil made it his last assault in tempting Job.[155] It is a\ntime in which a Christian stands in need of the greatest constancy\nand fortitude; yet through the weakness of nature, is generally\nthe least able to keep his heart united with God, and usually\nnever stands more in need of spiritual comfort and assistance. The\nstate of sickness is always a visitation of God, who by it knocks\nat the door of our heart, and puts us in mind of death; it is\nthe touchstone of patience, and the school or rather the harvest\nof penance, resignation, divine love, and every virtue. Yet by a\nmost fatal abuse is this mercy often lost and perverted by sloth,\nimpatience, sensuality, and forwardness. Those who in time of health\nwere backward in exercising fervent acts of faith, hope, charity,\ncontrition, &c., in sickness are still more indisposed for practices\nwith which they are unacquainted; and to their grievous misfortune\nsometimes pastors cannot sufficiently attend them, or have not a\nsuitable address which will give them the key of their hearts, or\nteach them the art of insinuating into the souls of penitents the\nheroic sentiments and an interior relish of those essential virtues.\n\nThis consideration moved Camillus to make it the chief end of his new\nestablishment, to afford or procure the sick all spiritual succor,\ndiscreetly to suggest to them short pathetic acts of compunction and\nother virtues, to read by them, and to pray for them. For this end\nhe furnished his priests with proper books of devotion, especially\non penance and on the sufferings of Christ; and he taught them to\nhave always at hand the most suitable ejaculations extracted from\nthe psalms and other devotions.[156] But dying persons were the\nprincipal object of our saint\u2019s pious zeal and charity. A man\u2019s\nlast moments are the most precious of his whole life; and are of\ninfinite importance; as on them depends his eternal lot. Then the\ndevil useth his utmost efforts to ruin a soul, and _cometh down,\nhaving great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time_.[157] The\nsaint therefore redoubled his earnestness to afford every spiritual\nhelp to persons who seemed in danger of death. He put them early in\nmind to settle their temporal concerns, that their thoughts might\nbe afterward employed entirely on the affair of their soul. He\nadvised those friends not to approach them too much, whose sight or\nimmoderate grief could only disturb or afflict them. He disposed\nthem to receive the last sacraments by the most perfect acts of\ncompunction, resignation, faith, hope, and divine love; and he taught\nthem to make death a voluntary sacrifice of themselves to the divine\nwill, and in satisfaction for sin; of which it is the punishment.\nHe instructed them to conjure their blessed Redeemer by the bitter\nanguish which his divine heart felt in the garden and on the cross,\nand by his prayer with a loud voice and tears, in which he deserved\nto be heard for his reverence, that he would show them mercy, and\ngive them the grace to offer up their death in union with his most\nprecious death, and to receive their soul as he with his last breath\nrecommended his own divine soul into the hands of his heavenly\nFather, and with it those of all his elect to the end of the world.\nHe instituted prayers for all persons in their agony, or who were\nnear their death.\n\nEvery one was charmed at so perfect a project of charity, and all\nadmired that such noble views and so great an undertaking should\nhave been reserved to an obscure illiterate person. Pope Sixtus V.\nconfirmed this congregation in 1586, and ordered that it should be\ngoverned by a triennial superior. Camillus was the first, and Roger,\nan Englishman, was one of his first companions. The church of St.\nMary Magdalen was bestowed on him for the use of his congregation.\nIn 1588 he was invited to Naples, and with twelve companions founded\nthere a new house. Certain galleys having the plague on board were\nforbid to enter the harbor. Wherefore these pious _Servants of the\nsick_ (for that was the name they took) went on board, and attended\nthem; on which occasion two of their number died of the pestilence,\nand were the first martyrs of charity in this holy institute. St.\nCamillus showed a like charity in Rome when a pestilential fever\nswept off great numbers, and again when that city was visited by a\nviolent famine. In 1591 Gregory XV. erected this congregation into\na religious Order, with all the privileges of the mendicant Order,\nand under the obligation of the four vows of poverty, chastity,\nobedience, and perpetually serving the sick, even those infected\nwith the plague; he forbade these religious men to pass to any other\nOrder except that of the Carthusians. Pope Clement VIII. in 1592\nand 1600 again confirmed this Order with additional privileges.\nIndeed the very end of this institution engaged all men to favor\nit; especially those who considered how many thousands die, even\nin the midst of priests, without sufficient help in preparing\nthemselves for that dreadful hour which decides their eternity; what\nsuperficial confessions, what neglect in acts of contrition, charity,\nrestitution, and other essential duties, are often to be feared;\nwhich grievous evils might be frequently remedied by the assiduity of\nwell qualified ministers.\n\nAmong many abuses and dangerous evils which the zeal of St. Camillus\nprevented, his attention to every circumstance relating to the care\nof dying persons soon made him discover that in hospitals many are\nburied alive, of which Cicatello relates several examples,[158]\nparticularly of one buried in a vault, who was found walking about in\nit when the next corpse was brought to be there interred. Hence the\nsaint ordered his religious to continue the prayers for souls yet in\ntheir agony for a quarter of an hour after they seem to have drawn\ntheir last breath, and not to suffer their faces to be covered so\nsoon as is usual, by which means those that are not dead are stifled.\nThis precaution is most necessary in cases of drowning, apoplexies,\nand such accidents and distempers which arise from mere obstructions\nor some sudden revolution of humors.[159] St. Camillus showed still\na far greater solicitude to provide all comforts and assistance\nfor the souls of those that are sick, suggesting frequent short\npathetic aspirations, showing them a crucifix, examining their past\nconfessions and present dispositions, and making them exhortations\nwith such unction and fervor that his voice seemed like a shrill\ntrumpet, and pierced the hearts of all who heard him. He encouraged\nhis disciples to these duties with words of fire. He did not love to\nhear anything spoken unless divine charity made part of the subject;\nand if he had a sermon in which it was not mentioned, he would call\nthe discourse a gold ring without a stone.\n\nHe was himself afflicted with many corporal infirmities, as a sore\nin his leg for forty-six years; a rupture for thirty-eight years\nwhich he got by serving the sick; two callous sores in the sole\nof one of his feet, which gave him great pain; violent nephritic\ncolics, and for a long time before he died, a loss of appetite.\nUnder this complication of diseases he would not suffer any one to\nwait on him, but sent all his brethren to serve poor sick persons.\nWhen he was not able to stand he would creep out of his bed, even\nin the night, by the sides of the beds, and crawl from one patient\nto another to exhort them to acts of virtue, and see if they wanted\nanything. He slept very little, spending great part of the night\nin prayer and in serving the sick. He used often to repeat with\nSt. Francis: \u201cSo great is the happiness which I hope for, that all\npain and suffering is a pleasure.\u201d His friars are not obliged to\nrecite the Church office unless they are in holy Orders; but confess\nand communicate every Sunday and great holiday, have every day one\nhour\u2019s meditation, hear mass, and say the litany, beads, and other\ndevotions. The holy founder was most scrupulously exact in every word\nand ceremony of the holy mass, and of the divine office. He despised\nhimself to a degree that astonished all who knew him. He laid down\nthe generalship in 1607, that he might be more at leisure to serve\nthe poor. He founded religious houses at Bologna, Milan, Genoa,\nFlorence, Ferrara, Messina, Palermo, Mantua, Viterbo, Bocchiano,\nTheate, Burgonono, Sinuessa, and other places. He had sent several\nof his friars into Hungary, and to all other places which in his\ntime were afflicted with the plague. When Nola was visited with that\ncalamity in 1600, the bishop constituted Camillus his vicar general,\nand it is incredible what succors the sick received from him and\nhis companions, of whom five died of that distemper. God testified\nhis approbation of the saint\u2019s zeal by the spirit of prophecy and\nthe gift of miracles, on several occasions, and by many heavenly\ncommunications and favors.\n\nHe assisted at the fifth general chapter of his Order in Rome in\n1613, and after it, with the new general, visited the houses in\nLombardy, giving them his last exhortations, which were everywhere\nreceived with tears. At Genoa he was extremely ill, but being a\nlittle better, duke Doria Tursi sent him in his rich galley to Civita\nVecchia, whence he was conveyed in a litter to Rome. He recovered so\nas to be able to finish the visitation of his hospitals, but soon\nrelapsed, and his life was despaired of by the physicians. Hearing\nthis, he said,--_I rejoice in what hath been told me: We shall go\ninto the house of the Lord._ He received the viaticum from the hands\nof cardinal Ginnasio, protector of his Order, and said with many\ntears,--\u201cO Lord, I confess I am the most wretched of sinners, most\nundeserving of thy favor; but save me by thy infinite goodness. My\nhope is placed in thy divine mercy through thy precious blood.\u201d\nThough he had lived in the greatest purity of conscience ever since\nhis conversion, he had been accustomed to go every day to confession\nwith great compunction and many tears. When he received the extreme\nunction he made a moving exhortation to his religious brethren, and\nhaving foretold that he should die that evening, he expired on the\n14th of July, 1614, being sixty-five years one month and twenty days\nold. He was buried near the high altar in St. Mary Magdalen\u2019s church;\nbut upon the miracles which were authentically approved, his remains\nwere taken up and laid under the altar; they were enshrined after\nhe was beatified in 1742, and in 1746 he was solemnly canonized by\nBenedict XIV. See the life of St. Camillus by Cicatello his disciple,\nand the acts of his canonization with those of SS. Fidelis of\nSigmaringa, Peter Regalati, Joseph of Leonissa, and St. Catharine de\nRicci, printed at Rome in 1749, p. 10, 65, and 529, and Bullar. Rom.\nt. 16, p. 88. Heylot, Hist. des Ordres Relig. t. 4, p. 263.\n\n\n ST. IDUS, BISHOP OF ATH-FADHA IN LEINSTER.\n\nWas a worthy disciple of St. Patrick, by whom he was baptized. He is\noften invoked in the old Irish prayer in verse which bears the name\nof St. Moling. See Colgan in MSS.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XV.\n\n\n ST. HENRY II. EMPEROR.\n\n From his authentic life, published by Surius and D\u2019Andilly,\n and from the historians Sigebert, Glaber, Dithmar, Lambert\n of Aschaffenburg, Leo Urbevetanus in his double chronicle\n of the popes and emperors, in Delici\u00e6 Eruditor. t. 1 and 2.\n Aventin\u2019s Annals of Bavaria, &c.\n\n A. D. 1024.\n\nSt. Henry, surnamed the Pious and the Lame, was son of Henry, duke\nof Bavaria, and of Gisella, daughter of Conrad, king of Burgundy,\nand was born in 972. He was descended from Henry, Duke of Bavaria,\nson of the emperor Henry the Fowler, and brother of Otho the Great,\nconsequently our saint was near akin to the three first Emperors\nwho bore the name of Otho. St. Wolfgang, the Bishop of Ratisbon,\nbeing a prelate the most eminent in all Germany for learning,\npiety, and zeal, our young prince was put under his tuition, and\nby his excellent instructions and example he made from his infancy\nwonderful progress in learning and in the most perfect practice of\nChristian virtue. The death of his dear master and spiritual guide,\nwhich happened in 994, was to him a most sensible affliction. In\nthe following year he succeeded his father in the duchy of Bavaria,\nand in 1002, upon the death of his cousin Otho III. he was chosen\nemperor.[160] He was the same year crowned king of Germany at Mentz,\nby the archbishop of that city. He had always before his eyes the\nextreme dangers to which they are exposed who move on the precipice\nof power, and that all human things are like edifices of sand, which\nevery breath of time threatens to overturn or deface; he studied\nthe extent and importance of the obligations which attended his\ndignity; and by the assiduous practice of humiliations, prayer, and\npious meditation, he maintained in his heart the necessary spirit\nof humility and holy fear, and was enabled to bear the tide of\nprosperity and honor with a constant evenness of temper. Sensible of\nthe end for which alone he was exalted by God to the highest temporal\ndignity, he exerted his most strenuous endeavors to promote in all\nthings the divine honor, the exaltation of the Church, and the peace\nand happiness of his people.\n\nSoon after his accession to the throne he resigned the dukedom of\nBavaria, which he bestowed on his brother-in-law Henry, surnamed\nSenior. He procured a national council of the bishops of all his\ndominions, which was assembled at Dortmund, in Westphalia, in 1005,\nin order to regulate many points of discipline; and to enforce a\nstrict observance of the holy canons. It was owing to his zeal that\nmany provincial synods were also held for the same purpose in several\nparts of the empire. He was himself present at that of Frankfort\nin 1006, and at another of Bamberg in 1011. The protection he owed\nhis subjects engaged him sometimes in wars, in all which he was\nsuccessful. By his prudence, courage, and clemency, he stifled a\nrebellion at home in the beginning of his reign, and without striking\na stroke compelled the malecontents to lay down their arms at his\nfeet, which when they had done he received them into favor. Two\nyears after he quelled another rebellion in Italy, when Ardovinus\nor Hardwic, a Lombard lord, had caused himself to be crowned king\nat Milan. This nobleman, after his defeat, made his submission, and\nobtained his pardon. When he had afterward revolted a second time,\nthe emperor marched again into Italy, vanquished him in battle, and\ndeprived him of his territories, but did not take away his life,\nand Ardovinus became a monk. After this second victory, St. Henry\nwent in triumph to Rome, where, in 1014, he was crowned emperor\nwith great solemnity by pope Benedict VIII. On that occasion, to\ngive a proof of his devotion to the holy see, he confirmed to it,\nby an ample diploma, the donation made by several former emperors,\nof the sovereignty of Rome and the exarchate of Ravenna:[161] and\nafter a short stay at Rome, took leave of the pope, and in his\nreturn to Germany kept the Easter holydays at Pavia; then he visited\nthe monastery of Cluni, on which he bestowed the imperial globe of\ngold which the pope had given him, and a gold crown enriched with\nprecious stones. He paid his devotions in other monasteries on the\nroad, leaving in every one of them some rich monument of his piety\nand liberality. But the most acceptable offering which he made to\nGod was the fervor and purity of affection with which he renewed\nthe consecration of his soul to God in all places where he came,\nespecially at the foot of the altars. Travelling through Liege and\nTries he arrived at Bamberg, in which city he had lately founded a\nrich episcopal see, and had built a most stately cathedral in honor\nof St. Peter, which pope John XVIII. took a journey into Germany\nto consecrate in 1019. The emperor obtained of this pope, by an\nhonorable embassy, the confirmation of this and all his other pious\nfoundations. For he built and endowed other churches with the two\nmonasteries at Bamberg, and made the like foundations in several\nother places; thus extending his zealous views to promote the divine\nhonor and the relief of the poor to the end of time. Bruno, bishop\nof Ausburg, the emperor\u2019s brother, Henry, duke of Bavaria, and\nother relations of the saint complained loudly that he employed his\npatrimony on such religious foundations, and the duke of Bavaria and\nsome others took up arms against him in 1010; but he defeated them\nin the field; then pardoned the princes engaged in the revolt, and\nrestored to them Bavaria and their other territories which he had\nseized.\n\nThe idolatrous inhabitants of Poland and Sclavonia had some time\nbefore laid waste the diocess of Meersburg, and destroyed that and\nseveral other churches. St. Henry marched against those barbarous\nnations, and having put his army under the protection of the holy\nmartyrs St. Laurence, St. George, and St. Adrian, who are said to\nhave been seen in the battle fighting before him, he defeated the\ninfidels. He had made a vow to re-establish the see of Meersburg\nin case he obtained the victory, and he caused all his army to\ncommunicate the day before the battle which was fought near that\ncity. The barbarians were seized with a panic fear in the beginning\nof the action, and submitted at discretion. The princes of Bohemia\nrebelled, but were easily brought back to their duty. The victorious\nemperor munificently repaired and restored the episcopal sees of\nHildesheim, Magdeburg, Strasburg, Misnia, and Meersburg, and made all\nPoland, Bohemia, and Moravia tributary to the empire. He procured\nholy preachers to be sent to instruct the Bohemians and Polanders\nin the faith. Those have been mistaken who pretend that St. Henry\nconverted St. Stephen, king of Hungary; for that prince was born of\nChristian parents. But our saint promoted his zealous endeavors, and\nhad a great share in his apostolic undertakings for the conversion of\nhis people.\n\nThe protection of Christendom, and especially of the holy see,\nobliged St. Henry to lead an army to the extremity of Italy,[162]\nwhere he vanquished the conquering Saracens, with their allies\nthe Greeks, and drove them out of Italy, left a governor in the\nprovinces which he had recovered, and suffered the Normans to enjoy\nthe territories which they had then wrested from the infidels, but\nrestrained them from turning their arms towards Naples or Benevento.\nHe came back by Mount Cassino, and was honorably received at Rome;\nbut during his stay in that city, by a painful contraction of the\nsinews in his thigh, became lame and continued so till his death.\nHe passed by Cluni, and in the duchy of Luxemburg had an interview\nwith Robert, king of France, son and successor of Hugh Capet.[163]\nIt had been agreed that, to avoid all disputes of pre-eminence,\nthe two princes should hold their conference in boats on the river\nMeuse, which as Glaber writes, was at that time the boundary that\nparted their dominions. But Henry, impatient to embrace and cement\na friendship with that great and virtuous king, paid the first\nvisit to Robert in his tent, and afterward received him in his\nown. A war had broken out between these two princes in 1006, and\nHenry gave the French a great overthrow; but being desirous only to\ngovern his dominions in peace, he entered into negotiations which\nproduced a lasting peace. In this interview, which was held in 1023,\nthe conference of the two princes turned on the most important\naffairs of Church and State, and on the best means of advancing\npiety, religion, and the welfare of their subjects. After the most\ncordial demonstrations of sincere friendship they took leave of each\nother, and St. Henry proceeded to Verdun and Metz. He made frequent\nprogresses through his dominions only to promote piety, enrich all\nthe churches, relieve the poor, make a strict inquiry into all public\ndisorders and abuses, and prevent unjust usurpations and oppressions.\nHe desired to have no other heir on earth but Christ in his members,\nand wherever he went he spread the odor of his piety, and his\nliberalities on the poor.\n\nIt is incredible how attentive he was to the smallest affairs amidst\nthe multiplicity of business which attends the government of the\nstate; nothing seemed to escape him; and whilst he was most active\nand vigilant in every duty which he owed to the public, he did not\nforget that the care of his own soul and the regulation of his\ninterior was his first and most essential obligation. He was sensible\nthat pride and vain-glory are the most dangerous of all vices, and\nthat they are the most difficult to be discovered, and the last that\nare vanquished in the spiritual warfare; that humility is the very\nfoundation of all true virtue, and our progress in it the measure of\nour advancement in Christian perfection. Therefore the higher he was\nexalted in worldly honors the more did he study to humble himself,\nand it is said of him, that never was greater humility seen under a\ndiadem. He loved those persons best who most freely put him in mind\nof his mistakes, and these he was always most ready to confess, and\nto make for them the most ample reparation. Through misinformations,\nhe for some time harbored coldness toward Saint Herebert archbishop\nof Cologne; but discovering the innocence and sanctity of that\nprelate, he fell at his feet, and would not rise till he had received\nhis absolution and pardon. He banished flatterers from his presence,\ncalling them the greatest pests of courts; for none can put such\nas affront on a man\u2019s judgment and modesty, as to praise him to\nhis face, but the base and most wicked of interested and designing\nmen, who make use of this artifice to insinuate themselves into the\nfavor of a prince, to abuse his weakness and credulity, and to make\nhim the dupe of their injustices. He who listens to them exposes\nhimself to many misfortunes and crimes, to the danger of the most\nfoolish pride and vain-glory, and to the ridicule and scorn of his\nflatterers themselves; for a vanity that can publicly hear its\nown praises, openly unmasks itself to its confusion. The emperor\nSigismund giving a flatterer a blow on the face, called his fulsome\npraise the greatest insult that had ever been offered him. St. Henry\nwas raised by religion and humility above this abjectness of soul\nwhich reason itself teaches us to abhor and despise. By the assiduous\nmortification of the senses he kept his passions in subjection. For\npleasure, unless we are guarded against its assaults, steals upon us\nby insensible degrees, smooths its passage to the heart by a gentle\nand insinuating address, and softens and disarms the soul of all its\nstrength. Nor is it possible for us to triumph over unlawful sensual\ndelights, unless we moderate and practise frequent self-denials with\nregard to lawful gratifications. The love of the world is a no less\ndangerous enemy, especially amidst honors and affluence; and created\nobjects have this quality that they first seduce the heart, and then\nblind the understanding. By conversing always in heaven, St. Henry\nraised his affections so much above the earth as to escape this snare.\n\nPrayer seemed the chief delight and support of his soul; especially\nthe public office of the Church. Assisting one day at this holy\nfunction at Strasburg, he so earnestly desired to remain always there\nto sing the divine praises among the devout canons of that Church,\nthat, finding this impossible, he founded there a new canonry for\none who should always perform that sacred duty in his name. In this\nspirit of devotion it has been established that the kings of France\nare canons of Strasburg, Lyons, and some other places; as in the\nformer place the emperors, in the latter the dukes of Burgundy,\nwere before them. The holy sacrament of the altar and sacrifice of\nthe mass were the object of St. Henry\u2019s most tender devotion. The\nblessed Mother of God he honored as his chief patroness, and among\nother exercises by which he recommended himself to her intercession,\nit was his custom, upon coming to any town, to spend a great part of\nthe first night in watching and prayer in some church dedicated to\nGod under her name, as at Rome in St. Mary Major. He had a singular\ndevotion to the good angels and to all the saints. Though he lived\nin the world so as to be perfectly disengaged from it in heart\nand affection, it was his earnest desire entirely to renounce it\nlong before his death, and he intended to pitch upon the abbey of\nSt. Vanne, at Verdun, for the place of his retirement. But he was\ndiverted from carrying this project into execution, by the advice\nof Richard the holy abbot of that house.[164] He had married St.\nCunegonda, but lived with her in perpetual chastity, to which they\nhad mutually bound themselves by vow. It happened that the empress\nwas falsely accused of incontinency, and St. Henry was somewhat\nmoved by the slander; but she cleared herself by her oath, and by\nthe ordeal trials, walking over twelve red hot plough-shares without\nhurt. Her husband severely condemned himself for his credulity,\nand made her the most ample satisfaction. In his last illness he\nrecommended her to her relations and friends, declaring that he left\nher an untouched virgin. His health decayed some years before his\ndeath, which happened at the castle of Grone, near Halberstadt, in\n1024, on the 14th of July, toward the end of the fifty-second year of\nhis life; he having reigned twenty-two years from his election, and\nten years and five months from his coronation at Rome. His body was\ninterred in the cathedral at Bamberg with the greatest pomp, and with\nthe unfeigned tears of all his subjects. The great number of miracles\nby which God was pleased to declare his glory in heaven, procured\nhis canonization, which was performed by Eugenius III., in 1152. His\nfestival is kept on the day following that of his death.[165]\n\n * * * * *\n\nThose who by honors, dignities, riches, or talents are raised by\nGod in the world above the level of their fellow-creatures, have a\ngreat stewardship, and a most rigorous account to give at the bar of\ndivine justice, their very example having a most powerful influence\nover others. This St. Fulgentius observed, writing to Theodorus, a\npious Roman senator,[166]--\u201cThough,\u201d said he, \u201cChrist died for all\nmen, yet the perfect conversion of the great ones of the world brings\ngreat acquisitions to the kingdom of Christ. And they who are placed\nin high stations must necessarily be to very many an occasion of\neternal perdition or of salvation. And as they cannot go alone, so\neither a high degree of glory or an extraordinary punishment will be\ntheir everlasting portion.\u201d\n\n\n ST. PLECHELM, B. C. APOSTLE OF GUELDERLAND.\n\nHe was by birth a noble English Saxon, but born in the southern\npart of Scotland; for Lothian and the rest of the Lowlands as far\nas Edinburgh Frith belonged for several ages to the Northumbrian\nEnglish. Having received holy orders in his own country he made\na pilgrimage to Rome, whence he returned home enriched with holy\nrelics. Some time after, in company with the holy bishop St. Wiro,\nand St. Otger a deacon, he passed into those parts of Lower Germany\nwhich had not then received the light of faith. Having obtained the\nprotection of Pepin, mayor of the palace in Austrasia, he converted\nthe country now called Guelderland, Cleves, Juliers, and several\nneighboring provinces lying chiefly between the Rhine, the Wahal, and\nthe Meuse. When he had planted the gospel there with great success\nhe retired to St. Peter\u2019s Mount near Ruremund, but continued to\nmake frequent missions among the remaining infidels. Prince Pepin,\nwho though he had formerly fallen into adultery, led afterward a\npenitential and Christian holy life, went every year from his castle\nof Herstal to confess his sins to his holy pastor after the death\nof St. Wiro, which the author of St. Plechelm\u2019s life relates in the\nfollowing words.[167] \u201cPepin, the king of the French (that is, mayor\nwith royal authority), had him in great veneration, and every year,\nin the beginning of Lent, having laid aside his purple, went from his\npalace barefoot to the said mount of Peter where the saint lived,\nand took his advice how he ought to govern his kingdom according to\nthe holy will and law of God, and by what means he might promote the\nfaith of Christ and every advantage of virtue. There also having\nmade the confession of his sins to the high priest of the Lord, and\nreceived penance, he washed away with his tears the offences which\nthrough human frailty he had contracted.\u201d F. Bosch, the Bollandist,\nobserves, this prince must have been Pepin, surnamed of Herstal, or\nthe Fat, who, though he never enjoyed the title of king, reigned\nin Austrasia with regal power, and with equal piety and valor. He\ndied in 714, in the castle of Jopil on the Meuse, near Liege, which\nwas his paternal estate, St. Pepin of Landen his grandfather being\nson of Carloman, the first mayor of his family, grandson of Charles\ncount of Hesbay near Liege, the descendant of Ferreol, formerly\npr\u00e6fectus-pr\u00e6torio of the Gauls. St. Plechelm survived Pepin of\nHerstel seventeen years, is called by Bollandus bishop of Oldenzel\nand Ruremund, and died on the 15th of July, 732. He was buried in\nour lady\u2019s chapel in the church, on the mountain of St. Peter, now\ncalled of St. Odilia, near Ruremund. His relics were honored with\nmany miracles. The principal portion of them is now possessed by the\ncollegiate church of Oldenzel, in the province of Over-Yssel, part at\nRuremund. His name is famous in the Belgic and other Martyrologies.\nHis ancient life testifies that he was ordained bishop in his own\ncountry before he undertook a missionary life. Bede, in the year\n731, mentions Pechthelm, who having been formerly a disciple of St.\nAldhelm, in the kingdom of the West-Saxons, returning to his own\ncountry was ordained bishop to preach the gospel with more authority.\nHe afterward fixed his see at Candida Casa, now a parliamentary town\nof Galloway in Scotland, called Whitehorn. The Bollandists in several\nparts of their work contend this Pechthelm to have been a different\nperson from St. Plechelm, whom Stilting demonstrates to have been at\nMount St. Peter, whilst the other, somewhat elder according to Bede,\nwas in North-Britain at Candida Casa; though Antony Pagi[168] and the\nauthor of Batavia Sacra endeavor to prove him, against F. Bosch and\nhis colleagues, to have been the same. See his authentic life with\nthe remarks of Bollandus and his colleagues, Julij, t. 4, p. 58, and\nBatavia Sacra, p. 50.[169]\n\n\n ST. SWITHIN OR SWITHUN, C.\n\n BISHOP AND PATRON OF WINCHESTER.\n\nThis city had been famous in the time of the Romans and a station\nof their troops, being called by Ptolemy and Antoninus, Venta. It\nbecame afterwards the chief seat of the West-Saxon kings. Among\nthese, Kynegils, having received the faith about the year 635,\ngave to St. Birinus the city of Dorcester for his episcopal see,\nbut founded a church at Winchester, which was dedicated by St.\nBirinus to St. Peter, according to the Saxon Chronicle, or to the\nHoly Trinity, according to Thomas Rudburn. Wini, the third bishop\nof the West-Saxons, fixed his see at Winchester, and this church\nbecame one of the most flourishing cathedrals of all Britain. St.\nSwithun, called in the original Saxon language Swithum, received in\nthis church the clerical tonsure, and put on the monastic habit in\nthe Old Monastery, which had been founded by king Kynegils. He was\nof noble parentage, passed his youth in innocent simplicity, and in\nthe study of grammar, philosophy, and the holy scriptures. He was an\naccomplished model of all virtues when he was promoted to holy orders\nby Helinstan or Helmstan, bishop of Winchester.\n\nBeing ordained priest, he was made provost or dean of the Old\nMonastery. His learning, piety, and prudence, moved Egbert, king\nof the West-Saxons, to make him his priest, under which title the\nsaint subscribed a charter granted to the abbey of Croyland in 833.\nThat great prince committed to his care the education of his son\nEthelwolf, and made use of his counsels in the government of his\nkingdom. A degeneracy of manners had crept into the courts of the\nMerceians and Northumbrians, and their government was weakened by\nintestine divisions and several revolutions. Egbert having first\nvanquished Swithred, king of the East-Saxons, and added his kingdom\nto his own, upon several provocations, invaded Mercia, and conquered\nit in 823, but soon after restored Withlaf, whom he had expelled, to\nthe throne of that kingdom on condition he should hold the crown of\nhim, and pay him an annual tribute. He treated in the same manner\nEandred, the last king of the Northumbers, and made him tributary,\nafter he had with a great army laid waste that province. The kingdom\nof the East Angles submitted to him about the same time with Mercia,\nwith which it had been long engaged in war and was thereby reduced to\nextreme poverty. Kent being at that time tributary to Mercia, it fell\nalso to the share of the conqueror. After this, Egbert assembled all\nthe great men of his kingdom, both clergy and laity, in a council at\nWinchester, in which he enacted that this kingdom should ever after\nbe called England, and all his subjects Englishmen. At the same time\nhe was again crowned, and from that year, 829, was styled king of\nEngland. Thus were the names of Saxons and Jutes abolished among us,\nand an end was put to the heptarchy, or division of this nation into\nseven kingdoms, which began to be formed by Hengist in 457, when he\ntook the title of king, seven years after his arrival in this island,\nin 449. Towards the latter end of Egbert\u2019s reign the Danes first\nbegan to infest England. This general name historians give to those\nshoals of pirates which were composed not only of Danes, but also of\nNorwegians, Goths, Sweones or Swedes, and Vandals, as Eginhard, Henry\nof Huntingdon, and others assure us.[170]\n\nKing Egbert reigned thirty-seven years over the West Saxons, and\nnine years over all England, dying in the year 838, or according to\nothers in 837. Ethelwolf, his only surviving son, had been educated\nin piety and learning under the care of St. Swithin, then provost of\nthe Old Monastery in Winchester,[171] and had been ordained subdeacon\nby bishop Helmstan, as Rudburn, Huntingdon, and others relate. But\nupon the death of his elder brother, whose name is not known, he\nwas dispensed with by pope Leo to marry, and returning again to a\nsecular life, helped his father in his wars, and after his death was\nadvanced to the throne. He married Osberge, a lady of remarkable\npiety, and had four sons by her, Ethelbald, Ethelbright, Ethelred,\nand Alfred. He governed his kingdom by the prudent advice of Alstan,\nbishop of Shirborne, in temporal affairs; and by that of St. Swithin\nin ecclesiastical matters, especially those which concerned his\nown soul. And though the king was of a slow disposition, yet by\nthe assistance of these worthy counsellors, he reigned prudently\nand happily; the Danes were often repulsed, and many noble designs\nfor the good of the Church and state were begun, and prosperously\nexecuted. Bearing always the greatest reverence to St. Swithin, whom\nhe called his master and teacher, he procured him, upon the death\nof Helmstan, to be chosen bishop of Winchester, to which see he was\nconsecrated by Ceolnoth, archbishop of Canterbury, in 852. Herne has\ngiven us the profession of faith which he made on that occasion,\naccording to custom, in the hands of the archbishop.[172]\n\nWilliam of Malmesbury says, that though this good bishop was a\nrich treasure of all virtues, those in which he took most delight\nwere humility and charity to the poor; and in the discharge of his\nepiscopal functions he omitted nothing belonging to a true pastor.\nHe built divers churches, and repaired others; and made his journeys\non foot, accompanied with his clerks, and often by night to avoid\nostentation. Being to dedicate any church, he with all humility used\nto go barefoot to the place. His feasting was not with the rich, but\nwith the needy and the poor. His mouth was always open to invite\nsinners to repentance, and to admonish those that stood to beware of\nfalling. He was most severe to himself, and abstemious in his diet,\nnever eating to satisfy his appetite, but barely to sustain nature;\nand as to sleep, he admitted no more than what after long watching\nand much labor was absolutely necessary. He was always delighted with\npsalms and spiritual canticles, and in conversation would bear no\ndiscourse but what tended to edification.\n\nBy his counsel and advice king Ethelwolf, in a Mycel synod or great\ncouncil of the nation in 854, enacted a new law by which he gave\nthe tithes or tenth part of his land throughout the kingdom to the\nChurch, exempt and free from all taxations and burthens, with an\nobligation of prayers in all churches for ever for his own soul, on\nevery Wednesday, &c. This charter, to give it a more sacred sanction,\nhe offered on the altar of St. Peter at Rome in the pilgrimage which\nhe made to that city in 855. He likewise procured it to be confirmed\nby the pope.[173] He carried with him to Rome his youngest and best\nbeloved son Alfred, rebuilt there the school for the English, and\nordered to be sent every year to Rome one hundred mancuses[174] for\nthe pope, one hundred for the church of St. Peter, and as much for\nthat of St. Paul, to furnish them with lights on Easter Eve. He\nextended the Romescot or Peter-pence to his whole kingdom. He reigned\ntwo years after his return from Rome, and died in 857. He ordained,\nthat throughout all his own hereditary lands, every ten families\nshall maintain one poor person with meat, drink, and apparel; from\nwhence came the Corrodies which still remain in divers places. St.\nSwithin departed to eternal bliss, which he had always thirsted\nafter, on the 2d of July, 862, in the reign of king Ethelbert. His\nbody was buried, according to his order, in the church-yard, where\nhis grave might be trodden on by passengers.\n\nAbout one hundred years after, in the days of king Edgar, his\nrelics were taken up by St. Ethelwold, then bishop of Winchester,\nand translated into the church in 964. On which occasion Malmesbury\naffirms that such a number of miraculous cures of all kinds were\nwrought, as was never to the memory of man known to have been in\nany other place. Lanfrid, in the original Saxon Lantfred, called\nby Leland all illustrious doctor, being then a monk at Winchester,\nwrote, in 980, a history of this translation, and of the miraculous\ncures of a blind man, and many others through the intercession of\nthis saint; which history has never been printed; though we have\ntwo beautiful fair manuscript copies of it, the one in the Cotton,\nthe other in the king\u2019s library in the enclosure of Westminster\nAbbey.[175] In the reign of William the Conqueror, Walkelyn, bishop\nof Winchester, a Norman, and the king\u2019s relation, laid the foundation\nof the new church in 1079, which he lived to finish with the abbey,\nso that in 1093, the monks, in the presence of almost all the bishops\nand abbots of England, came in great joy from the old to the new\nmonastery, and on the feast of St. Swithin, the shrine of this saint\nwas in another solemn procession translated from the old to the new\nchurch; and on the next day the bishop\u2019s men began to demolish the\nold abbey. William of Wickham, the celebrated chancellor of England\nin the reign of Edward III. and founder of a great college in Oxford,\nin 1379, added the nave and west front to this cathedral which is now\nstanding. This church was first dedicated to the Holy Trinity under\nthe patronage of St. Peter; afterward by St. Ethelwold, in presence\nof king Etheldred, St. Dunstan, and eight other bishops, to St.\nSwithin, as Rudburn relates, in 980.[176] King Henry VIII. in 1540,\ncommanded this cathedral to be called no longer St. Swithin\u2019s, but of\nthe Holy Trinity.[177]\n\nSt. Swithin is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on the 2d of\nJuly, which was the day of his death; but his chief festival in\nEngland was on the 15th of the same month, the day of the translation\nof his relics. See the calendar prefixed to the chronicle entitled\nScala Mundi in a fair MS. in folio in the library of the English\ncollege at Douay; also the Sarum Breviary and Missal. An arm of St.\nSwithin was kept in the abbey of Peterborough, as is mentioned by\nHugh Candidus or White, in his accurate history of that monastery,\npublished by Mr. Spark, p. 1723. The abbey of Hyde was first built\nwithin the precincts of the cathedral by king Edward the Elder, in\npursuance of his father Alfred\u2019s will, for secular canons, over whom\nSt. Grimbald was intended to preside, had not his death prevented it.\nThese canons, after sixty years\u2019 continuance, yielded this church to\nthe monks whom, in 964, St. Ethelwold brought in; from which time\nthis abbey was called Newminster till it was translated by king Henry\nI. and the bishop William Giffard, to a place near the walls of the\ncity called Hyde. Of this magnificent abbey not so much as the walls\nare left standing, though in it lay the remains of king Edward, his\nson Alfred, his daughter St. Eadburga, &c. Its church was dedicated\nto the Holy Trinity, St. Peter, and St. Grimbald. See the short life\nof St. Swithin, written by Wolstan, a monk of Winchester, dedicated\nto St. Elphege, then bishop of that city, in 1001, but translated to\nCanterbury in 1006. It is published by Mabillon, s\u00e6c. 5, Ben. p. 628.\nSee also Malmesbury, t. 2, de Pontif. Robert of Glocester\u2019s Chronicle\nin verse, published by Mr. Herne. Thomas Rudburn, Historia Major\nWintoniensis, published by Wharton, t. 1, p. 200. Lord Clarendon,\nand Sam. Gale, On the Antiquities of Winchester, and Pinius the\nBollandist, t. 1, Julij, ad diem 2, p. 321. Also S. Swithuni vita et\nmiracula per Lamfridum monachum Winton. MSS. in Bibl. Regia Londini,\nxv. c. vii. 1.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XVI.\n\n\n ST. EUSTATHIUS, CONFESSOR.\n\n PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH.\n\n From St. Athanasius, Sozomen, Theodoret, l. 1, Hist. c.\n 6, St. Jerom, in Catal. c. 85. See Tillem. t. 7, p. 21,\n Ceillier, t. 4, and the Bollandists, Bosch in his Life, t.\n 4, Jul. p. 130, and Solier in Hist. Chron. Patr. Antioch,\n ante, t. 4, Jul. p. 35.\n\n A. D. 338.\n\nSt. Eustathius was a native of Sida in Pamphylia, and with heroic\nconstancy confessed the faith of Christ before the pagan persecutors,\nas St. Athanasius assures us,[178] though it does not appear whether\nthis happened under Dioclesian or Licinius. He was learned, eloquent,\nand eminently endowed with all virtue, especially an ardent zeal for\nthe purity of our holy faith. Being made bishop of Ber\u00e6a in Syria\nhe began in that obscure see to be highly considered in the Church,\ninsomuch that St. Alexander of Alexandria wrote to him in particular\nagainst Arius and his impious writings, in 323. St. Philogonius,\nbishop of Antioch, a prelate illustrious for his confession of the\nfaith, in the persecution of Licinius, died in 323. One Paulinus\nsucceeded him, but seems a man not equal to the functions of that\nhigh station; for, during the short time he governed that church,\ntares began to grow up among the good seed. To root these out, when\nthat dignity became again vacant, in 324, the zeal and abilities of\nSt. Eustathius were called for, and he was accordingly translated\nto this see, in dignity the next to Alexandria, and the third in\nthe world. He vigorously opposed the motion, but was compelled to\nacquiesce. Indeed, translations of bishops, if made without cogent\nreasons of necessity, become, to many, dangerous temptations of\nambition and avarice, and open a door to those fatal vices into\nthe sanctuary. To put a bar to this evil, St. Eustathius, in the\nsame year, assisting at the general council of Nice, zealously\nconcurred with his fellow bishops to forbid for the time to come all\nremovals of bishops from one see to another.[179] The new patriarch\ndistinguished himself in that venerable assembly by his zeal against\nArianism. Soon after his return to Antioch he held a council there\nto unite his church, which he found divided by factions. He was very\nstrict and severe in examining into the characters of those whom he\nadmitted into the clergy, and he constantly rejected all those whose\nprinciples, faith, or manners appeared suspected: among whom were\nseveral who became afterward ringleaders of Arianism. Amidst his\nexternal employs for the service of others, he did not forget that\ncharity must always begin at home, and he labored in the first place\nto sanctify his own soul; but after watering his own garden he did\nnot confine the stream there, but let it flow abroad to enrich the\nneighboring soil, and to dispense plenty and fruitfulness all around.\nHe sent into other diocesses that were subject to his patriarchate,\nmen capable of instructing and encouraging the faithful. Eusebius,\narchbishop of C\u00e6sarea, in Palestine (which church was, in some\nmeasure, subject to Antioch), favored the new heresy in such a manner\nas to alarm the zeal of our saint.[180] This raised a violent storm\nagainst him.\n\nEusebius of Nicomedia laid a deep plot with his Arian friends to\nremove St. Eustathius from Antioch, who had attacked Eusebius of\nC\u00e6sarea, and accused him of altering the Nicene Creed. Hereupon,\nEusebius of Nicomedia, pretending a great desire to see the city of\nJerusalem, set out in great state, taking with him his confidant,\nTheognis of Nice. At Jerusalem they met Eusebius of C\u00e6sarea,\nPatrophilus of Scythopolis, A\u00ebtius of Lydda, Theodotus of Laodicea,\nand several others, all of the Arian faction; who returned with them\nto Antioch. There they assembled together, as in a Synod, in 331, and\na debauched woman, whom the Arians had suborned, coming in, showed\na child which she suckled at her breast, and declared that she had\nit by Eustathius. The saint protested his innocence, and alleged\nthat the apostle forbids a priest to be condemned unless convicted\nby two or more witnesses. This woman, before her death, after a\nlong illness, called in a great number of the clergy, and publicly\ndeclared to them the innocence of the holy bishop, and confessed\nthat the Arians had given her money for this action, pretending\nthat no perjury was implied in her oath, upon the frivolous and\nfoolish plea that she had the child by a brazier of the city called\nEustathius.[181] The Arians accused him also of Sabellianism, as\nSocrates and others testify; this being their general charge and\nslander against all who professed the orthodox faith.\n\nThe Catholic bishops who were present with Eustathius, cried out\nloudly against the injustice of these proceedings, but could not be\nheard, and the Arians pronounced a sentence of deposition against\nthe saint; and Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis hastened to inform\nthe emperor Constantine of these proceedings. The Arian bishops\ninvited Eusebius of C\u00e6sarea to exchange his see for the patriarchal\nchair of Antioch, but he alleged the prohibition of the canons; and\nthe emperor Constantine commended his modesty by a letter which\nEusebius has inserted in his life of that prince.[182] We should have\nbeen more edified with his humility had this circumstance been only\nrecorded by others.[183] This happened, not in 340, as Baronius and\nPetavius imagine, but in 330 or 331, as is manifest not only from\nthe testimony of Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, and Philostorgius,\nbut also from several circumstances of the affair.[184] The people\nof Antioch raised a great sedition on this occasion, but the emperor\nConstantine, being prepossessed by the slanders of the two bishops,\nordered St. Eustathius to repair to Constantinople, and thence sent\nhim into banishment. The holy pastor assembled the people before\nhis departure from Antioch, and exhorted them to remain steadfast\nin the true doctrine: which exhortations were of great weight in\npreserving many in the Catholic faith. St. Eustathius was banished\nwith several priests and deacons first into Thrace, as St. Jerome\nand St. Chrysostom testify, and from thence into Illyricum, as\nTheodoret adds. Socrates and Sozomen confound him with a priest of\nConstantinople of the same name, when they tell us he was recalled\nby Jovian, and survived till the year 370: for St. Eustathius\ndied thirty years before St. Meletius was advanced to the see of\nAntioch in 360, as Theodoret testifies. Nor was he mentioned in\nthe council of Sardica, or in any of the disputes that followed;\nand our best critics and historians conclude him to have been dead\nin 337. Philippi, in Macedon, which, in the division of the empire\ninto diocesses, was comprised in that of Illyricum, was the place\nof his death,[185] but his body was interred at Trajanopolis, in\nThrace, from which city Calandion, one of his successors, caused it\nto be translated to Antioch, about the year 482, as Theodorus Lector\ninforms us.[186]\n\n * * * * *\n\nSt. Eustathius bore his exile with patience and perfect submission,\nand was under its disgraces and hardships greater and more glorious\nthan whilst his zeal and other virtues shone with the brightest\nlustre on the patriarchal throne. We may please ourselves in those\nactions in which we seem to be something; into which, however,\nself-love, under a thousand forms, easily insinuates itself. But the\nmaxims of our Divine Redeemer teach us that no circumstances are so\nhappy for the exercise of the most heroic virtue as humiliations and\ndistresses when sent by Providence. These put our love to the test,\napply the remedy to the very root of our spiritual disorders, employ\nthe most perfect virtues of meekness, forgiveness, and patience, and\ncall forth our resignation, humility, and reliance on Providence; in\nthese trials we learn most perfectly to die to our passions, to know\nourselves, to feel our own nothingness and miseries, and with St.\nPaul to take pleasure in our infirmities. Here all virtue is more\npure and perfect. A Christian suffering with patience and joy, bears\nin spirit the nearest resemblance to his crucified Master, and enters\ndeepest into his most perfect sentiments of humility, meekness, and\nlove; for Jesus on his cross is the model by which his disciples are\nbound to form themselves, which they nowhere can do with greater\nadvantage than when they are in a like state of desolation and\nsuffering.\n\n\n ST. ELIER OR HELIER, HERMIT, M.\n\nIn the isle of Jersey and on the coasts of Normandy the name of\nthis servant of God has been in singular veneration from the time\nof his happy death. He was converted to the faith by St. Marcou, a\nholy abbot in Armorica, and being inflamed with an ardent desire\nof serving God in the practice of perfect virtue; retired into the\nisle of Jersey, and choosing for his abode a cave on the summit of a\nrock of difficult access, there led an eremitical life in rigorous\nfasting and assiduous prayer. In this lonely retreat he was murdered\nby robbers or infidel barbarians. The chief town in the island, which\nis situate seven leagues from Cotentin, bears his name. The dean of\nthe island is still invited to all diocesan synods of Coutances, the\nisland having been formerly subject to the spiritual jurisdiction of\nthat see. See the new Martyrology of Evreux; Piganiol, Descrip. de\nla France, t. 9, p. 557. The acts of S. Helier, in the Bollandists,\n16 Julij, and of S. Marcou, 1 Maij. Also Trigan, Hist. de Normandie,\nl. 3, p. 91, l. 4, p. 124. The Breviaries of Coutances and Rennes,\nand that of the Cistercian abbey of Beaubec, in the diocess of Rouen,\nwhich is possessed of his relics.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XVII.\n\n\n ST. ALEXIUS, CONFESSOR.\n\n From Joseph the Younger, in a poem of the ninth age,\n divided into Odes, an anonymous writer of his Life in the\n tenth century, noted by the Bollandists, a homily of St.\n Adalbert, bishop of Prague, and martyr, of the same age,\n and from other monuments, free from later interpolations;\n on all which see Pinius the Bollandist, t. 4, Julij, p.\n 239, who confutes at large the groundless and inconsistent\n surmises of Baillet. Above all, see Nerinio, abbot of the\n Hieronymites at Rome, who has fully vindicated the memory\n of St. Alexius in his Dissertation De Templo et C\u0153nobio,\n SS. Bonifacii et Alexii, in 4to. Rom\u00e6, 1752. On his\n Chaldaic Acts, see Jos. Assemani, ad 17 Martii, in Calend.\n Univ. t. 6, p. 187, 189; and Bibl. Orient. t. 1, p. 401.\n\n IN THE FIFTH CENTURY.\n\nSt. Alexius or Alexis is a perfect model of the most generous\ncontempt of the world. He was the only son of a rich senator of Rome,\nborn and educated in that capital, in the fifth century. From the\ncharitable example of his pious parents he learned, from his tender\nyears, that the riches which are given away to the poor, remain\nwith us for ever; and that alms-deeds are a treasure transferred to\nheaven, with the interest of an immense reward. And whilst yet a\nchild, not content to give all he could, he left nothing unattempted\nto compass or solicit the relief of all whom he saw in distress.\nBut the manner in which he dealt about his liberal alms was still a\ngreater proof of the noble sentiments of virtue with which his soul\nwas fired; for by this he showed that he thought himself most obliged\nto those who received his charity, and regarded them as his greatest\nbenefactors. The more he enlarged his views of eternity, and raised\nhis thoughts and desires to the bright scene of immortal bliss, the\nmore did he daily despise all earthly toys; for, when once the soul\nis thus upon the wing, and soars upwards, how does the glory of this\nworld lessen in her eye! and how does she contemn the empty pageantry\nof all that worldlings call great!\n\nFearing lest the fascination, or at least the distraction of\ntemporal honors might at length divide or draw his heart too much\nfrom those only noble and great objects, he entertained thoughts of\nrenouncing the advantages of his birth, and retiring from the more\ndangerous part of the world. Having, in compliance with the will of\nhis parents, married a rich and virtuous lady, he on the very day\nof the nuptials, making use of the liberty which the laws of God\nand his Church give a person before the marriage be consummated, of\npreferring a more perfect state, secretly withdrew, in order to break\nall the ties which held him in the world. In disguise he travelled\ninto a distant country, embraced extreme poverty, and resided in a\nhut adjoining to a church dedicated to the Mother of God. Being,\nafter some time there, discovered to be a stranger of distinction,\nhe returned home, and being received as a poor pilgrim, lived some\ntime unknown in his father\u2019s house, bearing the contumely and ill\ntreatment of the servants with invincible patience and silence. A\nlittle before he died, he by a letter discovered himself to his\nparents. He flourished in the reign of the emperor Honorius, Innocent\nthe first being bishop of Rome; and is honored in the calendars of\nthe Latins, Greeks, Syrians, Maronites, and Armenians. His interment\nwas celebrated with the greatest pomp by the whole city of Rome, on\nthe Aventin hill. His body was found there in 1216, in the ancient\nchurch of St. Boniface, whilst Honorius III. sat in St. Peter\u2019s\nchair, and at this day is the most precious treasure of a sumptuous\nchurch on the same spot, which bears his name jointly with that of\nSt. Boniface, gives title to a cardinal, and is in the hands of the\nHieronymites.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe extraordinary paths in which the Holy Ghost is pleased sometimes\nto conduct certain privileged souls are rather to be admired\nthan imitated. If it cost them so much to seek humiliations, how\ndiligently ought we to make a good use of those at least which\nprovidence sends us! It is only by humbling ourselves on all\noccasions that we can walk in the path of true humility, and root out\nof our hearts all secret pride. The poison of this vice infects all\nstates and conditions: it often lurks undiscovered in the foldings\nof the heart even after a man has got the mastery over all his other\npassions. Pride always remains even for the most perfect principally\nto fight against; and unless we watch continually against it, nothing\nwill remain sound or untainted in our lives; this vice will creep\neven into our best actions, infect the whole circle of our lives, and\nbecome a main spring of all the motions of our heart; and what is the\nheight of our misfortune, the deeper its wounds are, the more is the\nsoul stupified by its venom, and the less capable is she of feeling\nher most grievous disease and spiritual death. St. John Climacus\nwrites,[187] that when a young novice was rebuked for his pride, he\nsaid: \u201cPardon me, father, I am not proud.\u201d To whom the experienced\ndirector replied: \u201cAnd how could you give me a surer proof of your\npride than by not seeing it yourself?\u201d\n\n\n SAINTS SPERATUS AND HIS COMPANIONS.\n\n COMMONLY CALLED THE SCILLITAN MARTYRS.\n\nWhen the emperor Severus returned victorious from having vanquished\nthe kings who had taken part with Nigar against him, he published\nhis cruel edicts against the Christians in the year of Christ 202,\nthe tenth of his reign. But the general laws of the empire against\nforeign religions, and the former edicts of several emperors against\nthe Christians, were a sufficient warrant to many governors to\ndraw the sword against them before that time; and we find that the\npersecution was very hot in Africa two years before, under the\nproconsul Saturninus, in the eighth year of Severus and two hundredth\nof Christ. The first who suffered at Carthage were twelve persons,\ncommonly called the Scillitan Martyrs, probably because they were\nof Scillita, a town of the proconsular Africa. They were brought\nprisoners to Carthage, and on the 16th of July were presented to the\nproconsul whilst he was seated on his tribunal. The six principal\namong them were Speratus, Narzalis, and Cittinus; and three women,\nDonata, Secunda, and Vestina. The proconsul offered them the\nemperor\u2019s pardon if they would worship the gods of the Romans.\nSperatus answered in the name of all: \u201cWe have never committed any\ncrime, we have injured no one; so far from it, we have always thanked\nGod for the evil treatment we have received; wherefore we declare\nto you that we worship no other God but the true one, who is the\nlord and master of all things; we pray for those who persecute us\nunjustly, according to the law we have received.\u201d The proconsul urged\nthem to swear by the emperor\u2019s genius. Speratus said, \u201cI know not the\ngenius of the emperor of this world, but I serve the God of heaven,\nwhom no mortal man hath ever seen or can see. I never committed any\ncrime punishable by the laws of the state. I pay the public duties\nfor whatever I buy, acknowledging the emperor for my temporal lord;\nbut I adore none but my God, who is the King of kings, and sovereign\nLord over all the nations in the world. I have been guilty of no\ncrime, and therefore cannot have incurred punishment.\u201d Hereupon the\nproconsul said, \u201cLet them be carried to prison, and put in the wooden\nstocks till to-morrow.\u201d\n\nOn the day following, the proconsul being seated on his tribunal,\nordered them all to be brought before him, and said to the women,\n\u201cHonor our prince, and offer sacrifice to the gods.\u201d Donata replied,\n\u201cWe give to C\u00e6sar the honor that is due to C\u00e6sar; but we adore and\noffer sacrifice to God alone.\u201d Vestina said, \u201cI also am a Christian.\u201d\nSecunda said, \u201cI also believe in my God, and will continue faithful\nto him. As for your gods we will neither serve nor adore them.\u201d\nThe proconsul then ordered them into custody, and having called up\nthe men, he said to Speratus, \u201cArt thou still resolved to remain\na Christian?\u201d Speratus replied, \u201cYes, I am, be it known to all, I\nam a Christian.\u201d All that had been apprehended with him cried out,\n\u201cWe also are Christians.\u201d The proconsul said, \u201cWill you not then so\nmuch as deliberate upon the matter, or have any favor shown you?\u201d\nSperatus replied, \u201cDo what you please; we die with joy for the sake\nof Jesus Christ.\u201d The proconsul asked, \u201cWhat books are those which\nyou read and have in reverence?\u201d Speratus answered, \u201cThe four gospels\nof our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; the epistles of the apostle\nSt. Paul, and the rest of the scriptures, revealed by God.\u201d[188] The\nproconsul said, \u201cI give you three days to repent in.\u201d Upon which\nSperatus made answer, \u201cWe will never depart from the faith of our\nSaviour Jesus Christ, therefore take what course you think fit.\u201d The\nproconsul seeing their constancy and resolution, pronounced sentence\nagainst them in these terms: \u201cSperatus, Narzalis, Cittinus, Veturius,\nFelix, Acyllinus, L\u00e6tantius, Januaria, Generosa, Vestina, Donata,\nand Secunda, having acknowledged themselves Christians, and having\nrefused to pay due honor and respect to the emperor, I condemn them\nto be beheaded.\u201d This sentence being read, Speratus, and all those\nwho were with him, said, \u201cWe give God thanks for vouchsafing to\nreceive us this day as martyrs in heaven, for confessing his name.\u201d\nHaving said this, they were led to the place of execution, where they\nall fell on their knees, and once more gave thanks to Jesus Christ.\nWhilst they continued in prayer, their heads were struck off. The\nfaithful who transcribed their acts out of the public registers,\nadd:[189] \u201cThe martyrs of Christ finished their conflict in the month\nof July, and they intercede for us to our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom\nbe given honor and glory with the Father and the Holy Ghost through\nall ages.\u201d\n\nTertullian,[190] soon after their martyrdom, addressed his excellent\napologetic discourse for the Christian religion to the governors\nof the provinces, but without success. He testifies[191] that\nSaturninus, who first drew the sword against the Christians in\nAfrica, soon after lost his eyes. As to the emperor Severus, after\ncarrying on the persecution ten years, whilst he was making war in\nBritain, being on his march with his army, his eldest son Bassianus,\nsurnamed Antonius Caracalla, who marched after him, stopped his\nhorse, and drew his sword to stab him, but was prevented by others.\nSeverus only reproached him for it, but died soon after at York, of\ngrief for his son\u2019s treachery, rather than of the gout, on the 4th of\nFebruary in the year 211, having lived sixty-five years, and reigned\nseventeen and eight months. His two sons, Antoninus Caracalla and\nGeta, succeeded him; but the elder caused the latter to be stabbed in\nhis mother\u2019s bosom, who was sprinkled with his blood. See the acts\nof the Scillitan martyrs, copied from the court registers by three\ndifferent Christians, who added short notes, published by Baronius,\nad an. by Tillemont, t. 3, Ceillier, t. 2, p. 211, Cuper the\nBollandist, t. 4, Julij, p. 202, by Ruinart, p. 75, and by Mabillon,\nt. 3, Analect. p. 153, and abridged 204.\n\n\n ST. MARCELLINA, V.\n\nShe was the eldest sister to St. Ambrose and Satyrus, and after the\ndeath of her father, who was prefect of the Gauls, removed to Rome\nwith her pious mother and brothers. She was discreet beyond her\nyears, and from her cradle sought with her whole heart the only thing\nfor which she was created and sent into the world. Being charged\nat Rome with the education of her two brothers, she inspired them,\nby words and example, with an ardent thirst of virtue. She taught\nthem that nobleness of blood cannot enhance merit, nor make men\nmore illustrious unless they despise it; and that learning is an\nunpardonable crime and folly, if by it a man should desire to know\neverything that is in heaven and earth but himself; for with the\ntrue knowledge of ourselves are all our studies to begin and end, if\nwe desire to render them in any degree advantageous to ourselves.\nShe kindled in their tender breasts a vehement desire, not of the\nshow of virtue, but to become truly virtuous. In her whole conduct\nall her view was only the glory of God. The better to pursue this\ngreat end she resolved to renounce the world; and on Christmas-day,\nin 352, she put on the religious habit, and received the veil from\nthe hands of pope Liberius, in St. Peter\u2019s church, in presence of\nan incredible multitude of people. The pope, in a short discourse\non that occasion, exhorted her frequently to love only our Lord\nJesus Christ, the chaste spouse of her soul, to live in continual\nabstinence, mortification, silence, and prayer, and always to behave\nherself in the church with the utmost respect and awe. He mentioned\nto her the page of Alexander the Great, who, for fear of disturbing\nthe solemnity of a heathenish sacrifice by shaking off his hand a\npiece of melted wax that was fallen upon it, let it burn him to the\nbone.\n\nMarcellina in her practice went beyond the most perfect lessons.\nShe fasted every day till evening; and sometimes passed whole days\nwithout eating. She never touched any fare but what was of the\ncoarsest kinds, and drank only water. She never laid herself down\nto rest till quite overcome with sleep. The greatest part both of\nthe day and night she devoted to prayer, pious reading, and tears of\ndivine love and compunction. St. Ambrose advised her in the decline\nof her life to moderate her austerities, but always to redouble her\nfervor in tears and holy prayer, especially in reciting often the\npsalms, the Lord\u2019s prayer, and likewise the creed, which he calls the\nseal of a Christian, and the guard of our hearts. She continued at\nRome after the death of her mother, living not in a nunnery but in a\nprivate house with one fervent virgin, the faithful companion of all\nher holy exercises. St. Ambrose died in 397. She survived him, though\nit is uncertain how long. Her name is mentioned in the Roman and\nother Martyrologies on the 17th of July. See St. Ambrose, l. 3, de\nVirgin. c. 1, 2, 3, 4, t. 2, p. 1741, and Ep. 20 et 22, ed. Ben. and\nCuper the Bollandist, t. 4, Julij, p. 231.\n\n\n SAINT ENNODIUS, BISHOP OF PAVIA, C.\n\nMagnus Felix Ennodius was descended of an illustrious family, settled\nin Gaul, and was a kinsman to the greatest lords of his time; as, to\nFaustus, Bo\u00ebtius, Avienus, Olybrius, &c. He seems to call Arles the\nplace of his birth;[192] but he passed his first years in Italy, and\nhad his education at Milan under the care of an aunt, after whose\ndeath he took to wife a rich and noble lady. Eloquence and poetry\nwere the favorite studies of his youth, and he had the misfortune to\nbe drawn astray into the wide path of the world. But he was struck\nwith remorse, and listening to the voice of divine grace, changed\nhis life and wept bitterly for his past disorders. Out of gratitude\nto the divine mercy for his call, he entered into orders with the\nconsent of his wife, who at the same time devoted herself to God in\na state of perpetual continency. Having a particular confidence in\nthe powerful intercession of St. Victor, the martyr at Milan, he\nearnestly implored through it the grace to lead a holy life as he\ninforms us.[193]\n\nBeing ordained deacon, yet young, by St. Epiphanius of Pavia, he\nfrom that time despised profane studies, to give himself up entirely\nto those that are sacred. He wrote an apology for pope Symmachus\nand his council against the schism formed in favor of Laurence. He\nwas pitched upon to make a panegyric upon Theodoric, king of Italy,\nwhom he commends only for his victories and temporal success. He\nwrote the life of St. Epiphanius of Pavia, who died in 497, and was\nsucceeded by Maximus; likewise that of St. Antony of Lerins, who is\nmentioned in the Roman Martyrology on the 26th of December, besides\nseveral letters and other works, both in prose and verse. He assures\nus, that under a violent fever, in which he was given over by the\nphysicians, he had recourse to the heavenly physician through the\nintercession of his patron St. Victor, and that in a moment he found\nhimself restored to perfect health.[194] To perpetuate his gratitude\nfor this benefit, he wrote a work which he called Eucharisticon,\nor Thanksgiving; in which he gives a short account of his life,\nespecially of his conversion from the world, and how, through the\nintercession of St. Victor, he obtained the grace for his wife that\nshe freely entered into his views in their making, by joint consent,\nmutual vows of perpetual continency. After the death of Maximus he\nwas advanced to the episcopal see of Pavia about the year 510, not\nin 490, as Labbe mistakes; for, in his Eucharisticon, he says he was\nonly sixteen years old when Theodoric came into Italy in 489. He\ngoverned his church with a zeal and authority worthy a true disciple\nof St. Epiphanius.\n\nEnnodius was made choice of by pope Hormisdas to endeavor the\nreunion of the Eastern to the Western Church. The emperor Anastasius\nfomented the division by favoring the Eutychian heresy, by banishing\nmany orthodox prelates, and by protecting schismatical bishops of\nConstantinople; and in dissembling (the basest character of a prince)\nhe was a second Herod or Tiberius, whose artifices could not leave\nthem even in things where their interest was not concerned. Upon this\nerrand Ennodius made two journeys to Constantinople, the first in\nthe year 515, with Fortunatus, bishop of Catana, and the second in\n517, with Peregrinus, bishop of Misenum. The points upon which he was\nordered to insist were, that the faith of the council of Chalcedon\nand the letters of pope Leo against Nestorius, Eutyches, Dioscorus,\nand their followers, Timothy Elurus and Peter the Fuller, should be\nreceived; the anathema, pronounced against Acacius of Constantinople\nand Peter of Antioch, subscribed; and that the emperor should recall\nthe bishops whom he had banished for adhering to the orthodox\nfaith and communion. The emperor, whose conduct in all he did was\nequivocal, sent back the legates with a letter, wherein he declared\nthat he condemned Nestorius and Eutyches, and received the council\nof Chalcedon. Other things he promised to conclude by ambassadors\nwhom he would send to Rome; but his only aim was to gain time, and\neven whilst Ennodius was at Constantinople he condemned to banishment\nfour bishops of Illyricum for the Catholic cause, namely, Laurence\nof Lignida, Alcyson of Nicopolis, Gaianus of Na\u00efssum, and Evangelus\nof Paulitala. He deferred sending his ambassadors till the middle of\nthe next year, and then, instead of bishops as he had promised, sent\nonly two laymen, Theopompus, Comes Domesticorum or captain of his\nguards, and Severianus, Comes Consistorii or counsellor of state, and\ntheir instructions were confined to general protestations of laboring\nfor the peace of the Church. The pope answered that, far from having\nany need of being entreated on that head, he threw himself at the\nemperor\u2019s feet to implore his protection for the peace and welfare of\nGod\u2019s Church.\n\nEnnodius\u2019s second legation into the East proved as unsuccessful as\nthe former; for Anastasius rejected the formulary which the pope had\ndrawn up for the union, and endeavored to bribe the legates with\nmoney. But finding them proof against all temptations, he caused them\nto be sent out of his palace through a back door, and put on board a\nship with two prefects and several Magisterians,[195] who had orders\nnot to suffer them to enter into any city. Notwithstanding this, the\nlegates found an opportunity of dispersing their protestations in\nall cities; but the bishops who received them, from the dread they\nwere under of being accused, sent them all to Constantinople. Upon\nthis, Anastasius being very much exasperated, dismissed about two\nhundred bishops who were already come to a council which was to have\nbeen held at Heraclea to compose the distracted state of the Oriental\nchurch. Such was the conclusion of the promise this emperor had given\nof concurring to restore union between the churches. The people and\nthe senate reproached him with the breach of the oath he had made\nto that purpose; but he impiously said that there was a law which\ncommanded an emperor to forswear himself and to tell a lie in cases\nof necessity. This confirmed the people in their general suspicion,\nthat he had imbibed the opinions of the Manichees.\n\nSt. Ennodius was obliged to put to sea in an old rotten vessel,\nand all persons were forbidden to suffer him to land in any port\nof the eastern empire, whereby he was exposed to manifest danger.\nNevertheless, he arrived safe in Italy and returned to Pavia. The\nglory of suffering for the faith, which his zeal and constancy had\nprocured him, far from serving to make him slothful or remiss in\nthe discharge of his pastoral duties, was on the contrary a spur to\nhim in the more earnest pursuit of virtue, lest by sluggishness he\nshould deprive himself of the advantages which he might seem to have\nbegun to attain. He exerted his zeal in the conversion of souls,\nhis liberality in relieving the poor, and in building and adorning\nchurches, and his piety and devotion in composing sacred poems on the\nBlessed Virgin, St. Cyprian, St. Stephen, St. Dionysius of Milan,\nSt. Ambrose, St. Euphemia, St. Nazarius, St. Martin, &c., on the\nmysteries of Pentecost and on the Ascension, on a baptistery adorned\nwith the pictures of several martyrs whose relics were deposited\nin it. He wrote two new forms of blessing the paschal candle, in\nwhich the divine protection on the faithful is implored against\nwinds, storms, and all dangers through the malice of our invisible\nenemies.[196] St. Ennodius died on the 1st of August, 521, being only\nforty-eight years old. He is styled a great and glorious confessor\nby the popes Nicholas I. and John VIII., and is honored in the Roman\nMartyrology on the 17th of July. His works were published by two\nJesuits, F. Andrew Scot at Tournay in 1610, and by F. James Sirmond,\nwith notes, at Paris, in 1611, and most completely among the works\nof F. Sirmond, at Paris in 1696, t. 1. See his works, the letters of\npope Hormisdas, the Pontifical and F. Sirmond\u2019s collections. Also\nSolier the Bollandist, t. 4, Julij, p. 271.\n\n\n ST. LEO IV. POPE, C.\n\nHe was son of a Roman nobleman, had been educated in the monastery\nof St. Martin without the walls, and was made by Sergius II.\npriest of the four crowned martyrs. He was chosen pope after the\ndeath of Sergius II. in 847, and governed the Church eight years,\nthree months, and some days. The Saracens from Calabria had lately\nplundered St. Peter\u2019s church on the Vatican, and were still hovering\nabout Rome. Leo made it his first care to repair the ornamental\npart of this church, especially the Confession or burying-place of\nSt. Peter with the altar which stood upon it. To prevent a second\nplundering of that holy place, he, with the approbation and liberal\ncontributions of the emperor Lothaire, enclosed it and the whole\nVatican hill with a wall, and built there a new _rione_ or quarter of\nthe city, which from him is called Leonina. He rebuilt or repaired\nthe walls of the city, fortified with fifteen towers. Whilst he was\nputting Rome in a posture of defence, the Saracens marched towards\nPorto in order to plunder that town. The Neapolitans sent an army to\nthe assistance of the Romans: the pope met these troops at Ostia,\ngave them his blessing, and all the soldiers received the holy\ncommunion at his hands. After the pope\u2019s departure, a bloody battle\nensued, and the Saracens were all slain, taken, or dispersed. The\ngood pope considered the sins of the people as the chief source\nof public disasters; and being inflamed with a holy zeal, he most\nvigorously exerted his authority for the reformation of manners\nand of the discipline of the Church. For this purpose he held at\nRome a council of sixty-seven bishops; and, among other instances,\nhe deposed and excommunicated Anastasius, cardinal priest of St.\nMarcellus\u2019s church, because he had neglected to reside in his parish.\nHe received honorably Ethelwolph, king of England, who, in 854, made\na pilgrimage to Rome.\n\nPope Leo directed to all bishops and pastors a Homily on the Pastoral\nCare, published by Labbe from the Vatican manuscripts, and also\nextant in the Roman Pontifical. In it all the chief functions of the\npastoral charge are regulated, and every duty enforced with no less\nlearning than piety. Among other miracles performed by this holy\npope, it is recorded that by the sign of the cross he extinguished\na great fire in the city, which threatened the church of the prince\nof the apostles. He died on the 17th of July, 855, and Bennet III.,\npriest of the church of St. Calixtus, was immediately chosen pope\nin his room.[197] He, with many tears, begged that so formidable a\nburden might not be laid on his shoulders, but could not prevail.\nAnastasius, the deposed priest, set up for pope, and procured the\nprotection of the emperor Louis II.; but the steady unanimity of the\npeople in the election of Bennet III., overcame this opposition, and\nhe was consecrated on the 1st day of September in the same year, 855,\nas is related by Anastasius, who was then living, and shortly after\n(before the year 870) Bibliothecarian of the church of Rome, the most\nlearned man and the most shining ornament of that age, as Dr. Cave\nallows him to have been. See Solier the Bollandist, t. 4, Jul. p. 302.\n\n\n ST. TURNINUS, C.\n\nWas a holy Irish priest and monk, who, coming with St. Foilan into\nthe Netherlands, labored with unwearied zeal in bringing souls to the\nperfect practice of Christian virtue. The territory about Antwerp\nreaped the chief fruit of his apostolic mission. He died there about\nthe close of the eighth century. His relics were translated into the\nprincipality of Liege, and are honorably enshrined in a monastery\nsituated on the Sambre. See Colgan MSS. ad 17 Jul.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XVIII.\n\n\n ST. SYMPHOROSA.\n\n AND HER SEVEN SONS, MARTYRS.\n\n From their genuine Acts in Ruinart, c. 18. Some manuscripts\n attribute them to the celebrated Julius Africanus, who\n wrote a chronology from the beginning of the world to the\n reign of Heliogabalus, now lost, but commended by Eusebius\n as an exact and finished work. See Ceillier, t. 1, p. 668.\n\n A. D. 120.\n\nTrajan\u2019s persecution in some degree continued during the first year\nof Adrian\u2019s reign, whence Sulpicius Severus places the fourth general\npersecution under this emperor. However, he put a stop to it about\nthe year 124, moved probably both by the apologies of Quadratus\nand Aristides, and by a letter which Serenius Granianus, proconsul\nof Asia, had written to him in favor of the Christians.[198] Nay,\nhe had Christ in veneration, not as the Saviour of the world, but\nas a wonder or novelty, and kept his image together with that\nof Apollonius Tyan\u00e6us. This God was pleased to permit, that his\nafflicted church might enjoy some respite. It was, however, again\ninvolved in the disgrace which the Jews (with whom the Pagans at\nthese times in some degree confounded the Christians) drew upon\nthemselves by their rebellion, which gave occasion to the last entire\ndestruction of Jerusalem in 134. Then, as St. Paulinus informs\nus,[199] Adrian caused a statue of Jupiter to be erected on the place\nwhere Christ rose from the dead, and a marble Venus on the place\nof his crucifixion; and at Bethlehem,[200] a grotto consecrated in\nhonor of Adonis or Thammuz, to whom he also dedicated the cave where\nChrist was born. This prince, towards the end of his reign, abandoned\nhimself more than ever to acts of cruelty, and being awaked by a\nfit of superstition, he again drew his sword against the innocent\nflock of Christ. He built a magnificent country palace at Tibur, now\nTivoli, sixteen miles from Rome, upon the most agreeable banks of\nthe river Anio, now called Teverone. Here he placed whatever could\nbe procured most curious out of all the provinces. Having finished\nthe building, he intended to dedicate it by heathenish ceremonies,\nwhich he began by offering sacrifices, in order to induce the idols\nto deliver their oracles. The demons answered: \u201cThe widow Symphorosa\nand her seven sons daily torment us by invoking their God; if they\nsacrifice, we promise to be favorable to your vows.\u201d\n\nThis lady lived with her seven sons upon a plentiful estate which\nthey enjoyed at Tivoli, and she liberally expended her treasures\nin assisting the poor, especially in relieving the Christians that\nsuffered for the faith. She was widow of St. Getulius or Zoticus, who\nhad been crowned with martyrdom with his brother Amantius. They were\nboth tribunes of legions or colonels in the army, and are honored\namong the martyrs on the 10th of June. Symphorosa had buried their\nbodies in her own farm, and sighing to see her sons and herself\nunited with them in immortal bliss, she prepared herself to follow\nthem by the most fervent exercise of all good works.\n\nAdrian, whose superstition was alarmed at this answer of his gods or\ntheir priests, ordered her and her sons to be seized, and brought\nbefore him. She came with joy in her countenance, praying all the\nway for herself and her children, that God would grant them the\ngrace to confess his holy name with constancy. The emperor exhorted\nthem at first in mild terms to sacrifice. Symphorosa answered: \u201cMy\nhusband, Getulius, and his brother Amantius, being your tribunes,\nhave suffered divers torments for the name of Jesus Christ rather\nthan sacrifice to idols; and they have vanquished your demons by\ntheir death, choosing to be beheaded rather than to be overcome. The\ndeath they suffered drew upon them ignominy among men, but glory\namong the angels; and they now enjoy eternal life in heaven.\u201d The\nemperor changing his voice, said to her in an angry tone: \u201cEither\nsacrifice to the most powerful gods, with thy sons, or thou thyself\nshalt be offered up as a sacrifice together with them.\u201d Symphorosa\nanswered: \u201cYour gods cannot receive me as a sacrifice; but if I\nam burnt for the name of Jesus Christ, my death will increase the\ntorment which your devils endure in their flames. But can I hope for\nso great a happiness as to be offered with my children a sacrifice to\nthe true and living God?\u201d Adrian said: \u201cEither sacrifice to my gods,\nor you shall all miserably perish.\u201d Symphorosa said \u201cDo not imagine\nthat fear will make me change; I am desirous to be at rest with my\nhusband, whom you put to death for the name of Jesus Christ.\u201d The\nemperor then ordered her to be carried to the temple of Hercules,\nwhere she was first buffeted on the cheeks, and afterward hung up\nby the hair of her head. When no torments were able to shake her\ninvincible soul, the emperor gave orders that she should be thrown\ninto the river with a great stone fastened about her neck. Her\nbrother Eugenius, who was one of the chief of the council of Tibur,\ntook up her body, and buried it on the road near that town.\n\nThe next day the emperor sent for her seven sons all together, and\nexhorted them to sacrifice and not imitate the obstinacy of their\nmother. He added the severest threats, but finding all to be in vain,\nhe ordered seven stakes with engines and pulleys to be planted round\nthe temple of Hercules, and the pious youths to be bound upon them;\ntheir limbs were in this posture tortured and stretched in such\nmanner that the bones were disjointed in all parts of their bodies.\nThe young noblemen, far from yielding under the violence of their\ntortures, were encouraged by each other\u2019s example, and seemed more\neager to suffer than the executioners were to torment. At length the\nemperor commanded them to be put to death, in the same place where\nthey were, different ways. The eldest called Crescens had his throat\ncut; the second called Julian was stabbed in the breast; Nemesius the\nthird was pierced with a lance in his heart; Primativius received\nhis wound in the belly, Justin in the back, Stacteus on his sides,\nand Eugenius the youngest died by his body being cleft asunder into\ntwo parts across his breast from the head down wards. The emperor\ncame the next day to the temple of Hercules, and gave orders for a\ndeep hole to be dug, and all the bodies of these martyrs to be thrown\ninto it. The place was called by the heathen priest, _The seven\nBiothanati_; which word signifieth in Greek and in the style of art\nmagic, such as die by a violent death, particularly such as were\nput to the torture. After this, a stop was put to the persecution\nfor about eighteen months.[201] During which interval of peace the\nChristians took up the remains of these martyrs, and interred them\nwith honor on the Tiburtin road, in the midway between Tivoli and\nRome, where still are seen some remains of a church erected in memory\nof them in a place called to this day, _The seven Brothers_.[202]\nTheir bodies were translated by a pope called Stephen, into the\nchurch of the Holy Angel in the fish-market in Rome, where they were\nfound in the pontificate of Pius IV., with an inscription on a plate,\nwhich mentioned this translation.[203]\n\n * * * * *\n\nSt. Symphorosa set not before the eyes of her children the advantages\nof their riches and birth, or of their father\u2019s honorable employments\nand great exploits; but those of his piety and the triumph of his\nmartyrdom. She continually entertained them on the glory of heaven,\nand the happiness of treading in the steps of our Divine Redeemer, by\nthe practice of humility, patience, resignation, and charity, which\nvirtues are best learned in the path of humiliations and sufferings.\nIn these a Christian finds this solid treasure, and his unalterable\npeace and joy both in life and death. The honors, riches, applause,\nand pleasures with which the worldly sinner is sometimes surrounded,\ncan never satiate his desires; often they do not even reach his\nheart, which under this gorgeous show bleeds as it were inwardly,\nwhile silent grief, like a worm at the core, preys upon his vitals.\nDeath at least always draws aside the curtain, and shows them to have\nbeen no better than mere dreams and shadows which passed in a moment,\nbut have left a cruel sting behind them, which fills the mind with\nhorror, dread, remorse, and despair, and racks the whole soul with\nconfusion, perplexities, and alarms.\n\n\n ST. PHILASTRIUS, BISHOP OF BRESCIA, C.\n\nWe know nothing of this saint\u2019s country, only that he quitted it and\nthe house and inheritance of his ancestors, like Abraham, the more\nperfectly to disengage himself from the ties of the world. He lived\nin perfect continency, and often passed whole nights in meditating on\nthe holy scriptures. Being ordained priest he travelled through many\nprovinces to oppose the infidels and heretics, especially the Arians,\nwhose fury was at that time formidable over the whole Church. His\nzeal and lively faith gave him courage to rejoice with the apostles\nin suffering for the truth, and to bear in his body the marks of the\nstripes which he received by a severe scourging which he underwent\nfor Jesus Christ. At Milan he vigorously opposed the endeavors of\nAuxentius, the impious Arian wolf, who labored to destroy the flock\nof Christ there; and our saint was its strenuous guardian before St.\nAmbrose was made bishop of that city. He afterward went to Brescia,\nand finding the inhabitants of that place savage and barbarous,\nalmost entirely ignorant in spiritual things, yet desirous to learn,\nhe took much pains to instruct them, and had the comfort to see his\nlabors crowned with incredible success. He rooted out the tares of\nmany errors, and cultivated this wild soil with such assiduity that\nit became fruitful in good works. Being chosen the seventh bishop of\nthis see, he exerted himself in the discharge of all his pastoral\nfunctions with such vigor as even to outdo himself; and the authority\nof his high dignity added the greater weight to his endeavors. He\nwas not equal in learning to the Ambroses and Austins of that age;\nbut what was wanting in that respect was abundantly made up by the\nexample of his life, his spirit of perfect humility and piety, and\nhis unwearied application to every pastoral duty; and he is an\ninstance of what eminent service moderate abilities may be capable of\nin the Church, when they are joined with an heroic degree of virtue.\n\nTo caution his flock against the danger of errors in faith, he wrote\nhis Catalogue of Heresies, in which he does not take that word in\nits strict sense and according to the theological definition; but\nsometimes puts in the number of heresies certain opinions which\nhe rejects only as less probable, and which are problematically\ndisputed; as that the witch of Endor evoked the very soul of\nSamuel.[204] He everywhere breathes an ardent zeal for the Catholic\nfaith. St. Gaudentius extols his profound humility, his meekness,\nand sweetness towards all men, which was such that it seemed natural\nto him to repay injuries only with kindness and favors, and he never\ndiscovered the least emotions of anger. By his charity and patience\nhe gained the hearts of all men. In all he did he sought no interest\nbut that of Jesus Christ; and sovereignly contemning all earthly\nthings he pursued and valued only those that are eternal. Being\nmost mortified and sparing in his diet and apparel, he seemed to\nknow no other use of money than to employ it in relieving the poor;\nand he extended his liberality, not only to all that were reduced\nto beggary, but also to tradesmen and all others, whom he often\ngenerously enabled to carry on, or when expedient to enlarge their\nbusiness. Though he communicated himself with surprising charity and\ngoodness to all sorts of persons of every age, sex, and condition,\nhe seemed always to receive the poor with particular affection. He\ntrained up many pious and eminent disciples, among whom are named St.\nGaudentius, and one Benevolus, who in his life was a true imitator\nof the apostles; and being afterward preferred to an honorable post\nin the emperor Valentinian\u2019s court, chose rather to lay it down than\nto promulgate a rescript of the empress Justina in favor of the\nArians. St. Austin saw St. Philastrius at Milan with St. Ambrose,\nin the year 384.[205] He died soon after, and before St. Ambrose,\nhis metropolitan, who after his death placed St. Gaudentius in the\nsee of Brescia. This saint solemnized every year with his people\nthe day on which his master St. Philastrius passed to glory, and\nalways honored it with a panegyric; but of these discourses only the\nfourteenth is extant. See the life or encomium of St. Philastrius by\nSt. Gaudentius, published by Surius. Also the accurate history of the\nchurch of Brescia, entitled Pontificum Brixianorum series commentario\nhistorico illustrata, opera J. H. Gradonici. C. R. Brixie, 1755, t. 1.\n\n\n ST. ARNOUL, BISHOP OF METZ, C.\n\nAmong the illustrious saints who adorned the court of king Clotaire\nthe Great, none is more famous than St. Arnoul. He was a Frenchman,\nborn of rich and noble parents; and, having been educated in learning\nand piety, was called to the court of king Theodebert, in which\nhe held the second place among the great officers of state, being\nnext to Gondulph, mayor of the palace. Though young, he was equally\nadmired for prudence in the council and for valor in the field. By\nassiduous prayer, fasting, and excessive alms-deeds, he joined the\nvirtues of a perfect Christian with the duties of a courtier. Having\nmarried a noble lady called Doda, he had by her two sons, Clodulf and\nAnsegisus; by the latter the Carlovingian race of kings of France\ndescended from St. Arnoul. Fearing the danger of entangling his soul\nin many affairs which passed through his hands, he desired to retire\nto the monastery of Lerins; but being crossed in the execution of his\nproject, passed to the court of king Clotaire. That great monarch,\nthe first year in which he reigned over all France, assented to the\nunanimous request of the clergy and people of Metz, demanding Arnoul\nfor their bishop. Our saint did all that could be done to change the\nmeasures taken, but in vain. He was consecrated bishop in 614, and\nhis wife Doda took the religious veil at Triers. The king obliged\nArnoul still to assist at his councils, and to fill the first place\nat his court. The saint always wore a hair shirt under his garments;\nhe sometimes passed three days without eating, and his usual food\nwas only barley and water. He seemed to regard whatever he possessed\nas the patrimony of the poor, and his alms seemed to exceed all\nbounds. His benevolence took in all the objects of charity, but\nhis discretion singled out those more particularly whose greater\nnecessities called more pressingly upon his bounty.\n\nIn 622 Clotaire II. divided his dominions, and making his son\nDagobert king of Austrasia, appointed St. Arnoul duke of Austrasia\nand chief counsellor and Pepin of Landen mayor of his palace. The\nreign of this prince was virtuous, prosperous, and glorious, so long\nas Arnoul remained at the helm; but the saint anxiously desiring\nto retire from all business, that he might more seriously study to\nsecure his own salvation before he should be called hence, never\nceased to solicit the king for leave to quit the court. Dagobert\nlong refused his consent, but at length, out of a scruple lest he\nshould oppose the call of heaven, granted it, though with the utmost\nreluctance. St. Arnoul resigned also his bishopric, and retired into\nthe deserts of Vosge, near the monastery of Remiremont, on the top\nof a high mountain, where a hermitage is at this day standing. Here\nthe saint labored daily with fresh fervor to advance in the path of\nChristian perfection; for the greater progress a person has already\nmade in virtue, the more does the prospect enlarge upon him, and the\nmore perfectly does he see how much is yet wanting in him, and how\ngreat a scope is left for exerting his endeavors still more. Who will\npretend to have made equal advances with St. Paul towards perfection?\nyet he was far from ever thinking that he had finished his work, or\nthat he might remit anything in his endeavors. On the contrary, we\nfind him imitating the alacrity of those who run in a race who do not\nso much consider what ground they have already cleared, as how much\nstill remains to call forth their utmost eagerness and strength. Nor\ncan there be a more certain sign that a person has not yet arrived at\nthe lowest and first degree of virtue, than that he should think he\ndoes not need to aim higher. In this vigorous pursuit St. Arnoul died\non the 16th of August in 640. His remains were brought to Metz, and\nenrich the great abbey which bears his name. The Roman Martyrology\nmentions him on the 18th of July, on which day the translation of his\nrelics was performed; the Gallican on the 16th of August. See his\nlife, faithfully compiled by his successor, in Mabillon, Act. Bened.\nt. 2, p. 150. Also Calmet, Hist. de Lorraine, t. 1, l. 9, n. 10, &c.\np. 378, 381, &c. Bosch the Bollandist, t. 5, Jul. p. 423; and D.\nCajot, Benedictin monk of St. Arnoul\u2019s Les Antiquit\u00e9s de Metz, an.\n1761.\n\n\n ST. ARNOUL, M.\n\nHe preached the faith among the Franks after St. Remigius had\nbaptized king Clovis. He suffered much in his apostolic labors,\nand was at length martyred in the Aquilin forest between Paris and\nChartres, about the year 534. His name is highly reverenced at Paris,\nRheims, and over all France. See Cuper the Bollandist, Julij, t. 4,\np. 396.\n\n\n SAINT FREDERIC, BISHOP OF UTRECHT, M.\n\nHe was descended of a most illustrious family among the Frisons, and\naccording to the author of his life, was great-grandson to Radbod,\nking of that country, before it was conquered by the French. He was\ntrained up in piety and sacred literature among the clergy of the\nchurch of Utrecht. His fasts and other austerities were excessive,\nand his watchings in fervent prayer were not less inimitable. Being\nordained priest, he was charged by bishop Ricfrid with the care of\ninstructing the catechumens, and that good prelate dying in 820, he\nwas chosen the eighth bishop of Utrecht from St. Willibrord.[206]\nThe holy man, with many tears, before the clergy and people,\ndeclared, in moving terms, his incapacity and unworthiness, but\nby the authority of the emperor Louis Debonnaire was compelled to\nsubmit. He therefore repaired to his metropolitan, the archbishop\nof Mentz, and at Aix-la-Chapelle received the investiture by the\nring and crosier, and was consecrated by the bishops in presence of\nthe emperor, who zealously recommended to him the extirpation of\nthe remains of idolatry in Friesland. The new bishop was met by the\nclergy and others of his church, and by them honorably conducted from\nthe Rhine to Utrecht. He immediately applied himself to establish\neverywhere the best order, and sent zealous and virtuous laborers\ninto the northern parts, to root out the relics of idolatry which\nstill subsisted there.\n\nCharlemagne, by treating with severity the conquered Frisons and\nSaxons, had alienated their minds from his empire; but upon his\ndeath in 814, Louis his son, whom he had made in his own life-time\nking of Aquitain, came to the empire, by excluding his little nephew\nBernard, king of Italy, grandson of Pepin, elder brother to this\nLouis, whom their father made king of Italy, but who died in 810,\nleaving that kingdom to his son and grandson both named Bernard.\nLouis upon his accession to the throne eased the Saxons of their\nheavy taxes, and showed them so much lenity that he gained their\nhearts to the empire for ever, and from his courtesy and from this\nand other actions of clemency was surnamed _The Debonnaire_, or the\nGracious. He lost his queen Irmingarde, who died at Angiers in 818,\nby whom he had three sons, Lothaire, Pepin, and Louis. The first he\nmade king of Italy,[207] the second king of Aquitain, and Louis king\nof Bavaria; reserving to himself the rest of Bavaria and France. In\n819 he married Judith, daughter of Guelph, count of Aldorff, by whom\nhe had Charles _the Bald_, afterward emperor and king of France.\nShe was an ambitious and wanton woman; her adulteries gave great\nscandal to the people, and her overbearing insolence and continual\nintrigues embroiled the state, and drove the three eldest sons into\nopen rebellion against their father.[208] Nothing can excuse the\nmethods to which these unnatural princes had recourse, under pretence\nof remedying the public disorders, which sprang from the weakness\nof their father, and the malice of a hated mother-in-law. But the\nscandals of her lewdness stirred up the zeal of our holy pastor to\nact the part of a second John the Baptist. The contemporary author\nof the life of Wala, abbot of Lorbie, who was deeply concerned in\nthe secret transactions of that court, confidently charges her with\nincest and adultery with her relation and favorite minister, Bernard\ncount of Barcelona. The author of the life of St. Frederic says, her\nmarriage with Louis was incestuous, and within the forbidden degrees\nof affinity; but this circumstance could not have escaped the censure\nof her enemies; and from their silence is rejected by Mabillon and\nothers as fabulous.\n\nWhatever the scandals of her gallantries were, St. Frederic, the\nneighborhood of whose see gave him free access to the court, then\nchiefly kept at Aix-la-Chapelle, admonished her of them with an\napostolic freedom and charity, but without any other effect than that\nof drawing upon himself the fury and resentment of a second Jezebel,\nif we may believe the historians of that age. Our saint suffered\nalso another persecution. The inhabitants of Wallacria, now called\nWalcheren, one of the principal islands of Zealand, belonging to the\nNetherlands, were of all others the most barbarous, and most averse\nto the maxims of the gospel. On which account St. Frederic, when he\nsent priests into the northern uncultivated provinces of his diocess,\ntook this most dangerous and difficult part chiefly to himself; and\nnothing here gave him more trouble than the incestuous marriages\ncontracted within the forbidden degrees, and the separation of the\nparties. To extirpate this inveterate evil he employed assiduous\nexhortations, tears, watching, prayer, and fasting; summoned an\nassembly of the principal persons of the island, and earnestly\nrecommended the means to banish this abuse from among them, broke\nmany such pretended marriages, and reconciled many persons that had\ndone sincere penance to God and his Church. He composed a prayer\nto the Blessed Trinity with an exposition of that adorable mystery\nagainst heresies, which for many ages was used in the Netherlands\nwith great devotion. The reputation of his sanctity made him to be\nconsidered as one of the most illustrious prelates of the Church, as\nappears from a poem of Rabanus Maurus, his contemporary, in praise of\nhis virtue, published with notes among his poetical works, together\nwith those of Fortunatus by F. Brower, S. J.[209]\n\nWhilst this holy pastor was intent only upon the duties of his\ncharge, one day when he came from the altar having said mass, as he\nwas going to kneel down in the chapel of St. John Baptist to perform\nhis thanksgiving and other private devotions, he was stabbed in\nthe bowels by two assassins. He expired in a few minutes, reciting\nthat verse of the hundred and fourteenth psalm,--_I will please\nthe Lord in the land of the living_. The author of his life says\nthese assassins were employed by the empress Judith, who could not\npardon the liberty he had taken to reprove her incest. William of\nMalmesbury[210] and other historians assert the same; and this seems\nclearly to have been the true cause and manner of his martyrdom;\nWilliam Heda,[211] Beka,[212] Emmius,[213] and many others confirm\nthe same. Baronius in his annals, Mabillon, Le Cointe, and Baillet\nthink these assassins were rather sent by some of the incestuous\ninhabitants of Wallacria, but this opinion is destitute of the\nauthority of ancient historians. The martyr\u2019s body was buried in the\nsame church of St. Saviour, called Oude-Munster, at Utrecht. His\ndeath happened on the 17th of July, 838, as Mabillon has proved. See\nthe life of St. Frederic with the notes of Cuper the Bollandist,\nJulij, t. 4, p. 452, and Batavia Sacra, p. 99. Also Heda\u2019s History of\nthe Bishops of Utrecht, Beka and Emmius.\n\n\n ST. ODULPH, CANON OF UTRECHT, C.\n\nHe was born of noble French parents, and distinguished in his youth\nby the innocence of his manners, and his remarkable progress in\nlearning and piety. Being ordained priest, he was made curate of\nOresscoth in Brabant. St. Frederic afterward, by urgent entreaties,\nengaged him, for the greater glory of God, to be his strenuous\nassistant in reforming the manners of the fierce Frisons; in which\nundertaking it is incredible what fatigues he underwent, and what\nproofs he gave of heroic patience, meekness, zeal, and charity.\nContemplation and prayer were the support and refreshment of his\nsoul under his continual labors and austerities. Several wonderful\npredictions of things which happened long after his death, are\nrecorded in his life. In his old age he resided at Utrecht, and\ndied canon of the cathedral. To his last moments he allowed himself\nno indulgence, and never relaxed his fervor in labor; but rather\nredoubled his pace the nearer he saw his end approach, knowing this\nto be the condition of the Christian\u2019s hire, and fearing to lose by\nsloth and for want of perseverance the crown for which he fought.\nHis fasts, his watchings, his assiduity in prayer, his almsdeeds,\nhis zeal in instructing the people, and exhorting all men to the\ndivine love and the contempt of all earthly things, seemed to gather\nstrength with his years. Being seized with a fever, he with joy\nforetold his last moment, and earnestly exhorting his brethren to\nfervor, and commending himself to their prayers, he promised, by the\ndivine mercy, never to forget them before God, and happily departed\nthis life in the ninth age, on the 12th of June, on which day his\nfestival was kept with great solemnity at Utrecht and Staveren.\nSeveral churches and chapels bear his name; but the chapel at the New\nBridge in Amsterdam, called Olofs-Kapel, was erected by the Danish\nsailors in memory of St. Olaus, king of Norway and Martyr, not of\nSt. Odulph, as the Bollandists and some others have mistaken. See\nthe life of St. Odulph in the Bollandists, Junij, t. 2, and Batavia\nSacra, p. 106.\n\n\n ST. BRUNO, BISHOP OF SEGNI, C.\n\nHe was of the illustrious family of the lords of Asti in Piemont\nand born near that city. From his cradle he considered, that man\u2019s\nhappiness is only to be found in loving God; and to please him in\nall his actions was his only and his most ardent desire. He made his\nstudies in the monastery of St. Perpetuus in the diocess of Asti.\nBosch proves that he never was canon of Asti, but enjoyed some years\na canonry at Sienna, as he himself informs us. In the Roman council\nin 1079, he defended the doctrine of the Catholic Church concerning\nthe blessed eucharist against Berengarius; and pope Gregory VII.\nnominated him bishop of Segni in the ecclesiastical state in 1081.\nBruno, who had been compelled to submit, after a long and strenuous\nresistance, served his flock, and on many important occasions the\nuniversal Church, with unwearied zeal. Gregory VII. who died in 1085,\nVictor III. formerly abbot of mount Cassino, who died in 1087, and\nUrban II. who had been scholar to St. Bruno (afterward institutor\nof the Carthusians) at Rheims, then a monk at Cluni, and afterward\nbishop of Ostia, had the greatest esteem for our saint. He attended\nUrban II. into France in 1095, and assisted at the council of Tours\nin 1096. After his return into Italy he continued to labor for the\nsanctification of his soul and that of his flock, till not being able\nany longer to resist his inclination for solitude and retirement,\nhe withdrew to mount Cassino, and put on the monastic habit. The\npeople of Segni demanded him back; but Oderisus, abbot of mount\nCassino, and several Cardinals, whose mediation the saint employed,\nprevailed upon the pope to allow his retreat. The abbot Oderisus\nwas succeeded by Otho in 1105, and this latter dying in 1107, the\nmonks chose bishop Bruno abbot. He was often employed by the pope\nin important commissions, and by his writings labored to support\necclesiastical discipline[214] and to extirpate simony. This vice\nhe looked upon as the source of all the disorders which excited the\ntears of all zealous pastors in the Church, by filling the sanctuary\nwith hirelings, whose worldly spirit raises an insuperable opposition\nto that of the gospel. What would this saint have said had he\nseen the collation of benefices, and the frequent translations of\nbishops in some parts, which serve to feed and inflame avarice and\nambition in those in whom, above all others, a perfect disengagement\nfrom earthly things and crucifixion of the passions ought to lay a\nfoundation of the gospel temper and spirit? Paschal II. formerly a\nmonk of Cluni, succeeded Urban II. in the pontificate in 1099. By his\norder St. Bruno having been abbot of mount Cassino about four years,\nreturned to his bishopric, having resigned his abbacy, and left his\nabbatial crosier on the altar. He continued faithfully to discharge\nthe episcopal functions to his death, which happened at Segni on the\n31st of August in 1125. He was canonized by Lucius III. in 1183, and\nhis feast is kept in Italy on the 18th of July. See his anonymous\nauthentic life, and Leo of Ostia and Peter the deacon in their\nchronicle of mount Cassino, with the notes of Solier the Bollandist,\nt. 4, Julij, p. 471. Also Dom. Maur Marchesi, dean of mount Cassino,\nin his apparatus (prefixed to the works of this saint) printed at\nVenice in 1651; Mabillon, Annal. Bened. l. 70, Ceillier, t. 21, p.\n101.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XIX.\n\n\n ST. VINCENT OF PAUL, C.\n\n FOUNDER OF THE LAZARITES, OR FATHERS OF THE MISSION.\n\n From his edifying life written by Abelly, bishop of Rodez,\n and again by the celebrated continuator of Tournely\u2019s\n Theological Lectures, Dr. Peter Collet, in two volumes,\n quarto, Nancy, 1748. See also Perrault, Hommes Illustr.\n Helyot, Hist. des Ord. Relig. t. 8, p. 64, and the bull of\n his canonization published by Clement XII. in 1737, apud\n Bened. XIV. de canoniz., t. 4, Append. p. 363.\n\n A. D. 1660.\n\nEven in the most degenerate ages, when the true maxims of the\ngospel seem almost obliterated among the generality of those who\nprofess it, God fails not, for the glory of his holy name, to raise\nto himself faithful ministers to revive the same in the hearts of\nmany. Having, by the perfect crucifixion of the old man in their\nhearts, and the gift of prayer, prepared them to become vessels\nof his grace, he replenishes them with the spirit of his apostles\nthat they may be qualified to conduct others in the paths of heroic\nvirtue, in which the Holy Ghost was himself their interior Master.\nOne of these instruments of the divine mercy was St. Vincent of\nPaul. He was a native of Poul, a village near Acqs in Gascony, not\nfar from the Pyren\u00e6an mountains. His parents, William of Paul and\nBertranda of Morass, occupied a very small farm of which they were\nthe proprietors, and upon the produce of which they brought up a\nfamily of four sons and two daughters. The children were brought up\nin innocence, and inured from their infancy to the most laborious\npart of country labor. But Vincent, the third son, gave extraordinary\nproofs of his wit and capacity, and from his infancy showed a\nseriousness and an affection for holy prayer far beyond his age. He\nspent great part of his time in that exercise when he was employed in\nthe fields to keep the cattle. That he might give to Christ in the\npersons of the poor all that was in his power, he deprived himself\nof his own little conveniences and necessaries for that purpose\nin whatever it was possible for him to retrench from his own use.\nThis early fervent consecration of himself to God, and these little\nsacrifices which may be compared to the widow\u2019s two mites in the\ngospel, were indications of the sincere ardor with which he began to\nseek God from the first opening of his reason to know and love him;\nand were doubtless a means to draw down upon him from the author of\nthese graces other greater blessings. His father was determined by\nthe strong inclinations of the child to learning and piety, and the\nquickness of his parts, to procure him a school education. He placed\nhim first under the care of the Cordeliers or Franciscan friars at\nAcqs, paying for his board and lodging the small pension of sixty\nFrench livres, that is, not six pounds English, a year.\n\nVincent had been four years at the schools when Mr. Commet, a\ngentleman of that town, being much taken with his virtue and\nprudence, chose him sub-preceptor to his children, and enabled him\nto continue his studies without being any longer a burden to his\nparents. At twenty years of age, in 1596, he was qualified to go to\nthe university of Toulouse, where he spent seven years in the study\nof divinity, and commenced bachelor in that faculty. In that city\nhe was promoted to the holy orders of subdeacon and deacon in 1598,\nand of priesthood in 1600, having received the tonsure and minor\norders a few days before he left Acqs. He seemed already endowed\nwith all those virtues which make up the character of a worthy and\nzealous minister of the altar; yet he knew not the full extent of\nheroic entire self-denial, by which a man becomes dead and crucified\nto all inordinate self-will; upon which perfect self-denial are\nengrafted the total sacrifice of the heart to God, perfect humility,\nand that purity and ardor of divine charity which constitute the\nsaint. Vincent was a good proficient in theology and other sciences\nof the schools, and had diligently applied himself to the study of\nthe maxims of Christian virtue in the gospel, in the lives of the\nsaints, and in the doctrine of the greatest masters of a spiritual\nlife. But there remained a new science for him to learn, which was\nto cost him much more than bare study and labor. This consists in\nperfect experimental and feeling sentiments of humility, patience,\nmeekness, and charity; which science is only to be learned by the\ngood use of severe interior and exterior trials. This is the mystery\nof the cross, unknown to those whom the Holy Ghost has not led into\nthis important secret of his conduct in preparing souls for the great\nworks of his grace. The prosperity of the wicked will appear at the\nlast day to have often been the most dreadful judgment, and a state\nin which they were goaded on in the pursuit of their evil courses;\nwhilst, on the contrary, it will then be manifested to all men that\nthe afflictions of the saints have been the greatest effects of\ndivine mercy. Thus, by a chain of temporal disasters, did God lay in\nthe soul of Vincent the solid foundation of that high virtue to which\nby his grace he afterward raised him.\n\nThe saint went to Marseilles in 1605, to receive a legacy of five\nhundred crowns which had been left him by a friend who died in that\ncity. Intending to return to Toulouse, he set out in a felucca or\nlarge boat from Marseilles to Narbonne, but was met in the way\nby three brigantines of African pirates. The infidels seeing the\nChristians refuse to strike their flag, charged them with great fury,\nand on the first onset killed three of their men, and wounded every\none of the rest; Vincent received a shot of an arrow. The Christians\nwere soon obliged to surrender. The first thing the Mahometans did\nwas to cut the captain in pieces because he had not struck at the\nfirst summons, and in combat had killed one of their men and four\nor five slaves. The rest they put in chains; and continued seven or\neight days longer on that coast, committing several other piracies,\nbut sparing the lives of those that made no resistance. When they\nhad got a sufficient booty they sailed for Barbary. Upon landing\nthey drew up an act of their seizure, in which they falsely declared\nthat Vincent and his companions had been taken on board of a Spanish\nvessel, that the French consul might not challenge them. Then they\ngave to every slave a pair of loose breeches, a linen jerkin, and a\nbonnet. In this garb they were led five or six times through the city\nof Tunis to be shown; after which they were brought back to their\nvessel, where the merchants came to see them, as men do at the sale\nof a horse or an ox. They examined who could eat well, felt their\nsides, looked at their teeth to see who were of scorbutic habits of\nbody, consequently unlikely for very long life; they probed their\nwounds, and made them walk and run in all paces, lift up burdens,\nand wrestle, to judge of their strength. Vincent was bought by a\nfisherman, who, finding that he could not bear the sea, soon sold\nhim again to an old physician, a great chemist and extractor of\nessences, who had spent fifty years in search of the pretended\nphilosopher\u2019s stone. He was humane, and loved Vincent exceedingly;\nbut gave him long lectures on his alchemy, and on the Mahometan law,\nto which he used his utmost efforts to bring him over; promising,\non that condition, to leave him all his riches, and to communicate\nto him, what he valued much more than his estate, all the secrets\nof his pretended science. Vincent feared the danger of his soul\nmuch more than all the hardships of his slavery, and most earnestly\nimplored the divine assistance against it, recommending himself\nparticularly to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, to which he\never after attributed his victory over this temptation. He lived\nwith this old man from September 1605 to August 1606, when, by this\nphysician\u2019s death, he fell to the share of a nephew of his master,\na true man-hater. By resignation to the divine will, and confidence\nin providence, he enjoyed a sweet repose in his own heart under all\naccidents, hardships, and dangers; and by assiduous devout meditation\non the sufferings of Christ, learned to bear all his afflictions with\ncomfort and joy, uniting himself in spirit with his Divine Redeemer,\nand studying to copy in himself his lessons of perfect meekness,\npatience, silence, and charity. This new master sold him in a short\ntime to a renegado Christian who came from Nice in Savoy. This man\nsent him to his temat or farm situate on a hot desert mountain. This\napostate had three wives, of which one, who was a Turkish woman, went\noften to the field where Vincent was digging, and out of curiosity\nwould ask him to sing the praises of God. He used to sing to her,\nwith tears in his eyes, the psalm _Upon the rivers of Babylon_, &c.\nthe Salve Regina, and such like prayers. She was so much taken with\nour holy faith, and doubtless with the saintly deportment of the holy\nslave, that she never ceased repeating to her husband, that he had\nbasely abandoned the only true religion, till like another Caiphas\nor ass of Balaam, without opening her own eyes to the faith, she\nmade him enter into himself. Sincerely repenting of his apostasy,\nhe agrees with Vincent to make their escape together. They crossed\nthe Mediterranean sea in a small light boat which the least squall\nof wind would overset; and they landed safe at Aigues-Mortes,\nnear Marseilles, on the 28th of June, 1607, and thence proceeded\nto Avignon. The apostate made his abjuration in the hands of the\nvice-legate, and the year following went with Vincent to Rome, and\nthere entered himself a penitent in the austere convent of the\nFate-Ben-Fratelli, who served the hospitals according to the rule of\nSt. John of God.\n\nVincent received great comfort at the sight of a place most venerable\nfor its pre-eminence in the church, which has been watered with the\nblood of so many martyrs, and is honored with the tombs of the two\ngreat apostles SS. Peter and Paul and many other saints. He was moved\nto tears at the remembrance of their zeal, fortitude, humility,\nand charity, and often devoutly visited their monuments, praying\nearnestly that he might be so happy as to walk in their steps, and\nimitate their virtues. After a short stay at Rome, to satisfy his\ndevotion, he returned to Paris, and took up his quarters in the\nsuburb of St. Germain\u2019s. There lodged in the same house a gentleman,\nthe judge of a village near Bourdeaux, who happened to be robbed of\nfour hundred crowns. He charged Vincent with the theft, thinking it\ncould be nobody else; and in this persuasion he spoke against him\nwith the greatest virulence among all his friends, and wherever he\nwent. Vincent calmly denied the fact, saying, \u201cGod knows the truth.\u201d\nHe bore this slander six years, without making any other defence,\nor using harsh words or complaints, till the true thief being taken\nup at Bourdeaux on another account, to appease his own conscience\nand clear the innocent he sent for this judge, and confessed to\nhim the crime. St. Vincent related this in a spiritual conference\nwith his priests, but as of a third person; to show that patience,\nhumble silence, and resignation are generally the best defence of our\ninnocence, and always the happiest means of sanctifying our souls\nunder slanders and persecution; and we may be assured that providence\nwill in its proper time justify us, if expedient.\n\nAt Paris Vincent became acquainted with the holy priest Monsieur de\nBerulle, who was afterward cardinal, and at that time was taken up\nin founding the Congregation of the French Oratory. A saint readily\ndiscovers a soul in which the spirit of God reigns. Berulle conceived\na great esteem for St. Vincent from his first conversation with\nhim; and to engage him in the service of his neighbor, he prevailed\nwith him first to serve as curate of the parish of Clichi, a small\nvillage near Paris; and soon after to quit that employ to take\nupon him the charge of preceptor to the children of Emmanuel de\nGondy, count of Joigny, general of the galleys of France. His lady,\nFrances of Silly, a person of singular piety, was so taken with the\nsanctity of Vincent, that she chose him for her spiritual director\nand confessor. In the year 1616, whilst the countess of Joigny was\nat a country seat at Folleville, in the diocess of Amiens, Vincent\nwas sent for to the village of Gannes, two leagues from Folleville,\nto hear the confession of a countryman who lay dangerously ill.\nThe zealous priest, by carefully examining his penitent, found it\nnecessary to advise him to make a general confession, with which\nthe other joyfully complied. The penitent by this means discovered\nthat all his former confessions had been sacrilegious for want of a\ndue examination of his conscience; and afterward, bathed in tears,\nhe declared aloud, in transports of joy before many persons and the\ncountess of Joigny herself, that he should have been eternally lost\nif he had not spoken to Vincent. The pious lady was struck with dread\nand horror to hear of such past sacrileges, and to consider the\nimminent danger of being damned in which that poor soul had been;\nand she trembled lest some others among her vassals might have the\nmisfortune to be in the like case. Far from the criminal illusion\nof pride by which some masters and mistresses seem persuaded that\nthey owe no care, attention, or provision to those whose whole life\nis employed only to give them the fruit of their sweat and labors;\nshe was sensible from the principles both of nature and religion,\nthat masters or lords lie under strict ties of justice and charity\ntowards all committed to their care; and that they are bound in the\nfirst place, as far as it lies in their power, to see them provided\nwith the necessary spiritual helps for their salvation. But to wave\nthe obligation, what Christian heart can pretend to the bowels of\ncharity, and be insensible at the dangers of such persons? The\nvirtuous countess felt in her own breast the strongest alarms for\nso many poor souls, which she called her own by many titles. She\ntherefore entreated Vincent to preach in the church of Folleville,\non the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, in 1617, and fully to\ninstruct the people in the great duty of repentance and confession\nof sins. He did so; and such crowds flocked to him to make general\nconfessions that he was obliged to call in the Jesuits of Amiens\nto his assistance. The Congregation of the mission dates its first\ninstitution from this time, and in thanksgiving for it, keeps the\n25th of January with great solemnity.\n\nBy the advice of Monsieur de Berulle, St. Vincent left the house of\nthe countess in 1617, to employ his talents among the common people\nin the villages of Bresse, where he heard they stood in great need\nof instruction. He prevailed upon five other zealous priests to bear\nhim company, and with them formed a little community in the parish\nof Chatillon in that province. He there converted by his sermons the\ncount of Rougemont and many others from their scandalous unchristian\nlives to a state of eminent penance and fervor, and in a short time\nchanged the whole face of the country.[215] The good countess his\npatroness was infinitely pleased with his success, and gave him\nsixteen thousand livres to found a perpetual mission among the common\npeople in the place and manner he should think fit. But she could not\nbe easy herself whilst she was deprived of his direction and advice;\nshe therefore employed Monsieur de Berulle, and her brother-in-law\ncardinal de Retz, to prevail with him to come to her, and extorted\nfrom him a promise that he would never abandon the direction of her\nconscience so long as she lived, and that he would assist her at her\ndeath. But being extremely desirous that others, especially those\nwho were particularly entitled to her care and attention, should\nwant nothing that could contribute to their sanctification and\nsalvation, she induced her husband to concur with her in establishing\na company of able and zealous missionaries who should be employed in\nassisting their vassals and farmers. This project they proposed to\ntheir brother, John Francis of Gondi, the first archbishop of Paris,\nand he gave the college of Bons Enfans for the reception of the new\ncommunity. All things being agreed on St. Vincent took possession of\nthis house in April 1625. The count and countess gave forty thousand\nFrench livres to begin the foundation.\n\nSt. Vincent attended the countess till her pious death, which\nhappened on the 23d of June the same year; after which he joined\nhis Congregation. He drew up for it certain rules or constitutions\nwhich were approved by pope Urban VIII., in 1632. King Louis XIII.\nconfirmed the establishment by letters patent, which he granted in\nMay the same year; and, in 1633, the regular canons of St. Victor\ngave to this new institute the priory of St. Lazarus, which being\na spacious building was made the chief house of the Congregation,\nand from it the Fathers of the Mission were often called Lazarites\nor Lazarians. They are not religious men, but a Congregation of\nsecular priests, who after two years\u2019 probation make four simple\nvows, of poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability. They devote\nthemselves to labor, in the first place, in sanctifying their own\nsouls by the particular holy exercises prescribed in their institute;\nsecondly, in the conversion of sinners to God; and thirdly, in\ntraining up clergymen for the ministry of the altar and the care\nof souls. To attain the first end, their rule prescribes them an\nhour\u2019s meditation every morning, self-examination thrice every day,\nspiritual conferences every week, a yearly retreat of eight days,\nand silence except in the hours allowed for conversation. To comply\nwith the second obligation, they are employed eight months every year\nin missions among the country people, staying three or four weeks\nin each place which they visit, every day giving catechism, making\nfamiliar sermons, hearing confessions, reconciling differences, and\nperforming all other works of charity. To correspond with the third\nend which St. Vincent proposed to himself, some of this Congregation\nundertake the direction of seminaries, and admit ecclesiastics or\nothers to make retreats of eight or ten days with them, to whom they\nprescribe suitable exercises; and for these purposes excellent rules\nare laid down by the founder. Pope Alexander VII., in 1662, enjoined\nby a brief, that all persons who receive holy orders in Rome, or in\nthe six suffragan bishoprics, shall first make a retreat of ten days\nunder the direction of the fathers of this Congregation, under pain\nof suspension. St. Vincent settled his institute also in the seminary\nof St. Charles in Paris, and lived to see twenty-five houses of it\nfounded in France, Piedmont, Poland, and other places.\n\nThis foundation, though so extensive and beneficial, could not\nsatisfy the zeal of this apostolic man. He by every other means\nstudied to procure the relief of others under all necessities,\nwhether spiritual or corporal. For this purpose he established many\nother confraternities, as that called Of Charity, to attend all poor\nsick persons in each parish; which institution he began in Bresse,\nand propagated in other places where he made any missions; one\ncalled Of the Dames of the Cross, for the education of young girls;\nanother of Dames to serve the sick in great hospitals, as in that\nof Hotel Dieu in Paris. He procured and directed the foundation of\nseveral great hospitals, as in Paris that of foundlings, or those\nchildren who, for want of such a provision, are exposed to the utmost\ndistress, or to the barbarity of unnatural parents; also that of poor\nold men; at Marseilles the stately hospital for the galley-slaves,\nwho, when sick, are there abundantly furnished with every help both\ncorporal and spiritual. All these establishments he settled under\nexcellent regulations, and supplied with large sums of money to\ndefray all necessary expenses. He instituted a particular plan of\nspiritual exercises for those that are about to receive holy orders;\nand others for those who desire to make general confessions, or to\ndeliberate upon the choice of a state of life. He also appointed\nregular ecclesiastical conferences on the duties of the clerical\nstate, &c. It must appear almost incredible that so many and so great\nthings could have been effected by one man, and a man who had no\nadvantage from birth, fortune, or any shining qualities which the\nworld admires and esteems. But our surprise would be much greater\nif we could enter into a detail of his wonderful actions, and the\ninfinite advantages which he procured others. During the wars in\nLorrain, being informed of the miseries to which those provinces\nwere reduced, he collected charities among pious persons at Paris,\nwhich were sent thither, to the amount of fifteen or sixteen thousand\nlivres, says Abelly; nay, as Collet proves from authentic vouchers,\nof two millions, that is, according to the value of money at that\ntime, considerably above one hundred thousand pounds sterling; and he\ndid the like on other occasions. He assisted King Louis XIII. at his\ndeath, and by his holy advice and exhortations that monarch expired\nin perfect sentiments of piety and resignation. Our saint was in the\nhighest favor with the queen regent, Anne of Austria, who nominated\nhim a member of the young king\u2019s Council of Conscience, and consulted\nhim in all ecclesiastical affairs, and in the collation of benefices;\nwhich office he discharged ten years.\n\nAmidst so many and so great employs his soul seemed always united\nto God; in the most distracting affairs it kept, as it were, an eye\nalways open to him, in order to converse continually with him. This\nconstant attention to him he often renewed, and always when the\nclock struck, by making the sign of the cross (at least secretly\nwith his thumb upon his breast) with an act of divine love. Under\nall crosses, disappointments, and slanders, he always preserved a\nperfect serenity and evenness of mind, which it did not seem in the\npower of the whole world to disturb; for he considered all events\nonly with a view to the divine will, and with an entire resignation\nto it, having no other desire but that God should be glorified in\nall things. Whether this was to be done by his own disgrace and\nsufferings, or by whatever other means it pleased the divine majesty,\nhe equally rejoiced. Not that he fell into the pretended apathy or\ninsensibility of the proud Stoics, or into the impious indifference\nof the false Mystics, afterwards called Quietists, than which nothing\nis more contrary to true piety, which is always tender, affectionate,\nand most sensible to all the interests of charity and religion. This\nwas the character of our saint, who regarded the afflictions of\nall others as his own, sighed continually with St. Paul after that\nstate of glory in which he should be united inseparably to his God,\nand poured forth his soul before him with tears over his own and\nothers\u2019 spiritual miseries. Having his hope fixed as a firm anchor\nin God, by an humble reliance on the divine mercy and goodness, he\nseemed raised above the reach of the malice of creatures, or the\nfrowns of the world; and he enjoyed a tranquillity within his breast\nwhich no storms were able to ruffle or disturb. So perfect was the\nmastery which he had gained over his passions, that his meekness and\npatience seemed unalterable, whatever provocations he met with. He\nwas never moved by affronts, unless to rejoice secretly under them,\nbecause he was sure to find in them a hidden treasure of grace, and\nan opportunity of vanquishing himself. This is the fruit of the\nvictory which perfect virtue gains over self-love; and it is a more\nperfect sacrifice to God, a surer test of sincere virtue, a more\nheroic victory, and a more glorious triumph of the soul to bear a\nslander, an injurious suspicion, or an unjust insult, in silence and\npatience, than the most shining exterior act of virtue; a language\noften repeated, but little understood or practised among Christians.\nPerfect self-denial, the most profound humility, and an eminent\nspirit of prayer were the means by which St. Vincent attained to\nthis degree of perfection; and he most earnestly recommended the\nsame to his disciples. Humility he would have them to make the basis\nof his Congregation, and it was the lesson which he never ceased to\nrepeat to them, that they ought to study sincerely to conceal even\ntheir natural talents. When two persons of extraordinary learning\nand abilities once presented themselves, desiring to be admitted\ninto his Congregation, he gave them both a repulse, telling them,\n\u201cYour abilities raise you above our low state. Your talents may be of\ngood service in some other place. As for us, our highest ambition is\nto instruct the ignorant, to bring sinners to a spirit of penance,\nand to plant the gospel-spirit of charity, humility, meekness, and\nsimplicity in the hearts of all Christians.\u201d He laid it down also as\na rule of humility, that, if possible, a man ought never to speak\nof himself or his own concerns, such discourse usually proceeding\nfrom, and nourishing in the heart, pride and self-love. This indeed\nis a rule prescribed by Confucius, Aristotle, Cato, Pliny, and other\nphilosophers; because, say they, for any one to boast of himself is\nalways the most intolerable and barefaced pride, and modesty in such\ndiscourse will be suspected of secret vanity. Egotism, or the itch\nof speaking always of a man\u2019s self, shows he is intoxicated with the\npoison of self-love, refers everything to himself, and is his own\ncentre, than which scarce anything can be more odious and offensive\nto others. But Christian humility carries this maxim higher, teaching\nus to love a hidden life, and to lie concealed and buried, as being\nin ourselves nothingness and sin.\n\nSt. Vincent exerted his zeal against the novelties concerning\nthe article of divine grace which sprang up in his time. Michael\nBaius, doctor and professor of divinity at Louvain, advanced a new\ndoctrine concerning the grace conferred on man in the two states\nbefore and after Adam\u2019s fall, and some other speculative points;\nand pope Pius V. in 1567, condemned seventy-six propositions under\nhis name. Some of these, Baius confessed he had taught, and these\nhe solemnly revoked and sincerely condemned with all the rest in\n1580, in presence of F. Francis Toletus, afterward cardinal, whom\nGregory XIII. had sent for that very purpose to Louvain. Cornelius\nJansenius and John Verger, commonly called Abb\u00e9 de St. Cyran,\ncontracted a close friendship together during their studies first\nat Louvain, afterward at Paris, and concerted a plan of a new\nsystem of doctrine concerning divine grace, founded, in part, upon\nsome of the condemned errors of Baius. This system Jansenius, by\nhis friend\u2019s advice, endeavored to establish in a book, which from\nSt. Austin, the great doctor of grace, he entitled, Augustinus.\nAfter having been bishop of Ipres from 1635 to 1638, he died of the\npestilence, having never published his book, in the close of which\nhe inserted a declaration that he submitted his work to the judgment\nof the Church.[216] Fromond, another Louvanian divine, and abler\nscholar, and a more polite writer, polished the style of this book,\nand put it in the press.[217] Verger became director of the nuns\nof Port-Royal, had read some ancient writers on books of devotion,\nand wrote with ease.[218] But his very works on subjects of piety,\nhowever neatly written, betray the author\u2019s excessive presumption and\nforbidding self-sufficiency. He became the most strenuous advocate\nfor Jansenism, and was detained ten years prisoner in the castle of\nVincennes. He died soon after he had recovered his liberty, in 1643.\nThis man had by his reputation gained the esteem of St. Vincent; but\nthe saint hearing him one day advance his errors, and add that the\nChurch had failed for five or six hundred years past, he was struck\nwith horror, and from that moment renounced the friendship of so\ndangerous a person. When these errors were afterward more publicly\nspread abroad, he strenuously exerted himself against them; on which\naccount Gerberon, the Jansenistical historian, makes him the butt\nof his rancor and spleen. But general and vague invectives of the\nenemies to truth are the commendation of his piety and zeal.[219] Our\nsaint\u2019s efforts to destroy that heresy, says Abelly, never made him\napprove a loose morality, which on all occasions he no less avoided\nand abhorred than the errors of the Jansenists. He was particularly\ncareful in insisting on all the conditions of true repentance to\nrender it sincere and perfect; for want of which he used to say with\nSt. Ambrose, that some pretended penitents are rendered more criminal\nby their sacrilegious hypocrisy in the abuse of so great a sacrament,\nthan they were by all their former sins.\n\nIn the year 1658 St. Vincent assembled the members of his\nCongregation at St. Lazarus, and gave to every one a small book of\nrules which he had compiled. At the same time he made a pathetic\nexhortation, to enforce the most exact and religious observance of\nthem. This Congregation was again approved and confirmed by Alexander\nVII., and Clement X. St. Vincent was chosen by St. Francis of Sales\ndirector of his nuns of the Visitation that were established at\nParis. The robust constitution of the zealous servant of God was\nimpaired by his uninterrupted fatigues and austerities. In the\neightieth year of his age he was seized with a periodical fever,\nwith violent night sweats. After passing the night almost without\nsleep, and in an agony of pain, he never failed to rise at four in\nthe morning, to spend three hours in prayer, to say mass every day\n(except on the three first days of his annual retreat, according\nto the custom he had established), and to exert, as usual, his\nindefatigable zeal in the exercises of charity and religion. He\neven redoubled his diligence in giving his last instructions to his\nspiritual children; and recited every day after mass the prayers of\nthe Church for persons in their agony, with the recommendation of\nthe soul, and other preparatory acts for his last hour. Alexander\nVII. in consideration of the extreme weakness to which his health\nwas reduced, sent him a brief to dispense him from reciting his\nbreviary; but before it arrived the servant of God had finished the\ncourse of his labors. Having received the last sacraments and given\nhis last advice, he calmly expired in his chair, on the 27th of\nSeptember 1660, being fourscore and five years old. He was buried in\nthe church of St. Lazarus in Paris, with an extraordinary concourse\nand pomp. An account of several predictions of this servant of\nGod, and some miraculous cures performed by him whilst alive, may\nbe read in his life written by Collet,[220] with a great number of\nmiracles wrought through his intercession after his death at Paris,\nAngiers, Sens, in Italy, &c. Mr. Bonnet, superior of the seminary at\nChartres, afterward general of the Congregation, by imploring this\nsaint\u2019s intercession, was healed instantaneously of an inveterate\nentire rupture, called by the physicians _entero-epiplo-celle_,[221]\nwhich had been declared by the ablest surgeons absolutely incurable;\nthis miracle was approved by cardinal Noailles. Several like cures\nof fevers, hemorrhages, palsies, dysenteries, and other distempers\nwere juridically proved. A girl eight years old, both dumb and lame,\nwas cured by a second Novena or nine days\u2019 devotion performed for\nher by her mother in honor of St. Vincent. His body was visited by\ncardinal Noailles in presence of many witnesses, in 1712, and found\nentire and fresh, and the linen cloths in the same condition as if\nthey were new. The tomb was then shut up again. This ceremony is\nusually performed before the beatification of a servant of God,\nthough the incorruption of the body by itself is not regarded as a\nmiraculous proof at Rome or elsewhere, as Collet remarks.[222] After\nthe ordinary rigorous examinations of the conduct, heroic virtues,\nand miracles of this saint at Rome, pope Benedict XIII. performed\nwith great solemnity the ceremony of his beatification, in 1729. Upon\nthe publication of the brief thereof, the archbishop of Paris caused\nthe grave to be again opened. The lady marechale of Noailles, the\nmarshal her son, and many other persons were present; but the flesh\non the legs and head appeared corrupted, which alteration from the\nstate in which it was found twenty-seven years before, was attributed\nto a flood of water which twelve years before this had overflowed\nthat vault. Miracles continued frequently to be wrought by the\nrelics and invocation of St. Vincent. A Benedictin nun at Montmirel,\nafflicted with a violent fever, retention of urine, ulcers, and other\ndisorders, her body being swelled to an enormous size, and having\nbeen a long time paralytic, was perfectly cured all at once by a\nrelic of St. Vincent applied to her by Monseigneur Joseph Languet,\nthen bishop of Soissons. Francis Richer, in Paris, was healed in a no\nless miraculous manner. Miss Louisa Elizabeth Sackville, an English\nyoung lady at Paris, was cured of a palsy by performing a novena at\nthe tomb of St. Vincent; which miracle was attested in the strongest\nmanner, among others, by Mrs. Hayes, a protestant gentlewoman with\nwhom she lodged. Miss Sackville became afterward a nun in the French\nabbey called of the Holy Sacrament, in Paris, lived ten years without\nany return of her former disorder, and died in 1742. St. Vincent was\ncanonized in 1737 by pope Clement XII.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThis saint could not display his zeal more to the advantage of his\nneighbor than by awaking Christians from the spiritual lethargy in\nwhich so many live. He set before their eyes the grievous disorder\nof lukewarmness in the divine service, and explained to them, like\nanother Baptist, the necessity and obligations of sincere repentance;\nfor those certainly can never be entitled to the divine favor who\nlive in an ambiguous, divided, and distracted state of sinning\nand repenting; of being heathens and Christians by turns. Still\nmore dreadful is the state of those who live in habitual sin, yet\nare insensible of their danger, and frightful miseries! Into what\nextravagance, folly, spiritual blindness, and sometimes incredulity,\ndo men\u2019s passions often plunge them! To what a degree of madness and\nstupidity do men of the finest natural parts sink, when abandoned by\nGod! or rather when they themselves abandon God, and that light which\nhe has set up in the world! Let us by tears and prayers implore the\ndivine mercy in favor of all blind sinners.\n\n\n ST. ARSENIUS, ANCHORET.\n\nHe was a Roman by birth, and was related to senators. He had been\ntrained up in learning and piety, was sincerely virtuous, and well\nskilled, not only in the holy scriptures, but also in the profane\nsciences, and in the Latin and Greek languages and literature. He was\nin deacon\u2019s orders, and led a retired life at home with his sister,\nin Rome, when the emperor Theodosius the Great wanted a person to\nwhom he might intrust the care of his children, and desired the\nemperor Gratian to apply for that purpose to the bishop of Rome,\nwho recommended Arsenius. Gratian sent him to Constantinople, where\nhe was kindly received by Theodosius, who advanced him to the rank\nof a senator, with orders that he should be respected as the father\nof his children, whose tutor and preceptor he appointed him. No one\nin the court at that time wore richer apparel, had more sumptuous\nfurniture, or was attended by a more numerous train of servants than\nArsenius; he was attended by no fewer than a thousand, all richly\nclad. Theodosius coming one day to see his children at their studies,\nfound them sitting, whilst Arsenius talked to them standing. Being\ndispleased thereat, he took from them for some time the marks of\ntheir dignity, and caused Arsenius to sit, and them to listen to him\nstanding.\n\nArsenius had always a great inclination to a retired life, which the\ncare of his employment and the incumbrances of a great fortune made\nhim desire the more ardently; for titles and honors were burthensome\nto him. At length, about the year 390, an opportunity offered itself.\nArcadius having committed a considerable fault, Arsenius whipped\nhim for it. The young prince, resenting the chastisement, grew the\nmore obstinate. Arsenius laid hold of this occasion to execute the\nproject he had long before formed of forsaking the world. The Lives\nof the Fathers, both in Rosweide and Cotelier, make no mention of\nthis resentment of Arcadius, which circumstance is only related\nby Metaphrastes; on which account it is omitted by Tillemont and\nothers. It is most certain that retirement had long been the object\nof the saint\u2019s most earnest wishes and desires; but before he left\nthe court, he for a long time begged by earnest prayer to know the\nwill of God; and one day making this request with great fervor, he\nheard a voice, saying, \u201cArsenius, flee the company of men, and thou\nshalt be saved.\u201d He obeyed the call of heaven without delay, and\ngoing on board a vessel, sailed to Alexandria, and thence proceeded\nto the desert of Scet\u00e9, where he embraced an anachoretical life.\nThis happened about the year 394, he being in the fortieth year\nof his age, and having lived eleven years at the court. There he\nrenewed his prayers to God, begging to be instructed in the way of\nsalvation, having no other desire than to make it his only study\nto please God in all things. Whilst he prayed thus, he again heard\na voice which said, \u201cArsenius, flee, hold thy peace, and be quiet;\nthese are the principles of salvation,\u201d[223] that is, the main things\nto be observed in order to be saved. Pursuant to the repeated advice\nor injunction of fleeing and avoiding human conversation, he made\nchoice of a very remote cell, and admitted very few visits even from\nhis own brethren. When he went to the church, upwards of thirty\nmiles distance from his habitation, he would place himself behind\none of the pillars, the better to prevent his seeing or being seen\nby any one. Theodosius, in great affliction for the loss of him,\ncaused search to be made for him both by sea and land; but being\nsoon after called into the West to revenge the death of Valentinian\nII., and to extinguish the rebellion of Arbogastus his murderer,\nand Eugenius, died of a dropsy at Milan in 395. Arcadius being left\nemperor of the East, advanced Rufin, who was the prefectus-pr\u00e6torio,\nand had been his flattering governor, to the rank of prime minister,\ncommitting to him the direction not only of his armies, but also\nof the whole empire. He at the same time earnestly desired to call\nback to court his holy master Arsenius, that he might be assisted\nby his wise and faithful counsels. Being informed that he was in\nthe desert of Scet\u00e9, he wrote to him, recommending himself to his\nprayers, begging his forgiveness, and offering him the disposal of\nall the tribute of Egypt, that he might make a provision for the\nmonasteries and the poor at his discretion; but the saint had no\nother ambition on earth than to be allowed the liberty of enjoying\nhis solitude, that he might employ his time in bewailing his sins,\nand in preparing his soul for eternity. He therefore answered the\nemperor\u2019s message only by word of mouth, saying, \u201cGod grant as all\nthe pardon of our sins; as to the distribution of the money, I am not\ncapable of such a charge, being already dead to the world.\u201d When he\nfirst presented himself to the ancients or superiors of the monks of\nScet\u00e9, and begged to be allowed to serve God under their direction,\nthey recommended him to the care of St. John the Dwarf, who, when the\nrest in the evening sat down to take their repast, took his place\namong them, and left Arsenius standing in the middle without taking\nnotice of him. Such a reception was a severe trial to a courtier;\nbut was followed by another much rougher; for, in the middle of the\nrepast, St. John took a loaf or portion of bread, and threw it on the\nground before him, bidding him, with an air of indifference, eat if\nhe would. Arsenius cheerfully fell on the ground, and in that posture\ntook his meal. St. John was so satisfied with his behavior in this\nsingle instance, that he required no further trial for his admission,\nand said to his brethren: \u201cReturn to your cells with the blessing of\nthe Lord. Pray for us. This person is fit for a religious life.\u201d\n\nArsenius, after his retreat, only distinguished himself among the\nanchorets by his greater humility and fervor. At first he used,\nwithout perceiving it, to do certain things which he had practised in\nthe world, which seemed to savor of levity or immortification, as,\nfor instance, to sit cross-legged, or laying one knee over another.\nThe seniors were unwilling, through the great respect they bore him,\nto tell him of this in a public assembly in which they were met to\nhold a spiritual conference together; but abbot Pemen or Pastor made\nuse of this stratagem: He agreed with another that he should put\nhimself in that posture; and then he rebuked him for his immodesty;\nnor did the other offer any excuse. Arsenius perceived that the\nreproof was meant for him, and corrected himself of that custom.\nIn other respects he appeared from the beginning an accomplished\nmaster in every exercise of virtue in that venerable company of\nsaints. To punish himself for his seeming vanity at court, because\nhe had there gone more richly habited than others, his garments were\nalways the meanest of all the monks in Scet\u00e9. He employed himself\non working-days till noon in making mats of palm-tree leaves; and\nhe always worked with a handkerchief in his bosom, to wipe off the\ntears which continually fell from his eyes. He never changed the\nwater in which he moistened his palm-tree leaves, but only poured in\nfresh water upon it as it wasted. When some asked him one day why he\ndid not cast away the corrupted water, he answered, \u201cI ought to be\npunished by this ill smell for the sensuality with which I formerly\nused perfumes when I lived in the world.\u201d To satisfy for former\nsuperfluities he lived in the most universal poverty, so that in a\nviolent fit of illness having occasion for a small sum to procure\nhim some little necessaries, he was obliged to receive it in alms,\nwhereupon he gave God thanks for being made worthy to be thus reduced\nto the necessity of asking alms in his name. The distemper continued\nso long upon him that the priest of this desert of Scet\u00e9 caused him\nto be carried to his apartment contiguous to the church, and laid\nhim on a little bed made of the skins of beasts, with a pillow under\nhis head. One of the monks coming to see him, was much scandalized\nat his lying so easy, and said, \u201cIs this the abbot Arsenius?\u201d The\npriest took him aside, and asked him what his employment had been\nin the village before he was a monk? The old man answered, \u201cI was a\nshepherd, and lived with much pains and difficulty.\u201d Then the priest\nsaid, \u201cDo you see this abbot Arsenius? when he was in the world he\nwas the father of the emperors: he had a thousand slaves clothed in\nsilk, with bracelets and girdles of gold, and he slept on the softest\nand richest beds. You who was a shepherd, did not find in the world\nthe ease which you now enjoy.\u201d The old man, moved by these words,\nfell down, and said, \u201cPardon me, father, I have sinned; he is in\nthe true way of humiliation;\u201d and he went away exceedingly edified.\nArsenius in his sickness wanting a linen garment, accepted something\ngiven him in charity, to buy one, saying, \u201cI return thanks to thee,\nO Lord, for thy grace and mercy, in permitting me to receive alms in\nthy name.\u201d One of the emperor\u2019s officers, at another time, brought\nhim the will of a senator, his relation, who was lately dead and had\nleft him his heir. The saint took the will, and would have torn it to\npieces, but the officer threw himself at his feet, and begged him not\nto tear it, saying, such an accident would expose him to be tried for\nhis life. St. Arsenius, however, refused the estate, saying, \u201cI died\nbefore him, and cannot be made his heir.\u201d\n\nThough no one knew the saint\u2019s fasts, they must have been excessive,\nas the measure of corn, called thallin,[224] sent him for the year,\nwas exceeding small; this, however, he managed so well as not only\nto make it suffice for himself, but also to impart some of it to his\ndisciples when they came to visit him. When new fruit was brought\nhim he just tasted it, and gave thanks to God; but he took so little\nas to show he did it only to avoid the vanity of singularity. Great\nabstinence makes little sleep to suffice nature. Accordingly St.\nArsenius often passed the whole night in watching and prayer, as we\nlearn from his disciple Daniel. At other times, having watched a\nconsiderable part of the night, when nature could hold out no longer,\nhe would allow himself a short repose, which he took sitting, after\nwhich he resumed his wonted exercises. On Saturday evenings, as the\nsame disciple relates, it was his custom to go to prayers at sun-set,\nand continue in that exercise with his hands lifted up to heaven till\nthe sun beat on his face the next morning. His affection for the holy\nexercise of prayer, and his dread of the danger of vain-glory, gave\nhim the strongest love of retirement. He had two disciples who lived\nnear him, and did all his necessary business abroad. Their names were\nAlexander and Zoilus; he afterward admitted a third, called Daniel.\nAll three were famous for their sanctity and discretion, and frequent\nmention is made of them in the histories of the fathers of the\ndeserts of Egypt. St. Arsenius would seldom see strangers who came to\nvisit him, saying, he would only use his eyes to behold the heavens.\n\nTheophilus, the patriarch of Alexandria, came one day in company\nwith a certain great officer and others to visit him, and begged he\nwould entertain them on some spiritual subject for the good of their\nsouls. The saint asked them whether they were disposed to comply with\nhis directions; and being answered in the affirmative, he replied;\n\u201cI entreat you, then, that wherever you are informed of Arsenius\u2019s\nabode, you would leave him to himself, and spare yourselves the\ntrouble of coming after him.\u201d On another occasion, when the same\npatriarch sent to know if he would open his door to him if he came,\nSt. Arsenius returned for answer, that if he came alone he would;\nbut that if he brought others with him he would seek out some other\nplace, and would stay there no longer. Melania, a noble Roman lady,\ntravelled as far as Egypt only to see Arsenius, and by means of\nTheophilus, contrived to meet him as he was coming out of his cell.\nShe threw herself at his feet. The saint said to her, \u201cA woman ought\nnot to leave her house. You have crossed these great seas that you\nmay be able to say at Rome that you have seen Arsenius, and raise in\nothers a curiosity to come and see me.\u201d Not daring to lift up her\neyes, as she lay on the ground, she begged he would always remember\nher and pray for her. He answered, \u201cI pray that the remembrance of\nyou be blotted out of my mind.\u201d Melania returned to Alexandria in\ngreat grief at this answer: but Theophilus comforted her, saying, \u201cHe\nonly prayed that he might forget your person on account of your sex;\nbut as for your soul, doubt not but he will pray for you.\u201d\n\nThe saint never visited his brethren, contenting himself with meeting\nthem at spiritual conferences. The abbot Mark asked him one day in\nthe name of the hermits, why he so much shunned their conversation?\nThe saint answered: \u201cGod knoweth how dearly I love you all; but I\nfind I cannot be both with God and with men at the same time; nor\ncan I think of leaving God to converse with men.\u201d This disposition,\nhowever, did not hinder him from giving short lessons of virtue to\nhis brethren, and several of his apophthegms are recorded among those\nof the ancient fathers. He said often, \u201cI have always something\nto repent of after having conversed with men; but have never been\nsorry for having been silent.\u201d He had frequently in his mouth those\nwords which St. Euthymius and St. Bernard used also to repeat to\nthemselves, to renew their fervor in the discharge of the obligations\nof their profession: \u201cArsenius, why hast thou forsaken the world, and\nwherefore art thou come hither?\u201d Being asked one day why he, being\nso well versed in the sciences, sought the instruction and advice of\na certain monk who was an utter stranger to all human literature? he\nreplied, \u201cI am not unacquainted with the learning of the Greeks and\nRomans; but I have not yet learned the alphabet of the science of the\nsaints, whereof this seemingly ignorant person is master.\u201d\n\nThough the saint was excellently versed in sacred learning, and in\nthe maxims and practice of perfect Christian virtue, he never would\ndiscourse on any point of scripture, and chose rather to hear than to\ninstruct or speak, making it the first part of his study to divest\nhis mind of all secret opinion of himself, or confidence in his own\nabilities or learning; and this he justly called the foundation\nof humility and all Christian virtue. Evagrius of Pontus, who had\ndistinguished himself at Constantinople by his learning, and had\nretired to Jerusalem, and thence into the deserts of Nitria in 385,\nexpressed his surprise to our saint, that many very learned men\nmade no progress in virtue, whilst many Egyptians who knew not the\nvery letters of the alphabet arrived at a high degree of sublime\ncontemplation. To whom Arsenius made this answer: \u201cWe make no\nprogress in virtue, because we dwell in that exterior learning which\npuffs up the mind; but these illiterate Egyptians have a true sense\nof their own weakness, blindness, and insufficiency; by which they\nare qualified to labor successfully in the pursuit of virtue.\u201d This\nsaint used often to cry out to God with tears, in the most profound\nsentiment of humility, \u201cO Lord, forsake me not; I have done nothing\nthat can be acceptable in thy sight; but for the sake of thy infinite\nmercy enable and assist me that I may now begin to serve thee\nfaithfully.\u201d\n\nNothing is so remarkable or so much spoken of by the ancients\nconcerning our saint, as the perpetual tears which flowed from his\neyes almost without intermission. The source from which they sprung\nwas the ardor with which he sighed after the glorious light of\neternity, and the spirit of compunction with which he never ceased to\nbewail the sins of his life past, and the daily imperfections into\nwhich he fell. But nothing was more amiable or sweet than these tears\nof devotion, as appeared in the venerable and majestic serenity of\nhis countenance. His example was a proof of what the saints assure\nus concerning the sweetness of the tears of divine love. \u201cWhen you\nhear tears named,\u201d says St. Chrysostom,[225] \u201cdo not represent to\nyourselves any thing grievous or terrible. They are sweeter than\nany carnal delights which the world can enjoy.\u201d St. Austin says to\nthe same purpose:[226] \u201cThe tears of devotion are sweeter than the\njoys of theatres.\u201d St. John Climacus unfolds to us at large the\nincomparable advantages and holy pleasure of pious tears, and among\nother things writes thus:[227] \u201cI am astonished when I consider the\nhappiness of holy compunction; and I wonder how carnal men can think\nit affliction. It contains in it a pleasure and spiritual joy as\nwax does honey. God in an invisible manner visits and comforts the\nheart that is broken with this holy sorrow.\u201d Saint Arsenius being\nasked by a certain person what he must do to deliver himself from\na troublesome temptation of impure thoughts, the saint gave him\nthis answer,--\u201cWhat did the Midianites do? They decked and adorned\ntheir daughters, and led them to the Israelites, though they used no\nviolence upon them. Those among the servants of God that treated them\nwith severity, and revenged their treachery and criminal designs with\ntheir blood, put a stop to their lewdness. Behave in the same manner\nwith regard to your evil thoughts. Repulse them vigorously, and\npunish yourself for this attempt made in yourself towards a revolt.\u201d\n\nThis great saint lived in a continual remembrance and apprehension\nof death and the divine judgment. This made Theophilus, the busy\npatriarch of Alexandria, cry out when he lay on his death-bed in 312:\n\u201cHappy Arsenius! who has had this moment always before his eyes.\u201d\nHis tears did not disfigure his countenance, which, from the inward\npeace and joy of his soul, mixed with sweet compunction; and from his\nassiduous conversation with God, appeared to have something angelical\nor heavenly; being equally venerable for a certain shining beauty,\nand an inexpressible air of majesty and meekness, in a fair and\nvigorous old age. The great and experienced master in a contemplative\nlife, St. John Climacus, proposes St. Arsenius as an accomplished\nmodel, and calls him a man equal to the angels,[228] saying that he\nshunned so rigorously the conversation of men, only that he might\nnot lose something more precious, which was God, who always filled\nhis soul. Our saint called it a capital and indispensable duty of\na monk never to intermeddle in any temporal concerns, and never to\nlisten to any news of the world. He was tall and comely, but stooped\na little in his old age; had a graceful mien, his hair was all white,\nand his beard reached down to his girdle; but the tears which he\nshed continually had worn away his eyelashes. He was forty years old\nwhen he quitted the court, and he lived in the same austere manner\nfrom that time to the age of ninety-five; he spent forty years in\nthe desert of Scet\u00e9, except that about the year 395, he was obliged\nto leave it for a short time, on account of an irruption of the\nMazici, a barbarous people of Lybia; but the plunderers were no\nsooner returned home but he hastened back to his former solitude,\nwhere he remained till a second inroad of the same barbarians, in\nwhich they massacred several hermits, compelled him entirely to\nforsake this abode about the year 434. He retired weeping to the\nrock of Tro\u00eb, called also Petra, over against Memphis, and ten years\nafter, to Canopus near Alexandria; but not being able to bear the\nneighborhood of that great city, he stayed here only three years;\nthen returned to Tro\u00eb, where he died two years after. Knowing that\nhis end was drawing near he said to his disciples,--\u201cOne only thing\nI beg of your charity, that when I am dead I may be remembered in\nthe holy sacrifice. If in my life I have done any thing that is\naccepted by God, through his mercy, that I shall now find again.\u201d\nThey were much grieved to hear him speak as if they were going soon\nto lose him. Upon which he said, \u201cMy hour is not yet come. I will\nacquaint you of it; but you shall answer at the tribunal of Christ,\nif you suffer any thing belonging to me to be kept as a relic.\u201d They\nsaid with tears (being solicitous for a funeral procession), \u201cWhat\nshall we do alone, father? for we know not how to bury the dead.\u201d\nThe saint answered, \u201cTie a cord to my feet, and drag my carcass to\nthe top of the mountain, and there leave it.\u201d His brethren seeing\nhim weep in his agony, said to him, \u201cFather, why do you weep? are\nyou like others, afraid to die?\u201d The saint answered, \u201cI am seized\nwith great fear: nor has this dread ever forsaken me from the time I\nfirst came into these deserts.\u201d The saints all serve God in fear and\ntrembling, in the constant remembrance of his judgment; but this is\nalways accompanied with a sweet confidence in his infinite love and\nmercies. The Holy Ghost indeed so diversifies his gifts and graces\nas to make these dispositions more sensible in some than in others.\nNotwithstanding this fear, St. Arsenius expired in great peace,\nfull of faith, and of that humble confidence which perfect charity\ninspires, about the year 449. He was ninety-five years old, of which\nhe had spent fifty-five in the desert. Abbot Pemen having seen him\nexpire, said with tears, \u201cHappy Arsenius! who have wept for yourself\nso much here on earth! Those who weep not here shall weep eternally\nhereafter.\u201d This saint was looked upon by the most eminent monks of\nsucceeding ages as a most illustrious pattern of their state. The\ngreat St. Euthymius endeavored in all his exercises to form himself\nupon the model of his life, and to copy in himself his humility,\nhis meekness and constant evenness of mind, his abstinences and\nwatching, his compunction and tears, his love of retirement, his\ncharity, discretion, fervor, assiduous application to prayer, and\nthat greatness of soul which appeared with so much lustre in all his\nactions. The name of St. Arsenius occurs in the Roman Martyrology on\nthe 19th of July. See his life written by St. Theodore the Studite;\nand another in Metaphrastes; also the Lives of the Fathers of the\nDesert, in Rosweide and D\u2019Andilly, t. 2, p. 183, collated with a very\nfair ancient MS. probably of Saint Edmund\u2019s-bury, more ample than\nthat published by Rosweide, in the hands of Mr. Martin, attorney at\nlaw in Palgrave, in Suffolk. See likewise the Apophthegms of the\nFathers in Cotelier\u2019s Monumenta Ecclesi\u00e6 Gr\u00e6c\u00e6; the collections and\nremarks of Pinius the Bollandist, Jul. t. 4, p. 605, and F. Marian,\nVies des P\u00e8res des D\u00e9serts d\u2019Orient, t. 3, p. 284 ad 339.\n\n\n ST. SYMMACHUS, POPE, C.\n\nHe was a native of Sardinia, and archdeacon of the Roman church\nunder pope Anastasius, and succeeded him in the holy see in 498.\nFestus, the patrician, had been gained by Anastasius, emperor of\nConstantinople, and a protector of the Eutychians, to endeavor to\nprocure from pope Anastasius a confirmation of the Henoticon of Zeno,\nan imperial edict in favor of those heretics, as Theophanes relates.\nThat pope dying, Festus, by bribes, gained several voices to raise\nLaurence, archpriest of St. Praxedes, to the pontificate. They were\nboth ordained the same day; Symmachus in the basilic of Constantine,\nand Laurence in that of our lady. Theodoric, king of Italy, though an\nArian, ordered that election should take place which was first, and\nmade by the greater number. By this rule Symmachus was acknowledged\nlawful pope. He called a council at Rome of seventy-three bishops,\nand sixty-seven priests, which, to prevent cabals and factions in\nthe elections of popes, ordained that if any one promised his vote\nto another, or deliberated in any assembly upon that subject, whilst\nthe pope is living, he should be deposed and excommunicated; and that\nafter the pope\u2019s death that person should be duly elected who had\na majority of the voices of the clergy. Laurence subscribed these\ndecrees the first among the priests,[229] and was afterward made\nbishop of Nocera. Soon after, some of the clergy and senators, by the\ncontrivance of Festus and Probinus, privately recalled Laurence to\nRome, and renewed the schism, which is by many historians reckoned\nthe first that happened in that church, though Novatian had attempted\nto form one. The schismatics accused Symmachus of many crimes, and\nking Theodoric commanded a synod should be held at Rome upon that\noccasion. The bishops of Liguria, Emilia, and Venetia took Ravenna\nin their way to Rome, and strongly represented to the king, that\nthe pope himself ought to call the council, which right he enjoyed\nboth by the primacy of his see, derived from St. Peter, and by the\nauthority of councils; also, that there never had been an instance\nof his being subjected to the judgment of his inferiors.[230] The\nking showed them the pope\u2019s letters by which he agreed to, and\nsummoned the council. Indeed the pontifical says, that Symmachus\nassembled this council.[231] The synod met at Rome in September,\n501, and declared pope Symmachus acquitted of the accusations\nentered against him, condemning to be punished as schismatics any\nwho should celebrate mass without his consent; but pardoning those\nwho had raised the schism, provided they gave satisfaction to the\npope.[232] When this decree was carried into Gaul, all the bishops\nwere alarmed at it; and they charged Saint Avitus, bishop of Vienne,\nto write about it in the name of them all. He addressed his letter\nto Faustus and Symmachus, two patricians who had both been consuls,\ncomplaining, that when the Pope had been accused before the prince,\nthe bishops, instead of opposing such an injustice, had taken upon\nthem to judge him: \u201cFor,\u201d says he, \u201cit is not easy to apprehend how\nthe superior can be judged by his inferiors, especially the head of\nthe Church.\u201d However, he commends the council for bearing testimony\nto his innocence, and earnestly entreats the senate to maintain the\nhonor of the Church, and not to suffer the flocks to rise up against\ntheir pastors. The famous deacon Paschasius, a man eminent for his\ngreat alms-deeds and other good works, had the misfortune blindly to\nabet this schism to the latter end of his life; for which St. Gregory\nthe Great relates, upon the authority of a certain revelation,[233]\nthat he was detained in purgatory after his death, but delivered by\nthe prayers of St. Germanus, bishop of Capua. Ceillier thinks that he\nrepented only in his last moments;[234] or, that simplicity of heart\nextenuated his sin. Paschasius wrote a learned book on the Divinity\nof the Holy Ghost, though the two books on that subject which now\nbear his name, are the work of Faustus of Riez.\n\nPope Symmachus wrote to the emperor Anastasius declaring that he\ncould not hold communion with him so long as he maintained that\nof Acacius. That prince expected such a menace from the zeal\nof the pope, and therefore he had not written to him upon his\npromotion, according to custom. He also accused him of Manicheism,\nthough Symmachus had banished the Manichees out of Rome; and he\ndid not cease to thwart the pope, dreading his known zeal against\nhis favorite sect of the Acephali. Symmachus composed an apology\nagainst this emperor, in which he shows the dignity of the Christian\npriesthood.[235] He wrote to the Oriental bishops, exhorting them\nto suffer banishment and all persecutions rather than to betray the\ndivine truth.[236] King Thrasimund having banished many Catholic\nAfrican bishops into Sardinia, pope Symmachus sent them annually\nboth clothes and money; and there is still extant among the works\nof Ennodius a letter which this pope sent to comfort them. He\naccompanied it with some relics of the martyrs SS. Nazarius and\nRomanus. He redeemed many captives; and gave one hundred and\nseventy-nine pounds of silver in ornaments to several churches in\nRome; and to the chapel of the holy cross, a gold cross of ten\npound weight, in which he inclosed a piece of the true cross. On a\nciborium, that is, in the language of that time, a tabernacle, which\nhe gave to St. Paul\u2019s church, he caused to be engraved the figures of\nour Saviour and the twelve apostles. He instituted that the hymn of\ndivine praise called the Gloria in Excelsis should be sung on every\nSunday, and on the festivals of martyrs, as the pontifical testifies.\nHe filled the papal chair fifteen years and eight months; and died on\nthe 19th of July, 514. See his letters, the councils, and Anastasius\nBibl. Also F. Amort\u2019s Diss. on the cause of pope Symmachus, printed\nat Bologna in 1758.\n\n\n ST. MACRINA, VIRGIN.\n\nShe was the eldest of all the ten children of St. Basil the elder,\nand St. Emmelia; and being trained up in excellent sentiments of\npiety, after the death of her father, consecrated her virginity by\nvow to God, and was a great assistant to her mother in educating\nher younger brothers and sisters. St. Basil the Great, St. Peter of\nSebaste, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and the rest, learned from her their\nearly contempt of the world, dread of its dangers, and application\nto prayer and the word of God. When they were sent abroad for their\nimprovement, Macrina induced her mother to concur with her in\nfounding two monasteries, one for men, the other for women, at a\nlittle distance from each other, on their own estate, near Ibora in\nPontus. That of men was first governed by St. Basil, afterward by\nSt. Peter. Macrina drew up the rules for the nunnery with admirable\nprudence and piety, and established in it the love and spirit of\nthe most universal poverty, and disengagement from the world,\nmortification, humility, assiduous prayer, and singing of psalms.\nGod was pleased to afflict her with a most painful cancer: which at\nlength her mother cured by making, at her request, the sign of the\ncross upon the sore; only a black spot remained ever after upon the\npart that had been affected.\n\nAfter the death of St. Emmelia, Macrina disposed of all that was\nleft of their estate in favor of the poor, and lived herself, like\nthe rest of the nuns, on what she earned by the labor of her hands.\nHer brother Basil died in the beginning of the year 379, and she\nherself fell ill eleven months after. St. Gregory of Nyssa, making\nher a visit, after eight years\u2019 absence, found her sick of a raging\nfever, lying on two boards, one of which served for her bed, and\nthe other for her pillow. He was exceedingly comforted by her pious\ndiscourses, and animated by the fervor and ardent sighs of divine\nlove and penance, by which she prepared herself for her last hour.\nShe calmly expired, after having armed herself with the sign of the\ncross. Such was the poverty of the house that nothing was found to\ncover her corpse when it was carried to the grave, but her old hood\nand coarse veil; but St. Gregory threw over it his episcopal cloak.\nShe had worn about her neck a fillet, on which hung an iron cross and\na ring. St. Gregory gave the cross to a nun named Vestiana, but kept\nhimself the ring, in which the metal was hollow, and contained in it\na particle of the true cross. Araxus, bishop of the place, and St.\nGregory led up the funeral procession, which consisted of the clergy,\nthe monks, and nuns, in two separate choirs. The whole company walked\nsinging psalms, with torches in their hands. The holy remains were\nconveyed to the church of the Forty Martyrs, a mile distant from the\nmonastery, and were deposited in the same vault with the saint\u2019s\nmother. Prayers were offered up for them both. St. Macrina died in\nDecember, 379; but is commemorated both by the Latins and Greeks on\nthe 19th of July. This account is given us by St. Gregory of Nyssa,\nin the funeral discourse he made upon her, t. 2, p. 149. Add the\nremarks of F. Bosch, the Bollandist, t. 4, Julij, p. 589.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XX.\n\n\n ST. JOSEPH BARSABAS, C.\n\nHe was one of the seventy-two disciples of our Lord, and was put\nin competition with St. Matthias to succeed the traitor Judas in\nthe apostleship.[237] St. Chrysostom[238] remarks that St. Joseph\nwas not displeased, but rejoiced in the Lord to see the preference\ngiven to St. Matthias. After the dispersion of the disciples he\npreached the gospel to many nations; and among other miracles, drank\npoison without receiving any hurt, as Papias, and from him Eusebius,\ntestify.[239] This saint, from his extraordinary piety, was surnamed\nthe Just.\n\nThe lives of the apostles and primitive Christians were a miracle\nin morals, and a sensible effect of almighty grace. Burning with\nholy zeal, they had no interest on earth but that of the divine\nhonor, which they sought in all things; and being warmed with the\nexpectation of an eternal kingdom, they were continually discoursing\nof it, and comforting one another with the hopes of possessing it;\nand they did little else but prepare to die. Thus by example, still\nmore than by words, they subdued their very enemies to the faith,\nand brought them to a like spirit and practice. Their converts, by a\nwonderful change of manners, became in a moment new creatures. Those\nwho had been the most bitter enemies, long bent to lust and passion,\nbecame the most loving, forgiving, and chaste persons in the world.\nHas grace wrought in us so perfect a conversion? Do our lives glorify\nGod\u2019s name in this manner, by a spirit and practice agreeable to the\nprinciples of our divine faith?\n\n\n ST. MARGARET, V. M.\n\nAccording to the ancient Martyrologies, she suffered at Antioch in\nPisidia, in the last general persecution. She is said to have been\ninstructed in the faith by a Christian nurse, to have been persecuted\nby her own father, a priest of the idols; and after many torments,\nto have gloriously finished her martyrdom by the sword. Her name\noccurs in the Litany inserted in the old Roman order, and in the\nmost ancient calendars of the Greeks. From the east her veneration\nwas exceedingly propagated in England, France, and Germany, in the\neleventh century, during the holy wars. Her body is now kept at\nMonte-Fiascone in Tuscany. Vida, the glory of the Christian muses,\nhas honored St. Margaret who is one of the tutelar saints of Cremona,\nhis native city, with two hymns; begging of God through her prayers,\nnot long life, riches, or honors, but the grace of a happy death\nand a holy life, that he might be admitted, with a devout and pious\nheart, to praise God in the choir of his holy servants. See his\nhymns, and Pinius the Bollandist, Julij, t. 5, p. 28.\n\n\n SS. JUSTA AND RUFINA, MM.\n\nThese holy martyrs were two Christian women at Seville in Spain,\nwho maintained both themselves and many poor persons by selling\nearthenware. A fervent soul finds in the most ordinary course of\nlife occasions of exercising many heroic acts of virtue, and makes\nevery ordinary action a perfect holocaust by performing it with a\nmost ardent desire of pleasing God with the entire sacrifice of\nitself. Such were the lives of these two faithful servants of God\nin the world. So perfect a virtue deserved to be honored with the\ncrown of martyrdom. Though these saints gave all their substance to\nthe poor, and were desirous to serve every one for the edification\nof their souls, yet no motives could draw them into any criminal\ncondescension. Not to concur to the idolatrous superstitions, they\nrefused to sell vessels for the use of heathenish sacrifices. The\nPagans, offended at their religious scruple, when Dioclesian\u2019s\nedicts renewed the persecution, broke all the ware in their shop,\nand impeached them for their faith before the governor. The prefect,\nafter they had boldly confessed Christ, commanded them to be\nstretched on the rack, and their sides in the meantime to be torn\nwith iron hooks. An idol was placed near the rack with incense, that\nif they would offer sacrifice, they should be that moment released;\nbut their fidelity was not to be shaken. Justa expired on the rack:\nwhich, when the judge saw, he ordered Rufina to be strangled, and\ntheir bodies to be burnt. They suffered in the year 304. See their\nacts published by Maldonat; also Ado, Usuard, &c.\n\n\n ST. CESLAS C. OF THE ORDER OF ST. DOMINIC.\n\nHe was of the house of the counts of Odrovans, and brother to St.\nHyacinth, and lived near Cracow in Poland. Having devoted himself\nto God in an ecclesiastical state, he became eminent for piety,\nlearning, and the innocence of his manners. He was first instituted\nto a canonry at Cracow, but afterward promoted to be conservator\nof Sendomir. His riches he employed on the poor, leading himself a\nmost abstemious penitential life. Happening to accompany his uncle\nYvo Konski, chancellor of Poland, into Italy, he received at Rome,\ntogether with St. Hyacinth, the habit of St. Dominic from the hands\nof that holy founder in 1218. Returning into Germany and Poland, he\npreached penance with wonderful fruit. In 1222 he founded at Prague\na convent of one hundred and twenty-six friars, in which Andrew, the\nbishop of Prague, took the religious habit, having first, with the\nconsent of pope Honorius III. resigned his see. St. Ceslas built in\nthe same city a nunnery of the same order, in which, soon after his\ndeath, queen Margaret, daughter of Leopold, archduke of Austria,\nand widow of Henry, king of the Romans, professed herself, out of\nhumility, a lay-sister. The saint sent Adrian with twenty-six other\nfriars of his order to preach the faith in Bosnia, where they all\nreceived the crown of martyrdom. St. Ceslas himself preached in\nSilesia, and resided long at Breslaw. He directed St. Hedwiges in the\npaths of Christian perfection, was endowed with the gifts of prophecy\nand miracles, and filled the northern kingdoms with many eminent\nservants of God.\n\nIn 1240 the Tartars, marching from Asia with an army of five hundred\nthousand men, fell like a torrent on the West, and spread universal\ndesolation over Russia, Bulgaria, Sclavonia, Poland, and Hungary,\nto the borders of Germany. They slew Henry II., surnamed the Pious,\nduke of Silesia, in a great battle at Wolstadt in 1241, and marched\nagainst Breslaw, his capital. The inhabitants burned or hid their\nmost precious effects, and, abandoning the city to the enemy, shut\nthemselves up in the citadel. St. Ceslas bore them company to assist\nand comfort them, and never ceased with tears to implore the divine\nprotection. God was pleased to hear his prayers. When the barbarians\nhad made a breach, and were preparing to scale the walls, the saint\ncoming from offering the divine mysteries appeared upon the walls,\nand at the same time a globe of fire fell from the heavens upon the\ncamp of the infidels, which it filled with confusion and terror. In\nthe meantime the Christians made a sally, and the numberless troops\nof the barbarians perceiving that heaven visibly fought against\nthem, whilst many were perishing by the flame, betook themselves to\nflight, and abandoned their enterprise. Thus they who had overturned\nso many thrones, and trampled to the ground so many powerful armies,\nsaw themselves tumbled down from their victories and pride by the\nprayer of one humble servant of God, who renewed on this occasion the\nmiracles of Elias and Eliseus. The circumstances of this wonderful\ndeliverance are authentically attested by ancient records, still\npreserved among the public archives of the city of Breslaw, and are\nrelated by Martin Cromer, bishop of Heilsberg or Warmia, in his\nhistory of Poland, Longinus, and other historians of the northern\nkingdoms. St. Ceslas died in July, the following year, 1242. His\nrelics are preserved in a stately chapel at Breslaw. The immemorial\nveneration of his name was approved by Clement XI. in 1713. See\nTouron, Vie de St. Dominique, p. 622; Bzovius, t. 13; Longinus\nin Hist. Poloni\u00e6; Matthias de Miacovia, in Chronicis Poloni\u00e6, et\nBenedict XIV. de Canoniz. l. 2, c. 34, p. 264.\n\n\n SAINT AURELIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CARTHAGE, C.\n\nHe was archdeacon of Carthage, when, in 388, he was promoted to\nthe archiepiscopal dignity of that see, to which was annexed a\njurisdiction little inferior to that of a patriarch over all the\nmetropolitans of the different provinces of Africa. He cultivated a\nstrict friendship with St. Austin, held several councils against the\nDonatists, and was the first that condemned Celestius the Pelagian\nin a council held in 412, and Pelagius himself in another council\nin 416. He anathematized their heresy before St. Austin entered the\nlists against it. St. Aurelius died in 423. He is highly extolled\nby St. Fulgentius,[240] and is mentioned in the African Calendar of\nthe fifth age on the 20th of July. See the Acts of the Councils of\nCarthage, Baronius, Baillet, &c.\n\n\n SAINT ULMAR, OR WULMAR, ABBOT OF SAMER.\n\n THREE MILES FROM BOULOGNE.\n\nHe was nobly born at Sylviaco in the territory of Boulogne in\nPicardy. Renouncing the world in his youth, he entered himself a\nbrother in the abbey of Hautmont in Haynault, where it was his\nemployment to keep the cattle, and to hew wood for the community.\nHe was distinguished for his eminent spirit of prayer, and being\ncompelled by obedience to receive holy orders, was promoted to the\npriesthood. He after this obtained leave to live alone in a hermitage\nnear mount Cassel, and afterward in 688 founded in a wood upon his\nfather\u2019s estate in Sylviaco in the Boulognois, the abbey of Samer,\ncorruptly so called for St. Ulmar\u2019s, at present of the Congregation\nof St. Maur. St. Ulmar founded a nunnery at Vileria, now Wiere\naux bois, a mile from his own monastery, in which he placed his\nniece Bertana abbess. Ceadwalla, king of the West-Saxons, passing\nthat way in his journey to Rome to receive baptism, conferred on\nSt. Ulmar a notable largess toward carrying on his foundation. In\nclose retirement in his hermitage near mount Cassel, the saint\npreserved himself always free from worldly passions by flying from\nthe occasions which chiefly excite them, and by withdrawing from\nthe great scene of earthly business, envy, avarice, and strife.\nHere shutting out the busy swarm of vain images which besets us in\nthe world, he inured his mind to happy recollection and heavenly\ncontemplation. In this sweet repose he daily advanced in fervor and\ndivine charity till he was called to the joys of his Lord on the\n20th of July, 710. He was glorified by miracles, and is named in the\nRoman and other Martyrologies on the 20th of July. On the 17th of\nJune his relics were conveyed to Boulogne for fear of the plunder of\nthe Normans; and from thence to the abbey of St. Peter\u2019s at Ghent,\nwhere they were burnt by the fury of the Calvinists in the sixteenth\ncentury. See his life written soon after his death in Mabillon, Act.\nBened. t. 3, p. 237; and more full, with new remarks, by Cuper the\nBollandist, Jul. t. 5, p. 81.\n\n\n ST. JEROM \u00c6MILIANI, C.\n\n FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF REGULAR CLERGY OF SOMASCHA.\n\nHe was born at Venice of a patrician family; and, in the most\ntroublesome times of the republic, served in the troops from his\nchildhood. Whilst he was governor of the new castle in the mountains\nof Tarviso, he was taken prisoner, cast into a dungeon, and loaded\nwith chains. His sufferings he sanctified by penance and prayer;\nand being delivered by the miraculous protection of the mother of\nGod, arriving at Tarviso, he hung up his chains before an altar\nconsecrated to God under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin, and,\nreturning to Venice, devoted himself to the exercises of prayer and\nall virtues. At that time a famine and a contagious distemper having\nreduced many families to the greatest distress, he laid himself out\nin relieving all, but was particularly moved with compassion for\nabandoned orphans. These he gathered in a house which he hired,\nclothed and fed them at his own expense, and instructed them himself\nwith unwearied zeal in the Christian doctrine and in all virtue. By\nthe advice of St. Cajetan and others, he passed to the continent and\nerected like hospitals for orphans at Brescia, Bergamo, and other\nplaces; and others for the reception of penitent women. At Somascha,\non the frontiers of the Venetian dominions, between Bergamo and\nMilan, he founded a house which he destined for the exercises of\nthose whom he received into his Congregation, and in which he long\nresided. From this house it took its name; though it was sometimes\ncalled St. Mayeul\u2019s, titular of a college at Pavia, which St. Charles\nBorromeo put under his direction.\n\nThe instruction of youth and young clergymen became also an object\nof his zeal in his foundations, and continues still to be in his\ninstitute. The brothers, during the life of the founder, were all\nlaymen, and it was only approved as a pious Congregation. The\nholy founder died at Somascha on the 8th of February, 1537, of a\ncontagious distemper which he had caught by attending the sick. He\nwas beatified by Benedict XIV.; and canonized by Clement XIII. An\noffice in his honor was appointed for the 20th of July, by a decree\nof the holy see published in 1769. Three years after his death, in\n1540, his Congregation was declared a religious Order by Paul III.,\nand confirmed under the rule of St. Augustine by St. Pius V. in 1571,\nand again by Sixtus V. in 1586. It has no houses out of Italy and\nthe Catholic Swiss Cantons. It is divided into three provinces, of\nLombardy, Venice, and Rome. The general is chosen every three years\nout of each province in its turn. See his life written in Latin by\nAug. Turtura, Milan, 1620, 8vo., and Helyot, Histoire des Ord. Rel.\nt. 4, c. 33.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XXI.\n\n\n ST. PRAXEDES, VIRGIN.\n\nShe was daughter of Pudens, a Roman senator, and sister to St.\nPudentiana, and in the days of pope Pius I. and the emperor Antoninus\nPius, edified the church of Rome, by the bright lustre of her\nvirtues. All her great riches she employed in relieving the poor and\nthe necessities of the Church. By the comfort and succors which she\nafforded the martyrs she endeavored to make herself partaker of their\ncrowns, and she lived in the assiduous exercise of prayer, watching,\nand fasting. She died in peace and was buried near her sister on the\nSalarian road. Bede and other martyrologists style her a virgin. An\nold _title_ or parish church in Rome bearing her name is mentioned in\nthe life of pope Symmachus. It was repaired by Adrian I. and Paschal\nI., and lastly by St. Charles Borromeo, who took from it his title of\ncardinal.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe primitive Christians lived only for heaven, and in every step\nlooked up to God, regardless of all lower pursuits or meaner\nadvantages that could interfere with their great design of knowing\nand loving him. This constant attention to God awed them in their\nretirements; this gave life and wings to their devotion, and animated\nthem to fervor in all their actions; this carried them through the\ngreatest difficulties and temptations, and supported them under all\ntroubles and afflictions.\n\n\n ST. ZOTICUS, M.\n\n BISHOP OF COMANA IN CAPPADOCIA.\n\nHe first detected, zealously confuted, and condemned the errors\nand impostures of the Cataphryges or Montanists with their false\nprophecies, as Eusebius mentions. To this triumph over heresy and\nimposture he added the crown of martyrdom, which he received in the\npersecution of Severus, about the year 204. See Eusebius, b. 5, c.\n16, and the ancient martyrologies.\n\n\n ST. BARHADBESCIABAS, DEACON, M.\n\nIn the fifteenth year of the great persecution raised in Persia\nby king Sapor II., by the command of Sapor Tamsapor governor of\nAdiabene, Barhadbesciabas, the zealous deacon of the city of Arbela,\nwas apprehended and put on the rack. Whilst he was tormented, the\nofficers continually cried out to him, \u201cWorship water and fire,\nand eat the blood of beasts, and you shall be immediately set at\nliberty.\u201d But the blessed deacon Barhadbesciabas showed, by the\ncheerfulness of his countenance, that the interior joy of his happy\nsoul overcame the torments he felt in his body. He often said to\nthe judge, \u201cNeither you nor your king, nor any manner of torments\nshall ever be able to separate me from the love of Jesus: Him alone\nhave I served from my infancy to this old age.\u201d The tyrant at length\ncondemned him to be beheaded, and commanded Agh\u00e6us, an apostate\nChristian nobleman, to be his executioner. The holy deacon stood\nbound waiting with joy for the happy moment which was to associate\nhim to the angels; but Agh\u00e6us trembled so as not to be able to give\nthe blow. He struck, however, seven times at the martyr\u2019s neck, and\nnot being able to sever his head from his body, ran his sword into\nhis bowels; of which wound the holy deacon expired soon after. The\njudge set guards to watch the blessed corpse; but two clerks carried\nit off in the night, and buried it after the Roman fashion. He\nsuffered on the 20th day of the month of July, in the year 354, of\nSapor II. 45. See his genuine Chaldaic acts in Assemani, t. 1, p. 129.\n\n\n ST. VICTOR OF MARSEILLES, M.\n\nThe emperor Maximian, reeking with the blood of the Theb\u00e6an legion,\nand many other martyrs whom he had massacred in different parts of\nGaul, arrived at Marseilles, the most numerous and flourishing church\nin those provinces. The tyrant breathed here nothing but slaughter\nand fury, and his coming filled the Christians with fear and alarms.\nIn this general consternation, Victor, a Christian officer in the\ntroops, went about in the night time from house to house visiting\nthe faithful, and inspiring them with contempt of a temporal death\nand the love of eternal life. He was surprised in this action, so\nworthy a soldier of Jesus Christ, and brought before the prefects\nAsterius and Eutychius, who exhorted him not to lose the fruit of\nall his services and the favor of his prince for the worship of a\ndead man; so they called Jesus Christ. He answered, that he renounced\nthose recompenses if he could not enjoy them without being unfaithful\nto Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who vouchsafed to become\nman for our salvation, but who raised himself from the dead, and\nreigns with the Father, being God equally with him. The whole court\nheard him with tumultuous shouts of indignation and rage. However,\nthe prisoner being a person of distinction, the prefects sent him\nto Maximian himself. The incensed countenance of an emperor did not\ndaunt the champion of Christ; and the tyrant seeing his threats to\nhave no effect upon him, commanded him to be bound hands and feet and\ndragged through all the streets of the city, exposed to the blows\nand insults of the populace. Every one of the heathens seemed to\nthink it a crime not to testify their false zeal, by offering some\nindignity or other to the martyr. Their design was to intimidate the\nChristians, but the example of the martyr\u2019s resolution served to\nencourage them.\n\nVictor was brought back bruised and bloody to the tribunal of the\nprefects, who thinking his resolution must have been weakened by his\nsufferings, began to blaspheme our holy religion, and pressed him\nagain to adore their gods. But the martyr filled with the Holy Ghost,\nand encouraged by his presence in his soul, expressed his respect\nfor the emperor and his contempt of their gods, adding, \u201cI despise\nyour deities, and confess Jesus Christ: inflict upon me what torments\nyou please.\u201d The two prefects only disagreed about the choice of\nthe tortures. After a warm contest Eutychius withdrew, and left the\nprisoner to Asterius, who commanded him to be hoisted on the rack,\nand most cruelly tortured a long time. The martyr, lifting up his\neyes to heaven, asked patience and constancy of God, whose gift he\nknew it to be. Jesus Christ appeared to him on the rack, holding a\ncross in his hands, gave him his peace, and told him that he suffered\nin his servants, and crowned them after their victory. These words\ndispelled both his pains and his grief; and the tormentors being at\nlast weary, the prefect ordered him to be taken down, and thrown into\na dark dungeon. At midnight God visited him by his angels; the prison\nwas filled with a light brighter than that of the sun, and the martyr\nsung with the angels the praises of God. Three soldiers who guarded\nthe prison, seeing this light, were surprised at the miracle, and\ncasting themselves at the martyr\u2019s feet asked his pardon, and desired\nbaptism. Their names were Alexander, Longinus, and Felician. The\nmartyr instructed them as well as time would permit, sent for priests\nthe same night, and going with them to the sea-side he led them out\nof the water, that is, was their godfather, and returned with them\nagain to his prison.\n\nThe next morning Maximian was informed of the conversion of the\nguards, and, in a transport of rage, sent officers to bring them all\nfour before him in the middle of the market-place. The mob loaded\nVictor with injuries, and would fain have compelled him to bring\nback his converts to the worship of their gods; but he said, \u201cI\ncannot undo what is well done.\u201d And turning to them he encouraged\nthem saying, \u201cYou are still soldiers; behave with courage, God\nwill give you victory. You belong to Jesus Christ, be faithful. An\nimmortal crown is prepared for you.\u201d The three soldiers persevered\nin the confession of Jesus Christ, and by the emperor\u2019s orders were\nforthwith beheaded. Victor prayed in the mean time with tears that he\nmight, by being united with them in their happy death, be presented\nin their glorious company before God; but after having been exposed\nto the insults of the whole city as an immovable rock lashed with\nthe waves, and been beaten with clubs and scourged with leather\nthongs, he was carried back to prison, where he continued three days,\nrecommending to God his martyrdom with many tears. After that term\nthe emperor called him again before his tribunal, and having caused\na statue of Jupiter, with an altar and incense, to be placed by him,\nhe commanded the martyr to offer incense to the idol. Victor went up\nto the profane altar, and by a stroke of his foot threw it down. The\nemperor ordered the foot to be forthwith chopped off; which the saint\nsuffered with great joy, offering to God these first fruits of his\nbody. A few moments after, the emperor condemned him to be put under\nthe grindstone of a handmill, and crushed to death. The executioners\nturned the wheel, and when part of his body was bruised and crushed,\nthe mill broke down. The saint still breathed a little; but his head\nwas immediately ordered to be cut off. His and the other three bodies\nwere thrown into the sea, but being cast ashore were buried by the\nChristians in a grotto hewn out of a rock. The author of the acts\nadds, \u201cThey are honored to this day with many miracles, and many\nbenefits are conferred by God and our Lord Jesus Christ on those who\nask them through their merits.\u201d\n\nIn the fifth century Cassian[241] built a great monastery near the\ntomb of this saint, which afterward received the rule of St. Bennet,\nbut was afterward secularized by Benedict XIV. The relics of St.\nVictor remain in that church, the most ancient in all France, full of\nillustrious monuments of primitive saints. Some part of the relics of\nSt. Victor was conveyed to Paris and laid in a chapel built in his\nhonor, which soon after, in the reign of Louis VI., was enlarged,\nand the royal monastery of regular canons founded there, which bears\nthe name of this saint, its glorious patron.[242] This institute\nand abbey were commenced by William of Champeaux, archdeacon of\nParis, a man of eminent piety and learning, who having taught for\nmany years rhetoric and theology, with extraordinary reputation,\nin the cloister of the cathedral, retired to this little chapel\nof St. Victor, then in the skirts of the town. There with certain\nfervent clergymen he lived in close solitude, assiduous prayer,\nand great austerity, allowing no other food to be served in his\ncommunity but herbs, pulse, and roots, with bread and salt. By the\npressing importunities of the bishop of Paris and other persons of\ndistinction, he was obliged to resume his theological lectures, which\nhe seems to have continued at St. Victor\u2019s as F. Gourdan shows.\nWhence Rollin calls this monastery the cradle of the university of\nParis. In favor of this holy institute king Louis VI. founded and\nbuilt there a magnificent abbey, which still subsists in a most\nflourishing condition. Gilduin, a most holy man, was appointed first\nabbot, whilst William of Champeaux taught there, who in 1113 was\nconsecrated bishop of Chalons on the Saone. Dying in 1121, according\nto his desire he was buried at Clairvaux, by St. Bernard, who had\nreceived at his hands the abbatial benediction.[243] See St. Victor\u2019s\ngenuine acts, which are not unworthy the pen of Cassian, to whom\nsome ascribe them; but without grounds. They are published and much\ncommended by Bosquet in the fourth tome of his History of the Church\nof France, p. 202. See also Tillemont, t. 4, Ceillier, t. 3, p. 366.\nFleury, l. 8, n. 20. Rivet, Hist. Litt\u00e9r. t. 2, p. 231, and Cuper the\nBollandist, t. 5, Jul. p. 135. F. Gourdan has compiled at length the\nlife of St. Victor, with an account of many miracles wrought through\nhis intercession, and a collection of many devout hymns and prayers\nin his honor, and other various memorials relating to this saint, in\nthe seventh tome of his MS. history of the eminent men of the royal\nabbey of St. Victor at Paris. See also Oudin, t. 2. De Script. Eccl.,\np. 1138.\n\n\n ST. ARBOGASTUS, BISHOP OF STRASBURG, C.\n\nThe Irish challenge this saint as a native of their island. The\nScots also lay claim to him, and are supported by Richer\u2019s Chronicle\nof Sens, written in the thirteenth century, and by the life of St.\nFlorentius, his successor, though his acts say he was of a noble\nfamily in Aquitain. Travelling into Alsace he led an anachoretical\nlife in the Sacred Forest (for this is the interpretation of the\nTeutonic name Heiligesforst), about the year 630. He was often called\nto the court of king Dagobert II., and by his interest promoted to\nthe episcopal see of Strasburg. His acts relate, that not long after\nhis exaltation he raised to life Dagobert\u2019s son, killed by a fall\nfrom a horse; these acts call this prince Sigebert; his name is not\nrecorded by the historians. Many other miracles are ascribed to\nthis saint; who, assisted by the liberality of this king, enriched\nthe Church of Strasburg with several large estates. King Dagobert\nbestowed on it, for his sake, the manor and town of Rufach, with an\nextensive country situated on both sides the river Alse or Elle,\ntogether with the old royal palace of Isenburg, residing himself\nat Kirchem near Molsheim. St. Arbogastus also founded, or at least\nendowed, several monasteries, the principal among which were\nSurburg and Shutteran: some say also Ebersheimunster; but the chief\nfounder of this last was duke Athico, the father of St. Odilia, by\nthe direction of St. Deodatus, bishop of Nevers. St. Arbogastus\ndied, according to Bosch the Bollandist, in 678, the year before\nDagobert offered the bishopric of Strasburg to St. Wilfrid, who was\nthen on his journey to Rome. Upon his declining that dignity, it\nwas conferred on St. Florentius. All writers on St. Arbogastus\u2019s\nlife mention that, in his last will, he ordered his body should be\ninterred on the mountain which was the burial-place of malefactors.\nHis will was complied with; but the church of St. Michael was\nafterward built upon the spot, and surrounded by a village called\nStrateburg. Near it was founded the abbey of St. Arbogastus, to which\nhis body was translated with honor by his successor St. Florentius.\nSee the life of St. Arbogastus which seems to have been written in\nthe tenth age, published with remarks by F. Bosch, t. 5, Julij, p.\n168.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XXII.\n\n\n ST. MARY MAGDALEN.\n\nThe illustrious penitent woman mentioned by St. Luke,[244] was, by\nher perfect conversion, an encouraging example and model of penitence\nto all succeeding ages. She is called the Sinner,[245] to express\nher pre-eminence in guilt. This epithet seems to imply that she led\na lewd and disorderly life. The scandal of her debaucheries had\nrendered her name infamous throughout the whole city. Naim, Tiberias,\nor some neighboring place in Galilee, seems to have been the chief\ntheatre of her disorders, at least at the time of her conversion.\nThey took their rise from small beginnings; for no one becomes a\ngreat proficient in vice all at once. The fences of virtue are\nweakened by degrees before they are entirely broken down.\n\nThe steps by which young persons, like this sinner, are led into\nevil courses, are pointed out to us by our Divine Redeemer in the\nparable of the prodigal son. The source of all his misfortunes is\na love of independence and of his own will. He is full of his own\nwisdom, and of a certain self-sufficiency; is an enemy to advice, the\nmeans to find out truth and to discover dangers. All who contradict\nhis passions, or tell him the truth, are odious to him; the counsels\nof tender parents he calls interested; those of God\u2019s anointed too\nsevere and scrupulous; those of the old and experienced, cowardly\nand mean-spirited. Young persons, above all others, are in an age\nin which the devil prepares innumerable snares, the world lays many\nstratagems, and passions easily eclipse reason; and it behoves them\ninfinitely to be strongly persuaded that their safety consists\naltogether in most sincere dispositions of humility, obedience, and\ndocility. Tractableness and dutifulness towards superiors is the most\nessential virtue of that age, next to the obligation of religion,\nwhich we owe to God. Those companions, whose discourse and behavior\ntend to inspire a contempt of parents and other superiors, are of all\npests the most dangerous to youth.\n\nThe prodigal son, blinded by his passions, thought himself prudent\nand strong enough to be his own governor and master, and flattered\nhimself that his love of liberty and pleasure was not very criminal\nor unjust; but from this root all vices have sprouted up, and are not\nto be restrained by him who opens to them such a door by shaking off\nthe happy yoke of subjection, which is the divine ordinance. Such is\nthe strange disorder of that mischievous passion, that though the\nprodigal son lived in dignity and plenty, and enjoyed all temporal\nblessings and all the comforts of life without feeling its troubles\nor knowing its miseries, yet he was not content. His subjection to a\ngood father was true freedom; he was the object of all his parent\u2019s\ncares, and he reaped the fruit of all his labors. But so distempered\nwas his soul, that the constraint of this tender guardian\u2019s watchful\neye seemed to embitter all his pleasures, and such an obedience\nappeared to him an insupportable burden and slavery, which therefore\nhe would shake off to have no other law but his own will. This was\nhis capital enemy, though he would not be so persuaded; and by\nindulging it he fostered a young tiger in his own bosom, which soon\ngrew too strong for him and tore him to pieces. We are astonished\nat the quick progress which the passions make when once the bridle\nis let loose. The prodigal youth, seeing himself possessed of that\ndangerous liberty which he had so passionately desired, full of false\njoy at the prospect of imaginary happiness, went into a foreign\ncountry, to be at a greater distance from all troublesome advisers.\nHis passions being so far yielded to, had no longer any bounds, and\nhe denied his heart nothing of its irregular desires, being no longer\nmaster of himself. Unthinking and blinded he soon squandered away his\nfortune, without keeping any accounts, or knowing how it was spent;\nhe was surprised to find his hands empty, and himself starving, and\nthat he had not yet found those enjoyments which he had promised\nhimself; instead of which he had met with nothing but shadows and\nmiseries. Nevertheless, cleaving still to so treacherous a world, and\nyet entertaining desperate foolish hopes of finding happiness in it,\nhe went on in the pursuit of his passions; and losing himself daily\nmore and more in the mazes of sin, he was at length reduced to have\nno other company but that of the most filthy of beasts, and almost to\nperish with hunger at the heels of the hogs which he was condemned to\nserve and fatten.\n\nThis is a true picture of the sinner who has thrown off the holy\nyoke of God, and has enslaved himself to his passions. How earnestly\nought every Christian to pray that God may always so strengthen his\nresolution with his grace, that he may never receive any other than\nhis sweet and holy law? What completes the misfortune of the habitual\nsinner is, that few who have fallen into that gulf ever sincerely\nrise again. The very afflictions which converted the prodigal son\nthrow thousands into despair. God\u2019s powerful graces are weakened\nafter having been long contemned; and habits grow stronger than\nreason. When the poison of sin has sunk deep into the heart, it is\nnot expelled by an ordinary grace. Of such a sinner that curse is\npronounced, that even in his old age, if he ever arrive at it, his\nbones shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall\ndescend with him into the grave, and shall sleep with him in the\ndust.[246] Christ indeed came from heaven to save all such; in his\ntender compassion for their miseries he invites them to return to\nhim, and for their encouragement has shown a remarkable example\nof his mercy in our saint. Having considered in the image of the\nprodigal son, the unhappy steps by which she fell, we shall, with\ngreater edification, take a view of the circumstances which have\ngiven so great a lustre to her repentance.\n\nJesus, not long after he had raised to life the son of a widow at\nNaim, a town in Galilee, was invited to dinner by a certain Pharisee\ncalled Simon, who seems to have lived in the same town, or some\nneighboring city, as Calmet shows. Our Lord was pleased to accept his\ninvitation, chiefly that he might confound the pride of the Pharisees\nby manifesting the power of his grace in the wonderful conversion\nof this abandoned sinner. His bowels had yearned over her spiritual\nmiseries, and he spread upon her soul a beam of his divine light\nwhich penetrated her understanding and her heart so effectually,\nthat, listening to the interior voice of his grace, she saw the\nabominable filth and miseries in which she was plunged, was filled\nwith confusion and horror, and conceived the most sincere detestation\nof her ingratitude and baseness. Our Lord went to the banquet in\ngreat joy to wait for this soul, which he himself had secretly\nwounded with his holy love, and which he was pleased to draw to him\nin the midst of a great assembly, that by her public repentance\nshe might repair the scandal she had given, and he might give to\nall succeeding ages an illustrious instance of his mercy towards\nall repenting sinners. She began her conversion by entering into\nherself. As her fall was owing to inconsideration, so doubtless her\nfirst step towards repentance was serious reflection on the misery\nof her present condition, the happiness she had forfeited, and the\npunishment she was to expect. From these considerations she raised\nher thoughts to others higher and more noble, those of divine love,\nreflecting who He is whom she had so grievously offended, and how\nexcessive and incomprehensible his goodness is, which she had so long\nand so basely slighted. This motive of love, to which Christ ascribed\nher conversion, drew from her eyes a torrent of tears, and made her\ncry out with the prodigal son, that she had sinned against heaven.\nThat model of true penitents forgot his corporeal miseries and all\nother circumstances of his fall, being full of this reflection\nalone, how he could be capable of offending so good a parent. He\nacknowledged himself unworthy to be again called a child; yet he\ndeferred not a moment to restore his heart to him to whom he owed\nit, and, confiding in his indulgence, threw himself upon his mercy,\nhoping by his goodness to be admitted among his hired servants.\n\nIn the like dispositions does our penitent raise her heart to God.\nShe hearkens not to the suggestions of worldly prudence which\nmight seem to require some time for deliberation, for settling her\nconcerns, or for taking proper measures about her conversion itself;\nthe least delay appears to her a new crime, a fresh aggravation of\nher misfortune. She was informed that our Divine Redeemer was at\ntable in the house of the Pharisee. She did not so much as think\nof the disgrace to which she exposed herself by appearing before a\nnumerous and honorable assembly, of the reproaches and disdain she\nwas to expect from the Pharisee, or the fear of moving Christ himself\nto indignation by an unseasonable importunate address. One moment\u2019s\ndelay in seeking her physician seemed too much, because her heart\nwas now wounded with divine love. Sinners who, in returning to God,\nthink too nicely that they have temporal interests to provide for,\nfriends to please, and opportunities to wait for, are far from the\ndispositions of this happy penitent. She found mercy because she\nsought it before all things. Had she dallied with grace, it would\nhave been justly withdrawn; had she been for compounding with her\npassions, they would have again enslaved her more strongly than ever.\nShe found all difficulties vanish in a moment, because her conversion\nwas sincere and perfect; by one steady resolution the work is done.\nWhat further deliberation can one that has sinned require than that\nthe gate of mercy is yet open to him? Let him at all rates make\nhaste to find it, though for this he should sacrifice every thing\nelse. So insupportable to this holy penitent was the stench of her\nown filth, and the load of her guilt, that she could not defer the\nremedy an hour longer to wait for a better opportunity, or to inquire\nif our Lord was at leisure to hear her; and a firm confidence in his\nboundless mercy was her encouragement, and her strong assurance that\nhe would not reject her tears.\n\nWhen the prodigal son said to himself, _I will arise, and will go to\nmy Father_, we might have asked him, says St. Peter Chrysologus, what\nhe trusted to for his pardon? upon what he grounded his confidence?\nupon what hope or assurance he presumed to appear in the presence\nof him whom he had so heinously offended? His answer would have\nbeen, \u201cThis is the assured ground of my confidence, that he is my\nFather. I have forfeited all title to the name or rank of his son;\nbut he hath not lost the quality or affection of a parent. I want no\nstranger to intercede with a father. The tender affection of his own\nbreast pleads powerfully within him, and is sure to incline him in\nmy favor. His paternal bowels are moved, and yearn to restore to a\nson by pardon that life which he formerly gave him by birth.\u201d[247]\nIn like sentiments this penitent woman seeks her Almighty Physician,\nprofessing herself altogether undeserving and unworthy of mercy,\nand therefore alleges nothing on her side to recommend her to his\ncompassion, except only that she was the work of his hands, though\nan unnatural and rebellious child, in whom that title was only a\ngrievous exaggeration of her guilt; but she confidently appeals to\nhis infinite goodness and mercy, and begs that for his own sake\nhe will save her, in whom he still discovers, though frightfully\ndisfigured, the traces of his divine image which his own omnipotent\nhand had formed, and which it is in his power easily to repair and\nperfect.\n\nIn these dispositions she bolted into the chamber where Jesus was\nat dinner with the Pharisee, and, regardless of what others thought\nor said of her past life or of her present boldness,[248] she made\nup to her Redeemer and Physician. She durst not appear before his\nface, and therefore went behind him; and the nearer she approached\nhis sacred person streams gushed more abundantly from her eyes. She\nreflected how basely she had defiled and sought to destroy her own\nsoul, and how impiously she had robbed Christ of many other souls\nwhilst he was come from heaven, and was ready to sacrifice himself on\nthe cross for her and them; and at this and other like considerations\nshe was not able to moderate her grief. The inward confusion she\nfelt at the sight of her sins and baseness made her despise all the\nconfusion which she could receive before men, or rather rejoice in it\nto meet that contempt which she acknowledged herself most justly to\ndeserve from all creatures. Attentive only on Christ, from whom she\nsought her health and salvation, standing at his feet, she watered\nthem with her tears, wiped them with her hair, most respectfully\nkissed them, and anointed them with rich perfumes and sweet-scented\nessences which she had brought in an alabaster box. She now defaces\nor consecrates to penance whatever had formerly been an instrument\nof sin; her eyes, which had been full of dangerous charms, are now\nconverted into fountains of tears to cleanse the stains of her soul;\nand her hair, once dressed in tresses and curls to ensnare souls,\nnow hangs loose and dishevelled, and serves for a towel to wipe\nour Lord\u2019s feet, which she kisses with her lips, and scents with\nher perfumes, formerly the incentives of vice. The penitent must\nconsecrate his riches to Christ in the poor which are his feet; must\nemploy his eyes in tears, and his lips in supplications for mercy,\nand must make all that serve to charity and mortification which\nbefore served self-love. These exterior offerings must be accompanied\nwith the interior sacrifice of the heart, by humble confidence in the\ndivine mercy, by lively faith and ardent love, with which the soul\nof a sinner approaches to Jesus, and is reconciled to him. Our holy\npenitent prepared as it were an altar at the feet of our Lord, on\nwhich she offered to him the true sacrifice of a contrite and humble\nheart. There losing the use of her speech whilst grief intercepted\nher words, she spoke only by her tears; but before Him to whom the\nsecrets of her heart were open, these sighs, and this silence itself,\nwas a louder cry than that of any words could have been. Thus she\nearnestly begged of God\u2019s pure mercy, that pardon which she confessed\nherself most unworthy to obtain.\n\nJesus, who had himself inspired her with these dispositions, cast on\nher a favorable eye of mercy. He was come to the Pharisee\u2019s banquet\nexulting with holy joy, which sprung from his foreknowledge of the\nconversion of this soul; the mainspring of all he did and suffered\non earth being that insatiable thirst for the salvation of sinners\nwhich brought him from heaven, and which was not to be satisfied but\nby his sufferings on the cross, and by the last drop of his blood\npoured out for them upon it. In these sentiments he had testified\nthat it was his delight to converse with sinners, out of compassion\nfor their miseries, being desirous to draw them out of that gulf\ninto which they had blindly plunged themselves. This he expressed by\nmany moving parables, especially that of the prodigal son, where he\npaints his mercy in the strongest coloring by the manner in which he\nrepresents the good old father receiving him upon his return. From\nthe time of his going astray the tender parent never allowed himself\nany respite in his tears, inquiries, and search: at length, from an\neminence in which he looked about on every side, still hoping he\nshould one day see him return, he descried him at a distance. He saw\nonly a disfigured, languishing, and frightful spectre; the wretched\nremains of a debauchee and rake worn out by riots and revellings: his\nfeatures horrid and defaced, his body resembling a walking skeleton,\nbut half covered with a few filthy rags. Yet, under this disguise,\nhis eye, directed by love, discovered him at a great distance, and\nbefore any other could see him, knew that it was his son. Far from\nbeing disgusted at such a spectacle, he ran to meet him, affection\ngiving vigor to his enfeebled age. He remembered no longer his past\nbehavior, but rushing to his embraces, kissed him, and bathed his\nhead and face with floods of tears which joy drew from his eyes, and\nwhich he mingled with the tears of sincere grief and affection which\nthe penitent son abundantly poured forth. The good father wiped them\noff his face, prevented his confusion, restored him to his former\nrank, called for, and gave him the best robe; a ring upon his finger\n(a symbol of dignity), and shoes on his feet. He, moreover, ordered a\nfatted calf to be forthwith killed, and gave a splendid entertainment\nwith music, inviting all to rejoice with him and make merry, because\nhis son whom he lamented as dead was come to life again, and he that\nhad been lost was found. If the birth of this son, when he was first\nbrought to life, had been to him a subject of great joy, how much\nmore reason had he to rejoice seeing him now restored by a second\nbirth, so much the more joyful, as it wiped away his tears, and\nchanged his grievous sorrow into comfort? Thus doth our loving God\nand Redeemer receive the penitent sinner; thus is there joy in heaven\nupon one sinner that doth penance. The Holy Ghost clothes him with\nthe robe of sanctifying grace, puts a ring on his hand, the emblem of\nhis divine gifts, and gives shoes to his feet, that is, fortifies him\nwith strength to tread on the venomous aspick and basilisk, and to\ntrample upon the raging lion and dragon.\n\nThe Pharisee who had invited Jesus to his table, was shocked to see\nan infamous sinner well known in that city, admitted by our Lord to\nstand at his feet, and secretly said within himself that He could not\nbe a prophet, or know that she was a scandalous person. To inculcate\nour strict obligation of shunning bad company, God commanded all\nintimacy with public sinners to be avoided, lest the sound should\nbe infected by the contagion of their vices. The haughty Pharisees\nconstrued this law according to the false maxims of their pride,\nas if it were a part of virtue to despise sinners, and as if that\nrespect and charity which we owe to all men, were not due to such;\nbut the humble man, whilst he shuns the snare of wicked company,\nplaces himself below the worst of sinners, as the most ungrateful of\nall creatures; discharges all offices of charity, and spares neither\ntears nor pains to reclaim those that are gone astray. The contempt\nof any one is always the height of pride, which degrades a man in\nthe sight of God beneath that sinner whom he undervalues. This was\nthe case of the Pharisee; and such was the disorder of his pride\nthat it betrayed him into a rash judgment by which he condemned a\npenitent who was then a saint; and, arraigning the goodness and mercy\nof God, blasphemously censured the sanctity of our Redeemer. Nothing\nis more wonderful in the conduct of the Son of God on earth, than\nthe patience and meekness with which he bore the contradictions,\nmurmurings, and blasphemies of men in most unjustly condemning his\ncharity itself. We cannot form any idea unless we have experienced\nit, what force such injurious treatment has to make men abandon the\ngood which they have begun, and cease bestowing favors on those that\nmurmur against them. Christ has encouraged us by his example to this\nheroic practice of virtue, teaching us that the most effectual means\nof confounding slanderers is to instruct them by silence, meekness,\nperseverance in good works, and a constant return of sincere kind\noffices; he shows how we must still persevere steadfastly to regulate\nour intentions and actions according to the maxims of piety, and give\nourselves no trouble about what men will say of us.\n\nChrist sought indirectly by a parable, to cure the pride and rash\njudgment of this Pharisee, and convince him that she to whom much\nhad been forgiven, then loved God the more; consequently was more\nacceptable to him. Some interpreters understand his words, that much\nwas forgiven this penitent, because her love and sorrow were great\nand sincere; others take the meaning to be, that gratitude would\nmake her after this mercy more fervent in love. Each interpretation\nis undoubtedly true; but, as A. Lapide shows, the first seems most\nagreeable to the context. The conversion of sinners is usually begun\nby motives of fear, but is always perfected by those of love; and\nthe fervor of their love will be the measure of the grace which they\nwill receive. By the love of vanity the soul falls from Christ; and\nby his divine love she returns to him. How fervent was this love\nin our devout penitent! By it she is become at once insensible of\nthe reproaches and judgment of men; she defers not her sacrifice a\nsingle moment, and allows not herself the least mitigation in it;\nshe cuts off all her engagements, extirpating them to the very root\nboth in her heart and actions; she renounces for ever all dangerous\noccasions of her disorders. With what courage and resolution does she\nembrace all the most heroic practices of penance? confessing publicly\nher crimes: looking upon the utmost humiliation as her due and her\ngain, and as falling far short of what she deserves; chastising sin\nin herself without mercy, in order to excite the divine compassion;\nmaking the number and enormity of her sins the measure of her\npenance, or rather desiring to set no bounds to it, as the malice of\nher offences went beyond all bounds; and devoting the remainder of\nher life to tears, prayer, and every exercise of virtue and divine\nlove. She is the first to confess Jesus Christ publicly before\nmen, and in the presence of his enemies. By these dispositions she\ndeserved that her Lord should take upon him her defence, and declare\nhimself her protector. Happy are those sinners who by the sincerity\nand fervor of their repentance will have at the last day their Judge,\nRedeemer, and God, for their advocate and patron! The first and\nmost important grace which the Church teaches us in her litany most\nearnestly to ask of God is, that He vouchsafe, in his mercy, to bring\nus to this true penance.\n\nMercy is the property and the favorite attribute of our divine\nRedeemer; and tinder is not so soon kindled by fire when applied to\nit, as the divine mercy blots out all sin when it is implored with\na heart full of confusion and truly penitent. Hence Christ assured\nthis humble sinner that her offences were cancelled, and that her\nlively faith, animated by ardent charity, which drew from her eyes\ntears of repentance, had saved her; and he insured to her that solid\nand happy peace which is the fruit of such a repentance. The pious\ncardinal Berulle admires the happy intercourse between the heart\nof this holy penitent and that of Jesus; the first employed in the\nmost perfect sentiments of compunction, love, and entire sacrifice;\nthe second, in the tender motions of mercy, love, and goodness: the\npenitent offers floods of tears; these Jesus repays with treasures of\ngraces and mercy, by which he makes her soul a heaven on earth, as\nbright and pure as the angels, and the throne of the whole blessed\nTrinity. The hearts of the penitent and of Jesus are two sources\nwhich perpetually answer each other; the more the penitent pours\nforth her heart in contrition, the more abundantly does Jesus in\nreturn bestow on her his infinite graces. It is at the feet of Jesus\nthat these wonders are wrought; witness this example, and that of the\nsister of Lazarus, in the house of Simon the Leper in Bethania. It is\ngood for us to make this our dwelling in spirit. The adorable feet of\nJesus so often wearied in seeking sinners, and at last bored on the\ncross for their salvation, are the source of all blessings. Here this\ntrue penitent consecrates to him her heart, her mind, her actions,\nher perfumes, all she is or has; and here he cleanses her soul, and\nkindles in her his love, which the rebel angel lost in heaven. All\nhis attention is taken up on her, he entertains her alone, forgetting\nthe master of the feast, and others that were seated with him at\ntable. He even gave the Pharisee sensible proofs how much her fervor\nand penance surpassed in the sight of God his pretended justice and\ncharity, though it were presumed real. Perseverance in this fervor\ncompleted her happiness. Gratitude to God for so great a mercy, and\nso distinguished a grace, was to her a fresh spur to advance every\nday in this love with greater ardor and fidelity. Thus the greater\nthe debts were which had been forgiven her, the more earnestly she\nstrove with all her powers to love him who vouchsafed to accept her\nhumble sacrifice. This same motive of gratitude ought to have no less\nweight with those who, by God\u2019s singular grace, have always preserved\ntheir innocence; for, whether God shows mercy by pardoning sins or by\npreventing them in us, we are totally indebted to Him for the grace\nwhich we receive. Upon this great principle, St. Austin addresses the\nPharisee who despised our holy penitent, in the following words:[249]\n\u201cO Pharisee! to say you are less indebted to the divine mercy,\nbecause less was forgiven you, is a capital ingratitude and pride.\nFor by whom were you preserved from those crimes which you did not\ncommit? One who hath sinned much, stands indebted for the gracious\npardon of exceeding great debts. Another who hath sinned less, owes\nto God the benefit, that he hath not defiled himself with grievous\nsins. You have not fallen into adultery; but God saith to you, it\nis owing to me who governed and protected you. If no tempter ever\nenticed you, this was the effect of my special care and providence\nin your favor. If you escaped the occasions of dangers from time and\nplace, this likewise was ordained by me. Perhaps a temptation and\nan opportunity of sinning occurred; yet I withheld you by wholesome\nfear, that you did not consent to the evil. You are indebted to me\nfor your preservation from all the crimes which you did not commit;\nfor there is no sin that one committeth, which another person might\nnot commit if he were not preserved by him who made man.\u201d We cannot\nsufficiently admire and praise the excess of the divine goodness\ntowards men who were born children of wrath, and vessels of weakness\nand corruption. Wonderful is his mercy in those whom he preserves\nfrom the contagion of vice and mortal sin; but its influence appears\nwith the greatest lustre in sinners whom by repentance it not only\ncleanses from their guilt, but exalts to the highest places in his\nfavor. Of this our fervent penitent is an instance, who, after her\nconversion, surpassed others in the ardor of her charity, with which\nshe gave herself up entirely to the service of her Redeemer.\n\nSt. Clement of Alexandria, St. Gregory the Great, and many other\nwriters both ancient and modern, doubt not but this penitent was\nMary Magdalen, of whom St. Luke makes first mention in the following\nchapter. This surname seems to have been given her from Magdala, a\ntown mentioned by Josephus, or rather from Magdalum, both situated\nin Galilee.[250] She was by extraction a Galil\u00e6an, and is reckoned\namong the devout women who followed Christ from Galilee. St. Luke,\nafter speaking of the conversion of her that had been a sinner,\nsays[251] that certain women who had been cured of wicked spirits\nand infirmities followed Christ in his travels through Galilee, and\nup to Jerusalem, and assisted him with their substance; and our Lord\nreceives such good offices from them, to give them an occasion of\nexercising a gratitude and charity with which he was well pleased.\nAmong these, the evangelist names Mary Magdalen, out of whom our Lord\nhad cast seven devils, Joanna the wife of Chusa Herod\u2019s steward, and\none Susanna. St. Gregory the Great, Lightfoot, and some others, by\nthese seven devils understand seven capital vices of which Magdalen\nwas cured by her conversion; but Maldonat, Grotius, and others doubt\nnot but she had been literally possessed by seven evil spirits, by\nwhom she might be agitated at intervals, and which were cast forth\nat her conversion. Gratitude and devotion having attached her to our\nDivine Redeemer after so great a benefit, she followed him almost\nwherever he went, that she might have an opportunity of listening\nto all his sacred instructions, and of exercising her charity in\nministering to him her substance.[252] She attended him in his\nsacred passion, and stood under the cross on Mount Calvary. For her\nto arrive at the summit of divine love, it was necessary she should\npass through the sharpest trials. \u201cNo one,\u201d says Thomas \u00e0 Kempis,\n\u201cwas highly rapt whose fidelity was not sooner or later put to the\ntest; for he is not worthy of the high contemplation of God who hath\nnot, for God\u2019s sake, been exercised with some tribulation; and the\ntrial going before is usually a sign of ensuing consolation.\u201d A great\nmystery is contained in those words of the evangelist,--_There stood\nnear the cross of Jesus, Mary his mother, and his mother\u2019s sister\nMary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen_. Happy association! happy state\nand situation near Jesus on his cross! cries out the devout cardinal\nBerulle. This is a new order of souls which consists in the spirit,\nin the interior, and is invisible to men, but visible and glorious\nto the eyes of God and the angels. An order of souls crucified with\nJesus, and through Jesus, which takes its birth from his cross.\nThe order, at the same time, both of the cross and of heaven; the\norder and school of love by the martyrdom of the heart; which by\nlearning to die to the world and inordinate self-love, lives to God\nand his pure love. This happiness we attain to, by being united in\nspirit to Jesus crucified, as Magdalen was at the foot of his cross.\nShe suffered by love what he suffered in his body by the hands of\nthe Jews. The same cross crucified Jesus and Magdalen in him and\nwith him. The thorns pierced her heart with his head, and her soul\nwas bathed in all his sorrows; but the crucifixion was in both a\nmartyrdom of love; and that love which triumphed over Jesus by making\nhim die on the cross, crucified her heart to all inordinate love\nof creatures, thenceforward to reign and triumph alone in all her\naffections, so that she could say in a twofold sense; \u201cMy love is\ncrucified.\u201d Mary Magdalen forsook not her Redeemer after his death;\nbut remained by his sacred body, was present at its interment, left\nit only to obey the law of observing the festival, and having rested\non the sabbath from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday, as soon\nas the festival was over went to buy spices in order to embalm our\nLord\u2019s body. Having made all things ready, in company with other\ndevout women, she set out very early the next morning with the\nspices, before it was light, and arrived at the sepulchre just when\nthe sun was risen.[253] As they went they were anxious how they\nshould get the heavy stone which shut up the door of the monument,\ntaken away; but upon their arrival found it removed to their hands.\nGod never fails to be with his servants in what they undertake for\nhis honor; and the difficulties, whether real or imaginary, with the\napprehension of which the devil attempts to discourage them, are\nbanished by confidence and resolution, and vanish as shadows in the\nexecution. The pious women looked into the sepulchre, and finding\nthe body not there, Mary Magdalen ran to inform Peter and the other\ndisciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, \u201cThey have taken away\nthe Lord out of the sepulchre, and I know not where they have laid\nhim.\u201d SS. Peter and John, the two most fervent in love among the\napostles, ran immediately to the sepulchre, and were there assured\nby the holy women who were at the door of the monument, that going\nin they had seen two angels clad in white shining apparel, and that\none of them who sat at the right hand of the place where the body had\nlain, bid them not to fear, but to acquaint the apostles that Jesus\nwas risen, showing them at the same time the place where his body\nhad been laid. Peter and John having narrowly viewed the sepulchre,\ndoubted no longer of what was told them, and in great astonishment\nreturned to Jerusalem to the other disciples. Mary Magdalen, who had\nbrought them to the sepulchre of her Lord, made the throne of divine\nlove, would not return with them, or be drawn from the sacred place\nwhere the true ark of the testament, the body of her Redeemer, had\nrested three days, and continued at the monument bemoaning herself\nfor not being able to see her Redeemer, either dead or alive. Not\nbeing able to assuage the violence of her grief and of her desire to\nsee her Lord, she stood weeping without the door of the sepulchre.\nThe entrance being low and narrow she stooped down to look into it\nagain and again, and beheld the two angels in white, one of them\nsitting at the place where Jesus\u2019s head lay, and the other at the\nfeet, who thus accosted her, \u201cWoman, why weepest thou?\u201d She replied,\n\u201cBecause they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they\nhave laid him.\u201d Neither the surprise of this apparition nor the\nbrightness and glory of these heavenly messengers could touch her\nheart, or divert her thoughts from him whom she loved, and whom\nalone she sought, and we suffer so many foolish objects to distract\nus, and carry away our affections. In her answer to the angels she\ncalled him _My Lord_, to express the share which by love she had in\nhim, and her title to him as her God, Lord, and Redeemer. Afterward\nto the apostles she calls him _The Lord_, to excite them to duty\nand love to the common Lord of all creatures. But why did not these\nangels inform her that he whom she so earnestly sought was risen in\nglory? Doubtless, because the Lord of angels would reserve it to\nhimself to give her that comfort. Blessed be thy name for ever, O\nadorable Jesus, who so tenderly wipest away the tears of thy servants\nwith thy own hand, and sweet voice, and convertest their sorrow into\ntransports of inexpressible joy. Jesus first manifested himself to\nthe Magdalen in disguise to make a trial himself of her love; but his\ntenderness could not suffer a delay, and he soon discovered himself\nopenly to her; for, as soon as she had returned the answer above\nmentioned to the angels, she turned about, and saw Jesus himself\nstanding by her, but took him for the gardener. He asked her why\nshe wept, and whom she sought. She said to him, \u201cSir, if thou hast\ntaken him hence tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him\naway.\u201d According to the remark of St. Bernard and St. Thomas of Villa\nNova, love made her not to name him, because being full of Him alone,\nshe imagined every body else must be so too, and that this stranger\nmust understand of whom she spoke. Love also made her forget her own\nweakness, and think herself able to carry a heavy corpse, provided\nshe could be so happy any way as to serve her beloved; for to ardent\nlove nothing seems impossible or difficult. Jesus, infinitely pleased\nwith her earnestness and love, manifested himself to her, saying with\nhis sweet and amiable voice; _Mary!_ He at first mentioned her tears,\nand the object which she so earnestly sought, to excite her love. All\nthis while she knew him not, though he was present, and conversing\nwith her, because these words carried not with them the ray of light\nto discover him; but her name was no sooner pronounced by him, but\nhis voice excited in her a rapture of light and love, and gave her\nthe most sublime and full knowledge, and the sweetest enjoyment of\nthe most desirable of objects, of him risen in glory who was the life\nof the world, and her life. Hearing him sweetly call her by her name,\nand thus knowing him, she turning said, _Rabboni_, that is, Master.\nAnd casting herself at his feet in transports of devotion she would\nhave embraced them. But Jesus said to her, \u201cDo not touch me; for I\nhave not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and tell\nthem, that I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your\nGod.\u201d That is, my Father by nature, yours by grace, says St. Austin.\nHe bade her make haste to carry his message to his beloved disciples\nfor their speedy comfort, and not lose time in giving demonstrations\nof her reverence and love. St. Leo explains these words of our Lord\nas follows,[254] \u201cIt is not a time to demonstrate your affection\nfor me in such a manner as if I were in a mortal state; I am with\nyou but for a short time, to strengthen your faith. When I shall\nhave ascended to my Father, then you shall again possess me for\neternity.\u201d Thus Mary Magdalen, out of whom Jesus had cast seven evil\nspirits, was the first that saw Him after his rising from the dead.\nThis pre-eminence of grace, this distinguishing favor and love of\nJesus was the recompense of her ardent love, by which she attended\nlast his body in the sepulchre, from which she was only drawn by the\nduty of the Sabbath; and she was the first who returned thither: she\nsought him dead, and found him living. In obedience to his commands\nshe immediately departed to acquaint the apostles with the joyful\nmessage.[255] Jesus, who suffered her so long at his feet to satisfy\nher ardent love and compunction when he received her to mercy, here\nallows her, after her long search, scarce to remain a few moments\nin the state of enjoyment; but he separates himself from her to\nreturn into the secret of inaccessible light, invisible to mortal\neye. Why does not he who is Life itself allow her to live in his\nhappy presence? Why does not he allow her at least as many hours of\nenjoyment as she had spent in her search of him? But this separation\nitself is an effect of his greatest love, this life being a state\nof action, of conflict, and of trials for the exercise of virtue;\nand Magdalen in this separation itself which was from him, by his\nappointment, and for her greater advancement in his love, found by\nobedience, zeal, and resignation to his will, her comfort, life, and\ngreat increase of his love and all graces. The other devout women who\nhad seen the angels at the sepulchre, in their return to Jerusalem,\nwere also favored with an apparition of our Lord. He having met and\nsaluted them, they prostrated themselves at his feet, and embraced\nthem worshipping him, though they were greatly afraid.[256] Jesus bid\nthem not fear, but go and tell his brethren that he would go before\nthem into Galilee, where they should see him.[257]\n\nIt is an ancient popular tradition of the inhabitants of Provence\nin France, that St. Mary Magdalen, or perhaps, Mary the sister of\nLazarus, St. Martha, and St. Lazarus, with some other disciples of\nour Lord, after his ascension, being expelled by the Jews, put to\nsea, and landed safe at Marseilles, of which church they were the\nfounders, St. Lazarus being made the first bishop of that city.[259]\nThe relics of these saints were discovered in Provence in the\nthirteenth century, those of St. Mary Magdalen at a place now called\nSt. Maximin\u2019s, those of St. Martha at Tarascon upon the Rhone,\nand others in St. Victor\u2019s at Marseilles. They were authentically\nproved genuine by many monuments found with them in these several\nplaces. Charles I., king of Naples and brother of St. Louis, was at\nthat time sovereign count of Provence; but he being then in Naples\nengaged in war with the house of Arragon, his son Charles of Anjou,\nprince of Salerno, governed Provence. This prince was beaten at sea\nby the fleet of the king of Arragon in 1284, and taken prisoner;\nand though his father died the year following, he could not recover\nhis liberty before the year 1288. He ascribed his deliverance to\nthe intercession of our saint, the discovery of whose relics had\nexcited his devotion to her; he had already founded the church of\nSt. Maximin\u2019s upon the spot where they were discovered, and assisted\nat the solemn translation of them in 1279. He committed this royal\nfoundation to the Dominican friars, and the prior, who is nominated\nby the king, is exempt from the ordinary jurisdiction both of the\narchbishop of Aix, and of the immediate superiors of his Order.\nThe chief part of the relics of this saint was translated from the\nsubterraneous chapel in the middle of this church, and being put in\na porphyry urn, the present of pope Urban VIII. was placed over the\nhigh altar. King Louis XIV., and the principal noblemen of his court,\nwere present at this translation, which was performed with great pomp\nin 1660. The saint\u2019s head, with many other relics, remains in the\nsubterraneous chapel; it is set in a gold case enchased with large\ndiamonds, and surmounted with the royal crown of Charles II. styled\nking of Sicily or Naples. Before it is a curious statue of queen Anne\nof Brittany, on her knees, made of enamelled gold. Three leagues from\nSt. Maximin\u2019s, towards Marseilles, is a famous solitary convent of\nDominicans, situated on a very high rock, encompassed on every side\nwith wild deserts and mountains. It is called La Ste. Baume; which\nin the Proven\u00e7al language signifies Holy Cave. It was anciently a\ncelebrated hermitage, and is a place now resorted to by pilgrims,\nout of devotion to this glorious saint. Both Latins and Greeks keep\nthe festival of St. Mary Magdalen on the 22d of July; it is in some\nplaces a holiday of precept, and was such formerly in England, as\nappears from the council of Oxford in 1222.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe pious cardinal Berulle was most tenderly devoted to this great\nsaint, whom he called his principal patroness; and nothing can be\nmore affecting in sentiments of compunction and divine love than\nthe discourses which he has left us in her honor.[260] She is the\nexcellent model of penitents. If we have sinned, why do not we by\nher example speedily lay hold of the sovereign remedy of penance? If\nviolent temptations and terrible enemies seem to stand in our way, if\nthe world allures us, if the devil fights fiercely against us, and\nunbridled passions are rebellious and clamorous, other penitents have\ncourageously surmounted greater obstacles than we can meet with. God\nincites us no less than he did them, and he is no less ready to fight\nin us and for us. Jesus holds out the crown to encourage us, and has\nalready prepared the banquet of spiritual joy and sweetness for us at\nour return. If we arise in earnest he will come, and will make his\nsolemn supper in our soul; and there will be exultation and a voice\nresounding praise through the whole heavenly court; but we must never\nthink our penance accomplished, must never put a stop to our tears\nso long as we remember that we have sinned: God prolongs our life\nthat we may continue to weep for our ingratitude in having offended\nhim. If our conversion be sincere, to make amends for past losses and\noffences, we must consecrate to the divine service with the utmost\nfervor all our time, and all that we are to do. The Magdalen, after\nJesus Christ had rendered himself master of her soul, had neither\nheart nor liberty but to give herself entirely to her deliverer.\n\n\n SAINT VANDRILLE OR WANDRE GISILUS.\n\n ABBOT OF FONTENELLES IN NORMANDY.\n\nHe was nearly related to Pepin of Landen and Erchinoald, the two\nfirst lords in the kingdom of Austrasia; and in his youth was made\ncount of the palace under Dagobert I. He was humble on the highest\npinnacle of honors, and mortified amidst pleasures. To retrieve\nhimself from the dissipation and other ill effects, of which hurry\nand much conversation with the world are dangerous occasions, he\nfrequently retired into his closet, and there conversed much with\nGod by devout prayer, and with himself by serious consideration on\nhis own duties, condition, and spiritual miseries. In compliance\nwith the will of his parents he took to wife a virtuous and noble\nlady; but, on the very day of his marriage, obtained her consent\nthat they should both consecrate their virginity to God; which they\ndid by a mutual vow on the same day. Vandrille in 629 took the\nmonastic habit at Montfaucon in Champagne, an abbey then lately\nfounded by St. Baudri. He afterward built a monastery upon his own\nestate, called Elisang. In order to perfect himself in the most\napproved rules and exercises of an ascetic or monastic life, he\ntook a journey to Bobio and to Rome. After his return into France\nhe spent ten years in the monastery of Romans, on the Isere. After\nwhich term, with the blessing of his abbot, he repaired to St. O\u00fcen,\narchbishop of Rouen, by whom he was some time after ordained priest.\nIn 648 the saint founded the famous monastery of Fontenelles, five\nleagues below Rouen, in the territory of Caux, in which he in a short\ntime saw himself at the head of three hundred monks. His life was\nalways most austere; he slept little, was clad in sackcloth, and\nwas most scrupulously exact in all the exercises of the monastic\nrule, in which, he was well assured, the sanctification of his state\nconsisted. He went to receive the recompense of his labors on the\n22d of July in 666, being ninety-six years old. He was buried in the\nchurch of St. Paul, now in ruins: his body was translated by St.\nBainus into that of St. Peter\u2019s, still standing; and in 944 to Ghent.\nIt was lost in the persecution of the Calvinists in 1578; but an arm\nhad been restored to Fontenelles, and the other arm been given to\nthe abbey of Brone; where these relics are still preserved. See his\ntwo lives of the same age in Mabillon, and in Bosch the Bollandist,\nJulij, t. 5, p. 253. Also Gallia Christ. Nova, t. 11, p. 155, 166,\nand the history of the translation of his relics to the abbey of\nBlandine, now St. Peter\u2019s at Ghent, and a history of his miracles,\nwith F. Bosch\u2019s notes, t. 5, p. 281; also F. Toussaint-du-Plessis,\nDescript. Geogr. Hist. de la Haute Normandie.\n\n\n SAINT JOSEPH OF PALESTINE.\n\n COMMONLY CALLED COUNT JOSEPH.\n\nThe Jews, after the destruction of Jerusalem, erected two academies,\nthe one at Babylon, the other at Tiberias, a city on the lake of\nGenesareth, rebuilt by Herod, in honor of the emperor Tiberias.\nBoth these schools flourished till the Saracen empire overran those\ncountries. That of Tiberias produced the Massoretes or Massoretic\ndoctors, so famous for the invention of the vowel points in the\nHebrew tongue, and their care in preserving the genuine text of the\nholy bible. Though the Jews then retained no sort of jurisdiction or\nform of government, yet they chose one among their chief doctors to\nwhom they gave the title of patriarch or prince of the captivity.\nThe most celebrated person who ever bore this honor among them was\nHillel, whose name is still in great veneration with the Jews, and\nwho was their most learned oracle, and the principal founder and\nornament of their academy at Tiberias. This Hillel, a few days before\nhis death, sent for a Christian bishop in the neighborhood under the\ncharacter of a physician, who ordered a bath to be prepared in his\nchamber, as if it had been for his health, and baptized him in it.\nHillel received the divine mysteries, and died.\n\nJoseph, one of his assistants, called Apostoli, whose life we are\nwriting, was witness to this secret transaction, and having always\nbeen the confident of Hillel, had the care of his son Judas who\nsucceeded him in the dignity of patriarch of the Jews. He found the\nholy gospels in Hillel\u2019s treasure, and read them with incredible\npleasure. The young patriarch fell into evil courses, and employed\nmagical arts to seduce a Christian woman; but the sign of the cross\nmade his charms of no effect. Joseph was surprised to hear this\nprodigy. He seemed in a dream one night to see Christ, and to hear\nfrom his mouth these words, \u201cI am Jesus whom thy fathers crucified;\nbelieve in me.\u201d He relished our holy faith more than ever, and going\ninto Cilicia to collect the tenths for the patriarch, he borrowed\nagain the holy gospels. The Jews, already dissatisfied with his\nconduct, finding him with this holy book, dragged him to their\nsynagogue, and cruelly scourged him. They were preparing worse\ntreatment for him when the bishop rescued him out of their hands.\nJoseph having already begun to suffer for Christ, was soon disposed\nto receive baptism.\n\nConstantine the Great became master of the East in 323. He gave\nJoseph the title and rank of count, with authority to build churches\nover Palestine, wherever he should judge proper. Joseph began to\nraise one at Tiberias. The Jews employed many artifices to hinder\nthe work, and stopped his lime-kilns from burning by enchantments,\nbut he, making the sign of the cross upon a vessel of water, and\ninvoking the name of Jesus, poured it on the kilns, and the fire\ninstantly burst forth and burned with great activity. Count Joseph\nshowed no less zeal against the Arians than against the Jews, and\nboth conspired together to persecute him; but he was protected by his\ndignity of count, which gave him a superior command and authority.\nJoseph, however, when the emperor Constantius persecuted the orthodox\nprelates, retired from Tiberias to the neighboring city Scythopolis,\nwhere, in 355, he lodged St. Eusebius of Vercelli, banished by the\nArians. His was the only Catholic house in that town. He harbored\nmany other illustrious servants of God, and among the rest St.\nEpiphanius, who had from his own mouth the particulars here related.\nJoseph was then seventy years of age. He died soon after, about\nthe year 356. The Greeks and Latins both mention his name in their\nmartyrologies. See St. Epiphanius, h\u00e6r. 30, c. 4. Tillemont, t. 7.\nFleury, l. 11, n. 35. Dom Gervaise in his life of St. Epiphanius, c.\n18, 19, 20, and Pinius the Bollandist, t. 5, Julij, p. 238.\n\n\n ST. MENEVE, ABBOT.\n\nHe was born in Anjou of a family allied to the emperor Charlemagne.\nFrom his infancy it was his only ambition to serve Christ with his\nwhole heart. When he was of an age to be settled in the world, his\nparents obliged him to accept a ring sent him by a great lord of the\ncountry named Baronte, as a token that he would marry his daughter;\nbut to prevent this engagement, he fled into Auvergne, and there\nreceived the monastic habit at the hands of St. Chaffre or Theofrede,\nwho was then \u0153conome of the monastery of Carmery or Cormeri, so\ncalled from its founder Carmen, duke of that country, since called\nSt. Theofrede\u2019s or Chaffre\u2019s monastery in Auvergne, four leagues from\nPuy in Velay, whom he had met at Menat, and followed to this abbey.\nHere he lived seven years under the holy abbot Eudo; then returned to\nMenat seven leagues from Clermont; this monastery he built in such a\nmanner as to have borne the name of its founder. He governed it for\nmany years with great sanctity, and died in 720. He is honored with\nsingular veneration in Auvergne and Anjou, and mentioned by Usuard\non the 22d of July. See Mabillon, Sec. 3, Ben., part 1, Labbe, t.\n2, Bibl. Nov\u00e6, p. 591. Branche, Vies des SS. d\u2019Auvergne et Velay.\nBaillet, &c.\n\n\n ST. DABIUS OR DAVIUS, C.\n\nA zealous Irish priest who preached with wonderful fruit in his own\ncountry and in Albany in Scotland; is titular saint of the parish of\nDomnach Cluana in the county of Down, and of Kippau in the Highlands,\nwhere a famous church is dedicated to God under his invocation by the\nname of Movean. See Colgan in MSS.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XXIII.\n\n\n SAINT APOLLINARIS, MARTYR.\n\n BISHOP OF RAVENNA.\n\n See Pinius in the Acts of the Saints, Julij, t. 5, p. 329,\n and Farlat, Illyrici Sacra, t. 1, p. 259.\n\nSt. Apollinaris was the first bishop of Ravenna. Bede, in his true\nMartyrology, says that he sat twenty years, and was crowned with\nmartyrdom in the reign of Vespasian. His acts say that he was a\ndisciple of St. Peter, and made by him bishop of Ravenna. Though\ntheir authority deserves little regard, this circumstance must\nbe allowed, being agreeable to the time, and supported by other\nauthorities. St. Peter Chrysologus, the most illustrious among his\nsuccessors, has left us a sermon in honor of our saint,[261] in which\nhe often styles him a martyr; but adds, that though he frequently\nspilt portions of his blood for the faith, and ardently desired to\nlay down his life for Christ, yet God preserved him a long time to\nhis Church, and did not suffer the persecutors to take away his life.\nSo he seems to have only been a martyr by the torments he endured\nfor Christ, which he survived at least some days. His body lay\nfirst at Classis, four miles from Ravenna, still a kind of suburb\nto that city, and its sea-port, till it was choked up by the sands.\nIn the year 549 his relics were removed into a more secret vault in\nthe same church, as an inscription still extant there testifies.\nSee Mabillon.[262] St. Fortunatus exhorted his friends to make\npilgrimages to his tomb, and St. Gregory the Great ordered parties\nin doubtful suits at law to be sworn before it. Pope Honorius built\na church under his name in Rome about the year 630. It occurs in all\nMartyrologies, and the high veneration which the Church paid early\nto his memory is a sufficient testimony of his eminent sanctity and\napostolic spirit.\n\nThe virtue of the saints was true and heroic, because humble, and\nproof against all trials. That of the heathen philosophers was lame,\nand generally false and counterfeit, whence Tertullian calls the\nlatter, Traders in fame. \u201cWhere is now the similitude,\u201d says he,\n\u201cbetween a philosopher and a Christian? a disciple of Greece and of\nheaven? a trader in fame, and a saver of souls?[263] between a man\nof words, and a man of works?\u201d And St. Jerom writes, \u201cA philosopher\nis an animal of fame, one who basely drudges for the breath of the\npeople.\u201d[264] Lactantius severely rallies Cicero, because, though he\nwas very sensible of the vanity of the worship then established, yet\nhe would not have that truth told the people for fear of unhinging\nthe religion of the state. \u201cNow what is to be done with a man,\u201d\nsays our Christian philosopher, \u201cwho knows himself in an error, yet\nwilfully dashes upon a rock, that the people may do so too? who makes\nno use of his wisdom for the regulation of his life, but entangles\nhimself to ensnare others, whom, as the wiser person, he was obliged\nto rescue from error? But O Cicero, if you have any regard for\nvirtue, attempt rather to deliver the people out of ignorance. It is\na noble enterprise, and worthy all your powers of eloquence. Never\nfear but your oratory will hold out in so good a cause, which never\nfailed you in the defence of so many bad ones. But Socrates\u2019s prison\nis the thing you dread; and therefore truth must want a patron; but\ncertainly, as a wise man, you ought to despise death in competition\nwith truth; and you had fallen much more honorably by speaking well\nof truth, than for speaking ill of Antony; nor will you ever rise to\nthat height of glory by your Philippics, as you would have done by\nlaboring to undeceive the world, and dispute the people into their\nsenses.\u201d[265] The philosophers did not love truth well enough to\nsuffer for it. Plato dissembled, for fear of Socrates\u2019s hemlock; but\nthe Christian religion raised its professors above all considerations\npresent, for the joy that was set before them.\n\n\n ST. LIBORIUS, BISHOP OF MANS, C.\n\nHe was descended of a noble Gaulish family, and by his innocence and\nsanctity of life was recommended to the priesthood in the church of\nMans. He loved retirement and prayer, never conversed with seculars\nbut on spiritual accounts, and linked himself only with those among\nthe clergy whose actions and words were such as might inspire him\nmore and more with the spirit of his state. His distinguished\nlearning and virtue fixed all eyes upon him, and in 348 he was\nchosen fourth bishop of Mans. Indefatigable in all the functions of\nhis charge, he prayed and fasted much, and was most attentive in\nsuccoring the necessities of the poor, by that means to draw down the\nblessing of God upon himself and his flock. He built and endowed many\nnew churches in his diocess, and having governed it forty-nine years,\ndied about the year 397. His remains were translated to Paderborn in\n836, and he is honored as patron of that city. See Tillemont, t. 10,\np. 307. Fleury, l. 28, n. 61, p. 495.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XXIV.\n\n\n ST. LUPUS, BISHOP OF TROYES, C.\n\n From his ancient accurate life, extant in Surius, and\n illustrated with notes by F. Bosch the Bollandist, Julij,\n t. 7, p. 19. See also Ceillier, t. 15, p. 40. Tillemont,\n t. 16, p. 127. Rivet, Hist. Litt\u00e9r. t. 2, p. 486. Calmet,\n Hist. de Lorraine, t. 1, l. 6, n. 44, p. 274, and Camuzat,\n Catal. Episc. Trecens. p. 153, et Antiquitates Tricassin\u00e6,\n &c., 8vo., 1610.\n\n A. D. 478.\n\nSt. Lupus, called in French St. Leu, was born of a noble family at\nToul, and being learned and eloquent, pleaded at the bar for some\nyears with great reputation. He married Pimeniola, a virtuous sister\nof St. Hilary of Arles. After six years spent in holy wedlock,\nfired with an ardent desire of serving God with greater perfection,\nthey parted by mutual consent, and made a mutual vow of perpetual\ncontinency. Lupus betook himself to the famous abbey of Lerins, then\ngoverned by St. Honoratus. He lived there a year, and added many\nausterities to those prescribed by the rule, yet always regulated\nhis fervor by the advice of St. Honoratus. He sold great part of his\nestate for the benefit of the poor, when he renounced the world.\nAfter the first year, when St. Honoratus was made bishop of Arles, he\nwent to Macon in Burgundy to dispose of an estate he had left there,\nin charitable uses. He was preparing to return to Lerins when he was\nmet by the deputies of the church of Troyes, which, upon the death of\nSt. Ursus, in 426, had chosen him bishop, the eighth from St. Amator,\nfounder of this see. His resistance was to no purpose, and he was\nconsecrated by the prelates of the province of Sens. In this dignity\nhe continued the same practices of humility, mortification, and as\nmuch as possible even of poverty. He never wore any other garments\nthan a sackcloth and a single tunic, lay upon boards, and allotted\nevery second night entire to watching in prayer. He often passed\nthree days without taking any nourishment, and after so rigorous a\nfast allowed himself nothing but a little barley bread. Thus he lived\nabove twenty years; laboring at the same time in all his pastoral\nfunctions with a zeal worthy an apostle.\n\nAbout the latter end of the fourth century, Pelagius, a British\nmonk, and Celestius a Scot, broached their heresy in Africa, Italy,\nand the East, denying the corruption of human nature by original\nsin, and the necessity of divine grace. One Agricola, a disciple of\nthese heresiarchs, had spread this poison in Britain. The Catholics\naddressed themselves to their neighbors the bishops of Gaul, begging\ntheir assistance to check the growing evil. An assembly of bishops,\nprobably held at Arles in 429, deputed St. Germanus of Auxerre and\nSt. Lupus of Troyes, to go over into our island to oppose this\nmischief. The two holy pastors, burning with zeal for the glory of\nChrist, accepted the commission the more willingly as it seemed\nlaborious and painful. They came over and entirely banished the\nheresy by their prayers, preaching, and miracles. St. Lupus, after\nhis return, set himself with fresh vigor to reform the manners of his\nown flock. In this he displayed so great prudence and piety, that St.\nSidonius Apollinaris calls him, \u201cThe father of fathers and bishop of\nbishops, the chief of the Gallican prelates, the rule of manners, the\npillar of truth, the friend of God, and the intercessor to him for\nmen.\u201d[266] He spared no pains to save one lost sheep, and his labors\nwere often crowned with a success which seemed miraculous. Among\nother instances it is recorded that a certain person of his diocess,\nnamed Gallus, had forsaken his wife and withdrawn to Clermont. St.\nLupus could not see this soul perish, but wrote to St. Sidonius,\nthen bishop of Clermont, a strong letter so prudently tempered\nwith sweetness, that Gallus by reading it was at once terrified\nand persuaded, and immediately set out to return to his wife. Upon\nwhich St. Sidonius cried out, \u201cWhat is more wonderful than a single\nreprimand, which both affrights a sinner into compunction, and makes\nhim love his censor!\u201d This letter of St. Lupus and several others\nare lost; but we have one by which he congratulated Sidonius upon\nhis promotion to his see, having passed from a secular prefecture or\ngovernment to the episcopacy, which charge he shows to be laborious,\ndifficult and dangerous. He strongly exhorts him, above all things,\nto humility. This letter was written in 471, and is given us by\nD\u2019Achery.[267]\n\nGod at that time afflicted the western empire with grievous\ncalamities, and Attila with a numberless army of Huns overran\nGaul, calling himself \u201cThe Scourge of God,\u201d to punish the sins of\nthe people. Rheims, Cambray, Besan\u00e7on, Auxerre, and Langres had\nalready felt the effects of his fury, and Troyes was the next place\nthreatened. The holy bishop had recourse to God in behalf of his\npeople by fervent prayer, which he continued for many days, prostrate\non the ground, fasting and weeping without intermission. At length,\nputting on his bishop\u2019s attire, full of confidence in God, he went\nout to meet the barbarian at the head of his army. Attila, though an\ninfidel, seeing him, was moved to reverence the man of God, who came\nup to him boldly, followed by his clergy in procession, with a cross\ncarried before them. He spoke to the king first, and asked him who\nhe was? \u201cI am,\u201d said Attila, \u201cthe scourge of God.\u201d \u201cLet us respect\nwhatever comes to us from God,\u201d replied the bishop; \u201cbut if you are\nthe scourge with which heaven chastises us, remember you are to do\nnothing but what that almighty hand, which governs and moves you,\npermits.\u201d Attila, struck with these words, promised the prelate to\nspare the city. Thus the saint\u2019s prayer was a better defence than\nthe most impregnable ramparts. It protected a city which had neither\narms, nor garrison, nor walls, against an army of at least four\nhundred thousand men, which, after plundering Thrace, Illyricum, and\nGreece, crossing the Rhine, had filled with blood and desolation the\nmost flourishing countries of France. Attila, turning with his army\nfrom Troyes, was met on the plains of Chalons by A\u00ebtius, the brave\nRoman general, and there defeated. In his retreat he sent for St.\nLupus, and caused him to accompany him as far as the Rhine, imagining\nthat the presence of so great a servant of God would be a safeguard\nto himself and his army; and sending him back, he recommended himself\nto his prayers. This action of the good bishop was misconstrued by\nthe Roman generals, as if he had favored the escape of the barbarian,\nand he was obliged to leave Troyes for two years. He spent that\ntime in religious retirement, in great austerity and continual\ncontemplation. When his charity and patience had at length overcome\nthe envy and malice of men, he went back to his church, which he\ngoverned fifty-two years, dying in the year 479. The chief part of\nhis body is kept in a rich silver shrine; his skull and principal\npart of his head in another far more precious, in the figure of a\nbishop, formed of silver, adorned with jewels and diamonds said by\nsome to be the richest in France. Both are in the abbatial church of\nregular canons of St. Austin, which bears the name of St. Lupus. He\nwas first buried in the church of St. Martin in Areis, of the same\nOrder, then out of the walls, though long since within them. Many\nchurches in England bear his name. The family name of Sentlow among\nus is derived from St. Leu, as Camden remarks.\n\nIt was by omnipotent prayer that the saints performed such great\nwonders. By it Moses could ward off the destruction of many\nthousands, and by a kind of holy violence disarm the divine\nvengeance.[268] By it Elias called down fire and rain from heaven. By\nit Manasses in chains found mercy, and recovered his throne; Ezechias\nsaw his health restored, and life prolonged; the Ninevites were\npreserved from destruction; Daniel was delivered from the lions, St.\nPeter from his chains, and St. Thecla from the fire. By it Judith and\nEsther saved God\u2019s people. By the same have the servants of God so\noften commanded nature, defeated armies, removed mountains, cast out\ndevils, cured the sick, raised the dead, drawn down divine blessings,\nand averted the most dreadful judgments from the world, which, as an\nancient father says, subsists by the prayers of the saints.[269]\n\n\n ST. FRANCIS SOLANO, C.\n\nThis saint was born at Montilia in Andalusia to 1549, performed his\nstudies in the schools of the Jesuits, and in 1569 made his religious\nprofession amongst the Franciscans in the place of his nativity. An\nextraordinary humility and contempt of himself and of worldly vanity\nand applause; self-denial, obedience, meekness, patience, and the\nlove of silence, recollection, and prayer mental and vocal, formed\nhis character. Whole nights he frequently passed without sleep on the\nsteps of the altar, before the Blessed Sacrament, in meditation and\ndevout prayer, with wonderful interior delight and devotion. Burning\nwith holy zeal and charity, and an ardent desire of the salvation of\nsouls, after he was promoted to the priesthood, he divided his time\nbetween silent retirement and the ministry of preaching. His sermons,\nthough destitute of the ornaments of studied eloquence, powerfully\nwithdrew men from vice, and kindled in their breasts an ardent desire\nof virtue. The saint was appointed master of novices, first in the\nconvent of Arizava, two miles from Cordova, afterward in that of\nMonte. Then he was made guardian in the province of Granada. His\nwhole life, says Alvarez de Paz, may be called a holy uninterrupted\ncourse of zealous action, yet was at the same time a continued\nmost fervent prayer, abounding with heavenly illuminations and\nconsolations. A perfect spirit of poverty emptied his heart of the\nlove of all created things, that Christ alone might occupy and fill\nit; and he rejoiced in his nakedness and privation of earthly goods,\nthat he might barely use them to serve the necessities of nature,\nwithout suffering them to enslave his heart, or to find any place\nin his affections, which he reserved pure and entire for spiritual\ngoods. Interior humility and self-denial perfected the disengagement\nof his heart, and the extraordinary austerities of his penitential\nlife subjected his senses, and rendered the liberty which his soul\nenjoyed complete; by which he was prepared for the spirit of prayer\nand the pure love of heavenly things. Earthly comforts used with\nmoderation, and as supports of our weakness, may be sanctified by a\ngood intention; but whilst they bolster up our weakness, they keep it\nalive and strengthen it; and if they are sought after, or made use\nof with eagerness and attachment, immoderately or frequently, they\nstrongly nourish self love and sensuality, and produce a distrust of\nthe solid food of devotion and divine love.\n\nThe mortified lives of all the saints who arrived at a familiarity\nwith God in holy prayer, are but a comment upon, or sensible examples\nof, the indispensable gospel precept of dying to ourselves. By no\nother steps could St. Francis Solano have arrived at the perfection\nof spiritual life. A pestilence which raged at Granada afforded\nhim an opportunity of exerting his heroic virtue in attending the\ninfected; but a more noble theatre of action was opened to him by the\nmission into America, upon which he was sent. Peru and Tucuman were\nthe countries in which he reaped the principal harvest; and the five\nlast years of his life he preached chiefly at Lima, and induced the\ninhabitants of that great city, by sincere repentance, to appease the\ndivine anger, which they had provoked by their sins. The reputation\nof his wonderful sanctity was enhanced by many miracles. Yet by\nhumility he looked upon himself as the least among men, and he never\nappeared in public but when called abroad by zeal for the salvation\nof souls. Before his death he was purified by a lingering illness,\nand in his last moments repeated those words of the psalmist: _I have\nrejoiced in those things which have been said to me: We will go into\nthe house of the Lord_. He departed this life on the 14th of June\nin 1610, the sixty-second of his age, and fortieth of his religious\nprofession. F. Alvarez de Paz, an eye-witness, describes the stately\nand religious pomp of his funeral, at which the viceroy of Peru and\nthe archbishop of Lima assisted, with extraordinary devotion. The\nsaint was beatified by Clement X. and canonized by Benedict XIII. in\n1726, and his principal festival was appointed on the 24th of July.\nSee his life compiled by Didacus of Cordova; also by Alphonsus of\nMondietta. See likewise the History of the Provinces of Peru, and the\nedifying account of our saint given by the pious and learned Jesuit\nF. Alvarez de Paz, l. 5, c. 14, t. 2, Op. p. 1752 and 1753; and\nBenedict XIV., De Canoniz. t. 1, Append. Also the Lives of Saints,\npublished in High Dutch, by F. Maximilian Rasler, S. J.; and F.\nCharlevoix, Hist. de Paraguay, t. 1, l. 3, and 4.\n\n\n SS. ROMANUS AND DAVID, MM.\n\n PATRONS OF MUSCOVY.[270]\n\nThe history of the conversion of the Russians (now called Muscovites)\nto the faith of Christ, has been perplexed by the mistakes of many\nwho have treated this point of history. The learned Jesuit F.\nAntony Possevin was betrayed into many falsities concerning this\npeople.[271] And upon his authority some have pretended that the\nMuscovites received the faith from the Greek schismatics, and at the\nsame time adhered to their schism; than which, nothing can be more\nnotoriously false, as Henschenius and Papebrochius[272] show. F.\nStilting, another learned Bollandist, has demonstrated by an express\ndissertation,[273] that the Muscovites were at first Catholics,\nand that even in the time of the Council of Florence the Catholics\nand schismatics in Russia made two equal halves. The Greek schism\nwas formed by Cerularius several years after the conversion of the\nRussians. The schism indeed of Phocius was a short prelude to it.\n\nCedrenus, Zonaras, and some others relate, that an army of Russians\nbesieged Constantinople in the time of the emperor Michael III.,\nwhen Photius held that see; and that being obliged to raise the\nsiege, they obtained certain Greek priests from Constantinople, who\ninstructed them in the Christian faith. This first mission Baronius\nplaces in 853, Pagi in 861; but this must either be understood of\nsome tribe of Russians in Bohemia, where St. Cyril then preached; or\nthese authors must have confounded together things which happened\nat different times; for the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenetta,\nwho lived near that time, and could not but be acquainted with this\ntransaction, says both in his life of his grandfather, Basil the\nMacedonian, and in his book, On administering the Empire, that the\nRussians besieged the city in the time of Photius, but that they\nwere converted to the faith by priests sent at their request from\nConstantinople in the time of Basil the Macedonian and the patriarch\nSt. Ignatius, whom that prince restored upon his ascending the throne\nin 867; which also appears from Zonarus.\n\nThe first plant of the faith in this nation was the holy queen Helen,\ncalled before her baptism Olga. She was wife to the duke Ihor or\nIgor, who undertook an expedition against the city of Constantinople,\nas Simeon Metaphrastes, the monk George, Cedrenus, Zonaras, and\nCuropalates relate. Having been repulsed by the generals of the\nemperors Romanus and Constantine, he was slain by the Dreulans in\nhis return. His widow, Olga, with great valor and conduct, revenged\nhis death, vanquished the Dreulans, and governed the state several\nyears with uncommon prudence and courage. When she was almost seventy\nyears old, she resigned the government to her son Suatoslas, and\ngoing to Constantinople, was there baptized, taking the name of\nHelen.[274] Many place this event in 952, which date seems most\nagreeable to the Greek historians; but Kulcinius and Stilting infer\nfrom the chronology of the dukes of Russia, that she seems to have\nbeen baptized in 945. We are expressly assured by Constantine\nPorphyrogenetta that it happened in 946. She returned into her own\ncountry, and by her zealous endeavors brought many to the faith; but\nwas never able to compass the conversion of her son, who was probably\nwithheld by reasons of state. She died in 970 or 978. Her grandson,\nUladimir, who succeeded Suatoslas, asked by a solemn embassy, and\nobtained in marriage, Anne, sister to the two emperors Basil and his\ncolleague and brother Constantine. Nicholas Crysoberga, the orthodox\npatriarch of Constantinople, a person always zealous in maintaining\nthe communion of the see of Rome, at that prince\u2019s request, sent into\nMuscovy one Michael with other preachers, who baptized Uladimir,\nand married him to the princess about the year 988.[275] This duke\nfounded near Kiow the great monastery of the Crypt\u00e6 in favor of the\nabbot St. Antony, and died, according to Kulcinius, in 1008. His two\nsons SS. Boris and Hliba or Cliba, called in Latin Romanus and David,\nwere murdered by the usurper Suatopelch, their impious brother, in\n1010. It was their zeal for the faith of Christ which gave occasion\nto their death. Jaroslas, another brother, defeated the usurper, and\nobtained the principality; his daughter Anne was married to Henry\nI., king of France, in 1044, and became the foundress of the church\nof St. Vincent at Senlis. Romanus and David are honored in Muscovy\non the 24th of July. Their remains were translated into a church\nwhich was built in their honor at Vislegorod in 1072, the ceremony\nbeing performed with great pomp, by George the fifth archbishop of\nKiow, and several other bishops, in presence of Izazlas, Suatoslas,\nand Usevolod, princes of Russia, and a great train of noblemen. The\nsynod of Zamoski, in 1720, which was approved by the Congregation\nde Propagand\u00e2 Fide, and confirmed by pope Benedict XIII., reckons\namong the holidays of precept which are kept by the Catholic Russians\nin Lithuania and other provinces, the feast of these two martyrs,\ncelebrated on the 24th of July; and that of the translation of their\nrelics on the 2d of May.[276] The Catholic Russians in Lithuania and\nPoland keep no festival of any other Muscovite saints except of these\ntwo martyrs.[277] But the Muscovites honor several other saints of\ntheir own country; several among whom flourished, and doubtless were\nplaced by them in their Calendar before their schism, as Papebroke\nand Jos. Assemani observe. Such are the queen Helen or Olga, on the\n11th of July, who died, according to Kulcinius, in 978. Uladimir,\nher grandson, duke of the Russians, and son of Suatoslas on the 15th\nof July, who was baptized in 990, died in 1014, and was buried in\nour Lady\u2019s church at Kiow.[278] Antony, abbot, a native of Russia,\nwho embraced the monastic state upon Mount Athos, and returning to\nKiow, became the patriarch of that Order in his own country, and on\na mountain half a mile from the town founded, about the year 1020,\nthe great Russian monastery of Pieczari or the Crypt\u00e6, in which the\narchimandrite of all the Russian monks resides, and the archbishop\nof Kiow has an apartment. Antony died in 1073, on the 10th of July,\non which his festival is kept in Muscovy.[279] This monastery is\nfamous for the Crypt\u00e6 or vaults, in which the bodies of many saints\nand monks who lived above six hundred years ago, remain uncorrupted\nand fresh. Agapetus, disciple of Antony, at the Crypt\u00e6, famous for\nmiracles, honored on the 1st of June. Athanasius, monk at the Crypt\u00e6,\non the 2d of December; he was a native of Trapesond, who, by the\nliberality and protection of the emperor Nicephorus Phocas, founded\nthe great monastery on Mount Athos in Macedonia. He is honored by the\nGreeks and Muscovites on the 5th of July.[280] The lives of these and\nseveral other ancient monks of this house were written by Polycarp,\nwho died in 1182. The grand duke Alexander, surnamed Newski, who died\nin 1262, and is honored on the 30th of April. Sergius, an abbot, is\nhonored by the Muscovites on the 25th of September. He died in 1292,\nand was never involved in the schism, as Papebroke, Kulcinius, and\nJos. Assemani show. This Sergius was born at Roslow, founded the\nmonastery of the Holy Trinity at Rudosno (sixty Italian miles from\nMoscow), the richest and most numerous in Muscovy, in which are\nsometimes two or three hundred monks. The body of Sergius is kept\nthere incorrupt, and is much visited out of devotion from Moscow,\nsometimes by the czars. These and several others who are named in the\nMuscovite Calendar with the most eminent saints of the eastern and\nwestern churches, lived either before or when this nation was not\nengaged in the Greek schism. But to these saints the Muscovites add\nsome few who died since their separation from the catholic communion,\nas Photius, archbishop of Kiow, whose principal merit consisted in\nthe obstinacy with which he maintained the schism. See Kulcinius,\nSpecimen Ecclesi\u00e6 Ruthenic\u00e6; Papebroke in the beginning of May, Comm.\nin Ephem. Jos. Assemani, in Calend. Univ. ad 25 Sept. t. 5, p. 254,\n&c.\n\n\n ST. CHRISTINA, V. M.\n\nShe suffered many torments, and a cruel death, for the faith in the\npersecution of Dioclesian, at Tyro, a city which stood formerly in\nan island in the lake of Bolsero in Tuscany, but has been long since\nswallowed up by the waters. Her relics are now at Palermo in Sicily.\nShe is much honored both in the Latin and Greek church, and is named\nin the Martyrologies which bear the name of St. Jerom, that of Bede\naugmented by Florus, and others. See Ughelli, Italia Sacra, t. 5, and\nPinius the Bollandist, t. 5, Julij, p. 495.\n\n\n SS. WULFHAD AND RUFFIN, MM.\n\nThey were two brothers, the sons of Wulfere, the king of Mercia,\nsecond brother and successor of Peada. Having been privately baptized\nby St. Chad, bishop of Litchfield, about the year 670, they were\nboth slain whilst they were at their prayers by their father\u2019s\norder, who, out of political views, at that time favored idolatry,\nthough he afterward did remarkable penance for this crime. His\nfather Penda had persecuted the Christians, but his elder brother\nPeada had begun to establish the faith in his dominions. Florence of\nWorcester says, Wulfere was only baptized a little before his death,\nin 675, consequently after this murder; but Bede testifies that he\nwas godfather to Edelwalch, king of the West Saxons, almost twenty\nyears before. But either he relapsed (at least so far as to be for\nsome time favorable to idolatry), or this murder was contrived by\nsome Pagan courtiers, without his privity, as Bradshaw relates it.\nThe queen Emmelinda, mother of the two young princes, caused their\nbodies to be buried at Stone, which place took its name from a great\nheap of stones which was raised over their tomb, according to the\nSaxon custom. She afterward employed these stones in building a\nchurch upon the spot, which became very famous for bearing the names\nof these martyrs who were patrons of the town, and of a priory of\nregular canons there. The procurator of this house, in a journey to\nRome, prevailed on the pope to enrol these two royal martyrs among\nthe saints, and left the head of St. Wulfhad, which he had carried\nwith him, in the church of St. Laurence at Viterbo. (Leland, Collect.\nt. 1, p. 1, 2.) After this, Wulfere and his brother and successor\nEthelred, abolished idols over all Mercia. See the acts of these\nroyal martyrs in the History of Peterborough abbey, and Leland\u2019s\nItinerary, and Collect. t. 1, p. 1. Also Cuper the Bollandist, t. 5,\nJulij, p. 571.\n\n\n ST. LEWINE.\n\nWas a British virgin who suffered martyrdom under the Saxons before\ntheir conversion to the faith. Her body was honorably kept at Seaford\nnear Lewes, in Sussex, till, in 1058, her remains, with those of St.\nIdaberga, virgin, and part of those of St. Oswald, were conveyed\ninto Flanders, and are now deposited in St. Winock\u2019s abbey at Berg.\nThey have been honored by many miracles, especially at the time of\nthis translation, as even the century-writers of Magdeburg mention.\nA history of these miracles written by Drogo, an eye-witness to\nseveral, is published by Solier the Bollandist, p. 608, t. 5, Jul.\nSee also Alford in Annal. ad an. 687, n. 21.\n\n\n ST. DECLAN.\n\n FIRST BISHOP OF ARDMORE IN IRELAND.\n\nWas baptized by St. Colman, and preached the faith in that country a\nlittle before the arrival of St. Patrick, who confirmed the episcopal\nsee of Ardmore, in a synod at Cashel in 448.[281] Many miracles\nare ascribed to St. Declan, and he has ever been much honored in\nthe viscounty of Dessee, anciently Nandesi. See Usher; Bosch the\nBollandist, p. 590, and Colgan in MSS. ad 24 Julij.\n\n\n ST. KINGA, OR CUNEGUNDES, V.\n\nShe was daughter of Bela IV. king of Hungary, and Mary, daughter\nto Theodorus Lascharis, emperor of Constantinople: was married\n1239 to Boleslas the Chaste, sovereign of Lesser Poland, or of the\npalatinates of Cracow, Sandomire, and Lublin; but by mutual consent\nlived in perpetual chastity. Prayer, mortification, alms, and daily\nattendance on the poor in the hospitals, employed her time. Boleslas\ndying in 1279, she took the veil in the great monastery of Sandecz,\nwhich she had lately built for nuns of the Order of St. Clare. She\ndied on the 24th of July in 1292. She was venerated with singular\npiety in the diocess of Cracow and several other parts of Poland, and\nher name was solemnly inscribed among the saints by Alexander VIII.\nin 1690. See her life by John Longinus commonly called Dlugos, with\nremarks by Bosch the Bollandist, t. 5, Julij, p. 661.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XXV.\n\n\n ST. JAMES THE GREAT, APOSTLE.\n\nSt. James, the brother of St. John Evangelist, son of Zebedee\nand Salome and nearly related to Christ, was called the Great to\ndistinguish him from the other apostle of the same name who was\nbishop of Jerusalem, and is surnamed the Less, perhaps because he was\nlower in stature, or more probably because he was the younger. St.\nJames the Great seems to have been born about twelve years before\nChrist, and was many years older than his brother St. John. Salome is\notherwise called Mary, and was sister to the Blessed Virgin, which\nsome take in the strict sense of the word; others understand by it\nonly cousin-german, according to the Hebrew phrase, and think that\nthe Blessed Virgin was an only daughter.\n\nSt. James was by birth a Galilean, and by profession a fisherman\nwith his father and brother, living probably at Bethsaida, where\nSt. Peter also dwelt at that time. Jesus walking by the lake of\nGenesareth saw St. Peter and St. Andrew fishing, and he called them\nto come after him, promising to make them fishers of men. Going on\na little farther on the shore, he saw two other brothers, James and\nJohn, in a ship, with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and\nhe also called them; who forthwith left their nets and their father\nand followed him.[282] Probably by conversing with St. Peter their\ntownsman, and by other means, they had before this call an entire\nconviction that Jesus was the Christ; and no sooner did they hear\nhis invitation, and saw the marks of his divine will directing them\nto what was eminently conducive to his honor, but the same moment\nthey quitted all things to comply with this summons. They held no\nconsultation, made no demur, started no difficulties, thought of\nno consequences or dangers; and their sacrifice was most perfect\nand entire. Like Abraham, they preferred obedience to the divine\ncommand, before all the endearments of their nearest relations,\nand forsook all they had, and all their hopes and prospects in\nthe world, to become the disciples of Jesus. Zebedee their father\nseems to have approved of their resolution, and their mother Salome\ndevoted herself heartily to the service of our Lord, as the gospels\nfrequently mention. All fervent souls ought to be in the like\ndispositions of perfect sacrifice with these apostles, without the\nleast inordinate attachment to any thing on earth, being most ready\nto renounce everything if God\u2019s greater glory should require it. With\nwhat boundless liberality does the Divine Spirit shower down his\nchoicest treasures upon souls which thus perfectly open themselves\nto him! This the apostles, of whom we speak, happily experienced in\nthemselves. But they for some time so followed Christ, and listened\nto his divine instructions, as still to return from time to time to\ntheir fishing trade for a maintenance. It was in the same first year\nof Christ\u2019s preaching that Peter and Andrew, at the command of their\ndivine Master, took a prodigious shoal of fishes by a miraculous\ndraught. James and John were their partners, though in another boat,\nand were called in to assist in hauling up the nets. Astonished at\nthis manifestation of Christ\u2019s power, they entirely quitted their\nbusiness, the more perfectly to attach themselves to him.[283]\n\nIn the year 31 St. James was present with his brothers St. John\nand St. Peter at the cure of St. Peter\u2019s mother-in-law, and at the\nraising of the daughter of Jairus from the dead. This same year Jesus\nformed the college of his apostles, into which he adopted St. James\nand his brother St. John. He gave these two the surname of Boanerges,\nor Sons of Thunder, probably to denote their active zeal. When a town\nof the Samaritans refused to entertain Christ, they suggested that\nhe should call down fire from heaven to consume it; but our Blessed\nRedeemer gave them to understand that meekness and patience were the\narms by which they were to conquer.[284] Christ distinguished St.\nPeter, St. James, and St. John by many special favors above the rest\nof the apostles. They alone were admitted to be spectators first of\nhis glorious transfiguration, and afterward of his agony and bloody\nsweat in the garden. The instructions and example of the Son of God\nhad not fully enlightened the understandings of these apostles, nor\npurified their hearts, before the Holy Ghost had shed his beams\nupon them; and their virtue was still imperfect, as appeared in the\nfollowing instance;--Mary Salome, the mother of James and John,\nrelying upon their merit, and her relation to Christ, and imagining\nthat he was going to erect a temporal monarchy, according to the\nnotion of the carnal Jews concerning the Messias, presented to him a\nrequest that her two sons might sit, the one on his right hand and\nthe other on his left, in his kingdom. By this example we are put in\nmind how often the fondness of parents renders them the spiritual\nmurderers of their own children, and makes them blindly excuse,\nflatter, and encourage their secret vices and passions. At the same\ntime we are taught how formidable an enemy ambition is, which could\nfind admittance in the breasts of two apostles (though yet novices)\nbefore the descent of the Holy Ghost. They doubtless disguised their\nvice under the cloak of a reasonable desire, and a virtuous emulation\nof preferment, with a design of serving their Master by it. Only the\nchildren of light discover the deceit and snare of this enemy; only\nprofound humility discerns and condemns the specious pretences of\nsubtle pride and covetousness. The two sons of Zebedee seem to have\nspoken by the mouth of their mother; wherefore Christ directed his\nanswer to them, telling them, they knew not what they asked; for in\nhis kingdom preferments are attainable, not by the most forward and\nambitious, but by the most humble, and most laborious, and the most\npatient. He therefore asked them if they were able to drink of his\ncup of suffering. The two apostles understanding the condition under\nwhich Christ offered them his kingdom, and glowing with ardor and\ncourage to suffer, answered peremptorily they were able to do it. Our\nLord told them, they should indeed have their portions of suffering;\nbut for the honors of his kingdom, he could make no other disposal of\nthem than according to his decrees in conjunction with his Father, in\nproportion to every one\u2019s charity and patience in suffering.\n\nThe virtue of the most fervent novices in the service of God is very\nimperfect, so long as entire self-denial, and a great assiduity and\nspirit of prayer have not yet prepared their souls for, and called\ndown upon them a plentiful effusion of the Holy Ghost, who fills\ntheir understanding with a clear and new heavenly light, and by\nthe ardor of his charity consumes the rust of the affections, and\nfills them with his fervor. In this state even the moral virtues\nacquire an heroic and infused degree of perfection. Humility now\ngives the soul a much more clear and feeling knowledge of her\nown infirmities, baseness, and imperfections, with much stronger\nsentiments of a just contempt of herself; and the like is to be said\nof divine and fraternal charity, and all other virtues; so that she\nseems to herself translated into a region of new light, in which by\ncontinual heroic acts of these virtues, and especially of prayer\nand contemplation, she makes daily and wonderful advances. This\nperfection the apostles received in a more miraculous manner by the\ndescent of the Holy Ghost upon them, when he not only engraved the\nlaw of love deeply in their hearts, but also bestowed on them the\nexternal graces and gifts of prophecy and miracles, and qualified\nthem for the execution of the great commission they had received from\nChrist.\n\nHow St. James was employed in preaching and promoting the gospel\nafter Christ\u2019s ascension, we have no account from the writers of\nthe first ages of Christianity. It appears that he left Jud\u00e6a some\ntime after the persecution that was raised at the martyrdom of St.\nStephen in the year 30, and was returned again ten years after when\nhe suffered martyrdom. The addition to St. Jerom\u2019s catalogue of\nillustrious men tells us, that he preached the gospel to the twelve\ntribes of the Jews, in their dispersion up and down the world. Though\nthe apostles, during the first twelve years, preached generally in\nthe neighborhood of Judea, yet St. James might in that interval\nmake a voyage to Spain, and preach some time in that country, as\nBaronius observes. F. Cuper adds, that his martyrdom happened above\na year after the dispersion of the apostles, in which space he had\nthe fairest opportunity of visiting Spain. That he preached there is\nconstantly affirmed by the tradition of that church, mentioned by\nSt. Isidore, the Breviary of Toledo, the Arabic books of Anastasius\npatriarch of Antioch, concerning the Passions of the martyrs and\nothers. Cuper the Bollandist[285] traces this tradition very high,\nand confirms it from St. Jerom,[286] St. Isidore, the ancient\nSpanish office, &c., and from many corroborating circumstances. St.\nEpiphanius says, that St. James always lived a bachelor, in much\ntemperance and mortification, never eating flesh nor fish; that he\nwore only one coat, and a linen cloak, and that he was holy and\nexemplary in all manner of conversation. He was the first among the\napostles who had the honor to follow his divine master by martyrdom,\nwhich he suffered at Jerusalem, whither he was returned, in the\neleventh year after our Lord\u2019s ascension.\n\nAgrippa, the grandson of Herod, by Aristobulus, was author of this\npersecution. Being brought up at Rome in the reign of Tiberius, he,\nbasely flattering Caligula in his passions, gained the confidence\nof that monster, who was no sooner placed on the imperial throne\nthan he gave Agrippa the title of king, with the tetrarchies of\nPhilip and Lysanias, which were then vacant.[287] Claudius, in the\nyear 41, enlarged his dominions, giving him also Jerusalem and all\nthe rest of Jud\u00e6a, Samaria, and whatever other provinces had been\npossessed by his grandfather Herod. He gave also to his younger\nbrother Herod the little kingdom of Chalcis in Syria, near mount\nLabinus. Agrippa reigned with great state and magnificence. Being\nvery fond of pleasing the Jewish nation, when he came from C\u00e6sarea to\nJerusalem to keep the Passover in the year 43, he began to persecute\nthe Christians; and the first who fell a victim to his popular\nzeal was St. James the Great, whom he caused to be apprehended\nand beheaded there a little before Easter, in the year 43, about\nfourteen years after the death of Christ. Clement of Alexandria,\nand from him Eusebius,[288] relate that his accuser, observing the\ngreat courage and constancy of mind wherewith the apostle underwent\nhis trial, was so affected with it, that he repented of what he had\ndone, declared himself publicly a Christian, and was condemned to be\nbeheaded with St. James. As they were both led together to execution,\nhe begged pardon of the apostle by the way for having apprehended\nhim. St. James, after pausing a little, turned to him, and embraced\nhim, saying, _Peace be with you_. He then kissed him, and they were\nboth beheaded together.[289] The body of the apostle was interred\nat Jerusalem; but not long after carried by his disciples into\nSpain, and deposited at Iria Flavia, now called El Padron, upon the\nborders of Gallicia. The sacred relics were discovered there in the\nbeginning of the ninth century, in the reign of Alphonsus the Chaste,\nking of Leon. By the order of that prince they were translated\nto Compostella, four miles distant, to which place pope Leo III.\ntransferred the episcopal see from Iria Flavia. This place was first\ncalled Ad S. Jacobum Apostolum, or Giacomo Postolo, which words have\nbeen contracted into the present name, Compostella. It is famous\nfor the extraordinary concourse of pilgrims that resort thither to\nvisit the body of St. James, which is kept with great respect in the\nstately cathedral. F. Cuper the Bollandist proves the truth of the\ntradition of the Spanish church concerning the body of St. James\nhaving been translated to Compostella, and gives authentic histories\nof many miracles wrought through his intercession, and of several\napparitions by which he visibly protected the armies of a Christian\nagainst the Moors in that kingdom.[290] The military order of St.\nJames, surnamed the Noble, was instituted by Ferdinand II. in 1175.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Church, by the martyrdom of St. James, lost in her infancy one\nof her main pillars; but God was pleased that his name should be\nglorified by so illustrious a testimony, and that it should appear\nhe was the immediate supporter and defender of his Church. For when\nit was deprived of its chief members and pastors, it remained no\nless firm than before; and even grew and gathered strength from the\nmost violent persecutions. The apostle with confidence committed\nhis tender flock to God, and commended to them his own work, whilst\nhe rejoiced to go to his Redeemer, and to give his life for him. We\nall meet with trials. But can we fear or hesitate to drink a cup\npresented to us by the hand of God, and which our Lord and Captain,\nby free choice, and out of pure love, was pleased himself to drink\nfirst for our sake? He asks us whether we can drink of his cup, he\nencourages us by setting before our eyes the glory of heaven, and\nhe invites us by his own divine example. Let us humbly implore his\ngrace, without which we can do nothing, and take with joy this cup of\nsalvation, which he presents us with his divine hand.\n\n\n ST. CHRISTOPHER, M.\n\nHe suffered martyrdom under Decius in Lycia, and is honored on\nthis day in the Martyrology which bears the name of St. Jerom, and\nin other western Calendars, but is commemorated by the Greeks and\nother Oriental nations on the 9th of May. The Mosarabic Breviary,\nattributed to St. Isidore, mentions the translation of his relics\nto Toledo, whence they were brought into France, and are at present\nshown enshrined at the abbey of St. Denys near Paris. He seems to\nhave taken the name of Christopher upon the like motive that St.\nIgnatius would be called Theophorus, to express his ardent love for\nhis Redeemer, by which he always carried him in his breast as his\ngreat and only good, his inestimable treasure, and the object of\nall his affections and desires. There seem to be no other grounds\nthan this name for the vulgar notion of his great stature, the\norigin of which seems to have been merely allegorical, as Baronius\nobserves, and as Vida has beautifully expressed in an epigram on\nthis saint.[291] The enormous statues of St. Christopher, still to\nbe seen in many Gothic cathedrals, expressed his allegorical wading\nthrough the sea of tribulations, by which the faithful meant to\nsignify the many sufferings through which he arrived at eternal life.\nThey are monuments of the devotion of our ancestors to this saint,\nwhose intercession they implored especially against pestilential\ndistempers. Saint Gregory the Great mentions a monastery in Sicily\nwhich bore the name of St. Christopher. See Pinius the Bollandist, t.\n6, p. 125.\n\n\n SAINTS THEA AND VALENTINA, VIRGINS, AND ST. PAUL, MM.\n\nIn the year 308 there were at the same time six emperors, successors\nof Dioclesian, namely, in the East Galerius, Lucinius, and Maximinus;\nin the West, Constantine, Maxentius, and his father, Maximian\nHerculeus, who had reassumed the purple. Firmilian, the successor of\nUrbanus in the government of Palestine, under Maximinus II., carried\non the persecution with great cruelty. When fourscore and seventeen\nconfessors, men, women, and children, out of an innumerable multitude\nof Christians who were banished a long while before to the porphyry\nquarries in Thebais, were brought before him, he commanded the sinews\nof the joint of their left feet to be burnt with a hot iron; and\ntheir right eyes to be put out, and the eye holes burnt with a hot\niron to the very bottom of the orb. In this condition he sent them to\nwork at the mines in Palestine about mount Libanus. Many others were\nbrought before this inhuman judge from different towns of Palestine,\nand were tormented various ways.\n\nAmong the Christians taken at Gaza, whilst they were assembled to\nhear the holy scriptures read, was a holy virgin named Thea, whom\nthe judge threatened with the prostitution of her chastity in the\npublic stews. She, to whom her virtue was most dear, reproached him\nfor such infamous injustices. Firmilian, enraged at her liberty of\nspeech, caused her to be inhumanly scourged, then stretched on the\nrack, and her sides torn with iron hooks till the bare ribs appeared.\nValentina, a pious Christian virgin of C\u00e6sarea, who had also by vow\nconsecrated her chastity to God, being present at this spectacle,\ncried out to the judge from the midst of the crowd, \u201cHow long will\nyou thus torment my sister?\u201d She was immediately apprehended, and\nbeing dragged by force to the altar, she threw herself upon it, and\noverturned it with her feet, together with the fire and sacrifice\nwhich stood ready upon it. Firmilian, provoked beyond bounds,\ncommanded her sides to be more cruelly torn than any others. Being at\nlength wearied with tormenting her, he ordered the two virgins to be\ntied together and burnt. This was executed on the 25th of July, 308.\nOne Paul, an illustrious confessor, was beheaded for the faith on the\nsame day, by an order of this judge. The fervor with which he prayed\nat the place of execution for the emperor, the judge who condemned\nhim, and his executioner, drew tears from all that were present.\nSoon after, one hundred and thirty Egyptian confessors, by an order\nof Maximinus, had one eye pulled out, and one foot maimed, and were\nsent, some to the mines in Palestine, others to those in Cilicia. See\nEusebius de Martyr. Palestin\u00e6, c. 8; Tillemont, t. 5; Fleury, l. ix.;\nOrsi, t. 4.\n\n\n ST. CUCUFAS, M. IN SPAIN.\n\nAt Barcelona he is called St. Cougat, at Ruel, near Paris, St.\nQuiquenfat, in some other parts of France St. Guinefort. He was a\nnative of Scillite in Africa, and one of the first families of that\ncountry. To escape the persecution raised by Dioclesian, he retired\nwith St. Felix into Mauritania, and afterward into Spain. He was no\nsooner landed at Barcelona but he was apprehended, and confessing his\nfaith before Dacian, the cruel governor, was condemned by him, after\nsuffering many torments, to lose his head, in 304. His companion,\nFelix, received a like crown soon after him in Gironne. The relics\nof St. Cucufas were brought into France in 777, and deposited in the\nabbey of St. Denys, near Paris, in 835, where they still remain with\ndue honor. See Prudentius, hymn 4, the new Paris Breviary on this\nday, the Roman Martyrology, and Bosch the Bollandist, t. 6, Jul. p.\n169. See also Chatelain, Notes sur le Martyr. Fevr. 16, p. 656.\n\n\n ST. NISSEN, ABBOT.\n\nWhom St. Patrick baptized, ordained deacon, and appointed abbot of\nMontgairt or Mountgarret, in the county of Wexford, on the borders of\nKilkenny, of which place he is titular saint. See Colgan in MSS. ad\n25 Julij.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XXVI.\n\n\n SAINT ANNE, MOTHER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.\n\n See Cuper the Bollandist, t. 6, Julij, p. 233.\n\nThe Hebrew word Anne signifies gracious. St. Joachim and St. Anne,\nthe parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are justly honored in the\nChurch, and their virtue is highly extolled by St. John Damascen.\nThe emperor Justinian I. built a church at Constantinople in honor\nof St. Anne, about the year 550.[292] Codinus mentions another built\nby Justinian II. in 705. Her body was brought from Palestine to\nConstantinople in 710, whence some portions of her relics have been\ndispersed in the West. F. Cuper the Bollandist has collected a great\nnumber of miracles wrought through her intercession.[293]\n\nGod has been pleased by sensible effects to testify how much he\nis honored by the devotion of the faithful to this saint, who was\nthe great model of virtue to all engaged in the married state, and\ncharged with the education of children. It was a sublime dignity and\na great honor for this saint to give to a lost world the advocate\nof mercy, and to be parent of the mother of God. But it was a far\ngreater happiness to be, under God, the greatest instrument of her\nvirtue, and to be spiritually her mother by a holy education in\nperfect innocence and sanctity. St. Anne, being herself a vessel of\ngrace, not by name only, but by the possession of that rich treasure,\nwas chosen by God to form his most beloved spouse to perfect virtue;\nand her pious care of this illustrious daughter was the greatest\nmeans of her own sanctification and her glory in the church of God to\nthe end of ages. It is a lesson to all parents whose principal duty\nis the holy education of their children. By this they glorify their\nCreator, perpetuate his honor on earth to future ages, and sanctify\ntheir own souls. St. Paul says, that it is by the education of their\nchildren that parents are to be saved.[294] Nor will he allow any\none who has had children, ever to be admitted to serve the altar,\nwhose sons do not, by their holy conduct, give proofs of a virtuous\neducation. Nevertheless, we see parents solicitous about the corporal\nqualifications of their children, and earnest to procure them an\nestablishment in the world; yet supinely careless in purchasing them\nvirtue, in which alone their true happiness consists. This reflection\ndrew tears from Crates, a heathen philosopher, who desired to mount\non the highest place in his city and cry out, with all his strength:\n\u201cCitizens, what is it you think of? You employ all your time in\nheaping up riches to leave to your children; yet take no care to\ncultivate their souls with virtue, as if an estate were more precious\nthan themselves.\u201d[295]\n\n\n SAINT GERMANUS, BISHOP OF AUXERRE, C.\n\nHe was born at Auxerre about the year 380, of noble parents. Having\nlaid the foundation of sound literature at home, he studied eloquence\nand the civil law at Rome, and pleaded with great reputation in the\ncourt of the Pr\u00e6fectus-pr\u00e6torio. He married a lady of great quality\nnamed Eustachia, and being taken notice of by the emperor Honorius,\nwas raised by him to several honorable employments, and at last to\nthat of duke in his own province, which dignity gave him the command\nover all the troops in that country. Germanus being returned to\nAuxerre, was careful to shun gross vices, but his religion seemed\nconfined to principles of integrity, and his virtues were merely\nhuman; for he was unacquainted with the true spirit of mortification,\nhumility, and prayer. The young duke had a passion for hunting, and\nhung up the heads of the wild beasts which he killed on a great tree\nin the middle of the city, as trophies of his diversion. No one\ncould presume to show him the meanness and folly of this favorite\npetty vanity, by which he seemed to authorize the superstitious\ncustom of the Pagans who did the like to honor their gods. St.\nAmator, who was at that time the zealous bishop of Auxerre, made him\nstrong remonstrances on the danger of countenancing such remains\nof idolatry, but without effect. At last, watching an opportunity,\nhe caused this tree to be cut down while Germanus was absent, who,\nupon hearing this news, grievously threatened the bishop. St. Amator\nwithdrew for a while to Autun; where he learned by a revelation\nthat Germanus was designed by God to be his successor. He therefore\nprocured privately the consent of Julius, the prefect of Gaul, that\nhe might give the tonsure to Germanus; for, by the laws, no officer\ncould quit his employment without such a permission. Julius giving\nleave, St. Amator returned to Auxerre, and causing the church doors\nto be shut when Germanus was come in, he gave him the tonsure, and\nordained him deacon. By this instance, it appears, that immediately\nafter the general persecutions, clerks were distinguished by the\ntonsure. This proof is the stronger, as the priest Constantius wrote\nthis life in the same age. Germanus durst not make any opposition for\nfear of resisting the will of God. St. Amator died soon after on the\n1st of May in 418, and St. Germanus was unanimously chosen by the\nclergy and people to succeed him, and consecrated by the bishops of\nthe province on the 7th of July, notwithstanding the great reluctance\nhe discovered.\n\nFull of a deep sense of the obligations of his new dignity, he\nbecame at once another man. He renounced all the pomps and vanities\nof the world, lived with his wife no otherwise than if she had been\nhis sister, distributed all his possessions to the poor and to the\nChurch, and embraced a life of poverty and austerity. From the day he\nwas ordained bishop to his death, that is, for thirty years together,\nhe never touched wheaten bread, wine, vinegar, oil, pulse, or salt.\nHe began every meal by putting a few ashes in his mouth to renew\nin his soul a spirit of penance, and took no other sustenance than\nbarley bread, which grain he had threshed and ground himself, that he\nmight, as a true penitent, live by his own labor. He never ate but\nin the evening, sometimes about the middle of the week, often only\non the seventh day. His dress was the same in winter and summer, and\nconsisted of a cowl and tunic which he never changed till they were\nworn to pieces. He always wore a hair-cloth next his skin. His bed\nwas enclosed with two boards, strewed with ashes, without a bolster,\nand covered with a sack-cloth and one blanket. He always carried\nabout him some relics of saints in a little box, tied to a leather\nstring. He extended his hospitality to all sorts of persons, washed\nthe feet of the poor, and served them with his own hands, at the\nsame time that he himself fasted. He built a monastery over against\nAuxerre, on the other side of the river Yone, in honor of SS. Cosmas\nand Damian, which now goes by the name of St. Marian\u2019s, from one\nof its first abbots. He found the sepulchres of several martyrs,\nparticularly of a great multitude who had been put to death in the\npersecution of Aurelian, with St. Priscus, otherwise called St. Bry,\nin a place called Coucy, where their bodies had been thrown into a\ncistern or pit out of which he took them, and built in their honor\na church and monastery, called at this day _de Saints en Puy saye_.\nSt. Germanus gave all his landed estates to the Church, consisting of\nseveral agreeable and spacious manors, lying all contiguous to one\nanother.[296] Seven of these he gave to the cathedral church, namely\nAppoigny, where his father and mother had been buried in St. John\u2019s\nchurch; little Varsy, where stood a palace; great Varsy, Toucy,\nPoeilly, Marcigny, and Perigni. Three he settled on the monastery of\nSt. Cosmas, namely, Monceaux, Fontenay, and Merilles. He bestowed\nthree others, called Garchy, Concou, and Molins, on the church which\nhe built in honor of St. Maurice, which at this day bears the name\nof St. Germanus himself. In this manner he reduced himself to great\npoverty, and to perpetuate the divine honor, and the relief of the\nindigent, enriched the church of Auxerre which he found very poor. By\nmany like examples, it appears, that the great endowments of several\nchurches were originally owing to the liberality of their bishops, as\nFleury observes.\n\nPelagius began to dispute against the necessity of divine grace at\nRome, about the year 405. Being himself by birth a Briton, it is not\nto be wondered that he should have disciples in Britain. Among these\none Agricola, the son of Severinus, who, after the birth of this son,\nwas chosen bishop and became a Pelagian, spread the poison of this\nheresy in our island. The deacon Pelladius, whom pope Celestine had\nsent to the places infected with this heresy, and whom he afterward\nordained bishop, and commissioned to go into Scotland, moved him to\nprovide for the preservation of so many souls; and other Catholics\nin Britain had sent a deputation to the bishops in Gaul, entreating\nthem to send over some able person to defend the faith and oppose the\ngrowing evil. Pope Celestine nominated St. Germanus of Auxerre to\ngo thither in quality of his vicar in the year 429, as St. Prosper\nassures us.[297] The bishops of Gaul assembled in a numerous council\nfor the same purpose, and agreed to entreat St. Lupus, who had then\nbeen only two years bishop of Troyes, to accompany St. Germanus in\nthis important mission.[298] These two holy prelates, proceeding on\ntheir journey, came to Nanterre near Paris, where St. Germanus gave\nhis blessing and good counsel to St. Genevieve, and foretold her\nfuture sanctity. She being at that time about fifteen years old,\nand desirous to consecrate herself a virgin to God, St. Germanus,\nafter many solemn prayers in the church, received there her vow, and\nconfirmed it by laying his right hand upon her head.[299]\n\nSt. Germanus and St. Lupus embarking in the winter season, were\novertaken with a furious tempest, which St. Germanus appeased\nby casting some drops of blessed oil, according to Constantius,\nbut according to Bede, of holy-water, into the sea, having first\ninvoked the adorable Trinity. Being arrived in Britain they were\nmet by a great multitude of people and the fame of their sanctity,\ndoctrine, and miracles soon filled the whole country. They confirmed\nthe Catholics in all parts, and converted the heretics, preaching\noften in the highways and fields where the churches were not able\nto contain the crowd that flocked to them. The Pelagians everywhere\nshunned them; but being at length ashamed thus to condemn themselves\nby their flight and silence, accepted a conference. The disputation\nwas held at Verulam before an incredible number of people. The\nheretics, who made their appearance with a great train and in rich\napparel, spoke first. When they had talked a long time, the bishops\nanswered them with great eloquence, and so invincibly supported their\narguments with quotations from scripture, that their adversaries were\nfairly reduced to silence. The people applauded their victory with\njoyful acclamations. Before the assembly broke up, a certain tribune\nand his wife presented their little daughter of ten years of age,\nwho was blind, to the two holy bishops; and they bid them take her\nto the Pelagians. But the latter joined the parents in begging the\nsaints to pray for her. The two bishops made a short prayer; then\nGermanus called upon the Blessed Trinity; and taking from his neck\nthe little box of relics which he wore, laid it upon the eyes of the\ngirl before the whole assembly, who immediately recovered her sight,\nto the great joy of her parents and of all the people. From that day\nno one opposed the doctrine of the holy bishops. The saints went from\nthis conference to return thanks to God at the tomb of St. Alban, the\nmost illustrious martyr in Britain. St. Germanus caused his sepulchre\nto be opened, and deposited in it his box of relics of apostles and\nmartyrs, taking from the same place a little of the dust which still\nretained some marks of the blood of St. Alban. This he carried away\nwith him, and, at his return, built at Auxerre a church in his honor,\nwhere he placed these relics.[300]\n\nThe Saxons from Germany on one side, and on the other the Picts, at\nthat time harassed the Britons. Paul the deacon tells us, that an\narmy of Picts and Scots invaded their territories whilst the two\nbishops were in the island; and bishop Usher takes notice, that the\nSaxons and English who inhabited Sleswic, and all the German coast\nfrom Denmark to the Rhine, made descents upon Britain from time to\ntime before the arrival of Hengist and Horsa in 449. The Britons\nhaving assembled an army against these plunderers, invited the\ntwo holy bishops into their camp, hoping to be protected by their\nprayers and presence. The saints complied with their request, but\nemployed their time in bringing the idolaters to the faith, and the\nChristians to a reformation of their manners. Many of the former\ndemanded baptism, and the saints prepared them to receive it at\nEaster, for it was then Lent. They erected a church in the camp of\ngreen boughs twisted together, in which the catechumens received the\nsacrament of regeneration; and the whole army celebrated the festival\nwith great devotion. After Easter, St. Germanus had recourse to a\nstratagem, by which, without bloodshed, he rescued his dear converts\nand the country out of the danger with which they were threatened.\nThe enemy approaching, he put himself at the head of the Christians\nwith so much skill and address as showed he had not forgotten his old\nprofession of a general. He led his little army into a vale between\ntwo high mountains, and ordered his troops to send forth the same\nshout for which he would give them a sign. When the Saxon pirates\ncame near them, he cried out thrice, _Alleluiah_, which was followed\nby the whole British army; and the sound was often repeated by the\necho from the hills with as dreadful a noise as if the rocks had\nbeen rent asunder. The barbarians, in a sudden fright, judging from\nthe shout that they were falling upon the swords of a mighty army,\nflung down their arms and ran away, leaving behind them all their\nbaggage and a great booty. Many of them were drowned in crossing a\nriver, by missing the fords.[301] Bishop Usher[302] says, this battle\nseems to have been fought near a town in Flintshire, called in the\nBritish tongue, Guid-cruc, but in English, Mould. The place retains\nto this day the name of Maes Garmon, or German\u2019s field. The two holy\nbishops, after so many victories, returned home to their respective\ndioceses.[303]\n\nSt. Germanus found his people loaded with extraordinary imposts,\nand undertook a journey to Arles, to solicit Auxiliaris, prefect of\nGaul, in their behalf. On the road, the people everywhere met him in\ncrowds, with the women and children, to receive his blessing. When\nhe drew near to Arles, the prefect Auxiliaris himself, contrary to\ncustom, was come a good way to meet him, and conducted him to the\ncapital. He admired his gracefulness, and the charity and authority\nwhich his countenance and conversation displayed, and found him to\nexceed his reputation. He made him great presents, and entreated\nhim to cure his wife who had been long ill of a quartan ague. He\nobtained his request, and granted to St. Germanus the discharge\nfrom the taxes which he had asked for his people. The saint being\nreturned home, applied himself earnestly to reform their manners;\nbut used to retire from time to time to his monastery of SS. Cosmas\nand Damian. In 446 he was called again into Britain, to assist that\nchurch against the Pelagian heresy, which began a second time to\nraise its head there. He took for his companion St. Severus, who\nhad been lately promoted to the archbishopric of Triers, and had\nformerly been a disciple of St. Lupus of Troyes. In Britain he\nsought out those who had been seduced by the heretics, and converted\nmany of them; so that the obstinate sowers of those errors found no\nlonger any retreat here, and quitted the island. A principal man\nof the country, called Elaphius, brought to him his son who was\nin the flower of his age, and had one ham contracted, and his leg\nwithered. St. Germanus made him sit down, and touching his ham and\nleg, healed him in the presence of Many. St. Germanus considering\nthat ignorance could not be banished, nor the reformation which he\nhad established maintain its ground, without regular schools for the\ninstruction of the clergy, instituted schools of learning, by which\nmeans, \u201cThese churches continued afterward pure in the faith, and\nfree from heresy,\u201d as Bede observes.[304] In South-Wales, having\nordained St. Iltutus priest, and St. Dubricius archbishop of Landaff,\nhe charged them with the care of several schools, which soon grew\nvery famous for the numbers, learning, and eminent sanctity of\nthose that were there educated. Two of these, under the immediate\ndirection of the latter, were seated at Hentlan and Moch-ros,\nplaces lying on the river Wye, where he had one thousand scholars,\nfor years together. The names of the most eminent among them are\nmentioned in the life of St. Dubricius, written (as some maintain)\nby St. Thelian\u2019s own hand in the ancient Landaff register.[305] The\nschools of St. Iltutus at Llan-Iltut (now Lantwit) near Boverton,\nand at Llan-elty near Neath in Glamorganshire, were in like repute,\nand equally filled with the sons of the nobility from all parts of\nthe island. Among his disciples we find St. Gildas, St. Leonorius\nbishop and confessor, St. Samson, St. Magloire, St. Malo, St. Paul\nafterward bishop of Leon, and Daniel, whom St. Dubricius made bishop\nof Bangor, where he likewise instituted a seminary for the Britons.\nPaulinus, another disciple of St. Germanus, did the like at Whiteland\nin Caermarthenshire, where St. David and St. Theliau studied. The\nseminaries of Llancarvan near Cowbridge, and the famous school of\nBencor in Flintshire, were also noble monuments of St. Germanus\u2019s\nzeal. This saint was on his road back when he met a deputation from\nthe inhabitants of Armorica or Brittany who besought him to be\ntheir protector; for to punish them for a revolt, A\u00ebtius, the Roman\ngeneral in Gaul, had sent Eocarich, a Pagan and barbarous king of the\nAlemanni, to subdue them. St. Germanus boldly accosted the barbarian,\nstopping his horse by the bridle, at the head of his army. The\nGerman at first refused to hear him, but at length listened to his\ndiscourse, and by it was so much softened as to call off his troops,\nand agree not to ravage the province, on condition that he should\nobtain the pardon of the people from the emperor, or from his general\nA\u00ebtius. In order to procure this the saint undertook a journey to\nRavenna, where the emperor Valentinian III. then resided.\n\nHe wrought several miracles on the way, and at Milan delivered a\nman who was possessed by the devil. He entered the city of Ravenna\nby night to avoid honors and pomp; but the people being aware of\nhis precaution, a great crowd waited for him, and saluted him with\nacclamations. He was received with great joy by the bishop St.\nPeter Chrysologus; by the young emperor Valentinian, and his mother\nPlacidia. She sent to his house a great silver vessel filled with\ndainties, without any flesh, which she knew he would never touch.\nThe saint sent her in return a barley loaf upon a wooden dish. The\nempress received it graciously, ordered the dish to be enchased\nwith gold, and kept the loaf by which several miraculous cures were\nperformed. The emperor confirmed his request; but the restless\npeople by raising new disturbances destroyed the effect of the\nimperial clemency. The saint was continually attended at Ravenna by\nsix bishops, and wrought there many miracles. The son of Volusian,\nchancellor or secretary to the patrician Sigisvultus, being dead and\ncold, the saint was called, and having put all the company out of\nthe chamber, he prostrated himself near the corpse and prayed with\ntears. After some time the dead man began to stir, opened his eyes,\nand moved his fingers. St. Germanus raised him, he sat up, and, by\ndegrees, was restored to perfect health. One day after matins, as the\nsaint was talking with the bishops of religious matters, he said to\nthem, \u201cMy brethren, I recommend my passage to your prayers. Methought\nI saw this night our Saviour, who gave me provision for a journey,\nand told me it was to go into my native country, and to receive\neternal rest.\u201d A few days after, he fell sick. All the city was\nalarmed. The empress went to see him, and he desired the favor of her\nto send back his corpse into his own country; to which she assented,\nthough very unwillingly. He died at Ravenna on the seventh day of\nhis illness, which was the last of July in 448, having held his see\nthirty years and twenty-five days. The empress Placidia took his\nreliquary, St. Peter Chrysologus his cowl and hair shirt, and the six\nother bishops divided his clothes among them. The eunuch Acholius,\nprefect of the emperor\u2019s chamber, one of whose servants, when sick,\nthe saint had cured, had his corpse embalmed; the empress clothed\nit with a rich habit and gave a coffin of cypress wood; the emperor\nfurnished the carriages, the expense of the journey, and the officers\nto attend it. The funeral pomp was most magnificent; the number of\nlights was so great, that they shone as broad day. Everywhere as it\npassed, the people came to meet it, showing all manner of honors.\nSome levelled the ways and repaired the bridges, others bore the\ncorpse, or at least sung psalms. The clergy of Auxerre went as far\nas the Alps to meet it. The sacred treasure was brought to that city\nfifty days after the saint\u2019s death, and after having been exposed\nsix days, was interred on the 1st of October in the oratory of St.\nMaurice, which he had founded, where stands at present the famous\nabbey which bears his name. His principal festival is kept on the\n31st of this month. St. Germanus was the titular saint of many\nchurches in England, and of the great abbey of Selby in Yorkshire,\nthe abbot whereof was a parliamentary baron. A chapel near Verulam,\nin which St. Germanus had preached, was a place of great devotion\nto him among our ancestors, and was afterward dedicated under his\nname. From him the parliamentary borough of St. German\u2019s in Cornwall\nis called. See his life written by the priest Constantius, who was\nnearly his contemporary, and is commended by St. Sidonius Apollinaris\nin the same age: also Bede, and Nennius the British historian, who\nwrote in 620. All these relate the miracles mentioned above. See also\nLeland\u2019s Itinerary, Brown-Willis, Usher, Fleury, Tillemont, t. 15,\nRivet, Hist. Litt\u00e9r., t. 2, p. 256, and Recueil des Lettres sur la\nV\u00e9rification des Reliques de St. Germain d\u2019Auxerre, 1753, in 8vo.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XXVII.\n\n\n ST. PANTALEON, MARTYR.\n\n See the Collections of F. Bosch the Bollandist, t. 6,\n Julij, p. 397.\n\n A. D. 303.\n\nHe was physician to the emperor Galerius Maximianus, and a Christian,\nbut fell by a temptation which is sometimes more dangerous than the\nseverest trials of the fiercest torments; for bad example, if not\nshunned, insensibly weakens, and at length destroys the strongest\nvirtue. Pantaleon being perpetually obsessed by it in an impious\nidolatrous court, and deceived by often hearing the false maxims of\nthe world applauded, was unhappily seduced into an apostasy. But\na zealous Christian called Hermolaus, by his prudent admonitions\nawakened his conscience to a sense of his guilt, and brought him\nagain into the fold of the Church. The penitent ardently wished\nto expiate his crime by martyrdom; and to prepare himself for the\nconflict, when Dioclesian\u2019s bloody persecution broke out at Nicomedia\nin 303, he distributed all his possessions among the poor. Not\nlong after this action he was taken up, and in his house were also\napprehended Hermolaus, Hermippus, and Hermocrates. After suffering\nmany torments they were all condemned to lose their heads. St.\nPantaleon suffered the day after the rest. He is ranked by the Greeks\namongst the great martyrs. Procopius mentions a church in his honor\nat Constantinople, which being decayed was repaired by Justinian. His\nrelics were translated to Constantinople, and there kept with great\nhonor as St. John Damascen informs us.[306] The greatest part of them\nare now shown in the abbey of St. Denys near Paris, but his head at\nLyons.\n\n * * * * *\n\nPhysicians honor St. Pantaleon as their chief patron after St. Luke.\nHappy are they in that profession, who improve their study chiefly\nto glorify the supreme Creator, whose infinite power and wisdom are\ndisplayed in all his works; and who by the opportunities of charity\nwhich their art continually offers them, rejoice to afford comfort,\nand corporal, if not often also spiritual succor, to the most\nsuffering and distressed part of their species, especially among the\npoor. All the healing powers of medicine are a gift of God;[307] and\nhe himself who could have restored Ezechias to health by the least\nact of his omnipotent will, directed Isaiah to apply dry figs to the\nabscess into which his fever was terminating; than which poultice,\nno better remedy could have been used to promote suppuration.[308]\nSt. Ambrose,[309] St. Basil,[310] and St. Bernard,[311] inveigh\nseverely against too nice and anxious a care of health, as a mark\nof inordinate self-love and immortification; nor is anything\ngenerally more hurtful to it. But as man is not master of his own\nlife or health, he is bound to take a moderate reasonable care not\nto throw them away.[312] To neglect the more simple and ordinary\nsuccors of medicine when absolutely necessary, is to transgress that\nlaw of charity which every one owes to himself.[313] The saints\nwho condemned as contrary to their penitential state, far-sought\nor exquisite means, with St. Charles Borrom\u00e6o, were scrupulously\nattentive to essential prescriptions of physicians in simple and\nordinary remedies. But let the Christian in sickness seek in the\nfirst place the health of his soul by penance, and the exercise\nof all virtues. Let him also consider God as his chief physician,\nbegging him, if it may be conducive to his divine honor, to restore\nthe frame he created, and entreating our Redeemer to stretch out\nthat hand upon him, with which in his mortal state he restored\nso many sick to their health. He who trusts more in the art of\nphysicians than in the Lord, will deserve the reproach of Asa,\nking of Juda.[314] So hidden are often the causes of distempers,\nso precarious the power of remedies, and so uncertain the skill of\nthe ablest physicians, that their endeavors frequently check nature\ninstead of seconding its efforts, and thus hasten death. The divine\nblessing alone is the Christian\u2019s sheet-anchor, perfect resignation\nto the divine will is the secure repose of his soul; and the fervent\nexercise of penance, patience, and devotion, is his gain in the time\nof sickness.\n\n\n SS. MAXIMIAN, MALCHUS, MARTINIAN, DIONYSIUS, JOHN, SERAPION,\n AND CONSTANTINE, MM.\n\n COMMONLY CALLED THE SEVEN SLEEPERS.\n\nHaving confessed the faith before the proconsul at Ephesus under\nDecius in 250, they were walled up together in a cave in which they\nhad hid themselves, and there slept in the Lord. Some moderns,\nmistaking this expression, have imagined that they only lay asleep,\ntill they were found in 479, under Theodosius the younger. The truth\nseems to be, that their relics were then discovered. They are much\nhonored by the Greeks, Syrians, and all the Oriental nations. Their\nrelics were conveyed to Marseilles in a large stone coffin, which is\nstill shown there in St. Victor\u2019s church. In the Mus\u00e6um Victorium at\nRome is a factitious plaster or stone (made of sulphur melted with\nfire and mortar), formed in imitation of a large precious stone,\nin which is cut a group of figures representing the Seven Sleepers\nwith their names, and near Constantine and John are exhibited two\nclubs; near Maximian a knotty club; near Malchus and Martinian two\naxes; near Serapion a burning torch, and near Danesius (whom others\ncall Dionysius) a great nail. That large nails (_clavi trabales_, or\nsuch as were used in joining great rafters or beams in buildings)\nwere made use of as instruments of torture is evident from St.\nPaulinus[315] and Horace.[316] From this ancient monument some infer\nthat these martyrs were put to death by various torments, and that\ntheir bodies were only buried in the aforesaid cave. In this group\nof figures, these martyrs are represented all as very young, and\nwithout beards. In ancient Martyrologies and other writings, they\nare frequently called boys.[317] The cave in which their bodies were\nfound became a place famous for devout pilgrimages, and is still\nshown to travellers, as James Spon testifies.[318] See St. Gregory of\nTours, l. 1, de Glor. Mart. c. 95, and Cuper the Bollandist, Julij,\nt. 6, p. 375. Also, Dissertatio de Sanctis Septem Dormientibus, Rom\u00e6,\n1741 in 4to. in which the above said group of figures is explained,\nc. 5, &c.\n\n\n SAINT CONGALL, ABBOT OF IABHNALLIVIN.\n\nOn the upper part of the lake Erne, of which parish he is titular\npatron. Before his death he committed the government of his monastery\nto his beloved disciple St. Fegnarnach. In that territory his\nfestival is a holiday of precept, as Colgan assures us, on this 27th\nof July.\n\n\n ST. LUICAN, C.\n\nIs titular saint of the parish called Kill-luicain in Ireland.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XXVIII.\n\n\n SS. NAZARIUS AND CELSUS, MM.\n\n From two sermons delivered on their festival, the one\n by St. Ennodius, the other passes under the name of St.\n Ambrose, and was written soon after his time, perhaps by\n St. Gaudentius of Brescia; also from Paulinus the deacon,\n in his life of St. Ambrose. See Tillemont, t. 2, and Pinius\n the Bollandist, t. 6, Julij, p. 503.\n\n ABOUT THE YEAR 68.\n\nSt. Nazarius\u2019s father was a heathen, and enjoyed a considerable post\nin the Roman army. His mother Perpetua was a zealous Christian, and\nwas instructed by St. Peter, or his disciples, in the most perfect\nmaxims of our holy faith. Nazarius embraced it with so much ardor,\nthat he copied in his life all the great virtues he saw in his\nteachers; and out of zeal for the salvation of others left Rome, his\nnative city, and preached the faith in many places with a fervor and\ndisinterestedness becoming a disciple of the apostles. Arriving at\nMilan he was there beheaded for the faith, together with Celsus, a\nyouth whom he carried with him to assist him in his travels. These\nmartyrs suffered soon after Nero had raised the first persecution.\nTheir bodies were buried separately in a garden without the city,\nwhere they were discovered and taken up by St. Ambrose in 395. In\nthe tomb of St. Nazarius a vial of the saint\u2019s blood was found as\nfresh and red as if it had been spilt that day. The faithful stained\nhandkerchiefs with some drops, and also formed a certain paste with\nit; a portion of which St. Ambrose sent to St. Gaudentius bishop of\nBrescia. St. Ambrose conveyed the bodies of the two martyrs into the\nnew church of the apostles, which he had just built. A woman was\ndelivered of an evil spirit in their presence. St. Ambrose sent some\nof these relics to St. Paulinus of Nola, who received them with great\nrespect, as a most valuable present, as he testifies.[319]\n\nThe martyrs died as the outcasts of the world, but are crowned by God\nwith immortal honor. The glory of the world is false and transitory,\nand an empty bubble or shadow; but that of virtue is true, solid, and\npermanent, even in the eyes of men; for, to use the comparison of St.\nBasil,[320] as the more we look upon the sun the more we admire it,\nand by reviewing it never find it less bright or less beautiful; so\nthe memory of the martyrs which we celebrate, after so many years,\nis only more fresh in our minds, and will be more flourishing in all\nages to come.\n\n\n ST. VICTOR, POPE, M.\n\nHe was a native of Africa, and succeeded St. Eleutherius in the\npontificate, in the year 192, the nineteenth of Commodus. The\npractice of those virtues which had prepared him for that dignity,\nrendered him a true successor of the apostles. He vigorously\nopposed the rising heresies of that age. Theodotus of Byzantium,\na tanner, having apostatized from the faith to save his life in\na late persecution, afterward, to extenuate his guilt, pretended\nthat he had denied only a man, not God; teaching that Christ was\nnothing more than a mere man, as the Socinians teach at this day;\nwhereas the Arians allowed him to have been before the world,\nthough himself a creature. Theodotus going to Rome, there drew\nmany into his blasphemous error; for he was well versed in polite\nliterature; but Victor checked his progress by excommunicating him\nwith Ebion, Artemon, and another Theodotus who had taught the same\nblasphemy.[321] This other Theodotus, called Trapezita, or the\nbanker, was author of the Melchisedecian heresy, pretending that\nMelchisedec was greater than Christ.\n\nMontanus, a new convert in Mysia, near Phrygia, out of an unbounded\ndesire of invading the first dignities of the Church, and filled\nwith rage to see himself disappointed, began to preach against the\nChurch; and having by pride and ambition given entrance to the\ndevil, commenced false prophet, and sometimes losing his senses,\nbegan in an enthusiastic strain to utter extraordinary expressions.\nPrisca, or Priscilla, and Maximilla, two women of quality, but of\ndebauched lives, left their husbands, and being filled with the same\nspirit, spoke like Montanus, void of sense, and after an extravagant\nand unusual manner, pretending they succeeded the prophets among\nthe disciples of the apostles. Montanus placed himself above the\napostles, saying, that he had received the Paraclete, or the Holy\nGhost promised by Christ, to perfect his law. He denied that the\nChurch had power to forgive the sins of idolatry, murder, and\nimpurity, and hardly received any sinners on repentance. St. Paul had\nallowed second marriages, but Montanus forbade them as inconsistent\nwith the perfect law of chastity; and he forbade Christians to\nflee in time of persecution. The Montanists were also called from\ntheir country Cataphryges, and Pepuzeni from Pepuzium, a little\ntown in Phrygia, which was their capital, and which they called\nJerusalem.[322] They boasted of their martyrs, as the Marcionites\nalso did; which other heretics seldom pretend to, as St. Iren\u00e6us\nand Origen take notice; nor could these have any great number.\nApollonius, a Catholic writer quoted by Eusebius, confounding the\nhypocrisy of the Montanists, reproached their pretended prophetesses\nwith infamous debaucheries, and with receiving presents, saying,\n\u201cDoes a prophet color his hair, paint his eye-brows, play at dice,\nor lend out money on usury? I will demonstrate that they are guilty\nof these things.\u201d The Catholics met to examine their pretended\nnew prophecies, and convicted them of falsehood, because the true\nprophets were not beside themselves when they spoke; also the\nMontanists had lied in their predictions, and opposed the doctrine\nof the Church. Asterius Urbanus, a learned priest (for he calls St.\nZoticus fellow-priest), confounded them by these arguments, in a\ngreat conference held at Ancyra about the year 188. Their prophecies\nand errors being condemned as impious, the followers of Montanus were\ndriven out of the Church, and excommunicated. It was reported for\ncertain, that Montanus and Maximilla, led away by the spirit that\npossessed them, afterward hanged themselves. These particulars are\nrelated by Eusebius.\n\nTertullian, who fell into this heresy about the time of the death\nof Pope Victor, says,[323] that this pope at first admitted to the\ncommunion of the Church these pretended prophets. And it was easy\nto be deceived in a matter of fact concerning persons at such a\ndistance, and who appeared under the garb of hypocrisy. But he had\nno sooner answered their letters, in which he acknowledged them\nbrethren, but Praxeas coming from the East, brought him an ample\naccount of their tenets and practice: and Victor immediately recalled\nhis letters of communion, and condemned these innovators. This\nPraxeas was a Phrygian, and being puffed up because he had suffered\nimprisonment for the faith, began to sow a new heresy at Rome,\nmaintaining but one person in God, and attributing crucifixion to\nthe Father as well as to the Son; whence his followers were called\nPatripassians. His errors being brought to light, he was also cut off\nfrom the communion of the Church.\n\nAbout the same time Tatian fell from the Church. He was a Syrian, a\nPlatonic philosopher, and a disciple of St. Justin, martyr, after\nwhose death he taught some time at Rome. Afterward, returning\ninto Syria in 171, he there broached his errors, which he durst\nnot advance at Rome. He borrowed several of them from Marcion,\nValentinus, and Saturninus, teaching two principles, and that\nthe Creator is the evil principle or God. He added several new\nerrors, as that Adam was damned. He condemned marriage as no less\ncriminal than adultery, whence his followers were called Encratit\u00e6,\nor the continent. They were likewise called Hydroparastat\u00e6, or\nAquarii, because, in consecrating the eucharist, they used only\nwater, for they condemned all use of wine, and likewise the use of\nflesh-meat.[324] The ancients observe that Tatian\u2019s fall was owing to\npride, which often attends an opinion of knowledge;[325] and of this\nthere cannot be a more dangerous symptom in a scholar than a fondness\nfor novelty and singularity, especially if joined with obstinacy and\nopiniativeness.\n\nSt. Victor was watchful to cut off these scandals in their root, and\nevery where to maintain the purity of the faith with unity. Up an\nthis motive, he exerted his zeal in the dispute about the time of\ncelebrating Easter. The churches of Lesser Asia kept it with the Jews\non the fourteenth day of the first moon after the vernal equinox, on\nwhatever day of the week it fell. The Roman church, and all the rest\nof the world, kept Easter always on a Sunday immediately following\nthat fourteenth day. Pope Anicetus permitted these Asiatics to keep\ntheir own custom, even at Rome; but Pope Soter, his successor,\nobliged them to conform to the custom of places where they should\nbe. Several councils held at Rome, in Palestine, in Pontus, in Gaul,\nat Corinth, and other places, unanimously determined the point\naccording to the Roman custom. Yet Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus,\nwrote strenuously in defence of the Asiatic custom, which he said\nwas derived from St. Philip who died at Hierapolis, from St. John\nEvangelist, St. Polycarp, bishop and martyr, Sagaris, bishop and\nmartyr, who died at Laodicea, and others. Victor seeing the Asiatics\nfixed in their resolution, threatened to cut them off from the\ncommunion of the Church; from the words of Eusebius[326] some moderns\ninfer with Baronius, Constant, and De Marca, that he excommunicated\nthem in a letter, but immediately suspended or recalled the sentence:\nothers with Thomassin, Natalis Alexander, and Graveson, think that\nhe only threatened it; which opinion best agrees with the sequel.\nTo reconcile the different passages of authors, F. John Philip\nMonti[327] thinks pope Victor, upon receiving the refractory answer\nof Polycrates, drew up a sentence of excommunication, but never sent\nor published the same, being overcome by the advice of St. Iren\u00e6us.\nThe schism which Blastus, a priest, had lately formed at Rome, upon\nthe difference of this rite, for which he had been degraded by pope\nEleutherius, probably made St. Victor more severe in extirpating\na practice which became daily more dangerous to the unity of the\nChurch; but prudence and charity recommended a toleration some time\nlonger, which he was prevailed upon to grant, by a letter of St.\nIren\u00e6us, who wrote to him on that subject in his own name, and in\nthat of his brethren in Gaul. St. Victor died soon after this, in the\nyear 201, the ninth of Severus, after he had sat ten years. He is\nstyled a martyr by some writers of the fifth age, and in an ancient\npontifical written in 530. Though Severus only published the edicts\nfor his persecution in 202, several Christians had suffered in his\nreign before that time, as Tillemont remarks.[328] F. Pagi thinks St.\nVictor did not die by the sword, because in some Martyrologies he is\ncalled only confessor, though his dignity and zeal exposed him to\ncontinual persecutions, for which alone he might deserve the title of\nmartyr. See Eusebius Hist. l. 5, c. 23. Orsi, Berti Diss. Hist. t. 2,\np. 88.\n\n\n SAINT INNOCENT I., POPE AND CONFESSOR.\n\nHe was a native of Albano, near Rome; and, upon the death of pope\nAnastasius in 402, was unanimously chosen to fill the pontifical\nchair. He ascended it by compulsion, and considering himself in it\nwith trembling, he never ceased to beg of God the spirit of his\nholy wisdom and prudence, which he stood the more in need of, as\nthe times in which he lived were more difficult. Alaric the Goth,\nwith an army of barbarians, threatened to carry desolation over all\nItaly. The pope exhorted the faithful to receive the scourges of\nheaven with submission and humility, and undertook several journeys\nto negotiate a reconciliation between the emperor Honorius and\nAlaric, but in vain. The Goths received a great overthrow from the\nRoman army commanded by Stilico, in 403. But Alaric led them a second\ntime to attempt the plunder of Rome; and because Honorius refused\nto make him general of the imperial army, he took that city on the\n24th of August, 410, and abandoned it to the fury of his soldiers,\nexcepting the church of SS. Peter and Paul, to which he granted the\nprivilege of a sanctuary. Pope Innocent was at that time absent with\nthe emperor at Ravenna. The year following, Alaric being dead, his\nbrother-in-law and successor Atulphus again plundered Rome.\n\nAfter the departure of the barbarians, the good pope hastened\nthither, and by his presence brought comfort and joy to that\nafflicted people. He taught them to draw an advantage from their\nsufferings by making a good use of them, and so much were the\nHeathens edified at the patience, resignation, and virtue with\nwhich the Christians suffered the loss of their goods and whatever\nwas dear, without any murmuring or complaint, that they came in\ncrowds desiring to be instructed in the faith and baptized. The pope\nlabored incessantly to form them a holy people, always occupied in\ngood works. His letters, especially those to Exuperius, the most\nholy bishop of Toulouse, and Decentius, bishop of Gubbio, in answer\nto their several queries, contain many useful rules, and judicious\ndecisions. In the former, he says, that communion or absolution is\nnever to be denied to dying penitents, that we may not imitate the\nhardness of the Novatians. In that to Decentius he says, that only\nbishops, who have the sovereignty of the priesthood, can confer the\nHoly Ghost in confirmation, by anointing the foreheads of persons\nbaptized; and that he cannot recite the words of the form for fear\nof discovering the mysteries or sacraments to the infidels. He uses\nthe same precaution in speaking of the sacrifice; so inviolable was\nthe secret with which, out of respect, the primitive Christians\ntreated the sacraments. In the same epistle, this pope mentioning\nthe extreme unction which is given to the sick, he says, it cannot\nbe administered to penitents before their reconciliation, because it\nis a sacrament; and all sacraments are refused them in that state.\nThis evinces that it was held to be no less properly a sacrament\nthan the eucharist. He indeed allows the custom that then prevailed\nfor the laity to use the holy oils out of devotion, but without\nthe sacramental words, and not as a sacrament; for being consulted\nwhether bishops could give that sacrament, which was usually\nadministered by priests, he proves that bishops can do it, because\npriests can; consequently, he supposes as undoubted, that only\npriests, not laymen, can minister this holy sacrament.\n\nWhen, in 416, the councils of Carthage and Milevum had condemned the\nPelagian errors, and wrote to the pope against them, the synodal\nletters of both these councils having been drawn up by St. Austin,\nSt. Innocent, in his answer to the bishops of the council of Milevum,\nsays, that \u201call ecclesiastical matters throughout the world are, by\ndivine right, to be referred to the apostolic see, that is, to St.\nPeter, the author of its name and honor.\u201d He commends the bishops\nof this council for so doing: \u201cFollowing,\u201d says he, \u201cthe ancient\nrule which you know with me, has been always observed by the whole\nworld.\u201d[329] The confirmation given by pope Innocent to these two\nAfrican councils being brought to Africa, St. Austin said,[330]\n\u201cThe decisions of the two councils have been already sent to the\napostolic see; the rescripts are also come from thence. The cause is\nnow finished; would to God that the error may at last be at end.\u201d St.\nInnocent closed his life with exerting his zeal in defence of divine\ngrace, dying in 417, having been pope fifteen years. See his letters,\nand the councils, Ceillier, t. 10, p. 104, and Cuper the Bollandist,\nt. 6, Jul. p. 548.\n\n\n ST. SAMPSON, B. C.\n\nHe was a child of prayer, and was born about the year 496, of\nnoble parentage, in that part of South Wales which is now called\nGlamorganshire, then in the country of the Demetes, upon the borders\nof the Wenetes, who inhabited the province called by the Britons\nGuent, now Monmouthshire. At seven years of age he was put under\nthe care of St. Iltutus, a very learned abbot in Glamorganshire,\nand having made great progress in learning and virtue, was ordained\npriest by Saint Dubritius, bishop of Ca\u00ebrleon. In 512 he passed\ninto a neighboring island; where he led an eremitical life, as did\nseveral others, under the direction of St. Piro, a holy priest. By\nan order of SS. Dubritius and Iltutus he paid a visit to his aged\nfather who lay dangerously ill. The saint restored him by his prayers\nto his health, and converted him, and his whole numerous family,\nincluding his uncles, cousins, and brothers, whom he placed in\nseveral monasteries, but his father and an uncle in his own community\nof hermits. In 516 he made a voyage into Ireland, to animate himself\nto fervor by the example and instructions of many illustrious saints\nwho flourished there, and after his return shut himself up in a\ncave in a wilderness. In 520 St. Dubritius called him to a synod at\nCa\u00ebrleon, and in it ordained him bishop without being fixed in any\nparticular see. St. Sampson continued his former austere manner of\nlife, abstaining wholly from flesh, sometimes eating only once in two\nor three days, and often passing the whole night in prayer standing,\nthough sometimes when he watched the night, he took a little rest,\nleaning his head against a wall. To gain souls to God by the exercise\nof the ministry with which he saw himself intrusted, he passed\nover into Brittany in France, with his father and his cousin St.\nMagloire, and was followed by St. Maclou or Malo, another cousin. St.\nSampson there converted many idolaters, raised a dead man to life,\nand wrought many other miracles. He founded a great abbey, which he\ncalled Dole,[331] and fixed there the episcopal see which was before\nsubject to Quidalet, now St. Malo\u2019s. This see of Dole long enjoyed a\nmetropolitical jurisdiction over all the bishops of Brittany.[332]\nHe subscribed to the second council of Paris, held in 557, in the\nmanner following, \u201cI Sampson, a sinner, bishop, have consented and\nsubscribed.\u201d He used to have a cross carried before him, as is the\ncustom of archbishops at present. He died about the year 564. A\nconsiderable part of his relics was translated to Paris, with those\nof St. Magliore and St. Maclou, in the tenth century, for fear of the\ninroads of the Normans. See his life in Mabillon, Act. Bened. t. 1,\np. 176, and Solier the Bollandist, t. 6, Jul. p. 568.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XXIX.\n\n\n ST. MARTHA, V.\n\nShe was sister to Mary and Lazarus, and lived with them at Bethania,\na small town two miles distant from Jerusalem, a little beyond mount\nOlivet. Our Blessed Redeemer had made his residence usually in\nGalilee, till in the third year of his public ministry he preached\nchiefly in Jud\u00e6a, during which interval he frequented the house of\nthese three holy disciples. Martha seems to have been the eldest, and\nto have had the chief care and direction of the household. It appears\nfrom the history of the resurrection of Lazarus that their family was\nof principal note in the country. In the first visit, as it seems,\nwith which Jesus honored them,[333] St. Luke tells us[334] that St.\nMartha showed great solicitude to entertain and serve him. She forgot\nthe privilege of her rank and riches, and would not leave so great\nan honor to servants only, but was herself very busy in preparing\neverything for so great a guest and his holy company. Mary sat all\nthe while at our Saviour\u2019s feet, feeding her soul with his heavenly\ndoctrine. In this she found such inexpressible sweetness, and so\ngreat spiritual advantage, that she forgot and contemned the whole\nworld, and would suffer nothing to draw her from her entertainment\nwith her God, or make her lose any one of those precious moments. At\nhis sacred discourses her heart was inflamed, her pure soul seemed to\nmelt in holy love, and in a total forgetfulness of all other things\nshe said to herself, with the spouse in the Canticles, _My beloved to\nme, and I to him, who feedeth among the lilies_;[335] that is with\nchaste souls, or among the flowers of virtues. St. Austin observes\nthat this house represents to us the whole family of God on earth. In\nit no one is idle, but his servants have their different employments,\nsome in the contemplative life, as recluses; others in the active;\nas, first, those who labor for the salvation of souls in the exterior\nfunctions of the pastoral charge; secondly, those who, upon pure\nmotives of charity, serve the poor or the sick; and, lastly, all\nwho look upon their lawful profession in the world as the place for\nwhich God has destined them, and the employment which he has given\nthem; and who faithfully pursue its occupations with a view purely\nto accomplish the divine will, and acquit themselves of every duty\nin the order in which God has placed them in this world. He is the\ngreater saint, whatever his state of life may be, whose love of God\nand his neighbor is more pure, more ardent, and more perfect; for\ncharity is the soul and form of Christian perfection.\n\nBut it has been disputed whether the contemplative or the active life\nbe in itself the more perfect. St. Thomas answers this question,[336]\nproving from the example of Christ and his apostles, that the mixed\nlife, which is made up of both, is the most excellent. This is\nthe apostolic life, with the care of souls, if in it the external\nfunctions of instructing, assisting, and comforting others, which\nis the most noble object of charity, be supported by a constant\nperfect spirit of prayer and contemplation. In order to this, a long\nand fervent religious retirement ought to be the preparation which\nalone can form the perfect spirit of this state; and the same must\nbe constantly nourished and improved by a vehement love and frequent\npractice of holy retirement, and a continued recollection, as Christ\nduring his ministry often retired to the mountains to pray; for that\npastor who suffers the spirit of prayer to languish in his soul,\ncarries about a dead soul in a living body, to use the expression of\nSt. Bonaventure.[337] The like interior must animate; and some degree\nof assiduity in the like exercises, as circumstances will allow,\nmust support those who are engaged in worldly employs, and those\nwho devote themselves to serve Christ\u2019s most tender and afflicted\nmembers, the poor and the sick, as Martha served Christ himself.\n\nWith so great love and fervor did Martha wait on our Redeemer, that,\nas we cannot doubt, she thought that if the whole world were occupied\nin attending so great a guest, all would be too little. She wished\nthat all men would employ their hands, feet, and hearts, all their\nfaculties and senses, with their whole strength, in serving with\nher their gracious Creator, made for us our brother. Therefore,\nsweetly complaining to him, she desired him to bid her sister Mary\nto rise up and help her. Our meek and loving Lord was well pleased\nwith the solicitude and earnestness, full of affection and devotion,\nwherewith Martha waited on him; yet he commended more the quiet\nrepose with which Mary attended only to that which is of the greatest\nimportance, the spiritual improvement of her soul. _Martha, Martha,_\nsaid he, _thou art careful and troubled about many things; but one\nthing is necessary._ If precipitation or too great eagerness had any\nshare in her service, this would have been an imperfection; which,\nnevertheless, does not appear. Christ only puts Martha in mind that\nthough corporal duties ought not to be neglected, and if sanctified\nby a perfect intention of charity are most excellent virtues, yet\nspiritual functions, when they come in competition, are to be\npreferred. The former, indeed, become spiritual, when animated by\na perfect spirit and recollection; but this is often much impaired\nby the distraction of the mind, and in the course of action. In our\nexternal employments, which we direct with a pure intention to fulfil\nthe divine will, we imitate the angels when they are employed by God\nin being our guardians, or in other external functions with which\nGod hath charged them; but as these blessed spirits in such employs\nnever lose sight of God, so ought we in all our actions to continue,\nat least virtually, to adore and praise his holy name; but herein the\neye of the soul is often carried off, or its attention much weakened,\nwhereas, in heavenly contemplation, the heart is wholly taken up in\nGod, and more perfectly united to him by adoration and love. This is\nthe novitiate of heaven, where it is the uninterrupted occupation of\nthe blessed. In this sense Christ so highly commends the choice of\nMary, affirming that her happy employment would never be taken from\nher. He added, \u201c_One thing is necessary_;\u201d which words some explain\nas if he had said, \u201cA little is enough, one dish suffices;\u201d but the\nword _necessary_ determines the sense rather to be, as St. Austin,\nSt. Bernard, Maldonatus, Grotius, and others, expound it, eternal\nsalvation is our only affair.\n\nAnother instance which shows how dear this devout family was to our\ndivine Saviour, is the raising of Lazarus to life. When he fell\nsick, the pious sisters sent to inform Christ, who was then absent\nin Galilee. They said no more in their message than this: _He whom\nthou lovest is sick._ They knew very well that this was enough; and\nthat his tender bowels would be moved to compassion by the bare\nrepresentation of their calamity. It was not to remove our corporal\nmiseries that Christ came from heaven, and died and suffered so much;\nthis was not the object which drew down this Almighty Physician\namong us. If, in his mortal life on earth, he healed the sick and\nraised the dead, by these miracles he would manifest, as by sensible\ntokens, the spiritual cures which he desired to work in our souls.\nWe groan under the weight of innumerable and the most dreadful\nspiritual miseries. Our tender Redeemer knows their horrible depth\nand endless extent; but he would have us to conceive a just sense\nof them, to acknowledge them, and earnestly to implore his aid; for\nthis he sheds the rays of his light upon our blind souls, and rouses\nus by his repeated graces. The first step towards a deliverance is,\nthat we confess, with a feeling sense, our extreme baseness and\ningratitude, and our weakness and total incapacity of doing anything\nof ourselves towards our recovery; but we have a physician infinitely\ntender and powerful. To him then we must continually lay open our\ndistress, and with deep compunction display our miseries before his\nholy eyes, earnestly striving by this dumb eloquence to move him to\npity; exposing to him that we whom he loveth still as the work of\nhis hands, as the price of his blood, lie ingulfed in unspeakable\nmiseries. Thus we must entreat him, with tears and loud cries of our\nhearts, to look down on his image in our souls, now disfigured and\nsullied with sin; on his kingdom left desolate by the tyranny of the\ndevil and our passions: on the vineyard which himself had planted,\nadorned, and fenced, but which is laid waste by merciless robbers and\nenemies; and that he would stretch out his almighty hand to repair\nthese breaches, and save us. So long as life lasts we can never be\nsure that we shall find mercy, or rest secure of the issue of our\ngreat trial upon which our eternity depends; so long, therefore,\nwe ought never to cease, with most earnest cries, to implore the\nclemency of our Judge, laying open our spiritual miseries to him\nin these words of the two sisters,--\u201cBehold he, whom thou lovest,\nis sinking under the weight of his evils,\u201d and beg him to remember\nhis ancient love and mercies towards us. We ought also in corporal\ndistempers to address ourselves to God with the like words, begging\nwith Martha our own or our brother\u2019s corporal health, if this may be\nexpedient to our souls, and conducive to the divine honor.\n\nIn all these petitions we ought to implore the joint supplications\nof the saints, as at the entreaties of the sisters Christ raised\nLazarus. Having received their message, he wanted no other prompter\nthan that of his own compassion and affection; an emblem of the\npaternal mercy with which he draws to himself, and receives penitent\nsinners. Had the prodigal son offered any plea of merits or deserts,\nhe had never deserved to find favor; but he knew the goodness and\ntenderness of his father, who had with restless nights waited with\nimpatience to see him return. The tender parent wanted no motives\ndrawn from other objects or things without himself. The paternal\naffection within his own breast pleaded in favor of his disobedient\nchild. By this his very bowels yearned to embrace him again, and\nraise him from spiritual death to life. This same tenderness and\ncompassion in Christ was the grounds of the sisters\u2019 confidence.\nJesus, however, deferred setting out two or three days, that his\nglory might be more manifested by the greater evidence of the\nmiracle, and by the trial of the virtue and confidence of the two\nholy sisters. When he arrived at Bethania, Martha went first out to\nmeet and welcome him; and then called her sister Mary. The presence\nof Jesus brings every blessing and comfort; and, by it, the sisters\nhad the joy to see their brother again restored to life when he had\nbeen four days in the grave.\n\nChrist was again at Bethania, at the house of Simon the Leper, six\ndays before his passion. Lazarus was one of the guests. Martha waited\nat table; and Mary poured a box of costly ointments on our Lord\u2019s\nfeet, which she wiped with the hair of her head.[338] Judas Iscariot\ncomplained of this waste, saying that the ointment might have been\nsold, and the price given to the poor. Not that he had any regard\nfor the poor, but, bearing the common purse, he converted things\nsometimes to his own use, being a thief. How imperceptible a vice is\ncovetousness, and how subtle in excuses to deceive itself! Charity\ninterprets the actions of others in the best part; but passion\nhurries men into rash judgments. Judas condemned the most heroic\nvirtue and devotion of a saint; but Jesus undertook her defence. He\nwas pleased not with the ointment, but with the love and devotion of\nhis fervent servant, which he suffered her to satisfy by that action,\nwhich he received as performed for the embalming of his body, his\ndeath being then at hand. He, moreover, declared that this good work\nwhich Judas condemned, should be commended to the edification of his\nservants over the whole world wherever his gospel should be preached.\n\nSt. Martha seems to have been one of those holy women who attended\nChrist during his passion, and stood under his cross. After his\nascension, she came to Marseilles, and ended her life in Provence,\nwhere her body was found at Tarascon, soon after the discovery of\nthat of St. Mary Magdalen. It lies in a magnificent subterraneous\nchapel of the stately collegiate church at Tarascon, which is\ndedicated to God in her honor. King Louis XI. gave a rich bust of\ngold, in which the head of the saint is kept.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe have all, like St. Martha, one only necessary affair; that for\nwhich alone God created and redeemed us; for which he has wrought so\nmany wonderful mysteries in our favor, and upon which the dreadful\nalternative of sovereign and everlasting happiness or misery depends.\nThis is, that we refer even all our worldly employments and all\nthat we do, to glorify God, to fulfil his will, and to save our\nsouls. In this, all our thoughts, desires, and enterprises, ought\nto centre: this is the circle in which we must shut ourselves up,\nand never think of moving out of. Every one ought sincerely to say\nwith an ancient writer, \u201cI have but one only affair; and I care for\nnothing else only lest any other thing should take off any part of my\nattention from this my only business.\u201d[339] What account will they\nbe able to give to themselves or to their Judge at the last day, who\nmake vanity, pastimes, and idle employments, the sole business of\ntheir life? or they who toil and slave much in bustling through the\nworld, seeming to neglect nothing but their only affair.\n\n\n SS. SIMPLICIUS AND FAUSTINUS, BROTHERS,\n AND BEATRICE, THEIR SISTER, MM.\n\nThe two brothers were cruelly tormented, and at length beheaded at\nRome in the persecution of Diocletian, in the year 303. Their sister\nBeatrice took up their bodies out of the Tiber, and gave them burial.\nShe lay herself concealed seven months in the house of a virtuous\nwidow called Lucina, with whom she spent her time, night and day,\nin fervent prayer, and in the exercise of other good works. She\nwas discovered and impeached by a pagan kinsman, who designed to\npossess himself of her estate, which was contiguous to his own; she\nresolutely protested to the judge that she would never adore gods of\nwood and stone, and was strangled by his order in prison the night\nfollowing. Lucina buried her body near her brothers on the side of\nthe highway to Porto, in the cemetery called Ad Ursum Pileatum. Pope\nLeo translated their relics into a church which he built to their\nhonor in the city: they now lie in that of St. Mary Major.\n\nWith them is commemorated St. Felix, pope and martyr, whose name is\nfound in the Martyrologies on this day.\n\n\n ST. WILLIAM, BISHOP OF S. BRIEUC IN BRITTANY, C.\n\nSt. William Pinchon, of an illustrious family in Brittany, was, by\nthe innocence of his manners, his admirable meekness, humility,\nchastity, mortification, charity, and devotion, an accomplished model\nof all virtues. He received the tonsure, and some years after the\nholy orders of deacon and priest, at the hands of Josselin, bishop\nof S. Brieuc, served that church under his two successors, Peter\nand Sylvester, and succeeded the latter in the episcopal dignity\nabout the year 1220. The poor were his treasurers, and not content\nto exhaust on them whatever he possessed, he often borrowed great\nstores of corn and other necessary provisions for their relief. The\nbare boards were usually his bed; for his domestics discovered that\nhe never made use of the soft bed which they prepared for him. The\nassiduous application to all the functions of his charge was no\nhindrance to his nourishing within himself the spirit of recollection\nand holy prayer. He died about the year 1234, on the 29th of July,\non which his name occurs in the Roman Martyrology. His body was\ndeposited in his cathedral, and taken up incorrupt in 1248. He\nwas canonized by Innocent IV. in 1253, according to Baronius. See\nLobineau, Vies des SS. de Bretagne, p. 235.\n\n\n ST. OLAUS OR OLAVE, KING OF NORWAY, M.\n\nHe was son of Herald Grenscius, prince of Westfold in Norway, by\nhis wife Asta, daughter of Gulbrand Kuta, governor of Gulbrand\u2019s\nDale or Valley. He delivered his country from the tyranny under\nwhich the Swedes and Danes had for some time held it, whilst Norway\nwas divided between Sweno, king of Denmark, Olave Scot-Konung, son\nof Eric, king of Sweden, and Eric, son of Hacon earl of Norway. In\n1013, he sailed to England, and successfully assisted king Ethelred\nagainst the Danes after the death of Sueno or Swayn their king. He\nafterward waged war against Olaus Scot-Konung, king of Sweden, till,\nmaking an advantageous peace, he took to wife the daughter of that\nking.[340] These two princes about that time introduced the Romescot,\na small annual tribute yearly to be paid to the apostolic see.[341]\nSt. Olave brought over from England several pious and learned\npriests and monks, one of whom, named Grimkele, was chosen bishop of\nDrontheim, his capital. The holy king did nothing without the advice\nof this prelate, and by his counsels published many wholesome laws,\nand abolished such ancient laws and customs as were contrary to\nthe Gospel; which he did not only in Norway, but also in the isles\nof Orkney and of Iceland; though the entire conquest of Orkney was\nreserved to his son Magnus, who also subdued the isle of Man, as\nCamden relates from the ancient Chronicle of Man.\n\nOur religious king having settled his dominions in peace, set himself\nto extirpate out of them the abominable superstitions of idolatry. He\ntravelled in person from town to town, exhorting his subjects to open\nthe eyes of their souls to the bright light of faith. A company of\nzealous preachers attended him, and he demolished in many places the\nidolatrous temples. The heathens rebelled, and with the assistance\nof Canutus the Great, defeated and expelled him. St. Olave fled into\nRussia, whence he soon after returned, and raised an army in order\nto recover his kingdom, but was slain by his rebellious and infidel\nsubjects in a battle fought at Stichstadt, north of Drontheim, on\nthe 29th of July, 1030, having reigned sixteen years. These rebels\nseem to have been in the interest of Canute the Great, who arrived\nfrom England in Norway, took possession of that kingdom, and left\nhis nephew Hackin viceroy, but he being soon after drowned at sea,\nCanute made his son Sweno viceroy of Norway. Saint Olave\u2019s body was\nhonorably buried at Drontheim, and the year following bishop Grimkele\ncommanded him to be honored in that church among the saints with\nthe title of martyr. His son Magnus was called home from Russia in\n1035, and restored to the throne. Sweno, who saw himself entirely\nabandoned, fled into Sweden. Magnus exceedingly promoted the devotion\nof the people to the memory of his father, the martyr, who was chosen\ntitular saint of the cathedral of Drontheim. This church was rebuilt\nwith such splendor and magnificence, as to have been the glory and\npride of all the North. Munster has given us a minute description of\nit, after Lutheranism was introduced; but it was soon after burnt by\nlightning. The body of St. Olave was found incorrupt in 1098; and\nagain when the Lutherans, in 1541, plundered the shrine, which was\nadorned with gold and jewels of an immense value, a treasure nowhere\nequalled in the North. The ship which carried the greatest part of\nthis sacrilegious booty perished at sea in the road to Denmark;\nthe rest was robbed at land, so that nothing of it came into the\nking of Denmark\u2019s hands. The Lutherans treated the saint\u2019s body\nwith respect, and left it in the same place where the shrine had\nstood, in the inner wooden case, till in 1568 they decently buried\nit in the same cathedral. A shirt or inner garment of St. Olave\u2019s\nis shown at St. Victor\u2019s in Paris. His shrine became famous by many\nmiracles, and he was honored with extraordinary devotion throughout\nall the northern kingdoms, and was titular saint of several churches\nin England and Scotland. He was called by our ancestors St. Olave,\nand more frequently St. Tooley; but in the Norway Chronicles Olaf\nHaraldson, and Olaf Helge or the Holy. See Saxo-Grammaticus, Hist.\nDan. l. 10, fol. 94, 95, 96. Adam Brem, Hist. Eccl. l. 2, c. 43. And\nthe Iceland historians whom Mallet regards as far more accurate,\nespecially Torf\u00e6us, in the last century, in his Series regum Dani\u00e6;\nSnorro Sturleson, &c. See also Bosch the Bollandist, t. 7, Jul. p.\n87. Mallet, Hist. de Dannemarc, &c.\n\n\n ST. OLAUS, KING OF SWEDEN.\n\nWas converted to the faith by St. Anscharius, and for his zeal in\npropagating the same, and because in the time of a great famine he\ncould not be compelled to offer sacrifice to the idols of Upsal,\nwas sacrificed to them by the rebellious inhabitants of Birca, at\nthat time the usual residence of the kings of Sweden. From the ruins\nof Birca, Stockholm took its rise, though built at a considerable\ndistance from it. See Puffendorf\u2019s History of Sweden, t. 1, p. 70.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XXX.\n\n\n SS. ABDON AND SENNEN, MM.\n\nThey were Persians, but coming to Rome, courageously confessed the\nfaith of Christ in the persecution of Decius in 250. They were\ncruelly tormented, but the more their bodies were mangled and\ncovered with ghastly wounds, the more were their souls adorned and\nbeautified with divine grace, and rendered glorious in the sight of\nheaven. The Christians at Rome did not treat them as strangers, but\nas brethren united to them in the hope of the same blessed country;\nand after their death carefully deposited their bodies in the house\nof a subdeacon called Quirinus. In the reign of Constantine the\nGreat, their relics were removed into the ancient burying place of\nPontian, so called from some rich man who built it: called also,\nfrom some sign, Ad Ursum Pileatum. It afterward received its name\nfrom SS. Abdon and Sennen. It was situated near the Tiber, on the\nroad to Porto near the gates of Rome. The images of these martyrs\nwith Persian bonnets and crowns on their heads, and their names, are\nto be seen there at this day in ancient sculpture.[342] SS. Abdon\nand Sennen are mentioned in the ancient Liberian Calendar, and in\nother Martyrologies; though their modern acts deserve no notice, as\ncardinal Noris has demonstrated.[343]\n\nThe martyrs preferred torments and death to sin, because the love\nof God above all things reigned in their breasts. \u201cWe say we are\nChristians,\u201d says Tertullian;[344] \u201cwe proclaim it to the whole\nworld, even under the hands of the executioner, and in the midst of\nall the torments you inflict upon us to compel us to unsay it. Torn\nand mangled, and weltering in our blood, we cry out as loud as we are\nable to cry, That we are worshippers of God through Christ.\u201d Upon\nwhich Mr. Reeves observes, that no other religion ever produced any\nconsiderable number of martyrs except the true one. Do we ever read\nof any generation of men so greedy of martyrdom, who thought it long\ntill they were upon the rack, and were so patient, so cheerful and\nsteadfast under the most intolerable torments? Socrates was the only\nphilosopher that can be said to have died for his doctrine; and what\na restless posture of mind does he betray, who was esteemed the best\nand the wisest of the heathens! With what misgivings, and fits of\nhope and fear, does he deliver himself in that most famous discourse,\nsupposed to have been made by him a little before his death, about\na future state![345] And neither Ph\u00e6do, Cebes, Crito, Simmias, nor\nany other of his greatest friends who were present at his death,\ndurst maintain either his innocence, or that doctrine for which he\ndied, in the Areopagus. With what reserve did Plato himself dogmatize\nconcerning the gods whom he worshipped in public, but denied in\nprivate! How did he dodge about, disguise himself, and say and unsay\nthe same excellent truths! Only the Christians suffered at this rate,\nand they held on suffering for several hundred years together, till\nthey had subdued the world by dying for their religion. What could\nengage such a number of men in such a religion, and support them in\nit, in defiance of death in the most shocking forms, but evident\ntruth, and a superior grace and strength from above?\n\n\n ST. JULITTA, M.\n\nThe emperor Dioclesian, by the first edicts which he issued out\nagainst the Christians in 303, declared them infamous, and debarred\nfrom all protection of the laws, and from all the privileges of\ncitizens. By thus putting arms into the hands of every one against\nthem, the tyrant hoped to see their very name extinguished; but\nhe was not sensible that this divine religion then triumphs when\nits professors seem to be overcome by death, and that by it human\nweakness is made victorious over the power of the world and hell.\nOf this St. Julitta is an instance. She was a rich lady of C\u00e6sarea\nin Cappadocia, and was possessed of many farms, cattles, goods, and\nslaves. A powerful man of the town, by open violence, got possession\nof a considerable part of her estate; and when he could not otherwise\nmaintain his suit before the pretor, charged her with being a\nChristian. The judge caused fire and incense to be immediately\nbrought into the court, and commanded her to offer sacrifice to the\nidols; but she courageously made him this answer, \u201cMay my estates\nperish, or be disposed of to strangers; may I also lose my life,\nand may this my body be cut in pieces rather than that by the least\nimpious word I should offend God that made me. If you take from me a\nlittle portion of this earth, I shall gain heaven for it.\u201d The judge\nwas extremely exasperated at the undaunted resolution with which she\nspoke, and without more ado confirmed to the usurper the estates to\nwhich he unjustly laid claim, and condemned the servant of Christ to\nthe flames. Upon hearing this sentence, a kind of heavenly joy and\nmost amiable cheerfulness flushed her countenance, which she could\nnot refrain from expressing by continual thanksgiving to God to her\nlast breath. She exhorted the Christians in the most moving manner\nto constancy and fervor. The Pagans were amazed to see a lady of her\nrank, age, and fortune, possessed of all the advantages necessary to\nplease the world, and yet in a condition to enjoy all that is in it\nmost flattering, to contemn all this, and life itself with such an\nheroic constancy.\n\nWhen all things were ready for the execution, Julitta laid herself\ncheerfully upon the pile, and there expired, being, as it seems,\nstifled by the smoke; for the flame, rising in an arched vault round\nher body, did not touch it, and the Christians took it up entire. It\nwas afterward interred in the porch of the principal church in the\ncity; and St. Basil, speaking of this treasure about the year 375,\nwrote as follows: \u201cIt enriches with blessings both the place and\nthose who come to it.\u201d He assures us that \u201cthe earth which received\nthe body of this blessed woman sent forth a spring of most pleasant\nwater, whereas all the neighboring waters are brackish and salt. This\nwater preserves health, and relieves the sick.\u201d Both the Greeks and\nLatins honor St. Julitta on this day. See St. Basil\u2019s homily on St.\nJulitta, t. 2, p. 33, hom. 5: also in Ruinart\u2019s collection, p. 515.\n\n\n\n\n JULY XXXI.\n\n\n ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA, C.\n\n FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS.\n\n His life was written by F. Lewis Gonzales or Gonzalvo, who\n was a long time the saint\u2019s confessor, and died at Lisbon\n in 1575; and again by Ribadeneira, who had intimately\n conversed with the saint, and died at Madrid in 1611. It is\n elegantly compiled in Latin by Maffei, who died at Tivoli\n in 1603; in Italian by Bartoli, at Rome about 1650; and in\n French by Bouhours, one of the ablest and most judicious of\n the modern French critics in polite literature, who died\n at Paris in 1704. Pinius the Bollandist gives the original\n lives, Julij, t. 7, p. 409, and adds the history of many\n miracles wrought by the intercession of this saint; also,\n Baillet.\n\n A. D. 1556.\n\nThe conversion of many barbarous nations, several heretofore unknown\nto us, both in the most remote eastern and western hemisphere; the\neducation of youth in learning and piety, the instruction of the\nignorant, the improvement of all the sciences, and the reformation of\nthe manners of a great part of Christendom, is the wonderful fruit of\nthe zeal with which this glorious saint devoted himself to labor in\nexalting the glory of God, and in spreading over the whole world that\nfire which Christ himself came to kindle on earth. St. Ignatius was\nborn in 1491, in the castle of Loyola, in Guipuscoa, a part of Biscay\nthat reaches to the Pyrenean mountains. His father, Don Bertram,\nwas lord of Ognez and Loyola, head of one of the most ancient and\nnoble families of that country. His mother, Mary Saez de Balde, was\nnot less illustrious by her extraction. They had three daughters\nand eight sons. The youngest of all these was Inigo or Ignatius; he\nwas well shaped, and in his childhood gave proofs of a pregnant wit\nand discretion above his years; was affable and obliging, but of a\nwarm or choleric disposition, and had an ardent passion for glory.\nHe was bred in the court of Ferdinand V. in quality of page to the\nking, under the care and protection of Antony Manriquez, duke of\nNajara, grandee of Spain, who was his kinsman and patron; and who,\nperceiving his inclinations, led him to the army, took care to have\nhim taught all the exercises proper to make him an accomplished\nofficer. The love of glory and the example of his elder brothers who\nhad signalized themselves in the wars of Naples, made him impatient\ntill he entered the service. He behaved with great valor and conduct\nin the army, especially at the taking of Najara, a small town on the\nfrontiers of Biscay; yet he generously declined taking any part of\nthe booty in which he might have challenged the greatest share. He\nhated gaming as an offspring of avarice, and a source of quarrels and\nother evils; was dexterous in the management of affairs, and had an\nexcellent talent in making up differences among the soldiers. He was\ngenerous, even towards enemies, but addicted to gallantry, and full\nof the maxims of worldly honor, vanity, and pleasures. Though he had\nno tincture of learning, he made tolerably good verses in Spanish,\nhaving a natural genius for poetry. A poem which he composed in\npraise of St. Peter was much commended.\n\nCharles V., who had succeeded king Ferdinand, was chosen emperor, and\nobliged to go into Germany. Francis I., king of France, a martial\nprince, having been his competitor for the empire, resented his\ndisappointment, and became an implacable enemy to the emperor and\nthe house of Austria. He declared war against Charles, with a view\nto recover Navarre, of which Ferdinand had lately dispossessed John\nof Albert, and which Charles still held, contrary to the treaty\nof Noyon, by which he was obliged to restore it in six months.\nFrancis, therefore, in 1521, sent a great army into Spain, under the\ncommand of Andrew de Foix, younger brother of the famous Lautrec,\nwho, passing the Pyrenees, laid siege to Pampeluna, the capital of\nNavarre. Ignatius had been left there by the viceroy, not to command,\nbut to encourage the garrison. He did all that lay in his power to\npersuade them to defend the city, but in vain. However, when he saw\nthem open the gates to the enemy, to save his own honor, he retired\ninto the citadel with one only soldier who had the heart to follow\nhim. The garrison of this fortress deliberated likewise whether\nthey should surrender, but Ignatius encouraged them to stand their\nground. The French attacked the place with great fury, and with their\nartillery made a wide breach in the wall, and attempted to take\nit by assault. Ignatius appeared upon the breach, at the head of\nthe bravest part of the garrison, and, with his sword in his hand,\nendeavored to drive back the enemy; but, in the heat of the combat, a\nshot from a cannon broke from the wall a bit of stone, which struck\nand bruised his left leg; and the ball itself in the rebound broke\nand shivered his right leg. The garrison seeing him fall, surrendered\nat discretion.\n\nThe French used their victory with moderation, and treated the\nprisoners well, especially Ignatius, in consideration of his quality\nand valor. They carried him to the general\u2019s quarters, and soon after\nsent him, in a litter carried by two men, to the castle of Loyola,\nwhich was not far from Pampeluna. Being arrived there he felt great\npain; for the bones had been ill set, as is often the case in the\nhurry after a battle. The surgeons therefore judged it necessary to\nbreak his leg again, which he suffered without any concern. But a\nviolent fever followed the second setting, which was attended with\ndangerous symptoms, and reduced him to an extreme degree of weakness,\nso that the physicians declared that he could not live many days.\nHe received the sacraments on the eve of the feast of SS. Peter\nand Paul, and it was believed he could not hold out till the next\nmorning. Nevertheless God, who had great designs of mercy upon him,\nwas pleased to restore him to his health in the following manner:\nIgnatius always had a singular devotion to St. Peter, and implored\nhis intercession in his present distress with great confidence. In\nthe night, he thought he saw in a dream that apostle touch him, and\ncure him. When he awaked he found himself out of danger; his pains\nleft him, and his strength began to return, so that he ever after\nlooked upon this recovery as miraculous; yet he still retained the\nspirit of the world. After the second setting of his leg, the end\nof a bone stuck out under his knee, which was a visible deformity.\nThough the surgeons told him the operation would be very painful,\nthis protuberance he caused to be cut off, merely that his boot and\nstockings might sit handsomely; and he would neither be bound nor\nheld, and scarce ever changed countenance whilst the bone was partly\nsawed and partly cut off, though the pain must have been excessive.\nBecause his right leg remained shorter than the left, he would be for\nmany days together put upon a kind of rack, and with an iron engine\nhe violently stretched and drew out that leg; but all to little\npurpose, for he remained lame his whole life after.\n\nDuring the cure of his knee he was confined to his bed, though\notherwise in perfect health, and finding the time tedious, he called\nfor some book of romances, for he had been always much delighted\nwith fabulous histories of knight-errantry. None such being then\nfound in the castle of Loyola, a book of the lives of our Saviour,\nand of the saints, was brought him. He read them first, only to\npass away the time, but afterward began to relish them and to spend\nwhole days in reading them. He chiefly admired in the saints their\nlove of solitude and of the cross. He considered among the anchorets\nmany persons of quality who buried themselves alive in caves and\ndens, pale with fasting, and covered with haircloth; and he said to\nhimself, \u201cThese men were of the same frame I am of; why then should\nnot I do what they have done?\u201d In the fervor of his good resolutions\nhe thought of visiting the Holy Land, and becoming a hermit. But\nthese pious notions soon vanished; and his passion for glory, and\na secret inclination for a rich lady in Castile, with a view to\nmarriage, again filled his mind with thoughts of the world; till\nreturning to the lives of the saints, he perceived in his own heart\nthe emptiness of all worldly glory, and that only God could content\nthe soul. This vicissitude and fluctuation of mind continued some\ntime; but he observed this difference, that the thoughts which were\nfrom God filled his soul with consolation, peace, and tranquillity;\nwhereas the others brought indeed some sensible delight, but left a\ncertain bitterness and heaviness in the heart. This mark he lays down\nin his book of Spiritual Exercises, as the ground of the rules for\nthe discernment of the Spirit of God and the world in all the motions\nof the soul; as does cardinal Bona, and all other writers who treat\nof the discernment of spirits in the interior life. Taking at last\na firm resolution to imitate the saints in their heroic practice of\nvirtue, he began to treat his body with all the rigor it was able to\nbear; he rose at midnight, and spent his retired hours in weeping for\nhis sins.\n\nOne night being prostrate before an image of the Blessed Virgin, in\nextraordinary sentiments of fervor, he consecrated himself to the\nservice of his Redeemer under her patronage, and vowed an inviolable\nfidelity. When he had ended his prayer he heard a great noise; the\nhouse shook, the windows of his chamber were broken, and a rent was\nmade in the wall which remains to this day, says the latest writer\nof his life. God might by this sign testify his acceptance of his\nsacrifice; as a like sign happened in the place where the faithful\nwere assembled after Christ\u2019s ascension,[346] and in the prison of\nPaul and Silas;[347] or this might be an effect of the rage of the\ndevil. Another night, Ignatius saw the Mother of God environed with\nlight, holding the infant Jesus in her arms; this vision replenished\nhis soul with spiritual delight, and made all sensual pleasure\nand worldly objects insipid to him ever after. The saint\u2019s eldest\nbrother, who was then, by the death of their father, lord of Loyola,\nendeavored to detain him in the world, and to persuade him not to\nthrow away the great advantages of the honor and reputation which\nhis valor had gained him. But Ignatius being cured of his wounds,\nunder pretence of paying a visit to the duke of Najara, who had\noften come to see him during his illness, and who lived at Navarret,\nturned another way, and sending his two servants back from Navarret\nto Loyola, went to Montserrat. This was a great abbey of near three\nhundred Benedictin monks, of a reformed austere institute, situate on\na mountain of difficult access, about four leagues in circumference\nand two leagues high, in the diocess of Barcelona. The monastery was\nfirst founded for nuns by the sovereign counts of Barcelona about the\nyear 880, but was given to monks in 990. It has been much augmented\nby several kings of Spain, and is very famous for a miraculous image\nof the Blessed Virgin, and a great resort of pilgrims.\n\nThere lived at that time in this monastery a monk of great sanctity,\nnamed John Chanones, a Frenchman, who being formerly vicar-general to\nthe bishop of Mirepoix, in the thirty-first year of his age, resigned\nhis ecclesiastical preferments, and took the monastic habit in this\nplace. He lived to the age of eighty-eight years, never eating any\nflesh, watching great part of the night in prayer, dividing his\nwhole time between heavenly contemplation and the service of his\nneighbor; and giving to all Spain an example of the most perfect\nobedience, humility, charity, devotion, and all other virtues. To\nthis experienced director, Ignatius addressed himself, and after his\npreparation, was three days in making to him a general confession,\nwhich he often interrupted by the abundance of his tears. He made a\nvow of perpetual chastity, and dedicated himself with great fervor to\nthe divine service. At his first coming to this place he had bought,\nat the village of Montserrat, a long coat of coarse cloth, a girdle,\na pair of sandals, a wallet, and a pilgrim\u2019s staff, intending,\nafter he had finished his devotions there, to make a pilgrimage to\nJerusalem. Disguised in this habit, he remained at the abbey. He\ncommunicated to his director a plan of the austerities he proposed\nto practise, and was confirmed by him in his good resolutions. He\nreceived the blessed eucharist early in the morning on the feast\nof the Annunciation of our Lady in 1522; and on the same day left\nMontserrat for fear of being discovered, having given his horse to\nthe monastery, and hung up his sword on a pillar near the altar\nin testimony of his renouncing the secular warfare, and entering\nhimself in that of Christ. He travelled with his staff in his hand,\na scrip by his side, bare-headed, and with one foot bare, the other\nbeing covered because it was yet tender and swelled. He went away\ninfinitely pleased that he had cast off the livery of the world, and\nput on that of Jesus Christ. He had bestowed his rich clothes on a\nbeggar at his coming out of Montserrat; but the poor man was thrown\ninto prison on suspicion of theft. Ignatius being sent after by the\nmagistrates, and brought back, told the truth to release him, but\nwould not discover his own name.\n\nThree leagues from Montserrat is a large village called Manresa,\nwith a convent of Dominicans, and a hospital without the walls for\npilgrims and sick persons. Ignatius went to this hospital, and\nrejoicing to see himself received in it unknown and among the poor,\nbegan to fast on water and the bread (which he begged) the whole\nweek, except Sundays, when he ate a few boiled herbs, but sprinkled\nover with ashes. He wore an iron girdle and a hair shirt; disciplined\nhimself thrice a day, slept little, and lay on the ground. He was\nevery day present at the whole divine office, spent seven hours on\nhis knees at prayer, and received the sacraments every Sunday. To add\nhumiliation to his bodily austerities, he affected a clownishness\nin his behavior, and went begging about the streets with his face\ncovered with dirt, his hair rough, and his beard and nails grown\nout to a frightful length. The children threw stones at him, and\nfollowed him with scornful shouts in the streets. Ignatius suffered\nthese insults without saying one word, rejoicing secretly in his\nheart to share in the reproaches of the cross. The more mortifying\nthe noisomeness of the hospital and the company of beggars were,\nthe more violence he offered to himself that he might bear them\ncheerfully. The story of the fine suit of clothes given to the beggar\nat Montserrat, and the patience and devotion of the holy man, made\nhim soon to be reverenced as some fervent penitent in disguise. To\nshun this danger, he privately hid himself in a dark deep cave in a\nsolitary valley, called The Vale of Paradise, covered with briars,\nhalf a mile from the town. Here he much increased his mortifications\ntill he was accidentally found half dead, and carried back to Manresa\nand lodged in the hospital.\n\nAfter enjoying peace of mind and heavenly consolations from the\ntime of his conversion, he was here visited with the most terrible\ntrial of fears and scruples. He found no comfort in prayer, no\nrelief in fasting, no remedy in disciplines, no consolation from\nthe sacraments, and his soul was overwhelmed with bitter sadness.\nThe Dominicans, out of compassion, took him out of the hospital\ninto their convent; but his melancholy only increased upon him. He\napprehended some sin in every step he took, and seemed often on the\nvery brink of despair; but he was in the hands of him whose trials\nare favors. He most earnestly implored the divine assistance, and\ntook no sustenance for seven days, till his confessor obliged him\nto eat. Soon after this, his tranquillity of mind was perfectly\nrestored, and his soul overflowed with spiritual joy. From this\nexperience he acquired a particular talent for curing scrupulous\nconsciences, and a singular light to discern them. His prayer was\naccompanied with many heavenly raptures, and he received from God a\nsupernatural knowledge and sense of sublime divine mysteries: yet\nhe concealed all from the eyes of men, only disclosing himself to\nhis two confessors, the pious monk of Montserrat, and the Dominican\nof Manresa; however, the people began to reverence him as a living\nsaint, which they particularly testified during a violent fever into\nwhich his austerities cast him three times.\n\nToo nice a worldly prudence may condemn the voluntary humiliations\nwhich this saint sometimes made choice of; but the wisdom of God\nis above that of the world; and the Holy Ghost sometimes inspires\ncertain heroic souls to seek perfectly to die to themselves by\ncertain practices which are extraordinary, and which would not be\nadvisable to others; and if affected or undertaken with obstinacy\nand against advice, would be pernicious and criminal. Ignatius, by\nperfect compunction, humility, self-denial, contempt of the world,\nsevere interior trials, and assiduous meditation, was prepared,\nby the divine grace, to be raised to an extraordinary gift of\nsupernatural prayer. He afterward assured F. Lainez that he had\nlearned more of divine mysteries by prayer in one hour at Manresa,\nthan all the doctors of the schools could ever have taught him.\nHe was there favored with many raptures, and divine illustrations\nconcerning the Trinity, of which he afterward spoke with so much\nlight and unction, that the most learned admired him, and the\nignorant were instructed. In like manner, in various wonderful\necstasies, he was enlightened concerning the beauty and order of the\ncreation, the excess of divine love which shines forth to man in\nthe sacrament of the altar, and many other mysteries. So imperfect\nwas his knowledge of his duties when he first renounced the world,\nthat hearing a certain Moresco or Mahometan speak injuriously of\nthe holy mother of God, when he set out from Loyola to Montserrat,\nhe deliberated whether, being an officer, he ought not to kill him,\nthough the divine protection preserved him from so criminal an\naction. But at Manresa he made so good a progress in the school of\nvirtue, as to become qualified already to be a guide to others. He\nstayed there almost a year, during which time he governed himself\nby the advice of the holy monk of Montserrat, whom he visited every\nweek, and that of his Dominican director.\n\nSpain, in that and the foregoing age, abounded with many learned and\nexperienced persons in that way, endowed with an eminent spirit,\nand a perfect experimental knowledge of Christian piety; witness\nthe works of St. Peter of Alcantara, John of Avila, St. Teresa,\nBartholomew de Martyribus, Louis of Granada, and others. Our saint\nhad the happiness to fall into the hands of prudent and able guides,\nand giving his heart to God without reserve, became himself in a\nshort time an accomplished master; and whereas he at first only\nproposed to himself his own perfection, he afterward burned with\nan ardent desire of contributing to the salvation of others; and\ncommiserating the blindness of sinners, and considering how much the\nglory of God shines in the sanctification of souls purchased with\nthe blood of his Son, he said to himself, \u201cIt is not enough that I\nserve the Lord; all hearts ought to love him, and all tongues ought\nto praise him.\u201d With this view, in order to be admitted more freely\nto converse with persons in the world, he chose a dress which, being\nmore decent than the penitential garments which he at first wore,\nmight not be disagreeable to others; and he moderated his excessive\nausterities.\n\nHe began then to exhort many to the love of virtue, and he there\nwrote his Spiritual Exercises, which he afterward revised, and\npublished at Rome in 1548.[348] Though the saint was at that time\nunacquainted with learning any further than barely to read and write,\nyet this book is so full of excellent maxims and instructions in the\nhighest points of a spiritual life, that it is most clear that the\nHoly Ghost supplied abundantly what was yet wanting in him of human\nlearning and study. The spirit which reigns in this book was that of\nall the saints. Frequent religious retirement had been practised by\npious persons, in imitation of Christ and all the saints from the\nbeginning; likewise the use and method of holy meditation were always\nknown; but the excellent order of these meditations, prescribed by\nIgnatius, was new: and, though the principal rules and maxims are\nfound in the lessons and lives of the ancient fathers of the desert,\nthey are here judiciously chosen, methodically digested, and clearly\nexplained. One of these is, that a person must not abridge the\ntime, or desist from meditating, on account of spiritual dryness;\nanother, that no one make any vow in sudden sentiments of fervor, but\nwait some time, and first ask advice. St. Ignatius establishes in\nthis book the practice of a daily particular examination against a\nperson\u2019s predominant passion, or on the best means and endeavors to\nacquire some particular virtue, besides the daily general examination\nof conscience. He lays down this excellent maxim;[349] \u201cWhen God hath\nappointed out a way, we must faithfully follow it, and never think of\nanother, under pretence that it is more easy and safe. It is one of\nthe devil\u2019s artifices to set before a soul some state, holy indeed,\nbut impossible to her, or at least different from hers; that by this\nlove of novelty, she may dislike or be slack in her present state, in\nwhich God hath placed her, and which is best for her. In like manner\nhe represents to her other actions as more holy and profitable to\nmake her conceive a disgust of her present employment.\u201d When some\npretended to find fault with this book of St. Ignatius\u2019s Spiritual\nExercises, pope Paul III. at the request of St. Francis Borgia, by a\nbrief in 1548, approved it, as full of the Spirit of God, and very\nuseful for the edification and spiritual profit of the faithful.\n\nThe pestilence which raged in Italy having ceased, Ignatius, after\na stay of ten months at Manresa, left that place for Barcelona,\nneither regarding the tears of those who sought to detain him, nor\nadmitting any to bear him company, nor consenting to accept any money\nfor the expenses of his journey. He took shipping at Barcelona, and\nin five days landed at Gaeta, whence he travelled on foot to Rome,\nPadua, and Venice, through villages, the towns being shut for fear\nof the plague. He spent the Easter at Rome, and sailed from Venice\non board the admiral\u2019s vessel, which was carrying the governor to\nCyprus. The sailors were a profligate crew, and seemed entirely to\nneglect prayer and all duties of religion, and their discourse was\noften lewd and profane. Ignatius having reproved them for their\nlicentiousness, his zeal made them conspire to leave him ashore in\na desert island; but a gust of wind from the land hindered the ship\nfrom touching upon it. He arrived at Cyprus, and found in the port a\nvessel full of pilgrims, just ready to hoist sail. Going immediately\non board, he made a good voyage, and landed at Jaffa, the ancient\nJoppa, on the last day of August, 1523, forty days after he had left\nVenice. He went on foot from thence to Jerusalem in four days. The\nsight of the holy places filled his soul with joy and the most ardent\nsentiments of devotion and compunction, and he desired to stay there\nto labor in the conversion of the Mahometans. The provincial of the\nFranciscans, by virtue of his authority from the holy see over the\npilgrims, commanded him to leave Palestine. Ignatius obeyed, but\nslipt privately back to satisfy his devotion again in visiting twice\nmore the print of our Saviour\u2019s feet on mount Olivet.\n\nHe returned to Europe in winter, in extreme cold weather, poorly\nclad, and came to Venice at the end of January, in 1524; from whence\nhe continued his journey by Genoa to Barcelona. Desiring to qualify\nhimself for the functions of the altar, and for assisting spiritually\nhis neighbor, he began at Barcelona to study grammar, and addressed\nhimself to a famous master named Jerom Ardebal, being assisted in\nthe meantime in his maintenance by the charities of a pious lady of\nthat city, called Isabel Rosella. He was then thirty-three years\nold; and it is not hard to conceive what difficulties he must go\nthrough in learning the rudiments of grammar at that age. Moreover,\nhe seemed, by his military employments, and after his retreat by his\ncontemplative life, very unfit for such an undertaking. At first, his\nmind was so fixed only on God, that he forgot everything he read,\nand conjugating _amo_, for example, could only repeat to himself,\n\u201cI love God; I am loved by God,\u201d and the like; but resisting this\nas a temptation, he began to make some progress, still joining\ncontemplation and extraordinary austerities with his studies. He bore\nthe jeers and taunts of the little boys, his schoolfellows, with joy.\nHearing that a poor man called Lasano had hanged himself on a beam\nin his chamber, he ran to him, cut the rope, and prayed by him till\nthe man returned to himself, though he had before seemed perfectly\ndead to all the bystanders. Lasano made his confession, received the\nsacraments, and soon after expired. This fact was regarded in the\ncity as miraculous.\n\nSome persons persuaded Ignatius to read Erasmus\u2019s Christian Soldier,\nan elegant book written by that master of style, at the request of\nan officer\u2019s pious lady, for the use of her husband, a man of loose\nmorals. The saint always found his heart dry after reading this or\nany other of that author\u2019s works; which made him afterward caution\nthose of his society against reading them, at least very much. Though\nin that writer\u2019s paraphrase on the Lord\u2019s prayer and other such\ntreatises of piety, we find very pious sentiments collected from\ngreat authors, and elegantly and concisely expressed, yet a devout\nreader finds the language of the heart wanting. On the other side, it\nis well known how much St. Ignatius read daily, and recommended to\nall others the incomparable book, Of the Imitation of Christ, which\nhe made frequent use of to nourish and increase the fervor of his\nsoul. He lodged at the house of one Agnes Pascal, a devout woman. Her\nson, John Pascal, a pious youth, would sometimes rise in the night\nto observe what Ignatius did in his chamber, and saw him sometimes\non his knees, sometimes prostrate on the ground, his countenance on\nfire, and often in tears, repeating such words as these: \u201cO God, my\nlove, and the delight of my soul, if men knew thee they could never\noffend thee! My God, how good art thou to bear with such a sinner as\nI am!\u201d\n\nThe saint, after studying two years at Barcelona, went to the\nuniversity of Alcala, which had been lately founded by cardinal\nXimenes, where he attended at the same time to lectures in logic,\nphysics, and divinity; by which multiplicity he only confounded\nhis ideas, and learned nothing at all, though he studied night\nand day. He lodged in a chamber of an hospital, lived by begging\na small subsistence, and wore a coarse grey habit, in which he\nwas imitated by four companions. He catechised children, held\nassemblies of devotion in the hospital, and by his mild reprehensions\nconverted many loose livers, and, among others, one of the richest\nprelates in Spain. Some accused him of sorcery, and of the heresy\nof certain visionaries lately condemned in Spain under the name of\nthe Illuminati, or Men of New Light: but, upon examination, he was\njustified by the inquisitors. After this, for teaching the catechism,\nbeing a man without learning or authority, he was accused to the\nbishop\u2019s grand vicar, who confined him to close prison two-and-forty\ndays, but declared him innocent of any fault by a public sentence on\nthe 1st day of June, 1527; yet forbidding him and his companions to\nwear any singular habit, or to give any instructions in religious\nmatters, being illiterate persons. Ignatius rejoiced in his jail that\nhe suffered, though innocent, but spoke with such piety that many\ncalled him another St. Paul in prison. Being enlarged, he went about\nthe streets with a public officer to beg money to buy a scholar\u2019s\ndress, in which action he rejoiced at the insults and affronts\nwhich he met with. However, he went himself to the archbishop of\nToledo, Alphonsus de Fonseca, who was much pleased with him, but\nadvised him to leave Alcala, and go to Salamanca, promising him his\nprotection. Ignatius, in this latter place, began to draw many to\nvirtue, and was followed by great numbers, which exposed him again to\nsuspicions of introducing dangerous practices, and the grand-vicar of\nSalamanca imprisoned him; but, after two-and-twenty days, declared\nhim innocent, and a person of sincere virtue. Ignatius looked upon\nprisons, sufferings, and ignominy, as the height of his ambition;\nand God was pleased to purge and sanctify his soul by these trials.\nRecovering his liberty again, he resolved to leave Spain.\n\nHe from that time began to wear shoes, and received money sent him by\nhis friends, but in the middle of winter travelled on foot to Paris,\nwhere he arrived in the beginning of February, 1528. He spent two\nyears in perfecting himself in the Latin tongue; then went through\na course of philosophy. He lived first in Montaigue college; but,\nbeing robbed of his money, was obliged to lodge in the hospital of\nSt. James, to beg his bread from day to day, and in the vacation time\nto go into Flanders, and once into England, to procure charities from\nthe Spanish merchants settled there, from whom and from some friends\nat Barcelona he received abundant supplies. He studied his philosophy\nthree years and a half in the college of St. Barbara. He had induced\nmany of his schoolfellows to spend the Sundays and holydays in\nprayer, and to apply themselves more fervently to the practice of\ngood works. Pegna, his master, thought he hindered their studies, and\nfinding him not corrected by his admonitions, prepossessed Govea,\nprincipal of the college of St. Barbara, against him, so that he was\nordered by him to undergo the greatest punishment then in use in that\nuniversity, called _The Hall_, which was a public whipping; that this\ninfamy might deter others from following him. The regents came all\ninto the hall with rods in their hands, ready to lash the seditious\nstudent. Ignatius offered himself joyfully to suffer all things;\nyet, apprehending lest the scandal of this disgrace should make\nthose whom he had reclaimed fall back, when they saw him condemned\nas a corrupter of youth, went to the principal in his chamber, and\nmodestly laid open to him the sentiments of his soul, and the reasons\nof his conduct; and offered himself as much as concerned his own\nperson, that any sacrifice should be made of his body and fame,\nbut begged of him to consider the scandal some might receive, who\nwere yet young and tender in virtue. Govea made him no answer, but\ntaking him by the hand led him into the hall, where, at the ringing\nof the bell, the whole college stood ready assembled. When all saw\nthe principal enter, and expected the sign for the punishment, he\nthrew himself at the feet of Ignatius, begging his pardon for having\ntoo lightly believed such false reports; then rising, he publicly\ndeclared that Ignatius was a living saint, and had no other aim or\ndesire than the salvation of souls, and was ready to suffer joyfully\nany infamous punishment. Such a reparation of honor gave the saint\nthe highest reputation, and even the ancient and experienced doctors\nasked his advice in spiritual matters. Pegna himself was ever after\nhis great admirer and friend, and appointed another scholar, who was\nmore advanced in his studies, and a young man of great virtue and\nquick parts, to assist him in his exercises. This was Peter Faber,\na Savoyard, a native of the diocess of Geneva, by whose help he\nfinished his philosophy, and took the degree of master of arts with\ngreat applause, after a course of three years and a half, according\nto the custom of the times. After this, Ignatius began his divinity\nat the Dominicans.\n\nPeter Faber had from his childhood made a vow of chastity, which\nhe had always most faithfully kept, yet was troubled with violent\ntemptations, from which the most rigorous fasts did not deliver him.\nHe was also tempted to vain-glory, and labored under great anxiety\nand scruples about these temptations, which he at length disclosed\nto Ignatius his holy pupil, whose skilful and heavenly advice was\na healing balsam to his soul. The saint at last prescribed him a\ncourse of his spiritual exercises, and taught him the practices\nof meditation, of the particular examination, and other means of\nperfection, conducting him through all the paths of an interior life.\nSt. Francis Xavier, a young master of philosophy, full of the vanity\nof the schools, was his next conquest. St. Ignatius made him sensible\nthat all mortal glory is emptiness; only that which is eternal\ndeserving our regard. He converted many abandoned sinners. When a\nyoung man, engaged in a criminal commerce with a woman of the city,\nwas proof against his exhortations, Ignatius stood in a frozen pond\nby the way side up to the neck, and as he passed by in the night,\ncried out to him, \u201cWhither are you going? Do not you hear the thunder\nof divine justice over your head, ready to break upon you? Go then;\nsatisfy your brutish passion; here I will suffer for you, to appease\nheaven.\u201d The lewd young man, at first affrighted, then confounded,\nreturned back, and changed his life. By the like pious stratagems the\nsaint recovered many other souls from the abysses into which they\nwere fallen. He often served the sick in the hospitals; and one day\nfinding a repugnance to touch the ulcers of one sick of a contagious\ndistemper, to overcome himself he not only dressed his sores, but put\nhis hand from them to his mouth, saying, \u201cSince thou art afraid for\none part, thy whole body shall take its share.\u201d From that time he\nfelt no natural repugnance in such actions.\n\nJames Laynez, of Almazan, twenty-one years of age; Alphonsus\nSalmeron, only eighteen; and Nicholas Alphonso, surnamed Bobadilla,\nfrom the place of his birth, near Valencia, all Spaniards of great\nparts, at that time students in divinity at Paris, associated\nthemselves to the saint in his pious exercises. Simon Rodriguez,\na Portuguese, joined them. These fervent students, moved by the\npressing instances and exhortations of Ignatius, made all together a\nvow to renounce the world, to go to preach the gospel in Palestine,\nor if they could not go thither within a year after they had finished\ntheir studies, to offer themselves to his holiness to be employed in\nthe service of God in what manner he should judge best. They fixed\nfor the end of all their studies the 25th day of January in 1537,\nand pronounced this vow aloud, in the holy subterraneous chapel at\nMontmartre, after they had all received the holy communion from\nPeter Faber, who had been lately ordained priest. This was done on\nthe feast of the Assumption of our Lady, in 1534. Ignatius continued\nfrequent conferences, and joint exercises, to animate his companions\nin their good purposes; but soon after was ordered by the physicians\nto try his native air, for the cure of a lingering indisposition. He\nleft Paris in the beginning of the year 1535, and was most honorably\nand joyfully received in Guipuscoa by his eldest brother Garcias,\nand his nephews, and by all the clergy in processions. He refused to\ngo to the castle of Loyola, taking up his quarters in the hospital\nof Azpetia. The sight of the places where he had led a worldly\nlife excited in him the deepest sentiments of compunction, and he\nchastised his body with a rough hair shirt, iron chains, disciplines,\nwatching and prayer. He recovered his health in a short time, and\ncatechised and instructed the poor with incredible fruit. Ignatius,\nin his childhood, had with some companions robbed an orchard, for\nwhich another man had been condemned to pay the damages. In the\nfirst discourse he made he accused himself publicly of this fact,\nand calling the poor man, who was present, declared that he had been\nfalsely accused, and for reparation gave him two farms which belonged\nto him, begging his pardon before all the people, adding that this\nwas one of the reasons of his journey thither.\n\nIn the meantime, three others, all doctors in divinity, by the\nexhortations of Faber, joined the saint\u2019s companions in Paris.\nClaudius le Jay, a Savoyard, John Codure, a native of Dauphin\u00e9, and\nPasquier Brouet, of Picardy; so that with Ignatius they were now ten\nin number. The holy founder, after a tedious and dangerous journey\nboth by sea and land, arrived at Venice about the end of the year\n1536, and his nine companions from Paris met him there on the 8th of\nJanuary, 1537; they employed themselves in the hospitals, but all\nexcept Ignatius went to Rome, where pope Paul III. received them\ngraciously, and granted them an indult, that those who were not\npriests might receive holy orders from what bishop they pleased. They\nwere accordingly ordained at Venice by the bishop of Arbe. Ignatius\nwas one of this number. After their ordination they retired into a\ncottage near Vicenza, to prepare themselves in solitude by fasting\nand prayer for the holy ministry of the altar. The rest said their\nfirst masses in September and October, but Ignatius deferred his from\nmonth to month till Christmas day, overflowing in his retirement with\nheavenly consolations, and in danger of losing his sight through the\nabundance of his tears. Thus he employed a whole year in preparing\nhimself to offer that adorable sacrifice. After this they dispersed\nthemselves into several places about Verona and Vicenza, preaching\npenance to the people, and living on a little bread which they\nbegged. The emperor and the Venetians having declared war against the\nTurks, their pilgrimage into Palestine was rendered impracticable.\nThe year therefore being elapsed, Ignatius, Faber, and Laynez\nwent to Rome, threw themselves at his Holiness\u2019s feet and offered\nthemselves to whatever work he should judge best to employ them in.\nSt. Ignatius told his companions at Vicenza, that if any one asked\nwhat their institute was, they might answer, \u201cthe Society of Jesus;\u201d\nbecause they were united to fight against heresies and vice under\nthe standard of Christ. In his road from Vicenza to Rome, praying in\na little chapel between Sienna and Rome, he, in an ecstasy, seemed\nto see the eternal Father, who affectionately commended him to his\nSon. Jesus Christ appeared at the same time also shining with an\nunspeakable light, but loaded with a heavy cross, and sweetly said\nto Ignatius,--\u201cI will be favorable to you at Rome.\u201d[350] This St.\nIgnatius disclosed to F. Laynez, in a transport when he came out of\nthe chapel; and F. Laynez, when he was general, related it to all the\nfathers in Rome in a domestic conference, at which F. Ribadeneira,\nwho records it, was present. The same was attested by others to\nwhom the saint had discovered this signal favor. Pope Paul III.\naccordingly received them graciously; and appointed Faber, called\nin French Le Fevre, to teach in the Sapienza at Rome scholastic\ndivinity, and Laynez to explain the holy scripture; whilst Ignatius\nlabored, by means of his spiritual exercises and instructions, to\nreform the manners of the people.\n\nThe holy founder, with a view to perpetuate the work of God,\ncalled to Rome all his companions, and proposed to them his design\nand motives of forming themselves into a religious Order. After\nrecommending the matter to God by fasting and prayer, all agreed in\nthe proposal, and resolved, first, besides the vows of poverty and\nchastity already made by them, to add a third of perpetual obedience,\nthe more perfectly to conform themselves to the Son of God who was\nobedient even to death; and to establish a general whom all, by\ntheir vow, should be bound to obey, who should be perpetual, and his\nauthority absolute, subject entirely to the pope, but not liable\nto be restrained by chapters. He likewise determined to prescribe\na fourth vow of going wherever the pope should send them for the\nsalvation of souls, and even without money, if it should so please\nhim; also that the professed Jesuits should possess no real estates\nor revenues, either in particular, or in common; but that colleges\nmight enjoy revenues and rents for the maintenance of students of\nthe Order. In the meanwhile Govea, principal of the college of St.\nBarbara at Paris, had recommended the Jesuits to the king of Portugal\nas proper missionaries for the conversion of the Indies, and that\nprince asked of Ignatius six laborers for that purpose. The founder\nhaving only ten, could send him no more than two, Simon Rodriguez,\nwho remained in Portugal, and Xavier, afterward the apostle of the\nIndies. The three cardinals appointed by the pope to examine the\naffair of this new Order, at first opposed it, thinking religious\nOrders already too much multiplied, but changed their opinions on\na sudden, and pope Paul III. approved it under the title of \u201cThe\nSociety of Jesus,\u201d by a bull, dated the 27th of September, 1540.\nIgnatius was chosen the first general, but only acquiesced in\nobedience to his confessor. He entered upon his office on Easter-day,\n1541, and the members all made their religious vows, according to the\nbull of their institution.\n\nIgnatius then set himself to write constitutions or rules for his\nSociety, in which he lays down its end to be, in the first place,\nthe sanctification of their own souls by joining together the active\nand the contemplative life; for nothing so much qualifies a minister\nof God to save others as the sanctification of his own soul in the\nfirst place; secondly, to labor for the salvation and perfection of\ntheir neighbor, and this, first, by catechising the ignorant (which\nwork is the basis and ground of religion and virtue, and though\nmean and humble, is the most necessary and indispensable duty of\nevery pastor), secondly, by the instruction of youth[351] in piety\nand learning (upon which the reformation of the world principally\ndepends); and thirdly, by the direction of consciences, missions, and\nthe like.[352]\n\nSt. Ignatius would have the office of general to be perpetual or\nfor life, being persuaded this would better command the respect of\ninferiors, and more easily enable him to undertake and carry on\ngreat enterprises for the glory of God, which require a considerable\ntime to have them well executed. Nevertheless, he often strenuously\nendeavored to resign that dignity, but was never able to compass\nit; and at length the pope forbade him any more to attempt it. He\nhad no sooner taken that charge upon him than he went into the\nkitchen, and served as a scullion under the cook, and he continued\nfor forty-six days to catechise poor children in the church of the\nSociety. By preaching he gained such an ascendant over the hearts of\nthe people as produced many wonderful conversions. Among the pious\nestablishments which he made at Rome, he founded a house for the\nreception of Jews who should be converted, during the time of their\ninstruction, and another for the reception and maintenance of lewd\nwomen who should be desirous to enter upon virtuous courses, yet were\nnot called to a religious state among the Magdalens or penitents.\nWhen one told him that the conversion of such sinners is seldom\nsincere, he answered: \u201cTo prevent only one sin would be a great\nhappiness, though it cost me ever so great pains.\u201d He procured two\nhouses to be erected at Rome for the relief of poor orphans of both\nsexes, and another for the maintenance of young women whose poverty\nmight expose their virtue to danger. The heart of this blessed man so\nburned with charity, that he was continually thinking and speaking\nof what might most contribute to promote the divine honor and the\nsanctification of souls; and he did wonders by the zealous fathers\nof his Society in all parts of the globe. He was entreated by many\nprinces and cities of Italy, Spain, Germany, and the Low-Countries\nto afford them some of his laborers. Under the auspicious protection\nof John III. king of Portugal, he sent St. Francis Xavier into the\nEast-Indies, where he gained a new world to the faith of Christ. He\nsent John Nugnez and Lewis Gonzales into the kingdoms of Fez and\nMorocco to instruct and assist the Christian slaves; in 1547, four\nothers to Congo in Africa; in 1555, thirteen into Abyssinia, among\nwhom John Nugnez was nominated by pope Julius III. patriarch of\nEthiopia, and two others, bishops; lastly, others into the Portuguese\nsettlements in South America.\n\nPope Paul III. commissioned the fathers James Laynez and Alphonsus\nSalmeron to assist, in quality of his theologians, at the council\nof Trent. Before their departure, St. Ignatius, among other\ninstructions, gave them a charge in all disputations to be careful\nabove all things, to preserve modesty and humility, and to shun\nall confidence, contentiousness, or empty display of learning.\nF. Claudius Le Jay appeared in the same council as theologian of\ncardinal Otho, bishop of Ausberg. Many of the first disciples of\nSt. Ignatius distinguished themselves in divers kingdoms of Europe,\nbut none with greater reputation, both for learning and piety, than\nPeter Canisius, who was a native of Nimeguen, in the Low Countries,\nand having with wonderful success employed his zealous labors at\nIngolstadt and in several other parts of Germany, and in Bohemia,\ndied in the odor of sanctity, at Fribourg, in 1597, seventy-seven\nyears old.[353] Whilst F. Claudius Le Jay was at Trent, Ferdinand,\nking of the Romans, nominated him bishop of Trieste. The good father\nseemed ready to die of grief at this news, and wrote to St. Ignatius,\nhumbly requesting him to put some bar to this promotion. The holy\nfounder was himself alarmed, and by a pressing letter to the king,\nprevailed upon him not to do what would be an irreparable prejudice\nto his young Society. He urged to the pope and sacred college many\nreasons why he desired that all the fathers of his Society should be\nexcluded from all ecclesiastical dignities, alleging that this would\nbe a means more easily to preserve among them a spirit of humility\nand poverty, which is the very soul and perfection of their state;\nand that, being missionaries, it was more advantageous to the Church\nthat they should remain such, always ready to fly from pole to pole,\nas the public necessities should require. The pope being satisfied\nwith his reasons, the saint obliged all professed Jesuits to bind\nthemselves by a simple vow never to seek prelatures, and to refuse\nthem when offered, unless compelled by a precept of the pope to\naccept them.\n\nIn 1546 the Jesuits first opened their schools in Europe, in the\ncollege which St. Francis Borgia had erected for them at Gandia, with\nthe privileges of an university.[354] The seminary of Goa in Asia,\nwhich had been erected some years before for the Indian missions,\nwas committed to the Jesuits, under the direction of St. Francis\nXavier, the preceding year. King John also founded for them, in 1546,\na noble college at Co\u00efmbra, the second which they had in Europe.\nF. Simon Rodriguez directed this establishment, and many others\nin Portugal, Spain, and Brazil, and died at Lisbon in the highest\nreputation for sanctity and learning in 1579. Among the rules which\nSt. Ignatius gave to the masters, he principally inculcated the\nlessons of humility, modesty, and devotion; he prescribed that all\ntheir scholars should hear mass every day, go to confession every\nmonth, and always begin their studies by prayer; that their masters\nshould take every fit occasion to inspire them with the love of\nheavenly things; and that by daily meditation, self-examinations,\npious reading, retreat, and the constant exercise of the divine\npresence, they should nourish in their own souls a fervent spirit of\nprayer, which without the utmost care is extinguished by a dry course\nof studies and school disputations; and with it is destroyed the very\nsoul of a religious or spiritual life. He recommended nothing more\nearnestly, both to professors and scholars, than that they should\ndedicate all their labors, with the greatest fervor, to the greater\nglory of God, which intention will make studies equal to prayer. He\ntreated very harshly all those whom learning rendered self-conceited\nor less devout; and removed all those masters who discovered any\nfondness for singular opinions. It is incredible with what attention\nand industry he promoted emulation and every means that could be a\nspur to scholars. He required that copies of some of the principal\nliterary performances should be sent from all the colleges to Rome,\nwhere he had them examined before him, that he might better judge of\nthe progress both of masters and scholars.\n\nHe encouraged every branch of the sciences, and would have the\nfathers in his Society applied to those functions, whether in\nteaching, preaching, or the missions, for which God seemed chiefly\nto qualify and destine them by their genius, talents, and particular\ngraces; yet so that no one should neglect the duties either of\nassiduous prayer and an interior life, or of instructing and\ncatechising others. He recommended to them all, especially to the\nmasters of novices, &c., to read diligently the conferences, lives,\nand writings of the fathers of the desert, and other pious ascetics,\nin order to learn their spirit. With what success many among them did\nthis, appears from the Practice of Christian Perfection, compiled\nby F. Alphonsus Rodrigues, one of the most eminent persons whom\nour saint had admitted into his Society. In this excellent work he\ngathered and digested, in a clear and easy method, the most admirable\nmaxims and lessons of the ancient monks; and having many years\ntrained up, according to them, the novices of his Order in Spain,\ndied holily in the year 1616, the ninetieth of his age.[355] We\nhave other eminent instances of this holy spirit and science among\nthe primitive disciples of St. Ignatius, in the works of F. Lewis\nde Ponte or Puente, who died in 1624, and whose canonization has\nbeen often desired by the kings of Spain; in those of F. Alvarez de\nPaz, who died in Peru in 1620; and in the writings and life of F.\nBaltassar Alvarez, who died in Spain in 1580, in the odor of sanctity.\n\nSt. Francis Borgia, in 1551, gave a considerable sum towards building\nthe Roman college for the Jesuits. Pope Julius III. contributed\nlargely to it; Paul IV., in 1555, founded it for perpetuity with\ngreat munificence; afterward Gregory XIII. much augmented its\nbuildings and revenues. St. Ignatius, intending to make this the\nmodel of all his other colleges, neglected nothing to render it\ncomplete, and took care that it should be supplied with the ablest\nmasters in all the sciences, and with all possible helps for the\nadvancement of literature. He made it a strict rule in the Society,\nthat every one should study to speak correctly the language of the\ncountry where he lives;[356] for, without being perfect in the\nvulgar tongue, no one can be qualified to preach or perform many\nother functions with profit. On this account he established in the\nRoman college daily lessons in the Italian tongue, and he carefully\nstudied that language, and appointed others to put him in mind of\nall the faults which he should commit in speaking. St. Ignatius also\ndirected the foundation of the German college in Rome made by Julius\nIII. but afterwards finished by Gregory XIII. He often met with\nviolent persecutions, but overcame them by meekness and patience.\nWhen the French king Henry II. gave the Society letters patent to\nsettle in France, the parliament of Paris made the most outrageous\nremonstrances, and the faculty of Sorbon, though not without\nopposition, passed a virulent decree against it. The other fathers at\nRome thought it necessary to answer these censures; but St. Ignatius\nwould have nothing printed or written in their defence, saying, that\nit was better to commit their cause to God, and that the slanders\nraised against them would fall of themselves; and so it happened.\nIndeed the storm was too violent to last. Upon other occasions the\nsaint modestly defended his institute against slanderers.\n\nThe prudence and charity of the saint in his conduct towards his\nreligious, won him all their hearts. His commands seemed rather\nentreaties. The address with which he accommodated himself to every\none\u2019s particular genius, and the mildness with which he tempered his\nreproofs, gave to his reprehensions a sweetness which gained the\naffections whilst it corrected a fault. Thus chiding one for his\ntoo little guard over his eyes, he said to him, with tenderness: \u201cI\nhave often admired the modesty of your deportment, yet observe that\nunguarded glances often escape you.\u201d When another had fixed his eye\nsteadfastly upon him a long time, the saint enjoined him to make the\ngovernment of his eye the subject of his particular examination, and\nto say every day a short prayer for fifteen months. He extremely\nrecommended a strict modesty in the whole exterior as the index of\nthe interior, and a means absolutely necessary for the regulating of\nit, and the government of the senses and passions. He always showed\nthe affection of the most tender parent towards all his brethren,\nespecially towards the sick, for whom he was solicitous to procure\nevery spiritual and even temporal succor and comfort, which it was\nhis great delight to give them himself. The most perfect obedience\nand self-denial were the two first lessons which he inculcated to\nhis novices, whom he told at the door as they entered, that they\nmust leave behind them all self-will and private judgment. In his\nfamous letter to the Portuguese Jesuits, On the Virtue of Obedience,\nhe says, this alone bringeth forth and nourisheth all other virtues;\nand calls it the peculiar virtue, and distinguishing mark and\ncharacteristic of his Society, in which, if any member suffer himself\nto be outdone by those of other Orders in fasting or watching, that\nhe must yield to none in obedience. He adds, true obedience must\nreach the understanding as well as the will, and never suffer a\nperson even secretly to complain of, or censure the precept of a\nsuperior, whom he must always consider as vested with the authority\nof Jesus Christ over him. He says, it is not a less fault to break\nthe laws of obedience in watching than in sleeping, in laboring than\nin doing nothing.\n\nWhen F. Araos, whose spiritual labors were very successful in the\ncourt of Spain, seemed to seek the conversation of the great ones\nof the world, upon pretence of conciliating their favor to his\nministry, St. Ignatius sent him a sharp reprimand, telling him that\nthe necessary authority for the ministers of the word of God, is to\nbe gained only by a spirit of recollection, and the exercises of\nChristian humility; for the loss of everything is to be feared in an\nintercourse with the great ones of the world. He used to say, that\nprosperity caused in him more fear than joy, that when persecution\nceased he should be in apprehension lest the Society should somewhat\nrelax in the observance of its regular discipline; that good fortune\nis never to be trusted, and that we have most to fear when things\ngo according to our desires. He made a most severe regulation, that\nin the Society no one should ever visit women, even of the highest\nquality, alone; and that when they discoursed with them, or heard\ntheir confessions, this should be so ordered, that the companion\nmight see all that passed, without hearing what ought to be secret,\nthis being a means to prevent the possibility of evil suspicions or\nslanders. In the assigning the employments of those under his charge,\nhe had usually a regard to their inclinations, though he always\nrequired that, on their parts, they should be wholly indifferent and\ndisposed cheerfully to accept and discharge any.\n\nNotwithstanding the fatigue and constant application which the\nestablishment of his Order in all parts of the world, and so many\nother great enterprises undertaken to promote the glory of God,\nrequired, he was all on fire with an excess of charity, and a\nrestless desire of gaining souls to God, and wearied himself out in\nthe service of his neighbor, always laboring to extirpate vice, and\nto promote virtue in all, and set on foot several practices which\nmight conduce to the divine service and the salvation of men. It is\nnot to be believed how many and how great affairs this blessed man\nwas able to go through, and with what courage and spirit he bore so\ncontinual a burden, and this with so weak health and infirm body. But\nhe was assisted by the powerful hand of our Lord, that furnished him\nwith strength for all his labors; so that he then appeared strongest\nand most courageous, when he was weary, sickly, and unprovided of\nhuman and natural helps; for, in his infirmity, the power of God\nmanifested itself, and the saint seemed to support the weakness\nof his body with the vigor of his soul. This interior strength he\nchiefly maintained by an eminent spirit of prayer, and the constant\nand closest union of his soul with God. For he was favored with an\nextraordinary grace of devotion, which he, out of humility, thought\nGod had given him out of compassion for his weakness and misery,\nwhich he said was greater than that of any other. In saying the holy\nmass, and reciting the divine office, the abundance of heavenly\ndelights which God poured into his soul, was often so great, and\nmade such showers of tears stream from his eyes, that he was obliged\nto stop in a manner at every word, sometimes to make a considerable\ninterruption whilst he gave vent to his tears. It was once feared,\nlest his continual effusion of tears should hurt his eye-sight.\nAt other times, though his eyes were dry at his devotion, and the\nsluices of his tears were shut up, yet their influence and effect was\nnot wanting; for his spirit was still watered with heavenly dew, and\nthe divine illustrations ceased not to flow copiously into his soul.\n\nIn matters of concern, though reasons were ever so convincing and\nevident, he never took any resolution before he had consulted God\nby prayer. He let not an hour pass in the day without recollecting\nhimself interiorly, and examining his conscience, for this purpose\nbanishing for a while all other thoughts. He never applied his mind\nso much to exterior affairs as to lose the sweet relish of interior\ndevotion. He had God always and in all things present to his mind.\nEvery object served him for a book, wherein he read the divine\nperfections, and by that means raised his heart to his Creator.\nHe recommended this manner of prayer to every one, especially to\nthose who are employed in spiritual functions for the help of their\nneighbor. Before he betook himself to public or private prayer, he\nprepared his soul with great fervor, and entering into the oratory\nof his heart, enkindled his affections, so that this appeared in\nhis countenance, and he seemed to be all on fire, as we ourselves\nfrequently observed, says Ribadeneira. The saint being once asked by\nF. Lainez what manner of prayer he used, gave this answer, that in\nmatters concerning Almighty God he behaved himself rather passively\nthan actively. He prayed sometimes standing, and profoundly adored\nthe majesty of God present to his soul; he often bowed his body low,\nand most frequently prayed on his knees. No sooner had he recollected\nhis mind in God, but his countenance put on an air which appeared\naltogether heavenly, and often streams of tears fell sweetly from his\neyes.\n\nHe prescribed to the priests of his Order to be about half an\nhour at the altar in saying mass, to avoid on one side the least\nappearance of indecent hurry and precipitation in that tremendous\nsacrifice; and, on the other, not to be tedious to the people by\nunseasonably indulging their private devotion. Nevertheless, he was\nhimself about an hour in saying mass, to excuse which he alleged the\nplea of necessity, being often obliged to make pauses through an\nirresistible tenderness of devotion. After mass he spent two hours\nin private prayer, during which time no one was admitted to speak to\nhim except on some pressing necessity. F. Louis Gonzales, who for\nsome time governed the college under him, says, \u201cAs often as I went\nto him at that time, which necessity frequently obliged me to do,\nI always saw his face shining with an air so bright and heavenly,\nthat, quite forgetting myself, I stood astonished in contemplating\nhim. Nor was his countenance like that of many devout men in whom I\nhave admired a wonderful serenity at their prayers, but it breathed\nsomething quite unusual, and, as it were, divine.\u201d On other occasions\nthe like was remarked in him; on which account F. Lainez compared\nhim to Moses when he came from conversing with God. Nicholas Lanoy\ntestified, that he one day saw a fire flame on his head whilst he was\nsaying mass. Saint Philip Neri, who often visited St. Ignatius, used\nto assure his friends that he had seen his face shining with bright\nrays of light. As F. Antony Galloni, his disciple and confidant in\nall his concerns, and Marcellus Vitelleschi declared they had often\nheard from his own mouth; of which cardinal Taurusius, archbishop\nof Sienna, published an authentic certificate.[357] John Petronius,\na famous physician in Rome, declared publicly that, when sick, he\nonce saw his own chamber, which was then very dark, by reason of\nthe windows being shut, filled with a dazzling light from such rays\nupon the blessed man\u2019s coming into it. Isabel Rosella, John Pascal,\nand several other persons testified, that they had sometimes beheld\nhis countenance at prayer sparkling with radiant beams of light, the\nabundant consolations which replenished his soul redounding on his\nbody. John Pascal added, that he had seen him in prayer raised more\nthan a foot above the ground, and heard him say at the same time,\n\u201cO my God! O my Lord! O that men knew thee!\u201d The saint was often\nfavored, amid the tears and fervor of his devotion, with wonderful\nraptures, visions, and revelations; and some of these visions and\nother supernatural favors St. Ignatius mentioned himself in short\nnotes which he wrote, and which were found in his own hand after his\ndeath, some of which notes are published by F. Bartoli.[358] Others\nare mentioned by Ribadeneira, who inserted in the saint\u2019s life, as he\ndeclares, only what himself had seen, or had heard from his mouth, or\nfrom persons of unquestionable authority, and whose life of his holy\nfounder, by the order of Saint Francis Borgia, was carefully examined\nand approved by the principal persons then living who had frequently\nconversed with the saint, as Salmeron, Bobadilla, Polancus, who had\nbeen the saint\u2019s secretary, Natalis, &c.\n\nIf the spirit of prayer was that virtue by which our saint was\nadmitted to the familiar intercourse with God, was the key which\nunlocked to him the treasure of all other virtues and graces, and\nwas the continual comfort, support, and light of his soul, and\nthe constant advancement of its supernatural life in his mortal\npilgrimage, this spirit was itself founded in the most perfect\nself-denial. The Holy Ghost never communicates himself, by the\ninfusion of this grace, but to a heart that is entirely dead to\nitself and its passions, and crucified to the world. This St.\nIgnatius understood so well, that hearing another once say, that\na certain person was endowed with a great gift of contemplation,\nand was eminently a man of prayer, he corrected the expression,\nsaying, \u201ccall him rather a man of the most perfect self-denial;\u201d\nbecause the spirit of grace and prayer requires a perfect purity and\ndisengagement from all inordinate affections, and a heart empty of\nitself. This victory over himself the saint obtained by an habitual\npractice of the exterior mortification of his senses; and by that\nperfect patience, resignation, and confidence in God, and constancy\nwith which he bore the most severe interior and exterior trials.\nTo complete the most essential interior mortification of his will\nand passions, he added the practice of an unlimited obedience to\nhis directors and superiors, and of the most profound and sincere\nhumility. Even when broken with age and infirmities, he said, that\nshould his Holiness command it, he would with joy go on board the\nfirst ship he could find; and if he were so ordered, though it had\nneither sails nor rudder, and without any warning, would immediately\nset out for any part of the globe. It was his perpetual lesson to his\nnovices,--\u201cSacrifice your will and judgment by obedience. Whatever\nyou do without the consent of your spiritual guide will be imputed to\nwilfulness, not to virtue, though you were to exhaust your bodies by\nlabors or austerities.\u201d\n\nHumility is the sister virtue of obedience, the foundation of a\nspiritual life, and the distinguishing mark or characteristic of all\nthe saints. This virtue St. Ignatius embraced with the utmost ardor,\nfrom his first entering upon a spiritual course of life. He went a\nlong time in old tattered rags, and lived in hospitals, despised,\naffronted, and persecuted; this he desired, and in it he found his\ngreat joy and satisfaction. He ever retained this affection for\nhumiliations, out of a sincere contempt of himself; for acknowledging\nhimself a sinner, he was thoroughly persuaded that contempt and\ninjuries from all creatures, as instruments of the divine justice,\nwere his due, and that he was most unworthy of all comforts, favor,\nor regard. Nothing but charity and zeal to procure his neighbor\u2019s\ngood restrained him from doing ridiculous things on purpose to be\nlaughed at by all; and he always practised such humiliations as\nwere consistent with prudence and his other duties. All his actions\nand whatever belonged to him, breathed an air of sincere humility.\nHis apparel was poor, though clean; his bed was very mean, and his\ndiet coarse, and so temperate, that it was a perpetual abstinence.\nHe employed himself often most cheerfully in the meanest offices\nabout the house, as in making beds, and in cleansing the chambers\nof the sick. It was his great study to conceal his virtues, and\nnothing was more admirable in his life than the address with which he\ncovered his most heroic actions under the veil of humility. Though\nhe was superior, he frequently submitted to inferiors with wonderful\nmeekness and humility, when he could do it without prejudice to\nhis authority. In things of which he was not certain, he readily\nacquiesced in the judgment of others; and was a great enemy to\nall positiveness, and to the use of superlatives in discourse. He\nreceived rebukes from any one with cheerfulness and thanks. If in\nhis presence anything was said that redounded to his praise, he\nshowed an extreme confusion, which was usually accompanied with many\ntears. He was seldom heard to speak of himself, and never but on\nvery pressing occasions. Though visions, revelations, and the like\nfavors were frequently vouchsafed him, he scarce ever mentioned such\nthings; but all his discourse was of humility, charity, patience,\ndivine zeal, prayer, mortification, and other such virtues, of which\nwe are to make the greatest account, and by which alone men become\nsaints and friends of God. Ribadeneira heard him say, that every one\nin the house was to him an example of virtue, and that he was not\nscandalized at any one besides himself. It was his usual saying,\nthat he did not think there was a man in the world, that on one side\nreceived from God so great and continual favors, and yet on the other\nside was so ungrateful, and so slothful in his service as himself.\nIt was his desire that, after his death, his body might be thrown\nupon some dunghill, in punishment of the sins he had committed by\npampering it. The chief reasons why he would have his Order called\nThe Society of Jesus, were lest his name should be given it, and\nthat his followers might be known by their love and zeal for their\nRedeemer. As often as he spoke of his Order, he called it, This least\nSociety; for he would have his children to look upon themselves as\nthe last and least of all persons in the Church.\n\nFrom the perfect mortification of all his passions and inordinate\naffections resulted an admirable peace and evenness of mind which\nnothing seemed able ever to disturb or ruffle. His contempt of the\nworld appeared by the disinterestedness with which he rejected\nlegacies and presents whenever they might give occasion to\ncomplaints. When he looked up towards the heavens, he used feelingly\nto repeat, \u201cHow contemptible doth earth appear when I behold the\nheavens!\u201d Charity, or the most ardent and pure love of God, was\nthe most conspicuous, and the crown of all his other virtues. He\nhad often in his mouth these words, which he took for his motto or\ndevice, \u201cTo the greater glory of God,\u201d referring to this end, with\nall his strength, himself, his Society, and all his actions, in which\nhe always chose that which appeared to him the most perfect. He often\nsaid to God, \u201cLord, what do I desire, or what can I desire besides\nthee?\u201d True love is never idle; and always to labor, to promote God\u2019s\nhonor, or to suffer for his sake, was this saint\u2019s greatest pleasure.\nHe said, that no created thing can bring to a soul such solid joy\nand comfort as to suffer for Christ. Being asked what was the most\ncertain and the shortest way to perfection, he answered, \u201cTo endure\nfor the love of Christ many and grievous afflictions. Ask this grace\nof our Lord: on whomsoever he bestoweth it, he does him many other\nsignal favors, that always attend this grace.\u201d Out of this burning\nlove of God, he most ardently desired the separation of his soul\nfrom his mortal body, when it should be God\u2019s will; and, when he\nthought of death, he could not refrain from tears of joy, because he\nshould then see his loving Redeemer; and, beholding God face to face,\nshould love and praise him eternally, without let, abatement, or\nintermission.\n\nFrom this same love of God sprang his ardent thirst for the salvation\nof men, for which he undertook so many and so great things, and to\nwhich he devoted his watchings, prayers, tears, and labors. When he\ndismissed any missionaries to preach the word of God, he usually\nsaid to them, \u201cGo, brethren, inflame the world, spread about that\nfire which Jesus Christ came to kindle on earth.\u201d To gain others to\nChrist he, with admirable address, made himself all to all, going in\nat _their_ door, and coming out at _his own_. He received sincere\npenitents with the greatest sweetness and condescension, so as often\nto take upon himself part of their penance. When a brother, growing\nweary of the yoke of Christ, had determined to leave the Society,\nSt. Ignatius by his remonstrances made such an impression upon\nhis heart, that falling at the feet of the general, he offered to\nundergo whatever punishment he would impose upon him. To which the\nsaint replied, \u201cOne part of your penance shall be, that you never\nrepent more of having served God. For the other part, I take it\nupon myself, and will discharge it for you.\u201d He endeavored to bring\nall his penitents to make, without reserve, the perfect sacrifice\nof themselves to God, telling them, that it is not to be expressed\nwhat precious treasures God reserves for, and with what effusion\nhe communicates himself to, those who give themselves to him with\ntheir whole heart. He proposed to them for their model this prayer,\nwhich he used often to recite,--\u201cReceive, O Lord, all my liberty, my\nmemory, my understanding, and my whole will. You have given me all\nthat I have, all that I possess, and I surrender all to your divine\nwill, that you dispose of me. Give me only your love, and your grace.\nWith this I am rich enough, and I have no more to ask.\u201d\n\nSt. Ignatius was general of the Society fifteen years, three months,\nand nine days; but was in the end so worn out with infirmities, that\nhe procured that the Society should choose him an assistant in that\noffice. This was F. Jerom Nadal. After which, the saint reserved to\nhimself only the care of the sick, and spent his time in continual\nprayer, and in preparing himself for death. By way of his last\nwill and testament, he dictated certain holy maxims concerning the\nobligation and conditions of religious obedience, which he bequeathed\nto his brethren of the Society. The saint, on the day before he\ndied, charged F. Polancus to beg his Holiness\u2019s blessing for him at\nthe article of death, though others at that time did not think it\nso near. The next morning having lifted up his eyes and hands to\nheaven, and pronouncing, both with his tongue and heart, the sweet\nname of Jesus with a serene countenance, he calmly gave up his happy\nsoul into the hands of his Creator on the last day of July, in the\nyear 1556, the sixty-fifth of his age, the thirty-fifth after his\nconversion, and the sixteenth after his confirmation of the Society.\nThe people esteemed him a saint both living and after his death; and\nthe opinion of his sanctity was confirmed by many miracles.[359] He\nsaw his Society in very few years divided into twelve provinces,\nwith above one hundred colleges, and spread over almost the whole\nworld. In 1626, it contained thirty-six provinces, and in them eight\nhundred houses, and fifteen thousand Jesuits, since which time it is\nmuch increased. St. Ignatius\u2019s body was buried first in the little\nchurch of the Jesuits, dedicated in honor of the blessed Virgin in\nRome. When cardinal Alexander Farnesius had built the stately church\nof the professed house called Il Giesu, it was translated thither\nin 1587; and, in 1637, was laid under the altar of the chapel,\nwhich bears his name. This church is one of the most magnificent\npiles of building in the world next to the Vatican, and is not less\nadmired for the elegance of the architecture than for its riches,\nconsisting in costly beautiful ornaments of gold, silver, jewels,\nexquisite paintings, statues, and carving, and a great profusion\nof fine marble. Among the many chapels which it contains, those of\nthe Blessed Virgin, of the Angels, of SS. Abundius and Abundantius,\nmartyrs, of St. Francis Borgia, and of St. Ignatius, are the\nadmiration of travellers, especially the last; in which the remains\nof the holy founder lie, in a rich silver shrine under the altar,\nexposed to view. The other glittering rich ornaments of this place\nseem almost to lose their lustre when the statue of the saint is\nuncovered. It is somewhat bigger than the life, because raised high.\nIts bright shining gold, silver, and sparkling diamonds, especially\nin the crown of glory over the head, dazzle the eye. In the professed\nhouse are shown the pictures of St. Ignatius and St. Philip Neri,\ntaken from the life. St. Ignatius\u2019s chamber is now a chapel, his\nstudy is another, in which prelates, and sometimes popes, come to\nsay mass on the saint\u2019s festival. He was beatified by Paul V. in\n1609, and canonized by Gregory XV. in 1622, though the bull was only\npublished the year following by Urban VIII.\n\nThe example of the saints evinces that to disengage our affections\nfrom earthly things, and to converse much in heaven by the constant\nunion of our hearts to God, is the short road to Christian\nperfection. Those who are employed in the active life, ought to learn\nthe art of accompanying all their actions with a lively attention\nto the divine presence, as our guardian angels are faithful in\ndischarging every duty of that external ministry which God hath\ncommitted to them, yet so as never to intermit their contemplation\nof the Godhead, and their incessant homages of praise and love,\nwhich are the uninterrupted employment of their happy state. Without\nthis precaution, by the hurry of dry studies, and even the discharge\nof the sacred ministry itself, the spirit of piety and devotion is\nextinguished in the heart, and the more sacred functions are easily\nprofaned.\n\n\n ST. JOHN COLUMBINI, C.\n\n FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF THE JESUATI.\n\nHe was descended of one of the most ancient and noble families of\nSienna; and being chosen first magistrate of that commonwealth,\nacquitted himself of all the duties of that charge with integrity\nand honor, and to the great satisfaction of his countrymen; but he\nwas passionate, and his heart was strongly wedded to the world,\nand buried under the weight and hurry of its business, vanity, and\nambition, so that he scarce seemed able to find leisure to breathe,\nor to think of eternity. One day, after being taken up the whole\nmorning in deciding causes in his court, he came home, much fatigued,\nand not finding dinner ready, flew into a violent passion. His wife\nput a book of the Saints\u2019 Lives into his hands; but he threw it on\nthe ground. The next moment, being ashamed of his passion, he took it\nup again, and sitting down to read, fell on the life of St. Mary of\nEgypt. He read it with so much pleasure that he thought no more of\nhis dinner; and insensibly found his heart pierced with compunction\nand remorse for his past sins and unthinking conduct, and entirely\nweaned from the world.\n\nFrom that moment he resolved to begin a new life; and, to expiate\nhis offences, he embraced the most austere practices of penance.\nResigning his public employs, he consecrated the greatest part of his\nestates to alms-deeds; and being sensible that the first sacrifice\nwhich God requires of a sinner is that of a contrite and humble\nheart, without which no other can be acceptable to him, he spent\nhis time chiefly in prayers and tears. He sold his rich clothes\nand furniture, giving the money to the poor, that they might be\nintercessors in his behalf at the throne of mercy; he lay on two\nboards, watching great part of the night in prayer, and his house\nseemed converted into a hospital, so great was the number of the poor\nand sick that he caused to be brought thither, and attended. The\nwhole country was astonished at so great a change, and so exemplary\na penance. Francis Vincent joined him in this manner of life. They\nboth ran the same course, and with equal paces. One day seeing a\nleper lying at the door of the great church, covered with blotches\nand ulcers, the saint carried him on his back through the public\nmarket-place; attending him both as his servant and physician,\ntenderly kissing his running sores one after another, till he had\nperfectly overcome the abhorrence which nature inspires in such\nactions, and continued his care of this patient till he was perfectly\ncured.\n\nSt. John had one son and one daughter. The former God called to\nhimself by death, and the latter consecrated herself to his divine\nservice in a nunnery. St. John had before this, with his wife\u2019s\nconsent, made a vow of chastity; and after their children were\nthus disposed of, he sold his estate, and gave one-third of it to\na hospital, and the other two-thirds to different churches and the\npoor. Having thus reduced himself to a state of poverty like that of\nthe apostles, he gave himself up to serve the poor in the hospitals,\nand to the exercises of devotion and the most rigorous penance.\nSeveral others, moved by his example, became his faithful imitators\nand companions. They were solicitous to exhort the sick and poor to\nthe sincere dispositions of repentance, and to fervor in the divine\nservice; and the charity and disinterestedness with which they\nministered to them corporal relief and comfort, gave great force to\ntheir zealous instructions. Out of their ardent love of our Redeemer,\nwhom they considered and served in his afflicted members, they had\nhis holy name so often, and with so great devotion and respect in\ntheir mouths, that the people gave them the name of Jesuats. That\nadorable name is repeated fifteen hundred times in the few letters\nwhich St. John wrote. The number of his disciples being increased to\nabout seventy, he formed them into a religious Order, under the rule\nof St. Austin, and took St. Jerom for their patron.[360] He addressed\nhimself to pope Urban V. at Viterbo, who approved and confirmed his\ninstitute in 1367, and granted to it most ample privileges. Such was\nthe fervor of the first disciples of our saint, that almost all their\nnames have been placed among the blessed. The holy founder fell sick\nsoon after the approbation of his Order; and, having received the\nlast sacraments, commending his soul into the hands of his Creator\nthrough the death of Christ, and in union with his recommendation of\nhis divine soul to his Father on the cross, he happily expired on the\n31st of July, in the year 1367, the twelfth after his conversion,\nonly thirty-seven days after his Order had been confirmed by Pope\nUrban V. See F. Cuper, the Bollandist, Julij, t. 7, p. 333, and\nHelyot, Hist. des Ord. Rel. t. 3, p. 410.\n\n\n SAINT HELEN OF SKOFDE IN SWEDEN, M.\n\nShe was a lady of quality in Westrogothia, whom Saint Sigfrid,\napostle of that province in Sweden, who died in 1045, converted to\nthe faith. She made a pilgrimage to Rome, and upon her return was\nmartyred by her own relations about the year 1160, at her own estate\nof Skofde or Sc\u0153ude, in Westrogothia in Sweden. She was honored on\nthe 31st of July, with extraordinary devotion in that country, and in\nthe isle of Seland in Denmark, especially in the church which bears\nher name, where her body was kept in a rich shrine, eight miles from\nCopenhagen, near the sea, in which place there is a famous miraculous\nwell still resorted to by the Lutherans, and called to this day St.\nLene Kild, or St. Helen\u2019s well. She was canonized by Alexander III.\nin 1164, and her feast fixed on the 31st of July. See the Bollandists\nad 31 Julii.\n\n\n\n\n FOOTNOTES\n\n [1] The place of St. Rumold\u2019s death is contested. According\n to certain Belgic and other Martyrologies, he was\n of the blood royal of Scotland (as Ireland was then\n called) and bishop of Dublin. This opinion is ably\n supported by F. Hu. Ward, an Irish Franciscan, a man\n well skilled in the antiquities of his country, in a\n work entitled Dissertatio Historica de Vita et Patria\n S. Rumoldi, Archiepiscopi Dubliniensis, published at\n Louvain in 1662, in 4to. The learned pope Benedict XIV.\n seems to adjudge St. Rumold to Ireland, in his letter\n to the prelates of that kingdom dated the 1st of\n August, 1741, wherein are the following words: \u201cQuod\n si recensere voluerimus sanctissimos viros Columbanum,\n Kilianum, Virgilium, Rumoldum, Gallum, aliosque plures\n qui ex Hibernia in alias provincias catholicam fidem\n invexerunt, aut illam per martyrium effuso sanguine\n collustrarunt.\u201d (Hib. Dom. Suppl. p. 831.) On the other\n hand, Janning the Bollandist undertakes to prove that\n St. Rumold was an English Saxon. See Janning and J. B.\n Sellerii Acta S. Rumoldi, Antverp, 1718; also F. Ward,\n and Ware\u2019s bishops, p. 305.\n\n [2] St. John Damascen. Serm. de Transfig. Dom.\n\n [3] Gildas, c. 8.\n\n [4] Bede, Hist l. 1. c. 7.\n\n [5] The second kingdom of Burgundy was begun in 890, by\n Ralph, nephew to Bozon, whom the emperor Charles the\n Bald, king of France, had made king of Arles in 876,\n giving him Provence and part of Dauphin\u00e9. This second\n kingdom of Burgundy comprised Provence, Savoy, the\n Viennois, and the county of Burgundy. The duchy of\n Burgundy had its duke at the same time.\n\n [6] It is nine leagues from Mans. Childebert in the charter\n says that the land had been already given to the saint\n by Clovis his father. (Marten. Amp. Coll. tom. 1, p. 1.)\n This is also attested by Nicholas, Ep. ad Episc. Gall.\n and is likewise insinuated by Siviard in his life of\n St. Calais.\n\n [7] Salus in the Syriac signifies foolish.\n\n [8] St. Tho. 2, 2.\n\n [9] Imit. of Chr. b. 1, c. 20.\n\n [10] Phil. iii. 29.\n\n [11] From the word joy used by the evangelist on this\n occasion, and from the unanimous consent of the fathers,\n it is manifest that the holy infant anticipated the use\n of reason, and that this was not a mere natural motion,\n as some protestants have imagined, but the result of\n reason, and the effect of holy joy and devotion.\n\n [12] Phil. iv. 20.\n\n [13] Nero reigned the first five years with so much clemency,\n that once when he was to sign an order for the death of\n a condemned person, he said: \u201cI wish I could not write.\u201d\n But his master Seneca and Burrhus the prefect of the\n pr\u00e6torium, to whom this his moderation was owing, even\n then discovered in him a bent to cruelty, to correct\n which they strove to give his passion another turn.\n With this view Seneca wrote and inscribed to him\n a treatise On Clemency, which we still have. But\n both Seneca and Burrhus connived at an adulterous\n intrigue in which he was engaged in his youth: so very\n defective was the virtue of the best among the heathen\n philosophers. If the tutors imagined that by giving up\n a part, they might save the rest, and by indulging him\n in the softer passions they might check those which\n seemed more fatal to the commonwealth, the event\n showed how much they were deceived by this false human\n prudence, and how much more glorious it would have been\n to have preferred death to the least moral evil, could\n paganism have produced any true martyrs of virtue.\n The passions are not to be stilled by being soothed:\n whatever is allowed them is but an allurement to go\n farther, and soon makes their tyranny uncontrollable.\n Of this Nero is an instance. For, availing himself\n of this indulgence, he soon gave an entire loose to\n all his desires, especially when he began to feel\n the dangerous pleasure of being master of his own\n person and actions. He plunged himself publicly, and\n without shame or constraint, into the most infamous\n debaucheries, in which such was the perversity of his\n heart, that, as Suetonius tells us, he believed nobody\n to be less voluptuous and abandoned than himself,\n though he said they were more private in their crimes,\n and greater hypocrites: notwithstanding, at that very\n time, Rome abounded with most perfect examples of\n virtue and chastity among the Christians.\n\n There is a degree of folly inseparable from vice. But\n this in Nero seemed by superlative malice to degenerate\n into downright phrenzy. All his projects consisted\n in the extravagances of a madman; and nothing so much\n flattered his pride as to undertake things that seemed\n impossible. He forgot all common rules of decency,\n order, or justice. It was his greatest ambition to sing\n or perform the part of an actor on the stage, to play\n on musical instruments in the theatre, or to drive a\n chariot in the circus. And whoever did not applaud all\n his performances, or had not the complaisance to let\n him carry the prize at every race or public diversion,\n his throat was sure to be cut, or he was reserved\n for some more barbarous death. For cruelty was the\n vice which above all others has rendered his name\n detestable. At the instigation of Popp\u00e6a, a most\n infamous adulteress, he caused his mother Agrippina to\n be slain in the year 58, and from that time it seemed\n to be his chief delight to glut his savage mind with\n the slaughter of the bravest, the most virtuous, and\n the most noble persons of the universe, especially of\n those that were nearest to him. He put to death his\n wife Octavia after many years ill usage, and he cut off\n almost all the most illustrious heads of the empire.\n\n [14] On account of the murder of St. Stanislas, slain by\n Boleslas II.\n\n [15] Serm. v. de Laz. t. 1, p. 765.\n\n [16] St. Chrys. l. 1, ad Vid. Junior. t. 1, p. 341.\n\n [17] According to the Registers of Landaff, quoted by Usher,\n St. Oudoceus was son of Budic II. prince of Cornwall,\n in Armorica; and was committed to the care of St.\n Theliau, when he removed to Armorica. But Usher is\n mistaken, as he dates this fact at 596. For we learn\n from St. Gregory of Tours that Thierri, son of Budic,\n was made prince of Cornwall in 577, and that his father\n was dead a long time before.\n\n [18] P. 178, ed. Combefis.\n\n [19] Not. ib. t. 2, p. 704, Op. St. Chrys.\n\n [20] T. 2, ed. Ben. p. 704.\n\n [21] The abbey of Kemperle is three leagues from Port-Louis\n and eight from Quimper.\n\n [22] In Latin Berti Cramnus, Bertrannus: not Bertrandus.\n\n [23] Lugo in Decal. See Less. l. de Valetud.\n\n [24] Jos. ix. 14.\n\n [25] See these laws in Spelman, Conc. t. 1, and Wilkins,\n Conc. Brit. t. 1.\n\n [26] Cent. 10.\n\n [27] Extant in Monast. Anglic. App., vol. 1.\n\n [28] The Welch laws of Howel Dha, that is, Howel the Good,\n are published by Dr. Wotton, in folio, 1735.\n\n [29] See Inett, History of the Church of England, t. 1.\n\n [30] Rosweide, Vit. Patr. l. 5, lib. 4, n. 38.\n\n [31] Ibid. l. 6, lib. 2, n. 14.\n\n [32] Cotelier, Monum. Gr. p. 675.\n\n [33] Cotelier, ib. p. 670, Rosweide, l. 3, p. 103.\n\n [34] Cotelier, ib. p. 672.\n\n [35] Rosweide, Vid. Patr. l. 5, lib. 15, n. 47.\n\n [36] Rosweide, Vit. Patr. l. 5, lib. 1, n. 17.\n\n [37] Rosweide, Vit. Patr. l. 5, lib. 15, n. 44.\n\n [38] Ibid. n. 46.\n\n [39] Ibid. l. 5, lib. 8, n. 15.\n\n [40] Ibid. l. 6, lib. 9, n. 5.\n\n [41] Cotelier, ibid. p. 669.\n\n [42] Rosweide, Vit. Patr. l. 5, lib. 4, n. 39, et l. 6,\n lib. 3, n. 6.\n\n [43] Cotelier, p. 671.\n\n [44] Rufin. ap. Rosw. l. 3, n. 162.\n\n [45] Rosweide, Vit. Patr. l. 5, lib. 16, n. 10.\n\n [46] Cotelier, t. 1, p. 678.\n\n [47] The monastery of Blangy was founded in 686. Having\n been destroyed during the incursions of the Normans,\n it was rebuilt in the eleventh century, and given to\n the religious of the Order of St. Benedict. It is still\n in being.\n\n [48] She was widow of Guy of Chatillon, count of St. Pol,\n brother to Maud.\n\n [49] St. Cypr. l. de Oper. et Eleem.\n\n [50] L. 1, de Offic. c. 30.\n\n [51] The abb\u00e9 Ma-Geoghegan, in his history of Ireland,\n published in Paris in 1758, asserts that the Scots\n were originally Scythians, or properly Celto-Scythians,\n of Spanish original. Foreign writers of repute bear\n witness to this extraction: the native historians of\n Ireland have at all times been unanimous in recording\n it, and have adduced testimonies in support of it,\n which cannot be easily overthrown, as some moderns, who\n made the attempt, have experienced. The ancient Fileas\n of Ireland have indeed (like the old poets of all other\n European nations) shrouded real facts in a veil of\n pompous fables. Thus they pretended the leaders of this\n Spanish colony were the descendants of a celebrated\n Breogan, and that a grandson of this Breogan was\n married to an Egyptian heroine named Scota, from whom\n the Irish took the name of Kinea-Scuit or Scots, as\n they took the appellation of Clan-Breogan or Brigantes,\n from the former. But such inventions, acceptable to\n the credulity and flattering to the pride of nations,\n cannot discredit any fact otherwise well attested.\n The British Brigantes were probably descendants of the\n Irish Brigantes, as the Scots of Britain were certainly\n descendants from those of Ireland. Tacitus, in the\n first age of the Christian era, has thought from the\n difference of complexion and frame of body observable\n among the British tribes of his time, that some were of\n Spanish original; and an earlier writer, Seneca, in his\n satire on the emperor Claudius, makes mention of the\n Scuta-Brigantes, which Scaliger, by needless correction,\n makes Scoto-Brigantes, as the Irish wrote Scuit and\n Scoit indifferently. This testimony of Seneca is a\n proof that the name Scots or Scuits, was known to\n some Roman writers so early as the first century; and\n the Irish appellations of Kinea-Scuit and Clan-Breogan\n plainly point out the proper country of those\n Scuta-Brigantes in the time of the emperor Nero.\n\n Mr. Geoghegan looks upon the Irish to be a mother\n tongue; and it may justly be so denominated,\n notwithstanding the adoption of some foreign terms,\n and some variations of construction introduced by time\n in all languages, before they arrive at their classical\n standard. Some writings of the fifth century show\n that this language was at its full perfection before\n the introduction of the gospel by Roman missionaries\n in the fourth and fifth centuries. The notion that\n this language is a dialect of the modern Biscayan is\n undoubtedly groundless. The latter tongue owes its\n original to some nation of those barbarians who settled\n in Guipuscoa and other parts of the Pyrenean regions,\n on the decline of the Roman empire, nor are the few\n words common in the Basque and Irish tongues any\n proof that the one is descended from the other. This\n observation will hold good relatively to the Welsh and\n Irish languages. They differ entirely in syntax, and\n show that the two nations speaking those tongues have\n different Celtic originals.\n\n Bollandus says that St. Patrick taught the first\n alphabet to the Irish: he means the Roman alphabet,\n and should not forget that it was taught very near an\n age before, by earlier missionaries in the parts of\n Ireland which they converted to the faith. In the\n antecedent times the Fileas or ancient Irish writers,\n inscribed their ideas on tablets of wood, by the means\n of seventeen cyphers, of which their ancestors learned\n the use before their arrival in Ireland; nor is this\n fact obscured, but is rather enlightened by a fable of\n the Fileas, setting forth that some of those ancestors\n were instructed in letters by a celebrated Phenius,\n famous for literary knowledge in the East. Through this\n poetical veil we plainly discern the Phenicians, who\n first instructed the Europeans (the Greeks, Lybians,\n Italians, and Spaniards particularly) in the use of\n letters and other arts. Spain, according to Strabo,\n had the use of letters in a very early period; and\n that a colony from that country should import into,\n and cultivate also, those elements of knowledge in\n Ireland, is not improbable: the perfection of the Irish\n language before the introduction of Christianity is an\n incontrovertible proof of the fact.\n\n * * * * *\n\n The Scots are represented as a rude and barbarous\n people in the fourth and fifth ages, even by some\n eminent ecclesiastical writers. But these as well as\n other foreign historians have not, if at all, been\n resident long enough in Ireland to pronounce the\n natives barbarous, if those writers took that epithet\n in the worst sense it can bear. St. Jerom avers that\n when an adolescentulus, he saw a Scot in Gaul feeding\n upon human flesh, but the child, in this case, might\n impose upon the man, or if otherwise, a nation is not\n to be characterised from the barbarity of an individual,\n or even of a single tribe in an extensive country. That\n some barbarous customs prevailed in Ireland during the\n ages mentioned, cannot be denied; and that some prevail\n at this day in most of the modern states of Europe,\n called enlightened, is a matter of fatal experience. In\n the documents still preserved in the native language of\n the ancient Irish, we learn that after the reform made\n of the order of Fileas in the first century, houses\n and ample landed endowments were set apart for those\n philosophers, who, in the midst of the most furious\n civil wars, were by common consent to be left\n undisturbed; that they were to be exempt from every\n employment but that of improving themselves in abstract\n knowledge, and cultivating the principal youths of the\n nation in their several colleges; that in the course\n of their researches they discovered and exposed the\n corrupt doctrines of the Druids; and that an enlightened\n monarch called Cormac O\u2019Quin took the lead among the\n Fileas in the attack upon that order of priests, and\n declared publicly for the unity of the Godhead against\n Polytheism, and for the adoration of one supreme,\n omnipotent, and merciful Creator of heaven and earth.\n The example of that monarch, and the disquisitions of\n the Fileas relating to religion and morality, paved\n the way for the reception of the gospel; and as the\n doctrines of our Saviour made the quickest progress\n among civilized nations, the conversion of Ireland\n in a shorter compass of time than we read of in the\n conversion of any other European country, brings a\n proof that the natives were not the rude barbarians\n some ancient authors have represented them to be.\n\n [52] Antiq. Brit. Eccl. c. 16, p. 408, 412.\n\n [53] Prosp. Contra Collat. c. 44.\n\n [54] See the note on the life of St. Patrick in this work;\n also Ware\u2019s Antiq. by Harris, with his remarks on\n Dempster, c. 1, p. 4.\n\n [55] Usher, p. 418.\n\n [56] Certain ancient principal Scottish saints are\n commemorated in an ancient Scottish calendar published\n by Mr. Robert Keith, as follows:\n\n January\n 8. St. Nethalan, B. C. An. 452.\n 21. St. Vimin, B. An. 715.\n 29. St. Macwoloc, B. An. 720.\n 30. Saint Macglastian, B. An. 814.\n\n February\n 7. St. Ronan, B. C. An. 603.\n\n March\n 1. St. Minan, archdeacon, C. An. 879.\n Also St. Marnan, B. An. 655.\n 4. St. Adrian, B. of St. Andrew\u2019s, M. He was\n slain by the Danes in 874, and buried in\n the isle of Man.\n 6. St. Fredoline, C. An. 500.\n 11. St. Constantine, king of Scotland, a monk\n and M. An. 556.\n 17. St. Kyrinus or Kyrstinus, surnamed Boniface,\n B. of Ross, An. 660.\n\n April\n 1. St. Gilbert, B. of Caithness, An. 1140.\n 12. St. Ternan, archbishop of the Picts, ordained\n by Saint Palladius, about the year 450.\n 16. St. Manus or Mans, M. in Orkney, An. 1104.\n 19. Translation of St. Margaret\u2019s body to\n Dunfermline.\n\n July\n 6. St. Palladius, apostle of Scotland.\n\n August\n 10. St. Blanc, B. C.\n 27. St. Malrube, hermit, martyred by the Danes,\n in Scotland, in 1040.\n\n September\n 16. St. Minian, B. C. in 450, or according to\n some, a whole century later.\n 22. St. Lolan, B. of Whithern or Galloway.\n\n October\n 25. St. Marnoc, B. C. died at Kilmarnock in the\n fourth or fifth century.\n\n November\n 2. Saint Maure, from whom Kilmaures is named,\n An. 899.\n 12. St. Macar, B. of Murray, M. 887.\n\n St. Germanus, B. C. said to have been appointed bishop\n of the isles by St. Patrick. Under his invocation the\n cathedral of the isle of Man is dedicated. St. Macull\n or Mauchold, in Latin Macallius, bishop in the same\n place from 494 to 518. In his honor many churches are\n dedicated in Scotland, and one in the isle of Man. He\n is honored on the 25th of April. St. Brendan, from whom\n a church in the isle of Man is called Kirk-Bradan, was\n bishop of the isles in the ninth century.\n\n N. B. The isle of Man has had its own bishop from the\n time it came into the hands of the English in the days\n of Edward I. of England, and David II. of Scotland. It\n was anciently subject to the bishop of the Isles, who\n always resided at Hy-columbkill till the extinction\n of episcopacy in Scotland, in 1688. The bishops both\n of the isles and of Man took the title of Episcopus\n Sodorensis; which Mr. Keith (p. 175) derives (not from\n any towns), but from the Greek word Soter or Saviour,\n because the cathedral of Hy-columbkill is dedicated to\n our Saviour. See Mr. Robert Keith, in his new Catalogue\n of bishops in Scotland, printed at Edinburgh, in 4to.\n An. 1755.\n\n Le Neve supposes with Spotiswood that the isle of Man\n had its bishops after Amphibalus, who lived in the\n fourth age, that they were called bishops of Soder\n from a village of that name in the island, and that the\n title was transferred to the island of Hy-columbkill\n in the eighth age, when the two sees were united into\n one. But the succession of bishops in the isle of Man\n is not sufficiently clear.\n\n Matthew Paris says that Wycomb was first bishop of Man,\n in the twelfth age, and that he was consecrated by the\n archbishop of York. See Le Neve. Fasti Anglic.\n\n [57] Hect. Boet. l. 7, fol. 128.\n\n [58] Sozom. l. 3, c. 14.\n\n [59] Rufin. b. 5, c. 10.\n\n [60] Socrates, in all things he said, used to add this form\n of speech, \u201cBy my D\u00e6mon\u2019s leave.\u201d And just upon the\n point of expiring, he ordered a cock to be sacrificed\n to Esculapius (Plato\u2019s Ph\u00e6do sub finem). And in his\n trial we read one article of his impeachment to have\n been a charge of unnatural lust. Thales, the prince\n of naturalists, being asked by Cr\u0153sus what God was,\n put off that prince from time to time, saying, \u201cI\n will consider on it.\u201d But the meanest mechanic among\n the Christians can explain himself intelligibly on\n the Creator of the universe. Diogenes could not be\n contented in his tub without gratifying his passions.\n And when with his dirty feet he trod upon Plato\u2019s\n costly carpets, crying that he trampled upon the pride\n of Plato, he did this, as Plato answered him, with\n greater pride. Pythagoras affected tyranny at Thurium,\n and Zeno at Pyrene. Lycurgus made away with himself\n because he was unable to bear the thought of the\n Laced\u00e6monians correcting the severity of his laws.\n Anaxagoras had not fidelity enough to restore to\n strangers the goods which they had committed to his\n trust. Aristotle could not sit easy till he proudly\n made his friend Hermias sit below him; and he was as\n gross a flatterer of Alexander for the sake of vanity,\n as Plato was of Dionysius for his belly. From Plato\n and Socrates the stoics derived their proud maxim, \u201cThe\n wise man is self-sufficient.\u201d Epictetus himself allows\n \u201cto be proud of the conquest of any vice.\u201d Aristotle\n (Ethic. ad Nicom. l. 10, c. 7) and Cicero patronize\n revenge. See B. Cumberland of the Laws of Nature, c. 9,\n p. 346. Abb\u00e9 Batteux demonstrates the impiety and vices\n of Epicurus mingled with some virtues and great moral\n truths. (La Morale d\u2019Epicure, \u00e0 Paris, 1758.) The like\n blemishes may be found in the doctrine and lives of\n all the other boasted philosophers of paganism. See\n Theodoret. De curandis Gr\u00e6cor. affectibus, &c.\n\n [61] King Ina ruled the West-Saxons thirty-seven years\n with great glory, from the abdication of Ceadwalla\n who died at Rome. Ina vanquished the Welsh, several\n domestic rebels, and foreign enemies; made many pious\n foundations, and rebuilt in a sumptuous manner the\n abbey of Glastenbury. Ralph or Ranulph Higden in\n his Polychronicon, and others say this king first\n established the Rome-scot or Peter-pence, which was a\n collection of a penny from every house in his kingdom\n paid yearly to the see of Rome. By considering the\n vanities of the world and moved by the frequent\n exhortations of the queen his wife, he renounced the\n world in 728 in the highest pitch of human felicity,\n and leaving his kingdom to Ethelheard his kinsman,\n travelled to Rome, was there shorn a monk, and grew old\n in that mean habit. His wife accompanied him thither,\n confirmed him in that course, and imitated his example:\n so that living not far from each other in mutual love,\n and in the constant exercises of penance and devotion,\n they departed this life at Rome not without doing\n divers miracles, as William of Malmesbury and H.\n Huntingdon write. In 696 Sebbi, the pious king of the\n East-Saxons, preferred also a private life to a crown,\n took the monastic habit with the blessing of bishop\n Whaldere, successor to St. Erkenwald in the see of\n London, after bestowing a great sum of money in charity,\n and soon after departed this life in the odor of\n sanctity. See Bede b. 4, c. 11.\n\n [62] Spelman Conc. Brit. t. 1.\n\n [63] B. 5, ch. 19.\n\n [64] Bede, p. 3, c. 6.\n\n [65] On St. Edelburga see Solier the Bollandist, ad diem\n 7 Julij, t. 2, p. 481. She is called in French St.\n Aubierge. See on her also Du Plessis, Hist. de Meaux.\n\n [66] Published by Dom. Martenne, Anecdot. t. 4.\n\n [67] Urban VIII. Constit. 58. _Cum sicut._ An. 1626, Bullar.\n Roman. t. 5, p. 120.\n\n [68] Grotius and others demonstrate the Greek language to\n have been, in the first ages of Christianity, common\n in Palestine; but this cannot be extended to all\n the country people, as this passage and other proofs\n clearly show. Hence Eusebius wrote his Acts of the\n Martyrs of Palestine in Syro-Chaldaic, but abridged the\n same in Greek, in the eighth book of his Church History.\n\n [69] The old Latin Acts write his name Flavian, and some\n Fabian, by mistaking the Syriac name, which is written\n without vowels.\n\n [70] Anglia Sacra, t. 1, p. 613, published by Wharton.\n\n [71] Ibid. p. 606.\n\n [72] Sozom. l. 3, c. 16.\n\n [73] T. 3, p. 23.\n\n [74] On this genuine work see Assemani, Op. t. 1, p. 119,\n ib. Proleg, c. 1, et t. 2, p. 37. Item Biblioth. Orient.\n t. 1, p. 141. The disciples of St. Ephrem committed\n to writing this same history, as they had often heard\n it from his mouth. Hence we have so many relations\n of it. One formerly published by Gerard Vossius, is\n republished by Assemani (t. 3, p. 23). But the most\n complete account is that given us in the saint\u2019s\n confession, extant in the new Vatican edition.\n\n [75] See Appendix on St. Ephrem\u2019s Works, at the end of the\n life.\n\n [76] Serm. Ascetic. 1, p. 4.\n\n [77] In encomio Basilij, t. 2.\n\n [78] From his conversing with St. Basil by an interpreter\n it is clear that St. Ephrem never understood the Greek\n language. The old vicious translation of the life of\n St. Basil, under the name of St. Amphilochius, pretends\n that St. Basil obtained for him miraculously the\n knowledge of the Greek tongue, and ordained him priest.\n But this is a double mistake, though the latter was\n admitted by Baillet. Saint Jerom, Palladius, and other\n ancients always style him deacon, never priest. Nor\n does Pseudo Amphilochius say, that St. Basil raised\n St. Ephrem, but only his disciple and companion to the\n priesthood, as the new translation of this piece, and an\n attentive inspection of the original text, demonstrate.\n\n [79] T. 4, b. 1, ed. Vatican\u00e6.\n\n [80] Necrosima, can. 81, p. 335, t. 6.\n\n [81] St. Ephrem in Testam. p. 286, 395, and St. Greg. Nyss.\n p. 12.\n\n [82] Testam. t. 2, p. 230, &c.\n\n [83] Greg. M. Moral. l. 23, c. 21.\n\n [84] Cant. ii. 12.\n\n [85] John Oosterwican was director to a convent of nuns of\n the same order in Gorcum; he was then very old, and\n often prayed that God would honor him with the crown of\n martyrdom.\n\n The names of the eleven Franciscans were Nicholas\n Pick, Jerom, a native of Werden, in the county of\n Horn, Theodoric of Embden, native of Amorfort, Nicaise\n Johnson, native of Heze, Wilhade, native of Denmark,\n Godfrey of Merveille, Antony of the town of Werden,\n Antony of Hornaire, a village near Gorcum, Francis\n Rodes, native of Brussels. These were priests and\n preachers. The other two were lay-brothers, namely,\n Peter of Asca, a village in Brabant, and Cornelius of\n Dorestate, a village now called Wick, in the territory\n of Utrecht.--The three curates were Leonand Vechel,\n Nicholas Poppel, and Godfrey Dunen. This last was\n a native of Gorcum, who having been rector of the\n university of Paris, where he had studied and taught,\n was some time curate in Holland near the French\n territories, but resigned his curacy and lived at\n Gorcum.\n\n The other martyrs were John Oosterwican mentioned\n above; John, a Dominican of the province of Cologne,\n curate of Hornaire; Adrian Hilvarenbeck, a Norbertin of\n Middleburge, who served a parish at Munster, a village\n near the mouth of the Meuse; James Lacop of the same\n order and monastery, an assistant in a neighboring\n parish to Munster; and Andrew Walter, a secular priest,\n curate of Heinort, near Dort.\n\n [86] Julij, t. 2, p. 823.\n\n [87] De Canoniz. lib. iii. cap. 12.\n\n [88] The reader will observe that this word is used in the\n Saints\u2019 writings in the sense of elevated, and almost\n ecstatic, union with God, in prayer and contemplation.\n\n [89] Pius VI. Decree approving the virtues of the Ven.\n Veronica Giuliani. April, 1796.\n\n [90] Ceillier and some others think this emperor to have been\n M. Aurelius Antoninus Philosophus, who was a persecutor,\n and reigned with Lucius Verus; the latter was absent\n from Rome in the Parthian war from 162 to 166; on which\n account, say these authors, he did not appear in this\n trial. See Tillemont, t. 2, p. 326. But that these\n martyrs suffered under Antoninus Pius, in the thirteenth\n year of his reign, of Christ 150, we are assured by an\n old inscription in several ancient MS. copies of their\n acts mentioned by Ruinart. That this emperor put several\n Christians to death whilst he was governor of Asia\n before his accession to the empire, Tertullian testifies\n (ad Scapul.). And that towards the end of his reign,\n notwithstanding his former mildness towards them, he\n again exercised the sword and torments on them, we\n have an undoubted proof in the genuine epitaph of\n St. Alexander, martyr, produced by Aringhi, Diss. 2,\n l. 3, c. See Berti in S\u00e6c. 2.\n\n [91] Qu\u00e6 in viduitate permanens Deo suam voverat castitatem.\n Ruin. Act. Sincer. p. 21.\n\n [92] Omnes qui non confitentur Christum verum esse Deum, in\n ignem \u00e6ternum mittentur. Ruin. p. 23.\n\n [93] In Cyclum Pasch. p. 268.\n\n [94] Nisibis was the Assyrian name of this city, which was\n called by the Greeks Antiochia Mygdoni\u00e6, from the river\n Mygdon, on which it was situated, which gave name to the\n territory. The ancient name of this city was Achar or\n Achad, one of the seats of the empire of Nimrod. \u201cHe\n reigned in Arach, that is, Edessa, and in Achad, now\n called Nisibis,\u201d says St. Jerom. (qu. in Gen. c. 10,\n n. 10). St. Ephrem had made the same observation before\n him. \u201cHe reigned in Arach, which is Edessa, and in Achar,\n which is Nisibis, and in Calanne, which is Ctesiphon,\n and in Rehebot, which is Adiab.\u201d St. Ephrem, Comm. in\n Gen. See Sim. Assemani, Bibl. Orient. t. 2, Diss. de\n Monophysitis.\n\n [95] Philoth. seu Hist. Relig. c. 1, p. 767.\n\n [96] F. Cuper thinks the account of this event in Theodoret\u2019s\n Religious History to be an addition inserted from\n other places, t. 4. Jul. in Comment. pr\u00e6vio ad Vitam,\n S. Jacobi, n. 12 et 17.\n\n [97] Philost. Hist. l. 3, c. 23.\n\n [98] Chron. Alex. p. 287, S. Hieron. In Chron. and Theophan.\n p. 28. See Le Beau, Hist. du Bas Empire, l. 6, n. 11,\n t. 2, p. 22.\n\n [99] Wisdom xvi. 9.\n\n [100] Theodoret, Hist. Relig. in vit. S. Jacobi, et in Hist.\n Eccl. l. 2. c. 30. Philost. l. 3, c. 32. Theophan. p. 33.\n Chron. Alex. Zozim. l. 3. Zonar. t. 2, p. 44. Le Reau,\n l. 7, p. 127, t. 2.\n\n [101] Tillemont, Hist. des. Emp. t. 4, p. 674, places the\n second siege of Nisibis to 346, and the third in 350.\n But the dates above mentioned are more agreeable to\n history, and adopted by the suffrage of most modern\n critics.\n\n [102] The two elder Assemani place the death of St. James in\n 338, soon after the first siege of Nisibis, of which\n they understand the circumstances which are usually\n ascribed to the second siege; for Theodoret confounds\n them together, as Garnier, (in hunc Theodoreti locum),\n Petau, (in Or. l. Juliani) Henricus Valesius, (in\n Hist. Eccl.). Theodoret, Ammian. Marcell. l. 18. Pagi,\n Tillemont, and others observe. Simon Assemani confirms\n this chronology by the express testimony of the authors\n of two Syriac Chronicles, that of Dionysius, patriarch\n of the Jacobits, and that of Edessa. See Simon Assemani,\n Biblio. Orient. t. 1, c. 5, p. 17, and Stephen Evodius\n Assemani in Op. S. Ephrem, t. 1. But neither of\n these Chronicles seems of sufficient authority to\n counterbalance the testimony of the Greek historians,\n and the circumstances that persuade us that St. James\n survived the second siege of Nisibis, upon which\n Tillemont, Ceillier, &c., place the death of St. James\n in 350; and Cuper the Bollandist between the years 350\n and 361, in which Constantius died.\n\n [103] Ammian. Marcelli. l. 18, c. 7. Zonaras, t. 2, p. 20.\n Monsignor Antonelli in vit. St. Jacobi, p. 26.\n\n [104] See on him Galanus in parte 1. Historiali Concil.\n Armen. cum Roman. p. 239, and F. James Villotte, S. J.\n in serie Chronol. Patriarcharum Armeni\u00e6, printed in\n the end of his Latin-Armenian Dictionary.\n\n [105] These are extant, addressed not to St. Gregory the\n apostle of Armenia, surnamed the Illuminator, as some\n copies have mistaken, but probably to his nephew,\n another St. Gregory, who, being consecrated bishop\n preached the faith in Albania, a province of Greater\n Armenia, near the Caspian sea, where he was crowned\n with martyrdom among the infidel barbarians in the\n very country where Baronius places the Martyrdom of\n the apostle St. Bartholomew. See Galanus, Hist. Eccl.\n Armenorum, c. 5, et Not. ib. Also Antonelli, not. in\n ep. S. Gregorii ad S. Jacobum Misib. p. 1.\n\n [106] These eighteen discourses of St. James are mentioned by\n Gennadius, who gives their titles, (t. 2, p. 901, Op.\n S. Hier. Veron. an. 1735,) commended by St. Athanasius\n (who calls them monuments of the simplicity and candor\n of an apostolic mind. Ep. encyclic. ad episcopos\n Egypti et Lybi\u00e6) and by the Armenian writers quoted\n by Antonelli, who demonstrates from the discourses\n themselves that they are a work of the fourth century.\n\n St. James, in the first, On Faith, demonstrates this\n to be the foundation of our spiritual edifice, which\n is raised upon it by hope and love, which render\n the Christian soul the house and temple of God, the\n ornaments of which are all good works, as fasting,\n prayer, chastity, and all the fruits of the Holy Ghost.\n He commends faith from the divine authority of Christ,\n who everywhere requires it, from its indispensable\n necessity, from the heroic virtues which it produces,\n the eminent saints it has formed, and the miracles it\n has wrought. The subject of his second discourse is\n Charity, or the Love of God and our Neighbor, in which\n the whole law of Christ is comprised, and which is the\n most excellent of all virtues, and the perfection of\n all sanctity, admirably taught by Christ both by word\n and example; the end of all his doctrine, mysteries,\n and sufferings being to plant his charity in our hearts.\n In the third discourse he treats on fasting, universal\n temperance, and self-denial, by which we subdue and\n govern our senses and passions, die to ourselves, and\n obtain all blessings of God, and the protection of the\n angels, who are moved to assist and fight for us, as he\n proves from examples and passages of holy writ (pp. 60,\n 61, 62). In his fourth he speaks on Prayer, on which he\n delivers admirable maxims, teaching that its excellence\n is derived from the purity, sanctity, and fervor of the\n heart, upon which the fire descends from heaven, and\n which glorifies God even by its silence. \u201cBut none,\u201d\n says he, \u201cwill be cleansed unless they have been washed\n in the laver of baptism, and have received the body\n and blood of Christ. For the blood is expiated by this\n Blood, and the body cleansed by this Body. Be assiduous\n in holy prayer, and in the beginning of all prayer\n place that which our Lord hath taught us. When you pray,\n always remember your friends, and me a sinner, &c.\u201d\n\n His fifth discourse, On War, is chiefly an invective\n against pride, in vanquishing which consists our\n main spiritual conflict. The sixth discourse is most\n remarkable. The title is, On Devout Persons, that is,\n Ascetes. The Armenian word _Ugdavor_ signifies one\n who by vow has consecrated himself to God. From this\n discourse it is manifest that some of these Ascetes\n had devoted themselves to God in a state of continency\n by vow, others only by a resolution. The saint most\n pathetically exhorts them to fervor and watchfulness,\n and excellently inculcates the obligation which every\n Christian lies under of becoming a spiritual man formed\n upon the image of Christ, the second Adam, in order\n to rise with him to glory. He inveighs against some\n Ascetes who kept under the same roof a woman Ascete\n to serve them: a practice no less severely condemned\n by St. Gregory Nazianzen (Carm. 3, p. 56, and Or. 43,\n p. 701). St. Basil (Ep. 55, p. 149). St. Chrysostom,\n the council of Nice, that of Ancyra, &c. St. James was\n himself an Ascete from his youth, St. Gregory, to whom\n he sends these discourses, was also one, and it is\n clear from many passages in St. Gregory Nazianzen,\n St. Basil, and others, that they were very numerous\n in Cappadocia, Pontus, and Armenia before St. Basil\n founded there the monastic life. See Antonelli\u2019s note,\n ib. p. 203. Saint James, in his seventh discourse, On\n Penance, strongly exhorts sinners to confess speedily\n their crimes; to conceal which through shame is final\n impenitence. He adds, the priests cannot disclose\n such a confession (p. 237). The infidels and several\n heretics in the first ages of the Church denying the\n general resurrection of bodies, St. James proves that\n mystery in his eighth discourse, On the Resurrection\n of the Dead. His ninth, On Humility, is an excellent\n eulogium of that virtue, by which men are made the\n children of God, and brethren of Christ; and it is\n but justice in man, who is but dust. Its fruits are\n innocence, simplicity, meekness, sweetness, charity,\n patience, prudence, mercy, sincerity, compunction, and\n peace. For he who loves humility is always blessed,\n and enjoys constant peace; God, who dwelleth in the\n meek and humble, abiding in him.\n\n The tenth discourse, On Pastors, contains excellent\n advice to a pastor of souls, especially on his\n obligation of watching over and feeding his flock.\n In the eleventh, On Circumcision, and in the twelfth,\n On the Sabbath, he shows against the Jews, that those\n laws no longer oblige, and that the Egyptians learned\n circumcision from the Jews. In the thirteenth, On the\n Choice of Meats, he proves none are unlawful of their\n own nature. In the fourteenth, On the Passover, that\n the Paschal solemnity of Christ\u2019s resurrection has\n abolished that Jewish festival: he adds that the\n Christian, in honor of Christ\u2019s crucifixion, keeps\n every Friday, and also, at Nisibis, the fourteenth\n day of every month. In the fifteenth he proves the\n Reprobation of the Jews. In the sixteenth the Divinity\n of the Son of God. In the seventeenth the Virtue of\n holy Virginity, which both the Ascetes and the clergy\n professed, and which he defends against the Jews\n only; for he wrote before the heretics in the fourth\n age calumniated the sanctity of that state. In the\n eighteenth he confutes the Jews, who pretended that\n their temple and synagogue would be again restored at\n Jerusalem.\n\n The long letter to the priests of Seleucia and\n Ctesiphon against schisms, and dissensions, when Papas,\n the haughty bishop of those cities, had raised there\n a fatal schism, is in some MSS. ascribed to St. James;\n but was certainly a synodal letter sent by a council\n held on that occasion, nine years after the council of\n Nice: on which see the life of St. Miles, and the notes\n of the archbishop of Apamea, Evodius Assemani, ib.\n Act. Mart. Orient. t. 1, p. 72, and Jos. Assemani Bibl.\n Orient. t. 1, p. 86, &c.\n\n Among the oriental liturgies, one in Chaldaic, formerly\n in use among the Syrians, bears the name of St. James\n of Nisibis. Gennadius mentions twenty-six books written\n by this holy doctor in the Syriac tongue, all on pious\n subjects, or on the Persian persecution. They were\n never translated into Greek.\n\n The letters of St. James and St. Gregory are published\n by Assemani, Bibl. Orient. t. 1, p. 552, 632.\n\n [107] Ps. xxxiii. 16, Prov. iii. 23, Zach. ii. 8, Gen. xv. 1,\n Lev. xxxvi. 3.\n\n [108] S. Chrys. Hom. 51, in Act. Hom. 15, in Rom. et 91, in\n Matt.\n\n [109] Ose. i. 2, Zach. xi. 9, Isa. v. 5.\n\n [110] Amos ix. 4.\n\n [111] Molanus in Auctario Martytol. Menard, in Martyr. Bened.\n Bucelin, &c.\n\n [112] Some have imagined that St. Hidulph was only\n chorepiscopus or vicar, probably with episcopal orders,\n for the administration of part of the diocess. But the\n most judicious critics agree with the original writers\n of his life, that he was himself archbishop of Triers.\n\n [113] Sulpic. Sever. Dial. 1, c. 26, ol. 18, p. 94, ed. nov.\n Veron. an. 1741.\n\n [114] Heraclides ap. Cotel. Monum. Eccl. Gr. t. 3, p. 172.\n See St. Chrys. contra oppugn. vit\u00e6 monast. t. 1. S. Gr.\n Naz. St. Basil, &c.\n\n [115] Among the heathen emperors of Rome, Titus, the two\n Antonines, and Alexander deserved the best of their\n subjects, and the three last gained a great reputation\n for moral virtue. The Antonines were eminent for\n their learning, and devoted themselves to the Stoic\n philosophy. Arrius Antoninus, who had distinguished\n himself by his moderation and love of justice in\n several magistracies, was adopted by the emperor Adrian\n in 138, and upon his death in the same year ascended\n the imperial throne. He was truly the father of his\n people during a reign of twenty-two years, and died\n in 161, being seventy-seven years old. He obtained the\n surname of Pius, according to some, by his gratitude to\n Adrian; but, according to others, by his clemency and\n goodness. He had often in his mouth the celebrated\n saying of Scipio Africanus, that he would rather save\n the life of one citizen than destroy one thousand\n enemies. He engaged in no wars, except that by his\n lieutenants he restrained the Daci, Alani, and Mauri,\n and by the conduct of Lollius Urbicus quieted the\n Britons, confining the Caledonians to their mountains\n and forests by a new wall. Yet the pagan virtues of\n this prince were mixed with an alloy of superstition,\n vice, and weakness. When the senate refused to enrol\n Adrian among the gods, out of a just detestation of\n his cruelty and other vices, Antoninus, by tears and\n entreaties, extorted from it a decree by which divine\n honors were granted that infamous prince, and he\n appointed priests and a temple for his worship. He\n likewise caused his wife Faustina to be honored after\n her death as a goddess, and was reproached for the most\n dissolute life of his daughter Faustina the younger,\n whom he gave in marriage to his adopted son, Marcus\n Aurelius Antoninus.\n\n Xiphilin writes that the Christians shared in the\n mildness of his government. Yet though he did not raise\n by fresh edicts any new persecution, it is a notorious\n mistake of Dodwell and some others, who pretend that\n no Christians suffered death for the faith during his\n reign, at least by his order. Tertullian informs us\n (l. ad Scapul. c. 4), that Arrius Antoninus, when he\n was only proconsul of Asia, put in execution the old\n unjust rescript of Trajan; and having punished some\n Christians with death, dismissed the rest, crying out\n to them, \u201cO wretches, if you want to die, have you\n not halters and precipices to end your lives by?\u201d St.\n Justin, in his first apology, which he addressed to\n Antoninus Pius, who was then emperor, testifies that\n Christians were tortured with the most barbarous\n cruelty without having been convicted of any crime.\n Also St. Iren\u00e6us (l. 3, c. 3), Eusebius (l. 4, c. 10),\n and the author of an ancient poem which is published\n among the works of Tertullian, are incontestible\n vouchers that this emperor, whom Capitolinus calls a\n most zealous worshipper of the gods, often shed the\n blood of saints. By the acts of St. Felicitas and her\n sons, it appears what artifices the pagan priests made\n use of to stir up the emperors and magistrates against\n the Christians. At length, however, Antoninus Pius,\n in the fifteenth year of his reign, of Christ 152,\n according to Tillemont, wrote to the states of Asia,\n commanding that all persons who should be impeached\n merely for believing in Christ, should be discharged,\n and their accusers punished according to the laws\n against informers, adding, \u201cYou do but harden them in\n their opinion, for you cannot oblige them more than by\n making them die for their religion. Thus they triumph\n over you by choosing rather to die than to comply with\n your will.\u201d See Eusebius, l. 4, c. 26, where he also\n mentions a like former rescript of Adrian to Minutius\n Fundanus. Nevertheless, it is proved by Aringhi (Roma\n Subterran. l. 3, c. 22), that some were crowned with\n martyrdom in this reign after the aforesaid rescript,\n the pusillanimous prince not having courage always to\n protect these innocent subjects from the fury of the\n populace or the malice of some governors.\n\n [116] St. Minias was a Roman soldier who suffered martyrdom\n at Florence under Decius. See Mart. Rom., 13 Oct.\n\n [117] In Luc. l. 7, c. 13.\n\n [118] Though Pliny and Procopius pretend that the Vandals\n were of the same extraction with the Goths, the\n contrary is demonstrated by the learned F. Daniel\n Farlati (Illyrici Sacri, t. 2, p. 1308, Venetiis 1753),\n and by Jos. Assemani (in Calend. de Orig. Slavor.\n par. 2, c. 5, t. 1, p. 297). And their language,\n manners, and religion, were entirely different. The\n same arguments show that they differed also from the\n Slavi, Huns, and original Winidi or Venedi, this last\n being a Sarmatian, and the two others Scythian nations.\n The Vandals are placed by Jornandes and Dio (l. 55)\n on the German coast of the Baltic sea, in the present\n Prussia and Pomerania; they thence extended themselves\n to the sources of the Elbe, in the mountains of Silesia.\n They were afterward removed near the Danube, in the\n neighborhood of the Marcomanni, in the reigns of\n Antoninus, Aurelian, and Probus. In the fifth century\n they made an excursion into Gaul; and being there\n repulsed, crossed the Pyren\u00e6an mountains with the\n Alani, who were the original Massaget\u00e6 from mount\n Caucasus, and beyond the Tanais, as Ammianus\n Marcellinus testifies. About the year 400, in the reign\n of Honorius, the Alani settled themselves in Lusitania,\n and the Vandals under king Gunderic, in Gallicia\n (which then comprised both the present Gallicia and\n Old Castile), and in B\u00e6tica, which from them was called\n Vandalitia, and corruptly Andalusia. (See St. Isidore\n and Idatius, in their chronicles, Salvian, l. 7,\n p. 137, St. August. ep. 3, ad Victor.) The Vandals\n were baptized in the Catholic faith about the time when\n they crossed the Rhine; but were afterward drawn into\n Arianism, probably by some alliance with the Arian\n Goths, and out of hatred to the Romans. Idatius says,\n that common fame attributed the Arian perversion of\n the Vandals to king Genseric, who succeeded his brother\n Gunderic in 428, and was a man experienced in all the\n arts of policy and war. Count Boniface, lieutenant of\n Africa, seeing his life threatened by A\u00ebtius (who, with\n the title of Magister Militi\u00e6, governed the empire for\n the empress Placidia, regent for her son Valentinian),\n invited the Vandals out of Spain to his assistance.\n Genseric, with a powerful army, passed the strait which\n divides Africa from Spain, in May, 429, and though\n Boniface was then returned to his duty, the barbarian\n everywhere defeated the Romans, besieged Hippo during\n fourteen months; and though he was obliged by a famine\n to retire, he returned soon after and took that strong\n fortress. The emperor Valentinian, in 435, by treaty\n yielded up to him all his conquests in Africa. Genseric\n soon broke the truce, and in 439 took Carthage, and\n drove the Romans out of all Africa. In 455, being\n invited by the Empress Eudoxia to revenge the murder\n of Valentinian on Maximus, he plundered Rome during\n fifteen days. Though that city had been ravaged by\n Alaric the Goth in 400, whilst Honorius was emperor,\n the Vandal found and carried off an immense booty;\n and among other things, the gold and brass with which\n the capitol was inlaid, and the vessels of the Jewish\n temple at Jerusalem, which Titus had brought to Rome.\n These Justinian, when he had recovered Africa, caused\n to be brought to Constantinople, whence he caused\n them to be removed and placed in certain churches at\n Jerusalem, as Procopius relates. Rome was again twice\n plundered by Totila, in 546 and 549. The Vandals, by\n their transmigrations into Spain and Africa, soon after\n ceased to be a nation in Germany, as Jornandes and\n Procopius testify. Euricus, king of the Visigoths, in\n Languedoc, in 468, invading Spain, conquered most of\n the territories which the Romans still possessed there,\n and all the provinces which the Vandals had seized.\n So that by the extinction of the empire of the Vandals\n in Africa under Justinian, the name of that potent and\n furious nation was lost: though Frederic, the first\n king of Prussia, in 1701, was for some time very\n desirous rather to take the title of king of the\n Vandals. The cavalry of the ancient Vandals fought\n chiefly with the sword and lance, and were unpractised\n in the distant combat. Their bowmen were undisciplined,\n and fought on foot like the Gothic. See Procopius.\n\n [119] Tinuzud\u00e6 tempore quo sacramenta Dei populo\n porrigebantur, introeuntes cum furore (Ariani) Corpus\n Christi et Sanguinem pavimento sparserunt, et illud\n pollutis pedibus calcaverunt. St. Vict. Vitensis,\n l. 1, p. 17.\n\n [120] Qui nobis p\u0153nitenti\u00e6 munus collaturi sunt, et\n reconciliationis indulgenti\u00e2 obstrictos peccatorum\n vinculis soluturi? A quibus divinis sacrificiis\n ritus est exhibendus consuetus? Vobiscum et nos libeat\n pergere, si liceret. S. Victor Vit. l. 2, p. 33.\n\n [121] Scribam ego fratribus meis ut veniant co\u00ebpiscopi mei,\n qui vobis nobiscum fidem communem nostram valeant\n demonstrare, et pr\u00e6cipue ecclesia Romana, qu\u00e6 caput\n est omnium ecclesiarum. Victor Vit. l. 2, p. 38.\n\n [122] In it the Catholics appealed to the tradition of the\n universal Church. \u201cH\u00e6c est fides nostra; evangelicis\n et apostolicis traditionibus atque auctoritate firmata,\n et omnium qu\u00e6 in mundo sunt Catholicarum ecclesiarum\n societate fundata, in qua nos per gratiam Dei\n omnipotentis permanere usque ad finem vit\u00e6 hujus\n confidimus.\u201d Victor Vit. l. 3, p. 62.\n\n [123] L. 5, p. 76.\n\n [124] \u00c6neas, Gaz. Dial. de Animarum Immortaliiate et Corporis\n Resurrectione, p. 415.\n\n [125] Procop. de Bello Vandal. l. 1, c. 8.\n\n [126] Hist. Franc. l. 2, p. 46.\n\n [127] Ruin. Hist. Persec. Vandal. part. 2, c. 8, Notit. Afric.\n\n [128] H\u00e6c sunt linteamina qu\u00e6 te accusabunt cum majestas\n venerit judicantis. Vict. Vit. l. 5, c. 78.\n\n [129] He closes this work by the following supplication to\n the angels and saints: \u201cSuccor us, O angels of my God;\n look down on Africa, once flourishing in its numerous\n churches, but now left desolate and cast away.\n Intercede, O patriarchs; pray, O holy prophets; succor\n us, O apostles, who are our advocates. You, especially,\n O blessed Peter, why are you silent in the necessities\n of your flock? You, O blessed apostle Paul, behold\n what the Arian Vandals do, and how your sons groan in\n captivity. O all you holy apostles, petition for us.\n Pray for us though wicked; Christ prayed even for his\n persecutors,\u201d &c. Adeste angeli Dei mei, et videte\n Africam totam dudum tantarum ecclesiarum cuneis\n fultam, nunc ab omnibus desolatam, sedentem viduam et\n abjectam--Deprecamini patriarch\u00e6; orate sancti prophet\u00e6;\n estote apostoli suffragatores ejus. Pr\u00e6cipue tu Petre,\n quare siles pro ovibus tuis?--Tu S. Paule, gentium\n magister, cognosce quid Vandali faciunt Ariani, et\n filii tui gemunt lugendo captivi. Victor Vit. Hist.\n Pers. Vandal. sub finem. The history of St. Victor\n is written with spirit and correctness, in a plain\n affecting style, intermixed with an entertaining\n poignancy of satire, and edifying heroic sentiments\n and examples of piety. The author is honored in the\n Roman Martyrology among the holy confessors on the 23d\n of August, though the time and place of his death are\n uncertain. He flourished in the middle of the fifth\n century. His history of the Vandalic persecution has\n run through several editions: that of Beatus Rhenanus\n at Basil in 1535, is the first: Peter Chifflet gave one\n at Dijon in 1664: but that of Dom. Ruinart at Paris, in\n 1694, is the most complete. It was published in English\n in 1605. The best French translation is that of Arnau\n d\u2019Andilly.\n\n [130] L. de. Glor. Conf. c. 13.\n\n [131] The Roman provinces, in Africa, soon after sunk again\n into barbarism and infidelity, being overrun in 668\n by the Saracens from Arabia and Syria, who in 669 took\n also Syracusa, and established a kingdom in Sicily and\n part of Italy. They planted themselves in Spain in 707.\n Muhavia, a general of the Sultan Omar, having routed\n Hormisdas Jesdegird, king of Persia, in 632, translated\n that monarchy from the line of Artaxerxes to the\n Saracens. This Omar conquered Egypt in 635. He was\n second caliph after Mahomet, and successor of Abubeker;\n and from his time the caliphs of Bagdat or Babylon\n were masters of Syria, Persia, and Egypt, till the\n two latter revolted; but notwithstanding various\n revolutions, all those countries still retain the\n Mahometan superstition. The Mahometans in Egypt shook\n off the yoke of the caliphs of Bagdat, and set up\n their own caliphs at Cairo in 870, to whom the Moors in\n Africa adhered till the Turks became masters of Egypt.\n\n [132] 2 Peter i. 9.\n\n [133] S. Ambros. in Ps. 40.\n\n [134] L. 3, de Virgin. See S. Aug. Serm., 38. de Temp.\n\n [135] Hebr. x. 34, xi. 37.\n\n [136] The exact number of years that some of the popes sat\n before Victor in the year 200, cannot be determined with\n any degree of certainty, partly on account of faults of\n copies and the disagreement of later pontificals. (See\n Pagi, the Bollandists, Tillemont, Orsi, Berti, &c.)\n St. Peter sat twenty-five years; St. Linus seems\n to have held the see about eleven years, St. Cletus\n twelve years, St. Clement about eleven years, and St.\n Anacletus nine, dying about the year 109. The tradition\n and registers of the Roman church show Anacletus and\n Cletus to have been two distinct popes, as is manifest\n from the Liberian Calendar and several very ancient\n lists of the first popes quoted by Schelstrate (Diss. 2,\n Ant. Eccl. c. 2.) and the Bollandists (ad 26 Apr.) from\n the old poem among the works of Tertullian, written\n about the time that he lived; from the very ancient\n Antiphonaries of the Vatican church, published by\n cardinal Joseph Thomasius, and the old Martyrology\n which bore the name of St. Jerom, and was printed at\n Lucca by the care of Francis-Maria-Florentinius, a\n gentleman of that city; which original authorities\n were followed by Ado, Usuard, &c. The pontificals\n call Cletus a Roman by birth, Anacletus a Grecian,\n and native of Athens.\n\n [137] Baillet in S. Bonav. Wadding, &c.\n\n [138] Haymo, who had taught divinity at Paris, and been sent\n by Gregory IX. nuncio to Constantinople, was employed\n by the same pope in revising the Roman breviary and\n its rubrics. He is not to be confounded with Haymo,\n the disciple of Rabanus Maurus, afterward bishop of\n Halberstadt, in the ninth age, whose Homilies, Comments\n on the Scriptures, and Abridgment of Ecclesiastical\n History are extant. His works are chiefly Centos,\n compiled of scraps of fathers and other authors patched\n and joined together; a manner of writing used by many\n from the seventh to the twelfth age, but calculated to\n propagate stupidity and dullness, and to contract, not\n to enlarge or improve the genius, which is opened by\n invention, elegance, and imitation; but fettered by\n mechanical toils, as centos, acrostics, &c.\n\n [139] Alexander of Hales, a native of Hales in\n Gloucestershire, after having gone through the course\n of his studies in England, went to Paris, and there\n followed divinity and the canon law, and gained in them\n an extraordinary reputation. He entered into the Order\n of Friars Minors, and died at Paris in 1245. His works\n discover a most subtle penetrating genius; of which the\n principal is a Summ or Commentary upon the four Books\n of the Master of the Sentences, written by order of\n Innocent IV. and a Vumm of Virtues.\n\n [140] Specul. Discipi. p. 1, c. 3.\n\n [141] Gerson, Tr. De libris quos religiosi legere debent.\n\n [142] Gerson, l. de Examine Doctrinar.\n\n [143] See Du Pin, Biblioth. Cent. 13, p. 249, t. 14.\n\n [144] Soliloqu. Exercit. 4, c. 1, 2.\n\n [145] The psalter of the Blessed Virgin is falsely to scribed\n to St. Bonaventure, and unworthy to bear his name. (see\n Fabricius in Biblioth. med. \u00e6tat. Bellarmin and Labbe\n de Script. Eccl. Nat. Alexander, Hist. Eccl. S\u00e6c. 13.)\n The Vatican edition of the works of St. Bonaventure was\n begun by an order of Sixtus V. and completed in 1588.\n It consists of eight volumes in folio. The two first\n contain his commentaries on the holy scriptures: the\n third his sermons and panegyrics: the fourth and fifth\n his comments on the Master of the Sentences: the sixth,\n seventh, and eighth, his lesser treatises, of which\n some are doctrinal, others regard the duties of a\n religious state, others general subjects of piety,\n especially the mysteries of Christ and the Blessed\n Virgin. Most of these have run through several separate\n editions. All his works have been reprinted at Mentz\n and Lyons; and in 4to. in fourteen volumes at Venice,\n in 1751.\n\n [146] B. Giles was a native of Assisio, and became the third\n companion of St. Francis in 1209. He attended him\n in the Marche of Ancona, and made a pilgrimage to\n Jerusalem, whither he was sent by St. Francis to preach\n to the Saracens; but upon their threats of raising a\n persecution he was sent back to Italy by the Christians\n of that country. He afterward lived some time at Rome,\n some time at Reati, and some time at Fabriano; but the\n chief part of the remainder of his life he spent at\n Perugia, where he died in the night between the 22d\n and the 23d of April, in the year 1272, not in 1262, as\n Papebroke proves against the erroneous computation of\n certain authors. (p. 220, t. 3, Apr.) Wading and others\n relate many revelations, prophecies, and miracles of\n this eminent servant of God; his tomb has been had in\n public veneration at Perugia from the time of his death,\n and he was for some time solemnly honored as a saint\n in the church of his order in that city, as Papebroke\n shows; who regrets that this devotion has been for\n some time much abated, probably because not judged\n sufficiently authorized by the holy see. The public\n veneration at his tomb and the adjoining altar\n continues, and the mass is sung, on account of his\n ancient festival, with great solemnity, but of St.\n George, without any solemn commemoration of this\n servant of God. Nevertheless, from proofs of former\n solemn veneration, Papebroke honors him with the title\n of Blessed.\n\n None among the first disciples of St. Francis seems to\n have been more perfectly replenished with his spirit\n of perfect charity, humility, meekness, and simplicity,\n as appears from the golden maxims and lessons of piety\n which he gave to others. Of these Papebroke has given\n us a large and excellent collection from manuscripts:\n some of which were before printed by Wading and others.\n A few will suffice to show us his spirit.\n\n B. Giles always lived by the labor of his hands. When\n the cardinal bishop of Tusculum desired him always\n to receive his bread as a poor man an alms, from his\n table, B. Giles excused himself, using the words of the\n psalmist: _Blessed art thou, and it shall be well with\n thee, because thou shalt eat by the labor of thy hands._\n Ps. cxxvii. \u201cSo brother Francis taught his brethren to\n be faithful and diligent in laboring, and to take for\n their wages not money, but necessary subsistence.\u201d\n (Papebroke, p. 224.) If any one discoursed with him\n on the glory of God, the sweetness of his love, or\n Paradise, he would be ravished in spirit, and remain so\n great part of the day unmoved. Shepherds and children\n who had learned this from others, sometimes for\n diversion or out of curiosity, cried out after him,\n Paradise, Paradise; upon hearing which, he through\n joy fell into an ecstasy. His religious brethren in\n conversing with him took care never to name the word\n Paradise or Heaven for fear of losing his company by\n his being ravished out of himself. (ib., p. 226, and\n Wading.)\n\n An extraordinary spiritual joy and cheerfulness\n appeared always painted on his countenance; and if any\n one spoke to him of God, he answered in great interior\n jubilation of soul. Once returning to his brethren out\n of close retirement, he praised God with wonderful joy\n and fervor, and sung,--\u201cNeither tongue can utter, nor\n words express, nor mortal hearts conceive how great the\n good is which God hath prepared for those who desire to\n love him.\u201d\n\n Pope Gregory IX., who kept his court at Perugia from\n 1234 to autumn in 1236, sent one day for the holy man,\n who, in answer to his holiness\u2019s first question about\n his state of life, said,--\u201cI cheerfully take upon me\n the yoke of the commandments of the Lord.\u201d The pope\n replied,--\u201cYour answer is just; but your yoke is\n sweet and your burthen light.\u201d At these words B. Giles\n withdrew a little from him, and, being ravished in\n spirit, remained speechless and without motion till\n very late in the night, to the great astonishment of\n his holiness, who spoke of it to his cardinals and\n others with great surprise.\n\n This pope on a certain occasion pressed the holy man\n to say something to him on his own duty; Giles after\n having long endeavored to excuse himself said, \u201cYou\n have two eyes, both a right and a left one, always\n open; with the right eye you must contemplate the\n things which are above you; and with the left eye you\n must administer and dispense things which are below.\u201d\n\n On humility, the following maxims are recorded among\n his sayings: \u201cNo man can attain to the knowledge of God\n but by humility. The way to mount high is to descend;\n for all dangers and all great falls which ever happened\n in the world, were caused by pride, as is evident\n in the angel in heaven, in Adam in Paradise, in the\n Pharisee mentioned in the gospel; and all spiritual\n advantages arose from humility, as we see in the\n Blessed Virgin, the good thief, &c. Would to God some\n great weight laid upon us obliged us always to hold\n down our heads.\u201d When a certain brother asked him;\n \u201cHow can we fly this cursed pride?\u201d he answered; \u201cIf we\n consider the benefits of God, we must humble ourselves,\n and bow down our heads. And if we consider our sins, we\n must likewise humble ourselves, and bow down our heads.\n Wo to him who seeks honor from his own confusion and\n sin. The degrees of humility in a man are, that he know\n that whatever is of his own growth is opposite to his\n good. A branch of this humility is, that he give to\n others what is theirs, and never appropriate to himself\n what belongs to another; that is, that he ascribe to\n God all his good and all advantages which he enjoys;\n and acknowledge that all his evil is of his own growth.\n Blessed is he who accounts himself as mean and base\n before men as he is before God. Blessed is he who walks\n faithfully in obedience to another. He who desires to\n enjoy inward peace, must look upon every man as his\n superior, and as better and greater before God. Blessed\n is he who knows how to keep and conceal the favors\n of God. Humility knows not how to speak, and patience\n dares not speak, for fear of losing the crown of\n suffering by complaints, in a firm conviction that a\n person is always treated above his deserts. Humility\n dispels all evil, is an enemy to all sin, and makes a\n man nothing in his own eyes. By humility a man finds\n grace before God, and peace with men. God bestows the\n treasures of his grace on the humble, not on the proud.\n A man ought always to fear from pride, lest it cast him\n down headlong. Always fear and watch over yourself. A\n man who deserves death, and who is in prison, how comes\n it that he does not always tremble? A man is of himself\n poverty and indigence; rich only by the divine gifts;\n these then he must love, and despise himself. What is\n greater than for a man to be sensible what he owes to\n God, and to cover himself with confusion, self-reproach,\n and self-reprehension for his own evils? I wish we\n could have studied this lesson from the beginning of\n the world to the end. How much do we stand indebted\n to him who desires to deliver us from all evil, and to\n confer upon us all good.\u201d Against vain-glory he used to\n say;--\u201cIf a person was sunk in extreme poverty, covered\n all over with wounds, half-clad in tattered rags, and\n without shoes; and men should come to him, and saluting\n him with honor say: \u2018All admire you, my lord; you are\n wonderfully rich, handsome, and beautiful; and your\n clothes are splendid and handsome;\u2019 must not he have\n lost his senses, who should be pleased with such a\n compliment, or think himself such, knowing that he is\n the very reverse?\u201d\n\n The servant of God was remarkable for his meekness and\n charity, and he used to say, \u201cWe can appropriate to\n ourselves our neighbor\u2019s good, and make it also our own;\n for the more a person rejoices at his neighbor\u2019s good,\n the more does he share in it. If therefore you desire\n to share in the advantages of all others, rejoice more\n for them all; and grieve for every one\u2019s misfortunes.\n This is the path of salvation, to rejoice in every\n advantage and to grieve for every misfortune of\n your neighbor; to see and acknowledge your evils and\n miseries, and to believe only good of others; to honor\n others, and despise yourself. We pray, fast, and labor;\n yet lose all this if we do not bear injuries with\n charity and patience. If we take so much pains to\n attain to virtue, why do not we learn to do what is\n so easy? you must bear the burdens of all, because\n you have no just reason of complaint against any one,\n seeing you deserve to be chastised and treated ill by\n all creatures. You desire to escape reproaches and\n condemnation in the next world, yet would be honored\n in this. You refuse to labor or bear anything here, yet\n desire to enjoy rest hereafter. Strive more earnestly\n to vanquish your passions, and bear tribulations and\n humiliations. It is necessary to overcome yourself,\n whatever you do. It avails your soul little to draw\n others to God unless you die to yourself.\u201d\n\n On prayer, which this servant of God made his constant\n occupation and delight, he used to say,--\u201cPrayer\n is the beginning and the consummation of all good.\n Every sinner must pray that God may make him know his\n miseries and sins, and the divine benefits. He who\n knows not how to pray, knows not God. All who are to\n be saved, if they have attained the use of reason, must\n set themselves to pray. Though a woman were ever so\n bashful and simple, if she saw her only son taken from\n her by the king\u2019s orders for some crime, she would tear\n her breasts, and implore his mercy. Her love and her\n son\u2019s extreme danger and miseries would make her never\n want words to entreat him.\u201d\n\n The fruits and graces of perfect prayer he summed up\n as follows: 1. \u201cBy it a man is enlightened in his\n understanding. 2. He is strengthened in faith and in\n the love of all good. 3. He learns to know and feel\n his own miseries. 4. He is penetrated with holy fear,\n is humble and contemptible in his own eyes. 5. His\n heart is pierced with compunction. 6. Sweet tears\n flow in abundance. 7. His heart is cleansed. 8. His\n conscience purged. 9. He learns obedience. 10. Attains\n to the perfect spirit of that virtue. 11. To spiritual\n science. 12. To spiritual understanding. 13. Invincible\n fortitude. 14. Patience. 15. Spiritual wisdom. 16. The\n knowledge of God, who manifests himself to those who\n adore him in spirit and truth. Hence love is kindled in\n the soul, she runs in the odor of his sweet perfumes,\n is drowned in the torrent of his sweetness, enjoys\n perfect interior peace, and is brought to immortal\n glory.\u201d\n\n [147] Vita B. \u00c6gidii apud Papebroke, t. 3, Aprilis ad diem 23,\n p. 236.\n\n [148] Conc. t. 11, p. 237.\n\n [149] The emperor Michael dying in 1283, his son Andronicus\n renewed the schism, and restored the deposed patriarch\n Joseph.\n\n [150] Possevin. Apparatus sacer, t. 1, p. 245.\n\n [151] Gerson calls St. Bonaventure both a cherub and a seraph,\n because his writings both enlighten and inflame. His\n order makes his doctrine the standard of their schools,\n according to a decree of pope Pius V. To the works of\n St. Bonaventure these divines add the double comments\n of Scotius on Aristotle and the Master of the Sentences.\n\n Peter Lombard, a native of Novara in Lombardy, was\n recommended by St. Bernard (ep. 366) to Gilduin, first\n abbot of the regular canons of St. Victor\u2019s at Paris,\n performed there his studies, professed that order, and\n was one of those who, by an order of abbot Suger, king\n Louis VII. and pope Eugenius III. in 1147, were sent\n from St. Victor\u2019s to St. Genevieve\u2019s in place of the\n secular canons. Eudes or Odo, one of this number, was\n chosen first regular abbot of St. Genevieve\u2019s, on whose\n eminent virtues see the pious F. Gourdan, in his MS.\n history of the eminent men of St. Victor\u2019s, in 7 vols.\n folio, t. 2, p. 281. Peter Lombard taught theology at\n St. Genevieve\u2019s, till in 1159 he was made bishop of\n Paris. Gourdan, ib. t. 2, p. 79 and 80. He died, bishop\n of that city, in 1164. He compiled a body of divinity,\n collected from the writings of the fathers, into four\n books, called Of the Sentences, from which he was\n surnamed The Master of the Sentences. This work he is\n said by some to have copied chiefly from the writings\n of Blandinus his master, and others. (See James\n Thomasius De Plagio literario, from sect. 493 to 502.)\n Though it be not exempt from inaccuracies, the method\n appeared so well adapted to the purposes of the\n schoolmen that they followed the same and for their\n lectures gave comments on these four books of the\n Sentences. Among these, St. Thomas Aquinas stands\n foremost. The divines of the Franciscan Order take\n for their guides St. Bonaventure and John Duns Scotus.\n This latter was born in Northumberland, and entered\n young into the Order of St. Francis at Newcastle. He\n performed his studies, and afterward taught divinity at\n Oxford, where he wrote his Commentaries on the Master\n of the Sentences, which were thence called his Oxonian\n Commentaries. He was called to Paris about the year\n 1304, and in 1307 was appointed by his Order, Regent of\n their theological schools in that University, where he\n published his Reportata in Sententias, called his Paris\n Commentaries, which are called by Dr. Cave a rough or\n unfinished abstract of his Oxford Commentaries. For\n the subtilty and quickness of his understanding, and\n his penetrating genius, he was regarded as a prodigy.\n Being sent by his Order to Cologne in 1308, he was\n received by the whole city in procession, but died\n on the 8th of November the same year, of an apoplexy,\n being forty-three, or as others say, only thirty-four\n years old. The fable of his being buried alive is\n clearly confuted by Luke Wading, the learned Irish\n Franciscan, who published his work, with notes,\n in twelve tomes, printed at Lyons in 1636. Natalis\n Alexander, a most impartial inquirer into this dispute,\n and others, have also demonstrated that story to have\n been a most groundless fiction. Wading, Colgan, &c.,\n say that Duns Scotus was an Irishman, and born at Down\n in Ulster. John Major, Dempster, and Trithemius say he\n was a Scotchman, born at Duns, eight miles from England.\n But Leland, Wharton, Cave, and Tanner, prove that\n he was an Englishman and a native of Dunstone, by\n contraction Duns, a village in Northumberland, in the\n parish of Emildun, then belonging to Merton-hall in\n Oxford, of which hall he was afterward a member. This\n is attested in the end of several manuscript copies of\n his Comments on the Sentences, written soon after the\n time when he lived, and still shown at Oxford in the\n colleges of Baliol and Merton. That he was a Scotchman\n or an Irishman, no author seems to have asserted before\n the sixteenth century, as Mr. Wharton observes. (See\n Cave, t. 2, Append. p. 4. Wood, Athen. Oxon. Sir James\n Ware de Script. Hibern. c. 10, p. 64. Tanner de Script.\n Brit. V. Duns. Wading, in the life of Scotus, prefixed\n to his works.)\n\n William Ockham, a native of Surrey, also a Grey Friar,\n a scholar of Duns Scotus at Paris, disagreeing from his\n master in opinions, raised hot disputes in the schools,\n and became the head or leader of the Nominals, a sect\n among the schoolmen who in philosophy explain things\n chiefly by the properties of terms; and maintain that\n words, not things, are the object of dialectic, in\n opposition to the others called Realists. Ockham\n was provincial of his Order in England in 1322, and\n according to Wood (Hist. et Ant. l. 2, p. 87) wrote\n a book On the Poverty of Christ, and other treatises\n against Pope John XXII., by whom he was excommunicated.\n He became a warm abettor of the schism of Louis of\n Bavaria, and his antipope, Peter Corbarius, and died\n at Munich in 1347. He is said also to have favored\n the heresy of the Fratricelli, introduced by certain\n Grey Friars in the marquisate of Ancona, who made all\n perfection to consist in a seeming poverty, rebelled\n against the Church, and railed at the pope and the\n other pastors. Flying into Germany, they were favored\n by Louis of Bavaria, and in return supported his schism.\n They at length rejected the sacraments as useless. Akin\n to these were the Beguards and Beguines, an heretical\n sect formed by several poor laymen and women, who, some\n by an ill-governed devotion and a love of a lazy life,\n others out of a spirit of libertinism, would needs\n imitate the poverty of the Friars Mendicants, without\n being tied to obedience, or living under superiors.\n They at length fell into many extravagant errors, and\n became a society of various notions and opinions, which\n had nothing common but the hatred they bore to the pope\n and other prelates, and the affectation of a voluntary\n poverty, under which they covered an infinite number\n of disorders and crimes. Such are the baneful fruits\n of self-conceit.\n\n [152] St. Bonav. Specul. Novit. p. 2, c. 2.\n\n [153] Tit. de Aleatoribus tam in Digesto quam in Codice.\n\n [154] See St. Bonav. in 4, dis. 14. St. Raymund. St. Antonin.\n Comitolus, l. 3, 7, 9, p. 348, &c. Aristotle (l. 4,\n Ethic. c. 1.) places gamesters in the same class with\n highwaymen and plunderers. St. Bernardin of Sienna\n (Serm. 33, Domin. 5, Quadrag. t. 4), says they are\n worse then robbers, because more treacherous, and\n covering their rapine under seducing glosses.\n\n [155] Job ii. 4.\n\n [156] On the methods of varying every day these acts, see\n Polancus, De modo juvandi morientes; Joan. a S. Thoma.\n Card. Bona. &c.\n\n [157] Apoc. xii. 12.\n\n [158] Cicat. l. 2, c. 1, p. 446.\n\n [159] This observation of St. Camillus has been since\n confirmed by many instances of persons who were found\n to have been buried alive, or to have recovered long\n after they had appeared to have been dead. Accounts of\n several such examples are found in many modern medical\n and philosophical memoirs of literature which have\n appeared during this century, especially in France and\n Germany; and experience evinces the case to have been\n frequent. Boerhaave (Not. in Instit. Medic.) and some\n other men whose names stand among the foremost in\n the list of philosophers, have demonstrated by many\n undoubted examples, that where the person is not dead,\n an entire cessation of breathing and of the circulation\n of the blood may happen for some time, by a total\n obstruction in the organical movements of the springs\n and fluids of the whole body, which obstruction\n may sometimes be afterwards removed, and the vital\n functions restored. Whence the soul is not to be\n presumed to leave the body in the act of dying, but\n at the moment in which some organ or part of the body\n _absolutely_ essential to life is _irreparably_ decayed\n or destroyed. Nor can any certain mark be given\n that a person is dead till some evident symptom of\n putrefaction commenced appears sensible.\n\n Duran and some other eminent surgeons in France, in\n memorials addressed, some to the French king, others to\n the public, complain that two customs call for redress,\n first, that of burying multitudes in the churches, by\n which experience shows that the air is often extremely\n infected; the second is that of which we speak. To\n prevent the danger of this latter, these authors insist\n that no corpse should be allowed to be buried, or\n its face close covered, before some certain proof of\n putrefaction, for which they assign as usually one of\n the first marks, if the lower jaw being stirred does\n not restore itself, the spring of the muscles being\n lost by putrefaction. See Doctor Bruhier, M\u00e9moire\n pr\u00e9sent\u00e9 au Roi, sur la N\u00e9cessit\u00e9 d\u2019un R\u00e8glement\n G\u00e9n\u00e9ral au Sujet des Enterments et Embaumements, in\n 1745; also Dissertation sur l\u2019Incertitude des Signes\n de la Mort, in 1749, 2 vols. in 12mo.; and Dr. Louis,\n Lettres sur la Certitude des Signes de la Mort, contre\n Bruhier, in 1752, in 12mo.\n\n The Romans usually kept the bodies of the dead eight\n days, and practised a ceremony of often calling upon\n them by their names, of which certain traces remain in\n many places from the old ceremonial for the burial of\n kings and princes. Servabantur cadavera octo diebus,\n et calida abluebantur, et post ultimam conclamationem\n abluebantur. Servius in Virgilii \u00c6neidon, l. 8,\n ver. 2, 8. The corpse was washed whilst warm, and again\n after the last call addressed to the deceased person,\n which was the close of the ceremony before the corpse\n was burnt or interred; and to be deprived of it was\n esteemed a great misfortune. Corpora nondum conclamata\n jacent, Lucan. l. 2, ver. 22. Jam defletus et\n conclamatus es. Apuleius, l. 1, Metam. et l. 11, ib.\n Desine, jam conclamatum est. Terent. Eunuch. 2, 3,\n ver. 56. St. Zeno of Verona, describing a wife who\n immoderately laments her deceased husband, says:\n Cadaver amplectitur conclamatum. St. Zeno, l. 1,\n Trac. 16, p. 126, nov. ed. Veron. This ceremony,\n trivial in itself, was of importance to ascertain\n publicly the death of the person.\n\n [160] The empire of the West, which had been extinguished\n in Augustulus, was restored in the year 800, in the\n person of Charlemagne, king of France, who extended\n his conquests into part of Spain, almost all Italy, all\n Flanders and Germany, and part of Hungary. The imperial\n crown continued some time in the different branches of\n his family, sometimes in France, sometimes in Germany,\n and sometimes in both united under the same monarch.\n Louis IV. the eighth hereditary emperor of the Franks,\n was a weak prince, and died in the twentieth year of\n his age, in 912, without leaving any issue. These\n emperors, in imitation of the Lombards, had created\n several petty sovereigns in their states, who grew\n very powerful. These princes declared that by the death\n of Louis IV. the imperial dignity was devolved on the\n Germanic people; and excluding Charles the Simple, king\n of France, the next heir in blood of the Carlovingian\n race, elected Conrad I. duke of Franconi: and after him\n Henry I. surnamed the Fowler, duke of Saxony, who was\n succeeded by three Othos of the same family of Saxony.\n After St. Henry II. several emperors (the following\n Henries, and two Frederics in particular) were of the\n Franconian family. Rodolph I. of the house of Austria\n was chosen in 1273. There have been four dukes of\n Bavaria emperors, five of the house of Luxemburg,\n three of the old Bohemian royal house, &c. But in 1438,\n Albert II. duke of Austria and marquis of Moravia, was\n raised to that supreme dignity, which from that time\n has remained chiefly in that family. The ancient ducal\n house of Saxony was descended from Wittekind the Great,\n the last elected king of the Saxons, who afterwards\n sustained a long obstinate war against Pepin and\n Charlemagne, submitted to the latter, and being\n baptized by St. Lullus in 785, was created by\n Charlemagne, first duke of Saxony. St. Henry II. was\n the fifth Emperor of the Saxon race, descended from\n Wittekind the Great.\n\n [161] On the authenticity of this diploma of Henry II. and\n also of those of Pepin, Charlemagne, and Otho I. see\n the Dissertation of the Abb\u00e9 Cenni, entitled, Esame de\n Diploma d\u2019Ottone \u00e8 S. Arrigo, printed at Rome in 1754.\n\n That the see of Rome was possessed of great riches,\n even during the rage of the first persecutions, is\n clear from the acts of universal charity performed\n by the popes, mentioned by St. Dionysius of Corinth,\n and after the persecutions by St. Basil and St. John\n Climacus. From the reign of Constantine the Great, many\n large possessions were bestowed on the popes for the\n service of the Church. Conni (Esame di Diploma di\n Ludovico Pio) shows in detail from St. Gregory the\n Great\u2019s epistles, that the Roman see, in his time,\n enjoyed very large estates, with a very ample civil\n jurisdiction, and a power of punishing delinquents in\n them by deputy judges, in Sicily, Calabria, Apulia,\n Campania, Ravenna, Sabina, Dalmatia, Illyricum,\n Sardinia, Corsica, Liguria, the Alpes Cotti\u00e6, and a\n small estate in Gaul. Some of these estates comprised\n several bishoprics, as appears from St. Gregory, l. 7,\n ep. 39, Indict. ii.\n\n The Alpes Cotti\u00e6 that belonged to the popes included\n Genoa and the sea-coast from that town to the Alps,\n the boundaries of Gaul, as Thomassin (l. 1, de Discipl.\n Eccl. c. 27, n. 17.) takes notice, and as Baronius (ad\n an. 712, p. 9.) proves from the testimony of Oldradus,\n bishop of Milan. And Paul the deacon writes, that\n the Lombards seized the Alpes Cotti\u00e6, which were the\n estates of the Roman see. \u201cPatrimonium Alpium Cottiarum\n qu\u00e6 quondam ad jus pertinuerant apostolic\u00e6 sedis,\n sed a Longobardis multo tempore fuerant ablat\u00e6.\u201d (Paul.\n Diac. l. 6, c. 43.) Father Cajetan, in his Isagoge ad\n Historiam Siculam, points out at length the different\n estates which the Roman see formerly possessed in\n Sicily. The popes were charged with a great share of\n the care of the city and civil government of Rome. St.\n Gregory the Great mentions that it was part of their\n duty to provide that the city was supplied with corn,\n (l. 5, ep. 40, alias l. 4, ep. 31, ad Maurit.) and that\n he was obliged to watch against the stratagems of the\n enemies, and the treachery of the Roman generals and\n governors. (l. 5, ep. 42, alias l. 4, ep. 35.) And\n he appointed Constantius a tribune to be governor of\n Naples. (l. 2, ep. 11, alias ep. 7.) Anastasius the\n Librarian testifies that the popes Sisinnius and\n Gregory II. both repaired the walls of Rome and put\n the city in a posture of defence.\n\n From these and other facts Thomassin observes that the\n popes had then the chief administration of the city\n of Rome and of the exarchate, made treaties of peace,\n averted wars, defended and recovered cities, and\n repulsed the enemies. (Thomass. da Benefic. 3, part.\n l. 1, c. 29, n. 6.) When the Lombards ravaged and\n conquered the country, the emperors continued to\n oppress the people with exorbitant taxes, yet being\n busy at home against the Saracens, refused to protect\n the Romans against the barbarians. Whereupon the people\n of Italy, in the time of Gregory II. in 715, chose\n themselves in many places leaders and princes, though\n that pope exhorted them every where to remain in their\n obedience and fidelity to the empire, as Anastasius the\n Librarian assures us: \u201cNe desisterent ab amore et fide\n Romani imperii admonebat.\u201d\n\n Leo the Isaurian, and his son Constantine Copronymus\n persecuted the Catholics; yet Zachary and Stephen II.\n paid them all due obedience and respect in matters\n relating to the civil government. Leo threatened to\n destroy the holy images and profane the relics of the\n apostles at Rome. At which news the people of Rome were\n not to be restrained, but having before received with\n honor the images of that emperor, according to custom,\n they, in a fit of sudden fury, pulled them down.\n Pope Stephen II. exhorted the emperor to forbear such\n sacrileges and persecutions, and at the same time\n gave him to understand the danger of exasperating the\n populace, though he did what in him lay to prevent\n by entreaties both the profanations threatened by\n the emperor, and also the revolt of the people: \u201cTunc\n projecta laureata tua conculcarunt--Aisque: Romam\n mittam, et imaginem S. Petri confringam.--Qu\u00f2d si\n quospiam miseris, protestamur, tibi, innocentes sumus\n a sanguine quem fusuri sunt.\u201d On the sacrileges and\n cruelties exercised by the Iconoclasts in the East, see\n the Bollandists, August ix. To prevent the like at Rome,\n some of the Greek historians say that pope Gregory II.\n withdrew himself and all Italy from the obedience of\n the emperor. But Theophanes and the other Greeks were\n in this particular certainly mistaken, as Thomassin\n takes notice. And Natalis Alexander says: (Diss. 1,\n s\u00e6c. 8.) \u201cThis most learned pope was not ignorant\n of the tradition of the fathers from which he never\n deviated. For the fathers always taught that subjects\n are bound to obey their princes, though infidels or\n heretics, in those things which belong to the rights\n of the commonwealth.\u201d\n\n The case was, that when the emperors refused to protect\n Italy from the barbarians, the popes in the name of\n the people, who looked upon them as their fathers and\n guardians, and as the head of the commonwealth, sought\n protection from the French, as Thomassin observes\n (p. 3, de Benef. l. 1, c. 29.) The continuator of\n Fredegarius seems to say, that Gregory III. and the\n Roman people created Charles Martel Patrician of Rome,\n by which title was meant the protection of the Church\n and poor, as De Marca (De Concordi\u00e2, l. 3, c. 11,\n n. 6.) and Pagi explain it from Paul the deacon. At\n last pope Stephen II. going into France to invite Pepin\n into Italy, conferred on him the title of Patrician,\n but had not recourse to this expedient till the Eastern\n empire had absolutely abandoned Italy to the swords of\n the Lombards. Pope Zachary made a peace with Luitprand,\n king of the Lombards, and afterward a truce with king\n Rachis for twenty years. But that prince putting on the\n Benedictin habit, his brother and successor Astulphus\n broke the treaty. Stephen II. who succeeded Zachary in\n 752, sent great presents to Astulphus, begging he would\n give peace to the exarchate; but could not be heard, as\n Anastasius testifies. Whereupon Stephen went to Paris,\n and implored the protection of king Pepin, who sent\n ambassadors into Lombardy, requiring that Astulphus\n would restore what he had taken from the church of\n Rome, and repair the damages he had done the Romans.\n Astulphus refusing to comply with these conditions,\n Pepin led an army into Italy, defeated the Lombards,\n and besieged, and took Astulphus in Pavia; but\n generously restored him his kingdom on condition he\n should live in amity with the pope. But immediately\n after Pepin\u2019s departure he perfidiously took up arms,\n and in revenge put every thing to fire and sword in the\n territories of Rome. This obliged Pepin to return into\n Italy, and Astulphus was again beaten and made prisoner\n in Pavia. Pepin once more restored him his kingdom, but\n threatened him with death if he ever again took up arms\n against the pope; and he took from him the exarchate of\n Ravenna, of which the Lombard had made himself master,\n and he gave it to the holy see in 755, as Eginhard\n relates: \u201cRedditam sibi Ravennam et Pentapolim, et\n omnem exarchatum ad Ravennam pertinentem, ad S. Petrum\n tradidit.\u201d Eginhard, ib. Thomassin observes very justly\n that Pepin could not give away dominions which belonged\n to the emperors of Constantinople; but that they had\n lost all right to them after they had suffered them to\n be conquered by the Lombards, without sending succors\n during so many years to defend and protect them. These\n countries therefore either by the right of conquest\n in a just war belonged to Pepin and Charlemagne, who\n bestowed them on the popes; or the people became free,\n and being abandoned to barbarians had a right to form\n themselves into a new government. See Thomassin (p. 3,\n de Beneficiis, l. 1, c. 29, n. 9).\n\n It is a principle laid down by Puffendorf, Grotius,\n Fontanini, and others, demonstrated by the unanimous\n consent of all ancients and moderns, and founded upon\n the law of nations, that he who conquers a country in\n a just war, nowise untaken for the former possessors,\n nor in alliance with them, is not bound to restore\n to them what they would not or could not protect and\n defend: \u201cIllud extra controversiam est, si jus gentium\n respiciamus, qu\u00e6 hostibus per nos erepta sunt, ea\n non posse vindicari ab his qui ante hostes nostros\n ea possederant et amiserant.\u201d (Grotius, l. 3, de Jure\n belli et pacis, c. 6, 38.) The Greeks had by their\n sloth lost the exarchate of Ravenna. If Pepin had\n conquered the Goths in Italy, or the Vandals in Africa\n before Justinian had recovered those dominions, who\n will pretend that he would have been obliged to restore\n them to the emperors? Or, if the Britons had repulsed\n the Saxons after the Romans had abandoned them to their\n fury, might they not have declared themselves a free\n people? Or, had not the popes and the Roman people\n a right, when the Greeks refused them protection, to\n seek it from others? They had long in vain demanded\n it of the emperors of Constantinople, before they had\n recourse to the French. Thus Anastasius testifies that\n pope Stephen II. had often in vain implored the succors\n of Leo against Astulphus. \u201cUt juxta quod ei s\u00e6pius\n scripserat, cum exercitu ad tuendas has Itali\u00e6 partes\n modis omnibus adveniret.\u201d The same Anastasius relates,\n that when the ambassadors of the Greek emperor demanded\n of Pepin the restitution of the countries he had\n conquered from the Lombards, that prince answered,\n that as he had exposed himself to the dangers of war\n merely for the protection of St. Peter\u2019s see, not in\n favor of any other person, he never would suffer the\n apostolic Church to be deprived of what he had bestowed\n on it. Pepin gave to the holy see the city of Rome\n and its Campagna; also the exarchate of Ravenna and\n Pentapolis, comprising Rimini, Pesaro, Fano, Senigallia,\n Ancona, Gubbio, &c. He retained the office of protector\n and defender of the Roman church under the title of\n Patrician. When Desiderius, king of the Lombards, again\n ravaged the lands of the church of Rome, Charlemagne\n marched into Italy, defeated his forces, and after a\n long siege took Pavia, and extinguished the kingdom\n of the Lombards in 773, on which occasion he caused\n himself to be crowned king of Italy, with an iron crown,\n such as the Goths and Lombards in that country had used,\n perhaps as an emblem of strength. Charlemagne confirmed\n to pope Adrian I. at Rome, the donation of his father\n Pepin. The emperor Charles the Bald and others ratified\n and extended the same. Charlemagne having been crowned\n emperor of the West at Rome, by pope Leo III. in\n 800, Irene, who was then empress of Constantinople,\n acknowledged him Augustus in 802; as did her successor\n the emperor Nicephorus III. The Greeks at the same time\n ratified the partition made of the Italian dominions.\n This point of history has been so much misrepresented\n by some moderns, that this note seemed necessary in\n order to set it in a true light. See Cenni\u2019s Monumenta\n Dominationis Pontifici\u00e6, in 4to. Rom\u00e6, 1760. Also\n Orsi\u2019s Dissertation on this subject; Cenni\u2019s Esame di\n Diploma, &c. and Jos. Assemani, Hist. Ital. Scriptores,\n t. 3, c. 5.\n\n [162] In the partition of the empire between Charlemagne and\n Irene, empress of Constantinople, Apulia and Calabria\n were assigned to the Eastern empire, and the rest of\n Naples to Charlemagne and his successors. Long before\n this, in the unhappy reign of the Monothelite emperor\n Constans, about the year 660, the Saracens began to\n infest Sicily, and soon after became masters of that\n island, and also of Calabria and some other parts of\n Italy. Otho I. surnamed the Great, drove them out of\n Italy, and laid claim to Calabria and Apulia by right\n of conquest. The Greeks soon after yielded up their\n pretensions to those provinces by the marriage of\n Otho II. to Theophania, daughter of Romanus, emperor of\n the East, who brought him Apulia and Calabria for her\n dowry. Yet the treacherous Greeks joined the Saracens\n in those provinces, and again expelled the Germans. But\n in 1008, Tancred, a noble Norman, lord of Hauteville,\n with his twelve sons, and a gallant army of adventurers,\n went from Normandy into Apulia, and had great success\n against the Saracens and their confederates the Greeks.\n From this time the Normans became dukes of Calabria,\n and counts and dukes of Apulia. Robert Guiscard, the\n most valiant Norman duke of Apulia, augmented his power\n by the conquest of Sicily, Naples, and all the lands\n which lie between that city and Latium or the territory\n of Rome. In 1130, Roger the Norman was saluted by the\n pope, king of both Sicilies.\n\n [163] This Robert loved the Church, and was a wise,\n courageous, and learned prince. He wrote sacred hymns,\n and among others that which begins \u201cO Constantia\n Martyrum;\u201d also, as some say the \u201cVeni Sancte\n Spiritus, Et emitte c\u0153litus\u201d &c., sung in the mass\n for Whitsuntide.\n\n [164] At the entry of the cloister of St. Vanne at Verdun,\n is hung a picture in which the emperor Saint Henry is\n represented laying down his sceptre and crown, and\n asking the monastic habit of the holy abbot Richard.\n The abbot required of him a promise of obedience, then\n commanded him to resume the government of the empire,\n upon which a distich was made, in which it is said:\n The emperor came hither to live in obedience; and he\n practises this lesson by ruling.\n\n [165] Baronius and some others call St. Henry the first\n emperor of that name, because Henry I. or the Fowler,\n was never crowned by the pope at Rome; without which\n ceremony some Italians style an emperor only king of\n Germany or emperor elect; though Charles V. was the\n last that was so crowned at Rome. St. Henry on his\n death-bed recommended to the princes Conrad the Salic,\n duke of Franconia, who was accordingly chosen emperor,\n was crowned at Rome in 1027, reigned with great piety\n and glory, and was buried in the cathedral church at\n Spire, which he had built near his own palace. He was\n succeeded by his son Henry the Black or III.\n\n [166] S. Fulgent, ep. 6.\n\n [167] N. 11, p. 69.\n\n [168] Critic. Hist. Chron. ad an. 734, n. 4.\n\n [169] Our saint\u2019s colleague St. Wiro (in Irish Bearaidhe) is\n honored on the 8th of May. By the Four Masters he is\n styled abbot of Dublin; but with the Irish annalists,\n bishop and abbot are generally synonymous terms. He\n died in 650. See Ware.\n\n St. Plechelm\u2019s other fellow-missionary, St. Otger,\n is honored on the 10th of September; he is always\n styled deacon, by which it appears that he was never\n promoted to the priesthood. From his name and other\n circumstances it is thought he was an English-Saxon,\n though from the North, probably the southern parts\n of Scotland anciently subject to the kings of the\n Northumbers. Being desirous to accompany SS. Wiro and\n Plechelm to Rome, and in their apostolic missions into\n Germany, when Pepin gave the Mount of St. Peter or\n of St. Odilia to St. Wiro, the three saints settled\n there together and ended their days in that monastery.\n Whether St. Otger outlived St. Plechelm is uncertain.\n All three were buried in the monastery of Berg, or\n of Mount St. Peter or St. Odilia; and their bodies\n remained there till, in 858, that monastery was given\n by king Lothaire to Hunger, bishop of Utrecht, when the\n greatest part of these relics was translated to Utrecht.\n Part still remained in the church of Berg, till with\n the chapter of canons it was removed to Ruremund. These\n relics were hid some time in the civil wars for fear\n of the Calvinists, but discovered in 1594, and placed\n again above the high altar. The portion at Utrecht\n was also hid for a time for fear of the Normans; but\n found and exposed to public veneration again by bishop\n Baldric. See the life of Saint Otger, with notes by\n Bollandus, and the additional disquisitions of Stilting\n ad 10 Sept., t. 2, p. 612.\n\n [170] The barbarians who inhabited the northern coasts of\n the Baltic were called by one general name Normans;\n and the Sclavi, Vandals, and divers other nations were\n settled on the southern coast, as Eginhard, Helmold,\n and others testify.\n\n [171] The authorities produced by Tho. Rudburn, a monk of\n the Old Monastery in Winchester, in 1450, to prove\n St. Swithin to have been some time public professor\n of divinity at Cambridge, are generally esteemed\n suppositions. See Rudburn, l. 3, c. 2, Hist. Maj.\n Wintoniensis, apud Wharton, Anglia Sacra, and the\n History of the University of Cambridge.\n\n [172] Hearne, Teat. Roffens, p. 269.\n\n [173] See Ingulph. Asser. Redborne.\n\n [174] The value of a mancuse is not known; it is thought to\n have been about the same with that of a mark.\n\n [175] Caslen and B. Nicholson falsely call this the life of\n St. Swithin, and it appears from Leland that Lantfred\n never wrote his life, which himself sufficiently\n declares in the history of his miracles. The contrary\n seems a mistake in Pits, Bale, and Thomas Rudburn,\n p. 223. Rudburn manifestly confounds Wolstan with\n Lantfred.\n\n [176] Hist. Major Winton. p. 223. Vita metrice S. Swithuni\n per Wolstanum monachum Winton. ib. 2.\n\n [177] At the east end of this cathedral is the place which\n in ancient times was esteemed most sacred, underneath\n which was the cemetery or resting-place of many saints\n and kings who were interred there with great honor.\n At present behind the high altar there is a transverse\n wall, against which we see the marks where several of\n their statues, being very small, were placed with their\n names under each pedestal in a row; \u201cKinglisus Rex. S.\n Birinus Ep. Kingwald Rex. Egbertus R. Adulphus (_i. e._\n Ethelwolphus) R. Elured R. filius ejus. Edwardus R.\n junior Adhelstanus R. filius ejus (Sta. Maria D. Jesus\n in the middle). Edredus R. Edgarus R. Alwynus Ep.\n Ethelred R. Cnutus R. Hardecanutus R. filius ejus,\u201d &c.\n Underneath, upon a fillet were written these verses:\n\n \u201cCorpora Sanctorum hic sunt in pace sepulta;\n Ex Meritis quorum fulgent miracula multa.\u201d\n\n At the foot of these, a little eastwards, is a large\n flat grave-stone, which had the effigies of a bishop\n in brass, said to be that of St. Swithin. See Lord\n Clarendon, and Samuel Gale, On the Antiquities of\n Winchester, p. 29, 30.\n\n [178] Hist. Arian. ad Monachos, p. 346.\n\n [179] Conc. Nic\u00e6n. Can. 15.\n\n [180] That prelate had been educated at C\u00e6sarea, where he\n studied with St. Pamphilus the martyr, whose name he\n afterward added to his own. He suffered imprisonment\n with him for the faith about the year 309, but\n recovered his liberty without undergoing any severer\n trial, and was chosen archbishop of C\u00e6sarea in 314.\n When Arius, in 320, retired from Alexandria into\n Palestine, having been deposed from the priesthood\n by St. Alexander the year before, Eusebius of C\u00e6sarea\n and some other bishops were imposed upon by him,\n and received him favorably. Hereupon Arius wrote to\n Eusebius of Nicomedia, whom he calls brother to the\n other Eusebius of C\u00e6sarea. Eusebius of Nicomedia was\n at that time of an advanced age, and had great interest\n with Constantine, who after the defeat of Licinius kept\n his court some time at Nicomedia as other emperors had\n done before him since Dioclesian had begun to reside\n in the East. This prelate was crafty and ambitious;\n his removal, procured by his intrigues, from his\n first see of Berytus to Nicomedia seems to have given\n occasion to the canon of the Nicene council, by which\n such translations were forbidden. Notwithstanding\n which, in defiance of so sacred a law, he afterwards\n procured himself to be again translated to the see\n of Constantinople, in 338, in the beginning of the\n reign of Constantius. The Council of Sardica, in 347,\n confirmed the above-mentioned Nicene canon under pain\n of the parties being deprived even of lay communion\n at their death; but this arch-heretic died in 342.\n He openly defended not only the person, but also the\n errors of Arius; subscribed the definitions of the\n Nicene council for fear of banishment: but three months\n after, being the author of new tumults, he was banished\n by Constantine, and after three years recalled, upon\n giving a confession of faith in which he declared\n himself penitent, and professed that he adhered to\n the Nicene faith, as Theodoret relates. By this act\n of dissimulation he imposed upon the emperor, but he\n continued by every base art to support his heresy, and\n endeavored to subvert the truth. Eusebius of C\u00e6sarea\n held that see from 314 till his death in 339. He was\n always closely linked with the ringleaders of the\n heresy. Nevertheless, the learned Henry Valois, in\n his Prolegomena to his translation of this author\u2019s\n Ecclesiastical History, pretends to excuse him from\n its errors, though he often boggled at the word\n Consubstantial. He certainly was so far imposed upon by\n Arius, as to believe that heretic admitted the eternity\n of the Divine Word; and in his writings many passages\n occur which prove the divinity, and, as to the sense,\n the consubstantiality of the Son, whatever difficulties\n he formed as to the word. On which account Ceillier\n and many others affect to speak favorably, or at least\n tenderly of Eusebius in this respect, and are willing\n to believe that he did not at least constantly adhere\n to that capital error. Yet it appears very difficult\n entirely to clear him from it, though he may seem to\n have attempted to steer a course between the tradition\n of the Church and the novelties of his friends. See\n Baronius ad an. 380, Witasse Nat. Alexander, and the\n late Treatise in folio, against the Arian heresy,\n complied by a Maurist Benedictin monk. Photius, in a\n certain work given us by Montfaucon (in Bibl. Coisliana,\n p. 358), roundly charges Eusebius with Arianism and\n Origenism.\n\n Eusebius, whose conduct was so unconstant and equivocal,\n shines to most advantage in his works, especially those\n which he composed in defence of Christianity before\n the Arian contest arose. The first of these is his\n book against Hierocles, who, under Dioclesian, was a\n prosecuting judge at Nicomedia, and afterward rewarded\n for his cruelty against the Christians with the\n government of Egypt. In a book he wrote he made\n Apollonius Tyan\u00e6us superior to Christ. But Eusebius\n demonstrates the history of this magician, written\n by Philostratus, when he taught rhetoric at Rome, one\n hundred years after the death of that magician, to be\n false and contradictory in most of its points, doubtful\n in others, and trifling in all. About the time he was\n made bishop he conceived a design of two works, which\n showed as much the greatness of his genius, as the\n execution did the extent of his knowledge. The first\n of these he called The Preparation, the other The\n Demonstration of the Gospel. In the first he, with\n great erudition, confutes idolatry, in fifteen books,\n showing that the Greeks borrowed the sciences and many\n of their gods from the Egyptians, whose true history\n agrees with that of Moses; but the fictions of their\n theology are monstrous, impious, and condemned by their\n own learned men; that their oracles, which were only\n a chain of impostures and frauds, or the responses of\n devils, never attained to any infallible knowledge of\n contingencies, and were silenced by a power which they\n acknowledged superior. He also shows the Unity of God,\n and the truth of his revealed religion as ancient as\n the world. In his Demonstration of the Gospel, in ten\n books, he shows that the Jewish law in every point\n clearly points out Christ and the gospel. These books\n of Evangelical Preparation and Demonstration furnish\n more proofs, testimonies and arguments for the truth\n of the Christian religion than any other work of the\n ancients on that subject.\n\n Eusebius\u2019s two books against Marcellus of Ancyra, and\n three On Ecclesiastical Theology, are a confutation\n of Sabellianism. His topography or alphabetical\n explication of the places mentioned in the Old\n Testament, is most exact and useful. It was translated\n into Latin, and augmented by St. Jerom. Eusebius\u2019s\n useful comments on the Psalms were published by\n Montfaucon (Collect. Nova Script. Gr\u00e6c. Paris, 1706).\n His fourteen Discourses, or Opuscula, published by\n F. Sirmond (Op. Sirmond, t. 1), are esteemed genuine,\n though not mentioned by the ancients. His discourse\n on the Dedication of the Church at Tyre, rebuilt after\n the persecution in 315, contains a curious description\n of that ceremony and of the structure. By his letter\n to his Church of C\u00e6sarea, after the conclusion of\n the council of Nice, he recommended to his flock the\n definitions and creed of that assembly. His panegyric\n of Constantine was delivered at Constantinople in\n presence of that prince, who then celebrated the\n thirtieth year of his reign by public games. The\n praises are chiefly drawn from the destruction of\n idolatry; but study reigns in this composition more\n than nature, and renders the discourse tedious, though\n the author took some pains to polish the style. His\n four books of the life of Constantine were written in\n 338, the year after that emperor\u2019s death. The style\n is diffusive, and the more disagreeable by being more\n labored. Phocius reproaches the author for dissembling\n or suppressing the chief circumstances relating to\n Arius, and his condemnation in the council of Nice.\n\n The Chronicle of Eusebius was a work of immense\n labor, in two parts; the first, called his Chronology,\n contained the distinct successions of the kings and\n rulers of the principal nations from the beginning of\n the world; the second part, called the Chronicle or the\n Rule of Times, may be called the table of the first,\n and unites all the particular chronologies of different\n nations in one. The second part was translated into\n Latin, and augmented by St. Jerom. The first part\n was lost when Joseph Scaliger gathered the scattered\n fragments from George Syncellus, Cedrenus, and the\n Alexandrian chronicle; but Scaliger ought to have\n pointed out his sources; and has inserted many things\n which certainly belong not to Eusebius.\n\n Our author\u2019s name has been rendered most famous by his\n ten books of Church History, which he brings down to\n the defeat of Licinius, in 323, when he first wrote it,\n though he revised it again in 326. He collected the\n Acts of the martyrs of Palestine, an abstract of which\n he added to the eighth book of his History. Rufinus\n elegantly translated this work into Latin, reduced to\n nine books, to which he added two others, wherein he\n brings down his history to the death of Theodosius.\n Eusebius copied very much Julius Africanus in his\n chronicle; and in his History, St. Hegesippos (who had\n compiled a History from Christ to 170) and others. This\n invaluable work is not exempt from some mistakes and\n capital omissions; nor was the author much acquainted\n with the affairs of the Western Church. See Ceillier,\n t. 4, p. 258, &c. Christophorson, bishop of Chichester,\n elegantly translated this History into Latin, but\n changed the manner of dividing the chapters. The\n translation of the learned Henry Valesius is most\n accurate. Eusebius was one of the most learned prelates\n of antiquity, and a man of universal reading; but he\n did not much study to polish his discourses, which is\n the common fault of those that make learning and\n knowledge their chief business.\n\n [181] Theodoret, l. 1, c. 20, 21. S. Hier., l. 3, in Rufin.,\n &c.\n\n [182] Eus., l. 4, de Vit. Constant., c. 61, p. 518.\n\n [183] Sozom., l. 2, c. 19, p. 469.\n\n [184] See Tillemont, Ceillier, Cave, Hist. Litt\u00e9r., p. 187,\n t. 1, and Solier, the Bollandist, Hist. Patr. Ant.\n c. 24, p. 36.\n\n [185] Theodoret, l. 1, c. 20. Theodorus Lector, l. 2, c. 1,\n p. 547. Theophanes, p. 114. See Tillem, note 4, p. 653.\n\n [186] St. Jerom (ep. 126, p. 38) calls St. Eustathius a\n loud sounding trumpet, and says he was the first who\n employed his pen against the Arians. The same father\n admires the extent of his knowledge, saying that it\n was consummate both in sacred and profane learning\n (ep. 84, p. 327). His just praises are set forth by\n St. Chrysostom in an entire panegyric; and Sozomen\n assures us (l. 1, c. 2) that he was universally admired\n both for the sanctity of his life, and the eloquence\n of his discourses. The elegant works which he composed\n against the Arians were famous in the fifth century,\n but have not reached us. But we have still his Treatise\n on the Pythonissa or Witch of Endor, published by Leo\n Allatius, with a curious Dissertation, and reprinted in\n the eighth tome of the Critici Sacri. In it the author\n undertakes to prove against Origen that this witch\n neither did nor could call up the soul of Samuel,\n but only a spectre or devil representing Samuel, in\n order to deceive Saul. He clearly teaches that before\n the coming of Christ the souls of the just rested\n in Abraham\u2019s bosom; and that none could enter heaven\n before Christ had opened it; but that Christians enjoy\n an advantage above the patriarchs and prophets, in\n being united with Christ immediately after their death\n if they have lived well. This treatise is well written,\n and justifies the commendations which the ancients\n give to this great prelate and eloquent orator. Sozomen\n justly calls his writings admirable, as well for the\n purity of his style as for the sublimity of thought,\n the beauty of the expression, or the curious choice\n of the matter. Nothing more enhances his virtue, than\n the invincible constancy and patience with which he\n suffered the most reproachful accusation with which\n his enemies charged him, and the unjust deposition and\n banishment which were inflicted on him.\n\n [187] Gr. 22, p. 548.\n\n [188] \u201cQui sunt libri quos adoratis, legentes? Speratus\n respondit: Quatuor evangelia Domini nostri Jesu Christi,\n et epistolas S. Pauli apostoli, et omnem divinitus\n inspiratam scripturam.\u201d Acta apud Ruinart, p. 78, et\n Baron. ad an. 202.\n\n [189] \u201cConsummati sunt Christi martyres mense Julio, et\n intercedunt pro nobis ad Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum,\n cui honor et gloria cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto in\n s\u00e6cula s\u00e6culorum.\u201d Acta apud Baronium, ad an. 202.\n\n [190] Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus is commonly\n known by the last name. His father was a centurion in\n the proconsular troops of Africa, and he was born at\n Carthage about the year 160. He confesses that before\n his conversion to the Christian faith he, in his merry\n fits, pointed his keenest satire against it (Apol.,\n c. 18), had been an adulterer (De Resur. c. 59), had\n taken a cruel pleasure in the bloody entertainments\n of the amphitheatre (De Spectac. c. 19), attained to\n a distinguishing eminency in vice (De P\u0153nit. c. 4),\n \u201cEgo pr\u00e6stantiam in delictis meam agnosco,\u201d and was\n an accomplished sinner in all respects, (ib. c. 12.\n \u201cPeccator omnium notarum cum sim,\u201d) yet having his\n head marvellously well turned for science, he applied\n himself from his cradle to the study of every branch of\n good literature, poetry, philosophy, geometry, physic,\n and oratory; he dived into the principles of each\n sect, and both into the fabulous and into the real or\n historical part of mythology. His comprehensive genius\n led him through the whole circle of profane sciences;\n above the rest, as Eusebius tells us, he was profoundly\n versed in the Roman laws. He had a surprising vivacity\n and keenness of wit, and an uncommon stock of natural\n fire which rendered him exceeding hot and impatient,\n as himself complains (l. de Patient. in init.) His\n other passions he restrained after his conversion to\n Christianity; but this vehemence of temper he seems\n never to have sufficiently checked. The motives which\n engaged him to embrace the gospel seem those upon\n which he most triumphantly insists in his works; as the\n antiquity of the Mosaic writings, the mighty works and\n wisdom of the divine lawgiver, the continued chain of\n prophecy and wonders conducting the attentive inquirer\n to Christ, the evidence of the miracles of Christ and\n his apostles, the excellency of the law of the gospel,\n and its amazing influence upon the lives of men;\n the power which every Christian then exercised over\n evil spirits, and the testimony of the very devils\n themselves whom the infidels worshipped for gods, and\n who turned preachers of Christ, howling, and confessing\n themselves devils in the presence of their own votaries,\n (Apol. c. 19, 20, 23, &c. &c.) also the constancy and\n patience of the martyrs (l. ad Scapul. c. ult.) &c.\n\n Being by his lively and comprehensive genius\n excellently formed for controversy, he immediately\n set himself to write in defence of religion, which was\n then attacked by the Heathens and Jews on one side,\n and on the other corrupted by heretics. He successfully\n employed his pen against all these enemies to truth,\n and first against the Pagans. The persecution which\n began to rage gave occasion to his Apologetic, which\n is not only his masterpiece, but indisputably one of\n the best among all the works of Christian antiquity.\n This piece was not addressed to the Roman senate,\n as Baronius and several others thought, but to the\n proconsul and other magistrates of Africa, and perhaps\n to all the governors of provinces and magistrates\n of the empire, among whom he might also comprise the\n Roman senators; for the title of Presidents only,\n agreed to these provincial governors, and he names the\n proconsuls; (ch. 45) speaks of Rome as at a distance:\n (c. 9, 21, 24, 35, 45) says they practised at home (at\n Carthage), the bloody religious rites of the Scythians;\n (c. 9) and by those words, \u201cin ipso fere vertice\n civitatis pr\u00e6sidentes,\u201d he seems to mean the _Byrsa_\n of Carthage; certainly not Rome, which he always calls\n _Urbs_, not _civitas_.\n\n In the first part of this work he clears Christians\n from the calumnies of incest and murder thrown upon\n them, and demonstrates the injustice of punishing\n them merely for a name, and exposes the absurdity\n of Trajan\u2019s order commanding them to be punished if\n impeached, yet not to be sought after. He mentions\n that Tiberius, and after his miraculous victory, Marcus\n Aurelius, were favorable to the Christian religion.\n He then proceeds to confute idolatry; asks, if Bacchus\n was made a god for planting vines, why did not Lucullus\n attain to the same honor, because he first brought\n cherry-trees from Pontus to Rome? Why Aristides the\n Just, Socrates, Cr\u0153sus, Demosthenes, and so many others\n who had been most eminent, were not admitted to share\n divine honors with Jupiter, Venus, &c.? He explains\n the chief articles of our faith, and speaking of the\n origin and false worship of the demons he inserts\n the most daring challenge, which Saint Cyprian (ep.\n ad Demetrianum), Lactantius (De Just. l. 5, c. 21)\n and other primitive fathers repeat with the same\n assurance,--\u201cLet a demoniac be brought into court,\u201d\n says Tertullian, \u201cand the evil spirit that possesses\n him be commanded by any Christian to declare what he is,\n he shall confess himself as truly to be a devil as he\n did falsely before declare himself a god. In like manner\n let them bring any of those who are thought to be\n inspired by some god, as \u00c6sculapius, &c. If all these\n do not declare themselves in court to be devils, not\n daring to lie to a Christian, do you instantly put that\n rash Christian to death.\u201d\n\n The apologist mentions the submission of Christians to\n the emperors, their love of their enemies, and their\n mutual charity, horror of all vice, and constancy in\n suffering death and all manner of torments for the\n sake of virtue. The heathens called them in derision\n Sarmentitians and Semaxians, because they were fastened\n to trunks of trees, and stuck about with faggots to\n be set on fire. But Tertullian answers them: \u201cThus\n dressed about with fire, we are in our most illustrious\n apparel. These are our triumphal robes embroidered\n with palm-branches in token of victory (such the Roman\n generals wore in their solemn triumphs), and mounted\n upon the pile we look upon ourselves as in our\n triumphal chariot. Who ever looked well into our\n religion but he came over to it? and who ever came over\n to it but was ready to suffer for it? We thank you for\n condemning us, because there is such a blessed discord\n between the divine and human judgment, that when you\n condemn us upon earth, God absolveth us in heaven.\u201d\n\n Tertullian wrote about the same time his two books\n Against the Gentiles, in the first confuting their\n slanders, in the second attacking their false gods.\n An accidental disputation of a Christian with a Jewish\n proselyte engaged him to show the triumph of the\n faith over that obstinate race, who seemed deaf to all\n arguments. His book Against the Jews is just, solid,\n and well supported, a model of theological controversy,\n which wants but a little clearness of diction to be a\n very finished piece. Hermogenes, a Stoic philosopher,\n and a Christian, broached a new heresy in Africa,\n teaching matter to be eternal. Tertullian shows it to\n have been created by God with the world, and unravels\n the sophistry of that heresiarch in its book Against\n Hermogenes. That Against the Valentinians is rather a\n satire and raillery, than a serious confutation of the\n extravagant sentiments of those heretics. His excellent\n book Of Prescription against Heretics was certainly\n written before his fall; for in it he lays great stress\n on his communion with all the apostolic churches,\n especially that of Rome, and confutes by general\n principles all heresies that can arise.\n\n His design in this little treatise is to show, that\n the appeal to scripture is very unjust in heretics,\n who have no claim or title to the scriptures. These\n were carefully committed in trust by the apostles\n to their successors, and he proves, that to whom the\n scriptures were intrusted, to them also was committed\n the interpretation of scripture. He promises that\n heresies are the very pest and destruction of faith,\n but no just cause of scandal or wonder, any more than\n fevers which consume the human body; for they were\n predicted by Christ, and the necessary consequence\n of criminal passions. He says, as if it had been to\n anticipate or remove the offence which he afterward\n gave by his fall: \u201cWhat if a bishop, a deacon, a widow,\n a virgin, a teacher, or even a martyr, shall fall from\n the faith;--Do we judge of the faith by the persons or\n of persons by their faith? No man is wise who holds not\n the faith.\u201d (c. 3.) He says: \u201cWe have no need of a nice\n inquiry after we have found Christ, or of any curious\n search after we have learned the gospel. If we believe\n we desire nothing further than to be believers.\u201d\n (c. 7.) He adds, some heretics inculcate as a good\n reason for eternal scruple and searching, that it is\n written: _Seek and ye shall find_. But he takes notice\n those words only belonged to those Jews who had not yet\n found Christ, and cannot mean, that we must for ever\n seek on. But if we are to seek, it must not be from\n heretics who are estranged from the truth, who have\n no power to instruct, no inclination but to destroy,\n and whose very light is darkness. Christ laid down a\n rule of faith, about which there can be no cavils,\n no disputes but what are raised by heretics; and an\n obstinate opposition to this rule is what constitutes\n a heretic.\n\n He inveighs against too curious searches in faith, as\n the source of heresies. Then coming close to the point,\n he will not have heretics admitted to dispute about the\n scriptures, to which they have no claim; and in such a\n scriptural disputation, the victory is precarious and\n very liable to uncertainty. All then is to be resolved\n into what the apostles have taught; which apostolical\n tradition is the demonstration of the truth, and the\n confutation of all error and heretical innovation. Our\n perfect agreement, and general consent and harmony with\n the apostolic churches which live in the unity of the\n same faith, is the most convincing proof of the truth,\n against which no just objection can possibly be formed.\n (c. 21, 22.) He urges that Marcion, Apelles, Valentinus,\n and Hermogenes were of too modern a date, and proved\n by their separation and pretended claim of what was\n ancient, that the Church was before them; they ought\n therefore to say, that Christ came down again from\n heaven and taught again upon earth, before they can\n commence apostles. \u201cBut,\u201d says he, \u201cif any of these\n heretics have the confidence to put in their claim\n to apostolic antiquity, let them show us the original\n of their churches, the order and succession of their\n bishops, so as to ascend up to an apostle,\u201d &c. He is\n for having the heretics prove their mission by miracles,\n like the apostles. (c. 35.) He writes: \u201cTo these men\n the Church might thus fitly address herself: Who are\n ye? When, and from whence came ye? What do ye in my\n pastures, who are none of mine? By what authority do\n you, Marcion, break in upon my enclosures? Whence,\n O Apelles, is your power to remove my land-marks?\n This field is mine of right, why then do you at your\n pleasure sow and feed therein? It is my possession; I\n held it in times past; I first had it in my hands; my\n title to it is firm and indisputable, and derived from\n those persons whose it was, and to whom it properly\n belonged; I am the heir of the apostles; as they\n provided in their testament, as they committed and\n delivered to my trust, as they charged and ordered me,\n so I hold.\u201d (c. 37.) He takes notice that in the Pagan\n superstitions the devil had imitated many ceremonies\n both of the Jewish and Christian religion; and\n that heretics in like manner were bad copies of the\n true Church. (c. 40.) He appeals to the manners and\n conversation of the heretics which are vain, earthly,\n without weight, without discipline, in every respect\n suitable to the faith they profess. (c. 41, 43.) \u201cI\n am very much mistaken,\u201d says he, \u201cif they are governed\n by any rules, even of their own making, since every\n one models and adopts the doctrine he has received\n according to his fancy, as the first founder framed\n them to his, and to serve his own turn. The progress of\n every heresy was formed upon the footsteps of its first\n introducers; and the same liberty that was assumed\n by Valentinus and Marcion, was generally made use of\n by their followers. If you search into all sorts of\n heresies, you will find that they differ in many things\n from the first authors of their own sect. They have few\n of them in any Church; but without mother, without see,\n without the faith, they wander up and down like exiled\n men, entirely devoid of house and home.\u201d (c. 42.)\n\n Among his other works, the most useful is the book On\n Penance, the best polished of all his writings; in the\n first part, he treats of repentance at baptism; in the\n second, on that for sins committed after baptism. He\n teaches here that the Church hath power to remit even\n fornication, which he denied when a Montanist. He\n insists much on the laborious exercises of this penance\n after baptism.\n\n A book On Prayer, explaining in the first part the\n Lord\u2019s Prayer; in the second, several ceremonies often\n used at prayer. An exhortation to Patience, in which\n the motives are displayed with great eloquence. An\n exhortation to Martyrdom, than which nothing can be\n more pathetic.\n\n He wrote a book On Baptism, proving in the first part,\n its obligation and necessity; in the second, treating\n on several points of discipline relating to that\n sacrament.\n\n As to his other works, in his first book to his Wife,\n written probably before he was priest (see Ceillier,\n p. 375, and 391), he exhorts her not to marry again,\n if she should survive him; and mentions several in the\n Church living in perpetual continency. In the second,\n he allows second marriages lawful, but if the woman be\n determined to engage a second time in the married state,\n insists that it is unlawful to marry an infidel. He\n alleges the impossibility of rising to prayer at night,\n giving suitable alms, visiting the martyrs, &c. with\n a pagan husband: \u201cCan you conceal yourself from him,\u201d\n says he, \u201cwhen you make the sign of the cross upon your\n bed or your body?--Will he not know what you receive\n in secret, before you take any food?\u201d that is, the\n eucharist, (l. 2, c. 5.) He concludes with an amiable\n description of a Christian holy marriage: \u201cThe Church,\u201d\n saith he, \u201capproves the contract, the oblation ratifies\n it, the blessing is the seal of it, and the angels\n carry it to the heavenly Father who confirms it. Two\n bear together the same yoke, and are but one flesh, and\n one mind: they pray together, fast together, mutually\n exhort each other, go together to the church, and\n to the table of the Lord. They conceal nothing from\n each other, visit the sick, collect alms without\n restraint, assist at the offices of the Church without\n interruption, sing psalms and hymns together, and\n encourage each other to praise God.\u201d\n\n In his treatise On the Shows, he represents them as\n occasions of idolatry, impurity, vanity, and other\n vices, and mentions a woman who, going to the theatre,\n returned back possessed with a devil: when the exorcist\n reproached the evil spirit for daring to attack one of\n the faithful, it boldly answered: \u201cI found her in my\n own house.\u201d In his book On Idolatry, he determines\n many cases of conscience, relating to idolatry, as\n that it is not lawful to make idols, &c., but he says,\n a Christian servant may attend his master to a temple:\n any friend may assist at an idolater\u2019s marriage, &c.\n In two books On the Ornaments or Dress of Women, he\n zealously recommends modesty in attire, and condemns\n their use of paint. In that On veiling Virgins, he\n undertakes to prove that young women ought to cover\n their faces at church, contrary to the custom of his\n country, where only married women were veiled. In that\n On the Testimony of the Soul, he proves that there is\n only one God from the natural testimony of every one\u2019s\n soul. In his Scorpiace, written against the poison\n of the Scorpions, that is, Gnostics, especially a\n branch of those heretics named Cainites, he proves\n the necessity of martyrdom, which they denied. In his\n Exhortation to Chastity, he dissuades a certain widow\n from a second marriage, which he allows to be lawful,\n though hardly so; and the harshness of his expressions\n show that he then leaned toward Montanism.\n\n Tertullian was a priest, and continued in the Church\n till the middle of his life, that is, to forty or\n upwards, when he miserably fell. Montanus, an eunuch\n in Phrygia, set up for a prophet, and was wonderfully\n agitated by an evil spirit, and pretended to raptures\n in which he lost his senses, and spoke incoherently,\n not like St. Quadratus and other true prophets. He\n was joined by Prisca, or Priscilla, and Maximilla,\n two women of quality, and rich, but of most debauched\n lives. These had the like pretended raptures, and many\n were deceived by them. Montanus, about the year 171,\n pretended that he had received the Holy Ghost to\n complete the law of the gospel, and was called by\n his followers the Paraclete. Affecting a severity of\n doctrine, to which his manners did not correspond, he\n condemned second marriages, and flight in persecution,\n and ordered extraordinary fasts. The Montanists said\n that, beside the fast of Lent observed by the Catholics,\n there were other fasts imposed by the Divine Spirit.\n They kept three Lents in the year, each of two weeks,\n and upon dry meats, as necessary injunctions of the\n Spirit by the new revelations made to Montanus, which\n they preferred to the writings of the apostles; and\n they said these laws were to be observed for ever.\n (See Tert. de Jejun. c. 15, also St. Jerom, ep. 54,\n ad Marcellam, et in Agg\u00e6, c. 1), which is the reason\n why the Montanists, even in the time of Sozomen, kept\n their Antepaschal fast confined to two weeks, which the\n Catholics at that time certainly observed of forty days.\n For, as bishop Hooper (of Lent, p. 65), remarks, those\n great fasters would hardly have been left behind, had\n they not been restrained by the pretended institution\n of the Spirit, to which they punctually kept; and\n this circumstance rendered these facts superstitious.\n Pepuzium, a town in Phrygia, was the metropolis of\n these heretics, who called it Jerusalem. The bishops\n of Asia having examined their prophecies and errors,\n condemned them. It is said, that Montanus and Maximilla\n going mad, hanged themselves. See Eusebius.\n\n Tertullian\u2019s harsh, severe disposition fell in with\n this rigidness. His vehement temper was for no medium\n in any thing; and failing first by pride, he resented\n some affronts which he imagined he had received from\n the clergy of Rome, as Saint Jerom testifies; and in\n this passion deserted the Church, forgetting the maxims\n by which he had confuted all heresies. Solomon\u2019s fall\n did not prejudice his former inspired writings. Nor\n does the misfortune of Tertullian destroy at least the\n justness of the reasoning in what he had written in\n defence of the truth, any more than if a man lost his\n senses, this unlucky accident could annul what he had\n formerly done for the advancement of learning.\n\n Tertullian is the most ancient of all ecclesiastical\n writers among the Latins. St. Vincent of Lerins, who is\n far from shading the blemishes of this great man, says,\n \u201cHe was among the Latins what Origen was among the\n Greeks--that is, the first man of his age. Every word\n seems a sentence, and almost every sentence a new\n victory. Yet with all these advantages, he did not\n continue in the ancient and universal faith. His error,\n as the blessed confessor Hilary observes, has taken\n away that authority from his writings which they\n would have otherwise deserved.\u201d St. Jerom in his book\n against Helvidius, when his authority was objected,\n coolly answered, \u201cThat he is not of the Church,\u201d\n \u201cEcclesi\u00e6 hominem non esse.\u201d Yet he sometimes speaks\n advantageously of his learning. Lactantius calls his\n style uncouth, rugged, and dark, but admires his depth\n of sense; and he who breaks the shell will not repent\n his pains for the kernel. Balsac ingeniously compares\n his eloquence to ebony, which is bright and pleasing\n in its black light. The great master of eloquence,\n St. Cyprian, found such hidden stores under his dark\n language, that he is reported never to have passed a\n day without reading him; and when he called for his\n book, he used to say, \u201cGive me my master.\u201d\n\n We find this once great man, who expressed in his\n Apologetic (cap. 39) the most just and fearful\n apprehension of excommunication, which he there called,\n The anticipation of the future judgment, afterward\n proud, arrogant, and at open defiance with the censures\n of the Church. And this great genius seems even to lose\n common sense when he writes in favor of his errors and\n enthusiasm, as when, upon the authority of the dreams\n of Priscilla and Maximilla, he seriously disputes on\n the shape and color of a human soul, &c. He lived to a\n very advanced age, and leaving the Montanists, became\n the author of a new sect called from him Tertullianists,\n who had a church at Carthage till St. Austin\u2019s time,\n when they were all reconciled to the Catholic faith.\n Tertullian died towards the year 245.\n\n The works which he wrote after his fall are, a book\n On the Soul, pretending it to have a human figure, &c.\n Another On the Flesh of Christ, proving that he took\n upon him human flesh in reality, not in appearance\n only. One on the Resurrection of the Flesh, proving\n that great mystery. Five books Against Marcion, who\n maintained that there were two principles or gods, the\n one good the other evil; that the latter was worshipped\n by the Jews, and was author of their law; but that the\n good god sent Christ to destroy his works. Against this\n heresiarch, Tertullian proves the unity of God, and\n the sanctity of the Old Law and Testament. In his book\n Against Praxeas he proves excellently the Trinity of\n Persons, and uses the very word Trinity (c. 2), but\n he impiously condemns Praxeas, because coming from the\n East to Rome he had informed pope Victor of the errors\n and hypocrisy of Montanus; on which account he says,\n he had banished the Paraclete (Montanus) and crucified\n the Father. \u201cParacletum fugavit, Patrem crucifixit,\u201d\n (c. 1.) For Praxeas, puffed up with the title of\n confessor, broached the heresy of the Patripassians,\n confounding the three Persons, and pretending that\n the Father in the Son became man, and was crucified\n for us. His apology for the Philosophers\u2019 Cloak, which\n he continued to wear rather than the Toga, for its\n conveniency, and as an emblem of a severer life, seems\n only writ to display his wit. His apology to Scapula,\n proconsul of Africa in 211, is an exhortation to put a\n stop to the persecution, alleging that \u201ca Christian is\n no man\u2019s enemy, much less the emperor\u2019s.\u201d In his book\n On Monogamy he maintains against the Psychici (so he\n calls the Catholics) that second marriages are unlawful,\n which was one point of his heresy. One of his arguments\n is, the duty of a widow always to pray for the soul of\n her deceased husband. (c. 10.)\n\n He writ his book on Fasts, to defend the extraordinary\n fasts commanded by the Montanists; but shows that\n certain obligatory fasts were observed by the Catholics,\n as that before Easter, since called Lent, in which\n they fasted every day till vespers or evening-service:\n that those of Wednesday and Friday till three o\u2019clock,\n called stations, were devotional. Some added to these\n Xerophagia or the use only of dried meats, abstaining\n from all vinous and juicy fruits; and some confined\n themselves to bread and water. The Montanists kept\n three Lents a year, and other fasts always till night,\n and with the Xerophagia.\n\n Tertullian wrote also his book On Chastity, against the\n Catholics, because they gave absolution to penitents\n who had been guilty of adultery or fornication. For the\n Montanists denied that the Church could pardon sins of\n impurity, murder, or idolatry. In this book he mentions\n twice, that on the sacred chalices was painted the\n image of the good shepherd bringing home the lost sheep\n on his shoulders. Scoffing at a decree made by the\n bishop of Rome at that time, he writes, \u201cI am informed\n that they have made a decree, and even a peremptory one;\n the chief priest, that is, the bishop of bishops, saith;\n I remit the sins of adultery and fornication to those\n who have done penance.\u201d (c. 1.) He calls him apostolic\n bishop, c. 19, and blessed pope, c. 13, ib. His book\n On the Crown was written in 235, the first year of\n Maximinus, to defend the action of a Christian soldier\n who refused to put on his head a garland, like the rest,\n when he went to receive a donative. Tertullian says\n these garlands were reputed sacred to some false god or\n other. He alleges that by tradition alone we practise\n many things, as the ceremonies used at baptism, yearly\n oblations (or sacrifices) for the dead, and for the\n festivals of martyrs, standing at prayer on the Lord\u2019s\n day, and from Easter to Whitsuntide, and the sign of\n the cross \u201cwhich we make,\u201d says he, \u201cupon our foreheads\n at every action, and in all our motions at coming in or\n going out of doors, in dressing or bathing ourselves;\n when we are at table or in bed; when we sit down or\n light a lamp, or whatever else we do.\u201d (De Corona, c. 3\n and 4.) His book On Flight, was written about the same\n time to pretend to prove against the Catholics that it\n is a crime to fly in time of persecution.\n\n The most correct edition of Tertullian\u2019s works is that\n of Rigaltius, even that of Pamelius being ill pointed,\n and abounding with faults; though Rigaltius\u2019s notes on\n this and some other fathers want much amendment.\n\n [191] Tert. l. ad Scapul. c. 3.\n\n [192] L. 7, Ep. 8.\n\n [193] Euchar.\n\n [194] Ennod. l. 8, Ep. 24, ad Faust.\n\n [195] Magisteriani were officers under the Magister\n Officiorum, who held one of the first dignities in\n the imperial court, and had a superintendency over the\n Palatines, inferior officers of the court, the schools\n or academies of the court, and certain governors. See\n Du Cange, Glossar.\n\n [196] This ceremony was much more ancient. Alcuin and\n Amalarius ascribe its institution to pope Zosimus; but\n others make it of older date. At Rome the archdeacon on\n Holy Saturday blessed wax mingled with oil, particles\n of which having a figure of a lamb formed upon them\n were distributed among the people. Hence was derived\n the custom of Agnus Deis made of wax sometimes mixed\n with relics of martyrs, which the popes blessed in\n a solemn manner. See Saint Gregory of Tours, de Vit.\n Patr. c. 8. The Rom. Order, Alcuin, Sirmond, Not. In\n Ennod., &c.\n\n [197] That a pretended woman called Joan interrupted\n the series of the succession between Leo IV. and\n Bennet III., is a most notorious forgery. Lupus\n Ferrariensis, ep. 103, to Bennet III. Ado in his\n Chronicle, Rhegino in his Chronicle, the annals of\n St. Bertin, Hincmar ep. 26, pope Nicholas I. the\n successor of Bennet III. ep. 46, even the calumniators\n of the holy see, Photius l. De Process. Spir. Sti. and\n Metrophanes of Smyrna, l. de Divinitate Spiritus Sancti,\n who all lived at that very time, expressly testify,\n that Bennet III. succeeded immediately Leo IV. Whence\n Blondel, a violent Calvinist, has by an express\n dissertation demonstrated the falsity of this fable.\n Marianus Scotus, at Mentz, wrote two hundred years\n after, in 1083, a chronicle in which mention is first\n made of this fiction; from whence it was inserted in\n the chronicle of Martinus Polonus, a Dominican, in 1277,\n though it is wanting in the true MS. copy kept in the\n Vatican library, as Leo Allatius assures us, and in\n other old MS. copies, as Burnet (Nouvelles de la Rep.\n des Lettres, Mars, 1687), Casleu (Catal. Bibl. reg.\n Londin, p. 102), &c., testify. Lambecius, the most\n learned keeper of the imperial library at Vienna,\n in his excellent catalogue of that library, vol. ii.\n p. 860, has demonstrated this of the oldest and best\n manuscript copies of this chronicle; also of Marianus\n Scotus. Her name was foisted into Sigebert\u2019s Chronicle,\n written in 1112; for it is not found in the original MS.\n copy at Gemblours, authentically published by Mir\u00e6us.\n Platina, and the other late copies of Martinus Polonus\n and Sigebert, borrow it from the first forger in the\n copy of Marianus Scotus, probably falsified; certainly\n of no authority and inconsistent; for there it is said\n that she sat two years five months, and that she had\n studied at Athens, where no schools remained long\n before this time.\n\n As to the porphyry stool shown in a repository\n belonging to the Lateran church, which is said to have\n been made use of on account of this fable, it is an\n idle dream. There were two such stools; one is now\n shown to travellers. It is certainly of old Roman\n antiquity, finely polished, and might perhaps be used\n at the baths or at some superstitious ceremonies.\n The art of cutting or working in porphyry marble\n was certainly lost long before the ninth age, and not\n restored before the time of Cosmus the Great of Medicis;\n this work is still exceeding slow and expensive. On\n this idle fable see Lambecius, Blondel, Leo Allatius,\n Nat. Alexander, Boerhave, &c.\n\n [198] The emperor Adrian, nobly born at Italica, near Seville,\n in Spain, was cousin-german to Trajan; and having been\n adopted by him, upon his death ascended the imperial\n throne in 117. He was extremely inquisitive, and fond\n of whatever was surprising or singular, well skilled\n in all curious arts, mathematics, judiciary astrology,\n physic, and music. But this, says Lord Bacon, was an\n error in his mind, that he desired to comprehend all\n things, yet neglected the most useful branches of\n knowledge. He was light and fickle; and so monstrous\n was his vanity, that he caused all to be slain who\n pretended in any art or science to rival him; and\n it was accounted great prudence in a certain person\n that he would not dispute his best with him, alleging\n afterward that it was reasonable to yield to him\n who commanded thirty legions. The beginning of this\n prince\u2019s reign was bloody; yet he is commended in it\n for two things: the first is mentioned by Spartian,\n that when he came to the empire he laid aside all\n former enmities, and forgot past injuries: insomuch\n that, being made emperor, he said to one who had been\n his capital enemy: \u201cThou hast now escaped.\u201d The other\n is, that, when a woman cried to him as he was passing\n by: \u201cHear me, C\u00e6sar;\u201d and he answered, \u201cI have not\n leisure.\u201d The woman replied: \u201cThen cease to reign.\u201d\n \u201cNoli ergo imperare.\u201d Whereupon he stopped and heard\n her complaint.\n\n [199] St. Paulin. ep. 11. ad Sever.\n\n [200] St. Hieron. ep. 13. ad Paul.\n\n [201] Adrian became more cruel than ever towards the end\n of his life, and without any just cause put to death\n several persons of distinction. At last he fell sick\n of a dropsy at his house at Tibur. Finding that no\n medicines gave him any relief, he grew most impatient\n and fretful under his lingering illness, and wished\n for death, often asking for poison or a sword, which\n no one would give him, though he offered them money\n and impunity. His physician slew himself that he might\n not be compelled to give him poison. A slave named\n Mastor, a barbarian noted for his strength and boldness,\n whom the emperor had employed in hunting, was, partly\n by threats, partly by promises, prevailed upon to\n undertake it; but instead of complying, was seized with\n fear, and durst not strike him, and fled. The unhappy\n tyrant lamented day and night, that death refused to\n obey and deliver him who had caused the death of so\n many others. He at length hastened his death by eating\n and drinking things contrary to his health in his\n distemper, and expired with these words in his month,\n \u201cThe multitude of physicians hath killed the emperor.\u201d\n \u201cTurba medicorum C\u00e6sarem perdidit.\u201d (See Dio et\n Spartian in Adr.) He died in 138, being sixty-two\n years old, and having reigned twenty-one years.\n\n [202] _A sette Frate_, in the villa of Mafiei, nine miles\n from Rome. See Aringhi, Roma Subter. l. 3, c. 14.\n\n [203] Ado, Usuard; Mart. Rom. cum notis Baronii et Lubin.\n\n [204] The best editions of St. Philastrius\u2019s book De\n H\u00e6resibus, are that printed in Hamburg in 1721, by the\n care of Fabricius, who has illustrated it with notes;\n and that procured by Cardinal Quirini at Brescia in\n 1738 together with the works of St. Gaudentius.\n\n [205] St. Aug. Pref. l. de h\u00e6res.\n\n [206] Utrecht was an archbishopric in the time of St.\n Willibrord, but from his death remained a bishopric\n subject first to Mentz, afterward to Cologne, till,\n in the reign of Philip II. Paul IV. in 1559, restored\n the archbishoprics of Utrecht and Cambray, and erected\n Mechlin a third with the dignity of primate. To Utrecht\n he subjected the new bishoprics of Haerlem, Middleburg,\n Deventer, Lewarden, and Groeningen; to Mechlin, those\n of Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Ipres, Bois-le-Duc and\n Ruremond; to Cambray, those of Arras and Tournay,\n with two new ones, St. Omer and Namur.\n\n [207] He also gave him Austrasia, great part of which from\n that age has been called Lorrain, either from this\n Lothaire or rather his younger son of the same name,\n whom he left king of that country.\n\n [208] Louis left to her the management of all affairs, made\n her elder brother Rodolph Guelph, governor of Bavaria,\n and her younger brother, Conrad, governor of Italy,\n and destined the best part of the kingdoms of Germany\n and France to Charles _the Bald_, the son which she\n bore him; to which dominions the sons by the first\n wife thought they had a prior claim. They, by an\n unjustifiable breach of their duty, twice took up arms\n against their father; first in 830, when the empress\n Judith was banished to a nunnery in Gascony, and the\n emperor imprisoned; but he was soon released by the\n Germans, and recalled Judith and her two brothers. In\n the second rebellion, in 833, Lothaire, the eldest son,\n banished Judith to Verona in Italy, and shut up her\n son Charles in the abbey of Pruim, near Triers, and the\n weak emperor himself in the abbey of St. Medard\u2019s at\n Soissons, after he had in an assembly of the states at\n Compeigne, basely confessed himself justly deposed from\n the empire, and guilty of the crimes which were laid\n to his charge. He was afterward sent to the abbey of\n St. Denys near Paris, and there clothed with the habit\n of a monk; but soon after delivered by his two younger\n sons, Pepin and Louis, and restored to his throne.\n Judith after all these disturbances so dexterously\n managed him that, at his death in 840, he left to her\n son Charles the monarchy of France.\n\n [209] P. 204.\n\n [210] L. 1, de gestis Pontif. Angl. p. 197.\n\n [211] Hist. Episcop. Ultraj.\n\n [212] Chron.\n\n [213] Ubbo Emmius, Rerum Frisic. l. 3, p. 74.\n\n [214] The works of St. Bruno of Segni, or of Asti, with a\n preliminary dissertation of Dom. Maur Marchesi were\n printed at Venice in 1651, in two vols. folio, and in\n the Bibl. Patr. at Lyons in 1677, t. 20. They consist\n of comments on several parts of scripture, one hundred\n and forty-five sermons, several dogmatical treatises,\n and letters; and a life of St. Leo IX. and another\n of St. Peter, bishop of Anagnia, whom Paschal II.\n canonized. This latter the Bollandists have published\n on the 3d of April.\n\n [215] Collet, t. 1, b. 1, p. 66, 71.\n\n [216] This book of Jansenius was condemned by Urban VIII.\n in 1641, and in 1653 Innocent X. censured five\n propositions to which the errors contained in this\n book were principally reduced. Alexander VII. in 1656\n confirmed these decrees, and in 1665 approved the\n formulary proposed by the French clergy for the manner\n of receiving and subscribing them. Paschasius Quenel,\n a French oratorian, published in 1671 his book of\n Moral Reflections on the Gospels, which he afterward\n augmented, and added like reflections on the rest of\n the New Testament, which work he printed complete in\n 1693 and 1694. In it he craftily insinuated the errors\n of Jansenius, and a contempt of the censures of the\n Church. Clement XI. condemned this book, in 1708; and\n in 1713 by the Constitution Unigenitus, censured one\n hundred and one propositions extracted out of it. These\n decrees were all received and promulgated by the clergy\n of France, and registered in the parliament of that\n kingdom that they might receive the force of a law of\n the state; and they are adopted by the whole Catholic\n Church, as cardinal Bissy, Languet, and other French\n prelates have clearly demonstrated.\n\n The Jansenian heresy is downright Predestinationism,\n than which no doctrine can be imagined more monstrous\n and absurd. The principal errors couched in the\n doctrine of Jansenists are, that God sometimes refuses,\n even to the just, sufficient grace to comply with his\n precepts; that the grace which God affords man since\n the fall of Adam, is such that if concupiscence be\n stronger, it cannot produce its effect; but if the\n grace be more powerful than the opposite concupiscence\n in the soul, or relatively to it victorious by a\n _necessitating_ influence, that then it cannot be\n resisted, rejected, or hindered; and that Christ\n by his death paid indeed a price sufficient for the\n redemption of all men, and offered it to purchase some\n weak insufficient graces for reprobate souls, but not\n to procure them means truly applicable, and sufficient\n for their salvation; which is really to confine the\n death of Christ to the elect, and to deprive the\n reprobate of sufficient means to attain to salvation.\n The main-spring or hinge of this system is that the\n grace which inclines man\u2019s will to supernatural virtue,\n since the fall of Adam, consists in a moral pleasurable\n motion or a delectation infused into the soul inclining\n her to virtue, as concupiscence carries her to vice;\n and that the power of delectation, whether of virtue\n or vice, which is stronger, draws the will by an\n inevitable necessity as it were by its own weight.\n\n The equivocations by which some advocates for these\n erroneous principles have endeavored to disguise or\n soften their harshness, only discover their fear of the\n light. A certain modern philosopher is more daring who,\n in spite not only of revelation, which he disclaims,\n but also of reason and experience, openly denies all\n free-will or election in human actions, pretending to\n apply this system of a two-fold delectation to every\n natural operation of the will. (See Hume\u2019s Essay on\n Free-Will.) Those who obstinately oppose the decrees\n of the Church in these disputes, without adopting any\n heretical principle condemned as such by the Church,\n but found their unjust exceptions in some points of\n discipline, or any other weak pretences, cannot be\n charged with heresy: nevertheless, only invincible\n ignorance can exempt them from the guilt of\n disobedience though they should not proceed to a\n schismatical separation in communion.\n\n [217] See F. Honor\u00e9 Addit. sur les Observ. p. 241, &c.\n Languet ep. Pastor, &c.\n\n [218] Honor\u00e9, ibid. p. 245, 253, &c.\n\n [219] See Collet\u2019s life of St. Vincent, l. 3, t. 1, p. 260,\n and Abelly, l. 2, ch. 12.\n\n [220] L. 9.\n\n [221] This consists in a prolapse both of the gut and the\n omentum or caul together.\n\n [222] T. 2, p. 546.\n\n [223] \u201cFuge, tace, quiesce; h\u00e6c sunt principia salutis,\u201d\n Rosweide, Cotelier, et Saint Theod. Stud. Vit. S.\n Arcen., c. 1, n. 7.\n\n [224] A small Egyptian measure of vegetables made of\n palm-tree leaves, as the word implies. See Cotelier,\n Mon. Gr. t. 4, not. p. 748, and Du Cange, Gloss. Gr\u00e6c.\n v. \u03b8\u03ac\u03bb\u03bb\u03b9\u03bd.\n\n [225] St. Chrys. l. de Virginit. t. 1, p. 321, ed. Ben.\n\n [226] St. Aug. in Ps. 128.\n\n [227] St. John Clim. Grad. 7, p. 427.\n\n [228] Gr. 27, n. 65.\n\n [229] Conc. t. 4, p. 1286.\n\n [230] Ennod. Apol. p. 342, ed. Sirmond. Item, l. 1, ep. 5.\n Cassidor. in Chron. et Anast. in Pontific.\n\n [231] Conc. t. 4, p. 1287.\n\n [232] Ib. p. 1223.\n\n [233] Dial. l. 4, c. 40. See Baron. ad an. 498, et Benedict\n XIV. l. de Canoniz. Sanctor.\n\n [234] T. 15, ch. 23, p. 352, Vie de Paschase.\n\n [235] Symmach. Apol. t. 4, Conc. p. 1298.\n\n [236] Ib. p. 1301.\n\n [237] Act. i. 20.\n\n [238] Hom. 3, in Act.\n\n [239] Eus. Hist. l. 3, c. 39.\n\n [240] L. 2, de Pr\u00e6dest.\n\n [241] John Cassian, priest and abbot of the great monastery\n of St. Victor\u2019s at Marseilles, was a native of Lesser\n Scythia, then comprised under Thrace. He inured himself\n from his youth to the exercises of an ascetic life in\n the monastery of Bethlehem. The great reputation of\n many holy anchorets in the deserts of Egypt induced\n him and one Germanus, about the year 390, to pay them\n a visit. Being much edified with the great examples of\n virtue they saw in those solitudes, especially in the\n wilderness of Scet\u00e9, they spent there and in Thebais\n several years. They lived like the monks of that\n country, went bare-foot, and so meanly clad that their\n friends would have been ashamed to meet them, and they\n gained their subsistence by their work, as all the rest\n did. (Col. 4, c. 10.) Their life was most austere,\n and they scarce ate two loaves a day each of six\n ounces. (Col. 19, c. 17.) In 403 they both went to\n Constantinople, where they listened to the spiritual\n instructions of St. Chrysostom, who ordained Cassian\n deacon, and employed him in his church. After the\n banishment of that holy prelate, Cassian and Germanus\n travelled to Rome with letters from the clergy of\n Constantinople to defend their injured pastor as\n Palladius informs us. Cassian was promoted to the order\n of priesthood in the West, and retiring to Marseilles,\n there founded two monasteries, one for men, and another\n for virgins, and wrote his spiritual Conferences and\n other works. He died in odor of sanctity soon after\n the year 433. His very ancient picture is shown in St.\n Victor\u2019s at Marseilles, where his head and right arm\n are exposed in shrines on the altar, by the permission\n of pope Urban V., the remainder of his body lies in a\n marble tomb which is shown in a subterraneous chapel.\n That abbey, by a special grant, celebrates an office\n in his honor on the 23d of July.\n\n His works consist, first of a book On the Incarnation,\n against Nestorius, written at the request of St. Leo,\n then archdeacon of Rome. Secondly, Of Institutions of a\n Monastical Life, in twelve books. In the four first he\n describes the habit that was worn, and the exercises\n and way of living that were followed by the monks of\n Egypt, to serve as a pattern for the monastic state in\n the West. He says, their habit was mean, merely serving\n to cover their nakedness; having short sleeves which\n reached no further than their elbows; they wore a\n girdle and a cowl upon their heads, but used no shoes,\n only a kind of sandals which they put off when they\n approached the altar; and they all used a walking-staff,\n as an emblem that they were pilgrims on earth. He\n observes that the monks forsook all things, labored\n with their hands, and lived in obedience; he describes\n the canonical hours of the divine office consisting of\n psalms and lessons. He mentions that whoever desires to\n be admitted into a monastery, must give proofs of his\n patience, humility, and contempt of the world, and be\n tried with denials and affronts; that no postulant was\n allowed to give his estate to the monastery in which he\n settled; that the first lesson which is taught a monk\n is, to subdue his passions, to deny his own will, and\n to practise blind obedience to his superior. Thus he is\n to empty himself of all prevalence in his own abilities,\n learning, or whatever can feed any secret pride or\n presumption. Cassian observes, that young monks were\n allowed no other food than boiled herbs, with a little\n salt; but that the extraordinary austerities of the\n Oriental monks in eating are not practicable in the\n west. In the eight last books of this work he treats\n of eight capital vices, prescribing the remedies and\n motives against them, and explaining the contrary\n virtues. He shows (l. 6, Inst. c. 5, 6), that chastity\n is a virtue which is not to be obtained but by a\n special grace of God; which must be implored by earnest\n prayer, seconded by watchfulness and fasting. He\n everywhere advises moderate fasts, but continual,\n (l. 5, p. 107, &c.). He observes (l. 11, c. 4), that\n vain-glory is the last vice that is subdued, and that\n it takes occasion even from the victory itself to\n renew its assaults. This seems the best and most\n useful of Cassian\u2019s writings, though the reading of\n his Conferences has been strongly recommended to monks\n by St. Bennet, St. John Climacus, St. Gregory, St.\n Dominic, St. Thomas, and others.\n\n In the book of his Conferences he has collected the\n spiritual maxims of the wisest and most experienced\n monks with whom he had conversed in Egypt. This\n work consists of three parts; the first contains\n ten Conferences, and was written in 423; the second\n comprises seven Conferences, and was compiled two years\n later; the third was finished in 428, and contains\n seven other Conferences. Cassian, in this work, teaches\n that the end to which a monk consecrates all his labors\n and for which he has renounced the world, is, the more\n easily to attain the most perfect purity or singleness\n of heart, without which no one can see God in his glory,\n or enjoy his presence by his special grace in this life.\n For this he must forsake the world, or its goods and\n riches; he must renounce or die to himself, divesting\n himself of all vices and irregular inclinations; and\n thirdly, he must withdraw his heart from earthly or\n visible things to apply it to those that are spiritual\n and divine. (Collat. 1 and 3.) He says, that the\n veil of the passions being once removed, the eyes\n of the mind will begin, as it were naturally to\n contemplate the mysteries of God, which remain always\n unintelligible and obscure to those who have only eyes\n of flesh, or whose hearts are unclean, and their eyes\n overclouded with sin and the world. (Coll. 5.) This\n purgation of the heart is made by the exercises of\n compunction, mortification, and self-denial; and the\n unshaken foundation of the most profound humility must\n be laid, which may bear a tower reaching to the heavens;\n for, upon it is to be raised the superstructure of all\n spiritual virtues. (Coll. 9.)\n\n To gain a victory over vices he strenuously inculcates\n the advantages of discovering all temptations to our\n superior, for when detected, they lose their force;\n the filthy serpent being by confession drawn out of\n his dark hole into the light and in a manner exposed,\n withdraws himself. His suggestions prevail so long as\n they are concealed in the heart. (Coll. 2, c. 10, 11,\n and Instit. l, 9, c. 39.) This he confirms by the\n example of Serapion, cured of an inveterate habit of\n stealing bread above his allowance in the community, by\n confessing the fault. (Coll. 2, c. 11.) But he teaches\n that these exercises are but preparations; for the\n end and perfection of the monastic state consists in\n continual and uninterrupted perseverance in prayer,\n as far as human frailty will permit. This is the\n conjunction of the heart with God. But this spirit of\n prayer cannot be obtained without mighty contrition,\n the purgation of the heart from all earthly corruption\n and the dregs of passion, and the illumination of the\n Holy Ghost, whose purest rays cannot enter an unclean\n heart. He compares the soul to a light feather which\n by its own levity is raised on high by the help of a\n gentle breath; but if wet by the accession of moisture,\n is depressed down to the very earth. The mind can only\n ascend to God when it is disburdened of the weight of\n earthly solicitude and corruption. (Coll. 9.)\n\n He inculcates the use of frequent aspirations,\n recommending that of the Church, \u201cDeus, in adjutorium\n meum intende,\u201d &c.; and says, the end of the perfection\n of the monastic state is, that the mind be refined from\n all carnal dust, and elevated to spiritual things, till\n by daily progress in this habit all its conversation\n may be virtually one continual prayer, and all the\n soul\u2019s love, desire, and study, may be terminated\n in God. In this her union with him by perpetual and\n inseparable charity, she possesses an image of future\n bliss, and a foretaste or earnest of the conversation\n of the blessed. Inveighing against lukewarmness in\n devotion he makes this remark (Coll. 4, c. 19): \u201cWe\n have often seen souls converted to perfection from a\n state of coldness, that is, from among worldlings and\n heathens; but have never seen any from among tepid\n Christians. These are moreover so hateful to God,\n that by the prophet he bids his teachers not to direct\n any exhortations to them, but to abandon them as a\n fruitless barren land, and to sow the divine word on\n new hearts, among sinners and heathens: \u2018Break up the\n new or fallow ground, and sow not upon land that is\n overrun with thorns.\u2019\u201d (Jer. iv. 3.) He exceedingly\n extols the unspeakable peace and happiness which souls\n enjoy in seeking only God, and the great and wonderful\n works which he performs in the hearts of his saints,\n which cannot be truly known to any man except to\n those who have experience of them. (Coll. 12, c. 12,\n and Coll. 14, c. 14.) Cassian, in the thirteenth\n Conference, under the name of the abbot Cheremon,\n favors the principles of the Semipelagians, though that\n error was not then condemned, it being first proscribed\n in the second council of Orange in 529. Whence St.\n Prosper himself, in his book against this discourse,\n never names him, but styles him a catholic doctor.\n (l. contra Collatorem, p. 828.) Cassian\u2019s style, though\n neither pure nor elegant, is plain, affecting, and\n persuasive. His works were published with comments by\n Alard Gaz\u00e6us or Gazet, a Benedictin monk of St. Vaast\u2019s\n at Arras, first at Douay in 1616; and afterward with\n more ample notes at Arras in 1618. They have been\n since reprinted at Lyons, Paris, and Francfort. See\n Dom. Rivet, Hist. Lit. t. 2, p. 215, and Cuper the\n Bollandist, ad 23 Julij, t. 5, p. 458, ad 482.\n\n [242] See the most edifying history of the eminent and holy\n men of this monastery of St. Victor\u2019s at Paris compiled\n by F. Simon Gourdan, in seven volumes folio, kept in\n MSS. in the curious public library of that house, t. 1,\n p. 128, &c.\n\n [243] Among the great men which this abbey produced in its\n infancy, the most famous are Hugh and Richard of St.\n Victor. Hugh, a native of the territory of Ypres in\n Flanders, became a canon regular in this monastery\n in 1115, was made prior, and taught divinity there\n from the year 1130 to his death in 1142. His works are\n printed in three vols. folio. In the first we have his\n literal and historical notes on the scripture; also\n mystical and allegorical notes on the same by some\n later author of this house. In the second tome are\n contained his spiritual works; the soliloquy of the\n soul, the praise of charity, a discourse on the method\n of praying, a discourse on love between the Beloved and\n the Spouse, four books on the vanity of the world, one\n hundred sermons, &c. The third tome presents us his\n theological treatises, of which the principal are his\n two books on the sacraments. He was called a second\n Augustin, or the tongue of that great doctor, whose\n spirit, sentiments, and style he closely follows. His\n notes on the rule of St. Austin, in the second tome,\n are excellent: also those on the Decalogue. The book\n De claustro anim\u00e6 is very useful for religious persons,\n and shows the austere abstinence and discipline then\n observed in monasteries; but is the work of Hugh Foliet,\n a most pious and learned canon of this order, who was\n chosen abbot of St. Dionysius\u2019s at Rheims, though he\n earnestly declined that dignity, in 1149. See Mabillon,\n Analecta, t. 1, p. 133, and Annal. l, 77, p. 141.\n Ceillier, t. 22, pp. 200, 224. Martenne, t. 5. Anecdot.\n p. 887.\n\n Richard of St. Victor, a Scotsman, regular canon of\n St. Victor\u2019s at Paris, scholar of Hugh, chosen prior of\n that abbey in 1164, died in 1173. His works have been\n often reprinted in two vols. folio; the best edition\n is that given at Rouen in 1650. His comments on the\n scripture are too diffusive: his theological tracts\n are accurate, his writings on contemplation and\n Christian virtues, though the style is plain, are\n full of the most sublime rules of an interior life.\n The collection of spiritual maxims of these holy men\n which F. Gourdan has compiled from their writings and\n sayings, demonstrates their heavenly wisdom, lights\n and experience in spiritual things, and in the perfect\n spirit of all virtues to which they attained by an\n admirable purity of heart, and spirit of penance,\n prayer, and divine love.\n\n [244] Luke vii.\n\n [245] Mention is made in the gospels of a woman who was a\n sinner (Luke vii.), of Mary of Bethania, the sister\n of Lazarus (John xi. 2, xii. 1, Mark xiv. 3, Mat.\n xxvi. 6.), and of Mary Magdalen, who followed Jesus\n from Galilee, and ministered to him. Many grave authors\n think all this belongs to one and the same person; that\n she fell into certain disorders in her youth, and in\n chastisement was delivered over to be possessed by\n seven devils; that she addressed herself to Jesus in\n the house of Simon the pharisee, and by her compunction\n deserved to hear from him that her sins were forgiven\n her; and in consequence was delivered from the seven\n devils: that with her brother Lazarus, and her sister\n Martha, she left Galilee and settled at Bethania, where\n Jesus frequently honored their house with his presence.\n (See Pezron, Hist. Evang. t. 2, p. 350.) St. Clement of\n Alexandria, (l. 2, P\u00e6dag. c. 8.) Ammonius, (Harmon. 4,\n Evang.) St. Gregory the Great, (hom. 25 and 33, in\n Evang.) and from his time the greater part of the\n Latins down to the sixteenth century adopt this opinion;\n though St. Ambrose, (lib. de Virgin. et l. 6, in Luc.)\n St. Jerom, (in Mat. xxvi. l. 2, contr. Jovin. c. 16,\n Pr\u00e6f. in Osee et ep. 150.) St. Austin, (tr. 49, in Joan.\n n. 3.) Albertus Magnus, and St. Thomas Aquinas leave\n the question undetermined. The two last say the Latins\n in their time generally presumed that they were the\n same person, but that the Greeks distinguished them.\n Baronius, Jansenius of Ghent, Maldonat, Natalis\n Alexander, (in Hist. Eccl. S\u00e6c. 1, Diss. 17.) Lami,\n (Harmon. Evang. et epist. Gallic\u00e2.) Mauduit, (Analyse\n des Evang. t. 2.) Pezron, Trevet, and strenuously\n Solier the Bollandist, t. 5, Julij, p. 187, and others\n have written in defence of the opinion of St. Gregory\n the Great.\n\n Others think these were distinct persons. This\n sentiment is adopted by the Apostolic Constitutions,\n (l. 3, c. 6.) St. Theophilus of Antioch, (in 4 Evang.)\n St. Iren\u00e6us, (l. 3, c. 4.) Origen, (hom. 35, in Mat.\n et hom. 1, or 2, Cant.) St. Chrysostom, (hom. 81, in\n Mat. 26, et hom. 61, in Joan.) St. Macanus, (hom. 12,)\n and by almost all the Greeks. Among the modern critics\n Casaubon, (Exercit. 14, in Baron.) Estius, (Or. 14,)\n three Jesuits, viz., Bulanger, (Diatrab. 3, p. 15,)\n Turrian, (in Consens. l. 3, c. 6,) and Salmeron,\n (t. 9, tr. 49,) also Zagers, a learned Franciscan,\n (in Joan. 11.) Mauconduit, Anquetin, Tillemont, (t. 2,\n p. 30, et 512.) Hammond, and many others, strenuously\n assert these to have been three distinct women.\n\n Some, whose sentiment appears most plausible to Toinard\n and Calmet, distinguish the sister of Lazarus and\n Magdalen; for this latter attended Christ the last\n year of his life, and seems to have followed him from\n Galilee to Jerusalem, when he came up to the Passover,\n (see Mat. xxvii. 56, 57, Mark xv. 40, 41, Luke xxiii.\n 49,) at which time the sister of Lazarus was with her\n brother and Martha at Bethania, (John xi. 1.) Moreover,\n these two women seem distinctly characterized, the\n one being called Magdalen, and being ranked among the\n women that followed Jesus from Galilee, the other being\n everywhere called the sister of Lazarus; and though\n she might have possessed an estate at Magdalum in\n Galilee, and have come originally from that country,\n this constant distinction of epithets naturally leads\n us to imagine them different persons; but St. Iren\u00e6us,\n Origen, St. Chrysostom, &c., nowhere distinguish the\n penitent and Magdalen: and St. Luke having mentioned\n the conversion of the sinful woman (at Naim) in the\n next chapter, subjoins, that certain women who had been\n delivered by him from evil spirits and infirmities,\n followed him; and among these he names Mary Magdalen,\n out of whom he had cast seven devils; whence it may\n seem reasonable to conclude that the penitent and\n Magdalen are the same person.\n\n This disputation, however, seems one of those\n debateable questions which are without end, nothing\n appearing demonstrative from the sacred text, or from\n the authority of the ancients. In the Roman Breviary\n the Penitent is honored on this day under the name of\n Mary Magdalen, and for our edification the history of\n all these examples of virtue is placed in one point of\n view, as if they belonged to one person, conformably\n to the sentiment of St. Gregory and others; but the\n offices are distinct in the Breviaries of Paris,\n Orleans, Vienne, Cluni, and some others.\n\n [246] Job xx. 11.\n\n [247] \u201cQu\u00e2 spe? qu\u00e2 fiduci\u00e2? qu\u00e2 confidenti\u00e2? Qu\u00e2 spe? ill\u00e2\n qu\u00e2 Pater est. Ego perdidi quod erat filii: ille quod\n Patris est non amisit. Apud patrem non intercedit\n extraneus: intus est in Patris pectore qui intervenit\n et exorat, affectus. Urgentur Patris viscera iterum\n genitura per veniam,\u201d &c. St. Peter Chrysolog. Serm. II.\n\n [248] The ancient Jews did not sit down on carpets spread\n on the floor to eat, as the Arabs, Turks, and other\n inhabitants of the countries about Palestine do at\n this day. Their tables were raised above the ground.\n Exod. xxv. 24, Jud. l. 7, Mat. xv. 27, Luke xvi. 21.\n Neither Hebrews, Greeks, nor Romans used napkins or\n table-cloths. Their ancient custom was to sit at table,\n as we do now. Prov. xxiii. 1. But after Solomon\u2019s time\n the Jews leaned or lay down on couches round the table.\n Amos, (iv. 7.) Toby, (xi. 3.) and Ezekiel (xxiii. 41.)\n speak of eating on beds or couches; but this custom\n was not general. It was become very frequent in our\n Saviour\u2019s time, who ate in this manner not only on\n the present occasion, but also when Magdalen anointed\n his feet, Mat. xxvi. 7, and at his last supper,\n John xiii. 23, so that it seems to have then been the\n ordinary custom of that country. The Jews seem to have\n learned it from the Persians, Esth. i. 6, vii. 8. They\n took two meals a day from the times of the primitive\n patriarchs; but never ate before noon, Eccles. x. 16,\n Isa. v. 11, Acts ii. 15. And their dinner was usually\n rather a small refreshment than a meal; on fast-days\n the Jews never ate or drank till evening. See Calmet,\n Dissert. sur le Manger des Hebreux. Fleury, M\u0153urs des\n Israelites et M\u0153urs des Chr\u00e9tiens. Also Alnay, sur la\n Vie Priv\u00e9e des Romains.\n\n [249] S. Aug. Serm. 99, c. 6, ed. Ben. olim 23, ex. 50.\n\n [250] Ferrarius, Daniel, Sanson, Calmet, and Monsieur Robert\n agree in placing the castle of Magdalum near the Lake\n of Genesareth, called the sea of Galilee.\n\n [251] Luke viii. 2\n\n [252] Some take Mary Magdalen to be the sister of Martha and\n Lazarus, of whom mention is made in the life of St.\n Martha. When Jesus, six days before his passion,\n supped in the house of Simon surnamed the Leper, whilst\n Martha waited on him, and Lazarus sat at table, Mary\n anointed his feet and head with precious ointment which\n she had brought in an alabaster box. The Greeks and\n Romans practised the same custom of using sweet scented\n ointments at banquets. Judas Iscariot murmured at this\n action out of covetousness, pretending the price of the\n ointment had better been given to the poor; but Jesus\n commended Mary\u2019s devotion, said that her action would\n be a subject of admiration and edification wherever his\n gospel should be preached, and declared that she had by\n it advanced the ceremony of embalming his body for his\n burial. Though Christ has substituted the poor in his\n stead, to be succored by us in them; yet he is well\n pleased when charity consecrates some part of our\n riches to his external worship, to whom we owe all that\n we possess. But nothing can be more odious than for\n ministers of the altar, with Judas, to cover avarice\n under a cloak of zeal. See John xii. 1, 2, 3, Mat.\n xxvi. 6, Mark xiv. 3.\n\n [253] Mark xvi. 2, Luke xxiv. 1, John xx. 1.\n\n [254] St. Leo Serm. 2, de Ascens.\n\n [255] John xx. Calmet, Vie de. J. C, ch. 37.\n\n [256] Mat. xxvii. 9, Luke xxiv. 10.\n\n [257] Certain Greeks, writers who lived in the seventh or\n later ages, tell us, that after the ascension of our\n Lord, St. Mary Magdalen accompanied the Blessed Virgin\n and St. John to Ephesus, and died and was buried in\n that city. This is affirmed by Modestus, patriarch of\n Jerusalem in 920,[258] and by St. Gregory of Tours.\n St. Willibald, in the account of his pilgrimage to\n Jerusalem, says, that her tomb was shown him at Ephesus.\n Simeon Logotheta mentions that the emperor Leo the\n Wise caused her relics to be translated from Ephesus to\n Constantinople, and laid in the church of St. Lazarus,\n about the year 890. But these modern Greeks might\n perhaps confound Mary the sister of the Blessed Virgin,\n or the sister of Lazarus, or some other Mary among\n those that are mentioned in the gospel with Mary\n Magdalen. The relics shown in the monastery at Vezelay\n in Burgundy, ten leagues from Auxerre in the diocess\n of Autun, may be a portion of the body of St. Mary\n Magdalen, or of some other Mary mentioned in the\n gospel. This famous ancient monastery of Vezelay was\n secularized in 1537; and the church, which is longer\n than that of our Lady at Paris, is now served only by\n ten canons.\n\n [258] Hom. in Marias Unguenta ferentes.\n\n [259] See Nat. Alex., s\u00e6c. 1, and Solier the Bollandist,\n Julij, t. 5, who confirms the tradition of the\n inhabitants of Provence, p. 213, \u00a7 14, and rejects\n that of Vezelay in Burgundy, whither some pretend\n that her body was translated out of Provence, ib.\n \u00a7 11, 12, 13, p. 207.\n\n [260] These are the fruit of his pious meditations in the\n chapel of the Magdalen, the favorite retired place of\n his devotions, in which an excellent marble statue of\n this great man on his knees, is erected in the church\n of his Carmelite nuns at Paris. See his Works, p. 369\n to p. 405.\n\n [261] Serm. 128.\n\n [262] Mab. Iter. Italic. p. 41.\n\n [263] Fam\u00e6 negociator, et vit\u00e6. Tertul. Apol. c. 46.\n\n [264] Philosophus glori\u00e6 animal, et popularis aur\u00e6 vile\n mancipium. S. Hieron. ep. ad Julian.\n\n [265] Lactant. l. de Origine Erroris, \u00a7 3.\n\n [266] B. 6, ep. 1.\n\n [267] Spicileg. t. 5, p. 579.\n\n [268] Exod. xxxii. 10.\n\n [269] Sanctorum precibus stat mundus. Ruffin. Pr\u00e6f. in Vitas\n Patrum.\n\n [270] Some derive the pedigree and names of the Muscovites\n from Mosoch, the son of Japhet, who, with his brothers\n Magog, Thubal, and Gomer, and their children peopled\n the northern kingdoms. (Ezech. xxxviii. 6, &c.) These\n are reputed the patriarchs of the Cappadocians, Tartars,\n Scythians, Sarmatians, &c. See Bochart, Phaleg. l. 3,\n c. 12, and Calmot. It seems not to be doubted, that\n the Moschi, mentioned by Strabo and Mela, and situated\n between Colchis and Armenia, near the Moschici Montes,\n were the descendants of Mosoch. As the Scythians from\n the coasts of the Euxine and Caspian seas afterward\n penetrated more northwards in Asia and Europe, and as\n the Cimmerii, who were the sons of Gomer, afterward\n settled about the Bosphorus and M\u0153otis, so some\n authors pretend that the Moschi passed into Europe,\n and settled near them on the borders of the Scythians\n and Sarmatians. But the Muscovites evidently take their\n name from the city of Moscow, built about the year 1149,\n so called from a monastery named Moskoi (from Mus or\n Musik, men, _q. d._ the Seat of Men), not from the\n river Moscow, which was anciently called Smorodina.\n (See J. S. Bayei, Orig. Russi\u00e6, t. 8, Acad. Petrop.\n p. 390.) For the name of Muscovites was not given to\n this tribe of Russians before the beginning of the\n fourteenth century. It was assumed on the following\n occasion: In 1319, Gedimidius, great duke of Lithuania,\n having vanquished the Russian duke of Kiow, the\n archbishop Peter removed his see to Moscow, and from\n that town these Russians began then to be called\n Muscovites; for the duke John, son of Daniel, soon\n followed the archbishop, and transferred thither\n the seat of his principality from Uladimiria: though\n the archbishop of Kiow continued to take the title\n of Metropolitan of all Russia. See Herbersteinus\n (Chorographia Principatus Ducis Moscovi\u00e6; also, in\n Rerum Muscovitarum Commentar.) and more accurately\n Ignatius Kulczynski, in Latin Kulcinius, a Basilian\n monk at Rome. (Specimen Ecclesi\u00e6 Ruthenic\u00e6, printed at\n Rome in 1733, also Catalog. archiepisc. Kioviensium;\n and Series Chronol. Magn. Russi\u00e6 seu Moscovi\u00e6 Ducum.)\n Hence the name of Muscovites first occurs in\n Chalcocondylus and other Greek historians about\n that time. We are informed by these authors, and by\n Herbersteinius, that these Russians were tributary to\n the Tartar king of Agora in Asia from 1125 to 1506. But\n since they shook off that yoke they have subdued the\n Russians of Novogorod and other places in Europe, and\n have extended their dominions almost to the extremity\n of Asia in Great Tartary. See Bayer, Diss. de Russorum\n prim\u00e2 expedit. Constantinopolitana, t. 6, Comm. Acad.\n Petrop. et Orig. Russi\u00e6, ib. t. 8. Also Jos. Assemani,\n De Kalend. Univ. t. 1, par. 2, c. 4, p. 275.\n\n The name, Russi or Rossi, seems not to be older than\n the ninth century. Cedrenus and Zonarus speak of them\n as a Scythian nation inhabiting the northern side of\n Mount Taurus, a southern region of Asiatic Scythia, now\n Great Tartary. They are a nation entirely distinct from\n the Roxolani, the ancient Sarmatians near the Tanais,\n though these Russians afterward became masters of\n that country, and took their name either from that\n of Roxolani abridged, or from Rosseia, which in their\n language signifies an assemblage of people. Constantine\n Porphyrogenetta tells us, that the language of the\n Russians and Sclavonians was quite different; and the\n monk Nestor, in the close of the eleventh century,\n the most ancient historian of Russia, in his chronicle\n assures us, that the Russians and Sclavonians are\n two different nations; but the great affinity of the\n present Russian language with the Sclavonian shows that\n the Russians, mixing with the Sclavonians, learned in a\n great measure their language.\n\n It is well known that, anciently, the southern parts\n of Muscovy were inhabited by Goths, whom the Huns\n or ancient Tartars from Asia, expelled in the fourth\n century. Also that the northern part was peopled by\n Scythians, whom the Muscovites still call by the same\n name Tscudi, _i. e._ Scythians, and the lake Peipus,\n Tschudzhoi. We learn from Constantine Porphyrogenetta\n (l. De administ. Imper. c. 9,) that the name of Russia\n was given in the tenth century to the country of\n which Kiow was the capital, and which comprised also\n Czernigov, Novogorod, &c. Snorro Sturleson (Hist. regn.\n Septentr. t. 1, p. 6) says these people called their\n ancient capital, situated towards the gulf of Finland,\n Aldeiguborg or Old-Town, in opposition to which\n Novogorod or New-Town, took its name. The Waregians,\n invited by the Russians to defend them against the\n Khosares, who lived near the Black or the Euxine Sea,\n crossing the Baltic, settled among the Russians, it\n is uncertain in what age. See T. S. Bayer de Varegis,\n t. 4, Comment. Acad. Scient. Petrop. p. 275. Er.\n Jul. Bi\u00e6ner, Sched. Hist. Geogr. de Varegis heroibus\n Scandinianis et primis Russi\u00e6 Dynasts at Stockholm,\n 1743. Arvid. Mulleris De Varegia, 1731. Algol. Scarinus\n de Originibus prisc\u00e6 gentis Varegorum, 1743.\n\n We know not in what age the Sclavonians obtained\n settlements in the northern parts of Russia. They are\n first named in Procopius and Jornandes, were part of\n the Venedi, and with them from Sarmatia travelled into\n Germany; where they settled for some time on the coast\n of the Baltic, afterward in the centre of Germany\n near Thuringia, and in Beheim or Bohemia, where they\n long ruled and left their language. In the reign of\n Justinian they crossed the Danube, and conquered part\n of Pannonia and Illyricum, where a small territory,\n fifty German miles long, of which Peter-waradin is\n the most considerable place, between the Danube, the\n Drave, and the Save, is still called Sclavonia: it was\n conquered by the kings of Hungary, and is still subject\n to the house of Austria. The Slavi fell everywhere\n into so miserable a servitude, that from them are\n derived the names of Slavery and Slaves. The Sclavonian\n language is used in the divine office in Illyricum, &c.\n according to the Latin rite; in Muscovy, &c. according\n to the Greek rite. (See on SS. Cyril and Methodius,\n 22 Dec.) The Muscovites have no Russian Bibles; but\n with very little study can understand the Sclavonian,\n says Brusching.\n\n In the year 892, Rurik, Simeus, and Tyuwor, three\n brothers from the Warengi on the other side of the\n Baltic, came by invitation into Russia, and ruled the\n Sclavonians and Russians united into one nation. Rurik\n survived his brothers, and became sole sovereign. The\n Runic inscriptions in the northern Antiquities are not\n of an older date.\n\n Rurik fixed his seat near the lake Ladoga. His son\n Igor transferred his court from Novogorod to Kiow.\n His widow Olga received the faith, and was baptized at\n Constantinople. Their son Suatoslas died an idolater;\n but his son Wladimir the Great married Anne, a Grecian\n princess, received baptism, and was imitated by his\n subjects. He built the city which from him is called\n Wladimiria, which under his grandson, Andrew Bogolikski,\n became the ducal residence. Wladimir I. is honored\n in the Muscovite Calendar. Kiow still has its dukes.\n Jaroslas, son of Wladimir, was succeeded there by\n his son Wsevolod I. in 1078, in whose reign Ephrem,\n metropolitan of Kiow, established in Russia, pursuant\n to the bull of Urban II. the feast of the translation\n of the relics of St. Nicholas to Bari, on the 9th of\n May, never known in the Greek church; which shows their\n obedience to the pope, and their connection with the\n Latin church. The Greeks also were then Catholics.\n George duke of Russia at Wladimiria recovered Kiow,\n and in 1156 built the city of Moscow. Jaroslas II.\n succeeded his brother George II. in the great dukedom\n of Russia in 1238, and resided in Wladimiria. In his\n reign in 1244, the Russians were reunited to the see\n of Rome, part having been a little before drawn into\n the Greek schism. His son Alexander, in his father\u2019s\n life-time prince of Novogorod, with his brother Feodor\n or Theodor, gained great victories over the Tartars,\n who had long oppressed the Russians, and succeeded to\n the great dukedom in 1246. He is surnamed Newski or of\n Newa, from a great victory which he gained in 1241 on\n the banks of the Newa, over the Poles and the Teutonic\n knights in Livonia. Those knights, who by victories\n over the idolaters had made themselves masters of\n Livonia, had their own high master at Riga, who\n soon made himself independent of the grand-master\n of the same order in Prussia. This order, which was\n dismembered from the Knights Hospitallers, or of\n Jerusalem (afterward of Rhodes and Malta), to defend\n the Christians in Germany against the inroads of the\n barbarous northern infidel nations, long produced many\n incomparably great heroes, and models of all virtues.\n But enriched by great conquests, their successors,\n by pride, luxury, and continual intestine wars, gave\n occasion to several scandals. At length, Albert,\n marquis of Brandenburg, grand-master in Prussia, turned\n Lutheran, and received from the king of Poland the\n investiture of ducal Prussia. The knights expelled\n by him retired to Mariandhal in Franconia, and there\n chose a new grand-master. He is chosen by the twelve\n provincial commanders. William of Furstenburg,\n Heer-meister of Livonia, also declared himself a\n Lutheran, and in 1559 resigned his dignity to his\n coadjutor Gotthard Kettler. He also being a Lutheran,\n ceded part of Livonia to the Danes, and the chief part\n to the Poles, receiving from the latter the investiture\n of Courland and Samogitia as secular dukedoms; Livonia\n fell under the power of Charles XI. of Sweden, but was\n added to the empire of Muscovy by Peter the Great.\n\n To return to the grand duke Alexander Newski, he\n received an embassy from the pope in 1262, the contents\n of which are not recorded. He died crowned with glory\n at Gorodes near Nischui-Novogorod in 1262, on the 30th\n of April, on which day his festival is kept in Muscovy,\n and he is honored as one of the principal saints of the\n country. The tczar Peter the Great built, in his honor,\n a magnificent convent of Basilian monks on the banks\n of the Newa in Livonia, not far from his new city of\n Petersburg, the archbishop of which city resides in it.\n The empress Catharine instituted, in 1725, the second\n Order of Knighthood in Russia under his name. Their\n daughter the empress Elizabeth caused his bones to\n be put in a rich shrine covered with thick plates of\n silver, placed at the foot of a magnificent mausoleum\n in this monastery. The Muscovites relate wonderful\n things of his eminent virtues, and miracles wrought\n at his tomb. Pope Benedict XIV. proves that, upon due\n authority, all this may be admitted even of one who had\n died in a material schism, or with inculpable ignorance.\n But this prince lived and died in communion with the\n see of Rome, though he has never been placed in the\n Calendars of the Catholic Church.\n\n Daniel, fourth son of Alexander, left by his father\n duke of Moscow, after the death of an uncle and three\n brothers became Grand Duke; and from his reign in 1304,\n Moscow became the ducal residence, till Peter I. gave a\n share in that honor to his new city of St. Petersburg.\n\n In the reign of Basil or Vasili II. in 1415, Photius,\n metropolitan of Russia, residing at Kiow, having\n espoused the Greek schism, was deposed by the council\n of Novogrodek, under the protection of Alexander\n Vithold, grandduke of Lithuania. Retiring into Great\n Russia he there exceedingly promoted the schism.\n Gregory, who succeeded him at Kiow, assisted at the\n council of Constance. Iwan or John IV. is the first\n who took the title of Tczar in 1552. This word in\n the Russian language signifies king. In the Russian\n Chronicles that title is given to the Greek emperors.\n In their Bibles it is used for king, both in the\n Russian and Sclavonian language.\n\n In Feodor or Theodore ended, in 1598, the race of Rurik.\n After two others who had been chief ministers and two\n false Demetriuses, in 1613, Michael, of the family of\n Romanow, allied to that of the preceding tczars was\n chosen great duke. The third of this family was Peter\n the Great, founder of the Russian empire.\n\n [271] Possev. L. De Rebus Moscoviticis.\n\n [272] Pr\u00e6f. ad Ephemer. Gr\u00e6co-Moschas, n. 11, p. 3.\n\n [273] Dissert. de Russorum Conversione et Fide apud Acta\n Sanctor. t. 41, seu vol. 2, Septembris.\n\n [274] Constantine Porphyrogenetta succeeded Leo the Wise in\n the empire in 911; in 919 he associated in the throne\n his Drungar or admiral Romanus Lecapenus, whose\n daughter Helena he had married. Romanus reigned in the\n year 944; from which time his covetous daughter Helena\n had a great share in governing the empire. Constantine\n was buried in his studies, and dying in 959, fifty-four\n years old, left the empire to his impious son Romanus\n II., who is said to have poisoned him, and who died\n in 963, leaving the empire to Nicephorus Phocas, his\n valiant general, who had often defeated the Russians\n and Saracens. His daughter Anne was married to Wladimir,\n duke of Russia. Constantine Porphyrogenetta (l. de C\u0153m.\n Aul\u00e6 Byzant. l. 2, c. 15) relates, that on Wednesday,\n the 9th of September, 946, Olga, princess of Russia,\n was received with great pomp at Constantinople by\n Constantine (himself) and Romanus, emperors; and\n describes her different receptions at their court,\n the banquets which they prepared for her, the presents\n in money which they made to her uncle of thirty\n miliaretia (each of which contained two ceratia, each\n ceratium twelve folles, of which five hundred made a\n pound of silver), eight to her priest Gregory and to\n each of her friends, to herself five hundred miliaretia\n in a gold dish studded with diamonds and precious\n stones. At each other entertainment like presents were\n distributed. The dessert of sweetmeats was served on a\n little gold table, in dishes made of or studded with\n precious stones.\n\n [275] See the Annals of the Russians in Hebersteinius, in\n Rerum Muscovit. Comment. and Jos. Assemani, in Calend.\n Univ. t. 2, p. 265, and t. 3.\n\n [276] Syn. Zamosciania, tit. de Jejun. et Fest. p. 121. Jos.\n Assemani, de Calend. Univ. t. 4, p. 65, t. 6, p. 497.\n\n [277] The United Russians, who, renouncing the schism,\n embraced the communion of the Roman Church, are chiefly\n subject to Poland, and ever since Clement VIII. have a\n metropolitan of Kiow (since Kiow was conquered by the\n Muscovites these have established there their schism\n with a metropolitan of their communion), an archbishop\n of Plosco, and bishops of Kelma, Presmilia, Liceoria,\n and Leopold, with several convents of Basilian monks,\n who all follow the Greek rites; though several Russians\n in the Polish dominions still adhere to the Greek\n schism. See Urban Cerri\u2019s (secretary to the Propaganda)\n Relation, p. 56, and Mamachi, Orig. et Antiquit. Christ.\n l. 2, c. 17, t. 2, p. 180. Papebroke, Not. in Ephemer.\n Gr\u00e6c. Mosch. t. 1, Maij Bollandiani, p. 54, &c.\n\n The metropolitan of Moscow was declared patriarch of\n all the Russian schismatics by Jeremy, patriarch of\n Constantinople in 1588, and was acknowledged in that\n character by the other Oriental patriarchs. But the\n czar Peter I. having learned from the experience of\n above a hundred years that the patriarchs made use\n of their great influence and authority in matters of\n state, after that dignity had been vacant nineteen\n years, caused it to be abolished, and an archbishop of\n Moscow to be chosen in 1719. For the government of the\n church of Muscovy, and receiving appeals, he appointed\n a council of eleven bishops and other clergymen, the\n president of which the czar nominates. See John Von\n Strahlenburg (Historical and Geographical Description\n of Russia and Siberia, an. 1738) and Le Quien. (Oriens\n Christianus, t. 1, p. 1296.) Some Catholics enjoy the\n exercise of their religion in several parts of Muscovy.\n Kulcinius observes that many saints have flourished\n in this nation since it has been engaged in schism.\n Possevinus and Papebroke take notice that the Greeks\n since their schism have been reunited to the Latin\n church fourteen times. The latter of these learned\n authors also remarks, that even when the archbishops\n were most turbulent schismatics, no one will say that\n all the people were involved in the same guilt; even\n ignorance might excuse many, as Baronius answered,\n with regard to monks who lived under a schismatical\n abbot (ad an. 1036). As for Polish Russia, F. Kulesza,\n a learned Polish Jesuit, in a book entitled, Fides\n Orthodoxa, printed at Vilna, assures us, that all the\n archbishops of Kiow have been Catholics, except two,\n Photius and Jonas II., till in 1686 it was given up to\n the Muscovites. By the intrigues of this Photius, in\n the middle of the fifteenth century, the Greek schism\n was propagated through all Muscovy.\n\n [278] See Jos. Assemani in Calend. t. 6, p. 480, on the 15th\n of July, et t. 4, p. 34, to 52.\n\n [279] See Jos. Assemani in Calend. p. 471, t. 6, ad 10 Julij.\n\n [280] Id. ad 5 Julij, p. 462, et t. 1, p. 21, 29.\n\n [281] Ardmore (so called from its situation on an eminence)\n stands on the sea-coast, not far from the mouth of the\n river now called Broad-water or Black-water. The see\n was united to that of Lismore after the arrival of the\n English in Ireland; and this again to Waterford. See\n St. Carthag\u2019s life, 14 May.\n\n [282] Mat. iv. 22.\n\n [283] Luke v. 11.\n\n [284] Luke ix.\n\n [285] Julij, t. 6, p. 69. See on the same the learned F.\n Flores, in his Espa\u00f1a Sagrada, t. 3, c. 3, de la\n Predicacion de San Jago in Espa\u00f1a, p. 39, and his\n answers to F. Mamachi, the Roman Dominican, prefixed\n to his sixth tome. The mission of St. James in Spain\n is defended at large by the learned Jesuit F. Farlat,\n Illyrici Sacri Prolegom. part 3, t. 1, p. 252. See also\n Card. d\u2019Aguirre, t. 1, Conc. Hisp. p. 140, upon the\n words of St. Jerom in Isai\u00e6 c. 34, p. 279, t. 3.\n\n [286] Diss. de Divisione Apost. ante t. 4, Julij, et in vita\n S. Jacobi, t. 6, p. 71.\n\n [287] Agrippa the Elder was a worldly man, addicted to\n pleasures, yet attached to the Jewish religion. Of\n this he gave a remarkable proof when the emperor\n Caligula ordered a statue of Jupiter to be set up in\n the temple of Jerusalem. The Jews opposed the attempt\n with tears and remonstrances, and throwing themselves\n prostrate on the ground at the feet of the Roman\n governor, protested they were ready rather to suffer\n death. But the murderers of the Son of God were\n unworthy to die in so good a cause. Agrippa exposed\n himself to the danger of losing the tyrant\u2019s favor,\n and by a strong letter, which he wrote to him on that\n occasion, obtained that the order should be superseded\n at that time. When that emperor was attempting to renew\n it his death delivered the Jews from the danger.\n\n [288] Eus. Hist. l. 2, c. 9.\n\n [289] Agrippa was the first prince that persecuted the Church.\n After having put to death St. James, he imprisoned St.\n Peter, but God delivered him out of the persecutor\u2019s\n hands. Nor was it long before this king felt the\n effects of divine vengeance. After the feast of the\n passover he returned to C\u00e6sarea to exhibit there public\n games in honor of Claudius C\u00e6sar, and was attended\n thither with a numerous train of the must considerable\n persons, both of his own and of the neighboring nations.\n He appeared early on the second morning of the shows\n at the theatre, in a costly robe of silver tissue,\n artfully wrought, and so bright that the sunbeams which\n darted upon it were reflected with such an uncommon\n lustre, as to dazzle the eyes of the spectators who\n beheld him with a kind of divine respect. He addressed\n himself in an elegant speech, to the deputies of the\n Tyrians and Sidonians, who were come to beg his pardon\n for some offence for which they had been some time in\n disgrace with him. Whilst he spoke, the ambassadors and\n some court sycophants gave a great shout, crying out\n that it was the voice of a god and not of a man. The\n king, too sensible of the people\u2019s praise, and elated\n with pride, seemed to forget himself, and to approve,\n instead of checking the impious flattery. But at that\n instant the angel of the Lord smote him with a dreadful\n disease, and he felt himself seized with a violent pain\n in his bowels. Perceiving his distemper to be mortal,\n he rejected the flattery of his sycophants, telling\n them that he whom they called immortal was dying. Yet\n still full of false ideas of human grandeur, though\n he saw death inevitable, he comforted himself with\n the remembrance of the splendor in which he had lived.\n So true it is that a man dies such as he lives. After\n lingering five days in exquisite torments, under which\n no remedy gave him any ease, being eaten up by worms,\n he expired in all the miseries that can be expressed or\n imagined. This account is given us by Josephus (Antiq.\n l. 19, c. 7), and by St. Luke (Acts xii. 23). He died\n in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and the seventh of\n his reign. The most learned Mr. Stukely in his medallic\n history of Carausius, t. 2, c. 1, p. 72, will have it\n that Agrippa was smitten four days after he celebrated\n the Roman festival, in which the people made vows for\n the emperor\u2019s health and safety, marked in the ancient\n Roman Calendar which he has published on the 4th of\n January. It was, indeed, the festival of the emperor\n Claudius, but after the passover, which happened that\n year on the 10th of April, the equinoctial new moon\n falling on the 28th of March. Herod Agrippa left a son\n of his own name, who was then at Rome with Claudius,\n only seventeen years old. The emperor would willingly\n have given him his father\u2019s dominions; but his freemen\n and counsellors represented to him that an extensive\n kingdom was too great a burden for so young a prince to\n bear. Whereupon Jud\u00e6a was again reduced into the form\n of a Roman province, and Cuspius Fadus appointed the\n first prefect or governor.\n\n [290] See on the Translation of the body of St. James to\n Compostella, F. Flores, the learned and inquisitive\n Austin friar, rector of the royal college at Alcala,\n in his curious work entitled Espa\u00f1a Sagrada (of which\n the first volume was printed in 1747), t. 3, App.\n p. 50 and 56.\n\n [291]\n\n \u201cChristophore, infixum qu\u00f2d cum usque in corde gerebas,\n Pictores Christum dant tibi ferre humeris,\u201d &c.\n\n _Vida_, Hym. 26, t. 2, p. 150.\n\n [292] Procop. de \u00c6dif. Justin. l. 1, c. 2.\n\n [293] Julij, t. 6, p. 250.\n\n [294] 2 Tim ii. 5. 1 Tim. v. 4.\n\n [295] Plutarch l. de Educand. liberis.\n\n [296] Hist. Episc. Antisiodor. See Messieurs De Ste. Marthe,\n in Gallia Christiana.\n\n [297] Prosp. in Chron. et l. contra Collat. c. 21.\n\n [298] Bede Hist l. 1, c. 17, Constant. in vita S. Germani.\n\n [299] Vita S. Genevev\u00e6.\n\n [300] Hist. Episcop. Antisiod.\n\n [301] Bede, Hist. l. 1, c. 1. Gildas ep. p. 17, 18.\n Constantius in vit\u00e2 S. Germani. Carte, p. 184, 185.\n\n [302] Antiq. Brit. c. 11, p. 179, 180. Carte, t. 1, p. 288.\n\n [303] Carte, p. 184, 186, thinks the Alleluiah victory\n gained over the Picts and the Saxons, and the other\n transactions of St. Germanus in Wales, happened in his\n second mission. For SS. Dubricius and Iltutus, whom he\n ordained bishops, lived beyond the year 512, according\n to some until 527 or even 540. Sir Henry Spelman and\n Wilkins (Conc. Brit. t. 1, p. 1), on this account place\n the synod of Verulam held by St. Germanus against the\n Pelagians in 446.\n\n [304] Bede, Hist. l. 1, c. 21. Bollandus and Henschenius in\n vit\u00e2 S. Theliau ad 9 Februarij, &c.\n\n [305] Stillingfleet, Orig. Britan. p. 349.\n\n [306] Or. 3, de Imag.\n\n [307] Ecclus. xxxviii. 1, 2.\n\n [308] 4 Kings xx. 7. See Syn. Critic. and Mead, De Morbis\n Biblicis, c. 5.\n\n [309] Serm. 22, in Ps. 118.\n\n [310] Regul. fus. explic.\n\n [311] Ep. 345, ol. 321, p. 316, et in Cant.\n\n [312] See Estius in Eccli. xxxviii.\n\n [313] Ephes. v. 29, Aug. ep. 130, ol. 121, ad Probam.\n\n [314] 2 Paral. xv. 12.\n\n [315] Paulin. Nat. 9, or Carm. 24.\n\n [316] Horat. l. 1, od. 3.\n\n [317] _Pueri._ See Diss. de SS. 7, Dormient. c. 18, p. 65,\n et c. 6, p. 11. The Menology of the emperor Basil,\n printed at Rome in 1727, &c.\n\n [318] Spon, Voyage d\u2019Italie et du Levant, t. 1, l. 3, p. 327.\n\n [319] St. Paulin. Carm. 24, and ep. 12. On the relics of St.\n Nazarius at Milan, see the life of St. Charles Borromeo,\n by Guissiano, in the new Latin edition, l. 5, c. 9.\n p. 435, and the notes of Oltrocci, ibid.\n\n [320] S. Bas. hom. de S. Gordio.\n\n [321] S. Epiph. H\u00e6r. 54. Eus. l. 5, c. 28. Conc. t. 1.\n Theodoret, H\u00e6ret. Fabul. l. 2, c. 5.\n\n [322] Eus. l. 5, c. 17. St. Hier. ep. 54, ad Marcel. Tert.\n l. de Fug\u00e2, de Pudic., &c.\n\n [323] Tert. l. adv. Praxeam.\n\n [324] S. Epiph. H\u00e6r. 46. S. Iren. l. 1, c. 31. Clem. Alex.\n Strom. l. 3, p. 465.\n\n [325] Tatian\u2019s Oration against the Greeks is extant. In it he\n displays much profane erudition, showing that Moses was\n older than the Gentile philosophers, who borrowed the\n sciences from the patriarchs. He wrote this piece after\n the death of Saint Justin, but before his separation\n from the Church: for in it he proves one God the\n Creator of all things, and seems to approve the state\n of matrimony. It wants method; but the style is elegant\n enough, though exuberant, and not very elaborate. This\n piece is often published at the end of the works of St.\n Justin. We have an accurate separate edition, printed\n at Oxford in 1700, with notes and dissertations, by\n the care of Mr. William Worth, archdeacon of Worcester.\n P. Travasa in his learned history of heresiarchs,\n demonstrates against Massuet, &c., that Tatian\u2019s\n Oration against the Gentiles is not orthodox; and that\n in it the author teaches that the human soul is of its\n own nature mortal. See Travasa Storia Critica delle\n vite degli eresiarchi, t. 2, at Venice, 1760.\n\n [326] \u1f08\u03ba\u03bf\u03b5\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd\u03b7\u03c3\u03af\u03b1\u03bd \u1f11\u03c0\u03ad\u03db\u03b5\u03b9\u03bb\u03b5\u03bd.\n\n [327] Monti, Cler. Reg. S. Pauli, S. Th. Prof. Mediolani,\n Dissertationes Theologico-historic\u00e6 tres, quarum prima\n propugnat gratiam per se efficacem; Secunda agit de\n Canonibus vulg\u00f2 apostolicis; Tertia versatur super\n dissidio de opportuno Paschatis celebrandi tempore.\n Papi\u00e6, 1760.\n\n [328] Mem. Eccles. t. 3, p. 112.\n\n [329] From this example, it is manifest, that the African\n bishops referred greater causes, at least those of\n faith to the holy see, and in them always allowed\n appeals to it; though at that time they carried on a\n contest with the popes Innocent, Zosimus, and Celestine,\n against appeals being made in lesser causes of personal\n facts, which it is often difficult to carry on in\n remote courts, and which, if too easy and frequent,\n are a bar to the speedy execution of justice. Yet such\n appeals or revisions of causes are sometimes necessary\n to hinder crying injustices and oppressions. Whence\n the regulation of the manner of restraining appeals in\n smaller ecclesiastical causes is a point of discipline;\n but the general council of Sardica, which was an\n appendix of the council of Nice, declared, that appeals\n must be allowed from the whole world to the bishops of\n Rome; and in this discipline the Africans soon after\n acquiesced.\n\n [330] St. Aug. Serm. 131, n. 10.\n\n [331] _Dole_ in the old British language signifies a low\n fruitful plain.\n\n [332] Tours, which was the metropolis of the province of\n Armorica under the Romans, enjoyed, from the time of\n St. Martin, the metropolitical jurisdiction over Mans,\n Angers, and the nine bishoprics of Brittany. Sampson\n the elder, bishop of York, being expelled by the Saxons,\n came into Armorica, and founded the see of Dole, in\n which he exercised a metropolitical jurisdiction, which\n king Howel or Rioval obliged him to assert, because\n these Britons were an independent people, separate from\n the Gauls. Sampson\u2019s two successors, St. Turiave and\n St. Sampson, enjoyed the same. The contest between\n Tours and Dole was not finished till Innocent III.\n In 1199, declared Dole and all the other bishoprics\n of Brittany subject to the archbishop of Tours. See\n D. Morice, Hist. de Bretagne, p. 17, &c.\n\n [333] Luke x. 38.\n\n [334] Ibid.\n\n [335] Cant. ii.\n\n [336] 3, p. 9, 40, a. l. ad 2 et 3. Item 2, 2d\u00e6. q. 182,\n art. 1 et 2, in corp.\n\n [337] L. de Perfect. Religios.\n\n [338] Mat. xxvi.; John xii.\n\n [339] Unicum mihi negotium est; aliud non curo quam ne\n curem. Tert. l. de Pallio, c. 5.\n\n [340] See the Chronicle of Norway by Snorro Sturleson, first\n magistrate in the republic of Iceland in 1240.\n\n [341] _Scot_ and _lot_ are originally Swedish or Teutonic\n words, signifying tax. Romescot is a tax for Rome, and\n Scot-Konung, the king\u2019s tax. See baron Holberg, and\n Mess. Scondia illustrata, t. 1.\n\n [342] Aringhi Roma Subterranea, l. 1, c. 25.\n\n [343] Noris, Diss. 3, de Epochis Syro-Macedonum.\n\n [344] Apol. c. 21.\n\n [345] Plato in Ph\u00e6do.\n\n [346] Act. ii.\n\n [347] Act. xvi. 26.\n\n [348] Constantine Cajetan, a Benedictin of the Congregation\n of Mount Cassino, pretends this book to have been first\n written by Gracias Cisneros or Swan, a Benedictin abbot\n of Montserrat. But the work of that pious and learned\n abbot is a very different piece, as is evident to every\n one that will compare the two books, and as Pinius\n demonstrates. That of Cisneros is indeed full of\n unction and spiritual knowledge; but compiled in\n a scholastic method, and runs into superfluous\n subdivisions. The meditations of St. Ignatius are\n altogether new, and written upon a different plan.\n He appoints, for the foundation of these exercises, a\n moving meditation on the end for which we are created,\n that we fully convince ourselves that nothing is\n otherwise to be valued, sought, or enjoyed, than\n as it conduces to the honor and service of God. The\n meditations on the fall of the angels and of man, on\n the future punishments of sin, and on the last things,\n show us the general effects of sin. To point out the\n particular disorders of our passions, and to purge our\n hearts of them, he represents to us the two standards\n of Christ and the devil, and all men ranging themselves\n under the one or the other, that we may be moved\n ardently to make our choice with the generous souls\n that follow Christ. Then he proposes what this\n resolution requires, and how we are to express in\n ourselves the perfect image of our Saviour, by the\n three degrees of humility, by meditating on the\n mysteries of Christ\u2019s life, and by choosing a state\n of life, and regulating our employments in it. By\n meditating on Christ\u2019s sufferings, he will have us\n learn the heroic virtues of meekness and charity, &c.,\n he taught us by them to fortify our souls against\n contradictions; and by those on his glorious mysteries,\n and on the happiness of divine love, he teaches us to\n unite our hearts closely to God. See Bartoli, l. 1, &c.\n\n [349] Exerc. Spir. Max. 2, 3.\n\n [350] Ego vobis Rom\u00e6 propitius ero. See F. Bouhours, b. 3.\n\n [351] There is another religious Order, very famous in Italy,\n established for the education of youth, called the\n Regular Clergy of the _Schola Pia_. The founder was\n F. Joseph Cazalana, a nobleman of Arragon. He took\n priestly orders in 1582, and, going to Rome, devoted\n himself with great fervor to the heroic practice of all\n good works, especially to the catechising and teaching\n of children. To propagate this design, he instituted a\n congregation of priests, approved by Paul V. in 1617,\n and declared a religious Order with ample privileges,\n by Gregory XV. in 1621. These religious men bind\n themselves by a fourth vow, to labor in instructing\n children, especially the poor. The holy founder died in\n 1648, on the 25th of August.\n\n [352] He appointed no other habit than that used by the\n clergy in his time, the more decently and courteously\n to converse with all ranks of people, and because he\n instituted an order only of regular clerks. He would\n not have his religious to keep choir, because he\n destined their time to evangelical functions. He\n ordered all, before they are admitted, to employ a\n month for a general confession and a spiritual exercise.\n After this, two years in a novitiate; then to take the\n simple vows of scholars, binding themselves to poverty,\n chastity, and obedience, which vows make them strictly\n religious men; for by them a person in this Order\n irrevocably consecrates himself to God on his side,\n though the Order does not bind itself absolutely to\n him, and the general has power to dismiss him; by\n which discharge he is freed from all obligation to the\n Society, his first vows being made under this condition.\n These simple vows are only made in the presence of\n domestics. The professed Jesuits make these same vows\n again (commonly after all their studies) but publicly,\n and without the former condition; so that these second\n are solemn vows, absolutely binding on both sides:\n wherefore a professed Jesuit can be no more dismissed by\n his Order, so as to be discharged from his obligations\n by which he is tied to it. In these last is added a\n fourth vow of undertaking any missions, whether among\n the faithful or infidels, if enjoined them by the pope.\n There is a class of Jesuits who take the other vows,\n without this last relating to the missions; and these\n are called spiritual coadjutors. So this Order consists\n of four sorts of persons; scholars or Jesuits of the\n first vows; professed Jesuits or of the last or four\n vows; spiritual coadjutors, and temporal coadjutors.\n\n No particular bodily mortifications are prescribed by\n the rule of the Society; but two most perfect practices\n of interior mortification are rigorously enjoined, on\n account of which Suarez (t. 3, de Relig.) who treats at\n length of the obligations of their Order, calls it the\n most rigorous of religious Orders; the first is, the\n rule of Manifestation, by which every one is bound to\n discover his interior inclinations to his superior; the\n second is, that every Jesuit renounces his right to his\n own reputation with his superior, giving leave to every\n brother to inform immediately his superior of all his\n faults he knows, without observing the law of private\n correction first, which is a precept of fraternal\n charity, unless where a person has given up his right.\n\n The general nominates the provincial and rectors;\n but he has five assistants nominated by the general\n congregation, who prepare all matters to his hands,\n each for the province of his assistency; and these have\n authority to call a general congregation to depose the\n general if he should evidently transgress the rules of\n the Society. Every provincial is obliged to write to\n the general once every month, and once in three years\n transmit to him an account of all the Jesuits in his\n province. The perfect form of government which is\n established, the wisdom, the unction, the zeal, and the\n consummate knowledge of men, which appear throughout\n all these constitutions, will be a perpetual manifest\n monument of the saint\u2019s admirable penetration, judgment,\n and piety. He wrote his constitutions in Spanish, but\n they were done into Latin by his secretary, father\n John Polancus. It is peculiar to the Society, that the\n religious, after their first vows, retain some time\n the dominion or property of their patrimony, without\n the administration (for this later condition is now\n essential to a religious vow of poverty), till they\n make their renunciation.\n\n St. Ignatius forbade the fathers of his Society to\n undertake the direction of nunneries on the following\n occasion. In 1545, Isabel Rozella, a noble Spanish\n widow, and two others, with the approbation of pope\n Paul III. put themselves under St. Ignatius\u2019s direction,\n to live according to his rule; but he soon repented\n and procured from his Holiness, in 1547, the abovesaid\n prohibition, saying, that such a task took up all that\n time which he desired to dedicate to a more general\n good in serving many. When certain women in Flanders\n and Piedmont afterward assembled in houses under vows\n and this rule, and called themselves Jesuitesses, their\n institute was abolished by Urban VIII. in 1631, the\n end and exercises of this society not suiting that sex.\n\n [353] See his edifying life by Raderus and Sacchini.\n\n [354] Bouhours, l. 4. Orlandin. Hist. Soc. l. 7, c. 25.\n\n [355] The value of this treasure is enhanced by the elegant\n dress by which it is set off in the French translation\n of the abb\u00e9 Regnier des Marais, three volumes in 4to.\n four in 8vo. and six in 12mo. The devout abb\u00e9 Tricalet\n gave a good abridgment of this excellent work, printed\n in 1760. The translation of Rodrigues made by the\n gentlemen of Port-Royal is faulty in several places,\n particularly, Tr. 1, c. 10.\n\n [356] Orland. Hist. Soc. l. 16.\n\n [357] Extant to Bartoli, l. 4, p. 372.\n\n [358] L. 4, n. 29, 355.\n\n [359] Bayle makes exceptions to the miracles of St. Ignatius\n because Ribadeneira, in the first life of this saint,\n which he wrote in 1572, inquires why his sanctity was\n not equally attested by wonderful miracles as that of\n the founders of some other Orders. \u201cQuamobrem illius\n sanctitas minus est testata miraculis,\u201d &c. But in this\n very edition, in the last chapter, p. 209, he writes:\n \u201cMihi tantum abest ut ad vitam Ignatii illustrandam\n miracula deesse videantur, ut multa eaque pr\u00e6stantissima\n judicem in medi\u00e2 luce versari.\u201d He then recapitulates\n some facts which he had before related, and which he\n esteems miraculous, as a rapture in which the saint\n continued for eight days; so many wonderful, heavenly\n illuminations and revelations; the restoration of\n F. Simon, who lay dangerously sick, to his health,\n pursuant to his prediction; the wonderful deliverance\n of a demoniac; the cures of several sick persons; the\n foretelling many particular things to private persons,\n &c. The author republished this life in 1587, with some\n additions. He afterwards wrote a Latin abstract of this\n first life, in which he inserted many miracles. This\n he calls \u201cAlteram breviorem vitam, sed multis ac novas\n miraculis auctam.\u201d In this he tells us, that he had\n before been more cautious in relating miracles, because\n they had not yet been examined and approved; but that\n he chose some which were esteemed miraculous, not in\n the opinion of the common people, but in the judgment\n of prudent persons. See this remark also in the Spanish\n abstract of this life, published in 1604; and in the\n Latin abstract reprinted at Ipres in 1612. In his\n Spanish life of St. Ignatius, among his lives of saints,\n printed in 1604, he writes thus: \u201cThough, when I first\n printed his life in 1572, I knew of some miracles of\n the holy father, I did not look upon them to be so\n verified (averiguados) as to think that I ought to\n publish them, which afterward, by the authentical\n informations taken for his canonization, were proved\n true by credible witnesses; and the Lord, who is\n pleased to exalt him, and make him glorious on earth,\n works daily such miracles on his account as oblige me\n to relate part of them here, taken from the original\n juridical informations which several bishops have made,\n and from the depositions made upon oath by the persons\n on whom the miracles were wrought,\u201d &c. Ribad. Spanish\n lives, p. 1124. Moreover, Ribadeneira mentions in his\n first and second edition of this life, prophecies,\n revelations, visions, and the like miraculous favors,\n and he expressly distinguishes these from the gift of\n miracles, by which he means miraculous cures and the\n like, though the former may be justly placed in the\n general class of miracles. If the works of Ribadeneira\n on this subject be all carefully perused, it will be\n easy to discern the scrupulous accuracy of the author\n in this point; and the candid reader will be convinced\n how much some have misrepresented his testimony. Nor\n was he allowed to publish miracles before they had been\n approved, as the Council of Trent severely ordained.\n (Sess. 25, de Inv. Sanct.) See on it Julius Nigronius\n (Disp. Hist. de SS. Ignatio et Cajetano, n. 57) and\n Pinius the Bollandist in his confutation of this\n slander.\n\n In the relation made in the secret consistory before\n Gregory XV. of miracles which had been examined and\n approved by the cardinal \u00e0 Monte and other commissaries,\n are mentioned the supernatural light shining on his\n face at prayer, upon the testimony of St. Philip Neri\n and F. Oliver Manerius. That St. Ignatius, by his\n blessing and prayer, cured one Bastida of the falling\n sickness, and the hand of a cook miserably burnt;\n delivered Pontanus from most violent temptations with\n which he had been grievously molested for two years,\n &c.: but the miracles which are chiefly attended to\n in a canonization, are those which have been performed\n after the person\u2019s death. Of such, many manifest ones\n were approved, first by the Auditors of the Rota, and\n afterward by the Congregation of Rites. Among these\n are mentioned the following: Isabel Rabelles, a nun of\n Barcelona, sixty-seven years old, in 1601, had broken\n her thigh-bone; and being attended by a physician and\n surgeon during forty days, and under grievous pains and\n a violent fever, was expected to die that night, and\n given over as to all natural remedies; when by applying\n a relic of St. Ignatius, and saying the Lord\u2019s Prayer\n and Hail Mary, with an invocation of this saint, the\n swelling of the thigh and leg went down, she found\n herself able to stir both, and without any pain; and\n calling for her clothes she got up, walked perfectly,\n and with ease, and felt no more of her complaint,\n not even at new moons or in the dampest seasons. Anne\n Barozellona, at Valladolid, almost sixty years old, was\n cured of a desperate palsy by invoking St. Ignatius,\n with a vow to perform a novena. A widow who had\n lost her sight in both her eyes, recovered it by\n recommending herself to the prayers of Saint Ignatius,\n and touching her eyes with a relic, &c. F. Jos. Juvency\n (Hist. Soc. Jesu, l. 15, part 5, \u00a7 9) has selected and\n related many like miracles of St. Ignatius. F. Daniel\n Bartoli, in his life of this saint, has given a history\n of a hundred such miracles (l. 5). See also the great\n collection made by F. Pinius, the continuation of\n Bollandus.\n\n Though cardinal Pole thought circumstances did not\n allow him to make any settlement for Jesuits in England,\n as the author of the Monastic History of Ireland and\n others take notice, that great and holy man highly\n esteemed St. Ignatius and his Institute. See a letter\n of Saint Ignatius to cardinal Pole dated at Rome, 24th\n of January, 1555, and that cardinal\u2019s answer to him\n from Richmond, 8th of May; and another from London,\n 15th of December the same year; also his letter of\n condolence to F. Lainez upon the death of St. Ignatius,\n dated at London, 15th of November, 1556, published\n among the letters of cardinal Pole collected by cardinal\n Querini at Brescia, t. 5, p. 117, 118, 119, 120, 121.\n\n [360] The Jesuats of St. Jerom were at first all lay brothers,\n and practised pharmacy; but, in 1606, obtained leave\n of Paul V. to study and take holy orders. The houses\n of the friars being reduced, they were suppressed by\n Clement IX. in 1668; but some nunneries of this Order\n still subsist in Italy. See the life of this saint,\n and those of other illustrious persons of this Order,\n written by Moriggia, a pious general of the same, who\n died in 1604. Also the Bollandists and Helyot.\n\n\n\n\n TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES\n\n The following corrections have been made in the text:\n\n Day: 1, section: Table of Contents\n - \u2018Rumbold\u2019 replaced with \u2018Rumold\u2019\n (St. Rumold, Bishop and Martyr)\n\n Day: 1, section: SS. JULIUS AND AARON\n - \u2018Caerlton\u2019 replaced with \u2018Caerleon\u2019\n (at Caerleon in the year 1200,)\n\n Day: 1, section: SS. JULIUS AND AARON\n - \u2018Canbrensis\u2019 replaced with \u2018Cambrensis\u2019\n (Giraldus Cambrensis,)\n\n Day: 3, section: SAINT GUNTHIERN\n - \u2018Guereck\u2019 replaced with \u2018Guerech\u2019\n (Guerech I., count of Vannes,)\n\n Day: 4, section: SAINT ODO\n - \u2018Ethelwulf\u2019 replaced with \u2018Ethelwolf\u2019\n (who in the reign of king Ethelwolf)\n\n Day: 4, section: ST. SISOES\n - \u2018Scete\u2019 replaced with \u2018Scet\u00e9\u2019\n (retired to the desert of Scet\u00e9,)\n\n Day: 6, section: ST. MONINNA\n - \u2018Calgan\u2019 replaced with \u2018Colgan\u2019\n (See Colgan ad 6 Jul.)\n\n Day: 9, section: ST. VERONICA\n - \u2018sead\u2019 replaced with \u2018send\u2019\n (begging Him to send me more torments.)\n\n Day: 16, section: ST. EUSTATHIUS\n - \u2018Ceilier\u2019 replaced with \u2018Ceillier\u2019\n (Ceillier, t. 4,)\n\n Day: 17, section: ST. LEO IV.\n - \u2018355\u2019 replaced with \u2018855\u2019\n (September in the same year, 855,)\n\n Day: 18, section: ST. FREDERIC\n - \u2018Lewis\u2019 replaced with \u2018Louis\u2019\n (her marriage with Louis)\n\n Day: 19, section: ST. SYMMACHUS\n - \u2018intsance\u2019 replaced with \u2018instance\u2019\n (never had been an instance of )\n\n Day: 22, section: SAINT JOSEPH OF PALESTINE\n - \u2018month\u2019 replaced with \u2018mouth\u2019\n (from his own mouth the particulars )\n\n Day: 25, section: SAINTS THEA AND VALENTINA\n - \u2018Firmillian\u2019 replaced with \u2018Firmilian\u2019\n (Firmilian, the successor of Urbanus)\n\n Footnote 55\n - \u2018Ushur\u2019 replaced with \u2018Usher\u2019\n (Usher, p. 418.)\n\n Footnote 56\n - \u2018Kilmrures\u2019 replaced with \u2018Kilmaures\u2019\n (from whom Kilmaures is named,)\n\n Footnote 90\n - \u2018Arringhi\u2019 replaced with \u2018Aringhi\u2019\n (produced by Aringhi, Diss. 2, l. 3, c.)\n\n Footnote 102\n - \u2018suffiicient\u2019 replaced with \u2018sufficient\u2019\n (seems of sufficient authority)\n\n Footnote 103\n - Footnote anchor missing in text.\n\n Footnote 104\n - \u2018Villote\u2019 replaced with \u2018Villotte\u2019\n (and F. James Villotte,)\n\n Footnote 139\n - Omitted footnote symbol inserted in text.\n\n Footnote 161\n - \u2018Charlemage\u2019 replaced with \u2018Charlemagne\u2019\n (Charlemagne marched into Italy,)\n\n Footnote 171\n - \u2018supposititions\u2019 replaced with \u2018suppositions\u2019\n (are generally esteemed suppositions.)\n\n Footnote 270\n - \u2018Russic\u0153\u2019 replaced with \u2018Russi\u00e6\u2019\n (Orig. Russi\u00e6, t. 8,)\n\n Footnote 346\n - Omitted footnote symbol inserted in text.","title":"The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Vol. 7. July","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":184378}