Venantius

ON ST. VENANTIUS, BISHOP AND MARTYR,

Translated from Dalmatia or Istria to Rome.

Venantius, Bishop and Martyr, in Dalmatia or Istria (Saint)

G. H.

[1] Usuard and Ado are the first who, after relating in their Martyrologies the martyrdom of Saint Theodora of Rome, immediately subjoin this: "On the same day, of Saint Venantius Bishop and Martyr." The same words are read in all the Martyrologies written thereafter, as also in today's Roman. Notker after Saint Theodora placed the Martyrs who suffered in Armenia, and then reports the same of Saint Venantius. His name in the fasti. In the Centulan manuscript he is called Confessor, whereas by all the rest he is held a Martyr: unless perhaps he is the one treated of in the manuscript of Saint Cyriacus on February 8, where "the Nativity of Saint Venantius Bishop and Confessor" is mentioned. Meanwhile, nowhere is it explained of what See he was Bishop, where he was martyred, whether he died in it or survived, so that on that account he is also called Confessor.

[2] Baronius notes on this day that his body is preserved at Rome in the oratory which is called Saint Venantius, by the baptistery of Constantine, together with the bodies of Saint Domnio Bishop and of other holy Martyrs, whose anniversary day is observed in this same month, on the third day before the Ides of April. His body at Rome, in its own church, But since all were translated from Dalmatia and Istria by John IV the Pope, it is fitting to believe that Saint Venantius was bishop of some city of those provinces. There also stands in the apse, as of the rest, the image of this same Saint Venantius, composed in mosaic work. These things stand in the monuments of the Saints of the Lateran church. So Baronius, who repeats the same in his Annals under the year 641, in which John IV presided over the Church: concerning whom Anastasius the Librarian in his book on the Lives of the Roman Pontiffs has this: "John, a Dalmatian by birth, from his father Venantius the Scholastic, sat one year, nine months, eighteen days. In his time he sent much money through all Dalmatia, or Istria, or Histria, received by John IV from Dalmatia: through the most holy and most faithful Martin the Abbot, for the redemption of captives, who had been despoiled by the gentiles (some interpret as Slavs). At the same time he built a church to the blessed Martyrs, Venantius, Anastasius, Maurus, and many other Martyrs, whose relics he had ordered to be brought from Dalmatia and Istria, and he deposited them in the aforesaid church, beside the Lateran font, beside the oratory of Blessed John the Evangelist, which he adorned and to which he offered various gifts."

[3] Caesar Raspona, in Book 3 of the Basilica or Patriarchate of the Lateran, chapter 12, describes the oratory or church of Saint Venantius, and among other things has this: "The walls are seen without ornament, except only one little apse or chalcidica, which anciently was incrusted up to the zophorus with marble tablets, but above the zophorus up to the roof gleams with mosaic work, just as also the entire vault of the chalcidica gleams. In the curve of this little apse are seen the images of the most blessed Virgin, of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and of John the Baptist; with also the added icons of Saints Venantius and Domnio the Martyrs, with cerulean pallium and chasubles: who without mitre hold books in their hands: and in the same habit is represented John IV, founder of the Chapel.

…And on the wall on either side from mosaic are the effigies of the holy Martyrs whose bodies rest here, image, holding crowns in their hands. In the middle of the apse an altar is seen, raised by four steps: upon which is placed a marble ciborium, supported by four columns likewise of marble, most accurately fluted in spiral work, with most ornate capitals; and under this altar rest the bodies of Saint Venantius and his companions, listed just above." Thus far that author. Leo the Pope also, the body in the altar. third of that name (as the cited Anastasius the Librarian testifies), made for the altar of Blessed Venantius a vestment of fundatum with two veils. Octavius Pancirolius, in Treasures Hidden in the City of Rome, treats of this church of Saint Venantius in Region 2, Church 10, and toward the end in the Index of Feasts he asserts that the solemnity of Saint Venantius, Bishop and Martyr, is celebrated in this church on these Kalends of April, veneration and Indulgences April 1. and that Indulgences have been granted to the same. In the Order of the Offices of the Proper Saints of the Lateran church, an Office is prescribed under double rite, with the Creed in the Mass, because his body is held there.

[4] Juan Tamayo Salazar inscribed this holy bishop in his Spanish Martyrology with this formula: "In Dalmatia the illustrious observes the memory of the martyrdom of Saint Venantius, Bishop of Toledo: whose body, translated by John IV, Supreme Pontiff, is preserved in an oratory of his name, by the baptistery of Constantine, in the Lateran Roman church, greatest of all." A Toledan episcopate attributed to him. But it is not an oratory or chapel in the Lateran church, but is his own church, situated not far from the Lateran. Next, whence is his Toledan episcopate known, since no bishop of such a name is recorded to have existed at Toledo? García Loaísa, in his Catalogue of the Bishops of Toledo, places Conantius after Adelphius; but adds that he is not enumerated by Saint Ildefonsus among the prelates of Toledo, perhaps because he presided only briefly. Meanwhile Ambrosio Morales, in Book 12 of his Spanish Chronicle, chapter 8, asserts that without Ildefonsus no mention of Tonantius is found. He treats in the book on Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 11, of Conantius, but Bishop of the Church of Palencia: so that he seems to have been forced by posterity among the prelates of Toledo. Such a covering of darkness, says Tamayo Salazar, was opened by Marcus Maximus and Julianus Petrus, or certainly by posterity under their names, attributing to them new chronicles, which have involved all Spanish antiquity in their darkness, forming Venantius from Conantius or Tonantius, as if he had lived in the time of Saint Gregory the Great. Rather should it be said that Saint Venantius flourished in the first centuries of Christ with Saint Domnio or Domnione: who is said to have been sent by Saint Peter the Apostle into Dalmatia, and created Bishop of Salona, as will be more fully said on April 11.

[5] That some relics of Saint Venantius, Bishop and Martyr, are preserved at Bologna in the church of Saint John in the Mount, Masinus relates in his survey of Bologna on this day. If it were added whence and when they had been brought there, some conjecture could be made whether they are to be considered those of this or of another Saint Venantius.

ON ANOTHER ST. VENANTIUS, MARTYR,

Translated from Italy to Germany.

G. H.

Venantius, Martyr of Rimini, at Fulda in Germany (Saint)

Among the Ecclesiastical Princes of the Holy Roman Empire established in Germany, Testimony of Louis the Pious are the Most Reverend and Most Illustrious Abbots of the renowned Church of Fulda, concerning whose antiquities Christopher Brower has published a distinguished work divided into four books: in which, in Book 3, chapter 13, he produces the precept of donation of Louis the Pious Emperor, made to Blessed Rabanus the Abbot, afterward Archbishop of Mainz; from which we here extract some things which treat of Saint Venantius, and they are of this kind: "The venerable Abbot Rabanus has asked the Excellence of our Highness, that by our authority it be permitted him to direct his legates wherever in the world, and most especially and chiefly to the city of Rome, and with letters of our authority to request the most sacred ashes, namely the limbs of the holy Martyrs or other orthodox Just: concerning the translation to whom we have granted from the munificence of our liberality the faculty, that from the precept of our authority he might write and send, wherever in the world he wished, on account of the aforesaid business of holy Relics, and request both of the Apostolic See and of the other faithful. and the miracles of Saint Venantius. Whence since the labor of his so great assiduity was not in vain, we have recently heard that he had acquired the body of Saint Venantius the Martyr from distant parts of the world, and had most honorably placed it in the church of Saint John the Baptist. The merits of which Martyr in the Fulda church, from the testimony of miracles, have become far and wide most celebrated. For the sick run up, and are healed; the demoniacs, and are freed; the paralytic, and are cured; the blind, and are enlightened, and the human race from every kind of infirmity, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the works and intercession of Saint Venantius, is saved. We, moved by divine compunction at the report of which deed, give thanks to God and to his holy Martyr Venantius, who in our times, in our parts of the world, has deigned to visit his people, and from various necessities and straits deigns to come to the aid of wretched mortals. Therefore at the request and petition of our aforesaid Secretary, Rabanus the Abbot, we offer ourselves to God and to Saint Boniface and to the holy Martyr Venantius, in the aforesaid monastery of Saint John the Baptist, certain things of our own property, that is, the estate called Wresprungen, with all its villages and hamlets, indeed with all its appendages and appurtenances," etc.

[2] So the Emperor Louis the Pious, whose many donation charters Rudolph, History of the translation: priest and monk of the monastery of Fulda, reckoned among the learned men of his monastery, wrote; who was present at the translation of the relics of Saint Venantius, and as an eye-witness described the miracles that then occurred in the Life of Blessed Rabanus his Abbot, illustrated by us on February 4, especially in chapters 4 and 5. From there extracted is the History of the translation and miracles of Saint Venantius in a manuscript Passional of the month of April, preserved in the monastery of Böddeken, of the Order of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine in the diocese of Paderborn, with some things added at the beginning; and his veneration is assigned to the first day of the said April, veneration April 1. when in the aforementioned church of Saint John the Baptist the feast of Saint Venantius is still celebrated: whose sacred body, however, is no longer preserved entire in the same place, other parts having been carried elsewhere, but it is not known where they have gone, the ancient monuments having been carried off at the time of the Swedish invasion; as after diligent inquiry was indicated to us by Vitus Erberman, Doctor of Sacred Theology and Regent of the Pontifical Seminary at Fulda, in two letters written on this matter. We give therefore from the Böddeken manuscript the said History of the translation and miracles, to which we gave fuller annotations on February 4, and to these we refer the curious reader: whom we wish warned that in the said Life Saint Venantius is called a Martyr, nowhere a Bishop, as nevertheless is done in the following History; nor is the day of veneration indicated, which we believe to have been assumed as this first of April, because another Venantius, Bishop in Dalmatia or Istria, is now venerated, to whom for that reason we also subjoin him.

HISTORY OF THE TRANSLATION,

From the Life of Blessed Rabanus, written by Rudolph as eye-witness.

Venantius, Martyr of Rimini, at Fulda in Germany (Saint)

FROM THE LIFE OF BLESSED RABANUS

Venantius the Bishop ruled strenuously the Church committed to him as long as he lived; and because he entered by the door, having faithfully disposed his house within, and consigned its household stores, he went out by the door, when for the same he laid down his life. His sacred body, stained with his own blood for the love of Christ, The body of Saint Venantius the Martyr first rested in the territory of the city of Rimini; but now in the woodland that is called Buchonia, in the church of Blessed John the Baptist, which is distant from the monastery of Fulda by nearly nine stadia, it is kept and venerated. And lest anyone doubt that the body of so great a Father could be taken from so powerful a city, and transferred through so many spaces of lands, let the miracles that the Lord worked through him on the way, as he was being carried, persuade the doubting. Therefore by whom he was carried away from there, and borne to the place I have described, with miracles subjoined which I both saw myself and learned from others reporting truly, I will announce to the ears of the faithful. For Rabanus, the venerable Abbot of the Church of Fulda, a man most religious, and in the divine Scriptures especially learned, whose whole study was in monastic discipline and in meditation of the law of Christ, among other things by which in prayer, vigils, and abstinence, and other titles of virtue, he offered himself as a pattern to his subjects, had a very great diligence in collecting the relics of the Saints from wherever.

[2] He sent a certain one of his monks, named Atto, into Italy to carry out such business. Who, coming to Rimini, an opportunity having been given to him divinely, carried off with himself the body of the aforesaid Martyr, brought from Rimini, and hastened to go into Francia. At first indeed from fear of the inhabitants he bore it secretly. But when, after crossing the ridges of the Alps, he arrived at the borders of the Bavarians, now made more secure, he carried it placed upon a bier, with crowds of people flowing together from all sides, into the cell which is called Solenhofen, situated in the region of Sualafeld; and having sent a messenger, he announced the whole order of the matter to the Abbot. For the people of that region were demanding with their highest vows that they should deserve to have the body of the holy Martyr there, whose help they daily experienced in the cures of various infirmities. But the Abbot, when he had heard this, soon sent two of his monks, priests, to the aforesaid brother, commanding them to bring to him those holy relics with all the speed they could. Indeed at that time throughout nearly all those regions the name of Saint Venantius the Martyr was celebrated, on account of the virtues and miracles he is famed for miracles: which Christ deigned to work through him. Of which some things, that were done in that same place, I think should be briefly touched upon.

[3] For when the bier with the sacred bones was still placed beside the altar, a certain woman from that very district, who six years before had lost the light of her eyes, when prostrate before the same bier she had humbly prayed, received her sight, and returned immense thanks to Almighty God. After this, another woman placed her six-year-old son, the blind woman and the lame boy are healed, lame from the womb, before the relics of the holy Martyr; and spending the night there, when morning came carrying him home still weak, she placed him in his bed; and going out from him, when she returned, she found him most perfectly whole. These two miracles, which I have just related, I learned from those who were present and testified that they themselves had seen them: but the rest, which I am about to write, I myself saw, being present; because I was one of those who had been sent to carry the sacred ashes.

[4] Therefore, when we had come to the aforesaid place, all things having been quickly prepared that seemed necessary for the conveyance of the holy Relics, a tempest of the air is removed. at the first light, with great grief of those who were to remain there, we took up that holy treasure,

and having entered upon the journey, we began to carry it. But the sky was covered with most dark clouds, and all that night it had rained without intermission, so that it seemed to us that our journey could scarcely be begun that day. But the grace from above, through the merits of His Saint, made what was feared to be far otherwise. For as we began to proceed, soon the clouds having been dissipated, the serenity of the sky came, and along the way very little mud appeared.

[5] Then we came to the place called Holzkirchen, situated in Alemannia; and there, because on account of the multitude that went before and followed, the possessed women are freed; we could not enter the oratory, we celebrated the solemnities of the Masses in the open air. And it came to pass during the celebration, two women possessed by unclean spirits began to be vexed; and soon, by the virtue of Christ's Martyr, the demons having been put to flight, they recovered most perfect health of mind and body. When the Mass celebration was finished, while the people returned to their homes, we brought the sacred ashes into a neighboring oratory; and having ordered those who should keep watch there, we ourselves withdrew into the guesthouse to rest. Therefore on the same night a certain woman who was mute, through the merits of the holy Martyr, there received the use of her tongue; and another, possessed by an unclean spirit and having a withered arm, was so healed the mute, blind, and others are healed. that on the following day she herself carried the bier with the others. But in the morning, during the solemnities of the Masses, a blind woman received her sight, and another, having a weak right hand, merited perfect health. When we had prepared to set out, at the very moment of our departure, one of the clerics who were with us, named Othere (to whom the care of receiving the offerings that were offered by the people had been committed), having defrauded a certain portion of the money, suddenly fell; and in the sight of the whole people, being delivered to an unclean spirit, began to be vexed. Indeed, he was tormented by the demon for so long, until the money which he had hidden in his belt was taken from him by the bystanders. When this was taken away, he was so perfectly cured through the merits of Christ's Martyr, that having publicly confessed his guilt, until the holy Relics should be placed in their own place, he accompanied the bier with thanksgiving.

[6] Therefore having set out from there, we came into the village called Truthmuntiga, where beside the sacred ashes four women were freed from unclean spirits. Nor do I think I should pass over the miracle which is rightly ascribed to this Saint. For before we came to the aforesaid village, a certain noble matron hastened to meet us, a golden brooch is recovered, and lost a golden brooch in the very crossing. When for a long time with all her company she sought it and did not find it, she resumed her journey. She came therefore, and having adored the Relics and offered gifts, when she was returning, a certain unknown man met her, bearing the same brooch in his hand. When she said that it was hers, he said, "Receive it, because through the prayers of the Saint whose Relics you have venerated, it has been restored to you." Proceeding from there, we came into the place called Hasereth; in which a certain woman, among others who met us from the other direction, was carrying a fleece of wool; stolen wool vanishes. and as she extended her hand to the bier to offer it as a gift, the wool, which she was holding, vanished like smoke; and when by diligent inquiry it was investigated whether it was stolen, it was found that the sheep from which that fleece had been taken had been fraudulently taken from its proper owner.

[7] After these things we came to the village called Hamelenburg, where a certain lame man, who sustained his weakness with two staves in walking, was cured through the glorious merits of the same Martyr. Coming then to the river which is called the Saale, we found our Abbot with the priests and monks, and a great multitude of men, on the other bank of the river, awaiting our arrival. a ship hastens of itself to the relics; There was indeed a ship prepared for our crossing, but it had not been drawn ashore in a suitable place; and when the sailors, the rope being loosed, tried to bring it to meet us, suddenly slipped from their hands, by some invisible force, it was carried against the current of the river; until it came, applied to the shore, to the place where it was to receive the sacred burden, and all marveled. a crippled woman is healed, But when the Relics had been transferred, as we were placing the bier in the oratory that was in the village, a certain woman, so bent by contraction of her sinews that she could in no way raise herself to see heaven, in the sight of all, before the Relics of God's holy Martyr, was freed from such an affliction. The next day, having set out from there, we came to the place called Litolfesbach, which is in the forest of Buchonia: where the son of a certain poor woman, deaf and mute from birth, a deaf-mute: before the relics of the holy Martyr, was given hearing and speech.

[8] But we, entering upon the journey, when we had come within sight of the monastery of Fulda, behold, our Abbot, who the day before had gone ahead of us, came to meet us, with an innumerable multitude of our brothers and of laymen, bearing in caskets the bones of the Blessed Martyrs Urban and Quirinus, which had recently been brought from Rome. And having humbly adored, the Relics are deposited with solemn pomp. with the highest veneration having received the body of Saint Venantius, they brought it into the aforesaid church of Blessed John the Baptist, with hymns and praises: which Reginbald the Chorepiscopus, who had come among the others, placed in the apse of the same church, to the east of the altar, in a stone chest, and placed beside it likewise the ashes of the holy Martyrs Urban and Quirinus, each enclosed separately in its own casket. Where, by their prayers, benefits are granted to those faithfully praying to God, to the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns world without end.