Zeno

ON ST. ZENO,

Bishop of Verona in Italy.

Zeno, Bishop of Verona, in Italy (St.)

BY G. H.

CHAPTER I.

The opinion of those who assert that Saint Zeno died as a Confessor, and flourished in the 4th century.

Many very intricate and strongly controversial matters are found concerning Saint Zeno, Bishop of Verona, and especially in which century of Christ he flourished, and by what kind of death he died: which some wish to be violent, and contend that he is a Martyr; others prefer to call him a Confessor, and to say that he fell asleep in peace. We, in order to open for the reader the way by which he may better investigate the resolution of this difficulty, first suggest what Onuphrius Panvinius of Verona proposes in Book 4 of his Antiquities of Verona, in these words: "After Probus the 11th Bishop of Verona, up to the year of Christ 760, the order of the Bishops of Verona, though in my view complete, is not however continuous. For who was successor to whom is unknown. The times also in which each of them lived (except six, whom I shall expound in their own places and centuries) and the deeds of each are most obscure and uncertain. These things, due to excessive antiquity and the deadly neglect of our forebears, have been oppressed by the shadows of age. But I, lest I omit what can be done by me, and lest my diligence be wanting in any matter, shall provide the bare names in alphabetical order of all the Bishops of Verona whose deeds as well as times and order are unknown." Thus Onuphrius Panvinius: who ought to have transferred this his judgment also to the eleven Bishops Succession of the Bishops of Verona up to the year 760 uncertain: whom he enumerates first of all with some succession. Among these is Saint Proculus placed in the fourth position, as though he had flourished in the second century of Christ: of whom we treated on March 13, and demonstrated that he departed from this mortal life in the fourth century of Christ, after peace had been restored to the Church. As the successor of Saint Proculus, Panvinius establishes Saint Saturninus, the fifth among the Bishops of Verona, as though he also had lived in the second century. Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, and in the Topography to the Roman Martyrology, places Saint Saturninus fourteenth, as we said on April 7, his feast day. Thus the above-mentioned Probus is placed eleventh by Panvinius, sixth by Ferrarius, and yet he is said to have governed the Church around the year 236, as we said on January 11, on which he is venerated, with others being treated in their own time. Raphaël Bagata, Matthias Ugonius, and Agostino Valerio, Bishop of Verona, concerning these holy Bishops of Verona (whom they enumerate as thirty-six) set forth their encomia in alphabetical order, because the times in which they each lived are most obscure and uncertain. also among the 11 first ones And this is the first warning: to which we subjoin the second one indicated above by Panvinius, namely that the order of the Bishops of Verona is held to be complete, and in this there is reckoned only one Zeno, only one Saint Zeno is held to be Bishop of Verona, whom also Giovanni Francesco Pinto in Book 5 On the Nobility of Verona, Girolamo della Corte in Book 2 of his History of Verona, and the previously mentioned Bagata, Ugonius, and Agostino Valerio hold to be the only one.

[2] These things being set down, we say that the most ancient mention of Saint Zeno is made by Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, in his letter to Syagrius, Bishop of the same Church of Verona and successor of Saint Zeno; whom he gravely rebukes because he wrongly judged the girl Indicia, consecrated to God, not by the form of a judgment, but by the inspection of women. This is the first letter of Book 6 of the Letters, and thus begins: "You have traced out with your own letters that it must be foreseen Zeno the Bishop lived in the time of Saint Ambrose, in the 4th century that our most beloved Veronese should not speak ill of our judgment. I do not suppose they will; certainly they are not accustomed to: or if they should speak ill, what they are accustomed to speak ill of is doubtless plain, since they come here exasperated and return to you pacified: especially since this judgment of ours has proceeded having been shared with our brothers and fellow priests. But you, without the counsel of any brother, have made this judgment into a prejudgment, so that you should think a girl—approved by the judgment of Zeno of holy memory, and sanctified by his blessing—should after so many years, without an author of accusation, without an accuser, without one professing the informing, be brought into the peril of a trial." Thus far Saint Ambrose, approving the judgment of Zeno, Bishop of Verona, whom he himself honors with the title "of holy memory": and on his example, the Church of Milan inserted his veneration and cult into the Ambrosian Breviary and Missal on December 8. Jacobus Pamelius, a man most diligent in presenting ecclesiastical antiquity, in his Liturgical Latin or Missal of the Latin holy Fathers, edited in the first volume the Ambrosian Masses from ancient codices, and on page 438 has these things: In the Ambrosian Missal he is held as a Confessor, "On the feast of Saint Zeno the Bishop, December 8, Prayer over the people: Almighty everlasting God, who adorned Blessed Zeno your Confessor with pontifical insignia; grant us, we beseech, by his example and magnificent intervention, to despise the glory of the world, and always to aspire to heaven, through the Lord. Another Prayer over the Shroud: God, who made the present day solemn by the glorious death of Blessed Zeno your Pontiff, grant that we may be aided by his continual intercessions with you, and cherished by his magnificent intercessions, through the Lord. A third Prayer over the offerings: May the illustrious intercession of Blessed Zeno, O God, be present to your Church, which may both make our gifts acceptable in the eyes of your majesty, and render you placable to us, through the Lord." Then follows the Preface with some compendium of his Life in this manner: "Eternal God, recalling the merits of Blessed Zeno your Pontiff and Confessor, whom by your benign free gift you deigned to elevate in the office of Pontiff and gift of faith, that he both shone with immense virtues, and did not desert the duty of holy humility. For he snatched the daughter of Prince Gallienus from the power of a demon, and by powerful strength cured the infirmities of many. The river Athesis also felt what the power of so great a Prelate avails; when exceeding its banks beyond its custom, it did not dare to enter the approaches of the sacred temple. Worthily therefore in your name we are not silent about his praises; worthily we proclaim his miracles with festal praises; worthily with him we render to you, O Lord, bestower of all good things, the vows of thanksgiving, through Christ our Lord." Finally this Prayer is recited after Communion: "Of Blessed Zeno, your Pontiff and Confessor, we beseech, O Lord, may his glorious merits always protect us from all evils, on whose solemnity we partake joyfully of your holy things. Through the Lord." These things in the ancient Missal which was accustomed to be recited even in the year 1522 and 1560, indicate the Missals printed in the said years, in which no mention is made of martyrdom, but the name of Confessor is given to him three times. In the same way in the Ambrosian Breviary, which we have printed in the year 1539, the two earlier Prayers are referred to, and two other Prayers are added, in one of which he is called "Confessor and Pontiff," in another "Zeno the Pontiff," and in the third Lesson which is read at Matins, are these things: "Performing many benefits, the Confessor rested in the Lord." This title therefore is given to him, in the same way that it is assigned to Saint Martin, Bishop of Tours, and to Saint Ambrose himself, and to his brother Saint Satyrus, who lived together at the same time: if indeed, what is disputed, Saint Zeno was the predecessor of the aforementioned Syagrius, as seems possible to be proved from this.

[3] The day already mentioned, December 8, made solemn above by his glorious death, is celebrated on the same day in various Martyrologies: thus in the manuscript Prague Cathedral Church, and another which we found in a Florentine manuscript with the most illustrious Senator Carlo Strozzi, and in ancient Martyrologies, and also published in the same place by Francesco de Bonaccorsi, Presbyter, in the year 1486: in which these things are held: "At Verona, birthday of Saint Zeno the Bishop and Confessor." The same things, omitting the city of Verona, are held in the Florentine manuscript Ado of the monastery of the Conventual Franciscans. On the same day Saint Zeno the Confessor is commemorated in the manuscript Trier Saint Martin, and the Utrecht Saint Mary, which seems to have been transcribed five hundred years ago from some Anglican Martyrology. Wytford also, in the Martyrology formerly edited in English, celebrates Saint Zeno the Bishop, illustrious for doctrine, preaching, and various miracles. Bellinus in the Martyrology according to the custom of the Roman Curia, printed in the year 1498 and often afterwards, has these things: "On the same day at Verona Saint Zeno, Bishop and Confessor." The same things from the cited Roman Martyrology, namely of the said Bellinus, has Molanus in his triple edition of the auctarium to Usuard. Maurolycus under the same December 8 hands down these things: "At Verona Saint Zeno the Bishop, who flourished in the times of Gallienus, whose daughter he freed from a demon." Concerning Gallienus we shall treat presently. Felicius follows Maurolycus. In an ancient manuscript Calendar of the Church of Aquileia the feast of Saint Zeno, Bishop and Confessor, is celebrated with three lessons at Matins, but transferred to December 12. Thus with the ancient Ambrosian Missal, concerning the cult of Saint Zeno, Bishop and Confessor, and referred to the day December 8, agree the Martyrologies which formerly in the Roman Church and other Italian, German, Belgian, and English Churches used to be recited: but what should be reckoned of the greatest weight in a similar matter, in the Church of Verona, in which Saint Zeno is the chief Patron, for ten or eleven entire centuries the office was performed concerning him And the diplomas of princes. as of a Pontiff Confessor. Certainly in the diploma of the Emperor Louis the Pious, signed in the year 816, to be cited below, at the petition of Rotaldus the Bishop and Austrebertus the Abbot, Saint Zeno is called "Confessor"; as also Hugh, King of Italy, calls him in the diploma granted in the year 926 (sic — MCCCCXXVI in the Latin, evidently an error), Beatrice the Countess and her daughter Beatrice in the privilege of the year 1072, and Bernard, Bishop of Verona, in the document given in the year 1127. Andrew also, Patriarch of Aquileia, deposited some relics of Saint Zeno the Confessor in the year 828 in the church of Saint George near the altar of Saint Helena; and Peregrine recounts them

Peregrine, Patriarch of Aquileia, in the year 1140, and calls them the relics of Saints Zeno and Eusebius the Confessors. These things may be seen in Ughelli in the Bishops of Verona, and in Bagata, who testifies that he saw in the year 1575 the last relics of Saint Zeno the Confessor, with other relics formerly deposited in a silver box by Peregrine, Patriarch of Aquileia. In the manuscript Chronicle of Regino, Zeno is called Bishop and Confessor of Verona, but referred to the times of Gallienus and Valerianus. Onuphrius Panvinius, Book 4 of the Antiquities of Verona, chapter 6, testifies that the Church of Verona from antiquity down to his own time made an anniversary commemoration of him as of a Pontiff Confessor. how he began to be venerated as a Martyr, That Aloisius Lippomanus first instituted his solemn memory as of a Pontiff Martyr in the Church of Verona. The same is testified by the above-indicated Bagata, Peretto, and Agostino Valerio on folio 15. Aloisius governed the Church of Verona from the year 1548, and from there was transferred to the Church of Bergamo in the year 1558. Concerning the martyrdom ascribed to Saint Zeno we shall treat below, and we shall say that it was wrongly inserted into the Martyrologies of Bede and Usuard. Moreover, Bellinus de Padua, although he considered the Martyrology of Usuard, as he says in his Preface, to be held above others, and for the most part to be chosen; yet what was inserted on April 12 concerning the martyrdom of Saint Zeno, he judged not to be Usuard's and entirely to be omitted; as one who knew those things to be contrary to the ancient tradition of the Church of Verona, not far from his own Padua: yet these things were later inserted by others into the Paris edition of the year 1521.

[4] The Acts of Saint Zeno were once written by a certain Notary named Coronatus, and he holds that Zeno rested in peace: Boninus Mombritius edited them about two hundred years ago, Ancient Acts written by Coronatus the Notary. and recently in the year 1653 Ferdinando Ughelli published them from an ancient vellum codex of the Abbey of San Salvatore on Monte Amiata, in volume 5 of his Italia sacra, among the Bishops of Verona, pages 555 and following. We have obtained the same Acts at Rome from an ancient codex of the library of Cardinal Barberini, and from a double Vallicellian manuscript of the Fathers of the Congregation of the Oratory: and they were distributed into Lessons, which used to be recited in the Divine Office at Matins. Others we had from the manuscript Legendary of Orvieto: others our Antonio Beatillus submitted from a Neapolitan codex; others finally we transcribed at Antwerp from the manuscript of Saint Maximin at Trier: they were extant also in the manuscript of Saint Salvator at Utrecht but abridged, from which, compared among themselves, we give what follows. We omit however what Johannes Gamans submitted to us from the Passional of the Blaubeuren monastery of the Benedictine Order and from the Passional of the Würzburg Carthusian monastery, because these are abridged or patched together from various accounts. Petrus de Natalibus has a compendium of the Life in Book 1, chapter 43.

LIFE

By Coronatus the Notary.

From seven ancient manuscript codices, collated with the editions of Mombritius and Ughelli.

Zeno, Bishop of Verona, in Italy (St.)

BHL Number: 9004, 0000

BY CORONATUS, FROM MANUSCRIPTS.

[1] In ^a the province of Italy, in the city of Verona, the acts of Blessed Zeno shone forth. Being unable to explain clearly the virtues of this man, which he accomplished in the conversion of souls or in miracles; St. Zeno a Saint from the beginning, yet we endeavor to narrate some things, as far as we can attain, with truthful reasoning. He was therefore sanctified from his mother's womb and blessed from the cradle, so that in him might be seen repeated by divine assertion what was said to Jeremiah the Prophet: Jer. 1:5. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; and before you came out of the womb I sanctified you." and therefore worthy of the Priesthood. At length, by continual increases of probity and knowledge, he merited to reach this point, that through his most holy life he was made worthy to become a Priest among the people. Let all the peoples hear, who desire to know his miracles, that the sound of his manner of life went out into all the earth, and his sanctity shone brilliantly.

[2] For he was dwelling in ^b a monastery in the more secret part of the town of Verona, by continual fastings and prayers asking from the Lord that he would deign to open for him the approach of honey-sweet preaching among the people. By affability and meekness he attracts all: Therefore to converting the souls of men to the love of Christ he was devoted day and night: truly because the Holy Spirit, illuminator of pure minds, was his Teacher, just as Truth itself speaks, saying: "It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you"; Matt. 10:20. so affable was he in speech and in meekness, or gentle in bearing, that God was rightly praised by all who came to him; so cheerful and vivid with the splendid brightness of eloquence, that those hurrying to him immediately, abandoning their idols and the wickedness of paganism, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[3] At the same time near the city of Verona, while the same man of God was going out from the monastery to practice the occupation of a fisherman in the Athesis river, lifting his eyes upward, he saw across from him a certain man he prevents the devil from drowning the man by the sign of the Cross. sitting in a cart, with oxen yoked, plunging headlong into the river. Indeed with such velocity the wretched man was being carried along, that it was given to be understood by all who saw openly that this had been done by the art of the devil. So the holy man, while observing this from afar with intent gaze, knew that the frenzied ruin of the man was the work of the devil. Meanwhile the man of God, raising his hand upward, made the sign of the holy Cross repeatedly, and said: "Go back behind, Satan, lest you destroy the man whom God created." When the devil saw this sign, he vanished like smoke snatched by the wind, so that with loud shouts and wicked gnashing, as though from a high crag, he fell with a rush, saying: "Though here you do not permit me to gain the souls of men by my occupation; yet I am prepared to go swiftly to ^c the native regions which are round about, to your hindrance." Saint Zeno said: "God does not permit you, you dire one, to do anything against his servant."

[4] These things thus accomplished, with detestable howling and clamor he departed. So the demon hastening entered swiftly the palace house of ^d Gallienus, and seizing his daughter, who at that time was an only child to her parents, the daughter of Prince Gallienus, possessed by the demon, began to vex her cruelly. So the wretched father and the whole royal house, turned to sadness, were afflicted with torment and great mourning, because the girl was being so sharply suffocated. While she was being seized by the cruel vexation, the demon began to cry out through the mouth of the servant-girl of the King's daughter, saying: "I shall not depart from this body, unless Zeno the Bishop comes, and by his command I shall be compelled to depart." As soon as this was made known to King Gallienus, he sent officers and with solicitous intent began to investigate where the man might be found. By the King's command they proceed with swift steps to the man of God. He indeed was sitting on a stone which was close to the monastery, and, performing the example of the Apostle, was according to his custom fishing in the river. summoned by soldiers So the soldiers, coming, began to question him carefully, saying: "Who are you, man of God? Tell us if you have seen Zeno the Bishop, whom we are seeking by the King's command." He replied: "Declare for what purpose you have been sent. For I, though so insignificant, am nevertheless called Zeno, a servant of Christ." So the soldiers, conferring with one another, were saying among themselves: "Why do we talk much? Let us tell the man for what reason we have been sent." Then openly intimating to the blessed Priest they said: "The King asks you to come to him, because he wishes to see your face." Blessed Zeno said to them: "Why does the King wish to see my face, who by manifest signs does not cease to be the enemy of all Christians?" But they answered and said: "The King beseeches you, that you may restore his daughter, who is vexed with monstrous atrocity by a demon, to health: for she is an only child." He said to them: "The Lord Jesus Christ is omnipotent. Go," he said, "behold I shall presently follow you: for it is fitting that the wonders of God be manifested to all clearer than the light." When this was said the soldiers returned by the way they had come.

[5] So rising up, the blessed Priest, that the city set upon a mountain should not longer be hidden, made a prayer, and went on to the palace where the King was tortured and lamenting for his daughter. But the holy Bishop, as he made his journey with swift traversal, arrived there before those soldiers who had been sent. As the Priest of Christ was entering the palace and having made the sign of the Cross, immediately the demon began to cry out through the mouth of the little girl, in the name of Jesus Christ he sets her free. saying: "Behold you, Zeno, have come to drive me out; and I because of the terror of your holiness cannot remain here." Hearing these things, the Priest holding the girl's hand said: "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I command you, depart from her, demon." But he with a public voice began to cry, saying: "Though I be driven out from here by you, I shall go to Verona, and there you will find me." But the Priest of Christ immediately restored the King's daughter whole from all the illusion of demoniacal assault.

[6] As soon as King Gallienus saw this done, astonished with wonder, he distributes the offered and broken crown to the poor, he offered to the Priest the royal crown which he was wearing on his head, saying: "Such a health-bringing physician, who has restored my daughter to health, I cannot appease with any gifts, unless I offer him the very crown I have." And when the multitude of people who had gathered at the palace saw this done, turned from the darkness of unbelief and the gentile error, they unanimously believed in Jesus Christ our Lord, beseeching the Priest of Christ that they might be taught the way of salvation and might merit to receive baptism for the remission of sins. But when the Priest had received the crown from the King, he immediately divided it into parts and distributed it to the poor, saying: "If the Lord works lofty things, to him let the glory of perpetual praise be offered."

[7] These things thus done, the most blessed Zeno asked that permission might be granted him to destroy all the idols, having conquered the idols he builds churches. and to build basilicas in the name of Christ. The King fully acquiesced in his gracious prayers in all the things which he had proposed. Indeed with such and similar renowned virtues he advanced, so that there was fulfilled in him what the Lord said to his disciples: "Behold I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the strength of the enemy." Luke 10:19. After these things therefore the Priest, entering the city of Verona, fearlessly preached the word in the name of Christ: and this he did urgently, that the idols might be destroyed from their foundations, and that churches might be built in honor of the Lord. the Pagans resisting in vain. Finally, as these things were being done, a multitude of pagan people, raging, incessantly strove that Christ's servant might suffer hindrance; but with Christ keeping watch over his servants, the lie was overcome, which the pure and most upright faith drove away from unbelieving hearts.

[8] he falls asleep in peace. These things thus accomplished, the holy Prelate performed the sacred mysteries for the intercession of the people, just as

he had been accustomed to do from his early age. While he was doing these things without ceasing, with the hand of God's will working—to whose nod he had been obedient in every time of his passing life—not long after ^e he was received in peace. Moreover, because in the virtues of health bestowed he shone like a most brilliant star upon all the people, in honor of this Priest ^f a certain one of the family of Gallienus made a basilica to his revered name, a church is erected in his honor: not far from the river, ^g where now his holy body rests: which venerable place also shines with miracles in the name of Christ.

[9] After some ^h time, while on the holy day of his nativity the people together with the clergy were devoutly gathering for the solemnities of the Mass, into which the water of the overflowing river does not flow, the river itself rose over its bank with such inundation that the waters grew up even to the windows or the roof. When the people also, who had gathered there in honor of God and of Saint Zeno the Priest, saw this, seized with wonder at the deed, they cried out that they were perishing with hunger and thirst. But though the inundation of water was so great that it stood like a wall raised around the basilica on all sides, yet it did not enter within at all: for so great was the power of the prayer of Saint Zeno himself with the Lord, that the waters were raised in the likeness of a wall, and did not dare to enter the venerable place. Whence grew veneration and fear toward the Priest of Christ, so that even the sick were cured, the possessed freed; and various miracles occur. and many, coming from distant regions, beset with various infirmities, freed through the intercession of Saint Zeno, returned home with joy. Behold, of his many miracles, I the useless Notary Coronatus have enclosed in this small compass what I have learned, lest I cause weariness to readers or hearers. ⁱ

NOTES.

CHAPTER II.

The opinion of Saint Gregory and others asserting that Saint Zeno died a Martyr; whether under the Emperor Gallienus?

BY G. H.

[1] Saint Gregory the Great The most holy Pope Gregory the Great, in Book 3 of the Dialogues, chapter 19, describes the miracle indicated above, that the water of the river Athesis, overflowing beyond the open door of the church of Saint Zeno, did not enter it: and he cites as witnesses Pronulfus the Count and John the Tribune: and says that Zeno was a Martyr and Pontiff, from the account of Count Pronulfus and after narrating the miracle of the three boys unharmed in the furnace of Babylon, subjoins these things: "To this so ancient miracle a similar thing happened in our days from the opposite element. For recently John the Tribune taught me by his revelation that Count Pronulfus, since he was present with him, had been with King Authari at that time in the same place [he describes the miracle of the water in the overflowing Athesis not entering the temple of Saint Zeno.] where the wondrous thing occurred, and testified that he had known the matter. For the aforesaid Tribune related, saying: 'About five years ago, when at this Roman city the Tiber went out of its bed, rising so much that its wave flowed over the walls of the city, and from there already occupied very large regions; at the city of Verona the Athesis river, overflowing, came to the church of Blessed Zeno, Martyr and Pontiff: of the Martyr called so by him. when the doors of which church were open, the water by no means entered it. Rising a little further, it reached the windows of the church, which were near the roofs: and so the water, standing, closed the door of the church, as if that liquid element had been changed into the solidity of a wall. And though many were found inside; but with the whole church surrounded by the multitude of waters, they had no way by which they could go out; and feared that they would there fail from thirst and hunger, they came to the church door, and drew water for drinking; which, as I said before, had risen up to the windows, and yet in no way flowed within the church. So it could be drawn as water, but could not flow as water. Standing before the door, to show to all the merit of the Martyr, it was both water for the aid, and as if not water for invading the place. This I have truly said was not unlike the ancient miracle of the aforesaid fire, which did not touch the garments of the three boys, and burned their bonds.'" Thus Saint Gregory, who published the books of the Dialogues in the year 593, so that the said miracle occurred in the year 588. The truth of this miracle is confirmed above by Coronatus the Notary, but he asserts that Zeno was received in peace, and that after this miracle veneration toward Saint Zeno grew: who at least then seems to have been taken up as Patron by the Veronese, but under the title of Confessor. By the example of the Veronese the same seems to have been done throughout Lombardy: as we have shown above concerning the Milanese, who in the Ambrosian Missal indicate both the miracle of the overflowing Athesis, and call him a Confessor Pontiff: nor do Count Pronulfus or John the Tribune seem to have sufficiently distinguished between the titles of Martyr and Confessor, and to have taken one for the other.

[2] Following Saint Gregory, Paul the Deacon calls Zeno a Martyr, Meanwhile Paul the Deacon, in Book 3 of the Deeds of the Lombards, chapter 23, calls him Martyr, and thus describes the flood of waters: "At that time there was a flood of water in the borders of Venetia and Liguria, or the other regions of Italy, such as is believed not to have been since the time of Noah. Lakes were made of estates or villas, and a great destruction of men as well as of animals. Roads were destroyed, ways were scattered, and the river Athesis then rose so high that around the basilica of Blessed Zeno the Martyr, which is situated outside the walls of the city of Verona, the water reached up to the upper windows, although the Blessed Gregory, afterwards Pope, wrote that water by no means entered the same basilica. The walls also of the same city of Verona were in some part undermined by the same inundation. This inundation was made on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of November. And there were such flashes and thunderings as scarcely occur in summer time." Thus Paul the Deacon, who flourished in the time of Charlemagne, and as he writes on the cited authority of Saint Gregory the Great that the waters of the Athesis did not enter the basilica of Saint Zeno, so also he calls him Martyr, following the account of the same Gregory the Great. John the Deacon, On the same citation, John the Deacon, in the Life of the same Saint Gregory, written around the year 880 and illustrated by us on March 12, Book 1, no. 35, relates the same miracle, and names Saint Zeno Martyr and Pontiff.

[3] Among the Martyrologists, Rabanus, who flourished in the time of Louis the Pious and his sons, is found, Rabanus, and honored Saint Zeno with this elogium on April 12: "On the same day," he says, "at the city of Verona, the passion of Saint Zeno the Martyr, of whom Blessed Gregory relates in the books of the Dialogues, that the river Athesis overflowing, rose in the church where his body lay buried, up to the upper windows of the roof; but could not enter into the church where the crowd of the faithful was gathered." The same Rabanus on December 8 hands down these things concerning the same Saint: "At the city of Verona the Nativity of Saint Zeno the Martyr, when the waters of the river rose up to the upper windows of the roof of that church, nor could they enter into it, showing the power of the Martyr." And he celebrates him as Martyr, and nowhere calls him Pontiff or Bishop, and insinuates that on the 6th day before the Ides of December the inundation of the Athesis occurred, and that the festive memory, which he calls "natal," was celebrated on that day. But the Acts above have it that on the very day of the birth of Saint Zeno, with the people gathered in the church, the said overflow occurred. Wandelbert, Wandelbert follows, who on December 8 records Zeno as Martyr. Notker on April 12 copied the said elogium of Rabanus. The one who composed the Martyrology put forth under the name of Bede, Notker, author of the supposititious Martyrology of Bede: on December 8 has these things: "At the city of Verona, the Nativity of Saint Zeno the Martyr." But on April 12, with changed wording, he writes thus: "At the city of Verona, the passion of Saint Zeno the Martyr, of whom Blessed Gregory relates in the book of Dialogues." Which things are gathered from the account of Rabanus.

[4] Bede is silent The genuine Martyrology of Bede is empty on December 8, and on April 12 commemorates only Saint Julius the Pope, of whom we treat on this day. Baronius in his Notes on April 12, besides Bede, and Usuard cites Usuard, of whose Martyrology we treated at length in the general Preface to the volume of January, chapter 4, §7, and showed that the copy which we had transcribed at Paris was augmented by later writers, and that we have in our possession an old one of the best note.

a manuscript codex in which no mention at all of Saint Zeno is held: but on April 12 only Julius the Pope and Constantinus, Bishop of Gap, are referred, just as on December 8 Saint Eutychianus the Pope and Macarius, Martyr of Alexandria. Meanwhile, into that Martyrology of Usuard these words were inserted by later writers: "On the same day, Saint Zeno the Bishop, who amid the storms of persecution wonderfully governed the city of Verona, Words inserted here. and in the time of Gallienus was crowned with martyrdom." Molanus, in his second edition of Usuard, corrected this passage thus: "On the same day, Saint Zeno the Bishop, who amid the storms of persecution wonderfully governed the city of Verona." they are emended by Molanus: Molanus then annotates these things: "Concerning Zeno, I have removed the words of Usuard (as I believed), 'And in the time of Gallienus was crowned with martyrdom.' For that he is honored as a Confessor is clear from the Roman Martyrology, and from the Office of the Milanese Church on December 8, and elsewhere: and there is extant the account of the venerable Coronatus, a most Christian Notary of Lobi, concerning the Life of Saint Zeno the Bishop. Meanwhile Gregory in the 3rd Book of the Dialogues, chapter 19, twice preferred to name him Martyr rather than Confessor, because amid the storms of persecution he bravely endured many things; for which same reason he also elsewhere names Juvenal a Martyr." Saint Juvenal is venerated on May 3. What is here called the Roman Martyrology is that indicated above by us, composed by Bellinus de Padua.

[5] Galesinius, in the words set in the text, without martyrdom, Galesinius, following the Milanese, published this elogium on April 12: "At Verona, Saint Zeno the Bishop. This man, having undergone many labors for religion, and having given a most distinguished testimony of faith and of episcopal virtue in the assault, and having wonderfully and piously governed the Church of Verona, at last, heaped with many merits, went to his reward in heaven." The same on December 8 has these things: "At Verona, Saint Zeno the Bishop: whose birthday, as is narrated above, is kept on the day before the Ides of April: today his consecration is celebrated." Thus Galesinius without mention of martyrdom. But in the Notes on April 12 he added: "And of a Martyr, as is clear from the testimony of Saint Gregory and from every Martyrology: in the notes he adds that he is a Martyr, and this is shown at more length in the book which has recently been published on the Holy Bishops of Verona," namely in the year 1576, by the above-indicated Bagata, Peretto, and Agostino Valerio, from whom words are adduced, as the Roman Martyrology now celebrates him fastened onto Bede and Usuard, and found in some manuscript codices, and renewed in today's Roman Martyrology. One can add the authority of the diocese of Freising, which venerates Saint Zeno the Bishop Martyr on April 12, prescribing all things to be recited from the common. Hence Baronius in the Notes to the Martyrology concludes that two Zenos must be posited; and two Zenos are established. the first of whom is handed down as having died a Martyr under the Emperor Gallienus, the other as having lived with Saint Ambrose: and Ughelli holds this second to have been the 18th Bishop, and says that the sermons which have come to light under the name of Zeno the Martyr are believed to be his. We leave all these things to the judgment of more prudent men: it suffices to have shown what we have found written concerning Saint Zeno. Formerly, in the Life of Saint Probus, Bishop of Verona, on January 12, we wrote from Ferrarius that it was received by the consent of all that Saint Zeno, the 8th Bishop of that city, was crowned with martyrdom under the Emperor Gallienus: if this displeases anyone, it may be struck out.

CHAPTER III.

The History of the Translation and Miracles of Saint Zeno, written in prose and verse. Relics in various places. Temples dedicated to him.

[6] Chioggia, an episcopal city under the Venetian Patriarch, is situated between Venice and Adria on the sea: "which," says Leandro Alberti in his description of Italy and the islands near Venice, "Petrus Calo of the Order of Preachers ennobled by his birth; who wrote very carefully two huge volumes on the Lives of the Saints, which are kept in the Dominican library at Bologna." But what is to be regretted, The History of the Translation is extant in a manuscript with Petrus Calo. we have learned both in person and by letters that they are no longer extant there. We found one of these two volumes at Rome in the library of the most Eminent Cardinal Barberini; in which, after the Life of Saint Zeno referred to above, there was on folio 456 the History of the Elevation and miracles of Saint Zeno, which we give as transcribed from thence. This elevation occurred at the beginning of the ninth century, after the monastery of Saint Zeno had been renewed, it occurred before the year 810. under Rotaldus, Bishop of Verona, created in the year 802, and Pippin, King of Italy, son of Charlemagne, who died on July 8 of the year 810. The annual memory of the elevated or translated body of Saint Zeno is celebrated on May 21, May 21. on which day it is inscribed in the Martyrology of Galesinius and the general Catalogue of Ferrarius.

[7] Of the aforesaid construction and renewal and benefits then conferred, both by King Pippin and by Bishop Rotaldus, there is a remembrance in the noble diploma of the Emperor Louis the Pious, signed in the year 814, which Ferdinando Ughelli published from the archive of the monastery of Saint Zeno and a very old codex, in the Bishops of Vercelli, page 601, from which we extract these things: "Rotaldus, venerable Bishop of the holy Church of Verona, together with Austerbertus, Abbot of the monastery of Saint Zeno, brought to us a certain precept, in which we found inscribed Gifts and privileges then granted are confirmed by the Emperor Louis the Pious. how our most beloved brother Pippin, the glorious King of old, together with the aforesaid Prelate, had rebuilt and renewed the monastery of Saint Zeno the Confessor of Christ, which is established in the suburb of the aforesaid city, on account of the divine love and reverence of the aforesaid Patron, because formerly it had been burnt by infidel men, and deprived of almost all the things formerly bestowed on it. Whence, for the emolument of their souls, they wished to bestow on and confirm to the aforesaid place certain things, by which the monks and the poor of Christ might have the necessary subsistence in future times, so that they should remain perpetually… We therefore order and decree, that whatever the aforesaid church of Saint Zeno is known to have justly and legally, whether by our donation or by that of our said brother, and by the tradition of the aforesaid Bishop Rotaldus or of other faithful men, or by their purchase, or by any acquisition; henceforth with full integrity, by this precept of our authority, that holy congregation of monks shall hold and possess securely." So there. Now the aforesaid Bishop Rotaldus was present at the Synod of Mantua celebrated in the year 824.

[8] Afterwards a certain dissension arose between the Canons of the Church of Verona and the Abbot of Saint Zeno concerning the offerings of the same church, bestowed by the pious generosity of the people: which dissension Bishop Ardecarius settled in the year 865, testifying at the same time that the body of Blessed Zeno rested buried in the said church: Body under the Hungarians brought into the Cathedral Church. the same thing was testified by King Rudolph in the diploma of the year 926. In the same year, under Bishop Adelard (as Panvinius writes in Book 5, chapter 25): "The nation of the Hungarians consumed Italy, invaded Verona with great force, and with its suburbs consumed by fire and sword, in these consumed by fire the basilicas of Saints Zeno, Proculus, Stephen, Nazarius, and Celsus. In which alarm, the Abbot of Saint Zeno and the monks with him carried away the body of the same Saint, which had been kept by them (which they greatly feared might be stolen away by theft), together with a chalice and golden cross of the greatest value, Body in the Hungarian incursion carried into the Cathedral Church, granted to the monastery by Pippin's gift, to the Church of Saint Mary Major, to be kept in its shrine. But when affairs were settled in peace at Verona, against the will of the Canons they were carried back into the former basilica; where down to the present day they are kept whole in their own places." Thus Panvinius, who brought the Antiquities of Verona down to the year 1558. and brought back. Inchofer in the Hungarian Annals refers the Hungarian irruption into Italy and the aforesaid calamity at Verona to the year 902, when the Bishop was not Adelard but Adalbert. However that may be, all agree that the body of Saint Zeno was not long out of its proper place: for Hugo, King of Italy, by the diploma granted in the year 926, while he was at Verona, testifies that "the holy body of Blessed Zeno, Confessor of Christ, rests buried in the monastery of the same Blessed Zeno." The Emperor Otto III, by a diploma signed in the year 995, confirms offerings made to Saint Zeno, Patron and Governor of the city of Verona. Saint Henry the Emperor in the year 1014 confirms the privileges and goods to the monastery of Saint Zeno, where his body lies buried. Then in the year 1073 Beatrice the Countess and her daughter Matilda gave a diploma to the monastery of Saint Zeno the Confessor, at which deed was present Saint Anselm, Bishop of Lucca, whose Life we illustrated on March 18 with illustrious mention of Matilda. In the following century Bernard was created Bishop of Verona in the year 1123, who consecrated in the citadel of Monte-aureo a church in honor of the Most Blessed Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, and of Saints Firmus the Martyr, Zeno, and Martin.

[9] There is also at Verona the Church of Saint Zeno on the Mount, otherwise Saint Mary in Bethleem, which by the authority of Pope Eugenius IV was given in the year 1444 to the Hermit Friars of the Fesulan Congregation, Relics of Saint Zeno at Verona in various Churches: instituted a little before, namely in the year 1435: and all these things are handed down in the Bishops of Verona by the often-mentioned Ughelli. There are some particles of the relics of Saint Zeno in various churches of the city of Verona, which Bagata recounts in the Ancient Monuments of Verona. Concerning the relics of Saints Zeno and Eusebius the Confessors, kept in the church of Saint George in Canonicatu, which is also called Saint Helen's, we have treated above. There are besides some relics of Saint Zeno in the churches of Saint Anthony, of the Holy Apostles, of Saint Cecilia, of Saints Firmus and Rusticus, of Saint Gabriel, of Saint George in Braida, of Saint Mary Rocha-major, of Saint Mary Magdalen, of Saint Michael at the Gate, of Saint Silvester, of Saint Thomas, and of Saint Zeno in the oratory. But that the body of Saint Zeno is preserved in the church of Saint Zeno Major or in the monastery is the constant tradition of the Veronese. the body in Saint Zeno Major. Conrad of Lichtenau, Abbot of Ursperg in the diocese of Augsburg, writes in the Chronicle under the year 1052 that the relics of Saint Zeno were carried by Waltharius, Bishop of Verona, to Ulm. Some notable relics brought to Ulm in the year 1052. The same things Hermann the Contract has, and adds that he shone with very many miracles. Hermann the Sexton or "of Genoa" relates them at greater length in the Chronicle which is called Flores temporum, under Leo IX, whom he calls the tenth: "Then also," he says, "Saint Zeno, the glorious Confessor, was translated to Ulm on the Danube, to the Church of the Holy Cross, and there placed in the Chapel of Saint Udalric: whom Bishop Wernherus of Verona, Swabian by nation, transferred to the said town. But now these relics are kept in the same town, but with the lords of the Teutonic house." The same author under Henry IV confirms the same: concerning which author Martin Crusius treats in Book 6, part 2, chapter 11 of the Swabian Annals, where he narrates this translation from both Hermanns.

Ughelli also remembers this translation under Bishop Walter.

[10] There are various churches outside Verona dedicated to Saint Zeno: of these three are counted, temples dedicated to Saint Zeno in the diocese of Verona, located in the diocese of Verona, in the Bull of Eugenius IV in Ughelli page 952, and they are Saint Zeno of Rupeclaria, Saint Zeno of Cereta, Saint Zeno of Vigasio or Vico Athesis. That the two former were in the year 1448 assigned as dowry to the Treasury of Verona, is handed down in the same place on page 967, and that they were added to the Cornelian table by Marco Cornelio, Cardinal Bishop of Verona, is read in his diploma confirmed by Pope Leo X. These three are Churches, Archpresbyterates or Plebes, to which other minor Parish churches are subject, as the same Ughelli relates in the Appendix of Volume 7, page 1431. That there is also a parish church of Saint Zeno at Brescia, and another at Terni in Umbria, at Brescia and Terni: we said on January 5 and 7, in the Acts of Saints Rusticianus, Bishop of Brescia, and Valentinus II, Bishop of Terni, whose sacred bodies rest placed in the said churches. Of another parish church of Saint Zeno at Cesena, in which his arm is preserved, Bernardino Manzoni is the witness in the Chronology of Cesena page 62.

[11] Raphaël Bagata, mentioned above, relates from the fourth book of the Statutes of Verona, that it was decreed, an image in all the gates of the City. that in all the open gates of the city of Verona, or those which in time shall be opened, there should be made and painted the images of the Lady Saint Mary, Mother of the Lord, with her own Son in her arms, and of Saint Zeno, Protector of the city, and of Saint Peter with the keys in his hand, and of Saint Christopher. It is added besides, that in the bell also of the clock tower, cast at Verona under Cansignorio Scaliger in the year 1370, there is a figure of Saint Zeno with a diadem in pontifical habit, holding in his right hand a basket, a bell dedicated to him. and in his left hand a rod with a hook for fishing, whose inscription is "S. ZENO." Finally, a commemoration of Saint Zeno is made by the secular clergy and by the Regulars of both sexes of the diocese of Verona, on ferial and Sunday days, at Matins and Vespers. Also in the Masses, in the Collect "A cunctis," his commemoration is made, immediately after the commemoration of the Apostles Peter and Paul. Commemoration in the Ecclesiastical Office. Likewise in the Major Church of Saint Zeno at Verona, on a certain tablet written by an old hand, hung on the right side in the descent of the crypt or Confession, the miracles of Saint Zeno are described in two hundred forty-four hexameter verses by Jacobus the Presbyter. Those miracles we transcribed for ourselves at Verona in the year 1660 from a copy, A Poem on his miracles. communicated to us by the most humane Abbot Cherubino Lazarono, Prior of the monastery of Saint Zeno there, whom Ughelli calls a man illustrious in erudition and an outstanding cultivator of venerable antiquity. Certainly we would have wished that what he had collected and prepared for the press concerning the Life of Saint Zeno, the foundation and progress of the monastery and church of Saint Zeno, and the more noble monuments of both, might have been seen made public; perhaps they would have diminished our labor in many things, and made us think differently in several.

HISTORY OF THE ELEVATION OF THE BODY AND OF THE MIRACLES

OF SAINT ZENO.

From the manuscript collectanea of Petrus Calo of the Order of Preachers.

Zeno, Bishop of Verona, in Italy (St.)

BHL Number: 9012

FROM THE MANUSCRIPT OF PETRUS CALO.

[1] Under Pippin, King of Italy, and Bishop Rotaldus In the time of Pippin, King of Italy, who loved Verona above other cities, and held frequent conversation there with Rotaldus the Bishop beloved to him; he, together with the Bishop, having entered the church of Saint Zeno, conferring about both the marvels heard and seen, determined to raise the body of the said Saint, placed in a lower position than was fitting, a new Church is built. and to enlarge the narrowness of the church. And the church being built of polished marbles and a tomb fashioned, the King with the Prelate, with all the sacred orders gathered, soothing the Saint with devout prayers lest he be angry with them, with enormous fear opened the chamber. The bones of Saint Zeno inspire horror. But so terrified were they, that none presumed to touch the bones; because something divine and terrible was breathing from them, which struck terror: so presently they closed the sepulchre. Therefore it pleased the King and Bishop, that for forty days, three times in the week, all should assemble devoutly and solemnly at the Saint's sepulchre, entreating his clemency, after prayers of 40 days, that he might inspire them as to whom this revered task was fitting.

[2] Then the report of a certain hermit, who was nourished on a little bread, water, and raw herbs, came to the King and Prelate, and they sent prudent messengers to him, ^a by name Benignus, and his disciple Lazarus, by the Lake Benacus ^b in a hiding-place set on a high watch-tower of the place; by whom they were received with joy, and having heard the embassy of the King and Bishop, he said: "Returning in peace, summoning Saints Benignus and Lazarus the anchorites, greet your lords again; I am not a little delighted that I am called to that solemnity." And about to follow them, presently entering a small chapel for the sake of praying, he implored divine help. But as he was on his way, a blackbird, chirping with a noisy voice, ^c flying across the path, as if signifying a sinister omen, called him back from what was begun. He, understanding this to be the work of a demon, adjured the blackbird that it should make no motion until he returned. Honorably received therefore by the King and Prelate, having heard what they wished, he himself with chosen companions entered the approach, with all praying, both those who were inside and those who stood before the doors. they are elevated, The Hermit indeed entered trembling, and bore up the most blessed bones, and arranged them one by one in the prepared sepulchre, and such great power of fragrance wafted forth as none had ever before perceived. Then the King asked for something of the relics, and at last hardly obtained from the Prelate particles of sinews, and are placed under a Seal: ashes, and garments, with the integrity of the limbs preserved: but the rest, firmly enclosed and sealed with a ring, he laid away.

[3] Then many sick of every kind were healed: and great joy was made of this. the church is magnificently endowed. But the King and the Prelate and many of the nobles ^d magnificently endowed the church of Saint Zeno that day, and made it most rich. But the Hermit returning saw the blackbird lying on the cut rock; which, thinking that it was resting and awaiting him, he approached to rouse it and give it leave to go. But it had already expired: whence a bronze image of a blackbird, made by casting art, hangs there to this day.

[4] A Trentine possessed by a demon is healed, A demon having entered a certain man from Trent, claimed for himself the powers of body and mind: whose foaming mouth did not sound like a man, nor did he see with his eyes, which the enemy made bloody and horrible: he told hidden things of men: whence, calling a Presbyter who was adjuring him "Eunuch," which was not known to the bystanders; and to the Deacon adjuring him, calling him by name, he reproached him with many things which he had committed: and so none dared to approach who was conscious to himself of guilt. Presently Zeno the Provost of the monastery, unable to bear the pride of the demon; embracing the altar of Saint Zeno, bathed in tears, poured forth a prayer, that the insult of the demon should not pass unpunished. Presently the demon, by the power of prayer and the merits of the Saint, left the man, rendering abundant thanks to God and Saint Zeno.

[5] William, withered and contracted, like a quadruped treading the earth, a withered and contracted man, carried thither on a litter, approaching the vestibule of the temple, set down by other arms on the ground, beat his breast with fists, raised his voice with sobs, confessed himself worthy of a worse state. Then he had lights kindled, and bent like a beast, with knees and palms began to creep toward the altar. Immediately the divine power, entering his bones and sinews, touched the arthritic disease. He fell to the ground as lifeless, and long lay as though without breath, so that he was thought dead. But suddenly the features of the body were made firm, and the joints and bases and knots. Immediately therefore he is raised up, and quickly proceeds to the altar, praising God and his Saint.

[6] Two men, John and Calvus, paralytics, carried up there together, 2 paralytics. diligently watched the doors of the church, and implored the aid of Saint Zeno. When therefore sleep oppressed them, they saw an old man most beautiful in aspect, of lively color, snow-white hair, coming out of the temple, carrying a rod in his hand: raising which, he touched them both, saying: "Long enough you have lain in these chambers, arise and praise God the Savior"; and he went away. Waking therefore, telling one another what they had seen, they felt themselves immediately restored to health: and rising with a great voice they praised God, and for several days there remained in praises, lest they seem ungrateful, making known what had been done in them.

[7] When fierce enemies had captured Albert ^e of Ceneda, not content with the glory of the capture, nor satisfied with other tortures, they burned out his eyes with hot iron. Bereft of light he sat in darkness, complaining of the sudden privation, persistently day and night imploring God the Judge. Following therefore a guide, a blind man with his eyes plucked out by the enemy, now burdensome and hateful to his own, he often begged God to deprive him of life. To him suddenly it came into his heart to hasten to the protection of Saint Zeno. Then when he asked from his kinsmen and friends assistance for the journey, they called him mad for such a request: who yet was cheerfully led by his former tutor to the cave in which the Saint had first lain, with some of his companions accompanying him out of humanity: and prostrate on the ground he tearfully invokes the Saint, to furnish him the aid of healing. And as he miserably and frequently repeated this very thing, unexpectedly he saw the bystanders, he receives sight, and suddenly cried that he could see. And when those who had come with him did not believe, one after another presented himself; and he asked who he was, and what he was wearing. When he answered the questions truly, he began to clap his hands, and to praise God and Saint Zeno. When this was heard, his torturers, led by penitence, boldly approached him, that he might grant them pardon, for the love of him from whom he had obtained mercy. To them he vigorously spared the guilt, and took no penalty. and lives there as a monk, He went to the Abbot of Saint Zeno, and put on the "lorica," that is, the habit of Saint Benedict, and there for four "lustra," that is twenty years, faithfully fought.

[8] A possessed woman is cured Vezila, seized by a demon, while still a girl, with the demon now hiding, now raging under her tender limbs, became a young woman. When she should have been a solace to her parents, she was an unconsolable spectacle: whom the demon had often deceived, swearing that he would go out if she were brought to this or that church. At the time when the blood of Christ was reported as found at Mantua, ^f when she was being led there by her parents, they made a digression to the church of Saint Zeno: which, as they were entering, the demon shook the girl more fiercely than usual, as the East wind shakes a little tree. But because it was the day of the Rogations, a great crowd of people was proceeding there, chanting psalms: who, when they saw her rolling her head, her hair flying,

her hands and arms trembling, her feet dancing, several men laboring to hold her, all raised their hands into the air and cried: "God, help!" Immediately by the power of Christ the demon, with great clamor and sulphurous stench, was cast out, the girl remaining in the midst of the people pale, terrified, trembling, exhausted: for which praises of thanksgiving are rendered to God.

[9] Then the demon, going out upon a monk who was standing near the high tower which was being built, rolled a stone from the lofty pinnacle, by whom the demon was expelled and gravely wounded him on the head, whence he was taken up by the Brethren as though dead. Immediately like an arrow he hurled himself onto the table of a certain native, and whatever was on it, like a stormy whirlwind, he scattered. Then suddenly he rushed into a cart loaded with thorns, which no animal was moving, nor was there any force of wind; yet by the demon it was rolled, driven here and there, as though by fierce and untamed bulls joined to the yoke. he takes revenge in various ways. And he also pushed the helmsman of a ship carrying stones to the splendid building of Saint Zeno, wishing to drown the man in the river and to sink the ship: but he fell down below the stern, and the ship kept the port without loss. From there to the River, with plowmen peacefully standing near the bank, he stirred their hearts to anger: whence some of them spoke insolently and arrogantly, and provoked their companions and friends with words of reproach. Immediately engaged in hostility, they grievously injured each other with clubs; and if weapons had been at hand, they would have killed one another. But the priests, with open signs of Satan having come among the sons of God, saying peace settled things between them; who, coming to themselves, washed one another's wounds still dripping, which they themselves had made; and tearing off bandages from their clothes, with tears and charity bound up the wounds.

[10] Now Saint Zeno ^g wrote treatises more than ^h eighty on the Psalms and Prophets, and on the Nativity of the Lord, Saint Zeno composed various books. and on various other matters, and many epistles and expositions, and the Life of Saint Arcadius the martyr, who suffered at the same time, which I placed ⁱ on the day before the Ides of January: which treatises and epistles and expositions, published in a beautiful and subtle style, I myself ^k saw in two volumes at Saint Zeno's at Verona.

NOTES.

MIRACLES OF SAINT ZENO

by Jacobus the Presbyter.

From a manuscript of the Monastery of Saint Zeno.

Zeno, Bishop of Verona, in Italy (St.)

BHL Number: 9013

BY JACOBUS FROM A MANUSCRIPT.

May it please you, Verona, for love of your Zeno To gaze upon the most wondrous miracles of your Saint.

I pray you, nourishing Father, most holy Prelate Zeno, Be mindful of your Presbyter and servant Jacobus: Invocation of the poet Who, though the strength of his talent is modest on every side, For writing the bright miracles of you, the faithful Pastor, who are the splendor, the glory, and the crown Of Verona; yet hope you give me, Zeno, He who commanded the rock to produce fountains for the people: And He will grant me to speak sweetly here, He who loosed The mouth of the man for the she-ass, and God will grant strength to the unarmed.

But yet from many I shall taste only a few, proposing a few and select things. As a bee lately flying around flowers surveys all, And leaving behind the thyme of many a honeyed hall, Laden with the modest weight of her own, but sweeter, she carries it.

Therefore let no nursling of Zeno refuse (If any have a desire to hear the praises of their Father) To learn the praise of his guardian and Father: A few, yet wondrous, proclamations to the whole world.

The Athesis, leaping forth, approached the holy one of Zeno, And grinding its teeth with swift storms, roamed the heights: The water of the overflowing Athesis is kept from entering the church. And when with its whirlpools it could not devour The gates standing open, returning it grew white, ministering dreadful things: And with the high shores foaming around on every side, Dreadful it demands to overtop the windows of the temple, Joined to the rooftops: in control it reached them themselves.

This was the enemy of the human race who had hurled these darts, By which the shrine should fall, soothing pious breasts with Christ: And those whom that Father had consecrated with sweet waters, These that roaring one with raging waves wished to destroy.

But the Almighty Father, adhering to the merits of Zeno, Then fixed the liquid waves like white marble; And water was an aid to the peoples, rolling away sorrows.

For at the doors only the wave stood as though thirsty; And at length struggled to seek its proper place, It strives; and gave its back to the untouched valves.

Then because it could not enter the open gates, Daring, it broke the mighty bulwarks of the city.

Zeno, your Father, Verona, kept watch in that Shrine, renewing your breasts with his holy dogma: Whence on their own feet the lame returned strong, the lame and blind are healed: And there many blind rejoiced in the light.

For sanctified, like a second Baptist, While living he did exceedingly wondrous miracles.

When with his cart and oxen plunged in the river, he is saved from being drowned: The rustic rejoices that through this Father he escaped the perils; And with three little fishes granted, a fourth in the boiling water, As though in its own river, swam, and thence a fish swims in boiling water: By his command, cooked, is returned to his mouth.

The daughter of Gallienus ^b at Rome, he set free from the bitter Guest of Pluto, who gave the royal gifts, The possessed daughter of Gallienus is freed: And the broken crown, to all the poor, saying: "If the Almighty Father works wondrous things, to him, To perpetual-praise Christ himself, let glory be rendered."

Then there many gave themselves up to the sacred font Running; whom he consecrated to God and anointed.

But when permission was granted from the Roman Prince To lay low the vain gods by right; he returned to his native city, Overthrowing the temples of the gentile people with thunder, The lying and mute figures of Jove and of Venus: the idols are cast down, But when he had first given the holy words of God Intrepid to the people, he is held a worthy Patron Of Verona; though he himself was ^c the eighth Prelate in it: for he taught the sacred laws to our breasts, Our Father, for he flourished in polished speech; the faith is spread, And ever urged with paternal counsels, that to him And to the One and Triune God he might join all.

Innumerable peoples from the living font of Jesus He here redeemed, and with great Shrines consecrated to God's honor the Father: and bearing this ill, the profane crowd, Laughing before the Prelate's feet, "In this river a corpse ^d a dead man is raised, Carried along," they said, "if by chance you bring it back to life, behold We all believe in him whom you call the Word-born": Then that good Father, rejoicing in the promise, from the lofty Hall merited then to return him speaking to the people; that He is The one sole God, whom Zeno the Father confesses with a clear voice: And thus all the people believed in Christ.

But indeed he did greater miracles while living, Which remain hidden from us because of the long times.

A certain Trentine, vexed by the wicked fraud A possessed man is healed, Of the demon, and deprived of the strength of mind and Body, did not sound like a man through his foaming jaws, And he saw nothing with his gleaming eyes; This one, laying bare men's faults and every secret, Declared the Presbyter a eunuch before all, and Made known the deacon's vice, revealing him by name; Wherefore each one conscious to himself trembled at him.

Presently the Father Zeno, called Solomon of the monastery, Weighed the demon's assault heavily above all.

And suppliantly prone to God at Zeno's altar, With constant prayers and falling tears he persists.

And when he had prayed for God's servant for a long time, Straightaway, behold, Satan, overcome by the prayers and merits Of Zeno, then left the long-torn limbs.

Which was marvelous to the people and to the whole world, And to God and the Saint glory, praise, and triumph.

A certain withered and sinew-contracted man, and like A beast creeping with his whole body entirely, withered and contracted, Perceiving the praises of the Saint poured out through the world; Leaves the litter on which he had been carried, and striving With the servants' hands pressing close, to see the altar.

But suddenly, he who was bent like a beast, entirely, When he began with heavy palms to creep to the altar, Fell lifeless, and suddenly solidified were all The man's limbs. Then the guest, joyful and bold, With jubilation touched of his own accord the venerable tomb.

O how great and how much was the power of Zeno in him; With the immense praises of the people it was justly revealed To the world of the Father modulating songs.

But when the fame of the man, announcer of virtue, was going forth, From every side a crowd ran, like a flock to pastures.

Hither Calvus is conveyed with many, and John Goes as companion and associate, also a paralytic Made: each one long kept the thresholds of the temple, And placated by prayers at last Zeno rested.

When night and sleep with strong bonds Had laid low living things, the Saint struck each with his rod, And saying "Enough you have lain, Arise: Now praise Christ the God"; presently he made both whole.

And equally each whole praised Saint Zeno, And the Father together who rules all things.

Behold what once befell Albert of Ceneda.

Invaded by enemies, deprived of his eyes by iron, A blind man, with his eyes torn out by the enemy, He sat in his darkness bereft of light, And complaining he asked God night and day, That he might at last cut off his now burdensome life.

And following a guide for no short time, blind, Hateful to all his kinsmen, despised, to the cave In which Zeno first rested for a long time, He came, a few dear ones accompanying him.

Lying on the ground with tears, sobs, and voice To the Saint when he gave his vows, suddenly perceiving the bystanders, he receives sight. With his index finger he marked each one to be pointed out with his name: The cry of the people arose, all began to applaud.

He thereupon willingly giving pardon to his torturers, Served Christ four lustra And Zeno, Benedict, under the rule of your law.

Alas, how often tearing the tender sinews of Wetilia, That spirit deceived her parents' vows. The possessed woman is freed For the malignant one often swore to them, that from thence He would go out, if such a one should approach such Temples of the Saint: but in vain, when already brought she was present, In vain so often toward you, Mantua, she is carried, While the blood of Christ is said to be found.

But first the girl was led to the temple of Zeno, At whose entrance the demon, overcome, as the East wind Shakes your high branches, little tree, tearing them; No otherwise did he vex the girl's limbs with dire Torments; you would see her toss her head, her hair fly, And her hands tremble, her feet dance, And many men sweat in holding those limbs.

Then all the people there, their hands straight raised into the air, Cried with one voice: "Help, God!"

Immediately and with weighty signs the demon was driven off, A stench and sulphur there long stood, and tumult, And in the midst of the people sat the terrified maiden, And scarcely could she speak, who had once overcome so many.

O how great glory to our Zeno Was rendered! Nor satisfied with so many faults, immediately the demon, by a demon variously raging Going away from there, twisted a flint from the top of a tower, Which then was rising in your honor, Zeno, beautiful: And struck a monk heavily walking nearby; Whom though they gazed on as lifeless, yet from that Wound he did not die, but Christ and the worthy Saint The citizens of Verona praised together in song.

Thence flying with a stormy whirlwind the demon Sought the table of a native, like an arrow launched, Overturning whatever was on it. From afar He scattered, and as the people watched him, swiftly then He rushed into a cart loaded with thorns, without oxen, And although no animal, no force of wind Touched it; yet he, blowing, rolled it here and there, As if the charioteer with his yoke then—indeed, fierce And untamed bulls had been joined at the dewlaps.

These things done, swift he struck the ship and the ship's master; He was carrying stones to your temple, Zeno, but hindered from greater harm, And eager to sink both the sailor and the ship together, The wicked Satan in vain hurled dire thunders: For without loss this sailor came to port. Hence leaving the Athesis, to the river which is called ^f He hastens, and began to stir up the associates, who were engaged In serious business—Satan, filling their hearts with flames.

Immediately with clubs, as bulls through narrow passes, The men came to blows, and grievously in their fury, behold, Death was at hand, unless perhaps God and the Presbyters Had been present; who by the fraud, deceits, and art of the demon Knew openly that these things had been contrived by many Signs: for with the men returned to their pure hearts, With tears it pleased them to wipe their dripping wounds each with his own garment, And to wash their blows in turn, And begging pardon to be given one to another, bent down, They began to praise God and to rejoice to the holy Pastor, because the rights of mind have been restored to them.

A distinguished man, while the feast-day of Zeno was present, Twice six paupers used each year to give rich Banquets; to whom unhappy, doing such things, the Father Nourishing 12 paupers on the feast of Saint Zeno, Behold, they bring word that his son has sought dreadful Acheron By wounds. But the father, though that was his only Son, did not abandon the things he had begun, nor because of such a death: And that Zeno was always present to him as a protection He foretold, and closed the banquet joyful: he receives his dead son raised from the dead. And having rendered to God, Zeno, and the citizens lofty Praises immense, immediately Zeno to the parent, From his death, as from sleep, recalled his nursling.

What of the man of Castello, when overcome by an enemy, A certain man of Verona had flown to the Venetian city, victory obtained in a lawsuit. And saw all cruel to him unjustly; A suppliant he made vows to Zeno, saying such things: "You, Zeno, be my kind Patron, I pray, rightfully, Whom Verona first venerates as leader with honor."

Behold suddenly the Venetian people and the whole Senate, Seeing his rights, then at last with benign countenance Made Zeno's servant the victor; and he himself Brought forth from his own mouth what Zeno had written those things Which now the advocates and doctors denied to themselves Having foreseen, though they had sifted them all just before: Thus he both gained his vow, mindful, and received it.

You, Catherine the Saracen, I pray, confess to the one asking, How great gifts Zeno bore to you for many months sick, Acceptable gifts: for Benedict the man himself Healed of fever with headache Is a witness, that he took away her fever and headache, Saying in a vision: "Rejoice, faithful one, You will be safe, if you make a worthy canopy for Zeno's Bare head: for bare so to you he was seen, He to whom all sincere things shine; the bed, You will leave whole and safe, with the whole house rejoicing, As soon as possible": not in vain the mother, to Zeno's ears, and of gout. Poured forth prayers with her petitions, cured of gout.

O how very splendid, how many and how great deeds shine forth Of your Pontiff, Verona, to whom you owe very many things! For whom do you hold as first founder of the faith? What first light drives the darkness from your hearts? Conclusion to the Veronese. In speech, what father is more pleasing to his sons than he? To whom has the grace of eloquence and fluency shone more? Who has put to flight the assaults of the demon with such praise? Finally, who besides him has done miracles for you?

Zeno indeed bestows sight upon the blind, and The pious Zeno cleans the sick, loosens the limbs of the contracted: Zeno favors the wretched, protects their rights: Zeno of his own accord puts to flight the dire assaults of the demon: Zeno calls to the heavenly those bound by the chain of Acheron: And Zeno leads the people of Verona to Olympus.

Therefore, Verona, you should want to recognize your Father, And his wondrous chapel with your gifts You should venerate: for the Patron bears the vows of his client, And rejoices to meet pious prayers and vows.

NOTES