on Saint Wicterp writes these things: "Long I investigated, The place Eptaticum,
whether the place, Eptaticum, called in the Life of Saint
Magnus and Blessed Herluca, still existed: I found a village
now is called Eppach. Concerning a church the case was not so clear.
Eminent certain men, perhaps passing there, inquired
the same place, when in the Life of Saint Wicterp they had read;
but testified they had found nothing of this title. At length I came upon a peasant,
whom examining more diligently, whether any church
under the title of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Laurence existed;
he replied: 'In the village of Eppach there is no church
of this title, although it has two; but
at a journey of one hour not far from the Lech river,
in a place entirely solitary and uncultivated, there survives
a small chapel altogether of this title.' By which answer
I came entirely to this opinion, that I let myself be persuaded
this was the very church, with which Blessed Wicterp is read to have been
delighted, where also afterwards Herluca led her life." Thus Stengel. Rader
adds that Eptaticum was the estate of Saint Wicterp, situated between Schongau
and Landsberg, or, as is handed down in the Life of Saint Magnus,
Saint Wicterp the Bishop said to Magnus himself, "Well is this
place called Eptaticum, because it stands in the middle between
the monastery of Saint Afra, which is at Augsburg, and your cell,
either the Jaws of Julius or the town of Fussen,"
namely on each side hepta, that is seven Swabian common miles
or ten Gallic, distant.
[3] and Beronica or Bernried. Another place, illustrated by the last dwelling,
death, and burial of Blessed Herluca, is Beronica or Bernried,
above Munich about fifteen miles,
near Lake Verr, commonly Wurmsee, where
a monastery of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine
was founded in honor of Saint Martin by Otto Count
of Vallay, with his wife Adelhaid, there buried with
his brother and sister. The foundation was confirmed
by Pope Callixtus II, on the day before the Ides of November, in the year
of his Pontificate 4, of Christ 1122. In this newly founded monastery
Paul, Canon of the Church of Regensburg,
driven into exile by the schismatic Emperor Henry,
took the habit of the Order of Canons Regular,
and wrote the Life of Saint Gregory Pope
VII, to be illustrated by us on May 25: then
the deeds of Blessed Herluca the Virgin which we give here.
For she also, expelled from Eptaticum, came here, lived, and
dying wished to be buried in the Bernried or Beronica monastery,
whose tomb is still seen in
the middle of the church, as Wiguleus Hund has it in the Metropolis
of Salzburg, volume 2 of On the Monasteries of Bavaria p.
149 and following: some of which John Aventinus touches on
in book 5 of the Annals of the Bavarians.
LIFE OF SAINT WICTERP
Collected from various sources.
Wicterp, Bishop of Augsburg, in Germany (Saint)
Herluca, Virgin, in Germany (Blessed)
By G. H.
CHAPTER I.
Things done before the Episcopate of Augsburg.
[1] Those seem least of all to stray from the truth who
would say that nothing can be known of the deeds of Saint Wicterp, Nothing certain is held about things done before the Episcopate:
before he was promoted to the Pontifical See;
indeed of things done in the Episcopate only
can be known what is contained in the Acts of Saint Magnus: and thus
Paul rightly said in the Life of Blessed Herluca, that he had in no way
received any other mention of him by hearing or reading.
These things notwithstanding, what has been thought by others, we judge
that necessary things should be indicated. The most ancient mention of him
is in Gaspar Bruschius both in the Catalog of the Bishops
of Augsburg, published with other Bishops of the Province of Mainz
in 1549, and in the First Century
of the principal monasteries of Germany, published two years later.
This author therefore writes thus in the Catalog of the Bishops
of Augsburg: "Saint Victerbus, to others Victerpus,
first monk and teacher of monks, by Bruschius he is said to have been monk and Abbot of Ellwangen
afterwards Abbot of the Elefancense monastery, founded by
a certain Hariolf Bishop of Langres; finally
chosen Bishop of Augsburg by Pippin King of the Gauls.
He presided there laudably and with the greatest
zeal for promoting and amplifying Christian piety,
for sixteen years. To this Victerpus came Saint
Magnus, disciple of Saint Gall, asking of him leave
and power to build for himself and his disciples a monastery,
which at the expense of King Pippin by the help of this Bishop he built magnificently
at the river Lech in the jaws of the Alps of Swabia;
whence Faucense, and still today with little changed word, the
Fussen monastery and town, it is commonly called. Victerbus died
on the 18th of April, died in the year 752 of the year from the birth of Christ
752. He consecrated the temples of the monasteries Kempten,
Saint Magnus, and Benedict of Benediktbeuern." Thus there. In which
Hariolf of Langres is said to be the founder of the monastery,
in which Saint Victerp was Abbot. About this Bishop James
Vignier has this, in the Epitome of the Langres Chronicle page
51: "Among the Langres, to the most wicked prodigal Pastor
was substituted the faithful and prudent and frugal steward Erlulf,
or Herulf, Hariolf was the founder of Ellwangen otherwise Hariolf, by nation
German, begotten from the Dukes of Swabia and the family of the Counts
of Ellwangen, and formerly educated with the younger
Clerics among the monks. This man was dear to Carloman,
administering Burgundy with Austrasia about the year
769, still Bishop of Langres in the year 769, and also to Charlemagne
his brother: in which year Herulf presented himself to the Lateran Council,
one of twelve selected Bishops of the Gauls,
and sat not there last. But
loving solitude, after a few years he withdrew into the Ellwangen
monastery of his fraternal domain, and to Arnulf,
either brother or nephew, resigned the pastoral staff.
He seems to have been the author of the fraternity
or association, which then was among the Canons
of Langres and Saint Gall, of which we in its place."
Thus far Vignier. Bruschius, treating of the monastery of Ellwangen,
or Elefancense, asserts it was founded in 764
by Hariolf Bishop of Langres, first Abbot
of his monastery. He was succeeded by the second Victerbus, made
also Bishop of Augsburg. He died in the year of the Lord
752. That is, twelve years before the monastery itself
was founded. But suppose he was there the second
Abbot, named Wicterp, he is plainly other than the Bishop of Augsburg,
and more than a whole century younger. Of him in the epitaph
of Hariolf, without any mention of the Episcopate, these things
are read:
In this tomb are closed the bones of Prelate Hariolf,
Who founded this place by his own right. Therefore it is another Victerpus, 2nd Abbot of Ellwangen.
He raised it happily through many years,
And piously to Victerp left the work of honor.
Behold! he who still in the year 770 was Bishop of Langres,
afterwards for many years ruled the monastery, for which the Victerbus substituted
perhaps should be said to have died in the year 802. perhaps died in the year 802.
[2] Elsewhere Bruschius himself corrects this error, when, treating
of the Abbey of Saint Gall, he says it began to be founded in the year
630, Saint Gall is said by Bruschius to have died in the year 640, and that Saint Gall himself died in the year 640. But
three years having passed after his death, when his tomb had been
violated and broken by impious Dukes, but restored by Boso Bishop
of Constance; there departed thence Saint Magnus
and Theodore; and receiving as guide of their journey Saint Tozzo,
later successor of Saint Wicterp in the Episcopate of Augsburg,
passing through Bregenz they came to Kempten; and there,
leaving Theodore behind, Saints Magnus and Tozzo came to Eptaticum
to Saint Wicterp, then Bishop of Augsburg. Three years after, Saint Magnus departed
The year was by the calculation of Bruschius 643 or the following. The rest
will be set forth from the Life of Saint Magnus in the next chapter. But
let those words of Bruschius be removed from the deeds of Saint Wicterp,
that he was first a monk, to Saint Wicterp: and teacher of monks,
afterwards Abbot of the Elefancense monastery, founded by
a certain Hariolf of Langres, and that these be attributed
to some Victerbus, one hundred forty or more
years younger.
[3] Of the same kind we think, unless more accurately proved, are
those things which, with Charles Stengel cited in the margin, Whether he was Bishop of Neuburg?
are added to the said Abbot of Elefancense in Rader in Bavaria
Sancta: "And since," he says, "that Abbot bore himself
more modestly the higher he had ascended, fame did not cease
to celebrate his name, until it set him in the chair
of Bishop of Neuburg, to show forth a public
lamp of holier life to the world for an example." But who
is this Pontificate of Neuburg? Is it
he who in the city of Meissen-Naumburg, after the year
of Christ one thousand, from the see of Zeitz erected in the tenth century,
was transferred? If another place of this name was honored with a
Pontifical see, they wish with us that others also be taught.
But Rader proceeding, "Nor is this the end of the honors," he says;
"in the imperial city of the Vindelici, Augsburg,
the supreme See of the Prelate, as the eye of Germany, Other things are handed down that he did at Augsburg,
virtue assigned to him...who as soon as he had entered
his Pontificate, began from the extirpation of the Arian pestilence
still raging widely through the world, and permitted himself
no portion of rest, until he should abolish
the most foul plague from his sheep. Indeed also
the sacred temple of Saint Afra, through the devastations of the Huns
having almost suffered a second conflagration, not yet
given a city, but situated outside the walls, he restored
to its former or even greater splendor.
For religious men he erected asceteria, some
from the foundations, some he restored, some he initiated." Thus there;
and these are things which Charles Stengel, buried in the long darkness
of the ages, called back into light: but we should wish
them to be confirmed by the authority of ancient writers. Hence
we proceed to those things which in the Life of Saint Magnus are handed down about
Wicterp, interpolated in various places ineptly by posterity, and perhaps
by those who were ignorant that before King Pippin and father
of Charlemagne, other Princes existed by the name of Pippin,
and attributed to him things which under Blessed Pippin the Duke, his
great-grandfather, happened: whose Acts we have given on February 21.
CHAPTER II.
Saints Magnus and Tozzo received. The churches of Waldenhofen and Fussen dedicated.
Taken from the Acts of Saint Magnus.
[4] Blessed Magnus set out from Kempten, having received
with him as companion and guide of his journey Tozzo
the Presbyter, leaving with Theodore the blind man
who had received his sight. Saint Wicterp staying at Eptaticum, So the journey begun and the river crossed,
he went by a straight path, as the guide led him;
and so they came to a place called Eptaticum,
and found there the Bishop of the holy Vindelic Church named
Wicterp. Tozzo then, because of the acquaintance he had with
the Bishop, preceded Blessed Magnus, and came
to the aforesaid Bishop, and related to him everything
about the holy man that he had seen and heard. From Saint Tozzo he understands the virtues of Saint Magnus:
The aforesaid Bishop asked of what region he was.
And the Presbyter answered: "Lord, as I have heard from Theodore,
who is now left at Kempten, he is sprung
from the province of Ireland." When the Bishop heard of
his good fame, he received him kindly, and
began to speak with him, and with honor to cherish him,
and he tarried with him a few days, inquiring of him
daily about Blessed Columban and Gall, and about
their journeys and conversation and end of their life,
and about the virtues which they did. Then he asked
him where his will was to proceed.
Blessed Magnus, answering, said: "By the Lord's disposal I am directed
to the place which is called Fauces, where near
are the springs of the Julian Alps, wishing to begin the Fauces monastery and where
the dragon was, who by command of Bishop Narcissus was killed
by the devil: that by the Lord's assent, whatever
good I can build there, I may do. Now therefore
let your paternity decide, how your will
is for me to act, since at your command with ready
mind I ought to act, as the Lord has revealed to me
through your mouth. I, now old and aged, desire
in my last time to visit that place, and
prepare it for serving God, following the example
of my Lords Columban and Gall." He puts forward the difficulty: To these things
Wicterp the Bishop answered: "That place is very
narrow and uninhabitable, and already various wild beasts
dwell there, that is stags, many boars, very many bears,
and because of their multitude Lord
Pippin holds that forest for his hunting.
Also very many worms and of diverse kinds
dwell there." Blessed Magnus, taking at once the beginnings of a good
pastor, said: "Father, such ministry had
my Masters Columban and Gall: and
when they came to such places, our Lord Jesus
Christ drove out from those places diverse kinds of beasts
and worms through their prayers. Similarly
I shall believe that God's mercy will not permit
them to remain in that place when I come." To the departing man he gives provisions and guides: Then
Wicterp the Bishop acquiesced in his words, and
gave him solaces of food, supplying him with companion of the journey
Tozzo the Presbyter, and guides of the journey, who
should lead him to the place destined to him by God...
[5] With prayer made, they came along the way beside the Lech
river, to a fair place, which had no b
name: it was a good plain. Blessed Magnus
the Deacon had hanging on his neck a Cross,
in which were contained Relics of the blessed Mother of God
Mary, and of the wood of the holy Cross, and
of the holy Martyrs Maurice and his companions, and also
of the blessed Confessors Columban and Gall. At Waldenhofen,
He therefore found above the aforesaid river a very
honorable and fair place, and in the place a standing tree
a very beautiful fruit-bearing tree; and he suspended the little Cross
on the tree, and called Tozzo the Presbyter,
and they prostrated themselves together before
the little Cross in prayer... With the prayer finished,
they began to build the foundation, and they built a church. and built
a church. When it was built, they invited Wicterp
the Bishop, that he should come and dedicate it to the Lord and
to Saint Mary. The aforesaid Bishop came therefore
to that place, marveling greatly how they could
come there except by the grace of God: He dedicates it in honor of Saint Mary, and Saint Florian, of the Mother of God Mary, and of Saint
Florian c the Martyr of Christ; and thus they began to administer
the divine offices in praise of Christ in that place.
When the fame of the virtues, which the Lord through the merits
of his blessed Confessor deigned to show to those piously asking,
far and wide charmed the ears of the peoples around;
they began from every quarter to run eagerly
with devotion to ask the suffrages of so great a Father,
and to call that same place in memory of its dignity
the Cell of Saint Magnus, and to amplify it with
manifold gifts of substance or possessions.
And when the things conferred by this largess of the faithful had grown;
the blessed man withdrew because of the multitude
of peoples; and went on to the neighboring places, which are called
Fauces; that he might build there a familiar place
by the Lord's assent for himself to remain;
leaving, and another at Fauces in honor of the Holy Savior, the aforesaid Presbyter Tozzo in
the church to keep the people who would come there...
Blessed Magnus with the Presbyter Tozzo returned
to the aforesaid place, and there they began to build
a very small oracle: and Wicterp the Bishop was summoned
by Tozzo, and dedicated the oratory
in honor and under the name of the Holy Savior.
NOTES.
CHAPTER III.
Tolls for Saint Magnus obtained from Blessed Pippin the Duke: Church of Kempten dedicated: death of Saint Wicterp and Saint Magnus.
Excerpts from the Acts of Saint Magnus.
[6] He gives Clerics to Saint Magnus: Therefore when the fame of the virtues through the merits
of his Confessor, which the Lord deigned to show in that place,
had been made known to the venerable Bishop, he commended certain
religious Clerics in memory of his discipleship: who, kindled
with divine love, offering their service to the praise of Christ, day
and night, at hours and moments, by his command they administered.
When therefore what things were needful were left to the venerable Father
for those dwelling there, the aforesaid Bishop Wicterp set out
to the glorious Duke Pippin, he sets out to Blessed Pippin:
carrying with him the letter of Blessed Columban which
he directed to Clothar, for the holy men Gall and
Magnus, settled in his kingdom, that he should kindly
cherish them for love of the Lord, and give them familiar
places, as would be opportune, from his bounty.
But this Clothar could by no means fulfill,
because of the infestations of diverse enemies of God...
When, however, the glorious Prince had received the letter,
he began diligently to inquire, of what sort that place was,
which the aforesaid Bishop had asked for. Then the Duke,
by name Gunzo, from the provinces Augustensis and Rhaetia,
answering said: "Truly, Lord, that place
is indeed slight in resources, but best, if the impediment
of worms were absent, for hunting: because there many
stags, does and fawns, and diverse ibexes dwell,
also a very great multitude of bears and wolves."
Then the Bishop began to narrate the virtues
of the blessed man, he indicates the virtues of Saint Magnus, how with the Lord's help he killed the dragon,
and the other virtues which the Lord through his merits
and prayers in those places deigned to show, and how
that place was cleansed from worms. Hearing these things
the glorious Duke Pippin, moved much
in mind said: "In truth I have discovered that, although
the place is so slight in resources, yet by
the merits of so great a man, it will be famous with
celebrated rumor, as we have heard now that the place is
where the body of Blessed Gall is seen to rest." He inquired therefore
of the aforesaid Gunzo, how in the nearby places
he could find tributaries from the same region, who
should annually bring tolls to the royal revenues.
And he found in that nearby place a region, which is called
* Keltinstein, to pay him in all things annually tributes.
Among other gifts of his munificence, which he imparted to the blessed man,
he gave him all that whole forest with the march,
and had a confirmation in his letter written, and
tolls of one hundred and thirteen, which from the aforesaid region
should be brought annually; that for the memory of his
benefits they might perpetually remain there... With these things
Wicterp the Bishop adorned with solaces and exalted with honors,
with excellent gifts distributed to Blessed Magnus from Duke Pippin, returning, he confirms the Order of the Canonical life:
joyfully returned to his native country, handing over to the blessed man those things with
all diligence; and giving him the power, that in the place
committed to him, to supplement the vigils of Blessed Mary
and Saint Afra, he might institute the whole order of canonical life.
From that time the place itself, from the blessed man Magnus
receiving the beginning of holiness, augmented
however and exalted by the Bishops of Augsburg, the name
of Christ to this day does not cease laudably to dilate.
[7] With these things tasted beforehand, Theodore, who was staying
at the castle of Kempten, began to hasten to those parts,
and narrated the innumerable things he had suffered from the pagan
Hilargaugensians; but yet that he had built a small
church on the shore of the Iller, which he asked that from
Wicterp the Bishop he might obtain, that proceeding there,
he might consecrate that basilica to the Lord in honor of Saint
Mary his Mother. They both came to the place, he receives Saint Magnus and Theodore at Eptaticum: which is called Eptaticum;
and they found there the above-written Bishop sitting and praying
in his oratory. Therefore as they were presented in his sight,
Blessed Magnus the Abbot narrated to him about Theodore,
how with great labor he had built a church
in the place of Kempten; and how he besought
that he himself should go there and dedicate that church to the Lord.
Hearing these things the venerable Bishop, answering
said to them: "I shall first tell you what, when you came, I was
thinking: and thus in fitting time, with the Lord's assent,
I shall set out. Truly, dearest Father Magnus, now
sitting here I was thinking, that since Almighty God
already has you so magnified in that place through many
of his miracles, He wishes to consecrate Saint Magnus priest. I should summon you at the next coming, for the fast
of the solemnity of the seventh month, and to the dignity of priesthood,
with divine grace favoring, promote you." With head bent down,
Blessed Magnus said: "Why do you assert this objection, Father?
I see myself to stink with the squalors of my sins
and with shameful deeds. Therefore my life is not
such, that your lovable paternity can promote me to such
dignity. Do not therefore cast away our petition for sins:
but roused by the Lord's commands, begin a salutary journey,
and open the way of truth to those desiring it. Afterwards to me, an unworthy servant of God,
when it shall please your paternity, grant according
to the gift of your kindness, lest I seem to refuse what
the Lord has ordained upon his servant." And as
he said this, both, Wicterp the Bishop
and Theodore, saw a most splendid crown adhering
to his head, in the manner of a wheel shining around the sun
in the clouds. He sees a splendid crown above his head Continually rising up he embraced
him, and kissing his eyes and his mouth, said:
"Almighty God, who through the power of his majesty
in you has deigned to show such virtue, that for
his love you have left your country, and kept his
precepts; may he himself make you keep and exalt
the place destined to you by God, with the cooperating grace
of the Holy Spirit being with you." Theodore answered: "Amen."
To these things again the Bishop said: "Well is this
place called Eptaticum, since it stands in the middle between
the monastery of Saint Afra and your cell: He disposes of Eptaticum as his inheritance: therefore know, that
through my departure this inheritance I wish to remain
to Saint Mary and to Saint Afra: that as a kind of
mediator this place itself may be to our successors,
between your monastery and the city of the holy Augsburg
Church."
[8] These things said, the venerable Bishop rose, and
set out to the castle of Kempten: Blessed Magnus
went down with him, he dedicates the church of Kempten: Theodore likewise accompanying them,
and they came to the castle. With a multitude of people
convened on the solemn day of the dedication
of the Church, the venerable man Bishop with the sweetness of his preaching
refreshed the hearts of the eager; and so at his command
Blessed Magnus, afterwards spoke as he had directed, with so great
light of wisdom clothed the hearts of the peoples,
that with highest joy he was heard, and with ineffable veneration
was adorned by the order of all. Staying there two days
with giving of thanks, and the people armed with the blessing
of so great a Father, and by the Bishop honored with
the kiss of peace, they returned to their own places, the venerable Bishop
and the most holy Abbot, leaving Theodore
to guard the Church of Kempten. Blessed
Magnus, after receiving the Sacerdotal Blessing,
taught the people, and converted them to the faith of Christ...
And the Lord through the merits of so great a man deigned to exalt
and spread that place. He dies on April 18, With Wicterp the Bishop
dead, on the 13th day before the Kalends of May, Tozzo,
through the election of Blessed Magnus, was led to the honor
of the Pontificate in his last days. Blessed
Father Magnus began to grow ill, and languish
with the infirmity of fevers, and laboring for thirteen days,