Antonius

ON SAINT ANTONIUS,

PRESBYTER AND HERMIT, AT LUCCA IN ITALY.

Antonius, Presbyter and Hermit at Lucca in Italy (Saint)

D. P.

[1] On this day we present a twofold benefit from the labors of Francesco Maria Florentini, a man no less renowned for his outstanding erudition than for his supreme experience in the art of medicine. Whence the Acts were received These materials we received from the parchments supplied by him when we enjoyed his most generous hospitality on our return from Rome—namely, the Acts of Saint Zita, which hold the next-to-last place for this day, and the Acts of Saint Antonius the Hermit, which are to be placed at the very threshold. That the memory of both stands on this day he himself shows in the annotations to his Martyrology, mention of him in Kalendars, and indeed in an ancient manuscript Kalendar in these words: "5 Kal. Of Antonius the Hermit and Sita of Lucca." He says that he has another, less ancient, with the memory of only the first, and that under the name "Antoninus," by which he is called by the common people, and which Ado and Notker used at the 16th day before the Kalends of June, where they treat of Saint Torpetus, baptized by this Saint before he was dragged off to endure capital punishment under Nero, as is read in the Acts of each. And indeed in the Acts of Saint Torpetus, as they are had in the Trier manuscript of Saint Maximin and almost also in Mombritius, these things are noted:

[2] and from the Acts of Saint Torpetus the Martyr baptized by him. Saint Torpetus, going out from the palace, pondering much within himself, said: "What shall I do? By serving idols, I do not receive the baptism of salvation." And knowing that a holy presbyter named Antonius was hidden on the mountain, going out by the gate called Lucana beside the amphitheater, he walked through the night to him: he climbed the mountain and began to cry out, saying: "Holy father, Antonius the Presbyter, where are you? Answer me." Then the Presbyter Saint Antonius said from his place of prayer: "And who are you, son?" Saint Torpetus said: "Hear me, Father, and do not fear, for I will kiss your hands, and pray for me: for yesterday I said to the Emperor, 'I desire to adore Christ'; and I have become doubtful because I am not baptized, and therefore I seek you, that I may receive the baptism of salvation." Then the Presbyter: "I do not know whether the things you urge are true." Saint Torpetus replied: "And if I lie, I am not worthy to receive the baptism of salvation." Saint Antonius said: "In the name of my Lord Jesus Christ I will baptize you." And they descended to the foot of the mountain, where there is living water beside the lions' den; and he blessed the water with his hands, and poured over him the baptism of salvation, and having made the sign of Christ, said to him: "Go, son, for the power to speak and to overcome your adversaries shall increase in you." Then he kissed him, and weeping said to him: "Let the angel of the Lord accompany you, son." Saint Torpetus said: "Pray for me, Lord Father." These things are from the Acts of Saint Torpetus, which Ado and Notker abbreviate in the place cited.

[3] Since from these things it appears that Saint Antonius of Lucca belongs to Italy, Whether his mother has been transferred by others to Saint Anthony the Egyptian? someone might suspect that Guita also, Italian in origin and sprung from Ventimiglia on the borders of Liguria, whom Theophilus Raynaud in his Hagiologium Lugdunense assigns as mother to Saint Anthony the Egyptian, persuaded by Aymar Falcon and the ancestral tradition of the people of Ventimiglia, was in truth the mother of Saint Antonius of Lucca. For this is favored by the common birthplace, and the notion of a name common to both could very easily have been transferred by the unskilled common folk to Saint Anthony the Egyptian, more celebrated among the populace.

That the body was found in the year of Christ's nativity 1201, The body found in the year 1201, is indicated by a copy of the inscription, hitherto preserved in the church of Saint Paulinus at Lucca, reported by Florentini, which is of this sort:

"Behold, here is the body of Saint Antonius, Presbyter and Hermit, who buried the bodies of the holy martyrs, beheaded under the Emperor Nero and Anolinus, on the day of the holy Resurrection and the 4th day of May. with inscription, Holy One, seek the bodies of the Bishops of this city, Presbyters, Hermits, Soldiers, Martyrs, and Confessors. Saint Dionysius dedicated this church in honor of the Savior of heaven and earth, and of the holy Martyrs and Confessors, on the 10th day of October, in the time of Saint Clement, Pope and Martyr of the city of Rome ✠ III ✠. In the year of the Lord 1201, Blessed Antonius was found, and extracted from the tomb in the month of February."

[4] which, duly punctuated, So far that inscription, which, however diversely reported by Razzi and Franciotti and below in the Acts, nevertheless does not permit doubt that it was transcribed more accurately by Florentini from the very stone than by anyone else, given his supreme care and faithfulness in such matters. But he was free to punctuate according to his judgment, as he thought should be punctuated, what he found in ancient fashion without distinctions. Since, however, the true sense cannot be had apart from conjecture, and this sense depends on the punctuation, let us too attempt something by conjecture, if perhaps we may be able to come nearer to a clearer truth, in an otherwise most obscure inscription—which, though we know it was carved in the year 1201, we have no doubt at all (except in the last lines) was transcribed from another more ancient one. Concerning this, the first doubt that arises a martyr seems to be indicated as having died, is whether Saint Antonius can be understood as beheaded under the Emperor Nero and Anolinus (Governor of Tuscany, holding his tribunal at Pisa, as Ughelli writes in the Bishops of Lucca, tom. 1, col. 842), or whether this was written incorrectly and is to be corrected from the Hieronymian Martyrology, where a certain Antonius the Presbyter is placed, after Anthimus Bishop of Nicomedia suffering, in this manner: "At Nicomedia of Anthimus the Bishop. Of Stephen the Bishop. Of Antonius the Presbyter"—whom various later Martyrologies equally placed as having suffered at Nicomedia.

[5] We shall give the Acts of Saint Anthimus below, without any mention of Stephen the Bishop and Antonius the Presbyter. and relayed without a place in the Martyrology of Saint Jerome, Therefore there is nothing that compels us to confess that the first author of that Martyrology intended that we should also understand these as having suffered at Nicomedia. Since in this same Martyrology not a few are reported without notice of the place—whether because the place was unknown to the collector, or because it was omitted through the carelessness of copyists—there is nothing that effectively prohibits us from suspecting that the one there reported was beheaded at Lucca. For all the information we have about this holy Presbyter depends partly on the Acts of Saint Torpetus, which ought not to have mentioned a martyrdom undergone by Antonius after Saint Torpetus's struggle; partly on the aforementioned inscription, which, though carved later, ought not without cause to be denied credence. Therefore I shall not, with Florentini, charge the Lucca scribe with ignorance although the people of Lucca now regard him as a Confessor for having thought Antonius the Presbyter and Martyr of Nicomedia the same as the Confessor of Lucca venerated on the same day, and therefore having changed "Antonius" into "Antoninus." But I shall only regret that the place where Saint Antonius suffered has not been expressed more distinctly, and that it thus happens that we are left in doubt whether it is the one of Lucca or another that is found in the Hieronymian Martyrology. And if the people of Lucca do not venerate their Antonius as a Martyr, this can be attributed to the long span of time during which the unknown body lay hidden beneath the earth, with all memory of the ancient cult extinguished; and because not even then, when it happened that the body and ancient inscription were found, were the people of Lucca in agreement among themselves about the interpretation of the same inscription, and therefore they preferred to be content with the certain title of Hermit and Presbyter rather than to assume the uncertain encomium of Martyr. This we also do, leaving the reader free to conjecture.

[6] He was beheaded on Easter Day There follows "on the day of the holy resurrection, and on the 4th day of May." If it is not a question of a simple Sunday (for every Sunday recalls to us the memory of the Resurrection) but of Easter Sunday, it is certain that these days cannot coincide. But, as I said, in those things which we know were anciently written without punctuation, the choice of which punctuation to adopt is free; and such choice ought then to be judged good when it makes whole the sense which was otherwise corrupt. Thus then I read: "Behold, here is the body of Saint Antonius… beheaded on the day of the holy Resurrection." Referring the rest to his burial, with a slight correction, and buried on May 4. I take it thus: "and buried on the 4th day of May." Then I go on and read: "Seeking the bodies… Saint Dionysius dedicated this church… on the 10th day of October."

A bold correction, you will say. But turn and turn again these words "Holy One, seek," and when you cannot make sense of them that coheres with what precedes and follows, confess that some correction was needed; and blame the unskilled sculptors for having forced posterity into this necessity; or rather excuse them too, because words eaten away by age on the ancient parchment or lead tablet, found together with the body, were less fully reproduced.

[7] But who was that Saint Dionysius? I would believe he was one of those Bishops of Lucca The dedication of the church wrongly attributed to Saint Denis of Paris: whose memory from the year 90 to 325 Ferdinand Ughelli, tom. 1 of Italia Sacra, laments as lost. But he who had this inscription carved at the beginning of the 13th century, since he did not know any other Saint Dionysius than the Apostle of the Parisians—then commonly believed to have received the mandate of his apostolate from Saint Clement the Pope—must be said to have added on his own the rest, "In the time of Saint Clement Pope and Martyr of the city of Rome." The same person seems to have allowed these signs, ✠ III ✠, to be added merely for ornament or for the sake of filling out the line, of which no other significance appears. But if anyone should finally ask why he is venerated on April 27, on which day he neither died nor was buried, I shall go on to suggest by conjecture that the discovery of the body fell on such a day, and that in the age of Constantine the Great, when the people of Lucca first were able to think of seeking out the bodies of Saints long since buried, and of building churches over their memorials.

[8] Not only at Pisa, but also at Siena, this Saint Antonius is venerated, with a little shrine dedicated to him before Saint Anthony the Egyptian died, likewise of another at Siena, lest you suppose him to be venerated there. This shrine was afterward restored and enlarged; but the name of Saint Antonius first given remained, with the inscription that still stands there preserving the memory of its earlier dedication, read in Ughelli, tom. 3, col. 620: "These sacred buildings, dedicated to Saint Antonius, Blasius the Hermit constructed, and the holy Bishop Donatus consecrated, under Saint Damasus the Supreme Pontiff and the Emperor Valentinian, in the year of salvation 375." This year was notable for the death of Valentinian the Elder, which took place on March 17; and the beginning of Valentinian the Younger's reign, raised to the imperium on November 22. But since the custom of numbering years from the Incarnation is of a far more recent use, I do not think the reason for the number set down by the author of the inscription should be scrupulously demanded. Yet I do not judge him so dull as, what Ughelli charges him with, to have written the year 335, when neither Damasus had attained the Pontificate nor any of the Valentinians the Empire: but I prefer to think that the person who sent the copy to Ughelli happened to write X for L, and thus the number being restored is congruous. better transferred to Saint Donatus of Arezzo. Likewise supposing that Bishop Donatus is not that famous one of Arezzo, who lived only to the time of Julian, nor should he be presumed to have consecrated a church in a foreign diocese: for they had their own proper bishops at Siena from the beginning of the fourth century, of whom Lucifer and Florianus are named. What then? From Florianus (who lived with Saint Donatus of Arezzo) down to Dodo (who died a whole century later), the names of the Bishops of Siena are wanting, of whom one would have been Donatus, the consecrator of the church of Saint Antonius. But if anyone, on account of the added title of "Saint," thinks that the Aretine was understood by the author of the inscription, to him consequently let the fault of the wrongly-noted year 335 be attributed; since one error follows from another. Meanwhile it stands that, by the common opinion of that time, that church is believed to be most ancient, and the cult is confirmed of him to whom it was dedicated.

ACTS

From the manuscripts of Francesco Maria Florentini.

Antonius, Presbyter and Hermit of Lucca in Italy (Saint)

BHL Number: 0585

FROM A MANUSCRIPT.

[1] The brevity of human life To the praise and glory and honor of our Lord Jesus Christ, and likewise to the honor of Saint Antonius, Presbyter and Hermit, and to the advancement of his holy name, may our ever-cheerful discretion follow. Since the course of our life is indeed very short, and the flesh of our mortality gradually withers away, and the slack skin then trembles on the exhausted body. For the Psalmist says: "My days have declined like a shadow, and I have withered like hay, since my life has failed in sorrow and my years in groanings." Ps. 101:12; Ps. 30:12 All the glory of earthly things is therefore imagined as vapor and stubble, the life of men vanishes as a shadow, and also the human condition, stained by the rust of the first-formed, lies subject to vanity: the cause of which matter is that every living man is vanity, who was called "man" when he arose from the ground, or rather was formed from the clay, and is compelled in his turn to respond to his kind. Wherefore man returns to earth, and ashes to ashes, as to the type of their own kind, and is consigned that he may rise again and be renewed by the grace of renewal. Thus the death of this world ought not to be named "death," but a most joyful passage, which is made from death to life, insofar as every dominion of darkness is driven out. "Hear, O heavens, what I shall speak, let the earth hear the words of my mouth": the foolish man will not know, and the fool will not understand these things: "Blessed is the man whom Thou shalt instruct, O Lord, and shalt teach him out of Thy law." this is an encouragement to heap up virtues and merits. Rejoice therefore, ye just, in the Lord, but rejoicing with trembling persist in the purpose of good works, but with caution, lest that ancient enemy may anywhere prevail maliciously against you, who lies hidden in secret places, that he may slay one who does not deserve it. Rather, by the way of honest conduct and humility, strive to direct your steps into the way of peace, so that with His Saints and chosen Virgins you may wholly be able to enter into the nuptials of the heavenly Bridegroom.

[2] And since within the empires of divine Theology we have set ourselves the aim of beholding the Most High, in such wise that the bodies of the Saints, as it were half-alive, we may be continually bound to venerate and worship with intimate affection of the heart upon earth; we intend also to venerate the body of Blessed Antonius and to cultivate it with veneration, and to propose it for veneration to all. Wherefore in the bosom of our heart affection toward his blessedness has so sprouted up and settled that to you, who desire to be refreshed by Christ's gifts, we ought to set forth the praises of the Israelites. Nevertheless under a brief style of speaking, whatever we have learned of the carriage of his life and likewise the composition of his morals, by ancient report of truthful men and by experience of the facts, we strive to set forth in order to you in summary; so that his praise may grow in your benevolent mouth, and, the Lord favoring, the reward of your work may not fail. [Saint Antonius, the greater lover of the solitary life, withdraws into the desert,] In divine histories we read that there were two Antonys, of whom the other is this blessed Antonius, who from the cradle of his age was emancipated by divine eloquence, and conspicuous for the honor of his morals, from the time of Nero and the Apostle Peter, established in the faith of Christ, was a true Israelite and preacher. For since his mouth tendered the honeycomb of doctrine, and the law of mercy and of piety was on his tongue; he spoke nothing ineffectively and vainly, but his speech, seasoned with salt, healed and refreshed his hearers. And since, by choosing such a life for himself, he despised the thorny joys of this world, in the territory of Lucca, at a distance of five stadia from the city, on a mountain called ^a Pisano, he built his little cell and a church, to avail in the services of Christ: which church ^b and place even to this time is called by the singular name of Blessed Antonius. In which, long prolonging and leading a celibate and eremitical life, his sweet acts his ineffable end and exit greatly commend: since he sharply deprived his body of lascivious enticements, speaking little in a week: he rarely presented himself to the sight of men, but breathing after heavenly gifts, always devoutly mourning, he exacted from his Potter the consolation of eternal life, and desired that the same Lord would hear him.

[3] For the blessed man Antonius, whose festival we celebrate today, he buries the gathered bodies of the Martyrs: clothed with the divine Spirit and filled with the grace of Christ, wherever in Tuscany or elsewhere he would find the bodies of the holy Martyrs and Confessors ill and unfittingly buried, would take them up and carry them away to the city of Lucca to be buried at the place which at that time was called "the cell of the Saints": in which he buried many and innumerable bodies. In particular he buried in this church the body ^c of Blessed Paulinus, the first Bishop of Lucca, who was a disciple of the Blessed Apostle Peter, who obtained from God so many and so great benefits for the city of Lucca. For in that church Blessed Antonius buried many bodies of holy Martyrs and Confessors: for sometimes he would gather up the bodies of Saints through all of Tuscany, and with great devotion and praise he would bury them at the city of Lucca, in the church (which was then called of the Holy Trinity and now ^d is named Saint Paulinus): sometimes also with Blessed Paulinus he preached and baptized, together with Saint Paulinus he preaches and baptizes various persons, and in all his acts he was very well ordered, and pleased both God and men marvelously. Wherefore for his worthy works God revealed many miracles before the people. It happened therefore at a certain time, when the Emperor Nero, most impious and a severe persecutor of Christians, was unhappily pursuing his reign, that at Pisa the faithful of Christ, leading their lives in divine services, on account of the excessive cruelty and savagery of Nero, continually dreading bodily tortures, fled not only him but even his name on every side in secret. Rejoice therefore in the Lord and exult, ye just, and be glorified, all ye upright of heart; since he who fears to perish and desires to be saved does not depart from the unity of the Church.

[4] Since that most cruel Emperor Nero had in his palace very many soldiers, strenuous and faithful in his imperium, from whose company was one Torpes, by name and by learning and wisdom altogether a great and prudent man; and among them Saint Torpetus, this Torpes, counselor of Nero and archimandrite of the whole palace, dominated the charioteer of all the soldiers; who, polluted with excessive severity, strove day and night to destroy and torture the Christians, as Saul, afterward called Paul. Ps. 33:15 For it was said by the Psalmist: "Depart from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it." At length the fire of the Holy Spirit ascended upon that Torpes, which burned away the rust of his vices, and gave the continual virtue of its piety; who, having laid aside tyrannical ferocity, and rejecting the company of Nero and his accomplices, also having laid aside his perfidious error, by Blessed Antonius at the foot of the mountain on which he dwelled, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, was reborn by the wave of baptism. He praised therefore the Father and blessed the Son, who shone His sacred light upon him, by whose rays alone, not from his own merits, but by the glory of His singular power, being made radiant, he labored to pass from good to better, so that he might hear the voice of Christ, and sit

at the right hand of the Father on his last day, of whose fellowship the Angels rejoice in the heavens, and the throng of the faithful is glorified on earth. And when the age of time afforded to Blessed Antonius the common struggle of death, from this mournful life of the world and poor vale of misery, to the heavenly branch of joy, by a happy calling with pious fruits, he passed on to the Lord. Whose glorious body was buried with hymns and praises in the same cell, which ^e today is called by the true name of the basilica of Saint George, He is buried at Lucca, in which Blessed Antonius had been wont to bury many bodies of holy Martyrs and Confessors. Finally, when for a long lustrum of time the fragrant body of Blessed Antonius remained buried in the bosom of the earth, so that, the memory of men having almost slipped behind through age, it was regarded as neglected by men, then there appeared to a certain citizen of Lucca, by name Albert, in a vision, that the body of Blessed Antonius the Presbyter and Hermit rested in the basilica of Saint George with a great array of holy Martyrs, Confessors, and Virgins. And when this vision struck Albert's mind often and often at night, waking from sleep trembling and unsettled, he was unwilling to reveal it to others, as though led by shame.

[5] Afterward it pleased the right hand of the Most High that this Albert, having called together many clerics and with a choir of many wise men assembled, taking a mattock, began to dig at the place revealed to him in sleep. the body found in the year 1200, And when they had begun to dig likewise above the tomb of Saint Antonius the Presbyter and Hermit, they found it placed before the altar ^f of Blessed Mamilianus, in which was contained written in this manner: "Here is the body of Saint Antonius, Presbyter and Hermit, who buried the bodies of the holy Martyrs, under the Emperor Nero and Anolinus. ^g For the faith of the holy Resurrection. Seek the bodies of the Bishops of this city, Presbyters, Hermits, Soldiers, Martyrs, and Confessors. Saint Dionysius dedicated this church in honor of the Savior of heaven and earth, and of the holy Martyrs and Confessors, ^h on the nineteenth day of October, in the time of Saint ⁱ Clement, Pope and Martyr of the city of Rome. These things were completed and found under Bishop ^k Guido of the city of Lucca, the Emperor ^l Henry then ruling, and the time of years running on, 1200 ^m being ruled, on the day before the Nones of November, Indiction IV, our Lord Jesus reigning, to whom is honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. ⁿ" At the finding of so great a common treasure Bishop Guido with his clerics rejoices, the city rejoices, and together with all his people. Almighty God, good and just, who never denied His mercy to the human race, established for us also this Confessor, protected by the law of Christ, devoutly in the city of Lucca; he is proposed for public veneration. so that as through the sight of his body and the gaze upon the Saints it is perceived in good faith, so their aids would help body and soul: and hope seems to renew for us a remedy. At that time the citizens of Lucca rose up to venerate the body of Saint Antonius, and likewise the five wards of the city through nine days, with tapers and lamps passing the night, venerated him with frequent vigils in an excellent manner, with one voice praising and blessing God and our Lord Jesus Christ, because through His servant, by name Albert, the body of that Saint Antonius shone throughout the entire city and beyond. There came running the lame and the blind, the languishing and those diminished of health: upon whom and upon others the merciful God, through the merits of Saint Antonius, performed many miracles.

[6] Among which, with the whole people of Lucca seeing, let one admirable miracle very great be made known to your brotherhood. There was a certain man from that ward of the city, A certain man gravely wounded, by name Ugelinus Ballonerius, a wise and learned man, who on a certain day, kindled by divine prompting, visited the basilica in which the body of so great a man had been found with solemnity, devoutly joyful: and when he had prayed for a long time and had persisted in frequent prayers striking his breast, desiring to return and go to his lodging, on the pathway of the road he was sharply wounded. Accordingly, physicians being summoned from all sides with great care and caution, day and night they began vigorously to tend him: finally, since the physicians were wavering not a little concerning his recovery, they left off tending his wounds at once. But it happened that at that time, during which Ugolinus was in every way in bad and perverse condition, Blessed Antonius came to him in his sleep saying: "Rise and follow me." To whom Ugolinus said: "Who are you, who speak such things to me, and urge me to come with you?" Saint Antonius answered him: "I am Antonius, servant of the servants of God and handmaid of Christ though unworthy; whose body with the sweetness of full affection, for a short time passing, you humbly venerated devoutly for Christ's sake." In that vision of sleep, Ugolinus asked Blessed Antonius, saying: "Shall I escape from this painfulness of the body's wounds and the weight of my body?" wounded at the command to forgive the injury to his assailant he is healed, Saint Antonius said to him: "If you will make peace and render good will to your enemy who wounded you, truly you will immediately be freed from this infirmity." When therefore their words and speeches between them, as you have heard, had been exchanged, he afterward led him into a certain vineyard, surrounded on all sides by a pleasant meadow, in which many Saints were seen to be present, who were speaking among themselves of the great things of heaven, saying: "Carry out the admonitions of Blessed Antonius, Ugolinus, and you shall live for a long time, and in your offenses the Lord God shall spare you in the world to come." And when the dawn scattered its rays with splendor and it became day, with his parents and friends, as if summoned on every side through heralds, he related in order the things that had been done and seen through the dream, and thus before them and the whole people he gave peace to him who had struck him. Thereupon the physicians again came to treat him, who, as if diligently placing medicine upon his wounds, said that his wounds had been left by them in a better state. Accordingly the aforesaid Ugolinus, trusting in the protection of Blessed Antonius, recovered, giving innumerable thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, who through the merits of Blessed Antonius was freed from such a trembling peril of death or of fortune, and was made thoroughly healthy.

[7] At that same time there was a certain man from ^o Portovenere, a good and God-fearing Israelite, by name Gerard, two blind men are given sight, who, wrapped in the darkness of his eyes, for thirty revolutions of years had been deprived of light. This Gerard therefore, continually tearful and mournful, with clasped hands toward heaven, awaited the consolation of his eyes from the Lord: finally when the fame of Blessed Antonius, everywhere radiant and worthy of praise, grew strong, he learned from the report of truthful men that the entire people was running to the bounty of so renowned a man. Gerard rejoicing and strengthened by placing his hope in the Lord, without delay of time, came to the city of Lucca with great joy to venerate the body of Saint Antonius: and persisting in fasts and assiduous prayers with the whole intention of his mind, for the space of five days he passed the night in the church of Blessed Antonius. And it came to pass that through our Lord Jesus Christ and the virtue of Blessed Antonius, with his sight restored, Gerard saw openly in the presence of all the people. At that time a certain diocesan of the same city, for the space of four years lamentably suffered from such an infirmity; who as quickly as he could humbly visited the tomb of Saint Antonius; and there with knees bent through one day, praying through the intercession of Blessed Antonius, the Lord bestowing, was freed from the vice of blindness: giving most abundant thanks to God and to Blessed Antonius, who imposed the most worthy hand of His grace upon His servant.

[8] Since according to the arbitrament of divine disposition the whole secular world runs its course, and human offspring is arranged as if on the wheel of misfortune, and by the sword of prosperous or adverse lot in this little vale individuals seem continually to be wounded by God; a certain man, tottering by chance, on a certain day with panting spirit of the nerves, began to limp very weakly and to feel pain. The lame man therefore lying on his couch, grieved for the defect of his limbs, a lame man with the faculty of walking. with almost all the middle parts of his house handed over under pledges. And when the remedy of physicians availed the lame man not at all, but rather seemed to be an impediment, at length he solemnized the place of Saint Antonius's tomb, and stood before the tomb and altar, holding a taper in his hand for two days; and bent in prayers he kept vigil without rest: but on the third day a priest came to him with water, with which the arm of the aforesaid holy man had been washed. And when the water had been sprinkled by the priest on the hands and feet of the lame man, suddenly his former health was restored to him, and before the people keeping vigil in that same place he walked, and being made sound he praised God, because to the praise of Blessed Antonius, from so great a pressure of his body he had been made whole. These and other miracles, with the Lord cooperating, were diligently shown there day and night: to whom is honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.