Ten Blessed of Vallombrosa

CONCERNING THE TEN BLESSED OF VALLOMBROSA,

RODULPH, RUSTICUS, ERICIUS, ALBERT, JEROME, MELIOR, BENIGNUS, ORLANDO, THESAURUS AND MICHAEL,

whose feast of translation is kept on this day.

Rodulph of Florence, monk of Vallombrosa in Etruria (B.) Rusticus of Florence, monk of Vallombrosa in Etruria (B.) Erizzo or Ericius of Florence, monk of Vallombrosa in Etruria (B.) Albert, monk of Vallombrosa in Etruria (B.) Jerome, monk of Vallombrosa in Etruria (B.) Melior of Valiana, monk of Vallombrosa in Etruria (B.) Benignus Benizzi of Florence, monk of Vallombrosa in Etruria (B.) Orlando, monk of Vallombrosa in Etruria (B.) Thesaurus Beccheria, monk of Vallombrosa in Etruria (B.) Michael Flammini, monk of Vallombrosa in Etruria (B.)

BY THE AUTHOR J. B. S.

It will seem unusual to those skilled in this our work, that a feast of the translation of Saints be commemorated, where it is wont to be inquired chiefly concerning their natal day. Freely & gladly I confess it; but I am here compelled to discharge the pledge given by my master Papebroch in tome V of May at the day 20 page 253 (where Orlando is treated separately, & then B. Albert, Here is given the translation whether the same or another, is not certain enough), & renewed again in tome III of July page 384, on the occasion of the exorcisms once wont to be performed at their sacred relics; as there from the miracles of St. John Gualbert is manifest. But under that title they are here forewarned to be joined, because, since the certain days of death of some are not found marked, it seemed good to bring that whole series to this day, on which their memory is performed with a peculiar solemnity, after their sacred relics were, by legitimate authority, recognized & approved; as from the instrument itself will more fully appear below. But for a clearer understanding of the whole matter, the very words of Papebroch are here to be reported, at the page already cited, number 2.

[2] He there premises a brief narration of an excursion undertaken from Florence by himself & Henschen to the archmonastery of Vallombrosa on 15 January in the year 1662; promised of old where those best Religious received them on foot & exceedingly weary with plainly surpassing benevolence, & in the morning, returning from the sacrifice of Mass, which they had performed at the distinguished & beautifully adorned chapel of the sacred relics, the most reverend abbot with the chief of the monks received them, & led them back there, to behold the sacred relics themselves above the altar, under which, between the twin columns supporting it, a title of this kind was read:

Here long lay hid the bodies of many Brethren, Who in Vallombrosa led a blessed life. These, piously buried in the time of Father Valerianus, Here Alfonso Porraqua fitly laid up again. In the year 1604, on the 1st day of August.

[3] Namely, he says, in the year 1600, in the time of abbot Valerianus, they had been uncovered by Alexander Marzio Medici bishop of Fiesole, by Papebroch & after a process formed thereupon, approved as truly the bones of Blessed ones & of those anciently venerated as such & honorably buried; ten bodies, namely, nine heads: for the head of one (I believe of B. John the hermit [*]) remains in the oratory of the Cells. But the same, four years after, abbot Alfonso, on a stage raised above the altar, divided into several compartments, had so distributed, that fifteen chests appeared, behind as many crystals, in most beautiful order, as it was permitted to see, that being removed which otherwise remains drawn over the sacred relics, a distinguished panel, bearing the image of St. John Gualbert the Founder. That process, & such notice of each as there is, we shall give on the aforesaid day 1 August, as the common feast of all, on account of the memory of the common translation, for that to most there is now no proper day on which they may be singularly venerated.

[4] from the process itself. Whither that process afterward slipped away, I have nothing whence to conjecture: certainly, however studiously sought among our papers, it could not be found hitherto; so that consequently it was necessary to recur to the source itself: in which I got an amicable helper, as always in other things, so here too plainly strenuous, our Father Ignatius Pinius, so often & deservedly praised in this work, who, living at Rome, by the labor of the Lords of Vallombrosa dwelling at St. Praxedis, procured a new apograph from the said archmonastery, written by the hand of Don Alamanno Allegri, at the dictation of the very Reverend Father Don Orazio Novelli, each a monk of the same congregation: but to bring it into Belgium the Reverend Father Franciscus Beeckman of the Society of Jesus, Rector of our college of Douai, deputed to the general Congregation at Rome, deigned: of all whom I wished a grateful memory here expressed, about to use the instrument itself, as below you will find explained.

[5] They are known from the Acts of St. Gualbert; It will not be out of place here to repeat also what, in part 1 of the miracles of St. John Gualbert, concerning these Blessed ones, at the place cited above, number 6, is commemorated. Where, after explaining the power of the cross of St. John, in exploring whether anyone is seized by a demon, & then in expelling it, the writer thus proceeds: But if it happens that, by the aforesaid cross, he who is tormented by a demon has not come off unharmed; he is led to the sepulcher of the Blessed; namely of Orlando, a most holy man & monk, & of Melior the hermit, most glorious, & of the abbots of this monastery Benignus & Michael, & of some Fathers who also were venerable, whose Lives & excellent deeds, because elsewhere both at length & briefly we have taken care to commit to letters, it was not our purpose at present to write otherwise concerning these; to whose sepulcher innumerable, both men & women, held by various infirmities, by the most ample mercy of Christ Jesus, gradually relieved of their disease, were at last restored to health. And these things from the very instrument will receive the desired light.

[6] Here also pertains a Vallombrosan sheet published in print & found among our papers, likewise from a sheet, where the cult in which is expressed:

PRAYER

To be said before the relics of the Blessed of the Order of Vallombrosa.

Antiph. The souls of the Saints rejoice in heaven, who followed the footsteps of Christ; & because for love of Him they despised the world, therefore they exult with Christ without end.

℣. Rejoice in the Lord & exult, ye just: ℞. And glory, all ye upright of heart.

LET US PRAY.

Grant, we beseech, almighty God, that the examples of the holy monks may provoke us to a better life, so that we may imitate the acts also of those whose commemoration we make. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

CATALOGUE

OF SOME BLESSED OF THE ORDER OF VALLOMBROSA

whose relics are venerated in the altar of the chapel dedicated to them. & the names are expressed,

B. Rodulph of Florence, 2nd General of Vallombrosa. B. Rusticus of Florence, 3rd General. B. Erizzo of Florence, 4th General. B. Albert. B. Jerome, hermit of the Cells of Vallombrosa. B. Melior of Valiana, in the Casentino, a Converse hermit of the Cells. B. Benignus Benizzi of Florence, 15th General. B. Orlando, claustral Converse. B. Thesaurus Beccheria of Pavia, 16th General, Cardinal Priest & martyr. B. Michael Flammini of Arezzo in Tuscany, hermit of the Cells, then 24th General.

[8] The elogia of all these & of other illustrious men of the most celebrated Order, What elogia are here given. after Jerome of Raggiolo, Eudoxio Locatelli, Diego Franchi, of the Gualbertine Life page 119, & others, Don Venantius Simius, theologian Consultor of the sacred Congregation of the Index at Rome, collected & published in print in the year 1693, in the time of the most reverend & most worthy General Lorenzo Poltri of Florence. But it was not necessary to describe them here, since in the very instrument all these Blessed ones are so praised, that I have judged a longer panegyric altogether to be forborne; since indeed in the praised Simius nothing but the same things are commemorated in more words which here, supported by somewhat greater authority, will seem sufficient to all the skilled. The whole matter consists of full four & twenty large folio pages, from which I have culled only those things which pertain chiefly to the approbation of the cult, lest, by the repeated depositions of almost innumerable witnesses, I create weariness rather than pleasure. Let it suffice that all things were legitimately proved, from which I exhibit the substance of the whole matter faithfully brought forward.

* Should it not be Michael's?

ACTS

Of the recognition & approbation of the relics of the Blessed of the Congregation, found in the monastery of Vallombrosa, with the sentence pronounced by the lord bishop of Fiesole.

In the name of the most holy & undivided Trinity of the Father & Son & Holy Spirit. Amen.

by the author J. B. S.

PART ONE

In which the preliminaries are set forth.

The bishop of Fiesole being requested To the perpetual memory of the matter, let it be evidently plain & known to all & singular who shall inspect, see, read & likewise hear the present public process, or document of record, in what manner in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ, from his salutary Incarnation 1600, Indiction 13, but on the 11th day of the month of August, in the pontificate of the most holy in Christ Father & our Lord the lord Clement, by divine providence Pope VIII, in the 10th year, & the most serene Ferdinand de' Medici, by the grace of God grand duke of Etruria III, happily reigning: before the very illustrious & most reverend in Christ Father & lord, the lord Alexander Marzio de' Medici, by the grace of God & of the holy Apostolic See bishop of Fiesole & count of Turicum, in his episcopal palace, situated at Florence beside the church of B. Mary in Campo, of the diocese of Fiesole, there appeared & personally constituted himself R.P.D. Valerianus of Florence, at present abbot of the abbey of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, of the diocese of Fiesole, briefly narrating & setting forth, in what manner from most ancient time it was always held & kept, & is held & kept, both from the traditions of the ancient regular monks of the aforesaid monastery, & from writings & legitimate documents, that the bodies of the Blessed monks who flourished in the same congregation & order of St. Mary of Vallombrosa were given to burial in the tower of the bell-tower of the aforesaid abbey, so that the said place acquired the name of the sepulcher of the Blessed.

[10] in the year 1600 That in the present year 1600 in the month of May, when the Father himself had gone to the place & dwelling of the aforesaid church of the abbey, near the said bell-tower, where those who are vexed by unclean spirits are adjured & exorcized: at which time such a dwelling was being restored & enlarged by building, for the conveniences of the women flocking to the abbey to hear Masses & divine offices, in demolishing on some part the wall of the aforesaid bell-tower, there was opened a certain oblong little window (which is commonly called balestriera), long one quarter of a braccio, & high about one quarter of a braccio, through which, when a light had been sent, he saw a certain little chamber painted ornately in the vault, five braccia high, four braccia wide, & about four braccia long, in which were two closed chests; which seen & heard, he certified of all things the most reverend lord Tiberio de Corsellinis, president general of the whole aforesaid order & congregation. And although from what has already been said it seems clear that in the aforesaid chests are the bodies of the said Blessed monks, nevertheless, since by the form of the sacred canons & of the Council of Trent new relics are not to be received unless they be recognized & approved by the ordinary bishop of the place, who, as soon as he has ascertained anything concerning them, theologians & other pious men being taken into counsel, should do those things which he shall judge consonant with truth & piety; therefore the same petitioner appearing asked & asks, & humbly supplicated & supplicates the most reverend lord bishop of Fiesole, that he himself deign as soon as possible, with some theologians & other pious men, to go to the same abbey of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, there to see & open the said chests, & at last to determine & do what he shall judge consonant with truth & piety, & to do other things in the premises & any of them in any way useful, necessary & opportune, concerning which in every better manner.

[11] Which most illustrious & most reverend lord the lord Alexander, prelate of Fiesole, having heard the Abbot's supplication, all things being heard which were set forth to him as above, & that in the churches the divine worship may flourish & be increased, & the faithful of Christ may piously & devoutly venerate the bodies of the Blessed, thus received & admitted the petition, in so far as by law & by the form of the sacred canons & of the sanctions of the sacred Council of Trent he is bound & ought to receive & admit it, in every better manner, & that he might himself be able to have a true & certain knowledge of the things set forth, offered himself ready to go to the same abbey of Vallombrosa & the places above designated, & to do & fulfill all & singular things necessary, required & opportune in the premises & about them, even as he himself is bound by the duty of his pastoral office; & therefore he determined & appointed the visit to the abbey itself for the 21st day of this month of August 1600.

[12] But afterward, on the 21st day of the same month of August 1600, the same most illustrious & most reverend Alexander bishop of Fiesole at Terce went & came to the monastery of the abbey of B. Mary of Vallombrosa, he comes to Vallombrosa, with some theologians & other pious men & especially with the very Reverend Father Virgilio Ceparo of Perugia, doctor of the Society of Jesus of Florence, the very Reverend Father Michele Girolamo Siviliano, preacher of the said Society of Jesus, the very Reverend lord Stefano de Nutis, plebanus of the plebania of St. Mary a Santo, of the diocese of Fiesole, the very Reverend Pietro Muret, provost of the church of Albenga, of Gallia Narbonensis, the very Reverend lord Antonio de Ubuas, presbyter priest of the collegiate church of St. Salvius of the city of Albenga of Gallia Narbonensis, the very Reverend lord Paolo, presbyter & curate of the pastoral church of St. Giles de Ristouchi, the very Reverend lord Domenico de Bonechi, canon of the cathedral church of Fiesole, the very Reverend lord Giovanni Simone de Fornaboni, presbyter of Florence.

[13] Afterward & on the same day before the hour of Vespers the said most reverend lord bishop, solemnly associated with the above-named professors of the sacred Page & priests, & there with many learned men arrayed in pontificals, processionally with cross & with lights, together also with the most reverend lord Tiberio de Corsellinis, president general of the whole congregation of Vallombrosa, with the very Reverend lord Valeriano of Florence, abbot of the said abbey of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, with the very Reverend lord Vittorio de Brunaccini, one of the visitors of the said congregation of Vallombrosa, with the very Reverend lord Alfonso de Vercellis also visitor of the said congregation, with the very Reverend lord Ilario de Santa Sofia, abbot of the abbey of Castrofranco, with the very Reverend lord Maurizio de Rottini of Florence, prior of St. Mary de Ughi, with the very Reverend lord Salvatore de Laudis, parishioner of the SS. Trinità of Florence, with the very Reverend lord Pancrazio of Florence, master of novices, with twelve novices, with the very Reverend lord Serafino, master of the monks, & with other monks & converses of the said monastery & congregation; & proceeding processionally, the aforesaid sang: Veni creator &c. & Te Deum laudamus &c.

[14] he visits the place, And when they had come to the place of the said church, where the said chests were, the said most reverend lord bishop began to say the versicle: Confirm this, O God, &c. with the prayer of the Saints; & meanwhile the wall was opened on one side for entering into the chamber & place where the said chests were; which chamber, when he had entered, the said most reverend lord bishop considered the said place & chamber, which is like a common room near the bell-tower, & painted, high from the ground a space of five braccia, wide four braccia, & long about four braccia; & there were the said two chests, which the said most reverend lord bishop ordered to be moved & drawn out of the said place, which he afterward opened, & found them

[15] & recognizes the sacred relics. full of the bones of the dead, which were divided into many parts, wrapped in silken golden cloths, consumed by age; among which bones were nine heads of the dead, each of which was wrapped in two cloths, one silken & the other golden, which heads & bones with the greatest devotion & gladness were venerated & kissed by the aforesaid most reverend lord bishop & the aforesaid theologians, monks, presbyters & pious men. At last the same most reverend lord bishop with the aforesaid theologians, presbyters & pious men replaced the said heads & bones in certain white cloths, which were processionally carried into the sacristy of the aforesaid abbey of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, & laid up in a certain chest existing there, & to the custody of the said venerable lord Valeriano abbot of the said abbey, until otherwise it be deliberated & determined concerning them by the said most reverend lord bishop or by another superior. Which all & singular things above written being thus performed, afterward immediately before the same very illustrious prelate of Fiesole appeared the venerable lord Valeriano, monk, abbot of the abbey of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, & for the clearer & greater justification that the heads & bones of the dead found in the said abbey of Vallombrosa are of the Blessed monks who were in the said congregation, gives & makes the underwritten chapters, which he asked & asks to be received & admitted in the parts in every better manner.

PART TWO.

The depositions of abbot Valerianus.

From ancient traditions First he capitulates, in what manner from most ancient time, whose memory exists not to the contrary, it was always & indistinctly & publicly held & kept, & is held & kept, by all the monks of the said congregation, & especially those dwelling in the said abbey of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, from the traditions of the ancient monks, that the bodies of the monks who for illustrious deeds & many holy works were held & called Blessed, were given to burial in a separate place, in the tower of the bell-tower of the said abbey; & so it was & is true, public & notorious.

[17] II. He capitulates, in what manner it is read in many books, & various books both printed & manuscript, on the Life of St. John Gualbert, founder of the said congregation, & of other Saints & Blessed who were in the said congregation, & especially in those printed in the year 1508 under the name of R.D. Thaddeus abbot Marruchius, & those printed at Florence by Giorgio de Maretostis in the year 1583, under the name of the venerable lord Guidolfus, monk of the said congregation, & in a Ms. on parchment written by the venerable lord Jerome de Regitulo, also a monk of the said congregation, to lord Lorenzo de' Medici, that the bodies of the said Blessed monks were buried in the said tower of the bell-tower separately.

[18] III. He capitulates, in what manner among other things in the said books it is read of many Blessed monks of the said congregation & especially of B. Rodulph, second general of the said congregation & disciple of St. John Gualbert, he testifies that Rodulph was held as a Saint, who for illustrious deeds acquired the name of Blessed, & was the one who by St. John Gualbert was sent to preach the word of God into many provinces & places, & at last was elected to proceed to Rome, to declare & denounce, as simoniac & heretic, Peter bishop of Florence, before all the Fathers of the council which was then being celebrated, Pope Alexander II reigning: & beyond the laws & reasons adduced, offered, in testimony of the truth, to be willing to pass through fire; & at last in the year 1076, on the 12th day of the month of November, passed to another life, & was buried in the said abbey of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, in the said tower named of the sepulcher of the Blessed: & St. John Gualbert laid to his care & left him abbot of the whole religion.

[19] Likewise of B. Rusticus, third General of the said congregation, likewise Rusticus, & disciple of the said St. John Gualbert, who, when he was sick & about to pass from this life to the heavenly, chose the same B. Rusticus into his custody. Afterward B. Rusticus, after many pious & holy works, died, in the year 1092, on the 12th day of the month of March, & his body was buried in the said abbey, among the other Blessed in the said tower.

[20] Likewise of B. Erizzo, fourth General of the said congregation, then Ericius & first disciple of St. John Gualbert, who appointed the said Blessed dean of the said abbey, which is the first dignity after the abbot; & he bore himself illustriously & most excellently & holily, & for the space of thirty-six years always remained in the said abbey & monastery, not departing to the villas & places thereabout nearby, & at last in the year 1094 on the 9th day of the month of February, passed to another life, & was buried in the said abbey, in the said place among the other Blessed.

[21] Likewise of B. Albert, who was a disciple of the said St. John Gualbert, Albert, & in the time of the said B. Erizzo gave up the spirit, & was buried in the said place among the other Blessed.

[22] Likewise of B. Jerome, called the hermit, when for the space of thirty-five years he had lived harshly & rigidly with the greatest fastings & examples of sanctity in the hermitage near the said abbey of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, Jerome, & in the time of B. Atto General of the said congregation & bishop of Pistoia. In the said hermitage he finished his life & was buried among the other Blessed in the place already said.

[23] Melior, Likewise of B. Melior, who flourished in the time of lord Ambrose General of the said congregation, which Blessed, unshod & wrapped in mean & light cloths, lived among the other Blessed in the hermitage of the said congregation, leading his life so harshly in a certain cavern of the said hermitage, that by fastings & abstinences his face had lost its color, presenting that of an Ethiopian. Often he put to flight with the sign of the cross the demon appearing to him in the form of beasts. When he departed from this life, which was in the year 1158 on the 26th day of the month of March, the bells of the said abbey of Vallombrosa of themselves gave forth a sound, which being heard by the abbot & monks of the said abbey, straightway they went out of the monastery, & looking toward the said hermitage, saw a certain most bright circular light through the air above the cavern where the blessed Melior lived, & straightway with the cross processionally betook themselves to the said cavern, where they saw B. Melior to be dead, though standing on bended knees, with hands joined toward heaven, as if praying, whom with the greatest reverence they carried to the said abbey, burying [him] in the said place among the other Blessed, & the said bells always of themselves sounded until he was given to burial.

[24] Benignus, Likewise of B. Benignus, 15th General, who wrought many holy & pious works, & for his clearly & holily performed deeds was greatly beloved by St. Louis king of the French, to whom, urgently asking, B. Benignus gave the bones of the right hand of St. John Gualbert. He composed many holy works, & especially the work On the cloister of the soul & body. He himself & the said congregation were distinguished with the greatest honors by the said St. Louis, Pope Honorius II, & the emperor Frederick II, & he died in the year 1236 on the 17th of July, & was buried in the said abbey among the other Blessed; & it is read that, many years since elapsed, when his bones were wrapped in certain silken cloths, the tongue of the said B. Benignus was found whole without any corruption, which was laid up in the sacristy of the said abbey among the other relics.

[25] Orlando, Likewise of B. Orlando, who lived piously & holily & with the greatest fastings, so that often for two & three days he took no bodily food: & when he was given to burial near the bell-tower, where are laid up some Blessed monks of the said congregation, a certain demoniac being there, led by his parents & kinsmen to pray to the relics of St. John Gualbert for his deliverance, straightway by the diabolical spirit began to say: "Was the master not enough against our force, that anew the power of that one has been revived, in the disciple who fiercely torments us?" And the demoniac, prostrated toward the body of the said B. Orlando, cried out: Disciple of God, have mercy on me: which followed, the demons & spirits departed, leaving the said demoniac free, making a very great noise through the air, whence it prevailed—which even today is observed—that demoniacs first be exorcized by the monks of the said abbey over the sepulcher of the said blessed Orlando, afterward at the relics of St. John Gualbert.

[26] Michael Likewise of B. Michael, 24th General of the said congregation, who for many years lived in the said hermitage with the greatest penance of fastings & abstinences. Afterward he was assumed to the grade of the generalate, though compelled by the prayers of the monks, in which he bore himself holily & blessedly & died in the year 1370; from whose corpse a most sweet odor emanated, a most clear testimony of his sanctity, &, associated by many most reverend Bishops, prelates & monks, he was buried in the said abbey among the other Blessed, whose head is preserved for special devotion in the said hermitage.

[27] Likewise of B. Thesaurus Beccheria of Pavia, & Thesaurus. 17th General of the said congregation, elected Cardinal by Alexander IV, & sent as legate to Florence to quell schisms, where by the Florentine Guelfs, by a certain suspicion, he was beheaded, as may be seen in the historians Raphael Volaterranus, Leander Urbanus book 22, Giovanni Villani book 2 chapter 66; & this followed in the year 1258, on the 12th of September; & his body was buried in the said abbey of Vallombrosa; & as a Blessed he was painted in the church of the SS. Trinità of Florence, in the chapel of the family de Spinis, with this subscription: S. Tesauro abbot of Vallombrosa and martyr.

PART THREE.

Their prosecution & the bishop's approbation.

IV. He capitulates, in what manner from most ancient time, whose memory exists not to the contrary, there existed & exist in the said monastery of the said abbey several burials & sepulchers, He distinguishes the burials, in which are buried & are being buried the abbots, monks, converses & laymen of the said monastery who have died & die for the time, & appear under the ambulatory, &, as it is commonly called, la loggia, before the door of the church of the said monastery, & in the cloister before the gate which leads to the said church. And so it was & is true, public & notorious.

[29] V. He capitulates, in what manner, up to the year 1530, in the siege & Florentine war, the said abbey was in the greatest parts demolished & burned, he asserts the writings lost, & especially the library, & consequently the books, & almost all the writings had been burned & set on fire; so that the writings, documents & records of the Blessed of the said congregation, which were there preserved & guarded, were lost. And so it was, & is true, public & notorious.

[30] VI. He capitulates, in what manner the said chamber & place, where the said chests filled with the said bones & heads were found & discovered, but that the cult persevered, is both under the tower & bell-tower of the said abbey, & there is not in the said abbey another tower & bell-tower except the aforesaid; so that it was & is the same place & tower of which the said books & histories, of which above, make mention. Notwithstanding whatsoever. And so it was, & is true, public & notorious.

[31] VII. Likewise he capitulates, in what manner from most ancient time it was always observed & is observed, as also the exorcisms. that those vexed by unclean spirits were exorcized near the said bell-tower, where there was a certain pit, in which those vexed who were exorcized were placed. And so it was, & is true, public & notorious; & public voice & fame.

[32] Likewise he capitulates, in what manner of all & singular the aforesaid there was & is public voice & fame, He alleges many witnesses & it is public & notorious, & to prove & verify all & singular things in the aforeinserted petition & chapters to have been & to be true, before the aforesaid most illustrious & most reverend lord bishop of Fiesole, he named the witnesses below described, worthy of faith, whom, & any of them, he asked to be received by the aforesaid most reverend lord bishop, admonished, oaths to be administered to them, & ordered; & because the witnesses themselves are old & valetudinary, he asked that access of this kind be committed to a notary, to the places in which the aforesaid witnesses live & dwell, to administer oaths to the witnesses themselves, & to receive their oaths; & after the witnesses themselves have sworn, also to be examined by the same notary, & ordered & their attestations described, & reduced into public & authentic form, & other things to be done necessary, required & opportune in the premises in every better manner.

[33] to be interrogated by the bishop. Which most illustrious & most reverend lord Alexander bishop of Fiesole, all the premises being seen & heard, which, since they tend to the increasing of the devotion of Christ's faithful & the increment of divine worship, the similar relation of the aforenamed witnesses being attended to, committed to a notary the access of this kind of business to the places in which the below-named witnesses dwell, to administer & to receive from the witnesses themselves below-named, religious & lay, men worthy of faith, & from any of them, the oaths; & after they have sworn, committed them & any of them to be diligently interrogated & examined upon the aforesaid aforeinserted chapters & the contents in them, & their depositions & attestations to be described, & reduced into public form by the scribe & notary already said; & he committed, willed & ordered [it], not only in the manner & form premised, but in every other more valid & efficacious manner. And of which witnesses to be examined the names are these, namely &c.

[34] At last, by a solemn decree There follow the witnesses in a very long order, examined in various places & days up to the 8th of the month of November of the year 1602. Then indeed: There appeared before the aforesaid most illustrious & most reverend lord Alexander bishop of Fiesole, residing in his episcopal palace of Fiesole, & sitting in it for tribunal, the said lord Giorgio de Georgiis, procurator of the same congregation of Vallombrosa, & instantly, with all due instance, requested that by the same most illustrious & most reverend lord Alexander bishop of Fiesole the cause & business of this kind be dispatched, & a sentence pronounced & promulgated, & declared, that the heads & bones found, as above appears in the acts of this business, were & are the bones of the Blessed monks of the same religion, & that those be & are to be recognized & approved as Blessed. Which very illustrious & most reverend lord Alexander Marzio de' Medici, bishop of Fiesole, pronounced & promulgated a decree of this kind: namely:

[35] the Bishop declares We, Alexander Marzio de' Medici, by the grace of God & of the holy Apostolic See bishop of Fiesole & count of Turicum: in the first place, the petition being seen, otherwise made before us, on the part of R.D. Valeriano of Florence, abbot of the abbey of St. Mary of Vallombrosa; the access otherwise made by us to the said abbey with theologians & other pious men being seen: the chapters exhibited on the part of the said lord abbot being seen, & at last upon them the examination of witnesses performed: the production made by the procurator of the said congregation being seen: the letters written to us by the most illustrious & most reverend lord Cardinal Justinian, exhibited in the process, being seen: & the last instance & petition on the part of the said procurator being seen, together with the whole process hitherto by us & before us framed, & at last the things to be seen being seen, & the things to be considered considered, & a mature colloquy being had with theologians & other pious men, & the form of the sacred canons, of the Council of Trent, & of the Bulls of the supreme Pontiffs, & of the other ordinances being seen,

Sentence of the recognition & approbation of the relics of the Blessed of the congregation found in the monastery of Vallombrosa.

[36] We say, pronounce, sentence, decree & declare, that they can & ought to be venerated as Blessed. that the heads & bones which were found under the bell-tower of the abbey of Vallombrosa, & of which there is question, were & are the heads & bones of the Blessed monks who flourished in the said congregation, & that those are to be recognized & approved as Blessed, as by this our present sentence we recognize & approve; & that the same heads & bones could & can be kept in a decent place in the church, & that to them publicly by the faithful of Christ due cult & veneration be imparted, & the other things befitting the Blessed be done, we command & order, & this not only in the aforesaid manner, but in every other better manner &c. Thus I pronounced, Alexander bishop of Fiesole. Pronounced at Florence in the episcopal palace of Fiesole, beside the church of St. Mary in Campo, of the diocese of Fiesole, there being present the Reverend lords Domenico Michaelis de Bonechi, canon of Fiesole, & Sebastiano Giuliani de Bigozzi, presbyter of Florence, witnesses &c.