Venantius

ON ST. VENANTIUS, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR,

AT VIVIERS IN OCCITAN GAUL.

Sixth century.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Venantius, Bishop and Confessor, at Viviers in Occitan Gaul (S.)

BY THE AUTHOR J. P.

§ I. The Saint's cult; whether he was St. Sigismund's son; whether a monk of the Order of St. Benedict; some things done by him in his bishopric; its duration.

Viviers, a city of Gaul in Occitania, capital of the province of Vivarais, The Saint's cult among the people of Viviers on this day. and suffragan to the metropolis of Vienne, situated upon the river Rhône between Vienne and Avignon, reckons St. Venantius, once its prelate, in the sacred Calendars on this present day, and attends him with public veneration. Of his cult among the people of Viviers, and of his miracles, there is mention in the Life which we publish; to whose copy there is subjoined by our Henschen a Hymn at Matins, which begins thus:

Rejoice, happy Viviers, Exult, happy Sudyo, And let you praise blessed Venantius With equal zeal.

The rest is not added. In the Sammarthani, in Gallia Christiana, volume 3, page 1175, he is placed among the bishops of Viviers with the title of Saint; where moreover this is written from the Breviary of Viviers: He ruled the church of Viviers with happy governance through 27 revolving years; which being passed, full of sanctity… on the Nones of the month of August he rendered his soul to God. Our John Columbi had gone before, in book 2, On the Deeds of the Bishops of Viviers, page 193, who brings forward the same. Le Cointe in the Ecclesiastical Annals of the Franks, volume 1, at the year 535, number XLI, says: He is venerated in the Breviary of Viviers on the Nones of August. Our James Longueval in the History of the Gallican church, printed in French at Paris in the year 1730, volume 2, page 431, affirms that he is honored on the ninth day of August; perhaps because for "Nones" he read "NINTH." Castellanus on this V day reckons him thus among the additions to his Universal Martyrology: At Viviers, St. Venantius, bishop, the first of this name. Let these things suffice for establishing our Saint's cult.

[2] In the Life which I cited, at number 2, he is said to have been the son of Sigismund, Whether son of St. Sigismund, king of the Burgundians. king of Vienne; but in the said Sammarthani he was the son of Sigismund, king of Burgundy, as the deeds of the bishops declare: for this only, they say, do we dare to affirm from the Martyrology of Viviers. In the same place, from the Breviary of Viviers, his father Sigismund is recorded. Of the same opinion is Columbi, having this concerning the holy Prelate: He was the holy son of Sigismund, king of the Burgundians, a holy father; from the Breviary of Viviers, which he cites. And on page 194 he says: He was present at the council of Épaone in the year 509. Before that, therefore, Blessed Valerius having died, he entered upon the bishopric, and I think he did not long survive his father Sigismund, who was slain by Chlodomer, son of Clovis, about the year of Christ 519: when this man is read to have left nothing unattempted against the holy Prelate, after his brothers had been slain along with his father, so that, the whole family being destroyed, he might hold the kingdom of the Burgundians secure for himself. But we shall deal with Columbi upon these matters afterward.

[3] Le Cointe, whom I just alleged, dissents from that opinion, was his son; when in the same place he declares thus of our Prelate: Wrongly is he said in the Martyrology of Viviers to be the son of Sigismund, king of Burgundy. The deeds of St. Sigismund, king of the Burgundians, Henschen illustrated in volume 1 of May, at the 1st day of that month, page 83 and following. Three sons of that holy king are named in the same place: namely Sigeric, page 84, number 7; and page 87, number 5, slain by his father's command through a stepmother's plots. In the same place, page 87, number 9, we have Gystaldus (called otherwise by others, as is said in the annotations on that name) and Gundebald; or, from the annotations, Gundebad: who together with their parent Sigismund and his wife were, under Chlodomer, king of the Franks, thrown into a well and slain. But I find there no Venantius, son of the aforesaid king; none elsewhere among the writers whom I at least have consulted. Whence, then, do both our Saint's Life, and the Sammarthani, and Columbi suggest him to us? From the documents, you will say, adduced by me at number 2. But first, the said Life is of small credit, as I shall show below. Would that the Martyrology and Breviary of the church of Viviers were of greater; concerning which also I shall treat in its own place. What then; was St. Venantius not the son of St. Sigismund, king of the Burgundians? That he was, I shall admit when I have learned it from documents of good note. Meanwhile I leave my difficulties to be solved by the learned men of Viviers; which would plainly vanish if what I brought forward from Columbi above at number 2 concerning Chlodomer, who "is read" to have left nothing unattempted against the holy Prelate after his brothers were slain along with his father, so that, the whole family being destroyed, he might hold the kingdom of the Burgundians secure for himself — if, I say, it were established that these things are read in monuments worthy of credit; for that vague "is read" persuades little or nothing.

[4] Another handle for controversy is furnished by St. Venantius' Life, whether a monk of the Benedictine Order when at number 2 it speaks thus: He left father and mother… betook himself to a monastery, and there, being made a monk to God, etc. And in the same place at number 16 it is indicated that he was a monk. The matter is not only confirmed, but the institute of the monastic life is besides determined, in the Martyrology of Viviers, whose words are brought forward in Columbi, in the book cited, page 194, and in the Sammarthani, also cited, from which words I take this: Venantius went to a monastery built under the rule of blessed Benedict at Alba-vicus, on the brow of a mountain by the Rhône; where, having been made a monk, etc. But Columbi, at once chastising the narrative of that Martyrology, says: See a manifest error. St. Venantius, already bishop of Viviers, was present in the year 509 at the council of Épaone: but the Benedictine monks in that very year first came into the Gauls, under the leadership of St. Maurus. And so blessed Venantius could not before his bishopric have gone to a monastery placed under the rule of blessed Benedict on the mountain of Alba-vicus. Then, why do you set either a Benedictine or another monastery at Alba-vicus, against the credit of all records? Besides, the Breviary of Viviers teaches that the clergy of Viviers went to king Sigismund, and THENCE led his son Venantius, UNWILLING, CRYING OUT THAT HE WAS UNWORTHY OF THE OFFICE of the bishopric.

[5] a monk. In speaking thus, he not obscurely hands down that, although he acted as a monk (for I have no reason to assert or deny this, even though it is read in no records other than in this Martyrology), yet he certainly did not do so at Viviers. What therefore is brought forward concerning his Benedictine monkhood is false. The council of Épaone was celebrated not in the year 509 but in 517, according to what is to be said below at number 6. But Maurus departs from Cassino into the Gauls in the year 543, on Mabillon's testimony, Benedictine Annals, volume 1, book 5, page 112: on which matter may also be consulted the Preface to the Acts of the Saints of the Order of St. Benedict, §5, which is On St. Maurus' mission into the Gauls, and on the entry of the Benedictine institute made through him. How then does St. Venantius' monastic training in life before the episcopal mitres, under the rule of St. Benedict in the monastery of Alba-vicus, cohere with these things? Rightly therefore Le Cointe, mentioned above, says: Wrongly is it said in the Martyrology of Viviers that he was a monk of the Benedictine Order on the brow of a mountain by the Rhône at Alba-vicus, before he succeeded Valerius in the bishopric. This is confirmed by this, that I find neither our St. Venantius among the writers of the Benedictine Order among the alumni of that profession, nor the aforesaid monastery among the houses of that Order. But whether St. Venantius followed another institute of the ascetic life before his bishopric, since I have nothing by force of which I might safely deny or affirm it, I leave each man's judgment in this matter free. Concerning Alba-vicus, of which mention fell above, it will be spoken afterward, when occasion is offered of treating of the bishops of Viviers.

[6] In the year 517 he subscribes to the council of Épaone: Now let us attach some of the Saint's deeds to chronological reckonings. The year of his birth and the time of his early age are hidden from me, and I know no guide who may show me the way to the knowledge of them. Yet what forbids that in default of these we use conjectures? Let him therefore have begun to live about the year 470. But he neither began to be bishop of Viviers after the year 517 of the common era, nor ceased before the year 535. He did not, I say, begin to sit after the year 517: for then as bishop of Viviers he subscribes to the council of Épaone, which was held in that same year 517, from what was said in volume 1 of May, page 84, number 6. What bears on this had been drawn out at greater length before in volume 1 of February in the Commentary on the Life of St. Avitus, bishop of Vienne, under whose direction, as also that of Viventiolus, bishop of Lyons, that council was celebrated. But since copies of the aforesaid month of February, on account of their rarity, are not in the hands of all to whom the volumes of the following months come, it has therefore seemed good to transcribe hither those things which are there had at the V day, §4, page 665, Henschen being the compiler: More celebrated is the council of Épaone, to which St. Avitus summoned all the bishops of the kingdom of the Burgundians, an encyclical letter having been sent, which is extant among the letters at number 70, and in Sirmond's notes to that council. In it the month of September of the year 517 is assigned for celebrating this council, Agapitus, a most distinguished Man, being Consul, as will presently appear.

[7] Concerning the place there is greater difficulty. Miraeus in the Belgian Chronicle, (concerning which place and elsewhere, citing Bucherius, thinks it was celebrated in the monastery of Agaunum. But Avitus prescribes the parish of Épaone, not a monastery. Then A PLACE, THE WEARINESS OF ALL having been weighed, convenient for this assembly: whereas Agaunum is situated beyond Lake Geneva in a less convenient corner toward Sion. Sirmond in his notes to Avitus thinks that WHOEVER HAS FOUND ST. FIRMATUS' TOMB WILL PERHAPS NOT GO ASTRAY FROM THE PLACE OF THE COUNCIL. I have read in the Life that HE, TOURS BEING LEFT, CAME TO A PLACE WHOSE NAME IS Eona UPON THE Rhône, AND THERE SETTLED: and he hints that Eona was altered FROM Epona. John Columbi, On the Bishops of Valence and Die, and following him Philip Labbe in table 4 of the Royal Geography, assign Ienna, now a slender village in Savoy upon the Rhône, where huge ruins of houses, which are found through almost the whole territory, show that there was once there a city of no contemptible size, and stones INSCRIBED to the Goddess Epona are dug up — a sure enough sign that she either gave her name to the place where she was worshipped, or drew her own surname from the place. But now from Epona or Epaona to Epiena is an easy change; whence later writers extracted Iena or Ienna.

[8] But this place appears convenient enough, with respect to all the bishops coming together from the whole kingdom, being situated in the middle, various notices are given nay even on the boundaries of the provinces of Vienne and Lyons, whose metropolitans, Sts. Avitus and Viventiolus, presided over this synod. Thus there. To which these things may be added. Longueval, cited above, book 5, page 337, in a note, mention having been made of the inscription of which we spoke, adds that some critics believe that Epona is the goddess of horses, and that "Ep" in the Celtic tongue signifies a horse; that it can be said that the goddess Epaona is the city of Épaone itself; and that it is well known that the ancients sometimes endowed cities with divinity, and that altars were raised in honor of the city of Rome. Now let our discourse return from the place of the council of Épaone to our Saint.

[9] Among the twenty-five bishops who subscribed to that synod, he subscribes; but in the year 535 to that of Clermont. there occurs in the twenty-second place: Venantius, in Christ's name bishop of the city (in the margin is noted "of Viviers, or") of the Albenses, have read over and subscribed, on the day and in the consulship written above. So the Labbe edition; but the Hardouin one has thus: Venantius, in Christ's name bishop of the city of the Albenses, or of Viviers, have read over and subscribed, on the day and in the consulship written above. You see here the city of the Albenses and that of Viviers attributed to one and the same bishop; although the place was not one and the same, but twofold and distinct. For Alba of the Helvii had its own prelate of Alba; whose episcopal see having been translated to Viviers by Auxonius, bishop there, because the city of Alba had been overthrown by the Vandals under the leader Crocus about the year 411, it came about that the name both of the ancient and of the new see clung to the bishops of Viviers. These, and many other things, Columbi in book 1, which he thus begins: The bishop who for a thousand years has been called of Viviers was once called of Alba. I find him first called of Viviers in the council of Clermont, although nineteen (nay 14, according to what is presently to be said) years afterward he kept the name of Alba in the fifth of Orléans. And in the same place, page 176, you will find that Alba is not to be confounded with other places; but that Viviers was called Alba-vicus; but that the name of Alba, to which they were accustomed, prevailed over Alba-vicus. But let us pursue Venantius' deeds. Among the subscriptions of the bishops of the council of Clermont, celebrated in the year 535, this of our Saint stands in Labbe, volume 4 of the Councils, column —: Venantius, in Christ's name bishop of the church of Viviers, have consented and subscribed.

[10] The Saint's predecessor in the bishopric; the time of his see That our Prelate succeeded to the mitres of Viviers after Blessed Valerius is had from the Life which we print; which Columbi also admits in book 2, page 195; and from what he had premised he sets down this order of the bishops of Viviers, but, from the scarcity of documents, very imperfect and confused, inasmuch as it contains almost nothing but bare names. For thus he has it: St. Auxonius sat at Viviers after the year 411. John was after him, then Melanus, next St. Lucian, afterward St. Valerius before the five hundredth year. From his death St. Venantius lived beyond the year five hundred and twenty (nay, from what was just said, he was still living in 535). Him Firminus succeeded, and Firminus, Eumachius. After him there sat one after another Agripius, Ardulphus, Savinus or Sabinus, Venantius, Longinus, St. Lucian II, St. Venantius II, St. Rusticus, etc. Our Life at number

11, and the Breviary of Viviers in Columbi, page 193 — add Le Cointe at the year 535, number XLI — record that the Saint whose deeds we here illustrate presided over the church of Viviers for 27 years.

[11] is uncertain: But since from what has been premised he subscribed to the council of Épaone in the year 517, and it is not established how many years before that subscription he sat at Viviers, let us grant that he began to sit about the year 516; to which if you add the 27 years which I mentioned, you will now have the year of the common era of his death, 543; but the nineteenth year from the death of St. Sigismund, who died, according to what is had among us in volume 1 of May, page 84, number 7, in the year 524, but in Columbi's opinion about the year 519, as is concluded from his words which I brought forward above at number 2; whence it would be consequent that our Saint survived his parent St. Sigismund (I speak according to Columbi's opinion) by 24 years. But how does this cohere, first, with his words cited at the same number 2, where he signifies that he does not think he long survived his father Sigismund? How, second, with Melanius III, who in the Sammarthani, page 1175, is placed after Firminus, Eumachius I, and Agripius, and who sent in his place the archdeacon Cautinus to the fifth synod of Orléans in the year 549 (as may be seen in Labbe, volume 5 of the Councils, column 399; and Hardouin, volume 2, column —), and is there called bishop of the church of Alba, that is, of Viviers? See what I just said at number 9 from Columbi.

* "Subdio"

* Is it Melanius?

§ II. Sacred buildings and public works cared for by him; the year and day of his death; his burial; his body; miracles.

Concerning the Cathedral church of St. Vincent Of the sacred buildings of the city of Viviers St. Venantius deserved most abundantly, if we believe the writer of his Life. For there, at number 4, the chief church, dedicated to St. Vincent the martyr, was enlarged and adorned by him; but that which bears the name of St. Julian the martyr was embellished with marble columns and with a stone pavement laid down, and also with other ornaments. In the same place, at number 5, the church of Blessed Saturninus and of the Virgin Mother of God were built and dedicated by that same Prelate. The most ancient endowment of the cathedral church of Viviers you have in Columbi, book 1, from page 181 — drawn up, he says, before Charlemagne, and copied out by bishop Thomas (of Viviers) from most ancient charters after the year one thousand one hundred — add fifty, faultily omitted.

[13] For in book 3, page 210, he says: After William, (whose ancient endowment is here designated) the Saint deserves well: Thomas II was bishop. He was sitting in the 14th year of Conrad II, king of the Romans. He was in the year of Christ one thousand one hundred and fifty-third… a bishop to be recorded among few. When he saw that the affairs of all the prelates before him, half-buried in oblivion, were contained in single records which were called the Old Charter (and they were not only old, as the name itself declares, but with the letters eaten away and almost effaced escaped the eyes of readers), he determined to restore them… And as he had wisely determined, he accomplished it spiritedly and stoutly, and called it the Politicum (Charles the Bald calls it the Puletum). Hear the man's preface: I, Thomas the bishop, copied out this Politicum from other most ancient little charters, which I found in the chartulary of St. Vincent: and I was not able to copy out even a third part, on account of the excessive age by which they are consumed, in the 14th year, the lord king Conrad reigning. From that Politicum I have brought forward very many things in the earlier books. And indeed there would be no memory of the bishops, whether of Alba or of Viviers, who lived before the year one thousand, if bishop Thomas had not accomplished it. Among the sacred relics of the church of St. Vincent of Viviers, in Columbi, page 209, is noted the name of St. Venantius (ours, or another of the same name?), bishop of Viviers.

[14] Concerning the church of St. Julian, in the praised author, book 2, page 194, I find this: [as also concerning the church of St. Julian, and the public structures of the city of Viviers.] Of the most august church of St. Julian there is no trace. Yet when lately, beside a half-ruined little chapel of the same name, vines were being set in rows, other things too were dug up, and a pipe of rather pure lead — a great argument that the little chapel was once raised on the ruins of the overthrown basilica: as though that pipe were a part of the leaden channels which, by St. Venantius' agency, carried the waters from the place Calefecetus into the church of St. Julian. But besides the sacred buildings of Viviers, to which we have seen that the Saint was exceptionally profitable, the city itself also owes him very much, having more than once experienced the munificence of its Prelate in public structures, on the biographer's authority. For from his account we learn that St. Venantius restored the fallen walls of the city, at number 6; and fortified it with houses and citadels, and enlarged it with resources from the revenues of the fields, at number 7.

[15] The Saint put an end to his mortal life in the sixth century, not yet at its middle; The time and day of his death, his burial, certainly not before the year 535, from what was said above at number 10; nor after the year 549, from number 11. But the day of his death falls on the Nones of August, as is concluded from what I premised at number 1. Meanwhile, the holy Man having been taken from the living, our biographer reports wonders concerning his body, secretly carried off by the people of Viviers and brought to the nuns of Soyons, as he indeed will have it and records, whom please see from number 14. But concerning those things let him see to it himself. For indeed Columbi in book 2, from page 194, narrates the deed otherwise, and chastises it: They say that he was buried in the church of Blessed Mary of the Rhône, which nuns then held; and that, when he was demanded back either by his kinsmen or by the related kings of Burgundy, he was placed by them in a ship, that he might be conveyed down the Rhône to Lyons, and was indeed easily conveyed for the rest of the way; but that where the ship skirted the bank of Soyons, it could by no force be moved, mortals being astounded at the notable portent; and that their wonder was increased because the bronze bells of themselves, no one moving them, all alike gave forth a sudden and violent sound. Therefore, they say, the venerable body stopped at Soyons, and for the nuns who had brought it down a house was raised in the same place. To these things let him who will give credit: I should not easily believe that nuns once dwelt at Blessed Mary of the Rhône when St. Venantius met his last day. There is no trace in the old charters of that monastery. Yet it is true that the nuns of Soyons, having been brought to Valence in avoiding the fury of the heretics, have in their church a part of the relics of St. Venantius, bishop of Viviers; and that they had at Soyons nearly the entire body, which the Calvinists with barbarous daring burned. Meanwhile from what I shall say in the Annotations on chapter 2 of the Life, letter c, it seems consequent that before the 11th or 12th century those nuns did not have our Saint's body.

[16] miracles: Various miracles of the Saint I find in the writer of our Prelate's Life. But that one which he records at number 16, and which is supposed to have furnished the occasion for conveying the holy Prelate's body from Viviers to the nuns of Soyons, as he will have it, is thus given briefly by Columbi, page 195, which, as he adds, is read in the Breviary of the nuns of Soyons. Thus he has it: There was a certain noble woman, wife of count Gilbius, who from the crown of her head to the sole of her foot was so tormented with a scabby itch that she was sorrowful at living, inasmuch as she suffered a burning pain. At length on a certain night, when she had given herself to sleep, it was made known to her in a vision (I believe by an angelic admonition) that she should go to the church in which the holy confessor Venantius rested, if she wished to obtain the health which she desired. Nothing more in Columbi. Meanwhile from these words of our biographer at number 16: But there was a certain noble woman, wife of William, count of the Burgundians, who from the crown of her head to the sole of her foot was so tormented with a scabby itch that she was sorrowful at living — from these words, I say, of the biographer, gather that there is so great a kinship between the one text and the other that, if the one was not copied from the other, both certainly smack of one and the same spring.

[17] some things are inconvenient to one of which. To the miracle which the same writer of the Life brings forward from number 12, there are some things which are inconvenient: After our Saint's death, he says, a certain bishop named Rusticus… panting with the heats of avarice, destroyed without mercy all the things which Blessed Venantius had so gloriously… accomplished… The horse on which he had been accustomed to sit… on a certain day, coming without any driver to the tomb… of Venantius… casting forth neighings over his tomb and pouring out tears, wept for his Lord's death… but Rusticius, nine months in the bishopric having been passed, being smitten by God's judgment, died. To this miracle, I say, it is inconvenient, first, that according to the series of bishops given above at number 10, no Rusticus succeeded St. Venantius so closely as that deed would signify. Second, the Rusticus who stands there is set down with the title of Saint; so that accordingly that narrative does not fit him. Third, there will also be those, as my judgment at least carries me, who would not leave that miracle, its nature being considered and its circumstances weighed, untouched by a severer criticism.

[18] The Life, and its writer; The copy of the Life which I have in hand is prefaced with this title: The Life of St. Venantius, bishop of Viviers and confessor. In the margin Henschen added: From an old Manuscript codex of Father Peter Francis Chifflet. The author is anonymous; and not only does he nowhere express his name, but he notes also no determined and distinct marks of the time in which he wrote. Although from these words which he writes at number 18: Since we know (inasmuch as we have learned it by the sight of our eyes) that God has made known the sanctity of his holy prelate Venantius by very many miracles in the church in which he rests; it is fitting that we set forth one of many, rescued from oblivion… For there was in our times, etc.; from these words, to say it again, it follows that he did not write before the 11th or 12th century. For since that church in which the Saint is said to rest is that of the nuns of Soyons, as you may see in the Life at number 20; and since St. Venantius' body was not translated thither before the 11th or 12th century, as I observe in the Annotations on the second chapter, letter c; these things being premised and admitted, it cannot be denied that the author, if he speaks truly, did not write before the centuries which I designated.

[19] It will besides be no trouble to notice that there are found indications in the aforesaid Life the Breviary of Viviers, and that of Soyons. whence you may gather that either the Breviary of Viviers lighted the way for it, or it for the Breviary; or, if neither of these was the case, that some older document lighted the way for both. An indication of this matter occurs in Columbi, page 193. Let one suffice here, which is in the same place, page 194, where from the Breviary of Viviers this is recited: He built with wondrous workmanship the church of St. Julian the martyr, marble columns being set beneath, and a pavement constructed of polished stone. Nevertheless also a baptistery in that church, with paneled ceilings

and marble columns, and with a cornice of plaster drawn up on high above, he founded with wondrous workmanship. But water coming underground, etc. Which things, as also the others that follow, if you compare with the biographer's text at number 4, you will hold it most fully persuaded that what I just asserted is most true. Something similar I noted above at number 16 concerning the Breviary of Soyons. Finally I advise that the Life has been distributed by me into chapters and numbers, after the accustomed manner; but that the various readings which stand in its margin have been taken from the fragments of the Breviary of Viviers which Columbi printed.

* Below "Rusticius"

THE LIFE

By an anonymous author, from an old Manuscript codex of Father Peter Francis Chifflet, S.J.

Venantius, Bishop and Confessor, at Viviers in Occitan Gaul (S.)

BHL Number: 8528

By an Anonymous author.

PREFACE.

God is praised in his Saints: It is sufficiently plain that it is useful for the faithful, to the honor and praise of God, to celebrate the solemnities of the Saints. Which he celebrates ill who is empty of good works: but he celebrates them well, and well praises and honors God in his Saints, who on the festivals of the Saints, being more attentively given to alms, keeps his own body without the stain of luxury. And mother Church, attending to the exhortation of the Spouse saying to her: Show me your face: let your voice sound in my ears — greatly rejoices when her Spouse is thus, as I have said, praised and honored in her sons. For the holy Martyrs, in order to obtain glory, hating their life in this world, and suffering for the faith of Christ mockeries and stripes and death, suffered these things for this end, that we also (if it should be necessary), after their example, might suffer these same things for the faith and for eternal beatitude. The holy Confessors of Christ also, setting after God the things which are of the world, persisting in fastings, alms, vigils, and prayers, and in divine contemplation, offered themselves to the Lord as a living victim for the benefit of the faithful.

CHAPTER I.

The Saint's virtues, his merits toward the city of Viviers from the adorning of churches and the building of other works; his death.

whom St. Venantius imitates, first a monk, then bishop of Viviers. Blessed Venantius, therefore, son ^b of Sigismund, king of Vienne ^a, desiring to attain to the perfection of those glorious Saints, committing to memory the Lord's words, saying: He who loves his father or his mother more than me is not worthy of me — left father and mother, and, shunning the world's glory, betook himself to a monastery: and there, being made a monk ^c to God, he served humbly with all devotion of mind. But the life of this Man, adorned with goodness and made firm upon the rock which is Christ, is in a short time, God willing, made known far and wide. Therefore, after the death of blessed Valerius, bishop of the church of Viviers, the sons of that same holy mother Church, coming together into one, unanimously and with equal counsel chose the most glorious Venantius as their prelate: for the fame of his sanctity had reached their ears. Which being done, they go to his father king Sigismund, and, the church's need and the choice of clergy and people being shown, by God's will they obtain what they sought. Thence God's chosen Venantius, honorable in character, distinguished for great kindness and holiness, resisting and crying out that he was unworthy of so great an honor and so great an office, they lead unwilling to the city of Viviers. Who without delay is blessed: and with the pastoral staff the care of the Lord's flock is committed to him.

[3] He looks to the advantage of his church. So great a patron having been obtained, worthy of the height of this honor, oh how greatly do clergy and people rejoice! And deservedly; for it perceives that he aids with holy admonitions the sheepfold committed to him, lest by some hidden entrance the devil tear the Lord's flock. But blessed Venantius, knowing that those are heaped with the unfading gift of the bounty above who, burning with zeal for the highest judge, are eager for the advantages of the most holy Church, and, like sons of good disposition keeping his command, serve her need — as soon as he came to the aforesaid city, before all things he strove to watch over the advantages of his church. Wherefore the solicitude of his mind by no means allowed him to sleep or rest at all: seeing the bride who had been given him by God unseemly clothed in old and torn garments. But that she might worthily be joined to such a Man, he was intent within with zeal for uprightness, who without hastened to rebuild all things anew. That venerable steward, therefore, trusting in the Lord, returned in haste to his father Sigismund, the most glorious king, sought help, and made known his church's want; and made most evidently known to him what lay in his mind. Who, when he heard these things, moved by heavenly goodness, did not delay to bestow whatever the holy Man most devoutly sought from him for so holy a work. For he most gladly granted him all the use of the treasury which he knew to be near his city on every side.

[4] Which being obtained, the prelate Venantius was unwilling to defer longer he adorns the sacred buildings of Viviers: what his whole purpose had before determined in mind must be done. For he afterward showed in work what was hidden within in will. It certainly could no longer be concealed what the love of God and of his bride was working in him. In short, he enlarged by multiplying the mother church of the city of Viviers — namely of St. Vincent, martyr of Christ — and most honorably exalted it by bettering its adornment. For he strove first to raise the head of the city by building, so that the whole body might be able to stand more firmly and more honorably. For Christ's Confessor knew that if the head were sickly and destroyed, the whole body would remain deformed and weak: and therefore he began first at the head, so that by fortifying it he might be able to establish the rest better and more safely. Which being seemly accomplished, he built also with wondrous workmanship the church of St. Julian the martyr, marble columns being placed beneath and a pavement constructed of polished stone. Nevertheless also he founded with wondrous work a baptistery in that same above-mentioned church, with paneled ceilings and marble columns, and with a cornice of plaster ^d drawn up on high above: and he brought underground into that church water coming from that place which is commonly called Qualefecetur; which a bronze stag also, standing in the middle, breathing on high through leaden channels, poured forth.

[5] Now he shone evidently in the open who before lay hidden; shining by his example of virtue, he adorns and dedicates others there, certainly such a lamp could by no means be put under a bushel, nor be quenched with unfailing oil, which the true light that enlightens every man coming into this world most kindly illumined. Namely, Venantius wrought good works in all ways, who, offering himself an example to all, sought not his own praise but Christ's; lest on the day of judgment, the Lord saying it, he should deserve to hear: Amen I say to you, you have received your reward. In short, he rather sought with all the powers of his heart to gain an eternal reward from the Lord himself, than to set his heart on human favors: that he might be able to accord with the Lord's words: I seek not my own glory. But lest we seem to interpose too much, let us return to blessed Venantius' works themselves. He built also with venerable workmanship the church of blessed Saturninus and of blessed Mary the mother of God our Lord, and dedicated it in honor of all the Saints. He certainly strove very greatly to please God, who out of veneration for the Trinity willed to accomplish a threefold holy work so well and so perfectly.

[6] But neither could it wholly suffice for his holy intention and restores the fallen walls of the city; that he built the churches of God so venerably, as has been said; unless he could also most entirely profit his citizens in the city's walls, which were held greatly demolished. O good shepherd! O venerable shepherd, who fortify the flock subject to you with a divine and an earthly defense! You strengthen it within with examples and holy admonitions; but without with great buildings: lest the wolf — namely the malignant spirit — lying in wait for the folds of the faithful, should by lurking snatch away some of the sheep, and, tearing it, lead it with him into destruction. For you do not know how to flee, either by changing your place or by withdrawing consolation from the people committed to you: but you go up against him, and set yourself as a wall for the house of Israel, that it may be able to stand in battle in the day of the Lord.

[7] which he also enlarges with houses and citadels, and with revenues: These things being described, let us now say what work blessed Venantius did for his citizens. In short, he fortified his city elegantly and firmly with houses and citadels: he also greatly enlarged it with very many resources from the revenues of the fields: and (so to speak) out of the name of a small fort he composed the walls of a city with manifold building. Which being done, it shone most openly what and how much he wished to profit all. For in both the divine and the human he did not refuse to sweat, so that he might be able to obtain a greater reward from the Lord.

[8] He appoints clerics and maintains them. But that he might bring to the perfection of stability what he had begun in the churches which he had with devout mind built in honor of God and of the aforesaid Saints, he appointed also clerics to sing psalms: and he left in writing how they should come together daily to eat, and in what manner and with what stipends they should live in order, not unmindful of the precept of the law which Moses spoke: You shall not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treads out the grain. The Lord himself also says in the Gospel: The laborer is worthy of his hire. Likewise elsewhere: He who serves the altar, let him partake of the altar. Wherefore the pious steward Venantius, instructed by these and very many other examples, knew without doubt that the divine office could not be performed regularly, as is fitting, if food and clothing and the other things necessary for the uses of the body were lacking to God's ministers: and therefore with God's help he endeavored to bring everything to completeness, that it might be able for a long time to stand and to persevere firm.

[9] Holding in hatred the things that are of the world, Blessed Venantius therefore, most worthy of all praise and renowned for wondrous sanctity, all the days of his life desired by working to obtain the heavenly rewards which he knew. For he was unwilling to love the world, which he saw for certain could not stand long. He also firmly set in his mind the Apostolic precepts, by which the Lord admonishing us says: Do not love the world, nor the things which are in the world: because if anyone loves the world, the charity of the Father is not in him. For he loves the world too much who, intent upon its pleasures, through that which by loving he thought to hold, loses the reward to come. For it is more needful to think with anxious mind about the life to come, and to have continually before one's eyes the last day of judgment, than to love this fleeting world.

[10] he exercises various virtues, That dreadful day the most holy prelate of Christ, Venantius, had in mind with all intention; who, that he might be placed with the lambs — namely with the just — at the right hand, most kindly and most bountifully distributed whatever he could have to the needy, namely to the blind, the lame, the mute, the lepers, and the paralytic: and offered himself in all holiness as an example of kindness and humility to all. For the talent which he received from our Redeemer he did not, going away, bury in the earth, but increased it manifold a second time: and above the money which he received from his Lord,

he stood forth a faithful servant and steward, so that he deserved to be praised by him in the eternal recompense.

[11] adorned with which, after a rule of 27 years he dies. And so blessed Venantius, distinguished by many miracles and good works, most pleasing to all by word and example, returned to his Lord's joy with his talent multiplied, secure of the eternal retribution; who, while he lived, despised earthly and perishable things, and took care with all his intention to obtain the heavenly. But lest we draw out our discourse further at length, let us come more quickly to the end. The city of Viviers, then, having been built up so honorably, as has been said, the churches of the Saints splendidly and wondrously arranged, and choirs of psalm-singers set in order beforehand, he ruled the church of Viviers with happy governance through twenty-seven revolving years ^e. Which being passed, full of sanctity and worthy of all praise, on the Nones of the month of August he happily rendered his holy soul to the most high Creator, with the jubilation of the angels and of all the Saints.

ANNOTATIONS.

* Others: "drawn down"

* Others: "Calefecetus"

* Others: "of these"

CHAPTER II.

His burial, translations, and miracles.

A wonderful thing after the Saint's death We have spoken above of the life of Christ's confessor and pontiff Venantius, and of the things which he did so most gloriously (as has already been shown above), many being passed over on account of forgetfulness. One miracle which our Lord Jesus Christ deigned to show through his Servant after his departure we have taken care to recount to his holy memory. For his body lies hidden, but his merits can by no means lie hidden. Since the Lord said in the Gospel: Nothing is covered that shall not be revealed, and hidden that shall not be known — he does not allow the merits of his servants to lie hidden, but plainly discloses them, that all may know that those whom they loved with their whole mind, and whose precepts they kept, are made manifest by his goodness, that they may be worthily venerated by all. Blessed Venantius therefore deserved to be worthily made manifest by God and venerated by men, who had the love of God and of his neighbor. And so after his death a certain bishop, a Roman by nation, named Rusticus ^a, arose, who, panting with the heats of avarice, destroyed without mercy (so far as he could) all the things which blessed Venantius had so gloriously, as was shown before, accomplished — namely, breaking up the rule of the canons, or of the monks, and of the women, and staining all his good acts, and withdrawing also from the clerics their substance and all their stipend — and appropriated everything to himself.

[13] O great evil! O most sharp dart of the devil, with the confusion of bishop Rusticius, wrought by his horse, avarice! O most wicked and venom-bearing crime, avarice! which bends the hearts of kings to evil, and overturns right judgments. For by your instigation Rusticius (so to speak, in work and in name a rustic) basely and lamentably destroyed what holiness and piety had justly and religiously built. Why more? The horse on which he had been accustomed to sit, when Rusticius himself grievously afflicted him with his burdens, on a certain day, coming without any driver to the tomb of the glorious pontiff Venantius, and as it were making accusation concerning Rusticius, from whom he was suffering such things, casting forth neighings over his tomb and pouring out tears, wept for his lord's death, and wondrously lamented with many groans. But Rusticius, nine months in the bishopric having been passed, smitten by God's judgment, died. Whence let God be blessed in all things, against whom there is no counsel nor any prudence: who, dispensing all things with equal weighing, renders punishments to the unjust, but worthy rewards to the just.

[14] His body honorably buried But in what manner the venerable Man's body, the Lord assenting, was translated and given to the monastery of Soyons ^b, dedicated in honor of blessed John the Evangelist, we have thought it useful to commend, in the characters of letters, to the memory of our posterity, according as our fathers spoke truly to the faithful, and we as sons learned from our fathers. For after the holy Pontiff, his body being chastised by long affliction and brought under into God's service, departed from this world, his holy soul is led by angels into heaven, and his holy body is delivered to honorable burial. But God declared by many and most evident miracles how greatly he loved his servant, who humbly served him. For innumerable sick, coming to his tomb, by whatever infirmity they were held, all returned to their homes sound and unharmed, praising and glorifying God in his holy Venantius.

[15] [is carried into the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of St. Saturninus; and then elsewhere:] And so the clergy and people, beholding such great miracles of God, translated the holy Prelate's body into the church which he himself had built in honor of blessed Mary and of St. Saturninus: and placed it above ground in a certain sarcophagus, yet not carefully enough. But after this, through the carelessness and negligence of clergy and people, the diligence due to God's Saint being given over to oblivion, scarcely any well-earned honor was paid him. Which, because it did not lie hidden from the divine knowledge, the Lord by his just judgment decrees and commands that he be taken from the people of Viviers, and, their sins hindering, be transferred to another country: which was so done.

[16] and at last into the monastery of Soyons, Now there was a certain noble woman, wife of William, count of the Burgundians ^c, who from the crown of her head to the sole of her foot was so tormented with a scabby itch that she was sorrowful at living. And she, spending much in offerings to the Saints, and very much on the remedies of physicians, for the health of her body, yet gained nothing thereby. Why more? On the following night, when she had given herself to sleep, it was made known to her in an angelic vision that she should go to the church in which the holy Confessor of the Lord rested, if she wished to obtain the health she desired: for she should in no way doubt that by his intercessions she would obtain health from the Lord; and, health being obtained, she should carry away with her the bones of the blessed Bishop, at the Lord's bidding, into the monastery of Soyons, into the church of the holy virgins: so that a monk might succor nuns, and a virgin the virgins of God, by his patronage and prayers. Therefore, being awakened, she blessed the Lord, from whom she believed so salutary a counsel had been given her. But after this, suitable companions being taken, she seizes upon the journey which the Lord had commanded her. And coming to the church in which St. Venantius rested, by his prayers she receives the benefits of health, as God's angel had foretold her.

[17] God there honoring his Saint with benefits. And so, health of body having been obtained — that by God's ineffable mercy and by blessed Venantius' intercessions she has now at last been restored to her former health — calling her companions together into one, she declares to them her consolation: and after this she openly makes known to them what, after health received, was enjoined her in the vision to do concerning the holy Man's body. Which companions, hearing, filled with unspeakable joy, render thanks to God and to blessed Venantius the confessor, urging their lady that what was enjoined her in the vision we wish to accomplish as quickly as possible. Therefore, in the silence of the dead of night, the citizens being weighed down by God's will with deceptive sleep, they uncover the sarcophagus; and receive the Saint's body simply and with the utmost reverence; and come as swiftly as possible to the aforesaid place predetermined and shown by God. In which place, by the prayers of so great a Patron, many and wondrous benefits are granted: and to declare the sanctity of God's Servant, many and distinguished miracles are done there by his prayers, which mind and tongue do not suffice to relate.

[18] Since we know (inasmuch as we have learned it by the sight of our eyes) that God has made known the sanctity of his holy prelate Venantius, A paralytic not healed at Rome, in the church ^d in which he rests, by very many miracles, it is fitting that we set forth one of many, rescued from oblivion, and commend it to the book of memory: for there was in our times ^e, from the borders of the kingdom of Lotharingia, a certain nobleman and man of great power, William by name: who at one time, his sins hindering, was undone in the lower members of his body by the sickness of paralysis, his legs joined backward to his buttocks; so much so that he might be called rather a round mass than an upright man: and unless carried on little wooden wheels, he could not go about. In so great a difficulty of sickness, therefore, having taken counsel, he had himself carried through the churches of those Saints of whom he had heard in the working of miracles, and whom he believed to be of greater merit: until at length he came to Rome to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles; to see whether by his suffrages and those of the other Saints he might deserve to be freed from the bonds of so great an infirmity. But God's providence was unwilling to grant him for the present what he desired; that he might prove his patience in tribulation, and might most manifestly unlock through him to the peoples the merits of his friend Venantius. And returning to his own home, only wearied and not freed, he purposed in his heart that he would no longer, for the sake of obtaining health, seek the suffrages of the Saints afar off: because he had gone to many, and yet nothing had been granted him.

[19] While therefore on a certain night he was resting asleep on his bent pallet, by a divine admonition there appeared to him a certain man with shining face, adorned with white garments, with a pastoral staff with which he had governed the Lord's flock, and, exhorting him with such a most sweet voice, said: William, rise, and going by a straight path to Lyons, and thence by inquiry, keep the road beside the bank of the Rhône as far as the basilica of St. Venantius; if you wish to be freed from this pestilent sickness. But he awoke in the morning, since he judged this vision idle and, as it were, altogether false: a second and a third time he was admonished by the divine compassion about his health. Whence it is established that there is no doubt that this was announced to him by the will of the holy Trinity. Why more? Still indeed doubting, he was unwilling to obey the Lord's commands; because on account of the infinite money which he had spent, he dreaded the labor which he had endured in going through the thresholds of the Saints. At length, however, by the counsel of his nobles and of his household, to whom he had revealed this matter, having executed the commands, he goes forward by a straight road as far as Lyons, and thence beside the river Rhône, to the aforesaid basilica, carried not on his own feet but by others' hands. But there, I know not whether because he had seen many richer places, estimating St. Venantius' power according to the size of the church of the place, he scarcely deigned, at his companions' exhortation, to enter the church for the sake of praying.

[20] fleeing to the Saint, he is healed in a wondrous manner. Having stayed there some days, when on a certain day a solemn Mass was being duly celebrated by the virgins, at the persuasion of his companions he is carried again to the church. When therefore the introit of the Mass was begun, it seemed to him that the whole church was filled from top to bottom with flashing flames: and through the midst of the fires a certain comely man

descending from the altar, and taking him by the right hand, addressed him thus, saying: Rise quickly. At this word, that he was returning sound, his sickness fleeing, was attested not only by the cracking of his sinews returning to their former state, but also by the shoes of his feet being burst and leaping forth through the church openly before all. Then, as he leaped up, while all the people who had come together for the solemnity rejoiced in wonder, the whole choir began to intone, to the praise of him who had done this by the merit of St. Venantius: "We praise you, O God."

[21] He shines with other miracles. Whence let all Christians know that every day, to the honor of the most excellent Maker and by the merits of Christ's confessor Venantius, life has been restored to many dead, speech to the mute, hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind, the falling sickness cured, lepers cleansed, demoniacs delivered from the devil's power: and many other things which we cannot relate. Whence let us praise and glorify him who works so many and so great miracles through his servant Venantius, now and always, through the infinite ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.