Gerard

ON ST. GERARD, CONFESSOR,

AT CASTRO GALLINARIO IN THE DIOCESE OF SORA IN ITALY,

About the year MC.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

The public cult of this Saint, his sacred relics, his Acts, his fatherland, and the time in which he lived or died.

Gerard, Confessor, at Castro-Gallinario in the diocese of Sora in Italy (S.)

BY THE AUTHOR G. C.

Although in Filippo Ferrari's Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, and in other Menologists, no mention of this St. Gerard occurs, This Saint is venerated with an ecclesiastical Office, nevertheless the ecclesiastical Office, with which the yearly festival of that Saint is celebrated on this day in the diocese of Sora from time immemorial, makes us sufficiently secure concerning his lawful cult. A transcript of this proper Office our predecessors received long ago from Sora. But lest anyone doubt of the antiquity and authentic credit of that Office, the most illustrious Girolamo Giovannelli himself, who in the year of Christ 1632 left the chair of Sora by death, testifies thus before the Acts of the Saint, or the nine proper Lessons of the Office: In the same sacristy (namely of Castro Gallinario, which he had visited, and in which he had found this among other things) there is preserved on parchment the whole Office of this Saint with nine Lessons at Matins; and because in them his life is narrated, therefore I have ordered them to be inserted here word for word, as it stands in the said little book on parchment, for the future memory of the matter. So says Girolamo, bishop of Sora.

[2] The praised most illustrious Girolamo also ordered that whole Office to be transcribed from the parchment codex of Castro Gallinario into a book whose authentic credit is proved. which is preserved at Sora in the episcopal archive, as we gather from the following testimony: All these things were taken from a book on parchment, in which is the whole Office of the said Saint written out with proper Antiphons and hymns with plainchant; and the said little book was restored to the Reverend lord Marco Monte de Albeto, archpriest of the land of Gallinarium, on this day XV of May MDCXXIII. And in witness I, lord Tommaso Masi, priest of Sora, notary by Apostolic authority, and chancellor of the episcopal curia, have here subscribed myself at Sora, and have affixed my usual sign, being asked and required. ✠ In place of the sign. Then to another transcript of the nine Lessons, which in the year of Christ 1683 was sent to us from Sora, there is subjoined for the sake of confirmation the following testimony: The present copy has been extracted from its own original book, called the "camplone," existing in the episcopal chancery of Sora, by me word for word as it stands, though in another's hand, yet trustworthy to me, and with which, a diligent collation having been made, it agrees, saving always a better judgment. In witness, etc. At Sora on this day XVIII of the month of January MDCLXXXIII. So it is: Giuseppe Porretta, episcopal chancellor of Sora, with his own hand. To this instrument is affixed the episcopal seal of the most illustrious Tommaso Guzoni, who in the year of Christ 1681 ascended the chair of Sora. Thus far we have premised these things to prove the authority of the aforesaid Office, some hymns and certain other proper parts of which we shall now set before the eyes of the curious reader.

[3] That Office, besides the hymns at Vespers, The hymn at First Vespers runs thus:

Behold, let us sound forth God's Confessor And his favor, Who by his merits ascended To the heavenly palaces. Now may the grace of Christ Cherish us who venerate lofty things.

The most merciful man of God Frees a certain boy Who had torn his own garments And his flesh with his teeth.

Let us all with joy sing Of Gerard in his solemnities, Who healed the hand Of a certain sick clerical brother, Which had been of no use to him, Having lost its strength.

Whose day let us celebrate, Whose hall let us frequent, That by his intercessions The King of kings may be gracious.

To God the Father, etc.

[4] But the hymn at Matins is sung thus:

That Confessor, companions, kindly in his merits, Matins To be praised with all praise, who, spurning the present life, Deserved to enter the heavenly kingdoms.

For he left his fatherland, accounting the vain things of the world To be perishable; utterly exulting in mind, The most holy Man went to the Lord's sepulcher.

The most holy Man, born in the province of Auvergne, When he was worn out with labor from the harsh journey, An illustrious man of Comino received him in hospitality.

When the pilgrim Man of God gave up his spirit, He was entombed in that place; upon whose tomb There rested a certain man, oppressed with sleep and anxious,

Whom the wonder-working Man of God stamped through those seasons; Speaking marvels, he related them straightway; What the Saint here taught him he reported in order.

By whose merits indeed the Restorer of all Worthily frees very many oppressed with weakness, with fevers, And likewise those held by providence.

Therefore let us praise with true heart and with all our effort Gerard, the most dear confessor of God, That he may be for us a perpetual intercessor.

Glory be to God the Father, etc.

[5] and at Lauds, But the hymn at Lauds sounds thus:

Let us sing a hymn, companions, Diligent with devout mind; The feast of Christ's soldier Let us sing with harmonious songs;

Who, the prince of the world being spurned, Enriched with the gift of Christ, Through sacrosanct melodies * Bore away eternal rewards.

Him the chief men of Laurentum Duly and eagerly follow, Whom that leader to the heavens … led from on high.

Now, O renowned Gerard, Help us with your prayer; Joined to the company of those above, Pray to the Lord for us,

That, supported by your prayers, We may shun every crime, May despise the harmful things of the world, And may follow the joys of heaven.

Praise due to the Trinity, etc.

This same hymn is repeated at Second Vespers.

[6] Besides these hymns there are also read in the same Office proper Antiphons, consists of proper Antiphons and prayers, used in the diocese of Sora, the first of which is prescribed at the Magnificat thus:

Hence, excellent Father, possessor of every grace, Be present to your little servants, you who lacked all stains. O most holy Gerard, most valiant soldier of Christ, Preserve your servants, you who always heal the sick.

To this Antiphon is joined the following collect or prayer: Almighty and everlasting God, who willed us to venerate the solemnities of blessed Gerard your confessor, grant to your people by his intercessions to be rescued from the hostile spirit and to obtain the indulgence of your greatness. Through our Lord, etc. That prayer or collect is followed by the Antiphon at the Benedictus, which is expressed in these words:

To you now, most holy one, Shining Confessor of Christ, We take our refuge: For you reign in the heavens. Protect us therefore, we beseech, That we may be aided by your prayers.

Then is subjoined another collect or prayer of this tenor: We beseech, O Lord, the mercy of your goodness; grant us that we who keep the festival of blessed Gerard your confessor to your glory may be able to be cherished by his help, and faithfully to observe the words of your perpetual name. Through the same, etc. Finally on the feast of that same Saint a Mass is read, whose introit begins thus: The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom. I do not know whether other proper parts are recited in this Mass, since the rest are wanting in our transcript.

[7] where also the relics of this Saint are publicly honored. Now we must treat briefly of the sacred relics of St. Gerard, most of which we suspect are preserved in the aforesaid Castro Gallinario, although for want of evident information we do not dare confidently to assert this of his whole body. At least that notable relics of this Saint are honored there the most illustrious Girolamo Giovannelli praised above testifies in these words: The arm of this Saint is enclosed in a silver case newly made, which I, Girolamo bishop of Sora, in a visitation made in the year … month … day … saw, the case being opened. There exists also another ancient silver arm. All these things are preserved in the sacristy of the parish church of the same land of Gallinarium. But that certain sacred bones of that Saint were also translated outside the land of Gallinarium we learn from the letters of our Father Giovanni Francesco Vanni, to whom Ludovico Bizzarri wrote thus in Italian from Sora in the month of March of the year 1686: At Sora the feast of St. Gerard is kept on the eleventh day of August, and thither then flows together a great number of pilgrims, who visit the church of the Mother of God of Graces on the hill of Sora, and there eagerly offer votive gifts, that they may venerate the relics (namely a finger) of the said Saint. This public veneration of the relics, and the other things related thus far, abundantly show the immemorial cult of St. Gerard. Now let us give a few notices concerning the Acts to be published after this Commentary.

[8] From the Acts we gather that he was a Gaul by nation, We have four copies of the Acts and miracles, all of which were transcribed and sent to us from the parchment codex of Castro Gallinario or from the Sora transcript of the same. Those copies agree among themselves, if you except some words of lighter moment which the copyist wished at his own discretion to express more clearly. Thus he put "to heal from sickness" for "to heal from ill health," and changed other things of the kind, in which we shall preserve the original phrase. But another copyist too boldly and imprudently corrupted the Saint's fatherland, and changed the province of Auvergne, from which St. Gerard sprang, into that of Rimini. Rimini is a well-known city of Italy; but we know no province of this name. If therefore that copyist wished to deceive us, he should have changed the province of Auvergne into the city of Rimini. But if this was done in ignorance and innocently, we shall gladly pardon him this error. Meanwhile we think that that St. Gerard, who in the other transcripts, and also above in the Hymn at Matins, is said to have been born in the province of Auvergne, was a Gaul by nation, and was born in the province of Auvergne or Arvernia, although the Reverend lord Jacques Branche does not mention our St. Gerard among the Saints of Auvergne. Further, those Acts, which are divided into nine Lessons, as we shall note in the margin, relate very few things concerning his deeds, which doubtless were unknown to the Italians; but they set forth at sufficient length the miracles by which God manifested the sanctity of that Pilgrim. Perhaps afterward more miracles were added which escape us, since the ninth Lesson in all our transcripts is mutilated, as will appear from its end below.

[9] For the rest, from the beginning of the Acts we gather approximately the time and that he died in Italy about the year of Christ 1100. at which St. Gerard flourished and departed from among the living: for he is said to have come while still a youth to the Campania of Italy, and there, after a stay of fifteen days, to have died at Castro Gallinario in the third year after all spiritual power, breathed upon by the Spirit of God, had taken arms for the liberation of the holy Sepulcher. But the Christians toward the end of the eleventh century chiefly took arms to free the sepulcher of the Lord from the hands of the infidels, and in the year of Christ 1099 took Jerusalem by armed force. Hence we conjecture not improbably that our Saint, on the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, passed to those above about the year of Christ 1100 or at the beginning of the twelfth century: for at that time very many Christians betook themselves from everywhere to Jerusalem, that they might devoutly venerate the sepulcher of the Lord, which had long been under the power of the infidels. Besides, this conjecture of ours is confirmed from the age of Roffridus or Goffridus, to be mentioned below in the Acts, who in the year of Christ 1110 was sitting in the chair of Sora, as we shall observe in the Annotations. Now nothing remains but that we faithfully exhibit the Acts and miracles themselves, and illustrate them with the customary annotations.

* that is, nods, from the Greek word νεῦμα

THE ACTS AND MIRACLES,

by an uncertain author,

From an ancient parchment codex which is preserved in the church of Castro Gallinario, collated with other transcripts.

Gerard, Confessor, at Castro-Gallinario in the diocese of Sora in Italy (S.)

BHL Number: 3430

FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.

Lesson I.

In the third year ^a after all spiritual power, breathed upon by the Spirit of God, had taken arms for the liberation of the holy Sepulcher, The holy Man, unknown, dies at Castro Gallinario, there landed on the Campanian shores a certain Pilgrim, in years still a youth, born in the province of Auvergne ^b, worn out with a grievous weakness from the hardship of the journey. And when he had been received in hospitality by a certain illustrious man in the fortress whose name is Gallinarium, on the fifteenth day, his weakness growing worse, he rendered up his spirit devoted to God; but when, as is the custom, a place was sought where he should be consigned to burial, that man who had been worthy of so great a guest answered: We must not strive, brethren, we must not labor. The good Pilgrim marked out a crossroads where he wished his sepulcher to be dug. And so, as it had been revealed, the man of God was honorably buried by almost all the men of the fortress.

[2] where, by a pilgrim to whom he had appeared, When therefore the courses of twenty-five years had passed ^c *, in which certainly that place had been little frequented and neglected, there came thither from Jerusalem a pilgrim, feverish even unto death. Coming therefore and being made breathless, he happened to lie down upon the sepulcher of the man of God, and, seized by a sudden sleep, rested a while. And behold, the Servant of almighty God, who had long since been entombed there, appeared to him in his sleep, and, pressing him more tightly on both temples, made him astonished. The sick man, therefore, greatly moved by so strange a thing, trembling began to speak to him thus: And who are you, he said, who so heavily press me? To this the other said: I am called Gerard, and here, where you lie, I have my seat, though a mean and lowly one. The sick man to him: And why did you not choose a seat for yourself at the church which is nearby? This place, he said, prepared for me by God, I rather chose, in which, by the bounty of Christ's grace, I have shown many benefits upon the sick; but that ungrateful people has shown me no honor for the benefits bestowed, except once a year ^d. These things being said, the pilgrim again fell asleep.

LESSON II.

[3] And without delay the venerable Servant of God stood by the aforesaid man again, and whom he had wonderfully healed, and again pressed him on both temples; at which deed the sick man, wondering, asked him again why he had now twice so troublesomely constrained him. And the Servant of Christ said: The Lord willed through me his servant to visit you, and to heal you of the ill health under which you have hitherto labored. And he, giving thanks for the health restored to him, said thus to him: Does it please you, my lord, that I go and make known to the inhabitants of this place the mighty works of Christ? And the servant of the Lord said: Go confidently, and truthfully relate what you have seen and what benefits you have experienced; since almighty God has conferred this place upon us — as much upon me as upon my two companions, namely Stephen my brother, and a certain other * by name Peter — and has granted to make it illustrious with his wonders ^e; which indeed by the divine gift very many suffering from fever have already experienced. But after they had been snatched from their weaknesses, none the less they themselves and their fellow citizens remained ungrateful: wherefore admonish them to depart from this ingratitude, and to venerate and acknowledge the benefits of God with their whole mind; and if they shall despise this, they shall shortly feel punishment, who were unwilling to recognize the benefits. But since our God rather wishes to give pardon to the corrected than to pass sentence on those to be punished, behold, for a heaping up of his powers he grants them also this present benefit, that the plague of animals which had already begun to rage may cease.

[4] his sanctity is made manifest. After these things had been said and done, the man awakes, no longer sick, but, as Christ's servant Gerard had promised, most vigorously whole. When therefore the man, being sound, had risen from sleep, he met a certain Cleric, the steward of the church which was in the neighborhood, whom he questioned thus, saying: Tell me then, brother, whether any pilgrim was ever buried in this place? And he said: Lately, brother, three men were buried here who were about to go to Jerusalem ^f. When he asked their names, and the other said that he was wholly ignorant of them, the pilgrim recounted in order all that he had seen and heard in his sleep, and how he had been wonderfully healed by the holy Man: which indeed the cleric by no means kept silent; but, returning home in haste, together with the pilgrim he related to the people the wonders of God which he had heard. All the people run in haste, men with women, old men with the younger; by all God is blessed and by all praised. Hence they sound forth praises, hence they offer vows, promise gifts. From this therefore the Servant of God was held famous, from this he was frequented by many; and he who hitherto had been unknown became renowned for the multitude of his miracles. Whence it came about that the sick, who had run together to the Man of God from near and from far places, asked his help with believing faith.

LESSON III.

[5] Amid these things a certain one of the inhabitants of that town, seized with fevers, began to tremble, The fame of miracles increasing, to grow pale, and to rave as though frenzied. But remembering the words which he had lately heard from the pilgrim, he straightway hastened to the tomb of the man of God Gerard, and, lights being kindled, began humbly to implore his help. And presently he is seized by sleep, and to him as he slept Gerard, the servant of Christ, appeared, and asked whether he was sleeping or waking. He answered that he was doing neither, but rather was held by the excess of his infirmity; and the Saint added: Who, he said, is this woman who sits by, and what is she doing here? The sick man said: She is my mother, lord, and she came with me to entreat your mercy. And the Saint: Let her withdraw far from here, since without her help you shall obtain the divine aids.

[6] This being said, the sick man again fell asleep; to whom the holy Man appeared again, and a certain sick man being wonderfully healed, and pressed him more tightly on either side of the forehead, and said to him: You are whole without doubt. But go and proceed as quickly as possible, and announce to the people of this town how great things almighty God has shown to your infirmity through our ministry. But do you, by the grace of God, repay to me your deliverer this benefit, that with the timbers which lie beside you you cover the place of my burial, lest we, who have come for the salvation of men, be afflicted with the injuries of storms and rains. But O avarice, unhappy mistress of poor and rich! The ungrateful man denies that he has timbers with which to cover their sepulcher. To whom the Servant of Christ said: Why, brother, are you weighed down with the mass of avarice or of forgetfulness? Are those timbers wanting to you which you had prepared for the making of your chest *? The man, hemmed in by so evident a token, presently rising, went to the priest of the church of St. Nicholas, and began to demand from him the book of the Gospel, that he might confirm by an oath that what he was about to say was true. But when the priest declined to give the book, he took pains to relate in order whatever he had seen and suffered in his sleep; which he also took pains to make known to all the people in a truthful narration.

[7] There was no delay in the matter. The clergy with the people began to run together to the churches, to ring the bells, to raise the standards of Christ. For him lights shine, censers smoke, and thus to the place where the relics of the Saints rested there gathered a throng of the jubilant, celebrating together WE PRAISE YOU, O GOD. a church is built over his tomb. You would have seen boards flowing in eagerly from every side, which certainly not only the common people but even military men carried on their shoulders: by which zeal indeed, with exceeding speed the burial place of the Saints was covered. And so the clerics of that same town, astonished at the greatness of such miracles, come to the church of the see of Sora, and unfold all things in order to the venerable man Roffridus ^g, bishop of that city. Hearing which, the bishop gave thanks to almighty God, and ordered a church to be made over the bodies of the servants of God: which, being presently fittingly begun according to the narrowness of the place, not long after, the divine grace consenting, was brought to completion. But almighty God, willing to glorify his Servant as he had begun, the sick began from all around to hasten to the memorial of the aforesaid Man of God, and confidently to ask from him the remedies of their infirmities.

LESSON IV.

[8] Various frenzied persons, Therefore in the fortress which is called Pesclum on the Serula ^h, there was a certain boy who fell into a most violent frenzy; who, coming to the place of the Man of God, with full faith vowed to him of his own goods, if by his prayers he could receive the health which he hoped for: to whom, as he slept, the Servant of Christ showed himself, and gave him in commandment that he should go and as quickly as possible bring timbers to the place where he himself lay hidden. But the mother of the boy, who lay near by and was awake, hearing the conversation of her son and of the Man of God, began with motherly affection to rejoice in the gladness of her offspring. And he presently experienced all that he had seen, and told his mother, and, straightway returning home, brought the timbers, and began to recover the functions of his body.

LESSON V.

[9] There is a certain fortress in the bishopric of Sora, very thronged with a multitude of people, who by themselves or by their parents in which a certain man of free birth had a son of about three years, who through certain phantasmal illusions and, as is commonly said, through shades, lost his senses and his tongue. So the aforesaid boy, being made mad, began to tear his garments with his bites, and — what is grievous even to tell — to rend his own flesh with his teeth. At so sad a spectacle the whole household made an uproar, all the neighborhood ran about, and thought of nothing else but the boy's burial. Meanwhile the father, overwhelmed with grief, admonished by many, vowed his dying son to Gerard, the servant of almighty God. And so the man of the Lord, whom the love of compassion had always wholly possessed, as though the aforesaid man had already fulfilled his vow, could not fail so many tears and so great a faith.

[10] had implored the help of St. Gerard, At length, while they were preparing the things which were necessary for the vow for the deliverance of the boy, the wretched lad, who now for three days had lain almost lifeless without food, without drink, without any human offices, by the merits of the Man of God opened his mouth, stirred his tongue, brought forth speech, and, stammering, asked for chickpeas. Then in a wondrous manner you would have seen the mother, you would have seen at length all the neighbors, at so sudden a change of the matter, overflowing with joy and gladness, whom before one might see sad and wet with tears. Indeed the boy's father, not ungrateful for such benefits, rose early in the morning, and hastened swiftly to the dwelling place of the Man of God together with the child restored to him, offered his vows, and, rejoicing and cheerful for the benefits bestowed, returned home.

LESSON VI.

[11] Between the borders of the county of Marsi ^k and of Sangro ^l there is situated a fortress and had visited his sepulcher, to which antiquity gave the name Templum, in which there was the son of a certain countryman, who, seized by an exceeding frenzy, cruelly with a beastlike mind mangled both the limbs of his wretched mother and also his own: but the countryman his father, seeing so great a calamity of his son, becomes himself also calamitous. And while, anxious, he sought a remedy for his own calamity or his son's, there was one who said that he had heard very many marvels of a certain venerable man who had illustrated the parish of Sora with many miracles at his memorial. But when the afflicted countryman, out of love for his offspring, inquired the way by which he might come to the memorial of the Servant of God, he learned that his name was held in the fortress which they call Gallinarium.

[12] are brought back to a sound mind. There was no delay in the matter; the father in haste, together with his sick offspring, made for the place of the Man of God, and, seeking it out, found it, where he vowed that his son, if he were healed, should serve God as long as he lived: and since he greatly desired his son's soundness, he promised out of his little poverty half the foot of an ox, if his son should be healed by the merits of the Servant of God. To whom the man of God Gerard appeared cheerfully on the following night, and said to him: Do not, brother, promise the foot of an ox only, but the whole entire; otherwise the ox itself will come of its own accord to our dwelling, with none accompanying it. Why say so much? The countryman consented, and the Servant of Christ (wonderful to say!) gave him assurance that his son was without any doubt to be restored to his former health by the prayers of the holy man. Presently therefore, his son being restored to soundness, the father returned home. Whence not long after he returned, he revisited the place of the Man of God, in which devoutly he offered not only the ox but also his son, to serve God for the perpetual day of his life.

LESSON VII.

[13] In the aforesaid parts there was a fortress which received its name from the name of St. Sebastian: Certain others there a certain cleric is known to have been, who through a specter's terror was wasted by the loss of one side. You would have seen the wretched man, his limbs stiffening, so undone that, one part of his body being as it were dead, and the covering of his eyelid also being sunk, his eye saw nothing at all: the hand also of the pitiable man remained feeble, so that it could neither be put to his mouth nor be directed to any human offices. And so he too came to the burial place of God's Servant, which indeed famous report had already long since made known; where, while he made offerings, promised vows, and repeated tearful prayers, on the fourteenth day after he had come to the place — to use brevity — his offerings were received, his vows and tears were admitted to the ears of the divine goodness, and the cleric was made wholly and entirely whole.

LESSON VIII.

[14] A miracle which Christ wrought through his most blessed confessor Gerard in Castro Gallinario in the month of September. afflicted with divers diseases, A certain man by name Walter of Vicoalto happened by chance to go to a certain house of a certain kinsman of his in the aforesaid Fortress of Gallinarium, and, being suddenly made tremulous by a certain pain, being afflicted in the throat with the swellings of an abscess, that same throat being swollen, he came dying to his last extremity. He urgently caused to be called a certain clerical priest, John of St. Nicholas, that he might clothe him with the arms of Christ, and * concerning his crimes he asked that priest that he might absolve him from the Lord Jesus Christ, who pardoned the sinful woman. That priest, as is the custom, called another priest his companion, and they absolved him from the bonds of his sins on the Lord's day ^m.

[15] Those priests withdrawing from the house, the sick man himself was vexed with distresses and pains until the next day: and invoking the same Saint, on that day, until the third hour, wandering and half alive, he visited the threshold of blessed Gerard. Before he approached the doors of his church, he prostrated himself on the ground, and with genuflections besought God and blessed Gerard. As he returned with groaning to the house of his kinsman, and lingered there the whole day, but on the following night blessed Gerard with his two companions, who does not delay to succor his servants, swiftly went by night to Walter. And one of them took the abscess with his hand and pressed it with his fingers, and speaks, saying thus: This man's evil is very great. Another saint * answered: Do not be concerned, because he is well aided by God and by us. At the last blessed Gerard pierced the sick man's abscess with his finger, and putrefied and foul blood came out; and thus by the power of God and of blessed Gerard Walter was made whole.

LESSON IX.

[16] The miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ are not to be placed under a bushel, but upon a candlestick. recover their former health. Blessed Gerard, the servant of God, willed to show a certain power of God to a certain man, Angelo by name. That Angelo was by nation and origin of Gallinarium, but an inhabitant of Piceno. It befell him that he was burdened with a certain infirmity which is called a fistula near the anus. Long sighs, etc. ⁿ

ANNOTATIONS.

* otherwise: circles

* read: to another

* otherwise: little chest

* perhaps: and

* otherwise: priest