ON ST. THEODORE OR THEODULUS
BISHOP OF OCTODURUM OR SION,
IN THE VALAIS AMONG THE HELVETIANS,
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Theodore, bishop among the Helvetians (St.)
BY G. C.
§ I. The ancient cult of the Saint, the writer of his Acts, and the various copies of these.
In the title I said that this holy Prelate presided over the see of Octodurum or Sion, The public veneration of St. Theodore or Theodulus, both for reasons to be brought forward below,
and because some would have these two bishoprics to be distinct, while others on the contrary think that this is one and the same see, which was translated elsewhere and received a different surname from the place. This controversy I have learned from Josias Simler, who in his Description of the Valais, book 1, at folio 25 in our copy, writes thus of the matter: Some think that the Valais once had two bishoprics, that of Sion and that of Octodurum; for as the jurisdictions of the Seduni and the Veragri were distinct, so they judge that the bishoprics also were different. But others on the contrary think that the narrowness of the region scarcely allows this: for although cities almost joined together in Italy have their own bishops, yet they say that another rule was kept in the provinces, especially the Transalpine ones, in which the dioceses of the bishops are far larger than in Italy.
[2] Moreover, they would have this to be an indication of a single bishopric, who presided over the church of Octodurum that mention is made of only one Theodore, bishop of Sion, in the dedication of St. Maurice at Agaunum, from which it is not to be believed that the bishop of Octodurum would have been absent, in whose diocese these things were being done, if he had been other than the bishop of Sion. And they think that Octodurum, which was once the head of the Valaisans, as appears from the little book of the provinces, was the first seat of the bishops, until it was laid waste and destroyed in the wars of the Burgundians; that then the bishopric was translated to Sion, and again on account of the destructions of Sion returned to the old seat, until that was restored; or else that Florentinus and Theodore, bishops of Sion, were named not from the city but from the people, because the most ancient name of the Seduni was given to all the Valaisans, as is still the custom today. We leave the matter in doubt; but the names of the bishops of Sion and their deeds we shall pursue in another place. So he.
[3] Francis Guillimann, in his work On the Affairs of the Helvetians, book 4, chapter 3, sets forth another opinion of certain persons concerning this bishopric in these words: or of Sion, Some have thought that both the Seduni and the Veragri had only one bishop, who nevertheless changed his seats; in such a way, indeed, that if he who had died had lived at Sion, his successor should place his seat at Octodurum, and vice versa; until, as we have said, when through the storm of a rain-cloud the river Dranse, making an onset, overthrew the town, the see thereafter remained at Sion. The most illustrious Lord Francis Augustine ab Ecclesia, bishop of Saluzzo, in his Chronological History of the Piedmontese Region, thinks that the see of Sion succeeded that of Octodurum, and in the same work, chapter 44, page 330 in our copy, sets forth his opinion in this manner: Sion, a city of the Valaisans, commonly Sion, or as the Germans call it, Sitta, from the river of the same name, is situated beyond the Pennine Alps upon the Rhone, where once were the Seduni, of whom mention is made on the Arch of Caesar Augustus, in a pleasant plain. It once obeyed the Counts of Savoy; but now, both in spirituals and in temporals, it acknowledges as its superior the bishop, who is called Count and prefect of the Valais. Hither, when Octodurum was destroyed, the episcopal seat of that place — whose revenues are assessed in the old Roman taxation at 2000 florins — was translated; wherefore it is no longer entitled Octodurensis, as it was called in the Notitia of the provinces, but Sedunensis, and is subjected to the archbishopric of Tarentaise. This more common opinion of the most illustrious author we embrace, unless the editors of Gallia Christiana should hereafter show by solid arguments that distinct prelates sat at Sion and at Octodurum at the same time.
[4] we learn from a letter, Meanwhile let us establish the ancient cult of our holy Prelate (whether he was bishop of Octodurum or of Sion), which our Ernest Bidermann diligently investigated as long ago as the year 1668, as I understand from the letters which that eyewitness then sent from Fribourg of the Helvetians to our Elders, and in which among other things he wrote thus: To satisfy your Reverence's desire I made an excursion into the Valais, to inquire into the Acts of St. Theodulus. I came first to Agaunum, now called St. Maurice … I then came to Octodurum; … Afterwards I arrived at Sion, and turned aside to the bishop, who is most friendly to us. But the episcopal archive was long ago despoiled through the injuries of war, so that the inhabitants have scarcely any authentic memorial of antiquity except the proper Offices of St. Theodulus and of Charlemagne. Both I have caused to be copied, and have them by me, and will submit them to your Reverence if it be so pleasing. But I found among other things the following title of St. Theodulus in a most ancient catalogue of the bishops of Sion in the castle of Valeria: St. Theodolus, of Burgundy, of Grandmont, bishop of Sion, first prince, Count and prefect of the Valais, in the year 802.
[5] Before this holy bishop is read this title: which our Bidermann wrote in the year 1668. St. Althaeus, bishop of Sion and abbot of St. Maurice of Agaunum, in whose time Charlemagne, king of the Franks, came to St. Maurice, and sleeping heard the miracle of the heavenly harmony among the blessed Martyrs; and thence the king himself with the same holy bishop and abbot Althaeus sets out for Rome in the year 790. After St. Theodulus is placed: St. Garinus, bishop of Sion, second Count and prefect of the Valais. He is buried in the monastery of the Vale of the Alps. He lived in the year 901. I viewed at Sion the church built by the same St. Theodulus. There is moreover preserved in the citadel of Valeria of the city of Sion a fragment of a bell, which some say was carried thither by a demon from Rome at the command of the holy Bishop; others, more truly, that it was blessed by the holy Man against storms and hail, with this effect to the present day, that at the first stroke of a bell into which fragments of that blessed bell have been poured, storms are in a moment dispersed; on which account the name of St. Theodulus is most celebrated not only through the neighboring Helvetia, but through all Savoy and Piedmont, and is invoked in vows. Thus far our Bidermann, who afterwards transmitted to us the promised proper Offices.
[6] From Burgundy also we have received various records pertaining to this holy Prelate, We have also received from our Chifflet from which our Chifflet has woven the following synopsis of his Acts: Theodulus, born at Grandmont, a castle of Burgundy in the district of Besançon, of the noble family of Grandmont, was by his merit raised to the bishopric of Sion. And when he was engaged in that charge with great praise, it happened that he was summoned with other bishops to a synod, in which King Charlemagne, publicly professing himself bound by a certain grave crime, earnestly begged that pardon for it might be obtained for him from God by their prayers. And when some of the bishops undertook to offer twelve Sacrifices to that end, others twenty or thirty, Theodulus promised one only. And when this had been offered, he was divinely taught both the kind of the king's offense and its remission. And so he goes to the king in his trouble, consoles him, recounts to him privately the course of the crime. He affirms that the whole guilt has been expiated; and carries back the prefecture of the Valaisans as an endowment of his church, the reward of so great a benefit.
[7] Once, when the vines of the Valaisans had been blasted by excessive cold, a compendium of the Acts, and the vintage was drawing near, there was almost nothing of grapes to be gathered. Theodulus therefore, being consulted by the people as to what was to be done, ordered all the tuns and wine-vessels to be prepared as for an abundant vintage. Then he ordered the gathered grapes to be carried into one place, and to be distributed among all the vessels. And he himself, drawing near, blessed each cluster with the sign of the cross, and pressing them in his hand cast them into each vessel. Wonderful to tell! So suddenly were all the vessels filled with wine, and that of the most generous, that they even overflowed. The bones of the Agaunensian martyrs, scattered here and there, were either buried by the soil, or, laid bare by the flooding of the Rhone, were gnawed by birds and beasts. Theodulus did not endure that injury done to the sacred remains. Those bones, God showing them, he distinguished, took care that they should be dug out from the earth, and laid them in honorable places. The holy Man died on the seventeenth of the Kalends of September; various portions of whose relics, translated into the dioceses of Besançon and Lyons, are a protection against storms and the injuries of the sky; and the bells blessed by him are wont by their sound to break up the impious assemblies of sorcerers and demons and to scatter their spells. It has been found that the same virtue is present also in other bells, into which has been mingled a little fragment of the metal of a certain bell blessed by him, which was long ago broken while being rung.
[8] which is taken from his proper Office, These things are taken from the solemn Office which is read on this day in the Breviary of Sion, and in which at the first Vespers a hymn is recited which expresses the same deeds thus in few words:
The choir of the heavenly court Rejoices with us on this day, As we keep the famous solemnities Of our Father.
On whose birthday, With exceeding affection of mind, Paying the debt of praise, Let us extol him who has deserved it.
By the poured-out prayer of Theodolus The guilt of Charles is laid bare; The bodies of the Thebans Are buried by his work.
The land of the Valaisans mourned: For by excessive frost The vintages of Sion And others had withered.
Vessels, flasks, and casks Holding no liquor at all, When the sign of the cross was made, He filled with a draught of wine.
To God the Father be glory, And to His only Son, With the Spirit the Paraclete, Both now and forever. Amen.
[9] and from various Martyrologies I here pass over the other proper parts of that Office, and after our custom bring forward some Martyrologies which briefly announce the annual festival of St. Theodore or Theodulus. The Gollian codex in our illustrated Usuard has this at the XVII day of August: At the castle of Sion, of St. Theodore the bishop. But on the preceding day the Martyrology of St. John of Besançon makes mention of the same holy Prelate, unless I am mistaken, from which the aforesaid Chifflet transcribed these words: On the XVII of the Kalends of September, at Sion, the birthday of St. Theodolus, bishop and confessor. Molanus, in certain editions of his Martyrology, at the XVI day of August, after other announcements writes thus: On the same day, of Theodolus the confessor, bishop of Sion. Saussay in his Gallican Martyrology at the XVI day of August records a holy Prelate of Sion of the same name, but of another age, and adorns him with the following eulogy: On the same day at Sion, among the Alpine mountains upon the Rhone, the deposition of St. Theodulus, bishop of that see and confessor, who, raised to this pontificate after Constantius, being dear to the holy king Sigismund, urged him with religious insistence to pious works; to whom also he was the persuader of building the famous monastery of Agaunum in honor of St. Maurice the martyr, crowned there with his companions, to the foundation of which place he subscribed together with Viventiolus of Lyons, Victor of Grenoble, and Maximus of Geneva, prelates also of approved sanctity, and dedicated the basilica itself with the pontifical rite. Then, assiduous in the increase of virtues, he so dyed his clergy and people with the colors of these that by pious efforts (the breath of heaven inspiring) he made them diligent imitators of the purest morals. And thus, having happily run the course of God's commandments, he departed to the assembly of the senators on high, distinguished with the purple of perfect sanctity. If this St. Theodulus flourished in the time of King Sigismund, he is more than two centuries distant from the age of Charlemagne. But it will be useful to remember this announcement below.
[10] Meanwhile we shall confirm the ancient cult of St. Theodulus or Theodolus from the Burgundian records, and from other Burgundian records which the lately praised Chifflet communicated to our Elders, and from which it appears in how great honor the relics of this Saint are held there. In the first place, that untiring
helper of our Work excerpted from the catalogue of the relics of the monastery of Ainay at Lyons these words: Likewise there is another silver arm, in which are the relics of very many Saints, and the arm of St. Theodolus, bishop of Sion and confessor. Moreover he testifies that in the Priory of Bauda (commonly called de Joue), which belongs to our college of Dole, there is honorably preserved a reliquary of St. Theodolus with some of his bones enclosed in it; and that concerning other relics of the same Saint the following is prescribed in the old Ritual of St. Stephen of Besançon: On the day of Pentecost a procession must go to St. John's. A certain Canon carries the relics of St. Theodolus, which avail against storms; and the Hebdomadary carries the arm of the proto-martyr, and blesses the city with these words: By the merits of the blessed proto-martyr Stephen may Christ the Son of God bless us and our borders. By the merits of St. Theodolus may Christ the Son of God bless us and our borders. Then these words are added: On the fifth of the Nones of May a procession is made upon the mountain with the arm, the cross, and the relics of blessed Theodolus, and the city is blessed by the sign of the cross: By the sign of the holy cross, by the merits of the blessed Proto-martyr, and by the merits of blessed Theodolus, saying Protect, O Lord, etc.
[11] In the same Burgundian records Count Otho is said to have given these relics of St. Theodulus to the people of Besançon. we confirm the immemorial cult of this Saint. I suspect that that Otho was the Count of Chalon and of Burgundy, who had Margaret to wife, and departed this life about the end of the twelfth century, as may be seen in Nicholas Vignier's Chronicle of the Burgundians at the year 1199, or page 144, and as is moreover gathered from the Necrology of St. John of Besançon, in which the following is read to our purpose: On the IV of the Ides of July died the Countess Margaret, who instituted two chaplains at the altar of St. Theodolus, for herself and for Count Otho her husband. Henry Murer, a Swiss writer of the most religious Order of the Carthusians, at page 135 and the following of his Helvetia Sancta, narrates in German certain prodigious chastisements of those who about the middle of the fifteenth century had neglected to celebrate the feast of St. Theodulus, or had impiously despised the Saint himself. Although all that has been brought forward thus far abundantly proves the legitimate and immemorial cult of St. Theodore or Theodulus, yet it is not yet altogether clear to us which of the two or three prelates of nearly the same name, who in different centuries governed the church of Octodurum or of Sion, is properly honored on this day. Wherefore in the following paragraph we shall propose this difficult knot, and leave it to the learned to untie.
[12] Here it only remains that we give some preliminary notice of the writer of the Acts A certain monk is said to have written the Saint's Acts in the year 1491, and of their various transcripts. In the Legendary of St. Anatolius of Salins and in a manuscript codex of the Thuanian library the writer of the Acts is called Ruodpertus, a wandering monk, whom the lately praised Murer, at page 133 of his Helvetia Sancta, calls Robert, and in the same place asserts that by that Robert, whom he suspects to have been of Valaisan origin, these Acts were written in Latin in the year 1491 and left to the church of St. Theodulus. But that monk is unknown to us, and certainly has no great commendation from antiquity, if he first put those Acts together about the end of the fifteenth century. Moreover that Ruodpertus or Robert inserted into these Acts a certain fiction about the bell which St. Theodulus is said to have ordered to be carried by a demon from the city of Rome into the Valais; but this fabulous narrative has been omitted in our transcripts, and is rejected by Murer himself at page 135 of the Helvetia Sancta. Let these things suffice concerning that author, than whom we have hitherto known none more ancient.
[13] whose different copies we review. We have different copies of the Acts, of which we shall now furnish a brief account. The first comes from the Thuanian library, number 275, to which a prolix and inept prologue is prefixed. Further, the history of the Acts itself is mutilated in this transcript. Wherefore we have been unwilling to submit to the press that long preface, which is nothing to the purpose, and various digressions, following the counsel of our Chifflet, who at the end of the Acts thus warns us: These digressions from the Thuanian codex are unworthy to be published in print, as also the prologue of Ruodpertus the monk, no less inept, which fills nearly five pages and a half. The second transcript has been excerpted from a certain manuscript of St. Stephen of Besançon, which ends with the miracle of the multiplied wine, and in which the revelation concerning the sacred relics of the Theban Martyrs is not expressed. The third copy, finally, our Chifflet transcribed from the Legendary of St. Anatolius of Salins, and collated with the Thuanian codex; which we shall print after this preliminary Commentary, although it is not without some digressions which indicate the simplicity of the author and of his age. Besides, we have received various compendia of the Acts, which have been excerpted from Breviaries, or composed for the recitation of a proper Office, and of which we have exhibited one above. For the rest, all these transcripts agree in this, that they make the St. Theodore or Theodulus of today to have flourished in the time of the emperor Charlemagne, even though this date and the distinct veneration of that holy Prelate suffer no slight difficulty, as will appear from the following paragraph.
§ II. The intricate difficulty concerning the person and the age of the bishop of Octodurum or of Sion who is honored on this day.
From a threefold Theodore or Theodulus Henry Murer the Carthusian, praised above, in his Helvetia Sancta, sets before us at pages 133 and 183 a twofold St. Theodore and one St. Theodulus, all three of whom he affirms to have presided over the church of Octodurum or of Sion, and the annual memory of all of whom, he says, is celebrated on this XVI day of August, although they lived at times far different: for the first is said to have flourished in the fourth century, the second in the sixth, and the third in the ninth. The most illustrious Lord Francis Augustine also, bishop of Saluzzo, in his Chronological History of the Piedmontese Region, whom I praised above, at page 331 and the following distinguishes these three prelates of the same see thus: Theodore, bishop of Octodurum, who subscribed to the council of Aquileia under Pope Damasus I … Theodore the second, or Theodolus, who in the foundation of the monastery of St. Maurice of Agaunum is reckoned second among sixty bishops … St. Theodolus, to whom Charlemagne gave the lordship of the city of Sion. And in the margin he there so notes the time in which those three prelates flourished as to assign to the first the year 381, to the second 508, and lastly to the third the year of Christ 805. With this chronology somewhat altered, the Sainte-Marthes also in Gallia Christiana reckon a threefold Theodore or Theodulus among the bishops of Octodurum or of Sion.
[15] The most reverend Charles a Basilica Petri, bishop of Novara, the most illustrious bishop of Novara thinks, in his Novaria, or work upon the church of Novara, thinks that on the XVI day of August the first of these three prelates is honored, and writes of that St. Theodore or Theodulus in the same place, at page 21 and the following, these words: But since we have begun to speak of the holy men from the Alps who are honored through this diocese and region, mention must also be made of Theodulus, bishop of Octodurum. This diocese is Transalpine, and is now called the Valais, a region embracing quite ample recesses of the Alps, where were the Seduni and the Veragri, peoples mentioned by Caesar; whose region, in things sacred and profane, is in the power of the bishop himself — and would that it were entire, as of old: for then, as is credible, it would not have come into the present peril of the Catholic faith. It borders, over a long space indeed, upon the diocese of Novara, with the ridges of the Alps between, of which more will presently be said. In place of Octodurum there is now the city of Sion, though not in the same place. St. Theodulus, therefore, the patron and first bishop of the church of Sion, is held in honor in this diocese also with a great and ancient esteem of sanctity; so that we have found also a public vow of the people of Lesa, or an old custom, of visiting his tomb at Sion with a sacred offering; and likewise the vow of many peoples of celebrating the day of his feast, which is the XVI of August; although for Theodulus most say Theodore.
[16] And he was present at the council of Aquileia and subscribed in the time of St. Ambrose, that the first is celebrated today, although certain codices likewise have Theodore for Theodulus. And it is credible that this is he whose name we read written in the letter of St. Ambrose to Siricius: for although I remember to have said elsewhere that it did not seem likely that a Gallic and Transalpine bishop belonged to the Ambrosian province, yet now I think otherwise: for I see that there was formerly a frequent intercourse of this church and people of Sion with the Cisalpines. Nor is the journey thither difficult by the mountain called Cepio, of which more will be said afterwards; especially since I see that the bishop of Chur also came to the synodal actions at Milan, as is read in the letter of Eusebius the archbishop mentioned a little before. Theodulus is likewise invoked against hail; and certain little fragments of the metal of the bell are given in the cathedral church of Sion, that, being poured into other bells, the evil of hail may by their sound be averted through the merits of the holy Bishop: therefore a bell is wont to be painted at the feet of his image, and besides a prostrate devil also. The learned reader here sees that the most illustrious Charles, bishop of Novara, attributes to the first St. Theodore or Theodulus the patronage against hail and the other miracles of the bells, which the tradition of the people of Sion and certain proper Offices ascribe to the other St. Theodulus, who lived in the time of Charlemagne.
[17] Andrew Saussay, in the Supplement to his Gallican Martyrology, on the tenth of the Kalends of April, numbers the same first Theodore among the Saints, whom Saussay places on another day. and adorns him with this encomium: At Sion in Gaul, of St. Theodore, otherwise Theodoric, bishop and confessor, who, a bright light of his age, while he held the episcopal see at Octodurum of the Veragri (which at last was translated to Sion of the Valaisans), came invited — being, that is, one of the proper bishops of Gaul — to the council of Aquileia, which was celebrated at the bidding of Pope Damasus and the emperor Gratian against Palladius and Secundianus, bishops renewing the Arian dogmas; and, being a supporter of St. Ambrose, who there strenuously championed the majesty of the Only-begotten of the eternal Father against the wicked perfidy of these impious men, he subscribed, conspicuous among the sacred chiefs, to the sentence of condemnation which was pronounced against them. Thereafter, returning to his see with triumph, he diligently cultivated the orthodox faith; and when as a good Shepherd he had sustained his flock by word and example, enriched with the interest of grace, he hastened joyfully, from the happy issue of his good warfare, to the crown of justice. Here observe that by Andrew Saussay the same bishop of Sion, or rather of Octodurum, is commemorated on the XXIII day of March, whom the most illustrious Charles of Novara had asserted to be publicly honored on the XVI day of August.
[18] Cratepolius seems to have known only one, But Peter Cratepolius the Minorite seems to have known only the second St. Theodore or Theodulus, and in his little work on the Saints of Germany, at page 139 in our copy, praises him under the name of Theodoric thus: St. Theodoric, first bishop of Sion, was adorned by God with very many gifts and virtues: for by his teaching and piety he brought the Valaisans to the knowledge of Christ. Wherefore, on account of his very many virtues, being ordained prelate of that place,
he was ordained. He lived in the year of the Lord 550. In his memory Charlemagne adorned the church of Sion with many gifts and privileges. I do not wish here laboriously to refute the anachronism and the other errors which occur in this little eulogy: for if that St. Theodore or Theodoric flourished in the year of the Lord 550, how can he be called the first bishop of Sion, and be said by his teaching to have brought the Valaisans to the knowledge of Christ, since the Valaisans had long before these times another Theodore and other prelates, as evidently appears from what has been and will be said?
[19] although others distinguish Nevertheless Philip Ferrarius, in his General Catalogue of the Saints at the XXIII day of March, has blindly followed Cratepolius, and calls this St. Theodoric the first bishop of the city of Sion, and asserts that he flourished about the year of Christ 550; but in his notes to his announcement he prudently warns the reader in these words: It must be seen whether he is the same as the Theodulus of whom we shall treat on the XVI day of August: for writers, naming Saints variously, often mislead. Then on the XVI day of August in the same catalogue he announces the feast of St. Theodulus, bishop of Sion, and in his notes assigns the documents pertaining to this Saint thus: From the records of the church of Sion and of Aosta. Concerning him Sebastian Munster, book 3 of his Cosmography, where he writes that Charlemagne gave the prefecture of the Seduni to St. Theodulus the bishop and to his successors. He flourished under king Clovis about the year 487. Concerning the same the church of Chur on this day. In this chronological system of Ferrarius neither of his announcements can suit either the first Theodore, who subscribed to the council of Aquileia, or the other Theodore, who is said to have promoted the foundation of the monastery of St. Maurice. Yet I suspect that Ferrarius in both his announcements meant to designate Theodore or Theodulus the second, although he erred in the chronology.
[20] Receive, then, in few words a more exact distinction of both these Theodores from Josias Simler, two bishops of the same name and see, who in book 1 on the Valais, at folio 25 in our copy, thus reviews certain prelates of Sion or Octodurum: The bishopric of Sion is one of the most ancient in all Gaul. Sigebert in his Chronicle relates that in the year of the Lord 511 Florentinus, bishop of Sion, suffered death for Christ. Again, in the consecration of the monastery of Agaunum, which has its name from St. Maurice the martyr, mention is made of Theodore, bishop of Sion; and this monastery was built by Sigismund, king of the Burgundians, about the year of the Lord 505. But in the council of Epaon, which was celebrated about the year of the Lord 510 under the same king Sigismund, mention is made of Constantius of Octodurum, that is, bishop of the Valais; and in the fifth council of Orleans about the year of the Lord 546, under Childebert king of the Franks, Rufus, bishop of the Valaisans of Octodurum, was present. And long before these times Theodore, bishop of Octodurum, was present at the council of Aquileia about the year of Christ 385: for it was celebrated in the time of the emperor Gratian and Pope Damasus, in the consulship of Syagrius and Eucherius. Francis Guillimann also, in his work On the Affairs of the Helvetians, book 4, chapter 3, accurately distinguishes both these Theodores, bishops of Sion or of Octodurum.
[21] But now the question is whether to these two prelates of the same name and see a third Theodore or Theodulus is to be added, to whom some add a third, who governed the church of Sion in the time of the emperor Charlemagne. The most illustrious bishop of Saluzzo, Henry Murer the Carthusian, the tradition of the Valaisans, the Breviaries, and the Acts such as they are, commemorate this third Theodore or Theodulus, and distinguish him from the two others preceding. To this tradition Sebastian Munster seems to assent, when in book 3 of his Universal Cosmography, at page 365 in our copy, he writes thus: The bishop of Sion is prince and lord of the whole Valais, upper and lower, in secular and in spiritual things; and Charlemagne about the year of Christ 805 gave this County and prefecture to the holy man Theodolus, bishop of Sion, and to all his successors. Many other emperors also confirmed and strengthened this donation down to the present day.
[22] Others however think that that opinion arose from this, some being of the contrary opinion, that Charlemagne, in honor of St. Theodore or Theodulus, formerly bishop of Octodurum, whose memory was then famous for sanctity, granted this prerogative to a certain bishop of Sion of his own time. Indeed, not rarely do kings and princes in their diplomas give certain possessions or certain privileges to some Saint who has already many centuries before passed to the world above. And these gifts and privileges are understood to be granted to the monastery or church in which that Saint is honored or rests. That this was so done here also is the opinion of Henry Pantaleon, who in volume 1 of his Prosopography, at page 200, has this concerning St. Theodore or Theodulus the second: St. Theodore was adorned by God with very many gifts and virtues; for by his teaching and piety he diligently instructed the Valaisans in the true religion of Christ, and taught all to persevere in their calling. And so it came about that, when after Rufus, prelate of Octodurum, the bishopric was translated to Sion by Sigismund, king of the Burgundians, this Theodore, on account of his very many virtues, was ordained the first prelate of that place. Whence also in the foundation of the monastery of St. Maurice this Theodore subscribed with other prelates in the year after Christ 550. And when he had administered this church with great prudence, St. Theodore, who is also commonly called Theodolus, passed from this life into heavenly joy. In memory of this Theodore, Charlemagne afterwards adorned the church of Sion with many gifts and privileges. Whence it came about that some afterwards placed this Theodore as a contemporary of Charles. So he, citing John Stumpf, who in his German Chronicle of Helvetia, book XI, chapter 13, asserts similar things, and moreover in the same place contends that no bishop of Sion by the name of Theodore or Theodulus flourished in the times of Charlemagne.
[23] that he was erroneously added to the other two, This opinion Josias Simler also embraces, whom I cited above, when in book 2 on the Valais, at folio 48 in our copy, he writes thus of the present question: Some relate that the bishop Theodore, whom they commonly name St. Theodolus, lived in the age of Charles, and was presented by him with a sword and with the prefecture of the Valais; and Munster writes that the County and prefecture of the Valais was given in the year 805 by Charlemagne to Theodolus the bishop. But we have shown before that the bishop Theodore, whom they also call Theodulus, lived under Sigismund, king of Burgundy, more than two hundred and fifty years at the least before the reign of Charles. But since Theodore was held by all to be of great sanctity, I would readily grant that King Charles bestowed the vast gifts which he gave to the bishop upon Theodore, who was reckoned among the Saints, and among other things perhaps gave him the prefecture of the Valais. It is however established that the emperors who followed Charles for some centuries retained the prefecture of the bishopric, which at last Frederick Barbarossa gave to Berthold of Zähringen in exchange for the kingdom of Arles.
[24] which opinion in no way derogates from the right of the prelates of Sion, But because of this controversy nothing is taken away from the right of the bishops of Sion to the prefecture of the Valais, which Simler, just cited, acknowledges in another work, On the Commonwealth of the Helvetians, book 2, at page 185 in our copy, in these words: But the prince of the region is the bishop of Sion, who is styled Count and prefect of the Valais. Him the Canons of the college of Sion and the deputies of the seven tithings of the upper Valais choose by common suffrage. And the annals of the Valaisans relate that the emperor Charlemagne, because Theodolus, bishop of Sion, being taught by an angel, had declared to him the remission of some secret offense or other, gave to him and to his successors the County and prefecture of the Valais, and the right of having the sword carried before him as a sign of civil jurisdiction, and likewise granted the other privileges of the princes of the empire. And although there are certain things which render this narrative suspect, of which we have discoursed in our Valais, yet this is certain, that these rights of which we have spoken were afterwards granted and confirmed to the bishops of Sion by other emperors, and namely by the emperor Charles IV, and the same were renewed and enlarged by the emperor Charles V, who gladly gave this to the prayers of Matthew Schiner, bishop and Cardinal, who had deserved excellently well of him.
[25] and which we leave to be discussed further. From what has been related thus far it appears that by the most illustrious Charles of Novara St. Theodore the first, by some St. Theodore the second, and by others finally St. Theodore or Theodulus the third, is celebrated on this day. Some writers ascribe to the catalogue of the Saints only one prelate of Octodurum or of Sion of this name, some two, others three. What if the deeds of these Prelates have been confused? At least Murer, often praised, at page 134 of his Helvetia Sancta, thinks that those things are to be ascribed to St. Theodore the second which are attributed, concerning the relics of the Theban martyrs, to St. Theodore or Theodulus the third. What if the more recent Valaisans erred when they supposed that a certain St. Theodore or Theodulus existed in the time of Charlemagne, and were led into this error because that emperor granted to a certain bishop of Sion of his own age, in honor of St. Theodore the first or the second, the prefecture of the Valais? Certainly princes and other benefactors of churches often say in their diplomas that they confer privileges and possessions upon some Saint, although he has already for many centuries been received into heaven, as we have noted above. You see here on every side intricate knots, to the untying of which we confess ourselves unequal. Wherefore we shall await a clearer solution of this difficulty from the learned inhabitants of the Valais, or from the new editors of Gallia Christiana, who in the work already begun have promised an accurate series of the prelates of Octodurum or of Sion; and meanwhile we shall print such as they are
THE ACTS
By a certain Ruodpertus or Robert, a wandering monk.
From the Legendary of St. Anatolius of Salins in Burgundy, which has been collated with other manuscript codices.
Theodore, bishop among the Helvetians (St.)
BHL Number: 8088
FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.
This holy Prelate is said to have been contemporary with Charlemagne, In the times of Charlemagne, blessed Theodolus a \* dwelt in the land of the Burgundians, where he grew up in so great a conversation among those provincials that he drew upon himself the affection not only of the citizens placed near him, but even of those dwelling far away, so that all held him as it were a father, in whom they saw the state of all perfection to have grown so greatly. Whence it came to pass that, when the prelate of the church of Sion had died, blessed Theodolus was set over the governing of it; that he who had before well and orderly ordered things in his own house might teach the ignorance of the rest, so that he might afterwards honorably manage it in his own. But after he had attained the episcopal height, he relaxed nothing to mere man beyond nature; but he always so willed to rule himself that he might not dare arrogantly to mar the likeness of the image of God. In every work of his devotion he was busy to do this: so to set forth in public the meeting of mercy and truth that on no occasion should the enemies of the contrary part corrupt the kiss of justice and peace. Whence it came about that, as the report ran famously abroad, of the aforesaid most pious lord
Charles had begun to have knowledge of him: and among the other things which the same beloved of the Lord learned were to be done by him, he is related to have been present, at that same king's request, at a certain general council b, where, as the issue of the matter afterwards proved, both those who were then present acknowledged of how great dignity that man was, and left it to be committed to the memory of those to come.
[2] Among other things which were found necessary by the churchmen in that same council, the aforesaid prince (as it is said: The just man is at the beginning the accuser of himself) reverently approached all the bishops with a secret and silent address, who had confessed in general terms a certain hidden sin, and tearfully professed that he had incurred the transgression of a certain capital crime. I profess, said he, that I have committed a great sin; which, since by its very name it is exceedingly to be blamed, is in every way to be execrated in the enormity of the deed. Now therefore apply the comforts of your prayers, and win for yourselves the fruit of my penance, that each one of you, returning to the house of his own church, may offer for me to God the solemnities of Masses; and, that he may raise the hope of my absolution to higher or even more certain things, let him declare expressly here and now how many and of what kind. And they, consenting for God's sake to the satisfaction of so great a prince, some also constrained by the law of imperial severity, promised that they would say thirty or twenty or ten Masses. Then St. Theodolus, as he was ever wont, laying the reverence of humility upon the moderation of his own conscience, promised that he would make supplication for him with the offering of one Mass only. When the voice of this promise was heard, the Emperor and all who were present greatly marveled, believing that he had promised this out of indignation because of ignorance; yet, the compact of his promise being confirmed, they at once returned to their own places.
[3] and to have declared from heaven the kind and the remission of that sin, But the Man of the Lord, coming to Sion, day and night persisting in tears and prayers, ceaselessly took care to implore the help of the divine compassion for the fall of which he was ignorant. The appointed day came, on which the devout surety fulfilled the offering of the Mass. And behold, by an angelic relation he learned in order what and how great was the Emperor's offense: and moreover he obtained by the work of his own dignity that he might be able to absolve the offense of another's presumption, that what is said might be fulfilled: The prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds; and till it come nigh he will not be comforted, and he will not depart, till the Most High behold. Then, when the time was past, the sureties of the Christian faith whom we mentioned before all came together, and reported to the hearing of the royal expectation what they had promised. On hearing these things, the emperor satisfied all with worthy thanksgiving, and inquired more diligently what he must afterwards observe: whom St. Theodolus, leading him aside in secret conference, thus consoled, saying: My lord, ever Augustus, give thanks to almighty God. Such and so great things have I heard from an angel, in which I have learned for certain that thou hast sinned. For the rest, amend: these things are altogether forgiven; for by a spontaneous profession thou hast sought penance, and therefore thou hast deserved to find place for full pardon c.
[4] and to have therefore received from him the prefecture of the Valais. Having received this answer, the Emperor was made glad, and wishing to requite the good will of the excellent Prelate with royal donations and gifts, he granted him the greatest place of favor and familiarity among his friends, and promised that he would comply with him in all the desires of his will. To whom the Bishop said: Give gladly to holy Mary of Sion d the prefecture of the Valaisans, which is situated in our diocese, and have her ever propitious with God, and God with her. It is burdensome, and altogether contrary to the quiet of ecclesiastical liberty, that they should be vexed with secular exaction who, being devoted to the offices of the altar and of the ministries of God, ought to bear the care of eternal things. But, as often happens among the common people, that which is spiritual is sometimes less weighed. He who is a churchman, if he carries a two-edged sword in his hand, in the carnal sword strikes not by killing but by terrifying; but in the spiritual he lays on, as it were by soothing, the ointment of healing. Of such indeed the Psalmist speaks, saying: The high praises of God shall be in their throats, and two-edged swords in their hands, to execute vengeance upon the nations, rebukes among the peoples. The emperor, straightway consenting to his petition, delivered over the same County to the venerable bishop Theodolus e and to his successors, resting upon perpetual stability; and, as it is said: Many seek the face of the prince; but from the Lord shall proceed the judgment of every man. Many who were present supposed that they would receive much; this man, because he trusted in the Lord, had his judgment taken away. Meanwhile the Man of the Lord, having received the donation of the royal magnificence, returned home, and used, as we have said before, so great an authority of life that he deserved at that time to receive so great an increase of the divine goodness that he not only enjoyed the free choice of a pure conscience, but was also held worthy of no small command in working signs.
[5] St. Gregory of Rome, of blessed memory, the chief author of ecclesiastical discipline, The author, after certain digressions, narrates; the excellent expositor of the most subtle disputation, the sunbeam of inmost contemplation, the rule of the most brilliant erudition, the tablet of divine and human inscription, the organ of the Holy Spirit, the treasury of all goodness, himself also the singular receptacle of sinners, and therefore the memorable spectacle of all ages, describes those who do wonders and mightily work signs as reckoned in the lot of the heavenly virtues; and declares that those who more widely abound in the charity of God and of their neighbor have the rank of their merits among the number of the cherubim. And that which rests upon the reasoning of so great a prelate ought on no occasion whatever to be refuted: for both these things which we have brought forward from St. Gregory's discourse we confess that blessed Theodolus plainly deserved. Where, or when, did he deserve them? There, where he dwelt with himself. Where did he dwell with himself? Truly, where there was nothing at variance in the will of the outward and the inward man, but all was in concord and truly at peace in Christ: there he dwelt with himself in body, with himself in mind, with himself in work. And when did he deserve them? Namely then, when he was zealous to do this, that he might dwell with himself without strife. At that time, at that hour, at that moment, he securely obtained that which he deserved. And if he were not with himself, he could do neither of these things at all. But if he was with himself, was he then alone? And if he were alone, would he profit, or could he do anything? By no means was he alone, and yet he was with himself, and was not. If it was so, what agreement could there be therein? Certainly a great and a true one, and much secure in the abundance of peace. He was with himself by the provident knowledge of his mind; and he was not with himself, being lifted up in divine contemplation. This spiritual and invisible agreement of the two — what shall we call it? A miracle? — was an effective power.
[6] Dearest Brethren, have ears to hear; hear patiently what new thing befell. how the holy Prelate multiplied wine, At a certain time the citizens of the Valaisan parts, constrained by an exceeding scarcity of vintage, began to implore the help of their Prelate, and to ask what he judged should be done about the yearly provision, or what he thought should be done to relieve their want. The venerable man Theodulus, wishing mercifully to satisfy the petition of his people, ordered all the vessels to be prepared after the manner of vintagers, as they are wont; and caused as much as each one had been able to obtain, whether much or little, to be carried into one place; then to be confidently distributed among all the vessels. And he himself, drawing near, taking each cluster in his own hands, blessed it and pressed it into each vessel. Wonderful to tell! So were they filled that they suddenly overflowed to the very brim with an abundance of the best wine, so far that they could scarcely contain within themselves the new liquors of the seething must f. O how wonderful is God in His Saints, to whom Thou not only grantest the quality of merits in the participation of Thine own humility, but — what is greater and more kindly — Thou dost sometimes consent that they work things like to Thine own, and greater. To Thy Peter Thou didst permit to do greater things than Thou; but to Theodolus Thou didst not mercifully deny the like. The flux of an infirm body Thou didst heal by the touch of Thy garment's hem; but, what is greater, Thou didst grant that the shadow of Thy Peter should be a medicine to many sick. What wonders Thou didst in the breaking of the five loaves, the Evangelist testifies. What Thy Theodolus did in the multiplication of new wine, the present age confesses. Elijah by the increase of a little oil relieved the need of the widow; the wine which was lacking Theodolus increased at the petition of the Valaisan citizens.
[7] which miracle he strives to adorn with an inept digression, All these things, O Lord, are like to the wonders which Thou hast done, and therefore wonderful; and because wonderful, therefore exceedingly magnificent. Thou art in Thyself great and immeasurable. Great in heaven, great on earth, great in creating all things, great in governing them: the heaven, the earth, the sea, the elements, and all the rest of these things whose being is through Thee, great and wondrous in themselves; yet unless created by Thee they had been utterly unknown. But since they are created and reasonably furnished, therefore they are wonderful and praiseworthy, and without comparison mighty works. Out of these wonders, Lord, and mighty works, Thou didst bring forth Theodolus into public, whom until then Thou hadst kept hidden in the secret of Thy light. Fashioned thence, he was a burning lamp, because he proceeded from the light. Let us see, if he was light in himself, not from himself, how or when he shone. He shone in his words, he shone in his deeds, he shone in his conscience, he shone in the perfected providence of living well. How he shone we have heard; when he shone let us nonetheless consider. When, as we said before, he was with himself, because he knew something beyond others which was wholly hidden from them. Was this spiritual or carnal? If it was spiritual only, and not carnal, why did those who were then spiritual not know it? If it was carnal and not spiritual, how was it hidden from those who were then carnal? But it was both, both spiritual and carnal; and because it was both, therefore he alone knew it. And how so? There were two lives, which were prefigured in the condition of the widowed g sisters. One of these Theodolus bore, as it were, behind his back, when he displayed outwardly the good part of Martha; the other he carried as it were in his bosom, when in all things he preferred the best part of Mary. Because he was in the midst between these two, he found what was hidden. That something was hidden we know; let us see how he found it.
[8] and how, taught by a divine revelation, While Diocletian and Maximian held the principate of the Roman commonwealth, among the many whom the fury of their tyranny took away, the blessed Theban legion was slain to the world by the sentence of their sword h. In that tract where the boundary of the Valaisan fields meets, the river Rhone flows past the castle of Octodurum on the right side with exceeding swiftness, which, entering there by the narrow ways of the Alps, struggles at the place whose name is Agaunum with the barrier of vast rocks; yet, being superior in the onset of its own flood, it presently glides on unhindered. In the position of that element, which subsides and gives way, there is a level plain, where the contest of the aforesaid legion is recorded to have been accomplished: where, while for the revolutions of many years their bodies lay unburied, the constant
plundering of beasts and birds gnawed them, and, eaten away by the washing of the running Rhone, they had almost lost, save for their fame, whatever of earth they had in themselves. What in them was spiritual lived established in God; but what was carnal remained hidden beneath the earth.
[9] O precious Prelate Theodolus, thou didst find both of these. Say, he laid the relics of the Theban Martyrs in an honorable place. whence couldst thou know? Boldly I say: beneath the altar of God thou didst see them in contemplation, and therefore upon the earth thou didst seek them in action. So great and such wast thou, that thou didst seek upon earth that very thing which thou hadst before seen in heaven. And since thou didst there without doubt see them, therefore here thou didst patiently find them. Assuredly, if thou hadst not true charity, thou wouldst not have found them here, nor ever have seen them there. But because thou hadst holy love, therefore thou wast able to do both. And when thou hadst found what thou soughtest, what didst thou? Good wast thou thyself, well and laudably didst thou act; thou didst honorably prepare the place of their dwelling, and didst command their bones to rest in peace i. O second Tobias of a new conversion! How well didst thou direct thy ways with the angel! Both of you gave burial to the slain. But what didst thou thence deserve? This assuredly, which is read to have been said of them: But the just shall live for evermore, and their reward is with the Lord, and the care of them with the Most High. From just Abel down to us an infinite gathering of the just has grown. With them ye labored in the vineyard until evening; truly and without doubt with them ye shall receive the rewards also. O holy souls of the Thebans, tell your martyrdom; and how did ye requite Theodolus? Assuredly ye rendered to him even as ye had received from him. By the help of his merits yours shone forth greatly; but yours were a help to him, and both attained to victory. He prepared a place for you at Agaunum, you for him at Sion. Among the Valaisans Theodolus is held illustrious; the glory of your triumph holds the chief place above all among the Agaunensians. Ye hold places nearest to one another among your monuments. In the paradise of your God ye shall together bear crowns of white lilies. Rejoice, ye just, in the Lord, whom praise worthily and truly beseems, who through Him have deserved to have such fellowship in heaven, through whom ye willed to keep the innocence of life on earth.
ANNOTATIONS.
\* Elsewhere Theodorus, and so throughout. \ Elsewhere oblationes*. \ Elsewhere discedit*. \ Elsewhere alteritate*. \ Elsewhere effectibus*. \ Elsewhere mysteriorum*. \ Elsewhere internorum*. \ Elsewhere Cui*. \ Elsewhere relatione*. \ Elsewhere vero*. \ Elsewhere humanitatis*. \ Elsewhere momenta*.