ON ST. CALMINIUS, CONFESSOR, DUKE OF AQUITAINE,
AT MOZAC IN AUVERGNE,
Seventh Century.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Calminius, confessor, Duke of Aquitaine, at Mozac in Auvergne (St.)
BHL Number: 1527
BY G. C.
§ I. His cult and Acts.
This St. Calminius (in others Calmelius), plainly unknown to all our received Martyrologies and manuscripts, The memory of this Saint is kept we owe to the Reverend Father Thomas Aquinas of St. Joseph, Discalced Carmelite, in his French history of his Life, published at Tulle in Velay in the year 1646, where he also reports a Latin original received from the monastery of Mozac or Mausiacum in Auvergne, which namely the Saint founded and where he ended a most illustrious life, and where he was buried and honored, most renowned for many signs and miracles; whom I cannot sufficiently wonder to have been neglected by Mabillon, since, treating of the benefits he conferred on his Order, both in the Acts and in the Annals, he everywhere abstains from the title of saint: but the fairer Menard celebrates him with St. Eudo in his Benedictine Martyrology, page 754, giving both deservedly the title of sanctity, as Saussay also honors him, however wrongly he may pull him apart into several persons. More distinctly Castellanus in his Universal Martyrology announces him thus: In Auvergne, of St. Calminius (in French Carmery), duke of Aquitaine, founder of the abbeys of Mozac in Auvergne and of St. Chaffre in Velay, whose body is honored at Mozac with the body of St. Austremonius.
[2] in Saussay's Gallican Martyrology, Let us now hear the eulogy of Saussay, reported at the XXII of November under the name Calmelius: On the same day, in Auvergne, of St. Calmelius, confessor, who, renowned in nobility, powerful in wealth, and distinguished in piety, having laid aside the belt of warfare, began his renunciation of the world and his service of Christ, to whom he had devoted himself, with the pilgrimage which he made to the thresholds of SS. Peter and Paul, the Apostles. In whose honor, in the region of Velay at the foot of Mount Mézenc, in the territory of Le Puy, he built a monastery, where, some companions being joined to him, he followed a strict manner of life under the guidance of St. Eudo, whom he had asked from St. Maximus of Lérins and had received as ruler of himself and his followers: who, governing the monastery with the greatest religion, brought his charges to the observance of the perfect life. For the rest, Calmelius, in order to spread the holy institute in which he had been imbued by so excellent a teacher, built a new monastery in inner Auvergne, where, his life being most holily accomplished, he obtained from the just Lord the well-earned reward of his zeal and untiring labor undertaken for the honor of Christ and for the winning of souls.
[3] Nor indeed must that be neglected which we said stands in Menard in the place cited, and in Menard's Benedictine Martyrology, from which only those things will be transcribed which concern St. Calminius. There, treating of St. Eudo, he has this: About the year six hundred and later, St. Calminius or Calmelius, Duke of the Arvernians, having laid aside the belt of warfare, built in memory of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul a monastery in the region of Velay, which is the territory of Le Puy, at the foot of the lofty Mount Mézenc, from which the river Loire pours forth, which from the name of Calmelius is called Calmeliacense, and from Mount Mézenc in the vernacular Monestier. There for some years St. Calmelius, with some companions joined to him, followed a strict manner of life: then he came to Rome to the thresholds of the Apostles. On the journey itself he lodged at the monastery of Lérins, and asked monks from the abbot of Lérins himself: and the abbot, complying with his wishes, handed over to him a certain number of monks, over whom he set as abbot St. Eudo, a monk of exceptional piety. St. Calmelius, his pilgrimage completed and his vows duly discharged, returns into Auvergne, bringing that holy colony of monks of Lérins with abbot Eudo into the monastery founded by himself. But he himself withdrew into inner Auvergne, and there, a new monastery being built, his life being most holily accomplished, he met a happy death.
[4] But what we have already said above from Castellanus, that St. Calminius's body is honored at Mozac, where he is not confounded with another is to be understood in this sense, that it remained there, where it was first deposited, for some centuries, until at the pious entreaty of the said monks of Calmeliacum about the half of it was granted to those also, the chief venerators of St. Calminius, at St. Chaffre near Aquina in Velay, inasmuch as, as you have already heard, he was also the founder of that place; not another man different from him, under the name of Calmelius, whence also the appellation Calmeliacum was indeed derived, as we readily
acknowledge; but the Saint is not on that ground to be doubled, as some contend, as is manifest from the eulogies already given, and as the aforesaid Aquinas otherwise shows and proves by many arguments in chapter 1 of his French Life; clearing away accurately by the same labor and with his accustomed diligence, in his Latin annotations also, the other matters which from various heads might have seemed rather obscure — as we shall not neglect to indicate in their places.
[5] Meanwhile, to confirm the immemorial cult of this Saint, we shall transcribe a metrical eulogy and a hymn with a prayer, and from an old metrical eulogy, all of which the aforesaid editor of the Acts published from a manuscript Sanctoral, whose date will be indicated below, in this manner:
O Christ, the excellent glory of thy Saints, By whom they were made, through whom they are glorified, On this day thou grantest holy Calminius to climb to heaven. Receive now through him the voices and vows of thine own; Give the gifts that profit, and take away all that harms. The bravest Soldier of the boundless King, while he prevailed By the arms of faith, shone forth with a twofold splendor. Holy Calminius, sprung of illustrious birth, Sought in the goods of the world the rewards of Christ; While he scattered them, he kept them to be multiplied. He was rest to the weary, and a harbor to pilgrims; At last the Saint, intent upon unceasing prayers, And likewise giving his labor to many honorable works, Enjoyed this world, so as not to enjoy it. While the true friend of Christ seeks to be made the highest Out of a servant, going forth he forsakes all things Of the world, and attends to himself, as is fitting. The glory of the world is despised, the heavenly is loved; And as much as perishing things grow loathsome, so much Do eternal things grow sweet, and true joys please. A man acting prudently, and faithfully cleaving to the Lord, Calminius, his present task duly accomplished, At length by right attained the everlasting prize, Which now, secure and happy, he possesses through the ages: By whom we believe we are unburdened of our heavy load — May he himself make us blessed in the heavenly kingdom. O Calminius, now made the highest friend of Christ, Wretched though we are, yet look upon us as your own servants, Supply whatever is wanting, and take away all that is superfluous, And after these things make us enter the country above.
[6] and by a hymn with a prayer his cult is proved. To this eulogy there is subjoined in the same place the following hymn with a collect or prayer:
O Christ, sun of the true light, And guide of the true path, Who hast hallowed this day By the passing of holy Calminius:
Through him now bestow Upon this family the gifts of grace, That by good manners it may Cleave to thee more firmly.
For he, thy exceeding great Grace assisting him, Gave examples of life To very many of his neighbors.
All earthly advantages He despised as most worthless, Gaining thereby the greatest Rewards of the eternal kingdom.
At the time of this day, His body left to earth, He passed to the heavenly places, Having gained true glory.
Now, even now, stretch out to us Through him the hand of thy clemency, Wash away our sins, And bestow the light of grace.
Praise be to the Father with the Son And with the Holy Paraclete together, Who, a simple Trinity, May visit us again with his grace. Amen.
Lastly there follows this prayer: May the votive solemnity of blessed Calminius, thy confessor, gladden thy Church, O Lord, that she may ever be fortified with spiritual helps and may deserve to enjoy eternal joys. Through our Lord, etc. These things being adduced for his public cult, let us proceed to the Acts.
[7] Besides the longer Acts The Latin Life itself, from which the French flowed, was received from an old manuscript which was in the monastery of Mozac, where without doubt it exists to this day, divided into sixteen chapters, which, transcribed thence, we shall presently set forth, after prefixing a shorter summary, of which the aforesaid Aquinas observes thus: The deeds of Calminius which Bernard Gui, bishop of Lodève, records in a work hitherto unpublished, to be cited below, were, in our judgment, no other than that Life which we set forth from the manuscript Sanctoral of the church of the town of Aquina; for Bernard writes that those deeds are had in part; and that Life in that Sanctoral is not complete, as you will see, and so is had only in part. Further, he most certainly confirms that the Calminius of Mozac and the Calminius of Aquina are one and the same, from the manuscript Sanctoral of the church of the town of Aquina in the diocese of Tulle; which Sanctoral, as stands at the end of it, was completed by the hand of Dom Michael de Somnis of the place of Aquina, on the last day of the month of November in the year of the Lord 1464.
[8] Here is the summary itself: Chapter 1. St. Calminius therefore, sprung of illustrious birth in nobility, there exists a mutilated summary of the Life, in a manner doubled his high birth, since from the very rudiments almost of his infancy he burned in every way for the love of his Creator, as he afterwards sufficiently declared. Chapter II: Then in the time of the emperor Justinian, by decree of the whole senate, seventy prefects (as is reported) were chosen and appointed, who should both preside over each of the several provinces and, relieving the exceedingly heavy and unbearable burden of one man, should vigorously answer the imperial commands. Chapter III: Of which princes indeed one was he of whom we go on to speak, blessed Calminius, who received the province of Aquitaine to be governed by his own rule; in the governance of which princedom the holy Man so regulated himself with discretion that he used this world in such a way as not to displease God.
[9] Chapter IV: His activity was always busy for the poor and for pilgrims, which we here set forth. exercising by good works the temporal office which, as a faithful servant, he had undertaken to administer on earth — gaining thereby, that is, that he might find spiritual delights in heaven. Chapter V. He was likewise so intent upon relieving clerics and all who devoutly served God, and also upon rebuilding ancient churches, that he did not omit anxiously to press on with the building of new churches and monasteries. Chapter VI. Among which notable pursuits of piety and mercy, and also exercises of good work, he determined to build at his own expense on the site of a certain estate of his a certain monastery of St. Theofredus. Further, we shall reprint the longer Acts of our Saint after this Preliminary Commentary, when we shall first have investigated the age both of him and of his biographer.
§ II. The age of the Saint and of his biographer investigated.
Against others Le Cointe, in the Annals of the Franks at the year 681, number 71 and following, discourses at length about the age and deeds of St. Calminius. That time seems to be gathered from the origin of the monastery of Tulle, which our Saint is said to have founded, and about whose beginning Étienne Baluze in the History of Tulle, book 1, page 3, reviews various opinions in these words: It is difficult, however, to determine with certainty the time at which the monastic life was first introduced into this place. For I cannot approve the invention of certain more recent writers, and those not long since dead, who, without any testimonies of the ancients, without any authority or probable conjecture, lately wrote that the beginnings of the monastery of Tulle must be referred to the divine Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, whom for that cause, by the decree of some council, they will have to have come to Tulle and there established twelve monks devoted to the rule of St. Martin. They add that Martin himself also was afterwards sent by Hilary; by whom, when the monks of Tulle had been sufficiently imbued with monastic discipline and had received an abbot from him, he returned to his own people, and then was made bishop of Tours. On the contrary Odolric, abbot of St. Martial, in the council of Limoges held in the year 1031, said that the monastery of Tulle was founded in the times of Charles Augustus, that is, as I interpret it, of that Charles to whom, on account of the greatness of his deeds, the surname of the Great adhered. The authors of the former opinion attribute too ancient an origin to this place, Odolric too recent a one. I judge that a middle way must be held.
[11] with Baluze Then the most learned Baluze in the same place, page 4, sets forth and proves his opinion in this manner: Adhemar, viscount of Escalles and lay abbot of that abbey of Tulle, in his testament, which he drew up about the year of Christ nine hundred and thirty, testifies that it was hereditary in his family, and had come to him by right of succession from the times of his great-great-grandfather. "First of all, therefore," he says, "I leave and restore to St. Martin and to the monks serving him in the aforesaid monastery the old abbey, which, as has already been said, had come down to me from my father's great-grandfather." But indeed, if we reckon the times well, since it is established that Adhemar had power in this place at the end of the ninth century, the age of his great-great-grandfather seems to be referred to that period in which benefices of this kind were granted to magnates for the expenses of war, that is, to the age of Charles surnamed Martel, prince of the Franks. And he doubtless gave rich and opulent abbeys. Otherwise those gifts, as useless, would have been rejected by those to whom they were granted. Already at that time, therefore, the monastery of Tulle had goods which would excite envy. From which it may not absurdly be gathered that it was already then ancient, and had been founded at least in the seventh century of Christ.
[12] and Mabillon we think that this Saint flourished in the seventh century, Mabillon, in the Benedictine Annals at the year of Christ 681, number 16 and following, timidly follows this probable chronology of Baluze; but in volume 4 of the same Annals, page 858, among the addenda and corrigenda, he entirely approves it, as Baluze himself reports in the same place, thus continuing his discourse above: This opinion of mine, which was mere conjecture, I afterwards saw asserted by my excellent and most learned friend, the great Jean Mabillon, who at the end of volume four of the Annals of the Order of St. Benedict, page 852, notes that my view is favored by an old inscription set upon the copper reliquary of St. Calminius in the monastery of Mozac, in which St. Calminius is called the founder of three monasteries, namely of Mozac, of Calmeliacum, and of Tulle. For "it is established," says Mabillon, "that Calminius flourished in the seventh century." Meanwhile this must be noted in this place, that those lay abbots were leading men in the commonwealth, to whom, according to the custom or rather the abuse of those times, the wealthier abbeys were given in benefice — that is, to use this word ourselves, were enfeoffed — and that they were on that account bound to render to princes the services which were owed by them from the use of benefices or fiefs, and were called Abbacomites, and their dignity Abbacomitatus. We have embraced this same opinion of Baluze, and therefore have affixed the age of St. Calminius to the seventh century.
[13] But we do not know in what century his Acts were first written, although we do not know for certain, since the Reverend Father Thomas Aquinas gathers that an older biographer went before his own more recent one from the following words of the prologue: We shall pursue in a clear and faithful narrative what the truth of the ancients has handed down to us concerning him. Hence the aforesaid Father Thomas, in his notes on the first chapter of the later Life published by him, number 3, observes this: Hence it appears that there once existed a Life of blessed Calminius older than this one, from which our author promises that he will clearly and faithfully pursue the deeds of Calminius; which that he did, there is no reason to doubt, although we may not doubt either that he
added some things out of his own judgment, and namely that power which he attributes to the emperor Justinian over the Gauls, on the occasion of which he writes that he granted Calminius as Duke to the Aquitanians at their request; which arose from ignorance of the history of those times, concerning which one may see what was written by us in chapter four of the preceding history.
[14] But since the later writer of the Life says in the same prologue that this his lucubration on St. Calminius is demanded both by the happy presence of his body and by the power of his patronage, often proved and experienced by us, at what time and in the last chapter narrates the things which happened under Louis the Fat, king of the Franks, the oft-named Carmelite editor of the Acts, in his notes on the first chapter, number 2, thus sets forth a probable conjecture about the profession and age of that biographer: From those words we seem not without reason to gather that the author of this history, whose name is unknown to us, was an ascetic of the monastery of Mozac, and dwelt in that monastery; and we scarcely doubt that he lived at the time when there happened the things which are narrated in the sixteenth and last chapter about the coffin in which the body of blessed Calminius was contained being broken open by the soldiers of Louis the Sixth, king of the Franks, concerning which careful inquiry was made in the Life written by us in French. For the rest, when he mentions the presence of the body and of the most sacred relics, it must be gathered from that that not the whole body of Calminius was carried off to the church of the town of Aquina, but a good part of it, which in possessions of this kind is well known to the learned to be commonly taken for the whole body; whence also it is not unusual that two churches glory in the possession of the body of one saint.
[15] Afterwards, however, the Reverend Father Thomas Aquinas of St. Joseph calls this second part of his conjecture into doubt, his Life was committed to writing. and on the last chapter of the Life presently to be reprinted notes the following: Whether that chapter, or that last lesson, is a part of the Life of Calminius which we publish, or rather an appendix added to it by some later writer, is uncertain, although we incline rather to the latter than to the former, and scarcely doubt that the author of the Life was earlier in date than King Louis, of whom the question here is, and whom in the Life written in French we have shown to be Louis VI, surnamed the Fat, son of Philip I; with whom he was either contemporary, or at least nearly so, by whom the things recited in the sixteenth lesson were committed to writing. For the rest, the twofold warlike expedition which Louis VI undertook against William IV, count of Auvergne, at the entreaty of Stephen, bishop of Auvergne, Suger, abbot of St. Denis, described in the Life of that king, and summarily the Sainte-Marthe brothers in book VI of the Genealogical History in the eulogy of Louis VI, by whom it is assigned to the year 1126; which must be understood of the first expedition, in which we do not doubt that the things here narrated occurred. Now there remain to us only the Acts of St. Calminius to be published, which we shall try to illustrate with the customary annotations.
THE LIFE
By an anonymous author,
Which the Reverend Father Thomas Aquinas of St. Joseph, Discalced Carmelite, published from an old manuscript codex of Mozac.
Calminius, confessor, Duke of Aquitaine, at Mozac in Auvergne (St.)
BHL Number: 1526
BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR.
With a sufficiently splendid opening The illustrious confession of the Saints, through which they obtained justice in the present life and everlasting happiness after death, is both to be embraced intimately with unfeigned faith and to be proclaimed faithfully with a sincere narrative; a faithful account marvellously exalts the titles of divine works, and pious devotion toward the Saints begets edification and forms holiness of mind. We owe generally to all the Saints these two things, namely that we show an affection of devotion toward their merits, and toward their actions both a zeal for relating them and an affection of holy imitation; all which the happy presence of his body and the power of his patronage, often proved and experienced by us a, require us to owe especially to the most blessed confessor Calminius: we shall set forth with full faith the course of his manner of life, which, even if the signs of miracles do not so openly irradiate it, the piety of his divine actions nevertheless effectually illumines: we shall pursue in a clear and faithful narrative what the truth of the ancients b has handed down to us concerning him, so that both the service of veneration may not be lacking to the most sacred relics in their veneration, and an example of sobriety and grace may be set before all who shall hear.
[2] the Saint's nobility is extolled, The venerable confessor of the Lord Calminius, who was to be a mirror of sanctity to the whole world, and, as it were, a splendid star of virtue and of justice, came forth from the light of Roman brightness, sprung of Roman c and illustrious parents, and shone with the purity of his birth; so that, drawing the origin of his nobility from the senatorial order, he might follow in holy manners and express in himself the senatorial dignity, and from his earliest years he is handed over to Christian discipline. As had been the custom of noble boys, he was excellently instructed in the knowledge of liberal letters, and effectually enough trained; and not by accident from his parents' wish, but truly by divine will he received the name of Calminius, so that from the presage of his name it might clearly shine forth how greatly the warmth d of a spiritual gift would afterwards animate him to the exercise of works of piety.
[3] and likewise his education; Calminius, who was to be a vessel and temple of the Holy Spirit, both by the meaning of his name and by the truth of his work displayed the native quality of the heavenly grace of which he had already been made partaker; the learning of letters adorned in him the elegance of his manners, on which you might manfully set the structure of works, and prepared the dwelling of a devout breast for the Holy Spirit. He had grown up in prudence as well as in age, and, escaping the fears \* of a happy boyhood, had grown, grace advancing, into the fullest strength of youth. Receiving by hereditary succession the purity of his patrimonial nobility and of his faith, he obtained also, in the course of his growing age, an abundance of temporal goods; and the numerous household, the store of riches, the extent of estates, and the rest which had come to him by right of his patrimonial succession, the honorable youth liberally dispensed for divine rather than for his own uses.
[4] The emperor Justinian e at that time ruled the breadth of the Roman empire, then his attained dignity, a man illustrious indeed in faith, and not slightly powerful both in eloquence and in arms, recognizing himself the minister of justice; and, setting forth the imperial laws for the having of the science or teaching of right, and proposing them to be kept for the advantage of his subjects, he walked with unshaken foot of deed along the path of rectitude; it settled in his mind and pleased his power that he should set seventy men chosen from all over the Roman commonwealth, who, having with their office the name of Senators, should both faithfully handle the business of the whole world and conclude it with an end friendly to justice; Calminius was chosen among them, and was inserted into the senatorial order first by the providence of God, but by the industry of the prudent emperor. In which rank of dignity he bore himself so worthily and prudently that, honorable and finding praise without envy, he obtained in special measure both the favor of the people and the grace of the prince.
[5] The man of the Lord Calminius, made a senator by the emperor's goodwill, or the Dukedom of Aquitaine aided the commonwealth of the city of Rome by counsel, guarded it by his authority, and diligently increased it by his efforts; there was in that same man an inflexible rigor of justice, an unimpaired liveliness of prudence, and such an abounding power of eloquence that he was held potent and effectual to persuade what he willed: by the general judgment of all he was worthy to govern with princely skill even the greatest provinces and the breadth of neighboring regions. It happened that Aquitaine was deprived of a Duke, which among other Cisalpine regions had been more subject to Roman rule. Envoys of the Aquitanians, brought to Rome, entreat with suppliant voice that a suitable Duke be appointed for them, who might both rule by counsel and guard by the prudence of his valor the extent of that land. By the emperor's f decision and by the acclamation of the whole people, Calminius, already a senator, is chosen for the dukedom; and, being designated prince, he is appointed by the authority of the Roman empire to the government of all Aquitaine.
[6] Having taken up the fasces of the power he had received, the distinguished man Calminius, coming to Aquitaine, which he administers most holily. fulfilled the providence of a Duke for the province subject to him: merciful and at once just, he tempered the rigor of justice with the relaxation of his clemency: he had compassion from his heart on the afflicted, and, wholly assisting those in trouble, he relieved the calamity of the wretched with his consolations; the most clement father of orphans, the most kindly consoler of widows, he followed pure and undefiled religion according to the apostolic precept: in no way setting his heart upon perishing riches, he was not proudly wise as a rich man, but, reckoning himself poor and needy, he consented to the lowly and bore himself humbly, nor did he hope in the uncertainty of riches, but had prepared his heart to hope in the Lord, who gives to all abundantly and upbraids not: he did not keep riches as their slave, but as their master liberally dispensed them, and, scattering to the poor what he had, deserved to obtain the praise of heavenly justice.
[7] While in the office of the dukedom the distinguished man Calminius bore himself honorably, Having built the monastery of St. Theofredus and, bestowing on the poor what was his own, showed himself merciful, a divine thought came upon his mind, that he should liberally spend the remainder of his treasure on the work of God: he determined within himself to build at his own expense churches to be dedicated, where he might furnish from his own revenues the stipends of daily food to those serving God; animated by the divine Spirit, blessed Calminius built from the foundation, in the bishopric of Le Puy, the place which is called St. Theofredus g, and by the accomplishment of the work marvellously completed it; which place the man devoted to the Lord adorned with goods and revenues, and heaped upon that church and its dwelling stipends sufficient for their sustenance; he set up the place, enlarged the revenues, and, bestowing with true liberality ornaments befitting a monastery, rendered the aforesaid place complete and perfect. And that this place might obtain both the memory of his work and a share also in his name, he called that monastery Calminiacum h, so that what he had founded by his own industry and perfected by his own labor might offer to the posterity of those who came after a memorial of his name.
[8] he founds another at Mozac, The man of the Lord Calminius added to a good work a greater one, that he who had shone great in a lesser matter might appear more glorious in a greater; with that piety of mind with which he had built that first monastery of St. Theofredus, in the place which is called Mozac i he built a royal monastery, in which, composing and gathering together the unity of the brethren serving God, he provided them with necessaries and furnished them victuals out of that abundance in which the man of God Calminius abounded; establishing the splendor of the aforesaid monastery, he enriched it with ornaments and with goods to sufficiency, and rendered that place famous also with farms and estates; and thus the holy Man, loving the beauty of the house of God, made by his bounties the place of the dwelling of his glory glorious: he went not after gold, nor hoped in treasures of money, but, distributing to good uses the riches received from God, the bestower of all good things — for the adornment of the Church and the support of the Saints — he spent them with equal devotion, providing for his own salvation; and with a like affection he both cared for the churches and displayed providence for the needy, so that, plainly showing in the one the love of God and in the other the love of neighbor, he might possess in full the fullness of the divine law, which is in charity.
[9] for which he provides sacred relics He had built the monastery of Mozac from the foundation
and had carried through with marvellous accomplishment of work all that pertained to the worship of the church, when a solicitude smote his pious mind, that he should enrich within, and mark with greater magnificence, a place built up with buildings and established with revenues, by the relics of Saints gathered from every side; his counsel was that he should seek the city of Rome, approach the presence of the Roman Pontiff, and, humbly asking and obtaining from him the patronage of the Saints, should furnish with heavenly gifts a place already outwardly completed.
[10] which he himself, going to Rome, According to the deliberated desire of his mind, Calminius, having set out on the journey, sought Rome, and presented himself in the sight of Pope John k of happy memory, who at that time presided over the universal Church as Pastor. To the Prelate, inquiring the cause of his journey, he makes it known; he sets forth the affection of his desire, and the man of all activity and grace confesses that he has come for the sake of obtaining memorials of the Martyrs; he recalls that he has founded a certain church, which he would have consecrated in honor of the Prince of the Apostles, if by the indulgence of the Roman Pope something of the Apostolic pledges should be liberally bestowed upon him; that this was the end of his desire, that the church of Mozac, built by his own effort, might possess the tokens of the relics of blessed Peter, whose honor it bore in its name, for the reality of his suffrage.
[11] obtains from the supreme Pontiff The Roman Pontiff, moved by the honorable request of the Man of God, kindly bestowed on blessed Calminius the pledges of the Saints which he had asked. He gave him in the first place relics of St. Peter, namely of his jaw, together with the patronage of the other Martyrs, out of devotion and love for whom alike he had expended so much labor and accomplished so long a journey. Having received the relics of the Saints, the Man of the Lord, and having obtained the Apostolic blessing, going out from Rome with alacrity and joy, hastened his return to his own people. The excellent traveller had crossed the ridges of the Alps, and with his heavenly treasure which he was carrying with him, the Lord prospering his journey, had reached the city of Agen: he hears from the inhabitants of that place that blessed Caprasius l the martyr had both earned the palm of martyrdom in that same city and received the honor of burial there.
[12] With that fervor of heavenly desire with which he glowed to the marrow, as also others on his return; he longs with his whole spirit and prays God more ardently that he would grant him the desired opportunity of obtaining relics of the aforesaid Martyr. He goes humbly to those under whose keeping or protection the body of blessed Caprasius was held; he sets forth to them the measure of his desire, and reverently begs and prays that they may bestow on him some memorial of the sacred clay of the aforesaid body. Overcome by the authority and the prayers of the petitioner, they satisfy his mind, and, conferring an entire arm of the most sacred Martyr upon Calminius who asked, they send him from their borders wholly cheerful and in every way full of thanksgiving.
[13] Having entered the borders of Auvergne, the confessor of the Lord Calminius made known his arrival to the monastery of Mozac. whence, being received with joy, There is a common joy in God, there is a general exultation among the people, and the hearts of all grow glad in a special manner both for the return of their Patron and for the bringing of the heavenly treasure; the longed-for Man is received with solemn eagerness: a public procession is displayed both for Calminius returning and for the sacred pledges.
[14] The bishop of Clermont, being invited, sets his hand to the consecration of the church that had been established; he enriches the church for them he dedicates the high altar in honor of Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and of blessed Caprasius the martyr, whose consecrated relics, laying up in it, he both conferred a solemn title upon the place of Mozac and established a heavenly patronage for the people who make supplication. The consecration being completed, and the longed-for end of his desire fulfilled by the divine compassion, blessed Calminius, rejoicing in God and giving thanks to the Lord who prospered him, spent the remainder of his life at Mozac in heavenly pursuits; knowing that nothing else remained to him but the crown of justice, and with uplifted affections he implored that he might conclude the present life with a good end.
[15] The devout confessor of the Lord Calminius had completed his days, and holily ends his life, and the desirable time had come in which he was to obtain the reward of his labor and to be rewarded by the Lord with the gift of eternal life. Being touched by sickness, he took to his bed, and, coming to his end, having received the Sacrament of the heavenly viaticum, he gave up into the hands of the Redeemer his spirit, long wearied with holy toils. His venerable body was buried behind the high altar in a wooden casket, in which, resting for very many years, he obtained by his prayers divine benefits for those who sought him.
[16] The blessed Man lay hidden in that humble coffin until the times of Louis, king of the Franks, and his body is honored. who, the son of King Philip m, curbed the insolence of the Gauls with the bridle of his rule. Who, when by the courage of his spirit and by military power he had subdued the enemies set about him, invading violently with a strong hand the Arvernian people who with their accustomed perfidy were rebelling against him, that most valiant besieger first of all took the church of Mozac, which the count of Auvergne had fortified against him. The king's retainers, surveying the captured church with greedy eyes, find behind the altar of blessed Peter the shrine of St. Calminius, reddened with a strong color. Judging that a great deal of earthly money was contained in that coffin, they boldly attack the most sacred shrine, and with sacrilegious daring plunder and break it open. Heavenly vengeance is not lacking, to avenge so monstrous a sacrilege. At that same moment the sacrilegious ravagers, seized by a demon, were so smitten by heavenly vengeance that two of them, falling to the ground before the holy body, after long torment breathed out their spirit, and the rest, their human countenance being assailed, are said to have scarcely survived four days. Thus the divine condescension both plainly disclosed the merit of its Confessor and marvellously, and as was fitting, avenged the insolent daring of the wicked. Now blessed Calminius, confessor of Christ, passed away on the fourteenth Kalends of September, in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
\ perhaps supponens* setting under
\ perhaps metas* bounds