ON ST. FELIX OF PISTOIA, PRIEST AND CONFESSOR,
AT PISTOIA IN ITALY,
not later than the X century.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
His cult; notices; the finding and deposition of his body; the time of his life; miracles.
Felix, priest and confessor, at Pistoia in Italy (St.)
J. P.
Pistorium or Pistoria, a city of Etruria in Italy, commonly Pistoia, situated in the territory of Florence, and suffragan to the archbishop of Florence, His cult, various documents concerning this Saint, honors St. Felix with a public cult on the XXV day of August; on which we indicated among the Passed Over that he is marked in both Catalogues of Ferrari, and deferred him to this XXVI day of the same month, on which he is noted in the Roman Martyrology, which briefly announces him thus: At Pistoia, of saint Felix, priest and confessor. Before we proceed to other matters, it pleases us to premise notice of certain documents which we have concerning this Saint; one of which is a Breviary of his Life, which is marked as printed at Lucca by Giacinto Paci, MDCLXXXIV, by leave of the superiors. It thus begins: Felix, born at Pistoia of honorable parents. The second document which we have is entitled A copy of the old lessons of St. Felix, priest and confessor of Pistoia, from an ancient manuscript lectionary of the sacristy of St. Zeno, the cathedral church of Pistoia, folio 382, in part 2. To this is added another manuscript, or Life of Felix, as it is entitled, taken from the same sacristy; and both begin thus: God is glorious in his Saints, wonderful in majesty, and contain the same history. To these add what is read in print concerning this Saint in Ferrari in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy on the XXV day of August, from the manuscript monuments of the church of Pistoia. Baronius in his notes upon the Saint's announcement, which we have just recited, says: whose deeds we read in a manuscript codex, by that same church,
namely that of Pistoia, sent to Rome.
[2] But that none of these documents is older than the fifteenth century the time of the finding of the body: is gathered from the finding of St. Felix; concerning which the printed Breviary of the Life records this: His body, buried in the cathedral, was found there … several centuries after his death. The year of the finding is marked in our two manuscript copies which we have already indicated as 1414 (but in Ferrari not rightly 1410); which year, how many it was after the death of our Confessor, we have not ascertained, since it is hidden from us in what century he ceased to live, and since his cult, which had long been as it were dead and buried in oblivion, revived from the finding of his sacred body, according to the proper lessons which we shall produce below. In Ughelli, volume 3 of the Italia Sacra, column 285 of the latest edition, the following are contained in an addition: In a certain donation made by the emperor Otto II\ to that same church of Pistoia in the year CMXCVII it is read: In honor of Saints Zeno, Rufinus, and Felix; and … in another like instrument by Frederick I in the year MCLIV, of the church dedicated in honor of Saints Zeno, and Rufinus, and Felix. But in Ughelli's own text, at column 284, these words had preceded: The cathedral … is adorned with very many relics of the Saints, among which shine the consecrated bones of SS. Felix and Rufinus of Pistoia. In the cited addition it is observed: Of St. Rufinus, not of Pistoia, as Ughelli writes, but bishop and martyr of the Marsi.* What has been said in our work in volume 11 of August, on the XI day, page 634, concerning St. Rufinus, bishop and martyr of the Marsi, may be consulted.
[3] the Saint seems not to have lived beyond the 10th century: From these premises it seems to me likely that our St. Felix did not live beyond the tenth century — ours, I say, although it is not altogether established that he is ours; it would be more established if in the cited diplomas the title of priest and confessor had been added; and for that cause I have kept myself within the bound of likelihood. Yet the printed Breviary of the Life, whose words I cited above at number 2, favors it, and the proper lessons which will be given a little later, in which these things are related: And since God has care of his Saints, it pleased his omnipotence that St. Felix, priest and confessor, who by length of time had come into oblivion both among the clergy and among the people, should be made manifest to the knowledge of Christ's faithful. Let us add to these briefly something concerning the day of his death. This I find neither in the same place nor in the manuscript designated before. If we believe the Breviary of the Life published in print, on the seventh of the Kalends of September he fell asleep in the Lord; in Ughelli the VIII of the Kalends of September is set.
[4] the deposition of the body with an inscription: What is narrated in the proper lessons concerning the deposition of the sacred body after the finding of it is related in these words in the often-mentioned Breviary of the Life: Beneath the altar of the most august Sacrament it was laid in a marble sepulcher with solemn pomp and rite, with this title carved: Felix, made a parent to his parents. Thence it was translated into a silver shrine for public veneration, and is honored with the pious devotion of the people of Pistoia. But at the end this prayer is appended: Lord Jesus Christ, who didst bestow upon blessed Felix a surpassing love of thy passion, grant that by his intercession and example we may ever bear the cross in our hearts, and may bring forth worthy fruits of penance. Who livest, etc. It remains that we subjoin some things concerning the miracles which the Saint is reported to have wrought after the finding of his body.
[5] there are recounted The proper lessons say: He wrought many miracles, which were painted behind the altar of the said saint Felix. Ferrari speaks thus of them in an annotation to the compendium of the Life which he published: The body is preserved in the cathedral church in its own chapel (in which some of his miracles are read as painted). But since from what has been said we have not what those miracles were, we shall supply that defect from our copy which is entitled The Life of St. Felix, and of which we made mention above at number 1. For after the end of that Life, and after those words, He wrought many miracles, which were painted behind the altar of the said saint Felix, the following are noted in the Italian tongue, which I render into Latin to this effect: These are the said miracles formerly painted behind the said altar, and beneath the figures the following verses were read. Today (he who transcribed them did not add the time) they are newly painted beneath the arch of the new chapel, and they are related in these words:
[6] How the body of the glorious confessor saint Felix was found in the time of the reverend father … miracles. Matthew of Pistoia, bishop of Pistoia, in the year MCDXIV, on the XII day of August, sacred to St. Clare.
How a certain man of the place of St. Leonard, sick unto death, commended himself to St. Felix, and was freed.
How St. Felix freed from fever and from pustules a boy of Pistoia who was near to death; how he was carried upon the altar.
How the body of St. Felix, carried in procession, freed Paolo de Grimo from a malady of the side.
How an angel revealed to St. Felix that he should depart, and, while he was crossing the river, the devil broke the wheel of the cart.
How St. Felix freed a certain girl of Lucca who was possessed by a demon.
How a certain man of the place of St. Mark, which is both within and outside Pistoia, when he was plowing on St. Felix's day, and his ox had fallen dead, commended it to St. Felix, and it revived.
How a certain woman of Monte Vettorino, when she was near death in childbirth, commended herself to St. Felix, and was freed.
How St. Felix freed a boy of Gora from leprosy. How he was carried upon the altar.
Annotations\* Rather III.
A COMPENDIUM OF THE LIFE, AND THE FINDING OF THE BODY.
From the manuscript proper lessons of the church of Pistoia, collated with another copy of the same.
Felix, priest and confessor, at Pistoia in Italy (St.)
BHL Number: 2877
from the manuscript Lessons.
Lesson I.
God is glorious in his Saints, wonderful in majesty, The Saint's virtues, working prodigies in heaven above and on earth beneath. Who, as the Doctor of the gentiles says, gave some indeed Apostles, and some prophets and teachers, and some confessors; of whose number, when it pleased his omnipotence, a shining star flashed forth, and a precious lily appeared in the city of Pistoia, namely, beloved of God and men for his innumerable virtues, the glorious confessor and priest of Christ, by grace and by name Felix. Who, while he lived in the present world, chose rather to live abject in the house of God than proud and rich in the tabernacles of sinners, desiring by word and example to gain the souls of men for God. He was indeed a true worshiper of God, abstaining from every evil work, and remaining in his innocence, and he meditated in the law of the Lord day and night, desiring to hear from God that evangelical word: Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord.
Lesson II.
[2] And that he might serve God the more fervently, he chose for himself outside the city a certain solitary place upon a remote rock beneath the roots of the mountains beyond the river a Bure; the solitary life, in which place he very often passed the night, giving himself to fastings and prayers, and there he disciplined his body. The devil, envying b his happy deeds, it came to pass at length that, when he had remained for several hours in a long prayer, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, warning him to depart thence. For he had seen the devil lying in wait for him and wishing to strike him. But holy Felix, obeying the angel's warnings, coming toward Pistoia, when he was at the river and wished to cross it, could by no means do so because of the flooding of the waters. A certain wagoner, coming with his cart, took him into the cart; and when he was in the middle of the river, the devil, making an onset, broke one wheel of the cart, that he might drown him. Seeing which, the Saint, prayer being made to God, straightway the wheel is restored to the cart, and they came out unharmed together with the oxen and the driver, and he entered Pistoia glad and rejoicing.
Lesson III.
[3] And that he might happily be able to come to the joys of paradise, and his deeds among the people of Pistoia; his death; he chose for himself a place in the city remote from the company of seculars, watching day and night at the Office and at Masses. And when there was any leisure for him, he spent that time in the sacred Scriptures, partly reading, partly meditating, considering the innumerable passions of the holy Fathers and Martyrs, and their endurance; and turning his heart to the passion of Christ, he wept, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, wound my heart with thy wounds, and inebriate my mind with thy blood, that whithersoever I turn myself I may ever see thee crucified, and that whatsoever I behold may be reddened in thy blood. And when for many years he had remained in the service of God, chastising his body and bringing it into subjection, and leading a celibate life, he prayed God that he might be released from the body of this death, and be with Christ. And when he had very often besought God that he would free him from this laborious contest and lead him to the heavenly country, at length being heard by him, he ended his life in peace; and his body was buried with fitting veneration, and by the supreme Pontiff he was commemorated among the Saints. c
Lesson IV.
[4] And since God has care of his Saints, it pleased his omnipotence after his body had long lain hidden; that St. Felix, priest and confessor, who by length of time had come into oblivion\ both among the clergy and among the people, should be made manifest to the knowledge of Christ's faithful. Therefore he put it into the hearts of the reverend father the lord bishop of Pistoia, and of the venerable canons of the said church, and of the honorable workmen of the works of St. Zeno, that for the greater adornment of the church one altar should be made out of the two altars of St. Mary and St. Martin. But when the altar of St. Mary was overturned, beneath its base a certain chest was found, in which was a stone jar covered over; where there was a little casket\ of very splendid alabaster, of the length of one arm or thereabouts, covered also with alabaster; on which, on the front part, was carved a cart with four wheels, which four horses draw, and a driver guides the horses and the cart.
Lesson V.
[5] Which little casket was opened in the presence of the lord bishop, whose finding the canons, and many priests of the said church; and suddenly there came forth from it so sweet and pleasant an odor that the whole church and square seemed full of all the musk d of the world. And that perfect odor lasted through the whole day, in such wise and to such a degree that all the people of both sexes came to the church. And whatever person came to the church, at once, when he was in the square, was filled with this most sweet odor. And this came about because in the said little casket were, and are, the most precious bones of the said St. Felix the confessor.
Lesson VI.
[6] Which body was found in the time of the reverend father lord Matthew, son of lord Lazacus, e bishop of Pistoia, and the translation is described and of f Ser Richard, Ser Gualandus de' Bracciolini, and Jacopo di Francesco de' Vasellini,\* workmen of the works of St. Zeno. Which little casket was carried in procession through the city; and afterward it was placed in a new altar built and adorned by the workmen, in the presence of the lord bishop, the lord canons, the clergy, and the people, with hymns and canticles and the organ, as it is seen by all who wish to see, in the middle of the altar. Now this finding of the body of this glorious saint Felix was made in the year of the Lord one thousand four hundred and fourteen, on the twelfth day of the month of August, on the day of St. Clare, in which year it was a Sunday. g After the finding of which the said Saint wrought many miracles, which were painted behind the altar of the said saint Felix. h
ANNOTATIONS.
\ Perhaps in oblivionem*.
\* That is, a little chest.