Syagrius

ON ST. SYAGRIUS, BISHOP,

AT AUTUN IN BURGUNDY,

About the year DC.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Syagrius, bishop, at Autun in Burgundy (St.)

BY J. S.

§ I. The Saint's cult and Acts: various matters concerning his stock and kindred examined: the beginning of his episcopate, and the services he rendered to various persons.

Among the illustrious prelates of Gaul who in the sixth century flourished in learning and holiness, The Saint's cult: his Acts in the Breviary. St. Syagrius, bishop of the Ædui, or of Autun in Burgundy, claims for himself no lowest place. His memory is announced by Ado, by Usuard, and from them by the Roman Martyrology at the XXVII of August in these words: At Autun, of St. Syagrius, bishop and confessor: and on the same day he is venerated at Autun with a double Office. With these the other Martyrologies commonly agree. But the Hieronymian ones of Florentinius celebrate Syagrius of Autun not only on the XXVII of August but also on the 2nd of September. Now Florentinius notes at the 2nd of September that St. Syagrius is announced on the same day also in the manuscript Martyrology of St. Sabinus of Levitania, in whose eulogy he corrects certain things unskillfully transferred from another Saint to Syagrius, which may there be seen, since they are neither found elsewhere nor clothed with any appearance of truth, so that it would be superfluous to refute them again. Acts of St. Syagrius we do not have, except in the Breviary of Autun, which was printed in the year 1534. Six lessons on his Life are found there, which we shall give as a summary of his Acts, although certain things in them must be corrected, and they cannot from their age have great authority. But the rest of the holy Prelate's deeds we shall gather from various authors, so far as it can be done for the scarcity of monuments.

[2] The year of the Saint's birth is unknown, as also the place: but that he was born in Gaul not far advanced in the sixth century we may conjecture from the place and time of his episcopate. Nor is it proved that he was brother of queen Brunhild, That he was born of a noble stock is made likely by the very name, and is commonly handed down by writers: the brightness of his family is also recorded by the collect in the Breviary of Autun. Moreover in the Life of St. Hugh, monk of Autun, in our volume 2 of April, page 765, I find this: The queen (Brunhild) had … as her full brother … St. Syagrius, bishop of Autun, outstanding among pontiffs. The Office of the Breviary just mentioned agrees. Saussay in his Martyrology, and other more recent writers, embraced that opinion without examination: but when it began to be examined more accurately, it was commonly rejected as asserted without foundation. Le Cointe in the Annals of the Franks at the year 560, number 5, refutes it from the silence of contemporary authors, and calls it a fable, which he judges to have arisen from an interpolation of the letters of St. Gregory the Great, into which he will have the word proprium (their own) inserted. But there is no need to have recourse to an interpolation, nor does Le Cointe prove it even by a word, nor is that interpolation likely. Let us hear then the text of Gregory's epistle, from which that opinion seems to have arisen — not as Le Cointe cites it, but as the latest editors of the Works of St. Gregory, volume 2, column [ ], have expressed his words: But the care and solicitude of that synod which we have decreed should be held we have taken pains specially to delegate to our brother and fellow bishop Syagrius, whom we know to be your own. Certainly by the word proprium we ought not to understand the brother of Brunhild, to whom Gregory writes; but it will be enough if we interpret it as friend, as intimate, as beloved. If therefore the opinion arose from this, as is likely, it lacks a fit foundation. Moreover it does not appear credible, contemporary authors being silent, that the son of an Arian king ruling in Spain should have been created bishop in Burgundy.

[3] [nor a kinsman of St. Desiderius; but perhaps he was born of the noble stock of the Syagrii:] Nor does it rest on any greater reason that in the same Breviary Desiderius, prelate of Vienne, is called St. Syagrius's nephew. For the same silence of the ancients fights against this opinion. Henschen published in volume V of May, from page 252, the Life of St. Desiderius, written by a contemporary author, in which at the beginning it is read thus: This holy man, sprung of a noble stock in the city of Autun, etc. But neither he nor any other contemporary, so far as I know, makes mention of kinship with St. Syagrius. Yet I confess this opinion falls less short of likelihood than the preceding, because both Saints were perhaps born in the same city. Our Brower in his notes on Venantius Fortunatus, page 148, speaks thus of Syagrius's stock: Nor should I hesitate to refer his lineage to the stock of the Syagrii, in which Sidonius (Apollinaris), letter VIII, book VIII, sets "a name drawn from the consular robes, ivory curule chairs, and purpled annals," which Marcellinus and Cassiodorus also acknowledge. Nay, the same author in repeated letters expressly greets the younger Syagrius, and calls him "the flower of Gallic youth, and by male succession the great-grandson of Afranius Syagrius the consul." This conjecture certainly does not displease: yet not even these things can be affirmed as certain.

[4] he was created bishop What the Saint did before his episcopate writers do not record: and so I set about investigating the beginning of his episcopate. The latest editors of Gallia Christiana, volume 4, column 344, have this concerning Syagrius: He was ordained bishop, as is commonly believed, about the year DLX. Le Cointe at the year 560, number 5, believes he was raised to the chair about the last times of Chlothar I, which comes to the same thing: but he brings forward no proof. The learned Benedictines who composed the Literary History of France, volume 3, page 257, place Syagrius of Autun among the prelates who were present at the second council of Paris: but that council they will have held before the year 555, so that Syagrius would have been bishop long before the year 560, if he was present at that council. Moreover Syagrius the bishop is read as subscribed to the council, and the ancient manuscript copies called him bishop of the Ædui, that is, of Autun: but Sirmond thinks that the name of the city crept in by error, which he also tries to prove in Labbe, volume 5, column 813, noting this: But that they (the manuscript copies) called Syagrius, who subscribes in the last place, bishop of the Ædui, this we have expunged as false. For it is established from Fortunatus in the Life of St. Germanus, chapter LXV, that Syagrius of Autun, bishop of the Ædui, was created long afterward, when Germanus was bishop of Paris. Wherefore this Syagrius seems rather to be of Grenoble, who was present by a vicar at the second council of Lyons twelve years later. To this conjecture of Sirmond very many have since assented.

[5] It might indeed be answered that Fortunatus does not say about the year 560: that St. Germanus was bishop when he was present at the consecration of St. Syagrius, and so that he could have been present while he was abbot of St. Symphorian of Autun, as Baillet hints, volume 2 at the XXVII of August in the article on Syagrius. But even though it is not said in express words that he was at that time bishop, it is sufficiently hinted from elsewhere. For Fortunatus, in our volume VI of May, page 785, speaks thus: And so going to Autun (St. Germanus) for the ordination of Syagrius the bishop, etc. If he was abbot at Autun, he did not need to go to Autun for the ordination: and so, while these things were being done, he had already been transferred to the episcopate at Paris. Besides, Fortunatus first recounts St. Germanus's deeds before his episcopate, and then sets forth what he did in his episcopate; and among the latter is the ordination of St. Syagrius. Hence it seems to me scarcely to be doubted that St. Germanus was present at the ordination as already a bishop; and therefore that the praised Benedictines wrongly reckoned St. Syagrius among the bishops who sat in the second council of Paris, since that was certainly held before St. Germanus's episcopate. Hence at last it may probably be concluded that Syagrius was not raised to the episcopate long before the year 560, since we read of nothing done by him before that year, and that he was present at no council: but that he was already bishop in the year 561 we shall presently see, so that the beginning of his episcopate is with sufficient probability set about the year 560.

[6] That bishop Syagrius was presently of great authority in the royal court we can gather from the deed which comes first to be narrated of his acts. [he takes care that St. Rusticula, who had been carried off at five years old, should be restored to the monastery:] In the Life of St. Rusticula, in our volume 2 of August, page 658, it is reported that she, while she was a girl of five years, was carried off by Cheraonius, a noble man, who afterward planned to bind her to himself in marriage when she was of marriageable age. But Liliola, abbess of the monastery of St. Cæsarius at Arles, asked of the venerable bishop Syagrius how she ought to act with king Guntram, that he might cause her to enter within the enclosure of the monastery. The abbess obtained by Syagrius's help what she asked, king Guntram commanding that the girl be handed over to her, Cheraonius resisting in vain. That this was done at the end of the year 561 and the beginning of 562 Le Cointe writes at the year 561, number 5: nor will it be worth the labor if the time of this matter be discussed more exactly. It will suffice to have noted that the Saint's fame had already then spread far, since the abbess of Arles, situated at a great distance of lands from the city of Autun, wished to use his help above all with the king.

[7] As he gladly used the favor in which he stood with the kings of Gaul to claim the said girl for liberty, and carried it out so happily that she afterward became an abbess and a saint; so he studiously endeavored to instill into others the piety and learning in which he was eminent among the prelates of Gaul, he has St. Aunarius as his disciple, whom he advances even to the episcopate: that he might make them like himself. We have a memorable example in St. Aunarius, who by this way ascended to the chair of Auxerre, nay, even to outstanding sanctity. For Aunarius, as is reported in the History of the Bishops of Auxerre, in Labbe, volume 1 of the Bibliotheca of Manuscript Books, page 419, while as a youth he was being brought up in the court of king Guntram, being wearied of court life, secretly fled to Tours, and, being led to the tomb of St. Martin, out of the love of God laid aside the hair of his head: thereafter he sought St. Syagrius, bishop of Autun, who was then held foremost in the things of God: who, receiving him with exceeding love, instructed him with such erudition and discipline as befitted an apostolic Man. The same things are narrated in the same place, page 529, in the Life of St. Aunarius, where these things are recorded of our Saint: At the time in which these things were done, Syagrius, bishop of the people of Autun, presided over the apostolic chair. He, hearing what had been divinely done concerning the boy, swiftly sent men who should present him to his sight … And when he had been brought, receiving him with exceeding love, he instructed him with such erudition and discipline that even to the height of the pontificate

he advanced him step by step by his training. With these agrees the monk of Auxerre in Le Cointe at the year 571, number 6, where he calls Syagrius a man illustrious in sanctity and learning. These things were done at the beginning of St. Syagrius's episcopate, since St. Aunarius was present as prelate at the council of Paris in the year 573. But the beginning of his episcopate and the other deeds of this Saint may be discussed more fully at the XXV of September, on which he is read as inscribed in the Roman Martyrology.

[8] Fortunatus writes to him for the freeing of a certain captive. The authority also and the charity of St. Syagrius shines forth from a letter of Venantius Fortunatus sent to him, which Brower, already mentioned, published with the other little works of Venantius from page 126. The reason for writing was the captivity of a certain man, whose father had recourse to Venantius that he might commend to Syagrius the freeing of his son. And Venantius, having recounted that father's grief at his son's captivity, thus addresses our Saint on page 126: Who at length, the noise of his complaints being stilled, marks you out as the ready antidote of his grief; namely, since, sick in mind, he asks for himself a remedy — if you will graciously bestow yourself, your tongue becomes a poultice. Moreover Venantius sends with the letter thirty-three verses, representing the age of Christ, who redeemed us captives. With marvelous artifice indeed these verses are connected and punctuated among themselves by a varied drawing of the letters, as may there be seen. The difficulty of that little work Venantius himself describes, and on that occasion so declares his love for Syagrius, page 127: I speak almost what I do not know; and you overcome me by love, that I may not be overcome by the work. See, you demand of me even what you scarcely find in me; you do violence to one who is yours, not a rebel: you wring it out; nor are you repelled. Love is a coaxing tyrant … What is there that you do not obtain? as you love, so you command.* The whole letter with the poem itself the curious reader will find there. We pass on to other matters.

in others prosperum*

§ II. The Saint is present at various councils: he takes care that St. Virgilius be set over the church of Arles: he has great favor with the kings of the Franks, which he uses on behalf of St. Aredius's monks: he builds various monasteries together with Brunhild.

He is present at the second council of Lyons, at the fourth of Paris, The zeal for guarding and promoting ecclesiastical discipline with which Syagrius burned we can gather from the councils which he celebrated with the other bishops of Gaul. There was gathered in the year 567, as Sirmond notes in Labbe, volume 5, column 850, the second council of Lyons, by order of king Guntram, for renewing the institutes of the holy Fathers and for the other needs of the church, as is said in its preface. There six canons were framed, to which Syagrius … bishop of the church of the Ædui subscribed his name with the others, as may be seen in the cited Labbe, column 849. In the year 573 bishops from nearly all Gaul assembled at Paris for public causes and for the complaints of private persons at the fourth council of Paris, and from it they sent a letter to Ægidius, prelate of Rheims, on behalf of Pappolus, bishop of Châteaudun, against whom the bishop of Rheims had rashly ordained Promotus. To this letter our Syagrius subjoined his name with the rest, as you will find in the praised Labbe, column 920. Moreover king Sigebert favored Promotus: for St. Gregory of Tours, book 7, chapter 17, writes thus: But Promotus, who had been established bishop in the fortress of Dunum by the ordering of king Sigebert, etc. Hence the same bishops wrote to king Sigebert also, that he should not protect Promotus. Le Cointe published these letters at the year 573, number 28: but, as he rightly observes there, it is plain from Gregory of Tours that the bishops profited little by these letters; for he testifies that Promotus was not removed until after the death of king Sigebert, against whom sentence had been so passed that he should discharge only the office of a priest.

[10] In the year 581 the first council of Mâcon was convoked both for public causes and for the needs of the poor, [at the first of Mâcon, the third of Lyons, the second of Mâcon, in which his authority is great:] as is found in its preface in Labbe, volume 5, column 967. There St. Syagrius framed, and by subjoining his name confirmed with the other bishops, nineteen canons pertaining to the discipline of the Church. In the year 583 the third council of Lyons was held, in which six canons were decreed, which our Syagrius with seven other bishops strengthened by subscribing his name, as may be seen in Labbe, column 975. In the year 585 the prelates gathered from nearly all Gaul celebrated the second council of Mâcon, and framed twenty canons, to which, after the metropolitans, Syagrius subscribed first, as is read in Labbe, column 987. Ado in his Chronicle at the year 575 and following, on the occasion of this synod, speaks thus of our Saint: With whom there also sat Syagrius, bishop of the Ædui, a man of the highest sanctity. Moreover I should not doubt that I could review more synods at which St. Syagrius was present, if the names of all the bishops were read subjoined to the Acts: but let those just reported suffice, that from them we may understand with how great a zeal for ecclesiastical discipline the Saint burned, whose authority so stood out among the bishops that the council of Metz of the year 888, in Labbe, volume 9, column 414, citing canon XV enacted against the Jews, brings forward the authority of St. Syagrius alone, as though he had been the head of the council in which not a few metropolitans sat.

[11] [he takes care that St. Virgilius be created bishop of Arles: he strives to settle the disturbances of nuns:] In the year 588 the church of Arles was widowed of its prelate Licerius, whose death the latest editors of Gallia Christiana, volume 1, column 540, tie to that year: the remoteness of the places did not hinder St. Syagrius from taking care that a fit pastor be set over that flock. Hear Gregory of Tours, book 9 of the History of the Franks, chapter 13: But Licerius, bishop of Arles, died, in whose church Virgilius, abbot of Autun, was substituted by the help of bishop Syagrius. The deeds of this St. Virgilius are briefly handed down in the praised Gallia Christiana: his Life our elders published at the day V of March, and Mabillon in the second Benedictine century. About this time a great scandal had been stirred up in the monastery of Poitiers by the ambition of Chrodield, daughter of the late king Charibert, who strove to cast down her abbess from her place that she herself might rise to it, no few nuns adhering to her. The praised Gregory of Tours narrates the matter fully in book 9, chapters 39 and following. Syagrius labored with the other bishops to restore concord, and sent to the rebellious nuns Desiderius his deacon: but when the nuns acted by force, an anathema was hurled against them by the bishops present there, which Syagrius with the other prelates assembled before king Guntram ratified, as is read in their letter in Gregory of Tours, chapter 41. More about these matters may be sought in the praised Gregory of Tours, since they do not pertain to Syagrius.

[12] he is present at the baptism of Chlothar II: he has favor with king In the year 591 Syagrius came to Paris with some bishops, at the request of king Guntram, to be present at the baptism of Chlothar II, which was conferred upon the boy Chlothar in the village of Nanterre in the territory of Paris, as Gregory of Tours narrates in book 10, chapter 28, and from him Le Cointe at the year 591, number 6. Moreover from what has been said thus far it is clear that Syagrius was always held in great esteem by Guntram, the holy king: and this is confirmed from the Life of St. Aredius the abbot, given in our volume V of August, in which on page 192 this is read: A certain one of the monks of that most holy man's cell (that is, of the monastery of St. Aredius, whose death had gone before), by the name of Baudenus, did not delay to go to the region of Burgundy with the instruments of charters by which the possession of the monastery was confirmed; who therefore, seeking out the venerable and excellent prelate Syagrius, bishop of the city of the Ædui, implored him with his prayers — because he was held most worthy of honor before all in the king's palace — that by his patronage the cell might be protected from the snares of divers rivals. Who, assenting to the petitions of the aforesaid monk, that most reverend Man did not deny what he asked; but he also fortified the instruments with the royal authority, and granted him leave to return to his own region. This seems to have been done at the end of the year 591, in which St. Aredius died.

[13] Guntram, against whom he did not conspire: From this perpetual favor of Syagrius with Guntram, and from the sanctity of both, that appears faulty which is read in Ruinart in the History of Gregory of Tours epitomized by Fredegar, column 582, about a conspiracy of Syagrius against Guntram in favor of Gundovald, who boasted himself the son of Chlothar. Or at least, if it be not faulty, it may be held as a riddle. Yet take the words: When he had returned thence (Gundovald into Gaul, that he might seize part of it and bear himself as king), he was received by Mummolus the patrician, by the faction of the bishops Syagrius and Flavius, that they might degrade Guntram from the kingdom and exalt Gundovald. On this the editor Ruinart notes thus: Syagrius was bishop of Autun and Flavius of Chalon, whom Valois judges to have always been faithful to Guntram, and to have been invidiously accused of treason by Mummolus, because he took ill their power. This note indeed absolves the prelates of the crime; nor yet does it satisfy me. For I can scarcely think that these things are read without fault in the epitome of Gregory of Tours, which I do not find in Gregory's own History: for you will find nothing in Gregory's History either about a faction of these bishops against Guntram, or about their accusation by Mummolus. Then not even Fredegar, under whose name this epitome was published, has anything in his Chronicle about this faction of Syagrius and Flavius, although he reports Gundovald's death and that of him and of Mummolus, in Ruinart, columns 596 and 597. Moreover in Gregory of Tours bishop Sagittarius, perverse in morals, is often recorded among the leaders of Gundovald's faction, so that there may be a suspicion that in place of his name the name of Syagrius crept in by the fault and ignorance of the copyists. However that may be, it seems certain that Syagrius was always faithful to Guntram, since long after Gundovald's death he was in esteem and love with him, and the name of St. Syagrius remained great among posterity and always unimpaired.

[14] Guntram departed this life in the year 593, as Le Cointe has it in the same place, number 4, likewise with queen Brunhild, with whom he built a hospice, and left as heir of his kingdom Childebert, his brother's son, whose mother Brunhild was still living, with whom Syagrius's authority was great, as it had been with St. Guntram. Moreover Brunhild's fame was always ambiguous, some praising her, others reproaching her with many crimes; on this matter Le Cointe may be consulted at the year 613, number 6 and following, where he strives at length to defend this queen's reputation. But, whatever Brunhild was, it is established that St. Syagrius was to her the author and helper not of crimes but of good works. For Syagrius founded a hospice at Autun and two monasteries, with Brunhild's help, as we learn from the letters of St. Gregory. First of all, in letter 8 of book 13 of the latest edition, he makes mention of the hospice in these words: To the hospice which in the city of Autun by Syagrius of reverend memory

the bishop, and by our aforesaid most excellent daughter the queen (Brunhild) was built, we grant privileges of this kind, etc. Of this hospice Mabillon writes thus in volume 1 of the Benedictine History, book 7, number 66: Within the walls of the city is situated the former hospice and at the same time monastery of men of St. Andochius, now for more than eight hundred years a convent of virgins. The monks bore the care of the hospice from its very institution, under the discipline of abbot Senator, to whom Gregory the Great granted a notable privilege. That privilege he there sets forth, and acknowledges Syagrius with Brunhild as the founders of the hospice.

[15] The praised St. Gregory in letter 10 of book 13 speaks in exactly the same manner about the monastery of St. Martin founded by St. Syagrius and Brunhild and two monasteries, the one for men, as he does above concerning the hospice, and grants it the same privileges. Hence Mabillon has this at number 54: That this Prelate was Brunhild's helper in her pious works in the city of the Ædui, and therefore lent his aid to the founding of the monastery of St. Martin, the letters of Gregory the Great to Lupus, priest and abbot, testify, whom the published lists suggest to us as the first rector of that place. He writes in the same place that the monastery of St. Martin was situated in the suburb of Autun, separated from the city toward the east by a narrow valley and the little stream Taranetus *, not far from the abbey of St. Symphorian. He adds, on the opinion of others, that St. Martin had set a church in the same place under the name of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, which afterward bishop Syagrius, at Brunhild's will, dedicated in honor of that same St. Martin. This monastery therefore was founded there for religious men by the care of St. Syagrius and the wealth of Brunhild.

[16] the other for women, he founded at Autun: But the other was founded for women, which formerly bore the name of St. Mary and now that of St. John. St. Gregory records it in letter 9 of book 13 to the abbess Thalassia, and grants it the same privileges which he had bestowed on the hospice and on the monastery of St. Martin. Whence Mabillon acknowledges the same founders of this monastery also, namely Syagrius and Brunhild, expressed in Gregory's letter. It was founded, says Mabillon at number 65, at the walls of the city, in that place where once was the shrine of Berecynthia: and rightly indeed, that the mother of the true God might be venerated where the mother of empty gods had been honored with profane worship. To Thalassia, the first abbess, as is believed, of that convent, is inscribed the letter of Gregory the Great containing the privilege bestowed on that place: in which it is called the monastery of St. Mary, the name of St. John being omitted, whose name alone it now keeps, commonly St. John the Greater, to distinguish it from another church of the same city which is likewise consecrated to St. John the Baptist. These three monasteries survive to this day under the Rule of St. Benedict, on Mabillon's testimony at number 57. The time in which these things were done can neither be gathered from Gregory's letters nor is known from elsewhere. Yet I judge that those go astray who with Mabillon thought them done about the year 589: for it is not credible that these were built by Brunhild before the death of Guntram, to whom Autun was subject. And so I am altogether persuaded that these pious works happened between the year 593, in which Guntram died, and 600, about which year Syagrius was taken from among the living.

[17] he adorns the cathedral church. Besides this he seems to have adorned and enlarged the cathedral church: for in the History of the Bishops of Auxerre, in Labbe's Bibliotheca of Manuscripts, page 423, it is hinted that St. Desiderius did the same at Auxerre which Syagrius did at Autun. Take the words: He indeed enlarged with marvelous beauty the basilica of Bl. Stephen, in which Desiderius sat, a huge vault being added on the eastern side, and most splendidly adorned with gold and mosaic, after the likeness of that which bishop Syagrius is known to have made at Autun. Since Desiderius's work is compared with Syagrius's work, and he adorned the cathedral church, it is likely that Syagrius too adorned his cathedral, although this is not clearly expressed. But let these few things suffice concerning the excellent works by which our Saint showed that he loved the beauty of the Lord's house, since the scarcity of monuments has grudged us more.

* Tarnet

§ III. He lends help to St. Augustine as he converts the English: he obtains the pallium from St. Gregory the Roman Pontiff, together with a preeminence for his church: Gregory makes much of him and lays various businesses upon him: the time of his death: his relics.

[St. Gregory commends to Syagrius Augustine, sent into England: to whom he lends help,] The excellent virtues of St. Syagrius, and deeds worthy of a bishop, brought it about that his name and fame became known to Gregory the Great, who was raised to the supreme Pontificate in the year 590, and who afterward often used Syagrius's help in various businesses. First of all in the year 596, in the 14th Indiction, he wrote to Desiderius, archbishop of Vienne, and to Syagrius, bishop of Autun, that they should commend to them Augustine, whom the Pontiff was sending into England for the conversion of the English. The words of Gregory, letter 54 of book 6, are these: We well trust in the sincere charity of your fraternity, that for love of blessed Peter the prince of the Apostles you will devoutly lend your comforts to our men … We make known therefore to your holiness that we have sent Augustine, the servant of God, the bearer of these presents, whose zeal and earnestness are well known to us, with other servants of God thither for the cause of souls, by the Lord's disposing: from whose report your fraternity, learning carefully what has been enjoined upon him, will grant him comforts in all ways in which the cause shall require; that you may, as befits and is fitting, be helpers of a good work. So then let your fraternity strive to show itself devoted in this matter, that the good things which we have learned of you from report we may prove true by deed. He adds a commendation of Candidus the priest, to whom the care of the Church's patrimony in Gaul had been committed.

[19] In the Office of Autun, which we shall subjoin below, in lesson 4, Syagrius is said to have been sent into England by Gregory for the conversion of the English. but he does not accompany him into England. I judge that this was gathered by an error from this and from another letter presently to be recited. Certainly the ancient authors do not record any mission of Syagrius into England, nor is it likely. Gregory therefore asks that Syagrius should lend aid to Augustine as he departs into England and abides there: but he does not ask that he go with him thither. Moreover that Syagrius abundantly satisfied Gregory's expectation and desire we learn from letter 108 of book 9 of the same Pontiff, where he addresses Syagrius in these words: Since therefore in the work of preaching which … I have striven to bestow upon the nation of the English through Augustine … we have learned that you have been so solicitous and devoted, and a helper in all things, as was fitting, that your Fraternity has made me a great debtor to you in this matter, etc. Nearly the same things will presently be adduced from another letter. Yet these do not signify that Syagrius preached in England, but that he was a support to Augustine preaching there, which alone Gregory had asked of him.

[20] After this queen Brunhild asked the pallium for St. Syagrius from St. Gregory the Roman Pontiff: Brunhild asks the pallium for Syagrius: but St. Gregory but the Pontiff answered that the queen's prayers were indeed pleasing to him, and yet he reckoned up various reasons why he had not sent it at once. Hear part of his reply to Brunhild, namely letter XI of book 9: defers the matter until he himself demands it: Having received your letters, therefore, we signify that your excellency's zeal has greatly pleased us, and we wished to send the pallium to our brother and fellow bishop Syagrius according to your request. On account of which it is also the foremost wish of our most serene lord the emperor, so far as our deacon, who transacted the Church's answers with him, has made known to us, and he altogether desires that this be granted; and many good things concerning our aforesaid Brother have been brought to us, on your testimony as well as on that of others; especially have we learned of his life from John the regionary on his return to us. And hearing what he has done in the case of our brother Augustine, we bless our Redeemer, because we perceive that he fulfills the name of a priest even by his works. But very many matters stood in the way, which by no means allowed us to do this for the present. And among the causes for which he writes that the sending of the pallium was deferred, one was that Syagrius himself had not demanded the pallium: Especially, he says, because ancient custom also has held that the honor of the pallium ought not to be given save when the merits of the case require it, and to one who strongly asks it.* Yet he adds that he takes care to send the pallium to Candidus the priest, that he might grant it to Syagrius when he duly demanded it.

[21] afterward, when asked, he sends it on condition that a synod be gathered, Syagrius satisfied the Pontiff's will, and, having demanded the pallium, obtained it, at his sending, in the year 599: yet with conditions added, of gathering a synod and of rooting out certain abuses in it. Gregory himself reports this in letter 107 of book 9 to Aregius, bishop of Gap, and again in the letter to Syagrius which we shall presently recite. But what abuses Gregory wished corrected he sets forth at length in letter 106 of book 9 to Syagrius of Autun, whom he sets before the others, and those metropolitans — Ætherius of Lyons, Virgilius of Arles, and Desiderius of Vienne — at the end of which he orders the three abuses which he had at length censured to be corrected, in these words: Concerning these things therefore which have been said above, we wish your fraternity, God being the author, to gather a synod, and in it … let all things which, as we said before, are contrary to the holy canons be strictly condemned under the interposing of an anathema; that is, that none presume to give any advantage for obtaining ecclesiastical orders, or to receive for what has been given, nor let anyone from a lay habit dare suddenly to come to the place of sacred rule. Nor let other women dwell with priests except those who, as was said, are permitted by the sacred canons. Of all which our most reverend brother bishop Syagrius, together with the whole synod, when our most beloved son abbot Cyriacus returns, should strive to report to us what has been done.

[22] with a letter added, in which the Saint's To these I subjoin letter 108 of book 9, by which Gregory sends the pallium to Syagrius and proclaims his virtues and merits: Gregory to Syagrius, bishop of Autun. Charity, the mistress of all good things, which savors nothing strange, nothing harsh, nothing confused, so exercises and strengthens hearts that nothing is heavy, nothing difficult, but all that is done becomes sweet. Since therefore it is proper to her to nourish concord, to preserve what is composed, to join what is divided, to set straight what is crooked, and to make solid the other virtues by the defense of her perfection: whoever engrafts himself into her roots neither fails in greenness nor is emptied of fruits, because an effectual work does not lose the moisture of fruitfulness. And therefore I greatly delight and rejoice with you in the Lord, most beloved brother, because I learn by the testimony of many that you are so endowed with this same charity that you both becomingly discharge the duties of a priest and show yourself laudably to be imitated by others.

[23] Since therefore in the work of preaching which, long considering it, I strove to bestow on the nation of the English through Augustine

then the provost of my monastery, merits are proclaimed, and to the pallium now our brother and fellow bishop, we have learned that you were so solicitous and devoted and a helper in all things, as was fitting, that your fraternity has made me a great debtor to you in this matter: admonished by the consideration of so great a thing, lest I should seem to be unfruitful toward you, I have by no reason endured to put off your fraternity's petition. Accordingly, according to the desire of your request, we have, God being the author, provided to honor you with the use of the pallium, which you are to have within your church, only for celebrating the sacred solemnities of Masses.

[24] Yet we have decreed that this must be given you on this condition, if you first promise to amend by a synodal definition he joins the preeminence of the see of the Ædui, what we have charged should be corrected: because we assuredly believe it fitting that, together with that gravity of mind in which we have learned that you are strong, God being favorable, a brighter adornment also of outward habit should grow in you, especially since we judge that you have asked this not for a pomp of superfluous elation, but for the character and honor of your church. And that we may not seem in a manner to have conferred the bounty of that vesture bare, we have likewise provided that this too be granted: that, the place and honor of his metropolitan being in all things preserved, the church of the city of Autun, over which almighty God has willed you to preside, should be after the church of Lyons, and claim to itself this place and order by the indulgence of our authority. But we decree that the other bishops should regard their places according to the time of their ordination, whether for sitting in a council, or for subscribing, or in any other matter of their own, and claim to themselves the prerogative of their orders: because the order of reason altogether admonishes us that with the use of the pallium we ought at the same time, as we have said, to bestow some privileges.

[25] But since with an increase of honor the care of solicitude also ought to grow, and he exhorts him to pastoral watchfulness. that the ornaments of action may match the adornment of garments, it behooves your fraternity to exert itself the more earnestly in all zeal. Be watchful concerning the acts of your subjects; let your example be their instruction, and your life their teacher. By the exhortation of our tongue let them learn what to fear; and let them be taught what to love; so that, when you shall have rendered the talents entrusted to you with the gain multiplied, you may deserve to hear in the day of recompense: "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord." Moreover you shall know that the care of gathering the synod which we have written to you and to our other brothers should be held for the prohibiting of unlawful things lies especially upon your solicitude. Whence, since we know that our most excellent sons the kings of the Franks bestow great love upon you, you must act with all zeal and all endeavor, that what we have charged concerning the gathering of a synod may be fulfilled by your fraternity's vigilance, and that all things which we have written for the salvation of souls may be decreed there; so that by this you may show both your zeal and how unlawful things displease you, and we may seem to have provided usefully, who chose your person before the rest for this. Thus far Gregory. But of this synod held by Syagrius I find nothing. It is credible that he was hindered by death from being able to accomplish the matter: for we shall see below that he did not live long after these times.

[26] There are extant among Gregory's letters, book 9, three others sent to Syagrius, in which the Pontiff lays various businesses upon our Saint to be attended to. St. Gregory commends various First, in letter 113, Gregory writes to him that he should compel the bishops Menas and Theodore to return to Italy. Now Menas or Mennas had been sent by Gregory into Gaul: but, being accused of too great levity, he is recalled to Rome, where he cleared himself and was sent back into Gaul, as you will understand from Gregory's letter 6 of book 13, in which he is called Mennas, the editor there noting that he is the same as the bishop of Telese in Campania. But Theodore was a bishop of the province of Milan, and was declining the judgment of his metropolitan, of whom he also complained, as Gregory writes in letter 30 of book 6 to Deusdedit, prelate of Milan. These things therefore Syagrius seems to have accomplished, since both returned into Italy to their superior.

[27] businesses to our Saint Then in letter 114 Gregory rebukes Virgilius of Arles and Syagrius of Autun, because a certain Syagria, who had embraced the monastic life and had worn the religious habit, had been violently compelled to join herself in marriage, and because they had not hindered a sacrilege of this kind. Certainly those bishops were not blameless if they could have hindered it: but since both are saints, and the manners of the Gauls were at that time such that bishops could rather reprove various crimes than hinder them, I should believe that the said bishops did not lack reasons by which to excuse themselves before Gregory. Moreover even then that Syagria desired to spend her goods on pious works, in which matter Gregory exhorts Virgilius and Syagrius to be a help to her.

[28] he commends businesses, Finally in letter 115 Gregory commends to Syagrius the cause of the bishop of Turin, who complained that his diocese had been diminished by the erection of a new bishopric. This was the bishopric of Maurienne in Savoy, as the editor notes and other writers affirm: but, as reasons had not been lacking for erecting that bishopric in the time of king Guntram, so neither were they lacking at this time for preserving that see. On both matters our Longueval may be consulted in the History of the Gallican Church, volume 3, page 143, where he reports the erection, and page 346, where he says that the Gauls without doubt set forth to Gregory their reasons and the usefulness of that new bishopric. Certainly, although Gregory wrote also to Theodoric and Theodebert, kings of the Franks, on the same matter in letter 116, the bishopric of Maurienne has persisted to this day. These are nearly all the things which it has been possible to gather concerning the excellent deeds of St. Syagrius. Wherefore we come to investigating the time of his happy death.

[29] whose death happened about the year 600: his body, his relics. The latest editors of Gallia Christiana, volume 4, column 346, reason thus to our purpose: In what year precisely he passed to heaven is not so well established. Certainly before the year six hundred and two, as seems to be proved from the letters which in that very year Gregory wrote to Senator and Luppinus , archimandrites, and to the abbess Thessalia (book 13, letters 8, 9, and 10), in which he calls him A BISHOP OF REVEREND MEMORY.* Nay, that he was taken from this light already in the year DC these most learned men infer from this, that among the letters which in the following year DCI the holy Pontiff sent to divers bishops of the Gauls for rooting out the Simoniacal heresy, none is found inscribed to Syagrius, to whom yet he would not have omitted to write, both on account of the office of the Apostolic See committed to him for this, and on account of the favor in which he stood with the kings of the Franks, and especially with Brunhild. From these reasons it does not seem to me likely that Syagrius lived after the year 600; but, since no letter to him is read as sent after the year 599, nor was the synod celebrated by him which the Pontiff so greatly desired, he may have died even in that year 599. For this cause I have marked his death as about the year 600, from which certainly it was not far distant. Hence we rightly conclude that he occupied the chair of Autun about forty years. That his body is kept in the convent of virgins of St. Andochius, founded by the Saint, as we have said, the Office presently to be given testifies. That notable relics of him are kept also at Paris in the abbey of Val-de-Grâce, which is of women of the Order of St. Benedict, Baillet affirms in the article on Syagrius, that is, volume 2, column 428.

* that is, a regionary deacon

elsewhere Luponi*

elsewhere Thalassiæ*

LIFE.

From the Breviary of Autun.

Syagrius, bishop, at Autun in Burgundy (St.)

The Saint's episcopate, and his contemporaries, Lesson I. Blessed Syagrius, brother ^b of Brunhild queen of France, foundress of the monastery of St. Martin ^a at the walls of Autun, noble by an old and ancient lineage, but nobler by the endowments of his mind and the purity of his soul, distinguished by divine inspiration, was designated bishop of the church of Autun ^c. In whose time holy Desiderius his nephew ^d at Vienne, holy Ætherius ^e at Lyons, holy Amarius ^f at Auxerre, holy Austerius ^g at Orleans, and the holy Lupus ^h and Columbanus at Sens shone with wondrous sanctity.

Lesson II. In blessed Syagrius charity admonished him to despise the hissings of slanderers; various virtues, for he did not think one must so far serve the tongues of the wicked as to omit a necessary duty for this favor. He held moderation in chastising the manners of the wicked, so that he might heal by gentleness rather than exasperate by austerity. He kept a table very frugal, but open to guests, richer in fruitful conversation than in choice viands; so that the minds of the guests were refreshed no less than their bodies. He drank wine, but as Timothy did at Paul's advice.

Lesson III. He loved perfect piety, but the spontaneous, for which he is praised by St. Gregory: not the forced. You would have said that he bore a father's and a mother's bowels toward all: that he travailed with the wicked, that they might be born again in Christ; that he cherished the weak like a hen under her wings, that they might not perish; that he advanced the good, that they might grow up. Therefore blessed Gregory congratulated him in very frequent letters in the Register, saying: I greatly delight and rejoice with you, because I learn by the testimony of many that you are so endowed with this same charity that you both becomingly discharge the duties of a priest and show yourself laudably to be imitated by others.

Lesson IV. When blessed Gregory had heard that the English ⁱ had fallen away from Christianity to idols, the preaching of the faith in England promoted by him, he sent blessed Syagrius, bishop of Autun, into England ^k; who, led by zeal for the house of God, so diligently announced Jesus Christ to all in England that, error being laid aside and the truth known and made persuasive, he brought back the lost sheep into the sheepfold of Jesus Christ, like a good shepherd; who never feared any peril, as often as the interests of the church had to be served.

Lesson V. Admonished by the consideration of so great a thing (says Gregory to Syagrius), we have, God being the author, provided to honor you with the use of the pallium, which you are to have within your church, only for celebrating the sacred solemnities of Masses: and that we may not seem in a manner to have conferred the bounty of that vesture bare, [hence adorned by Gregory with the pallium together with a preeminence of his see:] we have likewise provided that this too be granted: that, the place and honor of his metropolitan being in all things preserved, the church of the city of Autun, over which almighty God has willed you to preside, should be after the church of Lyons, and claim to itself this place and order ^l by the indulgence of our authority.

his other virtues, his blessed death, his relics. Lesson VI. But since with an increase of honor the care of solicitude also ought to grow, that the ornaments of action may match the adornment, by the authority of blessed Gregory he established a synod ^m, by whose definition he condemned those marked with the Simoniacal stain, and amended what Gregory had charged should be corrected. His tongue was a comfort to the good, a goad to the depraved; he beat down the swollen, softened the angry, kindled the slothful by exhortation, consoled the despairing. At length at Autun on the sixth ⁿ Kalends of September, the talents entrusted to him by the Lord, with interest,

he delivered up to Jesus Christ, who says: Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your lord; whose body, enclosed in a silver case, is kept in the most celebrated convent of virgins of St. Andochius ^o at Autun.

ANNOTATIONS.