ON ST. ELMERUS OR ERMELIUS, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR OF MOLHAIN IN THE DIOCESE OF LIÈGE
Perhaps in the seventh or eighth century.
A COLLECTION.
ON ST. ELMERUS OR ERMELIUS, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR OF MOLHAIN IN THE DIOCESE OF LIÈGE
BY J. P.
§ I. His cult, the situation of the place, notes on the proper Office which is given; the time of his life.
Utterly obscure to us are the deeds of this Saint, if you except his public cult. Miraeus in the Belgian and Burgundian Calendars thus reports him: The place in which he is venerated, St. Elmerus, patron of Molhain. In Molanus's Natales Sanctorum Belgii these words occur: At Molhain, the birthday of St. Elmerus, bishop and confessor. Add Ferrari: At Molhain near Mariembourg in Belgium, of St. Elmerus, confessor: and Chastelain: In Hainault, St. Elmerus, confessor, patron of the collegiate church of Molhain near Mariembourg, where the canons honor him as a bishop. These things we read concerning the Saint's cult in the authors just alleged at the twenty-seventh day of August; yet we have deferred him to the present day, because he is then venerated with a solemn feast both among the people and among the clergy at Molhain.
[2] The situation of this place is variously described by various writers. and its situation: Ferrari and Chastelain we have just given. Miraeus places it on the borders of the diocese of Liège, two miles from the town of Givet, and not far from Mariembourg. Molanus agrees, who, having spoken of the aforesaid canons, says: They dwell on the borders of Belgium, not far from Mariembourg, two miles from Givet. Bartholomew Fisen, in book 5 of the History of Liège, at the year 752, number 22, places them in the diocese of Liège, saying: To count Wibert, founding the monastery of Lobbes in Hainault … and to Ada his wife, building a college of canons at Molhain in this diocese, Pepin's contribution was not wanting. In the geographical maps Givet and Mariembourg are placed in the county of Hainault; which does not hinder Molhain from belonging to the diocese of Liège. Whence it follows that this Saint is rightly announced by Chastelain also as in Hainault.
[3] his public cult Concerning his public cult we shall give those things which have come to our knowledge. It is agreeable therefore to hear what is recorded in Molanus from the letters of the lord Paul Thonon, subprior at Hastière (it is a monastery of the Order of St. Benedict between the towns of Dinant and Givet). Concerning this, he says, their holy Patron … the canons of Molhain have nothing certain or probable. The Saint's tomb is shown, gilded on the outside, but altogether empty. Nor does anything remain of his relics, on account of the frequent incursions of wars, spoliations, plunderings … This one thing is established, that the church itself is very ancient, and holds no last place in the diocese of Liège. But more concerning this Saint was afterwards transmitted hither. For the Reverend and Honorable Bertrand Waseige, canon of Molhain, together with a most courteous letter given at Molhain on the twelfth day of April in the year 1717 to our Father Janninck, sent the following notices concerning the Man's public veneration: On the fifth of the Kalends of September, he says, in the collegiate and mother church of the blessed Virgin Mary at Molhain, in the country and diocese of Liège, founded in the year 752 by the most illustrious Ada, wife of Wibert, count of Poitiers, founder of Lobbes, for twelve canons …, there is celebrated by the clergy and people the feast of St. Ermelius, confessor, pontiff, and doctor; and he is venerated there as second patron with a triple rite: whose entire and proper Office is also had there, with a proper Mass as well.
[4] On the fifth of the Nones of October there is venerated in that same village, among the people of Molhain: church, and district of Molhain the translation of St. Ermelius, on account of his relics brought thither by the aforesaid foundress Ada: part of which is there laid up in the high altar, consecrated to the honor of God the best and greatest, of the Mother of God, and of the said St. Ermelius: and the other part of the said relics was laid up in a long gilded wooden chest, which is still kept in the same church. It is impossible to express how many and how great miracles have been wrought there, and what a concourse and devotion of the neighboring people there has always been hitherto, that they might be freed from fever, plague, and other divers infirmities; notwithstanding that from about the year 1600 the aforesaid chest is no longer publicly exposed, because heretics despoiled the said church, and partly burned and partly scattered and carried off the bones enclosed in that chest or bier; although there are still preserved there certain small particles a little burned, and not altogether certain.
[5] The proper Office, which is marked for the twenty-eighth of August on the feast of St. Hermelius, when and of what sort the proper Office recited there may be: we have. In it he is called Father of monks, and lord of nuns; but in what place, and of what Order, is left in obscurity: the same happens when it is narrated that he was laid up in the church by the hands of monks. Just as much do we have from these titles which are read scattered through the said Office: Father, pontiff, doctor, preacher of the Catholic faith, abbot. In vain therefore will you there seek the time of his life or death; in vain also other circumstances of events by which historical
you might form an idea concerning this Saint. Waseige, praised above, writes these things concerning his episcopate: In ancient and new paintings and blessed images that same St. Ermelius is always depicted as a bishop, sometimes with a cope, sometimes with a chasuble and the other episcopal ornaments, having a mitre on his head, a pastoral staff in his right hand, and a book in his left, sometimes open and sometimes closed. But although these things do not certainly persuade us that he was truly a bishop, we have nevertheless, following the common opinion, announced him above under that title.
[6] But what of the time in which the Saint lived? I have no documents by which to define it with certainty. Receive a conjecture. conjectures concerning the time in which the Saint lived. It has already been said that he is sometimes painted with a cope; likewise that he was laid up in the church by the hands of monks, and that he is called abbot. But in a letter of Guillaume Baudouin, unknown to us, given on the fourth of December in the year 1680 to Monsieur le Roy (the most illustrious baron of that name, unless I am mistaken, known by his writings), I read it indicated that twenty years earlier, the church being whitewashed, there were found beneath its ancient plasterings, which had been cast down to the ground, images of Benedictines painted on the wall above the columns of the nave. Why therefore could it not have been that Benedictine monks dwelt at Molhain with our Saint before the foundation of the canons, of which above at number 3? But although among Benedictine writers I have hitherto read nothing concerning St. Ermelius or of monks existing there, yet it does not follow from this that they did not dwell there. According to my conjecture, therefore, there seems from what has been said to shine forth some light for attaching the Saint's death to the seventh or eighth century.
[7] It remains that to what we have set forth concerning the Saint's proper Office the proper Office: we should add this very brief observation. In it a few things occur enclosed in the sign of parenthesis (): from which it is permissible to gather that that same Office was read not only on the feast of St. Ermelius, but on another day also. And indeed, if Baudouin just named was rightly informed, it was read on another day too at that time, when, writing in the letter cited above that he was sending the Office of St. Ermelius, he signifies that it is celebrated at Molhain every year, and in all weeks, when at Liège the Office of the Patron is said. We shall give that proper Office, divided into numbers after our manner, the older numbers being retained which were in its text.
§ II. The proper Office of St. Ermelius among the people of Molhain.
At First Vespers, First Antiphon. Hail, illustrious confessor; hail, star now heavenly, adorning, O Ermelius, the heavens; govern us, that we may rejoice, venerating thee our triumphant patron.
II. O Ermelius, confessor of the Lord, strengthen the people standing by with thy holy intercession, that we who are pressed down by the weight of vices may be lifted up by the glory of thy blessedness, and, with thee as leader, may attain the eternal rewards.
III. O holy Ermelius, precious confessor of the Lord, be present at our prayers, kindly and propitious.
IV. As the morning star in the midst of a cloud, and as the sun shining at midday, so did this Man shine in the house of the Lord. V. Good shepherd, Jesus Christ, visit thy sheep; this choir prays through the merits of Ermelius: loose the bonds of our sins and forgive our debts, granting us the kingdoms of heaven by thy accustomed loving-kindness.
[9] Hymn. Let us briskly sing the praises of Ermelius, that for us here he may continually plead with pious voice, the sacred Breath which worthily abides in glory. II. As gold is purified by the fire of the furnace, so is the poor body crowned; thus frequent devotion, firm in faith, is made solid by divers sufferings. III. He fed the needy and the wandering, he fought against magicians, honey watered his lips, he sustained many of the common folk, he loved them with a firm hope, being kindled from on high. IV. To all from whom the power of the spirits is driven off, to the deaf and the blind, there is presently given a honey-flowing antidote; he is found solicitous also in the valley of the waves.
[10] And when he emptied his body for a pleasing dish, he lived on barley bread, on lettuces, and on a cup: wherefore God marked him with many a miracle. VI. Old age grew hoary in him, upheld by true charity; advanced far in pure chastity he flowered again: on which account Christ willed him to be made equal to the Saints. VII. His nuns bewail the death of so great a Lord; they read the ferial psalms above the bed of the man of God; equal in sadness they mourn his end. VIII. He is raised to Olympus by the ranks of the angels; he is straightway set in the seats of the confessors; and by the hands of monks he is laid up in the church. IX. Let us implore his help and patronage, and present to him the homage of heart and mouth, that with him we may be set in the everlasting court. Amen.
[11] Little Chapter. The just man gave his heart, as in the Breviary of Liège, from the common of one confessor pontiff. Responsory before the Magnificat. The illustrious Man Ermelius, being set in this pilgrimage in body alone, dwelt in thought and in longing in that eternal fatherland. ℣. Worthily is he turned into the memory of men, who passed over to the joy of the angels. In that eternal, etc. Glory be to the Father, etc. In that eternal. ℣. Pray for us, blessed father Ermelius, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. At the Magnificat, antiphon. O glorious Confessor, whom God, magnifying, made illustrious in this flesh, that thou mightest deliver those oppressed with divers infirmities and those beset by demons: hear thy servants who venerate thee, that through thee they may obtain from the Lord the heavenly help which they demand. Prayer. O God, who didst deign to choose blessed Hermelius as thy confessor and pontiff, a doctor and preacher of the Catholic faith, grant, we beseech thee, that by his intercession we may be stripped of the evils of our sins, and may deserve to serve thee, O Lord, with pure minds. Through our Lord.
[12] At Matins, invitatory. Let us venerate with most devout mind the King of kings: Who made blessed Ermelius illustrious with grace. In the first nocturn. Antiphon. The blessed man Ermelius meditated day and night in the law of the Lord: he was made a pattern of virtue for the flock committed to him. Antiphon. Preaching the Lord's precept by word and practicing it by deed, he taught his sons to lay hold of the discipline of salvation. Antiphon. For the flock committed to him he cried to the Lord, and he from his holy mountain heard him unto his own salvation and that of his people. ℣. He loved him, etc. ℞. A robe, etc. First ℞. Blessed Ermelius was always patient in adversities, gentle in prosperity, setting all before himself by his diligence in obedience, succoring the needy with abundant compassion. ℣. Having trodden underfoot the tinder of all vices, ascending with rising step the path of the narrow track of a holy manner of life. Succoring the needy.
[13] ℞. Ascending the path with rising step of a holy manner of life, blessed Ermelius cast away whatever was precious, that he might be seen as a guest in the world, and might already be a possessor in heaven. ℣. Running before in the tenor of ecclesiastical custom, being chosen he received the office of the priesthood. That he might be seen as a guest. ℞. Behold a prudent Man, who built his house upon the rock, in whose mouth no guile was found. For God chose him for his inheritance. ℣. The Lord led the just man by right ways, and showed him the kingdom of God. For God. Glory be to the Father. For God.
[14] In the second nocturn. Antiphon. He continually endured calumny while the devil warred against him; but he came as victor by his merits to the crown. Antiphon. But when he now shone with manifold pursuits of virtues through divers spaces of the world, grace increasing, the fame of his most holy life flashed forth. Antiphon. Enriched with the gifts of heaven and the presents of the eternal King, Ermelius, the confessor of Christ, rejoices in heaven. ℣. The just man shall flourish like the palm tree. ℞. Like the cedar.
[15] ℞. St. Ermelius, the house of this habitation being dissolved, by which alone he seemed to be hindered from the entrance of glory, penetrated into holy things the more briskly as he was the more unencumbered, being made like unto them in the glory of the Saints. ℣. This is the day of his glorious migration (commemoration); let us exult and rejoice in it. Being made like. ℞. This is a Saint to whom neither virtue nor glory is lacking; he fought bravely, he strove manfully: and thus at last he is crowned with glory and honor. ℣. Being hedged about with a royal defense, he was in no way overcome by his adversaries. And thus. ℞. The illustrious Man, as above at First Vespers.
[16] In the third nocturn. Antiphon. The faithful and also prudent servant of Christ, Ermelius, after he had lived in his own time for his household, rendered his soul to heaven, and the matter of his flesh to the earth. Antiphon. His earthly body being laid aside (on the day of the feast say today), the holy father, rich in merits, penetrated into holy things, being made like unto them in the glory of the Saints. Antiphon. He held so honorable a course of life while he lived, and offered in himself to all an example of sanctity. ℣. The Lord led the just man, etc. ℞. And showed him, etc. ℞. Today (Ermelius) the most blessed abbot, most worthy of God, being separated from earthly things, has been joined to heavenly ones. ℣. Passing from labor and hardship to rest, from death to life. He has been joined.
[17] ℞. The Lord led the just man by right ways, and showed him the kingdom of God, and gave him the knowledge of the Saints: he honored him in his labors and completed his labors. ℣. For his memory is immortal, since it is known both with God and with men. He honored. ℞. O Father Ermelius, who art become a dweller of heaven, fructifying as a vine by the merits of thy virtues in the kingdoms of the heavens, this choir is not slow to pay thee praises: draw us with thee where thou rejoicest. ℣. Thou, by wiping away by prayer the stains of our evils. Draw with thee. Glory be. Where thou rejoicest.
[18] At Lauds. Antiphon. The illustrious Man Ermelius, ever by pious work, strove to advance from virtue to virtue. Antiphon. He from his adolescence, relying on divine grace, ceased not to pant after the kingdom of everlasting life. Antiphon. As one faithful and prudent, whom God had appointed, he ruled as father a distinguished household of monks. Antiphon. The just man enlarged his people, and gained glory in his manner of life. Antiphon. He so provided by rule to sing praise to God that the mind should equally accord with the voice. Hymn. Let us briskly sing, as above. At the Benedictus, Antiphon. Celebrating the kindly day (or memory) of that most holy Man, let us invoke him for ourselves, that by his suffrages we may deserve, being loosed from the shameful deeds of our faults, to enjoy heaven, in which the blessed Lord makes him, joined to the citizens above, to exult. Prayer as above.
[19] At Second Vespers, Antiphons as at Lauds. Psalms as in the common of a Confessor pontiff at Second Vespers. Hymn: Let us sing, as above at First Vespers, likewise the responsory and verse. At the Magnificat, Antiphon. St. Ermelius is worthily turned into the memory of men, who passed over to the joy of the angels, since, being set in this pilgrimage in body alone, he dwelt in thought and in longing in that eternal fatherland. Prayer as above.
[20] On the feast-day, the Sequence before the Gospel. Let us jubilate to the Savior and devoutly praise together the eminent Priest, the doctor Ermelius. He was a doctor of truth and a destroyer of falsehood, a Vessel of perfect charity among the people of the faithful. He is exalted by Christ, consoled by angels; he execrates the wantonness of the flesh and the rites of the gentiles. He proves Christ by arguments to be the founder of every nation, and confirms by proofs that he is the Son of the most high Father. He drives away diseases and languors, he allays fevers and pains, he renders all more sound through the mystery of the cross. Stripped of the garment of the flesh, given upward by the angels, he is made by Christ
crowned unto everlasting joy. Now let him intercede for us with Christ, who may grant us our peace with pardon. Amen. Let all things say Alleluia.
[21] To this Office there is subjoined the testimony of the very reverend and most worthy lord Dean of the chapter of Molhain in these words: The Office of St. Hermelius, bishop and confessor, patron of the collegiate church of Molhain, described here above, is wont from time immemorial to be sung and read by the canons of that same church every year on the twenty-eighth day of August, which is his birthday. Which I attest, Jean Moysez, Dean and canon of the chapter of Molhain.