Probatius

ON SAINT PROBATIUS, PRIEST, AT NOGENT IN GAUL.

Probatius, Priest, at Nogent in Gaul (Saint)

I. B.

[1] Nogent, or Noientum, was ^a villa in the district of Paris, which (as is said in the Life of Saint Remigius, volume 2 of the Frankish Writers, in Chesne) together with all things pertaining to it, In the district of Saint Cloud near Paris Saint Clodoaldus, son of King Chlodomer and grandson of Clovis I, donated to the Mother Church of the city of Paris, where he had been ordained Priest. In which villa, full of virtues, departing to the Lord, he was buried in peace in the church which he himself had built. It now bears the name of Saint Clodoaldus, commonly Saint Cloud, as Papirius Massonus writes in his Description of France by Rivers, page 252, Jacques Breuil in the Antiquities of Paris, book 4, and Andre Chesne in the Antiquities of the Prefecture of Paris, chapter 4. Saint Clodoaldus is venerated on September 7.

[2] In the same church of Saint Clodoaldus there also exists the memory of Saint Probatius the Priest, Saint Probatius the Priest is venerated whose birthday is said to be celebrated on the Kalends of June June 1, and the Finding of his Relics on the day before the Nones of February February 4; although on neither day does his name appear in any Martyrology that we have seen. The Life, or rather an obscure eulogy of no great importance, together with the history of the Finding, copied from an ancient codex of the same place (as we suppose), we found in the papers of Rosweydus and give here. He lived before the siege of Paris by the Normans, which occurred in the year 886; but how long before, whether perhaps in the very age of Clodoaldus himself, is not established.

LIFE

BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR,

from an ancient manuscript.

Probatius, Priest, at Nogent in Gaul (Saint)

BHL Number: 6943

By an anonymous author, from manuscripts.

CHAPTER 1

The Ordination, Virtues, and Death of Saint Probatius.

[1] The blessed Probatius, outstanding Confessor of the Lord, most worthy of all veneration, having received at the font of sacred baptism, by ^a certain divine presage, such ^a name, examining his deeds with proven scrutiny, was found upright in the sight of the Most High: who, forestalled by deifying grace, [Saint Probatius, according to the etymology of his name, of proven virtue, gradually receives Ecclesiastical orders] having entered upon the beginning of holiness from the very cradle, by continual labors merited that, having ascended step by step through upright deeds without stumbling, he should also step by step be found worthy of Ecclesiastical order. And deservedly: for he had consecrated himself entirely in all things as the seat and temple of God; who, counting as little the things of this world, devoted himself entirely to heavenly meditation. At last, therefore, this preeminent soldier of Christ, having wonderfully trampled upon all worldly luxury, was made the keeper of the sacred vessels, he becomes keeper of sacred vessels, then Priest and arrayed in the priestly garment, he was mystically invested with the ankle-length tunic, devoted to chaste works even to the consummation, continually contending in the manly arena, and against all the allurements of the flesh he typologically subdued all his members by constraining them with ^a linen undergarment.

[2] Truly, bound by perpetual devotion to the Divine worship, and the decrees of the Old Testament, devoted to the study of the Scriptures which some weighed according to the letter, this man of God, just and without complaint, rooted in the Divine edicts, perceiving with mystical understanding the five barley loaves of the Pentateuch opened by divine command, with two fishes prudently placed upon them, he offered himself together with the many before whom he had lived praiseworthy, at the fitting hour, as an immaculate sacrifice. And whatever things have been pursued by any merely according to the letter of the Scriptures, by him, out of love for God, they are known to have been pursued to the very marrow. 2 Corinthians 3:6 For by meditating that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life, whatever he was able to draw in by carnal ear or eye in both precepts of Scripture, he wished to examine, discussing it allegorically according to the mystical understanding. He was determined not to eat blood; because whatever good he could have, he professed to have come not from himself, as if from himself, but from the gift of God. mystically expressing the actions of the Priests of the old law Neither did he permit beasts of different nature to be mixed together; because while he was quickened by the vital spirit, he was unwilling for any believer to be unfaithfully joined with ^a pagan. He did not sow ^a field with diverse seed; because he was unwilling to insert ^a wicked dogma among the words of God in the field of the congregation of the elect. Moreover, he refused to be clothed with ^a garment woven of two materials; because he was not double in heart, so as to appear simple on the outside but proud and pernicious within. Moreover, the fruits that sprout, in whatever way

they were unworthy: by which it is given to understand that the works of novices, however good they may be, should not be taken as an example; lest being puffed up thereby, before they are established, they fall into the snare of the devil. He was to be honored according to the rule -- that is, according to the judgment of the holy Scriptures -- and he knew how to weigh the sins of others on an equal scale as his own. He did not uncover his head; because he never tore from himself the help of God, who is above all. He did not rend his garments: for he did not wander through diverse vices. He did not depart from the holy things; because he always strove never to withdraw from what is good and holy. He took ^a virgin for his wife -- namely, ^a holy and immaculate soul. He was not present as ^a blind man -- that is, as an unlearned one -- because he constantly showed the light of truth to himself and to others. Not lame; because in loving God he did not hate his neighbor, and in receiving the Old Testament he also demonstrated the New in himself. Nor with ^a small or large nose; he had, that is, interior discernment, both small and great. Nor with ^a broken foot; because he obtained ^a whole understanding in good works. Nor hunchbacked; because he did not so love earthly things as to be without heavenly love. Nor blear-eyed; for he did not devote himself to avarice. Nor did he suffer from ^a white film -- namely, cupidity; nor was he overcome by perpetual lust, nor weighed down by vices. Nor was he one with crushed testicles; because he begot others through preaching. Leviticus 22:24

[3] From the earliest bloom of youth, serving Christ, he broke the snares of the world, from boyhood devoted to God, fervent, abstemious, pious and had burned so ardently that, if in those times the occasion of persecution had not been lacking, without delay he would have prepared himself to meet danger. He constrained his members with the bridles of inestimable abstinence, and with assiduous prayers and continual vigils, for the purpose of suppressing worldly desires and attaining spiritual progress. And so, from the very cradle, by Ecclesiastical institutions he made himself an example to the rest, so that he might refresh with sacred devotion and the saving word the very many throngs who flocked to him for the sake of faith, he converts many and might also instruct them by the most evident examples -- tranquil in spirit, serene in appearance: and the grace of the Divinity was with him in all things, which during that time was implanted through innumerable devotions to the Divine service. He lavished upon all ^a discourse of exhortation concerning the vital doctrine, laboring to rescue as many as he could along with himself from the squalors of the worldly prison.

[4] And when frequent gains accrued from his prayers, he strove to spend the night in sacred vigils, he excels in prayer keeping his heart by guarding it in every way, lest it be open to the common adversary, custody of the senses who possesses ^a thousand forms of the art of harming, the rival of all uprightness and the enemy of truth, who directs all his efforts against the soldiers of God, meditating the corruption of all minds: so that he might unexpectedly burst into the dwelling of the Lord, and bursting in corrupt it, and corrupting it tear it apart, love of God and tearing it apart, trample it underfoot. So great was his affection toward his own and everyone's Creator that, as far as he was able, he was found second to none in the Divine contest. First seeking the kingdom of God and His justice, he consequently remembered that those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. Psalm 34:11 His hope placed in God, hope, compunction, vigils, fasting he watered his face with tears, and more frequently, beating his breast with his fists, he drew forth many and innumerable sighs from the depths of his heart, with continual vigils and fasts.

[5] When, therefore, adorned crosswise with the flowers of such great holiness, the man, worthy of imitation by all, flourished in the bloom of his virtue, and like ^a certain solar radiance had shone forth upon his fellow countrymen everywhere, bearing fruit, and by the fragrance of his laborious effort, he dies piously the odor of his good conversation, and the abundance of his good works, had filled far and wide all the neighboring places; having completed the good fight, having finished the course, slipping away from the miseries of the present age, having utterly trampled upon transitory things, and laying aside the burden of the flesh, he adorned himself in the fields of heaven, united in the stars with the host of the heavenly court; thereafter to rejoice eternally, to whose will he always efficaciously strove to commit himself in obedience. Matthew 25:21 and 23 He is invited by these words: "Well done, good and faithful servant, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your Lord." For whom, even if the law of the human condition imposed the debt of death, yet the living signs of the tomb still shine forth. Which will easily be evident if, chosen for the Christ-worshipping host and detained in the Lord's ethereal dwelling, he be presented by our pen. For when the deeds of the Saints are recounted, he is illustrated by miracles the faithful sprout and grow, the faithful flock receives increase through such things, and by its own efforts, as it seems to me, strives toward the heights. But because in an earlier time those things that were more frequently and wonderfully done by him of which the most ancient ones were destroyed by oblivion were utterly consigned to oblivion by the onset of pagan persecution; what is today approved by the testimonies of many, we have thought it worthwhile to commit to writing in what follows: lest so great and most valiant an athlete of the Lord, in whose hands while he lived in this world the burning lamps of his good labor, by the light of both the active and contemplative life, left as ^a most manifest example of upright action to his successors: and therefore the practice of his good work, as one reads, and the contemplation of the Divinity, receives the twofold rest of life. For it is difficult that things which were begun with ^a good start and elaborated by the long effort of sacred meditation should end badly. For indeed by the continual exercise of thought he turned over in his mind what we recite as once wisely affirmed by ^a certain one: namely, that he who waits for the time to live well is like the peasant who wishes to cross ^a river and waits until the whole of it has flowed past. Horace, book 1, epistle 2, verse 42

CHAPTER 2

The Finding of the Relics of Saint Probatius. Miracles.

[6] Truly, bending our pen back to the matter at hand, we have thought it fitting to set down how the veteran of the Lord, Probatius, by what signs he became known to the present age: so that it may be clearly evident how great is the care of almighty God for those who serve Him. While the Normans ravage Gaul, his relics are buried When the attacks of the Northern Pagans arriving from the overseas regions were threatening nearly all the Western parts of Gaul, the Confessor of Christ and most high Priest Probatius was hidden by the custodian of his place, in the ground of ^a certain vineyard that had been dug up: lest, with the holy thing given to dogs, France should -- God forbid -- be deprived of so great ^a Patron.

[7] In which place the Saint of God lay hidden just so long, until at last the piety of God was seen, having perceived with the ear of His clemency the affliction of the Christian people and the sighs of scarcely tolerable groanings, when peace was restored to impose an end on so many and such nearly unheard-of calamities. What more? When the light of tranquility had been restored to the climate of Gaul by the prayers of the Saints, the almighty dispensation did not wish to be concealed any longer beneath the earth him whose spirit, with the stars placed beneath him, reigns with Him in the celestial Zion forever. accidentally discovered Therefore, on ^a day ordained by God, on which so great ^a treasure, long hidden and denied too long to those above, should be restored to the world; on ^a certain day the steward of the aforesaid vineyard, when he was diligently cultivating it according to custom, approaching the place where the members of the most precious Confessor and divine athlete Probatius had been buried out of fear of the Pagans, as we have already stated; the earth having been torn up, the hoe he was holding, by Divine providence, immediately dislocated his jaw from the original position that nature had dictated: the jaw of the one who found the relics was twisted yet he was not deprived of the faculty of speech. Nor indeed was he punished with such ^a sign by Divine vengeance for this deed, but so that the heavenly gem of the diadem, hidden too long under ^a bushel, having found the occasion, might be presented to the radiance of the lamp. A report of this kind was made to the Bishop of the city of Paris at that time. Without delay Clerics went to the same place, together with an innumerable multitude of both sexes from the surrounding area: and when ^a salutary fast had been proclaimed to all, the question of what should be done was inquired about, while the people pray and fast with such copious assistance of intercession. When suddenly the aforesaid cultivator, groaning with many wails, by the intervention of the memorable

Confessor felt the heavenly remedy present to him, and was refreshed with the longed-for relief: he raised his voice to the heavens, proclaiming with great eagerness in full voice that some Saint lay hidden there, concerning whom great care was held by the Divine Majesty. restored

[8] Immediately thereupon ^a small hut, ^a modest shelter, was built there, a chapel having been built so that it might be handed down to the memory of successors that the body of ^a holy man rested there. To which, when the report of the earlier event had been spread abroad, many sick people came flocking and immediately obtained the salutary health of soul and body. many are healed And when the praiseworthy fame, suddenly propagated far and wide, had begun to be promulgated by traveling all around; more and more the place of his burial, by Divine dispensation, was made illustrious by the grace of signs. Therefore God began to be magnified in His Saint, and the works of great power to be propagated by more magnificent successes. A diverse concourse of the people flowed together to his tomb, those who flock there from every side humbly awaiting the salutary blessing by the merits of the holy Confessor. And beyond any distinction of age, sex, or person, all who faithfully invoked the blessed man obtained the rewards of healings. And so the heavenly medicine, infused into human members, having bestowed upon all the preservation of well-being, permitted them to return to their homes rejoicing. In this way the gratuitous bounty of the Almighty more vehemently magnified the grace He had bestowed upon His soldier. Whoever's members the fire of fever had miserably consumed with excessive heat, those with fevers when the excessive heat was cast off, rejoiced shortly after to feel his marrow revived with its innate vigor. the paralyzed, etc. Whoever, dissolved by paralysis, could scarcely exercise the function of any member, by the Saint's intercession felt the former function restored to his limbs. All, therefore, who attempted to approach the Saint's tomb with reverence, abundantly sprinkled with the dew of heavenly medicine, returned joyfully to their homes by the aid of Christ the Savior, having obtained their health, with great wonder and exultation together.

[9] One day, with the common crowd abundantly rushing together from every side, but unable to help one another, when the banks of the Seine were thronged with the innumerable footsteps of those arriving, by chance no ship of any kind was at all available at the farther bank for them to cross the river. a ship, loosened of its own accord, carries the visitors across the Seine A cry went up to heaven, and the wretched crowd pierced the stars with ^a lamentable wail: unspeakable laments, with the aids of blessed Probatius advancing, were present to heavenly mercy. And so, with the Lord inclining His ear to so many and such great groans, hastening to free His own also from manifold ailments by the intercession of His Confessor, by Divine command, ^a certain ship that had been fastened by mooring stakes on the farther bank near the Saint's tomb, loosened without ^a boatman, in ^a manner guided as it were by an Angel, crossed that river; and by the deed it commanded what the tongue, nature refusing, could not utter. All were dumbfounded with astonishment and shaken mutually, and as if caught up in ecstasy, from excessive admiration they placed their fingers upon their mouths. At last, adopting ^a wiser counsel, they immediately boarded the ship; and straightway, with only ^a heavenly rower managing the sail, the boat, filled with the gathered populace, returned to the farther bank from which it had first been driven. And immediately, when all who had entrusted themselves to it had been disembarked, it continued to do the same, until all who had flocked together for the sake of healing had been transported across, and such ^a deed, so worthy of being proclaimed with praise, declared God to be wonderful in His Saints. The place of the precious burial was visited by them all: the intolerable groaning of the sick was raised on high: mourning was changed to joy: by the infusion of the Divine dew, heavenly medicine was poured out upon all in throngs; and by the members of the Saint lying beneath the earth, the multitude of the assembled people was healed.

c. By God?