ON SAINT GUARINUS, CARDINAL OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH, BISHOP OF PRAENESTE,
Year of Christ 1159.
Preliminary Commentary
Guarinus, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Bishop of Praeneste (Saint)
I. B.
[1] The Church of Praeneste (whose Bishop, as Ferdinando Ughelli writes in volume 1 of his Italia Sacra, has from time immemorial been one of the seven cardinal Bishops Saint Guarinus, Bishop of Praeneste, born at Bologna, who attend the Pontifical throne in a closer degree of dignity) was undertaken for governance near the end of the year 1144 by Saint Guarinus, born at Bologna of a noble family, whether of the Guarini, as Carlo Sigonio relates in book 2 of his On the Bishops of Bologna, Ughelli at the cited place, and Alfonso Ciacconio in his History of the Pontiffs; or of the Fuscari, as either the same Ciacconio or those who interpolated his work, and Gabriel Pennottus in the Tripartite History of Canons Regular have it; or finally of the Fuscarari, not sufficiently established from which family: as Onuphrius Panvinius in his work on the Roman Pontiffs, Cherubino Ghirardacci in book 2 of his history of Bologna, and the Offices of the Canons Regular of the Lateran printed in 1634 have it. In support of the Guarini, Ughelli adduces Saint Guarinus's family coat of arms: a bull erect and panting, with a collar about its neck. Ciacconio, however, attributes different arms to him, even in the latest edition, for the preparation of which Ughelli himself also lent his labor. Perhaps his paternal lineage was from one of these families and his maternal lineage from another; and if Fuscaria and Fuscararia are not one and the same, his grandmother may have been from the third, so that all might justly claim for themselves a share of the honor that redounds to his kinsmen from his dignity and sanctity. Pennottus and Ciacconio say that he was a kinsman of Pope Lucius II, who was himself also a Bolognese, previously called Gerard Caccianemici.
[2] Guarinus was first a cleric of the Church of Bologna. But out of zeal for greater perfection, he embraced the institute of the Canons Regular; at which place, he becomes a Canon Regular at Mortara, the writers do not sufficiently agree. Sigonio, Ghirardacci, and Ciacconio hold that it occurred in the monastery of Saint Mary situated near the Reno river, three miles from the city of Bologna. The proper Offices of the Canons Regular, the latest edition of Ciacconio of the year 1630, and Pennottus in book 3, chapter 50, assert that it took place at Mortara in the territory of Milan. For how otherwise could his virtue have become known to the people of Pavia if he had lived near Bologna, at so great a distance from there? Ughelli, in volume 1 of his Italia Sacra, writes that he was called to the episcopate from being a Canon of Saint Mary on the Reno, or, as others hold, or (as some hold) near Bologna: from the monastery of the Holy Cross at Mortara. Pennottus in Note 8 on the Offices of the Canons Regular reconciles the disagreeing opinions of the writers thus: "Some make him a Canon of the monastery of the Reno near Bologna; which matters little, since the Canons of Mortara, the Lateran, and the Reno were then of the same profession, if not of the same congregation. For which reason those who belonged to one were recorded in the Necrologies and Menologies of another congregation."
[3] When he had avoided the episcopate of Pavia, to which he was being virtually dragged by force, by flight and hiding, he was afterward made Cardinal Bishop of Praeneste by Pope Lucius II in December of the year 1144, he is made Bishop of Praeneste and Cardinal in 1144 against his will, and (as it is said in the latest edition of Ciacconio) with the obligation of obedience imposed upon him. In the earlier edition of 1601, however, these words appear concerning him: "A celebrated monument of his piety toward the wretched also stands, namely the Hospital erected in his homeland, which they call that of Saint Job. Ghinius writes that he constructed and founded it from his paternal goods." Ghirardacci in book 2, at the year of Christ 1141, narrates it thus: "In the same year, Cardinal Guerrinus Fuscararius built a hospital at Bologna, he founds a hospital at Bologna: which is now called that of Saint Job, with revenues assigned so that the poor of Christ might be aided, as is recorded in his Life, which is preserved by the Canons of the Holy Savior." But Guarinus was not yet a Cardinal in that year, for the same Ghirardacci himself afterward records that he was first co-opted into that body in 1144. If it was founded from his paternal goods, as Ghinius attests, it must have been done much earlier; afterward, if by a Cardinal. Antonio Masini, in his survey of Bologna, writes that he founded that hospital from his paternal goods in 1141.
[4] He died at last, full of merits, in the year 1159, being more than seventy years of age, he dies in 1159. having spent forty years in the canonical life (as Ghirardacci, Ciacconio, and others cited by Pennottus in book 3, chapter 50 affirm), fifteen in the episcopate, and in the world not many more than twenty, during which he is said to have been a youth of noble disposition and proven virtue who, spurning the laxer life of his companions, embraced the regular institute. Whence you may refute Ciacconio, at what age? Ghinius, and Masini, who write that he died at the age of 110. Who could find it credible that a man of 95 years, broken by old age, was finally admitted to the episcopal dignity?
[5] He was afterward numbered among the Saints by Pontifical authority, and indeed (if we follow Philippus Ferrarius) by Pope Alexander III, he is canonized by Alexander III who had himself also been a Canon Regular of the Lateran, as Panvinius records, and was proclaimed Pontiff in September of the same year in which Guarinus died, and himself died on the twenty-sixth of November in the year 1181.
[6] he is venerated on February 6. Saint Guarinus is venerated by the Canons Regular of the Lateran, as is clear from their proper Offices, on the sixth of the Ides of February, with the rite of a double. Concerning him, the manuscript Florarium says: "Likewise of Saint Narrinus, Bishop, Cardinal, and Canon Regular." Canisius, and Molanus in his additions to Usuard: enrolled in Martyrologies. "At Praeneste, of the holy Bishop and Confessor Garinus." The Roman Martyrology: "At Bologna, of Saint Guarinus, Bishop and Cardinal of Praeneste, renowned for the sanctity of his life." More extensively about him writes Constantinus Ghinius, cited frequently above, in his Birthdays of the Saints of the Canons, and Ferrarius in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy.
[7] Augustinus of Pavia, a Canon of the Lateran congregation, who lived around the year 1500 and afterward, wrote among other things a Life of Saint Guarinus, by whom was his Life written? which was also published by Surius; from which we give it here. Pennottus, in his Notes on the Offices of the Canons Regular, testifies the following concerning the Life of this holy Bishop: "I also saw the same Life of his, published with certain books of the Reverend Father Augustinus at Parma in 1491, under the care of Severinus Calcus, Provost of the Holy Cross at Mortara, of which the version found in Surius seems to be a compendium." We have not yet been able to see that larger version.
LIFE
by Augustinus of Pavia, published from a manuscript by Laurentius Surius.
Guarinus, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Bishop of Praeneste (Saint)
BHL Number: 8816
By Augustinus of Pavia, from a manuscript.
[1] Saint Guarinus, a nobleman of Bologna. Blessed Guarinus, Confessor of Christ, illustrious in lineage, a native of Bologna, shone forth to illumine the darkness of this world like a most splendid star. From the stock of his family there was a certain Septimus, a Bishop, who, as a worker of miracles through his learning and piety, brought renown to the Catholic Church. When he had resolved to set out for Jerusalem, in order to lead an eremitical life thereafter in Egypt, and had tarried a little while at Rome, he was detained by the Apostolic See and ordained Bishop of the Church of Rieti. There he led a life of admirable devotion for a short time, and then, persevering in his former purpose, attained the eremitical austerity he desired in the regions of Egypt, in a vast and longed-for solitude.
[2] devoted to piety from boyhood, This illustrious man Guarinus, therefore, nurtured from his earliest age by the diligence of his parents and educated in good morals, was intent not on the frivolities customary to boyhood, but on sacred letters; and just as he gave himself assiduously, so too did he give himself strenuously to fasting, prayers, and divine contemplation. And so, as this new planting grew day by day, watered by heavenly teaching, under the discipline of the Holy Spirit and tending toward the perfection of the religious and canonical life, his yet unformed and tender age was being shaped. For the Spirit of devoted piety cultivated the mind of the boy, and inscribing upon the tablet of his heart the rudiments of both the fear and the love of God, directed the gaze of his mind to the summit of humility and obedience; and he merited to continually increase the talent of divine grace bestowed upon him through the merits of good works.
[3] When Blessed Guarinus then became a young man, against the wishes of his relatives,c who desired posterity from him, embracing the footsteps of Christ with all his heart, he was honorably ordained a cleric in the greater Church of Bologna. he becomes a Cleric: But when this youth of noble disposition and proven virtue saw his companions clothed in soft garments, seeking not the things of Jesus Christ but pursuing their own interests: but each his own, he himself, poor in spirit, began to devote himself more strictly to divine service; and by a pure and sincere devotion to God, having despised and trampled upon earthly enticements, seeking heavenly things with a courageous spirit, he was striving to attain the beloved perfection of divine love. And in order to pour out assiduous and ardent prayers to almighty God for the confirmation of this resolution, he frequented solitary places, and despised the glory of the passing world all the more sublimely, the more he recognized at the summit of his mind that nothing in the love of God can be taken away.
[4] Instructed therefore by these most holy pursuits, he hastened to the Canonry of the Holy Cross at Mortara,d and there, having put on the habit of the Canons Regular according to the Rule of Saint Augustine with great desire, he becomes a Canon Regular: he merited in a short time to attain the summit of perfection. For, intent upon the pursuit of virtues for many years, he advanced to further things; and he chose the best part with Mary, and sitting at the mouth of his cave, suspended by divine desires toward eternal things, he perceived the whisper of a gentle breeze sounding silently in his heart. For the solace of his pilgrimage and to soothe the hardships of his temporal exile, he dug most carefully into the wells of the Scriptures, from which he might ceaselessly draw living water; and in this night of mortality he demanded three loaves from a friend, so that, he devotes himself to contemplation, thus refreshed with the water of renewal and nourished with the solidity of bread, he might at last vigorously and happily penetrate the secrets of divine contemplation on the mountain of God, Horeb.
[5] Having then been sent to the Church of Saint Fridian,e he was received there most kindly and reverently by his fellow canons. For among the brethren he was like a servant in humility and obedient service, a teacher in word, a master by example. He meditated intently upon death as though it were imminent daily; he meditated constantly on death which meditation is indeed the destroyer of all sins, according to what is written: "In all your works remember your last end, and you shall never sin." Sirach 7:40 For where there is no fear of death, there is dissolution of life; where dissolution of life, there is abundance of sins; where finally abundance of sins, there also is the perdition of the soul. For fear always corrects, removes complacency, begets solicitude, puts torpor to flight, rouses the spirit, casts down pride, nourishes humility, increases charity, and multiplies virtues. He who fears God renounces sins in word, deed, thought,
and in all his movements; avoiding occasions of sin, he strives to keep himself, his body, and the whole life of his soul unharmed from evil. Revolving these things constantly in his mind, Saint Guarinus prepared himself for the service of God and fought unceasingly against the concupiscences of the flesh. Finally, voluntarily and humbly submitting his neck to the yoke of holy obedience, he strove to serve the heavenly Lord in holiness and justice.
[6] It happened, however, that when after a few years he had returned to the Canonry of Mortara and had dwelt there for some time, since the fame of his virtue had long been established and he daily grew more illustrious in virtues before God and men, it came about by divine will that the Church of Paviaf was deprived of its own Bishop; and thus, by the inspiration of God, by the common vote of all, both clergy and the whole people electedg Blessed Guarinus as Bishop. And when the clergy and people had gathered the offered Bishopric of Pavia he declines by hiding: to lift him up and proclaim the election, Blessed Guarinus began to resist with all his strength, saying that he was unworthy to be made Bishop who had not first been proven in teaching and the habits of virtue. And when he would by no means consent, an opportunity being provided by a certain Archdeacon who aspired to that episcopate, the holy man, who had previously been detained in a confined place, was let down through a window, his guards having been deceived; and thus he remained hidden until another was consecrated Bishop there. And so at last Blessed Guarinus, having obtained his desire, returned to his brethren, his fellow canons, and lived among them like a simple creature. For Blessed Guarinus became a faithful imitator of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, when the crowds wished to make him King, refused; and he likewise offered through this an example of imitation, lest under the occasion of prelacy the boat of his mind should be imperiled by the swelling of pride. John 6:15
[7] he is made Bishop of Praeneste: After some time, however, Pope Lucius II of happy memory, a Bolognese by birth, as his fame grew, made every possible effort to bring Blessed Guarinus to himself. The true friend of God, persisting in the custody of humility, piously refused the Pontiff's entreaty, declaring that what was being asked of him exceeded his merit, and that he who had spent forty years in the monastery feared to return to temporal cares. Conquered at length by the Pontiff's insistence and by the exhortation of his Superior, he traveled to Rome and was consecrated Bishop of Praeneste.
[8] a lover of poverty, And when he had received from the Pontiff as a gift a costly horse and other episcopal furnishings, he immediately sold everything and distributed the proceeds to the poor. Meanwhile there was rejoicing and general applause among the people; the favor and glory of Christ were extolled immeasurably, and the name of Saint Guarinus was celebrated with the highest praises in the city. Moreover, he refreshed the clergy and people with wholesome nourishment, and distributed food and clothing to the poor with his own hands. He dwelt in a place near the church of Praeneste, giving himself entirely to fasting and prayers and devoting himself to all other works of piety. generous to the poor: An evangelical merchant, he set the pearl of everlasting life above precious riches.
[9] At length, weighed down by old age and desiring to be dissolved and to be with Christ, also foreseeingh the laying down of his tabernacle, he summoned the entire clergy to himself. Although temporal life had always been distasteful to him, he dies, as heaven shines in the night. yet at that time he was carried away with a more ardent impulse of the mind to contemplate the beauty of Christ. Finally, after his salutary counsels, God willed him to enter the path of all flesh by the common law of mortals. For on the following night the whole sky shone with immense light; and at the last such brightness flashed forth that in the clear air the radiance of the sun appeared. As the dawn of the sun drew near, Saint Guarinus, resplendent with glory, freed from the bonds of the flesh, departed with joy to the life that can be closed by no end, on the sixth day of February. Then this Confessor of Christ, dear to all, shining with signs of virtues on earth and living by his merits in heaven, was laid to rest with due veneration by the hands of the priests in the tomb and church of the blessed Martyr Agapitus.i
[10] A demoniac healed by his merits: The glory of the holy man and the solemnity of his feast, dispersed far and wide to the neighboring regions round about, immediately drew them to devotion to him. On that very day, a certain woman tormented by a demon went about the city of Albano, and the devil spoke through her, saying: "Today a Bishop has departed to heaven, by whose prayers I, wretch that I am, shall be expelled." Immediately, when the possessed woman reached the tomb of the blessed man, the demon began to pour forth insults against the holy man through her mouth; but the woman, delivered by his prayers, hastened to embrace the tomb of the Confessor and rendered her vows of thanksgiving to him by whose ministry she had been so healed. Whence it came about that, at the sight of this miracle, lamps at the tomb divinely lit. when lamps were hung before the tomb, they were immediately lit without the application of fire, in the sight of all, by the grant of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Notes