Vedastus

ON ST. VEDASTUS, BISHOP OF ARRAS IN BELGICA SECUNDA,

CIRCA THE YEAR 540.

Preliminary Commentary.

Vedastus, Bishop of Arras in Belgium (Saint)

By G. H.

Section I. The Bishoprics of Arras and Cambrai, formerly united. Were there other Bishops there before St. Vedastus?

[1] The Atrebates, called by Ptolemy Atrebatioi, by some Atrabates and Atrauates, were ^a very well known people of Belgica Secunda, whose capital was formerly Nemetocenna, or Nemetocerna, then called Nemetacum and Nimetacum. In Belgica Secunda, Arras When this name later fell out of use, the city was called, from the people themselves, Civitas Atrebatum, or Atrebatta. Ptolemy judged the capital of the Atrebates to be Origiacum, whose name appears to have attached itself to another town of nearly the same district, commonly called Orchies. When later — whether as the Roman empire declined, or rather under the first Frankish Kings, who obtained power over the Gauls — the regions were divided into various pagi, this city of Arras was included in the pagus Adertisus, or Adartesus; whence the inhabitants were called Adartesii and Artesii, and there is still among the Belgian provinces the celebrated County of Artois, extending widely through the territory of the Morini. Where the Nervii bordered on the Atrebates, there stands their illustrious city of Cambrai, still called by its ancient name. and Cambrai, episcopal sees formerly united. Both cities long had the same Bishops until the year of Christ 1094, when ^a separate Bishop was given to the Church of Arras. Whether St. Vedastus presided over both, we shall investigate below. Baldericus, later Bishop of Noyon, wrote ^a Chronicle of both; he had previously been secretary to Gerard I, Liebert, and Gerard II, the last Bishops of the still united see. This author states in his preface that this Chronicle was compiled by him from the Annals and histories of the Fathers, or also from the deeds of Kings, and likewise from charters which are still in the archive of the Church itself; and he indicates that he found no Bishop of these cities, nor any other preacher of the divine word, older than St. Vedastus, of whom we here treat. For, as he says in book 1, chapter 5, ^a certain darkness of antiquity has excluded from our memory the first Fathers of those Churches — indeed, those things which, on account of sins, the persecution of the Pagans overturned among the Churches of Gaul; which persecution is recorded to have raged against the Christian people to such ^a degree that the Christians of that time celebrated the divine mysteries in hiding places. Thus Baldericus.

[2] Among these first Fathers, others assign Sagericus, or Gangericus, and Diogenes, or Giogenes, as Bishops. The Book of Chronicles with images printed at Nuremberg in the year 1493 Under the Romans there was no Bishop Sagericus there, records on folio 107 that under Trajan there flourished Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon; Lucian of Beauvais, ^a disciple of Blessed Peter; Sanctinus, Bishop of Meaux, ^a disciple of Dionysius; Taurinus, Bishop of York (rather, of Evreux); Sagericus, Bishop of Cambrai, ^a disciple of Dionysius; and others. The Centuriators of Magdeburg, Century 2, chapter 10, among the Gallic teachers, listing nearly the same Bishops, make the same error in placing Taurinus as Bishop of York, and join to him Gangericus, whom they make his brother, as Bishop of Cambrai, who had previously been ^a disciple of Dionysius. On August 11, both St. Taurinus, Bishop of Evreux, who is St. Gaugericus. and St. Gaugericus, Bishop of Cambrai, are venerated — whom those disturbers of ecclesiastical antiquity joined together as brothers and as bishops ordained at the same time, when in fact they are separated from each other by many centuries. For the Clergy and people of Cambrai petitioned King Childebert of Austrasia to have St. Gaugericus ordained for them; and the King immediately wished their desires to be fulfilled, sending letters to Aegidius of Reims, as his Acts teach. This Childebert began to reign having scarcely completed one lustrum of his age, as Gregory of Tours relates, book 5 of the History of the Franks, chapter 1, on the day of the Lord's Nativity in the year 575; he died in the year 596. But when the aforementioned Aegidius, by the command of Childebert in the fifteenth year of his reign, the year of Christ 590, was driven into exile, Romulfus was ordained Bishop of Reims, as the same Gregory relates, book 10, chapter 19. Concerning St. Irenaeus mentioned above, who obtained the palm of martyrdom at the beginning of the third century, we shall treat on June 28; and concerning St. Sanctinus on September 22. We treated of St. Lucian of Beauvais on January 8, where we gave more on the time of his martyrdom and that of other Apostles of Gaul; and we shall treat more fully in the Life of St. Dionysius on October 9.

[3] We do not believe, meanwhile, that Apostolic men were lacking who, in the territories of Arras and Cambrai, planted the faith of Christ even when Gentile Emperors held sway, these peoples were Christians under the Romans, inasmuch as Saints Fuscian and Victoricus preached Christ to the Morini and the Ambiani, between whom the Atrebates were situated — and they were later crowned with martyrdom among the Ambiani on December 11. At the same time, Saints Piatus, Eubertus, and Chrysolius brought the name and Gospel of Christ into the territories situated along the river Lys; and Chrysolius was buried at Comines, Piatus and Eubertus at Seclin. After the faith of Christ began to flourish under Christian Emperors, then the Notice of the Provinces and Cities of Gaul was drawn up, according to which, in the Province of Belgica Secunda, especially under Christian Emperors; under the Metropolis of the City of Reims, are read the City of the Atrebates and the City of the Cameracenses. But that Notice is judged by certain learned men to be civil rather than ecclesiastical; Baldericus, book 1, chapter 7, attributes that Notice to Pope St. Dionysius and believed it to be ecclesiastical, indicating episcopal sees.

[4] Meanwhile, the Vandals and Alans, according to the Chronicle of Prosper, in the consulship of Arcadius VI and Probus, in the year of Christ 406, having suffered persecution from the Vandals, crossed the Rhine and entered Gaul on the day before the Kalends of January. By these and other barbarians, as St. Jerome laments in Epistle 11 to the widow Ageruchia, Mainz, once ^a noble city, was captured and overthrown, and many thousands of men were slaughtered in the church. The Vangiones were destroyed by ^a long siege; the most powerful city of Reims, the Ambiani, the Atrebates, the Morini at the edge of the world, Tournai, the Nemetes, Strasbourg, Aquitaine, the Nine Peoples, the province of Lyon, and the Narbonensian province — everything was laid waste except ^a few cities; and this occurred chiefly in the years 407 and the following. in the years 407 and 408, For in the consulship of Honorius VIII and Theodosius III, in the year 409, according to the same Chronicle of Prosper, the Vandals occupied Spain. Idatius joins to these Vandals the Alans and the Suevi. Flodoard, book 1 of his History of Reims, chapter 6, reports that in this incursion of the barbarians, St. Nicasius, Bishop of Reims, together with his sister Eutropia and other Christians, was killed by the Vandals. But since he asserts that with him among the Bishops in Gaul shone forth the glorious men — the most blessed Anianus, Bishop of Orleans, holy Lupus of Troyes, and blessed Servatius of Tongres — and certain others distinguished for their virtues, it may appear that St. Nicasius lived until the invasion of the Huns, as is read in his Acts, which will be investigated more carefully at the feasts of the said Bishops: St. Nicasius on December 14, St. Anianus on November 17, St. Lupus on July 29 — to whom St. Servatius is wrongly joined, having died long before, and from the Huns in the year 450. on May 13. In the latter persecution, as is said below in the Acts, number 14, Attila, King of the Huns, laid waste the city of Arras with sword and fire, and poured out the blood of the servants of God around the altars of the Most High King, etc. These things occurred around the year of Christ 450. After the Huns were defeated the following year, the Franks thereafter, under Merovech and Childeric, established their kingdom in these regions, under whom — still Pagans — the Christians were unable to return to ^a flourishing cultivation of religion; and thus the darkness of antiquity has excluded from our memory (as Baldericus laments) the deeds, and indeed even the names, of the aforementioned Martyrs of Arras.

[5] One person who is brought forward by more recent writers is Diogenes, killed in some incursion of the barbarians. The first whom we find mentioning him whether Diogenes was their Bishop, is Christianus Massaeus, who in the year 1509 was summoned to Cambrai by Bishop Jacobus de Croy, and there presided over the public schools for the instruction of youth. In the Chronicle of the World written by him, he notes in book 13, at the year 415, among the Bishops of Cambrai, whose catalogue he inserts, that the first of all those who have been committed to memory was Diogenes, ^a Martyr in the time of the Vandals. The same name is found in ^a French manuscript catalogue of the Bishops of Cambrai up to the said Jacobus de Croy, so that Massaeus himself appears to have been either the author of that list or that another certainly excerpted it from his Chronicle. Ferreolus Locrius, pastor of St. Nicholas among the Atrebates, in his Belgian Chronicle, continued to the year 1600, reports that the same man is recorded in the registers of the Cathedral Church a Greek by nationality, in these words: "A certain Diogenes, ^a Greek by nationality, in the time of the Vandal persecution, which raged cruelly in the kingdom and in the churches of the same kingdom of the Franks, was sent from the Roman Pontiff into Gaul for the sake of preaching, and was consecrated Bishop by ^a certain Archbishop of Reims of that time. sent from Rome; but not to the Franks: He first preached at Arras." So those registers, in which it is erroneously stated that the kingdom of the Franks existed in Gaul at the time of the Vandal persecution — for Clodio, who ruled the Franks from the year 428 to 448, was the first to occupy Gaul as far as the river Somme; against which incursion the Atrebates appear to have been defended by the Roman generals Aetius and Majorian, by whom the Franks are said by Sidonius Apollinaris, in his fifth Poem (or Panegyric dedicated to this Majorian), to have been routed at the village of Helena. What place Helena was, also called Hedena, is disputed: for some it is Lens, which town Baldericus, book 2, chapter 22, called Lenense castrum; for others it is Houdaing or Olhain of the pagus; for some it is the town of Hesdin. For the rest, there is ^a constant consensus of writers that Cambrai was seized in the first Frankish incursion; Sigebert dates that incursion to the year 445.

[6] Second, the same registers, in which Diogenes is said to have been sent into Gaul in the time of the Vandal persecution, in the time of the Vandal persecution? when Pope St. Innocent governed the Church, are refuted by the same Locrius, Riasius in his Belgica Christiana, Coluenerius in his Notes on book 1 of Baldericus, chapter 5, and others — who hold that he was sent from Rome by Pope Siricius in the year 390. But Guilielmus Gazaeus, in his Ecclesiastical History of Belgium, reports that he was sent around the year 368 or 370, whether he was ^a Martyr under them, when Pope St. Damasus presided over the Church. Third, whereas the aforesaid registers are silent on the matter, all attribute martyrdom to him, and generally in the Vandal persecution; and they add the name of St. Nicasius, Bishop of Reims, by whom Diogenes was both ordained Bishop and delegated to the Atrebates, as the same Locrius writes. Molanus at February 6, in the eulogy of St. Vedastus, says it is reported that Diogenes, or Giogenes, Bishop of Arras, received the crown of martyrdom through the ferocity of the Huns. or under the Huns? Given the silence of Flodoard, Baldericus, and other ancient writers, we can pronounce nothing certain about this Diogenes, fearing some confusion here, which we have already demonstrated above regarding Sagericus or Gangericus. Nevertheless, Franciscus le Bar, in his manuscript monastic collections, volume 5, part 2, establishes this Sagericus as the first Bishop and adds Diogenes as the second. Both are listed and called Saints by Vinchantus, book 1 of the Annals of Hainaut, chapter 22, and by Catullius in his Syntagma of Tournai 2. Coluenerius rejects the former, whom he had found called St. Siagrius in ^a manuscript book of the monastery of Honnecourt, and sent as Bishop to the city of Cambrai by Pope St. Evaristus. But he says that it is established by tradition — which we have already discussed — that St. Diogenes presided over the Church of Arras. If we find anything more certain, we shall treat of him again on December 14, on which day Molanus adds to the eulogy of St. Nicasius that certain writers refer ^a certain Bishop and Martyr Diogenes of Arras to the same time. Sigebert establishes St. Vedastus as the first Bishop of Arras.

Section II. The age of Saints Remigius and Vedastus; the episcopate of each. The conversion of the Franks to the faith.

[7] We traced the origin, settlements, migrations, and division into various kingdoms of the Franks, with an accurate chronology, on February 1 in the Life of St. Sigebert, St. Remigius was born in the year 435. King of those same Franks of the first Merovingian dynasty, and in the Treatise on the Bishops of Maastricht. Before these Franks occupied Gaul, the future Apostle of the Franks, St. Remigius, had already been born, around the year 435. he became Bishop in the year 457: He was then ordained Bishop of the Church of Reims in the twenty-second year of his age, around the year 457, when Childeric had already been ruling the Franks for ^a second year; Childeric died in the year 479, and his son Clovis, who then succeeded him, counts the first year of his reign as the year of Christ 480. St. Vedastus, already born some time before, had by that time grown into an eminent man. Concerning him and St. Remigius and the latter's brother, Sigebert writes in his Chronicle at the year 486: "In Gaul there shine Remigius of Reims, with him flourishes St. Vedastus, Priest, in the year 486: and Principius his brother, Bishop of Soissons, and Vedastus, afterwards Bishop of Arras." Richard Wassenburgius, book 2 of the Antiquities of Belgium, and Locrius following him at the year of Christ 486, say that he was ^a nephew of St. Firminus, Bishop of Verdun, whose feast day is May 4 — but for us to firmly agree with them, more ancient sources would need to be produced. Rasius in his Belgica Christiana writes that the same St. Vedastus was first consecrated by St. Remigius as Bishop of Toul; which we entirely reject. he was not Bishop of Toul: Toul was in Belgica Prima under the Metropolis of Trier. Nor is there any mention of Vedastus in the catalogues of the Bishops of Toul; and below in the Acts, number 5, he is called ^a holy Priest of God and an Evangelical Preacher, who in number 7 with praiseworthy devotion served God alone and gathered the sweetest fruits of the contemplative life; and who was long afterward, as we shall soon say, ordained Bishop for the people of Arras. He is also said to have been consecrated Bishop of the Church of Arras by St. Remigius in the ancient Martyrologies cited below — not of Toul, therefore. Meanwhile, King Clovis, he leads Clovis to St. Remigius for baptism: returning after his victory over the Alamanni obtained in the year 494, recognized him at the town of Toul; and taking him as ^a companion on the journey, he hastened to St. Remigius to be baptized, which we have shown on February 5, in the Life of St. Avitus, section 4, to have occurred on the feast of the Nativity of Christ.

[8] St. Vedastus, commended to St. Remigius by the King, to whom he was very dear, was promoted to the Bishopric of Arras, he is ordained Bishop of Arras, not in the year 531, nor 530. but authors differ as to the time. Sigebert, who had said that he flourished in the year 486, being insufficiently mindful of himself, writes at the year 531 that the first Bishop of the Atrebates was ordained by St. Remigius. The same year or the preceding 530 is marked by very many authors: Massaeus, book 13 of the Chronicle; Meyer, book 1 of the Annals of Flanders; Locrius, and others. Baronius, in his Notes on the Roman Martyrology on this February 6, defers his ordination to the year of Christ 542. The Lessons of the Breviary of Arras, nor 542, reprinted at Douai in the year 1632 with the Proper Offices of Feasts of the same Church, establish that St. Vedastus was ordained Bishop and directed to the city of Arras when St. Remigius held the authority of Pope Hormisdas throughout the Kingdom of the Franks. nor in the time of Pope Hormisdas, which was the year 514, Whatever may be said about this dignity and authority of Vicar granted to St. Remigius, which Charles of St. Paul, Bishop of Avranches, regards with suspicion in book 5 of the Sacred Geography, number 12, this is certain and beyond doubt to us: that St. Vedastus was ordained Bishop before the time of Pope Hormisdas. St. Hormisdas sat from July 26 of the year 514 until the year 523, when he died on August 6; so that the reasons to be adduced argue much more strongly against the above-named authors who defer his consecration long after the death of St. Hormisdas.

[9] St. Vedastus became Bishop some years before Clovis departed this life, but under King Clovis, who died in the year 509, who died in the year 509, on November 27, as has been accurately proved elsewhere. For, as is read in the shorter Life, it then came about that, after he had long been ^a Bishop, upon the death of Clovis, his son Clothar, supported by the Franks in his father's place, reigned and governed the affairs of the kingdom excellently, etc. Alcuin repeats this in his Life, number 17, where King Clothar, son of the aforesaid King Clovis, is said to have been present at ^a banquet with St. Vedastus — "he who at that time wielded the scepter of the kingdom," namely in the tetrarchy of the brothers, with his royal seat established at Soissons. For this reason many more recent writers not in the year immediately after his baptism, place the beginning of the episcopate of St. Vedastus in the year immediately following the baptism of Clovis. So our Buzelinus, book 1 of the Annals of Gallo-Flandria, records in the year of Christ 496 both the victory of Clovis over the Alamanni and his conversion to the faith of Christ upon receiving baptism, and then places the consecration of St. Vedastus as Bishop of Arras in the following year 497. Coluenerius, in his scholia on Flodoard, book 1, chapter 13, judges the baptism to have been conferred on Clovis in the year 499, following Baronius; and in the Catalogue of the Bishops of Cambrai and Arras, which he prefixed to Baldericus, he reports that St. Vedastus was made Bishop around the year 500. Miraeus in his Belgian Chronicle, having placed the baptism of Clovis in the year 496, or the second year after, establishes the episcopate of St. Vedastus two years later, in the year 498, writing thus: "About this time St. Remigius, Archbishop of Reims, restored the Christian religion in Belgium; he gave to the people of Arras and Cambrai St. Vedastus, to Tournai Theodore, to the Morini Antimundus, as Bishops." So that author. We judge that even more years should be interposed between the conversion of King Clovis and the beginning of the episcopate of St. Vedastus, but about the sixth year, around the year 500: because in the intervening time, as is read in the Acts, numbers 10 and 11, he is said to have resided with St. Remigius, shining in the merits of life and examples of virtues, visited by many on account of his most celebrated fame for holiness, and on account of that widely celebrated fame ordained Bishop. Baldericus has the same in chapter 7, and finally adds that St. Vedastus, having thus been detained with Blessed Remigius, was ordained Bishop with the favor of King Clovis, etc. We therefore require an interval of about five years, and since we place the baptism of Clovis at the end of the year 494, we more probably establish from the year of death to be assigned below that he was consecrated Bishop around the year 500 — which year Coluenerius also embraces, along with Claudius Robert in the Gallia Christiana, Raisse in the Belgica Christiana, Miraeus in the Belgian Calendar, and others.

[10] Baldericus, having set forth in book 1, chapter 7, the zeal with which St. Vedastus, now Bishop, renewed the Cathedral church — which he supposed had once existed there — into ^a new vigor of sincere religion, [he did not act as St. Remigius's substitute at the Synod of Vienne, summoned by St. Mamertus,] and in chapter 8, how he led the peoples of the surrounding province from the false worship of gods to the true knowledge of the Christian faith, adds in the same chapter 8: "In his times, ^a Synod is described as having been held at the city of Vienne, to which the Bishops of Gaul, convoked by Blessed Mamertus, nearly all assembled; and there they asked Blessed Remigius to come, as one most learned in the divine scriptures and most eloquent by the privilege of ^a more excellent grace. But the holy man, weighed down by old age and detained by bodily weakness, sent thither Blessed Vedastus as the assistant of his vicarious solicitude; where the Bishops by common counsel decreed that the fast should be observed which is held for three days before the Ascension of the Lord, and which is kept to this day throughout all the Churches of Gaul." Thus Baldericus, though we do not know what occasion led him into error. Locrius also reports the same from the Registers of the Church of St. Vedastus at the year 530. We discussed certain points about St. Mamertus in the Life of St. Avitus, Bishop of Vienne, on February 5, section 1, who had had him as his godfather at baptism and had succeeded him in the episcopate after his own father, St. Isichius; and there we said that St. Mamertus the Bishop flourished around the years 460 and 470. he died in the fifth century, We shall discuss the rest more carefully on May 11, in his Life. Ado, also Bishop of Vienne, having in one place treated of the Litanies instituted by Mamertus before the death of St. Martin (which we showed on February 1 to correspond to the year 397), in another place, having related the conversion of Clovis to the faith of Christ, adds: "At this time, the most blessed Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, by his tears and prayers averted an imminent disaster from the city of Vienne... he conceived in his mind the Rogations," etc. If some Synod had been held at that time, it would not have been unsuitable for St. Remigius, ^a man of sixty years, hindered either by illness or by other affairs of greater moment on account of the converted King, to send Vedastus in his place — ^a Priest then greatly celebrated for his holiness. But this was not done at the aforesaid Synod of Vienne, both because not only St. Mamertus but also St. Isichius were dead, and St. Avitus had already governed that Church for some years — whose letters to King Clovis embracing the Christian religion we gave in his Life, section 4; under the Kings of the Burgundians. and also because Vienne was subject to the Kings of the Burgundians, by whom, since they were devoted to the Arian heresy, it would not easily have been permitted for Bishops from the Kingdom of the Franks or of the Goths, who ruled the rest of Gaul, to be invited to ^a Synod. We treated in the same place, section 8, of the Synod of Epaone celebrated under St. Sigismund, ^a Catholic King, to which none were summoned except his own subjects. What if the first Synod of Orleans, held under Clovis in the year of Christ 508 or the following year, is being confused by Baldericus with that of Vienne? Certainly in it Canon 27 prescribes whether he was at the Synod of Orleans? that the Rogations, that is, Litanies with ^a three-day fast before the Ascension of the Lord, should be celebrated by all churches. There, in the place of St. Remigius, and in his own name, St. Vedastus could have been present, though his name — because the catalogue is mutilated — is not found subscribed.

[11] Meanwhile, ^a great part of the Franks, says Flodoard, book 1 of the History of the Church of Reims, chapter 13, not yet converted to the faith of Christ, remained for some time in unbelief across the river Somme with ^a certain chieftain Raganarius, until, by the disposition of heavenly grace, Whether he was given as Bishop to the people of Cambrai, with the aforesaid King Louis (as he calls Clovis) having gained glorious victories, the same Raganarius, ^a follower of disgraceful and shameful deeds, was handed over bound by the Franks and killed, and all the Frankish people were converted to the faith of Christ and baptized by Blessed Remigius. Thus Flodoard, to whose recited history Baldericus adds, book 1, chapter 4, that it is rather to be believed that they were converted and baptized by Blessed Vedastus. "For never," he says, "have we heard that St. Remigius preached the word of God to the people in our parts; but we know that Blessed Vedastus was directed by him and by the newly baptized King to this city of ours, to convert the nation; therefore we believe him to have been the author of this undertaking." Thus Baldericus. after King Ragnacharius was killed? Now Ragnacharius, according to Gregory of Tours, book 2 of the History of the Franks, chapter 42, was ^a King at Cambrai, ^a kinsman of Clovis; and after he and other Kings were killed, Clovis shortly before his death expanded his kingdom throughout Gaul. At which time the Church of Cambrai could have been entrusted to St. Vedastus by St. Remigius; though authors closer in time to both of them are silent about this matter. We shall treat below of the nobles under Clothar not yet converted to Christ.

Section III. The year of death of Saints Remigius and Vedastus.

[12] After the death of Clovis on November 27, in the year of Christ 509, his four sons divided the kingdom among themselves; the eldest, Theodoric, in the kingdom of Metz (later called Austrasia), obtained Reims and the Cameracenses; Clothar had his royal seat at Soissons and at the same time ruled over the Atrebates, among whom St. Vedastus exercised his zeal under him. In the first year of these Kings, the year of Christ 510, St. Remigius wrote ^a letter to three Bishops — Leo, as we gather, of Sens; Heraclius of Paris; [St. Remigius writes ^a letter to three Bishops in the year 510, the 53rd of his episcopate.] and Theodosius of Auxerre — concerning the Presbyter Claudius, in whose case he complains of having been slighted by them. St. Remigius presided at that time over his episcopal see, as he himself testifies, for fifty-three years, which are appropriately counted from the year 457, in which we said he was consecrated Bishop, to this year 510; when he indicates that he was writing these letters after the death of Clovis, after the death of Clovis, since he says that Claudius was made Presbyter by him with the testimony of the most excellent King, who was not only ^a preacher of the Catholic faith but its defender — where by the word "was" he implies that the King had then died. Sirmondus placed this Letter among the Councils of Gaul not in the year 523, at the year of Christ 523; merely on the strength of which date, Petavius in part 1 of the Rationarium Temporum, book 6, chapter 19, and book 7, chapter 4, and Miraeus in his Belgian Chronicle at the year 535, infer that St. Remigius was promoted to the episcopate of Reims around the year 471. But the same letter is read in Andreas du Chesne, volume 1 of the Writers of the History of the Franks, without any mention of the year prefixed by Sirmondus; St. Theodosius, Bishop of Auxerre, to whom he writes, having died long before; so that Sirmondus appears to have chosen that year as being somehow close to his death. Furthermore, two of the Bishops to whom St. Remigius wrote — Heraclius of Paris and Theodosius of Auxerre — attended the first Synod of Orleans, held under Clovis in the year 508 or the following year; yet according to the registers of the Church of Auxerre in Baronius's Notes for July 17, and in Saussaius in the Gallican Martyrology, St. Theodosius, who is venerated on that day, presided over that Church for only eight years and some months, and could not have lived until the year 523. his successors Indeed, if the time of those Bishops who presided over the same Church of Auxerre for twenty years after St. Theodosius is examined with ^a careful balance, he does not seem to have survived long beyond the year 510. Saints Gregory, For St. Gregory, who succeeded him, sat as Bishop there for twelve years and six months, as Saussaius asserts on December 19, his feast day, from the same registers, I believe. Then Saints Optatus Optatus, Droctoaldus, and Droctoaldus succeeded, enrolled among the Saints for their illustrious deeds, so that some years must also be allowed for each of them. St. Optatus is venerated on November 30, St. Droctoaldus on November 8. and Eleutherius, Bishop in the year 531. And St. Eleutherius, who succeeded Droctoaldus (whose feast day is August 26), attended the second Synod of Orleans in the twenty-second year of the Kings Childebert and his brothers, the year of Christ 531.

[13] With these points established, something more certain is more easily determined about the death of the same St. Remigius. St. Remigius died in the year 530, Hincmar in his Life, and Flodoard, book 1, chapter 16, report that he completed the course of his holy contest after having served the Lord in the episcopate for seventy-four years, in the ninety-sixth year of his age — the year of Christ either 529 or, if we take these as completed years, and since he took flight to the heavenly crown on the Ides of January, on January 13. rather the year 530. The years of his episcopate are confirmed by Gregory of Tours in his book On the Glory of the Confessors, chapter 79, where he asserts that he completed seventy and more years. We also gather the same year of Christ, made illustrious by his death, from the Epitaph placed by Hincmar, in which the Translation of his sacred body is said to have been made on the Kalends of October in the year 852:

"When the three-hundred-and-eighth year was touching, / Here this Just man of the Lord sought the stars of heaven; / Three hundred and three and four times ten years had been / Since he, rejoicing, washed the Franks in the stream of life."

(an error of 15 years in the Epitaph) Where, to bring the calculation of Hincmar to the correct chronology established elsewhere, fifteen years must be subtracted. We said that Clovis was baptized in the year of Christ 494, which Hincmar, adding fifteen years, places in the year 509; and joining to it the 343 years expressed in the Epitaph, he arrives at the year 852, when the sacred relics were translated. Conversely, if 308 is subtracted from that year 852, the year 544 remains, to which he ascribed the death of St. Remigius; but if, as has been clearly demonstrated to be necessary, the other fifteen superfluous years in Hincmar's calculation are also removed, the year 529 previously stated remains. But since October is closer to the following January than to the preceding one, we judge that the death of St. Remigius should rather be referred to the year which we established above, the year of Christ 530. The successors of St. Remigius — St. Romanus, St. Romanus succeeds, Flavian, and Mappinius — splendidly confirm this correction of fifteen years against Hincmar. We treat of St. Romanus on February 28, assigning to his see ^a period of three or at most four years, and referring his death to the year 533 or the following. Flavius, who succeeded him, attended the Synod of Clermont under King Theodebert on the 5th day before the Ides of November after the consulship of Paulinus the Younger; Flavius, Bishop in the year 535. this is the year 535. But Protadius the Archdeacon, sent by Mappinius, Flavius's successor, subscribed to the fifth Council of Orleans in the thirty-eighth year of King Childebert, the year of Christ 547.

[14] Mappinius, 547. The testament which St. Remigius drew up, which we shall give along with the rest of his Life on October 1 — in which there is no mention of St. Vedastus — we communicated from ^a twofold manuscript codex to Joannes Jacobus Chiffletius, who published it in his Disquisition on the Ampulla of Reims, chapter 3. Whether St. Vedastus subscribed the testament of St. Remigius. The version which previously existed in Flodoard, book 1, chapter 18; Brissonius, book 7 of his work On the Formulas and Solemn Words of the Roman People; Miraeus in the Codex of Donations, chapter 1; and others, is interpolated in many places, and St. Vedastus subscribed it in second place with these words: "I, Vedastus, Bishop: him whom my father Remigius cursed, I have cursed; and him whom he blessed, I have blessed; I was also present and I subscribed." In that testament the Church of Arras is endowed with this formula: whether he received from him "To the Church of Arras, over which, with the Lord's approval, I consecrated my dearest brother Vedastus as Bishop, I have assigned from the gift of the aforementioned Prince two estates for the sustenance of the Clergy — namely Ourton and Sabucetum — to which I also order twenty solidi to be given in memory of my name." the estate of Ourton, Ourton is ^a village, commonly called Ourton, ^a parish in the heart of Artois between the district of Housdain and the town of Pernes, whose church is dedicated to St. Vedastus. and Sabucetum? The estate of Sabucetum, commonly Souchez, is ^a parish distant three miles from Arras, on the road to Bethune, not far from the monastery of Mont-Saint-Eloi. The canons of Arras possess the tithes of both parishes. Perhaps these places were granted to St. Vedastus by some other particular donation. What is relevant here is clearly demonstrated by this: that those from whom we said above the year of consecration of St. Vedastus as Bishop of Arras is assigned as either 530, or 531, or even 542, are far from the truth.

[15] With these points established, an easy path is laid to designate the death of St. Vedastus, he governed the episcopate for 40 years: which the Acts below, number 18, teach us lasted about forty years in governing the Church of Christ — that is, as Bishop of the aforesaid city of Arras, as Baldericus adds in chapter 9, and all writers entirely agree. The one who distributed the same Acts into Ecclesiastical Lessons, customarily chanted at Matins and printed in the Breviary of Arras, while in the fifth Lesson of the sixth day within the octave he reports that St. Vedastus, strengthened by the most sacred Viaticum of the Body and Blood of Christ, breathed forth his spirit in the hands of those who wept — as he had found in the Acts — he did not die in the year 570; adds of his own accord "in the year of the Lord's Incarnation five hundred and seventy." In this same year Baronius at February 6 records his departure from life, establishing that he had been Bishop for only twenty-eight years; likewise Massaeus, book 13 of the Chronicle; Meyer, book 1 of the Annals of Flanders; Locrius in the Belgian Chronicle; and generally others, following the Chronicle of Sigebert, which is remarkably confused here, as we noted above — since it records that he flourished in the year 486, was given as Bishop to the Atrebates in the year 531, and died in the year 570; according to which chronology, even if he were said to have flourished with Saints Remigius and Principius at the age of sixteen — which no one would easily admit — he would nevertheless have lived one hundred years; of such decrepit old age no mention is made anywhere, so that we marvel it was not noticed by so many illustrious writers. but around the year 540: We therefore extend the forty years of his episcopate expressed in the Acts from around the year of Christ 500 to 540, in which year, with Coluenerius, Claudius Robert, Arnold Raisse, and others, we establish that he departed this life according to the calculation of years hitherto proven; since we shall prove the year below when we narrate that his body was translated by St. Autbert in the year 667, and indeed 128 years after his death. Our Buzelinus, just as he placed the beginning of the episcopate above in the year 497, so he assigns the death to the year 537.

Section IV. The feast day of St. Vedastus, celebrated with sacred worship.

[16] We have discussed the year of the death of St. Vedastus, which is entangled among the authors; the day on which he departed this life is assigned by the unanimous consent of all to the 8th day before the Ides of February, February 6, on which day his sacred memory is celebrated in nearly all ecclesiastical Calendars. The ancient manuscript Martyrology under the name of Bede, which formerly belonged to the monastery of Centula (St. Richarius) and now to the monastery of St. Vedastus among the Atrebates, briefly states in its customary manner: At Arras, of St. Vedastus, Bishop and Confessor. The published Bede, Rabanus, and Notker have: In Gaul, in the city of Aderatus, the deposition of St. Vedastus, Bishop and Confessor. listed in the Martyrologies, separately, Henricus Canisius notes in the margin of Rabanus and Notker that Atrebatum should be substituted for Aderatus. But why should that city not also have been called by that name, and have given rise to the common French nomenclature by which they customarily call it Arras? The manuscript Martyrology of the monastery of St. Martin at Tournai: On the same day, at Arras, the deposition of St. Vedastus, Bishop and Confessor. He, while shining with the signs of very many miracles, imparting various healings to various persons, gradually called the barbarous Frankish nation to the Catholic faith. The same is read in the manuscript Martyrology of Laetium, and from the Martyrology of the Church of St. Vedastus it is reported in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium published by Molanus; in these, however, the deposition is written to have taken place at Arras, or in the city of Arras. More extensive information from the sacred Calendars of the monastery of St. Vedastus is given by the same Molanus, in these words: At the city of Arras, the deposition of Blessed Vedastus, who, consecrated as Bishop by St. Remigius, Archbishop of Reims, and directed by the same to this city, by the ordinance of the Savior's grace, vigorously governed the Church of God for forty years by the word of preaching and the example of his life. To manifest his merits, ^a column of marvelous splendor, shining from heaven over the house where he lay sick, foretold his death. The same is read in the Roman Martyrology of Galesinius, the German Martyrology of Petrus Canisius, and in Molanus's Supplement to Usuard.

[17] On this same February 6, another Doctor of the Belgians, St. Amandus, died at the end of the seventh century, of whom we shall treat below. and with St. Amandus the Bishop: Several sacred Calendars have joined him with St. Vedastus. The manuscript Martyrology of the monastery of St. Maximinus near Trier: On the same day, of Vedastus and Amandus. The manuscripts of Utrecht, of the Church of St. Mary, and of St. Martin at Trier: In Gaul, of Vedastus and Amandus, Bishops and Confessors. Nearly the same is reported in the Appendix of Ado in Rosweydus. Usuard in manuscript, in the more ancient codices: On the same day, of the holy Bishops Vedastus and Amandus, whose life and death alike were glorious with very many miracles; of whom the former governed the Church of the Adartenses, the latter that of the Traiectenses. Later scribes replaced the less common name Adartenses with the more customary name Atrebatenses, in which form it is read in the Roman Martyrology, in Bellinus of Padua, and in most manuscripts augmented for the use of Belgian churches. Similar entries are found in the manuscript Martyrologies of Ado from the monasteries of Lobbes and St. Lawrence at Liege, in the manuscript Florarium Sanctorum, in Maurolycus, Constantius Felicius, and others, some of whom we shall cite below when we treat of St. Amandus. Fuller eulogies are composed by Saussaius in the Gallican Martyrology, Molanus in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium, and Miraeus in the Belgian Calendar.

[18] On this February 6, the people of Arras also honor their Patron with ^a solemn public worship in which servile works are forbidden, and the Clergy pursue ^a particular office through the entire Octave. venerated with ^a public feast: Nor is this veneration confined to his diocese: at Bailleul, ^a town in West Flanders, this February 6 has hitherto been ^a day sacred to the honor of St. Vedastus, with servile work also forbidden to the people. Most of the ancient Breviaries of Belgium also commemorate his feast, either separately or together with St. Amandus: thus those of Cambrai, Mechlin, Bruges, Blandinium in the city of Ghent, Liege, Utrecht, Quimper also in Brittany, and in various Breviaries: and Salisbury in England. In English, Vedastus is called St. Zawster, as may be seen in the Salisbury Martyrology of Richard Wytford. We shall treat below of the various other days dedicated to St. Vedastus, when we recount the Translations of his sacred body. The memory of St. Amandus is most celebrated in many places on October 26, as we shall say below in his Acts; on which day the following is read about both in Ado: A commemoration is held on this same day of the holy Bishops Vedastus and Amandus, also listed on October 26. whose life and death alike were glorious with very many miracles. Both are listed on that day in the Calendar of the manuscript Trier Breviary and in the Mainz Breviary published in the year 1507.

Section V. The body of St. Vedastus translated by Saints Autbert and Audomar. The death of these assigned.

[19] The city of Arras is still twofold, recently distinguished by an intervening wall that has now been demolished for the greater security of both parts. One of these, though smaller, Arras ^a twofold city. is the most ancient one developed by St. Vedastus, adorned with ^a most beautiful temple sacred to the Virgin Mother of God and distinguished by the episcopal see. The other, which is the principal one, owes its origin to St. Vedastus, who there on the bank of the little river Crinchon built an oratory, in which he was either buried near the altar — as some manuscript Acts indicate — or at least wished to be buried; although he afterwards, at the earnest request of his people, allowed himself to be entombed in the Cathedral basilica, from which, however, he was later brought back to the same oratory. After St. Vedastus, six Bishops succeed him before St. Autbert Dominicus succeeded him in the episcopate; after him came Vedulfus, who, leaving Arras, transferred the see to Cambrai. Both are generally considered Saints, but on what day they either died or are honored with sacred worship, we have not yet read. It will be permissible, unless their true feast day is discovered, to treat of them on August 11, on which Gaugericus, the successor of Vedulfus, is venerated. After Gaugericus sat Bertoaldus, or Bertrandus, then St. Ablebertus, or Emebertus, who is considered one and the same as the brother of St. Gudula — though that seems rather to have been Hildebertus, who was preceded after Emebertus by Saints Autbertus and Vindicianus, as we said in the Life of the former on January 15. But St. Autbertus, since from the day of the deposition of St. Vedastus to the time of Blessed Autbert there were six Bishops, to whom he himself succeeded as the seventh to the pinnacle of the episcopate — as is stated below in the History of the Translation drawn from the ancient Acts of St. Autbert — it seems that the name of some Bishop has been lost, unless Ablebertus is established as distinct from Emebertus, which no one has yet approved. St. Autbert is venerated on December 13, St. Vindicianus on March 11 — who in the Acts of St. Maxellendis on November 13 is counted as the eighth Bishop after St. Vedastus.

[20] The seventh Bishop of Cambrai after the deposition of St. Vedastus, Autbert, translated his body from the church of St. Mary outside the ancient city and translates the body of St. Vedastus and with solemn ceremony deposited it in the oratory built by St. Vedastus, in which he had from the beginning chosen his burial place. The year generally assigned to this Translation is 658, at which the following is read in the Chronicle of Sigebert: "After Bishop Theodard was martyred, St. Lambert, son of Count Aper, distinguished the see of Maastricht by the glory of his nobility and the grace of his holiness." Thus Sigebert, to which ^a later person has added — as Miraeus holds — the following: "At Arras, when the body of St. Vedastus was being translated by Bishop Autbert in the presence of Lambert of Tongres, together with St. Audomar, and Audomar of Therouanne, and other holy Bishops, Audomar, who was blind from old age, when he had been illuminated by the prayers of the Bishops present and the merits of St. Vedastus, bearing it grievously that he had been freed from the blindness which he rejoiced had been sent upon him by God for his salvation, was again blinded according to his wish. Abbot John of Blandinium died, and Baudemund succeeded him." These things, whether written by Sigebert or by an interpolator, introduce great confusion, to be corrected more carefully below in the Life of St. Amandus; where we shall demonstrate, first, that St. Remaclus presided over the Church of Maastricht as Bishop in the said year 658, as also St. Florbertus over the monastery of Blandinium. The latter is venerated on the Kalends of November, Remaclus on September 3. Second, that St. Theodard, who succeeded St. Remaclus in the year 660, not with St. Lambert, not yet ^a Bishop, lived until about the year 676, and that after he was killed on September 10, St. Lambert succeeded him at the beginning of the following year. Third, we have also said, on February 1 in the Life of St. Sigebert, number 53, that St. Autbert died around the year 675, long before St. Lambert was consecrated Bishop. Hence, fourth, we infer that St. Lambert was not present at this Translation of the body of St. Vedastus — which before Sigebert or his interpolator we find was written by no author. Very many followed him: Massaeus, Miraeus, Locrius, and at length Fisen in book 4 of the History of Liege, numbers 4 and 5, and chapter 4 of the Life of St. Lambert among the Flowers of the Church of Liege. He is venerated on September 17. Perhaps St. Amandus was present at this elevation, and St. Lambert at the dedication of the church of St. Vedastus, as will be said below.

[21] In the History of the miracles performed by St. Vedastus at various times, number 2, the blessed body is said to have lain in the church of the Blessed Mother of God, Mary, for about one hundred and twenty-eight years. 128 years after his death, In the Chronicle of Sigebert at the year 697, in Miraeus from ^a Lipsian manuscript, the following is read: "Translation of St. Vedastus, 128 years after his death." We shall presently show that these years correspond perfectly with our chronology. not in the year of Christ 697. Sigebert or his interpolator wrongly counts them from the year 570 to 697, but once the earlier error in assigning his death was admitted, the latter necessarily followed. Locrius in his Belgian Chronicle removed ten from this, and says that about 118 years are read in the registers of the Church of Arras — which we showed in section 1, when treating of Diogenes, to be frequently in need of correction. From these Locrius infers that the Translation of the body of St. Vedastus was made in the year 687, having previously assigned his death to the year 570, confirmed likewise from the registers of Arras; fearing furthermore that Saints Autbert and Audomar could not have lived up to the year 697 noted in Sigebert's Chronicle, of whom he reports the former to have died in the year 690, the latter in 695 — nor 687. both after 687, to which year he assigns that Translation. But Locrius himself is also mistaken; against him and others it has been demonstrated above that St. Vedastus died around the year 540. Moreover, neither did St. Autbert survive beyond the year 675, as already stated; nor does St. Audomar appear to have reached that year. For he assumed the see and dignity of Bishop of Therouanne through the agency of King Dagobert and St. Aicharius, Bishop of Noyon, as his Acts for September 9 state; therefore he became Bishop before the year 644, in which King Dagobert died on January 19. But after the Church of the Morini, or of Therouanne, had enjoyed so great ^a Bishop for ^a space of thirty years according to the same Acts, he died on the 5th day before the Ides of September. Therefore he did not survive beyond the year 674, if indeed he did not die even earlier.

[22] But since the Translation of St. Vedastus occurred 128 years after his death, according to what we have said above, but in the year 667, we judge the year to be taken as 667, in which, with several months having elapsed from February to October, the last year had for the most part already passed. Both Bishops who presided over this Translation were alive at that time — namely St. Autbert and St. Audomar — the latter being at that time, according to the Acts of the Translation to be given below, pressed by old age and weakened by the loss of his eyes. St. Audomar testifies that he labored under this blindness in that year in ^a certain charter by which he gives to St. Bertin the basilica of St. Mary at Sithiu, found in our Malebran, book 4, On the Morini, chapter 3, in the scholia, where the entire charter is exhibited with this clause: Done in the basilica itself on the 18th day of May, St. Audomar then being blind. in the sixth year of the reign of our Lord, King Clothar. In the name of Christ, though ^a sinner, I, Audomar by name, Bishop without merit, have willingly dictated this letter, and have heard it read back, and have asked those who should subscribe below to do so. I have done these things without eyes, so that another, holding my hand, has written and subscribed. Joannes Iperius, Abbot of Sithiu, in his manuscript Bertinian Chronicle, chapter 1, part 10, mentions this charter and another given in the same year, and adds that these two privileges were given in the sixth year of Clothar; for the royal sign neither deceives nor is deceived. By these words he implies that he inspected the original charters bearing the royal seal and carefully examined them. Now, that the sixth year of Clothar falls in the year of Christ 667 is established from what was said in the Life of St. Sigebert, section 9; in which year we also judge this Translation to have been made; and from the old age and blindness of St. Audomar, we reject the previously cited opinion of those who write that it occurred in the year 657 or the following.

[23] The celebration of this Translation is performed every year among the people of Arras on the Kalends of October, and indeed with an ecclesiastical office under the rite of ^a Double, as they call it; The memory of the Translation is celebrated on October 1, the author of the Miracles of St. Vedastus indicates that this day was customarily celebrated in the ninth century. On this same day the name of St. Vedastus is inscribed in very many Martyrologies. The manuscripts of Utrecht, St. Mary's, and St. Martin's at Trier: At Arras, of Vedastus, Bishop and Confessor — which is also read in Bellinus. In the most ancient manuscript copy of Usuard which we possess: At the fortress of Arras, of St. Vedastus, Bishop. separately, In others, mention is made of the Translation. The manuscript of Centula: At Arras, the Translation of St. Vedastus, Bishop and Confessor. Usuard, manuscript of the monastery of St. Germain at Paris: Translation of St. Vedastus, Bishop. The ancient Cologne Martyrology: At Arras, the Translation of St. Vedastus, Bishop and Confessor, who governed the Churches of Arras and Cambrai. Added in the Brussels manuscript: who, ordained by Blessed Remigius, departed to Christ on the 8th day before the Ides of February. In the manuscript Florarium, this Translation is said to have been made in the year of salvation 658 by Autbert, his seventh successor, and St. Audomar the Bishop. This is the year handed down by the interpolator of Sigebert, from whose augmented text — though not accurately described — the following is read in the Supplement of Hermannus Greuen to Usuard, and in the Martyrology of Canisius: At Arras, the Translation of St. Vedastus the Bishop, at which were present St. Lambert of Tongres, Ausbert of Rouen, and Audomar of Therouanne, who had lost the light of his eyes, and when he had recovered his sight by the prayers of the holy Bishops and their merits, he bore it grievously and obtained that he be blinded again. He who is here confused with St. Autbert of Cambrai is St. Ansbert, who became Bishop of Rouen in the year 689 upon the death of St. Audoenus; of whom we shall treat on February 9. That St. Lambert was not present at this Translation and was not yet ^a Bishop has been stated above. Molanus in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium at February 6 adds: On the Kalends of October, the Translation of the body of St. Vedastus from the place of burial to that in which he now rests. The blessed Confessors Autbert and Audomar made the translation. Many details from the Life and the History of Miracles are compiled in the manuscript Martyrology of Ado from the monastery of St. Lawrence at Liege.

[24] In other Martyrologies he is joined with various Saints who are generally venerated on that day. In the Appendix of Ado in Rosweydus: and with Saints Bavo, Piatus, On the same day, of the holy Bishop Vedastus and of Bavo the Confessor. In the manuscript of St. Maximinus: Elsewhere, of Vedastus, Bavo, and Piato. St. Bavo rests at Ghent, Patron of that city: we shall treat of him and of Piatus, or Piato, on that day. In several manuscripts of Usuard augmented for the use of Belgian churches: On this same day, the Translation of the holy Confessors Germanus and Vedastus, of whom the former governed the Church of Auxerre, Germanus of Auxerre, the latter those of Arras and Cambrai. We shall give the Acts of St. Germanus on July 31. The manuscript of Ado from the monastery of Lobbes: On the same day, the Translation of the bodies of the holy Confessors Remigius, Bishop of Reims, and Vedastus of Arras. The manuscripts of Laetium and St. Martin of Tournai: In Gaul, the Translation of the bodies of Saints Remigius, Germanus, and Remigius: and Vedastus. Our manuscript Martyrology under the name of Bede: On the same day, the Translation of the holy Confessors and Bishops Germanus, Remigius, and Vedastus, of whom the first governed the Church of Auxerre, the second that of Reims, the third that of Arras — and in the Usuard printed at Lubeck it is added: and of Cambrai. The manuscript copy of Usuard calls it Cameracensem above, but, as can be gathered even from that, it was augmented by later hands. With ^a greater error, Maurolycus adds that Germanus was translated from Ravenna to Auxerre, and the rest — Remigius and Vedastus — to the city of Reims.

[25] Finally, on September 30, or the day before the Kalends of October, the same Translation is reported by Molanus in his Supplement to Usuard likewise separately on September 30. and, following him, Ferrarius in the General Catalogue of the Saints: At Arras, the Translation of St. Vedastus, Bishop. Saussaius in the Gallican Martyrology: At Arras, the Translation of the body of St. Vedastus, made by the holy Confessors Autbert and Audomar, who, deprived of the light of his eyes, then received his sight unsought, and having implored the aid of that same heavenly Saint, obtained that the passage of light be closed again for him, for the exercise of patience.

Section VI. The monastery of St. Vedastus. Temples erected to St. Vedastus.

[26] In Saussaius's eulogy of St. Vedastus on February 6, the following is recorded: "Vedastus rests at Arras in the monastery bearing his name, whose foundations he himself laid on the bank of the little river Crinchon. Holy Autbert, the seventh Bishop in succession, enlarged it, and finally the most Christian King Theodoric, who lies there under the patronage of so great ^a Confessor together with his wife Doda, The monastery of St. Vedastus in the place of Nobiliacus endowed it most munificently." The place was first called Nobiliacus, as the Acts below, number 24, state, for its nobility — ^a splendid omen, where the most noble and wealthy Abbey of St. Vedastus (than which scarcely any other in all Belgium is more illustrious) was to be built. After the relics of the sacred body were therefore translated and deposited in the oratory built by Vedastus himself, St. Autbert, who lived eight more years, built ^a monastery, assigned brethren to the duties of divine worship, St. Autbert began to build it, as we shall report below from the Acts of the same St. Autbert. But according to the Chronicle of St. Vedastus, prevented by death in the year 675, he was not able to raise ^a mausoleum sufficiently illustrious for St. Vedastus; rather, having only built the monks' dwelling, St. Vindicianus completed it, he was succeeded by St. Vindicianus, who brought King Theodoric of Francia — restored after the killing of his brother Childeric in the year 680, conscious of the death inflicted upon St. Leodegar in the year 685, condemned by the sentence of the Gallic Bishops, and committed to him for penance — King Theodoric endowed it: to complete, adorn, enrich, and raise to its proper grandeur this distinguished and most celebrated Abbey of St. Vedastus. These things are reported from the Chronicle of St. Vedastus by Locrius at the year 690, Malebrancus book 4 On the Morini, chapter 26, and Franciscus le Bar in his monastic Treatises not yet published. We omit here the various estates granted, the privileges of immunity bestowed, and other benefactions conferred by King Theodoric upon this monastery, some of which will be reported on March 11 in the Life of St. Vindicianus. We resolved the chronological difficulties, which are very many concerning the years of Theodoric's reign, in the Life of St. Sigebert, and said that Hatta was appointed Abbot in the year 690, some of its Abbots are Saints. and solemnly blessed by St. Vindicianus in 691. He was succeeded by St. Hadulphus, afterwards Bishop of Arras, whose feast is celebrated on May 19. Locrius lists the remaining Abbots in his Chronicle, among whom Fulco, later Archbishop of Reims, and Poppo are enrolled among the Saints; we shall treat of the former on June 17, and we have published the Life of the latter on January 25.

[27] After the church of St. Vedastus was built, ^a new elevation of his body was prepared, Dedication of the Church on February 21, mention of which, together with the dedication of the Church, is made in the very ancient manuscript Martyrology of St. Martin at Tournai, at the Kalends of October: On the same day, in Gaul, the Translation of the bodies and the dedication of the Churches of Saints Remigius, Vedastus, and Germanus. But as Molanus observes concerning the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium on February 6, that dedication is celebrated on February 21: On the ninth day before the Kalends of March, he says, at the monastery of Nobiliacus, the dedication of the church of St. Vedastus, Bishop and Confessor, which was made known to Blessed Autbert through an angelic revelation — namely, that it was to be built — and which his successor St. Vindicianus and King Theodoric completed. made by St. Vindicianus, The same St. Vindicianus, just as he consecrated, having summoned St. Lambert, Bishop of Maastricht (as Baldericus attests, book 1, chapter 26), ^a church in the estate of Hunolcourt near Cambrai, so he appears to have employed the same St. Lambert as his associate in this dedication of the church of St. Vedastus; and perhaps St. Lambert; who was therefore believed to have been present at the Translation of the body under St. Autbert. Indeed, in the Gembloux and Lipsian manuscript Chronicles of Sigebert, the Translation is reported at the year 658 as made by Vindicianus, whereas in the Aquicinct and Ortelian manuscripts, now belonging to the Professed House of the Society of Jesus at Antwerp, it is correctly attributed to St. Autbert; but when the chronology is confused, the very deeds of the Saints are easily disturbed as well.

[28] There exists in Hainaut, not far from Maubeuge, the most ancient monastery of Hautmont, built by St. Vincent the Count (called Madelgarius), where from its very origin there was ^a certain oratory dedicated in honor and reverence of St. Vedastus. In the oratory of St. Vedastus at Hautmont, In this oratory, St. Aldegundis (whose sister St. Waldetrudis was married to the said St. Vincent), when she was being consecrated as ^a bride of Christ by Saints Amandus and Autbert with the priestly blessing, the Holy Spirit in the form of ^a dove placed the veil upon the head of the most blessed Virgin: St. Aldegundis is espoused to Christ. as Hucbald relates in the Life of St. Aldegundis on January 30, chapter 4. St. Vincent is venerated on July 14, St. Waldetrudis on April 9. The same St. Autbert, according to Baldericus, book 1, chapter 18, taking Amandus with him, consecrated the church which St. Gislenus had built in honor of the Apostles. St. Gislenus is venerated on October 9. The dedication of both churches occurred under Clothar, King of the Franks, when also by the same St. Autbert the body of St. Vedastus was translated, at which solemnity St. Amandus was perhaps present; and after he was removed, when others wrote that he had died in the year 661, the one who governed the Church of Maastricht as the fourth after him, namely St. Lambert, could have been substituted. This conjecture will be confirmed below in the Acts of St. Amandus, section 14, when the dates of his life are carefully arranged.

[29] At the same time at Renty, in that part of Artois which the Morini once inhabited, Temples of St. Vedastus at Renty. Count Wambert and his wife Homburga, as is said in the Acts of St. Bertulphus on February 5, chapter 1, number 4, besides ^a monastery, built three churches: one to the Prince of the Apostles, another to the most blessed Martin, and the third to St. Vedastus. At that time when St. Vindicianus, the eighth Bishop after St. Vedastus, presided over the Church of Cambrai, St. Maxellendis, as her Acts on November 13 testify, obtained the palm of martyrdom, and her body was committed to the earth in the nearby village called Pomeriolas; whence after three years it was brought back by St. Vindicianus to the place of her killing, Chaudry, at Chaudry, with clergy and religious women established there to perform the due office at all times. Baldericus adds, book 1, chapter 23, that ^a basilica was built in honor of All Saints, but principally of St. Vedastus, and also in veneration of the sacred Virgin Maxellendis herself. Calderiacum, commonly Caudry, is in the territory of Cambrai, between the city and the castle of the Cameracenses.

[30] At Bethune, ^a distinguished town in Artois, there are two parishes: one dedicated to St. Bartholomew, the other to St. Vedastus, translated from the suburbs at Bethune, where ^a church of the same saint is to be seen. In the neighboring Deanery of the town of Bassee there exists ^a chapel of the same St. Vedastus. At Cambrai, at Cambrai, where Saints Autbert and Vindicianus and their successors had the episcopal see, ^a parish church is dedicated to St. Vedastus, to which under the Emperor Charles V — when he built ^a fortress where the church of St. Gaugericus had stood — the Canons of that church, together with his sacred body, were brought into the church of St. Vedastus, which they enlarged under the name of St. Gaugericus.

[31] Transmarus, made Bishop of Noyon from ^a monk of St. Vedastus in the year 937, dedicated in Heere, ^a location in the city of Ghent between the rivers Scheldt and Lys, at Ghent, ^a small chapel in honor of St. John the Baptist and also of Saints Bavo and Vedastus, on the Kalends of May in the year 941. So it is read in ^a manuscript codex of the monastery of Blandinium, written chiefly about Ghent affairs; which chapel Sanderus erroneously interprets as the Cathedral Church of St. John, book 5 of the Affairs of Ghent, chapter 1, as though it were then built — whereas it was founded there long after by ^a certain Lausus, companion of St. Poppo the Abbot on his pilgrimage to Palestine to the Lord's Sepulchre and other holy places, as is read on January 25 in his Life, chapter 2, number 6. At Ename, near Oudenaarde on the Scheldt, at Ename. before the Benedictine monastery was founded, ^a church of St. Vedastus is said to have existed, according to ^a charter of Baldwin of Lille, Count of Flanders, signed in the year of Christ 1063, in Miraeus in his Notice of the Churches of Belgium, chapter 92. An illustrious collegiate church of St. Vedastus is to be seen at Soissons, to which various charters formerly granted were published by Melchior Regnault in his History of Soissons: in the city of Soissons. among them is one of Louis VII, King of the Franks, given at Senlis in the year 1177, in which he testifies that for the remedy of his soul and of his son Philip and of his predecessors, he gives in perpetuity to the Church of St. Vedastus at Soissons and to the Canons serving God there two measures of wine and one measure of wheat, etc. We shall treat below of other churches erected to him in Gaul, the territory of Liege, and Scotland.

[32] Finally, the cult of St. Vedastus was formerly so celebrated that not only were temples dedicated to him, various places named after St. Vedastus. but entire villages were named after St. Vedastus; two such are to be seen in Hainaut between the towns of Bavay and Le Quesnoy. In the diocese of Arras there are also two parishes named after St. Vedastus, of which one is surnamed de Marij and the other de Neuueuille — the former in the Deanery of Bapaume, the latter in that of Henin. In the diocese of Amiens there are villages called St. Vedastus in Calceia and St. Vedastus Daron. But there are more among the Normans, where in the diocese of Rouen they are distinguished from one another by the surnames de Seneuille, Esquiqueuille, Guillemecourt, etc. Other places also named after St. Vedastus are found in the dioceses of Coutances, Soissons, and others.

Section VII. The Life of St. Vedastus written. Rado, the eleventh Abbot of St. Vedastus.

[33] Among the Abbots of St. Vedastus, the eleventh in order of succession was Rado, Rado, Abbot of St. Vedastus, or Raddo, ^a great restorer of the monastery, temple, and cult of St. Vedastus; to whom, for his illustrious deeds, this memorial was left in the Chronicle of St. Vedastus, found in Locrius and in the manuscript monuments of Franciscus le Bar: "Rado, given by divine grace for the restoration of affairs in the year 795, amply fulfilled the expectation of all: he promotes the cult of St. Vedastus, he magnificently restored and adorned in all its parts the temple that had been burned and disfigured by fire; above all, with ^a great quantity of gold and silver, cast and engraved, for chalices and the reliquary of St. Vedastus and similar objects, as well as with hangings and vestments of fine linen, with expenses indeed as great as possible, thrift providing ^a suitable revenue. A Missal, rather tangled (as the condition of the times permitted), he submitted to the examination of the venerable Alcuin, a friend of Alcuin: of whom two letters to Rado, still in our possession, survive in copy, along with some verses in which he commends his works to posterity. From these it can be seen that Rado was ^a man of very great renown, who in extreme old age, venerable for his deeds, piety, and white hair, died in the year since Christ was born 815, having presided for twenty years; after death, on account of the innocence of his life, he was regarded on earth as one of the local patron saints."

[34] One of Alcuin's letters to Rado is prefixed to the Life of St. Vedastus, of which we shall treat presently; the other, as Locrius attests, was addressed in common to the Abbot and monks, concerning the composition of verses and the emendation of the Missal — which is not found among the letters of Alcuin published in the third part of his works. But among his verses there exists Poem 66, on the restoration of the temple of St. Vedastus by Abbot Rado, he is praised by him, where the following is read:

This lofty house of God once burned in crackling flames And, reduced entirely to ashes, collapsed in ruin. But by God's mercy, the venerable Abbot Rado Built it better for the temple renewed after the fire and restored it; Providing many ornaments to this present house, Adorning it throughout with sacred gifts. He wished to clothe the screens and altars with metals, Fashioning also the sarcophagus of Father Vedastus. He hung tapestries on the walls and added lamps, and its adornment, so that sacred light might shine in the holy building. For the services of the Lord he also had sacred vessels made Of silver, and indeed some entirely of gold. He clothed the Ministers of the altar in splendid vestments, So that there might be everywhere ^a distinguished beauty. All these things the pious man, devoted with the honeyed love of Christ, Restored to ^a better state. For his sake, whoever reads these inscriptions, remember to pray That the highest grace of God may help him.

The sacred worship at the altar of St. Vedastus, adorned by Rado, is celebrated by the same Alcuin in Poem 68 with these verses:

The episcopal summit, by living merits, this altar Holy Father Vedastus himself governs. and the altar raised to St. Vedastus: The humble Abbot Rado clothed this with metals, To the praise of the Lord, led by love of the Father.

[35] By the pen of this Alcuin there exists ^a Life of St. Vedastus, emended in favor of Abbot Rado, Alcuin dedicates to him the emended Life of St. Vedastus: as he states at the beginning of the dedicatory letter to the same Abbot. But what Life was written before and submitted to Alcuin's correction is not sufficiently established. Andreas Chesne, in volume 1 of the Writers of the History of the Franks, among the Fragments which adorn the deeds of Clovis I, published excerpts from an ancient a shorter Life is placed before it; both exist in manuscripts. and crude — as he prefaces — manuscript Life of St. Vedastus, Bishop and Confessor of Arras, which Alcuin afterwards, at the request of Abbot Rado, emended. That Life exists at Arras among the manuscripts of the monastery of St. Vedastus, which we give here in the first place and call the Shorter Life. No mention is made in it of the Translation of the body performed by Saints Autbert and Audomar in the year 667, so that it appears to have been written before that time. Yet since it differs considerably from the other Life emended by Alcuin, it does not seem improbable to us that some other more copious version existed. This Life emended by Alcuin we publish in the second place, having previously been printed by Surius and inserted by Andreas Chesne from ancient manuscript codices into the works of Alcuin. We also collated it with manuscript copies from the Church of St. Omer and the monasteries of Marchiennes and St. Maximinus near Trier, and with two codices of our own. The same exists in manuscript at the monastery of St. Vedastus and at the College of the Society of Jesus at Douai.

[36] We note below in the Acts that the ancient manuscripts differ greatly from one another concerning the matters pertaining to the burial of St. Vedastus; indeed we suspect that the same Acts were augmented after the death of Alcuin in the passages reported at the beginning of number 24 after the Translation of the body, in these words: "Moreover, the miracles Whether the other Life was augmented after the death of Alcuin, which were performed both at the time of the Translation and which have been wrought for nearly one hundred and sixty years since that time through the merits of Blessed Vedastus have been committed to memory by no pen." These years from that Translation, made in the year 667, to the death of Alcuin do not in fact intervene. He died in the year 804, on the very day of Pentecost, May 19, as we proved from his Life written by ^a disciple, on February 4, in the Life of Blessed Rabanus. Nor can those same years be counted from the death of St. Vedastus, since from the year 540 two hundred and sixty years have elapsed, yielding the year 800, around which this Life appears to have been emended. The same Life, with ^a few omissions, is distributed into sacred Lessons as the same is distributed into the Lessons of the Breviary. which are recited at Matins during the octave of the same in the diocese of Arras in the Ecclesiastical Office; but with the note of time erroneously inserted, as we corrected above: so that he is recorded to have been ordained Bishop when St. Remigius held the authority of Pope Hormisdas throughout the kingdom of the Franks; and to have died in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 570; and finally to have been translated by Saints Autbert and Audomar, when the body had lain in the church of St. Mary for about one hundred and eighteen years — which years, added to the former, make up the year of Christ 687 or the following; before which time we have said above that Saints Autbert and Audomar had died. The same Life was contracted for their own use by Baldericus, book 1 of the Chronicle, chapters 6, 7, and 9; Molanus in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium; Haraeus, Lippelous, and generally others in their works on the Lives of the Saints, most of whom placed his death in the year 570. Petrus de Natalibus, book 3, chapter 99, says that he rested in peace around the year of the Lord 600. All of which has been sufficiently refuted above.

[37] We append to this Life an exhortation written by the same Alcuin, Exhortation of the same Alcuin, in which he inculcates the imitation of the virtues of St. Vedastus set forth in the Acts. This exhortation, or short homily, is lacking among the works published by Chesne; we give it here from the manuscripts of the monastery of St. Vedastus and our own — that is, of the Professed House of the Society of Jesus at Antwerp. We add an epitaph composed for St. Vedastus by the same Alcuin, and epitaph of St. Vedastus. which is found among his poems as Poem 67. Furthermore, for ^a fuller knowledge of the events that occurred during the Translation of the body, we reproduce the same from the Life of St. Autbert, written by Fulbert at the command of Gerard, Bishop of Cambrai, as Baldericus relates, book 1, chapter 77. From the Life of St. Autbert, ecclesiastical Lessons are recited at Matins in the Octave of St. Vedastus on February 13, and on the Translation of the body on October 1. Fulbert on the Translation of the body. Various charters granted by King Theodoric, Pope John, and St. Vindicianus concerning the properties of the church of St. Mary and the monastery of St. Vedastus could be added; but these will be more conveniently discussed in the Acts of St. Vindicianus on March 11.

[38] Haiminus the Priest is considered ^a disciple of Alcuin; to him Milo, ^a monk of Elnone, dedicated the Acts of St. Amandus the Bishop, described by him in verse; Haiminus the Priest, ^a disciple of Alcuin and there is added in that place his response to the same Milo. About him, Vulfaius, Milo's fellow student, sings thus at the end of the Life:

"These things your and my master Haiminus rightly confirmed, Under whose guidance no one went astray."

What pertains to this matter, Valerius Andreas in his Belgian Library writes of him thus: "Haiminus, of the Order of St. Benedict, ^a monk at St. Vedastus in the city of Arras, left ^a book on the Miracles of St. Vedastus, whose beginning is: 'Indeed, the things which we have recently proved with our own eyes,' etc. It is customarily read through the Octave in the choir of the Cathedral Basilica of Arras. he writes the miracles of St. Vedastus; Likewise ^a sermon on the virtues of the same Saint, which begins: 'Let your hearts be stirred, I beseech you, O children of light.' He was ^a disciple of Alcuin and ^a fellow student of Charlemagne. He died in the year of the Lord 834" — where we correct the transposed numbers to the year 843. For it is established from the elegy of the above-mentioned Vulfaius that he survived beyond even the year 835, when Hincmar was made Archbishop, since in that elegy both are said to have read through and approved Milo's poems, and this distich is appended about Hincmar:

"These things the Archbishop, most famous throughout the whole world, Hincmar, extolled with distinguished words."

[46] Saussaius in his Gallican Martyrology assigns ^a single translation and return of St. Vedastus to Beauvais, but he holds that about fifty years elapsed between the two, [The body was not at Beauvais for 50 years, nor was it translated around the year 843,] as will presently be said. Hence, since these sacred relics were brought back to Arras in the year 893, they would have had to be carried off to Beauvais in the year 843, at which time they were still hidden at Arras, then elevated in the year 852, and replaced the following year, as stated above — and the history of miracles written at that time confirms this. But Saussaius records that Translation on July 5 in these words: At Beauvais, under the capital of Belgica Secunda, nor on July 5, the Translation of St. Vedastus, Bishop of Arras and Confessor: when, on account of the fear of the Norman incursion, his sacred body was brought to that city, which was very well fortified, and was deposited with fitting honor first in the church of St. Stephen the Protomartyr, and afterwards in ^a chapel constructed for the worship of the holy Confessor himself; where it shone forth with illustrious miracles, among which this memorable one is narrated: that ^a lamp placed before the reliquary, its oil having been exhausted, was seen to burn and glow without any fuel. Thus Saussaius, but with ^a diminishing of the miracle, since the lamp is reported below to have been filled from heaven with the purest olive oil and kindled with ^a divine light. Secondly, since St. Hildemannus, Bishop of Beauvais, and his successors used that oil in holy Baptism and Extreme Unction, that miracle did not occur in the presence of the body there, even if it had rested at Beauvais for ^a full fifty years; for when St. Hildemannus was already dead, Hermenfridus was already Bishop there, who subscribed ^a privilege of the monastery of Corbie, later confirmed at the Council of Paris in the year 844. Moreover, he calls the church "of St. Stephen," when it is properly that of St. Vedastus, and attributes to it only ^a small chapel, which is not read in the History of the Translation. Finally, he assigns July 5 as the day for this Translation, on neither which day nor month did it occur.

[47] In the Deeds of the Normans before Duke Rollo, written by ^a contemporary author and brought down to the year 896, the following is read: "In the year of the Lord 880, the Normans, intent on arson and devastation, but in the year 880 thirsting for human blood, for the destruction and perdition of the kingdom, in the month of November established their seat for wintering in the monastery at Ghent; in the month of December, and in the month of December the body of St. Vedastus was brought back to the estate of Val-sur-Somme, and thence to Beauvais." The author of the History of the Translation agrees, as we observe in relation to this. We have not yet read in any Martyrology ^a sacred day assigned for this Translation, which was December 22 or some nearby day, as will be evident from the time when the body was returned. Rudolph, the twentieth Abbot, presided over St. Vedastus, having been elected in the year 877; who, as Locrius published from the Chronicle of St. Vedastus, undertook his charge at ^a most unfavorable time, when the strength of the Christians was broken and nearly the whole country was prey to the barbarians. The monks of St. Vedastus sought safety by flight, setting out for Beauvais, carrying with them the body of Blessed Vedastus and whatever there was that they wished not to lose. But the fortune of nearly all was the same: whatever had remained at home was plundered by the barbarians; in the year 886, untouched by fire; the house itself was burned; only the temple remained unburned. Whatever had been entrusted to ^a safe place at Beauvais nearly all perished in an accidental fire of that city on the 15th day before the Kalends of October in the year 886 — though that disaster did not extend to the relics of Blessed Vedastus.

[48] The solemnity of the return of the body of St. Vedastus from Beauvais to Arras persists to this day. The day is thus described in the History of the Return, number 4: returned in the year 893, on ^a Sunday, July 15: "At last, on the fourth day after our departure from Beauvais, on ^a Sunday, on the Ides of the month of July, with the Lord's mercy aiding us, we entered Arras." This is from an eyewitness. These chronological markers correspond to the year of Christ 893, in which, with the Solar Cycle VI and the Dominical Letter G, the first and fifteenth of July fell on ^a Sunday. The same contemporary author states in number 3 that the body had been at Beauvais for twelve and ^a half years and more. Molanus in his Additions to Usuard, from the Martyrology of the local Church, writes: "At Arras, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation eight hundred and ninety-three, the Return of the body of St. Vedastus from Beauvais to its own place, after twelve years, nine months, and twenty-four days." The same is read in the German Martyrology of Canisius. But the same Molanus in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium at February 6 repeats the same, omitting the months and days — perhaps fearing that some error might lurk there, since the author of the history and eyewitness adds only six months and more — namely, twenty-four days — counting from December of the year 880, when the body was carried from Arras to Beauvais.

[54] The new church of the Blessed Mary at Cambrai, as Baldericus attests in book 3, chapter 49, as also at Cambrai in the year 1030 having had the old one demolished, was rebuilt by the aforementioned Bishop Gerard over ^a period of seven years, and was solemnly dedicated on October 18 in the year 1030, with the bodies of the Saints arranged around the altar — that of the most blessed Gaugericus in the pontifical chair, with his staff. beside which, in the middle, were placed the holy Bishops Autbertus, Vindicianus, and Hadulphus, stationed on either side, with the staff of Saint Vedastus together with his relics also interposed. Baldericus relates these things at length. Saint Hadulphus is venerated on May 19: of the others, frequent mention has been made.

[55] The same Raissius relates in the Hierogazophylacium that various relics were deposited at Douai in the church of Saint Amatus in ^a particular reliquary, at Douai, with two public instruments, of which one was dated 1525 and the other 1609. Among them, the relics of Saint Vedastus are listed separately, as well as those of Saints Vedastus and Benedict, Bishop of Angers, who held his see under Louis the Pious, but whose feast day remains unknown to this day. Finally, it is reported that portions of the vestments of Saints Martin and Vedastus are present there. The day assigned for the veneration of these relics is April 1, the day they were deposited. Lastly, among the relics — enclosed in cases of gold or silver and kept with religious veneration — at the Laetiense monastery of Saint Lambert in Hainaut on the river Halpra, at Laetiense, we ourselves venerated in person some particles of Saint Vedastus, which the said Raissius also mentions. Sanderus, in his work on Flanders, reports that some relics of his are preserved at Bruges in the cathedral church. at Bruges.

[56] What has been said so far concerning the cult and veneration of Saint Vedastus we conclude by presenting, from the Office of Arras, the Hymn, Antiphon, and Prayer for Saint Vedastus, lest anyone should miss them. The Gospel is read from the Common of Evangelists, from chapter 10 of Saint Luke: "The Lord appointed also another seventy-two," etc.

Hymn

"Let us all resound with joyful voice, Hymn of Saint Vedastus, Bringing our devotion to sacred praises, Singing in praise of the Father of Arras, Vedastus. This pious shepherd and guardian of his flock Was ^a light to the blind and ^a staff to the lame; By Christ's mercy, he wrought Many signs on earth. Meeting ^a blind man as companion of the King, He swiftly restored the lost light, Whence those who saw deserved to receive The light of the heart. The height of virtues flourished through him, Charity surpassing every gift; For from ^a dry vessel he gave ^a friend The joys of the vine. The lairs of wild beasts he made to be A concert of Angels and ^a temple of the Lord, And to resound with psalms on the ten-stringed instrument By night and day. Praise be to God the Father and to the begotten Son, And to you, Spirit, ever equal to both, O nourishing one, one God through all The time of the ages."

Verse: "O holy Confessor and great Priest,"

Response: "Blessed Vedastus, intercede for us."

Antiphon: Antiphon, "This is the blessed Vedastus, whom his more celebrated fame attached as ^a companion on the journey to King Clovis, to preach the word of God." Prayer.

Prayer. "O God, who have deigned to call us to the knowledge of your holy name through the devoted intercession of Blessed Vedastus, your Confessor and Bishop: mercifully grant that we who celebrate his solemnity may also experience his patronage. Through our Lord," etc.

THE SHORTER LIFE

From the Vedastine manuscripts and André Chesne.

Vedastus, Bishop of Arras in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 8503

By an Anonymous Author, from manuscripts.

[1] The glory of all holy Bishops must always be commended to memory by most eager and solicitous inquiry, whether by imitating their example or through the written record of their deeds — Prologue of the Author. so that, rendered in full clear light, they may strive to summon the minds of sinners to the imitation of their worship; so that they may rejoice abundantly not only in their own reward of profit, but also together in the advancement of others. And the just Arbiter, the eternal Creator of things, will ensure that He who granted those Saints consolations for the increase of religion will not refuse to provide ^a supplement of progress to their imitators. Nor should anyone dare to disdain asking for the assistance of heavenly power in matters that may seem small to men, since the just Arbiter frequently comes to the aid of both great and small by weighing matters, and by helping, provides assistance so that they may grow stronger in greater things. We have therefore thought it right to commend to posterity the memory of the venerable man Vedastus, Bishop of the city of Arras, and we have endeavored to set forth in words whence he drew his origin, how he ran the course of ^a holy life, and what end he had.

[2] King Clovis, When therefore the illustrious King of the Franks, Clovis, diligent in all his industry, was reigning over the Franks, it happened that at ^a certain time, amid the fires of war, he set out to make war against the Alemanni, ^a fierce people. When he arrived at the place where both battle-lines faced each other, and had they not met the enemy on the other side of the Rhine, both the Franks and the Alemanni would have gaped for mutual slaughter. When battle was joined, such violent terror crept over the mind of Clovis that in that fight he reckoned with terrible anxiety that his end of life had come. When therefore he saw his men being crushed almost to destruction, at last, supported by divine help, he lifted his mind and raised his eyes to heaven. "O God," he said, "of singular power and majesty, whom Clotilde, my consort, confesses, having invoked Christ, and whom she does not cease to supplicate with humble prayer day and night — grant me today victory over these enemies, so that I too may henceforth hold and adore you by believing with my heart." And while he was assailing the Author of all things with such prayers, the enemy at last yielded, turning their backs, giving victory to Clovis. He then took the defeated Alemanni with their King into his dominion, and returning triumphantly in haste to his homeland, he defeats the Alemanni: he came to the town of Toul.

[3] And since the desire was already upon him to hasten to the grace of baptism, by inquiring he discovered that Blessed Vedastus was there, leading his life in the practice of religion, led by Saint Vedastus to Reims, and he at once joined him to himself on the journey. As they traveled together, on ^a certain day they came in the district of Voncq to the place called Grandeponte, near the village of Rilugiago on the river Aisne... Then he led him to the city of Reims, to Bishop Remigius, who then governed the priestly See there. Having tarried there for ^a time, he is baptized. Clovis, professing the faith of the Holy Trinity, received the grace of baptism. And proceeding thence, returning victorious to his homeland, he commended the aforesaid Vedastus to Blessed Remigius.

[4] While he was staying with him and leading his life in the aforesaid city of Reims, it happened that at ^a certain time one of the illustrious men came to his cell. For he was gentle in spirit and pleasant in conversation. He knew how to bring aid to the wretched, to console the sorrowful with words, to restrain the slothful to the standard of sobriety, and he was zealous to show every rule of religion by example and to teach it by words. When therefore, as we said, ^a certain illustrious man had come to him, he industriously ordered his servant to bring this man ^a cup of wine with quick step after his salutary discourse. The servant said that no wine at all remained in the vessel from which he customarily drew. Saint Vedastus obtains wine through prayers: Hearing this, he groaned and looked to heaven, and raised his mind to things above, that the merciful loving-kindness might quickly come to his aid — remembering that miracle by which at Cana of Galilee He changed water into the taste of wine — that He might grant relief for this necessity. After completing his prayer, he urgently commanded the servant to hasten to the vessel and bring what the Lord had given. The obedient servant came quickly and found the vessel from which he customarily drew wine overflowing. Filled with joy, he brought the commanded gift and joyfully reported the abundant boon. Hearing this at once, lest the glory of the miracle performed should stain his mind, he ordered the servant not to announce this to anyone by boasting of it openly, but commanded that it be kept in silence as long as he lived among mortals.

[5] Since his most celebrated fame was now established in the aforesaid city of Reims, and Blessed Remigius was striving to raise him with the honor of veneration, he becomes Bishop: it was at length decided that he should make him Bishop of the city of Arras — one who would take care to draw the Frankish people gradually to the grace of baptism by teaching and industriously admonishing. Having therefore undertaken the burden of the episcopal See, he came to the city of Arras, and as he wished to enter the walls, he met ^a blind man and ^a lame man begging for alms. Drawing from the Apostolic fountain, he brought forth these words, saying that he was by no means burdened with ^a supply of gold and silver; Acts 3 they more insistently begged and strove to extort money from him by their persistence. He said to those who were importunately seeking help: "In place of ^a gift of gold and silver, if your faith were committed to my affection, you would abound more richly in the abundance of the divine gift." by the sign of the Cross he heals the blind and lame man: They said that they were ready for all things. He said: "If your faith is committed to my words, the mercy of the Almighty will grant the former health to each of you." And at once placing his hand upon their eyes and touching their weak limbs, making the sign of the Cross and looking upward to heaven, he obtained what he had asked. For the blind man, receiving his sight, and the lame man, receiving his gait, returned to their homes rejoicing.

[6] It came about then that he entered the church, and seeing it neglected and passed over through the negligence of the pagan citizens, filled with dense thickets, at Arras he bewails the squalor of the temple, and polluted with dung and the dens of beasts, he took it deeply to heart and submitted his neck to every sadness. This was indeed the habitation that occupied the city. It had formerly been destroyed by Attila, King of the Huns, and left in shameful squalor. And finding ^a bear dwelling there, he drove it from the rampart of the city with ^a troubled spirit, he commands the bear to depart: and commanded that it not cross beyond the little river Crinchon, which flows there — nor was it ever seen to have returned thither. He was welcome at the royal court, yet he was unable to draw the Frankish men entirely away from their profane errors; but gradually, those whom he subjected to religion through gentle discourse, he received into the bosom of the Church.

[7] It then came to pass that, upon the death of Clovis, his son Clothar was received in his father's place and ruled over the Franks. at ^a banquet of King Clothar, And while he governed the reins of the kingdom excellently, it happened that ^a certain Frankish man named Hozinus invited King Clothar to ^a dinner, and among the courtiers of the King he also invited the venerable Bishop Vedastus. But he came not because he would favor gluttony by joining in their feasting, but rather so that he might instruct the crowd gathered for the King's dinner with his salutary teachings, and through the King's authority fully incite them to the point of receiving holy Baptism. vessels defiled by pagan rite, When therefore he, having been twice invited, had come to the dinner, upon entering the house he noticed vessels full of beer standing in the house, consecrated according to the pagan rite. When he inquired what the vessels placed in the midst were for, the answer was that some had been set out for the Christians and others for the Pagans, the latter having been sacrificed according to the pagan rite. When this had been reported to him, he consecrated all the vessels with the sign of the Cross and, invoking the name of Almighty God, blessed them with the aid of faith and with heavenly grace assisting. And when he had traced the blessing of the sign of the Cross upon the vessels that had been sacrificed according to the pagan rite, he shatters them with the sign of the Cross, at once, their bindings dissolved, they cast all the beer they contained onto the pavement. At this the King, struck by the miracle, inquired of the whole company of nobles what the cause of the event had been, asking the venerable man Vedastus, the supreme Bishop, to narrate it to him openly. And he said: "O King, glory of your Franks, you can see how great is the cunning of diabolical fraud in deceiving the souls of men. Do you not think that there was here ^a contrivance of the demons, which through this liquor were striving to subject the hearts of men — stifled by transgression against God — to eternal death? and converts many: But now, struck by divine power and the art of the demon put to flight, it is necessary for all to know how they may flee to the wholesome remedies of the true Christian faith, and to strive with all effort to abandon the superstitions of the Gentiles." This event was of benefit to the salvation of many who were present. For many from this fled to the grace of baptism and submitted their necks to holy religion.

[8] He therefore raised up the aforesaid Church over great spans of time, completing the course of his life in about forty years. When the Lord wished to call him from the trials of this life to the heavenly kingdom, after about forty years spent in the Episcopate, ^a fever seized him and he announced his departure. For while he lay in ^a certain cell in that city, ^a column of fire, having fallen from heaven upon the roof of the cell, stood motionless for long stretches of the night — more than two hours. When the venerable man heard of this, he announced his departure, and bidding farewell to all, after salutary admonitions, he rendered his soul to the Creator on the eighth day before the Ides of February — and making ^a blessed exit from this life, he dies on February 6, he left behind only longing among the living. Many at that hour heard voices of singers in heaven. When all had heard of this funeral, the clergy and people came — not only from that town but also Bishops and Priests from neighboring cities — to commit the servant of God, Bishop Vedastus, to burial as was fitting. The blessed body was placed in the middle as is the custom, but when all took hold of the bier with the holy body, they were by no means able to move it from the place. the body for burial cannot be moved: The venerable Scobilio, Archpriest of that place, whom the Bishop himself had raised, was asked what the matter was. He said he did not know. "At least I know one thing: that while he was in the body, I often heard him saying that no deceased person should rest within the walls of the city. For the Bishop himself had arranged to rest in the oratory which he had built upon the bank of the little river Crinchon. But neither did the chosen place nor the monument seem to have been prepared." While they were speaking together about this and were uncertain what to do about him, prayers are poured forth, and guidance comes; the venerable Scobilius, filled with the grief of his heart, was moved to tears and, throwing himself upon the body of Blessed Vedastus, burst into speech, saying: "Alas for me, alas for me, most blessed Father! What do you wish me to do? For the day is already declining toward evening, and all who have gathered are hastening to return to their own homes. Allow yourself to be carried, sweetest Father, to the place we long ago prepared for you." When he had said this, taking up the bier on which the sod of the holy body lay, they lifted it on their shoulders, feeling no weight, and bearing it with great silence they sang: he is buried in the Cathedral Church: "The Saints shall walk in the way that you have chosen; hasten to the place that is prepared for you." They committed him to burial, as befitted ^a servant of God, in the church at the right horn of the altar, where he himself had discharged the office of the episcopal chair. For it happened some time later that, when that same house in which the holy man had ended his life was being consumed by the burning of fire, and part of the house was being destroyed, ^a most faithful maidservant named Habita saw Blessed Vedastus and drove the fire from the cell in which he had died: and it alone, with the bed, remained unburned. The Creator of things did not permit it to be burned for this reason: that by the gift of His power He might leave ^a memorial for the living.

[9] Now, as we mentioned above, let us set forth whence he drew his origin. Aquitaine has ^a mountain which divides, at nearly equal distances, the cities of Perigueux and Limoges. That mountain is great, and occupying much land by its extent, far and wide, its height nearly penetrating the clouds when they are heavy. he is believed to be Aquitanian by origin, Upon its summit, in ancient and past ages — whether it was ^a city or ^a fortress is uncertain — there was situated ^a place whose enormity and most fortified magnificence the remains and the mass of ruins sufficiently demonstrate how great the thing itself was. The name of the mountain, from that time until now, is Leucus; from the name of the mountain, that fortress also received its name. And the people of that region were called the Leuci, the greater part of Aquitaine extending to the Ocean. Perpetual fame and many writings to this day bear witness that all these things are so named. From the Leuci, therefore, Blessed Vedastus was descended, of noble birth without doubt, of ^a lineage as free as it was distinguished and famous, and most wealthy in the abundance of estates and riches, so that nothing of secular glory was lacking. As ^a boy he was given over to the study of letters with ^a happy augury; for everything that pertained to the course of study, with divine assistance providing, he imbibed most fully. raised in holy studies, But in all these things he made no misuse, but aspiring step by step to the highest things, he truly philosophized according to God and the things that are His, so as to embrace God alone and His will and His commandments, certain of the reward laid up. Finally, the most blessed one, already more than an adolescent, fled his parents, scorned his paternal wealth, and so despised the glory and the most ample possessions of estates as though they were of the briefest duration, and thus he escaped his homeland. He arrived at last, so solitary, so empty of possessions, at the borders that look toward the Alemanni. There from place to place he lived as ^a poor exile for the love of God and eternal life. he set out toward Alemannia. And because he had sojourned in those parts for so long ^a time, the inhabitants of that land supposed — and still suppose — that he was born in Toul, then ^a town, now ^a city.

ANOTHER LIFE,

corrected by Alcuin, from Chesne, Surius, and various manuscripts.

Vedastus, Bishop of Arras in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 8508

By the author Alcuin, from manuscripts.

PROLOGUE OF ALCUIN.

[1] To the most beloved son of love, Rado the Abbot, the humble Levite Albinus sends greetings.

Following the venerable command of your love, I have endeavored to correct the Life of Saint Vedastus, your Father and our Intercessor — not because I could have produced anything worthy of his most excellent merits, but because I thought it right to deny nothing to the commands of your Reverence. For this reason, the praise or blame of these writings belongs chiefly to you. May they please you and the Brethren, such as they are. Moreover, I pray that you may deign to reward my labor with the comfort of your prayers, and that I may deserve to be one of your number in the communion of charity — always mindful of that commandment of Him who said: John 15:12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another." For in this commandment the salvation of all consists. To the Abbot: on governing subjects in charity, This is clearly most necessary for all, and especially for those who receive the flock of Christ to govern. Wherefore, dearest one, strive diligently to instruct the flock you have received to govern with brotherly love, and take pains to lead it through the pastures of life with holy admonitions. You have Christ as your helper in every good work, and also Saint Vedastus as your intercessor. Just as you have the house of God excellently adorned with great labor and decorated with most generous gifts, so strive to adorn those subject to you with good morals, and make them stand most devoutly in the divine praise, and what the Angels always do in heaven, let the Brethren continually do in the churches. It is yours to command, theirs to obey. Yours to lead, theirs to follow. And so the will of all in the service of God should be one, so that the reward in the kingdom of God may also be one.

[2] Let no one withdraw himself from the divine praises at the canonical hours, lest through any negligence, anyone's place be found empty in the sight of God. care must be had for the divine office, And let the words of God in the churches be uttered with the inmost affection of the heart, and let the offices be celebrated with great reverence for Almighty God. And let every ministry of Christ be fulfilled humbly and devoutly. And let every obedience in the necessities of the world be carried out faithfully and zealously. Let there be among all the most harmonious peace and most holy charity, and devotion to the regular life. Let the elders instruct the younger with good examples and diligent admonition, and let them love them as sons; and let those, as though they were fathers, honor them and obey their commands with all readiness. of fraternal charity, And your own manner of life, venerable Son, should be an example of salvation to all. Take care that not even the least one be scandalized by your life, but rather be edified and strengthened in the way of truth — because from their salvation an eternal reward will be judged as yours. White hairs announce that the last day is hastening. Wherefore, be prepared at every hour for the coming of the Lord your God. Brotherly love, alms for the wretched, and chastity of life — let these prepare for you steps to heaven. Diligently labor to make your eternal days happy. May the secular honor that you have abound for you in spiritual glory.

[3] On feast days, when the people come to church, have the word of God preached to them; of edification, and wherever you go, let clerics who fully perform the service of God go with you, adorned with sobriety, not accustomed to drunkenness — whose honorable life may be ^a doctrine of salvation to others. And have care everywhere, especially of the poor, widows, and orphans, of almsgiving, so that on the dread day you may hear from the Lord Christ, together with others who give alms: "As long as you did it for one of these least ones, you did it for me." Matthew 25:40 Be as ^a father to the wretched, and diligently examine the case of those who cry to you, and spare those who sin against you, so that God may spare your sins. Be just in judgments and merciful in debts, ^a master of virtues, honorable in morals, pleasant in words, praiseworthy in life, devoted in every work of God. Also exhort the brethren to read the holy Scriptures most diligently. and of the study of Scriptures, Let them not trust in knowledge of language alone, but in the understanding of truth, so that they may be able to resist those who contradict the truth. The times are perilous, as the Apostles foretold, because many false teachers will arise, introducing new sects, who will strive to stain the purity of the Catholic faith with impious assertions. 2 Timothy 3:1; 2 Peter 3:3 Therefore it is necessary for the Church to have very many defenders, who are able to defend the camp of God manfully — not only by the holiness of their life but also by the teaching of truth.

[4] I have directed these little letters of pious admonition not as though to one who does not know, but that I might show the fidelity of true charity in my heart. What does ^a friend accomplish if he does not show himself by words? If the rich do not spurn the little gifts of the poor, why should the rivers of your wisdom have to reject the rivulets of our understanding? admonitions to be received in ^a friendly spirit. For even the greater streams are increased by the rivulets flowing into them; and the Lord Himself praised the widow's two small coins, who with ^a generous hand offered to God from the poverty of her want what she had. Luke 21:3 And I, although poor in knowledge, yet faithful in brotherly love, have directed these little gifts to your piety, beseeching that you deign to regard them with as humble ^a look of brotherhood as we have striven to direct them to you with the loving charity of devotion. May Almighty God make you and your most dear brethren prosper in every good, and grant that you may attain to the blessedness of eternal glory.

CHAPTER I

Christian Doctrine Explained to King Clovis by Vedastus.

[5] After God and our Lord Jesus Christ had come from heaven into this world through the virginal womb to seek the lost sheep, and, having accomplished the full dispensation of His plan and our salvation, had returned with the triumph of glory to the seat of His paternal majesty — in order to dispel the foul darkness of ignorance throughout the whole world, He had distributed throughout the entire world many lights of holy Doctors, shining with the light of Gospel preaching, so that, just as heaven is adorned with shining stars which are nevertheless all illuminated by one sun, so also the broad expanses of the earth might shine with holy Doctors, Among the Doctors of the Church, Saint Vedastus is distinguished: who, illuminated by the eternal Sun and with divine grace going before them, might illuminate the blind darkness of ignorance with the splendor of the true faith and the glorious name of Christ — so that, through their ministry, the long hunger from the beginning of the world might be satisfied with the banquets of eternal life. Luke 15:4 From their number, the holy Priest of God, Vedastus, an outstanding preacher, in the times of the then most powerful King of the Franks, Clovis, arrived in these regions, guided by divine grace, for the salvation of many — so that, supported by the aid of heavenly mercy, he might direct the people, deceived by diabolical fraud and held captive in the snares of error, into the way of eternal salvation and restore them to the true liberty that is in Christ. But so that this might happen at the acceptable time, according to the Apostle, who says: "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation" 2 Corinthians 6:2; 1 Timothy 2:4 — the Lord Jesus, who wills all men to be saved, was providing for His servant ^a fitting occasion by which he might opportunely come to the ministry of the word of God.

[6] It happened then that the aforementioned King of the Franks, Clovis, made war upon the Alemanni, who at that time had obtained their own kingdom by their own power. But he did not find them as unprepared as he wished. For, having gathered ^a most powerful force, they met the King near the banks of the Rhine, unanimous in their warlike valor to defend their homeland, or to die with ^a free hand for their homeland. And there was fierce fighting on both sides: the one side, lest they lose the glory of triumph; the other, lest they lose the liberty of their homeland — rushing into mutual slaughter. Therefore the King, disturbed by excessive terror, when he saw the enemy fighting bravely and his own men nearly vanquished to the point of annihilation, Clovis, having obtained victory in the name of Christ, began to despair more of safety than to hope for victory. Although he had not yet been reborn in Christ by an act of will, nevertheless, compelled by necessity, he took refuge in the aid of Christ. And because he had ^a pious Queen, initiated in the sacraments of baptism, named Clotilde, he raised his eyes to heaven with this cry: "O God of singular power and supreme majesty, whom Queen Clotilde worships, confesses, and adores: grant me today victory over my enemies. For from this day, you alone shall be my God and my venerable Power. Grant me triumph, and I promise you everlasting service." Immediately, by the working of divine mercy, the Alemanni turned their backs, and the victory fell to the King and the Franks. O wonderful clemency of Almighty God! O ineffable goodness! who thus hears and never abandons those who hope in Him. With what faith ought Christians to invoke His name and mercy, when ^a pagan King, by the effect of ^a single prayer, merited so great ^a victory! To whom among the ancients should we compare this aid of divine mercy — who for the tears of ^a single moment conferred so celebrated ^a triumph upon His future servant — if not to King Hezekiah, who in the straits of tribulation merited by one single petition not only that his city be defended from the present devastation by heavenly protection, but also that in that same night in which he had poured out his prayers into the divine ears, he saw, joyful and liberated, one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the enemy slain? 4 Kings 19

[7] This victory, of which we spoke before, was for the King and his people the cause of eternal salvation; and lest the lamp — that is, the holy Vedastus — should lie hidden under ^a bushel, but rather, placed upon the lampstand, might lead many from the error of idolatry and the fog of ignorance into the way of truth, shining in the house of God by his examples and preaching. Therefore, when the enemies were overcome and affairs settled in peace and the Alemanni subjected to his dominion, the King returned in triumph to his homeland with the praise of victory. he instructs him, And so that he might appear as ^a faithful guarantor to the Bestower of so great glory, he hastened to be imbued with the sacred preaching of the servants of Christ and to be washed in the sacraments of holy baptism. He came then to the town of Toul, where he recognized the holy Vedastus, serving God alone with praiseworthy devotion and gathering the sweetest fruits of the contemplative life. He took this man as his companion on the road, hastening to Saint Remigius, the most illustrious Priest of Christ, at the city of Reims — so that through each step of his journey he might be imbued by him with the most salutary teachings he leads him to Saint Remigius to be baptized. and initiated in the firm foundations of the Catholic faith; so that, prepared in faith and the knowledge of virtues, he might be washed in the spiritual bath by so great ^a Bishop, and confirmed by him in celestial gifts — what had first been begun by the other, with divine grace going before, through Gospel preaching. The one was leading the King as he hastened to the font of life; the other was washing him in the font of eternal salvation as he came. Both nearly equal in the affection of ^a Father: the one by the teaching of faith, the other by the wave of baptism — both offered to the eternal King the temporal King as an acceptable gift. These are the two olive trees and two shining candelabra, by whom the aforesaid King, instructed in the way of God and snatched from the chains of the devil, by God's mercy entered the gate of perpetual light, and with the most mighty nation of the Franks believed in Christ — and it became ^a holy nation, ^a people of acquisition, that the virtues of Him who called them from darkness into His admirable light might be proclaimed in them.

CHAPTER II

The Miracles and Virtues of Saint Vedastus. The Baptism of King Clovis.

[8] The sacred history of Gospel authority relates that the Lord Jesus, going to Jericho to confirm in faith in His majesty the hearts of the people present, restored the light of his eyes to ^a certain blind man crying out to Him — so that through the bodily light of that one blind man, the hearts of many might be spiritually illuminated. Luke 18:41 So also Saint Vedastus, Saint Vedastus, when ^a blind man met him, by the gift of God and Christ, through the illumination of ^a certain blind man, confirmed by miracle the faith which he had preached by word in the heart of the King — so that the King himself might understand that the light of the heart was as necessary for him as the illumination of the eyes for the blind man; and that what divine grace had wrought through the prayers of His servant in eyes punished by blind night, the same power, working through the words of the same servant, might accomplish through the understanding of spiritual light in his own heart. For while the royal excellence, with ^a fitting retinue and ^a very great multitude of people, was traveling, as they journeyed they came into ^a certain district which, by the custom of the inhabitants of that land, is called the district of Vongis, in the presence of the King, near the village of Reguliaca, which is situated upon the flower-bearing banks of the river Aisne. And behold, as the King with the multitude of people was crossing the bridge of that river, ^a certain blind man met him — one who had been deprived of the light of the sun for ^a very long time, perhaps not blinded by his own fault, but so that the works of God might be made manifest in him and through his illumination the hearts of many present might be spiritually illuminated. When he had understood from those passing by that Saint Vedastus, servant of Christ, was traveling in that same retinue, he cried out: "Holy and chosen one of God, Vedastus, have mercy on me, and with ^a pious heart more diligently beseech the heavenly power to come to the aid of my misery. I do not ask for gold or silver, but that through the prayers of your holiness the light of my eyes may be restored to me." The man of God then perceived that heavenly power was present to him — not only for the sake of that blind man, but even more for the salvation of the people present — and he poured himself entirely into sacred prayers, trusting in divine mercy, he illuminates him with the sign of the Cross: and placed his right hand with the sign of the Cross upon the eyes of the blind man, saying: "Lord Jesus, who are the true light, who opened the eyes of the man born blind who cried out to you, open the eyes of this man also, so that this people present may understand that you alone are God, doing wonders in heaven and on earth." Immediately the blind man, having received his sight, went on his way rejoicing. In that place, in the time that followed, ^a church was built by religious men as ^a testimony to this miracle, in which divine benefits are bestowed upon those who pray and believe even to this day.

[9] The King, therefore, having been thoroughly imbued by the man of God with Gospel teachings and firmly strengthened in faith by this present miracle, delaying nothing on the way, doubting nothing in faith, but with great eagerness of spirit and great haste of journey, hastened to see the most holy Bishop Remigius — so that by his most sacred ministry, with the Holy Spirit working, he might be washed in the living font of Catholic baptism for the remission of sins and the hope of eternal life. He stayed with him for several days, by Clovis so as to satisfy the ecclesiastical regulations and to be first washed with the tears of penance according to the Apostolic precept, as Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, said: "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"; and thus receive the baptism of the heavenly mystery in the name of the Holy Trinity. The blessed Bishop, knowing that the Apostle Paul says: "Let all things be done decently and in order" 1 Corinthians 14:40, appointed ^a day on which the King should enter the Church to receive the sacraments of divine mercy. What joy there was then for the Saints of God, what gladness in the Church of Christ, when they saw the King of Nineveh, at the preaching of Jonah, descend from the throne of his majesty and sit in the ashes of penance, after baptism and humble the head of his Excellency under the pious right hand of the Priest of God! Jonah 3 And so the King was baptized with his nobles and the people, who, with divine grace going before, were rejoicing to receive the sacrament of the saving bath.

[10] Having obtained the fulfillment of his vow both for victory over his enemies and for his salvation, he returned to govern the scepter of his kingdom and commended Saint Vedastus to the blessed Bishop Remigius. he is commended to Saint Remigius: Remaining there, he shone in the merits of his life and the examples of his virtues, and became beloved and venerable to all. For he was devout in the dignity of his morals, outstanding in charity, pleasant in brotherly love, remarkable in humble piety, constant in the watchfulness of his prayers, modest in speech, chaste in body, temperate in fasting, and ^a consoler of the wretched. Not thinking about tomorrow, but always trusting in the clemency of God, he fed all who came to him with the nourishment of eternal life. He despised no one in their distress, but refreshed the sorrowful with the word of pious consolation. He harmed no one even by ^a word, but strove to be of benefit to all with brotherly love. he excels in every virtue: Hence he was frequented by very many illustrious men, so that by his most sacred conversation they might receive consolation in whatever sadness or anxiety, or might hear from him the pure truth in the practice of ecclesiastical religion. And by his pious devotion, many were freed from the snares of the devil and entered the ways of perpetual life, with heavenly mercy assisting. Indeed, many, as we said above, on account of the most celebrated fame of his holiness — both nobles and common people — were accustomed to visit the man of God, that they might be consoled through the grace which abounded on his lips; and because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and because he loved all with brotherly love, he showed himself affable to all. he instructs all: Counting the salvation of others as his own gain, he did not bury the talent of the Lord's money in the earth of sloth, but strove to multiply it by the daily sweat of charity, lest he should appear empty when his Lord returned.

[11] A certain noble and religious man therefore came among others to visit the servant of Christ, that he might be refreshed through him with the honey of heavenly doctrine. And while the conversation of sweetest discourse was drawn out at length, and the sun, passing the midpoint of the sky, was doubling the growing shadows, the man of God was unwilling to dismiss his guest without the provision of charity. He commanded his servant that, if any wine remained, he should bring cups to his dear friend — so that, refreshed in both soul and body and strengthened, he might return home. But on account of the frequency of guests and the generous munificence of the man of God toward all, the servant found the vessel in which wine was customarily kept dry — not through any dryness of the father's charity. At once saddened, with ^a quiet murmur, the servant reported this to his father's ears. He, suffused with ^a blush of embarrassment yet abounding in heart with the sweetness of charity, trusting in divine aid, silently poured out prayers to God for ^a little while — doubting nothing of divine assistance, hesitating nothing about the effect of his petition, wholly trusting in the clemency of Him who from the dry rock produced ^a spring of living water for the thirsty people, or at Cana of Galilee changed water into the taste of wondrous wine. He said to the servant: "Go, trusting in the goodness of God, and whatever you find in the vessel, do not delay to bring it to us." The servant, swiftly obeying his father's command, he obtains wine through prayers. ran and found the vessel overflowing with the finest wine. Giving thanks to God, with ^a cheerful spirit he served it to the friend who had come, and to his companions. He, strengthened by ^a twofold charity, returned to his own home. But the servant of Christ, lest he be celebrated by the vain words of boasting or the rumor-loving favor of the people, with ^a solemn charge commanded his servant to keep silent about this miracle all the days of his life — desiring to be known to God alone rather than to men, knowing for certain that the true safeguard of all virtues lies in humility, and that this is the virtue which ascends the highest kingdoms of heaven by the steps of charity, as Truth itself says: "Everyone who humbles himself shall be exalted." Matthew 23:12

k. Same: "be found."

CHAPTER III

The Episcopate of Saint Vedastus at Arras.

[12] When the most celebrated fame of the man of God was spread abroad, and the generosity of his charity, the devotion of his life, and the earnestness of the word of God were celebrated far and wide by all, it seemed good to the most blessed Bishop Remigius that so illustrious ^a lamp of Christ should rather be placed upon the lampstand, so that by the most splendid radiance of his holiness it might shine more widely for the salvation of many, than lie almost hidden beneath the obscurity of ^a single place. Therefore, by divine dispensation and the salutary counsel of priests, Ordained Bishop, he goes to Arras: he ordained him Bishop and directed him to the city of Arras to preach the word of life — so that the people, long lying in the ancient errors of evil custom, might, with God's help, through his constant insistence on sacred preaching, be led by him into the way of truth and the knowledge of the Son of God. Having received the grade of the episcopate and the office of preaching, he hastened to the aforementioned city. But as an augury of future prosperity and salvation, God made known his entrance to the citizens by the testimony of ^a certain miracle.

[13] For at the very gate of the city, two needy and infirm persons met him — namely ^a blind man and ^a lame man — begging alms from the man of God with ^a pitiable voice. At once the priest of Christ, compassionate toward their misery, was considering within himself what solace he could provide them. And since the Apostolic preacher knew that he had no money in his purse, trusting in divine clemency and strengthened by the example of the holy Apostles Peter and John, he said: "Gold and silver I have not; but what I have — that is, the offices of charity and the devotion of prayer to God — this I do not delay to bestow upon you." Acts 3:6 And after these words, the man of God poured forth tears from the inmost affection of his heart for their misery, and with purity of faith besought divine help for them, by his prayers he heals the blind and the lame man: either for their bodily health or for the spiritual salvation of the people present. Nor could such pious and necessary prayers be ineffectual; but from Him who says through the Prophet Isaiah, "In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you," both immediately received their desired health in the sight of the multitude — the one enriched with the brightness of light, the other gladdened with the swiftness of feet. Isaiah 49:8 Both, giving thanks to heavenly mercy and carrying home greater gifts than they had hoped for, returned home. But this miracle of healing was also the cause of eternal salvation for many. he converts many: For, seeing that heavenly power accompanied the words of the Priest of God, they abandoned the filth of idolatry and, believing in Christ, were cleansed in the living font of sacred baptism.

[14] Sustained by the favor of the people through the testimony of the aforementioned miracle, the man of God traversed every part of the city, searching among the ruins of buildings for any sign of ^a church that could be found. For he recognized that in ancient times the religion of the sacred faith had flourished in those places; but on account of the sins of the inhabitants of that land, by the hidden but most just judgment of God, the city, together with the other cities of Gaul and Germany, was given over to be plundered by Attila, the pagan and treacherous King of the Huns. of the ancient temple devastated by Attila. He, on account of the excessive savagery of his spirit, knew not how to pay honor to the priests of God nor reverence to the churches of Christ; but like ^a most monstrous tempest, he laid waste everything with sword and fire. Then, in the likeness of the devastation of Jerusalem 4 Kings 25 wrought by the impious King of Babylon, the nations came into the inheritance of God and with polluted hands profaned the sanctuaries of Christ, pouring out the blood of the servants of God around the altars of the Most High King. It was not the strength of the pagans that did this, but the sins of the Christian people that merited it. The servant of Christ found, among the ruins of the ancient church and amid the fragments of the walls, he discovers vestiges: dense thickets growing — where once there had been choirs of singers, there were now seen the lairs and hiding places of wild beasts, everything full of dung and filth, so that scarcely any trace of the walls remained. Seeing this, he groaned with the deepest pain of heart, saying: "O Lord, all these things have come upon us because we have sinned with our fathers; we have acted unjustly; we have committed iniquity." Psalm 105:6 "But you, O Lord, be mindful of your mercy, and spare our sins, and do not forget your poor unto the end."

[15] While he was murmuring these things with tearful complaints, behold, suddenly, from the ruinous caverns, ^a bear leaped forth. The man of God, with indignation, commanded it to withdraw to desert places and to seek for itself suitable dwellings among the dense forests, and not to cross beyond the banks of that river. The bear, at once terrified by such ^a threat, fled he commands the bear to depart: and was never afterward seen in those parts. O wondrous power of Almighty God in His Saints, whom the most ferocious beasts know how to obey! O pitiable audacity of men, who do not fear to despise the words of saving preaching uttered by holy Doctors! The irrational beast, in obeying the commands of the Saints, in some manner uses human reason; but man, created in the image of God, endowed with reason, not understanding his own honor, is compared to senseless beasts and is made like them. Psalm 48:13

[16] When the man of God had ascertained that the churches of Christ were deserted and the heart of the people infected with the errors of idolatry and blinded by the darkness of ignorance, he submitted himself to ^a twofold labor of devotion. He led the people with diligent attention to the knowledge of the true light, and he raised the churches to the summit of the highest beauty. he builds sacred edifices, He stationed Presbyters and Deacons to assist him in various places throughout the churches; and where formerly there had been dens of robbers, there he built houses of prayer, and was more zealous to adorn them with divine praises than to decorate them with the pompous riches of the world. He was generous to the poor and affable to the rich, so as to lead all, either by the liberality of gifts or by the pleasantness of words, into the way of truth. Knowing that the proud necks of secular power could in no way be converted or inclined to the humility of the Christian religion except through the most gentle admonitions of piety, instructed by the Apostolic example, he became all things to all men, he became all things to all, that he might gain all — anticipating elders with honors, admonishing the young with paternal love, everywhere through the offices of charity seeking not his own interests but those of God. Following in the footsteps of Christ, he did not spurn the banquets of the powerful — not for the sake of luxury but for the purpose of preaching, so that through the harmony of familiar intercourse he might more easily pour the word of God into the hearts of those dining. 1 Corinthians 9:12

[17] A certain noble Frank, therefore, distinguished in power, named Ocinus, invited King Clothar — the son of the aforementioned King Clovis, who at that time nobly governed the scepter of the Frankish kingdom — to ^a dinner, which he had prepared with great splendor in his house for the King and his nobles. The holy Vedastus was also invited to the banquet. At ^a banquet, in the presence of the King, by the sign of the Cross Entering the house, according to his usual custom, with his right hand extended, he signed everything with the banner of the holy Cross. Certain vessels stood there full of beer, but wickedly infected by diabolical incantations through pagan error. These, immediately destroyed by the power of the holy Cross, burst and poured out all the liquor they held onto the ground. he shatters cups infected with sorcery. The King and his nobles, terrified by the sight of this miracle, inquired of the Bishop the cause of the sudden prodigy. The holy Bishop answered: "Through certain incantations of sorcerers, the diabolical power lurked in these liquors to deceive the souls of the guests. But terrified by the power of the Cross of Christ, it has thus invisibly fled from the house, just as you have visibly observed the liquor poured out upon the ground." This event was profitable for the salvation of many. For very many, freed from the hidden chains of diabolical fraud, despising the vanity of auguries and abandoning the custom of incantations, flew to the purity of the true religion, understanding that the efficacy of divine power was working signs through His servant, and that nothing of the ancient serpent's machinations availed against his holiness. And what the devil had prepared for the destruction of some, the grace of Christ converted to the redemption of many.

b. Surius: "sides."

c. Same: "alms."

"And already Attila had spread his terrifying troops Over your plains, O Belgium."

CHAPTER IV

The Death and Burial of Saint Vedastus.

[18] The aforementioned Priest of God had therefore governed the Church of Christ, with divine grace assisting, for about forty years, with great devotion to Gospel preaching and great love of mercy, Saint Vedastus cultivates his diocese for forty years, and during that time he converted ^a multitude of the people to the holiness of the Christian faith through Catholic teaching. The knowledge of the divine law flourished everywhere; the most holy name of Christ was heard on the lips of all; the honor of the most chaste life flourished in morals; the love of the heavenly homeland burned in the hearts of each one; the people gathered at the church on appointed days; with the most abundant fruit: the feasts of our Savior were celebrated with great joy on the appropriate days; alms were distributed most generously around the houses to the poor; the word of God was preached daily to the people in every place; the choir sang hymns of praise to God at the canonical hours in the churches. They called that people blessed to whom these things belong: blessed is the people whose God is the Lord. Psalm 143:15 For all rested in the beauty of peace, rejoiced in the knowledge of the truth, and were glad in the holiness of the Christian religion.

[19] After the pious preacher and holy Priest of God, mature in merits and in years, was due to receive the rewards of his labor, by God's dispensation he was seized with the fever of ^a severe illness in the same city of Arras, [ill] with divine mercy providing that where he had labored most in the service of God, from there he might attain the palm of eternal blessedness and render his soul to his Creator in the hands of his most dear sons. a shining column appearing, he foretells his own death: To designate the death of His servant, God caused ^a most brilliant column of light to be seen one night, standing from the roof of the house in which the holy Priest lay, up to the very summit of heaven, for the space of nearly two hours. When this was reported to the man of God, he immediately understood that this sign portended his death. He therefore called his sons to him, that by their prayers he might commend his soul to its faithful Creator. And after the sweet admonitions of paternal affection having received the Eucharist, he dies: and the final words of charity, strengthened by the most holy Viaticum of the Body and Blood of Christ, he breathed forth his spirit in the hands of those weeping. O day most joyful for the holy Priest, but most sorrowful for all the people, whom so great ^a Pastor suddenly left in bodily life — whom nevertheless he never deserts in spiritual intercession, if they do not cease to follow the words of his sacred admonition and the footsteps of his most proven life.

[20] And so the clergy and ^a great multitude of people gathered for the final obsequies of the venerable man, together with priests, presbyters, and deacons of other churches. the body for burial cannot be moved, But ^a marvel: amid the voices of those weeping on earth, choirs of singers (as is reported) were heard in heaven by certain devout men. And while the bier on which the body lay, prepared with fitting honorable attendance, stood in the midst, those who approached could not move it. What to do, they were uncertain; where to turn, they did not know. They inquired of Scopilio the Archpriest — ^a truly devout man who had been the confidant of the words of the holy man of God — whether he remembered the Saint having testified anything about his own burial, fearing that perhaps this had happened to them because they were planning to bury him within the wall of that city. He answered that he had often heard him say that no one should be buried within the walls of the city, because every city ought to be ^a place for the living, not for the dead. For indeed they wanted to entomb him in the church of the Blessed ever-Virgin Mary, where he had presided over the episcopal See. But he himself is known to have arranged for his burial-place to be in the oratory which he had built at modest expense — that is, with wooden planks — near the bank of the little river Crinchon. Although he himself, in the humility which he always practiced, had wished this to be done, (he had asked to be buried in an oratory outside the walls) all those present, considering the marks of his merits, thought it unworthy that the body of so great ^a man should be buried in ^a humble place — especially since the place itself was neither suitable for so great ^a monument nor, being overgrown with marsh, accessible to the people.

[21] While they were deliberating among themselves about these things, the venerable Scopilio, instructed in the power of prayer, believed he must run to his accustomed weapons — namely, that the prayer of faith might obtain what the hands of many men had been unable to accomplish by strength. after prayers are said, the body moves: Exhorting all to prayer, he himself was the first to weep, and bending over the most sacred body in prayer, affected by the grief of his heart, he burst forth in this cry: "Alas for me," he said, "O most blessed Father! What do you wish me to do, since the day is declining toward evening, and all who have gathered for your obsequies are already hastening to return to their own homes? Allow yourself, I beg, to be carried to the place which the care of your sons has prepared for you." And having said this, taking the bier on which the body of the holy man lay lifeless, feeling no weight, they carried it on their shoulders with eagerness of spirit to the place of burial. And they buried him in the already mentioned church of the blessed Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, on the right side of the altar, he is buried in the church of the Blessed Mary, where he had once discharged the office of the episcopal chair, hiding ^a noble treasure in the earth.

[22] In which place it lay for some time, until, by the Lord's revelation, he was translated with ^a happy change to the place where his memory now shines, by the holy men Autbert and Audomar, Bishops. But now, let what was seen worthy of memory in that same episcopal seat after his departure be related. For in the course of time, the little house in which God's beloved died was seized by flames and began to burn. the fire is driven away by his apparition. But ^a certain devout woman named Abita saw Saint Vedastus coming and driving the flames from the house; and so it remained unharmed, together with the bed on which the man of the Lord had sent forth his holy soul to the heavenly kingdom — so that all might recognize how great was the blessedness in heaven of the one whose bed's dwelling on earth could not burn.

CHAPTER V

The Translation of the Body of Saint Vedastus.

[23] He lay therefore in the same place until the time of Blessed Autbert, who succeeded him as seventh Bishop in the episcopal See. He, as we have learned from the account of our elders, and as it is on the lips of innumerable people, and as we also prove to have been done with our own eyes, warned in ^a vision one day, standing in the battlements after the morning hymns, as the dawn was reddening, gazing toward the East, saw at ^a distance, across the little river called Crinchon, ^a most radiant man holding ^a staff in his hand, measuring out the site of ^a basilica. Seeing this, and with God revealing, he recognized the vision as angelic; and it was shown to him Saint Autbert translates his relics. that Blessed Vedastus was without doubt to be translated thither, with Christ's consent. Made more certain by this revelation, he invited Blessed Audomar to this great work, who at that time was regarded as Bishop of Therouanne, the city of the Morini, magnificent in the affairs of God. Although he was now weighed down by old age and seemed to have become weaker by the loss of his eyesight, yet having his mind like ^a bow bent in spiritual zeal, he was at once ready and, with Christ guiding his steps, hastened to the venerable Autbert. And Autbert, relating what was in his mind and what had been divinely shown to him, with equal vow and common counsel, with the great joy of the peoples who had flowed together from all sides, translated the most blessed Vedastus to the designated place. In this translation, Blessed Audomar is said to have received back the light of his eyes, but immediately, by his prayers, to have regained the same blindness which he had voluntarily borne. Blessed Audomar, having received his sight, obtains blindness again. For he held in little account the light of fleshly eyes, he who had merited the light of the citizens above.

[24] Moreover, the miracles which are reported to have been done at that time, and those which have been wrought through the merits of Blessed Vedastus over the course of nearly one hundred and sixty years, have been committed to memory by no pen, except that by the voices of singers, this antiphon is sung: "This is Blessed Vedastus, for whom ^a temple was ordered by Angels to be built by men." The place itself is not far from the same city, which was first called Nobiliacus on account of its nobility; but in the course of time it became so distinguished that it was called by the name of the city, which had almost wasted away with ever more frequent ruins. For it has been exalted by the generosity of the faithful and filled with ^a company of monks and other flocks devoted to God, where daily the divine praises are celebrated without ceasing, and frequently heavenly signs and miracles have been and are being done — which are now related more by the mouths of those who see them than written by the pen of ^a scribe. [Happy Nobiliacus and Arras, with the relics, miracles, and intercession of Saint Vedastus.] Happy indeed is the city of Arras, fortified by so excellent ^a Patron; and even if it is degraded by the ruins of its walls, it is nevertheless made illustrious by the nobility of his merits. And let all the people rejoice for the intercession of his holiness, and give eternal thanks to Almighty God, who granted them so illustrious ^a Teacher, by whose preaching they came to know the way of truth; by whose prayers, if they stand firm in the strength of faith and the holiness of life, they will remain safe from every adversity and will attain to the perfect glory of blessedness. The same Priest of Christ, Vedastus, died on the eighth day before the Ides of February, in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God, through all ages of ages. Amen.

EXHORTATION

to imitate the virtues of Saint Vedastus, as described in the Acts,

BY THE SAME AUTHOR ALCUIN,

From the Vedastine and Antwerp manuscripts.

Vedastus, Bishop of Arras in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 8509

[1] Rejoice, most beloved Brethren, in the Lord — you who have gathered for the solemnity of our most holy Father and protector, that is, Saint Vedastus — and be glad with spiritual joy, and from the inmost affection of your heart praise together the clemency of our Lord Jesus Christ, Converted to the faith by Saint Vedastus, who deigned to lead us from the errors of idolatry to the knowledge of His holy name through the preaching of this holy Priest. Let us follow with one mind the footsteps of so holy ^a Teacher; let us not be degenerate sons of so great ^a Father; they ought to imitate his virtues. but let us imitate the holiness of his life by the nobility of our conduct. Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us walk honestly as in the day, because the night of ignorance has receded and the light of true knowledge has shone upon us, so that as children of light we may walk in all chastity and piety. Let there be no hidden seeds of any wickedness or malice in our hearts, because man sees the face, but God considers the hearts, nor can anything be hidden from the eyes of His Omnipotence. Let us prepare ourselves in all goodness, so that our illustrious Bishop and pious preacher Vedastus may joyfully lead us before the tribunal of the Supreme Judge on the last day — so that from the great number of his children we may be crowned with glory, and may deserve to hear together with him that desirable sentence: Matthew 25:34 "Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world." worthy of an eternal reward. From the heavenly homeland, he does not cease to aid our daily struggle with pious prayers, desiring *us, his most dear sons, whom he begot with paternal affection in Christ, to attain to the glory of everlasting blessedness. Wherefore, dearest Brethren, let each one in his own station, according to the measure of his strength, bravely resist the suggestions of the devil, so that he may be made worthy to receive the eternal crown of triumph with our pious parent. Romans 8:18 "For the sufferings of this time are not worthy," as the Apostle says, "to be compared with the glory to come, which shall be revealed in us." Therefore, divine mercy has willed the time of our labor to be brief, and the reward of our struggle to be perpetual — and that for temporal tribulation, we should rejoice in the reward of enduring glory.

[2] We have heard, therefore, when the Life of the Priest beloved of God was read, described in his Life; how great ^a devotion he had in every form of goodness, how he chastised his body through the rigor of abstinence, how he strove to benefit all through the offices of charity. Let us walk with all eagerness of mind and with every faculty of our strength in the footsteps of his life, so that we may deserve to be made sharers of the blessedness in which he reigns with Christ. Let no carnal concupiscence, no worldly ambition impede our journey. Let us run through the works of piety to the gates of the heavenly homeland. The citizens of the eternal city await us, and the King Himself, who wills all men to be saved, ardently desires our salvation together with His Saints. For it befits us to be His co-workers in our salvation, especially the love of God, who loved us so greatly that He did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all. Let us love Him, because He first loved us; let us do His will, because His will is our happiness. Let us always have in mind what Truth itself answered ^a certain rich man in the Gospel: "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." Matthew 19:17 What are the commandments, if not the love of God and the love of neighbor? On these two precepts the whole law depends, and the Prophets. The love of neighbor, therefore, is proven in works of mercy: Let him who has the substance of this world aid him who has not. Let him who has the knowledge of doctrine correct the erring, as the Apostle James says: "He who converts ^a sinner from the error of his way shall cover ^a multitude of his sins." James 5:20 We ought to know, dearest Brethren, and zeal for the salvation of neighbors; that however many souls each person has gained for God, he will receive that many rewards from God. How great ^a glory do you think Saint Vedastus has in the heavenly kingdom with Christ, who by diligent preaching gained so innumerable ^a people for Christ on earth! Or how great do you hope is the glory of his soul among the Angels, while his body has so great an honor among men? Or what can he not obtain by the prayers of his piety in heaven, who shone forth with such great miracles in the world? But greater than all miracles is the earnestness of Gospel preaching and the burning of holy charity in the heart. For very manfully he strove to multiply the talents of the Lord's money that he had received; therefore he will happily hear the Lord saying to him: "Well done, good and faithful servant; because you have been faithful over ^a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your Lord." Matthew 25:23 Small are the goods of the present life in comparison with the goods to come. But he who labors faithfully in these will rest faithfully in those.

[3] This Saint, to whose feast you have wished to gather, labored for the salvation of many, about to receive with him the heavenly reward, and therefore he will receive the rewards of very many on the day of judgment. He mortified himself through the rigor of abstinence; he benefited others by the diligence of his preaching; therefore he stands praiseworthy to all, according to the voice of the wisest Solomon: "The memory of the just is with praises, and the name of the wicked shall rot." Proverbs 10:7 While the life of the just is praised, the wickedness of the impious is detested by all like dung. What is happier than to merit from God the glory of everlasting blessedness through ^a good manner of life, and to be praised by the mouth of all? Let us think daily with what confidence we shall come before the tribunal of the Supreme Judge, and what good work we shall bring with us. His equity will accept no person's face, but will render to each according to his works; and he who labors more in the work of God will receive more reward in the kingdom of God. Let each one in the vocation in which he was called, work manfully for his salvation. The gate of the heavenly kingdom opens to all, but the quality of merits admits one and expels another. How wretched it is for ^a man to be excluded from the glory of the Saints and to be consigned to eternal flames with the devil! The burden of sins plunges the soul into Tartarus; the abundance of righteousness raises it to heavenly glory. Let us frequent the church of Christ more often; let us hear more diligently the words of God in it; and what we perceive with the ear, let us retain in the heart, so that we may bear the fruit of good works in patience, and let each one strive to help the other with brotherly love. We have the abundant and illustrious examples of our most holy Father in every office of charity, in the fervor of faith, in the longsuffering of hope, and in the perseverance of all his goodness. Let us follow, with the whole intention of our mind, in every holy manner of life, the footsteps of him whom we celebrate with such great praise and love with such great affection — so that, running the way of his life, we may deserve to receive with him the glory of eternal blessedness, with the aid of the eternal King, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God, through all ages of ages. Amen.

* MS. Vedast.: "his own"

VERSES OF ALCUIN

to Rado the Abbot.

Vedastus, Bishop of Arras in Belgium (Saint)

"Do not, I ask, Father, spurn our little gifts. Though they may seem small, ^a great love sends them."

EPITAPH OF SAINT VEDASTUS,

by the same Alcuin.

Vedastus, Bishop of Arras in Belgium (Saint)

"Here the outstanding Father Vedastus rests in body, In whose sacred honor this lofty house gleams, And is supported through the ages by the merits of so great ^a Patron, Through whom God works many signs of salvation. Who in life followed the sacred footsteps of Christ enthroned on high, With tongue, with mind, and with hand indeed. He multiplied his wealth — with perhaps twice five talents, Nor did his gains, given to purses, diminish his riches. Therefore he shall soon hear the voice of the gracious Judge: Enter now into the holy joys of your Lord."

HISTORY OF THE TRANSLATION OF SAINT VEDASTUS,

From the Life of Saint Autbert, Bishop of Cambrai, by the author Fulbert.

Vedastus, Bishop of Arras in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 0861

By the author Fulbert.

[1] The necessity of affairs pressed upon him, so that the venerable Father had to go to visit his canons, who served at Arras in the monastery of Blessed Mary — ^a place once most famous both for the circuit of its walls and for the throng of citizens, Saint Autbert but disfigured from its former state by the harassment of the nations, it has continued until now with frequent ruins. When he had dealt sufficiently for the time with the affairs of the Church, on ^a certain night, as was always his custom, rising while the Brethren were still resting, he continued the time of his nighttime prayer until the twilight of dawn. He had not yet completed the course of his prayer when he went outside, as though to refresh his limbs with some relief, grieving that the burial of Saint Vedastus was insufficiently honored. with his prayer meanwhile suspended. Standing on the walls, he began to be moved by the stirrings of pious meditation as to why Vedastus, closed for so great ^a span of years under the sod of ^a lowly sepulchre, should lack the honor due to him — one whom the fellowship of the citizens above, rejoicing, had already adopted as ^a gem of the heavenly Jerusalem, shining with the radiance of virtues. For from the day of his burial until the time of Blessed Autbert, there had been six Bishops, and he himself had succeeded as the seventh to the summit of the episcopate; and through so many passing years, God's precious gem was still enclosed in an underground cavern, whose sepulchre was not far from the right horn of the altar of Blessed Mary. But when we hear that so many outstanding Confessors of Christ lived in those times — exalted in merits, illustrious in virtues, more solicitous in the smallest matters — in ^a vision he learns it is without doubt clear that this great treasure lay neglected not through their sloth, but that by divine judgment and the will of Blessed Vedastus, the ministry of carrying out this duty was reserved for Blessed Autbert. He therefore began to burn in his mind as to where the holy Confessor ought to be translated, considering within himself that it would be unfitting for two great luminaries to be confined in the narrow seat of one house: that the body must be translated elsewhere: namely, lest where the illustrious memory of the Mother of God held the primacy of name, the glory of so great ^a Father should seem the more obscure. When suddenly, as the dawn reddened, gazing toward the East, he saw at ^a distance, across the little river called Trientio, ^a resplendent man holding ^a staff in his hand, measuring out the site of ^a basilica — just as once Ezekiel, situated in body beside the streams of Babylon, came in spirit to the land of Israel, where in the visions of God he saw the temple of the Lord being measured by the hand of ^a man. Seeing this, with the Spirit revealing, he recognized the vision as angelic. Therefore the man of God understood that Blessed Vedastus was to be translated thither, with Christ's consent.

[2] Saint Audomarus is summoned for this purpose. The blessed Bishop, therefore, made more certain by such ^a revelation, judged that Blessed Audomarus, who at that time governed the flock of the city of Therouanne with watchful care, should be invited to so solemn an office of translation. Though pressed by old age and weakened by the loss of his eyesight, he did not so much dread the labor of his feebler body as he rejoiced to satisfy the command of Blessed Autbert. Therefore the charity of his mind overcame the difficulty of his body; and with Christ directing his steps, he arrived devoutly before the venerable Bishop. And when the latter told him what he bore in his mind and what had been divinely shown to him, Audomarus rejoiced at the vision and obediently girded himself with the zeal of fraternal devotion. Now it cannot be estimated how great ^a throng of people streaming together gathered at that place on that day: namely, the clergy and ^a not ignoble crowd of both sexes. When the bier had been prepared, therefore, and in the solemn translation of Saint Vedastus and all things that seemed necessary, the sepulcher was opened, and an antiphon having been intoned, they raised the sacred treasure with great reverence; and with crosses and candles prepared, and every kind of ornament for ^a solemn procession, they began with great exultation of the people to transfer the holy body to the appointed place. But while crossing the aforesaid little stream, when they were now reaching the suburban boundaries, and Blessed Audomarus was following step by step in the footsteps of Saint Autbert, he immediately recognized in himself the power of ^a heavenly working — so that it was openly given him to understand how great were the merits both of him who was being carried and of him whom he was following by carrying. For, the night of his long blindness being dispelled, he recovers his sight he immediately received the light of his eyes — in the place, namely, where ^a church built in memory of Blessed Autbert is still seen by those now present as ^a testimony to this miracle. But because the venerable man Audomarus thought little of the light of his bodily eyes — but then obtains again his former blindness he who certainly desired the light of the heavenly citizens — he at once obtained by his prayers the same blindness that he bore willingly. In this display of miracle, the power of the one working is not hidden, but it remains to seek the merit of the desired virtue. But to those who contemplate more subtly there can be no doubt that, with the preceding merits of Saint Vedastus, the faith of Blessed Autbert obtained the effect. While those who were present stood amazed at the varied outcome of the miracle, they honorably transferred the blessed body to the place designated by the Angel. In which place the venerable Bishop built ^a monastery A monastery is built. and from the possessions of his bishopric donated, as occasion served, for the use of those who served there; where, according to the suitable provision of means, he appointed Brothers to the duties of divine worship.

MIRACLES OF SAINT VEDASTUS

by the author Haiminus the Priest, From the Antwerp and Saint-Omer Manuscripts.

Vedastus, Bishop of Arras in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 8510

By the author Haiminus, from manuscripts.

[1] Indeed, of those things which we have recently both proved with our own eyes and heard from those who experienced them, By the merits of Saint Vedastus are healed, we shall relate ^a few out of many. For I myself, who now supply these things, was present among those who had seen ^a mute and deaf man, ^a few years ago, by the merits of Blessed Vedastus, suddenly receive both the hearing of his ears a mute and deaf man: and the loosening of his tongue. That poor man, once cured, was able to speak; but he was utterly ignorant of what to say, except what he had heard from others — inasmuch as he had never before been able to hear not only human speech but not even the crash of thunder.

[2] While I myself was sacristan of that same church in which the relics of the holy man of God are now preserved, the miracle occurred which I narrate. A certain poor man, whose eyes had been gouged out by the judgment of secular law, while he was held in prolonged imprisonment with his feet bound in stocks, had been rendered so lame in both feet a lame man, that, with his sinews contracted, he did not stand on his soles but rather crawled and, leaning on his knees, dragged himself along with his hands, holding small wooden instruments, rather than walked. While he sat daily before the doors or within the threshold of the church of Blessed Vedastus, in order to receive alms rather than to hope for healing from those entering, by the patronage of the holy man of God he merited both his daily bread and the restoration of the health of his feet. For, as we learned from his own account, warned in his sleep, on ^a certain night when the feast of Theophany was celebrated, there appeared to him in his dreams ^a certain person urging him to hasten to the church for the keeping of vigils, and to lie down not where he had been before, near the doors of the temple, but as close as possible to the chancel rails. Hearing this, the poor wretch began to be anxious about how he might do it, complaining that he had no one to give him ^a hand for guidance. But in what manner he could, he fulfilled what had been commanded him. Then, as the people filled the church entering the church: and the clergy rang out the divine hymns, behold, suddenly that lame man cried out that he was loosed from the fetters of his divine entanglement, and stretched himself out — but, stretched out on the ground and made taller, not yet trusting his own steps, he did not dare to raise himself on his own feet. But, supported by the help of others, he raised himself up, and from that time forward to this day he walks joyfully with firm steps. The supports for his hands, with which he used to crawl, are seen hung on the doorposts of the church, since this happened recently.

[3] Similarly, we also saw ^a little before ^a certain man, known to all the citizens of that city, another lame man: who had been lame in his feet for ^a very long time, restored to his former health by the merits of Father Vedastus.

[4] Not only, therefore, does the man of the Lord bestow the aid of healing upon human souls and the bodies of the faithful, but he has also deigned to minister healing to brute animals for the comfort of men. About three years ago these miracles, which I narrate, were accomplished through the faith of those who asked. While on ^a certain day, going through the church as sacristan of the temple about to transact some business, ^a certain rustic met me, saying that he wished to speak with me for ^a little while. Whereupon, withdrawing into ^a recess near us, I asked what he wanted. And he, as if about to make satisfaction, wishing to fall to the ground, said that he was bound by ^a vow and gravely obligated. "Last year," he said, "when ^a plague of animals, raging everywhere throughout our neighborhood, cured from ^a plague was consuming nearly all the herds, it happened that the young oxen, which were all I could possess, being seized by the disease, brought me to despair of the means of this life; since beyond them no hope remained to me in earthly things. young oxen, after ^a vow made to Saint Vedastus, Meanwhile, the thought occurred to me to make supplication to my Lord Vedastus on their behalf. Wherefore, binding myself by ^a vow, I promised that the produce of the first acre I would plow with them would be devoted to the service of the church of Blessed Vedastus. And, placing the yoke on my very sick oxen, I went out into the field to plow. When they suddenly recovered, I plowed, sowed, reaped, and sold the grain — namely, oats — and behold, I have brought the price, as much as I received from the sale. But I am exceedingly anxious about this and beg indulgence, because I did not immediately fulfill my promise. Compelled by necessity, I spent that sum on the needs of my household at that time, which I now pay back in the same amount. For I am entirely cheered by the health and strength of my oxen."

[5] Something similar happened to ^a certain man who, paying his vows, narrated to me himself ^a deed of this kind, saying: "I came to the market; but the horse on which I sat, worth forty solidi, I suddenly lost, as it was dying. A horse near death, While, now despairing, I was sadly about to remove even the halter from its head, ^a certain bystander, comforting me, said: 'Take courage,' he said, 'and promise candles to Blessed Vedastus; wax promised; then, trusting in his merits, you will be able to reach home on the very horse on which you came.' Hearing this, I at once promised my vows. And behold, sooner than ^a word could be spoken, that horse rose up and sought its food again. Therefore, receive the wax that I vowed." For he had produced ^a not inconsiderable mass of wax. This done, rejoicing, he was carried home on the healed horse on which he had arrived.

[6] In those days in which these things were done, there came ^a certain woman, of lowly garb indeed, but poor in spirit, rich however in faith, and, as I soon perceived, of ^a simple nature. When she had solemnly paid her vows, as best she could, at the sepulcher of Blessed Vedastus, she approached my humble self and offered me gifts — such as her hand could find — saying: "Since I have learned that you are the minister of this sacred house, I have judged it fitting to offer you something even after my vows have been fulfilled." Having received these gifts not altogether willingly, but charmed by her simplicity, I sought her aside and began to converse with her for ^a while, with ^a few persons standing by. For some kindness was shown to her. But in the course of speaking, she brought forth words of this kind: "Although," she said, "I may seem so poor — and her cattle committed to his guardianship since I am oppressed by hard and harsh lords, on whose account I dare not clothe myself in finer garments — yet I am not so destitute and beggarly as you think. For my shepherd Vedastus, and guardian of my flock, does not allow me to be consumed by poverty, from the day that I committed my cattle to him." "Is he," said I with ^a smile, "the overseer of your herd?" "He is indeed," she said, "my most faithful herdsman of long standing. For from the time that I committed to him the care of my herd in faith, I have not known even one animal of mine to have been consumed by pestilence or seized by ^a beast. And whenever ^a plague of animals rages, I do not seek remedies in them as some do, because I do not fear the plague to have power over my flock. For this reason, I never cease to visit my Lord Vedastus every year." "Hold firm," I said, "in that faith, and you will be able to remain safe." "I am indeed," she said, "nor can I be doubtful of his assistance, I who have experienced his benefits for so many years now."

SERMON OF HAIMINUS ON THE FEAST OF SAINT VEDASTUS,

concerning two children healed by his merits, From the Vedastine and Antwerp Manuscripts.

Vedastus, Bishop of Arras in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 8511

By the author Haiminus, from manuscripts.

[1] Let your hearts, I beseech you, children of light, be stirred to divine praises for the benefits bestowed. Let what already burns in your mind, I pray, burst forth into voice — so that those whom faith illumines, ^a pure confession may confirm. The matter of praise is therefore at hand; the cause of jubilation is ready. It is seen with the eyes, held in the hand, perceived in its usefulness; those who knew not how to deceive bear witness. Already those are eloquent who have not yet perfectly learned to speak. Psalm 8:3 "Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings," says the Psalmist, "you have perfected praise." Wisdom 10:21 The same Lord, rich toward all who call upon Him, By the intercession of Saint Vedastus, ^a man blind from birth is given sight, makes the tongues of infants eloquent. They teach by faith, even if they cannot yet do so by speech; indeed, Christ teaches through them, to whom He grants so great ^a grace. For He Himself illumines inwardly who shines forth outwardly through miracles. Wondrous and astonishing things are done in every way, and the rarer they are, the more they are to be proclaimed. Ancient things return, old things recur, what has been frequently heard becomes manifest. For what we read in the sacred pages, we see repeated before our eyes: ^a man blind from birth sees. For Christ works in the Church what He once performed in the Synagogue; for He illumined that man both in heart and in body; this man, because he had been reborn, He illumined in body, that He might revive the faith of the sluggish in mind. John 9 You plainly know, you who were present, what works the Lord Jesus performed today through the merits of His servant, our blessed Father Vedastus — rather, what He completed that was imperfect. He healed, namely, two sick persons: to one He gave the light of the eyes — He did not restore it; a lame man receives the ability to walk to the other, because he was lame, He restored the ability to walk.

[2] I am about to say wondrous things, which all of you know equally with me. Our Father himself, the holy Vedastus, still provides from his tomb what while living in the flesh he wrought in the world; and the illustrious Senator, from the heavenly court, decrees the salvation of his children. Through outward miracles, moreover, he shows that in the secret council of the Saints he intercedes for our souls. He repeats, as I said, what he once performed. You remember, most beloved Brothers, and you are able to remember, that Blessed Vedastus himself, sent by Saint Remigius to preach the word of God to the nations, at the entrance of the city of Arras healed two wretched sick persons — namely, ^a blind man and ^a lame man — in order to show by miracle what he was about to accomplish by the word; for just as he opened the eyes of the body to see the world, so he illumined the hearts of men by the seed of the word of God through faith to know God. And just as he restored the step of the foot, so he directed the steps of the faithful toward the path of good works. But because (alas!) our hearts are already growing sluggish in good works, they must be aroused by the performance of miracles. Attend, I pray, most beloved Brothers, to what things have been done and in whom they have been wrought. For not only did the mercy of God provide what He would do through the merits of His servant, but to whom He would apply such great remedies of salvation. For those who consider the benefits of God too little are wont, whenever healings are wrought through the merits of the Saints upon the bodies of men, to say (alas!) that they were not healed, because they believe they did not suffer the disabilities. What will they say about these, whose age does not allow them to feign? With what charges will they be able to accuse them? Behold, here are the nurses and mothers who brought them disabled and lead them back whole. One of whom is from ^a village of the people of Corbie called Walgiacus, and the other is ^a tenant of the very church of Blessed Vedastus; their homeland namely, the one gifted with sight is from among the people of Corbie; the one who had been lame is from among the servants of Blessed Vedastus. Both are little children, both are innocent, both are humble and upright. Because our Lord is the salvation of little ones — that is, of the humble — He has now healed little ones, that we may learn to be humble, that is, to be little. For He still cries: "Let the little children come to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Mark 10:14 Behold, He has embraced them and healed them; He received them from their parents, blessed them, and gave them back.

[3] Let us each, let us all, give thanks to the Almighty, who deigns to visit us and to manifest to us the fatherly affection of the most sacred Bishop. Let us be roused from the sleep of laziness, An exhortation to virtue, and through those wondrous things which we see outwardly, let us be inwardly formed to the pattern of piety. Let us open the eyes of our mind, that we may deserve to see the eternal light. Let us be washed with tears, that we may deserve to be purified. Let us run while we have the light, lest the darkness overtake us. Let us be cleansed from every defilement of mind and body; let the word of God be ^a lamp to our feet; let the unfailing light be ceaselessly in our desire. Let us seek and do the works of light, not of darkness and iniquity. Let us run the way of God's commandments; let us say with mouth and heart to our God: "Direct me, Lord, in your truth, and teach me; and direct my steps according to your word, so that no injustice may have dominion over us." Let us implore the mercy of the Lord through the intercession of so great ^a Patron. Let us guard our heart with all diligence, for from it proceeds life. With humble heart and suppliant voice let us come before the face of the Lord in confession, that we may experience in our mind what the little children have just now merited in the restoration of their members. Let us return to our consciences; let us examine ourselves; let us punish the evil we have done. Let us consider what we shall say on the day of the great judgment of God, what excuse we shall have, when our Teacher, Blessed Vedastus, shall sit with the judging Apostles, shall appear with the ministering Angels, and shall exult for his saved children. For those who refused to hear him he shall no longer care. What more could he have shown? While living, night and day he ministered the words of God to those who heard; for he rained with words and shone with miracles. And now he reigns in heaven with Christ, and still does not cease to care for our salvation. Let us not neglect such great benefits of God, lest what is bestowed for the cause of salvation come upon us as ^a heaping up of damnation. Let us implore the mercy of the Lord through the intercession of our holy Father, so that here we may abide in his teaching and there we may rejoice in eternal and common glory. Thus let us be obedient to his counsels in this life, so that we may rejoice there in ^a common reward. Let us prepare here on the way what we shall possess in our homeland. May the Lord Jesus, who wills all men to be saved, cause us to come to so great ^a Patron by working well, and to rejoice forever with Him in eternal gladness. Amen.

APPARITION OF SAINT VEDASTUS AND HEALTH RESTORED TO A DYING MAN,

by the author Hubert the Priest, to his teacher Haiminus; From the Antwerp Manuscript.

Vedastus, Bishop of Arras in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 8512

By the author Hubert, from manuscripts.

[1] Striving to satisfy your instructions, most skilled Teacher, I shall everywhere lay bare the abyss of my own inexperience — namely, by describing ^a vision clearly shown by the revelation of the most holy Vedastus to ^a certain man recently, ^a poor carpenter named Dagobert; Prologue and entrusting it to you to be adorned and improved from its own crude style to ^a better one — preferring indeed to incur the fault of inexperience rather than to presume to deny anything that seems proper to you, my Lord. Therefore, let your Paternity hear through the subsequent words of my rusticity the entire order of the events; and then, if anything was perhaps worthy of memory, having taken ^a cue from this, let him insert it with his rough pen into his own parchments as he sees fit.

[2] For on Wednesday, when the third hour of the day was now approaching, the reapers of the priest Imbodus — that is, my uncle — returning from the field, happened to pass by the little hut of the aforesaid carpenter, namely Dagobert, whose poor wife, standing before the doors, Dagobert the carpenter, was frequently beating her wretched breast with her fists, and tearing her hair with her hands, was wailing — consumed indeed by excessive grief. When one of them had asked her what sorrow so afflicted her, she replied that it was on account of the dire peril of her husband, who was now detained at the very last moment of his life; adding that she was especially grieved because her husband was about to depart suddenly from this light without penance and the grace of communion. Hearing this, that man hurried to me and made known to me, who was unaware, this pitiable news. Which having heard at once, I was struck dumb, dangerously ill, fearing lest perhaps without penance and viaticum he might pass beyond the bounds of this present life, and I might be guilty on account of the entrusted sheep on the last day of the Lord's great judgment. Yet trusting in the mercy of God, I arose swiftly, and taking with me the mystery of the life-giving body and blood of the Lord, I came with hurried step to the house of the man who lay ill — who, wasted by ^a prolonged sickness, was unable not only to speak but not even to raise his eyes even ^a little to see. Sitting before his bed in sadness for the space of nearly two hours, he finally began to open his eyes, long closed, ^a little, and anxiously to turn the gaze of his eyes this way and that. Seeing this, I asked him whether he recognized me at all. He answered that he knew me quite well. To whom I said: "Do you then wish, according to the custom of other men, to receive penance, and before you depart hence to be strengthened by the Lord's viaticum?" He said: "O Lord, all that you shall command, if only I be worthy, I will gladly fulfill." After receiving the last sacraments, When I had taken in that voice with my ears, made more joyful in spirit, I told his wife to immerse ^a little water in his mouth, so that he might more easily utter some words. Which was immediately done. Then, having received penance and the food of the Lord according to custom, he became so grave in ^a moment that he seemed unable to reach not only the next day's light but not even the end of that day or the setting of the sun. Having thus left him, I returned home, having no hope whatsoever of his recovery.

[2] When evening had come and ^a certain part of the night had already passed, his wife, seeing him buried in such immobility, attempted to address him with coaxing words, rapt in ecstasy, to comfort him and that he might be somewhat mindful of himself. Then at last he, drawing long sighs from the depths of his breast, with all the effort he could muster, said: "O my once most dear wife, why do you so disturb me? Why do you make me lose so great ^a glory? Do you not see our whole wretched little lodging gleaming with indescribable brightness? Cease, I beg you, to trouble me further with your complaints, and allow me for ^a while to enjoy these joys, which I was enjoying for ^a little while before you roused me." At these words the woman fell silent. And he, resuming the aforesaid repose, does not cease to this day to reveal by ^a clear account the things that were divinely shown to him. He says that Blessed Vedastus, our Patron, appeared before him and most diligently asked what he was doing he received admonitions from Saint Vedastus, and in whom he had placed his hope. To whom, when he had replied that he was doing what he could according to his own ability, and that he firmly trusted in the mercy of God and in the help of his Patron Vedastus, the Saint said: "Well." And taking the saliva of his own mouth on his fingers — as it seemed to the aforesaid man — he placed it in his mouth, saying: "Henceforth, take care that no fear of Priest, Lord, Judge, or Master terrify you; but rather, fearlessly report all things that shall have been commanded you by me in order. And I admonish you not to trust to your own audacity, so that you conceal even one word by your own silence; but to each person as they may be, I command you to reveal plainly the truth of what you hear."

[3] To be told to Hubert the Priest, "First of all, hasten to report these commands to Hubert, the younger Priest of this Church: 'Take careful heed that you never grow weary of what you have begun, and that you never turn aside to things that are of no profit; but strive perseveringly to complete the journey you have begun with such diligence that you may reach its goal without reproach.' Then also make known these things to his uncle, to the Priest Imbodus, namely Imbodus: 'For you are occupied with concern for external things and think little of the welfare of our Church; but unless you swiftly correct yourself from such concern and strive to restore what is proper to our Church, know that you will utterly lack the grace of the Lord and of ourselves, and that ^a greater sign than what you presently possess will come upon you.'"

[4] To Adalgisus, lord of the estate, "And do not fear to report these things also to Adalgisus, the lord of this estate, with the utmost diligence: 'For Dagobert, the once illustrious King of the Franks and the founder of this estate, delivered ^a certain small portion of land together with some serfs, under his own charter and seal, to our Church; which remained inviolate until the time of the wicked Echard, who was put in charge of this estate — who at last, led by envy that such ^a donation had been attributed to this Church, increased his own crime: and dividing the aforesaid portion, he rashly retained one part for himself and left the other to the same Church. But not long after he underwent the deserved punishment for this bold deed. For he was suddenly deprived of the favor of his Lord the King, and lost the estate, and was abandoned by the comfort of all. And finally, when, already an old man, he attempted to engage in equestrian sport, he was thrown from his horse to the ground and wretchedly broke his own hip; and from that day to this he completes his journey with the support of ^a wooden crutch. Wherefore do you also, mindful of him, lest you ever undergo similar things, strive to restore swiftly to our Church all things that were ours. For you will not be afflicted with any poverty if you attempt to obey our commands in this matter; but rather you will be enriched, and will someday be made the happier for it.'" Concerning the lime kiln that he ordered to be built in the forest in ^a nearby place, and concerning the help to be sought from neighbors for completing some work, and the placing of new panels, and the completing of the building which its builder Herrad, prevented by death, was unable to finish, I judge it unnecessary to write anything to your Paternity, lest the very prolixity engender tedium.

[5] To Winfrid the Judge, He also added these words: "Likewise, proclaim this word to Winfrid the Judge on my behalf: 'That he should not torment the household of this place undeservedly, lest perhaps he suffer the same punishment that Gillebert once paid, who long discharged the same office. For he too, like Echard, completes his journey until death with the support of ^a wooden crutch. Let him also return the eleven coins that he unjustly took from Ebruin; and let this same Ebruin understand that, because he too dared to subject our household wickedly to his own service, he has lost the power of his right eye, and that his own daughter is so disabled in one part of her body that she can now scarcely obtain any recovery at all. For indeed the aforesaid Hubert was exceedingly grieved on account of these very serfs when they were removed from this place, as was Imbodus before him; for afterward, lest John, who had married his niece and seemed to hold some serfs from the same family, should lose them, he gave his assent — at the urging, indeed, of Oricus the steward, who is proved to have been the ringleader of this malice and of many others, and who himself also, unhappily punished for such conduct, daily pays the deserved penalties for his crime.'" and to the Priests: "Also command those same Priests already often mentioned to restrain under strict penance those whom the occasion of ^a sacrilegious oath led astray, through which our serfs were torn away, and to bring them at some point to the remedy of reconciliation — lest perhaps, by similar persuasion, they should ever presume to give assent and to extend their own hands to so nefarious ^a sacrament. But do you henceforth take care to reveal plainly by ^a clear narration all things that have been commanded you; nor henceforth presume to render any service to anyone except our house. For if the lord of this place already mentioned shall also restore you, with your own farmstead, to our Church, take care to render the service owed as best you can. But if this does not come to pass, let our matricula alone suffice for you. For you shall not lack the necessities of sustenance so long as you shall be subject to our ministers." In these words he at last made an end of speaking.

[6] Now when the dawn of day was shining, the same sick man — namely Dagobert — began to address his wife gently, asking her if she had anything that could be eaten. The sick man asks for food When she replied that she had ^a piece of fresh cheese, he said to her: "Bring it to me, I beg, together with ^a little beer, if you have it, that I may drink." When these were brought, he ate ^a little. Strengthened indeed by that food, he continued without eating until the dawn of the next day, that is, Friday; and when it was shining more fully, then for clothing, he said to his wife: "Bring me, I beg, my usual shoes. It seems hard to me that for so long ^a time I and my little ones have been here without ^a fire, shaken by excessive cold. For if I can find ^a cart somewhere with draught oxen, you will soon see me he brings wood from the forest, return here, having loaded it with timber from the forests." At which she, marveling and exceedingly astonished, remained fixed in her seat. But he, seeing her astonished, said: "Do not marvel, O wife. For what I say, aided by the mercy of the Lord and supported by the help of my Patron, Blessed Vedastus — who comforted me on the past night — you will see immediately fulfilled." And so it was promptly done. For, dressed in his usual clothing and taking his staff, and borrowing ^a cart from his neighbor, he went to the forest; and, as I said, having loaded the cart, he soon hastened back to his own house. This, however, seemed truly marvelous to all who could see and hear it: that he who had been so weakened by such ^a prolonged illness and three days before had been brought to the very last extremity should so suddenly have recovered, and should have attempted such ^a thing beyond his powers — and suffered no ill effects afterward. This, however, healed by the aid of Saint Vedastus, as is certain, he professes that he accomplished not by his own powers but by the mercy and patronage of Blessed Vedastus.

[7] Nor do I think this should be passed over in silence: that the same man, who had previously been slow of speech and stammering, was in this revelation endowed with such an abundance of eloquence and from ^a stammerer made eloquent that he can now correctly express more words in ^a single hour than he had ever been able to manage in ^a whole day.

[8] "Be bold, O parchment, and begin to reveal these modest verses / to Father Haiminus, at whose command you, rustic as you are, / have promised to record this wondrous event. / Though not supported by genius or by salutary art, / yet without any further study, dare at last to say: / Epilogue Live and fare well long, illustrious Father, saved by the gift of Christ, / ever reaching toward true joys. / Do not, I pray, Father, spurn our small gifts: / Though you see them as small, ^a great love sends them."

MIRACLES OF SAINT VEDASTUS, PERFORMED AT VARIOUS TIMES,

collected by the Vedastine Monks: from four manuscript codices.

Vedastus, Bishop of Arras in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 8513

By the Vedastine monks, from manuscripts.

PROLOGUE.

[1] It is clearer than light, most beloved Fathers, that Jesus the Savior was foretold from the cradle of the world through the Patriarchs, that the childhood of the world was illumined by the Law, that the adolescence of the age was prophesied by the Prophets, and that the youth, so to speak, of all the elements was snatched from the jaws of the devil by the Redeemer Himself and transformed into the likeness of an incorruptible image in the similitude of God; and what He accomplished by Himself, He spread through His members to the four parts of the world. Whence let the Charity of your love know that the most blessed Vedastus, destined for us by God, flourished with virtues, was vigorous in religion, shone with wonders; and of what merit he lived in the world is demonstrated daily by signs from Christ. But through the negligence of writers and the laziness of the unskilled, very many things appear to have been obscured which had been bestowed by the Almighty. For with the rust of the young corroding the pen, inertia has made rough the tongues of the adolescents.

PART I

The Elevation of the Relics of Saint Vedastus. Benefits bestowed on the sick. Punishment inflicted on the malicious.

Chapter 1.

[2] When the most holy Vedast, paying the common debt of death, rendering his bond to the old Adam, and commending his soul to the Lord Jesus, sought the heavenly kingdom, the blessed body lay in the church of the Blessed Mother of God, Mary, for approximately one hundred and twenty-eight years. It was then translated by the Blessed Autbert and Audomarus to the place The body of Saint Vedast translated by Saint Autbert, where the blessed relics are now preserved. But in the time of Charles, the most glorious King, son of the Emperor Louis, our sins having earned it, the Northmen poured into Gallia Comata, laying waste to everything that had been delivered to them by the just judgment of God; and though they wished to burst through even to us, they were prevented by the agency of God and the prayers of Blessed Vedast. But since no one ought to tempt God, the monks of our monastery, fearing what had befallen our neighbors, being under the authority of Count Adalard, approached the venerable Bishop Theoderic, entreating him that, by Saint Theoderic the Bishop, relying on his authority, they might search for where the remains of so great ^a Father lay hidden, so that if — God forbid — they should lay waste the place, the hope of the relics might remain to us, especially since it was reported by our elders that no one knew in what place he had been buried. And so, employing the authority of so great ^a Bishop, they determined to search wherever he might be found. And by the provision of Him who promised to His own: "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you," Matt. 7:7 they at last found the treasure where it was hoped to be. Word was brought to the Bishop. And he, being ^a most kind and supremely gentle man, giving thanks to God, came straightway to the monastery. What shall I say of how great the gathering of the people was? he is elevated, What ^a concourse of both sexes — nobles and commoners streaming together from every direction? What more? That most noble treasure was raised from the ashes on the sixth day before the Nones of July July 2, in the year 852 — in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 852 — whose soul rejoices in heaven with Christ. And so the venerable Theoderic, praising God and handling the holy relics with sacred hands, exulted that Christ had revealed to His little servants what He had long hidden from the ages. By whose protection we are defended not only from German enemies but also from the snares of the devil; by whose prayers we believe we shall attain the pardon of sins and the reception of eternal rewards. The relics of the blessed man were then placed under the episcopal seal in the same basilica until ^a crypt suitable for such great remains should be constructed, so that if ^a similar tempest — our sins having earned it — should overtake us, they might more easily be raised (which may Christ avert) and become companions, indeed leaders, of our flight and hiding.

[3] When about eleven months had passed, ^a gathering

of the faithful people took place again, so that the relics of the Father might be restored to their little casket. They came together and flocked from every direction. You could see the whole province in bloom, and Francia leaping for joy as if after the flood of the Getae. All were glad, all rejoiced, as if they beheld Vedast come in the body. The Bishop beloved of God, Theoderic, was present with the Clergy; there was joy; they triumphed over all their enemies, those whom Christ aids. The limbs of the venerable Father Vedast were again deposited restored on June 4 of the year 853. in their proper place with fitting honor, on the second day before the Nones of June, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 853. Who shall tell how much was bestowed there by the rich, offered by the laity, promised by the devout?

[4] When the anniversary day of the translation arrived, ^a gathering of the whole province took place, and while the monks were keeping the nocturnal vigils, there was present in the midst of the crowd ^a certain man disabled in his feet, so that his heels clung to his buttocks. And behold, suddenly, A bent man is healed, as if he had been pulled by two men, the sinews were loosened, the veins were stretched, and he who had been bent became erect. He obtained through the prayers of Vedast what he had not possessed from his mother's womb. The cry of the people was raised, praising God and blessing the Lord. Let those not believe these things who deny that Christ was born of ^a Virgin.

[5] There remains ^a nun serving the Brothers who serve God in the mending of garments, whom we saw carried, contracted in her limbs, by the hands of her attendants to the shrine of Saint Vedast a contracted woman. on the Kalends of October, the day of the translation of the same Father. She was so restored to health that to this day she appears sound in all her limbs, and the marks of scars are not lacking. And this we say on account of those who say (but far be it that they should say) that these things are mendaciously invented.

Chapter 2.

[6] What was done long ago is now recounted. A place called Aminiacus is an estate of the gracious Vedast on the river Oise, in the district of Laon. Because that estate was far from the monastery, all the surrounding inhabitants — as is read of the Midianites — came in droves with their cattle and whatever they could possess, laying waste and plundering everything down to the ground, Those who plundered the fields of Saint Vedast, with no one offering them any resistance. Judges 6:5 Compelled by this necessity, ^a certain one of the servants, having taken provisions, came to the monastery, lamenting his own calamity and that of his fellows. But after he found no solace for his complaints, he ran to the tomb of Father Vedast. What I relate is laughable, yet it was true. Crying out, he said: "Ho there, Vedast! If you dwell here in the body, as all confess, and have any honor in heaven, why do you forsake us? Why do strangers plunder your crops, and enemies devastate your pastures and vineyards? No one shows you respect. If we, your servants, were bread, they would perhaps devour us. And since you are enclosed here and cannot see far, let it not seem troublesome to you if you enjoy ^a humble conveyance — enter this bag, that you may see the tears of our miseries." When these and other complaints were finished, the steward having made ^a pilgrimage to his sepulcher, he spread open his sack before the sepulcher and, untying it, said: "Enter, do not delay; you shall be carried unharmed on my shoulders, and afterward you shall return in safety." You could see the bag inflate and fill up, as if with flesh and the hardest bones firmly pressed in. Seeing this, the peasant, rich in faith, believing he had obtained what he sought, returned to his lands with quickened step. Casting the bag into the middle of the fields, he cried out: "Ah, ah, Saint Vedast! Do you see how the adversaries plunder what was yours? No one has pity on you or your people. Behold all those streaming against you!" Wondrous to tell, yet dreadful to witness! All the cattle rushed against each other, and in the assault — gnashing their teeth, goring with their horns, and kicking with their feet and their whole bodies — they avenged upon their own flesh what they had committed against another's inheritance; and thus, as they had laid waste, they were laid waste by their own kind. they are variously punished. Some of the shepherds were rendered disabled, others were afflicted with various calamities. For from that time on, none of the inhabitants wished to plunder the estates and vineyards of Saint Vedast, which had such great protection.

[7] In the year of the Lord's Incarnation 875, ^a miracle occurred through the merits of our Father Vedast, which I now relate. In the British sea, which is near to us, fishermen are accustomed to set out together to fish, to catch whales. Fishermen mocking Saint Vedast, And ^a dispute arose over precedence between our men and the sailors of other jurisdictions, the latter refusing partnership with our men unless they paid ^a fee for the association. When our men refused this, all who had gathered there from various Churches to fish banded together and mocked our men, as the boys of Bethel mocked Elisha, calling him bald, saying: "See how your fishing will turn out! You will catch ^a whole whale to present to your monks, which they have never before beheld — they who have not deserved to gain even ^a tenth part, and even that by our gift." 4 Kings 2:23 they catch nothing, And so they immediately put to sea, trusting in the number of their ships and the multitude of their companions; but hope placed in men is vain, for not only did they catch nothing at all, but they escaped only with great danger. But our men, commending themselves to God and to the blessed Father Vedast, with ^a vow and two small boats, did not hesitate to commit their lives to the winds. those who honor him have an abundant catch. And He who is always present to those who call upon Him in truth, and who brought to Peter the fish with the gold coin, gave His servants an enormous fish. Then the portions that were customarily due to each of the fishermen were sent, as they had vowed, to the Brothers and to Blessed Vedast: two silver coins, as they had determined. And lest this seem incredible to anyone, it was done in the first year of the Empire of the most glorious Charles, son of the Emperor Louis, and the thirty-sixth of his reign, in the ninth Indiction. Let those not believe this who deny that the disobedient Jonah was carried in the belly of ^a beast to regions he had not known.

Chapter 3.

[8] Through the intercession of the merits of Saint Vedast, even Britain — which, as it is written, had known nothing but barbarous raging — once began both to venerate Christ and to supplicate His Saints with due honor. It happened that ^a certain Scotsman came to the monastery in which the venerable body of the most Blessed one awaits the day and hour when, his spirit returning, the Saint shall possess double in his own land. He humbly asked When dust taken from the sepulcher was brought to Scotland, that relics be given to him, in whose memory he would build ^a basilica in Scotland. When this was refused to him as ^a stranger, and he was regarded as an impostor, he approached with purity of faith the altar of God and the tomb of Father Vedast. Then, gathering the ashes and dust of the pavement which had escaped the hands of the sweepers, he returned to his own land. What more? He built ^a church according to his means and the contributions of the faithful. Now this same good man had hives full of honey and bees before the doors of the basilica of Blessed Vedast. a church of Saint Vedast erected: And behold, suddenly at the onset of night, when mortals had surrendered themselves to the rest of sleep, ^a thief appeared, broke into the place, and wished to possess for himself what he had not been willing to work for. And while he strove to plunder, he became the prey. The wretch stood there, laden with another's goods, not honored by his own cleverness: the robber became immovable, and could not hide. You could see the man like ^a lifeless statue, a thief rendered immovable. since he could move not ^a step either without his plunder or with it. When the cock-crow drew near, the elder rose to ring the bells for Matins; he found what he wished for and did not wish for. Learning what had happened, he commanded the thief to be covered together with the vessel of honey until the neighbors should gather, wishing to hand the wretch over to the judges for punishment. Then, when the Scotsman had gone to bed, there appeared to him an old man of most beautiful countenance and venerable baldness, who said: "Inflict no punishment on that poor fellow; Christ bound him, not you; and I release him in the name of Jesus. Know also that I am not called 'Badast,' as your barbarian tongue is accustomed to say, but Vedast." And behold, immediately the bonds by which the guilty man had been secretly held were loosed more quickly than the word. And bidding farewell, he departed unharmed. And if anyone curiously or obstinately wishes to know how we came to learn these things, we reply: ^a most noble native of that land, named Echo, having left his parents and renounced his patrimony, embraced ^a voluntary

pilgrimage. For his father, born of the royal lineage, had been second after the King among the chief men of the province. This we learned not only from him — who, the more noble he was considered, the more he wished to appear lowly and poor — but we also heard it from all the inhabitants of the Scottish land. For even today ^a kinsman of Brother Echo nobly governs the scepters of the Scots. He himself, living most devoutly in our monastery for about thirty years, ended his life for Christ. He himself most frequently confessed to us that this miracle had been most truly performed in this manner.

[9] Leaving aside the waves of Britain and the sea, let us return to the fields of the Franks. The Lord Vedast, as much as he is gracious to the gentle, so severe does he appear to the obstinate. In the times of the Emperor Lothar, son of the Emperor Louis, the abbey of Father Vedast fell into the hands of Count Adalard. And while he was distributing the estates of the Saint to his own men, A tyrannical possessor of ^a village of Saint Vedast, ^a certain very wealthy estate named Yburius, more distinguished for its serfs and its most fertile pastures, was handed over to ^a certain Lethard as ^a benefice. He so oppressed the household that he threatened to reduce them all to beggary, and to clothe the chief among them in the rags of his own wives. His wife was also possessed of the same harsh cruelty; and because, as the Prophet says, from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there was no soundness in them, divine vengeance followed. For he had ordered them all to go to the place where he appeared to have his own possession. When they refused — not out of pride, but lest it be taken as ^a precedent — in ^a fury he threatened that this would be bitterly avenged. Then all, grieving, fled to the shrine of the Saint, bringing ^a candle of marvelous size. One day, therefore, as he sat with his retainers standing about him, he cried out in ^a terrible voice: "Alas! Who is killing me? Help me! Assist me! Bring aid! Behold, some adversary in the figure of ^a Cleric is seeking to slay me!" And immediately such great terror seized them all that, abandoning their lord, they fled — except the steward of that place, named Rimund, whom no horror had gripped, and from whose mouth we learned what we record with our pen. That same fierce cry was repeated ^a third time. He is punished with the death of his offspring and wife, At that same tempest, the only child he had died. After this, ^a sickness seized his wife, the accomplice of such great cruelty, so that (so the report goes) crusts of lard were placed upon the tongue of her mouth, and they were set out like black coals; and she is said to have ended her life in this torment. Then the same Lethard, seized by fever but corrected in mind, took to flight, as if he would not find death — or rather, as if death would not find him. The aforesaid steward declared under oath that ^a multitude of crows and jackdaws had gathered in flocks, cawing above him. He also reported that enormous dogs had given forth howlings at his departure for ^a full league. Whether this was ^a diabolic mockery or was heard by chance is not for us to judge. At last, arriving where he was headed, he began to grow weaker day by day. Then, like another Pharaoh, hardened in mind, not perceiving that divine vengeance was at hand, he ordered ^a solemn banquet to be prepared, intending to celebrate what he thought was the thirtieth day for his wife. and his own. The appointed day arrived — and behold, Lethard dies, according to his name, if you wish to compound it from Latin and German: letum (death) and hardt (harsh) — ^a harsh death, which we do not wish upon ourselves — and the banquet he had prepared was spent on his own funeral. And so it came about that to this day that very estate is held in reverence by all its lords, who know that Blessed Vedast the Bishop will be the defender of his own, with the aid of the grace of Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

p. Of this fishing episode there is no mention in the Antwerp manuscript.

q. Charles the Bald was crowned Emperor by Pope John VIII on Christmas Day itself, at the end of the year 875.

r. The Douai manuscript: "with ^a calm wind."

s. The same: "of gray hairs."

t. The Saint-Omer manuscript: "bound"; the Douai: "vexes."

u. The Douai: "of the heavens."

x. The same manuscript: "of Saint Etho."

y. Lothar held the Empire from the year 840 to 855.

z. Others write Yburius, and Iburius.

aa. Others: Letardus, Leotardus, and Liethardus.

bb. That is, letum in Latin means death, and hardt to the Germans means hard or harsh.

cc. Here the first collection ends, to which the rest appears to have been added subsequently.

PART 2

Other offenders against Saint Vedast punished. Miracles wrought at Beauvais.

[10] In the times of the Princes Pippin and Carloman, under Adalric, Abbot of the same monastery, the Count of the province of Arras, named Theutbald, was seeking to take away from the Brothers ^a certain cultivated plot with its garden, because the seat of the county appeared to be in the royal estate, Count Theutbald, about to seize the gardens of the monastery, to which the said cultivated plot and garden were adjacent, as it remains to this day. This was afterward, through the industry of Abbot Adalric — who was ^a most proven physician in those times — and by the grant of Prince Carloman, ceded to the use of the Brothers. When, grieving, they had flown to God and their Vedast, they were not defrauded of the desire they had asked with ^a vow. For the said Count is reported to have approached the Prince, asking that men be sent from his court who might do violence to the poor Brothers and satisfy his cupidity. And the Count of the province of Reims was ordered to take part in these disputes. One day, therefore, when after the hour of rest the sacristan of the basilica of Saint Remigius, ^a good and just man, was keeping watch there alone, he heard someone calling upon Saint Remigius with ^a tearful voice. When he asked, "Who are you?" he replied, with the neighboring Saints opposing them, "I am your Brother Vedast. You sent me, holy Father, to preach the word of God to the unbelieving nations, which I did, thanks be to God; and behold, the assembled officials of the palace are taking away from the poor what was given by the faithful." Saint Remigius said: "Go, summon the Brothers and cooperators of the divine word who are your neighbors: Audoenus, that is, and Audomarus, that they may hear; Bertin, with Wulmar, and the rest who possess the maritime places. Do not leave out Amandus; summon Quintin; persuade Gaugeric to come with joy; let the chosen Eligius not be absent from our meeting;

let Lucian come with the dawn. I myself will take to me Blessed Martin, with the Saints who dwell in Aquitaine, and also Medard, the healer of his own. I will also enlist the Cobblers of Soissons, both brothers, and I will summon Denis with his companions; and so we shall hasten to meet you." The guard reported these things to the Bishop in the morning. The Count also appeared, intending to satisfy the entreaties of his ally. The Bishop reported to the Count what he had heard from the Brother. But the Count, fuming, scoffed that the monk, buried in wine, had narrated ^a dream; and he determined to proceed on his way with his men. the helper is punished, Mounting his horse, when he reached the church in which the vision had appeared, he fell, and with ^a broken leg was carried home by the hands of his attendants. But Theutbald, the denouncer of the Brothers and the author of so many complaints, when on the appointed day he mounted his horse, ^a fly entered its nostrils, and it kicked so long he falls and dies. that it threw its master to the ground, and his neck being broken, he immediately died. And so the Brothers, to this very day, possess their property in quiet and without disturbance.

[11] It is established by divine authority that ^a matter shall be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Matt. 18:16 Our most Blessed Vedast, not content with helping his own, but also — as has been said — ranging far and wide, spreading, by the bounty of Christ, the fame of his generosity, came to Beauvais and occupied ^a crossroads in his accustomed manner — since nowhere, if you traverse all of Gaul, will you find ^a basilica dedicated to his name except on ^a public highway. At Beauvais, in the temple of Saint Vedast When for ^a long time the memory of the venerable Father was revered by the inhabitants, and especially by religious monks, Canons, and nuns — he who drew water from the rock and wine from nothing — he commanded oil to flow there to the praise of his name. While this was ^a source of wonder to all, certain persons arriving and thinking it worthless began to hold it in contempt. And while these things were happening, in the sight of all — both those who marveled and those who had doubted — whatever oil appeared to be contained in the lamp leapt out to the ground, oil and light divinely given: and it was immediately filled from heaven with the purest olive oil and kindled with ^a divine light, so that no one could doubt that what had been said before was true. Whence it came about that the Lord Hildemann and all the successors of the Church of Beauvais took oil from there, both for baptizing and for the anointing of the sick, with the help of the grace of God. Amen.

[12] A certain woman living there had vowed to the blessed Bishop Vedast ^a linen cloth of very good quality. When she perceived the end of her life approaching, she commanded her daughter to deliver it to the designated place. But the daughter, led by cupidity, as is the way of women, a linen cloth, inferior to that vowed, flies off the altar three times placed on the altar ^a worse one — indeed, in comparison with the other, ^a very poor one. When she was going out with her fraud, the little cloth was cast from the altar by divine will. You would have seen the insensible thing fly with force, as if seeking out its own mistress. When it was replaced on the altar ^a third time and rejected ^a third time, the woman was confronted and, publicly confessing, returned to the Saint what she had taken away by theft.

[13] You know it is natural that all things are consumed by age. In the same basilica at Beauvais, consecrated in honor of Blessed Vedast, ^a stone wall almost falling from one face threatened to collapse by the space of one cubit each day. Those to whom the place had been entrusted gathered. a wall suddenly made firm For the hospice of the poor of the whole bishopric is maintained there with the utmost care. And when it was anxiously debated whether the wall should be demolished and rebuilt from the foundations, or shored up with wedges and mechanical art, they went to sleep. And on the morrow, having prepared everything necessary for such great expenses, they behold the wall which had been tottering now most firmly erected and compacted with its fellows, having adhered to the adjoining walls on its own footing.

[14] The gnawing antiquity of the times having caused the roof of the basilica of Saint Vedast, situated in the same city, to fall in, ^a collection was taken from all sides and that which had flowed off like ^a stream was rebuilt. Timber remained to be sought, the length of which was not easy to find. And behold, ^a certain man poor in wealth but rich in faith said he had what was sought, and loading it on ^a wagon brought it there; it was measured by the craftsmen and found to be short. Then those who had seemed joyful were sorrowful, until at last He who looked upon Peter when he denied looked upon their hearts, and with pure faith they approached the timber to prepare it. And, the timber for restoring the roof as those who were present testify to this day by God and Saint Vedast, it was found to have grown more than was needed for that place. wonderfully increased Moreover, the Lord works many miracles by the merits of Blessed Vedast in that basilica, through the faith of those who ask. By his prayers we also believe we are helped, through our Lord Jesus Christ, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, who lives and reigns as God forever and ever. Amen.

p. Saint Medardus, Bishop of Noyon, is venerated on June 8.

q. These are Saints Crispinus and Crispinianus, Patrons of shoemakers, martyred at Soissons; they are venerated on October 25. Whence it is clear that the people of Noyon and Soissons are not reckoned among the maritime Franks.

r. Concerning Saint Denis and his companions, we shall treat on October 9.

s. In the Saint-Omer manuscript these words were interposed: "The relics of this saint were brought"; but they are better absent from the Douai and Antwerp manuscripts.

t. The Douai manuscript: "in all things."

u. Saussay at July 5 says that the lamp placed before the reliquary, its oil being exhausted, was seen to burn and glow without any fuel. Where he wrongly states that the body of Saint Vedast was then present at Beauvais, which was first translated there more than fifty years later.

x. Saint Hildemann was present at the death of Saint Adalard in the year 826, as stated on January 2 in his Life, and subscribed to the deposition of Ebbo, Archbishop of Reims, in the year 833; he is venerated on October 8.

y. The remainder is absent from the Antwerp manuscript; it was added afterward.

z. The Douai manuscript has "excessively."

HISTORY OF THE TRANSLATION OF SAINT VEDAST TO BEAUVAIS, AND THEN TO ARRAS,

by ^a contemporary monk, From the Vedastine and two Antwerp manuscripts.

Vedast, Bishop of Arras in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 8516, 8517

By ^a contemporary author, from manuscripts.

PART 1

Narrative of the Events.

[1] It is most fitting, dearest Brothers, that in this present solemnity of the most blessed Confessor of Christ and our dearest Father Vedast, we render devout praises and thanks to almighty God, lest by chance, if we are ungrateful for his benefits, we be more severely judged by Him for such great and insolent contempt and slothful negligence. The solemnity of receiving the body of Saint Vedast is to be commemorated For the Lord has bestowed upon us today ^a great gift of benefaction, when He returned to us our most holy Patron Vedast, long taken away and long desired, by restoring him. Who, I ask, can any speech or any mind conceive how great was the joy, how great the gladness of all in this place, when their own Lord — that is, Saint Vedast — deigned at last to return to his own place, from which (O the shame!) he had been exiled as ^a pilgrim for some time, through the return of his body? There is no doubt at all that (alas, for sorrow!) the one thing happened on account of our sins, while the other came to us, His servants, by divine gift, with God having mercy and at last being propitiated. That he was taken away was caused by our wretchedness; that he was received back was accomplished by the mercy of ^a merciful God. But would that, O would that the Almighty never again permit so great and grievous an evil to befall! But let it now be said briefly and in summary by what compelling necessity that thrice and four times most blessed body was carried to Beauvais.

[2] Therefore, after the famous King Charles, and at last Emperor Augustus — who was the son of the Emperor Louis, the son of Charles the Great, King and Emperor — departed from this life; After the death of Charles the Bald his son Louis succeeded him in the kingdom by hereditary right, with none opposing; and of his son Louis who also, breathing the vital air for little more than one year, departed from man all too quickly. When he was taken from the world, and — as was most improper and ought not to have been — the Princes divided among themselves and against themselves for the purpose of establishing ^a King, the Northmen, hearing of this desolation of the kingdom (for rumor, an evil than which nothing is swifter, active in its mobility, had announced it to them), almost all set out from their borders, and crossing the Ocean Sea, entered the Gauls; but they first invaded our territories, because they were nearer to the seacoasts. As the Northmen triumphed While they laid waste everything with sword and fire, permitting no one to live, overthrowing monasteries and other holy places, the monks, struck by this terror the body of Saint Vedast is carried to Beauvais and foreseeing the danger to come — especially since the place of this monastery was still unfortified, neither enclosed by walls nor even surrounded by ^a rampart — taking up on their shoulders the little chest in which the holy bones were stored, immediately took refuge in flight and made for Beauvais. Arriving there, they spent no small period of time in that place. In fact, so that this departure, if the necessity should press, might be accomplished more freely and readily without any delay — for the monks had already long since foreseen this coming evil with ^a mind presaging the future — their venerable Bishop, ^a man of complete holiness, Father Theoderic by name, had dug up and raised those same holy bones from the most noble mausoleum out of the earth; and had honorably transferred and placed that treasure, more precious than all the gold of Arabia, in the aforementioned little chest. Having received these holy relics in the city of Beauvais, he is honorably received by Bishop Odo the most glorious Odo, then Bishop of that See — formerly ^a monk and Abbot of Corbie, and while King Charles lived, most glorious in the palace —

[3] brought back after 12 years Afterward, when some time had elapsed — that is, after twice-six and ^a half years and more — the monastery now being enclosed by walls, strengthened by towers, and surrounded by ^a circuit of ramparts, and the monks also having been gathered back from various homelands to return to it, it was sought, discussed, and deliberated how Saint Vedast might be carried back to his own place and the estate of his own right. For in his absence nothing good, nor hope of any good, seemed to be there; indeed, all things were going backward from day to day, and everything was flowing to the worse. Accordingly, the monks approached their own Bishop to carry out this business — ^a man no less good than learned, named Dodilo by Bishop Dodilo of Cambrai (who, formerly ^a monk and Provost of that same monastery, was elected by all the Clergy and people, and like ^a second Gregory was dragged from the monastery, then canonically ordained Bishop and made Pastor of the flock of Christ). Perceiving the desire of the monks and kindly receiving their prayers, being most benign and very energetic in the affairs of God, he by no means refused the wishes of the petitioners, but rather agreed, favored, counseled, and did not delay his journey. Wherefore there was ^a race from every direction to Beauvais. When they arrived there, the honorable Bishop of that city, Honoratus, received them with honor and abundant humanity. with the permission of Honoratus, Bishop of Beauvais The sacred pledge that was being reclaimed he could not deny, he was unable to retain it, and therefore, though unwilling, he did not delay in returning it. He would have wished, had he been able, never in his life to be without so great ^a good. He provided them lodging, did not deny the rights of hospitality, and assisted them with his service. Moreover, he yielded to the honor of that great Saint — ever and always to be named with honor and love — Vedast, as much as he could; yet he was anxious that he might accomplish less than what was worthy concerning his honor. At last, going out with those who were departing, he accompanied the returning party for ^a considerable distance. and accompanying them for some distance The whole city also followed them with hymns and praises, with all singing and saying: "The way of the just has been made straight; the path of the Saints has been prepared." Then, when the venerable Bishops on the road said farewell to each other, Bishop Honoratus returned with his people to his own city, while our Father and Pastor Dodilo with his retinue continued the journey they had begun.

[4] You would have seen that journey completed without labor, without difficulty, without any impediment, with great eagerness of spirit, with the joyful jubilation of those rejoicing, and with the most gentle tranquility of the air. What more shall I say? It is received at Arras Out of love for that sweetest Father who was being carried, all things were sweet and agreeable, nor was anyone burdened by the labor. At last, on the fourth day after the departure from Beauvais, on ^a Sunday, on the Ides of the month of July, with the Lord's mercy aiding us, we entered Arras, bearing the most benign, most beloved Lord, and most desired Saint Vedast, into that very venerable and august temple which he had commanded to be built by men at the bidding of Angels. But who could narrate, who could estimate the assembly and the meeting of peoples that was there? How many thousands of people gathered there? with the greatest concourse of all What the appearance of things, what the dignity or beauty that was then seen by us? If Virgil had emerged from the shades, and our Augustine, that eminent Doctor, most eloquent orator, the river of eloquence which, flowing forth from the heavenly Paradise, irrigates all the earth with ethereal showers — if, I say, he and he had been present to set forth such ^a wonderful glory, both would have been struck dumb with astonishment and would have stiffened with wonder. For there was present no small company of monks, there was present also ^a manifold assembly of Canons, Priests, and other Clerics; there were men with women and children, young men and maidens, the old with the younger — there they praised the name of the Lord. Already from the fields and villages through which we had passed, no one had stayed behind who did not follow the holy bier with joy. From the entire parish itself no one withdrew who did not come to this so glorious reception. and thanksgiving All together with exalted voice gave thanks to God with "Kyrie eleison"; they sang "Glory to God in the highest"; they resounded "Te Deum laudamus." Nothing was heard there but the praise of God. I believe indeed (nor is the belief vain) that never and nowhere did ^a more joyful day dawn on earth than that day. For from the excessive joy, fountains of tears flowed from the eyes of very many, nor could they satisfy their minds with such great joy. For who, I ask, could be so stony of breast, or who so savage of mind, that in these things and on account of these things he would not be pierced with compunction and moved to the sweetest tears? O what ^a change of affairs! Assuredly then was fulfilled in us that saying of David: "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Psalm 125:5 Indeed we grieved and wept and were saddened too much and for too long; but now all things are done for us according to our wishes.

[5] In such manner and with such jubilation, with the Angels exulting — when it was placed on the altar who without doubt always attend the divine offices — with hymns and praises resounding even to the stars (for the whole sky was as full of sweet-sounding jubilation as it had been stripped of every gloomy cloud), into the aforementioned temple that most holy body was borne and carried. All rejoiced at this as if Blessed Vedast were present alive. But when the venerable bier, as was fitting, had been placed upon the altar, and all things had been duly and solemnly arranged, during Mass the reverend Bishop began the Mass, and then, arriving at the place of preaching, he made ^a sermon to the people — nay rather, one to be embraced by all the living and by all who seek to live. He spoke of God, he spoke of the kingdom of God, he spoke of the Catholic faith, the Bishop delivered ^a discourse he spoke of eternal life. He also set before all the people of Christ, as an example to be imitated, the most blessed Vedast, in whom, although all the virtues had their peaceful abode, yet charity was more eminent, which was his native virtue from boyhood. on the virtues of Saint Vedast Concerning this and concerning his whole life, and also his miracles, as he was most affably eloquent, he recounted certain holy and useful things, and by speaking at length held the departing day. What sighs, what sobs, what abundance of tears there was then and there, no one can adequately say. For God had visited the hearts of all of them, and at so pious an exhortation of the most benign teacher — with whom they wept as he wept — the divine regard had inflamed them inwardly.

[6] Furthermore, when in the epilogue of this discourse he had exhorted them, and he established the day of the Return, the Ides of July, to be commemorated the Lord Bishop urged and admonished that this day of the Return of the body of Blessed Vedast to his own place should be celebrated most solemnly every year, and by divine and episcopal authority he decreed and established that on the aforesaid day — the Ides of the month of July — this feast should be observed with sublimity and solemnity by all. That this should be done was acclaimed by the mouth of all as their wish. He particularly addressed the monks themselves about this matter, that they should in no way neglect this ordinance — they who ought always to rejoice in the presence of so pious ^a Father, and who will never lack his help, unless their guilt be excessively grave.

[7] After this address and the celebration of the Mass, the Lord Bishop, having given the benediction, and having given the benediction, he dismissed the people dismissed the people in peace; and they all returned to their homes with great joy, praising and blessing the Lord in honor of the most blessed Vedast, our elder and Protector. By the most worthy prayers of his holiness before the Lord, we beseech with all devotion that, never separated from the same Father, we may arrive where we know him to have gone, Epilogue namely, to the most blessed and most happy joys of eternal life, and the most delightful pastures of the ever-green Paradise that never fades; where, placed in flowery seats and delighted by the fragrance of all spiritual perfumes, we may be able to praise, bless, and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became man for us, with His Father and the Holy Spirit, singing His mercies forever; and by the most sweet, most longed-for, and most gentle continuous vision of the same almighty God — whom then we shall see face to face — with the angelic choirs and all the Saints, may we merit to rejoice without end. To Him alone be honor and glory, praise and jubilation, power and dominion, beauty and every good, through infinite ages of ages. Amen.

PART 2

A Demoniac Freed by the Aid of Saint Vedast. A Dry Staff Growing into ^a Forest.

[8] Therefore we have resolved to insert into this little page of ours ^a certain miracle which God almighty worked through the most blessed Vedast in the city of Beauvais, because on the very day on which we departed from the city with the relics of the same Saint, we learned it from monks, Canons, and lay persons — religious men — by ^a truthful narration; and what is of greater certainty, they themselves testified that they had seen it. There was ^a certain young man, ^a servant of one of the Canons of that place, A certain man punished after his crimes wanton and lascivious; who also, having been frequently reproached by his master for ^a certain graver offense, since he by no means acquiesced in his admonitions but (alas, for grief!) persisted in his iniquity, it came to pass gradually that his guilt reached the ears of many. Whence he was corrected and beaten with ^a public and open rebuke. From this confusion he fell into ^a great sadness — not that sadness which works salvation, but the sadness of the world which brings death. As he thus conducted himself and refused to convert to God, by the just judgment of God an unclean and malignant spirit invaded him; he is possessed by demons not with one only, as the matter afterward became known, but the den of his breast was filled with many demons — and justly enough, so that he who was unwilling to submit willingly to God would be handed over unwillingly and against his will to the devil.

[9] Then, as the wretch was driven by such furies, bound with the hardest thongs and chains he was led to the monastery of Saint Lucian the Martyr and there presented to the Lord Bishop; in the church of Saint Lucian for at that time the venerable man Ermenfrid was Bishop of that See. Then, ^a multitude of Clergy and people having been gathered, exorcized by Bishop Ermenfrid great labor was expended for ^a long time and with devotion in psalms, supplications, litanies, and prayers for the liberation of the aforesaid demoniac. Exorcisms were added according to custom, adjurations and rebukes. When the enemy still did not yield to these, the Bishop ordered the fonts of the baptistery to be filled with water, into which, having been blessed and sanctified, he commanded the man to be immersed. He cannot be immersed in the blessed water When those who wished to carry out his commands attempted this, just as ^a cliff of the sea, unmoved, resists the waves and storms, so that man resisted; and setting each foot on either side of the rim of the sacred vessel, he remained so immovable and fixed that by no strength, no device, and no effort could he not only be immersed but not even be moved.

[10] Then that pestilent ancient serpent, taunting the Bishop, said: "Why do you labor in vain? Do you not know of what power and what strength we are? The devil calls himself Legion For I am that one who, when asked by the Lord Jesus — as you read in the Gospel — by what name I was called, replied: 'Legion.' Matthew 5:9 For I am Legion, for we are very many gathered into one. For my power is manifold and spread among all nations, and the tongue of all of them is so well known to me he speaks in various tongues that the Jews, to whom many tongues are known, can test it." Then Jews were called, and addressing him in various languages, in each language they received an easy and clear response from him. After this, boasting and glorifying himself, he added: he reports distant events "For today I was in Constantinople, and I wrought the slaughter of innumerable men; and behold, in your meadow I have sown ^a great discord between your men and the Count's men, and they will soon be killing each other; and it would be better to go there than to be wearied here in vain." When the Bishop heard this, he ordered men to go there. They went with all speed and found it to be just as that deceiver, boasting of his wiles, had said; but immediately, by the grace of God, all was pacified.

[11] When these things had taken place, since the late hour of approaching evening had now fallen, all returned from the church to their homes, though with sorrow. The man remained there by order of the Bishop, so that if it should please God, he might be healed there by the merits of the same holy Martyr, with the intervention of the most blessed monks of that place. But when he had remained there for some days, the possessed man, by ^a heavenly revelation it was divinely revealed to ^a certain religious man in ^a dream that the sick man should depart from that place and hasten with all speed to the church of Saint Vedast, which was situated not far from the city, because in it, by God's mercy, the man was to be healed and in this miracle the most blessed Bishop Vedast, beloved of God, was to be honored. is led to the church of Saint Vedast His relatives, giving credence to this revelation, led him to that same church. When they arrived, the unclean and fierce spirit suddenly began to vex him more cruelly than usual, and to tear him all apart. When it had done this for ^a long time, the man leapt out of the church building and hurled himself to the ground with such weight that the earth itself seemed to shake. Then, in ^a wondrous manner, ^a great deal of blood flowed from his mouth, which ^a considerable blackness of bile with ^a great stench followed. and when the demons were expelled in the form of bats

[12] Then at last, when these things were done — something never heard of or seen in our times anywhere — bald mice, which are also called bats, were seen to burst forth from his mouth, so that no swarm of bees ever erupts more densely from their hives; whence they filled the whole expanse of the air, and the sky was veiled and the splendor of the sun obscured by their covering, and nothing else for several hours appeared above except the blackness of those flying things. he was believed dead The man himself lay as if lifeless, and no sign of life remained in him. Then his people, who were present, thinking him dead, performing the funeral rites and placing him in the middle of the church, kept the night vigil. But around the fourth watch of the night the body began to move, the hands to extend beyond the coffin. His mother ran — for he still had his mother — and asked if he was alive. he is suddenly healed He answered: "Thanks be to God and Saint Vedast, for I live and shall live! By his merits and prayers life has been given to me, and I have been freed from so grave ^a peril in which I was; the bane of disease has been taken from me, and the desired freedom of health has been granted." He asked for drink and drank; and immediately rising from the bier, he was in all respects sound and vigorous, nor did he suffer anything further of this affliction. Whence, together with all those who, having heard the report of this deed, had rushed together from far and wide on every side, singing the mercies of the Lord and Saint Vedast, and rendering hymns of praise with thanksgiving, as was fitting, he returned to his home joyful and glad.

[13] It is also said that the same most blessed Priest of God, Vedast, at one and the same time presided over and benefited both this Church of Arras and likewise the Church of Beauvais with pastoral care. The natives of that place and region testify to this by the true signs of miracles and works, among whom he is narrated to have performed more miracles while living in the flesh than among our people. Saint Vedast Among all of them we have thought it fitting to make mention of one. One day, when he was on ^a journey and the hour for resting and refreshing the body was already pressing, for this purpose he turned aside to ^a certain friend — that is, to the estate called Wardara, in the district of the Vexin. The man was both very powerful and very noble; his son the same Saint had already some time ago received from the font of baptism, he persuades ^a friend and host whence they seemed to be on the most familiar terms with one another. Received by him with great honor and love along with his companions, after they had refreshed their bodies with food and rest, amid divine conversations of spiritual discourse the man of God said to his host: "O dearest companion and portion of my soul, I wish and urge that you give your assent to my suggestions. For I behold this place as most pleasant, most suited to the needs of the servants of God, to build ^a hospice and most fitting for divine purposes. Wherefore you will do well if, consulting your salvation, you devote it to God and build in it ^a hospice with ^a church; for which, according to the promise of our Lord, you will receive ^a hundredfold in the present and in the future will possess eternal life."

[14] When the man heard these things, and hesitated uncertainly for ^a little while, the Saint said: "Why do you doubt? Behold, this staff, completely dry and stripped of bark, he plants his staff in the ground which I hold in my hand — I will plant it in this ground, and if ^a tree comes from it, you will be able to know without any hesitation that what I say is true." Having planted it in the ground and bidding farewell to his friend, he set out on the journey he had begun. For he was pressing on to Paris, to Queen Clotild, growing into ^a tree and ^a forest most devoted to God and to him, who was then dwelling there. The staff at once began to turn green, to be covered with bark, to put forth branches and leaves, and in ^a short space of time became ^a tall tree, reproducing the nature of the staff from which it had sprung, for it was of linden. From that tree, in the course of time, ^a great and most beautiful forest arose. For, as the inhabitants of that place report, if any branch of that linden, whether driven by wind or carried by ^a bird, fell anywhere, it sent roots downward and grew upward into ^a tree.

[15] The said possessor and lord of that estate, admonished by the spiritual words of his friend and strengthened by this miraculous and exceedingly wonderful miracle, gave the whole estate to the Lord and built in it ^a hospice-monastery for the reception of pilgrims and the poor, a hospice-monastery is built in which it is not doubted that many souls over many ages were won for God. Afterward, having found the opportunity, the most blessed Vedast, returning there, gave immense thanks to his aforesaid friend — that he had obeyed him and had voluntarily bestowed the patrimony of his goods upon the Lord God. Then, duly arranging that place for the benefit of the servants of Christ with ^a church consecrated by Saint Vedast and the needs of the poor, he consecrated it with his blessing and dedicated the church with episcopal authority. Thenceforth there flourished the holiness of all goodness, and the abundance of all virtues abounded. No poor person was turned away from there, no pilgrim was excluded; all were received, healed, and refreshed; and there was in all of them joy and gladness in the Holy Spirit, to the praise and glory of the holy Trinity and in memory of the most blessed Vedast, His Confessor, through whom God worked such great blessings and such outstanding miracles in the world.