Severinus

ON ST. SEVERINUS, ABBOT OF AGAUNUM, AT CHATEAU-LANDON IN GAUL

AD 506

Preliminary Commentary.

Severinus, Abbot of Agaunum, at Chateau-Landon in Gaul (St.)

By I. B.

Section I. What was St. Severinus's monastery at Agaunum? A new one was afterward built by St. Sigismund the King.

[1] Agaunum lies at the lower border of the Valais, where the Rhone, having wandered through that entire region, confined between high and precipitous cliffs, flows out through ^a narrow channel, Agaunum, ^a place in the Valais, famous for the slaughter of the Thebans: thence to seek Lake Leman. This place, in the history of St. Maurice, who was slain there with the Theban legion, is thus described: The legion, passing by the town of Octodurus, hastened swiftly to the place whose name is Agaunum, so that, separated by ^a distance of twelve miles from Octodurus, it might escape the necessity of committing sacrilege. The inhabitants call Agaunum, in the interpretation of the Gallic language, "the rock." In which place the course of the river is so narrowed by vast cliffs that, the possibility of passage being removed, necessity of travel required that ^a road be made by laying bridges. Yet on all sides, with rocks looming above, ^a small but pleasant field, watered by springs, is enclosed. Consistent with these are the things which other writers, both new and old, relate.

[2] In that small and pleasant field, where the sacred legion had encamped, ^a village was afterward founded, which the Antonine Itinerary calls Tarnadas, where the village of Tarnadae is, and the Peutinger Table, segment 2, calls Tarnaias; for both of those were written or at least interpolated near the end of the fourth century; some call it Tarveda. Gervase of Tilbury, in his book On the Diversions of Emperors, written 450 years ago, as found in Chesne, volume 1 of the Frankish works, has it thus: The legion had halted in the Agaunensian defiles, which the common people call Saint-Maurice de Chablais. now commonly called Saint Maurice: Because indeed the Chablais, or Chaballiaca district, extends as far as Agaunum, which they now simply call Saint Maurice.

[3] When the liberty of the Christian religion was established, ^a church was built here, and the old monastery: and also ^a monastery. For in the Life of St. Maturinus the Priest, these things are read: The blessed man Polycarp (Bishop of Sens), departing joyfully from him, set out for the city of Rome. On which journey, at the monastery of the holy Martyrs Maurice and his companions, he was to receive the rewards of his ancestors' (lot of labors?), and happily departed to Christ. But that monastery, either because it was not regulated by ^a certain rule and ordinances, but by the concourse of ^a promiscuous multitude of both sexes, yet in separate dwellings, performing various duties under the governance of ^a Pastor or Abbot; or because discipline had gradually become lax; or because under the heretical Burgundian Kings the license of secular persons had prevailed there; then ^a new one founded by St. Sigismund the King, ^a new one was erected by St. Sigismund the King. Concerning which, Marius, Bishop of Aventicum in the same Helvetia, writes thus under the consulship of Florentius and Anthemius, that is, the year of Christ 515: Under these consuls, the monastery at Agaunum was built by King Sigismund. AD 515 In the following year, under the consul Petrus, he records the death of his father Gundobad. But St. Gregory of Tours, book 3 of the History of the Franks, chapter 5, writes: or 516 When Gundobad died, his son Sigismund obtained his kingdom, and built the monastery of Agaunum with diligent care, together with houses and basilicas.

[4] He perhaps began the construction of the monastery while his father was still living, and completed it after his death. The Life of St. Sigismund himself records that he succeeded his father and then undertook that work: When his father Gundobad had died, he says, although the entire nation of the Burgundians was incredulous concerning the faith of Christ, together with ^a few Romans who, torn by their attacks, endured contemptuously alongside the Gauls themselves, they chose the most excellent man Sigismund as their King. And with some intervening passages: While he was visiting many holy places and had arrived at that place which is called Agaunum, where St. Maurice with his fellow soldiers merited to receive the palm of martyrdom for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ; weary both from the journey and from fasting, from sincere piety, he asked how he ought to serve those precious Saints, so that he might associate himself with their ranks. Then, in no other way, as we believe, than by the will of God and the announcement of an Angel, it was made known to him that he should establish choirs of psalmody after the pattern of the heavenly army. Having received this divinely inspired counsel, he consulted holy and apostolic bishops on whether his plan was salutary or not. When the holy Bishops had deliberated this question among themselves, although it seemed an unprecedented undertaking, nevertheless, with the Lord's assent, they unanimously agreed.

[5] In the history of the Abbots of Agaunum, written by ^a disciple of St. Achivus, the third Abbot, what was principally established by the holy King, and by whose counsel, is narrated in this manner: When Sigismund, son of King Gundobad, already girded with the honor of the Patriciate, had cast off the perfidy of the Arian depravity and, having attained the faith of Catholic doctrine, most earnestly commended his soul to the pursuits of religion. At that time Maximus, Bishop of the city of Geneva, by the counsel of St. Maximus, Bishop of Geneva, conspicuous for all holiness and purity, and distinguished by the vigor of every industry, with whom the preaching of the Divine Word greatly flourished, stirred the heart of Sigismund to this devotion: that from that place which the Theban Martyrs, illustrious for the precious death and outpouring of blood, had adorned with happy stains and rosy variety, the mixed habitation of the common crowd should be removed; and to him for whom the splendor of life had been acquired through the atrocity of his passion, the honor of the inhabitants should be restored; and that, with the deeds of darkness excluded, perpetual day should be maintained: so that, with the patronage of these same saints, he might most safely possess both his kingdom and its integrity... secular persons, especially women, being excluded thence. Therefore, when counsel had been taken, which pleased the whole assembly by the instigation of God, it was decided that all women should be removed from that place; and that, with secular families removed, the family of God, that is, of monks, should be established there, who day and night, imitating the heavenly hosts, should devote themselves to performing Divine chants.

[6] Fredegarius, in his abridged history, chapter 34, writes thus of Sigismund: whether in expiation of his son's murder He ordered his son Sigeric to be killed through the machinations of his stepmother. Whence afterward, doing severe penance, he built the monastery of the Saints of Agaunum of wonderful workmanship, and constructed many other monasteries besides. But he founded it in the year of Christ 515 and the following year; his son, however, as the same Marius, ^a hundred years more ancient than Fredegarius, writes, was killed under the consuls Symmachus and Boethius, that is, in 522. He may, however, have completed after his son's murder what was still lacking for the adornment and discipline of the Agaunensian monastery. Thus Gregory of Tours, book 3, chapter 5: Going to the Saints of Agaunum, and enduring for many days in weeping and fasting, he prayed for pardon, establishing there ^a continuous psalmody. For not only were houses and basilicas built at Agaunum by Sigismund, but also the mixed habitation of the common crowd was removed, and all women and secular families were taken away from that place; and then choirs of singers were established. So that it is not easy to determine What was the earlier monastery of St. Severinus? what kind of monastery had existed there before, if women and secular families and ^a promiscuous crowd had ^a mixed habitation with the Priests and custodians of the sacred place. It may perhaps be permitted to suspect that "monastery" is not taken so strictly for ^a dwelling destined for practitioners of the monastic life, but, as often elsewhere, for ^a church or place dedicated to the worship of God or the Saints; that Severinus is called Abbot because he governed that place, whether truly inhabited by monks and perhaps had many Priests and Clerics subject to him; unless he is thought to have come there from another monastery with ^a few monks, and dwelling with the secular persons, to have indeed promoted the veneration of the holy Martyrs and the piety of the settlers, but never to have been able to bring the matter to the standard of ^a perfect monastery. Certainly of the two who followed him to Chateau-Landon, he called one of them "our monk." Unless it happened to the Agaunensians that after the death of St. Severinus, the other monks drifted away from there, and all the tenor of the former discipline collapsed, with no one caring even for the upkeep of the monastery under the heretical King Gundobad.

[7] However the matter may have stood, it is certain that Trithemius errs, who counts Severinus among the illustrious men of the Benedictine Order, book 3, chapter 257, adorning him with this praise: at least not among the Benedictines: Severinus, monk and Abbot of Agaunum, ^a holy man and famous for infinite miracles, as is found at length in his written deeds, produced great fruit in monastic disciplines. But Severinus himself asserts that Faustus the Priest had served him, at Agaunum, as I suppose, for thirty years. Therefore he had begun to serve him before St. Benedict was born. Wion and Dorganius in their Calendar followed Trithemius. Menard perceived and avoided the error.

[8] Moreover, not even those monks whom Sigismund established at Agaunum adopted Benedictine observances. St. Hymnemodus was the first Abbot there, called from the monastery of Greuence, and brought St. Achivus with some Brethren from there with him. That monastery, however, may perhaps seem to be not even among the second: the one which on January 1, in the Life of St. Clarus, chapter 2, number 3, is called Grinianense, or Grinincense, and Griniacense. Furthermore, the anonymous author of the Life of St. Eugendus, ^a monk of Agaunum, wrote ^a book about the observances of the Agaunensian monastery. For he has thus in chapter 15, number 27, January 1: Meanwhile, refresh and satisfy your thirst of faith and fervor with these matters, O most holy brethren. concerning the institution of which ^a book was written But if the rustic garrulity, now that philosophy has long been spurned, should not be able to satisfy your minds either, the institutions which we have composed concerning the formation of our monastery of the Agaunensian abbey, at the urging of St. Marinus the Priest, Abbot of the island of Lerins, will amply fulfill your desires, with Christ's help, both for the distinction of the institution and for the authority of him who commands. Which book I believe to be the very history of the first Abbots of the Agaunensian monastery.

[9] The writer of this history indicates his own age when he says that St. Hymnemodus wished, when he was called to Agaunum, written by an author of that age, that St. Achivus should succeed him in the governance of the monastery of Greuence; which when the latter refused, he consented to come with him to Agaunum. He says, moreover, that St. Ambrose succeeded Hymnemodus, who had previously been Abbot of Ile-Barbe near Lyon; and he adds: In his times, divine bounty granted all good things both to the monastery of Agaunum and to the kingdom and the region. Whence it may be conjectured that he died before the murder of St. Sigismund. Finally, Achivus was appointed in his place; of whom the same author speaks thus of himself: Whose most holy life I am almost prevented by pious tears from commemorating; but amid dear sighs I shall endeavor to explain as much as I can. Plainly so that he seems to have written under the sons of Clovis I.

[10] What, moreover, the rule of that monastery was, and by whom it was established, the same author explains thus: The Rule was prescribed there by the Bishops: The Rule of psalmody and of standing was meanwhile delivered to St. Hymnemodus by the assembly of Bishops who had come there to establish the monastery. Nor long after did he depart from this light to Christ. Therefore St. Benedict's Rule was not established there, which perhaps had not yet been written. The discipline of the Agaunensians flourished so greatly, and especially the psalmody, that it was proposed as an example for other monasteries. The author of the Deeds of Dagobert, in Chesne, volume 1 of the Frankish works, says of the monks of Saint-Denis near Paris, who are now Benedictines, thus: The King established them to sing in companies after the fashion of the monastery of the Agaunensians, proposed for others to imitate. or of St. Martin of Tours. Which institution, however, the Dionysians soon abandoned, as Fredegarius testifies in his Chronicle, chapter 79: Dagobert had ordered that psalmody be established there after the fashion of the monastery of the Saints of Agaunum; but the laxity of Abbot Aigulf is known to have frustrated that same institution.

Section II. The age of St. Severinus, the history of his Life, his commemoration in the Martyrologies.

[11] These things have been said about Agaunum, where Severinus lived ^a most holy life from before the year, as it seems, 476, to his death in 506, either presiding over the monks there, or, together with other Priests, imparting sacred mysteries and salutary counsels to the promiscuous multitude dwelling there and to others coming from everywhere to venerate the relics of the Theban Martyrs. Thence summoned to Paris by Clovis, St. Severinus died abroad, he died abroad. In which matter the Divine Will seems to have wished to take care lest either the glories of the saint, now dead, should fall entirely into oblivion in the last days of the heretical King Gundobad, or at least the fame of the Thebans should in some way dim the splendor of his virtues and miracles: just as the memory of the holy Abbots Hymnemodus, Ambrose, Achivus, and others has been obscured.

[12] Therefore, while returning from Paris, after having cured Clovis by his prayers, he came to the mountain which they call Chateau-Landon, at Chateau-Landon, as is said in chapter 3, number 15; or, as he had predicted in his own words in chapter 1, number 8, to ^a place in the same Burgundy, elevated on the summit of ^a mountain, on which had formerly been situated ^a town that was called Chateau-Landon. The town was afterward rebuilt on the same mountain, now called in French Chateau-Landon, (where ^a city formerly was, and now is) in the district of the Gatinais, commonly called Gastinois. The old town seems to have extended more widely; for outside the walls, on the side of the mountain sloping toward the south, foundations of ancient buildings and other monuments are unearthed, and vineyards there are divided by paths or streets still distinguished by their ancient names. The lower part of the town is washed by the waters of the Fusain, ^a small river. Whether in the age of St. Severinus this place belonged to the kingdom of Burgundy, as is asserted in the words cited above; or whether the interpolator of the Life, following another division of Gaul made at ^a later date, added this of his own accord, I would not rashly determine.

[13] In that place, then, St. Severinus died in the twenty-seventh year of Clovis, at the beginning of the year of Christ 506. For Clovis assumed the kingdom, as we have shown elsewhere, near the end of the year 479, so that his first year is reckoned as the year of Christ 480. Therefore the twenty-fifth year, in which he is said to have been seized by the fever, February 11, 506. which held him for two years, was the year of Christ 504. St. Severinus, summoned to cure him near the end of the year 505, died on the third day before the Ides of February at the beginning of 506. At that time the Priests Paschasius and Ursicinus were dwelling on that mountain, whom Guillaume Morin, in his history of the Gatinais, book 2, chapter 2, writes were monks of the monastery of Ferrières, and lived there in such an anchoretic fashion that they meanwhile administered the Sacraments to the inhabitants in the capacity of parish priests.

[14] Morin cites ^a Life of St. Severinus which exists in the archives of Ferrières. For the one we have in hand does not mention this. His Life was then written, Faustus the Priest, his disciple, wrote ^a little book about the life and deeds of Severinus. A certain anonymous author, at the command of Magnus, or Magno, Bishop of Sens, extended the text of the same history in somewhat clearer language, as he himself says, at the beginning of the ninth century. For it is clear that Magnus lived then from volume 2 of the Councils of Gaul, interpolated in the ninth century: where Letters of Formata from Ebroinus, Archbishop of Bourges, addressed to him are extant, in the tenth year of the empire of Charles, the forty-third of his reign, Indiction IV, which was the year of Christ 810. There also exist letters of the Emperor Louis the Pious to the same Magnus, given after the Synod of Aachen in the year 816. Surius published that Life, whence here published? but in an abridged form. We present the original from two manuscripts, one from André du Chesne, ^a most excellent and learned man, the other our own; but in the latter the prologue was missing, and in the former the epilogue.

[15] St. Severinus, buried in the wooden oratory which the said Priests had on the mountain of Chateau-Landon, began to shine with many miracles; wherefore his name also, as the writer of his Life says, was celebrated with due praises. his name inscribed in the Martyrologies, It is also inscribed in nearly all the Martyrologies. Usuard has it thus: On the same day, at Chateau-Landon, of St. Severinus, Abbot of the monastery of Agaunum, by whose prayers Clovis, the God-fearing King, was freed from his prolonged illness. So also the Roman Martyrology. Bellinus of Padua, Maurolycus, and many manuscripts likewise; but with altered phrasing, Galesinius and others. In certain copies, for Chateau-Landon there is Nantonense, Nathoniense, Nadonense, Navoniense, Naconis, Nannetense; for the Agaunensian monastery, Acaunense, Aganense, Athamense, Auganense. The manuscript of Centula, distinguished with the name of Bede, has it thus: In the district of the Gatinais, at Chateau-Mandons, the place names variously and corruptly expressed. of St. Severinus, Abbot of the monastery of Agaunum; by whose prayers, etc. The ancient Martyrology of the monastery of St. Lawrence of Bourges, published by Philippe Labbe of our Society, most briefly mentions Severinus thus: On the same day, at Chateau-Nauton, of St. Severinus the Abbot. The manuscript of the Carmelites of Cologne: At Chateau-Landon, of Lord Serennius, Abbot of the monastery of Agaunum. The manuscript Florarium: On the same day, at Chateau-Nauthon, of St. Severinus, Abbot of the monastery of Agaunum. He died in the year of salvation 515. The manuscript Calendar of the Saints of the Order of St. Benedict in the monastery of St. Savior, Cistercian Order, Antwerp: On the same day, of St. Severinus, Abbot of Augien. Canisius also mentions him in the German Martyrology, and Saussay in the Gallican one.

[16] There exists ^a Life of St. Severinus, though abbreviated, in the second part of the Legend printed at Louvain in the year 1485. mention of him among writers: Concerning the same wrote Vincent of Beauvais, book 21, chapter 21; Peter of Equilinus, book 3, chapter 115; St. Antoninus, part 2, title 2, chapter 19, section 4; and in the Lives of the Saints, Cornelius Grasius, François Haré, Heribert Rosweyde, Guillaume Gazeau, René Benoist, Jacques Doublet, and Heinrich Murer in Helvetia Sacra. Demochares also mentions him, On the Sacrifice of the Mass, volume 2, chapter 19; in the Catalogue of the Bishops of Nevers, Baronius, volume 6 of the Annals, at the year 508, numbers 35 and 36; Claude Robert in Gallia Christiana, François Guilliman, On Swiss Affairs, book 1, chapter 15; Aimon, History of the Franks, book 4, chapter 24.

[17] On February 17, Galesinius commemorates St. Severinus, an Abbot in Gaul, commemoration on February 17. and from him Arnold Wion and Benedict Dorganius; nor do they indicate who he is or what he did, so that we suspect this is the same person.

Section III. At the tomb of St. Severinus, ^a monastery of Canons Regular; his Relics adorned, preserved through various calamities.

[18] As miracles increased at the tomb of St. Severinus, in place of the wooden oratory, ^a spacious basilica was built, a church built over the sepulcher of St. Severinus by the authority and at the expense of King Childebert. So it is narrated in our manuscript at the end of the Life of St. Severinus, number 18, which was lacking in the codex of Chesne, and also in Surius, but in different phrasing. If, as is said in the Life, Chateau-Landon was in the kingdom of Burgundy, it does not seem that Childebert would have caused this basilica to be built before the year 534. For only in that year, under the consul Paulinus the younger, Indiction XII, as Marius the Bishop has it in his Chronicle, the Frankish Kings Childebert, Chlothar, and Theudebert obtained Burgundy, and having put King Godomar to flight, divided his kingdom among themselves.

[19] For the diploma of Sigibert, King of Metz, not by Sigibert of Austrasia: son of Clovis, which Morin cites from the archives of his monastery of Ferrières, given in the year 545, is shown to be spurious, from which King he writes that the church was then built and endowed with revenues for St. Severinus. But no son of Clovis bore the name Sigibert; the one who then had his royal seat at Metz was Theudebert, son of Theodoric, grandson of Clovis; nor does the Gatinais district, where Chateau-Landon is, seem to have belonged to his kingdom, but (at least after the death of King Chlodomer of Orleans) to Childebert, King of Paris.

[20] Around that church and the mausoleum of the saint, so large ^a town grew up that it had to be divided into four parishes. Of these, the principal one in the very abbey of St. Severinus has the basilica which we mentioned, of ancient workmanship, situated on the summit of the mountain in ^a salubrious and convenient location. There from the beginning Priests, or secular Canons, are said to have dwelt, administered by Canons, as Morin relates, and ^a Dean or Abbot presided over them: such as we conjectured above to have existed at Agaunum in the age of St. Severinus. Finally, in the year 1150, the same writer relates that Abbot Garnerius solemnly professed before the Archbishop of Sens who in the year 1150 became Regular, with the Pope's approval: that he with his followers would live according to the apostolic institutions and would perfectly observe the Rule of the Apostles and of St. Augustine; and that he afterward obtained confirmation from Adrian IV (who sat from the end of the year 1154 to the Kalends of September of the year 1159) both of the discipline which we mentioned having been introduced, and of the donation made to it by King Louis VII of the churches of Saint-Ugual and others. The same writer says that the church of St. Severinus (whether ^a new one had been rebuilt when the old one collapsed, the church re-consecrated by St. Thomas of Canterbury, destroyed by the Saxons, or so restored and enlarged that it needed ^a new consecration) was dedicated by St. Thomas of Canterbury. This perhaps occurred in the year 1165, when he came to Sens.

[21] He writes that this church was afterward destroyed twice: first by the Saxons; but who they were, under what leader, and by what occasion and at what time they penetrated there, he does not indicate. Afterward, in the fifteenth century, he relates that the town was captured and burned by the English, and that the monastery and church, then by the English: which they had taken care to prevent, were consumed by the same fire. And Abbot Jacques d'Aubusson restored them, ^a man noble both in life and in birth, as is said in his epitaph; and he added another greater distinction. rebuilt: the Windesheim reform added through Mauburnus. For he introduced an excellent form of religious discipline, having summoned from the monastery of Windesheim in Guelders six religious of proven life; of whom the chief was Johannes Mauburnus, or Mamburnus, of Brussels, famous for learning and holiness, as can be seen from the Rosetum and the Venatorium published by him. He was the first Prior there, then Abbot of Livry. Those of the older Canons who spurned the stricter discipline were each assigned ^a fixed income in the year 1481, for as long as they should live. But let us return to St. Severinus.

[22] His body was enclosed in ^a silver casket skillfully wrought by St. Eligius. a casket for the relics of St. Severinus fabricated by St. Eligius, So St. Audoenus in the Life of St. Eligius, book 1, chapter 32: This same blessed man, among other marks of good works, made many sepulchers of the Saints in gold and silver and gems, that is, of Germanus, Bishop of Paris, of Severinus, Abbot of Agaunum, of Piatus, Priest and Martyr, etc. This casket, Morin says, was plundered by the Saxons when they occupied the town, as has been said; but the sacred remains had been prudently removed beforehand plundered: and were preserved.

[23] A new casket was then made. For at the time the English set fire to the town, another, as the church burned, ^a certain religious man boldly rushed into the midst of the flames, carried the casket of St. Severinus to the top of ^a certain wall, and lowered it from there to his companions; preserved in the second plundering, foretold by ^a portent. he himself soon perished, suffocated by fire and smoke. That destruction of the monastery and town had been portended by ^a Crucifix which had wept for several days shortly before; as was committed to writing forty years later by ^a Windesheim religious brought there, as was written above, who asserts that he received the account from eyewitnesses. Archbishop Tristrand of Sens visited those Relics of St. Severinus in the year 1505, and decreed that those who reverently venerated them on the feast days of St. Severinus should share in certain Indulgences.

[24] At the time when the Commendatory Abbot of that monastery, as they call him, was one Jean du Monastère, ^a profane man and ^a heretic; the soldiers of the Prince of Condé in the year 1568 occupied Chateau-Landon, [when the town was captured by the Condéans, the relics were preserved, while other saints' relics were burned:] and put two religious to death with atrocious torments, the rest having fled in time, and carried off all the sacred furnishings, valued at ten thousand gold pieces. The casket and relics of St. Severinus had been hidden. What they would otherwise have done with them is shown by the relics of Saint-Ugual, which they burned with the utmost fury, except for one bone which ^a citizen secretly removed.

[25] The wicked men bore it ill that the casket of St. Severinus had been withheld from their plunder. Therefore by ^a nighttime robbery, certain brigands, whose ringleaders were the Knight Boulay and Tonnelle, its silver necessarily sold; seized three religious and, having brought them to Étampes, subjected them to torture. Their brethren, pitying them, ransomed them for 1,500 livres; compelled for this purpose to sell the silver with which the casket was covered.

[26] Before the army of Condé plundered the monastery, the same brigands entered the church, and because they were detected, were able to carry off in haste only the arm of St. Severinus, enclosed in ^a silver case. When they had come to the forest of Bière, the arm previously stolen, cast away, content with the silver, they shook out the relics with the inscription. Some shepherds and swineherds spotted this from afar and approached reverently. But because ^a great light was emanating from the sacred arm, they went to the Pastor of the nearby village. He, having recognized from the inscription that it was the bone of St. Severinus, recognized by its light and inscription, piously returned to Chateau-Landon. with ^a great multitude of the Catholic people aroused, carried it back to Chateau-Landon. The citizens of Nemours came to meet it and escorted the sacred pledge to their own basilica, on October 16, 1556. These things are drawn from public records by Morin, who relates many more details about the town itself.

LIFE BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR

from two old manuscripts.

Severinus, Abbot of Agaunum, at Chateau-Landon in Gaul (St.)

BHL Number: 7643, 7644

By an anonymous author, from manuscripts.

PROLOGUE.

[1] Transcribing the sacred series of the little book which Faustus the Priest, disciple of St. Severinus the Abbot, had published after his death concerning his life and deeds, Written by Faustus, and also at the command of the venerable man Magnus, worthy both in merits and in name, Bishop of the city of Sens, taking care to correct the faults of the copyist, we have judged it expedient, according to the capacity of our small talent, to extend the text of the same history in somewhat clearer language; and although not the very words, yet faithfully carrying out the sense and order of the same reading to its foundation, faithfully polished here, and not inserting anything different into this text except what we have recognized was inserted into the same history by the aforesaid Priest, which also the diligence of the reader will easily be able to discover. Indeed the deeds of this most holy man are not to be considered of small account by us, The Life of St. Severinus, nor to be disapproved, but are to be embraced with all sweetness of mind: whose holiness shone in this present life with brilliant virtues; whose soul now reigns with Christ, united to the ranks of the Saints. a most holy man, For this man was ever humble in bearing, affable in speech, venerable in character, assiduous in prayers, pious in affection, praiseworthy in goodness, lovable in piety. While still dwelling on earth, joined to God in all things by spiritual love, he drew many to him by the example of his holy way of life, and zealous, rejoicing indeed that he would be ^a winner of souls, so that when the last end of this world should come, his wishes fulfilled, he might rejoice with them in heavenly blessedness and in the eternal glory of the Saints; in which, through his intervening merits, may we deserve to be partakers of however small ^a portion, both in body and in soul, when the just shall possess double things in their land, on the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he shall come in his majesty and the glory of the holy Angels to judge the world by fire, to render to each one according to his works, to the just indeed glory and honor and everlasting joy, but to the wicked and criminal repaying disgrace and terror and the due punishments of torments, the just judge, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God immense and eternal, before all things and in all things and through infinite ages of ages, Amen.

CHAPTER I

The journey of St. Severinus from the monastery of Agaunum into France.

[2] The holy Severinus, therefore, ^a devout worshiper of God, sprung from an illustrious line, was nobly nurtured in the Sacred Scripture of his pious Mother, the Church, from his youth: until, as the years increased, he was advanced to such ^a point that in the most sacred monastery of the Agaunensians, where St. Maurice, the illustrious Martyr of Christ, reposes in body, he was chosen Abbot with due favor. Nor indeed undeservedly was so fitting ^a Father to be appointed for the most noble flock, St. Severinus becomes Abbot of Agaunum, by merit: who would there illumine many by his good examples. For this man of the Lord, by living rightly, was considered by all to be distinguished in piety, and all who knew him worthily celebrated him with praiseworthy reports.

[3] At length it came to pass that, while the fame of this holy Father spread far and wide throughout the whole province, it reached more swiftly King Clovis in the city of Paris, he becomes known to Clovis I who at that time was held bound by ^a grievous languor of fevers. He was also forthwith persuaded by his household to request this Priest of God to come to him with all humility, that by his prayers he might deserve to be healed by the Lord. And that this was done, as the following order of the narrative shows to readers, is manifest. When therefore Clovis, King of the Franks, had now governed the summit of his kingdom for twenty-five years at the noble city of Paris, he was suddenly seized by the pain of fevers, as we mentioned above, and began to sweat grievously. Tormented by ^a paroxysm of chills for two continuous years he was afflicted with unceasing agonies, having been ill for two years, so that he could obtain health of body from none of the physicians of that province. For he was kept shut up in his chamber by his servants out of fear of the people: the Divine dispensation no doubt arranging all this, so that while the man of the Lord, Severinus, should be compelled to go forth from the place of his rest for the restoration of the King's health, he might moreover, arriving in those parts, be profitable for the salvation of many, as is shown in what follows.

[5] Meanwhile ^a certain physician named Tranquillinus, of the household of the same King, ^a man industrious indeed and skilled in the practice of the medical art, approaching the King, spoke to him thus: by the counsel of Tranquillinus the physician, My lord King, you see that this infirmity of yours grows worse and worse daily, and that none of us can be of any benefit to you by any remedy of our art. Therefore use wise counsel according to your wisdom, for great necessity presses. There is indeed in the most sacred monastery of the Agaunensians, where the precious Martyr of Christ, Maurice, rests, an Abbot and Priest, ^a certain man praiseworthy in character and life, Severinus by name, who is considered by the inhabitants of that place to be distinguished by many tokens of signs. Many who are truly ill come there, and those oppressed by various ailments, and even those vexed by demons, are often restored to their former health by the prayers of the same holy man Severinus: great indeed is the protection of that place. If, moreover, you should ask him to come to you, perhaps merciful God through his ministry will relieve your infirmity.

[6] Then the King, assenting to this counsel, commands his chamberlain, named Transvarius, to receive money from his treasury with all haste, through Transvarius the Chamberlain, and the expenses necessary for the journey, and to proceed with the greatest speed to the place of the aforesaid monastery, over which Severinus, as was already said above, presided as Abbot. And when you have come to the place, he said, prostrate yourself at the feet of the holy man and persist with humble devotion until you make known to him the embassy which you must deliver; furnished with provision and instructions, earnestly beseeching him that he not consider it inconvenient to hasten to us, because, being greatly enfeebled, I seek his aid, believing that through him I shall be restored to my former health. And Transvarius himself, having received this embassy, was eager to pursue his journey with all speed, desiring indeed to fulfill his Lord's command with ^a willing spirit. When therefore he had come to the above-named place without any delay and entered the monastery of the monks, he inquired of the attendants about their Abbot and the privacy of his dwelling, until he humbly prostrated himself at his feet, saying: Hail, Lord Father. And he, replying, said: And you, farewell, my son. And immediately the boy Transvarius began to deliver the King's petition in this manner: My lord and devoted admirer of your eternal prosperity, King Clovis, salutes you with words of peace, he is asked to come and cure him: more earnestly requesting your holiness to come to him for the purpose of visiting. And lest this seem burdensome to you, know that he has been bedridden for two years, weakened by continuous bodily sickness; and finding no remedy from any physician whatsoever, he believes that your coming will be entirely profitable for his salvation, trusting that he can without doubt be quickly healed by your holy prayers.

[7] Then the blessed Father Severinus, patiently hearing the King's prayer offered to him through this boy, promised that he would come to him with all speed, which he promises, forewarned by an Angel: mindful indeed of the vision which had previously been shown to him from heaven by the Lord through an Angel, by which he foreknew that he was to depart thence to another place, and there to die and be buried. Therefore, having called together all the Brethren who were in the monastery of the Blessed Martyr Maurice under his governance, with all listening in unison, moved by fatherly and most merciful love, and indicating the King's petition, he addressed them thus with ^a tearful voice: Now indeed, my most beloved Brethren, about to depart from you in bodily presence, he commends himself to his community, I ask for the protection and grace of your blessing, commending myself to the sure supports of your prayers; and I beseech you before God and our Holy Patron the Blessed Martyr Maurice, that faith, hope, and charity, as they have hitherto remained firm and inviolate among you, so may they remain in your hearts. Trust in God, and strengthened by the protection of St. Maurice, act manfully and be comforted in the grace of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Savior.

[8] Here and with other salutary words of this kind admonishing them, he also added, saying: Know, Fathers and Brethren, he predicts from an Angelic revelation that he will not return, that from now on you will see me alive in the flesh no more, until there comes the great and exceedingly dreadful day of judgment, when we shall all be gathered before the tribunal of Christ. For this has been shown to me in ^a vision of the night through an Angel of the Lord, and now the whole course of the future has been made known to me. Indeed, as I learned in that very vision, there is in this Burgundy ^a place, elevated on the summit of ^a mountain, on which there was formerly situated ^a town called Chateau-Landon, where not long hence I must bring to ^a close the final end of this light, but that he will die at Chateau-Landon, and shortly indeed: and there my poor body will be buried by two Priests, namely Paschasius and Ursicinus. Now, therefore, thus admonished by the Angelic portent, I know that I can in no way refuse this petition of the King, but must go as he asks. For it is assuredly clear that the last day of my life is at hand. It is enough for me if I can arrive more quickly at the place that is destined for the burial of my poor body.

[9] When they heard this, all the Brethren, seized with great amazement, began to weep most bitterly, saying: Abba Father, do not forsake us while you live, nor desert the flock committed to you by the Lord. he consoles the sorrowful, Do not suffer, they said, the little sheep to be separated from you, which you have hitherto fostered with devout fatherly affection. Hear, we beseech you, our prayers, and do not depart from us. O how great was the love kindled in them for his presence, and how immense the grief they felt at the departure of their Father! Such excessive sorrow disturbed their affection; for they grieved exceedingly that their Pastor would never again return to them. Then the blessed Father Severinus, when he saw them weeping, said: Do not, my Brethren, do not be saddened by this; for whatsoever the Lord wills, he does in heaven and on earth. And having said this, he commands the necessities of his journey to be prepared, and blesses them. and then consoled them with gentle words. Bidding them farewell also with ^a paternal blessing, he went out from them as they grieved bitterly.

CHAPTER II

The miracles of St. Severinus at Nevers and at Paris.

[10] Setting out forthwith from the place, he pursued the begun path of his journey; and when, the greater part of the distance having now been traversed, the holy man had arrived at the city of Nevers, he turned aside to enter the church of God for the purpose of prayer; he turns aside to Nevers: and when he had prayed there, he immediately asks the custodians of the church, as if unaware: Where, he says, is your Pontiff, Brethren? The custodians, answering, said: Our Pontiff, or Bishop, Eulalius, stricken already ^a year ago by ^a most grievous disease, is mute and deaf, and lies in his bed almost at the point of death; he visits Bishop Eulalius, who is deaf and mute, and ^a second year has already begun since he neither offered sacrifice at the altar, nor blessed the people according to custom, nor at all, which is more grievous, was able to rise from his bed, but is very often reckoned by his servants more dead than alive. To whom the man of the Lord himself, moved by ^a compassionate feeling of piety, said: May I enter to visit him, that I may at least speak ^a few words of salvation to him? And they immediately said: Come, Lord Father, and enter to him at once, as you wish. And so the most reverend servant of God, Severinus, having entered the chamber of the Pontiff, came quickly to where Bishop Eulalius lay, deprived for ^a whole year of the use of tongue and ears. And when he had looked upon him, he began to grieve over his sickness, and immediately giving himself to prayer, and cures him by his prayers, he earnestly implored God for the restoration of his health. And when he had prayed for ^a very long time prostrate on the ground, he arose quickly, and turning to Eulalius, said to him: Speak, I pray, Pontiff of God, with me. To whom Eulalius the Bishop, mute and deaf until then, immediately replying, said: Bless me, most holy man of God, who have been sent by the Lord Jesus Christ for my salvation, to cure me of my infirmity. Let the name of the Lord also be blessed in all ages, who through you has deigned to have mercy on me.

[11] Then the devout servant of God, Severinus, extending his hand to him, raised him up and said: Arise, servant of God, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and put on your garments, giving thanks and rejoicing in his chastisements, who chastised you for this reason, that he might save you; who scourged you for this reason, that he might crown you. For today, paying your vows at the altar of God with me according to custom, you shall bless the people subject to you. And while he was still speaking, Bishop Eulalius immediately, raising himself from the bed, gave thanks to God, so that on the same day he celebrated Mass: who through his servant Severinus had manifested such great power over him, that by his prayers he might be snatched from the imminent danger of death. And so on the same day, restored to health, celebrating Mass forthwith, he blessed the people. All who were present there marveled that he had so suddenly recovered from the distress of his illness, rendering due thanks to God for the restoration of their Pastor. O how wonderful the clemency of God, and how ineffable the gift of his piety! Indeed this Bishop, feeble in speech and hearing, was so restored to his former soundness in the space of ^a single hour that no calamity of sickness was thought to have been in him at all.

[12] And indeed on that day, the Blessed Severinus remained with him, and together they devoted themselves to worthy praises of God. he hastens on his journey: On the morrow, however, departing thence with his attendants and Transvarius, the King's boy, he swiftly pursued the path of the appointed journey. For he was compelled, filled with the impulse of charity, to hasten more quickly to the King. Pursuing their journey, therefore, they were now approaching the city of Paris. And when they were entering the gate of the city, they saw ^a certain leper sitting there, very wretched and desolate, who was accustomed to beg for sustenance from those entering and leaving alike. At Paris he heals ^a leper by anointing him with spittle: To whom the blessed Father Severinus, looking at him forthwith, moved by mercy, stopped and called him to himself, crying out: What, he said, do you wish to be given to you, my son? And saying this, he kissed him. And then, anointing him with spittle by his own hands, under the invocation of the divine majesty, the leprosy immediately departed from him. he flees praise: And all who saw what had been done gave glory to God, who was thus magnified in his Saint. Then the man of the Lord, Severinus, departing swiftly thence, avoiding human favor, proceeded to the church, seeking the protection of prayers.

[13] When, moreover, he had risen from prayer, entering the royal hall, he went to the place of the more private chamber, and immediately stopped before the bed of the King, upon which the sick man was lying, saying: Live well, venerable King. He frees Clovis from fever by his prayers and the imposition of his garment: Humbly greeted in return by the King, he immediately prostrated himself in prayer with ^a contrite heart before his bed. When the prayer was completed, he rose and, removing his chasuble, placed it upon the King, and immediately the fever left him, and he was marvelously made well, and rising the same hour, he gave immense thanks to God; and bending his knees, he worthily venerated the pious and devout man of God, through whose coming he had merited to be healed and to receive such great and wonderful clemency of God.

[14] King Clovis was therefore strengthened, recovering from his sickness, and was magnified on the throne of his kingdom as before. Moreover, the blessed Father Severinus, remaining with him for some space of time, restored many of his household and also of the Parisian people, he heals many in the court and city from various diseases: oppressed by various calamities, to health by his sacred prayers: restoring to the lame their walk, to the mute their speech, to the blind their sight, he restored hearing to the deaf; and also expelling unclean spirits from possessed bodies, he was celebrated for the illustrious marks of his virtues. Finally, King Clovis besought him with kindly speech: I beseech you, Abba Father, accept money from our treasury as much as you wish, and distribute it to the poor as you please. Also let all the criminals who in my kingdom are held in prison for their wickedness be released by your indulgence. in his honor all prisoners are released. At the King's command, therefore, all the prisons in his kingdom are thrown open, and an innumerable multitude of those who were to be afflicted with various torments and punished with due death, going forth with joy at the coming of Blessed Severinus, are freed from every kind of torment. O how lovable ^a life, and how abundant the merits of the blessed man, out of reverence for whom many of them are freed from the dreadful torment of death! How delightful and desirable was his coming! who indeed, as he hastened to the King, restored the Bishop of the Church of Nevers, then the King himself, and afterward the multitudes of the sick, to their former state by the power of the divine majesty!

CHAPTER III

The death, burial, and miracles of St. Severinus.

[15] At length, when he foreknew that the time of his departure was near at hand, he departs from Paris: as had been shown to him by an Angel, bidding farewell to the King and to the people of the city, he set out more quickly from the city of Paris, and walking on his way, arrived at the mountain which they call Chateau-Landon; he comes to Chateau-Landon: on whose summit ^a certain oratory was constructed of wood. And there at that time two Priests, Paschasius and Ursicinus, were serving God; to whom the renowned servant of Christ, Severinus, having entered the oratory, spoke thus in gentle language: Servants of God, dearest Brethren, I know that it is your task to commit my poor body to the final service of burial, as has been revealed to me by the Lord. he tells the Priests that he will die there, For, instructed also by an angelic oracle, I have therefore come to this present place, in which the final limit of this earthly habitation is owed to me, that I may be buried by you, as I have predicted, according to the dispensation of God, whose names also I had previously come to know through ^a divine vision. Whence also, because I do not doubt, my Brethren, that the day of my death is at hand with all devotion of mind, beseeching your charity, I commend to you Faustus, your fellow-priest, and commends his companions: namely the minister of my need, who has served me assiduously for thirty years. I also leave to your brotherhood our monk Vitalis, earnestly asking that your benevolence toward them be preserved, bound by the bond of love. Behold what ^a most sweet affection of wonderful piety burned in the heart of this man! About to seek his heavenly homeland, leaving behind in this valley of tears his surviving disciples, and provident, he anxiously considered the future grief after his departure.

[16] He is therefore honorably received by the aforesaid Priests, inhabitants of Chateau-Landon; and there, while he awaited the last day of the present life and the imminent day of his death, he commended his soul to the divine mercy with assiduous floods of tears and also with the pursuits of holy prayers. Now therefore, when the course of this worldly pilgrimage was completed, when he was called to receive the palm of eternal reward, he dies piously on February 11, freed from the bonds of the body, amid sacred conversations of words he breathed forth his spirit, happily accomplishing the debt of death on the third day before the Ides of February, snatched from this valley full of the miseries and sorrows of tears, he departed to perpetual life. And forthwith his blessed soul, surrounded by angelic hosts, and seeking the heavens, amid the happy seats of the blessed armies enjoying the heavenly benediction, merited to be placed joyfully forever. And indeed at the hour of his death, as those who were present weeping at the final service testified, the place divinely illuminated: the whole place was surrounded with light like ^a star: for his spirit was to be illuminated with far greater grace of light when, having obtained the true robe of immortality, he would no longer fear any dangers of dread death.

[17] Moreover, the above-mentioned Priests, having washed the lifeless body of the Saint according to custom, and having clothed it in garments, committed it to burial with the highest honor of obsequy, he is buried. and laid it in the aforesaid oratory on the mountain: where even to this day the supreme King of Saints, God our Lord, glorifies his holy Confessor Severinus with illustrious miracles of virtues. At his sepulcher the eyes of the blind receive light, the lame receive their walk, and all the sick, when they pay their vows there, recover their former soundness; many miracles occur at the sepulcher. and those vexed by unclean spirits are often perfectly cleansed on his feast day. Nor undeservedly indeed, since his life on earth was without doubt venerable and devout before God and men, his good name also, which is more precious than all gold and silver and many riches, is celebrated after his death with due praises.

[18] For this man was noble in the origin of his flesh, but much nobler in the height of his mind. For he was above all things fervent with the fire of divine charity, moderate in the virtue of patience, most diligently intent upon devotion to prayers, His virtues: affable to all who were brought to him as ^a place of consolation; extending the help of his exhortation to sick Brethren; knowing that he who said, "You shall love the Lord your God," said also, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37 and 39. He was distinguished by the discipline of abstinence; he was always suspended toward heavenly things by the grace of compunction, who indeed, with tears profusely poured from the depths of his breast, earnestly commended his vows to the Lord, desiring indeed to arrive more freely at that city of heavenly felicity, in which he now rejoices, exults, and is glad, shining with serene light equally with Christ. Would that his most noble character and his manner of life might instill in our souls some sweetness of true compunction!

[19] Moreover, how the church was built over the most holy body of that most holy man, by the gift of Christ, after his death, as ^a sign of perpetual memory, a church built there by King Childebert, we deem it profitable to describe with the present pen and for the benefit of future generations. And therefore, for the praise of God and the glory and honor of his Blessed Confessor Severinus, we make known, removing all doubt, that when King Clovis had died and his son Childebert had assumed the governance of the kingdom, remembering with what great constancy of virtues the man of the Lord, Severinus, had shone in the days of his father, and with what swift speed his parent's weakness had been cured through him, he judged it worthy that over the sepulcher of the same Saint ^a house of loftier and more ample size should be built. When this had been accomplished according to the command of his decree, frequented and adorned by him, diligently rendering his vows there in due time, he honored the same church munificently with gifts. For trusting that the patronage of the pious Father would be necessary for him, he wished in no way to be stripped of the blessing of his intercessions. Finally, he also provided support from ^a certain estate of his to the Clerics serving that saint in the place, endowed as ^a consolation indeed and for the honor of the church of God which had been founded there over the tomb of the oft-mentioned Father, our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, to whom is honor, glory, and dominion, namely with God the Father and the Spirit the Paraclete, through infinite ages of ages. Amen.