Silvinus

ON ST. SILVINUS, BISHOP, AT AUCHY IN BELGIUM

AROUND THE YEAR 720.

Preliminary Commentary.

Silvinus, Bishop, at Auchy in Belgica II (St.)

By the author I. B.

Section 1: The birthday of St. Silvinus the Bishop, and the history of his life.

[1] Auchy is ^a monastery of the Benedictine order in Belgica II, of which mention is made in St. Bernard's letter 350, in which he asks an illustrious man, Rorgo of Abbeville, to deign to grant ^a certain deserted and uncultivated land to the Church of Auchy in alms. In the monastery of Auchy This monastery is situated not far from Hesdin, ^a town of Artois, and is commonly called Auchy-les-Moines, that is, Auchy of the Monks, to distinguish it from Auchy-le-Chateau. There the Bertinian monks of the city of Saint-Omer say that Adroald, ^a nobleman, having no offspring, gave this property to the blessed Father Bertin by solemn donation, in the presence of the venerable Audomarus and many Nobles of the city of Therouanne: by which formula the same Adroald is written to have given to St. Bertin the estate of Sithiu in his Life on September 5, in which there is no mention of Auchy, nor of the house of prayer which those same monks say St. Bertin began to establish there, and which they prove from other documents of their monastery. This is established: that ^a certain Adalsquar and his wife Anglia, sprung from the most noble lineage of the Franks, built ^a basilica there in honor of the holy Mother of God, Mary: where also their daughter Siccidis, formerly of Virgins or Sichedis or Sichardis, having laid aside the secular habit and already consecrated to God, was present, as is asserted in the Life of St. Silvinus, section 21, likewise with no mention of St. Bertin or the monks of Sithiu. The nuns, moreover, held the monastery of Auchy until it was destroyed by the army of the Normans in the ninth century of the Christian era. Afterward it was restored and given to Benedictine monks, with the added condition that they should be required to elect an Abbot for themselves from the monastery of St. Bertin, now of monks as Pope Innocent III testifies and commands to be valid in the chapter "To the Abbot of St. Silvanus of Auchy," on the signification of words, or book 5 of the Decretals, title 11, chapter 25, where, however, it should have been written: To the Abbot of St. Silvinus of Auchy.

[2] The patron of that monastery is now St. Silvinus the Bishop, buried there around the year 720, as we shall say afterward: whose relics were later transferred to the city of Saint-Omer, to the monastery of St. Bertin. St. Silvinus the Bishop is venerated on February 15 His anniversary is celebrated at Auchy, and used to be celebrated at Therouanne while that city stood, on February 15, as is established from the old Breviary of the Morini. But at Saint-Omer, not only in the church of St. Bertin, elsewhere on the 17th but also in that of St. Omer, which is now the Cathedral, he is venerated on February 17: on which day his name is inscribed in most Martyrologies. The most ancient copy of Usuard, which exists handwritten at Paris in the monastery of St. Germain, has the following: In the district of Therouanne, of St. Silvinus, Bishop of the city of Toulouse. and his name inscribed in the Martyrologies on this day The Roman Martyrology agrees, as does our very ancient manuscript marked with the name of Bede. But very many other manuscripts, likewise bearing the name of Usuard, among them one very ancient and of the best character which formerly belonged to Augustinus Hunnaeus and which Molanus used; likewise the Parisian edition of Usuard of the year 1536 and another Martyrology published at Cologne in the year 1490, have the following: On the same day, of St. Silvinus, Bishop of Therouanne. Some incorrectly have Carvanese; others Travennense, Targuanense, Tarvennense; Bellinus in the Venetian edition has Carvense; in the Parisian, Vanense. Molanus in the later editions of Usuard of the years 1573 and 1583 writes thus: On the same day, at the monastery of Sithiu, in the district of Therouanne, of St. Silvinus of Therouanne, Bishop of the city of Toulouse. Yet by the very style of the letters he indicates that those words -- "at the monastery of Sithiu, in the district of Therouanne," and "of the city of Toulouse" -- are not Usuard's, but are taken from the Martyrology proper to some particular Church. Constantinus Ghinius in his Catalogue of the Saints of the Canons Regular writes incorrectly for this day: In the district of Tournai, of St. Silvinus... whose name is borne by an abbey at Auchy, where he was buried in the monastery of Centula. The monastery of Centula, or St. Riquier, is not at Auchy, nor was Silvinus buried there: but the monks of Centula were invited to Auchy for his funeral, for he was entombed in the church of Auchy itself. On the same day he is commemorated in the Benedictine Martyrology by Hugh Menard (who, however, confesses that it is not sufficiently clear from the Life whether he was ^a monk), Arnold Wion, and Benedict Dorganius: in the German Martyrology by Peter Canisius, by Aubert Miraeus in his Belgian Calendar, by Molanus in his Catalogue of the Saints of Belgium, by Galesininus, and others: and at length in the Gallican Martyrology and its Supplement by Saussay. An excellent Martyrology, written at least five centuries ago, celebrates him with only these words: On the same day, of St. Silvinus the Bishop.

[3] February 15 is assigned as his birthday by certain old Belgian Breviaries: the Breviary of the Morini already cited, the Brussels Breviary, the Breviary of Arras, and others. Likewise the Martyrologies: the Martyrology of Centula, which is prefaced with the name of Bede: In the territory of the Morini, the deposition of St. Silvinus, Bishop and Confessor. The manuscript of the monastery of St. Martin at Tournai: And the deposition of Salvinus, Bishop and Confessor. The manuscript of the Church of St. Gudula at Brussels: by others, February 15 On the same day, of St. Silvinus, Bishop of Therouanne and Confessor. The manuscript of St. Lambert's at Liege, and the much older one of the monastery of St. Lawrence at the same place: On the same day, of St. Silvinus, Bishop of Therouanne and Confessor. In the same Laurentian codex, however, for the 17th day there is added in an ancient hand: On the same day, of St. Salvinus, Bishop of Therouanne. Thus also Hermann Greuen on February 15: by some on both days Of Silvius, Bishop and Confessor; and on the 17th: On the same day, of St. Silvinus, Bishop of Therouanne. He seems to have regarded them as different persons. The manuscript Florarium on the 15th assigns the translation of his relics to Heristal. Concerning the various translations, more below.

[4] The St. Silvinus the Bishop who is assigned to Le Mans on January 26 by Hermann Greuen, Maurolycus, Felicius, and Ferrarius, as we said on that day in the catalogue of those passed over, Another St. Silvinus on January 26 was not ^a Bishop of Le Mans, since no Bishop of that name is mentioned in any catalogues, nor in the history of the Bishops of Le Mans published by Antoine Corvasier and Jean Bondonnet, both of which are very accurate. But neither is there any document anywhere showing that our Silvinus of the Morini has any connection to Le Mans. He seems rather to be the one who is commemorated on this very day at Cremona, ^a colony of Le Mans in Cisalpine Gaul, and to have been ^a Bishop, as we shall say below.

[5] The Life of St. Silvinus was composed by Bishop Antenor, who seems to have been close to him, and was certainly known to him and on familiar terms. For, as is said in the Prologue, lest he should lose the affection the Life written by Bishop Antenor which he had while the saint was living, an attitude of submission toward him, by continuing his service after his passing, he did not delay in committing to writing something of his holiness that he was able to know. But that Life, as is said in the same place, was composed partly in ^a rustic and partly in ^a faulty manner according to the standard of literary art: that is, as I interpret it, in ^a crude and unpolished style. Our James Malbrancq in his notes to chapter 14 of book 4 on the Morini in an unpolished manner thinks that only the author's inexperience in forming and painting letters is noted: for that century produced for the most part only learned Bishops: and for learned men to write poorly is quite frequent. Bishops of that era were certainly learned, as very many were holy; but not for that reason did all, indeed very few (whose writings survive), excel in grace of style: most, as is said of Antenor in the prologue to this Life, were perhaps sufficiently skilled in divine religion, but not very well instructed in literary discipline.

[6] Therefore that effort of Antenor had to be rewritten more correctly, not by changing the sense, but by composing more clearly what seemed disordered. afterward corrected This was done at the command of Abbess Leutwithis, before the incursions of the Normans, which occurred in the times of the grandsons of Charlemagne. And the writer affirms that he did not describe that Life in ^a more elegant form of letters, but corrected it as well as he could.

[7] Heribert Rosweyde had transcribed that Life from ^a manuscript codex of the monastery of Auchy, and had collated it with ^a manuscript of Rouge-Cloitre. We then collated it with ^a manuscript of the monastery of Corssendonck of the Canons Regular near Turnhout in Brabant, whence published here and with another copy which our Frederick Flouet had sent from Rouen, and with the manuscript of the Church of St. Saviour at Utrecht, and two others, and with the Life which William Catel published from the Bertinian manuscripts in book 5 of Occitanian Affairs. Nor did we leave unread what Ferreol Locrius in his Belgian Chronicle, our James Malbrancq in his commentaries on the affairs of the Morini, and William Gazet in his French History of the Saints wrote about St. Silvinus. The ancient Life, since it was divided differently into chapters or Lessons in various copies, and elsewhere was woven together in ^a continuous narrative, we have divided according to our custom, as seemed most convenient.

Section 2: The homeland, lineage, and Episcopate of St. Silvinus the Bishop.

[8] Molanus, cited above, writes that St. Silvinus was from Therouanne, Was St. Silvinus from Therouanne? and was then made Bishop of the city of Toulouse. The same view was held by Arnold Wion. Neither gives any reason why he thinks so. This argument can be adduced: that in the Life, section 12, he is said to have built two churches on his own property, one at ^a place called Mundini Cisterna, and another in Campania of Reims. These two places are in the territory of the Morini: so that at least his ancestors seem to have originated from Belgium. The same Life (written at least 800 years ago, indeed more than 900, since the second writer only corrected what Bishop Antenor, ^a contemporary of St. Silvinus, had committed to writing), the same Life, I say, in chapter 1, section 2, has the following: The noble land of Toulouse brought forth St. Silvinus, or rather from Toulouse? but the blessed borders of Therouanne contain him.

[9] Even less trust would I place in the manuscript Florarium, which presents the following for February 17: On the same day, the deposition of St. Silvinus, Bishop of Therouanne and Confessor, who is said to have been the son of Pippin, Duke of the Brabantines, the second of that name; and consequently of the stock of the Carolingians. We have ^a eulogy of St. Silvinus from the Catalogue of the Bishops of the Church of Therouanne, said to be the son of Pippin and Plectrude in more recent MSS. excerpted by Rosweyde, with this opening: The blessed Bishop Silvinus was legitimately born of illustrious parents in the land of Toulouse. But since he was vigorous in nobility of blood, he desired to be adorned with the works of holiness: who, as an imitator of the Virgin Evangelist John, abandoned the wife whom he had betrothed for the sake of God. The blessed borders of Therouanne contain him: nay indeed, some have left in their writings that he was Bishop of Therouanne. Others say that he was the son of the second Pippin, surnamed the Fat, who was the third Duke of Brabant and Margrave of the Empire, and of St. Plectrude, his wife, from whom he is said to have begotten three offspring, namely Drogo, Duke of Champagne, Grimoald, and this holy man.

[10] The ancient writers of French history, and among the more recent the most accurate Scipio Dupleix and the Sainte-Marthes, recognize no other children of Pippin by Plectrude except Drogo and Grimoald. Hadrian Barland in his Chronicles of the Dukes of Brabant, chapter 3, speaks thus concerning the children of Pippin and Plectrude: From that marriage came offspring worthy of the parent: three sons, Drago and Grimoald, who, since he was ^a strong assertor of Christ and God, afterward underwent martyrdom at Liege for the faith of Christ, and was buried there in the church sacred to St. James. and in published histories The third son was Silvius, ^a most pious man, who also merited the appellation of Saint. A daughter was called Notburgis. Placed in ^a sepulchre at Cologne, she was famous for miracles. Divaeus also in his Brabantine Affairs, book 1, chapter 3, numbers Silvius among the sons of Pippin. Many more recent authors wish that St. Notburga was born of Plectrude. Gelenius in his work on Plectrude warns that both can rightly be doubted. Indeed, many say that Notburga was not Plectrude's daughter, but her sister's daughter, who was raised by Plectrude. We shall treat of her on October 31, on which day she is venerated.

[11] Johannes Gilmannus, ^a Canon Regular at Rouge-Cloitre near Brussels, prefixed to the Life of St. Silvinus the following prologue, composed by himself, in the first part of his Brabantine Hagiology: "Since God has care for men and is more concerned for their souls than their bodies, therefore we also, being about to set forth those things which pertain to salvation and edification, and leaving to physicians what belongs to physicians, we present to readers ^a delightful dish concerning the life and character of the most blessed Silvinus, Bishop of Therouanne or of the Morini, who is believed to have been the son of Pippin, the second Duke of Brabant of this name. Although ^a doubt about this might seem to arise, because below it is said of him that the noble land of Toulouse gave him birth. But it is not incredible that ^a son of such ^a Prince should be born in such ^a land, which, although it is now under the power of the Spaniards, nevertheless born in the Toulouse dominion: was long ago subject to the rule of the Franks, ^a change which was perhaps made by right of battle or by ^a marriage pact. Since, therefore, as we began to say, our God has great care for men, He provided ^a spiritual salve for spiritual diseases in the fragrant life of His Confessor Silvinus, whose deeds, as the Lord shall grant, we shall explain here." So far Gilmannus, who, however, errs when he reports that at the time he was writing, the land of Toulouse was under the power of the Spaniards. Perhaps he recalled the Spanish victory over the Miramamolin, King of the Moors, won on the 16th of July 1212 at Las Navas de Tolosa, which place is near the borders of Baetica and was never under the dominion of the Franks. But the land of Toulouse, in which St. Silvinus is said to have been born, is the territory of the city of Toulouse in Gallia Narbonensis.

[12] The reader should also remember that those Pippins, who were most powerful in this part of Belgium — which then belonged to the kingdom of Austrasia, then Lotharingia, and finally the Germanic realm — had very extensive possessions was Pippin ^a Duke of Brabant? and were Dukes indeed, but not hereditary ones, nor of Brabant. That title began to be first used by the Counts of Louvain only about six hundred years ago.

[13] That St. Silvinus was ^a Bishop of the city of Toulouse is reported, as we have related, by Usuard, Molanus, the Roman Martyrology, and other authors. Was St. Silvinus ^a Bishop of Toulouse? He does not appear in the Catalogue of the Bishops of Toulouse compiled by Demochares and Jean Chenu. Claude Robert places him among those who flourished in the fourth century of Christ, and calls him St. Silvius or Silvinus, citing Wion, Baronius, and Molanus, who consecrated the memory not of Silvius but of Silvinus, who was much later. Andrea Saussay in the Gallican Martyrology writes that St. Silvinus was ^a Bishop, but does not indicate of which Church; at least distinct from St. Silvius: in the Supplement he makes him ^a Bishop of Toulouse, as does Malbrancq; and the latter indeed holds that he was deposed from that rank and relegated to the Morini district by Ebroin. Saussay says that, fearing the breeze of human praise, he changed his country and abandoned his throne. But how was this last possibility permitted without the consent of the Roman Pontiff? If the former had happened, why was he not recalled to his Church after the slaying of Ebroin, instead of remaining in Belgium for about thirty years, or even forty-four according to Malbrancq's calculation? Guillaume Catel, relying solely on the authority of Molanus and the Roman and Benedictine Martyrologies, places him in the Catalogue of Bishops of Toulouse, between Villegisilus, who attended the Council of Reims under Sonnatius around the year 624, and Arruso, whom he says attended ^a certain synod held at Narbonne in the year 788. So mutilated are the records of that Church that in ^a span of 160 years only the name of St. Silvinus appears, and even that not quite rightly inserted.

[14] The Martyrologies cited above, not ^a few of them, call Silvinus ^a Bishop of Therouanne, the ancient city of the Morini in Belgium, whether ^a Bishop of Therouanne: as does Peter de Natalibus in Book 11, last chapter, number 70. In ^a manuscript of the church of the Holy Savior at Utrecht there existed ^a very brief Life of St. Silvinus, in which he is said to have been made Bishop of Therouanne. Although Malbrancq asserts that the district of Therouanne and that

of Therouanne are not the same — that the name Therouanne particularly designated the territory now contained in the County of Saint-Pol — the terms are used interchangeably by writers who treat of St. Silvinus, to mean the Morini district and sometimes the diocese. In any case, the author of the Chronicle of Beze also considered St. Silvinus to have been Bishop of Therouanne, of which ^a part was published by Andre Chesne among the Norman materials, where the following is read: "The body of the most blessed Silvinus, their Bishop, was brought from the people of Therouanne." Malbrancq, who had previously written that St. Silvinus was ^a Bishop of Toulouse, afterward says he governed the Church of Therouanne on behalf of Ravenger, while the latter was incapacitated by illness and unable to administer his office.

[15] We are permitted to pronounce nothing other than what has been reported by the writer of his Life: he was rather of an uncertain See: he mentions neither the See of Toulouse nor that of Therouanne. We do not, however, conjecture that he was called "Bishop" by posterity merely out of veneration, as we have observed done elsewhere with other apostolic men, and that he was merely ^a Priest, since in the Life he is expressly called ^a Bishop. The first writer, Bishop Antenor, could not have been ignorant of what rank he held in the Church; yet truly ^a Bishop: and the one who afterward corrected it professes nowhere to have changed the meaning of the first writer. But many holy men in that era, in order to wield greater authority for joining the pagan nations to Christ, were ordained Bishops without any fixed See being assigned to them — ^a practice which was later decreed should no longer occur rashly, and only at the command of the Supreme Pontiff.

§ III. The time of St. Silvinus's arrival in Belgium and of his death.

[16] At what time St. Silvinus lived, the same Life thus sets forth: "He flourished also in the time of the former Charles the King and Childeric his Prince, persevering until the battle of Vinchy, he flourished under Chilperic: which was fought between Charles and Ragenfried, King of the Franks." He who is here called Childeric was in fact Chilperic, who was born of King Childeric but, lest he provoke the fury of his uncle Theoderic or others, was raised at the monastery of Chelles by his grandmother St. Bathilde, tonsured as ^a cleric, and called Daniel. Later the Neustrians, or Western Franks, after being made King in the year 715: upon the death of Dagobert the Younger, son of Childebert II and grandson of Theoderic, made him King in the year 715. He, together with Raganfred the Mayor of the Palace, soon entered Austrasia and inflicted some damage on the army of Charles Martel, and ravaged the regions near the Rhine, having also called upon Radbod, King of the Frisians, for assistance. Then in the year 717, on the 12th day before the Kalends of April, Passion Sunday, at Vinchy in the district of Cambrai, he was defeated by Charles. When he had mustered his army again with the aid of Eudo, Duke of Aquitaine, he was again routed by Charles and returned to him by Eudo; dead in the year 720: not long afterward, in the year 720, he died at Noyon. Ragenfried is therefore improperly called King of the Franks, as he was only ^a Duke. Less erroneous is calling Charles "King," who, as his father Pippin before him, governed Austrasia with royal power and commanded the Kings themselves.

[17] In what year St. Silvinus died, in what month, or on what day of the month, is not expressed. But since he is said to have persevered until the battle of Vinchy, some place his death in the year 715 when that war began, others in 717 when the battle of Vinchy was fought; he himself died on ^a Saturday: Malbrancq in the year 720, when Chilperic also died. He died in the evening hour of the holy day of Saturday, as is stated in section 18. If by the holy Saturday the Easter vigil is understood, that fell in the year 715 on the 30th of March; in 716 on the 18th of April; in 717 on the 3rd of April; in 718 on the 26th of March; in 719 on the 15th of April; in 720 on the 30th of March — on none of which days have we observed the name of St. Silvinus inscribed in any Martyrology. If the author calls any Saturday ^a "holy Sabbath," since some Martyrologies assign him to the 15th of February or the 15th of February 716: and others to the 17th, it must be said either that he died in the year 716 on the 15th of February, which was ^a Saturday, or in 720 on the 17th of the same month, which was likewise ^a Saturday. Jacques Meyer seems to affirm the former when he writes in Book 1 of the Annals of Flanders at the year 716: "Around those days, Silvinus, Bishop of Toulouse, ^a great example of piety, yielded to nature at Auchy." or rather on the 17th of February 720: The latter was more agreeable to Malbrancq, because in February of the year 716 the battle of Vinchy had not yet been fought, and Chilperic had not yet borne the royal name for ^a sufficiently long time for Silvinus to be said to have flourished in his era. And the writer, when he says that he flourished in the time of Charles and Chilperic his Prince, seems not obscurely to indicate that he was still alive during the time when Charles held Chilperic, surrendered to him by Eudo, in his power — whether Charles wished to keep him subject to himself to deflect resentment from his own domination, or more cautiously to rid him from life as if having completed his natural course. But before Chilperic was surrendered to Charles, he could not have been called "his Prince," since he belonged to the opposing side.

[18] Was Silvinus, then, in Belgium for only those five years of Chilperic? The Life indicates no longer period. Malbrancq assigns more than forty years, he is believed to have come to Belgium much earlier: for he judges that he came here around the year 674 of Christ, although he thinks he traveled from here to Rome and Jerusalem — places he had perhaps visited earlier, before withdrawing here as if for retirement. Two considerations in particular impelled Malbrancq to write that he immigrated to Belgium much earlier than we suppose: namely, that he is said to have subscribed to ^a certain donation of St. Vindicianus in the year 685, and even earlier to have attended the dedication of the church of Blangy.

[19] That donation of St. Vindicianus, Bishop of Cambrai, and the documents drawn up by him concerning it, and the confirmation of Pope John V, are recounted by Balderic in Book 1 of the Chronicle of Cambrai, chapter 25. Subscribing to it, besides John himself and Vindicianus, and to have subscribed to ^a certain donation of St. Vindicianus: are said to be seventeen Bishops, the first twelve of whom are unknown to us — perhaps Italians. The remaining five are Audoinus the Archbishop, Austregisilus the Bishop, Ravenger the Bishop, Silvinus the Bishop, and Leodegarius the Bishop. These are said to have been enacted on the 8th day before the Ides of May, in the seventh year of the reign of our Lord King Theoderic, Indiction 2. I do not challenge the donation; but in the subscriptions there is an error, and not just one. made in the year 686: Pope John V was created Pontiff on the 22nd of July 685 and died the following year on the 2nd of August. Theoderic, recalled to the throne after the murder of his brother Childeric, which occurred in the summer of 679, had not yet completed his seventh year of reign on the 8th day before the Ides of May 686. And that chronological indicator accords well. Not so the other, which is of the second Indiction, when it was the fourteenth. Audoenus, Archbishop of Rouen, was still alive at that time. Austregisilus of Bourges had died seventy-four years previously. If the one who subscribed here was of another See, most of the other subscriptions are defective: where is he mentioned by any writer? Ravenger, since he is said to have succeeded St. Bain only in the year 706, is without solid reason placed here as the Vicar of the aged and blind St. Audomarus; for why does the document not indicate this, as others commonly do in solemn Acts? St. Audomarus had indeed already died long before, as we shall show on the 9th of September. St. Leodegarius had been killed on the 2nd of October 684. Why then should we not suspect that the name of St. Silvinus was also falsely added? and added later.

[20] More anomalous still is what is reported in the Life of St. Berta, foundress of Blangy, on the 4th of July, in these words: [in the Life of St. Berta it is said he was present at the dedication of Blangy in the year 682:] "In the year of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 682, and the second year of Pope Agatho, and the twelfth year of Theoderic, King of the Franks, the son of Clovis and Queen Bathilde, the most pious Berta began to build ^a monastery at Blangy, in the district of Therouanne, on her own property; which, by the Lord's grant, was brought to completion with the highest honor. When all things were arranged that custom required for the adornment and ordering of the monastery, the most pious Berta convened the venerable Bishops to dedicate the aforesaid oratory: St. Ansbert, Archbishop of Rouen; the venerable Ravenger, Bishop of Therouanne, in whose parish the aforesaid monastery is situated; St. Amandus, Bishop of Tongeren; also St. Walaricus and St. Germanus of the city of Paris; St. Silvinus, ^a foreign Bishop coming from Toulouse; St. Leodegarius, Bishop and future Martyr; also St. Richarius and St. Eligius; also St. Pharo of the city of Meaux; and St. Elbert, Bishop of Cambrai." Another copy reads Autbert instead of Elbert.

[21] These things must be briefly examined. St. Agatho, elected Pope in the year 679, so that his second year was 680, with no probable chronological indicators: or at most 681. The twelfth year of Theoderic, as is clear from what was said above, began in the year 690. Therefore those chronological markers by no means agree with each other. What of the rest? St. Ansbert succeeded St. Audoenus on the See of Rouen after the latter's death on the 24th of August 689; he himself died in the year 695. Concerning Ravenger, we have already said that he succeeded St. Bain after the year 700, so that the diocese of Therouanne could not have been called his parish before then. St. Amandus died on the 6th of February 684; St. Leodegarius in the same year. St. Autbert died in the year 675, and was succeeded by St. Vindicianus, who is said to have occupied the See for more than thirty years, so that there was no place for Elbert. St. Eligius had died in the year 665, and was succeeded by St. Mommolinus, who subscribed to the testament of St. Amandus in 682. SS. Walaricus and Richarius the Abbots had died many years earlier; St. Germanus of Paris more than ^a hundred years before. What can be proved about St. Silvinus in such ^a confusion of facts and dates? Malbrancq did not fail to see this, but cautiously dissimulated, therefore deliberately changed elsewhere: writing: "From the assembly of ecclesiastics there were present Ansbert, Archbishop of Rouen; the Bishops of Paris and Tongeren; Pharo, Bishop of Meaux; St. Demandus, Bishop of London; the Bishop of Noyon and Tournai; the Bishop of Cambrai and Arras; the Abbot of St. Riquier; the Abbot of St. Valery; Silvinus, ^a foreign Bishop from Toulouse, as the writer of the Life says." Why does he not then honestly, as we do, present the writer's words and expose his ignorance? For who is that Demandus, Bishop of London?

[22] We have ^a twofold copy of the Life of St. Berta, but both from the Blangy codex: in neither does the name of Demandus appear, nor in any catalogues of either Bishops of London or of Saints. the Life was ignorantly written after the year 1139: That Life of St. Berta was written after the year 1139, since it reports ^a miracle performed in that year in the month of July. The author testifies that he himself witnessed some of the miracles he narrates. He seems to have been ^a good man, but ignorant of antiquity and especially of chronology. Since, therefore, he had read that many Bishops and Abbots had gathered for that dedication, or thought they should have gathered as befitted the custom of the Church and the dignity of St. Berta, he listed several of the more famous ones whom he supposed had lived around those times.

[23] Concerning the arrival of St. Silvinus in Belgium, besides the fact that he is said to have flourished in the time of Chilperic, not of Theoderic or his sons, the following should also be considered, which is stated in section 21: "These same (Adalsquar and Anglia) built the basilica of the monastery of Auchy in honor of the holy Mother of God, Mary, the monastery of Auchy built around the year 700: where also, before the arrival of St. Silvinus, their daughter Siccidis, having laid aside the secular habit, was already consecrated to God." Let us suppose she was then about twenty years old, or at least eighteen. If St. Silvinus came, as Malbrancq holds, in the year 674, then when he died, Siccidis would have been over sixty. What of the parents? Were they eighty years old? Nowhere is there any indication of such advanced age. I found in ^a book about the monasteries of Artois and Hainaut, compiled perhaps sixty or seventy years ago, ^a citation from the appendix to the Bertinian Chronicle, in which it is said that Adalsquar and Anglia built the basilica of the Auchy monastery around the year 700, where before the arrival of St. Silvinus their daughter Siccidis presided over some veiled Virgins consecrated to God. Therefore the arrival of St. Silvinus is later than the year 700; and St. Silvinus came there afterward: although certain other recently composed Chronicles have it that the monastery was built around the year 680. This is certain: that St. Silvinus flourished in the time of King Chilperic and Charles Martel the Mayor of the Palace; and no mention is made either of Duke Pippin or of the four Kings under whom the same Pippin governed the entire Frankish Empire.

§ IV. The various translations of St. Silvinus. His relics at Beze, Saint-Omer, and Auchy.

[24] The manuscript Florarium cited above by us, under the 15th of February, has this: "At Herstall in the land of Liege, the translation of St. Silvinus, Bishop and Confessor of Therouanne." The relics of St. Silvinus brought to Herstall: Herstall, or rather Herstal, is ^a famous village about an hour's journey from Liege on the River Meuse, toward Maastricht, and has hitherto belonged to the Dukes of Brabant. I conjecture from the name that it was once ^a public horse stable for the Kings of the Eburones nation, for "Herstal" means "army stable." And another village not far distant is visible, Hermal, which one may rightly interpret as "army assembly." At Herstal, moreover, the first Princes of the Carolingian line had their palace, from which the most famous Pippin, the son of Ansegisel and St. Begga, obtained the surname of Herstal or Herstall. The other rulers also frequented the place: Pippin's son Charles Martel, especially Martel's grandson Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious, both Emperors. Whether any relics of St. Silvinus were brought there in their time, I have not discovered, nor what that translation inscribed in the Florarium was.

[25] Unless perhaps the Auchy relics were first brought to Herstall when the Normans were devastating the Morini district; perhaps in the year 880: but when the violence of that barbarian people pressed upon that region also, they were carried off to the fortress of Dijon. Thus we read that the remains of St. Berta were brought from Blangy to places near the Rhine, then to Mainz, and finally to Alsace. The earlier flight of the people of Auchy seems to have occurred in the year 880, when the body of St. Vedast was also carried from Arras across the Somme in the month of December, when the Normans were devastating Flanders and the Morini: when the Normans had established their quarters for wintering in the monastery at Ghent in the month of November, as is stated in the history of their deeds written by an unknown author and published by Chesne. From there "they devastated the city of Tournai and all the monasteries along the River Scheldt with fire and sword, killing and capturing the inhabitants of the land. Then they moved their quarters and built ^a fortress at Courtrai for wintering, and from there they utterly destroyed the Menapii and the Suevi... Afterward, on the 7th day before the Kalends of January, entering the town of Sithiu with an immense multitude, they burned the town itself with its churches, except the church of St. Audomarus... Then around the Purification of St. Mary (of the year 881), setting out again, they take the road through Therouanne, and to the monastery of Centula of St. Riquier, and St. Valery, and all the places around the sea, and monasteries and villages, then passing through the city of Amiens and Corbie," etc. At that time, therefore, Auchy, which is near Centula, seems to have been devastated, and the relics of St. Silvinus removed from the fury of the impious earlier, and perhaps carried to Herstall. But they could not have been preserved there for long.

[26] For the Northmen, as is said in the same account, "returning through Ghent, repairing their ships, traveling by land and sea, entered the Meuse and established their quarters at Haslac for wintering." and when these came to the Meuse in the year 881: Regino, at the same year 881, writes: "In the month of November, two kings of the Northmen, Godfrey and Sigfrid, with an incalculable multitude of foot soldiers and horsemen, settled in the place called Hassou, near the Meuse; and at the first assault, devastating the neighboring places, they burned the city of Liege, the fortress of Maastricht, and the city of Tongeren." The place that Regino calls Hassou, and others Haslac and Haslou, lies on the Meuse some miles below Maastricht, commonly called Elsloo. Regino then describes what those same Normans cruelly did through the territory of the Ripuarians and the Ardennes in that and the following year.

[27] Then therefore occurred what the same Chesne reports from the manuscript Chronicle of the monastery of Beze in these words: "While the Normans were devastating all of France, and the Franks could nowhere find ^a firm stronghold for resistance, many bodies of Saints were brought to the fortress of Dijon, because it seemed the most secure and impregnable. Some of these were afterward returned, while others remained there, and still others were translated to other places. The body of Blessed Medard the Bishop was brought from Soissons. The body of the most blessed Silvinus, their Bishop, was brought from the people of Therouanne. The body of our patron, the most blessed Prudentius, was also brought there and placed in the basilica of Blessed Stephen, brought to Dijon: where it remained for many years." Dijon is still the principal city of the Duchy of Burgundy, frequently celebrated under the name of fortress in the most ancient histories and Acts of the Saints.

[28] The monastery of Beze lies about five leagues from Dijon, whose location and origin are thus described by Papirius Masson from the Chronicle of that place in his work on the rivers of Gaul, page 377: "The place lies between the river Saone thence to Beze:

and the river called the Tille, named from ^a spring that rises there called Besua, and is itself called Beze... Such ^a place, therefore, Duke Amalgarius judged worthy to offer to God and His holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and under the hand of his son Waldalenus he took care to gather monks to serve God and His Saints there under the Rule of Blessed Columbanus. What more? He appointed Waldalenus as Abbot there." Dionysius Gualterot in his work on Langres writes that Beze was formerly called Atornum or the fortress of Atorn. There St. Prudentius the Martyr, of whom mention has already been made, is venerated on the 6th of October; whose body was afterward brought back from Dijon to Beze, as the same Chronicle testifies in Chesne: "At length, with the Lord favorable to us," it says, "and peace restored, the body of Blessed Prudentius was brought back from there, and the body of Blessed Silvinus, together with Blessed Anglia, his most intimate companion, was given to us by the Lord." Although afterward, when the tempest of Norman incursions had subsided, the body of St. Silvinus was carried back to Belgium, where ^a portion was retained: some of his relics, nevertheless, seem to have been retained by the monks of Beze. Gualterot certainly, when he lists the Saints whose relics exist in the diocese of Langres, numbers St. Silvinus, Bishop of Tarbes, among them, whom he says is venerated at Beze on the 17th of February. He meant to write Therouanne, for there is no Silvinus among the Bishops of Tarbes; and the one whose memory is observed on the 17th of February, even if he was not ^a Bishop of Therouanne (as some have supposed), nevertheless dwelt and died in the district of Therouanne for some time.

[29] She who is said to have been brought to Dijon, and thence to Beze, together with St. Silvinus — Blessed Anglia, the body of Blessed Anglia was also brought there: described as his most intimate companion — is Anglia, the wife of Adalsquar, the mother of the Virgin Siccidis. That she was then considered among the Saints is clear from that translation and the words of the Chronicle. Whether her relics were also brought back to Belgium is not certain. Malbrancq, in Book 4 on the Morini, chapter 57, writes: "The bodies of St. Sicchedis, Adalsquar, and Anglia are believed to lie in the more sacred part of the temple (of Sithiu, or of St. Bertin): may God one day bring them to light!" By these words he seems to indicate that some public veneration was once given to them, or ought to be; and indeed he usually calls the daughter St. Sicchedis. We received many years ago from D. Guillaume de Whitte, ^a religious Priest of the monastery of Sithiu and well versed in sacred antiquity, the information that neither the parents nor the daughter are regarded as Saints either at Auchy or in the monastery of St. Bertin, where they now are is uncertain: and that where their bodies are is unknown. Nevertheless, as frequently happens that the veneration of certain Saints falls into disuse and their very names are blotted out by oblivion, so it seems to me that it may be supposed to have happened with Blessed Anglia. Concerning her daughter Siccidis and her husband, I have nothing definite to say. This should be added: that Guillaume Gazet, in his Ecclesiastical History of Belgium, translates Anglia into French as Ognies.

[30] When Rollo, Duke of the Normans, embraced the Christian faith, peace came to the Gallic and Belgian Churches and monasteries. What then was the fortune of Auchy up to the year 1072 has not been entirely explored by us. Jacques Meyer, in Book 2 of the Annals of Flanders under the year 940, supposes that among the Benedictine monasteries reformed by Abbot St. Gerard during the principate of Arnulf of Flanders was also that of St. Silvinus. This is not sufficiently proven to us. We rather suspect that there, in place of the nuns who had formerly held the place and had been completely dispersed, clerics were first installed, as elsewhere, monks introduced at Auchy: and then monks were substituted for them, until finally in the year 1072, Abbot Heribert of St. Bertin appointed an Abbot at Auchy. Thus John Iperius, himself an Abbot of St. Bertin, in the Chronicle of his monastery which he composed nearly three hundred years ago: "In the same year 1072, Lord Abbot Heribert sent Suelger, ^a monk of this house, to Auchy, our place, to whom an Abbot was given in the year 1072: and established him as the first Abbot there; but he was Abbot for barely two years. When he died, Heribert appointed Norbert, our monk, as Abbot there in the year of the Lord 1077." And the same author records many things about the Abbots of Auchy in various places. But leaving these aside, let us return to St. Silvinus, whose body, previously brought back from Beze, was transported to the monastery of St. Bertin in the year 951.

[31] The body of St. Silvinus carried away in the year 951 to Sithiu: The story is told by the same Iperius in chapter 26 in this manner: "Hildebrand, the 26th Abbot of this house, grandson of Count Arnulf the Great of Flanders, by whose intervention he was substituted as Abbot for Abbot Gerard, and consecrated by Witfrid, Bishop of the Morini, in the year of the Lord 950, ^a man most ready for every good work... In the second year of this Abbot, the aforesaid elder Count Arnulf, eager for sacred relics, directed the body of St. Walaricus from its place, destroyed by the Danes, to this our monastery, on the 9th day before the Kalends of September... Five days later, that is, the 4th day before the Kalends of September, the body of Blessed Richarius was transported by the aforesaid Count to this monastery. These two bodies of Saints were afterward restored to their own places by Arnulf II, as will be said in its place below. At the same time, the same elder Count Arnulf brought here the body of Blessed Silvinus from Auchy, received as ^a pledge, by way of ^a pledge: on this condition: that if on the appointed day and before the ringing of Prime in this monastery it were not redeemed, the body of the Saint should remain with us in perpetuity. On the appointed day, the people of Auchy came with the ransom to redeem the pledge, and the people of the Morini district stayed that evening. Rising rather sluggishly in the morning and approaching Sithiu, they heard the sound of the bells at St. Bertin. when the price was not paid by the appointed day: Spurring their horses, therefore, they quickly reached the monastery of St. Bertin. Offering the price, they demand the body of the Saint, by God's will it remained there: alleging that we had fraudulently rung Prime so early. The Abbot replied that the hour was late and that no fraud had occurred, and he inquired who had rung Prime. When they came to the bell tower, they saw the bells being swung without human agency, by the will of God, as if indicating joy and that St. Silvinus had chosen this place for his perpetual rest. Seeing this miracle, the saddened people of Auchy returned to their homes empty-handed." So Iperius, who uses "vadium" for pledge. Malbrancq relates the same in volume 2, Book 7, chapter 43, but what Iperius says — that the people of Auchy stayed that night in the Morini district or at Therouanne and, rising sluggishly the next day, arrived late at Sithiu — he explains thus: "The monks of Sithiu, rising more sluggishly than usual that morning, were amazed to hear Prime being rung." Then what Iperius writes — that the Abbot inquired who had rung Prime — he says that when the ringing continued longer than usual, the Abbot sent someone to stop it, and so it was discovered that the bells were making noise with no one pulling them.

[32] Nevertheless, the people of Auchy are not now entirely without the relics of their patron St. Silvinus. For they have his jawbone and arm, as Arnold Raisse attests in his Belgian Sacred Treasury. How they obtained the jawbone is narrated in the more recent manuscript annals of the monastery of Sithiu: "The distinguished Father Antoine de Berghes, Abbot of St. Bertin, on the 5th day of the month of August, Indiction 4, in the year 1516, with the convent assembled (which had been at Salperwick for recreation), displayed the bodies of the glorious Bishop Silvinus and the Virgin St. Rotrude to the surrounding people and clergy. On the same day, the reception of the relics of SS. Trudo and Libert was fittingly conducted in procession with copes, and ^a Mass was solemnly sung with bells and organs resounding in honor of St. Silvinus, formerly Bishop of Toulouse, with three collects for the Saints. When the Mass was finished, with the monks' choir locked on account of the crowds, at the high altar he publicly displayed and replaced the aforesaid relics of the Saints. Then immediately in the middle of the choir, the Abbot, wearing pontifical insignia, opened the chests of the Saints at the request of D. Oliver, Abbot of Auchy; ^a most sweet odor came forth, displayed in the year 1516: and when the body of St. Silvinus was seen in public, the same D. Antoine gave the lower jaw from his head, to which three teeth still adhered, to Oliver. The latter demonstrated how great was his joy at this, and the jawbone given to the people of Auchy: when on bended knees, vested in alb and cope with others, weeping, he received it, and giving thanks, brought it to his monastery, where once this Saint, after completing the course of his life, was received into glory. From the body of the Virgin Rotrude, he likewise gave one rib to the same Oliver; whose bones, indeed, in the year 1160, the second Milo, formerly Bishop of the Morini, at the request of Baldwin, founder of the monastery of Andres, placed in ^a shrine." So far the text. We shall treat of St. Rotrude the Virgin on the 22nd of June, of St. Libert the Martyr on the 14th of July, and of St. Trudo the Priest on

the 23rd of November. Salperwick, which is here named, is ^a small village half ^a league from Saint-Omer, where the Bertinian monks have ^a house to which they are sometimes sent in summer for some days for the purpose of refreshing the mind and attending to health.

LIFE FROM MANUSCRIPTS,

written by Bishop Antenor, ^a contemporary, afterward corrected by an anonymous author.

Silvinus, Bishop, at Auchy in Belgica II (St.)

BHL Number: 7747

By Bishop Antenor, from manuscripts.

PROLOGUE OF THE AUTHOR.

[1] A certain Bishop named Antenor, sufficiently gifted in divine religion but not particularly instructed in literary discipline, after the death of Blessed Silvinus attempted to describe his deeds and life: The Life of St. Silvinus written by Bishop Antenor: so that the affection of subjection which he had toward him while living, he might not lose after his death through compliance. Therefore he did not delay to commit to writing something of his sanctity that he could know. But whether through the negligence of the inhabitants of that place or the shadowing envy of the devil, this writing did not come to light until the time of the most devout Abbess Leutwith. At length the aforesaid Abbess, searching for it, found it on corrupted membranes, already in great part erased by excessive age. Reading it over many times, she perceived it to have been composed but unpolished: partly roughly and partly defectively according to the standard of the literary art. Thence, moved by pious devotion to St. Silvinus, she had it rewritten more correctly, afterward polished: not changing the meaning but arranging more clearly what seemed disordered. Moreover, if some things were omitted that ought to have been said, or something superfluous noted that should not have been, let it be imputed to the devotion and simplicity of the one who first wrote, not to the compliance of the writer who, being commanded ^a second time, corrected it as he could.

a. Catel reads Antenen.

CHAPTER I.

The homeland, age, pilgrimage, and virtues of St. Silvinus.

[2] In recent times, by the ordaining providence of God, there arose ^a certain exemplar of righteousness, resplendent with the brilliance of wondrous sanctity, from the regions of the southern clime: Silvinus, the holy Bishop: Silvinus by name, raised to the honor of the episcopate, and ^a devoted confessor of Christ. This man, indeed, of most blessed merit, Silvinus seems to be as it were ^a certain boundary between the ceasing miracles of the preceding Saints and the faith of the peoples that follow: so that he might be joined to the equal merits of the preceding Saints, and be the head and exemplar of sanctity for those to come.

[3] This same St. Silvinus was born of the noble land of Toulouse, a noble Toulousain: but the blessed borders of the people of Therouanne hold him. Illustrious in the lineage of nobility according to the dignity of the world, but more illustrious in the faith of sanctity according to the will of the Lord. He flourished also in the time of the former Charles the King and Childeric his Prince, persevering until the battle of Vinchy, which was fought between Charles and he lived to the year 717: Ragenfried, King of the Franks, where ^a great slaughter of the peoples was made, with Ragenfried put to flight with the few who had survived.

[4] Therefore, in the time of his youth, he betrothed ^a certain maiden according to the rite of those who take wives. But at length, returning to his senses and taking the loftier counsel of his secret heart, he left the pact of betrothal so that with ^a pure heart and chaste body he might imitate the Son of the Virgin, who always remains pure and to whom all things pure are pleasing — not unmindful of the Gospel saying: "Everyone who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, the bride abandoned: or mother, or wife for my name's sake shall receive ^a hundredfold and shall possess eternal life." Matthew 19:29

[5] He follows Christ: Then, by the Lord's providence, so that the merit of his sanctity might be increased and many might be saved through his teaching, he was directed to the western parts, namely the region of Therouanne, where he won ^a considerable number of people for the Lord. He comes to the Morini: For the worship of God was partly unknown to the inhabitants of this land, which he restored by the word of preaching and likewise by the example of righteous living, proclaiming the living God, perfect in majesty and to be confessed as triune in persons. Whence, as the cultivation of faith grew among them, he was loved by all as ^a father, he converts many by word and example: venerated as ^a lord; and he was rightly esteemed by all, for he surpassed nearly all then living in the sanctity of good works, endowed also with the grace of humility in all things. He loved all who lived righteously as brothers, embraced them as dearest sons, not regarding the persons of the powerful but rather the cultivation of religion and the devotion of holy humility. For he was exceedingly generous to all, especially, as he knew it was written, beloved by all for his virtues: "to the household of the faith" Galatians 6:10; anointed with gentle speech, prudent in teaching, humble in devotion, most holy in imitation, handsome of face, cheerful of countenance, poor in attire, rich in the Lord. Looking first at himself, he corrected whatever he found to blame; and then he did not shrink from correcting others and indeed leading them to the path of the right way, by preaching and admonishing daily; for his zeal was most vigorous in this: that his works might be acceptable to the Lord, and that he might win very many and join them to the fold of Christ, the supreme Shepherd.

[6] He continually received guests and strangers in his little dwelling as though receiving Christ himself, washing their feet, and at the same time providing food according to his means and sharing ^a portion of his garments. He desired indeed to be numbered among those hospitable: to whom the Lord will say in the future: Matthew 25:35 "I was ^a stranger and you took me in; naked and you clothed me." And: "What you did for one of the least of these my brethren, you did for me." v. 40 And to hear what follows: "Come, you blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Always on his lips there were either hymns or the word of preaching was heard, diligent: lest at any time, being idle from these things, he should pollute the instrument of his tongue, contrary to the writing of the Prophet, who says: "I said, I will guard my ways, so that I do not sin with my tongue." Psalm 38:2

[7] For gold or silver, no chest was ever heavy in his possession, nor did ^a little belt hanging around his loins glitter, as is the custom of some; because he knew that such adornment must be entirely avoided by the servants of God, a lover of poverty: whose clothing and every ornament must be Christ in all things, who for us, though he was rich, became poor. This most blessed Silvinus, especially in clothing: surrounded on every side by the love of God and neighbor, shone forth, and manfully following the footsteps of Christ, he did not abandon the mother of all virtues — namely, discretion — being cautious in all his virtues. in himself austere, in clothing, in the manner of his bed: Whatever substance he had, he did not delay to distribute to the poor without any hesitation. He wished in no way to think about the morrow, for he understood, according to the truthful saying of the Gospel, that sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof; he despised the world and passed through all things transitory and perishable, Matthew 6:34 loving the true God with all his effort and desiring with all his heart to attain the heavenly life. He made use of ^a horse on the road for traveling, he rides ^a horse: not for glory or the delight of the flesh, but because of the weakness of his body, even to the extreme of his great old age.

[8] He, setting out almost constantly on pilgrimage for the love of almighty God, visited many shrines of the Saints,

praying and pouring forth prayers, so that no one of the Just might remain whom he could not have as an advocate at the end of this pilgrimage, and now joined to him by his prayers; because he considered that he was not sufficient of himself, he visits holy places: seeking the help of others, so that he might pass more readily to glory. For he had read that it is written that no one can be saved by himself alone.

[9] And it was not enough for him to fulfill the vow of pilgrimage and prayer in those provinces that are surrounded on every side by the sea; but also, carried across the sea, he visited the land where our Lord Jesus Christ was born and raised according to the flesh. Luke 18:27 And passing through various places, and the Holy Land: he arrived at Golgotha, which is the place of Calvary, where the Lord was crucified by the impious Jews and the soldiers of the Romans: so that, because he could not see God with bodily eyes, although he contemplated him unceasingly with spiritual eyes, he might at least be worthy to visit the place where Christ redeemed him and the entire human race from the power of the devil by his own blood, and as victor carried off his spoils; so that, strengthened in spirit by such ^a vision and having poured forth prayer, he might return more securely to his homeland. Then coming to the Jordan, he sprinkles himself with water of the Jordan: where Christ, the Son of God and likewise of man, was baptized, sanctifying our baptism, he drew sacred water from it and sprinkled his entire body with it. Whence, made joyful and as if born again anew and entirely renewed within, he departed, now having nearly every desire of this present life fulfilled.

[10] He adorned the temples of the Saints with great veneration, illuminating them with lights according to his means, together with prayer piously disposed toward sacred things: and the solemnities of Masses. He loved the Priests of God with wonderful affection, venerating monks, correcting Virgins to preserve the chastity of body and heart inviolate to the end. To all the Clergy and people of God assembled in the holy Church, he instructs all people: he preached daily without any failing, provoking them to repentance, and at the same time he did not weary of praying unceasingly for their sins to the mercy of God. And because he was ^a confessor of Christ, he received the confessions of the people who flocked to him, giving counsel on how they might be saved and hold immovably to the ways of justice without the failing of any weariness: especially those confessing to him: teaching indeed that the yoke of Christ is sweet and his burden light, and that nothing is more useful than to serve him who will give the eternal kingdom to those who love him with their whole heart, whole soul, and all their strength; and nothing more foolish than to obey the will of Satan, who promises perpetual punishment and eternal fire to his followers.

[11] This most blessed man also had in himself the four virtues by which ^a person is saved in this life: Prudence, Justice, adorned with the cardinal virtues and faith: Fortitude, and Temperance. Shielded by these four shields, clad beneath in the breastplate of faith, and crowned with the helmet of salvation, he repelled far from himself all the darts of the enemy. He went forth into the public combat, overcoming him by whom the first man, our parent Adam, was once overcome and fell in paradise, and who dragged us all with him to the ruin of sin and mortality. secure in dangers: But this man, trusting in his life-giving arms, feared no perils on land nor shipwrecks at sea. He also had in all his works an Angel of God as protector and defender, protected by an Angel: who guarded him unharmed to the end of his life.

CHAPTER II.

The public works, austerity of life, death, burial, and miracles of St. Silvinus.

[12] This man was ^a father of orphans, ^a defender of widows, ^a guardian of virgins, an ornament of monks, ^a sower of peace, prudent in speech, holy in work; for what he preached with his mouth, he himself first demonstrated by example, he benefits all: lest the saying of the Apostle could be cast against him: that while preaching to others he himself would be found reprobate. 1 Corinthians 9:27 He consecrated all that he had to the Lord, attributing the good that he did not to his own merits but to the mercy of the Lord who bestows; whence for these transitory and perishable things, he builds churches: he obtained eternal rewards. For he built in his own right of property, out of veneration for almighty God and the memory of His holy name, two churches: one in the place called Mundini Cisterna, and another in the Campagne of Remicensis, where the praises of God are celebrated continually.

[13] Indeed he redeemed many captives in the most distant regions, and making them free he let them go wherever they wished, now imbued in the discipline of the faith he redeems captives: and with the sign of the Cross traced on their foreheads. It was his custom, when the sick flocked to him with various infirmities, first to implore the immense clemency of the Lord on their behalf within the chamber of his secret heart, he heals the sick with prayers, bathing, and oil: and inwardly to cure their souls, and then to bathe some in baths and anoint others with holy oil, and thus he would send them home healthy and unharmed, having received the chrism of holy communion, as if they had never been afflicted by any illness. And it is no wonder if the Lord Jesus Christ performed such great miracles in the world through His holy servant, who had served Him from youth and pleased Him, since He even sometimes allows false Christians to perform miracles. Those, excluded from the kingdom, will say on the day of the last judgment: "Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons, and perform many mighty works?" Matthew 7:22 To whom the Lord will respond in turn: "Amen, I say to you, I do not know you." But to this man, who faithfully multiplied the talents entrusted to him, He will say: "Well done, good and faithful servant; over many things I will set you; enter into the joy of your Lord."

[14] For he was ^a man of great abstinence, and, as is reported, for forty years he lived without eating bread, except the Body and Blood of the Lord, content only with vegetables and the other fruits of the earth. for forty years he lives on vegetables without bread: He never appeared clad in fine garments, except perhaps rarely at the solemnities of Masses; but he wore shabby, rough, and simple clothes, observing what is written: "Not in fine clothing." And what is read elsewhere: "Behold, those who wear soft garments are in the houses of kings." Matthew 11:8 But this man preferred to labor for his King in sackcloth and ashes austere toward himself in clothing, in the manner of his bed: rather than in garments interwoven with gold or glittering with pearls. Also, when he took ^a little sleep, he did not recline on the bedding of couches but either on bare wood or on the bare ground; and in order to afflict his body the more and to subjugate it like ^a useless slave, he placed iron rings on his limbs, which he bore for ^a long time, with iron rings: lacerating his flesh by the excessive severity of the iron and its rust, remembering that the Lord Jesus Christ, fixed to the Cross with iron nails, by carrying millstones: did not disdain to die for him. Moreover, with the same devotion, he carried stone millstones to Rome and set them up before the doors of the basilica of St. Peter as ^a sign of triumph, and left them there.

[15] This Blessed Silvinus most frequently desired to attain the palm of martyrdom and to return like for like to his Lord; but by the grace of God, with the persecutions of the wicked now ceasing and the gift of faith prevailing in the holy Church of God, he aspires to martyrdom:

no one rose up against him to inflict death. He also wished to lead the solitary life of the desert and the hermitage: and to be free for God alone, having left behind the affairs of the people; but being held back against the desire of his soul by the continual weakness of his body. Yet he is not inferior to the Martyrs, for he constantly macerated his flesh by willingly bearing iron chains on his limbs; nor is he far from the frugality of the hermits, he who for forty years manfully maintained abstinence from bread, except for the communion of the holy chrism.

[16] The Lord also performed innumerable miracles and restorations of health through him on the earth. He cast demons out of many human bodies, with prayer and the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord bestowed upon them. he performs very many miracles: He caused lepers to be cleansed, healed paralytics, restored the ability to walk to the lame, and made the blind see; and whoever came to him sick, detained by whatever affliction, he restored healthy and unharmed to the holy Church. Moreover, if I should attempt to apply in my poor style all the benefits of his miracles, neither could the tongue explain them nor could they be comprehended in writing; since even their half is not known to us — not only those he performed in various and distant regions, but also those he did secretly in nearby places, entrusted to his conscience alone. The Lord declared such and many similar things through His servant in the world, so that no one might doubt the sanctity of him who had been the author of so many miracles. But for all these things, thanks must be rendered to God, who so glorifies those who hope in Him. Whence David commemorates in the Psalms: "God is wonderful in His Saints; the God of Israel will give virtue and strength to His people; blessed be God." Psalm 67:36

[17] Now, therefore, we must come to the matter of how this blessed soul passes from the prison of the flesh and this present life, penetrating the heavens. For as the time of his passing drew near, he began to fall ill and to be crushed more ardently by the force of great fevers. while sick he prays constantly: But the more the illness pressed upon his body, the less he ceased from the praise of his Creator, comforted in soul by that antidote of the Apostle: "When I am weak, then I am strong and powerful." But that man, not unaware that the day of his deposition was approaching, had the solemnities of the Mass celebrated before him daily, and the chanting of psalms was heard, not forgetting to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord with the sign of the holy Cross applied. 2 Corinthians 12:10 he receives the Eucharist:

[18] He also ceaselessly admonished those of his household who were present to be always mindful of the day of death, fleeing sin, walking in the ways of life. And because he had constantly engaged in the praise of his Redeemer throughout his life, he admonishes his own, as an Angel appears: he faithfully persevered in the same to the very end of death. Then, as the evening hour of the holy day of Saturday came, he saw the Angels of the Lord hastening to attend him, and, intent for ^a moment upon this magnificent vision, having recovered his strength, he said in ^a clear voice with all listening: "Behold, the Angels of the Lord come to us! Behold, the Angels of the Lord come to us!" he dies: And immediately, upon this holy utterance, he breathed forth his spirit. No one doubted that he was borne to the heavens by the attendance of the holy Angels, for whose sake they had come to earth; and it was fitting that he should pass from the world on the day of Saturday, which is rest, since he was to be received forthwith in eternal rest.

[19] Present at the obsequies of this holy funeral, as was fitting, were many Priests and Clerics, and holy women consecrated to God, celebrating the solemn offices of the blessed deposition. And among the voices of those singing there resounded ^a mingled weeping of tears for the death of so great ^a Bishop, with great mourning of all: and his servants and household wept more intently for the absence of their pious patron, shaken by sobs, each one saying that they would no longer have such ^a protector, who had preceded them so piously and justly in all things, as had the most blessed father Silvinus. The peoples on earth wept — whence the Angels rejoiced in heaven — thinking themselves abandoned by him who can now intercede more powerfully for all.

[20] Then ^a message was sent to the monastery of Centula, where St. Richarius rests in body, which is not far distant from the monastery of Auchy, so that the monks who lived there in holy fashion under the regular habit might come to entomb the body of St. Silvinus the Bishop together with the rest of the holy Clergy, judging it right that he who had strengthened all the orders of ecclesiastical worship by his holy example and teaching in life should have obsequies rendered to him by all in death. he is buried at Auchy by the monks of St. Richarius: Whence, coming together, they buried the blessed Bishop with the praises of hymns and the fragrance of aromatics, in the monastery of Auchy, with great reverence and most holy veneration.

[21] After the funeral rites were completed, ^a certain prudent man named Adalsquar, a feast provided by Adalsquar and Anglia: quite devout, and his wife named Anglia, sprung from the most noble lineage of the Franks, prepared ^a great banquet for those who had gathered to bury the holy body, so that having been refreshed, each might return to his own place without the labor of exhaustion. These same also built the basilica of the monastery of Auchy in honor of the holy Mother of God, Mary, where also before the arrival of Blessed Silvinus their daughter named Siccidis, having laid aside the secular habit, was already consecrated to God. She, after the passing of the same servant of God, adorned the church with crowns and lamps, their daughter Siccidis adorns the tomb and the staff: had his sepulchre crafted of gold and the splendors of gems; moreover, the curved staff which the man of God carried in his hand to support his aged body, she covered all over with gold and silver, placing it in that holy house.

[22] The Lord indeed performed many miracles on account of the merit of St. Silvinus after his blessed passing, within the borders of the people of Therouanne, especially in the place where he rests in body, where very many who were possessed by demons were freed and recovered their former health. demoniacs cured at the tomb: Very often we have seen many who were crippled, who, going around his sepulchre and praying with earnest attention, returned from there healed. Whence recently ^a certain woman, crippled in her limbs, began to implore his aid constantly with prayers, likewise ^a crippled woman: and as if being importunate, she extorted ^a sudden recovery; afterward, indeed, with ^a veil placed upon her head, she desired to end her life in that same place. she became ^a nun there:

[23] Similarly, ^a certain boy, bound by the same infirmity, intending to be carried further to another holy place where very many signs were being performed at that time, a crippled boy: by chance of novelty, perhaps believing he would receive health there, happened to fall before the threshold of this Saint, and paused ^a little to pray; and he who had come infirm and crippled left looking upward and sound.

[24] Likewise ^a certain blind woman, born in the borders of Burgundy, was admonished in her dreams to go to the borders of Therouanne and there be illuminated through the merits of Blessed Silvinus. But she, awakening and taking ^a guide, a blind woman illuminated with liquid rubbed from ^a vessel of St. Silvinus: not fearing the length of the journey, at last after some space of time arrived at the place she longed for. Then, taking ^a certain liquid from ^a vessel still preserved there, which St. Silvinus had brought with him from far away, and anointing the areas of her cheeks and eyes with it, she immediately received her sight — she who had remained blind, as she herself professed, for twenty-six years. But the Lord Jesus Christ, who by Himself first opened the eyes of the man born blind, bathed in the pool of Siloam, Himself by the merit of His servant opened the openings of this woman's eyes, anointed with that liquid.

[25] Whence with humble and continual prayers we must entreat that he, St. Silvinus must be invoked: who shines with the merits of so many miracles, may not disdain to intercede with God for our transgressions, so that, sustained by his favor, we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ, who lives and reigns in unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, through infinite ages of ages. Amen.

commonly called Maunice, as D. Thomas Luytens, Abbot of Laetia, once told me.

ON ST. SILVINUS, BISHOP OF CREMONA IN ITALY.

THE YEAR 773.

Silvinus, Bishop of Cremona in Italy (St.)

By I. B.

[1] The province of the Morini in Belgium was ennobled in the eighth century of the Christian era by the residence, relics, and miracles of St. Silvinus the Bishop, as has been written above. A second St. Silvinus, nearly his contemporary, is recalled as Bishop of Cremona the birthday of St. Silvinus on the 17th of February: in Cisalpine Gaul. Nor does Wion escape blame when in his Tree of Life he criticizes Maurolycus for calling St. Silvinus, rather corruptly, "Bishop of Cremona." The words of Maurolycus are: "On the same day, of St. Silvinus, Bishop of Cremona." Others subscribe to this. Constantius Felicius: "Of Silvinus, Bishop of Cremona." Ferrarius in the General Catalogue of Saints: "At Cremona, of St. Sylvanus the Bishop." He cites in his Notes the Diptychs of the Church of Cremona.

[2] The same author reports that his birthday was formerly celebrated by that Church on this day, but that he does not know the reason for the interruption. He had previously written the same in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, once celebrated: with this added clause, as if ^a correction: "If, however, that Church ever celebrated his birthday, as they say." But Ludovico Cavitelli, in the Annals of Cremona, published in 1588 after his death, has this: "Silvinus, who on account of his upright life is numbered among the holy Confessors, and his solemnity is celebrated at Cremona every year on the 17th day of the month of February." The same will soon be confirmed by the authority of Ferdinando Ughelli.

[3] One might rightly wonder whether this is not the Silvinus whom on the 26th of January, in the list of those omitted, we showed to be assigned by some as Bishop of Le Mans. whether also on the 26th of January? For thus reads the Martyrology printed at Cologne in the year 1490 and Hermann Greven in his supplement to Usuard: "At Le Mans, of Silvinus, Bishop and Confessor." Maurolycus: "At Le Mans, of Silvinus the Bishop." Felicius: "Of Silvinus, Bishop of Le Mans." For Cremona is indeed truly ^a city of the Cenomani, built by the Cenomanian Gauls who had crossed into Italy, as were also Brescia and Verona. Ferrarius in the General Catalogue of Saints has: "At Le Mans in Gaul, of St. Silvinus, Bishop and Confessor." He cites in his Notes Maurolycus and Felicius, in whom he had not read that phrase "in Gaul." Indeed, in no catalogue of the Bishops of the city of Le Mans in Gaul — neither in Demochares, nor Chenu, nor Claude Robert, nor Corvaisier, nor Bondonnet — is any Silvinus found; so that one may all the more confidently interpret the cited Martyrologies as referring to Le Mans of Italy.

[4] Moreover, whether the acts of St. Silvinus were ever committed to writing, we do not know. Ughelli in volume 4 of Sacred Italy relates these few details about him: "St. Sylvanus, ^a citizen of Cremona (of whom our Catalogue speaks), upon the death of Zeno, was created Bishop of Cremona in the year 733 on account of the integrity of his character and the sanctity of his life; he governed the Church of Cremona for 39 years. What were the religion, what the discipline, the time of his See: what the remaining virtues of this great man both in his pastoral office and in his entire life, is easily declared by the fact that we have received that he was enrolled among the holy Confessors; whence on the 17th day of the month of February his solemnity was formerly celebrated at Cremona every year. We believe he migrated from the earthly to the heavenly homeland on that day, in the year 773." the year of death: Ferrarius writes nearly the same in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, calling him Silvanus or Silvinus.