Paschasius

ON ST. PASCHASIUS, BISHOP OF VIENNE IN GAUL.

AROUND THE YEAR CCCXIII.

Paschasius, Bishop of Vienne in Gaul (S.)

J. B.

[1] St. Paschasius is recorded as the twelfth of the Bishops of Vienne, in the catalogues which Joannes a Bosco published in the Bibliotheca Cluniacensis and Joannes Licuraeus in his book On the Antiquity and Holiness of the City of Vienne. But Joannes Chenu of Bourges, from a manuscript codex which Petrus Villarsius the Archbishop had communicated to him, St. Paschasius, 12th Bishop of Vienne, Claudius Robertus in Gallia Christiana, and Antonius Demochares in his work On the Divine Sacrifice of the Mass, Chapter 29, place him as the eleventh. His predecessor was St. Simplides or Simplidas, about whom we treated on the eleventh of February. Demochares calls him Pascius or Paschasius.

[2] Most agree that he presided over that Church during the times of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, in the time of Diocletian, and that he obtained the relics of St. Maurice, who was killed by Maximian, through a heavenly sign -- though I find no mention of this matter in the published Acts of St. Maurice or in the history of his martyrdom edited by Guilielmus Baldesanus. Saussaius records the event in these words in his Gallic Martyrology: "At that time, when the Theban Legion at Agaunum had completed its glorious contest for the steadfast assertion of the faith, [he receives the relics of St. Maurice floating on the river, at the admonition of an Angel,] he merited to gather the precious remains of St. Maurice, the Prince of this glorious company, which had been plunged into the waters of the Rhone and, by angelic revelation, had been pointed out and found; these he deposited with great veneration in the sanctuary of the crypt of St. Peter. Whence also that city obtained the patronage of so great an athlete, in which it glories and rejoices to this day." Licuraeus narrates this more copiously in French in Chapter 5. The substance is as follows: After the slaughter of the Martyrs was perpetrated, the truncated bodies and heads of many, dripping with blood, were cast into the river Rhone, whose source is not far from there; and among them the body of St. Maurice, and separately his head placed upon his shield, floated all the way to Vienne. Here Bishop Paschasius, admonished by an Angel, came with his Clergy to the river and drew from the waters that venerable treasure. Thus their ancestors had handed down, and the matter is attested from St. Eucherius of Lyons, St. Ado of Vienne in the Lectionaries of the Church of Vienne, as is said to be the tradition of the Church of Vienne: and from ancient paintings. We have not seen those Lectionaries. Whether the extant Acts of St. Maurice were written by St. Eucherius, we shall inquire elsewhere; in them certainly there is no mention of Paschasius or of this miracle. Licuraeus nevertheless testifies that the metropolitan church, which was previously dedicated to the honor of the holy Maccabees, began to be celebrated under the name of St. Maurice; that now his head is preserved there, adorned with gold and gems (though not even that is intact), together with his shield.

[3] How many years after Diocletian, who laid down the imperial power in the year CCCIV, [his successor Verus II, perhaps also called Claudius, is present at the Council of Arles in the year 314.] Paschasius governed the Church of Vienne can be gathered approximately as follows: At the Synod of Arles, held in the consulship of Volusianus and Anianus, the year of Christ CCCXIV, among others there were present "Verus the Bishop and Bedas the Exorcist, from the city of Vienne." Therefore St. Paschasius had already died. All the catalogues of Bishops cited above relate that St. Claudius succeeded St. Paschasius; that St. Verus I, who is venerated on the Kalends of August, lived in the times of Trajan; the second was a contemporary of St. Gregory the Great. But this was the third, as Baronius also writes in his Notes on the Martyrology, and as we noted on the thirteenth of January, on which day his memory is observed. Verus II was the one who attended that Synod of Arles -- perhaps called Claudius Verus, and better known to posterity by his first name, so as to be distinguished from the two other Veri. Ado certainly, himself also a Bishop of Vienne, writes thus in his Chronicle: "At one and the same time, that most sacred council of one thousand five hundred Bishops was gathered at Arles, Marinus then being Bishop of that city; and at Vienne, Claudius, a Bishop most distinguished in Catholic doctrine."

[4] St. Paschasius therefore died before that council, about whom the same St. Ado writes shortly before: before which synod Paschasius died, "At that time Miltiades, Pontiff of the Roman Church, flourished. There flourished also at that time Paschasius, a most eloquent man, Bishop of the Church of Vienne." St. Miltiades died on the tenth of December in the year CCCXIII, and St. Silvester was appointed in his place the following year on the Kalends of February. Licuraeus and Boscius recite an epistle of St. Silvester to all the Bishops throughout Gaul, in which he is said to have decreed that no one of the ecclesiastical order should come to him or travel elsewhere unless he had received Letters of Commendation from the Metropolitan of Vienne, by which he might demonstrate, with the attestation of the Metropolitan's writings, the priesthood he held or the ecclesiastical position he occupied. And then the following is added: he is said to have been endowed with the privilege of primacy by St. Silvester, "This privilege of Letters of Commendation we have granted to our Brother and Co-Bishop Paschasius and to his successors, in special consideration of his merits. The seven provinces pertaining to the Church of Vienne, as the Roman Catalogue attests, are these: the first, Viennensis; the second, Narbonensis I; the third, Narbonensis II, which is Aquae; the fourth, Aquitanica I, which is Bourges; the fifth, Aquitanica II, which is Bordeaux; the sixth, Novempopulana, which is Auch; and the seventh, the Maritime Alps, which is Embrun."

[5] Whoever wishes to examine this epistle more carefully, and indeed to refute it, may read what is decreed in Canon 2 of the Council of Turin, and what is in the first epistle of Pope Zosimus to the Bishops of Gaul, and Leo's fifth epistle to the Bishops of the Province. For us here it is sufficient not solidly enough: that the metropolis of Novempopulana at that time was not the city of the Auscii but of the Elusates. And since St. Silvester was made Pontiff on the Kalends of February, and St. Paschasius died on the twenty-second of the same month -- either in the preceding year, while Miltiades was still alive, or, if in CCCXIV, only twenty-one days after the appointment of Silvester -- he would not seem to have been able to form so close an acquaintance with Silvester that the latter could have been moved, in special consideration of his merits, to bestow upon him this privilege, which the wisest Pontiffs afterward either did not know about, or certainly by no means wished to ratify. Saussaius sensed this, and did not wish to reject it entirely, when he wrote thus about St. Paschasius: "The same blessed Bishop was very dear to St. Silvester on account of his outstanding reputation for holiness, and from his favor he added some honors to his Church."

[6] The annual commemoration of St. Paschasius is observed in the Church of Vienne on the eighth Kalends of March, and an altar and chapel were erected for him in the metropolitan church, as Licuraeus attests. he is venerated on 22 February. Very many Martyrologies mention him on that day. The published Bede and various manuscripts read thus: "At Vienne, of St. Paschasius, Confessor

and Bishop." Ado, Galesinius, and various copies bearing the name of Usuardus add: "a man of admirable holiness." The Roman Martyrology: "At Vienne, of St. Paschasius the Bishop, distinguished for his learning and holiness of character." Others mention him more briefly.

ON SS. THALASSIUS AND LIMNAEUS, ANCHORITES NEAR CYRUS IN SYRIA

FIFTH CENTURY.

Preliminary Commentary.

Thalassius, anchorite near Cyrus in Syria (S.) Limnaeus, anchorite near Cyrus in Syria (S.)

G. H.

[1] Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, a city of the province of Euphratesia in Syria, received the pastoral care of eight hundred churches in that diocese; and after governing it for twenty-six years, The region of Cyrus having been purged of the heresy of Marcion, he asserts that no tares of heresy were left, but that the entire flock was rescued from all errors, more than a thousand souls freed from the disease of Marcion, and many others brought from the parties of Arius and Eunomius to Christ the Lord. He provides a distinguished testimony of this in his epistle to St. Leo, Pontiff of Rome, which is number 113 among his letters. In the Philotheus, or Religious History, Chapter 21, he also says that the accursed Marcion had sown many thorns of impiety in the region of the city of Cyrus, and that while he himself strove to uproot them, he undertook every labor SS. Thalassius and Limnaeus dwell in the village of Tillima. and continually employed every stratagem. Theodoret's labor was happily received by the village of Tillima, in Greek kome Tillima -- called Tillina by Longus and Helimna by Rosweydus -- famous for the religious practices of SS. Thalassius and Limnaeus. But St. Limnaeus afterward had another master, St. Maron, whose Life we illustrated on the fourteenth of February. At that time his fellow-disciple was St. James, surnamed Hypaethrius by Rosweydus, and called Nisibenus by Nicephorus Callistus and in the Council of Chalcedon, as will presently be stated in the Life of St. Baradatus, and more fully on the twenty-sixth of November, on which the Greeks venerate him.

[2] Another place inhabited by St. Limnaeus is in the village of Targala or Targalla, St. Limnaeus dwells in the village of Targala. and the Menaea for the following day, the twenty-third of February, relate that his disciple was St. John, whom they celebrate on that day with SS. Moses, Antiochus, and Antoninus or Antonius, in these words: Ho men hosios Ioannes gnorimos kai phoitetes gegone Limnaiou, tou en orei to te kome Targala pelazonti askesantos. "St. John was personally known to and a student of Limnaeus, who practiced the ascetic life on the mountain overlooking the village of Targala." Maximus Cytheraeus has the same. Hence it must be attributed to a typographical error that on this day that village is called not Targala but Galgala, in Greek Galgala -- an error which Cytheraeus also reproduced.

[3] The Greeks therefore have this in the Menaea on the twenty-second of February: "On the same day, the commemoration of our holy Fathers Thalassius and Limnaeus," they are venerated on 22 February to whose names they allude in the attached distich:

Limen Limnaion kai Thalassion pherei Hosper thalassan ekphygontas ton bion.

"The harbor receives Limnaeus and Thalassius, Who, as it were from a sea, have escaped from this life."

Then the following epitome of their Life is appended:

[4] Of these, Thalassius built a monastic dwelling on a certain mountain, An epitome of their Lives from the Menaea. and he excelled all others in candor of character and humility of spirit. Limnaeus, for his part, also held the ascetic life in particular esteem, and came to the same great Thalassius while still quite young, and having been trained by him in the religious life, he betook himself to that most celebrated man Maron, whose virtue he emulated, and began to lead a life under the open sky. Having therefore occupied the summit of a mountain which overlooks a village called Galgala, he led a solitary life and remained there; and he erected no hut, nor tent, nor cottage, but fashioned an enclosure of dry stones within which he confined himself, using the sky as his roof. Hence he was so adorned by God with the grace of working miracles that, imitating the Apostles, he both expelled demons and cured diseases. When the Saint was once on a journey, he was bitten by a serpent, but by prayers alone he was seen to overcome death. On another occasion he suffered from colic, a grave and most troublesome disease indeed, but by calling upon God he recovered his health. He gathered the blind who were compelled to beg for alms, and having built cells for them, he ordered them to dwell there, and begged from those who came to visit him the food necessary for them, according to the number and need of the wretched. After he had lived thus for a full thirty-eight years under the open sky, he gave up his spirit to God.

[5] Such are the Menaea, and from them Maximus Cytheraeus en biois hagion. A fuller Life from Theodoret. These are excerpted from the Religious History or Philotheus of Theodoret, who visited St. Limnaeus on many occasions. His narrative is as follows.

LIFE

From the Philotheus of Theodoret, Chapter XXII

Thalassius, anchorite near Cyrus in Syria (S.) Limnaeus, anchorite near Cyrus in Syria (S.)

from the Philotheus of Theodoret

[1] Tillima is a certain village among us, which formerly received the seeds of the impiety of Marcion, but now enjoys the cultivation of the Gospel. To the south of it is a certain hill, neither very rugged nor excessively steep. On it the admirable Thalassius built a monastic dwelling, Thalassius shines in simplicity of character and gentleness. a man adorned with many other goods as well, but who surpassed all men of his time in simplicity, gentleness, and moderation of character. This I say not as one who trusts hearsay alone, but as one who also tested it by experience. For I often visited the man and often enjoyed his pleasant company.

[2] In this place was initiated by him the one who is now celebrated by all -- Limnaeus -- Limnaeus, a disciple of Thalassius, and having come to that training ground while still quite young, he was beautifully instructed in this highest form of philosophy. And first, knowing that the tongue is prone to slip, while still an adolescent he imposed silence upon himself, and for a very long time he spoke with no one about anything. he imposes silence upon himself: But after he had sufficiently partaken of the teaching of that divine old man and had shown himself to be an expressed image of his virtue, he went to the great Maron, whom we have also mentioned before. He went at the same time as the divine James also. And after he had derived great benefit from him as well, instructed by Maron, he lives under the open sky: and had emulated the life led under the open sky, he occupied another summit of a mountain which overlooks a certain village called Targala. There he lives to this day, having no cottage, no tent, no hut, but contained only by an enclosure built of stones not even cemented with mud. He has a certain small door constantly blocked with mud, which he never opens to others who come, but to me alone when I approach he permits this to be done. For this reason very many gather from all sides when they sense my coming, desiring to share in my entrance. With those who sometimes come to him, however, speaking through a certain small window, he imparts his blessing to them, he cures the sick and those possessed by demons: through it bestowing health upon very many. For using the name of our Savior, he both causes diseases to cease and expels demons, and imitates apostolic miracles.

[3] Not only does he furnish a cure to those who come to him, but he has also often provided the same to his own body. For the disease of colic had long since attacked him. How sharp the pains and torments that arise from it are, those who have experienced it know very well; but those too who have been its spectators know. For they writhe about just like those who are driven by madness, turning themselves this way and that, and frequently extending and contracting their feet; sometimes, however, they sit and stand and walk, seeking some path to relief; and therefore they sit beside baths, often receiving some consolation from them. And what need is there to use a longer discourse in enumerating those things that by prayer and the sign of the Cross he drives away the disease of colic: are plain and manifest to all? Wrestling with this disease, and with so many and so great agonies of torment, he did not accept the aid of medicine, nor did he allow himself to enter a bed, nor was he refreshed by remedies or foods, but sitting on a board lying on the ground, he was cured by prayer and the sign of the Cross, and stilled his torments by the song of the divine invocation.

[4] Moreover, when he too was once walking at night, he stepped upon a sleeping viper. The serpent, seizing the sole of his foot, sank its fangs into it. When he tried to bring aid to his foot, he bent down and put his hand to it; but the beast turned its mouth upon the hand. When he then used his left hand to help, he also drew the fury of the beast upon that. After its rage was sated (for it inflicted more than ten bites upon him), it then withdrew and sought its hole. He meanwhile was racked with the greatest pains from every direction. he drives off the venom of a viper: But not even then did he allow the art of medicine to be used; rather, he applied to his wounds only the remedies of faith, the sign of the Cross, prayer, and the invocation of God. I think God, the Lord of all things, allowed that beast to rage against that sacred body so that he might show to all the endurance of that divine soul. For we see that the same was the design in the case of the noble and courageous Job. For He allowed him to be tossed by the greatest waves of every kind, when He wished to show to all the wisdom of the helmsman. For from where else would we have known either the fortitude of the one or the endurance of the other, unless the enemy of piety had been given the opportunity to hurl every weapon against them?

[5] And these things are sufficient to demonstrate the endurance of the man, but his clemency and kindness we shall show from another source. For having gathered many who were deprived of sight kind to the blind and the poor: and who were compelled to beg, and having built dwellings for them on both sides, to the east and to the west, he ordered them to dwell in them and to praise God, directing that the food necessary for them be supplied by those who came to visit him. He himself, enclosed in the middle between them, urges both groups to hymnody; and one may hear them continually praising God. Such is his perpetual benevolence toward those who are of the same human race. He lived 38 years under the open sky. As for the struggles endured under the open sky, he shares the same duration with the great James. For they have now completed their thirty-eighth year.