Gundisalvus Amaranthus

ON ST. GONSALVUS AMARANTHUS OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS IN PORTUGAL.

Around the Year of Christ 1259.

Gonsalvus Amaranthus, in Portugal (B.)

[1] The feast of Blessed Gonsalvus Amaranthus is celebrated on January 10. Ferrarius in his general catalogue of Saints: "At Guimaraes in Portugal, St. Gonzalus, Priest, of the Order of Preachers." But it was not at Guimaraes that he either died or now rests, but rather at Amarante, whence his surname. The Portuguese Martyrology: "In the town of Amarante, St. Gonzalus, Confessor, The feast of Blessed Gonsalvus born from the region between the Douro and the Minho, in the village of Tagilde. He, after visiting with great piety the sacred places of the cities of Rome and Jerusalem, took the habit of the Order of Preachers, and spent the remainder of his life in holy works and in the salvation of his neighbors. His body, interred at the monastery of the same Order at Amarante, is visited by a great concourse of people and is distinguished by many miracles."

[2] The Life of St. Gonsalvus was written in Portuguese by Didacus de Rosario of the Order of Preachers, His Life at the command of Bartholomew of the Martyrs, Archbishop of Braga. It was translated into Latin and published at Paris by the press of Thomas Perier in the year 1586 by Stephanus Sampayo, an alumnus of the same institute. Antonius Vasconcellius, one of our own, mentions him in his description of Portugal in these words: "Among the abbots, Don Gonsalvus of Amarante shone as a guiding light, whom the desire of kissing those places which Christ in His lifetime had trodden called to Palestine; and returning thence to his homeland, he laid down his life in a most glorious arena of the greatest virtues." And elsewhere, when he enumerates the more illustrious temples of the Saints, number 30: "There is a noble shrine of St. Gonsalvus of Amarante, whose tomb the whole region of Entre-Douro-e-Minho devoutly frequents to find a remedy for their ailments." And when he treats of rivers, number 16: "There is another river, the Tamega, which, keeping its ancient name, flows through the frequented town of St. Gonsalvus of Amarante -- sufficiently famous on account of the Saint's tomb -- and at Duas Rios (as the inhabitants call the place) mingles with the Douro."

[3] Antonius Senensis provides an extended eulogy of Blessed Gonsalvus in the Chronicle of the Preachers at the year 1250. Choquetius also treats of him in chapters 25 and 29 of the book entitled The Maternal Affection of Mary Mother of God Toward the Order of Preachers. Ferdinand Castillo in his History of the Order of Preachers, part 1, book 2, chapters 60 and following. Joannes Marietta, book 12 of his Ecclesiastical History of Spain, chapters 1 and following; concerning the public veneration decreed to him, he reports the following at chapter 10: "When many miracles were being daily wrought by his merits, Pope Pius IV, during the reign of King Sebastian, decreed that the canonical hours and masses might be celebrated in his honor in the kingdoms of Portugal. His feast The entire matter was entrusted to Cardinal Henry and the Apostolic Nuncio; they, having reviewed the public testimonies -- which had been partly collected by Pompeius Cambrianus, formerly Apostolic Nuncio there, by the authority given to him by Julius III at the request of the glorious King John III, and partly recently gathered legitimately by Rodrigo Pineyro, Bishop of Porto, and Doctor Balthasar Alvarez, Provisor of the Archbishopric of Braga -- and the whole matter having been seriously and maturely discussed, they decreed that this honor of public worship could be accorded to St. Gonsalvus by all in every province of the Portuguese Empire." The bull issued by them on this matter, translated into Spanish, is cited by the same Marietta and Castillo. L. Andreas Resendius, to be cited below, also mentions Blessed Gonsalvus. Castillo testifies that his Life has been written in Portuguese by many, and that entire books of miracles wrought by his merits are extant. His era Ferrarius reports that he died around the year 1259; others refer to around the same time, although Sampayo says the date is uncertain.

LIFE

Written in Portuguese by Didacus de Rosario, Translated by Stephanus Sampayo.

Gonsalvus Amaranthus, in Portugal (B.)

By Didacus de Rosario.

PREFACE OF THE TRANSLATOR.

[1] For no slight reason, Christian Reader, I resolved to transcribe the deeds of St. Gonsalvus, Why Sampayo publishes this Life that most faithful servant of God, formerly an alumnus of the Order of Preachers, and to translate them as best I could into the Latin tongue, and to display to foreign nations as well his holy examples of virtue, his wonderful prodigies, and his most efficacious merits. For I have acknowledged him as my patron and, if it is permitted to say so, my Maecenas, for many years now, and I am compelled to confess this: both because by the grace of God I happen to be from the same province and religious institute, and also because he once bound me to himself by a certain particular and remarkable benefit, which although I received in secret, I am now obliged nonetheless to acknowledge publicly.

[2] For while I was still passing through the years of boyhood, I was pressed by a certain natural infirmity, Healed of a disease by the aid of St. Gonsalvus which, although not dangerous, seemed to me so troublesome and burdensome that I was greatly afflicted not only in body but also in mind on its account. At length, yielding to the counsel and pious exhortation of my mother, who greatly sympathized with me, I determined to visit as a devotion the tomb of St. Gonsalvus of Amarante, which was about twenty miles distant. Setting out joyfully thereafter on the journey, not without great confidence of obtaining health -- on account of the frequent miracles daily wrought at the tomb of that same Saint -- with others making their vows in groups, and with such devotion as my boyish age afforded, I reverently approached his church. Then, having as best I could presented my petition to the holy servant of God, and a Mass having been offered for me by a certain priest of his institute (and not yet of mine), I returned to my father's house. Not long afterward, without noticing the appointed moment of my recovery, I perceived that I had been completely freed, giving thanks to the Most High, from that inborn and sufficiently burdensome infirmity through his servant Gonsalvus, and I clearly experience this down to this very hour in which I write. This benefit of God received by my most unworthy self I neither fear nor hesitate to ascribe to the merits and prayers of St. Gonsalvus of Amarante. For there are extant every year -- indeed, almost every day -- so many and so great kinds of cures obtained by those who make their vows through his merits before God, that in comparison with what is seen daily at his tomb, what I have related should hardly be considered remarkable.

[3] The deeds of this Saint, both before and after his entry into the religious life, By whom the Life was written are found everywhere in Portugal in so abbreviated and confused a form that they seem rather to be certain fragments of history than a complete treatise. There is found, however, this abridgment, such as it is, sufficiently authentic, in the Portuguese language, printed at Braga by a certain Father of revered memory of the same Order of Preachers, who was called Friar Didacus de Rosario, at the command of the Most Reverend Lord Friar Bartholomew of the Martyrs, Archbishop of Braga, an alumnus of the same profession. Another Portuguese Father and brother of the aforementioned, now deceased, once wished to bring this little work to light before I did; but when it came into my hands, it was so rendered into Latin that I can truly affirm that reading it served me for nothing other than for occasionally reconciling the truth of this history with his version. May you take all this in good part, pious reader.

An abridgment of the deeds and holy life of the saintly Father Gonsalvus Amaranthus of Portugal, of the Order of Preachers, faithfully translated from the Portuguese.

CHAPTER I.

Preamble to the History, Concerning the Region of Entre-Douro-e-Minho.

[1] Among the other peoples whom the ancient writers distinguished in our Portugal by fixed names and proper boundaries, there are some formerly called Bracari, who are now called Interamnenses people between the rivers, confined between the flowing waters of the rivers (a) Douro and (b) Minho. The boundaries of the Interamnensian region in Portugal This province will be judged small indeed and contemptible if anyone should wish to measure the extent of its area geometrically. For it is enclosed in a length of only eighteen Hispanic leagues, elsewhere six, elsewhere even four. But if you look within at the nature of the climate, the richness of the soil, and the inexhaustible treasury of all things desirable for the uses of human life, you will find it so spacious, or rather so prodigious, that I do not doubt you could most deservedly add this eighth wonder -- partly produced by nature, partly fashioned by human art and industry -- to the seven wonders of the world. Its fertility For there the earth, tilled by the industrious farmer, returns most abundant crops and seed with interest four times a year.

[2] There, on account of the favorable mildness of the climate, the propagation of the human race is seen to be so multiplied Its population that it renders the truth not merely doubtful but very similar to falsehood for one who would relate it. For that entire region is almost everywhere so cultivated and so occupied and filled with cities, towns, villages, castles, hamlets, estates, and monasteries that one single vast city, artfully constructed, seems to rise from all these populous places. There exists clear testimony of this fact in many authors who, speaking of the deeds of the Romans, assert that their generals and emperors labored for a period of forty years, with many armies on both sides poured out and consumed, before they subdued this region of Entre-Douro-e-Minho. Indeed, (c) L. Florus, confirming the same, testifies that in a single summer, when L. Posthumius fought in open battle against the Bracari Interamnenses in two obstinate and always uncertain engagements, no fewer than twenty-five thousand of those people fell in those two battles, stubbornly and steadfastly resisting. Its climate For the mildness of the climate there so invigorates and preserves human nature in its multiplied state that neither the winter season with its severe cold nor the summer with its excessive heat is felt except on the very fewest days of the year.

[3] Fruit-bearing trees of every kind, both on the steep mountains and on the flat plains of the fields, Its beauty almost always green, strive to cover the face of the earth. Wherever the traveler may turn, he will see the clearest springs, cold in summer and warm in winter's cold, gushing from rocks and stony banks amid the shade. (d) Joannes Vazaeus and a certain German, author of maps of Spain, have dared to assert that their number reaches twenty-five thousand. Springs A certain Doctor Palacius, however, a physician by profession and Portuguese by nationality, who lived for a long time in that region, asserts in a certain booklet which he composed on its marvels that only two thousand five hundred springs and seven great rivers are to be found there. Bridges most elegantly constructed of squared stone (e) reach the number of three hundred; monasteries one hundred and thirty; Bridges navigable seaports also complete a considerable number. Monasteries, churches In the metropolitan see of Braga, (f) eleven hundred baptisteries and as many parish churches are counted today. Nor is it therefore surprising if the Roman soldiers affirmed, not without superstitious fear, that they had found there the (g) river of Lethe, which the inhabitants call the Limia. The river of Lethe For after crossing the Limia and penetrating the region of Entre-Douro-e-Minho, enticed by its delights and beauty, they no longer remembered to return to their own homes. Only five wealthy collegiate churches flourish in it in our own age, and three episcopal sees, of which the chief, as we have said, is Braga, (h) Primate of all Spain, as is seen today, which merited having (i) St. Peter, a disciple of the Apostle Peter, as its first Pastor and Martyr. In the district of this metropolitan see, therefore (to come to our history), this holy Gonsalvus was born; in which also (k) St. Damasus, born from the town of Guimaraes, once conferred no small splendor upon the Church of God.

a A vast river that mingles with the ocean at the city of Porto. Nonius testifies that it is called Duero by the inhabitants.

b Justinus wrote that it borrowed its name from the red lead minium which its bank produces. Consult our Vasconcellius and Nonius.

c Around the year 578 from the founding of the city of Rome.

d In chapter 8 of the Chronicle of Spain. Vasconcellius reports the same.

e The authors already cited recognize only 200.

f The same authors have only 800. Vasaeus counts 1,460 in the entire province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho.

g Florus, book 2, chapter 17, calls it "the river of Oblivion." Livy's Epitome 55: "the river Oblivion." Vasconcellius and Nonius report the origin of this name from Strabo.

h Vasconcellius, more cautiously: "Although a suit, still unresolved for a long time, remains pending with the Prelate of Toledo."

i He is venerated on April 26.

k On this, see December 11. Resendius, in his letter to Kebedius: "Guimaraes is a city, once the homeland of the holy Bishop Damasus, if your people would allow it." It is commonly called Guimaraes.

CHAPTER II.

On the Particular Homeland of St. Gonsalvus, His Parents, and His Infancy.

[4] That formerly unknown village in which this holy Gonsalvus first seemed to enjoy the loan of light is called in the Portuguese language (a) Tagilde; the parish, that of the Holy Savior, not far from the river formerly called (b) Avicella -- to distinguish it from another called (c) Avis, which in the same region flows always cloudy through the roots of the unconquerable (d) Citania. The homeland of St. Gonsalvus Now, however, the ancient name being partly corrupted, this river is called Vizela, and the ruins of the city are called Citania. His parents His parents were distinguished by the splendor of an illustrious lineage, by which, through the gratuitous benefit of nature, as though by a cornerstone of many virtues, it has been customary to lay a stable and firm foundation. For nobility of stock (as St. Jerome testifies) is a certain pledge of future virtue, and as it were a most sweet flower, promising a most delightful fruit in due season.

[5] But the precise and undoubted century in which this apostolic man flourished It is uncertain when he lived is established neither from our Portuguese Annals nor even from the records of his Order. Indeed (which astonishes me more), having searched through many libraries of our convents in France over the past three years, while I have found some traces of other ancient Fathers of Portugal, of St. Gonsalvus of Amarante I could not discover even a name (to say nothing of his deeds) or a memorial.

[6] And therefore, owing to the gross negligence of our Fathers, with a matter of such importance buried in oblivion -- which seemed to contribute not a little to the splendor of our Order -- a fitting occasion was offered to our rivals to call into question what profession or institute St. Gonsalvus of Amarante formerly belonged to. To which Order he belonged Yet the matter is so clear and self-evident -- although the date is not certain to us -- that from time immemorial throughout all Portugal it is common and celebrated that he was a Dominican and an alumnus of the Order of Preachers; and it would only occur to obstinate rivals to suspect otherwise. I shall by no means, however, oppose anyone who wishes to hold the opinion that before his entrance into the Order of Preachers he was first an alumnus of the Canons Regular of the Order of St. Augustine, or of the institute of St. Benedict. For although the arguments for the contrary position do not lead me to concede this, they do invite me to consider it; for thus we read that it also once happened to our Patriarch St. Dominic. For at that time there were so many offsprings of the nurturing Benedictine Order, spread and expanded throughout the whole world, flourishing with such abundant fruit of heavenly teaching, that scarcely any parish church (to say nothing of episcopal ones) in all of Portugal -- indeed, in the greater part of Europe -- could be found that did not possess a pastor from the Order of St. Benedict. Which similarly may be conjectured to have happened also to the legitimate Order of St. Augustine in France, at least with regard to many episcopal churches. I do not hesitate to insert these remarks for the benefit of the pious reader, for the easier understanding of the history that follows.

[7] If, however, we may conjecture from the circumstances of the times, When he seems to have lived St. Gonsalvus flourished in that golden century of our newly founded Order, when the branches of the Apostolic vine (I mean the disciples of St. Dominic) were gloriously announcing the word of God throughout the whole world (as may be seen in the brief compendium appended to this volume). For in that same convent of the Friars Preachers where his sacred relics are venerated -- built at royal expense, where his chapel had already existed before -- there is to be seen a most ancient sculpted image of him, adorned with the sacred vestments of the Dominican family. Also in the second convent of Guimaraes, which was begun at nearly the same time, though on a different site, when the Patriarch (e) St. Dominic, after the confirmation of the Order, traversed Spain upon his departure from France, there is also to be seen, painted in antiquity, the image of the same St. Gonsalvus, who was there first clothed with the sacred habit by immemorial tradition, adorned in the habit of the Preachers; in which image there appears that miracle of the saintly Father when, for the construction of the bridge over the Tamega (of which more later), the fish presented themselves eagerly at the river's edge so that he might furnish food to the builders of the work.

[8] Born, therefore, around this time, this future soldier of Christ, Gonsalvus, and on the day appointed for receiving the laver of regeneration, carried to the church so that he might put on the new man, at the very moment in which he was renewed through holy baptism, he gave before all present heavenly and clear signs of his future holiness. For when he had been lifted from the sacred font, having received the same name of Gonsalvus as his father, and was immediately handed, as is customary, to the waiting nurse, so that, drawn by the sweetness of milk, he might be soothed from his querulous wailings, Upon seeing an image of Christ, the infant is refreshed that new little son of light began to long only for heaven. For, reclining in the arms of his new nurse and held by her, he utterly refused her breasts; suddenly, with dry eyes fixed upon a certain image of Christ Crucified, forgetful of his crying and of milk, he stretched out his little arms toward that same heavenly object with indescribable joy. By these signs he gave to understand that he wished to embrace the image of the Crucified One. This unexpected event drew all those present at that first and most holy sacrament of the Church into extraordinary amazement, not without great astonishment.

[9] After that most solemn sacramental catechism was completed, as the fleeting course of time successively elapsed, the nurse of that most distinguished infant was accustomed from time to time to return with her charge to the same parish church of the Holy Savior, to hear Mass or to pray. The little boy Gonsalvus, moved by an impulse more than human, hanging from her neck, upon entering the church would immediately raise his eyes all around, surveying the entire sacred building, searching diligently for the above-mentioned image of Christ's passion. After he had looked up at it and fixed upon it with devoted little eyes, He can scarcely be drawn from the sight of it he would very quickly cease from his anxious and restless movement. If, however, his nurse attempted to withdraw him from that spectacle -- either by way of testing him or with the intention of departing -- the infant would immediately resist such a distraction from the heavenly sight or action with such incessant wailing, and so earnestly, that the nurse, overcome, would stop and observe this prodigy with no small attention.

[10] On a certain day, when the holy little boy (grace supplying for his age) had remained long absorbed and intent upon that same image of Christ stretched upon the Cross, with eyes unmoved, his anxious nurse (fearing to tarry too long) attempted many times to turn the infant toward her, that she might hasten to the paternal house which she served. Yet the child so often uttered such infantile cries of protest that the woman was compelled to linger somewhat longer. Struck on the one hand by servile fear, and touched on the other by religious awe, she feared both to stay and to depart. For this reason he does not easily allow himself to be carried from the church In these straits, therefore, turning to a certain image of the Virgin Mother of God, she earnestly implored the aid of the Queen of Angels with groans of the spirit, that by her intervening assistance all things might be gently arranged so that she would neither displease the boy's parents, to whose service she was bound, by causing them annoyance through her prolonged absence, nor offend the divine Majesty by wishing to move that little boy from the sight of the holy image. As soon as the God-fearing woman was intent upon this prayer, behold, the tender infant, as though divinely instructed and enlightened, likewise assimilating himself to the one praying, and turning toward the same image, raised himself upright with little arms extended -- as though showing by this gesture of his tiny body that he wished to accompany his nurse in her affliction of spirit and prayer. After a little while, having devoutly inclined his head toward the same image, as though bidding farewell, he quietly nestled himself in the bosom and at the breast of his nurse, giving easy assent to their departure.

[11] After this miracle, the woman who nursed the holy Gonsalvus did not conduct herself around his upbringing as though she walked with closed eyes or a deaf mind. Rather, from that time forward, when at dawn the infant refused the proffered breasts, crying out plaintively, as though he wished first to suck the heavenly milk, she had already come to know with certainty this ready remedy for calming his wailing: Weeping and refusing the breast, he is carried to church she would lead this little lamb to the church, the fold of the Good Shepherd. Once he had entered the church and cheerfully and joyfully surveyed it with his eyes, attentively gazing at the holy paintings, he would then happily suck the nurse's breast (f). If, however, this did not happen to take place on some occasion, he would render himself so fretful and impatient that he would by no means cease his querulous cries while hungry and irritable. Nor is this to be wondered at, although it is wonderful. For it is evident that a reversed order and one contrary to the customary use of reason happens to be observed, when, with the soul hungering for heavenly food, bodily provisions -- meats, delicacies, and nectarous fare -- are sought first thing in the morning with the greatest solicitude by gluttons who call themselves Christians, in the service of the body as though in the manner of beasts.

a Concerning this, Resendius writes: "At a distance of sixteen thousand paces from the city of Guimaraes, that is, four leagues by our reckoning, there is a town called Athanagild, situated on the Vizela, called Athagilde in Portuguese, opposite the town of St. Verissimus, located on the other bank of the river." And further: "Whether the name Athanagild was derived from a Gothic king or for some other reason, I cannot presently affirm. There remain certain vestiges of not inconsiderable antiquity, and half-ruined buildings, commonly called Palaces, of plainly Gothic, not Roman, construction."

b Resendius calls it the Viscella: "Called Vizella in Portuguese," he says; "it enters the Ave, a river of greater fame."

c Rather, it is the Ave according to Resendius, as we have already said. "Near Guimaraes it has its source," says Vasconcellius, "and its mouth at Vila do Conde."

d Valerius Maximus, book 6, chapter 4: "When nearly all of Lusitania had surrendered to him D. Brutus, and only the city of this people called Cininia (others read Cinania; Ortelius, from three manuscripts, Cinninia) stubbornly retained its arms, an attempted ransom having been tried, they replied with almost one voice to the envoys of Brutus: that their ancestors had left them iron with which to defend their city, not gold with which to buy their liberty from a greedy commander."

e The Order was approved by Honorius III on December 22, 1216. St. Dominic died on August 6, 1221.

f Alternatively, to suppress his wails and cries, the image of the Virgin Mother of God was shown to him at home, as Marietta writes.

CHAPTER III.

On His Studies, and His Priesthood.

[12] By these presages, his good disposition, and the preliminary auguries of his future piety, the parents of this infant, as though divinely adjured and bound, with immovable mind and firm resolution decreed to consecrate him -- worthy not of the world but of heaven -- as a perpetual holocaust to God. For this reason, when his age already permitted it, though still within the years of boyhood, they were accustomed to take him frequently with them to church. And they were filled with no small joy as they observed the boy's ready inclination and docile heart toward heavenly and spiritual things. He is instructed in letters Then, when he had reached an age admitting the use of reason, they entrusted him as best they could to a certain priest of proven life, to be instructed in letters and good morals. The devout boy, having found such a teacher, made himself daily more lovable to God and men. After he had been moderately instructed in the aforesaid subjects by the same priest, his solicitous parents, wishing to advance him to higher gifts, most wisely presented him to the Archbishop of Braga, Primate of Spain (under whose jurisdiction and authority they lived). For they were confident that in the sacred court of so great a bishop, the beloved boy Gonsalvus, more perfectly cultivated in noble and liberal disciplines, might be worthily promoted to the rank of the priesthood (which they ardently desired). The pious bishop did not look upon this gift offered to him with hostile eyes or with indignation. Rather, seeing the noble young man to be no less sensible than modest in face and speech, he received him with a willing spirit into the company of his household.

[13] When the due course of time had subsequently elapsed that was required by the sacred canons of the Church He becomes a priest before he could be initiated into holy orders, he was made fit for so great an office no less by his character and life than by his literary learning, and was promoted to the priestly rank. Not long after, then an Abbot, or Curate judged worthy by the same bishop to be placed like a shining lamp upon a candlestick, he was confirmed as Abbot of the church of (a)(b) St. Pelagius, near his native soil, by the choice and command of his patron. Laden with the weight of so great an office, the new minister of Christ, not unmindful of his stewardship, like another Solomon upon taking up the governance of the kingdom, immediately took refuge in a certain church, and prostrate with tears before a certain image of the Virgin Mother of God, He prays to the Blessed Virgin he affectionately besought the Virgin Mother to deign to obtain for him understanding and wisdom from her only-begotten Son of God, by which he might duly bear so grave and perilous a yoke of obedience and pastoral care.

[14] He leads his flock to virtue by word and example Then, having obtained the sacred blessing of his Archbishop, bidding farewell to his associates and colleagues, and returning to his homeland not far distant, he betook himself to his church -- his new bride, redeemed by the blood of Christ. There, at a time previously appointed, he summoned his sheep within the sacred walls and proposed to them a pious exhortation; and with words full of the spirit of love, he urged them to persevere in the love of God and neighbor, as in the observance of the fullness of the law according to Paul Romans 13:10. But since he had sufficiently persuaded himself that men are led to embrace virtue -- which concerns difficult things -- more by deeds than by words ("the way by words is long," says Seneca, "easy and short by examples"), he diligently took care to present himself as a model of all virtues to the sheep of Christ entrusted to him. Frugal In all things necessary for the sustenance of life, willingly embracing frugality, he used sparing food and cheap clothing, and displayed humility of heart and body above all else. Chaste The chastity attached to the priestly dignity, according to the most holy custom of the Roman Church, he always guarded in such a way that he preserved the lily of virginity in his body with the greatest purity of soul at all times. Generous toward the poor Showing paternal tenderness toward the poor, as a faithful steward, generously and mercifully, he judged it foreign to the human heart to have avaricious hands toward the needy and to deny them what had been abundantly given -- or rather entrusted -- to the richer as stewards, for the relief of their want. For the pious Father piously judged that the more abundant annual revenues of the churches were, as it were, the true patrimony of Christ left on earth for feeding the poor, with only the necessary subsistence retained for the moderate food and clothing of prelates.

a Vasconcellius writes of this province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho: "More than one hundred and thirty monasteries are to be seen in so small a province; besides other churches of great revenues (which we commonly call Abbadias), and also many others," etc.

b Resendius: "Not far from Athanagild, downstream, toward Guimaraes, is the town and church of St. Pelagius, of which Gonsalvus is said to have been rector before he went to Jerusalem." We suspect this church was dedicated to the most celebrated Martyr of Cordoba, Pelagius, who is venerated on June 26. Commonly St. Payo, or as Castillo writes, part 1, book 2, chapter 60, San Payo de Riba de Vizela. Castillo likewise calls Gonsalvus a curate rather than an abbot.

CHAPTER IV.

On His Pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

[15] Persevering therefore in this frugal and pious rule of life prescribed by himself and faithfully observed, in the fear and love of God, for a long time without interruption, the holy Abbot Gonsalvus meditated many times upon the mysteries of the passion of Christ our Redeemer. He resolves to visit the holy places For he was drawn by a special affection of devotion toward the Lord's Passion. Hence, his afflicted mind being often transported to Christ suffering, from constant meditation on the holy Cross he was pressed day by day with the greatest desire to visit the sacred places where the true God and man Jesus Christ had wrought the mystery of our redemption. But while he considered committing his sheep to some hireling during so long an interval of time, the sting of conscience deterred him from the desired journey. For he feared that some roaring lion might, in his absence, tear apart the Lord's flock previously entrusted to him. Long impeded and delayed by this God-fearing consideration, he fluctuated within himself with varying mind. Now, by the desire of his conceived devotion, setting aside for the moment the scruple of conscience, he was already girding himself to undertake the journey; now again, stung by the goads of the same conscience, he was unwillingly compelled to desist from his intended purpose. At length, after no small time had elapsed, he healed and entirely dispelled by reason the remorse of his mind, having formed a great and reasonable hope in a certain cousin of his, a priest then of good character, to whom he resolved to entrust the Lord's flock for the time until his return.

[16] He appoints his nephew as his vicar This young priest had been diligently reared from his infancy in holy ways by the same holy abbot. After he had chosen him for this duty, he summoned him to come and exhorted him with these words: "Dearest son, I intend to entrust to you a secret of no small weight -- if, however, you first promise me, bound by oath, that you will faithfully carry out what I now charge you with." The young man, because he was entirely ignorant of the distant pilgrimage already firmly resolved upon in his uncle's mind, immediately swore to his words. Then the holy and venerable abbot continued his discourse thus: "Know, my son, that for a long time now, and very prolonged, it has been my desire to visit the Holy Land, and to see with my own eyes, if I can, the places of our redemption in which the Savior of the world suffered death for us; and also to visit the holy relics of the holy Apostles who rest at Rome. Until this hour, the care of my church and the necessary obligation of residence have held me back, much to my displeasure, from this journey conceived in my mind. But since I have long held such an opinion of you that I believe you can sufficiently supply my place, and will so lead these sheep of Christ He instructs him with pious admonitions that they shall not in the meanwhile feel the lack of me: by the authority committed to me, I first appoint you as my vicar; then I most earnestly beseech you that in all things pertaining to the governance of this church, you always follow my footsteps. Above all, however, I charge and command you that, content with only the necessary expenses for leading a frugal life, you humanely and faithfully distribute to the needy and poor of Christ whatever remains from the annual revenues." He sets out on his journey When this exhortation was finished, having first humbly invoked God for a prosperous pilgrimage, clad in humble garments as befitted a pilgrim, he set out on the desired journey (a).

[17] Not much time had elapsed after the holy abbot's departure when the new vicar of the widowed church, forgetful of his holy uncle's admonition and enticed by the sweetness of pleasures, entered upon a far different path. The ancient enemy of the human race, casting various enticements to pleasure into his mind, first ensnared him in the vanities, pomp, and pride of the world, then devoted him to every kind of hunting and gaming, The vicar lives dissolutely and so corrupted him that, with the care of the sheep previously entrusted to him and of the poor set aside, he thought and cared only about feeding hunting dogs and hawks and maintaining a great retinue of servants. His reputation regarding his pastoral office had become so blackened, and his inhumanity toward the poor so widely spread and publicized, that his vices were on the lips of all the people.

[18] Gonsalvus spends fourteen years in great piety at Jerusalem During this time, Blessed Gonsalvus, with God favoring his vows, having first been rescued from many perils on the road, successfully completed his pilgrimage all the way to the Holy Land. Transported with divine sweetness and shedding many tears, he could not be sated with kissing those sacred places of Christ's Passion and gazing upon them with fixed eyes in the most devout manner. Hence it came about that, after having already laudably spent there not merely one or two years, he could not persuade himself to leave the Holy City, but chose to serve God there for a period of fourteen years. What the holy man's spiritual exercises were during this intervening time I shall leave to the devout reader to consider. When this very long course of fourteen years had passed, he began to feel an anxious mind, with the sharp sting of conscience tormenting his intellect and compelling him to doubt whether he had left a faithful vicar and steward in his church.

[19] His vicar, falsely spreading the report of his death, obtains the abbacy Meanwhile, during the interval of so prolonged a pilgrimage, since no messenger or pilgrim returned to give an account of the holy Abbot Gonsalvus's well-being, the result was that his vicar, cunningly observing and seizing the opportunity, forged fraudulent testimonial letters, deceitfully composed, in which the death of St. Gonsalvus his uncle in overseas regions was contained. And approaching the Archbishop of Braga, having reported and confirmed by these fictitious letters the death of his uncle, he earnestly requested the unrestricted jurisdiction of the church of St. Pelagius and that he be confirmed absolutely as its abbot. The venerable bishop, unaware of the deceit, yielded to the prayers and fraudulent petition of this most rapacious wolf, who desired only to be confirmed as absolute rector so that, with all fear banished, he might more securely lead an Epicurean life and live in revelry. But the saintly Abbot Gonsalvus, stung again at that time by the same goad of conscience, no longer acquiescing in his heart, after bidding a final farewell to all the sacred places of the entire Holy Land, departed with all the speed he could to revisit his sheep.

[20] Gonsalvus returns Having therefore traversed again those very long roads, worn out by hunger and toil, supporting his weary and exhausted limbs with a staff, all ragged and already transformed into a different man, (b) he at last arrived safe at the doors of his church. There, since the completely unrecognized man bore no resemblance whatsoever to the former appearance of the abbot of that church, he went to the house of his vicar, not far away, to ask for alms -- by way of testing him. Begging for alms, he is barked at and bitten by his nephew's dogs But the hunting dogs, with which that glutton's house was filled, interrupted with fierce and loud barking the petition that the holy pilgrim was making before he could finish it. He nevertheless declared his need again and again in a feeble voice. Whereupon the dogs, irritated and now barely tolerating the persistent beggar, attacked him anew not only with fiercer barking but with their bites; and they forced this needy man of Christ -- who was trying to defend himself from them by frequently interposing his staff with all his strength -- to retreat and withdraw from the doors. This swollen abbot, offended by the unknown beggar's persistence (for the pilgrim's cries did not escape him, owing to the small distance between them), He is driven away by his nephew himself immediately ordered him through a servant to depart from there, adding that he was not accustomed to give alms to beggars of his sort.

[21] Dismissed with these words, the blessed servant of God Gonsalvus, learning by experience the impiety of his false vicar -- not without great grief of heart -- could not contain himself from openly reproaching him with free words, his zeal for God being converted to anger. And complaining publicly about him, he declared that such was not the pastor and vicar he had left over his church. Then, also revealing himself by speech that was by no means obscure, he narrated in a loud voice how he had formerly instructed him in holy ways and with great confidence had appointed him as vicar, not wolf, of the Lord's flock. He complained too that he had handed over the revenues of that abbacy into his power not for feeding dogs but for the poor. The impious hireling, He is beaten attentive to his complaints and listening carefully to everything, was sitting at table laden with dishes in the place of the Pastor, until he heard words about the true Pastor of that church being present there. Then, springing angrily from the table and heading straight for the door of the house, he struck his holy uncle sharply with the very staff on which the latter had been leaning. The holy abbot bore these blows and beatings inflicted by his own ward patiently and with equanimity. But nevertheless, feeling that he should by no means refrain from paternal correction, he rebuked him to his face with these words: "Did I not always nourish you from your cradle? Did I not instruct you in worthy disciplines? Did you not give me your word when I departed, confirmed even by an oath, concerning the care of the poor? Concerning the frugality to be maintained? Did you not always see me give the revenues of this church, for the most part, to the needy?" This free reproach from the holy man not only did not soften his cousin's heart; rather, it supplied fuel for greater anger. Hence, with the fire of his black bile blazing anew, he beat the holy old man a second time and urgently set the dogs upon him, that they might drive him from the doors with their bites. Finally, after he looked upon the ejected poor pilgrim departing, he even pursued him from behind with threatening words of more atrocious vengeance, should he dare to utter another word on that subject -- not content with stripping him of his church and expelling him beaten with blows.

a Marietta and Castillo write that he went first to Rome and devoutly visited the tombs of the holy Apostles.

b Already white-haired, as the same authors write.

CHAPTER V.

On the Construction of a Church by the River Tamega.

[22] Afflicted with such injuries, St. Gonsalvus gave thanks to God; and desiring to serve Him alone as was due, thinking nothing at all about temporal and transitory goods, as if nothing new or evil had happened to him, He preaches the word of God he began to preach the evangelical doctrine in which he was sufficiently instructed, and the word of God with great fervor of spirit, throughout that entire region. His holy manner of life began to be held in such veneration before all that by his example and solid teaching he effectively recalled many from the path of perdition. After some time, aided by the alms of the pious faithful, He builds an oratory at Amarante he erected and constructed a small oratory dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God in a certain uncultivated and rustic village -- now called Amarante -- near the river called (a) the Tamega, as a refuge for his pilgrim life and a solace for his soul. This small town had previously been deserted, pathless, and entirely hidden from human knowledge; but now, adorned by the miracles and presence of so great a patron, it has become distinguished with not a few churches, two monasteries as well, and the courtly dwellings of many noble knights; and frequented from all of Portugal, it presents to beholders the appearance and aspect of a proper city, as we shall later relate. In this small chapel, therefore, like another Paul or Hilarion, dwelling in an uncultivated desert, continually serving God and the Queen of Angels, always exercising the office of preaching in the surrounding area, he led an eremitical and apostolic life at the same time.

[23] Going forth thence from his little hut, he became the teacher and apostle of the unlearned peoples, and with the very bowels of charity he diligently relieved the needs and want of both the inner and outer man. He seeks God's will concerning his state of life When one day he pondered with doubtful mind within himself whether such a form of living (as he had chosen for himself) was pleasing to Almighty God and to the Virgin Mother of His only-begotten Son, he wished to receive a divine answer to this question through constant prayers. And lest his prayers should prove vain and ineffectual, content with a strict fast -- namely, bread and water for his daily meal -- always intent upon unceasing prayer, he perseveringly spent an entire Lent. The kindness of our most merciful Redeemer and His compassionate response to St. Gonsalvus's prayer did not fail him. For when the Paschal feast arrived, on the night immediately following, some report that this revelation was made to him. The holy servant of God was at that time prostrate in prayer before the altar of the nurturing Virgin, persevering in his above-mentioned petition, The Blessed Virgin prescribes that he become a Preacher when he saw himself suddenly surrounded on all sides by a light, and after it, standing at the right horn of the same altar, he beheld the Mother of God addressing him, and heard with his ears: "Arise, and among the various religious orders scattered throughout the whole world, choose for yourself to enter that one in which you hear the service dedicated to me take its beginning and final conclusion from the Angelic Salutation. For I claim this order of religious for myself with special love; I favor it and exalt it; and I have also graciously given them the habit which the religious commonly wear. You shall enter this religious order so that, offering the remainder of your life with a pure heart under its observance and obedience to Almighty God, you may attain the desired end." With these words, that heavenly vision, together with the radiance, disappeared.

[24] Pause here, Christian Reader, close your outward eyes, and consider the due gratitude of the Friars Preachers toward the Virgin Mary from the very beginning of their Order's foundation. For it is well established that this Order received its beginning, its growth, and its perfection from this most holy Virgin of virgins. For after she had obtained this Order for the conversion of sinners by her holy prayers from the only-begotten Son of God, moved by piety, The benefits of the Blessed Virgin toward the Order of Preachers she has never ceased to support and preserve it with chosen and select Fathers gathered from everywhere. (b) She first gave us Reginald, who was already near death at Rome. She persuaded many novices tempted by the devil to persevere in the Order through miracles. (c) She entrusted to us for safekeeping the most choice devotion of her Rosary. (d) In many tribulations also, both common and particular, she often provided aid. She has always shown us innumerable favors of her piety and grace (with which the ancient book called (e) the Lives of the Brethren is filled), clothed in the tender affections of our most loving Mother. Woe to us three and four times over, if, forgetful of these graces, we become unworthy of her patronage.

[25] He seeks the religious order designated to him by the Blessed Virgin Strengthened by this heavenly revelation made to him by the Virgin, the man of God Gonsalvus remained as one refreshed and fortified with angelic bread from heaven. Then, anxious to investigate the religious order revealed to him, in which the service of the Virgin Mary would begin and end with the "Hail Mary," he immediately set about visiting and examining each monastery of that province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho. But when he heard the prayers of the Virgin in many of them end with the versicle "Benedicamus Domino" Let us bless the Lord, excessively troubled and distracted in his doubtful mind, and going about everywhere, he could not at all discover where in the world or in what place he might find the above-mentioned Order.

a The Tamega, called Tamaga by the Portuguese. "It rises," says Resendius, "not far from Monterrey, a town of Galicia; thence, washing Chaves, of which we speak elsewhere, it descends to Amarante and cuts it through the middle, so as to make a double town, with a double marketplace and a double jurisdiction, joined on both sides by a noble stone bridge built by Gonsalvus."

b Concerning him, see the extensive treatment in the Life of St. Dominic, August 4, book 2, chapters 11 and following, and book 3, chapters 1 and 2. He died at Paris in 1220. The Blessed Virgin showed him the habit that the Order of Preachers was thenceforth to wear. Consult the book of Hyacinth Choquetius entitled The Maternal Affection of Mary Mother of God Toward the Order of Preachers, chapter 8.

c This matter is treated at length by the same Choquetius, chapter 22.

d The same, chapter 14.

e That book, written by Gerard of Limoges at the command of Humbert, the fifth General, has recently been published at Douai. We have it in manuscript, with a brief Chronicle from the year 1211 to the election of Humbert in 1254. The author adds at the end, however, concerning Humbert: "And he died, full of good works."

CHAPTER VI.

On His Entry Into the Order of Friars Preachers.

[26] After some rather long space of time had passed, during which he diligently but in vain investigated the religious order revealed to him by the Virgin Mother, one day he unexpectedly found the hidden pearl in the town of Guimaraes in the diocese of Braga. He visits the Preachers at Guimaraes In this city, called Guimaraes, there are four distinguished monasteries; among which two are seen to be most ancient, those of the holy Patriarchs -- the Apostolic St. Dominic and the Seraphic St. Francis -- which still flourish in our own age. When the servant of God Gonsalvus chose lodging with the Dominican Friars for the purpose of spending the night, he was received by them with cheerful spirit, as is done by the grace of God to this day throughout all of Portugal in all the conventual houses.

[27] At the time when the bell was ringing for the completion of the evening service, the diligent and anxious seeker of his vocation silently betook himself to the church. Without opening the seal of his secret to anyone, he devoutly listened with attention to the hourly prayers, which were first said of Our Lady. And when he first heard them begin with the Angelic Salutation, He understands that he is called to that Order and then perceived them end with the same theme, what great joy -- O good God! -- filled his heart, would not be easy to tell. Nevertheless, still as though dreaming and not trusting the experience of his senses, on the following night he returned to the church, kept vigil there before the altar dedicated to the Virgin, and took care to obtain, by prayers poured out anew, a clear oracle from her, by which he might understand whether this was indeed the Order that she had previously assigned him to enter. Nor did the divine response fail the servant of God even then (although this was already the second time), given through angelic ministry, by which he clearly understood, his wavering mind being confirmed, that this was indeed the religious order concerning which he had previously received the salutary command from the Mother of God.

[28] And therefore on the same day at dawn, approaching the (a) superior of that convent, with the reason for this change entirely suppressed, He is admitted into it he humbly requested the religious habit from him. No doubt or impediment arose in the religious community regarding his petition, since his honest life, mature age, and sound and deliberate counsel cut off any unfavorable suspicion through his distinguished reputation. Wherefore all the religious willingly received St. Gonsalvus into their fellowship, clothed in the similar garment of novices. Thus already clothed in the monastic habit, the servant of God Gonsalvus -- already holy before -- and made holier still by a new manner of serving God, spent the first year of his conversion to the religious life, which they call the year of probation, laudably and with great signs of his holiness, singularly dear to all the brethren.

[29] Then, having made the solemn profession of perpetual obedience through the emission of vows, He preaches at Amarante since nothing seemed to be wanting that might prevent him from henceforth perfectly fulfilling the apostolic ministry of preaching, his superiors immediately granted him permission to return, with a companion assigned to him, to the oratory he had earlier built near the Tamega, for the purpose of preaching. With the most willing spirit, the servant of God Gonsalvus, with the leave granted to him, returned to the little town of Amarante, so that he might more perfectly enlighten those peoples who needed the solid doctrine of the word of God.

a Marietta and Castillo write that this was Blessed Peter Gonsalvus, who is commonly called St. Elmo and is venerated by sailors; of whom we treat on April 14.

CHAPTER VII.

On the Building of the Bridge of Amarante, and Certain Miracles.

[30] After he had been there for some time, providently consulting for the salvation of souls by his counsel, exhortation, and the example of his holy life, he saw with his own eyes He thinks about building a bridge that the river called the Tamega, near which his oratory stood, was often a sudden tomb for unwary and unskilled travelers who drowned in it. For rustic people entering shallow places or small boats to cross the river were snatched away by the rapid force of the flooding waters and perished. Wherefore St. Gonsalvus, thirsting with fraternal love for the twofold salvation of his neighbors, began to think about building a certain bridge on the bank of that deadly river. It may be permitted here to note incidentally and briefly how greatly the professors of this Order of Preachers have always striven everywhere in the world to procure the common good of the commonwealth. Praise of the Order of Preachers Who truly, I say, and not falsely, wear this habit granted by the Virgin Mary. For this sacred Order never dreamed of or intended to educate men who love their own private interests and are born only for themselves, but only those who strive always to deserve well of the Christian commonwealth and labor for its preservation in all things. I recall reading in a certain manuscript parchment at Nantes concerning (a) St. Vincent, the Apostolic Confessor resting at Vannes, that he also labored for the construction of bridges in certain places of the world. (b) St. Peter Gonsalvus likewise, as will appear below in its place; (c) St. Lawrence Menendius similarly, some account of whose life will also be given below. How many labors the Fathers of this Order have always endured for the defense of obedience owed to the Roman See and for the common good, before emperors and kings, for peace, for expeditions against the Turks -- let whoever wishes to know read the Chronicles and ancient Annals of the Order. But enough of this.

[31] Although the work that St. Gonsalvus was revolving in his mind was exceedingly arduous -- namely, that a poor monk living in the poorest region of a rustic people should wish to build a vast bridge requiring such a great weight of silver -- He is divinely instructed where the bridge should be built yet, with God the Best and Greatest always favoring good undertakings, he confirmed his purpose by this revelation. For when he was once hesitating in thought over the same enterprise, wondering at what point of the riverbed it would be better to begin the bridge at less expense, he was forewarned by a revelation made through an Angel of the Lord to have the foundations of the bridge laid between those two very narrow gorges of the river that faced his chapel. Therefore, with his courage increased and raised to firm hope by this new revelation that divine aid would not fail him in pursuing this pious work, he gathered some alms; and in the aforesaid site of the bridge of Amarante, the foundations were laid by architects. So difficult, indeed, or rather impossible, did it seem to the common people of that rustic region that the man of God Gonsalvus would bring the work he had begun to completion, He himself carries huge stones for the work that they thought about nothing less than a future bridge that would one day be passable for travelers. But he heard these things in silence, relying on God alone, in whom he firmly believed nothing was impossible, and summoned artisans and their assistants from every quarter as best he could. Sometimes indeed, with the work already in full progress, the Saint himself, pulling out stones of great mass with his own hands, easily moved them by himself to the structure, and carried them to the no small amazement of the onlookers. Then all, seeing a clear miracle in this wondrous deed, were already confident that this most magnificent building, which according to their opinion exceeded similar powers, would be auspiciously and perfectly completed.

[32] It happened once that this servant of God, going diligently through the neighboring peoples for the purpose of collecting or begging alms, encountered a certain very wealthy nobleman on the road. Having first greeted him, he asked him for the love of God and of his neighbors to be willing to aid the common good for the building of his bridge with some contribution worthy of himself. The man, however, quickly drawing a few lines on a small slip of paper and, having first signed the note, handing it to St. Gonsalvus, said: "Go, Father, to my house, [From a man who wished to mock him, he receives a large alms, with the weight of the slip of paper divinely increased] and give this note to my wife, to whom I delegate my authority over this request of yours. Go in confidence, for she will give you a fair alms." St. Gonsalvus hastened joyfully and confidently to the house of this impious nobleman; and after entering it, he handed the letter, signed in her husband's name, which he was carrying, to the mistress of the house, with great hope of a large subsidy. But after the matron had read the words written by her husband, she silently smiled and urged St. Gonsalvus to depart, the alms being completely denied. For the words contained in the note were these: "You shall give this poor friar as much alms for the building of the bridge as this paper has weight." For this inhuman neighbor wished to mock the servant of God, St. Gonsalvus, with words, and to tire him out with a wasted journey. But Gonsalvus, by no means disturbed by the unexpected response, inquired of the matron the reason for the denied alms. When he had heard and understood the turn of events, placing his confidence in God, he began earnestly to entreat the woman to obey her husband, and to place the paper on some scale, and on the other side to place flax, or grain, or wax, or whatever else she had to give as alms. For he affirmed that he would be quite content if he received a weight equal to that of the note. She easily complied, fearing nothing new; and when the paper was placed on one side of the scale, God so disposing, it became so heavy that on the other side a large quantity of alms material had to be heaped up, and a just and goodly portion fell to St. Gonsalvus, divinely determined. And so he left both the miser confounded and his wife struck with indescribable amazement.

a We shall give his Life on April 5.

b Concerning him, April 14, as we said at chapter 6.

c A brief life of this man was published by the same Sampayo. Joannes Lopez mentions him in part 3 of his history of the Order of Preachers, book 1, chapter 7. Antonius Senensis, who calls him Mendezius, as does Castillo, part 1, book 2, chapter 62.

CHAPTER VIII.

On the Miracle of the Fish Flocking From the River Tamega.

[33] The aforementioned miracle was not the last before the work on the bridge reached its completion. For when the necessary provisions for feeding the masons and stonecutters were once failing St. Gonsalvus, By his prayers he obtains fish for the food of the workmen he went to the brink of the riverbed and, prostrate in prayer, implored from heaven, afflicted in spirit and with prayers full of confidence, aid and relief for that want. Then, having made the sign of the Cross over the flowing waters of the Tamega, so great a multitude of fish flowed toward him that they strove to cover the surface of the water. Then the holy man Gonsalvus, stretching forth his hand with his staff, drew out the necessary number for feeding his workmen; but the rest, having imparted his blessing to them, he permitted and commanded to slip back into the deep. This miracle is reported by the authors to have occurred not merely once or twice.

[34] In supplying drink to the hired workers as well, a not very dissimilar miracle is recorded as having happened to the man of God. [Wine from a rock for the necessary drink only; but perennial water he draws forth] For since St. Gonsalvus did not have readily at hand, as was necessary, or by easy means, either wine or even spring water (for it was at a considerable distance), and therefore no ready remedy was at hand for relieving the thirst of the laborers in order to continue the toilsome work. Wherefore St. Gonsalvus, taking refuge in God for a supply of drink, endowed with the same faith as before, caused wine to gush forth sufficiently from a certain rock, upon which he had struck with his staff in His name. So great was St. Gonsalvus's faith in divine providence, and so great his merit before God. When, therefore, wine vessels were brought near to the miraculous spring, the servant of God permitted only as much to be drawn as could suffice for quenching the thirst of his hired household; and immediately, seizing a small stone with his hand and placing it over the opening of the spring, he would close or block it, rendering it completely dry for the time, or rather, making it incommunicable. (a) A not dissimilar miracle involving the water of a most limpid spring is also recorded as having been wrought by the holy man near his chapel. The vestiges of both springs are still visible today, or, to speak more properly, their manifest traces; with one of them still perennial and flowing with most healthful water, which all pilgrims who flock there out of devotion gaze upon with great veneration, and also drawing water thence, The spring is healthful for the sick they not only quench their thirst but sometimes those who are ill, approaching with confidence and washing themselves or drinking, miraculously recover their former health.

[35] Having therefore seen so many miracles, the artisans and hired workmen -- of which their provisions and refreshment often consisted -- could not but give humble and heartfelt thanks to God, applying themselves to the work on the bridge with ever greater and more joyful confidence, until it reached its due end and was most perfectly completed. At the coming of this long-awaited time, St. Gonsalvus, rendering innumerable praises to God in thanksgiving, dismissed the artisans and workmen from their labor. He devotes himself again to preaching And the dreadful and deep bed of that most rapid river Tamega was now made passable, without any further danger to the lives of those crossing. With commerce now shared between the inhabitants on both banks of the river, people flocked to the servant of God Gonsalvus in ever greater numbers from every direction. To them he more frequently preached the word of God, with renewed fervor of spirit -- something he had to some extent intermitted because of the distractions of the workmen -- fruitfully and with the great conversion of many.

[36] It happened, moreover, at this time that some of the inhabitants of those borders seemed to make light of the dread censure of pastoral excommunication, He labors against those who despise excommunication and not to tremble at it, as faith teaches and as befits lovers of Catholic piety. St. Gonsalvus, detecting this abuse and most dangerous error, was affected with the greatest grief over this irreligious rashness, and in order to eliminate and uproot it from the minds of the faithful, he very frequently in his sermons purposely touched upon this subject. Yet, as experience showed, his admonition on this matter was for the most part futile and vain. When St. Gonsalvus perceived this hardness of heart and blindness of mind, it happened on one occasion that, while he was standing in the pulpit complaining about the same crime with sharp reproaches, He renders white loaves coal-black by his curse a certain woman chanced unexpectedly to be passing by at that moment, carrying some white loaves in a basket upon her head. When he caught sight of this woman passing before him, he commanded her to approach; interrupting his sermon, he ordered her to set down the load of loaves at his feet. And then, turning to the people standing by, he said: "That you may henceforth learn to recognize the sentence of excommunication and to fear it with reverence, I, on behalf of God and His holy bride the Church, our Mother, subject these loaves here present to excommunication." Marvelous indeed to relate, but not difficult for God to do, who was always wonderful in His Saints. For although excommunication, according to theological doctrine, is proportioned only to the rational soul and can by ordinary law fall only upon it -- which alone among all earthly creatures is capable of grace and can be deprived of or admitted to the fellowship of the good works of the saints and the faithful -- yet, so that the most merciful God might gently and in a manner suited to that barbarous and rustic people insinuate the invisible effect of excommunication as it exists in the soul, all those loaves placed in the basket, after the words of excommunication pronounced by the holy man, were suddenly converted into (b) burnt and black coals, presenting a dreadful spectacle to all bystanders.

[37] Lest, however, this miracle, ordained for the instruction of some, should seem to harm or inconvenience the woman who carried the bread, [Again, having sprinkled and blessed them with holy water, he restores them as they were] after St. Gonsalvus intimated to those standing around that something similar happens to souls through the parable of that excommunicated bread, he ordered holy water to be brought to him. Then, having pronounced the absolution of the excommunication (or rather, of the curse) he had imposed, he sprinkled the bread with lustral water and restored it to its former whiteness and perfection. This prodigy, confirmed by the experience of the senses, was for many of those present a cause of coming to their senses, so that, terrified at least by fear, they would henceforth not refuse to obey excommunication. Only these things, in brief summary, have come down to posterity from time immemorial by the tradition of the ancients, concerning the miracles wrought by St. Gonsalvus during his lifetime.

a Marietta and Castillo add that when, after the bridge was completed, the workmen wished to carry home wine in their wineskins and jugs, they found that the wine spring had already completely dried up -- given by God for the necessity of the builders, not for the pleasure of the idle.

b He meant to write ustos burnt.

CHAPTER IX.

On His Glorious Passing.

[38] After he had been worn down by many labors and had long toiled in the vineyard of the Lord under the institute of the Order of Preachers, by the grace of God, sparing no effort to provide for the salvation of his neighbors, the opportune time arrived He foreknows the day of his death when, with God so mercifully disposing, he was to yield to fate. And, seized by a certain severe fever, he merited at this time to receive a divine revelation by which he was made certain that in a very short time, having laid down the burden of the flesh, he would happily pass from mortal life to immortal. Having therefore foreseen his approaching sleep, He implores the aid of the Blessed Virgin he most urgently besought the most holy Mother of God, his patroness, not to permit him to be disturbed in so dread an agony by the terrors of the prince of darkness, or to be ensnared by his traps. When all immediately learned of the holy man's illness, a great throng of the common people, and among the rest some of his own kinsmen as well, came to visit him in this final sickness. For all were affected with the greatest grief that they would remain bereft of so great a Father and Teacher. Weeping bitterly and already afflicted with longing for him before his death, they uttered cries full of pain and devotion. The holy servant of God then consoled them with sweet words, and, nourishing them also with no contemptible hope, he bade them expect greater proofs of his true friendship after his death than they had experienced in this world up to then. He is made certain by her of his salvation For he hoped to be able to help his children and devotees more effectively in the presence of the Most High. On the following day he received with the greatest devotion the sacred and true Body of Christ, offered to him under the species of bread by his companion. Then, as the final hour of his passing drew near, the most merciful Virgin Mary, surrounded by hosts of angels, appeared visibly to St. Gonsalvus, so that she might render wholly secure from all demonic illusion him whom she had always deemed worthy of her special favor -- with all doubt whatsoever of attaining eternal salvation entirely removed (a).

[39] After this heavenly vision, which had been shown and communicated to him in the hours before dawn, He dies that most holy soul, freed from the prison of the body, penetrated heaven. At the very hour when the man of God breathed his last, a certain voice -- known to no one before or after -- resounded throughout the whole town of Amarante in this form of words: "Arise and hasten to the funeral of the holy man." At this extraordinary voice, (b) all hastened out of their own homes and asked one another He is buried with the concourse of all where they should hasten. For they did not yet know that St. Gonsalvus was at the point of death. But after inquiry had been made and they heard that he had departed this life at that very hour, and that no one else had died at that time, they all flocked in throngs to the oratory of St. Gonsalvus. There, finding the holy man's body already wrapped in a shroud, not without the tears of many, they paid their last respects with due veneration and committed him to burial.

a Marietta and Castillo say that the sick man lay upon bare straw.

b Also from neighboring villages, as Marietta, Choquetius, and Castillo report.

CHAPTER X.

On His Miracles After Death.

[40] How many miracles Almighty God has displayed through the merits of this holy Father from the time of his glorious passing to this very hour -- even if (to use the words of St. Jerome) all my limbs were turned into tongues and all my joints resounded with human voice, I would not believe that I could recount He works many miracles their number or even the briefest account of them Epistle 27. But to demonstrate the truth of this matter in a single word, I shall use only this argument. Not only in the kingdoms of Portugal situated in Spain, but in the farthest reaches of the East, which we call the East Indies, and in the region of Africa, where the Portuguese guard certain fortified cities, the miracles wrought by God through the merits of this holy man St. Gonsalvus are so frequent that in the mouths of all the faithful of Christ, for the most part, in whatever labor, danger, or sickness they may be placed, St. Gonsalvus is immediately and commonly invoked. Nor does a year pass in which those approaching his tomb, from time immemorial, do not see some miracle or miracles -- not to say many -- divinely wrought for the healing of the sick. This is so clear, plain, and proven even by unbelievers at times that it can be concealed by no evasion, nor can anyone deny it. So sudden and palpable are the miracles often seen there that a man lame for many years, upon entering his church, directing his steps in health and soundness, immediately returns joyfully to his home. One possessed by a demon escapes free. One sick for a long time sometimes obtains sudden health there, in such a way as to generate amazement among the bystanders and pilgrims, so that the very intellect seems in some way to be overwhelmed. Yet lest, while I labor to be brief, I become obscure, let me touch upon a few examples in passing.

[41] In the year 1500, the river Tamega (of which we made mention above) swelled and flooded in a wonderful manner, increased by rainwater, and When the Tamega floods, St. Gonsalvus's bridge is saved by him descending from rocky cliffs covered with the tallest trees, more often falling than flowing, it carried and swept along with it uprooted trunks of many kinds. The common people of Amarante stood suspended in horror at the dreadful spectacle of the stagnating river, and many, having climbed to higher places at a distance, attentively watched that flood, composed not only of water but also of many fragments of various things. And behold, among the other things floating on the surface of the riverbed, they saw with dismay a certain oak of wondrous size rushing transversely and speeding toward the bridge with rapid motion. For they judged and lamented that the work built in antiquity by the holy man would be shattered by the impact of that tree and would immediately collapse. And therefore, uttering groans and voices full of prayer, spoken with no less fear than devotion, they said: "O St. Gonsalvus, come to our aid! Guard your bridge, which you built for the common good." They did not cease repeating this brief prayer until that oak had rushed down to the bridge. Nor was their faith in vain. For immediately, before that dreadful mass could strike the bridge, all saw with their bodily eyes a certain religious man, clothed in the habit of St. Dominic, visibly emerge from the oratory in which the sacred body of St. Gonsalvus was buried, carrying a staff in his hand. Placing his black cope from both extremities upon his shoulders, he proceeded with a measured and slow step toward the bridge. When he had reached the base of the bridge, from that same riverbank, ascending as though by stairs onto a certain forward-projecting bulwark of the same bridge -- which supports the openings of the river on both sides -- he stood upon that part where the swelling and flooding of the river reached. As the aged oak, swept transversely by the force of the current, drew near, the unknown Father so directed it with the staff he held in his hand that, entering through the arch of the bridge without touching it, it passed through below without any damage to the bridge. After this, the religious man, attentively observed by all the people standing by, returned with the same step to the chapel whence he had come. All rushed there as quickly as possible, wishing to know who had been the author of so great a prodigy. But entering the chapel -- in which a monastery of the Order of Preachers had not yet been built -- they found absolutely no one. From this they clearly understood that the holy servant of God Gonsalvus, having gone out from the place of his tomb, had divinely delivered his bridge from that imminent ruin (a).

[42] A certain noble matron called Lady Isabella de Sousa, He heals a matron in danger from ulcerated breasts having given birth to a male child in her first conception, contracted so severe an infirmity in one breast, with a superfluous humor coagulated therein, that when the physicians tried every exquisite remedy for health, their anxious labor was entirely in vain. A full year had already elapsed in treating that ulcer. And for the purpose of draining the purulent matter, a certain lead tube, a finger's length, had been devised by the physicians and surgeons, which, being inserted into the opening of the putrid flesh, they endeavored to cause the internal putrefaction of the blood to flow outward. But after some days, with the ulcer creeping further inward, the tube concealed itself so deeply within that the physicians, applying various remedies, were not only unable to extract it but could not even cause it to be visible in any way. And so that leaden instrument lay hidden within her breast for a space of five months. At last, the surgeons, wishing only to avert the mortal danger, decreed by common consent that an incision must be made in the woman's breast. After that final sentence had been pronounced by them, the illustrious man Joannes de Sousa, her father-in-law, came to visit the sick woman; and having learned of the physicians' deliberation, sympathizing with his ailing daughter-in-law, he began to admonish her with words full of faith to commend herself for healing, by a vow made to Blessed Gonsalvus of Amarante, as to a heavenly and most proven physician. The afflicted matron immediately obeyed the words of her father-in-law, and yielding to his counsel, she made a vow to St. Gonsalvus, with all her household joining her. Then, with tears welling up, she began to pour out humble prayers for escaping the danger of death and for recovering her former health. What more? On that very same day, when the physicians and surgeons came in the evening and extracted the plaster applied to the woman's breast for the purpose of purifying the humor, they found the tube, so long concealed, adhering spontaneously to the bandages and medicinal dressings. Finally, lest any doubt should arise that this had been done by the merits of St. Gonsalvus, within a space of only eight days she found herself perfectly healed. This miracle was so manifest and palpable that, with the common joy of many and all doubt excluded, thanks were rendered to God through the merits and holy intercession of St. Gonsalvus.

a At that very time after this miracle, a church was built where his sacred bones rested and dedicated in his honor, and annexed to the parish of Amarante, as Castillo and Marietta write; and in the year 1540 it was transferred by John III, King of Portugal, to the Dominican religious, where a monastery was thereafter erected with a more august basilica, endowed with a generous revenue, through the zeal and industry of Hieronymus Padilla, who presided over the Order of Preachers in that province.

CHAPTER XI.

How St. Gonsalvus Was Enrolled Among the Saints.

[43] In the time of (a) Julius III, Roman Pontiff, who took care to enroll St. Gonsalvus in the catalogue of the Saints, Don Rodrigo Pinnario, Bishop of Porto in Portugal, by mandate of the same Supreme Pontiff, made an exact inquiry into his miracles; and in particular, with trustworthy witnesses bound by oath, he found the truth of the above-mentioned miracle to be most certain. He heals a boy's hernia And not only concerning the lead tube that suddenly emerged and the healing of the ulcer that followed, but also concerning the son of the same matron, who was miraculously healed by the same Saint -- he having previously suffered a most troublesome infirmity from a rupture on both sides of the groin with prolapsed intestines -- he found the most certain testimonies.

[44] In the year 1546, a certain respectable woman called (b) Micia Petreia, who had been struck by the disease of paralysis for already four months, was unable to move not only her body but any of her limbs individually without someone's assistance. He heals a paralytic woman This sick woman was carried by her household to the tomb of St. Gonsalvus, where, prostrate in prayer, she spent the following night keeping a nocturnal vigil (as is customary for pilgrims making their vows). On the following day, finding herself miraculously healed, and immediately directing her steps without anyone's help, she was seen walking joyfully throughout the whole church. Eyewitnesses of this miracle were not a few persons of both sexes who were also standing there and seeking the patronage of St. Gonsalvus. For, as may be seen, his chapel is never found without pilgrims making their vows.

[45] A certain man also suffering from the disease of paralysis and additionally from blindness of the eyes, Another paralytic and blind man from the diocese of Lamego in the same Portugal, was carried to the tomb of St. Gonsalvus on a certain wooden pallet. There, inflamed with the devotion of faith, he offered to God prayers, tears, and sighs, imploring divine aid that through the intercession of St. Gonsalvus he might merit being heard and obtain the desired health. Before this paralytic man was led away from there, having recovered both his sight and the health of all his limbs, he returned to his home a well man. Nor is this surprising, since Christ testifies in the Gospel that those having greater faith will work even greater miracles.

[46] By these and many other miracles wrought through the intercession of St. Gonsalvus His public veneration permitted by the Pope and diligently examined by the aforesaid bishop, the same Supreme Pontiff Julius III, after the mature counsel of the sacred college of Cardinals, judged the same St. Gonsalvus of Amarante worthy in a certain sense of being enrolled in the catalogue of the Saints, and permitted his feast to be solemnly celebrated on the tenth day of January throughout all Portugal.

[47] So great indeed is the devotion of the worship and so great the concourse of people flocking to his tomb, A great concourse at his tomb especially in springtime, that no one can travel by any road of that region of Entre-Douro-e-Minho without encountering pilgrims making their vows, or hearing groups walking together, resounding on every side with flutes, pipes, and many other musical instruments according to the custom of the country. All of these visit Amarante out of devotion more frequently than Compostela, which is not so very far distant. On the octave of Pentecost, on which the principal feast of St. Gonsalvus is celebrated -- or rather, repeated -- on account of the more convenient opportunity for travelers, (c) about thirty thousand people are counted annually by curious observers. As an irrefutable testimony of this truth, it happened not many years ago that from the very small candles which poor pilgrims are accustomed to offer out of devotion at his altar, one thousand two hundred and eighty-six pounds by just weight were found by a certain curious sacristan. L. Andreas Resendius deservedly mentions this remarkable concourse of people in one of the hymns that he inserted into the office of the same St. Gonsalvus (d) composed by him; and I am not a little sorry that I cannot have them at hand here, to append them as cornerstones to this summary. This fragment of the same hymn, however, which I recall, I am pleased to insert here:

"Twofold Amarante often cannot contain the vast throngs."

[48] Nor does the beauty of the place where the holy servant of God rests do little to attract pilgrims, together with the most beautiful and most sumptuous monastery of the same Order of Preachers existing there, A monastery at his tomb which was built and endowed with great revenues through the favor and munificence of the Most Serene King John III; which, as is reported, is visited in thanksgiving due to St. Gonsalvus. A commemoration of him is made throughout the whole province of Portugal -- which extends all the way to Africa and Eastern Asia -- every Friday after Compline, with an antiphon and the proper prayer of his feast. Through his prayers, may the most merciful Father of lights deign to grant to our province and to the Order which he professed, safety and the former fervor of the Apostolic spirit -- He who lives in glory forever. Amen.

a Julius held office from February 7, 1550, to March 23, 1555.

b She is called Mencia Perezia by Marietta and Castillo.

c Indeed, Marietta and Castillo write that on January 10 as many as 30,000 often gather, and on the Pentecostal ferias as many as 50,000. Resendius testifies that on January 10, 1567, more than 14,000 assembled. On the remaining days of the year very many also come, and indeed sometimes entire parishes in the manner of supplicants, with sacred banners carried before them. Castillo.

d Resendius treats of that office in the cited letter and quotes these two verses from it.

OTHER MIRACLES

Written in Spanish by Joannes Marietta and Ferdinand Castillo.

Gonsalvus Amaranthus, in Portugal (B.)

[1] A certain woman of Porto, blind in one eye for already eleven months, had tried many remedies in vain; and a new film forming over the eye had taken away all hope. Then she began to invoke St. Gonsalvus with earnest prayers, vowing to him a silver eye and a devout pilgrimage to his tomb. Sight restored to a blind woman There was no delay either to his compassion or to the heavenly medicine. She went to his church; she arranged for a sacrifice to be offered to God in honor of the Saint and for her own recovery, and attended it. On her way home, at a station near Amarante, her eye was restored, with absolutely no trace of her former blindness remaining.

[2] Another woman, likewise of Porto, was afflicted with the falling sickness -- a most troublesome disease -- Another freed from the falling sickness which would suddenly attack the wretched woman with a terrible paroxysm when she feared nothing of the sort, and sometimes cast her to the ground with present danger to her life. A maidservant, pitying her mistress, went to the church of St. Gonsalvus, offered a candle and a silver heart, and ordered a Mass to be celebrated. When it was completed, her mistress was freed from that disease forever.

[3] Another woman of Porto also was tormented for the fourth month by a troublesome congealing of humor at the opening of her stomach, A certain woman healed of a dangerous swelling of the leg along with other symptoms. Treatment had indeed been applied, not negligently; yet the sick woman was no better, until that humor flowed down into her left leg, which in a single day swelled to a size equal to a human body. The physicians judged that the leg must be amputated, and that even so the poor woman's life could not be guaranteed. Having therefore confessed her sins, she received the sacred Viaticum; she was also fortified with Extreme Unction, because they feared she might expire under the hands of the physicians. When she saw that dread preparation being made, she turned to implore the aid of Blessed Gonsalvus; she made many vows to him. In the meantime she was seized by sleep, from which, soon awakening, she began to move her leg; from it the swelling entirely drained away. In short, within a few days, using no other medicine, she fully recovered.

[4] In the same city of Porto, the hands of a certain woman were covered with innumerable warts, Another freed from warts both unsightly to behold and painful to the touch, to such a degree that she could perform no function with her hands. She piously invoked St. Gonsalvus. Scarcely fifteen days had passed when, looking upon her hands so deformed, she suddenly saw the warts dissolving and falling away, with no scar or trace left behind.

[5] In the year 1576, the Fathers of the Order of Preachers in the city of Porto, ten leagues from Amarante, had called a general assembly, or Chapter, of that province. On the very Sunday on which the Chapter began, a certain woman of Ponte de Lima, A paralytic woman healed who had been paralyzed for a full seven years, was brought to Amarante -- not without great labor of the bearers -- to keep a sacred vigil at the tomb of St. Gonsalvus. The day after her arrival, she was brought into the chapel, and persisted in prayer until the Angelic Salutation was chanted. Then, turning to one of the bystanders, she said that if he would give her his hand and help her a little, she was confident that she would be able to stand firmly on her feet and even walk. Nor was this confidence vain. A hand was extended to her; she rose; she walked through the church while all the people watched. The fame of so great a miracle was immediately spread abroad. Before that assembly was dissolved, it was confirmed by the authority of Bartholomew of the Martyrs, Bishop of Braga, of the same Order, and was proclaimed from the sacred pulpit with a solemn proclamation, to the glory of God and the honor of St. Gonsalvus.