ON BLESSED AELRED, OR EALRED, ABBOT OF RIEVAULX IN ENGLAND.
A.D. 1166.
PrefaceAelred, Abbot of Rievaulx in England (Bl.)
[1] In the province of York there is a river, the Rhius, which, as Camden says in his Brigantes, rolls along with it the waters of many torrents into the Derwent. From it a certain valley, joyful, pleasant, fruitful, adorned with twenty-three parish churches, is called Rhidal, because the Rhius cuts through it. There was once there a celebrated monastery of the Cistercian order, The monastery of Rievaulx. founded in the very age of St. Bernard by Walter Espec. Of which William of Newburgh, book 1, chapter 14: "Indeed a little before, monks of Clairvaux, invited by the noble man Walter Espec and sent by Abbot Bernard of happy memory, had come into the province of York, and had received a dwelling in the place which is now called Rievaulx (but was then a place of horror and of vast solitude), the aforesaid man handing it over, and the venerable Thurstan furnishing his Episcopal favor with fatherly affection." Harpsfield, twelfth century, chapter 43, records almost the same.
[2] The first Abbot here was William, a disciple of St. Bernard, a praiseworthy man, The first Abbots there. who is called Blessed by Chrysostom and is entered in the Cistercian Menology on August 2. He was succeeded by Blessed Ealred; and he by Silvanus, whom the same celebrates on April 16. Concerning them these verses of Nicholas of Rievaulx are quoted by John Picard in his Notes to William of Newburgh:
Primitias cepit Villelmus: proximus illi Aelredus maiora tulit: Siluanus adauxit. Tres sunt præcipue meriti vix imparis, ille Primus, & alter ei successor, & iste supremus. Claruit officio V denis & tribus annis: Ter senis fuit Æ Pastor pius in Rieualle: Ter denis ternisque simul S præfuit annis. Tempora quattuor hic & quinquaginta recense. Floruit, enituit, his Patribus atque Patronis, Vallis amœna Rij, vallis sacra, vallis opima. Anglia de tali præfulges inclyta sole.
[William took the first fruits; next to him Aelred bore greater things; Silvanus increased them. Three there are, above all, of scarcely unequal merit: that one the first, and the other his successor, and this one the last. W shone in office for ten years and three; Æ was a pious Pastor in Rievaulx for thrice six; S presided for thrice ten years and three together. Count here four and fifty seasons. The pleasant valley of the Rye, the sacred valley, the rich valley, flourished and shone with these Fathers and Patrons. England, renowned, you shine forth with such a sun.]
Robert de Monte, the continuator of Sigebert, relates that this monastery was begun in the year 1131: When that monastery was built. "Clairvaux," he says, "produced two monasteries on one day, namely Longpont and Rievaulx, and after a few months Vaucelles." At the same year the Vaucelles supplement to Sigebert has the following: "In this year was begun the monastery of St. Mary, of the Church of Vaucelles, in the territory of Cambrai." Miraeus agrees in the Cistercian Chronicle. If this is so, then either Nicholas counts William's years not from the beginning but from the completion of the monastery of Rievaulx, or there is some error, since from March 4, 1131, to January 12, 1166, on which Aelred died, there are almost 35 years, whereas he assigns to William and Aelred together only 31. On the year of the founding of that monastery Chrysostom Henriquez disputes variously in his Notes to the Menology, April 16.
[3] Blessed Aelred, moreover, died on the day before the Ides of January, on which day Chrysostom Henriquez has the following about him: "In England, St. Aelred, Abbot of Rievaulx, The feast of Blessed Aelred, January 12. conspicuous for his knowledge of sacred letters and integrity of life; who, after he had humbly scorned the dignities offered to him, adorned with every kind of virtue, departed from the world, and after his death was enrolled in the number of the Saints." That he was entered in the roll of the Saints is acknowledged even by John Bale, Elsewhere January 5 and 11. although an enemy of monks and of the Catholic Church. But on January 5 he is entered in the Cistercian Calendar published at Dijon in these words: "Alred, Doctor, Abbot of Rievaulx." And in the general catalogue of Ferrarius: "In England, of St. Ealfred, Abbot of Rievaulx." But as for what he adds in the Notes, that Rhovallum, or the town of Rhyum, where he thinks he was Abbot, is in Kent, forty-eight miles distant from London, truly he is far mistaken: for Rievaulx is far from London and from the borders of Kent. The town of Rhium in Sussex, on the borders of Kent, is another place. But Hugo Menard, on January 11: "In the district of York, of St. Ealred, Abbot of the Cistercian order." Finally the English Martyrology enters him on March 16: and March 16. in which it must be corrected, first, that he is said to have been of the Benedictine order, and second, that he presided over the ancient monastery of Rievaulx: for how can that be called ancient which was built while he himself looked on, and perhaps even helped? On the same day also Ferrarius: "In England, of St. Altred, Abbot."
[4] His name expressed variously. Aelred's name, moreover, is rendered variously: for he is called Aelredus, Alredus, Ælredus, Elredus, Adelredus, Adilredus, Altredus, Athelredus, Ealredus, Hailredus, Eleredus, Ethelredus; by some also Aluredus, by Ferrarius Ealfredus, by Miraeus Valredus. The first twelve come from the same root, Athel, or Ethel, Edel, Eel, Ael, Whence it is formed. which signifies noble; and rad, or red, counsel; so that Aelredus is "Noble in counsel": or from Al, which means all, or altogether, so that Alredus is "all counsel," or "one who altogether excels in counsel." But Ealfredus and Aluredus is "altogether peaceable," from fred, or vred, that is, peace.
[5] The Life. We have transcribed the Life of Blessed Aelred from John Capgrave's Legend of the Saints of England; it was composed by an anonymous author. Trithemius mentions him in his book On Ecclesiastical Writers, and calls him "a man exercised in the holy Scriptures by constant study, Praises from various writers. and not ignorant of secular philosophy, gentle in disposition, sweet in eloquence, outstanding in devotion." To William Eysengrein he is, at the year 1164, "a man renowned for learning and eloquence, learned in the studies of sacred letters, and erudite above all." And at the year 1200 (he seems, however, to have thought Alred and Ethelred different persons): "a most eloquent man, no less distinguished in life than in eloquence." There is extant a letter of William of Newburgh to Aelred himself, in which he professes that he is writing his history at his urging, although he did not finish it while he was living. John Picard, in his Notes to William of Newburgh, quotes a poem which Nicholas of Rievaulx sang in praise of Aelred:
Renowned Aelred, seasoned with the spice of virtues, was both a honeycomb and the sweetness of the monks. In the flower of his youth the royal court of the King * cherished him; and whatever was harmful he removed far from him, with mind and with hand. From Jericho he came into Jerusalem, with Christ as his guide. Here he quickly bears fruit, he turns thorns into lilies: what was scattered he gathered up again, and what was broken he brought back into one. Made loftier from here, he afterward obtained heavenly rewards. If it is pleasing and lawful to tell of him here, I will unfold true things. Nor do I think to weave anything from the thread of falsehood. He was a Maurus in his mature character, and a Benedict in example; like Bernard in celibate life, a pattern of virtues, a broom of vices, and the glory and mirror of the Order, the way of peace, the clasp of the law. Jerome preferred the cast-off garments of Paul to the gold of Croesus: our gem is adorned with equal luster. Many proclamations entitle others: but he was a peaceable Solomon, and meek as a lamb. Of the old counsel I do not unroll much.
[6] Writings. Blessed Aelred is read to have written many books, which are listed by John Pits, by Chrysostom Henriquez in the Phoenix Reviviscens, and by others. We have seen only those which our Richard Gibbon published; namely, 31 Sermons on the burden of Babylon, on chapter 13 of Isaiah; The Mirror of Charity, in 3 books; A Compendium of the Mirror; On Spiritual Friendship, in 3 books; A Homily on the boy Jesus at twelve years old. The Life of St. Edward, which we gave on January 5, is also said to be his offspring.
* In John Picard's manuscript, Scotiæ had been added in the margin.
LIFE BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR,
From the Legend of John Capgrave.
Aelred, Abbot of Rievaulx in England (Bl.) BHL Number: 2645
By an anonymous author, from Capgrave.
CHAPTER I.
The youth of Blessed Aelred; his entry into Religion.
[1] When the venerable Alred was lying as a little infant in the cradle, there came to his father's house a certain Archdeacon named William, a man a illustrious indeed in family, and a kinsman of Alred according to the flesh. An omen of future sanctity. He, looking at the little infant, saw his face turned into the likeness of the sun and flashing with most brilliant rays, so that the shadow of his own hand, when he placed it there, came in its place: and the little child's countenance appeared so serene that one could see perfectly in it as in a mirror. The Archdeacon therefore affirmed that he would be great in the eyes of God, on whom so great a grace had smiled in his infancy.
[2] Alred as a boy knows things absent. When the little boy, returning from the children's play, had entered the house, his father, looking at him, said: "Come, son, what news do you tell us?" And he: "The Archbishop of York died today, my father." At hearing this he laughed, with the whole household, and said: "Truly, son, he has died who b lives badly." And the boy: "This one otherwise, father: for, released from the flesh, he has today bidden mortals farewell on his last day." On the third day after this, what the boy had foretold about the Bishop's death was seen by all to be true.
[3] He wonderfully puts out a fire. When he was in the guesthouse of Rievaulx, of the diocese of York and of the Cistercian order, on the day before he was received to the habit, a fire kindled in that house, in the cell of the Novices, raging up to the joints of the ceiling, was prevailing violently, so that the roof of the building was believed to be about to be consumed in a moment. Alred, sitting at table with the rest, took a cup, and with outstretched hand threw the cider which it held into the midst of the flames with confidence: and at once he extinguished the flame of the fire.
[4] For as a young man he was embraced with such love by the King of the Scots, c David, that, having been made as it were second in his court, Dear to the King of Scotland. the King would have promoted him to a Bishopric, had he not flown more quickly to the Cistercian order. So pious and meek did he show himself in all things that when injured he was not stirred to anger, when goaded by insults he was not provoked to revenge: he always busied himself to return love for hatred, good for evil, service for envy. A certain knight, seeing that he was loved by the King above all and honored more than the rest, He bears injuries patiently. began to persecute him and pursue him with heavy hatred: and at times even to assail him with injurious words in the King's presence. To whom he said: "You speak well, O knight, you speak excellently: and all that you say is true, and you hate a lie: and, as I believe, you love me." At length that knight, considering that Alred was not disturbed, nor torn away from virtue in anything, led by repentance, asked pardon: and promised that he would be his firm friend for the rest of his life. To whom he said: "I confess I rejoice with you in your repentance, and therefore I shall love you much more; because by your hatred I have grown in the love of my Lord: and, my patience having been roused and proved by this, I have perhaps profited a little with God."
[5] Coming after this to the monastery of Rievaulx, and receiving the habit of the monks, and advancing in his manner of life, He becomes Master of Novices. when the care of the Novices had been enjoined upon him, a certain Cleric entering the order became very unstable, and was carried about like a changeable reed. Moved by this, Alred said to God in his heart: "Give me the soul of this man, and what he lacks of salvation deign by Thy grace to grant, though to an unworthy one, O Lord my God." Not long afterward that Brother, desiring to return to the world, made the matter known to his Master, and set forth the desire of his depraved mind. Alred said to him: "Do not perish, Brother: for you will not be able to, even though you wish it. He wonderfully confirms one wavering in his vocation. And it is most foolish to wish the very thing whose contrary all the Saints desire: for they desire that all be saved." But he, not listening to the admonitions of salvation, withdrew from the monastery; and wandered about all day through the pathless places of the woodland: and a little before sunset, returning to the road, he suddenly felt himself set down within the wall of the monastery. Alred, running to meet him, embraced his neck, kissed his face, and said: "Son, why hast thou done so to me? Behold, I have wept for you today with many tears: and I trust in God that, as I asked of the Lord and promised you, you will not perish."
[6] Given to penance: For he made in the novitiate a little earthenware chamber, in the manner of a small cistern, under the ground, into which water flowed through hidden channels. And so that he might not be detected, he closed its mouth with a very broad stone. Entering it often, by the very cold water he extinguished in himself the heat of all vices.
AnnotationsCHAPTER II.
His government, virtues, miracles.
[7] He becomes Abbot of Revesby. The same Brother, whose soul he had asked the Lord to give him, inflamed by the fire of his former changeableness, wished to withdraw from the monastery, and coming to Alred, who had then been made Abbot of a Revesby, said: "Lord, my lightness does not bear the gravity of the order. All things are contrary to my nature: I do not endure long labors. I am distressed and tormented by the long duration of the vigils: I frequently give way under the labors of the hands: the roughness of the clothing pierces my flesh: my will longs for worldly delights, and sighs for the loves and pleasures of the world." "And I," said the Abbot, "will prepare richer foods and softer clothing for you: and all things that are due to a monk Tempted again, he holds him back by prayers. I will grant you in a more bearable form." "I will not," said he, "though you should give me all the riches of this house." And the Abbot: "Nor will I taste food until the Lord brings you back, unwilling or willing." The one ran to the gate, to depart; the other entered his chamber and prayed. The loving Abbot lamented his son, and with inmost sighs of heart bewailed the one who had gone astray, and scorned consolation. But the fugitive, coming to the gate, though the doors were open, felt as it were a wall of iron: and having tried again and again to go out, when he could fulfill his purpose by no effort, he returned compunct to the Abbot; and asking pardon, promised stability. The Abbot said to him: "Well done, my son, you have come well; truly my God has had mercy on me, who has brought you back sound."
[8] He heals a sick man. Not long afterward, by the sign of the cross he put to flight the swelling of the arm of a certain Brother, which was puffed up with a tumor, and restored it to health.
[9] He becomes Abbot of Rievaulx. Having been made after this Abbot of Rievaulx, he was so sparing in food that you would think him not a man but a spirit. He increased the number of monks in his monastery to one hundred and forty, and the Brethren to five hundred. For although he had been afflicted for ten years before his death by the stone and by arthritic suffering, He suffers from the stone and from arthritis. yet, persevering in humility and patience, he was wont often to say this to the Brethren: "Little sons, speak what you will, only let there not go forth from your mouth a shameful word, detraction against a brother, and blasphemy against God."
[10] For he wrote the life of b St. Edward, King and Confessor, the life of c David, King of Scotland, of d St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland; e thirty-three homilies on the burden of Babylon in Isaiah; Books written by him three books on spiritual friendship; f two books on the nature of the soul, and on its quantity and subtlety; he also wrote many g letters: and what he commended in writing, he took care to fulfill in his life. Isa. 13. He placed his finger in the mouth of a certain mute Brother, and commanded him to speak, saying: "Speak, my Brother, in the name of the Lord." He obtains for a mute the power of speech. He at once, while all marveled, answered: "Gladly do I speak with you, blessed Lord." And immediately made whole by the merits of Alred, he gave praise to the Lord.
[11] The suffering of h syncope, pressing hard upon a certain Brother, afflicted him so that neither voice nor sense appeared in him. He heals a sick man by a word. The Abbot, coming to him, said: "Beloved son, may the Son of God save you." Without delay, all pain in him was stilled.
[12] One who reviles him is punished. A certain Abbot subject to him, heaping many reproaches, taunts, and blasphemies upon Alred, unjustly provoked him, and deservedly roused his spirit against himself. Bearing his malice heavily, raising his eyes and hands to heaven, he said: "O Lord, King of eternal glory, let this man, I beg, quickly feel the end of his malice, for Thou knowest that the things are false which he strives to ascribe to my name." And when that Abbot had entered his monastery, he fell into bed, and on the seventh day ended his life with great torments.
[13] Alred, going down into i Galloway, found the k Petty King of that land angry with his sons, the sons raging against their father, and the brothers against one another. The very evil manners of the inhabitants of Galloway at that time. Now that land is wild, wooded, and barbarous; the men are bestial, and barbarous is everything it brings forth. Truth is not found there, wisdom has no place. For neither faith nor charity lasts long in it. Chastity suffers shipwreck as often as lust wills, nor is there any difference between the chaste woman and the harlot: the women change husbands by the month. Among the religious, however, some, by the counsel and guidance of others, prove sufficiently religious, but by their own diligence are rarely perfect. For they are naturally dull, and, having an animal spirit, are always intent on the pleasures of the flesh. Alred, then, found the Princes of the province disturbed by anger and dissension: whose hatreds and rancors neither l the King of Scotland sufficed to humble nor the Bishop to soften, He brings a fierce Prince to religion. and they had polluted the land with much blood. These Alred not only pacified, but he bent the father of the sons to take the habit of religion: and him who had deprived many thousands of men of life he taught to become a partaker of eternal life.
[14] He comes to the help of a man by his prayers. He put his fingers into the mouth of a man who, in drinking water, had swallowed a frog, and with eyes raised to heaven he said: "O Lord, almighty King, I beseech Thee through Thy Son the Lord Jesus, look upon this Thy creature, and do for him as Thou willest and knowest." Without delay the frog climbed up to his fingers, and, a great humor and putrid matter following, fell to the ground.
[15] Wonderfully given to abstinence; For four years before his death he released his body from every pleasure of the present life: on account of the excessive leanness of his body and the wasting of his face, his skin clung to his bones. For eating little and drinking less, he extinguished the appetite for food by incredible abstinence: he spurned the counsels of physicians, and, scorning the remedies of the body for God's sake, busied himself to provide for the health of the soul.
[16] And to pious reading. He read books whose reading is wont to draw forth tears and to build up character: and above all he constantly carried in his hands the Confessions of Augustine. He often sat in a pit made in the floor of his oratory, Angels appear to him and converse with him. reflecting that he was dust: there the light of an Angelic visitation shone above his head; and he spoke with the heavenly spirits as with men: and often, when he was alone, the voices of many were heard with him.
[17] By the spirit of prophecy he knows secrets. He was also renowned for the spirit of prophecy: for he bade certain Brethren confess their sins before they had confessed, and foretold what they had committed in secret, adding the place and the time. When two Brothers cried out one night in the dormitory, and had roused the Brethren by their dreadful cry, to a Brother who reported this to Alred on the morrow he said: "Truly, son, the devil came among our brethren this night, and thought to seduce someone; but, without effect for the malice he had attempted, he was compelled to depart as quickly as possible with confusion. Nevertheless someone consented to him a little."
[18] Likewise the hidden sins of his monks. After a certain sermon given in Chapter, he said among other things to the Brethren: "Look to your life, Brethren, correct your conduct, attend to your salvation, because I affirm for certain that one of you approaches the body of Christ to his own damnation; I do not wish to make him known, I love his correction, and I spare his blushes." When this had been heard with great wonder, those who knew themselves guilty came and hastened to open to him the secrets of their hearts.
AnnotationsCHAPTER III.
His exceptional meekness; illness, death.
[19] His approaching death is shown to a certain Brother in sleep. A certain Brother was looking in a vision of the night, and saw before his face a certain lofty building, skillfully constructed, ample and beautiful, showing an entrance by one door only. There were no windows in it, no openings, no light there, except through a small ray of the sun which poured in when the door was opened. All the timbers of the house were sweet-smelling and fragrant. The nearer he approached, the more he was delighted by the sweetness of its odor. And looking through the door, he saw a bed placed on the floor, and lying on the bed his Abbot. And when, having entered, he saw the Abbot dead, he began to wail and weep abundantly. And raising his eyes to the roof of the house, he saw the image of a man, shining beyond everything that the eye of flesh has beheld in this world; and the whole building shone as though lit by a thousand lamps. Through the midst of all the members of the image he saw as clearly as if he had been present on the other side. And the image appeared in the air in the middle of the house, supported by no aid beneath or above. Yet a certain somewhat dark little cloud was seen near the navel, which did not adhere to the light of the figure, but hung there for a little while, shifting. And behold, a man standing at his side, pleasing in countenance and dress, said to the Brother, who was marveling beyond words: "Why do you marvel? Why do you not rather look at your Father, who lies before you, dead as you suppose?" And he: "The glory of this image, Lord, has made me forget the death of my sweetest Father." And the other: "Your Father is not dead. For this figure which you see is his soul. And there remains in his works only so much to be illuminated as that little cloud which moves about the navel of the image. When that has been illuminated, he will pass to the Lord. And that you may know," he said, "that this image is his soul, behold, it enters his body." In the twinkling of an eye, that figure having glided into the body through his mouth, he at once saw the Abbot move, as if he wished to rise from his place. And for joy that Brother began to cry out so mightily that he compelled the other Brethren, rising from their beds, to rouse him.
[20] For a whole year before his death a dry cough, shaking his chest, together with other kinds of infirmities, so weakened him He suffers from a dry cough. that often, returning to his cell after celebrating the solemnities of Mass, he would lie motionless on his bed for an hour, able neither to speak nor to move himself. At length, having called the Brethren together, he said to them among other things: Wonderfully meek. "I call God to witness that, since I received the habit of religion, I have not blazed up at anyone's malice, detraction, or quarrel, nor has any agitation been able to await the end of the day in my heart, as I always loved peace and the welfare of the brethren and my own quiet. By the grace of God I have commanded this of my soul, that the sun should not set upon the disturbed patience of my mind."
[21] He foretells the day of his death to a certain man in sleep. The sick Abbot, appearing to a certain Brother as he slept, said: "When, Brother, do you think I shall pass over?" "I do not know, Lord," said he. And the Abbot: "On the day before the Ides of January my soul, the handmaid of the Lord, will depart from her earthly house, which she has inhabited until now." And so it came to pass. For on the second day after this, about the fourth watch of the night, He dies. on the day before the Ides of January, he passed to the Lord, a in the year of the Lord 1166, and in the fifty-seventh year of his life.
[22] This Abbot, while still living, when he was much afflicted by the colic and by the twisting of the stone, and, sitting on a mat beside the fire, He had suffered from colic and the stone. seemed to have his head right between his knees, a certain Brother came upon him, raging and gnashing his teeth cruelly, and seized the Abbot with his hands together with the mat, and threw him with all his strength into the fire, shouting and saying: "O wretch, behold, now I kill you, now I destroy you by a hard death. He pardons the one who had thrown him into the fire. Why do you lie here, most false one? From now on there will be nothing for you to lie about, for now you will surely die." Meanwhile the monks, coming up, drew the Father out of the fire, and, kindled with zeal, wished to lay hands on the son of pestilence. But, forgetful of his infirmity and mindful of charity, the Abbot commanded them, saying: "Do not, I beg you, do not, sons, strip your Father of the tunic of patience. I am not moved, I am not hurt, I am not troubled, because it is my son who threw me into the fire, and by this he has purged me, not destroyed me. He is my son: but he is sick. I indeed am not sound in body: but that sick man has healed me in soul." And taking his head, he kissed him, blessed him, embraced him, and, as though he had felt or suffered no harm, he strove sweetly to soothe the fury of one who was angry with him without cause.
Annotation