Honoratus

ON ST. HONORATUS, ABBOT, AT FONDI IN ITALY.

Sixth Century.

[1] We have not yet found the name of the holy Abbot Honoratus in the older Martyrologies. He is celebrated in the Roman with this eulogy: "At Fondi in Campania, St. Honoratus the Abbot, whom the Blessed Pope Gregory mentions." The feast of St. Honoratus. He is also recorded on this day by the Carthusians of Cologne in their Additions to Usuard; Maurolycus; Felicius; Galesinius; Ferrarius in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy; and the German, Gallic, and Belgian Martyrologies; Arnold Wion; Hugh Menard; Benedict Dorgany; and Peter of Natali, Book 2, chapter 88.

[2] In a certain manuscript — though not very ancient — Calendar of Saints of the Order of St. Benedict, he is recorded on April 30 in these words: Commemoration on other days; "On the same day, of St. Honoratus, Abbot of Fondi." But in the Gallo-Belgian Martyrology, on December 17, on which day Ferrarius testifies that he is venerated by others, perhaps because of another feast of his on that day, he says.

[3] His deeds were described by St. Gregory, Dialogues Book 1, chapters 1 and 2, where he also indicates at what time he lived, his life, stating that St. Libertinus, his disciple, was Provost of the same monastery of Fondi in the time of Totila, King of the Goths, who reigned from the year 541 to 552; and that Lawrence, from whom St. Gregory received these accounts, and who was still alive his era, when he wrote these things, had been most intimate with him. From this one may correct what is noted in the margin of the German Martyrology, that he flourished in the year of the Lord 400.

[4] One might wonder in what location the monastery of St. Honoratus was situated, or what is the place called Fondi. Baronius and others understand it to be Fondi, a city of New Latium between Terracina and the river Liri, where the monastery was situated, but the fact that they place it in Campania, though it is on this side of the Liri, which is the boundary of Campania and Latium, is because it is now reckoned to the Terra di Lavoro, or Campania Felix, and the Kingdom of Naples. The Gallo-Belgian Martyrology expressly places it in Roman Campania, which is Latium. But Galesinius writes that the monastery was far from the city of Fondi, in Samnium: "At Fondi," he says, "in Samnium, also of St. Honoratus the Abbot," etc. — perhaps because Honoratus was born in Samnium. But St. Gregory seems to locate it in Campania in Dialogues Book 1, chapter 2: "At the same time," he says, "Buccellinus came with the Franks into the parts of Campania. Now a rumor had gone out from the monastery of the aforesaid servant of God that it possessed much money. The Franks entered the oratory and began in their rage to seek Libertinus, to call for Libertinus, where he lay prostrate in prayer. A truly wondrous thing: the Franks, seeking and raging, entered and stumbled upon him, yet could not see him; and so, frustrated by their own blindness, they returned empty-handed from the monastery." Buccellinus was a duke of Theudebert, King of the Franks in Austrasia; after he had ravaged widely in Italy for several years, he was at last defeated by Narses, as we shall note presently in the Life of St. Treverius.

LIFE FROM ST. GREGORY, Dialogues Book 1.

[1] The fatherland of St. Honoratus: There was once a villa belonging to the patrician Venantius in the region of Samnium, in which his tenant had a son named Honoratus. From boyhood he burned with love of the heavenly fatherland through abstinence. His abstinence, Since he excelled in so great a manner of life and already restrained himself from even idle speech, and greatly subdued his flesh through abstinence, as I have said, one day his parents made a feast for their neighbors, at which meats were prepared for eating. When he refused to touch these for eating out of love of abstinence, his parents began to mock him, saying: "Eat! Are we to bring you fish in these mountains?" mocked, For in that place fish were accustomed to be heard of, not seen. But while Honoratus was mocked with such words, suddenly at the feast the water for service ran out, and a servant went with a wooden bucket to the spring, as was the custom there. honored by a miracle. While drawing water, a fish entered the bucket; and the returning servant poured out the fish with the water before the eyes of the diners — a fish that could have sufficed for Honoratus's food for the entire day. All marveled, and all the mockery of his parents ceased. For they began to venerate in Honoratus the abstinence they had formerly derided, and so the fish brought from the spring wiped away from the man of God the reproach of ridicule.

[2] As he grew in great virtues, he was granted his freedom by his aforesaid lord, and in the place called Fondi he built a monastery, in which he became the father of nearly two hundred monks; The monastery built by him. and there his life gave everywhere examples of an outstanding way of life.

[3] For one day, from the mountain that towers above his monastery, an enormous mass of rock was dislodged, which, coming down the steep mountainside, threatened the ruin of the entire cell and the death of all the brethren. When the holy man saw it coming from above, Miracle of the falling rock, restrained by the sign of the cross, invoking the name of Christ with repeated cries, he immediately extended his right hand and opposed to it the sign of the cross, and fixed it in place on the very steep slope of the mountain, as the religious man Lawrence attests. And because there was no place to which it could adhere, it is still seen in such a way that, to those looking at the mountain, it appears to hang ready to fall.

[4] Peter: Do you think that this man, so outstanding, had a master before he became the master of disciples?

Gregory: I have never heard that he was anyone's disciple. What spiritual master he had. But the gift of the Holy Spirit is not bound by a rule. It is indeed the practice of a rightly ordered life that one who has not learned to be subject should not dare to preside, and that one should not command obedience from subjects who does not know how to show it to superiors. But nevertheless there are some who are so taught inwardly by the mastery of the Spirit that, even if they lack externally the discipline of a human master, they do not lack the judgment of the inner Master. Yet the freedom of their life should not be drawn as an example by the weak, lest, while each presumes himself similarly filled with the Holy Spirit, he disdains to be the disciple of a man and becomes a master of error. But the mind that is filled with the divine Spirit has its most evident signs — namely, virtues and humility — and if both come together perfectly in one mind, it is clear that they bear testimony to the presence of the Holy Spirit. For indeed John the Baptist is not read to have had a master; nor did the very Truth, who taught the Apostles by his bodily presence, bodily enroll him among his disciples. But the one whom he taught inwardly, he outwardly left, as it were, in his own freedom. So Moses, taught in the desert, learned from the angel a commandment which he had not known through any man. But these things, as we have said, are to be venerated by the weak, not imitated.

[5] At another time, Libertinus was traveling to Ravenna on a matter of the monastery, at the command of the abbot who had succeeded his master Honoratus. Out of love for the same venerable Honoratus, wherever Libertinus went he was always accustomed to carry his sandal in his bosom. And so, as he was traveling, it happened that a certain woman was carrying the little body of her dead son. When she caught sight of the servant of God, inflamed with love for her son, she seized the bridle of his horse and said with an oath: "You shall by no means depart unless you raise my son." But he, unaccustomed to such a miracle, was alarmed by her request and wished to avoid the woman's oath, but was unable to prevail and stood still in his soul. It is well to consider what and how great a struggle took place in his breast. For there humility of life and the compassion of a mother fought against each other: fear lest he should presume to attempt something unprecedented, and grief lest he should not come to the aid of a bereaved mother. But to the greater glory of God, piety conquered that breast of virtue, which was strong precisely because it was conquered; A dead child raised by the application of the relics of St. Honoratus. for it would not have been a breast of virtue if piety had not conquered it. And so he dismounted, knelt, stretched his hands toward heaven, drew the sandal from his bosom, and placed it upon the breast of the dead boy. As he prayed, the soul of the boy returned to the body; and he took him by the hand and gave him back alive to his weeping mother, and continued the journey he had begun.

[6] Peter: What shall we say this is? Did the merit of Honoratus accomplish the power of so great a miracle, or the prayer of Libertinus? By his merits and his disciple's faith.

Gregory: In the display of so admirable a sign, the virtue of both converged with the faith of the woman; and therefore I believe Libertinus was able to accomplish these things because he had learned to trust more in his master's virtue than in his own. For when he placed the sandal upon the breast of the dead little body, he clearly judged that the soul of that master would obtain what he asked. For Elisha too, carrying the mantle of his master and coming to the Jordan, struck the water once and by no means divided it. But when he said, "Where is the God of Elijah, even now?" he struck the river with the master's mantle and made a path between the waters. Do you see, Peter, how much humility avails in the working of wonders? He was able to display the merit of his master only when he brought the master's name back to remembrance. For because he returned in humility beneath his master, what the master had done, he too accomplished.

LIFE OF ST. TREVERIUS THE MONK,

drawn from an ancient manuscript of the Priory of St. Treverius by Peter Francis Chifflet, Society of Jesus.

Sixth Century.

CHAPTER I.

The monastic profession of St. Treverius; his journey to Bresse.

[1] We endeavor to set forth by pen, commending to memory, the life of the venerable man and model of religious devotion, the Blessed monk Treverius — what and how great were the struggles of toil he strove to undergo, and how, by showing excellent examples to our times, he has left his memory to the ages: so that not only might he receive the fruit of his toil, but also that he might teach all those whom he would afterward draw to the imitation of his labors that, after their glorious triumph, they may receive both the medicine of sins and the supplements of eternal reward. We must therefore trace the story from the very beginnings and the place where he arose.

[2] The birth, therefore, of the venerable and devout monk Treverius was within the regions of the Neustrians, of Roman stock, in the territory of Cahors. The fatherland and lineage of St. Treverius. In the district of Therouanne he sought out a monastery situated in the suburb of the city of Therouanne; and when all the clergy commended him with thanksgiving and full devotion to their abbot, after a common prayer had been offered to the Lord on his behalf, they had him received into the monastery. For at that time, when Gaul was under the authority of the consul Justin, the monastery itself was situated near a river called the Ulte and near the sea. There the blessed man Treverius, He becomes a monk in Belgium, obedient with entire devotion, when the years of his life had already reached forty, received the dignity of the clergy.

[3] When the kings of the Gauls and of the Franks were assuming the reins of their dominion after the removal of Imperial authority, and having set aside the rule of the Republic were enjoying their own power, it happened that Theudebert, son of Theuderic, once the son of Clovis, brought war upon Italy, crossing the Alps and disturbing Italy; and returning swiftly, leaving behind his dukes — to whom he had entrusted the supreme conduct of the wars — Mummolenus and Buccellinus, he himself hastened back to his fatherland. Two boys taken captive from Burgundy. But at that time, when the Frankish peoples were hostile in making war upon the regions of the Burgundians and leading back with them boyish captives, two little boys named Radigniselus and Salsufur from the district of Dombes, in the place called Bresse, near the river Saone, from the estate — or Utinga, which is six miles from the village of Prissianicus, where also a small stream flows past called the Monienta — were captured by the enemy and carried off to the region of the Neustrians, near the city of Therouanne. When the abbot of the aforementioned monastery inquired of those who held the boys redeemed by the abbot of St. Treverius: whether they would accept a price for them and deliver them into his power, they were glad to accept the price and sent them to the abbot through the Blessed Treverius.

[4] Then St. Treverius began to ask the boys whether they wished to return to their fatherland. By Treverius they are led back to their fatherland after three years. But they, indicating the desire of their wish with great groaning and tears, said they wished to return, and pledged with all the affection of their hearts that they would give a third part of all the property of their parents to whoever would bring them home. When the man of God Treverius had set forth everything to his abbot, after three years, provided with food, sustenance, and clothing, they were freely dismissed, and with the Blessed Treverius given as their companion, they began the journey with anxious heart.

[5] When they had entered the vastness of the wilderness and had been wandering for three days in the shadows of a forest called Memficus, the man of God Treverius, terrified lest they be devoured by beasts, fell to his knees and gave himself to prayer, that Christ might show them mercy and that they might have an angel as guide Guided by wolves, they return to the road, who would grant them the road of peace and the prosperity of travel by a direct route. When this prayer was completed, behold, beasts — namely two wolves — came gently with a tame appearance, with heads bowed, ears drooping, and tails wagging, indicating the way by going ahead of them along the path to the public road, and directing them from the error of the wilderness. From there they were able to recognize the course of the journey begun, and traveling toward their fatherland, they arrived in the diocese of the city of Lyons, in Bresse, at the aforementioned place.

CHAPTER II.

Holy life and death.

[6] Those who had been led from captivity brought to the man of God from all the substance of their parents. Treverius lives in a cell: Therefore the man of God Treverius, pondering piously in his heart lest earthly gifts separate him from devotion to Christ, is said to have told them: "Let the inheritance of your fathers suffice for you; nevertheless, grant this favor to my need: that beside your dwelling I may have a small cell and a little garden." This they joyfully undertook to do without delay and fulfilled.

[7] After this the aforesaid servant of God, pasturing their sheep for a long time, dwelt there, he tends sheep, considering these things within himself with sleepless meditation unceasingly: "If I return to the places from which I came here, I fear lest the length of the interval, having wearied me, prevent my return, and I incur the danger of whatever lands I may cross. But if the chance of escape, with divine protection assisting, should lead me there, I fear lest I be burdened by the undeserved weight of honor to be received, and thereby become a disobedient servant of the divine religious life I have undertaken."

[8] While he daily meditated upon these things, as has been said, he chose the preferable course: to undergo the solitude of exile for the name of Christ, recalling the Prophet David, who had not disdained to undertake the care of tending sheep; remembering also that Jacob had sought exile; and that Moses had been a stranger for a long time in the pilgrimage of a foreign land. And so, persevering day and night in psalms, devoted to contemplation and other virtues, hymns, spiritual canticles, fasts, vigils, and prayers, with an abundance of tears before the Lord, he strove to fulfill the labor of his desire, turning over within himself by what manner and mode of living he should order his life — since the thirty-eighth psalm says: "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and do not be silent, for I am a sojourner with you upon the earth and a pilgrim, as all my fathers were." Psalm 38:13. And again in another psalm: "Your statutes were my songs in the place of my pilgrimage." Psalm 118:54. And again: "None but a quiet mind can search the commandments of God." He also had recourse to the Lord's own saying: "Martha, you are troubled and busy about many things; but one thing is necessary. Luke 10:41. Mary has chosen the better part, which shall not be taken from her." For Martha's part is not condemned, but Mary's is praised. To hold fast the love of God and neighbor with the whole mind, to rest from outward activity, to cling unceasingly to the desire of one's Creator alone, so that one no longer wishes to do anything, but, having trampled upon all cares, the soul burns to see the face of its Creator: so that it already knows how to bear with grief the burden of corruptible flesh and with all its desires to long for the heavenly fatherland; to be present there in the hymn-singing choirs of the angels, to be mingled among the heavenly citizens, to rejoice in eternal incorruption in the sight of God; and that which, while placed in this life, we taste only the first beginnings of innermost contemplation.

[9] When now the Blessed Treverius was aged and had for a long time guarded his soul with such complete devotion, He visits holy places, he especially strove to attend the solemn celebrations of the holy Masses at the holy places in the vicinity, particularly at the village of Prissianicus in the diocese of the city of Lyons, on the days of the Lord's Resurrection. There he publicly placed the psalter that he had with him upon the holy altar, and having returned to his cell, after some time, while he was tending sheep in the field and persisting in his daily psalms and prayers, He dies at prayer, on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of February, on bended knees upon the ground, as he poured forth prayer to Christ the Lord, he gave up his spirit.

[10] When this manner of his end was made known throughout the region, the neighboring peoples thronged together in crowds and, digging out the earth with mattocks, they reverently laid his holy body in the very place where he had frequented his accustomed prayers, with his customary garment, He is buried, and without a wooden or stone vessel; and filling the grave with earth, they called the name of that place "Nonnifossa."

CHAPTER III.

Translation; miracles.

[11] Thus through a long stretch of time his holy memory fell into obscurity, until, when fourteen times seven years had now been completed and two men were still living He becomes renowned for miracles, who had seen him in this life, most numerous signs of virtues began to be made manifest from heaven near the tomb of the most holy man: the lame received the ability to walk, the blind received sight, the sick received health.

[12] It was revealed in manifold ways in nocturnal visions to certain Christians that it should be announced to an illustrious holy woman, She is ordered to raise his body, and being negligent is punished, who held wealthy estates near that place, named Epiphania, or Emenone, that the holy body should be raised from the depth of the earth with her consent by priests and laid in a tomb of proper burial. But when she was unwilling, fearing lest it be a deception of the enemy or an illusion of a dream — the Apostle saying that Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light and arranges his ministers, bringing night for day and darkness for salvation — when it was announced to her repeatedly to persevere in that holy work, since she was unwilling, she was struck in the brain of the head 2 Corinthians 11:14 so that she could not move herself. Then, having summoned priests to her, they began to deliberate what they ought to do in good time. Having taken counsel, the poor and the beggars were called together, along with her entire household and all her clergy, and together with the aforesaid holy woman, fasting by day and keeping vigils by night, they implored the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to show them what would be pleasing to God for them to do.

[13] Then it was revealed to one of the priests that the illustrious woman should not fear to carry out this holy work. She then, at the command of the clergy, caused priests to assemble there, together with many stipends for carrying out what had been announced. There was, moreover, a monastery called Ansilla near Prissianicus, at a distance of three miles. When the report had spread Those wishing to carry it off secretly are struck blind: of what they were preparing to do, the day before, during the night, three clergymen from that monastery of Ansilla came secretly, dug up the earth, and were trying to carry off the holy body by force. As they dug deeply, expecting to find stone or wood, one of the clergy struck the head of St. Treverius. Immediately struck blind and seized with stiffness, as if nailed fast, they could not move until the priests themselves, together with the holy woman and a multitude of the people, came. They recover their sight. But when prayer was made for them, they returned healed to their own place.

[14] [The body of the saint found intact after seventy years, breathing a pleasant fragrance.] But afterward the servants of God, bringing up the wooden cell that had been made there out of devotion for healing, found the body of the most holy Treverius, confessor of Christ, intact and whole with all his clothing, fragrant with many sweet odors. When many servants of God had assembled there, especially three aged priests, full of religious holiness — namely, the priest Symphorianus, the priest Trasulfus, and the deacon Eusebius, seniors in the clergy — raising the holy body, all within the radius of one mile perceived the fragrance of virtues, as of rose petals, and lilies, and balsam, and incense. Meanwhile, with the illustrious woman looking on from a distance, they laid him in a sarcophagus with the fear of the Lord and with the clergy singing psalms and candles burning, he is translated, just as he was clothed in his garments, removing nothing except holy relics from the hair of his head, and they placed him in the sepulcher and built a chapel above it of stone and mortar.

[15] An altar at his tomb. The Bishop Secundinus of the city of Lyons in Gaul immediately sent a holy altar there, which is situated at the foot of the holy sepulcher, where the offerings of Christ are poured forth today and the offices of prayer are performed; where also remedies for the sick, the vows of petitioners, and the comforts of blessings are afforded.

[16] Nor does it seem unfitting to insert into this work the things that were then done at that place. Miracles performed there. There was in the city of Lyons in Gaul a noble man named Vigofredus with his wife named Marcella, who had a daughter named Gallinia, disabled from her birth, contracted in all her limbs, and afflicted with weakness of the legs. Since she could not come by herself, they sent her with all care to the tomb of St. Treverius. A contracted girl healed. As soon as she was carried by hand to the holy tomb and laid prostrate on the pavement, all disability was driven out, health was restored, and she returned sound and exulting to her own parents. All the Christian people of both sexes and every age, praising the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, exulted continually in Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit in perfect Trinity lives and reigns as God for ever and ever. Amen.