ON S. VENERANDUS, BISHOP OF AUVERGNE IN GAUL.
Beginning of the Fifth Century.
CommentaryVenerandus, Bishop of Auvergne in Gaul (S.)
From various sources.
[1] At Clermont in Auvergne, S. Venerandus, Bishop of that city, is venerated on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of February, as Ioannes Savaro attests, although he died on another day, as we shall say afterward. Concerning him Molanus in the Additions to Usuardus: The feast of S. Venerandus, "In the city of Auvergne, S. Venerandus, Bishop and Confessor." Saussay also treats of him and writes that this is the day of his ordination; Ferrarius also treats of him, and records him again on 28 January, citing the Records and Breviary of the Church of Clermont. But Ioannes Savaro is a more reliable witness, inasmuch as he wrote from Clermont, and besides, he establishes today's festivity on the authority of both the Martyrology and the Breviary of Clermont.
[2] His memory on other days. The same Ferrarius on 24 September: "At Auvergne, S. Venerandus, Bishop." He cites in his Notes the Martyrology of Canisius, in which the name of this Venerandus does not appear. But Surius, drawing from S. Gregory of Tours, treats of him and his successor S. Rusticus on that day; and it is the feast of Rusticus.
[3] His election. Concerning Venerandus, Gregory has this in book 2 of his History, chapter 13: "At Auvergne, after the passing of S. Artemius, Venerandus, one of the Senators, is ordained Bishop." And what manner of Pontiff he was, the Presbyter Paulinus attests, saying: "For if you see these priests worthy of the Lord, his holiness, whether Exuperius at Toulouse, or Simplicius at Vienne, or Amandus at Bordeaux, or Diogenianus at Albi, or Dynantius at Angouleme, or Venerandus at Auvergne, or Alethius at Cahors, or now Pegasius at Perigueux, however much the evils of the age may abound, you will surely see the most worthy guardians of the entire faith and religion." "He is reported to have passed away on the very vigil of the Lord's Nativity." So says Gregory. We shall treat of S. Artemius, his predecessor, on 24 January, his death, on which day Savaro writes that he died, so that it is not probable that Venerandus was consecrated on the 18th day of the same month, as Saussay maintains. For who would believe that after the death of S. Artemius the See was vacant for an entire year less six days, if one considers what the same Gregory writes about the election of S. Rusticus? The fragment cited here is not found in the works of S. Paulinus of Nola; and it is doubtful whether it is his, since S. Gregory calls him merely a Presbyter: it is perhaps by another Paulinus the Presbyter, by whom the life of S. Ambrose was written. Moreover, of those bishops among whom Paulinus numbers Venerandus, many have been enrolled in the tables of the Saints: S. Exuperius on 28 September, S. Simplicius on 11 February, S. Amandus on 18 June.
[4] His church. The same S. Gregory treats at length of the basilica of S. Venerandus, which was near that of S. Illidius, in his book on the Glory of Confessors, chapters 35 and 36, and of the bodies of various Saints discovered there; and concerning the relics of Venerandus himself he writes thus in chapter 37: His tomb; "There is also the tomb of S. Venerandus the Bishop himself, from whom this building took its name, set beneath a reading desk; over which whoever wishes puts his head through a small window, praying for whatever need compels, and he soon obtains the effect, if he has prayed justly. There also rests S. Nepotianus the Bishop, miracles, who was in the world a man of the highest sanctity, now obtaining by the power of the Lord whatever has been implored of him. Especially in the cure of fevers; For often a prayer poured out over these tombs by those suffering from fevers retains the desired medicine." We shall treat of S. Nepotianus on 22 October.
[5] In book 1 on the Saints, churches, and monasteries of Clermont, no. 10, the following is recorded: "In the church of S. Venerandus, relics, the altar of S. Julian and S. Basilissa of Antioch; the altar of S. Quintinus and S. Dionysius; the altar of S. Mary, where S. Venerandus and S. Linguinus and S. Nepotianus and S. Avitus and S. Clara and six thousand two hundred others rest in the body, whose names God knows." This church, as Savaro notes there, is today within the gardens of the monastery of S. Illidius.
[6] The relics of the Saint himself, in the year 1311, on the eleventh day before the Kalends of January, together with the relics of S. Illidius, were enclosed separately in the same casket by Bishop Arbertus, at the request of Guido Scotus, Abbot of S. Illidius, translated on 22 December, as the same Savaro attests from an old MS., from which he adds the following: "Moreover, some portion of dust and bones from the body of B. Venerandus was left in his chapel, under his altar, below the original tomb made under the reading desk." The same author cites an old record of S. Illidius, in which these words are read: "For in the monastery of B. Illidius, B. Venerandus the Bishop rests, out of love for S. Mary and other Martyrs." We shall treat of S. Illidius, who in French is called S. Allyre, on 14 December.
[7] The Translation of S. Venerandus is celebrated on 22 December, as the same Savaro attests, on which day Saussay recorded it in his Martyrology; and again, the very same translation, on 21 November. But on this 18 January, in a more extended eulogy, after other matters he writes thus, without indicating his source: Whether also earlier, to the church bearing his own name. "Moreover, at Auvergne the merits of his sanctity were so outstanding that, although he had been buried in the basilica of S. Illidius, afterward, shining with miracles, his venerable body was translated to a nearby building that had been erected in his honor, and which received its name from his, in which it remains conspicuous to this very day. His relics, set beneath a reading desk, under the altar, rested there for a long time. Until at length Bishop Adebertus, acceding to the request of Guido Scotus, Abbot of S. Illidius, enclosed them separately in the same casket with the relics of S. Illidius, and sealed it with his ring in the year of the Lord 1311, on the eleventh day before the Kalends of January, on which day the translation of the same is there commemorated," etc. Of the earlier translation from the church of S. Illidius to the basilica bearing his own name, there is no trace in S. Gregory of Tours or in Savaro.