Agnes

ON S. AGNES, VIRGIN AND MARTYR, AT ROME.

Third century.

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (S.)

[1] In the literature and languages of all nations, as S. Jerome writes in letter 8 to Demetrias, and especially in the churches, the life of Agnes has been praised, she who conquered both her age and the tyrant, The renown of S. Agnes, and consecrated the title of chastity by martyrdom. It would therefore be superfluous to gather the praises of the Holy Fathers who celebrate her, or the eulogies of the Martyrologies, in which she is called Agnes, Agne, Agna, and by the Greeks Hagne, that is, her feast, even among the Greeks; pure, chaste, inviolate. For the Greeks too venerate her on 14 and 21 January, and 5 July, and it is clear from the words of the Menaea that it is the same person in all these places. The Menaea on 14 January have the following: "On the same day, the holy Martyr Hagne, having been cast into a dark prison, meets her end."

"Hagne, the pure one, the impure casting into a house of darkness, Procured for her a house wholly radiant with light."

The same couplet is found on 21 January in the same Menaea, with a lengthy eulogy, which, because it differs not a little from the Latin Acts, we shall present separately, not because we think it should be believed in preference to these, but lest the reader be unaware of what others have reported concerning the Saint. But here the opening words of the couplet are expressed thus: "Hagne, the pure one, the lustful casting..." And on 5 July: "Hagne, the pure one, the lustful casting her into a house..." Concerning the Office of this day, Galesinius has much in his Notes on the Martyrology; and Gavantus in his Commentary on the Rubrics of the Breviary, section 7, chapter 3, who observes that, on account of her outstanding fortitude, the psalms from the Common of male Saints are said both at Matins and at Second Vespers: the Office of the feast, and the same are to be said at First Vespers in her own church, just as they are said on the feast of S. Agatha. Indeed, even if the feast should fall on Monday after Septuagesima Sunday, the feast of SS. Fabian and Sebastian having been transferred.

[2] The Acts of S. Agnes (whose author is believed to be S. Ambrose, and which are extant in volume 5 the Acts, of his Works, book 4 of the Letters, letter 34) were published by Surius; we have collated them with the manuscripts of S. Martin and S. Maximin at Trier, S. Omer, S. Mary of Ripatory, and not a few others, and with several more correct editions. The same most sacred Virgin is mentioned by the same S. Ambrose in book 1 of On Virgins and in his commentary on Psalm 104. And in book 1 of On Duties, chapter 4: "What shall I say," he asks, "of S. Agnes, who, placed in danger of two of the greatest things, chastity and life, protected her chastity and exchanged her life for immortality?" The hymn of Prudentius, Peristephanon 14, contains the contest of S. Agnes; other writings about her, which was also sung in verse about 700 years ago by Hroswitha, a most noble virgin. Among the works of Philip of the Abbey of Bonne-Esperance, of the Premonstratensian Order in Hainaut, there is an elegiac poem on the martyrdom and praises of S. Agnes, which begins:

"Let sacred Agnes gild the pen of her writer, Let her drench my tongue with a shower of nectar."

Others believe this to be by Hildebert of Le Mans; Gerard Johannes Vossius, John Pitts, and John Bale attribute it to Alexander of Esseby, an Englishman who flourished around the year 1220. We have collated it with an ancient codex of the finest quality. We have also found in the manuscript of Ripatory a not inelegant sermon on S. Agnes, whose opening is: "Since throughout the whole world the virginal flower of Mary weaves unfading crowns and preserves the scepter-bearing palace of modesty with immaculate devotion; to such an extent has integrity persevered unto the palm that it has seized the trophy of holiness in young girls, and through the footsteps of the Virgin Mother has arrived at the heavenly bridal chamber. Hence it is that Agnes declares herself to be betrothed by a ring of faith, and cries that she is bound by love," etc. S. Aldhelm the Bishop also mentions S. Agnes, in his book On the Praise of Virginity, book 2, chapter 6. Peter de Natalibus, book 2, chapter 107.

[3] Concerning the time of her martyrdom, Baronius writes the following in his Notes on the Martyrology: "It is sufficiently clear that she was crowned with martyrdom in the last persecution of the Church: The time of martyrdom: whether under Diocletian, for the Author reports that there were still some survivors who had seen with their own eyes the things that are narrated about Agnes, and had related them to Constantia, the daughter of Constantine." The opinions of others generally agree. We would like one scruple, though not a grave one, to be removed. The first is that in the history of the Finding, Agnes herself says that S. Benignus was her spiritual godson, whom she had lifted from the baptismal font and adopted as her son. But S. Benignus, in the Lessons of the ancient Breviary of Utrecht, is said to have been killed under Aurelian, who was slain nine years before Diocletian, the author of the last persecution, seized power. But we shall examine these Acts in their proper place.

[4] The second scruple is that what is found in the Acts, number 11: "Then the Vicarius, named Aspasius, ordered a great fire to be kindled in the sight of all," is expressed thus in the manuscript of S. Maximin: or under Gallienus. "Then the Vicarius named Aspasius Paternus, Proconsul from his lords and princes Valerian and Gallienus, ordered," etc. And there was an Aspasius Paternus who served as Proconsul under those same princes in Africa, who is mentioned in the Acts of S. Cyprian on 14 September. And the same was perhaps the Prefect of the City in the year of Christ 264 and 265, in the former of which Gallienus the Emperor was consul for the sixth time, and in the latter Valerianus the Younger for the second time. Again, in the year of Christ 281, in the consulship of Probus IV and Tiberianus, the Prefect of the City was Ovinius Paternus. But was he first substituted for Sempronius (or Symphronius, or Symphorianus, whose name is not found in the published catalogue of Prefects of the City), and afterwards held that prefecture in his own right? He is called Proconsul, perhaps because PR. was written, that is, Praefectus ("Prefect"), and was incorrectly read as Proconsul; or because the same man, or his brother, or father, or son, was also consul in the year 267 with Arcesilaus, the following year for the second time with Marinianus; and in the year 269, Claudius the Emperor for the second time and Ovinius Paternus, with no added note of a repeated third consulship, as if he were a different person. And indeed there could have been survivors from the time of Gallienus to the beginnings of Constantine's reign who could narrate the deeds of Agnes to the virgin Constantia.

LIFE OF S. AGNES, BY S. AMBROSE.

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (S.)

BHL Number: 0156

By S. Ambrose, from manuscripts.

CHAPTER I.

S. Agnes refuses to marry the son of the Prefect of the City.

[1] Ambrose, servant of Christ, to the sacred Virgins.

Let us celebrate the feast day of the most holy Virgin. Let psalms resound on one side, let readings echo on the other. Let the crowds of people rejoice on one side, and on the other let the poor of Christ be relieved. Let us all therefore rejoice in the Lord, and for the edification of Virgins, let us recall to memory how the most blessed Agnes suffered. In the thirteenth year of her age she lost death and found life, because she loved only the Author of life. She was reckoned a child in years, but her mind was of immense maturity: S. Agnes at thirteen youthful indeed in body, but aged in spirit; beautiful in face, but more beautiful in faith.

[2] While she was returning from school, she was loved by the son of the Prefect of the City. When he had sought out and found her parents, he began to offer many gifts and promise even more. She is loved by the son of the Prefect of the City: In the end, he had brought with him the most precious ornaments, which were refused by the blessed Agnes as so much dung. Whence it happened that the young man was goaded by an even greater stimulus of love. And thinking that she wished to receive better ornaments, she is courted with gifts; he brought with him the full glory of precious stones: and through himself and through friends, acquaintances, and relatives, he began to address the ears of the Virgin; promising riches, houses, estates, households, and all the delights of the world, if she would not refuse her consent to marriage with him.

[3] she rejects them: To this the blessed Agnes is said to have given the young man the following reply: "Depart from me, you kindling of sin, nourishment of crime, food of death: depart from me, for I have already been forestalled by another lover, who has offered me ornaments far better than yours, she professes herself betrothed to Christ: and has given me the pledge of his ring of faith, far nobler than you in both lineage and dignity. He has adorned my right hand with a priceless bracelet, and encircled my neck with precious stones: he has placed on my ears pearls beyond price, and surrounded me with blooming and glittering gems. He has set his seal upon my face, that I may admit no lover besides himself. He has clothed me in a garment woven with gold, and adorned me with immense necklaces. He has shown me incomparable treasures, which he has promised to bestow upon me if I persevere with him. Therefore I shall not be able, to the insult of my first lover, even to look upon another, and to abandon him to whom I am bound by love: whose nobility is loftier, whose power is mightier, whose countenance is fairer, whose love is sweeter, and who is more excellent in every grace than all others. By him a bridal chamber has already been prepared for me, his instruments resound for me with melodious voices, his virgins sing for me with the most righteous voices. Already I have received honey and milk from his mouth: already I am held fast in his chaste embraces: already his body has been joined to my body, and his blood has adorned my cheeks. His mother is a virgin, his father knows no woman. Angels serve him, the sun and moon admire his beauty: by his fragrance the dead are restored to life, by his touch the sick are healed: his wealth never fails, his riches do not diminish. To him alone I keep my faith. To him I commit myself with all devotion. When I love him, I am chaste; when I touch him, I am clean; when I receive him, I am a virgin. Nor shall children be lacking after the nuptials, where childbirth follows without pain, and fruitfulness is daily increased."

[4] when the suitor falls ill, Hearing this, the foolish young man is consumed by a blind love, and amid the anguish of mind and body he is tormented with panting breath. Thereupon he is laid low in bed, and through his deep sighs his love is revealed by the physicians. What had been discovered by the physicians is made known to his father; and in the father's voice the same things that had already been said by the son are repeated in petition to the Virgin. The most blessed Agnes refuses, and declares that she can by no means violate the covenant of her prior spouse. When the father said she is solicited by his parent: that he was holding the prefecture, being established in the fasces of office, and that therefore she ought by no means to prefer another, however illustrious, to himself, he nevertheless began vehemently to inquire who the spouse was, of whose power Agnes boasted. Then there arose a certain one of his parasites, who said that she was a Christian from her infancy, and so occupied with magical arts that she called Christ her spouse.

[5] Hearing this, the Prefect was overjoyed, and sending an apparitor with a great clamor, he ordered her to be brought before his tribunal. She is dragged to court. And at first he sought to win her over in private with flattering words, then assailed her with threats. But the Virgin of Christ was neither seduced by blandishments She is tested with threats and flattery: nor shaken by terror: but persevering with the same countenance and the same spirit, she equally mocked in her mind both the one who threatened and the one who flattered. Seeing, therefore, such constancy in the girl, Symphronius the Prefect addressed her parents. And because they were noble and he could not use force against them, he raised against them the charge of Christianity. On the following day he ordered Agnes to be brought before him, and returning again and again, he began to repeat the discourse about the young man's love. And when all his speech had failed with vain labor, he ordered her to be brought again before his tribunal; and he said to her: "The superstition of the Christians, of whose magical arts you boast, unless it be separated from you, you will not be able to cast off the madness of your breast, nor to give your consent to the most reasonable counsels. Wherefore it is necessary that you hasten to venerate the Goddess Vesta, so that if the perseverance of virginity is pleasing to you, you may devote yourself to her sacrifices day and night."

[6] She laughs at the gods. To this the blessed Agnes said: "If I refused your son, though vexed by an unjust love, yet a living man, a man endowed with reason, who can hear, see, touch, and walk, and enjoy the brightness of this light with the good; if then I can by no reason look upon this man for the sake of the love of Christ, how can I worship dumb and deaf and senseless and lifeless idols, and bow my neck to vain stones to the injury of the Most High God?" Hearing this, Symphronius the Prefect said: "I wish to have regard for your childhood, and for this reason I delay while you blaspheme the gods, because I see that your years are below the age of understanding. Do not therefore so despise yourself that you incur the anger of the gods." The blessed Agnes said: "Do not so despise the youth of my body as to think that I wish to have you as my advocate. For faith is carried not in years but in understanding: and Almighty God approves minds rather than ages. As for your gods, whose anger you do not wish me to incur, let them be angry themselves: let them speak, let them command this of me, let them order themselves to be worshiped, let them order themselves to be adored. But since I see that you are striving for what you will not be able to obtain, do whatever seems good to you."

d Others read in.

CHAPTER II.

Superior to the brothel and the flames, she is struck with the sword.

[7] Symphronius the Prefect said: "Choose one of two things: either sacrifice with the virgins of the Goddess Vesta, or you shall be made a harlot in the company of prostitutes at a brothel. And far from you shall be the Christians, who have so imbued you with magical arts that you trust you can endure this calamity with undaunted spirit. Therefore, as I said, either sacrifice to the Goddess Vesta to the credit of your lineage, or to the disgrace of your birth, you shall be a public prostitute of common abjection." Then the blessed Agnes said with immense constancy: She scorns the threats of public prostitution. "If you knew who my God is, you would not utter these things from your mouth. Therefore, because I know the power of my Lord Jesus Christ, I despise your threats with confidence, believing that I shall neither sacrifice to your idols nor be polluted by the defilements of others. Relying on the protection of an Angel. For I have with me the Angel of the Lord as guardian of my body. For the only-begotten Son of God, whom you do not know, is an impenetrable wall to me, and a guardian who never sleeps, and a defender who never fails. Your gods, however, are either made of bronze, from which cooking pots are better fashioned for human use; or of stone, from which streets are better paved to avoid the mud. Divinity therefore does not dwell in vain stones, but in heaven; not in bronze or any metal, but abides in the heavenly kingdom. But you and those like you, unless you withdraw from the worship of these things, a similar punishment will encompass you. For just as those idols were melted by fire to be cast, so those who worship them will be melted by perpetual fire: not to be cast, but to be confounded forever and to perish."

[8] She is led to the brothel. At this the maddened judge ordered her to be stripped and led naked to the brothel, with the voice of a herald proclaiming: "Agnes, a sacrilegious virgin who hurled blasphemy against the gods, is given over as a prostitute to the brothels." But as soon as she was stripped, with her hair unbound, naked, but covered by her hair: divine grace granted such thickness to her hair that she appeared better covered by its fringes than by garments. Upon entering the place of shame, she found an Angel of the Lord prepared there, who surrounded her with an immense light, so that no one could either touch her or see her because of the splendor. For that entire cell shone as the radiant sun in its strength: and the more curiously anyone tried to look, the place divinely illuminated, the more his eyesight was blunted. And when she had prostrated herself in prayer to the Lord, there appeared before her eyes a garment of the purest white. And taking hold of it, she put it on, saying: she receives a garment from an Angel: "I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, who, counting me among the number of your handmaids, have commanded that this garment be bestowed upon me." For the garment was so fitted to the measure of her small body, and so conspicuous with exceeding whiteness, that no one doubted it had been prepared by angelic hands alone.

[9] Meanwhile the brothel became a place of prayer: in which everyone who entered would adore and venerate, and giving honor to the immense light, would go out more pure than he had come in. While these things were happening, the Prefect's son, who was the author of this wickedness, came to the place with his young companions, as if to mock the girl, with whom he believed he could carry out the sport of his lust. The lustful son of the Prefect, suffocated by the devil; And when he saw the frenzied youths who had entered before him, raging shamefully, come out with all veneration and immense admiration, he began to reproach them as impotent and to judge them vain and soft and wretched. And mocking them, he boldly entered the place where the Virgin was praying. And seeing so great a light around her, he did not give honor to God: but rushing into the light itself, before he could even touch her with his hand, he fell upon his face and, suffocated by the devil, expired. When his companions saw that he was lingering within, they thought he was occupied with obscene acts. And one of the youths, who was more intimate with him, entered as if to congratulate him on his insult: and finding him dead, he cried out with a loud voice, saying: "Most pious Romans, come to our aid! This harlot has killed the Prefect's son by magical arts."

[10] Suddenly there is a rush of the populace to the theater and a varied outcry of the frenzied people. Some called her a sorceress, others innocent, others cried out that she was sacrilegious. But the Prefect, hearing that his son had perished, came to the theater with immense tumult and grief. And entering the place where the body of his son lay lifeless, he said with a great cry to the most blessed Virgin: "Most cruel of all women, you have chosen to demonstrate the proof of your magical art upon my son!" And when he repeated such words and others of this kind, and vehemently demanded from her the causes of his death, the most blessed Agnes said to him: "He whose will he wished to fulfill, that one received power over him. But why are all who entered to see me unharmed? Because they all gave honor to God, who sent his Angel to me, who both clothed me with this garment of mercy and guarded my body, which has been consecrated and offered to Christ from the very cradle. Seeing therefore the angelic splendor, having given the father an account of the event, they all worshiped and departed unharmed. But this shameless one, as soon as he entered, began to rage and roar; and when he was reaching out his hand to touch me, the Angel of the Lord delivered him to the reprobate death which you behold." The Prefect said to her: "In this it will be apparent that you have not done these things by magical arts, if you will beseech that same Angel to restore my son to me alive." To whom the blessed Agnes said: "Although your faith does not deserve to obtain this from the Lord, nevertheless, since it is the time for the power of my Lord Jesus Christ to be manifested, she raises him by her prayers: go out, all of you, that I may offer my customary prayer to him." And when all had gone out, prostrating herself on her face, weeping, she began to beseech the Lord to raise the young man. And while she was praying, the Angel of the Lord appeared, who raised her as she wept, and strengthening her spirit, raised the young man to life. He went out and began to proclaim with a public voice, saying: "There is one God in heaven and on earth and in the sea, who is the God of the Christians. For all temples are vain; all the gods who are worshiped are vain, and can offer absolutely no help either to themselves or to others."

[11] At this voice all the soothsayers and pontiffs of the temples were thrown into confusion, and through them a sedition of the people more violent than before broke out. And all cried out with one voice: "Take away the sorceress, take away the witch, who both changes minds and alienates spirits." But the Prefect, seeing such marvels, was struck with amazement. Yet fearing proscription if he should act against the pontiffs of the temples and defend Agnes against his own sentences, he left a Vicarius as judge to deal with the sedition of the people. He himself departed in sorrow, because he had not been able to free her after the raising of his son. Then the Vicarius, named Aspasius, ordered a great fire to be kindled in the sight of all, she is cast into the fire by the Vicarius, and commanded her to be thrown into the midst of the flames. When this had been done, the flames immediately divided into two parts and were burning the seditious people on either side, unharmed; but the fire did not touch the blessed Agnes in the slightest. All the more the people, attributing this not to divine powers but to sorcery, she praises God: roared among themselves and sent up infinite cries to heaven. Then the blessed Agnes, stretching out her hands in the midst of the fire, poured forth a prayer to the Lord in these words: "Almighty, adorable, worshipful, awesome Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I bless you, because through your only-begotten Son I have escaped the threats of impious men and have traversed the filth of the devil by an unpolluted path. And behold, now through the Holy Spirit I am bathed in heavenly dew: the fire beside me dies, the flame divides, and the heat of this conflagration is poured back upon those by whom it is administered. I bless you, O Father worthy of all praise, who permit me to come to you unafraid even amid the flames. Behold, now I see what I believed; what I hoped for, I now hold; what I desired, I embrace. You I confess with my lips, you I desire with my heart, you I long for with all my being. Behold, I come to you, the one and true God; who with our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, and with the Holy Spirit, live and reign for ever and ever, Amen."

[12] the fire extinguished, she is slain with the sword. And when she had completed her prayer, the entire fire was so extinguished that not even the warmth of the conflagration remained. Then Aspasius, Vicarius of the city of Rome, not enduring the sedition of the people, ordered a sword to be plunged into her throat. And by this death, bathed in the rosy redness of her own blood, Christ consecrated her as his bride and Martyr.

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Prudentius describes this miracle more explicitly:

"Having so spoken, he orders the Virgin To stand publicly at the bend of the street. The sorrowful throng shrank from her as she stood, Averting their faces, lest too boldly Anyone should gaze at the revered place. One by chance cast his eyes impudently Upon the girl, nor hesitated to gaze Upon the sacred form with lustful eye. The more impudent gaze punished from heaven. Lo, a winged fire like lightning Is hurled blazing and strikes his eyes: Blinded by the flashing light he falls, And writhes in the dust of the street. His companions lift him half-dead from the ground, And mourn him with funereal words. The Virgin went on in triumph, singing A sacred song to God the Father and to Christ, That beneath the stain of profane danger The chaste brothel, inviolable, Her victorious virginity had proved to be. There are those who report that, when entreated, She poured forth prayers to Christ, that he might restore Light to the youth lying prostrate: then the breath Of life was renewed in the young man, with sight restored."

But it may be debated whether this does not combine another miracle with that of the prostrate and revived son of the Prefect.

CHAPTER III.

The death of S. Emerentiana. The conversion of Constantia.

[13] Her parents, having no sorrow whatsoever, took away her body with all joy, and placed it on their small estate, not far from the city, on the road called the Nomentana. And when the whole crowd of Christians gathered there, Those praying at her sepulcher are attacked by the Pagans: they suffered an ambush from the pagans: and seeing the crowd of unbelievers approaching armed, all fled. A few, however, escaped wounded by the blows of stones. But Emerentiana, who had been her foster-sister, a most holy virgin, though still a catechumen, stood firmly, undaunted and immovable, and rebuked them with these words: "Superfluous, wretched, perishable, and most atrocious people, you kill those who worship Almighty God, and for the defense of stones you slaughter innocent men." While she was saying these and similar things to the raging mobs, she was stoned by them, and praying beside the tomb of the most blessed Agnes, she gave up her spirit. Whence there is no doubt that she was baptized in her own blood, Emerentiana, rebuking them, is killed. she who for the defense of righteousness, while confessing the Lord, steadfastly accepted death. Then in that very hour there was a most violent earthquake: and although the sky was perfectly clear, there were such flashes, such lightning and thunder, that a very great part of the maddened populace perished. Many perish in the sudden storm. Whence it came about that no one at all from that time stirred up any troubles against those coming to the tombs of the Saints. But the parents of the blessed Agnes, coming with priests at night, took away the body of the holy Virgin Emerentiana and buried it in the border of the little field of the most blessed Virgin Agnes.

[14] When, therefore, the parents of the blessed Agnes were keeping vigil at her tomb in continual nightly watches, they saw in the silence of midnight an army of Virgins, S. Agnes appears to her parents, with other virgins. all clothed in garments woven with gold, passing by with immense light: among whom they saw the most blessed Agnes, shining in a similar garment, and at her right hand a lamb standing, whiter than snow. When her parents and those who were with them saw this, they fell into a kind of stupor of mind. But the blessed Agnes asked the holy Virgins to halt their steps for a moment, and standing, she said to her parents: "See that you do not mourn me as though I were dead: but rejoice with me and congratulate me, because with all these I have received a radiant dwelling, and I am joined in heaven to him whom, while placed on earth, I loved with all the attention of my soul." And having said this, she passed on.

[15] This vision was daily spread abroad publicly by all who had seen it. Whence it came about that after some years this event was narrated to Constantia, daughter of Constantine Augustus, by those who had seen it. For Constantia the Queen was herself a most prudent virgin, but so beset with sores that from head to foot no part of her limbs remained free. Having received counsel, Constantia is healed of her ulcers by the aid of S. Agnes, with hope of recovering her health, she came to the tomb of the Martyr by night: and although a pagan, yet with a believing intention of mind, she faithfully poured forth prayers. While she was doing this, she was seized by a sudden sweetness of sleep, and saw in a vision the most blessed Agnes, offering her these admonitions: "Act with constancy, Constantia, and believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God and your Savior, through whom you will now obtain healing from all the wounds which you suffer in your body." At this voice Constantia awoke, healed, so that not even a trace of any wound remained on her limbs.

[16] Returning therefore to the palace in perfect health, she brings joy both to her father Augustus and to her brothers the Emperors. The whole city is crowned: there is gladness among the soldiers and civilians, and all who hear these things. She has a church built for her. The unbelief of the nations was confounded, and the faith of the Lord rejoiced. Meanwhile she begs her father and brothers the Augusti to have a basilica of the blessed Agnes built, and she ordered a mausoleum to be placed for herself there. This report runs to all, Many miracles there. and as many believers as came to her tomb were healed, whatever infirmity had held them. That Christ does this even to the present day no one doubts. Moreover Constantia, daughter of Constantine Augustus, persevered in virginity: through whom many virgins, both of middling, noble, and illustrious rank, received the sacred veil. [Constantia with other virgins preserves her virginity, by the example of S. Agnes.] And because faith does not suffer the losses of death, to this very day many Roman Virgins attend upon the most blessed Agnes as though she remained in the body; and provoked by her example, they persevere manfully in their integrity, believing without doubt that those who persevere will obtain the palm of perpetual victory.

[17] These things I, Ambrose, servant of Christ, having found written in hidden volumes, have not suffered to be covered by unfruitful silence. To the honor therefore of so great a Martyr, as I have learned of her deeds, I have written them down: and for your edification, O Virgins of Christ, I believed the text of her passion should be sent to you, beseeching the love of the Holy Spirit, that our labor may find fruit in your imitation in the sight of the Lord, Amen.

THE SAME ACTS FROM THE GREEK MENAEA.

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (S.)

From the Greek Menaea.

[1] The holy Martyr Hagne was born in the city of Rome, of illustrious parentage. She ordered her life in a manner befitting her name, and taught the word of truth to many women who came to her, S. Agnes converts many. and exhorted them to acknowledge Christ as God and to venerate him alone. When these things had been reported to the Prefect, she was immediately arrested and brought before his tribunal, and ordered to sacrifice to the gods; if she refused, having professed her faith, she was to be dragged to a brothel. But she said: "I will neither sacrifice to your gods, nor will I suffer any stain upon my virginity. I trust that by the protection of my God, in whom I confide, I shall escape unharmed." Hearing this, the most wicked judge summoned a pimp and delivered Hagne to him -- she who expressed the force and meaning of her name by the most blameless conduct -- she is condemned to a brothel: and ordered her to be paraded clothed in a single garment, for a public display.

[2] But when she arrived at the workshop of Satan, whoever wished to insult her modesty entered, with no one forbidding it but rather all encouraging them to abuse her freely and with impunity: but suddenly they would freeze with stupor, all lust suppressed, those who approached being struck from heaven, like dead men. Then a certain one, thinking himself clever, boastful and mocking those who had entered before him, like a horse rushing with a kind of fury into lust, approached the holy Virgin with shameless audacity. one of them killed But immediately he fell lifeless to the ground. And when no small time had elapsed, one of those who stood by, seeing what had happened, cried out: "Great is the faith of the Christians!" The rest entering, all cried out with one voice: "Great is the power of Christ!"

[3] When these things had been reported to the Prefect, the Virgin was again brought before his tribunal, and at the same time the lifeless body was dragged into view. Then the Prefect said: "Tell me, wicked woman, how you killed this youth." But she said: "When you ordered me to be dishonored, as soon as I was led away, a youth clothed in white garments followed me, by an Angel, and entering, stood beside me, and then quenched the desire of the other young men, and the one whom you see here lifeless, he himself -- when the youth entered with impudence and audacity -- before he could touch me, before he could speak a word, reduced him to the form and condition which you behold." The Governor said: "And who was he?" Hagne answered: "The Lord my God sent his Angel, who forbade any injury to be done to me." she raises him by her prayers: But the Governor said: "If you want us to believe you, invoke your God and raise this man." The Martyr, raising her hands to heaven, prayed to God, and immediately the dead man arose. All were astounded at this unprecedented marvel, and the Governor himself and many of the bystanders exclaimed: "Great is the power of the Christians! Truly great is the God of this most noble Virgin." But certain impious and impure men cried out: "Take her away, for she does these things by magical tricks, performing things that seem greater than the ordinary manner." Therefore he commands the Virgin to be consumed by fire. she dies in the fire. And when a great pyre had been raised, the Saint, signing herself, entered intrepidly into the midst of the flames: and when she had completed her prayers with her lips, she left her body and departed to Christ. Then, when the flames had subsided, certain Christians secretly gathered her venerable relics and buried them with honor, celebrating God with praises.

CHAPTER III.

The death of S. Emerentiana. The conversion of Constantia.

THE SAME ACTS FROM THE GREEK MENAEA.

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (S.)

From the Greek Menaea.

ON THE RELICS OF S. AGNES.

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (S.)

From various sources.

Section I. Basilicas and relics of S. Agnes at Rome.

[1] Very many churches of the Christian world boast that they preserve and venerate the relics of S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr. Perhaps they possess some part of them; since Rome claims for itself most of the bones of her sacred body; or they are certainly relics of another Agnes: for many holy virgins have borne that name. For to say nothing of Agnes of Montepulciano, recently enrolled in the calendar of Saints, Many holy Virgins called by the name of Agnes. whose life we shall give on 20 April; of Agnes, sister of S. Clare, a most devout virgin, not yet honored on earth with the honors of the blessed, but commonly honored at Assisi with the appellation of Saint, as Ferrarius attests on 28 August; of Agnes, Countess of Braine, afterwards professed in the Premonstratensian institute, whose piety Saussaius proclaims on 31 March; of Agnes, sister of B. Juliana, celebrated with the same praise of piety, whom we have said is recorded on this day by some in the catalogue of the Pious, by others on 5 April; of that most noble Agnes, daughter of the Emperor Louis of Bavaria, who died most holily at the age of seven on 11 November; to say nothing finally of many others, whose virtue is adorned with the illustrious praises of writers -- above on 13 January, in the Acts of S. Potitus, mention was made of an Agnes who was the daughter of Antoninus Pius and was baptized, although we do not know what end of life she met: another, on 18 January, in the narrative of the Translation of S. Archelaa and her companions, is mentioned as the blessed Virgin Agneta. Another is recorded by Antonius Gallonius, a holy Roman virgin Agnes, from William of Tyre, book 18, chapter 5. Another is found in Octavius Pancirolus, in the Hidden Treasures of the Noble City, region 2, church 61: B. Agnes, Abbess of the monastery which was once at the basilica of S. Agnes on the Via Nomentana, of which more below. Another was Agnes from the glorious company of S. Ursula, Virgin and Martyr, whose relics we have here at Antwerp in the church of the professed house of the Society of Jesus. We suspect that to other anonymous Virgins also the names Agnes or Agna were given, as were Victoria, Felicitas, Fortunata, Vincentia, and other names of that kind, either by the Pope who permitted the exhumation of their bodies, or by the one who exposed them for public veneration: we know for certain that this has been done in some cases; nor can we disapprove, since it is established that the names of Saints have sometimes been changed by the authority of the Roman Pontiff and by the heavenly prompting of the Saints themselves; thus S. Mengor ordered himself to be called Megengaudius; thus the Pontiff directed that S. Knut the King be called Canutus. And indeed, certain Saints are celebrated under different names among different peoples.

[2] However this matter may stand, the principal relics of the Roman S. Agnes are preserved in the City itself, The church of S. Agnes at Rome, built by S. Constantia; laid in various basilicas. The chief of these is the one which Constantia Augusta had built on the Via Nomentana (which led from the formerly Viminal Gate -- now, since that is blocked up, from the Porta Pia, which Pope Pius V built -- to Nomentum, a town of the Sabines), and ordered a mausoleum to be placed for herself there, as was stated in the Acts. There she herself also dwelt with the daughters of S. Gallicanus, Attica and Artemia, as we shall say in her life on 18 February; and this is clear from the book On the Roman Pontiffs, in the entry on Liberius, where the following is found: "Liberius, returning from exile, dwelt in the cemetery of S. Agnes with the sister of Constantius Augustus, as if through her intervention or petition Liberius might return to the city. But Constantia Augusta, who was faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, was unwilling to entreat Constantius Augustus her brother, because she perceived the scheme of treachery." We shall treat of this whole matter more fully on 23 September in the life of S. Liberius, and on 29 July in the life of S. Felix II, Pope.

[3] adorned by S. Liberius; Here Liberius, as the same book has it, adorned the sepulcher of S. Agnes the Martyr with marble tablets. The church, weakened by age, was restored by Honorius I, who held the see under the Emperor Heraclius. restored by Honorius I. The same book on Honorius: "At the same time he built the church of the blessed Agnes the Martyr, three miles from the city of Rome, on the Via Nomentana, from the ground up, where she rests; which he adorned and embellished on every side, and where he placed many gifts. He adorned her sepulcher with silver, weighing 252 pounds. He placed over it a bronze gilded canopy of wondrous size. He also made four golden plates, each weighing one pound. He made the apse of the same basilica in mosaic, where he also offered many goods." Gabatae, or gabati, are dishes or platens. Afterwards toward the end of the eighth century, Pope Hadrian I, by Hadrian I. as Anastasius the Librarian writes in his life, renewed from the ground up the church of the blessed Agnes the Martyr, or the basilica of the blessed Emerentiana, and likewise the church of the blessed Nicomedes situated outside the Porta Nomentana, and also the cemetery of the blessed Martyr Hippolytus near S. Laurence, which had fallen into decay in earlier times.

[4] by Julius II. Long afterward, Julius II, who sat from the last of October 1503 to 21 February 1513, rebuilt the church of S. Agnes, as Ciacconius writes in his life. Finally, Cardinal Alessandro de' Medici turned his attention to the restoration of that church, who was afterwards called Pope Leo XI. by Leo XI. The work begun by him was continued by Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati, by Cardinal Sfondrato, nephew of Gregory XIV, who adorned that church with a notable coffered ceiling: and undertaking to repair the high altar, he found the very bodies of SS. Agnes and Emerentiana, who found the relics there; which were afterwards honorably replaced by Paul V on the very feast of S. Agnes. Concerning the same Cardinal Sfondrato, the compiler who enlarged Ciacconius writes: "He sought, found, and arranged for the religious burial of the bodies of the holy Virgins and Martyrs Cecilia and Agnes (to say nothing for now of the relics of other Saints), and adorned the churches of both (that of Cecilia especially) with no common embellishment: he ordered ninety lamps in S. Cecilia's and ten in S. Agnes's to burn perpetually day and night at his own expense."

[5] Pope Paul V himself also adorned that church. Abraham Bzovius is a witness in his life: as also Paul V. "In addition to these things," he says, "Paul V erected in the suburban church of the holy Virgins and Martyrs Agnes and Emerentiana an altar of the most precious stones, in elaborate mosaic work; and enclosed their sacred relics in a silver casket worth 5,000 gold coins. For the solemn pontifical celebrations to be performed with majesty, he procured an episcopal tiara, most richly adorned with diamonds and pearls, worth 70,000 gold coins."

[6] Here, therefore, the body of S. Agnes is preserved, or at least its principal bones: for the head and other parts of the body are elsewhere, as we shall presently say. A vast throng of people gathers here on the twelfth before the Kalends of February, the feast day of the most holy Virgin. Lambs are blessed on this day. On that day two snow-white lambs are blessed with ancient ceremony: from their wool palliums, or stoles marked with various crosses, are woven, with which it is the custom for the Pontiff to be clothed when he performs solemn services. Octavius Pancirolus and Andreas Fulvius, in his book Roman Antiquities, chapter 12, report this.

[7] "There exists," says Baronius in his Notes on the Martyrology, "not only the illustrious basilica of S. Agnes on the Via Nomentana; but that place also where she was brought out, so that her virginity might be violated, The place of the Saint's prostitution, held sacred. is held sacrosanct, namely the very arches of the Circus Agonalis." Andreas Fulvius treats of that Circus in Roman Antiquities, book 4, chapter 18, and reports that it is now called the Agone, or Piazza di Navona. But in Pancirolus, region 12, church 7, it is called simply Navona.

[8] Other relics of hers at Rome: In the basilica of the Holy Savior, called "At the Holy Stairs," there are said, on the testimony of the same Pancirolus, to be preserved in silver cases the heads of the holy Virgins Agnes and Praxedes: an arm and one finger in S. Peter's in the Vatican: certain other relics of hers in S. Mary Major, a piece of her garment in S. Louis's, a piece of her girdle in the monastery of S. Martha near the Roman College, and other relics in other churches.

[9] other churches elsewhere. That many churches in Italy were dedicated to S. Agnes is clear from the Sanctuaries of Peregrinus Merula of Cremona and the Capuan work of Michael the Monk.

Section II. Relics of S. Agnes at Utrecht.

[10] At Utrecht, an ancient and noble city of Lower Germany, and throughout its entire diocese, Relics at Utrecht: the feast day of S. Agnes has for many centuries been customarily solemnly observed; because relics of hers are deposited there, celebrated with very many and very great miracles. But when they were brought there from Rome is not established. For although Aubert Miraeus, Johannes Molanus, our Heribert Rosweyde, Johannes de Beka, and other more recent writers maintain that this was done through Baldric the Pious, tutor of S. Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne, in the time of Otto I; brought there by B. Baldric the Pious, this is neither proven by the testimony of any earlier writer, nor is it consistent with the ancient records of that Church. It is indeed true that there is this old quatrain:

"Bishop Baldric made Utrecht magnificent, Which, utterly destroyed by the Danes, he restored; Noble and pious and worthy of every honor, Through whom came hither Pontius, Agnes, and Benignus;"

and Baldric did bring the relics of Pontianus from Italy: but it does not immediately follow that he also received the remains of Benignus and Agnes from the same place. not from Italy,

ON THE RELICS OF S. AGNES.

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (S.)

From various sources.

Section I. The basilicas and relics of S. Agnes at Rome.

[1] Very many churches of the Christian world boast that the relics of S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, are preserved and venerated among them. Perhaps they possess some portion of them, since Rome claims for itself most of the bones of her sacred body; or else they belong to another Agnes: for there have been many holy virgins of that name. For to pass over Agnes of Montepulciano, recently enrolled in the register of Saints, Many holy virgins called by the name of Agnes. whose life we shall give on 20 April; to pass over Agnes, the sister of S. Clare, a most devout virgin, not yet honored with the honors of the Blessed on earth, yet everywhere at Assisi customarily honored with the appellation of Saint, as Ferrarius attests under 28 August; to pass over Agnes, Countess of Braine, and afterwards professed in the Premonstratensian order, whose piety Saussaius commends on 31 March; to pass over Agnes, the sister of B. Juliana, celebrated with the same praise of piety, whom we have said is commemorated by some on this day in the catalogue of the Pious, by others on 5 April; to pass over that most noble Agnes, daughter of Emperor Louis of Bavaria, who died most holily at the age of seven on 11 November; to pass over, finally, very many others whose virtue is adorned with the distinguished praises of writers; above, on 13 January, in the Acts of S. Potitus, mention was made of an Agnes who was a daughter of Antoninus Pius and was baptized, although we do not know what end of life she met: another blessed Virgin Agnes is mentioned on 18 January in the narrative of the Translation of S. Archelaa and her companions. Another holy Roman Virgin Agnes is reported by Antonio Gallonio, from William of Tyre, book 18, chapter 5. Another is recorded by Octavius Pancirolus in the Hidden Treasures of the Blessed City, region 2, church 61: B. Agnes, Abbess of the convent which once stood at the basilica of S. Agnes on the Via Nomentana, of which more below. Another was Agnes from the glorious company of S. Ursula, a Virgin and Martyr, whose relics we have here at Antwerp in the church of the professed house of the Society of Jesus. We suspect that on other anonymous virgins as well the names Agnes or Agna were bestowed, just as Victoria, Felicitas, Fortunata, Vincentia, and other names of that kind were, either by the Pontiff who allowed their bodies to be exhumed, or by the one who exposed them for public veneration: we know for certain that this was done in some cases, nor can we disapprove, since it is established that the names of Saints were sometimes changed both by the authority of the Roman Pontiff and by the heavenly admonition of the Saints themselves; thus S. Mengor ordered that he be called Megengaudius; thus the Pontiff decreed that S. Knut the King should be called Canutus. What of the fact that certain Saints are celebrated under other names among other peoples?

[2] However that matter may stand, the City itself has preserved the chief relics of S. Agnes of Rome, The church of S. Agnes at Rome built by S. Constantia; deposited in various basilicas. The chief of these is the one that Constantia Augusta caused to be built on the Via Nomentana (which leads from the gate formerly called the Viminal, now, since that has been blocked up, from the Porta Pia, which Pope Pius V built, to Nomentum, a town of the Sabines), and she placed her mausoleum there, as has been stated in the Acts. There she herself also dwelt with the daughters of S. Gallicanus, Attica and Artemia, as we shall say in his life on 18 February; and it is clear from the book On the Roman Pontiffs under Liberius, where the following is found: Now Liberius, returning from exile, dwelt in the cemetery of S. Agnes with the sister of Constantius Augustus, so that through her intervention or entreaty Liberius might return to the city. Then Constantia Augusta, who was faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, refused to entreat Constantius Augustus, her brother, because she had perceived the plan of deceit. We shall treat of this whole matter more fully on 23 September in the life of S. Liberius, and on 29 July in that of S. Felix II, Pope.

[3] Adorned by S. Liberius; This Liberius, as the same book records, adorned the sepulchre of S. Agnes the Martyr with marble panels. The church, weakened by age, was restored by Honorius I, who held the see during the reign of Heraclius. Restored by Honorius I. The same book under Honorius: At the same time he built the church of B. Agnes the Martyr, at the third milestone from the City of Rome, on the Via Nomentana, from the ground, where she rests; which he everywhere adorned and furnished, and there he placed many gifts. He adorned her sepulchre with silver, which weighed 252 pounds. He placed over it a bronze-gilt ciborium of wondrous size. He also made four golden dishes, each weighing one pound. He made the apse of the same basilica in mosaic, where he also offered many fine things. Dishes, or gabati, are platters or bowls. Afterwards, toward the end of the eighth century, Pope Adrian I, By Adrian I. as Anastasius the Librarian writes in his life, renewed from the foundations the church of B. Agnes the Martyr, or the basilica of B. Emerentiana, and likewise also the church of B. Nicomedes situated outside the Porta Nomentana, as well as the cemetery of B. Hippolytus the Martyr near S. Lawrence, which had decayed in ancient times.

[4] By Julius II. Long after, Julius II, who reigned from the last day of October 1503 to 21 February 1513, repaired the church of S. Agnes, as Ciacconius writes in his life. Finally, Cardinal Alexander de' Medici, who was afterwards called Pope Leo XI, turned his attention to the restoration of that building. By Leo XI. Cardinal Paulus Aemilius Sfondrato, Cardinal Sfondrato, nephew of Gregory XIV, continued the work begun by him and adorned the building with a distinguished ceiling: and having undertaken to repair the high altar, he discovered the very bodies of SS. Agnes and Emerentiana, Who found relics there; which were afterwards honorably replaced by Paul V on the very feast of S. Agnes. Of the same Cardinal Sfondrato, the continuator of Ciacconius writes: He sought and found the bodies of the holy Virgins and Martyrs Cecilia and Agnes (I pass over in silence the relics of other Saints), and had them reverently enshrined, and adorned the churches of both (especially that of Cecilia) with no ordinary devotion: in S. Cecilia's he ordered ninety lamps, and in S. Agnes's ten lamps, to burn perpetually day and night at his own expense.

[5] The Pontiff Paul V himself also adorned that temple. Abraham Bzovius in his life is a witness: As also Paul V. Besides these things, he says, Paul V erected for the holy Agnes and Emerentiana, Virgins and Martyrs, an altar of the most precious stones, in ornate mosaic work, in their church outside the city; and he placed their sacred relics in a silver chest worth 5,000 gold coins. For the performance of Pontifical rites with majesty, he acquired an episcopal tiara, most richly adorned with diamonds and pearls, at a cost of 70,000 gold coins.

[6] Here, therefore, the body of S. Agnes is preserved, or at least the principal bones of hers: for the head and other parts of the body are elsewhere, as we shall presently say. A vast throng of people flocks here on the twelfth before the Kalends of February, the birthday of the most holy Virgin. Lambs are blessed on this day. On that day two snow-white lambs are blessed according to an ancient ceremony: from their wool pallia are afterwards woven, that is, stoles marked with various crosses, with which it is the custom for the Pontiff to vest himself when he celebrates solemn sacred rites. This is reported by Octavius Pancirolus and Andreas Fulvius in his book of Roman Antiquities, chapter 12.

[7] There exists, says Baronius in his Notes on the Martyrology, not only the distinguished basilica of S. Agnes on the Via Nomentana; but also that place where she was led forth so that her virginity might be violated, The place of the Saint's prostitution, held sacred. is held sacrosanct, namely the very arches of the Circus Agonalis. Andreas Fulvius treats of that Circus in Roman Antiquities, book 4, chapter 18, and reports that today it is called the Agone, and piazza di Navone. But according to Pancirolus, region 12, church 7, it is simply called Navona.

[8] Other relics of hers at Rome: In the basilica of S. Salvator, which is called Ad Scalas Sanctas At the Holy Stairs, there are reported, on the testimony of the same Pancirolus, to be preserved in silver cases the heads of the holy Virgins Agnes and Praxedes: an arm and one finger in the Vatican church of S. Peter: certain other relics of hers in S. Maria Maggiore, a part of a garment in S. Luigi, a part of a girdle in the monastery of S. Martha near the Roman College, and other relics in other churches.

[9] Other churches elsewhere. That very many churches in Italy were dedicated to S. Agnes is evident from the sanctuaries recorded by Peregrinus Merula of Cremona and by the Capuan Michael Monachus.

Section II. The relics of S. Agnes at Utrecht.

[10] At Utrecht, an ancient and noble city of Lower Germany, and throughout its entire diocese, Relics at Utrecht: the feast day of S. Agnes has for many centuries past been solemnly observed; because her relics are deposited there, celebrated by very many and most illustrious miracles. But when they were brought there from Rome is not established. For the claim that this was done through Baldric the Pious, the tutor of S. Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne, in the time of Otto I -- as Aubert Le Mire, Johannes Molanus, our Heribert Rosweyde, Johannes de Beka, and other more recent writers maintain -- is neither proved by the testimony of any more ancient writer, nor is it consistent with the old records of that Church. That old quatrain is indeed genuine:

Bishop Baldric magnified Utrecht, Brought there by B. Baldric the Pious, Which, utterly destroyed by the Danes, he restored; Noble and pious and worthy of every distinction, Through whom came hither Pontius, Agnes, Benignus;

and Baldric did bring the relics of Pontian from Italy: but it does not immediately follow that he also received the remains of Benignus and Agnes from the same place. Not from Italy,

[11] Johannes Molanus in the Feast Days of the Saints of Belgium writes thus: The relics of Agnes are held at Utrecht in the Lower Country. For Baldric, the fifteenth Bishop of Utrecht, As many writers state; son of Count Rixfrid of Cleves, restored his city, which had been devastated by the Norsemen, and further adorned it with sacred relics. For in the year 966, as Becanus writes, crossing the Alps on certain matters of utility for the Church, he sought the presence of King Otto; and bidding him farewell, he brought back with him the bodies of the holy Martyrs Pontian, Benignus, and Agnes. From which time the feast of S. Agnes on the 21st of January has been most celebrated throughout the entire diocese. The day of the Translation is the 4th before the Nones of September. We have given the very words of Johannes de Beka on 14 January when we treated of the Translation of S. Pontian; and we showed that Baldric appears to have gone to Italy not in 966 but in 967, and to have returned in 968.

[12] Molanus adds: It is not likely, however, that the Romans gave all the relics of so famous a Martyr to the people of Utrecht, but only a portion, Nor the whole body; since the body itself is affirmed by all inhabitants to be preserved among them. Nor in the Utrecht Martyrology is more read than that her relics are held at Utrecht in the Lower Country. Although I know that the merits of Otto, through whom these things were obtained, were so great that they would not have denied even the chief relics of the holy Virgin to an importunate prince. The same Molanus in the Index of the Saints of Belgium: The relics of S. Agnes, the most celebrated Virgin, rest honorably in a tomb at Utrecht in the cathedral church. He adds the same account of the Translation from Italy through Baldric, and adds: The day of the Translation is the 4th before the Nones of September. Aubert Le Mire writes that through the intervention of Emperor Otto, Baldric obtained from the Roman Pontiff, and brought with him from Italy to Utrecht, the bones of S. Agnes the Virgin, and likewise of SS. Pontian and Benignus, Martyrs.

[13] But from the History of the Finding of the relics of SS. Agnes and Benignus, it is clear that they were carried away from Rome long before; but afterwards, Only from another church. lest they should be exposed to the fury of the pagan Danes, they were buried, and finally discovered in the time of Baldric, and given to him by a friendly Count, with the assistance perhaps of Archbishop S. Bruno, and transported to Utrecht to the cathedral church of S. Martin. We have received this history from an old manuscript of the Church of S. Paul at Utrecht; a certain abridgment of it had been copied by Rosweyde in his own hand from a manuscript of Rouge-Cloitre, and the same is found nearly identical in an old Breviary of the Church of Utrecht for 2 September.

[14] [A threefold translation of them: 1. from Italy, 2. into the Cathedral under Baldric,] A threefold Translation of S. Agnes was therefore made: the first, in the time of Clovis I, as is suggested in the same history, or perhaps of Clovis III, from Italy into Gaul. But the day of this Translation is uncertain, its memory obliterated: nor is it sufficiently established to what place they were brought, as we shall say below. The second Translation occurred on the day before the Kalends of April, in the year of Christ 964, indiction 7, on the fifth day of the week, as is evident from the manuscript history. We have found it recorded in no Martyrology except the manuscript Florarium. In it it reads thus: At Utrecht in the Lower Country, the Translation of S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, performed by Baldric, the fifteenth Bishop of that city, in the year of salvation 964.

[15] 3. In the year 1421 into a new shrine. The third, under Frederick of Blankenheim, the fifty-first Bishop, was performed on 2 September, of which the same Florarium records on that day: At Utrecht in the Lower Country, in the principal church of S. Martin, the elevation, or translation, of the body of S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, performed by the venerable lord Frederick, the third of that name, the fiftieth Bishop of the same Church, in the year of salvation 1421. The Carthusians of Cologne in their additions to Usuard: At Utrecht in the Lower Country, the Translation of S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr. Canisius: Likewise at Utrecht in Holland, the elevation of the holy Virgin and Martyr Agnes. The Martyrology, or Register, of the Charterhouse of Utrecht: The Translation of Agnes to Utrecht. Molanus in his supplement to Usuard: On the same day at Utrecht, the Translation of Agnes the Virgin.

[16] The same Molanus, as we have noted above, in the Index and the Feast Days of the Saints of Belgium, considers that on that day the memory of the first translation is observed, which Saussaius also wrote: At Utrecht, he says, the reception of the relics of S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, which Baldric, Bishop of that See, having brought from Italy together with the sacred relics of the Blessed Martyrs Pontian and Benignus, placed in his cathedral church to be honored with perpetual veneration. We have already said, and it will be more clearly apparent below, that they were indeed placed by B. Baldric in the cathedral church, but not brought by him from Italy. Although, moreover, the translation that occurred in the time of Baldric took place not on 2 September, The 2nd and 3rd Translations are observed on 2 September, but on 31 March, the fifth day of the week, on Holy Thursday, nevertheless it began to be observed on this day with an anniversary celebration after Bishop Frederick relocated those relics more honorably in another shrine on the same date: and in the old Utrecht Breviary there was on that day a double Office of the Canons; which in the new Breviary, conformed to the Roman rite, was entirely omitted. But of SS. Benignus and Pontian there is no mention on that day in it, nor in any other Martyrology that we have seen, except the Gallican Martyrology of Saussaius. The feast of S. Benignus, Bishop and Martyr, is celebrated in the old and new Breviary on 28 June.

[17] By decree of Frederick III, Bishop. The first five Lessons of the old Office for 2 September contain the history of the Finding performed in the time of Baldric; the sixth records the occasion for instituting the celebration on that day, and reads thus: Frederick, Bishop of Utrecht, ordained that this day of the Translation in honor of B. Agnes the Virgin should be solemnly and devoutly venerated in the aforesaid Church of Utrecht in perpetuity with each year's return. In which same church, the same Virgin was on the same day honorably placed in a most precious shrine by the aforesaid Bishop; and there she shines forth with many miracles, through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. The author of the Florarium above, at number 15, reports this was done in the year 1421; but Thomas a Kempis in the Chronicle of Mount S. Agnes, chapter 28, records the year 1414. When and by whom the third was performed; It should also be noted, he says, that in the year of the Lord 1414, in the time of the Lord Frederick of Blankenheim, the reverend Bishop of Utrecht, the holy relics of the most blessed Virgin Agnes were transferred from their old wooden chest into a new silver chest, beautifully gilded on the outside, with great reverence, on the day after the feast of S. Giles the Abbot, the second day of the month of September, by the honorable Lord Hermann Lockhorst, Dean of the principal Church of S. Martin the Bishop, who was the principal agent of this new translation of the holy relics of S. Agnes into the new silver chest adorned with gold. The old chest was afterwards carried to Mount S. Agnes, as will be said below. Lest anyone suspect that that Translation, or Finding, through Lambert the Priest, at the prompting of Amolwin, occurred in the time of Frederick and not of Baldric, Different from that which occurred under Baldric. the certain chronological markers, the codex from which we have transcribed this history (which is much older than the time of Frederick), and finally other arguments all argue against it: and the old Office itself acknowledges that it happened when Otto I was Emperor.

[18] At the time when the people of Utrecht exchanged Catholic rites for Calvinist delusions, pious men concealed the relics of S. Agnes Those relics are now hidden. lest they, like other relics of the Saints, be destroyed by fire or by some other unworthy means. Saussaius writes that they were transferred to France long before, but does not cite his authority. We shall nevertheless give below what he reports concerning the relics preserved in France, wherever they may have been brought from. Concerning the gifts customarily given even now at Utrecht on this and S. Pontian's day, we spoke on 14 January when we treated of the Translation of S. Pontian, and noted that they are called Pontian and Agnetian gifts. Gifts at that place on the feast of S. Agnes.

Section III. Some relics of the same in France.

[19] Out of order, we inquire where the remains of S. Agnes were first taken and when they were carried from Rome, after it was shown in the preceding chapter that they were not brought from Rome by B. Baldric to Utrecht, Relics of S. Agnes brought to Villa Vidua near the Loire; but from some place in Gaul. The History of the Finding records that Villa Vidua was demolished to nothing by the Danes, ascending by pirate fleet up the Loire river, since it was situated on the very bank of the river bed: and that it was at that time a royal estate; and that by royal munificence a monastery had been built there, exalted with many honors of royal dignity, so that King Clovis, who was the first of the Frankish kings to be both instructed and baptized by S. Remigius, Archbishop of Reims, and to submit his neck to the yoke of Christ, soon built it in honor of Christ, enriching it with many possessions, exalting it with very many gifts, and endowing it with the patronage of innumerable Saints, and he gathered there no small congregation of those serving God, etc.

[20] When we first read this, we understood it to refer to some place situated near the city of Utrecht, and took the Loire river, which in the Breviary of Utrecht is called Ligera, to be the Lek, which borders the eastern side of the island of the Batavians from the branching of the Rhine, Not among the people of Utrecht, and was formerly the boundary between the Gauls and the Germanies, and perhaps received its name from some legion deployed at fixed stations. There are those who believe that Utrecht, and the entire nation of the Batavians and Frisians, obeyed the rule of Clovis; and was illuminated with the Christian faith as soon as he himself embraced it: which is not so unreasonable that, if proved by the testimony of an ancient writer, it could not be believed, since the Sicambri, bordering on the Batavians, were Franks, or mingled with the Franks; and in their province at Tolbiac, which is now the town of Zulpich in the territory of Julich, Clovis devoted himself to Christ after the victory over the Alemanni. Nor, however, is it sufficiently proved by ancient records either that Utrecht was under Frankish dominion before the times of Pippin of Herstal and Charles Martel, or that the people were imbued with the mysteries of the faith before the age of S. Willibrord. For what the Abbot of Ursperg writes, that S. Sigibert gave the episcopate of Utrecht to S. Koniochus, since he confirms this by the authority of no ancient writer, and since he errs in many respects in the Gallic history of that period, it ought not to be considered a sufficiently valid argument to compel us to acknowledge that there were already bishops at Utrecht at that time; especially since Upper Utrecht then had its own bishops. S. Remaclus was given by King S. Sigibert as bishop after S. Amandus, as we shall say on 3 September, and the name of Remaclus seems to have been corrupted into Koniochus.

[21] And if the relics of S. Agnes had been placed there by Clovis I, they would have needed to be buried not only on account of the Danish incursions, but much more on account of the hostile disposition of the Frisians toward our religion, and this for several centuries. For in the life of S. Willibrord, Then pagans; which we shall give on 7 November, it is written thus: Therefore the man of God with his companions, as we have said above, set sail, until with a favorable course he lowered his sails at the mouth of the Rhine river, and there they were refreshed by the welcome landfall of the shore; and soon they arrived at the fortress of Utrecht, which is situated on the very bank of the river, in which also after some time, by God's gift and the growth of the gift of faith, S. Willibrord himself had the see of his episcopate. But because the same Frisian nation, in which that fortress was built, together with their King Radbod, was still polluted by pagan rites, etc. Wherefore, when the earlier opinion, concerning relics found in the vicinity of Utrecht, was agreeable to us, we thought that the name of Clovis III had been substituted for that of Clovis I. For Clovis III succeeded his father Theodoric about the year 690 and reigned four years, around which time the Frisians were subdued by Pippin of Herstal.

[22] But it now seems to us far more probable that the Loire should be understood here as that most celebrated river of Gaul, near which, in some monastery founded in those heroic times of Clovis I, the relics of S. Agnes But in Celtic Gaul, and of S. Benignus, Bishop of Chartres, were deposited; in the ninth century, when the Danes or Normans were savagely ravaging the Gauls, they were buried; and finally, about the year 961 or 962, they were found; and three years later a portion of them was given by Count Thiadbold to B. Baldric, Bishop of Utrecht, who held the chief authority with S. Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne, Whence they were brought to Utrecht; as his tutor. And perhaps it was through the influence of S. Bruno that Thiadbold was induced to comply with his pious wishes, since Bruno was not only the brother of Emperor Otto, but the uncle of King Lothair and of Hugh Capet, Duke of the Franks, and had come to Gaul about that time to reconcile his nephews, as has been said in the life of S. Patroclus on this same day.

[23] Whether some relics of S. Agnes were retained there and afterwards deposited at Breuil-Saint-Benoit, or whether, as Saussaius maintains, they were brought here from Utrecht, is uncertain. That relics were carried away from Utrecht is nowhere mentioned by Beka or Heda, writers on Utrecht affairs; but Saussaius writes thus on this day: The Triumph of S. Agnes, most illustrious Virgin and Martyr: whose glorious trophies of combat and the brilliant honors of her virginal palm the most holy and eminent Fathers, namely Ambrose and Augustine, as well as Maximus of Turin and Gregory the Great, celebrated magnificently with almost competitive praise. Her most sacred body, long after her passion, was brought from Rome into the Gauls, together with the body of S. Pontian the Martyr, and was honorably placed at Utrecht by Baldric, Bishop of that See, Some to Paris, during the pontificate of Benedict VIII, in his cathedral church. From there it was conveyed to the monastery of Breuil-Saint-Benoit, of the Cistercian order, in the diocese of Evreux; the greater part was finally transferred to Paris, by permission of Pope Paul III, and solemnly placed in the most famous church of S. Eustache, which had originally been distinguished under the name of that most holy Virgin, by Charles, Bishop of Megara, Abbot of Saint-Magloire, acting on behalf of Cardinal Jean du Bellay, Bishop of the city: where it is preserved to this day with great veneration in a silver reliquary overlaid with gold on every side. The precious head of the same glorious athlete of Christ is kept with fitting honor at Rouen in the noble basilica of S. Ouen, Some to Rouen; whither it was auspiciously transferred from the aforesaid monastery of Breuil lest it be subject to the impious attacks of the raging heretics who in the same century ravaged the Gallic sanctuaries, plundering everything in their path. So he writes. But he errs regarding the Pope Benedict; it was not VIII but V who held office about that time. Perhaps a portion of the head is at Rouen, since the head is also said to be at Rome.

[24] The same Saussaius also inscribed in his Martyrology the day on which these holy relics were brought from the monastery of Breuil, situated on the river Eure, to Paris, namely 18 April: At Paris, he says, On which day to Paris. the reception of the relics of S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, from the monastery of Breuil-Saint-Benoit in the diocese of Evreux, performed in the year of salvation 1545, in the abbatial church of S. Magloire in Paris, by Charles, Bishop of Megara, Abbot of Saint-Magloire, by the authority of Pope Paul III and with the consent of the Bishop of Paris, Jean, with great triumph of ecclesiastical ceremony.

[25] Some are found at Melun, That certain relics of the same holy Virgin were found at Melun is attested by Saussaius on 22 September: On the Sunday after the feast of S. Matthew, he says, there took place at Melun on the Seine a miraculous finding of relics of S. Gregory the Pope, and of the Blessed Bishops Aspasius and Blasius, of B. Mary Magdalene, and also of S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr: which were placed with fitting honor in the monastery of S. Peter.

[26] The Metropolitan Church of S. Peter at Cologne holds, among other illustrious relics of the Saints, At Cologne, as Erhard Winheim testifies in the Sacrarium of Cologne, an arm of S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr: whether of this one or of another, it is not for us to inquire.

[27] At Brussels, Among the relics also of the Palace of Brussels, there are various particles of the relics of S. Agnes. In the Sacrarium of the professed house of the Society of Jesus at Antwerp there is a tooth and a broken bone of S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, for the other Agnes, companion of S. Ursula, has been mentioned before. At Antwerp.

HISTORY OF THE FINDING AND TRANSLATION OF SS. AGNES AND BENIGNUS THE BISHOP, FROM GAUL TO UTRECHT,

from an old manuscript of S. Paul's at Utrecht.

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (S.)

BHL Number: 0165

FROM MANUSCRIPTS.

CHAPTER I.

The relics of SS. Agnes and Benignus, once buried, are revealed to Amolwin, a peasant.

[1] At the time when, during the raging of Danish cruelty, the sword of persecution so savaged the regions of Gaul In the time of Danish devastation, that, as the sins of the people demanded, it nearly reduced the land to a desert, with the inhabitants led away into captivity; in that same tempest the places of the Saints, by God's permission, in punishment of crimes, did not cease everywhere to be utterly ruined. Now Villa Vidua (for so it was called by the inhabitants) was demolished to nothing by the same Danes, ascending by pirate fleet up the Loire river, since they found it situated on the very bank of the river bed. For it was at that time a royal estate, The relics of S. Agnes and S. Benignus and by royal munificence a monastery had been built there, exalted with many honors of royal dignity, so that King Clovis, who was the first of the Frankish kings to be both instructed and baptized by S. Remigius, Archbishop of Reims, and to submit his neck to the yoke of Christ, soon built it in honor of Christ, enriching it with many possessions, exalting it with very many gifts, and endowing it with the innumerable patronages of the Saints, and he gathered there no small congregation of those serving God. Among the very many relics of Saints, he placed there with precious veneration the precious Martyr Benignus, namely the Bishop of Chartres, together with the thrice blessed Martyr and Virgin Agnes.

[2] When the aforesaid persecution threatened, the custodians of the sanctuary did not delay in hiding the treasure of the holy relics in the recesses of the excavated earth. For, as has been said, Buried in the earth: the invading pagans levelled to the ground the place that had shortly before been raised to heaven, and scarcely today do traces of its former state survive, nor does the present age recall such great buildings except in a few remains. For even now a mere chapel rejoices in a few or even a single priest, where once innumerable monks flourished within the cloisters of the monastery in the struggle of holy religion. Now in the first year of the reign of the most Christian Emperor Otto Augustus, and the ninth of King Lothair, a divinely granted revelation was made of the holy bodies of B. Benignus, Martyr and Bishop, and also of S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr of Christ; and it was made in this way: Revealed to a Priest; Although a certain priest of the same church had often been admonished from heaven in dreams about this matter, distrustful of the vision, he at first treated it with rather too much negligence: but the divine dispensation, which in all things surpasses the capacity of the human mind in a wondrous way, choosing the most humble things of the world to shame the mighty, But when he neglected it, willed that this too should come to the knowledge of our salvation through a person of humility.

[3] Now it happened that a certain peasant, at the command of his master, set out for the forest with a wagon and yoked teams of oxen to fell timber for building. He himself, exhausted by labor, climbed onto the vehicle in the manner of a peasant, intending to rest a little while before the work ahead, To Amolwin the peasant, by S. Agnes herself, and succumbed to a sleep not his own. Soon S. Agnes appeared to him in a vision, calling him by his own name: Are you awake, are you awake, Amolwin? For so he was called. I am Agnes, a Virgin of Christ; do not fear: put faith in my commands: do not believe me to be a phantom. Not you alone, but a considerable part of the earth will prove that what I reveal to you is true. God, the lover of the humble, does not disdain, through you who are despised by men, to make known to the world a matter of this kind, as it has seemed otherwise to Him. Go, therefore, and tell Lambert the Priest that he should no longer delay, to his own harm, in unearthing and bringing to light the body of Benignus the Martyr and mine; for he is the Bishop of Chartres who shed his blood for the name of Christ, and he was my spiritual godson, whom, having raised from the regenerating font of his mother, I adopted as my son; and now I rejoice that he is present as a companion in heaven. Beneath the eaves of his church, in trenches dug in the earth toward the south, he will find an altar with glass tablets shattered over it, near which he will discover the sarcophagus of Benignus, and at its head mine also. If perhaps he does not wish to believe your words through these signs, objecting that you are deluded by vain dreams, as a liar, you shall add these further instructions without fear: bid him persist in searching, so that at least through these things he may prove you, and acknowledge that you assert true things, not false. Between the very place of the trench to be opened and the Loire river, at equal distances measured from either side to the middle, with a vineyard's space between, a well will be found by the searchers in the middle, stopped up when the inhabitants cast in various goods for safekeeping during the aforesaid tempest of the Danes. With the place indicated, and other signs. When it has been cleaned out and its water has risen to the top, two bells of good metal will be found at the bottom. Let him not waver in believing you after at least these things have been tested, nor defer any longer in carrying out these commands. For let him announce to the people that our feast days are to be celebrated. Let him not fail to declare the feast day of Benignus the Martyr on the vigil of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul; as for mine, known to the world, he need not make it known to anyone. Here that angelic spirit, putting an end to his discourse, withdrew to his own abode.

[4] Amolwin, awakened as it seemed to him from sleep, long wavered in doubt whether these things had happened while he was awake or while he was sleeping. When at last he came to himself and saw that the wagon, not straying from the path, had been brought to the very tree that he had marked the day before for the work, he believed the vision, and did not doubt, greatly marveling, that this had been accomplished by divine power. Without delay he soon set about the work, The Saint admonishes him again; loaded the wagon, and hastened to accelerate his return. On the following day, however, the same vision appeared to him in the customary manner of the former, rebuking him rather sharply for negligence and threatening that he would suffer punishment if he did not hasten to carry out the commands. Soon roused from sleep, he was struck with fear; he did not delay in reporting what he had seen to the Priest. But while this matter was being whispered about among his people, it did not escape the notice of Thiadmar, the master of works. Beaten by his lord Thiadmar on that account, For he was beaten by him with a severe thrashing and was completely prevented from going. He was reproached for laziness in his work, and accused of fabricating vain dreams on that account, so as to be free from labor: he was pressed more violently than usual, willing or not, to add effort to effort.

[5] What more? On the third day, as he made his way toward the forest, a third vision was not lacking, adding this to the former ones and strengthening him with these consolations: She consoles him: Do not fear, she said, that your being beaten on account of my commands will go unavenged. This sorrow will be turned to joy for you, and to a heap of grief and pain for him: he will learn, even against his will, both that you speak the truth and that through you he will incur a retribution of suffering. But do not withdraw your foot from what you have begun before you have set forth all things in order. When the slumber departed, mindful of the command, he left the yoke-teams there with the wagon, and hastening on foot with swift running, he secretly, apart from the elder, laid bare the whole matter afresh to the Priest alone.

CHAPTER II.

The relics found by Lambert the Priest.

[6] The Priest, also not sufficiently believing him, judging the peasant's words less fairly, put off what he had heard and dulled his mind to such matters. She appears also to the Priest himself, Not giving credence to the signs he had heard, he endeavored to investigate the cause of the truth. But not long after, when the morning hymns were finished, as he was of good conduct among his people and his life was not at odds with his conduct, while he laid his limbs upon his bed and sleep crept over him; as he was gently lulled to sleep, the Virgin appeared to stand before him, of such elegant beauty that nothing could surpass it, reproving him not gently for his negligences; and threatening that unless he assented to the peasant's words and hastened to fulfill the commands, he would not escape the guilt of what had been entrusted to him. Awakened by these words, the Priest, not free of fear, turned his mind this way and that through every anxiety, yet still wavered in mind whether this had happened by divine agency: he sought refuge in the Church, taking good counsel, and asked the Lord that, if this admonition were by His pleasure, he might not be denied being admonished once more, or, if he should presume to speak, a third time. Again, And he, offering prayers not in vain, was divinely heard. For on the following night, as the dawn broke through the darkness, he was similarly admonished as on the day before. And a third time. For on the third night, at the very twilight between night and dawn, when sleep customarily steals over the resting more lightly than usual, uncertain, as he often attested, whether fully awake or asleep or under the cloud of a dream, as he lay there, but, as he more truly affirms, sleepless, S. Agnes stood before him a third time. For naming herself thus, she said: I am Agnes; why do you doubt, Lambert? Why do you hesitate so greatly to assent to my admonitions? Cast away fear: do not be afraid of offending any human face, nor concern yourself with delaying the return of your master, whom you perhaps fear from the enemy. Let go of dread, and by fulfilling the command, the Lord will be with you. Saying these things, and repeating again all the records of the signs and places, she set forth in order what had previously been indicated through the peasant.

[7] Scarcely had the vision ceased when the shadow of sleep vanished from him; and he, not doubting the matter, having given thanks to God, soon summoned those of the same Church whom he knew to be of sounder mind and more faithful to God than the rest, and set forth and explained to them in full the same vision, the message of the vision, and the whole truth of the matter from the beginning. All of them, offering unanimous counsel, attempted to carry out the effect of their counsel, with God's permission, and did so. At once all set about the work, The relics are found. together with the Priest; with mattocks they did not delay in digging the earth deep at the designated place. When it was uncovered, the treasure long hidden in the recesses of the earth was publicly brought to light. Nor were signs lacking there. For the well did not conceal what it held from the searchers, but all things, just as they had been foretold, were found by them readily -- to the faithful for testimony, to the unfaithful for a stumbling block. Therefore, when the relics of the holy bodies had been found, all gave glory to God, and lifting them from the ground with joy and honor, they brought them within the walls of the church. Without delay the Priest reported the whole matter in full, and not silent about the message of the event, he duly proclaimed to the people that the feast day of Benignus the Martyr should be celebrated with festive rite, not forgetful of the command.

[8] Nor did the punishment that S. Agnes had foretold pass without effect: that the aforesaid Thiadmar had beaten the one narrating this revelation with an undeserved thrashing. Thiadmar is punished by the death of his offspring. Grievously afflicted by the sudden death of his only child on the very next day, he led a life hateful to himself, and the light of day in the grief of mourning for the pain of his child: and tormented by so great a sorrow, he recalled that he had committed a very great crime in beating the poor man, and that this could by no means pass unavenged. He confessed that he justly suffered the punishment: he hastened first to be reconciled with the poor man; then, supplicating the merits of the Saints with humble prayer, he begged to deserve forgiveness, lest he should feel that crime more greatly avenged by divine power against himself: and he vowed thenceforth never to perpetrate anything of the sort, God being merciful.

CHAPTER III.

Those who profane the feast days are punished.

[9] When the cycle of days had passed and the people were solemnly celebrating the same feast day again in honor of so great a Father and Martyr, it happened that a certain man, reckless of mind, secretly among the people, stirred by the instigation of the wicked spirit who always opposes the growth of the Christian religion, Violating the feast of S. Benignus with his household, disturbing the assembly of the Church, reproaching the feast day, did not fear to heap no small insults upon the Priest: Whose bones, he said, I know not -- if the Priest has dug them from tombs by rummaging in a burial place, who would be so foolish as to hasten to celebrate a feast day in idleness in his honor? None of my household shall be idle from work today on that account. We are all fools in doing this, and are held worthy of ridicule. And blaspheming, Persisting in these and other insults, he left the people quite suspended in doubt. At length, returning to his home, he forbade his household the leisure of a holiday; moreover, yoking his teams of oxen, he went out as if to plow the field. His wife, likewise, did not delay in going to weave the loom.

[10] But immediately, as he reached the level ground of his field, scorning to return home with the plow, one of the oxen, tumbling headlong, struck its neck and was killed. Nor was that wretched man's mind blunted by this, but he incurred a second calamity. For an equal fate followed in equal destruction, paying the master's penalty. He is punished by the death of his oxen, Nor did the loss of a third ox delay in scourging the master. At last, even against his will, he recognized that he had grievously sinned against the Saint of God: he repented of his undertaking, hastened to hang up the plow: but while he hurried to unyoke the oxen, the fourth slipped dead from his hands. For having ascended the field with eight yoke-animals, he returned home with scarcely four and with difficulty, and even of these the fourth collapsed dead at the entrance of the house, inflicting loss upon its master by the force of its fall. Nor meanwhile was the house lacking its share of retribution: pain and grief redoubled on every side, within and without. For his wife, whose name was Leuduza, when she sat at the loom, as she was about to cast the weft transversely across the warp in the manner of weavers through the heddles, And his wife by the crippling of her arm. drew back her hand and part of her arm up to the elbow, reversed to the bone in both flesh and skin, not without great pain, weak and utterly useless. It came about that they gave themselves over to lamentations and mourning who had disdained to enjoy the leisure of the feast. At length, even against their will, having taken the counsel of their people, they sought the protection of the blessed Martyr Benignus: they subjected themselves with their children and possessions to the service of his Church, lest the punishment for their offense should rage further against themselves and their descendants in the future.

[11] A girl, on the same feast day, negligent, A certain girl also, having neglected the solemnity of the same day, with the womanly tool that they call a distaff, wandering through the courtyard of the church in the manner of country women, spinning a useless thread by turning the spindle as she strolled about, suddenly fell prostrate to the ground before all, and with all her limbs contracted and weakened by the magnitude of a dreadful pain, she was long tormented and at last unexpectedly carried home by her people: there arose within the walls of her parents' house a wailing, Is punished by the contraction and weakness of her limbs: and outside, the tearful terror of the neighbors. Rushing in from all sides, thunderstruck with amazement, they stood around the half-dead girl, and rightly accused her of the crime of a bold deed; yet they begged God to be propitious in these matters, for whom it is easy to bestow joys that surpass human prayer. What more? After the confession of the offense that had been lamented, the salvation that had already been despaired of was not delayed by God, for whom this exercise of His gift is more powerful than anyone might think. Her parents, as she herself tearfully begged, brought her within the walls of the church, submitting her with affection to the patronage of the Saints as their handmaid. Nor was it long delayed. She is healed by the help of the Saints. It became publicly manifest what merit the Saints have before God. The limbs already half-dead were restored to their former state. She who had been nearly lifeless and already despaired of by her own people, scarcely represented to the church as alive by a single breath, rose up and leapt forth sound, in the presence of the people. At this sight, not only the girl's parents, but the populace and all raised praises and thanks to God. And rightly, for He who had declared the relics of the Saints with such great miracles, and had deigned to exalt the homeland with such great patronages.

CHAPTER IV.

The relics are transferred to Utrecht.

[12] Who could doubt that the people, divinely instructed by these events, venerated the solemnity of so great a day with festive leisure? The assembled multitude of the people also cries out: these signs bear witness that God is offended by anyone who, inflamed by the torch of the wicked spirit, refuses to observe the solemn feast of the Saints. Other miracles performed there. This was also confirmed by divine power through the subsequent miracles of very many healings, and thus the supreme reverence of the solemn day grew ever more widely in the world and from day to day among all those dwelling round about. Nor were cures for illnesses lacking to those who devoutly honored the patronage of so great a Father and so great a Lady. Passing over very many, we nevertheless think it not beside the point to insert into the reading what S. Agnes likewise, appearing to the same Priest in a dream about the same time, said: Beware lest you be circumvented by monks who are contriving a fraudulent theft against you by a devised trick. For two are coming here under the pretext of praying, S. Agnes, having warned the Priest, prevents the theft of the relics. but the real reason is to violate our relics. You shall advise Count Thiadbold to restore the return of the ancient estate's market here along with the fairs, hastening the time and expenses in repairing the place speedily. Otherwise, he will feel in the near future that he will fall into danger not without harm to himself or his people. Having said no more, she withdrew to her abode. The Priest, when he was roused from sleep, having revolved the vision in his heart, hastened to proceed to the church, and leaving the vessel empty upon the altar while concealing the matter, secretly placed the relics of the Saints in a granary situated behind the altar. Scarcely had he departed thence when, behold, two monks who had set out from S. Julian's, relying in vain on their cunning, arrived, asked him for a place and suitable time for prayer in the church, and disguised the appearance of religion with the paint of falsehood. Nor did he refuse, by no means ignorant of the Saints' affair, entirely secure in himself. What more? Attempting to deceive him as though he were unknowing, they were completely deceived: yet they pursued their undertaking. Having broken open the reliquary, tricked by appearances, they found their hope vain. Thence, not without shame, having failed in their quest for the treasure, they returned home empty. The Priest, having found the traces of the deceit and theft, disclosed the whole business of the affair to his people: nor did the monks any longer conceal it from those who inquired. Thereafter a reverence born of fear grew ever greater among the inhabitants concerning the patronage of the Saints.

[13] Since these things were so, the deed did not long escape the notice of Baldric, Bishop of Utrecht. For when has anything new in the world ever escaped his notice? Baldric obtains them from Count Thiadbold, Having observed these things and turning his mind to the acquisition of the relics, he burned in spirit, revealing the fervor of his desire to God; nor did he long endure it untested, impatient of delay, whether he might obtain by persistent prayer a treasure of such great value. For having quickly sent envoys to Count Thiadbold, whom his long-standing fidelity had bound to him with a most inextricable pledge of friendship, he urged that this too should be a proof of that friendship: not to deny him the relics of the Saints recently declared to the world by divine power. The Count too, quite anxious as to what he would prefer, was in an agony of indecision whether to comply with his friend or to strip himself and his people of such great patrons: for if by refusing he should wish in any way to taint the bond of friendship, he would by no means give assent to his feelings. But at last, by God's will, or rather, if I may say so, unwillingly, he gave the gift that had been demanded, not doubting that the gift thus given would not be displeasing to God and the Saints.

[14] The Bishop, therefore, having obtained his wish, raising thanksgivings to God with praises, with a choir of clerics assembled and a multitude of the people, went out to meet the Saints, as was fitting to honor them, and having received them with due honor, he placed them within the hall of the Episcopal See of Utrecht on the day before the Kalends of April in a single location, And transfers them to Utrecht, 31 March 964. but in separate coffers, in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ nine hundred and sixty-four, indiction the seventh, on the fifth day of the week. For now Utrecht rejoices to be adorned with these gems; it rejoices to be enriched with the wealth of so great and such a treasure, drawing daily from the Lord joyfulness, the jubilation of peace, the increase of salvation, a remedy for vices, a medicine for souls, a bulwark against enemies; and it cherishes in its bosom, rejoicing, those by whose patronage it does not waver to be sustained, with such intercessors pleading before God on its behalf. The people and inhabitants are eager to render due honor: for what they seek with suppliant prayer, they praise God that it is not denied them through their intercession. Nor should persons of sound faith doubt that through the glorious merits of the Blessed Martyr Benignus and the thrice blessed Martyr and Virgin Agnes, whatever is sought from them in the name of the Savior with unwavering faith is divinely granted to all who honor their patronage. Wherefore let us also, who desire to be aided by their merits, devoutly celebrating the honor of the feast day, earnestly beseech them to intercede with God for us; so that we may deserve to obtain, through their intercession together with all the Saints, the heavenly joy which we cannot achieve by ourselves, through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who denies nothing to His Saints, reigning with the Father and the Holy Spirit and governing the fabric of all things without end of ages, Amen.

ON THE RELICS OF S. AGNES

Translated to Constantinople, and afterwards to Spain.

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (S.)

[1] The relics of S. Agnes were also transferred to Constantinople, and even earlier than to Belgian or Celtic Gaul. Baronius in his Notes Relics of S. Agnes brought to Constantinople, on the Martyrology, reports that this was done in the time of Emperor Marcian, and states that Theodore the Lector so writes. In truth, the latter in book 2 of his Collectanea, toward the end, has the following: Under his (Theodosius the Younger's, whom Marcian succeeded in 450) reign, the relics of SS. Stephen, Lawrence, and Agnes were deposited in the martyrium of S. Lawrence, on the twenty-first of September; and their memory is celebrated there to this day on that date. But in the Greek Menaea and Menologion there is no mention of them on this day; nor on 27 September, which was the day expressed in the Latin translation of Theodore.

[2] Concerning the translation of S. Stephen separately, Nicephorus writes in book 14, chapter 9. Concerning S. Agnes and S. Lawrence, in the following chapter he writes thus: It has indeed been commonly reported that God foretold future things to this Empress (Pulcheria) in many other matters as well, Through the agency of S. Pulcheria, and bore the greatest testimony to her religion and piety and to that of her sisters, who also cultivated the same way of life. For she also brought the relics of Lawrence the Martyr and of Agnes, having found them, to Constantinople; where she built a church of the greatest size and most beautiful elegance. When she was administering the Empire and Gennadius was presiding over the Church of Constantinople, the relics of S. Anastasia the Apothecary were brought from Sirmium, etc. -- which last details seem to indicate that the earlier relics were brought to Constantinople before she herself assumed the rule of the Empire upon her brother's death in 450.

[3] Antonio Vincenzo Domenech in his History of the Saints of Catalonia reports from an old manuscript of the Church of Manresa that those relics of S. Agnes were brought from Constantinople into Gaul by William, son of the Count of Vienne, Thence to Gaul, and finally to Manresa; together with the body of S. Anthony, then to the monastery called Bages, situated near Manresa, and finally to Manresa. And indeed this last translation, as drawn from the proper records of that place, fully deserves credence: but in the earlier parts there is much that a curious reader might rightly suspect. For on 17 January, in the Translation of the body of S. Anthony, no mention is made of S. Agnes: that body was brought by Jocelin, or Jacelin, Although part of the history is suspect. the son of Count William, not by William himself. Furthermore, Domenech implies that the same William gave the relics of S. Agnes to the envoys of the King of Castile and his brother the Archbishop of Toledo: and he conjectures that this king was Alfonso VI, who was called Emperor. But the remains of S. Anthony were brought into Gaul long before the time of Alfonso VI, who held the kingdom from 1108 to 1159. Nor did Alfonso VI have a brother who was Bishop of Toledo, but Alfonso VII had Sancho. What of the fact that he says a sister of Emperor Marcian was married to the Duke of Austria? What the condition of Noricum (which was afterwards called Austria) was under the empire of Marcian is clear from the beginning of the life of S. Severinus, Apostle of the Noricans, on 8 January: nor did Noricum pertain to the Byzantine Empire. He says that when the Romans refused to give the relics, Marcian threatened to seek them by war: if he had had such forces as to be able to transport an army into Italy, he would rather have brought aid to those same Romans against the Vandals and other barbarians. Finally he writes that the relics were placed at Constantinople on the left side of the altar, because the right side was already occupied by the body of S. Anthony: whereas we have shown above that this was brought to Constantinople long afterward, since it had not even yet been found.

[4] This was our reason for by no means translating Domenech word for word, but compressing the entire narrative in summary; perhaps about to pronounce something more certain if we had seen the Manresan codex that he cites.

NARRATIVE OF THE TRANSLATION,

from Antonio Vincenzo Domenech.

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (S.)

[1] In order to explain the latest Translation of the holy Virgin Agnes more easily, we shall briefly comprehend all of them. Agnes was a certain niece of the Constantinopolitan Emperor Marcian, the daughter of his sister. A royal virgin at Constantinople seized by a demon, While she was enjoying herself in the country and, captivated by the appearance and clarity of a spring she had come upon, had tasted its water, she was suddenly seized by an evil spirit, and struck her uncle the Emperor with great grief. When for this reason it had pleased him to institute public supplications, a voice was heard from heaven, which declared that the virgin could not be freed unless the body of that holy woman who had passed through fire unharmed were brought to Constantinople. The obscure oracle, By the relics of S. Agnes, at divine prompting, when supplications were renewed and the voice was heard again, was interpreted to mean Agnes, entombed in marble at Rome.

[2] An embassy having been sent, the body of the virgin could scarcely be wrested from the Romans on account of their religious devotion -- not by prayers, but barely by terror. Sought from Rome and brought to the court by a miracle, Brought to Constantinople, it was conveyed to its church with the greatest joy and most splendid pageantry. When it had drawn near, immediately the beasts of burden were thunderstruck and could not be driven either forward or back. But when all had cast themselves upon the ground, beseeching God, the animals of their own accord took a straight course to the palace, which was situated near S. Sophia. In it there was a chapel, into which the sacred remains were brought by the Emperor's command, and the possessed girl was led to them. She immediately collapsed to the ground and lay for an hour, resembling a dead person. The terror was increased by a foul and horrible whispering: Why do you torment me? Why do you drive me out? Why do you harass me, holy Virgin? She is freed, And not long after, the spirit was driven out and expelled: she was freed, to the immense congratulation and joy of all. When her uncle the Emperor then asked S. Agnes herself appearing to her. what had happened to her when she lay on the ground, stricken by a fainting spell, she confirmed that a tender young virgin had seemed to speak to her thus: that she was Agnes, and that she ordered the foul spirit to depart and forbade it to return. Then the vision vanished. The Emperor, moved by religious awe, thereupon commanded that Agnes be honorably interred there, that the tomb be covered with gold and adorned with gems. Thus far the first Translation; the second follows.

[3] William, son of William, Count of Vienne, having devoutly visited Jerusalem, had then lived with the Constantinopolitan Emperor for two years. The relics of the same, and of S. Anthony, brought to Gaul. Having bound the Emperor to himself with the greatest love, and having with difficulty prevailed upon him to allow his return to his homeland, he carried away from the Emperor -- who had sworn that he would give whatever pleased him -- the bodies of SS. Anthony and Agnes to his homeland, and placed them in a church of the Virgin Mother of God, in a place called La Motte, where great miracles were afterwards performed.

[4] The third translation was made at the request, through envoys, of the King of Castile and his brother the Archbishop of Toledo, Those relics given to the King of Castile, through the supreme generosity of Count William. For when they had come to request a notable portion of the bones, most were given, and only a small part was retained there, together with relics of S. Maurice, the chief of the Theban Martyrs. The envoys, having crossed the Pyrenees and being exhausted by long journeys, when they had halted at the village of S. Fructuosus, half a league from the town of Manresa, in a monastery of the Benedictine order, and wished to rest from the labor of the journey, most of them were seized by illness and died there. The rest, having deposited in that church these relics and those of SS. Fructuosus, Eulogius, and Augurius, which they had obtained from the people of Tarragona while journeying into Gaul, led by the hope that afterwards from that place, both despised and subject to the Roman Church, the relics would be more easily recovered than if they had placed them at Manresa, departed for home.

[5] In the year of Christ 1372, the Senate of Manresa, after great contention and effort had been expended, Then brought to Manresa with the relics of SS. Maurice and Fructuosus. having at last obtained authority from Guido, Bishop of Porto and Legate a latere of the Supreme Pontiff in Aragon, on 30 August, with great pomp and a very large procession, transported to Manresa the bones of SS. Fructuosus, Eulogius, Augurius, Maurice, and Agnes.

[6] In that translation, a man afflicted with great torpor and lethargy of body, A sick man is healed, so that he could not walk at all, when the procession was being led past his house, having prayed to the Saints themselves and especially to Agnes, suddenly leapt up and himself followed the procession to the sacred church.

[7] By a similar benefit, on the same day, with like prayers, a woman named Amata, living in the suburb, who had completely lost the faculty of sight, A blind person recovers sight. when the bodies of the Saints were being carried past her house, suddenly recovered it and joined herself to the multitude of the procession.

[8] Nor indeed did our Saints leave any kind of disease or affliction uncured. James Desprat, a shopkeeper of Manresa, was struggling with a most fierce fever and pains in the kidneys Fever and kidney pains cured. at Palermo in Sicily. As soon as his brother promised a silver lamp to S. Agnes for the sick man, he recovered as if more swiftly than the word and the vow: and returning home, he fulfilled the vow. Many others were cured of the same diseases.

[9] Elizabeth Paguera, having fallen from the window of a tall building, instilled in her mother, who was watching, the religious impulse to conceive a vow to B. Agnes in the face of her danger, One who fell from a height is not injured. and by that same vow she overcame the danger. She was brought back uninjured by her father, who rushed to what he supposed was his daughter's death.

[10] Fever driven away. A certain woman named Radiola was nearly dead from fever and given up by the physicians. Her brother vowed money to the Saints for the adornment of their tombs. Once the vow was conceived, she began to recover. A little boy had lived for eight days, A dead child is raised. the infant son of Alfonso Sabater. After those days he died. He had lain without life for more than three hours. A vow to the holy Martyrs was made by a pious woman who was present, that the expenses which the infant's burial would incur should be redirected to the repair of the Manresan tombs. He revived and lived for many years thereafter. A certain man, suffering from fever, kept vigil with his wife at the tombs of the Martyrs. A heavenly light seen at the relics. They saw two very large lights fly through the window to the sacred altar, by whose light the whole building seemed somehow to blaze. For half an hour they shone on this side and that, and then both slipped away to heaven by the same entrance, leaving a great light in the hearts of the married couple.

ON THE MIRACLES OF S. AGNES.

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (S.)

From various sources.

[1] Many and great are the benefits of S. Agnes toward mortals. We shall set forth a few here, besides those already commemorated in the history of the translation. And first, in the life of S. Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne, which we shall give on 19 February, the following is narrated: A certain Cardinal was sick at Paris even unto death, and Master William of Milidon was ministering to him, who said to his companions: I am going to rest a little, because I am very weary. And when he had gone out, immediately the venerable Boniface appeared in a vision to the sick man, splendidly adorned with pontifical vestments, S. Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne, heals a sick man, bringing with him a certain most beautiful Virgin, most becomingly adorned with jewels. And Boniface said to the sick man: Lord, how are you doing, and how are you? He answered: I am very weak. And the Bishop signed his forehead with his finger, In the presence of S. Agnes. and with his hand wiped his face and breast; and thus, having given a blessing, he immediately recovered. Meanwhile, when the sick man asked who that maiden was, the Bishop answered: This is S. Agnes. And immediately the vision disappeared.

[2] S. Bridget of Sweden honored S. Agnes with singular devotion: wherefore the Virgin is read to have appeared to her very frequently and to have imbued her with heavenly admonitions. In book 3 of the Revelations, chapter 12, while praying for a certain bishop, she teaches that people often resist the grace of God S. Agnes frequently appears to S. Bridget and teaches her many things. by which they are drawn to the pursuit of virtue, and dangerously defer the pursuit of good works to the end of life. In the same book, chapter 3, she exhorts Bridget to honor the Mother of God diligently and to love her; whom she also compares to a lily, as Gonzalvus Durantus explains in his Notes on that passage. In book 4, chapter 11, Agnes intercedes with the Virgin Mother of God on her behalf. In the same book, chapter 17, she delivers to her precepts of a pious and honest life, as also in chapter 20; and in chapter 124, she places upon her a crown of seven precious stones on account of afflictions patiently endured. In the Extravagant Revelations, chapter 63, the Mother of God addresses Bridget with these words: Stand therefore steadfast, and obey Agnes in the counsels that she gives you in spiritual vision, and your Master, who both instruct you from one spirit; and by obeying either of them, you obey both.

[3] That there is a great safeguard in her patronage for the protection of chastity is made clear from what the author of the Lombardic History, James of Voragine, commemorates -- not indeed always a writer of the greatest reliability, but what we draw from him here is also recounted by Claudius Rota of the Order of Preachers: A certain man betroths himself to a statue of S. Agnes, A certain man named Paulinus, performing the office of the priesthood in the church of S. Agnes, began to be assailed by a remarkable temptation of the flesh. But since he did not wish to offend God, he sought permission from the Supreme Pontiff to contract marriage. The Pope, considering his goodness and simplicity, gave him a ring with an emerald, and commanded him to order the beautiful image of B. Agnes, And is freed from the temptation of the flesh. which was painted in his church, on his behalf to allow herself to be betrothed. And when the priest issued the command to the image, she immediately extended her ring finger, and having received the ring and withdrawn her finger, she banished all temptations from the priest. The aforesaid ring is said to appear on her finger even now. Elsewhere, however, it is read that when the church of B. Agnes was falling into ruin, the Pope said to a certain priest that he wished to entrust to him a certain bride to be kept and nourished, namely the church of S. Agnes: and giving him a ring, he commanded him to betroth the said image. Which she, extending and withdrawing her finger, betrothed. So they write; and although these accounts are not established by the necessary markers of time and testimonies, and are therefore less adapted to inspire belief, nevertheless, since churches are also read to have been betrothed by Saints, and some have bound themselves to the Saints, or to the Virgin Mother, Queen of the Saints, with a similar pledge of spiritual marriage, in their statues or images, we cannot entirely reject them.

[4] S. Agnes, patron of the Trinitarian Order, Fr. Paul Aznar, in his book of Spiritual Exercises, writes that S. Agnes is the primary President and Patron of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity. We shall treat more fully of that Order on 17 December in the life of B. John of Matha, and of B. Felix on 4 November, the first founders of that congregation.

OTHER MIRACLES

from Thomas a Kempis, after Sermon 8 to the Novices.

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (S.)

BHL Number: 0167

By Thomas a Kempis.

Section I. A sickness driven away by the aid of S. Agnes.

[1] A certain brother of our house frequently suffered from headache, and for that reason was sometimes compelled to leave the choir. He had, however, a special devotion to the venerable Virgin S. Agnes, our patroness, overflowing with the sweetness of great piety. He therefore desired with an intense affection of heart to visit her sacred relics at Utrecht, which are preserved there with honor in a silver chest covered with gold, in the cathedral church of S. Martin. [At the old, and now empty, shrine of the relics of S. Agnes, a headache is driven away.] It happened, therefore, that he went with his Prior to visit the aforesaid place of supreme reverence, and coming to the hall of the aforesaid cathedral church, becomingly adorned with the relics of many Saints, he asked the custodian to show him the chest of the most blessed Agnes, long desired on account of the urgency of his devotion. Then the custodian of the sacred relics said: It is not easily permitted for me to open the precious chest of S. Agnes: but I shall gladly show you the old casket of the gracious Virgin, in which her sacred relics long rested, to the praise and glory of God. Hearing this, the brother was gladdened and consoled, expecting the honorable coffin to be presented to him. When he saw it and it was opened, he bowed reverently, and kissing the sacred chest, he confidently placed his head inside, hoping that aid would be present to him without hesitation through the merits of S. Agnes. When these things had been done, he gave the greatest thanks to God and to S. Agnes the Virgin, that he had merited to behold these things with his own eyes. From this time and thereafter, he was relieved of his former pains, not only in body, but also advanced in greater devotion of mind: and he completed the remaining time of his life, in a joyful and blessed struggle, well ended in the fervor of the spirit.

[2] Another brother, when he had read the lesson at supper on the eve of S. Agnes's feast, it happened to him unexpectedly that, while eating alone afterwards, a fish bone broke in his mouth; and it adhered so firmly to his palate that he could neither extract nor spit out its point. A fish bone dangerously stuck in the throat, Wherefore, greatly grieved and fearing the danger to his voice from this injury, he waited patiently for the evening hour when the Office of S. Agnes was to be solemnly chanted in choir. When the cantor had begun the responsory Pulchra facie Beautiful of face at a higher pitch, and the assembled choir with joyful voices pursued the remainder in honor of S. Agnes, devoutly singing and praising, the injured brother began likewise to sing along and to invoke S. Agnes, his beloved and kind patroness, with supplication, that in that hour she might come to his aid and free him from this injury. And (O wondrous clemency of God, and how ineffable is His virtue and power, who does not forsake those who hope in Him, from whatever tribulation they cry out to Him!) for immediately, when he sang these words with the community, Intercede for us all, he felt a certain irritation in the palate of his throat, and began to cough a little; and in an instant, with the saliva of his mouth, he spat out the fish bone without any pain to his throat. By the aid of S. Agnes it is expelled. Then, made cheerful, he gave thanks to God and to S. Agnes the Virgin, that he had so quickly merited to be heard and cured. When vespers were finished, he remained silently in the choir, prostrating himself humbly upon his footstool, kissing the wooden floor from the deepest affection of his heart, secretly rejoicing at so great a benefit conferred on him through the merits of S. Agnes. Then, wishing to be more certain of the present occurrence, he sought the fish bone cast from his mouth and found it fallen in the sand: taking it with him to his cell, he placed it beside the image of S. Agnes, as a perpetual remembrance of her special love. By her sacred patronage, may the merciful Lord deign to guard us always and everywhere from every danger, and to preserve us in good conduct together with all those commended to us in prayer, Amen.

Section II. Lost money recovered.

[3] There was in the city of Zwolle a certain citizen, named Hermann de Oever, wealthy and upright, pious and merciful toward the poor, and a faithful procurator for the sick and needy in the Hospital of the Holy Spirit. When a certain disturbance arose in the city against him and some of his fellow citizens, he took refuge at our monastery on Mount S. Agnes the Virgin, for the sake of hospitality. A certain layman staying at Mount S. Agnes, He was received for his uprightness and gentleness, and kindly treated, with much charity and brotherly goodwill. After a short time had passed, he learned to read the Confiteor and to serve the priest at Mass, although he was already an old man and entirely ignorant of letters. This he did with such diligence and devotion that, when others were occupied elsewhere, he often gladly and eagerly served priests at Mass two or three times in a single day. Indeed, he frequently served our venerable Father William of Vornick, at that time the Prior of our house, a special lover of S. Agnes, during High Mass while the choir was singing, himself vested in a surplice at the back of the church, with great devotion. It happened on a certain occasion that he lost some money from the cell in which he was staying: at which he grieved greatly, wondering who had done this: for he had not yet given up his possessions, but was living among the brothers in the cloister walk as a guest and faithful friend. For during the midday dinner, a certain stranger and unknown person had secretly entered his room through an open window and stolen as much as he pleased and quickly departed. His stolen money After dinner, therefore, when Hermann entered his cell after saying grace, he looked for his money and did not find it; and quite distressed, he said in complaint to one of the lay brothers, Brother John de Eme, who was familiar to him: O good and dear Brother John, are there thieves in this house? He said: Certainly not, good Hermann. Then he revealed the theft that had been committed against him, saying: I have lost the money that I had in my cell, and just now during dinner it was secretly stolen. Brother John, consoling the grieving man, replied: Do not think, good friend, that any of our brothers or any member of this household did this: but perhaps some outside visitor who entered the garden of the orchard, being tempted, did this, as we have sometimes experienced in past times when garments were secretly stolen. When our venerable Father and Prior William heard this, he was greatly saddened, and all the brothers grieved at the loss of the good man and the shame of the theft. Then certain of our brothers, who were more familiar with him, consoling and exhorting him to patience, said to him: O dearest Hermann, be patient in this, for perhaps our Lord God does not wish you to occupy your heart any longer with that money. He vows it to S. Agnes if he should recover it, Therefore now make a virtue of necessity: and offer it to God and to S. Agnes, for the salvation of your soul. And if it should afterwards happen that you recover it, may you not wish to retain anything of it: but let all of it go to the worship of God and the service of S. Agnes. He did with a good spirit and pious intention what was advised, freely vowing all things fully to God and to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to S. Agnes, the patroness of our church, recently consecrated. Therefore, when this votive offering was completed, after three days there came a good messenger from Zwolle, sent by Lord John of Haarlem, then rector of the devout Beguine Sisters, saying: Brothers, do not be anxious and sad about the lost money; you will soon receive it back, with God's favor. He recovers it, When these things were heard, Hermann rejoiced, and with him our Prior and the whole community. But who this thief and robber was, whether a cleric or a layman, is not known to this day. For it is hoped that he repented, and secretly asked Lord John to send everything back to the monastery, which he also faithfully did without revealing the name. From the money thus recovered, there were bought and prepared in honor of S. Agnes And he spends it on ornaments for the church. two priestly vestments and one silver-gilt chalice, with the name of Hermann de Oever inscribed beneath the foot of the chalice.

Section III. Other benefits of the Saint.

[4] [One doubting the faith is confirmed by divine power, through the example of S. Agnes and others.] A certain brother of our house, celebrating Mass in the Chapter house at the altar of S. Agnes the Virgin, was suddenly tempted during Mass by the snares of the devil concerning the faith and the sacrament of the Body of Christ, in which he had very often found great consolation. Feeling, therefore, a grave question flooding in, he quickly turned to the merciful Lord Jesus with groaning and a right intention of faith in prayer. And immediately he heard a divine response, spoken to him inwardly: Believe as S. Agnes, Cecilia, Barbara, and the other holy Virgins believed; who suffered for Christ and never doubted any word in the faith. When these words were heard, the temptation ceased, and the doubt of the question. And very often afterwards, against diabolical assaults, he revolved these words: Believe as Agnes, Cecilia, and Barbara, and you will never err in the Catholic faith. For there are as many true testimonies as there are holy words in the Bible.

[5] Another of our sick brothers also communicated with devotion in the same place and at the same altar, A crippled man suddenly recovers through the aid of S. Agnes. who for a long time had been accustomed to walk bent over, supporting himself with canes. But after the celebration of Mass, by the power of Christ and the merits of S. Agnes, he so recovered that he left his canes there after Mass and afterwards passed joyfully and upright to the choir and the community. When a certain brother marveled at this occurrence, he piously began to inquire what the sick man had done and what he had thought during Mass. The healed man answered: I thought about and revolved the words of the holy Gospel, as Luke relates concerning our Lord Jesus Christ: Luke 6:19 And all the multitude sought to touch him, for power went forth from him and healed all. Therefore good faith and the power of the sacrament, together with the prayers of the Saints, can still heal those who are weak in mind and body; that they may become fervent in the love of God, and more ready for every good work, and obedient to their superiors without delay. These are the miracles of eternal salvation, which Christ still frequently works among the devout, with wondrous clemency.

[6] It happened at a certain time in Lent that a certain brother was asked to celebrate Mass early, about the fifth hour, for the guests and the entire household of our house; as it is customary to do for the good protection of those laboring in their offices and for those traveling on nearby or distant roads. The brother piously consented and did willingly out of charity what he was asked. It was then the feast of S. Gregory the Pope, whom the brother loved with special affection, because on his feast day he had first entered school to learn the alphabet with the other boys. When he had therefore approached the altar, he began to think about what Mass he wished to read, whether of the fast or of S. Gregory: immediately it came to his mind: You have not yet read a Mass this week of S. Agnes, for the special cause entrusted to you. Read therefore now of S. Agnes, with the collect of S. Gregory; and afterwards you shall sing the Mass of him in choir with the whole community, with a joyful heart. He did so in the name of the Lord with good confidence, fulfilling his vows concerning S. Agnes, our patroness, most beloved of Christ. A fire extinguished through the merits of S. Agnes. When, therefore, nearly all were gathered in the church and hearing Mass, a danger of fire occurred in our farmhouse, with no one yet aware of it. But the merciful and compassionate God provided most excellently that the fire was quickly extinguished. For a certain lay brother of ours, a Donatus named Matthias, leaving the church after the elevation, came upon it and put out the source of the fire. This we trust should be attributed to the merits of S. Agnes, of whom the Mass was then being specially read, to beseech the Lord for that particular cause. For God, who preserved B. Agnes unharmed in the midst of flames as she prayed with outstretched hands, Himself on that day guarded our house with all its furnishings from burning, through her prayers and merits, with merciful goodness. For one of the laymen had entered the church with the others to hear Mass and had neglected to extinguish a lantern under the roof of the house, which, its cord having burned through, fell upon the grain lying there and set it alight. But the merciful Lord, who sees all things and mercifully attends to the prayers of the needy, granted that this danger be met in time through another (as has been said). When our devout and beloved Father, Brother Theodoric of Cleves, the third venerable Prior of our house, heard that the danger of fire had occurred and had quickly ceased by the grace of God, he was at first quite alarmed -- nor is it surprising. Then he was consoled and gave thanks to God that so grave a danger had not advanced but was suddenly dissipated. When, therefore, the rumor of the fire had reached the ears of the others, the brother who had celebrated the Mass of S. Agnes on that same day privately approached the Prior, his Father, and humbly informed him: Dear Father, let us give thanks to God and to S. Agnes, our patroness; for the Mass of her was read today for a special cause; and I trust that she faithfully prayed for us and the Lord delivered us from this fire. Then the good Father and pious shepherd, rejoicing greatly, Prayers and alms in thanksgiving. as a chaste lover of S. Agnes, enjoined special prayers upon the brothers and ordered more generous alms to be distributed to the poor, for so evident a protection from the present fire and from every future evil: Amen.