Gaudentius

ON S. GAUDENTIUS, BISHOP OF NOVARA IN ITALY.

ABOUT THE YEAR 418.

Gaudentius, Bishop of Novara in Italy (S.)

From various sources.

[1] At Novara, an ancient and celebrated city of Cisalpine Gaul, a feast is celebrated on 22 January and 3 August for S. Gaudentius, whom the acts of his life, the Milanese Breviary, and other writers record as the first Bishop of that city, although the records of that Church, as Ferrarius attests, The feast day of S. Gaudentius, 22 January. disagree. And on this day indeed his birthday is commemorated; on that day his deposition is recalled. Galesinius writes for 22 January: "At Novara, S. Gaudentius, Bishop and Confessor. He was the first Bishop of that city, performed many deeds wonderfully and divinely, and, illustrious for the holiness of his life, rested in the Lord. His body, piously buried by his clergy, became renowned for many miracles." Canisius writes nearly the same things. He is also commemorated in the Roman Martyrology, and those of Bellinus, Maurolycus, Felicius, and others. But for 3 August the same Galesinius writes: "At Novara, S. Gaudentius, Bishop and Confessor, concerning whom see 22 January." Deposition 3 August. Bellinus, Maurolycus, Canisius, Ferrarius, Molanus in his additions to Usuard, the manuscript Florarium, Felicius, and others record nearly the same.

[2] Translation 22 October and 21 January. Ferrarius writes thus for 22 October in his new catalogue of Saints: "At Novara, the Translation of S. Gaudentius, Bishop." He cites the records of the Church of Novara. In a manuscript, not very ancient, of the Carthusian house of Brussels, the following is found for 21 January: "Translation of S. Gaudentius, Bishop and Confessor, in the city of Novara." Commemoration 3 February. But Baronius in his Notes to the Martyrology writes: "The people of Novara celebrate on this day likewise his birthday; but the Translation, performed again in the months of August and October, as is clear from the records of the same Church." But for 3 February, Maurolycus writes: "Also of Gaudentius, Bishop of Novara, who was a disciple of Blessed Martin." Canisius and the Carthusians of Cologne in their additions to Usuard record him on the same day.

[3] The anonymous author committed the Acts of S. Gaudentius to writing in the time of Leo, Bishop of Novara; or, as he himself writes in chapter 4, number 21: "Having ventured to run hastily through these few things in words, By whom and when the Life was written. he marked them in unlearned fashion for the people and the faithful to reread, supported by the merits of the blessed Pope Leo, who, with God as guide, last held the See of Blessed Gaudentius of the city of Novara, through whom the entire people rejoices in their patron." Hence you may refute what Galesinius wrote: "Leo, Bishop of the same city, encompassed his (Gaudentius's) holy deeds in a book, which Mombritius included in his first volume on the Saints." The title of the life in Mombritius is: "On the Deposition of S. Gaudentius, Bishop and Confessor of Novara, the Preface of Leo, his Successor." Leo held office, as Baronius writes from the records of the Church of Novara, in the times of Pope Paul. Paul was elected on 28 May 757 and died in the year 767.

[4] In the proper Offices of the Saints of the Canons Regular of the Order of S. Augustine of the Lateran Congregation (which venerates him as a professed member of the same institute with the rite of double), there are three Lessons composed from this Life. His dates are described with sufficient clarity: as a young man he left his homeland: His dates. he was an assistant to S. Laurence the Priest in caring for the salvation of souls: he lived with S. Martin at Milan; which has been said to have occurred between the years 356 and 360, on 13 January in the life of S. Hilary: he either accompanied S. Eusebius of Vercelli into exile in the year 356, or rather visited him in exile: he was on familiar terms with S. Ambrose the Bishop: he was consecrated Bishop by S. Simplicianus, who succeeded to the chair of S. Ambrose in the year of Christ 397, under the consuls Caesarius and Atticus, and he lived in that office for 20 years; and so he appears to have died about the year of Christ 418, at a very advanced age. The author commits a certain anachronism in narrating these events, which it is surprising Baronius retained in volume 5, year 397, number 41. For he writes that after S. Laurence was killed, Gaudentius betook himself to S. Martin, and thence went as a companion to S. Eusebius into the East; but elsewhere he records that S. Laurence was killed under the rule of Valentinian: these statements conflict with each other, since S. Eusebius went into exile and S. Martin dwelt at Milan under Constantius. Mention is made of the ordination of S. Gaudentius in the Milanese Breviary on 26 August in the Lesson on S. Simplicianus.

LIFE BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR

from Boninus Mombritius.

Gaudentius, Bishop of Novara in Italy (S.)

BHL Number: 3278

By an anonymous author, from Mombritius.

CHAPTER I.

The birth, education, and flight from his homeland of S. Gaudentius.

[1] Author's Preface. When I was considering more attentively the life and virtues of the preceding Saints, suddenly by divine prompting the memory of the most celebrated Acts of Blessed Gaudentius came to mind: and although I, so small a servant, being rude in eloquence, am not sufficiently able to foresee by how many and how great signs the Lord decreed to make him illustrious, because I am unequal and unworthy for so great a burden; nevertheless, supported by divine authority, which says: Psalm 80:11 "Open your mouth, and I will fill it"; and also encompassed by the merits of the aforesaid Bishop and patron, it is worthwhile that I should at least undertake to narrate a few things out of many, as though avoiding slothfulness. Provided, however, that the judgment of Blessed Laurence the Martyr, likewise patron, should not be withdrawn in part, so that those whom Ambrose, himself radiant, had united through the bond of faith in fellowship, should not seem to resound with an unequal triumph. Clinging therefore to the paths of this aforesaid holy wise man, by avoiding prosperity he trampled the adversities of the world, and therefore, placed in a heavenly seat, he triumphs as victor with the Angels.

[2] Blessed Gaudentius, then, was born in the city of Ivrea, in the region of Hesperia (Italy), whose walls are nearest to the borders of the Alps of Europe, S. Gaudentius was noble, of noble birth and from citizens who were almost the leading men. But within the Ausonian city of Novara he afterwards shone forth as an outstanding Shepherd, and there he held the priestly chair for twenty years, and by a glorious death became its patron; indeed, irradiated from heaven by the splendor of divine grace, and with added brightness of mind, he came forth as a shining morning star among the heavenly bodies. For from his very cradle he had burned so ardently in the purpose of religion, pious from infancy itself, and his earliest infancy was nourished with studies of such great wisdom, that afterwards in his youthful age, by divine inspiration, he pursued the Ecclesiastical rule with his whole effort and love. He restrained himself so attentively by his own discipline, as though indicating by his future appearance what manner of Priest was being prepared in the temple of God. For although he was indeed youthful, chaste, and of a less than mature age, he seemed to contain the sign of the most perfect chastity, and he placed, as it were, a first foundation of continence itself in his soul: then, in order to repress the desires of adolescence and to attain advances in wisdom, he chastised himself with prayers and the reins of abstinence, and instructed many who came to him in the precepts of the perfect life.

[3] he converted many: Moreover, he committed the seeds of the Gospel, though in rude speech, to be sown among the natives; and also, with religious solicitude, he urged his parents, whom paganism still held, to the grace of faith — blessed person of such great merit and such great virtue: to whom it was granted first to be a Teacher, then a Priest; who fulfilled with evident examples what he taught in words. he became renowned for miracles: Meanwhile he began to become illustrious through signs and to be adorned with the miracles of virtues, for he cured the sick by his prayer and, commanding by his word, put demons to flight. This most gentle man, laboring with all his strength, took care lest, delighted by the breeze of worldly favor, he should stain his ears with the pollution of arrogance.

[4] Therefore, while these things were being done by the most blessed man, that venomous persuader and rival of all goodness, the enemy of the human race, seeing that through him a perfect people was daily being won for Christ the Lord, strove by cunning persuasion to assail the minds of very many and to call them back from their excellent resolution; to such a degree that, resisting God's servant by open machination, they treated him as contumacious and contemptible. And so there was fulfilled in him he suffered the slanders of the malevolent, what is written: "No prophet is without honor except in his own country"; and therefore he was not seen to work many miracles there, which happened because of their unbelief. Matthew 13:57. But while the splendor of light had reached some who piously believed, a dark fog had suffused certain others who wickedly detracted; the followers hasten to glory, the faithless are dragged to deserved punishment. The most blessed man, perceiving their obstinacy, was afflicted with a very great sorrow, in imitation of the blessed Apostle Paul, who wished himself to be anathema from Christ for his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh. Romans 9:5. But nevertheless, weighing by deep consideration how hidden and subtle is the judgment of God by which holy preaching is withdrawn from the ears of certain people, because they do not deserve to be raised up by grace, as it is written: "Let the impious one be taken away, that he may not see the glory of God." And so, counting carnal kinship as nothing, he shrank from them as enemies of the Catholic religion, to such a degree that, detesting all their company, supported by the example of David, he said within himself: Psalm 25: "I will not sit in the council of the malicious, and I will no longer communicate with the wicked; but I will cling to the innocent and surround Your altar, O Lord, lest by sharing a table with the impious, it become a scandal to me." And straightway he began to bring before the eyes of his mind the deeds of the ancient holy Fathers, considering how the holy Fathers, by fulfilling the divine commands, were made partakers of the Angelic citizens and merited to obtain the kingdoms of heaven: and he found that Abraham, the friend of God, had gone forth by divine command from his land and kindred; and that many other elect of God, by leaving earthly things, had received a hundredfold increase in heavenly things. Immediately, hastening with all speed to fulfill the divine commands, and renouncing all things, not a deaf hearer of the Gospel, he renounced himself, took up his cross, and followed Christ. he departs from his homeland: And so it happened that the farther he withdrew from his paternal soil for the name of Christ, the more he daily deserved to draw nearer to heaven.

CHAPTER II.

His labor with SS. Laurence of Novara, Martin, and Eusebius for the conversion of souls.

[5] Setting forth thence, after not many days had passed, he betook himself to Novara, he comes to Novara, and there he found that the Priest Laurence had arrived long before from the western parts for the name of Christ: who, clothed with the fervor of faith, was fighting against the wicked perfidy of the pagans like a standard-bearer and warrior, amid hostile tumults, through the midst of battle lines; and indeed, girded with faith, he had with his own hands built sacred baptismal fonts some distance from the city, in which baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity was continually celebrated. where S. Laurence was converting many, He did not cease to teach the pagans that God is perfect in the Trinity, whom he had come to know, and, setting forth His judgment and mercy, he gradually endeavored to unite to God the souls that he was snatching from the devil by his preaching: and it happened in a wondrous manner that an armed people could in no way resist an unarmed man. The Lord also deigned to work such great miracles through him that he won the hearts of the rebellious no less by miracles than by preaching. But one day, when according to custom he had consecrated to the Lord an innumerable multitude of infants reborn by the grace of baptism, and was proceeding fearlessly amid the impious ranks of the worshippers of the Mausoleum; he was crowned with martyrdom by the impious together with the multitude of infants then baptized, and ended his present life; but, having obtained eternal life in heaven with the Angels, he triumphs as victor: and was crowned with martyrdom; whose venerable body to this day and up to the present time gleams daily with many signs and miracles of healings in that same city of Novara. But thanks be to You, Lord Jesus, who permitted the weapons of the assailing enemy to be a testing of Your faithful, not wounds; and You bestow upon Your own such a reward through labor that none of Your people may be glad to have been an unarmed soldier of the enemy.

[6] Therefore, while dutiful service to the task undertaken directs us to the deeds of our particular Patron, we do not pursue at length the many things that were done through the same most blessed Martyr Laurence. Nevertheless, let it suffice that we have not been forgetful of him; he collaborates with him: for in such matters it is more fitting to believe by faith than human narration can demonstrate. Therefore, when Blessed Gaudentius had come to that same athlete Laurence, he was most graciously received by him: adhering to him step by step and obeying his divine instructions, he became a lawful emulator, and having been most fully instructed in the rule of the Holy Trinity, he tended the royal flock in equal fellowship for a long time. But after his glorious death, it is certain that Gaudentius attached himself as companion and scribe to Blessed Martin in the metropolitan city of Milan on account of his glorious doctrine. he lived with S. Martin:

[7] But when, in the time of the Emperor Constantius, the Arian heresy had sprung up with the poisoned flower of its toxic root, and the aforesaid Emperor had been persuaded by certain enemies of the Catholic faith, Valens and Ursacius, that the most blessed Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli, together with very many other Bishops worthy of God, should be condemned to exile: he voluntarily accompanies S. Eusebius of Vercelli into exile: which also came to pass; at that same time Blessed Gaudentius, stripped of fear and clothed with the fervor of faith, secure in the love of Christ, feared nothing concerning his own death: but in order to display in himself the form of that supreme and sublime love by which Christ had taught men to lay down their lives for their friends, and by displaying it to make it manifest, he hastened without any delay, clinging to the most blessed man S. Eusebius the Confessor, and with a ready spirit he sought exile together with him, and voluntarily accompanied him as a servant and companion, prepared to die, made an exile even from his companions by divine love, because as it is written, "love is as strong as death." Song of Songs 8:6. O rightly most perfect man, whose imitators the very Priests desire to be, who from almost his very first beginnings burned with such great love that, clinging at the outset to the most blessed Laurence, he became an assistant to his martyrdom, and presented the office of his order as a most gentle Lector most learnedly. Then, having become a follower of the most blessed Martin, an outstanding Confessor, and having been found the most skilled of all Notaries, he ascended, as it were climbing the steps of a worldly order. But now, joined to so great a Confessor Eusebius in his crisis, he preferred to obtain martyrdom rather than to advance to the Episcopal rank. O truly blessed man in all things, who according to the Apostle Paul desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ! For whom to live is Christ and to die is gain! Philippians 1:23. Hence it is understood how great was the love with which he loved Christ, when he did not fear Constantius in his sovereignty. For he who thus thrust himself into open peril for the love of Christ desired martyrdom, if only a persecutor had not been lacking. It is established, therefore, what kind of master that most blessed man had become at that time, who had had such great and such skilled teachers. But now let us return to the discourse of our narrative.

[8] After the ancient enemy perceived that the flock of Vercelli had been left destitute by the absence of its Shepherd, he was seen to assail the aforesaid Church of God and all the people with certain malicious suggestions and internal warfare. he is sent back by him to Vercelli, But swiftly, with God's help, the mercy of God drew near through the arrival of Blessed Gaudentius: who, when he had been dispatched by the pious Shepherd Eusebius to the aforesaid city for the guardianship of the flock, taking precautions on all sides for God's flock, did not allow it to be mangled by the bites of the wolf; but with all solicitude, according to the Prophet, ascending against the adversary and setting up a wall for the house of Israel, that he might stand in battle on the day of the Lord, namely representing the role of the outstanding Shepherd in the aforesaid Church, he kept vigil through the night over the flock with all diligence for a long time, until he delivered the Lord's sheepfolds unharmed to the returning Shepherd. Ezekiel 13:4. and for a time instructs the people. And so, after three years had passed, when Eusebius had returned, as a companion and colleague he honored the same Gaudentius with the highest regard, and in return for such great service, both Churches of God were at last under a common governance for both peoples, as overseers, as if from two flocks one sheepfold had been formed; they united both flocks with undivided love: from then until now and up to the present day, by God's will, the people is seen to remain undivided. Amid these things the magnificence of God is wonderfully present in His Saint, so that He might propagate the begun work of virtue with more prosperous successes, and, like a light shown from heaven, might illuminate the whole world with the brightness of celestial light.

CHAPTER III.

Miracles, prophecies, episcopate.

[9] He lives austerely: During that time the most blessed man, within the walls of the city, not far from where the church of the holy Mother of God is now known to be situated, had sought out a certain small dwelling, like the enclosures of a monastery, circumspect for habitation. When he had first approached it, armed with faith and fearless with constancy, he gave himself over entirely to very great abstinence in fasts and vigils; so that whenever the natural necessity demanded a little sleep, he rested not upon the softness of bedding (as he never had been accustomed) but upon the surface of a mere mat and haircloth alone.

[10] While spending a certain night there almost sleepless in keeping vigil, suddenly in the silence of the dead of night a fire broke out above the walls from the fall of a certain descending flame, from which a great conflagration had grown, surrounding everything, and had quickly reached his dwelling, where he was held in a light slumber. At last he learned through a disciple the extraordinary cause, and proceeding with swift course, he encircled the heart of the flames with spiritual canticles, and prepared to resist the flames of immense height with the sign of the Cross: He extinguishes a fire by the Sign of the Cross: wherefore, although the flames touched the neighboring and adjoining houses on every side, turning back upon themselves they did not dare to touch the remaining houses; exulting, he proceeded to his dwelling, and there, singing, he paid the praises due at the morning hours.

[11] Not long after, when that most blessed man, the glory of the Churches, Ambrose, Bishop of the holy Church of Milan, he is visited by S. Ambrose, divinely admonished, had hastened to the city of Vercelli on account of a certain discord among the people, and, illuminating the whole world with his rays like the Sun, had left there an enduring concord of peace, he hastened to return to his own See: and when, as the day was now declining toward evening, he was passing by the city of Novara, and hurrying on to his intended destination, he put off visiting the blessed man, saying to his companions: "We ought to have seen the Reverend Gaudentius, but the day is already declining toward evening." Having said these things, he continued the journey he had begun: and not long after, having proceeded thence, suddenly the horse of the most blessed Ambrose stopped, and he could not move it further: he began therefore to strike the horse with a whip and to bloody it with spurs; but the horse, remaining immovable, shrank from the proposed journey as if from mortal danger. And when so great a man was worn out by long striking, immediately, illuminated by the divine Spirit, returning to himself as was his custom, he said: "We are not permitted to complete the journey we have begun, unless we see Blessed Gaudentius." When he had said this, immediately retracing his steps, he returned to the city; he went where he wished, but willingly.

[12] Ambrose predicts the episcopate for him; Gaudentius in turn predicts his death: Blessed Gaudentius, when he recognized through the Spirit that so great a man was coming to him, immediately attempted to go out to meet him. But Ambrose, looking upon him with a cheerful spirit, embraced and kissed him, and, as though rebuking him while announcing a mystery, said to him: "You will be a Bishop, as I see." But Gaudentius, who by his merits also foresaw the future, with the placid countenance that was his, not in reproach but as though rendering a favor in return, replied: "Indeed, but I shall be consecrated by another." This happened so that the reason for a similar miracle might be spoken by one Spirit in two men — one regarding the fact, the other regarding the time — and each prophesied future events. Then, bidding farewell to each other, S. Ambrose returned to his metropolitan see. And not long after, according to the prophecy of Blessed Gaudentius, Ambrose departed to the Lord by a glorious death, himself predicting and leaving behind as his successor the most worthy Blessed Simplicianus.

[13] But now the desired time, longed for by the wishes of all, was approaching, that the people who had long waited should petition the earthly Prince by prayer that the most blessed Gaudentius would be their Bishop, whom they knew had been wholly pleasing to the heavenly Prince. Nevertheless they sent a modest embassy with a few words, he is made Bishop of Novara: setting forth the desired cause and praying that he would deign to be a gracious hearer of their petitions: so that Gaudentius, worthy of God, raised to the sacred summit, might at last assume the See of governance. Suddenly the Prince, endowed with heavenly gift of subtle counsel, and having suppressed the desire of all, ordered that what divine providence had predestined should be fulfilled without delay; and thus, with the Lord arranging it, he merited the Episcopal dignity as the first to hold the See of Novara. The pontifical distinction, obtained from the most blessed Archbishop Simplicianus, was more of a burden to him than an honor.

[14] He became, therefore, all things to all men, not seeking what was useful for himself, but what was useful for many, that they might be saved. And suddenly, as if the Lord deigned to light a certain lamp in His Priest, increasing daily through him the preaching of the word and the salutary seeds of the kingdom of heaven. He soon so advanced in the reform of a people infected with ancient poisons that the worshippers of the impious Mausoleum, who had formerly made Blessed Laurence a Martyr, seemed to behold a new light of truth for themselves, so that he allowed no one without the grace of baptism to dwell without delay in the city entrusted to him from heaven: for he who had merited to be a Confessor did not hesitate to approach fierce peoples as a preacher. But when he continually besought the Lord for their conversion and taught them that through baptism they had remission of sins, he converts very many pagans: and that they could not be saved otherwise; as if the rays of the true sun shone upon their hearts, astonished and beholding the glory of God with unveiled face, and by faithful confession willing to abandon the error of their ancient punishment, they were baptized by that same Bishop. By divine gift, therefore, the outstanding warrior snatched the spoil from the enemy and restored it to the Creator.

[15] And after a short time, such great grace of virtues was increased in him he becomes renowned for miracles: that signs were performed through him no less than formerly through the Apostles. For, as we said a little above, he who when still a young man put demons to flight by his word and healed the sick by his prayer — God was seen to be magnified daily through His Saint by exercising miracles: so that thereafter he restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the mute, wholeness of gait to the lame; and what would be long to recount one by one. Moreover, because the Lord and Savior, while still on earth, had said to His disciples: "If you believe in me, the works that I do, you also shall do, and greater than these shall you do"; water with which he had washed his hands cures diseases. for the flame of the Spirit had so kindled the blessed man to the love of faith that if anyone secretly carried off the water dripping from his hands when they were being washed, and touched the body of any ailing person with it, a most manifest cure followed. John 14:12. But how many or what signs the Lord worked through him at the last are thought to be believable by none other than those who beheld them with their own eyes alone. Moreover, the most blessed man strove without ceasing to refresh the hearts of all with divine feasts, taking care that they should not neglect the commandments, repeatedly citing that decree of the Savior: Matthew 10:9 "Do not possess gold or silver; but according to the Apostle, having food and clothing, let us be content with these." 1 Timothy 6:8; 1 Corinthians 9:27. He himself labored with all his might, chastising his body and bringing it into subjection, lest perhaps, while preaching to others, he himself should be found reprobate — to such an extent that by preaching and working he might bring back a doubled profit from his business to the Lord. And since, according to the voice of the Savior, he had himself first done in all things what he taught, who doubts that he is great in the kingdom of heaven? For he was a Priest of God, bearing the pontifical mitre, who by crucifying his body in himself and persecuting vices through the mortification of the flesh, obtained a new martyrdom.

CHAPTER IV.

Death, funeral, miracles.

[16] But when he had built churches, monasteries, and cells throughout the parishes in sufficient abundance, and rejoiced as the Father of innumerable clergy, exulting in the great zeal of his sons; at last he prepares to collect the interest stored up by the eternal Father. The Lord therefore did not delay to console and reward His faithful servant. For when he had now completed four lustra (twenty years) in the pontifical rank, and knew that his death was near at hand, he judged it more useful that, while he was still living, he should announce his future successor by prophetic signs, lest thereafter some dispute, as often happens, He designates Agapius as his successor by divine direction: should arise among the flock divinely entrusted to him concerning the future Shepherd. And so, having assembled the clergy with the people, he first admonished them to retain in their minds the words of God which they had received in their ears through himself, so that, dreading the peril of eternal death, they should hasten daily toward the heavenly kingdom, and many other things; adding also this: that the entire people of the Church should know that their future Shepherd and his religious successor would be a prudent man, Agapius by name, predestined by God, and that all should persist unanimously in agreement upon his election, lest the ignorant people appear to rebel against the divine presence.

[17] he dies. And while the most blessed man did not cease to teach the people with such admonitions, with what virtue he could, not long after, full of days, resplendent with the splendor of his merits, he commended earthly things to earth; but his spirit, desiring to be present among the heavenly choir of Angels, ascended on high. Suddenly a throng of innumerable peoples flowed together from all sides; the walls, the courtyards, all the streets were thronged. The lamentation of all was immense, the sorrow intolerable; only these words did the groans of the grieving wrest forth amid their sobbing: "Alas, desolate flock, what will you do? Behold, with your Shepherd lost, you are scattered: and who will ever be able to deliver you from the ravenous teeth of wolves?" During that time the basilica, where the Priest of God now awaits the time of resurrection, entombed with wondrous beauty, had long since been begun to be built by him with the greatest effort, but had remained not yet completed: which afterwards the blessed man Agapius completed and finished with every honor. Meanwhile the bereft people, afflicted by a twofold sorrow — both for the death of their Shepherd and for the unfinished basilica — unable to endure so great anguish, prostrate upon the pavement, produced a wailing beyond human measure, to such a degree that not even the ministers of the Church were permitted the freedom to carry out their office.

[18] The body is laid in the church, At last the most holy man hastens to visit in spirit the people whom he had left in body, not in affection. Without delay: a divine inspiration from heaven so filled the hearts of all that the venerable body should be laid in the church of the holy Mother of God, not in a human sepulchre, but to be preserved in the ground alone, until the aforesaid hall of so great a Bishop should be prepared and completed by the reverend man Agapius, his successor. And so the entire multitude of the people, illuminated by divine radiance and strengthened by his past virtues, casting aside all doubt about the corruption of the sacred body according to custom, placing the holy and venerable body upon a wooden board in the sacristy, and establishing the holy funeral rites to be performed there with all veneration, they continued to observe them unceasingly. it remains long uncorrupted: And so who would doubt that the consecrated body, gleaming with a rosy radiance and fragrant with the sweetness of perfume, remained unburied from the twenty-second of January until the third of August? And yet that body was seen daily by many as it displayed no small miracle in itself; for indeed the hair of the head and cheeks and the nails of the hands and feet, as once when he was alive, so in the sight of many, continually grew and sprouted. For this reason, therefore, the most Blessed one merited to display such signs in his body, so that all who beheld them might be given to understand that he whom they first mourned as dead on earth without consolation, they should afterwards believe to be living in heaven with the Angels. After these signs he so proved himself present by abundantly restoring health to various infirmities that, like a light shown from heaven, or a certain ray of the Sun bursting forth, he illuminated the whole world with the brightness of celestial light. very many are healed at it: Because of this, from not a few villages and cities, not only neighboring but also distant, an immense multitude of people flowed together to the holy and venerable body on account of such manifest miracles.

[19] Amid these things Blessed Agapius, together with all the people, dedicated the aforesaid basilica, completed at great expense and with extraordinary embellishment, with the due ceremonies. Then, six months and twelve days after his death, they consigned the holy body, still uncorrupted, as though of one day after death, to the sepulchre with the highest honor. it is buried: Where daily, through the working of our Lord Jesus Christ, his merits are made glorious by the frequent concourse of peoples; so that the sick may experience how fitting it is for them to honor this servant of God, where blindness receives sight, it is made illustrious by miracles. lameness receives the ability to walk, and the closed doors of the ears merit to receive hearing: and how the wondrous brightness of his virtues has shone forth to all ends of the earth, I think it is hardly possible for anyone to express; yet I shall recount, as I am able, one celebrated miracle from among many.

[20] A young woman born of noble stock in the city of Rome possessed innumerable wealth and immense riches: A woman possessed by a demon is led from Rome to Novara at S. Peter's direction, but one day, while she was walking through the secluded parts of her estate, she unexpectedly fell victim to the weapons of the demons, and her breast became a temple of foul legions, and her companions at last found her frenzied: a few could not restrain the raving woman, who, maddened against all, gnashing her teeth, became with rabid mouth the enemy of her companions. Meanwhile they bound her on all sides with chains, led her to the church of Blessed Peter, prince of the Apostles, and dragged her to the place near his sacred tomb. Then at last the phalanx of demons, through the possessed body, produced various voices in the manner of an organ; and now pouring forth the hisses of a serpent, vibrating with poison, now imitating the bellowing of cattle and the bleating of sheep, now the croaking of birds or the roars of wild beasts. At last the most Blessed Peter, prince of the Apostles, moved by pity, deigned to manifest his mystical power through a certain most holy man; he warned the companions to undertake a long journey, to traverse all of Italy, to hasten with swift course to the city of Novara, if indeed they sought the health of the wretched woman held in the bonds of demons, and to approach the shrine of Blessed Gaudentius the Confessor, for it would come to pass that by his merits the captive would in a short time recover her former health. Immediately, obeying the commands of the heavenly gatekeeper, the relatives set out on the journey, and after nearly five hundred miles they arrived at the city of Novara: where the young woman, as soon as she entered the temple, was immediately seen to be freed from the vexation of demons, was released from her iron chains, and at once she came to the resting place of the blessed body, and washed it with profuse groans and tear-streaming cheeks. Then, healed, raising her face to the sacred mysteries, she gave thanks for the gift of so great a salvation. she is healed at the relics of S. Gaudentius. Soon, to the wonder of the people and her companions, she arose strong, gave praise to the Lord Christ; and thus at last, exulting, she hastened to revisit her kinsmen safe and sound, returning swiftly to her own home, until at last she arrived joyfully in the City, safe and well. These things, accomplished fittingly in this manner — immediately the relatives and all who had been afflicted on her account received, as it were, their own salvation.

[21] Meanwhile the grace of the people and their venerable well-being shone forth, whose fame, gleaming through every mouth, could not be hidden, so that with the Prophet the entire people cried out: "You have visited the earth, O Lord, and made it drunk." Psalm 64:10. O how great is Your glory, O Christ, through him, who, in order to show Your servant equal to Blessed Peter, willed to declare him by the responses of that same heavenly gatekeeper with so great a miracle. This event shines forth among his other miracles, so besprinkled with the splendor of glory, that the entire people of the city of Novara sing praise to God and say: "You have turned the desert into a pool of water, O Lord, and the waterless land into springs of water"; whence also the present Church cries out: "The right hand of the Lord has wrought power, the right hand of the Lord has exalted me." Truly these are Your gratuitous gifts, O Lord: from the fountain of Your piety You pour living water upon the ignorant and fill empty hearts. For to recount the miracles and deeds of such great virtues, neither a barren mind nor a humble page suffices. This Life written at the command of Leo, Bishop of Novara. "Having ventured to run hastily through these few things in words, I have marked them, unlearned, for the faithful peoples to reread, supported by the merits of the blessed Pope Leo, who, with God as guide, last held the See of Blessed Gaudentius of the city of Novara, through whom the entire people rejoices in their patron." With the deeds of the blessed man having been set forth, however unworthily, in whatever words, we now dispose to give an end at the fitting time; we place a hand upon our mouth and hasten to return inward to our conscience. And indeed, since as unworthy servants we cannot imitate him, let us ask by our prayers that he become our patron, so that we may be aided by his merits, whose birthday we celebrate, with the help of Him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever.