Martyrs Manuel

ON THE HOLY MARTYRS MANUEL, GEORGE, PETER, LEO, Bishops; PARODUS, Priest; JOHN, LEO, Tribunes; GABRIEL, SIONIUS, together with 377 OTHERS, and many more, in Bulgaria.

About the year 818.

Manuel, Bishop, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) George, Bishop, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Peter, Bishop, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Leo, Bishop, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Parodus, Priest, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) John, Tribune, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Leo, Tribune, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Gabriel, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Sionius, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Other 377, and very many others, Martyrs in Bulgaria

From various sources.

[1] Theophanes, in book 24 of the Mixed History, continuing the events of his own time, writes in chapter 25 of the terrible slaughter inflicted upon the Christians by Crunnus (whom others call Crumus), leader of the Bulgars, on 26 July, Indiction 4, year of Christ 811, in which the Emperor Nicephorus himself, surrounded by the enemy, fell with the chief nobles. The Bulgars, having killed the Emperor Nicephorus. The head of Nicephorus was cut off and suspended, then stripped and used as a drinking cup. Stauracius, the son of Nicephorus, wounded in the battle, did not long survive. For in the same year Michael Curopalates was acclaimed Emperor on 5 October, Indiction 5, chapter 29, who on 7 June, year of Christ 812, went out against the Bulgars, they capture many cities: since Crunnus, leader of the Bulgars, had taken Debeldus by siege and had transported those who were in it, together with the Bishop, to Bulgaria, chapter 33. Debeldus is the city called by Ptolemy in book 3, chapter 11, Develtus — a city and colony of Thrace on the borders of Mysia and the Euxine Sea; called Dibaltum by Ammianus; below in the Menaia, Deboltum: whose Archbishop, or as it is written in Greek, archiereus, S. George, was then led thence to martyrdom with others in Bulgaria. "But the Bulgars," says Theophanes in chapter 34, "further strengthened, prevailed against Thrace and Macedonia. Then also Anchialus and Beroea and Nicaea and the fortress of Probatus, and the Christians, abandoning them, fled." There is a double Nicaea in Thrace according to Stephanus. S. Leo the Bishop governed the other one, and was afterwards crowned with martyrdom together with the rest.

[2] In the following year, 813, on 23 May, in a battle fought not far from Adrianople, Michael Curopalates was defeated by Crunnus and not unwillingly yielded the sovereignty, with Leo the Armenian succeeding, who was crowned by the Patriarch Nicephorus on 12 July, they defeat the Emperor Michael: a Monday, Indiction 6, since the sun had been eclipsed before 4 May, as if abhorring the impiety of Leo. Meanwhile Crunnus was pressing the siege of Adrianople; and having left his brother at the siege, he himself advanced all the way to the city of Constantinople, on the sixth day of the reign of Leo, devastating widely with fire and plunder everything in his path: returning, he took the besieged Adrianople; they besiege Adrianople, as Theophanes reports, concluding his history with these words. Adrianople is still an illustrious city of Thrace on the river Hebrus; whose Bishop, in the exposition of the Elder Emperor Andronicus Palaeologus, is called "the most holy Metropolitan of Adrianople and the most honored Prelate of Haemimontus": in which manner S. Manuel, its Bishop, is called in the Menaia "the great Archbishop," and by John Curopalates simply "the Archbishop," in whose compendium of histories his captivity and death are narrated thus.

[3] After Crumus, Prince of the Bulgars, puffed up with his victories against the Romans, they capture it: besieged Adrianople — so that no force dared resist him, because on account of the success we have mentioned he was intolerable — and had reduced the city by a prolonged siege to such a pass that it accepted the terms of surrender due to the want of necessities, he transferred all who were in the city, including Archbishop Manuel, to Bulgaria. At that time therefore, together with others, the parents of the Emperor (Basil the Macedonian) were also carried away, the captives are led away, bearing with them their infant son still at the breast, into the region of the Bulgars: where the illustrious Archbishop himself and the parents of the Emperor, preserving their uncorrupted faith in Christ, converted very many of the Bulgars to the orthodox faith, they convert many Bulgars: since that nation had not yet been brought to the true worship of God, and they sowed the seeds of Christian teaching in very many places of Bulgaria. But death overtook Crumus.

[4] His successor Cutragon, far surpassing his predecessor in cruelty, not ignorant of what had been done and gradually perceiving that the Bulgarian people was being drawn to the worship of the Christians, blazed with great anger; therefore some are variously harassed and commanded the holy Archbishop Manuel, together with those distinguished men who were with him, to present themselves before him, not without great wrath; and first he attempted to divert them from the orthodox and blameless Christian faith with smooth and gentle words. But when he found them too noble they are crowned with martyrdom: to be overcome by promises or threats, he first had them severely beaten and then saw to it that they were killed by the death of martyrdom. And the illustrious Archbishop Manuel, together with those distinguished men who were with him, ended his life by a glorious martyrdom; and many of his kinsmen also were deemed worthy of the glory of martyrdom.

[5] And when it was time for the remaining captives to return to their homeland, since their return was being prepared for them by God; the others are released. the Prince of the Bulgars, repeatedly defeated and no longer able to resist the Roman forces, made peace and freed the captives. When these had recently been assembled and were about to return to their native seats, the Prince was surveying the captives: and happening to notice the boy Basil, who, having now left childhood, was beginning to reach puberty, he called him to himself, etc.

[6] Cedrenus narrates the same things, and Zonaras about the capture of Adrianople and the infant Basil carried into exile with his parents. But both write that when Basil returned home he had passed from childhood to adolescence, perhaps eight or nine years old. For, as the same writers report, Martagon, Prince of the Bulgars, had made a thirty-year truce with Leo the Armenian, When these events occurred. who was murdered by Michael the Stammerer on Christmas Day itself, year of Christ 820. From this it is clear that these Martyrs for the faith of Christ died before these truces were made. Baronius also treats of these Martyrs in the Ecclesiastical Annals, volume 9, year 813, number 7, and says that in the Menologion of the Emperor Basil the following was noted for 20 January: "Of the holy Martyrs Manuel, George, Leo, and their companions, killed by the Bulgars." Under the principate of Leo the Armenian, Crunnus, Prince of the Bulgars, coming with a great army to Adrianople in Thrace, captured it by right of war, the death of S. Manuel, and with the city he also took the holy Bishop Manuel; whose hands he first amputated from his shoulders, then cut him in two with a sword and threw him to the wild beasts to be devoured. Crunnus was then struck blind on account of his sin, and incurring the hatred of his own people, was strangled with cords by them. But Zocus, his most impious successor, having assumed the rule of the Bulgars, assembled all the Christian captives — generals, priests, deacons, and laity — and of the others, and when he tried to force them to deny the faith of Christ and they would not yield, he had them cruelly butchered after afflicting them with various torments. But in the Menaia and in Maximus of Cythera, their feast is celebrated on this 22nd of January, from which we give the following eulogy.

ACTS FROM THE GREEK MENAIA.

Manuel, Bishop, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) George, Bishop, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Peter, Bishop, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Leo, Bishop, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Parodus, Priest, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) John, Tribune, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Leo, Tribune, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Gabriel, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Sionius, Martyr in Bulgaria (S.) Other 377, and very many others, Martyrs in Bulgaria

From the Menaia.

By the sword Manuel is divided into two parts, Honoring the two undivided natures of Christ. Names of these Saints, George and Peter, who share one faith, Fall together for the same Lord. Leo's spirit remains unbroken in eagerness, Though the sword cuts open his belly. Fear of the sword drawn near the neck Is far from Gabriel, and far from Sionius. Truly, not fearing the sword, the Strategoi — Noble John and Leo. Parodus, overwhelmed by stones thrown by hand, Sweetly completed the journey of life. Five times sixty the sword slew, And joined to them seventy-seven.

These were from various prefectures and places, and they dwelt at Adrianople. The Bulgars, however, ungrateful and forgetful of all benefits, made an assault upon the Roman Empire, These were captives, and laid waste its borders: and from Thrace and Macedonia they led many captives away in chains, and making raids all the way to the royal city itself, they came to Adrianople and, having besieged it for three days, captured it. These things were done during the reign of the impious Leo the Armenian, under Crumus, the leader of the Bulgars; who, having taken the city, expelled forty thousand from it, under various leaders of the Bulgars, among whom was the most holy Bishop, whom he seized by the throat, dashed to the ground, and trampled with his feet. When Crumus's life was cut short, Ducumus succeeded him in the principate. When he too was soon extinct, Ditzengus was proclaimed Prince of the Bulgars, a cruel and savage tyrant. He cut the great Archbishop Manuel in two, and threw his severed hands and shoulders to the dogs to be devoured: but he was soon struck with blindness and was himself taken from the midst of men by his own servants. Murtagon, having then obtained the principate, killed all Christians who refused to deny Christ; cruelly killed: some by chains and torments, others first subjected to savage cruelties. He ordered the holy Archbishop of Deboltum, George, and Bishop Peter to be first inhumanly lacerated with rods and then beheaded, just as he subjected the remaining three hundred seventy-seven to the penalty of the sword: and also another Leo and John, Tribunes, or military Prefects, of the Christians. To the holy Leo, Bishop of Nicaea, born a eunuch, he cut open the belly with a sword. He struck down Gabriel and Sionius with the sword. He commanded the most religious Priest Parodus to be crushed with stones, and put to death many others by various tortures. And not only the impious Murtagon, but other leaders who afterwards governed the Bulgars and others afterwards. delivered many Christians to death, afflicting them with various torments.

ON S. DOMINIC, ABBOT, NEAR SORA IN ITALY.

Year 1031.

Dominic, Abbot of Sora in Italy (S.)

[1] Sora is a very ancient town of Italy, situated on the bank of the river Liris. A mile and a half from it there is a cenobium called S. Dominic's, founded by S. Dominic the Abbot, shortly after the year of Christ 1000: who also ended his life there about the year 1031, as Leo of Ostia testifies in the Cassinese Chronicle, book 2, chapter 62. "In these days," The cenobium of S. Dominic, he says, "Blessed Dominic, the worker of innumerable miracles and the founder of many cenobia, departed to the Lord near Sora, a city of Campania, when he was already nearly eighty years old; and he was buried in the monastery near Sora which is now called by his name." Pope Honorius III, as Ludovicus Jacobilli attests, together with another monastery constructed by the people of Sora four years after Dominic's death at a place called Casamari, seven miles distant from Sora, handed both over to the Cistercian monks: who hold both to this day. And this is the reason why Dominic is depicted in the habit of the Cistercians, painting, although it is established that he lived long before the Cistercian reform, under the Cassinese Benedictine discipline.

[2] The feast of S. Dominic has been inscribed in the Ecclesiastical calendar on 22 January, feast day, with these words: "At Sora, S. Dominic, Abbot, renowned for miracles." He is also commemorated by Wion, Menard, and Dorganius. The people of Sora and Arpino, and those who inhabit the neighboring countryside, celebrate his feast on this day with a great concourse and piety, and hold him among their foremost tutelary Saints and patrons of their towns. church dedication; But on 22 August they celebrate the dedication of his church with no less solemnity. The people of Foligno also venerate him as their patron and fellow citizen.

[3] Against hail and storms especially, his patronage is customarily invoked, and the success rarely disappoints the people's piety. Therefore at Sora, patronage against storms, when the sky thunders, the bell of his basilica is rung with special urgency. For this reason also the people of Foligno were accustomed in former centuries to send annually to the monastery of S. Dominic, at public expense, some coins, woolen cloth for the monks' garments, and ropes for ringing the bells of the church. This is evident from the Foligno archives: and it is established that as long as this was done in the name of the Senate, no damage was inflicted upon the city or its environs from hail or any other atmospheric injury. Those who are afflicted with fevers, fevers, or harmed by the bite of rabid dogs and serpents, also invoke his aid and experience his present help: especially at the place called Cuculla, where one of his teeth is preserved; bites of serpents and rabid dogs; and at Sora, where in the church of S. Sylvester, which is under the care of the monks of his cenobium, his ring is shown.

[4] The life of S. Dominic was written by Albericus the Deacon, a man most eloquent and most erudite, as Leo of Ostia attests in book 3 of the Cassinese Chronicle, chapter 33, where he reviews certain other writings of his. life; We believe this Albericus to be the very same noble boy who, as Peter the Deacon, his fellow student, relates in the Cassinese Chronicle, book 4, chapter 68, when he was in his tenth year, was moved by heavenly signs to embrace the monastic life. He was afterwards co-opted into the College of Cardinals by Alexander II and distinguished himself in fighting for the liberty of the Church against the Teutonic Emperors. We obtained this commentary of Albericus from an ancient codex of the Cassinese library, written in Lombard characters, through the efforts of our Antonio Beatilli. Ludovicus Jacobilli also wrote the life of S. Dominic in Italian in his book on the Saints of Foligno, where he cites a history of the same Saint composed by Gasparo Spitilli. Philip Ferrarius also treats of him in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, other writings about him. where he cites a lengthy life of Dominic written by Albericus, which was translated into the vernacular tongue and published in print; and he narrates certain things not found in the Life we give; whence one may suspect that either it was abridged in our manuscript, or rather that certain things were added later to the one Albericus had written; or else drawn from a writer of questionable reliability, whom Albericus criticizes. Baronius also mentions S. Dominic at the year 1031, number 2.

LIFE

By Albericus the Cardinal, from an ancient manuscript of the Cassinese library.

Dominic, Abbot of Sora in Italy (S.)

BHL Number: 2244

By Albericus the Cardinal, from the manuscripts.

PROLOGUE TO DODO THE MONK.

[1] The birth, life, death, and certain miracles of the venerable Father Dominic — which heavenly goodness wrought through him, whether while he still breathed the air of life or after he had been released from the prison of the flesh — a certain writer had described in an extremely verbose and unpolished style: and, which I believe happened through the fault of the narrator, The life of S. Dominic, badly written by another; relating certain things otherwise than as they were done, he had made the already flawed history yet more flawed by falsehoods. Discovering, dearest Brother Dodo, that all these things were so through diligent investigation, at Dodo's instigation, you at last wrung from me by frequent and importunate entreaty of prayers that I should go with you to the place of his burial and meet the reverend Abbot Benedict, related to Dominic both by blood and by holiness, and the reverend elders of the place, formerly educated under the discipline of Dominic, having examined everything, and learning the pure truth of the events from these narrators, I should commit to writing and memory the birth, life, and death of Dominic, and whatever was most notable among his miracles, in a more polished style and one free from the stain of falsehood.

[2] And you accomplished by your zeal and industry that nothing should be committed to writing by me that was not confirmed by the credible testimonies of suitable persons. and having ascertained from certain witnesses, For many of the things which I transmit to the memory of posterity concerning Dominic were brought to my knowledge through the report of the aforesaid Abbot: many I learned from the report of the monk Hildebrand, a man of honorable life and most worthy of every veneration for the brilliance of his learning. But most things John, an old man, of advanced age and nearly decrepit, with a mouth empty of teeth from age and stammering, recounted in my ears: who, having been given to Dominic as a disciple while still in his boyhood years, lived with him up to the very end of his life. Present as narrators in my hearing were also ... of Dominic and other venerable elders, whose names I do not remember, who had familiar acquaintance with the holy man while he was living in the body ... Moreover certain Brethren were shown to me there, who at the tomb of the holy man attested by their own testimony that they had been freed from various maladies. But enough of these matters.

[3] Furthermore, in this work I have employed a style of moderate figure, which should not be a horror to the ears of the more learned, nor should it refuse to be grasped by the understanding of the less educated; Albericus composed it in a more polished style. hoping that it will be divinely granted in return for my labor and your industry that through the intercession of Dominic we may both merit to obtain full indulgence for our transgressions.

CHAPTER I.

The training of S. Dominic. His monastic and eremitical life.

[4] Dominic was born at Foligno, a town of Etruria, of a father named John and a mother named Ampa, persons illustrious in both lineage and religion. While still in his boyish years, he so showed himself a stranger to games and all Dominic was mature from boyhood, the follies which especially dominate at that age, that even then God seemed to be tracing in Dominic certain lines of the holiness that was to come...

[5] Handed over as a boy by his parents to the monastery of S. Sylvester, which has the surname Aseri, to be imbued with the study of letters, he is trained in a monastery: he began both by the vivacity of his talent and the tenacity of his memory and the acuteness of his understanding to surpass even those who exceeded him in age. And when in a short time he had acquired full proficiency in reading and singing according to the custom of the region, promoted to higher grades at appropriate intervals of time, he becomes a Priest; he at last merited to be elevated to the summit of the priesthood.

[6] Not much time passed after this, when Dominic, departing from his land and kindred, set forth to the place which, from the image of the god Ammon which the pagans formerly honored there with divine worship, is to this day corruptly called "Petra-daemonis" (Rock of the Demon), as if "of the god Ammon." And there, in a certain monastery dedicated to the name of the holy Mother of God and perpetual Virgin, he departs from his homeland: through the hands of the Abbot Donnosus, a man conspicuous for wondrous holiness, he was clothed with the habit of the holy order. What Dominic's life was like thereafter — how sparing in food, how wakeful through the night, how frequent in prayer, he becomes a monk: how assiduous in reading, how conspicuous in the observance of the entire monastic discipline — it is almost incredible to relate. he lives a holy life:

[7] Having been perfected, therefore, in cenobitic life, he lives as a solitary: and fully taught the spiritual contests of the fraternal ranks, with permission granted him by his own Abbot, he ascended the summit of a certain mountain not far from the monastery, intending henceforth to contend there alone, hand and arm, with the ancient enemy of our human race.

CHAPTER II.

Cenobia built in various places.

[8] But, according to that saying of the Truth, a city set on a mountain could not be hidden, nor could a lamp lit by God be covered with the veil of a bushel. Matthew 5:15. For it happened by chance that one or two of those who inhabited the vicinity of the place ascended the mountain in whose recesses Dominic was hiding, driven by some necessity: and traversing the retreats of the mountain on all sides, they discovered the hiding place of the holy man in the more secluded spots. And when they had spread abroad what they had seen, there was no one among the inhabitants of the land who did not know that a certain servant of God was leading a solitary life on the summit of that mountain. he is frequented by many; And very many of them began to visit him frequently, bringing him provisions for temporal life, and to listen attentively to the words that kindled the soul to desire for eternal life from his mouth.

[9] Immediately fame took wings and with swift flight bore the holy man through hamlets, through villages, through towns; and now in the towers of the rich, now in the shops of the poor, now even in the huts of shepherds, his name is found. What of all this? At last it strikes the ears of the most powerful Marquis Hubert and leads him to visit and hear Dominic. The holiness of the man pleases the Marquis to such a degree that he earnestly begged him with persistent and manifold entreaty that, in whatever place of his dominion seemed suitable to him, he should endeavor to build a monastery for the servants of God. And the Marquis did not desist from prayers and entreaties until he merited to obtain from Dominic what he asked. Dominic therefore built a monastery at Scandrilia, which he wished to be called S. Savior's: and the aforesaid Marquis granted the place so much from the revenues of his own right that to this day a not inconsiderable number of cenobites is sufficiently sustained there in all necessities. he builds a cenobium at Scandrilia:

[10] When the cenobium had therefore been built and a multitude of Brethren of no small number had been gathered there, he appointed a certain man from their number, Constantius by name, to be set over them as Father — a man most suitable for that office in life, learning, and speech alike. He himself, however, having joined to himself a certain man named John, a monk of venerable life, migrated to the place whose name is Domus; where on the mountain called Pizi, he withdraws to a mountain: dwelling in a humble little hut, they measured out the meditation of the law of the Lord alone by day, consuming the greater part of the nights in the same pursuit.

[11] It was not, however, granted them to enjoy those beloved hiding places for a longer time: for he was found and recognized there by some, and through them it was reported to Berald, Theodinus, and Randisius, Counts of the region, that Dominic was concealed in Prato Cardoso; who, going without delay to the Saint of the Lord, earnestly and most urgently endeavored to pray him he builds the monastery of S. Peter of the Lake: that what they had learned he had done in certain other places, he would not be reluctant to do in the territory of Valva; namely, to build a dwelling suited for those who were renouncing the world and resolving to serve God under the strict discipline of the monastic rule. He therefore built there, with the help of the aforesaid Counts, in a most suitable location, the monastery which is called S. Peter of the Lake; to which place, among other generous grants, the aforesaid Counts confirmed by perpetual concession and legal document five lakes.

CHAPTER III.

Visions. Miracles.

[12] In those days Dominic confessed that he had contemplated certain things which should not be veiled in silence. For on a certain night, he is refreshed by heavenly signs; while pouring forth prayers with his eyes raised to heaven, he beheld a column most similar in color to the rainbow, which indeed seemed to touch heaven with its summit and, with its lower parts, the cell in which Dominic dwelt. The servant of God judged that this vision should by no means be kept silent from those Brothers who were most intimate and familiar to him by merit of their religious life; so that he would not be the only one to offer God acts of thanksgiving for so great a vision.

[13] Likewise on another night, while meditating on certain heavenly things in his cell, he suddenly saw a wondrous light radiate from above; and by others: in which light he beheld three columns similar in splendor, equal in measure, and also continuous in position. While he marveled at them in amazement, he suddenly perceived himself lifted up to their summits above the clouds, and (which is also marvelous to tell) in the blink of an eye he beheld the entire globe of the earth at once. Soon, however, as he returned to himself, some part of the light he had seen appeared in the same place where he was dwelling for some time.

[14] During the same time a certain boy named Leo, from the town whose name is Castrum, he frees a boy from fevers; when he was burning with the heat of a violent fever, drank the water that had fallen from the hands of the man of God when he was washing himself, and at that very hour was restored to perfect health.

[15] A certain illustrious woman also, while she had long been suffering from a flow of blood and could obtain health from no physician, at last endeavored to implore the man of God by a written letter, asking that he would deign to send her the water that had washed his hands; asserting without hesitation that she believed she would obtain full health from drinking it. The most humble man spurned this as an abominable crime. a matron with a flow of blood: But lest he seem to entirely despise a woman of such great devotion, he sent the woman water blessed in the customary manner of the Church, declaring that the Lord would deal with her according not to the merits of Dominic, but according to her own faith. The woman drank the water with unhesitating faith, and at that very hour, the flow of blood being stanched, she merited to recover her former health.

[16] Nor should this be passed over in silence: that when a very great beech tree was falling upon him, Dominic with his outstretched right hand compelled it to fall in the other direction. he turns a falling tree aside: Dominic therefore began to be manifested to the world by these and similar manifold and wondrous signs, and was held by all to be not merely a Servant of God, not merely a just and God-fearing man, but truly a Saint, truly a friend of God, truly an imitator of the ancient Saints in life, signs, and teaching. On Sundays and feast days he ate spelt boiled with salt, without any seasoning of fat whatsoever, and loaves of a fixed number were sent to him weekly from the monastery.

CHAPTER IV.

Other cenobia built. Death.

[17] Moreover, asked by Borellus the Elder, he also built a cenobium on the Sangro, he builds three cenobia, which took the name S. Peter of Avellana from the enormous hazelnut tree that once stood near it, and Borellus enriched it with a sufficiently liberal gift of lands. After this, having gone to Campania to the place called Trisaltus by a revelation, he converted the inhabitants of that place from many wicked practices, and especially from illicit marriages, by his preaching; and he built there in the wilderness a monastery near a most limpid spring, and converts many from their vices: which he wished to dedicate to the name and memory of S. Bartholomew. He also established another on the side of the mountain called Cacumen, and judged it should be called by the name of the holy Angel.

[18] During the same time, when the man of God was traveling from the cenobium of S. Peter of the Lake to Trisaltus for the sake of visiting the Brethren, Peter of Rainerius, Lord of Sora, met him on the road and began to seek his judgment concerning his many and very great sins with sufficient humility. another in the territory of Sora; The holy man, among other fruits of penance, also gave him this precept: that he should build a monastery in the territory of his own jurisdiction and enrich it from his own possessions with such liberality that a fixed number of those serving God there could abundantly receive from it the supports of life. Peter willingly acquiesced in the commands of the man of God and humbly besought him to ride with him, to survey the entire land of his dominion, and promised to build a cenobium at whatever place seemed most suitable to him. Dominic consented to the just petition, and as they surveyed the land together, a place near Sora at last presented itself to Dominic, which the Saint judged most suitable for building a monastery: and there, at the command of the man of God, Peter soon built a monastery in honor of the holy Mother of God Mary, and by manifold liberality bestowed everything that was necessary for the place.

[19] When, in that place, nuns had been installed without Dominic's knowledge, and their conduct was by no means in keeping with their profession, but rather the rumor of their disgraceful way of life had even struck the ears of Dominic; whence he orders licentiously living nuns to be expelled; immediately summoning Peter to himself, he sharply reproached him for having wished to place women in the monastery that had been built at his command without consulting him. At the same time he recounted to him how foul and disgraceful the things were that he had heard about them. He therefore commanded that immediately, without any dishonor, they should be expelled and that he should gather Brethren there to serve the Lord under regular governance. Then Peter, prostrate at the feet of the man of God, begged pardon for his offense and promised to do whatever he had commanded. He also most earnestly and insistently entreated that Dominic himself should always preside over those whom he ordered to be gathered there as their Father and Rector. Though Dominic resisted these requests, he himself presides over the monks there. and Peter nonetheless persisted, at last the servant of God, overcome by the importunity of prayers, yielded, promising that when those nuns had been expelled, he would undertake the paternal care of the servants of God who would thenceforth be gathered in that place, and everything was accomplished in the order we have described.

[20] During those days a certain boy from Berola, mute and lame, was brought to the man of God: he heals a mute and lame boy: when he touched his tongue and feet, having impressed the sign of the cross and invoked the name of the Trinity, both his feet received the power to walk and his tongue the power of speech at that very hour by divine grace.

[21] When the man of the Lord had now spent nearly eighty years of life, one day, pressed by necessary business, he was setting out for Tusculum: when behold, on the way he was seized in the jaw by a fatal ulcer, which the common people call a pustule. seized by a fatal disease, The reverend monk John, who was then his companion on the journey, seeing this, urgently exhorted the man of God to hasten his return, to speed his way back, to hurry to restore himself to the Brethren, unless he wished to die in their absence, declaring without doubt that the ulcer visible on his face manifestly displayed the signs of approaching death. Dominic yielded to his exhortation and returned to the monastery at once: and immediately he commanded all the Brethren to be summoned to him, and first admonishing them about the observance of their profession and the bond of charity; after the customary words of exhortation, he at last commanded that everything customarily done for dying Brethren should be performed for him without delay. When the office had been completed, and he had also received the mysteries of the Body and Blood of the Lord, he is fortified with the divine sacraments: he commanded the weeping Brethren to go out and wait a little while outside.

[22] And when, with all having gone out, he alone remained in the cell, voices of one speaking and another conversing with him were heard by the Brethren who were keeping watch outside; he dies while an Angel converses with him: not, however, so clearly that the meaning of their words could be understood by them in any way: which conversation the holy man brought to its end together with his life, as it pleased the Lord. For when those voices had ceased to sound in the ears of the Brethren, they all entered and found that he had already breathed his last, and, beholding no traces of the one who was heard conversing with him, they all held it certain that an Angel had been sent for the consolation of the departing man. The holy man died on the twenty-second of January, in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord one thousand and thirty-one, and his body was buried in the monastery which is now named by his own title, situated in Campania in the vicinity of the city of Sora, he is buried. which was also mentioned above. Where Christ does not cease to work many wonders through his prayers even to this day, to the praise and glory of His name, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns as God through all ages of ages, Amen.

Ferrarius narrates various prophecies and miracles of the holy man: "He was distinguished," he says, "by the spirit of prophecy. For to Doda, a most noble matron, and to the Count of the Marsi her husband, he foretold many things prophecies. that befell them. When the Countess Giseltruda sent wine to him through servants who, drinking part of the wine, filled the vessel with water, Dominic rebuked them and brought them to repentance. When another sent fish and the servants hid part on the way near a tree, he warned them not to take back the hidden fish; and going, they found serpents in place of fish. Terrified by this, they humbly sought pardon from the man of God."

ON S. BRITHWALD, BISHOP OF WILTON IN ENGLAND.

Year 1045.

Brithwald, Bishop of Wilton in England (S.)

From various sources.

[1] There is a province in the interior of England, distinguished by the title of County, called Wiltshire, commonly Wilshire, taking its name from the town of Wilton, situated at the confluence of the rivers Nadder and Wylye, which Camden shows was called Ellandunum by the ancients. Bishop of Wilton Here there was formerly an Episcopal See: when it was transferred to Salisbury, not far distant, Ellandunum, or Wiltun, gradually declined so much that it is now scarcely a small hamlet.

[2] The eighth Bishop of that place at the beginning of the eleventh century was Brithwald, or Brithwold. Concerning whom William of Malmesbury, book 2 of his deeds of the English Bishops, S. Brithwald where he treats of the Bishops of Sherborne, Salisbury, and Wilton: "The eighth," he says, "was Brithwold, formerly a monk of Glastonbury; who administered the bishopric for many years, from the time of King Ethelred to Edward the last. In the time of King Canute, on a certain occasion at Glastonbury, as he often did, He is divinely taught about the future state of England; intent upon heavenly vigils, he experienced a divine vision. For when the thought had come to him which frequently troubled him, about the royal line of the English being nearly extinct, while he pondered this, sleep crept over him, and behold, caught up to the heavens, he saw Peter the Prince of the Apostles, holding by the hand Edward, the son of King Ethelred, who was then in exile in Normandy, and consecrating him as King, with a celibate life designated, and a definite number of twenty-four years calculated, at which he would reach the limit of his reign: and to the same Edward, complaining about posterity, Peter replied: 'The kingdom of the English belongs to God; after you He will provide a King according to His pleasure.'"

[3] Ethelred, brother of S. Edward the Martyr and father of S. Edward the Confessor, reigned from 14 April 978 to 23 April 1016. Canute, or Cnuto, a Dane, succeeded and married his widow Emma, the mother of S. Edward, in the year 1018; he died on 12 November 1035. The same vision of S. Brithwald is narrated by the same Malmesbury in his deeds of the English Kings, book 2, chapter 13, and somewhat more fully in the life of S. Edward on 5 January, chapter 1, numbers 4 and 5; likewise by Matthew of Westminster at the year 1055, Nicholas Harpsfield in the 11th century, chapter 19, Ralph of Chester, book 6, chapter 18, and others, who all testify, however, that it was not Edward who complained about posterity, but Brithwald himself who was anxious about it, and that he received that reply from S. Peter.

[4] Ralph and Harpsfield write that this happened while Brithwald was still a monk in the cenobium of Glastonbury, commonly called Glastonbury, of which we treated at chapter 1 of the life of S. Edward, letter l. But Malmesbury, who lived closer to Brithwald's time, disagrees; and writes that he held office from the time of King Ethelred to Edward: therefore during the reign of Canute he could not have been a monk. In the life of S. Edward this is attributed to Brithwald, Bishop of Winchester; and it is added: "For when you shall have slept with your fathers, not Brithwald of Winchester. the Lord will visit His people and the Lord will work the redemption of His people. For He will choose for Himself a man after His own heart who will do all His will, who with my help, having obtained the kingdom of the English, will put an end to the Danish fury. For he will be acceptable to God, pleasing to men, terrible to enemies, lovable to citizens, useful to the Church, and will conclude a praiseworthy life with a holy end." All of which the outcome of events proved to have been fulfilled in Blessed Edward. Therefore, since Brithwald of Wilton did not die before the reign of Edward, these things must be understood of the Bishop of Winchester.

[5] Winchester, formerly Venta Belgarum, now Wintchester to the English and Caer Gwent to the Britons — from the British word Guin or Guen, who is Ethelwold II and died earlier. meaning "white," because situated on a soil of whitish chalk and clay — a city of the province of Hampshire or Hamshire, had as Bishop at nearly the same time Ethelwold, whom certain more recent writers say was also called Brithwold, the third from S. Alphege. But that heavenly vision could not have been presented to him during the reign of Canute, since he is said to have succeeded Kenulph in the year 1006 and to have died in 1015, and Florentius of Worcester, William of Malmesbury, and others closest to those times call him Ethelwold, or Aethelwold, not Brithwold. He is nevertheless different from S. Ethelwold, Bishop of the same See, of whom we shall treat on 1 August.

[6] In the year 1045 at last, Brithwald, Bishop of Wilton, died, as Florence of Worcester writes; from whose history it is easy to perceive how many calamities he must have been harassed by. The death of S. Brithwald, In the same year the Westminster chronicler writes: "Brithwald, Bishop of Ramsbury, died." So also other Bishops of Wilton are found to have been called, because they had their residence at Ramsbury; whence Hermann the Fleming, the successor of S. Brithwald, transferred it to Salisbury, "because at Ramsbury," says Malmesbury, "there was neither a gathering of clergy, nor any means of sustenance." Ramsbury, commonly Ramesbury, lies on the river Cunetio, commonly called the Kennet, in the eastern part of Wiltshire; and it is now only a hamlet, but commended for the pleasantness of its meadows, as Camden attests.

[7] Having completed the course of his life, Brithwald was buried at Glastonbury, burial. whose possessions he had increased with many estates and revenues, being also most generous to our own monastery. So William of Malmesbury, an alumnus of the monastery situated on the northern edge of Wiltshire, of which more will be said at the life of S. Aldhelm on 25 May, and of S. Maidulph, from whom it takes its name, and which Bede calls the city of Maidulph. The name of S. Brithwald is inscribed in the English Martyrology on this day, but he is said to have been Bishop of Winchester. public veneration. On the same day Ferrarius writes: "In England, S. Brithwald, Bishop of Winchester." But Hugh Menard, on 17 January: "At Wilton in England, S. Brithwald, Bishop and Confessor." We treated of another Brithwald, Archbishop of Canterbury, on 9 January.

ON BLESSED WALTER OF BIRBEKE, A NOBLE BRABANTINE, OF THE CISTERCIAN ORDER, AT HEMMENRODE.

ABOUT THE YEAR 1220.

Walter of Birbeke, of the Cistercian Order (B.)

[1] Birbeka, or Bierbeka, commonly Bierbeke (called by older writers Birbacum, Birbach, Birbackt), is a very large village in Brabant, about two leagues from Louvain, distinguished by the title of Barony, within the Duchy of Aarschot. This village was once held by an illustrious family descended from the Counts of Louvain, The Bierbeke family, illustrious in Belgium. or Dukes of Brabant: it now belongs to the house of Aarschot, whether acquired by right of dowry or rather by the munificence of the Dukes of Brabant. Peter de Latheu, a member of the Premonstratensian cenobium of Tongerloo, traces the genealogy of the Bierbeke family in his book on the memorable events of his time, written about the year 1383, and Chrysostom Henriquez recites it from him in his Notes on the Cistercian Menology for this day. But not everything he writes was approved by that keen critic of antiquities, Andreas du Chesne, whom we consulted on this very matter, and certain diplomas of the Dukes of Brabant are said to exist at Louvain in the keeping of the Treasurer of the Duke of Aarschot, by which some part of that genealogy is undermined. It was neither possible nor desirable for us to investigate everything. "Nor is it right to know all things": especially since the Saints, and all wise men, scarcely consider as their own their lineage and ancestors and what they themselves did not do.

[2] Walter conferred an outstanding distinction upon that family, who, having left the worldly military service from which family Walter became a monk, in which he had won no ordinary glory, embraced the Cistercian institute in Claustrum, or the cenobium of Hemmenrode, and flourished with extraordinary holiness of life; for which he merited this eulogy in the Cistercian Calendar compiled by Chrysostom: "In Germany, Blessed Walter of Bierbact, most celebrated for the splendor of his blood and the title of holiness, who, bidding farewell to worldly military service, embraced the cenobitic life at Hemmenrode; and, ennobled by the Blessed Virgin, whom he venerated with the highest affection, with heavenly favors, and also illustrious for many miracles, fell asleep in the Lord and was enrolled in the number of the Saints."

[3] He then adds in the Notes: "It is also established that his sacred relics were exposed for veneration by the people. with public veneration of relics, Indeed his boots were enclosed in a chapel dedicated to that blessed man, upon the very altar, with the highest honor. All of which presuppose that he was enrolled in the number of the Saints, whether by the solemn process which the Church now uses for the canonization of Saints, or by the formerly customary process — namely, by the acclamation of the people, the approval of the Ordinary, and the consent of the Church." But his relics seem to have been first placed upon the altar only by the private piety of a certain nobleman; yet it is magnificent and renowned for miracles; that miracles were performed through them, as will be clear below. Peter de Latheu, cited above, who lived more than 250 years ago, writes thus of Walter: "Walter of Bierbact, most celebrated in military exploits, held as a Saint for many centuries. afterwards became a Religious of the Cistercian order, in the monastery of Hemmenrode: where, on account of his holy life, he was canonized, and died in the year of the Lord one thousand two hundred and twenty-two." His images are certainly displayed publicly with the title of Blessed.

[4] We give the deeds nobly accomplished by Walter from a manuscript codex of the Canons Regular at Rouge-Cloitre near Brussels, His Life, which John Gilmannus or Antony Gentius wove together from book 7 of the illustrious miracles of Caesarius of Heisterbach, chapters 38 and 39, or reported in nearly the very words of Caesarius himself. The title is: "The Deeds of Lord Walter of Birbaco, knight, afterwards a Cistercian monk." Caesarius lived with Walter himself and often mentions him elsewhere, as in book 4, chapter 54: "These things were told to us by Walter of Birbach, of holy memory." And book 5, chapter 6: "These things were told to me by the above-mentioned Abbot Hermann, and also by the monk Walter of Birbec." Book 7, chapter 26: "Walter of Birbach, monk of Hemmenrode, told me." Book 10, chapter 12: "Brother Walter, monk at Hemmenrode, was accustomed to relate a wonderful miracle, at which he recalls having been present. When the pilgrims on the first expedition were besieging the city of Acre," etc. — from which it is clear that he too had gone to Palestine for the sake of defending the Catholic religion against the Barbarians by arms.

[5] The claim by Peter de Latheu that he died in the year 1222 is refuted by Caesarius, who, although in the cited passages he speaks of Walter as already dead, nevertheless in book 10, chapter 48, testifies that he composed that book in that year. date.

LIFE FROM THE MANUSCRIPT OF ROUGE-CLOITRE.

Walter of Birbeke, of the Cistercian Order (B.)

BHL Number: 8794

From the manuscripts.

CHAPTER I.

The secular military career of Walter.

[1] Lord Walter, originally from the village of Birbaco in Brabant, was a man very rich and noble: who, while still flourishing in age and devoted to secular military service, Blessed Walter assiduously venerates the Blessed Virgin: and quite active and renowned in it, began from his very boyhood to invoke our Lady, the holy Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary, and to love her from the inmost affection of his heart, and to honor her with fasts and almsgiving and celebrations of the Mass according to his measure: and although he was still devoted in body to tournaments, yet in his heart he was entirely in the service of the Blessed Virgin.

[2] On a certain occasion, when he was preparing himself for a certain tournament, having knights in his retinue, and had come to a certain church, he exhorted them to hear Mass: when they refused, claiming that such a delay would be dangerous for them, he remained in the church and had a Mass of the Blessed Mary sung for himself and offered it: and so he followed after his companions. [While absent and hearing a Mass of the Blessed Virgin, he is seen to emerge victorious in the jousts:] When certain men from the tournament met him and he learned this from their responses, he said: "Has it not yet begun?" When they said "Yes," he added: "Who is fighting most bravely there?" They answered: "Lord Walter of Birbaco; his name is on everyone's lips, he is preferred to all, and praised by all." When others also met him and said similar things, he was astonished and wondered what this might portend. This was done by the ineffable piety of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so that while her devoted knight was delayed in her service, she meanwhile honored him in the tournament and by a certain wondrous power supplied for his absence. Coming at last to the place, he armed himself and entered, but did nothing great there. When the sport was over, certain knights entered his lodging and begged him to deal more gently with them. When he said to them: "What is the reason for your request?" they answered: "Today you captured us, and we ask that you treat us well." When Walter denied it, saying: "I did not capture you," they answered: "In truth we surrendered to you today; we saw your military insignia there; we heard your voice there." And the noble man immediately recognized that this had been done by the grace of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom he had honored in the Mass which he had caused to be sung of her and had heard.

[3] How this was done, since tournaments are forbidden. But here it may be asked: since it is a mortal sin to engage in tournaments, how could the prayers and offerings of the said Walter have pleased the Blessed Virgin? To which it must be said that two mortal sins are committed therein: pride and disobedience — pride, because it is done for the sake of human praise; disobedience, because it is done contrary to the prohibition of the Church: whence those killed in tournaments are rightly buried outside the cemeteries of the faithful. Since therefore the service of the said Mass could have been meritorious of eternal life for Walter, if it had been done in charity, it now passed into a temporal reward; for good works, that is, works good in kind, are rewarded temporally. A man also, through them, as certain writers prove, makes himself ready to receive grace: which the following example proves to be true.

[4] On another occasion, when the aforesaid noble man was seeking those execrable fairs and, standing among many, was hearing Mass, the celebrating Priest, as he lifted the chalice in the Canon, beheld a golden Cross under its foot, to which was attached a small document containing these words: The Blessed Virgin sends him a Cross: "Bear this Cross on behalf of me, Mary, the Mother of Christ, to my friend, the knight Walter of Birbach." When the Priest had read it, after the completion of the Mass he ascended the pulpit and cried out: "Is there here any knight called Walter of Birbaco?" When some answered: "Behold, here he is," the Priest took him aside, extended the Cross, and told him where he had found it and who had sent it. He joyfully received it, and afterwards, having entered religious life at Hemmenrode, he surrendered it to the Abbot of that place. Then the Countess of Holland, having sent honorable messengers there, asked that the same Cross be given to her, [which was afterwards given by the monks of Hemmenrode to the Countess of Holland.] and obtained it in this way. For when the Community replied to the aforesaid messengers: "We cannot give it unless it is the will of Brother Walter," hoping that he would not consent, when asked about this, he replied: "I have no property of my own. It is in the Abbot's hands." And so, grieving, they sent it to the Countess, whose gold is of such splendor that all gold pales in comparison: and the Countess, receiving it joyfully, placed it among her relics, not presuming to use it.

CHAPTER II.

The pursuit of virtues. Entrance into religious life.

[5] Seeing therefore, Lord Walter, still placed in the world, such great benefits of the Blessed Mother of God toward himself, he was so inflamed in love of her that in a certain poor little church dedicated in her honor, with the knowledge of the Priest, Walter consecrates himself as a servant to the Blessed Virgin: having placed a rope around his neck, he offered himself at the altar as a serf of the glebe, paying annually a head-tax of the kind that native-born serfs are accustomed to pay. And because for the honor of the heavenly Queen he so greatly humbled himself, she in return glorified her beloved in manifold ways even in this life.

[6] Finally, he was accustomed to fast on bread and water on the vigils of all the solemnities of the Blessed Mother of God, he fasts on her eves and on Fridays: and also often on Fridays out of reverence for Saturday. One day therefore a servant offered a small earthen vessel of water to him as he was fasting, and in his hands divine power converted it into the best wine: and when he had tasted the water made wine, he called the servant in secret and rebuked him, saying that wine had been served to him instead of water. When the servant denied this, asserting that he had drawn water from the bucket, water is changed to wine for him: he nevertheless took back the vessel and poured it out. And so, filling it with the purest water, he tasted it first to be sure, and then offered it again to his master. When he tasted it, he found wine as before, and immediately, angry at the servant, said: "Why do you mock me by bringing me wine instead of water a second time?" At this word the servant, dumbfounded, denied it with the greatest oaths. Then, first understanding that this miracle had been wrought around him by the great mercy of the Mother of God, he orders the miracle to be kept secret: he adjured the same servant never to reveal it to any person as long as he himself should live. The servant who shared in so great a miracle was Brother Arnold, who afterwards entered the Cistercian Order with him, a holy and very orderly man, and at last buried at Mount Stromberg, who before he died published the miracle to the glory of God, fearing to render account after death for a hidden treasure.

[7] he becomes a monk at Hemmenrode; Hearing that the Cistercian Order was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the oft-mentioned Walter left everything of this world for love of her, and at Claustrum in Germany, which is called by another name Hemmenrode, whose fame was then most brilliant, he received the religious habit. In that cenobium, how humbly he conducted himself, how fervent and devout he was, how outstanding in obedience, and how solicitous in the services of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a zealous worshipper of the Blessed Virgin: the monks of the same monastery who were his contemporaries bore witness. He had learned the psalter, hymns, canticles, and many other prayers to Our Lady during his probation; all of which he recited most assiduously. He always wished to be present at the daily Mass of Our Lady which was celebrated in the Community. Nearly everything he said was edifying, and because many were edified not only by his words and appearance he is made guest-master. but even by the fragrance of his reputation, he was made guest-master.

CHAPTER III.

Various miracles.

[8] On a certain occasion a possessed man was brought to the monastery in hope of a cure, and was received by him in the guest-house: for he was a rather wealthy and well-known rustic, who, when he could be healed by no remedy, neither by the relics of the Saints nor by the prayers of the monks, He frees a demoniac: the oft-mentioned Walter, by the authority of his office frequently visiting him, read over the head of the possessed man the prayers and rhymes about the holy Mother of God which he had in his written collection, and showed him pictures of her, adjuring the demon through all these to depart. One day, when he had placed the psalter upon the head of the possessed man, the demon, crying out and raging at this, so disturbed and dashed the man from whom he was being forced to depart that, falling to the ground, he was said to be dead. After an hour, coming to himself, he arose, crying out that he had been freed from the devil. A lay brother who was present at this cure and who held the raving rustic was witness to this event. Going therefore to his house healed, after some time he returned, giving thanks to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to her servant who had healed him. He said this word in the hearing of the Community, adding about the same man: "If there were no more relics in this monastery than this holy man, by whose merits I was cured, he ought to suffice for the whole place."

[9] Furthermore there was in the monastery a most beautiful horse of such value that both the Archbishop of Trier and the Duke of Lorraine, or Brabant, are said to have offered about 40 marks of silver for it; for it had the appearance of an excellent war-horse. The Community, however, fearing to offend one if it were sold to the other, sent the same horse gratis through Lord Walter with two lay brothers to the Count of Holland. he miraculously recovers a wild horse with the help of the Blessed Virgin. When they came into a certain forest, the horse spotted from afar a herd of mares grazing: and immediately, whinnying and prancing, it tore itself from the hands of its leaders, and with the swiftest course hastened to the opposite herd. When the lay brothers pursued it, the horse was driven further away from them. When they returned with their labor frustrated, Brother Walter said: "Let us proceed; for this horse is lost, unless Holy Mary restore it to us." They had scarcely gone two miles when behold, the same horse came running back swiftly — for it had not been sufficiently tamed — and like a gentle sheep, submitted its neck to the hands of its leaders.

[10] And because he was known to the nobles of the land, and was venerated by them both for the nobility of his blood and for the holiness of his life, he was often sent out against his will for the needs of the monastery. On a certain occasion therefore, descending with a house-ship carrying wine and arriving in Zealand with his companions, a very great storm arose that terrified everyone he persuades pirates: and tilted the ship. Danger was added to danger: for pirates, rowing toward them, attempted to plunder the ship. And behold, by the just judgment of God, two barrels thrown out by the force of the winds overturned their little boat and plunged the pirates themselves into the deep. These things took place on the vigil of S. Nicholas the Bishop after midnight. Wherefore each of them, fearing for his life, prayed to God. The blessed man himself, coming out from the hold of the ship, drew his servant aside, made his confession, and thus entered again. Then, with the ivory image of the holy Mother of God, which he always kept with him, placed before him, he prostrated himself before it and prayed, and gently fell asleep in prayer; and immediately it seemed to him that he heard Lord Arnold in the Cloister, a holy man of proven life, in a storm he sees an absent Brother praying for him, and the storm is calmed. playing the harp during the time of psalmody; and thus he was awakened by the sweetness of the voice, for it was the time of Matins. Understanding immediately that the just man was praying for them at that very hour, he went out joyful, and consoling all with these words, said: "Do not fear, for no danger can harm us. For I have heard Lord Arnold of S. Severinus, our monk, playing the harp." And immediately by divine power and the merits of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom he had invoked in that crisis, and of the aforesaid Arnold, the storm was calmed.

[11] When these things had been reported to Lord Hermann, then Prior at Hemmenrode and afterwards Abbot of the monastery of S. Mary, he immediately called the aforesaid Lord Arnold, who was completely unaware of the foregoing, and asked him what he had been thinking during Matins on the night of S. Nicholas, or what he had done there. He answered: Spiritual harp-playing to arouse devotion. "Believe me, I was playing the harp there." "In what manner?" he said. And the other replied: "When I cannot have devotion, I move my fingers under my cowl in the manner of a harpist and strike the strings of the heart, and thus I rouse the torpor of the mind to devotion." And the Prior was greatly amazed to hear this, for since he was a learned man, we think he did this after the example of Elisha, in whom the spirit of prophecy was aroused at the sound of the psaltery.

CHAPTER IV.

Religious virtues.

[12] Walter is kind to the poor, This holy man was of such compassion toward the poor that, when sent on the road, he would anticipate those who begged and give them from the money given to him for expenses. When one day a barefoot student met him and it was cold, he made him stand still and dismounted from his horse, and removing his shoes, gave them to him, he gives his shoes to a poor man: and put on the new ones he had in his bag, and mounted his horse and went on. He who saw this and was present bore witness and wrote it down. He reconciled those who were at odds, entreated the disobedient, often recalled the angry and impatient to their senses, and relieved the tempted with many examples which he always had at hand. Hence it was that when on a certain occasion one of the Brethren was conferring with him about a certain matter, he drew him aside and said: he suffers temptations of the flesh: "I too suffer great temptations of the flesh." For in order to be able to heal others, he was not ashamed to confess his own infirmities to them.

[13] When asked one day by the aforesaid Prior what he was thinking at table, since he did not understand the reading, he meditates on pious things at mealtime. he answered: "I have my reading there. When I begin to eat, I recall in my mind how the Son of God was announced by an Angel on my behalf and was conceived in the Virgin's womb by the Holy Spirit: and behold, the first page has been read. Then I think how, with Angels singing, He was born and wrapped in poor swaddling clothes and laid in a manger: and so I turn the second page. In this manner I run through the Circumcision, the coming of the Magi, His presentation in the Temple, the Flight into Egypt, the Baptism and the Fasting, the Passion and the Resurrection, the Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit, and finally the Last Judgment. Such is my daily reading, whose end is the end of dinner." often weeping. That he was reading in such a book while eating was attested by the tears he most frequently shed at table; for he was more delighted by holy meditations than by genuflections, by which the spirit of contemplation is impeded. For, as we said, he did not seek many inclinations in prayer, but standing or lying upon his knees, he was accustomed to look toward heaven with uplifted face.

CHAPTER V.

Death. Miracles.

[14] Before God called him from this world, a wonderful vision was revealed to a certain monk. For while he was at Villers in Brabant, which is a house of the Cistercian order, with his Abbot, Lord Eustace, and it was a Sunday, the same Abbot had the entire Community summoned after supper. he comes to Villers: When this had been done and he said: "Are all our Brethren here now?" he was told: "All, my Lord, except two young men, who were sent here as guests from France, who are very studious about silence, especially on the days when they communicate." When they were summoned a second time on his behalf and had come, and the Abbot himself reproached them for their delay, they humbly excused themselves and sat down. On the following day, when the Community was returning from work and waiting before the gate, with the first bell of None having been rung, for the second, the elder of the two, while standing thus leaning on his spade and reading None of Our Lady, fell lightly asleep while standing. And behold, he beheld the Mother of God herself, attended by persons of various orders, passing in wondrous brightness between him and the gate: and since she did not, as it were, look at him as a stranger or call him, he said sadly within himself: "Woe is me, wretch! Why does she not call me?" When she had proceeded a little, taking pity on him, she sent back a monk who was more closely attached to her, saying: He is seen accompanying the Blessed Virgin, and summoning another to her. "Call that monk." When he returned and called him, saying: "Come, our Lady calls you," he was awakened by joy. Entering therefore and observing Lord Walter, he said within himself: "That monk is most like the monk through whom our Lady called me today in my sleep, except that his cowl is gray and this one's is white." And he recounted the vision to his companion. On the following day, when the Lord Abbot and the oft-mentioned Walter were about to depart, and the aforesaid young men had been called by them to the gate, and Walter was also standing in his gray cowl, having laid aside the white one that had been lent to him, the elder monk said to his companion: "Truly, this is the monk who called me; I recognize the garment; I have no doubt about the person."

[15] At last, after a few days, the same venerable Walter began to be ill, he dies, and, full of faith and charity, having confessed and been contrite, with the Blessed Mother of God calling him, he passed from darkness to light, from faith to vision, from labor to rest, from merit to reward, from the world to the homeland; to which may the Son of God Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, lead us — He who is the way in example, the truth in promise, and the life in reward. and the other called by him. Amen. The monk of Villers also, himself called, just as had been shown to him beforehand, departed to the Lord after a few intervening days.

[16] But that the Lord might show how great the merit before Him of one beloved by His Mother, He glorified him after death with signs. He is renowned for miracles after death. For at that very time Winemarus of Aldendorp, a rich and honorable knight, lay in bed completely paralyzed: he heals a paralytic: hearing that the man of God, uniquely beloved to him, had departed to the Lord, he immediately sent a messenger to Claustrum, through whom he begged that the boots of the deceased be sent to him. New ones were sent and immediately returned, because he had learned that they had not belonged to Lord Walter. Then through the same messenger the boots of the man of God, quite old, were sent to him, and the sick man himself, receiving them with faith and devotion, as soon as he placed his dead hands upon them, immediately felt benefit from them. The same happened with his feet. From that hour he began to raise his hands and lift his feet and gradually recover the strength of his entire body. He venerated those same boots so greatly out of love for the blessed man and on account of the benefit granted to him through them His boots are enclosed in an altar: that he built a chapel in his castle, and enclosed those same boots in its wooden altar, with the Abbot of Hemmenrode present.

[17] Another knight, who had a dangerous abscess in his chest, hearing that such great healing power had been shown through the aforesaid boots in Winemarus, asked that one be sent to him, and obtained it; an abscess cured through them. and as soon as he touched the site of the ulcer with it, he was fully cured. Blessed be His name forever, through whom the blessed man concluded his transitory life with so holy an end. Amen.

d. That is, greaves.

ON BLESSED WALTER OF BRUGES, OF THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR, BISHOP OF POITIERS IN FRANCE.

Year of Christ 1307.

Walter of Bruges, of the Order of Friars Minor, Bishop of Poitiers (B.)

From various sources.

[1] Walter, or Galterus, or Galterius, born at Bruges in Flanders, is listed among the Blessed on this day by the Franciscan Martyrology and the Gallo-Belgian Martyrology, Molanus in the Feast Days of the Saints of Belgium, The name of Blessed Walter in the sacred Calendar. Miraeus in the Belgian and Burgundian Calendar, William Gazaeus in the Ecclesiastical History of Belgium, Antony Sanderus in the Hagiology of Flanders, and others cited by Luke Wadding in volume 2 of the Annals of the Seraphic Order at the year 1279, number 13, and by Arthur du Monstier in his Notes on the Franciscan Martyrology. Claude Robert in Gallia Christiana and John Chenu in the Chronological History of the Bishops of Poitiers record that Walter died on 21 January, that is, on the vigil of S. Vincent.

[2] S. Antoninus briefly narrates his deeds, part 3, title 24, chapter 19, section 8, in these words: "Under Bonagratia, General of the Order of Friars Minor, Brother Galterus of Bruges, Master of Theology, then Minister of Touraine, Unwillingly made Bishop: was compelled by the Lord Pope (while he resisted with all his might, to the point of the sin of disobedience) to accept the Bishopric of Poitiers. And although the General pleaded that this Father should not be taken from that province, the will of the Vicar of Christ prevailed. For he was a man adorned with every virtue, a dove appears above his head. useful in governance. He was of such great holiness that once a most white dove was seen above his head. And when he had contracted a great debt with a merchant for the clothing of the poor, a certain person, An Angel pays his debts. believed to have been an Angel of God, in the guise of a Procurator, discharged that debt and had it cancelled, without his knowledge."

[3] "This man, however, while he had long litigated as Bishop in the Archbishopric of Bordeaux for the rights of his Church, and after many years the Archbishop of Bordeaux, called Bertrand, He is deposed by Clement V. was created Pope, named Clement V, he deposed Lord Galterus from the Bishopric of Poitiers and reduced him to the cloister. Finally, Brother Galterus, coming to his last days, made a certain document in which was contained his appeal from the sentence of the Lord Pope Clement concerning his deposition from the Bishopric to the just judgment of God, he appeals to the judgment of God. and he closed this document in his right hand and wished to be buried with it. Which was done. He is renowned for many miracles, especially freeing people from quartan fever. When, however, after about two years, Pope Clement came to Poitiers with his curia and stayed there for some time; hearing that Brother Galterus had been buried with a document in his closed hand containing his appeal, he wished to see this: buried with the document of appeal, whence he ordered him to be exhumed and that document to be taken from him. Wonderful to say! His hand could not be opened, nor the document obtained, except after a promise was first made that it would afterwards be restored to him. When this was done, he immediately allowed his hand to be opened and the document to be taken. When the Pope had read it, he marveled, and ordered it to be returned to the deceased."

[4] So S. Antoninus. Bartholomew of Pisa, book 1, Conformities, fruit 8, part 2, narrates these things somewhat differently: "This Saint," he says, "coming to death, wrote a certain document, with which in his hand he died. And when the Roman Curia was at Poitiers, namely the Lord Pope Clement V (who had unjustly deposed him from the Bishopric of Poitiers), and Bishops and Cardinals and other Prelates were present at his funeral, even afterwards retained. he was unwilling to give the aforesaid document to any of them; but when the Lord Pope came, the dead man immediately surrendered it to him. The document contained how Brother Walter himself, because he had been unjustly deposed by him, within a certain number of days was citing the Lord Pope to appear before the Eternal Judge. And so it happened: for on the appointed day the Pope himself died." But this last clause is not without difficulty, since Pope Clement survived the death of Walter by seven years. For he died on 18 April 1314, while Walter died in the year 1307, on this 22nd or, as others say, 21st of January. Bzovius reports the same from Antoninus verbatim, volume 14, year 1307, number 13. John Chenu says that Walter appealed from the sentence of the Pontiff to a future council and wished the document of appeal to be buried with him, and cites S. Antoninus; it is evident with what fidelity. Raphael of Volterra in his Urban Commentaries, book 21, writes thus of Blessed Walter: "Walter of Bruges (not Burgensis), Minister of Touraine, whom they say was renowned for miracles on account of his holiness, and had contracted a great debt by generously caring for the poor. Though he was the greatest of Theologians and had written much, and was unwillingly created Bishop of Poitiers, he came into litigation for the rights of his Church with the Bishop of Bordeaux, who shortly after was created Pontiff under the name of Clement V, and cast this adversary of his from his bishopric. Wherefore Walter, having borne this injury with equanimity, dying, ordered such a document to be placed on his body: 'I appeal to the just judgment of God.' When Clement read this, he is said to have been terrified."

[5] Luke Wadding, volume 2, at the year 1279, number 13, says that in that year Walter was raised to the Bishopric of Poitiers by Nicholas III, When he was created Bishop. since that See had long been vacant, with two men elected by the Chapter contending for it. But incorrectly there — perhaps by the printer's negligence — that Bishop of Bordeaux, his adversary, is called Bernard, who is called Bertrand by Antoninus, Claude Robert, and others — the one who afterwards became Clement V, not VI, as is also said there. Wadding adds, His body found intact after 2 years. what can be inferred from S. Antoninus, that his body was found intact after two years; and that the dove of which Antoninus speaks rested above his head while he was celebrating. Finally, it is reported, as Wadding and Arthur du Monstier relate in his Notes on the Franciscan Martyrology, He is renowned for miracles. that he shone with miracles, illuminated the blind, cured people of various diseases, and always had special power over quartan fever, paralysis, and epilepsy.

[6] His tomb, His tomb is in the Franciscan convent at Poitiers, in the church near the high altar, and is piously frequented by many who implore his aid. There is also nearby the refectory a small room, or chamber, called by the title of S. Walter. So Arthur writes in the Franciscan Martyrology.

[7] James Meier, in book 11 of the Annals of Flanders, among other things he reports about Walter, says he was holy in life and renowned for miracles both before and after death. Valerius Andreas reports the same from Meier and Antoninus in the Belgian Library. James Philip of Bergamo in the Supplement to the Chronicles, book 13, writes: "Walter, a most brilliant Doctor of the Order of Friars Minor, erudition, and Bishop of Poitiers, was also at this time (about the year 1260) very distinguished both for his learning and the holiness of his life." Concerning his erudition, John Trithemius offers this testimony in his book on Ecclesiastical Writers: "Galterius, Bishop of Poitiers, of the Order of Friars Minor, a man learned in the divine scriptures and nobly instructed in the disciplines of secular philosophy, subtle in talent, scholastic in expression, was of outstanding industry in preaching sermons to the people." Concerning his writings, besides Trithemius, Valerius Andreas in the Belgian Library, James Philip of Bergamo in book 13 of the Supplement at the year 1261, Claude Robert, writings. Antony Sanderus in book 1 on those of Bruges celebrated for their fame of learning, John Chenu, Francis Sweertius in the Belgian Athens, and others treat of them.