Boisil

ON ST. BOISIL, PROVOST OF THE MONASTERY OF MELROSE IN SCOTLAND.

ABOUT THE YEAR 664.

Boisil, monk in England (St.)

[1] The Teviot, or Teuoitus or Teuiotus, is a river of Scotland near the borders of England; whence the region of Teviotdale (as if to say "the valley by the Teviot") takes its name. In it, between the rivers Teviot and Tweed, Melrose was a very ancient monastery, of which, as David Camerarius attests, The monastery of Melrose. the remains still survive, about twenty miles from Berwick, the last and most fortified town of all England, at the mouth of the Tweed, extending far out into the sea. John Major, in his work on the Deeds of the Scots, Book 2, chapter 12, writes that it was wonderfully enlarged from the days of Bede. And he adds: "The place is most apt for devotion, situated above the river Tweed; it is separated from every habitation in the forest, keeping the Rule of Blessed Bernard." The title of Abbot of Melrose was recently conferred upon John Caramuel of the same Order, a Doctor of Theology at Louvain.

[2] In that monastery St. Cuthbert, who afterward became Bishop of Lindisfarne, took the monastic habit under St. Eata as Abbot and St. Boisil as Provost, and was admirably trained by the latter in every virtue. We shall give his Life on March 20, written by the Venerable Bede, The feast of St. Boisil, his Provost: from which we shall here draw what pertains to Boisil. For his feast on this day is recorded by the English Martyrology, and by Ferrarius in his new Catalogue of Saints; but they make him an Abbot, erroneously -- as does John Major, cited above, and David Camerarius, who lists him on February 23. Ferrarius again on August 7; Hugo Menard on September 9. Major calls him Basil; Ferrarius in one place Boysillus, in another, with the rest, Boisil -- perhaps he thought them different persons. In Bede he is Boisil; in Florence of Worcester, Bosilus. Of his death the latter writes at the year 664: "Boisil, a monk of sublime virtues, Provost of the monastery of Melrose, a man full of the prophetic spirit, a beloved Priest of God, pressed by a fatal disease, ascended to the joys of perpetual light."

[3] David Camerarius records these things about him -- credible because common to many Saints, but not sufficiently attested: That he is said to have had constantly on his lips the names of the Holy Trinity and of the most august name of Jesus, his piety toward Jesus and the Holy Trinity: from the overflowing of his solid devotion toward Christ the Lord; of whom he thought and spoke with so tender and soft a heart, and so abundant tears, that he drew to weeping even his hearers and beholders, often repeating with the most tender affection of soul: "What a good Jesus we have!" ... When Boisil the Saint was in his last moments, his final admonitions to his monks. he instructed the monks of Melrose with supreme counsels: namely, that they should give the greatest thanks for the gift of their religious vocation, and that they should beware of their own judgment as of a mortal enemy, again and again. He said that prayer and purity of heart were the shortest road to the summit of virtue. Inculcating these and similar teachings, and with the pestilence (by which he had long before predicted he would die) consuming his inward parts, often repeating that prayer of St. Stephen, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," he fell asleep in the Lord.

LIFE, FROM ST. BEDE THE PRIEST.

Boisil, monk in England (St.)

From St. Bede.

Section I. The Zeal of St. Boisil. English History, Book 4, chapter 27.

[1] In that same year in which King Egfrid ended his life, he caused to be ordained Bishop of the Church of the Lindisfarnians a holy and venerable man, Cuthbert, who on a very small island called Farne, about nine miles from that same Church out in the Ocean, had led a solitary life for many years in great continence of body and mind. He had indeed always burned from the first age of boyhood with a zeal for the religious life; but from early adolescence he assumed both the name and the habit of a monk. For he first entered the monastery of Melrose, which, situated on the bank of the river Tweed, was then governed by Abbot Eata, a man of the greatest gentleness, who was afterward made Bishop of the Church of Hexham or of Lindisfarne, St. Boisil, Provost of Melrose, renowned for prophecy, as we have mentioned above; under whom at that time Boisil was Provost, a Priest of great virtues and of the prophetic spirit.

[2] To his tutelage Cuthbert humbly submitted himself, and received from him both the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and examples of good works. After Boisil departed to the Lord, Cuthbert, having been made Provost of that monastery, master of St. Cuthbert, instructed many in the regular life both by the authority of a master and by the example of his own conduct. Nor did he provide precepts and examples of the regular life to that monastery alone, but he also took care to convert the common people round about, far and wide, from the life of foolish custom to the love of heavenly joys. For many were profaning the faith they held by wicked works, and some, even in the time of the plague, neglecting the sacraments of the faith with which they had been imbued, had recourse to the erratic remedies of idolatry, as though they could restrain the plague sent by God the Creator by incantations, or phylacteries, or any other secrets of the demonic art. To correct the error of both groups, therefore, he frequently went out from the monastery, sometimes riding on horseback but more often proceeding on foot, and came to the surrounding villages, a zealous preacher. preaching the way of truth to the erring -- which same thing Boisil also had been accustomed to do in his time. For it was the custom of the English people at that time that when a Cleric or Priest came to a village, all would flock at his summons to hear the word, would gladly listen to what was said, and more gladly still follow in practice what they were able to hear and understand.

(a) In the year 685, in the month of June, Egfrid, King of Northumbria, was slain by the Picts, St. Cuthbert having been consecrated Bishop on Easter Day of the same year, according to Florence of Worcester. Aldfrid succeeded him.

(b) Both these islands, Farne and Lindisfarne, Lindisfarne island. lie off the coast of Northumbria. Lindisfarne is now called Holy Island, from the habitation of Cuthbert and other Saints there. The episcopal see was afterward transferred to Durham.

(c) So it should be read, or Tiudi; not, as commonly, Tindi; still less Tinae, as the English Martyrology has. The Tweed river. We have spoken of the Tina, a river of Northumbria, in the Life of St. Benedict Biscop on January 12 and on the 16th, in the Life of St. Henry the Hermit. But the Tweed is here meant, which empties into the sea at Berwick.

(d) We shall treat of St. Eata, or Eatta, on October 26.

(e) Both Sees were sometimes united, at other times divided: The city of Hexham. neither now has its own Bishop. What in Bede's time was Hagulstad, anciently Axelodunum, is now called Hexham, situated on the river Tyne. The modern name comes from the stream Hextold, which at times overflows like a torrent, whence Hextoldesham, and by contraction Hexham.

(f) The same is said in the Life of St. Cuthbert.

Section II. The Training of Cuthbert. The Death of Boisil. From the Life of St. Cuthbert.

[3] The venerable servant of the Lord, Cuthbert, having left the things of the world, hastened to submit to monastic discipline, being incited by a heavenly vision to seek the joys of perpetual blessedness, and invited by heavenly feasts to endure temporal hunger and thirst for the Lord. And indeed he knew that the Church of Lindisfarne possessed many holy men, celebrated by the fame of his virtues: by whose teaching and examples he might be instructed; but, forestalled by the fame of Boisil, a monk and Priest of sublime virtues, he preferred to seek Melrose. And it happened by chance that when, upon arriving there, he had dismounted from his horse and was about to enter the church to pray, and had given both the horse and the spear he held in his hand to a servant (for he had not yet put off the secular habit), Boisil himself, standing before the doors of the monastery, was the first to see him; he predicts the holiness of St. Cuthbert: and foreseeing in the spirit how great in his manner of life the one he saw would become, he spoke this single word to those standing by: "Behold a servant of God" -- imitating him who, beholding Nathanael coming to him, said, "Behold, truly an Israelite in whom there is no guile." John 1:47. As the devout and veteran servant of God and Priest Sigfrid was accustomed to attest, who was standing among others by that same Boisil when he spoke these words -- then a youth in that very monastery, newly trained in the first rudiments of monastic life, but now in our monastery, that is, the monastery of Jarrow, living as a mature man in Christ, and amid the painful sighs of his final breath, thirsting joyfully for the entrance of another life.

[4] Saying no more, Boisil kindly received Cuthbert when he presently came to him, and kindly receives him, and when he explained the reason for his journey -- namely, that he had preferred the monastery to the world -- he retained him all the more kindly; for he was Provost of that monastery. And after a few days, when the man of blessed memory Eata arrived, then a Priest and Abbot of that same monastery, later Bishop of the Church of Lindisfarne and of that same place, and obtains his admission from St. Eata. he informed him about Cuthbert, explained that he bore the spirit of good purpose, and obtained from him that, having received the tonsure, he should be joined to the company of the Brothers...

[5] Meanwhile, since fragile and changeable like the surging sea is every condition of this world, a storm suddenly arising, the aforesaid Abbot Eata was driven back home with Cuthbert and the other Brothers whom he had brought with him, and the site of the monastery which he had founded was given to other monks to inhabit. He instructs him with pious counsels and examples: But the aforementioned soldier of Christ did not change his mind from the purpose of heavenly warfare once undertaken because of a change of place; rather, he most diligently, just as he had been accustomed to do before, both listened to the words and followed the deeds of Blessed Boisil. At which time, as the Priest Herefrith, his close companion and formerly Abbot of the monastery of Lindisfarne, attests that Cuthbert himself used to relate, he was seized by the pestilential disease by which at that time very many throughout Britain were perishing far and wide. But the Brothers of that monastery spent the whole night keeping vigil in prayer for his life and health; for they all believed that his presence in the flesh was necessary for them, as for a holy man. When a certain one of them informed him of this in the morning (for they had done it without his knowledge), he immediately answered: To him, healed from the pestilence by the Brothers' prayers. "And why am I lying here?" he said. "For it is not to be doubted that God has not despised the prayers of so many and such great men. Give me my staff and shoes." And immediately rising, he began to attempt to walk, leaning on his staff, and as his strength grew daily, he recovered his health. But because the swelling which had appeared on his thigh gradually subsided from the surface and passed to the internal organs of his body, he did not cease to feel some pain in his bowels for almost the entire remainder of his life -- evidently so that, according to the Apostle, power might be perfected in weakness.

[6] When the servant of the Lord, Boisil, saw him restored from his illness, he said: He predicts the future and his own death. "You see, Brother, that you have been freed from the affliction with which you were troubled; and I tell you that you will never again be touched by it, nor will you die of this disease at this time. But at the same time I warn you, since death awaits me close at hand, not to neglect to learn something from me as long as I am able to teach. For there are no more than seven days during which I shall have the health of body and the power of tongue sufficient for teaching." Cuthbert replied, not doubting at all the truth of his words: "And what, I ask, is it best for me to read, that can be completed within a single week?" And he answered: "The Evangelist John. On his deathbed he expounds the Gospel of St. John. I have a codex containing seven quires, which we can, with the Lord's help, read through at the rate of one per day, and discuss between us as much as is needed." And it was done as he had said. The reason they were able to complete the reading so quickly was that they treated only the simple faith that works through love, and not the profound questions of the text.

[7] After the reading was completed in seven days, the man of the Lord, Boisil, was seized by the aforementioned disease and arrived at his final day, he himself is seized by the pestilence. and, having passed through it with great exultation, he entered into the joy of perpetual light. It is said that during those seven days he set forth to Cuthbert everything that lay in his future. For, as I have said, he was a man of prophetic spirit and wondrous holiness. He predicts many future things. Indeed, he predicted the severity of the aforementioned pestilence to his Abbot Eata three years before it came, and did not conceal that he himself would be carried off by it; but he forewarned that same Abbot of his that he would not die of it, Three years before, he had predicted the pestilence and his own death. but rather of that disease which the physicians call dysentery -- in a truthful statement, as the outcome of events proved. But he also intimated to Cuthbert, among other things, that he would be ordained Bishop. Whence the same Cuthbert, afterward established in the solitude of an anchorite's life, wished to tell no one that Boisil had predicted he would be a future Bishop; yet to the Brothers who occasionally visited him he was accustomed to protest with great grief that even if it were possible for him to hide in a tiny dwelling on a rock, where the waves of the swelling ocean surrounding him on every side would shut him off from the sight and knowledge of all mortals, not even then would he consider himself free from the snares of the deceitful world; but even there he feared that covetousness, tempting him for some reason or other, might snatch him away.

(a) This monastery was treated at greater length on January 12, in the Life of St. Benedict.

(b) Ripon, which is situated in the province of York between the river Ure and the stream Skell; concerning which we shall speak in the Life of St. Wilfrid, Ripon. who presided over it when St. Eata withdrew, on October 12. Florence of Worcester at the year 664, or rather 663, as is clear from Indiction 6, writes thus: "Eata, the most reverend Abbot of the monastery called Melrose, who was previously the founder of the monastery of Ripon at the request of King Aldfrid, was placed over the Brothers of Lindisfarne by the right of Abbot," etc.

(c) The Westminster chronicle mentions this pestilence at the years 664 and 665.

(d) Camerarius adds: "from the frequent reading of which he was borne with a singular affection toward the name of Jesus."

Section III. Even After Death, Souls Were Healed.

[8] At that time the venerable servant of Christ and Priest, Egbert, who is to be named with all honor, whom we have recounted as leading a pilgrim's life on the island of Ireland in order to attain a homeland in heaven, resolved in his mind to benefit more people: that is, undertaking an Apostolic work, to commit the word of God by preaching to certain nations that had not yet heard it, Egbert, who is thinking of going to Germany to convert the pagans. of which he knew there were very many in Germany, from whom the Angles or Saxons who now inhabit Britain are known to have drawn their origin and descent -- whence to this day they are corruptly called "Germans" by the neighboring nation of the Britons. These are the Frisians, the Rugini, the Danes, the Huns, the Old Saxons, the Boructuari; and there are many other peoples in those same regions still serving pagan rites, to whom the aforementioned soldier of Christ planned to come by sailing around Britain, if perhaps he might be able to snatch some of them from Satan and transfer them to Christ; or if this could not be accomplished, he thought of going to Rome to see and adore the thresholds of the blessed Apostles and Martyrs of Christ.

[9] But divine oracles together with divine works prevented him from accomplishing any of these things. For when he had chosen as companions the most vigorous men, fit for preaching the word, being indeed outstanding both in conduct and in learning, through a disciple he warns him not to go thither, and had prepared everything that seemed necessary for voyagers, one of the Brothers came to him one morning one day -- a man who had formerly been a disciple in Britain and a minister of the God-beloved Priest Boisil, when that same Boisil was Provost of the monastery of Melrose under Abbot Eata, as we have narrated above -- and reported to him a vision that had appeared to him that same night: "When," he said, "after completing the morning hymns, I had laid my limbs upon my bed, and a light sleep had crept over me, my former master and most loving guardian Boisil appeared and asked me whether I could recognize him. I said, 'Yes indeed, you are Boisil.' And he said, 'I have come for this purpose: to bring a response from the Lord and Savior to Egbert, which, however, must come to him through your report. Tell him, then, that he cannot accomplish the journey he has planned, for it is God's will that he should go rather to the monasteries of Columba to teach them.' Now Columba was the first teacher of the Christian faith to the Picts beyond the mountains to the north, and the first but to the monasteries of St. Columba: founder of the monastery on the island of Iona, which long remained venerable among many peoples of the Scots and Picts. This Columba is now called by some, by a name compounded from 'Cell' and 'Columba,' Colum-celli."

[10] But Egbert, hearing the words of the vision, commanded the Brother who had reported them he warns the negligent man again: not to report these things to anyone else, lest perhaps the vision were illusory. He himself, however, silently considering the matter, feared it was true; yet he did not wish to cease from preparing his journey to teach the nations. But after a few days the aforesaid Brother came to him again, saying that Boisil had again appeared to him in a vision that night after Matins was completed, saying: "Why did you tell Egbert so negligently and halfheartedly what I commanded you to tell him? Go now and tell him that, whether he will or not, he must come to the monasteries of Columba, because their plows are not going straight. He must call them back to the right path."

[11] Hearing these things, he again commanded the Brother not to reveal them to anyone. who at last, compelled by a storm, He himself, however, although he was now certain of the vision, nonetheless attempted to begin the planned journey with the aforementioned Brothers. And when they had loaded onto the ship everything that the necessity of so great a journey required, and were waiting for favorable winds for several days, there arose one night so savage a storm that it left the ship lying on its side amid the waves, with some of the goods that were aboard partly lost. All the belongings of Egbert and his companions, however, were saved. Then he, as it were uttering that prophetic word, "Because of me this storm has come," Jonah 1:12 he obeys; withdrew himself from that expedition and allowed himself to remain at home. But one of his companions, named Wihtberht, who was himself distinguished for contempt of the world and for learning (for he had spent many years as a pilgrim in Ireland, leading an anchoritic life in great perfection), boarded a ship and, arriving in Frisia, preached the word of salvation to that people and their king Radbod for two continuous years; yet he found no fruit of such great labor among his barbarian hearers. Then, returning to the beloved place of his pilgrimage, he began to devote himself to the Lord in his accustomed silence. While Wihtberht labors fruitlessly in Frisia. And since he could not profit those abroad in the faith, he took care to profit his own people all the more by the examples of his virtues.

(a) St. Egbert the Abbot is venerated on April 24.

(b) We shall give the Life of St. Columba on June 9. We have treated of his chief monastery on Iona, or Hy, one of the Hebrides islands, on January 19 in the Life of St. Blaithmac.

(c) For if the fourteenth moon of March fell on a Sunday, they celebrated Easter on that day, when they should have deferred it to the twenty-first; moreover, they differed from the rest of the Church in the manner of the tonsure. In other respects, however, they were both orthodox in faith and conspicuous in virtues.

(d) We shall treat of St. Wihtberht, or Victbert, on August 13. But concerning the conversion of the Frisians, we shall speak often elsewhere, especially in the Lives of St. Wulfram on March 20, St. Boniface on June 5, and St. Willibrord on November 7.

(e) Camerarius understands this of Egbert himself, for he writes thus: "And although Boisil the Saint had already admonished Egbert a second time of his duty at the divine command, nevertheless so great was this Saint's zeal for souls that, setting sail from the Hebrides islands with twelve disciples, he boarded a ship; but in vain, for, driven by the force of the storm into danger, he returned to the beloved place of his pilgrimage, and began to devote himself to the Lord in his accustomed silence; and since he could not benefit those abroad in the faith, he took greater care to benefit his own people by examples of virtue." Now since Bede says he returned to the beloved place of his pilgrimage, it is certain that he returned to that most famous island of the Orkneys called Magio, and undertook the care of the monasteries dedicated to St. Columba in the Orkneys and Hebrides concerning the observance of Easter. For Bede testifies, Book 4, chapter 4, that St. Colman the Bishop built a monastery for the English on the island of Magio, which is one of the Orkneys. There is manifold error here: Egbert was preparing to sail from Ireland, not from the Hebrides, among which Iona also was -- Camerarius corrected. not subject to the Irish or Scots but to the Picts' dominion, and given by their Kings to Scottish monks. Nor had Egbert yet sailed; nor does Bede say he returned to the beloved place of his pilgrimage, but that he allowed himself to remain at home. It was Wihtberht who, after his fruitless expedition to the Frisians, returned to the beloved place of his pilgrimage, that is, Ireland, as is clear from the preceding passage. The Orkney Islands lie on the other side of Scotland, opposite the coast of Caithness. The Orkneys. The chief among them is Pomona, now commonly called Mainland. Others mentioned include Hethy, perhaps formerly Ocetis; Hoy; Fair Isle, that is, "beautiful island," perhaps Dumna. The passage which Camerarius cites from Bede reads as follows, Book 4, chapter 4: "Meanwhile Colman, who was a Bishop from Scotland, leaving Britain, took with him all the Scots he had gathered on the island of Lindisfarne, and also about thirty men of the English nation, both of whom were devoted to the pursuits of monastic life. And leaving some Brothers in his Church, he first came to the island of Iona, whence he had been sent to preach the word of God to the English nation. Two monasteries of Colman in Ireland. Then he withdrew to a certain small island far removed to the west of Ireland, called in the Scottish tongue Inishbofin, that is, THE ISLAND OF THE WHITE COW... and going about almost everywhere, far and near, he found a place in the island of Ireland suitable for building a monastery, which is called Magio in the language of the Scots; and he purchased a small part of it for building a monastery from the Count to whose property it belonged," etc. Who does not see that Magio, which is said to be in Ireland, cannot be reckoned among the Orkneys, which lie to the northeast of Scotland, with Scotland itself interposed between them and Ireland? Rather, it is undoubtedly the district still called Mayo, on the western coast of Connaught, before which many islands extend widely, one of which was that Island of the White Cow.

THE ACTS OF ST. MAIMBOD, MARTYR, IN THE TERRITORY OF BESANCON.

From ancient manuscript codices of the Metropolitan Church of Besancon, transcribed by Peter Francis Chifflet of the Society of Jesus.

(a) Commentary

Maimbod, Martyr at Montbeliard (St.)

BHL Number: 5176

From manuscripts.

[1] It is useful to write the Lives of the Saints. We do not doubt that to review the pious combats of the holy Martyrs and to commit to memory the passions which they endured for Christ, or in Christ, is pleasing to the Lord Himself, for whose name we believe they suffered these things. For from these accounts the imitation of good works is aroused; from these praise and jubilation increase to God; from these the devotion of the faithful is strengthened for the better. For the faithful people venerate more devoutly those, and embrace with more ardent love, whom they hear to have happily won the palm of their combat and happily attained to the supreme good, which is Christ. We therefore describe the Passion of Blessed Maimbod, insofar as the truth of the matter has been made known to us, and this with all the more devotion, as it is done with all the more confidence: because the one whom we know to have been a perfect servant of God in this life, we more boldly proclaim in that heavenly praise.

[2] Blessed Maimbod, then, was an illustrious and magnificent man, a Scot by nation and by dress, devoted to God with his whole mind, most Christian in his works and exercise. St. Maimbod, a Scot, Although he abounded in riches according to the custom of his country, was distinguished by the nobility of his parents, and excelled very many in the beauty of his body, knowing all these things to be transitory, and burning in spirit to pursue eternal things and to lead a blessed life, he renounced his riches, left his homeland and his parents, leaves his homeland and the world. and, recognizing the beauty of his body to be hostile to his soul, despised it as a worthless burden. Luke 14:33. Therefore, not forgetful of the Gospel precept: "Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple," he followed the poor and naked Christ, himself poor and naked.

[3] He goes on pilgrimage: Crossing the sea, therefore, and going about to the tombs of the Saints in every land, he venerated the relics of the Martyrs of Christ, kept vigil at their shrines, and with the most abundant tears implored the heavenly homeland, already wholly absorbed in it, from the Lord. Thinking nothing of earthly things, he desired heavenly things, and consumed himself entirely as a holocaust to the Lord. For the distinguished witness of Christ believed that martyrdom consisted not only in the shedding of blood but also in the advancement of holy virtues, in the mortification of the flesh, in the quickening of the spirit, and in resisting vices and the wiles of the devil. He suffers much: Human speech indeed does not suffice to describe the many and great torments he endured in hunger, thirst, and cold, and the combats he overcame from the assaults of demons. For the ineffable mercy and divine and incomprehensible power of Almighty God renders those whom He has set aflame with the fire of heavenly love steadfast and invincible.

[4] He lives holily and innocently: The outward man, which he knew to be corruptible, grew contemptible to the man of God. He always had on his lips the saying of David: "What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to corruption?" Psalm 30:10 (29:10). He strove to preserve the inner man spotless for his Creator, to walk perfectly in the law of the Lord; and although the hand of the executioner was lacking, he himself, by afflicting his flesh, supplied martyrdom to himself. Nor did the servant of God lack an abundance of sustenance, whom the grace of God had made a vessel of election: he not only took care that the superfluities of the body should be kept far from him, but he had so tempered even the necessities of nature that, although he supplied sustenance to his body only late in the day, he served his spirit with unceasing constancy.

[5] Whatever he received in alms, he, poor himself, distributed to the poor. Indeed, in his pilgrimage, how many of his own condition, though not of equal merit, had he found, whom he fed and sustained from the gifts of his Lord bestowed on him through the hands of the faithful, What is given to him, he gives to the poor: and refreshed with divine words! For he was a Cleric, learned in the sacred page, full of the wisdom and spirit of God.

[6] At last, then, changing the climes of the earth and traveling about in his accustomed way to the places of the Saints, he arrived in Burgundy, which the Almighty Lord has made glorious by the merits of His Saints. He comes to Burgundy. For this land, not ungrateful to God the Creator of all, renders unfailing praises above all His benefits, because it has not only produced most holy protectors for itself from among its own natives, but from the most diverse parts of the world it has received outstanding preachers, whom it counts among its Confessors as well as its Martyrs. Among these, then, there stand out, holding the palm of martyrdom, Ferreolus and Ferrutius, blood brothers, where there are various foreign Saints, Greek and Scottish: sprung from the most noble parents of Greece, outstanding preachers of the city of Besancon, lanterns burning in every direction, most renowned defenders of the Clergy and the people. Lyons possesses from the same country Irenaeus, with the not inconsiderable company of precious Martyrs. Valence has Felix, Fortunatus, and Achilleus; Autun has Andochius and Thyrsus. Langres is most illustrious with its outstanding Martyr Mammes, for whom Cappadocia gave birth to so great a treasure. Dijon too is benignly protected by the Martyr Benignus, whose praise and glory is sung in holy preaching. And since Greece sent these and very many others, whom the brevity of our discourse passes over, let us briefly mention some from Scotland. We shall not pass over Columbanus, that most illustrious man, through whom, O Burgundy, a most great harvest grew for you in the vineyard of God: for in you he built very many monasteries, multiplied colleges of monks, and increased the services of God. He left you Deicola and Columbinus, most holy Confessors. After these, we proclaim the most celebrated Confessor Anatolius, likewise born from Scotland, a light destined for you by the Lord. But lest our discourse be drawn out too long on these matters, let us return to our account of Blessed Maimbod.

[7] Blessed Maimbod, then, now a perfected soldier of Christ, having been received as a guest by a certain nobleman of the Burgundians, persevering in his accustomed way in prayer and vigils, rendered unceasing praises to God, He refuses what is offered, except for gloves: for whom to live was Christ and to die was gain. His host, seeing him to be holy and just, endeavored to give him of his goods, so as to commend himself by the merits of one whom he saw to be fully inspired by the gift of heavenly virtue. But the holy man Maimbod, spurning all earthly things, said that he was in need of nothing, since the Lord furnished him with all necessities. But lest he sadden his host, he accepted hand-coverings, which they call "Wantos," out of charity; and bidding him farewell, and blessing him and his entire household, he departed.

[8] Now in the village called Dampierre, eight miles from the city of Besancon, which is also known by the other name of Chrysopolis, there was a certain oratory of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, to which the holy man made a detour for the sake of prayer. On account of these, he suffers ambush from robbers, who believed he had money: In that little village there were most wicked robbers, acknowledging themselves bound by no religion, Christian in name only, but in their works far removed from that designation, ready for every crime. Seeing the blessed man carrying the gloves (a gift of charity), and supposing that he also possessed other money, they went out beyond the village, lying in ambush for the servant of God, and fell upon him at a spring which is called by the common name Calebrunnia, that is, in Teutonic barbarity, "cold water": for the people who at that time inhabited the aforesaid village was Teutonic, without piety and mercy. O cruel madness of the impious! O laudable patience of the holy man! These rush forward to kill; he hastens to save. Their cruelty sought to slaughter; his charity was already praying for them. For his entire attention was fixed on the Lord's saying: "In your patience you will possess your souls." Luke 21:19. And he carefully retained what is said elsewhere: "Pray for those who persecute you and calumniate you." Matthew 5:44.

[9] Seeing, therefore, the enemies of the Lord rushing toward him from the opposite direction and hurling themselves upon him like madmen, the most blessed man, he kindly addresses those who rush upon him: offering them peaceful words, said: "Hail, dearest brothers; the grace of the Lord be with you. But tell me, what do you seek in such haste? For the mercy of the Lord is able to assist you in your need." But they, answering nothing, seizing him like a most gentle lamb for the slaughter, he is killed: beat him and scourge him, so as to shake from him the money which he did not possess. He himself, however, did not cease from preaching even in death, but gently and mildly admonished his persecutors with the Lord's words. But the wicked men, counting the Lord's words as nothing and gaping with the fevers of avarice, beat him with clubs and wounded him with swords so long, until he rendered his spirit to heaven. And with the Lord Himself, whom he had served perfectly in worship, receiving his soul, he rested in peace. But they, bound by so great a crime, departed in frenzy, because they found nothing on him but his most pure flesh.

[10] He is buried: The body of the holy Martyr, found by the faithful, was given over to burial in the basilica of Blessed Peter, where he had earlier commended himself to the Lord in prayer. He is illustrious for miracles: There, by many miraculous signs, it clearly appeared what manner of man and how just he had been. After this, with some interval of time having elapsed, the body was translated to the fortress called Montbeliard, by the command of Lord Berenger, Archbishop of the Church of Chrysopolis (Besancon), and at the request of a certain Count named Adzo, on whose estate it had formerly lain. It was honorably interred at the same fortress, He is translated. through the hands of Lord Stephen, Bishop of the Church of Belley, who had previously been Dean of the Church of St. John the Evangelist, the mother Church of Chrysopolis. And because at that time the aforesaid Archbishop had been blinded, the Bishop himself discharged the duties of the Archbishop under his authority. In the place where the body of the holy Martyr rests, very many miracles occur, by the grace of God, to whom be praise and dominion forever. Amen.

(a) Others call him Maimboldus, others Maibodus. Thus on this day Molanus in his Additions to Usuard, Galesinius, and Ferrarius: The feast of St. Maimbod. "In Burgundy, of St. Maibod, Martyr." Aubert Le Mire in his Burgundian Calendar: "X. Kal. February, in the territory of Besancon, at the castle called Montbeliard, of St. Maimbod, Martyr, whose frequent miracles shine forth." Andrew du Saussay adorns him with a more extended eulogy.

(b) Therefore the Scots used a distinctive dress, different from the Gallic.

(c) Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutius, or Ferrutio, are venerated on June 16.

(d) St. Irenaeus on June 28.

(e) These on June 2.

(f) Saints Felix, Fortunatus, and Achilleus on April 23.

(g) Saints Andochius, Thyrsus, and Felix on September 24.

(h) St. Mammes the Martyr is regarded as the patron of the Church of Langres, on account of his head and arm having been brought there. He is venerated on August 17.

(i) St. Benignus on November 1.

(k) St. Columbanus on November 21.

(l) We gave the Life of St. Deicola on January 18, where we also treated of St. Columbinus, who is called by others Columbanus the Younger, and is venerated on November 21.

(m) St. Anatolius on February 3.

(n) Our countrymen still call gloves "Wanten." The French, Italians, and Spanish change the w to g or gu and use the same word. Wantus. The Eburones in Belgium still call gloves "Wans."

(o) Concerning this name, John James Chifflet treats in his Vesontio, Book 1, chapter 12.

(p) More properly you would call it "Cold Spring." For "Bronn," in our language "borne," properly means a spring, well, or water rising or issuing forth.

(q) Berenger is reckoned by Chifflet, in Part 2 of his Vesontio, as the forty-first Archbishop of that city. He lived around the year of Christ 900, as is clear from the same Chifflet, who writes of this translation as follows: "In his time and by his command, Stephen, Bishop of Belley, translated from the church of St. Peter in the village called Dampierre to the castle of Montbeliard the body of St. Maimbod the Martyr, In the translation of St. Maimbod, Berenger recovers his sight. a Scot by nation; whose feast in the diocese of Besancon falls on January 23. And it is reported that Berenger, who had been blinded by sacrilegious heretics, miraculously recovered his sight at the elevation of St. Maimbod's body." Du Saussay records the same concerning the recovery of sight in his Martyrology, and adds: "In commendation of which event, the same Archbishop decreed that in the diocese of Besancon the feast of this holy Martyr should be celebrated with annual sacred rites on this day on which he underwent his glorious combat; and that his name should be inscribed on the diptychs of the Church of Besancon, in the series of Saints whom it honors and venerates by special right."