Martyrs Praeiectus the Bishop

ON THE HOLY MARTYRS PRAEIECTUS THE BISHOP, AMARINUS OR MARINUS THE ABBOT, AND ELIDIUS, AT CLERMONT IN AUVERGNE, IN GAUL.

Seventh Century.

Praeiectus, Bishop of the Arverni, Martyr in Gaul (Saint) Marinus or Amarinus, Abbot, Martyr in Gaul (Saint) Elidius, Martyr in Gaul (Saint)

From various sources.

[1] We have already given five Bishops of the Arverni inscribed in the public roll of the Blessed: Stabilis on January 1, Bonitus on the 15th, Venerandus on the 18th, Avitus II on the 21st, and Artemius on the 24th. The sixth, honored on the 25th, is Praeiectus, The feast of St. Praeiectus, who is called by some Proiectus, and by the French St. Prie, St. Priet, or St. Prix. Concerning him Usuard writes: In the city of the Arverni, of St. Proiectus the Bishop and Amarinus, a man of God, who suffered at the hands of the nobles of the aforesaid city. The Roman Martyrology, Bellinus, and others have nearly the same. Bede as commonly published, Ado, Rabanus, Notker, Maurolycus, Felicius, Saussay, and all other writers of Martyrologies mention Praeiectus. The ancient manuscripts of the monasteries of Liessies and of St. Martin of Tournai, and the very ancient one of St. Savin de Lavedan in the Pyrenees, cited by Saussay in the Appendix to the Martyrology, have this eulogy: On this day, in the district of the Arverni, the birthday of St. Praeiectus, Bishop and Martyr, who, chosen from the womb in a prophetic manner, preserved his purple-stained robe in triumph. The manuscript Martyrology of St. Gudula at Brussels: In the city of the Arverni, of St. Praeiectus, Bishop and Martyr, who was crowned with martyrdom by the nobles and chief men of his city, in revenge for Hector, Patrician of Marseilles, whom Childeric, King of the Franks, had killed on account of the injustices inflicted upon the Church of the Arverni. And of Maurinus, a man of God, who together with the aforesaid Bishop Praeiectus was slain by the nobles of the said city of the Arverni for the sake of justice.

[2] Galesinius errs in writing thus: At the Arverni, likewise of St. Proiectus, Bishop and Martyr, who, grievously harassed by the chief men of that city for the faith of Christ, killed for justice, not for the faith, is at length crowned with martyrdom. On this same day, of St. Marinus the Abbot, who, killed together with him on account of religion, won the palm with a steadfast and brave contest. Canisius also: Likewise in the city of the Arverni, of the holy Martyr Praeiectus the Bishop and Marinus the venerable Abbot; who were both crowned with martyrdom for the faith by the Prefect of that city under the younger Constantine. They were killed not for the faith, which was then flourishing most vigorously in Gaul, but for the cause of justice. Ferrari, in the Catalogue of Saints Who Are Missing from the Roman Martyrology, perhaps thinking Praeiectus was different from the Proiectus whose name he had found in the Martyrology, writes on this day: At the Arverni, of St. Praeiectus the Bishop.

[3] His memory is celebrated: St. Praeiectus was already of old held in great veneration, for in very many Gallican Breviaries, even the old Belgian ones — of Brussels, Cambrai, Bruges, and others — of Wurzburg in Germany, and of Salisbury in England, a commemoration of him is made on this day in the divine office; by which example was set before Bishops and other sacred persons, which they should imitate in repressing the wicked desires of evildoers and the enterprises of magistrates who invaded the goods and liberty of the Church. Some Gallican Churches, as is clear from the Breviary of Limoges, honor him the following day with a semi-double rite. But elsewhere the feast is observed on January 24. Therefore Baronius inscribed this in the Roman Martyrology on that day: Likewise of the holy Martyrs Thyrsus and Proiectus. And he annotates: These are treated of at greater length in the Toledan Breviary of St. Isidore, where there is also a sacred hymn in which the outstanding deeds of Thyrsus are described. This hymn, composed by Cixila, Bishop of Toledo, is cited by Francisco Bivarius in his commentary on the Chronicle of Dexter at the year 286, and contains the praises and contests of St. Thyrsus the Martyr, of whom we shall treat on January 28. Just as Baronius found the name of Thyrsus inscribed on that day in some manuscript, so also that of Proiectus; but it does not immediately follow that they are different from the Arvernian Proiectus, or certainly from the one of Casale, and the most celebrated Thyrsus whom the people of Toledo claim as their own — especially since no one else records Proiectus on that day.

[4] A church was formerly erected among the Arverni in honor of St. Praeiectus. Thus book 1 on the Saints of the Church of the Monastery of Clermont, section 24: In the church of St. Praeiectus, the altar of St. Praeiectus, the altar of St. Bonitus, the altar of St. Pardulf. John Savaro annotates: Churches and altars dedicated to him: The church has been destroyed, of which neither trace nor vestige remains; yet the memory has not entirely perished, for the garden of the Rabanesse pays an annual rent to the mother Church on account of the church of St. Praeiectus, which once shone within its boundaries. And in book 2, section 11: In the church of St. Praeiectus, the altar of St. Praeiectus, the altar of St. Martin, the altar of St. Thecla. Other altars dedicated to him in the same place are found in the church of St. Vincent, book 1, section 19, and section 26, in the monastery of Cantoenne, and book 2, section 2, in the monastery of Camalieres. In our Belgium, at the very suburbs of the town of Bethune, there exists a Priory of St. Praeiectus. Baldric, Bishop of Tournai, in the Chronicle, book 2, chapter 3, mentions the monastery of St. Praeiectus the Martyr. Colvenerius in the Notes to that chapter writes: There was once a distinguished Priory of St. Praeiectus in the suburb of the town of St. Quentin, overthrown in 1557 during the siege of that same town, and today the monks reside within the town itself. Perhaps this is the place intended.

[5] His companions Amarinus and Elidius: Most Martyrologies add as a companion of St. Praeiectus the holy Abbot Amarinus, who is called by others Marinus, by some Maurinus, by Bellinus Martinus, by the manuscript Florarium Marianus, by some manuscripts Amarianus, and by Vincent of Beauvais and Wion Amerinus. The Acts also join Elidius, as do certain manuscripts and Felicius, who calls him Clidius, and Saussay, who calls him Eladius, a most devout monk. The Acts make him not a monk but one of the attendants or companions of the Bishop. Concerning him Ferrari writes on January 15: At the Arverni in Gaul, of St. Elidius the Martyr. In the Notes he says he was a minister of the Church; but he wrongly cites St. Gregory of Tours's book On the Glory of the Martyrs, since Gregory had died more than seventy years before St. Elidius.

[6] But on this day, January 25, he writes that St. Acolythus the Martyr is venerated at Parenzo in Istria together with St. Proiectus, Bishop of the Arverni (whose minister he was, relics, having been put to death as a martyr together with him), on account of their relics deposited there. The same author on November 18: At Parenzo in Istria, the finding of the bodies of Saints Proiectus and Acolythus, Martyrs. Translation. In the Notes he reports that their bodies were brought there from the Arverni, but when and how is unknown; that translation, however, which is recorded on that day, occurred about the year 1361. It is probable that the name Acolythus is used for Elidius, minister of St. Praeiectus and his companion in martyrdom, other: because he was an acolyte by ecclesiastical rank. Moreover, Saussay reports another translation of St. Praeiectus on July 12 in the Supplement to the Martyrology, but he does not reveal when or by whose agency it was carried out.

[7] We have obtained a twofold Life of St. Praeiectus. The first is from an ancient codex of the monastery of St. Paul at Utrecht, whose author reveals his own age when in no. 5 he professes that he received from one who was present the account of a miracle performed in the excavation of the relics of a certain holy Martyr. A twofold Life: And more clearly toward the end: which vision (of three stars shining above the house where the Saints had been killed) the aforesaid men affirm to this day that they saw. Andreas du Chesne cites a portion of this Life in volume 1 of the Frankish Writers. The other we transcribed from three ancient codices: one belonging to our colleague Jacques Sirmond, another from the monastery of St. Maximin at Trier, and a third from St. Mary of Ripatory, from which we added the Prologue, omitted by others. This latter Life had been published by Surius, but polished in his own style and mutilated. The author was also a contemporary of the Saint and (as John Basil Sanctorius testifies, who professes that he received this Life from ancient codices written on parchment) his companion and an eyewitness of all things. He certainly indicates his own time in the Prologue, writing about Jonas, a disciple of St. Attala, Abbot of Bobbio and disciple of St. Columban: Jonas also, he says, in the time of our memory, an eloquent man, etc. From this latter Life, Vincent of Beauvais describes the deeds and death of St. Praeiectus, though somewhat more concisely, in book 23, chapter 119; St. Antoninus in part 2, chapter 6, title 13, section 25; Peter de Natalibus in book 3, chapter 22. Haraeus, Lippelous, Rosweyde, and others narrate the same Acts of St. Praeiectus. Trithemius treats of St. Amarinus in book 3 of the Illustrious Men of the Order of St. Benedict, chapter 134, where he calls him Marinus and Maurinus.

[8] In what year the holy Martyrs were killed is not so easy to determine, because it is not entirely established whether Clothar, son of Clovis II, reigned for four years, as is commonly held, or ten, as is stated in the Life of St. Leodegarius, or seven, as others say. After him Childeric, who had long since been substituted for his uncle Sigebert among the Austrasians, when he was killed: also assumed the kingdom of Neustria, after his brother Theoderic was deposed; when Childeric was murdered after three years, Theoderic again succeeded. It appears that St. Praeiectus was killed at the beginning of the latter's reign. For after he had celebrated Easter at Autun, where King Childeric was present (at which time St. Leodegarius, Bishop of that city, fled from the court and was banished to Luxeuil), he then returned home; whither St. Amarinus later came to him. Meanwhile both Hector was killed at Childeric's command, and then Childeric himself was killed by Bodilo. Sigebert of Gembloux, and after him Vincent of Beauvais cited above, writes at the year 670 thus: At this time there flourished St. Praeiectus, citizen and Bishop of the Arverni, who was also martyred by the chief men of that city, in revenge for Hector, Patrician of Marseilles, whom Childeric, King of the Franks, had killed on account of the injustices inflicted by him upon the Church of the Arverni. Sigebert does not assert that St. Praeiectus was killed in that very year. In the Life of St. Bonitus it is said that St. Avitus, the successor of Praeiectus, governed the Church of the Arverni for about fifteen years or more, and then brought it about that it should be entrusted to his brother Bonitus, at which time under Prince Theoderic, Pippin held the primacy of the kingdom and all the reins of government were disposed by his authority. Pippin assumed the prefecture of the Palace in Austrasia about the year 687, and of the entire Frankish empire about the year 691; from which it seems to follow that St. Avitus could not have been made Bishop before the year 672.

[9] Sigebert writes that Praeiectus flourished under the Emperor Constantine Pogonatus (whom others call the Younger, because his father Constans was also called Constantine). Pogonatus assumed the government of the Empire in the year 668. Maurolycus follows Sigebert: In the city of the Arverni, of St. Proiectus the Bishop and Marinus the Abbot, who suffered at the hands of the nobles of the aforesaid city, under the Emperor Constantine the Younger. Felicius writes that they were killed under Childeric in the year 668; but it is doubtful whether Childeric survived to the year 668. The manuscript Florarium says they suffered in the year 672.

[10] From what has been said, certain things should be corrected in the lengthy eulogy of St. Praeiectus in Saussay. For among other things he writes thus: The cause of his unjust death was this. Since the holy man could not endure without intense grief the sacrileges that Hector, Count of Marseilles, was inflicting upon the Churches of his diocese and others, and since Hector, though admonished, did not come to his senses but, adding crime to crime, accused by Hector, not killed by him, daily inflicted graver disgraces and losses upon places and ministers consecrated to God, Praeiectus, kindled with pious zeal, brought the matter before King Chilperic, to whom he was very dear. An inquiry being made, that most wicked tyrant, guilty of impiety and deserving the extreme penalty, was condemned in a solemn trial. He therefore, learning the matter through his friends at court, laid an ambush for the most holy Bishop as he was returning from the royal retinue; and, having intercepted him at the end of the road, together with Amarinus, an Abbot of most pious life from Clermont, and Eladius, a most devout monk, he killed them by means of his guards with daggers and swords in the village called Volvic, etc. But it was not Praeiectus who brought Hector to justice, but he himself who was summoned by Hector. Nor did Hector kill Praeiectus, but Agricius and his accomplices killed him in revenge for Hector, who had been put to death by the King. Savaro writes nearly the same things as Saussay and does not seem to have possessed that earlier history of his life, although the latter account also contradicts what he writes.

LIFE FROM THE UTRECHT MANUSCRIPT,

By an anonymous contemporary author.

Praeiectus, Bishop of the Arverni, Martyr in Gaul (Saint) Marinus or Amarinus, Abbot, Martyr in Gaul (Saint) Elidius, Martyr in Gaul (Saint)

BHL Number: 6916

By a contemporary author, from manuscripts.

CHAPTER I.

The episcopate of St. Praeiectus and his deeds therein.

[1] Under the revered memory of King Childeric, who governed the principality of Germania, when the Church of the Arverni was nearly destitute of its priestly summit, Genesius, at that time an illustrious man, powerful in nobility and wealthy in resources, held the municipal office in the aforesaid city. This city, once most powerful in the immensity of its riches, of the famous city of the Arverni, now shines more richly, enriched by the blood of Martyrs: a pleasant land, except that it is frequently buffeted by the blasts of the west wind and by assailing thunderbolts. Nearby the river Loire flows past with a headlong course, half-encircling the province of Aquitaine, and after many windings and vast stretches of land, enters broadly into the ocean sea. But let us return to our subject.

[2] When speculation about the attainment of the bishopric was spreading in throngs, as is customary in such matters, and one was striving to be preferred above another, and they were disputing among themselves — since the majority had by royal edicts determined with the greatest effort that the aforesaid Genesius should be elevated to the pontifical summit — when St. Genesius the Count refused the bishopric, he, struck with fear lest he act against the decrees of the canons, proclaimed in public that he would be unworthy of the priesthood. But the citizens spoke in favor of the election of Praeiectus, who in those days was exercising the office of the priestly order in the aforesaid city. St. Praeiectus is elected. When their agreement reached the ears of the people, the voice of all the clergy and laity became one: that Praeiectus was worthy of the priesthood. What more? By God's authority he is ordained Bishop. For he was most pious and distinguished for all sweetness, a holy man, cheerful in countenance, gentle in speech, endowed with almsgiving and fasting, strong in virginity, fair of body, abounding in charity, conspicuous in humility, illustrious in knowledge and eloquence, adorned in his character, so that under human form you would discern one leading an angelic life. For at that time he had as a companion in sacred religion the most sagacious and conspicuously holy man Euodius, who recalled many peoples of the Arverni and neighboring cities, who had been entangled in the chains of the ancient serpent, and zealous: to the bosom of the holy Catholic Church through the remedy of salutary penance.

[3] But since he had already long flourished in these good things, under Christ's guidance, without whom nothing good is done, he counsels Genesius to build a convent of Virgins, he began to give the aforesaid Count Genesius abundant salutary advice that, since he lacked offspring who should succeed him by hereditary right, he should adopt the Church for himself, which has neither spot nor wrinkle. When this illustrious man at length accepted this counsel, he set about building a monastery of consecrated Virgins in a suburb of the aforesaid city, in a place called Camalieres, with all effort and endeavor, according to the rule of holy men — namely, of St. Benedict, and of St. Caesarius, and of Columban. Over this monastery, for the exercise of the norm of faith and the custody of religion and mortification, he appointed as supreme head the aforesaid Euodius, whom we mentioned above; and he assigned there his possessions, rightfully obtained, for their needs. The holy Pontiff installed there as Mother a certain woman born of illustrious stock, whom he had loved from her youth in Christian vigor, named Gundilana.

[4] When the man full of God saw Christ's family growing abundantly, he himself founds another, he ordered another monastery to be built in a suburb of the aforesaid city, on a small field belonging to a certain woman named Caesaria, and consecrated it with maidens dedicated to God. For before that time a convent of young women was scarcely to be found in those parts. He also took care to build a hospice on his own property, following the custom of the Orientals, in a place called Columbarius. And a hospital. He appointed physicians and capable men to carry out this care, in such a manner that twenty sick persons should always be treated there and should receive their stipends. And when they had recovered, they should give place to others for treatment.

[5] But because prolixity of material, as Orosius says, is wont to engender both curiosity and obscurity, we speak in few words: and the course of events compels us not only to set forth his life but to weave the account of his passion. It is held as true that in that same city, under pagan rulers, a holy legion of Saints fell, who shed their own blood there for the name of Christ. Antiquity confirms that the leaders of this legion were Cassius, Victorinus, and also Anatolianus. He is devoted to honoring the relics of the Saints. He had also vowed to build a monastery there, but, hindered by human obstacles, he left the work he had begun unfinished. He had nevertheless resolved in his mind to translate those whom he should find among the companions of those aforementioned to honorable places. But when he had established vigils through Abbots and clerics at the places of the Saints, so that he might readily discover the truth of the matter from their relics, and when he had seized the iron implement and ordered the fields in which the holy bodies had been buried to be opened, by a divine sign a certain poor man who had been disabled for nearly fifteen years received his health there. And lest this appear incredible to anyone as having been done by the power of St. Praeiectus, the truth is so manifest that the man who saw it has himself reported it in words. Not without a miracle: Nor is it undeserved that the Lord deigns to reward His Saints thus on earth, who crucified their own wills for His sake. The bodies of the Saints were wondrously translated by the successor of the aforesaid Pontiff, namely Bishop Avitus.

CHAPTER II.

Various miracles wrought through him.

[6] When he was powerful through these and other miracles, Chrodobert, Bishop of the city of Tours, heard of these things and sent his Deacon to Praeiectus with eulogiae on account of a visit. When he had received him with a cheerful spirit, he had him recline at table with him. He heals an epileptic: The Deacon, having taken up the cup, was seized by the illness to which he was accustomed, and was at length exhausted by the falling sickness. When the Venerable Bishop had observed him frenzied and raving with gnashing teeth, he began to console him with gentle effort, adjuring by divine aid that the hostile power should no longer usurp a body devoted to Christ. Immediately, in a wondrous manner, the man was made well, and was never again troubled by such affliction.

[7] At another time, when he had held a banquet on the most sacred Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection of Easter, a certain one of the servants, whose duty it was to bring in the food, secretly stole a silver vessel that he should have guarded, and tried to conceal it, having placed it in a field. He divinely discovers and reveals a servant's theft: When the other servants began to inquire among themselves what had happened to the silver, word of the crime of theft reached the ears of the Pontiff. He therefore ordered all who served in that office to be presented before his eyes, and began to admonish them with fatherly speech, that whoever had wrongly taken the article should reveal the guilt through confession. But if not, he said he would implore the Lord's help in the dark of night to uncover the crime that had been committed, and that the guilt unlawfully perpetrated would keep the innocent safe and by its own piety reveal the guilty one. When the watches of the vigils had been completed and the man full of God had given himself to sleep, he saw in a dream a man gleaming in white garments, as it were an Angel of peace, who showed him where the aforesaid vessel was hidden and covered with earth. Waking from sleep, Blessed Praeiectus ordered all the officials who served in that ministry to be summoned. When he had spoken to each one in turn about what they had found regarding that theft, all unanimously denied it, declaring that they knew nothing of the matter. Then the man of God, gesturing with his hand and pointing with his finger, named the thief, adding also: Go to such and such a place, and you will find the hidden stolen goods. When the servants had gone to the designated place, they brought the vessel, which had been lost the day before, to the aforesaid Pontiff. Reproving the thief before all and exhorting him to do penance, he granted pardon insofar as it pertained to him.

[8] At the same time it happened that the man of God went to the court of King Childeric on behalf of the condition of the Church. Having begun his journey, when he was already making his way through the vast wilderness called the Vosges, after a laborious path through the ridges of mountains and valleys, he came at last to the place which the barbarians call in their native tongue Doroangus, where not far away the blessed and venerable Amarinus had constructed a small cell with the greatest labor, with the permission and consent of the nobleman Warmecharius. At that time, having there in poverty some young recruits of God, they barely took measured portions of biscuit-bread with draughts of water; yet under the hardship of poverty they served Christ the Lord, according to that precept of the Gospel which says: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3. But what miracle the Lord displayed there through his venerable Bishop Praeiectus must not be passed over in silence. The aforesaid Amarinus had long been seized by a fever, to such an extent that he could neither move a step nor take any food, but only sip water. When this reached the ears of Blessed Praeiectus through the reports of the brothers, he poured forth his customary prayers to the Lord; and, going to the cell where the venerable Abbot lay sick, armed with the shield of faith, he entered the hut, took up the standard of the cross, and with the greeting of health the fever departed from his body. He frees St. Amarinus from fevers: Taking him by the hand, he led him unharmed — marvelous to relate! — to the refectory. The brothers rejoiced that their Father had recovered his former health. What joy there was that the Lord deigned to work such a miracle through His servant Praeiectus, so that in the vastness of the desert a sick man should suddenly receive health!

[9] But after sacred and salutary words, when he had given himself to sleep and the man of God had completed the watches and vigils all through the night until the dawn of day, when now at the dawn the brilliant and most welcome sun had been restored to the earth, with the brothers' blessing he resumed the journey he had begun and proceeded in peace to the Prince. The Lord granted him such favor with the Mayor of the Palace that what he had set forth in words he obtained with the highest honor. He is honorably received by King Childeric. The King rejoicing, and his courtiers, nobles, and magnates, he was vigorously received by the priests of the Lord. With the privilege of the Church strengthened by the authority of the Prince, with Christ's favor he returned home.

CHAPTER III.

The machinations of the wicked. The slaughter.

[10] At that time in the aforesaid territory of the Arverni there was a certain woman dedicated to God, named Claudia, who zealously came on account of preaching and bestowed her possessions in part upon the aforesaid Pontiff, or upon the poor whom he governed. But not long afterward she fulfilled the debt of nature; and she was buried by Blessed Praeiectus with the highest honor. After these things had passed, there was a certain infamous man named Hector, who had attained the honor of the patriciate at Marseilles, He is brought to court by Count Hector: who had seized by violence the daughter of the aforesaid Claudia and joined her to himself, and thereafter, having embarked upon the misery of concubines, came to the Prince Childeric, who at that time governed both kingdoms that he had assumed — having associated with himself another partner in crime, named Leodegarius — and came before the King, which was afterward the kindling of scandal in the accomplishment of Leodegarius's own martyrdom. He accused the Pontiff of claiming for himself the estates of the aforesaid woman Claudia, and set forth the charges before the King; and he obtained from the Prince that envoys should be dispatched from his side who would summon him through sureties and have him presented at the King's court.

[11] When he came, having been instructed regarding this case, to give his response, he was seized with great sorrow, because the day of holy Easter was already imminent, and it was not permitted for him to celebrate that most sacred night of Easter solemnly in his own city. But (as the true proverb says, "The integrity of a Bishop does not fear the power of a King"), armed with faith and having put on the helmet of salvation, according to the distinguished preacher Paul, he hastened to the palace. Ephesians 6:17. But, as is the custom, he entered the hall of the King's court where cases are deliberated, in order to have an accounting with the above-written Hector concerning the aforesaid matter. He began to refuse and to render a true account, according to the statutes of the Canons or the law which is called Roman, because it was the great day of Saturday on which the vigils of holy Easter are customarily celebrated, and that he could in no way respond regarding this case. But as is the manner of those gathered together, all began to compel him not to defer giving a response on account of such a case. He is forced to respond on the day before Easter: When the man of God recognized that he was hemmed in on every side, compelled by necessity he responded thus: that he held the properties of the Church commended to the authority of Queen Imnechild. When they had learned of this assertion, the matter remained unfinished. Therefore Blessed Praeiectus at length set forth the labor of his task, and how he had been brought forward through sureties. The King and Queen, struck with fear, he is honored by the King, sought pardon before all from the aforesaid Bishop, and were afflicted with sorrow for his toil. At that time Leodegarius the Bishop was under the protection of Hector. When now the sun had traversed the southern region and was sinking toward its setting, and the hour, as is customary, was clearly at hand when it would be lawful to celebrate the solemn vigils of Easter, by royal permission and that of the elders, the Bishops and Priests who had been gathered in the city of the Aedui on account of the royal authority and celebrates before him: besought Blessed Praeiectus with suppliant voice most earnestly, indeed they begged him, that on the vigil of that sacred night he himself should offer sacrifice to God for the welfare of the King and the peace of the Church.

[12] When Hector had learned of such great veneration, and especially because he was emboldened by the confidence of Wulfoald the Mayor of the Palace, in the dead of night both he and St. Leodegarius, having been roughly treated, took flight. To him may be aptly applied in reverse that saying which is described in the Acts of St. Sylvester concerning Perpenna Tarquinius, where it is recorded that at the very hour when he was about to bring Blessed Sylvester before his tribunal, he was cast out of his house and carried on a bier to the tomb. The adversaries flee: But when the dawn began the day and the radiance of the sun now shone upon the earth, the King having learned through the nobles that Hector had turned tail, they began to attend more and more to the honor of the Bishop. Hector, however, was captured and put to death by royal edicts. Leodegarius, moreover, was led to penance and thrust into exile at Luxeuil, and afterward was taken from there, and within his own city, at the hands of a certain perfidious and most wicked man named Ugimer, who later occupied the city of Troyes, had his eyes torn out, and not long after was most impiously slain by Ebroin, Count of the Palace — otherwise an energetic man, but excessively savage in the slaughter of priests — and obtained the palm of martyrdom, and now shines with sacred miracles.

[13] Therefore St. Praeiectus, by royal edicts and the munificence of the King, he obtains his right and returns to his people: as it had pleased him, brought judgment concerning the estates which the aforesaid Hector had been claiming, so that the Church should possess them by perpetual right. Bidding farewell to the King and the nobles, he was magnificently honored and returned to his own land. The aforesaid Abbot Amarinus, hearing that all things had gone prosperously for the man of God, followed him to the city of the Arverni, believing that the aforesaid Bishop would, by his assistance, bring aid solely for the sustenance and relief of the Brothers' need and toil, He is visited by St. Amarinus: which they endured in the wilderness for the sake of Christ. When he saw him, the distinguished man received him as a divine gift, and day and night he had him as a companion of heavenly grace — which the outcome of events afterward proved.

[14] But when they were now living in these good things, with Christ as their guide, the enemy of the human race, unable to bear these things, while he envied the charity of the one and the reception of the other — he of whom it is written, "Whose arts of harming are a thousand" — By the conspiracy of Agricius: attacked a certain most wicked man and son of Belial, and through a certain Agricius hastened to the leading men among the people of the Arverni, that by whatever art he could, he might incite their minds to the death of the man of God. At that time Agricius, having obtained the counsel of the wicked, and without delay after this, like an unbridled beast, entangled as it were in all the reins of the ancient serpent, assassins rush in: came to the man of God at the estate of Volvic with a crowd of armed attendants; and about one mile from the aforesaid estate, like ravening wolves howling at the sheepfolds, they sent forth the sound of a trumpet from the forest. When Blessed Praeiectus and Amarinus heard the sound of the trumpets, both gave themselves to prayer, awaiting from the Lord an unfading crown. But all the retinue who were in the company of the aforesaid Bishop, hearing the blare of the trumpets, struck with fear, stripped of their garments, and despoiled of their arms, the servants flee: turned their backs through the thorns of brambles and the thickets of dense briars. When the wicked men had now approached the door of the house and wished to enter, then, as it is reported, one of the man of God's attendants and doorkeeper of the house, named Godolenus, except one: gave himself to battle on behalf of the man of God, preferring rather to submit his neck to the sword than to grant any reprieve in this world beyond the death of the man of God.

[15] But when twenty armed satellites of the wicked associates had entered the house, then the venerable Amarinus is said to have spoken to Praeiectus, the man of God: "My lord," he said, He resists Amarinus who urges flight: "if your counsel consents, let us give way before these voices of howling and nefarious men: perhaps the immense mercy of God will deign to deliver us from the snares of the wicked." To this the man of God Praeiectus replied: "Be silent, Brother, be silent, for if you now cheat yourself of this crown, you will never afterward find it." At this word Amarinus fell silent. Blessed Praeiectus, however, pouring forth prayers to the Lord at greater length, commended his sacred spirit to the Lord.

[16] When the prayer was completed, the most wicked men entered and, in a corner of the house, first slaughtered Amarinus, the servant of God, in place of Blessed Praeiectus. Both are slain: And while the man of God lay on his couch, watering his bed with tears, the executioners were returning the way they had come and were leaving Blessed Praeiectus unharmed. When the man of God perceived that the crown was being snatched from him, offering himself willingly to his persecutors, he said: "Here is the one you seek; fulfill what has been commanded you." And as he said this, one of the officers, who was the boldest in crime, named Radbert, a Saxon by origin, seized a dagger and plunged it into the breast of Blessed Praeiectus. The man of God, however, drenched with a flood of sacred blood, unable to bear the sight of the blade, placed his fingers over his eyes. And after this the executioner brandished a sword at his head and dashed out his brains. Thus that holy soul, freed from the bonds of the flesh, departed to the Lord.

[17] Bodo and Placidus, however, informants and men who had given their consent regarding the very place of martyrdom, while they stood not far off, saw three stars proceeding from heaven above the very house in which the Saints of God lay slain; they are illuminated by heavenly light: and one of these gave a greater brilliance. These aforesaid men confirm to this day that they saw this vision. We believe that this miracle both demonstrates the glory of those Saints and recalls these men to repentance. For no one placed in this life, if he is willing to be converted, should be despaired of regarding pardon. Indeed, as we read, the soldier Longinus pierced the Lord's side with a lance, and afterward, being converted, merited to obtain the crown of martyrdom.

[18] The satellites who perpetrated this crime, with bloodied hands, dragged the body of Blessed Praeiectus outside into the sight of the persecutors, to prove that their crime had been accomplished. That same Radbert, The killers are punished: who had extended his murderous hands against the Priest of God, struck by divine vengeance and consumed by worms, ended his unworthy life with a worthy death.

f. The same: scepter.

i. Du Chesne: attack.

p. This passage about Hector being captured and slain is absent from Du Chesne. Moreover, in the Life of St. Leodegarius, another cause is narrated for his withdrawal to the monastery of Luxeuil.

q. Du Chesne: Grinno. He appears to be the one whom Camuzat calls Wammirus in the catalogue of the Bishops of Troyes; in the Life of St. Leodegarius, Waymer.

ANOTHER LIFE

By an anonymous contemporary author, from three ancient manuscripts.

Praeiectus, Bishop and Martyr of the Arverni in Gaul (St.) Marinus or Amarinus, Abbot and Martyr in Gaul (St.) Elidius, Martyr in Gaul (St.)

BHL Number: 6915,6917

By an anonymous contemporary author, from manuscripts.

PROLOGUE OF THE AUTHOR.

[1] It was the practice among the ancients and most learned men that the deeds of those whom they perceived to be distinguished by miracles and holy actions, By ancient example, they should publish in writing with diligent study, under the auspices of Christ, without whom nothing good is done: so that future generations, learning things worthy of imitation and commendation to memory from the merits of their predecessors, might glory in them. Eusebius, Bishop of the city of Caesarea, a man distinguished in eloquence and fluency, following the examples of the elders, described the contests of innumerable Martyrs. Rufinus, imitating him, continued the narrative in writing down to the consulship of the Emperor Theodosius. But, to come to the sacred anchorites and Confessors, Blessed Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, published the acts of Anthony, also of Saints, and the holy and most learned Jerome those of Paul and Hilarion and the others whom the cultivation of a good life rendered praiseworthy. Postumianus, Severus, and Gallus published the life of the distinguished Martin in their treatises. But also the most blessed Gregory, Pontiff of the Roman Church, to whom even the secrets of heaven lay open, in the books to which he gave the title of Dialogues, composed the contests and manifold deeds of the Saints with honeyed eloquence. Jonas also, an eloquent man of our own time, most brilliantly published the life of Blessed Columban and of his disciples Athala, Eustasius, and Bertulf. In comparison with these men, we are reckoned as worthless servants. But mindful of that precept of our Lord and Savior, "Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you" Matthew 7:7; and of that oracle of the Psalmist: "Open your mouth, and I will fill it" Psalm 80:11; although with a rash, yet not with a surreptitious or presumptuous effort, satisfying your commands, I shall undertake to weave together those things which I have discovered concerning the supreme Pontiff Praeiectus, both by investigating style and by the report of many persons. Here the Author writes the Life of St. Praeiectus. Wherefore I beseech the reader, if indeed anyone, seized with love of the Bishop, shall have decided to read, not to seek in these pages the eloquence of Cicero, nor the fluency of the Orators, nor the rhetorical flourishes of the Philosophers and the various assertions of the Stoics, but the purity of the holy Church. For the eagle does not always soar to the heavens with outstretched wings, but more often descends to earth with more relaxed pinions; and among royal banquets, even common fruits and wild lettuces are also deemed excellent. God the Father and our Savior Jesus Christ must therefore be besought, that He may deign to breathe the breeze of the Holy Spirit, that He may scrape away the darkness of the heart, and furnish the faculty of speech, so that we may be able to set forth the deeds of the aforesaid Bishop, who always burned with the love of Christ, so that his example and the virtue of his sagacious soul ought to be propagated among posterity. May He who is the eternal sower of all things grant this, with the help of your prayers, He who makes the tongues of infants eloquent. Amen.

CHAPTER I.

The upbringing of St. Praeiectus, his priesthood.

[2] The heavenly love of Christ, by whose command the stars alternate equally by day and by night, has not ceased to display, through the merits of His servants, the increase of virtues in His holy Church. Wherefore it is fitting to narrate diligently to the assembled people the examples of the Saints, and to commit them to writing and entrust them to pages, to set down in writing, for the purpose of inciting souls to the rewards of Paradise. Since, after the Lord's resurrection, the throng of Martyrs has grown manifoldly, even in modern times through Bishop Praeiectus the manifold signs of Christ are displayed. The homeland and parents of St. Praeiectus: Holy Praeiectus, therefore, sprung from the bright lamp of noble birth, begotten of parents Gondolenus and Helidia, arose in the territory of the Arverni, and was designated by the mystery of revelation before he was born. Indeed, while he was still enclosed in the womb, a vision was shown to his mother, the Holy Spirit revealing it. His martyrdom foretold to his mother: For she saw her child issuing through her sides, stained with a rosy baptism, reddened by a wave of blood. When the Christian mother had narrated this to a certain servant of God, he immediately recognized that the boy about to be born would be great in the world, and would obtain the palm of martyrdom by the Lord's bestowal.

[3] Meanwhile the boy is born, a handsome child. As the years of infancy passed and the time of boyhood came on, he was entrusted to the school of Issoire, and, with God's favor, he advanced beyond the rest of his companions in ecclesiastical nurture. When he excelled in the practice of chanting and letters, his parents endeavored to commend him to Genesius the Archdeacon, his upbringing: who afterward obtained the dignity of the episcopate in the city of the Arverni. When he had seen the boy of noble nature more diligently brought up, he first entrusted money to him for the sustenance of the poor. As his learning and diligence increased, his prudence: he more frequently had him attend his own counsel.

[4] When certain clerics perceived this, inflamed by the goad of envy, they began to lay snares of calamity for him. They incited Martin the Cantor to seek an opportunity to strike Praeiectus. The boy is commanded to render a melody which he had scarcely heard sung even once: but the innocent lad, understanding the trap set for him, turned his mind to Christ; he invoked the holy Martyr Julian; he sought divine aid. Immediately, therefore, with the Holy Spirit teaching him, he rendered the canticle so perfectly from memory that all openly recognized that the divine mercy had infused that masterful melody into the boy. His rivals are confounded by the help of St. Julian: And in this manner envy was turned to admiration and ceased. These are the works of Him who made the shepherd boy, who was tending sycamore trees, into a Prophet.

[5] When he excelled in good conduct, he was placed in charge of a parish by the aforesaid Bishop of Issoire. Amos 7:14. He began therefore to shine in chastity, to flourish in charity, to devote himself to fasting, to apply himself to prayers, his care of souls, his virtues: to search the volumes of the Scriptures; and during the days of Lent to avoid the assemblies of secular people, to frequent only the companions of the faith and the frugality of humility, and to devote himself to the generosity of almsgiving.

[6] On a certain day, therefore, when many poor people had come to him coins divinely multiplied: and begged for alms, the man of God learned through his minister that he had no more than two coins. He ordered the bag to be brought; he invoked Jesus with a silent prayer; immediately the divine power was present; gold increased in the bag; and so great a sum of money was afterward found in it as was the crowd of poor standing at his door. Nor is it surprising if that renowned Artificer, who spread forth the sun with His ray, when invoked by His little servant, poured gold into a bag.

[7] On a certain day, while he was dining with guests who abstained from meat, and was most anxiously lacking fish, by chance the water supply ran out; a boy went with a bucket to the spring; his abstinence approved by miracle: and while he was drawing water, unexpectedly a fish entered the vessel. The boy returned from the hall and presented the fish with the water, which could abundantly suffice for Praeiectus and his guests. He who fed the Israelite multitude in the desert for forty years easily granted this. Exodus 16:35.

[8] The holy solemnity of Easter had arrived; Praeiectus hastened to the Arverni to the Bishop. While on a certain day he had prepared a banquet for himself in an upper room, and many secular and noble men had come as invited guests, three among them were abstainers who refused to consume meat for food; but because the life of the good is always burdensome to wicked minds, mockers punished: when the secular men ridiculed them and cast about jests and reproaches, they were admonished by the man of the Lord not to revile by mocking those whom they ought to have venerated. But when they would in no way correct themselves, suddenly the floor of the upper room fell with the mockers, and only Praeiectus remained seated at the table with the penitents. And thus the reckless presumption and fitting confusion returned home with its authors.

[9] Meanwhile, while these things were happening, Praeiectus the man of the Lord was ordained Deacon. He began to excel in chanting, to abound in wisdom, Lives of Saints written: to shine in honeyed eloquence, to walk adorned with all prudence; and because the lamp of the Church could not be hidden under a bushel, he diffused rays of brightness, set upon a renowned candlestick. Matthew 5:15. For he composed in a glorious style the passions of the Martyrs Cassius, Victorinus, Anatolianus, and Astrebodius, and of the other Saints who shed their blood for Christ in that same city.

[10] Not much time had passed after these events; Felix was now presiding over the aforesaid see. Then he entrusted the monastery of Candidinense to Praeiectus to govern. His governance of the monastery: When he was attending to monastic discipline there, and was advancing both the gaining of souls and the construction of buildings, wishing to repair the wall of a certain building which was raised to a height of forty feet, A man crushed by the collapse of a wall is saved by his prayers: when he had everything prepared and the builders were standing on the scaffolding, suddenly the old wall collapsed from its foundation and so crushed one of the workmen under its mass that he could in no way be seen among the stones and dust. Then the man of the Lord, filled with anxiety, poured forth a shower of tears before the presence of Christ and ordered the mass of stones to be removed, so that he might at least consign the battered corpse to burial. When this had been done, they found the man as sound as if he had not been overtaken by any collapse; and because the works of Praeiectus were pleasing to the Most High, the miracle displayed in the liberated man bore witness.

f. Others: capital.

l. Others: of coins.

m. Others: pours forth.

p. That is, Archdeacon. So Peter de Natali.

q. Manuscript of Ripatensis: Astrebundius. Savaro writes Astrebodius, and conjectures that he is Austremonius, of whom we shall treat on November 1.

r. Savaro calls him a Saint, but does not indicate his feast day.

s. Others: Candedinse. Savaro interprets this as Cantoennum. Wion hence conjectures that Praeiectus was a monk and Abbot of this monastery.

CHAPTER II.

His episcopate. Deeds performed in it.

[11] When Felix had died, and a great part of the Clergy and people desired to have Praeiectus as their Bishop, Bishop Gairoald: the Archdeacon of the aforesaid city, named Gairoald, driven by the impulse of cupidity, having contemned the Clergy and employing the counsel of laymen, usurped the Episcopate of the city of the Arverni through bribery. But when the course of forty days had elapsed, he met the passage of death.

[12] Therefore, when the city of the Arverni, bereft of the consolation of a Bishop, wished to elevate to the throne of the episcopal chair the renowned man Genesius, at the urging of St. Genesius, who was distinguished by senatorial dignity, that powerful and wise man himself, not rashly seeking the degree of honor, declared before all that he was unworthy of this office; rather, he exhorted the citizens to seek Praeiectus from the King for the See of Pastor. Praeiectus is appointed: Then, with the favor of the people uniting — or rather with the Holy Spirit governing — having taken counsel, they elected Praeiectus as Bishop, with the decree of the King also assenting to the people's petitions. When, having been elevated to the chair and having received the blessing, he shone with angelic conduct, the devout people gave thanks to God that the Church, which had previously been bereft by the death of its Bishop, had received such a Priest. For the man of God, holy Praeiectus, was most pious and conspicuous in all gentleness, cheerful in countenance, with radiant eyes, gracious in words, excelling in virginity, most beautiful in body, bright of complexion, comely in stature, filled with every goodness.

[13] When he excelled in holy conduct, he chose a certain religious man named Euodius as his companion: he devotes himself to preaching: through whom the holy preaching invited the souls of many to heavenly desires. Meanwhile Praeiectus, the man of the Lord, began to urge the aforesaid Genesius that, since he had no worldly offspring, he should adopt the Church as his children. At length the noble man, consenting to his words, he has a monastery of Virgins built: constructed a monastery in the suburb of the aforesaid city, and established Virgins to live there under the norm of the holy Rule; the remainder of his ample fortune he assigned after his death to the places of holy churches. The man of God also built another monastery of Virgins in the territory of the Arverni. For before that time no monasteries of virgins had been established in that province. He himself founds another, and a hospital: He also fitted out a hospice from his own resources; he assembled skilled physicians; and he so arranged it that twenty sick persons should always be present there to be healed, and when these had been cured, another twenty should succeed for treatment.

[14] Let pages be added, because mysteries are accumulated. At that time, when the fervor of ancient persecution blazed against the worshippers of Christ, the cruel executioner destroyed an entire legion of faithful men together with their wives and children. He seeks out the bodies of the Saints: The man of the Lord, Praeiectus, therefore desired to transfer their bodies more carefully through the places where they had been deposited; but as the turmoil of the times surged and his own swift martyrdom drew near, he was unable to complete the work he had begun in full, but left it in part to his successor to accomplish. Not without miracle: When therefore he desired to transfer the body of one Saint, and had celebrated vigils in the customary manner, having taken up a mattock he began to dig the earth, and immediately a certain poor man arrived who had been disabled for fifteen years, and received complete health through the working of the Saints. Whence we believe that in this miracle St. Praeiectus shares fellowship with the Martyr: so that because he too, venerating the Martyrs, always desired to become a partaker with them, he was joined to them through the Lord by the miracle of power. Nor was it unfitting that he should be joined to them by the sign of miracle, who was to be united with them through blood.

[15] Let it be heaped upon his praise what Christ has wrought through His Martyr. The holy day of Easter had come in the turning of the year, and a certain one of the ministers secretly stole a silver vessel He divinely recognizes and reveals a cleric guilty of theft: which he himself should have guarded: when this had been reported to the man of God, and the crime together with its perpetrator lay hidden, he applied himself to prayer the following night, and immediately the divine power revealed to him both the thief and the stolen goods. When morning came and the ministers were sought out, and each began to excuse himself from the crime committed, the man of God directed himself to the place divinely shown to him, found the silver, and with great gentleness mercifully corrected the guilty one, lest he perpetrate such things hereafter. And thus the holy man, preserving in his heart the virtue of both strictness and patience, both destroyed the vice by revealing it and preserved mercy by sparing the guilty one. This is the revelation of Him who showed the fraudulent disciple in the spirit of Elisha.

CHAPTER III.

Martyrdom. Miracles.

[16] Let the glorious miracles of the Martyr be inserted into these pages. When the man of God was hastening to the presence of King Childeric on account of an urgent matter, his journey led him to the place called Daroangus in the Vosges, where soldiers of Christ were living in the monastic manner by means of blessed poverty. He frees Amarinus from fever: When he had been received by the monks with joy, he found the Father of the monastery, Amarinus by name, suffering from the affliction of fevers, to such a degree that he could neither move a step nor take any nourishment except water. But when the man of God, having recourse to his accustomed arms, made the sign of the cross over the sick man, the fever was immediately put to flight, the sick man arose healed; and thus rejoicing they spent the following night in psalms and hymns. When he had arrived at the Palace, he was graciously received by the King and honored with the highest veneration by his nobles. He is honorably received by the King: Whatever he sought from the Prince, he obtained as he wished; and bidding farewell to King Childeric and to his Queen, the worthy handmaid of God Bilichild, and to the nobles of the realm, he returned to the city of the Arverni.

[17] The man of the Lord Amarinus, hearing of the Bishop's safe return, followed him with the grace of charity to the Arverni — Christ arranging it, of course, so that those who were thus joined by charity should be crowned together by martyrdom. While the Saints were dwelling together for some time in the commandments of the Lord, the ancient enemy blazed forth against them through his ministers. He stirred up a certain wicked man named Agricius, and by his counsel armed the nobles of the Arverni for the slaughter of the Saints. He is sought for death by conspirators: When the men of God were dwelling together in the place called Volvic, suddenly a mob of persecutors rushed upon them, bringing forth clamor and the sound of trumpets. When the soldiers of Christ began to hear this, prostrate in prayer, the servants flee: they strove to prepare themselves for the contest of martyrdom. Their servants, however, suddenly struck with terror, those who could escape sought the refuge of flight, except for only two who remained with holy Praeiectus. The rest, whom the mob of malefactors found, they permitted to depart naked. When the sacred Amarinus of the Lord wished to go outside and to calm the fury of the persecutors by the grace of preaching, the Saint of God Praeiectus restrained him, saying: "Do not, dearest brother, defer the prepared crown, because if you do not attain it now, perhaps afterward you will not reach it."

[18] Hearing this, he desisted; and when two ministers of iniquity had entered, he received the crown of martyrdom first. With St. Amarinus: When the executioners believed they had killed St. Praeiectus and were going back outside to their companions, he called them from the place where he was praying and said: "Behold, here is the one you seek: he is slain while praying for his killers: do what you desire." Then one of them, a Saxon by race, named Radebert, struck Blessed Praeiectus with a sword in the chest. Then he, drenched with a rosy wave of blood, invoking the Lord, prayed more intently: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them, for they know not what they do." While he was saying this, the bloodstained executioner struck his head with a sword and dashed out his brains. Thus that holy soul, loosed from the bonds of the flesh, amid the choirs of Angels, with Christ rewarding, reached the heavenly kingdoms, obtaining the palm of martyrdom with the Saints. For in the manner of a prophet, chosen from the womb, he received the purple robe of triumph.

[19] Certain senators, Bodo and Placidus, who had given their consent to the death of the man of God, they are honored by heavenly light: were standing not far away watching, when suddenly they saw three stars shining above the house in which the Saints lay, and one of them gave a greater brilliance. Those complicit in the death are converted: Recognizing through the Lord's mercy that this had been shown for the glory of the Saints, so that they too might wash their hearts through repentance, compelled by terror, they began to repent of the crime they had committed. The satellites who perpetrated this deed, however, left the bodies of the Saints unburied. Radebert, the perpetrator is punished by God: who had slain the servant of God, was consumed alive by worms and ended his unworthy life with a worthy death.

[20] Then a multitude of Priests, bearing the bodies of the Saints, buried them with the greatest honor and great elegance — namely holy Praeiectus, and Amarinus, and one of his attendants named Elidius. For the divine power began to display very many miracles at the bodies of the aforesaid Martyrs: sight was restored to the blind, the soles of the lame were made firm, sound limbs to the crippled, clear skin to the leprous, longed-for health to the feverish; Miracles at the relics of the Saints: oaths were frequently revealed, the chains of prisoners were loosed, demons were driven from possessed bodies. When Bishop Avitus learned of this, he endeavored to establish a monastery at the place where the Saints had been slain, to erect a basilica, a monastery founded: and he appointed as Abbot one of the kinsmen of St. Praeiectus, named Godo.

[21] There was a certain sick man from the place called Reomaus, afflicted with a dire fever. He vowed in his heart that if, with the help of the Saints, he recovered his health, a sick man healed, a vessel divinely filled with wine: he would bring an offering from his small substance to the aforesaid Church. When he began to recover and was fulfilling his promises, he was wearied by the difficulty of carrying the weight at the foot of a mountain. While he stood anxiously, lest he appear as a liar regarding his promised vow before the gaze of the Saints, seeing poor people, he distributed what he was carrying as his vow, and himself proceeded with renewed strength to the threshold of the Saints. Entering within, he left the empty vessel before the doors of the Church; and leaving the church, he found the wine vessel which he had left empty, by the working of Christ, full. And thus Christ, in the person of one sick man, shone with a threefold miracle through the Martyr: He restored strength to the languid, fed a throng of the poor, and both increased and accepted the promised vow.

[22] In a certain place there was a bench where Praeiectus had been accustomed to sit. Miracles even through his bench: When jesters had carried it off for their craft, recognizing that such great miracles were being displayed through the Saint of God, they were terrified with fear and hastened to return the bench to the basilica of St. Symphorian. When the servant of God Venerianus heard that the Lord was displaying many miracles through the aforesaid bench, lamps divinely lit: he himself went as quickly as possible to see this; and having entered the church when the sun had already risen, he prostrated himself in prayer, and when he suddenly arose, he beheld all the lamps of that church shining, having been divinely lit. When therefore Bishop Avitus had consigned to the Abbot of that place what he had acquired from his own resources, and there was a need to make an inventory of the household of that holy place, the aforesaid Abbot, hesitating to do this himself, thought that the counsel of St. Venerianus should be sought for this purpose. When he was on his way to him, an Angel of the Lord revealed the matter to Venerianus through a vision. Then he, having summoned a notary, received the account of that affair's business, ordered a banquet to be prepared, and indicated to the Brothers that the aforementioned Abbot was going to come there. When he had finished speaking, the Abbot Godo himself arrived, inspected the inventory, learned of the revelation; and both gave thanks to the Lord, who was accustomed to be their helper in all things.

[23] One of the perpetrators of the slaughter is divinely punished: Let us add to the praises of Christ the miracles made manifest through the Martyr. A certain man named Ursio, one of the perpetrators of the murder of the Saints, while going out on a hunting expedition, fell from his horse to the ground, and with his right arm broken, incurred the debility of his remaining limbs. But when he could in no way obtain a cure from physicians or enchanters, having come to himself and recognizing his crime, he conferred with his wife healed by the help of St. Praeiectus: and directed her to the Saint's sepulcher, that she might beg indulgence for him and might merit to receive oil from the lamp which burned there continually, and to anoint his disabled limbs. When this had been done, he recovered the health of his limbs more quickly than can be told. Perceiving this, he sent a silver vessel of ten pounds' weight to adorn the tomb of the holy Bishop. When the others, who had been stained in the same fall, learned of this, they began to do penance and to send an abundance of gold and silver to the sepulchers of the Martyrs.

[24] In the territory of the Arverni there was a place belonging to the Saint, which antiquity wished to call Verseto, where the Lord deigned to display many miracles, Miracles at the bed of St. Praeiectus: namely at the little bed where the Saint had been accustomed to lie down to sleep. When the aforesaid Ursio had arrived there, he informed his servant that he should place a little oil in the lamp of the church. When he had in all no more than two pounds, Oil miraculously increased: the servant brought the vessel with the oil, and the divine power infused such an abundance of oil that he had enough to fill all the lamps of the church. When this had been done, oil still remained, and he ordered the vessel to be carried to another basilica a church built to the Saint: which Ursio himself had founded in honor of St. Praeiectus, and he filled thirty lamps from it. And when oil still remained in the same vessel, he sent some from it to other places of the Saints, and had it in abundance.

[25] Epilogue: Let these things, excerpted from the earlier miracles, suffice, so that the length of the reading may not engender weariness, and that the devotion of the people may be stirred to the praise of Christ through the Martyr. May Christ the Lord grant me to obtain His pardon, because I have passed over many things, who with feeble understanding have scarcely described a few. The power of the Most High, displayed through Praeiectus, perseveres to this day, not only in the territory of the city of the Arverni, but also wherever holy relics are deposited in his honor; manifold petitions are granted to those who ask, through the working power of Christ, to whom is honor and glory for ever and ever, Amen.