Marius

CONCERNING S. MARIUS, ABBOT OF BODON IN GAUL.

Sixth century.

Marius, Abbot of Bodon in Gaul (S.)

From various sources.

[1] There is a city of the Segesterians, commonly called Cisteron, or Sistaricum, in Narbonensis Secunda, as is found in the Notice of the Provinces of Gaul in Sirmond, or as in our manuscript, in the third province of Vienne, situated on the river Durance, of the monastery of Bodon already long ago distinguished by an episcopate, under the Metropolitanate of Aix. Not far from it is the most ancient monastery of Bodon. That it was so called was shown to us by Godefroy Wendelin, a most learned man, not Bobacum who visited the place; in French it is called Beuvons. Claude Robert, Usuard, and very many others, and even the Roman Martyrology, write Bobacum or Bobacense monastery; Galesinius writes Babacense; others Bobiacense, Bobriacense, and less erroneously Badonense; Peter de Natalibus, Maurolycus, and Felicius write Bellouacense (of Beauvais).

[2] The Abbot S. Marius, who by others is called Maurus. The Abbot of Bodon was S. Marius, concerning whom Usuard writes on the 6th before the Kalends of February: "Likewise of S. Marius, Abbot of the monastery of Bobacum, whose life, full of virtues, the illustrious man and Patrician Dynamius wrote." Very many manuscript copies and some printed ones call him Maurus, some Macerius. Ado writes the same as Usuard, but expresses the place more correctly when he calls him Abbot of the monastery of Bodon; His natalis. the MS. of S. Laurence at Liege erroneously has Lobacensis; the MS. of S. Mary at Utrecht and the MS. of S. Gudula at Brussels have Badonensis. The Vulgate Bede: "Likewise of Blessed Maurus, Abbot of the monastery of Bobacum." But the manuscripts: "of Marius, of Badon." Notker: "Likewise of Marius, Abbot of the monastery of Badocum, distinguished in life and virtues." The Roman Martyrology: "In the monastery of Bobacum, of S. Maurus, Abbot." Saussay and all the rest commemorate him on this day.

[3] The Life of S. Marius (as is clear from Usuard, Ado, and others already cited) was written by Dynamius, an illustrious man, whom Bellinus and Canisius call Damianus, Life written by Dynamius the Cologne Martyrology calls Dinandus, the Carthusian of Cologne Didamus; certain manuscripts call him Dinavius and Climanius; Peter de Natalibus calls him Divanus. Sigebert of Gembloux: "Dynamius, an illustrious man and Patrician, wrote a life full of virtues of S. Marius, who was Abbot of the monastery of Bobacum." Aubert Le Mire noted in his Library: "Whether the reading here in Sigebert should be S. Maximus, and not S. Marius, I have nothing to assert. Concerning Marius of Bobacum I have read nothing hitherto." He had indeed read about him, but did not remember. For we recall having once conversed with him about the name of Marius and the monastery of Bodon.

[4] Dynamius was, as the same Le Mire correctly observed, the administrator of the patrimony of the Roman Church in Gaul. This is clear from the letter of S. Gregory, no. 33, Indiction XI, addressed to him, which reads thus: "Gregory to Dynamius, Patrician of Gaul, etc. He shows how well he manages his own affairs, who faithfully administers those of others. This your glory has shown us, you who, intent on an eternal gift, have brought the fruits of your revenues to Blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostles. In faithfully expending your own for him, you have made these your gifts in his keeping. For thus it befits the illustrious men of this earth, when thinking of eternal glory, to act: that in that wherein they prevail temporally, they may prepare for themselves a reward that is not temporal. Therefore, paying the due tribute of greeting, we beseech the almighty Lord to fill your life with present blessings and to extend it to the sublime joys of eternity. For we have received through Hilarius, your son, from the aforesaid revenues of our Church, four hundred Gallic solidi. We have sent, moreover, a blessing of the Blessed Apostle Peter: a small cross, in which benefits from his chains have been inserted--chains which indeed bound his neck for a time, but may they loose your necks from sins forever. On the four surrounding sides are contained benefits from the gridiron of the Blessed Lawrence, on which he was burned, so that this--the instrument on which his body was consumed for the truth--may kindle your mind to the love of the Lord." There survives another letter of the same Gregory, issued in Indiction XIV, to Candidus the Priest, going to administer the patrimony which is in Gaul, Dynamius having either died or resigned his office.

[5] The same Dynamius also wrote the Life of S. Maximus, Bishop of Riez, author of the Life of S. Maximus of Riez which is found in Surius under 27 November, dedicated to Urbicus, Bishop of Riez. Urbicus subscribed to the Second Council of Valence, held in the year 584, and to the Second Council of Mâcon in 585, and to the rescript to the Bishops assembled at Poitiers in the year 589. From this it is clear that Dynamius did not live under the Emperor Anastasius, as Gerard Jan Vossius wrote; nor does he adequately prove this by the argument that Dynamius calls the most blessed Bishop Faustus, Urbicus's predecessor: not a contemporary of the Emperor Anastasius for he does not assert that he was an immediate predecessor; nor is it established whether this is the S. Faustus who, from being the second Abbot of Lérins, became Bishop of Riez, of whom we treated on 16 January, or Faustus II, for whom Claudianus subscribed to the Fifth Council of Orléans in the year 549, nearly a full century after the first Faustus. More clearly will it presently be possible to perceive from the age of S. Marius himself that his Life could not have been written in the time of the Emperor Anastasius, who died in the year of Christ 518.

[6] Peter de Natalibus, bk. 3, ch. 32, writes that he was nowhere able to find this Life of S. Marius (whom he calls Maurus). We received it from our Jacques Sirmond, with whom Nicolas de Peiresc, Councillor of the Most Christian King in the Parliament of Aix, had shared it from an ancient Breviary, easily written 400 years ago. Whence this Life is published here. It is divided into nine Lessons, and is perhaps not complete as it was first written by Dynamius, but adapted and abbreviated for the use of the ecclesiastical Office, since in Lesson 7 something has been inserted from the homilies of S. Gregory.

[7] Concerning the age of S. Marius, Arnold Wion writes thus: "The time at which he flourished is hitherto unknown to me." The age of S. Marius. By what reasoning, then, was he led to count him among the Saints of the Benedictine Order, and with him Ménard and Dorgany? Certainly he could not have been trained from the beginning in Benedictine rules, he who was elected as Father by the Brothers of the monastery of Bodon with the consent of Gundobad, Prince of the Burgundians; since Gundobad did not extend his life beyond the year of Christ 509, a year in which S. Benedict had not yet established his Order. Whether, however, he afterward received the illustrious statutes and Rule of Benedict and prescribed them for his monks, is not known to us. He was a familiar of Lucretius, Bishop of Die, who subscribed to the Fourth Council of Orléans, Indiction IV, in the consulship of Basilius, in the year 541; to the Fifth Council of Orléans in 549, through Vincent the Priest; to the Second Council of Paris in 555; to the Second Council of Lyon in 567, through Vincent the Priest; and to the Fourth Council of Paris in 573.

[8] Peter de Natalibus, having, as we said, treated S. Maurus of Bobacum in bk. 3, ch. 32, again in bk. 11, ch. 130, no. 38, records Marius of Beauvais, as if distinct from Maurus. He was not Abbot of Beauvais. Yet in both places he reports that the Life was written by Dynamius. This gave Maurolycus and others occasion to establish a Marius as Abbot of Beauvais. The most learned Pierre Louvet, bk. 2 of the Antiquities of Beauvais, ch. 18, lists him first among the Abbots of the monastery of S. Lucian at Beauvais, but professes that he relies solely on the authority of Peter de Natalibus. The learned Robertus follows Louvet. But Antoine Loisel, in his Commentaries on the Affairs of Beauvais, ch. 3, produces from certain ancient documents a Marinus, Bishop of Beauvais, whom he says held the see around the time of Clovis II, that is, the year of Christ 648, and suspects him to be the same who is said to have been the first Abbot of S. Lucian. Concerning Bishop Marinus we do not dispute. He whom others have called Marius or Marinus, Abbot of Beauvais, following in the footsteps of Peter of Equilo, is our Abbot of Bodon here, much older than the age of Clovis II, having lived in the time of Clovis I and his sons.

[9] Ludovico Jacobilli in his book on the Saints of Foligno records that the head of S. Maurus of Bobacum is preserved at Foligno; but by the very things he narrates about him, wrongly confused with S. Maro of Syria by Ludovico Jacobilli he refutes himself. He cites Dynamius, whom it is clear he had not read; Theodoret, and others, in whom he does not find what he writes. For he relates that Maurus, surnamed Maro or Marotus, flourished in Syria for the holiness of his life, presided there over a great number of monks, whom he excellently trained in the perfection of virtue; that he erected a monastery in the village of Maronia, thirty miles distant from Antioch, and that this was called Bobacense. But shortly afterward, he says, that village was wonderfully enlarged, grew into a city, and then had distinguished Bishops, of whom one, Dimasius (earlier he had called him Dinamius), committed the Life of the Saint to writing and participated in the Council of Ephesus. The monastery was afterward called that of S. Maro, from its first founder, and the monks Maronites, clothed in a white habit. Malchus the monk, celebrated by S. Jerome, had been a disciple of Maro. Finally, Maro withdrew to a very high mountain near the monastery, overturned a temple of idols there, built a humble cell, and there, constantly intent on heavenly things, spent the rest of his life, and at last migrated to heaven around the year 380, on 27 January. A church was then built for him, and a magnificent tomb in it. Finally, in the year 1130, his head was carried to Italy and is now preserved at Foligno and shown to the people on 10 March, which is the anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral basilica; but the proper feast of the Saint is celebrated on 18 August.

[10] So he writes. Theodoret does indeed treat of S. Maro the monk in ch. 16, who is venerated by the Greeks on 14 February. And other inconsistent things written. But he did not dwell in the village of Maronia, which was in the region of Chalcidice, where Malchus the monk lived; but in the territory of Cyrrhus near Cyrus, as Theodoret attests. We shall treat of Maronia, or Maronias, in the Life of S. Malchus on 21 October. Nor did Dimasius, Bishop of Maronias, participate in the Council of Ephesus, but Docimasius, Bishop of Maronia in Thrace. Whether the head of that Maro of Cyrrhus was brought to Italy, we do not now inquire; we only assert that he is very different from the Abbot of Bodon, and that Bodon, or as it is commonly written Bobacum, is a monastery of Gaul, not of Syria.

LIFE

By the Patrician Dynamius, from an ancient manuscript Breviary.

Marius, Abbot of Bodon in Gaul (S.)

BHL Number: 5540, 5541

By Dynamius, from MSS.

CHAPTER I.

The death of S. Marius; prophecies.

[1] Lesson I. When our Lord Jesus Christ, at the beginning of our calling, had laid the foundations of faith in human hearts, and the harvest of the same faith, through the sending of the Holy Spirit, had grown far and wide throughout the whole world, Why the lives of Saints are written the religion of Christians has been accustomed to commit to writing the memorable acts of the Saints for two reasons: namely, that the company of the faithful, hearing the same acts recited on their annual feasts, may rejoice, be glad, and grow; and that the less perfect, inflamed by the examples of those same acts, may strive to labor in doing good.

[2] The holy Marius, therefore, whose faithful deeds we undertake to narrate according to the measure of our capacity, was born of a modest family, S. Marius becomes a monk and was a citizen of Orléans. Having been made a monk in the monastery that is there, trained from an early age in monastic teachings as a boy, and having become a young man, he strove to serve God by doing good. When in the aforesaid monastery, like a lily among the trees of the forest, he shone among the Brothers in character and life, with the consent of Gundobad, Prince of the Burgundians, then Abbot of Bodon he was chosen as Father by the Brothers of the monastery of Bodon, which is situated in the diocese of Sisteron; his election was confirmed by the authority of John, who at that time presided over the Church of Sisteron--by the provision and favor of divine clemency, so that he who had governed himself well might be placed over others for whom governance was necessary. What more? He was brought to the aforesaid monastery and was consecrated as Abbot by his Bishop, with the common will of the Brothers.

[3] Lesson II. Once consecrated, he embraced the office of his dignity in such a way he lives most holily that daily he begot spiritual sons by the example of his venerable life, and brought them up wonderfully, trained in heavenly teachings. For he was afflicting the outer man with fasts and vigils, refreshing the inner man with constant prayers; in both, meek and humble; in both, praiseworthy and perfect. When at a certain time he withdrew to other parts to conduct the business of his monastery, it happened that in the territory of Alegarna he was received as a guest by a certain illustrious man named Agricola. By baptizing a girl already laid out, he heals her. His daughter, named Sisagria, who was nearly dead, he baptized at the entreaty of his host, and having baptized her, restored her by his prayers to life and her former health. When, having completed the business for which he had set out, he was returning to his monastery, a certain noble matron called Licinia received him in her house; her son was so gravely ill another by prayers and holy oil that the said woman and their friends despaired of his recovery. Asked by the mother, the old man visited the sick youth, prayed over him, and anointed him with holy oil. O wonderful swiftness of the power of God when the Confessor prays! For while the sick man was being anointed, the desired health unexpectedly returned, and the sickness was cast out and put to flight. And so it came about that the hostess, whom he had found sad, he left joyful with her son upon his return to the monastery.

[4] Lesson III. When, as is the custom of religious, the same man of God was living in his cell during Lent more sparingly than usual, Lucretius, Bishop of Die, came frequently to visit him; He is visited by the Bishop of Die both because he had been a monk and pupil of the same man of God, and venerated and honored him in the place of a father; and because he constantly desired to be refreshed by his sweet conversations. And so one day, when the Bishop knocked at the door of his cell, he heard from him that he should withdraw and return after the third day; and in that interval no one should provide him with food and no one should have access to him. The Bishop withdrew, and returning after three days, entered to the man of God. To him the man of God said: "I was carried away in the spirit, and I saw the heavens opened and the majesty of God, he foresees and foretells calamities for Italy the splendor of whose brightness my mortal eyes could scarcely endure; and I saw the blessed Virgin and Mother of God, Mary, prostrate with the Angels at his feet, supplicating for the peace of Italy. But the divine goodness so tempered its response as not to offend the mother who was asking, yet declared that Italy and many other provinces deserved inescapable destruction. These things, revealed to me by God, I have been eager to reveal to you, adjuring you on the part of God and on my own, that you presume to reveal to no one what you have heard while I am alive." After the aforesaid Bishop buried the body of this same man of God, both we knew the fulfillment of that vision, and we have no doubt that the monastery of Bodon was overthrown.

CHAPTER II.

Various miracles. Death.

[5] Lesson IV. At another time it pleased the man of God to visit the shrine of S. Martin of Tours for the sake of prayer. He miraculously recovers his horse that had been stolen. And when on the very night of the vigils he was sleeping in the city of Tours, a certain thief stole by stealth the horse that was from his saddle. But divine power so beset the thief by the merits of the aforesaid man of God that the whole night through he searched the streets of the city, groping about, and no exit from the city was open to him. In the morning the man of God came upon the thief and recovered the horse. And likewise on another occasion. And although the thief, being caught, deserved corporal punishment, out of his innate gentleness he allowed him to depart free. By a similar miracle, on another occasion, in the city of Lyon he recovered his riding animals.

[6] He obtains a son for a certain man. This also should not be passed over: that at a certain time a man named Nimphidius, together with the senator Agricola, was accompanying S. Marius and traveling to Paris for the sake of prayer, to visit the shrine of S. Dionysius. On this journey Nimphidius, recognizing the holiness of the man and trusting in it with a sincere mind, asked him that by his prayers he might be deemed worthy to have a son. The Saint refused, humbly asserting that he was not of such great merit that through him Nimphidius could obtain what he asked. Although, however, as is the custom of the righteous, he simply affirmed that he could in no way lend his support to so great a petition, after three days he nevertheless predicted to the aforesaid Nimphidius that a son would be born to him at a certain time. And he foretells the time of birth. That the Saint was in this a true Prophet, Euodius, born to Nimphidius at the promised time, showed.

[7] Lesson V. We also deemed it worthy of mention that before he departed from that city, not without the sadness of his companions, he began to be very seriously ill. On the following night, therefore, he laid his limbs, nearly dead with languor, upon his bed. He is healed by S. Dionysius appearing to him. But in the course of that very night, divine clemency came to his aid in such a way that in the early morning he rose joyful and unharmed, and exhorted his companions to set out on the journey. When all who were present marveled at his sudden recovery, he said: "S. Dionysius came to me in that night, touched me, and by his presence restored me to my former health."

[8] When, therefore, as we have said, having been made well, he was returning to his monastery, a certain householder received him as a guest. At the proper time, the man of God approached the table, sat down, and blessed the bread that had been brought, as was his custom. But when one of those sitting at table threw some of the blessed bread to a dog that he loved, A dog that devours the bread blessed by him dies as soon as the dog was seen to swallow the bread it had received, it lost its life. For it was unworthy that a dog should feed on that bread which the right hand of the Priest had sanctified.

[9] At another time, when he was going to visit certain children of the Church, Another person who tears his satchel is seized by wolves a bitch that had puppies, suddenly leaping out, tore his satchel. When the servant of God slightly lowered his face on account of this, two wolves, as avengers of the injury done to him, seized that very bitch, and bearing it away for their own feeding, led it to the forest in the sight of the people. If anyone does not believe that wild beasts, having laid aside their ferocity, have sometimes known how to serve the needs of the righteous, let him hear that lions made a burial for Paul, the first hermit, and for S. Mary of Egypt; let him hear, and in all things praise the Lord, marvel, and believe.

[10] Lesson VI. We also judged that another thing should be added to the foregoing: that whenever the servant of God, in uncertain weather, either spread the ears of grain to be threshed, or on any journey sat at table in the open air, He himself is untouched by rain the inundation of rains never troubled him, never impeded him. For God so restrained the onslaught of the clouds rushing down everywhere, by the merits and power of the holy Confessor, that while they indiscriminately moistened others going and coming and their labors with their floods, they passed by the man of God and his companions unharmed, and his threshing floors untouched. Nor is it surprising that he was able to put to flight the effusion of the clouds, who from the first flower of his youth had striven to weaken within himself the dark fog of vices. For he was of such great power and holiness he shines with miracles that through him the Lord restored sight to the blind, restored hearing to the deaf, and reformed the sick to their former health. He also liberated through his prayer a certain woman held captive by the infestation of an evil spirit.

[11] It should also be noted among the foregoing that he knew the passing of a certain servant of God named Donatus, though absent in body, he learns of the death of S. Donatus by divine revelation yet present in spirit, and made known what he had learned to the Brothers with tears. One of those who were present, wishing to test whether the vision of the man of God rested on truth, sent to the place where the aforesaid Donatus had served God; and by the assertions of the messengers, he found that it was as the man of God had predicted. These things which you have heard, most dear Brothers, we have excerpted from the miracles of the oft-named Confessor, omitting very many, lest the length of our discourse should generate weariness in the hearers. He dies on 27 January. Crowned therefore with the glory of such great virtues, and shining far and wide with such great miracles, on the 6th day before the Kalends of February--that is, today--the aforesaid Confessor of the Lord, Marius, happily departed from the body to Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit is the kingdom and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

CHAPTER III.

Miracles after death. Reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

[12] Lesson VII. At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples: "A certain man, going on a journey abroad, called his servants and entrusted his goods to them"; and the rest. Homily of S. Gregory the Pope: "This man, most dear Brothers, who goes on a journey, is our Redeemer, who, passing from the world to the Father, entrusted five talents--that is, spiritual goods--to his faithful servants. Since S. Marius was a faithful servant, it is believed that together with the faithful he received the aforesaid weight from the Redeemer himself. Hence it is that, departing from the body, he approached the feet of the same Redeemer, who demands spiritual interest, himself also about to render an account of what was entrusted to him; and since beyond five talents he had gained another five, he deserved to hear: 'Well done, good and faithful servant; because you have been faithful over a few things, enter into the joy of your Lord.'" Matt. 25:21, 23.

[13] After his blessed passing, when very many cycles of years had elapsed, and through the cruelty of certain savage peoples nearly all of Gaul was bereft of its inhabitants, The body of S. Marius is transferred to Forcalquier and the monasteries of Christ had been turned into wilderness, to be mourned with perpetual grief, the body of the aforesaid man of God was taken up from the Church of Bodon by certain men and, by God's disposition, brought to this town of Forcalquier. He rests, moreover, in the church, about to grant perpetual rest to those who serve him there. In this church many assert that the Lord has worked many miracles through him. Of these, to commend the memory of so great a Confessor, we have excerpted a few he shines with miracles which we have learned from the truthful assertion of witnesses.

[14] At a certain time, a certain boy with excessive playfulness was engaged in profane games and dances beneath the sarcophagus of the aforesaid Father. A boy playing at his tomb is punished. When with shameless boldness he persisted in the aforesaid activities, struck by divine vengeance, he fell. Immediately he began to lose the use of his limbs and to be weakened in the five senses of his body. The punishment grew, and the torment grew. And as he withdrew from that place, supported by the hands of others, together with the punishment and torment he breathed out his spirit. From this it is to be understood that the God of vengeance is God, and although he may seem to be distant, he is nevertheless believed to be always present in judging injuries done to his Saints.

[15] Lesson VIII. We should also by no means pass over the fact that on a certain occasion a religious man, the guardian of the basilica of the same man of God, a candle is divinely lit when he came to the church around midnight to give light to the lamp, found it extinguished. "O my Father," he said, "give counsel to your servant: dark night possesses all things; all are asleep; where fire may be found, I do not know; my foot is ignorant of the path of the way. What then shall I do?" When therefore his soul was anxious within him and he did not know to which direction to turn, suddenly, not without his inexpressible joy, the candle which he held in his hands appeared lit.

[16] At another time, a certain peasant, contracted in all his limbs, was so thoroughly enfeebled in his whole body a cripple is healed and drawn together into a ball, the very opposite of a human likeness, that he was thought to be not a man but some kind of monster. He had been brought to many shrines of the Saints; but since, as we believe, he was reserved for our holy Confessor, he confessed that he had received no help for his body. At last, with divine clemency coming to his aid, not without much labor he was carried to the desired shrine of the holy Confessor and, having been brought in, was set down in his church. The wretched man begged with tears for the straightening of his pitiable body, and those present, compassionate toward him, begged for the same. O the piety of God, to be honored with every devotion! O the merits of the Saints, to be absolutely venerated by all mortals! For amid the tears of the unfortunate man and the words of the many who were praying, the wretch was raised up; the cracking of bones and the stretching of sinews were heard by many. Immediately the court of Counts came running, summoned by the tumult of those who were marveling; the nobles came running; people of both sexes came running. They all cried out, each one anticipating the other with their shouts, saying: "Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory." Psalm 113. Thus the wretch who had come, made whole by the merits of the aforesaid man of God, departed to his home with joyful steps.

[17] Lesson IX. We have also resolved to add to the foregoing that on a certain day a certain unmarried girl, led by levity of mind, one irreverently striking his tomb is punished directing a stone, struck the altar of the holy Confessor. The stone had not yet fallen to the pavement when, the strength of her sinews being exhausted and the power of her limbs weakened, the girl fell. What more? She who shortly before had come in wantonness was rendered pitiable and wretched. She was brought to the shrine of the Confessor Marius to keep faithful vigil; she offered herself, she offered prayers and tears; she vowed to the Saint annual vigils, having made a vow, she is healed if she might return home in health. O wondrous help of divine piety! While the woman wept, while she immolated her whole self upon the altar of her mind with devout prayers, she was heard, and was wholly restored to her former soundness. Having recovered her health, she was joined in a certain marriage; but as time passed with the succession of seasons, and the said woman, clinging rather unwisely to conjugal pleasures, had delayed in fulfilling the vows she had promised to the Saint, her forgetfulness was overtaken by her former infirmity: forgetful of her vow, she falls ill again she was again weakened in the strength of her sinews and utterly deprived of the health of her limbs. Again, by her husband's care, she was brought to the aforesaid shrine of the holy Confessor; again, by his merits, she was restored to her much-desired health. Again she is healed by S. Marius's aid. The woman, joyful at the health so unexpectedly restored to her, vowed perpetual service to the Saint, never to return home again. But when her husband grew excessively angry with his wife over such a vow, the woman, terrified by her husband's threats and softened by his blandishments, a third and fourth time the same happens returned home with him. Immediately upon returning, the wretched woman was again afflicted with the aforesaid plague; again she was brought to the shrine of the Saint; again she was restored to her desired health. O unhappy condition of our humanity! O abominable forgetfulness in fulfilling vows! For again the Saint was forgotten; again the immodest woman was enfeebled by her customary infirmity; again she flocked to the oft-mentioned shrine. By a renewed vow the Saint was again honored, and the woman was again restored to the health she sought; restored, rejoicing and sound, she returned home, by the merits of the holy Confessor never to return again for similar reasons. Let those hear this who in this Church have promised God and S. Marius stability of conduct; let them hear and with diligent care of mind show reverence, whether all things are right regarding their vow. If all is right, let them rejoice that all has gone well for them; but if it is otherwise, let them know that they suffer in the soul what the aforesaid woman is read to have suffered in the body. Let them therefore, when their vows have been broken, take counsel through penance; let them approach the foot of the holy Confessor; let them offer tears and prayers, so that the health which they had lost by their conduct may, with stability of morals restored, be deserved again through the mercy of God. Amen.