Martyrs of Trevi: Aemilianus the Bishop

CONCERNING THE HOLY MARTYRS OF TREVI: AEMILIANUS THE BISHOP, HILARIANUS THE MONK, HERMIPPUS, AND DIONYSIUS.

Under Diocletian.

Aemilianus, Bishop, Martyr at Trevi in Umbria (S.) Hilarianus, monk, Martyr at Trevi in Umbria (S.) Hermippus, Martyr at Trevi in Umbria (S.) Dionysius, Martyr at Trevi in Umbria (S.)

[1] Trevi is a city of Umbria, now commonly called Trevi, situated between Spoleto and Foligno on a lofty hill, not far from the river Clitumnus. It venerates S. Aemilianus, Bishop and Martyr, as its special patron and bishop, as Ferrarius writes in his Notes on the general Catalogue of Saints, and testifies that he read his Acts at Spoleto, The natalis of S. Aemilianus on 28 January. where he is also venerated, and on that account he is thought by some to have been Bishop of Spoleto—which, says Ferrarius, is contradicted by the Acts. He himself recites a summary of them in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, where he also adds the companions: Hilarianus the monk, and the noble youths Hermippus and Dionysius, concerning whom, he says, we have learned that their feast is kept at Trevi. But in his new, or general, Catalogue he omits them too and commemorates only Aemilianus the Bishop and Martyr, citing the calendars of the Church of Trevi, in which perhaps, as is customary, the office is celebrated only for the primary patron.

[2] A learned man from Umbria informed us that a Life of S. Aemilianus had been written by Ludovico Jacobilli and another author, which we have not yet been able to see; and that he is considered to be the same person whose memory is inscribed in the Roman Martyrology on 8 February in these words: also on 8 February? "In Lesser Armenia, of SS. Dionysius, Aemilianus, and Sebastian, Martyrs"; and that these were his disciples and companions in martyrdom. But if this is so, why is the title of Bishop not given to Aemilianus, which is scarcely ever omitted? Why in all the Martyrologies are they ascribed to Lesser Armenia and not to Umbria? How is it that to S. Jerome, Usuard, Bede, Ado, Notker, Bellinus, Maurolycus, Galesinius, and others, the region which bore them into the world was better known than the one which, having bestowed the laurel of martyrdom, sent them to heaven?

ACTS FROM PH. FERRARIUS.

Aemilianus, Bishop, Martyr at Trevi in Umbria (S.) Hilarianus, monk, Martyr at Trevi in Umbria (S.) Hermippus, Martyr at Trevi in Umbria (S.) Dionysius, Martyr at Trevi in Umbria (S.)

[1] S. Aemilianus preaches at Spoleto: Aemilianus, an Armenian by nationality, born of Christian and honorable parents, eager to preach and suffer for Christ, came to Italy when Diocletian and Maximian were emperors; and first he settled at Spoleto, the metropolis of Umbria. He becomes Bishop of Trevi: After he had devoted himself there for some time to prayers, vigils, and preaching, he was created Bishop of Trevi by the Roman Pontiff. With Hilarianus the monk, who had been his teacher in the sacred scriptures, and with Hermippus and Dionysius, noble youths recently converted to Christ, he came there and began to win many to Christ by his preaching.

[2] But having been accused by the priests of the idols, he was seized; and when before the Governor he had discoursed on the Christian faith—not without the admiration of the Governor and those present—and had promised to prove it by a deed, they came to the miracle. he heals a paralytic: For a paralytic placed in the middle of the forum, whom the priests of the idols, having invoked the gods, had been unable to heal, was immediately healed by Aemilianus upon the invocation of the name of Christ.

[3] he is variously tortured: But the Governor, perhaps fearing the decrees of the Emperors, threatened Aemilianus with terrible punishments unless he sacrificed to the gods. When he refused to do so, the Governor ordered him to be hung upon the rack, and burning torches to be applied to his body. But when the fire was divinely extinguished and the hands of the torturers failed, the angry Judge, attributing it to magic arts, ordered the holy Bishop to be thrown into a frying pan full of molten lead, then to be plunged into the river Clitumnus with a stone tied to his neck, and finally to be thrown to the wild beasts. safe after the torments. When the Martyr was divinely rescued from all of these, while the people cried out that the God of the Christians was great and true, an enormous wheel was prepared by the Governor's order to tear him apart. This, shattered by divine power, killed about five hundred of the pagans.

[4] His companions are beheaded; Meanwhile Hilarianus, Dionysius, and Hermippus, when they refused to sacrifice to the gods and the images of the gods had fallen at their prayers, were struck by the sword at the Governor's command. After them, Aemilianus, tempted in vain by blandishments and undaunted by new torments proposed to him, and he himself, not without miracles. was led outside the city and received the capital sentence. From his body, they say, milk flowed instead of blood, and the trees put forth flowers and fruits.

CONCERNING S. FLAVIANUS, PREFECT OF THE CITY, MARTYR.

Under Diocletian.

Flavianus, Prefect of the City, Martyr (S.)

This is not the Flavianus who was father of the holy Virgins Demetria and Bibiana and husband of S. Dafrosa, who is venerated on 22 December, and of whom we treated on 4 January in the Acts of S. Dafrosa; although he too is recorded on this day by Ferrarius in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy. But this is another, himself also illustrious as Vicar of the Prefecture of the City, who Baronius writes suffered in the year of Christ 303, vol. 2, at the year 303, no. 115. The memory of S. Flavianus in the sacred Calendars on 28 January. Concerning him, the Roman Martyrology on 28 January: "In the same place (Rome), of S. Flavianus the Martyr, who suffered under Diocletian." Galesinius: "At Rome, of S. Flavianus the Martyr, whose noble contest undertaken for Christ in the persecution of Diocletian was distinguished." and on the 30th. Very many record him on 30 January. Usuard, Bellinus, the Germanic Martyrology, the MS. Florarium, and many ancient MS. Martyrologies: "On the same day, of S. Flavianus the Martyr." The Paris edition of Usuard of the year 1536 calls him Flavius on the same 30th. Maurolycus records him on the same day. On what occasion Flavianus was converted and by what means he completed his martyrdom, we shall say on 29 January when we treat of S. Serena the Virgin, Maximus and Secunda her parents, and Marcus and Calendius her brothers.

CONCERNING S. VALERIUS, BISHOP OF SARAGOSSA IN SPAIN.

Beginning of the fourth century.

Valerius, Bishop of Saragossa, Confessor (S.)

BHL Number: 8494

From various sources.

CHAPTER I.

The origin, feast day, and Acts of S. Valerius.

[1] Saragossa, the most noble city of Tarraconensian Spain and capital of the Kingdom of Aragon, is celebrated by the Roman Consul Aurelius Prudentius, its fellow citizen, in his book "On Crowns," hymn 4, as devoted to Christ and as having prepared for the Lord more numerous companies of Martyrs to meet Him than any other city. Among these was Vincent, though born elsewhere, whose Acts of martyrdom, consummated at Valencia, we gave on 22 January. Seized with him was S. Valerius The homeland of S. Valerius, (whose Archdeacon he was) and relegated into exile. Prudentius praises both in the same hymn:

"Thence," he says, "your palm was born, Vincent; From here the clergy brought forth so great a triumph; From here the mitred house of priests, The Valerii."

From these words some draw the not unfounded conjecture that there was an illustrious family of the Valerii at Saragossa, yet propagated from Roman blood. But some have reported, without the testimony of the ancients, that our Valerius was a Greek, brought to Saragossa by Pope Sixtus II and given to the citizens as their bishop.

[2] But wherever he was born, under the Emperor Diocletian he governed that Church, endowed with outstanding innocence and holiness of life, outstanding virtues, with singular learning, and dear and venerable to all by the sweetness and gentleness of his character. His piety and learning are commended in the ancient Acts of S. Vincent, which Martin Carillius testifies are preserved in the monastery of Rota, whence he recites the following: "Our Spaniard Vincent, the most unconquered Martyr of Christ, attracted by the pious doctrine and learned piety of so holy a Bishop, his learning. became the disciple of so great a Teacher, distinguished not only by his uncorrupted character but also by the holiness of his life and the brilliance of the divine word, by which the city of Saragossa then shone most brightly among all the provinces of the world."

[3] There were, however, several Bishops of Saragossa named Valerius. But the Chronicle popularly attributed to Dexter does not establish this, in which at the year of Christ 300 the following is found: "At Aenea, S. Valerius, Bishop of Saragossa, suffers on the 10th day of the month of January, leaving to posterity an example of constancy." Then at the year 423: "Valerius is appointed to succeed Vincent as Bishop of Saragossa." Nor does Maximus establish this, who in his Supplement to Dexter at the year 497 writes: "Simplicius is also appointed Bishop to succeed Peter of Saragossa, who succeeded Valerius, the third of that name." Carillius refutes both and rightly rejects that Chronicle ascribed to Dexter. But it is certain that there were at least two Valerii. For a Valerius of Saragossa attended the Council of Elvira together with Hosius of Cordoba. Concerning the date of that council, authorities do not agree: whether he attended the Council of Elvira; most assert it was held under Constantine, some under Diocletian around the year 300. They also dispute the place of the council, since some maintain it was held at Illiberis, now called Collioure, situated in the territory of Roussillon, which Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 4, writes was in his time a faint vestige of a once great city. Others say Eliberi (if indeed there is a difference in the word itself, since Ptolemy calls one ἰλλιβερίς and the other ἰλιβερίς). This was a city of the Turduli on the hill now called Elvira, near the city of Granada; here they consider that synod was more likely celebrated, because the bishops who attended were mostly from the interior tract of Spain—the Bishops of Seville, Toledo, Malaga, Basti, Cordoba, Merida, Guadix, etc.—not from Gallia Narbonensis, to which the other Illiberis belonged, a city of the Volcae Tectosages, as is clear from Ptolemy. The Valerius who attended this council, most acknowledge to have been our Valerius, the teacher of S. Vincent; although those who place this synod after the Council of Nicaea therefore posit another Valerius as his successor. There was undoubtedly another Valerius of Saragossa, another Valerius of Saragossa. who subscribed to the Council of Saragossa, around the year of Christ 380, as Loaysa conjectures, and is clear from the dates of the colleagues who were present.

[4] The feast day of that first Valerius is observed on 28 January, on which day the Roman Martyrology records: "At Saragossa, of S. Valerius the Bishop." The memory of S. Valerius in the Martyrologies on several days. Although he is also commemorated on other days in other calendars. For on 19 January the following is found in the MS. Florarium: "Likewise, of S. Valerius, Bishop and Martyr. He trained the Blessed Levite Vincent for every good work, and with him endured martyrdom at the city of Saragossa in the year of salvation 305." But on 22 January, the most ancient MS. Martyrology of S. Jerome: "In Spain, in the city of Valencia, of S. Valerius the Bishop and Vincent the Deacon." The MS. Martyrology of the monastery of S. Maximin at Trier: "In Spain, in the city of Valencia, the passion of S. Valerius the Bishop and Vincent the Deacon and Martyr, who suffered under the Governor Dacian." He is also recorded in the MS. Dungalense—undoubtedly because on that day his Deacon S. Vincent is venerated. On 23 January Galesinius writes: "At Saragossa in Spain, of S. Valerius the Bishop, who, driven from his episcopate into exile by order of the Governor Dacian, having endured much for the faith and renowned for the praise of miracles, rested in the Lord." In his Notes he testifies that he follows a MS. codex. Finally, on 29 January, Marietta and others treat of him, as does the Toledan Breviary (as Baronius writes in his Notes)—perhaps the old one, since in the new one the office on that day is for the octave of S. Ildefonsus, and there is no mention of Valerius.

[5] Very few things concerning the deeds of S. Valerius are fully known and attested by the testimony of the ancients. Only from the Acts of S. Vincent, He entrusts the office of preaching to his disciple S. Vincent, which we gave on 22 January, is the following found: that the same most blessed Martyr was most effectively distinguished in twofold learning under the Blessed Valerius, Bishop of the city of Saragossa, and received from him the summit of the diaconate. And since the same Bishop is known to have had a speech impediment, having entrusted the ministry of teaching to the venerable Vincent, he himself devoted himself assiduously to prayer and divine contemplation. When Dacian then raged against the Christians, the Bishop Valerius and the Archdeacon Vincent immediately, with him he hastens to martyrdom: supported by the solidity of their faith and the hope of enjoying victory, eagerly rushed together into the confession of the Divinity, believing they would be so much the happier the more bitter the torments of the tyrant they had striven to overcome with pious long-suffering. Hence any delay in the contest and the punishments seemed to them a diminution of the reward.

[6] But the Judge Dacian first ordered the Saints of God to be dragged to Valencia under prison guard, and in the misery of hunger He is dragged to Valencia in bonds, and the clatter of chains, so that he might break them by the harassment of the journey and more easily subjugate by injury those whom he saw could not be overcome by punishment. When they bore immense weights of iron on their hands and necks, and were already then suffering the torments of death in all their joints, and when he believed they had already been broken by continual abuse, wasted in prison, and that, so long secluded from public society, they could prevail neither in body nor in spirit, fearing lest he should suffer the consequences of his cruelty, he ordered them to be brought out of prison, not wishing them to end their lives before the torments—threatening them that he would not spare them even in death if they refused to accept the worship of his gods. Then, frightened at the sight of them because they were whole in body and strength afterwards strong in his powers: and more courageous amid the torments, he said to his people: Why have you indulged them with more generous food and drink? For, blinded by fury, he marveled that those whom God had fed were more robust.

[7] And soon, turning to the Bishop, he said: What are you doing, Valerius? What are you doing in the name of religion against the Emperors? Do you not know that those who scorn the royal decrees interrogated by Dacian, endanger their lives? The Lords and Rulers of the world have commanded that you pay libations to the gods, being unwilling that the dignity of the ancient worship be profaned by new and unheard-of laws. Therefore attend to what we advise with obedience, so that by your example your inferiors may readily accept what they see you, who are known to be the Bishop of this religion, have not scorned. And you, Vincent, heed my words salutarily, whom both the nobility of your birth and the grace of your most pleasing youth commend. Therefore declare together the decision of your determination, that either by consenting you may be increased with honors, or by refusing you may be subjected to the torments of punishment.

[8] When the Bishop remained silent—for he was of wondrous simplicity and innocence, he entrusts the task of responding to Vincent: learned in knowledge but, as we said, of impeded speech—Vincent said: If you permit, Father, I shall assail the Judge with replies. And the Blessed Valerius said: Long ago, dearest son, I committed to you the care of the divine word; but now also I commit the responses for the faith for which we stand. There follows Vincent's illustrious address to the tyrant; provoked by which, and now beside himself with rage, the Governor Dacian he is sent into exile. said: Remove this Bishop from here. It is just that he should undergo exile, since he has despised the Imperial edict.

[9] These are nearly all the things we have that are established concerning S. Valerius; except that certain additional matters are said to be more or less confirmed by the tradition of the Spanish churches. Otherwise, no one treats the sacred history of Spain, writings about him. and scarcely even the profane, without mentioning S. Valerius. It is not within our leisure to pursue every detail. Martin Carillius alone, Canon of Saragossa and Abbot of Montearagón, has encompassed the history of S. Valerius in an entire book; from it we shall glean a few things.

CHAPTER II.

The exile and death of S. Valerius.

[10] It is established that S. Valerius was relegated by the Governor Dacian; where he was taken is not established. Some maintain, as Carillius relates in ch. 11, that he was banished to Cantabria and died in the territory of the city of Mondragon, which is said to have been then called Arrasate, in a place named Zaraa. He is said to have been exiled in Cantabria, Nor are local indications wanting. For a devoutly built church is to be seen there, and small houses around it, like the huts of hermits. The ancient name Zaraa is established for the place, over which towers a very high cliff called Udalahacham. An ancient devotion handed down from their ancestors exists there. where public piety toward him, For since those places in which S. Valerius is remembered to have lived produce steel and iron, those who work in extracting those metals rest from their work every week on Thursday in honor of the venerable memory of the Lord's Ascension and of S. Valerius. Nor have miracles been lacking. Hence a confraternity was erected under the patronage of S. Valerius, and a confraternity in his name: in his own sacred church, established by the authority of John of Ortega, Bishop of Calahorra; who, having read these things written by I know not whom, moved by piety, came from Logroño to Mondragon around the year 1500, to devoutly visit the place which had received so noble a guest. He also himself began to dig the earth, thinking he would unearth the body of the holy bishop; but he found nothing. They say that a stone stands in the same basilica, on which the name of S. Valerius is inscribed in Latin letters. Stephen of Garibay testifies that certain other monuments of venerable antiquity are to be seen there, which the common people kiss with devotion.

[11] Our Pierre-François Chifflet communicated to us the following from an old Burgundian codex, which we have collated with the MS. of Marchiennes: "When the Governor Dacian had ordered the Blessed Valerius to be deported into exile, as is written in the Passion of S. Vincent, the Blessed Valerius began to weep bitterly because he was being separated from S. Vincent. The venerable Bishop, then, is sent into exile, and the reverend Archdeacon is led to the rack. They are separated far from each other in the world, but they are joined most closely in heaven. or on islands, The Blessed Levite, I say, is led to the rack; and the blessed Bishop of the Lord is sent to islands in the sea, to a land which in the Arabic language is called Alandaluf; where, thinking nothing of earthly things, he desired heavenly things, constantly intent on fasting and vigils, whence he returned home, he desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ. After seven years, therefore, having returned from exile, he entered the city of Saragossa. Soon the treacherous Dacian, hearing of his arrival, sent the man of God to Rome to the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, sent to Rome, that they themselves might judge him by the authority of the Roman Empire and destroy him with various torments."

[22] The head of S. Valerius was translated in the time of Alfonso II in the year 1170, on 27 December; although, because that day is dedicated to the feast of S. John the Evangelist, the solemnity was deferred to 20 October, afterwards the head in the year 1170, 27 December. on which the memory of the earlier translation was already being celebrated. Concerning that translation of the head, Jerónimo Zurita has the following in bk. 1, under Alfonso II, in the year of Christ 1170, Era 1208: The King undertakes the appointed religious observance on the Kalends of January at the monastery of Rota: and celebrates the solemnities of the beginning of the year with sacred prayers in the chapel of S. Vincent. From Guillermo Pérez, Bishop of Lleida and Rota, and from the college of priests, he obtains permission that the head of S. Valerius—who, during the raging fury of the Emperor Diocletian, as a true Bishop and unconquered champion of the Christian faith, repeatedly courted death for Christ—be conveyed to Saragossa, over whose Church he had presided as divine Pastor and Pontiff, so that in that sacred place the citizens might venerate and suppliantly implore his present power and aid. The King, bound by the obligation of that vow, endowed the monastery of Rota with the town of Monterrubio.

[23] The royal diploma, by which he donated this town and other things to reward the pious generosity of the Bishop toward the church of Rota, is recited by Carillius in these words: In the name of God. Let it be manifest to all men present and future, Alfonso II obtains it from the people of Rota, that We, Alfonso, by the grace of God King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, Marquis of Provence, came to the Church of S. Vincent of Rota; and there were with us the venerable Guillermo, Bishop of Barcelona, and Pedro, Bishop of Saragossa, and Arnaldo Mirón, Count of Pallars, and his son Raimundo of Pallars, and Berengario de Antenza, and Raimundo de Eril, and Guillermo de Alcarraz, and Raimundo de Artusella, Miguel Sanz of Saragossa, and Dodo de Alcalá, and Pedro de San Vicente, and Raimundo de Munelt, and Guillermo de Benabent, and Bernardo de Meitat, and many other noblemen; and there we celebrated the feast of the Nativity of the Lord. And we requested from G. Pérez, Bishop of Lleida of that same place, and from his brother Canons, the head of the most blessed Valerius, so that it might preside spiritually, to the honor of God and of the Church of Saragossa—which is the head of our entire kingdom, and over which he once presided pastorally and in bodily presence. This they granted to us with profuse tears, yet with willing and uncoerced consent, and also with our great insistence of prayers. Receiving it with our own hands through their hands, we transmitted it to the Church of Saragossa through Pedro, Bishop of that same city. We also requested from the aforesaid Bishop of Lleida and his brethren that the translation of the blessed body of Bishop Raimundo, and the translation of Blessed Bishop Raimundo: formerly of that same place, be performed in our presence. This was done at our prayers and those of the aforesaid Magnates of our Court and of many others who were with us, on the day of S. John the Apostle and Evangelist. For the aforesaid reasons, therefore, trusting in the divine mercy, for the remedy of our soul and of all our parents, with pure affection of heart and sincere will in the Lord, and he donates various things to the Church of Rota, we give and grant in perpetuity to the Lord God and to S. Vincent of Rota, the castle and town of Monterrubio, which is between Berbegal and Fornillos, with its churches in their entirety, and with all its common boundaries, both uninhabited and populated, with its entrances and exits, etc. ... he bestows many other things, and forbids their alienation, and confirms previous donations. The charter was made in the month of December within Rota, on the 6th of the Kalends of January, on Sunday, the feast of S. John the Apostle and Evangelist, Era 1208, in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1170. There follow the subscriptions of Bishops, Nobles, and others.

[24] From what has been said so far, one may refute what is stated in the aforementioned Saragossan Breviary, namely that the translation of the arm was later than that of the head. For it reads as follows: After the martyrdom of Blessed Vincent, Archdeacon of the Church of Saragossa, which is reckoned to have occurred around the year of salvation 306, S. Valerius, Bishop of that same Church, survived a few years (for it is established that he attended the Council of Elvira), and at length migrated from this exile to a more blessed life at the foot of the Pyrenees. His most holy relics were reverently preserved in the Church of Rota, built under the invocation of S. Vincent. When Alfonso II, King of Aragon, was celebrating the feast of the Nativity of the Lord there, with a long retinue of both ecclesiastical and secular Princes, he obtained from Guillermo Pérez, Bishop of Lleida, under whom the Church of Rota fell, and from his brethren, the head of the most blessed Valerius, so that to the honor of God and of the Church of Saragossa—which is the head (he says) of our entire kingdom, and over which he presided pastorally and in bodily presence—he might also preside spiritually. The King himself, receiving it with his own hands through the hands of those men, the head of S. Valerius sent to Saragossa, transmitted it to the Church of Saragossa through Pedro, Bishop of that city. The Lord, whom he had served, confirmed his sanctity by the performance of miracles. And this great gift the King did not leave unrewarded. For besides the fact that he donated to the Church of Rota in perpetual right the town called Monterrubio and many other things, he also wished and commanded that the canons of Rota should henceforth appoint their own Priors. Of these, a certain one named Raimundo in the course of time donated the arm of that most holy Bishop Valerius to the same Church of Saragossa. That earlier translation of the head occurred in the year of salvation 1170. The arm of S. Valerius was donated by S. Raimundo, Bishop of Rota and Barbastro, whose life, written by Elias, a Canon and later Bishop, to Bishop Gaufridus, we shall give on 21 May, the day of his death, in the year of Christ 1126; and Alfonso II arranged for his body to be translated, as has already been said, forty-five years after his death.

[25] After that translation of the sacred head, Carillius writes that a confraternity was established between the Church of the Holy Savior of Saragossa and the Church of S. Vincent of Rota, Confraternity between the Canons of Rota and Saragossa, so that there would be a sharing of suffrages; and that when the Prior or Canons of Rota came to Saragossa, they would receive a canonical place and portion, and conversely the Saragossans at Rota. This confraternity was entered into in the Era 1209, that is, the year of Christ 1171, from the records of which Carillius recites the following: We propose this token of friendship to the Canons of Rota, on account of the immense affection which they showed us, together with the head of Blessed Valerius, of whom we already possessed the arm.

[26] King Alfonso admitted as a Canon of Saragossa: The Canons of Saragossa also enrolled the King Alfonso himself, the author of so great a benefit conferred upon them by the people of Rota, in the number of Canons, and made him a sharer in all their sacrifices and prayers. There exists a public instrument of this matter, which Carillius recites: Concerning the reception of the Lord Alfonso II, King, as Canon and Brother. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. I, R., Bishop of Saragossa, and the entire community of the Church of Saragossa, with devout mind have received You, the Lord Alfonso, King, Count of Barcelona, and Marquis of Provence, in all our prayers, fasts, vigils, and spiritual and temporal benefits, which are daily performed and henceforth shall be performed in our Church and its members, as Canon, Brother, and participant in all the aforesaid goods, as one of our Brethren. Moreover, adding this further decree, we establish that each one of us shall daily offer to Almighty God and our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, and to the most blessed Valerius, a special prayer for you; special prayers offered for him, and that in the general Mass of our Chapter, a proper prayer for you shall be said in perpetuity without ceasing each day. When, moreover, Almighty God shall have led you forth from this wretched life, on the day of your death and also on your anniversary, we and all our Brethren, joined by nobility and charity, shall celebrate the same office for you as we celebrate each year for our deceased Pontiffs. Of this admission to the canonry, fraternity, and spiritual donation, the witnesses are I, R., Bishop of Saragossa, P. the Prior, Rodrigo the Archdeacon, Guillermo the Archdeacon, J. the Provost, P. the Sacristan, Bernardo the Precentor, and the entire Community. The charter was made in the month of February, Era 1225. Alfonso then bestowed upon the Church of Saragossa (to which he had already previously donated very many things) the town of Mareca, on the condition that a candle should burn perpetually before the high altar. That candle was thenceforth called the Mareca.

CHAPTER IV.

Miracles at the relics.

[27] When the arm of S. Valerius was being conveyed to Saragossa, the entire city poured out to meet it, exulting with incredible eagerness of spirit; and to witness this spectacle, as the ancient lessons relate, many of the Saracens came out During the solemn Translation of the arm, and mocked the simplicity of the Christians: they marveled at the worshippers of Christ, because they honored a dead man with so great an honor. When the sacred relics had reached the bridge over the river Ebro, a certain demoniac hurled himself to the ground before the sacred bier with immense fury, and could not be driven away, even though the Bishop himself struck at him with his crozier; but when he learned that the man was tormented by an unclean spirit, he allowed him to remain there, in case perhaps God might deign, through the intercession of S. Valerius, to free him from that calamity. When he then attended the sacred rites that same day, he was wholly restored to himself, the infernal guest having been cast out—the one who had cruelly tormented him for many days, a demoniac healed, now depriving him of speech, now horribly distorting his eyes so as to strike fear even into onlookers; at other times foully contorting him, dashing him to the ground, casting him into fire or water; who at last, as those frequently cited lessons relate, having been freed through Blessed Valerius from so great a persecution, gave thanks to God and to the most holy Confessor in the sight of all the people, and all the people began to glorify and praise God, who through Blessed Valerius had deigned to work a miracle.

[28] Another, at the Translation of the head. When the head of S. Valerius was brought, another demoniac entered the sacred church and prostrated himself before the altar, at which the Bishop was standing holding the sacred relics in his hand: and immediately the wicked demon departed; but with so great a stench left behind that all were compelled to leave the church, leaving the half-dead man there for a time. This miracle is sculpted on the base of that same altar.

[29] A certain woman freed from apparitions, by the aid of S. Valerius. The same old Breviary, often cited by Carillius (which we wish we could obtain and from it reproduce everything word for word), in the lessons for the Octave of this feast of the translation, relates another prodigy. A wicked spirit was harassing a noble woman, now standing on the roof of her house and uttering horrible cries there, having assumed the form of this matron's aunt who had died many years before. When this had happened repeatedly, the woman was struck with such terror that she was scarcely in possession of herself. One night, when she was undressing to retire to her bedchamber, the demon presented himself to her in an enormous and horrifying form. Terrified, she rushed out naked as she was, clad only in her undergarment, and ran to the basilica. The sacristans, who had been entrusted with the custody of the doors, barred her entrance; but she, with a certain immense force, broke open the doors, flew to the altar of S. Valerius, prostrated herself on the ground, implored his aid, and obtained it. For from that moment she was troubled by no such apparition, Blessed Valerius warding it off.

[30] After Saragossa was recovered and the relics of S. Valerius conveyed thither (as has already been related), his cult there grew so strong, on account of the very many miracles that were performed, that even a solemn oath was customarily taken at his altar, Public oath-taking at the relics of S. Valerius, in roughly the following manner: The altar was magnificently adorned, lights were kindled upon it, and the relics of S. Valerius placed there; the Canons and other ministers of the Church stood by, in that garb and ceremony which is customary on the greatest solemnities; before them and before the Bishop, the person who was required to do so swore his oath before the sacred relics. Carillius confirms this with examples.

[31] A Confraternity of S. Valerius was also erected there, whose origin, however, Confraternity of S. Valerius, like that of the other Confraternity which is called that of S. Mary Major, commonly known as del Pilar, is unknown. Both were either instituted shortly after the expulsion of the Moors, or derived from the times of the Goths, or even originated from the piety of the primitive Church. This Confraternity consists of men and women. It has been endowed with many indulgences and prerogatives, and most recently Pope Clement VIII granted a plenary indulgence to the members who visit the church of S. Valerius from the first vespers of his solemnity until sunset of the following day, and on the days of SS. Vincent, Hermenegild, the Transfiguration of the Lord, and the Translation of S. Valerius, an indulgence of seven years. He then bestowed other indulgences upon those who attended the divine sacrifice, who devoutly accompanied the most holy Sacrament, and who performed other works of mercy and Christian piety: and these indulgences are perpetual, as is evident from the Bull of the Pontiff given in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1599, on the day before the Ides of August. Carillius recites the most ample decree of Pedro López de Luna, the first Archbishop of Saragossa, issued in the provincial Council in the year 1319, on the 8th of the Kalends of April, by which many distinguished benefits are granted to the Confraternity of S. Valerius.

[32] At Zaraa likewise, where another confraternity was erected in the name of S. Valerius, many heavenly prodigies occurred; Many miracles wrought at Rota: and many at Rota, as is related from a certain ancient history of S. Valerius, from which Carillius recites the following: There God magnified His holy one Valerius, whom He caused daily to shine forth with so many miracles as a testimony of his extraordinary sanctity; of which matter not only the men who lived before us, but we who still breathe the vital air, are witnesses. Carillius adds from the old Breviary this prose hymn concerning S. Valerius, as a splendid testimony of his miracles:

The soldier of Christ, not slow to the proclamations of the faith, Did not shrink from the torments of the Governor Dacian, Confessing Christ as God in his very presence. Whence, powerful and illustrious in the heavenly court, He cast out demons from possessed bodies. He revealed a Bishop buried at the gates, He provided aid to very many who were held captive: To the languishing and the sick he bestowed remedies. Let us therefore beseech him, that by his clemency He may commend us to God, His grace abounding.

[33] Great veneration is still shown to him in the church of Castelnou: and so many miracles are wrought there by his invocation that, when Carillius inquired about them, the Rector of that place, Domingo Turriano, solemnly affirmed many at Castelnou, that in ten years more than three hundred persons had been cured by his aid, all of them first prepared for the heavenly benefit by the confession of their sins and the reception of the holy Eucharist. On the feast day of S. Valerius an innumerable multitude of people flocks thither. Very many votive offerings and tablets are to be seen there, tokens of the health obtained. More than three thousand miracles wrought there, Storms dispelled: which could be entered into the records, the same Rector attests, along with this one remarkable prodigy: whenever any more violent storm breaks out, a sound is heard three times from the sacristy in which the sacred relics are kept, and it is perceived no differently at the foot of the altar than outside the church itself; and if the relics are brought forth in time, the clouds are dispersed and the lightning does no damage whatsoever. He recounts several other miracles wrought there.

[34] A certain Frenchman named Antonius was so devoid of strength that he could not move: he vowed to the Saint a novena of supplication, and on the fourth day he was restored to health, two sick persons healed; on the 30th of August 1605. Another Frenchman, from Toulouse, having heard of the first, was conveyed thither on two mules, and departed in health when the novena was completed, on the 8th of May 1611.

[35] Mosén Pedro Aguilar, the parish priest of Íxar, needed, in the judgment of the physicians, to have his arm amputated: he undertook to perform a novena, two others: and before it was completed he offered Mass in good health as an act of thanksgiving, on the 29th of May 1606. Doctor Pedro Paulaza, now Abbot of S. Victorián, detained by a grave illness, was freed from it as soon as he had offered sacrifice to God in that church: he dedicated as a thanksgiving a gilded head, similar to the silver one which is seen in the basilica of Saragossa.

[36] For Father Francisco Coloma, contracted sinews of the fingers were restored by the touch of the relics. Maria, the contracted healed: wife of Juan Arboná of Calaceite, cured a contracted leg by the adoration of the holy relics, on the 28th of September 1610, and returned home on foot. Pedro Merle of Andorra was likewise freed from the same defect of contraction, before the novena was completed, on the 10th of November 1614.

[37] Martín Bautista de la Nuza can attest to various benefits of the Saint upon his family, a votive offering placed by a woman healed of illness; since public monuments of gratitude and piety toward the Saint were erected by the same family. There exists this inscription engraved on an urn adorned with golden plates by his mother: "Catalina la Nuza of Íxar, having obtained prosperous health through the patronage of the most blessed Valerius, wished this urn, which guards the sacred relics of the Saint, to be an everlasting memorial of the benefit; in the year 1577." Martín himself, exceedingly munificent in sustaining the poor and in the amplification of divine worship (as that magnificent chapel in the basilica of the Blessed Mary del Pilar attests), ordered another silver reliquary to be made, within which that other one donated by his mother would be enclosed, with this inscription: "To S. Valerius, Martín Bautista de la Nuza, Justicia of Aragon, carrying forward the pious vows of his dearest mother Catalina, offered and dedicated this casket for the more honorable safekeeping of the sacred relics, in the year 1609."

[38] Juan Francisco Fernández, Duke of Íxar, and his wife Francisca Pinós y Fenollet, donated many things to the same church. other offerings by others. Many votive offerings are seen suspended there, of those who recovered life and health, already despaired of and given up by the physicians, through the patronage of S. Valerius: many older ones, however, have been removed. One is from Gabriel Pontius, who, when all preparations had already been made for his funeral, having implored the aid of the Saint, recovered, and visited that church to give thanks on the 13th of September 1610. Another, of Miguel of Calahorra, a settler of the village of Batea in Catalonia, snatched from the same peril, was hung up on the 16th of May 1612. Another by Juan Ballesio, a settler of Calaceite, placed on the 21st of September 1613. Another in the same year by Custodio del Pueyo, a settler of Torrecilla del Rebollar, on the 23rd of September 1613. Susanna Josa, a young girl brought thither by her parents, escaped in safety: and María Barcelona of Calaceite, on the 29th of August 1615. Juan Monreal of Calaceite likewise on the 16th of September 1615.

[39] Other innumerable benefits obtained there through the patronage of the Saint, of which the tablets placed there stand as witnesses, Why so many miracles wrought there, although of little monetary value on account of the modest means of the local people. In the records of Egidio Alamín and Damián Alamín, Notaries of Samper de Calanda, many miracles wrought by S. Valerius at Castelnou will be found, confirmed by public testimonies. The Saint performed more benefits there because that people is destitute of physicians and other aids, and great piety flourishes there among those who flock to the place.

CHAPTER V.

Relics at Saragossa and Rota.

[40] Philip II orders an inquiry into the Acts and relics of S. Valerius. Philip II, Monarch of the Spains, followed in our own age the piety of his ancestors, the Kings of Aragon, in venerating S. Valerius: for when he sent Jerónimo Javier of Saragossa (who, elected General of the Order of S. Dominic, Royal Confessor, and then Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church on account of his singular learning and prudence on the 10th of December 1607, died the following year on the 8th of September)—when, I say, Philip sent him to visit the abbeys and religious houses in the kingdom of Aragon which belonged to the King by right of patronage, he prescribed to him with particular care that he should diligently inquire into the relics of S. Valerius. Having begun his visitation at the monastery of Rota, he afterwards wrote the following to the King.

[41] When I had come to Jaca I received letters from Your Majesty dated the 10th of May of the preceding year, in which he ordered me, Letter of Jerónimo Javier concerning these matters, when I came to the monastery of Rota, to inquire into the deeds of S. Valerius, the first Bishop of Saragossa, and why his relics had been conveyed thither, whether they were properly and decently kept: and to inform Your Majesty diligently about all these things. I examined all the documents that exist in the archive of that monastery, to see whether I could discover anything about that holy Bishop; having also made diligent inquiry about the same matters from the elders, I found lessons written on parchment in an elegant style: and these confirm everything that has been handed down by Villegas and other historians about S. Valerius, and relate some things omitted by them; of which I shall here touch upon certain points.

[42] When Dacian stirred up the persecution against the Christians, he commanded S. Valerius, Bishop of Saragossa, and his Deacon Vincent, to be dragged in chains from there to Valencia. Afterwards banished by him, Valerius came to Enetum, What Enetum is: as the lessons and those who have treated of the Saint's deeds attest. Enetum is a tiny village of about twenty houses, one mile distant from Barbastro toward Rota, on this side of the river Cinca. Here Valerius lived with singular holiness of life for fourteen years: and having learned of the death of S. Vincent, he erected a basilica there in his honor, and died, according to the opinion of Villegas, in the year 310, but as these lessons relate, in 315, there S. Valerius died, buried at Estrada, and this is held beyond doubt in that place. His body was carried by the Christians of Enetum to Estrada, a place situated in the barony of Castro beyond the river Cinca, a short distance from Enetum. It was buried in the church which, as is common in those mountain regions, is contained within the enclosure of the fortress itself. And this is the opinion of the writers who assert that it was interred in the castle of Estrada.

[43] Seven hundred and fifty years after his death, the relics were translated thence to Rota: and that solemnity is celebrated annually on 20 October. Translated to Rota by S. Arnulphus: Villegas and others write that they were conveyed thither under Arnulphus, the fourth Bishop of Ribagorza. The reason is left unstated; but the aforesaid lessons reveal it to have been a divinely received admonition. Arnulphus himself is said to have gone to Estrada and conveyed the sacred relics with great reverence to the basilica of S. Vincent at Rota. The extraordinary holiness of Arnulphus lends credibility to the divine revelation, a holiness which was also celebrated with a public office for a very long time, first discontinued when the Roman Breviary was adopted. Arnulphus lived twenty-six years after that translation, as is evident from Zurita, bk. 1 of the Annals.

[44] The bishopric of Ribagorza was afterwards held by Raimundo Dalmacio, then by Poncio, as is clear from the records of the monastery of Rota and the tablets of donations. S. Raimundo succeeded these, the arm donated by S. Raimundo to the Saragossans, who donated the arm of S. Valerius to the Saragossans, as Villegas and others attest. Although no document of this matter survives in that archive, the tradition of both the inhabitants and the Church of Saragossa leaves it in no doubt. From the MS. codex of Rota it is established that in the year 1120 the Bishop of Rota and Barbastro was S. Raimundo, elected in 1106, who died in 1126, having donated to the Church of Rota a quarter of the tithes of a place called Eferraduy; Here Javier omits Gaufridus and Elias, of whom above at no. 24, and the tablets of the donation survive. Esteban succeeded him in the same year; Pedro succeeded him in 1130; Ramiro succeeded Pedro, who was thence elevated to the kingdom of Aragon, as Zurita writes. Therefore Guillermo Pérez assumed the bishopric of Rota in the year 1143; and when Lleida was recovered by the Christians in 1149, he transferred the See thither, and was thenceforth called Bishop of Lleida and Rota, a title which pleased several of his successors. He took the Archdeacons away from Rota; and to this day three Archdeacons at Lleida derive both their title and their revenue from here: those of Ribagorza, Autona, and Benasque, which territories belong to this County.

[45] In the year 1170, when King Alfonso II was celebrating the Christmas festivities in the monastery of S. Vincent of Rota, The head of S. Valerius brought to Saragossa, and Guillermo Pérez, Bishop of Lleida and Rota, was present with others, Alfonso requested that the head of S. Valerius be given to him; and receiving it, when it was handed over, with his own hands, he entrusted it to Pedro, Bishop of Saragossa, to be conveyed to his See, so that he might thenceforth be venerated in the city in which he had been born and had exercised the pontifical office, once renowned for his singular reputation for learning and holiness. Alfonso then repaid the Bishop and Chapter of Lleida with a reciprocal gift, by conveying to them Monterrojo, which is two miles from Barbastro and is now called Pardina. When the table of the Prior was separated from the Capitular one, this portion fell to the Prior, whence he receives annually five hundred gold pieces. Tablets witnessing these events survive, a copy of which, together with the lessons, I am sending to Your Majesty.

[46] From the same tablets it is established that at the same time the body of S. Raimundo, Bishop of Rota and Barbastro, was translated from its former tomb, The body of S. Raimundo translated, in which it had lain for forty-four years, into a stone monument, in which it still rests. There exists another instrument by which the Canons of the cathedral of Saragossa cede to the Canons of Rota the possession of the village of Gussent, which they no longer hold: and another concerning the perpetual friendship and confraternity established between the Canons of Saragossa and those of Rota.

[47] I have drawn up a catalogue of the relics of the Church of Rota: and of S. Valerius only seven parts now remain there, namely two bones of the thighs, The relics of S. Valerius now at Rota, which extend from the hip joints to the knees, and these are exceedingly hard, each two palms and one finger in length: another bone eight fingers long and a palm wide, which physicians call the clavicle, by which the upper bones of the femur are connected: another bone, which appears to be the tibia, a palm and seven fingers long: another of the arm from the elbow to the hand, as it seems, a palm and nearly two fingers long: another a palm wide: another which appears to be the upper part of the tibia. They say they have donated the other relics of the Saint to various churches. They possess, however, many other relics of very many Saints: the principal ones are two parts of the heads of the most glorious Martyrs Lawrence and Vincent, each a palm long and wide. These relics are wrapped in silk cloth, which in turn is covered with linen. These and the other sacred relics are enclosed in an ancient chest most skillfully made of gilded Moorish brass, lined within with white linen where and how they are kept, fastened with gilded pins. This chest is enclosed within another one of walnut wood, locked with three keys, which are held by three custodians of the archive. Behind the high altar there are two small chambers, one below and the other above, and in the upper one that chest of relics is stored.

[48] I have decreed under penalty of excommunication latae sententiae that henceforth no relics be imparted to anyone; Further distribution forbidden, since heretofore they have liberally dispersed them, making no distinction among those who requested them. May God keep Your Majesty safe. Rota, 2 February 1598. Thus far the letter of Jerónimo Javier.

[49] As for the arm of S. Valerius which is preserved at Saragossa, that is the bone which extends from the elbow to the hand, nearly two palms long, The relics of S. Valerius at Saragossa, it is entirely sheathed in silver, except where it is exposed for public veneration: it is indeed intact and of a vivid color, as though it had only recently been deprived of life. There is also another arm there, of silver gilt and adorned with gems of great value: in this, the sacred relics enclosed within are carried about in the processions which take place on Rogation Days or for public necessity.

[50] The head of the holy Bishop is also contained within another head and roughly half a body fashioned in silver, excellently adorned with gold and gems, a gift of the one called Benedict XIII, or Pedro de Luna, who was elevated to the pontificate unwillingly, as Carillius says, but inauspiciously; for having been declared schismatic, Adorned by the Antipope Pedro de Luna, he was harassed by many troubles. Together with this head of S. Valerius, he sent from Avignon to Saragossa heads of the Saints Vincent and Lawrence as well, of the same workmanship and material, which are still to be seen, and one of S. Engracia for her own basilica, which are also carried about in public processions. On the breast of that statue of S. Valerius this inscription is engraved: "Here is the head of Blessed Valerius, Confessor and Bishop of this Church of Saragossa." On the back, this somewhat longer one: "The Lord Pope Benedict XIII, formerly called Pedro de Luna, Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin, gave this reliquary of Blessed Valerius to this Church of Saragossa, in the year of the Lord 1397, the third year of his pontificate; forbidding under penalty of excommunication, which those acting to the contrary incur ipso facto, that it be alienated in any way: the absolution from which sentence he reserved to the Apostolic See." The relics of S. Valerius are never removed from that earlier silver head, nor is it ever opened.