Valerius of Trier

ON S. VALERIUS, BISHOP OF TRIER, IN BELGIC GAUL.

Toward the end of the first century.

Valerius, Bishop of Trier in Belgic Gaul (S.)

[1] When the Prince of the Apostles, having now established the see of the royal priesthood in the City that is mistress of the world, was sending into the various regions of the earth many men inflamed with divine charity to imbue the nations with the Christian religion, he judged that the most noble provinces of Gaul were by no means to be neglected: S. Valerius sent into Belgica: and so into our Belgica, which both by its very situation and by its refinement of culture lay very far distant from the people of the Quirites, he sent Eucharius, Valerius, and Maternus. The city of the Treveri was at that time easily the chief of the Belgic provinces (if not of all the Gallic). There a bishopric was erected, which Eucharius held first, then Valerius, then Maternus. The feast of S. Eucharius is celebrated on 8 December, that of Maternus on 14 September, that of Valerius on this 29 January. And of those two we shall treat in their own time.

[2] The name of S. Valerius is inscribed in most Martyrologies, even the most ancient. The manuscript of S. Jerome, Rabanus, the manuscript of S. Maximin: At Trier, the deposition of Valerius, Bishop. his feast day: Usuard, the printed Bede, Ado, Notker, the Roman Martyrology, and various manuscripts: On the same day at Trier, the deposition of Blessed Valerius, Bishop, disciple of S. Peter the Apostle. Costanzo Felici and Maurolycus have the same. Galesin: At Trier, of S. Valerius, Bishop. He, one of the seventy-two disciples, a hearer of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, was sent into Gaul, intent with enormous solicitude on the spreading of the Gospel; on the death of Eucharius he was created Bishop in his place, and when he had presided over the Church of Trier for fifteen years, flourishing in innocence of life and in the praise of piety and of the episcopal virtues, he fell asleep in the Lord. That he was of the number of the seventy-two disciples is said also in the German Martyrology, and in the first Centenary of William Eysengrein, which Albert, Abbot of Stade, and many others have handed down concerning S. Eucharius. The manuscript Martyrology of the Church of S. Gudula at Brussels: At Trier, the deposition of Blessed Valerius, Bishop, disciple of S. Peter the Apostle, who, coming to Trier with Blessed Eucharius and Maternus, after the death of Eucharius held the honor of the episcopate there for fifteen years. Such was the urgency of his preaching that while he was still living the Christians throughout Gaul and Germany surpassed the pagans both in number and in religion.

[3] Life written by Goldscher: The deeds of SS. Eucharius, Valerius, and Maternus were written by Goldscher, a monk of the monastery of S. Matthias at Trier, from the most certain account of the elders, as he professes at the outset. But in the Epilogue he writes that, after the destruction of the city of Trier, he had searched the remaining ashes more diligently and found these records of the deeds of the holy Fathers scattered on scraps of parchment, which, having been collected into one volume, he faithfully committed to the benefit of readers both present and future. In what age he lived we have not discovered: that he is very ancient is clear from the fact that Heriger, Abbot of Lobbes, who succeeded Fulcuin in the year 990 and died on 31 October 1007 (not 1107, as Valerius Andreas and Miraeus write), transcribes much from this source almost word for word in his history of the Bishops of Tongres, where he treats of SS. Eucharius, Valerius, and Maternus through sixteen chapters. We give this Life in its entirety (since the acts of these three are entirely interconnected) from the ancient manuscripts of the monasteries of S. Martin at Trier, S. Lawrence at Liege, Marchiennes, whence here published: Rouge-Cloitre in the Sonian Forest, and Acey in Burgundy. Surius published a portion under this day which chiefly comprises the deeds of S. Valerius. But if there shall be anything proper to SS. Eucharius and Maternus beyond what Goldscher has written, we shall speak of it in its proper place.

[4] S. Valerius is mentioned both by others who will be cited in the Annotations and by Marianus Scotus, age 6, book 2, at the year 14 of Nero, others who have written about him. and at the year 1 of Vespasian, and the year 3 of Domitian. Albert, Abbot of Stade, at the year of Christ 47. Christopher Brouwer, book 2 of the Annals of Trier. Johannes Nauclerus, volume 2 of the Chronography, generation 2, at the year of Christ 46. Otto of Freising, book 3, chapter 15. William Eisengrein, Century 1, part 1, distinction 2, who also cites others not yet read by us. Peter Merssaeus Cratepolius in the Annals of the Bishops of Trier. Andrew Saussay in the Gallican Martyrology. Aubert Miraeus in the Belgian Fasti. Jean Chapeaville in the Annotations to the history of Heriger. Peter de Natalibus, book 11, chapter 130, number 41. Constantine Ghini in the Birthdays of the Canons. The author of the Life of S. Deicola the Abbot, 18 January, chapter 1, number 5. Claude Robert in the Gallia Christiana. Demochares on the Sacrifice of the Mass, chapter 33, who however erroneously places Maternus before him. Michael the Monk in the Sanctuary of Capua at 30 January.

[5] The relics of S. Valerius are now preserved, as Eisengrein attests, in the underground crypt of the monastery of S. Matthias at Trier. His relics: Some have been translated to Lisbon in Portugal and placed in the church of the Society of Jesus, as we mentioned on 25 January. We have found certain other translations of his relics, but when these occurred, and whither and whence his sacred remains were conveyed, is hidden from us. Translation. The manuscript Florarium has the following under 15 July: At Trier, the translation of the holy Bishops Eucharius and Valerius. And a certain other manuscript under 8 August: At Trier, the translation of Blessed Valerius, Bishop and Confessor.

LIFE OF SS. EUCHARIUS, VALERIUS, AND MATERNUS, by Goldscher, a monk of Trier, from various ancient manuscript codices.

Valerius, Bishop of Trier in Belgic Gaul (S.)

Author: Goldscher, from manuscripts.

CHAPTER I. SS. Eucharius, Valerius, and Maternus sent into Belgium. Maternus raised from death.

Preface.

[1] Although the blessed life of the Saints remains eternally with Almighty God, and the Book of Life contains their names without forgetfulness, we believe nevertheless that nothing stands in the way of true religion if we more frequently turn over their merits in our mind and commemorate their deeds in words and writings. Wherefore we ought not sluggishly to pass over in silence those things which we have learned from the most certain account of the elders concerning the deeds of the holy Fathers of the city of Trier: for it is just to commend to pious memory those by whose examples and teachings we are daily instructed.

[2] S. Peter comes to Rome: After, therefore, the most blessed Peter the Apostle had founded the Church of Antioch upon the most solid rock by the first confession of the Christian name, and had illuminated Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia with the word of preaching; at the beginning of the reign of Claudius Caesar, by the ordering of divine providence, he entered Rome and preached the faith, salutary to all believers, with the most steadfast assertion, and confirmed it with the most mighty signs and miracles; and he governed the Pontificate of that City most vigorously for twenty-five years. When he had firmly established the foundations of the true faith there, and the fame of his teaching had spread far and wide throughout all Italy, at length, forewarned by the Holy Spirit, he resolved to bring the word of salvation also to Gaul and Germany: He sends Eucharius, Valerius, and Maternus to the Gauls: and for this work he chose three most proven men from among his disciples, namely Eucharius, Valerius, and Maternus: of whom he straightway raised Eucharius to the dignity of Bishop, promoted Valerius to the rank of Deacon, and consecrated Maternus as Subdeacon.

[3] These, having been sufficiently well instructed by their master, undertook the charge laid upon them with eager mind, and having received his blessing they set out for the aforesaid regions: they convert many: as they went they unceasingly preached sound doctrine to all along the way, and by signs and miracles drew many to the solidity of the sacred faith. When they had arrived at a certain stronghold of Gaul named Elegia, and had tarried there for some time, S. Maternus dies: earnestly urging all to belief, one of them, namely Maternus, was seized by fever and began to fall gravely ill, and as the severity of the same illness increased, he ended his life not many days later.

[4] Grieving exceedingly at this bereavement, Blessed Eucharius bathed his face abundantly with tears, and groaning at the same time said: The other two return to Rome: O hostile and hateful death, who by the envy of the devil entered into the world, why have you raged so cruelly against us? Why have you violently snatched away that which heavenly mercy had destined for the expelling of the death of unbelief? I know that you, most impious one, fell in the most precious death of Christ: and whence have you raised yourself again against his servants? But I trust in my Lord Jesus Christ, that what he purposed to accomplish through us, your author shall not be able to impede: and what he himself foreordained for the salvation of believers, your inventor the devil shall not be able to pervert. Saying this he suppressed his tears, and commending the body of his disciple to the earth, he took Valerius with him and returned with haste to Rome: and with weeping he narrated to his master in order all that had befallen him on the way, saying: We cannot again traverse the way by which you sent us, nor teach the aforesaid peoples, unless you raise from the dead your disciple Maternus by your holy prayers, that the power of our Lord Jesus Christ may be made manifest to those peoples.

[5] And Peter gently consoled him, saying: Do not mourn, dearest one, nor be sorrowful; S. Peter consoles them, for he whom you now grieve as dead, you shall shortly see rise again through the grace of our Redeemer, and you shall have him as a faithful and unharmed companion of your journey: for the death which he endured bodily for a time, Almighty God has provided for the salvation of many. But now take my staff, and continue the journey you have begun, and when you have arrived there, and sends them back with his staff given to them; place this same staff upon the body of the deceased, saying: Peter the Apostle commands you in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, to rise from death and to complete with us the ministry entrusted to you. And Saint Eucharius with his brother Valerius, gladly receiving the command of their Master, arrived at the aforesaid stronghold with swift step: and approaching the sepulchre of their brother, by whose application Maternus rises: and digging up their most beloved treasure, he placed the staff upon the body: and when he had repeated the words of the Apostle which he had commanded, straightway Maternus, having resumed his spirit, sat up, and taking the hand of the Bishop, rose alive and unharmed from the tomb in the presence of the multitude of the people. In this it is shown that the Prophet spoke truly: God is wonderful in his Saints, etc. and in another place: All things are possible with God. Psalm 67:36. Then all who were present raised praises to heaven, and many of the pagans, receiving the grace of baptism, joined themselves to the unity of the faith: many are converted. and thus was fulfilled the promise of the Apostle, that the occasion of his death would become, through the resurrection, the salvation of many. Luke 18:27. In that place the Christians afterward built a church, and from that which had happened there they gave it the name of the Resurrection.

CHAPTER II. The people of Trier imbued with the mysteries of the faith.

[6] After they had imbued many with the faith in that place, and they saw that the time to move on to other places was now at hand, They come to Trier: bidding farewell to the brethren, they set out through Gaul sowing the seeds of life, and at length, having completed their journey, they arrived at Trier: where so great was the error of paganism that, besides the household gods of individual homes, in one place of the city a hundred statues of idols were publicly worshipped by the people, and through them the wretches were deluded by the responses and deceits of demons. They are not received: Nor, though they persevered in good works, were they received by the people of Trier, because the more powerful the city was in dignity, the more haughty it was at the first preaching. And when S. Eucharius admonished the people daily to cease worshipping vain idols and to convert to the true God, creator of heaven and earth, and they had in no way yielded to his words, on a certain day he entered the city with his companions intending to address the same discourse to the people: wherefore the Priests of the Capitol, inflamed with envy, stirred up the greatest part of the people against them, and expelling them outside the city wished to overwhelm them with stones.

[7] Seeing this, Blessed Eucharius turned with his companions to the weapons of prayer, The pagans, wishing to stone them, beseeching with tears the clemency of Almighty God both to provide pious aid to them against the unbelievers and to open a receptive understanding in the insane mobs of the faithless for recognizing the truth of the faith. Amidst these events, all that raging mob was wondrously bound from heaven in such a manner they remain immobile in various postures: that some of them, straining in vain at a throw, stood with arms extended and inflexible; others, having bent down to gather stones, clung to the earth with necks bowed forward, and all remained immovable and fixed in whatever posture each body had assumed. And when this had continued for the space of nearly one hour, and all were held constrained in various ways by the bonds of heavenly power, all, now exhausted by excessive pain, began humbly to beg for the release of their limbs, and to cry out that they would believe if they were released. Then S. Eucharius, again pouring forth prayer to the Lord, They are released by the prayers of the Saints: freed that entire rebellious multitude from the bond of pain, and restored them to their former condition with health renewed. Well is it written of the elect of God in the psalm: Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Psalm 26:3. And again the Apostle: If God be for us, who is against us? Romans 8:31. And Moses: God fights for us.

[8] Therefore, seeing this miracle, all alike cast themselves at the feet of the Saints, begging them not to delay in showing them the way of salvation, but to make known to them quickly what they must do and what they must avoid for their restoration. After this, when silence had been made, Blessed Eucharius said: S. Eucharius teaches them the mysteries of the faith, It is necessary for you, dearly beloved, that you entirely abandon the error in which you have hitherto lived, and convert yourselves with your whole heart to the true and almighty God: for it is the greatest error, one persuaded upon men by diabolical fraud, to worship stones and wood and handmade idols that are deaf and mute and devoid of sense, and not to acknowledge or adore the Creator of all things. Of this vanity the devil is the first author, since he is the inventor of all wickedness and errors: the fall of the Angels; and he strives to persuade men of these things for this reason, that because he himself had strayed from truth by exalting himself against his Creator, he might perniciously lead all who agree with him into the same error.

[9] For from the beginning he raged against man through envy, and cunningly persuaded him to act against the precepts of his God. For our first parent was created innocent and immortal, and ignorant of all corruption, and was placed in a paradise of the most pleasing beauty; the innocence of the first human beings where he was accustomed to hear the words of God, to be present among the blessed Angels through purity of heart and the loftiness of vision, to behold trees of perpetual verdure, and to partake of their fruits delightfully with only one prohibition, to walk among lilies and roses and other unfading flowers, and to draw their sweetest fragrance through his nostrils, to see perpetual light, to know no night, always to rejoice in the benefits of his Creator, and to be ignorant of all trouble and sorrow. and fall, But the devil, not bearing this dignity, contrived by the most wicked art that man, placed in such sublimity, should negligently set aside the commandments of his God, and eat disobediently of the fruit of the forbidden tree: and he (alas!) consenting, was straightway stripped of the garment of immortality and fell from the height of his former dignity; and, cast out from the joys of paradise by reason of his transgression, original sin, he came into the misery of this exile and blindness: from whose flesh all the race of mankind has proceeded in propagation, and from him, just as it took the origin of birth, so also it took from him the beginning of sin.

[10] After this the devil, seeing himself the victor, raged like a roaring lion over his prey which he had seized by fraud, the tyranny of the devil and idolatry, and he who before in paradise had made suggestions to man as one lesser and subject, afterward, to him now prostrate through consent and expelled from paradise as his deserts required, gave commands as a lord. Wherefore he brought men to such madness that they did not even understand the dignity of their own condition, nor had God their Creator either in their knowledge or even in their mind, but rather said to a piece of wood: You are our God; and to a stone, or any metal: Help us, for you are mighty.

[11] When therefore the devil was raging through the world by various forms of deception, and was glorying that it was subject to him; at last Almighty God, taking pity on human misery, sent into the world his Son, co-eternal and consubstantial with him in Divinity, to put an end at last to these miseries, and mercifully to free captive man from the most cruel power of the devil. Now this Son of the Most High, through whom all things were created, the Incarnation of Christ, and without whom nothing was made, because he could not be seen by men in his majesty, made himself visible by assuming flesh from the most chaste Virgin, made indeed a partaker of our nature, but alien and most remote from the fellowship of all guilt. When therefore the devil saw him preaching sound doctrine to the peoples, forgiving sins, promising the kingdoms of heaven to believers, giving sight to the blind, cleansing lepers, healing paralytics, raising the dead, restoring hearing to the deaf, and healing every disease and infirmity, he was indeed terrified by the innocence of his purity and the excellence of his divine works; but because he saw him similar to mortals, he doubted that he was God: the Passion, whence he stirred up the most cruel persecutors against him, who would resist his teaching, and having heaped insults upon him, would slay him by a shameful death. But since he had come into the world for this purpose, to undergo not only insults but death itself for us, he did not refuse to endure chains, scourges, spitting, and reproaches, that he might rescue us from eternal shame: then like the gentlest lamb he was led to the sacrifice, crucified, and offered to God the Father as the purest victim for the salvation of the world, and when the passion was completed he was placed in a sepulchre.

[12] the Resurrection, On the third day he not only rose from the dead, but also bound the devil himself, the author of death, with fiery chains and thrust him back into eternal damnation. After this he appeared to his disciples for forty days with many proofs, speaking with them and eating with them; and on the very day on which he was about to ascend into heaven, he gave them this command: Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And saying this, in the sight of those disciples, he penetrated the heavens, the Ascension; the sending of the Holy Spirit, and sits at the right hand of the Father. Then on the tenth day after his Ascension, while they were gathered together in one place and praying, he sent the Holy Spirit upon them in fiery tongues, and gave them the knowledge of all languages: filled and strengthened by which they immediately began to proclaim the mighty works of God, and, dispersed throughout the world, to announce true salvation to all nations. Of these, Blessed Peter, the Prince of his Apostles, now steadfastly preaches this faith in the city of Rome, and illuminates that city, which has hitherto remained in the darkness of errors, with the ray of his most holy teaching: who has also sent us to these regions, that we might announce to you the same faith, and faithfully show you the way of salvation through which one arrives at the heavenly homeland.

CHAPTER III. The faith confirmed by miracles.

[13] As S. Eucharius was preaching these things, they were pricked in heart and testified that they had never heard or learned such things. Moreover, divine power accompanied this salutary admonition, and the attestation of a stupendous miracle immediately followed it. For there was in that same gathering a certain widow named Albana, distinguished in lineage, most opulent in possessions, who received from servants hurrying to the scene a sad message, namely that her only son, whom she had left at home sick, had died the dead son of the matron Albana when his painful illness returned to his vital organs. Hearing this, she immediately cast herself at the feet of S. Eucharius with tears, saying: I beseech you, restorer of our city and illuminator of our whole nation, that you have pity on me, now twice bereaved in my wretchedness, and deign to show the heart of compassion to me, most unhappy woman, for I was recently widowed of my husband, and (alas!) today I am miserably bereft by the death of my only son. If you raise him, know for certain that after this I will most willingly obey your precepts, and with my son and my whole household I will believe in your Christ. Moved by these laments, Blessed Eucharius went with her together with Valerius and Maternus, and because of the novelty of so great a miracle, a copious crowd went with them. When he had arrived there, they entered the house, while the people outside the doors waited for the outcome: and first indeed they knelt down and gave themselves to prayer, S. Eucharius raises him by his prayers, and then, rising from prayer, they approached the lifeless body, and Blessed Eucharius, holding the hand of the deceased with confidence, said: I say to you, young man, that in the name of Jesus Christ, who by his own power raised the only son of a widow, you likewise return to the present light, and henceforth, having abandoned the error of the demons, acknowledge your Creator with right faith. And as his soul returned he straightway rose, and though not yet imbued with the faith, he began to give thanks to God: and S. Eucharius took him with him outside the house, and before all the people gave him back alive and free from all infirmity to his mother. Then all who were present began to cry out with loud voices saying: Truly the God of the Christians is proven to be great and most powerful; and baptizes her with her household, who works such signs and wonders through his servants. On that same day Albana was baptized with her son and her whole household, and a considerable crowd from among the people: and her house not many days later was consecrated by S. Eucharius as a church. and consecrates her house.

[14] After this a certain nobleman, a Senator of the same city, saw a dream that would prove beneficial for the salvation of many: for on a certain night he beheld in a dream a man standing before him, elegant of countenance, resplendent in most splendid garments, bearing in his hand a cross of wondrous value, and saying to him: These men who have come hither are servants of the Most High God, a Senator divinely admonished to hear the Saints, and have been sent here for your salvation: and therefore if you wish to escape everlasting death and arrive at eternal life, do all things whatsoever they shall tell you, and obey their precepts with all devotion. And saying this he was taken from his sight. And when morning came, having summoned the citizens, he narrated in order what he had seen and heard in the dream. Emboldened by this account, they began to run eagerly to the Saints of God, and to thirst for the water of holy baptism: many are converted and baptized in the stream Olevia, and so great was the concourse of the people to them for three days, that they baptized them in the river which runs through the middle of the city, nor could they otherwise bear the press of the crowd. Whence it is believed to have come about that from that time that same stream, on account of the infusion of the sacred oil, was derivatively called Olevia. Meanwhile the city was cleansed of the pollution of idols, the superstitious error was cast aside, the altars of demons were destroyed, churches of Christ were built throughout the area: the trumpet of salvation sounded far and wide through the city, and invited and summoned all to the grace of belief: the city was fortified on every side with the arms of faith against the snares of spiritual enemies, and a new hymn was publicly sung therein: and she who before, by not knowing her Creator, was an adulteress, by converting herself through faith became the most sacred bride of Christ.

[15] Now it happened one day that, as the God-beloved Bishop was passing through the middle of the city to give exhortation, as was always his custom, he encountered a certain paralytic man of wretched appearance: who, having begged as a poor man that he have pity on him, the man of God, full of the heart of mercy, without any hesitation raised his hand and extended the sign of blessing to the needy man. S. Eucharius heals a paralytic by the sign of the Cross, and raises a dead man. But what Almighty God deigned to show through his servant we have deemed worthy to set forth. For as a crowd of people surrounded him, there lay in the middle of the street the lifeless body of a certain person; this, however, was hidden from the venerable Eucharius, but of what merit the holy man was could in no way be hidden. When therefore, as we said, he raised his hand to make the sign of the holy cross against the paralytic, the shadow of sanctification touched the corpse. A wondrous thing: and in accordance with the Lord's promise, pledging to believers who believe in him: He who believes in me, the works that I do he shall do also, and greater things than these shall he do, he deigned to fulfill in his servant what he had promised. John 14:12. The dead man therefore, in the presence of all the people, immediately reviving, was raised up in that hour: and not knowing what was happening to him, he prostrated himself at the feet of the holy man giving thanks. And so it came about that while one man begged to be healed by the holy man, he himself obtained salvation; and the dead man, with no one interceding for him, was revived. In which deed we believe this holy Bishop was in no way inferior to his master, whose shadow, as soon as it fell upon the sick, restored them to health, driving away the afflictions of illness. Then all who were present at the spectacle of that miracle, giving thanks to Christ, raised praises to heaven.

CHAPTER IV. The death of S. Eucharius.

[16] Meanwhile they preached the word of life throughout all the surrounding regions, The three Saints are renowned for miracles: and they excelled far and wide in both preaching and miracles: for they gave sight to the blind, restored the infirm, raised the dead, put demons to flight, and healed all diseases. And when Blessed Eucharius had held the Pontificate of the city of Trier for twenty-three years, Eucharius, warned by an Angel of his approaching death, and had ecclesiastical affairs well established and firmly founded, and was himself now of advanced age; on a certain night an Angel of the Lord stood by him, saying: Eucharius, you have labored faithfully in the commandments of the Lord, you have fought manfully in the contest of the present life; come now to the rest promised to you, and receive the incorruptible crown of your struggle. Having learned these things through the vision, S. Eucharius greatly rejoiced and awaited the time of his dissolution without fear. And when he perceived that the day of his departure was imminent, he instructs his followers: having summoned his disciples to him, he said: I know, dearly beloved, that I shall shortly depart from this world and fulfill the debt of the human condition; and therefore I ask you to maintain among yourselves firm faith, unshaken hope, and true charity; and never henceforth consent to diabolical errors. That which is earthly of me, commit to the earth; and that which is spiritual, provide for with spiritual obsequies.

[17] He designates Valerius as his successor: And to Blessed Valerius he said: I commend to you, dearest brother, the bride of Christ, that is, his Church, which I have won in these regions by his power; guard her chastely, and suffer her not to be polluted in your days by any deceits of error: dispense liberally the measure of evangelical wheat, as a faithful and prudent servant to the Lord's household: multiply faithfully the talents entrusted to you in them, so that when the Judge shall come to reckon with his servants, you may not be punished like the wicked and lazy servant for talents buried in the ground, but rather be happily introduced into the joy of your Lord for treasures doubled. As S. Eucharius was saying these things, his chamber being illumined by a heavenly light, suddenly, in the sight of all who were present, a bright light like lightning flashed forth, and shone about his entire cell for nearly the space of one hour. And he, bidding farewell to the brethren, and reverently closing his eyes, left this sorrowful world, and on the eighth day before the Ides of December joyfully departed to Christ with that same light. He dies. Then the disciples celebrated the sacred obsequies for his departure, and buried his body with hymns and pious tears in the church which is situated outside the walls of the city to the south.

CHAPTER V. The episcopate of S. Valerius.

[18] After his venerable death, Blessed Valerius succeeded to the priestly ministry and governed it most commendably for fifteen years, living in holiness and preaching the word of life: in which span of time he converted many peoples to the Lord, S. Valerius converts many, performing great signs and stupendous prodigies, and brought them to the knowledge of the Catholic faith by the most salutary urging: and he applied himself so zealously to the word of preaching that already at that time throughout nearly all of Gaul and Germany the Christians surpassed the pagans both in number and in religion. For his teaching was suited to each and most sweet and pleasing to all who heard it: whence, on account of the honeyed eloquence of his sermons, people flocked to him from every direction, and desired to hear at least some word from his mouth.

[19] As regards his personal conduct, to speak briefly, he was most pure in thought, a most holy man: useful and discreet in speech, and likewise irreproachable and outstanding in action: and so through the active life he was near to each person in compassion, yet above all others was he elevated in contemplation, and neither when engaged in contemplation did he abandon the fraternal condescension of the active life, nor when occupied in action did he withdraw from the sublimity of contemplation: and following the saving admonitions of his master by the straight path, he faithfully dispensed the evangelical wheat to the Lord's household, and daily multiplied the talents entrusted to him by spiritual increase.

[20] When by these degrees of progress he had reached a venerable old age and the completion of his course was now approaching, on a certain night Blessed Eucharius appeared to him in a vision, saying: The time of your dissolution is now at hand, He understands the day of his death by the appearance of S. Eucharius: brother Valerius, and the joys of eternal reward are prepared for you. For the gate of the heavenly kingdom lies open to you, which on the fifth day after this hour you shall joyfully enter, and you shall rejoice without end in the benefits bestowed by your Lord. Wherefore appoint Maternus, the fellow-laborer of our struggle, as the successor of your office, and assure him of our visitation before the day of his departure: and saying this he withdrew. And S. Valerius, awakening, straightway narrated the dream to Blessed Maternus and to the other brethren who were at hand, and with the most joyful countenance foretold them that the day of his death was near. He consecrates Maternus as Bishop: On the following day he promoted the venerable Maternus to the priestly rank, and diligently instructed him concerning the zeal of the ministry committed to him.

[21] And when during the aforesaid interval, as the faithful came on account of the report of his deposition, he earnestly instructed them with the word of salutary admonition concerning the practice of holy living, and stirred them to the salvation of their souls with sweet exhortation and paternal affection; having received the Viaticum he dies on 29 January on the dawning of the fifth day he entered the oratory and received the Viaticum which he himself had consecrated: and after this, with his sacred limbs stretched out between the hands of his disciples, on the fourth day before the Kalends of February he rendered his spirit to heaven. His disciples, gathering his body, placed it alongside the most sacred body of S. Eucharius, He is buried with S. Eucharius, and laid it in the same sarcophagus with divine praises: which we believe was done by divine arrangement, so that those whose mind had always been one in the Lord, their bodies also should not be separated even by the tomb.

CHAPTER VI. The episcopate of S. Maternus.

[22] After the departure of S. Valerius, Blessed Maternus assumed the pontifical dignity and began steadfastly to preach the true faith, which is in Christ, through cities and regions; to summon all to the way of salvation by continual admonition, S. Maternus renowned for miracles, to increase daily in great virtues, and to shine far and wide with signs and miracles: and the more he saw the multitude of the faithful increasing with daily growth, the more diligently he strove to order the ministry entrusted to him according to rule. For this man, he converts many, although he was of great authority and prudence, exercised nothing by his own command, as if using arbitrary power, but did all things humbly and simply, and showed himself accessible to his subjects through the practice of holy love; also in all the praiseworthy things he did, adorned with meekness and other virtues: he sought not his own glory but the glory of Christ: and among all the other exercises of the holy virtues, being most gentle, he consoled the afflicted, fed the needy from what he had, clothed the naked, redeemed captives, received strangers, mercifully showed the way of salvation to those who had gone astray, gently promised the hope of obtaining pardon to the despairing, constantly urged forward those who were running in the way of God's commandments, stirred up by the word of exhortation those who lingered along the way; and now by teaching, now by exhorting, now by supporting, now by placing himself in the way of dangers, he unceasingly came to the aid of all with his devoted consolation.

[23] Sustained therefore by these and other such pursuits of good works, he presides for forty years: he reached a holy and praiseworthy old age; and just as he had lain forty days in the sepulchre, so also he remained the same number of years in the priestly ministry. He was accustomed to visit in silence by night the place where the bodies of the Saints repose, while praying at night and to persist there alone in prayer for a long time: whence, when on a certain night he had entered the same church according to his custom, and was celebrating the divine praises there at greater length, around midnight he began to be weighed down by sleep, and to be retarded from his persistent prayers by a tongue that often stumbled; and he, sitting on a bench that was there, resting his elbows on his knees, reclined his holy head between both hands, and yielding briefly to sleep quickly fell asleep: and straightway SS. Eucharius and Blessed Valerius appeared to him in a vision, SS. Eucharius and Valerius appear, shining with the most radiant countenances, gleaming in priestly vestments, wearing on their heads single crowns wondrously woven of roses and lilies and other fragrant flowers, showing a similar garland, and saying: Behold, Maternus, just as we once promised you, so have we come to visit you before the day of your falling asleep. Now therefore rejoice and be glad, for on the third day you shall depart from this world, they invite him to glory: and you shall enter into the ineffable joys of your Lord. Behold the incorruptible crown of your reward, which has been taken from the paradise of perpetual beauty, and has been sent to you by Christ through us his servants; whose flower never fades, whose fragrance never fails in sweetness, whose endurance knows no end; which after the corruption of the present life you shall possess incorruptibly, and in the sight of the King of Kings you shall endure eternally, crowned with it.

[24] Having said these things they soon disappeared: and he, waking from his lightest sleep, was indeed greatly gladdened by the vision shown to him, when sick he instructs his followers: but yet he immediately felt bodily distress come upon him, and summoning his attendant, he returned with his help to his cell, and privately reported to his closest disciples what had been shown to him. On the next day, having summoned the company of brethren to him, he began to admonish them earnestly concerning the integrity of the faith, and to kindle their spirits to heavenly desire with delightful words: and not ceasing to give them salutary admonitions throughout the entire day, he prolonged his exhortatory discourse until the eighth hour of the following night; and what remained of the night he spent in psalms and hymns with the brethren. After the cock-crow, as day was now approaching, a clear voice came from above, heard by all who were in that cell, saying: Maternus, beloved of God, come. summoned by a heavenly voice, he bids farewell to his followers, And he, as if hearing a familiar voice, turned to the brethren standing around him and said: Farewell, my little children and my dear ones; for I am now departing, and in the present world I shall be with you no more. and having received the Viaticum he dies. And saying this he received the communion of the Lord's sacrament, and straightway breathed forth his holy soul. Then the faithful who were present performed the fitting obsequies, and placed his body not far from the relics of SS. Eucharius and Valerius with honor, on the eighteenth day before the Kalends of October.

[25] These things concerning the deeds of the holy Fathers, after the destruction of the city of Trier, searching the remaining ashes more diligently, Epilogue of the Author, we found scattered on scraps of parchment: which, having been collected into one volume, we faithfully commend to the benefit of readers both present and future: and although in the present booklet few things are contained of their most holy deeds on account of the calamity mentioned above, it must be believed without doubt that the Lord performed many miracles through them while they still lived in the body, since even now he does not cease to do the same at their relics. For in that same place the blind are frequently given sight, The power of the Saints illustrated by miracles, the sick are healed, demons are driven from possessed bodies, and various infirmities both of body and soul are cured: and whoever shall come there with pious desire and faithful devotion, and shall entreat the Lord there through their merits concerning any necessity, not only obtains what he has asked, but rejoices that he has received even greater things than these, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns as God through infinite ages of ages, Amen.