Adelelmus

CONCERNING S. ADELELMUS, OR ELESMES, ABBOT, AT BURGOS IN SPAIN.

About the year 1100.

Adelelmus or Elesmes, at Burgos in Spain (S.)

[1] At Burgos, the most illustrious city of Old Castile, the veneration of S. Adelelmus is celebrated, who is commonly called Elesmes, or Lesmes. For although some establish a different Lesmes, or Elesmes, or Elesmus, they nevertheless also call the former by both names. Two persons named Adelelmus, or Elesmes: The latter is reported to have been the servant of S. Julian, Bishop of Cuenca, as we said in his life on 28 January, chapter 2, number 7, letter k. Antonio de Yepes, Benedictine Chronicle, volume 6, century 7, at the year 1091, chapter 2, writes that while he was measuring out wheat for the needy at the command of his Bishop, by the force of his labor the omentum ruptured, and he contracted a very troublesome hernia, which brought him great pains for the rest of his life thereafter, which he bore with remarkable patience; the latter was also held as Blessed: and after the Bishop's death, having returned to Burgos, he concluded his life with a most holy end; and is commonly held and called Blessed, adorned with a magnificent tomb, which is still seen in the church of Burgos. These two Elesmes are sometimes confused; and the latter, who was about a hundred years younger than the former, and perhaps named after him, was a Spaniard by nation, and is simply called a Saint. Thus Ferrari, on this day, after having recorded S. Adelelmus, adds: In the same place (Burgos), S. Elesmes the Priest. Others do not call him a Priest, and rather suggest that he was a layman, or at any rate a cleric of an inferior order; so among others Trujillo on 28 January, in the life of S. Julian: By the command of the holy man, a certain servant of his distributed that wheat to the poor: that servant was called Lesmes, who from the immense labor which he undertook in distributing the wheat, died, leaving among the citizens no small reputation of his sanctity. Who would believe that there was no one in the Bishop's household who would undertake that labor except the domestic Priest, who would not very aptly be called the servant of the Bishop? The same Ferrari on 28 January: At Burgos in Spain, S. Elesmes, Priest and Confessor. That he understands this of the latter Elesmes is evident from his Annotations: Among others, he says, on the 30th of this month. In the records of the Church of Burgos, nor is he noted on any other day. Which same thing he repeats on this 30th day. Setting aside this Elesmes, therefore, we shall here treat of the elder.

[2] S. Adelelmus the Abbot is venerated by the Church of Burgos, as its Patron, with a double office. Of him the same Ferrari on this day: At Burgos in Spain, S. Adelelmus the Confessor. Benedict Dorgany: S. Adelelmus the Abbot. Hugo Menard: At Burgos in Spain, S. Adelelmus the Abbot, disciple of S. Robert, Abbot of La Chaise-Dieu. Andrea Saussay: The Deposition of S. Adelelmus, who by nation a Gaul, the birthday of the former, by homeland of Loudun on the borders of Poitou and Anjou, in the very bloom of youth, spurning the deceits and allurements of the world, resolved to serve Christ under regular discipline. Having therefore become the disciple of Blessed Robert, the first Abbot of La Chaise-Dieu in Auvergne, he so learned the principles of holy monasticism that by his manner of life he was a shining mirror of evangelical perfection. Whence he was advanced not only to the governance of the monastery as the third in order, but when he was spreading the rays of his admirable holiness far and wide, summoned to Spain by frequent entreaties of Queen Constance; there, having opened up the path of a most holy life, at the request and with the help of the aforesaid Queen, he built a monastery in honor of S. John the Baptist, and having gathered many ascetics, whom he instructed in the precepts of salutary discipline, consummated with a holy end, he blessedly fell asleep in Christ, and graced with an honorable sepulchre, he gave forth illustrious testimonies of the glory which he enjoys on account of his merits.

[3] Yepes attests that there exists in the monastery of S. John the Baptist at Burgos a manuscript history of the deeds performed by S. Adelelmus, composed by Rudolph, a monk of the monastery of La Chaise-Dieu, Life written by the monk Rudolph, whom Almericus, or rather Aimericus, the sixth Abbot of La Chaise-Dieu, had sent there, not long after the death of Adelelmus, since Aimericus himself was Bishop of Clermont in the time of Louis the Fat, who died in the year 1137, the thirtieth of his reign. Yepes frequently cites this history of the monk Rudolph, and in chapter 3 recites these very words of his: Then the man of God Adelelmus came to the cell given to him, where innumerable miracles were accomplished through him: upon the bare ground he prayed for so long until, when nature compelled, sleep forced itself upon him; and there, when he had slept a very little, he immediately awoke and did not cease from prayer. In his cell, which the King had given him, he daily celebrated Masses after Matins; when these were completed, with baskets of bread, as many as he could, sitting daily at the door of the cell, where the passage of the poor was, he lavished whatever he had on those in need.

[4] Yepes also attests that Alfonso Venero wrote the Life of S. Adelelmus. We have not seen this; and by others. we have seen what Juan Maldonado published, Thomas Trujillo in the Thesaurus of Preachers, Alfonso de Villegas, Benedict Gonon, book 3, On the Vows of the Western Fathers, Lucio Marineo, book 5, On the Affairs of Spain. We give here what Juan Marieta of the Order of Preachers, book 1, Ecclesiastical History of Spain, chapter 4 and the five following, wrote in Spanish; although not free from every error, especially chronological, as we shall note below. The narrative of Yepes is more accurate, but he acknowledges that he deliberately omitted the miracles, for the sake of avoiding prolixity; whether Marieta pursued them all, we do not know. Martin Carrillo also mentions S. Adelelmus in his Annals at the year 1093.

[5] The era of S. Adelelmus has been expressed both by the same writers and may be inferred from the Life of S. Robert, founder of La Chaise-Dieu, When he lived, which we shall give on 24 April, with whom it is established that Adelelmus lived. In it Marbod writes thus: At that time Henry was ruling the Franks, Leo IX held the Apostolic See; and so the aforesaid Bishop (Rencon) went to the Pope, the holy man to the King of the Franks, each to seek from them the strength of authority and appropriate privileges for the stability of the new place, etc. Henry I reigned from the year 1033 to 1060. Leo IX sat from the year 1049 to 16 April 1054. Marieta writes below that Adelelmus died around the year 1070. Yepes writes more accurately that he died when Urban II was governing the Church, who was consecrated on 12 March 1088, a Sunday, and died on 29 July 1099. he died after the year 1091. Yepes proves that Adelelmus was still living in the year 1091 from a twofold diploma of Alfonso VI, King of Castile, both given in the Era 1129, that is, the year of Christ 1091, on the third day before the Nones of November, Monday. In the first the King says: All these things I grant to S. Robert and Lord Adelelmus. In the second: Therefore in the name of God, I Alfonso the Emperor, together with the consent of my wife Queen Constance, it came to me with a dear heart and my own will to make a charter of donation, and I make it, for the remedy of my soul and of my parents, to the Lord God, and to S. Robert of La Chaise-Dieu, and to you Lord Adelelmus, of that chapel of mine, etc.

[6] S. Adelelmus was therefore living, as we have shown, on 3 November 1091; before 1103, but in the year 1102, or at least 1103, on 11 October, Constantine was already presiding over the monastery of S. John in his place; therefore he had already died. There exists in the same Yepes a diploma of Alfonso VI in which these things are found: I, Alfonso the Emperor, together with the consent of my wife Queen Elisabeth, it came to me with a dear heart and my own will to make a charter of donation to you Lord Constantine, Prior, and to the monks of the monastery of S. John of Burgos, which belongs to S. Robert of La Chaise-Dieu, in our Lord Christ, Amen. Lest anyone suspect that Constantine was indeed the Prior but Adelelmus was the Abbot, the same Yepes cites a Bull of Pope Sixtus IV, given on 13 August in the year 1478, the eighth of his pontificate, in which these things are found: Indeed, on the part of our beloved sons the Prior and Convent of the monastery of S. John near and outside the walls of Burgos, accustomed to be governed by a Prior, of the Order of S. Benedict, a petition recently presented to us contained, etc. More may be read about the origin, progress, and modern state of this monastery in the same Yepes. Moreover, when that diploma of King Alfonso already cited was issued, it is expressed thus: This charter of testament was made on the known day, the fifth before the Ides of October, Era 1112. But there is a manifest error in the number of the Era; for since from Pelagius of Oviedo, to be cited below in chapter 1 of the Life, letter e, it is established that Elisabeth was the fourth wife of Alfonso, she could not have been Queen in the Era 1112, that is, the year of Christ 1074, since Constance, who was the second, was still living in the year 1091. Therefore the number of the Era seems to be corrected thus: that for 1112 one should restore 1140 or 1141, which is the year of Christ 1102 or 1103. The Era cannot be set at 1150 or 1151, which would be the year 1112 or 1113, because Alfonso died on 1 July 1109. It seems that 1141 was originally written, and the L was changed to I.

[7] His translation, Yepes writes that S. Adelelmus was buried in the chapel of S. John the Evangelist, not far from the convent which is now of Augustinian nuns within the city walls: but about the year 1480 the distinguished parish church of S. Adelelmus, the church, which now stands outside the city walls, was built with the alms of the citizens, and his body was translated there; the sepulchre, the sepulchre, however, was adorned with the greatest splendor and magnificence about fifty years ago.

LIFE

Written in Spanish by Juan Marieta.

Adelelmus or Elesmes, at Burgos in Spain (S.)

From the Spanish of Juan Marieta.

CHAPTER I.

The education, military service, and conversion of S. Adelelmus.

[1] S. Adelelmus, citizen and patron of the magnificent city of Burgos, flourished under Henry, son of Henry, Emperor of the Romans, who assumed the empire in the year of Christ 1057, and held it for forty-eight years, with Alexander II, When S. Adelelmus lived: Gregory VII, Urban II (the author of the Jerusalem expedition), and others holding the supreme pontificate in succession: at that time in Spain there reigned Alfonso VI, illustrious for the glory of having freed Toledo from the servitude of the Moors, who had joined to himself in a second marriage Constance, daughter of Louis, King of Gaul, and administered the kingdom which he had received in the year 1063 until the year 1116.

[2] Adelelmus was born at Lyons, a noble city of Gaul, which the most celebrated rivers the Rhone and the Saone wash, of parents illustrious in lineage, wealth, and virtue: instructed in the liberal arts in his early age, instructed in letters, he was then compelled by the will of his family to enlist in military service; yet he did not spend that time in the vices and amusements customary to others. he becomes a soldier: After the death of his parents, he began to distribute generous alms to the poor, and liberally to expend his inheritance upon them. Afterward, admonished by the evangelical oracle: If you would be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure, and come, follow me; he resolved to renounce all things, he gives his goods to the poor, to pour them out upon the needy, and to follow Christ. Matt. 19:21. Then indeed his kinsmen attacked him and urged him rather to name his relatives as heirs than strangers. He said, with his friends vainly opposing him: I bequeath my possessions to no mortal: but since they are meager, so that I cannot be comfortably sustained by them, I wish to sell them and acquire other most ample possessions, which may bestow a life overflowing with every abundance of goods and everlasting. A certain man rebuked him, almost with insult, that although he had been educated in letters by his parents so that he might one day be rendered fit for an ecclesiastical office, he was not obeying their will.

[3] He resolved at last to bid the world farewell entirely, and to leave his possessions, he departs secretly from his homeland: and to depart from his homeland and commit himself to God. Secretly therefore, with a single servant taken as his companion, he departed from his homeland. When he had completed part of the journey, he dismissed his companion, first bestowing on him all that he had with him, and also having exchanged garments with him: then he set out for Rome, to reverently visit the memorials of the Apostles Peter and Paul and of other Saints. It is believable that they were torn apart from each other not without tears, and that the servant was instructed by Adelelmus with salutary commands: to have care of his soul, not to offend God with any graver sin, and to understand at last that many are called back from the pursuit of salvation by the love of friends and relatives; that this was the reason for his voluntary exile.

[4] Then he continued the journey alone, living by begging, rejoicing in the lack of necessary things, by which he might be made like Christ. His way lay through Issoire, where he then found Robert, Abbot of La Chaise-Dieu, invited by S. Robert, he promises to become a monk at La Chaise-Dieu: who was famous for many heavenly prodigies both living and dead. Robert greatly approved his holy purpose of following in the footsteps of Christ: therefore he urged him with many prayers to give up his pilgrimage and remain with him in the monastery of La Chaise-Dieu. Adelelmus had made a vow to visit the sacred thresholds of the Apostles. It was therefore not lawful to acquiesce in Robert's counsel: he promised, however, that on his return he would comply with his instructions, and would receive the holy habit of S. Benedict. Having therefore given his greeting, he was separated from him for a time, with whom he remained most closely united in spirit.

[5] They say Adelelmus made this journey barefoot; that he observed a constant fast, He makes a pilgrimage to Rome as a beggar: except on Sundays and feast days, perpetually intent on prayers. He carried with him neither money nor food, that he might more holily obey Christ commanding His own: Take nothing for the way, neither staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money. Luke 9:3. he refuses money offered to him: There was a time when, as he was begging for alms, a certain good man offered him money in the name of charity; which he refused, denying that they were necessary for himself or at all for those who seek the kingdom of God: his good will was already accepted by God: he gave thanks, which he trusted the Deity would repay.

[6] Having arrived at Rome, he reverently venerated the relics of the Saints, and spent two years visiting the sacred places, with remarkable austerity of life, fasting, scourging of his own body, he visits the sacred places: tears, and prayers, begging alms with great alacrity and solace of spirit together with the other beggars. At length he returned to Gaul to fulfill the promise given to Abbot Robert. So greatly had the austerity of his life disfigured him he returns to S. Robert that Robert no longer recognized him. But when he had revealed in words who he was, the venerable Abbot rushed into his embrace and kisses, and bathed in mutual tears they sang praises to God, who had granted their prayers, that they might enjoy both the sight of each other and the encouragement and example to be stirred to a more ardent love of God, and be made more eager to run the way of God's commandments. Immediately Robert clothed Adelelmus with the holy garments, he becomes a monk, and enrolled the soldier of Christ with the insignia of the Benedictine militia.

CHAPTER II.

The virtues and miracles of Adelelmus before his priesthood.

[7] Here Adelelmus made incredible progress in the virtues, He lives holily: wearing down his flesh with constant fasting and scourging, most zealous for humility and obedience, always intent on prayer; hence also most tenacious of silence, unless necessity or the commands of superiors compelled him to speak, since he was constantly conversing in spirit with the King of Glory. He was most loving of peace and concord: he followed in the footsteps of S. Father Benedict and other Heroes of that same institution as diligently as he could. He reads and imitates the lives of the Saints: The lives of the Saints were his model, to which he conformed his own life.

[8] He was then placed in charge of instructing novices: an office which in religious congregations is customarily entrusted only to men of proven virtue. he becomes Master of Novices: He discharged this so well that partly by pouring out prayers to God, partly by excellent examples, he shaped many to an outstanding holiness of life. He regarded the most sacred name of Jesus with great piety, so that whenever he uttered it, he reverences the name of Jesus: he would either lower his eyes to the ground or modestly incline his head, and venerate that name through which salvation was brought to the human race. This devotion obtained for him from a propitious God the power of working miracles. Asked by a certain young man for a remedy against a troublesome fever arising from a difficult diarrhea; he drives away a fever by a blessing: raising his hand, he blessed him and instantly freed him from all his sickness.

[9] When Adelelmus began to be celebrated by the divine will, as an example of a holier life and a remedy for minds and bodies, he was sent by the Abbot to Boutieres: it was a house of the same congregation. Here great honor accrued to him on account of the illustrious miracles wrought there. A cook from Mont-Gasconis served a nobleman: infected with a foul leprosy, he was not only removed from that function, but altogether from the company of the rest of mortals; as the laws concerning such contagion provide. He therefore resolved to spend the rest of his life abroad: and first he visited the holy monk Adelelmus: he disclosed his disease to him with tears, he kindly receives a leper, and when he had first begun to be afflicted by it. The Saint bade him place his hope in Christ Jesus our Savior: that certain help was offered from Him. For seven days he provided him with bread blessed by himself, and sprinkled his face with holy water, and thus kindly dismissed him. This man, walking beside a great river, and seeing the waters hurling down with a tangled whirlpool into the middle of the channel, despairing of recovering his health, and seized with a great weariness of life, threw himself into that place, intending to cut short his wretched life by a miserable end. When he was already being driven by the force of the water into that whirlpool, and twice rescues him from the waters: the memory of S. Adelelmus came to him, and he began to address him with these words: Servant of God, Adelelmus, if you are the man all proclaim you to be, be present to me in this crisis of life. Wonderful to tell: he perceived two men above the water itself, of whom one was Adelelmus, who, grasping him by the hand, placed him on the shore, and soon withdrew himself from his sight. Afterward, again by the instigation of an evil spirit, he leaped into the water at a place where he seemed likely to find a most certain death, and at the same time an end to so many calamities and reproaches. Already perishing, the recollection of Blessed Adelelmus came to him again: once more he implored his help in this peril of soul and body. God is wonderful in His Saints. Once again Adelelmus was present to him when he was nearly breathing his last, and led him out of the water onto the shore. He afterward related this miracle to his companions, whom he had deliberately gone ahead of in order to destroy himself wickedly; and at length, by divine power, he was entirely cured of leprosy.

[10] Hence great throngs of the sick began to flock from all sides to the holy man, all of whom he dismissed sound in body, having also prayed to God for the well-being of their souls. A snake had entered the mouth of a rustic sleeping in a meadow. Brought to Adelelmus by his friends, he drank water blessed by him and offered to him with the invocation of the name of Jesus; by blessed water he expels the snake: and immediately he vomited forth the snake wrapped in blood. Those standing by burst into praise of God.

[11] A certain woman nursing an infant had her breasts so swollen that at length a purulent discharge opened a fistula. he cures an abscess of the breasts: She spent a great part of her means fruitlessly on physicians, frustrated of all aid: then, moved by the fame of Adelelmus's miracles, she went to him, and besought him to offer prayers on her behalf. The bowels of piety were moved in the Saint; he bent his knees, made the prayers customary on such an occasion and time, and poured a little wine diluted with water blessed by himself into that abscess of the breasts. Instantly the former wholeness was so restored that not even a scar of the abscess was visible.

[12] A certain man of Auvergne, mute from the cradle, was brought by his parents to Adelelmus, he obtains the power of speech for a mute; that by the laying on of his hand he might obtain from God the faculty of speaking. Perceiving their faith, he dipped three morsels of bread in blessed water, and nodded to the mute to eat them. He had swallowed one, when the Saint, hoping that his prayers had been heard by God, said: Say, Blessed be God in heaven and on earth. Wonderful thing: the boy clearly pronounced the same words. And when he had eaten the remaining morsels, he was commanded by the holy man to say the same. He obeyed immediately, and thenceforth no trace of that defect remained in him. he commands this to be kept silent. However, to avoid vainglory, he commanded them not to reveal this to anyone, imitating Christ, who when He had cured the mute, forbade it to be published. But when they had departed from him, they were unable to keep silent about such great wonders of God.

CHAPTER III.

Priesthood. Other miracles.

[13] Adelelmus was then compelled to be ordained to the priesthood. But when he learned that the Bishop who had consecrated him was prohibited from sacred functions by the Roman Pontiff, because he was implicated in the crime of simony, he refused to exercise the office of the order he had received. When another Bishop had been substituted for this one, he went to him to request, as was customary, the authority to exercise the priesthood. A candle carried before him is not extinguished by the greatest wind: But since innumerable people constantly flocked to him, he was compelled to set out on the journey by night. There was then, as in a winter storm, a most violent wind and extremely bitter cold. And since the night was dark, a light was needed to find the way. He therefore ordered his companion to carry a burning candle in his hand until they reached the city. An extraordinary thing! The wind rose more violently, yet the candle, enclosed in no lantern but only carried forward by hand, was not extinguished; but through the entire night it provided light for the holy man. It became widely known that Adelelmus had come to Auvergne: great throngs flock to him: no one can easily express in words what an innumerable multitude of people gathered, who hoped either for solace of soul or remedy of body.

[14] But since envy never fails to follow virtue, there was in that assembly a Priest who had joined the rest more for mockery than for piety: one who laughs at him is punished with gout, he began to ridicule those who approached S. Adelelmus. But the divine severity, which punishes the wicked either here or after death, in order that the virtue of Adelelmus might be more illustrious, struck that Priest with gout, so severe and troublesome that within a short time he was sadly disfigured and scarcely recognized by his own. The wretch perceived that the wound had been divinely inflicted upon him, to avenge the injury he had devised against the Saint; therefore he cast himself before him with many tears, confessing his crime and begging pardon from God and the Saint. he is healed by him. The holy man, who had learned clemency from his Master Christ, not only pardoned the injury, but after a brief admonition sent him home in good health.

[15] When Aduran, Abbot of La Chaise-Dieu, was elevated to the episcopal dignity, Adelelmus was elected Abbot by the monks: an office which, however much and long he deprecated, Adelelmus is made Abbot: he was at length compelled to accept; and he discharged it so skillfully that he was acceptable to God and to men, which rarely happens: so difficult is it to preserve those entrusted to one's care in all goodness and religion, in the fear and love of God. he lives most holily, He was far removed from the manners of this age, when most Prelates, having laid aside all care of their subjects, fatten only themselves. Therefore, both maintaining his own custom and desirous of shining before his people by example, he wore down his body with much abstinence and scourging: he prayed God for those committed to him, watched over their salvation, knowing how severe the future judgment would be for those who preside, and how strict an account would be required of them, both of themselves and of the flock entrusted to them.

[16] He so pursued humility that although he bore the care and solicitude, most humble, he did not wish the honor customarily given to Abbots to be paid to himself. He asked a certain nobleman for something: which the latter not only did not grant, but even inflicted insult. One who denies him something is punished by God: Adelelmus bore this most patiently, and prayed God to grant him grace by which he might recognize his fault. The following night, great and intolerable pains assailed him: compelled therefore to approach the man of God, he begged pardon and sought a remedy for his malady. Adelelmus prayed to God, and recovered health for the man, who soon willingly granted what was asked.

[17] It is a matter of great merit to preside, but it greatly distracts the mind and diverts it from interior worship. Adelelmus therefore, seeing before himself the crown of a governance well administered, but judging that a quiet and tranquil life devoted to the contemplation of divine things surpassed all others, resolved to resign that office: he resigns the office of Abbot: nor did he rest until that matter was accomplished, having neglected all honor and dignity. For although nothing harmed his innocence, but rather added to his merits; he nevertheless preferred to do without them, and to attend to himself rather than to others. He therefore yielded office to the unwilling monks, and gave them the faculty to elect whatever Abbot they wished, since he judged himself unworthy of that office.

[18] They say that the Queen of England, afflicted with lethargy, having tried other remedies in vain, sent Legates to him, and asked that he render God propitious to her. He denied that he had so much favor with God that he could obtain so great a thing by praying: he cures diseases with blessed bread, at length, however, both because the Queen's faith was tested and by the Legates' almost importunate constancy in petitioning, he blessed bread and sent it to the Queen as a remedy for her illness. The Queen had eaten a morsel of that bread when she was restored to health; and as many sick persons as ate of it were likewise restored. The Queen wished there to be a memorial of the benefit received, and a testimony of her gratitude. Since she knew that he abhorred gold, silver, and absolutely all money, she sent him vestments for use in offering the sacrifice. Adelelmus accepted the sacred gift, valuing it more for its piety than its price.

CHAPTER IV.

Miracles wrought in Spain.

[19] He is invited to Spain: The fame of his holiness could not be contained within the borders of Gaul or of Britain; it penetrated into Spain as well. Constance, the second wife of King Alfonso VI (from whose daughter Urraca, married to Raymond of Toulouse, father of Alfonso who was called Emperor, the royal line of the Spaniards descends), having learned of his holiness, by the authority of her husband, ordered him to be invited to Spain, to be illuminated by his erudition and miracles. For she thought that the glory of God would be enlarged by his coming, and that the benefit from his presence would overflow to all the kingdoms of Spain. The Saint could not resist the Queen's wishes, having recognized with what faith she asked, and how great was the scarcity of religious men in the Spanish provinces recently freed from the yoke of the Moors, or certainly impelled by a certain hidden movement of the divine will. The King and Queen leaped with immense joy when they beheld him in their kingdom: he is detained for some time at court: and especially when they saw that the fame spread abroad concerning him was either confirmed or surpassed by the splendor of deeds and virtues accomplished there as well. Moreover, led by the hope that the divine protection would be present to them on account of his presence, they wished him to be with them.

[20] Then, judging it not sufficiently fitting that a man of such great name and holiness should perpetually follow the Court, they permitted him, as he requested, to withdraw, having transferred to him for his habitation the chapel or house of S. John the Evangelist, which the King had built near the walls of the city of Burgos for receiving and aiding with alms the pilgrims heading to Compostela to the sepulchre of S. James. Since on that journey the river Tagus had to be crossed, which at that time had swollen widely with rain water, and danger was feared because there were no bridges; the King ordered strong horses to be selected, which would break the force of the river, so that those riding on weaker beasts might cross more safely. The King, having already crossed the river, asked about Adelelmus: they said he had not yet arrived at the river. He sent a fine horse to him, because he was sitting on a lean and feeble beast, lest he throw himself into some danger. he miraculously crosses the river: He, trusting in the help of the Deity dwelling in him, when he had signed his forehead and then the waters with the sign of the Cross, uttering those words of the Psalmist: Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will glory in the name of the Lord our God; he crossed the river fearlessly, the water scarcely reaching the fetlocks of the donkey. Psalm 19:8. The King, astonished by the miracle, cast himself at his feet, and kissed his feet and hands, commending to him the salvation of his soul and body and the safety of his kingdom.

[21] He then bestowed upon him many possessions situated between two rivers, the Arlanzon and the Vena; in the middle of which that chapel of S. John is seen, and the sepulchre of S. Adelelmus. When Adelelmus went to the dwelling handed over to him, he receives pilgrims: he began there to serve God most religiously, to minister diligently to pilgrims, to receive them under his roof, to refresh them with food, and to free them from diseases. For many miracles were wrought by him there. he cures a lunatic: A lunatic woman was brought to him, her mouth hideously distorted, making disordered gestures from the violence of the inhabiting demon. The Saint, having prayed as was customary, thus rebuked the demon: I command you, wicked spirit, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, to depart from this handmaid of God, and to go where you can henceforth harm no mortal. While he was saying these words, the wretched woman began to vomit and to fall to the ground lifeless. When Adelelmus had prayed well for her, she immediately rose, took food which he provided, and having been restored to her former health, she vomited out before very many a purple cloth, which, with no one daring to touch it, soon vanished from the sight of all.

[22] he heals another woman who had swallowed a serpent; Another woman, sleeping with her mouth open, had a snake enter her stomach. All the efforts of the medical art availed her nothing. Brought to S. Adelelmus, she drank water blessed by him, spat out a snake in the likeness of an eel, and by divine power was free of all pain and trouble. The same remedy was the salvation of yet another woman.

[23] A priest, long afflicted with a recurrent quartan fever, when he was relieved by no medical aid, came to S. Adelelmus, likewise another: and, having been sprinkled with a single drop of blessed water with which he sprinkled those who came to him, he was immediately freed from all the trouble of the fever. he cures fevers. Many other things have been committed to writing about the teaching and life of this holy Confessor: but lest I create tedium for the reader, I now refrain from narrating them.

CHAPTER V.

His death. Miracles wrought after death.

[24] When the time was approaching in which Adelelmus was to exchange his mortal and wretched life for a blessed and immortal one, and to receive from God the reward of his labors, Sick, he exults: he began to fail in bodily strength, and as the infirmity increased daily, the more his body was weakened, the more he exulted with alacrity of mind, yearning for the desired sight and embrace of his God. He then with a lengthy address exhorted his followers to the spiritual labors by which eternal rest is obtained. Who could mention the tears and sighs of the servants of God? Who could describe the mourning of the whole city, when they felt that they were shortly to be bereaved of the best Father, from whom they received so many and such great benefits of body and soul? There was then at Burgos Peter, Bishop of Pamplona, from whom Adelelmus, having first made a full confession of all his sins, fortified with the last Sacraments, received the other sacred Sacraments of the Christian religion customarily administered to the dying, with great piety of mind, pouring forth a great flood of tears.

[25] Then, having prayed for all who had commended themselves to him, he ordered himself to be carried to the oratory of S. John the Evangelist, at the entrance of which he uttered those words of the Psalmist: Save me, O God, by your name, and judge me by your power. Psalm 53:1. And having reverently venerated the Cross, he said: Into your hands, he dies piously: O Lord, I commend my spirit: and he rendered his soul to his Savior Jesus, who had already prepared for him a seat and dwelling in heaven. Immediately the whole city and the entire clergy flocked together, to implore the patronage of his prayers and to celebrate his funeral rites. When these had been solemnly performed over three days, his body was committed to burial at the right side of his cell, on 30 January, about the year of Christ 1070.

[26] A sick man is healed by touching his body: His sanctity was also confirmed from heaven by miracles after death. In his cell there was a certain young man with a deformed body, who nevertheless hoped to obtain health from him: brought to the chapel in which the holy body, not yet committed to the earth, was lying, as soon as he touched it placed upon the bier, he was instantly restored to wholeness and health by the divine power: a prodigy which many persons of both orders beheld.

[27] A certain woman, weeping immoderately at the funerals of her husband and sons, had so weakened her eyes a blind woman recovers her sight at the sepulchre; that she was entirely deprived of sight. She resolved to make a pilgrimage to Rome to visit the sepulchres of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, having hired a companion and guide. When they came to Burgos, that blind woman seemed in her dreams to see an old man of extraordinary authority, to whom, when he asked the reason for her journey, she explained it: she was then told to place her hope in the mercy of God, and to go to the little chapel of S. John the Evangelist near the city walls: a certain Adelelmus was buried there, from whom she could obtain a remedy for her blindness, if she sought it with sincere piety. She did not delay in carrying out what was commanded: she went to the chapel, invoked S. Adelelmus with tears. Nor was the Saint's favor or God's benevolence far from her. She recovered her sight, and completed the pilgrimage she had begun, needing no guide.

[28] another crippled man is healed, A certain man, with all his limbs twisted in a sad manner, while he kept vigil at the sepulchre of S. Adelelmus and prayed for a remedy, saw him visibly before him, and heard him say: If you wish to obtain health of body and the mercy of God, amend your life, and from your heart forgive the injuries inflicted upon you. And when he pledged that he would do these things, the Saint grasped him by the hand, and said: In the name of the Lord, arise and go, and do not cease from proclaiming the praises of Christ. Immediately, before all, he stood up in good health, and sang ample praises to God, who is admirable in His Saints.

[29] another afflicted with severe pain, A certain Bartholomew had come to Burgos to purchase I know not what goods: when he wished to return home, he was seized by an immense pain, to such an extent that he was deprived of the use of his tongue and all his limbs. Carried to the sepulchre of S. Adelelmus, having kept vigil in that chapel, and having not in vain implored the help of S. Adelelmus, he departed in good health.

[30] The young Pelagius was tormented by sharp pains of the kidneys, so that he could neither stand on his feet another freed from kidney pain: nor sit down because of the intensity of the pain. When he was brought to the sepulchre of S. Adelelmus, the divine goodness bestowed upon him perfect health by the merits of His holy Confessor.

[31] The feast of S. Pope Gregory was being celebrated at Burgos: a certain blacksmith not only failed to observe it, One who violates the feast is punished with trembling of the hands, but even mocked others who were more religious. The vengeance of God was not long delayed. His hands began to tremble, so that he could not only not exercise his craft, but could not even bring food to his mouth. The wretch perceived that the wound had been divinely inflicted upon him for his sacrilege: he confessed his crime, took refuge at the sepulchre of S. Adelelmus, and extending his hands over it, with tears he prayed both for pardon of his sin and for the health of his body. he is freed by the help of S. Adelelmus. The Saint does not turn away prayers sent from the heart: therefore the man's groans were heard, he was freed from his trembling, and thereafter piously venerated S. Gregory and S. Adelelmus, who with the rest of God's elect enjoy eternal rest. The Church of Burgos celebrates Adelelmus on 30 January, the day on which he departed this life.