ON ST. EPARCHIUS OF ANGOULÊME
IN THE YEAR 581.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Eparchius, Confessor, monk and presbyter, at Angoulême in Gaul (S.)
BHL Number: 2557
BY THE AUTHOR J. B. S.
§. I. The glory of the Saint from his ancient monastery and solemn cult.
Concerning Angoulême, a noble city of Aquitaine; concerning its situation and other things pertaining to it, there was occasion long ago elsewhere in our Acts to speak, as on May 22, volume V page 131, in St. Ansolius, the first Apostle of the city and people; wherefore I have thought to forgo a longer description here. Eparchius the glory of Angoulême I use the word Angoulême (Engolisma), as more received, although I am not ignorant of its manifold and more ancient appellations, Iculisma, Ecolisma, and perhaps twenty others, laboriously sought and collected by the distinguished man Adrien de Valois, in the Notitia Galliarum page 250, to whom we refer the more curious readers. Nor does it please to inquire into other matters, which in Corlieu and other Angoulême writers are sufficiently obvious. To this only does that foretaste of the name look, that to the aforesaid city signal splendor was brought by him of whom we treat, St. Eparchius, not the least among its tutelary patrons, whose solitude, soon changed into a magnificent monastery, joined to the city by a bridge laid over the Charente, so increased by the donations of the Kings of France, but especially of Pippin, then of William surnamed Iron-cutter, and of other Princes, that it was most famous in all Gaul, ennobled by the tombs of several Bishops, indeed by the established burial of the Counts of Angoulême themselves.
[2] The Sammarthani recall some things pertaining to that abbey and its various fortune, he had there a famous abbey, but much more could be drawn out from the Chronicle of Ademar of Chabannes, a monk of St. Eparchius, in the Manuscript Library of Labbe volume 2 from page 151, where on the page next following, something singular is noted, where however in the names of St. Germanus and Charibert an error must be acknowledged; it has thus: At that time St. Germanus Bishop of Paris, sent by King Charibert to the city of Angoulême, consecrated the basilica of St. Eparchius, where he himself had recently been buried: there was present with him the venerable Gregory Bishop of Tours, and in that very basilica, placing many relic-pledges of the Blessed Martin the Bishop, they dedicated it in honor of the same blessed Martin. An error, I say, must be acknowledged, for from the reckoning of times we suppose it established, that St. Germanus as well as King Charibert departed from the living before St. Eparchius. On the same page of the Chronicle one reads: Theodebert, conquered, is laid low, and being dead, gathered up there by Duke Aunulf too, carried to the city of Angoulême, was buried there at St. Eparchius's. On page 160 Ademar says, that Pippin king of Aquitaine, son of Louis the Pious, transferred the canonical habit into the monastery of St. Eparchius at Angoulême. Which the author of the Maillezais Chronicle also testifies in Labbe page 197. Known is the rampaging of the Normans and the destruction of the city of Angoulême itself, marked in the same place page 161.
[3] Furthermore on page 162, at the year 876, Ademar thus observes: having experienced various fortune. At which time the Normans most grievously afflicted Aquitaine ….. the monastery too of Blessed Eparchius was desolated by the Normans, so that none of the monks dwelt there, and for this reason the Canonical Order returned there, which had recently departed. Page 164, Count Ademar is said to have increased the possessions by granting Godorvilla to St. Eparchius. Page 165 more fully describes the restoration of the Monks under William Iron-cutter, where the estates and churches attributed to the monastery are enumerated. The reversed fortune you have on page 171, when Bishop Grimoardus, gifts being given, sought from Count William the monastery of St. Eparchius, and claimed it for himself, and made it remain without an Abbot for many years, and many possessions etc. At length page 184, Ademar speaking of Count William deceased, thus says: The aforesaid William offered, for his burial, to St. Eparchius diverse and precious gifts, both in lands and in threads, in much gold and silver and other things etc. So great indeed was the piety of Catholic Princes toward St. Eparchius, which under William's successors we doubt not persevered and perhaps increased; until the rage of the Huguenots, the city being captured in the year 1568, raged with sacrilegious flames against the venerable relics, honored now for so many ages, of our Saint and of the other patrons of Angoulême, which even the savagery of the unfaithful Normans had spared.
[4] These things about the Saint's monastery have been sampled cursorily from Ademar; now that I may pursue his cult more diligently, Added to the Hieronymian with various titles, I first note, that he obtained various titles in the Martyrologies, just as wondrous is the French analogy of his name, by which he is called Cybar or Cibar. In the fuller Hieronymian apographs, about which it has been said in our Usuardine observations, namely the two of Lucca; the Corbie and the Blume one, he is certainly added, wrongly called Bishop. In the Lucca one, "At the city of Angoulême, the deposition of Separcus the Bishop"; in the other two one reads, "of Eparcus the Bishop." To these Florentinius: But since, he says, constantly both in our two codices and in the Corbie one he is called Bishop, and is called Separcus in them, I feared, lest he be other than Eparcus the Abbot. He could also doubt, whether he be not other than Eparcus the Bishop, in which way the Corbie and Blume codices express the name. The doubt would be increased by the lesser Hieronymians, the Gellone, Augsburg, Labbe, and any others of this kind, whose constant reading is: "Ingolisma," or "in Eclisma," not "of Separcus," but "of Eparcus" or "Eparcius the Bishop": with a modest variation of nomenclature, which however does not designate a different man. For an error once admitted into some Hieronymian codex, easily flowed forth into all the others.
[5] One might be led by a not dissimilar scruple, whether the same be Eparchius the Abbot, Among the classical writers he is known to Usuard alone. Eparchius the monk and confessor, Eparchius the presbyter, Eparchius the recluse, for he is adorned with these diverse appellations too. The Dijon codex of Bede displayed, added by a more recent hand: "At Angoulême, of Esparsus the presbyter and Confessor." For the rest, in Bede or Florus, the Little Roman or the genuine Ado (for I except the fuller Liège one of St. Laurence), our St. Eparchius is altogether unknown, distinguished by whatever inflection or addition. The sincere and genuine text of Usuard writes; "At the city of Angoulême, of St. Eparchius monk and Confessor," in which notice wondrous is the agreement of all the codices, and which in the same words passed into the Hagiology of Labbe. Peter in the Catalogue book 11 chapter 184 writes in this manner: "Epachrius monk and confessor flourished in the city of Angoulême." It pleased Baronius, following Galesinius, I suppose, to express Usuard's commemoration otherwise: "At Angoulême, of St. Eparchius the Abbot," which name Gregory of Tours also attributes to him, although he reports that he was only a recluse. But concerning these things the question is useless; let him be called Abbot, monk, recluse, etc., the same St. Eparchius is everywhere understood, presbyter confessor, who at the city of Angoulême exchanged a most holy life for an equal death in the year 581 on this 1st day of July, doubtless called by his disciples either Father or Abbot.
[6] Abbot, or Benedictine? That title with St. Eparchius himself constantly claim for themselves the Benedictine Martyrologists Wion, Dorganius, Menard, Bucelinus, the first of whom adorns the Saint with this brief eulogy: "At the city of Angoulême, the birthday of St. Eparchius Abbot and Confessor, assiduous in prayer, wonderfully kind toward the poor, and most liberal in redeeming captives, illustrious for a most holy life and the glory of miracles." Dorganius adds: "For he is said to have raised three dead." It is not worthwhile to transcribe Menard's words, or Bucelinus's longer oration; it is sufficiently evident from elsewhere, that the received opinion among the Benedictines is, that St. Eparchius is to be reckoned among their own; which Mabillon too supposed, when he referred his life among the genuine Acts of his Order. Indeed the monastery, which we praised above, built at the Saint's little cell, I do not deny soon passed to the Benedictines, nor is it less certain, that St. Eparchius lived after St. Benedict: but that he professed the rule of this most holy Patriarch; he who for 39 years lived as a recluse, I am most hardly induced to believe, and certainly I would wish it proved by solid arguments, just as concerning other holy Abbots or monks, who it is established flourished in Gaul in the sixth century, and gleamed with the glory of sanctity and miracles, for whom the learned desire clearer and more open traces of the Benedictine norm then propagated in Gaul, than Mabillon could assign in the Preface to volume 1, no. 64. And though we grant that the norm was, at least somewhere, admitted in that century, will it on that account be reckoned to have been continuously propagated to any and all monks or recluses?
[7] the eulogies of more recent writers being omitted. We return to the Saint, all of whose titles Andreas Saussay embraced in his Gallican Martyrology, in a most elegant panegyric, in which the whole life of St. Eparchius is contracted into an epitome worthy of its author. To describe published encomia of this kind by more recent writers is superfluous, while more ancient and more certain monuments are at hand, more accommodated to the taste of learned readers. Among the first of these is the eulogy which Gregory of Tours, already praised more than once, composed of St. Eparchius, contemporary with our Saint, who, Ademar said above, was present at the dedication of the first church of the monastery, which obtained its name from St. Eparchius. Gregory speaks of the holy recluse of Angoulême, in the History of the Franks book 6 chapter 8, which, nearly rejected by some critics, we shall below vindicate to its own author; and again in the Glory of the Confessors chapter 101, where, the name both of the Saint and of the place being deformed, the history could easily have been attributed to some other; for in the first editions one ineptly reads "Adeparchius Equolonensis," although the text itself most clearly demonstrates that the preposition "ad" is to be separated from the name. But all these things have been well restored by the most learned Theodoric Ruinart, in that manner which we shall show below in the posthumous Glory of the Saint. Now the text of the Gregorian history is to be reported; in place of which and of others let it be.
§. II. The glory of St. Eparchius from Gregory of Tours and genuine Acts.
There died too Eparchius, the recluse of Angoulême, a man of magnificent sanctity, From Gregory of Tours through whom God showed many miracles: of which, the very many being left aside, I shall touch on a few. He was an inhabitant of the city of Périgueux, but after his conversion, made a cleric, coming to Angoulême, he built himself a little cell, in which, a few monks being gathered, he dwelt assiduously in prayer; and if anything of gold or silver was offered him, he distributed it either in the necessities of the poor, or in the redemption of captives. Bread was never baked in that cell, while he lived, but was brought in by the devout, when necessity demanded. For he redeemed a great throng of peoples, from the offerings of the devout. He often suppressed the venom of evil pustules with the sign of the cross; he drove demons from possessed bodies by prayer; and he commanded the judges, very often, that they should pardon the guilty, with profuse sweetness rather commanding than asking: for he was so sweet in address, that they could not deny him, when he had entreated for indulgence.
[9] But at a certain time, while someone was being led off to be hanged for theft, more ancient things who was also accused by the inhabitants more criminally in many other crimes, both in thefts and in murders, and these things had been announced to him, he sent his monk to entreat the judge, namely that that guilty man might be granted his life. But the crowd insulting and vociferating, that if this man were released, neither for the region nor for the judge could it be well counseled, he could not be released. Meanwhile he is stretched out on the pulleys, is beaten with rods and clubs, and is condemned to the gibbet. And when the sad monk had announced this to the Abbot: Go, he said; watch from afar, for know, that whom man would not give back, the Lord will bestow by his gift. But you, when you shall see him fall, immediately take him up and lead him to the monastery. And when the monk was fulfilling the commands, he (Eparchius) prostrates himself in prayer; and so long in tears poured out prayers to the Lord, until, the barrier being broken with the chains, the hanged man was restored to the earth. Then the monk, taking him up, presents him unharmed to the sight of the Abbot.
[10] But he, giving thanks to God, orders the Count to be summoned, saying: You were always wont to hear me with a kindly spirit, and more certain things are handed down. most beloved son: and why today, hardened, did you not release the man, for whose life I had asked? But he: Willingly, he said, do I hear you, holy priest; but the crowd rising up, I could do nothing else, fearing a sedition be moved against me. And he: You, he said, did not hear me, but God deigned to hear, and whom you handed over to death, He restored to life. Lo, he said, before you he stands sound. While he was saying these things, the Count prostrates himself at his feet, astonished, that he saw alive him whom he had left in the destruction of death. These things I learned from the mouth of the Count himself: but he did also many other things, which I have thought too long to follow. But after forty-four years of his reclusion, struck a little by fever, he gave up the spirit, and being drawn out from the cell, was committed to burial. But a great convention, as we have said, of the redeemed, went forth in his exequies.
[11] Thus far Gregory, in a matter done under his eyes an irrefragable witness, expressly asserting, Cointius reproaching Gregory, that St. Eparchius gave up the spirit after 44 years of reclusion, contrary to what the life soon to be produced testifies, which ascribes only 39 years of reclusion to the Saint. From this and other passages of the kind, Cointius very often carps at Gregory's history, repeatedly accusing interpolators, where the whole and genuine text of the Bishop of Tours stands. But Gregory the historian of the Franks had a vindicator, the above-praised Ruinart, in the preface to the last edition of his works, where, since the difficulty drawn from the aforesaid passage is weighed, I have preferred to dissolve it with the most learned man's own words, rather than mine. Thence furthermore, as certain, with the most received opinion we shall establish, that St. Eparchius flew from the cell of reclusion to the crown of eternal glory in the year 581, not two years later, as others hand down. But since, still an adolescent, perhaps of eighteen years, he was raised to the office of chancellor by his grandfather Felicissimus, and exercised the same for fifteen years, it can most probably be supposed, that he reached his thirty-third year, before he bade farewell to the world: to which if be added the 44 years of monastic life, which bring us to 581, it will follow, that he was born about the year 504, and was not far from his eightieth when he died. Let us now hear Ruinart, Preface no. 111.
[12] he is refuted by Ruinart. Against chapter 8 of book 6, Cointius objects a chronological error, which he thinks sufficient to do away with the authenticity of this chapter. For there Gregory, or, as he himself wishes, his interpolator, says that Eparchius died in the 44th year of his reclusion; which the learned man proves to be false from the Life of the same Saint written by a contemporary author, where Eparchius is said in express words to have lived a recluse only thirty-nine years. Then Aptonius, in whose see Eparchius began to be enclosed, did not undertake the governance of the church of Angoulême before the year 541. But Eparchius, none contradicting, died in the 81st year of the same century, and accordingly could not have dwelt enclosed in the cell above forty years. But with Cointius we confess, that Eparchius died in the thirty-ninth year of his final reclusion, as is read in his Life; but if by the name of reclusion is understood that whole time, in which Eparchius, the world being left, lived in the monastery, or in the deserted place, to which by desire of greater solitude he had withdrawn; then no difficulty will remain. For it is certain from his Life, that he first put on the monastic garb in the monastery of Sedeciacum, then for a while dwelt separated from the rest in a solitary place, before he was enclosed by the authority of the Bishops: all of which Gregory joining together, could say, the truth of history unharmed, that Eparchius spent 44 years as a recluse. These things for saving the integrity of the Gregorian history.
[13] The Acts variously edited by various writers, Now indeed the Acts of St. Eparchius were first published, as far as I know, by Surius, led by his usual zeal for emending the style. Whether Gonon did the same, in the appendix to the Lives of the Fathers of the West page 428, or found them already adorned elsewhere, I know not; he certainly published such things, that it is plainly evident that they were very much polished and interpolated, besides that they are imperfect, and that this editor mixed in the words of Gregory of Tours, which he had brought forth on page 75, here, and added other things, which are not contained in the genuine Acts. The same, but far purer, our Philippe Labbe inserted into his Manuscript Library, volume 2 from page 519, from the Sanctoral of Bernard Gui, and from several other Manuscript codices, all of which, at least in words and phrases, very much disagree, from those which Mabillon consulted, Acts of the Benedictines volume 1 page 267; for both editions being compared word for word, I find an elocution so different (if only you except the prologue), that not a few things seem to have been studiously transposed and changed by the copyists. There exist among us Manuscripts from the parchment Passional, manuscript and notable, of the monastery of Böddeken, of the Order of Canons Regular of St. Augustine, of the diocese of Paderborn, of the month of July, page 212 B. The sense of this and of the earlier is plainly the same, but the style different, and that more obscure and plainly redolent of the simplicity of its age; for which cause we have thought it would be welcome to learned readers, if they were here edited in the original phrasing, the variant readings, where it was worthwhile, being relegated to annotations. Here only I forewarn, that our Acts agree more with the Labbean ones; for Mabillon's edition is mutilated toward the end, as I shall show in its place.
[14] Concerning the author's trustworthiness, although he is anonymous, no one thus far has doubted; here they are given from the Böddeken Ms. nor do those things occur to me, which would shake even the least the authority of the history, although in some matters sufficiently wondrous, especially since not a few are supported by the testimony of Gregory of Tours; and the writer brings them forth with such sincerity, candor, and his own simplicity, that with even the most incredulous he has wholly escaped all suspicion of forgery, having professed in the exordium, that he writes these things, because they were accomplished under the eyes of all, and at no. 5, openly indicating, that he himself was at least familiar with the Saint's disciples, when speaking of Gratianus he says, "as we heard from his mouth." The aforesaid Acts are therefore of good note, however much, according to the custom of that age, they insist on narrating miracles rather than the Saint's virtues, and through the ignorance of copyists seem here and there dislocated, vitiated, and perhaps, for the sake of clarity, interpolated in the editions. We shall render the most simple, although obscure, gaping and rough style of the author, such as we found it in the Ms. communicated to Bolland by our most diligent collaborator Gamans, in the year 1641. The miracles wrought after death, both from Gregory of Tours, and from the Chronicle of Ademar cited above, and from those edited by Labbe, we shall append at the end of the Acts, under the title of Posthumous Glory. The aforesaid Manuscript Acts are of this kind.
LIFE. By a contemporary author, from the Böddeken Manuscript Passional.
Eparchius, Confessor, monk and presbyter, at Angoulême in Gaul (S.)
BHL Number: 2559
BY A CONTEMPORARY. From the MS.
CHAPTER I. On the Saint's fatherland, parents, monastic life, and other deeds up to the priesthood and reclusion.
It is most important a to narrate those virtues, which are known to be true. In this life therefore of St. Eparchius, The author's Prologue. let no one think anything superfluous added; since these things, which I shall say, were accomplished under the eyes of all: even if not transcribed in this place with urbanity of speech or erudition b of words: I pray nevertheless, that if it be conveyed to anyone most wise, he may emend it with a kindly goodness; and let the readers rather give credence to the facts, than err c in reprehending the words. Therefore I shall relate what was done through him in this age, by the Lord's help.
[2] Fleeing the honors of the age, Eparchius therefore was born of the city of Périgueux; whose father was called Felix, but by surname Auriolus; his mother indeed was called Principia. d But when he was about seven years of age, e in the aforesaid city he is handed over to be taught letters, and when by God's inspiration he had been fully taught, thereafter he was received by his grandfather Felicissimus, at that time Count, f who appointed him his Chancellor: which task, detained by reason of his youth, he exercised rather than because his will permitted, and when he had been with him thrice five years, the secular service being left, all unknowing, he sought out the monastery of Sedeciacum, g let him be a monk and be trained. and prostrated himself at the feet of Martinus the Abbot and asked to be made a monk; and by the intervening mercy of God, although his parents were unwilling, yet he obtained what he devoutly asked. But the first obedience, to cultivate the vineyard and to break up the earth and every service, as is the custom of the rule, he fulfilled as commanded: which office he kindly undertaking, his poor habit indicated, where Christ was being advanced, saying. h He fasted daily, watched and prayed assiduously, and persevered in works of mercy, and indeed his prayer purged many sick and those vexed by a demon.
[3] At nearly the same time, when, commanded, he was taking the road with Victorianus the monk to the little field of the monastery called Levivialum, i With many miracles he saw a roe running with the utmost speed, hastening to wean its young which it had left; and the man of God, praying silently, bids the beast halt its step, which not only afforded the office of waiting, but even, its head humbled, kissed his hand, which, his hand being drawn forth and touching it, he gently armed with the sign of the cross and granted it leave to go in peace. For at a certain time k when he was hastening to the cell of St. Aquilinus for the sake of prayer with a certain monk Mundericus, that he might shine forth exceedingly, he found a bird, sitting upon its chicks, which in like manner remained motionless at his prayer, and he blessed it with its chicks, and let it go unharmed. But while he was accomplishing these things, which we have said, or many others, the Lord granting, the very publicity of the world began to be horrible to him; and so secretly deserting his monastery, committing himself wholly to the mercy of Christ, he began to seek a place of reclusion, and while he went around the district of Aquilinensis, l he found a boy named Graculfus, slain in the village of Anglesis, whom at the supplication of the monks he restored to health. A son too, dead at Bordeaux, he recalled to life by his prayer.
[4] Seeking solitude, When therefore he traversed the several places, he wished to pass through more secretly; recognized by the citizens, it was made known to Aphtonius, the Prelate of that city, concerning whom fame had already flitted through the breezes: and he, recognizing him more fully by himself, made joyful, received him with great exultation, and when he understood more solicitously the cause of his devotion, did not permit him to go farther, but bound him to himself with great love of heart and showed him the place which he desired, received by Aphtonius bishop of Angoulême, as a desert solitude of the wilderness: which seen, the blessed man spoke not so much from his mouth, as he rejoiced from his heart, in that the place was remote, and the city far off, and from above a spring of flowing water issued from the side of the mountain, and the river Charente shut it off on the other side. But after he began to be an exile from his own soil and was very excessively detained in the city, he was unwilling to be enclosed without the nod of his pontiff or abbot: and so the man of the Lord, Bishop Aphtonius, with his envoys, m that is Frontonius the archpresbyter, who afterwards deserved the dignity of the episcopate; Arthemius the archdeacon, a man in all things a servant of Christ, and likewise Arthemius the defensor, sent them to Bishop Sebaudus n or to his Abbot, to receive peace, or to obtain what he had vowed; who, returning, scarcely at last announce all things most kindly permitted.
[5] But when he was tarrying in the city and a fitting dwelling had been prepared, and the faculty obtained, initiated into the priesthood, he is enclosed. and sleep had seized all whom the enclosures of the house contained, he, one by one, none knowing, the bed being left, walked through the night to the place which was shown him to be enclosed in; and when he had performed the Office o or prayer, lifting a stone he placed it under his head, and when he had given himself to sleep in that same place, the voice of Christ came to him from above, saying; Eparchius, remain here, and now wander no more; which ordination he related to the brothers with his own mouth, and when he had returned into the city, at the third hour he came to the prison, in which very many bound men were held, The prisons being opened, he frees the captives. and when the keeper of the prison was there, he sent forth from outside a most pious prayer, nor yet for long was that lacking, which he devoutly asked; for the doors of the prison were opened by lofty command, and the iron bar was cast outside, and shattered through very many places, and when all the prisoners took refuge to the church, the whole people cried out that this had been done through Eparchius, and all applauded the praise of the Lord with their hands.
ANNOTATIONS.
CHAPTER II. It contains miracles and a most harsh manner of living, up to his death and burial.
The thief hung from the gibbet But what miracle he wrought after he received the rank of the presbyterate, Bishop Aphtonius conferring it on him, it is not right to be silent about; for I shall relate a few of many. When a certain rustic, named Redemptus, had a vessel filled with honey stored, and it had been stolen from him by a certain thief, diligently seeking, he found the thief himself, and when in the sight of Ramnulf a the Count all things had been more clearly brought forward by Redemptus himself, and the robber had been put to heavier torments, and had confessed both this and other greater things, and the aforesaid Count had in every way ordered him to be hanged, the most blessed man supplicated for the obtaining of his life, saying, that the man ought not to die for that matter: but when by no reasoning he could obtain from him what he greatly asked, he called one of the brothers, Gratianus the presbyter, as we heard from his mouth, and ordered him, the sick and the matricularii b being gathered, to await the outcome of the matter at the gate of the city. And when the wretch had been hanged, and when they had already left him given over to death, hanging on the gibbet he shattered the whole of it, and freed from the impediments of the bindings, snatched a most vigorous course toward the city. But the Count seeing these things, through his disciple he releases him and restores him to life. ordered the soldiers, that, their horses mounted, they should overtake him before he reached the threshold of the church; and when at his command a not small multitude began to ride, a wondrous thing happened, that all, before the sight of the Count, wasted away on the road, and by no means reached him, but, occupied by the matricularii, he had a safe life, snatched away by the prayers of the servant of God Eparchius.
[7] Likewise, following another Count, he suppliantly entreated for someone's life, Likewise another. who not only did not grant it, but even hung the man up by his feet inverted, and in like manner, released at his prayer, in the evening from a far-off distance he came to his presence. Clara or Arania, born of a noble family, when she was contracted in her whole body, came in a cart to the fame of the most blessed man, and when she had entered into his presence, with a great voice she asked, that his piety might succor her: and when she had stayed with him for one week, through his prayers she received her former health. But how great faith there was in her, I ought not to pass over in silence: after health at last received, having returned home, it happened that she carried with her letters from the servant of God; and while she was on the seashore in her house, she saw a sailor bearing a most grievous peril, through the Saint's letters he frees a ship from shipwreck. and trusting in the help of God and the prayers of St. Eparchius, with hurried course, the letter received, hastily came to the shore of the sea, and stretched it forth with extended hands toward him, and cried out with a high voice saying: Servant of God Eparchius, deign to work the salvation of Christ through these pledges of letters for freeing the sailors; nor was this without the divine nod, that the ship itself, all its gates c abandoned, Leprosy and a legion of demons are driven off. greatly oppressed by the waves, in the place where she stood, came to her presence. The blessed Eparchius therefore cleansed another woman, Genesia, struck by leprosy; restored sight to three blind; and from another woman, Gendemia, cast out a legion of demons.
[8] A certain man, named Artemius, of not low parentage, The wondrous cure of Artemius the recluse. when he treated of the holy Scriptures and had wished to be converted d to the religion of Christ, and not yet ordained a cleric, had enclosed himself in the region of Saintes, and remained in that reclusion for not a small course of years, and on this account his hair had grown most long, seized by a demon, thereafter went out, saying, that he would go to King Hildebert, e and because a lesser fortune was granted him, he would explore f the forces of his kingdom. And when his parents had seen these things, that he was meditating these things with an unsound mind, they take the road, as if they ought to hasten with him to the King's presence, and by another way they began to lead him to Eparchius. But when they approached the city, recognizing himself at the village of Lord Genesius, which was called Angoulême, he at last broke out into a voice, that he did not wish to go to the sight of Eparchius. When indeed he refused these things, hands being laid on, the horses that were with him occupied him, and placed upon a horse, his hands bound, and his feet tied fast under the belly of the horse, they led him unwilling to Eparchius: who being brought in, began to be shaken by his hair and to clamor exceedingly, that he had no equal in sanctity. While he did these things and while he brought forth most wicked vices from his mouth, his fingers were affixed very hard to his palms. And so St. Eparchius, when he had approached him, immediately brought his hand to sign him; whom when he had signed, he brought his grave voices to health; then on the following day he ordered him to be shorn in the lay manner, g but he cried out, that there was no one there so bold, who would dare to cut off his hair; at last scarcely after a while his hairs were cut. But on the following day he ordered him to be made a cleric: and when this too had been fulfilled, immediately he fell mute, and spoke with no man for many days, nor did any speech go forth from his mouth; but not after much time he rendered him sound and unharmed, and afterwards, made a deacon, he persevered sound until his death.
[9] The destruction of a thief in his own crime. Solomon too, one of his own by name, had at that very time received a horse h of his to winter; but the servant of Ebrulf coming, whom he loved before all, by theft took it away; and when, brought to him, seized by a demon, the wretch began to cry out with a strong voice, what he had done; so with a feigned petition, as if he were detained by some sickness, they asked for the eulogiae i of St. Eparchius: but when those who had come had entered, after the suggestion given, immediately he gave them an answer, that they were deceitfully asking his gifts, for that very servant clung in death, who had stolen his horse; so, not delaying much, they led the horse back to his presence. The spirit of prophecy. But astonished, they spoke to one another, how he could have known all things, yet he did not deny the eulogiae: but that unhappy man, before he received them, perished in his crime, the demon himself perpetrating it: and whenever anyone, whether well or ill, boasted of his fame; the Holy Spirit intimated all things to his ears.
[10] He looses a captive from fetters. The servant once of Leontius, from the city of Saintes, while for his crime he was fettered with a most grievous shackle, k and now from the long laceration his feet were failing; hearing the praise of the blessed man, he made his refuge to him, and cast on his face he besought him, that he would deign to free him by his prayer. But St. Eparchius seeing these things, constrained by a tighter resourcefulness, although he did not despair of the divine Craftsman, but, that he might see, if it could be loosed by the art of men, ordered the brothers to be convoked and the fettered man to be loosed. And when they struck with a hammer, wishing to break the shackle, that wretch gave intolerable voices from pain; but the brothers said, that the fettered man was too tightly bound and affirmed that he could not be freed by them. To whom St. Eparchius said; give the hammer into his hands, but he, prostrate in prayer with tears, after a little rose up, saying: The Lord looses the fettered: and commanded him to strike, and as can be estimated, he upon whom so grave a pain pressed, how light a blow he gave himself; but immediately as he struck, broken in three places, it fell at his feet.
[11] He is not terrified by the demon's frauds. For since the warrior of Christ always fought against demons, necessity compelled, that for catechizing the possessed, he ought to take a flask with oil, from the place where he had put it; the enemy immediately was present in haste, and when he had stretched out his hand to take it, a most monstrous serpent struck him on the hand, and when he understood that they were many figments of the devil, he did not ask to be made sound by incantations, but immediately solicitous went to prayer, but his hand did not even swell; and so the piety of God preserved him unharmed. But when, ever-watchful, neither by night nor by day did he cease from the divine Office, The Saint's wondrous trust in God. and never permitted his monks not only to labor, but not even to seek bread, except only to insist on prayer: but when they perceived themselves to have not only no sustenance, but not even bread to eat, with sad face they exclaimed to him saying, that they were perishing from hunger; but he with glad face, with assiduous preaching admonished them, saying: Faith does not fear hunger: l and to comfort their spirits too he often expounded to them the tales m of the hermits. But the Lord's compassion was so present in the prayers of his servant Eparchius, that there was never lacking to them, but that from everywhere there came to them gifts n sent by the faithful, whence both they themselves were refreshed and ministered substance to the needy.
[12] As far as we have found the deeds of the holy Man through the rolls of charters, He is said to have redeemed 2000 men. he is known to have redeemed two thousand of the people from the gifts collected. Lest also in the narration of signs I seem to extend a volume, those which were done I pass over, lest by the very prolixity of it the reader incur disgust; for how many times he broke into the prisons, Various miracles. or how many he freed from unclean spirits or adverse infirmities: it is much to go through each one. But his garment and food were always very harsh, A most harsh manner of living. but wine or the remaining kinds of drink he refused, and none of his own, not even the most secret servant, ever saw him eating. But under how great affliction he was in the days of Lent, how frequent in prayers, how humble in receiving the brothers, severe in correcting, weeping [a] in exhorting, it is not within our power to unroll, for no infirmity ever broke his continence and rigor.
[13] To come to the end, when he had completed thirty-nine years in reclusion, The throng at the exequies, fatigued by no weariness, on the day of the Kalends of July he sent forth his spirit, into eternal brightness. This was a great spectacle to all, so that at thirty miles and more thence in the village of Viegium, at the third hour of the day, while a certain girl was being tormented by a demon, where the girl is freed from the demon. she narrated in a voice the passing of that most blessed Eparchius, and all things being left, she snatched the road where she had never been, with so most eager a course, that on that day toward evening she arrived in his basilica, but on the following day was cleansed from the most wicked spirit.
[14] And while the death of the man of God Eparchius was flitting through the ears of all, Burial. the citizens convened from everywhere from all places, to entomb his holy members. But when the place was being sought, where he ought to be buried, and many conferred many things, and chose the places of the basilicas, one above the rest, a most illustrious man, Alexander by name, having entered the basilica, admonished, as we believe, by divine instinct, showed the place in which his holy members ought to lie. But as far as we have come to the truth of the matter, in that same hour he is recognized to have fallen asleep in the Lord, The empty little vessel of wine overflowing. in which, first coming into the reclusion, he had heard the Lord saying to him; Eparchius, remain here and now wander no more. That too I shall not pass over in silence, that a little vessel of wine, while it was being distributed for building his basilica, and had reached very much to the bottom, by night overflowed o full; these and very many others are known to have been accomplished by him, our Lord Jesus Christ granting, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns God unto all ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
POSTHUMOUS GLORY. In Miracles.
Eparchius, Confessor, monk and presbyter, at Angoulême in Gaul (S.)
BHL Number: 2558, 2562
BY THE AUTHOR J. B. S.
From Gregory of Tours, on the Glory of the Confessors chapter 11.
But also at the sepulcher of Eparchius the recluse of the city of Angoulême the sick are often healed. For both the fevers of the chilled and other ailments are extinguished by his merits. But a blind man from the territory of Périgueux, as he cast himself at his sepulcher, prayer being poured out, deserved to receive sight. But the Count of the aforesaid city of Angoulême, A hanged man is raised up. a thief being found and given over to punishments, ordered him to be condemned to the gibbet; and led to the post, prayer being poured out upon the earth, he was left hung on the gibbet. When the monks had perceived this, together cast at the Saint's tomb, they began to pray, saying: O holy Confessor, if life remained for you in the world, you could have rescued this poor man from the hand of death, as for the most part you freed those condemned to such punishment: but now we do not distrust your prayer, that what you did while living in the world, you may be able to renew, exalted in heaven. And night being given, the Abbot sent up to the gibbet. But the monk approaching, immediately, the bindings being broken, he fell to the earth: and so sustained by the monk, living he is led to the monastery, and a little wine being drunk, he recovered, and his life obtained from the judge, he departed free.
From the Labbean Manuscript Library, volume 2 page 522. Likewise concerning the virtues of the same St. Eparchius.
Concerning the virtues and works of the most blessed Eparchius the presbyter, which the Lord did through him; which up to the rest written by him he was called, I do not think your charity is unmindful, because, the lector reciting, they are now in part manifest and open to you. But now how many and what kinds of virtues, after his little body was buried, at the place of the sepulcher, or through the spaces of many lands, wherever the relics of his joints are stored, the Lord deigned to reveal through his servant, I shall intimate to your ears, insofar as He himself shall permit.
Therefore when Charibert the King of illustrious memory had come with glory to rule the Carlonian fatherland, Punishment for a veil taken from the Saint. very many of the noblest men of the Frankish race, the chiefs, the magnates, convened for the King's service, of whom one, Dulciadus by name, obtained the dignity of countship in the territory of the people of Angoulême. But when after lucubrated prayer he had hastened to the basilica of the most holy man, a veil which a matron, in a spirit of devotion, had offered at the sepulcher, hung affixed at the door of the church, he first began to gaze at, and what he had beheld with an evil eye, he coveted, and with a turbid face began to address the Abbot, and ordered all dwelling there to be presented to his gaze; and soon he fulfilled the crime in deed, just as a serpent, which creeps on its breast, creeps also on its belly, and has venom in its mouth. He plainly hinted to someone in words, that unless the veil were sent to him gratis, he would inflict grave injuries upon them and upon his men. But they, zealous for his benevolence, granted him the veil by way of a gift. When he had received it with a glad spirit, he ordered it to be placed upon his bed. But when the time of night had come, drunk with wine, he lay prostrate on that same little bed: but soon when he had given himself to sleep, he rushed into the grievous weariness of fever, and called the boy, that he should quickly carry the veil back to the tomb: but he himself, stretched out limb by limb, undone by long pain of body in a wound, both returned the veil, and ended his life in crime.
In the time of that same King, two men a certain Count of his palace ordered to be put in the bonds of chains, Captives are freed: accused of a certain crime; who, swearing by the virtue of St. Eparchius, that they were innocent of that crime; in the time of night, when the guards had been overcome by sleep, their chains were broken, and hastening with swift course to the basilica, they were freed from the peril of death. Waragailfus too, exercising the countship's soldiery, was contracted with the royal disease, and afflicted with weakness of the nerves; who was carried to the man's sepulcher on a bier, as if to be buried in the tomb. But the pious Lord, likewise another with contraction of the nerves, who does not will the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live; through his servant Eparchius restored to him health of body. Albinus again, a magnificent man of the city of Saintes, another with sickness; long detained by sickness, asked for the conveyance of a cart, and to the sepulcher of the said man, with devoted spirit sought his help: whom the Lord ordered to return sound to his own protection. But Jolita, a woman, a woman with blindness: daughter of the magnificent man Fingo, the pupil of her eyes being darkened, for some time sat at home bereft of sight and weak; at which sepulcher of St. Eparchius, entreating the Lord for a few days, she deserved to receive her former sight.
another with fevers. A certain matron in the same way, named Dodolena, vexed by fevers, brought in a conveyance of oxen, came to the holy monastery; who undoubtingly praying, received her former health. But because on the Kalends of July the man of God was called from the world to the heavenly feasts, when his festival was celebrated each year, a blind man desiring sight hastened to approach his thresholds, and a certain boy being employed, who afforded him assistance for going, when he had found the bridge over the channel of the Charente impassable amid the throng of people, he cried out with the voice he could: Holy Eparchius, grant me your help, Sight is restored to a blind man. that I may deserve to hasten to your holy sepulcher. Then a splendor coming from heaven touched his eyes, and so he received perfect sight; and immediately taking the way, he came to the man of God's memorial. Nor a wonder, that he who, while living, had restored clear sight to a blind man sitting in the way and crying out, could thus through his intervention grant sight from heaven to the poor man supplicating.
The perjured punished. Two women again at that time had been joined through the laver of baptism, between whom the ancient enemy sowed discord. For when one was reputed to be liable for the other's stolen thing, by an oath she determined to clear herself at the sepulcher of St. Eparchius; but through the disturbance of the people, she could not approach the appointed place. Whence she who had lost her case had faith, that only by the word of an oath in the place where they stood, she should truly affirm herself not guilty. And so when the other, conscious of the stolen thing, wished to raise her hands to the holy sepulcher, she by no means accomplished it; but falling to the earth, she gave confession before men of the committed offense.
English sailors are freed from shipwreck. Nicasius too, at that time Bishop of Angoulême, devoutly established in the city of Bordeaux a church of the sacred Order in honor of St. Eparchius, where also he placed the pledges of his relics with great glory, God helping. But at a certain time, when British ships armed with sails and oarage approached the port of that same city for carrying on business, the sea swelled with the wind blowing, and the storm pressing, the keel began to be submerged. Then all wearied as if to death, with subdued voice, with which they could, with tears proclaim: Holy Eparchius, stretch forth your hand to the free, free the lost, whom the wicked enemy wishes to provide for himself as captives; and immediately by the merits of Eparchius the pious Lord was present, and they broke forth into a voice, and deserved to see a great miracle. For he, according to the Gospel word, commanded the winds and the sea, and a great tranquility was made. But those who sat in the stern, came praying to the holy church, and the gifts which they carried, with whole faith offered to God.
But a certain rich man, Almodius by name, had directed a quantity of wine to the solemn feasts of the blessed Confessor, A miser for the refection of the poor; but the unmerciful envoy gave only the half of the wine in alms; but the other he was carrying back to sate the gluttony of his voracity. At length the wheel of the cart is shattered, the little vessel, broken, with the wine fell into a pit. But there was shown the avarice and malice of the man, so that he neither obtained the gain of his gluttony, nor even carried back the reward for what was entrusted to him by the Lord. A certain man, blown upon by an evil spirit, and a thief are punished. drew off in thievish manner the cloths from above the holy sepulcher; but as much as he thought to take the road for going, so much the nearer he came to the place from which he had set out, by the Saint's virtue. And so to the sepulcher, out of his mind, unhappy, and faithless, he returned the cloths, and went back confounded.
A certain Eonaldus, a little man, contracted in body, The contracted is healed. so that he could not even take a step, came to the basilica of that Saint, and the heavenly medicine being found, by his own feet, his body raised up, he returned to the place whence he had come. Claudius the smith by night entered into the basilica through a winding glass window, A thief comes to himself. and wished to steal the silver from that sepulcher: but in his mind conscious of his crime, with great fear, he presented what he had defrauded. This too I think not to be kept silent, that I discern to have been done in our times, therefore because it truly happened, I shall set it down. Gregory Bishop of the city of Tours said; Eparchius died etc. See above the preliminary commentary §. 2. The writer moreover seems to indicate, that he himself was close to the times of Gregory of Tours. Let it be after the related narration of Gregory he proceeds.
But Waldericus, a distinguished man of the city of Saintes, in a spirit of devotion, caused a monastery and house for the necessity of the poor Retaining the monastery's goods, he is punished by death. to be built in his little estate over the river Charente, whose name it is agreed is "Mons" (Mountain), in honor of St. Eparchius; and when he had departed from the world, he decreed it to the monks for the remedy of his soul. But Gratharius, a wicked and most evil man, girded with the power of pride, tried through his father-in-law to possess a field of the monastery: from whom Rusticus the Father of the monastery often asked, and descending rolled himself even to his knees, that he might return the field, whence the poor, to whom it had been delegated, might be sustained: but he not only did not return it, but even stored the fruits coming thence in his barns. A three-day fast was enjoined on the monks by the Abbot, and what sagacity had not supposed, he was kindled with a strong fever, and his stomach overflowing, with groaning the wretch cried out trembling: Holy Eparchius, I return what I took away, remit the evil which I perpetrated. And so he hastily sent an envoy, who should carry a silver vessel to the monastery, and indicate by his messenger that the estate was to be returned to them. But by the Lord's command, just as Ananias and Sapphira were struck by the severity of St. Peter, so this avaricious and greedy man too, by the judgment of St. Eparchius, both returned the estate, and ended his life.
More other benefits. But how many miracles the Lord deigned to show through his servant, it is long to tell through each one. For many who were vexed in their oppressed bodies by the devil, were freed; and several sick and feeble, vexed by diverse sicknesses, and the feverish with the type of chill, namely with quartan and daily fevers afflicted, and detained by a more secret infirmity, received the cure of body and health. Some too were loosed from the bonds of chains, and from the torment of the rack, and from the iron or wooden fetters of the feet. O truly blessed man, constant in work, generous in alms, prompt in prayer, who, dwelling not far from the city, was as if set in a vast solitude, just and strong, prudent and temperate. And whoever having an infirmity, with devoted spirit and prompt will, sought health at his sepulcher, returned glad to his home, and with great alacrity, our Lord Jesus Christ granting, to whom is honor and glory, virtue and power unto ages of ages. Amen.
From the Chronicle of Ademar of Chabannes, monk of St. Eparchius, in the Manuscript Library of Labbe volume 2 from page 151.
The body cannot be translated. On page 165 Alduinus is said, to have ordered a church to be built in honor of the Savior, outside the walls at the head of the basilica of St. Eparchius, where he would assign the Holy Wood, and at the same time would translate the body of St. Eparchius thither, and Bishop Fredebertus being called from Francia, his kinsman, he had that church dedicated in honor of the Savior, but the body of the blessed man he was not able to lift, which he wished to translate into that same church.
Punishment of an invader of goods. Page 167. A certain Arnaldus, withdrawing from St. Eparchius the estate of Salaco, and conferring it on Duke Helias, with the estate of Boësium, struck by an angel perished for this cause, and at the end conferred on St. Eparchius the estate of Ajarniacum in amends, and was buried beside his basilica.
Very many miracles. Page 172. About the same time, Josfredus Abbot of St. Martial being dead…. the sepulcher of St. Eparchius began to grow famous with innumerable miracles.
Page 179. Likewise while the sacred relics of Blessed Eparchius proceeded to St. the Precursor (see there the history of the head found etc.), there was carried along at the same time the staff of that same Confessor: it is itself a pastoral staff, curved at the top of its summit, after whose pattern over the relics of that same Saint, in the nightly hours until the rising sun, a fiery rod shone in the sky, curved nonetheless at the peak, until it came to the head of St. John, and clear miracles being wrought by St. Eparchius upon the sick healed, there was a return with gladness.
The perjured punished. Page 181. William the viscount of Marcillac and his brother Odolricus were contending in grave discord with Alduinus their brother…. whence it came about, that they were pacified among themselves by Count William, and swore to him that same peace and pact of the condition over the body of St. Eparchius. Which having lied to one another and being guilty of perjury, one was blinded, the other two were deprived of all honor.
Page 183. But in the same year that same Count was seized with a sickness of body unto death, in which year the city of Saintes was burned by impious Christians together with the basilica of St. Peter the episcopal see, and that place long remained deserted from divine worship. And the aforesaid Count, wishing to avenge this injury to God, little by little began to be deprived of bodily strength, and in the city of Angoulême, beside the church of St. Andrew, for the sake of the divine office, he orders a house to be prepared for him, in which, sickening, he began to lie ill: where incessantly from diverse parts all the princes and nobles visited it. And when some said, that he was sick by maleficent arts (for he was wont to flourish with a robust and sound body, but then was failing in body neither after the manner of old men, nor after the manner of the young), a certain maleficent woman was detected, to have exercised maleficent arts against him. Who when she did not confess, it was committed to the judgment of God, that what truth lay hidden, might be proved by the outcome of a victory between two champions. Oaths therefore being made, they contended among themselves long and much, the Count's envoy Stephen, and the defender of the maleficent woman, William. Stephen was the victor without damage to his body: Victory in the duel. the other, his head shattered, covered with blood, standing on his feet from the third hour to the ninth, carried alive in the hands, lay long on a bed. But Stephen remained, and leaping up unharmed in body, in that same hour came running on his feet, to render thanks to God at the tomb of Blessed Eparchius, where the past night he had kept watch ever-vigilant. Concerning champions of this kind, passing the night at the sepulchers of the Saints in the vigil of a contest, let the reader see the curious French dissertation in the Journal de Trévoux of the year 1711 in the month of June from page 1025. Examples of such duels you have in the Notes of Sirmond on the little works of Geoffrey Abbot of Vendôme, from page 61, where among other things this Stephen is treated of page 66.
From Gonon page 431 column 1, below B.
A certain wicked man, persuaded by an iniquitous cupidity, having stolen the coverings of the cloaks of the holy Eparchius's sepulcher, in the journey of fleeing, the more he had estimated himself to be lengthening away, the nearer he became to the place from which he had moved himself, by the Saint's virtue. At last seeing that he could not hide, the unhappy and out-of-his-mind faithless man returned the cloaks confounded.
And let these few collected from many suffice; doubtless more would be at hand, if the monks had kept a more accurate notice of them, unless perhaps the writings have perished. I shall not be silent about what Mothier noted to the Saint's glory in the often-praised version of the Roman Martyrology page 428, that there is a notable parish church at Poitiers under the name of St. Eparchius.
Annotation* of Angoulême.