ON ST. Monegundis of Tours
ABOUT THE YEAR 570.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Monegundis, widow and nun, at Tours in Gaul (S.)
BY THE AUTHOR J. B. S.
§ I. The Life written by St. Gregory of Tours, the relics at Tours, the ancient cult from the Martyrologies.
So plain and clear are the things which pertain to the virtues and miracles of St. Monegundis — who is sometimes corruptly rendered Monagundis, Monigundis, Molnegundis, or otherwise; so clear, I say, are the things which pertain to this excellent Saint, inasmuch as written by an illustrious contemporary, The distinguished encomium of St. Gregory of Tours. an eyewitness, that it has scarcely seemed necessary to preface them with a commentary, much less to trouble ourselves over other Acts in manuscript with us, which could only have been sketched from his writings. Our Saint therefore obtained a most excellent encomiast, St. Gregory of Tours, in whose time that she lived and flourished, no one, so far as I know, has hitherto doubted, so that consequently the last editor of the works of St. Gregory, Theodoric Ruinart, has rightly assigned her age, to about the year 570. I have called the Bishop of Tours an encomiast, for he has left us neither a sequence of her life, nor Acts arranged in order, but a brief synopsis of her rigid penance and of the distinguished grace of working miracles, which no one has attempted to reduce to a historical standard, nor further will anyone easily be able to attempt. That she was Chartrian by origin, married, that she bore two daughters, that after their death she led a solitary life at Chartres and at Tours; that here she gathered companion virgins, that she shone with very many miracles, and at last closed her hard manner of living with a most holy end: these are the things which Gregory narrates in summary, and which we shall give below from Surius's edition, collated with others.
[2] That a monastery of nuns was founded and built by her, where concerning the monastery, which passed to canons; or at least begun, Gregory sufficiently intimates, but how long it remained in that state, we have sought in vain. It is established that it was afterward changed into a college of canons, to which this one token of the ancient nunnery adhered, that their temple, dedicated to St. Peter, is to this day called St. Peter's of the Maidens, to distinguish it from others: whereby it is plainly given to understand that men succeeded in the place of the maidens. This monastery, says Ruinart, column 1247, was called St. Peter's of the Maidens, which name it even now retains, although converted into a college of canons, under the jurisdiction of the chapter of St. Martin. Then, column 1249: she (St. Monegundis) was buried in the church of St. Peter of the Maidens, praised above, where her sacred relics were kept in a precious shrine until the year 1562, in which the raging Calvinists tore it apart. Yet most of her bones escaped the burning, which, half-burned, were hidden in the earth with the hair of the same Saint, and there lay hidden until the year 1657, in which, on the ninth day of July, they were raised from the earth and exposed to the veneration of the faithful. Thus far Ruinart, whose last words the final recognition of the same relics, made not long ago, will confirm, as we shall now say.
[3] [whence the church of St. Peter of the Maidens, in which the relics were recognized.] The aforesaid relics were recognized, separately drawn out from the shrine and reviewed, on the 8th of May 1697 by Lord Gatien de Galliczon, then canon and precentor of the church of St. Martin, afterward the most illustrious Bishop of Agathopolis, coadjutor of Babylon, as is established from an instrument, a copy of which was made for me by the most distinguished and ever to be praised by us Claude Castellan, canon of Paris, in the year 1709. Furthermore the whole matter is reduced to an extract from the verbal process then had, in which the bones of St. Monegundis are specially enumerated, happily rescued from the burning of the Calvinist iconoclasts, with the circumstance of the hair, expressly noted by Ruinart. There is likewise reported an ancient inscription on parchment, which from French I render into Latin: The relics of St. Monegundis, a most religious Lady of Chartres, buried in the church of St. Peter of the Maidens, which relics were found in the same church on the 9th of July 1657. There are added the testimonies of those who had been present at the aforesaid finding or elevation, or who remembered, from present memory, that they had heard from the more ancient, that they were raised from the earth where they had been hidden, and drawn out from a stone tomb, on which a feminine effigy had been carved; but in a shrine, or if you prefer a vessel, likewise of stone, there were found at that time those same relics precisely, which in this year 1697 were recognized: furthermore that on that shrine or vessel were inscribed these words, abbreviated or corrupted in the dialect of Tours, "a sainte Moné"; so that consequently no doubt can remain concerning the whole truth of the narration. Concerning the relics of Tours let enough be said; here it is opportune to weave in another instrument of a more ancient translation, or transposition, reviewed in due form by the praised Galliczon, which has it thus.
[4] In the year of the Lord 1505, The instrument of the translation of the year 1505 the seventh indiction, on the penultimate day of the month of August, in the first year of the pontificate of the most holy in Christ father and our Lord, Lord Julius, by divine providence Pope the Second, the relics of St. Monegundis, resting in the church of St. Peter of the Maidens at Tours, and accustomed to be venerated in the same, were translated from a certain old and antiquated chest into a new one, notably covered round about with silver caskets, by the reverend in Christ father and Lord, Lord Louis of Amboise, by divine mercy Bishop of Albi, by the license and permission of the venerable and circumspect men my Lords, the Dean, treasurer, and chapter of the distinguished church of the most blessed Martin of Tours, immediately subject to the Apostolic See and the Roman Church, the superiors in this part; assisting and concelebrating with the aforesaid Lord Bishop, the venerable men master John Gueruadon the cellarer, James Bouhalle provost of Blaley, Peter Bodin and John Bouhalle prebendary canons of the same church of the most blessed Martin; masters William Briton, Peter Potier, Peter Paventeau, and the other canons of the said collegiate church, and others in a copious multitude present as witnesses to the aforesaid translation. Signed G. du Moulin: and below the signature; So it is; and a similar letter in … the manual signs of the aforesaid Lord Bishop and of me the notary was signed, and placed in the said new chest for the future memory of the thing done, for posterity.
[5] There follows the "legalization," as they call it, or the testimony of the authenticity of the aforesaid instrument, duly legalized. in this manner: Gatien de Galliczon, Bishop of Agathopolis, coadjutor of Babylon, consecrated a few months ago, namely on the 28th day of October, and for very many years a prebendary canon, precentor and official of the noble and distinguished church of the most blessed Martin of Tours, pertaining to the Roman Church without any intermediary, to all whom it may concern we give faith and testify, that the present writing was faithfully taken and copied from an authentic one, making faith in court, seen, read, and examined by us. Given at Martinopolis of Tours, in the buildings of St. Martin, under our sign and seal and the subscription of our Secretary, in the year of the Lord 1709, on the second day of March. Signs Gatien, Bishop of Agathopolis, coadjutor of Babylon, canon, precentor and official aforesaid. Below: By the mandate of the most illustrious and most reverend Lord, my Lord. Lepreux. At the side is affixed a seal in white wax.
[6] And these things concerning that more ancient recognition and translation, On the natal day a commemoration is made in the office, or the deposition of the sacred relics in a new shrine, which no doubt others preceded; for the rest, in that same shrine they remained until the sacrilegious furies of the Calvinist iconoclasts. The 30th of August, on which the solemnity was instituted in that year 1505, could have given occasion of transferring the feast of St. Monegundis to that day, because the natal day was impeded by the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at that time most received throughout Gaul, as the praised Castellan wrote to us in express words. Nevertheless, when I consult the Breviaries of Tours, printed not long ago, namely in 1611 and 1635, in the Calendar of the earlier edition I do indeed find the commemoration of St. Monegundis noted, but in the Breviary itself not a word is found concerning her. In the other edition a commemoration is made on the natal day itself, under this prayer: May thy devout Church, we beseech thee, O Lord, receive the venerable birthday of Blessed Monegundis: that it may become the more devout by the love of a great glorification, and may profit by the example of so great a faith. Through Christ. Meanwhile, on the 30th of August there is not a whit that can be referred to St. Monegundis. If therefore on that day the festivity of our Saint be celebrated at Tours, that must be by a peculiar office, and that in the church of St. Peter of the Maidens alone: which is difficult even of itself, since this whole depends on the primary church of St. Martin. However it may be, in all the fasti and other monuments it is constantly reported on this 2nd of July.
[7] as also in the ancient Martyrologies. For indeed the natal day of St. Monegundis is thus consigned among the ancient Martyrologists, just as we have abundantly demonstrated in the observations on Usuard, where also almost all the things are reviewed which were reported in the Usuardine supplements in various manner and style, so that it seems altogether superfluous to enumerate or describe each one here anew, just as also to heap up the elogia of the more recent, which could not be received from any source other than the ancient ones or from St. Gregory himself. To those things which we have said in Usuard concerning the Hieronymian codices can be added the more abridged ones published by us in volume VII of June, the Augsburg, the Labbean, and the Barberini; likewise two others more recently printed in volume 3 of the Anecdotes of Martène and Durand, namely the Auxerre and the Tours, in which is expressly set the deposition of Monegundis, either virgin or handmaid of God. Why she was reported by Ado on the first of July, I forbear to inquire at length: the day of death St. Gregory did not note, but it is not lawful to recede from the common consensus of the Martyrologists, as neither from the modern Roman, whose Calendar is the rule of our work. Her announcement, At Tours, the deposition of St. Monegundis, a religious woman, flowed from Usuard, the title of virgin being rightly avoided. Concerning which too enough has been said in our Usuardine observation. If nonetheless anyone contend that nun-widows can be called virgins, as Ruinart somewhere observes, we shall not quarrel over the word: we believe it sufficiently beyond doubt that the term virgin, among the Dialecticians, will never be univocally predicated of widows, however holy, and of nuns. Thus far concerning St. Monegundis, her life, cult, and relics in her native city of Tours, whence it has not been possible to obtain other monuments; it remains that we subjoin some things concerning the relics of the same Saint and her most solemn cult among the Belgians of Chimay. Concerning other places in Belgium we know only this, Relics in Belgium. that the relics of our Saint were in the year 1559 in the parish church of Bocholtz, of the Duchy of Luxembourg near Gouy, which whether they still exist there, we are ignorant. Let there meanwhile be
§ II. Relics and cult at Chimay in Belgium.
Chimay is a town of Hainaut, noble with the title of a principality, having a collegiate church, of which St. Monegundis has for several ages been honored there as primary patroness with a solemn cult. She is patroness of the collegiate church of Chimay; The beginnings of the veneration the people of Chimay themselves do not know, nor is it open to us to inquire into it: I do not doubt that it began on the occasion of the sacred relics brought thither, but it is equally uncertain at what time they obtained them. For the rest, one may conjecture with sufficient probability that the aforesaid relics of our Saint came to Chimay at an earlier time than those of St. Prisca, whose body, or at least a part of the body, John, Count of Soissons, Lord of Chimay, who died in the year 1282, is testified to have brought from Rome by the sepulchral inscription, which is to this day seen in the middle of the choir, concerning which also Bolland treated in volume 2 of January, page 184, number 14; for since St. Prisca is venerated only as a secondary patroness, it seems altogether to be said that the Blessed Monegundis enjoyed a more ancient cult there. In the office, printed at Douai in the year 1621, which we shall give below in full, she is painted in the habit of a nun, in the manner of an abbess, holding a crosier in her hand, and trampling underfoot a demon, on whose neck a chain is inserted; perhaps because the people of Chimay had heard that she was thus represented at Tours, concerning which I find nothing that can be handed down with sufficient safety.
[9] More certain are the things which I have found investigated and written almost a century ago in our Museum, for the sake, if I am not mistaken, but her relics having been plundered in the year 1553, of our John Bolland, using the labor of his friend the Reverend Lord Thomas Luytens, then a monk, afterward abbot of Laetia, to whom he inscribed his general preface. The aforesaid Luytens had asked of the Reverend Lord Hubert le Febvre, pastor of Chimay, what of the relics remained in his church; to whom he thus answers on the feast of Blessed Martin the bishop 1634. Secondly, on the same day and disaster (he means the mournful destruction of Chimay of the year 1552) there perished the sacred relics of the Blessed Monegundis, our primary patroness, who in the most ancient breviaries is honored with the title of the Elect: nor do we have anything of hers, except that, through the intervention of the Reverend Lord abbot of Aulne, we received one small particle from the monastery of Bonnefontaine in France of the Cistercian Order, which was there preserved with various other relics, under the title of the Blessed Monegundis Virgin on an ancient parchment. Which particle, held in such favor, the Lords of the Chapter, in a most solemn procession on the 27th day of July in the year 1631, brought into our church, where it is deposited in a rather large wooden casket, partly gilded, partly clothed in silk interwoven with gold, which, in memory of that ancient coffer of which Molanus speaks, two Lords Canons carry about in processions, and it is honored by the people with great celebrity.
[10] Molanus had written, or whoever collected and published his Natales, which Molanus seems to have been ignorant of, on the 2nd of July in this manner: At Tours the deposition of St. Monegundis, widow; whose history St. Gregory, Bishop of Tours, described. Her Natale is celebrated at Chimay as a solemn feast on the second of July, the feast of the Visitation of Mary being postponed, because the collegiate church of the said city was consecrated in honor of St. Monegundis and was adorned with her relics, which two canons are wont to carry about in solemn processions in a coffer of gilded silver; in the appendix to the Chimay office is added: with a great concourse of the neighboring peoples flowing to the said solemnity, to kiss, as is commonly reported, the chain of St. Monegundis, great indulgences being granted thereupon. It is quite a wonder that Molanus did not know that that silver coffer had perished in the aforesaid plundering, concerning which the praised le Febvre notes also this: In that mournful year 1552, in the general destruction of the city of Chimay, when all things were laid waste by sword and flame, a certain honest citizen, an upright man and the chapter's mace-bearer, noted the plunderers of the sacred coffers throwing the relics into the fire; which he snatched from the midst of the flames, and afterward offered to the Lords of the Chapter, blackened with smoke and fire, which the said Lords still keep, but because that citizen was not then put under oath, nor was the matter sufficiently made clear, they do not know with what honor they can honor those bones thus rescued. Thus far the words of Lord le Febvre: to which add the things which are had in the Office cited just now, namely that both the relics of St. Monegundis and of St. Prisca perished in that year 1552, on the 20th day of July, the French burning the city, under Henry II King of the French there present. Nor does the church of Chimay have anything else than to have had the sacred relics. Understand those ancient ones, for the others substituted for the former, we shall soon teach.
[11] others received from Bonnefontaine were substituted, Many things toward the elucidation of the whole matter did the Reverend Lord John Coppæus, canon of the church of Chimay and Apostolic notary, contribute and transmit to the praised Lord Luytens, supplying several authentic instruments, which it will not be beside the point to subjoin here, or at least to sample some of them. In a French letter given on the 24th of November of the aforesaid year 1634 he narrates by what means he obtained from the monks of Bonnefontaine the relics of St. Monegundis, and took care that they, approved by the Ordinary of Liège, be exposed to public veneration, together with those which we have already said were rescued from the fire: yet in such a way that these latter were joined separately, an inscription being added, by which their doubtful faith is indicated. Coppæus then asks whether it cannot be said probable that the monks of Bonnefontaine formerly received their relics from the same Lord of Chimay, who obtained those others for his collegiate church at Tours. But that perhaps too curiously, certainly not sufficiently grounded: I should have preferred that he could have found who was the Lord of Chimay, and at what time especially, that brought the aforesaid relics from Tours to Chimay, which he neither did, nor could do. Meanwhile, the things which were received from him, it will be useful here to subjoin, as monuments by no means doubtful, whereby the relics of St. Monegundis exist to this day at Chimay and are honored with the accustomed piety. I begin from the authentic instrument of the delivery, which runs thus:
[12] as the instrument of the donation teaches, Reverend Lord Dean, venerable Lords, Canons of the collegiate church of Chimay. That the sacred relics of the Saints reigning with Christ in heaven are salutary fountains, by which God bestows many benefits upon men, the pious minds of Catholics have always held persuaded, and the orthodox Fathers gathered in the second Synod of Nicaea taught by an express definition. Accordingly the more grateful to us was your petition, in which you supplicated that the relics of the Blessed Monegundis, patroness of your collegiate church of Chimay, which were kept in our church, be transmitted to you, whereby we were made the more certain, that you asked for so great a treasure (to use your words) for no other end than for the exciting of the piety and devotion of the faithful of Christ toward the Saints. To you therefore we send the relics of the aforesaid Blessed Monegundis, reserving to ourselves only a small part of them, through the Reverend Lord John Coppæus, Apostolic Notary, and canon of your church, whom you specially delegated to us for this. And lest anyone's faith concerning them should waver, know that they, from all time immemorial, as sacred relics, in that distinguished chest, wholly gilded within, which is placed above our high altar, and is opened on the more solemn feasts, were publicly exposed with due cult, to be venerated by the people. Now that treasure was contained in an embroidered purse, together with very many other bones or relics of Virgins and holy women, whose names we found written on a parchment, tied to the mouth of the aforesaid purse or little sack. Within that same purse we found the sacred relics of the Blessed Monegundis wrapped and bound in a little linen cloth, and distinct and separated from the others: and to the binding of the aforesaid little cloth was annexed this title written on parchment: Of the Blessed Monegundis Virgin. Now the very name of the Blessed Monegundis was written out in both titles with all its letters.
[13] From these things it is clear whence the people of Chimay received their present relics. and of the approbation by the Bishop of Liège. The letter was given on the 15th of June, sacred to the day of the most holy Trinity, in the year 1631, with the appending of the greater seal, etc., which pertain only to this, that the truth of the donation be proved. To the instrument subscribes Br. Bertrand Tissier, Doctor of Sacred Theology, unworthy Prior of the monastery of Bonnefontaine, in his own name and that of the whole convent of the same church. There is subjoined another instrument of Ferdinand, Archbishop and Elector of Cologne and Bishop of Liège, in which, the occasion and manner having been related by which the relics already mentioned had been obtained, the Ordinary testifies that, on behalf of the Dean and Canons of the church of the town of Chimay, it had been humbly supplicated of him, that he would deign to grant them the faculty of exposing the said relics. We therefore, he says, willing to assent to their pious petition, by our episcopal ordinary authority, or otherwise in any way attributed to us, to the same Dean and canons and their successors, grant by the tenor of the present letters the license and impart the faculty of exposing the aforesaid relics of St. Monegundis to the public veneration of the Christian people in the aforesaid church of Chimay. In witness whereof we have ordered the present letters, subscribed by our Vicar General in spirituals, to be confirmed with our seal, which we use in such matters. Given in our city of Liège in the year from the nativity of the Lord 1631, on the 12th day of the month of July. Subscribes Jo. a Chohier, Vicar of Liège. Coppæus the Apostolic notary testifies the agreement, with witnesses.
[14] The same man subjoined another diploma, from which the more ancient cult of St. Monegundis exhibited at Chimay is excellently confirmed, That the feast of St. Monegundis was long solemn, and other things pertaining thereto are recorded, which I have judged should be described from our copy. Thus it has: John, by the grace of God Bishop of Liège, to all and singular who shall see or hear the present, salvation in the Lord. The vows of the faithful, those especially by which an increase of the divine cult accrues and the salvation of souls is more conveniently provided for, we gladly admit to the grace of a hearing, and pursue them with opportune favors. Indeed, on behalf of the noble man beloved to us in Christ, John de Croy, knight, temporal Lord of the place of Chimay, of our diocese, a petition set forth contained, that the most holy in Christ Father and Lord, our Lord Pope Nicholas, for legitimate causes more fully expressed in his Apostolic letters presented to us, for the completion of the structure of the collegiate church of the aforesaid place, lately (alas!) consumed by fire, and in which the bodies of the holy virgins Moldegundis and Prisca are frequented with fitting honor, to the faithful of Christ, on each of the festivities of the same virgins stretching forth a hand there for this structure, seven years and as many quadragenes of the penances enjoined upon them, out of the mercy of Almighty God and the authority of his blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, mercifully relaxed.
[15] Moreover, to the Dean of the same church, for the time being, it is shown from the diploma and to four other discreet and suitable priests, to be deputed by the Dean, of hearing the confessions of the aforesaid faithful of Christ, during the aforementioned festivities, and of absolving them from all sins, crimes, offenses, and excesses, of which they shall have confessed with mouth and been contrite in heart, provided such were not those for which the Apostolic See would deservedly be to be consulted, and of enjoining upon them a salutary penance, granting by Apostolic authority a free and perpetual faculty. But since, as the same petition subjoined, every year according to the custom of the people of the aforesaid place, the feast of St. Moldegundis the virgin has been accustomed to be solemnly celebrated there, that was without the feast of St. Prisca the virgin having hitherto been accustomed to be solemnly celebrated among the people. Wherefore, on behalf of the noble John de Croy aforesaid, it was humbly supplicated of us, that we would order Apostolic letters of this kind to be published by our subjects requiring it thereupon, and that we would proclaim the said feasts of the holy virgins Moldegundis and Prisca to be solemnly celebrated in each of the parish churches of the temporal dominion of the place of Chimay aforesaid, by the people of that same dominion.
[16] We therefore, inclined by a supplication of this kind, of John, Bishop of Liège, of the year 1452. the aforesaid Apostolic letters, by the priests of the parish churches subject to us, at least to be required thereupon, to be published in the presence of their churches, and moreover, in contemplation of so great a spiritual and apostolic treasure, to be gained there on the said feasts, these feasts of the aforesaid holy virgins Moldegundis and Prisca, in each of the parish churches of the temporal dominion of the place of Chimay aforesaid, to be solemnly celebrated by the people of that dominion — in such wise that not only from sins, but from all mechanical work, one wholly cease and abstain on the same — by the parish priests of the parish churches of that dominion, on the Sunday next preceding such feasts, to be proclaimed, in virtue of holy obedience we more strictly enjoin and command. And nonetheless, trusting in the mercy of Almighty God, and in the patronage of the most glorious holy Virgin Mary and of St. Lambert the Martyr our patrons, to the aforesaid faithful of Christ confessed and contrite, insofar as they shall have been of our diocese, forty days of indulgences, of the penances enjoined upon them, we likewise mercifully relax in the Lord. The letters were given in the year from the nativity of the Lord 1452, on the last day of the month of April.
[17] The last instrument of Coppæus teaches us that the temple of St. Monegundis had not yet been entirely restored in the year 1498, Indulgences by three Cardinals since at that time new graces to that end accrued, made by three Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, namely Raymond of the title of St. Vitalis, Bishop of Gurk, William of the title of St. Potentiana, Archbishop and duke of Reims, and Philip of Luxembourg of the title of SS. Peter and Marcellinus, Bishop of Le Mans, who, devoutly requested by John Girard, chaplain of the church of Chimay, and inclined by his supplications, thus speak: A partaker of the eternal reward is made, who constitutes himself a promoter of good works. Desiring therefore that the collegiate church of the holy Monegundis the Elect and Prisca the virgin of Chimay, of the diocese of Liège, be frequented with fitting honors, and continually venerated by the faithful of Christ, and also be duly repaired, conserved, and maintained in its structures and buildings, and be decently furnished also with books, chalices, lights, and other ecclesiastical ornaments necessary for the divine cult, and in it the divine cult be increased, and that the faithful of Christ themselves may the more gladly flow together thereto for the sake of devotion, and stretch forth more readily helping hands to the repair, conservation, and support of the ornaments, whereby they may from this behold themselves to be the more abundantly refreshed there by the gift of heavenly grace. These things being premised, there follows the very grant of the Indulgences.
[18] We and each of us, trusting in the mercy of Almighty God, granted in the year 1498. and in the authority of his blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, to all and singular the faithful of Christ of both sexes aforesaid, truly penitent and confessed, who shall have devoutly visited the said church on each of the festivities and days of the same holy Monegundis the Elect, and Prisca the virgin, of the Conversion of St. Paul, of the Lord's Day of the Palms, and also of the Dedication of that church, from the first Vespers to the second Vespers inclusive, yearly, and shall have stretched forth helping hands, as is aforesaid, to the repair, conservation, maintenance, and support of the ornaments of this kind, for each of the festivities and days already mentioned, on which they shall have done this, a hundred days of the penances enjoined upon them we mercifully relax in the Lord; the present letters to endure in perpetual times to come. In witness whereof, etc. Given at Reims in the year from the nativity 1498, on the 28th day of the month of May, in the sixth year of the pontificate of the most holy in Christ Father and our Lord, Lord Alexander, by divine providence Pope the Sixth.
[19] Thus far the Chimay monuments, from which concerning the ancient cult of St. Monegundis there, The Life and Office are given. concerning her relics also long preserved there, concerning their loss and the substitution of others, concerning the solemn festivity accustomed to be celebrated by the people, we have said those things which could be received thence, just as in the earlier paragraph the things of Tours were reported; to which since there remains nothing to add, there is here to be subjoined the Life of which we treated at number 1, from the edition of Surius, which, collated with others, we have preferred, even though the variant readings did not seem of such moment, as will abundantly appear from the annotations: after which, from the praised St. Gregory, there will follow chapter 24 On the Glory of the Confessors; and finally the proper Office of Chimay of the Blessed Monegundis, religious woman, accustomed to be chanted in the exempt collegiate church of the town of Chimay, of the diocese of Liège, excerpted from the ancient manuscripts of the same church; printed at Douai by the types of Peter Auroy, at the sign of the golden Pelican, 1621.
LIFE By the author St. Gregory, Bishop of Tours, book On the Life of the Fathers, chapter 19. From the edition of Surius, collated with other editions.
Monegundis, widow and nun, at Tours in Gaul (S.)
BHL Number: 5995
>From Gregory of Tours.
[1] The immense benefits of God. The distinguished charisms of the divine benefits, which have been granted from heaven to the human race, can neither be conceived by sense, brought forth a in words, nor comprehended in writings, since the Saviour of the world himself, from that beginning of the primitive age, deigns to let himself be seen by the Patriarchs, to be announced by the Prophets, and at the last always deigns to be received in the womb of the intact Virgin Mary, and, the preeminent and immortal Creator, suffers to be clothed with the garment of mortal flesh, to approach death for the reparation of man, dead b on account of sin, and as victor to rise again. Luke 10. Who led us, wounded by the darts of grievous crimes, and afflicted with the wounds of ambushing robbers, wine and oil being poured in, to the inn of the heavenly medicine, that is, to the teaching of the holy Church: who exhorts us to live by the examples of the Saints, by the unceasing gift of his precept, and offers to us not only men, but even the inferior sex itself, contending not sluggishly, but manfully c, as an example: who confers the starry kingdoms not only on men legitimately contending, but even on women favorably toiling in these battles: as on the Blessed Monegundis d, who, her native soil left, like the prudent queen who went to hear the wisdom of Solomon e, sought the basilica of blessed Martin, that she might marvel at his miracles in the daily moments, and draw from the priestly fount, whereby she might be able to unclose the hearing of the paradisal grove. 3 Kings 10.
[2] The native land of St. Monegundis. Therefore the most blessed Monegundis, a native of the city of Chartres, joined in marriage according to the wish of her parents, had two daughters, over whom, greatly rejoicing, she was glad, saying: Because God has propagated my generation, that two daughters should be born to me. But this worldly joy the bitterness of this age intercepted f, when the girls, struck by a slight fever, closed the goal due to nature. From this the mother, mourning and lamenting, and grieving herself bereft, ceased not from weeping, neither by day nor by night, whom neither husband, nor friend, nor any of her kindred could console. But at length g, turned in upon herself, she said: If I take no consolation from the death of my daughters, I fear lest on this account I offend my Lord Jesus Christ. But now, leaving these laments, consoled with blessed Job, I will chant h: The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away: as i it has pleased the Lord, so it is done; blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1. And saying these things, having put off her mourning garment, Most strictly enclosed she ordered a little cell to be prepared for her, in which she directed only a little window to be fitted, through which she might discern a little light: and there, the pride of the world despised, the consortship of a husband spurned, she was free for God alone, in whom she had trusted: k pouring forth prayer for her own and the people's offenses, having one little girl, by whose service the necessity of water was ministered to her; she took also barley flour, and, carefully straining ashes l infused with water, she made of that water a mixture of dough, and, herself baking the loaves formed with her own hands, after long fasts she was refreshed. The remaining food of her house she distributed to the poor.
[3] Now it happened on a certain day that the aforementioned girl, she macerates herself with fasts. who had been accustomed to serve her, and, I believe, seduced by the craft of the enemy, whose custom it always is to inflict injuries upon the good, withdrew herself from her service, saying: I shall not be able to remain with this mistress, who dwells in such abstinence: but rather I will use the world, and take food and drink in abundance. Now the fifth day of her departure had already flowed by, in which [m] this Religious woman had taken neither the accustomed flour nor water, but stood immovable, and remaining fixed in Christ, in whom whoever n is placed or founded, slips away neither by the whirlwind of the wind, nor by the impulse of the waves: for she thought that life was brought to her not from mortal food, but from the word of God (as it is written), recalling that proverb of Solomonic wisdom: Because the Lord will not slay with hunger the soul of the just, and that: Because the just lives by faith. Proverbs 10, Habakkuk 2. But since the human body cannot be sustained without earthly food, prostrate in prayer o, she asked that he who brought manna from heaven to the hungering people, and water from the rock to the thirsting, might himself also deign to grant nourishment, whereby the weary little body might be somewhat comforted. Exodus 16, Numbers 20. And straightway at her prayer snow falling from heaven covered the ground. Which she, beholding with thanksgiving, She receives water from heaven. her hand drawn out through the window, gathered from that snow which was about the wall, from which pressing out water, she formed the accustomed [p] loaf, whereby for another five days she ministered bodily sustenance.
[4] Now she had [q] adjoining her cell a little garden, She heals a blind woman, into which for a certain relief she was accustomed to go forth. When therefore she had entered into it, looking at the herbs of the place and walking about; a woman, who had put wheat to dry upon her roof, as if from a more eminent place, filled with worldly cares, importunately looked on, and soon, her eyes being closed, was deprived of light. Recognizing her guilt, she comes to her, disclosing the matter as it had been done. But she, casting herself down into prayer, said: Woe to me, because for the sinful person of my littleness the eyes of others are closed. And the prayer being completed, she imposed her hand on the woman. Immediately, as she expressed the sign of the Cross, the woman received sight. A man [r] from that village, who had formerly lost his hearing, came devoutly to this cell, on whose behalf his parents entreated, that this Blessed hand would deign to impose itself upon him. But she, proclaiming herself unworthy, through whom Christ would deign to work, prostrate on the ground, and as if humbly licking the very footprints of the Lord's feet, supplicated the divine clemency for him: and while she was still lying on the ground, the ears of the deaf man were opened, likewise a deaf man, and he returned to his own home, his grief taken away, with joy.
[5] Glorified by these signs among her own [s], lest she incur the fall of vainglory, likewise a girl from a pustule. she faithfully sought the basilica of St. Martin the Bishop, her husband being left with her household and all her home. And when she was taking up the journey begun, she came to a village of the city of Tours, whose name is Evena, in which [t] the relics of Medardus, the confessor of Soissons, are contained, whose vigils also were being celebrated that night. There [u] therefore, attentively keeping watch in prayer, at the due hour she came with the rest of the people to the solemnities of the Masses. While these were being celebrated [w] by the priests of God, there came a certain girl kindled with the poison of an evil pustule, and fell down at her feet, saying: Come to my aid, for wicked death strives to snatch away my life. But she, prostrate in prayer after her custom, supplicated for her God the Creator of all, and, rising, imposed the sign of the Cross: and thus, the wound bursting into four parts, the pus running off, importunate death left the girl.
[6] Another miracle. After these things the blessed Monegundis came to the basilica of St. Martin, and there, prostrate before the sepulcher, giving thanks that she had merited to contemplate the holy tomb with her own eyes, taking up her abode in a little cell, she was daily free for prayer and fasts and vigils. But neither was that place inglorious from her power. For a certain widow's daughter had contracted hands, on whom [x] when she, being entreated, imposed the sign of salvation, she began with her hands to handle the girl's fingers. And the fingers being extended, and the sinews straightened, she loosed the palms unharmed. Now while these things were being done, her husband, hearing the fame of the Blessed woman, calling together his friends and neighbors, went after her, and led her back to her own, and put her into the cell in which she had first dwelt. But she ceased not from the work to which she had been accustomed, but was exercised in fasts and supplications, that at length she might be able to acquire the place in which she desired to dwell. She begins again the desired journey, imploring the aid of blessed Martin, that he who had given the desire, would grant also the accomplishment of arriving at the basilica. She returns to that cell in which she had first dwelt, and in it she remained unshaken: nor indeed was she any more sought by her husband. There truly [y] gathering a few nuns, she lived with entire faith and prayer, The hardness of her life. taking no bread but barley, no wine, save a little on feast days, and this itself tempered with much water, having no couch of hay or the softness of straw, but only that which is wont to be made of interwoven twigs of rush, which are commonly called mats [z]. This she laid upon a frame, on this alone she lay, this was her daily bench, this her mattress, this her little cushion, this her coverlet, this all the comfort of her little bed; thus teaching the same to do, whom she had taken to herself. And there, living in the praises of God, to many sick, prayer being made, she imparted salutary remedies.
[7] A certain woman presented her daughter full of wounds [aa], and pus had bred in them. She heals a girl with her saliva Then she, prayer being made, taking saliva from her mouth, anointed the cruel wounds, and rendered the girl whole, by the help of his power, who formed the eyes of the man born blind with spittle. John 9. But a boy, an inhabitant of the place, drank a poison in a draught, from which, as they assert, serpents generated in his inward parts stirred up great pain by their bites, so that no delay of rest was granted even for a slight moment: nor could he take food or drink: and if ever [bb] he took anything, he immediately cast it up. This boy, brought to the blessed woman, asked that he be cleansed by her power. And when she cried out against it, that she was unworthy who could do these things, entangled by the entreaty of her own, she palpated the boy's belly, stroking it with her palm, and felt there the wickedness of the venomous snakes lurking. Then, taking a leaf of a green vine-shoot, she anointed it with saliva, and fixed upon him the sign of the blessed Cross. Which being placed upon the young man's belly, the pain being a little quieted, he slept upon the bench, who formerly, the pains being insistent, had lacked sleep. Likewise a diseased boy. But after the moment of one hour, rising up, and going out to purge his belly, he poured forth the seed of the pestiferous generation, and giving thanks to the handmaid of God, departed whole.
[8] But another boy, contracted with a paralytic sickness, Likewise a paralytic. was brought before her between the hands of others, entreating to be healed by the Blessed woman. But she, prostrate in prayer, poured forth a prayer for him to the Lord. And the prayer being completed, rising up, taking the boy's hand, she raised him, and permitted him to depart safe. There was a blind woman, who, brought to her, entreated that she would impose hands upon her. But she answered: What have you and I to do, men of God? Does not St. Martin dwell here, Likewise she restores a blind woman. who daily shines with the working of illustrious powers? Go thither, there beseech, that he himself may deign to visit you: for I, a sinner, what shall I do? But she, persevering in her petition, said: God, through all who fear his name, daily works an excellent work: and therefore as a suppliant I flee to you, to whom the grace of cures has been divinely bestowed. Then the handmaid of God, moved, imposed her hands upon the buried lights: and straightway, the cataracts being unlocked, she who had been blind beheld the world lying open far and wide. And to many possessed also entering to her, when she imposed hands, the wicked enemy being put to flight, she restored soundness. Nor did they delay to be cured of these, whom the Saint permitted to approach to her.
[9] Now the time of her calling was drawing near, and, worn out in body, she was being dissolved. When the nuns whom she had with her saw this, Salt and oil being blessed, they wept greatly, saying: And to whom, holy mother, do you leave us? Or to whom do you commend the daughters, whom you have gathered into this place for the sake of God? But she, weeping a little, said: If you follow peace and sanctification, God will be your protection, and you will have St. Martin the Bishop as your great pastor. I too will not depart from you: but being invoked, I shall be present in the midst of your charity. But they besought, saying: Many sick will come to us, demanding to receive a blessing from you: and what shall we do, when they see that you are no longer surviving? For confounded we shall send them away, when we do not behold your face. But we ask, that since she is hidden from our eyes, you would at least deign to bless oil and salt, from which we may be able to minister to the sick demanding a blessing. Then she, the oil and salt being blessed, delivered them to them: which, receiving, they most diligently preserved. And thus the most blessed woman died in peace, and was buried in that same cell, presenting herself thereafter by many powers. she dies holily. For from the aforementioned blessing many, after her passing, experienced the benefits of soundness.
[10] Finally, one foot of Boso the deacon had swollen from an evil pustule, Various miracles at her tomb. so that he was not able to make a step, and being carried to her temple, he poured forth prayer. But the girls, taking of the aforementioned oil which the Saint had left, placed it upon his foot, and immediately, the wound being opened, the poison flowing off, he was healed. A certain blind man, brought to her tomb, prostrates himself in prayer: and a drowsiness rushing upon him, he slept, and the Blessed woman appeared to him, saying: I judge myself indeed unworthy to be made equal to the Saints, but nevertheless here you shall receive the light of one eye: but thereafter hasten as quickly as possible to the feet of blessed Martin, and prostrate yourself in compunction of mind before him, for he himself will restore to you the sight of the other eye. The man, awakened, the light of one eye received, went where the command of him who ordered impelled, and there again beseeching the power of the blessed Confessor, the night of the blind eye being driven away, he departed seeing. A mute man also lay prostrate at this tomb of the Blessed woman: who was so compunctuous in faith, that he stained the pavement of the cell with rivers of tears: who rising up, his tongue loosed by divine power, returned. Finally another mute, coming and lying down, implored with the heart only, and not with a loosed voice, the aid of the Blessed woman, into whose mouth, a part of the aforementioned blessing being poured, blood mixed with pus bursting forth, he merited to obtain the office of speech. A man sick with fever also, approaching this monument, when he touched the pall covering it, the fever of the contagion being extinguished, recovered. But a contracted man, Marcus by name, carried between the hands of others to the sepulcher of the Blessed woman, poured forth prayer for a very long time: and at the ninth hour he stood upon his own feet, and returned home. Leodinus a boy, when rushing into a grievous sickness, was ill in the fourth month, and had lost not only the use of steps, but even now of food, the excessive fever insisting, being carried to her sepulcher, all but dead, having received health, rose from the tomb restored to life. What shall I say of the rest of the fever-sick, since to very many this was the benefit of remedy, when they faithfully kissed the pall of the tomb? What also of the possessed? Who, brought to the cell of the Blessed woman, when they had entered the holy threshold, are restored to a sound mind. For the specter does not delay to go forth from the body, when it has felt the power of this Saint to be present, our Lord Jesus Christ working this, who to those who fear his name bestows eternal rewards.
ANNOTATA.
m. Ruinart: "quo."
p. Thus better than "accustomed."
q. Greater here the diversity of reading: "For she had adjoining her cell a little garden; into it, for a certain relief, she was accustomed to go forth. Having entered into which, looking." So a little below, "and the matter as it had been done, etc."
r. Ruinart: "A certain man ….. to her cell," and further down, "hand."
s. The same, for "her own," reads "parents," and below "and all her home," for "or all her home."
t. Ruinart: "of blessed Medardus."
u. Well, "there therefore": Ruinart, "in which."
w. Thus "were being celebrated" (celebrarentur), better than "are being celebrated" (celebrantur); "pustulæ" better than "pusulæ," and below best "supplicavit," wrongly in the new, "suggessit."
x. And here rightly edited, "on whom when she": Ruinart, "who when," below omitting "truly," and for "her" (illius) putting "his" (ejus), and, "and by supplications," for "and by supplications."
y. Thus better than "and there," and below better "a little" than "somewhat," better "much water" than "excessive fluid."
z. Ruinart: "also mats," where he notes that Mats Mattas is the bed assigned to the monks by St. Father Benedict. For "supponebat" he reads "superponens," and likewise "supersternens." At "of the frame," it is to be observed, is taken here for a seat or bench. Below, better edited, "comfort" (commoditas), than Ruinart's "necessity" (necessitudo).
aa. Ruinart asserts that in the MSS. is read, "and, as some call them, of a wet-nurse this cause had bred"; I prefer our construction, correct and full.
bb. Thus better, than "after a long time." Below Ruinart reads "by the entreaty of the parents," "palpabat," "stroking," "putting which," and other diverging minutiae occur; "fudit" for "effudit": "obsecramini" for "obsecrate": "Sanctimoniamque" for "sanctificationemque": "I too," for "for I also," etc.
From the book On the Glory of the Confessors, chapter XXIV.
Monegundis, widow and nun, at Tours in Gaul (S.)
But at the city of Tours itself the blessed Monegundis died. Now she was from the territory of Chartres, who, leaving both her country and her parents, sought Tours for this only, that she might be free for prayer: through whom God frequently deigned to show miracles. For if anyone had incurred an evil pustule, and coming to her, entreated in prayer: immediately she prostrated herself to supplicate the Lord, and gathering leaves of any herb or fruit, anointed them with saliva, and making a cross over the ulcer, imposed the leaf; and immediately all the poison so vanished, that the sick person suffered nothing further worthy of death. To those sick with quartan fever also and with pains of the throat, blessed water being given, she often gave healing. To whose sepulcher now the sick assiduously flow together, and are healed. For how many suffering chills, how many all but dead from evil pustules by the thickening poison, how many from dysentery were there healed, cannot be explained one by one. But since we have recorded many of these things in the book which we composed concerning her life, the things which were afterward done we have not been able to be silent about. The handmaid of our approved archdeacon was grievously shaken by a quartan fever, and now for nearly a year was ill in this fever; who, deposited between the hands of her parents upon the holy tomb, was carried home unharmed.
OFFICE OF THE BLESSED MONEGUNDIS, RELIGIOUS WOMAN, Patroness of the exempt Collegiate Church, and of the whole town of Chimay
Monegundis, widow and nun, at Tours in Gaul (S.)
From the Office of Chimay.
At Vespers. Antiphon. Holy Monegundis, handmaid devoted to God, ask the thundering King, that he may have mercy on us with his accustomed piety. Psalm. The Lord said.
Antiphon. Nourishing Monegundis, receive our vows, the vows of your servants, asking the Lord that he may loose our crimes, and that we may merit to remain in the lot of your life. Psalm. Praise, ye children.
Antiphon. For the blessed Monegundis, whose solemnities we celebrate today, in a frail body, by the grace of God granting it, strongly overcame the enticements of the world. Psalm. I was glad.
Antiphon. Monegundis, bathed in tears, said: My Jesus Christ, permit me to rejoice together with your Saints. Psalm. Unless the Lord.
Antiphon. The blessed Monegundis departed from the world, she saw the Angel of the Lord, and the holy glory of God the Father, and the Angels drew near, and received her soul. Psalm. Praise, O Jesus.
Little Chapter. Proverbs 21 [31]. Who shall find a valiant woman? Far, and from the uttermost coasts is her price: the heart of her husband trusteth in her, and he shall have no need of spoils. Thanks be to God.
Hymn. Let us chant with joyful voices the heraldings of the most sacred Monegundis, to whose footsteps, the waves of the world's sea being driven off, let us follow the heavenly things. As the burning of the furnace purifies gold, so did the devotion of faith cleanse this Saint, and illustrious religion proved her blessed. While she weighed every creature as transitory, she made little of the vanishing glory of this world, and with her whole heart she tends toward him who gives pardon to the guilty. Neither the copious abundance of her husband's goods, nor the noble lineage of her parents moves her; more precious to her is the abstinence of the flesh. Therefore, enclosed in a strait cell, she renounces the pride of the world; against the wars of the flesh, of the world, and of the enemy she fights, that she be not sunk in the storm, she dedicates herself to Christ. A suppliant she serves God with prayers, with fasts, she is tortured with grievous fare, holy in her straits; Martin consoles her against the snares of the enemy. And when she emptied her body of pleasing food, she lives on barley bread and a draught of water, wherefore God distinguished her with much miracle. Let us implore her help and patronage, let us present to her the homage of heart and mouth, that with her we may be placed in the heavenly court. Amen.
Verse. Pray for us, blessed Monegundis, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Antiphon at the Magnificat. The blessed Monegundis despised the kingdom of the world, and all the adornment of the age, for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom she loved, in whom she believed, whom she cherished.
Collect. Guard us, we beseech you, O Lord, with the protections of the most blessed Monegundis, and, provoked by her glorious examples, may we renounce all worldly enticements. Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, etc.
[2] At Matins. Invitatory. Let us adore Christ the King and Spouse of the holy virgins, who placed the blessed Monegundis among the choirs of the Angels. Come.
Hymn. With glad mind, and likewise with voice, and with the choir, our life too being in harmony, grant us, O holy Christ, worthily to celebrate Monegundis. She overcame the wars of the flesh, of the world, of the malignant spirit, with chastity as her leader; in hope of heaven she strove to tame her body in a foul cave. To her water gave the draught, and barley the food, a couch her hard bed, that, joined to the throng of the blessed, she might be able to live. By her intervention, O nourishing God, now spare our faults, remitting our vices, that we may resound to you the nourishing hymn of a pure heart. Glory to the Father, and to the begotten Offspring, and to you equal to both ever, O nourishing Spirit, one God, for all the time of the age. Amen.
In the First Nocturn. Antiphon. The blessed Monegundis entreating the Lord, the ears of the deaf woman were opened, and she blessed the Lord. Psalm. O Lord our Lord.
Antiphon. Her prayers came to the Lord, that her little body might be comforted. Psalm. The heavens declare.
Antiphon. The handmaid of Christ Monegundis, serving the Holy Spirit, placed alone in her little cell, was free for the Lord in prayers. Psalm. The earth is the Lord's.
Verse. In your beauty and comeliness. Response. Bend, etc.
Lessons of the first nocturn. Who shall find a valiant woman? From the common office.
Responsory 1. Glorified by signs among her kindred, lest she incur the fall of vainglory, the thresholds of St. Martin the Bishop, her husband left with her household and all her home: she faithfully sought. Verse. With her mind she gasped after the heavenly things, and making little of the earthly, the basilica of blessed Martin: she faithfully, etc.
Responsory 2. What have you and I to do, men of God? Does not St. Martin dwell here, who daily shines with the working of illustrious powers? Go thither, there beseech, that he himself may deign to visit you. Verse. For I, a sinner, what shall I do? But she, persevering in her petition, said: Go thither.
Responsory 3. Now the time of her calling was drawing near, and, worn out in body, she was being dissolved: When the nuns whom she had with her saw this, they wept greatly, saying. Verse. And to whom, holy mother, do you leave us, or to whom do you commend the daughters, whom in this place you gathered for the love of God? When. Glory to the Father. When.
[3] In the Second Nocturn. Antiphon. She begins again the desired journey, imploring the aid of blessed Martin, that he who had given the desire, would grant the accomplishment. Psalm. My heart hath uttered.
Antiphon. After these things, having entered the basilica of blessed Martin, she returns to that cell in which she had first dwelt, from this she remained unshaken, nor was she any more sought by her husband. Psalm. Our God is our refuge.
Antiphon. When she performed a fast, she never took food except in the evening, or in the middle of the week, and for the most part even on the seventh day. Psalm. Great is the Lord.
Verse. He will help her. Response. God in the midst.
Lessons of the second Nocturn. From blessed Gregory, Bishop of Tours, book On the Life of the Fathers, chapter 19. The most blessed Monegundis, a native of the city of Chartres, etc.
Responsory 4. The blessed Monegundis, handmaid of Christ, the pomps being wholly spurned, and conjugal affection renounced, with her whole mind betook herself to Christ. Verse. Penetratingly inebriated with his love, despising all earthly things. With her whole mind.
Responsory 5. Blessed Monegundis, intercede for us, for you are blessed, and have received a crown: And you will forever flourish like a rose in paradise. Verse. You have found and received a crown with the Angels of God. And you will forever flourish.
Responsory 6. Be constant, daughter, and may you remain in the power of God, and I will make you see your spouse Christ. Who for your love poured out his blood.
Verse. The blessed Martin appeared, saying to the blessed Monegundis: Be constant, daughter, hold your God in mind. Who for. Glory. Who for.
[4] In the Third Nocturn. Antiphon. Then she, the oil and salt being blessed, delivered them to them, who, receiving them, most diligently preserved them. Psalm. Sing to the Lord. 1.
Antiphon. A certain blind man, brought to her tomb, prostrates himself in prayer; and she appeared to him, saying: I judge myself indeed unworthy to be made equal to the Saints, but nevertheless here you shall receive the light of one eye. Psalm. The Lord hath reigned.
Antiphon. The man, awakened from the vision, the light of one eye received, went where the command of him who ordered impelled, and there again beseeching the power of blessed Martin, departed rejoicing and seeing. Psalm. Sing 2.
Verse. God hath chosen her. Response. In the tabernacle.
Gospel of St. Matthew. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure. As in the common office, not of Virgins.
Responsory 7. The blessed handmaid of Christ Monegundis, afflicted with continual fasts, after prayer herself forming bread with her own hands: refreshed her wearied limbs. Verse. In prayer persevering day and night, and humbling herself before her Maker. Refreshed.
Responsory 8. Departing from the world, the blessed Monegundis saw the Angel of the Lord, and the holy glory of God the Father: And the Angels drew near and received her soul. Verse. To whom, holy mother, do you leave us, or to whom do you commend the daughters, whom in this place you gathered for the love of God? And they drew near. Glory to the Father. And they drew near.
[5] At Lauds. Antiphon. The most blessed Monegundis, a native of the city of Chartres, the devout handmaid of Christ, came to the heavenly kingdoms. Psalm. The Lord hath reigned.
Antiphon. A certain man, who had formerly lost his hearing, came devoutly to her cell, on whose behalf his parents entreated, that this blessed hand would deign to impose itself upon him.
Antiphon. Prostrate before the sepulcher of blessed Martin, the blessed Monegundis gives thanks to God, that she has merited to see with her own eyes. Psalm. O God, my God.
Antiphon. After prayer was made, the blessed Monegundis restored the girl's fingers in the Lord. Psalm. Bless ye.
Antiphon. Her hand imposed on the woman, the blessed Monegundis obtained light for her from the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm. Praise the Lord, etc.
Little Chapter. A valiant woman. As above in the first Vespers.
Hymn. Let us chant with joyful. As in the first Vespers.
Verse. Pray for us, blessed Monegundis. Response. That we may be made worthy.
Antiphon at the Benedictus. To whom, holy mother, do you leave us, or to whom do you commend the daughters, whom in this place you gathered for the love of God? Benedictus.
Collect. Of the most blessed Monegundis. As in the first Vespers.
[6] At Terce. Antiphon. A certain man. Little Chapter. A valiant woman.
Short Response. In your beauty. Verse. He will help.
At Sext. Antiphon. Prostrate. Little Chapter. She hath opened her hand to the needy, and stretched out her palms to the poor: she shall not fear for her house in the cold of snow.
Short Response. He will help. Verse. God hath chosen her.
At None. Antiphon. Her hand imposed. Little Chapter. Many daughters have gathered together riches, you have surpassed them all: favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain, the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
Short Response. God hath chosen her. Verse. Grace is poured abroad.
At Vespers. Antiphons from Lauds. Psalms, Little Chapter, Hymn, and Verse, as in the first Vespers.
At the Magnificat. Antiphon. Let us praise the Lord our God on the solemnity of the Blessed Monegundis, who in this pilgrimage despised worldly marriage, chose Jesus as her spouse, Alleluia. Magnificat.