ON ST. ARNOLD, CONFESSOR,
IN THE DISTRICT OF ARNSWEILER IN THE TERRITORY OF JÜLICH.
PERHAPS IN THE IX CENTURY.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The cult and Acts of the Saint are examined.
Arnold, Confessor, in the district of Arnsweiler, of the dominion of Jülich, in Germany (S.)
BY THE AUTHOR G. C.
The hamlet or villa of St. Arnold, which, according to our Acts, number 4, was formerly called Ginnezwilre, and afterward, for the Saint's name, Arnoldswilre, and now is commonly called Arnsweiler, lies in the duchy of Jülich between Jülich and Düren, The cult of St. Arnold at Arnsweiler, near the torrent commonly called the Elle. Of this place, unless I am mistaken, the diploma of Philip of Heinsberg, archbishop of Cologne, given in the year 1168, makes mention, which I have found noted to have existed in Gelenius, and in which it is related that Godfrey, priest of Wilre St. Arnold, with a view to the divine mercy, for the remedy of his soul and of his parents, gave 20 journals (that is, acres) in the parish of the aforementioned villa to St. Cunibert. But although here in the XII century I find the village distinguished with the name of Wilre St. Arnold, yet I long sought in vain the special cult of that Saint in Martyrologies more ancient than the XV century. I am compelled therefore to approach the more recent Martyrologists and historians, who, treating of the public cult of St. Arnold, wish to indicate the same village; but some erred in assigning the situation and name of that place, as we shall observe through the course.
[2] In our manuscript Florarium, which was written about the middle of the XV century, it is proved from more recent writers, I first found the memory of our Saint in these words: "In the territory of Jülich, at the villa of Arnswilre, the birthday of blessed Arnold the confessor, harper of St. Charlemagne." Similar things have the Lübeck-Cologne edition of Usuard, Greven, our Canisius in his German Martyrology, and other Martyrologists later than the manuscript Florarium. André du Saussay in the Gallican Martyrology thus announces the same Saint: "In the territory of Jülich, at the village of Arnsviller, the deposition of blessed Arnold, harper of Charlemagne and confessor, a man of great religion and much piety toward the poor." Claude Castellanus in the Universal Martyrology, making no mention of Charlemagne, thus speaks: "At Arnold's hamlet near Düren, in the land of Jülich, of St. Arnold the fiddler." Aegidius Gelenius in his work On the Magnitude of Cologne, book 4, page 706, is more prolix in this manner: "At Genetwillere, a village of the territory of Jülich, which is now called Arnold Willere, the feast of St. Arnold the musician, who, instructed in the sciences of harmony from Greece, coming to the court of Charlemagne, delighted it more by the sweetness of his piety than by the sweetness of his art, and largely inclined the mind of Charles to compassion for his subjects, so that from the royal treasury it might be permitted to the poor to gather wood."
[3] from the Martyrologies, Theodor Rhay, among the illustrious souls of Jülich, Cleves, etc., numbers St. Arnold, and adorns him on the XVIII of July with the following elogium: "At Genetwillere, a village of the territory of Jülich on the Roer, which is now called Arnold's hamlet, commonly Tarzwiller (others write Darnswiler), the feast of St. Arnold the musician, who, instructed in the arts of harmony from Greece, coming to the court of Charlemagne, so affected the mind of the emperor with more of piety than of pleasantness by his harmony, and inclined him to compassion for his subjects, that from the public it might be permitted to the poor to gather wood in a great tract of forests (which, while Caesar was dining, by riding around in a swift course, he marked out larger than faith and expectation). The body of this Saint, in the recent thirty-years' wars of Germany, in a church almost level with the field and open, stood unharmed, not without the admiration of the neighbors."
[4] Jean Molanus in the Usuardine additions thus treats of the same Saint: "In the territory of Jülich, at the village of Arnswilre, and some errors concerning the situation of the place, the birthday of blessed Arnold, harper of Charlemagne and confessor, a man of much piety toward the poor." I know not why the place of cult, which here he had rightly placed in the territory of Jülich, he afterward changed: for in the Little Index of the Saints of Belgium, edited at Antwerp in the year 1583, page 12, he thus describes the situation of the place: "The place is near Fauquemont between Maastricht and Aachen, of the diocese of Liège, as I gather from the map of the said bishopric, in which Arnswilre is comprehended." The same topographical error in the Chronicle of the Saints of Belgium, chapter 10, he thus repeats: "At Wilre near Fauquemont, St. Arnold the harper of Charles himself." But afterward Molanus, better instructed from the rescript of Lord Arnold Hisvelt, canon of Cologne, as is noted in the title, in the Nativities of the Saints of Belgium, or rather Peter Louw, who edited this work from the posthumous papers of Molanus, thus corrects this error on the XVIII of July: "In the territory of Jülich, at the village of Arnsweiler, the birthday of St. Arnold, harper of Charlemagne and confessor. This one I have found to be of the diocese of Cologne: for he died not at Wilre near Fauquemont, but at Jülich, and rests in the place which from him is called Arnsweiler; where by the inhabitants and other country-folk, who are participants in that wood which he obtained from Charlemagne, he is solemnly celebrated on the eighteenth day of July. And they come together on the feast day processionally with banners and crosses."
[5] The same Molanus in the Little Index of the Saints of Belgium, folio 11 verso, thus describes the Saint and his cult: are detected, "St. Arnold, from the parts of Greece a lyric player by art, on account of the grace of his art was received into the royal court of Charlemagne, and dwelt at Genezwilre, which today is called the villa of St. Arnold. From the Emperor he received a wood, which he distributed to the adjacent villages: whose anniversary day is recalled by the inhabitants of that place on the fifteenth Kalends of August with the highest veneration, and they offer him fourteen candles before the relics laid up in a silver coffer." Peter Mersseus Cratepolius of the Order of St. Francis, in the Catalogue of the Ecclesiastical Electors, edited at Cologne in the year 1580, page 45, thus also testifies of the cult of our Saint: "Arnold, once the harper of Charlemagne, who was very kindly and liberal toward the poor, died piously, and his relics, on account of frequent miracles, are preserved in honor at Arwilre." Cratepolius here hallucinated in expressing the name of the place: since Arwilre is a town far distant from Arnold's villa or Arnsweiler: for Arwilre is adjacent to the river Abrinca, commonly Ahr or Are, which flows into the Rhine near Sinzig, as may be seen in the geographical maps. But the village of Arnsweiler between
Jülich and Düren is situated on the torrent Elle, as we said in number 1. More grossly concerning the place of cult erred the Carthusians of Brussels in their manuscript additions to Usuard, where they say that the body of St. Arnold the harper rests in Flanders near Oudenburg: for there rests the body of St. Arnulphus, bishop of Soissons, whom they wrongly confused with this our Arnold.
[6] and they are refuted. Although from what has been said the errors of some are sufficiently refuted, and the place of veneration abundantly pointed out, yet lest any scruple could remain, let us add also those things which the Reverend Father Jacques Poli of the Order of Friars Minor wrote to our Elders about this matter: "For vindicating the truth," he says, "the evidence of the facts makes: the tomb, the sacred relics, the manuscript Life, the choir, the annual festival, the denomination of the village, the surrounding forests, the possession of the candles wont to be offered annually, and what follows." Then by him is subjoined the roll of the tithe-court jurisdiction at Arnoldiwilre, renewed in February of the year 1579; from which he thus renders into Latin the third clause, expressed in German: "Moreover the jurors declare that the abbess at St. Ursula's at Cologne (lady of the tithe-court) will illumine the parish of St. Arnoldiwilre annually, from the beginning of January into the fourth month, day and night, with two lamps, one before the venerable Sacrament, the other in the choir of St. Arnold." And these things about the place perhaps more than enough; now let us proceed to establish the cult from the ecclesiastical Office.
[7] [The memory of the Saint is celebrated in the manuscript Office of the Charterhouse of Koblenz,] Johann Gamans, never to be mentioned without praise in our Acts, of which he has deserved excellently, in the year 1638 sent to Bolland the Life of St. Arnold taken from a manuscript of the Charterhouse of Koblenz, to which some proper antiphons and a collect are subjoined in this manner: 1. "The spirit of St. Arnold exults in the Lord, whom Christ has blessed in the hall of heaven, to whom there will ever be praise and jubilation. O patron, leader, and good guardian, holy Arnold, help thy servants ever with diligent prayer unto the ages of ages. Amen." 2. "Rejoice, holy harper Arnold, who, as the Psalmist soothed king Saul, so didst thou Charles the Emperor." 3. "Rejoice, born in Greece, thou goest forth from thy homeland, like the patriarch Abraham, who went into Canaan." 4. "Rejoice, provider for the poor, having pity on the neighboring ones, obtaining for them the wood of the forests for the fostering of fires. Rejoice, for thou didst foreknow the term of thy life through the ring, this cast into the river when thou didst receive it again." 5. "Pray now to Christ the Lord, that by thy suffrage he may give us the prize of heaven." In the manuscript of the Charterhouse of Cologne is added "after this shipwreck." Then there follows in the same place: Verse: "Pray for us wretched ones, blessed Arnold": Response: "That we may be worthy of the fire of the heavenly breath." But in each manuscript is read this prayer: "Almighty and eternal God, whose desirable aspect gladdens all the Saints, grant propitiously that, by the intercession of St. Arnold thy confessor, we may so through thy grace be refreshed here on the way, that we may glad enjoy the brightness of thy countenance in the homeland. Through our Lord. Amen." These things only concerning the cult of our Saint we could find; now let us forewarn a few things about the Acts.
[8] and in the Acts written by an anonymous author of uncertain time, I know not of what profession or age was the anonymous writer of the Arnoldine Life, since he indicates neither anywhere. Yet it is clear enough that this author wrote the Acts long after the death of St. Arnold, since he himself candidly confesses thus, number 3: "Whose life indeed from the beginning and the origin of his race we prefer to pass over in silence, than to feign probable things from uncertain ones: we only run through those things about him which we have learned from our more ancient writers to have been done by him." But since he does not express at what time those more ancient writers lived, I cannot even by conjecture ascertain in what century these Acts were compiled. Whatever be the case with their uncertain antiquity, there does not please me in them the miracle of the ring cast into the river, and afterward prodigiously recovered, since it could easily be taken from elsewhere, and there is play on the affinity of the name, since a similar prodigy is narrated of Arnulphus bishop of Metz, as may be seen in his Acts, illustrated on this day. Nor does the Greek homeland of St. Arnold please: for I found among our papers someone who suspected that Rhaetia should be written for Greece, as in the Catalogue of Peter de Natalibus, book 7, chapter 28, Crete is read for Rhaetia. At least the name Arnold savors not of a Greek but of a German origin, concerning which our Arnold a Boecop disputes at length in the etymology subjoined to the Acts of St. Hubert, likewise illustrated by our Robert, page 520. For the rest, I think the history of the deeds of this Saint was chiefly collected from a certain popular tradition, which by the lapse of time is wont to grow not a little, and to be much changed, as we learn by daily experience. Yet I do not here reject that tradition, which from certain and ancient monuments I can neither approve nor disprove.
[9] We have four manuscript exemplars of the same Acts, of which four manuscript exemplars are reviewed. of which the first exists in a parchment codex of our College of Paderborn, which we procured by an exchange of other books: in it a wordy prologue is prefixed to the Arnoldine Life, which contributes little to the matter, and can easily be fitted to any Saint. The second is a manuscript of the Charterhouse of Koblenz, in which the prologue is lacking, and here and there some slight change has been made, as we shall observe in the Annotations. The third manuscript was taken from the Brabantine Hagiology, which is preserved among the canons of Rouge-Cloître near Brussels. This manuscript too lacks the prologue, and concerning the substance scarcely differs from the preceding. I conjecture, however, that it is more recent, because toward the end of the Acts the following are inserted: "The inhabitants of the parishes dwelling around the aforesaid wood, and warming their hearths with its wood, come annually with a procession, and offer fourteen candles, which are placed before the relics of the Saint, laid up in a silver coffer, and are lighted for the praise of God and the memory of the Saint." Something similar I brought forward above from Molanus; but in the other three manuscripts these are not read. The fourth finally was copied verbatim by Christoph Möw of our Society from an ancient manuscript Office, which was preserved in the village of St. Arnold in the year 1637. From this Office, as the title indicates, the Life of St. Arnold was taken by those who prepared the second edition of Surius. But since they omitted the prologue, and changed certain words, we shall give this our fourth manuscript, which agrees altogether with the first or Paderborn codex, whole and genuine, and shall observe the variations worthy of note in the margin or in the Annotations.
THE ACTS, BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR.
From a manuscript Office, which is preserved in the village of St. Arnold, and was collated with three other manuscripts.
Arnold, Confessor, in the district of Arnsweiler, of the dominion of Jülich, in Germany (S.)
BHL Number: 0685
FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.
The author says that the poor in spirit are especially chosen by God, We read in the Apostle: "God chose the poor in this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him." Where it is to be noted that it says "poor in this world," that namely it may be openly designated that those are rather chosen by the Lord who seem despised, and most vile, and abject in this world: for these are the poor of whom in the Gospel Truth testifies, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven": for although God does not cast off the powerful, since he himself is also powerful; yet from the beginning he did not choose princes, not senators, not the perfect, not philosophers, not orators, not any soft ones living in the houses of kings; but he chose fishermen, and (as regards the wisdom of this world, which is foolishness with God) men unlearned and simple, whom he willed to be the heralds and teachers of the new grace, and to whom he gave to know the mysteries of the wisdom of God, which none of the princes of this world knew: but these poor abound in the riches of faith, and those who seem to lack these transitory and fleeting things, abound in all virtues, coruscate with miracles, shine with the examples of good works: for by faith they heal the sick, cleanse lepers, cure the lame, enlighten the blind, raise the dead, of whom the prophet cries to the Lord: "Thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honorable, their principality is exceedingly strengthened." Truly their principality is exceedingly strengthened, to whom is given the right of binding and loosing, whose tongue has been made the key of heaven, so that to none of the rich is the faculty of entering given, who has not been zealous to be humbled with these poor ones for Christ.
[2] but that therefore the rich are not to be despised. These therefore are the poor, possessing the earth by their bodies, heaven by their merit, as also heirs of that kingdom, whose joys and whose rewards neither eyes have seen, nor have ascended into the heart of men, which God has prepared for those who love him. So that while anyone perchance is called from earthly felicity to the heavenly kingdom, for example if anyone is called by the Lord from a royal standing, or from a prefecture, or from any summit of dignity, and, hearing the voice of him who said: "Unless one shall have left all that he possesses, he cannot be my disciple," shall have left all that he had, and have postponed all secular things, and have handed himself over to be devoted to the service of the Lord himself. Let such a one not despise the rest, not look down on others, who perchance are called from beggary or rusticity; but let him remember the apostolic lesson, how God chose the poor in this world, rich in faith. And so let all, whoever are called by Christ, be zealous to prevent one another in humility, so that neither the poor be lifted up, esteeming himself chosen, as though the rich were despised, nor the rich be puffed up, esteeming himself called, as though the poor were contemned; because, as a certain one of the venerable fathers said: "Whether slave, or free, we are all one in Christ, and under one Lord we bear an equal warfare of service, and there is no respect of persons with God." Let it suffice to have said these few things about the calling of the rich and the poor. For the rest, let it seem incongruous to no one that we have set this exordium to this our work, since our discourse is about him who was poor in riches and in spirit in this world, whom Christ glorified with signs and virtues in the present age, and after the goal of this life placed with the princes of his people in heaven, of whom now arises the discourse.
[3] From generation to generation the Lord God has made mercy, St. Arnold, a Greek by nation, a musician by art, who led Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans, that is out of the multitude of the impious, and from the farthest bounds of the earth sent us holy Arnold, who indeed in this our land was a pilgrim and sojourner; but in that heavenly homeland a fellow-townsman of the angels, and companion of the Saints. Whose life indeed from the beginning, and the origin of his race, we prefer to pass over in silence, than to feign probable things from uncertain ones: we only
run through those things about him which we have learned from our more ancient writers to have been done by him a. In the times therefore of the glorious king Charles there came into this province from the parts of Greece a certain man, by name Arnold, a lyric player by art, who, when for the excellence of the art which he practiced he had been received into the royal court, like another David by harping, and by sweetly modulating with a diverse kind of musical instruments, frequently soothed the royal ears, and in a short space of time was pleasing and lovable to all. He was zealous therefore to change his life, to correct his morals, and to please God inwardly as much as men outwardly: but especially among the other things which he did, he bore the care of the poor and orphans, and whatever he could acquire by his plectrum, he faithfully expended upon them. For the rest, of what kind and how great he was, he himself knows, who conferred this grace upon him. But let us briefly touch those things which we have learned about him from true witnesses relating them.
[4] At that time the aforesaid king Charles was staying with his counts at the villa called Ginnezwilre b (but now, for reverence of the holy name, it is called Arnoldswilre) for the sake of hunting; the poor laboring in want of wood, not far from which was a wood, called Burgela c, around which dwelt very many inhabitants greatly afflicted by want of wood, who by no means dared to take anything thence, since that wood belonged to the royal treasury; upon whom the man of the Lord Arnold, moved with the bowels of piety, considered with what help he might help those whom he thus saw to be in need: whose piety of soul the piety of Christ regarding, gave him that what he bore in his pious breast should be fulfilled with swift effect: for on a certain day, the king reclining at dinner, when the servant poured water on the prince's hands, the aforesaid Arnold was present, praying the king with most humble prayers: "O most serene King, I ask that thou hear the words of my petition, and grant with clement largess what I request": and the king answering and inquiring the cause: "I ask," he said, "my lord, that thou grant me as much of the neighboring part of the wood as I myself can, in the space of thy meal, encompass at a run." To whom the king: "I grant," he said, "as thou askest, and know that thou shalt have as much as thou thyself canst, while I meanwhile am dining, accomplish of the journey." Soon without delay he went, the authority being received, desiring his cause to be fulfilled as quickly as possible, burning with exceeding desire to succor very many without loss to anyone.
[5] he obtains a wood from Charlemagne; Horses therefore, most strong and swift in course, being long since collected, and disposed around the wood which he was to traverse in this manner, that between horse and horse there was the space of a stadium, using wonderful cunning, that no delay might hinder him in making the journey, nor should there be lacking to him mounts succeeding one another, and, one being wearied in the course, he might immediately leap upon the back of another. What more? The wood is circled with the greatest speed, which extended two miles in length, and half in breadth; but at each descent, on the very tall oaks, he left the marks of his sword of his steps, which d are even today seen by those who are known to be judges of this matter. The wood therefore being circled, rejoicing and exulting for the accomplished victory, glad, he returned busily and quickly to the king, whom he still found reclining at the banquets: at whose entrance the king, stupefied, began greatly to marvel at the so swift return of the Man: to whom the man of the Lord Arnold: "Why," he said, "my lord king, dost thou marvel? for know that I thy servant, as I promised, have run through the wood. But if thou distrust, send some one of thy most faithful, who may report to thee the truth of the matter by certain indications." The king, believing his words, could no longer deny what he asked, nay, what he himself had promised, and, drawing off the ring which he wore on his hand, in the royal manner before all his nobles delivered the aforesaid wood to Arnold into the right of possession: who, adoring the king, obtained for him from the Lord life and a heavenly reward, and added: "Know, my lord, that this magnificent gift shall be a perpetual memorial to thee, and which I desire to offer to the heavenly King as much for the remedy of thy soul as of mine."
[6] which donation is confirmed by the tradition of the royal ring. The royal possession therefore being received by the tradition of the ring, he distributed it especially to the adjacent villages, whose names it has pleased us here to interpose, lest a stranger and one alien from this gift should dare to claim anything thence for himself; their names therefore are these: Wylre, Ellen, Cirin the upper, Cirin, Ligek, Embe, upper Embe, Angelsdorp, Egeldorp, Paffendorp, Glassin, Eppendorp, Sigendorp, Manheim, Kerpen e, Bladesheim, Golzheim, Burin, Mursazan, Mertzenich f. Now therefore those are to be admonished who deserved to receive this benefit from so great a man, that with assiduous suffrages of prayers and benefits of alms they cease not to render thanks to the Giver of all good things for the rest of his happy soul, and always keep his memory continual in the divine praises. For the Scripture says: "The memory with praises": and the Psalmist: "The just shall be in eternal memory," for the memory of this Saint is immortal, because it is both known with God, who is conscious of his justice; and with men, who are the faithful witnesses of his virtues and works. Worthily therefore is he turned into the memory of men, who, placed among men, by the largess of alms and the other works of mercy succored afflicted and oppressed men. Let it suffice to have said these things for the admonition of those who deserved to enjoy the reward of this Blessed man, and for the incitement of his praise. It remains now that a brief discourse run through in what manner he survived the remaining age.
[7] Therefore the man of the Lord Arnold, after all things The Saint, wishing to set out into Spain, is compelled to return, which he seemed to have, according to the sentence of the Lord, who exhorted with salutary admonition the rich man, despising heavenly things for love of riches, if he wished to be perfect, by selling all that he possessed on earth, to lay up for himself a heavenly treasure, and, going, to follow him, he had bestowed upon the poor of Christ, that, according to the Psalmist, he might prepare for himself a justice abiding unto the age of the age, and, according to the evangelical voice, following Christ, poor and naked, might bear the naked cross of Christ, knowing that he had not here an abiding city, but sought a future one, and that with the prophet he might say to the Lord: "I am a sojourner with thee and a pilgrim, as all my fathers," and, according to what follows: "Let me alone, that I may be refreshed before I go away," he besought the Lord with assiduous prayers, that he might not be loosed from the bodily bonds before pardon of all his sins should be granted him in the present life. Touched therefore by divine fear, and kindled with love, he resolved to go to the parts of Spain, with this intention indeed, that he might seek the suffrages of blessed James the Apostle of Christ, once brother of blessed John the Evangelist and Apostle, whose special patronage shines there in a certain way. And this indeed was his will, but the Lord, who is foreknowing of the future, who knows all things before they are done, in whose hand are the times of men, knowing what things were to come to him, and unwilling that his servant should have a pilgrim's tomb, recalled him from the begun journey, the disease of famine, with which then for its sins the world was afflicted, opposing.
[8] Seeing therefore that he could go no farther, and, a ring being cast into the river, the famine strongly pressing, and understanding that this was done by the will of the Lord, solicitous about the day of his calling, he began to desert the journey he had undertaken, and to return to his own. Coming therefore to a certain water, called the Gerunda g, he is reported to have prayed to the Lord that, if he were to depart in the present year, he would declare it to him by some indication. Taking therefore the ring which he had laid up with himself, by which he had once received the royal gift, he cast it into the river, again praying the Lord that, if in that very year he had designated his passing, he might deserve to receive the said ring. These things said, he departed rejoicing, awaiting from the Lord the outcome of the matter. But immediately he betook himself to a certain religious widow, as once Elijah to the woman of Sarepta, not that he might be fed by her, but that she might be fed by him. But let it seem incongruous to no one that in this part we have likened this Blessed man to the holy prophet, because though the merit in each was unequal, yet the deed in both was not dissimilar: for the former, obeying the divine command, is fed by the food of external nourishment; but this one, by a divine nod, as we believe, being received in the hospitality of a religious woman, was content with sparing and simple food; the former sometimes by holy prayers and perchance by working with his hands sustained his feeder; but this one by his own labor and continual service, serving her, fed himself with daily food, and helped his hostess with no small comfort. For he was zealous, according to the Apostle, not to eat bread idle, fearing the precept of the same Apostle saying: "He who works not, let him not eat," remembering that sentence uttered to the first parent, "In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread," and therefore he labored with his hands, that he might not be burdensome to anyone, or eat anyone's bread free: but of those things which remained to him from his daily food, or which he received in place of wages, he, a humble poor man, ministered to the poor: for he possessed nothing on earth; having food and clothing, with these he was content, since he hoped to be enriched elsewhere by Christ.
[9] [and the same being prodigiously recovered, he understands that death is at hand for him,] Given therefore to these and other good works, he washed away his past evils, and guarded against future ones, and before the punishment thought of the punishment, and, watchful and solicitous, awaited the hour of his passing: for he knew not how long he would subsist, and whether after a little his Maker would take him. But the merciful and compassionate Lord, who will do the will of those who fear him, and will hear their prayer, not unmindful of the petition of his servant, by which he had prayed him in the work, as we have prescribed, that the day of his calling be made known to him, deigned to satisfy his desire: for on a certain day, in the accustomed manner, the poor came asking alms, to whom, when the man of the Lord had not at hand whence he might refresh them, he gave them a quantity of silver, whence they might procure for themselves the food of one day. Who, when they had received the price, went to the market of things for sale, and thence procured for themselves for refreshment a fish, not by chance, as we believe, but obeying, ignorant of the matter, the divine will: which, when they had disemboweled it, and were dividing it piecemeal, they found in it the ring which he had received to keep, not to devour. Greatly stupefied at this matter, and wondering at the unheard-of chance, they thought that the fish had been caught by the ring as usual by a hook. Glad therefore at the treasure found, they resolved by common counsel to bring this very thing to their giver, by whose benefit they had fed on abundant food. Coming therefore to the Man of God, they offer the precious gift of the ring, giving thanks for grace, rendering price for price, returning gold for silver. Recognizing therefore his most dear gift, the often-mentioned man of the Lord Arnold, rejoicing with no small joy, rendered immense thanks to almighty God, since he understood that his prayers were heard by him. The poor therefore being called,
whom he saw sent to him divinely, he gave them for the reward of the ring a weight of silver, as much as the ring itself weighed.
[10] which, having returned into Germany, he piously accomplishes. Knowing therefore that the day of his migration was at hand, he hastened as quickly as possible to return to his own soil. Coming therefore to the aforesaid villa of Gennezwylre, which today is called the villa of St. Arnold from his name, all his goods being bestowed on the poor, in the aforesaid villa he rested in peace with a blessed end, and was buried in the same place in a certain oratory, where also his ring, of which we made mention above, was diligently laid up, which even today may be seen h, where his benefits are bestowed on all who seek his suffrages with unfeigned faith. Whose anniversary day is recalled by the inhabitants of that place on the fifteenth day of the Kalends of August with the highest veneration, not without the praise of him whose majesty and empire neither begins nor ends unto the age. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
* perhaps "and as" (tamque)