ON BL. BERNARD BISHOP AND CONFESSOR
AT HILDESHEIM IN LOWER SAXONY.
IN THE YEAR 1153.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Bernard, bishop, at Hildesheim in Westphalia (S.)
BHL Number: 1241
BY THE AUTHOR G. C.
§ I. The cult of the Blessed and the visitation of his relics.
[1] As celebrated as is in the sacred Fasti on 20 November the festivity of St. Bernward or Berward, otherwise Bernard, bishop of Hildesheim, called to the heavens at the beginning of the 11th century, so difficult was it for me to find any memory of this younger Bernard in the Martyrologies or ecclesiastical Offices. Although this bishop of Hildesheim is not found in the Martyrologies, I had indeed at hand his Acts and miracles, once sent by our Nicholas Schaten to Henschen, in which he is often adorned with the title of blessed; but since I knew not the age and authority of that anonymous writer, and in our Acts a place is wont to be granted to no one, unless it be plainly established concerning his sanctity or immemorial cult, I thought that surer testimonies of public veneration should be sought out. I wrote therefore in the year 1725 to Father Ludwig Henseler, then living at Cologne, whom I had understood had before dwelt at Hildesheim, that he might render me more certain concerning the present cult of that Prelate and other things pertaining to his relics. This the most kind man diligently performed, and answered me in this manner: I willingly communicate to Your Reverence those things which were written to me from Hildesheim by Father Hesselmeier, prefect of our gymnasium, concerning the cult of Bl. Bernard the founder of the monastery at St. Godehard, from which I judge that a place among the Acts of the Saints ought not to be denied him: for although no ecclesiastical Office is made concerning him, yet he is held among the Blessed, and his images are exposed for public cult. In the church of St. Godehard a statue of Bl. Bernard of human size is exhibited on the left side of the altar opposite St. Godehard, carrying in his hand the convent of St. Godehard, of which he is the founder. This statue is indeed new, but substituted in the place of another, which for nearly three hundred years was exposed on the altar, as is established by the tradition received among the religious of the aforesaid monastery. There too is a picture formed in the year 1647, in which Bernard is represented adorned with the title of BLESSED. In the year 1700 the body of Bl. Bernard the bishop was found in his tomb nearly incorrupt, although the silver chalice which he held forth in his hand was so corroded by niter that it fell into pieces. A public instrument was made concerning this matter, strengthened by the authority of the most exalted prince and bishop of Hildesheim, who himself inspected the body. If Your Reverence desires a copy of it, I will take care that it be transmitted to me by the most reverend prelate, who will also willingly communicate several other informations concerning him, if they be necessary.
[2] yet he has a cult, as is clear from letters, Having obtained this notice, I did not wish to abuse the obliging kindness of that man, but gave letters to Father Sixtus Hesselmeier himself, prefect of our gymnasium at Hildesheim, in which I asked a faithful copy of the said instrument, and inquired other things pertaining to Bl. Bernard. He too, after a kind offer of his service, writes various things concerning the Acts and miracles of the blessed Prelate, which are read in a manuscript book of the monastery of St. Godehard. From the beginning and end I gather that these are nearly the same as those which Father Schaten long ago sent to Henschen: for besides other things he asserts that at the end of the book this is had: The buskins and sandals which the blessed Pontiff used while performing the office of episcopal dignity are, among the other relics, kept with us as decently as honorably, laid up with the ecclesiastical treasures. These same words are found in our manuscript after the miracles number 17. Then Father Hesselmeier adds this: This book (namely of the Life and miracles, of which above he had treated), with the sandals, is placed on the day of his death upon the bier, which is raised at the sepulchre, and a Mass is said for the family of the founder, the name of Bernard being omitted, with a collect of priests not bishops. Moreover in another letter he confirms the public veneration of the Prelate in these words: I found a statue of the Blessed above the door of the church with rays, and at the gate of the monastery with the inscription: BLESSED BERNARD FOUNDER; and his statue, as I lately mentioned, is exhibited on the high altar, carrying the church in his hand.
[3] To these I subjoin the very transcript of the authentic instrument, and from the visitation of the body made in the year 1700, which by the work of the same Sixtus Hesselmeier I received from Hildesheim, and it is of the following tenor: In the name of the Lord. Amen. Let all who shall see, read, or hear read the tenor of the present instrument know, that in the year from the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand seven hundred, in the eighth Indiction of the Romans, in the ninth year of the pontificate of the most holy in Christ Father and Lord the Lord Innocent by divine providence Pope, the twelfth of this name, but on the twentieth day of July, the most reverend and most ample lord Adolph, abbot of the monastery at St. Godehard of the Order of the divine Benedict here at Hildesheim, took care to call to himself, into the aforesaid monastery, me the undersigned notary public by the sacred Apostolic and Imperial authorities, and the lords witnesses John Assueri of the cathedral of Hildesheim, and John Henry Schmising, vicars of the collegiate of St. Mauritius near Hildesheim, and there set forth to us by word of mouth that in the renovation of his church he intended to open the sepulchre of blessed memory Bernard, count of Walleshusen, the twentieth bishop of Hildesheim, founder of the aforesaid monastery at St. Godehard, buried in the middle of the choir, requiring me the notary and the aforesaid lords witnesses that I would diligently observe, note, and, concerning the things found, make and deliver a public instrument for the perpetual memory of the matter, whatever things worthy of note should be found when the sepulchre was opened.
[4] Since therefore by reason of my public office I could not but defer to so just a petition, whose public instrument, therefore together with my aforenamed lords, on the twentieth day of July, which was the anniversary day of the deposition of blessed memory Bernard, count of Walleshusen, the twentieth bishop of Hildesheim, I betook myself to the church of St. Godehard, and at the seventh hour I approached the stone sepulchre of blessed memory Bernard, the twentieth bishop of Hildesheim, upon whose stone lid was engraved this writing: ✠ ON THE 13TH DAY BEFORE THE KALENDS OF AUGUST DIED THE LORD BERNARD, BISHOP, FOUNDER OF THIS PLACE. In the presence therefore and circle of the conventual brethren and ours, the lid being lifted, blessed memory Bernard the bishop was found clad in a chasuble of the ancient fashion, under which the hands were covered on the breast, the bare bones of the head, which, the flesh being now consumed, was still entire. This head seemed to have been reclined upon a stone, on which was engraved the following writing: ✠ IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD'S INCARNATION 1153, IN THE 1ST INDICTION, DIED THE LORD BERNARD OF BLESSED MEMORY, 20TH BISHOP OF HILDESHEIM. HE SAT 23 YEARS, 2 MONTHS, 10 DAYS.
[5] transmitted to us from Hildesheim, This head lay on its face over the right shoulder: perhaps, as it appears, the flesh and arteries being dissolved, it inclined to this part. A small chainlet with a small pectoral cross surrounded the neck, lying upon the breast. The cross itself is thought to be silver. A small silver chalice, whose foot was consumed, with a little paten was laid within the right arm. A wooden crosier, whose upper part, on account of a certain intermediate part consumed, was divided from the rest, lay at the right side. The body itself was covered with vestments down to the shins; but the shins and feet were clad in pontifical sandals, both stockings and shoes, which were still more entire, adorned with small gilded fringes: but the vestments which on the side touched the stone seemed in part consumed; but others were still handleable, under which was felt some hollowness down to the bones, which were still contained solid and dense.
[6] is here exhibited All which things, when the most reverend and most exalted lord the Lord Judocus Edmund, the present bishop of Hildesheim, prince of the Holy Roman Empire, our most clement lord, the most reverend and most ample lords assisting, namely the lord James abbot at St. Michael the archangel, and Adolph abbot at St. Godehard, in the presence and circle of the conventual brethren, on the day before (as was reported to me) had surveyed with his own eyes, and more than a hundred other persons in number, both ecclesiastical and secular, standing by and discerning, together with me the notary and the lords witnesses, had beheld the form of the sepulchre described above; hence I, Barthold Windsracke, notary public by the sacred Apostolic and Imperial authorities, in faith of the premises, and for testimony of the truth, made this present public instrument thereupon, and together with my lords witnesses above named subscribed it, and consigned it with the seal of my notariate, being lawfully called, asked, and required. These things were done and found at Hildesheim in the year, indiction, Pontificate, month, day, places, and presence of the witnesses as above. Then the notary and witnesses after the wonted manner subscribe their name. But below, the most reverend and most ample Benedict Schiller, abbot at St. Godehard, his seal being affixed and by the subscription of his own hand, attests that this apograph agrees with the original, which is kept in the monastery of St. Godehard.
[7] and certain things are observed in it. Now a few things are to be observed in this instrument; and first indeed, that in both inscriptions there occurs the letter O, which a lying line — cuts in the middle. But I conjecture that by this character is signified the word "died" (obiit), unless perhaps it be the Greek Θ, by which letter among the Greeks Θάνατος, that is, death or decease, is signified, and which our Brower, edited by Masen, in the Proparasceve to the Annals of Trier chapter 24 number 50 attests is read in the epitaphs of the prelates and cenobites of Trier. The other is, that in the second inscription his death is consigned to the year 1153. But in our manuscript number 23, after the sepulchral verses, it is thus read: HE DIED ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY BEFORE THE KALENDS OF AUGUST IN THE YEAR 1154. I suspect that this year was added in the manuscript Life by some more recent person from conjecture or tradition, since in a certain Hildesheim codex the year was omitted in this manner: But he died in the year of our incarnation…; but in the year of his ordination… and rests in the monastery of St. Godehard. Concerning this manuscript codex the above-praised Father Hesselmeier thus writes to me: I enclose a compendium of the Life, which I found noted on parchment in the monastery of St. Godehard: the character too is ancient; the year is not added. Be that as it may, I rather believe the ancient inscription of the stone, which is most probably contemporary with the blessed Prelate, than the unknown author of the manuscript Life, whose age I know not. The same I judge concerning the series of the bishops of Hildesheim, since here he is expressly reckoned the 20th, although other chronicles call him the 21st. Now concerning the Acts and their writer certain things are to be examined.
§ II. The Acts and their writer.
We have various Acts of Bl. Bernard, and their compendia, both manuscript and printed in type. First of all in our Museum we keep a manuscript German history of the city and diocese of Hildesheim, We have various manuscript Acts of Bl. Bernard, in which, among the other Lives of the bishops of Hildesheim, the deeds of Bl. Bernard are fully described. But since in that German history there occurs a certain fiction to be afterward refuted, and the author of that history seems more recent, it is not worth the trouble to render this Life into Latin. Besides, our Nicholas Schaten once sent us a double Latin manuscript, in which nearly the same things are narrated as in the German. But since both are such that neither presents any appearance of antiquity, it will suffice to have afterward refuted some little fable from both. Our fourth manuscript is taken from a parchment codex of the monastery of St. Godehard, in which are contained the Acts and miracles of Bl. Bernard, which we subjoin to this Commentary, after we have proposed some conjectures concerning its author. The fifth finally is a certain compendium of the Life, which the praised Sixtus Hesselmeier took care to have copied from an ancient codex of the same convent. Leibniz published this very thing among the Brunswick writers volume 1 page 746 in the Chronicle of Hildesheim, and thinks that it was written by Ekkehard abbot of Vragen, who was contemporary with Bl. Bernard prelate of Hildesheim.
[9] Be that as it may, we here exhibit that synopsis of the Acts, collated with the Leibniz edition, from which the synopsis of the Life, from the aforementioned Hildesheim manuscript, which has thus: Bernard the bishop, who was first master of the schools, then provost of the greater church, was, with equal desire of the clergy and people, exceedingly resisting, elected bishop. But being elected, as a man conspicuous for learning and discretion and every ornament of the virtues, he took care to gather the scattered and to conserve the gathered, and to augment by fitting means what was held. For the abbey of Ringelheim, before royal, but now episcopal, he obtained for himself and his successors in perpetuity, king Conrad, with the consent of the princes, granting it; and the provostship at Alsburg, which before he did not wholly possess, duke Henry conferring his part, he entirely joined to the proper goods of our church. In honor also of blessed Godehard our bishop and confessor, not unfittingly ascribed to the catalogue of the true Saints, whose translation he himself had solemnly celebrated by the authority of Pope Innocent II and the connivance of the council of Rheims, building a monastery in the southern part of our city, he dedicated and endowed it, and established there brethren of monastic profession to serve God, and set over them Frederick as first abbot. He himself, piously providing for the advantage of the brethren, conferred a part of the estate which he had at Walleshusen for the increase of the prebends; but the estates which the venerable abbesses Adelheid and Eilika [*] had conferred on the church he imparted to the brethren with this moderation, that the manors and freemen litones should yield to the use of the brethren; but the ministerials should serve the episcopal court after the manner of courtiers, yet so that the goods or benefices of ministerials dying without heir should always accrue to the goods of the brethren.
[10] collated with the Leibniz edition, Nor is this to be passed over in silence, that our manor at Embreke, which we long lacked, he sagaciously sought back, and restored to the brethren, and thence ordered four services to be given by the counsel of the brethren; two to the brethren of St. Mauritius and of the Holy Cross, on the Ascension and on Pentecost with us in the refectory; one on the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the fourth on the anniversary of the good Count Thietmar himself, who conferred those same goods on us: and that he might declare to the brethren the affection of fraternal love in all things, he bestowed on the brethren, the lord Hermann of Thuringia a venerable presbyter intervening, half of the oblations of the altar of blessed Mary, and the third part of those which are brought to blessed Godehard, and likewise the oblations of the sepulchre with all their entirety; and lest they should be compelled to feel a defect of necessary things, he instituted that to those absent by leave for fifteen days the full portion of the prebends, except wine, should be ministered; but when wine is lacking, he ordained that ten coins should be given for wine, whereas before seven were given.
[11] is inserted into this preliminary Commentary. The castle also of Wintzenburg, utterly destroyed, that it might be permitted him to rebuild it for the protection of the church, he obtained from the emperor Lothair, which he both rebuilt, and, that it might remain free to the church and to himself and his successors and without any invasion, he asked to be confirmed by the ban of the two Roman Pontiffs Innocent and Eugene, great men in Christ. He himself too removed the wooden tower, destroyed by age, and replaced it with a new one at no small expense, and gave a silver chrism-vessel [], and a dorsal (it is the same among writers of the middle age as among the Latins a tapestry) very good, when he resigned Embreke to the brethren, in testimony. Episcopal vestments [] too, decently adorned with orphreys (that is, golden fringes), he procured for the church at his own cost, and two pontifical rings, inscribed with his name, one set round with topaz and other gems with pearls; the other quadrangular, radiant with a most excellent jacinth, he offered to blessed Mary. How too he adorned our monastery with bells and paintings, is manifest to all. Finally the prerogative of the episcopal office, which his predecessors, namely the bishops of Hildesheim, had had in the church of Gandersheim, he quietly possessed all the time of his life: for the lady Luthgard, to be substituted for the lady Bertha the abbess, at Goslar in the court of the emperor Lothair, in the church of the blessed Apostles Simon and Jude, the due obedience being promised to him, he consecrated with his own hand: she being dead, the lady Adelheid duly substituted for her, being hindered by blindness of eyes, he caused to be consecrated by the hand of the lord Bernard bishop of Paderborn [] in the monastery of Gandersheim, she promising obedience to him in his presence. But he died in the year of our [] Incarnation…, but in the year of his ordination…, and rests in the monastery of St. Godehard. The reckoning of years, which is wanting in our manuscript, is expressed in the Leibniz edition in this manner: But he died in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1153, but in the year of his ordination 23. Rightly indeed; but whether the first writer himself set down this year, or another supplied it, I know not. See what we said of this matter above number 7.
[12] Besides the already mentioned manuscript exemplars of the Life, various authors published in type made mention of the deeds of Bl. Bernard. A fable concerning a certain specter, But some mixed into his Acts a fable so insipid that you would scarcely make it credible to the rustic populace. A recent writer of the catalogue of the bishops of Hildesheim in Leibniz volume 2 page 791 mixed into the other deeds of that Prelate this: He acquired, through the revelation and admonition of a certain familiar spirit (which the chronicles of the Saxons call Hodeckhin from a rustic cap with which he went about covered), the county of Wintzenburg and the town of Alfeld, after Hermann the last Count of Wintzenburg, the slayer of a certain Saxon and most powerful kinglet, all his dominions being left, had gone into voluntary exile, never afterward seen by any of his own. That whole county, with the consent of the emperor Lothair the Saxon, he possessed. The same, word for word, Caspar Bruschius has in his compendious work on the bishoprics of Germany folio 103 verso. Imhof in the Notice of the Nobles of the Roman-Germanic empire book 3 chapter 11 copied the same fiction from Bruschius, and thus without examination it passed from one book to another. We recall that narration to a stricter criticism, and contend that it is fabulous, both because the longer and more ancient Acts make no word of that specter, and because the writers of that little fable disagree among themselves in reporting it, as I now show from their words.
[13] Lesner, whose manuscript work on the bishops of Hildesheim our Schaten saw, which in various manuscripts and editions thus narrates this matter: Then the emperor Lothair stormed the castle of Wintzenburg… and led away Count Hermann captive, and gave the whole county into the hands of bishop Bernard by ancient right: the bishop, with the consent of the emperor, repairs and fortifies the castle, and, lest thereafter it could be torn from the diocese, obtained a diploma from Innocent and Eugene the Popes. Yet Bernard, afterward bent by the prayers of Conrad
the emperor and of Hartung archbishop of Bremen, restored the county to Count Hermann: he being slain not long after, the county returned to the bishop. In the same castle a certain hostile spirit, as also in the neighboring places, wandered, whom Bernard, the castle being taken, expelled. He however afterward appeared at Aachen to a citizen of Hildesheim, and through him sought a return from the bishop. Then, having returned, he is said to have announced to him the death of Count Hermann. Thou seest here Hermann count of Wintzenburg stormed and captured by the emperor Lothair, who according to others, after the slaughter committed, all his dominions being left, had gone into voluntary exile, never afterward seen by any of his own. Thou seest here the county of Wintzenburg afterward restored to Hermann, concerning which restitution among the other fabulists there is silence. Let him combine these things who can; I meanwhile now represent the same scene, adorned in another manner.
[14] is narrated in a plainly different manner, The manuscript Chronicle of Hildesheim, which we once received from Father Schaten and enumerated above among the manuscript Acts in the third place, reports the following concerning this bishop of Hildesheim: He acquired for the bishopric the county of Wintzenburg. In a wholly wonderful manner, as the Saxon chronicle reports, this came about: for in the times of Bernard at Hildesheim in the city, chiefly in the episcopal court, a malign spirit clothed in human form showed itself visible to all, and so eloquent, kind, and familiar to all, that no one any longer shrank from his company: in the Saxon tongue they called him little dog, because he wore a cap formed of dog's skin in the habit of a poor man. Meanwhile there happened the slaying of a chief man of the nobility. The author of this was Hermann, the last heir of the family of the counts of Wintzenburg. He, because he had feared his kinsmen on account of the just avenging of the homicide, the castle and goods being deserted, fled an exile, and long lay hidden unknown. Meanwhile the kinsmen, to avenge the slaying, with gathered soldiery approach the castle of Wintzenburg, that they might occupy it. That familiar spirit by night enters the chamber of the sleeping bishop, and admonishes him to forestall them with his arms, and claim the castle for himself. At this admonition the bishop convokes his ministerials, suddenly gathers soldiery, and occupies the castle: thence the county was joined by the emperor Lothair to the bishopric. The castle being received into his power, he repairs all things, and firmly fortifies it against the incursions of enemies. But then that spirit began wonderfully to disturb the inhabitants: whom afterward Bernard cast out of the castle and diocese by sacred exorcisms. Hear now another, who sets forth that history in a manner different from all.
[15] is here exploded, Leibniz in the Introduction to volume 3 of the Brunswick writers page 9 thus writes of that little popular narrative: For Bunting and other writers of this note, from the more ancient fabulists, narrate that, Hermann the last count of Winzenburg being slain with his pregnant wife by his ministerial, whose wife he had defiled by adultery, a certain genius called Hodeke (that is, little cap), an inhabitant of the castle, at once admonished Bernard bishop of Hildesheim, still lying in bed in the morning, of the occasion by the forelock: RISE, he said, O SHORN ONE, AND TAKE WINZENBURG EMPTY. The Chronicle of Stederburg, which Meibom published in type in volume 1 of German Affairs, at the year 1152 page 454 has this: Hermann count of Winzenburg together with his wife is slain by the ministerials of the church of Hildesheim. Nothing here is mentioned of the demon Hodiko. Count Hermann, whom some assert to have been an exile and never afterward seen, others to have been captured by Lothair, thou seest here slain. I of this whole matter believe only those things which are read in the ancient Chronicle of Hildesheim, which Duchesne published among the writers of the History of the Franks volume 3 page 538, in these words: Burchard of Lucca is slain: whence the king, saddened and angry, surrounds with a siege Winceburg the castle of Count Herimann, on whom the counsel and command of this slaying was laid… Herimann, by the counsel of the princes, surrenders himself with the aforesaid castle to the power of the king; whom the king consigns to custody; but the castle he commands to be leveled to the ground. Here there is no word of that capped specter, which I judge was first devised by Saxon mothers to terrify children, and afterward crept into the simpler chronicles of that nation.
[16] No less suspect of fiction are the things which in certain chronicles are narrated of this Bl. Bernard, and certain other fabulous and uncertain things are discussed. as I shall now try to show in a few words. In most Acts this Prelate is said to have been blind for some years before his death. The Chronicle of Goslar, which Leibniz inserted in volume 2 of the Brunswick writers, reports the occasion of this blindness page 535 in this manner: He (namely Henry II the emperor, of whom there is treatment) reverently placed certain relics in the altar of the crypt, which afterward Bernard bishop of Hildesheim, with Elbert, provost of this church, irreverently wished to see and to place elsewhere, whereby both were blinded. This cause of the blindness seems not a little fabulous: for who would believe that Bl. Bernard was irreverent toward the relics of the Saints, who with great fear and trembling… ordered the sarcophagus in which our patron (namely St. Godehard) had been placed to be opened, and himself with the other faithful meanwhile most devoutly insisted with prayers, as is narrated by the contemporary author in our Work on 4 May in volume 1 of that month page 523. Ambiguous is what in the cited Chronicle of Stederburg at the year 1153 is thus read of our Bernard: Gregory the cardinal deposed Henry archbishop of Mainz and Bernard of Hildesheim and Henry of Minden. This is false, if the author of the Chronicle would have the abdication of Bernard of Hildesheim to have been like the deposition of the archbishop of Mainz, concerning which see Baronius at the year of Christ 1153 number 4 and following: for Bernard of Hildesheim of his own accord asked to be freed from the episcopal burden, as thou hast in our Acts from number 16. Finally uncertain is what in the same Chronicle of Stederburg at the year 1140 is handed down in this manner: Bernard bishop of Hildesheim set out for Rome. Of this Roman journey in all the other monuments which I have seen there is deep silence. Now let us investigate the author of the Life to be here immediately subjoined.
[17] John Legatius in Leibniz volume 2 page 407 thus concludes the elogium of Bl. Bernard: It is inquired who was the writer of the Acts and miracles. Concerning Bernard, whose Life John abbot of the old city wrote out in elegant speech, enough has been handed down in writing. I long inquired in vain who that John, abbot of the old city, was, or at what time he lived. Nor does Leibniz seem to have found more concerning him, who in the Introduction to volume 2 page 36, premising certain things concerning the Chronicle which John Legatius wrote in the monastery of St. Godehard in the 15th century, prefaces among other things to our purpose this: This monastery of the Order of St. Benedict began to be founded by bishop Bernard in the year of the Lord 1133, on the 16th day before the Kalends of July, in honor of St. Godehard the bishop, whose reference among the Saints had been accomplished in the preceding year by the care of the same Bernard. The Life of Bernard himself John, abbot of the old city, is here said to have written in elegant speech; it is not extant. I think the old city is Olzen or Oldenstad: for there too was a monastery of Benedictines. But I should wish to know whence Leibniz so certainly knew that the Life of Bl. Bernard, written by that abbot, is no longer extant. Did he so exactly shake out the corners of all libraries, that these Acts of small bulk cannot lie hidden somewhere? When I first read in the Chronicle of John Legatius that those Acts were written in elegant speech by John the abbot, I began to doubt whether they were not those very ones which we are about to publish after this Commentary, since their author here and there affects a Ciceronian elegance of speech. Nevertheless I think it more probable that the Life here to be published by us was composed by a monk of St. Godehard, because he so often calls that monastery ours. Yet I confess that by this observation the matter is not fully settled: for a Benedictine writer could call that convent ours, that is, of our Order; although he did not dwell in it, just as we commonly call the Roman, Prague, Cracow, and other colleges of our Society ours, although we do not write in them. We could pass a surer judgment on this matter, if it were established that the writer of the Acts and of the miracles is the same, since the collector of the miracles sufficiently indicates that he wrote at Hildesheim. But since these and other things are uncertain, we here print the Life and miracles under the title of an anonymous author, and shall illustrate them with certain notes.
Annotata* edition: Adelheidis and Elika
* edition: of chrisms
* edition: On the Lord's Day
* read: of Paderborn
* edition: of the Lord's Incarnation
LIFE
BY AN ANONYMOUS BENEDICTINE AUTHOR
From a manuscript codex of the monastery of St. Godehard at Hildesheim.
Bernard, bishop, at Hildesheim in Westphalia (S.)
BHL Number: 1239
FROM THE MANUSCRIPT.
CHAPTER I.
The lineage of Bl. Bernard, his boyhood, and the elogium of his brother Lambert.
The author, having prefaced a few things, the pious boyhood, Because by the mouth of Evangelical truth it is enjoined that a lamp be set not under a bushel, but upon a candlestick for the enlightenment of the faithful; and because the secrets of kings are commanded to be concealed, but the works of God, being to be revealed and magnified, are by right laid open, therefore we have thought it worthy, and even glorious, to set forth the life of our blessed and venerable father Bernard the bishop, as far as the divine clemency shall grant, as an example to the moderns and to posterity, and to expound the laudable instruction of his deeds to those who fear God. Bernard therefore of blessed memory, sprung from most illustrious parents, namely of the lineage of the counts of Walleshusen a, was the excellent pastor and bishop of the renowned city of Hildesheim, and now (as we trust) by his glorious departure made a patron. Who in the time of his infancy was nobly, as the matter required, educated and nourished in the royal camp. But when he had begun to attain the use of reason, in the flower of his early age he took up the warfare of Christ, the snares of the world being broken, by a resolution of perseverance, and to the purpose of embracing religion, and of a virtuous life, the blessed Man, still a little boy, burned in a wonderful manner.
[2] Hence now he began to consign himself to the readings of the divine volumes, and describes the youth of Bl. Bernard, and signally to exercise himself in the erudition of the faith. Finally, for repressing youthful desires, and for attaining the advancements of wisdom, he bound himself with prayers and the bridles of abstinence: and (so to speak) from the very cradle ecclesiastical observance was exceedingly honorable to him, and he was the instructor not only of many young men, but also of old men, both by good examples and by the wisdom of words: for manifestly the divine grace was present with him, through which he provoked innumerable to the imitation of himself in the faith of God, and in the exercise of works. But above all he judged both the evangelical precepts and the voice of the Savior should be fulfilled with the highest love and the highest zeal. For although perhaps he might seem of a youthful and less perfect sense, yet, holding an indication of the most perfect chastity, as a certain first foundation he so placed the very dignity of continence in his mind. The boy therefore of illustrious character grew up little by little both by the addition of years and by the increment of virtues, advancing in spirit with the growth of nature, and was carried from virtue to virtue by the grace of Christ.
[3] This venerable youth had four brothers, and narrates how his brother Lambert, canon of Cologne, Lambert, Swider, Operatus, Everhard; and they had one sister, Eveze by name, whom the generous count of Rodenborch b had joined to himself in marriage. Of these brothers too the three last, Swider, Opertus, Everhard, living in a secular state and habit, endowed with riches and glory, passed their life with the fear of God. But the fourth, Lambert by name, in the flower of his early age, by divine (as I think) more than human help, and the help of friends, was made a canon in the cathedral church of Cologne, where as humbly as devoutly he consigned himself to the service of God, so far that he was even a good odor of Christ, and not only to those with whom day by day he walked unanimously in the house of God with consent did he spread the odor of good fame, but also among strangers and seculars he began to be venerated for the grace of his virtues. But what so great richness of wit can exist, what so great abundance of speaking, what so divine and incredible kind of oration, whereby anyone could not, I will not say embrace by praying, but recount by numbering, all the deserts of these two full brothers, nay of these venerable fathers, namely Bernard and Lambert, who by their illustrious works so illustrated the world, who rendered the divine worship most ample, who preserved their country, than which nothing can be more pleasant, for peace and liberty either by their genius or by the zeal of prayer c?
[4] Moreover Lambert, beloved of God, daily burning more vigilantly for the service of God, wishing to go to Jerusalem, sets out on pilgrimage, having entered upon the way toward the Holy Land, and content with only one servant as companion, entered Passau d a city of Austria, all things which he possessed being left after the example of the Apostles. Where he was seen, recognized, and found by a certain lay convert, Raso by name. By whom, being asked why a man illustrious with so great nobility, to whom a military retinue was due by right, content with only one servant went humbly and on foot, he said to him: It is in the good pleasure of God. But Raso (as is believed) divinely inspired, considering the lodging of that man to be honored, went as quickly as possible to the bishop of Passau, then by the nod of God present in the city, and fell prostrate at his feet. At which unusual deed the bishop, terrified, solicitously inquired what was the cause of so sudden a prostration. Lord, said Raso, most gracious; I have seen the lord Lambert canon of Cologne in this city going along humbly enough with only one servant, about (as I think) to set out for Jerusalem: who if he could be associated to our church, I would be confident that our country would obtain glory and the greatest honor. These things being heard, the bishop orders the servant of God to be brought to him as soon as possible.
[5] was excited by the bishop of Passau to the religious life; But Raso ran with most ardent desire, trying to present him to the bishop, as he had done. But that blessed Man, because he was truly humble, would have preferred to be unknown rather than known; but because he had been called by the reverend father and bishop, he speedily offered himself to his presence. When he came, the bishop received him as reverently as kindly; and when they had conversed with much discourse, the bishop said: Lord Lambert, I have learned that thou art about to set out for Jerusalem; but if thou wilt incline thine ear to my counsels, useless labors and wanderings without profit being set aside, dispose to serve God by establishing thyself in some church of religious men, and, that I may intimate my counsel to thee more briefly, know that there is with us a church, Redenbach by name, in which are very many quite religious men, who under the rule of blessed Augustine serve God most devoutly. Them therefore, if thou shalt decide to acquiesce in my counsels, thou wilt visit; I will furnish both to thee and to thy servant single horses with their necessary trappings, and if the place shall please thee, and the conversation of the brethren, and thou shalt resolve to remain with them, thou wilt assign the horses with their appurtenances to the church; but if not, take care to set out with the same under the blessing of God.
[6] who, obeying the counsel of that prelate, These things being heard, the humble man gave the bishop the very greatest thanks, and forthwith hastened to go to the prescribed place. Coming there to the reverend men, he was received not otherwise than an angel of God, and was so delighted in their conversation that on the same day on which he had come he received the habit and tonsure according to the manner of the regular canons with the greatest devotion: where how humbly, how devoutly, and how charitably he began to live is not easy to say. At that time the bishop of Magdeburg, Aldegotus e by name, as reverend to men as dear to God, proposed to build a church in his diocese, in which under the rule of St. Augustine the servants of God should serve Christ as soldiers. And when he was engaged in that occupation of mind, he began to think whence he could obtain fit men of the rule of St. Augustine; and behold, the venerable archbishop of Salzburg unexpectedly came by divine (as is believed) ordination. Whom, being honorably received and remaining for some while, the archbishop of Magdeburg opened his mind concerning a church and monastery to be founded of the Order of St. Augustine; but I am afflicted, he said, exceedingly, not knowing whence I may bring fit persons, and truly seeking God. But the archbishop of Salzburg, greatly both approving and praising the devotion of the reverend father the archprelate of Magdeburg, said: Lord, it is yours to begin, but God's to perfect. We too, that we may deserve to become partakers of those good works, will, God helping, transmit to you men most approved of this kind of religion.
[7] This being heard, the archbishop, giving very many thanks, embraces the institute of the canons regular. most vigilantly disposed and ordained that the proposed work should be committed to execution. But the archbishop thinking with himself in what place he might more fitly and suitably build the temple, partly moved by miracles, partly by the petition of the citizens of Halle, built it in a place near the town of Halle (as today is manifest), which convent he called the New Work; but the most reverend lord archbishop of Salzburg, satisfying his promise, transmitted to the archprelate of Magdeburg Aldegotus quite religious men of this profession, namely of blessed Augustine, the provost Berewic of Redenbach, Everhelm dean of the same church, Wichmann of Frekense with other equally venerable men, joined to them the memorable man most worthy of all reverence Lambert: who in that monastery began the divine worship regularly, most gloriously, and most devoutly together. But when Berewic the provost, a man indeed most illustrious for the probity of his manners and virtues, had met death a few years after, by the common consent of the brethren, though greatly resisting, the lord Lambert was elected and substituted. How virtuously, how prudently, and how holily he passed his life there, and shone to all in the house of God upon the candlestick, I should have committed more fully to writing, had not the prolixity of the pen forbidden. Now let us return to the principal matter with which we began.
ANNOTATA.
CHAPTER II.
His various offices in the church of Hildesheim, his election to the bishopric, his pastoral vigilance and pious works.
[8] Bl. Bernard, after various grades in the church of Hildesheim, The venerable father and lord Bernard therefore, in the middle time of his age, and in his adolescence, was a canon of our greater church: at which time he gave the highest attention to those studies, namely the liberal, which nourish youth, delight old age, adorn prosperity, afford a refuge and solace in adversity, delight at home, do not hinder abroad, pass the night with us and travel abroad. Then, being made precentor or scholastic, he informed the youths and adults applying themselves to scholastic discipline with all diligence, the laudable rigor of petulant youth being preserved, and drew them to the fear and service of God by words and examples. For the man of happy memory knew how necessary discipline is to every state of men and especially to the lesser age. For discipline is the guardian of hope, the restraint of faith, the leader of the saving journey, the fomenter of a good disposition, the mistress of the virtues: it makes one abide ever in Christ, and continually live to God, and attain the heavenly promises: to follow this is wholesome, but to turn from and neglect it deadly. For whoever casts away discipline is unhappy; and therefore Solomon says: Son, neglect not the discipline of God, nor faint when thou art corrected by him.
[9] on account of his excellent endowments and virtues, After he had in this ecclesiastical office conferred very much on the church, and had served God humbly and diligently, for removing the necessity of the church and procuring its advantage and honor, he is ordained major provost; which office he executed with all care and solicitude for the honor of God, and showed himself affable and kind to all men, a chief helper to the poor. And when he had solicitously discharged this office of the church, then namely in the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred thirty, our dear Bertold a, of blessed memory, our nineteenth prelate, happily died. He being dead, to those whom it concerned there was without doubt the very greatest care concerning electing a worthy pastor. For he who is to be preferred, or the prelate, ought to be adorned with all honesty of manners; so too it is necessary that the name suit the action, the action correspond to the name, lest the honor be sublime and the life prone; lest the profession be deific and the action unlawful; lest the grade be lofty and the excess deformed; lest he feign a dove-like speech and have a dog-like mind; lest he show a sheep-like profession and have a lion-like ferocity.
[10] is elected bishop of Hildesheim; Moreover approved men ought to be elected, not to be approved, not willing, not running, but hesitating, but refusing, who may stand manfully for the afflicted, and judge in equity for the meek, who may be composed in manners, approved in sanctity, ready for obedience, meek for patience, subject to discipline, rigid for censure, catholic in faith, faithful in dispensation, concordant for peace, unanimous for unity, who may be in judgment upright, in counsel provident, in commanding discreet, in disposing industrious, in acting strenuous, in mercy not remiss, at home not idle, in lodging not dissolute, at a banquet not extravagant, everywhere and in all things circumspect. These and things like these are quite necessary for prelates, whom it concerned
to elect, who, weighing more deeply, turned their votes by unanimous consent upon the lord Bernard, finding none more fit, more mannered, more holy. To which election made of him he said he would not consent; but that he would deliberate for himself [*] and his own (for he long resisted). At last, induced both by very many petitions and by the fear of God, he consented.
[11] The venerable father Bernard therefore being adorned with the mitre of the pontificate, being set in which dignity, rendering worthy thanks to the divine piety, he busied himself to enlarge his diocese with all zeal of devotion, to strengthen the enlarged with peace, and to adorn the strengthened in the exercise of divine worship. Outwardly too, set in the pastoral watch-tower concerning the general government both of the people and of the clergy, he vigilantly watched, for which also at all times of his life he humbly supplicated God, and kept himself in his wonted sanctity, and in the assiduity of good works begun at the first, not only cautiously enough, but also took care to become better daily, and with an incredible perseverance of good works persevered to the end, the holy Spirit strengthening him. He was therefore both to kings and to princes of the greatest honor, solicitous indeed for all, duly and in Christ made all things to all, sparing himself by no means for the sake of the common good, very often he wearied himself, neglected his own perils, while he drove fear from his country, and looked after all alike, rich and poor, noble and plebeian, as most dear sons.
[12] In the year of our salvation one thousand thirty-two, he procures the canonization of St. Godehard, but in the second of his pontificate, with much expense, various labors, and most approved testimonies of the miracles of blessed Godehard our glorious patron, he procured that on the fourth day before the Kalends of November in the synod of Rheims by Pope Innocent II, the same venerable father Bernard being present, St. Godehard was ascribed to the catalogue of the Saints, and commanded to be honored among the Saints of God; that memorable man returning with joy, he took care as soon as possible to effect the translation of our most holy patron blessed Godehard, as the history of the translation of that pious father more fully teaches and shows b. And in the following year, on the 16th day before the Kalends of July, for the building of the church of St. Godehard the pontiff, with his own hands he laid the first foundations, in a certain place situated outside the walls of his city on the southern part, in the fourth year of his prelacy.
[13] In the year too of our salvation one thousand one hundred thirty-six, and by pious industry, in the sixth of his prelacy, on the 8th day before the Kalends of July, the first abbot, Frederick c by name, in the said monastery, partly finished, partly unfinished, was ordained by the same venerable Prelate with the greatest devotion. He governed also his principal church most wisely with pastoral care, and led his brethren to the observance of an honest life and of holy religion, both by reproving and by beseeching, and by informing them in other ways. The treasure too of his church, which he found small, he enlarged as decently as manfully: he took care also most diligently to gather the scattered, and to restore the ruined. Moreover the abbey at Ringelheim, once royal, but now episcopal, he obtained from king Conrad d, the consent of the princes acceding, for himself and his successors in perpetuity. The provostship too at Olsborg, duke Henry conferring it, he entirely united to his church.
[14] he enlarges his diocese, The manor too at Embreke, which the church had long lacked, he most sagaciously sought back, and restored to the brethren. That he might also show his affection in all things to those same brethren or canons, he disposed that half the oblation of the altar of the blessed Virgin, and the third part of the oblations which are offered to blessed Godehard, and likewise the oblations of the sepulchre with all their entirety, should be freely given to the brethren, the lord Hermann e the presbyter intervening. And lest they should in any way sustain a defect of necessary things, he ordained that for fifteen days the full portion of the prebends with wine should be ministered. But as often as wine could be had less, he instituted that for each measure ten coins should be given. Besides, the castle at Wintzenburg, utterly destroyed and fallen, that it might be lawful for him to restore it, he solicitously obtained from the Emperor Lothair f, and that it might remain free to the church and to his successors without the impediment of anyone, he asked and obtained that it be confirmed by the papal letters of the two supreme Pontiffs, namely Innocent II and Eugene III, succeeding him continuously g. The wooden tower too, there fallen through age, he removed, replacing it with a new one of stone at no small expense.
[15] and illustrates it, How excellently too he adorned and decorated both churches, namely the greater and that of St. Godehard, built by himself, both with treasures h and ecclesiastical ornaments and precious books, there is no one who is ignorant; especially it does not escape those who, partaking of his benefits in both churches, pass their life to this present day. The jurisdiction too in the church of Gandersheim, which his predecessors the bishops of Hildesheim had had, he possessed quiet all the time of his life: for the lady Luthgard, substituted for the lady Bertha the abbess, at Goslar in the court of the emperor Lothair, in the church of the blessed Apostles Simon and Jude, the due obedience being promised to him, he consecrated with his own hand. She being dead, the lady Adelheid duly elected, being hindered by pain of the eyes, he caused to be consecrated by the hand of the lord Bernard bishop of Paderborn in the church of Gandersheim, she promising obedience to him in his presence.
[16] [and at last, on account of the failure of his eyes, asks to be freed from the pastoral care.] But in the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred fifty-three, in the twenty-third of his ordination, the pain of his eyes growing heavier i, day by day he both asked and obtained absolution from the pastoral care from the supreme Pontiff. Whence Bernard the presbyter and Gregory the deacon, Cardinals of the holy Roman Church and legates, afterward gave their letters to him in these words. "To the venerable brother Bernard, formerly bishop of Hildesheim, greeting. Attending to thy humility and meekness, which thou hast exhibited to us, we willingly wish to provide for thee in thy needs. Since indeed thou hast consulted the advantage of the church of Hildesheim rather than temporal favor, that thou wouldst rather live private than, burdened with dignity and care, be able to profit neither thyself nor others, reason demands that we succor thee the more willingly and fully, the more devoutly thou hast offered thyself by the counsel of the legates of the Apostolic See. Wherefore those things which thy fraternity requests we wish to be fulfilled to thee in all things for thy sustenance. Therefore, because from thy prudence and honesty the Church of God has received doctrine and no small advantage, we grant thee the episcopal ornaments both in life and in death."
ANNOTATA.
* for "with himself."
CHAPTER III.
His pious munificence, death, and epitaph.
[17] But that I may commemorate some little at least of the innumerable goods and advantages conferred, especially on our convent, The author produces certain diplomas, I have resolved to insert a very few things from the privileges conferred on us by him, that those who shall hear of his zeal, care, vigilance for increasing the honor of God and of his Saints, may be the more certain of his blessedness, the more diligently they understand him to have labored in the vineyard of the Lord. Whence among many other things, writing thus for the privilege of our convent, he left behind him: "Bernard, by the grace of God, and the condescension of blessed Mary ever Virgin, bishop of the holy church of Hildesheim. It is just that I be by no means ungrateful for the benefits of my Creator, nay rather that I build churches to his honor through the administrations of my pontifical office, and, when built, procure with faithful solicitude that they be continually illustrated with divine praises. Whence I make known to all the faithful of Christ, both future and present, how, for the help of my soul and of the other faithful of Christ, a certain place, situated outside the wall of our city on the southern part, I began to cultivate in the fourth year of my prelacy, which for the divine honor I specially entitled to the veneration of holy Mary the Virgin and of St. Godehard the bishop and confessor.
[18] to whom by Bl. Bernard is granted a place, Which place, namely, with a meadow adhering to it on the north, before possessed by right of property by a certain ministerial of our church, Theodoric by name, was assigned to me by him with all its appurtenances for this very purpose, by the consent of his heir, namely his son Theodoric, twenty-four pounds of silver being expended on them, and seventy marks for a mill industriously placed in the same place beside the bank of the river. But because that same confessor worthy of God, before his pontificate, lived laudably in the monastic profession, it seemed to me very fitting that in the place specially dedicated to him the religion of divine service should be so ordered, that whoever should be gathered there to serve as soldiers should be instituted according to the rule of St. Benedict in the monastic profession of the Order. Wherefore, the foundations of the temple being laid in that same place, I gathered there certain religious persons of the monastic order, over whom also I set an abbot by name Frederick a.
[19] for founding a monastery of the Order of St. Benedict This zeal, therefore, of new devotion, begun (as we hope) by the mediation of God, that it may remain ratified and unshaken hereafter, by the authority of the same God and our Lord, and of blessed Peter prince of the Apostles, and of St. Godehard the bishop, and by our power granted to us by the divine condescension, we establish and confirm in perpetuity, decreeing that at no time hereafter either the place itself be turned to other uses by any person of whatever dignity, or subjected to the Order of another profession, but that the religion of the monastic profession be there inviolably observed for perpetual times. We decree also that, the abbot of that same venerable place being dead, or canonically removed from the office of prelacy for any just occasion, the brethren of that same convent have free faculty, according to the rule of blessed Benedict, of electing to the honor of paternity any fit person from among them, if such be found; but if not, from any other monastery of their Order."
[20] in honor of St. Godehard, And below, for a further privilege, he adds at more length, writing in this manner: "Since indeed I hoped that this same place, through the intercession of blessed Godehard, would in future times advance to the desired increment, both in the laudable amplification of divine service, and also in the possession of estates and tithes and all necessary things, the estates already conferred on the church, and likewise all things whatsoever the venerable place shall hereafter be able to obtain by the concession of pontiffs, the largess of princes, and the oblation of the faithful, or by other just means, God granting, we will to remain ever firm and inviolate, fortified by the testimony of the present page, about to profit in every way the necessary uses of those who shall be gathered there into the service of God. And because the holy conversation of the monastic life requires liberty and vacation from the noise of secular cares, in this too we providently sanction for the holy monks, that they with their abbot, most free from all earthly service, may without offense enjoy the due repose of their Order. Whence also, absolving the whole precinct of the court, in which that church stands founded, from the right and power of an advocate, we will it to remain free from the dominion of any secular person, but to be governed under the hand of the abbot. But of the other ecclesiastical estates we will that the abbot with his brethren choose an advocate of maturer counsel, and enjoin on him the protection of them for the salvation of his soul, not as a benefice, but as a trust to remain to him, if he shall be the patron of this; but if not, to be committed to another, and not to pass to posterity after the manner of any benefice.
[21] "If therefore any ecclesiastical or secular person shall hereafter attempt in any way to contravene these our constitutions, and various privileges to the same monastery, unless he shall correct his guilt by worthy satisfaction, let him know that he, separated by the sword of anathema from the communion of the holy Church, lies subject to divine vengeance in perpetuity. But to all who keep to that same place its rights, and desire to promote it too with fitting honor, and the supplying of necessary things, by counsel, or good will, or even by the devotion of their own labor, may God himself and our Lord Jesus Christ bestow the grace of his blessing, and, by the intercession of holy Mary the Virgin and of St. Godehard the confessor, deign to gather them, aided and fortified by his protection, into the joys of eternal blessedness."
[22] "In another privilege b likewise he says thus: "The providence of pontifical care exacts this from us, that since we are compelled by the debt of the same office to watch over the winning of the souls of the faithful, we should also provide for the temporal necessity of the servants of God by the fitting protection of our authority. and gifts are conferred, For the regard of the supernal piety has deigned in the times of my priesthood to enlarge our church with the convents of spiritual men, which, lest they be burdened by the infestation of the sons of the world, must hereafter be fortified with ecclesiastical defense. And that it may have a firm foundation forever, with all things whatsoever shall hereafter be conferred on that same place, by the concession of pontiffs, the largess of kings, dukes, or princes, or of any of the Lord's faithful of either sex, in estates, revenues, mills, farms, woods, meadows, pastures, fisheries, ways and pathless places, waters, and the courses and descents of waters, and all the commodities of the inhabitants, by whatever name to be named, again and a third time by the authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I have fortified it by the ban c of my episcopal office in the general synod of our church, and in testimony of the same confirmation, causing this charter to be written, I have signed it with the impression of my seal. But if anyone, either a successor of my order or any other ecclesiastical or secular person, shall at any time attempt to bring any of these things to nought, incurring the wrath of almighty God and of his worthy Mother and of all the Saints, let him be smitten with an everlasting anathema, unless, coming to his senses, he make satisfaction." These few things collected from many have seemed sufficient to see the piety and pious devotion of this most devout Father.
[23] The death and epitaph of Bl. Bernard. But in the year of the incarnate Word one thousand one hundred fifty-four d, on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of August, the pious Father migrated from the prison of the body to the heavenly kingdoms, and was buried in the sanctuary of the said monastery of St. Godehard, which he himself founded accurately enough and at great expense, whose epitaph is such:
Bernard the prelate, an exile from the heavenly height, While he lived here, lest he should lack the light of Christ, Studied to obey the Parent who beholds all things; Famous for miracles, he lies here, well dear to Christ, To whom God in the heavens, carried off by the leading of Michael, Granted him to be worthy of his heaven-dwellers.
Bernard, count of Walleshusen, twentieth bishop of Hildesheim, founder of this church, died on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of August in the year 1154, and here rests in the choir.
ANNOTATA.
MIRACLES
PERHAPS WRITTEN BY THE SAME ANONYMOUS BENEDICTINE AUTHOR
From a manuscript codex of the monastery of St. Godehard at Hildesheim.
Bernard, bishop, at Hildesheim in Westphalia (S.)
BHL Number: 1240
FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.
CHAPTER I.
Various persons of both sexes are healed by the help of Bl. Bernard, and a dead girl is recalled to life.
[1] To prove the illustrious merits of this Man a, we have thought that certain of the miracles should be recounted, Prologue. by which he freed innumerable men, who had suffered the troubles of various infirmities, fleeing to him, by the help of his intercession, and afterward kept them for God; of which to narrate very many, once truly known by very many b, I should fear, lest I give either weariness to the hearers, or to the slothful of belief an occasion of sinning. In commemorating therefore the illustrious works of this Man to be honored, most worthy of all acceptance, I think it will be better that, the long circumlocutions being avoided, only those eloquences of words be brought forward which shall be more fitting for making the matter known.
[2] There was with us a certain matron placed in a secular way of life, A woman from fever and flux of blood, but according to her measure very devout in the fear of God, held for a long time by two infirmities joined together, namely fevers and a flux of blood, most grievous, and now almost consumed by sickness, so far that she could not utter even one word. She being thus seen half-dead both by her daughter and by her friends, her life was despaired of. For nothing of bodily medicine was going to profit her. To those grieving exceedingly on this account it came into mind that, for obtaining her health, they should promise to God and to the venerable father Bernard the bishop that they would make some oblation with her, God granting her a longer life by the intercession of the blessed Pontiff. Which purpose being made amid speaking, and unanimous consent made (wonderful to say!), as though feeling no harm, she began as soon as possible to speak most perfectly, and about noontime being freed from the fevers, in the evening time of the same day she was healed of the flux of blood, by the intervention of the blessed pontiff Bernard.
[3] At that time a certain little boy among the other little youths of this town played after the boyish manner riding on a stick, a boy from a dangerous wound of the throat, and it happened that that boy, while riding, fell unexpectedly upon the stick, and the stick being broken, its front part entered the boy's throat: which being at last extracted, a not small part was left (as they say) for seven days, on account of which his neck had swelled very much, so that he could not even breathe, or at least with difficulty: for which reasons the parents of the boy, macerating themselves with the very greatest grief, were utterly ignorant what should be done. And thus, their minds being changed into various thoughts, at last wavering, not otherwise than a ship caught in the waves of the sea, they direct themselves to our blessed father Bernard, as to a safe harbor, fixing their hope in him as in a firm shore, that he might snatch both the boy and themselves the parents from vast anxiety, with contrite heart and humbled spirit they asked. What more? Behold, a few days after, the little piece of wood being vomited up, he escaped free not only from death, but also from all pain. These things being seen and heard, both in heart and mind gladdened, they blessed the God of heaven, who reserved for us such a patron in our church c.
[4] and another woman from pain of the head, In the same course of times a certain woman, near in dwelling to our city, having suffered a most grievous pain of the head from her early age, could be helped by no aid of the physicians; who at last spoke to herself, saying: Thou profitest nothing, long frustrated by earthly medicines. These therefore being esteemed as a straw, thou must be turned to seeking the supernal medicines from God. This being conceived in mind, she promised that she would give an oblation to God and to blessed Bernard, and what she faithfully asked, by the intervention of the pious Father she obtained as soon as possible.
and a rustic is freed from deafness. There was once a rustic of Maelhardan made somewhat deaf by chance, who, having tried various counsel humanly given, and neither feeling nor hoping any recovery of health, was turned to God, and began most humbly to ask health from God through the intercession of blessed Bernard, and the more quickly obtained what he asked.
[5] A dead girl is recalled to life, The enemy of the human race lying in wait, it happened that a certain girl of our city was suffocated in the waters. Who, after a long time found and drawn out, was found to have breathed out her life. And this being known, with how great griefs, how great groans, and how great sadnesses her parents were affected, no one can attain in words. For the mother, the hairs of her head being torn out, lamented, crying even to heaven; but the father, more sorrowful, prostrate on the ground, did not cease to moisten the earth with floods of tears. To those thus macerating themselves in vain, this one solace was found, namely that, tempering their superfluous sadnesses, they should implore the divine help and the intercession of blessed Bernard, about to visit his memory with fitting honors. Which being done (wonderful to say!), the girl, vomiting up the water, suddenly revived, and this miracle the parents of that girl attested in the greater church by their oaths.
another girl with a cleric is healed of the falling sickness. There were about the same time a certain cleric and likewise a girl, who were so vexed by the epileptic disease, which they call the falling sickness, that, foaming at the mouth to the ground, and horribly drawing their mouths to one side, they were prostrated, affected with the most grievous pains, and were imperiled even to death. Who each were led to the patronage of the blessed pontiff Bernard, and there, tears being poured out and after the offerings of prayers, returned to their house, rejoicing in full health.
[6] A certain girl nearly twelve years old, unexpectedly as pitiably as wonderfully made dumb, another finally, dumb, wholly lost her speech; whose infirmity her mother, greatly compassionating, for several days macerated herself with wailing, weeping, tears, and sadness. For this cause the counsels of physicians are sought out, moneys are liberally expended, the precepts of the physicians are most diligently performed; but of the hoped-for health nothing came about. That sickness therefore continuing thenceforth continuously for three and thirty weeks without any hope of recovering health, the friends persuade that, since human remedy cannot be found, it is necessary that the protection of almighty God be implored, and the intercession of blessed Bernard be desired by asking more humbly, promising the visitation of him, that that girl, supported by his protections, might deserve to receive the health once had and now lost. Which was accomplished with devout persons fearing God.
[7] And behold what the faith of the simple can obtain! receives her speech by the merits of Bl. Bernard. On the following day after the vow was made, in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ and of blessed Bernard the pontiff, the girl, being led, meditates the Lord's Prayer with all affection of heart, and, the prayer being finished, the last word, namely Amen, as though not knowing and inadvertently, she uttered fully and perfectly. And again she took care to repeat the same prayer (as she could), and then she both felt and heard certain collisions and breakings among her arteries, which she attested to us in our presence d, by an oath. Then a third time the same Lord's Prayer begun, with plain and perfect words, forgetting all pain, she promptly completed. Which being done, gladdened in herself, she rises from the bed of sickness, descends from the chamber into the house, and, having greeted those whom she found present, inquired more diligently where her mother was. These things being seen and heard, the mother is quickly called. The matter is disclosed, the friends assemble, the neighbors are present, with several praises the piety of God is magnified, and the merits of blessed Bernard are openly narrated, and no small gladness was made among the people.
[8] A certain cleric at Hogeneggessen, laboring for some days in an acute fever, A cleric, was much weakened: which ceasing, epilepsy began to invade him so much that any day, eight or six times prostrated to the ground, he was most violently vexed, so that he could be held by no one. But at a certain time of his misery and suffering a certain matron, having by chance entered his house, saw and knew how much of anguish and suffering that poor little man sustained, and suggested to all then present that, imploring the mercy of God, they should promise to visit more devoutly, together with him, the sepulchre of Bernard the pontiff of good memory. And a vow being forthwith made, he was freed from the suffering of that infirmity, by the merits of blessed Bernard, with which he had labored most grievously from the feast of the Purification of the Mother of God Mary until Easter continuously.
A certain girl, held by the aforesaid infirmity for nearly two years, was afflicted with very pitiable pains, and a girl are freed from epilepsy. and after having the infirmity was very often thought dead: for she was continually dashed down by so great suffering. Who at last, committing herself to the divine will and to the merits of the blessed pontiff Bernard, promises that she will bear an oblation to his sepulchre, if, her life continuing, she may be able to rejoice in health. This engagement being made, she indeed obtained continual and complete health.
ANNOTATA.
CHAPTER II.
Blessed Bernard wonderfully frees certain persons from fever, dropsy, flux of blood, and other diseases.
[9] Bl. Bernard heals one sick of fever and a deaf man, A certain citizen of Hildesheim, Ambrose by name, a dealer in trade, distrusted the increasing merits and benefits of the blessed Pontiff, reckoning it a mockery. But almighty God, wishing to make known what he can effect in his Saints, permitted that the same Ambrose should be shaken no moderately by a daily infirmity of fevers, as indeed came about. Having suffered this infirmity for some while, the same infirmity remaining, deafness came on. This being known, both his wife and his friends tried to persuade him to commit himself to the merits and intercession of blessed Bernard, and, because he had sinned by foolish speech, to ask pardon from his heart. And it comes about that on a certain day the aforementioned Ambrose, among the rest, came to the tomb of blessed Bernard for the sake of devotion, about to pray humbly for the recovery of his health. And as he was going away, withdrawing from the sepulchre, he felt within his ears certain prickings and passings. And behold, presently he announces in the presence of all with a clear voice that his hearing was most fully restored to him, and that he stood wholly sound. Wherefore then together with the others he began to magnify the power of God, and to venerate the merits of his Saints, and returning to his house rejoiced in full health.
[10] cures dropsy, A certain servant at Honhuten, greatly depressed by dropsy, lay sick for twenty weeks and more. This continuing a in a wonderful manner, he resolved to consult physicians, which also he did. Who promised remedies just and conducive to this infirmity. But the patient, because he was poor and needy, abounded not enough either in procuring the necessary medicines, or even in satisfying b the physicians. To almighty God therefore, and to blessed Bernard the pontiff, he committed himself with full faith, entreating those friends and neighbors whom he could have, that they would pray for him, and not doubt to make a vow for him: For God, he said, is able by the intercession of his Pontiff to free me from this infirmity. This engagement being made, in a rather short time thereafter he is freed from so great an infirmity, and with those who were present at the vow, giving very many thanks, betook himself most devoutly to our church.
[11] There was at that time a certain man, named John, stays a flux of blood, a stonecutter by art, who from the Lord's Nativity until Easter was daily tortured by a most grievous flux of blood. At last, his strength being nearly all exhausted, he came, that he should ask the suffrages of blessed Bernard. He asks humbly, and promises to revisit his memory: this engagement being made, he began daily to grow strong, and a few days after presented himself freed in our church, giving the greatest thanks to God and blessed Bernard.
[12] A certain scholar nearly twelve years old, at the second hour, entered a lodging for the sake of dining, and restores speech to a dumb man, and, wishing to ask something there, the words being shut up in his mouth, was suddenly made dumb; who, being tried by very many, whether namely he feigned dumbness by craft, is at last proved to be in a certain incapacity of speaking. This being known, a certain presbyter, vicar of the Holy Cross, kinsman of that scholar, relying on the counsel of many friends, took care to implore the patronage of blessed Bernard. Which being done, little by little his tongue is loosed and the office of speaking is fully restored to him. Wherefore, giving worthy thanks to God and blessed Bernard, they betook themselves with the greatest devotion to our church.
There was likewise another scholar tortured with the very greatest pain of the bowels every day, soothes pain of the bowels, and for a very long time. To whom potions, confections of herbs, and other innumerable medicines are offered, from all of which he received no help. But his parents, attending that the suffering grew stronger daily, were zealous to supplicate blessed Bernard for his deliverance and the recovery of his former health, by whose intervention the infirmity was immediately allayed.
[13] Besides, we have learned that very many people of both sexes who suffered the infirmities of fevers, several afflicted with fevers, some a daily, some a tertian, others a quartan, were healed, they with the greatest devotion visiting the sepulchre of the pontiff Bernard of happy memory at every course of times, and attesting that they were freed by no other than the intercession of the blessed pontiff Bernard; for the more quickly they asked his intervention (as they reported to us), the more they gradually perceived relief.
There was a certain youth for three or four days lying with the greatest infirmity, so that he could open neither mouth nor eyes; and two laboring with grievous diseases wherefore by very many he was thought to have paid the debt of the flesh. But lest they should in any way bury a man whose soul was still in the body, but preferring that, his strength being recovered, he should live his former life, they promise the memory of the blessed pontiff Bernard, that they would frequent it together with the sick man, if, the divine grace favoring, by the intercession of blessed Bernard he should be granted to breathe the air continuously. This vow being made, health being restored on the morrow, the boy wholly recovered, and according to the promise it was most devoutly accomplished in our church.
[14] he restores to former health. It happened in our city that, a certain boy being in his last agony, he was afflicted with the most grievous pains, some saying that the boy could escape death, some saying the opposite. His parents therefore, wavering doubtful between hope and fear, utterly distrust that he can be healed by temporal remedy. At last, partly by the persuasion of others, partly by their own devotion, they promise that he should be offered at the sepulchre of blessed Bernard, as soon as, his strength being recovered, he could go. This vow being made, with incredible swiftness he recovers his former health, and humbly, together with his parents, completes his oblation at the memory of the blessed Man.
A woman in a dangerous childbirth, A certain woman of the town of Hildesheim was for three days most grievously distressed in childbirth: who, being exceedingly tormented and almost dead, exhorted the bystanders to implore the clemency of God and the patronage of blessed Bernard. Which being done, bringing forth twin children, she was delivered and freed from all anguish of pains, and afterward, at a fitting time, laden with her gifts, in our church, an offering being made for her deliverance and that of the children, gladly made an oblation to God and blessed Bernard, with the greatest devotion. This being accomplished, very many other pregnant women were, by the merits and intercession of this most happy Man alone, freed from the peril either of death or of intolerable pains: of which one by one, for the sake of avoiding weariness, there is no need to speak at present.
[15] another sick woman, At a certain time likewise another woman, wearied perhaps by labor, began to sleep in a field: she sleeping, worms, which they call earwigs, entering her ears, tortured her with unspeakable pain. Who, from the vehemence of the pain nearly deprived of her senses, found this one remedy, that she should most devoutly implore the highest of all physicians, namely God, and his blessed pontiff Bernard. It comes about, what was conceived in mind; she invokes God, calls upon blessed Bernard, and humbly vows that she will visit his memory. And that the firmness of her faith might be more and more proved, God permitting, there came also this other infirmity, that she was for some while afflicted with the greatest pain of the eyes: for a little soothing of which she laid herself on a bed, and a little after, the worms going out of her ear, she likewise obtained health of the eyes as well.
several blind, Besides, we read that various afflictions of the eyes were cured by the intervention of the blessed Pontiff, of which if I should try to make mention one by one in writing, time would fail me rather than the recital of the merits
of this illustrious Man through the miracles shown. For some, partly men, partly women, are read either to have wholly lost their sight, seeing nothing with open and clear eyes, or at least to have been held for a very long time by the most grievous pain of the eyes; but at last, mercifully aided by the intervention of the blessed pontiff Bernard, to have wholly recovered their former health.
[16] a paralytic, A certain plebeian man at Oedelem had been so strongly affected with palsy that he was not only failing in the office of all the members of his whole body, but was also weary even of living: who at last was exhorted by his parish priest how he ought to implore the blessed pontiff Bernard, by asking his help. The man assented, humbly implores the blessed Pontiff, promises an oblation, and by the grace of God and the merits of the blessed Man is freed.
In the village of Wetbergen there was a certain matron, who began to be tortured with so great a pain of the head and a matron suffering in the head experience the help of Bl. Bernard. that, being made mad, she tried to tear herself with her own hands; and lest this should happen, or lest, about to perish, she should cast herself into fire or water, she is bound with fetters and more diligently guarded: whose most grievous infirmity moved all who saw her to compassion, and no remedy at all was found which could have been applied to this sickness. With one mouth, therefore, one mind, and one devotion, they set about imploring the blessed pontiff Bernard, vowing vows. Which being accomplished, both the use of reason is restored, and the pain of the head is wholly allayed; the woman, grateful for these benefits and for the intercession of Bl. Bernard, most devoutly offered at the sepulchre of the blessed Man, with other gifts brought, the fetters with which she had been bound, that it might evidently be manifest to all how much the suffrages of the Saints avail with God.
[17] A concluding note concerning the relics of Bl. Bernard. Finally, at the close of this little book, it comes to be sealed, that the buskins and sandals which the blessed Pontiff used while performing the office of episcopal dignity are, among the other relics, kept with us as decently as honorably, laid up with the ecclesiastical treasures. By whose merits and intercession, most blessed Man, we trust above all to be helped and defended, he bestowing on us his grace, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, eternally blessed. Amen.
ANNOTATA.
July, Volume V: 21 July
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