Liborius

ON ST. LIBORIUS, CONFESSOR,

BISHOP OF LE MANS IN GAUL, PATRON OF PADERBORN IN WESTPHALIA.

ABOUT THE END OF THE 4TH CENTURY.

HISTORICAL COMMENTARY

Of John Bolland, of the Society of Jesus.

Liborius, bishop of Le Mans in Gaul (St.)

BY THE AUTHOR J. B.

PREFACE.

Of three things you are briefly to be admonished, pious and benevolent reader. By whose counsel

and authority induced I wrote this little book; by what method;

to what end.

The most illustrious lord Peregrinus Carlenus, abbot of St. Mary, of Amelia, while

at Münster, the chief city of Westphalia, on the cause of the pacification agitated for several years he was engaged, for

the nephritic pains, with which he was tortured, to be relieved, having experienced

the present aid of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans in Gaul, and of the people of Paderborn

the patron, obtained some of his relics from the canons of Paderborn:

which, carried to Amelia, with solemn pomp by the bishop of that city,

Gaudentius Polus, with great congratulation of the whole people, received, the fame quickly spread through

Umbria and the neighboring provinces, to many both an incitement of piety, and a remedy

of sicknesses of this kind became. Then the same Carlenus, being informed that there had been collected by me the deeds of very many

Saints, and part of them already published, asked that of St. Liborius

the Acts to him I should transmit. Which at nearly the same time also asked of me the most excellent

lord Francis Nerli, count of Valderius, president of the highest magistracy of Mantua,

of the duchess Maria the widow, regent, of the interior councils a councillor, of the most serene duke of Mantua to

those same treaties of universal peace legate plenipotentiary. That to both I might comply,

to examine the Acts of St. Liborius I began. And when from the most illustrious bishop of Nardò,

Fabio Chigi, to that same Münster convention the Pontiff's nuncio,

I had learned, that a great piety had recently been excited in Italy toward this Saint;

I determined, that I might gratify several, the same Carlenus exhorting and conferring all his labor,

this Life separately to publish, which on the 23rd of July is to be inserted into our greater

work.

This the occasion of the writing: the method indeed, which in the volumes edited by us heretofore.

I premise a dissertation distributed into nine paragraphs, from which it may be established

in what century he lived, on what day he died, on what day his memory is celebrated in the ecclesiastical Offices:

his Life by whom, when written; whence edited by us: when the relics to Paderborn,

by whom, and with what pomp were brought: with what unhappy omen by the heretics thence

were carried off, soon recovered, and with new adornment decorated; a part given to Carlenus the abbot.

Then his Life fourfold, and the twin history of the translation I subjoin,

in the original style of the ancient authors: into chapters, however, for the convenience of the readers,

it is divided, if any narration was more prolix. I have added brief annotations, by which either

the variant readings in the manuscript codices are indicated, if any are of some moment,

especially in the proper names of places and men; or other more obscure things

are illustrated. To the Life and translation, I subjoin a narration of the reduction of the relics,

by a noble man described, who cared for it. Then the tables composed by the monastery, and of the church

of Amelia the Acts I recite, from which it may be established that the true relics of St. Liborius, to the abbot

Carlenus, legitimately by the canons of Paderborn were given, and piously and honorably

received at Amelia. After these, a recent benefit conferred by St. Liborius on Romulo Cerighello of Amelia, a centurion,

from the very letter of Romulo to Carlenus the abbot, briefly

I commemorate: likewise another similar one conferred on Giovanni Clementino of Amelia, leader of a squadron

of cavalry. At the last, some old hymns I subjoin, written to the praise of St. Liborius,

and wont to be sung; a Sapphic ode composed 120 years ago; and

five epigrams, which a certain one of our Society sang in honor of St. Liborius,

when he passed through Amelia setting out for Loreto, and concerning his efficacious patronage for the relief of nephritic pains

had learned.

But this I look to chiefly, that the glory of God, who in his Saints is honored, be amplified,

and that very many experience the aid of St. Liborius, especially in that, which I have said,

sickness. To whose cure so many, in the few years in which I began to attempt it,

remedies have been suggested to me, that, if I should wish to describe all briefly, no small

volume, it seems to me, I would produce. For to these and similar diseases almost anyone

professes himself a physician, after the old manner of the Babylonians, which in the Clio Herodotus narrates.

Nor can I deny, that some things at least to alleviate them are of profit: but none

more gently or more surely than by divine aid, procured by the patronage of the Saints. Which to

confirm by more testimonies and examples is nothing to the point. Very many of this kind are reported, of St. Drogo,

who in Sebourg, a village of Hainaut, not far from the city of Valenciennes, on the 14th of June

is venerated, miracles. St. Benedict too, as Leo of Ostia in Book 2 of the Cassinese Chronicle,

chapter 44, is authority, to St. Henry the emperor, then with sharp pains vexed, appeared,

and declared that it would come to pass, that at first morning he would emit three rather large stones together, and from then by pain

he would never further be detained. And the event answered to the nocturnal vision; by which he, moved,

and together Pelegrinus, most holy archbishop of Cologne of Agrippina, with very many and most opulent

gifts adorned the Cassinese monastery: which the same Leo, and in the eulogies of the abbots

of Cassino commemorates Marcus Antonius Scipio of Piacenza.

Most celebrated, moreover, as concerns those cures of the stone, is the name of St. Liborius.

Nor in vain, believe me, whoever thou art subject to this evil, wilt thou implore his aid.

But by what actions of virtues especially it may be lawful for thee to conciliate him,

thy piety will dictate to thee. I dare to promise, that if thou shalt recite even the Lord's

Prayer and the Angelic Salutation to his honor daily, with that which in §5 we give,

old prayer, thou wilt not lack the present fruit of so small a devotion. Farewell,

reader, and for me too pray to the Saint.

§ I. St. Liborius's birthday, age.

The fourth prelate of Le Mans in Gaul was

St. Liborius, whom his gesta, which below

from an old Ms. of Le Mans we shall give, hand down to have died

on the 5th of the Ides of June: St. Liborius's birthday the 9th of June, on which day his Life reports

Renatus Benedictus; although the Life collected by John Morel,

canon of Le Mans (which in French Renatus edited),

has, on the fourth of the Ides of June in

peace he rested: which by the carelessness perhaps of the copyist was done.

Andreas Saussay in the supplement of the Gallican Martyrology,

on the 5th of the Ides, or the 9th of June, thus

makes mention of him: On this very day at Le Mans, of St.

Liborius the bishop, whose memory, consecrated to perpetual

veneration, has a place in the sacred Fasti on the 23rd of July, on which day it was said

of him, after death, into Germany, to the city of Paderborn,

for the sake of protection, translated.

On the same day Philip Ferrarius in the general

catalogue of the Saints: At Le Mans in Gaul, of St.

Liborius, bishop of that same city. The same elsewhere too

calls him Liberius, as also Galesinius, Felici,

certain Mss.: but Claude Robert in

the Gallia Christiana, both Liberius and Liborius.

[2] The more prolix Life, written under Biso, bishop of Paderborn,

his celebration the 23rd of July, and that which in the second part of the Legend,

printed in the year 1483, exists, assert that he died on the 10th of the Kalends

of August, or the 23rd of July. On which day concerning him

the Roman Martyrology thus has, with which also others agree:

At Le Mans in Gaul, of St. Liborius, bishop

and confessor. Constantius Felici: Of Liborius,

bishop at Le Mans. The Appendix to

the Martyrology of Ado: On the same day of St. Liborius, bishop

of the city of Le Mans and confessor.

An old Ms. Martyrology of the monastery of St. Martin of Trier:

At Paderborn, of Liborius, bishop and confessor.

The Ms. Florarium, the old Martyrology of Cologne

edited in the year 1490, and other Mss. marked with the name

of Usuard: At the city of Le Mans

the deposition of St. Liborius, bishop and confessor.

He, in the fiftieth year of his ordination,

to the Father and the fatherland passed happily from this

world. The Carthusians of Cologne in the Additions to Usuard:

At Le Mans, of St. Liborius, bishop and confessor,

a man of much sanctity, whom, having died in the fiftieth year

of his episcopate, Blessed

Martin of Tours buried. But Galesinius:

At Le Mans, of St. Liberius, bishop and

confessor, who, an equal of Blessed Martin bishop of Tours,

an excellent propagator of the divine cult existed,

and a teacher and master of the true religion in Christ,

very many from errors and from the custom of

acting evilly he called away. Canisius,

finally: Likewise at Le Mans, of St. Liborius,

bishop and confessor, who, a man of great sanctity,

many from error and sins converted, and the honor

and cult of God far propagated. When

the episcopate for fifty years laudably

he had administered, he fell asleep in peace, and by St.

Martin, bishop of Tours, was buried. He rests

now at Paderborn. In the first edition, somewhat

more briefly, nearly the same things he touches upon.

[3] Ferrarius on the 21st of July reports him, and Molanus

cites, not the 21st, who does not mention him at that day;

but on the 23rd of July thus has: At Le Mans the deposition

of Sts. Pavacius and Liborius, bishops and confessors.

But St. Pavacius on the 24th of July is venerated.

[4] In what century St. Liborius lived is manifest,

he lived in the 4th century as one who was by St. Martin bishop of Tours

committed to burial: but this one it is established, Cæsarius

and Atticus being consuls, or according to the common era,

in the year of Christ 397, to have died: although others dissent,

without solid argument. But in what year Liborius died,

is not expressly stated. If, which

in the Life described from John Morel's codex is handed down,

and in the title of the second Life, this truly from more ancient ones

is received, that he lived in the times of

Constantine and Valentinian the emperors; even if

for 49 years he is said to have presided over the church, he cannot

beyond the year 385 have survived; or at least

389, if under Constantine the younger reigning to the episcopal

throne he was raised. But perhaps not Constantine one should read,

someone will think, but Constantius, who in the year

361 died.

[5] Furthermore, if, which in his Life is said, immediately

he succeeded St. Pavacius, when his predecessors? and this one, which in

his Life too is handed down, to St. Julian, first

prelate of Le Mans, as a companion and helper given by

the Roman Pontiff; the consequence is, that St. Julian was not

sent by St. Clement into Gaul, still less by

St. Peter: but either, Decius and Gratus being consuls, as on the 27th

of January Letaldus the monk on his Life in

an epistle to Avesgaudus the bishop writes, following St. Gregory

of Tours's opinion, or perhaps

a few years before under Philip Augustus, or even

(which pleased Antoine Corvaisier in the History of the bishops

of Le Mans) under Gordian. For if

there is not in the Tables of the bishops of Le Mans an error,

although the see never was vacant, the beginning of St. Julian

being placed about the consulate of Decius and Gratus,

namely the year of Christ 250: if thence be numbered

of the see of St. Julian the years 47, months 3, days 10, of St.

Turibius years 5, month 1, days 11, of St. Pavacius years

43, of St. Liborius 49, we shall come to the year

395, and it must be confessed, that this one neither in the times of the Great, nor

of the younger Constantine, was bishop.

But that is not sufficiently credible, that St. Pavacius, to St.

Julian given as helper, and with him to preach

in the office of the archdeaconate directed, afterward

in Gaul for 95 years, and what runs over, survived.

But concerning St. Pavacius, whom some Panatius

call, on the 24th of July: concerning St. Turibius we shall treat

on the 16th of April. Concerning the age of St. Liborius and the time of his see

Baronius in the Notes on the Martyrology, the 23rd of July:

He sat 49 years in the times of Valentinian,

Gratian, and Theodosius, the augusti. But

from the year 364, in which Valentinian began to reign,

to 395, in which Theodosius died, are made years

only 31. And that St. Liborius died earlier thence

is clear, that St. Martin brought up St. Victor, or

Victurius II, at that time in which St. Liborius died, he seems to have died about the year 383.

only ten years old, thereafter,

and, grown up, himself initiated into the priesthood, at least

14 years after: whence the consequence seems

that in the year 383, or even before, Liborius died.

§ II. The Life of St. Liborius.

His three brief Lives, Three Lives of St. Liborius we give, very brief,

from the Ms. codices of the church of Le Mans, by the kindness

of our Louis Cellot received. They are cited,

if I am not mistaken, by the writer of the greater Life, in these words

in chapter 1, number 5: Nor yet are there lacking even

certain monuments of writing concerning his merits. There are held

also the Gesta of the Pontiffs of that same church

of Le Mans, over which he presided, in simple eloquence,

and without any blemish of fabrication, with a faithful

narration composed: In which not a full series of the life of any

one of them is repeated, but who

succeeded whom, of what merit he was, how many

years he ruled the church, is briefly also noted.

But of this sacred and most precious

man Liborius the passing also, from this vale of tears

to the society of the ever truly and blessedly

rejoicing supernal citizens, by what

order it happened, is more amply indicated. There exist

also other letters concerning his birth and life, briefly

written. Concerning these again in chapter 5, number 18. There hand down

also the letters above mentioned, that many

indeed miracles St. Liborius in this life did,

but many more afterward at his tomb

were divinely shown, although

for their multitude by name expressed

they are not.

[7] from Mss. here edited: In the first place therefore a brief Life we give from

an old Ms. Legendary of the church of Le Mans. Then

another from a likewise old Ms. concerning the Lives of the bishops

of Le Mans, laid up in the treasury of that same church;

to which Life here is this title: The Gesta of Lord

Liborius, bishop of the city of Le Mans, who was

in the times of Constantine and Valentinian the emperors.

The third is described from a book written by hand

of John Morel, canon of Le Mans,

into which the Lives of the bishops of Le Mans in the year

1572 he brought. It is composed from the two former;

whether by Morel himself, or rather by some more ancient other,

is not ascertained to us. This one certainly, by Peter Viel

translated into French, Renatus Benedictus edited, as

we have already noted.

[8] another greater, Then we shall subjoin another more prolix Life,

gravely and in good faith written, as he judges who

first edited it, Surius, Molanus also and

Galesinius. The author confesses himself a Saxon, that is, a Westphalian,

in Book 2, chapter 2, number 7. Concerning our nation,

that is, the Saxon, he says. And chapter 8, by some Saxon

number 37, and especially our Saxons. From Book

1, chapter 5, number 18, it is permitted to conjecture that he was perhaps a canon

of the church of Paderborn: Which we

easily, he says, believe, from those things which with our eyes

we merited to see, after to us the sacred

body was translated. When he wrote that

Life and translation, thence is manifest,

that to Biso, the fourth bishop of Paderborn,

he dedicated it, as appears in Book 2, chapter 1, number

1. But Biso, when he sat, thus can be determined.

Blessed Hathumar died in the year 815, or 816, written before 750 years ago, as

below will appear: Badurad is said to have sat 48 years.

And therefore in the year 863, or the following, succeeded Luithar,

who in the year 865, as on the 3rd of February from the Life of St.

Anscharius, and the 4th, from that of St. Rembert one may perceive,

that same St. Rembert as archbishop consecrated.

To Luithar 26 years attribute Gobelinus Persona,

the author of the Life of St. Meinwerc on the 5th of June, and others. But

these set Blessed Hathumar as dead in the year

804, erroneously. To Luithar Biso succeeded, to whom the Life was

dedicated, in the time of Arnulf the emperor, who in the year of Christ

900, of his reign the 13th, died. This author thus he cites,

and his age indicates Gobelinus, chapter 38. To this

place (Paderborn) Charles often turned aside;

for, as writes a certain one, who afterward in

that same place, in the time of Arnulf the king, led a life

religious, this place with men of all

nobility of lineage and mind ever notable

abounded. And other things he subjoins, which this Author has in

Book 2, at Paderborn: chapter 2, number 4. But whence those things which to letters

he committed, he himself received, he indicates in Book 2, chapter

3, number 10. Of the clerics indeed, to whom this business

was commended, the chief was a certain

priest, Ido by surname, who all

the history of his journey, and the signs which in

it divinely shown he had perceived, partly by living

voice intimated, partly in letters briefly noted,

to our knowledge caused to come. This

anonymous Author's notable commentary we received

from the Ms. codex of the monastery of Corsendonck of Canons

regular in Brabant, and we collated it with Surius's

and another edition, later adorned at Paderborn recently,

on the faith of another codex.

[9] From this an abbreviated Life of St. Liborius, from the Bödecken

in Westphalia monastery's handwritten Passional,

our John Gamans described for us: other Lives elsewhere.

which same, together with the translation, exists in the second part

of the Legend printed in the year 1483 at Cologne, then 1485 at Louvain.

Succinctly the Life of St. Liborius from Surius

expressed Francis Haraeus, and Zacharias

Lippeloo, and in the Gallican Martyrology on the

23rd of July Andreas Saussay. More fully concerning him treats in

the French History of the bishops of Le Mans, Antoine

Corvaisier Curtellius of Le Mans, a man of notable

erudition and judgment.

§ III. The Translation of St. Liborius.

Doctor Gobelinus Persona, dean of Rilfeld

and official of Paderborn, who 240

years ago wrote, in the Cosmodromium, age 6, chapter

41, concerning the translation of St. Liborius has these things: The translation of his relics made in the year 836: In the

24th year of the reign of Louis, St. Liborius was translated

from the city of Le Mans in Gaul, in

which once he had himself been bishop, to Paderborn

of Westphalia; Aldric ruling the church of Le Mans

and Badurad that of Paderborn.

This Aldric was accused

before Pope Gregory IV, as is held in the 2nd

question 6, "By our decree": And a certain cleric

of the church of Paderborn, Ido by name, wrote

the miracles described by eyewitnesses, which he saw in the translation

of St. Liborius, and they are held written in the church

of Paderborn abovesaid. And Erconrad, deacon

of the church of Le Mans, writes the same

miracles, as he testifies himself to have seen them: and he himself

writes, that the legates of bishop Badurad, for

the reception of the holy relics sent to Le Mans,

were the principal ones, Folodagus,

advocate of bishop Badurad, cared for by legates, Meinulf

the archdeacon, Adelbert the priest, Aldric

the deacon, and Drudwin the subdeacon:

and that Meinulf in the church of St. Vincent

of Le Mans vowed to found a monastery of nuns

in honor of Blessed Mary and

St. Liborius, in the place which is called Bödecken.

[11] illustrated by miracles, The same things hands down Krantz, Metropolis, Book

1, chapter 28, who calls Folodigius, whom Gobelinus

Folodagus; Erconred, whom this one Erconrad.

He adds concerning Badurad, that with wondrous devotion

toward the holy one of God Liborius he burned, and his relics

sought; concerning Aldric, either that in merits he was

anticipated by Badurad, or that he saw them being of less value

in the province, forthwith to have assented, which causes

neither from Gobelinus, nor from the history of the translation

written by a contemporary, Krantz received. Lastly

these he adds: Celebrated is his memory

to this day in the church of Paderborn; which

the frequent benefits upon the people attest and

deserve. But therefore he says that St. Meinulf a vow

of founding a monastery uttered, that God might deign to prosper

their legation. In the Life of St. Meinulf,

which on the 5th of October we shall give, there is no mention of this vow by him at

Le Mans uttered: so that even thence it may be permitted to conjecture,

that that Life was not by Gobelinus Persona

written, which nevertheless Surius in a manuscript

codex he writes to have found.

[12] they were elevated the 28th of April, Marked on more than one day in the Martyrologies

is the memory of this translation. For on the 28th of April

thus has the old Kalendar of the church of Paderborn:

The finding of the body of St. Liborius. An ancient

likewise breviary printed in type: The translation

of St. Liborius. A full office. The Ms. Florarium:

The translation of Florian the martyr, and of Liborius

bishop and confessor. St. Florian is venerated

on the 4th of May. The old Martyrology of Cologne edited

in the year 1490: At Le Mans the translation of St. Liborius,

bishop and confessor, to Paderborn. But

the Carthusians of Cologne in the Additions to Usuard: At

Paderborn the translation of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans

and confessor. Canisius, finally: Likewise at Paderborn

the elevation of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans

in Gaul, and confessor, concerning whom

more fully on the 23rd of July. On that day therefore the sacred

limbs were raised from the mausoleum, as the contemporary writer says.

For to the city of Le Mans on the fifth of the Kalends

of May came the legates of the Paderborn

prelate, as the Corsendonck Ms. has; conveyed from Le Mans the 1st of May. not

the fourth, as the printed books. On the following day the elevation

was made. But on the Kalends of May from the city of Le Mans

they set out.

[13] brought to Paderborn the 28th of May. At length on the fifth of the Kalends of June,

on which then the sacred solemnity of Pentecost was celebrated, to

the long-desired church of Paderborn they came.

These chronological characters agree with one another:

the year of Christ 836, the 14th Indiction, the day of Pentecost

the 28th of May, since Easter had been the 16th of April.

But the year of Louis the Pious the emperor, the 24th, must not

from the death of Charlemagne his father, which happened in the year

814, be reckoned, but from the preceding year, in which

as augustus, his father commanding, he was proclaimed, although the greater

Life set the year of Louis as 23, namely

from the death of his father. But on the day of the 28th of May, or

the 5th of the Kalends of June, the Carthusians of Cologne in the Additions

to Usuard have these things: At Paderborn

the translation of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans and

confessor. Molanus agrees, the Florarium, and

a little otherwise the Martyrology of Cologne: At Paderborn the coming

of St. Liborius, bishop and confessor. Canisius on the same

day: Likewise at Paderborn the translation of St. Liborius,

bishop of Le Mans and confessor:

which translation, by great miracles divinely

illustrated, and by certain arguments of eminent sanctity,

when his body from the city of Le Mans

to Paderborn was conveyed by the second

bishop of Paderborn, Badurad. Concerning it

more fully on the 23rd of July. Andreas Saussay in the Gallican

Martyrology thus writes: On the same day the translation

of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans, when

his sacred body to Paderborn was brought:

in which conveyance many signs, which shone forth,

exhibited most certain arguments of his sanctity and glory.

[14] The History of the translation, and the miracles in it

done, The history of the translation by the Saxon writer, not however by Ido; Ido the priest, partly by living voice intimated,

partly in letters briefly noted, to the knowledge of the religious man

who the Life of St. Liborius, as said before,

wrote, caused to come. We do not think

that that writing of Ido exists; still less that it

is the very one which we here give: that Baronius thought this,

wrongly asserted he who adorned the third Surius edition.

Expressly thus writes Baronius at

the year 836, number 12. From him (Ido) who received it,

whether by writings, or by living voice handed down,

joining them together, in the said little book concerning his translation

he composed.

[15] Whether there exists that which Erconrad, deacon of Le Mans,

is handed down to have written, the history of the translation, and by a man of Le Mans, not Erconrad.

with the miracles seen by himself, we do not know.

A briefer one we obtained from the old Legendary of the church

of Le Mans, which nearly follows Corvaisier.

That, however, does not seem by an eyewitness

to have been written, since it hands down that Badurad himself (whom Baduratum

he calls) set out to Le Mans for that cause,

which the other writer, plainly most exact, denies.

Therefore that author perhaps hallucinated, that, when he had

heard that at the elevation of the relics two bishops were present,

he believed the other to have been Badurad, who

was the David (co-adjutor) of St. Aldric, a co-bishop.

Nor does he betray the names of Badurad's legates, by Erconrad

nevertheless once expressed, if Gobelinus and Krantz are to be trusted.

[16] Of this translation makes mention Werner Rolevinck,

Book 3, The relics brought together of Sts. Pavacius, Turibius, Gundanisolus, bishops. On the situation and manners of the Westphalians,

chapter 8, in these words: The blessed

Badurad too, second bishop of Paderborn,

by divine revelation strengthened, solemnly

translated the bodies of Sts. Liborius, Panacius,

Turibius, Gundanisolus, bishops of the city

of Le Mans, to his own church, with

much glory of miracles. And indeed the briefer

history of the translation, number 5, many relics of other

Saints, together with the body of St. Liborius,

to the people of Paderborn by St. Aldric given, hands down.

And truly, as the other author, chapter 4, number 12, testifies,

there were in that same place also, of other

Saints, the members, in sarcophagi honorably

laid up, especially of the bishops of that

city. From these perhaps particles the holy prelate

gave to the legates: for if the whole bodies, they would not

have kept silent about it, the writers. On the 25th of July at Le Mans

the translation of St. Julian is celebrated: but of those three

the memory is marked on the preceding day in the Martyrologies.

For thus have the Carthusians of Cologne in the Additions

to Usuard and the old Martyrology of Cologne edited

in the year 1490: At Le Mans the deposition of Sts.

Pavacius, Turibius, and Gundanisolus, bishops

of the aforesaid city and confessors. But the Ms.

Florarium of the Saints: At Paderborn the deposition

of the holy bishops and confessors of Le Mans,

Panarius, Turibius, and Gundanisolus.

The birthday of St. Turibius is treated on the 16th of April,

of St. Pavacius on the 24th of July, where more fully concerning their

deeds. But Gundanisolus in the catalogues of the bishops

of Le Mans in Claude Robert, John

Chenu, Antoine Corvaisier, is not known,

nor in Saussay's Gallican Martyrology.

[17] The same, above cited, Gobelinus in the Chronicle

of the diocese of Paderborn, chapter 9, and of St. Valerinus. in nearly the same

words as in the Cosmodromium, of this translation

makes mention, but St. Valerinus he adds, elsewhere plainly

unknown: In the year, he says, of Louis the Pious the 23rd,

was translated St. Liborius, and St. Valerinus from

the city of Le Mans in Gaul, etc.

§ IV. The fraternity of the churches of Le Mans and Paderborn.

A fraternity between the canons of Paderborn, It pertains also to the honor of St. Liborius,

that between the churches of Paderborn and Le Mans

a sacred covenant of perennial friendship was struck,

under the protection and auspices of the common Patron,

that on both sides of public prayers, and of the efficacy

for meriting divine gifts, which is in every

exercise of Christian virtues, there might be communion.

That society then sanctioned by St. Aldric, or, as commonly they call it,

fraternity, thus the Paderborn historian indicates, chapter 5, number 24:

Thereupon between the congregations of each church,

namely of Le Mans and of the aforesaid Paderborn,

the charity of perpetual fraternity being confirmed,

he gave them license of returning to their fatherland.

What kind, from the beginning through four centuries,

and beyond, the congregation of Paderborn was,

can be conjectured from Gobelinus's words, who in chapter

64, concerning Bernard IV the 21st bishop, who, about the year

1227 having obtained the episcopate, held it 28 years,

thus writes: then regulars, Under this Bernard in the church of Paderborn

still regular observance among

the canons of that same church flourished: and

under him a change seems to have been made from the regular

observance to the state of secular canons.

The same he has in the Ms. Chronicle of the church of Paderborn, and the people of Le Mans,

where he hands down that Bernard sat only 18 years.

Of the same fraternity the writer of Le Mans

hands down these things: The covenant of holy fraternity

mutually they strike, and under a sacred kiss the suffrages

of their prayers they communicate.

[19] renewed in the year 1205, Under Bernard III the bishop (who, in the 6th year of Otto IV

the emperor, of Christ 1203, or 1204, to Bernard

II succeeded, and ruled that church for 19 years,

as the same Gobelinus hands down) the canons of Paderborn

asked the people of Le Mans, that that covenant of fraternity

once entered into with them they would confirm, the history of the Translation

of St. Liborius being sent to them, and the beginnings of their church being commemorated,

which by the bringing thither of the holy Prelate's body had been established. Their epistle

we have not seen: the reply of the people of Le Mans, lately published with the Life of St.

Liborius, here it seemed good to give. From it becomes manifest, in what things

that fraternity consisted: namely that the fervor

of mutual charity, of old kindled from the fire of the Holy Spirit,

daily might grow strong, might burn more ardently and blaze;

that, keeping mutually the unity of spirit in the bond of peace and fraternal

love, one holy communion, as far as could be done, and a commonwealth they might have, of counsel,

aid, substance, will. The epistle

of the people of Le Mans thus has:

[20] concerning it the epistle of the people of Le Mans, To the reverend lords in Christ, their

most dear brothers and friends, by the grace of God,

the provost and dean and chapter of the greater church

of Paderborn, N. the unworthy dean,

and the chapter of Le Mans, greeting in the Lord,

and sincere charity with devout prayers and services. To the highest Father God, and his

Only-begotten with the principal Spirit, honor and

glory and thanksgiving be more fully rendered, showing that the increases of the Church are to be attributed to God;

whose Only-begotten, full of grace and truth,

appeared to our mother the primitive church: and

of his fullness, which the fount of life derived into very many

little beds, we who had been before

barren, made fruitful together now, both in place and

in mind faithful, received, all of us. This certainly

the rudiments of the nascent Church demanded, that

the grain of mustard should rise into a great tree;

and the leaven of the woman in three measures of meal

hidden should more highly raise up the new mass. So the grain of wheat, dead,

bore interest. So Joseph increased Egypt with the noble seed of the Israelites.

When the Wisdom of God, humanly embodied, took root

in an honored people, and in the elect Christian peoples

sending roots, his vineyard to new husbandmen

he handed over, and no longer wild grapes from

parricides, but clusters of Cyprus from faithful keepers received,

and from them drank wine worthy of the beloved,

to be ruminated by lips and teeth. From

then truly the flowering vines gave their odor.

But what is this beautiful one among the others, breathing

to us an odor of sweetness? Behold, her odor

is like the odor of a full field, which the Lord blessed.

What one, I say, is this so prudent

among the daughters, by her own so humble, by our so

sublime judgment? How so prudently

does she remember her beginnings, and recollect her single increases?

Even when she was little

and had not yet breasts, and when the mountains dropped down

sweetness, and the hills flowed with milk and

honey, so long was she suckled, until she saw the barren

woman dwell in a house, the mother of children rejoicing.

Thus, our most dear sister, from her first cradles

begun, in order she proceeds: and first the unity

of heart and soul in the multitude of believers,

and the community of all things is recounted,

when, under the Apostolic twelve,

the Levitic seven ministering, that former

Christian fraternity by tongue and hand, with alternate

loaves, was fed. Whose indeed lightning of charity,

going forth from the midst, and sparks

as of glowing bronze, with a like zeal very many churches

kindled: and thus among them an insoluble

brotherhood was confirmed, so that, unanimous, of sufferings

and consolations partakers they remained,

whether by local nearness contiguous, or

by spacious tracts of lands separated.

[21] Thus our most prudent sister the church of Paderborn,

[and showing that the canons of Paderborn, the conversion of her own fatherland humbly being commemorated,] in a lofty style and continued

discourse, of her mother the primitive church

the happier state commemorates, that she may admonish her sister,

that she may turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons;

that, what she is wont to do, she herself may teach,

as though using the voice and stead of the true light which

illuminates every man, she may say: I came

to send fire into the earth, and what will I, but that

it burn? John 1:9; Luke 12:49. It is truly the humility of our sister,

with many praises to be prosecuted, who so

dissimulates her own titles, so has taken lofty things from herself,

as to ascribe her own heraldings to others; and others' inconveniences

by her own advantages excuses and clouds over,

so that that might befit her: Let a stranger praise thee

and not thy own mouth, and let there not be lacking the other: Justify

the great equally and the small. Prov. 27:2; Ecclus. 5:18. You truly,

Fathers of Paderborn, are great by one

and the same pledge, we small. You with

our honor the divinity deemed worthy, of which perhaps we were

unworthy. on account of the body of St. Liborius With our treasure you are gilded,

but we, our glorious confessor and bishop Liborius migrating to you,

as by a golden light, are perhaps obscured.

Yet, by divine grace, to our

church of Le Mans this consolation is left,

that the renowned confessor Liborius both

ours we may always preach and yours.

In us he began, but you the same one perfected.

Us he sanctified on earth, over you the heavenly one now

presides. To us for a time he was given, to you

without time destined. Us of his bodily presence

he has deprived: but to both he will never be lacking

by the gift of spiritual benefit. What therefore shall we do

for our sister on this day, when she is to be addressed?

The highest Father, from whom we began, received from the people of Le Mans,

with fear and filial reverence together let us praise

in the glorious merits of Blessed Liborius, whose

most sacred body, the church of Le Mans

granting, for the establishment of the faith, after our most dear sister Paderborn

merited it for herself, spiritual it was made,

and the Saxon hardness about that place

was softened. The winter of unbelief passed away: the rain

of persecution went and receded: the flowers of virtues

and of miracles appeared, and the voice of the turtle-dove

was heard in that land: especially when the wondrous virtue

of the excellent Confessor established whatever

the faith of Christian doctrine alleged. To you

therefore, people of Paderborn, this singular honor,

and peculiar glory is consecrated, who our Father

with so great honor celebrate, with zeal

worship, with inmost affection embrace, that

you may say: I have found him whom my soul desired;

I held him, nor will I let him go. Cant. 3:4. It adds also to the heap

of your praise, that for so great a pledge, that you have given thanks,

though to you very many humble

thanks we owe, to us you pay affection, and more readily

exhibit and offer service; nor by words

to be shown, but by the execution of the deed you demand it sometimes

to be exhibited.

[22] The content of the epistle thereafter, which

for us to hear greatly delights, annexed, that prosperously

you remain, and that the see of your cathedral

church has not been translated, concerning which a light rumor

had moved to us a question and complaint.

Which now, by your assertion being destroyed, to our hearing

you have given joy and gladness in the praises

of the Savior. But at the last, as though

with golden fringes of your epistle now to be set,

your acceptable and honest petitions, that

they are with the Lord, become known. and that you have asked to have confirmed the covenant of fraternity, For nothing

other than what serves the salvation of souls, and the divine

honor, do they request: they intend that

the fervor of mutual charity, of old kindled from the fire of the Holy Spirit,

daily may grow strong, may burn

more ardently and blaze: that, keeping mutually

the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and fraternal

love, one holy communion, as far as it can be done, and a commonwealth we may have,

of counsel, aid, substance, will. and, the history of the Translation of St. Liborius being sent, Moreover

also your epistle, to which as to a mistress

and lady this our humble one is a handmaid, and

your book concerning the Translation of the excellent Liborius,

in our archives we may memorably lay up.

Thirdly and lastly more instantly and earnestly you supplicate: that you have asked, that they would celebrate him:

that the birthday of our great father

Liborius and patron, with solemn chant and cult

celebratedly we may illustrate.

[23] which, thanks being reciprocally given To which requests indeed, with most grateful

and most willing assent concurring, thanks

also to you we subjoin more full, with a most devout

mind to you responding, that no waters

can extinguish our charity toward you,

nor rivers overwhelm it, which

the true God may establish upon the rock. But your

epistle, or the little book of the most holy Liborius,

no oblivion will blot out, nor will antiquity efface;

but in the house of the Lord, and among our

posterity they will remain. they promise they will do so, And the just Liborius, who

among us flourished, the Lord bestowing, with an ampler

cult will flourish, and will be multiplied in the house

of the Lord, of the most blessed apostle Julian. To whom namely

the fourth, glorious, succeeded Liborius, two

others, apostolic men also, being intermediate,

Turibius the archpriest, and Pavacius

the archdeacon, to the see of Le Mans in order

set. For this Julian, first

apostle of the people of Le Mans, like Abraham the patriarch,

father of the following prelates and of the peoples of Le Mans

in Christ, endowed with a certain

apostolic authority, unto the present

day existed and exists as sent, those accompanying,

by Blessed Clement, successor of Peter the Apostle.

Whence to your fraternity humbly

supplicates the church of Le Mans, your sister,

that the book concerning his life, elegantly written, and they send the Life of St. Julian,

reverently and memorably among you

in perpetuity you may hold; and of our most blessed apostle

Julian the birthday, the sixth of the Kalends

of February, and they ask that the people of Paderborn publicly venerate him, solemnly you may celebrate: that he who, illustrious

by signs and miracles, supports the kingdom of France,

may in a certain manner to his own church of Paderborn

and to the peoples of Saxony (as through him and

on account of him to do great things the Lord is able)

more abundantly give support. And we and you,

supported by so great intercessors, of each church

combined, by the divine gift doubled by their

suffrage, each stole we may more easily

obtain from the Lord in the time of retribution,

Amen. Farewell in the Lord, and remain in

our love. Given in the year of the Lord one thousand

two hundred and five, on the day before the Kalends

of October.

[24] Thus far the epistle. There ruled then the church

of Le Mans bishop Hamelin, recently illustrated by miracles; who, by the fear of imminent

war and pillage, in the year 1201, the body

of St. Julian the bishop to Châteaudun translated, a strong

city both in works and in lofty situation, as the name

itself indicates: for (as on the 1st of February we noted,

before by Duchesne, Catel, and others observed)

to whatever cities' names the word dunum

is added, which means a mount or hill,

they were placed on a high spot. But Hamelin, two years

after, the tumults being now lulled, to Le Mans the venerable

deposit carried back, with solemn pomp, adorned with many

miracles, as Antoine Corvaisier is authority. Therefore perhaps the canons of Le Mans,

two years after, the memory still recent, urged his public

veneration upon the people of Paderborn.

[25] Roused by this exhortation, and by the confidence of the fraternity,

the people of Paderborn, whose relics afterward were sent to them: after thirty-eight years,

dared to seek even the relics of St. Julian himself;

often denied to others, from Blessed Gaufred II the bishop (concerning

whom on the 3rd of August we shall treat) and the chapter of Le Mans

they obtained, on account of that fraternity which we have said,

the people of Le Mans thus testifying in an epistle

which on the 27th of January, on the Life of St. Julian, we published:

Nor yet, they say, do we deem it alienation,

that, through the venerable man, namely lord

Sueder your canon

and our brother, of the abovesaid relics

to your church we send, which our own

we reckon. They make mention in the same epistle often

of that ancient fraternity: Because you, they say,

not unmindful of our society, us

by letters and a messenger have visited, and then;

For the unity of your and our church's fraternity,

which with devout arms we embrace,

with desire we desire perpetually,

and mutually and irrefragably to be observed.

[26] they enter into a similar society with the people of Angers in the year 1256. Of the same society makes mention the old Register

of the church of Le Mans, in which these things are held: There was entered into

a covenant, or society, between the church of Le Mans

and that of Angers, Theobald

of Luxembourg being bishop of Le Mans,

Sixtus IV Supreme Pontiff, Frederick III

of Austria Roman emperor, and Louis

XI king of France: as appears from the letters

of the thirteenth day of the month of April after Easter,

in the year of the Lord one thousand four hundred

and two. Which society indeed between

those same churches had already before been entered into, as

may be seen in the ancient diplomas which are held

in the white book, namely in the year of the Lord

1256. A similar society is with the church of Paderborn

in Saxony, which entered into the lords

Aldric of Le Mans and Badurad of Paderborn,

bishops, in the year of the Lord 836,

Louis the Pious being emperor.

[27] and they renew it in the year 1472. These things there. The copy sent to us had it,

that the letters concerning that society with the people of Angers

were written in the year one thousand four hundred and two,

which with the rest does not agree: it is to be restored

to one thousand four hundred and seventy-two.

For Sixtus IV in the year 1471, on the 9th of August, was created Pontiff, in the 32nd year of Frederick III. Of Louis

XI king of France the 2nd. Theobald, about the year

1468, made bishop, died on the Kalends of September

in the year 1477. There was then bishop of Angers,

when that society was renewed, John

de Beauvau, as may be seen in Claude Robert.

But when first it was made in the year 1256,

the church of Le Mans, after Blessed Gaufred, was governed by

William Roland; Michael Avis that of Angers.

§ V. St. Liborius, patron of those laboring with the stone.

Miracles done at Paderborn, With what devotion and alacrity of the peoples, brought to

Paderborn Liborius was, with the same thereafter

publicly and privately was he honored, and called

upon in vows. Nor did he disappoint the hope of the people devoted to him, and the piety of the inhabitants, but that to the Divinity these things and himself

to be approved by frequent miracles he attested. Faith

is made by the ancient author, who in his Life, Book 1,

chapter 5, number 18, when he had reported that many prodigies

at Le Mans at his tomb are said to have been produced, these things adds:

Which we not easily believe, from those things which

with our eyes we merited to see, after to

us the body was translated. But Book 2, chapter 9, number

40. With such honor, he says, the most sacred

body into the church was brought; and in the place in

which hitherto it rests, was placed. Where,

with how great miracles afterward it shone forth, how great

gifts of healings it afforded, elsewhere to be said

we reserve.

[29] lost; Whether in another little book afterward he embraced them,

or another after him, to us is not established. But since

the city of Paderborn, as in the Life of St. Meinwerc

the bishop on the 5th of June is commemorated, in the year of Christ 1000,

of Otto III, the 17th, in the 13th Indiction, by a fire was devastated,

by which also the noble monastery of the principal church,

of remarkable work and beauty, by Charlemagne

founded, but by Badurad, the bishop of blessed memory,

completed, and on the 14th of the Kalends

of November dedicated, with books, plenary privileges,

and other ornaments of the church

burned up; it could easily happen, that those

miracles too, if they had been committed to letters, perished.

But those which afterward happened, either were altogether not written,

or lost; or somewhere in unknown coffers

hidden. more recent ones: For Albert Krantz, dean

of Hamburg, who 600 years after that writer

lived, Metropolis, Book 1, chapter 28, as above

§3, number 11, we said, testifies that his celebrated

memory to his own times existed, because

the frequent benefits upon the people attest,

he says, and deserve.

[30] Hence illustrious in that tract is the name of Liborius, which

very many bear, Liborius's frequent name there: and they are called in German

Borris, or, for endearment, especially while they are still

little ones, in a diminutive form, Borrisken.

For neither is St. Borissus, son of Vladimir the Great,

king of the Russians, known in those regions. Dedicated

to his name in the college of the Society of Jesus at Paderborn

is an oratory, altars dedicated to him: or chapel; and under the tower of the cathedral

basilica an altar. To venerate his relics

a great multitude of men flows together to Paderborn,

both otherwise through the year, and especially

on those days on which they are carried about through the city, and

solemn supplications are held. the relics carried around, But in these supplications,

before the bier, on which the shrine of his relics

is placed, a peacock's tail by some

of the priests is carried. Of which rite, not elsewhere (that

indeed we may remember) observed, to attain still

the cause we have not been able. by a singular rite, By a certain appearance of magnificence,

from the ancestors usurped, some more sagacious ones conjecture:

others that from some event it flowed. Nor

is there cause, why that, whether of ancestral simplicity, or

of some once celebrated deed, hitherto now effaced, a monument,

should be abrogated. in an elegant casket, There were, moreover, the relics of St. Liborius

before enclosed within a casket of bronze skillfully

made, in the likeness nearly of a tomb, and gilded,

and adorned around with the silver statues of the twelve

Apostles. carried by the consuls. It in the supplication the consuls and other

chief men of the senate (as here at Antwerp the statue

of the Mother of God) were wont to carry. But lately, depraved by the Lutheran

discipline, that burden, as unbecoming

or superstitious, they shook off; certain

pious men openly foreboding the evils, which in these years very many

befell the city. But that tomb, by

Christian of Brunswick taken away and torn to pieces, as below

we shall say, another of silver, precious and elegant, was restored.

Some of his relics were already long since given to the college of St.

Castor at Koblenz, Relics at Koblenz, as from the book of our Christopher

Brower, the 15th of the Annals of Trier,

appears, where in the year 1208 he reports the dedication of its basilica

was made, and in the catalogue of the relics,

which in the greater altar are contained, these things

he has: Of the Sudarium of St. Thomas, bishop and martyr of Canterbury,

and of St. Liborius the bishop, and of many other

Saints.

[31] For nephritic pains especially a remedy,

by the patronage of St. Liborius, patronage against the pains of the stone: is sought. To which matter

others implore the aid of St. Benedict, who from St. Henry

the emperor in sleep the pains of the stone, with which he was tortured,

forever took away: others of St. Drogo,

whose body in Sebourg, a village near Valenciennes,

is kept. Most celebrated, in the cure of this

disease, an image indicating it: is the name of St. Liborius, as below more fully

will appear. For which cause thus they fashion his

image, that in his right hand he holds a pastoral staff, in his left a book,

on which some stones are placed. But this depends on

the discretion of the painters or sculptors (these are not Bolland's

but my words) since sometimes in the left the staff

and in the right the book he presents, as appears from

the following image, which was prefixed to Bolland's little book.

[32] The present aid of St. Liborius once experienced

Werner archbishop of Mainz, who, as

our Serarius writes, from the year 1260 to 1284,

sat, and was author to the German princes, of Rudolph

of Habsburg being raised to the empire. Concerning him

these things has Gobelinus, chapter 67: Werner archbishop of Mainz healed, At that time Werner,

archbishop of Mainz, visiting the relics

of St. Liborius at Paderborn, by the merits of that same

Saint, there from the stone was freed.

Whence he conferred, on those stretching forth helping

hands to the reformation of that same church

of Paderborn, being of the province of Mainz,

40 days of indulgences,

in the year 1277. Whether first from that time

against the troubles of the stone St. Liborius began to be invoked,

because, having venerated him, relief Werner had felt;

or because already before he was wont to come to the aid of those laboring with that sickness,

to entreat him he came, we do not rashly

decide.

[33] An antiphon exists and a prayer in the most ancient

Breviaries of the sacred rites, by which St. Liborius's aid against

these evils is entreated. an old prayer for that matter. It the people of Paderborn think, from Gaul with all the ecclesiastical

office by which he is venerated, brought; so that there before

for the cure of nephritic pains celebrated he must have been:

of which matter no mention in Corvaisier.

The antiphon, moreover, in the ancient both handwritten

and printed booklets of prayers, thus is reported.

To St. Liborius the Bishop, specially to be honored by those with the stone, a Prayer.

Christ's excellent Prelate,

For us here Liborius,

May he pray to the most high God;

Lest for the fault of our sins,

We be vexed by the disease of the stone:

May the angels succor us,

And after the contests of life

Lead us to the true joys.

℣. Pray for us, pious father Liborius.

℞. That we may merit to be freed from the pains of the stone.

Collect. O God, who Blessed Liborius, thy pontiff,

otherwise glorious with innumerable miracles,

with a special privilege in healing the sufferings of gravel and of the stone

hast adorned; grant,

we beseech, that by his merits and intercession,

from these and other evils delivered, the joys eternal we may merit to enjoy.

Through Christ our Lord.

There varies somewhat the prayer which lately was printed with his image:

for the Responsory thus has:

That from the pains of the stone we may merit to be delivered. But the Collect:

O God, who Blessed Liborius the pontiff,

with other innumerable illustrious miracles, with a special

privilege in healing the pains of the urine and of the stone

hast adorned; grant, we beseech,

that by his merits and intercession, so from these

and other evils may we be delivered, that the joys eternal we may merit to enjoy.

Through Christ our Lord,

Amen. A somewhat briefer Collect, from an old

Breviary of Trier, below is recited in

the History of the second Translation, described by John Charles

Erlewin.

§ VI. Paderborn taken by Christian of Brunswick, the relics of St. Liborius carried off.

No one of the German heretics, for Frederick

the count Palatine, and for the kingdom of Bohemia, which

unjustly he had seized, Christian of Brunswick for the Palatine exile moves arms: and soon of his own dominions dispossessed,

for the defense, took up arms with a more turbulent,

and at the same time more unhappy, attempt, than Christian, brother of Frederick

Ulric Duke of Brunswick, administrator of the episcopate

of Halberstadt. There was in him a magnanimous

nature, worthy of so lofty a lineage; but

that same too facile, and apt to be circumvented, especially

since among the Dutch, under whom the rudiments of the military

art he had laid, deeply the Calvinian precepts,

and a contempt of religions and of law he had imbibed,

so that already then among the heretical common folk, accustomed to jests,

the furious bishop he was called:

which surname to him thereafter among the Belgians and Germans

adhered.

[35] This man therefore in the year of Christ 1621, of horsemen

and footmen not small forces in Westphalia and the neighboring

places collected: he invades the lands of the Mainz prelate: and Maurice the prince

of Orange, governor of the confederated provinces of Belgium,

being saluted, and counsel from him (as was believed)

received; in the month of October through Hesse toward the Palatinate

he hastened, to Mansfeld, leader of the Palatine's forces,

about to bring aid. Into the archbishop of Mainz's

dominions first he burst, and, the town of Amöneburg being taken by fraud,

widely slaughter to the colonists, fires to the villages,

devastation to the fields he brought; as he himself was rash,

his soldier cruel, and ignorant of all

discipline.

[36] But, count Anholt approaching with a strong hand,

repulsed, he devastates Westphalia: thence compelled to flee, back into

Westphalia he turned: where Lippstadt, the citizens betraying

the Spanish garrison, he took, soon also Soest.

Then through the diocese of Paderborn and Münster

widely with plunderings and slaughters raging, other smaller

towns and castles, and at length Paderborn itself

he occupied, on the 29th of January; in the year

1622, the heretical chief men of the citizens delivering it. Here he, the goods of the Jews first being confiscated, Paderborn taken,

of the citizens also (which the reward of betrayals

is wont to be) by whom into the city he had been admitted and enrolled,

the houses to be despoiled by the soldier he permitted. he despoils the church: Then into the cathedral

basilica having entered, the precious offerings of the ancestors

and the ornaments he plundered, and that casket in which St. Liborius's

enclosed bones were, concerning which above we treated.

This he, embracing (whether that the present Saint

he might mock, as some then interpreted,

or youthfully applauding his own fortune,

I do not inquire) is reported certainly to have saluted,

and that he had awaited him so long a time, he breaks the casket of St. Liborius, thanks

to have given: it then he broke, and coins from

the material to be struck he ordered. Gaspar Ens and other writers,

a statue of St. Liborius of solid gold plundered by him

handed down: which Julius Bellus in the Laurea Austriaca, not a statue:

and John Peter Lotichius, Of German Affairs,

Book 11, weighed 80 pounds assert:

and this one indeed adds, that Christian of Brunswick, the shoulder of the statue

being torn off, the remaining trunk caused to be

melted into money. Which things, unknown to the people of Paderborn,

whence they received them, I do not know.

[37] Thus Halberstadt, or rather, those who of his

facility abused, his nefarious fellow-soldiers,

upon sacred things; nor more mildly upon the curators of sacred things

and their defenders, the men of the ecclesiastical order,

exercised their fury. And the canons indeed with a huge

sum of money were fined. Of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, Against the fathers of the Society of Jesus

(whom the heretics, as, for uncovering their

frauds, and repressing their crimes, a militia given by God,

especially persecute) their cruelty

they had sharpened: which lest they should wholly pour out,

he himself perhaps chiefly St. Liborius the patron of the city,

certainly a heavenly aid, intervened. Hermann

Bavinck, of the college and academy, there by

Theodoric Fürstenberg the bishop established, Rector,

(who even now, while these things we write, is

among the living, a most excellent old man) knowing what

the fury of the heretics, how deadly their hatred against the sacred men,

the students and professors of theology and philosophy,

some days before, some having earlier gone out of the city, to other domiciles

of the Society, by various gates and roads had dismissed, with difficulty

indeed escaped from the hands of the citizens, guarding the city's gates,

and desiring to reserve this prey for the duke,

a pledge of a benevolent mind toward him. He himself

afterward, the Rector, by the counsel of his own compelled, with some

associates, from the city also went out. on the way grievously afflicted; But he did not escape

the hands of the plunderers, whom he fled: for at Salzuflen,

a friendly town, in the county of Lippe, by

Godscalc Heiwinckel, a centurion of Halberstadt, taken,

and, the heretical senate conniving, with a great ransom

fined; it then through friends being paid, through various

perils, at length to Münster he came.

[38] Not a little graver things had to be endured by those

who at Paderborn in the college had remained, at the very

body of St. Liborius: for this and the other spoils of the greater church

and of the others, others found at home, into our college

to be conveyed Halberstadt had ordered. There were there some priests

by age and doctrine conspicuous; except the cook, and of the coadjutor brothers,

who external works perform,

one uniquely skilled in the culinary art, and in baking;

which to him and to the college was a safety: since Halberstadt,

delighted by his labor and talent, the college to him

(if it be lawful) gave. The rest, bound with chains, consigned to prison, to Lippstadt

carried off to a dire prison, one being dismissed with

letters of public safe-conduct, that a sum of many thousands,

for saving the life of the captive associates,

and for keeping the flames from the college, schools, temple,

he might collect. And he indeed with religious simplicity collected

a thousand thalers: brought to Lippstadt,

by the irritation rather than the appeasement of those harpies

was the hunger. Again therefore sent out, not without present

peril of life, to Münster he came: where, various things

being tried in vain, he was at length ordered by his Rector

there to remain, whatever upon the captives and the house it should seem good

to God to permit to the enemies.

[39] And the house indeed, the windows being broken out, and all

the domestic furniture being plundered, and macerated with hardships in the camps: except the library,

which, packed into chests, at the coming of the Catholic soldier

could not be carried off, was preserved: they with St.

Liborius's body through various places led about, at length to

the town of Höchst, the army of Halberstadt being routed,

with the duke's prey into the power of the Imperialists came,

by hunger, nakedness, squalor worn out,

and with worms on all sides covered, and to Mainz

were dismissed: the victors first, of the ransom which

from them was exacted, the right upon themselves solemnly having transferred,

to the action of the enemies, if any at some time should be attempted,

to be quashed; and then that ransom to them having remitted.

But these things four months later were done. Now to the duke

let us return.

[40] The Halberstadtians, by that success which we have said

elated, what things already upon religious men and sacred things

through Westphalia they had perpetrated, by a public token to illustrate,

and to the world, an insolent coin then struck: with what mind they had done them, to disclose

they wished. For coins they struck of gold and silver,

of a plainly insolent and execrable form: for

on the one face a hand was expressed, as stretched out from

the clouds, a drawn sword brandishing, around, of Christian

the name being inscribed: on the reverse part a deadly epigraph

was: The friend of God, the foe of priests.

§ VII. Christian of Brunswick and other sacrilegious men punished: the relics of St. Liborius recovered.

Proud cruelty provoked the avenging right hand of the Divinity,

which from the duke a few months later

the hand and arm took away, soon also his life, by a huge

slaughter of his own several times, that he might come to his senses, having been admonished.

For when a greater than before army

he had gathered together, not more bought with gold, than by the hope

of prey and plunderings enticed, in which also the English nobility

to the number of 300 heads was found;

Ferdinand of Bavaria, elector of Cologne,

and the same bishop of Paderborn and Münster, Christian of Brunswick put to flight by Anholt and Berg

that the plunderer from his dominions in good time

he might shake off, Anholt from the Palatinate with light-armed

soldiery he called, to whom also some of his own forces he joined.

Thither also by Isabella Clara Eugenia, aunt of the Catholic king,

governess of the Belgian provinces,

was sent with a select army Henry of Berg. But

him, that home Maurice might recall, lest he either

Halberstadt perhaps oppress, or the headlong

attempts of him delay, Henry Frederick his brother

he ordered, with some thousands of horsemen and footmen,

the river Dyle between Louvain and Mechelen

being crossed, plunders through Brabant to drive, and to Brussels itself

so much terror to display. And it succeeded

somewhat, the plan: for when several villages Nassau

had burned, his men laden with rustic prey, on the fourth

day to Breda he led back, because also forces from elsewhere from

the garrisons Spinola, who was then at Brussels, and himself

from Westphalia Berg had recalled. Yet by fear of him

Halberstadt had already deserted the siege of Gieseke: he departs from Westphalia:

and then the Weser at the town of Höxter

being crossed, threatening letters to the bishop of Würzburg

being written, into Eichsfeld, subject to Mainz,

he moved, and it in a dire manner having devastated,

into the dominion of the abbot of Fulda also he burst,

from which a huge sum of money he exacted:

thence to the Main, by the disaster which above we indicated,

to be made famous he came.

[42] he carries off with him the relics of St. Liborius: The relics of St. Liborius (which is wonderful) with him

perpetually hitherto he carried about: whether that of them as though

he might triumph, the sacrilegious man, or the hatreds of Westphalia and of lower

Saxony fearing, if anywhere he had cast away

what their ancestors, eight hundred years before, together

with the Christian religion had received from the Gauls, a pledge:

or that to some Catholic prince, which he did,

them, to conciliate the favor of him to himself, he might give:

or even, as rather I think, because by some

still he was touched by religion, doubted by many I remember.

The town of Höchst, on the right bank of the river Main

situated, having gotten possession, with his wonted cruelty

in the slaughter of the citizens to rage the soldier he permitted, and the surrounding

villages and most towns of the Mainz dominion

with flames to consume. But while over the Main a bridge

he was setting, there came upon him Tilly and Consalvo Cordoba, he is conquered by Cordoba and Tilly:

the Bavarian and Spanish forces being joined, with which

not long before the army of the margrave of Durlach

they had routed. Having dared, or rather, been compelled, unexpectedly

with them to engage, Halberstadt; conquered, and

of camp and town stripped, scarcely with a few thousands,

which of so great an army had survived, the rest either by the enemy's

sword, or by the river swallowed, to Mansfeld

escaped, who to him at Darmstadt came to meet. Thither

also the relics of St. Liborius, with some silver

furniture, with him he drew. There remained at Höchst the people of Paderborn,

captives, who, as above we said, from undeserved

chains were released, and to Mainz dismissed

by Cordoba and Tilly.

[43] with Mansfeld he crosses Lorraine, Mansfeld then and Halberstadt, since

that the Palatinate could be defended by their forces they despaired,

into Alsace set out, marking their ways with fires and evil deeds.

From Alsace through Lorraine,

neither so swiftly as the duke had provided, nor harmlessly,

they led to Sedan their forces; the French being terrified,

and hastily contracting what forces they could, lest,

the king elsewhere against the heretics waging war, an inroad

into his provinces they might make, which to advise

the duke of Bouillon, prince of Sedan, a Calvinian,

was believed. But by the prince of Orange

invited, into Belgium they came down; that by their aid

Bergen op Zoom, which Spinola was besieging, might be liberated.

Hainaut most swiftly they passed through, then Hainaut harmlessly: lest

to arms the provincials might be able to rush together, and their

march delay: for the same cause, or certainly of Isabella

Eugenia the governess, by reverence, nowhere did they mingle fires,

and almost no mischief anywhere

inflicted: they did not even plunder the painted panels which

were at Mariemont in the royal palace. Which humanity

of Mansfeld rather than of Halberstadt to have been then

was reported.

[44] At length on the 28th of August at the village of Fleurus,

not far from the town of Gembloux (which to the ancients

was Geminiacum) they encamped. Nor far from

them Cordoba, and himself by very great marches, when he had halted, at the village of Fleurus

pursued them, seeking Belgium through Luxembourg.

The next day, which was sacred to the beheading of St.

John the Baptist, both armies at first light joined battle,

which for several hours with hostile minds on both sides

was protracted. The royal cavalry, and the Spanish

legion, which, Balthasar

Santander, Cordoba's legate, disapproving, too much its own commander

Francisco Ivara had advanced, the enemy cavalry

somewhat smote, Ivara himself being slain. At

the last, some thousands of his own being lost,

they take to flight, their ranks nevertheless being somehow preserved.

There was sent, again in battle he is conquered by Cordoba, one who had not been present at the battle, Gaucher, tribune of light-armed

cavalry, to press upon those retreating.

It was believed that Henry of Berg, if he had come to meet them

from Guelders, could have destroyed the remnants of that army.

Cordoba, the victory not being won bloodlessly,

granted his soldier some days' rest,

thence led him to Spinola's camp. I wonder

that John Peter Lotichius, Of German Affairs, Book

12, chapter 4, §4, writes that Christian of Brunswick, victory

being obtained, a great slaughter, moreover, in the flight

of the Spaniards produced, the baggage,

and warlike artillery, and a great force of moneys,

and the spoils of the Palatinate besides,

into his power being reduced, and to Breda carried.

Almost the whole of his and Mansfeld's victory was to escape.

Very many of their soldiers were then by the peasants, while,

ignorant of the ways, especially through the dominion of Liège,

they fled apart, slaughtered. Those wounded, and those sick, who into

the hands of the royalists came, most, cured in the hospitals,

when they had recovered, were dismissed freely.

[45] Halberstadt, who St. Liborius's body in

Lorraine to an illustrious man, his hand being pierced, as afterward will be said, had given,

in this battle experienced God as avenger. For

his hand, which on the coin against the Saints

he had put forth, being pierced by a leaden bullet, by the toil of the road

and jolting ill cured, contracted a gangrene,

so that the arm too had to be cut off. Nor indeed,

when this soldier was joined to the Dutch army,

without delay did Spinola dissolve the siege of Bergen, and therefore his arm being cut off: as

the same writer asserts: but only on the fourth day of October,

when, called out with his forces, Berg, as

one of the leaders had predicted, was arriving too slowly;

the city being left, going forth to meet Maurice, he deployed his battle-line

in the most widely open fields. But it being enough

for Maurice to have saved the city, he declined battle.

[46] In the following year again a most numerous army

Halberstadt gathered together in the provinces of lower Saxony.

an army again being gathered, Therefore into those shores too Tilly moved:

whom he, by no means daring to await, into Westphalia,

and toward the Rhine, swiftly departed. With equal

swiftness following the fugitive, Tilly, often the rearmost

column he harassed. He drew up more than once a battle-line:

which when Tilly also had done, straightway he slipped away. But

compelled at length, assiduously from behind to Tilly

to afford opportunity of battle, on the 6th of August 1623,

by a most memorable disaster, at Stadtlohn,

a village of Westphalia, he was routed. Tilly scarcely a hundred

and fifty of his own lost, confessing that not even at

Prague, in the year 1620 on the 8th of November, again he is conquered by Tilly:

so great had been the slaughter of the enemies, and he himself to his own, when

now the duke with some troops of the more nimble cavalry

had escaped, that they should spare the sword, commanded. Of the footmen,

who were reckoned at twenty thousand, the greatest part

was slain: the rest captured, about five thousand; but

soon most dismissed, stripped of arms, and, unless at

the gates of Münster by the citizens, and religious especially,

with food and drink they had been refreshed, themselves too

hunger and other miseries would have consumed. The cavalry more than

half escaped. To the Imperialists yielded very many standards

of horsemen and footmen, all the artillery, and

a huge force of provisions. So great was the joy of that victory

in Belgium, that in many cities with festive

fires for several days there was triumph.

[47] Halberstadt, when to Emmerich to the prince of Orange

he had come, after some days the college which

in that city, founded by the dukes of Cleves, the Society

of Jesus has, visited with a great retinue of nobles,

and our men courteously saluted: and when

concerning the recent battle discourse fell, he frankly confessed

that those disasters had befallen him on account of the contempt of St. Liborius, he acknowledges God's vengeance for the injury to St. Liborius:

and his relics carried off from Paderborn: If that good

old man, he said, in his place to rest

we had suffered, more happily we would have fought. Not therefore however

all his former ferocity did he put off, but again and again

renewed the war. Until at length in the year 1626,

on the 16th of June, by a fever he was extinguished, he dies: when

four days before he had ejected from his body a worm four

cubits long, two fingers wide. His corpse being dissected by the physicians,

a small and contracted heart was found,

a great gall bladder, the rest unharmed.

[48] This was Halberstadt's end. Nor did the other

instigators and ministers of his impiety escape the heavenly

vengeance. For, to omit his soldiers'

often repeated slaughter, those who survived being compelled, his soldiers are punished,

from the mercy of those whom to death they had demanded,

to beg the aid of a tolerable life:

of their betrayal and hatred against the Catholics a manifest reward

bore the heretics of Paderborn, from those very ones,

whom into their city they had admitted, the people of Paderborn, the associates of their

errors, spoiled and exhausted, and to the Catholic

army then naked exposed for vengeance. the people of Salzuflen. But the people of Salzuflen,

the Catholic cause being restored, three hundred thalers,

which by their connivance, the right of hospitality being violated,

the Halberstadtians from the Fathers of the Society had extorted,

to bring back to the college of Paderborn were compelled;

congratulating themselves, that by the same Fathers'

intercession, nothing graver, as they had deserved,

against them was decreed.

[49] Godscalc the centurion, But that Godscalc, who them against the law

of nations into captivity had drawn, and the threats of the vengeance about to come

upon them from heaven with laughter and jests had despised,

by manifold misfortunes was punished by God,

and struck with an incurable languor, from the military

to be carried home he had to, that to the people of Salzuflen his fellow-

citizens a signal spectacle of divine vengeance

he might give. Thence he, from the Rector of Paderborn, now to

his college restored, for the fires which he was suffering,

to be extinguished, sent to ask for beer, hoping

that by it he could be relieved. The Rector sent him, requiting injuries

by this benefit, a little cask of about eighteen

amphorae. an impious horseman, Which properly pertains to St. Liborius;

who first into the cathedral basilica,

Paderborn being taken, on horseback had entered, that

soldier, he, toward the end of the year 1624 at Neuhaus,

at the confluence of the Pader and the Lippe, taken, and

on account of this and other crimes, was punished. but before death converted. There visited

the captive a priest of the Society, and the fierce and barbarous

man induced, that the Catholic faith he should embrace,

and with a great sense of piety death willingly

for the expiation of his crimes he should meet, deeply into

his mind the fear of eternal punishments being sent down,

from the memory of the torments endured amid the racks,

our man again and again those things efficaciously inculcating.

[50] The Relics of St. Liborius sought, But the canons of Paderborn, concerning the body of their holy Patron,

where in the world it had been cast away or left

by Halberstadt, were inquiring, together

with their most serene prelate, and very many into various

regions messengers, to trace the relics, had sent out.

First where they were kept, to the elector indicated

a noble man, John Charles Erlewin,

of the town of Ordingen, and of the castle of Linn in the diocese of Cologne

praetor; found and reported by Erlewin; whom to seek them back from Otto Philip

the Rhinegrave and his wife the elector deputed.

The same afterward with the highest fidelity and brevity, by what means

the Rhinegrave had received them, and honorably had them,

and himself from him had obtained, to the elector in German

wrote. Which commentary of his, or epistle, (who wrote the history,

into Latin translated, and with us communicated, our John

Grothaus.

[51] The same, moreover, Erlewin, St. Liborius's Life

and glory, digested into some chapters, and defended St. Liborius's glory) opposed to the infamous

and sacrilegious writing which the heretics at the same time,

in reproach of St. Liborius, had edited, with Dutch

type and engraving elaborated. Digested was

Erlewin's Liborian glory into altogether ten chapters:

in the first five all the life and burial

of St. Liborius was contained: in the sixth and seventh the elevation

and translation: in the eighth the despoiling of Paderborn,

the relics carried off, Halberstadt's insolent coin, the disasters:

in the ninth the honor bestowed in the castle of Neuhaus (Neovillare)

on the relics by the Rhinegrave's family and neighbors, on many of whom

benefits of health divinely conferred, and other things:

in the tenth the story of the recovery through Erlewin, the restoration to their

church, and the laying up within a precious shrine made of gold

and silver, enclosed in a precious shrine. which at the price of eight thousand gold pieces,

to be made had cared William of Westphalen, of an illustrious

lineage a man and in dignity, archsatrap of the diocese

of Paderborn, and tribune of one legion in the Catholic

princes' army.

[53] These things, moreover, were begun in the year 1622, when

from the Palatinate he had gone into Belgium with Mansfeld,

Halberstadt, and this one, of his arm, as we have reported,

was maimed: The anniversary memory of the reduction the 28th of October. accomplished at length in the year 1623,

after the assembly of the nobles of the Empire, held at Regensburg,

in which Maximilian duke of Bavaria was declared elector

by the emperor, the Palatine being deposed. And indeed,

as below from Erlewin's own epistle will appear,

on the 15th of June into the borders of the Ubii the relics were

carried back. But to the church of Paderborn not until four

months later were they restored. The memory of the matter is marked

in the recent Kalendar on the day of the 28th of October,

in these words: The reduction of the relics of St. Liborius.

§ VIII. St. Liborius's relics carried to Amelia.

Amelia is a city of Umbria, founded long before the city

of Rome, and showing no vain arguments

of antiquity, a part of the walls, and the foundations

of buildings: Amelia, an ancient city, for the rest, itself situated on a hill,

with a rich

surrounding field, spread on both banks of the Tiber,

fruitful of oil, wine, and wheat. But greater glory from the citizens

themselves. Leander Alberti testifies that so many illustrious

talents have ennobled the name of Amelia,

that a commemoration of all would be very long.

For, to omit the prelates lately most illustrious for the opinion of prudence, piety,

and erudition, Mariano Vittori, Bartolomeo

Ferratini the Cardinal, and celebrated for illustrious alumni, and his uncle Baldo

Ferratini; in more than one place praised by us

in our work on the Acts of the Saints is Antonio

Maria Graziani of Borgo San Sepolcro, bishop

of Amelia, who among other monuments of his doctrine,

illustrated the deeds of St. Secundus the martyr,

who on the 1st of June is venerated; of St. Hymerius the bishop,

who on the 17th, of St. Firmina the Roman virgin, on the 24th of November

crowned with martyrdom together with Urcisinus the lictor,

and Olympiades the prefect, whose memory is kept

on the 1st of December. Of these, and of God in them,

the glory to amplify he took pains, in erudition, prudence,

religion a most illustrious prelate.

[55] By his instruction either formed, or provoked

by his example, Peregrinus Carlenus, of Amelia the abbot

of St. Mary, the number lately and the glory to increase

of his fatherland's tutelary Divines endeavored. For

because at Münster, by Peregrinus Carlenus the abbot a city of Westphalia, the kings of Spain

and of France, and of the Emperor and of other princes,

the ambassadors, about to deliberate concerning the peace of the whole Christian commonwealth,

the legates of the Supreme Pontiff and of the Venetians mediating,

had come together, he too thither, about to plead the cause of some

prince, betook himself. Nor indeed

of the reward of the journey and labor was he frustrated,

although the rest of an assembly of this kind such an outcome seems about to be,

which posterity will not easily believe. But

nevertheless whatever the right and fortune of those spurning peace

may be, the fruit of his labor Carlenus bore great,

about to redound to the salvation of his fatherland, and the honors of the Divines.

For while at Münster he is engaged, from the canons

of the church of Paderborn, [St. Liborius's

relics obtained from the people of Paderborn,] the elector of Cologne himself also,

their prelate, assenting, on the 9th of June

in the year 1646 some relics of St. Liborius (of whom both

he himself and his brother Augustine Carlenus, canon

of Amelia, the present aid in relieving nephritic

pains had experienced) he obtained:

two namely little particles from his sacred body,

the one of the shin, of the length of a forefinger; the other

of the skull, nearly equaling the diameter of a thumb.

[56] sent in the year 1646, These relics he into Italy, through a religious man

of the Order of the Capuchin Fathers, Brother Bonaventure,

sent, in the cathedral church of Amelia

to be placed. On which occasion, as from the most illustrious bishop

of Nardò, Fabio Chigi, of Innocent X the Supreme Pontiff

to that assembly which I have mentioned, honored with great piety: legate,

I learned, a great piety toward St. Liborius among the Italians

began to exist; so that a huge throng of peoples,

and of the sacred college of Cardinals also some,

and other princes, to venerate him, to Amelia

come frequently. The same abbot Carlenus took care, an engraved image of him: at the request of the chapter

of Amelia, that the image of that same Divine, as

at Paderborn it is wont to be painted, be engraved on copper, and to Gaudentius

Polus of Cascia, prelate of Amelia, he dedicated it:

of which image everywhere through Italy copies are sought,

certain men from time to time, who might obtain them

and bring them, being deputed to Amelia.

[57] The Life here separately edited: The same most religious man, by his exhortation especially,

moved me, that St. Liborius's deeds, miracles,

translations, which not until the 23rd of

July in the work on the Acts of the Saints I had determined

to bring to light, I should review and separately edit.

[58] the instrument of the donation: the celebrity of the reception. The public instrument, by which it may be established that those relics were given

by the people of Paderborn, at Münster

legitimately drawn up, with the Acts of the church of Amelia

we shall give.

§ IX. The solemnity with which St. Liborius's relics were received by the church of Amelia.

[59] St. Liborius's relics, in the year 1647, on the 12th of May, The relics of St. Liborius being brought to Amelia, for the solemn

supplication, in which into the cathedral basilica

they should be carried, was destined the 12th of May,

which in that year, from the birth of Christ 1647, was a Sunday,

the third after Easter, on which also the celebration

was kept of St. Mary de Foce; with this counsel chosen by

Gaudentius Polus, prelate of that city, that those who that sacred

place, for the sake of piety, had visited, foreigners, to them then

into the city to come, and to the supplication, which at the

21st hour was to be begun, to be present might be lawful.

[60] The day before, at the second hour of the night, as an indication of the future solemnity,

there were rung together of all the temples

and monasteries of the whole city the bells, that

by that religious sound the common folk might be moved to piety

of mind, and might take a foretaste of the triumph to follow from it. the people being invited,

To the doors of the sacred edifices, and other public

places, was affixed a programme, by which the bishop

invited and exhorted the religious and the people, that

in frequency they be present, and the offered heavenly

treasure, with prompt devotion, thanks being rendered to God,

the aid of that Divine being implored, might honor.

[61] But on Sunday there were sung, about the 18th hour,

with an illustrious concert of the singers, the Vespers.

There were present with the bishop the anziani (thus the four

men who bear the supreme magistracy, after Vespers as if elders,

called, elsewhere priors, or consuls) and the city's

governor: the temple was crowded with people,

of every sex, order, age: there had come together as many as were

enrolled in the sodalities, or fraternities, as they call them,

each with its own banner carried before, clothed in sackcloth after the custom:

there adorned the solemnity of that city all the religious,

part having entered the temple, part compelled outside

to remain.

[62] The Vespers being performed, the supplication was ordered,

the whole multitude into their places and the order of proceeding

being distributed. a supplication being instituted, Before, already, the relics enclosed in a precious tabernacle

to the temple of St. Francis, by Father Bonaventure the Capuchin

to the edifice of St. Francis

had been silently carried: for thence them,

the supplicants, that to the cathedral temple they should transfer,

had been determined.

[63] First proceeded the sodality of the most holy Sacrament,

which reckoned about three hundred heads, the sodalities of the citizens preceding, on the white roll

of the sodales inscribed. It the sodality of death followed,

this that of Sts. John and Paul, then of St. Roch,

St. Sebastian, of Mercy, of St. Augustine, of St.

Firmina: to each, besides its own banner, effigies of the Crucified,

and other public insignia were carried before.

[64] Then the assembly of the religious: the Capuchin fathers

altogether 18, the religious, the discalced Augustinians, the Augustinians

of the Ancient observance; the Reformed Franciscans, who among our countrymen

are called Recollects; and lastly the Conventuals

of the same Order.

[65] There followed the chapter of the cathedral basilica,

a cross being carried before: the secular clergy, there went before 12 youths from the

seminary

of the Somaschi Fathers: then all the clergy,

the priests and pastors of the whole city: then the canons,

whom the bishop's vicar followed, between

two canons on either side in the middle: and himself at length

the bishop, the canons; clothed in the pontifical cope, closing

his sides after the custom two who are said to bear a dignity

in the chapter. After these the most illustrious lords,

the four anziani, and the governor, and their notaries,

and those who from Office and from household each are wont

to attend: lastly a multitude almost innumerable

of nobles, the nobility and people following, citizens, artisans, both

those who in the city dwelt, and those whom from elsewhere their piety

and public devotion had summoned.

[66] When to the edifice of St. Francis the supplication came;

to the episcopal throne, there already prepared, the prelate

approached, and the cope being laid aside, the pluvial and mitre

he took: there by the bishop placed on the altar, afterward before

the principal altar, from

the hands of Father Bonaventure the tabernacle, within which

the relics were laid up, he received, and having piously kissed it,

upon the altar he placed it, adorned with a notable apparatus,

twenty very large candles being lighted on it. Then by

a double choir of musicians, with excellent symphony, was sung

in praise of St. Liborius an antiphon.

[67] It being ended, the supplicants proceeded toward the cathedral temple,

then very many bearing white torches, in the same order in which they had come.

At the doors of the Franciscan edifice, Augustine

Carlenus the canon had stationed two priests, who to each

of the confraternities of the abovesaid sodalities, as commonly

they call themselves, and to the religious, and to very many nobles,

foreigners as well as townsmen, a torch of virgin wax

should hand: but to the canons and presidents

of the religious congregations, as also to the anziani

and the governor, a three-pound torch was given, as also to the twelve

youths, the children of nobles, who, with angelic

adornment adorned, in an elegant order the sacred relics

preceded, carried by the same, which the prelate, under a magnificent umbrella,

enclosed in the tabernacle, bore.

[68] The garrison soldiers, on the occasion of the winter quarters

this year there placed, all into the square, which before

that edifice is situated, being led out, in a most beautiful order disposed,

as soon as into view came the relics,

a signal being given by the centurions, saluted in military fashion, them with a festive

discharge of muskets they saluted.

[69] The supplication was led to all the churches of the city of Amelia

and the monasteries of the nuns. And first

the edifice of St. Elizabeth of the Order of St. Clare being approached, carried around through the temples of the nuns,

adorned with an exquisite apparatus, all the altars with the manifold splendor of candles

and torches shining. Here,

on the high altar, was placed by the bishop the tabernacle of the relics,

while by the religious and the musicians, the organ sounding in accompaniment,

an antiphon of St. Liborius was sung.

Then, the relics being raised on high and made into a cross,

to the people the bishop gave benediction. Then to St. Monica's

monastery of virgins of the Augustinian institute there was going,

to whom that ceremony too the prelate well prayed.

[70] honored with music, With a rich adornment was clothed the Augustinian Fathers'

temple, and house: from which, as they passed,

the relics with an excellent concert of musicians were saluted.

The same by the monasteries of St. Magnus, and of St.

Stephen, both of nuns of the Benedictine Order,

was done: to whom a benediction, as before to others,

was imparted. There was coming then to the monastery of Sts. Catherine

and John the Evangelist, which religious women

of the Order of St. Benedict inhabit: and by a discharge of cannon, who, to the remaining

adornment of the temple, indeed most rich, with a various

discharge of the larger guns to honor the holy

Prelate's remains took care.

[71] brought to the cathedral temple, The square which lies before the cathedral basilica,

various wedges of soldiers held, in a pleasant-to-look-at

array: by whom both the larger guns were discharged, and

other warlike instruments to the Divine's honor were employed.

The basilica itself was most splendidly adorned. For honoring

the relics, no expenses had the prelate

himself and the chapter and the city spared.

[72] There was placed likewise on the high altar the tabernacle

by the bishop, and an antiphon was sung by the musicians,

while meanwhile into the temple and the square all the throng of supplicants

came together: a benediction being given, to whom, when the bishop had well prayed,

the relics to the little chapel of the most holy Rosary

were carried, and within a cabinet were laid up, for

that purpose prepared, then with three keys closed,

of which one is kept with the bishop, laid away,

another with the chapter; the third the canon

Carlenus has: until, at his and his brother the abbot's expense,

a new chapel be built, to the honor of St. Liborius to be dedicated: while a chapel is prepared:

whose relics here, for the adornment and protection

of his fatherland, from the church of Paderborn he obtained:

which with so great applause of all Umbria were received,

that through all Italy far the fame of that matter was spread,

and the minds of men were inflamed with exceeding piety toward this new

Tutelary, and against nephritic pains a patron.

[73] an unexpected serenity on that day. And indeed even now not a few benefits are remembered

obtained divinely by his patronage. That

among the first was held like a prodigy, that, when

there was the greatest intemperance of the air and continual rains,

on that day especially, on which the solemn translation of the relics

had been proclaimed, as soon as the pomp of the supplication was begun,

a sudden and plainly unexpected serenity arose.

THE ANCIENT LIFE

By an anonymous author,

Drawn from an old Ms. Legendary of the church of Le Mans by Louis Cellot of the Society of Jesus.

Liborius, bishop of Le Mans in Gaul (St.)

BHL Number: 4911

BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR.

Blessed be the Lord, who does not forsake

those who hope in him, nor is wanting to those who

love him in truth: to whom, lest at any time

the mercy of the Savior be wanting, St. Liborius, by God's providence, is chosen bishop, by adversities

often it is provided, often prosperities allure,

often also by the providence of the most sacred prelates

it is succored: for the best shepherd

by no means disdains to provide for his sheep,

who the lost sheep both to seek deigned,

and, found, to the fold on his own shoulders

to carry back. Whence after the happy passing of St. Pavacius

to the kingdom of the heavens, lest the sheep without

a shepherd far from the pastures of life should wander, St.

Liborius by the Lord to the city of Le Mans as pontiff

was substituted. In whose election the people

by no means declined from the higher counsel,

since nothing seemed in him, a holy man which either

man might reprehend, or to the eyes of the highest Judge

would be displeasing. Nor is it easy to say what manner of bishop, or how great a one, he showed himself to be, who before receiving that dignity had already made himself wholly an example of the entire Christian religion.

[2] This blessed man, therefore, a Gaul by nation, learned in the liberal disciplines, and instructed: but more learned in character, presided over his subjects with a governance the more pleasing to them, the more he burned with a greater longing in the love of things eternal. For his countenance, by its gracious modesty, displayed a profound humility; he governs excellently: while the melody of his psalmody bore witness to the greatest devotion. For often he sighed over the distresses of the poor, and he did not cease to attend to the distresses of the poor; and with more lavish zeal and the very greatest ardor for divine worship, he gave orders that seventeen churches be built in his diocese he builds churches: at his own expense, supported by the help of God and of certain princes; and of these he assigned very large revenues to be paid each year for the lights of holy mother Church.

[3] But that the world might not, as though ignorant, doubt the merits of our most blessed father Liborius, through his intercession and merit the Lord granted sight to the blind, he is renowned for miracles, hearing to the deaf, drove out demons from possessed bodies, and restored others afflicted with various infirmities to the health they desired. And—which was no small ornament to true religion—he remained ever so familiar and dear to the most blessed Martin, archbishop of Tours, familiar with St. Martin; that he was found worthy frequently to enjoy his conversation; and, as a most perfect imitator of that man's outstanding virtues, he deserved to be present at his sacred counsels and to be confirmed by his continual blessing.

[4] But as that venerable father of ours Liborius drew near to the bounds of all flesh, now made white with happy old age, and his sacred warfare accomplished, he committed his weary limbs and his nature, confessing itself frail, to the hair-shirt and to ashes. Yet before he handed over to his Creator his soul, rich in virtues, by whom the sick man is visited he deserved to be visited by that one visitor of the poor of Christ, the most blessed Martin: who by angelic revelation came to the funeral rites of the Pontiff, accompanied of course by his most holy disciples; in comparison with whom the master shone forth the holier. And entering the house he found him already wholly yearning toward heaven, already sighing after the future and eternal reward, already reclining upon a lowly bed strewn with a hair-shirt for his bare limbs alone: lying upon a hair-shirt, to whom, when he had bestowed the last and first counsel of life, and had confirmed him with a most sacred blessing, between the venerable hands of the holy pontiff he sent forth his spirit, secure by its blessed merits, to the heavens above. Nor did the most blessed Martin abandon that singular gift on earth, that unique glory of the Church, and dead he is buried, before he diligently paid the debt of burial to the blessed limbs, and, with such reverence as was fitting, with great veneration laid it in ^a the church of the most blessed apostles Peter and Paul, situated above ^b the river Sarthe: where that glorious Shepherd, most excellently buried among his most sacred predecessors, renowned for miracles after his death, bestowed more abundantly, resting in his tomb, the benefits which he had abundantly conferred while living in the world. He presided over the church of Le Mans for fifty years, one less; and, the course of the present misery being happily completed, on the fifth of the Ides of June he rested in the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory throughout all ages of ages. Amen.

NOTES.

ANOTHER LIFE

By an anonymous author,

From an old manuscript of the same church. Or,

The Deeds of Lord Liborius, bishop of the city of Le Mans, who lived in the times of the emperors Constantine and Valentinian.

Liborius, bishop of Le Mans in Gaul (St.)

BHL Number: 4910

A. ANON.

[1] St. Liborius builds 17 churches, Liborius, a Gaul by nation, and successor of blessed Pavacius, pontiff of the city of Le Mans; who also after his death was elected by the people and consecrated bishop. For he strove in ecclesiastical matters, as best he could, greatly to please God and the common people. And for this he deserved to receive a great recompense and a crown of glory. from which he orders wax and oil to be paid to the mother church: This man built churches through diverse places in that parish, seventeen in number. From which he decreed that a tribute be paid to the mother church of the city over which he presided, for maintaining the lights in that church, both of wax and of oil, and to the keepers thirds; that is, from ^a Colinnum, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1. Likewise from Silviacum, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1 from ^b Rodacium, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1, from ^c Campus Genestosus, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1 from Conedacum, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1 from Aciacum, of wax 2 pounds, of oil 3. Likewise 1 from ^d Aluncionnum, of wax 4 pounds, of oil 6. Likewise 1 from Saugonna ^e, of wax 2 pounds, of oil 3. Likewise 1 from ^f Sabonariae, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1 from Bona, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1 from Luciacum, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1 from ^g Ludua, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1 from Marso, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1 from ^h Poliacum, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1 from ⁱ Magurum, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1 from Noviliacum, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1 from Comnae, of wax 1 pound, of oil 2. Likewise 1.

[2] The aforesaid Pontiff also performed ninety-six Ordinations, he confers sacred Orders: in which he consecrated priests through diverse places, 217, deacons 186, subdeacons 93, and the remaining ministers, as many as were needful. This man, then, died in peace on the 5th of the Ides of June. And he was buried by the blessed and holy Martin, archbishop of the church of Tours, he is buried by St. Martin: and by his disciples honorably beyond the river Sarthe in the church of the Apostles, which lord and holy Julian had long before built and consecrated: in which also St. Pavacius his predecessor, and St. Turibius the predecessor of St. Pavacius, rest bodily.

[3] The aforesaid St. Liborius sat in the aforementioned see for forty-nine years, striving with all his might to serve the Lord sweetly in all things. after his death he becomes renowned for miracles. After his death, by the Lord's granting, in his name and in the aforesaid church, beside his tomb, innumerable signs shone forth by his worthy merits: namely, by giving light to countless blind, restoring the lame, casting out demons, curing lepers, healing the sick, granting hearing to the deaf, and bestowing health upon many others beyond number. But the names of the aforesaid weak and infirm we have not here written down, on account of their length: yet so many signs were seen by his merits that, as I reckon, three or four quires could not contain them. We also ask that, by his assiduous prayers, the Lord may deign to free us from all the adversities of this fluctuating world, and from all our own crimes. Amen. Many, therefore, are the miracles shown in his life by his merits, our Lord Jesus Christ granting it, to whom be honor and glory throughout all ages of ages. Amen.

NOTES.

ANOTHER LIFE

From the manuscript of John Morelli, canon of Le Mans.

Liborius, bishop of Le Mans in Gaul (St.)

[1] Blessed Liborius, a Gaul by nation, the fourth pontiff of the city of Le Mans, successor of St. Pavacius, unanimously elected by people and clergy, was consecrated bishop in the mother church of the aforesaid city: in whose election the people seemed not to have deviated even a hair's breadth, as they say, from the higher counsel; since there seemed to be nothing in him St. Liborius, renowned for virtue and learning, which either man might reprehend, or might be displeasing to the eyes of the supreme Judge. For he always strove in ecclesiastical matters, as best he could, especially to please ^a both lords and common people, and showed himself, before receiving the dignity, wholly an example of the entire Christian religion: whose countenance and gracious modesty displayed a profound humility, and whose psalmody bore witness to the greatest devotion. He himself, learned in the liberal disciplines, but more learned in character, frequently sighed over the distresses of the poor, whose distresses he did not cease to attend to and to relieve: who with more lavish zeal, and the very greatest ardor for divine worship, gave orders that seventeen churches be built in his diocese, at his own expense, supported by the help of God and of certain princes. he builds churches: And of these he assigned very large revenues to be paid each year, for maintaining the lights in that mother church over which he presided, both of wax and oil, and thirds to the keepers of that church.

[2] He also performed in his diocese ninety-six ordinations, he confers Orders: in which he consecrated priests through diverse places, deacons and subdeacons, and the remaining ministers, as many as were needful. And that the world might not, as though ignorant, doubt his merits, through his intercession and merit the Lord granted sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, drove out demons from possessed bodies, he works miracles: and restored others afflicted with various infirmities to the health they desired. And because like rejoices in like, he was most familiar with the most blessed Martin, archbishop of Tours: familiar with St. Martin, by whose conversation and discourse he was frequently cherished, and by whose blessing he was often confirmed, and whose wholesome counsel he used.

[3] But as that holy Man drew near to the bounds of all flesh, now made white with happy old age, and his sacred warfare accomplished, he committed his weary limbs and his nature, confessing itself frail, to the hair-shirt and to ashes. by him the sick man is visited, at the admonition of an Angel, Yet before he handed over to his Creator his soul, rich in virtues, he deserved to be visited by that one visitor of the poor of Christ, the most blessed Martin. Who by angelic revelation came to the funeral rites of the holy Pontiff, accompanied by his disciples: and entering the house, he found him already wholly yearning toward heaven, already sighing after the eternal reward, already reclining upon a lowly bed strewn with a hair-shirt for his bare limbs alone. To whom, when he had bestowed the last and first counsel of life, and had confirmed him with a most sacred blessing, between the hands of the most blessed Martin he sent forth his spirit, secure by its blessed merits, to the heavens above. He lived in the times of ^b the emperors Constantine and Valentinian; dead he is buried: and presided over the church of Le Mans for forty-nine years: and,

the course of the present misery being happily completed, on ^c the fourth of the Ides of June he rested in peace: and by the divine Martin, archbishop of Tours, and by his disciples, with such reverence as was fitting, and with great veneration, he was buried beyond the river Sarthe, in the church of the most blessed apostles Peter and Paul, which blessed Julian had long before built and consecrated: in which blessed Pavacius his predecessor, and St. Turibius the predecessor of St. Pavacius, rest bodily. Where the holy Man bestowed more abundantly, resting in his tomb, the benefits which he had abundantly conferred while living in the world; giving light to the blind, restoring the lame, he is made illustrious by fresh miracles after his death, casting out demons, curing lepers, granting hearing to the deaf, and bestowing health upon countless others. The names of these infirm, to avoid prolixity, are not here written down. Let us commend ourselves to his prayers, that with Christ we may live forever, whose kingdom and dominion endures without end throughout the ages of ages. Amen.

NOTES.

ANOTHER LIFE

By an anonymous Saxon author.

From the manuscripts of the Canons Regular of Corsendonck and Bödeken.

Liborius, bishop of Le Mans in Gaul (St.)

BHL Number: 4912, 4913

FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.

BOOK ONE.

CHAPTER I.

Whence the Author obtained the deeds of St. Liborius.

[1] Although the pious dispensation of the supreme goodness toward the salvation of the human race is recognized in manifold and ineffable ways; Teachers and Bishops given by God, yet in this it seems to shine forth by the greatest tokens, that for his Church—laboring in this mortal life for the reward of eternal life—he has provided such instructors and defenders, by whose doctrines and examples she may be formed, and by whose merits and intercessions she may be aided forever. For to all who, placed in the array of the faith, continually wrestle in the contest of the Christian warfare against spiritual wickednesses, they aid the Church by word, example, and patronage; what could be believed more useful than to have before their eyes for imitation the virtues of those who, contending lawfully in the same contest, obtained the perpetual crown of victory? What more blessed, than to be fortified by the prayers of those to whom Truth itself promises that all things which they ask shall be granted? For we speak of those who, truly abiding in Christ, and causing his words to abide in themselves, obtained that reward which he himself promised, saying: "Whatsoever you will, you shall ask, and it shall be done unto you." John 14:13; John 15:7

[2] Although this indeed was said specially to the Apostles, it pertains nonetheless also to all others distinguished by an excellence of sanctity; especially those who, exalted by succession to the Apostles both in merit and in office, shine with the perennial grace of the sacred prelacy. For these obtain whatever they wish from God the more easily, the nearer they draw to him both by purity of life and by the sublimity of the sacred order. Nor is there any doubt that the prayers of those avail very much before the Lord, to whom he granted such power to prevail in heaven and on earth, that whatever they bound here should remain bound there; whatever they loosed here should straightway be loosed there. Moreover the dignity of their office the Holy Spirit himself, their indweller and consecrator, makes manifest, who speaks through the prophet Malachi, saying: "The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth: for he is the angel of the Lord of hosts." Hence in the Apocalypse of John, called angels and stars the prelates of the churches are called nothing but angels, signified by the seven stars shown in the right hand of Christ. Malachi 2:7; Apoc. 1:20. For they are stars, because they radiate with virtues; angels, because they announce the commands of the divine bidding. It is established therefore that those transcend not a little the measure of human weakness, whom Holy Scripture does not hesitate so often to call angels.

[3] ^a But the princes and first propagators of these in the Church were the Apostles, who after the glorious ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into the heavens, according to his promise, strengthened by the infusion of the Holy Spirit, and instructed in the knowledge of all truth, set out into the diverse regions of almost the whole world, announcing everywhere the word of salvation, and effecting this in a short time, both by the signs of miracles and by the exhortations of their preachings, so that, as the eminent Prophet once foretold, "Their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." Ps. 18:5. From their salutary and heavenly doctrines, therefore, which they had drawn abundantly from the very fountain of truth, the successors of the Apostles, the rule of the ecclesiastical orders, the institution of divine worship, and the whole observance of the Catholic religion took its beginning. After whom many prelates of churches throughout the world, following their footsteps in all things, and attaining no less the grace of their virtues than the dignity of their order, held the same sincerity in faith, the same sanctity in morals, the same vigilance in the zeal of doctrine: whereby they might both correct the morals of the faithful, and convert the minds of the faithful from error. In which very many of them are known to have pleased the Lord so greatly, that even to this day they are seen to gleam with the most brilliant miracles.

[4] From whose glorious college there arose a man magnificent and of incomparable sanctity, Liborius, the Life of St. Liborius faithfully written; prelate of the church of Le Mans, whose life and passing we have now proposed briefly to commemorate; judging it useful and fruitful for readers to know the life and acts of him whom, by following, one may make progress in the divine service. For his life was nothing else than a certain token of heavenly conversation, an example of the Christian religion, a document of virtue and faith. Whence, since he himself fulfilled that command of the Lord, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven"; it seems that we, dwelling in the wandering of mortal life, must strive with very careful imitation, that we who are obscured by the darkness of vices and ignorance may be illuminated by the light-bearing rays of his good works. Matt. 5:16 And let no one suppose that in his praises we stray from the path of truth or moderation, since we bring forward nothing except what is ascertained from truthful writings or accounts: and that he cannot worthily be praised by a mortal tongue, may God, with whom he now reigns immortally, plainly declare by a visible showing. For he bears witness that this man, accepted by him in all virtues and in every merit of life while living, was pleasing to himself, since he does not cease frequently to glorify the relics of the deceased by the most evident signs of miracles.

[5] From which it is given to understand that he was by no means without this grace in the present life, miracles after death, although for whatever cause no special written record of it is preserved. For whether—which humility, ever familiar to all the Saints, persuades, which in the Life were either not written, or lost: that they desire those things which before human eyes may seem for their praise and glory to be concealed and hidden—he obtained this above the rest; or whether the deeds of his signs and virtues were indeed more fully described, but by some chance were withdrawn from the knowledge of posterity; or whether it was some other cause of which we are ignorant; yet we clearly believe that the grace of the same Holy Spirit, who so often before his most sacred pledges deigns to display the brilliant gift of his charism—namely the working of virtues—for the demonstrating of his merits, was by no means wanting to him also while placed in the flesh. Yet neither are there wanting certain written monuments concerning his merits. whence these were obtained, There are also extant the deeds of the pontiffs of the same church of Le Mans over which he presided, composed in simple diction, and without any blemish of fiction, in a faithful narration: in which the full series of the Life of any one of them is not related; but who succeeded whom, of what merit each was, how many years each ruled the church, is briefly noted. But of this sacred and most precious man Liborius even the passing from this vale of tears to the fellowship of the citizens on high, ever truly and blessedly rejoicing, is more fully indicated, in what order it came to pass. There are also extant other writings briefly composed concerning his birth and life, from all of which most useful and truthful narratives, culled out, here, as far as the divinely given ability allows, we endeavor to set forth a few things.

NOTES.

CHAPTER II.

The sanctity of St. Liborius from his earliest age; his episcopate.

[6] This man, then, deriving his origin in Gaul, St. Liborius a Gaul, noble, grave from boyhood, and born of a not ignoble lineage of parents, further illustrated his most illustrious ^a fatherland by the renown of the merits of his own. For from his earliest age he bore a heart mature in good deeds, neither yielding in mind to the enticements of carnal pleasures, as is the custom of slippery youth, nor indulging in the vice of levity. Indeed he showed himself so humble and quiet and trembling at the words of the Lord, that the grace of the Holy Spirit is deservedly believed to have rested upon him, which nurtured him toward the dignity of the priesthood, and the dispensation of the sacraments of God, and the government of the faithful people. This also had inspired in his mind a most burning zeal for learning, so that from the streams of the heavenly mysteries, which he was one day to pour forth abundantly to many, the inmost parts of his own heart might first be wholesomely filled. Nor did he ever, after the perverse manner of certain persons, wish to teach before learning: but as though, with prescient mind, he perceived himself to be a future teacher, eager to learn, he strove, as an attentive hearer, to acquire the knowledge of nearly all the scriptures useful to him, which afterwards, as an eloquent instructor, he might impart to those who had need. Nor was there wanting the vigor of a shrewd intellect, supplying ample efficacy to his good zeal: and even in his still tender years the flowers of his outstanding disposition gave great hope of the sweetest fruits, which it is established afterwards came forth abundantly. Finally, together with the advance of time, dear to all. making progress by increases of probity and wisdom, he so adorned the maturity of manly age in a short while, that he was held acceptable to all, and worthy both of honor and of love. And no wonder: for him no pride made insolent to any, no envy harsh to any, no sloth contemptible to any: but humility fitted him even to the lowliest, charity showed him affable and conformable to all, diligence demonstrated him to be a useful vessel in the house of the Lord, prepared for every good work.

[7] But after he had, out of regard for the heavenly rewards, forsaken both his secular life and habit, made a cleric, he lives most holily: and, truly chosen by the Lord for his own lot, was associated with the clergy and discharged the ecclesiastical offices, he was seen to devote himself yet more wholly to the divine worship. For he strove, as much as one surrounded by the frail burden of the flesh could, to direct all his acts and thoughts to the norm of reason, to be circumspect and provident, and docile and cautious, to bear adversity or prosperity with equanimity, to bear his soul bravely above the fear of temporal danger, and to dread nothing except what was foul before the eyes of the supreme Examiner—namely the stains of sin: to have concerning God's goodness confidence, security, constancy, endurance, firmness: and moreover to desire nothing to be repented of, to exceed in nothing the law of moderation, to moderate or subdue his desire under the yoke of reason. Hence modest and abstinent, chaste and honorable, sparing and sober

he remained before God and men. Now who could ever worthily unfold his purpose of preserving equity and justice? Who could recount his zeal for innocence, humanity, and concord, who his affection toward piety and religion? All the meditation of his mind, removed from vain and perishable things, was occupied with the salvation of the soul and the state of the eternal life.

[8] Accordingly, because so great a splendor of heavenly brilliance in him could not long be concealed, he is elected bishop of Le Mans, the rumor of his sanctity so increased that the peoples of the whole renowned city of Le Mans unanimously turned their hearts to electing this man for themselves as pontiff. Nor was there any doubt that they reckoned themselves happy who deserved to have such a pastor and prelate: to whom, for teaching, there was ample eloquence of tongue; for confirming his doctrine by examples, uprightness of life; for imploring God on behalf of his subjects, greatness of merit. Whence, though the death of their bishop Pavacius, a most holy man, afflicted the people of the aforesaid city with immense grief, as was fitting; yet they were consoled by the probity of this man harmoniously elected, and by the assurance of confidence in him, established among all, that he was inferior to no priest of Christ. Nay rather they congratulated themselves that the ancient grace of the Israelite nation had been bestowed upon them: after St. Pavacius. for as once for them, when the most holy prophet Elijah had been taken away and caught up to heaven, Elisha, filled with his double spirit, succeeded him; so they knew that the spiritual virtues of blessed Pavacius were to be represented, or even doubled, in his successor Liborius. Wherefore, all rejoicing, he took up the governance of the church of Christ, to which he had of old been divinely foreordained, according to the canonical custom, being regularly ordained pontiff.

NOTES.

CHAPTER III.

The character of St. Liborius in the episcopate; his preaching.

[9] But having received the priesthood, he abandoned nothing of the zeal for sanctity which he had before practiced: He discharges that office excellently, but as a lamp placed upon a lampstand, so he, filled with divine light, the more eminent the place in which he was set, the more widely in the house of God did the knowledge of the grace conferred upon him shine forth. Neither did the honors of so great a dignity make him change the morals of his accustomed religion, nor did the occupations of ecclesiastical affairs compel him to omit anything of his daily service of divine praise and propitiation. Nay rather he took care to increase it the more instantly, the more he knew that he ought rightly to live now not for the salvation of himself alone, but of many souls: over whom he seemed to preside in vain, if he did not also strive to profit them by admonitions and examples. For this reason, therefore, never idle. wishing to pass no moment of time idly, he was always intent upon useful acts, now bestowing labor upon the reading of the divine Scriptures, now more at length applying himself to prayer: sometimes also prudently consulting and providing for the disposition of external things, as befitted his office.

[10] But he assiduously chastised his body with vigils and fasts, preaching assiduously, and brought it into subjection, lest, preaching to others, he himself should be found reprobate. For he was very intent upon the zeal of preaching, and as though he knew that he bore the office of the Apostle who says, "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel"; and heard from the same, "Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season"; so he himself daily by every means provoked his hearers to uprightness of life. 1 Cor. 1:17; 1 Tim. 4:2 And what most made his precepts and admonitions pleasing and lovable to the people was that they found his life in no way contrary to his doctrine: but what he asserted was to be followed, they most evidently recognized in his character. For example: and doing the same: those who had often learned from him that pride, as the beginning of all sin, was to be wholly guarded against, could perceive no token of it in his acts, in his dress, in his countenance, in his bodily gesture, in his manner of speech. They heard from him: "Let us not be made desirous of vainglory"; they saw him truly poor in spirit, glorying never save in the Lord. Gal. 5:20 They heard from him that "through the envy of the devil death entered into the world"; and, "Envy is the rottenness of the bones": they saw him with an affection of benevolence rejoice with them that rejoice, weep with them that weep; to esteem the prosperity or adversity of others as his own. Wis. 2:25; Prov. 14:30 They heard from him: "For the wrath of man worketh not the justice of God": they saw him showing all meekness to all men. James 1:20 They heard from him: "The sorrow of the world worketh death": they saw him to be a cheerful giver, whom God loveth. 2 Cor. 7:10 They heard from him that the covetous man is a servant of idols: they saw him, by the lavish distribution of his goods, laying up for himself a treasure in heaven. Eph. 5:5 Then if anyone attended to his frugality, his vigor, and his chastity, he would need no other admonitions for fleeing the stain of bodily vices.

[11] Thus the pious pastor of the Lord's flock, he converts many, to the sheep committed to him, applying a twofold care—namely, exhortations and examples—showing the way for seeking the pastures of eternal life and for avoiding the dire contagions of spiritual diseases, gained so much profit from them, that what is said by the Lord's voice through Malachi may fittingly be said of him: "The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips. He walked with me in peace and in equity, and turned many away from iniquity." Malachi 2:6 For truly turning many away from iniquity, and restoring them to uprightness of life and faith, he holds a brilliant place among the holy teachers of the Church of Christ: worthy of the praises with which Scripture adorns the teachers: whose manifold grace, and infinite excellence of merit, the very Bridegroom of that same Church prosecutes with manifold praise in the Song of Songs: now calling them the neck of his own Bride, likened to necklaces; now naming them cedar beams and cypress rafters; sometimes lips, like scarlet ribbons, on account of the preaching of the Passion of Christ, or a honeycomb dropping the sweetness of the word of God; sometimes calling them the tower of David, for the firmness of their constancy. Sometimes, however, in the same place, because of the nourishment of little ones, who have need of milk, they are called breasts. Sometimes they are compared at once to a honeycomb and to wine, sometimes to the beauty of an ivory tower. Very often they are called the gates of the Church: and on account of their varied usefulness, firmness, providence, and contemplation, they are designated by the name of teeth and eyes. Moreover they are the sixty valiant ones surrounding the bed of Solomon: they are the silver pillars, gleaming with the brightness of sacred eloquence. Of all which similitudes, if anyone should search out the mysteries, he would indeed find the ineffable grace and dignity of this holy teacher of the Church and of his like, since these few things, taken from many out of that heavenly epithalamium, sufficiently indicate that the Holy Spirit found nothing more illustrious than these, nothing more beautiful, to be sung in the praises of the Bride. Who also speaks of the same through Daniel thus: "But they that are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that instruct many unto justice, as stars for all eternity." Dan. 12:3 But since we have shown the fervor and likewise the splendor of this most brilliant star in instructing his subjects, we shall take care to show with what rays of virtue he shone forth in other matters also.

CHAPTER IV.

His care for sacred things.

[12] The holy Man had this special token of religion and of the love of God above the other pontiffs of that time, He promotes divine worship: that he strove with all his might to amplify, advance, and adorn all things which pertain to the perpetual celebration of God's praise and to the office of ecclesiastical worship: and, excepting those things which could scarcely suffice for the daily food and clothing necessary for himself and his own—with which alone he was content—and also those things which he was accustomed to expend with a liberal hand for the sustenance of the needy and the poor, he appointed all the remaining revenues of the episcopal possessions, all the taxes of whatever kind which were owed to him from his whole diocese, he adorns the temples; or whatever was conferred from the offerings of the faithful, to the providing of fitting adornment for the churches, and also to the constructing of new oratories in places which seemed suitable for this. Their construction he undertook first out of regard for multiplying the divine service; then he also piously meditated on providing at once for the convenience and the salvation of the peoples, that they might easily flock together with their priests to churches placed near, might grow accustomed to the pursuits of prayer, might obtain the grace of regeneration, might hear the documents of the sacred law, he builds 17 new ones: might be present at the celebrations of the heavenly sacraments, and might be able to learn and to practice all the laws of the Christian religion: nor should any impediment of any trouble or occupation call anyone back from thence, so that the very opportunity of the place might invite all to seek the salvation of their souls. With this intention, therefore, besides those which had been built by his predecessors, seventeen sacred edifices being newly constructed and dedicated, he so illustrated his whole parish that in any part of it whatsoever, it was established that some house of prayer was near to the people dwelling there. But of the places in which he built them, we judge it worthy here to set down the names, so that the memory of the religious work may be firmer, and the faith more certain. One, then, he built at Colinnum, another at Silviacum, a third at Raudatium, a fourth at Campogenestum, a fifth at Conedacum, a sixth at Aciacum, a seventh at Aloncianum, an eighth at Sangunnum, a ninth at Sabonarium, a tenth at Bona, an eleventh at Lucia, a twelfth at Lugduna, a thirteenth at ^a Marso, a fourteenth at Paliacum, a fifteenth at Magittum, a sixteenth at Noviliacum, a seventeenth at Comnae.

[13] These being duly completed and becomingly adorned, he orders sacred offices to be performed continually in them, and committed to the continual providence of priests and clerics of the lower order, he decreed that it should altogether be observed that there be no interruption there, at the lawful hours by day and night, of the sacred offices by which the due thanksgivings and praises should be rendered to the holy and undivided Trinity. Then, that he might provide for the unity and concord of the whole people committed to him, and might show that all the places of his diocese dedicated to God, with all things pertaining to them, ought to be subject to the ancient and principal church of his see, as to one head and mother of all, and that a tribute be paid from them for the lights of the cathedral church: he decreed that from all the remaining churches a tribute be paid there each year, namely a certain number of pounds of wax and oil, according as he knew the means of offering could suffice for them. Yet he imposed a fair debt upon all those same places; that is, that from each one there should be rendered one pound of wax, and two of oil, besides that which he ordained to be given to the keepers of the aforesaid principal church. From which the truly holy and religious intention of the blessed Man sufficiently appears, that he did not heap up for himself gold or silver, or any of those things which are precious to those who love the world, but to him, as one desiring heavenly things, were altogether contemptible; but rather he ordained that those things be given to the church which would furnish a supply for continually preparing the lights in it. For since he himself was a temple of the true light, that is, of the Holy Spirit, he wished the adornment of bodily light also never to be wanting to the handmade house of God.

[14] he ordains sacred ministers: He remained, moreover, in the episcopate forty-nine years: in which he is read to have performed ninety-six ordinations; and to have ordained priests two hundred and seventeen, deacons one hundred and seventy-six, subdeacons ninety-three; and ministers of the remaining grades also, as many as he saw to be fitting and sufficient for the sacred offices. Moreover he had a good testimony even from those who are without: he proves himself even to the laity: so that this too is specially reported of him by the aforesaid writings, that he strove to serve God sweetly in all things, and in ecclesiastical matters to please God and good men greatly. Whence it clearly appears that he so preserved the constancy of religion before God, that yet he did not offend the eyes of his neighbors: so pleased human judgment outwardly, that he was not displeasing to the divine gaze in secret. Thus in all things a true Worshipper of God, he is deservedly compared to that pontiff whom the Gospel history praises as having served the Lord without reproach: except that this one was Prelate of so much more excellent a priesthood, by as much as truth transcends figure, by as much as the new grace of Christ transcends the old law. Luke 1:6 For those who discharged that prelacy of old immolated the blood of animals: the first author and Pontiff of this priesthood entered once into the holies through his own blood. And yet these pontiffs, though unlike in office, were equal in sanctity, both worthy of the evangelical praise, both just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without reproach.

NOTES.

CHAPTER V.

The death, burial, and miracles of St. Liborius.

[15] But when it pleased the divine Majesty, after so many long years' contests, Seized by illness to glorify his Soldier, victor over the ancient enemy, with the eternal reward, in the fiftieth year of his episcopate, he permitted him to be so wearied with a bodily affliction that he did not doubt the day of his departure was at hand. Which year proved for him a true Jubilee, which, calling it by the same number the year of remission, the divine law commands that in it each one return to his family and to his possession. Lev. 25:10 For he too—that he might the less doubt he was tending to rest—after seven weeks of years, from the time he was set over the family of the Lord, still placed on earth, deserved to be joyfully called to that which is in heaven, that he might possess the land which Truth promised to the meek and the gentle. Matt. 5:4

[16] At that same time St. Martin the bishop was governing the church of Tours, St. Martin, at an angelic admonition, visits him: a man renowned in every way for apostolic virtues: to whom, among those mysteries of angelic converse which he was accustomed assiduously to enjoy, this too was enjoined by divine revelation, that he should go to the city of Le Mans, and there visit the Lord lying in infirmity. Whence, perceiving that this infirmity of the Lord was to be understood of some one of his members, concerning whom he himself is to say in the judgment, "I was sick, and you visited me"; he began at once hastily to go to the aforesaid city. Matt. 25:36 And as, now drawing near, he was making his way beside a certain vineyard, he saw from afar standing in it a cleric of the grade of subdeacon ^a, Victurius by name, indeed diligently sweating over the work, ^b whatever was there to be done, he foretells that St. Victurius will succeed him. but nonetheless by the frequent recitation of the psalmody chanting the praises of the Lord. This man was a disciple of St. Liborius, and in the very humility of his continence and mind and habit gave a clear token of the good instruction of an excellent master. Gazing upon whom, St. Martin, the Holy Spirit revealing to him that this man was to be bishop there, saluted him with these words, saying: "Hail, our pontiff." Then he gave him his staff, and thus with a quickened pace hastened into the city. In which, finding the holy and truly God-beloved Prelate already placed in his last moments, and intent only upon the heavenly joy to which he was about to go, he was received by him with ineffable gladness. But here it is necessary with pious discourses he encourages Liborius, that our speech fail: for it is established that no one can worthily relate how divine, how spiritual, how heavenly were their conversations; with what exultation they beheld each other mutually, with what affection of mind they could bear their separation for a time. For both were most excellent leaders of the soldiers of Christ, both glorious by frequent triumphs over the devil. But to the one the everlasting reward was now to be rendered, to the other it was to be deferred for a while, and there was still to be fighting for the camps of God.

[17] Therefore blessed Liborius, and holily he buries the dead man: having so great a consoler present with him, and provider of his obsequies ^c, on the tenth day of the Kalends of August joyfully departed to the Lord. Whose venerable body St. Martin caused to be conveyed with fitting honor to the church situated outside the city, and to be buried in it: which the first bishop of that same see, Julian by name, had built, and dedicated in honor of ^d the twelve Apostles. For it was fitting that he who deserved to be the successor of the Apostles on earth, and their consort in heaven, should be venerated also in their church in common memory with them. But on the following day the man of God, Martin, calling into the church all the people who had assembled, exceedingly numerous and innumerable, at the obsequies of so great a Man, and who bore witness to their inward love for their Pastor with most abundant fountains of tears, consoled them with the admonitions of holy doctrine, and for them ordained the aforesaid Victurius bishop.

[18] The above-mentioned writings also relate Liborius is made illustrious with miracles after his death. that St. Liborius indeed performed many miracles in this life, but many more were afterward divinely shown at his tomb, though on account of their multitude they are not expressed by name. Which we readily believe from those things which we have deserved to see with our own eyes, after his sacred body was translated to us, as the following text of this work, with the Lord's help, will relate. For since he himself was truly an organ of the Holy Spirit, through his working now the signs of virtues are often shown before his reverend pledges; namely the cures of the weak, the healings of the languishing, the expulsions of unclean spirits; by the granting of his grace, who is the fountain and origin of all good things, our God and Lord, who in the inseparable Trinity lives and reigns through the infinite ages of ages. Amen.

NOTES.

BOOK TWO.

THE TRANSLATION OF ST. LIBORIUS.

CHAPTER I.

The occasion of the writing. The first episcopates in Saxony.

[1] Having described in the previous booklet the life and passing of the most precious confessor of Christ and pontiff Liborius, this history written by the command of Bishop Biso, now, according to your command, ^a O Biso, excellent prelate, we turn our pen and mind to setting forth the series of the translation of his most sacred body, and the marks ^b of virtues shown through his merits, according to the ability divinely granted; our zeal being stirred by anxious consideration of how we ought to obey you, how much deference we owe—especially since, exalted by the dignity of that office of theirs to whom it is said by the divine voice, "He that despiseth you, despiseth me," it is not doubted that you can by no means be despised without contempt of God. Luke 10:6 Accordingly, for re-weaving with due praise the workings of the virtues, through which the grace of the Holy Spirit is wont to declare the merits of the elect, at the time when, by your command, we ought to apply ourselves to this work, no more opportune time occurred: begun about Pentecost. namely, with the sacred solemnity of the coming of that same Spirit the Paraclete drawing near, who appeared as the indweller of blessed Liborius while abiding in this life, and now exists as the index and glorifier of his sanctity through miracles. Whose aid to the work we have undertaken we hope to invoke with prayers by no means ineffective, especially since we attempt to speak nothing other than what he himself, coming, inspired the minds which he filled to utter—namely, the mighty works of God,

and to strive to show him wonderful in his Saints. But before we come to the order of the event, we judge it fitting to relate briefly the cause of the aforesaid translation, and the beginning of the construction of the church which deserved to be so illustrated from heaven with such a treasure.

[2] Therefore, when first the Emperor Charles of glorious memory, Charlemagne, Saxony subdued, after a very long contest, and various outcomes of battles carried on with the nation of the Saxons, having subdued them with the sword, made them receive the faith of Christ and added them to his empire, he straightway gave a clear token by what intention he was upheld, that he could bear so long a labor untiringly. For, as is read in ^c the booklet of his Life, for thirty-three continuous years he waged war with that same nation. Which at last, overcome partly by arms, partly by liberality—through which especially he had bound to himself the minds of its chief men—he thereafter devoted his whole zeal to this, that for the saving of so many souls of a people, after so many ages abandoning the worship of demons, he might obtain the fruit of his labor from God's recompense. And, that he might show himself to have undertaken the difficulty of so great a matter for the sake of the Christian religion, rather than of enlarging his own kingdom, he builds many churches: he caused churches to be built with all possible speed throughout that whole region, to which the people, untaught in the faith, might be led to flock together, and be accustomed to be initiated in the heavenly sacraments: and, designating the parishes by careful reckoning, each to be kept within its own bounds—because ^d cities, in which after the ancient manner episcopal sees might be established, were altogether wanting to that province—he chose nonetheless places suitable for this, which both by a certain natural excellence and by the frequency of population seemed more opportune than the rest.

[3] and, since there were no cities, he erects episcopates in the country districts, But at that time there could scarcely be found men who might be ordained prelates for a barbarous and half-pagan nation. Whose cohabitation—since it sometimes relapsed into faithlessness—seemed safe to none of the clerics: to whom the ecclesiastical office, and whatever pertains to the worship of divine things, was not only lacking, but was in every way unknown. Wherefore he commended each of the aforesaid pontifical sees, with its diocese, to individual prelates of the other churches of his kingdom, who, as often as they had leisure, which he commits to the bishops of other sees: should go there to instruct and confirm the people in the sacred religion, and should appoint approved persons from their own clergy, of whatever order, with a varied apparatus of ecclesiastical things, to remain there continually. And this until, by the Lord's granting, the salutary doctrine of the faith should there grow strong, and the practice of the divine ministry should so advance, that in each of the parishes proper pontiffs also might be able worthily and confidently to remain.

NOTES.

CHAPTER II.

The first bishop of Paderborn, blessed Hathumar.

Among all the places designated for establishing principal churches in this province of which we speak, at Paderborn, situated in a pleasant place, the see of Paderborn excels by a certain special dignity, having on all sides a most ample plain, yet sufficiently adorned with the frequent and varied diversity of groves, rich fields, and most fertile of all crops. Adjoining it on the left, in the very view of the walls, is a forest, spread for many thousands of paces in length and breadth, so suited for the pastures of cattle and herds, and for the keeping of bees, that it seems not unlike that region which Holy Scripture calls "the land flowing with milk and honey." fertile, There is added to the adornment of the place the incomparable beauty and number of the most wholesome springs, flowing together within the town itself into one channel; so much so that we have by no means found the like of them elsewhere in ^b breadth and pleasantness. Nor are there wanting here and there other rivers, most abundant in the useful things which are sought from them. The air there and the breeze are gentler, wholesome, and, though in a cold tract of lands, more temperate by a natural grace, and are wont to bring the ripeness of all fruits sooner than in other parts of those regions. Moreover the district itself, as both our own memory and the account of the ancients testifies, always abounded in men distinguished by every nobility of birth and of mind: so that there was no doubt that the fatherland was suited to the citizens, and the citizens to the fatherland, and that each in turn was an ornament to the other. And these few things out of many, said here by us not superfluously, it holds an assembly: he will observe who from this too will approve the devotion of the most Christian prince toward God, in that those things which, acquired by right of war from so great a pleasantness of places, he was able to keep under his own dominion, he assigned rather to the divine service than to his own uses. Yet sometimes, for the various needs of that same nation, about to hold a general ^c plea, he ordered an assembly of the people to be held there, and for this cause was wont to tarry there for a while.

[5] For the most holy and truly apostolic Pope of the Roman See ^d, He receives Pope St. Leo III there, Leo by name, having suffered the unjust hatreds of the citizens, came there to him, to seek imperial help for calming the quarrels that had arisen against him. By whom, when he had been received with immense honor, as was fitting, he nobly confirmed by apostolic authority his religious and salutary zeal for enlarging Christianity, so nobly begun, by whom altars were dedicated, relics deposited and, consecrating a certain altar in the church then newly constructed there ^e, placed in it, to be adored, the relics of the protomartyr Stephen, which he had brought with him from Rome; confidently promising this to the prince, that that oratory, fortified by the patronage of so great a martyr, would suffer no further the injury which, by his own account, he learned had before befallen it; for the security of the faith: namely that, because of the faithlessness of the inhabitants of the place and their hatred against the Christian religion, it had several times ^f been given over to fire. And for this cause especially he re-enshrined those same relics there, at the emperor's request, not without a fitting affection of confidence and of his own promise, since it is most certain that nothing of the sort was afterward perpetrated there.

[6] while the bishop of Würzburg governs it: In this order, therefore, the episcopal see of the church of Paderborn, first established both by imperial sanction and by the authority of apostolic benediction, was for the cause mentioned above committed for a while to the guardianship of the prelates of a certain fortress of eastern ^g Francia, which in the barbarous tongue is called Würzburg ^h. Under whose governance the state of its affairs could profit little: since those places were separated from each other by a long interval of lands, and either occupation would not permit, or convenience persuade, the aforesaid prelates rarely to visit this new church. For neither were there wanting there affairs in the managing of which they were engaged, nor did the length of the journey make the labor of going hither small. There the necessary things were sufficient and ordered: here they were both scanty, and to be newly ordered with difficulty.

[7] then Hathumar, a Saxon bishop, once given as a hostage to Charles, Wherefore it seemed deservedly more useful that this see should have its own bishop through itself, who, not occupied elsewhere, should here sweat only over the things to be done, being present. There was at that time in the clergy of Würzburg a man of great humility and modesty ⁱ, Hathumar by name, sprung from our nation, that is, the Saxon: who, while still a boy, in time of war given as a hostage to the Emperor Charles, was ordered to be kept there. Where afterward, tonsured and given over to the study of letters, he advanced into a man perfect in morals and erudition. This man, by the command of the prince, was ordained the first bishop of the church of Paderborn. After whose ordination, a few years having passed ^k, that same most glorious prince departed from this light. Whose incomparable excellence in all the glory of virtues, though the booklet composed concerning his Life relates most fully, yet the greatness of his benefit to us persuades us here to say something about him even briefly. truly the apostle of Saxony: Whom I judge to be rightly named the apostle of our nation: for whom, that he might open the door of faith, he preached with, as it were, an iron tongue. Who, having gained victory as often as he was placed in the array of battle, subjected to himself many nations, many kingdoms; yet it is established that he most gloriously triumphed also over the devil, from whom he snatched, in the conversion of our nation, so many thousands of souls, before captive under his tyranny, and gained them for Christ the Lord. From whom we both trust and hope that he receives his reward, that he may enjoy in heaven the fellowship of the Apostles, whose office he discharged on earth.

NOTES.

Paderborn's name variously expressed: Ms. Corsendonck, "Paderburnensis." Variously is the name of this city rendered by ancient writers: it is called Patresbruna and Patresbrunnas in the lesser annals of Jean du Tillet; in the fuller ones Patresbrunna and Patrisbrunno: in the fragment of the annals of Alexander Petau, Padresbrunnon and Padresburnon: in the annals of Loisel Paderbrunnen (as also in certain others) and Padabrunno: in the Life of Charlemagne by an uncertain author, Paderburnen and Paderburnum: in his Life by the monk of Angoulême, Paderbrunnem and Padabruno: in the Saxon poet Pathalbrunnon: in Einhard Padabruna: in the Life of Louis the Pious, Patrisbruna: in the history of the construction of New Corbie, Patherbruna: in the Annals of Fulda Padrabrunno and Padraprunno: in the history of the Translation of St. Vitus, Patherbronna. Gobelinus, chap. 38, expounds the etymology of the name. For a river rises there which is called Pader, from three springs, each of which is called Pader. Wherefore the same Gobelinus above called the Church "of Paderfont." For "borit" or "brunn," or "borne," and "brunne," in German signify a spring. Some assert that Charlemagne gave the name to this river derived from a spring from the Po, a river of Italy, likewise arisen from three springs coming together into one channel. This is refuted from St. Ludger, who in the Life of St. Swithbert, 1st of March, reckons among the Saxons who laid waste the monastery of Werden in the year 778 a certain wicked man, Ogel Oosterbach of Paderborn: and from the Saxon poet to be cited below, who signifies that the name of the city was ancient, and therefore also of the river, from which the city takes its name. Others would have it made by the Romans, when they had camps in those places, on account of the same likeness to the Po. Which, as I am not minded to affirm without an ancient author, so I do not deny to be consonant with reason and usage; and celebrated by the tradition of the inhabitants. Having advanced scarcely 15 stadia, the Pader, at the fortress Neuhaus built by Bishop Theodoric von Fürstenberg, and the little town, is mingled with the Lippe, a rather slender stream, and to the other, and thereafter retains the name of the Lippe, or Lippia, or Lupia, or Luppia, until it discharges itself into the Rhine at the town of Wesel. The place where the Lippe and Pader come together, or Paderborn itself (as it then was), the author of the poem on the coming of Pope Leo III to Charles describes thus:

There is a notable place, where the Pader and Lippe flow, of the river Patra, or Padus, And it lies high in an open plain, on every side clothed With ample space: for from a lofty hill the whole legion can be seen, And here the whole army, The camps of the leaders and counts, and the gleaming arms of men.

Which here is called "Patra," in the Life of St. Adalard by St. Paschasius Radbertus, 2nd of January, chap. 16, no. 66, is called "Pater," for thus is described the site of Saxon Corbie: "Now the place, for those going toward the sunrise from the spring of Pater, is situated above the shore of the Weser," etc. Franciscus Irenicus, book 12 of the German Exegesis, calls it "Pada."

Three chief springs of the Pada, or Padus, or Padula, and by its manifold source: which all burst from a rock within the city itself: within which they come together into one channel, and make a deep and broad river, which in summer is very cold, in winter somewhat warm. One of these three springs is so deep, by Gobelinus' testimony, that those who explored it testified there are 98 feet from the surface of the water to the bottom. Besides, other springs risen in that same city augment the Pada with their waters: from the water of one, which is most southerly, an excellent beer is brewed, which is also believed to have medicinal power against the stone.

Outside the city other springs and streams, indeed worthy of mention: for besides three around Driburg, and another near the town of Lügde, Acidulous springs in that tract: there are acidulous and medicated springs, related by Matthäus Merian in the Topography of Westphalia; most wonderful is that which is called Bolderborn, or Bulderborn, near the village of Aldenbeke. This suffers a certain surge like that of the sea: The spring Bulderborn is drawn back, for in the space of 24 hours twice it draws back its waters, and after six hours belches them forth again with great noise, whence it has received its name: for "bolderen," or "bulderen," in German, we say for "to babble with a noise" or "to thunder." as also the streams risen from it, Yet Bolderborn pours forth so copious a stream, that it turns three mill-wheels far from its source. But having advanced some space it sinks wholly into the earth. The same happens to two other streams in the same tract: of which one flows past the village of Schwaney

not far from Paderborn, and a little after hides itself in the earth: the other between the town of Lichtenau and the village of Steinen. John Grothaus, our man, related to me that, when he was making a journey that way, and had noticed that river sinking, he approached nearer, and, the flints and gravel being removed, perceived no hole through which it was being absorbed; but, his ear applied to the ground, together with his companion, heard a great noise and collision as of waters falling into a cellar. Whether these streams burst forth again at Paderborn, or elsewhere, as Merian writes it is handed down by some, I inquire in vain, since the Author of nature willed it to be hidden.

The plea, or assembly, of the Franks at Paderborn, in the year 777. "Placitum" is everywhere used for a judicial assembly, or in place of "assembly," among the writers of the middle age. You will find many examples in the Glossary of Friedrich Lindenbrog to the codex of the ancient laws. Concerning the assembly at Paderborn, which is to the point here, the Saxon poet writes thus in book 1 of his annals, at the year 777:

— That he wished to hold an assembly of general plea With his leaders there, he announces. For so great a council a place was chosen for the transacting, Which they call Pathalbrunnon, than which the nation itself Has no other more distinguished by natural nobility, Which especially, girt round, abounds In springs, both bright and many, and thence draws Its ancient name in the speech of the barbarian tongue:

The annals of du Tillet make mention of the great plea held there in that year, which those of Loisel and the monk of Angoulême call a public synod; the Life of Charlemagne by an uncertain author, a synod and public council; Einhard, a general assembly of the people. Again in the year 785, in the year 785. he held a plea at Paderborn with the Franks and Saxons, as the Fragment of the annals of Alexander Petau has it, or, as Loisel's, "he celebrated a public synod"; or, as his Life by an uncertain author, "he held a public council." Concerning this second assembly the other writers treat along with Einhard. Concerning the third, in the year 799, we shall soon speak. 799. 815. In the same place Louis the Pious held an assembly in the year 815, as the same Einhard is the author, and others below. The son also of the Pious, Louis, king of Germany, as the annals of Fulda have it, in the year 845, 845. in Saxony at Paderborn held a general plea.

CHAPTER III.

The second bishop, Baduraf. The relics sought at Le Mans.

The second bishop, Baduraf, noble, distinguished: But that we may return to our purpose; Charles being dead ^a, and Bishop Hathumar too being not long after taken up from this mortality to perpetual life, as we believe, there succeeded him a distinguished man, Baduraf by name, who also, sprung from a noble lineage of this region, was chosen from the clergy ^b of that same church. Who, by the merit of the distinguished nobility of his morals, of his magnanimity and industry, having intimately obtained royal familiarity ^c, deserved so great a place of dignity that no less ability than will seemed to be at his command for amplifying, advancing, and adorning the church committed to him. Then indeed, he builds and adorns temples: as though he perceived that excellence had been given to him from heaven for this, he withdrew nothing of his labor and zeal from acquiring and procuring all things which he knew pertained there to the increase of divine praise, to the benefit of the Christian people. This care was his first concern: to build churches with speed throughout his whole parish: but to raise the principal basilica with immense splendor and grand workmanship, to adorn in various ways all things pertaining to it, to increase the clergy, to institute monastic discipline, to nourish boys both noble he increases the clergy: and of lower condition, gathered into a school, in the erudition of the divine law. Which his praiseworthy zeal so happy a progress accompanied, he sees to the instruction of boys: that we may truly say he was for this foreknown by God, and granted from heaven to the beginnings of that place.

[9] he judges that the relics of the Saints should be procured: But because the people, still untaught in the faith, and especially the plebeian common folk, could with difficulty be perfectly torn from their heathen error, secretly turning themselves to the worship of certain ancestral superstitions; the man of great prudence understood that if the body of some notable Saint were brought there, and, by the showing of miracles, as is wont to happen, and the grace of healings persuading, the multitude of the common folk should begin to venerate it, and grow accustomed to flock to his patronage, by no means could it more easily be recalled from unbelief; especially since those who did not believe the words of teachers concerning the divine power, yet could not deny credence to those things which they saw with their eyes, which they felt by the benefit of favors; moreover, not doubting that it would confer upon all the faithful remaining there, or assembling there, the consolation of great intercession before God, the greatest protection and glory upon that same place, he bent the care of his diligent thought to obtaining this. And since from God, who is the fountain of goodness, whatever good is desired, and especially so great a thing, he knew was to be sought, a fast being proclaimed, and a public supplication celebrated, with all those committed to him, he besought that it be shown to him by his clemency, in what order he ought to proceed for obtaining the desired thing.

[10] he is divinely admonished to seek them at Le Mans: Whence, benignly regarding his faith, he deigned to reveal to him that he ought to send to the city of Le Mans in Gaul to seek the long-desired thing from the bishop of the place: there a prosperous effect would be given to his prayers. Animated by undoubted hope from this revelation, he strove to hasten the business. The bishop who at that time governed the aforesaid city ^d was Aldric by name. To him, then, with the consent and command of the Emperor Louis, he chose to send messengers, Louis the Pious the Emperor approving, he sends legates there: namely approved persons from his own clergy, and leading a religious life in the sacred orders: as also certain noble laymen, whose faith and industry he knew to be suited to such a work. But of the clerics to whom this business was committed, the chief was a certain priest, Ido by surname, who caused the whole history of his journey, and the signs which he had perceived to be divinely shown in it—partly imparted by living voice, partly briefly noted in writing—to come to our knowledge.

NOTES.

CHAPTER IV.

The miracles done while the body of St. Liborius was being raised.

Therefore in the year of the Lord's Incarnation eight hundred and thirty-six, in the 14th Indiction, when the aforesaid Louis was passing the twenty-third ^a year in the empire, the legates of Paderborn, having set out from Saxony, St. Aldric, bishop of Le Mans, awards the body of St. Liborius: came to the city of Le Mans ^b on the fifth day of the Kalends of May: and, disclosing to the bishop the cause for which they had been sent, being benignly received by him, by God's will, as we believe, without delay obtained what they sought. For on the following day, calling together all the clergy, his own co-bishop also, David by name, being present, he began diligently to treat with them how he might fittingly grant to the religious prayers of the Missi, coming from so distant a region, that they might deserve to receive, as they asked, the whole limbs of some Saint. There was there a great abundance of the bodies of saints: among which that of St. Liborius, once prelate of that same city, was held distinguished, especially glorified by miracles. Which, when the bishop was disposing to give to the aforesaid messengers, very many began at first to resist, saying that they had nothing more precious than those pledges.

[12] fasting they assemble at the church: At last, the consent of all being scarcely obtained, taking with him the priests and clerics of every grade, adorned with the vestments of the sacred ministry, and ordering the Missi also, who were to receive the sacred limbs, to be present, he proceeded from the city to the church, in which the most sacred body of blessed Liborius was kept, laid up with fitting honor. Now that same church was situated beside the city, and dedicated in honor of ^c the twelve Apostles, which the first prelate of that same see, named ^d Julian, is said to have founded. To this, therefore, the aforesaid bishop, a fast being first proclaimed, with that sacred retinue proceeded humbly and devoutly, as befitted such a work, chanting in turn psalms, litanies, and hymns. Into which, when he himself and many with him, about to raise the sacred limbs from the tombs, had come together, (wondrous to tell) all perceived the whole house suddenly filled with the sweetness of an inestimable odor. a sweet odor breathes divinely, Which, unlike all fragrances that are made on earth either by nature or by art, gave a clear token of a certain heavenly presence. For it had so changed the minds rather than the bodies of all who were present with ineffable delight, that, as though placed in ecstasy, and forgetful of other things, they were held only by the delight of remaining there. Nor is there any doubt that he himself was then in the midst of the many faithful gathered in his name, who once gave to a few disciples so great a sweetness of his vision, that the first of them said: "Lord, it is good for us to be here." Matt. 17:4 Nor was it unfitting that the fragrance of odor should give testimony to the merits of those with whom the Apostle says: while the relics of St. Liborius are being raised, "For we are the good odor of Christ unto God." 2 Cor. 2:15 Now there were in that same place the members also of other Saints, honorably re-enshrined in sarcophagi, especially of the bishops of that city. From which then, at the same time, when the members of blessed Liborius, raised from the tomb, were being arranged to be placed in the bier, the aforesaid odor was never wanting: so that it might the less be doubted that it had furnished its ministry to that work; which, when it was begun, it began; when it was finished, it remained no longer.

[13] a blind woman recovers her sight, While these things were being done in the church, outside too another sign occurred at the same hour. For a certain woman, blind for very many years, in the sight of the people, who stood in sufficient number before the doors, by the intervention of him whose body within was being prepared for carrying forth, received her light. And since nearly all who were present were witnesses both of her former distress and of her new health, the deed so moved the minds of the multitude that all together burst forth into the praise of God, their voice raised on high. Which those who were with the bishop within the closed doors of the oratory hearing, and straightway understanding that the people had been roused by some miracle into a shout of such great rejoicing, they too began, as far as they were able, to give thanks to the divine goodness, and to weep for joy. all praising God: And when they recognized their voices on both sides, those who were within and those who were without, all wondrously inspired with one affection, broke into such lamentation that scarcely anyone could restrain his tears. But the bishop, seeing the chant of divine praise interrupted by the demand of weeping, began again with the clergy to sing antiphons and psalms suited to the glory of the Saints: and thus quieted the clamor of the confused multitude.

[14] But at that very moment, before that most sacred body was carried forth from the church an energumen is freed: in which it was taken up, his merits were declared also by a third sign. For a certain man, horribly vexed for a long time by a demon, and now made most well-known to many by the fame of so great a misery; who indeed, led through many churches and monasteries, nowhere received a remedy for his calamity; at last, coming with his own mother to the church, in which that sacred treasure was still held among the hands of the priests, was straightway so cleansed that he bore not even a sign further of such suffering.

[15] Then indeed the bishop, lest he should make any delay for the aforesaid messengers, the body of St. Liborius is carried to the cathedral basilica: caused that venerable body on the same day to be carried with all reverence by his own and the priests' hands into the city, to the principal church of his ^e see, that he might there before the people honorably commend it to those who were to receive it. And there accompanied it, nor anywhere were wanting, as it were, the tokens of the present power of God, magnifying his Saint. For as soon as it was brought into the church which we have mentioned, a certain man lame in both feet entering likewise, walking is restored to a lame man, and held in this weakness for many years, as soon as he bowed his head to pray, received entire health.

[16] Then, a small space of the day having passed, a certain mute man, speech to a mute man, condemned to a long silence with a useless tongue, suddenly feeling the organs of his voice restored to him, praised in plain speech before all the mercy of Almighty God, and the patronage of his confessor and pontiff Liborius.

[17] But while, with the benefits of heavenly grace thus flashing, the day was being kept most celebrated, soundness to a contracted man, at last by a still greater miracle a new joy was given to the faithful, a new matter of rejoicing. For although all things are equally easy to God, we are yet wont to marvel more when things new and never possessed are given, than when things lost are restored. Here the same things are made again which had before been made in the natural order: there the wondrous power of God bestows what nature denied. A certain man, from the birth of his nativity so weakened downward from the knees, that his shins with his feet, dried up, slender, and twisted, denied all use of walking entirely, was carried in the aforesaid church before the venerable pledges of St. Liborius: and straightway, a living vigor being infused into his sinews and veins, and, the joints before dissolved being made solid, he began to walk with upright step. Which being known, there arose a great concourse of the wondering and rejoicing people about him. All eagerly desiring to see what a little before they thought they would never see. For he walked not, as it were, with weak or tottering steps, but before all who had known that he had never before touched the ground with sound soles, running and leaping with swift motion, he rendered thanks to Christ the Lord and to his holy Confessor. He himself did this, doubtless, through the successor of the Apostles, who once, through the Apostles themselves, in like manner granted a man lame from his nativity to be healed by a like grace. Acts 3:8.

[18] sight to one born blind, These things thus done, when, the day now declining, the beginning of the Lord's night drew near, the bishop ordered all the clergy to assemble earlier for the solemnities of the vigils, so that, these being at once performed, at the first dawn the wished-for opportunity of returning to their fatherland might be given to the aforesaid messengers, who were receiving the desired gift. There assembled also together a great number of laity, whom the miracles shown the day before had invited with immense delight to seek the patronage of the holy pledges. And when, the office of matin praise being nearly finished, the rising of the dawn was breaking, the Light of light and fountain of light illuminated a citizen of that same city, who, born blind, had until that day borne that misery coeval with himself. But he who in the Gospel is read to have freed by himself a man from a like penalty, freeing this man too, through his chosen member, from the darkness of a long night, granted him to see the light before unknown. John 9:1.

[19] liberty to an energumen: At the same hour and in the same place, that is, in the church, before the clergy singing the divine songs, and many other faithful looking on, a certain man seized by a demon began to be most miserably vexed. For long before he was wont to be tormented by it: but then, by the intervention of that same Confessor, the most wicked enemy being expelled, he received soundness of mind, nor thereafter felt in himself any horror of the ghostly phantasm.

NOTES.

CHAPTER V.

The body of St. Liborius is transferred from the cathedral to the church of St. Vincent.

Thus, the beginning of that day being illustrated from heaven with doubled gladness, an infinite multitude of people of both sexes and of every condition and age, [With a solemn procession (whose rite is here set forth) the sacred body is carried forth from the greater basilica:] both from that region and from the neighboring cities, the fame of so great signs, flying far and wide, drew together. But the solemnities of the Masses being celebrated, the bishop was hastening to commend that holy body to those who were to carry it with them to their fatherland, and himself

to conduct it with due honor out of the city, before the arriving immensity of the crowds should impede their journey. So all the clergy are adorned with priestly and ecclesiastical vestments, and, the bier of the holy pledges being raised onto the shoulders of the priests, the bells too of all the churches throughout the city sounding, and those going before who bore the standards of the holy and life-giving Cross and the books of the holy Gospels and the sacred relics in golden and silver reliquaries with aromatics, it is conducted with the immense veneration of all, with psalms, hymns, and antiphons, into the oratory of ^a St. Vincent, situated beside the gate of the city, through which they were to go out.

[21] There followed, moreover, a very great multitude of the common people: the people tumultuous over the loss of the relics, but no less a one met them there, which, having heard the rumor of the signs, flowed together from every side. Then indeed there arose no light complaint against the prelate on the part of the people, very many crying out that they were being deprived of the protection of a great patron, the body of so great a Confessor being taken from them, by whose intercession they were wont to be fortified against every adversity. This had been the one safeguard of their region after God, this the greatest honor, this the singular glory. That they could deservedly fear, lest, his venerable limbs being translated, likewise the veneration and memory of his name, in a short while neglected, should make them unworthy of his intervention before the Lord. That they judged it rather to befit the office of a pastor to acquire from any source the pledges of Saints for the defense of the flock committed to him, than to send to other nations the most precious of those things which they had.

[22] The bishop, somewhat moved by these voices, and especially by the acclamation of the lamenting crowd, at last, silence being made, St. Aldric the bishop calms them with a fitting speech. addressed the people in that same church of St. Vincent thus briefly: "It is not just, brethren," he said, "that any of you should think that I am so forgetful either of the care committed to me, or at the same time of your salvation and my own, as to permit these pledges of our perpetual Patron to be transferred from this place without a sure reason. For if, when among us the bodies of Saints, by God's mercy, sufficiently abound, we should altogether disdain to give assent to that people, which, lately called to the faith, and having either little or nothing at all of them, humbly asks of us the consolation of this its need; it must be confessed that we, contemners of the evangelical and apostolic precept, against the law of fraternal charity, close our bowels to our brethren. But far be this error from your hearts, that you should think the elect of God, now reigning with him, can bestow the benefit of their intercession only there where their relics are held bodily. Nay rather it is to be believed that his patronage will never be wanting in this church, which, placed in the flesh, he faithfully governed, and in which he received the end of mortal life, to all who piously seek it forever. For among that people, newly converted to God, he will acquire for himself new servants and venerators, to whom by the bodily presence of his pledges he will draw near: but from you his spiritual protection will never depart. It is also to be known that the most serene emperor commanded this same thing to be done. Whoever resists his power, doubtless resists the ordinance of God. Moreover it is shown clearer than light that it pleases the will both of God and of this very holy Patron of ours Liborius, that he should come to that region in which he is awaited with the utmost longing of all. For if it were not so, from the beginning of this translation, begun yesterday, up to this hour so great miracles would by no means be flashing forth. For since God, being appeased rather than angered, bestows heavenly gifts, who can suppose that, if he were offended by this work, he would have illustrated it with so great benefits of signs? Wherefore, brethren, desist from this intention, lest you be shown to have wished openly to resist the divine disposition."

[23] then, the miracles being recounted anew, When, with these and many other admonitions, and especially by God's will, the commotion of the people had been calmed and quieted, the pontiff commanded those who through the whole two days had been freed from various weaknesses, or from unclean spirits, to be gathered into one, and brought to the sight of the multitude newly arriving: so that, unfolding the whole history both of their former calamity and of their new restoration, he might cause the divine clemency to be unanimously praised by all. But as soon as the people beheld that gathered company of the recently healed, with the rest he openly gives thanks to God. and knew that those whom two days before they had known to be afflicted with various sufferings were now most sound, suddenly from every part of the infinite multitude a voice of great rejoicing arose. Nor was any room given for hearing the bishop speaking: but, no one being silent, no one waiting for another, each for himself, as he could, praised God with his voice. And when the clergy also, the bishop beginning, sang the hymn "Te Deum laudamus," and certain other things befitting so great gladness, the sound of that immense jubilation, with an insatiable delight of heavenly praise, was prolonged for a long space of the day.

NOTES.

CHAPTER VI.

The miracles done on the journey toward Chartres.

Which at last being finished, the missi of Bishop Baduraf, often mentioned, being summoned, the bishop Aldric of blessed memory commended those most precious pledges, of which we spoke above, before all the clergy and people, under the gravest adjuration, He gives the body to the legates, and orders it to be held reverently: that they should always be treated with fitting honor, nor should all the reverence of ecclesiastical worship ever be withdrawn from them by any bishop of Paderborn, or his clergy, at any time. he enters into a brotherhood with them: Thereupon, between the two churches, namely that of Le Mans and of the aforesaid congregation of Paderborn, the charity of a perpetual ^a brotherhood being confirmed, he gave them leave to return to their fatherland. Whom, however, together with the multitude, having accompanied for a while outside the city, he returned with a few of his own: since from so glorious a company scarcely anyone was separated except unwillingly.

[25] And they indeed, by the manifest clemency of God assenting, exceedingly rejoicing that they had been made partakers of their vow, they joyfully depart from Le Mans on the 1st of May. having set out from the city of Le Mans on the Kalends of May, with all zeal strive to hasten to their fatherland. Of which journey who could worthily relate the glory and the gladness? Yet we think it opportune to run through the whole way with a swift pen, noting only the places in which the chief, and those most certain, miracles were done. For all the things which illustrated that sacred journey with a certain heavenly light, not even any of those who were present could relate or retain in memory.

[26] As they were setting out, then, on the aforesaid day, beside the place the sick cured by the Saint's help, a deaf and mute man at Pontlieue, commonly called ^b Pontlieue, a certain man from the household belonging to the service of that same church of St. Liborius, who a great part of the people knew had never had either the sense of hearing or the use of speech, followed thither, beseeching his Lord, that he would have mercy on him, since with his voice he could not, with groaning and tears. And when, by his head frequently bowed, his hands outspread, his eyes raised now to heaven, now to the sacred bier, he sufficiently indicated his inward affection, and could now no longer follow further for weariness, at last, released from the penalty born with him, on that first day he began both to be heard speaking, and to hear those speaking.

[27] Thence, the journey being begun, hastening, when they were drawing near to a certain church, celebrated for the memory of St. Medard, an infirm woman, there on the way a certain woman was cured of a long infirmity, which she was reported to have borne before through the whole time of her life. Concerning whom this, though incredible, was yet asserted by the account of many, that she could never taste any kind of food; but, living after the manner of snails on her own juice, was nourished only by a noxious humor. Which by no means affirming, we say only this, which we know to be true, that she both came sick to the patronage of St. Liborius, and returned unharmed.

[28] Hence, arriving at the basilica of ^c St. Symphorian, they were there received into lodging, an energumen woman, where the splendor of divine piety made that night clearly to shine. For a certain woman, long made a miserable receptacle of the malignant spirits that vexed her, was brought into the church to implore for her the intercession of the often-mentioned confessor. But the matin vigils being finished according to custom, when, silence now being made, the people were about to go out, she suddenly began to emit the horror of a dread voice, to howl, to bellow, to hiss, and in all things to imitate beast-like sounds: so that, unless she were seen present, she would be thought anything but a woman. All who were present, moved at once with terror and with pity, caused her to be held, and to be dragged unwilling nearer to the bier of the Saints. Then, with one accord pouring forth prayers for her, they quickly deserved to be heard. Finally, straightway freed from the violence of the demons, with sober mind and voice rendering thanks and praises to God, she followed them going thence for a long time with the people.

[29] a contracted man Thereupon, with hastened course drawing near to the monastery of St. Sulpicius, they see from afar a certain beggar being brought in a cart, who was miserably contracted in almost his whole body. For both the thumbs of each hand were bent into the middle of the palm, and the other fingers, stretched over those very thumbs, so bound them that the nails clung fixed to the roots of the palms. The rest of the body you would see so rounded, as it were, into a ball, that the knees were joined to the breast, the tips of the feet to the loins. But the more miserable had been his suffering, the more wonderful was the healing that followed. For, the merits of blessed Liborius intervening, whose help he implored with entire faith, all his members being in a moment raised up and healed at once, he leapt from that little cart in which he was carried, and, running swiftly to the coffer of the sacred body, there prostrated himself on the ground with immense affection, giving thanks with heart and mouth at once. The people marveled, and praised God with voices raised to heaven, since it seemed that no work of greater power could be done under heaven concerning a living man.

[30] an energumen. But going on to a certain church, dedicated in honor of St. Peter the Apostle, suddenly they behold a demoniac, who had followed them for a while, fallen in the midst of the way. To raise whom, when some of the common people had run up, he lay altogether without any motion, so that by all he was not doubted to be dead. Yet after a little, raised to a sitting posture, he began gradually as it were to revive: and on the following day, rendering praises to his Savior before the people, he appeared sound, as if he had never been vexed by the malignant enemy.

NOTES.

CHAPTER VII.

Things done at Chartres and Paris.

Accordingly, when, with so great gifts of divine benefits, as with heavenly rays, they were joyfully traversing the gleaming way, The bishop of Chartres meets them with his clergy, which offered daily more of joy than of fatigue; it came to pass that they arrived at the city of Chartres, sufficiently large and populous. The bishop of which city ^a, Bernuin by name, now very mature both in age and in morals, having gathered the priests according to custom, was at that time celebrating a synod in the city. To whom, when it was announced how and in what order the body of the aforesaid Confessor, taken up at Le Mans, was now drawing near to his city, straightway with all that sacred college of priests, and his whole clergy and people, he went forth to meet it, and with hymns and spiritual songs most devoutly, having advanced far outside the city, received it, and ordered that it be borne along the way which leads outside the walls of the city to the oratory in which the members of St. ^b Caraunus rest. And when, a great multitude following in throngs, it was being honorably led to the aforesaid place, the bells sounding: the bells sounding throughout the whole city, and the people proclaiming to God with lofty voice, that the Lord might declare so great a devotion to be pleasing to him, he granted that there many signs be done through blessed Liborius. the miracles done there: Of which one, the chief, we have resolved to record in this place, omitting the rest for the sake of avoiding prolixity.

[32] A girl, who from the beginning of her wretched nativity, curved in almost all her members, a contracted girl healed: and as it were twisted into a ball, could never either raise her chin from her knees, or remove the soles of her feet from her thighs, being carried before the coffer of the holy ashes, received the functions of her several members with the most entire health. But since that short garment, with which her before-contracted little body was easily covered, no longer sufficed for her now standing upright, so that she appeared partly naked; most swiftly the faithful (for the deed was done in the church before clergy and people), snatching up the women's kerchiefs, covered her, until, fitting garments being brought, she was clothed. There, then, passing that night with spiritual gladness, at first light they set out upon the desired journey.

[33] But drawing near to the city of Paris, which, girt by the streams of the Seine ^c, they are honorably received at Paris: Julius Caesar is said to have founded, and, on account of its likeness to the island of the sea ^d named Isis, to have called "Parisius"; in like manner received by the bishop of that place ^e, Ercanrad by name, and all the people, coming to meet them beyond the bridge laid over the aforesaid river, they were conducted into the principal church of that same city. Now it was the Lord's Day. And when the solemnities of the Masses were being celebrated there, there was brought into the midst a certain woman sprung from the neighborhood of that same place, who, born with a most grievous suffering, a mute, deaf, foolish, energumen woman are healed: had passed the past time of her life in the same. For, mute from her nativity and deaf, she lay moreover under a third torment, namely that, deprived of her mind, she was agitated by an unclean spirit. She, in the sight of all standing round at the Masses, began vehemently to be troubled and to sweat, and at last fell to the pavement. After the celebration of the mysteries, she was carried to the lodging, and toward evening again brought into the church, where she passed the night with many others. And as soon as, the sky whitening, the rosy radiance of dawn shone, the light of the great mercy of God, the shadowy tormentors being put to flight from her, bestowed upon her both hearing and the faculty of speech. All who were present were greatly astonished, seeing her in one moment so changed, that she was both empty of the demon of which she had been full, and had full the function of the members of which she had been empty.

[34] another mute and deaf man: But as they were going beside ^f the mount of the martyrs, when they were now on the right-hand side of the notable ^g monastery of St. Denis, there met them a certain little servant of the household of that same martyr, whom both the priests and the clerics of every grade, and also many laymen, testified had been altogether without the use of hearing and of speech from the beginning of his nativity. Who, drawing near to the sacred pledges, when he saw many of the people, each according to his ability, casting little gifts in honor of St. Liborius to his coffer, strove himself also, devoutly enough, to offer thither something of his own garments. By whose intercession forthwith aided, his ears being opened and the bond of his tongue loosed, in that same hour he heard the people singing the praises of God, and himself also with joy sang with them.

NOTES.

CHAPTER VIII.

The journey through Belgium as far as the Rhine.

Meanwhile, hastening with the utmost eagerness to accomplish their journey, they came to a village which is called ^a Gebaloha. [Falling into a river when the bridge broke, since they refused to cross by the ford lest they be wetted;] Where, as before the faith and devotion of many had been rewarded, so also the obstinacy of certain was chastised with a deserved correction. For it came to pass there that they had to cross a certain little river. When they drew near to it, those who bore the holy bier—the four who held its hinder corners—wished to go by the straight track through the ford of the water. But the same number of the rest, carrying the front part of it on their shoulders, asserted that they wished rather to seek a bridge by which they might cross, disdaining, in so illustrious a service of the Saints, to wet their shoes. Who, when they had come to a certain bridge, and, carrying with them the venerable treasure, were crossing over it, suddenly, the framework of timbers being broken beneath their feet, all those who scorned even to dip their feet in the ford, falling from on high, were submerged in the deep river; yet by the merits of the holy limbs which they bore, they escaped unharmed: but that most sacred bier, on the part by which it was held by them before they fell, the bier and the rest unharmed, (wondrous to tell) no one touching it, hung immovable in the air, until those could run up who, taking it, carried it back to the ford: and thus at length, the journey being resumed, they went on.

[36] an energumen woman of Bavay cured, From which place having gone no long way, they deserved to see the accustomed testimony of the power of God for approving the merits of his Elect. Yet that very thing which was done, by what name it should be called, does not sufficiently occur to me. Should I say it was a chance event? but such a thing is not wont to happen by chance. Should I name it a miracle? but hardly any of them greatly marveled at it. For who would marvel as at something new, at what he beholds rather often? A woman was freed from a demon. The great piety of God, the great merit of his Confessor, made a thing rare elsewhere to be usual on that journey. Which woman, however, then saved from a very long vexation (for she had labored under it fifteen years), was by no means ungrateful to her Savior. For, being of the fortress which is called ^b Bavay, sprung of no mean birth, having left her fatherland and parents, she vowed to serve God and St. Liborius as long as she lived, she devotes herself to the service of the Saint: and, following the holy pledges as far as the place in which they rest until now, in their service she passed the remaining space of her life. About these same places, and very many others,

miracles were shown on the way: other miracles: but for us, hastening to follow those men to their fatherland with our pen, there is no leisure to linger over each.

[37] very many piously accompany them, When they had come to the river Rhine, there were, in that holy company, peoples of the western provinces of an infinite multitude, who, having followed thither from far-off places, now had of necessity to return to their own homes. But there met them no less a number of mortals from the nations inhabiting the eastern bank of that same river; and especially our Saxons, whose borders are not far distant from the aforesaid stream. For they, lately called to the faith, having heard the fame of so great signs, flocked thither in droves from their own places on every side. There stood, therefore, on both banks innumerable throngs, contemplating one another with very diverse affection. For, to those who were to receive that precious treasure, how much rejoicing and joy, until they should cross the Rhine: but to those who were to give it up, how much grief and groaning that hour brought, who could ever express? Finally, as soon as the bearers of the holy body entered the ship, the whole people, which could no longer follow, unanimously prostrating itself on the ground, with immense groaning and earnest supplication commended itself to the patronage of blessed Liborius, pouring forth abundant showers of tears as witnesses, as it were, of their affection. In like manner also those who awaited on the nearer bank, casting themselves on the ground, receiving the sacred pledges with all the honor they could, and giving thanks to God, joyfully conducted them with praises.

NOTES.

CHAPTER IX.

The body of St. Liborius carried to Paderborn.

Therefore, having entered Saxony, on account of the very great crowd meeting them they could scarcely move a step. Yet hastening the journey with all their might, The Westphalians run to meet them in droves: at last on the third day, that is, on the fifth of the Kalends of June, on which the sacred solemnity of Pentecost was then being kept, they came to the long-desired church of Paderborn. From which, when they were still three miles distant, beside a certain river called ^a Hedraha, on account of the immense multitude which could not follow as far as the aforesaid place, in the midst of a field they celebrated the solemnities of the Masses. five sick people healed: Which, before they were finished, in that same place five men likewise, freed from various weaknesses, furnished so great a cause of immense admiration and gladness to the people beholding the power of God.

[39] Moreover at that same hour in the often-mentioned church of the monastery of Paderborn, voice and hearing are divinely conferred on a boy: to which such an ornament of glory was being brought through so great spaces of lands, there occurred a certain very clear miracle, announcing, as by a distinguished herald, the coming of blessed Liborius. For a certain boy sprung from that same parish, who from the day of his nativity was deaf and mute, there deserved to receive at once hearing and speech. This the divine dispensation did, doubtless, that on the day of his coming so many flashing signs might be a token that this same place had been chosen from heaven for this, that it should be illustrated by the body of so great a Confessor.

[40] Which, when, thronged on every side by countless crowds, with the great acclamation and piety of all orders it had begun little by little to draw near to the monastery, the bishop indeed could not go to meet it (for he was then staying at the palace), but yet all the clergy with all the ornaments of ecclesiastical worship went forth to meet it, the people following, who had either come from far off, or been gathered thither from that same town and neighboring places to hear the solemnities of the Masses at so great a festival. And when, at no small interval from the town, both peoples—namely those following the venerable body and those receiving it—had met, those who had run to meet it, all together thrice prostrate on the ground, received it with the utmost veneration. And when the clergy blessed God in hymns and confessions, and sang the melody of spiritual songs suited to the praise of the Saints, but the people redoubled the "Kyrie eleison," with ineffable jubilation, the minds of each raised to God, nothing seemed sweeter than his praise: so that in the exile of this life they seemed to have foretasted a certain likeness of the beatitude which is hoped for in the fatherland, of which it is said: "Blessed are they who dwell in thy house, O Lord: they shall praise thee for ever and ever." Ps. 83:5 Which so great love of divine praise we believe to have been inspired in them by the merits of him in honor of whose obsequies they had then been gathered: since his own beatitude, life, and glory in heaven also is nothing but the praise of God, in whose perfect charity he himself ascended to so great a summit of sanctity. the sacred body is carried to Paderborn: And so, when little by little the voices of the people, raised on high, were lifted up more and more, and, on all sides, those of the rejoicing, the psalm-singing, those giving thanks to God and jubilating, thundered their sound in the voice of exultation throughout the whole neighborhood, with such honor the most sacred body was carried into the church, and placed in the spot in which until now it rests. many miracles are done. With what miracles it afterward shone forth there, what great gifts of healings it bestowed, we reserve to be told elsewhere, here imposing an end upon the present booklet.

[41] The author's epilogue. These things, finally, according to your command, venerable prelate, and our purpose, concerning those things which were done in his translation, we have taken care to describe—not indeed as we wished, and as befitted so great a matter, but as we could, and as our knowledge allowed: not greatly heeding to be reprehended in the quality of our speech, provided only that, the faith of entire truth being preserved, we by no means permitted the marks of the divine operation to be covered with silence. For the necessity of our purpose admonishes us, that in works of this kind enjoined upon us we labor by every means at this, that, if inexperience makes us ineloquent, yet devotion may show us obedient. Nor do we trust that we have labored with fruitless sweat, if the mind of any reader deigning to take these things into his hands, or of any hearer whatsoever, be roused to the praise of the Bestower of so great virtues. For deservedly do we render with our whole heart praises and thanks to him who deigns to protect us, laboring amid so many hardships of the world, by the suffrages of so great patrons. Who, by the visible cures of bodies provoking us to seek the inward salvation of souls, may by their examples and intercessions grant hope of coming thither from this vale of tears, where God wipes away every tear from the eyes of the Saints. To which he who has now happily led his holy Liborius, may he also grant us, though unworthy, to come by his intervention, who in the perfect Trinity, one and true God, lives and is glorified through the infinite ages of ages. Amen.

NOTES.

THE HISTORY OF THE SAME TRANSLATION.

From the old Legendary of the church of Le Mans.

Liborius, bishop of Le Mans in Gaul (St.)

BHL Number: 4915

FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.

At the time when the church of Le Mans gloried in blessed Aldric as pontiff, and Gaul flourished under Louis the Pious as king and emperor; Bishop Baduraf, by a divine admonition, goes to Le Mans to seek relics, it was enjoined by divine revelation upon the venerable Baderat, bishop of Paderborn, of the region of Saxony, whence ^a blessed Aldric was sprung, to set out for the city of Le Mans, most rich in sacred relics, and thence to convey some one of the Saints resting there, who by his sacred merits would profit all Saxony, newly converted to the faith of Christ. Who, delaying nothing to obey the divine precepts, having taken with him the more reverend persons of his church, resolved to set out thither. But that the royal authority also might assist the sacred petition, he turned aside a little to Louis, at that time the glorious king of the Franks: and, letters being received from him for his vows, letters being received from Louis the Pious the emperor: he happily ^b arrived at the city of Le Mans, whither he had directed his course.

[2] Who, benignly and honorably received by blessed Aldric, from St. Aldric the bishop he obtains the body of St. Liborius, set forth the causes of his coming, reciting the royal letters; and, lest he might suffer any repulse, he had recourse again and again to the divine oracle and the angelic revelation. His vows are heard by blessed Aldric without delay: and, ecclesiastical ornaments being taken up in procession, both pontiffs, Aldric and Baderat, together with the clergy, set out for the resting-place of the Saints. Now there was ^c in the suburb of the aforesaid city, above the river Sarthe, a church built in honor of the Apostles, which, though it boasted of the relics of many Saints, gloried especially over the precious bodies of blessed Liborius and Victurius. To which, approaching as to a storehouse of the Lord's gems, the pontiffs, bending their knees in prayer, deserved an easy and happy effect of their sacred presumption. which is easily dug up: For to them the merits of blessed Liborius conferred this also, that they were neither deceived by ignorance of the place, nor was the sacred work impeded by any supervening trouble.

[3] And lest anyone should hesitate concerning the merits of the holy confessor Liborius, a sweet odor divinely fills the church: while the blessed members were with pious care being dug up, and arranged in a vessel with due reverence, so festive an odor breathed upon the bystanding people that a mixture of all aromatics was thought to be present; and of him whose prayers had been as incense in the sight of the Lord, his bones not undeservedly breathed forth the odor of incense. Now the blessed limbs had received, as it were, a certain pledge of future glory, who offered to the bystanding people that wondrous nectar of future glory. The crowd marveled at the unaccustomed refreshment of a general benefit: other miracles are done: but that they might be suspended in greater amazement, many there obtained a special healing. For a certain blind woman, sight is restored to a blind woman, when she had approached nearer to the dug-up limbs and the sacred relics of the divine Liborius, escaped the darkness of her torpid eyes, and returned to her own home. To this succeeded also another no less astounding

miracle: to a boy (the demon expelled) the use of reason: for the ancient enemy and cunning fowler of souls, the devil, had invaded a certain son of the church, whom he assiduously tormented in mind and flesh, who, drawn by his mother to the holy relics, the demon being expelled, received both the memory of his disturbed mind and the tranquillity of his afflicted flesh.

[4] then to a lame man, walking; voice to a mute: Meanwhile, the reverend limbs being arranged in the little vessel, the sacred burden was placed upon the pious shoulders of the priests, and honorably carried to the mother church. Where two men in the bosom of that same mother church, of whom one had been lame, the other mute, obtain a remedy for their infirmity; for the one received the use of his tongue, the other lost his faulty gait. to another, soundness of members, Another too, expressing a monster rather than a man, returns to his own home sound. The people weep for joy and rejoice, and reverently do service to the Pastor about to depart, praying, sight to a blind man, that the Pastor of the sheep may not forget them. Meanwhile a man born blind is enlightened, an energumen, liberty to an energumen. the demon being put to flight, is healed.

[5] But morning being come, the holy pontiffs strike between themselves a covenant of holy brotherhood, [The people of Paderborn, a brotherhood having been entered into with those of Le Mans,] and under a sacred kiss share the suffrages of their prayers. The sons of God vie to anticipate one another in divine services. The Saxons experience the not-unfruitful benignity of the people of Le Mans, from whom they receive both ample provisions for the journey, and an intercessor for glory, namely the body of blessed Liborius, together with many ^d relics of other Saints, is bestowed on them. endowed with provisions for the journey The Saxons congratulate themselves, about to carry away with them precious pearls, which should both illustrate them on earth, and with other relics, and gleam among the angels in heaven.

[6] But as they went forth with that rich treasure from the church of the Savior, they give thanks. the monastery of St. Vincent received them with pious affection, where one of them addressed the surrounding people thus: "Thanks to you, sons of God and co-heirs of Jesus Christ. For a sure proof of sacred love you have left to posterity, since you have cheerfully poured out to us, out of your zeal for humanity, the necessaries of the body, and out of reverence for the divine reception have bestowed a patron of souls. Whence, giving thanks to God, we commend ourselves to your prayers, never to be ungrateful for so great benefits, never forgetful of your benignity, never to be sufficiently abundant heralds of your most zealous piety."

[7] At the Bridge of Yvré a mute and deaf man is healed, These things spoken, and farewell said, the Saxons depart, and, laden with the sacred treasure, set out with a happy outcome to ^e the Bridge of Yvré, two miles distant from the city: where a mute and deaf man was healed. Setting out thence, they come to the church of ^f St. Medard. Where the fame of his miracles was spread abroad on every side: and the neighbors, running up from every quarter, offered their sick, others on the way, praying for their soundness; to whom, by the intercession of the holy Confessor, both health is granted, and the devotion of the faithful is increased. On the following day they come to a village of canons, named ^g Conediae: and there, the holy body being laid down in the basilica of St. Symphorian, an energumen woman at Conediae; they pass the night: where a woman of note, vexed in wondrous ways by a demon, approaching the relics of the Saint, the demon being put to flight, was freed. And that wonders might succeed wonders, seventy other sick people also were restored to health, and seventy others and one beyond the rest hunchbacked and paralytic even to a prodigy.

[8] Hence they set out for Chartres, over which then presided Bernuin, a bishop of venerable sanctity; they are magnificently received by the bishop of Chartres, who, hearing of the coming of the holy confessor Liborius, having taken with him the priests of his diocese, who had assembled there to celebrate a sacred council, with festive array proceeds to meet him, venerates him with pious affection, and receives him with special devotion. On every side the neighborhood resounds with the sound of cymbals, re-echoes with the voice of the psalm-singing clerics, who accompany and lead back the sacred body, placed on the shoulders of the pontiff, as far as the church of St. Caraunus, (where a sick woman is healed) built near the walls of the city, with the more devout reverence. Where a girl very like a monster was healed.

[9] Thence the Saxons, having set out, in a short while glide down to Paris, and by the bishop of Paris who were received by blessed Ercanrad, [h] bishop of Paris, with the glory that was fitting: where in the mother church the body of the blessed confessor Liborius rested for two days; by whose intercession a demoniac woman, mute and deaf, was restored to health. Going forth thence, as they journeyed beside the Mount of the Martyrs, and approached the church sacred to blessed Denis, a deaf and mute man is cured: they had meeting them a certain man deaf and mute by nature; who, after the manner of the others, spreading his garments before the sacred relics, approached the bier, and kissed it, and thus, by the intervention of St. Liborius, obtained what he sought with all his vows.

[10] A very great multitude of the Gauls accompanies the venerable relics, the Gauls accompany them as far as the Rhine: and follows them the more devoutly as far as the river Rhine, about to endure the hardships of the journey the more patiently, the more the frequently bestowed benefits of miracles allured them. The body being at last placed in a ship, the Gauls depart, about to doubt nothing further concerning his merits, which they had experienced by so many enlightenings of the blind, so many cures of the weak, so many repulses of demons.

[11] There stood on the other side of the Rhine a devout multitude of the Saxons, the Saxons run to meet them: which, now struck by the fame of the miracles occurring, strove with festive haste to receive the coming Patron. That rich treasure is received, received, I say, the longed-for Patron, and carried to the city, which was to rejoice in so great an intercessor, with the glory that was fitting.

[12] Whose coming a certain mute man foretold: for while he was still far off, a mute man foretells the arrival of the relics: and in the mother church of Paderborn the solemnities of the Masses were being celebrated, with open mouth and attentive ears, that herald of good news said that the body of the awaited Intercessor was not far off. Whom the clergy believed, and, about to receive their new Patron, proceed with sacred array to meet the clergy. Meanwhile the bearers of the blessed corpse halted a little beside the river Serena, which are carried to Paderborn, not without miracles. three miles distant from the city; where many miracles shone forth: and there the people and clergy of the aforesaid city, recently converted to the faith, approaching the blessed limbs, thrice prostrate on the ground, gave thanks to God, and received their long-promised, long-awaited, long-with-tears-sought Patron blessed Liborius. Whom, carrying with pious honor into the mother church of the region of Paderborn, afterward consecrated in his honor, they honorably placed on the sacred day of Pentecost, to profit all Saxony by his sacred merits. Let us also pray to him, that we may live forever with Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be praise and glory in the everlasting ages. Amen.

NOTES.

THE HISTORY OF THE RETURN OF THE RELICS OF ST. LIBORIUS.

BY THE AUTHOR JOHANN KARL ERLEWEIN.

Most reverend and most serene prince, most clement lord.

Liborius, bishop of Le Mans in Gaul (St.)

FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.

The mandate of Your Serenity, dated at Brühl in the year 1627, the 27th of November, together with the letters of the very reverend and most noble Lords the dean and chapter of the church of Paderborn, was brought to me on the 13th of December: and all these things I received with due reverence, and, all things which were contained in them being duly read through, I straightway betook myself to the office of a most obedient mind, and began to recall to memory past times and my most humble services; The author serves the Duke of Lorraine in the year 1622. namely that in the year 1622, the consent of his most serene clemency being obtained, under the most serene Duke Henry of Lorraine, though no merits of mine required it, having obtained in the warfare the honor of a cavalry standard-bearer, I earned my pay in the war which is known to have been then waged against Mansfeld. then under the Rhinegrave, for the French: But when, after an honorable discharge, on the 7th of July of the same year, when the army of the king of the French was being reviewed at Sermaize, I had begun as a horseman to earn a second pay, under the auspices of the most illustrious Otto Philip, count of the Woods and of the Rhine, warring against the same Mansfeld, on behalf of the service of the king of the French; a distinguished lot befell me, by the gift of God, of serving St. Liborius and his Serenity at once.

[2] For in the same year 1622, on the 18th of September, when the most illustrious Otto Philip, count of the Wood and of the Rhine, [by whom he is ordered to offer to the Elector of Cologne the restitution of the relics of St. Liborius;] was about to set out from Vaucouleurs, a city of France, in which his cavalry legion had its garrison, I obtained from his gracious generosity leave to set out for Cologne, on this condition, that at the end of a period of six weeks I should restore myself to his gracious service: which also I strove with all my might to fulfill. But when I was now setting out on the journey, the same by his gracious command gave me this business, that with your most serene clemency, besides a most humble readiness to obey, I should also indicate on what account he was preserving the relics of St. Liborius, received from Christian, Duke of Brunswick, and would not unwillingly give them to the honor of the church of Paderborn, that it might recover the sacred treasure of its Patron, and the Saint be restored to the place of his former rest, and to the degree of his honor. And since his most serene clemency also presided over the church of Paderborn, by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See, he would gladly come to a share of the care which his most serene clemency was known to have for the sacred things of that same church.

[3] I did, therefore, what had been commanded me, holily and in order; which, taken away from Paderborn, and on the 3rd day of October of the same year, before his most serene clemency, I set forth the mandates of the most illustrious count. Namely, that not long before that day the Duke of Brunswick, Christian, when he had plundered the city of Paderborn, occupied by the onset of his war, had dragged the sacred relics of St. Liborius the bishop from the chief church, and had conducted them with him from Westphalia into Hesse as far as the river Main; but had broken the precious shrine of the Saint, and from its material and other had caused to be struck a coinage like the imperial coins;

and at last, after uncertain journeyings, when he had settled about three hours' journey above the city situated on the banks of the Moselle, Metz; and carried about, and at that place the aforesaid most illustrious count of the Rhine had familiarly visited that same duke with a retinue of five or six men, among various conversations at table, as happens, a talk also arose concerning the relics of St. Liborius. And when the most illustrious count had confidently inquired whither those relics had come amid so many journeyings of the duke, the duke himself replied, and said that they were still kept in the charge of his secretary, and presently ordered them to be taken from the cabinet of silver furniture and brought. Which having straightway been done, wrapped in a linen cloth, and sealed, they were shown to the most illustrious count upon the table, wrapped in an obscure and inglorious cloth or linen, yet sewn up and fortified with the seals of the duke himself. And when those same relics had been inspected more closely, and appeared vehemently crushed to pieces; and the count, as though doubting, had further inquired whether these were truly the relics which he had found in the shrine of St. Liborius; then the duke replied that they were the very same, as truly as he himself was born of the blood of the dukes of Brunswick, and was truly present sitting there before him. But when the count asked but broken by the succession of journeys, by what means, then, they were so ground to pieces, the duke replied, because, enclosed in the cabinet of silver furniture, they had, through those journeys and lodgings, been often bruised together.

[4] Halberstadt had given them to him, Then at last the count began to press, and asked that the duke would graciously and clemently yield them to him, since to him, by his religion, alien from the relics of Saints, they could profit nothing at all, and the count himself in turn could honor his kinsman the duke with another and more convenient gift, namely a more generous horse and a distinguished ornament of a cap. To which, when the duke himself had replied that he had not counsel enough either to give up or to retain those relics, and was perplexed ^a, at last, however, various means and prayers being employed, Duke Christian, without any bargain of any gift, liberally bestowed those same relics upon the most illustrious count Otto Philip. And these things happened in the aforesaid manner scarcely 14 days before the disaster brought upon the duke in the borders of Brabant on the 29th of August 1622 (in which his arm was broken). But the oft-mentioned count, glad of the sacred gift, straightway sent those same, received and sealed, to the princess de Croy his wife, into the castle of Neuviller, he himself kept them in his castle. which is seen about seven leagues above Nancy: who received them with equal joy and reverence, and (as they were) sealed, caused them to be laid up in the chapel of the castle by a domestic priest above the altar of the chapel, and there to be honored.

[5] The author is sent for them into Lorraine by the Elector: These things being briefly brought to the knowledge of his most serene clemency at Bonn on the third day of October in the year 1622, since on the following day his same most serene clemency was about to set out on a journey, to be present at the diet of the empire to be held at Regensburg, I was ordered, through the most reverend and most illustrious Franz Wilhelm, bishop of Osnabrück, to follow the journey of his Serenity, and at Koblenz to await the opportunity of an answer. Which, when even in that place it had not shone forth, on account of the mass of very many affairs pressing on every side, I followed as far as Hainaut; and there on the 8th of October obtained the letters of his Serenity concerning the credence and legation entrusted to me by his most serene clemency, and with these set out with a hastened journey to the most serene Duke of Lorraine, and the most illustrious count of the Rhine. But when, God prospering the journey, I had safely arrived on the 7th of November of the same year 1622 at the castle of Neuviller, and had learned that the most illustrious count had set out on the same journey toward which his most serene clemency had striven, but the Rhinegrave was absent, I judged that the letters should be delivered to the princess de Croy, the most pious wife of the count, and with due observance handed them over. Who, even though his most serene clemency, to be honored by all means, was requesting it, altogether denied that she could deliver the relics sought, without the counsel and consent of the count her husband. And so, the business unaccomplished, I then indeed had to depart: but by letters sent on both sides, who at Regensburg promised them to the Elector: an ample occasion was given to his most serene clemency and to the most illustrious count of treating in person concerning the recovery of the relics at Regensburg in the very diet of the empire: whereby it came to pass that, colloquies being held back and forth, the most illustrious count was willing to ratify the restitution of the relics of St. Liborius, and pledged it: which also followed, as will be told in what follows.

[6] For, the time of the diet at Regensburg being ended, he is sent again in the year 1623; when in the year 1623, on the 29th of May, his most serene clemency had returned safe to the castle of Bonn, the whole country congratulating, again with letters of credence, and for the sake of accomplishing the same business with the most illustrious count of the Rhine, I was sent into Lorraine, to the castle of Neuviller, there being joined to me as companion of the journey the very reverend and most learned lord Master Johann de Blier, canon of SS. Cassius and Florentius in the collegiate church of Bonn, and also court chaplain: and with him, a carriage being kindly given for the journey, I set out on the journey, the herald of his most serene clemency conducting us. Our journey was, having gone forth from Bonn, through the ridges and valleys of the Eifel, Adenau, Merrimum, Wittlich, Trier, Ricciacum or Sirck, Thionville, Metz, Pont-à-Mousson, Nancy.

[7] But when we had arrived at the castle of Neuviller, kindly received, we found neither the most illustrious count, nor the princess his wife: but we learned that the count had set out for the royal court at Paris, and that the princess herself had withdrawn to Baudouiller. This was the cause why I went on twelve leagues from the castle of Neuviller, the journey being made through Rambervillers and Autrey, places lying between the castle of Neuviller and Baudouiller. There, having obtained the presence of the princess about to return to Neuviller, the letters being offered, and other things being most clemently commanded me, on the next day with the princess's court we returned to Neuviller, and on the 6th of June arrived at the castle. In which, when, out of respect for his Serenity, she had graciously received us, sent by the same, and had detained us until the eighth day of June, by the counsel and consent of the most illustrious count of the Rhine, she receives the relics from the wife of the Rhinegrave, her husband, and out of her zeal to gratify him, with great feeling of piety and reverence, she ordered the relics of St. Liborius, several priests being present, to be offered and delivered to us by the rector of the court chapel, together with the very cloth or linen, once destined for the uses of the table, in which they had been wrapped. breathing forth a sweet odor, Which, delivered, being straightway opened by the priests, not without a notable fragrance of odor breathing forth, were placed in a little casket, which was at once enclosed in a cloth of blue color, and sewn up, a fillet of silk of the same color being often drawn round it, sealed anew: which was fortified in various places with the seals of the princess herself, fixed in red wax, and entrusted to us.

[8] Yet the same most pious princess graciously distributed among those present the cloth a bone being here retained in which the relics of St. Liborius had before rested, cut into parts, who with great joy of mind and reverence each embraced their own parts. To this she also kept for her chapel a part of the bone of St. Liborius, and caused it to be laid up in a wooden bust, or statue of episcopal habit, formed with singular art, and painted with lively colors, brought forth as far as the breast, that the memory of the holy Guest might never be blotted out from the minds of the inhabitants of that place, but that by some presence of his body he himself might sanctify the place, unto the service of himself and of God the best and greatest. on account of the piety of the neighbors, To which best hope, indeed, a pious effect has hitherto not been wanting in the minds of the surrounding peoples, who do not cease to frequent that place as suppliants, even with votive offerings.

[9] because these, solemnly carried about in an ambarval supplication, To this religion no light occasion was given by that which, during the time of my legation, I received from the princess herself. For when she, the holy relics being lately received, considered that the relics of St. Liborius had been violently and contumeliously dragged away from the throne of honor and place of their long rest, namely the church of Paderborn, and carried about hither and thither with an impious army without the honor and reverence befitting them, the noble princess conceived a pious and becoming deed in her mind, namely to celebrate with some honor the remains of her holy Guest, and to commend them to the neighboring people. And so both in the parish of the aforesaid castle, through the rector of the chapel, and in the neighboring parishes round about, and also in the city of ^b Bayon, it was proclaimed by a herald's voice, that the relics of St. Liborius the bishop, violently taken away from Paderborn by Christian, Duke of Brunswick, and carried about with an army, had at last come into the power of the most illustrious count of the Rhine, etc., her lord, and were now laid up in the chapel of the castle of Neuviller for due worship; and therefore a certain day was appointed, on which the suppliant people round about, gathered of both sexes, for the sake of venerating the holy Guest, should go forth into public with the Saint himself, two men of the ecclesiastical order carrying the sacred burden on their shoulders; the princess herself with her court and all the people following through a great tract of the surrounding fields, the people praising the Lord of the Saints in hymns and songs, until the relics, carried back into the chapel and to the altar, should enjoy their honor.

[10] There happened on that day some no light benefit of health, conferred upon one, a contracted man was healed; or rather upon two persons in one. Namely, a woman of good repute, with great feeling of faith and piety, carried about her son of eight years, so contracted from his mother's womb that his knees, twisted, were rigid against his breast, with great labor nonetheless in the aforesaid crowd of those going in procession, praying God that by the merits of St. Liborius the bishop he would deign to hear her and her son; and, if it should be salutary both for herself and for her son, that he would loose the boy from his infirmity. A wondrous thing: when the mother, the procession being accomplished, weary and resting on her knees, had set the boy down before her, and before the relics of St. Liborius placed upon the altar was praying more fervently in the midst of the church, behold the boy began to roll himself about, and presently to be raised onto his feet, and, raised, to walk, timidly however and swaying, as those are wont who learn to plant their first steps, and thus straightway going to the altar, there gives thanks to God and St. Liborius. The boy's mother, seeing the power of God in her son, and the rest who were present, and had known the boy, filled with immense joy, did not restrain their tears from the tenderness of an admiring heart, but spoke praise to God and St. Liborius for so manifest a sign of health. This sign was done in the very chapel of the castle of Neuviller, where the sacred relics had been placed in the sight of the most pious princess: and I, when I came thither as legate, eagerly contemplated that same boy, together with the companion of my journey, and not without joy inspected the very place in which it had happened. Nay, the princess de Croy also sent most faithful letters, witnesses of this miracle, written in the Latin and French tongue, to his most serene clemency, together with the relics of St. Liborius.

[11] The same most pious princess also related that the Lord had deigned to work several signs of health in the sick, many freed from fevers: especially those seized by fever,

to the honor of his servant St. Liborius: but I forbore to obtain an exact knowledge of the particulars, which in the princess's mind was much, in so short a time, since I was hastening with the swiftest return to satisfy the mandates of his most serene clemency.

[12] And so at earliest morning about the third hour we betook ourselves to the journey, the relics being placed in the carriage. the author carries them to Trier, Which, when it was not hidden from the neighboring common folk, several persons from these, approaching the carriage, began to venerate it as suppliants, to ask the suffrages of St. Liborius, whom they were carrying away from them, and to weep at the departure from the castle. But we came to Champigneulles, Pont-à-Mousson, St. Julien, Ricciacum, and finally Trier: and under the walls of the city we turned aside with the sacred pledges into the most religious abbey of St. Maximin. There, the token of the sacred pledges being communicated to the abbot, he himself, affected with signal joy from their presence, on the following day, which was the 12th of June, in the same place with great devotion caused a Mass to be sung with music in honor of St. Liborius by the religious, where they were publicly honored; and the case in which the relics of St. Liborius were kept to be placed upon the high altar. Amid the sacred mysteries, a collect, opportunely found in the very ancient Breviary of Trier, was chanted. "The Collect of St. Liborius the bishop, the 23rd of July. O God, who didst adorn blessed Liborius, the pious pontiff, with a special privilege in healing the sufferings of the urine and the stone, for the salvation of the faithful: grant, we beseech thee, that by his merits and intercession we may so be delivered from those evils, that we may fully enjoy eternal joys. Through the Lord." The Mass being finished, the most reverend abbot with the holy relics imparted a benediction to all who were present, and all piously kissed that same case. And so on the 13th of June from the abbey of St. Maximin to the village of Schweich, then toward Bonn, Wittlich, Merrimum, Adenau, Aldenar, Marienforst on the 15th of June, safe, God protecting, rescued from dangers by them: we arrived, by the merits of St. Liborius rescued from various dangers.

[13] From that place, which is sacred to the institutes of St. Brigid, it was signified to his most serene clemency these are visited by the Elector's command. that the relics of St. Liborius had arrived. Therefore his same most serene clemency on the next day, which was the 16th of June, sent to the aforesaid place two men from his court, namely the Reverend Father Georg Schrötel, priest of the Society of Jesus, his confessor, and the noble and vigorous lord Master Benedikt Schweindell, chamberlain; who, the Prior of the monastery of Marienforst being present, by command of his most serene clemency, the seals being unfastened, opened the chest containing the relics of St. Liborius, inspected it, and, the examination being ended, again fortified it with seals on his Serenity's part; commanding, by the order of your most serene clemency, that those same relics ought to be laid aside untouched in the sacristy of Marienforst. These things being duly settled, we handed over to the aforesaid delegated men the writings, the attestations of the miracle, drawn up in the Latin and French tongue, and also the letters of the princess de Croy given to your most serene clemency, to be carried to the same clemency. These things were done in summary in the business of the report of the relics of St. Liborius, at the time when his most serene clemency deigned to use my most ready service: which that it may always, and in more causes, be lawful for me to expend for the service of his most serene clemency, I pray to God, who may deign to preserve his same clemency unharmed for his country very long. Thus I pray, and testify to posterity, in the castle and town of your Serenity at Kaiserswerth in the year 1627, the 23rd of December. Of HIS MOST SERENE CLEMENCY the most humble client, JOHANN KARL ERLENWEIN, Praetor of Linn and Uerdingen.

NOTES.

ACTS

OF THE CHURCH OF PADERBORN.

Concerning the relics of St. Liborius the bishop, given to the pilgrim Abbot Carlenus, for the church of Amelia.

Liborius, bishop of Le Mans in Gaul (St.)

FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.

In the name of the Lord, Amen. By the tenor of the present public instrument, let it be evidently open to all and known, Notarial Acts drawn up at Münster on the 9th of June 1646. that in the year after the birth of Christ one thousand six hundred and forty-six, in the fourteenth indiction, in the second year of the Pontificate of the most holy in Christ Father and Lord D. Innocent, Pope the tenth of that name, on Saturday the ninth of the month of June, between the seventh and eighth before noon, before me the apostolic notary, in the presence of the below-named witnesses, there were personally constituted the most illustrious and most reverend lords, Theodor Adolph a Recke provost, Caspar Philip a Ketteler dean, Johann Wilhelm Baron de Syntzigh cantor and cellarer, Adolph Heinrich Droste provost of the cathedral of Münster, Arnold de Vitinghoff called Schelle, provost at St. Mauritius of the monastery, Adolph Heinrich Droste the younger, all canons of the cathedral church of Paderborn; as also the most illustrious and most reverend lord Peregrinus Carlenus, abbot of St. Mary, plenipotentiary of the Duke of Gelderland and Jülich, count of Egmond and Zutphen, at the negotiations for a universal peace; requiring me the notary and the witnesses employed, that together with those same lordships, by virtue of the singular schedule of requisition put forth to this end, I should be present at a certain act to be celebrated by them and inserted in the said schedule, and should reduce the same, thus performed, to my protocol, and also thereupon, for my due salary, be willing to make one or more instrument and instruments. Done at Münster in Westphalia in the hall of the dwelling of the most reverend and most illustrious lord Bernard a Westerholt, canon of the cathedral church there, in the year, indiction, papacy, month, day, and hours as above; there being present the circumspect lords Michael Sitthorff, notary and registrar of the chancery of Paderborn, and Johann a Versen, secretary of the aforementioned most illustrious and most reverend lord Abbot Carlenus, as witnesses worthy of faith, specially required and employed for this.

The tenor of the aforesaid singular schedule of requisition was of the following tenor:

[2] To the greater glory of Almighty God. We Theodor Adolph a Recke, by the efficacious patronage of St. Liborius against the pains of the stone, provost, Caspar Philip a Ketteler dean, and the rest of the seniors and capitulars of the cathedral church of Paderborn, to you, lord notary and witnesses specially required for this, for the dignity of the matter, and the merits of St. Liborius our patron, have thought fit to set forth; that whereas the Lord is great and exceedingly to be praised, to be praised also in his Saints, for whose merits and prayers he bestows on us many, and those not light, benefits, even after they have been taken up to a happier life, that, existing in heaven, they may even now be honored on earth, where they faithfully ministered to their Lord; here, I say, the pitying and merciful God, that his glory may be announced among the nations, his wonders among all peoples, as he willed the honor of the holy Prophet Elisha, already deceased, by the raising of a dead man at the touch of his relics, to be attested to the whole world, so also he willed the name of thy servant Liborius, our patron, not only among the people of Le Mans in Gaul (whence in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 836, on the fifth of the Kalends of June, his holy relics, carried to Paderborn, honored by many miracles on the way, shone forth) and at Paderborn in Westphalia; but also in various other and distant places, kingdoms, and provinces, to be celebrated and honored for the cure of various diseases, and especially of the stone.

[3] it being understood, By which experience of miracles moved, the most illustrious and most reverend Peregrinus Carlenus, by fatherland of Amelia, in dignity abbot of blessed Mary, in function count of Egmond, of the Duke of Gelderland, plenipotentiary at the negotiations for a universal peace at Münster in Westphalia, in letters written to us, not only gave what thanks he could to the divine goodness, but also commended the relics of our holy Liborius with wondrous encomiums, with great affection and singular devotion: because he himself especially at Münster, wearied with great and unusual pains of the stone, and all but exhausted and oppressed, having understood from the very venerable Father F. Bonaventura of Rutheno, a Capuchin preacher, then his confessor, the wondrous devotion to St. Liborius, and his singular power for curing the evil of the stone; for his own deliverance from the stone, or at least the mitigation of its pains, and it being piously invoked, the antiphon and prayer of St. Liborius offered to him by the said father, to the Saint himself, more than once with great faith, and with many groans, and at last a Mass concerning the Saint himself being caused to be celebrated by his said confessor, having experienced under that same Mass the swift grace of the divine goodness, from the sharpest punctures of the stone, Peregrinus Carlenus being freed from those pains, and (as he hoped) from the stone itself, was miraculously healed: then that his brother Augustine Carlenus, canon of the cathedral church of Amelia, being made more certain of this by him, (as also his brother from strangury, since he had long labored with difficulty of urinating, and consequently with the stone, through the same antiphon and prayer transmitted to him, imploring the intercession of the said Saint for the recovery of health, was straightway freed from that evil: and others in Umbria) finally that many in the parts of Umbria, through the devout recitation of the same antiphon and prayer, obtained great benefits from the divine mercy. Which, attributing it to the intercession of this our holy Patron, for his fatherland, he asks for a part of his relics, to send to Amelia: Amelia in Umbria, seized with devotion toward this Saint and his relics by so evident a miracle, he asked and demanded of us with great affection, both by letters and through his confessor, a small portion of those same holy relics existing among us. We indeed could not but commend this pious desire both of the most illustrious and most reverend lord abbot, and of the chapter and people of Amelia: but because it was not in our power, without the consent and express concession of our most serene prince Ferdinand, elector

of Cologne, and bishop of Paderborn, duke of both Bavarias, to open or to diminish this treasure; therefore, the matter and so pious a request being humbly referred to his Serenity, since we straightway obtained the grace and mandate to communicate some part of the holy relics to a clergy and people so devoutly desiring it, as the letters of his Serenity inserted herein more fully declare.

Copy of the letters of the most serene Elector of Cologne, bishop of Paderborn, to the chapter of the cathedral church of Paderborn; by which it is granted that the relics of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans, Patron of the people of Paderborn, be given to the most illustrious and most reverend Abbot Carlenus for Amelia.

[4] Ferdinand, by the grace of God archbishop of Cologne, prince elector, bishop of Paderborn, the Elector of Cologne assenting, on the 2nd of January 1645, of Münster and Liège, administrator of Hildesheim, Berchtesgaden, and Stavelot, count Palatine of the Rhine, duke of both Bavarias, of Westphalia, Angaria, and Bouillon, margrave of Franchimont. Venerable and honest, beloved and devout, from your letters given to us on the 12th of December of this year now running to its end, and their enclosures, we have learned with what pious fervor the name of St. Liborius, patron of our diocese of Paderborn, is venerated in foreign and distant provinces: and how a small portion of his same sacred relics is sought, to stir up greater devotion, and to increase the honor of God: and that you humbly seek our most gracious consent to bestowing it. As therefore it was most pleasing to us to understand that the veneration of the said holy Bishop, and the intercession following upon it, has produced such wondrous effects among foreign nations; and since it is by no means to be doubted that the bestowal of his relics will stir up greater devotion in the people; so we willingly grant that to the abbot Carlenus, seeking and demanding it (although those relics themselves, when they were carried about by the enemy, were much crushed to pieces), some small portion of them, yet without notable diminution of what remains, be given and delivered. Of this in turn we wished to advise you, to whom, being well-disposed, we offer our grace. Given at Bonn in our city, the second of January, in the year 1645. Ferdinand. Johann Stam, secretary.

[5] Therefore we, Theodor Adolph a Recke, provost, the canons of Paderborn give it to him on the 9th of June 1645, privy councillor of the most serene Elector of Cologne, bishop of Paderborn and of Münster, and legate to the negotiations for a universal peace, and Johann Wilhelm Baron de Syntzigh, cantor and cellarer, specially deputed for this business by the most reverend chapter of Paderborn, in the year 1645, on the ninth day of June, in the morning between the seventh and eighth hours, in the cathedral church of Münster, the asylum of the sacred relics for the then state of the times, devoutly approaching the tomb that preserves the holy relics, took two small portions, one of the skull, the other of the shin-bone, removed from it, with this intention, that we might place them, for Amelia in Umbria, to increase the devotion of that people, and to procure for it greater grace of the divine goodness, in an oval capsule of various colors: and that same, there being then present and standing by the very venerable father F. Bonaventura of Rutheno, a Capuchin preacher with his companion, the treasurer of the cathedral church of Münster, Peter Buschman, doctor of laws, privy councillor and chancellor of the Elector of Cologne, bishop of Paderborn, and legate to the negotiations for a universal peace at Münster in Westphalia, and to others of the clergy and people of that same city, we publicly delivered to the most illustrious and most reverend Abbot Carlenus, to be transferred to the desiring clergy and people of Amelia.

[6] but at last in the year 1646, on the 9th of June, But since it happened by fate that, on account of various dangers and impediments of the wars, we could not again assemble at Münster to consign those relics duly, and to draw up an instrument in the form of an attestation, and thence those relics were not translated to the destined place; yet at last, a whole year having elapsed, God thus disposing, on the same ninth day of June, and at the same hour between the seventh and eighth, at Münster in Westphalia, in the hall of the dwelling of the most reverend and illustrious lord Bernard a Westerholt, canon of the cathedral church there, we met beyond expectation—Theodor Adolph a Recke provost, Caspar Philip a Ketteler dean, Johann Wilhelm Baron de Syntzigh cantor and cellarer, Adolph Heinrich Droste provost of the cathedral church of Münster, Arnold de Vittinghoff called Schelle, provost at St. Mauritius of the monastery, Adolph Heinrich Droste the younger, all canons of the cathedral church of Paderborn; then the most illustrious and most reverend lord Peregrinus Carlenus, abbot of blessed Mary, and Father Bonaventura the Capuchin preacher with his companion, placed in another capsule, lawfully sealed, they deliver it to him, and, the oft-mentioned sacred relics being drawn out from the aforesaid oval capsule, we reverently enclosed them in a more convenient round one, of silver, gold, green, and red color variegated, and bound round four times with a reddish fillet, so that it was held in eight places, and delivered it, consigned, back to the most illustrious and most reverend Abbot Carlenus, to be safely transmitted to Amelia: yet with this law expressed, that not only should it be carried with the solemn devotion that befits it, with this law, that it be honorably received at Amelia, but also that, the chapter and clergy, the magistracy and people of Amelia in decent habit, according to the difference of rank, coming to meet it in procession, and devoutly and solemnly receiving it, it should be honorably conducted with hymns and songs to the cathedral church, which is at Amelia: and there, and not before, by the most illustrious and most reverend bishop of the place, the chapter and magistracy of Amelia being present, this capsule should at last be opened, and the treasure of the holy relics brought forth thence should be publicly exhibited, and, commended to clergy and people with worthy encomiums, be laid up in a celebrated and honored place in the same cathedral church: nay, that also the office of St. Liborius this our patron, of a confessor bishop, be said every year; and his feast day, the twenty-third of the month of July, the people being called together for this, and the holy relics being solemnly exposed, and be celebrated with an anniversary Mass: be celebrated with organs, after our custom of Paderborn: and let this treasure of the holy relics be, as it were, a bond and token of the brotherhood of mutual love, and a symbol of the pious confederation between the chapter of Amelia and that of Paderborn.

[7] In faith of which, this inestimable treasure of the relics of St. Liborius, confessor bishop, the Acts concerning this donation being drawn up, our patron, we have caused to be consigned and fortified with the seal of the most serene Ferdinand, Elector of Cologne, bishop of Paderborn, in red wax above; with the greater seal of the chapter of Paderborn, in green wax below; and with the lesser seal of St. Liborius, in red Spanish wax at the side; and with the signet rings of the most reverend and illustrious lords here present, and also of the most illustrious and most reverend Abbot Carlenus, round about in red Spanish wax over the reddish fillet; and thus consigned we delivered the same to the most illustrious and most reverend lord Abbot Carlenus, and by this very act delivered it back, to be faithfully transferred: requiring you the notary, that concerning this gracious concession of the most serene Elector our bishop of Paderborn, attested by his Serenity's letters, and our consent, and moreover the consignation and delivery that followed, you would deign to make for us an instrument and instruments in better form, and to communicate them for the due salary. Done at Münster in Westphalia, where these most holy relics, on account of the dangers of the raging war, are now kept, on the ninth day of the month of June, in the year one thousand six hundred and forty-six.

[8] And because I, Heinrich Uphaus, citizen of Münster in Westphalia, by sacred apostolic authority a public and approved notary, through a public notary, was present at the above-inserted act celebrated of the enclosure, consignation, and delivery of the sacred relics, together with the aforementioned lords requiring and the witnesses, and saw, heard, and took note of all and singular the other things thus done; therefore I made the present public instrument thereupon, and wrote it out with my own hand, and also fortified it with my name and surname and my accustomed notarial sign subjoined, being specially required for this. Heinrich Uphaus, as above, apostolic notary, with my own hand.

We the consuls, proconsuls, and senate of the city and commonwealth of Münster in the parts of Westphalia, the senate of Münster attesting. make known and attest that the above-named Heinrich Uphaus our fellow-citizen, who expedited the present instrument, and subscribed it with his own hand well known to us, and fortified it with his notarial sign, is a public and legal notary, to whose documents and instruments, in and out of court, public faith is everywhere given. In testimony of which we have ordered the secret seal of our city to be appended to these, and to be strengthened by the subscription of our sworn secretary. Done in the year of salvation one thousand six hundred and forty-six, on the 17th day of the month of July. In place of the ✠ sign. Heinrich Holland, secretary of the city and commonwealth of Münster, of the parts of Westphalia, sworn notary of the imperial chamber court, matriculated, in faith have subscribed with my own hand.

ACTS

OF THE CHURCH OF AMELIA,

Concerning the reception of the relics of St. Liborius.

Liborius, bishop of Le Mans in Gaul (St.)

FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.

Before the bishop and canons of Amelia on the 15th of March 1647, In the name of the Lord, Amen. By the present public instrument let it be evidently open to all everywhere, and known; that in the year from the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand six hundred and forty-seven, in the 15th Indiction, on the 15th day of the month of March; and in the third year of the pontificate of the most holy in Christ Father and our Lord D. Innocent, by divine providence Pope the tenth, before the most illustrious and most reverend lord Gaudentius Polus, by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See bishop of Amelia, and the very illustrious and most reverend lord Delius Vectius, apostolic protonotary, vicar general of the same most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop; and also the very illustrious and very reverend lords Nicolaus Racanus prior, Julius Geraldinus archdeacon, Johannes Vincentius Mandosius provost, Augustinus Carlenus, Claudius Piciotus, Petrus Carlenus, Hieronymus Roscius, Curtius Mandosius, Fabianus Zucchans, Petrus Venturellus, Johannes Baptista Sandrus, Josephus Venturellus, and Petrus Franciscus Racanus, canons of the venerable cathedral church of St. Firmina of Amelia; and before me the notary, and the witnesses below-written, specially called and asked for these things; in the below-written place, there was present and personally constituted the Reverend Father Brother Bonaventura of Rutheno, a Capuchin preacher of the Rhenish province, with his companion, and drew forth a box brought in a little woolen bag of ash color: and, opening it on both sides, brought forth from it another; the capsule of the relics of St. Liborius was exposed, thence another round capsule, variegated with silver, gold, green, red color, bound round four times with a reddish fillet so that it was held in eight places, sealed with the seals of the most serene Ferdinand, Elector of Cologne, bishop of Paderborn, in red wax above; of the chapter of Paderborn in green wax below; round about over the fillet with the seals of St. Liborius, of Theodoric Recke provost of the cathedral of Paderborn, of Caspar Philip a Ketteler dean, duly sealed by the canons of Paderborn, of Johann Wilhelm Baron de Syntzigh cantor and cellarer, of Adolph Heinrich Droste provost of the cathedral of Münster, of Arnold de Vittinghoff called Schelle provost at St. Mauritius, of Adolph Heinrich Droste the younger, canons of the cathedral of Paderborn, and of Abbot Carlenus, in red Spanish wax: then, the instrument of donation and attestation on parchment being unfolded, he read it in the best form to the said most illustrious and most reverend bishop, chapter, and canons of Amelia; and, showing all the said seals whole and in no way violated, from the instrument itself abundantly proved that the said capsule was truly, and the very same

was that which had been faithfully delivered by the most illustrious and most reverend prelates and canons of the cathedral of Paderborn, in the year 1646 on the ninth day of the month of June, at Münster in Westphalia, in the hall of the dwelling of the most reverend and most illustrious D. Bernard Westerholt, canon of the cathedral there, to be transferred to Amelia: that at last he placed the said capsule in the said box, and this with that in the said little bag, upon which the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop of Amelia superimposed four papers in the manner of a star, sealed anew, so as to form eight rays: and in the middle, where they touch one another, the chapter placed its own seal in four rays; and the said Father Bonaventura in the other four rays his own seal in red Spanish wax. Thus these things being accomplished, the box thus sealed with the capsule the same most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop of Amelia reverently laid up in a cupboard in the said sacristy, which corresponds to the door leading into the church: and it was closed with two keys, of which one the same most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop retained, and closed in the cupboard: the other he gave to the very illustrious and very reverend D. Augustinus Carlenus to keep. Concerning all and singular which premises, it was asked of me the below-written public notary and chancellor, that I should make and deliver one or more, a public or public, instrument and instruments, as should be needful, and as I shall be required.

[2] Done at Amelia in the said venerable sacristy of the said venerable cathedral church of St. Firmina; the Acts written up. there being present, hearing, and understanding the very reverend lords Julius Ghiringbellus master of ceremonies, and Christophorus Varatius chaplain of the same cathedral church, of Amelia, witnesses had, called, and asked for the aforesaid.

Now the tenor of the instrument of donation and attestation, of which mention is made above, the Acts of Münster being read out, is such, namely. Here were inserted the entire Acts of Münster, which we have already related above from the records received from Münster: and which are again recited at the end, no. 11, described in the schedule.

[3] In the same year, Indiction, and Pontificate as above; on the 8th of May 1647 there is deliberation concerning the translation, but on the 8th day of the month of May, the very Reverend Father Bonaventura of Rutheno, Capuchin preacher of the Rhenish province, together with the very venerable Father Joseph Maria of Perugia, preacher, his Roman companion, having returned to Amelia, treated with the most illustrious and most reverend bishop of the same concerning the manner, days, and hours of the resignation of the holy Relics of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans, Patron of Paderborn, and the institution of a procession with the same; and it was agreed between them to resign the said relics on the eleventh of May, and to make the procession with the same on the following day, the twelfth of May.

[4] On the eleventh day, therefore, of the said month, after vespers, the aforesaid father with his companion betook himself to the episcopal hall of the city of Amelia: from which a little after came forth the most illustrious and most reverend lord Gaudentius Polus, [on the 11th of May, in a solemn assembly of the canons and magistrates of Amelia,] by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See bishop of Amelia, clothed in a rochet, accompanied by the very illustrious and most reverend lord Delius Vectius, apostolic protonotary and vicar general, and also by the most illustrious lords Carolus Mandosius, Martius Boccarinus, Campeggius Carlenus, and Jacobus Moriconus, elders of the most illustrious city of Amelia, and the aforesaid Father Bonaventura with his companion, Capuchins, and many other Amelians, to the cathedral church of St. Firmina, awaited in it by the very illustrious and very reverend lords capitulars and canons of the same, namely, Nicolaus Racanus prior, Johannes Vincentius Mandosius provost, Augustinus Carlenus, Claudius Piciotus, Petrus Carlenus, Hieronymus Roscius, Curtius Mandosius, Fabianus Zucchans, Petrus Venturellus, Johannes Baptista Sandrus, Josephus Venturellus, Petrus Franciscus Racanus, and Dominicus Petruccius, clothed in surplices. At the entrance of the church the aspergillum with lustral water was handed by the aforesaid prior to the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop, with which he sprinkled first himself, then the lord canons, the elders, the Capuchins, and the other Amelians: and straightway he approached the altar of the Venerable, and, a prayer being made for a while with bended knees, with his retinue and those awaiting him he entered the sacrarium, in the midst of which stood an ample table for the vestments of the celebrants; but at the side, before the cupboard in which on the fifteenth day of March of the current year the sealed box with the sacred relics of St. Liborius had been laid up: and there being also six candlesticks, and as many white burning wax tapers, all being led round it in a circle, and the two keys of the said cupboard being given to Father Bonaventura the Capuchin; the very reverend lord Julius Ghiringhellus, master of ceremonies, brought two stoles, the first to the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop, the other to Father Bonaventura, which being hung about their necks, he set down the two candlesticks with their tapers, taken from the lesser table, in the ample one before him, and straightway turned to the aforesaid cupboard, at the side of which was affixed the prayer to St. Liborius against the disease of the stone: he opened it with those keys, and the guardian-case of the sacred relics being taken thence, reverently placed it in the ample table between those two candlesticks and the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop, in the little bag of ash color, consigned on the fifteenth of March with nine seals of red Spanish wax: and the instrument of the deposition drawn up on that same day being read, he showed all those seals still whole, which the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop presently opened, and Father Bonaventura the Capuchin, that woolen bag being removed, straightway opening the box on both sides, drew out the capsule, variegated, round, bound round with a scarlet fillet, sealed with ten seals, above in red wax of the most serene Elector of Cologne, bishop of Paderborn; below in green Spanish wax of St. Liborius, of Theodoric a Recke provost of the cathedral of Paderborn, of Caspar Philip a Ketteler dean, of Johann Wilhelm Baron a Zyntsigh cantor and cellarer, of Adolph Heinrich Droste provost of the cathedral of Münster, of Arnold de Vittinghoff called Schelle, provost at St. Mauritius, of Adolph Heinrich Droste the younger, canons of the cathedral of Paderborn, of Abbot Carlenus: and delivered it into the hands of the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop to be opened. Who, leaving those ten seals whole, cut it in eight places, the capsule being opened by the bishop. partly with scissors, partly with a small knife, and returned it to F. Bonaventura the Capuchin to bring forth the relics thence. Who, the lid being removed, drew out thence first three images of St. Liborius impressed on paper, 2. a schedule, from which it is clearly read that the relics contained in that capsule are truly of St. Liborius, delivered to him in the year 1646, on the ninth day of June at Münster in Westphalia, to be faithfully transferred to Amelia, 3. upon a red silk cloth unfolded he showed the two parts of the sacred relics, the relics brought forth, one of the skull, the other of the shin, which the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop, the canons, the elders, the Capuchins, and the others present, prostrate on their knees, and beating their breasts, honored with due honor; and, all being raised up, the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop kissed them. And presently a reliquary of black ebony skillfully made in the manner of an altar, with a foot on which it could stand, but broad and high two feet and a half, presently enclosed in a new reliquary, adorned with two marble columns, a gilded cross above, and other ornaments of silver and of gilt, opening it from the back part, he drew forth from it a capsule containing two oval hollows, whose bottom was of red silk interwoven with gold; in these he placed the holy relics, gluing the part of the skull to the upper, of the shin to the lower, with glue prepared for that purpose, lest they should slip out.

[5] This being done, he touched the sacred relics with several images of St. Liborius, and a benediction being given to those present, and with very many rosaries: then he placed them on the heads of several who asked it with bended knees, saying: "Through the intercession of St. Liborius may God free thee from evil." At last he placed upon the reliquary a glass, and the capsule with the relics, and so closed it, a little board being glued on, so that it could not thereafter be opened. and with images, These things being thus accomplished, and two hundred and fifty images of St. Liborius, which had touched his sacred relics, being distributed among the bystanders, Father Bonaventura the Capuchin delivered the aforesaid box, with that capsule sealed with ten seals, the instrument of attestation, donation, concession, delivery, and the schedule, to the chapter and canons to be preserved in perpetual memory of the matter, and commended the delivered relics, to be placed in a decent place and with due honor, which at last, laid up by the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop in a little chest made for that purpose with the reliquary, the aforesaid Prior received, and from the sacrarium through the church, two burning wax torches preceding, and as many following, but the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop, the canons, the elders, the Capuchins, and the other Amelians present following, carried to the chapel of the most holy Rosary, laid up in the cupboard: and laid it up in the cupboard on the left side of the same: which the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop himself closed with three keys, and entrusted them to Father Bonaventura the Capuchin to keep until the morrow, who conducted him, the others accompanying, to his hall, and, a benediction being received, departed with his companion.

[6] But on the following day, which was the 12th of May, and the third Sunday after Easter, again before Vespers, both Father Bonaventura himself with his companion, on the 12th of May carried to the church of the Conventual Fathers: and the lord canons with several priests, clerics, religious, angels in costume, the governor, the elders, the noble citizens of Amelia, and strangers, appeared in the episcopal hall: and when thence they followed the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop to the cathedral church, either to sing or to hear Vespers; he, a benediction being received from the same, betaking himself together with his companion, and the very reverend lords Aegidius Delphinus and Petrus Leoninus, to the aforesaid cupboard of the chapel, it being opened, carried the little chest taken thence with the reliquary and relics to the conventual church of St. Francis.

[7] after vespers a supplication was instituted thither; Vespers being meanwhile finished, and there being gathered in the cathedral the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop, the canons, priests, clerics, religious, the governor, the elders, nobles, confraternities, and men of both sexes, a solemn procession from the same to the conventual church of St. Francis was instituted in this order: there preceded in sacred vestments with banners and crosses the confraternities, the venerable society of the Sacrament, of Death, of Saints John and Paul, of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist under the title of Mercy, of St. Sebastian, of St. Roch, of St. Augustine, of St. Francis, of St. Firmina. There followed first the religious with crosses and banners, the Reverend Fathers Capuchins, the Discalced Hermits of St. Augustine, the Observants of the family, the reformed Observants, the Calced Hermits of St. Augustine, the Conventual Minorites, the Somaschi, then the clerics, priests, musicians, and canons, and last the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop, whom there preceded twelve angels in costume; the very reverend lords Julius Ghiringhellus master of ceremonies, and Hieronymus Douarellus, clothed in surplices, accompanied him; Johannes Vincentius Mandosius provost with a dalmatic, and Claudius Piciotus canon with a tunicle: there followed Dominicus Studiosus, Nicolaus Santes chaplain of the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop himself, the most illustrious lord Governor Josephus Brianza, the elders, nobles, citizens, and countless faithful of both sexes.

[8] and thence solemnly, When they had come to the church of the Conventuals, and the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop had entered the sacristy to vest himself; straightway Father Bonaventura the Capuchin, clothed with a stole,

vested, bearing forth thence the reliquary with the sacred relics, two burning white torches preceding, set it down in the middle of the high altar: whither the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop, following a little after in pontificals, paid to the sacred relics the due honors of incense, and prayed before them with bended knees, until by the musicians "Christ's distinguished prelate" had been sung thrice to the end. Meanwhile, besides those brought by the pious faithful, several other torches, and very many white wax tapers, were distributed among the clergy, the angels, the religious, and the chief persons: which being lighted, and a benediction being given by the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop with the sacred relics, they went in procession from this church, in the same order in which they had come to it, through seven others, of St. Elizabeth, of St. Monica, through various churches, of St. Augustine, of St. Magnus, of St. Stephen, of St. Catherine, of St. John the Evangelist, to the new cathedral of St. Firmina. to the cathedral; In each of those churches the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop, carrying the sacred relics about alone, censed them, placed upon the high altar; and, "Christ's distinguished prelate" being sung by the musicians, gave the benediction with them. Through the streets the musicians went before the sacred relics continually singing "Christ's distinguished prelate." The garrison soldiers of the Supreme Pontiff saluted them often in various places with the discharge of guns, the sky being unexpectedly cleared: and the gloomy sky, which before they began the procession was raining showers, now become more glad, so restrained all that no drop disturbed the procession.

[9] When the procession had returned to the cathedral, there again laid up: the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop, incensation being made to the sacred relics, left them on the high altar, and departed. Then Father Bonaventura the Capuchin, approaching, touched the reliquary with countless rosaries: he at last placed it in his little chest, and after he had set it upon the heads of very many devout persons of both sexes, carried it back to his cupboard, in the chapel of the most holy Rosary, lights preceding: and it being closed, left one key to the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop, another to the archdeacon, a third to Augustinus Carlenus to keep.

[10] These things were done on the tenth day in the church of St. Firmina, and its sacristy, the Acts of both days. there being present, hearing, and understanding the very illustrious lords abbot Paulus Sandrus, Marius Archilegius doctor of both laws, Marcus Aurelius Mandosius doctor of both laws, captain Romulus Cerichellus, Nicolaus Archilegius, and Carolus Morellus; and on the twelfth day there being present Julius Ghiringhellus master of ceremonies, and Hieronymus Douarellus, Amelian witnesses.

[11] Now the tenor of the above-mentioned schedule, of which mention is made above, The testimony enclosed in the capsule. is such, namely. In the name of the Lord, to the honor of his Saint: these are the two true parts, one of the skull, the other of the shin, of the sacred relics of the glorious St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans, patron of Paderborn, which at the instance of the venerable Father F. Bonaventura of Rutheno, Capuchin preacher, and by the license of the most serene Elector of Cologne, bishop of Paderborn, the most reverend lord capitulars of the cathedral church of Paderborn gave and delivered, together with the instrument of attestation, to the most illustrious and most reverend D. Peregrinus Carlenus of Amelia, abbot of blessed Mary, from the very tomb of the said Saint at the high altar in the cathedral church of Münster in Westphalia, the said father being present, where on account of the dangers of the wars they are preserved, to be transferred by the same father to Amelia in Umbria for the cathedral church there, in the year of the Lord 1645, on the ninth day of June.

[12] I, Benedictus Flametta of Amelia, by the grace of God public notary by apostolic authority, and enrolled for the archive of the Roman curia, and at present notary and chancellor of the episcopal curia of Amelia, being asked concerning the premises, and in faith here subscribed myself, and published, and, being required, signed with my accustomed sign.

THE PAIN OF THE STONE

Assuaged by the help of St. Liborius.

At Amelia in the years 1647 and 1648.

Liborius, bishop of Le Mans in Gaul (St.)

FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.

Romulus Cirichellus, from a grievous and long-continued pain of the stone, It is pleasing to append a twofold benefit of St. Liborius, attested by the narration of those very persons who experienced it; the one, moreover, by the autograph which is in my keeping. There is here Romulus Cerichellus, a centurion of Amelia, a man distinguished by birth above all, and honored. He writes thus to Abbot Carlenus, his old friend and kinsman, from Amelia on the 25th of April, 1648: "For eight years I have been afflicted with a grievous and unceasing disease of the bladder, so that for the last four I never took sleep except with a lamp burning within my chamber. My urine was often bloody, always foul, and so stinging that I could not expel it, though it was most frequently provoked, without sweat streaming over my whole body. Now I could neither ride a horse, nor bear any labor and exercise of the body. There was no appetite for food, the utmost weakness of strength: nor could this be sufficiently relieved by rest, since the craving and difficulty of urine shook it off again and again. At last this counsel settled in my mind, that I should have the stone, which was the undoubted origin of these pains, cut out for me, and for this cause I had set out for Rome two years before. But my friends there deterred me, saying that my age, now so far advanced, seemed unsuited to that remedy.

[2] through the relics of St. Liborius, "While I was tormented with these pains and cares, that heavenly treasure was brought to Amelia, obtained by you abroad for the salvation of our fatherland, the venerable relics of St. Liborius. These our bishop applied to me; and certain pious men conceived prayers and vows for my safety. After the solemn supplication instituted last May, in which the sacred relics were translated, he is freed; when I implored the help of St. Liborius with all the feeling of piety I could, I have to this very day experienced nothing of my former pain, and now enjoy very good health: for which I owe immense praises to God, and to his holy confessor Liborius; and thanks to you, most illustrious lord, by whose zeal we have obtained this treasure." Thus Romulus: who afterward caused authentic records to be drawn up, by the work of a public notary, on the 5th of June 1648, confirmed by his own autograph and that of Carolus Boccarinus, Johannes Carolus Cerichellus, Claudius Delphinus, Jacobus Moriconus, and by the authority of the elders of Amelia.

[3] and Johannes Clementinus, Johannes Clementinus, himself also a noble of Amelia, and in the pontifical warfare leader of a troop of horse, when this year 1648, about the beginning of spring, he was pressed with the sharpest pains of the stone, all human remedies having been tried in vain, turned his mind to the heavenly, and, fervently praying to St. Liborius, sends one of his household to Augustinus Carlenus, canon of the chief church, to ask that there be sent to him the image of that Saint, impressed on the red linen in which the relics had been wrapped, when they were carried from Münster to Amelia. This effigy brought to him he received with the utmost reverence and piety: through the image, hallowed by the touch of the relics and scarcely so little a space having elapsed as the psalm "Miserere" could be run through twice, he cast out two very large stones, without any feeling of pain at all. Presently he rose from his bed sound and cheerful, went to the church, and himself published the miracle throughout the whole city, for so he calls the benefit received from heaven.

[4] Each of these events, because it is not yet certain to me whether it has been approved by the authority of the church, I here recite in no other way The author's protestation. than as the testimony of two noble and grave men, who profess that they suppliantly sought relief of their sickness from St. Liborius, and obtained it: by no means, which by the decrees of the Supreme Pontiff Urban VIII is forbidden, do I proclaim it as a true miracle: until it shall have been so pronounced, the matter being examined, by those whose office it is. Which caution I ask may hold also in the rest, if any new benefits of St. Liborius, not yet lawfully examined and approved, be related in this booklet; that for so long they may obtain only the faith and weight of human history. But neither, while I bring forward the writings of others, if to anyone a title of dignity or honor be attributed which may be judged not to befit him, is it fair that this be imputed to me. For what I myself in no way affirm, the odium of it, if there be any, ought not to be derived upon me.

ANCIENT HYMNS TO ST. LIBORIUS.

I

Written on parchment, affixed to a tablet, hung in the choir of the cathedral church of Paderborn, beside the high altar, in the seats at the epistle side.

O Liborius, confessor of Christ, soberly and holily didst thou live: Thou, while thou didst act among men, didst take up a good life: the labors of St. Liborius, One of these was the active, the other the contemplative; Whence this containing virtue, abiding in thy heart, Made thee a laborer, and a faithful carpenter, And a noble wine-vessel. Wherefore the daily penny Thou didst receive in the vineyard of God, whom thou didst sincerely love: Eleven hours didst thou labor, cold and heat didst thou bear. The talent destined for thee through the Word of God incarnate Thou didst not keep hidden, but didst return it doubled; In setting forth the word of God, and in teaching thy subjects, In holding the way of truth, and not turning aside from it, To make their sins manifest, and thenceforth to love them not, To sweat in good deeds, never to trouble one's brother. The servants of the churches, having approved morals, Some to the minor orders, the more worthy to the higher, Thou didst thenceforth dedicate, promoted: the insufficient, the unknown, And those not washed in conscience, thou didst spurn from thee as removed. Thy light so openly shone, and prevailed among men, That it was rightly permitted them that the Father from heaven, who ruled Thy work, be glorified: for thou didst strive to gird Thy loins, nor to be defiled, but to be bound with the tight girdle Of continual continence. So in the spirit of wisdom, his virtues, Of fear and of patience thou didst live, and of innocence. Then for the secular necessities of thy house, The chief and the particular, thou didst fulfill various works. Afterward, by Almighty God, for the true jubilee year, Assigned to thee by him, which also the Law appointed for the Jew, Which had been the fiftieth, thy episcopate had endured, So Christ had fulfilled thy life, which he had loved. Then from this light he removed thee, and knew thee most faithful, For miracles he vowed thee, promoted them to be done through thee. Yet first being visited, and after the departure of thy breath, Thou wast buried by Martin ^a, troubled at thy death. his burial, Thy body being raised, a most sweet odor being given, A demoniac being freed, driven from the possessed body, The legates who had been sent sought the people of Le Mans: Who gave the same assent, and offered thy body, the translation That they might carry it to the church, present it at Paderborn, Place it honorably, and most faithfully love it. On the way thou, lover of God, inspirer of my good things, Wast ^b the raiser of three dead, and the deliverer To paralytics, gouty, mute, deaf, and stone-afflicted, in this, miracles. Maniacs and lepers, lame, blind, and scabby: And to all these thus sick, devout to Christ and to thee, Thou didst come to aid. To us, promoted in the Catholic faith, with vows to thee, O Liborius, deign yet to give thy true solace, And to become our protection, which may Christ grant us. Amen.

℣. Pray for us, St. Liborius. ℞. That we may be worthy, etc.

Prayer. Be present, O Lord, to our prayers, which we offer in the commemoration of thy holy Confessor and pontiff Liborius; that we who have no confidence of our own justice may be aided by the prayers and merits of him who pleased thee.

NOTES.

HYMN II.

From the same tablet.

Happy Prelate, O Liborius, Born of a better stock, Thou didst refuse the luxury of the world, St. Liborius renowned for miracles, Thou didst adorn thy race By fruitfulness; unto virtue Thou wast renowned at the beck of Christ: Seen a lover of the poor, And an imitator of the Saints, Chaste, generous, and kind, Worthy of all the praise of the world, For this God gave to thee Sacred gifts here and there: Many wonders through thee he wrought, From the possessed he cast out filth, The mute, the deaf thou didst cure, To the blind thou didst restore sight, The colic thou dost heal and cure, Thou takest away the tortures of the stone. Thou who, fortunate also in prayer, especially by the cure of the stone, thou aidest the pious state, Dost promote the state of the pious, Calling these to holy things, Thou hast power to obtain by praying. Hence unto my good estate Fit thou God himself, well-pleased: With the brightness of virtues Do thou make me holy, and with soundness; That hence praise may go forth to God, And profit to me, a guilty man. What I am, unto thy example, Grant that I may become a temple of God: That I may keep his commandments, And shun the sins of death. I pray thee as a suppliant, O Liborius, Dispose me to die holily: That after this end I may thus Be able in the heavenly life To praise the true God, And to abound in joys. Amen.

℣. Pray for us, St. Liborius. ℞. That we may be made worthy, etc.

O God, who didst bestow upon thy people blessed Liborius as a minister of eternal salvation: we beseech thee, that we who had him as a teacher of life on earth may deserve always to have him as an intercessor in heaven. Through the Lord.

III.

From the same tablet.

Let the present devout assembly Applaud pious Liborius, With sacred dancing: adorned with the mystic insignia of pontiffs: Let the sacred Clergy with the people, Together with the female sex, Exult in devotion. A most noble flower arises, Full of sacred virtues, Primate of Le Mans; Anointed with the oil of the Spirit Above his fellows, The pontiff Liborius. Upon his head the mitre, And the alb adorns his body, While he gives the laws of heaven. His sacred feet with sandals Bound, his thighs with linen, Under a mystic figure. Having entered the tabernacle, He reconciled the people To the supreme King of the heavens. In the discourse of the sacred word Made pastor of the people, The light which he gave to the law. Hence made a guest of Christ, Thou didst cast out the old unleavened bread For the paschal feasts. Rejoice, O Saint of God: Have mercy on thy flock In thy delights. Raise up those wavering in mind, Press down those who oppose thy own, And give a peaceful time. Wash away our guilt, Remove the divine wrath, Give a happy passing. Aid the vows of the humble, Wipe away the weeping of the faithful, Give solace to all. Jesus, King of all kings, Make us after this exile To have Liborius. Amen.

℣. The Lord loved him and adorned him. ℞. A robe, etc.

Bless, O Lord, thy people supplicating with thy right hand, and by the availing merits of blessed Liborius thy confessor and pontiff, defend them from all adversity. Through the Lord.

IV.

From the old Breviary of the church of Mainz.

Come, let us jubilate to God, noble, With jubilant harmony, With the affection of our hearts. Let praise take delight in him Who with a wondrous trophy Bestowed Liborius. A stock lofty and illustrious, Pleasing to the world, dear to God, Brought him forth to the age. But he surpassed his illustrious race, As the sun the radiance of the stars, In faith, a mirror of morals. Nature, able to do nothing further, holy, Transcended the laws of creating, Creating such a boy. In whom his tender age Despised crimes, A contemplator of works. A youth pleasing to the world, Flower of virtues, growing fruit, Gave his labor to philosophic Disciplines; eager to learn, Nor did his mind act perversely, Being imbued with great things. The light of honest brightness, The gem of the see's sanctity, He adds to the pontificate. Not remiss, not lifted up, He presided in the office Of the godlike prelacy. There are no tongues so eloquent That could set forth abundantly His benefits. For of how great merits He is, the frequent tokens Of miracles declare. renowned for miracles in life, After he had lived as prelate Forty and nine years For the city of Le Mans, Being visited by Martin, He was buried, made eternal In the heavenly hierarchy. O blessed Pontiff! Whose body, raised From the closed tomb, Everywhere diffused an odor Sweeter than aromatic spice, and in the translation, The people being encompassed round. Hence, while he is cleansed to be laid up, A demoniac is cured: A woman is raised up Bent by nature: A deaf and mute boy Obtains a cure: A maiden given to three penalties, Vexed by a demon, Deaf, mute, so many being cured, Rejoices in her sufferings. A blind woman receives the light of her eyes, Takes up the cure of the sick, And those whose bodies Were afflicted with many languors. Besides so many and so great Shown miracles, and afterward, In the times of the moderns By evident signs He is illustrious through the cures of diseases: especially by the cure of the stone: He takes away the tortures of the stone, Misfortunes, oppressions, For those who vow themselves to him. Be thou, O Liborius, our patron, Salutary, in faith, good, Stand for our security, Dispose us into grace, Make void all harmful things, Calm the furies of our enemies, Heal the languors of our bodies, Give brightness to our souls, After the sorrows of the world, ask for us The joys of heaven.

V.

SAPPHIC ODE

By F. M. de Giessun, from the same tablet of Paderborn.

The sacred altars are adorned with purple, The wax tapers feed perennial flames, The precious gifts of the rich gleam In the sacred temple. Poor, I bring with me slender victims, And offer the celebrated widow's gift, A small one, to the sacred altar of Liborius The prelate. Luke 21:2 In Sapphic verses I will speak the praises Of the Patron of my fatherland, and relate, Though unequal, in worthy song the renowned And pious Father. Who shall speak honors equal to thy merits, Who shall speak with worthy praises The venerable works and labors of thy life, Holy Liborius? As a boy thou didst first drink the milk of wisdom: Afterward, vigilant, thou dost read and traverse the sacred Liborius studies: Codices, joining to the days The times of the cold night. Sprung of an illustrious stock, holily and chastely he lives: Thou dost repress the unchaste motions of vices: the proud Pomps of the world, thy race, thy fields, and all Honors thou dost spurn. Thou dost spurn the bridal chambers of a wife: the raging Appetite of the belly thou dost subdue: with excessive Labor thou dost wear down the flesh, lest thou suffer it Rebellious. This thy virtue had made thee worthy let him be Bishop: Of the sacred prelacy: the people of Le Mans Rejoice to entrust the reins of a prelate To thee, the worthy. Thence, diminishing nothing of thy accustomed rigor, Thou dost more sharply mortify the flesh: vigilant, Thou dost knock with more frequent prayer at the ears Of the supernal Judge. As pontiff, with wholesome word, he preaches: Thou dost warn the peoples to shun the bloody demon's Harmful frauds: thou dost open the way to the joys On high. Entering upon thy fiftieth December As pontiff, thou art snatched away, about to die Of a sharp disease: the dread sisters of Lachesis he dies: Break the threads. Thy spirit, free from faults, rich in merits, The slender Angels, gliding through the airs, Singing sweet melodies, Set in the heaven. Thy glorious body, a sacred treasure, is translated: As thy bones were to be carried to the foreign Nation of the Saxons, who hold the fields Near to the Pader; Through the sacred ashes he wrought wonders, That God might show thee to be most worthy, To whom the Westphalians might entrust Their salvation. he works many miracles: The demons, proud princes of the Stygian Hall, dwelling in the limbs of men, Moving the mind with dread frenzy, Are cast out. Those who grieved that their light was taken away, Powerless to see the bright rays of the sun, While they beseech thee, recover The use of light. He cries out, and renders sounding praises To the Lord, and lifts his voices above the stars, He whose organs of speech Ailing nature had before bound. The dried shins are clothed over With living flesh, and the lame leap, The members are restored to their own uses From their contractions. The impious dominion of powerful fate he raises the dead: Is bent, from the blind prison the shade Is recalled, and it endows the cold corpse With the gift of life. The deaf man hears the unaccustomed speech of men, As with faithful prayer he asks for soundness Of the Saint with silent groaning at The prelate's altar. After the people laid up the venerable bones In the lofty temple, the heavenly power Never willed to be wanting To the consecrated limbs. he calms the tempest: Dreading the face of bloody death, While he beseeches thy help, the savage Storm subsided. Iron chains bound others, he frees captives: Fetters twisted others; from peril, Thee their leader, having escaped, they set up their The dire pain of the stone and of the colic Thou dost soothe: if the sick man with faithful prayer Ask, thou art able to drive away all Hurtful diseases. Sooner shall the sun hide his rosy chariot In the sea, and the shadows of night return, Than all the wonders thou canst do, Thou who art resplendent, be told. Therefore the venerable throng of the clergy, The author invokes him, Devout, asks thee with suppliant prayer, That, thee their leader, it may proceed with prosperous Course to the joys on high. Thee the hoary fathers, and the trembling mothers, The chaste wives, the boys and girls, Their knee set upon the ground, O holy Liborius, beseech. Do thou, beholding us from lofty Olympus, Turn away the diseases of the body, the plagues of the soul, And famine and sudden death and Wars, we pray. Give upright morals to tender youth, Give to old age to enjoy peaceful Rest, and after our late deaths transfer us To the citadel of heaven. Thou, O Paderborn, too blessed, While thou, venerable, dost keep for thy temples The sacred things, while thou dost heap with just honor The bones of Liborius, Thou surpassest in glory two-sea'd Corinth, Thou excellest great Nineveh in honor: Distinguished Riblah yields to thee, of its own accord Royal Memphis. Do not, O senseless one, heap up the powerful wrath he admonishes the people of Paderborn. Of the gods above by wicked deeds; Lest thou be proved worthy to be scourged Rather than aided.

NOTES.

NOTES.

ANALECTA

From the instruments which, after the preceding commentary of Bolland published in the year 1648, came to our knowledge.

Liborius, bishop of Le Mans in Gaul (St.)

BY THE AUTHOR G. C.

§ I. Diverse opinion concerning the year in which the Saint died, and the friendly society between the church of Le Mans and that of Paderborn.

After our Bolland had laboriously collected most of the things pertaining to St. Liborius, and, for the reasons stated in his preface, had published them in print separately before the day sacred to him, The reason for the analecta concerning St. Liborius is given, there was aroused the pious curiosity or curious piety of certain persons, who supplied new material for writing about the Saint: for some on this occasion investigated more diligently the ancient monuments of the holy Prelate, and even drew a few things out of darkness; others, moreover, propagated his worship, before nearly unknown in many places, through several cities of Italy and Belgium. Hence there came forth certain little works, written both in Dutch and in Italian, which illustrated not a little the posthumous glory of the Saint. Since, however, the founder of our work, Bolland, has published the chief chapters of the deeds, I have been unwilling to change his learned lucubration, but have wished only to add those things which afterward came in.

[2] Bolland in § I of his Commentary, according to the monuments which he then had, discoursed with sufficient probability concerning the death of St. Liborius, and a varied opinion is proposed concerning the year in which the Saint died. and judged that it should not be deferred beyond the year 383. But afterward Mabillon in the third volume of his Analecta published the catalogue and deeds of the bishops of Le Mans, which seem to have been collected in the ninth century. Hence our Papebroch in the third volume of June, from p. 856, arranged the chronological series of those same prelates, and on p. 859, after explaining the chronology of the three predecessors, writes thus concerning the age of St. Liborius: "St. Liborius was ordained in 347, on the 7th of June; sat 49 years; died in 396, on the 9th of June, and is venerated on the day of his translation, the 23rd of July. The see was vacant 7 months, 4 days." But this system of Papebroch is not without its difficulties, and the very instruments of Le Mans teem with parachronisms, as Papebroch there on p. 858 confesses. Wherefore concerning this diverse opinion I have judged that the reader should only be advised, and it should be left to his judgment, that, after the reasons on both sides have been weighed, he may embrace the opinion which shall appear the more probable.

[3] A letter, hitherto lacking, is exhibited, Then Bolland in § IV exhibited the responsory letter of the people of Le Mans, given in the year of the Lord 1205, on the eve of the Kalends of October, to the people of Paderborn; but there in no. 19 he confesses that he had not seen the earlier letter of the people of Paderborn to the people of Le Mans, which Corvasserius the treasurer first transmitted to him in the year 1649. But this is taken from the manuscript codex of Le Mans, which is commonly called the White Book, where from fol. 41 the following is read: "To the reverend and beloved in Christ lords, brethren and friends, the dean and chapter of Le Mans, L., by the grace of God dean, and the chapter of the greater church of Paderborn, perpetual salvation in the Lord, sincere love, faithful service, and devout prayers. If the beginnings of the nascent Church be recalled to memory, as among believers there was unity in faith, in spirit, in baptism, so also, their means being contributed into one, the desire of all was one: to relieve the needs of the poor, to succor the oppressed and unjustly burdened, to reckon the injuries of others as their own.

[4] by which the chapter of Paderborn, But afterward, while God began to be acknowledged in the houses of the city of the great King, which is founded in the exultation of the whole earth, several churches were so united in the framework of one body, that they believe the same, think the same, hope the same, love the same, are partners of sufferings and consolations, and the desolation of one church is brought into the common groaning of all churches, as by the injury of one member all the members of the body are troubled by a certain sharing of compassion. But after the vineyard of the Lord extended its branches beyond the sea, and an unknown people began to serve and obey, the churches of Gaul and Germany, no last part of the Lord's tunic, which is not rent, gladly embracing the aforesaid unity, bound themselves mutually by a sincere devotion of fraternal and mutual charity: namely, by the example of those who beckon to their partners in another boat to come and help them, those were more closely and perhaps more firmly connected by a certain bond of spirituality, which, on account of the nearness of place, can more frequently revisit one another in person, and mutually succor one another in necessities with faithful counsel and diligent effort, nay even mutually exhort one another, and on both sides pertinently allege for themselves: 'Let us love not in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth': for frequently the bond of friendship is suddenly broken or gradually dissolved, when what we promise with the mouth we do not exhibit in deed; because the will does not suffice, where the means is at hand; for it is written: 'He who shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels of mercy from him, how doth the charity of God abide in him?'

[5] All these things prudently foreseeing and carefully guarding against, the reverend lady and our dearest sister the church of Le Mans, on account of the relics of St. Liborius formerly received, when she took care to enroll our humility in the catalogue of her brethren, discharged at once, on one day, largely and liberally, all the offices of brotherhood which she ought to have exhibited to us through many turns of all time, but, being situated in another kingdom, with long spaces of lands hindering, could by no means. For to those things which our bishop Baduraf, of renowned memory, the Holy Spirit revealing, confidently sought with the intervention of the Emperor Louis, blessed Aldric with all Le Mans, the same Spirit persuading, inclined his assent, and transmitted to us in the year of the Lord eight hundred and thirty-six that precious treasure, namely the most sacred body of the renowned and glorious St. Liborius, to be embraced with pious love, and to be always honored with every ecclesiastical worship and the office of divine praise. Which having been honorably (as today is plain to those beholding) placed in our church, a great and twofold benefit was placed: for the cures of the outer man perfected the health of the inner: for the faithful Lord preserved with immovable truth the pacts which he interposed with the light whisper of his revelation. For the barbarous people lately converted to the faith, by the frequency of the signs which were shown at the most sacred pledges of blessed Liborius, the word of the preachers confirming, no longer relapsed to the worship of idols, did not fall back into the ancestral errors, nor did Paderborn afterward sustain the assaults of the pagans. For it, glad and glorious by the merits and prayers of its Patron, as a ship secure by the art of a good pilot, although in a turbulent sea, namely among the Saxons, and most hard nations, sometimes feared the strong wind of grievous persecution and, disturbed, wavered, yet escaped the peril and advanced even to us, who, alas, cannot equal the merits of our patrons, and need to be aided by your prayers, with increases of temporal aid and of religion.

[6] For this so incomparable treasure, therefore, for so glorious a gift of your excellent charity, we give you thanks, with the chapter of Le Mans not as great as we ought, but as great as we can, by the address of the present letter, and we shall always give them by the devout service of the inner man. But this too, God being witness, we say to you, that if ever occasion should offer itself of exposing our bodies and goods to the command of your will, we would give you so evident a proof of our devotion, that you would say that saying of Solomon rather befits us: 'He that is a friend loveth at all times'; than that: 'There is a friend according to his own time, and he will not abide in the day of necessity.' Moreover, the recent token of your ancient but not antiquated favor, which shall dwell between our breasts, we prosecute with a special thanksgiving, holding it most grateful that you, as we understood from the bearer of your letters, heard with the inmost grief of heart and great bitterness of your soul that the chair had been translated from us, and, to inquire into this very thing, sent him to us. To this our whole community your solicitude ministers a special matter of joy and worthy of eternal memory, which, uncertain whether we had the life and translation of St. Liborius, transmitted it to us with its letter, fearing lest, if the written tokens of the deeds were wanting, the deed done should come into oblivion, and we, ungrateful from oblivion, from ingratitude be made hateful to God and men. But lest anxiety of this kind further disturb you, we make known to you that the chair is with us in its former honor, so also do you faithfully and carefully preserve the letter and the book transmitted, and hold this which is now recently impressed on your memory; and take care to teach and admonish your sons, that they may retain it by heart, so that a special and perpetual memory of us may be had in your prayers, because neither the festival of the Lord's nativity, nor of Easter, nor of Pentecost, nor even

the solemnity of blessed Liborius, nor suspension, nor interdict or excommunication, nor any chance whatsoever, can hinder us from making a special and nominal memory of you.

[7] it desires to contract a perpetual friendship, Moreover we wish our stipends to be in turn common with you, as we do not doubt was instituted by our fathers; yet with this caution applied (lest our church be burdened by any erroneous and wandering person), that if any of ours known to you should come to you, or any of yours known to us should come to us, he may receive a stipend. But let the unknown, unless he comes fortified with the letters of his church, not reckon that injury or contempt is done to him, if he be not treated fraternally and honorably. For the rest, what we say last, we desire and wish to be more dearly impressed upon you, with sincere devotion and the whole affection of our heart suppliantly asking, that you make a solemn memory of our Patron, and of that glorious light of your church, in the nocturnal and diurnal office on his birthday; to which petition indeed you ought to concur with grateful assent, because if Le Mans is proclaimed glorious in the kingdom of France by the merits of blessed Julian, it itself without doubt is held no less celebrated and distinguished in Saxony by the translation, merits, and miracles of blessed Liborius. Fare ever well in the Lord. Given in the year of the Lord one thousand two hundred and four, on the eighteenth of the Kalends of September.

[8] which persevered up to the middle of the 17th century, That friendly society between the two churches was still flourishing about the middle of the seventeenth century, when the people of Le Mans had succored by their intercession with the king of France the church of Paderborn, afflicted by the enemy, as appears from various letters, then written back and forth, which the same Corvasserius sent to Bolland in the year 1650, with this excuse for the delay prefixed: "All the letters, reverend father, which I had long ago promised you, witnesses of the mutual covenant between the chapter of Le Mans and that of Paderborn, I send to you, which you may now add as appendices, as it were, to the life of St. Liborius. But I could not fulfill my promise sooner at leisure: not because much time had to be spent by me in recovering and copying them; but because the offices both of household affairs and of public duty wholly possess and occupy me, and so overwhelm my mind with cares and business of every kind, that they do not allow it to be distracted and detained by other things."

[9] It will suffice here to bring forward the last letter, an index of that constant friendship, as appears from the letters of the people of Paderborn, by which the people of Paderborn thus give thanks to the chapter of Le Mans for their fraternal affection and the aid rendered them: "Very reverend, most noble lords. We have received the letters of your lordships, witnesses of fraternal affection, nay of royal favor. And who could have hoped, after so many ages, for so desired and copious a produce of our covenant? For our St. Liborius, like a precious grain of wheat once sown in the field of Paderborn, and hitherto watered with the tears of so many afflicted and innocent men, germinates even now the fruit of salvation. He, after he perceived our vows in heaven, stirred up your hearts to bring help to his church in peril. You rendered it, most honored brethren, beyond all merit, above our hope, by bending the clemency of the most pious king with prayers, by opposing his power to our enemies. Thus the tutelary diploma of royal patronage testifies, obtained by your charity toward us, and your skill in conducting affairs, all men marveling.

[10] It was exhibited to us at the most desired time, when the terror of the Swedish army, after its forces were repaired at the Weser, had left us nothing safe either in our country or city. by which to the chapter of Le Mans, Then suddenly from your heaven a new light arises for us, the ancient piety of the most Christian king, wont to succor the wretched. Which praise, though all monarchs claim it as proper to your king, his clemency above all makes eminent to him in this tempest. Whose glory is also the more sublime, because, by spending the dignity of his favor upon the solace of the afflicted, his authority upon the defense of the churches, he consecrates both to God. There will be, therefore, those who at this time engrave upon bronze, silver, gold the trophies and symbols of your king's benefactions, and carry them about, cut in gems, through Europe. We will insert them in a better metal, and on the tablets of a holier parchment of a devout heart, and in the sacred annals of our church; so that while daily we sacrifice the victim at the immaculate altar, we may commend to the divine power, to be preserved, the glorious memory of Louis the most Christian king, our protector, surrounded by the company of the most august mother and the most eminent Cardinal, of St. Liborius, and of the other saints.

[11] It is now being brought about that, immunity from military garrison being obtained from both hostile parties, we may pave an easier way for the royal protection: they give thanks for the aid rendered them. in which we use the counsel and authority of the most excellent legates, and their zeal for religion, to our own and many Catholics' solace. For the rest, most honored and most longed-for brethren in Christ, since the worthy price of your benefit is wanting on earth, we ask the Father of mercies that he may be your reward exceeding great. Continue to love your fraternal church in deed and in truth as hitherto, and hold us bound to every service. If perchance these seem to be sent somewhat late, the cause is that, lately torn from one another on account of the dangers of the journeys, we could not sooner assemble to our own homes, to which we most faithfully commend our most honored brethren to the divine protection. Given at Paderborn, the 25th of March, in the year of the Lord one thousand six hundred and forty-eight. Of your very reverend and most noble lordships the most obedient; the provost, dean, seniors, and chapter of the cathedral church of Paderborn. Johann Sampleda."

§ II. Authentic instruments, by which it is shown that the same relics were restored to the people of Paderborn which Christian of Brunswick had taken away.

[The wife of the prince of Salm sends back to the prince of Paderborn the relics of St. Liborius,] Bolland in §§6 and 7 narrated how the relics of St. Liborius of Paderborn were taken away by Christian of Brunswick and afterward restored. But although concerning the identity of those relics the history of Karl Erlewein related above sufficiently establishes it, yet for the sake of greater confirmation I here subjoin certain letters, written by the wife of the prince of Salm, whose French autographs are preserved in the palace of Nihus, whence by other testimonies the same identity of the relics is proved. Our Papebroch in the year 1680 transcribed these letters, rendered from the French tongue into Latin, in the following order: "I counted myself exceedingly happy that the venerable relics of St. Liborius came into my hands; and now I hold it the greatest honor to me that I can lay them back into the hands of your Highness. I return them therefore with sincere affection; both because I greatly revere your Highness, and because I ought to obey my lord and husband the prince of Salm commanding it. I will confess indeed that this is done by me not without a certain feeling of a reluctant mind, on account of the devotion with which not only I am affected toward that great Servant, but also all our subjects and the whole neighborhood; for it is so fervent that at these Pentecost feasts the people were seen to run up from every side, and God showed himself doubly admirable in his Saint, when from the sacrilegious plunder of his relics he drew forth his greater glory, and illustrated his name with miracles, the relation of which I send to your Highness, fortified by the affirmation of witnesses worthy of faith, by the approval of the first physician of his Highness of Lorraine, and by the countersignature of an apostolic notary. Furthermore, to preserve devotion of this kind, strengthened by such evident signs, I have reserved for myself some small portion of those holy relics, which with the good leave of your Highness I will reverently keep, humbly beseeching that you would deign to receive the other bones of the sacred body, which I send you, as from her who will always be your Highness's most humble and most obedient handmaid, Christina de Croy."

[13] and the testimony of the physician and surgeon, "I the undersigned councillor and ordinary physician of his Highness, being asked for this, saw a certain boy of six years, named Desiderius, son of Marcus l'Huillier and Helwig his wife, dwelling at Neuviller; after which also on various occasions I attentively considered the legs and shins of the aforesaid infant, and both from the account of the mother and from the attestation of several honest and upright women I understood that he could never stand on his feet, nay that three years ago his legs and shins had been vehemently deformed and miserably curved inward: and that nonetheless on a certain Lord's Day, the 21st of May last, this infant, carried by his mother to a procession instituted in honor of St. Liborius in the chapel of the castle of Neuviller, where the relics of that great Servant of God rest, and, on the return of the said procession, being raised onto his feet by his aforesaid mother in a certain chamber contiguous to that chapel, sustained himself upon them and steadied some steps, to the great admiration of those who had known him before, and especially of his poor little mother weeping for joy. Finally, that thereafter, taking daily increase and resuming his strength, he was seen very visibly to advance toward the right and natural conformation of the injured parts. All which being thus deposed as above, and affirmed by the living voice of so many witnesses, I the same as above, mature deliberation being premised, overcome by the evidence of the reasons, concluded that a cure so prompt and so unexpected, so extraordinary also, and superior at once to the powers of art and of nature, could not, without injury to the divinity, which willed to reward the merits of its Saint, be ascribed to any other than the power of the divinity itself, willing by the effect of its omnipotence expressly to attest the truth of these holy relics, of which otherwise there might have been doubt. Done at Neuviller, the 7th day of June 1623. Signed, Chacet, councillor and ordinary physician of his Highness of Lorraine.

"The undersigned ordinary surgeon of his Highness of Lorraine, assisting the physician both in the visitation of the boy and in the report made thereupon by many persons worthy of faith, attests and affirms that in the cure of which there is question he recognized nothing which does not transcend the limits of nature; and therefore believes himself bound to give the glory to God alone. Done at Neuviller in the year and day aforesaid. N. du Mesnil.

"This copy, taken from the original, agrees with it in all things and through all. So I attest in the same year and day, an apostolic notary, the 7th of June 1623. J. Thibault, apostolic notary."

[14] "In the name of the Lord, Amen. We the undersigned notary and curate certify by these presents, and also of the notary and curate, that whereas the relics of St. Liborius had been given to the most excellent lady princess of the Rhine and Salm by the duke of Brunswick, plundered by him from the church of Paderborn and translated to the castle of Neuviller of the diocese of Toul, the said excellency, out of her peculiar devotion toward the aforesaid relics, ordered a general procession to be instituted on the Lord's Day, the 21st of the month of May last, in which the aforesaid relics were carried about with a great concourse of people: and among others there was present a certain woman of Neuviller, named Helwig, and she brought a certain son of hers, named Desiderius, six years old, who, according to the account of his said mother, and of several other honest persons worthy of faith, had never walked on his feet, nor was there any appearance that he could ever

naturally do it, because he had his shins already for three years deprived of flesh, and his legs twisted inward with a deformity of the kind which moved compassion, nay rather horror in those beholding. But the mother herself, when in the said procession she had devoutly prayed and invoked the help of St. Liborius for the healing of her said son, following with him the aforesaid relics, when on that day they were being carried back from the parish church to the castle, as soon as they arrived there, the boy himself began to walk, and at the present time walks: in which it appears evidently that a cure of this kind is miraculous. And in faith of these things we have signed the present testimony this 7th day of the month of June 1623. J. Thibault, public notary by apostolic authority. N. Marlier, curate of Neuviller."

Memorial of certain miracles done in this place of Neuviller through the merits of St. Liborius.

On the feast day of the most holy Sacrament of this present year 1623, on the Lord's Day, when Thouvenel of Château-sur-Moselle had come sustaining himself with two crutches under his armpits, concerning the miracles recently wrought through them; on that very day he began to be better, and on the feast of St. John the Baptist was so healed that he walked freely without crutches.

On the 14th day of June 1623 Nicolas Bonjean of Mesnil recovered his sight, which he had lost for a year.

On the 2nd day of July 1623 Margaret, daughter of the mayor Claudon of St. Germain, recovered the sight of one eye in the chapel of the castle of Neuviller under the sacrifice of the Mass, feeling then in that said eye of hers a pain.

On the Sunday within the Octave of the Venerable Sacrament, the widow of Desiderius Couteau of Haussonville, blind for five years, received the faculty of seeing.

Several other persons found relief in their infirmities, whom I do not name particularly, because they departed from us without their names being indicated. In faith of which I, N. Marlier, curate of Neuviller, have signed the present memorial with my manual sign. N. Marlier, curate of Neuviller.

[16] then she asks the intercession of the same prince, "My lord, by the return of your Highness's almoner I sent him the attestation of the first miracle done in this place through the intercession of St. Liborius: and because I then promised that I would send others also, if they should occur, that I may discharge my faith and impart to you the joy which I know your Highness will receive thence, I submit a memorial of some others, which were done after the departure of your almoner, and came to our knowledge, while meanwhile others of a greater number are awaited in the required form. But this I do by the command of my lord the prince of Salm, who prescribed to me that I should send them: so that if perchance any doubt remain to you, whether these are the true relics, you may doubt no more. For it is incredible how great is the devotion toward that good Saint: and so great is the concourse of people that it cannot be expressed in words, and few persons come who do not report solace from them. Since therefore, my lord, you are the successor of that great Saint, I judge his cause to pertain to you, and therefore I come to your Highness, representing to the same how, on account of the concourse of pilgrims invoking the help of St. Liborius, I was compelled to place that holy relic in the church of the village itself, which is a Priory, founded by our lord predecessors for placing there religious of the Order of St. Benedict, as also they placed them, even depriving themselves of a certain chapel which they had belonging to the castle of this place, to the end that there day and night the Canonical Hours might be celebrated by the aforesaid religious: to the same also they attributed the tithes of their domains, which before had been incorporated to the aforesaid chapel.

[17] "The Priory is good, and its annual revenues can sustain twelve religious, that in a certain priory she may establish Benedictine monks, according to the manner in which they now live after their reformation. There is there at present no one except one secular Prior, who administers very badly: for no canonical office is any longer performed there, as neither are there any religious there, since the place has been given in commendam, our predecessors, being heretics, caring little for it, and there is here only one vicar, who once or twice a week says Mass, to the great prejudice of our subjects and against the intention of the lord founders and of my lord the prince of Salm and my own, who, as good Catholics, desire all things reduced to the ancient norm for the preservation of divine service, and the spiritual necessities and instruction of our children; and also because that place, on occasion of the good St. Liborius, is now more frequented than any other pilgrimage of this region. Wherefore it seems more than ever necessary to give religious to the said priory, as of old there were had there, both to aid the wretched souls of those coming thither to obtain health, by hearing their confessions. And indeed, besides that thus the intention of the founders would be satisfied, they would there make incomparable fruit to the glory of God and of his Saint: in whose name I humbly beseech your Highness that you would deign to write concerning that business to His Holiness, that by apostolic authority he may command the aforesaid place to be restored to its former state, and that it be consigned into the hands of the Benedictine fathers, to satisfy the intention of the lord founders, who never willed to give a place so fair to nourish one man alone, because he almost never comes to fulfill his office.

[18] "My dearest lord the prince of Salm has often written to His Holiness on this matter: [and for the greater honor of St. Liborius to place among them the relics retained by her,] nay there is at Rome a certain agent of his Highness the archduke Leopold, called Lord Wil, who solicits the dispatch, but since it is drawn out at length, and His Holiness has committed the cause to our bishop, whom, because he is a friend of the kinsmen of the said prior, we have besought not to be employed in it; and nonetheless His Holiness absolutely commands it, considering the equity of the reason proposed to him by us, I most humbly entreat your Highness that you obtain this favor for us. I have written on this account to the lord Cardinal of Salerno, whom I know, whenever you shall have written to him, will do all things that shall please you, relying on your authority. Indeed I promise myself the best success: for all things seem to concur to it, and God to will it. And this I persuade myself the more firmly, because no other reason leads my lord the prince of Salm and me to so great a desire of that matter than the sole glory of God and now also of St. Liborius, that he may here be served, and devoutly invoked, as we are bound to do. I am certain that your Highness cannot do any action more pleasing to the Lord and to his Saint, than by procuring as promptly as possible the increase of his worship: and this again with all humility I beg of your Highness, because I cannot without shame see our church so ill administered and adorned, that the church of the least village surpasses it. Finally, I ask this single recompense of you for the service which we rendered by withdrawing this holy relic from the hands of the Huguenots: but all my desire tends to this, that he be well served in this region, since in it he works so many wonders; wishing that you may be the successor of his sanctity, and that he may obtain for you all felicity in this and the future life, which she who is, my lord, your most humble handmaid, vows to you from her heart. At Neuviller, the 25th of July 1623. Christina de Croy."

[19] Here follows the very testimony of Christian of Brunswick, who had taken away the relics: which she proves to be true from the very testimony of Christian of Brunswick. "We Christian, by the grace of God duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, etc., make certain that the bones which we send back and give to the lady countess Rhinegravine are the very bones of St. Liborius, which were found in the cathedral church of the city of Paderborn. In faith of which we have signed these presents with our accustomed manual sign, and sealed them with the seal of our arms. Done at Sedan, the 12th day of August 1622. Transcribed by N. Chanbert."

§ III. The relics of the Saint communicated to various churches.

Although the people of Le Mans retained some relics of St. Liborius, While one reads in §3 of the Bollandian Commentary that in the 24th year of Louis the Pious, or the year of Christ 836, St. Liborius was translated from Le Mans to Paderborn, let him not suppose that this is to be understood of the whole body of that Saint: for among the deeds of Aldric, bishop of Le Mans, written by his disciples, and published by Baluze in book 3 of the Miscellanea, p. 111, the following is had: "In the year of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 840, in the third indiction, and in the 27th year of the empire of Louis the most pious Augustus, and in the 8th year of Aldric, bishop of this parish and founder of this monastery, namely on the 7th day of the Ides of July, there was solemnly translated by the aforesaid bishop, and by other bishops and priests and the remaining sacred orders, the body of St. Pavacius, and the right arm of St. Liborius, into this church of the holy Savior, and here buried becomingly in a most noble urn by the aforesaid bishops and priests, signs following, by whose prayers we ask of all to be freed from evils, and to enjoy eternally all good things, he himself aiding, to whom be honor and glory throughout the ages of ages. Amen." It is plain, therefore, that the people of Le Mans retained for themselves some part of the sacred body. But concerning those relics which are kept at Château-Renard, treatment is made on the following day.

[21] Nevertheless the relics of St. Liborius granted to the people of Paderborn [yet gave so great an abundance of them to the people of Paderborn, that they communicated them to various cities of Italy.] were so copious that they communicated them liberally to other cities, and propagated the worship of their holy Patron through various provinces by this pious munificence. A witness of this veneration is Amelia, the ancient city of Umbria, which received the remains of this holy Prelate with the highest applause and honor, as Bolland in §§8 and 9 more fully related. A witness is Genoa, the most well-known city of Liguria, which venerates his relics, as is gathered from a certain writing which Johannes Antonius Mariconus published at Genoa in the year 1683 for the distinguished collegiate church of Blessed Mary de Vineis against the very reverend parish priests: for in it on p. 4 this is read: "A relic of St. Liborius was granted to the said church by the most serene prince and archbishop of Münster and Paderborn at the instance of D. Johannes Michael Casonus, D. count Laurentius Casonus then interceding for him at the peace congress of Nijmegen, on behalf of the Apostolic See intervening, and now secretary of our most holy Lord Pope Innocent XI, with a most kind and very estimable responsory letter of the aforesaid most serene Highness directed to the said chapter, which most pious prince was unwilling to impart the said relic, except upon a prior attestation transmitted to him of the most reverend vicar general, proving the distinction of the said collegiate church." A witness finally is Rome itself, which most ardently sought and obtained the sacred remains of this Prelate. Further, on what occasion this was done, it is pleasing to set forth in a few words.

[22] Dominicus Buoncompagni the Roman, after a long-continued

pain of nephritis, It is set forth how the worship of St. Liborius began at Rome, and the aids of physicians being tried in vain, in the year 1648 was so oppressed with the same disease that his health was altogether despaired of. When he set forth his miseries to his friends, D. Valentinus Pelegrini of Amelia persuaded him to invoke St. Liborius, whose relics a few years before had been brought to Amelia by the Capuchin Fathers, and gave him an image of the holy Prelate with a hymn and prayer, that he might commend himself to his patronage. Buoncompagni followed his friend's counsel, and added a vow of celebrating every year the feast of the Saint in a certain church of the city of Rome, as long as he lived. In a short time he experienced the help of his holy Patron: for straightway he felt so great a relief of his inveterate disease, that in the same year 1648 he ordered a great effigy of the Saint to be placed in the collegiate church of SS. Celsus and Julian, and there on the 23rd of July celebrated the annual festival of St. Liborius, many images of the holy Prelate being also distributed together with the hymn and prayer. Many, seeing Buoncompagni freed from a most grievous disease, had recourse to the help of the same Saint, images being hung to his effigy in the aforesaid church, and experienced solace in their pains. Thus at Rome devotion toward St. Liborius arose.

[23] Buoncompagni afterward lived long in health, and after his death the same piety of the Romans toward St. Liborius persevered; and how his relics came to that city. nay it began to increase, when the most eminent Petrus Ludovicus Caraffa, who had been nuncio of Cologne, obtained from the most serene Elector of Cologne notable relics of St. Liborius, which he ordered to be honorably placed in the aforesaid church of SS. Celsus and Julian. It is a bone of the arm, which the canons of the aforesaid church received with the utmost reverence and enclosed in a silver case. Afterward in honor of the same Saint they built an altar, at which not rarely the most eminent Cardinals and other prelates celebrate Mass. When the annual festival of the Saint recurs, the relics are exposed upon the altar, images and hymns are distributed, and, by the indult of the sacred congregation of rites, in the aforesaid church every year under the rite of a semi-double the office of the Saint is recited. All these things I learned from the Italian narration which Alexander Pietra-santa, once under Urban VIII a canon of the aforesaid church, sent to our Elders. Now I subjoin the authentic instruments, by which the truth and identity of the Roman relics is proved, and their lawful donation is explained.

[24] To which end authentic instruments are brought forward, In the name of the Lord, Amen. By the tenor of the present public instrument let it be evidently open and known, that in the year from the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ 1651, in the fourth Indiction, in the seventh year of the pontificate of the most holy in Christ Father and our Lord D. Innocent, by divine providence Pope the tenth, on the tenth day of August, between the sixth and seventh hour after noon, before me the public notary, and in the presence of the witnesses to be named below, there were personally constituted at Paderborn in the episcopal hall, which they call the chancery, the most reverend and most illustrious prince and Lord D. Theodor Adolph, bishop of Paderborn, count of Pyrmont, etc., and the most reverend and very illustrious Lords Caspar Philip a Ketteler, dean of the cathedral church of Paderborn, Johann Alard ab Imbsen chamberlain, … Johann Wilhelm Baron de Sintzigh cantor and cellarer, Otto Wilhelm ab Oyenhausen scholasticus, and the very venerable fathers Bonaventura the Ruthenian preacher, and Theodosius of Münster priest, Capuchins, requiring me the notary and the witnesses employed, and together with them, by virtue of a singular requisition, to be present at a certain act to be celebrated by them there, and diligently to inspect, note, and, it being performed, to reduce it to my protocol, and also thereupon, for my due salary, to be willing to make one or more instrument and instruments.

[25] Now the singular requisition was of the following tenor: in which it is related, "To the greater glory of Almighty God, we Theodor Adolph bishop of Paderborn, etc., and Caspar Philip a Ketteler dean, and the rest of the seniors and capitulars of the cathedral church of Paderborn, to you lords notary and witnesses specially required for this, for the dignity of the matter, and the merits of St. Liborius our patron, have thought fit to set forth; that whereas the Lord is great and exceedingly to be praised, to be praised also in his Saints, for whose merits and prayers he bestows on us many, and those not light, benefits, even after they have been taken up to a happier life, that, existing in heaven, they may even now be honored on earth, where they faithfully ministered to their Lord, so, I say, the pitying and merciful God, that his glory may be announced among the nations, his wonders among all peoples, as he willed the honor of the holy Prophet Elisha, already deceased, by the raising of a dead man at the touch of his relics, to be attested to the whole world, so also he willed the name of his sacred Liborius, our patron, not only among the people of Le Mans in Gaul, and at Paderborn in Westphalia, whither in the year of the Lord's incarnation eight hundred and thirty-six, on the fifth of the Kalends of June, his sacred body was carried, honored by many miracles on the way, shone forth, and at Amelia in Umbria, whither in the year 1646 on the ninth day of the month of June we sent two parts of relics, the canons of its cathedral church earnestly asking, and at Munich in Bavaria, whither in the year 1651, on the thirteenth day of June, we transmitted one part of his relics to the Elector Maximilian seeking it, and at Münster of the Westphalians, whither likewise in this same year, but on the eighteenth day of July, we translated a part of the relics, the bishop and prelates of the cathedral church asking, but also in various other and distant places, kingdoms, and provinces, for the cure of various members, and especially of the stone, and gravel, of hernia, and of the urine, he willed to be celebrated and honored, as is confirmed by many, and those grave, writings and examples of most grave men, and is continually proved, while they testify that the efficacious patronage of St. Liborius in the cure of gravel and of the stone is most celebrated in the city of Rome and throughout all Italy.

[26] Whence also the most eminent lord Petrus Aloysius Caraffa, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, for the greater honor of this Saint, how the bishop of Paderborn, and the devotion and consolation of the afflicted at Rome, by repeated letters sought from the most serene Ferdinand duke of Bavaria, Elector of Cologne, and bishop of Paderborn, some small portion of his sacred relics for a certain church in the city, so that the Elector himself on the thirtieth day of December in the year 1648 wrote to the dean and chapter of the cathedral basilica of Paderborn in German from Bonn, and it was thus rendered into Latin: 'Ferdinand, by the grace of God archbishop of Cologne, prince elector, bishop of Paderborn, Münster, Liège, and Hildesheim, administrator of Berchtesgaden and Stavelot, count Palatine of the Rhine, duke of both Bavarias, of Westphalia, Angaria, and Bouillon, margrave of Franchimont, etc. Venerable and honest, beloved, devout, we make known to you by these our letters that Cardinal Petrus Aloysius Caraffa has urged upon us from the City that there be given to him a portion of the relics of St. Liborius, whose patronage he testifies to be most celebrated in those parts in the cure of gravel and of the stone. Since therefore in this its moment the veneration of this your holy Patron is to be weighed, inasmuch as by it it will be more widely founded and more published; hence, although on our part we do not find by what reason it can be denied to the aforenamed Cardinal, yet hitherto we have been unwilling to declare ourselves without your counsel, nor to determine anything therein without your opinion. Referring therefore the whole business to you, we commit it to you, that you bend your minds to this, how you may comply with the Cardinal's desire, which very thing we graciously expect from you, to whom we remain devoted with our grace. Given at Bonn in our city, the thirtieth of December in the year 1648.'

[27] As now these letters, and the tidings brought of the benefits which Almighty God has deigned to confer by the merits and intercession of St. Liborius, with the consent of the chapter, affected us with great gladness, so deservedly, for the greater honor of our Patron, and the consolation of the afflicted, we ought to have refreshed sooner the minds of the suppliants with the desired answer; but since no one outside the general chapter can make such petitions valid, the answer had to be given from the general chapter; but, tossed by the great tempests of the raging war, we could not assemble to the general chapter until, in the year 1649, universal peace was reconciled to Germany. Then, this matter being maturely deliberated in the general chapter, the opinions of all the lord capitulars inclined to this, that for the requests of the mentioned Cardinal we should altogether satisfy him by bestowing some part of our inestimable treasure of sacred relics. In the meantime the most serene Elector of Cologne our bishop paid the debt of nature, and the consent of a new prelate was required; who, being elected in the year 1650, on the third day of November, his confirmation had still to be awaited from Rome.

[28] a part of the relics These consents, therefore, of him and of the other, being obtained, now, specially deputed by our chapter for the business, we assembled here, that the part of the sacred relics, which on the thirteenth day of June, raised from the tomb that preserves them in the choir of our cathedral church and enclosed in a silver box, we consigned, we might enclose in another wooden box, consign, and transmit to the most eminent Cardinal Caraffa at Rome, to increase his and the Romans' devotion, and to procure for him and the Romans greater grace of the divine goodness; yet with this law expressed, that not only should it be carried with the devotion that befits, but also received with special solemnity, carried about in supplication, publicly exhibited, and, commended to the people with worthy encomiums, laid up in some church in an honored place, so that every year on the 23rd of July, on which the feast of St. Liborius falls, it can be solemnly exposed, and the commemoration of the Saint himself celebrated. In faith of which, the part of the relics raised from the box we will presently enclose in a box, and consign with our seals. Requiring you the notary, that concerning this our consent, and moreover the raising, enclosure, consignation, delivery, and donation that will follow, you would deign to make for us an instrument and instruments in better form, and to communicate them for the due salary."

[29] he enclosed in a box, Upon this the most illustrious and most reverend prince opened the silver and gilded box, which was fortified with his seal. Thence he reverently drew out a good part of a bone from the body of St. Liborius, showed it, drawn out, to the bystanders, and straightway wrapped it in red linen, and placed it in an oblong and variegated box, which was presently bound round in the manner of a cross with a fillet of silver and white color, and fortified above and below, round about, with the seals of the prince himself and of the lords present, fixed in red wax upon that fillet, and delivered to the well-born and learned D. Johann Wilhelm Warnesius of Paderborn, master of philosophy, about to proceed to Rome, to be safely carried to Rome, as the schedule, which with the relics themselves was enclosed in that box of this tenor, will indicate. "In the name of the Lord, Amen. These are the true relics of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans, patron of the people of Paderborn, which the most illustrious and most reverend prince, the prelates of the cathedral church being present, in the year 1651, on the 10th day of the month of August, in the chancery delivered to Johann Wilhelm Warnesius to be transferred to Rome, and to be delivered to the most eminent Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Petrus Aloysius Caraffa. Done

at Paderborn, in the year, indiction, papacy, month, day, hour, and place as above, there being present there, seeing, hearing, and understanding the very illustrious man and lord D. Johann Wilhelm a Reck, most excellent chancellor, and the most distinguished D. Martin Streichez secretary, witnesses had, called, and asked for the aforesaid."

[30] And because I, Johann Brabeck, citizen of Paderborn in Westphalia, approved public notary and secretary of the cathedral chapter of Paderborn, before a notary and witnesses, and actuary of the ecclesiastical consistory, and sworn scribe, was present at the above-inserted act of the raising, enclosure, consignation, and delivery of the sacred relics of St. Liborius, together with the aforementioned lords requiring, and the witnesses required, and saw, heard, and took note of all the other things being thus done, therefore I made the present public instrument thereupon, and, though written by another hand, with my own hand subscribed it, and also fortified it with my name and surname and my accustomed notarial sign subjoined, being specially required for this. In place of the seal ✠ Johann Brabeck, as above, notary, with my own hand.

[31] We Bernard Frick, by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See bishop of Cardica, throughout the cities and dioceses of Paderborn and Hildesheim in pontificals and spiritual matters vicar general, doctor of most sacred theology, dean and canon of the collegiate church of the holy Apostles Peter and Andrew in Busdorf, make known and attest that the above-named Johann Brabeck, citizen of Paderborn, who expedited the present instrument, and subscribed it with his hand well known to us, and fortified it with the sign of his notariate, is a public and legal notary, to whose documents and instruments, in and out of court, public and undoubted faith has always and everywhere been given, and at present is given. In testimony of which we have fortified these with the subscription of our hand and the appending of our seal. Done at Paderborn in the year 1651, on the twelfth day of the month of August. In place of the seal ✠ Bernard Frick, bishop of Cardica, as above.

[32] We by the grace of God Theodor Adolph, elect and confirmed bishop of Paderborn, prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and transmitted it to the city of Rome. count of Pyrmont, and we the dean, seniors, and chapter of the cathedral church there, make known and attest in these writings: Whereas lately the most eminent Cardinal Caraffa of the Holy Roman Church, led by zeal of piety and honor toward our patron St. Liborius, asked and obtained that one portion of the relics of the same, hitherto preserved in this church of Paderborn, be granted to him, so that, the matter being well considered and the votes of all being first explored, the seniors of the chapter being summoned for a certain day, and notaries and witnesses being employed, to satisfy so pious a desire of the Cardinal, and to spread more and more through the world the name and honor of the holy Patron, this desired portion was raised with due solemnity from the sacred tomb, as it was raised, and as is more fully contained in the instrument drawn up thereupon, and that same sacred portion, enclosed first in silk, then in a wooden case, sealed with the seals of me Theodor Adolph bishop, of Caspar Philip a Ketteler dean, of Johann Alard ab Imsen senior and chamberlain, of Wilhelm Baron de Sintzig cantor, of Otto Wilhelm ab Oyenhausen scholasticus, we delivered to our faithful Johann Wilhelm Warnesius, cleric of Paderborn, then hastening to the thresholds of the Apostles, and to the German College which is at Rome, to be carried, under this condition, that if he shall find the reverend and most noble D. canon here at Paderborn, our fellow-capitular Matthias a Reck, still (as we suppose) staying at Rome, he may deliver to him this treasure of relics carried with him, to be presented with due reverence to the hands of the Cardinal, and, assisting the one presenting it, may afterward cause the services of all, and the most ready will for service, to be heartily commended; but if this our fellow-capitular, having left Rome, dwell perhaps elsewhere, or be on his return to this his church, then let him have recourse to the most reverend father Goswin Nickel of the Society of Jesus, now vicar general, whom we too ask that he be willing to take this office upon himself, and to present the holy relics in the manner aforesaid, or in whatever other better manner, together with the bearer. In faith of which we have subscribed these with our own hands, and have caused them to be corroborated with our seals episcopal and family. Thus done at Paderborn, the 10th of August 1651. In place of the seal ✠ Theodor Adolph; and signed below Johann Wilhelm Baron de Sintzig cantor, Caspar Philip a Ketteler dean, Johann Alard ab Imsen chamberlain.

§ IV. How the relics of St. Liborius of Paderborn were recognized at Rome and exposed to public veneration.

It is demonstrated from lawful instruments, In the name of the Lord, Amen. By the present public instrument let it be evidently open to all everywhere, and known, that in the year from the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ 1651, in the first indiction, on the 29th day of September, in the eighth year of the pontificate of the most holy in Christ Father and our Lord D. Innocent, by divine providence Pope the tenth, in the presence of me the public notary and of the witnesses below-written, present and personally existing the most eminent and most reverend D. Petrus Aloysius Cardinal Caraffa, priest of the title of SS. Silvester and Martin ad Montes of the Holy Roman Church, to whom lately, as he asserted, through the most illustrious and most reverend D. prince Theodor Adolph bishop of Paderborn were transmitted relics, taken from the body of St. Liborius, once bishop of Le Mans, and patron of the people of Paderborn, existing in the said city of Paderborn, as the public instrument and testimonial letters transmitted concerning this by the said most illustrious and most reverend D. prince bishop of Paderborn to the same most eminent D. Cardinal widely indicate; of which the one, namely the instrument, is a parchment charter, taken and published by D. Johann Brabeck, citizen and public notary of Paderborn and secretary of the cathedral church of Paderborn, with legality, and a seal appended, impressed in red wax on a wooden case; but the other, namely the instrument and testimonial letters on paper, or cotton charter, fortified with the own hand and seals of the said most illustrious and most reverend D. prince bishop of Paderborn, and of the dean, chamberlain, and cantor of the said cathedral church, etc., which instrument and testimonials the said most eminent and most reverend D. Cardinal Caraffa, holding in his hands, delivered the same to me the notary, and willed and commanded them to be read by me, etc., before his eminence, and the witnesses below-written, and several others standing by, in a loud and intelligible voice.

[34] I the notary, by the commands of the said most eminent Cardinal, how the relics of St. Liborius, read through the said instrument and testimonials before his eminence, and the others as above, in a loud and intelligible voice distinctly, exactly, and accurately, and afterward retained them with me for the purpose of having from them a collated copy, and of inserting it in the present instrument of the tenor, etc. The reading of which being completed by me, since in the said instrument and testimonials respectively it is asserted that there was transmitted to the same most eminent one a part of a bone taken from the body of St. Liborius, wrapped in red linen, and enclosed in a variegated box together with a schedule of the below-written tenor, namely: "In the name of the Lord, Amen. These are the true relics of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans, patron of the people of Paderborn, which the most illustrious D. prince, the prelates of the cathedral church being present, in the year 1651, on the tenth day of August in the chancery delivered to Johann Wilhelm Warnesius to be transferred to Rome, and to be delivered to the most eminent and most reverend lord Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Petrus Aloysius Caraffa." Which variegated box is asserted also to be bound round with a fillet of silver and white color in the manner of a cross, and fortified above and below with the seals of the prince bishop himself, and round about of the lords of the chapter of Paderborn present, fixed in red wax upon that fillet.

[35] The said most eminent one therefore wishing to proceed to the viewing and recognition of the said relics, which the bishop of Paderborn had sent to Rome, having in his hands a certain wooden box closed, and bound round on every side with a cord or hempen thread, and sealed with several seals impressed in red wax, the said most eminent D. delivered it before me and the other witnesses standing by, to the very illustrious and most reverend P. D. Jacobus Antonius Serperius there present, and likewise employed and called as a witness to this act and the following, and willed and commanded the aforesaid box to be opened by him, who reverently received the same box from the hands of the said most eminent one, obeying the commands of his eminence, and, the aforesaid cords or hempen threads being cut, opened the said box, me the notary and the other witnesses and all standing by seeing and looking on, and offered and presented the same thus opened to the said most eminent one: from which box the said most eminent D. Cardinal drew out another smaller variegated box, bound round with a silver and white-colored fillet in the manner of a cross, and fortified above and below with the seals of the said most illustrious and most reverend D. prince bishop of Paderborn and of the other lords of the chapter, fixed in red wax, which thus drawn out he publicly showed to all, and, the said seals, fillet, and box being recognized by the same most eminent and most reverend D. Cardinal and the others standing by, and found to be the same expressed in the instrument and testimonial letters mentioned above, he commanded this second box to be opened by the same D. Serperius.

[36] by the most eminent Cardinal Aloysius Caraffa Who, the same box being received with the reverence that befits before all as above, the cords being cut, the aforesaid fillet round about, its forms however remaining in their places and the seals, opened the box, and offered and presented it thus opened to the said most eminent D.; who most eminent one first drew out from the said box a written schedule, which he forthwith consigned to me the notary, for the purpose of reading the same also in a loud and intelligible voice before all as above present, as the said schedule was clearly read by me in a loud voice and accurately, whose tenor is such, namely: "In the name of the Lord, Amen. These are the true relics of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans, patron of Paderborn, which the most illustrious and most reverend D. prince, the prelates of the cathedral church being present, in the year 1651, on the tenth day of the month of August in the chancery delivered to Johann Wilhelm Warnesius to be transferred to Rome, and to be delivered to the most eminent Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Petrus Aloysius Caraffa, etc." Which schedule was likewise found altogether in all things and through all conformable to the schedule expressed and enunciated in the already said transmitted instrument.

[37] were recognized, Which being done, the said most eminent one, first kneeling with all the bystanders, drew out from the same box a small wrapping folded of red linen, and, it being shown to all present, thus kneeling opened it, and in it found the part of a bone expressed in the instruments, and, as is said in it, wrapped in red linen, taken from the body of St. Liborius, which part of a bone he showed to all, and with due reverence kissed and venerated, and afterward from it, me the notary and the witnesses, etc., and all the others standing by also seeing, a certain particle being separated, and retained with

himself, the remainder of the aforesaid relics he wrapped in the same red linen, in which it had before been, a white veil being placed over it, and, found again in the same variegated box, the seals and fillet remaining the same in it, he laid up, and placed the same variegated box, closed, in the other former wooden box, which wooden box, closed again by the said most eminent one, wrapped in white paper, and bound round with a hempen cord or thread, he closed and fortified with his own hands, the seal of his eminence being fixed in red wax.

[38] But afterward the said most eminent one, wishing to satisfy the will of the same prince bishop of Paderborn, and granted to the canons of the church of SS. Celsus and Julian; expressed in the instrument of the transmission of the relics, which is, as in that instrument is read in express words, that relics of this kind should not only be received with due reverence, but also accepted with special solemnity, carried about in supplication, publicly exhibited, and, commended to the people with worthy encomiums in the manner as above, laid up in some church, decreed to give the aforesaid sacred relics, enclosed in the manner as above and fortified with the seal of his eminence, to the venerable chapter and canons of the collegiate church of SS. Celsus and Julian of the City, in which an altar in honor of St. Liborius is already found erected, to increase the devotion of the Roman people toward the aforesaid Saint; that they may remain in it perpetually, and be retained and preserved with due veneration; as from now the said most eminent one, to the same venerable chapter and canons, though absent, the very illustrious and very reverend D. Jacobus Bonaventus, Vincentius Langerius, Matthaeus Calvarius, and Johannes Lagnellus, canons of the said collegiate church, who were present from the beginning of this act, being present, and me the notary, lawfully stipulating and accepting for the others, the same most eminent D. Cardinal gave, consigned, donated, and effectually delivered the aforesaid sacred relics enclosed and sealed as above in the said box, to the praise and glory of Almighty God: yet with this law enjoined upon them, that they carry his relics forthwith, and with no delay interposed, to the German College of St. Apollinaris of the City, and deposit them in the hands of the very reverend P. Paulus Oliva, rector of the same college, and there they remain until the day on which the aforesaid relics shall be carried publicly and in procession, with due honor, to the aforesaid collegiate church of SS. Celsus and Julian; which will be reposed in the judgment of the said chapter and canons, so that they may there afterward remain, that in future times, both on the twenty-third day of July, on which the feast of the aforesaid St. Liborius falls, and at other future times, to the greater glory of God, and the glory and honor of his servant St. Liborius, they may be devoutly venerated by the pious faithful of Christ.

[39] Which illustrious and very reverend lords canons, as above, present, and in the name as above, which meanwhile receiving the same sacred relics closed and sealed in the manner as above with due reverence and devotion, rendered to the same most eminent Cardinal immortal thanks, and such as they could, praying for him always happy things from God, and carried away the same sacred relics with them, not only, etc., but with every, etc., concerning which, etc. Done at Rome in the region of Colonna in the palace of the usual residence of the said most eminent D. Cardinal, there being present the very reverend P. Fabius Albergatus of the Society of Jesus, a noble of Bologna, and the very illustrious and very reverend D. Jacobus Antonius Serperius, son of D. Marcus Romanus of good memory, witnesses employed and asked.

[40] In the same year, Indiction, day, month, and those present as above, successively and forthwith the aforesaid very illustrious and very reverend D. Jacobus Beneventus, Vincentius Langerius, Matthaeus Calvarius, and Johannes Lagnellus, canons of the aforesaid collegiate church of SS. Celsus and Julian, to the German College of St. Apollinaris together with me the notary, withdrawing from the said palace of the most eminent D. Cardinal Caraffa, obeying his commands, by a straight track, and with no delay interposed, came to the German College of St. Apollinaris of the City, existing in the region of the Campus Martius, near the church of St. Augustine and the Piazza Navona, and fortified on every side with public streets, and having arrived there we sought the very reverend P. Johannes Paulus Oliva the rector: who arriving, the command of the aforesaid most eminent D. Cardinal being set forth to him by me and the aforesaid canons, they delivered to the same P. Oliva the box with the relics existing in it, closed and sealed with the seal of the said most eminent one, as it had been delivered by the said most eminent one to the aforesaid canons, and deposited it in his hands, and left it to be preserved by him until the day on which it shall be publicly and in procession carried to the aforesaid collegiate church of SS. Celsus and Julian: which very reverend P. Oliva, the aforesaid rector, offering himself ready to obey the commands of the said most eminent D. Cardinal Caraffa, received the said box thus closed and sealed with due reverence, and said and declared that he would retain it in deposit from the said canons, to be consigned to the same at all their free will, according to the form and command of the said most eminent and most reverend D. Cardinal, and on the day it shall be carried by the said chapter and canons to the said venerable church of SS. Celsus and Julian, and thus he promised, etc., not only, etc., but with every, etc., concerning which, etc. Done at Rome in the venerable German College of St. Apollinaris of the City, there being present the very reverend P.P. Paulus Segneri and Wilhelm Jubari of the Society of Jesus, witnesses asked, etc.

[41] they were preserved, In the same year, Indiction, and pontificate as above, but on the thirty-first day of the month of October, before the most illustrious and most reverend D. Ascanius Vinaldus, Roman patrician, referendary of both signatures of our most holy lord the Pope, and vice-gerent of the most eminent and most reverend D. Cardinal Vicar of the holy City, and me, etc., and the witnesses, etc., appearing, etc., in the below-written place there appeared the very illustrious and very reverend D. Matthaeus Calvarius, one of the canons of the aforesaid distinguished and collegiate church, all things being first set forth and narrated to the same most reverend D. vice-gerent which are recognized in the above-written instrument of the donation and consignation of the above-written sacred relic of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans, transmitted to the aforesaid most eminent and most reverend lord Cardinal Caraffa of the Holy Roman Church from the city of Paderborn, and granted by the same most eminent D. Cardinal to the venerable church and chapter of SS. Celsus and Julian. Done in the acts of me and of those asked above, on the twenty-ninth day of last September. Also the deposition of the same sacred relic re-enshrined in the same cases in which it was transmitted, and sealed with the seal of the same most eminent D. Cardinal Caraffa, made by him with the aforesaid other canons, by order of the most eminent D. Cardinal, successively and forthwith, in the hands of the very reverend P. Johannes Paulus Oliva, rector of the venerable college of St. Apollinaris of the City, for the purpose of thence carrying it in procession and solemnly to the said venerable church of SS. Celsus and Julian, the above-written instruments and testimonial letters of the authentication and donation of the same sacred relic being shown to the same most reverend D. vice-gerent, he asked and insisted through the said P. Oliva that the said case, thus consigned to him as above, be consigned to the said most reverend D. vice-gerent: which P. Oliva delivered the said case thus closed and sealed as above into the hands of the said most reverend D. vice-gerent.

[42] Which consignation having followed, the same R. D. Matthaeus asked and insisted that the said case be recognized, until the most reverend vice-gerent of the Vicar of the holy City, the said sacred relic be opened, be placed in the below-written reliquary, and that license be imparted to transport it to the said venerable church, and there publicly, both on the said feast of St. Liborius, and at any other times whatsoever, to expose it: which most illustrious and most reverend D. vice-gerent, the instruments and testimonial letters of the transmission, donation, recognition, and consignation respectively of the said sacred relic being seen and read through, and the said case being seen and recognized, and it being found whole, thus as above, sealed, lacking altogether every defect, with the very seal with which it had been consigned being removed, opened the said case before me the public notary and the witnesses below-written, and within found the said other variegated case, in which was the said sacred relic of St. Liborius in the same manner and form in which it was within re-enshrined.

[43] Which sacred relic being reverently received in his hands, he venerated the same, and afterward placed and re-enshrined the same sacred relic in a certain reliquary, enclosed them in an honorable reliquary, or silver vessel constructed in the form of a monstrance, and of round figure, with a case, and a cross in the upper part, of a height of about two palms, with its crystal, and, his accustomed seal impressed in two places in Spanish wax at the foot of the said sacred relic, and also a certain parchment schedule being re-enshrined within, written and subscribed by his own hand, of the following tenor, namely: "The relic of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans, transmitted from the city of Paderborn, reposed in this vessel by me Ascanius Rivaldus, vice-gerent of the Cardinal Vicar of our most holy Lord Pope Innocent the tenth, on the eve of the Kalends of November in the year of the Lord 1651. A. Rivaldus." The vice-gerent caused the same reliquary to be closed, as it was closed, and forthwith consigned it into the hands of the said R. D. Matthaeus, as above, present, and granted and imparted in the Lord the license and faculty of carrying it to the said venerable church of SS. Celsus and Julian for now privately, reserving however the faculty of making the aforesaid procession and solemnity at the judgment of our most holy Lord the Pope, and in the said venerable church of exposing it to the public veneration of the faithful, both on the said feast of St. Liborius, which falls on the 23rd of July, and at any other times whatsoever.

[44] Which reliquary with the said sacred relic closed as above the said R. D. Matthaeus, he permitted them to be publicly exposed in the church of SS. Celsus and Julian, with the reverence and devotion that befits, in the name as above, received to himself, and carried away with him for the aforesaid purpose, not only, etc., but with every, etc., concerning all and singular which premises it was asked of me the public notary below-written, that I should make and deliver one or more public instrument and instruments, as should be needful. Done at Rome in the aforesaid venerable college of St. Apollinaris, there being present, hearing, and understanding these, namely; the most illustrious D. Carolus Montecatinus, noble of Ferrara, advocate of the sacred consistorial hall, and the very illustrious and very excellent D. Jacobus Antonius Serperius, son of D. Marcus Romanus of good memory, auditor of the most eminent and most reverend D. Cardinal Sforza, witnesses to all and singular the premises called, had specially, and asked. A. Rivaldus vice-gerent… The same Leonardus N., etc.

[45] as is established from the authenticated acts of the notary. I Leonardus de Leonardis, Roman citizen, notary public of the most eminent and most reverend

lord Cardinal of the holy City, vicar general of our most holy Lord the Pope, being asked concerning the premises, subscribed the present instrument, and published it, being required, in faith.

We Marius, by divine compassion Cardinal of the title of St. Peter ad Vincula of the Holy Roman Church, called Ginetti, vicar general and ordinary judge of our most holy Lord the Pope, make faith to all, and attest, that the above-said D. Leonardus de Leonardis, asked concerning the premises, is a public notary, and such as he professed himself to be, and that full faith has always been given, and at present is given, to his public and similar writings, in and out of court. In faith of which, etc. Given at Rome from our house this fifth day of November 1651. For D. Sebastian Cesius notary, Antonius Perunis, faith, etc. In place of the ✠ seal, and below is a wooden case.

§ V. The relics of the Saint at Brussels, a confraternity there instituted in his honor, and the indulgences granted to it.

[The archbishop of Mechelen permits the relics of St. Liborius to be publicly exposed,] In the city of Brussels there is a chapel dedicated to St. Lawrence, in which are exposed to public veneration the relics of St. Liborius, which the most noble D. Philippus vanden Wouwere gave to that same chapel; but he had received them from the most noble D. Arnold Wolfgang, count d'Huyn, Gheleen, and Amstenrade, as is established from the letters given on this matter on the 12th of May in the year 1667, which the R. P. Franciscus vanden Werve, a Minorite, mentions in his Seraphic Emblems, printed in Flemish in the year 1678 to the honor of St. Liborius. I suspect that they passed to count Arnold Wolfgang from the family of Christina de Croy, princess of Salm, by whose pious munificence various relics of St. Liborius came into Belgium. But whence the most illustrious princess obtained them, is sufficiently plain from the second paragraph of these analecta, where she testifies that she had culled them from the very sacred remains restored by Christian of Brunswick.

[47] The most reverend and most illustrious archbishop of Mechelen permitted these relics to be publicly exposed at Brussels, and grants indulgences to those visiting them. and promoted their veneration by indulgences granted, as is clear from his following letters: "Alphonsus de Berghes, by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See archbishop of Mechelen, to all who shall see these, everlasting salvation in the Lord. We assent to the desires of our subjects the more willingly, the more we hope that through them the worship of the Saints and the devotion of the people toward them is promoted. Hence, since as we permitted the relics of St. Liborius, singular patron against the pains of the stone, to be exposed in the chapel of St. Lawrence at Brussels to the veneration of the faithful, we, that the worship of that Saint and pious works of this kind may be promoted with greater zeal and fruit, being paternally inclined by the prayers of lord Philippus vanden Wouwere, lord de Haeren, alderman of this city and perpetual provost of the said chapel of St. Lawrence, offered to us thereupon, mercifully grant and bestow forty days' indulgences to all and singular the faithful of Christ of both sexes who shall visit the aforesaid chapel on the feast day of St. Liborius and through his Octave, and who each month on the first Wednesday shall devoutly be present at a Mass to be sung in honor of that Saint. Given at Brussels on the 27th day of February 1671."

[48] Moreover in the same city, for the greater honor of St. Liborius, a congregation was instituted, Afterward in honor of the same Saint which Pope Clement X prosecuted with great favor, as is made manifest from his Brief, which the very reverend D. Johann Baptist Hamelinx, canon of SS. Michael and Gudula, and provost of the same congregation, very kindly caused to be copied out for me, and the agreement of whose apograph with the original he himself, as apostolic protonotary, attests with his own hand. Now the Brief of the Pope thus runs: "Clement, Pope X, to the perpetual memory of the matter. Whereas, as we have received, in the church of St. Lawrence of the town of Brussels, diocese of Mechelen, one pious and devout confraternity of the faithful of Christ of both sexes under the invocation of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans, yet not for men of one special art, canonically erected or to be erected, exists, whose confratres and consorores are wont to exercise very many works of piety and charity:

[49] We, that a confraternity of this kind may daily receive greater increases, a confraternity was instituted, trusting in the mercy of Almighty God and the authority of his blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, to all the faithful of Christ of both sexes who shall hereafter enter the said confraternity, on the first day of their entrance, if truly penitent and having confessed they shall have received the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, a plenary indulgence; and to the same confratres and consorores, both those enrolled and those to be enrolled in time in the said confraternity, in the article of the death of each of them, if truly penitent and having confessed and refreshed with holy communion, or in so far as they shall be unable to do this, at least contrite, if they shall have invoked the name of Jesus with the mouth if they can, if not, devoutly with the heart, also a plenary indulgence; and to the same confratres and consorores of the said confraternity now existing and to exist in time, also truly penitent and having confessed and refreshed with holy Communion, who shall devoutly visit the church or chapel or oratory of the aforesaid confraternity on the principal feast day of the said confraternity, to be chosen by the confratres only once and to be approved by the ordinary, from the first vespers to the setting of the sun of a feast of this kind each year, and there shall have poured forth pious prayers to God for the concord of Christian princes, the extirpation of heresies, and the exaltation of holy mother Church, we likewise mercifully grant in the Lord a plenary indulgence and remission of all their sins.

[50] which Pope Clement X Moreover to the said confratres and consorores also truly penitent and having confessed and refreshed with holy Communion, visiting a church or chapel or oratory of this kind on four other feast or non-feast or Sunday days of the year, to be chosen by the said confratres also only once, and to be approved by the same ordinary as above, and there praying, on whatever of the aforesaid days they shall have done this, seven years and as many quarantines; but as often as they shall have been present at Masses and other divine offices to be celebrated and recited in a church or chapel or oratory of this kind for the time being, or at public or private congregations of the same confraternity to be made anywhere, or shall have received the poor into hospitality, or shall have composed peace between enemies, or caused it to be composed, or procured it, or also who shall have accompanied to burial the bodies of the deceased, both of confratres and consorores of this kind and of others, or any processions to be made by license of the ordinary, and shall have accompanied the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, both in processions and when it is carried to the sick or otherwise anywhere and in whatever manner for the time being, or if hindered, a sign being given by the bell for this, shall have said once the Lord's Prayer and the angelic salutation, or shall have recited five times the same prayer and salutation for the souls of the deceased confratres and consorores of this kind, or finally shall have brought back someone to the way of salvation, and taught those ignorant of the precepts of God, and the things which are for salvation, or shall have exercised any other work of piety or charity, so often, for each exercise of the aforesaid works, we relax sixty days of the penances enjoined upon them or otherwise in any way due, in the form accustomed of the Church, these presents being to be valid for perpetual future times. But we will, that if otherwise to the said confratres and consorores performing the premises any other indulgence perpetual or for a time not yet elapsed to endure shall have been granted, the present be null, and that if the said confraternity be already aggregated to some archconfraternity, or hereafter be aggregated, or by any other reason be united, or also in any way be instituted, the former and any other Apostolic letters may in no way avail them, but from then, by that very fact, be null. Given at Rome at St. Mary Major under the ring of the Fisherman on the 21st day of August 1671, in the second year of our Pontificate. Signed, J. G. Slusius."

[51] enriched with spiritual gifts, The same Pope, wishing to succor the deceased confratres and consorores, at the same time gave the following Brief: "Clement, Pope X, to the future memory of the matter. Intent with paternal charity on the salvation of all, we sometimes adorn sacred places with the spiritual gifts of indulgences, that thence the souls of the deceased faithful may be able to obtain the suffrages of the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ and of his Saints, and, aided by them, to be led from the pains of purgatory to eternal salvation through the mercy of God. Wishing therefore to illustrate with this special gift the church of St. Lawrence of the town of Brussels, diocese of Mechelen, in which the confraternity of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans, is canonically instituted, and if in it there be a high altar not adorned at present with a similar privilege, trusting in the mercy of Almighty God and the authority of his blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, that whenever any priest, secular or of any regular Order, shall celebrate a Mass of the dead at the aforesaid altar on the day of the commemoration of the dead, and on each day within its Octave, and on the Wednesday of every week, for the soul of any confrater or consoror of the said confraternity, who joined to God in charity shall have departed from this light, the soul itself may obtain from the treasure of the Church, by way of suffrage, an indulgence, so that, the merits of the same our Lord Jesus Christ and of the blessed Virgin Mary and of all the Saints availing it, it may be freed from the pains of purgatory, we grant and indulge, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, these presents being to be valid for seven years only. Given at Rome at St. Mary Major under the ring of the Fisherman on the 21st day of August 1671, in the second year of our Pontificate. Signed, J. G. Slusius."

[52] Further, concerning those things which had been left to the judgment of the ordinary, and to which the archbishop assigned days of indulgences, the most illustrious archbishop determined these: "Alphonsus de Berghes, by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See archbishop of Mechelen, to all who shall see these, salvation in the Lord. We assent to the pious desires of our subjects the more willingly, the more we behold that through them the worship of the Saints and the devotion of the people toward them is promoted. Hence it is, that whereas the letters of our most holy lord, by divine providence Pope the tenth, in the form of a Brief under the ring of the Fisherman have been exhibited to us, to which these our presents are transfixed, and on the part of many devout faithful it has been petitioned, that in the church or chapel of St. Lawrence in this royal city of Brussels of our diocese, we would be willing and deign to erect a confraternity under the invocation and title of St. Liborius, confessor bishop, supreme patron in nephritic pains, canonically and according to the tenor of the aforesaid Apostolic letters: we, considering how many and distinguished works of piety and offices of charity are wont to be exercised by the confratres and consorores by reason of a confraternity of this kind, and intent with paternal solicitude, as far as in us is, on increasing the salvation of souls, at the instance of the aforesaid devout faithful have thought fit to erect the said confraternity in the said church or chapel of St. Lawrence under the invocation and in honor of the same St. Liborius, and by these presents by our ordinary authority we erect it under the rules, conditions, graces, and indulgences comprehended in the above-said Apostolic Brief, and we permit it thus erected by us to be duly published,

assigning the first Sunday of January, Laetare Sunday, the first Sunday of June, and the feast of the same St. Liborius, and the Sunday within the Octave, on which the confratres and consorores will be able to merit for perpetual future times the indulgences declared and inserted in a certain manner in the same Brief.

[53] and the rules, Then the most illustrious prelate prescribes to the confraternity the following rules: 1. All the faithful of Christ of both sexes of whatever state and condition, who shall wish to give their name to this confraternity, shall give three stivers for inscription, and each year one stiver for the work of the confraternity. 2. Each year on the day after the feast of St. Liborius let a solemn Mass be made for the deceased confratres; it is commended, moreover, to all confratres and consorores who have means, that they leave a small legacy for the celebrating of Masses; but for those who have not means, there shall be celebrated on the part of the confraternity, immediately after death, one Mass. 3. Likewise all confratres and sisters entering the said confraternity, who having truly confessed and been refreshed with holy Communion, likewise who in the article of death shall devoutly and with a contrite mind pronounce with heart or mouth the name of Jesus, shall gain a plenary indulgence. 4. Likewise all confratres and sisters, who on the very feast of St. Liborius, having also confessed and been refreshed with the holy Eucharist, shall visit the church of St. Lawrence, and there according to the ends and intention of holy mother Church shall have poured forth five times the Our Father and Hail Mary, or other prayers, shall obtain a plenary indulgence: and on the first Sunday of January, Laetare Sunday, the first Sunday of June, and the Sunday within the Octave of the same St. Liborius, an indulgence of seven years and as many forty days, and others, as in the Apostolic letters. 5. Those who shall be enrolled in this confraternity, if they have any habit of swearing, of uttering base and scandalous things, or of sinning in another kind, let them strive to overcome it, and let them correct the offending neighbor in meekness.

[54] and prescribed the manner of governance. Finally the most illustrious Alphonsus thus concludes his letters: "This confraternity shall be governed by four confratres, of the chief of the same confraternity, to be elected every two years by the same confraternity, among whom there shall be two provosts and two assistants, who shall receive and collect the alms, and shall be bound each year to render an account of the receipts and expenditures before a commissary to be deputed by us, and the provosts who died in office in that same year: and if anything is to be added, corrected, interpreted, or taken away concerning the aforesaid, this we reserve to ourselves. In faith of which we have given these presents under our signature and seal on the 10th of October, in the year of the Lord one thousand six hundred and seventy-one. Signed, Alphonsus archbishop of Mechelen." And there was appended a seal impressed in red wax. Although the provosts and assistants are to be changed every two years, yet the most noble D. Philippus vanden Wouwere, toparch of Haeren, who had given the relics of St. Liborius to the chapel of St. Lawrence, deserved by this benefit to be elected perpetual archprovost, as is plain from the Flemish booklet of the Seraphic Emblems, which in the year 1678 was dedicated to him.

§ VI. The relics of St. Liborius at Antwerp, the confraternity and indulgences.

The people of Antwerp not long after imitated the devotion of the people of Brussels toward St. Liborius, when from the most noble D. Franciscus Paulinus de Brouckhoven they obtained certain relics of the same holy Prelate, The relics of St. Liborius, which the prince of Salm to D. Sebastianus Pangaert, which by leave of the most illustrious bishop of Antwerp were exposed to public veneration in the Marian chapel of the Kaiserstraat, and of which you shall discover the first source and lawful tradition from the following instruments, which were authentically recognized by the consuls and aldermen of Antwerp in the year 1676. Now they thus run: "Carolus Theodorus Otto, by the grace of God prince of Salm and count of the holy empire, of the Woods, of the Rhine, Hoorn, Kirbourg, and Stein; baron of Fénétrange, Ansolt, Bar, and Latum, toparch of Puligny, Bayon, Noien, Oengewiller, and Mederich, hereditary standard-bearer of the duchy of Gelderland and the county of Zutphen, colonel of cavalry of one legion for the service of his Catholic majesty according to the rite of the Germans, etc., certify and attest by the present, that we have given to D. Sebastianus Pangaert, advocate in the supreme council of Brabant and our domestic councillor, two particles from the skull of St. Liborius bishop… and patron of Paderborn: which particles of the skull we certify, on the faith of an honest knight, to be separated from the skull of the aforesaid St. Liborius, and which my grandmother Christina de Croy, born duchess of Aarschot, etc., reserved to herself, when she returned the relics of St. Liborius, at the instance of Ferdinand of Bavaria Elector of Cologne, who had caused them to be sought back, as patron of his bishopric of Paderborn, as appears in the adjoined attestations. In faith of which we have signed this charter, and caused our arms to be affixed to it: and the particles themselves we have signed with our seal within a small box wrapped in red silk. Done at Brussels the 12th of March 1671. ✠ place of the seal. Carolus Theodorus Otto."

[56] "Amatus Coriache, priest, canon, archdeacon in the Metropolitan church of St. Rumbold at Mechelen, and he had delivered to D. Franciscus Paulinus de Brouckhoven, and also vicar general of the most illustrious and most reverend D. archbishop of Mechelen, make known, that we, employing men refined in erudition and in the practice of affairs, and otherwise according to the form prescribed by the sacrosanct synod of Trent, have examined manifold documents or attestations of persons worthy of special note, and indeed particularly the letters of donation, which under his signature and seal D. Carolus Theodorus Otto, by the grace of God prince of Salm and of the holy empire, etc., expedited at Brussels on the 12th day of March 1671, declaring that he gave two particles of the skull of St. Liborius bishop, which formerly D. Christina de Croy his grandmother (when she took care to restore the relics of the aforesaid holy Bishop, before hostilely taken away from the cathedral of Paderborn, at the instance of the most serene D. Ferdinand of Bavaria Elector of Cologne, etc., to the aforesaid cathedral) had religiously retained with herself, to D. Sebastianus Pangaert, jurisconsult of Antwerp, his domestic councillor, enclosed in a very small case, fortified with his seal. Which case, carefully closed and fortified with the said seal upon red silk in various places, we opened; and found in it the aforementioned two particles of the skull: of which one is of such size and form (the quantity expressed in the margin was about equal to a joint of the finger) as is expressed in the margin; but the other is smaller by almost a half. Which larger particle indeed we left in the aforesaid case, signing both the sacred relic and the case with our lesser seal here within appearing in Spanish wax, and sent it back to the aforesaid D. Sebastianus the jurisconsult, declaring that it is to be held as a true and undoubted relic of St. Liborius, and as such can be exposed to the public veneration of the faithful of Christ in this diocese and elsewhere. But the smaller particle, which likewise we decree to be held as a true and undoubted relic and to be exhibited to the public veneration of the faithful, we sent to the noble man D. Franciscus Paulinus de Brouckhoven, alderman of the said city, to whom the oft-mentioned D. Sebastianus the jurisconsult gave it, according to his patent letters, expedited thereupon at Brussels on the 6th of July in the year 1674, signed Sebast. Pangaert. In faith of which, etc… At Mechelen the 18th day of July in the year of the Lord 1676."

[57] lawfully recognized, "The vicars general of the bishopric of Antwerp, the see being vacant, to all who shall see these, salvation in the Lord. We make faith and attest, that we on the day of the date of these, at the petition of D. Sebastianus Pangaert the jurisconsult, opened a case whole with its seals, in which had remained the larger particle of the skull of St. Liborius bishop, concerning which above in the letters of approbation, and divided it into two nearly equal parts: of which the one the aforesaid D. Pangaert reserved to himself, but the other with the candor of a liberal mind he gave to the noble and generous man D. Franciscus Paulinus van Brouckhoven, several times taken from the senate for this city, gratefully accepting, and with a pious kiss venerating. But each particle we separately enclosed in two silver boxes, each adorned in the upper part with translucent crystal, and closed in the back part with a silk ribbon of red color, and fortified with the seal of our vicariate impressed in Spanish wax. But since concerning their legality it is established by the above-written letters authentically, we have permitted them and each of them to be exposed to the public veneration of the faithful as genuine relics of St. Liborius bishop. In faith of which we have ordered these, expedited under the seal of our vicariate, to be corroborated by the signature of the secretary. At Antwerp on the 26th day of February 1677. P. de Bisthoven, secretary."

[58] and were publicly exposed at Antwerp in the Marian chapel "The vicars as above. Whereas the honors that are paid to the Saints redound to the glory of Almighty God and the benefit of the whole Church; in those things which conduce to amplifying their worship, we willingly expend our offices. Since therefore the noble and generous D. Franciscus Paulinus de Brouckhoven, for several years senator of this city, had given as a gift to the Marian chapel in the Kaiserstraat in this city a certain particle from the skull of St. Liborius bishop, approved beforehand as legal by the most illustrious and most reverend D. Ambrosius Capello of pious memory, bishop of Antwerp, and had humbly besought us, that we would be willing and deign to divide into two parts another particle larger than the former from the same skull, and which (as also the aforesaid former one) he had received as a liberal gift from the most learned D. Sebastianus Pangaert, licentiate of both laws, according to the tenor of the donation confirmed by the hand and signature of the same donor, enclosed in a wooden case and sealed with the seal of the very reverend D. Amatus Coriache, canon and archdeacon of the metropolitan church of Mechelen and vicar general of the most illustrious and most reverend D. archbishop, and to open the said case for the said end: we, favorably inclined to an affection of so pious a devotion, opened the said case, and in it found a particle of the skull of St. Liborius bishop of the quantity as here in the margin and the very letters of approbation… presented: and we divided it into two nearly equal parts, enclosing each separately in two silver boxes, etc., as above on the 26th day of February 1677."

[59] Then also, after the example of the people of Brussels, the people of Antwerp instituted a confraternity of St. Liborius, where also in honor of that Saint a confraternity was instituted. to which Pope Clement XI in the year 1711 by a Brief to endure perpetually granted the same indulgences with which Clement X had endowed the congregation of Brussels. But since in both places the tenor of these Apostolic letters is almost the same, as I observed in reading them, it would be superfluous here to transcribe them. The rules or statutes of the confraternity of Antwerp differ somewhat from those which we gave in the preceding paragraph. Different also are certain days which are assigned for gaining the indulgences. But all these things, for the use of the confratres and consorores, have been printed in a Flemish booklet at Antwerp, and do not properly pertain to our purpose. I now put an end to this paragraph, after I shall have indicated to the curious reader, that we number among the relics of St. Liborius at Antwerp those which the most serene archduke Leopold, governor of Belgium, took care to be given to our Elders after his death, and which, on an altar near to our Museum, in a precious reliquary,

enclosed, we reverently preserve.

§ VII. Miracles rendered into Latin from two Italian manuscripts.

Our Bolland, at the close of the twofold miracle related by him, protests that in these things he demands nothing but the historical faith of the narrator, Various benefits are related, until they shall have been lawfully examined and approved. The same I here forewarn concerning the benefits rendered by the intercession of St. Liborius, most of which I now make Latin from an Italian manuscript. But they are thus: When John Francis of Gubbio, a preacher of the Order of the Capuchins, in the year 1646 at Fonti Clusini labored with the stone, he received from the most illustrious bishop of Amelia, who was then present there, the antiphon and prayer of St. Liborius, which, when he recited daily, he was freed from the aforesaid disease. When the same father in the month of May of the following year was going with other fathers to Città di Castello to a chapter, a certain Guardian on the way was tormented with a most grievous pain of the kidneys. John Francis therefore persuades him to implore the help of St. Liborius, and, the antiphon and prayer being recited, he was so perfectly healed that on the journey he went ahead of the others. The same John Francis in the year 1647, being Guardian of Narni, in the month of August set out for Assisi to gain the indulgences, and on the way turned aside to the lodging of Charles of Milan, a benefactor of the Capuchins, whose little son was already dying from a retention of urine, which for the space of twenty days he had not passed, except a few little drops. The aforesaid father applied the image of St. Liborius to the boy, and recited the prayer. But behold, before he departed from that house, there was shown to him a great quantity of urine, which the infant had passed.

[61] which St. Liborius Baptista Miretti of Amelia, for five years afflicted with the stone, so that he never emptied his bladder without blood and the utmost pain, betook himself into the clientage of St. Liborius, and in the year 1647 accompanied his relics, which were carried about in supplication. From that time he passed very many white pebbles of such size, that the physicians judged they could not have naturally passed through so narrow a passage.

Alexander Pitti of Narni, vehemently oppressed with a retention of urine, applied very many remedies in vain. At last in the month of September in the year 1647, having heard the fame of St. Liborius, he betook himself to Amelia to visit the relics of the Saint, and from that time was gradually brought back to a better state.

When Bernardino Bianconi of Narni in the month of September in the year 1647, vexed with the stone, could not pass urine, he devoutly received the image of St. Liborius, and ordered the antiphon and prayer to be read by his son. Afterward, going to bed, he fell asleep, and, awaking, passed a great quantity of urine together with a stone, which he sent to Amelia in testimony of his health.

[62] conferred on those laboring with the stone, When Ludovicus de Mugnano, priest of the Order of St. Francis of the Observance, in the year 1648 in the convent of St. John at Amelia was tormented for five days and nights with the greatest pains of the kidneys, he obtained from Augustinus Carlenus the image of St. Liborius, impressed on the red linen in which the sacred relics had been wrapped when they were carried to Amelia. Then he, applying it to himself, with the utmost devotion commended himself to the holy Prelate, and, the pains being suddenly put to flight, rested a little. But when afterward the same pains returned, again with great confidence he had recourse to the patronage of the Saint, and a little after, a stone being passed with the urine, he felt himself free from torment.

Ludovicus Oddi, priest of Todi, for seven years and a half vexed with a continual dribbling of urine, had spent much money on physicians. When he perceives that the remedies profit him nothing, he implores the help of St. Liborius, beginning to recite daily the antiphon with the prayer in his honor. On the fourth day, on which he had begun this, he felt help, and on the 1st of July in the year 1648, restored to his former health, before the most eminent Cardinal Altieri, bishop of Todi, lawfully proved the truth of the benefit.

When in the year 1649 images of St. Liborius had been sent to Turin to the most illustrious D. Crescenzi, apostolic nuncio, the marquis Pallavicini, tutor of the most serene duke, first experienced the intercession of the Saint, which was truly wonderful: for as soon as he had commended himself to the Saint, he cast out some pebbles, which with vehement torment had reduced him to the worst state.

[63] I, brother Seraphinus of Città di Castello, Capuchin preacher, testify or on those afflicted with a like disease that in the year 1649, holding sermons at Varallo, I visited D. Bianchi, praetor of the said place, who was dangerously ill from a most grievous pain of the kidneys, and gave him the image of St. Liborius with the antiphon and prayer. He therefore, imploring the help of the Saint, suddenly passed a stone, which vexed him so greatly, and recovered his former health. In faith of which I have written the present charter, and fortified it with the seal of the place, on the 27th day of July in the year 1649.

Brother Felix Salta, Augustinian of Matelica, at Rome suffering the sharpest pain of the stone, prayed to St. Liborius that he might be freed from this disease. In a short time therefore he cast out eighteen pebbles, and for the sake of a grateful mind came to Amelia, and there in the year 1649 celebrated Mass at the altar of St. Liborius.

In the year 1655, on the 3rd of November, lord Accorsinus of Cingoli, laboring with the stone, commended himself to St. Liborius, and was freed from that pain which he had suffered for several years.

Antonius Maestrini of Perugia, after very many pains of the kidneys endured, made a vow to St. Liborius, and felt his help, as is established from public faith.

[64] In the year 1654 on the 11th of June Justinianus Miratelli, of Città della Pieve, was oppressed with vehement pains of the stone, and on those imploring his help, because two pebbles, of which one was thick as an olive, the other long and sinuous like a serpent, had blocked the orifice of the bladder, so that for three days he made no urine. After futile medicines and baths he was reduced to such a state that the urine had to be drawn out by a syringe. Finally, fortified with the last sacraments of the Church, he received from the Guardian of the said place the image of St. Liborius, and, commending himself to the Saint, escaped the disease, the pebbles bursting forth, as is plain from the examination which the most illustrious bishop instituted.

In the year 1657 Dominicus of Velletri, preacher of the Order of Preachers, was so overwhelmed with nephritic pains that he believed the end of his life to be at hand. He therefore vowed to St. Liborius that he would take care that a Mass be celebrated at his altar at Amelia. The vow being made, the stone which he felt in his kidneys descended into the bladder, where it so contains itself that it leaves him free from all trouble.

[65] Johannes Baptista Presutti, archpriest in the diocese of Rieti, afflicted for several years with a most sharp pain of the kidneys, conferred. had ordered by the prescription of the physician oil of scorpions to be brought. The servant who was carrying it, on account of other business went to the palace of the governor of Rieti, and was asked what was contained in that little flask. But when he had answered that it was oil of scorpions for the archpriest to relieve the disease of the stone, a certain man said that he would send the prayer of St. Liborius. The archpriest, all medicines being laid aside, began to recite that prayer, and felt a great relief of pain, expecting perfect health by the intercession of the Saint.

Johannes Andreas Craccoli of Amelia, Prior of the convent of St. Augustine, a retention of urine had brought into the utmost peril of life. After many remedies applied in vain, having recourse to the help of St. Liborius, he ordered a Mass to be celebrated in his honor. This being done, without any pain he emptied his bladder, and cast out a pebble like a pea, and thenceforth was free from that disease. Thus far the first Italian manuscript, which is written in a most difficult hand, so that here and there I could scarcely read some things.

[66] We from a twofold Italian manuscript I now subjoin the other manuscript, for the greater part Italian, which was sent from Amelia, and reviews the following benefits: Lord Johannes Bellatti in the year 1647 began to suffer difficulty of urine, which lasted through that and the following year, so that he could not retain the urine, and was compelled to pass it with the utmost torment almost every moment. In the months of January and February in the year 1649 the evil was so increased that in a quarter of an hour he sometimes sixty times passed a few little drops of urine with the sharpest pain. When no medicines profited, at the beginning of Lent of the same year he chose St. Liborius as his patron, to whom commending himself with living faith he daily recited his prayer. At last on the 23rd day of July, on which the feast of the Saint is celebrated, he obtained health, as he himself, an oath being interposed, testified, and lawfully proved.

[67] we render into Latin those miracles, In the month of November in the year 1650 brother Felix, a Capuchin lay-brother of Amelia, for twenty years had labored with a double hernia, which at that time so worsened that it could now be contained by no truss, and he was compelled almost every moment to push it in with his hand. At the persuasion of Johannes Baptista of Amelia, a priest of the same Order, he commended himself to St. Liborius, and straightway experienced some relief of the evil. Yet he told the aforesaid Johannes Baptista that he was not yet altogether healed, although the evil had for the greater part been diminished. Johannes Baptista replied that the healing had not been perfect, because he had not had a great and living faith. Wherefore with greater fervor he again invoked the Saint, and before his image, which he had in his cell, bent his knees, and there obtained complete health, so that no token of the hernia remained. And so, to show his grateful mind, he brought the truss, which was wont to contain the hernia, to the altar of St. Liborius, and afterward in a public examination affirmed all these things on oath.

[68] which at Amelia in Umbria; Marcus Antonius Zampa of Amatrice, dwelling at Amelia, and his wife, Margarita di Giovanni, assert on oath, as is established from the episcopal examination on the 17th day of April in the year 1651, that their little son John, five years old, was afflicted with the greatest difficulty of urine, so that often, wishing to pass it, he cried out miserably. The disease increasing daily, he suffered intolerable pains, because a pebble had descended into the middle of the rod. When the surgeon, being called, could bring no help, a certain matron of Amelia persuaded the parents to lead the boy to D. Augustinus Carlenus, who had an image of St. Liborius, impressed on the linen in which the relics of the Saint had been wrapped. The parents, following the counsel, go to D. Carlenus, who placed the image of the Saint upon the boy. They meanwhile, commending their little son to the holy Prelate, obtained the desired grace: for a little after the boy passed a pebble which had the size of a pea, which being left with D. Carlenus, the boy went away sound, nor thenceforth felt an infirmity of the kind.

[69] Lord Vincentius Vignarello of Urbino in the year 1651 from the first day of September after supper was oppressed with a most sharp pain of the kidneys for six continuous days, or in other places of Italy so that he lay immovable in bed, and the least motion brought him intolerable torment. In this wretched state he implored the help of St. Liborius, whose image, antiphon, and prayer he had, together with his brother, caused to be printed at Rome, and vowed a Mass to be celebrated by the Capuchin Fathers. Scarcely were the prayers finished when he fell asleep, and a little after, awaking, felt himself freed from all pain. Wherefore, rising from his bed, he passed a great quantity of sandy urine, and without any impediment went out to fulfill his vow. Thus he himself, on oath before a public notary, affirmed on the 17th day of November in the year 1651.

Lord Jacobus Honorius de Rocca Sinibalda, for about nine years afflicted with pain of the kidneys, had in vain applied every industry of the physicians. At last from D. Bernardus Pucci of Amelia he received the effigy of St. Liborius, which, the accustomed torment coming on, he ordered to be placed in his bed, and commended himself to the patronage of the Saint. After four days, on the fourth of May in the year 1648, three pebbles were expelled, which after the lawful proof of the benefit he ordered to be carried to the Saint's altar.

[70] Leander, priest of Orvieto, for seven or eight continuous months laboring with a double hernia, occurred, by the counsel of certain persons wore a truss fit for containing the hernia: but after some time, unable to bear it any longer for pain, and finding an image of St. Liborius in his keeping, he betook himself wholly into the clientage of the Saint, and so recovered that he afterward felt no pain. As a sign of a grateful mind he vowed that he would visit the relics of the holy Benefactor, as he also did in the year 1652.

Matthaeus Lancia of Amelia, also herniated on both sides, was continually compelled to wear a truss. In the year 1654 his intestines began to descend into the scrotum, so that that wretched man could in no way walk. But the disease increasing, Ignatius Veterani, surgeon of the city of Amelia, tried in many ways in vain to cure him. It therefore came into his mind how powerful was the intercession of St. Liborius, and he promised that he would every year on the feast of the holy Prelate receive the Eucharist, and take care that on that day a Mass be celebrated. This promise being made, straightway the intestines returned to their place, and he never afterward labored with a like disease. As a sign of the benefit received, he ordered a tablet to be hung at the Saint's altar.

Brother Bonaventura, Capuchin preacher, visited D. Ludovicus Perletti, in Upper Austria almost dying from assiduous pains of the kidneys, and gave him the prayer of St. Liborius, which Ludovicus recited with great devotion. After midnight, as it were admonished in sleep to say in honor of St. Liborius the Lord's Prayer and the angelic salutation, in the morning he found himself sound, and gave thanks, and ordered a Mass to be celebrated. On this occasion the prayer of St. Liborius was reprinted in Latin and German, and dispersed through Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and both Austrias.

[71] and we add the Latin testimony of a physician of Amelia. By way of conclusion I here subjoin the Latin testimony of a physician of Amelia, which he gave in the year 1649 in these words: "I the undersigned, now for the fifth year ordinary physician of natural science of the city of Amelia, moved by the force and love of truth alone, make undoubted faith and without any fear attest, that before the relics of St. Liborius, bishop of Le Mans, were carried to it, the diseases of nephritis and lithiasis so raged in it, that there were very few who were not accustomed to endure their gripings and torments, from which, on account of the devout prayers of the citizens to their new Patron, and by his efficacious intercession with God, all are now so immune, that individuals (if any rarely be present) who feel the preludes of these pains, straightway implore the help sought, and rejoice to be tormented no more. That this is so, as it is established to me with evident certainty, so that all may know the merits of the most holy pontiff Liborius in heaven, and that the needy may also procure relief for themselves by seeking, I have willingly, gladly, and rejoicingly confirmed this little page by a public oath, that they may know that I assert true things, written and subscribed it with my hand, and sealed it with my accustomed seal. At Amelia on the fifth of the Ides of December 1649. I Hieronymus Lampanus, theologian, philosopher, and physician, with my own hand."

§ VIII. Other benefits rendered by the intercession of St. Liborius.

Our Cellot invokes St. Liborius, I know not whether among the benefits related in the preceding paragraph I ought to number that which our Ludovicus Cellot testifies was rendered to himself in letters given to Bolland in the year 1649, in this manner: "I have received your Liborius, R.P., and with great gladness of my mind have read it all through. Nothing in this kind can be desired more copious, nothing more exquisite, but neither for me more opportune. For a few days after it arrived, I know not how, blood burst from an opened vein of mine: the physicians call it ἀναστόμωσιν (that is, an opening of the vessels), a thing plainly unusual and hitherto unexperienced. Straightway condemned to the letting of the vein, of which our Galens are exceedingly liberal, to all rest of mind and body, to the infirmary, I beguiled the disease and the time by reading Liborius. While I follow, while I taste again, while I learn the frequency of the miracles, I take an impulse to call the patron to my present disease. I vow a perpetual clientage, some little of my lucubration for his encomium, some extraordinary worship each year on his birthday, a commemoration every week in my private prayers: Friday is chosen for it, on which this year his feast will fall, the 23rd of July.

[73] and having experienced his help Then indeed a sure confidence of health suddenly arose in me in an uncertain and hidden disease, and I gradually recovered, whether it was done by the prayers of Liborius, or God ruled the art of the physicians by a peculiar providence. A superstitious credulity of miracles displeases you equally and me. Whether a sudden health come, or a slower, it matters little, where the benefit of God is felt. And so what remained of the infirmary, outside the care of the brethren and the addresses of visitors, was given to praising Liborius by an ode. This I render to you as a reciprocal gift, who with large interest recompensed my little work in composing a brief history of him. You will laugh at a sick, shriveled Muse, more than sixty years old, prattling in her old age ungrateful little verses from the mud of Hippocrene. This is not a work of the poetic art, but of a mind mindful of benefits, and the Muses are the daughters of Mnemosyne. This at least I shall attain, that I may exhort your younger swans by my example to attempt something above epigrams for celebrating Liborius; while you will rejoice in your bosom to have brought forth a new client for the great Wonderworker. Farewell, my Bolland, and deign to be mindful of us before God. At Paris the 18th of February 1649."

[74] Then that most learned man, before engaged with praise in poetic studies, as a sign of a grateful mind composed this ode. in honor of St. Liborius subjoins an elegant ode, which as a sign of a grateful mind he had thus composed:

Whither, Liborius, over shallows, over ridges, The Sarthe mourning, does the Saxon piously impious Carry thee away, and, snatched, add thee As a tutelary god to unknown altars? Aldric, canst thou bereave Gaul of so great A Prelate, of such a defense? Neither the healing of the suffering, Nor the tears of the people delay thee? Thus the stars roll: and Liborius himself, willing, Leaves his own citadels; As, night being put to flight, the reborn Dawn Unfolded her golden tresses to the lands. Go, good one of the heaven-dwellers, Carry about thy limbs, and grow accustomed To Northern vows. Be gone, diseases, Be gone far off, plagues of the body; Whether a dread burning feeds upon the entrails, Or the tongue, unable to render words, Whispers within, or the members stiffen Bent with a twisted knot; Or the humor, cooked, congeals into a stone Through the blind gripings of the kidneys! gripings! And the living sand is driven from us Through the mangled passages. They are present, they draw near: come, with capacious Gates admit them, great Lutetia, And with thy right hand grasp the sacred wagons; With the hospitality comes an equal reward. For noble health goes before the funeral. Now the cloud, daughter of black night, Of frosts subsides, and the power of Liborius Bids the bright suns go, Where in a vast tract the plain Spreads its bosom to the city; where the summits of the Martyrs Rise in front; and in what valley The Cecropian patron is worshipped. Nor is the power fleeting: it imprints in the air The gifts of a salubrious breeze, to remain For perennial ages, that vapors, That Stygian miasmas may not harm. Then if any vein through the loose recesses, The lung being injured, shall give way in the side: And the phlegm, coughing, shall draw the juice of life From the stomach, A deadly wound! straightway aroused To our vows will Liborius run, And, a physician, restore the stagnant liquor To its own channel. Do it, divine Prelate! So may thy holy Blessedness stand for thee with everlasting nectar: So may fame throng thy name, spread through the world, As of a driver-away of evil; And round about the altars a thousand votive offerings Hang from the groaning vault. Nor shall the vein of Cellot, half-opened With bloody marks, be silent Of Liborius preparing for the world great things, The glory of a longed-for peace: And the Frank, allied with the Iberian, The lily-bearing companies with the Eagles, To scatter war through the Thracian shores, To break the renewed horns of the Turk. Thus must one rage, O Christians: On this field the pious palm is measured.

[75] Bartholdus Nihusius felt a like help of the Saint, I know not either whether I ought here to relate another benefit, which Barthold Nihus asserts was conferred on him by the intercession of St. Liborius, in a letter given in the year 1655 to Bolland and Henschen in these words: "Very reverend fathers in Christ. To your reverence, P. Henschen, I wrote very recently; but I forgot to add, that from the time I began to worship St. Liborius among my patrons (which was done when the most illustrious nuncio Chigi had sent me as a gift the book about that Saint of your reverence P. Bolland), although I excrete, especially about the solstices, some little stones, yet I have hitherto felt no pain from them, but it is just as if I were not prone to that evil, as I was before, when I was tormented at Amsterdam from time to time most vehemently. Blessed be God both on this account, and because on the seventh of this April from our Cardinal Chigi he was made Pope Alexander VII. This, if perchance you have not yet learned it, I judged should be announced, and indeed from letters given to our most eminent Elector by a certain Cardinal from Rome. Farewell. At Mainz the 28th of April 1655."

[76] and without doubt others, as is gathered from the votive offerings at Paderborn. Whatever be the case concerning this twofold benefit, rendered to the clients of Liborius, I will not number it among the prodigious healings which we have already seen befell others. I scarcely doubt that at Paderborn at the Saint's relics very many miracles were wrought: for I gather that there many votive offerings have been hung at his altar from the poems of the most exalted and most reverend prince Ferdinand von Fürstenberg, bishop of Paderborn, who among the votive epigrams, offered to the tutelary Saints, thus sings in honor of St. Liborius:

Hail, O sacred ashes; hail, remains of Liborius Renowned for great prodigies. Gaul once sent you from the shores of Le Mans, Now the pillar and defense of my Pader. You, you I as a suppliant venerate: do thou, the kisses which we give to the urn, Do thou, O Saint, receive our prayers. So shall it be, that never with a sharp disease shall the stone Tempt me, or the sand burn my kidneys. For that thou dost heal these evils with wondrous power, Many a tablet fixed to the sacred domes teaches. So shall my Muse widely celebrate thy honors, Of one often bearing ready help to suppliants. So shall my times always be marked for me with snowy pebbles, So shall they always be bright for others.