ON SS. ILLIDIUS AND LEOGONTIUS,
BISHOPS OF CLERMONT IN AUVERGNE.
4TH CENTURY.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
On the cult of both, and the Life of the former, written by S. Gregory of Tours.
Illidius, Bishop of Clermont, in Auvergne (S.)
Leogontius, Bishop of Clermont, in Auvergne (S.)
BY THE AUTHORS G. H. AND D. P.
S. Illidius flourished in the fourth century of Christ, by some called Hillidius, commonly Saint Allyre; S. Illidius died in the year 385, on the 5th of June, whom Joannes Savaro, Governor and Prefect of Auvergne, asserts in his Origins of the city of Clermont, to have been the fourth Bishop appointed of this city, in the time of Constantine the Great (therefore before the year 337, in which he departed this life on the 22nd day of May, on the very feast of Pentecost), to have presided very long over his Church, and in the year 385 to have passed to the Lord, on the 5th day of June: on which day he is venerated with Ecclesiastical Office in the Church and diocese of Clermont, and at Marseilles in the Church of S. Victor, but most of all in various Churches and Parishes dedicated to him, he is venerated in his own Church, among which the first place deservedly holds the Church of S. Illidius in the city of Clermont, which Gregory of Tours, in his book On the Glory of the Confessors, chapter 35, asserts to be next to the Basilica of S. Venerandus; and in chapter 36 he describes the sepulchre of S. Galla, between the exit of the basilica of S. Illidius and the entrance of S. Venerandus. The same author below in the Life mentions the basilica of S. Illidius. This basilica, overthrown by the Normans in the year 919, Bishop Arnaldus and Count Raymundus of Clermont restored into a monastery of the Benedictine Order, about the year 958, and Pope Paschal II in the year 1106 on the sixth day before the Kalends of July consecrated it, as the said Savaro observes, in his Preface to the Reader, before the two little books On the Saints, Churches, and monasteries of Clermont, which from the manuscripts of S. Illidius and S. Maria of Port he edited and learnedly illustrated: in whose first book, chapter 2, these things are read. and various parishes dedicated to him. In the church of S. Illidius is the altar of S. Clemens, the altar of S. Maria, where S. Illidius, and S. Desideratus, and S. Gallus, and S. Avolus, and S. Justus, and S. Injuriosus, and Scholastica rest in body. That this Church was at first dedicated by S. Austremonius to S. Maria, and afterwards honored with the title of S. Maria "at the Saints," and that in it by his testament S. Illidius wished to be buried, the same Savaro writes. Now besides this chief Church, there are various Parishes named from S. Illidius, such as are assigned in the Archpriesthoods of Clermont, Limagne, Menat, and Andelle, in the Register of benefices of the diocese of Clermont.
[2] And these things concerning the cult at these Nones of June: from which to the Nones of July, The same from the Nones of June, by a common and often-noted error, Galesinius himself transferred him, in these words: At Auvergne, of S. Illidius, Bishop and Confessor, of whom many divine miracles are narrated; and in the Notes he asserts that it is seen from the catalogue in Demochares that he was the fourth Bishop of the Arverni: but why he refers him to the said Nones of July he is altogether silent. Baronius too at the said Nones of July inserted S. Illidius the Bishop of Auvergne into the Roman Martyrology, wrongly transferred to the Nones of July: and in the Notes alleges the same tables of Demochares. Saussay at the Nones of June celebrates the transit of S. Illidius, and at the Nones of July (that he may seem to say something) after his manner calls it an ordination, which he would prove with difficulty. In the divine Office of the Church of Clermont his feast is celebrated on the very Nones of June, no mention being made of him at the Nones of July; and besides the three Lessons on the Life, which we received from manuscripts, but which we do not think should be added here, this Collect is prescribed.
Almighty everlasting God, who hast consecrated this day in honor of B. Illidius, thy Confessor and Bishop; we beseech thee that we may feel his intercessions before thee in heaven, whose solemnities we venerate on earth out of pious love for him. Jacobus Branche, among the Lives of the Saints of Auvergne, published the Acts of S. Illidius in French at the Nones of June, and asserts that his feast is celebrated on this day. Savaro adds that Bishop Arbertus, instructed by the verses inscribed on the tomb, in the year 1311, dug up the body and raised it on high on the fifth day before the Ides of December: and on that day it pleased the religious of S. Illidius to make a commemoration of the elevation, the translation is celebrated on the 14th of November, as the old little book on the feast of the elevation of B. Illidius has; yet the same little book and the Order of Clermont judge the greater and double feast to be on the 19th day before the Kalends of January. But at this time the feast of the Translation of S. Illidius is celebrated on the 14th day of December, or the 19th day before the Kalends of January, with Ecclesiastical Office under a semi-double rite in the Church and diocese of Clermont. Molanus, in his Additions to Usuard, also assigned S. Illidius, Bishop of the Arverni, to the 7th of June.
[3] His predecessor was S. Leogontius, who, it is written, had a church dedicated to him at the city walls toward the West, and was there buried in a Church of his name—so write Joannes Chenu, S. Leogontius died about the year 336, Claudius Robertus, and the Sammarthani in the Bishops of Clermont, and they honor him with the title of Saint. The above-mentioned Savaro adds that he departed from mortal life about the year 336. In the second little book On the Saints, Churches, and monasteries of Clermont, chapter 18, these things are read: In the Church of S. Leogontius is the altar of S. Maria, the altar of S. Michael, the altar of S. Julianus. laid to rest in his own Church. There rests S. Leogontius. Andreas Saussay, at the end of the Gallican Martyrology, in the Catalogue of Saints who have no proper histories or natal days, no. 8, reported the same with the memory of his proper Church and the three altars in it; and he adds that he is commemorated on the natal day of S. Illidius. Jacobus Branche, in the Lives of the Saints of Auvergne, reported the same S. Leogontius with S. Illidius on this fifth day of June, asserting that on account of the clear evidence of miracles he was held a Saint, and a Church was built for him, and his body was carried to the Church of S. Cassius the Martyr, of which there is treatment in the said first little book, chapter 9, in these words: In the Church of S. Cassius is the altar of S. Petrus, the altar of S. Julianus, where S. Cassius and S. Victorinus and S. Leogontia and S. Georgia rest: and in the Illidian Table she is called S. Leogontia the Virgin, not in the church of S. Cassius, for there S. Leogontia V. is found, for whom however the said Branche seems to substitute S. Leogontius, but to be wholly ignorant of S. Leogontia herself: whence we believe nothing more can now be known of her: of S. Georgia we treated on the 15th of February. Gregory in book 1 of the History of the Franks, chapter 39, having reported the death of S. Urbicus the second Bishop, says, "In whose place Legonus is appointed Bishop": where the name, through the error of the copyists, the aforesaid Branche rightly judges to have been contracted. And this only could we attain concerning S. Leogontius, whom with Branche we join to S. Illidius himself, concerning whom Gregory of Tours writes these things in chapter 40.
[4] When he had died, Saint Hillidius succeeded, a man of exceeding holiness and illustrious virtue: who shone forth in such great holiness that his fame reached foreign borders. Whence it came about that he was sought out by the daughter of the Emperor of Trier, that he might cure her of an unclean spirit: which, in that book which we have written about his Life, S. Illidius, become old, is renowned for miracles, we have recorded. He was, moreover (as fame reports), very old and full of days, and full of good works: who, having passed through the path of this life with a happy consummation, migrated to Christ: and was buried in a crypt in the suburb of that city. He had also an Archdeacon, by name and by merit Justus: who, completing the course of his life with good works, is joined to his Master in the tomb. Now indeed, after the passing of the Blessed Confessor Hillidius, at his glorious sepulchre such great wonders appear that they can neither be wholly written, nor retained in memory. Thus far there: but as for what concerns the above-mentioned book, this and certain other Lives of the Saints Vossius and the Sammarthani distinguish from the book On the Lives of the Fathers; just as also, when in chapter 50 On the Miracles of S. Martin, he says that he mentioned the blind man enlightened by this man in the book on the life of S. Nicetius. The Life written by S. Gregory of Tours is given, But as we do not think this book should be distinguished from that Life which constitutes the eighth Chapter in the Lives of the Fathers; so neither this one from chapter 2 of the same book. It may however be that the holy Author, having written separately beforehand about several persons, gathered them under the title of one book, in the last year of his life; since by then S. Avitus too had died, Bishop of the Arverni, from whose report he professes to write concerning S. Illidius. We have this book, redeemed from our College of Molsheim, in a large and elegant character on parchment, copied out at the monastery of S. Dionysius near Paris, with that famous clause on the Coronation of Pippin, Bertrada, likewise from the manuscript of S. Illidius: and the sons Charles and Carloman by Pope Zacharias; which clause must first have been written in the year 767, if not in that very book, at least in a copy not much more ancient, where the Gregorian text is much more correct than in the printed editions, and is enriched with certain very remarkable miracles, as will appear from the Annotations.
[5] After Gregory, a certain Winebrandus, a Benedictine Monk, much extended the same subject, and enlarged it with many added miracles, the others by Winebrandus the Monk are wanting, comprising the History of S. Illidius in at least two books, and often cited by Savaro; whence I should believe that the lengthy Lessons of the Illidian Church were taken, and that from these Branche reports both many other things, and certain miracles of the living and the dead man, passed over by Gregory. From these he concludes, though it will hardly find belief, enlarged with other miracles, that the episcopate of Illidius ought to be drawn back from the age of the great Constantine to the second century and the reign of Trajan. I, rather than render anything into Latin from the French version, judged that the very work of the aforesaid Winebrandus should be awaited, or at least the Lessons taken from it. To be awaited likewise the manuscript on the feast of the elevation of S. Illidius, together with the history of the Elevation. as also the Old manuscript on the Arm of S. Clement, brought by the Saint himself from Cherson: since that matter pertains altogether to the history of both and to our work; both manuscripts the above-praised Savaro cites in the Notes at no. 11 of the little book on the Saints and Churches of Clermont. But I did not await these things in vain, for by the intercession of the Reverend Father Petrus Allemand, Rector of our College of Clermont, the Reverend Dom Jacobus Bardion, a Monk of S. Illidius, copied out and sent to us, from the old Breviary of his monastery, the desired Life, if not as it was composed by Winebrandus, certainly as it was afterwards adapted for the use of the Choir from his text, together with a transcript of the aforesaid double manuscript from the ancient parchments there, almost all of which it pleases here to give.
THE LIFE OF S. ILLIDIUS.
By the Author S. Gregory, Bishop of Tours.
Chapter two of the book On the Lives of the Fathers.
Illidius, Bishop of Clermont, in Auvergne (S.)
Leogontius, Bishop of Clermont, in Auvergne (S.)
BHL Number: 4264
BY GREGORY OF TOURS.
[1] Among the other seeds of perpetual life, with which the heavenly Sower, from that fount of Divinity, either watered the field of the uncultivated mind by instruction, or made it fruitful by doctrine, a he says: b "Everyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." c [And elsewhere: Unless a grain of wheat falling into the earth shall have died, it remains alone: but if it shall have died, it brings forth much fruit. Matthew 10, John 12 He who loves his soul shall lose it: and he who hates his soul in this world keeps it unto life eternal.] But that vessel of election, Blessed Paul the Apostle, says no less: Always bearing about the mortification of Christ in our body, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our d mortal flesh. 2 Corinthians 4 Therefore the Confessors of Christ, whom the time of persecution did not provoke to martyrdom; Among the illustrious Confessors who followed the footsteps of Christ, made themselves their own persecutors, that they might be held worthy of God, applied the various crosses of abstinence; and, that with their members mortified they might live to God alone, of whom the same Apostle says: Now it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. And elsewhere, alleging that of Psalm 43: For thy sake we are mortified all the day long: we are esteemed as sheep for the slaughter. Galatians 2, Romans 8 For they beheld, through those eyes of the inner mind, the Lord of the heavens descended to the earth, not cast down e to humility, but mercifully humbled for the redemption of the world: they beheld, hanging on the gibbet, not the glory of the deity, but the clean victim of the assumed body, of which John a little before had foretold: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of this world. John 1 They had in themselves also the affixing of the nails, when, transfixed by his fear, and terrified by the divine judgments, they did nothing unworthy of his omnipotence in the dwelling of their body, f [according to that which is written in Psalm 118: Pierce my flesh with thy fear, for I have feared thy judgments.] There shone in these also that distinguished light of the resurrection, by which g [the Angel shone forth, when he rolled away the stone of the tomb, of which Mark 16: And entering into the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right, covered with a white robe, and they were astonished. By which also] Jesus shone under that enclosure of the barred doors, when, unforeseen, he stood in the midst of the Apostolic Senate with his company: whom the same Lord, imbuing the same with the words of life, was carried up to the heavenly citadel.
[2] Among whom also the blessed Confessor Illidius placed all these things in the tabernacle of his heart: S. Illidius, that he too might merit to be made a temple of the Holy Spirit: about whose life intending to write somewhat, is praised in a simple style, I ask pardon of my readers. For the study of the grammatical art did not imbue me, nor did the polished reading of secular authors instruct me, but only the zeal of the blessed Father Auctus, h Bishop of Auvergne, i urged me to Ecclesiastical writing: if those things did not come to me unto judgment, which I heard from his own preaching, or re-read at his bidding, because I cannot observe them; who led me, after the chants of the Davidic song, k to those sayings of the Evangelical preaching and the histories and epistles of the Apostolic virtue: of which I could grasp only so much, that I might know that Jesus Christ the Son of God came for the salvation of the world; and that I might honor with worthy services his friends, who, having taken up the Cross, followed the spouse of austere observance. Wherefore, showing the rashness of crude rusticity, what I have learned of the Blessed Illidius I will set forth in that style which I can.
[3] Saint Illidius, therefore, when he was strong in the holiness of a perfect life, made Bishop of the Arverni; and had gathered in himself the charisms of various graces by the bounty of the Lord; that which was still lacking to the summit of his holiness, l he merited by God's inspiration and the people's election, that he should be chosen Priest of the Church of Auvergne and Pastor of the Lord's sheep. The fame of whose holiness, while it is carried up through the various ascents of graces, filled not only the very borders of the territory of Auvergne, but also the boundaries of the neighboring cities: m whence it came about that this glory reached the ears of the Emperor of Trier. n When his daughter, seized by an unclean spirit, was grievously tormented, and there was found no one by whom she could be delivered; fame disclosed the Blessed Illidius: and quicker than said, boys dispatched by the Emperor, finding the holy old man in the aforesaid city, he frees the daughter of the Emperor Maximus from the demon, swiftly present him to the Royal power. He being reverently received, the father complains of the plight of his unhappy daughter. But he, trusting in the Lord, prostrates himself in prayer; and having passed the night with sacred hymns and spiritual canticles, putting his fingers into the mouth of the girl, drove the wicked spirit from the body of the possessed one. o Seeing which miracle, the Emperor returning to Trier, he migrates to Christ: offers heaps of gold and silver to the holy Priest. Which he, abominating and refusing, obtained this: that the city of Auvergne, which paid tribute in kind of wheat and wine, should discharge it in gold, because with grievous labor the provisions were brought to the Imperial store. But the Saint (as they say), the time of his present life being fulfilled, in the very course of his journey migrated to Christ, and, carried by his own people, was buried in his own city.
[4] But perhaps (as men are wont for the most part to murmur) some one p will prate, saying: This man cannot have a place among the Saints for the working of only one q miracle. For if that is weighed which the Lord says in the Gospel: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not in thy name cast out demons, and done many mighty works? And I will answer them, saying, Because I never knew you; surely it is understood, that the virtue that has gone forth from the tomb profits more unto praise than that which anyone living has done in the world: because the latter could have stain through the residual r impediments of worldly occupation, but the former at length lacked all stain. s Therefore, because those things, as we believe, renowned for miracles, which S. Illidius wrought before this time, have been given to oblivion, and have not come to our knowledge; let us declare those things which we have beheld with our own eyes, and have experienced, or which we have learned as recognized by the faithful.
[5] In the time when Gallus the Bishop t governed the Church of Auvergne, the writer of these things, living in his youth, was grievously sick, S. Gregory of Tours, while still a boy, is freed from a fever, and was for the most part visited by him with singular affection, because he was his uncle. Now the sickness was with excessive phlegm of the stomach, and a strong fever. Meanwhile a desire came to the little one, and I believe by God's inspiration, that he should be carried to the basilica of B. Illidius. And being carried in by the hands of boys, having poured out prayer with tears at his tomb, he felt himself lighter than he had come. But returning home, he is again seized by the fever. On a certain day, when he began to be in worse state, and a harsher fever than usual weighed him down, and he lay doubtful under fortune whether he would escape; u his mother, approaching, says to him: A sorrowful day, sweet son, I shall have today, x while such a fever holds you. To whom he says: Be not at all grieved, I beseech you, but send me back to the sepulchre of B. Illidius the Bishop: for I firmly believe that it will come about that his virtue will grant both joy to you and health to me. Then, carried to the tomb of the Saint, he poured out a prayer y to the Lord, promising, if he should free him from this contagion by the intercession of his Bishop, that he would become a Cleric: and would not at all delay, if the prayer obtained its effect. the blind man is enlightened. Having spoken these things, he felt the fever forthwith depart: and, calling the boy, he asks to be carried home. And when he had been carried into the dining-room, where then his people were feasting, a great quantity of blood bursting from his nostrils, the fever and the gore flowed away together. That this was granted by the merits of the blessed Confessor is held proven. But also lately a servant of Count Venerandus, when he had been settled in long-lasting blindness, the vigils being celebrated, departed sound.
[6] But concerning his Relics, this very aforesaid writer, as it happened, beheld by his own contemplation. He had dedicated an oratory within the Ecclesiastical house of the city of Tours in the first z year of his Priesthood, in which, with the pledges of the other Saints, he placed the Relics of this Bishop. But after many days from the dedication he was admonished by the Abbot to visit the Relics, which he had placed in the altar itself, lest, being moistened by the dampness of the new building, some rottenness should settle upon them. The Relics at Tours: And when, searching, he found them affected, having taken them from the altar, he began to dry them before the fire. But when he unbound those ligatures one by one, he came to the Relics of B. Illidius the Bishop. Then, aa holding the same before the fire, the thread by which they were bound, which was very long, he cast upon the burning coals: and it, as though of bronze or iron, glowed white from the heat of the fire: and while he reckoned little what should become of the thread, only that the holy Relics should not be harmed, thereupon follows also the thread unharmed. Seeing these things, greatly astonished, he marvels at the virtue of the blessed Bishop: who, not without great fear, carrying these things back whence he had taken them, revealed his glory to all. Now that thread was of wool.
[7] There was a little boy of about ten months (who, as the truth of the matter taught, was held to be the great-great-grandson bb of the Blessed one himself) afflicted by the onset of a most grievous ailment. The Saint's great-great-grandson, an infant and dying, But his mother wept, no less for the death of the little one, than because he had not yet been anointed with the divine sacrament of baptism. At length, counsel being taken, she went to the tomb of the blessed Confessor; she lays the sick child on the pavement, who throbbed with nothing but breath alone; and keeps watch in vigils and supplications before the sepulchre of the Bishop. And when that winged messenger of the light, with beating wings, had uttered its clapping more loudly; the boy, who had been laid out quite lifeless, recovered; and, disclosing the joys of his heart with preceding laughter, his mouth opened by divine power, he calls his mother, saying: Come hither. But she, approaching with trembling and joy, who had never yet heard the voice of her son, astonished, What do you wish? she says, sweetest son. He says: Run as quickly as possible, and bring me cups of water. But she, persisting motionless in prayer until the coming of the light, he speaks at the tomb and is healed, giving thanks to the holy Bishop, and devoting her offspring, departed to the house; and the water being offered, the infant drank; and, released from every bond of infirmity, fully recovered; then, returning to the former wailings of infancy, he could speak no more, until, brought up, he reached that course of age in which the tongue of infants is wont to be loosened for speaking.
[8] But neither do I think that should be passed over in silence, which at a certain time, when an oven was kindled for baking the lime of that very basilica, came to pass. The beam, cc therefore, which most strongly secured the mouth of the furnace, while those who were present, together with the Abbot of the place, were sleeping, was broken. the sleepers, when the lime-kiln was about to fall, Which being done, there suddenly stood by the Presbyter, through a vision, as it were a Priest, saying: Hasten quickly, and rouse the sleepers, lest the fall of the coming ruin overtake them: for now the beam is ready, which sustains the whole mass of stones, to fall down together with the fire itself. But he, awakened, the Saint appearing, are roused roused the others; and all being removed from the mouth of the furnace, the heap of gathered stones fell on either side, harming none of the bystanders: which I think was granted not without the intercession of the Bishop. Then the aforesaid Presbyter, and are saved. prayer being made at the sepulchre of the Saint, the beams repaired, and the stones carried back, completed in the oven the work begun, the Bishop assisting.
[9] The blessed body of this Confessor was of old buried in a crypt: but because the building was narrow, The body raised higher by S. Avitus, and had a difficult entrance; S. Avitus, Bishop of the city, having built around it an apse of wonderful workmanship, sought out the blessed limbs, dd and found them in a chest formed of wooden boards, and after the custom enclosed them in a sarcophagus; and the crypt being filled in, placed them higher. In this place also Justus, by merits and by name, ee rests, who is said to have been the Archdeacon of this glorious Bishop. ff
[10] Many indeed and other miracles of this Saint have been reported, which I thought it long to write, he is made illustrious by frequent miracles. reckoning that these things which have been said suffice for perfect faith: because to him for whom few do not suffice, neither will more profit. For at this tomb the blind are enlightened, demons are put to flight, the deaf receive hearing, and the lame receive their step, our Lord Jesus Christ granting it, who has promised to those who believe to bestow without ambiguity the things asked of him.
NOTES BY D. P.
m Ib. "went to."
p The manuscript, "prates" (Garrulatur); perhaps Gregory wrote "will prate" (Garrulabitur). "Garrulare," however, is read in the Rule of the Templars in Du Cange, and in Vossius On Faults of Speech, from Walsingham.
q Hence is rendered suspect the raising of three dead men in Branche, reported from elsewhere, and several other things attributed to the living man.
r The printed editions, "constant."
s The same, "to clearness."
t S. Gallus, the 23rd Bishop according to Savaro, about the year 549, is venerated on the 1st of July: but these acts might seem to have happened around Gregory at fifteen years old, in the year 559.
u The printed editions, "it was greatly doubted."
x The manuscript, "the fever will come."
y The printed editions thus: "He pours out a prayer, prostrate of his own accord, if the virtue of his Bishop."
z Therefore in the year 573 or the following: and it seems that, by the name "Ecclesiastical house," the Bishop's residence is understood.
aa The rest of this number is read in the printed editions thus: "Which, when they were held before the fire, the thread … fell down … But while he reckoned little … provided that the holy Relics were dried, judging that it had now been resolved into ash, he found it still whole and incorrupt: namely because it had a little before been the bond and ligament of this glorious Bishop." The miracles which follow further are wanting in the printed editions, and are had from our manuscript; whence we even learn to reckon that we shall perhaps find several others likewise supplied, if at some time a new edition come forth, begun to be furnished by our Chiffletius, from several manuscripts (of which this one was one), but hindered by his death.
bb The manuscript, "of the basilica," by a scribal (as we wholly believe) error.
cc "Jugum" (beam), and below "juga" (beams), I understand as a bar or bars, somewhat curved like a yoke.
dd Of this elevation there is no mention in Savaro or Branche.
ee S. Justus is here inscribed in the Gallican Martyrology of Saussay on the 21st of October: which Savaro confirms from the Illidian table; I know not whether the cult be not confused with the cult of S. Justus, Bishop in the year 620, also buried in the same place.
ff The following conclusion is also present in the printed copies.
ANOTHER LIFE
From the old manuscript Illidian Breviary, communicated by Dom Jacobus Bardion.
Illidius, Bishop of Clermont, in Auvergne (S.)
Leogontius, Bishop of Clermont, in Auvergne (S.)
BHL Number: 4265
FROM THE ILLIDIAN MANUSCRIPT
[1] Saint Illidius, sprung from the noble and ancient lineage of the Arverni, was the son of a certain Prince of the domain, anciently called Daletum: a whose parents were converted to the faith by the divine Austremonius, b the first Bishop of the Arverni, and took care to have the son begotten by them instructed in all piety. Of a noble stock among the Arverni, He, shining at every age with uprightness of morals and sanctity of life, and surpassing his contemporaries, was, where the vows of his parents had destined him, taken up into the sacred order of the Clergy in the Church of Clermont, then called Arvernum. And, proven by his progress in virtue in each Ecclesiastical Order, when the divine Leogontius, Bishop of the Arverni, had died, by the highest concord both of the Nobles and of the Clergy and People, he was elected and consecrated Bishop. Adorned with the Pontifical mitre, and not unmindful of his function, following the Apostolic doctrine, made Bishop of Clermont, how irreproachable and blameless a life he led, set as it were on a watchtower, the wondrous works bear no slight testimony, which He who alone does wonders deigned to work through his Saint.
[2] For to command demons in the name of Christ, and to cast them out from possessed bodies, to cure sicknesses, to raise the dead, manifestly attest he grows renowned for miracles. how great he was before the Lord, who by such mighty deeds willed those truly believing in him to be marked and recognized in the beginning of the Christian faith. But those things which, while he still dwelt on earth, he wrought by divine power, are to be reported in their order. The man of God had an uncle, noble and very rich, by name Corbus, who, dying with no offspring surviving, was thinking anxiously enough about distributing his ample possession among his kinsmen. But among the first there came to his mind his nephew Illidius, already then Bishop of the See of Auvergne; of whose piety he was certain, that he would expend the wealth and possessions entrusted and bequeathed to him upon the relief of the needy and the building of sacred edifices. made heir by his uncle, Him therefore by his last will he distinguishes in the greatest part of his possessions, and at the same time breathes out his soul. Then forthwith a lawsuit was begun to be contrived against the holy Bishop by the co-heirs, the more confidently, the more they promised themselves that his sanctity together with the innocence of his disposition could easily be circumvented, since he, wholly hindered by and intent upon divine matters, thought very little of earthly things.
[3] But the holy man, perceiving that either the inheritance must be left to the wicked litigants against the mind of the testator, or their souls must be wretchedly imperiled; he appeals to the dead man, having invoked God, takes counsel that both evils must be met by divine art. For he judged it unbecoming for a Bishop to contend with his kinsmen over an earthly inheritance; but on the other hand it was sloth of mind not to dare to gainsay the unjust plunderers. And so, a respite of three days being requested, that he might apply himself to prayer, it was agreed between them and the other heirs, that they should go together to the sepulchre of the dead man; and to whom God should adjudge that this which they sought was his, they should hear through the mouth of the dead man: for by no reason did the holy man think that he could render them more quiet, than that, all being called and themselves standing by, he should bid the dead man testify in clear voice at the sepulchre, whether he had not delegated to him, chiefly in favor of the Church and the poor, the disputed inheritance. Which indeed was done, as the holy man had appointed to be carried out. On the appointed day, therefore, all go to the sepulchre of the dead man: and the Bishop, making three strokes with his rod, says, I command you, O Corbus, on the part of God, to speak to me; and to say, to which of us you granted to have what these men require. Then a voice was heard from the sepulchre: To you, holy Bishop, I left it: which they hearing, marveled exceedingly, and were struck with shame and fear; and so the suit was the more quickly dissolved.
[4] He raises three brothers suddenly dead. It happened after these things that three young men, most noble of the city of Clermont, Alexander, Floridus, and Pudens, by a premature death, and indeed unexpectedly, departed this life, not without great grief of the whole city: and the lamentable case was hastily brought to Illidius, and there were offered to him the prayers of the people and of the mother, a widow and deservedly desolate. Then the man of God, having compassion on their tears, promising nothing certain concerning his own virtue—in a matter scarcely ever granted to very few mortals—exhorts that help is to be hoped for from God alone. Yet nonetheless he, certain of the divine power and goodness, hastens to the funerals, accompanied by a confluence of faithful peoples: and, prayer being sent up with tears, he says to the young men, In the name of the most holy Trinity, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, arise. And touching each with his sacred hands, he powerfully and savingly restored three souls to three revived bodies, in almost the same moment of time, all being astonished and praising God in the holy man.
[5] When the divine Clement had been killed in the sea, c and through the happy triumph of martyrdom received into the heavens; S. Illidius hastens to build a sacred edifice for his memory and veneration. In the meantime the man of God learned by certain report he builds a church to S. Clement; that a marble sepulchre, or a certain temple, had been built for the divine Clement by Angelic ministry, in the midst of the sea; and that the sea itself, by divine motion, the shore being deserted, drew itself back three miles, on the day of his martyrdom, yearly for seven days, so that it was free for Christians to approach that sepulchre over the sand with dry foot. Then the man of God began to burn in a wondrous manner, if in any way he could merit to obtain some particle from his sacred body, for the sake of adorning his new basilica. Wherefore by a very long pilgrimage he hastens into Scythia d to the city of Cherson; and, the occasion being watched through the retreat of the sea, he flies to the sepulchre of the Martyr. Where, suppliantly falling down, he prays most intently, that from the most sacred body he may receive something of relics for the ennobling of his basilica, and obtains his arm: which he had built at the city of Auvergne, from the Lord and from the Martyr himself. Then the divine Clement, the sepulchre being opened, brought forth his own arm, as also the most ancient paintings and e writings testify, and gave him leave to carry it away with him.
[6] Then the most blessed Bishop, for so great a gift, giving due thanks first to God, and laying it up in the church, often visiting it by night, then to the Martyr so munificent, with incredible joy carried it with him into his basilica; and in the midst of the chief altar, which he had consecrated to the Martyr, a small vault being built like a kind of chapel, he placed it to be kept with perpetual honor: which also he pressed with his own seal, for the sake of security and religion. But under Bego, Bishop of the Arverni, the arm was taken thence, and made conspicuous to all. The said basilica built to the divine Clement, and also the chapel which B. Austremonius had dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God (which, since a multitude of Martyrs was buried around it, received the name of B. Maria "among the Saints"), the holy man held in singular devotion, and even in the hours before dawn he had the custom of retiring there more privately for the sake of prayer.
[7] But when on a certain night he was setting out thither to pray; the ancient enemy, who always opposes the good, met him in human form; and somewhat flatteringly asks, he perceives the fraud of the demon dissuading it, whither so great a man goes alone at that time. The holy man answers that he is going to his sacred edifice for the sake of prayer. Then the demon: You do not rightly do a good work, since at that hour of night it is base for a Bishop to be found in the streets and lies open to calumny, and its own time is given to each thing by the highest Arbiter of affairs—the day for work, and the night for rest. Return therefore to the Bishop's house, and hereafter beware of so untimely a wandering, subject to various calumnies. But the holy man, not ignorant of the cunning of Satan, and that he frequently transforms himself into an angel of light; at once perceived his fraud, and, despising the faithless counselor, fortifying himself with the sign of the Cross, went on whither he had begun to go; and his prayers performed and his vows discharged, returned home in haste. Then unexpectedly the same enemy, having now put off the human form, met the Bishop returning home, in the figure of a certain caparisoned and monstrous mule, bearing its mane stretched out to the knees, which through its nostrils and mouth sent forth, vomiting, burning flames; and very often agitating itself crosswise, and dissolves the terrors. frequently struck out fire from the rocks with the blow of its hoofs, with gaping throat and ready to bite, as though about to tear the man of God in pieces. But, in no wise terrified by such illusory terrors of the demon, the sign of the Cross being made, he drove away, quicker than said, that horrible specter, masked only in appearance; and on the part of God commanded it to go to a deserted place, in which it should never harm anyone, which also was done. Henceforth the holy Illidius, who thus far had always been held a most excellent man, was in the judgment of all reckoned mighty in signs.
[8] Meanwhile it happened that there was brought to him with tearful complaints, that there was a stone bridge, about the sixth milestone from Clermont, which is commonly called Kambau, laid over the river Allier, near its f landing-place, under which there lurked in the depth of the whirlpools a most ferocious demon, He restrains another demon, hostile to travelers. which was a terror to all passing by.
and not a few also, dragged down with it into the abyss, it cruelly drowned. The holy Bishop wept at once over the calamities of his people, and dismissed them gently consoled. Meanwhile he himself applied to prayers and fastings, and appointed a day on which he ought to betake himself to that place. And, the greatest part of the Clergy being taken with him, he proceeded to the bridge, under which the demon lurked. The supplicating people flow together from everywhere, and each fixes his eyes upon the Bishop; and stretching out suppliant hands to heaven, in suspense they await what the holy man would do. But he, with most certain hope of heavenly aid conceived in his mind, by Pontifical authority commands the evil demon to leave that river harmless, and hereafter to be neither a terror nor a harm to any mortal. That wicked enemy of Tartarus obeys the command gnashing, by whom hereafter it was never heard that any evil whatsoever befell any of men. But the demon being cast out, that all dread might wholly be removed from weak minds, he orders the bridge to be torn down, and accordingly set up again in another convenient place. Which was done, the traces however of the former bridge being left, which even today testify to the virtue of B. Illidius, together with the immense whirlpool of the eddies remaining, which even today are seen in the same place. g
[9] When the holy Illidius was Bishop, there reigned in the city of Trier a certain Prince, who had extended his rule widely both through Germany and through Gaul: To cure the Emperor's daughter, possessed at Trier, who, as he was great, might at the same time have been somehow reckoned blessed, had he not had his most beloved daughter, by God's permission, held by a malignant spirit. But when each remedy, both divine and human, which were believed to pertain to the girl's health, had been tried, and there remained no hope of health; not by slight grief were they wasted, not only the Emperor himself, but also, with his courtiers, all Germany. The fame of the desolate Prince, and of his daughter oppressed by the demon, flitting through the provinces, at length the mournful matter became known to those who presided over the exacting of tribute in his name in Auvergne. But they, trembling at the novelty of the case and tormented in mind, confer among themselves by what office above all they might testify their affection toward the Prince. And at last, recalling to mind how often Illidius, Bishop of the Arverni, had driven out the unclean spirit from the seats it had occupied; confidence being conceived, they held it for a certainty that it would be easy for him to vindicate the maiden from the most wicked enemy, if the holy man could ever be persuaded the Saint summoned by legates, to allow himself to be carried even as far as Trier. So, a courier being at once dispatched, they make their Prince more certain about this matter. The Emperor, the unexpected message received, is gladdened; and delaying nothing, sends a most ample embassy to the man of God; and prays as humbly as possible from his heart, that the Father mighty in signs, although aged, would deign to come to Trier, and to drive the Tartarean enemy from the maiden's body, to the praise of almighty God. The legates set forth the commands of their Prince, affirming that they had at hand vehicles and whatever might be necessary for the completion of so long a journey; entreating this one thing again and again, that the holy man would deign by his presence to console the desolate Emperor.
[10] The prayers of the Emperor, when the holy man understood them, mature counsel being held beforehand with his people, and the issue of the matter being taught him by divine revelation, for the honor of God and the increase of the faith, he betakes himself thither: as one about to fight, as of old, against the enemy of the human race, and to gratify the Emperor and all Germany, girds himself for a journey now near the grave. And after the space of almost one month he arrived unharmed at Trier. Where the holy Father, received with the reverence that was fitting, vigilant in nocturnal psalmody, and his accustomed prayers performed, the Emperor with his nobles waiting, and the Clergy and people being called, proceeds with his ministers to the sacred altar, about to offer the Sacrifice for the girl's health. The Sacrifice being offered, he intrepidly attacks the evil demon: and his sacred fingers being put into the girl's mouth (which the wicked spirit, the teeth being drawn back, dreads to touch) he commands the demon to leave the possessed maiden unharmed more quickly, and the demon being driven out, and in no way hereafter to be troublesome to her. Further he orders that, departing, as a sign of flight and obedience, it should carry off in haste those columns which lay in the ruins of the palace, and transfer them unharmed into his basilica, dedicated to the divine Clement, Pope and Martyr, near the city of Auvergne; and at last betake itself to that place, where it could be a harm to no mortal. The unclean spirit obeys forthwith; and the maiden being left unharmed, all being astonished, like a whirlwind it carries off the seized h columns whither it had been bidden, and lays them down whole, as even today one may see in the Illidian monastery.
[11] He frees his city from tribute. Then the divine mercy is praised in common, the magnates and chiefs of the cities running together from everywhere; through the mouths of all the holiness of Illidius flits, and the faith and virtue of the Christians is extolled even by the praises of the Pagans. These things performed, the Emperor, beholding the miracle, offers immense heaps of gold and silver to the holy Priest. Which he, entreating and refusing, obtained this: that the city of Auvergne, which paid tribute in kind of wheat and wine, should discharge it in gold; because with grievous labor the provisions were brought to the imperial store. These things performed, the holy man with his people girds himself for the return into Auvergne. But the Emperor's daughter, beholding her deliverer ready to set out on the journey, returning, he is seized by illness, and weeping that now she was being deprived of his sight, and might not accompany him departing; falling down at his feet, did not rise before she had been more fully strengthened by his sacred admonitions, and likewise by prayer and blessing. The Emperor accompanies him departing with his people, and a blessing being given him by the holy man, and mutual greeting imparted, they parted on both sides.
[12] But after the space of some days was passed, when they had come to the first entrances of the Gauls, seized by a strong fever, and dies. the man of God feels his strength gradually cut off, and death imminent from near. And so, his people being recalled, he says that he must die in a foreign land; and asks that they carry the remains of his body with them into Auvergne, and bury them in his basilica, in the place which is called "at holy Mary," among the Saints. Soon as he rendered his spirit to God, anxious to fulfill his last commands, with the utmost speed and greatest veneration a little coffin being prepared, they convey and carry the body of the Bishop, to be preserved, as honorably as possible even to Auvergne. But when to the people of Auvergne the death of their Pastor, who had deserved most excellently of them, was announced; as each one's means and strength allowed, groaning they hasten to meet it. Then the whole Clergy, and the whole people in throngs, The body, as he had commanded, is carried back into Auvergne. each distinguished in their orders, proceed to meet it, with voices indeed psalming amid sobs and weeping profusely. But all being most honorably completed, then at last the Father of the country is borne into the tomb where he had commanded, where even now he rests in a little chest, renowned for miracles. For the feeble, the possessed, the bow-footed, the dropsical, the lame, the blind, the shipwrecked, each one placed in necessity, obtains relief by his prayers and merits; and there very many demons are driven from human bodies, the frenzied are healed, the fevered are freed… i
[13] A certain citizen of Tours, Guarinus by name, was for several years pressed by an immense swelling of dropsy: The dropsical man, having gone in vain to the Saint's sepulchre, long continually invoking the divine goodness and frequently approaching most devoutly also the tomb of holy Martin, Archbishop of Tours, and the Relics of his body, he implored his help; but without the effect of his petition. But the fame of the divine Illidius being carried about everywhere, by the counsel of his friends he made a journey into Auvergne; and eager with hope of recovering health, he hastens to the tomb of the holy Bishop, and groaning and bathed in tears falls down at the tomb, imploring his aid with pitiable voices. now about to undergo an incision, But he was put off from the cure of his disease much longer than he had hoped; perhaps that by that vexation not only the body might be relieved of the noxious humor, but also the soul might be purged of vices. But he, impatient both of his sickness and of the delay, now despairing of recovering health, reviled the holy man. But immediately, recovering his mind, humbled he returned to prayers; so much that human infirmity and the stability of Christian faith could be perceived in one man at almost the same moment. And so, falling into extreme despair, physicians and surgeons being summoned, even at peril of his life he resolved to try an incision of the body. Yet nonetheless he has recourse to the divine mercy and the protection of S. Illidius, not yet wholly despairing of it: by his appearing he is healed. of which hope also he was not frustrated. For on that very night, on which the incision was being prepared for the dying man, the kindly Bishop Illidius appeared with serene countenance and gentle eyes, and consoles him cast down in all his mind; and bids him take up hope: and immediately restored him unharmed, all the neighborhood marveling and praising God in his Saint.
[14] Three merchants, in peril at sea, Three merchants, most distinguished both in splendor of birth, and in honesty of morals, and in wealth, by common counsel committing themselves and their wares to the sea, had now plowed the high sea prosperously for a great part of the way: when suddenly the whole face of the sky is changed, and the mildness of the air is turned to fury, and unequal blasts of winds rise from every side, and the whole ship with its tackle threatens the extreme outcome: nay, even the sailors themselves, all hope of safety lost, of a foul color almost lifeless, and all their strength lost, had fallen down dying. Then at last, God inspiring, those three men, by whose expense and auspices the place had by chance fortune been reached, a vow being made to the Saint, returning to their senses though late, recall those things which they had once heard of S. Illidius, Bishop of the Arverni; and immediately, unanimous, falling down with vows, hope of safety being conceived, they diligently implore his aid; promising that they would worship from their heart the sepulchre and sacred remains of the man of God, both by present veneration and by an honorific bestowal of wealth.
[15] This vow being uttered, moving the ship with light rowing they bring it out into the deep, they escape with their wares also safe; and by a prosperous course they bring it safe into the desired harbor with all souls and wares. But each one with his things having departed exultingly where he pleased, and those three men likewise departing to their own houses with their wares to their families; their affairs and business being arranged, they hasten into Auvergne, to make satisfaction to the divine Illidius their deliverer. And when they had arrived there, and had anxiously inquired where the body of the holy man, buried, was venerated; at length they stopped at the edifice of the divine Clement, and were led by the inhabitants to the tomb of the divine Bishop. Which being seen, bathed in tears, they fell prone for joy, and adorn his sepulchre. adoring and giving immense thanks. But drawing deep sighs from their breast, because the remains of so great a man lay buried in so despised a place, they resolve among themselves to spare no expense to honor the place. And artisans being soon called together, they order an arched vault to be made on high above the holy sepulchre: which, overlaid with plaster, shaded with most brilliant colors, they adorned with various images that should last for all time, traces of which even today remain. And the pavement they pave with three-colored little stones, which, worn down by age, and the use of times, and the change of the place,
has been worn away.
[16] Their faith and devotion was followed by a certain distinguished citizen of Clermont, among the chief men rich and honored, whom they commonly called Apocrisiarius from his office: who, afflicted with various sicknesses, kept himself at home for a long time lying in bed, Another, from diseases and the specters of demons, and feeling the effect of no remedy by the industry of the physicians. He had therefore lost the hope of recovering health: when in the meantime by the malice of the demons he was disturbed through the nights with horrible visions and certain specters, as though now about to breathe out his soul, and to be hurled with them into Tartarus. But he, terrified, calls together his whole household, and demands that Priests be brought into the house, the Lord's Cross and holy water be brought, and that he be fortified by their prayers and the sign of the Cross against the assaults of the malignant spirits. And this was done. For that whole masked effigy of the demons vanished, but did not rest quiet so long. For after some days, increased both in malice and in terrors and in number, they again assail the man through the night: whom he, throbbing, so greatly feared, that he cried out miserably that it was over for him with extreme and perpetual punishment.
[17] But the divine Illidius forthwith was a help to the wretched man, freed by the same appearing, and showed himself to be beheld, adorned with a white mantle, and far more excellent than human appearance, bearing a Cross in his right hand. Whom when he saw, wholly gladdened, he suppliantly prays, that the Tartarean monsters being driven off he would render him secure, and heal him from the infirmities by which he was pressed. To whose vows the holy man assented, and granted a doubled gift of health; for he put to flight the diabolical hosts, and restored the sick man to his former health. But restored to health, anxiously weighing with himself with what gratitude he might further deserve well of his deliverer; and seeing his tomb so magnificently adorned by those three merchants; he reckoned it would be of his office, a necessary dwelling being made to the honor of God and the divine Illidius, out of his wealth, in that place—sacred to the Virgin Mother of God already of old from the time of S. Austremonius, and dedicated by the divine Illidius himself to Clement, Pope and Martyr—he founds the Illidian monastery. to establish some Monks: who, devoted to the divine service, after the ecclesiastical custom should render praises to God hour by hour, and venerate the holy Bishop; and by this man as author and founder the Illidian monastery was begun and built. k
NOTES BY D. P.
APPENDIX
On the elevation and translation of the Body.
From another manuscript of the same place.
Illidius, Bishop of Clermont, in Auvergne (S.)
Leogontius, Bishop of Clermont, in Auvergne (S.)
BHL Number: 4266
FROM THE ILLIDIAN MANUSCRIPT
[18] When Arbertus a was presiding over the Bishopric of Auvergne, the Omnipotent and merciful God, wonderful in his Saints, and Holy in his works, inspired b the Abbot and Brethren of the monastery of the kindly Confessor Illidius, Bishop Arbertus, asked by the Monks, in the suburb of Clermont, that they should see to it that the Body of their glorious aforesaid Patron be elevated as was fitting. A devout supplication on this matter being sent by them to the aforesaid Bishop, the same Bishop kindly receiving it; and greatly marveling, that for so long a time so great a treasure of Christ (namely the limbs of his aforesaid Bishop) had been permitted (as it seemed) not without the guilt of negligence, to elevate the body of S. Illidius; to be covered in a hidden and damp place of the earth; he promised, the divine grace granting it, that he would gladly and shortly see to this. To these things a copy of the writings was handed to him, concerning the life and deeds and other things which were written of B. Illidius from of old; and the Legends being diligently examined, which clearly designated the place of his sepulchre; at length the same Bishop turned aside to that monastery; and is made certain of the place of the sepulchre by the said writings, and by the oaths of the ancient Brethren of the said monastery, and by the Epitaph of the sepulchre itself, where by certain verses c this very thing was declared.
[19] In the year from the Incarnation of the Lord one thousand three hundred and eleven, in the year 1311, the 9th of December, on the fifth day before the Ides of the month of December, Matins being sung together by the Bishop himself and the Abbot and the Convent, about midnight, of the proper Office d of the said Saint in the choir of the Church of the said monastery, and Mass being consequently celebrated by the Bishop upon the altar of the Saint himself; and the communion of the sacred Viaticum being given by his hand to each of the Brethren of the said place who were present, and who were not otherwise to celebrate that day; there being present with him several Canons of the Cathedral Church, the pulpit being removed, and several Friars Minor and Preachers, and many other good men, several also Noble laymen, in the name of God, first by the Bishop, then by others, the lectern was dug up, constructed over the sepulchre itself.
[20] first he finds the Relics of SS. Gallus and Praejectus: Meanwhile there appeared, in the part dug up there, beneath the altar, which was adjoining, a hollow place; beneath which there were found, in a certain copper chalice, the Relics of Gallus and Petrus, e in one bone and in dust, very carefully and reverently placed, whose memorial, read by the Bishop and others, was at once resolved into ashes through age. These Relics, therefore, to be laid up in the meantime with the others, the present ones arranged to put back beneath the said altar, when it should be reconsecrated as was needful, which also was afterwards done, a part of the Relics of B. Illidius being joined, in the aforesaid reconsecration. But when the diggers had come to the floor, a part of the floor being thrown out, there appeared painted on the wall of the Church a Crucifix, long and great, existing without much damage or tearing of itself. Which uncovering, and following also the cemented wall made under the lectern, those who were present presumed, that under the same wall, at the feet of that Crucifix, the body of the holy Illidius, buried, ought to be found, and so also it was discovered to be true.
[21] then the sarcophagus of the Saint, At length, not without labor and difficulty, they came to a stone, immediately placed under the sarcophagus, where the aforesaid body was. Which stone, when nevertheless it was not hoped that it could be had without the demolition of the whole altar,… f by God's ordaining was broken around the head, not without the wonder of the present ones, so that without the expected difficulty it was removed. There then lay open a stone vessel, very beautiful, and as though it had been made anew, stained with no filth; and there the present ones merited to behold the Body of the most sacred Bishop Illidius, extended through each of its several venerable limbs, resting most gloriously. You might then see these for joy pouring out tears, those contemplating God in his Saint, others and others giving thanks to God in manifold ways, and commending themselves to the Saint by most devout prayers. A ladder is sought, and in it the whole body: and the Bishop entering that place, with the greatest devotion and reverence as was fitting, gathered the sacred limbs, which through the intervals of so many times and the dampness had been somewhat liquefied and wasted: and under his own seal and that of the aforesaid Abbot, enclosed in a basket, he reverently placed them in a safe and secret place, until the following Tuesday, g which he takes thence: the Te Deum laudamus being first sung, and the bells rung, and prayers following.
[22] At that time a certain devout Brother of the Order of Preachers, assisting there, miracles follow: the intercession of the Saint himself being tried, felt himself restored by a divine miracle to the former clearness of his sight, in which he then suffered, several other miracles following. But meanwhile the aforesaid vessel, in which the aforesaid body had been buried, was drawn out from the depth, and above
placed as it is shown today; the tomb too is raised higher; so that in the course of times, when recourse shall be had by devout faithful to a vessel of this kind, consecrated by the body of S. Illidius, the Saint himself interceding, it may be obtained from the Lord, what shall have been worthily asked, as also it is established to have been done by many.
[23] Lastly the happy Bishop Arbertus, on whom the Lord deigned to confer such great grace, that, so many and so worthy his predecessors being passed over, he judged the sacred revelation of his most holy Bishop to be treated and accomplished altogether to be reserved to the same; to the same, I say, born in a neighboring city, the matter is solemnly published on the 14th of December, and (as is presumed by some) not without a little spark of kinship with the family of the said Saint; a fast being proclaimed on the eve of Tuesday, to the whole aforesaid City the next morning, with a multitude of Prelates and Clergy, and several Noble men of the land, with the Convents and Colleges of that city, processionally assisting him, and amid the pressure of the people, he published what had been done. And at last by the Prelates, the holy body being carried with procession, not without many lights, the body is carried about. within the walls of the city and honorably carried back, a sermon being made in the meadow near the walls of the monastery, and a solemn Mass being sung at the altar of B. Clement, and one bone being given (as some think, of the Arm) others asserting, of the Shinbone of blessed Illidius, to the Cathedral church; and certain small portions of his most holy Relics being granted to certain other churches, few however; the said venerable body was firmly placed on high; where it may be looked upon not only by the bystanders, some parts are separated. but also by the Brethren, singing or praying apart in the choir, and duly revered. The precious Head however was set apart by the Brethren; that, as is fitting, laid up in a most beautiful vessel, it may be held at hand.
[24] Indeed on the following eighth day, the body of the most blessed successor of S. Illidius, by deed and name h Venerandus, was translated, that it might be placed higher with his kindly Bishop Illidius under the same shrine, distinctly sealed apart. The body of S. Venerandus also is elevated, And there may the two Athletes of Christ, Illidius and Venerandus, excellent Confessors, duly entreated, obtain from the Lord especially the health of bodies and minds. Further a certain part of the dust and bones of the body of blessed Venerandus was left in his chapel under his altar, within his former sepulchre made under the lectern. But on account of the difficulty of seeking the body of B. i Nepotianus, Confessor and Bishop of Clermont, the others resting there being left: which is known to have been buried in the same chapel, as also many other Saints, it was left in the same place. And for the same reason it is established that the same was omitted concerning him who is by deed and name Justus, k the Archdeacon and disciple of blessed Illidius, who is read to have been buried beside the sepulchre of holy Illidius himself.
[25] But at that time a leaden vessel was opened, which is fixed in the wall of the church of the said monastery near the altar of Blessed Mary; and the daughter of the Emperor Maximus is found. and there were found the bones of the daughter l of the Emperor of old, whom blessed Illidius is read to have freed from a demon, as within the same vessel in a certain leaden memorial it was seen to be contained.
[26] Indeed after and on account of the foregoing, lest in the course of times those things which have been said fall from memory, and that on the aforenamed days, the years revolving each one, for the benefits of the sacred elevation and translation aforesaid, praise and thanksgiving should be more specially rendered to God; The festival of Illidius is instituted, it was ordained among the Brethren of the said monastery, that each year henceforth, there should be made among them a commemoration of the elevation of Blessed Illidius on the fifth day before the Ides of December; but the greater double festival, without Octaves however, the 9th and 14th of December, should be made on the nineteenth day before the Kalends of January, of the elevation of the oft-said blessed Illidius. But of the translation of blessed Venerandus let there be made a commemoration on the eleventh day before the Kalends of January. Nonetheless on the nineteenth of August there shall be a feast of twelve lessons, or in copes as is the custom, besides the feast of the ancient invention on the 19th of August, of the Invention of B. Illidius; because on that day of old by the ancients it was sought and found and seen, where and how the body of blessed Illidius lay in the sepulchre; on which day also they say a finger of blessed Illidius was drawn out thence, and shown among the other Relics of the said monastery only.