ON ST. HUVARNUS OR HERVÉ, ABBOT
IN LESSER BRITAIN.
>6TH CENTURY.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
On the certain cult of him and the Acts of no great certainty.
Hervé, Hermit in Armorican Britain (St.)
F. B.
[1] As often as we have to treat of the Saints of Armorican Britain, so often there occurs to be praised Albert le Grand, who alone has given a fuller knowledge of them; as on this seventeenth day of June he brings into the light, The ancient cult is shown, at least for foreign regions, St. Huvarnus or Hervé. In this, however, he deserves the greatest praise, that he brings forward certain and solid arguments of ancient cult, which lacking, they would have to be deferred among those passed over for a while, until more were established about it. As regards St. Hervé: in number 18 of his Life he accurately collects various translations of his Relics, noting in what year and by whom they were celebrated; from the veneration of the Relics, beginning from the year eight hundred and seventy-eight, when from the former tomb, which had befallen him at death, in the Parish church, afterwards dedicated under his name, he was translated to Brest, to the Priory Chapel of the Royal Castle, for fear of the Normans depopulating the Bretons. Then in the year one thousand and two, enclosed in a silver casket by Duke Geoffrey I and placed in an honorable place in the cathedral church of Nantes. This is the first monument of ancient cult.
[2] The same Albert brings another from an ancient manuscript Ritual of the church of Nantes, and from solemn oaths made at the tomb, namely of the year one thousand two hundred and twenty-five: in it one reads that anciently Solemn Oaths were wont to be taken at his tomb and Relics. They prove besides the ancient cult, the Breviaries and Legendaries anciently written, from which Albert testifies that he collected the Acts: "This Life," he says, "was collected by us from the ancient Breviaries of the churches of Léon, Nantes, and Cornouaille, which contain the History in nine lections on this seventeenth of June; likewise from the ancient manuscript Legendaries of the Cathedral church of Nantes and of Léon and of the Collegiate church of Our Lady of Follcoat in the city of Léon, and from another Ms. containing the Life distributed through lections, and from ancient Breviaries, Hymns, Antiphons, Responsories, and Proses, which is kept in the Parish church of Favet in the diocese of Tréguier consecrated in honor of this Saint…" Then, to the heap of authority, he adds all who wrote the Life of St. Hervé, or made laudable mention of him in their writings: Robert Cénal, on Gallic matters book I, period 6; Arnold Wion, in the additions to the Tree of life; Benedict Gonon, in the Lives of the Fathers of the West; Master Charron, and from the writings of more recent authors, in his catalogue of the Bishops of Nantes, in Hervé XLI and the Calendar of Nantes ordered by him; Renier Benedict, in his Legendary which he received from the Archives of the Cathedral church of Léon, transmitted to him by the Rev. in Christ Father D. Roland de Neuville Bishop of Léon, the noble and discreet Lord Yves le Grand, Canon of Léon and Almoner of Duke Francis II, in the disquisitions of the diocese of Léon.
[3] All these things, although they certainly prove or confirm that St. Hervé was anciently, which nevertheless do not prove the truth of the Acts, up to the present day, honored by the church with the cult due to saints; do not on that account claim irrefragable authority for the Acts collected by Albert; as long as the opportunity is denied us of establishing something more certain about those ancient monuments which he alleges, and their authors. For if those Legendaries or Breviaries have all that he himself brings forward; I shall never believe that they were first composed by an author who deserves faith in all things; but only from the obscure and confused tradition of the people, which can prove scarcely anything for the Acts of the Saints, except the cult. We have besides found it to have happened to collectors of this sort, that they added to the Acts drawn from various monuments circumstances which were not found in them, either by their own deceiving wit, persuaded that the matter was so; or because it seemed fitting to them, judging that all things happened as they ought to have been done in the time in which they lived. And since not all single monuments contain the same Acts of the Saints, but only some, it happens that those collecting them, with no order of time preserved, connect very many things in a hysteron proteron (the cart before the horse).
[4] The author erring in chronology, Which perhaps may have happened to Albert, a man most sincere and most diligent, when he says at the beginning of the Acts, that Childebert, while Justin the elder was Emperor, the Pontiff Hormisdas governing the Church, undertook the kingdom of the Franks: if it is true, as Cointe says against Claude Robert, that Childebert began to reign in the year 512, for Hormisdas began to sit in the year 514, Justin to rule in 518: nor indeed do I think that the chronology here alleged was read in the ancient Breviaries. That he also described certain things after the manner of his own century, is shown when he divides Armorican Britain into upper and lower, in the times of Clovis and Childebert, while other writers doubt whether even then Armorica was called Britain. He also seems to have confused not a few times of the deeds, and in the added circumstances, when he introduces the Saint now leading a solitary life, then immediately betaking himself to the schools for the sake of learning, and aspiring to sacred Orders, then forthwith fleeing to the desert, again opening schools to youths, and again rushing off to solitude, and not long after receiving minor Orders from the Bishop: all of which, if they were so done, would argue some inconstancy in the Saint or facility in changing his purpose. For the rest, that you may judge, reader, of the truth of the Acts collected by Albert, consider the Life itself, in which you will find not a few things which we have rejected as less proven in the Lives of the Hibernian and Armorican Saints, for it is not necessary always to repeat by saying the same things.
VITA
By Albert le Grand of the Order of Preachers. Collected in French from various Legendaries.
Hervé, Hermit in Armorican Britain (St.)
F. B. & FROM THE FRENCH PRINTED EDITION
CHAPTER I.
The Nativity and adolescence of the Saint.
[1] While Justin the elder held the Helm of Empire, while St. Hormisdas the Pontiff sat in the Roman chair, while Hoël the second reigned in upper Britain, in lower Britain Jova, in the year of Christ five hundred and fifteen, Childebert the first succeeded Clovis the Great his father in the Frankish monarchy. This Prince, among the other virtues with which he was adorned, was liberal and munificent, in rewarding those who showed him any service; and so he invited to his palace all the more distinguished talents, not only of his own kingdom, but also of the surrounding regions: The father of the saint, among those who devoted themselves to the service of Childebert was a certain young man named Huvarnion, sprung from greater Britain, very learned and instructed in various languages which he spoke perfectly; but above the rest he excelled in the art of music, in fitting songs to modes, and arranging dances to numbers: with which the King being wondrously delighted, numbered him among his intimates and household and gave him a rich stipend. This new courtier did not permit himself to be defiled by the enticements with which the palaces of Kings are wont to abound: but, having the fear of God before his eyes, was piously affected toward prayer, in the court a pious man, frequented the churches, and helped the poor with alms, and with singular care kept his modesty and chastity unharmed.
[2] After four years passed in the Royal court, he thought again of his homeland, and asked the King for dismissal; which the King, indeed with difficulty, but yet on account of his importunity, granted: for
on account of his virtues he dearly loved him. Heaped therefore with very many gifts and great presents, he sent him into lower Britain to the viceroy Jugduval with letters of recommendation, so that an easy passage thence into his homeland might lie open. Huvarnion was received in lodging splendidly and honorably by the Viceroy for three days. He is commanded by a revelation to take a wife. At that time a dream was presented to him by night, in which it seemed to him that he had taken as bride a certain virgin of that region; on the following night also the same dream came to him. Wherefore on the third day, as it dawned, when he was devoutly present at the most holy sacrifice of the Mass, he prayed the Lord as a suppliant, that He would avert from him such dreams, if they were presented by the spirit of fornication: for he desired to keep his virginity inviolate through all his life: but if these dreams proceeded from His divine will, He would deign to declare this more manifestly. To that end, passing the day in fasting, in the evening he poured out the same prayer to the Lord and gave himself to rest. That same night a third dream came to him, which was such: he saw entering his chamber a young man surrounded with much light, who, having humbly saluted him, seemed to address him thus: "Do not doubt to take as bride the virgin who appeared to you in dream on the past nights: she indeed, like you, had resolved to keep chastity: but it seemed otherwise to God, who has decreed that a son shall be born of you, a future servant of God renowned for sanctity. That virgin, named Rivannone, will meet you in the morning on the way at a certain spring."
[3] On the following day Huvarnion sets forth the vision by narrating it to the Viceroy, who took no light joy thereat: then both, having mounted horses, proceed toward the sea. Scarcely had they gone out of the city when a virgin met them at a spring, who, being asked about her name and lineage, courteously replied: that her name was Rivannone, that her parent being dead she dwelt with her brother Riovarus: this answer compelled them to retrace their way, and, having invited to themselves Riovarus with the virgin Rivannone, they set forth the dream which had been presented to Huvarnion; and it was found that a similar vision had come to the virgin: hence arose joy for all, and the marriage was decreed; which being celebrated shortly after, the new spouses chose for themselves a dwelling with her brother Riovarus.
[4] As the year drew to its end Rivannone bore a male child, who was brought into the light blind, and in Baptism was called Huvarnus, who bore him a son, with the same name as his father: who, surviving only to his fifth year, ended his life, leaving in the minds of all a great opinion of his sanctity. Hervé, orphaned and a minor, remained under the guardianship of his mother, who with great solicitude educated him in the territory of Kereran; where even now his cradle, as most holy Relics, is preserved; and piously educated, by the touch of which the sick are cured. The mother taught the tender child the symbol of the Faith and the Psalter, which he had committed to memory before he completed his seventh year, together with the hymns of the breviary. That God might provide for him an occasion of greater merit, He had permitted him to come into the world deprived of bodily sight; This blind one goes to the church, hence, with no one leading him, he could not walk along the roads. It happened on the vigil of all saints, when he betook himself to the parish church, passing through a village in which some refreshment was provided for him, that, wearied from the journey, he sat on a rock: then, as he sneezed, one tooth fell out, which he hid in a little cavern of the rock. After he had departed thence and was pursuing the way toward the church, from his tooth, the inhabitants of the village beheld above the rock, on which he had sat, a great light like a burning lamp, or a kindled candle: and his own guide of the way, looking back, sees the village, from which they had gone out, shining with an enormous flame of fire, which reached up to the clouds, a miraculous light bursting forth, and admonishes the holy youth concerning this matter: who answering says, "My God produces so great a light: go and seek it, I will await here your return"; and saying this he fixed his staff in the ground. The servant went away, and brought back the tooth: but he had so hastened in running that he was almost killed by heat and thirst. Foreknowing this, St. Hervé orders the staff fixed in the ground to be drawn out: and behold at that same moment a most limpid spring leaps forth, from which he himself drank, and it leaps up to the present day, and a spring drawn forth by the staff, called the Spring of St. Huvarnus.
[5] Meanwhile, as the holy youth grew in age, he grew also in virtues and merits, and God honored him with very many miracles. He happened to pass through a certain village, his companion of the journey leading him; Boys reviling him, when certain shepherd-boys, deriding him, said: "Where are you going, little blind one, where are you going?" But the Saint, who did not wish to punish them with so great severity as Elisha once punished the boys who shouted insults at him; "O fools," he said, "I pray my God to pardon your souls this insult which you inflict on me: but I beg that, in punishment of the offense, remain dwarfs, you grow no more in body," which so came to pass: for those boys remained little like dwarfs. Another time, passing through the same village, as he always walked barefoot, he hurt his foot on a sharp stone. Hence the rock thereafter so hardened, and the rock that hurt him hardens more, that it could be injured neither by iron nor by steel.
[6] Since he was held by the desire of serving God in the Ecclesiastical state, he handed himself over to be educated by a holy monk, He learns Grammar, whose name was Martinian; with whom he dwelt seven years, learning thoroughly the Ecclesiastical chant and Grammar so perfectly that among his fellow-students he held first place. Having gone out from that school, he resolved to visit his uncle St. Vulfroëdus, a man of exceptional sanctity and learning, in a certain small monastery of the Archdeaconry of Aix. And since his mother, having left earthly riches, inhabited solitude, He visits his uncle; and by him, the son, not knowing into what place of the desert she had withdrawn herself, asked St. Vulfroëdus: but the Lord illuminated him, not only revealing to him the place in which the mother lived, but also that she had obtained the remission of her sins, and that she was shortly to depart from this world. This impelled him to go to her as soon as possible, to his mother soon to die, that he might receive her blessing and be present to her as she died; yet, on account of many bodily inconveniences and his blindness, he permitted, St. Vulfroëdus advising, that he should first hasten there, and, having returned, inform him of all things, and then both together set forth to her.
[7] These things being thus decided, St. Vulfroëdus set out on the way, him being sent for himself, the keeping of his small dwelling being committed to St. Hervé his nephew, and to his companion Guiharanus, whom he charged to finish the rest that remained of the agriculture: to that end leaving him his own ass. The servant did what was commanded, then sends the ass to pasture; the wolf that had devoured the beast, where, being found, a wolf devoured it. Beholding this, Guiharanus, unable to bring help, by shouting tries to frighten the wolf. Then Hervé happened to be in the oratory, intent on praying to God, who, perceiving the shout, goes out: and, informed what had happened, again goes in, and prays God more intently, that He would not permit this loss to befall his uncle and host on his account: by prayer, as the Saint prayed thus: behold the wolf is present at a swift run, whom Guiharanus, seeing, cried out to the saint, that, the door of the oratory being shut, he should save himself. But "By no means," said he: "for it comes not to harm, but to repair the loss which it inflicted on us: seize and lead it away, he tames it, and use it as before you were wont to use the ass." He obeyed; and (O wondrous thing) they saw the wolf dwelling harmlessly in the same stable with the sheep, drawing the cart, carrying loads, and undergoing the services of a domestic beast of burden.
ANNOTATIONS OF F. B.
p It is necessary that the tooth was quite loose, or the sneeze quite strong, which dislodged it.
q What need was there to run so hurriedly? and the servant must have been very thirsty, who, although less than half an hour before he had slaked his thirst by drinking in the village, again almost fainted from thirst.
r A thing much to be wondered at, if he learned Grammar, that is, to write and read letters, being blind, nay even if by grammar you understand the Latin idiom,
that too would have been exceedingly difficult for a blind man to learn.
s Albert confesses that no Life of St. Vulfroëdus has been found by him, nor does he assign the day of cult; which we desire to learn.
t Commonly "L'Archidiacone d'Akh," it is situated in the Bishopric of Léon; for the Archdeacon of Aix is one of the dignities of the Cathedral church of Léon; and the larger dioceses are wont to be divided into Archdeaconries. Nevertheless I can scarcely believe that such existed in the time in which the saint lived, if he lived in the sixth century: for Britain does not seem to have been then yet divided into Bishoprics or Archdeaconries, its Apostles still laboring in propagating the faith.
CHAPTER II.
He is present to his dying mother, lives in various deserts, builds monasteries, drives away demons.
[8] St. Vulfroëdus, having completed the journey, came to his sister, Having set out to his mother, the mother of St. Hervé, and imparts to her abundant greeting from her son: which was a great joy, although she was afflicted with disease and with austerities voluntarily undertaken. She begged her brother Vulfroëdus to bring her son to her, which he promised, and returns home, where, being informed what had happened to the ass and the wolf, he gave thanks to the Lord for so great a miracle. Then with Hervé he set forth again to the mother. Hervé, moreover, disclosed to his mother the revelation made to him, concerning the remission of sins received and the imminent time of her happy passing. Wherefore, anointed with joy, the holy woman, blessing her son, adjured him to remain there with his uncle, until she had departed from this life. For this cause he abode in the desert with a few other Religious: predicts his death to her, St. Vulfroëdus having set out to another desert, which is called the desert of the holy divine. Meanwhile an Angel foretold to St. Hervé the day on which his mother was to die; which he indicated to the other monks who were with him; sending them two by two on each night, to keep sacred vigils in prayer in her cell. On the evening before the day on which she died, and assists her dying with prayers, there appeared to all the neighbors, above her oratory, a beautiful and shining ladder reaching up to heaven, and along it Angels ascending and descending, who were heard to sing most sweet songs. The Saint went to his mother and took care to fortify her with the last sacraments for a happy passage from this life. But after she had rendered her soul to the Creator, and buries the deceased, he buried her in that same oratory, which is now the parish church of Land-Houarn, where at her tomb many miracles have happened.
[9] St. Hervé still for a long time, after his mother's death, kept himself in her oratory, praying day and night at her tomb: then he opened schools for educating boys, who flowed to him from the surrounding region. He instructs the youth. There dwelt with him in the same place some monks distinguished for sanctity of life and zeal for perfection; who, by the great miracles which God worked through them, carried all into admiration. On a certain day he understood through a divine revelation the death of his uncle Vulfroëdus. Being also wearied of a place too frequented and the frequent crowds of men flowing to him, Understanding that his uncle had died, he resolved to desert that oratory and to seek another more solitary. Having therefore gone out with his monks he resolved to go to the oratory and tomb of St. Vulfroëdus: and with this counsel he penetrates the desert, and asks shepherds whom he met by chance to show the way to the oratory of the Saint, which they did. The sacred place lay neglected, the walls and roofs having fallen to the ground, and the pavement so covered by their ruins that it could not be discerned in what place the holy body rested. Meanwhile, while the Saint is prostrate in prayer, the earth trembled so violently that all who were present in the oratory fell to the ground: adorns his tomb, and in the part where the sacred pledge had been deposited, the earth opened itself, with a fissure breathing for a whole month an odor sweet beyond measure. By this so manifest miracle the tomb of his master and uncle being found, St. Hervé enclosed it neatly with stones, which thereafter became famous for great miracles.
[10] Thence he set out to the shrine of St. Paul, the principal city of the Bishopric of Léon, he is ordained Exorcist, where, kindly received by the Bishop, he received Minor Orders up to that of Exorcist, and would not be promoted further, a place for building a monastery, judging himself unworthy. On the return, however, something memorable happened. When he was farther distant from the shrine of St. Paul, he says to his monks: "I am weary of the almost daily and wandering pilgrimage: let us pray the Lord to show us a place in which we may dwell, serving Him for the rest of the days of our life." All gave themselves to prayers; and behold a voice from heaven saying: "Pursue the way toward the East, and where I bid you rest again, there shall be your dwelling." Thanks being given for the oracle, they direct their journey straight to the East, until, having gone farther, they came to a field planted with much grain, he chooses by divine revelation, in which on account of fatigue they sat down: and behold again a voice from heaven saying: "Remain here, dwell here." Again thanks were given to God. Then the Saint in that same field, being exhausted by the journey and the heat, drew forth a spring of fresh water. And since the field belonged to a certain honorable man, whose name was Innoco; he ordered him to be called to him, and, the divine will being set forth to him, asked that he would bestow on him a part of the field for building a little monastery for himself and his men. "But indeed," said Innoco, "what will become of the grain, which is still green and unripe, if it is now reaped, it will perish: wait a little while until the next harvest." "By no means," replies Hervé; "but as much as I reap from the field unripe, so much will I restore to you dry and ripe at the time of harvest." and obtains it by a miracle. After it was thus agreed between them; all began to root up the grain, and, gathering it into little bundles, set it apart: and it came to pass that, by the singular favor of God, when the harvest came, the bundles, still green when reaped, not only ripened; but also grew up double and were multiplied: which Innoco seeing, and considering the spring miraculously drawn forth by St. Hervé; venerated God, who had destined such holy men to himself: he gives the whole field to the Saint with the adjacent village, and promises a church to be built at his own expense.
[11] When the Saint was present one day to those laboring in building the monastery; one despising the saint is punished, a certain nobleman Tyrmallonus was pursuing two robbers who had snatched the necklaces of his wife: and, pursuing his way hastily, he neither revered the Saint nor deigned him a greeting. Then so thick a cloud enveloped him that his horses could neither find the way, nor be moved by the spurs applied. Then one of the servants warned the Master that this happened in vengeance of the irreverence committed against the Saint. Tyrmallonus therefore retraces his way toward St. Hervé, and, dismounting from his horse, throws himself at his feet, repenting he obtains his benefit, and begs pardon; which the Saint, raising him from the ground, easily grants; then by prayer compels the robbers to be present at once, and, their life being granted them, to restore the necklaces to the Master.
[12] The Saint, not wishing to burden his benefactor Innoco too much, resolved through the surrounding region, The croaking Frogs, for the love of God, to seek help for building his monastery: he wished therefore to be led across Mount Are into the region of Cornouaille, where at once the rumor of his coming spread. He once had lodging in a villa called Launguedrec. The host was a certain nobleman Uvoigonus, who received him honorably; for he reckoned him not a man, but a holy and great friend and servant of God, as he truly was. That villa was most beautifully surrounded by woods, in which were pools and fishponds, and in them an enormous multitude of frogs, he orders to fall silent, which by their croaking created much annoyance for the inhabitants of the villa. In the evening when supper was held as usual, and those amphibians had begun their accustomed music, the host complains about that annoyance: the Saint takes refuge in prayer, and immediately they fall silent, as if their throat had been cut. One of those present, noticing this miracle, exclaimed: "If, the rest now being silent, one single one croaks, I will believe him a holy man." except one. Scarcely had he uttered these words: when behold one single one began to croak unceasingly. Uvoigonus, the miracle being seen, bestowed on the Saint from his woods all the timber necessary for his monastery, besides many lands and villas, commending himself to his prayers.
[13] Returning from Cornouaille Hervé passed through the court of Count Helenus, by whom received with great joy and benevolence, A Demon serving in the appearance of a servant, he said in his ear: "Come hither, that I may free you and yours from a great danger in which you are; for the Lord has revealed to me that a demon under human appearance dwells in your house, who serves you like a servant." The Count was astonished at this; but, dissembling, he indicated nothing to anyone: the tables are spread and they recline: Hervé asks for drink: the demon in the appearance of a youth offers wine. Then the Saint, his hand raised, forms the sign of the Holy Cross over the cup, which bursts, the wine being poured out. When this had been done a second and a third time, the Count being astounded, all marveling, the Saint seizes the demon and, the name of God being invoked, orders him to declare who he was, and plotting to kill the Master with his household, and for what end he had entered this house. "I am," said the demon, "one come out of hell, who incite men to drunkenness and gluttony, provoke them to anger, discord, and quarrel, and since now the divine power, through His holy servant, compels me, unwilling and gnashing my teeth though I be, to declare this, I had mixed this drink so that, if you had drunk of it, blazing up in fury against one another, you would have fallen here with mutual wounds." Then the Saint in the name of God commands him to desert that house, he drives out. and return no more. He does as bidden, crying through the air: "Hervé, Hervé, servant of God, why do you stir up so cruel a war against me?" Count Helenus, seeing himself freed from so great a danger, gave thanks to God and to St. Hervé, who returned to his monastery.
[14] He detected a similar fraud in the monastery of St. Majanus: for when he had betaken himself thither, God commanding through an Angel; by the same revelation he learned that among the domestics of the holy Abbot a devil lay hidden under human appearance, in the monastery of St. Majanus, which he disclosed to St. Majanus: who, having called together all the domestics, presented them to St. Hervé, ordering each one separately to approach him. He questioned them about name, homeland, office. But the demon, after long evading, was at last compelled to present himself to the Saint: and being questioned he said; that he was called Hucan, sprung from Hibernia, a mason by trade, a sawyer and good sailor, in short that there was no craft which he could not exercise. "Since therefore," said the Saint, "you are so well instructed in every art; impress with your finger the sign of the Cross on the pavement, and adore Jesus Christ Crucified." The wretch wished
to flee away and hide himself: but the Saint compelled him to remain, and said to St. Majanus: "Now you know what sort of servant you have used; he does the same, let us bring him to your neighbor Abbot Gedovinus; that he himself may tell us what is to be done with him." They bring him therefore, and, compelled by sacred exorcisms, he confessed that he had dwelt in the monastery to this end, that he might deceive and seduce the monks. It was commanded him in the name of God that he should come there no more and should hurl himself headlong into the sea.
ANNOTATIONS OF F. B.
CHAPTER III.
He is honored by a Miracle before Bishops, sees Heaven open, dies.
[15] At that time Count Comorrus had taken to wife St. Triphina daughter of Guerok Count of Vannes, whom, thinking her pregnant, A Synod convenes to punish parricide, he killed with more than barbarous cruelty together with his son St. Tremorius. When Guerok had made manifest the atrocity of so great a crime: all the Bishops of Britain convened to punish the crime and to cut off so putrid a member from the body of the Church. That Synod was held on the mount called Menes-bre, near l'Ourgart, Belleisse, and Guengamp. For they did not dare to convene in any city, for fear of this tyrant, who, having killed King Johava, forced his son Jugduval to go into exile: and so at his pleasure he lorded it over the whole kingdom. The Bishop of Léon, going up to that synod, orders St. Hervé to come with him: the saint coming later patiently bears reproach, for this cause he could not be present so quickly: for St. Hervé, being blind, and walking barefoot, could not follow others in going. When he had come to the synod, one of those present, having heard the cause for which the Bishop of Léon was present later; moved with anger said, "Why have we consumed so much time, waiting for this blind man?" St. Hervé is in no way irritated by this saying, but calmly replied, "My brother, why do you reproach me with my blindness? Is it not in the divine power to deprive you also of sight? Did He not make us according to His good pleasure? Do we not owe thanks to Him that He created us such as we are?" Other Bishops gravely rebuked this man, who immediately felt the heavy hand of God upon him: the reviler miraculously punished, for forthwith he fell to the ground, his face dripping with blood and his sight lost: seeing this, the others recognized divine vengeance, and besought the Saint to restore his sight and cure his wound: and all gave themselves to prayers, the Saint asks for salt and water for a blessing. It is answered that water is not to be found on so high a mount. he is healed by a new miracle. But the Saint forms the sign of the Cross with his staff in the ground and orders it to be dug. And behold a most clear spring leaps forth, whose water, blessed by the ministry of the Bishops present, washes the eyes of the blinded man and restores his sight: but in memory of so notable a miracle, a chapel was built on the brow of the mount in honor of St. Hervé and the British Saints.
[16] The Bishop asking to be a partaker of revelations. The Synod ended, the Bishop of Léon and St. Hervé returned to their own homes; in the familiar conversation which they had on the way, Hervé, in a word or two, made mention of the revelations made to him, which the Bishop hearing asked him to pray the Lord that he might be a partaker of these: Hervé promised, and when they had returned to the shrine of St. Paul; they withdrew themselves from all human intercourse; fasting all the time. But on the third day around noon, they heard a voice saying: "Look up on high": they lifted their eyes, and saw heaven open; and for a long time they contemplated the heavenly Orders, he sees heaven open with the saint, the Angelic Hierarchies, the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, and all the heavenly court. Hearing meanwhile the most sweet harmony of those singing: and St. Hervé began to name each and all, the Angel himself suggesting to him the names of all: then they sang the canticle, "Let us sing to the Lord," etc., and when it was finished heaven was closed, and the Bishop of Léon remained so astonished from this contemplation, A Fox brings back the snatched hen, that he could not turn his eyes from heaven. At last St. Hervé, bidding farewell to his Bishop, returned to his monastery. A fox had taken a hen of the monastery: the Saint prayed that God would reveal the thief to him; and behold the fox brought back the hen unharmed and alive.
[17] At last the time drew near in which God wished to reward His Saint. Then through revelation he understood that death was imminent for him within the sixth day, he predicts his death, which he indicated to the Presbyter Hadrian and to Hardianus and Gozhuranus and his other monks. He had an aunt Christian by name and in fact, who, being made more certain about his imminent death, threw herself at his feet, beseeching that he would not permit her to survive him. But the saint answered: "I am not to be asked this: and disposes all things for her, God alone prolongs or shortens our life, according to His good pleasure. Be present to me in this last infirmity of mine and leave the rest to Divine providence." Having therefore commended his monastery and his Brethren to the Presbyter Hadrian, with a procession he went around his cell, then threw himself onto the bed, in the presence of the Bishop he dies, and, pressed with great infirmity, began to be deprived of strength. He ordered the Bishop of Léon to be begged that he would deign to come to him, who arrived there on the sixth day of the illness: to him the Saint confessed: having received absolution and the Episcopal blessing, he was fortified with the sacred Viaticum and Extreme Unction. Then he commended his Monks to the Bishop, and lying in ashes, covered with a hair-shirt, rendered his spirit into the hands of the Savior. with his aunt. The excellent woman, his aunt Christian, fallen at his feet, also died. As soon as he had breathed out his soul; the Bishop and the Monks heard heavenly songs in the air; and the holy Bishop with the holy Abbots Guenegan, he is honorably buried, Majanus, Mormedus, with his Clerics and monks, celebrated his obsequies, burying him before the altar of his oratory, in a stone chest fastened with iron and lead plates. Then over that little oratory was built a larger Parish church, which from the Saint's name is called Land Houarne, where his sepulchre is seen illustrious with miracles through the merits and intercession of the Saint.
[18] His sacred body remained in the church of Land Houarne until the year eight hundred and seventy-eight, the body is translated, at which time, to avoid the fury of the Normans, it was carried to Brest to the Priory chapel of the Royal Castle; and there it rested until the year one thousand and two, when Duke Geoffrey translated it into a great silver chest engraved with the principal Acts of his life and adorned with gems, and gave it as a gift to his Confessor and Almoner, Hervé Bishop of Nantes, who brought it into the treasury of the cathedral church, and is enclosed in a silver chest, where it is venerably preserved in the chapel of that church, which is the first on the right of the nave: built by William Guegen, formerly Bishop of Nantes, who is there buried in a tomb of white marble. he punishes perjuries. This Saint is a hater of perjuries: for those forswearing themselves at the chest of his Relics were grievously punished; whence anciently solemn oaths, by order of the magistrates, were taken over the Relics of St. Hervé, as the ancient manuscript Ritual on parchment notes, of the proper offices of the Church of Nantes ordained in the year one thousand two hundred and twenty-five.