ON THE HOLY MARTYRS GAUDENTIUS THE BISHOP AND CULMATUS THE DEACON, LIKEWISE ANDREW AND 53 OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.
AT AREZZO IN ETRURIA.
AFTER THE YEAR 363.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
On the cult and time of the martyrdom, the order of the Bishops, and the various Gaudentiuses.
Gaudentius the Bishop, Martyr at Arezzo in Etruria (St.) Culmatus the Deacon, Martyr at Arezzo in Etruria (St.) Andrew, Martyr at Arezzo in Etruria (St.) 52 of the household, Martyrs at Arezzo in Etruria (SS.)
D. P.
At Arezzo, an Episcopal city of Etruria, very many athletes of Christ were crowned with martyrdom; of whom on the third day of this month of June we celebrated SS. Pergentinus and Laurentinus, The cult who suffered under the Emperor Decius, with four hundred others, anonymous, whom from ancient monuments we added. But to this day, the 19th of June, the Tables of the Roman Martyrology assign others in these words: The Acts from manuscripts. "At Arezzo in Tuscany, of the holy Martyrs Gaudentius the Bishop and Culmatius the Deacon, who in the time of Valentinian were slain by the fury of the Gentiles." Where in the Notes Baronius says: "Their Acts we received from the Church of Arezzo." The same we found at Rome in the Vallicellian library of the Reverend Fathers of the Congregation of the Oratory in Tome N from the collection of Antonio Gallonio, and we give them here. An abridgment of them Ferrarius has. Furthermore in those Acts we found fifty-three others slain for Christ, namely Andrew, his spouse, sons, servants, and his whole household: whom God consecrated to himself as glorious Martyrs.
[2] That this was done around the year 364 is added in the margin of the Martyrology, the year in which Valentinian had been elected Emperor, Ferrarius has an abridgment of them. on the 25th of February; but because that day was a leap day, and so was held ill-omened, he preferred to be crowned on the following 26th of February. Ughelli defers that Martyrdom up to the year 382; as if the matter had been done under Valentinian the Younger, who succeeded his father in the year 375; and he seems moved by this, because it is said in the Acts that, since Marcellianus, Governor of Arezzo, remained there even after the death of Julian, by whom he had been sent, up to the time of Valentinian, he did not cease to exercise tyranny; so that he punished certain Bishops, with their Clerics, without a hearing, up to the times of Gaudentius. But meeting an objection prepared against himself, the same Ughelli says, "Do not indeed wonder, Reader, that under a Christian Emperor Christian men, The time probably the year 364 flourishing in praise of holiness, could be punished with a cruel and violent death. Valentinian, in the outset of his Principate, used Gentile administrators of cities, especially when those had already before his times been established in that dignity"; so that for this to have been done here would not be unlikely, if it were only a question of the first years of Valentinian, and of those whom Marcellianus punished without a hearing, as is said in no. 1; not 382 or even of Andrew and his household, whom the same ordered to be beheaded by night, by satellites sent into their house, no. 4.
[3] But since that impious man is said to have acted thus up to the time of Bishop Gaudentius, as if for several years from his arrival, and meanwhile to have so punished certain Bishops with their Clerics, as if he meant those midway between Gelasius, by whom Andrew with his household had been baptized, and Gaudentius himself—whom Ughelli names altogether five—[therefore Ughelli's Episcopal series and the Acts themselves are to be corrected.] this seems almost incredible: especially since Gaudentius is said, on account of the faith he preached, to have been brought to the tribunal, and asked by what authority he recalled the people to the cult of I-know-not-what Christ; and again seized, and beaten with leaded whips, and at last after fifteen days spent in the house of Andrew—he being slain there with his household—to have been beheaded outside the city in broad daylight. Ughelli seems indeed, by following such Acts, to have been able and bound to interpose at least one decade between the death of Julian and the Martyrdom of Gaudentius: but hence the very Acts begin to become suspect of disturbed order and time. That one or another Bishop in the year 363 was, the cause unheard, slain by Marcellianus, and that even St. Gaudentius himself with his companions, before Valentinian I set out for the West, I would more readily believe; or at least while he was campaigning against the Alemanni and absent: but I would add that, having afterward returned to Milan and heard of Marcellianus's tyranny, he removed him from office. By no reasoning certainly would I admit that it was permitted to him to exercise so manifest a persecution for so many years even under the elder Valentinian. And so I will say that most of those whom Ughelli sets before St. Gaudentius sat after him and his four successors—Decentius, Laurentius, Eusebius, Gallius, noted for the year 447—between this man and Benedict, named for the year 501; and so I will fill the gap of half a century.
[4] Masinus, in his survey of Bologna, indicates that at Bologna in the church of St. John on the Mount of the Canons Regular of the Lateran there are notable Relics of St. Gaudentius the Martyr, received from Rome in the year 1652, and refers them to this 19th of June, Various other St. Gaudentiuses. on which St. Gaudentius the Bishop of Arezzo and Martyr is venerated, as if they could be his Relics, which I would not at once admit. I would more easily presume that the bones which Valerius Comes de Zanis wrote are held at Bologna in the church of All Saints on the Braina way are of the same or a similar Martyr; adding that they were brought from Rome, with a most ancient inscription formed in rude characters. But who could here divine prudently? since from the multiplicity of Gaudentiuses whom we know, it can be gathered that far more are those whom we do not know. From the known ones, however, there now come to the pen: St. Gaudentius the Bishop of Novara, referred to by us on the 22nd of January; and St. Gaudentius the Bishop of Verona, on the 12th of February. Indeed St. Gaudentius, Martyr and Bishop of Rimini, slain under Constantius, will have to be referred to the 14th of October.
[5] But also another Gaudentius, Martyr under Vespasian, was seen by Lucas Holstenius and other learned men at Rome, found in the year 1650; by the indication of an Epitaph rude enough, found together with the body, in these words: and in the year 1650 one found at Rome.
"Thus do you keep your rewards, dread Vespasian? You have been rewarded with death, Gaudentius. Rejoice, O City, as to the author of your glory He promised; Christ gives you all things, Who has prepared for you a theater in heaven elsewhere."
Lucas Holstenius and others interpreted this thus, as if this Gaudentius had been the architect of the Amphitheater built by Vespasian (they call it the Colosseum, from the colossus of Nero once placed there): who, the work being completed—than which there was none more excellent in the whole City, and for which the author deserved to be named by the City the author of his glory—received death in place of a reward, on account of the faith of Christ, by whom he believed a more excellent Theater was prepared in heaven. The conjecture did not displease: but consulted about it with Fr. Henschen, after our return from Rome, I could answer nothing else than that it seemed not unsuitable; yet such that for founding a cult it would not seem to be enough, unless together with the body there were found certain other supports and arguments of martyrdom: in which case I asked to be informed of the day of the Translation, to be made into some church. But since the questioners sent a little list of the Martyrs who suffered in that Amphitheater, and it appeared that those zealous men inclined to sew together conjectures, I dissuaded them from doing so; because the things which are now established by conjectures will, after some centuries, be assumed and affirmed as certain; than which nothing more pernicious can happen in a historical matter, and that it has happened we discover by too frequent experience.
ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM.
From the Arezzo manuscript found at Rome.
Gaudentius the Bishop, Martyr at Arezzo in Etruria (St.) Culmatus the Deacon, Martyr at Arezzo in Etruria (St.) Andrew, Martyr at Arezzo in Etruria (St.) 52 of the household, Martyrs at Arezzo in Etruria (SS.) BHL Number: 3274
FROM THE MS.
[1] At the time when Quadratianus the Augustalis a returned to Rome by the order b of Julian Caesar and, as a triumphant man, was being honorably received in his palace, Under the Governor Marcianus, performing well the commands of the King; then by the same Julian, Marcellianus the Governor was sent to Arezzo, and so with his soldiers he turned aside to the city: whom the people of the city ceaselessly came to meet, and the Governor Marcellianus was glad, and made a sacrifice to the god Jupiter. The whole city rejoiced, adorned with so great a Governor, and was exceedingly magnified: and so it came about that after the death of Julian Caesar, up to the time of Valentinian the most Christian King, he remained c there. But when all Tuscany now believed in Christ, only d Arezzo was held in gentile error, all the time of Marcellianus not ceasing to exercise a savage tyranny against the Christians; so that that Governor punished certain Bishops with their Clerics without a hearing. SS. Gaudentius and Culmatus famous for miracles, But this was done up to the time of Bishop Gaudentius. Now Blessed Gaudentius himself, not far from the city, was in hiding together with his Clerics, Dicentius the Presbyter and Culmatus the Deacon. But the Pagans, hearing of the miracles which God worked through them, and because the people daily was being converted to Christ, lay in wait for them: and when they had reported to Marcellianus the Governor all that Blessed Gaudentius did, they are seized the same Governor began to consider how he might seize them. He, sending his satellites, ordered them to be arrested and presented to his sight. Finally, while Blessed Gaudentius, before he should perform the Mass, was partaking of the body and blood of the Lord, he was seized by the soldiers together with Culmatus the Deacon, and led before the sight of the Governor. When Marcellianus the Governor saw them, he began to question them, saying: and they are dismissed. "By what authority do you do these things, that you recall the people of this city to the cult of I-know-not-whose Christ, whom you call God?" To him St. Gaudentius answered: "We, the servants of Christ, act confidently, that the idols, in which demons dwell, may be forsaken; and the one true God, who reigns everywhere, abides everywhere, may be adored, venerated, believed." To them Marcellianus the Governor said: "I spare you for now: go, taking sound counsel, that you may be able to be presented face to face before our sight."
[2] But while they withdrew from the sight of the Governor, they went into a certain Village, They convert, baptize, heal many. which was called Tuta, because there was a fount there, where the Pantheos was celebrated by the rite of the nation; whence safety was said to come to the people by drawing from that fount, and there they began to dwell with a certain Christian, by name Saccinus, daily not ceasing to invite the people to the cult of the true God. And he baptized in the stream which was there nearby. For because the lamp of God could not lie hidden, but shone in the darkness; from everywhere, those who were held by any sickness came to him: and bathed in the water of baptism, and anointed with the sacred chrism, they returned healthy and lively to their own homes. Hearing these things, Marcellianus the Governor, seized with fury, Seized again ordered Blessed Gaudentius the Bishop to be arrested, together with his Clerics, and brought before his sight. Finally, going, they seized him in the aforesaid village, together with Culmatus the Deacon: for Dicentius was not with them. But while Blessed Gaudentius the Bishop and Culmatus the Deacon were being led by the soldiers, it was heard in the city that they were coming. And the people began to run in crowds to the theater. Then the Governor Marcellianus, sitting on the tribunal, demanded that silence be made. At last, the clamor being stilled,
the Governor addressed them thus: "What are your sorceries, that you call the deranged of mind to the cult of the true God without any hesitation?" To him St. Gaudentius the Bishop answered: "If you had a sound mind, you ought to impute this rather to the benefit of almighty God than of the demons: beaten with leaded whips, they are shut up in prison. but because your heart is held blinded by the prince of darkness; therefore you noise abroad this madness in many ways with your mouth." Then the Governor, exceedingly angry, ordered that they should beat him for a very long time with leaded whips. But they, giving thanks to God, said: "From the fear of the enemy deliver our soul." And Marcellianus ordered them thrust back into prison, and commanded that the Pagans should guard them with the utmost diligence, and give them neither bread nor water.
[3] At midnight, behold an Angel of the Lord came with a great light and bestowed on them heavenly bread. By an Angel bringing bread, the guards are slain, But the guards, seeing so great a light, did not give glory to God, but rushing with furious force into the very light, struck by the Angel of God, fell dead to the ground. Now when morning came, it was said by all the people that they should be led to the theater to offer incense. Finally, while these were going, they found the prison open, and likewise found certain of the guards lying dead. Then all the peoples, hearing this, gave forth countless cries to heaven; and dragging them out of the prison, led them to the theater, striking them with fists and other blows. Then the Governor Marcellianus said to them: "By what sorcery you have perpetrated sacrilege and homicide, tell without ceasing." To him St. Gaudentius the Bishop answered: "Because, seeing the Angel of God, they did not give glory to God, therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind: but if you wish to believe in one God of heaven and earth, raised again by their prayer. the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, you will be saved, and these who are dead shall be raised." The Governor said: "In this it shall appear that you speak the truth, if you can accomplish this." And he commanded his men to go with them to the prison. When they came to the prison, they ordered all the wild beasts to come out: but the Pagans, deriding them, said, "Now shall appear the power of their God." But the Saints prostrated themselves on the ground, and weeping for a very long time, poured forth this prayer to the Lord: "Thou who didst raise up the widow's son, and didst recall Lazarus, now stinking, from the tomb to life; thou the begetter of Mary, thou begotten of Mary, thou the quickener of all creatures, deign to raise these men: They believe in Christ with others: that they may know thee the true God, Creator of all." And ceasing from prayer, they rendered them so healthy and unharmed that no sign of death appeared in them, and they began to cry out with a great voice, saying: "One God is Christ in heaven and on earth, whom St. Gaudentius preaches": and in that hour many believed in Christ, confessing their sins, seeking remission from the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who lives and reigns forever and ever.
[4] Therefore for fifteen days he remained with a certain Vicar of Quadratianus, named Andrew, Andrew, his Wife, sons, servants are consecrated by Martyrdom, who had been baptized by Blessed Gelasius the Bishop with all his household, fifty-three in number. And during these days many came to him, and from whatever infirmity they were held they were healed. For Marcellianus, hearing of the signs and prodigies which they did, kindled with a gall-bitter torch, summoned his lictors: and commanded that by night they should go to the house of Andrew, and without a hearing behead all whom they found there. They, fulfilling the orders, with furious force entered the house of Andrew, and beheaded him together with his wife, sons, servants, and his whole household, fifty-three in number; together 53: and so they cast them all into a well within his house, and thus God consecrated them to himself as glorious Martyrs.
[5] But arresting Gaudentius the Bishop and Culmatus the Deacon, they led them as far as the Baths which were next to the theater and the Nymphaea of the Castle; striking them so long then SS. Gaudentius and Culmatus, until they should breathe out their spirit; and moreover one of them, with drawn sword, deprived each of his head; and leaving them, they reported these things to their lord Marcellianus. Then on the following night came Dicentius the Presbyter, and buried the bodies e of SS. Gaudentius and Culmatus there next to the Baths, which, as I said, are not far from the City of Arezzo, next to the theater and the river Castrum. But the Governor Marcellianus, while he was preparing slaughter against other Christians, they are honored with a church in the sight of his men within the palace, seized by the devil, expired. For after the slaughter of the Saints, Dicentius the Presbyter is chosen Prelate by all the people; after whose election the whole city, by God's favor, received holy baptism, and he built a Church in honor of the holy Martyrs, Gaudentius the Bishop and Culmatus the Deacon, in the same place where they were beheaded: where the benefits of God are given by their prayers up to the present day. and are venerated on the 19th of June. Now the most holy Martyrs of Christ Gaudentius the Bishop and Culmatus the Deacon suffered in the city of Arezzo under the Governor Marcellianus; whose birthdays are celebrated on the thirteenth of the Kalends of July, our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, to whom is honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
NOTES BY G. H.
ON TWO ANONYMOUS SAINTS,
HONORED AT SANKT PÖLTEN IN AUSTRIA.
On their discovery, cult, and miracles in the 13th century.
Two Anonymous Saints, at the town of Sankt Pölten in Austria (SS.)
BY THE AUTHOR D. P.
Among the other monuments of piety which the old Margraves of Austria—now using the ampler title of Archdukes—left to their posterity, is reckoned the monastery of St. Hippolytus, commonly Sankt Pölten, which St. Altmann, Bishop of Passau, notably restored, as Gabriel Bucelinus writes in his Germania Sacra. Altmann died in the year 1092, and is venerated on the 8th of August. But because at that age the Canonical order began to flourish again, under the discipline of the common life, the example first given at Lucca in Etruria, under Bishop Anselm, afterward Pope Alexander II, restored by St. Altmann a notable zealot for restoring the Canonical Rule; with all the holier Bishops vying with one another to promote the same institutions; therefore it becomes quite likely to me that Altmann too, in the monastery thus restored, established Canons Regular, such as continue there to this day.
[2] For notably illustrating this place, and rendering it celebrated by stirring up a frequency of pilgrims, God provided a notable aid, when in the year 1209, on this 19th of June, he caused to be found there the bones of two holy bodies; unnamed indeed, but, by miracles following in great number, continually declared most worthy of all honor. two bodies found in the year 1209, It is likely that to the earlier Benedictine inhabitants of the place it was well enough known whose Saints those were: but as we have discovered to have often happened elsewhere by use, so too there we believe that, by Monks migrating elsewhere, all the older monuments of the place were carried off, or, they themselves being wholly extinct, abolished. Indeed not rashly could one suspect that that loss was done by some barbarian incursion; that they are Saints, shown by divine means: which would have enveloped the very tomb of the holy bodies, had not the solicitude of those preparing flight, on account of the enemy threatening from the vicinity, withdrawn it, and hidden it in the earth, to be revealed at a time divinely appointed. But why should we wonder at a thing done in antiquity, which, not very many centuries having elapsed from that happy discovery, we grieve could happen again? what if of St. Hippolytus himself and one Companion? If anything were to be divined, I would suspect that they are the bodies of St. Hippolytus himself, and of one Companion likewise once brought from Rome, with which the monastery was built; and which (as everywhere usually happens in such cases) it was believed are of that Saint who, together with his nurse Concordia and ten companions, suffered under Valerian, and is venerated on the 13th of August. For everyone everywhere believes they have this one, as many as, on the occasion of Relics brought under such a name, have given the name to their churches in Germany and Gaul.
[3] The Fathers my Colleagues, who in the year 1688 had set out for Vienna to survey the Imperial Library, Of these, lost again had found in a manuscript Codex marked at the top no. 3, at the bottom 23, at the end of the book the noted History of the Discovery, and the Miracles, briefly annotated in great number, but mutilated at the end. When they had studiously transcribed these, and understood that those going from Vienna to Mölk could, by a slight bend from the road, pass and incidentally inspect the aforesaid monastery of St. Hippolytus, distant scarcely five leagues from the right bank of the Danube; they found there no longer any memory of such bodies, here the miracles are given from the manuscript. much less veneration. Wherefore I feel myself impelled this much more, to gather the fragments that survive, to be of use whenever it shall please the divine Majesty to glorify his Saints again: which, that it may be done, will doubtless be the wish of all, whoever, these things being read, shall come to the knowledge of the treasure once found there and again lost.
HISTORY
of the Discovery and the miracles.
From the manuscript of the Imperial Library of Vienna.
Two Anonymous Saints, at the town of Sankt Pölten in Austria (SS.)
BHL Number: 5675
BY THE AUTHOR D. P.
[1] Glorious and wonderful is God in his Saints, that flowering Bridegroom of the most holy Mother Church, To the honor of God glorifying his Saints, beautiful in form beyond the sons of men, the true Evangelical vine, our Lord Jesus Christ, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit; as from the beginning of the nascent age he did not cease to place laborers, namely the Patriarchs, Prophets, and other venerable Fathers, in his vineyard, that is the Church; so too in each age of the world he mercifully and gloriously procured that fruitful branches, that is the Elect, gleaming with virtues and miracles, should sprout from himself the true vine, by the merit of faith. But because of his mercy there is no number, and of his greatness there is no end; the Clemency of divine piety does not cease in our times too (although we are his last members, and those upon whom the final ages have already come) to declare the works of its accustomed compassion. Tobit 12, Wherefore, relying on the Angelic testimony, which says, "It is good to hide the secret of the King, the Author writes simply, but to reveal the works of God is honorable"; we, the magnificent powers of heavenly grace and the miracles which the compassionate and merciful Lord lately deigned to display in the district a of Tzeiz, namely at Sankt Pölten, through the revelation of holy Relics, do—truth being preserved, as we beheld with our eyes, and as in person with our ears
we heard—simply narrate. And in truth we do not multiply these same benefits of God by the office of the pen, as is the custom of writers; nor do we adorn them with a figure of words, since they shine forth more clearly of themselves: but we briefly relate the wonders of the signs, not indeed all, but those which are confirmed by the testimony of many.
[2] In the year of the Lord 1209, therefore, on the day of the holy Martyrs Gervase and Protase, when the custodian of our church was passing here and there through the sacristy in his usual manner, that in the year 1209, on the 19th of June and solicitously arranging the upper chamber for storing the sacred vestments; it happened that a certain tomb of Holy Relics, hitherto concealed, suddenly opened miraculously by a certain gap. But while those who were then present with the Custodian wondered, certain ones approaching, and fencing off the place of the gap, desired to find out what it was. And behold, so wondrous a fragrance of most sweet odor evaporated from the tomb, that it incredibly delighted the bystanders, the pavement gaping, the tomb appeared, and clearly manifested the merits of the Holy Relics lying hidden there. At once the doors of the church and the court b were filled by those running up, and they longed to know what lay hidden within. And without delay, unanimously and urgently advising, they demanded that an experiment of the matter be made with rakes and other digging instruments. And so, opening the tomb, and not truly knowing it to be a grave, they found a precious and long-hidden Treasure of Relics. within which were found the bones of 2 bodies For there were found the bones of two bodies, most beautiful to see and most sweet to smell; once carefully wrapped about indeed with linen cloths and leathers; which now, however, the sacred bones being preserved, collapsed at the touch of the hand, and were reduced to dust. These things being heard, there is a concourse of the people, a tumult of those running together: a clamor is raised, the common folk, rejoicing in the novelty, are struck; and at last in praise of God and all the Saints the exhilarated devotion resounds, and over the venerable Treasure found there is made by the clergy and people together, with Lauds, an immense thanksgiving.
[3] These things being thus done and divulged through the province, throngs weakened by various ailments rush in: how great a grace of healings these obtained, the cures written below attest. at which presently are healed: one dying man, First a certain Swabian scholar, by name Wernher, seized by a sudden and altogether grave illness, was brought to the point of death: who, half-alive, was carried by the hands of his companions to the newly found Relics, and through the night commended by the prayers of his Companions. But in the morning, a vow being made by himself, he was restored to health by the merits of the saints. After this a certain Perichta in Sankt Pölten, paralyzed in the hand for ten years, was cured. and six sick women. Another woman, Gisla, in the hospice of St. Giles, languid in her whole body, was healed. Another woman, in the same house, by name Ita, was cured of pleurisy. Likewise a girl, from the house of the Lord Plebanus, by name Alheyt, recovered her sight. Another Alheyt, the maidservant of a certain citizen, drawn by night through a vision to the Relics, in the morning showed on her arm, evidently and bodily, the traces of the hand drawing her: who coming to the tomb was freed from a heart affliction. Another certain woman by name Chunigunt of Chuliub, c who had been lame for three years, was healed at the tomb of the Saints on the day of the holy seven brothers.
[4] On the same day a certain Hartmann of Willhalmsperch, lame in one foot, was cured. Another certain one, Likewise others crippled and blind. the Mother of a herdsman, crippled for nearly three years, was cured. On the same day a certain woman, possessed by a demon for more than three years, by name Chunigunth, was cured. Another certain youth, feverish for three months and more up to the point of death, in an equal access of fever, was cured upon the tomb. Another certain woman of Amstetten, by name Christiana, crippled nearly five years, was cured on the Division d of the Apostles. Likewise a certain one, by name Geberhard, deprived of light, recovered his sight on the 14th of the Kalends of August. On the same day a certain Gerbrich of Stauzendorf, blind for nearly 14 years, gloriously recovered her sight. Likewise a certain Chunigunt, wife of the Chomtarius in Sankt Pölten, having a bent hand, was cured. Another certain one, Wentila of Hafnarn, crippled beyond the space of a year, so that she crept on her hands upon the ground, was cured by the grace of God and the Saints. Another certain Hartmann, blind for two years, recovered his sight at the tomb. He dwelt in a village which is called Obendorf next to Planchenstein. Likewise beyond the Danube, a certain youth recovered his sight at the Relics. Likewise a certain maiden Virgin of Odelpach, long blind, was enlightened. Likewise a certain potter, by name Wernher, recovered his sight.
[5] An unbelieving woman is punished, and being penitent is healed: Likewise a certain woman of the Parish of Sigghartskirchen, of a village which is called Wobendof, while as an unbeliever she spoke against the miracles of the saints, became mute; and was so agitated by furies that she spat in the face of the Priest and against the body of Christ. At last looking back and being penitent, she recovered the use of her voice at the tomb of the Relics. Another certain one of beyond-the-Danube, coming from a certain village Brunnen, lame for nearly two years, was cured. Another certain one of Choombech by name Mechthilt, by a swelling of one eye, several crippled women are cured, was brought and wearied to such a headache that, like one frenzied, she struck her head against the walls and benches. And a vow being made to the Saints, while she was preparing a wick for a candle, she presently grew better, and at the tomb was fully cured. Likewise a certain girl of e Krems, by name Richgart, crippled for 5 years, on the day of St. Pölten, before her fellow-citizens, was cured at the tomb of the Saints. Another woman of Sewarn, by name Mechthilt, long crippled, by the intervention of the holy Relics was wonderfully freed. one approaching with a painted face is chastised:
[6] Likewise a certain woman in Sankt Pölten, coming with a painted face to the tomb of the Saints, became as if leprous: but being at last penitent, she was cured by the merits of the saints. Likewise a certain Perchta in Sankt Pölten, deprived of sight for a year, was enlightened at the tomb of the saints. Likewise a certain Jeuta in Sankt Pölten, having one eye altogether destroyed, the dim-sighted are enlightened: was freed at the tomb of the Saints. Likewise the little child of a certain potter in Sankt Pölten, having a crystalline eye, on the Assumption of St. Mary recovered his sight entirely sound. Likewise a certain mute boy, of 8 years, son of a certain Ulric the smith in Sankt Pölten, by the grace of God and of the saints, received the use of speech. Another certain woman, by name Cunigunt, one gravely injured by a fall is cured; of a village which is called Winzurl, next to Krems, while she was devoutly hastening to the tomb of blessed Altmann on his day, it happened that in crossing a certain stream she fell from the bridge, and grievously injured her thigh and the middle part of her body, so much that the injured part was turned into a swelling and various spots: limping, however, going back from the tomb of the aforesaid Bishop, at last a vow being made to the Saints among us, and a wick being twisted for the use of a candle, she came to the Relics of the saints, and was cured.
[7] A blasphemer against the Saints is punished with death: It happened at one time that the Parishioners of both sexes of Sigghartskirchen carried their Cross to the Relics of the saints with devotion: who, when on the following morning, their prayers being completed, they returned to their own homes, and had now crossed the Traisen; one of the matrons, who hitherto was reckoned honest enough, with rash daring said: "If there were any virtue in these Relics of the Saints, they would have declared some sign of their sanctity in us, of which a memorial could have endured among us." Presently at these words she was seized with such pain of heart that, cast down from the wagon, she suddenly and miserably expired; and so she left both to all her neighbors, and also to her fellow-provincials, a sad memorial of her rashness. Another certain man of f Ips, various sick are cured: while leading his son to the protections of the Saints; while on the way, still far from the threshold of the saints, the boy, being enlightened, said to his father: "My father, behold I see clearly": and arriving they gave thanks. A certain woman by name Mechthilt, of Wipfing near Tulln g, suddenly seized by paralysis, became mute, and fell as if lifeless. At last perceiving a little, by such signs as she could, she signaled that a candle should be made for her. Which being done, she so recovered that she vowed a vow to the Saints, and coming was cured.
[8] Likewise a certain girl of Vienna, long crippled, as soon as she descended from the wagon to the saints, brought from various places, before her fellow-citizens was cured at the tomb of the Saints. Likewise a certain woman of Vienna, by name Hiltpech, deprived of the light of her eyes for more than eight years, recovered her sight at the Relics of the Saints. Another certain one of the same city, by name Dieza, withered in hand and arm, was cured by the grace of God and the merits of the Saints. Likewise another, by name Gotlint of Poschendorf, next to Michelhausen, blinded by a film of the eyes, on the same day gloriously recovered her sight: for as it were scales and membranes fell from her eyes. On the same day another certain one, lame for three years, by name Henry, was freed by the grace of God and the merits of the Saints. Another certain woman with elephantiasis, dwelling next to Göttweig, at the invocation of the same Saints was cured. Likewise a certain woman of Judenau, by name Acila, long crippled, was freed. Another certain Viennese, by name Mechthilt, blind for very many years, was enlightened by the grace of God and the merits of the saints. Another certain one of Raezunge, lame in one foot from childhood, on the feast of the Exaltation of the holy Cross, was cured at the tomb of the saints.
[9] The blind are enlightened, Another certain woman of Willhalmstorf, altogether inflexible through her whole body, having used no food for 5 weeks, brought to the Relics of the Saints; after she ascended into the wagon to be brought back home, was so cured that she asked for food without delay. Another certain woman of Gaebbiz, by name Perhta, on the feast day of the holy Martyrs Cosmas and Damian, was enlightened. She for joy gave her cloak to the poor. Likewise a certain one, by name Buprich of Amstetten, on the day of the holy Cosmas and Damian recovered her sight. a mute man is given speech. A certain Viennese of 9 years, mute from birth, coming to the tomb of the Saints, by the grace of God and the merits of the Saints received the use of speech: whom his grandfather, by name Arnold, had three times before carried on his shoulders to the Arsenal to St. Catherine, and to St. Cunigund the Abbess. And another certain man, long deaf, recovered his hearing. Likewise a certain woman of Schiles, by name Chunigunt, crippled and blind, recovered her sight. Likewise a certain woman, by name Gepa, of Wenth next to Vienna, blind for 6 years, and led by the hand of her husband, recovered her sight by the grace of God and the merits of the Saints, on the day of the holy Dionysius and his companions.
[10] Another certain one, by name Erndrut, crippled in feet and legs, by the merits of the Saints was cured at the tomb of the Saints. Again other blind people are given sight: Likewise a certain one, by name Wichilt, of Krems, long deprived of the light of her eyes, by the intervention of the saints
was enlightened, on the feast of St. Martin. Likewise a certain man, by name Henry, our neighbor, of Mose, deprived of sight for three years, was enlightened on the 17th of the Kalends of December. Likewise on the same day a certain woman by name Heilca of Rapotenchirichen, paralyzed in one hand, was cured by the merits of the Saints. Another certain one, Henry by name, of Rossac, by chance falling from a height, was bruised in hands and feet and his whole body, so much that he was even despaired of: but by the will of God, one who fell from a height is helped, the intervention of the saints being invoked, a vow being made, he suddenly recovered; so that he rose not only without the support of human consolation, but even of a staff, and sought on foot the tomb of the same Saints, and by the grace of God, altogether unharmed, returned to his own home with thanksgiving.
[11] Another certain Viennese inhabitant, Ulric by name, blind for three years, at the tomb of the Saints, and various sick. on the Purification of St. Mary, by their merits and through the mercy of God, recovered his sight. A certain paralytic, by name Hermann, a youth of Smeinsdorf, paralytic for some time and made mute by the paralysis, by the grace of God and the merits of the Saints recovered the use of speech on the Purification of holy Mary. Likewise a certain boy, son of our neighbor of Sprecern, deprived of sight for three months with the despair of his parents, God having mercy and by the intervention of the Saints, obtained the light of his eyes. Another certain woman, by name Gepa, seized by a grave languor up to the point of death, earnestly desired that a bone of the holy Relics be dipped in water, and so for medicine that same water be given to be drunk: which being done, she was forthwith healed: by which example indeed a citizen and our neighbor, Lady Alheydis of the Court, was freed from a grave bodily infirmity.
[12] It happened at one time that a certain Soldier, by name Marchard of Amstetten, Slain on the road to the Saints, setting out with other faithful devoted to Christ to the tomb of the Saints (alas!), was slain on the road by his enemies. And when his wife, on account of the grief which she had contracted from the slaying of her husband, frequently cursed and disparaged the Relics of the Saints; the image of the slain man himself appeared in a vision to a certain Religious woman: who asking about his state, he answered rather sadly, "From the hour in which I was slain, by the help of the Saints to whom I desired to come, I have rested in peace: but now, on account of my wife's curses, my rest is disturbed. Wherefore I suppliantly beseech and warn that she herself cease from the folly of her lips, he is relieved from the pains of purgatory. and make two candles equal to my stature for my rest, which let her also cause to be lit with devotion for me at the tomb of the same Saints." Another thing, which happened so famous and worthy of memory at the tomb of the saints, I note.
[13] For a certain citizen in Sankt Pölten, by name Sifrid the shoemaker, seized by pain of the eyes and reduced to blindness, in hope of light approached the Relics of the saints, Those who rashly touch the Relics are chastised. and prayed suppliantly with tears that he might recover his sight. And when after some time, by the compassion of God and of the Saints, he had recovered his sight; one night, simply indeed, but yet, as it seems, rashly, he presumed to touch the Relics and to smear his eyes round about: and, wondrous to say, he presently fell into his former blindness. But what should the wretched man do? He confessed the rashness of his mind and his hand, vowed himself to God and the saints by a vow, did penance; finally again, God having mercy and by the intervention of the Saints, he gloriously recovered his sight. In a like manner it happened to a certain young man presuming similar things, who had been a paralytic. The rest, inasmuch as they were on the last page of the codex, were so worn away by rubbing that they could not be read.