CONCERNING THE HOLY MARTYRS VENERIUS, LEONTIA THE VIRGIN, CASTUS, AND LIVONIUS, AT EICHSTÄTT IN GERMANY.
Commentary.
St. Venerius, Martyr at Eichstätt in Germany.
St. Leontia, Martyr at Eichstätt in Germany.
St. Castus, Martyr at Eichstätt in Germany.
St. Livonius, Martyr at Eichstätt in Germany.
[1] Concerning Eichstätt, which others call Eystettum or Aichstadium, an episcopal city on the Altmühl river, we treated on February 25 in the Life of St. Walburga, Virgin and Abbess, which things need not be repeated here, as we recall the memory of Saints Venerius, Leontia, Castus, and Livonius, whose sacred relics are preserved there in the church of the Society of Jesus, and are honored annually on the Tuesday after Quinquagesima Sunday with ecclesiastical worship. Concerning those things which we have received from there, we set them down here.
The sacred relics of Saints Venerius and St. Leontia, Virgin and Martyr, were first sent as a gift by the Very Reverend Father N., of pious memory, Mutius Vitelleschi, General Superior of the Society of Jesus (as the letters of the same Very Reverend Father, given at Rome in the year 1618 and extant in our archive, attest) to the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lord Johann Christoph von Westerstetten, Bishop of Eichstätt, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and also Founder of our College. But he, being as he was most zealous in promoting the honor of God and the Saints, and most loving of the Society and its greatest benefactor, Relics of Saints Venerius and Leontia lest any element of beauty and adornment be lacking to the church recently erected at his own expense and magnificently adorned all around, sent to the Bishop of Eichstätt. gave back to us again these very relics which he had received from the Very Reverend Father Mutius, together with the relics of other Saints, namely Castus and Livonius, and during the feast of Pentecost, with a great concourse of both clergy and other counts, barons, and inhabitants and visitors, had them transferred from his court chapel to the new church: at the very time when, in honor of our holy Fathers Ignatius and Xavier, recently enrolled in the number of the Saints, the college together with the residents and neighbors celebrated a triumph no less splendidly than devoutly. And although we have no other letters of this donation, yet the piety of our most zealous Founder amply confirms it, as does the very procession and pomp with which these very bones of the Saints were carried from the court chapel to this place, described at length in the history of the College. There is no time to explain the course of this affair at greater length; I shall trace it as briefly as I can, but first it is fitting to extract and transcribe from the authenticated documents, furnished with the seal of our Very Reverend Father, the letters of donation, elevation, and transmission of those relics, the tenor of which is as follows.
MUTIUS VITELLESCHI,
General Superior of the Society of Jesus, to all into whose hands these letters shall come, greeting in Him who is the true salvation.
Assuredly the sacred relics of the Saints are by themselves worthy of all honor and reverence: for, as St. Augustine says, the Holy Spirit made use of them as vessels and instruments for all good works; by gift of Mutius Vitelleschi, General of the Society of Jesus and moreover, on account of the great benefits that come from them to the human race, so that Damascene was right to say that relics of this kind were established by Christ the Lord as salutary fountains, from which no small benefits flow to us, and a most sweet ointment streams forth; since by them demons are expelled, diseases put to flight, the sick healed, temptations and sorrows dispelled, and finally many gifts descend from the Father of lights through their agency to those who ask with unhesitating faith. Since therefore we have given half the body of St. Venerius the Martyr together with his head, and likewise half the body of St. Leontia, Virgin and Martyr, extracted from the Cemetery of Priscilla on the Via Salaria with the permission of Our Most Holy Lord Pope Paul V, and with the license of the same Most Holy Lord, to the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lord Johann Christoph, Bishop of Eichstätt, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, etc., to be placed in the churches designated by him, so that all might know of this and these sacred relics not be defrauded of their due honor, we have wished to give attestation of all the foregoing by these letters signed by our hand and furnished with the seal of the Society.
Given at Rome on the 7th day of February, 1618.
Mutius Vitelleschi.
Four years later, when the roof had been placed on the church and everything had been completed according to the mind of the Most Illustrious Bishop, in the very fervor of the triumphs which the College of Eichstätt (as we have already said), in the year of Our Lord's Incarnation 1622, on May 15, instituted in honor of Saints Ignatius and Xavier, not long before enrolled among the Holy Confessors by the Supreme Pontiff, under the auspices and by the will of our Most Reverend Prince: it pleased the Most Illustrious that together with the Confessors the holy Martyrs also should triumph, and that our church should be adorned with the Martyrs in purple, as it were with roses blooming and reddening with their own blood. This festive triumph, long and much desired, of the Canonization began on the feast of Pentecost, on which day in the afternoon, in the presence of a great assembly of Canons and the rest of the clergy and nobles, translated in solemn procession to the church of the Society of Jesus the Most Reverend Suffragan intoned the Te Deum Laudamus, with the most exquisite music continuing the hymn, while artillery thundered with great rumbling. After that, the most solemn Vespers were begun. On the following day, the Abbot of Plankstetten first delivered a most ample oration in praise of the Saints. This solemnity promoted on this day is described at greater length, but since it does not pertain to our subject, passing over it, the history continues. After lunch, a very long procession of citizens, members of sodalities, clergy, and household members was formed, and they went to the court chapel. From there, preceded by a troop of horsemen and more than thirteen hundred musketeers flanking the sides, with the relics of Saints Livonius and Castus; the sacred relics of the Saints Livonius, Castus, Venerius, and Leontia, Martyrs, were carried to the cathedral, with youths from the gymnasium acting the parts of the Martyrs, who rode high on triumphal chariots drawn partly by noble horses and partly by lions. When they reached the cathedral, Vespers were sung in honor of these same Saints of ours. Something prodigious occurred: the rainy sky, as long as this procession lasted, contained itself within threats alone. On the day after this, with even greater solemnity, the same relics were carried to our church amidst the ranks of the Canons and the retinue of the Most Illustrious Prince, the Most Reverend Suffragan, and the Abbot of Plankstetten, who all proceeded in mitres and resplendent golden copes. Here again the horsemen and foot soldiers made the triumph more solemn in their manner with military volleys and thunder. When they reached the church, the above-mentioned Abbot celebrated the divine service, amid the most carefully arranged music. From that time the aforesaid sacred bones rest in our church, each enclosed in its own case elegantly and skillfully crafted from ebony. honored annually. And their feast is celebrated each returning year on Tuesday after Quinquagesima Sunday under the double rite, with very many people flocking in the meantime, both from the city and from other places, not only common folk but also persons of higher rank, partly for the veneration of those Saints and partly for the public prayer service, which on that day is conducted with the greatest diligence and devotion, as is the custom of the Society.
and other things, her account from the Menaea, etc. briefly excerpted from Theodoret, and then they conclude thus: Persevering in these exercises of piety day and night, she was translated to her desired spouse Christ with the fruit of her works. The old manuscript Synaxarion of the Clermont College of the Society of Jesus at Paris has the same. The same is found in the Lives of the Saints, written in the Greek language used at this time, by Maximus, Bishop of Cythera. The same was published earlier by our Matthaeus Rader in volume 1 of the Garden of the Saints, and from that by the Recollect Arthur du Monstier in his Sacred Gynaeceum, and in the Gallic Menologion of Virgins by our Francis Laherius, though the latter sometimes used some amplification. In the manuscript of Pierre-François Chifflet she is called Domnina the Younger. For the title reads thus: "Of Domnina the Young" (Δομνίνης της ναίας).
[3] This appears to be entirely the same Domna, or Domnina, whom the Menaea and Cytheraeus record under January 5, commemoration on January 5, as we said there, and the following evidence is persuasive: in the Menaea there is a distich. For thus they read: "On the same day the holy Domna rests in peace" (Τῆ ἀυτῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἡ ὁσία Δόμνα ἐν ἐιρήνῃ τελειοῦται).
"The affliction of the flesh on earth bestows on you, Domnina, the inheritance above" (Χαρίζεται σοι τὴν ἄνω κληρουρχίαν, Δομνίνα, σαρκὸς ἡ κάτω κακουχία).
On the same day, St. Domna rests in peace.
The affliction of the flesh on earth bestows on you, Domnina, the inheritance in heaven.
Where you see her called Domna, and immediately afterward Domnina. Cytheraeus, because he omitted that distich of the Menaea (as he always does elsewhere), calls her only Domna. That she is nevertheless the same is indicated by the Menaea themselves, which there indeed say that she attained the heavenly inheritance "by the affliction of the flesh" (σαρκὸς κακουχίᾳ), and here have: "she gave herself over to ascetical exercise and the rest of the affliction of the body" (ἀσκήσει καὶ κοιπῇ κακουχίᾳ τοῦ σώματος ἑαυτὴν ἐκδέδωκε).
LIFE
by Theodoret, Bishop,
from the edition of Jacques Sirmond, S.J.
St. Domnina, or Domna, Virgin dedicated to God, in Syria.
[1] The admirable Domnina emulated the life of the divine Maron, whom we previously mentioned.(a) In the garden of her mother's house she fixed a small hut; and this hut is furnished for her by millet stalks. In it, spending whole days in continual tears, she waters not only her cheeks St. Domnina weeps constantly: but also her garments of haircloth: for with such coverings she clothes her body. At cockcrow she goes to the divine temple, which is not far away, and together with others, she frequents the temple, both women and men, she offers praises to the Lord of all. Nor does she do this only at the beginning of the day, but also at its end, herself both believing and teaching others that a place consecrated to God is more venerable than any other place. On which account she took great care of it, and prefers it to other places and adorns it: she lives on soaked lentils: persuading her mother and brothers to expend their resources upon it.
[2] Her food, moreover, is lentils soaked in water. And she endures all this toil, though her body is exhausted and half-dead. For the thinnest skin, like a membrane, covers thin bones, the fat and flesh having been consumed by her labors. She is exposed to the sight of all who wish to look upon her, both men and women: she always hides her face: yet neither looking upon anyone's face herself, nor offering her own face for anyone to see, but entirely covered by her garment and bowed down to her knees. Speaking with a very feeble and scarcely articulate voice, she always speaks with tears. she applies the bishop's hand to her eyes: For often taking hold of my right hand and bringing it to her eyes, she sent it away so wet that the hand itself dripped with tears.
[3] Her, therefore, who abounding in such great riches of philosophy, weeps and mourns and groans as though living in the utmost destitution — what speech could praise her according to her merit? For her ardent love for God begets these tears, what is the cause of her tears? kindling her mind to divine contemplation, and pricking and urging her with goads to depart from this life.
[4] Nor indeed, while exercising herself in these things day and night, does she neglect other kinds of virtues: but she takes care, as far as her strength allows, of the most distinguished athletes she provides necessities for monks and for pilgrims, whom we have mentioned and those we have passed over. She also takes care of those who come to them,(b) bidding them lodge with the village pastor and providing them with everything necessary. For the resources of her mother and brothers are at hand for her to make expenditures, and through her they receive a blessing. Indeed, even to me, including the bishop: when I come to that part which(c) lies to the south of our region, she sends bread and fruits and soaked lentils.
[5] But to what length shall I extend my discourse, striving to set forth all her virtue, when it is fitting to bring forward also the lives of others who have imitated both her and those whom we previously mentioned? For many others indeed, many imitate her, some have embraced the solitary life, while others have preferred to live with many; so that two hundred and fifty, or more or fewer, live together, eating one food, accustomed to sleep only on mats, and devoting their hands to wool-working, while consecrating their tongues to hymns. There exist, moreover, infinite gymnasia of this kind of philosophy, exceeding number, not only in our region but also throughout the entire East.
Notes:
(a) We gave on February 14, from the same Theodoret, the Life of St. Maron the anchorite, in which it is said in number 2 that he produced many plants of philosophy, and that this garden which now flourishes in the region of Cyrus (at the time when Theodoret was writing that book) he planted for God. One of those plants, produced either by his instruction or by imitation of him, was Domnina.
(b) Gentianus Hervetus has "to her," as do the Greek words: "those who come to her" (τοὺς πρὸς ἀυτὴν ἀφικνουμένους).
(c) In Greek: "is the southern part of our region" (τὸ νότιον δὲ της ἡμετέρας χώρας ἐςὶ).