Apianus

CONCERNING SAINT APIANUS, MONK, AT PAVIA AND COMACCHIO IN ITALY,

AROUND THE YEAR 800.

Preliminary Commentary.

Apianus, Monk, at Pavia and Comacchio in Italy (Saint)

[1] Pavia, formerly called Ticinum from the river that washes its walls -- the most illustrious city of Insubria and formerly the seat of the Lombard Kings -- is adorned with a Cathedral church, eighteen other parish churches, and many monasteries. Among these, the chief is Saint Peter's in Ciel d'Oro, which was built for Benedictine monks by King Liutprand, At Pavia, in which the body of Saint Augustine, brought there from Sardinia, rests before the chapel of the Blessed Basilius and Florentius, which is now called the chapel of Saint Apianus; the body, chapel, and altar of Saint Apianus, for the body of Saint Apianus is placed there in an altar dedicated to him. But because the Acts of this Saint had hitherto lain hidden, various conjectures about him are read in the writers. We found these Acts at Rome in the library of the Most Eminent Cardinal Francis Barberini, in a very ancient parchment Legendary, in which very many Lives of Saints were contained. The number 925 was prefixed to this codex, and from folio 312 these Acts are found -- and indeed in threefold form, The Acts are published here from the manuscript of Cardinal Barberini; of which we give first the historical account of things done in his life and of miracles performed after death at his sacred relics; we then subjoin an encomiastic sermon on the chief virtues of the same; which are also adorned in rather brief heroic verse, as all these things are contained in the said codex. Concerning the monastery of Saint Peter in Ciel d'Oro that was built, one may read Paul the Deacon, Book 6 of the Deeds of the Lombards, Chapter 58, and Gabriel Pennottus, Book 1 of the Tripartite History of the Canons Regular, Chapters 60 and 61; who in Chapter 62 teaches that under Pope Honorius III, by a bull given on the Ides of June, amid various changes to the monastery in the sixth year of his pontificate, the year of Christ 1221, the same monastery, the monks there having failed, was handed over to the Canons of Mortara, and finally in the year 1509 to the Lateran Canons, whom we ourselves visited at Pavia obliterated and inquired whether they had any ancient documents; but they produced the said printed Pennottus, as though everything were contained in it. He treats in Book 3, Chapter 36, number 6, of the relics of Saints who rest in the same church, and narrates what we have already said about the chapel and altar of Saint Apianus, which we ourselves inspected in person. But because he did not have the Acts, he could report nothing certain about him.

[2] Saint Apianus was sent from Pavia to Comacchio, and died there: Saint Apianus had lived there as a Benedictine monk, and as steward of the monastery he is reported in number 3 to have been sent to Comacchio by his Abbot, within whose territory he ended his life as a recluse; he was initially buried near the church of Saint Gervasius, then translated to a church erected in his honor. Meanwhile the Pavians desired the body of Saint Apianus as owed to them, and as one reads below in number 10, they even attempted to carry it off by theft; but when the ship was miraculously made immovable, they returned it. The body, then deposited in the church of Saint Maurus, shone with many miracles, with which narrated the Life ends, while the body still rested there -- which we believe was afterwards given to the Pavians. Comacchio, also written as Comaclium, Comaclum, Commaclum, and Cymaculum -- derived as if from sea waves, from the Greek word "kymatos," because it is situated below Ferrara between two channels of the River Po at the Adriatic Sea in marshes, this city afflicted by various disasters, commonly called Comachio. Concerning the wars at Comacchio in the year 808 between Nicephorus, Emperor of the East, and Charlemagne, Regino in his Chronicle at the said year, the Continuator of Aimoin in Book 4 of Frankish Affairs, Chapter 97, Antonius Coccius Sabellicus in his eighth Ennead, Book 9, and first Decade of Venetian Affairs, Book 2, treat; who then in Book 3 reports that Comacchio was stormed by the Venetians in revenge for Marinus, sent to Rome by his brother the Doge, who died from a wound inflicted by the Comacchians -- from which disaster the once powerful city could scarcely rise again. It seems the body was brought to Pavia: On which occasion of war we believe the body of Saint Apianus was translated to Pavia; concerning which the Ecclesiastical Office was celebrated, as of a Confessor, not a Bishop. Afterwards, with the transfer of the monastery of Saint Peter in Ciel d'Oro from the Benedictines to the Canons of Mortara, the ancient records having been lost, the Office began to be recited of a Confessor who was a Bishop, whom they believed (as Ferrarius conjectured) to have been African, not brought from Sardinia with the body of Saint Augustine, and that his body had been transported together with the body of Saint Augustine from Africa to Sardinia and from Sardinia to Pavia. But there is a profound silence concerning this Saint Apianus in the History of the Translation of Saint Augustine, which was written by Peter Oldradus, Archbishop of Milan, to Charlemagne, by Paul the Deacon, and by others who followed them.

[3] He is said below in the Acts to have died on the eighth day before the Ides of November, on which day no memory of him is noted in the Martyrologies. The veneration of Saint Apianus on various days: Hermann Greven, the Carthusian of Cologne, who died in the year 1480, in his additions to Usuard at the fourth day before the Kalends of October, mentions Apianus, Bishop and Confessor; Canisius in his German Martyrology and Molanus in his first edition of the Supplement to Usuard follow. The same Greven at the fifteenth day before the Kalends of April, that is, the eighteenth of March, writes: "On this day, the reposition of Saint Apianus, Bishop and Confessor." Molanus and Canisius have the same. Ferrarius in his General Catalogue explains what is said about Saint Apianus of Pavia at both days; which is not entirely certain. If those passages should be understood of this Apianus the monk, not Bishop, we could say that on the twenty-ninth of October the solemn deposition in the church dedicated to him is celebrated, and on the eighteenth of March the reposition made in the church of Saint Maurus. The deposition is venerated by the Pavians on the fourth of March: Finally, on this fourth of March, the Canons of Saint Peter in Ciel d'Oro celebrate the deposition made at Pavia in their basilica, as Ferrarius also testifies in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy and his General Catalogue, a public professor in the Academy of Pavia

Professor of Mathematics. Therefore we give those Acts at this day, so that if we perhaps err somewhere, we may, being warned of the matter, present more certain information elsewhere concerning the varied cult and veneration of one or more Saints of this name. He is written as Apianus the name variously spelled: or with the consonant doubled, Appianus, perhaps also Apuanus, because he is said below in the Acts to be Ligurian by birth; for the Apuani were formerly Ligurians, and a certain city of theirs was called Apua. The time in which he lived is unknown. We suspect it was in the first century after the foundation of the monastery, the time of his life, when the monks there were flourishing in their pristine vigor and the city of Comacchio, afflicted by no disasters, was thriving.

LIFE

From a very ancient codex of Cardinal Barberini.

Apianus, Monk, at Pavia and Comacchio in Italy (Saint)

BHL Number: 0619

From the manuscripts.

CHAPTER I.

Deeds at Pavia and Comacchio. His death.

[1] ^aThis Saint Appianus was a Ligurian by nation, and having been most holily ordained as a monk in the Monastery of Saint Peter in Ciel d'Oro, he flourished for a long time Saint Appianus, a monk at Pavia, and shone more broadly than all the cenobites of that time, and excelled more eminently than all the Italian anchorites of that era. He guarded himself cautiously and piously, and nonetheless devoted to the Brethren of the monastery the investigation of most diligent care. He helps all toward salvation: He was a generous debtor to all: he instructed monks in the regular disciplines and formed them by the examples of good works; the Clergy he nourished under the shade of the divine law and was a minister of the Scriptures, and he strengthened them with serene promises; but to the perilous wounds of the laity he applied unceasingly the hot iron, while upon lighter wounds he placed the softest plasters: to all indeed, as was needed, he tempered the divine eloquence. For discipline or mercy is greatly lacking if one is maintained without the other; but among those who hear the sacred word, there ought to be in preachers he mixes severity with gentleness: both sweet piety with equity and justice that chafes with gentleness; since if he showed only severity to his hearers and offered the cup of doctrine with excessive bitterness to the thirsty, they, because the inmost depths of their hearts had been embittered and they felt them refreshed by no sweetness of good flavor, would have broken forth into horrible hatred and avoided his preaching like the venom of a viper, and would have departed scandalized. But since he so wisely tempered the bridle of both reins that his course did not swerve from the right path; since he so displayed the terror of punishment by threatening that he always inserted the gentleness of God; since he so vehemently struck those whom he ought that after the stroke, as if they felt no harm, he healed them with the sweetness of his words; thus this man distributed the doctrine of God so that he profited all and bestowed on all an appropriate remedy of healing. With the Word of God he refreshed the poor, fully restored the middling, and satiated the rich and powerful with spiritual feasts; he has sermons suited to each: he tamed hearts of iron, changed the minds even of the perverse to mercy, and by his preaching advanced the devotion of the humble to a better state. To widows and orphans he was a most pious helper and unfailing consoler; the advancement of others he considered his own, and another's loss he compassionately bewailed as his own; he willingly shared in the necessities of the weak and gladly came to the aid of their labors; the infirmities of others he bore in his own body with grief as though they were his own, following the example of the Apostle: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?" 2 Cor. 11:29

[2] In secret, however, he mortified himself and privately exercised himself more rigorously in divine works, lest he should be seen by men for what and how great he was. And lest human favors should steal from him the eternal recompense he was bound to receive, he secretly chastises his flesh: he very often concealed even from the brethren of his monastery the strictness of his life. Sometimes he glowed as a live coal, sometimes he shone as a most brilliant lamp: a coal indeed gives light to itself but denies light to others; but a lamp once lit strove to spread its flames all around. But he burned as a coal without light only in this -- when as if by stealth he subdued his flesh with the sharp goads of various torments under the command of his will; but he shone as a lamp whenever he abundantly poured forth the light of good works as an example to the rest, according to the Gospel: "So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matt. 5:16 Then, when the holy man had thus become known to his Abbot, the Abbot placed all his confidence in him after God, and began to venerate him with all the affection of his mind and bound him to himself with the desire of immense love. He is appointed steward of the monastery: He committed to him the entire administration of the monastic affairs and entrusted to him the whole counsel of the house of God, that he might order things prudently and piously according to what seemed best to him.

[3] At length it happened that for a certain need of the monastery, the Abbot called him with loving charity: "Dearest Brother Apianus," he said, "for we know you to be a true worshipper of God and a provident guardian of the divine religion -- one whom prosperity does not exalt, adversity does not cast down, the breeze of human praise does not lift up, he is sent to Comacchio: and biting censure does not corrupt; prepared to endure all adversity for Christ, and always prompt for every service of God. Now devoutly accept the fraternal burden that we impose upon you. Go to Comacchio and relieve our need, and weary yourself as much as you can in acquiring salt, because it is written: 'Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.'" Gal. 6:2 To this Blessed Apianus replied with serene countenance: "I have indeed read, sweetest Father, that obedience is better than sacrifice; and therefore I do not refuse your command but willingly and humbly fulfill it; I do this not unwillingly but of my own accord; not compelled but spontaneously I most devotedly obey your order and serve fraternal need and charity." 1 Sam. 15:22 Having therefore received his blessing and having bidden farewell to the Brethren, he joyfully set out on his journey and hastened to Comacchio. He carries out the tasks entrusted to him: Then he shrewdly began the labor of obedience and began earnestly to complete the work of the command he had undertaken, in such a way as to please God and provide the necessary help to the Brethren.

[4] He carries out the tasks entrusted to him: In summer indeed he lived at Comacchio to fulfill his Father's command of obedience, burning with divine service night and day; but in winter time, devoting himself to fasts and prayers, he dwelt in a certain district that is commonly called Lacus, but withdrawn far from the inhabitants of this village, he was always enclosed in a small cell and remained fixed there, leading a solitary life. And although he was there confined in body, already expanded in his whole mind he ranged through heaven; he whom on earth a despised and narrow dwelling confined, in the heavenly summit a golden and jeweled palace surrounded. From that cell he never came out alive, he dwells enclosed in his cell: but immovable he always remained enclosed during his life, and as long as the pious spirit shone in his holy body, he did not cease to pour forth divine eloquence and to scatter the mellifluous rain of unflagging preaching. By his prayers he bestowed upon them heavenly help and gave them the support of his protection. He was therefore made the foot of the Lord and shone forth as butter spread abroad, since he was a generous preacher, and wearied by daily admonitions, he helps his neighbors: he remained dissolved in the frequent ministrations of his hearers. But he did not care for their obsequious services; rather he loved the increase of souls. He was an eye to the blind and a foot to the lame, because by preaching he illuminated the blind and by sustaining he helped the lame; indeed he did both in healing sick bodies and in bringing to life souls that had fallen to the depths. Before God his constant gift was always one of true righteousness, when from the beginning of equity the flowers of piety burst forth.

[5] He preserves purity of soul. Therefore this holy man advanced so greatly in spiritual gifts because his mind was never trampled down by base things; while in external matters he found right things that he could do. And although he did not hold the governance of that Church and lacked the title of Pastor, yet relying on the divine dispensation and prompted by the Holy Spirit, at the opportune time he gave the measure of wheat to the Lord's household and, as a wise steward of heavenly gifts, provided care to the hungry. He was therefore a golden clod of earth, who, infused with the dew of heavenly grace, in no way forgot that by the debt of death he was dust; humility, and therefore he so humiliated himself in the flesh that he shone as gold in his works; he so sacrificed himself in body that the desired radiance shone forth in his mind. For he preserved the cunning investigation of the serpent prudence, and did not lose the gentleness of the simple dove; because he guarded his head -- that is, Christ the Son of God -- by loving, and loved by guarding; since for love of him he laid aside the old vestments and put on the new man with his deeds. For he drove away the oldness of sin and attained the newness of heavenly grace. In the dove he was made meek and simple, simplicity, because he never anxiously panted with the desire of rapacity and never greedily turned his eyes to worldly cupidity; he did not apply himself to the deceitful pursuits of the world, but daily enkindled by the fire of divine love, yearning only for heavenly desires and burning with eternal gains, he thought only upon eternal things and vigilantly exercised himself in divine services. He never offended anyone; meekness: to none did he ever resist, except in vices alone; he struck the mind of none with his word, nor ever exasperated anyone by his deeds; he was held to be benign to all, gentle to all, and most devoted to all.

[6] Happy land of Comacchio, into which such a guest descended, which received such a pilgrim, which accepted such a Patron destined to it from heaven -- in whose mouth no lie was found, nor, as far as he could guard himself, he strictly examines his actions: did he permit contagion to reign in himself. Therefore he constrained himself in his thinking all the more subtly, the more strictly he perceived himself to be considered by the Judge on high; for he always examined his mind, seeking to discover if he had failed in anything, so that he might become the more blameless before God, the more he daily and without ceasing found fault with himself. Nor did he on this account take the joys of security, because he considered himself to be seen by the One who saw in him those things which he himself was unable to see in himself. At length, with the same Saint thus acting unceasingly and persevering in the work of God, the Divine mercy, which wished him to rest from such great labor and desired to reward him with the heavenly prize, did not delay in wearying him in this warfare nor permit him to be tortured longer in the great misery of this life; but called his most holy soul from the prison of his body and commanded it to be placed among the companies of the white-robed heavenly host, he dies: and ordered it to be joined in the Court of the citizens on high with the blessed souls. But this Confessor died within his cell with no one knowing.

CHAPTER II.

The Burial of St. Apian. The Church Dedicated to Him. Translations. Miracles.

[7] When the people of Comacchio afterward learned of the holy man's passing, the Bishop summoned the people and said to them: Sons and dearest brothers, let us go to the Lake, for Lord Appian, God's most faithful soldier, has departed from this world and has ascended securely to the heavenly abodes, with God directing him. By the Bishop Therefore let us go quickly, and with all honor and exceeding reverence let us lay his inestimable treasure in the finest sepulcher. and the people of Comacchio Then the people, hearing these things, dissolved into a flood of tears and began to grieve so greatly over his most holy death, on account of his most serene kindness and on account of the great assistance which he had been accustomed to give them in matters of soul and body, that they could scarcely utter words between their sobs. Nevertheless, with tearful voices they gave their answer in unison to the Bishop: Although he has left us so quickly on account of our sins, and the heavenly fellowship has claimed him; yet go before us, and hasten to accomplish what pertains to his honor, with us following. Immediately the Bishop went with them to the cell where the holy body lay lifeless: with fitting observances he washed it, and having duly celebrated the office of the Mass, he is buried near the church of St. Gervasius: they buried it in a stone coffin near the church of St. Gervasius the Martyr, which is situated on the border of that same diocese. But that church was then frequented by few, because it was far removed from human habitations.

[8] Boys and girls frequently gathered there, not for the sake of reverent worship, but with the desire to play games, or even to collect herbs. Then it happened that a certain girl, who had come with the other girls, that is, her companions, placed herself unknowingly beside the coffin of St. Appian, for irreverence a girl is struck with paralysis, in order to relieve a natural necessity, and when she was already attending to the matter she had begun, suddenly such a great pain invaded the little girl's entire body, and so contracted her through all her limbs, that the poor child could not move herself from the spot. The boys and girls, however, who had come with her, breathless and stupefied as if dead, abandoned her alone and returned in flight to Comacchio, and told the people of Comacchio what had happened to the little girl. Hearing this, the Bishop was greatly astonished, and the clergy and people were exceedingly disturbed. Then with bare feet they prepared themselves with crosses and lamps and incense, a procession is made and she is freed and with the rest of the sacred apparatus, coming to the tomb of St. Apian, to seek his aid for the girl's health and for the safety of all of them. And when they had persisted for a long time at the sepulcher of St. Apian, pouring out tearful voices in prayer, soon the little child was freed from the disease of paralysis and restored to her former health: she is freed. whence there was immense joy for all, and many tears of gladness flowed abundantly from everyone.

[9] At that very hour the Bishop took counsel with the people, The body is transferred to a church erected in his honor: that they should build a church in honor of the holy Confessor. Then for that same reason all, rejoicing, constructed a modest temple for him: afterward, all going together, they brought the holy body with the coffin and placed it with great veneration in that same church.

[10] After much time had passed, citizens of Pavia, coming to Comacchio for the purpose of buying salt, stolen by the Pavians by theft, during the nighttime hours stealthily and secretly entered that same chapel, seizing the body of Blessed Apian: which when they had gladly placed in a ship, they were returning to their homeland securely and freely. But when, pressing hard with their oars, they had reached the Lake, the aforesaid Confessor, remembering good faith and pious constancy, did not wish that land, namely the territory of Comacchio, to be deprived of his patronage and destitute of his governance. With so great a weight he fixed the sacrilegious keel there, and pressed down with the burden of the sacred body so tenaciously, the ship made immobile that it could by no means be moved from the place where it was rooted. All the sailors, straining at the ship with oars and poles, b and sternposts, and with every contrivance and the full exertion of their strength, could not dislodge the vessel, but the ship remained fixed and immobile. Seeing this, the rowers, exhausted by excessive labor and struck with great fear, grew stiff: they did not know what they should do. Immediately they recognized that they had perpetrated a monstrous crime in carrying away the holy body, and that so great a misfortune had befallen them because of this. At last, terrified and confounded, they resolved among themselves that they should change the ship's course and turn the vessel's path in the opposite direction: that none of them, whether helmsman or sailor, should touch the oars; but all, with hands and eyes raised together to heaven, begged God it is returned, that the ship might be guided wherever the will of the Confessor should indicate. And indeed the ship was brought to the bank it is placed in the church of St. Maurus. which is situated opposite the basilica of St. Maurus. The people indeed, coming together with every supplication, lifted up his body and placed it in the aforesaid church of St. Maurus.

[11] After some time, however, it happened that a house suddenly caught fire near the wall of St. Maurus: and as the immense fire grew and was already entering through all the windows of the church, this fire was extinguished: so that the church would without doubt be consumed in the sight of all; through the power of St. Apian all the flames were extinguished, and the church was defended from the fire.

[12] After this, a certain woman was seized by a demon: a demoniac is healed, her parents brought her to Rome, so that she might lose the demon there. But there she was not cured of the demon: bound in iron chains, she was brought by her parents to Comacchio, and through St. Apian she was freed from the demon: and when she received healing, she vomited smoke with blood, and thus, with many watching, she cast out the demon through her mouth.

[13] Another woman came from France to the church of the Blessed Virgin c Justina, who carried on her left arm an iron ring as a penance imposed on her by a bishop, another woman bearing an iron ring, and the flesh of her arm had already grown over it to such an extent that the ring was almost entirely covered with flesh, from which she suffered intolerable pain and excruciating torment. She fell trembling before the sacred threshold of that same Virgin, that she might free her from so great a danger: and when she had prayed for a long time, sleep seized her. Then she saw in a dream Blessed Justina the Virgin saying to her: Daughter, through me you will not be restored to health; nevertheless, if you wish to be made well, go to Comacchio and humbly beseech St. Apian: from him you will most certainly find healing. And when she had been awakened from sleep, she ran in haste and came devoutly to the church where the body of St. Apian lay, and earnestly besought the holy Confessor to mercifully apply the necessary cure to so great a torment and to bring the desired remedy. Immediately the iron ring was broken, and the arm was so healed that it was never better: from that point the woman was saved in body and mind.

[14] Another man came from a village a demoniac, which is called Ustulatus, a demoniac, who was freed from the cruel demon through the same Confessor.

[15] Afterward another man possessed by a demon came forward, who was called Peter, another, from whose ill-inhabited body the holy man expelled the treacherous guest and drove out the most foul spirit.

[16] Afterward a poor man of Poitiers came, who was so contracted in his whole body and so bent over that he could never raise his downcast face upward, nor could he lift his countenance to see the sky, and he limped most wretchedly on both feet. Taking two staffs in his hands, therefore, a bent and lame man, he came confidently to the tomb of Blessed Apian and said in a clear voice: St. Apian, most excellent Confessor of Christ, who by the power of God drive away many infirmities for those who ask you, and apply diverse remedies to diverse ailments, receive me mercifully as I come seeking your aid, and powerfully break the knotted bonds of my contraction, so that through your most holy help I may be restored to health and be able to fulfill the service I have promised to you. When he had finished this speech, he was immediately raised up healthy and fully healed in all his limbs: but before he had received his recovery, he promised to serve St. Apian all the days of his life. When not much time had passed after obtaining his cure, he spoke to the Bishop with schemes and lies, saying thus: Lord Father, I want your blessing and permission to go and see my parents, and having seen them, I will return quickly. To whom the Bishop replied: You promised the Saint, who restored you to health, that you would never leave his service. To which he said: It is true, about to transgress his vow, Lord Bishop, what you recall; I do not wish to change my vow, nor do I desire to pervert the promise I made; only let me see my parents: afterward I will fulfill what I promised, I will carry out what I vowed. The Bishop, therefore, wearied by his annoying persistence and shaken by his many wicked arguments, granted him, as if compelled, leave to go and return. Then this fool, desiring to violate his promise, entered the church to hear Mass he is punished with the same affliction: and begin his journey. Having heard the Mass, he went out of the church before the door, and there he was seized more fiercely and more harshly by paralysis than he had ever been before: totally broken in hands and feet and back, he remained in a pitiable state. The people, moreover, who were in the church, seizing him, carried him with great groaning into the church before the altar of St. Apian, and there he lay until vespers. and afterward is healed. While the clergy were celebrating Vespers, there was heard a great creaking from that most wretched cripple, which he emitted as he was recovering his health. All therefore came hastening to him, and found him well, drenched in excessive sweat, and holding the coffin of St. Apian the Confessor with both hands.

[17] Moreover, a certain woman came from the Lake, deprived of sight, who was most clearly given sight by him. a blind woman and those with fevers are cured: He cured very many people with fevers there, and performed innumerable marvels, and does not cease to do so to this day.

[18] O Apian, most true Confessor, distinguished anchorite, glorious soldier, honor and salvation of your homeland, with what rejoicing you now exult: with what beautiful garments you are now clothed, and you shine with a jeweled diadem! Apostrophe of the writer Once in this world you refused the joys of the flesh; now joyful you triumph with the Angels. Once you avoided earthly gain; now secure you possess perpetual and heavenly riches. Now you shine within the court of the eternal Emperor, and you rejoice amid the delights of Paradise: you share the joy among the cohorts of heaven, and among the ethereal soldiers you gleam golden. Indeed you did not fear the cold while you lived in this world; for if

you had feared it, you would now without doubt be a beggar: and you did not watch the wind, nor consider the cloud; for if you feared the wind, you would not sow, and if you had considered the cloud, you would never reap. Surely if you have fulfilled the command, you have received the promise: You shall receive a hundredfold and shall possess eternal life. Matt. 19:29 Wherefore, most kind servant of Christ and faithful friend of God, with devout minds we beseech you, imploring the aid of St. Apian: that by your pious prayers you would make God placable toward us, render Him propitious, restore Him as one who may be entreated, and by supplicating incline His most merciful ears to our needs; that He may kindly pardon us for past things, mercifully spare us in present things, and wholly guard us from future things; so that, fortified under your patronage, we may become citizens of the heavenly kingdom and deserve to be companions of the heavenly hosts. Again and again we devoutly seek your suffrage and your greatly needed support. Grant what we ask, bestow what we pray for: protect us with fatherly affection from the sudden assault of the malicious enemy: overthrow his cruel snares, lest his savage rapacity invade us. Drive away, therefore, the deserved plagues from our borders, so that the people, aided by your help, may be protected here under the shelter of your wings, and afterward may rejoice through you in the fellowship of the citizens of heaven. Blessed Apian, the pious Confessor of Christ and most sacred monk, died on the eighth day before the Ides of November, under the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory forever and ever, Amen.

ENCOMIASTIC SERMON

From the same manuscript codex.

Apian, Monk, of Pavia and Comacchio in Italy (St.)

BHL Number: 0620

From MSS.

[1] Since the warriors of the divine battle and the glorious soldiers of the eternal King flourish adorned with so many victories and are honored with the titles of so great a memory; by what bond ought human affection to be constrained, or by what bridle can it ever be restrained, so as not to sharpen its tongues eloquently in the praises of such great men, and not to extol their proclaimed honors in declamatory fashion? For they are worthy to be proclaimed with human praises and to be highly esteemed with earthly acclamations, who are known to partake in the heavenly citadel among the supernal hosts, The Saints are to be praised and to rejoice with them without end. For the love of their Redeemer, in this world they never loved anything of pomp or honor; they never desired any earthly gain or worldly glory with longing; but with all their hope placed in God and with every intention of mind, they so made themselves strangers to the world that they refused to be participants in deceitful joy: despisers of this world. and they not only did not love carnal pleasures, but by fleeing and hating them, they abhorred them as if they were the bites of serpents. The Saints indeed, while they live in this misery of unhappy exile, set aside all earthly things, despise transitory things, reckon worldly adornments as dung, seek eternal things, desire heavenly things, strive to please God alone, and from the high step of the virtues daily endeavor to ascend with all their might to a higher one. Whence it is read: The just shall go from virtue to virtue, and if they begin more tepidly at first, they complete the end more fervently: that is, they always consider themselves to be beginning; and therefore they remain untiring in their newness. Ps. 83:8 The Prophet, beholding this constancy of the just, says: Is. 40:31 Those who trust in the Lord shall renew their strength, having advanced from virtue to virtue. they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not labor, they shall walk and not grow faint: for they renew their strength, because they strive to be stronger in spiritual work than they formerly were in the flesh: they mount up with wings like eagles, because they fly in contemplation: they run and not labor, because swift they preach with great speed: they walk and not grow faint, because they retain the swiftness of their understanding, so that they may condescend to the slower; and they always desire to go where eternal abundance may refresh them; where the Prophet desired to go, when he said: Ps. 16:15 I shall be satisfied when your glory is manifested to me: there where eternal happiness is acquired and the joyfulness of enduring gladness is heaped up, now reigning in heaven. where light without cloud is always seen, and is never obscured by any darkness, all things thrive with brightness and everything shines with the splendor of eternal majesty: there the choirs of Angels always behold the face of the Father, there the shining line of Patriarchs gleams and the provident host of Prophets shines forth: there the twelve-fold summit of the Apostles perpetually rejoices, and the white-robed army of the Martyrs exults: there the lily-bearing company of Confessors dances: there also the white host of monks gleams, who will come as judges with God at the second coming: there the bright throng of Virgins proceeds joyfully with their Spouse to the wedding feast, and there all the just, enriched with eternal reward, obtain the same glory: there no wicked person is admitted, and no good person is cast out.

[2] St. Apian Therefore, Blessed Apian, a purple flower, a white lily, and a fruitful branch of the Lord's vineyard, ardently longed to reach the walls of so great a height, when he spurned the blandishments of the world with indignation and overthrew them by fleeing: retaining in himself what he had read, It is good for me to cling to God, and No one can rejoice here with the world and reign there with God. Ps. 72:28 Then he abandoned the vain pomps of the world and joyfully took on the monastic habit with his conversion, a monk, recalling that saying which God spoke: No one shall see me and live any longer. And therefore, since he first came to know God, he at once refused to live for himself, but thereafter strove to live for God alone. And lest he be thrown down more quickly by wrestling with the cunning enemy, he hastened to strip himself bare swiftly; abandoning all things, for one who is clothed wrestles badly with a naked opponent, and is quickly thrown to the ground if he has something by which he may be seized; and where he thinks to apply some advantage toward victory, from there he twists upon himself the detriment of shameful ruin. And from that very quarter where he promises the strength of his warfare, from that quarter he receives the weakness of his forces to fall. strong in the fight against the devil: Whence this man, foreknowing so cruel a contest and provident about the demonic struggle, girded his loins with strength and held burning lamps in his hands while keeping watch, so that he might resist the diabolical snares and be able to meet his Lord worthily as He returned from the wedding feast. This man indeed was girded in loins both of mind and body; because the Angel who addresses John is said to have been girded with a golden girdle girded about the loins, above the breasts. Rev. 1:13 For since the purity of the New Testament restrains even the lustfulness of the heart, the Angel who appeared in it came girded about the chest: whom the golden girdle well binds, because whoever is a citizen of the heavenly fatherland abandons impurity no longer from fear of punishment, but from love of brightness. Therefore the evil of lust is perpetrated either in thought or in deed, whence it is also said by the Lord to the serpent: On your breast and belly you shall crawl. Gen. 3:14 Then the serpent crawls on its breast when it pollutes in thought him whom it cannot overcome through bodily lust: and it crawls on its belly upon him whom it defiles in deed. This man indeed did not wish to have fellowship with the foolish virgins, lest he should be put to shame with them before the door at so great a reproach; but with the wise he strove to share the heavenly banquet, and with the citizens above to eat the bread of Angels. This man indeed so held the sharp gaze of his discerning eye unreflected upon the sun that he never turned it to the ground, he kept his mind chaste: except insofar as human frailty compelled him: and on the way of God he walked so cautiously and meekly that he never appeared as a wandering traveler upon it: and no rest of any delight so overthrew him on the way that he did not arrive in his homeland by daylight.

[3] It is read in Solomon: The eyes of the wise man are in his head. Eccl. 2:14 This man therefore had his eyes in his head, because he fixed his whole intention upon Him whose member he knew himself to be, and he afflicted his members with constant torments for love of Him, so that he might deserve to become a sacrifice worthy of God, and be able to offer himself as a holocaust in an odor of sweetness. Abraham also, when he had prepared victims for God at the setting of the sun, behold, unclean birds came to seize the sacrifice and devour the victim with greedy bites: he offered a pure victim to God: but Abraham guarded the victims so well that he kept them unharmed from the birds, and drove away the rapacious fowl with blows and threats. So this Saint, when he had determined to offer himself as a living sacrifice to God, wicked spirits were present, attempting to pervert whatever of pious and holy devotion had been conceived in his heart: but he repelled their assault, and offered himself wholly as a sacrifice to God.

[4] For the strong athlete of Christ, because he did not wish to be pierced by the swords of the cruel enemy or to be sharply wounded by his frequent arrows, fortified himself with such arms that no sword of the adversary could penetrate. For wisdom had joined together seven coats of mail, which the provident warrior manfully put on, namely faith, hope, and charity, and four virtues armed with a sevenfold breastplate, from which the other virtues arise, that is, prudence and fortitude, justice and temperance: none of which he ever removed from himself while he lived, but wore them daily unbroken for his protection; and he waged war untiringly against the invisible enemy for so long, until as a glorious triumphant conqueror he reached the palm of victory. Indeed he had faith, because what he perfectly believed, with faith, he diligently fulfilled in works. He joined hope to himself, with hope, because he so flourished in the fire of divine love that he believed without doubt that he would ascend to the heavenly homeland if he acted justly, and he hoped without hesitation to receive the reward promised to him for his labor. He had indeed a twofold charity, with charity toward God since he loved his Creator so much that from his cradle he despised the world for love of Him, and most devoutly subjected himself to all His precepts, rejected the enticement of the flesh, preserved integrity of purity in his mind, kept himself spotless from every stain, and most zealously offered to God the hundredfold fruit from his land. and neighbor, He gave himself entirely to charity toward his neighbor, since whatever he had, he retained nothing for himself, but distributed everything to the poor. He served prudence most excellently, with prudence, fortitude, justice, temperance: because he carried out diligently and prudently what belongs to God. He shone with fortitude, because he manfully carried on the divine service to the end and powerfully overcame the enemy of the human race. He devoted himself to justice, since he weighed with the rigor of equity those things which he did, and held both scales equally. He strove to minister to piety, since he mercifully and gently

tempered justice. Because therefore he daily withdrew himself from the heat of worldly desire, and most willingly subjected himself to vigils and assiduous prayers, streams of tears always carefully flowed from his eyes, his panting breast he struck with constant blows, he was entirely full of God, modest in gravity, affable in conversation, devout in humility, vigorous in serenity, outstanding in charity, illustrious in piety. Toward his own body he was a cruel torturer, but toward the bodies of others a most faithful steward. He therefore retained that evangelical saying: He who hates his soul in this world keeps it for eternal life. John 12:25 And, Give and it shall be given to you. Luke 6:38 O man God-fearing and conspicuous for the diverse excellence of his character: who, kindled with divine love, was so fervent that he never grew tepid in idleness for any interval of a moment, but through all things, fixed in the love of God, he remained a strong contender.

[5] he tames his flesh with hairshirts, disciplines, What indeed shall I do concerning the life of so great a man, when his glorious warfare, the more it is proclaimed, the wider the abundance of praise daily applied to him? He always subdued his limbs with rough hairshirts and ceaselessly drew blood from his skin with thorny scourges: he always dragged his footsteps with bare feet, on a hard bed, and on vine branches he slept as on the finest bed: he was content with a small amount of the most common bread with raw herbs and water. His skin, wasted with leanness, scarcely clung to his bones, when he afflicted his body with so many labors. All delight of the flesh was separated from him, with meager food: and only the torment of the body was inflicted upon himself: for earthly goods are denied to the elect in this life, because even to the sick, for whom there is hope of living, not everything they desire is conceded by the physician. But to the reprobate are given the goods which they desire in this life, because to the desperately sick, everything they want is not denied of its own accord. This Confessor was corrected by the lash of discipline, because he was prepared for the patrimony of the eternal inheritance. Daily he praised God with timbrel and chorus, with harp and organ: for with the timbrel he subdued the flesh by fasting; in the chorus he exhibited sincere harmony; in both he fulfilled the duty he had undertaken, and he performed his office with moderation, because God is not pleased with one without the other. He used these four sounds, what he teaches he himself does: because he continually sang their spiritual melodies to the Lord, and always joyfully chanted pious praises with works to his Creator. For he considered it utterly useless that his speech should appear, if he himself did not practice what he professed; and the reprobate would be disgraced by the people if character disagreed with words, and actions were at variance with speech. In this Saint the virtue of abstinence so shone that it was most excellently tempered: he so practiced fasting that he extinguished the vices of the flesh: and he so nourished his body that he never deserted the other services of God. It is fitting, therefore, that so distinguished a standard-bearer should be exalted with suitable praises and harmonious songs. It is proper that the lofty wings of worthy favor should be raised for him, who shone with so many virtues and gleamed with so many miracles. He drove out demons, he cured very many sick people, he works miracles: he restored sight to human blindness, he raised the contracted to sound uprightness, and he bestowed healing on various ailments. He never wished to be idle, but always brought necessary aid to bodies and souls, because therefore nothing tepid, nothing idle, nothing burdensome is offered that would be pleasing to himself: but what is very lovable and most useful to the human mind must be ardently rendered to God. For the love of God is not idle, if it exists: since his love is great and works great things.

[6] The innermost being of this most blessed man was so inflamed inwardly with the love of divine ardor that it spread its splendor more broadly outward: so his mind burned within that it elicited sparks of miracles without: extraordinary in the love of God, so fervid was it toward God that it ministered the fire of so great a warmth to the healthy and the sick: and he so fixed the anchor of both loves within himself that he escaped the threatening dangers and arrived at the headlands of his longed-for rest. he received heavenly glory: Now placed in the pleasant harbor of rest and in a delightful valley, he so rejoices in his repose that nothing remains for him ever to grieve about from his labor. He will no longer fear shipwreck on the stormy sea, nor dread nocturnal raids, nor flee the swords of brigands, no longer will he fear the waves of the seething sea, nor think of escaping the bolts of a flashing sky. Hereafter he will not avoid the ruins of this world, nor any longer dread suspicious losses, because he so wearied himself in the commanded exercise that he now securely rejoices in everlasting merit: and because he endured the exhaustion of the master's vineyard through the heat, he joyfully received the daily wage. For that warrior becomes wise who serves such a King and triumphs under so great an Emperor, who as victor over the enemy always fought in this life. who gives to the conquerors not fleeting gifts or false riches, but perpetual life and the crown of heavenly joy: who gives to the conqueror to eat of the tree of life, and makes him shine as a pillar in his temple: who never in that heavenly abode takes away from anyone what he has once given, and does not reproach what he bestows, and does not further weary those whom he rewards; and not only does he not afflict his victors with any further labors, but he refreshes them with all good things and supplies them with every joy, and surrounds them with heavenly glory, adorns them flourishing with gleaming gems, and embellishes the aforesaid citizens with shining pearls: he enriches and exalts them to such an extent that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him. This Saint indeed knew this, when from the time of his early age he entered so fervently as a recruit into the service of God that he never succumbed, vanquished by the enemy's sword, but powerfully conquered the enemy and carried away the spoils as a rich victor: and therefore the heavenly court gladly received him in his triumph, because the illustrious soldier overthrew the rage of the monstrous dragon.

HISTORICAL POEM

From the same MS.

Apian, Monk, of Pavia and Comacchio in Italy (St.)

BHL Number: 0621

[1] The Saint tears his limbs, having endured burning lashes: He tames his body: He bore much cold, he poured forth groans from his breast. With a constant stream of tears, bowed down, He washed his face, and burned to extinguish the flames of the flesh. His food was cheap, his drink a small draught from the springs. So was he clothed, as if nearly naked in body. He kept in mind the words he received from the Prophet's mouth: If anyone has two garments for covering the body, he helps the poor: Or similar food, let him bring them to those whom want distresses, Let him offer sustenance to the wretched, let him lead them to clothing. This man was pious, modest in sweet speech, Provident and gentle; terror appeared to the wicked. He was not sparing here, but generous in giving gifts. A living sacrifice he pleased God, while he remained in the world. He was holy in mind and chaste in his whole body. holy in mind and chaste in body, He cast down sins, he trampled lusts underfoot. He spurned pomps, he shattered the pots of crime. He did not wish to behold the savage punishments of hell. He extinguished the quarrels of vices: the Soldier in his breast Took up the arms of God, while he shone with Christ's protection. The noble warrior went out into the wide field, The fierce one met him, savage with heaped-up hail: strong in the fight against the devil, He blazes and struggles, he stirs up his proud forces: He kills and rises, the shameless one holds swords in his arms, Displaying threats, he himself brought about shameful ruin. The good man removed the furies and wars of dragons: He strikes him in the throat, whence issues useless murmur, The wound gapes wide, the putrid ulcer decays, Whence the serpent hurls poison from its savage jaws. From this issued smoke, which brings death to the inmost parts. A great stench there was, which filled the nostrils with plague: The strong one prevailed, when he resisted the ancient enemy: He applied the weapon by which he would drive out the sharp venom. The shameless one always practices deceits and battles: He prepares himself for war, he builds up his industrious craft. He smooths over punishments, he prevents flames from burning, He pours the poisons of fraud into human hearts, He promises that joys will increase by the desire of the flesh: the latter's arts of harming, These he leads astray and deceives, calling them happy whom the path of a pleasant life Here draws and deceives, but everlasting hell torments: Punishment is given to those deserving it, whom living fire devours. He did not wish to accept deceits or false praises. He cast aside pomps, and to take care for the flesh: does he despise? The Saint said to himself: I desire to overthrow the savage one, The serpent that sets snares with cruel bites. No lion shall yield to me, but the ant shall lie open: The serpent shall fall, crushed, the wicked assailant: Whose deceit I overthrow, whose game I also reject: Whose head I crush, for the guilt of old treachery. He shall not creep upon me through the belly, nor shall the serpent crawl on my breast, But he shall fall, cast down and slain by our sword. I offer myself to the King who grants the rewards of heaven, To Him I keep my faith, who through my inmost being he keeps faith with Christ the rewarder. Has spread His powers and kindled the heart of a faithful mind. Those whom neither chaste love nor holy ardor moves, That one brings forth groans and bitter weeping from the breast; From our senses he hurls the sighs of the heart, He provokes to grief those whom any sin has wounded: Those whom sins slay, he treats with the rein of piety: He calls all whom he wishes to give himself a crown; Those whom he loves, he raises to the summit of illustrious light: May he deign to inscribe me in the margin of the heavenly book.