Virgilius

ON ST. VIRGILIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF ARLES IN GAUL,

IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY.

Preliminary Commentary.

Virgilius, Archbishop of Arles in Gaul (St.)

[1] The succession of certain Archbishops of Arles is quite obscure and complicated, especially in the sixth and seventh centuries of Christ, in which St. Virgilius lived; whose beginning is made most certain by St. Gregory, who was then flourishing as Archbishop of Tours, having died long before St. Virgilius. St. Virgilius becomes Archbishop in the year 588, He writes in book 9 of the History of the Franks, chapter 23: "And Licerius, Bishop of Arles, also died; in whose Church Virgilius, Abbot of Autun, was substituted, with the help of Bishop Siagrius." The events described there belong to the thirteenth year of King Childebert of the Austrasians, which is the year of the Christian era 588. St. Siagrius is venerated on August 17.

[2] A few years later, namely in the year 590, St. Gregory the Great was created Roman Pontiff, commended by St. Gregory the Great, who adorned St. Virgilius with many praises and privileges, and wrote him many letters, in which he addresses him as a holy man and one possessing the bond of all virtues: he grants him the use of the Pallium in church for the celebration of Masses, entrusts to him the functions of the Apostolic See in the kingdom of King Childebert, prescribing a rule for other Bishops that they should obey him and come when called to a Synod, and that none of them should travel to distant places without his authority. He commands him to utterly eradicate simoniacal ordinations, and commends to him St. Augustine and his companions as they set out for England. They visited SS. Virgilius, Siagrius, and other Bishops of Gaul in the year 596, as did also St. Lawrence, one of St. Augustine's companions, in the year 601, having also received letters from St. Gregory — all of which we discussed at length in the Life of St. Lawrence, later Archbishop of Canterbury, on February 2.

[3] Andrew Saussay, in his Gallican Martyrology, transmits the following about the deeds of St. Virgilius in his youth and his authority in the Archbishopric of Arles, for March 5: formerly Abbot of Autun "At Arles, St. Virgilius, Bishop of that city and Confessor; who was first a monk in the monastery of St. Symphorian at Autun, then an Abbot glorious for many titles of virtues; thence elevated to what was then the primacy of Gaul, with the assistance of Siagrius, Bishop of that same city of Autun, he governed the Church he had received with the greatest piety and wisdom. And while he exercised the greatest kindness and mercy toward his subjects, he used such austerity upon himself and such abstinence of diet that on account of its rigor he was believed to be a marvel of nature. He was so dear and venerable to St. Gregory the Great for the marks of known holiness that he was honored by him with frequent exchange of letters, and was adorned by him with the Pallium along with an almost supreme grant of power. When Blessed Augustine, chosen as Metropolitan of Canterbury, wished to use the same in passing through Gaul, Virgilius, protecting the dignity of his own See and of the Gallican Church, of which he was the head, strenuously resisted. And Blessed Gregory, writing in response to Augustine's complaint about this matter, replied that Virgilius was rightly firm in his opposition; for nothing was lawful for Augustine or anyone else in Gaul without consulting the Bishop of Arles from of old. Moreover, the holy Bishop not only justly defended the rights of his Church, but also with the greatest zeal enhanced its glories. For he built a church in honor of SS. Trophimus and Honoratus outside the walls, reformed the morals of the Clergy, increased their income, and gave constant assistance to the people. And at length, having lived a most holy life, famous also for miracles, upon departing from this life, he worthily received an abundant reward from the Lord for his faithfully discharged stewardship." Thus far Saussay.

[4] The Life of St. Virgilius the Archbishop was written long after his death, his Acts. as is said below in number 7. It was published by Vincent Barralis of Salerno, from a very ancient parchment codex of Francis Clarettus, Archdeacon of the Church of Arles, in his Chronology of the Saints and Illustrious Men of the Monastery of Lérins; and we also give it here, illustrated in our customary fashion with marginal additions and annotations. Concerning this Life, it is remarkable that in it no mention is made either of the city of Autun, or of the letters or acquaintance of St. Gregory the Great — as if two different Bishop Virgiliuses would have to be distinguished: one of whom was promoted from being Abbot of Autun, the other from being Abbot of Lérins, to the See of the Church of Arles. While Bucelinus in his Benedictine Menology tries to reconcile everything, he attributes to him a third abbacy with this encomium: various abbacies assigned to him by Bucelinus: "At Arles in Gaul, of St. Virgilius, Bishop of the same city, illustrious for piety and learning. He was first a monk of the most holy monastery of Lérins, and when the most blessed Maurus, disciple of our holy Father, was reforming the monasteries of Gaul and especially that of Lérins, responding to the primeval flower of the order with the fruit of holiness, he was advanced to various honors for his merits: first created Abbot of Lérins, then of Autun, then of St. Symphorian at Autun, and finally drawn from the monastery to the summit of the Archiepiscopal See of Arles in Provence, showing the way to heavenly happiness to the peoples subject to him not only by word but especially by the example of his life, he merited to be venerated among the most deserving Saints and Patron Protectors of that most celebrated and extensive Archbishopric, etc."

Hence Bucelinus wishes first to correct the Acts of St. Virgilius given below, in which he is said to have been made Archbishop from being Abbot of Lérins; secondly, he criticizes St. Gregory, Bishop of Tours, who, living in the very time of Virgilius and himself holding the archiepiscopal dignity, testifies that he was created Archbishop of Arles from being Abbot of Autun with the help of Bishop Siagrius, if he had previously been called away from there to the abbacy of St. Symphorian at Autun. But Bucelinus was unaware that Aedua and Augustodunum are one and the same city, whose people — the Aedui or Hedui — are so greatly praised by Julius Caesar, Cicero, Tacitus, Plutarch, Mela, Ausonius, and later writers. Hence Gregory of Tours and Saussay indicate the same thing when the one calls him Abbot of Augustodunum and the other of St. Symphorian at Autun. St. Symphorian is venerated on August 22, in whose ancient Acts Augustodunum is called the city of the Aedui. The monastery still exists under the title of St. Symphorian the Martyr, in which Canons Regular of the Order of St. Augustine reside, as Bartholomew de Chasseneuz writes in his Catalogue of the Glory of the World, part 12, consideration 60. There is likewise a monastery of the Benedictine Order there, founded by Queen Brunhild and dedicated to St. Martin, where the first Abbot, named Lupus, was appointed by Pope St. Gregory, as can be seen in book 11, letter 24. Concerning the island of Lérins, now of St. Honoratus, we treated at length on January 16 in the Life of St. Honoratus himself, the founder and Abbot, who was elevated from there to the See of Arles in the year 426. That St. Virgilius succeeded him as his predecessor is transmitted in the Life, number 3. But that with St. Maurus reforming it, the prior institutions were abandoned and the Rule of St. Benedict was introduced, we have not yet read in any ancient authors.

[5] whether a monk of Lérins. Arnold Wion, book 2 of the Wood of Life, chapter 18, seems to wish to reconcile the disagreeing authors differently, when he pronounces: "St. Virgilius, a Gaul, a monk of Lérins and Abbot of Autun, was created in the place of Licerius as Archbishop of Arles." Vincent Barralis himself, at the end of his Chronology, appends an index of the proper names of the Lerinian monks about whom a description is made in this work, among whom St. Virgilius is not listed. Also citing Vincent, Claude Robert and the Sainte-Marthes list the Abbots of Lérins, with Virgilius omitted in both cases. Meanwhile, Vincent asserts that his birthday is commemorated on the third day before the Nones of March by the monks of Lérins, venerated on March 5. so that it seems one can say with Wion that he was trained as a young man among the monks of Lérins, migrated to Autun, and there was created Abbot of the monastery of St. Symphorian, in which the ancient Lerinian institute flourished. Ménard and Dorgany, both Benedictines, and Constantinus Ghini in the Birthdays of the Saints of the Canons, record him on this day.

[6] and on October 10. The Church of Arles venerates St. Virgilius on October 10; and the Lessons of the Second Nocturn begin thus: "Virgilius, a native of Aquitaine, first a monk, then Abbot of Lérins, was called to the governance of the same Church in the place of Etherius, Bishop of Arles (who by the command of St. Gregory the Great had ordained Augustine of the English)." But we showed that this Etherius was not Bishop of Arles but of Lyon, in the Life of St. Lawrence, later Archbishop of Canterbury, cited above on February 2. Hermann Greve also mentions the same St. Virgilius on October 10 in the Supplement to Usuard; Ferrarius in the General Catalogue placed him under both days.

[7] how long he lived. That St. Virgilius rendered his soul to the Savior on this March 5, around the year 595, is transmitted by the aforementioned Ghini. But that he was still alive in the year 601 is manifest from the letters of St. Gregory the Great. In the Acts below, number 15, he is said to have departed to the heavens in the 127th year of his age — where perhaps one should read the 77th year, since very easily through the fault of copyists the letter C could be substituted for the letter L. If anything certain could be established about his successors, much light would be brought to bear on his age.

Between this and Theodosius, Claude Robert places Germanus, others place others; the Sainte-Marthes place none. Action was taken against Theodosius and his indecent life in the year 650 at the Council of Chalon. According to the Sainte-Marthes, in the year 648 he surveyed the Province with metropolitan authority. But nothing about any Archbishop of Arles exists from the year 601 to that year, so that he should be said to have died at some intermediate time.

THE LIFE

Published by Vincent Barralis from manuscripts.

Virgilius, Archbishop of Arles in Gaul (St.)

BHL Number: 8679

CHAPTER I.

Deeds in youth. The monastic life.

[1] Today, therefore, the day of the holy solemnity of the most blessed Virgilius, Bishop of the city of Arles, is observed; whose deeds faithful devotion urges us to set forth, Prologue of the author. and ancient custom constrains us; for unless a clear and established account, guarded in tenacious letters, is preserved, the old narrative is altered through new narrators time and again. For (so that there may be no doubt about the marks of his mystical action, and lest common assertion make anything fabulous), the things that were done and approved by him must be narrated in truthful speech; yet, lest inept prolixity cause boredom to the hearers, we have taken care to pass over many things in silence and to discuss only a few.

[2] This man, therefore, in his own village, whose name is Samon, born at Samon, piously raised, which is in the parts of Aquitaine, took the beginning of his life, born to Christian parents, immediately made a Christian, and from the very rudiments of his infancy always grew with upright humility; so tempering the tender years of his age with the maturity of his character that he might fulfill the meaning of his name by the grace of holiness. After he began, in the manner of adolescence, to bloom with bodily vigor, he castrated the blandishments of luxury that assailed his mind, so that he might receive the palm of promised virginity for his uncorrupted integrity, and triumph in the kingdoms of heaven. He was, therefore, endowed with the ornaments of all good things, adorned with virtues: and worthy to be preferred with worthy support: handsome of face, gentle in aspect, placid of speech, serene of mind, strong in patience, praiseworthy in magnanimity, a friend of peace, generous to enemies; disdaining the dusty earth, burning with love for heaven, buying eternal things with temporal ones, despising temporal things for the sake of the eternal. So that he might inwardly recognize the precepts of the divine law, he was, with natural capacity for acuteness, trained in the studies of letters, that he might gather the food of his soul by his avidity for reading, and in the manner of bees, drink the nectar of eternal sweetness. a martyr through mortification: But although, cutting off from himself all the growth of carnal vices, he shone in every part with a worthy conduct of merits, he nevertheless broke the strength of his body by the constant practice of abstinence, punishing in himself the nature of sin before it could be born; to whom only a striker is recognized to have been lacking for martyrdom, for he undoubtedly made himself a Martyr both by torture and by merit.

[3] Leaving behind, moreover, all the abundance of his possessions, he becomes a monk of Lérins, he sought the monastery of the sacred island of Lérins, where the just one would find eternal riches, following in all things the Gospel precepts as a soldier of Christ; for unless he became a stranger to all worldly works, he could not be perfect, nor would he otherwise acquire the rewards of the heavenly kingdom unless he despised everything. In that congregation, while he loved all with perfect charity, he was loved by all; so that swiftly, with the zeal of new love, he attained the ancient rule, and appeared preeminent in mystical conduct, so that, worthy to be preferred to St. Honoratus his predecessor in the highest virtues, then Abbot: who had worthily borne the name of Abbot in the same place, he both honorably succeeded him and was equaled in merits.

[4] While he guarded the flock entrusted to him with pastoral diligence, the devil, lying in wait under various forms, and according to his custom went alone on individual nights, when slumber's image pressed the human race into rest, to make the rounds of the monastery enclosure; it happened that, at an unusual time, a certain monk in the years of his boyhood followed him closely out of concern. Then the devil, the deceiver, appeared before the eyes of the most blessed man in a huge and terrible form; but as he could not terrify the athlete of Christ, clad in spiritual armor, so he wounded the unsuspecting monk with the blow of fright; drives him off with the sign of the Cross: and the monk, barely fleeing to his cell with trembling steps, was violently set ablaze with fiery fevers. Again, however, that persistent deceiver, thinking he could in some way disturb the holy man of God Virgilius, showed himself in the form of a fiery dragon; but swiftly, terrified by the arms of the Cross, he vanished; for the unconquerable athlete did not fear the enemy whom he had so often conquered. When he had traversed the circuit of the whole island, he heals the injured monk with prayers: he hastened back to the bed of the ailing monk; where, while he poured out the prayers of his supplications within the innermost chambers of his heart, the sick man was soon restored to his former health, and the cheated thief was deprived of his prey; and thus the unconquered virtue obtained a double victory, for while he restored health to the sick man, he conquered the adversary. The enemy mourns what he lost; the monk rejoices in what he received.

[5] a fictitious ship, to which he is invited by the devil, While the distinguished shepherd, in like manner on each night, was making his rounds of the Lord's fold lest anything adverse happen, he came to the shore of the sea called Molis; where that deceiver, as if he had brought in a loaded ship, dared to fashion the semblance of a false image before the eyes of the Priest, displaying sailors busily engaged in the usual manner, and collecting the tackle of the ship. From these, two came to the side of the holy man himself, saying: "The business of trade has brought us to these parts, and a great advantage of circumstance has been presented to you. We know you to be Virgilius, no less famous for holiness than by name; whom everyone in the lands beyond the sea desires to see with such eagerness that if he could obtain this, he would consider nothing more precious. No useful profit will be afforded us by any labor unless we take you, placed on our ship, to Jerusalem — you whom with happy fortune we have found unexpectedly. And this will without doubt pertain to your immeasurable glory, if you are conveyed there by a fortunate voyage, where you are awaited by the prayers of all." he makes it vanish by the sign of the Cross. The man of God, recognizing the snares of the enemy, armed with the help of the holy Cross and invoking heavenly aid, responded with this spiritual authority: "The wickedness of the deceiver cannot deceive the soldiers of Christ, nor can you by your frauds delude those whom God warns to foresee adversity; for the prayer of the most blessed Honoratus has so fortified this present island, through whom the dragon was expelled as its inhabitant, that the devil can never have any further access to harm it." Amid these words, the fictitious ship vanished from the eyes of the one keeping vigil; and the holy man, hastening quickly, returned to the oratory and admonished them to rise for vigils, where he endeavored to render the most celebrated praises to him through whom the triumphal victory had been achieved, together with the whole holy congregation.

CHAPTER II.

The Archbishopric of Arles. Churches built. The dead raised to life.

[6] While swift fame spread throughout the whole world that he was preeminent in such great mysteries of virtues, he was brought — taken rather than elected by the love of all the Priests and citizens — to the Pontificate of the city of Arles, and was immediately consecrated despite his reluctance. Created Archbishop of Arles: Although Virgilius had no further room to grow, yet diminishing nothing of the meaning of his name, while he remained vigilant in his work, he was illustrious in his honor. Among the other things, therefore, the ornaments of good deeds that shone in him: patience showed him strong, benevolence patient, liberty eager, generosity abundant, magnanimity liberal, piety gentle, diligence careful, charity sweet, generosity universal, learning praiseworthy, equity singular, humility poor, dignity affluent. Adorned with all virtues, and also in divine Scripture inferior to none of his predecessors, he built with as much faithful devotion as he could a basilica in honor of St. Stephen, the Protomartyr of Christ, within the city of Arles.

[7] he founds a church of St. Stephen, But we do not think this should be omitted for the comfort of the hearts of the Arlesians: that when the most blessed Bishop, together with the other Bishops who had come for the dedication of the church, was bringing in procession with psalm-singing and the greatest honor the sacred relics of Blessed Stephen and other Saints to the temple of that basilica which he had constructed with great devotion, at the very gate of the city, and dedicates it, with the relics of Stephen and others brought in: unexpectedly this verse from the order of Scripture came forth: "This is the gate of the Lord; the just shall enter through it." Which is without doubt to be understood thus: that the gate of the said city was so fortified by his prayers that, just as it has been proved never to have been broken through by God's mercy through such long intervals of time, so it may be deemed that it cannot be broken through in the future with the Divinity propitious. For the most excellent Pastor, whose deeds show him living, could very easily have obtained from the Lord after his passing that he should forever defend from without, by the power of his body, this glorious city made glorious by his merits, in which he earned his Pontificate, perpetual protector of the city of Arles, and from within through the most sacred temple which he built, and on every side through the benefits granted which he merited. Let all, therefore, with the Divinity propitious, know — as the singing throng foretold — that the city of Arles is in all things fortified through its defender Virgilius, nor can it be permitted that the hostile hosts should be able to break through to that place where he is known to have served Christ; whence the other Bishops, who are equaled in the merits of their predecessor, should not be considered lesser.

[8] While, therefore, in that basilica which he had brought to completion, Virgilius was celebrating with pastoral diligence, and among other things was giving thanks to God for having fulfilled his desire, we think it should not be passed over in silence what miracle is known to have occurred. a dead boy A certain Aurelianus, a Deacon of Arles, had taken in the son of his brother, whom the passing of his parents had left as a small child, and loved him more than a son. While the boy was playing in the evening of a Sabbath with other children on the wall of the city, he fell by accident placed by the Deacon in his bed, and lost his life with his neck broken. Struck by this news, the Deacon, running in great grief, seized the lifeless body covered in his own garments and secretly carried it to the holy Bishop where he was celebrating vigils, thinking about how he might publicly prostrate the boy at his feet and beg him to restore his life. But because he knew that the most tested soldier of Christ utterly avoided vainglory, he took care to carry him to the Bishop's bedchamber and lay him prostrate on his own bed, covering him with the bed-coverings — knowing and fully trusting in his mind that the spiritual physician, who was accustomed to raising the dead, could give him life. he learns of it through revelation: With much grief, therefore (yet taking hope from his confidence), he returned to the vigils and unhesitatingly took his place where he was accustomed to stand. Seeing him, the most merciful Bishop indicated silence to those singing, intending to explain what had been done; and when he had completed his prayer with the customary devotion of his zeal, he

severely rebuked the Deacon for what he had done. Not only could he not remove the terrified man, but he even further incited him to compunction. Then, prostrating himself at the Bishop's feet, he began to cry out that unless he restored life to the dead boy, he would not release his footsteps; adding also that he could very easily raise up the one about whom he had been able to learn what had been done, having prayed, he raises him: with no messenger informing him. Compelled by this importunity and bound by reason, yet with the one who was begging accompanying him, he resolved to approach his bed secretly; but he could not avoid the crowd of people from coming together for the miracle itself. When he had come to the little body, seeking divine aid with all the eagerness of his mind, he confidently took the hand of the one who had died and restored him to his former health. Then the entire throng of people crowding around cried out: "Glory to you, O God!" Nor could they in any way be prevented, each one, from seeing the movement and hearing the speech of the one raised up. From this uproar, he could barely be rescued with the help of his Clergy and brought back to vigils, whom the throng of the faithful was besieging. In this miracle, the faith of the trusting Deacon appeared only slightly less than the holy virtue of the Bishop. Meanwhile, so that we may seem to be enumerating a few out of many, let us return with our pen to the earlier things that we passed over.

[9] On a certain day, therefore, while the most blessed man was building a basilica outside the walls of the city with wonderful craftsmanship, the devil, in his absence, making the columns immovable, it seemed fitting that the marble columns, which are now seen standing there, raised on high, should be erected. It happened, however, that in the man of God's absence, all were exhausted by excessive labor and could not move the mass of stones; but the weight of such heaviness was not burdensome as long as the aids of his holiness preceded: while he, however, constantly insisted as a workman at the precincts of that temple, in his absence the opposing wickedness of diabolical art oppressed the entire multitude of men with a hidden obstacle. And when they could not succeed by any means, they even added many more oxen, which could have greater strength and firmer power; but they could accomplish nothing, for a spiritual adversity resisted them; and as if they were trying to drag the entire city — which is acknowledged to be impossible — so the hostile fraud, resisting, had made the movable weight unable to be moved. An agitated messenger immediately brought the account of this event to the most blessed Bishop; on his return he sees him in the form of a small Ethiopian, and he approached the place unhesitatingly, neither terrified by fear nor confused by grief. The deceiver could not lie hidden from his gaze alone, though he was hidden from the entire people. Then in a loud voice he began to say: "You labor in vain through ignorance, since you cannot see the obstacles of the hostile enemy; for I perceive a small Ethiopian, in whom consists the enormity of diabolical power, obstructing the struggling youths." Then, bending his knee and devoutly praying, he sought divine aid to overcome the adversity of the deceiver; and drives him off: and turning to the apparition, he said: "O total grief, and enemy of the human race, how did you dare to attack the work of God?" At this voice, the terrified adversary immediately departed with great stench (for under the presence of the holy Bishop he was no longer permitted to do harm), and when the columns, which had been weighed down by his snares, were freed, they were erected without any difficulty in the appointed place where they were to be set; for the deceiver could not oppose the one to whom, by God's decree, the demons were seen to be subject.

[10] The same blessed Bishop dedicated the basilica that he had built in honor of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, and of Blessed Honoratus the Confessor, he dedicates a church in honor of the Savior and St. Honoratus, and there he established an Order of monks serving God. While the most holy Sacrifice of the Mass was being celebrated by the blessed Bishop, it happened that the only daughter of a certain widow, a girl in the years of her adolescence, was seized by an evil spirit. When her most pious mother, deceived by an unhappy accident, no less pitiable than wretched, had placed her, as was customary, on a bier to be carried, she ran trembling to the holy Bishop, assigning the cause of her unbearable grief with tears rather than words, and begged him to pour out a prayer over the lifeless body. he raises a dead girl. This the man of God, conquered by piety, could neither delay nor refuse; but he approached the bier with confidence and there, prostrate in prayer and raising the twin palms of his hands on high, by his blessed prayers obtained the raising of the dead girl. Who, suddenly awaking as from a long sleep, opened her newly living, heavy eyes, and rose up alive. It would be tedious, then, to describe the maternal joys and the astonishment of the admiring people. But after these miracles, because the virtue armed with merits had released the rights of death, the Bishop, fleeing from vainglory, hastened away; but the devotion of the people, which was thundering forth praises in the divine worship, had surrounded him with such eagerness that they had seized, by civil violence, the greater part of his garment as a patron's relic; whence, in declaring his virtues, what could barely remain around his shoulders has been preserved by today's devotion.

CHAPTER III.

Other miracles. Death, burial.

[11] There was in the same city a most enormous serpent which had mauled many of the people. One killed by a serpent, When a certain young man, suffocated by its bite, had been killed, the suppliant crowd of people who happened to be present obtained that the Bishop should come to the place where the lifeless body lay. That most holy Pastor was held in suspense by a twofold deliberation: on the one hand, he could not deny to the weeping what they asked; on the other, he recalls the dead man to life: he feared lest he incur vainglory. Yet, conquered by piety and the entreaties of many, he fulfilled the prayers of the suppliant people by going to the place; where he raised his hands to heaven together with his eyes, dripping with tears, and restored his former health to the dead man, whom he raised up with the people as witness. But his parents, beating their breasts with their fists, so besieged him with wailing and weeping that he could not rise, although he had received his former health. Yet raising one hand to his father and the other to his mother, with his limbs trembling between the two, he was lifted up; and with the people exclaiming thanks to God, he returned to his own lodging, for which they had already begun to prepare a tomb. Whence it is to be imagined what joy the most pious parents could have had after their grief, as on the one hand they exulted at the presence of their restored child, and on the other barely believed that he was alive and whole. he kills the serpent, Therefore the most holy Bishop went on to the place where that most savage serpent lurked, which had already killed many of the people; and seeing it, moved by indignation of soul, casting the staff he held in his hand, raising his hands on high and invoking the heavenly creator, the warmth of life deserted the dead creature, and it burst asunder through the middle. Then, gathering a copious pile of wood, he ordered fire to be applied. Nor is it surprising how the spiritual athlete, while defending the flock of the human race, struck the enemy with a lethal blow — he who supplied by the operation of tears what the armed hand was accustomed to accomplish with the sword's blow. And perhaps the blow of the striker could have gone astray, but the gaze of the Bishop did not fail. The wounds inflicted he healed with the remedy of prayer and the help of the Cross, so that he at once removed both the bruising and the pain; nor did what the dreadful serpent had corrupted with its rabid teeth and insatiable greed appear anymore.

[12] On another day, a vicious ox had gored and killed a certain man with its horn, he heals a wounded man: or even thrust his intestines outside. When faithful devotion had immediately brought him to the same physician, although the Bishop feared incurring vainglory in all his virtues, he nevertheless mercifully received the wounded man, whose intestines he carefully handled back inside with healing applications through the wound; which he himself, placing a sponge over it, gently bound, and earnestly warned that no one should loosen it except himself. When he removed it on the seventh day, it appeared so completely healed that scarcely a trace of even a scar remained there.

[13] Indeed, the roughness of a hair-shirt always subdued his tender limbs; hence the inner tunic he wore, he always wore a hair-shirt: which he never removed from his body through his devotion to the Cross; but he also ordered that he be buried with it. Nor did he ever wish to use baths, lest the constancy of his soul, which he showed he could sustain by treading on carnal vices, might become softer, even by martyrdom.

[14] A certain blind man, deprived of his natural sight for fifteen years, or condemned with lasting blindness, held prisoner by the constant darkness of shadows, unceasingly begged the most holy Bishop to restore to him by his intercessions the light he had lost and to renew his power of sight. While the Bishop delayed this, avoiding arrogance, a certain Subdean named Fulgentius, who was accustomed to attend upon him, took care to ask him, on behalf of his own reward, to secretly bring the blind man to the entrance of the church from which the Bishop customarily went out when, during the nighttime hours, the most blessed Bishop made his rounds of the basilicas alone. This, on a certain night, while in the early morning the man of God was celebrating the sacred vigils at the altar of St. Stephen, singing psalms according to his custom, the aforesaid Subdean did not delay in carrying out; where, while the blind man, prostrate on the ground, waited for the arrival of the Priest, the physician he desired came. When he inadvertently and softly walking stepped upon the blind man, the suppliant embraced his venerable footsteps and begged him to restore his sight. Making his prayer with confidence, he placed the sign of the Cross upon his eyes and suddenly opened the long-closed eyes. he illumines a blind man, Kissing him, he adjured him to tell no one that God had restored his sight through him. And although the blind man promised this, he could not conceal it on account of the magnitude of his joy. But however secret the operation may have been, the work of suppliants cannot be a secret; and he who had not had sight through so many years' course could not be hidden from view — that he saw; and indeed, with the darkness of shadows put to flight, the author and restorer of light also shone, and the grace of the author was resplendent. And although divine generosity always magnifies the prayers of the hearers into love for the Saints, nevertheless all the miracles of events cannot be fully told, however long the reading may be protracted; for when, among such great marks of the Saints' works, is the end of his work to be found, in which the heavenly grace of the author shone forth, and to whom it was most easy to illuminate the blind, to heal the lame, to raise the dead — whatever more is said, it is found. What more? He could unhesitatingly accomplish all things, in whom the Holy Spirit shone forth.

[15] He began, indeed, when amid these immense mysteries he came to know by most holy revelation that the day of his death was near, he predicts his death: then to openly indicate to all with most holy humility that he was about to depart from this light. Whence all, suddenly troubled with grief, having been told that he was now about to depart, waited with their own gaze for what he would do. Then,

while reclining in his own bed as if taking a nap, fulfilling the divine Office and singing hymns and canticles, he breathed out his spirit and departed to the heavens in the one hundred and twenty-seventh year of his age. In that place, at that very hour, so sweet an odor emanated, he dies with a sweet fragrance: as if divine providence had gathered all the flowers of springtime into one. Whence what else is to be thought, except that the pleasantness of Paradise breathed upon the worship of his funeral? Nor is it any wonder: the announcement of his passing was carried by swift fame not only to private dwellings, but was also spread throughout the entire circuit of the world. The faithful throngs of peoples rushed from every direction through various approaches of the roads, each one desiring at least to touch the coverings of the vehicle for the sake of saving health.

[16] Then a certain young woman in the village called Gallica had paid the debt of nature, at his funeral bier, and the affection of her relatives, bringing her little body, carried it to the tomb into which the coffin for his burial had already been placed, but not yet covered, as is the custom of those being buried, when suddenly the singing throng resounded from which the sacred body was being borne. At which moment, the relatives of the girl who had been brought out for burial, crossing the stream of the Rhone river, asked the Clergy and people with outstretched prayers and tears to set down the bier they were carrying, so that the lifeless body of the girl might be drawn beneath it. a girl brought out for burial, The ardor of faith seized them all, and not doubting the result, they nevertheless denied so holy a petition; and placing the dead girl's body beneath, they cast it down, conversing with one another that that Apostolic man, whom the divine grace had never failed, although he had paid the debt of nature, yet lived by his virtues and merits. Immediately, therefore, the entire people prostrated itself in prolonged prayer with most faithful devotion, and rising, when they had unanimously cried out Kyrie eleison seven times, the dead girl arose. he raises her: All were suddenly seized with terror, and mixing joy with amazement in the manner of those beside themselves, they lingered in one gaze. Already, indeed, the exultation that had arisen had suppressed their grief; yet all were astonished at so great a mystery. What more? Then those who had brought the girl came together fully, he is buried in the church of the Holy Savior. and the girl herself, rejecting the funeral garb with joy, was dressed again in the garments of life, and with peoples going before and following, she was quickly joined in, proclaiming, as testimony to her own salvation, the praises of the Saint in public. O most holy merits of the Priest, O blessed merit and life of the Bishop, who, in order to show that he was living forever by divine reward, raised a dead girl after his own death. The love of the people of Arles, overflowing, could hardly bring to the church of the Holy Savior... having grief from the funeral and joy from the miracle. Then in that basilica mentioned above, which he himself had built, he received his tomb with solemnity, where, with Christ's help, whatever is confidently asked is found; where without doubt, if faith is not doubtful, virtue remains infinite.

[17] Not long after, therefore, when many things were being narrated by many in the commemoration of this Pastor, a certain Subdeacon named Aristarchus, a man of most holy life, openly set forth to those standing around the account of what had happened, saying: "Let none of us doubt that the most blessed Virgilius, concerning whose great virtues, as the Truth itself suggests, we have recounted, while he remained in the spaces of this world, lived no less with Angels than with men; for the human condition held him constantly with us, while the dignity of merits joined him with the Saints. It happened, however, on a certain night, in this city where heavenly providence had entrusted him with the Pontificate, that the most celebrated discovery of St. Stephen, which falls on the third day before the Nones of August, was approaching, on which occasion a summoner had been appointed to rouse them for the celebration of vigils."