ON THE HOLY MARTYRS VINCENT THE ABBOT, RAMIRUS THE PRIOR, AND TWELVE MONKS, AT LEON IN SPAIN.
AROUND THE YEAR 555.
Preliminary Commentary.
Vincent, Abbot and Martyr, at Leon in Spain (Saint)
Ramirus, Prior and Martyr, at Leon in Spain (Saint)
Twelve monks, Martyrs, at Leon in Spain (Saints)
[1] Leon, a city of Spain among the Asturians, and the capital of its own kingdom, among other Saints venerates on the thirtieth of October three illustrious Martyrs, Claudius, Lupercus, and Victoricus, brothers, crowned in the persecution of Diocletian: whose bodies afterward, when peace had been given to the Churches, were honorably buried in a basilica dedicated in their names, to which also a monastery was subsequently attached, over which Saint Vincent presided as Abbot, and under him Saint Ramirus as Prior, together with twelve monks killed by the Suevi, who had lapsed into the Arian heresy, out of hatred for the orthodox faith. Sacred cult in Spanish Breviaries This their Martyr, Saint Vincent the Abbot, the city and diocese of Leon honors with an Ecclesiastical Office under the double rite on this eleventh of March: for which day Tamayo Salazar observes in his Spanish Martyrology that the ancient Breviaries and Calendars of Avila, Plasencia, Astorga, Compostela, and nearly all the Churches of Castile exhibit the cult of Saint Vincent. And he adduces the Acts of the same from the Breviary of Compostela, in which he is reported to have suffered on the fifth day before the Ides of March. On the same day he is venerated with an Office of twelve Lessons in the monastic Breviary of the kingdoms of Portugal, printed at Coimbra in the year 1607. The same day of martyrdom is indicated from a certain epitaph, of which more below, by Ambrosio de Morales in book 12 of the General Chronicle of Spain, chapter 19; and following him, Atanasio Lobera in his History of Leon, chapter 30, Juan Marieta in book 3 of his Saints of Spain, chapter 11, Prudencio de Sandoval in his book on the Foundations of Benedictine Monasteries, in the Leonese monastery of Saint Claudius, Antonio de Yepes in volume 1 of his Benedictine Chronicle at the year 554, chapter 1, and Francisco de Padilla in volume 2 of his Ecclesiastical History of Spain, century 7, chapter 17, and others. Not long after the slaying of Saint Vincent, Saints Ramirus and the other twelve monks lived, crowned with martyrdom on the following day or certainly on some nearby day. Arnold Wion inscribed their birthday on the eleventh of March thus in the monastic Martyrology: and in Martyrologies. In Spain, the passion of Saints Vincent, Abbot and Martyr, and Ramirus, a monk, who were killed by Arians. Bucelinus has the same. Ferrarius added in the general Catalogue: and of others. More precisely, Menard writes: In Spain, the passion of Saints Vincent the Abbot, Ramirus, and twelve other monks. Tamayo Salazar in his Spanish Martyrology celebrates them in these words: At Leon, in the monastery of Saint Claudius, the memory of the Martyrs Saints Vincent the Abbot and Ramirus the monk, his companion, flourishes; who, when they refused to abandon the Catholic faith and to adhere to Arian errors, were seized by their sectarians and obtained the crown of faith.
[2] The same Tamayo complains that the Acts of Saint Vincent are kept shut away in the Spanish libraries of Saint Benedict, of which the most religious and most observant Fathers do not permit copies even to be viewed, perhaps lest they be divulged; content that they be enclosed in pouches or chests, with dust and spiders' webs, rather than displayed for the common good of the country. Jeronimo Roman, in his Ecclesiastical History of Spain, as quoted by Yepes, Acts of the martyrdom who states that it has not yet been published, asserts that at Leon in the monastery of Saint Claudius, while searching through documents, there was presented to him a quire of parchment, written in a quasi-Gothic script, which principally exhibited the Life of Saint Vincent, Abbot of that monastery and Martyr, as is the constant and most true report. Yepes, roused thereby, sought out the Acts of Saint Vincent themselves. "I have drawn this history," he says, "from the very source, namely from a most ancient manuscript book, a copy of which the monastery of Saint Claudius provided me; where he says he saw the tomb of Saint Ramirus." He inserted that History, translated into Spanish, into his Chronicle, which we give from that work, recently published in Latin: otherwise we would have implored the benevolent charity of the Reverend Father Francisco de Cachupin, Provincial of our Society for the Province of Castile, under which Leon is comprised, through whom we obtained the Life of Saint Rudesindus, published on the first of March. and their summaries: To this Life of Saint Vincent we add the Acts of Saint Ramirus and the twelve monks, as Tamayo Salazar published them from a very ancient manuscript codex which he had in his possession, written 320 years earlier, that is, at the time he was writing. We have collated the former Acts with four Lessons printed in the aforementioned monastic Martyrology at Coimbra, and with other Lessons of the Breviary of Compostela described by the same Tamayo.
[3] Concerning the time of the martyrdom there is a controversy among learned men, on account of a certain epitaph unearthed by Ambrosio de Morales, and transcribed by various persons, which he affirms was written three hundred years before, when he published his Chronicle in the year 1572: from the verse of which, quite crude, the name Vincent must be removed from the first line, and then it should be read thus:
epitaph. This tomb holds the venerable body of the Abbot, But thy soul holds the heavenly kingdom, O Priest; Thou hast exchanged for better the joys of life. The marks of the Martyr show that the sacred limbs Were discovered here by the searcher, God revealing. Four times fourteen plus five and two years he had lived, A minister of the mystery of Christ with a sincere mind: Snatched suddenly, thus he came to the ethereal breezes. Thus at once the end removed both office and life; The Spirit of the Lord arriving, at which time the Saint Led him now into the region, and placed his soul. It is the custom of all of these to take flames from flames. He died in the precepts of God on the fifth day before the Ides of March, in the Era 668.
That year would be the year of Christ 630, at which time the kingdom of the Suevi, under whom the Acts report these Martyrs to have been crowned, had been destroyed. Hence Tamayo Salazar twists himself, and by the word "to die" wishes the translation of the body to be understood. What if we should say the numbers of the Era have been corrupted, and that in place of Era 668, the Era 583, with an equal number of characters, should be substituted? time of the martyrdom: That would be the year of Christ 555. Antonio de Yepes refers it to the year 554, preceding this, and plainly rejects the aforementioned epitaph, as having been wrongly inscribed on the stone, either through the laziness or through the ignorance of the author, five hundred or more years after the martyrdom of Saint Vincent, especially, he says, since we hold the truth with both hands. These Martyrs, therefore, were slain under Ricilian, the last Arian King of the Suevi. under the last Arian King of the Suevi, Saint Isidore of Seville compiled a catalogue of the Suevian Kings, but he refused to reveal the names of many Kings because they were infected with Arian impiety, which must be adduced from elsewhere; and the aforesaid Jeronimo Roman, and with him Yepes, greatly rejoice that the knowledge of the last two is supplied in these Acts. "Afterward," says Isidore, "Theodemir received the kingdom of the Suevi, who, having obtained the Catholic faith, with the error of Arian impiety destroyed, restored the Suevi to the unity of the faith. In his times, Martin, Bishop of the monastery of Dumium, was renowned for his faith and learning: through whose zeal the peace of the Church was restored, and many monasteries were founded." We give the Life of Saint Martin on the twentieth of March, and we shall say from Gregory of Tours that he departed this life in the fifth year of King Childebert, that is, the year of Christ 581, whence these times are suitably reconciled. One thing could still be inquired: how these Arian Kings permitted new monasteries there to be erected by Benedictine monks, whose Order had not long been established? What if an ancient monastery had existed there, subsequently transferred to the Benedictines? It is well known that this was done more often elsewhere.
[4] The body of Saint Vincent is preserved at Oviedo in the holy chamber of the Cathedral Church, enclosed in a silver chest, with this inscription carved on it: The body of Saint Vincent is at Oviedo in the holy chamber "Master Garcia, Archdeacon of this holy Church, caused this work to be made in honor of Saint Vincent the Martyr, formerly Abbot of Saint Claudius of the city of Leon: whose body is stored in this chest in the Era 1306." That is the year of Christ 1278. In what year the body was translated there is not established. He is venerated in the city and diocese of Oviedo under the double Office rite on the eleventh of September: on which day the following is read in the Roman Martyrology: At Leon in Spain, of Saint Vincent, Abbot and Martyr. Wion, Bucelinus, and Dorganus follow in their monastic Martyrologies. Thomas de Trugillo preceded in his Thesaurus of Preachers. On the same day Tamayo Salazar also has: At Leon in Hither Spain, of Saint Vincent the Abbot, who, admirable among all for the abundance of his virtues, and more admirable in the constancy of his confession of the faith in the hands of heretics, left his life as a celebrated Martyr. In the annotations, certain details concerning the translation are adduced from the Chronicle of Maximus; as concerning his death on the eleventh of March: which, as plainly frivolous and recently devised, we omit.
[5] Concerning the translation of the body of Saint Ramirus, from Yepes and Sandoval, Tamayo Salazar reports the following for the eleventh of March: In the year 1595, Friar Alfonso del Corral, Abbot of the monastery of Saint Claudius, out of devoted affection for the relics of Saint Ramirus, The body of Saint Ramirus translated on 26 April 1596. as his illness grew worse, promised to raise them from the humble casket in which they were kept to a more elevated one, once he had recovered his health. God, through the merits of the holy Martyr, restored health to the Abbot. But he, either entangled in the business of the Order,
or hindered by other occupations, deferred his promise to a later time. But since vows to the Saints are not to be scorned in a time of prosperity, it happened that the said Abbot fell into a greater illness: again he made his promise, and health through the doorways of his vow cast itself back into him. Finally, lest he test the Martyr's aid a third time, when the General of the Order came to visit, he explained his vow and set forth the translation. The Prelate assented, the Bishop granted permission, and all, united in one spirit, on the twenty-sixth day of the month of April in the year 1596, with the Bishop and the Chapter of the Cathedral Church, the Clergy and the people authorizing the act, who had proceeded in procession into the monastery with the insignia, banners, and crosses of the parishes, opened the sarcophagus and beheld the body with the head of Saint Ramirus, nothing mutilated, everything whole, the bones neither decayed nor smelling of corruption, but rather marked with some spots of blood. Everything (except for certain relics which the monastery offered to the Cathedral Church and to the Lord King) was enclosed in a case skillfully made by a more illustrious hand, which the Abbot had caused to be fashioned, and placed in the tabernacle of the chapel altar called by the name of Saint Ramirus, where they rested and still rest. Nor should it be left in silence what miracle occurred in that translation: for when a certain Archdeacon of the Cathedral Church had spoken certain disorderly words about this translation, by which he had proclaimed the token of a scant affection, punishment followed upon mockery. For while he was watching a horse race on that very day, and one horse, running wild, departed from the arena, it trampled the Archdeacon with such force that he departed from life speechless, without life. Ferrarius reports at the eleventh of October a Saint Ramirus the Martyr, citing the Records of the Church of Leon: on which day, however, nothing is indicated concerning him in the order of reciting the Office, reprinted many times at Madrid.
ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM
From a manuscript of Leon, published by Antonio de Yepes, collated with the Lessons of the monastic Breviary printed at Coimbra.
Vincent, Abbot and Martyr, at Leon in Spain (Saint)
Ramirus, Prior and Martyr, at Leon in Spain (Saint)
Twelve monks, Martyrs, at Leon in Spain (Saints)
[1] The Suevi, Alans, and Vandals, having subdued several provinces of Spain, thus divided their arms, By Ricilian, the Arian King of the Suevi that the Vandals crossed over into Africa, and the Suevi fixed their seat in Galicia and part of Portugal. Then, after Catholic Kings had held the scepters, Arians succeeded. The last were Hermeneric and Ricilian, who harbored heretics in their bosom: Ricilian, the son, similar to the insolent and cruel Hermeneric (some call him Richila), harshly persecuted all Catholics, as many as inhabited his kingdom, and not only leveled temples to the ground, but also stripped mortals of life through punishment, unless they swore allegiance to the heresy. Moreover, he gathered men in any way touched by learning from the entire kingdom to a council into a conciliabulum, which nevertheless he called a Council, so as to lend authority to words and deeds, and to compel aid even from the underworld. To devastate and, if fortune should follow, to uproot the Catholics root and branch, was his intention. Formerly, to mention this also, Galicia extended not only to Leon but even to Sahagun. Therefore Ricilian summoned his priests to Leon. Here he commanded them to sit upon a tripod and to deliver oracles to be received by all with outstretched palms. Furthermore, the Arians had tolerated monasteries in previous years: whence no one among the Suevi for some years laid a hand upon the monastery of Saint Claudius, over which Saint Vincent presided, while Ricilian was holding his synod.
[2] Saint Vincent is summoned: There were, therefore, those who stirred the King's bile, saying that this Abbot with his community stood on the side of the Catholics, and that he would not accept the new laws enacted by the synod. Summoned, Saint Vincent presents himself: by the hostile King he is received in a barbarous manner; in the presence of the assembled conciliabulum, the collected bile is poured upon him: "Are you not," cried Ricilian with a swollen mouth, "tell me, are you not that Vincent who tramples underfoot the laws enacted by me, and fills ears with a new doctrine, not a true one?" "I indeed," replied Saint Vincent, "profess the faith of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and also of Saint Julian, who, when he was being led away, poured forth prayers and asked Christ, professes the Catholic faith: for whom he was undergoing punishment, to destroy the temple of the enemies; and that He would pursue with love and defend those who candidly confessed the equality and coeternity of the Persons: that he professed together with Bishop Athanasius: Of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit there is one Divinity, equal glory, coeternal majesty." Then, seizing upon this argument, he tore the mask from the Arian heresy, peddling the inequality of the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity throughout the world as nothing other than smoke.
[3] At these words the King raised his swollen neck, greatly indignant that there was someone in his kingdom beaten savagely with whips: who dared so freely to accuse and condemn errors. Wherefore, to appease his wrath, he gave orders to the lictors to snatch Vincent immediately and flay him with whips so long until, with the flesh torn away, the bones should come into view. No sooner said than done. But with his body miserably cut by whips, thrown into prison: and the ground swimming with innocent blood, the royal anger was not quenched: he ordered the man to be thrust into prison, sealed with a lock, to be brought out the next day for new punishments, unless he should howl with the Arian wolves.
[4] He shut out, as I was saying, all mortals: yet Divine goodness penetrated into the prison, visited and healed by an Angel: and bestowed upon Saint Vincent that grace which Martyrs have rarely obtained. Namely, He sent an Angel from heaven, who, having illuminated the dark prison, freed the candidate for heaven from his chains, restored his collapsed skin and flowing innards, lifted his spirit, and again sought the stars. Vincent, having received this remarkable benefit, spent that entire night giving thanks and praises to the benign Deity.
[5] When the light had now advanced, there was a return to the Council. Ricilian summons Vincent, brought out from the dark prison, either to be moved from his position or to be removed from the midst of the living. He, not unmindful of his name and the victory already once won, professing the faith again, was so far from departing even a nail's breadth from the Catholic faith that, no differently than if he were the President of the Council, he inveighed with the greatest force against the Arian heresy: and he defended the cause of the Church most vigorously. Indeed, he also hurled that well-known saying against the enemies: "I have hated the assembly of evildoers, and with the ungodly I will not sit." Psalm 25. By which statement he struck and pierced the jugular of the conciliabulum's decrees. One of the impious assembly could not restrain himself struck with blows: from breaking a blow upon the speaker with a most tightly clenched fist. He further incited others to the death of the holy man, saying they would not be consulting Arius's interests if they spared him. Thereupon he is overwhelmed by voices poured out in calumny: Catholic doctrine is assailed with curses; he himself, with Athanasius, sings against the snarling adversaries: "In the Trinity there is nothing prior or subsequent, nothing greater or lesser: but all three Persons are coeternal with one another and coequal." At this, all are seized with insane fury: they pronounce the monk guilty of death: and, raising a funereal clamor, they depart from the Council. The King, equally ablaze, ordered the innocent man to be led away. condemned to death: It was long the custom that those guilty of great crimes should pay their penalties in the place where they committed their offense, so that fear might be instilled in others: for this reason they dragged Vincent to the doors of the monastery, so that by thus making a cruel example of the Abbot, they might mold the rest of the monks, struck with fear, to the disposition of Arius.
[6] Willingly, gladly, and with eager foot, Vincent hastened to the arena, and that he might follow Christ Jesus as best he could, he not only pardoned the executioners, but also, using the words of the Savior, said: "Lord, crowned with martyrdom. forgive them, for they know not what they do." These good words were the material for a new fury. For a certain man, as if struck by a thunderbolt, drew his sword and, aiming it at Vincent's head, inflicted so deep a wound that he immediately fell, and, poured out upon the ground, breathed forth his laurel-crowned soul. The disciples, although they grieved to be deprived of so great a Master, nevertheless congratulated him on this conclusion of his life. So great, indeed, was their love for their pious Father that by night, braving the present danger, they gathered up the body, buried by his own and, having secretly removed it, buried it in the church, on the side facing the west, close to Saints Claudius, Lupercus, and Victoricus. For a place among the Martyrs was owed to him.
[7] By chance, those to whom the Father was dearest were keeping a wakeful night. Their sadness was intensified by the threatening and gaping teeth of the Arian wolves, for whom it would have been a pleasure to attack the sheep as well, deprived of their father, to flay and tear them apart. appearing, he rouses his own to martyrdom: To these, therefore, Saint Vincent, surrounded by rays of light, presenting himself with a choir of Martyrs, said: "The time of sacrifice is at hand, my sons. Whoever resolves to endure torments for Christ, let him plant his foot in the monastery: punishments are ready, and palms likewise. Let the rest betake themselves by swift flight to the mountains. I enjoy eternal life, and you see me encircled by Martyrs." When he had spoken these words, he raised himself to the stars.
[8] Thereupon the minds of the monks turned in both directions: some fleeing at length those who distrusted their ability to endure violence took to their feet. But they did not wander scattered or separated, but converged upon a single place, as if toward a goal, and built a new monastery in Galicia, which they dedicated to Saint Clodius. Ramirus the Prior, with twelve monks of steadfast heart, resolved Saint Ramirus and twelve monks to offer their bodies to whatever torments: let the tyrant devise a thousand perils, they would face them. For he was already lured by the ambrosia of heaven, the Martyrs fall. having seen his Father bathed in an unwonted light, hedged on every side by blessed Martyrs, overflowing with eternal joys. He also inflamed his companions for the decisive battle, so that they not only did not turn their backs to the enemies of the faith but moreover rushed forth to meet them, striving of their own will by this steep path to the heights above. The executioners did not prolong their desires, ingenious only in punishments, and quickly granted them their wish. For cruelty did not flow away with the blood of Saint Vincent from that savage breed of men, but was thereby provoked the more violently. This infamous band of murderers, therefore, did not besiege the innocent monks bereft of their father, but, impatient of delay, suddenly attacked and slew them. With their bodies stretched out here and there, their souls, upheld by great virtues and finally by the palm of martyrdom, departed sublimely to heaven. With the others scattered in flight, there was no one to tend to the funerals and to bury them in a fixed place for posterity to venerate. Whence, not undeservedly, the monastery of Saint Claudius still grieves today that it suffered the loss of so many gems. For where they were deposited, no one knows. Greater care, however, was taken of the Abbot and the Prior, because they were more widely known among the people. For they were buried by Catholics, and when the Suevi were brought over to the Roman faith, they were honored with a more noble resting place.
AnnotationsSUMMARY OF THE MARTYRDOM
OF SAINT RAMIRUS AND THE TWELVE MONKS.
Published from a manuscript codex by Tamayo Salazar.
Vincent, Abbot and Martyr, at Leon in Spain (Saint)
Ramirus, Prior and Martyr, at Leon in Spain (Saint)
Twelve monks, Martyrs, at Leon in Spain (Saints)
BHL Number: 7078
[1] Ramirus, from the etymology of his name, was of Gothic origin; Saint Ramirus, a Goth, in the monastery of the holy Martyrs Claudius, Lupercus, and Victoricus, in the city of Leon, he put on the cowl of the Order of our Father the Lord Benedict. In the succeeding times he led the monastic life so perfectly that he was presented to all the Brethren as a mirror of life and a pattern of virtue. He had received the priorate of the monastery when our most glorious Father, the Abbot and Martyr Vincent, was governing the reins of the Order at Saint Claudius; when he was taken away by martyrdom, as we have said, our Father Ramirus himself, Prior of the monastery, who as Prior was governing in place of the Martyr Vincent, having called the Brethren together after the apparition of the holy Abbot, spoke these words to them: "You have now seen, dearest Brethren, the vision which the Lord has deigned to reveal through the ministry of our Father, and you have heard what must be done, so that those who are of steadfast spirit may sacrifice their life to bodily death, and those who are faint of spirit may preserve their life. Whence, if we yearn to behold God with unveiled countenance, rouses their souls to martyrdom: our hearts must first be purified by faith, consecrated by works, and fortified on every side by the wall of charity; by which assuredly we may without hesitation be deemed worthy of that promise of the holy Gospel, which says: 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.' Matthew 5:8 Wherefore I beseech you, dearest brethren, do not lose the crown prepared for you, nor let the allurement of any worldly thing separate you from the love of Christ, but with an equal spirit let us say with the Apostle: 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? or distress? or persecution? or nakedness? or peril? or the sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Romans 8:35 'But in all these things we overcome because of him who loved us.' Rather, all these things, for the sake of eternal reward, must be both sought and borne with more eager spirits and ardent desires. For there remains for each one, stored up with the Lord, the crown of his labor, and according to the quality of the contest He will repay the fruit of the reward. Do not be terrified, Brethren, by the furies of the persecutors, nor be afraid of their faces, for the Lord will not make you fear the sight of them. He is with you who armed you; He fights for you who incited you, nor will He cease to help, He Himself who chose you to complete this contest: by which, the goads of adversity having been overcome, He will make you reign with Him by perpetual right for infinite ages."
[2] When he had said these things, having kissed the weaker ones and extended his blessing, some dismissed, he sent them to the interior mountains of Galicia: and with himself he led back to the Church twelve Brethren whom the Holy Spirit had chosen for the struggle of the trophy. There, devoted to prayer and, with Christ's help, despising the conflict for the Catholic faith, they awaited the fury of the Arians. When this was heard, Ramirus immediately opened the doors of the monastery with the twelve soldiers of Christ, and looking upon the ministers of the devil, in a loud and intelligible voice he chanted in the monastic manner, with the monks following in alternation: "I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, professing the faith with the other twelve, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. Begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father." When these had been repeated again and again, he is slain: all the Arians who had come, making an assault upon the holy monks, like rabid dogs tore apart the bodies of the Saints; then entering the monastery, they set everything on fire and plundered whatever they found useful.
[3] buried apart from the others. When these things were done, they returned to their homes, leaving the bodies of the holy Martyrs torn apart in the field. When night came, the pious charity of the Catholics gathered them together and buried them in a heap in the church. Except for the body of Saint Ramirus, which, though enclosed in a stone tomb and rough marble, rests until in the resurrection of the dead it shall be reunited with its most holy soul, so that, just as it itself may attain eternal glory, through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be praise, glory, and power forever and ever. Amen.