ON SAINT MARTIN OF DUMIUM, ARCHBISHOP OF BRAGA.
THE YEAR 580.
HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.
Martin of Dumium, Archbishop of Braga (Saint)
Section I. The veneration of Saint Martin, his era, episcopate, councils held, and testament.
[1] That the day on which Saint Martin, to whom Spain owes much, departed from this life to heaven shines with celebrated solemnity and annual veneration on the thirteenth day before the Calends of April, Baronius attests in the Annals for the year 583, number 30. Furthermore, Galicia and a part of Lusitania hold him, having died in the reputation of extraordinary holiness, Sacred veneration as Mariana writes in his history of Spain, book 5, chapter 9, in the number of the Saints, with a feast assigned to the thirteenth day before the Calends of April; on which day the Church of Braga and that of Evora celebrate his birthday, as is clear from their Breviaries. The Breviary of the Church of Evora which we have, printed at Lisbon in the year 1548, prescribes nine proper Readings on the deeds of Saint Martin, Archbishop of Braga, which are recited at Matins in the ecclesiastical Office.
[2] In the same period there flourished as Bishops both Saint Gregory of Tours in Gaul and Saint Martin of Dumium and then of Braga in Spain, He dies in the year 580 but the former described the death of the latter, having survived him by many years; and he assigns it to the fifth year of King Childebert of the Austrasian Franks, in book 5 of the History of the Franks, chapter 38, in these words: "At this time also Blessed Martin, Bishop of Galicia, died, the people raising a great lamentation. For he was born in Pannonia, and thence, hastening to the East to visit the holy places, he so steeped himself in learning that he was held second to none in his time. Thence he came to Galicia, where, when relics of Blessed Martin of Tours were being brought, he was ordained Bishop: he lived in Galicia not 30 years in which priesthood, having completed more or less thirty years, full of merits he departed to the Lord. The verses which stand above the door on the south side of the basilica of Saint Martin were composed by him." So Gregory. The fifth year of King Charibert, indicated in chapter 34 and continued to the end of the book, corresponds to the year of Christ 580, as has been accurately demonstrated by us elsewhere. The years reported as having been spent in his priesthood in Galicia, "more or less thirty," were introduced by some error of copyists in place of "more or less twenty." but about 20 For only that many had elapsed since the conversion of the Suevi in Spain from Arian perfidy to the orthodox religion, and since the relics of Saint Martin of Tours were brought to their King; at which time this Saint Martin came to Galicia and was consecrated Bishop. The King of the Suevi who was converted to the Catholic faith was Theodomirus or Ariamirus, who is more corruptly called Charraricus by Gregory of Tours, book 1 of the Miracles of Saint Martin, chapter 11. In the third year of this King, on the very Calends of May, in the Hispanic Era 599, that is, the year of Christ 561, the first Synod of Braga was held, as the prefixed title indicates. He must therefore have been created after the Calends of May of the year 558, or at the beginning of the following year before the said Calends.
[3] By what occasion the conversion of the said King to the right faith occurred, King Theodomirus is converted to the orthodox faith Gregory of Tours narrates in the cited passage: namely, when the son of the said King was gravely ill, and Saint Martin, formerly dead at Tours, was shining with many powers of miracles, the King sent gifts there for the health of his son. And when his son was not yet healed, he sent his men again with a greater gift, vowing to build a church in honor of Blessed Martin, if he should be worthy to receive some of his relics; as Gregory pursues at length. Then follow these words of his: "When the relics had been raised up with great triumph, the bearers rejoiced greatly ... and giving thanks, having received relics of Saint Martin of Tours with the Patron's escort ensuring their protection, with a favorable voyage, gentle waves, moderate breezes, a drooping sail, and a calm sea, they swiftly reached the port of Galicia. Then a certain man named Martin, admonished by God from a distant region, who is now held there as a Priest, arrived. Nor do I believe this was without divine providence, that he set out from his homeland on the day when the blessed relics were raised from their place, and thus entered the port of Galicia together with those sacred pledges. and with his son healed Receiving these pledges with the greatest veneration, they confirm their faith with miracles: for the son of the King, freed from all sickness, hastens in health to meet them. Blessed Martin, moreover, received the primacy of sacerdotal grace; the King, Saint Martin becomes Bishop of Dumium having confessed the unity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, was anointed with his whole household; the blight of leprosy was driven from the people, and all the sick were healed, nor has the disease of leprosy appeared upon anyone there even to this day." These things Saint Gregory wrote before the year 580, namely when Saint Martin was living in Galicia as Bishop.
[4] Saint Isidore, Bishop of Seville, brilliantly confirms these things in his Chronicle of the Suevi in these words: "Ajax, a Galatian by birth, having become an apostate and an Arian, the heresy being eliminated emerged among the Suevi as an enemy of the Catholic faith with the help of their King; by whose seduction the Suevi, departing from the Catholic faith, inclined to the Arian doctrine." After many Kings, "Theudemirus received the kingdom of the Suevi, who, having embraced the Catholic faith and destroyed the error of Arian impiety, restored the Suevi to the unity of the faith. In his times Martin, Bishop of the monastery of Dumium, was distinguished for faith and learning; by whose zeal peace was restored to the Church and many monasteries were founded." The same Saint Isidore in his book on Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 22, writes the following: he restored peace to the Church "Martin, the most holy Pontiff of the monastery of Dumium, sailing from the regions of the East, came to Galicia; and there, having converted the peoples of the Suevi from the Arian impiety to the Catholic faith, he established the rule of faith and of holy Religion, formed the clergy, founded monasteries, and composed abundant precepts of pious instruction. Of his works I have myself read a book on the Differences of the Four Virtues he produces illustrious works and another volume of epistles, in which he exhorts to the amendment of life and the practice of the faith, to perseverance in prayer, to the distribution of alms, and above all to piety as the cultivation of all virtues. He flourished in the reign of Theudomirus, King of the Suevi, in those times when Justinian held power in the Republic and Athanagild in the Spains." So Saint Isidore, who died on April 4 of the year 636, that is fifty-six years after the death of Saint Martin of Dumium. Saint Martin lived in Galicia first under the rule of Justinian, then of Justin the Younger and Tiberius, when in Spain the Gothic Kings first Athanagild, then Liuva and Leovigild held dominion, and among the Suevi, Theodemirus, and after his death, Miro.
[5] Saint Martin is called by Saint Isidore "the most holy Pontiff of the monastery of Dumium," Bishop of the monastery of Dumium with the See of Braga omitted, to which he afterwards ascended, just as he also neglected the later Emperors and Kings already indicated. Dumium is a monastery near Braga of singular observance, built by Saint Martin, of which he himself was the first Abbot and Bishop, and which was raised to an episcopal See in his honor. Garsias Loiasa writes in his Collection of the Councils of Spain, page 153, that its church still existed in his time but was of remarkable antiquity. But what subjects outside the monastery this monastic See received is not equally clear. In the Council held at Lugo under King Theodomirus in the Era 607, that is the year of Christ 569, Dumium is established as the sixth See of the kingdom, and the royal household is assigned to belong to it. he presides over the royal household In the division of bishoprics made by the Gothic King Wamba, who began to reign in the year 672, the royal household -- that is, with the servants and attendants of the royal court -- is said to belong to the See of Dumium. Saint Martin, Bishop of Dumium, was present at the first Synod of Braga held in the year 561 he is present at the Council of Braga in the year 561 under Lucretius, the Metropolitan of Braga, in which most of the heresies of the ancients were subjected to anathema, and the doctrine of the general Councils and local Synods was confirmed, and Martin subscribed with the rest of the Bishops.
[6] When the aforesaid Lucretius, Bishop of the first [See] among the Suevi --
of Braga, the first See in the Suevic kingdom, Saint Martin is said to have been substituted as successor, [Archbishop of Braga, he presides over the second Council of Braga in the year 568] but in which year is not clear. He was Bishop of this See in the Era 610, that is the year of Christ 572, when the second Synod of Braga was held with twelve Bishops in the second year of King Miro. With the Bishops seated and the entire Clergy present, Martin, Bishop of the See of Braga, said: "We believe this has come about by the inspiration of God, most holy Brothers, that by the ordinance of the most glorious Lord, our son the King, we have assembled from both Councils into one: so that we may not only rejoice in seeing one another, but may also discuss together those things which pertain to the ordering and discipline of the Church." When Nitigisius, Bishop of the Church of Lugo, the first See, had assented with a brief reply, Bishop Martin said: "We judge that your blessedness remembers that when first a Council of Bishops was assembled in the Church of Braga, after many things had been confirmed for the harmony of the right faith, we also established certain things containing the distinction of the regular holy Canons; he has the Canons of the preceding Council read the usefulness of which, that it may be more clearly recalled to memory, let the letter itself, if it please you, be read in your presence." When it had been read, with all desiring it, Bishop Martin said: "These things, therefore, which have just been recited -- matters which then seemed to us various, or doubtful, or disordered -- have, with God's help, been set right, and inviolably maintain their firmness. But those things which did not come to mind, or which it was burdensome to introduce all at once in that first Council, it seems necessary now to bring to the notice of your charity, with this particular view, that they may be purified through spiritual examination and winnowing ... And since, by the aid of the grace of Christ, there is nothing doubtful in this province concerning the unity and rectitude of the faith, we must attend more particularly to this: that if anything perhaps reprehensible is found in us, outside apostolic discipline, through ignorance or through negligence, and new ones to be established recurring to the testimonies of the sacred Scriptures or the institutes of the ancient Canons, with common consent applied, let us with reasonable judgment correct all that has displeased." Then first, as a rule for priests, precepts from the epistle of Saint Peter the Apostle were read aloud, and at length, when all had been discussed, ten Canons for the direction of Bishops and Presbyters were established; these still survive with some fragments. Finally, "Martin, Bishop of the Metropolitan Church of Braga, was the first to subscribe to these acts." and is first to subscribe Five Bishops from his province followed; then from the Synod of Lugo, Nitigisius subscribed with five Bishops also from his province. Since no subscription of any Bishop of Dumium is present, Mariana seems to assert, in the passage indicated above, that the Church of Dumium was united and annexed to that of Braga -- which we do not approve. Certainly from the subscriptions of the Councils alone, eight Bishops of Dumium are found various successors in the See of Dumium who sat there after Saint Martin down to the fall of Spain, or the year of Christ 712; of whom the first, named John, was present at the third Council of Toledo in the year of Christ 589, that is nine years after the death of Saint Martin -- who, or certainly another, was perhaps created Bishop of Dumium while Saint Martin was still living.
[7] Concerning this place, mention is made in a portion of the testament of Saint Martin cited in the tenth Council of Toledo, and reported in Loiasa, page 500, in these words: The testament of Saint Martin read in the tenth Council of Toledo "There was brought to us in the assembly of the holy Council, from the direction of our glorious Lord King Recceswinth through the illustrious Wamba, the testament of Saint Martin of glorious memory, Bishop of the Church of Braga, who is also seen to have built the monastery of Dumium: so that, when it was opened, what this most blessed man had decreed might be made plain to our knowledge. When this testament was reread in the assembly of all, we found it had been directed to us in order by the aforesaid Prince: since the same most holy man of glorious memory had decreed that, as Kings succeeded in their turn, the arrangement for the fulfillment of his testament should remain commended. Then next there was brought to us the testament of Recimirus, Bishop of the aforesaid Church of Dumium, who had decreed that matters concerning his property in the same Church should be resolved by truthful examination. When this was done in this Council, all that was to be arranged was left to the discretion of the Venerable Fructuosus, Bishop of Dumium." This decree was issued on the Calends of December, in the eighth year of King Recceswinth, the year of Christ 656. Saint Fructuosus is venerated on April 16. The monastic rule composed by him was published by Luke Holstein in part 2 of the Code of Rules.
Section II. Books composed. The encomium of Saint Honoratus. The monastery.
[8] So that he might benefit many even after death, the most holy and equally most learned Martin (who, as Gregory of Tours attests, He wrote on the Differences of the Four Virtues was held second to none in learning in his time) composed various works -- tokens no less of virtue and piety than of talent and erudition. Of these, Saint Isidore attests that he read his book on the Differences of the Four Virtues, which begins thus: "The types of the four virtues have been defined by the opinions of many wise men, by which the human soul may be composed to an honest life. The first of these is prudence, the second magnanimity, or the Formula of an Honest Life the third continence, the fourth justice. Each is annexed to you in the duties which follow, and produces a well-mannered man." Sigebert in his work on Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 19, asserts addressed to King Theodomirus that this booklet was entitled "The Formula of an Honest Life" and was written to Theodomirus, King of Galicia. Joined to this in the Library of the Fathers is another of his books, on Morals, in which he exhorts the reader to the flight from vices, on Morals the amendment of life, and the love of virtues.
[9] Other short works of his, formerly preserved in the library of Garsias de Loyasa, were published in the Spanish Martyrology by Tamayo Salazar under this March 20, on boasting, pride, and humility under this title: "The Book of Blessed Martin, Bishop of Dumium, on Repelling Boasting." Then "By the Same, on Pride"; afterwards "An Exhortation to Humility." To whom these short works were addressed was not added. Another short work followed, on the Nature and Effects of Anger, and how it may be soothed, on anger with the following inscription prefixed: "To the Lord and most blessed Father, most longed-for to me in Christ, Witimer the Bishop, Martin the Bishop." The aforesaid Witimer, Bishop of the Church of Auria, subscribed to the second Council of Braga. to Bishop Witimer Auria is today Orense, situated on the river Minho, whose Bishop is now subject to the Archbishop of Compostela.
[10] In the same Council of Braga, Canon 9 prescribes that the Metropolitan Bishop should announce on what day of the Calends the approaching Easter of that year is to fall, and at what moon it is to be received; after the decree previously made which the other Bishops and the remaining Clergy, noting it down in a little document, should each announce in their own Church on the approaching day of Christmas to the people present after the Gospel reading, so that no one may be ignorant of the beginning of Lent. Saint Martin was not content with this constitution decreed chiefly by himself in that Council, but composed besides a booklet on the day on which the Lord's Easter should be celebrated, he writes on celebrating Easter which Tamayo Salazar published together with the short works already cited. But because in it he concludes that Easter may not be celebrated before the eleventh day before the Calends of April nor after the eleventh day before the Calends of May -- namely according to the Canon of the ancient Latins -- others departed from it. Certainly Gregory of Tours observes, in book 5 of the History of the Franks, chapter 17, that in the second year of King Childebert, the year of Christ 577, Easter was celebrated among the Spaniards on the twenty-first day before the Calends of April, on the very day of the Equinox; at Tours and many cities of Gaul on the fourteenth day before the Calends of May according to the Canon of Victorius. But among the Italians, according to the Alexandrian cycle, Easter that year fell on the seventh day before the Calends of May, or April 25. The Commentary of Bucherius on the Canon of Victorius, chapters 5 and 10, may be consulted.
[11] Another very useful labor of Saint Martin for the Churches of the Spains and others using the Latin tongue and rite The Chapters of the ancient Councils collected was to render into Latin the Chapters from the Oriental Synods composed in the Greek language, which he knew perfectly, or to emend those previously published in corrupt form. These Chapters, eighty-four in all, were published after the cited second Council of Braga, with this preface: "To the most blessed Lord, worthy to be received with the honor of the Apostolic See, brother in Christ, Nitigisius the Bishop, to Bishop Nitigisius of Lugo or to the entire Council of the Church of Lugo, Martin the Bishop. The holy Canons, which were established in the regions of the East by the most ancient Fathers, were first written in the Greek language; but afterwards in succeeding time they were translated into the Latin tongue. And because it is difficult for anything to be transferred somewhat simply from one language into another, and at the same time it has happened that in so many ages scribes, either not understanding or drowsy, have passed over many things, and for this reason certain things in the Canons themselves seem obscure to simpler people -- therefore it seemed good that with all diligence I should restore more simply and more correctly both what was said more obscurely by translators and what was altered by scribes; observing at the same time that those things which pertain to Bishops or to the entire Clergy should be written in one section, and similarly those things which pertain to the laity should be assembled together, so that anyone wishing to know about any chapter may be able to find it more quickly."
[12] Another work of Saint Martin is suggested by the above-cited Sigebert, chapter 118, in these words: [He translates Sentences of the Fathers from Greek, either through Paschasius the Deacon] "Bishop Martin translated through the hand of a Deacon many questions and responses of the holy Fathers in the monastery of Dumium." This work constitutes Book VII of the Lives of the Fathers in the Rosweydian edition, and the Prologue is inscribed by Paschasius to "the Venerable Father Martin, Priest and Abbot," and he asserts that he was commanded by him to translate into Latin the Lives of the Fathers, studiously composed in Greek eloquence, and requests that he deign to polish them in his own speech. An appendix is added by Rosweyde at the end of the volume, the last Appendix to the Lives of the Fathers, or by himself entitled "Sentences of the Egyptian Fathers, by an uncertain Greek author, with Martin of Dumium, Bishop, as translator." But in the copy that we have, transcribed from a very ancient manuscript codex, this title is prefixed: "Questions and responses of the Egyptian Fathers, which Martin the Bishop translated from Greek into Latin in the monastery of Dumium." These two treatises were joined in the said very ancient codex, in which much more is contained than has been printed hitherto, although some things are also omitted which now appear in the published versions of those treatises. Another short work of Saint Martin, he writes on the correction of rustics which we have not yet been able to see, is mentioned in the ancient Breviary of Evora in the eighth Reading of the ecclesiastical Office at Matins, concerning namely the correction of rustics who, though they were believers, paid honor to idols.
[13] Gregory of Tours, cited above, also attests that Saint Martin composed verses displayed in the basilica of Saint Martin, and poems to which, after publications by others reprinted in the Library of the Fathers, are added other verses placed in the refectory --
which may be read in that place. Here we give only the epitaph that he himself composed to be placed in the church of Saint Martin of Tours, built by King Theodomirus: and his epitaph and it is as follows:
Born in Pannonia, crossing the vast seas, Brought by divine guidance to the bosom of Galicia, Confessor Martin, dedicated in this your hall As Bishop, he established the worship and rite of sacred things: And following you, O Patron, your servant Martin, the same In name, not in merit, here I rest in the peace of Christ.
[14] Finally, Saint Isidore adduces a volume of epistles, among which perhaps some of the treatises already indicated are comprehended; and a volume of epistles others were written to learned men throughout the world. We gather a trace of these from the epistle of Fortunatus prefixed to book 5 of his Poems, addressed to Martin, Bishop of Galicia, who had praised him because, after the censure of the Stoics and Peripatetics, he had again devoted himself to the apprenticeship of Theology and Contemplation in Gaul; The response of Saint Fortunatus to whom in the said epistle he replied, acknowledging that love brings it about that even the undeserving are adorned; and among other most sweet words he adds these: "But why, good Father, do you reflect upon me what is yours, and publicly proclaim about me what is privately your own? Since the first things are known to you and the second are native to you: in which he praises his sacred learning for Plato, Aristotle, Chrysippus, and Pittacus are scarcely known to me by reputation; nor as a reader do I know Hilary, Gregory, Ambrose, or Augustine -- whom if they became known even in a vision to one asleep, I would not truly apprehend. For the riches of the arts have gathered at your door, as at a common inn; those things cling to you more tenaciously which are closer to heaven, because you delight not so much in the pomp of doctrines as in the rule of virtues. and virtues Whence without doubt you have become a client of heavenly clienteles. But why do I say these things to you, O sweetest Father and true disciple of Christ, who, like the Samaritan mixing wine and oil for the sick man lying prostrate, have extended to me a soothing balm, about to receive the reward of pious work when He comes who promised to repay the innkeeper the coins of his debt -- preserving in you, O supreme Pontiff, what He has conferred, knowing that this is most worthily pleasing in His eyes: that in you condescension itself surpasses dignity."
[15] "Wherefore, laying the soles of your most sacred, most sincere, and most loving apostolic crown upon my breast as I lie prostrate, he commends himself even I, the last, making my subject limbs a footrest for your feet, thus commending myself to your piety with eager desire, I beseech in the Lord that, approaching as a kind of second mediator between the sinner and the Redeemer of the world, with my offense lightened, O good Father, you may reconcile the reprobate after his guilt. And because I have received a pledge of your trust, and Saint Radegund and Agnes the Abbess I commend the daughters of your piety, Agnes and Radegund, devoutly together with myself, as their desire has commanded; humbly supplicating that, interceding for us before the Lord Martin, you may approach as so faithful an intercessor as he himself stood forth so prompt before the Lord, when he would not release the lifeless corpse before death released the dead man. For it follows by reason that through you from there the hope of patronage may return to us, because from here to you a portion of the Patron has gone forth. Supplicating before the Lord, O pious Father, that being received into your grace, even among those who are commended to you, I may feel, by both prayer and song, that I am guided by you as teacher, loved by you as parent, advanced by you as leader, protected by you as guardian." So far that passage. The aforesaid Queen Saint Radegund died on the Ides of August, a Wednesday, in the twelfth year of King Childebert, the year of Christ 587. Agnes, attached as Abbess, presided over her in the monastery of Poitiers; as his spiritual daughters both of whom, as having been instructed in turn by Saint Martin, Fortunatus calls the spiritual daughters of the latter, and commends them to him in an adjoined poem, book 5, chapter 2, in this manner:
"With humble Radegund the suppliant Agnes piously begs That they may be commended to you, holy Father; And that with the growing choir of Sisters through holy songs They may please their Lord, with you as gentle guide; And that the nurturing rule of the pious Prelate Caesarius living according to the rule of Saint Caesarius May be preserved, adopted from the city of Genesis for their use; He who was Bishop at Arles, of the lot of Lerins, And remained a monk, the glory of the Pontificate."
This Rule of Saint Caesarius was recently published by Luke Holstein in Codex 2 of the Rules of the Western Fathers. Meanwhile, both Saint Radegund and Saint Martin are counted among the Saints of the Order of Saint Benedict by Trithemius, Wion, and others -- because in subsequent times those monasteries adopted the Rule of Saint Benedict. In the same poem, when Saint Fortunatus had sung of the conversion of the world through the Apostles and Saint Martin of Tours, he adds the following:
[16] "Galicia, preserved by a new Martin, rejoice: That man of yours was of apostolic lot. he compares him to the Apostles He presents to you Peter in virtue, Paul in doctrine, Bestowing here the aid of James, there of John. Coming from the Pannonian quarter, as they report, of Quirites, He has become more truly the salvation of Gallaeco-Suevia."
That is, because he had converted the Suevi, inhabitants of Galicia; whose conversion he compares to agriculture, and among other things writes thus:
[17] "Heresy has fixed pious shoots of faith upon the branches; And what was a wild olive flourishes as a rich olive tree. The tree that stood thin, with leaves stripped away, and the conversions of the Suevi to agriculture Now about to produce fruit, blooms with new honor. The sad fig tree to be cast on the fire without hope Prepares its bosom for fruit, cultivated with manure. The grape swelling on the vine-shoot, to be torn by the plundering birds, With this good guardian does not perish -- the grape remains in the vat. With apostolic deeds the vinedresser directed the plots, Moving the fields with the hoe, pressing the shoots with the pruning-hook. From the Lord's field he cut down the barren wild grape, And a cluster is present where before there was a bush. From the sowing of God he plucked the bitter tares, And the rejoicing crop rises even and level. With the Pastor's zeal running about his enclosures, Lest the wolf enter, he guards the sheep with love of the flock. With supporting hand he draws to the pastures of Christ, Lest error devour the unstable sheep on the mountains. Whose voice, flowing back to the people from a wholesome font, That they may drink faith with the ear, offers salt from the mouth. To the Enemy indeed he prepared losses, to the Lord pious vows, And he brings back double the talents entrusted to him. Awaiting the Gospel voice, the kindly laborer, the heavenly reward is extolled That it may be said to him: 'Go, good servant': 'Since you have been faithful to me over a few things, Over many things indeed you shall be set.' Behold, now enter more joyfully the delights of your Lord, And for brief labor great things are prepared for you. You will hear the blessed voice, O Martin; But be mindful yourself of your Fortunatus. I pray, beseech, Father: may I see your joys with you; Thus may you please the King, with the gate of Peter standing open."
[18] And these are the things which we have collected from the ancient writers concerning Saint Martin and judged worthy of report, omitting those things which are reported by more recent authors, or even circulated under the names of Marcus Maximus and Julian Peter, mindful of the warning that Tamayo Salazar prescribes in the Acts of Saint Fructuosus the Bishop for April 16, page 677 -- namely, that one must beware of the published books of Julian, in which there are as many errors as letters. Monasteries built Besides the monastery of Dumium, other monasteries were built by Saint Martin, as Saint Isidore indicates; but which they are, the ancients are silent along with him. Cardosa in the Portuguese Hagiology names ten more, Tamayo Salazar eleven, and indicates the location of each, except for the one at Magnatense, about which he admits there is a deep silence; about which Leander a S. Thoma is also silent in the Benedictine Lusitana, who treats of the monastery of Dumium and others in volume 1, treatise 2, part 2, from chapter 14 to chapter 32. Let the curious reader consult these and similar authors. In their place we conclude with the words of Rodrigo of Toledo, who in book 9 on the Affairs of Spain, chapter 20, writes the following: "Theodomirus, King of the Suevi, restored to the Catholic faith by the preaching of Martin, Bishop of Dumium, the eulogy of Rodrigo of Toledo concerning him having eliminated the filth of Arianism, restored the Suevi to the unity of the faith. This Martin, Bishop of Dumium, illustrious in religion, learning, and faith, taught many things and established them in ecclesiastical institutions; for whose memory the Church of Galicia still rejoices." The same is proclaimed as illustrious in the doctrine of the faith by Lucas of Tuy in his Chronicle of the World near the end of the first book. and of Tamayo Salazar Tamayo Salazar adorns him with this eulogy in his Spanish Martyrology: "At Dumium in Galicia of Spain, Saint Martin, Bishop of that city, afterwards of Braga: who, since by the urgency of his preaching and the impact of his most glorious words and exemplary deeds, he had converted the people of the Suevi from the foul heresy of Arian contagion and had established them in the rule and standards of the Catholic faith -- illustrious in doctrine, shining in sanctity, resplendent in miracles, and conspicuous in fame, the renowned Confessor obtained the eternal reward promised by the Lord."
Section III. The body of Saint Martin repeatedly hidden and elevated, translated to Braga.
[19] Another who flourished among the Bishops of Dumium in the tenth century, conspicuous for the holiness of his life, was Saint Rudesindus, whose very illustrious Acts we have published for the first day of this month of March. In the preliminary Commentary, Section 3, we said that in the year 716 Lisbon, Coimbra, Braga, Orense, and neighboring cities were captured by the Moors, and that then the monks of Dumium fled to the mountains of Asturias, and not far from the city of Mondoedo built another monastery, also called it Dumium, and dedicated it to Saint Martin on account of some relics brought there. Acuna published the Acts of the Discovery in Portuguese In that flight the body of Saint Martin of Dumium was secretly hidden in his ancient church of Dumium, then elevated, and again hidden under the high altar, and finally discovered in the year 1591, and translated to Braga in the year 1606 -- as is clear from the Acts of the Discovery published by Rodrigo de Acuna, Archbishop of Braga, in volume 1 of the History of Braga, chapter 75; which, translated from the Portuguese language into Latin, Tamayo Salazar has under February 5, and they are as follows:
[20] "When the savage irruption of the Saracens was invading almost all the regions of the Spains, In the fall of Spain the relics of Saint Martin are hidden the city of Braga and the monastery of Dumium likewise experienced the straits of depopulation with wondrous swiftness. But lest the holy relics should come into the polluted hands of a foul race, the Christians placed the sacred relics of Blessed Martin, Bishop of Dumium and of Braga, which lay at Dumium, having taken some with them for consolation, in the basilica itself, surrounded by silence. But when, with the Saracenic yoke dissolved and a time of peace restored, the Christian people breathed relief from so great an oppression of want, they are elevated not forgetful of the sacred pledges, raising the church of Dumium from its ruins, they reached by persistent digging the place of the hidden treasure; and immediately elevating those relics upon a double column, they restored the church of Dumium and left to posterity the memory of so great a Father. Afterwards, Dom Emanuel de Sousa, Archbishop of Braga, in order to bring the sacred remains into his own church, having taken them down from the columns, within --"
within the cavity of the high altar of the Dumian church itself, he placed them, so that with silence cooperating they might be more suitably preserved and the knowledge kept at a distance. They are deposited in the high altar When Dom Emanuel was taken from the living before he could proceed to his desired goal, since scarcely one or another person knew the place where he had deposited the sacred pledges, the weeping people easily lost knowledge of the burial place in the time that followed. Afterwards Dom Friar Augustine de Castro assumed the mitre of Braga, who, with the zeal that possessed him that his saintly predecessors should receive their due honor, their memory being lost commanded that supplications and prayers be performed throughout all the churches of the diocese, and he himself set an example to all with fastings, alms, and other works of bodily mortification: after prayers and pious works that the divine mercy might deign to reveal the body of the holy Apostle of Portugal, Martin, whose veneration the Portuguese proclaimed with such affection of heart and soul through so many centuries.
[21] Moved by these and other reflections, the venerable Prelate was so powerfully transported day and night that, coming to the church of Dumium, they are found he ordered the high altar to be leveled to the ground. When this was done, the workmen immediately found a marble casket, wrought with wonderful art (as those times allowed); for on its front are visible the twelve Apostles in relief figures, in whose midst is an image of the most holy Trinity, in an artfully adorned casket and in the four corners the symbols of the four Evangelists -- namely the Angel, the Eagle, the Lion, and the Ox. Immediately joy seized all and the Prelate himself; who, having summoned the elders of the people from whom he had first learned much about the form of the tomb standing upon columns, commanded with cheerful urgency that they should identify the casket. They, examining everything, said it was the same one that had stood upon the columns, and they deposed this under oath; and that Kings John II and Emanuel of Portugal and Prince Louis had visited it when they were journeying to Compostela for the sake of a vow. When this attestation was known, the Archbishop ordered the extracted casket to be brought to the monastery of Saint Fructuosus, they are brought to the monastery of Saint Fructuosus despite the protests of the people of Dumium, to be preserved there until a fitting place should be built in the See of Braga for the deposition of the sacred pledges. So that faithful assurance might confirm the deposit of tradition as certain, Bishop Augustine proposed to open the casket, and with that piety with which he was endowed, he had scarcely raised the covering of the sarcophagus when so great a heavenly fragrance filled the church and the very inward parts of those standing around that, struck with amazement at the sweetness, they breathe forth a heavenly fragrance they believed themselves to be enjoying eternal glory rather than their earthly homeland. Beholding thenceforward the fulfillment of Paul's saying, "We are the good odor of Christ" 2 Cor. 2:15, they gave thanks to God with humble hearts. This Discovery was accomplished on the Nones of February, in the year of the Lord 1591, under Supreme Pontiff Innocent IX, and Philip II, Catholic King of Portugal and all Spain.
[22] Finally, in the year of the Lord 1606, under Supreme Pontiff Clement VIII, they are translated to Braga and Philip III, Catholic King of Portugal and Spain, the sacred body of Saint Martin was translated from the monastery of Saint Fructuosus to the See of Braga. On the day of its deposition the city, exulting with dances and rejoicings, gave full rein to its religion, devotion, worship, display, wealth, and joy. The sacred relics were deposited in the altar of the chapel of Saint Martha, they are placed in a marble tomb beside Saint Peter of Rates, on the right side of the high altar of the church of Braga itself, enclosed in a gilded and sculptured marble tomb, at the base of which is read an inscription written in the native tongue, indicating the time of the translation.
[23] Thus far from Acuna through Tamayo, in which several things seem doubtful to us, chiefly because the first volume of the Archbishops of Braga, which was being sent to us from Lisbon, perished through the negligence of sailors along with other books. And first, Archbishop Emanuel de Sousa seems to be called by the same Acuna "Diego de Sousa, the ninety-fifth Archbishop," of whom he treats in volume 2, chapters 69 and following. He is said there to have died in the year 1532. Whether, therefore, the Kings who are said to have visited the sacred relics should be identified as Emanuel, John II, and his brother Prince Louis, let the Portuguese determine. Acuna adds in the said chapter 75, number 5: "Of all the bones of the body of Saint Martin, only one spoke-bone was missing, which the Religious carried with them a spoke-bone is taken from them when, seeing the cruelty of the Saracens, they hid the body and, fleeing to the mountains of Asturias, built not far from the city of Mondonedo another monastery, which they also called Dumium, dedicating it to Saint Martin. This is clear from the autograph of a donation made by Apala, a noble and devout woman, to the monks and to Bishop Theodomirus, in honor of Saint Martin, whose relics are known to be at Mondonedo and the See of Dumium, in the Province of Galicia." Moreover, that the ancient Bishops of Britonia migrated to Mondonedo and that various ones sat there, plainly different from those of Dumium, we have deduced at length in the Life of Saint Rudesindus, in the said Section 3.