CONCERNING THE HOLY VIRGINS HERLINDIS AND REINULA, OR RELINDIS, ABBESSES OF MAASEIK IN BELGIUM.
EIGHTH CENTURY
Preliminary Commentary.
Herlindis, Virgin, Abbess of Maaseik in Belgium (S.)
Reinula or Relindis, Virgin, Abbess of Maaseik in Belgium (S.)
[1] Among the more celebrated rivers of Belgium, the Meuse or Masa is reckoned, from which the neighboring inhabitants on both sides were anciently called Masaci, then Masegavi and Maselandi, and their region, in the division of the kingdom of Lothar made in the year 870, was distinguished into two counties, Sacred veneration at Maaseik and Alden-Eyck, the Upper and Lower Masau, Masegau, or Maseland. In this territory is the magnificent town of Maaseik—or Maseica—adorned with many churches and monasteries of both men and women, situated between Maastricht and Roermond in the County of Loon and subject to the Bishop of Liège. Celebrated here on March 22 is the veneration of the holy Virgins and sisters Herlindis and Reinula, or Relindis, both in said Maaseik and in the neighboring village called Eyck or Alden-Eyck, where they lived in the eighth century of Christ as Abbesses in a monastery built by their parents, and died in holiness, and rested, famous for miracles, until, on account of the fury of the Calvinists, their sacred bones were transferred to the neighboring town of Maaseik or Maseica. The first to die of these was S. Herlindis on October 12, under which day she is thus celebrated in the manuscript Florarium of the Saints: S. Herlindis, October 12. "In the territory of Loon, in the town of Maaseik, S. Herlindis, holy Virgin. She was noble by birth, but nobler in deed, and noblest in the holiness of her life. Whence it came about that after this life, the bosom of Abraham received her and the choir of Angels led her to eternal joys, to be crowned in perpetuity. From her sarcophagus no foul odor ever emanated, but most frequently an immense vapor, like incense, was fragrant there. There also the affliction of various diseases received healing." S. Reinula or Relindis, February 6. Molanus has a long encomium in his Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium, and Hermann Greven in his Supplement to Usuard, Ferrari in the General Catalogue, and others mention her. Concerning S. Reinula or Relindis, the following is related in the said manuscript Florarium under February 6: "In the territory of Loon, near the town of Maaseik, the deposition of S. Reinula, holy Virgin. She, together with the Blessed Herlindis her sister, came forth from the noble stock of the Carolingians." Hermann Greven joins them both. Molanus and others celebrate Relindis alone. The most solemn feast of both, March 22 But the most celebrated solemnity of both is observed on March 22, because that day is distinguished by a double translation: the first occurred under Bishop Franco of Liège around the year 860, when the Abbess Ava had built a new stone church; the other was made under Bishop Gerard of Groesbeek through his suffragan in the year 1571, on account of a double Translation. when the College of Canons of Eyck, who had succeeded the nuns, migrated to the town of Maaseik or Maseica. Concerning the first translation, the said manuscript Florarium treats: "In the territory of Loon, near the town of Maaseik, the Translation of the holy Virgins and sisters Relindis and Herlindis." Molanus also, in his first edition of Usuard with his additions, made three years before the second translation, has the following: "On the same day, at the monastery called Eyck, of the holy Virgins Herlindis and Relindis, sisters, both religious and glorious in miracles." The Benedictine and Belgian Martyrologists mention them under the said days throughout, as does Saussay in the Gallic, Canisius in the German, Gelenius in the Agrippina, and Ghinius in the Birthdays of the Canonical Saints.
[2] The Life of these Virgins was written in the ninth century of Christ, after the first sacred translation of the relics, before the year 880 or the destruction of the monastery by the Normans. Life written in the ninth century We have obtained it in three manuscript codices, of which the principal one is taken from the Maaseik autograph; the other two were found among the Canons Regular of the monasteries of Korsendonk near Turnhout and of Rouge-Cloître. published from three manuscripts, In these, practically the same words are preserved, but some things here and there have been cut as less necessary, such as those found in number one of the Prologue, in whose place in the Rouge-Cloître manuscript another Prologue was substituted by Johannes Gielemans, a collector of Lives, who flourished there about two hundred years ago; and he placed it in the first part of his Hagiology of Brabant, conjecturing that they came forth from the stock of the Carolingians—from that stock, he says, from which Charlemagne was afterwards descended. But nothing is known except that they were born of noble family in nearly the same territory. Closely related to the said Life is a threefold manuscript Ecclesiastical Office concerning these holy Virgins: collated with the manuscript Ecclesiastical Office, the first and principal is that which was recited about both on this day, the feast of the first Translation of both bodies to the new church built by the Abbess Ava; the second and third are those recited on February 6 and October 12, the birthday of each. In it certain miracles are touched upon which are lacking in the earlier Life, relegated by us to the notes of this text. manuscript compendium, Finally, we have another Compendium extracted in brief from the Legend of the holy Virgins, and it was prefixed in the Eyck manuscript to the second Life and was written in a more recent hand; in it, some things are brought forward from the hymns contained in the Ecclesiastical Office, and other things are added about the destruction of the church by the Normans and its restoration made in the year 930, which we give in the Analecta together with other things that occurred concerning the veneration of these Virgins and the inspection of their relics, and a printed German Life. which we have likewise collected from the Eyck manuscript. Finally, Jean Chapeaville, Canon and Vicar of Liège, in volume 1 of the Deeds of the Bishops of Tongeren, Maastricht, and Liège, page 160, testifies that a certain Father of the Society of Jesus recollected the Life of these holy Virgins at his urging, which exists in the vernacular or German language in the hands of many. Chapeaville himself also approved this history as Ecclesiastical Censor in the year 1596, when it was published by the Liège press. The author on the frontispiece of the work and just before the Life indicates that their principal feast is celebrated on March 22, and appends an image Analecta from these are added. representing two Abbesses, one hand holding a double church with a double tower, the other holding an abbatial staff. What is narrated differently about them while still living is indicated below in the Notes; the rest we report among the Analecta.
LIFE
From Three Manuscript Codices. Herlindis, Virgin, Abbess of Maaseik in Belgium (S.)
Reinula or Relindis, Virgin, Abbess of Maaseik in Belgium (S.)
BHL Number: 3755, 3756
FROM MANUSCRIPTS.
Prologue of Johannes Gielemans.
The Lord Jesus, because he desires us to walk chaste and unspotted in the way of justice, everywhere and in both sexes of the human race sets before our eyes examples of chastity, These Virgins are proposed as an example of chastity. so that we, who cannot overcome the unclean enemy by our own strength, with every frivolous excuse entirely removed, informed by the examples and aided by the prayers of Saints both male and female, and what is more, of young and frail girls, might more readily be able to preserve chastity of mind and body. He therefore sets before us from among all these ones worthy of memory, not so much in body as in mind and
purpose, the sisters—namely the holy Herlindis and her sister Renula—concerning whom, with Christ their spouse consenting, we shall now attempt to speak something, since they are reported to have come forth from the stock of the Carolingians. Standing on the watchtower of chastity, they showed themselves worthy of imitation through their chastity itself, and admirable through the other wondrous deeds they accomplished in their lives. Although the time in which they flourished is unknown to us, what they did and how they departed from this life is not passed over in silence.
PROLOGUE OF THE ANCIENT AUTHOR
[1] Although from the beginning of the human race it has been declared far and wide throughout the world that almighty God, living and true, God loves those who, having spurned the world, seek him: and his only Son Jesus Christ our Lord, together with the Holy Spirit cooperating, graciously receive the triumphs and the contests of good works of all who cling to him—those who in diverse orders and various ages, in both sexes, have striven to fight against the machinations of the ancient enemy and the blandishments of their own body—nevertheless it must be believed that his special gift and spiritual light shine forth especially in those who are seen to despise the perishable and transitory things of this world and to yearn with every effort of mind for perpetual goods; and who are shown to trample the whole world with its deeds and to crucify in themselves the desires of the flesh, and who seem daily to penetrate heaven as with winged flight on angelic wings. For all these can say with the Apostle: "Our conversation is in heaven." Phil. 3:20 And with the same: "I live, yet not I; but Christ lives in me." Gal. 2:20 Ps. 72:28 And with the Psalmist: "But it is good for me to cling to the Lord."
[2] To the company or number of these there is no doubt that a the most blessed Virgins Herlindis and her sister Renula belong, such were SS. Herlindis and Relindis, who from the very beginning of their young age so obeyed the divine precepts that they despised all worldly things in their hearts and trampled them underfoot as refuse, except only those things by which human frailty is sustained—which in the Saints is not satiated but refreshed. Already in the aforesaid Virgins in their youthful age there glowed within a hidden flower, which afterwards brought forth pure and full fruit outwardly. For perceiving and discovering that the temples of false gods had sprouted up, and seeing the worship of idols gleaming b according to the rite of the pagans, they are known to have labored mightily with distinguished effort of mind in destroying idols, in building churches, in calling back to the way of truth those deceived by the excessive worship of idols, and in freeing them from the jaws of the most wicked demon—removing the veil of unbelief, showing the light of faith, repelling the darkness, introducing the light, putting the devil to flight and introducing Christ the Son of God, putting off the old man and putting on the new man, diminishing the kingdom of the devil and expanding that of the all-powerful Lord, and—what is agreed to be the greatest of all joys—promising all who converted to the Catholic faith and preserved it that they would merit true forgiveness of their former sins and would attain eternal life. But passing over these things, which will be clearly shown in their proper places, charity compels us to return to the deeds of the holy Virgins, to be briefly touched upon in writing.
AnnotationsCHAPTER I.
The Birth and Pious Education of These Virgins. The Monastery Built for Them. The Death of Their Parents.
[3] The father of those Virgins was called Adalhardus, and their mother bore the name Grinuara. They must be believed to have been acceptable to Christ, Born of honorable and Christian parents: who merited to beget in the flesh such dear and worthy handmaidens for the Divine Majesty, whom spiritual grace, consecrating them to itself with paternal love, regenerated to perpetual life. When these were born in the body and raised with the greatest diligence under nurses according to the dignity of their rank, as their limbs grew, there grew in them what is greater still—the strength of mind, firm constancy, and true faith. Their most loving parents, observing this in them, began to love them with more abundant grace and ordered that greater bodily nourishment be provided with more eminent care. And when the most loving parents beheld the fire of divine love burning in the hearts of their holy daughters they are raised in holiness: (for what can long be hidden, according to the saying: "A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor fire in the bosom without the garments burning"), the aforesaid parents began to deliberate subtly among themselves as to what would become of them, and were very anxious about what they should do with them if they reached the age of understanding. Matt. 5:14 And when the parents of the most blessed Virgins—Adalhardus, that is, and the above-named Grinuara—had for a very long time turned over in their minds, each with attentive thought, the meditations of their hearts, it happened by divine will that both, touched by one spirit, revealed to each other in turn the secrets of their souls, which had long been hidden. At length the aforementioned persons, Adalhardus and Grinuara, frequently entered into a holy agreement, and vowed that, if almighty God should grant them length of life until their daughters had been brought to the age of understanding, they would without any delay hand them over to be imbued with sacred learning. This devotion, with the Lord's favor, they afterwards fulfilled completely in deed.
[4] Then, after a few years had passed and elapsed, when now the sun was fixing its course higher in the vault of heaven—that is, when the understanding of the human body was now more capable of discerning something—the aforesaid parents, continuously contemplating the ripe harvest of their venerable daughters already being prepared for the reaping, they are instructed in a monastery in all virtues: and also contemplating the open door for receiving the entering wisdom, both father and mother forthwith committed them to the Abbess of a certain monastery commonly called Valenciennes, to be instructed in divine teachings, human arts, religious studies, and sacred letters, so that their more tender age might grow strong in more robust disciplines, where they would see nothing but what was honorable and hear nothing but what was holy. Immediately in that holy community of Virgins, the Lord gave them a most keen and sharp sense for understanding and bestowed upon them a very great portion of his grace. For whatever they learned by reading or hearing, they retained in memory and held everything written perpetually in their hearts, as letters on parchment. What sort of persons they showed themselves to be in that most holy fellowship of Virgins among whom they dwelt, no mortal has the ability to explain in few or many words. For each strove to surpass the other in the display of good works—which of them could be more ready in the work of God, more assiduous in prayer, more diligent in reading, more pure in chastity, more prepared in sobriety, more honorable in body, more sincere in heart, more rare in laughter, more fervent in compunction of heart. All these things indeed were done not from the spite of envy but from the love of charity.
[5] In the aforesaid monastery, to which the most blessed Virgins had been entrusted for their education, with spiritual mercy bestowed from above, they were fully instructed in every divine teaching and in the various uses of the Divine Office and the Ecclesiastical Order, and in the manual exercises of women. that is, in reading, in the modulation of chant, in singing psalms, and also—what in our times is very remarkable—even in writing and painting, which seems exceedingly burdensome to the most robust men of this age. In a similar manner, in the entire art of work that is customarily done by the hands of women in diverse ways and varied composition, they had been most honorably instructed—namely, in spinning and weaving, in fashioning and sewing—and in the arrangement of gold and pearls on silk they were wonderfully accomplished workers.
[6] When the suitable time was arriving and it was fitting for the most blessed Virgins of Christ to leave the school's wings, Their parents recall them, and to visit their paternal home, and it was no longer fitting for them to be subject to others but rather to be set over the rest, their parents, hearing their good reputation, caused them to return with great honor to the bounds of their future inheritance, and to dwell with them, veiled with the sacred veil. and with the sacred veil bestowed, Then without any delay, with the hearts of both parents of the holy Virgins touched—indeed spurred—by spiritual governance, they entered into a holy plan among themselves to build a monastery on their own inheritance, if heavenly grace would bestow upon them soundness of mind and body until they could fulfill their greatest desire, in which their chosen daughters might pour out prayers to the immortal Lord for their sins, and render the worship of due service, and in that place serve him alone inviolably. they consider building a monastery: This most worthy vow to God they completed in praiseworthy work after many years.
[7] During this same time while these things were being done, and while the beloved Virgins of God were dwelling with their own parents so often mentioned, with the bountiful grace of Christ protecting them from above— they anxiously seek a suitable place: to whom they had been wedded and were immune from every stain of sin—at that very time and that very hour, Adalhardus and Grinuara of blessed memory, going about and traversing their entire inheritance on every side for many days, explored with the most subtle investigation whether some place could be found anywhere that would suffice to fulfill the singular desire of their hearts—namely, in which they could establish every provision or necessity for a monastery—and nowhere did they find one. Thence, affected with remarkable sadness of heart, blaming themselves and reproaching themselves for being unworthy to build halls for the Divine Majesty, they spent many sleepless nights, asking each other in turn what and how great was the place in this or that part of their estate. But if it happened that at times, according to human nature, they fell asleep, yet always they meditated on this in their minds, so that what was said was fulfilled in them: "I sleep, but my heart keeps watch." Song of Songs 1:2 At last, when they were nearly despairing, God, the comforter of all who hope in him, deigned to visit them mercifully, according to what he himself says: "Your sorrow shall be turned into joy." John 16:20 They had, as it happened, a small and useless wood, situated not far from the river Meuse, about a mile distant; they find a place not far from the Meuse, which the said Adalhardus, as they say, entered and found there a certain level ground, yet marshy and occupied with unfruitful trees. Having seen these things, looking and proceeding this way and that on every side, he found there a pleasant spring, with most abundant and clear water leaping up, and thence flowing forth copiously in a long stream. Having observed these things, the aforesaid man, filled with exceeding joy, gave thanks to almighty God in his heart, believing that this place had been prepared for him by the Lord for fulfilling the desire of his heart. And this was afterwards proved true by the event, when in that same place he had brought to completion whatever he had planned in his mind. And what the Holy Spirit spoke through the Psalmist was fulfilled: "And you have not denied him the desire of his lips." Immediately the man, so often named, exulting
with exceeding joy, returned home. Ps. 20:3
[8] At that very time, having gathered a multitude of men and assembled a company of women, he quickly purged the said place of all filth. Without delay, the venerable parents of the venerable Virgins, gathering together all the males and females of their entire estate along with the attendant clients of their neighbors dwelling nearby, they build a monastery, began with diligent wisdom to lay the foundations of a monastery. For the quicker finishing and completion of this construction, the most blessed Virgins Herlindis and Reinula, going out each day with certain handmaids early in the morning and hastening to the Meuse, carried sand and stones in their own arms e all the way to the monastery. Hearing this, a zealous crowd of neighbors came running with joy. When all these were brought together, the remaining work upon the foundations already laid was completed, with the Lord's help, in a marvelous, unexpected, and unusual manner, with the swiftest speed and inestimable completion. When the monastery was finished, they gave it the name f Eyck. When all the offices in the same convent had been honorably and properly arranged and rationally disposed as the Lord taught, they call it Eyck: they are afterwards buried there. the venerable parents of the holy Virgins lived together with them until the times disposed for them by God, and they reached the fullness of their days, and merited to render back to the Lord in their own inheritance the souls given them from above. Their bodies also lie buried in the same monastery, and their souls, beyond doubt delivered from the inescapable torment of the underworld, are, as we believe, rightly and deservedly joined to the angelic choirs. Thus far concerning the common holy life of the venerable parents and of their daughters; henceforth let us set forth the deeds of the most wholesome and most holy life of the blessed Virgins, and certain of their virtues.
AnnotationsCHAPTER II.
The Monastic Life of the Holy Virgins.
[9] The blessed and glorious Virgins, after the end of their parents' present life, In the monastery they earnestly devote themselves to the exercise of virtues: reckoned the worship which they had paid to God in the earlier years of their life as nothing worthy of meriting the forgiveness of sins and obtaining eternal life. Therefore, seizing the path of a more austere and more rigorous life, and taking up the contest of greater and more frequent exercise, and dwelling more zealously in the divine praises, never loving idleness, which is the enemy of the soul, but astounded in bowed devotion, they were praying or attending intently to the modulation of the Psalms; at times writing, sometimes reading, teaching the other sisters, or doing something useful in the monastery with their hands, and mutually exhorting one another to progress always toward the better and not to rush toward the worse—lest the ancient enemy and plunderer of the human race should gain any victory over them if left alone, excellently armed against the wiles of the devil: he who like a lion flies upward and downward, seeking whom he may devour; and lest the aforesaid serpent should be able to wound them, bereft of their parents' shield, with his most sharp stings, or to instigate their hearts with his fiery arrows to any criminal deed—whom they knew without doubt wished to attack and deceive them, and also to cast them down from their holy purpose or to prostrate them to the lowest things of the world, if he should find an entrance and a place for doing harm. Wherefore the blessed Virgins continually resisted this plunderer, taking up the shield of faith, the breastplate of hope, the helmet of charity, and the joy of the spirit, which is the saving word of God, so that with all of these they might always be armed and clothed, in order that the most powerful cunning of the crafty deceiver might be overcome by more powerful divine aids even in the fragile and weak feminine sex—especially for the purpose that he who desires to conquer the Saints and cast them down from holy religion, captured and bound, sorrowful and lamenting, might depart from them by an irrevocable expulsion. For the apostate and treacherous serpent, the seducer of our first parent, who once existed among the number of Angels and has now been utterly cast down from there, never ceases to attack and disturb the Saints of God, so as to close the way to those wishing to ascend there, whence he was so cast out and repelled and condemned forever that there is no hope for him of returning thither. We necessarily interpose mention of him here, so that it may be set forth as an example to the lazy and negligent that they ought to take up spiritual arms all the more zealously and fervently, so that, having assumed these, they may be able to extinguish the fiery darts of the most wicked one, since he dares to do this even to the Saints and elect of God.
[10] The holy Virgins, observing according to divine Scripture that this adversary serpent, who cast the human race down from the pinnacle of heaven, has a thousand names and a thousand arts of doing harm, seized upon as many aids of divine mercy as they knew that shape-shifting accuser to possess arts of doing harm. Who, I ask, was ever so cautious that he did not feel one of these darts harmful to himself? Who so humbly clothed with breastplate and helmet that he was not beset by one of these? Without doubt no one, except he or those whose souls the holy fear of God and charity possessed—such as these holy Virgins, of whose deeds and life we have the narrative, and whose souls chaste fear possessed. Moreover, in the same monastery, which both holy Virgins possessed by hereditary bequest and paternal tradition, They are made Abbesses by SS. Willibrord and Boniface: with the Lord bestowing from above, both were ordained and consecrated as Abbesses according to the norm of the holy Rule and ecclesiastical ordinances by the blessed a Bishops Willibrord and Boniface.
[11] After these things, the holy Virgins had received twelve other Virgins into the aforesaid monastery to dwell together with them, they instruct the Virgins under them: and they fully instructed them in the regular observances in which they had been catechized, and afterwards caused them to fulfill their regular vows, and all things were common to them according to the Rule. Thence it came about that many daughters of noble men, or of those bound to service, through the example of the holy Virgins despising the sweet marriage hymns, veiled their heads with the black veil and together with the blessed Virgins of Christ served the Lord alone. And those who at first had offered themselves to serve Christ alone, afterwards merited to serve the Lord with many. And those whose merit of life in childhood had become known to few, now in mature age had become a living example to many. And because, restrained by the modesty of chastity, they had disdained to have carnal offspring, they were held worthy of begetting for Christ innumerable spiritual daughters. For these venerable Virgins were elegant in their bodily bearing, instructed in the right faith, filled with charity, occupied with the love of fraternity, adorned with constant humility, praiseworthy in religion, cheerful in the generosity of almsgiving, chaste in body, mature in character, strong in talent, shrewd in counsel, and cultivate them with holy virtues: watchful in sobriety, wise in words, pleasant in speech, attentive also to prayers and fasts with bowed and unceasing devotion, in order to fight and vanquish the most evil serpent, because through these things especially he is terrified in the Saints. Matt. 17:20 For this is plainly shown in the Lord's words, when, having cast out a most powerful demon, he said to his disciples: "This kind can go out by nothing except by prayer and fasting."
[12] The most holy and ever-blessed Virgins Herlindis and Relindis, as was said above, then they make small vestments, never imitated idleness but continually avoided it as a deadly plague. Whence it happened that certain b small vestments, which they had woven with their own hands and which they had composed with many modes and various compositions of diverse art, with innumerable ornaments befitting God and his Saints, adorned with gold and pearls, the holy ones left behind in that place. they copy the four Gospels, c The writings of the four Evangelists—that is, the words and deeds of Christ Jesus our Lord—they transcribed in an honorable work. Moreover the little book of Psalms, the Psalter, which we call the Psalter, they themselves composed in writing; and many other divine Scriptures besides, all of which to this day gleam in that same place so fresh and vivid in gold and sparkling with pearls that you would believe them to have been completed today. For whenever it happened that the said Virgins, always to be held worthy of remembrance, were occupied in certain works of the hands meanwhile singing Psalms: for the fulfillment of regular precepts or the completion of various ornaments useful to the monastery, always mingled with the modulation of the Psalms (on account of which it is sung by the Psalmist: "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth"), they would not persist in these very long; but after some time had passed, in a wonderful manner, with the greatest alacrity taking refuge in the strongholds of prayer, then they return to contemplation. they exercised themselves so nimbly in the divine praises, as though they had done no good work before. Ps. 33:2
AnnotationsCHAPTER III.
Miracles During Their Lives: The Happy Death of Both.
[13] It would indeed be lengthy to extend the narrative to cover all the miracles and virtues and what great things divine clemency deigned to work through the intercession and merits of the holy Virgins in that place; but because of the negligence of the inhabitants of that time, more things have been consigned to oblivion than held in memory. However, from what is known, some things I shall conceal in silence and some I shall narrate in writing. I consider that the first and most famous miracle should not be passed over During a visit of SS. Willibrord and Boniface, but should be committed to memory, which shines forth while they were living, with the Lord working. For the blessed Bishops Willibrord and Boniface were accustomed to visit them in turn for the benefit of their souls.
It happened indeed by divine will that on one day both Bishops came together to the aforesaid monastery. Whereupon the holy Virgins were greatly distressed because they did not have such an abundance of drink wine in the vessel is divinely increased: as would suffice for so great a multitude of people. For they had a small quantity of wine in one vessel, which is called a a tun, measuring half a foot. But through their prayer, the Lord filled it, so that wine overflowed from the top. All drank joyfully; indeed the wine remained inexhaustible. After these and other frequent b miracles had been accomplished, they heaped upon themselves the remaining contests of the divine warfare, harder and harsher and more difficult for the body to endure and carry out, as though they had seen their last day standing at the very doors and thresholds. other miracles they perform: And the more they sensed that the day of their holy falling asleep was drawing near, the more cruel they became to their own bodies.
[14] Now, as the time of the dissolution of the venerable Virgin Herlindis was approaching and imminent, when the immortal rewarder of her labors wished to repay her rewards, Near the end of life they more frequently exhort the nuns, to take her from the prison of the present life and unite her to the companies of Angels and configure her to the body of his glory (for she is known to have endured to the times appointed by the giver of body and soul, that is, to have reached the fullness of days, which we read is attributed only to the Saints of both sexes; for concerning the reprobate, Scripture says that they do not live out half their days)—having frequently summoned to themselves the other Virgins dwelling with them, they instructed them earnestly through the zeal of exhortation and admonition, and also of prayer, to the exercise of all virtues, that in no way, after their departure from the world, should they lead a defiled life or become a stumbling block to others; but that they should always imitate the example of their mothers, by whom they had been raised with spiritual nourishment—that they should walk with their loins girded by preserving chastity, and bear burning lamps in their hands by doing good works and showing examples, so that by doing this zealously and finishing happily, they might merit to be admitted to the company of the holy Angels, and, having completed this deadly path without stain, to share in eternal joys together with them. Ps. 54:24 This indeed they admonished daily together, and avoidance of evil company: and above all and beyond all, they always exhorted them to avoid the company of the unrestrained, lest they be polluted by their wickedness and separated from the eternal kingdom.
[15] But whatever they had admonished, or had commanded by commanding, or even urged by entreating, they themselves first endeavored to accomplish in deeds, heeding the maxim of the outstanding Doctor who says: preceding by their own example, "Lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should be found reprobate." 1 Cor. 9:27 And also that passage from the Acts of the Apostles which Luke writes concerning our Savior: "Jesus began to do and to teach." Acts 1:1 Our Lord Jesus Christ had commanded nothing other than what he had done. And imitating him, these holy Virgins first performed the good things which they recognized ought to be done for the benefit of souls, and afterwards taught others to retain those same useful things. diligent in leading a holy life. For while they bore the breath of the present life in the aforesaid holy manner of life, they were exceedingly careful to consecrate their holy childhood to the almighty Lord, and to guard their virginity inviolably, and to traverse the present life on a spotless path.
[16] S. Herlindis dies on October 12. At last the blessed Virgin Herlindis, seized by a gentle fever, began to grow somewhat weak in her most tender limbs, and with the consent of Christ, who had now called her to life, she was deprived of her bodily strength, and brought to the extremity of the human condition on the fourth day before the Ides of October; her happy soul was released from the flesh. The bosom of Abraham received her, and the choir of Angels conveyed her to the eternal rewards of heaven, with whom, with the Lord's favor, she shall be joyful without end.
[17] The holy Reinula, made somewhat sad with a slight despondency at the absence of her holy sister, The body, long covered only with linen, yet was rather joyful, because she was without doubt confident that her sister was being blessed with a more blessed life after death. She could not bear that earth should cover her holy sister's coffin, but placed it, decently covered with a pure linen cloth, upon the clean ground. From that coffin indeed, as very many assert, no foul odor ever emanated that would assail the nostrils of those standing near or far with an execrable smell. Indeed, sometimes and very frequently, an immense vapor of sweetness, like incense, was fragrant there. For it was neither fitting nor proper it breathes forth a sweet odor, that a detestable stench should burst forth from those limbs which had sent to heaven a pearl dear to God—namely the soul—living within them with vigorous freshness and dwelling righteously, purified from the world.
[18] First, then, at that same time when the illustrious Virgin of God, Herlindis, departed from the present world, having been called at the Lord's command, S. Reinula begins a fiercer battle against the devil: the most excellent Virgin Reinula pressed her foot all the more firmly upon the path of divine worship, by which she had earlier vowed to serve God. For as a new combatant, she vigorously and steadfastly undertook to fight against the treacherous asp and basilisk, so that he against whom both sisters had waged conflict might succumb, defeated, to her alone as victor. Finally, taking precaution to close the way to him who came fraudulently to her—who supposed he could more easily overthrow her, deprived of her sister's companionship and left behind as a young woman alone surviving—she never at all indulged rest to her body, beyond those things which, during the life of her holy sister, she had renounced and had forbidden and prohibited others from doing. 2 Tim. 2:5 She remembered indeed the divine Scripture that says: "He shall not be crowned unless he has competed lawfully." She plainly strove, on account of such a maxim, to enter a double contest against the long-condemned apostate, which indeed, with the Lord fighting before her, she brought happily to its end, and she stood forth as a praiseworthy victor. For nowhere did the battling enemies compel her to take flight, but until the end of the contest they unwillingly endured her as an unconquered warrior, to whom, overcome, they were forced to bow their necks.
[19] When, therefore, the glorious Virgin Reinula perceived in her mind, as her aged limbs were failing, full of merits that the day of her departure was near, she began anew, with bowed devotion, to attend more strictly to the divine Sacraments and continually to add new efforts upon the old, according to what is sung in the first Psalm: "And on the law of the Lord he shall meditate day and night." Ps. 1:2 Ps. 83:8 "And the saints shall go from strength to strength," and through this they shall merit to see the God of gods in Zion. The venerable Virgin acted indeed like the blessed man Benedict, surpassing her age in her character, yielding her heart to no pleasure. clearly she dies an old woman on February 8. Persevering in this nourishing labor even to old age and decrepit years, on the eighth day before the Ides of February, at the Lord's call, she happily breathed forth her vital spirit and departed to eternal joys, which she shall possess, rejoicing without end, because she rendered her soul to almighty God. Although many years and months, hours and moments, intervened between them, each completed the most blessed course of her life on the prescribed Ides; having received, each in her turn, the crowns of their virginity, with their lamps burning, c the choir of Angels presented their souls, rejoicing and free from all defilement, before the gaze of Christ.
AnnotationsCHAPTER IV.
Miracles After Death.
[20] When they had been taken from this wretched and sorrowful world and received into the bosom of Abraham, the first miracle which divine mercy deigned to work through their merits A blind woman receives her sight: I think should not be omitted, but should be written down to the praise of Christ and for the publication of their merits. A certain blind woman named Hiltwiga, coming devoutly to the tomb of the holy Virgins, poured forth her prayer there with tearful intention, that the undivided Divinity might deign to restore to her the lost light through their intercession. And immediately the prayer humbly poured forth to the Lord achieved its effect. For when the darkness was immediately put to flight and the blindness removed, the light long lost was restored to her eyes, and rejoicing in the complete health of her body, she returned to her home.
[21] Then, the fame of the virtues of the holy Mothers having been heard, not a few but very many sick and infirm came running and received the complete health of body. various sick persons are healed, But as I said above, far more miracles have been given to oblivion than committed to memory; but these very few things which have been planted in the human ears of the present age, I shall set down in writing with praiseworthy remembrance. Three miracles indeed, which were afterwards divinely wrought through their interceding merits, three mute persons, I think should be attached to the preceding miracle—namely, that three mute persons spoke there: Ricolfus, Hildigerus, and Blitherius. They did not speak at one time or on one day, but separately and in order, as they had come to be healed, they were healed. One of them, namely Blitherius, was not only deprived of the function of speech, and one of these also crippled: but also was contracted and rendered useless in the joints of all his limbs. But at last, through the supporting merits of the blessed Virgins, the mute man spoke, and all his sickness and debility departed from him utterly.
[22] But neither should the six miracles divinely wrought at their tombs, six demoniacs are freed: I think, be concealed, but narrated as worthy of memory. Six persons seized by unclean spirits—each of them had come at the time of his infirmity—yet through divine clemency working through the aid of the holy Virgins, each individually merited release from the demons and complete healing, and they lived many years afterwards with a sound mind. One of them was present bound in iron, seized in his affliction; at last, without anyone's intervention, he was spontaneously freed of his own accord. Eight lame and crippled persons were cured, the order of whose healing—how and in what manner it was accomplished—is unknown; it is known, however, that they were fully healed. one bound in iron is released: Frequently, without doubt, a light is divinely kindled at the place of their rest. eight lame persons are healed: Many indeed and indescribable signs has God, the just rewarder of all good things, deigned to show in these present times in the aforesaid place; but these few miracles written down can suffice for the studious reader, because in both small and great matters, they prove those women to be worthy of God.
to have existed and to have been pleasing to God, is clear to perceive.
[23] Now the brevity of this concise book demands an end, and the weakness of unrefined speech, the ancient church destroyed, and the difficulty of a more extended narrative calls for a conclusion. But on the contrary, the unshaken charity of those Virgins resists, and demands that something be said, at least briefly, concerning the restoration of the original church and concerning the translation of the most sacred Virgins, lest this alone be left untouched. That church indeed, which held the primacy of the aforesaid monastery, had been built of wood by the aforesaid parents of the most chaste Virgins and stood erected for a long space of time. But after much time it began to rot, and a great part of it was already dissolved and crumbled with decay, and it appeared more likely to collapse than to remain standing. Wherefore the Abbess Ava of blessed memory razed it utterly to the ground, a stone church is built by the Abbess Ava: and restored it anew in stone with elegant workmanship and beautiful construction. In that same church the bodies of the venerable Virgins, translated from the place of their former resting by a Bishop Franco, the bodies are translated by Bishop Franco, and placed in the eastern part of the same church, behind the altar of the inviolate and ever-Virgin Mary, are adorned and venerated there with honor.
[24] Their souls also, without any ambiguity, enjoy the pleasantness of paradise, on account of their persevering labor in the good contest, their souls are crowned in heaven, the completion of their most blessed course, and the inviolate observance of the faith, according to that which the outstanding Doctor of the Gentiles, Paul, says: "I have fought the good fight; I have kept the faith; I have finished the course. 2 Tim. 4:7 For the rest, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the just Judge, will give me; and not to me only, but also to all who love his coming." The Blessed Herlindis and Reinula, imitating the blessed Apostle, loved in their lifetime the coming of the just Judge, God, nor did they dread the coming and onslaught of the roaring lion who devours the souls of many; they never consented to him when he suggested pernicious and harmful things; but they desired to be dissolved from the flesh and to be with Christ. Since it is established that the magnificent Virgins Herlindis and Reinula departed from the world in peace, without the violence of a persecutor, assuredly the crown of martyrdom and the palm of the Martyrs will not be lacking to them, who by their daily persistence and continual restraint of the body had voluntarily heaped upon themselves remarkable torments. A double life had shone forth in these Virgins while in the framework of the world, while they governed their bodies: the palm of mercy shown to others, namely of mercy and of cruelty. For whenever they observed any persons b in need of anything, they strove with the greatest charity and without delay to assist them; and of mortification inflicted upon themselves: and whatever they mercifully bestowed upon others in need, they cruelly withdrew from themselves, on account of that which the Lord said: "He who loves his soul shall lose it. John 12:25 And he who shall lose his soul for my sake in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." The holy Virgins of God, holding this firmly fixed in their hearts, always held their bodies in hatred in this world, not only withdrawing from lawful pleasures but also at times abstaining even from what was permitted, so that they might merit to find their souls spotless in eternal life and to receive two robes and enjoy them perpetually.
[25] c Henceforth it would indeed be lengthy to extend the history through all things—how many diverse virtues and how many varied miracles the Lord deigned to work there through their intercession. For the blind and the lame, and some also seized by the demon, obtained healing. Many divine gifts are increased there; fitting prayers are granted by Christ's gift to those who ask. For if we wish to dwell upon all the deeds and miracles of these holy Virgins, other miracles wrought: and to lay bare all things to the full, the discourse becomes too lengthy and a huge book is required. What more shall I pursue? In those oracles of the temples where the patronage of those Virgins is venerated, whatever is sought with right faith is obtained, and whatever is hoped for with just zeal achieves its effect. Therefore words must be shortened, and certain deeds of the holy Virgins must be concealed in word, lest weariness be inflicted upon the weary reader who is attempting to read other things. eulogy of S. Reinula. O glorious Virgin Reinula, always to be praised, who from the earliest time of your life until your limbs were failing fought bravely against the wiles of the devil—you did not cease fighting when weary, you did not turn your back in flight when overcome, nor did you ever cast the weapons from your hands; but rather you continually struck the enemy in the face and destroyed his struggle against you to the point of annihilation, until you breathed forth your last breath, and, adorned with the victorious laurel in your hand, exulting in your glorious advancement, you came to Christ, the King of Kings. This very thing he promised to his faithful, saying: "Father, I will that where I am, there also my servant may be." John 12:26 Therefore let us now feast in the Lord, in the advancement of the holy Virgins to the eternal rewards of heaven, and let us all, of one mind, with hearts raised upward and hands lifted, beseech God, that he who rightly and deservedly bestowed upon them an unfading life, Conclusion. may also deign to grant to us sinners and unworthy ones perpetual life—at least on the day of the final examination, through the interceding merits of the holy Virgins—and pardon of our offenses, so that we may merit to escape the left hand forever and be made worthy to be placed at the right hand in the lot of the Saints. May he who is three in the Trinity of three persons, one in the unity of the divine substance, deign to grant this: to whom be honor and glory through infinite ages of ages. Amen.
AnnotationsANALECTA
Concerning the Varied Veneration of the Relics and Their Translation to the City of Maaseik. Herlindis, Virgin, Abbess of Maaseik in Belgium (S.)
Reinula or Relindis, Virgin, Abbess of Maaseik in Belgium (S.)
[1] The church of Eyck, destroyed around the year 881, While the above-mentioned Bishop Franco of Liège was still living, the Normans came to the region of the Meuse, especially in the year eight hundred and eighty-one and the following year, and devastated and burned this monastery of Eyck, as well as the neighboring cities of Maastricht, Liège, Tongeren, Aachen, and others. Afterwards, Bishop Richarius, who presided over the Church of Liège from the year 922 to the year 945, rebuilt this church of Eyck, along with twelve others destroyed by the Normans, in honor of the Blessed Mary, and established Clerics in the present one and in the others under a secular Abbot in the year of the Lord nine hundred and thirty. restored in the year 930 and given to Clerics: The bodies of the holy Virgins were placed on the high altar in a casket adorned with silver; where through their intercession, whatever is sought with right faith is obtained from our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise, honor, and glory forever and ever. Amen. Thus the abridged Life, with which the German Life agrees, but in place of the year 930 it gives the year 920, when Richarius was not yet in peaceful governance, on account of the contention that had arisen between Hilduin and himself concerning the episcopate. Fisen lists those twelve monasteries in his History of Liège at the year 934.
[2] A solemn procession to the relics: Afterwards, a custom was introduced, or if it had been abolished, was restored, by which Catholics from neighboring places with crosses and banners were accustomed to visit this church annually during the four days of Pentecost and to honor the sacred Virgins with their offerings. To further excite this pious devotion, Guido, Bishop of Palestrina, Legate of the Apostolic See, formerly Abbot of Cîteaux, gave letters soon to be produced, which we believe was done in the year 1202—when, being at Liège, he carried out various measures for the reform of the Clergy, which may be read in Chapeaville's Deeds of the Bishops of Liège, volume 2, page 199. These letters, given for the Church of Eyck, were inserted forty years later by Jean de Cambijs and Jacques de Crets, as is established from the following:
[3] "To all who shall inspect the present letters, Master Jean de Cambijs, Canon and Official of Liège, eternal greeting in the Lord. Know that I have seen, held, and read the letters written below, not cancelled, not destroyed, nor vitiated in any part, in these words:
To the Deans of the Greater Church in Liège, by the grace of God, and to the beloved Priests in Christ of Dilsen, Rothem, Eyck, Heppenaert, Opitter, Uikhoven, Bree, Itter, Neer-Itter, Kessenich, Wessem, Grathem, Heel, Beesel, Opgeisteren, Neergeisteren—Greeting in the Lord.
We have seen the letters of the venerable Father, Lord Guido, Bishop of Palestrina, Legate of the Apostolic See, approved by Guido, Cardinal of Palestrina, in the year 1202 in this form: Guido, by divine compassion Bishop of Palestrina, Legate of the Apostolic See, to our beloved son in Christ, the Abbot of Hocht, greeting in the Lord: We are bound by the duty of our legation to fulfill with accompanying effect the petitions which do not depart from the path of reason, and to extend by pious exhortation whatever works for the salvation of the faithful. The beloved sons, the brethren of the Church of Eyck, humbly requested of us that we should by our letters admonish the Priests and parishioners of certain villages lying within a mile around their church—namely of Dilsen, Rothem, and similarly of the other aforesaid villages—that each year with their processional crosses, just as by right and ancient custom the faithful throughout the Bishopric of Liège are accustomed to assemble at other conventual churches, they too, making a pilgrimage for the salvation of their souls during the four days of Pentecost, should visit the aforesaid church. with indulgences added. Wherefore, by the authority vested in us, we command you by precept that, betaking yourself to the aforesaid villages and first piously and fraternally exhorting their Priests and parishioners in the Lord, you should by our authority induce them to the aforesaid work of mercy, making known to them that any faithful person who, in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the holy Virgins who are believed to rest there, shall assemble there with their alms for the sustenance of the brethren serving God there, as is said above, shall merit the remission of a fourth part of the penance enjoined upon them.
of the penance enjoined upon them, and the remission of forgotten sins together with offenses against fathers and mothers, without the laying on of hands, by the authority vested in us. Given in the year of the Lord, etc.
By the authority aforesaid and our own, therefore, we admonish, ask, again commended in the year 1242 and exhort you in the Lord to take care to carry out faithfully and diligently the aforesaid business. Given in the year of the Lord 1242, on the Friday after Trinity.
[4] Likewise, Jacques de Crets, by the grace of God Archdeacon of the Church of Liège, to the beloved Priests in Christ of Dilsen, Rothem, Eyck... Greeting in the Lord. We have seen the letters of the venerable Father, Lord Guido, Bishop of Palestrina, Legate of the Apostolic See, in this form: Guido, by divine compassion Bishop of Palestrina, Legate of the Apostolic See, to our beloved son in Christ, the Abbot of Hocht, greeting in the Lord: We are bound by the duty of our legation, etc., as above.
and in the years 1245 and 1279. By the authority aforesaid and our own, therefore, we admonish, ask, and exhort you in the Lord to take care to carry out faithfully and diligently the aforesaid business. Given in the year of the Lord 1245, on the morrow of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. In testimony of which the seal of the noble See of Liège is appended to the present letters. Given in the year of the Lord 1279, on the day of the Apostles Philip and James.
How the Abbot of Hocht received the commission and carried it out is established from the following letters.
[5] Baldemarus, by the grace of God called Abbot of S. Agatha at Hocht, to all the faithful as commissioned by the Cardinal through the Abbot of Hocht. to whose notice the present document shall come, the affection of charity and prayer in the Lord. We wish it to be made known to all, both present and future, by the present document, how, by the command of the Lord Guido, Bishop of Palestrina, Cardinal, Legate of the Apostolic See, we betook ourselves, together with the Prior of our church, to certain villages lying around the Church of Eyck, which are expressed by their own names in the authentic document of the same Lord Cardinal, and by the authority of the Lord Cardinal enjoined upon the Priests and parishioners of those same villages that each year with their processional crosses and their alms they should visit the Church of Eyck. Since, therefore, without contradiction they willingly and unanimously consented to the command of the Lord Cardinal and ours, we granted them by his authority the indulgence contained in the letters of the Lord Cardinal—namely, the remission of a fourth part of the penance enjoined upon them and of forgotten sins together with offenses against fathers and mothers without the laying on of hands. We also added to them the communion of all the good works that are done among us and the fraternity of our Church. Moreover, to one of the brethren, a Priest of the Church of Eyck, we committed our functions in this matter, so that each year they might renew this indulgence. By the authority, therefore, of almighty God and of the Lord Cardinal and ours, we strictly forbid that this ever be broken by anyone's rash daring, and we strengthen it with the protection of our seal.
[6] Likewise Adolphus, Bishop of Liège, ordained in the year 1401, new indulgences given in the year 1401 who died on December 13 of the following year, gave forty days of indulgences for the confirmation of the foregoing to those visiting this church on each occasion during the aforesaid festivities of Pentecost. Likewise the Cardinal of Siena, as Legate, granted one hundred days to endure in future times, as is more fully contained in the letters drawn up concerning the same. Thus the abridged Life and from it the German one. The said Cardinal of Siena was Antonio Casini, and around the year 1430. made Bishop of Siena in the year 1409, created Cardinal in the year 1426, who died in the year 1439.
[7] These matters concern the pilgrimage once made to these Relics. Meanwhile, from a slip enclosed with the Relics themselves, it is established that they were once inspected and examined. The words of this slip are as follows:
"Be it known that in the year of the Lord one thousand three hundred and eighty, Relics inspected in the year 1380 we the Dean and Chapter found herein the bones of the holy Virgins Herlindis and Relindis, which we left lying with all their dust; but we took out a part of the skin of S. Bartholomew the Apostle, which we shall display on the feast of Pentecost. Likewise we took out certain bones of S. Lawrence; but we left many relics lying within, because there are no authenticating documents."
[8] After nearly a hundred years had elapsed, the following appended testimony indicates that the sacred shrine was again opened. and in the year 1472. "In the year of the Lord one thousand four hundred and seventy-two. We the Dean and Chapter, desiring to be certified concerning the Relics of the holy Virgins, having invoked divine assistance, opened the casket placed upon the high altar... and in the said casket, which is adorned with silver, we found another wooden casket; which upon opening, we found in the same the bodies of the Saints, or their bones, wrapped and sewn in silk cloth, with a wonderful and sweet fragrance of odor; a part of an arm is taken thence for the devotion of the people. from which we took a part of an arm, to which a little skin adheres, which part we adorned to display to the people for the praise of God and of the holy Virgins. We also found in the said shrine one small wooden casket, a foot in length, in which various relics were stored, but without inscriptions. Having seen these things, we closed everything up as it was before and replaced it in its former place." Thus far that document. as well as a jawbone and three teeth. Besides the part of the arm, the jawbone of S. Herlindis with three white teeth is also preserved and displayed separately, as Jacques Oueren, Canon of Maaseik, mentioned in a certain letter.
[9] The author of the German Life adds that, by ancient custom, every seven years, with a great concourse of people and most pious reverence, the sacred Relics—all that are preserved at Alden-Eyck—Relics displayed every seven years, whether of these Virgins or of other Saints, were accustomed to be displayed during the days of Pentecost, and always in the year in which also at Trier, Aachen, Cologne, Maastricht, and Tongeren the sacred relics were exhibited to the gaze and veneration of the thronging populace. for the last time in the year 1566. This was done in that place for the last time in that fatal year 1566, when the Calvinist heretics, having assumed the name of Gueux, everywhere throughout Belgium broke and burned sacred Relics and images. Hence, although in a stone tower, fortified and broad, these Relics seemed to be safely guarded, preserved in the holy Chamber, in the holy Chamber, as they called it, of a stone vault, and were held with fitting honor at a double altar there, yet by the common counsel both of the Bishop of Liège, Gerard of Groesbeek, and of the Chapter itself, in the year 1571 the Canons migrated within the sufficiently fortified city of Maaseik with the sacred relics—whose Provost at that time was Peter Cortenbach and Dean William Erpius. with them the Canons migrate to Maaseik in the year 1571. And the Consuls who received them in their church presided over Maaseik: Leonard Oteren and William Ertwech. Then in the year 1596, on this March 22, Philip Aegidius, Dean of the Collegiate Church there, Nicholas Wiler the Pastor, Theodoric Hallai the Canon, and others appointed for the purpose examined these relics brought from Alden-Eyck, by whom certain relics were separated from the rest, and it was determined that for greater reverence they should be adorned with more precious ornaments and displayed every seven years, as was formerly done, with due beauty to the thronging populace; and the year 1601 was prescribed for the beginning of this solemnity.