Fingares or Guignerius

CONCERNING S. FINGARES OR GUIGNERIUS, S. PIALA THE VIRGIN, AND COMPANION MARTYRS IN BRITAIN.

AROUND A.D. 450.

Preliminary Commentary.

Fingares or Guignerius, Martyr in Britain (S.)

Piala, Virgin and Martyr in Britain (S.)

Companions, Martyrs in Britain (SS.)

[1] The author of the English Martyrology, Wilson, in his second edition of the year 1640, says: "In Cornwall, Name in the English Martyrology: the commemoration of S. Fingaris the Martyr, son of Clito, King of Ireland, who, converted to the faith

through S. Patrick, Name in the English Martyrology: and refusing the dignity of Prince and the crown offered after his father's death, crossed over to Cornwall to embrace the solitary life, where, slain out of hatred for the Christian religion by Theodoric, King of Cornwall, he died around the year of Christ five hundred." So he writes for this March 23 -- not February, as Colgan cites him -- and relying on this erroneous citation, he believes him to be the same as Finchanus or Finchadanus, whose burial or veneration at the place called Ard is mentioned for February 23 in the Hibernian hagiologies, the Tamlachtense and others. Moreover, regarding the time of martyrdom, he rightly corrects Wilson and establishes that it occurred around the year 450: the passion at the time of the Patrician preaching, which we gladly accept. For since Fingaris's departure from Ireland took place at the beginning of the Patrician preaching, he must have returned to his homeland within fifteen or even fewer years, when he found his sister there still a virgin, and negotiated concerning her endowment with paternal estates and placement in marriage.

[2] Patrick came to Ireland in the year 433, and within twenty or fewer years, traversing the entire island in his preaching, before the baptism of the seven sons of Amalgaid, he imbued most of the peoples, kings, and princes with the Christian faith: among whom were the seven sons of Amalgaid, King of Connaught, as is stated in his Life: those very ones, it seems, who are read here to have first scorned the Saint when he announced the mysteries of the faith, and who are called kings in the broader sense of the word. They are all named in the Tripartite Life, where their baptism is also narrated, as well as their advanced age before baptism, at which they both had adolescent sons and resisted Patrick stubbornly for some time, as may be sufficiently gathered from what is to be read there: yet among them no one bears the name Clito, but rather Abild or Olilt (for the Irish both write and pronounce this name in various ways) of whom Olilt is wrongly called Clito, who might be identified as the father of S. Fingaris here designated, and by the author of the Acts, Anselm, or by the writer of the brief notes he used, who was more ancient, or by the imperfect memory of the populace, from whose tradition the matter was received, distorted into this form through the corruption of the first letter -- all the more easily because the Saxons were accustomed to call the sons of kings Clitones, as the French call them Dauphins: as may be seen in Spelman's Glossary and in what we have on S. Edward for March 17. Indeed, Colgan notes that the name Fingaris itself is not purely Irish as regards its final syllable: Fingar is Guinger in the British tongue, while Guignerius, and perhaps more correctly Guingerius, appears to be the same name according to the British dialect: for just as the Irish say Fin for "bright, shining, white," so the Britons used Guin or Win in the same signification, as may be known from what was said regarding the Acts of S. Guingualoeus.

[3] Veneration among the Armoricans on December 14. Having thus set forth these matters, based on fairly probable conjecture, it must be examined where and by whose agency the slaughter of these Martyrs was perpetrated. Albert le Grand believed that Cornwall of Lesser Britain was stained with their glorious blood: perhaps because he found a synopsis of this passion in the ancient legendaries of the Cathedral of Vannes and the Collegiate of Folcoet, and its feast is celebrated on December 14 in the parish of Loc-Eguigner, situated in the commune of Ploudiry, about midway between Leon and Brest, slightly off the road beyond the little river of Brest; whose patron S. Guignerius is, and whose name seems to be formed from his name. Albert's opinion could be thought to have some support from the very name of the commune, if one wished to interpret Ploudiry as the "Parish of Theodoric": in the way that the Teutons abbreviate Theodoric as Dirick. We must nevertheless stand by the Acts, which indeed say that the monastic life was led by the Saint in Armorican Britain; He suffered in the island of Britain. but that on his return from a visit to Ireland through Greater Britain, he found the crown of Martyrdom there with his entire company. For as regards the Armoricans, besides the fact that they generally share the same Saints with the insular Britons, it could have happened that the relics of S. Guignerius were transferred to them on the day on which they now venerate him, by those who, compelled by Saxon arms, abandoned their ancestral homes and migrated to this neighboring continent of Gaul.

[4] As for the conjecture derived from the name Theodoric: Theodoric the tyrant, perhaps Coroticus, if the time of martyrdom truly falls within the Patrician period, it has no bearing here: for just as this name was entirely unknown to Gaul before the irruption of the Goths, so too to Britain before the arrival of the Saxons. Wherefore it must be said without question that our Writer, accustomed to Saxon vocabulary and not sufficiently distinguishing the periods, rendered the British Diry as Theodoric: or that this name was received in a corrupted form from Coroticus or Cereticus. For we do not seem to have spoken without plausibility in the preface to the Patrician epistle, that to the other cruelties of his which S. Patrick inveighs against, this slaughter also may be numbered: for although he was not precisely the King of Cornwall, he was a most fierce enemy of the Irish neophytes, and from his Ceretic territory he could have made a raid into Cornwall in the manner of a marauder, and perpetrated that massacre.

[5] The author names himself Anselm; and he must be ancient: Author of the Acts, Anselm, for the membranes of the Victorian Library at Paris, inserted after page 68 of codex 975, evidently exceed four hundred and more years in age: yet nothing therein attributes the writing to the celebrated Saint of that name, Bishop of Canterbury, who departed this life in the year 1110 and is venerated on April 21. Therefore we did not believe we could safely present these under his name: whether the Bishop of Canterbury? although Ioannes Picardus, a Religious of the monastery of S. Victor, undoubtedly did so in his edition of the Anselmian works; led, as he professes, by the facility of the flowing style shining forth in the other writings of D. Anselm; and although Theophilus Raynaudus followed this judgment, when he had the same work reprinted at Lyon, cleared of commentaries inserted by outsiders into the sacred books, as well as Colgan.

[6] This Theophilus complains about Walsingham, the collector of the Florilegium of the Saints of Ireland, whether March 23 is the day of the passion? that he added no light to this history, and did not even record the day of the martyrdom to be commemorated: but what Walsingham either could not do or omitted, Colgan amply supplied; although he was mistaken in designating February 23 instead of March 23, from Wilson. If anyone should think that Wilson did not find but chose that day at his own discretion, as he sometimes did elsewhere, we have nothing with which to defend it; yet we retain the certain veneration of S. Guignerius from Albert le Grand: and because we believe the day reported by him to be one of translation rather than passion, we think we may adhere to Wilson until we are taught something more certain from another source.

[7] S. Hia, January 25. At the same time when Fingar crossed from Ireland to Britain with his companions, S. Hia was also conveyed thither by a wondrous miracle, as is narrated in these same Acts. Concerning her, Camden seems to speak in his description of Cornwall, page 140: "The northern shore, piled up in a long stretch of sandy mounds from the very promontory of Belerium, extends to a town projecting into the sea on a sort of tongue, called S. Ives; it takes its name from Hia, an Irish woman who lived here in singular sanctity, formerly called Pendinas: and it adopted its name for the bay below it, into which the little river Haile flows; which is called by sailors Ivesbay." Wilson, from the Martyrology of Suben, records her under January 25, and attests that various churches and other monuments erected in her honor still survive: but he calls her Itha. Colgan follows Wilson. We have passed over her name in silence, since we had nothing about her beyond what is said here.

ACTS

Author: Anselm.

From the Paris manuscript of S. Victor.

Fingares or Guignerius, Martyr in Britain (S.)

Piala, Virgin and Martyr in Britain (S.)

Companions, Martyrs in Britain (SS.) BHL Number: 2988

BY ANSELM.

PROLOGUE.

You ask faithfully enough, dearest friend, that the admirable life of the holy Martyr Guignerius and his companions, which you previously retained in brief notes, and the triumph of his victory, be set forth for you in a fuller narrative. I desire, devout man, to comply with your devotion: and though not worthily, as the great deeds of mighty acts require, yet according to the capacity of my talent I shall be occupied, intent upon the praises of the Saints. For the praise of the soldier is the glory of the Commander, and when the virtues of the Saints are narrated, the glory of Christ is proclaimed. Let devotion therefore promise what knowledge denies; and trusting in the aid of the Saints, let me presume everything from their merits, what ability does not promise, nor be confounded by the poverty of my eloquence; since he demonstrated that the kingdom of God does not consist in the elegance of speech, who chose the unlearned and fishermen to proclaim his glory.

CHAPTER I.

Cast into exile, Fingar devotes himself to God's service, having built an oratory.

[1] To S. Patrick, The glorious Confessor of the Lord, Patrick, while he was dwelling intent upon holy works in the parts of Cornwall, was admonished by an angelic voice to go to the island of Ireland, there to preach the faith of Christ. Then the faithful and prudent servant, having understood the Lord's vision, arose without delay and sought the place foreordained for him by God, in no way fearing the ferocity of the barbarous and unbelieving people. When his arrival was made known by spreading report, seven kings of that island, together with the priests of idols to the conversion of Ireland, divinely sent, and chieftains and no small multitude of that people, came together to meet the Saint. The Saint, attacking these men with integrity of faith and full of devotion to the Lord, began to preach to them the Gospel of Christ with confidence, and to proclaim salvation in Jesus. But since a vessel full of wormwood, unless the bitterness is first expelled, does not admit the sweetness of another liquid, those men, still filled with the spirit of pride, would not receive the doctrine of salvation: but observing his humility and noting the simplicity of his clothing, they utterly despised the holy and truly Apostolic man hiding within.

[2] Fingar stands up. Among the aforesaid kings, there was one nobler and more powerful than all, named Clito. He had a son, an adolescent of good character, called Fingar, foreknown by divine election and already filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. He alone out of all of them, rising for the holy Patrick, received the man of God with what honor he could, and yielded to him, and made him sit in the place where he himself had been sitting. The angry and severe father, inflamed with great indignation against his son, and therefore banished by his angry father, saying that he intended to destroy the worship of their gods and introduce through S. Patrick the new law of the Christians, expelled him from the kingdom and disinherited him from his father's land. Several young nobles of Ireland, bound to him by the sweetest love, departed with him as fellow exiles, and by land and sea arrived in Lesser Britain.

When the ruler of Britain heard that new settlers had arrived, he ordered them to be brought before him, inquiring diligently who they were, for what purpose, and whence they had come. They answered that they had been driven from Ireland: and after seriously setting forth the reason for their banishment, they asked that, by his clemency, he would grant them a place and permission to dwell in his province. When the Duke had learned of the noble birth of the young men, and at the same time recognized the cause of their exile, with the greatest generosity assenting to their request, he granted them as much land to inhabit as one man could ride around in a day; and he ordered that they be held in veneration, and judged that Fingar especially should be honored. Having therefore obtained the Lord's grace in all things, they were loved by all, honored by all, and the new guests began henceforth to live familiarly with the natives.

[4] But since the supreme providence of God now wished to bind his recruit Fingar more closely to his service, he is separated from his companions while hunting, he set him apart by such an artifice. Going out to hunt one day with his companions, the dogs began to pursue a stag they had found. When it fled with the speed customary to that animal, the dogs pressing hard, Fingar alone with the dogs, leaving his companions behind, pursued the fleeing stag. What more? He caught the stag, killed it, and stripping its hide, cut it into pieces limb by limb and loaded them on his horse, as though intending to return to his companions, who had lost sight of him when a mist descended. But when he wished to wash his blood-stained garment and bloodied hands, looking about in every direction, he could find no water: and having fixed the point of his labarum^d in the earth, with his spear he draws forth a spring, a most welcome stream of an unexpected spring flowed out. He marveled at the streams of the new water and attributed the deed to the power of him who gave drink to the ancient people by striking the rock. Let this deed be compared, if you will, with the ancient miracle of S.^e Clement: except that the latter discovered the hidden treasure of the spring by the foot of the Lamb, while this one found the bubbling vein by the sharp point of his weapon.

[5] At length, when he was preparing to wash himself at the spring, bending over the water, he noticed through the reflection the beauty of his handsome face (for he was very comely and fair of aspect), and began to praise God and bless him, and he resolves to serve God alone, who had bestowed such great grace upon him. And from that hour, pledging to serve him with all devotion, he removed the bridle from the horse's head and let it go free wherever it wished. He himself, however, hiding among the rocks under a certain cave, lived for some time on acorns of the oaks. His companions, scattered throughout the area, sought him with all diligence, and when they did not find him, returned very anxious and sorrowful to their dwelling. The lord of Britain, when he heard that Fingar was missing, summoned his companions to himself and demanded to know [His companions, suspected of killing the man who did not appear, are ordered to search for him:] what had become of him, or what had been done to him. And committing them bound to custody, he threatened, swearing that he would kill them all unless they told him the truth, supposing that they had killed him in a quarrel or dispute. But why would they have killed a man for whose love they had left their native land, endured infinite labors, and tolerated many perils of land and sea? In the end, the grief they felt for him showed them to be not murderers but true friends, and such as should be trusted not for hatred but for friendship. Having explained, however, how he had departed from them during the pursuit of a stag, they offered to search for him again, saying they would show the places where they had lost their companion, if he would send men who knew how to search for him more skillfully.

[6] They went, and having found him with much labor, he was brought with honor into the presence of the Duke. The Duke grants him a place for an oratory. And when the Duke, delighted at his discovery, kindly inquired the reason for his action, he answered that he was entirely devoted to divine service, and could by no means ever return to the duties of the secular world: if, however, by his kindness the Duke would grant him a place where, having built an oratory, he might serve God more quietly, he would gladly accept it. The benevolent Duke, consenting to favor his wish, assigned him a place; and moreover, he granted the entire land that he had previously conceded to him and his companions for habitation, free from all tribute, as a perpetual endowment. The chosen one of the Lord, Fingar, therefore entered the place designated by the Duke's clemency, where he leads an eremitical life, most amply endowed and enriched with estates and possessions, and with his whole mind and devotion intent upon the dwelling of the heavenly throne, he established an abode of sanctification in which God would be perpetually praised. The servant of God thenceforth girded himself more strongly for greater works: he subdued the flesh, strengthened the spirit, and by persecuting himself, perfected himself in the Lord.^f

CHAPTER II.

Having rejected the inheritance, he sails to Britain with many and is distinguished by miracles.

[7] After some time, admonished by angelic exhortation, he was commanded to return to his birthplace. Warned by an Angel, he returns to his homeland. When he had returned thither, supported in all things by the Lord's protection, he found Ireland subjected to the laws of Christ, glorying in the confession of the Christian name, and entirely washed with the holy laver. The servants rejoiced to have received a Lord, the Christians a patron, the faithful a companion: they asked him, since his father Clito had died, to assume the kingship, desiring to have such a defender, by whose providence the kingdom would be governed and the still-new Christian religion protected. "To you," they said, "apart from our desire to have you as a supporter of the Christian faith, honor is due from royal lineage; to you the inheritance belongs; to you the possession falls by hereditary right." Then he said: "Spare me, dearest ones: once I have been dedicated to Christ; I have vowed to serve him alone; I cannot henceforth return to the offices of the world: for no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God: no one who serves God entangles himself in worldly affairs, that he may please him to whom he has devoted himself."

[8] And when those who asked pressed on with pious importunity: He refuses the proffered scepter. "In vain, brothers," he said, "do you labor with such entreaties: for I cannot be detained with you any longer. But if you wish to act according to my counsel, choose an industrious and faithful man, one of the nobles of the homeland, by whose providence the kingdom may be governed and the religion of the Christian faith protected: and give him my sister Piala in marriage together with the kingdom." For the most illustrious virgin^a Piala was the daughter of the most noble King Clito, sister of S. Guignerius, regenerated in Christ through the laver of purification. Those instructed by the Saint's counsel therefore spoke to the sacred virgin about a bridegroom: to whom she, His sister Piala also refuses the marriage, entirely grounded in the love of Christ, answered: "My bridegroom is Christ, who by his grace has chosen me as a partner of his kingdom; to him I have pledged my faith, which I ought not to violate: and therefore I cannot accept any other bridegroom besides him. I despise the glory of this kingdom, which ought not to be called glory since it cannot be free from misery; and I yearn for the kingdom that the Lord Jesus Christ promises, where there is no sorrow or sadness, but perpetual pleasure and everlasting joy." The Saint, seeing that the virgin's purpose was solidified in the love of Christ, constant in her vow of virginity, so that she could by no means be persuaded to consent to marriage, said: "Leave her, brothers, and do not strive against the good pleasure of God: he himself so willed it, and so foresaw it would be. Let us commit this kingdom to God's providence: he himself according to his will shall provide a guardian and defender." And bidding farewell to all, he prepared for his departure. Seven hundred and seventy men followed him,^b and seven Bishops, and with her brother and a great company crosses to Britain, whom S. Patrick had begotten for Christ through the water of incorruptibility; filled with God and instructed in the divine law, desiring to be companions of his blessed pilgrimage in the Lord: among whom was the aforesaid virgin Piala, sister of the blessed Guignerius. All therefore, united by holy fellowship in the Lord, proceeded together with their patron to the shore: and finding a ship according to their wish, they all boarded the vessels together.

[9] S. Hia, conveyed across the Ocean on a leaf. They had already sailed a little distance from the land when behold, a certain virgin named Hia, born of noble blood, arrived at the shore, desiring to be united to the blessed company of the Saints: and seeing them already far removed from the shore, she was tormented by excessive grief; and fixing her knees on the ground, raising her hands and eyes to the heights, she devoutly sought counsel from heaven. And relaxing her gaze slightly downward, she beheld upon the waters a small leaf; and extending the staff she carried in her hand, she touched it, wishing to test whether it would sink. And behold, before her eyes it began to grow and expand, so that she could not doubt that this assistance had been sent from God. And strong in faith, boldly mounting the leaf, she was wonderfully borne by the power of God and reached the other shore before her companions. We need not hesitate concerning the works of God: for he who mightily divided the Red Sea for the people to cross, who opened the Jordan for Elijah, and who made Peter walk upon the waters -- he himself conveyed his Virgin as he wished. The companions, having set their sails, cutting through the ocean waves, arrived by a prosperous course in Cornwall, she precedes them, at the port called^c Heul: where the sacred virgin Hia, conveyed by the power of God, had already preceded them. And disembarking from the ship, they found a certain habitation not far from the shore, in which a certain holy Virgin was living enclosed; and S. Guignerius, not wishing to disturb her, Guignerius, leaving her behind, after greeting the Virgin, they moved to another place to take their meal. Where, when the Saint saw that water was lacking, with full confidence in Jesus Christ, having first offered prayer, he fixed his staff in the ground, and immediately the clearest water sprang forth for the Saints to drink.

[10] After the meal, setting out from there, they came to a certain

village called^d Conetconia. There a certain faithful and God-fearing woman, named^e Coruria, showed them no small kindness. For since her dwellings could not contain all of them, he is kindly received by a pious woman, nor did they have straw on which all might rest, she uncovered the houses and furnished the thatch with which they were roofed for the Saints to lie upon. The woman, full of charity, gave them one cow for food: which being killed, and its meat duly and carefully prepared, all ate together. At length, when the supper was completed with thanksgiving, the holy Fingar ordered all the bones, stripped of flesh, to be gathered into one place, and the hide of the same cow to be laid on top. Then he invited all the Confessors of Christ and he restores her property intact by a miracle who were with him to prayer, saying: "Let us pray, brothers, that God, for whose love this most dutiful woman served us this cow, may restore it to her." And when the prayer was completed, before the eyes of all, there stood a cow, more beautiful than before. Then he ordered that milk from it be brought to him: and having drunk it, he simply besought God that the vein of milk, more copious than in other cows, might be tripled in this one. Which is narrated to have been accomplished not only in that cow, but in all that descended from it. When morning came, as they were now wishing to set out on their way, looking back they saw all the dwellings thatched and repaired, restoring everything to her in better condition, as if they had never been uncovered. Then the faithful, who were following in the footsteps of Christ under the leadership of S. Guignerius, seeing the wonders of God multiplied at every place, were more and more strengthened and confirmed in the faith and love of Christ. And rightly did Christ need to strengthen his witnesses with such consolations and comfort them, whom he had disposed to crown shortly through the palm of martyrdom. When morning came, they set out and made their way through certain wooded places.

CHAPTER III.

The Martyrdom of S. Guignerius and his companions.

[11] Report had already sounded in the ears of Theodoric, King of Cornwall, that a Christian multitude had arrived in his land; The tyrant attacks the innocent, and the God-hating tyrant, fearing that they might wish to convert his people to the faith of Christ, having gathered his soldiers, rushed to the place where he knew the Saints to be, more savage than a wild beast. He does not wait for a reason, does not seek an explanation, does not wish to hear a word: but coming unexpectedly from behind, suddenly the bloody lion, assailing the sheep of Christ, slays, butchers, and lays them low. The Saints are cut down, mutilated, torn apart, and some with their heads severed, others inhumanely run through with swords, others slaughtered -- all in a single day made Martyrs of Christ, by the shortcut of sacred death all equally received the prize of eternal life.

[12] S. Fingar, who happened at that time to be separated a little from his companions, was sitting in a certain valley waiting for those who followed: Guignerius, having gone ahead, where, having fixed in the ground the staff he carried in his hand, as soon as he drew back the elder bush toward him, a fertile spring burst forth from the earth: which, handsomely enclosed by a double stone on either side, ceases not to flow in copious stream to this very day. And suddenly hearing a tumult arise in the company, wondering what it was, he hastened back to the Saints: returns to encourage his own, and seeing the victims of Christ being slaughtered on every side, and the enemy's sword running confusedly through the limbs of the Saints, he said to the few who were with him: "Behold, brothers, here is the place of our rest; here God has determined to put an end to our labors. Come therefore, brothers, and let us gladly be offered up for him who gave his life as a ransom for many. Let us not fear those who kill the body; but rather him who has power to cast both body and soul into hell." And going to meet the tyrant, he said: "You do the works of your father, son of the devil." And the tyrant said to him: "You shall not escape my hands; you shall not flee the sword." And extends his neck to be cut off. Then the Saint, joyfully offering an acceptable sacrifice to God, having fixed in the earth beside him the staff he carried in his hand, fearlessly stretched out his neck to receive the blow of the striker. The most savage tyrant, seizing his sword, mightily struck his bare neck and, cutting off his head, made him a Martyr of Christ. And immediately the trunk of the sacred body picked up from the ground the head that the executioner's blade had severed from its neck; and carried it to a hill not far distant from the place, walking on steady knees with his own hands.

[13] There was a certain village situated on the slope of the same hill: in which, when he heard women quarreling, the head from a contentious place, he cursed the place with perpetual strife: that those dwelling therein should never cease quarreling among themselves. Whence, as is reported, the land, though fruitful, remains nevertheless uninhabitable; retaining the grace of fertility in one respect, but subjected to the curse of the Saint in another. The holy Martyr, therefore, not wishing to rest in that place because of the tumult, he carries it to another: taking up his head again, carried it to another place, where he laid down his bloodied head and carefully washed it (in which place a most welcome spring ceases not to flow in a continual stream to this day). And carefully taking it up again after washing, he carried it once more to another place: which place is separated from the one in which the holy Martyrs had suffered a spring from the blood by a small intervening space of a certain wooded glade. The place that received the stream of blood flowing from the body of the Saint immediately opened up and produced a fertile spring, which is shown to this day to those who see it. One of the soldiers, moreover, wishing to seize the holy Martyr's staff from the place where he had fixed it nearest to his passion, saw that from the forked branch a double leaf had already burst forth: a tree sprouts from the staff: and terrified by so great a miracle, he did not dare to touch it. To this day there can be seen, as a testimony to the Saint, a lofty (so it is said) tree, raised from the staff by the power of God, but of what species it is, is unknown.

[14] The bodies of the Saints still lay unburied across the field: a countryman is roused by a vision and behold, on a certain night, the witness of Christ, in the same manner in which he had carried his own head in his arms upon the hill, appearing to a certain man named Gur three times in a vision, admonished him to bury him. The man, waking, narrated the vision in order to his wife -- namely, how the Saint had persuaded him concerning the burial. But the woman dissuaded him from doing it, lest he incur the king's wrath and on that account deserve the sentence of death. On the next day, however, going out into the field to hunt with his dogs, and by a miracle is roused to action, he found a stag which, pursued by the swiftness of the dogs, fled and fell down at the burial mound of the holy Martyr, as though seeking the protection of his holiness: the dogs ceased barking and pursuing the stag, and, all their ferocity relaxed, lay down together with the stag, as if venerating the Saint. The man contemplated the great spectacle, and with his mind struck and returned to himself, reflecting on what he had seen by night, he concluded that he had been led there by divine guidance: and taking up the body of the most holy Martyr, he buried it with what veneration he could. Then diligently searching the field for the bodies of the holy Martyrs, just as they lay, he buried them in the field.

[15] After some time, when the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, A church is built over the tomb: that is, the Church, had begun to occupy the borders of Cornwall, a basilica was begun by the devotion of the faithful above the tomb of the holy Martyr. And when the craftsmen who were laboring on the work of the oratory lacked necessities and no one was supplying them, the Saint, remembering his own who devotedly served his honor, appearing by night in vision to the provincials round about, admonished each one to bring food and necessary assistance to the workers. He came at length to a certain man who had an untamed bull, admonishing him to lead it to the workers and give it to them for food. When morning came, the anxious man, thinking about the Saint's command, began to consider how he might subdue the stubborn and very proud animal, food for the workers is provided by divine aid, and bind it with straps and lead it where the holy Martyr had commanded. And mounting his horse, going out to find the bull, he saw the formerly untamed animal now standing, by the power of God, most gentle, before the doors; and walking of its own accord before its master, it went gently by the direct route to the place where the craftsmen were laboring on the work of the oratory. The beast was slaughtered, and seeing that the Martyr's help was at hand, they applied themselves to the work all the more devoutly thereafter.

[16] The wound of one of them is healed. Another memorable and noteworthy miracle is reported to have occurred during the construction of the same basilica. One of the craftsmen who were laboring on the work struck the axe, and it was broken and divided into two pieces. The agitated man began to swear and protest that he would do no more work. When the superintendent of the work heard this -- a good man who had taken up the care of the basilica for God's sake and had devotedly dedicated himself to the service of the Saint -- he began to console the man and to soothe his sadness with gentle words: and taking the pieces in the name of Jesus Christ and joining the broken parts together, immediately by the merits of the glorious Martyr the tool was fitted and consolidated; so that no trace of the fracture appeared any longer. God was praised and blessed by all in common: and the man who had sworn he would do no more work, strengthened by so great a miracle, now persevered more firmly in the work.

[17] But since I have begun to narrate the virtues of the Saint, I believed this should be inserted into the account, Violators of the sacred stone are punished, which strikes fear into unbelievers and admonishes everyone about reverence for the Saints. When two soldiers, in contempt of the holy Martyr, urinated upon a certain stone^a to which the anchor of his ship had been fastened, divine vengeance struck both of them at once. For both were seized by a demon: one of them chewed his tongue to pieces between his teeth, while the entrails of the other were entirely expelled through his posterior; and thus both expired in a horrible manner. Behold, from this it can be sufficiently perceived with what great reverence God wills the Saints to be honored, whose contempt he ordains to be expiated by so strict a judgment. Upon the sarcophagus of a certain venerable Bishop, likewise sacrilegious fornicators, who had been one of the companions of King Clito, a certain

corrupter dared to defile the lap of a certain woman; and like dogs, inseparably coupled in the very act of turpitude, they could by no means be separated from one another. They were at length brought to the memorial of the glorious Martyr Guignerius, where by the merit of Christ's witness and the intercession of the faithful they were freed.

[18] The sacristan of the holy Martyr, moreover, had a cow: which when certain wicked men had stolen, and cattle thieves, as they were leading it away, they suddenly saw two burning lights upon its horns; and terrified by such a spectacle, returning the next day, they gave back the cow to its rightful sacristan and, entreating both for satisfaction of their offense and for pardon, gave another cow as well. Earth taken from the Saint's tomb with faith and devotion, through the merits of the Martyr, drives away sicknesses and restores health. These things I, Anselm, servant of Christ Jesus, concerning the passion of the Saints and the virtues of the precious Martyr Guignerius, have set down in brief style according to the testimony of those who told the tale; epilogue of the author, that the faithful who glory in his spiritual title may have readings with which to occupy themselves and learn the brave deeds of their own Patron: and for this reason I have added my name at the end, that through the merit of the Martyr and the prayer of the faithful I may deserve the mercy of our Redeemer Jesus Christ our Lord, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns throughout all ages of ages.