Hermelandus

ON SAINT HERMELANDUS, ABBOT OF AINDRE IN GAUL, IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY.

Preliminary Commentary.

Hermelandus, Abbot of Aindre, in Gaul (S.)

[1] The Loire, among the larger rivers of Gaul, which it traverses, a few miles below the city of Nantes includes in its channel several islands, of which the principal one, called Aindre from Saint Hermelandus, is celebrated on account of the monastery founded there by him in the seventh century of Christ, in which he both lived and was buried after his death, and was illustrious with many miracles both in life and after death. The monastery of Aindre was built, Saint Hermelandus had been sent from the monastery of Fontenelle at the request especially of Saint Pasquier, Bishop of this city, in whose Ecclesiastical Office for July 10 it is read that this man erected the said monastery, endowed it with tithes, taxes, estates, revenues, and many Ecclesiastical furnishings: but that the infidel Northmen, returning from the massacre at Nantes in the year of the Lord eight hundred and forty-three, burned and ravaged that monastery: burned and ravaged by the Northmen: whose traces are still visible to those who look. The monks had then fled (as is found in the Deeds of the Normans before Rollo, in Chesne, from the Angers manuscript) into the city, taking with them the precious treasure of the church; but when the city was captured, the Northmen slaughtered some of the monks outside, others inside the church of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul (which was the noblest and most beautiful in the city), and most of them upon the very altar of the temple like a sacrificial victim; the rest, however, they carried off with them at nightfall and placed on their fleet. When these things were done, they approached by boats the monastery of the islands of Aindre on the Nativity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and ravaged and burned it. This was the end and outcome of the said monastery, which endured for only about one hundred and sixty years.

[2] Meanwhile the sacred memory of Saint Hermelandus has been preserved to this day in the ancient Acts, Ecclesiastical calendars, the Acts of Saint Hermelandus were written by an ancient author, and various temples and altars dedicated in his honor. His Acts were written by an ancient and almost contemporary author, urged by the request of the Brothers and under the pretext of obedience, and he relates what he learned by sight and by the report of the Brothers, as he himself states in the Prologue, and at number 45: "From the report of many of the same monastery," he says, "I have learned, who saw the man himself when he was healed." Lawrence Surius had these Acts and testifies that they were composed seriously and in good faith, although the author concealed his name. Meanwhile, because he judged the author to have used a somewhat unpleasing style, he himself rendered them somewhat more in Latin, for the most part also paraphrastically, and sometimes more concisely. We give the same Acts in their original and genuine style in their entirety,

which we have in a very ancient codex, given from ancient manuscripts. which we redeemed from the Molsheim College of the Society of Jesus in Alsace by exchange of other books. In that codex are contained the Lives of the Fathers written by Saint Gregory of Tours, and his book On the Glory of Confessors, then the Life of Saint Hilary the Bishop composed by Bishop Fortunatus, and "the Life of the virtues and signs of the venerable Hermelandus, Abbot and Founder of the monastery which is called Aindre, of the province of Nantes, surrounded on all sides by the Loire river": as indicated in the title. The codex itself was written in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord seven hundred and sixty-seven, Indiction 5, with an illustrious mention of King Pippin, son of the blessed memory of Prince Charles Martel, and a description of the sacred anointing of him and his sons Charles and Carloman: which we shall give on another occasion. Another copy of this Life was submitted to us at Dijon in the year 1659 by Peter Francis Chifflet of our Society, transcribed from a codex of the Cistercian monastery of Val-Luisant in the diocese of Sens. We also have the earlier part up to number 18 from the manuscript codex of Rouge-Cloitre of the Canons Regular near Brussels. We obtained another compendium of this Life from the manuscript codex of Utrecht, Saint Saviour's.

[3] An illustrious encomium of Saint Hermelandus exists in the Life of Saint Ansbert, Archbishop of Rouen, by the monk Aigradus, an encomium in the Acts of Saint Ansbert, but later interpolated: which we published from manuscripts at February 9: in it, chapter 3, various Saints are enumerated who under Abbot Saint Lambert began the monastic life with Saint Ansbert, and at number 16 these things are related: "Under his governance also, Blessed Hermelandus from the aforesaid monastery of Fontenelle, at the request of the venerable Bishop Pasquier of the city of Nantes, was directed to that same region of Nantes by the Father Lambert himself, and on a certain island of the Loire channel, which was called Aindre, according to the property of that name, he built a venerable monastery of monks. In whose donation the aforesaid Bishop Pasquier established that after the death of the same venerable Father Hermelandus, all the inhabitants of the aforesaid place should appoint for themselves Rectors from the monastery of Fontenelle for all succeeding times, as the donations of the same place, which are still preserved in the aforesaid monastery of Fontenelle, most clearly declare." Which were written at least before the destruction of the Aindre monastery.

[4] The memory of the same Saint persists in the sacred Fasti: of these, the Cassinese Martyrology in Lombard script celebrates "the Birthday of Saint Hermelandus the Abbot." The manuscripts of Centula under the name of Bede, and of Trier, Saint Paulinus's, have: "On the island of Aindre, of Saint Hermelandus the Abbot." sacred memory in Martyrologies: The same is found in the manuscripts of the Cologne Carmelites and the Vallicella of the Fathers of the Congregation of the Oratory at Rome; in the latter Hermelantus is written, and in the former the title "Domnus" (Lord) is prefixed. In the manuscript of Queen Christina of Sweden, written in Franconia, these words are found: "In the district of Nantes, on the island called Aindre, of Saint Hermelandus the Abbot." Usuard adorns him with this eulogy: "On the island of Aindre, of Saint Hermelandus the Abbot: whose glorious way of life is praised by the commendation of miracles." The same is read in the Hagiologium of Franco-Gaul by Philip Labbe, excerpted from the ancient Martyrology of the Abbey of Saint Laurence of Bourges, likewise in the Liege manuscript of Saint Laurence under the name of Ado, and another of Antwerp under the name of Bede. Similar things are found with today's Roman Martyrology and the manuscript Florarium, in Canisius, Galesinius, and in the Monastic Martyrologies of Wion, Dorganius, and Menardus. Longer encomia were published by Saussaius and Bucelinus.

[5] The churches and parishes in the diocese of Nantes dedicated to Saint Hermelandus are: Guenrot in the deanery of Roche-Bernard, churches dedicated to him: Rouxiere in Chateaubriant, Bouaye in Raye, and they are called in French "Cures de Saint Herblain." At Rouen in the city, not far from the Cathedral, there is a Parish church of Saint Hermelandus, commonly called Saint Herbland, from the ancient manuscript codex of which church we add in the Appendix to the Life an illustrious miracle, which we received from there through the industry of Frederick Flouet, Priest of our Society. In the Rouen Breviary printed in the year 1627, a commemoration of Saint Hermelandus is prescribed for March 26, and the Prayer prescribed for the feasts of Abbots is read.

[6] John Molanus in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium reports the same Saint with some doubt in these words: his homeland is not Nijmegen in Gelderland, "On the island of Aindre, of Saint Hermelandus the Abbot. He was the first Abbot of Aindre in Lesser Brittany and is greatly praised by the monk of his institute who wrote his Life: from which it could seem that he should be referred to the Saints of Belgium, because in it is written: 'Hermelandus, born of most noble parents among the people of Noviomacum: who, coming from the shores of Germany to our parts, shone with virtues like another Benedict.' But the people of Nijmegen in Gelderland do not know him, and it seems more likely to me that he was a Gallic Noviomagensian or Noviomensian (for these too could be said to be on the shores of Germany), since it is established that many German cities in Flanders were subject to the Bishop of Noyon up to the time of Bernard, and that some, both ancient and others fond of antiquity, call him 'Noviomagensian.'" Thus he. Through the mediation of Saint Bernard and Pope Eugene, but Noyon on the borders of France. in the city of Tournai, which for over four hundred years had been subject to the church of Noyon, a proper Bishop was established. Hence Molanus seems to infer that Saint Hermelandus, even if he was not born among the people of Nijmegen in Gelderland, nevertheless belonged to Belgium, as if he were born in Flanders, where the language of Lower Germany prevails, in the then diocese of Noyon. But that opinion rests on a corrupt reading, since in our most ancient codex, and perhaps written in the monastery of Aindre itself, Saint Hermelandus is said to have come "from the shores of France": for which word some pedant substituted "from the shores of Germany," plainly ignorant of the ancient manner of speaking, by which Francia properly designates that part of Gaul which is somewhat distant from the Loire toward the Rhine through the parts of Belgium, from which the first Kings were originally native. Thus in the Life of Saint Hadelin, February 3, number 2, Saints Agricius, Maximinus, and Paulinus are said to have come from Aquitaine to the land of the Franks, and in the Life of Saint Amandus, February 6, number 22, the same man is said to have returned from Aquitaine to the borders of the Franks, and in the Life of Saint Benedict, Abbot of Aniane and Inda, February 12, number 34, the latter was ordered by the Emperor Louis the Pious to go from Narbonese Gaul to the parts of Francia. Therefore Saint Hermelandus could have been born in the city or territory of Noyon, and hence said to have come from the shores of Francia to the people of Nantes.

[7] Concerning the age of Saint Hermelandus, some things from his Life are certainly established, from which we must first determine He lived at Fontenelle under Abbot Saint Lambert, that Saint Lambert was Abbot of Fontenelle from the year 673 to the year 684, and that by him Saint Hermelandus was received in that monastery and clothed in the sacred habit: and after the probation of novices was completed, admitted to profession, and since he excelled in virtues, consecrated as Priest by his command, and at last sent to Saint Pasquier, Bishop of Nantes, with twelve other monks, to preside over the erection of a new monastery. Hence we gather that he lived under Abbot Saint Lambert at Fontenelle, if not for almost the entire period, at least for several years. Secondly, it is established that he had reached a mature age when he came to Fontenelle, namely one who before, when he was excellently instructed in studies, had lived in the Royal court, and had turned the heart of the King and of all the Optimates to love for him by the grace of his charm, before this, in the court of Chlothar III, Prince of the cupbearers: to such an extent that the King, embracing him with excessive love, appointed him dispenser of his drink and Prince of the cupbearers, though he resisted. The King of the Franks, however, when Saint Lambert became Abbot of Fontenelle, was Chlothar III, who, having succeeded his father Clovis II, who died in 662, ruled for nearly fourteen years, dying in 675 or the beginning of the next year. Mention is made of this Chlothar below in the Acts, and a tranquil peace under his reign is indicated: which should be referred to the years in which Hermelandus flourished at his court, not to his birth, since he had long since been born under Clovis the father. Chlothar was succeeded by his brothers, Childeric; and when he was killed in 679, Theuderic, during whose time the monastery of Aindre was built. The sons of Theuderic were Clovis III, who succeeded his father in 693, and Childebert, he had a privilege from Childebert II. made King upon the death of his brother in 698, who gave a privilege to Saint Hermelandus for the stability of his monastery.

[8] Here are the times in which Saint Hermelandus flourished. But how many years he lived, the Acts are silent, worn out by advanced old age, in which it is said at number 28 that he was "worn out by advanced old age," so that he seems at least to have reached seventy years of age: which could be distributed thus: born around the year 645, he arrived at the Royal court as a young man of about 20 years; leaving it around the year of Christ 675, at the age of 30, he began the monastic life; he lived at Fontenelle until about the year 682 or the next, when the monastery of Aindre was built; in which he lived until about the year 715, he died around the year 715 or 720. when at seventy he had already, worn out by advanced old age, migrated to Christ. If anyone thinks he lived until the year 720, we do not wish to resist. Baronius in his Notes on the Roman Martyrology cites the Chronicle of Sigebert, listing his death in the year of the Lord six hundred and ninety. Wion, Bucelinus, and others copy Baronius. But we find nothing similar in four different editions of Sigebert, nor in the illustrious manuscripts of the same Chronicle: in which, since the beginning of the reign of Childebert is placed at the year 697, how could the man of God Hermelandus have been honored with the friendship of King Childebert and enriched with privileges, and have returned to the monastery, if he had already died seven years before that king was promoted to the throne? The remainder we observe in the Life itself: in whose ancient exemplars it is written Ermenlandus, not Hermelandus, which others commonly do.

LIFE From various manuscript Codices.

Hermelandus, Abbot of Aindre, in Gaul (S.)

BHL Number: 3851

FROM MANUSCRIPTS.

PROLOGUE.

[1] Since the most sacred mother Church, rejoicing in the eminent Fathers For the benefit arising to the Church from sacred histories, (whom she rejoices to have obtained the palm by fighting against the serpent, with the prevenient grace of divine generosity, while they still employed the light granted to mortals, and after the triumphant end of their struggle, she does not doubt that they eternally enjoy the far better light, that is, of uncircumscribed Deity), wisely institutes that their memorials, profitable to all posterity, should be directed for their benefit, not in speeches polished with the show of secular eloquence (to which no small share of flattery is ascribed), but rather in a simple narrative sequence; so that, although the happy birth of their time, bearing them for heaven, may have separated them from the sight of mortals, yet by the frequent recitation of reading they might be represented to the eyes of the faithful: so that, striving with all their might to imitate their brave deeds, they might be enriched with virtues, and from those things which they cannot imitate, they might be more truly strengthened in humility; it is clear to all wise persons that all who, drawn by this affection, laboriously endeavor to write the deeds of the Saints, do not lack reward; and that the negligent, slipping away, cannot lack fault. Animated therefore by this long meditation, and especially at the request of the Brothers, when from the virtues of the blessed man, Hermelandus the Confessor (who, coming from the shores of Francia to our borders, flourishing in virtues, shone forth the author writes from the sight and report of the monks. as a new Benedict, so to speak), I determined to commit to writing certain things which I learned by sight and by the report of the Brothers; I was impeded by the obstacle of two things on opposite sides, lest either some rashness should be ascribed to my unskilled pen (inasmuch as I, possessing no prerogative of knowledge, was about to undertake writing the Acts of so great a Father in plebeian speech), or lest, while I myself was being carried through every byway on a mournful path, I, neglecting to imitate the way of the most holy man that never deviated from the right path, should try to show others the way to be imitated. But with the force of twin fear revolving for a long time, as if prostrated on the ground, committing my limbs, wearied by the despair of this work, to idle leisure, at last urged by the request of the Brothers, the work which I long deliberated to flee by hiding; by the pretext of obedience, destitute of the aid of all my powers, trusting only in the mercy of the Most High, gifted by him, gifted myself, I undertook to insert it into parchments. Therefore, with my knees alone fixed to the ground, I implore all who, by the condescension of humility, may have turned their sacred gaze to reading this little work, not to judge the brave deeds of the aforesaid Father less worthy of the highest praises on account of the unpolished style: but to deign to remember the stupid editor of this work; so that he may merit to obtain from the merciful Judge pardon for his offenses and the perpetual crown; and that they themselves, enriched with eternal glory by the prayers of mercy, may merit to be given by the generosity of Christ.

The following chapter headings were appended, to which at the end we have added the numbers from our division to which each chapter corresponds.

CHAPTER I

The birth, studies, courtly and then monastic life of Saint Hermelandus. His Priesthood.

[2] When the necks of very many Kings throughout the whole world had been submitted to the yoke of the Christian religion, and the faith of the holy Church, with the mist of errors dispelled, bright with the light of Evangelical truth, Born of noble stock, enjoyed a tranquil peace in every domain of Chlothar, King of the Franks; the venerable Hermelandus, having obtained the beginning of his natural birth, came forth from the most noble parents of the inhabitants of Noviomacum into a temporal light, destined to enjoy a perpetual one. This most blessed child, nourished with the rich provisions of his distinguished parents, and, as is customary for a noble offspring, imbued with virtue together with letters, surrounded by the affection of his noble lineage, was handed over for the sake of his advancement to teachers of letters, with the provision of such great nobility. Instructed by these more fully than all his contemporaries, surpassing all boyish petulance by the gravity of his character, he gave no assent to any alluring concupiscence. Also crushing the lasciviousness of the flesh by the ardor of the spirit, he preferred the nobility of the soul to the nobility of the flesh: so that in those very schools, the boy, shining forth as consecrated by the uprightness of his soul, was held admirable by all. His parents, seeing him for the most part instructed in the teachings of letters he is brought into the King's court: and fit for royal military service, took him from the schools and introduced him into the royal court, and commended him with great honor to the King of the Franks as one about to serve; so that through the path of this service he might reach the honor due to his progenitors.

[3] But the man of God, Hermelandus, setting aside all the height and glory of this world for the love of Christ, desired more to earn the lasting joys of the just through the labor of this passing world, than to suffer the perpetual punishments of the unjust through the transitory glory of the world. For his holy desire was far removed from the will of his parents: averse to ambition, for what they were striving to do for the glory of his dignity, he judged to be done to the detriment of his salvation, recalling the sentence of the Apostle who says: "No one serving God entangles himself in worldly business." 2 Timothy 2 And unless he would seem to be a contradector of the same Apostle's sentence, which says: "Children, obey your parents," they could by no means persuade him, who desired heavenly things, to take up earthly service. Ephesians 6 But cautious lest he should be contrary in any way to salutary admonitions, compelled, he obeys: and considering at the same time that he had not yet attained the faculty of his own free will, he reluctantly and in appearance only took up the military habit in body, whom in mind he sought to flee by hiding. But with the Lord protecting him, while remaining at the royal court, from a raw recruit he was made so perfect a soldier that he turned the heart of the King and of all the Optimates to love for him by the grace of his charm, to such an extent that the King, embracing him with excessive love, he becomes Prince of the cupbearers, appointed him, against his will, dispenser of his drink and Prince of the cupbearers.

[4] When for some time he had prudently carried out his assigned ministry, pleasing everyone, at the persuasion of his parents and friends, he is forced to contract a betrothal, he betrothed the daughter of a certain most noble Optimate, whom he by no means wished to accept. He also set the day on which he would unite her to himself in marriage: but he was striving with his whole mental effort not only to shake off his neck from the bond of marriage, but from every worldly engagement, which he desired to submit to the light yoke of Christ. For he had not vainly taken into the ears of his heart, as a forgetful hearer, the Lord's admonitions, by which he wholesomely counsels the human race, saying: "He who does not leave father and mother, brothers and sisters, wife and children, fields and all for my name's sake, is not worthy of me: and he who wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me": but as an excellent executor of the work, retaining them more closely in his inmost heart; what he heard with the ear of the body, he took care to fulfill by work, as far as his abilities permitted. Luke 14 Supported therefore by divine inspiration, having spurned all the pleasures of the world, leaving the bride, renouncing the wedding, he renounces the wedding: naked of earthly deeds, as an athlete of Christ he seized the naked cross of Christ, about to fight against the spiritual powers of wickedness: and walking the straight path, armed with Evangelical teachings, he undertook the royal road to be followed on foot.

[5] Fearing, however, lest the tumult of secular affairs should impede his purpose if he lingered longer in the crowds of the people, he asks the King for leave to enter a monastery, he approached the presence of the King, and with humble devotion asked that the royal clemency grant him permission to leave the palatine military service and deliver himself to a regular monastery to serve Christ. But the King, embracing him with the greatest affection, did not allow him to be separated from himself: and therefore he greatly resisted his prayers, persuading him not to abandon his fellowship at such a young and flourishing age. And although he vexed his mind for a long time with such persuasions, yet he could not change his holy purpose. Therefore, with the blessed man persisting in his prayers, he becomes a monk at Fontenelle under Abbot Saint Lambert. at last the clemency of the pious Prince, suffused with the fear of the Lord, generously granted the permission which he had long denied. The most blessed Hermelandus himself, with the blessing of the King and the Optimates, having left the palace, came with swift course to the monastery of Fontenelle, where the venerable Lambert presided as Regular Father of the monks. He sought his conversion in the aforesaid monastery, and from the Abbot himself and all the Brothers he obtained the fulfillment of his prayers.

[6] According to the custom of monastic life, tested in the cell of novices, he was found so perfect he is tested as a novice: that by the uprightness of his way of life he was proved by the most evident signs not only to equal but even to surpass not only the neophytes, but also those who under the habit of perfection had worn away the whole vigor of their bodies in the theoretical life through long old age. When his regular probation in the novices' cell was completed, he confirmed his vow of perfection by a sacred promise, and finally, he makes his profession: having spurned all the pomps of the world, a virile athlete, surrounded by the support of his fellow soldiers, pursuing the path of all the virtues, he yielded not at all to the suggestions of the demons even for a moment, but at the very outset crushed the head of the ancient serpent. he excels in virtues: For as many temptations as the devil contrived to bring against him, so many triumphs the man of God took from him by rejoicing. For he was distinguished in charity, devoted in faith, certain in hope, gentle in patience, outstanding in obedience, assiduous in prayer, discreet in abstinence, strenuous in vigils, and so adorned with all the virtues that among the other fellow soldiers, like the morning star brighter than the other stars, he shone resplendent in the radiance of his virtues. Which the venerable Abbot Lambert, perceiving with sagacious insight, loved the one whom he had received as a student to be educated by the grace of discipleship, venerating him as a master on account of the beauty of his virtues.

[7] Approving him as worthy also of the sacred altars, he had him ordained Priest by the Bishop of that district: he is consecrated Priest by Saint Ouen. judging it fitting that so distinguished and so most holy a man should exercise the office of the most sacred Consecration of the Body and Blood of Christ, who, as a most precious pearl dug from the dung-heap of secular habit by the Lord, placed among his celibate fellows in the monastery, like a lamp on a candlestick, shone more brightly than all in the practice of the theoretical life. Once ordained, he thrived with such perfection of the Priestly Office that, since as a devout man he diligently offered his oblation to God each day, by the mortification of his own body he himself became a living sacrifice to God.

Animated therefore by this long meditation, and especially at the request of the Brothers, when from the virtues of the blessed man, Hermelandus the Confessor (who, coming from the shores of Francia to our borders, flourishing in virtues, shone forth the author writes from the sight and report of the monks. as a new Benedict, so to speak), I determined to commit to writing certain things which I learned by sight and by the report of the Brothers; I was impeded by the obstacle of two things on opposite sides, lest either some rashness should be ascribed to my unskilled pen (inasmuch as I, possessing no prerogative of knowledge, was about to undertake writing the Acts of so great a Father in plebeian speech), or lest, while I myself was being carried through every byway on a mournful path, I, neglecting to imitate the way of the most holy man that never deviated from the right path, should try to show others the way to be imitated. But with the force of twin fear revolving for a long time, as if prostrated on the ground, committing my limbs, wearied by the despair of this work, to idle leisure, at last urged by the request of the Brothers, the work which I long deliberated to flee by hiding; by the pretext of obedience, destitute of the aid of all my powers, trusting only in the mercy of the Most High, gifted by him, gifted myself, I undertook to insert it into parchments. Therefore, with my knees alone fixed to the ground, I implore all who, by the condescension of humility, may have turned their sacred gaze to reading this little work, not to judge the brave deeds of the aforesaid Father less worthy of the highest praises on account of the unpolished style: but to deign to remember the stupid editor of this work; so that he may merit to obtain from the merciful Judge pardon for his offenses and the perpetual crown; and that they themselves, enriched with eternal glory by the prayers of mercy, may merit to be given by the generosity of Christ.

The following chapter headings were appended, to which at the end we have added the numbers from our division to which each chapter corresponds.

CHAPTER I

The birth, studies, courtly and then monastic life of Saint Hermelandus. His Priesthood.

[2] When the necks of very many Kings throughout the whole world had been submitted to the yoke of the Christian religion, and the faith of the holy Church, with the mist of errors dispelled, bright with the light of Evangelical truth, Born of noble stock, enjoyed a tranquil peace in every domain of Chlothar, King of the Franks; the venerable Hermelandus, having obtained the beginning of his natural birth, came forth from the most noble parents of the inhabitants of Noviomacum into a temporal light, destined to enjoy a perpetual one. This most blessed child, nourished with the rich provisions of his distinguished parents, and, as is customary for a noble offspring, imbued with virtue together with letters, surrounded by the affection of his noble lineage, was handed over for the sake of his advancement to teachers of letters, with the provision of such great nobility. Instructed by these more fully than all his contemporaries, surpassing all boyish petulance by the gravity of his character, he gave no assent to any alluring concupiscence. Also crushing the lasciviousness of the flesh by the ardor of the spirit, he preferred the nobility of the soul to the nobility of the flesh: so that in those very schools, the boy, shining forth as consecrated by the uprightness of his soul, was held admirable by all. His parents, seeing him for the most part instructed in the teachings of letters he is brought into the King's court: and fit for royal military service, took him from the schools and introduced him into the royal court, and commended him with great honor to the King of the Franks as one about to serve; so that through the path of this service he might reach the honor due to his progenitors.

[3] But the man of God, Hermelandus, setting aside all the height and glory of this world for the love of Christ, desired more to earn the lasting joys of the just through the labor of this passing world, than to suffer the perpetual punishments of the unjust through the transitory glory of the world. For his holy desire was far removed from the will of his parents: averse to ambition, for what they were striving to do for the glory of his dignity, he judged to be done to the detriment of his salvation, recalling the sentence of the Apostle who says: "No one serving God entangles himself in worldly business." 2 Timothy 2 And unless he would seem to be a contradector of the same Apostle's sentence, which says: "Children, obey your parents," they could by no means persuade him, who desired heavenly things, to take up earthly service. Ephesians 6 But cautious lest he should be contrary in any way to salutary admonitions, compelled, he obeys: and considering at the same time that he had not yet attained the faculty of his own free will, he reluctantly and in appearance only took up the military habit in body, whom in mind he sought to flee by hiding. But with the Lord protecting him, while remaining at the royal court, from a raw recruit he was made so perfect a soldier that he turned the heart of the King and of all the Optimates to love for him by the grace of his charm, to such an extent that the King, embracing him with excessive love, he becomes Prince of the cupbearers, appointed him, against his will, dispenser of his drink and Prince of the cupbearers.

[4] When for some time he had prudently carried out his assigned ministry, pleasing everyone, at the persuasion of his parents and friends, he is forced to contract a betrothal, he betrothed the daughter of a certain most noble Optimate, whom he by no means wished to accept. He also set the day on which he would unite her to himself in marriage: but he was striving with his whole mental effort not only to shake off his neck from the bond of marriage, but from every worldly engagement, which he desired to submit to the light yoke of Christ. For he had not vainly taken into the ears of his heart, as a forgetful hearer, the Lord's admonitions, by which he wholesomely counsels the human race, saying: "He who does not leave father and mother, brothers and sisters, wife and children, fields and all for my name's sake, is not worthy of me: and he who wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me": but as an excellent executor of the work, retaining them more closely in his inmost heart; what he heard with the ear of the body, he took care to fulfill by work, as far as his abilities permitted. Luke 14 Supported therefore by divine inspiration, having spurned all the pleasures of the world, leaving the bride, renouncing the wedding, he renounces the wedding: naked of earthly deeds, as an athlete of Christ he seized the naked cross of Christ, about to fight against the spiritual powers of wickedness: and walking the straight path, armed with Evangelical teachings, he undertook the royal road to be followed on foot.

[5] Fearing, however, lest the tumult of secular affairs should impede his purpose if he lingered longer in the crowds of the people, he asks the King for leave to enter a monastery, he approached the presence of the King, and with humble devotion asked that the royal clemency grant him permission to leave the palatine military service and deliver himself to a regular monastery to serve Christ. But the King, embracing him with the greatest affection, did not allow him to be separated from himself: and therefore he greatly resisted his prayers, persuading him not to abandon his fellowship at such a young and flourishing age. And although he vexed his mind for a long time with such persuasions, yet he could not change his holy purpose. Therefore, with the blessed man persisting in his prayers, he becomes a monk at Fontenelle under Abbot Saint Lambert. at last the clemency of the pious Prince, suffused with the fear of the Lord, generously granted the permission which he had long denied. The most blessed Hermelandus himself, with the blessing of the King and the Optimates, having left the palace, came with swift course to the monastery of Fontenelle, where the venerable Lambert presided as Regular Father of the monks. He sought his conversion in the aforesaid monastery, and from the Abbot himself and all the Brothers he obtained the fulfillment of his prayers.

[6] According to the custom of monastic life, tested in the cell of novices, he was found so perfect he is tested as a novice: that by the uprightness of his way of life he was proved by the most evident signs not only to equal but even to surpass not only the neophytes, but also those who under the habit of perfection had worn away the whole vigor of their bodies in the theoretical life through long old age. When his regular probation in the novices' cell was completed, he confirmed his vow of perfection by a sacred promise, and finally, he makes his profession: having spurned all the pomps of the world, a virile athlete, surrounded by the support of his fellow soldiers, pursuing the path of all the virtues, he yielded not at all to the suggestions of the demons even for a moment, but at the very outset crushed the head of the ancient serpent. he excels in virtues: For as many temptations as the devil contrived to bring against him, so many triumphs the man of God took from him by rejoicing. For he was distinguished in charity, devoted in faith, certain in hope, gentle in patience, outstanding in obedience, assiduous in prayer, discreet in abstinence, strenuous in vigils, and so adorned with all the virtues that among the other fellow soldiers, like the morning star brighter than the other stars, he shone resplendent in the radiance of his virtues. Which the venerable Abbot Lambert, perceiving with sagacious insight, loved the one whom he had received as a student to be educated by the grace of discipleship, venerating him as a master on account of the beauty of his virtues.

[7] Approving him as worthy also of the sacred altars, he had him ordained Priest by the Bishop of that district: he is consecrated Priest by Saint Ouen. judging it fitting that so distinguished and so most holy a man should exercise the office of the most sacred Consecration of the Body and Blood of Christ, who, as a most precious pearl dug from the dung-heap of secular habit by the Lord, placed among his celibate fellows in the monastery, like a lamp on a candlestick, shone more brightly than all in the practice of the theoretical life. Once ordained, he thrived with such perfection of the Priestly Office that, since as a devout man he diligently offered his oblation to God each day, by the mortification of his own body he himself became a living sacrifice to God.

CHAPTER II.

The delegation of Saint Hermelandus from Fontenelle to Nantes for the erection of a new monastery.

[8] At that time therefore, when the aforesaid man of God, Hermelandus, excelled in such virtues in the monastery, the Bishop Pasquier of pious memory, Saint Pasquier, Bishop of Nantes, exhorts his subjects to seek monks: bound by Pastoral care, governed the Church of Nantes. On a certain day, while under the twofold compass of the Ecclesiastical Order, namely of Clerics and laypeople, bound together by the bond of supreme charity, he was nourishing the flock entrusted to him with the provisions of heavenly life according to the suitability of each grade, and was discoursing with celebrated eloquence on what befitted each Order; he also made mention of a third grade, namely of monks, which up to that time had been almost unknown to the inhabitants of the western coast of the Ocean, and showed it to be more perfect than the others from the voice of the Truth itself, saying: "If you wish to be perfect, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and come, follow me"; all, immediately inspired by the divine spirit, with devout prayers implored their Pontiff, who burned with the desire of this ardor more than all,

that he deign to search everywhere for men of this Order, who on their estate, if a suitable place should be found, would exercise the life of this perfection. Matthew 19 For they confessed that they had such confidence in the Lord's mercy that if men of this life dwelt among them, they would be useful, even if for the imitation of a few, yet for the intercession of all the needy of that land.

[9] Considering therefore that the heart of his people and his own, he sends some to Fontenelle, to Abbot Saint Lambert: with the Lord inspiring them, shared one affection of will regarding this matter, he did not delay to hear them; rather, most joyfully assenting to their prayers, he directed more swiftly to the venerable Abbot Lambert, who then governed the monastery of Fontenelle under the sacred habit of monastic life, vigorous messengers; imploring through them his holiness that by his generosity, his and his people's desire might obtain the effect of their wishes. These messengers, fortified by the blessing of their Bishop and departing from him, traveling on their sacred journey to the monastery of Fontenelle, arrived nimbly with the Lord as guide. When they had been kindly received by the Brothers and presented to the venerable Lambert, from the precept of their Father he asks that monks be sent to him. they addressed him with these words: "The Bishop Pasquier, exceedingly loving your holiness, burning with sacred devotion and urged by the prayers of the entire people committed to him, desires with ardent vow that in his parish, monks, with him preparing a place for them, should maintain the regular life by way of example, for the advancement of the holy Church and the perpetual praise of God. Learning, moreover, by the far and wide flying fame of your holiness, that your congregation shines more than others by the beauty of this religious life, he prays that your holy generosity may send him most religious monks, who may best maintain this life and know how to teach it to others: so that he may be able to fulfill through them what he desires."

[10] When he learned that the Priest of God together with the people committed to him burned with such devotion, Saint Lambert assigns Saint Hermelandus and others first of all he gave the greatest thanks to the most almighty and undivided Trinity, then, having summoned Blessed Hermelandus the monk, he ordered the petition of the venerable Pasquier to be set forth again before him, and at last gave his response in this manner: "The wishes indeed of Bishop Pasquier and his holy flock, most beloved sons, are clearly redolent of the most holy devotion, as divinely inspired: and therefore, that I may merit to be a participant of so great a vow, although I shall be deprived of great comfort, I would strive to fulfill the petition requested of our lowliness through this dearest brother Hermelandus, with other Brothers sent with him, if I knew most certainly that a monastery would be established by him in such a way that in future times the Brothers stationed in it, as far as it can be avoided, if the monastery is well established, would not be disturbed by any person's harassment. For the life of our order requires the greatest tranquility, and nevertheless suffers great loss when it intensely contemplates heavenly things, if it is diverted from the inspection of higher things by the complaints of the wicked. If therefore he has built a monastery on the estate of his Church, in which these whom we send and others divinely inspired, and converts from the world provoked by their example, may dwell; in his time perhaps they will be able to enjoy the desired peace, but after his death, if he shall have left that monastery under the dominion of his successor, they will be greatly disturbed (as we have found to have been done in certain monasteries) by the urgings of greed of wicked men with great disturbances; so that necessity will compel them to leave and force them to wander about in every direction. But if things should turn out thus for me, who send monks committed to that place, and confirmed by royal diplomas: much danger will be incumbent upon me, and nothing of reward will be added to him: but if he desires to build a monastery with a view to eternal retribution, I urge him to commit it to be protected by royal hands, and that the King's clemency deign to issue such a decree that no other power, instigated by the evil spirit, with every occasion of domination removed, may dare to bring trouble to those dwelling in it: so that, defended by royal protection, for his and his entire kingdom's perpetual peace, they may freely, with the impulse of the wicked removed, entreat the clemency of Christ." "Do not hesitate, Father," they say, "do not hesitate with such suspicions; for you can most certainly trust in the goodness of our Father Pasquier, because according to the command of your mouth he will, with the Lord's help, carry out every aspect of this work."

[11] Then, strengthened by the guarantees of the messengers, he said to Blessed Hermelandus: "Trusting greatly in your religious life, most beloved Brother, Saint Hermelandus, with 12 companions assigned, most willingly obeys, although I do not doubt that great loss will befall me from your bodily absence, I wish to send you to the venerable Pasquier with twelve Brothers, whom I shall appoint as Father in my place: so that by your teaching direction, he may build a monastery as he desires. Nothing, however, will I attempt to do in this matter without your decision, but I commit every aspect of this business to your prudent judgment." "Please, my Father," said the holy man, "do not deign to elicit our will on this matter, which I have given for Christ to your judgment: but wherever you send me, I will most willingly endeavor to go, as if it were commanded to me by God: after mutual embraces only let the Lord's will and yours be done." Then the same Father, filled with joy and congratulating his outstanding obedience, said: "Come, my son, take up, as a soldier of Christ, a prosperous journey; take up a praiseworthy work, through which you and many others may merit to enter the kingdoms of heaven." When he exhorted him and the others whom he was sending with him with such words, and especially to maintain the holy rule with manly guardianship, they themselves and all the Brothers, falling with tears into mutual embraces, giving each other the kiss of peace, dismissed them, wishing them all prosperity, and having received the blessing, he sets out for Nantes; saying: "May the grace of the supreme Trinity accompany you, and may it prosperously direct all the works of your hands, and deign to protect and preserve the place of your habitation for the salvation of many souls with perpetual guard." Having asked for and abundantly received the blessing, traveling with the legates of the said Bishop, they hastened to present themselves before his face: praying that Christ would grant them the comfort of accomplishing the enjoined work, and thus with the Lord as guide they arrived at the city of Nantes.

[12] Then Blessed Hermelandus with his companions entered the basilica of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul for the sake of prayer. he is received by Saint Pasquier: Hearing that they had arrived, the venerable Bishop, exulting with ineffable joy, said: "The Lord has remembered me, that he might deign to fulfill the wish of my desire." And meeting them at the doors of the aforesaid church, he said to Blessed Hermelandus: "Blessed be the Lord, who sent me to your entrance, who has deigned today to fulfill what he said through the mouth of blessed David is good and pleasant, making brothers dwell in unity." Psalm 132 When he had cheerfully provided a meal for him and all his companions, whom he received as if they were Angels, and had set forth all his desire to his ears, Blessed Hermelandus recited before him what his Father had opposed to his messengers and their response, he sets forth the command of Abbot Saint Lambert: and at last added: "And now if your holiness is willing to comply with the counsel of my Father, as the Lord shall grant to our lowliness, we shall endeavor to accomplish whatever you command. But if something else pleases your Fatherhood, with charity inviolate, we shall return to our Father according to his precept." "No one more than I, most beloved Brother," he said, "desires to establish the perfection of this work with perpetual stability, he obtains assent in all things. who appear to be its author and founder. And therefore, according to your and your Father's suggestion and the guarantee of our messengers, not only will I commit you with the cell which we plan to build, with all the things which I shall confirm there for the support of the Brothers residing there, according to canonical authority, to the royal dominion, and I shall obtain for you the royal decree; but also whatever I can work out with you that is convenient and useful for the perpetual quiet of that place, I shall most willingly endeavor to fulfill. You, however, weigh with prudent counsel how the things I desire may be properly accomplished." Blessed Hermelandus, recognizing the Bishop's mind to be void of the fever of avarice, humbly addressing him, said: "May the Lord, who was the inspirer of this vow, grant it to be accomplished according to your heart, and may he confirm your counsel for the good. I, however, having received the confidence of your blessing, whatever I can work out from this matter with the Lord's will, shall undertake to intimate to your most sacred ears on the morrow."

CHAPTER III.

The island of Aindre inspected: the monastery built. The soul of Saint Maurontius seen being carried to heaven.

[13] When the next day dawn was bathing the earth with new light, He deliberates with Saint Pasquier about the place for building the monastery Blessed Hermelandus, having completed the Office of the Morning Praise, came to Bishop Pasquier and said to him: "Command that a small boat be prepared for us, in which, rowing with our companions through the channel of the Loire all the way to the maritime places, we may survey all its shores: and if a suitable place is not found where a monastery might be built, then to the right and left we shall go around in all your dominion until we find a site suitable for the construction of a monastery." "I do not think it will be necessary for you to be wearied all the way to the maritime places," said the Bishop, "because there are some islands three miles distant from this city, surrounded by the waters of this river, which also the ocean wave, two or three times in the course of day and night, does not neglect to visit by flowing around them on all sides: the force of which inundation is driven with such vigor of its own that beyond this city to the east, seven miles, the Loire, turning its course backward, abundantly pours forth the force of its inundation. But what fertility those islands have within, or what their size, the occupation of pastoral care has not permitted me to investigate: when your sagacious prudence has surveyed them more carefully, let it not delay to report to me how they are situated, if in any of them a suitable place for the construction of a monastery is found."

[14] And saying these things, he ordered a ship to be prepared more quickly: which the man of God, Hermelandus, having boarded, said: he sails to the neighboring island: "O Bestower of all good things, who prepared for your people a way in the Red Sea, through which they might come to the land of promise; grant me, Lord, your servant, to travel by the straight way, that I may arrive by the right path at the place which you have deigned to prepare for your servants to dwell in, from which they may merit to attain not an earthly but a heavenly promise of eternal felicity." The sailors, navigating swiftly, came to one of the islands, which surpasses the others around it in its size. Then, having disembarked from the ship, he began to inquire about the extent of the island: whose length he found measured at twenty-four stadia, which, situated in the middle of the Loire, extends itself on all sides from the four regions of the sky,

surrounded on all sides by a high summit, mountainous through the middle of its length, it looks down upon all the floods of the Loire sometimes abundantly flowing from the East, and the tides of the Ocean Sea belching forth twice each month from the West. having surveyed it These tides at times momentarily cover the other islands situated to the East, West, and North, but they respect this one alone, situated to the South, on account of the height of its mountain: and therefore it offers secure places of habitation within itself, and provides a most ample space for vineyards, as well as gardens and meadows all around. For no person, weighed down by the burden of bodily frailty, can enter it without being carried by ship, nor any of the other islands surrounding it on all sides. For it is thickened by the density of forests: which therefore, on account of certain hidden places within it, he calls it Aindre and the other Antriginum: the man of God called Aindre (the Cavern). And the southern island, which though smaller in extent, yet in nothing differing from this one, he called Antriginum. For he found in it an oratory in a very small basilica of the most blessed Confessor Martin.

[15] where he finds rich pastures, But there were also very many herders of cattle on that same island, feeding their livestock on its most generous pasture. Moreover, to the fishermen around it, such a great abundance of fish is provided and flows from the Loire and the sea, an abundance of fish, pouring forth abundantly there at the appointed times in turn, with gifts of very many species, that to fishermen searching the depths of other rivers, unless they had learned by sight, it would seem incredible to hear. The voices of the common people do not resound upon it, but only the melodies of diverse birds around it are heard; the melody of birds, among which harp-playing swans pour forth the sweet modulations of their song. For it retains such a silence of quiet within itself that it seems to bring every desire of the desert entirely to those desiring the anchoritic life. When the man of God, Hermelandus, had partly by sight and partly by the report of neighbors ascertained all these things, exulting in the Lord he said: "Blessed be your name, holy and glorious Trinity, forever, he judges the place suitable for a monastery: who has deigned to show me, your servant, a more precious and more suitable place than all the monasteries in which my lowliness has happened to be. And now, Lord, I pray, deign to be the builder and perpetual guardian of this place's construction, for ever and ever." Then, returning more quickly to Bishop Pasquier, he said: "I confess in truth that I have never seen so beautiful a place, nor one so suitable for the monastic life, and cheers Saint Pasquier, who agrees with him: as today on the two islands which I surveyed it happened to me to find." And when he had related to him in order all the things he had found, the same Prelate, rejoicing in the Lord, said: "Blessed are you, Lord, and blessed be the Lord who sent you, who for his great mercy has shown you a worthy place, in which I may find the fulfillment of my vow for the perpetual salvation of souls." Therefore that whole day, conferring with each other about the manner in which they might bring the planned work to completion, and mutually encouraging each other with spiritual words, after sweet conversations about eternal life they took food, consulting human frailty. Then at last, after the praises of hymns, retiring with the Lord's blessing to the quiet of their beds and indulging a little in sleep, they spent the remaining space of the night wakeful in the praises of God.

[16] Coming therefore together the following day, Blessed Hermelandus said to the venerable Bishop Pasquier: "Now since the Lord has deigned to show me a most beautiful place, having returned to the island, in which the things we desire may be accomplished, I wish to interpose no delays: but with your blessing I wish to return there more quickly, so that, fortified by your and others' aid, I may begin, with God's favor, to build the structure." And he replied: "May the Creator of all, who deigned to grant Solomon a wise heart for building a house worthy of his name, give you grace and blessing, and deign to direct all your works according to his will. I shall not neglect to supply provisions, as necessity demands, since they are at hand, and our workmen with you will accomplish whatever you command." Finally, embracing each other in mutual embraces, they gave each other the kiss of peace, and thus Blessed Hermelandus returned to the beloved island: which when he had entered, choosing the place where the monastery should most suitably be built, he began to lay the foundations of buildings sufficient for the necessities of the Brothers, he builds the Aindre monastery, and of two churches: one of which in honor of the blessed Apostle Peter, and the other in honor of the blessed Apostle Paul, together with all the cloisters of the monastery, with the Lord protecting him, he completed in a short time.

[17] When he had completed his work more quickly, aided by the assistance of many inhabitants of that land, he obtains a privilege for it from Saint Pasquier, the same Bishop, coming there for the dedication with his Canons, by the consent of all made a privilege for Blessed Hermelandus and his monks from the same monastery, as he had first promised, that none of his successors should attempt to usurp under the occasion of dominion anything of that monastery or the property which he himself or others, moved by divine love, had given for the lights or the support of the Brothers there. And then at last, leading Blessed Hermelandus with him to the royal court, he committed him with the monastery and monks to the protection of King Childebert. With a view to eternal retribution, the same King of the Franks then made his decree for Blessed Hermelandus concerning the same monastery and its properties, and of King Childebert: that no dominion of any power should presume to bring any disturbance to the monks stationed in it, but that, relying on perpetual royal defense, without any impediment, freely, for his and his entire kingdom's peace, they should entreat the clemency of Christ. Then the man of God, honored by the friendship of the King, returned to the monastery. From that time many converts from the world began to deliver themselves to the regular disciplines in his monastery, he admits many monks: and others hastened to offer their offspring there to God. To all of whom Blessed Hermelandus laudably imparted the discipline of heavenly life by word and deed; until a flock of Christ, great in virtues and in number, grew there. Who lived so perfectly under so great a Father that the fame of their sanctity flew far and wide, and in their works all, whoever heard, glorified their Father God in heaven.

[18] On a certain night, while the same most blessed Hermelandus remained wakeful in the oratory as was his custom, he sees the soul of Saint Maurontius being carried by Angels to heaven: and while keeping vigil through the night in the basilica of the blessed Apostle Peter in the contemplation of seizing the heavenly kingdom; he saw the soul of the venerable man Maurontius, Abbot of the monastery of Saint Florentius, which is called Glomna, thirty miles distant from his monastery, released from the bond of the body, being carried to the ethereal throne by Angels. When he had gazed at it for a long time, he gave a signal, and with the Brothers gathered together, he commanded with the greatest affection of charity that they should commend his departure to the Lord by praying. They, fulfilling the Father's commands with eager obedience, most devoutly poured forth prayers to God for the soul of the aforesaid Maurontius. All began to wonder, however, since the monasteries were separated from each other by so great an extent of lands, how the man of God could have seen his soul released from the bond of the body. But lest any doubt remain in their minds, on the following day they were arranging to send an investigator there, who would more carefully inquire into the cause of this matter. But the Brothers from the aforesaid monastery of Saint Florentius, coming in advance, removed the labor of their sending, announcing their bereavement at the death of Father Maurontius. The Brothers, however, sympathizing with them with great affection of soul, as with those placed in grief, brought them words of consolation, and again began to inquire about the hour of the departure of their Father. And by their account they learned that he had departed at the same hour and the same moment at which Blessed Hermelandus had announced his death to his Brothers.

CHAPTER IV

Wine thrice increased by the sign of the Cross, and a lamp kindled. Thieves impeded. A soul seen being conducted to heaven.

[19] On a certain day, while the holy man was completing a necessary journey through the district of Nantes with some Brothers, it happened that Arnald, He refreshes a man he meets, first with spiritual speech, very wealthy according to the dignity of the world, surrounded by a retinue of retainers, came to meet him. The man of God, instructing him at length with spiritual words from the authority of the divine Scriptures, after the lesson of the word said to a certain Brother: "Since according to the capacity of our understanding we have ministered spiritual drink to this illustrious man, let us also, with charity suggesting it, take bodily drink as well." The Brother, answering, said that there was no more wine there than in a very small vessel hanging from the saddle, which would hold barely more than a hemina of wine. But the man of God ordered it to be brought, confident, full of the faith of him who among five thousand men distributed five loaves and increased them (for by divine power, after all had been abundantly refreshed, far more remained of fragments than there had been weight of the whole before the Apostles' distribution among the crowds); and having impressed and made the sign of the Cross, the man of God ordered it to be distributed to the aforesaid Arnald with his entire retinue. then wine increased by making the Cross. When he had distributed to all, and all with thanksgiving had each drunk full cups while he distributed, the wine nevertheless, by the merit of so great a Priest, was not diminished by the distributing,

but grew from so very small a vessel by the merit of so great a Priest. That same vessel is preserved in his monastery as a testimony of this miracle. No faithful person, I think, doubts that in this miracle he imitated the virtue of Elijah: because, just as the latter by invoking the name of the Majesty made oil increase, so this man made wine increase in the vessel through the power of the Cross of Christ.

[20] Once, therefore, while Blessed Hermelandus was sitting under a certain tree near the oratory of Blessed Leodegarius the Martyr in his monastery, he was reading more attentively than usual. Caterpillars, which were devastating the leaves and fruit of that same tree, he drives away caterpillars by his patience: frequently fell upon the book in which he was reading, and caused him an impediment to his reading. He himself, as he was most gentle, bore this most patiently. A certain Brother, seeing this, began to trample them with his feet, but he forbade him, saying: "Please, Brother, do not try to remove what is inflicted by divine judgment." The divine power also deigned to reward his patience, removing during the following night those which had devoured the aforesaid tree by their prolonged corruption, so that none of them remained: for in this also he seems to have been joined to the virtue of Moses, because just as through his prayers the Lord rescued the sacrilegious race of the Egyptians from the devastation of this plague, so through this man's merit the aforesaid tree was liberated.

[21] It was the custom of this servant of God, during Lent, on account of avoiding the crowds of very many citizens during Lent he stays at Antriginum: who from all directions flocked to his monastery with offerings for the purpose of visiting him and the Brothers, to seek out Antriginum, and there with a few Brothers to mortify his body with the excessive rigor of abstinence: so that on the Paschal solemnity he might merit to be presented as a sacrifice most pleasing to God. It happened, however, on a certain day that, weary from the insistence of vigils and prayers, he was walking about for the sake of refreshment in the open air, and had sat down briefly on the shore, when someone said that the Bishop of Nantes had had a certain fish commonly called "naupraeda." To whom the Priest of God Hermelandus said: "What does that have to do with us, Brother? he receives a fish that comes of its own accord, Is the hand of the Almighty too weak to grant us a fish of this kind just as he did to him, when he wills?" The man of God had not yet completed these words when, behold, by divine power a fish of this kind, drawn from the bottom of the Loire, rising up in the middle of the river and swimming with rapid course upon the surface of the waters, lay before the feet of the holy man on the dry sand. Then, knowing the gift divinely bestowed upon him, with thanksgiving he ordered it to be picked up, saying to one of the Brothers: "Take this, Son, and divide it into three parts, one of which, kept for our refreshment, and the other two sent to the monastery for the Brothers." When this had been done, a marvelous thing immediately followed, for by the merit of so great a man, from which all the monks are refreshed: all the Brothers, both those who were with him and those who had remained in the monastery, whose number was not small, were so sated from so small a fish, as if a multitude of fish had been distributed to them. Surely it is clear of whose love this man was full; namely of him who fed five thousand men in a desert place with five loaves and two fishes: protected by whose protection, this man satisfied the holy congregation of his monastery from a little fish.

[22] This man of God, provident with the greatest discretion, solicitous for his own, weighed the care of himself and those committed to him with so equal a balance that he neither neglected to provide the necessities for the Brothers on account of the guardianship of himself, nor again neglected to retain the guardianship of himself by circumspection on account of the earthly stipends by which the Brothers were sustained. For during the daytime hours he providently administered the necessities of the Brothers, by night while praying he visits the churches, and during the nighttime hours, indulging a little in sleep, more from the obligation of human necessity than from love even of moderate rest, he turned the remaining space of the night to the acquisition of contemplation, with the whole effort of his mind gazing upon heavenly things by praying and chanting psalms. On a certain night, while he was solicitously going around the basilicas of his monastery for the sake of prayer, in one of them he ordered a certain Brother to recover a light that had been extinguished. While the Brother carried it with him, the lamp was extinguished in his hand by the blast of a storm of wind. he kindles an extinguished lamp by the sign of the Cross: When the same Brother had begun to hurry to go relight it, the man of God indicated that he should stop, and extending his hand, he made the sign of the Cross, and with the help of Christ restored the lost light from the darkness of the shadows. For afterward, when a fiercer blast of storm wind struck, the light divinely given, covered by no shelter of defense, was carried unextinguished and solid all the way to the place where it was being brought.

[23] The man of God, moreover, advancing to higher things by continual zeal for virtues, he makes places whiter by his walking and prayer, strove to acquire the purity of cleanness by daily progress. When on a certain night at Antriginum, where he was accustomed to be macerated by the rigor of abstinence during Lent, he was walking about in the oratory of Saint Anianus; the path on which he walked suddenly became whiter than the rest of the pavement: and the place where he was accustomed to pray constantly was sprinkled with such whiteness that even now it clearly appears to all who enter there, how great was the purity with which the breast of the most holy Confessor was illuminated in prayer.

[24] In the western parts, the fame of his sanctity, spreading far and wide, had grown; it did not refuse to visit even the northern parts: for on a certain day, when in the district of Coutances he was surveying the affairs of the monastery on account of necessity, a certain nobleman of that province, invited to the table of a nobleman, named Launus, invited the man of God with his disciples to dinner. He indeed, as he was gentle in spirit, affable in speech, and serene in countenance, did not refuse his request: but having given his blessing, he entered his house. In that region wine is certainly not produced at all, and therefore the aforesaid man Launus had a little wine in only one vessel, holding (I think) about four measures. He indeed, rejoicing because he had merited to receive the man of God into his house, having summoned crowds of friends, cheerfully ordered that it be distributed abundantly to all from the same vessel, with the poor and pilgrims who came in addition. By the wondrous dispensation of the Almighty, with everyone drinking abundantly, the wine so increased in the same vessel that, instead of diminishing, it overflowed, filling the already nearly exhausted vessel. But this matter, concealed in silence that day, that the wine was wondrously increased, was so widely spread on the next day throughout that whole region that all who dwelt there might know that this man was of such great sanctity that if anyone should give him something of his resources by way of blessing, he would incur no loss of diminution; but rather would acquire the gains of increase, even here in the present, with the eternal reward preserved. The man of God, therefore, after the refreshment, returned to his own house, which is in the estate called Oglanda. Launus, however, on the next day asked his wife if at least a little wine remained, from which something could be sent to the man of God for a blessing: and when she had looked more carefully at the aforesaid vessel, she found that no diminution had occurred, but rather the fullness of increase had been added: which she also hastened to report to her husband. Then the aforesaid Launus, with offerings from the same wine, presented a blessing to the holy man, and indicated how much grace the Lord had bestowed upon him through his merits. Upon hearing this, the man of God, free from vanity, ordered this to be concealed in silence, saying: "Please do not attribute this miracle to my merits, he does not wish it ascribed to his own merits: which the Lord deigned to bestow upon your generosity for the distribution to the poor." But on the contrary, Launus said this was done solely through his merit, and confessed that he himself was by no means conscious of having played any part in this miracle. A friendly contention of mutual humility arose between them: but it is clearly evident to all the faithful that this miracle was accomplished through the merit of the holy Priest, because he had adhered with his whole heart to him who at Cana of Galilee turned water into wine.

[25] The enemy, hostile to the endeavors of all good men through the deceitfulness of cunning, astutely striving to oppose them, when he saw the man of God flourishing with virtues, unperturbed in his affairs, and could not cause his mind to falter into any pit of deception by any stimulus of temptation, even for a moment; he began through those whom he could, who were fortified by no authority of reason, to stir up the trouble of disturbance for the man of God: so that if he could not entirely overturn the house firmly built on the rock, he might at least count it as his gain if he could disturb it even for a moment. For on a certain day, a certain rustic, instigated by the crime of greed, cut off a strap from the saddle of the man of God and stole it, throwing it into his bosom. Divine vengeance (which therefore punishes with present blows so as to free from future ones) immediately followed: one who stole his property, and was punished by God, because that rustic, seized by pains, as if he were being burned by fires, began to cry out wailing, saying: "Help me, Saint Hermelandus, because for the little thing I attempted to steal from you, I am paying inestimable penalties." And saying this, he threw the hidden theft from his bosom into the open: which remains as a testimony up to the present, hanging in the oratory of the blessed Apostle Peter in the cell of Oglanda, where this happened. The man of God released the man bound by his crime through prayer, and refreshing him with a fullness of food, he frees him by prayer and refreshes him with food. and warning him not to give his assent to the persuasions of the seducer any further, he allowed him to go free.

[26] Another thief again, corrupted by the same spirit of greed, having stolen oxen, seized and stole by theft the oxen which were accustomed to bring wagons loaded with wood for the man of God's uses. But the man of God, understanding by the enemy's cunning that he was deprived of the uses of his animals, and bearing the loss patiently, ran to the usual weapons of prayer, and begged the Lord that the aforesaid animals be returned to him. The force of his prayer was able to obtain this from God, that throughout the whole night, while the thief struggled to lead them to distant regions, unable to lead them away, exhausted by excessive weariness, in the morning he returned before the doors of the man of God the same oxen which he had endeavored to carry away. The man of God, with the Lord restoring what the evil one had attempted to seize, received them with joy, and speaking gently to the thief, returned to him the grace of humanity in exchange for the guilt of theft: especially warning him not to be subject to the persuasions of the deceitful enemy any further, he kindly admonishes and dismisses him. lest he both incur public judgments here and be burned with eternal flames: and thus admonishing him, he allowed him to depart free.

[27] In the time of the holy man, there was a certain renowned man, named Agatheus, of the two cities, Nantes

namely, and Count of Rennes, and occupying the place of the Bishopric in the aforesaid cities. This man visited the island of Antrum for the sake of prayer and to speak with the man of God. He kindly receives Count Agatheus: He was kindly received by him. When the prayer was completed, rebuking him concerning his deeds and instructing him with holy admonitions, he exhorted him to seize upon the path of a better life. After the words of preaching, showing him the grace of hospitality, he led him with himself into the refectory, he admonishes him concerning his faults: and ordered that a cup of pure wine be given to him. When he had drunk half of it and wished to return the cup to the Brother who was carrying it, the Priest of God urged him to drink still more, and raising his right hand again, he a second time impressed the sign of the Cross upon the aforesaid cup. He had not yet withdrawn his hand, and behold, suddenly the cup was so filled by the sign of the Cross he makes wine overflow in his hand: that wine, overflowing abundantly from it, was poured over the arms of the aforesaid man. Then the said Agatheus, judging himself unworthy of the confession of so great a Priest, most swiftly fell trembling at his feet, begging him to intercede for his sins. And so through the outward miracle, he was compelled to recognize the sanctity of soul about which, faithless before, he had doubted. But since this man was still carried away by his disordered conduct, the saying of the Apostle was fulfilled in him: "Signs are given not to believers, but to unbelievers." For it is clear that this miracle was wrought by the providence of God, so that his brutish mind, and he amends: which was not warmed by the fire of preaching, might at least, struck by the miracle, be compelled by the anxiety of fear to devote itself to amendment. For from that time he appeared less cruel.

[28] When at a certain time the same Father was going around the properties of his monastery for the sake of its benefit, he came to the estate of Pauliacum. He sees the death of a monk eighty miles away, And when he had arranged all things according to the measure of his monastery's benefit, as the day declined toward Vespers, committing himself as usual to the exercises of vigils, meditating beforehand on divine things with the ardor of contemplation, he spent the night sleepless. And while standing for a long time in the keenness of contemplation, he raised the eyes of his heart to the heights; he saw in the parts of Aquitaine, in his cell which had been given to him through the generosity of charters, which is called Creon, distant eighty miles from that place, the soul of a certain venerable monk (who had been instructed by his teachings and had been established there by him, the soul is led by Angels to heaven, to oversee that cell and another which is called Colon) departing from the body, and borne upward by the escort of Angels, penetrating the heavens. And he immediately, having rung the bell, announced his death to the Brothers who were with him, and admonished them to commend his departure to the Lord in prayer. The Brothers therefore, trusting his words, fulfilled his commands; but some of the younger ones said in mockery that the man of the Lord, now worn out by advanced old age, was going mad. But he himself, clinging to the Lord, by the same spirit by which he was able to see the soul released from the bonds of the body at a great distance, was also able to penetrate and perceive not only the words but even the thoughts of the young men. For confronting their disbelief, he most certainly affirmed that the soul of the aforesaid Brother, freed from human affairs, had attained holy rest in the kingdom of Christ. This the messengers who came from that same cell announcing the death of the aforesaid Brother confirmed to be true: and they said that he had died at the same hour and the same moment of time at which Saint Hermelandus had indicated his departure to the Brothers.

* Perhaps a small stone?

CHAPTER V.

Substitute Abbots: the predicted death of one. The death, burial, and translation of Saint Hermelandus.

[29] Therefore Blessed Hermelandus, amid the necessary administrations of the care of the Brothers committed to him, In old age he pursues his studies with greater ardor of mind: did not cease to increase his own studies, by which he might merit to acquire eternal rewards, with daily advances in virtues. It did not please him, as is the custom of certain veterans who consult the weakness of senile age, to lead a more relaxed life: but with the increase of years, he strove to add whatever power of virtue he could to the rigor of his way of life. He considered it no small loss if he did not daily add something of virtue to his exercises. For when he had reached old age, he built a small oratory in honor of Saint Leodegarius the Martyr near the gates of the monastery facing East: he withdraws to the oratory of Saint Leodegarius, in which, having relinquished the governance of pastoral care (which he had long held not from the pride of ambition, but from the obedience of imposed necessity), giving the Brothers permission to substitute a Vicar-Father in his place, he thenceforth shut himself away: so that, stripped of all anxiety of care, not only superfluous but even just and necessary (as far as human frailty would allow), he might freely devote himself to the Lord alone in contemplative studies. having relinquished the care of the Abbot. Therefore, having relinquished the care of the monastery with the King's permission, without the consent of the Brothers, who mourned his departure for a long time, enclosing himself with four Brothers who thirsted for the same vow in the aforesaid cell, he devoted himself to heavenly contemplations.

[30] The Brothers, however, elected an Abbot for themselves, named Adalfredus, the substitute Abbot Adalfredus, with the King's assenting command: in whose election Blessed Hermelandus, yielding to the divine judgment, did not wish to participate. The aforesaid Adalfredus, therefore, deceived by an evil spirit, turned the right of fatherhood into the tyranny of cruelty: for he began, neglecting the necessities of himself and the Brothers, to occupy himself with superfluous affairs; and driven from interior things by the just judgment of God, he wandered about pursuing only external things. He therefore began to build himself a great hall, not content with the necessary buildings; acting proudly, but swelling with the pride of insolence, he attempted to transgress the proper measure. When Blessed Hermelandus learned of this, while rebuking him for his very many errors, he said among other things: "What is this, Brother, that neglecting the profit of souls and the necessities of the Brothers, you occupy yourself with superfluous things? Do the houses built here not seem to you sufficient for you and the Brothers to dwell in? Attend to my words in all things: be content with these, because you will not build others in this place." The man of the Lord said this inspired by a prophetic spirit, knowing that divine vengeance was imminent, which would put an end to his iniquities in that same year.

[31] But the aforesaid Adalfredus, blinded in mind, despised and scorned the words of the man. He cruelly flogged a monk, For cruelly afflicting the Brothers with a lack of food, he also ordered the allotted provisions to be taken away from those who were with Saint Hermelandus. Also on a certain day, when he ordered a certain Brother, one of those whom Blessed Hermelandus had raised for God under the balanced governance of discipline, to be beaten with the most severe lashes, as he was accustomed to do with the others; he consoles him when he comes to him: he who was being beaten, driven by the pressing pains, was compelled to call upon Blessed Hermelandus, saying: "Father Hermelandus, why have you seen fit to leave us while we are alive and you are alive?" The wretched Adalfredus, ordering him to be tortured further, said: "Your Hermelandus, whom you invoke, will not provide you the help of defense." And when at last, worn out by blows, he had escaped; running swiftly, he came before the doors of the cell where the man of the Lord was intent upon heavenly contemplation, and clinging to the ground on his face, wailing he said: "Alas, my Lord Hermelandus: what wickedness of ours did you discover, that you should abandon us under the yoke of such cruelty? Would that dire death might remove us from human affairs, so that we would not be afflicted by the evils of such a tyrant." Those who were with the man of God also began to report to him how greatly the Brothers were afflicted by the privation of hunger. Then the man of God, groaning, said: "Be silent, Brothers, he predicts his death, be silent: know, however, that his destruction is being most swiftly hastened: for not even the space of one month will be granted to his contumacious life." That this was spoken by a prophetic spirit was made clear: for the same wretched Adalfredus on the third day saw in a vision himself being struck by the staff of Blessed Hermelandus, who was rebuking him for the perversity of his disobedience: and and orders the wretchedly dead man to be honorably buried: waking up, he began to be tormented as if he were being burned by fires: and thus condemned to eternal death, the wretch suddenly lost his life along with his governance by the judgment of God. The Brothers, however, at Saint Hermelandus's instruction, gave his corpse the burial of which he was unworthy.

[32] After the death of the Abbot Adalfredus, the Brothers, gathered together, besought Blessed Hermelandus with humble prayers, saying: "We beseech your holiness, he appoints Donatus as Abbot, most kind Father, since you preferred to leave us desolate by your absence, do not allow us to err in the election of an Abbot as we did before; but choose for us a worthy Pastor pleasing to God, who according to your example may be able to teach us the way of the Lord." Moved therefore by their prayers, he ordered one of the Brothers to be summoned, whom he himself, instructing him in divine disciplines, had nurtured in good deeds, named Donatus: whom, ordaining him as Abbot with the consent of all and placing him over the Brothers, he taught how to show himself solicitous and ready in administering both spiritual and temporal affairs. And he himself, following the counsels of his Master, relying on the help of Christ, a good man: and supported by the intercession of his Master, full of the grace of humility and charity, governed the monastery laudably all the days of his life. But this he obtained by the merit of him by whose choice he was appointed.

[33] after very many miracles performed Thus far concerning the life of the Just One, with very many things passed over and few commemorated, we have set down in writing the virtues which the Lord deigned to work through him. Now I shall undertake to write about his death, by which he entered the gateway of the heavenly kingdom. Therefore, after he had caused very many to be converted from their depravities to the faith of Christ, after he had been enclosed in his cell for many days, devoting himself to the Lord alone, and by his prayers had restored their former health to many sick persons who flocked from all directions to the fame of his sanctity; when his praiseworthy old age now shone with such great grace of virtues that nothing was thought able to be added to his perfection, by the prophetic spirit, in old age he predicts the day of his death: by which he was accustomed to foresee many future things, foreknowing also his own sacred death, he predicted to the Brothers the certain day of his departure some days beforehand. The Brothers, indeed, having more frequently experienced his prophecy, placed certain faith in the words of the servant of God, and on the day on which he had predicted the dissolution of his body, gathered together, they besought his holiness that, just as on earth he had been their Master of justice, so in heaven he would deign to be their perpetual Patron of intercession. When he had admonished each one individually to persevere in their holy purpose, fortifying himself with the Sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood, exhausted by the length of his old age, fortified by the holy Eucharist, with the frame of his limbs extended, he breathed forth his spirit and commended it to the Lord;

and thus, with the disciples weeping, and the Angels singing together with the choirs of Virgins (in whose company he had remained a Virgin in both mind and body), joyful, as if sleeping in slumber, amid the words of prayer, the most blessed Confessor of Christ, leaving behind his lifeless body in the midst of the Brothers, as unharmed by the pain of death as he had been free from the contagion of lust, he dies: migrated to Christ, with whom, crowned with perpetual glory, he exults forever and ever. Amen.

[34] When the funeral of the holy man had been reverently completed by the Brothers, they committed his holy remains he is buried in the basilica of Saint Paul, to burial with due honor in the basilica of Saint Paul the Apostle, next to the oratory of Saint Wandregisilus, in the southern apse. For the Lord, he shines with miracles: in order to show how great was the grace of his love in Blessed Hermelandus, deigned to work the remedy of health at his tomb for those laboring with the corruption of many and diverse illnesses.

[35] After he had shone there with signs of virtues for very many years, a voice was heard in the night on account of a revelation to the venerable Sadrevertus, a monk of the same monastery, saying: "Go when you arise on the morrow and tell your Abbot to transfer the body of Blessed Hermelandus the Confessor from the oratory of Saint Wandregisilus to the basilica of Blessed Peter the Apostle, and to bury him there in the ground beside the altar." the body is raised, The Father of the same monastery, hearing such a message from a man whom he loved with great affection for his merit of holiness, filled with great joy, raising the remains of the most blessed Confessor together with the tomb in which he lay, with hymns and praises, carried them with the Brothers to where he had been commanded. With the choirs of psalm-singers preceding with thuribles and lamps, he circled the cloisters of the monastery with the precious treasure he was carrying. And when they had arrived before the door of the refectory, the bier on which the body of the most blessed Confessor was being carried brought before the door of the refectory, it cannot be moved: began to grow heavy in the hands of the bearers, as if it were being loaded with immense masses of stones: so that, pressed down to the ground, it could not be lifted, not only by them, but not even by all those who accompanied it on every side. Then all, turned to wondering amazement, began to inquire what the blessed Confessor wished to show by this act, praying to the Lord that his translation to the prepared place not be delayed any longer. When the prayer was completed, the venerable Abbot David said: "Since the office of the Masses has now been completed, I believe that the most blessed Father Hermelandus, out of his customary kindness, wishes us to enter the refectory, after taking a drink, it is easily moved: so that for the labor of his conveyance and in veneration of his holiness, we may each drink cups of drink." When this had been done, and they had begun to handle the sarcophagus with their hands, all heaviness of weight having been laid aside, lifting it with such speed, they carried it into the basilica of blessed Peter the Apostle, so that never before had it been carried by so few with so little effort.

[36] But when the devout fraternity of all the monks, with solemn faith, were carrying the holy remains to be committed to burial, deposited in the basilica of Saint Peter, and out of love felt the burden light to carry, they arrived at the designated place: and there, according to the revelation divinely given, with hymns and praises they laid the holy body to rest. The basilica of the island of Antrum, consecrated in honor of the Blessed Apostle Peter, merited to embrace his solemn treasure. A wondrous thing became evident on the third day after the deposition of the holy remains in an urn prepared for this purpose by the diligence of craftsmen. For such a fragrance of all aromatics, a most sweet odor fills the basilica and monastery for eight days, the nectar of a wondrous scent overflowing from the tomb of the same holy Confessor, emanated so that first the whole basilica was sprinkled with the same odor, and then it so filled the entire monastery that all the inhabitants of that place, filled with it, continued for uninterrupted hours up to the eighth day; for all who were present there at that time, who still enjoy the light given to mortals, testify that they were never able to perceive by their sense of smell an odor of such great sweetness and pleasantness.

CHAPTER VI

Various miracles performed after death. Epilogue.

[37] After the body of Blessed Hermelandus had been buried in the oratory of the holy Apostle Peter, A lame man is healed at his tomb, which he himself had built, it shone with many miracles of virtues up to the present, as often as the faith of petitioners demands: of which some, as I learned from the account of the elders, it seems right to me should be inserted in this page. A certain lame boy, Demonus by name, since he had lacked the use of his feet so that he crawled with his hands because he could not walk with his feet, seeking the tomb of the most holy Confessor, begged that he would have mercy on him. After pouring forth his prayer with manifold petitions, clinging to the pavement on the ground, by the divine regard through the merit of the holy Confessor he merited to receive the soundness of his former state. And so, rejoicing in his recovered health, in the sight of all, he returned to his home sound and unharmed.

[38] Another man, likewise lame, named Flodulfus, likewise another lame man, admonished at Rome by Saint Peter, was admonished by the blessed Apostle Peter through a vision at Rome, to seek out the island of Antrum, three miles distant from the city of Nantes, where the body of the blessed Confessor Hermelandus was laid to rest: so that at his tomb he might receive health through his intercession. And he himself, conveyed by the assistance of devout persons to the memorial of the most blessed Confessor, as he had been admonished, coming for the restoration of his bodily function, began with assiduous frequency to present himself before his holy lights. Not long after, with the blessed Confessor interceding, he was so healed that nothing of bodily health seemed to be lacking to him: and so, suddenly springing up on his own steps, he returned from the tomb of the holy Confessor, he who had often been carried there by the hands of others. We believe he was sent there also by the blessed Apostle for this reason: that it might become known far and wide how greatly the intercession of the holy Confessor availed before the Creator of all, in obtaining the health of the infirm, on account of the merit of his holiness.

[39] There was also a certain deaf and mute man, deaf and mute from birth, named Datianus, who from birth had completely lacked the use of tongue and ears: but while seeking the sustenance by public begging by which he might be sustained, in various places, it happened that he came to the monastery of the most holy Confessor. When, as was customary, he had been led by a certain monk who received arriving pilgrims to the memorial of the blessed Confessor, and had entered its threshold, and poured forth a prayer for his salvation, since he could not do so with his tongue, from his heart alone, the sense by which he was strong; through the prayers of the blessed Confessor, with his tongue loosed and his ears opened, he immediately merited both to speak and to recover his hearing. For there is no doubt that the merit of this man availed greatly before the almighty Lord, through whose prayers it was accomplished that a creature, which had remained imperfect through the deprivation of two senses, was formed to its full state by the mercy of the Creator.

[40] A certain man corrupted by the plague of greed, to one wishing to seize a property of Saint Hermelandus, named Eurefredus, attempted to take away from the properties of the holy Confessor in the district of Oxime a property which is called Cranna: but he was immediately rebuked in his sleep by Saint Albinus the Confessor, and received from him a sentence of excommunication of such a kind that he could take no food or drink until, coming to the tomb of Blessed Hermelandus, he returned with satisfaction the properties which he was endeavoring to take from him. When he awoke, fearfully recalling the sentence of his rebuke, at daybreak he mounted his horse, and thus riding swiftly arrived at the property of the same monastery which is called Cludion. the ability to take food, having been taken away, is restored Having found there a monk of that same monastery named Odrannus, immediately indicating to him the cause of his punishment, he asked that he would deign to accompany him to the tomb of the blessed Confessor. When he had received from him a promise of carrying this out through his entreaties, he was nevertheless persuaded by him to try to take some food and drink: but when he put bread into his mouth, he could not swallow it in any way whatsoever; on the contrary, he even vomited the food before everyone, together with the blood, which he had rashly attempted to consume. Then, swiftly continuing the journey he had begun, he came with the aforesaid monk to the monastery, and immediately approached the tomb of Blessed Hermelandus, at his tomb: that he might obtain a remedy for himself. When he had given himself to prayer there, he returned the property he had taken, and in order to merit the recovery of his health, he enriched the monastery from his possessions and estates. And publicly making satisfaction, he published the crime of his deed, bore the penance of the crime he had committed, and thus, refreshed there with food and drink, he returned to his own home through the prayers of the blessed Confessor, unharmed.

[41] A certain rustic, Sicbaldus by name, on the holy Sunday of the Resurrection, taking a flail, punished for violating Easter, rashly entered the threshing floor to thresh grain: but divine vengeance rendered a punishment worthy of his presumption. For immediately the flail stuck fast to his hand, and with the joints of his limbs dissolved, his head and arms and the rest of his members were violently shaken. For by no effort could he restrain himself from this disturbance: but without respite he was horribly shaken by the trembling of his limbs. When he came to Tours, he is partly freed at Saint Martin's, through the intercession of Blessed Martin the flail sprang from his hand, but his trembling limbs still suffered the penalty of their former agitation. On the following night, while still remaining there, he was admonished in his sleep by Saint Martin that if he wished to be absolved from the guilt of his punishment, and partly, admonished by him, he should go to the island of Antrum, so that through the prayers of Blessed Hermelandus the Confessor he might merit to receive the stability of his former state. Trusting therefore in the promises of Blessed Martin, he hastened to Antrum, and prostrate at the tomb of Saint Hermelandus, he besought the holy Confessor for the grace of recovering his health: who soon deigned to assent to his prayers. at the tomb of Saint Hermelandus, who appears: For while the Brothers were chanting the evening Office, there appeared to the same trembling man an old man clothed in a white stole, adorned with beautiful white hair, and he beckoned to him to come to him. And he, raising his eyes and looking at the one calling him, wished to go more quickly, but soon fell among the choirs of the psalm-singers, and there devoted himself to prayer for a very long time, and shortly after extended his hand to the Brothers, and thus was raised up from the pavement healed. He was now restored by the prayers of the blessed Confessor to his longed-for health: and no trace of his former deformity remained in him. Then, publicly recounting in order all the things that had happened to him, he spoke, and praising the Lord, returned to his home healed.

[42] A certain young man, named Clibaldus, mute and deaf, a mute and deaf man is healed, coming to the tomb of the blessed Confessor, for the restoration of the use of his tongue and ears, from the inmost affection of his heart sought his help. While clinging to the pavement at his memorial, pouring forth prayers for a long time, he merited to receive both the hearing of his ears and the use of his tongue. And so, fortified by the prayers of the holy Confessor, he departed healed, magnifying the merits of the holy Confessor.

[43] one lame man Berfredus was a certain boy disabled from birth, whom his natural father, carrying him, brought to the monastery of Saint Hermelandus for the purpose of obtaining his health. And when he placed him before his tomb, the Confessor's assistance restored the ability to walk, which human condition had taken away. And so the ability to walk was restored to the lame one, who had been deprived of the use of his feet from the very cradle,

and he who had been brought to his tomb with the help of another, through the intercession of the blessed Confessor, returned to his own home by the strength of his own steps.

[44] Yet another lame man, Leubertus by name, coming to the tomb of the blessed man, and another: sought the aid of healings: and there, prostrate, he remained assiduous in prayer for so long until, through the intercession of the blessed Confessor, he merited to obtain his former health from Christ. And so, with the effect of recovery accompanying him, he who had come disabled returned to his home unharmed, giving thanks for the benefit of health bestowed upon him.

[45] I learned from the account of many monks of the same monastery, who saw the very man in whom the sign of health which I now relate was performed, when he was being healed. an eighty-year-old, blind and lame from birth, There was a certain man, already eighty years old, named Adalfredus, blind from his departure from his mother's womb, and lame, who for the sake of obtaining the health of his body went to the glorious tomb of the Prince of the Apostles, most blessed Peter, at Rome. While he remained there for a long time, certain of the blessed Apostle's mercy, for the sake of obtaining health, admonished at Rome by Saint Peter appearing to him, the blessed Apostle deigned to appear in his own person, saying: "Go to Tours, and there through the prayers of Saint Martin you will receive the health of your feet and hands: and from there enter the island of Antrum; at the tomb of Saint Hermelandus, likewise a Confessor, you will merit to receive the light of your eyes." Conveyed by the assistance of good men, he arrived at the church of Blessed Martin, and immediately, falling to the ground for the sake of prayer, at Saint Martin's he receives the use of his feet and hands, his thumbs, which had adhered to his chest from birth, and his feet, which had adhered to his buttocks, through the intercession of Blessed Martin, receiving all soundness, were loosed: and then at last he arrived at the monastery of Saint Hermelandus with a nimble pace. While he was devoting himself to prayer for a long time in the same monastery, the blessed Confessor of God Hermelandus appeared to him, holding his chin with his hand, and placed his sacred thumbs upon his eyes, saying: "In the name of the holy and one and undivided Trinity, let your eyes be opened, and receive the light hitherto unknown to you." but the light of his eyes at the tomb of Saint Hermelandus appearing to him, And immediately upon waking, his eyes were opened, and he beheld the back of the one healing him, gleaming, as he himself testified, like lightning. On the next day, having washed away the blood that had flowed from the breaking open of his eyelids, with sound eyes he marveled with great amazement before everyone at the creatures of the almighty Creator, which he had not seen before. It is clear, therefore, that the blessed Apostle sent him to be healed by the holy Confessors, whom he could have healed most quickly by himself (inasmuch as even his shadow is recorded to have healed all the sick it touched), so that it might be made known to all the faithful how greatly the intercession of those Confessors availed before the Creator of all, for obtaining the health of the infirm, with the faith of those who asked. He, moreover, who had been healed, having preserved the integrity of his virginity, remained in the same monastery of Blessed Hermelandus, exercised in great devotion to prayers and vigils, living laudably until the day of his death, when he paid the debt of all flesh.

[46] A certain paralytic, named Arnaldus, labored for the course of seven years with a grievous illness, so that, lying on a pallet, lacking the use of all his members, a paralytic, like an extinguished corpse, with only his head alive, he was carried by the hands of others. He was brought to the monastery of Blessed Hermelandus by those carrying him, and placed at his feet beside the tomb in which the holy remains had been laid to rest. As the Brothers began the antiphon appropriate to the evening Office on the day of the Translation of the same Confessor, which falls within the Paschal feasts, "Alleluia. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever," he saw Blessed Hermelandus enter through a window. Who, striking his head and loins with the staff he carried in his hand, struck by Saint Hermelandus, he is healed, said: "In the name of Jesus Christ, the almighty Son of God, be healed and rise up well." Then, first stretching out his long-debilitated limbs, and waking up, he rose with great cries, and taking two candles in his hands, he sprang through the midst of the choirs of the psalm-singers and passed through. For all the days of his life he enjoyed the soundness he had received, and sustaining himself by the vigor of his own body, he went wherever he wished: he who had been brought there by the assistance of others.

[47] These and many other things, which would have been sufficiently profitable for the edification of the faithful if inserted in this work, I learned from the narration of many monks of the same monastery, who survive to this day, other miracles are omitted: but having written down a few, I have passed over many for the sake of brevity. But since a life of virtues precedes the signs of miracles (for the former does not display virtue, but works it; the latter display it, but do not produce it), it would seem that more should have been written about the virtues of the Holy Father's conduct for the imitation of many, were it not that his holy way of life, shining forth in more recent times, is still retained in the memory of many minds. For what can I say about the virtue of his chastity, A summary of all his virtues. he who, remaining unpolluted from the contagion of lust from birth, merited to receive the crown of virginity? What can I worthily narrate about his faith, he who, rescuing all whom he could from various errors, led them to the Catholic faith? What can I declare about his hope, he who, out of love of eternal things, despised all overflowing temporal prosperity? What can I signify about his most complete charity, whose constant endeavor it was to seek not his own things but those of others, so that very many might obtain eternal life through his labor? What shall I expound about his abstinence, he who, in order to exercise it with full rigor, leaving the Brothers in the monastery and going to Antriginum, dwelt there especially during the time of fasts? What shall I set forth about the purity of his prayer, he who by his own footsteps rendered the path by which he walked to prayer, and the place in which he was accustomed to devote himself to prayer, white like snow? What shall I say about the praise of his vigils, in which persisting continuously, he merited, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, to see souls departing from the body at a considerable distance? What shall I say about his humility and contemplation: he who, in order to acquire the former more perfectly, relinquished the honor of his prelacy; and in order to adhere to the latter more perfectly, shutting himself away in the smallest cell, he remained enclosed until the day of his calling to heavenly glory? What can I say about his outstanding obedience, he who, obeying his Abbot, leaving his own soil, dwelt as an exile in a distant region all the days of his life? What shall I make known about his patience, he who, strengthened by the breadth of charity, not only did not return evil for evil, but bestowed whatever good he could upon all his persecutors? Adorned with these flowers of virtues, the most blessed Confessor of Christ Hermelandus lived in the world for his reward, and for his disciples as an example, for whom, migrating to Christ on the eighth day before the Kalends of April, he merited to receive the crown of eternal glory.

[48] I beseech with humble prayer all who read the life of the holy man The writer seeks the prayers of his readers. that they may deign to remember the most unskilled writer in the prayers of their intercession, out of regard for eternal reward, so that, with Blessed Hermelandus the Confessor interceding, he may merit to enjoy eternal life with him, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

APPENDIX

A miracle performed at Rouen in the year 1117.

From a manuscript of the parish of Saint Hermelandus at Rouen.

Hermelandus, Abbot of Antrum, in Gaul (Saint)

BHL Number: 3852

A certain man, named Herbert, born in the town of Fecamp, oppressed by a grievous illness, had been bedridden for two and a half years, and had lost nearly the entire left side of his body: Oppressed by a grave illness, to such an extent that he could neither move his hand or foot, nor feel anything at all. On account of this he had spent no small sum of money on physicians: but he could find no remedy of cure, and as money ran out, the harsh condition of his body afflicted him more grievously. Having therefore despaired of human cure, at last thinking upon the way of salvation, he turned to divine aid: for when he had heard of the renowned glory of the blessed Confessor Hermelandus, and had learned of the glorious power of his virtues and miracles through the most truthful account or attestation of certain persons, forewarned by divine impulse, and strengthened by his own and his friends' assistance, he comes from Fecamp to Rouen, he arranged to transfer himself to the church of the aforesaid Confessor at Rouen, so that by his merits aiding him, he might obtain relief from so great an infirmity. Having therefore summoned a certain monk, namely his brother (whom he held dearer than the rest, who grieved most vehemently for his afflictions), he had himself carried to the aforesaid city. And when he had been brought to the church of Blessed Hermelandus, the neighbors and parishioners of the same place, receiving him, to the church and altar of Saint Hermelandus, and carrying him in their arms, placed him before the altar of the same Saint: where, tearfully prostrate on the ground and humbly confessing his sins, he gave himself over to groans and sighs: tearfully beseeching the blessed man, to whose aid he had fled, that by his intercessions before God he might obtain his recovery. Nor could such a devout supplication be in vain: for on the second night, most certainly awake (for, laboring with such great illness, he could scarcely rest by sleeping), he saw Blessed Hermelandus, clothed in white garments, descend from his reliquary, shaken by the appearing of Saint Hermelandus, and extinguish a lamp before the same altar: which having been extinguished, a light of brightness followed, so that the whole church everywhere seemed ablaze as if with innumerable burning candles. He then approached the sick man lying there, and in his sight and already in his feeling, seizing his left foot, shook it so violently that all his bones, as he himself later reported, emitted a great creaking: by which shaking the sick man, anxious and stupefied, immediately fell into sleep. When, however, he had slept a little while, awakened from sleep, he discovered the ground wet with his sweat: and he also beheld that brightness which he had seen before, still flashing. And when he perceived that he had now recovered and been freed from that long and grievous illness, he suddenly recovers: he turned his eyes to the altar, and beholding the man of wondrous mercy retreating with a swift course to the reliquary, he ran after him so eagerly, as if he had never before suffered any debility of his limbs. But when he came to the altar, as the brightness withdrew, he could see neither it nor the one to whose embrace he had hastened. Then, prostrating himself before the altar, he rendered abundant thanksgivings to God, the author of all good things, and to the glorious Confessor Hermelandus, through whose intervention he had been so swiftly restored to health, with the whole effort of his soul. Finally, summoning the Presbyter of the church to himself, who was sleeping there with certain others, he narrated according to the order of events how great a kindness of his mercy God had wrought in his regard through Blessed Hermelandus. The Presbyter, therefore rejoicing, most quickly lit a lamp, and roused all who were sleeping there from their sleep, and ringing all the bells, sang praises to God in honor of Blessed Hermelandus with jubilation. When morning came, that man who had been made whole went on his own feet to the metropolitan church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he walks to the Cathedral church, which for a long time he had not been able to do, in the sight of all. When they saw this, the

Archbishop of Rouen, and all the clergy, with the people of both sexes standing around and all the bells ringing, gave the greatest thanks to God Almighty, who deigned to display such an evidence of his goodness through Blessed Hermelandus. This miracle was most clearly shown at Rouen in the church of Blessed Hermelandus in the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred and seventeen, on the fifth day before the Kalends of July, June 27 of the year 1117, to the praise of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns God through all ages of ages.