Regulus

ON ST. REGULUS, BISHOP, AT SENLIS IN GAUL.

Preliminary Commentary.

Regulus, Bishop, at Senlis in Gaul (St.)

Section I. Sacred veneration: Various Acts.

[1] Senlis or Silvanectum is a city of Gaul in the present Valois region, on the river Nonette, which from there, near the royal retreat of Chantilly, The first Bishops of Senlis: flowing into the pond of Gouvieux, then enters the Oise. The first Bishop of this city, and the founder of the Church of Senlis, is considered to be St. Regulus: whose successors are numbered as Nicenus, Mansuetus, Venustus, Tanitus, Jocundus, Protitus, Modestus, of whom only the names are put forward, and then the ninth Bishop is set down as Livanius, who was present at the First Council of Orleans around the year 509: so that from this alone we cannot judge the time when St. Regulus lived.

[2] The most ancient memory of St. Regulus is in the manuscript Martyrology of the Church of Arras in these words under the third day before the Kalends of April: The sacred veneration of St. Regulus: The deposition of St. Regulus, Bishop and Confessor. The word Senlis is prefixed in the manuscripts of Tournai at St. Martin's and at Laetia. In most manuscript codices of Usuard and those published by Greven, in ancient Martyrologies on March 30: Molanus, and others, and in Bellinus, the following is read: At the town of the people of Senlis, the deposition of St. Regulus, Bishop and Confessor. Which words, however, in the manuscript Usuard preserved at St. Germain in Paris, appear to have been crossed out and transferred to the ninth day before the Kalends of April, as we shall presently say. In the manuscript of St. Lambert at Liege and another of ours under the name of Bede, likewise in the manuscript Ado of the Church of Therouanne, and of the monastery of St. Lawrence at Liege, and the manuscript of Queen Christina of Sweden, formerly written at Fulda, the following is read: At the town of the people of Senlis, the deposition of St. Regulus, Bishop and Confessor, the first of the same city. But in place of the last words, Regulus, Bishop of the same place, is said in five of our manuscripts under the name of Usuard, and in the manuscript Florarium and the Martyrology printed at Cologne and Lubeck in the year 1490. In the manuscript of Centula or St. Riquier the following is read: In France, the city of Senlis, of St. Regulus, Bishop and Confessor. And these are the older Martyrologies which treat of St. Regulus under the thirtieth of March. But on the twenty-third of April the following is read in the above-cited manuscript Martyrology of Arras: and April 23: On that same day, of St. Regulus, Bishop and Confessor. In the manuscript Usuard of the monastery of St. Germain in Paris (in which we said his memory under the thirtieth of March had been crossed out) on the twenty-third of April the following is found: At the town of Senlis, of St. Regulus, Bishop and Confessor. The same things are read in the manuscripts of Utrecht and another of ours under the name of Bede, as we have already said. To these older Martyrologies, moreover, which confirm the ecclesiastical veneration and devotion, agrees the church of St. Regulus built in the city of Senlis by King Robert, a church dedicated to him: who reigned first with his father Hugh Capet, then after his death until the year 1031, in which he died on Tuesday the twentieth of July.

[3] We have obtained various Acts of St. Regulus, and we give both versions, hitherto unpublished: Double Acts from manuscripts are given: the first, which are briefer, indeed more ancient and more trustworthy, from a very ancient codex of the Cathedral church of St. Omer in the city itself called Audomaropolis after this Saint. The latter Acts we found in various manuscript codices. Of these, the more ample ones are those which we copied at Paris in the library of the monastery of St. Germain: but, which we regret, this codex was mutilated at the end, and some things could scarcely be read any longer. But the same exist complete among the people of Senlis, which we received with this little preface: John Picard of Beauvais, Canon Regular of St. Victor's in Paris, greets the Catholic and pious reader. Read the Life of St. Regulus, which hitherto you have seen in abridged form in Peter of Equilino, in its entirety; and at the same time wish well to the spirit of Nicolas Castellan of Senlis, who while he served as Canon in the temple of the same Regulus, had nothing more at heart than that it should come into your hands and those of all lovers of God accurately copied. King Robert of France had raised the memory of the same Saint at Senlis with a magnificent temple. Our Nicolas, so that the piety of Regulus might continually be celebrated and venerated in temples not made with hands. Respond to his wishes. So far Picard, by whose industry the works of St. Anselm the Bishop and the English History of William of Newburgh were published. The same Acts, carried only to number 24, we have from manuscript codices of the Canons Regular of Rouge-Cloitre near Brussels, and the monastery of Longpont of the Cistercian Order in the diocese of Soissons; likewise from the collection of Lives of Saints which Peter Louvet had begun to compile as a supplement to Laurence Surius, their abridgements: by whose pen exists a History of the city of Beauvais. The same was sent to us in the year 1666 by Louis Nicquet, Librarian of the Celestine monastery of Soissons, but both these last Lives end at number 19 with the death and burial of St. Regulus: and in this form it is inserted in the Speculum Historiale of Vincent, Bishop of Beauvais, Book 16, Chapters 27 and the five following, and is found, but more abbreviated, in the manuscript of Utrecht at St. Savior's, with some difference concerning his homeland, as will be said below. Other abridgements exist in Peter de Natali, Book 4 of the Catalogue, Chapter 15, St. Antoninus, Part 1 of the Histories, Title 6, Chapter 28, number 2, and Boninus Mombritius.

[4] In the year 1654, Francis Boulart, then Assistant to the Most Reverend General of the Canons Regular, other Acts published from an Arles manuscript: now their General himself, sent to us, I say, a booklet published by Charles Jaulnay, Dean and Canon of the Church of St. Regulus, under the title of the battle of truth with pride: in which booklet is the Life or Acts of the most blessed Regulus, Bishop and Confessor, Patron of the city and entire diocese of Senlis, from the Legendary of the Church of Arles. That Life is carried down to the death and burial of St. Regulus, and differs from the preceding by various amplifications and in the paraphrase of words rather than of new things: but amplified especially in words: meanwhile it is said that the venerable and God-beloved Celestine, sprung from the noble province of the Irish, endeavored to spiritually dictate it by divine inspiration, at the command of the most glorious King Clovis, who, having been baptized at the exhortation and pious preaching of the holy Confessors of Christ, Remigius and Vedast, was converted to the faithful service of God. For he, having been excited with a desire to receive some particular relics of the aforesaid most holy Confessor, by God's revelation found upon his sarcophagus, inscribed on two stone tablets, the story of his life, and he ordered it to be publicized for the knowledge of all. So far that text. Below, at number 21, the approach of King Clovis to the body of St. Regulus is treated, with great silence about the life inscribed on stone tablets, but it is said the King perceived his native homeland and the greatness of his miracles through the report of many. The Irish Celestine is also otherwise unknown, not even mentioned by James Ware in his book on the Writers of Ireland, omitted: James Ussher, or the other writers on Irish matters whom we could consult. In our judgment, that Life seems to have been published after the other Acts were issued, indeed amplified from them, and therefore is omitted by us.

[5] At what time and by what authors the Acts which we give were written, the longer Acts seem to have been written in the tenth century: is not sufficiently clear. At the end of the longer Acts, a miracle is related concerning Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, who was healed: and he is here surnamed Emperor, although many years had elapsed after that miracle before he attained to that dignity. Hence what is appended to the two immediately preceding miracles also seems attributable to this: namely, that it was left in writing by the diligence of our ancestors, and that the devotion of the ancients left it for the knowledge of posterity, as those things are read at numbers 26 and 27. We therefore judge that those Acts were written in the tenth century of Christ, or the following, in the time of Hugh Capet or his son Robert, who built the church for St. Regulus: which still contains a college of fourteen Canons with their Dean. Nicolas Belfortius, Canon Regular in the monastery of St. John of the Vines at Soissons, believes the author of these Acts to be someone from Senlis: who after the church of this Saint was burned, restored his Life from papers which survived the fire or could be procured from elsewhere. As we have these things noted in the Acts themselves. But the books themselves, along with the church, were consumed by the unhappy and sudden accident of a devouring fire, as the Acts testify below at number 20. Hence also William Fabricius had noted that the said Acts should be referred to the second class, especially what is narrated in the first chapter, nor entirely certain: which are not supported by sufficient certainty, and are invited only by probable reports, as people thought in those times: which will appear more clearly in the following paragraph, when we indicate the Acts of the companions with whom he is said in those Acts to have come to Gaul.

[6] The Martyrologies published by various authors in the preceding century contain eulogies largely taken from these Acts: and the one composed by Maurolycus has the following: At the city of the people of Senlis, of St. Regulus, Confessor, eulogies taken from them in several printed Martyrologies: who had been a disciple of the Apostle John at Ephesus; thence made Bishop of Arles by Dionysius, Bishop of Paris, having overthrown the idol of Mars, he announced Christ and the Apostles. Felicius and Galesinius have similar things. But the Martyrology of Usuard, augmented at Paris and published in the year 1536, under the twenty-third of April records the following: At the city of Senlis, the deposition of the gracious Regulus, Confessor of Christ and Bishop: who, born at Nicaea in Greece, was taught by Blessed John the Evangelist. Afterwards, coming first to Rome and then to Arles together with St. Dionysius, he was there ordained Bishop. After whose martyrdom, going to the said city of Senlis, he shines forth to be venerated to this day with the many signs of virtues in the same place. The same things are read in Greven and Canisius. Saussay gathers more in the Gallic Martyrology.

Section II. The time of the mission to Gaul. Various companions of his who suffered under Diocletian.

[7] That St. Regulus was Bishop of Arles the longer Acts state, He is considered Bishop of Arles and successor of St. Trophimus: and with them the present Roman Martyrology in these words: At the town of Senlis, the deposition of St. Regulus, Bishop of Arles. The tradition of the Church of Arles agrees, in which he is venerated on this day under the rite of a double Office: and it is said in the Lessons recited at Matins that he governed the Church of Arles as the second after Trophimus. Given these facts, the difficulty grows of judging correctly the time when St. Regulus flourished. For, as we read in Gregory of Tours, Book 1 of the History of the Franks, Chapter 28, sent there under Decius: in the time of the Emperor Decius seven men were ordained as Bishops and sent to preach in Gaul... Gatianus as Bishop to Tours, Trophimus as Bishop to Arles, Paul as Bishop to Narbonne, Saturninus as Bishop to Toulouse, Dionysius as Bishop to Paris, Stremonius as Bishop to Clermont, Martial was appointed to Limoges. Of these, St. Paul, Bishop of Narbonne, is venerated on the twenty-second of March: under which, in Section 2, we brought forward the judgment of Francis Bosquet, a man most learned in the antiquity of the Gallic Church, and therefore held in high esteem by Pope Alexander VII, and translated from the bishopric of Lodeve to that of Montpellier in the year 1655: which because it is contained in this volume on page 372, we refer the reader there, and to his History of the Gallic Church, where also the occasion is indicated why both Paul and Trophimus were believed to be disciples of St. Paul: after relating which, Bosquet asserts in Book 1, Chapter 36 and the last, that many think otherwise and refer them to later centuries, relying on the authority of Sulpicius Severus and Gregory of Tours, which he then explains. and they died in peace: Gregory reckons Trophimus among those who, living in the greatest sanctity, after acquiring peoples for the Church and spreading the faith of Christ everywhere, departed with a blessed confession.

[8] Given therefore thirty or more years to the preaching of St. Trophimus, and he being called to the reward of his labors, St. Regulus succeeded him, whom the author of the Life of St. Quintinus the Martyr joins with various other apostolic men, and he came in the time of Diocletian: which Life, from a very ancient codex of the Royal Church of the same Martyr, was published by Claude Heremaeus at Saint-Quentin, and from its Registry of old charters, page 1, where the following is found: In the times of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, many Christians were suffering a most severe persecution on account of the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and the hope of the eternal kingdom... In this storm, therefore, the most blessed Quintinus and the most holy Lucian, with Saints Quintinus, Lucian: going forth from Rome, under the Lord's guidance, came to Gaul. It is also reported, and the records of their struggles testify, that with them Saints Crispin and Crispinian, Ruffinus, Valerius, Marcellus, Eugenius, Victoricus, Fuscianus, Piato, and Regulus likewise came: Then St. Quintinus is said to have suffered under Rictiovarus, appointed by the Emperor Maximian as Prefect in Gaul. The Acts of the martyrdom of Saints Fuscianus, Victoricus, and Gentianus agree with this, which from the ancient manuscripts of St. Bertin, Abbeville, and others are to be given on the eleventh of December, from which we excerpt the following: Diocletian, taking care lest under his rule the worship of the gods should fail, Fuscianus and Victoricus: gave the prefecture of Gaul to Rictiovarus and ordered him to rage severely against the Christians... At that time the holy men Fuscianus and Victoricus, joined with others endowed with similar holiness, namely Saints Quintinus and Lucian, Crispin and Crispinian, Piato and Regulus, Marcellus and Eugenius, Rufinus and Valerius, setting forth from the city of Rome, with swift course and fervent spirit, prepared to fight for the victory of Christ, like distinguished warriors fortified with the arms of faith, under Christ's leadership they reached the city of Paris within the borders of Gaul: and there, with divine grace dawning, they chose by name the places in which, having separated, they would preach. Therefore the worshippers of God, Fuscianus and Victoricus, made for the city of Therouanne with the swiftest pace: And the holy Lord's servant Lucian, attacking the borders of the people of Beauvais, preached the divine words to the people with fervent spirit. And Blessed Regulus, when he had reached the city of the people of Senlis, the grace of God so assisted him that he immediately recalled the pagan people from the worship of idols to the Catholic faith: and by the divine gift granted him, raised to the Pontifical See, he took up pastoral governance in the same city. Through which Saints the Lord deigned to work such miracles that their preaching was proved by the signs that followed to be worthy of being followed. For light was restored to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the mute, and to limbs deprived of their proper function by the disease of paralysis, the strength of their original vigor was restored. Indeed with frequent fasts and assiduous prayers and the performance of vigils they so persevered that day and night they did not cease from the praises of God.

[9] So far that text: with which the Acts of Saints Crispin and Crispinian agree, to be given from many ancient manuscripts on the twenty-fifth of October, Crispin and Crispinian: with this opening: When under Maximian and Diocletian, who having obtained the Empire together attempted with the same power to destroy the Church of Christ, a cruel persecution was raging throughout the whole world; Quintinus, Lucian, and Eugenius, born of illustrious stock at Rome, came to Gaul to preach. Who, completing the course of their holy labor with martyrdom, migrated to the Lord as distinguished triumphatores. Whom Crispin and Crispinian followed with the same devotion of faith and equal nobility of birth, and chose the city of Soissons as the host of their pilgrimage... Hearing this, the impious Maximian directed Rictiovarus to persecute them. The same Martyrs are said in the present Roman Martyrology to have been slain by the sword in the persecution of Diocletian under Rictiovarus the President. He who is joined most closely to St. Regulus in the above-cited Acts is Piatus or Piato, Piato: who in manuscript Acts says: I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, Redeemer of the world, who deigned to call me to the title of your dignity, and to make me a companion of your most blessed Martyrs Dionysius, Quintinus, Lucian, Crispin and Crispinian, and many others who suffered for your name. Deign therefore, Lord Jesus Christ, to count me in their number and to make me an eternal heir of your kingdom. Having said these things... the impious persecutors arrived, who had been directed by the most wicked Maximian. Then immediately seizing the Holy One of God and his companions, before the sight of Blessed Piato they caused them to be punished by the sword... Then one of the soldiers, having unsheathed his sword, with the holy neck already prepared, cut off his precious head. Finally, St. Paschasius Radbertus, Abbot of Corbie, thus begins the Passion of Saints Rufinus and Valerius, which he collected: Rufinus and Valerius: In the reign of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, the storm of persecution was stirred up against the Churches of Christ... In this storm, distinguished men, famous for the constancy of faith and the sanctity of their morals, Quintinus, Victoricus and Fuscianus, Rufinus and Valerius, Crispin and Crispinian, with the rest of their companions, natives of the city of Rome, preaching the words of life to the peoples of Belgic Gaul, still held by pagan superstition, called them from the yoke of demons to the liberty of Christ. Admirable in teaching, illustrious in virtues, like the brightest stars they illuminated Gaul. So far that text, where among the rest of the companions we know that St. Regulus should be understood, from the Acts of St. Quintinus and of Saints Victoricus and Fuscianus already cited.

[10] Behold St. Regulus, noted in such illustrious records as having lived in the time of Diocletian and Maximian: and he died in the fourth century? and since in the Acts he is said to have traveled through the diocese, visited parishes, held frequent sermons even in a very wide field, and to have departed this life after forty years of his episcopate, why should he not be said to have survived into the times of Constantine? Which, however, we prefer rather to propose to the learned reader than to defend stubbornly against those who think otherwise. Concerning St. Regulus and his companions already cited, Bosquet has the following in Book 4, Chapter 5. In this same persecution of Maximian, under the Presidents Rictiovarus, Crispinus, and Dacianus, Christians bore witness to the faith with their lives. Of these, many had come either after the persecution was already begun by Diocletian at Rome, or for the sake of the faith previously driven out in Gaul under earlier Princes. These are Quintinus, Regulus, Valerius, Ruffinus, Eugenius, Lucian, Crispin, Crispinian, Piato, and others, said to have been sent together from Rome: of whom some are read in certain ancient Acts to have been companions of the early Bishops of Gaul: to such an extent did historical truth lie in uncertainty and obscurity. So far Bosquet, who then treats of the Martyrs who suffered at that time.

LIFE

From the manuscript codex of St. Omer.

Regulus, Bishop, at Senlis in Gaul (St.)

BHL Number: 7106

FROM MANUSCRIPTS.

[1] St. Regulus came from Greece to Rome: The most blessed and distinguished athlete of Christ, Regulus, derived and nobly sprung from the Argolic line, as we find in the most ancient notes and papers, drenched with the bountiful dew of divine grace, came at last to Rome out of a love for the Apostles Peter and Paul, kindled from heaven, and sent to Gaul with St. Dionysius and companions: joined by the fellowship of his venerable Colleagues Dionysius, Rusticus, Eleutherius, and Eugenius, and the rest. Whose honorable company the most holy successor of the blessed Apostle Peter, Clement, gladly and joyfully embracing, straightway gave thanks from the depths of his heart to God, who had chosen such beautiful and resplendent columns, truly immovable, to support the origin of the nascent Church, his head bowed humbly to the ground. Such a great brotherhood of this holy society, divinely directed to him, Clement receiving with an enlightened mind, with the unanimous consent of common agreement, having given the authoritative power of preaching, he went to Paris: joyfully directed them to the thorny regions of Gaul, because he perceived the error of dire paganism to be sprouting forth more vigorously, aflame with the ardor of the Christian faith. These holy men of God, with swift step, faithfully sowing the seeds of the divine word, and by God's inspiration making them germinate through baptism, gradually reached the regions of Gaul, namely first the city of Paris, which at that time was more pleasantly cultivated for its royal palaces and abundance of crops and most fertile vineyards. Which regions, divided separately on either side, each one went with thirsting heart to his own assigned province. Whence it happened, with God leading, that the most sacred Bishop Regulus hastened to the walls of the people of Senlis: who gradually, by the continuous urgency of his preaching, He takes up Senlis for cultivation: snatched the erring from the jaws of the most cruel seducer, opening the way of the highest truth. Whom, fortified both by the urgency of his prayers and purified by the wave of holy baptism, he offered with the praise of triumph to the eternal King God as a truly acceptable gift with the fragrance of heavenly sweetness. For the rescue therefore of these from the sulfurous abyss of perdition, he received, the Lord rewarding, an eternal crown gleaming without fading, clothed in glory.

[2] After therefore, by the favor of divine grace, he came to the regions of the Franks for the salvation of many, lest so great a lamp of shining light lie hidden under a dark bushel, he converts very many, even nobles: as the fame of the most holy Bishop spread everywhere, the neighboring inhabitants and natives of that land began to flock, thirsting for the sight of so great a Father, and to hear with eager heart the honey-sweet doctrine of his melodious preaching,

and gradually to abhor the diabolic worship, and to hasten joyfully to the grace of baptism, having found the truthful discourse of Gospel instruction, not only the assemblies of common people, but also nobles descending equally from the royal court. Among whose benevolent zeal for their own bodily health, there also came a considerable multitude of the blind, the lame, the mute, the deaf, he heals the sick: and other disabled, and those laboring from the scourge of diverse pestilence, believing with sincere heart that, just as he spiritually illuminated the hearts of his hearers, so he would, no less, with prayers poured forth to God, wholesomely restore their bodies, and those restored to their former health would render more abundant due obedience to God. And since with alacrity of mind, having driven away the cold of native unbelief, and now with the sun of the highest faith fervently shining in their hearts, they flocked under Christ's guidance to the aid of his holiness, soon invigorated through the diligence of holy preaching, they received the desired health of both souls and bodies. This one, receiving clear brightness of eyes in an instant of time, offered praises on high to God the illuminator: a blind man: another, rejoicing in the swiftness of his feet, rendered magnificent jubilations equally by dancing: a lame man: another, on account of the sticky foulness of ears powerfully opened by God, immediately and exultingly offered no small thanks: a deaf man: another, however, punished by various afflictions of diseases, marvelously finding himself healed more quickly than words can say, looking about with sudden sight, rightly set forth songs on high to the same Lord, who chose for himself such a Bishop, through whom such wonders are performed.

[3] Certainly, the teaching of his words is the illumination of men, and the constancy of his preaching is the holiness of the people and the captivity of diabolic fraud. he excels in every kind of virtue: For he was distinguished in character, and as writing and painting indicate, fittingly composed in bodily stature, handsome in the tallness of his height, and through the grace which abounded richly on his lips, we knowingly venerate him as eloquent in teaching. Chaste in body, devout in mind, not tepid in the fervor of faith, supported by the certainty of hope, diligent in the ardor of charity, prudent in the dignity of his own conduct, and conspicuous in the abundance of all virtues: not thinking of tomorrow, but having the love and fear of God constantly before his eyes, abounding, he benefited all, harmed no one even by a word. As a true worshipper of God, he was the most holy propagator of all good things, the best founder of churches of God, and through the worthy succession of the Apostles the chief organizer of Clerics singing psalms to the Lord in choir: he devotes himself to the salvation of all: a most learned Doctor in his native Greek language and no less in Latin, according to the Apostle he became all things to all men, that he might win all: he counted the salvation of others as his own profit, therefore opening the bosom of piety with the loving affection of devotion to the approach of nobles, the middling, and the common people, he joyfully received all according to the quality of their merits, to whom he kindly extended the hand of counsel and the staff of comfort. 1 Cor. 9:22

[4] created Bishop by St. Dionysius: The blessed Areopagite Dionysius, first adorned with the splendor of the Pontifical dignity by Paul the most invincible Apostle, then sent to Gaul by St. Clement, directed to Senlis: residing in Paris, willingly directed the holy and glorious Regulus, decorated with the same honor of the supreme Episcopate, to the town of Senlis, and sent Lucian, polished with the Priestly Order, together with his companions, to Beauvais. Who, under God's protection, gradually converted the parishes committed to them in equal measure to the knowledge of God who rules all things. Whence the people of the Beauvais region, now most perfectly established in the faith of Christ, through suitable messengers earnestly entreated holy Regulus with continual prayers to go to Beauvais to consecrate St. Lucian as Bishop: to elevate their Athlete with Episcopal authority. Who, immediately rejoicing at the news of so great an election, did not delay to go with swift step. But alas, what grief! A sedition of the Nobles secretly arose, stirred by envy, whose strength the aforesaid Lucian with Lucius was striving to animate in the service of God by the urgency of holy preaching, their perfidy raged entirely against the Saints, but with him crowned through martyrdom: and at last killed them, drenched in blessed blood. Immediately, behold, another messenger was sent from the Christian people, directed to Blessed Regulus, bearing the most dreadful news, whom he met on the way in the village of Canaan, which is situated on the river Oise, saying: Do not, Father, do not be distressed, because our Pastor, having suffered martyrdom for the sheep entrusted to him, has departed to the Lord. When Regulus learned that this fierce passion had been completed, he immediately gave thanks to God with all the effort of his heart, saying: I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, excellent Shepherd, who from the company of our brethren have taken this one, happily crowned through the bitterness of his passion, into your kingdom.

[5] At this public lamentation, behold, almost the entire parish of Beauvais rushed together, he comforts the people of Beauvais: with the news rapidly spreading, lacking so great a Pastor, asking for fitting consolation. All of whom the most blessed Regulus wisely comforted with the word of salvation. Among whom, without delay, a blind man, long deprived of light, came, tearfully begging the help of his holiness: seeing whose pitiable blindness, the holy man groaned and said: Lord, Lord, who wonderfully created man and more wonderfully redeemed him, he illuminates a blind man: who reformed the eyes of the blind man crying to you through the omnipotence of your Deity, restore his former beauty in him: that this present people may learn that you are the God of gods, working wonders in heaven and on earth. And when all had responded Amen to the tearful petition of this holy prayer, quicker than words, as the day dawned, the Lord caused the night to depart. And the people, strengthened by the aid of the sudden miracle, a church erected at the place of the miracle: in testimony of this illumination, in the same place planted a church with eager construction, which to this day flourishes and sprouts forth among the children beloved of God.

[6] he traverses the diocese: Moreover, as the fame of his worthy Episcopate grew, holding the place of the Apostles, excelling in Catholic teaching, traversing towns, fields, houses, villages, and castles, with the people thronging on every side, as a provider offering new draughts to the untaught, sweeter than the honeycomb, he worthily and reverently amplified the Church of Christ, still primitive and wavering, by governing it: with anxious and careful investigation, he dedicates churches: lest the lurking wolf should maliciously deceive the sheep of Christ living in simplicity, he went around his own parish more than once a year on account of the rawness of faith: sowing the words of God through the hearts of the neophytes, building churches in suitable places, dedicating them in episcopal manner, increasing the flock of Christ washed clean by holy chrism in baptism. At length he came to a certain town publicly called Rully, where he had a considerable army of heavenly people coming to meet him: at Rully: who with unanimous intention ran to his honey-sweet teaching, not unmindful of the former preaching, but with thirsting breath in crowds with ears erect, they desired to drink in the streams of Gospel teaching. on account of the gathering of the people: But when the pious Pastor Regulus, supported by his regular authority, had seen the almost innumerable confluence of people, immediately, bathed in tears, he gave praises on high to God the Creator of all things: by whose inspiration into the earth the people, drenched with divine dew, execrably abhorred the devil and equally sought the Lord their Redeemer. What more? The walls of his ample church being unable to receive so important a congregation, he teaches in a spacious field: on the advice found by the Clerics devoted to him, he ordered a Pontifical chair to be placed in a spacious site of wonderful amplitude next to a lake (which there, still swollen by winter rain, sometimes returns into itself with surging waves), so that, surrounded on every side by the people standing around, he might scatter Christ more readily, lest anyone, lacking the refreshment of the divine bread, should return home fasting.

[7] Meanwhile, when the divine propagator, out of love for the eternal King, was fully exercising the office of governance committed to him, and was sweetly drawing out a lengthy sermon; he commands the frogs to be silent: that glorious day, following the course of former days, arrived at the evening hour, as the sun descended to the ocean. When behold, with a sudden sound, as is the custom in summer time, the inarticulate chattering of the frogs of that lake began: which, not ignorantly following the property of their nature, emitted the confusion of various voices, swimming here and there: for on account of the people standing around in a circle they did not lose their noise, so that the power of God, all-powerful in all things, might shine more clearly. But Blessed Regulus, the most precious Bishop, did not bear this tedious disturbance of the little frogs: and lest perhaps the enormity of the noise should block the ears of those standing around, permitting only one the faculty of croaking: looking back at them with a grave face, he commanded that they should keep a perpetual and unaccustomed silence, saying: Be silent, be silent all of you, except only one of you, in testimony of this command. Which frogs, obeying the command of so great a Father, immediately fell silent and were still, and to this day their posterity, imitating the obedience of their mothers in a marvelous manner, keeps silent, except only one, which while the others play, administers as a jester the property of its own song. O God, truly blessed through all the elements, who with magnificent generosity honorably enrich your little servants, at whose commands even barbarity and the senseless creature obediently obeys: because nothing is difficult and impossible for those who trust in you and sincerely believe your omnipotence: who said: All things are possible to him who believes. Mark 9:22 Behold, through so many spacious volumes of years, the barbarity of the frogs silently obeys your Bishop, who to this day have their mouths bridled in great silence. Rightly, as a certain Metrocanorus boasted in his poem, saying:

All nature is subject to his commands. Surely, to the Creator (whose word is everything that is seen, or whatever lies hidden, and the fabric of things) all his work is subservient.

[8] But the aforesaid people, strengthened by a double aid, namely satiated abundantly with the fruitful sermon of holy preaching, and having seen the extraordinary miracle, confirmed in the faith of Christ, beating their breasts, returned to their homes. The man of God, orthodox and ambidextrous, had thus governed the Church, watchful throughout the course of many years, famous for miracles, he dies on March 30: admonishing the elders and exhorting those of equal age, rebuking the younger, and showing forth wonders of signs, with God working, as it were to the unlearned and those wavering in faith, according to the Apostle. For signs are for unbelievers, not for believers, but with God putting it into their hearts, he most quickly put an end to their unbelief: For the wondrous prodigies of those miracles, then miraculously performed through the merits of Blessed Regulus, Bishop of Christ, will never be able to be fully comprehended by any orator's pen. He departed on the third day before the Kalends of April, in the reign of God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Notes

ANOTHER LIFE

From several manuscript codices.

Regulus, Bishop, at Senlis in Gaul (St.)

BHL Number: 7107

FROM MANUSCRIPTS.

CHAPTER I

Uncertain narrative of his homeland, conversion, and mission. His Episcopate at Arles.

and eagerly to hear with eager heart, and gradually to abhor the diabolic worship, and to hasten joyfully to the grace of baptism, having found the truthful discourse of Evangelical instruction, not only the assemblies of common people, but also nobles equally descending from the royal court. Among whose benevolent zeal for their own bodily health, there came also a considerable multitude of the blind, the lame, the mute, the deaf, he heals the sick: and other disabled, and those laboring from the scourge of diverse pestilence, believing with sincere heart that just as he spiritually illuminated the hearts of his hearers, he would no less, with prayers poured forth to God, wholesomely restore their bodies, and those restored to their former health would render more abundant due obedience to God. And since with alacrity of mind, having driven away the cold of native unbelief, and now with the sun of the highest faith fervently shining in their hearts, they flocked under Christ's guidance to the aid of his holiness, soon invigorated through the diligence of holy preaching, they received the desired health of both souls and bodies. This one, receiving clear brightness of eyes in an instant of time, offered praises on high to God the illuminator: a blind man: another, rejoicing in the swiftness of his feet, rendered magnificent jubilations equally by leaping: a lame man: another, on account of the sticky foulness of ears powerfully opened by God, a deaf man: immediately and exultantly offered no small thanks: another, however, punished by various afflictions of diseases, marvelously finding himself healed more quickly than words can say, looking about with sudden sight, rightly set forth songs on high to the same Lord, who chose for himself such a Bishop, through whom such wonders are performed.

[3] Certainly the teaching of his words is the illumination of men, and the constancy of his preaching is the holiness of the people and the captivity of diabolic fraud. he excels in every kind of virtue: For he was distinguished in character, and as writing and painting indicate, fittingly composed in bodily stature, handsome in the tallness of his height, and through the grace which abounded richly on his lips, we knowingly venerate him as eloquent in teaching. Chaste in body, devout in mind, not tepid in the fervor of faith, supported by the certainty of hope, diligent in the ardor of charity, prudent in the dignity of his own conduct, and conspicuous in the abundance of all virtues: not thinking of tomorrow, but having the love and fear of God constantly before his eyes, abounding, he benefited all, harmed no one even by a word. As a true worshipper of God, he was the most holy propagator of all good things, the best founder of churches of God, and through the worthy succession of the Apostles the chief organizer of Clerics singing psalms to the Lord in choir: he devotes himself to the salvation of all: a most learned Doctor in his native Greek language and no less in Latin, according to the Apostle he became all things to all men, that he might win all: he counted the salvation of others as his own profit, therefore opening the bosom of piety with the loving affection of devotion to the approach of nobles, the middling, and the common people, he joyfully received all according to the quality of their merits, to whom he kindly extended the hand of counsel and the staff of comfort. 1 Cor. 9:22

[4] created Bishop by St. Dionysius: The blessed Areopagite Dionysius, first adorned with the splendor of the Pontifical dignity by Paul the most invincible Apostle, then sent to Gaul by St. Clement, residing in Paris, directed to Senlis: willingly directed the holy and glorious Regulus, decorated with the same honor of the supreme Episcopate, to the town of Senlis, and sent Lucian, polished with the Priestly Order, together with his companions, to Beauvais. Who, under God's protection, gradually converted the parishes committed to them in equal measure to the knowledge of God who rules all things. Whence the people of the Beauvais region, now most perfectly established in the faith of Christ, through suitable messengers earnestly entreated holy Regulus with continual prayers, he goes to Beauvais to consecrate St. Lucian as Bishop: to elevate their Athlete with Episcopal authority. Who, immediately rejoicing at the news of so great an election, did not delay to go with swift step. But alas, what grief! A sedition of the Nobles secretly arose, stirred by envy, whose strength the aforesaid Lucian with Lucius was striving to animate in the service of God by the urgency of holy preaching, their perfidy entirely raged against the Saints, but with him crowned through martyrdom: and at last killed them, drenched in blessed blood. Immediately, behold, another messenger from the Christian people was directed to Blessed Regulus, bearing the most dreadful news, whom he met on the way in the village of Canaan, which is situated on the river Oise, saying: Do not, Father, do not be distressed, because our Pastor, having suffered martyrdom for the sheep entrusted to him, has departed to the Lord. When Regulus learned that this fierce passion had been completed, he immediately gave thanks to God with all the effort of his heart, saying: I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, excellent Shepherd, who from the company of our brethren have taken this one, happily crowned through the bitterness of his passion, into your kingdom.

All nature is subject to his commands. Surely, to the Creator (whose word is everything that is seen, or whatever lies hidden, and the fabric of things) all his work is subservient.

Notes

ANOTHER LIFE

From several manuscript codices.

Regulus, Bishop, at Senlis in Gaul (St.)

BHL Number: 7107

FROM MANUSCRIPTS.

CHAPTER I

Uncertain narrative of his homeland, conversion, and mission. His Episcopate at Arles.

[1] St. Regulus is said to have been baptized by St. John the Evangelist: After the most sacred and venerable triumph of the Lord's Ascension, when the holy Apostles had been dispersed through various parts of the world to proclaim the faith of the Christian religion, and Blessed John the Evangelist was teaching the word of God by urgent preaching throughout Judea and the neighboring provinces, and his holy teaching illuminated the blindness of many unbelievers; it happened that a certain young man, whose deeds, with heavenly grace assenting, we have resolved to hand down to the knowledge of the faithful, sprung from noble stock from the borders of the Greeks, named Regulus, ran among the flocking crowds to his honey-sweet preaching with the greatest devotion: and there receiving the streams of Evangelical doctrine with no idle ear, having at last driven away the cold of native unbelief, and illuminated by the warmth of the divine light, through the same Apostle, with divine grace cooperating, he merited to be regenerated by the wave of baptism: and that he might more freely adhere to the footsteps of the Apostle and diligently attend to the divine preaching, he returned to his homeland, carrying especially in the ark of his heart that Gospel saying: If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and having distributed his goods to the poor: and give to the poor, and come, follow me. And soon the faithful hearer did not delay to fulfill by the performance of works what he had received with a devout mind. For quickly selling his paternal estates, possessions, and all the furnishings of his family property (for in these he abounded with innumerable wealth), he sagaciously placed their price in the hands of the needy: and still a new recruit of Christ, renouncing all diabolic pomps, rejoicing he escaped naked from the shipwreck of this world: and thus, with his affairs arranged according to his desire and the burden of secular cares laid down, he returned with a free mind to the teachings of his Master. Then Blessed John, hearing this, gave thanks to God, admiring such great and rapid perfection in him, and having in a short time instructed him in the teachings and examples of the divine volumes (for he whom heavenly grace had illuminated, no delay could hinder from learning), immediately promoted him to the rank of the Clergy. raised to the rank of Clergy: Having therefore obtained this honor of religion, desiring to follow the footsteps of his preceding Master with worthy conduct and actions, he was daily formed by his examples. To such a degree therefore did the obedience of the devout service of Blessed Regulus deserve the grace of Apostolic affection, that, placed as it were within the bosom of his familiarity, more secretly than the rest he would more often enjoy his holy conversation. For he had foretold him, touched by the divine Spirit, that not by the shedding of blood, nor afflicted by the blows of a torturer, would he be released from the bonds of the flesh: but that, blessed in a long peace, full of days as a Confessor, he would depart to the Lord.

[2] Meanwhile, while the Catholic faith was being increased with favorable success in those regions through the most holy preaching of Blessed John, and the people were now almost entirely renouncing the worship of demons: When St. John was banished to Patmos by Domitian: the Emperor Domitian, who, desiring to destroy the name of this faith, had already sent many worshippers of the Christian religion to heaven through various torments, hearing the fame of Blessed John, and that through him many wonders were being performed, and that an innumerable multitude of people, having abandoned idols, rejoiced in divine worship, sending officers, decreed that he should be banished to Patmos as an exile. Then Blessed Regulus, deprived of the comfort of so great a Patron, constantly watering his face with tears for his absence, and devoting himself to prayer without ceasing, continually besought the Lord that he would assent with gratuitous compassion to the wishes of his purpose, and turn his steps from the error of worldly deception. When therefore, inflamed with the love of divine contemplation, he was devoting himself to prayer, as we said, he learned through the report of certain faithful persons that Dionysius the Areopagite, at Athens, together with many inhabitants of the same city, had been imbued with the sacraments of the Christian faith by the blessed Apostle Paul, he is believed to have gone to St. Dionysius the Areopagite: and drenched with the wave of sacred regeneration: whence, rejoicing with excessive exultation, he gave immense thanks to almighty God, who deigned to reveal the knowledge of his divinity to the human race, snatched from the yoke of diabolic servitude. And soon leaving his native borders, or the entire line of his own kindred, in the hope of eternal reward, desiring to be joined to the blessed fellowship of Blessed Dionysius, he came with swift step to Athens. For the blessed Dionysius, accompanied by the society of many faithful, had already followed the footsteps of the Apostle Paul his Teacher as far as Rome. Hearing this, Blessed Regulus, not broken by the labor of the journey already completed, nor terrified by the tedium of the longer one ahead, already carried over the immense waves of the sea, was at last received at Rome with all honor by the most blessed Clement, and with him received at Rome by St. Clement the Pope: who at that time sat in the Chair of the Apostolic dignity, together with the aforesaid Saints. And when the company of these Saints was being daily informed by Apostolic instructions, and had obtained the greatest place of familiarity with him, among many conversations of divine exhortation, one day Clement the Pope, having assembled them before him, began thus: Brothers and sons, the Lord Jesus Christ, begotten of the Father before the creation of the world, in our times was born from the virginal womb and assumed human nature: who, having completed the Sacraments of his Passion and Resurrection and also his Ascension, taught the minds of the holy Apostles by the infusion of the Paraclete, so that they might speak the great things of God in the languages of all nations: but they, dispersed throughout the world, planted the Church of God not only by words and miracles, but also by the shedding of their own blood. And when the course of their labor was completed, they commanded us their disciples, believing us to take their place, to work in the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, and to render fruit to God in due season. Wherefore, brothers and fellow soldiers, since I see you prepared with unanimous intention to accomplish the work of the Lord, it is not good that, leaving aside divine affairs, you should pursue idleness and leisure: since according to the Lord's sentence: The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. You see that the world is still almost entirely caught up in ancient errors, especially the regions of the West, which by divine command I entrust to the most holy labor of your brotherhood to be cultivated. When they arose, assenting with one will to this Apostolic command, sent to Gaul: St. Clement elevated Blessed Dionysius with the honor of the Pontifical dignity, and conferring the power of binding and loosing, which he had received from blessed Peter, upon him and his successors as an eternal gift, gave them permission to depart.

[3] Then these holy men, strengthened by the Apostolic blessing, he is said to have come to Arles: and inflamed with the love of the Holy Spirit, faithful cultivators of the Lord's field, inserting the word of God into barbaric hearts, came to the city of Arles. For very many merchants from various parts had come there (for there was a port there abounding in many kinds of commerce), some of whom had heard the preaching of the Apostles, and on this account showed the aforesaid Saints the services of hospitality. For the Lord granted such great grace to his Saints that the people of Arles could in no way resist their preaching, but receiving the Gospel of Christ with devout minds, faithfully worshipped the Creator of all. there appointed Bishop: For there was a most venerable temple, in which a statue of Mars was worshipped by all, which Blessed Dionysius broke, not by any labor of men, but by the invocation of the Divine name: and having eliminated all uncleanness, he ordered a baptistery to be made for regenerating the people of God. And he consecrated the temple itself as a church under the veneration of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. But seeing the people of that region devoted to the sacrifices of idolatry, dividing his ministers through the various provinces, he blessed them saying: As the Lord was with my Lords the Apostles, so may he be with you forever, and giving peace to all, and distributing the kiss of love to each one, he tearfully permitted them to depart. And he established the holy Regulus, adorned with the Pontifical blessing, to preside over the Church of Arles. He himself, with Saints Rusticus and Eleutherius, penetrating the borders of Gaul, came to Paris, where, afflicted with many torments, they received the palm of their labor by capital sentence.

[4] It happened, however, that on the very day of their killing, the most blessed Bishop Regulus was celebrating a public Mass for the people of Arles, Learning by divine means of the martyrdom of St. Dionysius and his companions: who were now frequenting the church as was their custom; with the Lord's Prayer already said and the names of the Apostles having been recited, he added: And to the blessed Martyrs Dionysius, Rusticus, and Eleutherius: hearing which, somewhat startled, he began to wonder with himself why he had said this contrary to custom: and behold, three doves appeared sitting upon the Cross of the altar, having the names of these Martyrs inscribed in blood on their breasts: which the blessed Bishop carefully observing, he knew through the Holy Spirit that Blessed Dionysius and his companions had ascended to heaven through the crown of martyrdom: but soon the doves vanished from his sight. And when the consecration of the Lord's Body was completed, retaining with him the few he wished, he made the rest depart: to whom he narrated, weeping most bitterly, the vision he had seen, and that Blessed Dionysius and his companions had received the palm of martyrdom: Alas me, he said, unhappy one, who among such men honored with the glory of glorious death have not merited to find the end of life: [and having given the people of Arles the Bishop Felicissimus, he departs for Paris:] how willingly I would deliver this body to death, that I might not lack the society of such great men. Then having called a certain Bishop Felicissimus, who had by chance come there from Blessed Pope Clement, he entrusted the flock committed to him to his custody. He himself, setting out on his journey with a few companions, following in the footsteps of the Saints, came to Paris.

[5] Then by diligent but secret investigation, searching for the bodies of the holy Martyrs and the place of their killing, he at last reached the village of Catulliacum: and from a certain matron named Catulla, he is received as a guest by the Christian Catulla: who dwelt there, he asked that lodging be provided to him out of charity. She then began to ask whether he was a Christian: for she had been marked with the sign of the Cross by Dionysius. When he replied that he was a Christian, she added: Tell me, I ask, were you of the company of the holy Martyrs Dionysius and his companions? But he, hearing their names, drenched with tears that sprang forth, confessed that he was. And when Blessed Regulus learned from conversation that Catulla was a handmaid of God, he learns the manner of their martyrdom: recounting the narrative of the aforesaid Saints and of his own pilgrimage, he related everything to her in order with a truthful account: and she revealed to him with all devotion both the arrival of the Martyrs, and the atrocity of the punishments, and by what kind of passion they reached the merited crown. On the following night indeed (for the storm of persecution had not yet subsided), she led the Saint to the tombs of the Martyrs, where they had been secretly placed by the hands of the faithful, not with fitting honor: and their names and the manner of their passion, he inscribes it on a stone: as much as the stone placed over them could contain, the blessed Bishop left for posterity. For three days, moreover, Catulla herself, desiring to be instructed in divine disciplines, detained St. Regulus with her. And on the third day having passed, Fescenninus, the killer of these Saints, hearing of the death of his Emperor Domitian, returned to Rome in confusion. Then Catulla, not a little glad at the departure of the tyrant, he dedicates a basilica to them: built a wooden basilica over the bodies of the Saints, for the time being sufficiently respectable, which the holy Bishop consecrated in honor of the same Martyrs.

Notes

CHAPTER II

The people of Senlis cultivated. The Governor and others baptized. Demoniacs and captives liberated.

[6] [At the village of Lavira he overthrows the idol of Mercury with the sign of the Cross:] Blessed Regulus, giving thanks to Catulla for her hospitality, resolved to go to the city of the people of Senlis: for they had not yet received the word of salvation, but being devoted to the worship of demons, they were held by the errors of their ancestral custom. When he began the journey he had undertaken, in the village which they call Lavira, he found a considerable multitude of people offering sacrificial victims to an idol of Mercury. Seeing this, the athlete groaned, and feeling compassion for the people devoted to the worship of idolatry, he had recourse to the refuge of prayer: and having first raised the standard of the holy Cross, he struck the image with his pastoral staff in the sight of all who were present: he consecrates an altar to Blessed Mary: and immediately, by the divine power and the intercession of the Bishop, the idol was shattered and as it were reduced to dust. But the rustic crowd, yielding to the divine power, did not, as is their custom, stir up any sedition against him: but obeying the command of the Bishop, they did not refuse to be purified by holy baptism. In the place where he broke the idol, he established a dedicated altar in honor of the blessed Mother of God.

[7] Now there was in the city of Senlis a certain matron named Callicia, a kinswoman of the aforesaid Catulla: who, hearing the fame of the blessed man, and that through him many miracles were being performed, came to the aforesaid village, where the holy Bishop had stayed for three days for baptizing the people and arranging divine matters; at Senlis he liberates a demoniac: begging with tears that he would hasten to the city as quickly as possible and restore her only son, whom the enemy of the human race had invaded. The blessed Bishop, as he was second to none in compassion, feeling pity for the woman's tears, bidding farewell to the people, proceeded to the city. But where, with Callicia as guide, he entered the house where the boy was being tormented, moved by the malice of the evil spirit, he said: Why, most wicked one, do you hold the creature of God by unjust seizure? Why do you heap torments upon yourself? Why do you kindle for yourself the fire of eternal burning? And saying these and similar things, he began the Lord's Prayer and the Creed over the head of the boy. the demon fleeing in the form of a bat: But soon the demon, terrified by this prayer and tortured by the divine scourge, changed into a bat and went out: and because the most unclean one had put on a filthy animal, it justly wished to seek an unclean lodging, and attempted to enter, in the sight of all who were present, in the form of the body it had assumed, the donkey on which the holy Bishop, wearied by the labor of the long journey, was accustomed to lighten his fatigue. But he who once compelled the donkey to use human speech, which nature had denied, and repelled by the donkey with the sign of the Cross: taught this one, through the merits of St. Regulus, to form the sign of salvation which it had never known. For with its foot it formed the sign of the Cross, and as though calling upon God as its helper, with its head raised to heaven it began to bray more than usual: but the divine power freed the donkey of the holy Bishop from the wicked guest.

[8] Then the blessed Bishop began to offer the word of life to the people who were present at this spectacle (for many had gathered upon hearing of the arrival of the holy man), in these words: You see, brothers, how slow and dull of heart you are to confess the Lord Jesus Christ, having delivered a speech to the people: who came into this world through the womb of the Virgin for your redemption, and wished to be crucified, to die, and to rise for you. For already, so to speak, the animals speak of God, and the sign of the holy Cross, which was granted to the faithful and those reborn in faith against the snares of the ancient enemy, is now assumed by brute animals, as you see in the present case, for their own liberation, by the wonderful disposition of God. Wherefore, brothers, whom God elevated with the honor of his image and wished to be capable of reason beyond other animals, it is good that you, receiving the knowledge of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, having rejected the worship of demons, should believe: that through the regeneration of holy baptism, he baptizes very many: cleansed, you may deserve to be snatched from eternal death and to attain the joys of eternal life. And when with these and similar words he had satisfied the people, the greatest part of them, whose hearts God had touched, confessing their sins, asked to be baptized without delay. Then Blessed Regulus regenerated the boy from whom he had cast out the demon, together with a very great multitude of people, by the wave of sanctification. Seeing this, the priests of the temples, with the envy of the pagan priests: inflamed with the torches of envy, began to persuade Quintilian, the Prefect of the city, that the enemy of their Gods should be expelled from their borders. Then the Prefect, moved by the contempt of his Gods, replied in anger: Go and prepare sacrificial victims for our gods in the customary manner of libations at dawn: when I arrive, I will compel that one, who is introducing a new doctrine to the people, to sacrifice: and if he refuses, I will deliver him, afflicted with various torments, to the death he deserves.

[9] When however Blessed Regulus, having baptized an immense part of the people, was returning to the lodging which Callicia had prepared for him, with death now threatening, coming before the door of the prison at the very entrance to the city, [he frees Christians held captive, the doors of the prison opening of their own accord:] he found certain Christians bound in the dungeon of the said prison: who, hearing of the passage of the blessed man, began to cry out with immense voices that he would look upon them: stopping at their voices, he began to ask whether they were Christians. They replied in a clear voice that they had been baptized by Blessed Dionysius in the name of the Holy Trinity, and after the confession of this name had been confined by the Prefect. Then the athlete of God, not terrified by the cruelty of the insane Governor, said: It is not good that those whom divine clemency has freed from the spiritual bonds of demons should be held in the material bonds of men. And saying this, he opened the door of the prison with his pastoral staff by divine power, and allowed those bound in the dungeon to depart. Then the keeper of the prison hastily reported what he had seen to the Prefect: whom, inflamed with excessive fury and already rising to search for the Holy One of God, his wife, who had been instructed by Blessed Dionysius, restrained, and by gentle persuasions made him desist from his undertaking.

[10] But Blessed Regulus, taking his customary supper, and persevering with his disciples throughout the whole night in the praises of God, prayed to God for the conversion of the people. Meanwhile, as the Prefect deliberated with vain and wakeful intent about the execution of the Bishop, while Christ in his customary piety was arranging the salvation of his faithful one, with the greatest part of the night already past, St. Dionysius appeared with his two companions in a vision, saying: [the Prefect of the city being incited to embrace the faith of Christ by Saints Dionysius and companions appearing to him:] Quintilian, the Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of all, whose servants we profess ourselves to be with faithful declaration, has sent us here for the sake of your salvation: that, having abandoned the worship of demons, you may be converted to him, and having set aside the prefecture of tyrannical domination, you may henceforth become a faithful worshipper of the Christian religion: and at first light seek out our brother Regulus, from whom asking pardon, you should accomplish without contradiction whatever he shall say. The vision being ended, the Governor, having come to himself, related in order to his wife what he had seen, and indicated the images of the Saints with a clear description. And she said: Know, dearest, that those who spoke to you are Blessed Dionysius and his companions, who received the palm of martyrdom in Paris from the Governor Fescenninus: whence it is good and salutary that, as has been divinely revealed to you through the same Saints, you should seek out the man of God peacefully, not as you had planned, he overthrows very many images of the gods: so that you may do whatever he commands, lest you incur the wrath of the omnipotent God of the Christians. And Blessed Regulus, when morning came, entered the temple in which the Prefect had ordered a sacrifice to be prepared, which, situated within the walls of the city, was venerated with great worship: for it was of wonderful composition and adornment, in which there were very many images of demons of diverse kinds, all of which the athlete of God, or rather God through him, overturned in a moment by the invocation of the divine name. Then the Priests, who were attending to the ordered sacrifices, seeing the destruction of their gods, ran about with great howling, impiously beating their breasts, and proclaiming that never had such a great crime existed in the world, sought for death by the pagan priests: they entered the house of the Prefect, saying: Why, accursed one, do you permit the sanctuaries of the Gods to be destroyed? Why, unhappy Governor, do you not punish the one who overturns the laws of the Emperor? Regulus must be burned alive, who did not fear to touch with sacrilegious hand our Gods, the protectors of the city.

[11] While they were pursuing such things with indiscriminate mourning, certain of the leading men of the people, who had come there for this purpose, to turn the mind of the Judge from the insane outcry of the Priests (for they had already received the word of life through the man of God), said: Since, the same Prefect admonished by the leading Christians about the true religion: most just Governor, you sit in the chair of this office for the purpose of keeping to the path of justice in dealing with affairs and using the moderation of discretion in examining cases, it is not good that you should rashly entertain the complaint of their unjust accusation against the Holy One of God: until, the truth having been examined, you may know which of them should rather be believed. But as we have learned by certain reason, and as you yourself, if you do not wish to resist the truth, can learn, the holy Bishop himself announces the true and omnipotent God, and what he preaches in words he confirms with the most evident testimonies of miracles. Therefore, since our Priests cannot resist his preaching and proofs with any true reason, and he powerfully crushes our divinities, as we see, by the invocation of the name of his God; it seems just to us that, having rejected falsehoods, you should pursue the hearing of the truth. And when with this reasoning the people had satisfied the Judge and inclined his mind to the worship of the divine religion: he, not unmindful of the divine vision, with his wife and household went to the man of God, and falling at his feet, with tears poured forth, asked for pardon for his ignorance. coming to him, he receives him: And when Blessed Regulus saw the multitude of the entire city with their Governor flocking with all devotion, he exulted and with a public voice blessed the Lord Jesus Christ, who, opening to the human race the door of his mercy, deigned to show the knowledge of his name. and after a three-day fast and preaching: And when the people entreated him to renew them without delay with the wave of sanctification, he said: It is just, sons, that for at least three days you should implore the divine mercy, afflicted by the mortification of fasting, that you may deserve to attain worthily the grace of holy baptism. During those three days, therefore, Blessed Regulus, preaching the word of life to the people without ceasing, very clearly opened the things that pertained to the building up of souls. having erected an altar to St. Mary, he baptizes him with others: On the third day of the appointed fast, he dedicated the temple in which he had cast down the images as a church, with the people gathered, and established there an altar consecrated in honor of the Mother of God and Virgin Mary. After this, the Governor with his wife, the Priests also and people of both conditions and sexes, both by himself and through his disciples, in the name of the Holy Trinity,

he baptized.

[12] When he inquired from the people where he might make a new burial place for burying bodies, he learned through the report of certain persons that there was a place before the gate of the city suitable for this purpose, in the suburb he casts down images: where many forms of business were conducted. For there were images of the gods, tables of Priests selling sacrificial victims, and various kinds of instruments of torture, with which those who refused to sacrifice were severely afflicted. When the blessed Bishop saw this, not knowing that workshops of demons were still kept there, he immediately ordered everything to be destroyed and the images to be reduced to dust. [he dedicates a church in honor of Saints Peter and Paul, and establishes a public burial place:] When this was done, he established a church to be built in the name of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and instituted a public burial place for Christians there. With all things thus properly arranged, the honor of God began to be exalted by the people, the worship of the churches to be increased in daily use: and the holy Bishop Regulus to be extolled with immense praises, and the devotion of the Christian faith to be loved by all. For this venerable Bishop was adorned with the gifts of virtues, distinguished by the white hairs of his head and the maturity of his character, angelic in the honor of continence, sublime in contempt of the world, glorious in the merits of justice: for heavenly wisdom illuminated him, adorned with the gems of simplicity, and keeping to the right path of life, defended by the helm of divine protection, he joyfully escaped the shipwreck of this falsely flattering world: but the people, under so great a Bishop, persevering in the praises of God and the veneration of the holy churches, blessed daily the Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God forever and ever: Amen.

Note

CHAPTER III

A spring brought forth, a blind man illuminated: silence commanded to the frogs. The deaths of St. Lucian and St. Regulus.

[13] Since in the narration of the preceding discourse we have told, to the best of our ability and as the order of truth has it, The author's prologue to the narration of miracles: how this holy and venerable Bishop Regulus came from the borders of the Greeks to this place where his most sacred body is venerated, by the clemency of the Savior assenting, and how he raised the immense people of this homeland from the very dregs of demonic worship to the knowledge of the Creator by his exhortations, with divine grace especially cooperating: now, coming to the insignia of his miracles, rightly to be proclaimed, which through him the Divine piety wished to work among the people, although it is impossible for the human pen to encompass all his deeds, we desire to hand them down to the devotion of all in a faithful description. And since the most celebrated commemoration of his deposition gathers great crowds of peoples on his solemn feast day to be honored with due veneration; then a greater devotion of faith and religion will be increased in all minds, when the greatness of the signs of the holy and venerable Bishop shall have been set forth. And although almost no imitator of so great a man can be found, nevertheless divine clemency will make all holier through his holy intercession.

[14] When therefore the Bishop himself, the people being now confirmed in the faith, was one day sitting with a multitude of citizens at a certain crossroads not far from the city, and was copiously offering the draught of the heavenly fountain to the people, as was his custom; certain of the leading men of the people, who had perhaps gathered there in great numbers, He brings forth a spring by his prayers: amid the very mysteries of the divine discourse said: Lord Father, how pleasant this place would be for refreshing the people of this city, and especially pilgrims, or any travelers wearied by the labor of some journey, if we had here a fountain of living water: which this entire multitude prays to be opened for us through your intercession, because we believe you can do this. Then the holy Bishop, certain that nothing is impossible to the divine power, exhorted them to beseech the Lord for this: that he who once, by his wonderful power, brought water from the rock for the thirsting people, now, not spurning their petition, for the declaration of the power of his name, would bring forth a living spring for his servants, such as they sought. Then, with the multitude devoting itself to prayer, in the very place where the holy man of God fell prostrate with tears poured forth, a new spring poured out most pleasant waters with a sudden effusion: which, still retaining the name of its author, makes a river with its continual flow. Seeing this, the people, rejoicing at the novelty of so great a miracle, gave immense thanks to almighty God, who deigned to refresh them, first recreated through Blessed Regulus with the draught of the spiritual font, now with the most pleasant drink of material water.

[15] And when the holy man now shone with the many-faceted pursuits of virtues, and his fame was being spread with a celebrated course through the various regions, by the working of grace from above (for neither could the eminence of so great a city, passing by with contempt for things, as though built upon the summit of a mountain, he receives from all sides a concourse of people, even of nobles: and fortified with so many bulwarks of virtues and by the regard of divine contemplation, as though by the height of towers, be hidden), the neighboring inhabitants and those of nearby cities began to run to the teaching of his preaching, not only the popular crowd and the assemblies of common people, but the illustrious and very many of secular power. For he had earned such great grace of sweet-sounding preaching and most pleasant affability that whoever enjoyed his holy conversation thought he was speaking as with a Father of goodwill, and submitting his mind to his holy exhortations, he himself shining with a singular splendor of virtues: believed it the greatest crime to resist the commands of so great a Father. For he was outstanding in praiseworthy conduct, pure in sincerity of spirit: no abundance of temporal joy could exalt him, nor could the bitterness of sorrow in any way overcome him. For whatever he received in humanity from the generosity of the faithful, he bestowed on the needy with the most worthy compassion. For opening to all the bosom of piety with the love of true affection, graciously honoring all according to the quality of their merits, he offered to all the kindness of counsel and the staff of consolation with paternal feeling.

[16] When therefore the holy Bishop delighted in these and similar services, going to Beauvais to consecrate St. Lucian as Bishop: the people of Beauvais, now confirmed in the faith of Christ through Blessed Lucian, most devoutly entreated him through suitable legates, that he would come there and elevate the aforesaid Lucian, their preacher, endowed with the honor of the Priesthood by Blessed Dionysius, to Pontifical authority: who, immediately rejoicing in so great a legation and the promotion of a brother, predicted to the legates the day on which he would come there. he learns that he was consecrated by martyrdom: But when one day with certain of his Clerics he was undertaking the planned journey, in the village of Chanaan on the river Oise he met a legate of the people of Beauvais: who, seeing Blessed Regulus going for the aforesaid ordination, weeping most bitterly with a great wail, said: Be not troubled, holy Bishop; do not go further: because our Pastor has merited to find the end of this life through the bitterness of his passion for the sheep entrusted to him. he teaches the assembled people the mysteries of the faith: Hearing this, the Holy One of God, drenched with tears that sprang forth, gave thanks to almighty God, who wished to take also this one from his company and his brethren to the crown of martyrdom. And when the people of that place had learned of the arrival of St. Regulus, a considerable multitude of those dwelling along the Oise gathered, entreating him to open the Sacraments of heavenly instruction and to confer the help of salvation on their sick through divine mercy. and heals the sick: To them the man of God, filled with the ineffable grace of piety, gave, with God cooperating, a double remedy as they had asked: for he both copiously offered them the streams of ecclesiastical teaching, and extended the hand of heavenly medicine to those afflicted with various infirmities.

[17] Among these, a certain blind man was also brought by the hands of friends, who, unfortunate, had lost the function of his eyes through a long illness: who, admitted before the sight of the man of God, humbly begged that he would lay his hand upon him and show him the beauty of the common light through his compassion. he illuminates a blind man: He, feeling pity for this misery with an affection of compassion, certain of the omnipotence of God, is said to have poured forth a prayer of this kind: Lord Jesus Christ, who created all things with the Father, and who, having also become man, ineffably redeemed man through the shedding of your own blood, and who through the immense power of your divinity conferred the function of sight on the eyes of the man born blind, look also now upon the suppliant prayer of this image of yours: and the form of his former beauty, which he lost through bodily illness, restore in him in the manner of your kindness, to the praise of your name: that this entire multitude, gathered in your name, may know that you are the true and omnipotent God who works wonders, and may more confidently confess your holy name, you who live and are glorified, God, forever and ever. And when all who were present had echoed with the response of their tears: Amen, a church later erected at the place of the miracle: his eyes were opened, and seeing with clear light the people standing around, he began to confess with a public voice and to bless the Lord Jesus Christ. And the people, strengthened by the grace of the sudden miracle in the faith of Christ, likewise giving thanks with the greatest jubilation, proclaimed for a long time the praises of their Creator. When this was done, in the same place, in memory of the miracle performed, by the command of the holy Bishop, the people, out of the zeal of devotion, built a church: where to this day God is entreated and worshipped by the inhabitants.

[18] When therefore the holy Bishop, with ecclesiastical matters now arranged and churches built in suitable locations through the villages, was traversing his parish with pastoral care according to custom, so that if anything in the divine offices and ecclesiastical worship were done somewhat negligently, he visits the parishes: he as a faithful worshipper of God might know it; it happened that one day, going to the village of Rully with the same spirit of devotion and zeal for religion, he found a considerable multitude of the Christian people: who with unanimous intention, thirsting for the streams of evangelical teaching, asked the Bishop to address them a word about the building up of souls. The propagator of the divine word, not sluggishly acquiescing to their wishes, he holds frequent sermons: began to open the institutes of the Catholic faith and the laws of ecclesiastical observance, as he was taught by daily use in these matters. It happened, however, that the wall of the church could not contain so great a congregation of the flocking people. Soon, on the advice of those present, so that the great multitude shut out might more freely perceive the words of the speaker, he ordered a Pontifical chair to be prepared outside the church in the open air. And when he was persisting at length in the divine words and drawing out the text of the sermon until evening; behold, a certain chattering of frogs, with a confused and tedious sound of their customary crying, arose from a lake, which happened to be there, swollen larger than usual by winter rain. And when he sensed that this disturbance was hindering his speaking, the frogs impeding him, he commands silence: and that the ears of the multitude were being blocked by the disorderly voices; moved by such great tedium, he immediately commanded that both they and all their posterity should be held by the reins of perpetual silence, except one which, the rest being condemned, should always use the function of its customary voice: which command of the holy Bishop, not consumed by any age of centuries, you would see still observed there, just as he had first commanded. Behold how every work of the Creator serves him: for nothing among created things presumes in any way to resist the divine commands, but all things, with the natural order divinely granted to them being preserved, are subject to the commands of the servants of God, not to mention the Creator himself. For only man, whom the Creator elevated among the other animals to the praise of his name by the form of his image, and to whom he conferred the knowledge of his divinity in a human manner,

he conferred, walking against the commands of his God, deceived by the error of diabolic fraud, he transgresses them. Let man therefore blush at this, and led by repentance for so great a transgression, raising the eyes of devout service to his Maker, let him set aside the wicked suggestions of demons, that he may deserve to obtain the inheritance of the heavenly homeland owed to him.

[19] And when Blessed Regulus, with ecclesiastical matters arranged according to his desire, and the people confirmed in the faith of Christ by vigilant exhortation, excelling in the many flowers of his preaching, was pleasing to God and to men, after forty years of his episcopate he dies: yet to rational ones; amid the innumerable and often publicized insignia of his sanctity, the unconquered soldier of Christ, wearied by the length of his years, advanced in merits and in age, chose to leave the waves of this world and to arrive happily at the port of the heavenly homeland. Having therefore completed forty years in the governance of the sheepfold of God, on the third day before the Kalends of April, freed from the bonds of the flesh, he migrated to the heavens, made a fellow citizen of the hosts of Saints. To the obsequies of so great a funeral an innumerable assembly of people, he is buried in the church of Saints Peter and Paul: and the entire city, bereft of so great a Patron, and from neighboring cities very many Bishops gathered: for there was public exultation among them at his triumphal glory, but no small sadness and confusion at his bodily death. Then the faithful assembly of the Ecclesiastical Order and the concurring people with various funeral preparations buried him at the eastern part of the city in the church of Saints Peter and Paul, which the holy Bishop himself had consecrated in their honor, where the grace of divine piety revealed the dignity of his merits in manifold kinds of miracles to the praise of his name. he is famous for miracles: For there the lost sight of the blind was often restored, the desired health was granted to those afflicted with various infirmities, demons were also driven from possessed bodies, and salutary gifts are conferred on those seeking heavenly aid, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever and ever, Amen.

[20] At the tomb indeed of his most sacred body, how many wonders of miracles were manifested after his burial can neither be explained in words nor retained by human minds. but obliterated by the fire of the church and its papers: For as we have received through the report of the faithful, through the zeal of devout ancients who feared God, the diligence of our ancestors inserted in sacred books very many things about this Confessor of Christ, Regulus, for the edification of posterity, which afterwards, through the negligence of the custodians and most especially the sins of the inhabitants deserving it, the devouring fire consumed with an unhappy and sudden accident, together with the church itself, of quite respectable construction, and all its furnishings. From those things indeed which in modern and our own times divine piety wished to work through him, some of which are retained in this volume, the capacity of faithful minds can gather that many wonders were worked through him over so many periods of years. For he was a contemporary of the holy Apostles and, as we said before, a disciple of St. John the Evangelist. What therefore the envious burning of the devil had taken away from the praises of so great a Bishop, let the faith of holy minds restore to his holy praises with a spiritual pen; because the narration of our smallness has passed over the insignia of his earlier virtues owing to the already-mentioned prevailing accident, we deemed it necessary to insert also those things which shone forth in our times into the divine reading.

Notes

CHAPTER IV

The body of St. Regulus displayed before King Clovis. The piety of deer. A blind and a crippled man healed.

[21] At the time when Clovis, King of the Franks, already initiated in the sacred mysteries, to Clovis I, King of the Franks: was exercising his rule, and, inflamed with the fire of divine love, was traversing the individual monasteries of the Saints throughout his kingdom with the zeal of devotion, it happened that by the famous rumor of the people he came with certain Bishops of this province to the threshold of this most blessed Bishop, intending to pray. And when he had learned through the report of many of his native homeland and the greatness of his miracles, he immediately resolved to elevate his most holy body, entombed with extreme antiquity, with fitting honor, and asked with humble devotion that something of his members be given to him. Which the Bishops who were present, and especially the Bishop of that city, refusing with just reason, showed by the examples of the Holy Fathers that it would be unworthy to rashly take anything from the body of so great a man, and that they would commit sacrilege if they mutilated the Holy One of God in any limb; the body is shown, suffused with a divine fragrance: at last the King proclaimed it a great crime that even one of his teeth should be denied to him. Then the Bishops, wishing to satisfy the royal petition, came together to dig up the body of the blessed man: when it was found, the King with his Bishops and Nobles, suffused with an immense divine fragrance, gave thanks to God on bended knees, that he had revealed and shown the body of his holy Bishop in their times. Then the Bishop of that city, compelled by the counsel of the Bishops and the insistence of the King's petition, extracted a tooth from the jaw of the Saint with forceps taken up with great trembling. from the extracted tooth, to be given to him, blood flows: Immediately, in a wonderful manner and by a hitherto unheard-of miracle, a wave of fresh blood followed the tooth of the lifeless body, in the manner of the living: which the wondrous God wished to produce in praise of his faithful one, so that he who appeared to us similar in the nakedness of bones through the decay of the flesh, might be believed to be living in heaven by his most holy merits.

[22] Seeing this, the aforesaid King, stunned by the wonder of so great a miracle, receiving the tooth without due consideration and not with fitting honor, left the church: and when he wished to enter the city, he could find no entrance to enter, entry to the city is denied: even though he went around the wall of the city many times: for it seemed to him and to his faithful, blinded by divine will, that the entrance of the gates was made into a continuous wall. Then the King, not a little frightened, stood still, and calling together his Princes, said with much amazement: Who could so quickly have enclosed the openings of this city with stones? Did we not leave these walls a short time ago through open gates? And while he was saying such things to himself, the Bishops and other Princes began to intimate to the King that this had happened to him on account of the violence he had done to the holy body, and that he should restore the tooth to its place with honor, until the tooth is restored: and should exalt the place itself, more fittingly built up, with royal gifts on account of the finding of so great a Patron, and they persuaded him that it would not be right to enter the city before this. Immediately the aforesaid Prince, coming to himself and yielding to the persuasion of the faithful, returned to his sepulchre, led by repentance for the injury done, and decreed to honor the place itself in this manner. First he ordered the church itself to be fitly built from its foundations at his own expense, a new church is built: and the sepulchre of St. Regulus to be fashioned in gold: and he assigned the village of Bussy on the river Marne with all its dependencies to the authority of the Church. and royal gifts are offered: And the tooth itself, adorned with gold and gems, he restored to the holy body: and he brought to the ministry of the church very many gold and silver vessels and garments woven with gold of various kinds of ornament. These things having been duly ordered, and deputies having been appointed to carry out this business with diligent care, he returned to the city, and found its gates, by divine dispensation, open in the usual manner.

[23] We have thought it worthwhile to add also a certain thing to the praises of the holy Bishop, which from the very days of his burial, on the feast of his deposition each year, the wonderful disposition of God has willed to continue down to our own time, namely a new miracle, and one, as we have heard, granted to no Saint before. For when an innumerable concourse of people, to celebrate the joy of so great a festival according to the annual custom, deer with their fawns come running to the annual feast: flocked together from all sides, deer of both sexes with their fawns, and even roebuck, compelled by no kind of violence but by the divine will alone, having laid aside the humps of their untamed wildness, through the very wedges of the concurring people came at a slow pace all the way to the tomb of the holy Bishop, and there prostrate on the pavement, waiting for the solemnities of the Masses, they excited the spirits of the thronging crowd for the service of so great a Priest by their presence. For who of so mad a mind would desert that solemnity which he perceived to be celebrated together by the untamed throng of wild beasts? When therefore the solemnities of the divine Office were completed and the people were departing, they went out likewise, hastening to be joined to the fellowship of their kind and to satisfy the pleasures of their nature. Behold how the Divine clemency glorifies the bodies of the Saints with frequent and diverse wonders: and not only by the veneration of rational animals, but also by the innumerable services of those lacking reason, as in the present miracle, he magnifies them.

[24] Since we have begun to dwell on the praises of the holy Bishop, we have thought it right not to pass over a certain thing also, which will both redound to the increase of his praise and profit us for the salvation of our souls. For by the prompting of the Holy Spirit they rejoice that their deeds are recited and committed to the memory of men, a citizen of Senlis binds himself by a vow to the service of St. Regulus: not because they are held entangled by the vice of vain glory, lest the frequent mention of their works should acquire for them the honor of a higher seat beyond the ranks assigned for their merits in the heavenly kingdom; but that we, reciting their miracles, may come to know the order of their past life, and adhering to their footsteps, may be able to be joined to the heavenly fellowship. A certain inhabitant of the aforesaid city, seeing the tomb of the holy Bishop Regulus adorned with innumerable miracles and held in the fitting honor of veneration, chose to renounce worldly affairs and to lay down the burden of secular covetousness, and bound by the tie of a voluntary profession, to serve the interests of his Church to the end of his life. But after a long time, the enemy of the human race and of all goodness, he returns to secular business: grieving that the perseverance of the aforesaid profession should be prolonged and the man should rejoice in divine services, stretched out the nets of his cunning and placed stumbling blocks in his holy steps: and at last compelled him to forget his holy vow, and expelled from the boundaries of the Church, returned him to the worldly affairs which he had previously renounced. But when one day, released from ecclesiastical services, he becomes blind: he was taking delight in secular affairs, he was struck with bodily blindness. For he had already lost the sight of the divine light, because unless first the eye of the inner man were wounded by the darts of the enemy, the wretch would in no way have preferred the transient to the eternal, nor would he have been unmindful of his former promise. At last, led by repentance for this struggle, and especially compelled by the loss of his sight, he was led by the hands of friends to the patronage of the holy Bishop: where, proclaiming for a long time in a wonderful manner that he was suffering what he deserved, by the aid of St. Regulus he is illuminated: and begging pardon for his faithless offense with prolonged tears, he at last merited to receive through the intercession of the holy Bishop what he had lost through the wicked suggestion of the crafty enemy. Then indeed, refreshed by the light of both the inner and outer man, he gave thanks to the Creator of all, and reforming himself perpetually in the service of St. Regulus, he judged that if hereafter he should commit any sin through any temptation of the devil, he again binds himself to the service of St. Regulus: he would be worthy of eternal darkness. For we ought to vow to God what is just, and faithfully to pay what has been offered. For it is much better not to vow than to postpone vows through any kind of

negligence. But by no vow shall we be able to please the heavenly Judge more than by the mortification of carnal pleasures, because a contrite spirit is a sacrifice pleasing to God.

[25] For the blessed Confessor merited such great grace by his outstanding merits with the Lord, that not only did he moderate the hardships and desperation of various illnesses of his neighbors and compatriots with the relief of his patronage, various foreigners are helped: but also foreigners and inhabitants of other provinces, burdened by whatever bodily weakness, were brought by the admonition of divine command to the aid of this holy Bishop, whence, endowed with the health of the desired well-being, they returned to their homes, having given thanks to God and so great a Priest. A certain one of these, an inhabitant of the district of Auxerre, who, deprived of the function of nearly his whole body, especially his feet, a man of Auxerre miserably crippled: had long lain wretchedly in continual sickness; while daily watering his face with customary tears and deploring the clemency of his Creator for the restoration of his debility with the tearful urgency of his prayers: as soon as he heard the famous name of the most blessed Regulus, and perceived through popular report that God was working many miracles through him; immediately, having prepared the necessities for so great a journey, the sick man was brought without delay under the guidance of his parents to the threshold of the oft-mentioned Bishop, with the certain hope of recovering his health, and by their hands was deposited before his altar like a stone form. brought to his altar: Then the Bishop of the same Church, having called together a multitude of the people, exhorted them to pour forth prayers for the sick man: that he who from foreign borders had sought the comfort of so great a Patron for the sake of acquiring health might be restored to the desired health by his most holy merits, to the praise of his name. And immediately, when the Bishop with the people devoted himself to prayer with tears before the mausoleum of the holy Priest, while the Bishop and others prayed: the heavenly munificence of medicine did not fail their petition, but the long-standing and incidental conglutination of the sinews began to be loosened by the anointing of the divine oil, not without the effusion of blood, and to be restored to its proper condition. Then he who before, as we said, was carried by the assistance of others, he is healed: by the favor of divine clemency and the helping merits of the holy Bishop, stood with unaccustomed firmness on his feet, and refreshed by the long-desired health, giving fitting thanks to almighty God and holy Regulus, he honored his altar with gifts brought as best he could, and pledged with a joyful vow that he would visit his holy place each year each year he returns from his vow to give thanks: as long as he would enjoy the breath of life. Thus, having left the church with a steady step, he set out on his journey, and proclaiming to all the benefits he had received and the magnificence of the holy Bishop with a public voice, he returned to his own place, and by showing the restoration of his body invited many to seek out his shrine.

Notes

CHAPTER V

Other sick persons are healed, and the daughter of Charles the Bald, who was near death.

[26] Since with these and very many other wonders of virtues the grace from above has glorified the lifeless body of Blessed Regulus, it is without doubt clear The heavenly glory bestowed on the Saint is known from his miracles: of what merit he was when living before the Lord, whom after the departure of his spirit he deigned to honor with so great a distinction of miracles. How great do you think is the splendor with which the souls of the Saints shine in heavenly glory, where they are filled with the immense delight of the divine vision, and are ineffably fed with the banquets of heavenly conversation; while their holy corpses, placed in the bosom of the earth, are divinely adorned with such great miracles, and enlarged with immense gifts? Lest therefore we should commit a fraud regarding the miracles of so great a Priest, which, God willing, we determined to reveal to the people gathering on his feast day; we deemed it right to add to our work a certain miracle nearly similar to the preceding one, left in the writings by the diligence of our ancestors. Another from the Gastinais region, crippled in both feet: A certain man in the Gastinais region, deprived of the function of walking, was held by a remarkable contraction of both feet from boyhood. And when he had passed very many periods of time in this disability, grieving at the fate of so great an illness, he besought the comfort of his Creator with almost continual tears, and merited to be admonished by the report of divine piety, as we learned from his own account, that if he wished to be free of so long a weakness, he should hasten to pray at the threshold of St. Regulus, from a revelation made to him: where his body was held in burial, and should trust that there he would be restored to complete health. He, giving faith to the desired vision, with expenses prepared and with the greatest alacrity of mind, was brought to the tomb of the oft-mentioned one by a crowd of relatives accompanying him. brought to the tomb of St. Regulus: There devoting himself to prayers and spending vigilant nights with a humbled spirit, at length, with the merits of the holy Priest interceding and aided by the divine nod of propitiation, he merited to be raised up while lying prostrate before the very mausoleum on the ground, during the restoration of his whole body, on a certain day when the Bishop of the same Church was celebrating the solemnities of the Mass. he is healed during the solemnities of Mass: Then the people, who were present at the divine mysteries, seeing such great grace celebrated in the disabled man, blessed the almighty Lord with great applause and jubilation, who deigned to glorify the most sacred body of his faithful one through so many diverse wonders. And he who had been brought with weariness and the vexation of labor and the comfort of friends, giving due thanks to his Intercessor, returned with wonderful agility of body, and faithfully revealed the fame of so great a Priest with a public voice to whomever he could.

[27] Another miracle after this one the devotion of the ancients left for the knowledge of posterity, which we have in no way thought should be covered in silence, lest we should cut off the order of the narrative with the knife of negligence. A girl of Senlis lacking the ability to walk: There was a certain girl raised not far from the courtyard of the church of St. Regulus, poor in possessions, but, as later appeared, most rich in faith and devotion. She, lacking the ability to walk in the customary human manner, was carried on her knees and elbows, like a paralytic, in an unhappy and miserable manner, and was fed by the generous charity of the faithful, as a native, not by the labor of her hands: and although she was deprived of bodily functions by the prevailing illness, nevertheless no misfortune, no bodily weakness could in any way turn her mind from the divine praises, but she was always frequenting the church, wearing away the threshold by dragging her body, not by walking with her feet, very pious: and she was present at the customary offices of the Canons, and continually prayed to the Lord with tears poured forth for the relief of so great a disability. And when on a certain feast day, as the people hastened to the church, this disabled woman hastened with them in her pitiable manner of going, and lit a candle which she had brought with her in the presence of the holy body out of the duty of devotion; a candle lit at the tomb: immediately, by the divine Power and the help of the holy Bishop, the bonds of her sinews being loosened, raising herself before the altar, she stood on firm legs, and so thenceforth remained unharmed by divine favor. Seeing this, the people, astonished by the amazement of the sudden miracle, she is suddenly healed: with voices raised on high, burst forth in praises of the Almighty, who through the merits of his faithful one deigned to assist the vows of petitioners with gratuitous benefits. And she, restored to perfect health, as she had begun, devoted to Ecclesiastical services, remaining uncontaminated to the end of her life, did not delay to give thanks to God for her restoration.

[28] Judith, the daughter of the Emperor Charles, was vexed by continual fevers, and had been so weakened by the intolerable violence of the burning heat [Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, in continual fevers, is warned by St. Regulus:] that she could neither stand on her legs nor rise from her bed without the aid of another. And when, with the hope of living now taken away, she was almost deprived of the warmth of life, and nothing else in the presence of her parents was awaited but the departure of her spirit: it happened on a certain night (while she lay in the palace, about to depart continually from her body, as it were, and was watched over by her mother) that, pressed by the desired sleep, she saw in her dreams that she was standing before the altar of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, where the most sacred body of Blessed Regulus is held in burial, and that the aforesaid holy Bishop stood there and imposed on her the sign of the holy Cross with these words: Early in the morning, daughter, hasten to come here before the altar of the holy Apostles, and there, with divine grace favoring, trust that you will be restored to your long-desired health. Then the girl, coming to herself, related to those standing by, although in a weak voice, everything she had seen. Hearing this, her father, not a little gladdened by the divine vision, with a joyful spirit ordered her to be brought to the aforesaid place, as she had asked. And when she was placed before the altar of the holy Apostles by the hands of those carrying her; she began, as best she could, to beseech their aid and that of the holy Bishop, prostrate on the ground, and to implore on their behalf the help of divine salvation. And when all who were present, feeling compassion for the tears and extreme weakness of the royal child, tearfully implored the medicine of heavenly aid (for many from the King's retinue and from the common people had gathered), immediately the girl, salutarily anointed by the unction of the divine Power and refreshed by the accumulation of spiritual remedy, by the merits of the holy Apostles and the help of the glorious Priest's intercession, merited not only to be freed from the force of the threatening fevers; at his relics she is suddenly healed: but to be immediately restored to perfect health; and as though she had suffered no discomfort, leaping forth with firm steps, with hands stretched to heaven, she gave thanks to the Creator of all: who through the intercession and revelation of the most holy Bishop Regulus, had recalled her even from the very threshold of death, not by her own merits but by heavenly grace, and had brought her to perfect health, as was seen in the present, in a moment. Then the innumerable assembly of the flowing people, greatly rejoicing at this sudden miracle celebrated in so great a virgin, blessed the magnificence of the divine Power with unanimous exultation, who deigned to glorify the venerable body of his faithful one with so many wonders of miracles. Charles the Bald, rejoicing, gave many possessions to the church: And when the Emperor learned this through the swift and exultant report of his attendants, filled with ineffable joy, he went with swift step to the church of the oft-mentioned Confessor, and there found his daughter, whom he had previously left at the very boundary of death with her last breath fluttering, restored to her former health, and began to exult in the Lord with his Nobles with immense praises: and lest he should be ungrateful for divine gifts, he enlarged the place itself with many land grants by royal generosity, which still exist under the dominion of the same church by divine protection. Finally Queen Ermentrudis, gladdened by a mother's affection at her daughter's restoration, the Queen Mother offered various ornaments: endowed the church with the finest cloths and various feminine furnishings. To the altar of St. Regulus, by whose benefit she had received back her only daughter, she attributed a cloth of great price, woven with gold. Many also of those who had gathered, congratulating the King, bestowed various gifts on the Church according to their means. We can in no way express how great was the weeping mixed with joy in the palace for this restoration of the royal child, and how much the fame of so great a Priest grew everywhere on account of the present miracle.

[29] The heavenly power has glorified the venerable body of this blessed Bishop with many and innumerable wonders of miracles, and even in our times, Epilogue: with divine grace working, they grow with each passing day: which the intent of our narrative wished to pass over, lest the magnitude of so great a work should create tedium, or lest the excessive length of the reading should consume the span of the day. Let us therefore unceasingly beseech the holiness of this Bishop with profuse prayers, that he may obtain for us by his holy intercessions: and may so grant us to enjoy temporal goods that through these we may in no way lack the eternal: may he obtain

may also his most holy intercession generally obtain for all the desired times of peace, which the just may attain eternal in the heavenly homeland; through Christ our Lord: to whom is honor and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

Note

ON SAINTS DOMNINUS, PHILOPOLUS, ACHAICUS, AND PALATINUS AT THESSALONICA IN MACEDONIA.

Commentary

Dominicus, Martyr at Thessalonica in Macedonia (St.)

Philopolus, Martyr at Thessalonica in Macedonia (St.)

Achaicus, Martyr at Thessalonica in Macedonia (St.)

Palatinus, Martyr at Thessalonica in Macedonia (St.)

[1] The city of Macedonia, Thessalonica, is well known, about which we said several things in the Life of St. Matrona the handmaid, crowned there with the palm of martyrdom on the fifteenth of March. In the same city, on this thirtieth of March, four athletes suffered for the faith of Christ, with whom the Martyrology of St. Jerome opens this day in these words: Memorial in ancient Martyrologies: The third day before the Kalends of April. In the city of Thessalonica, of Domninus, Philopolus, Achaicus, Palatinus. So our very ancient copy, and three others agree, with some diversity however in the writing of two names. For Acacius is read in others, as also Philopholus and Philippopolus. Notker gave everything as it is written in our first copy: the manuscripts of Reichenau in Swabia and Rheinau in Switzerland express these names thus: In the city of Thessalonica, of Domninus, Philopolus, Acacius, and Palatinus. In the Labbaeus manuscript Filipolus is written, in the Augsburg manuscript Filopoli, and Agaci. In the Barberini manuscript Philophilus, in the manuscript of Queen Christina of Sweden cited by Holstenius, Philippus and Acatus; in the rest they agree. Usuard in the double Paris manuscript of St. Germain, where he lived, omitting Palatinus, celebrates the other three thus: At Thessalonica, the birthday of Saints Domninus, Filopolis, and Achaicus. The same things are read in the Utrecht manuscript: but with the place omitted, they are read thus in Rabanus: Birthday of Domninus, Philippopolis, and Jacacius. The Roman manuscript of Duke Altemps: At Thessalonica, of Saints Domninus, Philopius, and Achaicus. But with Achaicus omitted, these three are enumerated in the Trier manuscript of St. Maximin: At Thessalonica, of Domninus, Phylopolus, Palatinus. In the Vatican manuscript of the church of St. Peter two are recorded: In the city of Thessalonica, of Domninus, Palatinus. Which are also read in one Cassino codex, but in another the memory of Domninus and Agasius is celebrated. In the manuscript of St. Cyriacus the following is found: At Thessalonica, of Saints Domninus, Paulinus, Eulalia the Virgin, about whom we shall treat presently: but the name Paulinus seems to have been intruded in place of Palatinus. In the Arras and Tournai manuscripts is joined: Birthday of St. Eulalia the Virgin and Palatinus. In the Aachen manuscript mention is made of Domninus, Filipolus, Eulalia the Virgin, and six hundred and one others. But a smaller number is added in the Trier manuscript of St. Martin: At Thessalonica, of Domninus the Martyr and twelve others. In the Liege manuscript of St. Lambert, Romulus is given as a companion of Domninus, who in the manuscript Ado of St. Lawrence near Liege is appended to the following Martyrs: and perhaps he is St. Regulus the Bishop, who is venerated on this day.

[2] Among the Martyrs of the following class the leader is Victor, who with Domninus is celebrated in this verse by Wandelbert: St. Victor to be separated: The third day shines with Domninus and his companion Victor. Hence Victor in various manuscripts under the name of Usuard, and others, also in Bellinus, Maurolycus, Greven, and Molanus, is joined to Domninus. Concerning these the following is read in the present Roman Martyrology: At Thessalonica, the birthday of the holy Martyrs Domninus, Victor, and their companions. Baronius in his Notes cites Usuard. But in his genuine codex not Victor, but Philopolus and Achaicus are joined to Domninus.

[3] Baronius adds in the same place: Concerning Domninus of Thessalonica, about whom it is treated here, Whether the same Domninus is venerated on October 1: the Greeks have under the Kalends of October in the Menologion, where his Acts are narrated in summary form: and they report that he suffered in the persecution of the Emperor Maximian. But he is recorded as a different person in the said Roman Martyrology under the Kalends of October, the Greeks in the Menologion being again cited: which will be more fully examined there: meanwhile we give his eulogy from the Menologion published by order of the Emperor Basil: Domninus the holy Martyr, a Christian of Thessalonica, his eulogy: of singular piety and devotion toward God, when the Emperor Maximian was devoting himself to the building of Thessalonica, was discovered to be a Christian, seized, and brought before his tribunal: to whom Maximian, inflamed with vehement anger, said: Do you dare, even in my presence, to profess yourself a Christian, and having rejected our Gods, to worship another God? Wherefore, if you wish to consult your own safety, sacrifice to the Gods. But when Domninus replied that he knew one God only and wished to render worship to him alone, all other beings, which are Gods in opinion only but not in reality, being despised; the Emperor ordered his soldiers to tear his body with scourges: and when he still persevered in the faith toward Christ, he was led outside the city, and his arms and legs were broken. But the Saint, after his limbs were crushed, meanwhile taking no food, surviving these great evils and torments for seven more days, and always giving thanks to the very end, gave back his spirit to God. Similar things are found in the Greek Menaia and Synaxarion, and in the Menologion of Sirletus cited by Baronius, but somewhat more abridged.

[4] Nicaeus the Bishop is recorded in three Martyrologies, and first Rabanus has the following for this day: The third day before the Kalends, Whether Nicaeus the Bishop should be joined? Birthday of Domninus, Philippopolus, and Jacacius, and the deposition of Austasius the Abbot and Nicaeus the Bishop. Of these, Austasius, by others Eustasius, Abbot of Luxeuil, was recorded on the preceding day. And the first three are Domninus, Philopolus, Achaicus: to whom Nicaeus is more closely joined in the printed Bede, toward the end in these words: And the birthday of Domninus, Philipponius, and Lacatius, and Nicaeus the Bishop. Galesinius also, after he had recorded with the printed Bede Saints Agapius, Secundinus, and others who suffered in Numidia, subjoins, as though they were their companions, the names of Nicaeus the Bishop, Domninus, Philipponius, and Lacatius. We, doubtful about this Nicaeus, subjoin him to the others as we found him, wherever he may have lived: we omit him, however, from the title, fearing lest he might have been some Saint of the city of Nicaea. The bare name of Nicenius is read on the preceding day in the Cassino manuscript in Lombard script, and is joined to Regulus, who also pertains to this day.

Notes

a. Whether Gallic should be read instead of Argolic can be questioned. He is considered Roman in the Acts of his companions.

b. We treated above concerning this conjunction and mission of companions, where others are assigned along with Eugenius.

c. Those regions of Gaul had already long since been occupied and named by the Franks when the author was writing, but not when St. Regulus lived.

d. This is a phrase used at the time of the writer, by which illustrious nobles are indicated.

e. We gave the double Acts of St. Lucian and his companions on January 8, and above we reported that his arrival is placed in the time of Diocletian.

f. Indeed, Lucian before baptism was called Lucius: and his companions were called Maximian and Julian.

g. Rully, commonly Rully, distant about nine thousand paces from Senlis.

a. Whether Gallic should be read instead of Argolic can be questioned. He is considered Roman in the Acts of his companions.

b. We treated above concerning this conjunction and mission of companions, where others are assigned along with Eugenius.

c. Those regions of Gaul had already long since been occupied and named by the Franks when the author was writing, but not when St. Regulus lived.

d. This is a phrase used at the time of the writer, by which illustrious nobles are indicated.

e. We gave the double Acts of St. Lucian and his companions on January 8, and above we reported that his arrival is placed in the time of Diocletian.

f. Indeed, Lucian before baptism was called Lucius: and his companions were called Maximian and Julian.

g. Rully, commonly Rully, distant about nine thousand paces from Senlis.

a. The Utrecht manuscript: sprung from noble stock from the borders of the Franks. The printed Life: sprung from the most noble stock of the Argolic race, in the 13th year of the reign of Claudius, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 50. But the 13th year of Claudius corresponds to the year of Christ 53, and according to Baronius to the year 55.

b. This is traditionally placed in the 14th year of his reign, the year of Christ 94.

c. St. Clement held office from the year 91 to 100, died November 23.

d. Namely, they hold that Paul went to Spain in the 5th year of Nero, the year of Christ 58, and in passing established St. Trophimus as Bishop of Arles.

e. Domitian was killed on September 18 of the year 96.

a. It is added in the printed Life: And he baptized them there, one hundred and forty-five in number, and remained there seven days.

a. Here in the manuscript of Rouge-Cloitre the title reads: Second Part.

b. The printed Life adds: by name Maurinus.

c. These things about St. Lucian are omitted in the printed Life.

d. So the manuscripts of Peter Louvet, the Utrecht manuscript, Vincent of Beauvais, and Peter de Natali with most Martyrologies. But on the ninth day before the Kalends of May, the Paris, Senlis, and Rouge-Cloitre manuscripts have it, and the printed Life with certain Martyrologies.

e. The manuscripts of Louvet, Soissons, and Utrecht end here, with the printed Life and others, as we noted above.

a. So the manuscripts; by others the Marne, a very well-known river of Gaul, which above Paris mingles with the Seine.

b. Here the manuscript of Rouge-Cloitre ends, with only the closing clause reported below at number 29 appended.

a. This is Judith, who first married Ethelwulf, King of the West Saxons in Britain, and after his death married her stepson Ethelbald, but having been repudiated, became the wife of Baldwin the Iron, Count of Flanders.

ON ST. REGULUS, BISHOP, AT SENLIS IN GAUL.

LIFE

BHL Number: 7106

FROM MANUSCRIPTS.

ANOTHER LIFE

BHL Number: 7107

FROM MANUSCRIPTS.

CHAPTER I

ANOTHER LIFE

BHL Number: 7107

FROM MANUSCRIPTS.

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER II

CHAPTER III

CHAPTER IV

CHAPTER V

ON SAINTS DOMNINUS, PHILOPOLUS, ACHAICUS, AND PALATINUS AT THESSALONICA IN MACEDONIA.

Notes

Feedback