Renovatus

CONCERNING ST. RENOVATUS, BISHOP OF EMERITA IN SPAIN.

AROUND THE YEAR 633.

Renovatus, Bishop of Emerita in Spain (Saint)

[1] Emerita, commonly called Merida, a city of Spain on the river Anas, was formerly in the time of the Romans and the Goths a celebrated and splendid city, adorned with an episcopal see: concerning whose several venerable men, and especially five Bishops, eminent for the power of miracles and holiness of life, Life written by Paul the Deacon of Emerita: Paul the Deacon of Emerita published a book, inscribed by him "On the Life and Miracles of the Fathers of Emerita": which, long desired, Thomas Tamaio de Vargas had printed at Antwerp in the year 1638 and illustrated with learned notes. The same Paul the Deacon states in his preface that he narrates what he had heard from one whom he does not doubt departed from the body in a wondrous manner and attained to the courts of the heavenly kingdom. He concludes the book with the deeds of St. Renovatus the Bishop and the miracles wrought at the tomb of this and other Bishops: nor does the author appear to have flourished long after this Bishop.

[2] Ancient Martyrologies treating of these Saints are lacking, sacred cult: whose place the said Paul the Deacon supplies. That St. Renovatus nevertheless had a feast day in the church of Palencia on this thirty-first of March is attested by Hieronymus Romanus de la Higuera in his Spanish Martyrology, not yet published, but reported in the Spanish Martyrology of Joannes Tamaio Salazar, who adorns him with this eulogy: "On the day before the Kalends of April. At Emerita Augusta in Vettonia, the birthday of St. Renovatus, Bishop of that city, whose illustrious works in all kinds of virtues, whose renowned deeds in the burdens and honors of the pastoral office committed to him, earned for him in this world titles of sanctity, and in that eternal one merited the rewards of glorification." Joannes Marietta likewise records him among the holy Pontiffs and Confessors of Spain, in book 5 of the Ecclesiastical History of the Saints of Spain, chapter 42, and transmits a eulogy from Paul the Deacon, frequently adorning him with the title of Saint. Barnabas Moreno de Vargas does the same in book 3 of his History of Emerita, chapter 15 and following. He is likewise praised by Ambrose Morales in book 12 of the General Chronicle of Spain, chapter 22, by Francisco de Padilla in century 7 of the Ecclesiastical History of Spain, chapter 17, and by several others.

[3] Tamaio Salazar has the Life of St. Renovatus from Paul the Deacon, and after the words "he merited to enter the court of the heavenly kingdom," he adds the following as though they were the words of the same Paul: time of death: "On the day before the Kalends of April, in the year of the Lord 633, when Suintila, King of the Goths, was reigning in Spain, and Honorius holding the supreme pontificate." Moreno assigns the same year of his death, citing Paul the Deacon. But those words, intruded by others, are better absent from the Antwerp edition: although we do not deny that he perhaps died in the said year.

[4] Ambrose Morales, in book 10, chapter 10, reports that the discovery of relics in the church of St. Eulalia occurred in the time of the Catholic Kings Ferdinand and Isabella: Relics discovered, when in a certain cavity of the wall near the high altar a chest was found, in which were the skulls and bones of twelve or fourteen Saints: and the Lord God deigned to show that these were relics of Saints, both on account of the most sweet fragrance which, emanating from that chest, filled the whole church and gladdened all those present and stirred them to render praises to God, and on account of the miracles soon wrought there, when some blind received sight and a good many sick recovered their health. All these relics were therefore deposited with great veneration in a gilded chest made for this purpose, which was afterward placed in the main chapel. deposited with veneration, So writes Morales. Moreno, in book 3, chapter 15, believes them to be the relics of the holy Martyrs Germanus, Julia, Lucretia, Victor, Stecatius, and Antinogenes, whose memory is inserted in the Roman Martyrology, together with five Archbishops -- St. Paul, St. Fidelis, St. Mausona, St. Innocentius, and St. Renovatus, whose Acts Paul the Deacon illuminates -- and three others as well: and Moreno adds that this is so certain, so true, and of such good tradition that it is not permissible to raise any doubt about it.

[5] The sacred relics were moreover translated to the Gospel side near the said altar: and there the aforesaid chest was placed upon two small stone columns, near the altar in an ornate reliquary. bound together by an iron bar. Then, as popular veneration increased, a gilded tabernacle or reliquary was built in the same place with public and private alms, distinguished by various compartments, to each of which silken veils and glass cases were fitted: and all are enclosed by one larger door, to be secured by three locks, the keys of which are kept by the Vicar of that church, the Curate, the Governor, and the Rector in office at any given time: and within the glass cases which we have mentioned, the skulls and larger and more intact bones are viewed separately: the rest, however, are within the chest, which, placed in the uppermost part of the reliquary, itself also has its own three keys.

[6] Moreover, this Translation was carried out with the greatest solemnity, with Don Francisco de Navarra, Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo, officiating at the sacred rites and following the processional pomp, Feast of the Translation on the 4th Sunday of Lent. invited for this purpose by the magistrates, and with the Governor Don Gaston de Peralta, Marquis of Falces, assisting, in the year 1556: and its annual memory is recalled on the very day on which it was done, namely the fourth Sunday of Lent: when the reliquary is opened, and four glass cases are brought out to be carried processionally through the church. The same relics are also displayed unveiled on the feasts of Saints Eulalia, Servandus, and Germanus; and likewise on the feast of Corpus Christi, they are carried by priests vested in sacerdotal garments, to stir the devotion of the supplicants.

[7] Finally, at my request and with the consent of the magistrate, Licentiate Don Diego de Albear Cerecedo, The most recent inspection in the year 1632. a Religious of the Order of St. James and Provisor of this city, Vicar

and Curate of the said church, most recently opened the larger chest itself. And I, ascending to inspect it, saw it full of bones and skulls: of which one was intact, the rest broken into many parts, and mixed among them smaller bones, as of boys or girls, all white and covered with a silken veil, and giving off a sweet fragrance: which fragrance also reached all those standing by, and lingered long after the chest was closed in the hands of the Provisor and the clerks who had handled the sacred relics. Present when these things were done, on the twenty-fourth of March in the year 1632, were Don Andreas Criado de Castella, Knight of the Order of St. James, Governor of the city; and Don Alfonso Messias de Prado, Knight of the same Order; and Don Ferdinand de Toledo y Zapata, Rectors and Commissioners deputed by the city for this act, and other Knights and noble men. Then new keys were made: of which one was given to the Provisor as Curate of the church, the second to the Governor, and the third to me as Rector designated for this purpose. So writes Moreno.

LIFE

By Paul, Deacon of Emerita.

Renovatus, Bishop of Emerita in Spain (Saint)

BHL Number: 2530

[1] There were many worthy men not very many years ago by divine mercy in the province of Lusitania, who bear in mind a miracle wrought by our Savior: Abbot of Cauliana, while in the monastery called Cauliana, which is situated not far from the city of Emerita, at a distance of about eight miles, the most reverend man of pious memory, Renovatus, presided as Abbot -- he who afterward became the wonderful Bishop of the city of Emerita -- and with keen solicitude, as a man of discernment and exceedingly sharp intellect, he diligently governs the monks: and most vigorous in all discipline and the fear of the Lord. While he was urging all the monks dwelling there, through good conduct and the examples of holy work, toward the heavenly homeland, and the whole flock was following the shepherd who led the way along the narrow paths and tracks to heaven, the voracious wolf strove with all his might to tear one little sheep from him with his biting jaws. This happened in such a way that, while the whole assembly of the holy congregation persisted in the praises of the Lord and lived in the fear of the Lord along the regular path, a certain monk, departing from their most holy ways, a monk given to gluttony and theft, immeasurably given to gluttony and drunkenness, surrendered himself to it: and then, declining to greater contempt, he began to steal whatever he could find. When the aforesaid man frequently admonished him gently and could not easily restrain him, gently, he strove again and again to rebuke him with verbal reprimands: but not even thus did he deter him from the alluring pleasure of greediness then severely admonishes him: and from the intention of theft and rapacity. He therefore ordered him to be beaten with scourges, afflicted with fasting, and consigned to the prison: but that man, persisting nonetheless in his former sins, but does not amend even by scourges: not only in no way ceased from his shameful deeds, but polluting himself daily, hastened more and more to consign himself to the infernal pits of Avernus.

[2] When he saw him going so greatly along the way of the worst intention -- that neither rebuked so many times nor beaten so often had he wished to be corrected -- he leaves him to his own freedom: touched with grief of heart within, he let him go according to the desires of his heart; and he commanded those who were in charge of the storerooms of the monastery that at whatever hour he wished to enter, whatever best and sweetest things he might find in the cellars, no one should prohibit him from eating or drinking even to the point of vomiting: entering the storerooms, also, if he wished to carry away and cut off something according to his custom, he should have free power: so that it might be more fully ascertained, after he had satisfied his gullet or belly, what he would do afterward. That man indeed, in accordance with the command, opening the unlocked doors, secretly penetrated the rich cellars of the most opulent monastery (as it is reported), beset from afar by guards who nevertheless looked on all around with shrewd dissimulation, with him being unaware, and waiting to see what he would do. of devouring, drinking, Whatever sweet and pleasant things he found for eating and drinking, he devoured and drank promiscuously until, having lost his wits, he could scarcely walk; after this, furtively snatching various dishes, and also wine vessels, which by the customary name they call "guillones" or "flascones," of carrying away, he would take them and hide them in the adjoining garden of the monastery, among leafy trees or dense reed-beds, in the most hidden spot. Then, already gorged with excessive food and sated with the drunkenness of cups, he would spread out a bed for himself, and setting before him what he had stolen, although he no longer took pleasure in it and belched from his overly laden stomach, he still desired to eat and drink: of sleeping. but while with exceedingly burdened belly he licked rather than chewed, sleep immediately coming upon him, he would fall asleep; then dogs would come and eat whatever he had brought. The guards therefore, watching from a distance, would return the vessels he had taken to the cellars while he slept. And while these things were going on over a long period of time, and no one believed he could ever be corrected, by this example the good Shepherd and Savior snatched him from the mouth of the lion. For it happened that one day, according to his usual habit, He arranges for boys to impress upon him the judgment of God, he came out of the cellar drunk at the first light of dawn; and when the small boys (who were studying letters in schools under the discipline of their teachers) saw him drunk, they immediately cried out with this voice: "Consider the terrible judgment of the Lord; consider the fearful sentence of the dread examination; consider the formidable and horrible avenging severity of his judgment; consider also the years of your age, and so at last change your ways for the better, and correct your life even one day before your death: and approaching death. for it is not permitted to us children to do the things you do, how much less to you, who are plainly seen to be already full of years."

[3] When he heard this, covered with excessive shame, he blushed, At last he is stricken with compunction, and was immediately pricked with compunction, and weeping with great lamentation and tears, raising his eyes to heaven, he said: "Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of souls, who do not desire the death of the sinner but that he turn from his iniquity and live; I beseech you to correct me and take away this ignominious reproach from my face; or at least, he desires to die: if it pleases you, take me now from this miserable life, so that I may no longer hear the reproach of my face." And immediately the divine mercy did not delay to hear him; but striking him on the spot in that very place with pain, it made him burn with the force of fevers. Indeed, the change wrought by the right hand of the Most High transformed him so greatly for the better that, abhorring all carnal delights, with a burning spirit he soon sought the remedy of penance -- he seeks penance, namely, he desired the Sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood. But while the aforesaid kind Father thought he was demanding this with a delirious or wicked mind, he delayed giving full penance, but only imparted to him the viaticum grace, and for three days and as many nights he made satisfaction with tears and wondrous confession. On the third day after this, departing from the body and bidding farewell to all the Brothers, he understands that his sins are forgiven: he spoke thus: "Know that all my sins have been forgiven me, and behold, before the gates the most holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and also the most blessed Lawrence, Archdeacon and Martyr, with an innumerable throng of those robed in white, await me, with whom I must go to the Lord": he dies: and saying these things, he departed from the body. After fifteen years or more, the memorable river Anas, rising exceedingly and overflowing the banks of its channel, after 15 years he is found incorrupt with his garments. spread its waters far and wide and caused many ruins of buildings in the small villages near its shore; likewise it also overturned the cells of the monastery of Cauliana: and when the monks wished to restore them, it happened that while they were building foundations in the cell where the aforesaid man lay, they opened the very sepulchre. But at once a nectareous fragrance burst forth from it: and he himself was found intact and incorrupt, as if he had been buried that very hour, so that neither his garments nor his hair appeared to have been corrupted in any part.

[4] After the departure of the aforesaid most holy and venerable Bishop Mausona, there was appointed a man of the highest humility and simplicity, After Mausona, Bishops created: St. Innocentius, Innocentius by name, whose merit the very word of his name indicated: truly innocent and simple, judging no one, condemning no one, harming no one, he was always harmless and pious throughout all the days of his life. He also at the very time when he was ordained (as it is reported) was held as the last in the order of Deacons: and he is said to have been of such great sanctity, such great compunction, that whenever rain was lacking and the earth was parched with excessive heat from long drought, he obtains rain by prayers, the citizens of that place, gathered together as one, went with him through the basilicas of the Saints, beseeching the Lord with prayers; and indeed, as often as they went forth with him, a most bountiful rain was suddenly given from heaven, which could most fully satisfy the earth. Whence there was no doubt that his tears, poured forth from so humble and simple a mind, could have obtained from the Almighty Lord not only these things but even greater ones.

[5] When he too had died, Renovatus, adorned with all virtues, not undeservedly merited the summit of the priesthood: then St. Renovatus, a man indeed of Gothic nationality, sprung from a noble lineage, conspicuous for the splendor of his family: for he was tall in body, distinguished in form, handsome in stature, excelling in beauty of body, pleasing to the sight, with a graceful face, a comely countenance, and exceedingly admirable in appearance: but although outwardly he was adorned with the glory of his bearing, inwardly he was held to be more beautiful, illuminated by the light of the Holy Spirit. He was exceedingly learned in many disciplines of the arts and in many various kinds of virtues: for he was outstanding in all his works, most equitable, most just, in learning and virtues, of exceedingly keen intellect, and vehemently instructed in all ecclesiastical disciplines, and thoroughly exercised in the divine writings. While he shone with many virtues, and leaving behind disciples like himself, instructing several disciples in sacred doctrine and forming them by the most holy example of his life -- in prudence, holiness, patience, meekness, and mercy -- he made very many to be such as he himself was, by the light of righteousness and the preaching of the doctrine to be followed; by whose teaching the Church still gleams and shines to this day, like the sun and moon. Then, when he had governed the Church irreproachably for very many years, about to be united to the angelic hosts and joined to all the heavenly legions of the supernal regions, he departs to Christ: marvelously released from the bonds of his limbs and departing from the body, he merited to enter the court of the heavenly kingdom, to dwell forever with Christ and to reign without end.

[6] The bodies, therefore, of these aforesaid Saints rest honorably entombed in one and the same chapel not far from the altar of the most holy Virgin Eulalia: He is buried near the altar of St. Eulalia, with other Bishops, at whose venerable sepulchres Christ daily confers such great abundance of generous grace, that by whatever illness anyone has been afflicted, by whatever languor he has also been oppressed, as soon as he has besought the divine Majesty there with his whole heart, feeling that all diseases have been driven from him and all stains divinely expelled, and he is illustrious for miracles. joyful and well, he arrives by the grace of God at the desired health. This speech, impeded as it was, narrated as best it could the extent of the miracles and likewise the deaths of the soldiers of Christ; which, although it may displease the learned on account of its excessive style,

-- setting aside the pomp of words -- it ennobles those who feel and believe humbly, and accumulates a certain profit of good reward for readers and hearers.

I however, the most humble of all, beg fastidious readers to read first the small works of this book and afterward to despise them; lest they seem to presume not from judgment but from hatred, and to condemn what they do not know. Let them know most clearly, however, that I, impelled by the love of Christ and the devotion to the most holy Eulalia, have related manifest things and have undoubtedly set forth the truth truthfully. To the Lord, who ever abides One in Trinity and reigns perpetually, be glory, honor, fortitude, thanksgiving, power, might, and blessing, now and always and forever and ever. Amen.