ON ST. HERNINUS, HERMIT IN ARMORICAN BRITTANY,
IN THE SIXTH CENTURY.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Herninus, hermit, in Armorican Brittany. (S.)
BY C. D. S.
St. Herninus, whom in Breton also Ternin,
Harn or Karn is said to be called Kardanet on Alb. Le Grand. Vies des SS. de Bretagne, ed. 1837, p. 668, note 3., Acts in Le Grand from no certain source, no martyrologies indeed mention, nor any Calendars or Proper Offices of the churches of Lesser Britain, of those that Tresvaux has recited [On G.-A. Lobineau, Vies des SS. de Bretagne, ed. 1836, vol. I, Prolegom., p. XXVII – XXXVIII.]; but that he has long been celebrated with a sufficiently renowned cult in Armorican Brittany, especially in that place where he led a hermit's life and where his relics are kept, is testified by writers of that place Cf. following no.. Nor do we have any Acts of his except those which Fr. Albert Le Grand published in French in the seventeenth century from an old codex of the church of the aforesaid place, from the commentaries of Sebastian, marquis of Rosmadec, and from other sources which he did not indicate more distinctly. Although these, by the editor's name, do not enjoy so great an authority, since it is our task to collect diligently not only what is held as certain concerning the saints rightly honored by public cult, but also whatever is reported of them by ancient tradition, it has seemed good to place those Acts, other documents being especially lacking for the most part, rendered into Latin, before the eyes of our readers.
[2] although his cult is established, The chief monument of the cult of St. Herninus is the church dedicated in his name in the village which he made illustrious by his hermit life, and which itself also took its name from him, Loc-Karn or Loc-Harn Acts edited below, no. 2 at the end; Lobineau, vol. cit., p. 135., that is, church of Herninus Cf. Lobineau, ed. Tresvaux, p. XL, note.: which, however, Geslin de Bourgogne and A. de Barthélemy call into doubt, who observe that by the word Kharn a place of burial is commonly signified Anciens eveches de Bretagne, vol. V, p. 190.. In that church is kept the head of the saint enclosed in a silver image and an arm bone likewise in a silver image of the same arm. Those cases were given long ago by the illustrious house of Quelen, and to it also are owed very beautiful chalices and a silver cross. Which house also chose for itself a place of burial in this church, and its coats of arms are seen in all the windows of that same church Ibid., p. 135; Kerdanet, on Alb. Le Grand, p. 669, notes 1, 2.. There are present there too the tombs and coats of arms of certain other noble families Cf. below the Acts, no. 2 at the end..
[3] which itself Besides Loc-Harn in the diocese of Saint-Brieuc, Lobineau mentions Vol. cit., p. 135. another church distinguished with the name of St. Herninus in the diocese of Quimper, and perhaps also he conjectures that the parish of Ple-herlin, near Rochefort *, in the diocese of Vannes, was named from the same saint, the letter n, namely, being turned into l by usage of speech Ibid..
[4] is contained within narrow limits. Albert Le Grand and Lobineau indicate that the feast of St. Herninus is celebrated on the 2nd day of November, yet no authority being brought for this. Lobineau moreover observes Ibid. that the cult of the saint has not spread further beyond the places that glory in him as patron.
Annotations* Rochefort
LIFE OF ST. HERNINUS
from Albert Le Grand, loc. cit.
Herninus, hermit, in Armorican Brittany. (S.)
[1] St. Herninus, a native of England, was a hermit in Armorica. St. Herninus, a native of the island of Britain, landed in Armorica about the year 528, Felix IV being supreme Pontiff, Justinian I emperor, and Hoel II reigning in our Brittany; and since he wished to pass his life far from the conversation of men, he sought a place suited to his purpose in the parish of Duault, near the city of Carhaix *, in the district over which the Lord of Quelen ruled. He granted to the holy man, for establishing a hermitage, as much land as he could enclose with ditches in one day. And he, having given many thanks to the munificent prince and having made prayer to God, went forward half a league, dragging behind him the staff by which he was accustomed to be supported; and completing a circle, he returns to the place from which he had set out. And as he passed, where the track of the staff had been impressed on the ground, the sod of its own accord was raised into an embankment and defined the limits of the possession granted to him. Herninus lived there until his death: which took place on the first Monday of the month of May, about the year 535; and he was buried in his hermitage, and the place of the tomb was marked with an enormous stone.
[2] His tomb being divinely revealed to the count of Poher, But shortly the house was torn down amid the calamities of the civil war that arose between Domnoneus, king of Brittany, and Comorrus, count of Cornouaille, and the very memory of the saint was as it were buried in its ruins, until it pleased God to manifest by a notable prodigy how great a glory he enjoyed in heaven. For it came about that while a certain count of Poher, who himself also is said to have been called Comorrus, was engaged in hunting in the nearby forest, a stag, which the hounds were keenly pursuing, fleeing to the oratory of Herninus, lay down on his tomb; and the hounds following it, when they came there, stood motionless, able neither to advance nor to go back, and soon the horses on which the count and the other hunters were sitting were struck by a like stupor. Greatly wondering at the novelty of the matter, the count leaps down from his horse, enters the enclosure, allows the beast to go away unharmed; and having summoned the villagers, when he had heard that an oratory of St. Herninus had once existed there, he ordered the place to be cleared and a church to be built. Which today, subject to the aforesaid parish of Duault and called Loc-Karn, is visited by many with pious affection toward the saint and enjoys special veneration among noblemen, as is testified by the coats of arms and tombs of the lords of Quelen, de Bezoco, de Kerprigent, de Loquenel and de Loc-Christ conspicuous there.
[3] his cult Nor were miracles lacking by which the divine goodness wished to approve the holiness of its servant. For first, the stones and the other things necessary for the structure of the church having already been gathered, when it was not agreed in what place the foundations of the work should be laid, very many birds, flying together there at God's nod, built above the stone of the tomb a small kind of dome with branches and leaves of trees. By which sign all understood it to be divinely signified that the church should be erected in that place; and tradition reports that the high altar is placed above the holy tomb itself.
[4] by miracles A certain woman of the village of Loc-Karn, when she had presumed to sift wheat on the day sacred to the celebration of the memory of St. Herninus, her neighbors strongly disapproving of it, at once paid the penalty of her rashness. For the winnowing fan that she was using so stuck to her hands that she could no longer put it down. Humbly confessing therefore the fault committed and entering the church, she poured out prayers to God and to St. Herninus and was freed.
[5] is confirmed. There were two men in the village of Poullaouen, of the same diocese of Cornouaille, closely joined by mutual love. One of whom, having become paralyzed, and cast down now from all hope of recovering health, suppliantly asked his friend to undertake a journey to the church of St. Herninus and bring him water from his fountain. And he, having promised the thing, but by no means carrying it out, drew water from another fountain in his way and offered it to the sick man, affirming that it was taken from the fountain of St. Herninus. He believed, prayed, drank the water, and according to his faith through the merits of St. Herninus recovered the use of his limbs. But he who had deceived him soon experienced the same evil. Whence, brought to repentance for his deceit, he begged his friend in turn that with greater faith than he himself had used he should seek water for him from the fountain of St. Herninus: which being drawn, he too was healed.
Annotations* in French Carhaix