ON SS. VULGANIUS OF LENS AND VULGANIUS OF SAINT-VALERY, HERMITS, VENERATED AT LENS IN ARTOIS AND IN THE MONASTERY OF SAINT-VALERY IN PICARDY,
IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Vulganius, hermit, at Lens in the diocese of Arras. (S.)
BY C. D. S.
We have joined both these saints, not prejudging however whether they are to be judged different or not, The narrative that will be edited which is what comes first to be discussed here. And indeed that St. Vulganius [Who is otherwise called Vulganus, Walgamus, Walganus, Walganius, Wulgamus, Wulgamius, Wiganius, Wiganus; in French Vilgain, Vilgaine, Vulgain, Vulgan, Wigain, Walgam, Walgan, Wilgaine, Wilgan.] was honored with ecclesiastical cult at Lens (commonly Lens) in Artois already in the eleventh century is testified by Balderic of Cambrai in that part of his Chronicle which he finished before the year 1051 Cf. Bethmann, Monum. Germ. Hist., Scr. vol. VII, p. 394., writing thus Bk. II, no. 22 (vol. cit., p. 460).: At the castle of Lens there is also a monastery of canons, where St. Vulganius rests, who is recorded to have been an Irishman. His Acts, already published by Arnold Raisse in the year 1623 [Life of the most holy Vulganius, titular patron of the distinguished collegiate church of Lens; also of St. Chrysolius, etc., by the labor and zeal of Arnold de Raisse. Douai 1623, in-24.] from a certain very old codex of the church of Liège and by D. Pommeraye in the year 1662 Histoire de l'abbaye royale de S. Ouen, p. 466., we will reprint below from the Arras codex formerly 462, now 573, of the thirteenth century [See Catalogue général des manuscrits des bibliothèques publiques des départements, tome IV, p. 181. Cf. p. VII.], with variants added from an apograph of a codex of the monastery of St. Ouen copied by our forebears, which is contained in a codex formerly of the Bollandian museum, now of the Royal Library of Brussels 8931, and from the two editions just mentioned. In which indeed no mention is made of Lens, but it is indicated that Vulganius spent the last years of his life in a little cell adjoining the monastery of St. Vaast Life no. 19 at the end., and that, having gone out of his little cell to visit a priest very familiar to him, living far off in a certain rural church, who was gravely ill Life no. 21., while he was lodging with him he fell into a sickness and exchanged mortal life for eternal on the fourth day before the Nones of November, and that his most holy body was buried in a certain villa which was called the Boundary of Good Men Life no. 22.. Although this place is unknown to us, yet, since we find Vulganius resting at Lens, that is, in the territory of Arras, in the eleventh century, it is easily and probably gathered that those Acts are to be referred to him.
[2] is by an author of little accuracy, Of the writer of these Acts our Joseph Ghesquière not undeservedly pronounces Act. SS. Belgii, vol. V, p. 251, no. 2.: Whoever the writer of that Life may be, he betrays his more recent age, when he says that on account of the lack of writings very many works of piety of St. Vulganius have not reached his knowledge Life no. 1 at the end.. Certainly he himself sufficiently indicates that he was not furnished with sound documents, when in the not yet advanced sixth century he makes I know not what Bl. Quirianus archbishop of the city of Canterbury and primate of all England Ibid., who nowhere appears in the series of the archbishops of Dorobernia or Canterbury; and again when he narrates that England was almost wholly occupied by the Danes, and that their king, by name Danus, was converted by St. Vulganius Life no. 5 – 7., at the time, namely, when St. Columban had not yet come to Gaul Life no. 12., or before the year 585. Yet at that time not even St. Augustine the monk, afterwards created first bishop of the Canterbury people, had landed in England; and the Danes only in the ninth century rushed upon it in raids, and only two centuries later occupied it, and surely not under the leadership of some king whose proper name was Danus. No one therefore fails to see that such grave lapses cannot befall a truly ancient writer or one furnished with sound documents, and that St. Vulganius, already heavy with age and merits, as that writer indicates, could not have been consulted before the year 585 by St. Columban and honored with wonderful reverence, nor a whole century later (at which time, namely, the monastery of St. Vaast was founded) have withdrawn to a little cell contiguous to the monastery of St. Vaast, to lead a solitary life there; unless someone should contend, what he will by no means be able to prove, that our saint was among the living for about a hundred and fifty years.
[3] who seems to have written in the middle of the eleventh century. The age of our writer, whom he judges to be of the twelfth century or even later Vol. cit., p. 252, no. 3., Ghesquière could have defined somewhat more exactly, if he had attended to what is reported by D. Pommeraye in the history of the monastery of St. Ouen, which he composed from the manuscript chronicles of that same monastery Op. cit. above (at no. 1), p. 206., namely that the Life of St. Vulganius was written there by order of the abbot Nicholas, who presided over the monastery from the year 1042 to the year 1092. And so that Life must be judged to have been written about or after the middle of the eleventh century, which certainly does not detract from the truth of Ghesquière's other observations. Nor does it contribute much to increasing that writer's authority that he indicates Life no. 20. that certain things were excerpted by him from a booklet which had been set out about his life in uncultivated and half-Latin speech. For besides the fact that it is not established about that booklet how ancient it was and of how great authority (for you would not gather with sufficient probability from uncultivated and half-Latin speech a writer ancient and contemporary or near-contemporary with the saint): besides, what he drew from it, what from other sources, he by no means distinguishes, if you except a general enumeration of miracles contained in a few words.
[4] There will be added a part of the Life of St. Madelgisilus. Now that a certain Vulganius was honored as a saint at Montreuil in the district of Cressy in Picardy is established from what is reported of him in the Life of St. Madelgisilus, who lived in the seventh century, written by Hariulf, monk of Centula, at the beginning of the twelfth century, where also a brief compendium of the Life of this St. Vulganius is related Nos. 10 – 13.. The Life of St. Madelgisilus our forebears published from Mabillon Act. SS. O. S. B., sec. IV, part II, p. 537. at the 30th day of May Vol. VII May, p. 265., and we here again present that part which treats of Vulganius. Moreover that Life is very suspect to the learned, especially since, from the history of the translation of the body of St. Madelgisilus to the monastery of Centula or St. Riquier near Abbeville, which took place at the end of the tenth century, it is established that at that time the life or deeds of St. Madelgisilus were wholly unknown: for his bright works had not yet been committed to writing, not yet commended to the memory of the faithful Act. SS., vol. cit., p. 268, no. 14.. And that the body of St. Vulganius was also at some time translated to Montreuil and, whether in that first translation or in another later one (for no monuments on this matter are available), was laid in the church of the monastery of St. Valery, not far distant from there, is gathered from the recognition of his relics carried out there in the year 1651 Cf. below, no. 7 of this Prelim. Comment..
[5] [There seem to have been two hermit saints Vulganius, whom tradition has confused,] That this was one and the same as the St. Vulganius venerated at Lens can be urged by certain very similar things that are read in both Lives. For each Vulganius is said to be English, each held in great esteem at Canterbury, each summoned by angelic warning from England to Gaul to have landed at that shore which looks most nearly toward England, each to have led a solitary life not far from that shore, and finally each to have died on the 2nd day of November, although it is wrongly noted in the margin in the Bollandists Act. SS., vol. cit., p. 268, no. 13. and from there in Ghesquière Act. SS. Belgii, vol. V. p. 252, no. 3 middle. that that Vulganius, the companion of St. Madelgisilus, died on the 29th day of May. Nevertheless, since other traditions recorded in the two Lives can in no way be brought into agreement, and since the body of one St. Vulganius at Lens, of the other in the monastery of St. Valery and at Abbeville was preserved whole or nearly whole at the same time Cf. below, no. 7., we therefore judge it far more probable, with Papebroch Vol. cit., p. 269, note i. and Ghesquière Act. SS. Belgii, vol. V, p. 252, no. 3., that there were two saints, whom, because of the commonness of name and perhaps of people, and also the nearness of the places where they were venerated, popular tradition and those who recorded it in writing in the eleventh or twelfth century fused into one. But, as Ghesquière rightly notes, by far the greatest inconvenience and stumbling-block has arisen from that error, in that the memory of the two Vulganii is so far confused that you do not know what to attribute to which of the two Vulganii out of those deeds which stand recorded on this side and that.
[6] so that the deeds of each can no longer be distinguished. Whence we do not think we should linger in discussing the chronology of those deeds, since it relies on no other document than those suspect Acts. And so let it suffice to have noted that the age of that Vulganius, the hermit of Montreuil, if he truly clung to St. Madelgisilus, who himself was a companion of St. Fursey, must be tied to the latter part of the seventh century. And the other Vulganius, who is venerated at Lens, most determine to have died about the year 572 or a little after, on no other foundation than that they read that Columban was his disciple some time before he came to Gaul Life nos. 8, 12.. But others, judging that account must especially be taken of that tradition according to which he spent the last years of his life enclosed in a little cell adjoining the monastery of St. Vaast Life no. 19., since the monastery of St. Vaast was not begun to be built by St. Autbert until about a century after the year 572,
contend that he did not depart from this mortal life before the end of the seventh century Cf. Ghesquière, Act. SS. Belgii, vol. V, p. 253, no. 5.. To us indeed there appears no sufficiently strong reason why we should choose one rather than the other of those opinions. And the rest, if there is anything that can contribute in any way to illustrating the history of Vulganius, we shall subjoin in the notes to the Acts.
[7] [The body of some St. Vulganius was still preserved in the monastery of St. Valery in the year 1651,] It remains for us to indicate in this place what has been ascertained by us about the cult of each Vulganius. And indeed, as regards the companion of St. Madelgisilus, the only monuments available to us are that part of the Life of St. Madelgisilus written by Hariulf, which we indicated above is occupied in briefly narrating the history of Vulganius No. 4., and the Acts of the visitation of the monastery of Leuconaus or St. Valery carried out in the year 1651 by D. Jonault, where there are distinctly noted the relics that were at that time kept in the holy treasury of that same monastery. Those Acts were published by our forebears; from which we excerpt this about the relics of St. Vulganius Vol. I Apr., p. 16, no. 13.: In the chest of St. Vulganius (there were found) the head whole, except for its maxillary processes; various parts both of the upper and of the lower jaw; five molar teeth, fixed in a certain portion of the upper jaw; four whole vertebrae, with fragments of four other vertebrae; one part of a shoulder blade; twenty-nine broken ribs, of which four are almost whole; two hip bones, as many thigh bones; one thicker shin bone and two smaller ones; two arm bones; two ulnas and as many radii; two broken collarbones; four bones of the fingers, both of the hands and of the feet; ankle bones and navicular bones, and various other fragments from different parts of the body; and beside these a linen sack with ashes, and parts of cloth interwoven with gold and silk, in the form of two old apparels belonging to albs. And among the relics already named we found a slip of parchment, of which we could read certain words, but without connection, and among others the name of St. Vulganius, the rest being consumed by age. Those relics were given to the flames in the year 1793. But there is still kept at Abbeville in the church of the Holy Sepulcher a part of an arm of St. Vulganius and another fragment among the nuns called after St. Ursula Corblet, Hagiographie du diocèse d'Amiens, vol. III, p. 238.. But no memory of this St. Vulganius is found in any sacred calendars. Nor certainly would you conclude with sufficient probability, with Stilting Act. SS., vol. V. Sept., p. 79, no. 3., from the fact that his relics were laid in the monastery of St. Valery, that he was a monk or abbot of that same monastery. And his feast was celebrated there on the 3rd day of November, unless the 1st day, sacred to the commemoration of All Saints, fell on a Saturday: for then on the 2nd day the ecclesiastical office of St. Vulganius was performed Corblet, vol. cit., p. 240..
[8] [and likewise of some St. Vulganius at Lens before the middle of the 11th century,] That the body of the other St. Vulganius rested at Lens already before the middle of the eleventh century we have from the testimony of Balderic of Cambrai Cf. above, no. 1.. Yet certain parts of it had previously been distributed from it, and those parts great enough that there received of them the church of the monastery of St. Ouen Pommeraye, Histoire de l'abbaye royale de S. Ouen, p. 206., where also a chapel was dedicated in honor of St. Vulganius Ibid., p. 361., and another monastery which a certain Hugh, lord of Firmensis, founded at Sigli or Sigiacum, in a place seven leagues distant from the city of Rouen, in honor of the holy confessors Martin and Vulganius, and this same man, as it seems, afterwards made a monk, handed it over to the abbey of St. Ouen. For we think that the Hugh who gave the two charters of foundation and donation published by Pommeraye among the proofs of his History of the monastery of St. Ouen Ibid., pp, 460, 461. was the same, not different, as Pommeraye judges: for also in the second diploma he seems entirely to testify that the monastery was founded by him out of the estates of his parents. Both charters lack the end and therefore the note of time, but from the names of those whose subscription or seal is affixed to them, and in particular of Malger, archbishop of Rouen, it can be concluded that they were drawn up before the year 1050. Moreover if belief is given to the author, surely a monk of St. Ouen, who wrote the history of the translation of St. Vulganius to the church of St. Ouen, not some small relics, but the whole body previously resting at Lens, was granted to a certain Turold, a noble and very rich man, by Robert II or III, duke of Normandy, and he translated it to his castle Finnense, from which Hugh in turn had it translated to the monastery of Sigiacum founded by him in honor of SS. Martin and Vulganius Ibid., p. 361., and from there, as it is right to suppose, the church of St. Ouen itself received its relics, which were plundered by heretics in the year 1562 Ibid., p. 206..
[9] whose cult perseveres at Lens to this day. Certain relics of St. Vulganius, however, the college of Canons of Lens preserved, and that same church, now parochial, preserves them today; and a great concourse takes place there from the surrounding places, whose inhabitants invoke St. Vulganius as patron, especially against griping of the intestines and for healing the diseases with which infants and boys are usually afflicted. It is also the custom for solemn processions to be held within the octave of Pentecost; and how ancient that usage is, is testified by a diploma of Eustace, count of Boulogne, and Ida his wife, given in the year 1070 [Miraeus, Diplom. Belg., vol. I, p. 160. Cf. Ghesquière, Acta SS. Belg., vol. V, p. 254.], in which one reads: At the festival of St. Vulganius, within Pentecost, the Canons have forty shillings from the offering; of the rest, half is the warden's. And although only certain minute relics of Vulganius have been preserved in the church of Lens, the people of Lens gloried that the body of St. Vulganius was laid among them, as Arnold Raisse testifies Hierogazophylacium Belgicum, p. 326., who cites, besides others, these verses which were seen written in that church in his time:
The cell of Mary of the church of Lens contains
Bodies of saints laid under illustrious biers:
Of lofty Vulganius, who was once born of the English.
Molanus also reports that the body of St. Vulganius was carried off by the French in the devastation of the city of Lens, but returned through the conditions of peace Natales Sanctorum Belgii, fol. 237v..
[10] The memory of St. Vulganius in the martyrologies; Molanus notes moreover that the feast of St. Vulganius, because of the memory of the faithful souls that is observed by the Church on the 2nd day of November, is not celebrated at Lens on that day (which was the day of his death), but on the following, namely the 3rd of the same month. And we have seen that already from of old some festival of St. Vulganius was accustomed to be kept about the time of Pentecost, which Molanus indicates was that of his translation Ibid., fol. 238., bringing forward those words from the martyrology of Lens: On the same day (the XII before the Kal. of June), the translation of the blessed Vulganius, confessor, resting in the present church. At the 2nd day of November Vulganius is announced by Greven, in these words: Of Volganus, bishop and confessor, brother of St. Foillan the martyr. Where I believe confusion has been made with St. Ultan, who was the brother of St. Foillan. At the same day he is announced in Dempster in the Scottish Menology: At Lens, a suburb of Arras, of Vulganius, confessor. And at the 29th day of October in the same: At Arras, of Vulganus, presbyter. Vulganius is also commemorated under the same 29th day of October in Molanus in the Natales Sanctorum Belgii and in the Indiculus Sanctorum Belgii Ed. Louvain 1573, p. 85., in Willot Hagiologe Belgique, p. 62., in the Gallican martyrology of André du Saussay, in the General Catalogue of Philip Ferrari, in the universal martyrology of Chastelain, and in Ghini Natal. SS. Canonicorum, p. 83.. He is adorned with the title of Bishop in Greven, in Molanus in the Indiculus, and in Ferrari, whether, as Chastelain thinks, he was of the number of those bishops who, going out for the conversion of idolaters adorned with that dignity, although they were fixed to no certain see, were usually called regionaries, or whether you judge with Molanus Natal. SS. Belgii, fol. 238 and 13v. that he was adorned with that title, not because he was a bishop of a proper name, but because he was the apostle of certain places.
[11] Ecclesiastical office Today also St. Vulganius is venerated in the diocese of Arras at the 5th day of November under the title of bishop and confessor, in the semidouble rite. The Lessons of the II Nocturn are taken from the Life of St. Vulganius to be published a little below. And Lesson VI concludes thus: He was buried with a great concourse of people in the church of the villa then called the Boundary of Good Men and near the same monastery of St. Vaast, according to common estimation. From there, about the year of Christ one thousand, he was translated to Lens, where he is honored as a bishop and special patron of that city. In whose patronage this city greatly congratulates itself, as having more than once been freed by his intercession from impending evils and raging plague. A notable part of this holy deposit in these recent times escaped the hands of the impious, and, having been diligently recognized by Charles, bishop of Arras [Hug. Robert. Joan. Car. de la Tour d'Auvergne, bishop of Arras in the years 1802 – 1851.], was laid in the parish church, in which it is piously venerated by the people Officia Propria SS. diœcesis Atrebatensis (Lille 1854), Autumn part, p. 37..
[12] and invocation against diseases. Moreover Vulganius is venerated in the parish church of the village of Estourmel, in the diocese of Cambrai, of which church he is held the secondary patron, and to it there was recently given, by the efforts of the Most Illustrious archbishop of Cambrai, a notable part of the relics of the saint that are preserved at Lens Cf. above, no. 7., and it was first exposed to the veneration of the faithful on the 2nd day of June of the year 1878. And his feast is celebrated there on the Sunday following the 3rd day of November, and a great concourse takes place, not only from the village itself, but also from places far distant, of those invoking St. Vulganius especially for driving away pains of the belly and other diseases with which boys especially are usually afflicted. The custom is that the beginning of the Gospel of St. John is recited over them. These things are from a letter of the venerable man S. Poulet, parish priest of Estourmel, given on the 1st day of July 1878.
LIFE OF ST. VULGANIUS.
Vulganius, hermit, at Lens in the diocese of Arras. (S.)
BHL Number: 8746
FROM MSS. AND PRINTED EDS. [Preface]
For this edition of the Life of St. Vulganius there have been used, as we pointed out at the beginning of the Prelim. Comment.: 1. The Arras codex formerly 462, now 573; — 2. Brussels codex 8931; — 3. The edition of Arnold Raisse; — 4. The edition of D. Pommeraye.
According to our custom we have divided the text into little chapters.
CHAPTER ONE.
The first part of his life, spent in England.
St. Vulganius, born in England, distinguished in holiness from boyhood, Here begins the life of St. Vulganius, confessor. — The glorious confessor of Christ (Ig.-conf.) Igitur beatus 2, 4, Ig. gl. confessor Christi 3. Vulganius, then, was born of the most Christian people of the English a of illustrious and orthodox parents. He, regenerated from the very ipsius 3. rudiments of infancy by the water of sacred baptism, and nourished by his forebears on the milk of ecclesiastical simplicity, as his little age grew, for receiving the sweetness of more solid food, was handed over to most skilled men to be educated. Drinking in from them the warnings of salvation with a thirsting heart, with wonderful and unspeakable incredibili 2, 3, indicibili 4. swiftness of mind he drank up the streams of the divine Scriptures: because there is no difficulty in learning dicendo 3., where the authority of the Holy Spirit breathes. Accustomed, then, to the sacred disciplines and instructions, though still very tender, he did nothing childish, nothing vel 4. harmful nocuum 2, voculum 4., as is familiar to boys of that age, did he strive after; but rather exercising what is mature, he went before aged men in gravity of character.
[2] then brought up with Quirianus, bishop of Canterbury, Over the city of Canterbury, which namely is the metropolis of the English (A. m. e.) metropolis est Anglorum 3., at that quo 3. time in the dignity of the pontificate presided the blessed Quirianus, a man worthy of pontifical reverence, who kept the flock committed to him with sleepless watch. Keeping vigil at whose feet Vulganius heard the word from his mouth, and what he heard he laid up in a mindful breast, to bring it forth afterwards at the opportune time (quod-tempore) omits 4.. Finally, animated by his frequent piis 4. admonitions and examples to constant meditation on the law of God, by daily advances he went from virtue to virtue. Made a man, then, how much he showed himself in the eyes of the supreme Maker it is not in our power to unfold: for it stands higher than that omits 2. it could be enclosed in our speech. Certainly besides those works of piety which he hid to avoid boasting, he worked very many in such a way that they could not escape the sight of men; but on account of the lack of writers (i. s.) scriptorum inopiam 2, 3, 4. they have not reached pervenire 4. our knowledge. But lest we seem altogether omits 2. to have passed over the life of so great a man, full of virtues, we will take care to touch, though in uncultivated speech, on a few things out of many.
[3] he shines in every kind of virtue. Finally, advanced to the summit of virtues, divine grace dispensing it, he aroused in himself the affections of all mortals. For he was chaste in body, placid in countenance, entire in faith, long-suffering in hope, lavish in charity, constant in prayer, worn down by the maceration of vigils and fasting. But why say more? Whatever he knew to be transitory, whatever pernicious to the soul, he trampled with a manly spirit: embracing only what brings forth the fruit of true blessedness, he thought only of heavenly things. The blessed man, strong in these and other sacred actions of this kind, the Lord deigned to make wonderful through exterior miracles: wishing no doubt to show mortals of what merit and of what holiness he was within.
[4] He protects the city of Canterbury, Moreover omits 3. the city of Canterbury, in which he lived, was hard pressed purgebat 2. by the constant harassment of the pagans. And this city a viris 3., although it was very well fortified and supported by a populous crowd, yet because the number of the pagans had grown, could not potuisset 4. bear their insolence, unless the Lord had provided for the imperiled people a strong obstacle of defense, namely the holy secundum 2. scilicet 4. Vulganius. He then, going up consurgens 3. on the opposite side diverso 2., set up a wall on behalf of sed (se?) pro 2, se pro 4. the house of Israel is missing, a blank space left 2. and repelled the impending danger as much by in 1. prayer orationis 3. as by the urgency of preaching. For no army of the barbarians in his days tried to attack Canterbury in war omits 2. which did not return frustrated of its wishes, struck by the manifest vengeance of God. He himself settled civil wars, if they happened to arise, under the veil of peace; he himself, having made prayer, drove the attacks of the barbarians far from the city. Whence he had bound his fellow citizens to himself by so great a favor, that they honored him with a wonderful affection of love; and he had struck the barbarians with fear, so that they should not presume to contrive plots against the sheep of Christ.
[5] and the barbarians besieging it At that time the most cruel people of the Danes, having wandered far from their own borders, had occupied almost the whole land (t. t.) totam terram 2, 4. of the English; and having devastated the region, they pressed the city of Canterbury with a long siege, and the wretched citizens, broken by the long exercise of wars, despairing now of safety were awaiting future destruction, especially since famine, which is accustomed to storm even safe places, was oppressing oppresserat 1. them on the other side. Nor was it hidden from the barbarians with how great a plague of hunger, with how great a heat of fear, they were tormented cruciaretur 4.: whence they raged is missing, a blank space left 2. for their slaughter with greater madness (m. d.) malorum clementia 3.. They therefore prepare all kinds of machines, they gird themselves bravely to break in: for the weakness of the inhabitants promised an easy effect for their attempts. Nor would that opinion have deceived them, if the sacred prayer of St. Vulganius had not interceded.
[6] addressing them from the high wall He, indeed quidem 1., bearing no less solicitude about the ignorance of the barbarians than about the oppression of the citizens, in continual prayers asked of the merciful Lord the salvation of both peoples. But when in that very isto 2. conflict he perceived that the hostile army was prevailing, and that his own could not stand to resist, he seethed in spirit as to how the afflicted situation should be succored, while yet he did not doubt that God's divinum 3, 4. help would be present to him in necessities. Whence, deliberating long and much, at last tantum 2. he thought it worthy omits 3. to set himself against the danger, and to evangelize the word of life to the raging barbarians. Armed therefore with faith rather than with iron, he climbed conscendit 3, 4. to the upper parts of the wall; and he began by evident indications of the Scriptures to lay open to the pagans gentibus 3. the sacraments of the faith, opening to them the bosom signum 3. of the divine mercy, if they should turn to the worship of the one true God, leaving the error of their superstition (s. s.) suæ superstitionis 2, 3, 4.. You might have seen the rigid hearts of the pagans, corrected by the nod of God, grow gentle at his omits 2, 4. voice, and, their arms laid down, patiently patientur 2. attend to the word of the preacher: and those who a little before were roaring with bestial ferocity for the slaughter of the Christians were now asking pardon for their error.
[7] he converts to the Christian faith. Danus also, king of that people (for so was his name [(sic-fuerat) in 2 sic en then a blank space; sic enim nomen fuerat 3; sic enim ei nomen fuerat 4.]), compunct of heart, having laid aside his royal omits 1. diadem, began to inquire diligently (d. i.) inquirere diligenter 2. of the blessed man how he could escape the vengeance of divine punishment, who had not feared to defile himself with so many and such great crimes. Then Vulganius, sensing that the power of the Holy Spirit was present, pressed on more attentively to form the king's mind, still raw in the teaching of the faith, showing him by the evident proofs of the prophetic and apostolic institution that all things can be cleansed in true omits 2, 3, 4. confession, and that the only way of salvation for believers is to be regenerated by the water of sacred baptism. Why say more? He did not stop is missing, a blank space left 2. before quia 2. he had solidly established the king himself with the greatest part of his army in the knowledge of the true faith, and having washed him with the water of baptism had associated him with the sons of the Church and the people of acquisition (et-sociavit) are missing, a blank space left 2.. Thus therefore the city of Canterbury (c. C.) Cantorberia civitas 2, 3, 4. was saved from impending overthrow, the multitude of pagans brought from the darkness of ignorance to the light of faith, the divine clemency showing through all things to what a summit of virtues it was preparing to raise Vulganius.
[8] Columban, Ranricus and Quilianus cling to him. Finally, as the odor of his omits 3. good reputation was fragrant through the whole island of the English, many flocked to him, not only from the neighboring vicinis 3, vicinia 4., but from the more remote islands of the sea; who desired to be formed by the examples of his excellent way of life and refreshed by the sweetness of his word. And Columban too, a monk of great holiness, and also quidem 1. Ranricus Rauricus 4. and Quilian Chilianus 4., men most sagacious in the ecclesiastical disciplines, honored him cum 3. with wonderful reverence, so much that every day they came together to his little cell from different directions and had familiar conversation with him about the salvation of souls. O how great then was the exultation of spiritual joy among them! How great the discussion of mutual edification! Since in their heart (in c. e.) in eorum cordibus 3. the flame of divine and fraternal charity alike was glowing, and on their lips the confession of the Holy Trinity resounded. For one spirit and one faith had filled their hearts, and an indissoluble bond of charity had joined them, adhering to one (a. u.) unique 2, 3, 4. God. For omits 2, 3, 4. without doubt that saying of David was then fulfilled in them: Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity.
[9] He heals the eyes of a blind woman, In Sed 2, 4. those ferme 2, 3, 4. days a certain blind woman, roused by the reports of his most celebrated reputation, was confident that she would recover the light of her eyes, if it were given her to touch the holy man's little cell (v. s. c. a.) vel sancti attigisse basilicam 2, 3, 4.. With her faith leaping up Exigente 3., then, since there was no one at hand to give her guidance, she tried to go by the touch attactu 2, 4, a tactu 3. of a staff bajuli 4., and sed excepta 2, 3, 4. she was led by passers-by to the oratory of the man of God omits 2, 3.. Thrown down at his feet, she filled replebat 3. the whole little cell with her clamor, asking him with tearful voices (l. v.) lacrymis et vocibus 4. to obtain again for her from the Lord the light of her eyes. But Vulganius, moved by the mercy of inward piety, rising from prayer, placed both hands manuum 3. on her forehead, and with eyes raised to heaven said: Lord Jesus Christ, who hast put to flight the darkness of the world by the splendor of thy coming, who hast illuminated the eyes of the man born blind by the medicine of thy spittle, do thou also restore to this woman the light of her eyes, that through her thy admirable name may be glorified, which is blessed unto the ages of ages. And the petition of the man of God could not be empty, because the eyes of the Lord are upon the just and his ears unto their prayers. For at once, the light having been recovered, that woman recovered health, and, granted the gift of a blessing by the man of God, she returned home joyful and unharmed.
[10] and he frees a demoniac. There was pressing a reason for which he had debebat 4. to go out by the gate of the city, but in making his journey agendo 4. he had to pass
near the church of blessed Mary (b. M.) sanctæ 2, 3, 4., Mother of God. In whose portico there met him a certain omits 2, 3, 4. demoniac, who, having by chance broken his chains and slipped out of custody, was wandering here and there, driven by an evil spirit. But when he rushed in swift course upon the servant of God, he set the sign of the cross against him as he came, and, having first sent up a prayer to heaven, with this ejus 2. javelin of invective he struck perculit 2, 3, pertulit 4. the evil spirit by whom he was harassed: I command you, demon, in the power of him who by dying took away from you the principate of the world which you had usurped through the prevarication of the first man, that you presume no further to harass this man, made in the image of God; but rather go abi 2, 3, 4. into a desert place, where there is no access of men, where with your confusion you may await the destruction impending on you. By this invective, then, as if pierced by a divine spear-point, the wicked spirit fled with a great omits 2, 3, 4. wailing ululatu 3.; yet it threw the man whom it was tormenting half-dead to the ground. Whom the blessed Vulganius, having poured out prayer to the Lord Deum 3, 4., at once endowed with entire health of all his limbs, then, gladdened with the gift of a sacred blessing, restored him to his parents.
[11] Fleeing fame, he withdraws to the desert. And now the fame of his omits 3. good reputation is celebrated far and wide: nor is it any longer held within the bounds of one city, but adds etiam virtutum 1. it is spread by the favorable rumor of the people into all the borders of the English (A. t.) terminos Anglorum 2, 4.. Then, lest the breeze of favor favorabilis 4. should corrupt his mind striving intentam 4. for things above, which pest, namely, is accustomed to infect even the perfect with the disease of boasting, he considered how he might escape the snares of this temptation: especially since the very inhabiting of the city displeased him. Whence, deliberating long and much, at last he thought it worthy to shun entirely the very noises of the urban throng, and to embrace voluntary poverty and among the lairs of wild beasts a way of life secret from in 1. men. And what he conceived in his sagacious mind he carried through to the effect of action. For following that saying of the Gospel: Unless one renounces all that he possesses, he cannot be my disciple, he left without hesitation his country and parents and betook himself to a more remote solitude of the desert to fight for God alone. How he lived there, and how great he was, is rather to be admired than (p. q.) sed potius 4. narrated. For to be silent about other things, what speech would suffice to praise the long-suffering of his patience omits 2., what the frugality of his abstinence? He lived in that solitude finally for a long time, content with the sparest food, which quæ 2, 4. namely the earth produced, plowed and cultivated by his own hands. And what need is there to speak of the harshness of his clothing? especially since from his very apprenticeship he was eager to avoid as a kind of plague the appetite for precious clothes, to whom cum 2. a haircloth sufficed, covered with some equally cheap woolen tunic. For he kept his heart with all watchfulness; chastising his body with constant maceration, according to the apostle he brought it redigens 3. into servitude: and so he fortified himself munierat 3, 4. with the arms of justice on the right and on the left, that the enemy of the human race on coming might find in him neither what he could deceive by fraud nor what he could darken by temptation.
ANNOTATION.
CHAPTER TWO.
The journey from England to Gaul, an angel warning and protecting. Arrival in the district of Boulogne.
Ordered by an angel to cross to Gaul, While Cum 2, 3, 4. then he persisted unwearied on this summit of virtues, and kept the eye of his mind intent on contemplating the form of the divine loftiness, it pleased the divine piety to remove this so great a man from the desert for the advancement of many: so that, namely, the lamp should not lie hidden under a bushel, but, set on a lampstand, should furnish light to those entering. One night then he had given himself to rest, to refresh for a little in light sleep his limbs wearied by excessive labor, when tunc 3. suddenly an angel stood by him with wonderful brightness, who addressed him with words of this kind: Vulganius, servant of God, rejoice, because your name is written in the book of life, and know that with God Dominum 4. the crown of justice is laid up for you. But still you ibi 2. have very many labors to bear for the Lord: namely the waves of the sea to be crossed, and the borders of the Gauls to be penetrated, where after many contests of labors, in the peace of the Church you will pass to the Lord. Having said these things, the angel at once disappeared. And the man of God Domini 3., awakened, girds himself to fulfill the angelic order visionem 2, 3, 4., and, taking up the journey, with swift course gressu 3. he returned to the city. Where, most dutifully received by the aforesaid men, whom he had taken to himself as companions in the divine worship, he recites to them in order omits 2, 4. the angelic order visionem et jussionem 3.. They congratulate so 3; congratulabantur the others. the fraternal vision, and seque 2, 3, 4. with all their wishes promise that they wish to go as pilgrims with him. And no delay: provisions are prepared for expeditionem 3. the undertaking of the journey. Vulganius rejoices that he has found companions of the pilgrimage enjoined on him omits 1.. But lest Canterbury should be bereft of so many patrons at once, wholesome counsel having been received, Columban is left reliquitur 2. there mihi 3., a man most sagacious in ecclesiastical discipline and illustrious in all honesty of character [(vir-præcl.) in omni morum honestate præclarus vir atque in ecclesiastica disciplina sagacissimus 2.]. There finally for a time he shone most efficaciously in omits 2, 4. the display of miracles; but afterwards, directed by divine judgment into the borders of the Gauls, he became in the monastery of Luxeuil the father of many monks.
[13] [with his companions he makes for the harbor and there heals his paralyzed hostess.] So the three companions, most faithful worshipers of the Trinity, animated armati 3. by one spirit and one faith omits 2., take up the journey they have undertaken, and, with prosperity following, they come under God's guidance to the harbor which is called Dux Francia Franciæ 4. a. But they had not yet touched the shores, when from afar they see the waves of the sea gradually swelling with winter blasts; then, a storm rising, they observe omits 2, 3, 4. all the spaces of the sea boiling up into surge. Leaving the shore, then, they withdraw succedunt 3. into a town that was not far distant, the day already declining toward evening vesperem 2.; and there they were lodged with a certain religious woman, Albuis by name. Her the disease of paralysis had drawn together, so much that her withered calves clung to her buttocks: and so, deprived of all function of walking, she moved nowhere except carried by the hands of porters bavilorum 4.. She indeed cherished the guests she had received most humanely according to her power; but she received in return for the benefit given a much better meliori 2, 3, 4. recompense. For Vulganius, knowing her infirmity, did not cease from prayer before he perceived sensit 4. that the divine power was present to him: and at once, taking the hand of the woman lying there jacentis manus 2, jacentis manu 3, 4., he raised her and restored her, to her household awaiting the outcome of the matter, safe and having obtained omits 3. entire health of all her limbs. You might have seen the mother-in-law of Simon running here and there with her garment girded up, and ministering all necessaries for the reception of the servants of God: for, her attendants being removed, she herself set the table, brought in the food, and also (p. q.) potumque 3. gave drink to the thirsty. But why say more? She was so entirely restored to health by the merit of the blessed man Vulganii 3. that no traces of her past infirmity appeared any longer in her limbs.
[14] Received without fare in a ship with his companions, The holy men, then, spending the night in that house, rose before dawn diliculum 3. for the offices of Matins; and when morning had come, resuming the labor of the journey undertaken, they returned to the harbor. And now Jam vero 2, 3, 4., the waves being calmed, the sea was indeed navigable, but they found neither a ship nor oarsmen on the shore. Having long surveyed and searched scrutatisque 2, 4 the docks navibus 3. of that harbor, since they made no progress, and the poor men of Christ did not have in their purses that with which to hire a ship for themselves, Vulganius, recurring to the counsels of his accustomed prayer, prostrated himself on the shore, beseeching the Lord with poured-out prayers that for carrying out the journey of the pilgrimage enjoined on him he would deign dignetur 3. to grant him a prosperous crossing even among the waves of the sea. And the pious Lord, who never allows the petitions of his faithful to be ineffective (e. s.) s. e. 3., hastened an effect fitting for his prayer. For when he had risen, his prayer being completed, he saw from afar merchants, driving a ship loaded with goods of various kinds, rowing along the waters adjoining continua 2. the shore: about to sail navigantes 2, 4. to farther parts, if perhaps, the Lord granting non ante 2. it, favorable omits 1. blasts of the winds should breathe on them. Then Vulganius, giving thanks to God (a. D.) Deo agens 2, 4., taking his companions, hastened to meet them: he set forth to them the vow of his pilgrimage, and humbly asked them to take them with them into the ship. And they, seeing men hominis 4. of reverend countenance, without hesitation let down a gangway for them from the stern, and, having received them with honor and placed them on the best seats sedibus 3., rejoiced that they had received them omits 3. as omits 2, 4. sureties of their safety. And no delay: the desired wind filled the fold of the spreading patientis 4. sail, and the ship, loosed according to the sailors' wish, took up its sea journey.
[15] a storm having been calmed by prayer, he lands in Gaul. Now they had advanced into the deep: now they had reached by a prosperous course the middle of the space of that sea that sends from the English to the Gauls; and behold, the Lord wishing to make his servant wonderful even among the sea waves, suddenly that whole tract of sea swelled from a conflict of winds, and from the lowest uno 3. bottom, with globes of waves surging æstuantibus 2, 3, 4. and colliding with one another seque 3., a savage tempest bristled. The strait boiled on all sides; adverse whirlwinds of storms wrestled; the air itself, darkened by the density of the clouds, had brought on the horror of night; all the fury of the winds raged for the destruction of the sailors. They, perceiving that the vessel was tossed in opposite directions, that mast, oars and the other gear of the ship were being undone, hoped for no escape from the instant danger: ready only for this, that they should unburden the ship itself by casting out the goods, and commit it to the violence of the winds to be carried wherever. On learning this the blessed omits 2. Vulganius refuted their diffidence with kindly rebuke, admonishing them to bind themselves to the Lord with the suppliant offering of vows for placating the wrath of divine punishment, and, fear of death being cast away, to apply themselves to prayer omits 1. together with him.
But he, when he had applied himself for a little while to prayer with his companions, and omits 4. rising had set the sign of the holy cross against the raging storms, at once, quicker than speech, all the crash of the winds grew quiet, the density of the clouds was torn away, serenity was restored and the sea lay most tranquil tranquillissimum 3, 4.. And a breeze too, breathing gently, drove with a gentle levi 3. impulse the vessel saved from the waves, and, driven by prosperous successes, landed applicuit 3. it at the harbor called Witsant Wizant 3, Wiltsam 4. b: which place, namely, receives such a name from the interpretation of white albescentis 3. sand c. The sailors, freed from the danger confinio 2, 3, 4. of death, how much they exulted in the praises of God and with how great reverence they honored the man of God, and how they offered to him eum 2. precious gifts from the chief wealth of their goods, which, however, that lover of true poverty held as nothing: these things, namely, and others (v. et a.) et alia videlicet 3. which now occur to be said I pass over for the sake of brevity, while I hasten to other things that are not to be left unsaid.
ANNOTATIONS.
CHAPTER THREE.
The stay of St. Vulganius among the Morini; his hermit life near the monastery of St. Vaast.
He confirms the Morini in the faith by preaching So Vulganius, having entered the borders of the Morini marinorum 2., found that the rustic people of that maritime nation, although reborn in the sacred font, yet because of the lack of preachers had not yet fully attained to the knowledge of divine worship. Wherefore, having taken wholesome counsel with his companions, he resolved to sojourn in those places for a time, in order to form the unlearned people in the precepts of saving doctrine, and by the examples et exemplis 4. of a sacred way of life, as far as the divine clemency should grant him, to instruct institueret 4. them for living well. Having become, therefore igitur 2., a temporary inhabitant of that region, he was eager to attend now private, now public gatherings of the natives; and dividing the warnings monimenta 3. of salvation (s. d.) dispertiens salutis 2, 4. to each and every one quibuscumque 3. according to the capacity of the hearers, he ministered to the raw the sweetness of milk, and to the more robust the nourishment of more solid food (c. s.) solidioris cibi 2, 4..
[17] and by miracles. And that the good will of the hearers might be rendered more attentive omits 1, attenta 3. to his preaching, the divine piety had conferred on him so great a grace that the effect of miracles also accompanied the urgency of his preaching. For a certain man with gout, while one day he stood by the blessed man as he was evangelizing evangelizanti 2, 4. the words of life, so that as a diligent hearer he might receive from his mouth the sweet honeycombs of saving doctrine (s. d. d. f.) d. f. s. d. 3., began to turn over in his mind that perhaps the grace of curing infirmities was not lacking to him whose great eloquence (cons. in s. f.) in serm. fac. considerabat 4. in speech (in sermone) omits 1. he was considering. Kindled therefore by the hope of recovering health salutis 3., prostrate on the ground he began to kiss his illius 3. feet, beseeching with poured-out tears that he might obtain from the Lord health for his feet. He, as he was a keeper of wonderful humility (c. h.) humilitatis custos 3., began to resist in every way omnino disreniti 2., and to attest with many kinds of protestations that he was unequal to so great a merit. But at last, constrained by the terrible adjuration of the people standing by and of the gouty man himself, he poured out a prayer to the Lord, and at once by the imposition of his sacred hand he restored to their pristine health the feet swollen with harmful humor. Two paralytics moreover, miserably undone in all their limbs, were brought to him on beds: whom, at once healed by the touch of his health-bringing hand, and refreshed by the feasts of saving et salutaris 4. doctrine, he allowed to return (c. r.) redire concessit 4. on their own feet, who had been brought fuerat 4. by the hands of others.
[18] From there he came with his companions to Arras, Made more celebrated by such signs in dies 1. of miracles, he was frequented by the people flocking to him in crowds: who desired to be formed by the examples of his outstanding way of life, to be healed of the troubles of the diseases that assailed them, and to be edified by him by the teaching et doctrina 4. of sacred preaching. He vero adds 2, 3, 4., through the grace divinely granted him (d. gr. s.) sibi divin. gr. 2, 3, 4., showed himself imitable in purity puritatem 2. of life, efficacious in curing various ailments, in abundance of teaching a most eloquent preceptor. And having stayed for seven years in that region, after he had rooted out from those borders (a f. i.) illis a finibus 2, 3, 4. all omnes 3, 4. the superstitions of harmful custom, and as a faithful husbandman had cultivated a manifold harvest to be stored in the barn of the Lord omits 1., thinking existimans 2, 4. that the interrupted journey of his laborious pilgrimage should be resumed, having bid farewell to the sons whom he had nourished in Christ he departed decessit 3.; and with the aforesaid companions, scattering the seeds of the divine word through villas, through towns, watering the meadows of minds from the fountain of the Scriptures, having at last completed the journey, he came to the city of Arras Atrebatensem 3, Attrebatem 4..
[19] and at the monastery of St. Vaast he becomes a recluse. The holy man had resolved amid such great noises of the populous populos 3. city to withdraw from public gatherings and to cling to the sweet pursuit of contemplation alone solius 2, 3, 4.. But a city set on a mountain could not be hidden, nor a light illuminated by the true light be clouded by the interposition of darkness. Finally, from the conduct of his distinguished life, which wonderful sobriety and the prerogative of all virtues truly commended, he was in a short time recognized. And so ita 2. all the religious began to come together venire 4. for his counsels, the people in crowds to flock from different directions to hear from him the warnings of salvation; and all who had any afflicted with various pains of diseases hastened to bring them to him as to a heavenly physician. Then, lest the breeze of favor should corrupt his mind striving intentam 4. for things above, or lest his soul, divided among many things, should become less for each one, having received leave from the pontiff of the city, he built a little dwelling, which should suffice for him alone (soli s.) sufficeret soli 3., in a little cell, adjoining the monastery of St. Vaast: in which, enclosed, setting aside secular cares, he dwelt with himself.
[20] His two companions cling to him and he performs miracles. There ministered to him beato viro 2, 4. his faithful fellow soldiers and vigorous co-workers cooperantes 1. in the word of sacred sanctæ 3. preaching, namely Ranricus Rauricus 4. and Quilian Quintilianus 2., only the simple food of bread and water: who themselves also, macerating themselves (s. m.) seque macerabant 1. with constant abstinence, and serving in constant pursuits of good works (o. b.) bonorum operum 3, 4., gave no small example of their holiness a. How he lived there and how great he was in the eyes of the supreme Maker, and with how great fasting he wore down the little vessel of his body, or how he wept with continual grief for the delicts not so much his own as of the people, is to be weighed by pious estimation rather than that any writings should be sought for these things: especially since not even hæc 2. the very miracles which the Lord deigned to work through him there omits 2. have been fuerunt 2. committed to memory; which, in order to avoid boasting, he wished to be held unknown. This however I have found written in a booklet which had been set out about his life in uncultivated and half-Latin speech, that there by his merits the blind received sight, the deaf hearing, the lame their walking, and two men disfigured turbati 3. by the contagion of deforming leprosy were cleansed by him in that same place. During the whole omnis 3. time of his enclosure reclusioni 2., then, wasting away with the desire of the heavenly life, he mourned over the prolongation of his sojourn: because, according to the apostle, desiring to be dissolved and to be with Christ, he considered the very inhabiting of the earthly body a prison. Sometimes however through an ecstasy of blessed beatæ Mariæ 4. contemplation he saw himself present at heavenly secrets and exulting with the blessed spirits in the praise of his Maker, already foretasting the sweetness of that glory which God has prepared for those who love him.
[21] He heals a dying priest; It happened meanwhile that a priest living degente 1. far off in a certain rural church, very familiar to the blessed man, fell gravely ill: a man verum 1. provident in the observance of sacred religion and a most watchful pastor over the flock committed to him b. He, the disease growing worse, when he was already despaired of desperaret 3., having sent a message legatione 3., suggested to him that, out of regard for fraternal charity, he should for a time interrupt admitteret 3. the purpose of his more secluded life, and hasten to meet him to commend his departure to the Lord. Hearing this, he stuck in uncertainty of counsel, doubting which he would prefer malit 2., because he wished neither to relax anything of the rigor of his purpose proposita 2., nor to deny his presence to the friend who asked it. But at last, conquered devinctus, 2, 3. by his exceeding love for him, he went out by breaking through the wall of his cell, and, taking the aforesaid companions of his pilgrimage, set out for the priest. Entering his house, he found him with his strength already exhausted, scarcely drawing the breath of life, and his household wailing and preparing the obsequies in service of his funeral. Himself also bathed in tears, he went to the bed of the man lying there, fulfilled complevit 3, 4. the order of visitation according to ecclesiastical custom, and, having spoken to him a few words as the time allowed (p. p. t. e.) paucis eum pro tempore 3., he entered an oratory, which was not far distant, to ask the Lord for him. And when he had given himself to the pavement with a great rain of tears, and for the restoration of his imperiled friend had poured out effudisset 3. prayers to the Lord from the inmost affection affectus 1. of his heart, at once the sick man perceived that divine power was present to him, recovering the vigor of health he rose up, refreshed himself with what was prepared as necessary for refreshment, and, showing the other signs of recovered health, received the venerable guest with due omits 1. alacrity. Those present, wondering at so great and so sudden ingenti 1. a miracle, praised the Lord together: and the house, which (d. q.) domus quæ 3. a little before was resounding perstrepebat 3, 4. with mournful howling, resounded with thanks gratas 4. to God, with praises to God, voices being lifted on high.
[22] and lodging with him he himself dies. Now the day had come on which the Lord called the true Israel from the hardships of Egypt to the promised glory; and the holy man himself after much labor of the day had laid his weary limbs on the bed: when suddenly, bathed profusus 2. in the splendor of an immense light, he heard a voice calling him by name and with sweet addresses of this kind to the glory prepared for him
inviting him: Vulganius, beloved of God, come, because now omits 1. it is time that, loosed from the chains of the body, you should be granted the worthy reward of your labor in heaven, where, reclining at the royal table with the wedding garment, you may enjoy heavenly feasts without end. At this the blessed confessor, leaping from his bed, joyfully spent most of the night in divine praises and prayer; then, having called together the brothers, he ordered also omits 3. the presbyter with whom he was lodging to be with him. When he told them of the revelation divinely shown him concerning the hastening of his death, suddenly kindled with the intolerable heat of a fever he began to burn gravely, and from the failing of his limbs and the frequent interruption of his breath to show the signs of nearby death. The troubled brothers brought forth premebatur 2. the bitterness of their heart with much pouring of tears: because although they felt that they ought forte 2. to rejoice in the undoubted glory of so great a man, yet not bearing their desolation at his departure, they could not command themselves not to weep. But he omits 3., restraining them from weeping with what voice he could, did not cease to evangelize the words of life to the men miris 4. and women who had come together for this, to commend their souls to so holy a soul going out of the body: among other addresses of pious edification admonishing them always to have the last illum diem 2, 3. day before their eyes, always hoping cogitarent 3. concerning death as though they were going to die that same day, and to put the care of the body corporum, 2, 3, 4. after the salvation of souls. But when he perceived the force of the pain drawing near to the vital parts, having kissed the brothers whom he had loved in Christ, he fortified himself by receiving the Lord's body and blood. And so among the voices of those weeping and the mingled praises of those singing psalms, that holy soul, loosed from the flesh, was carried up to the ethereal seats, where it enjoys the society of the angels, the glorious confession of the apostles, the purple brightness of the martyrs, also the nectar sweetness of the virgins, and glories in the eternity of all the saints. The most celebrated day of his deposition is the fourth before the nones of November. His most holy body the venerable companions of his pilgrimage, with the presbyter of the place and a great crowd of people flocking together, buried in the church situated in the villa called the Boundary of Good Men c, with hymns and psalms, in great glory. Where by the suffrage of his merits divine benefits are bestowed d, to the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and is glorified, God, through all ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
On St. Vulganius, excerpt from the Life of St. Madelgisilus.
Cf. Prelim. Comment. no. 4.
Vulganius, hermit, at Lens in the diocese of Arras. (S.)
FROM PRINTED EDS.
St. Vulganius, directed by an angel from Great Britain to Gaul, About the same time there was in Great Britain a man pleasing to God, distinguished in family and knowledge, Vulganius; who, when he had been preelected to the height of the episcopate of the city of the Dorovernians which is called Canterbury, and felt that the summit of so great an honor stood in his way, as one who preferred to serve God in poverty and extremity, asked the Lord that he might furnish him such counsel by which he might be loosed from the bonds of so great a prelacy and be as fully as possible entangled in the office of divine service. Him, begging such things and frequenting such things in begging, he looked upon who gives grace to the humble, of whom it is written: The Lord has heard the desire of the poor. For a heavenly messenger, standing by him, made known to him the counsel he was seeking, saying: Hasten across the sea toward Gaul, and you will land in the Alteia, above which a certain servant of God lives. To him you will go swiftly, and by God's mandate you will heal him of his infirmity; and thereafter you will remain with him as a companion in the service of God. Having received this oracle, the blessed Vulganius went out at once to the city and took up the road leading to the sea. And he found by God's nod a small boat, into which he at once entered, invoking Christ and not doubting of God's presence. At once the little boat, lifted by the waves, without human rowing ran straight across the seas, and by angelic guidance came swiftly to the harbor of the Alteia; and from there, coasting along, sailing against the force of the river, he came to the dwelling of the servant of God.
he heals St. Madelgisilus and lives a hermit's life with him; Going out from the little boat, and entering to the servant of God, Vulganius, himself likewise a servant of God, at once applied himself to prayer. And when it was completed he laid his hands on the sick man: and at once, the languor being driven away, health began to return. And the blessed Madelgisilus, rising with slow effort, fell into his embrace, and they so embraced each other with mutual love as if uterine brothers had come together after long spaces of lands or places. So these two venerable men were joined in faith and devotion, strengthened by spiritual grace, unanimously animated to the urgency of divine praise, strong for trampling vices, eager in contempt of the world, greedy for the gain of virtues, ready for bestowing benefits. And since neither sense can devise nor tongue set forth their virtues, how, God being the author, pearls of so great a price, polished in the exile of this world, were sent over to the heavenly garland, let us now set about making known.
with whom he also dies, and he is buried by the monks of Centula. In the time following, as it pleased the supernal providence, the course of this fragile life now being completed, a bodily sickness befell the servant of God Vulganius. While he was sick, the blessed Madelgisilus took his companion's trouble very ill; and standing by him he lamented with sobbing, saying thus: Have you come for this then, my brother, that, leaving me in the valley of tears, you should hasten to the fellowship of rejoicing souls? I certainly hoped to be commended by you, body to the ground, spirit to Christ: and now you strive to depart swiftly from here, so that you must enter before me heaven by the spirit, earth by the body? To whom St. Vulganius said: Bear it patiently, I beg, most blessed brother, and willingly acquiesce in God's will for us. For what will it profit to have sweated our whole life in obedience to the precepts of God, if near our end he who watches the heel should be able to find us rebellious and murmuring? Nor should you take it hard that I leave you for a time: since as soon as I shall see the face of God, I shall not cease to supplicate for you, that you may be taken from here. The blessed Madelgisilus, a little refreshed by these things, hastily sent over his minister, long since delegated to him by the abbot, to the same monastery, instructing the brothers to visit his sick companion as soon as possible and to minister to him whatever pertains to the viaticum of one departing. Hearing this instruction at once, the monks of Centula, efficacious and ready for all good things, came with all speed, anointed the servant of God with sacred oil, gave him the communion of the Lord's mysteries, and so, having attended with psalms and lessons that holy soul departing from the body on the IV before the Nones of November, they gave the body at last a worthy burial in the oratory. Nor did St. Madelgisilus survive long afterwards; rather, full of days and good works he passed over to the joys of the saints, receiving the crown from the hand of the Lord and returning his little body to the earth beside the tomb of his former companion Vulganius in the same coffin of his oratory. And the birthday of this man of God is recorded by the ancients as the III before the Kalends of June, to the praise and glory of the name of Christ.