Agricola and Vitalis

ON SS. AGRICOLA AND VITALIS, MARTYRS AT BOLOGNA,

IN THE YEAR CCCIV.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY

Agricola, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

Vitalis, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

BY J. V. D. G.

§ I. Historical sources.

[1] The chief narrator of the deeds of SS. Agricola and Vitalis is St. Ambrose, Of these celebrated martyrs, in whom the city of Bologna rightly glories, no Acts, if indeed they ever existed, have come down to us. Gregory of Tours already missed them in his time, complaining in the book On the Glory of the martyrs that no history of the passion of SS. Agricola and Vitalis has come to hand Chapter XLIII Mon. Germ., Script. rer. Merov., vol. I, p. 517.. Whether an account of their martyrdom was in fact committed to writing may be disputed, but not with solid foundation, since Ceillier brought forward no argument for his opinion when he asserted that perhaps these Acts existed even in the time of St. Ambrose, and that he took from them whatever he narrated about the martyrs Histoire des auteurs ecclésiastiques, vol. III, p. 524.. However that may be, whatever is known to us about the holy martyrs of Bologna has been drawn entirely from St. Ambrose, nor did the ancient writers draw from any other source, few indeed, such as Paulinus of Nola and Gregory of Tours, who treated of them in their works. St. Ambrose spoke of SS. Agricola and Vitalis in the first chapter of his book On the exhortation to virginity P. L., vol. XVI, p. 335 – 339.. What the occasion for publishing this book was we know from Paulinus, Ambrose's historiographer P. L., vol. XIV, p. 37, 38., who relates that the bishop of Milan made his way to Bologna in the year 393, when he wished to avoid the tyrant Eugenius hastening into Italy and indeed to Milan, and from there, having found there the sacred remains of SS. Agricola and Vitalis, withdrew to the Florentines, by whom he had been invited, bringing with him keepsakes, namely relics of the holy athletes of Christ. At Florence St. Ambrose delivered a sermon on the holy martyrs, which was afterwards worked up into the aforesaid little book. It has seemed to some also that St. Ambrose praised SS. Agricola and Vitalis not only in the book On the exhortation to virginity, but also in a little work to which the title On the martyrdom of Agricola and Vitalis had been given, now however lost, and which Mabillon reports John the deacon used in the tenth century Museum italicum, vol. I, second part, p. 77.. But Melloni rightly notes Atti o memorie degli uomini illustri … in Bologna, vol. I, p. 125. that by this book On the martyrdom of Agricola and Vitalis nothing else is perhaps meant than a certain letter, of which we shall speak immediately, falsely attributed to Ambrose. For before the Benedictine editors had critically published all the works of the holy bishop of Milan, there was brought forward among his letters a certain epistle in which the finding of the bodies of SS. Agricola and Vitalis was described P. L., vol. XVII, p. 747 – 749.. The said editors rightly and deservedly separated it from the number of Ambrose's letters, since it appears not obscurely as the work of some patcher-together, who interpolated St. Ambrose's narrative, in which he left the finding of SS. Vitalis and Agricola described in the Exhortation to virginity, partly by adding, partly by changing, partly by transposing. Since therefore, not even after Gregory of Tours, has anyone been more fortunate in having the history of the Passion come to his hand, in place of the lacking Acts we shall insert in our work both the first chapter of the Exhortation to virginity and the supposititious epistle, as the only documents concerning SS. Vitalis and Agricola that are available.

[2] whose lucubrations the passionaries took up; But if the properly so-called and original Acts of our holy martyrs are lacking, it is not to be concluded from this that no Passion of SS. Agricola and Vitalis occurs in the legendaries or passionaries of the middle ages. For it is found very frequently, as, for example, in the codex of the Brussels library marked no. 64, fol. 227v – 228v Cf. Catal. codd. hagiog. bibl. reg. Brux., vol. I, p. 18., and in the codices of the national library of Paris marked nos. 2637, fol. 193v – 195; 3789, fol. 153r – 154; 3851 A, fol. 33r – 34r; 5361, fol. 33r – 35v; 5365, fol. 155v – 156r, 11759, fol. 259r – 259v [Catal. codd. hagiog. bibl. nat. Paris., vol. I, p. 166, 296, 376; vol. II, p. 350, 383; vol. III, p. 107.], and also in the codex marked B. 55. inf. in the Ambrosian library at Milan Analecta Boll., vol. XI, p. 261., as well as in the codex marked no. 523 in the Vatican library among the codices of the queen of the Swedes, which Giorgi already noted in his notes on the martyrology of Ado. But these Acts which are found here and there are nothing other than a certain mixture and patching-together of the two documents, the Ambrosian and the pseudo-Ambrosian, which we have indicated. For they are commonly put together in such a way that, after the prefixed title and the first sentence of the letter formerly attributed to Ambrose, the first chapter of the Exhortation to virginity follows. Moreover, before the conclusion a certain prayer is read, pronounced to God before the people, from which it is indicated that this Passion was narrated by Ambrose on the occasion of the dedication of the church of SS. Vitalis and Agricola founded by St. Juliana, widow, in the city of Florence. By the following schema it appears at a single glance how both the Passion of the manuscripts and the pseudo-Ambrosian epistle were fabricated, a comparison being made with the book On the Exhortation to virginity.

[3] but there exists besides a book of miracles. Gregory of Tours, in the place cited above, reports several miracles worked by the holy martyrs, and Melloni relates Attio memorie degli uomini illustri … in Bologna, class I, vol. I, p.141 – 145. that other miracles are recorded in an ancient codex of the abbey of Saint Stephen at Bologna. This codex is today preserved in the library of the royal University of Bologna, and is marked there no 1473; it was written, as the renowned Dr Lodovico Frati, vice-librarian of the same library, informed us, in the year 1180 Cf. Melloni, op. cit., p. 301., in two columns. The miracles are found at fol. 329 – 330, a copy of which we obtained through the kindness of the same renowned Frati. These too, namely the narrative of the miracles from Gregory of Tours and from the Bologna passionary, will be given below with the texts of Ambrose.

§ II. SS. Agricola and Vitalis praised in many martyrologies. — Of their office.

[4] All the calendars name the holy martyrs, but on different days; As rare as the original documents concerning our saints are, so celebrated is their cult. It would be too long even to enumerate all the calendars and martyrologies that have inserted the names of SS. Agricola and Vitalis. The series of Hieronymian copies which Giorgi knew in his time, entire

he recited in his notes on Ado, to which must now be added the Fulda, Bern and Trier copies lately edited by us. But the Bern copy is silent about SS. Agricola and Vitalis at the 4th day of November, and at the 27th day it already breaks off mutilated; the Trier copy names them nowhere, but the Fulda copy names them both at the 4th day and at the 27th day of November. In Melloni you will find collected the mentions made in several Italian calendars Ibid., p. 139, note 28.. But all these calendars which record the memory of SS. Vitalis and Agricola do not agree so well among themselves in fixing the day of this commemoration. It occurs, namely, now on the 2nd day, now on the 3rd and 4th of November, but most often at the 27th day of November, and also at the 3rd, 4th and 10th days of December. Indeed Notker brings it forward at the 28th day of April [Cf. Giorgi in his notes on the martyrology of Ado, and Melloni, op. cit., p. 116, 117.]. The reason for many of these discrepancies is ready to hand. Some, especially as regards St. Vitalis, arose from confusion with other saints of the same name who are commemorated on the preceding days Cf. Act. SS. Novemb., vol. I, p. 604 – 5.; and Notker was led to write at the 28th day of April: At Bologna, of Vitalis and Agricola, from the fact that St. Vitalis of Ravenna is venerated on that day. In very few calendars are our saints venerated in the month of December; but the diversity prevails chiefly between two days, namely the 4th and the 27th of November. It is not to be denied that in the old calendars the names of the saints of Bologna are cited more often on the 27th day of November than on the 4th, so in many of the Hieronymian ones Cf. Giorgi, loc. cit. and the Italian ones which Melloni reports Loc. cit.. In most of the breviaries, missals and calendars of the national library of Paris which have been described by us, Agricola and Vitalis occur on the 27th day of November Cat. codd. hag. bibl. nat. Paris. vol. III.. The same holds in the legendaries, for example in the codices marked with the numbers 5293, 5365 of the national library of Paris, in which the very order of the Passions testifies to it Ibid., vol. I, p. 565; vol. II, p. 383., and in the codex marked no. 5361 it is explicitly indicated both in the title and in the closing clause that the passion is celebrated on the fifth day before the kalends of December Ibid., vol. II, p. 350..

[5] The reason for this difference is weighed. To those asking what the right day is to be assigned to the commemoration of the passion of SS. Agricola and Vitalis, whether the 4th or the 27th day of November, we do not hesitate to answer that it is the one which the Roman martyrology has assigned, namely the 4th of November. On this day, as the pseudo-epistle of St. Ambrose testifies, they in fact underwent martyrdom, and on it from time immemorial their feast has been kept in the church of Bologna. Besides, they appear commemorated at this 4th day rather often in the ancient calendars and passionaries, certainly no less frequently than on the 27th. Why, however, the martyrs of Bologna are also celebrated on this 27th day Saussay indicated in the following declaration: At Clermont of the Arverni, the veneration of the holy martyrs Agricola and Vitalis, whose relics the holy bishop Namatius had translated from Bologna into Auvergne, and, having received them, placed them in the mother church, in which thenceforth these glorious martyrs, numbered among the tutelars of the holy place, are honoured at their own altar especially on this day, which is consecrated to their translation Martyr. gallic., p. 938, 939.. This reason is not altogether unlike the truth, since the Hieronymian martyrology already knew this translation; for we read in the Bern copy at the 10th day of May: Auvergne, the dedication of the church of St. Agregula. On the other hand, however, someone will perhaps doubt this argument of Saussay, wondering that the commemoration of this Auvergnat feast should have spread so widely beyond the bounds of Gaul. To whom it might not undeservedly be replied that calendars very easily migrated from one region into another.

[6] A formula of praise taken from Ambrose In almost all the martyrologies the holy martyrs are extolled in the same manner in common. Since its matter was taken from the book of St. Ambrose On the exhortation to virginity, one may refrain from reciting the various formulas far and wide, bringing forward only two which may be as it were a specimen of the rest. And first, the very ancient praiser of the martyrs, Ado of Vienne, has this: On the 5th day before the kalends of December. The natal day of the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola, who at Bologna, a city of Italy, after other torments, were at last crucified and completed their martyrdom. Whose bodies, when afterwards they had been placed among the tombs of the Jews and were entirely unknown to the Christian people, blessed Ambrose (the holy martyrs themselves revealing them) found at the city of Bologna; and, a church having been built, with great joy of the faithful, and with the punishments of the demons confessing the merits of the martyrs, he laid them under the altar. These same things, in a scarcely different tenor, the present Roman martyrology sets forth from Usuard: At Bologna, of the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola: of whom the former was the slave of the latter, and afterwards his partner and colleague in martyrdom: on whom the persecutors exercised every kind of punishment, so that there was no place in his body without a wound, which, constantly enduring, he gave up his spirit in prayer: but Agricola they killed, fastening him to a cross with very many nails. St. Ambrose, when he was present at their translation, relates that he gathered the martyr's nails, the triumphal blood and the wood of the cross, and laid them beneath the sacred altars.

[7] differs somewhat in different calendars. If these encomia are compared with one another, already at first sight one may notice no small variations. By Ado both are proclaimed crucified, but in the Roman martyrology Agricola alone is said to have been fastened to the cross, while on the contrary Vitalis, harassed with every kind of torture, gave up his spirit in prayer. Moreover, the things that Ado reported very briefly about the martyrdom itself both the Usuardine and the Roman recensions strive to extend and as it were to exaggerate, while the latter is silent about the cult of the people of Bologna and touches the translation only summarily, whereas Ado presents the same with a longer circuit. But it is now enough to have noted these things, which will hereafter have to be thoroughly sifted, and, at least as regards the crucifixion of both martyrs, decided in favour of Ado against the Roman martyrology. Moreover, the hagiological fasti disagree about the place of martyrdom and some other circumstances. Thus the additions to Usuard, in the Lübeck-Cologne edition, add to the customary formula that the martyrs suffered in the times of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, and in the editor Belinus one reads that Agricola was the slave of Vitalis, which error indeed the Venetian editor, Francesco Maurolico, also takes up again for himself. The Reichenau martyrology, and among the additions to Bede the Tournai and Barberini ones, place not Bologna but Italy indeterminately. Elsewhere Bologna appears twisted into Pannonia, and, what is worse, a certain French scribe in a Corbie codex claims the most illustrious martyrs Agricola and Vitalis not for Italy but for Gaul, deceived by the likeness of the name of the city of Bolonia on the Sea (Boulogne-sur-Mer) in Flemish Gaul, on the coast of Picardy. Finally, to others the name Agricola smelt of the feminine gender, so that from time to time one reads, Of St. Agricola, virgin, for example in Labbe's list and in the Liessies addition to Bede, as was noted above. Did the Ottoboni list wish to close the way to this error by writing Agricoli? Moreover, the Corbie list joins two companions of the passion with Vitalis and Agricola, namely Manilius and Julius.

[8] Of the office of the holy martyrs. The name of the holy martyrs of Bologna did not penetrate among the Greeks, nor among the Slavs or Orientals. But, as we shall say below, their cult was widely diffused in the Latin church; indeed in the Mozarabic calendar prefixed to the missal of the same rite Vitalis and Agricola are mentioned on the 5th day before the kalends of December. This without doubt has its origin from the fact that the sacred pledges of these martyrs were once sent into Spain to García, king of Navarre, by the supreme Pontiff, a matter which must be treated more fully later. Nor only in the calendars is it indicated with how great a cult the Christian people honoured SS. Agricola and Vitalis, but in other ecclesiastical books also not uncertain indications have appeared. Martène has already published De antiq. Eccl. ritibus, vol. I, p. 870, 872. the eleventh ordo from a very ancient sacramentary of the monastery of Moissac, in whose litanies, usually recited at the visiting and anointing of the sick, this double invocation is found: St. Agricola, pray for him; St. Vitalis, pray for him. In the missal of the Ambrosian church of Milan, on the 7th day of November, there is read according to the Ambrosian rite a wholly proper mass of SS. Vitalis and Agricola Melloni, op. cit., p. 140.. The Benedictine monks of the monastery of SS. Vitalis and Agricola at Bologna also had a proper office, which we give here [See this office edited in Melloni, op. cit., pp. 492 – 499, and in part in Card. Lambertini, Trattato sopra gli Atti d'alcuni Santi de' quali si fa l'offizio in Bologna, pp. 220, 221, 281 – 290.].

On the Feast of SS. Vitalis and Agricola, Martyrs of Bologna.

At Vespers. Chapter. These are men of mercy, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten; good things remain with their seed: their descendants are a holy inheritance.

HYMN.

The hallowed day of the martyrs Who strove lawfully, Of Vitalis and Agricola, Let us solemnly recall. Who, spurning the depraved And fragile life of this world, Having followed Christ, rejoice In heaven with a shining crown. Vitalis indeed the little slave, And Agricola the master, For whom Vitalis became The forerunner to martyrdom. The first contest roused His wounds towards the rewards; The master, following him, Afterwards conquered with him. The blade of wicked soldiers Offered the little slave to heaven; The dread gibbet of the cross At last offered his master. With what seemly help They raised one another on high, Who by the gift of heaven's king Are now crowned together. Praise be to God most high And to his only-begotten, Together with the Holy Spirit, Unto everlasting ages. Amen.

At the Magnificat. Antiphon. O how worthy of veneration you are, illustrious Agricola and Vitalis, martyrs of Christ, who despised earthly things and, exulting, sought the gate of heaven, now victors shining in heavenly power; and therefore we suppliants entreat that you intercede for us with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer. Almighty everlasting God, grant your people to venerate the festivity of the present day with sincere affection, and that we who throng it with devout homage in the annual celebration of your holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola may by their suffrages attain the joys of the heavenly kingdom. Through the Lord…

At Matins, invitatory. The King of the illustrious martyrs Vitalis and Agricola, come, let us adore.

HYMN.

By divine providence renowned Are the names given to them With a mystical solution; They lay hold of heaven's gifts, That Vitalis might acquire The measure of life by blood, That Agricola might buy A field with eternal seed. Let the people of Bologna bring To God the praises due, Which has destined for itself The illustrious bodies of these. With every provident care Let it show itself their guardian, That it may feel their suffrages To be present to it. Now we ask you, bowed down, Renowned martyrs of God,

That you may entreat him For us, his servants. That, all our crimes Being driven out * utterly, We may deserve to be joined To the heavenly companies. Grant this, most loving Father, And you, only one equal to the Father, With the Spirit, the Paraclete, Reigning through every age. Amen.

The lessons are taken from that Passion to be published below, with the title Sermon of St. Ambrose, bishop, and their text comes nearer to the Brussels codex. Lesson I from the words: Ambrose, servant of Jesus Christ, as far as: which is wont to show; lesson II as far as the words: he fulfilled (no. 2), to which it adds: Nothing is plucked away from him; how can what Christ has nobly bestowed be diminished? Lesson III goes on as far as no. 3: condition brings to the commendation of a man; lesson IV ends with the words of the same no. 3: should give up his soul for us; lesson V proceeds to the end of no. 4; lesson VI makes its end with: had been not of diligence but of fraud; lesson VII goes on as far as no. 6: might acquire that which is eternal; lesson VIII has as its last words those of no. 7: he deigned to reveal. The four lessons of the third nocturn are from St. Augustine on the Gospel of St. John: I am the true vine, which begin: This passage of the Gospel, brethren.

At Lauds, chapter, hymn and prayer, as at first Vespers.

At Terce, chapter and prayer, as at first Vespers.

At Sext, chapter: Their generation and their glory shall not be forsaken; their bodies are buried in peace, and their names shall live for ever.

Prayer. Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who keep the solemnities of your holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola may imitate their virtues. Through the Lord…

At None, chapter. All peoples tell of their wisdom, and the whole church of the saints proclaims their praise.

Prayer. Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we may share also in the merits of your holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola, whose victory we celebrate. Through the Lord etc.

At 2nd Vespers, as at the first.

Within the octave, the lessons complete the aforesaid Passion, namely lesson I from the words of no. 7, we were seeking the remains of the martyrs, as far as we reap the fruits of the martyrs; lesson II completes no. 7, a Jew to a Jew; lesson III proceeds to the words of no. 8, by the napkins of the saints they were healed; lesson IV to the words of no. 9, pernicious to those who have; lesson V goes to no. 10, prepared and offered (cf. variant reading 3); lesson VI has as its last words, the temple is holy; lesson VII, of this world is washed away; lesson VIII completes the whole Passion with the variant readings of the Brussels codex, to which it adds after the words under Diocletian and Maximian these others: in the year of the Lord CCLXXXVII, the day before the nones of November.

* ed. notius

§ III. At what time, in what place and by what kind of punishment the holy martyrs suffered, and of their first burial.

[9] Natives of the city of Bologna, Ambrose declares the name and condition of the holy martyrs in these words: The martyr's name is Agricola, whose slave was Vitalis P. L., vol. XVI, p. 337., and lower down he relates that St. Agricola was so gentle in his ways that he was loved even by his enemies. Beyond this, who they were is entirely unknown. Some have conjectured that St. Agricola was of noble birth from the fact that it is read here and there that he was joined by blood with Jovinus, prefect of the soldiery in Gaul, who, after the passion, as will be said below, dedicated a church to him in the city of Reims Cf. Breviary of Reims, year 1729.. But historical arguments for firmly establishing this kinship are lacking; for the legends which are put about concerning Jovinus are not such. However that may be, there is no one who denies that SS. Agricola and Vitalis were citizens of Bologna; indeed there have not been lacking those who went off into various fables, striving to ascribe them to certain noble families of Bologna, which whoever wishes may see collected in Melloni Op. cit., p. 113, 114. and Lambertini Op. cit., p. 211, 212., but which neither the gravity of our work nor the importance of the matter permits us to report here, since, resting on no foundation, they are mere genealogical play and empty flattery. Of these attempts, however, we shall present one, not because it seems better proved, but because at least it does not offend against likelihood; namely that of Malvasia Marmorea Felsina, p. 348., who does not shrink from the conjecture according to which St. Agricola would have belonged to the Bolognese tribe Lemonia. For there has been found in a certain inscription the name of one Titus Vennonius Agricola, a soldier of the tenth praetorian cohort in the century of Victorinus; which epigram we extract from the Corpus of Latin inscriptions Vol. VI, part I, p. 714, n. 2761..

D. M

T VENNONI LEM AGRI

COLAE BONO MIL COH

X PR 〉 VICTORINI MIL

ANN VII MES XI DIEB

XXIX V ANN XXV MES

V DIEB XV FEC

T VENNONIVS SE

CVNDVS PATRONO

B M

[To the Spirits of the Departed. To Titus Vennonius Agricola, of the tribe Lemonia, of Bononia, soldier of the tenth praetorian cohort, century of Victorinus; he served 7 years, 11 months, 29 days; he lived 25 years, 5 months, 15 days. Titus Vennonius Secundus made this for his well-deserving patron.]

Some, few indeed, would have it that St. Vitalis was a citizen of Milan, whose opinion, reported in Machiavelli In note 29, col. 26, to the Historia Bononiensis, by Sigonio., Melloni rightly censures Op. cit., p. 114, note 23., since they have fallen into a shameful confusion of St. Vitalis, of whom we now treat, with St. Vitalis, father of SS. Gervase and Protase.

[10] SS. Agricola and Vitalis suffered in the year 304, St. Agricola was certainly leading a pious and religious life with his slave Vitalis when the persecution of Diocletian against the Christians arose, first in the year 287 and afterwards in the year 303. But in what year the edict raged at Bologna and struck our holy martyrs it is not so easy to determine with complete certainty. In the epistle which was treated above, wrongly attributed to St. Ambrose, SS. Agricola and Vitalis are asserted to have suffered under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian P. L., vol. XVII, p. 749.. Now if account is to be taken of this chronological datum, the years 287, 299, 303 and 304 can be accepted, since only through these years did Diocletian and Maximian reign together. Indeed, in the year 287 they are recorded as having been put to death in lesson VIII of the office within the octave usually recited by the monks of the Bolognese cenobium of Saint Vitalis In Lambertini, op. cit., p. 288.. But, on the other hand, what the history of those times makes known agrees less well with that year 287. For about these years, if the latter part of the year 286 is excepted, when Maximian Herculius, having set out from the East into Gaul, passed through Italy and condemned some Christians to death Cf. Paul Allard in Revue des quest. hist., vol. XLIV, p. 61 – 65., the persecution by no means harassed Italy, nor any more in the year 299. But in the year 303 the decree against the Christians was brought forth at Nicomedia, and Lactantius relates De morte persecut. lib., n. 15. that after the persecution had been stirred up in the East by Diocletian and Galerius Maximian, letters went to the other Maximian and to Constantius, that he should do the same, and that old Maximian willingly obeyed them throughout Italy. Whence Ruinart concludes that the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola suffered about the year 304, in that persecution which Maximian Herculius was stirring up in Italy at that time Acta sincera martyrum, p. 465., to which opinion the renowned Paul Allard has lately added his vote La Persécution de Dioclétien, p. 412.. Hence Cardinal Paleotti Archiepiscopale Bononiense, p. 278., Sigonio Historia Bononiensis, p. 26. and Casale Basilica di S. Stefano, p. 296. less rightly agree on the year 301 or 302, since at that time the persecution had been lulled; nor did Baronius Ann. eccl., at the year 303. and Riccioli Chronologia reformata., who champion the year 303, sufficiently attend to the fact that the Nicomedian edict did not at once obtain its effect in other parts of the empire. And from no argument do Alberti and Pullieni postpone the event to the year 305 According to Melloni, op. cit., p. 115..

[11] in the amphitheatre, In the year 304, therefore, St. Vitalis was brought into the amphitheatre of Bologna to render testimony to the Christian faith. That field of games was situated in the place now called Strada di S. Vitale, formerly named Via dell' Arena Masini, Bolonia perlustrata, part I, p. 191., but anciently Via Salaria. For it shines out from many documents that at Bologna, as in many cities of Italy, there was an Arena or amphitheatre. One reads, for example, in Sigonio De episcopis Bononiensibus, book I, Sigonio's works, vol. III, p. 382., in the Life of St. Theodore, bishop of Bologna, that the supreme Pontiff Agapetus I subjected to his authority all the monasteries situated in the diocese of Bologna, among which was the monastery of SS. Vitalis and Agricola in the Arena.

[12] both perhaps crucified, Of the very punishment which the holy martyrs underwent Ambrose relates this: And when St. Vitalis was being compelled by the persecutors to deny Christ, and he professed the Lord Jesus Christ all the more, they exercising every kind of torment upon him, so that there was no place in his body without a wound, he poured forth a prayer … and the prayer being completed he sent forth his spirit… Agricola was crucified P. L., vol. XVII, p. 748.. That is, according to Ambrose, Vitalis suffered first, then, the punishment having been put off for some days, Agricola; the former was tortured with every kind of torment, the latter fastened to the gibbet of the cross; indeed Agricola alone is expressly asserted to have been put to death by the torment of the cross. Nevertheless, a constant tradition, to which Gregory of Tours shows himself a witness in the sixth century when he asserts that both Agricola and Vitalis were crucified for the name of Christ De Gloria Martyrum, book I, chapter 44., teaches that both were slain by the same punishment. This indeed seems to Melloni to be confirmed Op. cit., p. 111. by the number of nails, which, buried together with the bodies of the saints, were afterwards found, as Ambrose testifies, saying: We gathered the nails of the martyr, and many indeed, because there were more wounds in him than members P. L., vol. XVII, p. 748.. Yet, as Gallonio warns De sanctorum martyrum cruciatibus, p. 313., it is not to be forgotten that through the savagery of the torturers, and indeed not rarely, the nails were multiplied, driven into every part of the body. Wherefore the argument which some, like Melloni, think they can deduce from the number of the nails does indeed make the point intended persuasive, but does not prove it. To those objecting that the wood of only a single cross was found together with the bodies of the holy martyrs, it has rightly been answered that one cross more than once served as the gibbet for two or more Cf. Melloni, op. cit., p. 112., which in the present case

could hold all the more because SS. Vitalis and Agricola are said not to have suffered on one and the same day. Yet not even this would have stood in the way, namely their having been slain on the same day, since it was sometimes the custom to fasten two martyrs, one after the other, to the same wood. However that may be, documents being lacking, nothing certain and settled can be defined, and one must stand by the conjectures set forth, and especially by the Ambrosian text, which records that Vitalis alone was crucified.

[13] whose bodies were buried in the cemetery of the Jews, The punishment having been carried out, the bodies of the holy confessors of Christ Vitalis and Agricola were committed to burial. Now Ambrose, in narrating the finding of their bodies, notes that they had been buried in the soil of the Jews, among their tombs P. L., vol. XVI, p. 338., and likewise we read in Paulinus in the Life of St. Ambrose that the bodies of the martyrs had been placed among the bodies of the Jews P. L., vol. XIV, p. 37.. Hence occasion was given to not a few writers, among them Alberti Book II della Deca, year 305., Pullieni Cronaca della Chiesa di S. Stefano, tratt. 4, p. 131., Sigonio [De episcopis Bononiensibus, book I, in Sigonio's complete works, vol. III, p. 362.], Lambertini Op. cit, p. 216., Petracchi Della insigne abbaziale Basilica di S. Stefano, p. 298. and Faleoni Memorie historiche della Chiesa Bolognese, vol. I, p. 19, 20., of asserting that the bodies of SS. Agricola and Vitalis after their punishment were thrown by the most wicked attendants into the cemetery of the Jews. Casale thinks the thing happened somewhat otherwise Storia della Basilica di S. Stefano, p. 296., judging that the faithful of Bologna themselves with great reverence gathered the blood of the martyrs, with which a phial was filled, and committed their bodies to the earth, which were afterwards exhumed by the Jews and translated to the profane place of their own burial. Pullieni, just cited, sets out thus the various vicissitudes which the remains of the holy martyrs underwent before they were found in the time of St. Ambrose: immediately after the punishment was inflicted, the bodies were thrown into the cemetery of the Jews, whence, the following night, they were carried by the Christians, together with the cross, the nails, and also the phial filled with blood, into a certain church already built at that time in the place which the cenobium of St. Vitalis afterwards occupied; but from there they were at last seized by the Arians, to be laid once again among the tombs of the Jews. All of which, so elaborated, Pullieni thinks he can draw out Op. cit., tratt. 5, p. 154. from the Life of St. Juliana of Bologna, in which it is related that this pious woman grieved vehemently that the bodies of the holy martyrs had been taken away by the Arians from the aforesaid church. With this account of events which Pullieni wove together, what Masini has in various places of his work plainly agrees Bologna perlustrata, pp. 352, 353..

[14] situated near the amphitheatre. But Melloni, who must be said to have untangled the controversy more happily than the others, denies that he can assent to these opinions, which he has diligently reported Op. cit., p. 109.. First of all he carefully brings to light that beside the bodies of the martyrs there were found by St. Ambrose the instruments of the punishment, namely the cross and the nails, the phial of blood, and besides a double marble tablet with the names of the saints carved on it. If these things are so, to whom will it any longer seem likely that either the attendants, or the Arians, or the Jews, the most hostile enemies, that is, of the Christian martyrs, in a shameful, furtive and hurried interment, used such great diligence as these insignia deposited together with the bodies denote? Wherefore the little stories fabricated especially by Pullieni, Masini and Alberti seem to be rejected, and this is to be accepted as more probable, that the Christians themselves hastily buried the bodies near the Arena or amphitheatre, in which place, in the course of time, the Jews were wont to be buried in the ground. Thence, therefore, and for no other reason, it more probably came about that the bodies of SS. Vitalis and Agricola were discovered in the midst of the Jews, as a rose among thorns, to use the words of Ambrose La Persécution de Dioclétien, pp. 187, 412.. Indeed it can be admitted, as the renowned Paul Allard has very recently contended, that the bodies of the saints were buried, even at first, in the cemetery of the Jews, because the cemetery of the Christians, as often happened in the reign of Diocletian, had been confiscated P. L., vol. XVII, p. 747..

§4. The finding of the bodies of SS. Vitalis and Agricola.

[15] The bodies were found in the year 393, For many years the bodies of the holy martyrs lay hidden in the ground, namely from the beginning of the 4th century, in which they were crucified, to the end of the same age, in which they were found. The authors disagree about the year of the finding no differently than about the time of the martyrdom. But if Alberti is excepted Book II della Deca I, at the year 397, who contends that the event took place in the year 397, the discrepant opinions are restricted to the years 392 and 393. The first opinion is defended by Baronius Ann. eccl., at the year 392., Ruinart Acta primorum martyrum, p. 465., Rabbi In note 25 to Sigonio's book I, De Episcopis Bononiensibus. and Paul Allard La Persécution de Dioclétien, vol. I, p. 413., the other by Tillemont Mémoires pour servir à l'hist. eccl., vol. V, p. 315., and also the Benedictines of Saint Maur with Hermant P. L., vol. XVII, p. 747., Muratori Annali d'Italia, at the year 393., Paleotti Archiepiscopale Bononiense, p. 278. and Lambertini Op. cit., p.217.. This question, if from anywhere, is to be decided especially from the chronology of the Life of St. Ambrose. Now from this it is known that the bodies of SS. Vitalis and Agricola were raised in that interval of time in which, the emperor Eugenius crossing the Alps, St. Ambrose left Milan and spent some months at Bologna, and thence at Florence and Faenza. But, Valentinian having died on the 15th day of May in the year 392, Eugenius did not invade Italy until the beginning of the year 393, and resided at Milan until the year 394, when he was about to lead his forces against Theodosius, nor did Ambrose return to his episcopal city before the kalends of August of the same year. Therefore the finding of the bodies of the holy martyrs seems to be referred rather to the year 393 than to the year 392.

[16] by St. Eusebius, bishop of Bologna; The sacred relics were made manifest by divine revelation, which Paulinus testifies in the Life of St. Ambrose in these words: The bodies of the martyrs had been placed among the bodies of the Jews, nor was it known to the Christian people, had not the holy martyrs revealed themselves to the priest of that church, or, as is read in a certain German codex, revealed themselves to the priest himself P. L., vol. XIV, p.37.. From this carelessness of the text arose the controversy about the bishop to whom the holy martyrs revealed themselves, whether to Ambrose, bishop of Milan, then perhaps staying at Bologna, or to Eusebius, bishop of Bologna. It would be superfluous to renew the question here, since it was formerly aired in our work Acta SS. Sept., vol. VII, p. 273. by our predecessors, to whom Melloni, writing in more recent time Op. cit., pp. 107, 110, 239. and weighing the whole matter again, gave his assent, championing the same conclusion, that this revelation is by no right to be denied to St. Eusebius. Nevertheless St. Ambrose was present at the finding of the sacred remains, as he himself relates P. L., vol. XVII, p. 747., a great multitude both of Christians and of Jews flocking together, with applause and exultation, to the elevation of the holy bodies.

[17] but they were translated, not into the church situated in the Arena, Where the bodies of SS. Vitalis and Agricola were first translated after they had been found by SS. Eusebius and Ambrose it is not so easy to have discerned, nor does any certain way lie open for discovering it, since documents which would clearly declare the matter are lacking. We must again have recourse to conjectures. This, however, we hold as certain and known, that the primitive Christians were wont to lay the remains of martyrs, when found, either in an oratory which they built in the very place of burial or of martyrdom, or to carry them to another church. But who will imagine for himself, as regards the present case, that the faithful of Bologna built any monument in the cemetery of the Jews, where the bodies of SS. Vitalis and Agricola were discovered? Hence either they built a little shrine in the Arena itself, or they entrusted the relics to some church which already existed before. Those who defend the first hypothesis appeal to that marble tablet dug up from ancient times from the underground part of the church of the cenobium of Saint Vitalis at Bologna, situated in the Arena, on which tablet these words were inscribed:

HIC REQVIESCVNT CORPORA SANCTORUM

VITALIS ET AGRICOLA ADQVE ALIORUM

SANCTORUM RELIQVIE

To certain learned men the inscription of this stone has seemed, on account of the form of the letters, very ancient, indeed to be referred to the fourth century. Whence Pullieni conjectured See in Melloni, op. cit., p. 118. that the bodies of the holy martyrs, exhumed from the burial ground of the Jews, were again committed to the ground most honourably in the very place of martyrdom, that is, in the Arena, or the present street called Strada di S. Vitale, with this inscription placed above, until St. Juliana built a church there in honour of the saints, which was consecrated by St. Ambrose and afterwards became the monastery of St. Vitalis. Both Casale Nuova Gierusalemme detta la sacra Basilica di San Stefano, p. 298. and Cardinal Lambertini Op. cit., p. 220. come very near to Pullieni's opinion. But, the whole matter being recalled to a severer balance, Melloni denies Op. cit., p. 119. that the aforesaid inscription is older than the 11th century, or that the deeds of St. Juliana can favour the aforesaid opinion even in the least, since they declare in express words, in lesson IV of the office of St. Juliana which the monks of Saint Vitalis used to recite, that the church erected by St. Juliana and consecrated by St. Ambrose remains to the present day beside the church of the monastery of the holy protomartyr Stephen towards the north In Melloni, op. cit., p. 514..

[18] but into the church at Saint Peter's. It remains, therefore, that the bodies of the holy martyrs were laid in some church of the city of Bologna. Which was that church? Melloni Op. cit., p. 121., with the anonymous historian of the church of St. Stephen of Bologna Della Chiesa del S. Sepolcro, p. 15. and also Faleoni Memorie historiche della Chiesa Bolognese, vol. I, p. 20., judges that it was none other than the church which afterwards became the cathedral at Saint Peter's. In actual fact in this church the sacred bodies thereafter rested in those two marble sarcophagi which Gregory of Tours perhaps mentions De Glor. Martyr., chapter XLIII. in the sixth century, when he says that they were placed above the ground, while Paulinus in the Life of Ambrose asserts that the bodies were laid under the altar, which is in the same

basilica P. L., vol. XIV, p. 37.. It is natural to suppose that the sacred remains were carried into that church in which the bishop gathered with the clergy and the Christian people on feast days, that is, into the church at Saint Peter's. Nor are the things we have just said about the church founded by St. Juliana adverse to this opinion. It is certain that she did not found the church of Saint Peter, which already existed in the time of St. Faustinianus, in the third century, but nothing prevents it from being supposed that, on the occasion of the finding of the bodies of SS. Vitalis and Agricola, she restored, enlarged and adorned this temple. The same tradition is confirmed both by an ancient sculpture, formerly set above the door of this church, which is reproduced in the work of Melloni so often cited Op. cit., p. 489., and by two marble tablets, carved in two altars, of which one is on the right, the other on the left of the high altar of the same basilica. The first monument shows Christ the Lord carrying a cross in his hand and standing between St. Agricola on the right and St. Vitalis on the left. At any rate it cannot be determined at what age this picture was made and placed in the portico of Saint Peter's. Pullieni trusts too much in the marble tablets Op. cit., p. 200., which he supposes were placed at the very time of the first translation, but Melloni more rightly thinks that such an opinion lacks all foundation Op. cit., p. 123.. Nevertheless from these monuments is confirmed the constant tradition by which it was believed that the bodies of the holy martyrs, when first they were found, were laid in the church at Saint Peter's Op. cit., p. 124..

§ V. The cult of the citizens of Bologna towards the holy martyrs; the various translations of their bodies at Bologna and the solemn recognitions.

[19] [With the varying fortune of the cathedral of Bologna, the relics of SS. Agricola and Vitalis also had varying vicissitudes.] The church at Saint Peter's, into which the bodies of SS. Agricola and Vitalis were perhaps carried in the year 394, underwent various vicissitudes; whence the sacred remains also experienced various changes, which it is useful to report in order. That the temple of Saint Peter was destroyed, the injury of barbarians and of the times conspiring, now by the Arians, now by Julian the Apostate, now by Theodosius, then by the Vandals, Heruli, Goths, Lombards and Hungarians, especially in the year 903, is established from what Pullieni sets out Book I della Deca, tratt. VI, p. 178., taken from the compilers of the annals of Bologna. But when the plan was undertaken of restoring the destroyed church, many reasons urged that this be done with the site of the former building changed. For why should the cathedral church remain outside the city? It seemed good, therefore, to rebuild it within the circuit of the city, not far from the square itself. Hence, as Benedict XIV says in the office of the dedication of this church, lesson IV of the second nocturn In Melloni, op. cit., p. 146., the cathedral basilica of Saint Peter, built already from the beginning of the church of Bologna, and thrown down and collapsed by the injury of the times, was built through the diligent care and liberality of the earlier citizens in that very place where it now stands, in the tenth century. Perhaps it was already then in mind to transfer the remains of the holy martyrs hither too, which however was not carried into execution until the eleventh century. For as soon as the new basilica was being founded within the walls of the city, the old cathedral church remained, repaired indeed, and report has it that the catholic bishops had their see in it as long as the schismatics held the new one Melloni, op. cit., vol. I, p. 146.. But before it is noted how the bodies of the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola were translated from the old cathedral church of Saint Peter, the indications of the piety of the people of Bologna must be traced back a little further.

[20] The piety of the people of Bologna towards the holy martyrs This had indeed received its greatest increase when, the sacred bodies having been found, those miracles were worked which Gregory of Tours and the passionary of the abbey of Saint Stephen narrate, and which we shall append below. For, to say nothing of the restored martyrium, or underground church, into which the said tombs were translated and placed with great honour, it is known that another church was dedicated to them, partly at least, if not wholly, from the offerings of the faithful, with a monastery and the cure of souls, namely that of the Benedictines of SS. Vitalis and Agricola, in the place called in the Arena, that is, in the place of their martyrdom: which church also gave its name to the whole borough or district. Moreover, in a very old list of the benefices and churches which depended on the monastery of Saint Stephen, there was numbered the church or oratory and benefice of SS. Vitalis and Agricola in the Villa di Barbiano of the county of Bologna So Patricelli and Pullieni in Melloni, op. cit., p. 146., at whose consecration was present Lambertus di Mondo, of the most noble stock of the family of the Lambertini, who lived in the 11th and 12th centuries. It is also known that in the castle of San Giovanni in Persiceto there existed from the remotest age a parish church under the title of Saint Vitalis [The ecclesiastical title is St. Vitalis de Castro S. Iohannis in Persiceto. Cf. the List of the churches and places of the priors of the city and diocese of Bologna, edited in Melloni, op. cit., class II, vol. II, p. 384.].

[21] is demonstrated by many indications. In the church of Saint Stephen the feast of the holy martyrs was kept twice in the year, namely on the 3rd day of March and the 4th of December; but the nuns and the parish of SS. Vitalis and Agricola besides celebrated this solemnity on the 4th day of November, with a proper mass and office, as was indicated above. The whole city too, and not the clergy only or the religious, thronged this feast day with the greatest celebration from the year 1364, if credit is given to Ghirardacci Della historia di Bologna, book XXIIII, vol. II, p. 274, at the year 1364., and with new zeal from the year 1563, as Alidosi reports Chiesa di Bologna, in Melloni, op. cit., p. 148., in which the solemn decree given on the 29th of February in the year 1396 was renewed See this document edited in Melloni, op cit., p. 495.. Through the course of the year it was the custom to invoke the name of the holy martyrs in the litanies, a trace of which remains in the old manuscript Ordo of the monthly processions of the Most Holy Sacrament in the city and diocese, printed in the year 1545, and also in the ritual printed for the use of the see of Bologna and in the books of offices for the use of the confraternities, as also in the litanies and in the order of the commendation of the soul.

[22] Various translations and recognitions, in the year 1119, But we must now return to the history of the translations of the sacred bodies which, the necessity of things compelling, were made at Bologna. In the year 1015 the old basilica, in which it has been said that the bodies of SS. Vitalis and Agricola were laid from the beginning by St. Eusebius the bishop, in the presence of St. Ambrose, still lay so prostrate from the burning by the Hungarians mentioned above that the very tombs of the martyrs too, exposed to all the storms of the sky, lay squalid, affected with the greatest dishonour. The minds of the monks being anxious about this, Abbot Martin thought he must meet this inconvenience, and having communicated his plan with Bishop Frugerius, he transferred the bones of the martyrs into the nearby confession of St. John the Baptist in the church of Saint Stephen, the clergy, the citizens and their magistrates having been summoned, and great pomp employed, as the Church preserves the tradition of antiquity in a matter of this kind [Cf. on this translation Sigonio, op. cit., loc. cit., Faleoni, p. 117; Casale, p. 300; Masini, p. 509; Lambertini, p. 220, and especially the narrative of a contemporary author reported in the Bologna passionary, which we shall give below.].

Concerning the time of this translation there is not one opinion among the authors. The contemporary writer of the Bologna passionary reports that this translation was made on the fifth day before the nones of March, in the year from the incarnation of the Lord one thousand and nineteen, in the second indiction. And the same, on the testimony of Rabbi Note 16 of Sigonio's book II de Episcop. Bonon., is read in the Chronicle of Petricelli, where however the same event is put back to the fifth day before the nones of May. But Sigonio Ibid., namely Sigonio's complete works, vol. III, p. 399. champions this other determination of the time, which reports that the matter was accomplished on the 5th day before the nones of May. Melloni notes Op. cit., p. 142, note 4. that nowhere in the calendars is the feast of this translation celebrated on the fifth day before the nones of March, but besides, and rightly, he observes that knowledge of this matter could have escaped the martyrologists. Hence nothing hinders the time indicated in the Bologna passionary from being accepted.

[23] in the year 1165, It was always the care of the bishops of Bologna to restore the basilica destroyed by fire, but it befell no one to bring the work to a happy completion except Bishop John, in the year 1165. When the underground confession, supported by many columns, and the choir placed above it had been built, in order that he might gain veneration for the confession among all, he, imitating the ancient fathers, adorned it with holy relics: these were the greater part of the sacred remains of SS. Vitalis and Agricola, which he translated hither from the confession of Saint John the Baptist in the church of St. Stephen on the 4th day before the kalends of May and laid again under the high altar [Cf. Sigonio, op. cit., at the year 1165; Faleoni, p. 177; Casale, p. 300; Lambertini, p. 220.].

[24] in the year 1578, But in the year 1578 was made the most celebrated translation of all of the sacred pledges, when His Eminence Gabriele Cardinal Paleotti, archbishop of Bologna, among the other duties of his pastoral government, had restored at Bologna in the metropolitan church a marble altar, on which he placed a great chest, likewise of marble, for this purpose, that the relics of the holy confessors of Christ might be transferred into it. The most eminent cardinal wished this translation to be carried out with the greatest solemnity on the 25th day of May, which was the feast day of the Most Holy Trinity. He also used this opportunity to institute a juridical recognition, the result of which examination he made public in a Pastoral Letter, which stands as a monument of learning as well as of piety and zeal, and offers a most fitting compendium of what has been done at Bologna for the cult of SS. Agricola and Vitalis Paleotti, Archiep. Bonon., p. 276.. Passing over the first part of this document because it reports what has been said in the preceding, we insert here only what pertains to the recognition made in the year 1578. After Cardinal Paleotti had mentioned the translation carried out in the year 1060 into the high altar of the church of Saint Stephen, he continues thus: In this altar they have always been from that time, although this was not plainly certain to us until the preceding days, when by the favour of divine grace we learned that they were there; which we also demonstrated in the presence of the magistrates, the senate, the prelates and the other noblemen of this city, not only proving it by the authorities of books, of authentic writings, of the rites of the cathedral church and of other things, but also presenting the relics themselves to the eyes of all who were present, who both inspected them and devoutly venerated them. And among other things, all, struck with holy fear, were astonished when they beheld that venerable head of St. Vitalis still entire, wrapped in a linen cloth, and with blood so fresh

and living in hue that it seems to have been sprinkled with it not long ago: and at the same time part of that most blessed blood coagulated, and one nail, of those which St. Ambrose mentions… Authentic documents of which things, drawn up for the memory of posterity, are kept in the episcopal archive.

[25] and in the year 1610. Finally, when in the year 1610 a certain new chapel had been built in the basilica of St. Stephen, dedicated to the martyrs SS. Vitalis and Agricola by the Acarisi family, and therefore the relics of the same martyrs were to be transferred into it from the older place in which they were preserved, a solemn procession of these relics was proclaimed and celebrated, in which procession, advancing through the city, the said relics, enclosed in two caskets, were carried under canopies by the monks living in that church, one casket following the other [Which you may read in Gabr. Paleotti, Archiepiscopale Bononiense, p. 276. Cf. also what Melloni relates, op. cit., p. 155, according to the secret book of the chapter of the metropolitan church of Bologna.]. But since on this occasion it had been disputed whether this procession was to be called one of the BODIES of SS. Vitalis and Agricola, or only of their RELICS, Archbishop Alfonso Paleotti charged his vicar general to settle the matter after thoroughly inspecting it. Wherefore, on the second day of October, the vicar general with the prior of Saint Stephen's, in the presence of the bishop of Rieti and many canons and noblemen of the city, testified that the most excellent lords doctors Giulio Claudini and Vittorio Pelini, both physicians, had affirmed on oath, after they had examined the bodies of the holy martyrs, that they both could and should be proclaimed entire. Their opinion, however, Melloni would have interpreted only in the widest sense Op. cit., pp. 155, 156.. For, besides the other relics of these martyrs which are preserved at Bologna in the metropolitan church at the altar of St. Florian, namely part of the head of St. Agricola, part of a finger of St. Vitalis and a tooth of the same, how many relics were dispersed, as will be seen shortly, throughout Italy, Gaul and Spain. Wherefore it was declared thus by the aforesaid physicians that the bodies remained entire in the basilica of Saint Stephen, in the sense that the principal parts are present, which suffices for it to be said, in a less determinate sense but according to the customary manner of speaking, that the bodies are preserved at Bologna in the church of Saint Stephen Cf. Rabbi, note 16 to Sigonio's book II, de episc. Bonon.. These things are clearly evident from the enumeration of the relics of SS. Agricola and Vitalis made by the aforesaid physicians in the year 1610: and first the crown of the skull of St. Agricola; vertebrae of the back, nineteen in number; fragments of the ribs of the same, forty-six in number; various small fragments, thirty in number; twenty-three bones of the feet; part of the shoulder blade; the collarbone with several fragments of other bones; five bones of the heel; various fragments of the head with three teeth, twenty-two in number in all; bones, several of the larger and small ones of the limbs, fourteen in number; likewise dust in a little bag with many fragments of the same bones: and these having been seen and described, all the aforesaid were put back again in the same little casket, and at once the same casket was closed with a key. But in the other casket, containing, as is thought, the body of St. Vitalis, there were found, in several silk veils which were in it, the things written below, namely: And first a little wooden vessel with dust from clots of blood; both smaller bones of the shin; the heel bone; two large vertebrae of the loins; a portion of another vertebra; bones of the foot with the scaphoid, ten in number; various small fragments of bones of the same; fragments of the ribs and particular bones of the head; the first molar tooth of the upper jaw; two nails, and fragments of them, 28 in number in all; dust in a little bag with several fragments of bones. And these having been seen and described, all the aforesaid were put back again in the same casket, and at once the same casket was closed with a key. Of and concerning all which things, at the command of the said most reverend Lord vicar, and at the request of the said Reverend Father Prior, we the undersigned notaries have drawn up the present public instrument Melloni, op. cit., p. 500..

§ VI. Relics of SS. Vitalis and Agricola outside Bologna, especially in Gaul and in Spain.

[26] Relics of SS. Vitalis and Agricola are had at Florence, As soon as the fame of the holy bodies found at Bologna spread through the Christian world, there arose everywhere a pious desire of possessing relics of the athletes of Christ. The city of Florence was the first to be made a sharer of the sacred treasure. For Paulinus relates in the Life of St. Ambrose that the holy bishop, invited by the Florentines, went down from Bologna as far as Tuscany and in the city of the Florentines established a basilica, in which he laid relics of the martyrs Vitalis and Agricola, whose bodies he had raised in the city of Bologna P. L., vol. XIV, p. 37.. Ambrose testifies the same, when in the book On the exhortation to virginity he denies that it would have been fair on his part that Juliana the widow should suffer a refusal, and therefore asserts that he had come bringing keepsakes, namely the nails, the triumphal blood and the wood of the cross P. L., vol. XVI, p. 338.. For the rest, it was noted above that the Ambrosian little work On the exhortation to virginity is nothing other than the sermon which St. Ambrose delivered at Florence when, invited by the inhabitants of that city to dedicate the new basilica, which was formerly called Ambrosian for this reason and is now called that of Saint Lawrence, he laid there something of the relics of those martyrs. What relics St. Ambrose brought to Florence is sufficiently declared from his own words. No account, therefore, is to be made of the opinion of Calmet Storia universale sacra e profana, Venetian ed., p. 563., who judged that St. Ambrose gave the body of St. Vitalis to the Florentines Melloni, op. cit., p. 129..

[27] at Nola, This first dispersion of the relics, which took place in favour of the city of Florence in the year 393, was followed by another, when St. Paulinus, bishop of Nola, enlarged and adorned the basilica of St. Felix of Nola in the year 402. For on this occasion St. Paulinus seems to have received, either from St. Ambrose Id., op. cit., p. 129. or from St. Felix, prelate of Bologna Sigonio, de episc. Bon., p. 367., some portions of the relics of the martyrs of Bologna to be laid under the table of the altar. Paulinus himself mentions this in the following verses, when, in describing the basilica of Nola, he enumerates the altars

Beneath which within the bodies of the saints have their seat,

among whom he also names our saints:

These, companions in piety, faith, virtue and crown, Martyrs, Agricola, and Vitalis clinging to Proculus … Vitalis, Agricola and Proculus Bologna buries, Whom sworn faith called to the arms of piety, And an equal victory covered with saving palms, Their glorious bodies pierced through with beam-nails [These verses are 428 – 29, 432 – 35, of the natal poem IX on St. Felix, P. L., vol. LXI, p. 658.].

[28] at Reims, In Gaul many cities venerated the martyrs of Bologna. For Flodoard relates P. L., vol. CXXXV, p. 40, 63. that in the suburb of Reims a church was built under the title of St. Agricola about the year 340 by Jovinus, prefect of the soldiery throughout the Gauls. A tradition, scarcely much to be approved, reports that this commander Jovinus was a kinsman of Agricola and erected this trophy on account of the bond of kinship. In the documents pertaining to the history of Reims this basilica is often treated, for example in that testament which is circulated under the name of St. Remigius, and which orders three solidi to be paid to the Jovinian church, of the title of blessed Agricola P. L., vol. CXXXV, p. 63.. In more recent time also a special cult of the martyrs of Bologna persisted in the church of Reims, which performs their office on the 27th day of November in the simple rite with the prayer from the common, namely that which is also used in the present Roman breviary, and with a historical lesson, whose first part is taken from Ambrose's book On the exhortation to virginity, chapter I, nos. 2, 4, 5, which we therefore omit, transcribing the second part, which treats of the cult in the parts of Reims, and runs thus: In the fourth century of the church there was built at Reims in honour of St. Agricola a most ample basilica by Jovinus, prefect of the Gauls, who is said to have been a kinsman of that martyr. This, adorned and enriched with many gifts, the man distinguished by many titles erected as a trophy, as it were, of Christ reigning after the overthrow of the rites of paganism, and he wished to be buried in it. And the archbishops of Reims made so much of it that, the basilica of Saint Sixtus, ennobled by the pledges of their predecessors, being set aside, they chose their burial in it. The Jovinian basilica falling into decay with age, in its place another more elegant one was built, sacred to St. Nicasius, in which are preserved relics of SS. Agricola and Vitalis, which the canons of the church of Clermont in Auvergne liberally granted to the monks of Saint-Nicaise From the Breviary of Reims, ed. in the year 1759.. These relics which the breviary commemorates were given to the people of Reims in the 15th century by the people of Clermont Marlot. Metropolis Remensis hist., vol. I, p. 640., who however, as will shortly be said, already possessed particles of the sacred remains of SS. Agricola and Vitalis in the year 450, through the care of Namatius, bishop of the Arverni.

[29] at Rouen Memorable also is that solemn reception of relics which was made at Rouen about the year 396 by Bishop St. Victricius P. L., vol. XX, p. 439., among which were numbered also relics of St. Agricola. For in the little book which the holy bishop wrote on this festivity, entitled On the praise of the saints, in reciting the saints who had come from Italy to Rouen he says this: Here you will find John the Baptist … here Andrew, here Thomas, here Gervase, here Protase, here Agricola Ibid., p. 448.. He bears further testimony to the miracles of St. Agricola when he writes: Proculus and Agricola heal at Bologna, and here too we behold their majesty Ibid., p. 453.

[30] at Clermont But among the translations of relics of SS. Vitalis and Agricola which were carried out into Gaul, far the most celebrated is that which took place in the 5th century, in the year 450, in the city of Clermont among the Arverni, at the request of St. Namatius the bishop, and which Gregory of Tours narrates [De gloria martyrum, I, chapter 43. Mon. Germ. Scr. rer. Merov., vol. I, p. 517. Cf. Hist. Franc., book II, chapter 16, ibid., p. 82.]. It does not help to report again this narrative, which was already inserted in our work when St. Namatius was treated Act. SS. Oct., vol. XII, p. 256.. We shall note, however, that it does not seem to us as certain as to the Rev. Fr. Victor De Buck that St. Namatius received from Bologna only brandea, that is, dust, oil from the lamps, linens let down into the tomb, or other things of this kind. However that may be, from this time the cathedral church of Clermont assumed for itself the name at Saint Agricola and Vitalis, which title

it long kept amid various fortunes Gonod, Chronol. des évêques de Clermont, pp. 6, 23, 36., as is clear from various documents of the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries, which it is necessary to weigh a little more fully.

[31] where several donations were made to the church of SS. Vitalis and Agricola, In the year 905 a donation was made to this temple by Bishop Adalard, who calls it the mother church of the holy martyrs Agricola and Vitalis Gallia christ., vol. II, p. 253.. In the little book on the churches and altars which stand at Clermont, written about the year 950, these words are read: First, in the house of the mother church is the altar of St. Mary and of SS. Agricola and Vitalis Savaron, De sanctis, eccl. et monast. Claromontii, p. 10.. In the year 1032 a certain Gerald granted one manse to the church of St. Mary the Virgin and of the holy martyrs Agricola and Vitalis Gallia christ., ibid., p. 260., and in the year 1043 Bishop Renco strengthened with his signature a diploma for the church of Blessed Mary and of SS. Agricola and Vitalis, which is the mother church Ibid., p. 260.. A testimony of almost the same time is drawn from a passage of Helgaud of Fleury in the Life of King Robert, where he reports of the monastery of Saint Aignan of Orléans: And the head of that monastery he made with wonderful work in the likeness of the monastery of St. Mary, mother of the Lord, and of SS. Agricola and Vitalis, established at Clermont P. L., vol. CXLI, p. 925.. In the year 1096 Guy and Radulf de Scurallia, of the noble family named to this day de Scorailles, hand over their castle, namely Scurallia, in allod to Blessed Mary and the mother church, and to the holy martyrs Agricola and Vitalis venerated and honoured therein Gallia christ., vol. II, p. 265.. But not only was a church dedicated, but many other signs of cult were shown. Thus, in the eighth century Adebert, first of the name, thirty-ninth bishop of the Arverni, had a golden casket made, which was preserved under the high altar of the cathedral church, to enclose the relics of the holy martyrs Agricola and Vitalis, on which casket is inscribed a title of dedication, which is given here in ordinary type, not however according to the less accurate transcription of Damien Vernet which the editors of Gallia christiana published Vol. II, p. 254., but according to the better form, a facsimile of which is found in Lancelot [Recherches sur Gergovia in Mémoires de littérature tirés des registres de l'Académie royale des inscriptions et belles-lettres, year 1729, vol. VI, p. 667; cf. Melloni, op. cit., p. 491.]:

† IN NOMINE DEI SVMMI ET IN HONORE SANCTORVM

MARTYRVM AGRIGVLI ET VITALIS ARVERNAE CIVITATIS

HANC CAPSA [1] EX ELIMONIA [2] CAROLO REGE [3]

ANNO XVIII REGNI SVI [4], NECNON HICTERIO COMITE [5],

VEL RELIQVIS CHRISTIANIS QVI HVNC AVRO VEL GEMMAS

CONGREGAVERVNT PRO ANIMAS [6] EORVM HADDEBERTVS

[7] EPISCOPVS FIERI ROGAVIT. ET VOS DOMINI

EPISCOPI SVCCESSORES NOSTRI [8] CVM CLERO VESTRO

IN MERCIDE VESTRA [9] ORATE PRO NOBIS †

† DEODIGGUS [10] FECIT.

[† In the name of God most high and in honour of the holy martyrs Agricola and Vitalis of the city of the Arverni, Bishop Haddebert had this casket made from alms, King Charles being in the 18th year of his reign, and also Count Hicterius, and the other Christians who gathered this gold or gems, for their souls. And you, lord bishops our successors, with your clergy, in your reward pray for us. † Deodiggus made it.]

[32] among which were two caskets with inscriptions, Some words, namely those which we have designated by numbers, the editors of Gallia christiana gave less correctly; these must be investigated briefly. First, indeed, on the monument itself is written CAPSA [1], which, since it needed evident correction, they changed to CAPSAM. By ELIMONIA [2] the editors of Gallia christiana understood Limania, commonly la Limagne, since they supposed that the relics of SS. Vitalis and Agricola were translated from this district. But with better right Lancelot proposes another signification Op. cit., p. 669.. For the other inscription, to be recited below, reports in express words that these relics were brought from Bologna. Moreover, the word elimonia ought not to sound so unusual to Latinists, which is without doubt twisted from the word eleemosyna, especially since the very near form alimonia was rather often used in documents of the lowest Latinity. Ex elimonia therefore means from alms. Nor were the same editors of Gallia christiana more fortunate in supposing King Charles [3] to be Charles the Simple. For the already praised Lancelot rightly observes that Bishop Adebert received the relics from Bologna by order of King Charles, as is established from the other inscription. Further, since Charles the Simple exercised no right in Italy, but Charlemagne ruled there, it accords more with the truth that this King Charles was Charlemagne. From which things said, the eighteenth year assigned to the reign of King Charles is not, as the editors of Gallia christiana relate, the year 910 or 911, but the year 786 or 787. This chronology is much confirmed by the fact that Count Hicterius is cited at the same time. For this prejudice stands against the opinion of the editors of Gallia christiana, that in the 10th century no count of this name is numbered in the series of the princes of Auvergne. Indeed in the whole series only one so named is found to have presided, namely from the year 778 to 819 [Mas Latrie, Trésor de chronologie, p. 1546. Cf. Imberdes, L'Auvergne depuis l'ère gallique jusqu'au XVIIIe siècle, p. 195.], who flourished together with Charles, king of the Franks, and Adebert I, bishop of the Arverni. Therefore, according to what has just been said, it is by no means a question, as the editors of Gallia christiana would have it, of Adebert II, but of Adebert I. Wherefore that second Adebert seems to be struck out of the series of the prelates of Auvergne, of whom no mention occurs apart from the cited inscription, which it is accordingly fairer to understand of Adebert I. Finally let that expression pro animas [6] be noted, for not rarely in the charters of the middle ages the preposition pro is used with the accusative; successores vestri [8] the editors of Gallia christiana read in error, vestra [9] they omitted, and Deodiggus [10], the name of the craftsman, they so divided as to write Deo diggus, yet without any reason.

[33] whose text is weighed. In the same church in which the casket just described is found there is also another, fabricated of gold with the same workmanship and displaying in similar characters these words:

HIC HAB. RELIQVIAS [1] DE CAPVT SANCTI AGRIGILI

[2] ET DE [3] SANCTI VITALIS SCHINA [4] HADDEBRTVS [5] EPISCOPVS IN BONONIA CIVITATE IVBENTE

CAROL[O RE]GE RECIPIT FESTO EORVM III IDUS [6]

DECEMBRIS.

[Here it has relics of the head of St. Agricola and of the back of St. Vitalis, which Bishop Haddebert received in the city of Bologna by order of King Charles, on their feast, the 3rd day before the ides of December.]

On this epigram notice these things. RELIQVIE [1] is read in error in the editors of Gallia christiana; whereas the document itself bears AGRIGILI [2], a correction AGRICVLI has been proposed by the editors; the editors omitted DE [3] and SCHINA [4]. Why they omitted them is hidden, for the word schina, in French échine, which designates the back or spine See Du Cange in the Glossary, under the word., makes excellent sense. Finally HADDBERTVS [5] is, one letter having been omitted on the casket, HADDEBERTVS, and for IDVS [6] the editors wrote KAL.

[34] The cult of the saints in the monastery of La Chaise-Dieu, But the cult of the holy martyrs flourished not only in the city of Clermont itself, but also in the rest of the province, and especially in the monastery of La Chaise-Dieu, through the care of St. Robert, founder and first abbot of that cenobium of the Order of St. Benedict. In the year 1052 a church was built under the invocation of SS. Vitalis and Agricola. This cult persisted long in this monastery, since in the year 1350 Abbot Stephen IV is recorded to have given as a gift one hundred and twenty florins so that the anniversary day of SS. Agricola and Vitalis, the titular patrons of this church, might be celebrated with greater solemnity, and in the year 1674 Abbot Hyacinthe Serroni consecrated a new church in honour of SS. Vitalis and Agricola, martyrs, and of St. Robert Gallia christiana, vol. IX, p. 327, 344, 351.. In our times too the translation of SS. Agricola and Vitalis into the city of Clermont is celebrated. On the testimony of Savaron De sanctis, eccl. et monast. Clar., p. 12. there is read in the martyrology of Clermont: In the Gauls, in the city of the Arverni, the translation of the blessed martyrs Agricola and Vitalis. Moreover the manuscript Ordo of the diocese of Clermont also notes: If the feast of the translation of SS. Agricola and Vitalis has fallen within Advent, let the mass of holy Mary be said, which feast the choir, clothed in copes, used to celebrate solemnly. For the old little book and the ordo advise that these saints are tutelary saints, and accordingly that frequent commemoration of them ought to be made in the church of Clermont, namely, when another feast does not occur, on every fifth weekday in the week.

[35] and in Spain, It is established from Spanish writers that certain particles of the bodies of the holy martyrs Agricola and Vitalis were carried into that region. This above all Salazar de Tamayo claims, whose formula in the Spanish martyrology at the 4th day of November is this: At Tricium Metallum, among the Autrigones of Spain, the deposition of the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola, whose sacred remains, translated thither, are honourably preserved in a sarcophagus and are venerated with due piety by the inhabitants. And in the notes he asserts that it is proved that these sacred pledges were translated into Spain, both from Ambrosio de Morales Hist. Hispan., vol. III, p. 207. and from Juan Marieta Hist. SS. Hispan., book II, p. 73., and also from Fr. Luis de Vega Hist. S. Dominici Calceat., p. 7. and from Fr. Antonio de Yepes Coronica general de la Orden de S. Benito, vol. VI, fol. 465 v., all asserting together, namely: that when in the year 1553 the abbot of the royal monastery of the Benedictines of St. Mary of Nájera was visiting a very old chest of relics laid up in the sacristy, he found within its hollow bones and other remains of saints, with the series of this epitaph written on parchment in Gothic letters, whose tenor is this: Here lie the bodies of the most blessed martyrs Agricola and Vitalis, which the Pope sent from Bologna to King García. The aforesaid authors rely chiefly, however, on a certain instrument drawn up in the year 1592 by Felix Novellus Ibid., in which he declares:

[…]Desiring that the holy relics, namely the sacred head and bones of St. Eugenia, virgin and martyr, which hitherto, together with the bodies of SS. Vitalis and Agricola in a wooden casket adorned and painted with gold and a variety of colours, have been fittingly and religiously preserved above the high altar of the aforesaid church, as is faithfully established from the public instrument written on parchment by Iñigo Gordero and Pedro de Belgañon, notaries and public scriveners of the aforesaid town, on the twentieth day of April, in the year of the Lord MDXXXIII, and reduced into public and authentic form, and read by me, and also from the public tradition of all the Brethren of the said monastery and of the others assisting at this public act, should henceforth be preserved, guarded and venerated alone[…]

Then, all the aforesaid relics having been seen and venerated, the same abbot with his own hands, the sacred head and bones of St. Eugenia having been wrapped in a certain old silk cloth, separately from the sacred relics of SS. Vitalis and Agricola, into the other casket,

also of wood, and painted, and adorned, until they should be enclosed more ornately in silver reliquaries, devoutly and religiously transferred them.

[36] where, however, only some small relics were found, But what these documents say about the bodies of SS. Agricola and Vitalis by no means implies, as some have wished Cf. Melloni, op. cit., p. 135 – 137., that the entire bodies of the holy martyrs were carried into Spain. For these documents must be compared with another, preserved in the manuscript lipsanology of the royal monastery of Saint Lawrence, commonly called the Escorial, a copy of which can be found in the Bollandian collections, in the codex marked no. 8932 in the royal library of Brussels. Now from the indeterminate manner of speaking of that instrument it is clear that in the aforesaid monastery of Nájera nothing else was found but a few relics of SS. Vitalis and Agricola. For these words are read there.

I, Felix Novellus, protonotary apostolic and chaplain of the most serene Philip II, catholic king of the Spains, give faith and attest in the word of truth that in the year from the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ 1592, in the 5th indiction, on the ninth day of the month of November, in the first year of the pontificate of the most holy Father in Christ and our Lord, the Lord Clement the eighth, by divine providence pope, and in the thirty-sixth year of the reign of the same Philip, the venerable in Christ Father Fr. Francisco de Salcedo, abbot, Fr. Juan Gutiérrez, prior, Fr. Alfonso Martínez, sacristan, and other monks of the royal monastery of Saint Mary of the town of the city called Nájera, of the diocese of Calahorra, of the Order or Congregation of St. Benedict, when they were transferring from one chest into another, to be stored more safely and religiously, the sacred relics of SS. Vitalis and Agricola, martyrs, and of Eugenia, also virgin and martyr, which have existed from a long and ancient time in the church of the said monastery, gave and granted as a gift two bones of SS. Vitalis and Agricola and another of St. Eugenia, large and remarkable, to the aforesaid most serene king and to Prince Philip and the Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia, children of the same king, who had come there to visit and devoutly venerate these relics, there being present there and employed as witnesses Doctor García de Loaysa, archdeacon of Guadalajara in the church of Toledo and almoner and chief chaplain of the same king and preceptor of the prince himself, and also Jerónimo Gassol, secretary and councillor of the king, and very many others. These things were done in the aforesaid church of Saint Mary on the day, month and year aforesaid. And I, who was present at the foregoing, being requested, have subscribed this present public testimony together with the witnesses named. I, Felix Novellus, protonotary apostolic and chaplain of the most serene king, García Loaysa, Jerónimo Grassol.

Hence from the said monuments nothing else can be granted to the Spanish writers except that certain relics of SS. Agricola and Vitalis existed in their dominion. If some have hoped that they could establish more, they are to be rejected thus with Muratori, whom Melloni cites Op. cit., p. 137, note 23.: I pass over now Higuera, Tamayo, Ramírez and other notorious Spanish men, who in the century just past, in seeking immense glory for their nation, loaded it with grave dishonour, having fabricated many heavenly beings and intruded them into the Spanish martyrology, the whole of heaven resisting and enraged.

[37] as also at Pavia, Almost the same must be said of the finding of the bodies of SS. Agricola and Vitalis at Pavia which Landucci, apostolic sacristan, reports in a note to the encomium of Bl. John Chigi Sacra Ilicetana silva, p. 94., which narrates: The place at Pavia in Ciel d'Oro having been acquired, in the year 1327, on the 1st day of February, that a monastery might be built there for the religious order, the superiors, taking care that it should be built up spiritually under a stricter observance, having learned of John's holiness, assigned him there from the community about the year 1338, where by his intercession the bodies of the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola were miraculously found. But since neither the contemporary anonymous writer of Pavia Rerum Italic. script., vol. XI, p. 13., writing On the Praises of Pavia and treating of the church in Ciel d'Oro, nor Torelli Secoli Agostiniani, vol. V, pp. 418, 478., nor the Sienese Academicians Fasti Senenses, at 28 Octobr., who treat the Life of Bl. John Chigi at the 28th day of October, nor Filippo Agazzari Acta SS. Oct., vol. XII, p. 733. give the names of the two martyrs whose bodies Bl. John Chigi in fact found, since not even Ughelli Italia sacra, vol. I, de episc. Papien., p. 1076., recording the bodies of distinguished men buried in the church at Saint Peter in Ciel d'Oro, makes any mention of our martyrs, and since finally no martyrologies, whether ancient or more recent, commemorate St. Vitalis and Agricola at Pavia, one should no longer cling to an altogether singular testimony of which Landucci shows himself the only reporter.

[38] and at Tortona. That relics of SS. Vitalis and Agricola were preserved in the cathedral church of Tortona in Italy is evident from a document of the year 1580. We found that document transcribed in the Bollandian collections with the copy of the aforesaid lipsanology deposited in the Madrid monastery of Saint Lawrence. Now in this document Cesare Gambara Cf. Ughelli, Italia sacra, vol. IV, 652., bishop of Dertona, that is, of the city of Tortona, and not of the city of Tortosa in Spain, in which the Spanish document erred when it writes obispo de Tortosa bishop of Tortosa, attests that he gives fragments from the relics of SS. Agricola and Vitalis laid up in his ancient cathedral. Cesare Gambara, by the grace of God and of the holy apostolic See bishop and count of Tortona, to each and all to whom these presents shall have been presented, we give faith, and in the word of truth by the tenor of these presents we attest, that these relics and bones extracted by us from the iron casket of relics which is laid up in our ancient cathedral are of the relics and bones of the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola, as they are held, kept and venerated as such by all. And lest it befall anyone to doubt of this, we have caused these presents to be made, signed by our hand, and have ordered them to be strengthened with the impression of our seal. Given at Tortona from our episcopal palace, on the 20th day of March 1580.

Cesare, bishop of Tortona. Asdrubal, canon of the cathedral, subscribed.

ST. AMBROSE'S ENCOMIUM OF SS. AGRICOLA AND VITALIS

Agricola, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

Vitalis, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

BHL Number: 8689

From the book On the exhortation to virginity, chapter I (P. L., vol. XVI, col. 335 ff). — In brackets is placed the number by which the columns of the Benedictine edition are designated ^a.

[277] 1. Those who are invited to a great banquet are wont to carry keepsakes back with them. I, invited to the Bolognese banquet, where the translation of the holy martyr was celebrated, have reserved for you keepsakes full of holiness and grace. Now keepsakes are wont to bear the triumphs of princes ^b, and these keepsakes are triumphal; for the palms of the martyrs are the triumphs of Christ our prince. Nor was I directing my journey hither; but because I was asked by you, I had to bring with me what was being prepared for others, lest I should come to you the less; so that what is less in me than was presumed might be found more in the martyr.

[2] The martyr's name is Agricola, whose slave Vitalis was before, now his partner and colleague in martyrdom. The slave went before to provide the place; the master followed, secure that through the faith of the little slave [278] he would find it already prepared. We do not praise what belongs to another; for the passion of the slave is the master's training. The latter instituted, the former fulfilled. Nothing is plucked away from him. For how can what Christ has bestowed be diminished? Nobly indeed did the one learn, by serving a man, how he might please Christ; the other, however, acquired a twofold praise, in the former that of teaching, in himself that of martyrdom. Yet they vied with one another in kindnesses after they had deserved to be equals. The latter sent the former before him to martyrdom; the former summoned the latter.

[3] Condition, then, brings no impediment to the commendation of a man, nor does the dignity of lineage bring merit, but faith brings it. Whether slave or free, we are all one in Christ: And whatever good each one does, this he will receive from the Lord. Neither does slavery detract, nor does freedom help. See how there is nothing of moment in condition for this matter: Were you called, he says, as a slave? Let it be no care to you… for he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he too who was called free is a slave of Christ. See, I say, the force of the Apostle ^c. He is thought to have given more to him who was called a slave than to him who was called free ^d; for from a slave he becomes a freedman of Christ, from a free man a slave. But he gave more to none, but divided to both in equal measure. For with Christ slavery and freedom are weighed in an equal balance, nor are the merits of good slavery and of freedom divided by any distinction; because there is no greater dignity than to serve Christ. Finally, Paul a slave of Christ Jesus; for this slavery is glorious, in which the Apostle too glories. Or is it not the highest glory, when we have been valued at such a price that we should be redeemed by the blood [279] of the Lord? But let us now proceed to the rest.

[4] And when ^e St. Vitalis was being compelled by the persecutors to deny Christ, and he professed the Lord Jesus Christ all the more, they exercising every kind of torment upon him, so that there was no place in his body without a wound, he poured forth a prayer to the Lord, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, my saviour and my God, command my spirit to be received, because I now desire to receive the crown which your holy angel has shown me. And the prayer being completed, he sent forth his spirit.

[5] St. Agricola was held to be gentler in his ways, so that he was loved even by his enemies themselves. And therefore they kept putting off his passion. But this honour shown by the persecutors was more bitter than all savagery, since it begrudged him martyrdom. Finally, when Agricola did not acquiesce, he was crucified; so that we may observe that those blandishments of theirs were not of diligence but of fraud; by the punishment of the slave they wished to terrify the master. Christ turned this into grace ^f, so that the master imitated the martyrdom of the slave.

[6] The name of each was apt for martyrdom, so that they seemed to have been designated for martyrdom by their very names. The one was called Vitalis, as one who by contempt of this life should acquire for himself that true eternal life; the other Agricola, who should sow the good fruits of spiritual grace, and by the shedding of sacred blood water the seedbeds of his merits and of all the virtues.

[7] Now they had been buried in the soil of the Jews, among their very tombs. The Jews sought to have fellowship of burial with the little slaves whose Lord they had denied. So also Balaam once said: Let my soul die among the souls of the just; yet he did not share in the works of those among whose souls he desired to die, while he lived. And those whom they persecuted when living, they honoured when dead. There, then, we were seeking the remains of the martyr, as gathering a rose among thorns.

[8] We were surrounded by Jews when the sacred relics were being carried out; the people of the Church were present with applause and joy. The Jews said: Flowers

have appeared on the earth, when they saw the martyrs. The Christians said: The time of pruning is at hand. Already he too who reaps receives wages. Others have sown, and we reap the fruits of the martyrs. Again the Jews, hearing the voices of the applauding Church, said among themselves: The voice of the turtle-dove has been heard in our land. Whence it is well read: Day to day utters speech, and night to night shows knowledge. Day to day, Christian to Christian; night to night, Jew to Jew. The Jews therefore showed that they had knowledge of the martyrs, but not knowledge of the Word; that is, not according to that knowledge of the only good and the only [280] true: For being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and wishing to justify themselves, they have not received the righteousness of God.

[9] I have brought you, therefore, gifts which I gathered with my own hands, that is, the trophies of the cross, whose grace you recognise in its works. Certainly the demons themselves too confess it. Let others store up gold and silver, and dig it out of hidden veins; let them gather precious strings of necklaces; that treasure is temporal, and often pernicious to those who have it; we have gathered the nails of the martyr, and many indeed, so that there were more wounds than members. You would say that the martyr was crying out to the people of the Jews when we were collecting his nails: Put your hands into my side, and be not unbelieving, but believing. We collect the triumphal blood and the wood of the cross.

[10] These things we could not refuse to the holy widow when she asked. Receive therefore the gifts of salvation, which are now laid up beneath the sacred altars.

ANNOTATIONS.

LETTER ATTRIBUTED TO ST. AMBROSE ON THE MARTYRDOM OF SS. AGRICOLA AND VITALIS AND THE FINDING OF THEIR BODIES

Agricola, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

Vitalis, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

BHL Number: 8690

P. L., vol. XVII, col. 747 ff.

[487] Ambrose ^a, servant of Jesus Christ, called bishop, to his most beloved brethren and to all the peoples throughout Italy, eternal salvation in the Lord.

[1] The great and most lofty testimonies of the martyrs, of which I am about to write to you, our speech rather diminishes than unfolds. But what speech diminishes, virtue increases; therefore what is less in me shines out brilliantly in the martyrs.

[2] Having been invited, then, by the people of Bologna, I could by no means refuse my presence, the Lord prompting me; since the time was at hand for Christ to show his faithful the wonders which he is wont to show. For in the times of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian two men, namely Vitalis and Agricola, suffered martyrdom for Christ in the city of Bologna, whose bodies, lest they should be found by the faithful ^b, had been hidden among the tombs of the Jews. Confessing Christ, then, and dying for his glory, they were unseemly buried among those who denied him. But the place, which was hidden from all, Christ our Lord deigned to reveal to me ^c. There, keeping many vigils with fasts and prayers, we at length found the pledges of the martyrs, as the Lord had revealed to me, as gathering a rose among thorns, and they were openly made manifest to all.

[3] The Christian people were present with applause and joy ^d. The Jews, jesting, said: Flowers have appeared in our land. The Christians answered: The time of pruning has come. Others said: Others have sown, and we have entered into their labours and receive the fruits of the martyrs; so that what is written may be fulfilled, that he who sows and he who reaps receives wages. The Jews, hearing the voices of the applauding Church, said laughing: The voice of the turtle-dove has been heard in our land; the Christians said: The flowering vines have given forth their fragrance. Whence it is well said through the prophet: Day to day utters speech, and night to night shows knowledge. As if he should say: Day to day, that is, Christian to Christian, and night to night, that is, Jew to Jew.

[4] Certainly the demons themselves too confessed ^e, and at once went out of the bodies of men. And many who were afflicted with various sicknesses, touching the napkins of the saints, were immediately healed, and the Lord worked many wonders through his saints in the presence of the people while the sacred pledges were being carried.

[5] Let others, then, collect gold and silver, and dig it out of hidden veins, let them gather precious strings of necklaces: that treasure is temporal and not infrequently pernicious to those who have it. We have gathered the nails of the martyrs, and many indeed, because there were more wounds in them than members. We collect the triumphal blood and the wood of the cross. For just as those who are invited to a great banquet are wont to carry keepsakes back with them, so we have taken care to reserve for ourselves from the Bolognese banquet keepsakes full of grace and holiness.

[6] Of the holy martyrs, then, the name of one is Vitalis, the name of the other Agricola: for each the name is apt, so that, already designated for martyrdom, they might be known even by their very names ^f. For the one was called Vitalis, as one who through contempt of this life should procure for himself another life, which is eternal; but the other Agricola, who should sow the good fruits of spiritual grace, and by the shedding of his blood water the seedbeds of his merits and virtues.

[7] St. Vitalis ^g, when he was being commanded by the persecutors to deny Christ, and he confessed him the more constantly, was so tortured with every kind of torment that there was no place in his body without a wound. Wherefore he poured forth this prayer to the Lord [488], saying: Lord Jesus Christ, my saviour and my God, command my spirit to be received, because I now desire to receive the crown which your holy angel has shown me. And the prayer being completed he sent forth his spirit.

[8] But St. Agricola ^h was endowed with such gentle ways that he was greatly loved by all, and therefore they kept putting off his passion. But this indulgence of the persecutors seemed to the martyr more bitter even than any savagery; for their blandishments were not of diligence but of fraud: for they were putting off his crown. For hence they exercised many torments and punishments upon St. Vitalis, to terrify St. Agricola: but the Lord turned them into his greater constancy. At last, seeing that they were accomplishing nothing, they finally fastened him to a cross, and so he gave back his spirit to God.

[9] St. Vitalis had been the slave of St. Agricola ⁱ, soon his companion in the passion, and now has been made his partner in glory. Deservedly, however, St. Vitalis suffered first, and as a slave went before, because he was preparing a place for his master; the master followed, to prove the faith of the prudent slave. The passion of the slave is the master's training; the latter instituted, the former fulfilled; nothing is plucked away from him by slavery. And how can what Christ has nobly bestowed be diminished? The one indeed by serving a man learned how he might please Christ: the other acquired a twofold praise, in the former that of teaching, in himself that of martyrdom. They vied with one another in kindnesses after they had deserved to be equals; the latter sent the former before him to martyrdom, the former summoned the latter. Condition, then, took nothing away from the merit of the man, dignity added nothing; but faith perfected both. For it is written: Whether free or slave, we are all one in Christ; and: Each one, whatever good he does, this he will receive from the Lord. For with the Lord slavery and freedom are weighed in an equal balance, since there is no greater dignity than to serve Christ, who valued us so highly that he gave up his soul for us.

[10] These few things, most beloved brethren, and in a compendious way, we have taken care to make known to you about the finding of the bodies of the holy martyrs, so that you may be able to keep their memory in the churches. Now the holy martyrs suffered under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, in the city of Bologna of the province of Italy, on the day before the nones of November ^k, Jesus Christ our Lord reigning, to whom is all honour and glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS

PASSION OF SS. AGRICOLA AND VITALIS

Agricola, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

Vitalis, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

BHL Number: 8691, 8693

How this Passion was compiled is clear from no. 2 of the preliminary commentary. It did not seem good, however, to edit it from several codices, since the matter is of lesser moment: such were chosen as present a type of the principal variant readings and interpolations. They are the Bödeken codex, from the copy preserved in the Bollandian collections (cf. above no. 2), which contains this Passion at folio 159v, which in the recension we mark 1, and the Brussels codex marked no. 64, fol. 227v – 228v, which we mark 2.

The Passion of the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola, which is ^a on the fifth day before the kalends of December II non. nov. Passio sanctorum Vitalis et Agricolae 2..

Ambrose, servant of Christ Jesus, called bishop, to his most beloved brethren and to all the peoples (et univ. pleb.) omits 2. in the Lord God Deo omits 2., eternal salvation ^b.

[1] Col. [ ] The great ^c and most lofty testimonies of the martyrs our speech rather diminishes (nost. pot. at.) attenuat noster potius 2. than unfolds. Hither (Huc igitur — palmae ergo) omits 1., then, having been invited by the people of Bologna, I could by no means refuse my presence, because the time semper 2. was at hand for the Lord to show his wonders which he is wont to show. I have brought with me keepsakes indeed full of holiness and grace. For the palms of the martyrs are the triumphs of Christ our prince. Therefore, since so far as what is less in us is found the more in the martyrs, trusting in their patronage, we shall try to unfold something about them, if only briefly [(tantum — explicare) in me minus est quam praesumebatur, in martyribus reperitur 2.].

[2] The name of this holy martyr, whose feast we commemorate today with yearly expectation (huius — recolimus) omits 2., is Agricola, whose cuius 2. slave St. Vitalis was formerly, now his partner and colleague in martyrdom. The slave went before to provide praevideret 1. the place; the master followed secure adds 2., so that he might find already prepared the faith pledged by the little slave. We praise the passion of the slave, which is the master's training; for the latter instituted, the former fulfilled [(laudamus — ille implevit). Non (from correction, previously nos) alienam laudamus passionem: servi institutio (adds above the line) domini disciplina est. Hic instituit, ille implevit, nihil illi (previously ille) decerpitur. Quomodo minui potest quod Christus donavit egregie, et 2.]. The one indeed by serving a man learned how he might please Christ; but the other tamen 2. acquired a twofold praise, in the former that of teaching, in himself that of martyrdom. Yet omits 2. they vied with one another in kindnesses after they had deserved to be equals. The latter sent the former before him to martyrdom; the former summoned the latter ^d.

[3] Condition, then, brings no impediment to the commendation of faith of a man; nor does the dignity of lineage meritum adds 2., but faith brings merit omits 2.. Whether free or slave, we are all one in Christ, and each one, whatever good he does, this he will receive from the Lord. With the Lord good slavery and good freedom are weighed in an equal balance, since quam 2. there is no greater dignity than to serve Christ, who valued us at such a price that he gave up his soul for us. But let us now return to what was proposed.

[4] When cumque 2. St. Vitalis was being compelled by the persecutors to deny Christ (den. Christ.) Christum negaret 2. and he professed him all the more, every kind of torment having been spent upon him, so [(eum — consumptis ita) Dominum Iesum Christum, omnia tormentorum genera in eum exercentes.] that there was no place in his body without a wound, he poured forth a prayer to the Lord, saying: Lord Jesus Christ omits 2., saviour meus adds 2., redeemer omits 2. and my God (Deus) Dominus 2., command my spirit to be received, because I now desire to receive the crown which your holy angel (sanct. ang. tuus) ang. tuus sanct. 2. has shown me. And the prayer being completed he sent forth his spirit ^e.

[5] But St. Agricola was held to be a pious man and gentle (pius — mitis) mitior 2. in his ways, so omits 2. that he was loved even by his enemies themselves. Whence (unde — persecutores) ideoque differebant eius passionem 2. it came about that the persecutors wished to put off his passion. But this honour shown by the persecutors was more bitter than all harshness immanitate 2., since it begrudged [(invidebat — vitae perciperent) videbatur deferre (adds above the line) martyribus 2.] the holy martyrs that they should quickly arrive at the palm of martyrdom and, the contest completed, receive the reward of life. At last, when after (post multas — accusationes) omits 2. many interrogations and accusations by the pagans St. Agricola did not acquiesce persecutoribus adds 2. so far as to sacrifice to idols, by order of the most impious judges quatenus — iudicum) omits 2. he was crucified ut adds 2.. Let us now omits 2. observe that those blandishments of the persecutors eorum 2. were not of diligence but of fraud; for nam omits 2. by the punishments enim adds 2. and torments which in adds 2. they inflicted exercuerunt 2. on St. Vitalis they wished to terrify his master St. Agricola. But Christ Iesus adds 2. the Lord noster adds 2. turned this into grace, not (non — salutis) omits 2. into the loss of salvation, so that the master imitated the martyrdom of the slave ^f.

[6] And to both Mitisque 2. (aut. mart. divinitus) omits 2. martyrs a fitting name was given by divine providence, so that, designated as martyrs, they seemed to be suited apti esse omits 2. to it already by their very names. The one was called Vitalis, as being fit and apt for eternal life, so that by contempt of this temporal life he should acquire that true life which is eternal [(vitae temp. — acquireret) contemptu vitae veram illam vitam aeternam sibi acquireret 2.]. The other Iste 2. was called (dictus est) omits 2. Agricola because qui 2. he should sow the good fruits of spiritual grace, and by the shedding of sacred blood water rigaret 2. the seedbeds of his merits and of all the virtues (omniumque virt.) omnium virtutumque 2. ^g.

[7] Now the holy martyrs of Christ Vitalis and Agricola (Christi — Agricola) omits 2. suffered in the times of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, and were buried in the soil of the Jews, among the tombs of those who denied their Lord (Dom. eor.) eorum Dominum 2.. That same place our Lord Jesus Christ deigned to reveal to me, his servant Ambrose (servo suo Ambr.) omits 2.. I gathered (collegi — reverentia) omits 2., therefore, no small crowd of religious men, and we approached the places of the martyrs with fear and reverence. There, when we were seeking the remains of the martyrs (requir. — exuvias) exuvias requirebamus 2. and (et multa — prodente clementia) omits 2. were labouring with much anxiety in prayer that they might be found among so many bodies, suddenly, the divine clemency revealing them, we gathered eligentes 2. them as a rose among thorns; and when (cumque — veherentur) circumfundebamur a Iudaeis cum sacra corpora veherentur 2. the bodies of the holy martyrs were being carried from that place, the Christian people were present with applause and joy. The Jews said (Dicebant Iudaei) vociferans et dicens 1: Flowers have appeared visi sunt 2. on the earth. — When they saw the martyrs of Christ, the Christians said (cum viderent martyres Christi christiani dicebant) nostra 1.: The time of pruning incisionis 2. has come adest 2.; already he who reaps receives wages. Others have sown, we reap the fruits of the martyrs. The Jews, hearing the voice of the Church crying out (vocem vociferantis) voces plaudentis 2. and applauding in the praises of the martyrs (et — applaudentis) omits 2., said among themselves: The voice of the turtle-dove has been heard in our land. Whence it was well said by the prophet: Day to day utters speech and night to night shows knowledge; day to day, Christian to Christian; night to night, Jew to Jew ^h.

[8] I have brought, therefore, the gifts of the martyrs (martyrum) quae meis elegi manibus 2; videlicet corpora adds 1., that is (id est) omits 2., the trophy of the cross, whose grace you recognise in omits 2. its works. Certainly the demons themselves too confessed by the merits of the martyrs (martyrum meritis) omits 2., and, expelled by divine (divina — corporibus) ab hominibus mox 2. power, at once went out of human bodies. Many also who were afflicted with various sicknesses (div. aegrit.) aegritud. div. 2., touching the napkins of the saints, were healed. But our Lord Jesus Christ deigned also to show other multa adds 2. wonders and mighty signs (et signa ingentia) omits 2. through his saints in the presence of the people while the bodies of the martyrs were being translated (martyrum — dignatus est) facta sunt 2. ⁱ.

[9] Let others store up ^k gold and silver and dig this omits 2. out of hidden veins, let them gather precious strings of necklaces. That ille 2. treasure is temporal, and often pernicious to those who have it; we have gathered eligimus 2. the nails of the martyrs, and many indeed, as for instance omits 2. there were more wounds than members. We collected also the triumphal blood and the wood crucis adds 2. of their passion (passionis eorum) omits 2..

[10] These things, set down in whatever order, we could not refuse to the petitions (qualicumque — petitionibus) omits 2. of the holy widow Juliana omits 2., who built a temple in honour of the blessed martyrs, where also with diligent care we have taken pains to lay up their bodies beneath the sacred altars [(quae — recondere studuimus) itaque salutis accipite pignora, quae nunc sub sacris altaribus reconduntur. Haec igitur vidua sancta est Iuliana, quae Domino templum paravit atque obtulit 2.]. Pouring forth prayers ^l, therefore, I beseech you, almighty Lord, that over this house (sup. hanc domum) supra dom. hanc 2., over supra 2 these altars, over these spiritual stones, by which a temple perceptible to you has been consecrated in the several virtues of your saints Vitalis and Agricola, you may watch as daily protector, and that you may receive with your divine mercy the prayers of your servants which are poured forth in this place. May every sacrifice which is brought into this temple by the grace of faith (fidei gratia) fide integra 2. and with pious diligence be made to you in honour of sanctification. And when you have looked upon that saving victim through which the sin of this world is washed away, may you look also upon these victims of pious chastity and protect them with lasting help, so that they may become to you victims acceptable for an odour of sweetness, and ever pleasing to your name (semperque — complacentes) Christo Domino placentes 2., so that your Church, piously and justly serving you in this temple, may be preserved without complaint, undefiled in body and spirit, without any wrinkle or spot, until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns God through [(ut — regnat Deus per) et integrum spiritum eorum et corpus sine querela usque in diem Domini nostri Iesu Christi Filii tui servare digneris. Passi sunt autem sancti martyres Vitalis et Agricola in provincia Italiae in civitate Bononiensi sub Dioclitiano et Maximiano, regnante Domino nostro Iesu Christo, cui est honor et gloria in 2.] all the ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

FROM GREGORY OF TOURS, OF THE HOLY MARTYRS AGRICOLA AND VITALIS

Agricola, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

Vitalis, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

BHL Number: 8694

Book I chapter XLIV of the Glory of the martyrs, according to the edition of the renowned Br. Krusch in Mon. Germ. Script. rer. Meroving., vol. I, pp. 517 – 518.

[1] Agricola and Vitalis were crucified for the name of Christ at Bologna, a city of Italy; their tombs, as we have learned through the report of the faithful, since the history of their passion has not yet come to us, are placed above the ground. When these, as happens, were being touched with the hand or kissed with the mouth by many, the keeper of the temple was admonished to keep the unclean away from them. A certain bold and wicked man removed the covering of one tomb, in order, namely, to carry off something of the sacred ashes; and having put his head inside, he was pinned down by it, was barely freed by others, and went away confounded; nor did he deserve to receive what he had presumed with rash daring; but thereafter he approached the tombs of the saints with greater reverence.

[2] Another also, carrying the public taxes, carelessly lost a little bag of money while he was making his journey. And as he drew near the city, he realised that he had lost the public [bag] which he was carrying. Then, prostrate before the tombs of the blessed ones, he entreated with tears that he might recover what was lost by their power, lest he himself and his wife and children should be reduced to captivity on that account. And going out into the forecourt, he came upon the man who had found this money lying on the road; and being carefully questioned, the latter said that he had found the little bag at the very hour at which this man implored the help of the martyrs.

[3] Namatius ^a, bishop of the Arverni, devoutly sought their relics, in order, namely, to place them in the church which he himself had built. And he sent a presbyter there, who, going with the grace of God, brought back what he had asked for. And returning with his companions, at the fifth milestone from the city of the Arverni, as they were coming back, they took lodging ^b, and sent messengers to the bishop, that he might order them what to do. And when morning came, the bishop, having notified the citizens, hastened most devoutly with crosses and candles to meet the holy relics. And when the presbyter offered him to look upon the blessed relics, if he so ordered, he said: It is more for me to believe these things than to see them. For so we read in the holy Scriptures, and the Lord himself judges those blessed who have believed him though they have not seen him. Through this strong faith of the bishop, then, the Lord glorifies his saints in power. For as they came, suddenly the sky was darkened, and behold a dark and most foul rainstorm came down over them, and so great a rain poured out there that rivers were seen running through those roads. Nevertheless, around the holy pledges, through the space of a whole acre, not one drop was seen to have fallen. And as they went on, the rain followed them at a distance, as though offering homage, refreshing the people, but not touching the bearers of the pledges. Seeing these things, the bishop magnified the Lord, who, thus favouring his faith, deigned to work such things for the glory of the saints. And the citizens having been assembled, with great joy and devotion he dedicated the holy church, made illustrious by these pledges ^c.

ANNOTATIONS.

MIRACLES OF SS. VITALIS AND AGRICOLA

Agricola, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

Vitalis, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

BHL Number: 8696

From the codex marked no. 1473 of the library of the royal University of Bologna, fol. 328r – 330r. Cf. no. 3 of the preliminary commentary.

Here begins the prologue on the miracles of the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola.

[1] It is plain to the whole body of the faithful that, among the remaining cities of all Christendom, Bologna, the illustrious city, shines with the privilege of learning. So greatly indeed has the aforesaid city been blessed by the merits of the blessed martyrs Vitalis and Agricola, that it seems most plainly to retain the reality of this name Agricola, and also of that name Vitalis. For Agricola is so called as one who tills the fields of the Lord, and Vitalis as one who nourishes life. The holy doctors, then, till the field of the Lord in two ways: namely, when with the ploughshare of their preaching and teaching they cut open the hearts of the faithful and pour into those hearts the word of the Lord always, and so draw evildoers to well-doing, or plant unbelievers in the faith. They till the fields of the Lord moreover in another way, namely, when they pour the word of wisdom into the hearts * of Christians and render the foolish wise. The same holy doctors are wont to nourish life in those who have been planted in a twofold manner, namely, when they assiduously admonish those planted in the faith and doing well not to cease from doing well and performing fruitful works, and so not to fall from life or fail to live. And this is done according to what is said: A good work needs an assiduous admonisher. They nourish life moreover in another way in those planted, namely, when by teaching again they strengthen those made wise, lest they forget what they had heard and know, and exhort them to instruct others for living. Thus, then, there are two things which the wise husbandman uses, namely correction and teaching. By correction they plant unbelievers in the field of the Lord, that is, in the church, and bring those perpetrating evil works, like dead and unfruitful trees, to the fruit of good work. And by teaching they render the ignorant and foolish wise.

[2] There are moreover two things which pertain to Vitalis, that is, to the nourisher of life, namely admonition and the confirmation of teaching. By admonition, then, he sustains those doing well in the good, lest they cease from doing works of life. By the confirmation of teaching he keeps the learned and erudite in their knowledge, lest they forget what they know, as has been said, and so that they may profit others as well as themselves by their knowledge. To use, then, the container for the contained, the aforesaid city of Bologna, keeping the footsteps of its patrons, namely Agricola and Vitalis, has become a tiller of the fields of the Lord and a nourisher of life in them, so that by this the same city may be shown to be propped up by the merits of the aforesaid martyrs, and that their sacred bodies are there may not be doubted by the faithful. Plainly, then, there appears fulfilled here what John Chrysostom says: It is not the place that sanctifies men, but men the place. And since Gregory says to Augustine, bishop of the English ^a, that things are not to be loved for places, but places for things, deservedly therefore the illustrious city of Bologna is to be commended and extolled with praises, which rejoices in the privilege of so great a good.

[3] For it tills the fields of the Lord when it instructs in both laws, namely divine and human, those who flock to it as to a fountain from various parts of the world, and teaches how they ought to conduct themselves towards God and towards their neighbour, in spiritual as well as in carnal things, showing what prelates owe to subjects, and what subjects owe to prelates, and what equals owe to equals. And so it pours the seed of wisdom into the field of the Lord; it tills the fields of the Lord again when by threatening penalties from both laws it draws evildoers to good works. It nourishes life in those planted when by promising rewards from both laws to those who do well it sustains them in good work. It nourishes life again when it repeats to the wise what they know, lest they forget it, and exhorts them to hold vitally what they know, saying that saying of the gospel: The servant who knows the will of his lord and does not do it shall be beaten with many stripes, as he deserves *; and therefore Bologna observes these two things as though naturally implanted in it, lest Vitalis be believed to be there without Agricola, or Agricola without Vitalis. Since, then, they were martyred on one day, in one place, and under the same persecutor, according to what Ambrose says ^b, it is clear that they lived with one faith, one devotion, and are equal in merit. To their praise, therefore, I have thought fit to report certain things, so that those who hear these things, praising God through their merits and the miracles they have done, may themselves, by praising, be made praiseworthy.

Here ends the prologue.

Here begin the miracles of the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola.

[1] There was a certain woman in a certain castle situated in the diocese of the aforesaid city of Bologna, which is called in the vulgar tongue Pogi calvuli ^c. This woman, then, harassed for a long time by the assault of a demon, had travelled through many places of the saints in the hope of recovering her health. At a certain time, then, after the fatigue of the labour and journey of many days, on the celebrated day of St. Petronius

bishop and confessor ^d, whose sacred body is kept in the same place ^e in which the bodies of the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola also rest, while the people stood by and paid the observances of the feast of blessed Petronius, it happened that the aforesaid woman was carried to the tomb ^f of the blessed martyrs Vitalis and Agricola. Laid down in that place, and the sacred veil ^g of the altar of the blessed martyrs being placed over her, she was at once freed by divine power, so that no trace of that demoniac vexation touched her any further. At this sight the clergy and people added praises to praises, so that the same * day was assigned to the praises not only of Petronius but also of Vitalis and Agricola, since the same place is assigned to them all. Praises, then, having been poured forth to Christ the Saviour, who is wonderful in his saints, the aforesaid woman, restored to her former health and soundness, returned to her own home.

[2] Since, then, I have betaken myself to the praises and miracles of the saints, it has pleased me to touch upon in a brief style certain things not to be kept silent, but to be committed to writing and to memory. There was a certain woman in the same territory in which is built the monastery of St. Stephen the protomartyr, in which also the sacred pledges of the holy martyrs are kept laid up with honour; who, subject to the service * of a certain most noble woman, was harassed by a demon for long spaces of time. She, then, one day having been seized, and violently brought to the tomb of the blessed martyrs, was freed by the power of God and the merits of SS. Vitalis and Agricola. Therefore what blessed Augustine says ^h can not unfittingly be applied to this deed: Many good things, he says, are bestowed on the unwilling when their advantage is consulted, not their will, for they are found to be enemies to themselves. For this woman seemed to be an enemy to herself, while she was being drawn to salvation even against her will. O how most merciful the bosom of loving-kindness, which does not refuse to have mercy even on the unwilling! Praises, then, having been paid by the clergy and people who were present at this miracle, they sent the aforesaid woman back with joy to her own home.

[3] In the time of the lord Abbot Landulf ⁱ, there was another woman, a native of the city of Reggio, named Pometa, comely with an elegant form, who for very great intervals of time was grievously possessed by three demons. And when she flew for refuge to very many helps of the saints in the hope of receiving the benefit of health, and visited their thresholds, while the woman herself stood in the sight and presence of the saints to whom she had come for this cause, and, as is the custom, poured forth prayers and kept vigils, the demons themselves, after the manner of the scorpion, which fawns with its head but harms with its tail, so craftily ceased meanwhile from vexing her that she seemed entirely healed. But after the woman went away, at last, after the manner of the scorpion, as I said, the demons displayed their former power and began again to vex her. Her parents, then, and her other friends, seeing that it profited nothing that she had fled for refuge to the help of many saints for this cause, spent much of their substance on physicians, so that human benefits at least might furnish a remedy to one whom divine aids disdained to assist. Seeing again that this profited her nothing, her friends, affected with weariness, exposed her to the divine disposition and set aside all care and solicitude for her. It happened moreover one day that a certain man, wishing to go to Bologna, said to her: Will you come with me to Bologna? She answered: I will. The journey having been taken up together, then, by the will of God, who does not cease to punish his creature without cause, they came to Bologna with a prosperous course. As they approached the same city, then, after they had come to the river which is called Renus ^k, the aforesaid woman was soon turned to fury; throwing herself headlong into the river, she tried to drown herself in the water. Seeing this, the aforesaid man who was furnishing her escort wished to hold and bind her, so that she might not be able to drown herself. But the woman, inflamed as she was with demoniac fury, returning evil for good, wished to kill him who was snatching her from death, and to drown him in the river itself; this the devil himself also did, by whose goads and agitation she was being led: namely, he wished to return evil for good, when he wished to be made equal to him who had preferred him to the other angels and made him better, saying: I will set my throne in the north, and I will be like the Most High. When, then, the aforesaid woman wished, as has been said, to kill the man already mentioned, certain men who at that hour were standing beside the river ran together, and, both having been rescued, namely the woman and the man, they violently brought her out of the water. The assault of the demon being at length calmed and the same woman who was then being vexed being for a time pacified, they entered together with joy, namely Pometa with her companion, the illustrious city of Bologna, and the woman was received in the house of a certain woman who was a citizen of Bologna. And three days having been spent in the same lodging, it happened one Sunday that, while the Bolognese woman herself, who had received the other into her lodging, went to church for the sake of praying and hearing the divine office, the aforesaid Pometa remained in the lodging. The solemnities of the mass having been celebrated, then, according to custom, the aforesaid hostess, returning home, began to reproach the already mentioned Pometa, namely the demoniac, because she had not gone to church and had not heard mass according to the custom of Christians, as the feast of the Lord's day required. She, at once agitated by the demoniac spirit, seized a sword and wished to kill her. The neighbours, running together at her cry, held the often-mentioned demoniac and bound her, so that she could not harm anyone. When they said: Let us carry her to the church, at once the demons themselves began to cry out, saying: In vain, they say, will you lead her to the church. For no one can expel us from there or free her except the merits of the blessed martyrs Vitalis and Agricola. When this was heard, she was violently brought, by the nobles as well as by the common people, to the monastery of Saint Stephen, where the bodies of the aforesaid martyrs rest, and when she had been laid before the tomb of the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola, the demons at once began to cry out and say: Alas, alas, there approaches from this our departure from this body. For we are about to go out of it at midnight in an instant. When, then, midnight came, according to what the demons had foretold, the woman was freed by the power of God and the merits of the blessed martyrs Vitalis and Agricola.

ANNOTATIONS.

* codex fundunt

* sic

* codex eidem

* codex habetur

** codex servitus

TRANSLATION OF THE BODIES OF SS. VITALIS AND AGRICOLA INTO THE CONFESSION OF THE CHURCH OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST, AT BOLOGNA, IN THE YEAR 1019

Agricola, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

Vitalis, martyr at Bologna. (S.)

BHL Number: 8695

from the same codex of the library of the royal University of Bologna. Cf. no. 22 of the preliminary commentary.

[1] The most blessed Ambrose, then, bishop of the church of Milan, a zealous searcher into the holy way of life of the saints who went before, and a most famous instructor of those who came after, was humbly invited by the citizens of the city of Bologna, among whom the holy martyrs Vitalis and Agricola merited eternal rewards through the palm of martyrdom, that the same aforementioned pontiff would deign, after his manner, to set forth their passions in order, so that they might grow up for the profit of posterity. And the same prelate, intent on the zeal of charity, having heard of the glory of the martyrs, did not wait to learn from the report of others the order of the passion of the aforesaid martyrs Vitalis and Agricola, but, impatient after his manner, hastened with the greatest charity to go to Bologna, and there, the lamp of inquiry having been lit, took care diligently to search out the ways, virtues and passions of the aforesaid martyrs and all the kinds of punishments cruelly inflicted on them, and so truly learned everything, namely their ways and patience and the abuse and barking of the wicked poured out against them from every side: all of which he both noted down with a most learned pen and committed their bodies with religious zeal to burial in the place revealed to him by God.

[2] But because, for the most part, when the times change, the ways of the people change too, and the very qualities of places also vary. For as long as the miracles of SS. Vitalis and Agricola flourished among the multitude of the city, for the health of bodies, for the help of souls, for the consolation of tribulations and the other necessities of those entreating them, a civic throng of men and women ran without intermission to the same church where their bodies dwelt in marble tombs, which church, namely, is situated beside the church of the most blessed martyr Stephen, in which a monastery has been established in honour of the same blessed Stephen, in which also a likeness of the tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ, set up in wonderful order, shines out ^a.

[3] And while the people rejoiced in the powers of the miracles, they either built anew the walls and roofs of that church, or repaired the old ones, if any ruin was apparent there. But when, from the power of the saints, the sins of the people increased, as if from good seed an evil crop had been multiplied, as often happens, their powers did not flourish according to the wishes of the people, whose merits the citizens of the same city ought to have implored all the more frequently, the more the miracles had ceased because of their deserving sins. But being rather puffed up, they withdrew as if contumaciously, and muttered that they did not wish to visit the bodies of those whose powers they did not feel flashing forth. Whence its very buildings, grown old, collapsed, nor could they rise again, and the very tops of the chests were seen disfigured and neglected by winds, rains and every inclemency of the air, and through this the minds of the abbots who presided over the same monastery of Saint Stephen could be in doubt in the matter whether they ought to transfer the very bodies of the saints to safer places, or leave them there.

They feared to leave them there, lest, as if carelessly neglected, they should become cheap even to the citizens themselves; they dreaded to transport them, because they read in their passion that the very place where they lay had been divinely shown and designated by God to blessed Ambrose, and if they should withdraw their bodies from that place they would seem as it were perverters and transgressors of the divine predestination. Thus indeed, through the fear and dread of these doubts, the same bodies of the saints remained in their sarcophagi for a long time in the same church in which blessed Ambrose placed them.

[4] But when it pleased the divine disposition to appoint the lord Martin ^b as abbot for the same monastery, in the time of the emperor Henry ^c, it openly appeared that the will of the Almighty favoured the transfer of the bodies of these saints; and lest the ambiguity of the place designated by divine revelation should cloud anyone's mind, the aforesaid lord Abbot Martin, sound in mind and in body, ran to the light of discretion, which, as mother of the virtues, is upheld by all who serve the catholic faith, saying that a place is not to be taken only as that very small space of earth in which a body stands which can easily be circumscribed, but that sometimes a whole city is called one place, and a whole estate likewise is called one place, especially since John the Evangelist, describing the place of the Lord's crucifixion, says: There was in the place where the Lord was crucified a garden, and in the garden a tomb. If the garden is in the place and the tomb in the garden, it is surely established that a place is both great and small, even if very small adjoining spaces are rightly called a place. It is clear that the divine revelation did not call only that space in which the holy bodies dwell a place to blessed Ambrose, but that it showed the whole of that valley in which is the monastery of Saint Stephen with its churches, cloisters, gardens and buildings; and it is plain to all more manifestly than light that we do not change the place of the saints, nor transgress the heavenly revelation, if, faithfully transferring them elsewhere, they are venerated there the more religiously the more holily and honourably they rest in peace. Strengthened, then, by this most holy and evangelical authority, and having received the licence of the lord Frugerius ^d, venerable bishop of the same holy church of Bologna, and with the consent of the canons of the same holy see, the help and favour of almost all the neighbours being granted, with the sacred order of monks, fasting and prayer having gone before, the aforesaid lord Abbot Martin carried the same bodies of the saints, on the fifth day before the nones of March, in the year from the incarnation of the Lord one thousand and nineteen, in the second indiction, to the confession which he himself built with wonderful labour and most beautiful work in the church of the most blessed John the Baptist. But lest it should seem laborious or tiresome or superfluous to the citizens to keep twice in the year ^e festivities of the aforesaid saints also near to one another, the discerning providence of the aforementioned lord Abbot Martin took studious care to divide the year, so that, just as their natal days are solemnly celebrated on the day before the nones of November , so also their translations should be devoutly venerated on the fourth day before the nones of March ^f, so that the translation of the saints should wait almost as much of the year as their birth into the kingdoms of heaven sends before it; with whom, Christ leading, may we live happily in them unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS

* codex consensum

* codex decembris; corrected by a later hand novembris