ON ST. AGRIPPINUS, BISHOP OF NAPLES,
THIRD CENTURY?
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY
Agrippinus, bishop of Naples. (S.)
BY H. D.
[1] The elogium of St. Agrippinus The elogium of St. Agrippinus we have in that very well known little book on the Deeds of the bishops of Naples, whose oldest part was put together about the middle of the 9th century, poor in facts and expressed in plainly commonplace words: VI. Agrippinus, bishop. Lover of his country, defender of the city, who does not cease daily to intercede for us his servants; he shines with many signs and miracles. He increased very greatly for the Lord the throng of believers and placed them in the bosom of holy mother church, whence he deservedly merited to hear: "Well done, good servant, because thou hast been faithful in a little, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Matth. 25, 21." Finally, translated into the church Stephania, he rests there deservedly with honour [B. Capasso, Monumenta ad Neapolitani ducatus historiam pertinentia, vol. I (Naples, 1881), pp. 158–59, cf. p. 148; G. Waitz, in M. G., Scr. rer. langob., p. 398.].
[2] in the Deeds That he is said to shine with signs and miracles is by no means established to refer to the booklet of Miracles BHL. 174–77; but that he was translated into that basilica, called Stephania from Bishop Stephen its founder, seems to cohere with what John the deacon relates of Bishop John IV: The bodies also of his predecessors he raised from the tombs in which they lay, and placing them one by one in the church Stephania, he fitted to each a sanded tomb, and painted their likenesses above them Capasso, op. cit., p. 211. Cf. p. 148..
[3] and in the catalogue of bishops. In the catalogue of the bishops of Naples which Bianchini edited, Agrippinus has this entry: VI. Agrippinus, bishop, sat 12 years. He lived in the times of Urban and Pontianus, popes, and of Aurelius and Alexander, emperors Capasso, op. cit., p. 223.. That the Bianchini catalogue flowed from the little book of the Deeds is now agreed among the learned, but that the indications of time were drawn from elsewhere, perhaps from the writer's own invention Capasso, op. cit., p. 222; Waitz, op. cit., p. 401.. By Aurelius understand Elagabalus; whence Agrippinus would have to be said to have sat in about the years 218–235. The matter by no means requires us to dwell long on these things. A twofold period of the Bianchini list must be established, with Mazocchi: the first, of twelve bishops down to Severus; the second, which begins with Ursus, at the opening of the 5th century. Now if in the first succession you place the beginning of Bishop Aspren under the principate of Trajan (in the times of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian), it follows that only twelve pontiffs, of whom one is Zosimus the Arian, invader of the see of Naples, sat in the chair for three hundred years. Add that the sum of the years, which is made up by adding together the episcopates of each, scarcely reaches 265 [Mazocchi, De sanctorum Neapolitanae ecclesiae episcoporum cultu (Naples, 1753), vol. I, pp. 38–40.]. There is no reliance, then, on the entries in the computation of years, and the indications of time — as is customary in ancient catalogues — seem to have been added at random. No one will hesitate to count Agrippinus among the first bishops of the church of Naples, yet so as to leave his years uncertain.
[4] The booklet of Miracles The chief monument concerning St. Agrippinus which has come down is the booklet of Miracles, which we shall publish again, aided by these resources:
N = Codex of the Biblioteca Nazionale of Naples, marked VIII. B. 1, written in the 12th/13th century in Beneventan script Anal. Boll., vol. XXX, p. 148.. Fol. 28–43: in S. Agrippini. Although it is not free of faults, yet the best
readings, and an order of matter different from that which is in the printed editions. For of the eleven miracles of which that book consists, the tenth precedes the ninth. This codex, which none of the more recent editors used, we shall for the most part follow.
C = Codex of the Biblioteca Corsiniana 777, written in Beneventan script of the 13th century. It belonged formerly to the "Monastery of Saint Severinus of Naples", then to the Cardinal of Santa Severina, and after his death passed by right of kinship to Giuseppe a Costa. It was used by Ughelli and by our predecessors Mazocchi, op. cit., p. 329.. Fol. 122–130: Natale S. Agrippini Neapolitani episcopi Catal. Lat. Roman., p. 280.. In editing the booklet, Mazocchi, Parascandolo, Waitz and Capasso reproduced the reading of the Corsini codex BHL. 174–77.. After it underwent an emending hand, it departed further from codex N. We have noted all its variants.
O = Officium S. Ianuarii episcopi una cum officio sancti Athanasii, Anelli, Aspreni, Agrippini… Naples, 1525. It comprises a twofold office of St. Agrippinus, one on 9 November, the other to be read through the octave. In both, nine lessons from the booklet of Miracles are assigned to each day, yet so that only chapters 1–10 of our edition are used. From which codex they were excerpted is not clear; certainly it came very close to N. For it follows its order and, disregarding the Corsini readings, for the most part presents its readings, and if it has any of its own, I should judge them introduced by the editor. It was enough to bring forward a few, and those selected, variants of the booklet O.
V = Codex of the Biblioteca Vallicelliana H. 9, which is volume L of the transcripts of Antonio Gallonio. Fol. 140–147: Life of St. Agrippinus, bishop and confessor, said to be excerpted from the ecclesiastical monuments of the city of Naples Catal. Lat. Roman., p. 425., that is, from the aforesaid Office O.
B = Codex of the Royal Library of Brussels 8936–38, which is from the Bollandian Collectanea for the month of December, contains these items on St. Agrippinus: 1° Fol. 165–169v: Life of St. Agrippinus, bishop and confessor, from the ecclesiastical records of the city of Naples. It was copied from codex V, collated with the Lombard codex of St. Severinus in the possession of D. A Costa, that is, N. — 2° Fol. 170–177v: On St. Agrippinus. These were copied from the collection of Fr. Ant. Caracciolo, volume of the Lives of the Neapolitan Saints, collated with the aforesaid codex N.
S = Codex of the Biblioteca Nazionale of Naples marked VIII. AA. 7, written in the 16th century, which was formerly for the use of the refectory of SS. Severinus and Sossius of Naples Anal. Boll., vol. XXX, p. 145.. It contains offices of saints, and fol. 42–44v: Life of St. Agrippinus, bishop and confessor, excerpted from our booklet.
[5] put together by various writers. Some call the booklet of the Miracles of St. Agrippinus a homily, nor is this incongruous, if you attend both to the exordium (ch. 1) and to the oratorical close with which it first ended. Certainly the discourse is so written as to be delivered or read on the day of the festival. It seems, such as it now is, to have grown together from various parts in the course of time. To a booklet of an uncertain author (ch. 1–8) there has been glued a Miracle (ch. 9) which Mazocchi called extravagant because of the dissimilarity of style Op. cit., p. 341.; to this, moreover, three Miracles (ch. 10–12) were added. That the last part was added by that Peter the subdeacon who wrote the Miracles of St. Agnellus BHL. 150. and continued the Chronicle of John the deacon, the aforesaid Mazocchi has aptly proved from the polish of the style, from expressions common to both booklets, from little verses and hemistichs of hexameters sprinkled abundantly through the prose, from the sentiments and the whole tenor of the writing Op. cit., pp. 330–35.. The age of this Peter they think can be defined to some extent Ibid., pp. 333–34. from the fact that about the year 910 he was present at the translation of St. Sosius the martyr from the fortress of Misenum to Naples BHL. 4135, ch. 16., and in ch. 12 he relates, as something done in our times, that the city was attacked by the Agarenes while the emperors Romanus and Constantine were reigning and Pope John the Twelfth was seated in the see of blessed Peter, and in this Parthenopean city the prelate Athanasius the Third and John the consul. Chioccarelli thought these indications converge on about the year 961 Cf. Act. SS., Sept. vol. VI, p. 791, no. 141., Caracciolo rather on the year 960 De sacris ecclesiae Neapolitanae monumentis (Naples, 1645), p. 137., with whom Mazocchi Op. cit., p. 334. and Waitz M. G., op. cit., p. 464. agree; but B. Capasso Op. cit., p. 112. and F. Savio Atti della R. Accademia di Torino, vol. XXXVI, p. 305. on the year 958. In very truth the emperor Romanus II, Indications of time. who had already been crowned in the year 945, is associated with his father in documents down to the year 959, while John XII was meanwhile supreme pontiff (955–964), Athanasius governing the bishopric of Naples (907–c. 962) and John the duchy (928–968/69) Capasso, op. cit., pp. 111–14.; nor is Mazocchi's conjecture to be embraced Op. cit., p. 335, n. 3., which he timidly suggests: in the reign of the emperors Romanus and Basil. There is a difficulty, however, especially if with the same Mazocchi you judge that the Miracle of St. Agrippinus was committed to writing long after the event, in the decrepit old age of Peter the subdeacon, who was already held famous in the year 910. Assuredly we shall say either that there were two deacons of the same name, or that that Romanus who was the colleague of the emperor Constantine was the elder (920–944). The number of the years of Pope John stands in the way, at any rate. But the copyist may have erred, writing XII for XI, or duodecimo for decimo. For both John X (911–928) and John XI (931–936) sat in the chair of Peter while both princes were alive.
[6] If these things are true, the expedition of the Agarenes must be thought to belong to about the thirtieth year of the 10th century, and not long afterwards the miracle (ch. 12) of the protection of St. Agrippinus was consigned to writing. Whichever is chosen, it is plain that the three Miracles with which the booklet ends were not added at one time. For the first of these (ch. 10) the writer, intending to add nothing more, had concluded with the usual doxology; the rest, of which one had been wrought in olden days and the other "in our times", were added afterwards. That the individual parts of the booklet, whether arranged by the anonymous author or by Peter, are not of the same authority, we hardly need to warn. For besides the things which they declare happened before their own eyes or at least in their lifetime, and many undoubted things which are touched on in passing, some have been taken from popular and looser report, for instance what is narrated about the origin of Agrippinus from the region of Herculaneum and the miracles he wrought while alive. Of these there is no leisure, nor is it necessary, to report more distinctly, because the value of booklets of this kind consists almost wholly in their simple affection of piety.
[7] The apparition of St. Agrippinus. That St. Agrippinus and at the same time St. Januarius stood by St. Severus, bishop of Naples, as he was dying, is narrated in his Life in these words BHL. 7676.: Then one of those standing round, Ursus the deacon, his nephew, who after his passing was himself ordained bishop, when he had heard these things, thinking that he was asking for his brothers, that is, the deacons, said to him: "See, your brothers are here." He answered him, saying: "I know, son, I know that my brothers are here; but I now mean my brothers Januarius and Agrippinus, who have spoken with me," he said, "and have said that they will come to me straightway Act. SS., April vol. III, p. 769.." That these things deserve no credence there is no need to demonstrate at length, since they were copied out from the letter of Uranius on the death of St. Paulinus P. L., vol. LIII, p. 861., with the very phrasing preserved and almost only the names changed — Agrippinus is brought in for Martin — which did not escape our Stilting Act. SS., Sept. vol. VI, p. 786..
[8] In the cemetery outside the walls About half a mile from the ancient walls of the city to the west there is a hill in which the early faithful excavated cemeteries, to which more recent writers have given the name of catacombs Cf. B. Capasso, Napoli Greco-Romana (Naples, 1895), pp. 118–22.. They are remarkable for ample galleries, which widen here and there into chapels and basilicas, once adorned with inscriptions and paintings. In these places, next to the church of Saint Januarius was the oratory of Saint Agrippinus, in which his sacred body is established by sure testimonies to have lain for many years. Of great importance is what we learn from the booklet of Miracles itself (ch. 10). While one day Bishop Paul I was celebrating the sacred mysteries in the church of Saint Januarius, suddenly from the side of the oratory of blessed Agrippinus a voice resounded with great shrieks. At once there is a concourse of the people; going down to his tomb they find a man who, with loud cries in the manner of the region, was giving thanks to St. Agrippinus for the recovery of his health. In another place (ch. 5) the same little church is designated as the chamber of the most blessed Agrippinus the confessor. the church of St. Agrippinus; To it, therefore, there lay open an access or descent from the church of Saint Januarius. That the first church of the cemetery, which is narrower than the rest, is the one in which the body of St. Januarius lay, the Neapolitans hold to be by no means doubtful [G. A. Galante, I nuovi scavi nelle catacombe di S. Gennaro in Napoli (Naples, 1908), pp. 9–19.]. But from which side the chamber of St. Agrippinus was to be approached is not agreed among them, some with Pelliccia De christianae ecclesiae politia (Bassano, 1732), vol. III, 2, p. 129. looking on the left, others with Scherillo on the right, for the steps by which one descended to the lower level of the crypts Le catacombe Napolitane, in Archaelogia sacra, vol. I (Naples, 1875), p. 108.; there are also those who with Parascandolo place the oratory in the upper region of the cemetery Memorie storicocritiche … della chiesa di Napoli, vol. I (Naples, 1847), p. 23.. The ancient painting of St. Agrippinus which survives has not been seen to mark the place of the chapel with certainty [Galante, I frammenti del catalogo figurato dei primi vescovi di Napoli (Naples, 1888), pp. 18–19.], nor either the words read in the Deeds of the bishops about Victor, who at the end of the 5th century is reported to have built the basilica of Saint Stephen further from the city, at one mile, in front of the churches of blessed Januarius the martyr and St. Agrippinus the confessor Chronicon episcoporum, Capasso, Monumenta, vol. I, p. 174.. In the course of the 9th century, Bishop Athanasius (850–872) in the church of St. Januarius, situated outside the walls, a monks'
community under the rule of an abbot he established Ibid., p. 217.. So in the same Deeds. Further, in his Life these things are stated thus: For in the church of the most holy and most blessed martyr Januarius, which was built beside the walls of the said city, and which is called the Great by the citizens, where previously only one priest kept watch in service, he himself instituted a monastery under the protection of an abbot alone, and there ordained as father a man singular for religious life Ibid., p. 217, at the foot of the page.. This monastery, in an instrument of the year 942, is called the monastery of the most blessed Januarius, priest of Christ and martyr, or of Agrippinus, confessor of Christ, situated outside ad corpus Capasso, op. cit., vol. II, p. 47, reg. 48.. The monastery of SS. Januarius and Agrippinus. At the beginning of the 16th century, destroyed by the injury of time and levelled to the ground, only the church surviving, it entirely ceased to exist Capasso, vol. II, p. 16, n. 39.. In the basilica ad corpus the relics of St. Agrippinus rested until the 9th century. By Bishop John IV they were carried into the Stephania together with the bodies of other holy bishops Mazocchi, op. cit., p. 347, n. 49.. Afterwards they are said to have been laid up in the cathedral church, together with the bodies of SS. Eutyches and Acutius, under the high altar D'Engenio, Napoli sacra (Naples, 1623), p. 11.. In the year 1744 a recognition of the holy relics was made by Cardinal Giuseppe Spinelli. The bodies of SS. Eutyches and Acutius were found, and a marble vessel with this note: Uncertain relics, which are thought to be the body of St. Agrippinus L. Sabbadini d'Anfora, Il vetusto calendario Napoletano, vol. XI, pp. 16–17..
[9] The church of St. Agrippinus in the city; In the age of Peter the subdeacon (no. 11), there already existed in the region of Herculaneum, in the Furcillensian square (now via di Forcella), a church sacred to St. Agrippinus, which still survives [In an instrument of the year 1132: the land of Saint Agrippinus of the Furcillensian region, Capasso, vol. II, p. 409, reg. 656. Of this church D'Engenio notes this, Napoli Sacra, p. 376: "Ad honor di questo santo vescovo fu da nobili del Seggio di Forcella (dopo incorporato et unito con quel di Montagna) edificata e dotata come si legge nel protocollo e registro fatto ad istanza del magnifico Lomancello Carnegrassa del Seggio di Porta Nova. Le famiglie che edificarono questa chiesa furono Marogana, Tora, Carmignana, Orimina, Paizara, Hercules, Quaranta, Rossa, Bonifacia, Chiaccola, Cotogna, Musca, Falla e Muscetta, e tiensi per fermo che nel luogo ove fu fabricata questa chiesa, sia stata la propria casa del medemo santo, la qual dopo sua morte fù ridotta in chiesa e quivi fù poscia sepolto che dopo fu trasferito sotto l'altar maggiore dell' arcivescovado." [In honour of this holy bishop it was built and endowed by the nobles of the Seggio of Forcella (afterwards incorporated and united with that of Montagna), as is read in the protocol and register made at the instance of the magnificent Lomancello Carnegrassa of the Seggio of Porta Nova. The families which built this church were Marogana, Tora, Carmignana, Orimina, Paizara, Hercules, Quaranta, Rossa, Bonifacia, Chiaccola, Cotogna, Musca, Falla and Muscetta, and it is held for certain that in the place where this church was built was the saint's own house, which after his death was turned into a church, and there he was afterwards buried, and later transferred under the high altar of the archbishop's cathedral.]]. "It was formerly an estaurita [A collegial church was called an estaurita. Cf. Capasso in Archivio storico per le Provincie Napoletane, vol. XVII, p. 680.] both of the nobles and of the commoners of the square of Forcella; afterwards it was granted in the year 1615 to the brethren of the order of St. Basil; now it is the seat of the parish of St. Mary ad plateam [So Capasso, vol. I, p. 159, n. 2, who cites Relatione dell' edificatione e dotatione della chiesa di S. Agrippino dal dottor Gregorio Motillo [Account of the building and endowment of the church of S. Agrippino by Dr. Gregorio Motillo], in Secco, Vita di S. Agrippino, of which below. Motillo's conjecture (p. 387) is that the church of St. Agrippinus began to be built in the year 1015. That it was restored and adorned in the years 1470, 1485, 1559 is certainly established (pp. 392–94). D'Engenio, Napoli sacra, p. 377: "Nell' anno 1615, con breve di papa Paolo quinto spedito a 20 di gennaro e con licenza di Detio Carrafa cardinal et arcivescovo di Napoli è stata conceduta alli padri dell' Ordine di S. Basilio e ne presero il possesso a 23 di febraro del medesimo anno." [In the year 1615, by a brief of Pope Paul the Fifth dispatched on 20 January, and with the licence of Decio Carafa, cardinal and archbishop of Naples, it was granted to the fathers of the Order of St. Basil, and they took possession of it on 23 February of the same year.] They had not yet left in the year 1753, when Mazocchi was writing, op. cit., p. 346, n. 49.]." In the Acts of the Visitation of Archbishop Carafa of the year 1557 there is listed the chapel of St. Arpinellus situated within the fondaco de le colonne, which is in ruins. In the year 1583 it was profaned, as is gathered from the Acts of the Visitation of that year, the title being transferred to the church of the nuns of Saint Sebastian Capasso, op. cit., p. 159, n. 3.. There was also an oratory of St. Agrippinus, to which a monastery adjoined, at Sorrento, of which there is mention in the Life of St. Antoninus, abbot of Sorrento BHL. 582., The oratory at Sorrento., who flourished in the 9th century: But he, holding to the profession he had undertaken, though in the whirl of the world, associated himself with the abbot Boniface of blessed memory, enrolled at the oratory of St. Agrippinus Act. SS., Feb. vol. II, p. 789, no. 8.. There is a village in the present province of Naples named Santarpino, which is said to take its name from our saint, at about the place where ancient Atella was [C. Magliola, Continuazione della difesa della terra di S. Arpino, Naples, 1757; J. Beloch, Campanien, 2nd ed. (Breslau, 1890), pp. 379–82; Amati, Dizionario corografico dell' Italia, vol. VII (Milan, 1878), p. 1074.]. There, down to our own age, in the hamlet of Purgatorio near Poggioreale, the feast of St. Agrippinus has not ceased to be celebrated, as also in the neighbouring village of Artianum in the same province (Arzano, prov. di Napoli).
[10] Entries in the calendars. St. Agrippinus is inscribed at 9 November in the marble calendar of Naples, and in the Tutini calendar, which seems to have been compiled in the 12th century Mazocchi, op. cit., p. 318. Cf. p. 325.. The other, more recent ones I pass over; for from the 9th century onward the name of Agrippinus, who was held the defender of the city, is never absent from the Neapolitan fasti. "It is also to be observed," so Antonio Caracciolo, "from ancient monuments, that Saints Januarius and Agrippinus, as the chief tutelars of the city of Naples, were formerly invoked jointly, as may be seen in the lectionary of St. Gaudiosus, bishop of Salerno, and elsewhere. I remember, moreover, having seen in the archive of the archiepiscopal house of Naples a very old manuscript missal codex, worm-eaten and torn, and having read in it that these saints, and they alone of our own, were customarily invoked together with the other saints whom the ancient canon of the Roman Mass contains De saeris ecclesiae Neapolitanae monumentis, p. 137.." Of the joint patronage of both saints the booklet of Miracles speaks here and there, and, if you trust the author of the Life of St. Athanasius, the patronage of Agrippinus was older than the protection of Januarius, St. Agrippinus tutelary patron. since he uses these words: For the church of that blessed MS illo. Agrippinus is shown to this day, who was ordained the fifth bishop after the aforesaid Aspren, and who is also the patron and defender of this city. The most blessed Januarius too, martyr of Christ, the Neapolitans afterwards deserved to have as protector; by whose striving and favour the aforesaid city, God favouring, has remained safe and will remain for ever; since the same city glories in having the aforesaid fathers as two most firm bases and two shining candlesticks, upheld by two wings, that is, trusting in the prayers of two saints BHL. 735, Waitz, p. 440. Cf. Mazocchi, op. cit., pp. 337, 368.. That St. Januarius was added afterwards as co-patron to St. Agrippinus is proved by no documents. On the contrary, the more ancient liturgical monuments of the church of Naples, such as are expressed in the Gospel-book of St. Cuthbert, now the British Museum codex Cotton Nero D. IV, and in another Gospel-book which is now codex Royal I. B. VII [On the Cotton codex read E. G. Millar, The Lindisfarne Gospels, London, 1923; on the Royal codex, E. M. Thompson, Catalogue of Ancient Manuscripts in the British Museum, Part II, p. 20; G. F. Warner — J. P. Gilson, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the old Royal and King's Collections, vol. I (London, 1921), p. 10. On both codices G. Morin speaks, in Revue bénédictine, vol. VIII, pp. 481–93, 529–37.], prescribe that the feast of St. Januarius be celebrated with a preceding fast, with no mention at all of St. Agrippinus.
[11] On the Office of the saint For the Office of St. Agrippinus which the clergy of Naples used in the 16th century another was substituted in the following century, which thereafter was inserted in various editions of the Proper of the saints [Officia patronorum quae recitanda sunt in civitate et dioecesi Neapolitana (Naples, 1791), p. 77; Officia sanctorum pro regno Neapolitano (Mechelen, 1852), autumn part, p. 82; Officia civitati et dioecesi Neapolitanae propria (Tournai, n.d.), autumn part, p. 20 F.]. In the three lessons of the second nocturn is comprised a short Life of St. Agrippinus, drawn up according to the laws of piety rather than of a stricter critical art. It cannot be proved by any testimony, for instance, that St. Agrippinus, bereft of his parents, gave his goods to the poor, converted his father's house into an oratory, situated in the place where afterwards the basilica dedicated to his name was built, reached a great age, and died in the second century after Christ. That he strained every nerve against the heretics, and received a letter from Soter, supreme pontiff, by which he and other prelates of Campania were admonished to be watchful lest the hidden plague of faithlessness should spread through their flocks: these things the smatterer who compiled the lessons drew from the letter which Pseudo-Isidore invented as sent by Soter to the Campanian bishops Jaffé-Loewenfeld, Reg. Pontif. Rom., n. 60.. He added also the vision from the Life of Severus, and then this, remarkable for Neapolitan immoderation of words: for this reason the Neapolitan citizens and other neighbours built basilicas and towns distinguished with the name of Agrippinus.
[12] The decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. We have before our eyes a copy of this new Office, to which is added a decree of 8 February 1690, by which the Sacred Congregation of Rites declares that, at the prayers of the most serene Catholic king, the proper Office and Mass, already at another time revised and approved by the Sacred Congregation on 17 June of the year 1640 and granted to all the kingdoms and dominions of the same most serene Catholic King under the rite of a double of the second class, is extended to the universal church under the rite of a semidouble. Now in that same year 1690 the Sacred Congregation declared this very decree to be spurious, in this manner:
Decree.
Since it has come to the knowledge of the Sacred Congregation of Rites that by some printers of Venice, Milan, Lodi and perhaps of other cities there has been rashly printed the Office of St. Agrippinus with proper lessons, to be recited by precept by the universal church by the grant, as is there falsely presupposed, of our most holy lord Pope Alexander VIII, the same Sacred Congregation, with the approval of His Holiness, has declared and declares that the asserted recitation of the Office of the said saint
to be expressly apocryphal and to be abolished and prohibited everywhere (excepting, however, the church of Naples, to which from the year 1670 the recitation of the office of the same saint was specially granted as one of its protectors), and accordingly it orders all prelates to prohibit it entirely in their dioceses, and charges them to proceed against the printers with due penalties according to the quality of the offence. And so that this may more easily be plain to all the faithful of Christ who are bound to the canonical hours, it has ordered the present decree to be issued and published. On 16 December 1690.
A., Bishop of Ostia, Cardinal Cybo.
Place ✠ of the seal.
Giuseppe Vallemani, Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites The copy is among the Bollandian collectanea, Brussels codex 8936–38, fol. 164..
[13] Various writings. Among the Lives of the patrons of the city of Naples published at Naples in the year 1573 by Paolo Regio, bishop of Vico Equense, there is read in the fourth place a Life of St. Agrippinus not displeasing to the pious ears of that time, which, however, contributes nothing to history. Following Paolo Regio and using the aid of foreign learning, Antonio Secco in the year 1682 composed four books on the Life of St. Agrippinus, overflowing with the empty eloquence of the rhetoricians, to which he added a fifth by Gregorio Motillo on the building and the possessions of the church of St. Agrippinus, compiled after a fashion from the codices of this church [Vita del glorioso S. Agrippino vescovo e protettore della fedelissima città di Napoli divisa in cinque libri del R. D. Antonio Secco, arciprete della Collegiale di Picerno. Con la descrittione e fondatione della sua chiesa con alcune cose notabili del martire S. Gennaro patrone di detta città. [Life of the glorious St. Agrippinus, bishop and protector of the most faithful city of Naples, divided into five books, by the Rev. Antonio Secco, archpriest of the Collegiate of Picerno. With the description and foundation of his church, with some notable things of the martyr St. Januarius, patron of the said city.] Naples, 1682, (VI)–430 pp. The book was most kindly lent to us by the distinguished Aem. Martini, prefect of the Biblioteca Nazionale of Naples.].
A distinguished devotee of St. Agrippinus was Blessed Giovanni Giovenale Ancina, formerly bishop of Saluzzo. Among the "Miscellanea" of his works, in the codex of the Biblioteca Vallicelliana O. 27, fol. 28–29v, there is read a short elogium of him and two hymns, of which these are the beginnings, fol. 28v: Light of Agrippinus, comely in merits, fol. 29: Praise, O mother Naples.
MIRACLES OF ST. AGRIPPINUS
Agrippinus, bishop of Naples. (S.)
From the codices of the Biblioteca Nazionale of Naples VIII. B. 1 (= N), of the Biblioteca Corsiniana 777 (= C) and the Office of St. Januarius of the year 1525 (= O). Cf. Preliminary Commentary, no. 3.
Miracles of St. Agrippinus [in sancti Agrippini N, adds in another hand episcopi Neapoli; V idus novembris nat. Sci. Agrippini Neapol. episcopi C.].
[1] Exordium. Dearly beloved brethren, we ought to give assent to the divine and holy admonitions commonitionibus N. by which we are exhorted not to hide the merits and miracles of the saints from the ears of Christians, as Solomon says: "Let the peoples tell the wisdom of the saints, and let the church declare their praise." Ecclus. 44, 15. For I think there is as much fault in keeping silent about the benefits of the saints as there is reward in narrating their glorious powers. Hence the love of the present festival of blessed Agrippinus, bishop and confessor, has compelled me to relate, to the glory of the name of God and the praise of the same most blessed Agrippinus, the patronages and healings which, albeit at different times, he has conferred on his servants coming to him, so that both a greater ardour of desire may kindle the devout minds of the faithful to come to him, and the illustrious merits of blessed Agrippinus may become known, whether to those who read or to those far away who hear [so the MSS; you would have expected seu audientibus sive longe positis legentibus.]. Tob. 12, 7. For it is written: "It is honourable to reveal and confess the works of God." Behold, therefore, dearest ones, we ought to give thanks with full joy and to rejoice in his triumphs and solemnity, praying that the Lord may deign, through his venerable intercession and festival, to grant us both salvation and peace. For who does not know that through this most blessed Agrippinus and the blessed and holy martyr Januarius the city of Naples has very often been freed from the snares of enemies? That this is so we have learned through the revelation and report of various people: that one of these saints is most manifestly proved to keep watch for the guarding of the city, the other for scattering disperdendam N. the counsels and frauds of the enemies [On the joint protection of SS. Agrippinus and Januarius, above, Preliminary Commentary n. 10; cf. Act. SS., Sept. vol. VI, p. 831.]. So that until now the said memorat N. city has been fortified by their patronage and protected by their defence, and we may rightly know and aut C. understand what is written: "Unless the Lord keep the city, they watch in vain that keep it. Psalm. 126, 1." Wherefore we ought without intermission to entreat at their holy thresholds with frequent visits, so that we may deserve to be always sicut adds C. fenced and guarded by their protection. And so that you may believe that what I have said is so, I shall not delay to satisfy you with most evident proofs.
[2] A traitor chastised. A certain Albinus Alvinus C., dwelling in that same city of Naples, incited by a diabolical spirit, while he was going pergere N. to the most wicked nation of the Lombards to betray the aforesaid city, in order to fix with them the time of the said crime, being on the road, saw the most blessed martyr Januarius threatening him terribly and forbidding him, saying that he must call back his mind and his step from the work he had begun; and at once he was made out of his mind and, losing his strength virtute N., and going no further, he was held by soldiers and brought back to et N. Naples omits N.. These very things which I have related he narrated with his own mouth written twice N. in the hearing of all, as the public records monimenta N. also testify. From this et ita N. it came about that the oft-mentioned city, by the grace of Saints Januarius and Agrippinus, the divine power omits C. working, was snatched from imminent iminenti C. destruction. Of the healings wrought by them with wonderful power, no tongue will be sufficient to relate them; yet a few so O, paucis N, C. out of many, on account of the festival day and the weariness of the readers legentibus C., we have judged it useful to narrate, which you must hear with attentive ears and sincere heart and give credence to what is said; and do not think that I have set down anything but things proved.
[3] Gaudiosus the paralytic, For a certain Gaudiosus from the parts of the city of Avellino Avellin /////e C., when he was overwhelmed by excessive sicknesses and miseries, was at last made planet-struck ut vulgo dicitur adds another hand above the line C. Sideratus, struck with paralysis, Ducange, s. v., and could go nowhere. He, having heard the fame of the wonders of blessed Agrippinus, was carried by others to his thresholds, and clinging to them and praying for five continuous months, he was restored perfectly whole, returned on his own feet to the aforesaid places whence he had come, and omits N, corrected above the line C. remained unharmed to the last moment of his life.
[4] Lucius the blind man, Another also enimvero (vero corrected above the line) C., Lucius by name, made blind by the excessive force of an illness, persevering at the confession Understand, as in no. 5, the chamber of the confession. of blessed Agrippinus and keeping vigil there for a long time, received his sight by his intercession, and his eyes being opened, which blind night quos nos N. had closed, the Lord in His loving regard led him through the merits of blessed Agrippinus to the light.
[5] a soldier crippled in his limbs, For a certain soldier, too, from the fortress of Misenum, brought half dead and unable to walk, from whom the faculty of walking had been taken away, being laid at the chamber of the confession of the same most blessed Agrippinus, at once, God the author granting him strength, restored to his former health, returning briskly home, exulted in the praises of God.
[6] a certain lame man, A certain lame man also, hearing these things, hastened with exceeding desire to be brought to his holy thresholds. He also ecclesiam edd., C. came, carried by others, for he was so benumbed by the frailty of his limbs that N; ut corrected C, earlier et. he could N; posset corrected C, earlier poterat. in no way be raised up or look up. He then began confidently with tears to weep at the tomb of the most blessed Agrippinus, begging quod adds C. to be succoured with a special medicine. And so it was done. Soon et C. mox enim corrected C. restored to perfect health by the working of the same blessed Agrippinus, walking on his own feet and rejoicing and blessing God, he marvelled that he who had been brought by others had returned by his own strength, giving thanks to the King of heaven, who had deprived him of good things for this reason, that He might show His servants how great quanta C. a glory gloria C. the saints have attained: that they suffer no one to go away from them sad, if only (s. t.) omits C. he has hoped faithfully, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled which says: "Who hath hoped in the Lord and hath been confounded? Who hath continued in his commandment and hath been forsaken? Ecclus. 2, 11, 12."
[7] a half-dead woman, These things having been so ergo C. done, a certain woman named Passara, dwelling in the aforesaid city of Naples in the region of Herculaneum [The regio Herculanensis (C. I. L., X, 1492), afterwards called Herculensis (as in St. Gregory, Registr. III, 58, Ewald-Hartmann, vol. I, p. 217), later Furcillensis (below, no. 11), now Forcella. B. Capasso, Napoli Greco-Romana (Naples, 1905), p. 44.], her sins causing it faventibus C., had lost her hearing and her walking, and could neither speak nor take food at all. For when this woman He //////// C., half dead, had been brought by faithful relatives to the tomb of blessed Agrippinus, and had remained there without wavering for eight days of the Great Week ebdomate N. of the holy Paschal festival, on the holy day of the Sabbath she was so saved by the mercy of blessed Agrippinus that we understand and believe that she was called back from the gate of hell on the day of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. To her, her life vita C after correction being restored restitutamque N; restituta (earlier restitutam) /////// C. from the border of death, returning soon whole to the city, she doubled the Easter joys for all her kinsfolk and neighbours.
[8] a sick boy, And also (sed et) cadet N. a certain little boy, while he was in the said city with his parents, was so overwhelmed by deadly illnesses and troubles that no part of his limbs remained sound, nor did any signs of life appear in him. He his N., then, when he had been brought by his parents to the honourable honorabile N. memorial of blessed Agrippinus and laid there, was so raised up by the merits of blessed Agrippinus N and earlier C, which corrected to eius. and restored to health, as if he had never had anything wrong, 〈so that omits N, C.〉, made whole autem adds a corrector C., he lived viveret corrected to vixit C. many years afterwards. Of the deadly sufferings, then, which (de — quos) quantis itaque solatio fuerit in the margin C. and how many he cured curaverit corrected to curaret C., who will be able to count them? I have believed it sufficient to have told these ita C. out of many. For from those very ipsis /////// C.
times and days (atque diebus) deleted in C. in which these wonders were done or performed sunt C., the place itself was brought to notice omits N; C above the line by the industry of a certain servant of God, whose name God knows (cuius — scit) N and earlier also C., and so it was adorned for the better; and omits N; C corrected., although the most glorious fame of the most blessed Agrippinus had always been known, yet from this the devotion of the people was increased, it enlarged the great gathering of men, and doubled the faith of their devotion and their visiting. Psalm. 67, 36. Glorious, therefore, is God in His saints, wonderful in majesty, doing wonders, rousing the lost to salvation and restoring the sick and despairing to life; and the saints too, the Lord granting it to them, succour with heavenly medicine all who hasten to them, so that justly proclamations of thanksgiving are rendered to them by all in the praises of God, all N, and before correction C. wishing optantibus C. that greater and precious pretiosiora corrected C. benefits may be bestowed on them by the saints, which also quod et N; et earlier C, que after correction they do not cease to grant to those who entreat them, even to the present day.
[9] Paul, suffering from pain in the hip Nor the whole of ch. 9 deleted with a line drawn through it C. indeed deleted C. is this to be passed over in silence [This is the miracle which Mazocchi calls extravagant, De sanctorum Neapolitanae ecclesiae episcoporum cultu, vol. I, p. 341. Preliminary Commentary n. 5.], that a certain man named Paul, an inhabitant of the city of Naples, when he had made the round of the wall [Τεχνικὸν is a technical word, which pertains to those who kept watch or vigils by going round the walls, who were called circatores or circitores … Mazocchi, op. cit., p. 341.], coming down by the steps to return remeare N. home, his foot slipping corrected C, earlier pes., went into a twisting of the sinews eius distortis nervis C. with a great swelling, which C; et N. had flowed down into his hip; and when he was carried half dead to his lodging, there indeed ibi etenim N, deleted C. for a long space of time the wretched man was restored decumbens agebatur corrected C. in bed amid pains, and had almost already † spent his poor little substance paupertatem O; paupertulam N; pauperculam corrected C. on physicians in hope of relief prerogaverat O; prorogasset N, C., and omits C. the poorer he had become, the more the fuel of the flames of his infirmity, the shrieks Or stridores, as is had in the Office of the year 1525. of the pains, raged stridita crassabantur N; (tantum - stridita) /////// C. †. And when there was no confidence of recourse anywhere, as his one hope at last he was brought deductus C. by his relatives, his limbs now almost dead, to the venerable venerabilem C. body of blessed Agrippinus, confessor of our Lord Jesus Christ, and there he prayed in tears and fasts for a long time. The wonted visitation of God came in a certain dead of night noctis C., by the help of St. Agrippinus they are healed. while Paul himself, his limbs already quivering, only a little breath remaining in him, hears the sound of a voice: looking out at once, he saw a certain young man shining in a white robe stolam candidam C. at the very entrance of the royal hall, saying to blessed Agrippinus: "Behold, your brother comes, your brother comes." And after a little, silence having fallen, a voice was sent forth again: "Behold, your brother Acutius comes Acutius, companion of St. Januarius, BHL. 4115–4137.," to whom blessed Agrippinus declared that he would come: "Behold, I come." When this was done peractum C. he beheld the saints of God coming to meet each other, honouring et honorantes C; onorantes N. one another. At once Paul, crying out with tears and stretching out his hands et adds N, C., said: "Holy martyr of God, Acutius, save me." The holy martyr sanctus martyr O; sancti martir(is) N, C. did not disdain dedignavit C. to handle with his hand manu sua N; manum sanctam C. his now in Pauli C. filthy Or caenulenta, that is, muddy. limbs palpasse C., and at once the disease which had broken out in his hip burst, and he recovered the form of his former health. Praising and glorifying unceasingly God, who is wonderful in His saints.
[10] Maurus, a cripple Among in codex C the order of chapters 10, 11 is inverted. the other N; and earlier C, autem corrected. great wonders of miracles which our Lord Jesus Christ has deigned to accomplish through His blessed and glorious confessor Agrippinus, patron and prelate of this our Parthenopean Parttenopensis N. city, which have already gladdened your hearts with spiritual delight, we have thought it fitting to set forth and make known this also, to the honour and glory of His name and to the reverence of the same pontiff and to the joy of your fraternity, who have devoutly come to his solemnities sollemnitatem convenistis C., namely what He wonderfully worked by his holy omits C. merits in a certain man named Maurus. For this man, in the times of the lord Paul the First of blessed memory, our most holy and elder bishop huius sedis C. [He is that St. Paul the greater or elder, who sat immediately after the middle of the 8th century. Mazocchi, op. cit., pp. 344, 172, 273.], whether by the protection of the supreme pontiff, lest in adds C. he should incur danger of soul, as the Lord Himself asserts through the prophet: "Behold, I will hedge up thy way viam tuam C. with thorns, and I will stop it up with a wall. Hosea 2, 6." And through blessed John in the Apocalypse: "Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise. Apoc. 3, 19." Or, what is more manifest, that the power of St. curationis beati C. Agrippinus's healing omits C. might be shown in him, the Lord correcting him with a fatherly visitation, he fell into an infirmity in valetudinem C. of the body which by a Greek grego N. word is named paralysis, so weighed down pregrabatus C. that he could in no way move by his own steps. For when some necessity compelled him and he was pressed to go, holding pads pessulis C. [It is not the pessulus that is fastened to doors; but it is a diminutive from πεσσός (which the Latins also use), in a medical sense, by which it denotes plucked wool or something similar; which those who crawled put under their hands. Mazocchi, op. cit., p. 345.] in his hands he dragged himself along the ground like a creeping thing: for he was misshapen to see, most like a dying man morti C., and wasted in his whole body. He, assuredly corrected, earlier mirum C., treated with many poultices and many (fomentis multisque) omits C. medicines curatis C, earlier multisque curatus., grew worse. Only a firm hope in the Lord Jesus Christ remained. Meanwhile, while he was being burned by such perils and was earnestly beseeching the Lord about it, because, as it is written: "Who hath hoped in the Lord and hath been confounded? Who hath continued in his commandment and hath been forsaken?", it happened that the illustrious solemnity of blessed Januarius came round, and seeing many hastening to his venerable body, trusting in his help, he was carried there, borne by the hands of others. Ecclus. 2, 11, 12. And when he had come to his most sacred tomb, he began with tears to implore his intercession, saying: "I am not ignorant, blessed martyr, how much your glorious merits avail with the Lord Deum C.. I do not doubt, nay I confidently believe, that you indeed are he who for C, omits N. the love of Christ shed your blood.
Therefore, O exceedingly blessed one, earnestly I beseech Christ, that succouring me He may loose succurras dissolvas N. the cruel bonds which shatter me and weary me night and day nocte dieque N.; do not allow me to bear such things any longer, O kindly Father of the fatherland, who grantest prestans N. benefits to all; I implore you by the Lord, by Him who gives the joys of heaven, who granted to you the holy joys of the heavens."
by St. Januarius When he had spoken these words, lying recumbans N. before the sacred tomb, overcome by sleep, he saw the most blessed martyr Januarius calling him vociferantem C. with a clear voice and uttering such words to him:
"Why do you thus beat upon me with tears here night and day? Why do you not rest a little, broken by perils? Do you not know that the bright gifts of rest are not given dentur N. to the doubting? Be not faithless; what I suggest, carry out steadfastly; take counsel, if you seek to go forth whole: cease your long weeping, and take sumens N. comfort of mind."
And when he asked who he was and what he should do so that he might be made whole, the saint gently gave praestavit C. him such counsels: "I am," he said, "Januarius; but know beforehand that you will not be healed sanaveris C. here, nor by my merits will you win here the bright gifts of rest.
he is sent off to the tomb of St. Agrippinus, Going to the tomb of Agrippinus, my beloved brother, there illuc C. you will obtain what you seek; believe, O faithful one, he will give the help of health, the Thunderer granting it, to whom it has been given est cui N. by Christ to bring you strength."
Awakened from sleep, that most wretched man, encouraged by the martyr's counsel and strengthened by the hope of faith, went to the tomb of the holy and ac sancti N. most blessed Agrippinus Cyrippini N., and began to address him omits C. with these words: "O Agrippinus, great in merits, O holy priest, great friend of God, I beg you, I entreat you, grant me through Christ the benefits of health, Christ who by your sacred merits raised you to so great an honour. I am no longer in doubt, holy one, I confidently expect these things. For the great martyr Januarius promised me these glad things. Rise up, then, to help me, since indeed (quidem non) omits edd. I do not go out from here except whole, the grace of Christ granting it through the gift of your merit meritis N.." These things were being done while the glorious solemnity of blessed Januarius, as we said before, was being celebrated. Then the aforesaid pontiff, the lord Paul, with all the clergy and the magnates, went in procession with hymns and lauds to the church [The church outside the walls in which the body of St. Januarius rested. Preliminary Commentary n. 8.], according to custom, and they began exultantly to celebrate the sacred mysteries. While these things were being done, suddenly from the side of the oratory of blessed Agrippinus a voice resounded with great shrieks, and in wonder at this e cuius C. unexpected voice there was a running together and a crowding of a great part of the people. Going down to his tomb, they found the man whom they had seen before, drawn up and bound in his whole body, his knees loosed, standing upright and holding the altar itself in his embrace amplexu earlier amplexum C. and kissing it osculantem C., and praising the Lord with great eagerness of heart and rendering countless thanks to blessed Agrippinus. Coming up to him, as was once done with that man born blind, where he also recovers his health; whom the Lord Jesus Christ deigned to give light to,
for wonder at his recovery they fell into a scruple of wavering, and not believing that he was the man he was, they began to question him, saying:
"Are you then that wretch, bound fast in black knots, who lay, shaggy and drawn up, within these bounds?"
He said to them: "Why do you doubt of this, dearest ones? Why has dullness of mind covered your hearts? Did you not often see me lamenting and crying out in my pains, and give me comfort in my misery? How can I go unrecognized, seen for so long a time?
But, God having mercy omits C. enim adds a corrector C., who ever grants benefits,
and by the merits of my deliverer the lord Agrippinus, now strong in health, the foul infirmity now put to flight, I declare that I am more vigorous than lately when I was well." Hearing these things, all, marvelling at the power potentia N. of our omits C. Lord Jesus Christ corrected above the line N., began to weep for joy, saying:
"Glory to Thee, O Christ, who grantest such things to Thy servants; who workest such wonders, glory to Thee, O Christ."
he narrates the vision. When, therefore, he was urged to relate what had brought about his recovery, he began cheerfully to declare, saying: "When my bowels were shaken with excessive pains, I had myself carried to the body of the blessed martyr Januarius, and praying to him there, when he had admonished me to hasten to the basilica of his comrade Agrippinus, I obeyed his commands and was carried here; and as I prayed to him often, when it pleased the Lord Jesus Christ, namely on this hanc N. sacred sancta C. festival of the aforementioned N, C; perhaps prefati. martyr, my lord Agrippinus appeared to me, not as I slept but as I was clearly awake, with venerable brightness, adorned with the pontifical stole, and standing stanque N. over me ministered the grace of consolation with gracious cheerfulness. Meanwhile, as I rejoiced, heartened by such a vision, I heard within voices of some people greeting and reverencing one another, of ex C. whom one came shining with the same brightness and habit as blessed Agrippinus, whom I do not doubt to have been blessed Januarius; and joined together, giving each other kisses of charity, they greeted each other by their own names. Without delay, one taking me by the head, the other by the feet, and pulling, they began to stretch me out; and thus, God having mercy, behold, snatched areptus N. from the peril of a most grievous infirmity, I glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and render immense praises to blessed Agrippinus." Meanwhile, to establish belief by the effects, showing his bloodied knees and his sinews laid bare discopertos N., the skin having been torn, he said: "If you do not believe words, at least believe works, and see, not scars, but bloody tokens, and consider whether anyone ever saw such things or heard the like." Relating these things with joyful heart cordem N. he stood before the sacred altar, drenched with the oil of the lamp which ministered the brightness of light to the basilica of blessed Agrippinus. For when he perceived that he was whole, rising up for joy, he poured the oil oleum C. over his head, and yet the lamp was not shaken. And if we consider this diligently, it was not done without a token of the mercy received. For in Greek it is called heleos, in Latin misericordia; so that, without prejudice omits C. to what is believed to have been said of the Lord Jesus Christ, the prophet might rightly say of him: "God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Hebr. 1, 9." Thus, the Lord Deo C. having mercy, that man, having received health, glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ and giving thanks to blessed Agrippinus, returned home glad and brisk. Hearing and understanding these things, dearest brethren, let us not receive them in vain, but with the affection of pious wonder let us gain profit for the soul through the effect of a holy way of life. For hearing with labour profits nothing unless there be nisi adsit C. the fruit of good work with the fear of God. Here the blessed apostle, offering brebendo N. medicine to the languishing languentis C. soul, when he had seen some ready to hear and slow to do, admonished them, saying: "Not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers shall be justified. Rom. 2, 13, James 1. 22." Likewise James also: "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." Accordingly, if we desire to be justified, if to be freed from the bonds of sins, when we are overtaken by any infirmities or a adds C. tribulations, let us confidently implore the patronage of the saints, believing that by their intercessions we are rescued in all things, not only from the troubles of the body but also, what is better and more wholesome, from the bonds of souls, by the favour of Him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God, through all ages of ages. Amen.
[11] A miracle wrought by St. Agrippinus For the increase we have noted that the order of chapters 10, 11 is inverted in C. indeed N, and earlier C, quoque corrected. of the merits of blessed Agrippinus (b. A.) illius C. and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is fitting to relate this too, which, though holy and religious, yet weighed down by the burden before correction honere pregatus C. of the flesh carius C., he deserved by divine grace to work wonderfully. At a certain time, then, when he had completed the divine mysteries in the holy see A customary expression for the cathedral. Mazocchi, op. cit., p. 342., and was going to visit his kinsfolk, namely into the region of Herculaneum, the Furcillensian square Above, p. 123, note 2., from which he had taken the origin of his birth, in which also a church in honour of his name still endures This today bears the name of St. Agrippinus. Preliminary Commentary n. 9., a certain paralysed woman was lying before the door of her house, worn out by the courses of many years, who before correction que a C. could be freed by no comfort of physicians. And when she was burning with long-continued perils, the Lord Jesus Christ moving her, who was disposing to heal her through His servant Agrippinus, this religious thought, as she herself afterwards joyfully declared, arose in her mind: "Is it not to be believed credendum N. that our Lord Jesus Christ, coming from heaven for the salvation of the human race generis humani C., deigned to take flesh, to be crucified and to die, to descend into hell and to rise again, and then, ascending into heaven, will come again to judge the living and the dead and to render to His saints everlasting rewards? wrought while he lived. If this is so, and truly it is so, as the holy and universal church confesses and as He Himself deigned to promise, saying: 'Amen I say to you, whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you shall receive, and it shall be done unto you,' why am I worn out by long silence taces C.? Mark 11, 24. Why am I mute and silent, and do not suppliantly beseech Him who Himself gave the counsel that He should be asked, saying: 'Call upon me in the day of thy trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Psalm. 49, 15.' If this is true, and the truth deceives no one, I beseech His mercy either graciously to deliver me from omits C. such great afflictions, or surely, if I am not worthy, to grant pardon for my sins and take me away from the earth terram C.." Turning such things over within herself, and strengthening her mind in confidence fiduciam C. in the Lord the Saviour, she began with tears to call on Him and to say: "O Lord Jesus Christ, creator of souls and bodies, restorer of the sick and consoler of the sorrowing (restaurator et merentium) omits N., look down from heaven and see, and visit me, a wretched woman crying to Thee and presuming exceedingly on Thy mercy. Psalm. 79, 15. For of Thee Thy prophet sings, saying: 'The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down canit dominus erigit N., he looseth them that are fettered. Psalm. 145, 7, 8.'" When she had said these things, looking close by, she saw blessed Agrippinus, a pontiff worthy of God, coming, and she began to address him with weeping flentibus corrected C. and to say: "I beseech you, holy father, by Him who gives the joys of heaven, stop a little while and look upon my tears as I groan." Astonished at this, the blessed pontiff began to encourage her and to minister the comforts of consolation, so that she might set out in order what she wanted. Then she: "Shattered," she said, "by long sickness, I began to beseech the Lord either to deliver me from the present peril or to hand me over swiftly to death. Meanwhile, on seeing you, my lord, I was so heartened as though I were seeing the Saviour Himself; nor indeed did such a thought deceive me meanwhile interim me C.; for He Himself assuredly said: 'He that receiveth you, receiveth me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth me.' Matth. 10, 40. You, venerable father, I adjure by that same Lord not to allow me to remain any longer in this calamity, but by your holy merits call upon the Lord and deliver my soul. Luke 10, 16." The servant of Christ, astonished, raising his eyes to heaven and stretching his palms to the stars, began to entreat the Thunderer with these words:
"O God almighty, bountiful fashioner of men, merciful Saviour and author of the whole world, regard not my sins, but the anxious heart of this contrite woman, and grant anime N. the gift; let her feel thereby Thy holy healing through all things, so that she may ever, a suppliant, render praise to Thee."
When the blessed pontiff had prayed these things, turning to the paralysed woman he said: "If you have entreated me, most lowly and pressed down by the weight of sin, with that et N. confidence of which you spoke, may that almighty God who pricked your heart to speak such things Himself bestow on you the help of health, to the praise and glory of His name, who is blessed for ever."
When he had spoken these words, the saint, by divine gift, took the hand manu C. of the paralysed woman and said: "In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, arise." Wonderful is the power of God, wonderful and ineffable, and, as the prophet sings, of His greatness there is no end. Psalm. 144, 3. At this voice she at once rose up whole and brisk, and as though she had suffered nothing evil, while all marvelled, she began to give praise to God Deo laudem C..
[12] The city besieged by the Agarenes, These things ista N. from olden times having been thus cheerfully and briefly touched upon, let us now, with the help of the grace of Christ, go on to what has been done in our own times. In the reign, then, of the emperors Romanus and Constantine, while Pope John the Twelfth earlier also C, corrected to decimo. sat in the see of blessed Peter, and in this Parthenopean city the prelate Athanasius the Third and John, consul and duke Preliminary Commentary n. 5., the wicked nation of the Agarenes, coming from the parts of Africa, tried to take this aforesaid Parthenopean city by naval battle and various engines and assaults eam adds N, corrected C deleted. And when it had been fiercely assaulted for very many days and nights, and even in human sight, alas for grief, it seemed near destruction, and it had the use of no counsel or support except divine help, they fled to heavenly counsel, saying: "Why are we wearied, why do we labour in vain? Let us flee to our ancient patrons, namely to the friends of our Lord Jesus Christ, Januarius and Agrippinus, to both patrons, and their
help let us seek, so that, as once they wonderfully freed our fatherland from the heavenly wrath and the fire of Vesuvius, so now they may deign by their holy merits meritis sanctis C. to redeem us from the fiery burnings of heathen savagery; since indeed that God who said: Call upon me in the day of thy trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me; the Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him in truth; he will do the will voluntate N, C. of them that fear him, and he will hear their prayer and save them; and he will keep custodiat dominus C. all them that love him, and all the sinners he will destroy. Psalm. 49, 15, Psalm. 144, 18–20." When they had spoken these words, with mournful voices and groans luctuosis ac gemebundis vocibus C. both sexes and every age of them implored their intercession, saying:
"O great patrons, O friends of Christ the King, now swiftly come to our help, now too beseech Christ, lest so great a people be delivered into wicked hands. In such ruin mercifully bring relief levantem N., that we may believe we have gracious patrons and may praise Christ the Lord for all time."
Wonderful the might of God, and wonderful the power of Christ! At such prayers the consolation of God was at once present. And as it is written, they cried to the Lord when they were in trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. Psalm. 106, 6. By the prayers of the saints, Christ assenting, it was accomplished. On that same eodem C. night, then, on which the day was dawning on which the heathens thought to take the aforesaid city, behold, the most blessed Januarius and Agrippinus Grippinus N. appear in a vision to a certain man of Aeolian race, who was held as a hostage among them corrected C, earlier detinebantur. and wept grievously every day for the destruction of the city, questioning him and saying:
"Why do you weep so long, and shake the stars with your weeping?"
Januarius and Agrippinus, the Neapolitans have recourse. When he said to them: "Because I am a worshipper of Christ, and cannot bear the slaughter of my people, nor nec C. see so much bloodshed about to come," at once the saints sancti illum C. cheerfully consoled him, saying:
"Far be it that the power on high should permit this crime. Do not hesitate to believe; our promise is true; sent by Christ we bring glad tidings. Know it beforehand, and henceforth drive away fear timore N.; the city urs N. too is not taken, by the gift of Christ's bounty, who at our prayers snatches it from the wicked jaws and saves it mercifully with fatherly love."
When he had heard this, made glad, he gave thanks to almighty God, and longed with thirsting heart to see the holy promise. So, that the promise of the saints might be fulfilled, when dawn was putting an end to the night corrected above the line C, omits N., behold, the array of the fighting heathens is at hand with ships, terrible and dreadful: that is, having in their midst lofty towers, with engines projecting from their own N, C; Mazocchi conjectures proris. structures with arrows and javelins, in which men in mail and helmets, sitting level with the wall, might invade the city; and when, massed together with din strepidu N. and howling, they were joining battle and already preparing ladders against the walls to break in, and the citizens with weeping and groaning were praying and saying: "Saviour of the world, help us; have mercy, power on high, and by the merits of Thy saints Januarius and Agrippinus scatter them in Thy might," The enemies, terrified unexpectedly — wonderful the might of God, glorious and venerable — at once one of the ships, great and higher than the rest, with all its engines and fighters, coming broadside on, was sunk in the sea. At this deadly and wonderful sign of the almighty God their helper, which was wrought paratum C. at the invocation vocationem N. of Saints Januarius and Agrippinus, all the worshippers of Christ and the whole city, as though snatched from the depth of the sea, as though from a fiery furnace, singing decantes C glory to Christ, were consoled and strengthened. And the heathens, shamefully confounded, were cast down (ethnici-sunt) omits N., and although corrected, earlier qua quam C. the dreadful fight continued from morning until the seventh horam adds a corrector above the line C., they could do no damage to the city. Meanwhile, by the help of the grace of Christ and the intercession of the saints, another consolation also came. For suddenly and unexpectedly a terrible and very grievous message reached them: that the most Christian christianissimi C. emperors were dispatching a naval force prelium N. to hand them and their fleets over to fiery burnings. Greatly terrified by this, and not knowing at all what to do egerent N., seeing themselves placed in straits, overwhelmed with fear and dullness eritudine C., they began to ask for a compact of treaty pactione C., gold and silver argentumque C.. they ask for a treaty. The citizens, considering shrewdly how they might in any way redeem themselves and their city sese suaque N., at once offered them all the gold and silver vessels of the holy bishop's house, on this compact, namely, that at a fixed time they should send them the other gifts et senia N; xenia C., and they should send the aforesaid vessels at once; and so it was done. As they went off and sought the safety of flight, great sadness arose among the citizens, that in adds C. on feast days they should celebrate the solemnities ignobly because of the lost vessels. So when they had long been importuning the servants of Christ Januarius and Agrippinus about it, The sacred vessels, the same saints appeared to a certain Parthenopean man named John, clothed in pontifical pontificali N. ornaments, and when they were asked by him in the vision who they were and why they were hurrying so fast, they answered, saying: "We are Januarius and Agrippinus, and because of the sadness of the Parthenopeans we are going to Sicily, so that we may bring referamus C. all the vessels of our see back from there." Gladdened by this revelation, the same Parthenopean, when he had related it in order to the citizens, they, at once trusting in the patronage of the saints and perceiving that they were fortified munerentur N. by their wonted protection, at once sent to Sicily an envoy apocrisarium C, N. with certain supports of gifts remorum C.; wonderful to tell dictum C., yet not wonderful because divine, since whatever the Lord wills He does faciat N., they deserved to receive all the vessels without any hindrance or loss. For which reason the whole city, coming together from grief to joy, burst forth in the praise of the Lord, saying omits C.:
"Glory to Thee, O Christ, high glory of the saints, who workest such wonders, with the saints' help, they are recovered. who grantest such things to Thy servants; who, raising those that serve Thee perfectly to Thy lofty kingdom, hast granted them to be exceedingly illustrious, so that, reigning ever with Thee, they may bestow benefits on afflicted peoples and minister glad joys. Behold, by Thy holy comfort our bountiful martyr Januarius, rejoicing greatly martir C., and Agrippinus sink the hostile enemies to the foul depths of the deep, they bind wicked hearts inligant N., that they may not be able to hold tenerent N. the holy things. Now too, thus for us, the black enemies being snatched away, they bring the sacred vessels from the bosom of the wicked pest."
The people of Parthenope, therefore, enriched and gladdened by such gifts of Saints Januarius and Agrippinus, began more and more to serve them ei C. suppliantly; believing that in all things they are always protected and governed by their help iubamine C. from present and future adversities, by the assistance, surely, of Him who made them fight manfully and conquer and rejoice with Him et adds N. without end in His kingdom,
who, abiding vivit C. with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, King res N., God immeasurable, reigns regnans C. through all the ages. Amen omits N.