Aurelius

ON ST. AURELIUS, BISHOP OF RIDITIO,

IN THE YEAR 475

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY

Aurelius, bishop of Riditio. (S.)

BY H. D.

[1] St. Aurelius, bishop of Riditio, which is commonly held to be a city of Armenia, is not so much as listed by name by any Armenian hagiographer that I know of; which no one will indeed wonder at who has examined more carefully the various monuments and studies of his history. He died in the city of Milan, and there he began to be venerated and is venerated to this day. In the 9th century, however, in which so many bodies of saints were removed from their resting-places (whether impiously or religiously I should say, I do not know) and dispersed through the Christian world, the relics of St. Aurelius are said to have been translated into Alemannia, where, the cell of St. Aurelius or monastery of Hirsau having been founded, a new splendour was added to his veneration. What the beginnings of his cult were in each place must be set out separately.

§ I. On the cult of St. Aurelius among the Milanese.

[2] The sepulchral inscription of St. Aurelius At Milan, in what was once the church of Saint Dionysius, there existed a poem carved on the tomb of St. Aurelius, now lost, of which we have three complete transcripts.

C = That of Francesco Castelli, ordinary canon of Milan Ph. Argelati, Bibliotheca scriptorum Mediolanensium, vol. I, p. CCCIX., in the codex of the library of the Metropolitan Chapter E. 48, written in his own hand, which he entitled Quodlibet. Page 109: Poems copied on the stone tablet of the tomb of Saints Dionysius and Aurelius. A transcript of the inscription, which Castelli had taken from the stone itself, was most kindly communicated to us by the learned Ugo Monneret de Villard, lecturer in the Academy of Milan. None of those who have published it in print [C. I. L., V, 6183a; Forcella-Seletti, Iscrizioni cristiane in Milano (Codogno, 1897), n. 160; F. Buecheler, Carmina latina epigraphica, n. 1359.] examined Castelli's quodlibets [A transcript by him, not however complete, in the codex of the Ambrosian Library N. 300 Sup.].

V = That of Giacomo Valerio, canon of La Scala, in the codex of the Trivulzio Library entitled: Inscriptiones selectiores in locis publicis civitatis Mediolani existentes. Fol. 138: Poems copied on the stone tablet of the tomb of Saints Dionysius and Aurelius. Mommsen thought that Valerio gave the epigram not from the stone but "from some notes or other" C. I. L. V, p. 620, at n. 7.; Rossi judges it a genuine transcript from the stone Inscriptiones christianae Urbis Romae, vol. II, p. 179, at n. 7.. Whether the stone could have been seen by Valerio, who died an octogenarian in the year 1651, is doubtful, since after the relics were translated into the cathedral church in the year 1528, the church of Saint Dionysius itself was destroyed in the year 1549. He must be judged to have had Castelli's notes, or others very like them, in his hands.

A = That of Andrea Alciato († 1550), in the codex of the Dresden library I, fol. 152, from which Mommsen brought out the epigram [C. I. L., V, p. 620, n. 7. Alciato had also been followed by I. P. Puricelli, De SS. Martyribus Arialdo Alciato et Herlembaldo Cotta (Milan, 1657), p. 482.]. Alciato noted these things: "In the underground chapel of St. Dionysius, which is in the suburb of the eastern gate, there stood an altar made of marble tablets, in which another very ancient chest kept the bones of the holy bishops, which in the last war were translated within the city, when the German soldiers had raged even against the chest itself. On it this poem is still read, after the consulship of our lord the divine Leo alone

inscribed: that was the year of public salvation 477." He then notes various things about the licence taken in the name of Dionysius. He himself, however, used the greatest licence when he brought the poem into line with the laws of stricter grammar and metre, which in fact he corrupted, as will be clear from the variant readings. Whence it matters little whether, as Rossi judged Ibid., cf. De Rossi, Inscriptiones, vol. II, p. 176; vol. I, pp. 380–81., he saw the stone or not. From C, therefore, the inscription is to be brought out, with the variant readings of the others noted.

DEPOSVIT CORPVS TVMVLO SED LAVDE PERENNIS

AVRELIVS PENETRANS REGNA BEATA POLI Aurelius coeli regna beata petit A. Aurelius laid down his body in the tomb, but, everlasting in praise, he enters the blessed realms of heaven;

QVI MORTEM VICIT MERITIS MVNDVMQVE RELINQVENS

IMMENSVM CHRISTI POSSIDET IMPERIVM

CVIVS VT AGNOSCAS SANCTAE PRAECONIA VITAE

CONSORTIS LECTOR RESPICE FATA VIRI respice et acta viri A. That you may know the praises of his holy life, reader, look upon the fate of the man who was his companion.

AMBO PARI LVCIS CLAVSERVNT TEMPORE METAM

MEMBRAQVE DIONYSIO [membra Dionysio A.] IVNXIT AMICA PAPAE

PROMPTA SACERDOTIS LACRYMAS MENS IVVIT invit V. ORANTIS sacerdotis mens ut iuvet exoranteis A.

HANC IDEO TABVLAM OBTVLIT [detulit A.] EVSEBIA

AVRELIVS CIVITATIS RIDITIONIS EPISCOPVS

HAC [hic eo A.] DIE POSITVS QVO ETIAM PONTIFEX SANCTVS [sanctiss. A.]

CONFESSORQVE DIONYSIVS POST CONSOL(ATVM)

DOMNI N(OSTRI) DIVI [domin divi A.] LEONIS IVNIORIS

[Aurelius, bishop of the city of Riditio, laid here on the day on which the holy pontiff and confessor Dionysius also was, after the consulship of our lord the divine Leo the Younger.]

[3] wrongly understood. The meaning of this inscription, whose phrasing is somewhat obscure, seems plain enough. Aurelius, bishop of Riditio, which is an unknown see, died among the Milanese in the year 475, on the very anniversary of the death of St. Dionysius, and was laid near his tomb. A pious woman, Eusebia, mindful of a benefit granted to her prayers by Aurelius, set up the inscription to him. The Milanese hagiographers of a later age who wrote the deeds of St. Dionysius understood the matter otherwise. Plainly neglecting the indication of time, they supposed that Aurelius had been joined in friendship with Dionysius, that the holy man had been received by him as an exile in his city of Riditio, and that after his death he was brought back to his own people BHL. 2168, n. 25, 26.. There are also those who think that both were buried at Milan on one day: Finally the bishop Aurelius, venerable in virtue, became also the companion of his obsequies, so that he who had been the sharer of his exile and passion might become his companion on the journey to the Lord BHL. 2169.. These things need no refutation, and it is not necessary to cite the letter of St. Basil on the return of the relics of St. Dionysius Epist. 197, P. G., vol. XXXII, pp. 709–713., since the times plainly conflict with one another. At the same time there vanishes the question, which has vexed the wits of many, of the episcopal see which St. Aurelius occupied in Armenia, a question born of the first error of the hagiographers. For since they knew that St. Dionysius had been banished to Cappadocia or Lesser Armenia, they consequently asserted that Riditio was situated in Armenia. Nor is it any wonder that it could not be found among the Armenian cities, and that Papebroch, who had not seen the inscription and read Arrecium for Riditio in his codices, thought in vain of Ariarathia Act. SS., May vol. VI, p. 41, no. 11., with Le Quien and others agreeing [Oriens christianus, vol. I, p. 452; Chastelain, Martyrologe Universel, p. 570: "S. Aurèle évêque d'Ariarathe aux confins d'Armenie et de Cappadoce." St. Aurelius, bishop of Ariarathia on the borders of Armenia and Cappadocia.]. Nor more happily Savio Gli antichi vescovi d'Italia, vol. II, p. 122., who preferred Reschdouni (which he thought a city of Greater Armenia, but which is in fact a district). All and each of these indeed busied themselves most diligently to unravel what cannot be unravelled. For the see of Aurelius is known by name alone, and by what route or for what cause he came from Riditio to Milan we are entirely ignorant.

[4] The writings of the Milanese hagiographers. On St. Aurelius we must listen to the celebrated Liber notitiae sanctorum Mediolani, which, treating both of Aurelius himself and of Dionysius, gathered not a few useful things. And indeed, as is its custom, it begins by enumerating the churches dedicated to the saint [M. Magistretti - U. Monneret de Villard, Liber notitiae sanctorum Mediolani (Milan, 1917), p. 42. Cf. Anal. Boll., vol. XXXIX, p. 164.].

Record of the churches of Saint Aurelius. Of Saint Aurelius, confessor and bishop of the city of Reicium, the feast is at the altar of the monastery of Saint Dionysius, with whom he lies.

Likewise he has a church at the place called the holy sepulchre at Bribia.

Likewise he has a church in the borough of Stationa.

Then follows:

Record of Saint Aurelius.

Blessed Aurelius was the companion of Saint Dionysius, preaching in Cappadocia and Armenia. When Saint Dionysius had died in a certain place of confinement in Cappadocia, his body was brought by Saint Aurelius to blessed Ambrose, and the said blessed Ambrose buried him at the place Cassianum on the Adda [Otherwise Cassianum Adue, ibid., p. 102. That is, Cassano d'Adda, in the present province of Milan, 26 km distant from this city.] with all reverence. Then blessed Aurelius came to Milan, where he lived 〈at〉 the church of the Saviour and of the Prophets, which was dedicated on the sixth day of March. Our God and Lord, willing to honour and magnify with ineffable reward, with many prizes and many honours, so great and so magnificent a pontiff Aurelius, as a veteran soldier much triumphing in the warfare of his Lord and subduing, commanded him on the ninth day of November to go forth from the prison of the flesh to eternal glory, thronged by the angelic choirs. This St. Aurelius, with pontifical humility and priestly charity, venerable in virtue, companion 〈at〉 the obsequies of St. Dionysius, so that he who had been the sharer of his exile and preaching might become his companion on the journey to the Lord Above, no. 3, from BHL. 2169.. Truly he is to be praised with worthy proclamation and to be exalted, magnified and preached in intercourse. From the time he went to Christ the Lord works daily through him such miracles that no tongue of flesh suffices to utter them. Therefore a manifold number of signs commends the admirable life of blessed Aurelius, our Lord reigning.

Treating of St. Dionysius, it adds these things about Aurelius Liber notitiae sanctorum Mediol., p. 102.:

Dionysius was destined to exile in Armenia, in the city of Reitium … Afterwards the relics of his body, received by St. Aurelius, bishop of Reitium (sic), blessed Ambrose laid up with worthy honour at Cassianum on the Adda. Then peace was restored to the church. Blessed Aurelius died among the Milanese and was buried in the church of the Saviour, which blessed Ambrose built in honour of the saints of the Old Testament. Likewise in the year of the Lord 1023 the venerable archbishop of Milan Heribert made the monastery of Saint Dionysius, where he translated his body, together with Saint Aurelius, on the eighth day before the Kalends of March, into the upper altar; below is the altar of the prophets.

In these things true and false are heaped together confusedly, yet so that you will find there whatever was handed down about St. Aurelius by the Milanese in the 13th century. That St. Dionysius was buried at Cassano d'Adda, as they say [Act. SS., May vol. VI, pp. 42–43. Our Papebroch had received the traditions of Cassano "reverently and indulgently".], is beyond doubt to be relegated to fables; and that the sacred relics were at once translated by a direct route to Milan [I. A. Saxius, Archiepiscoporum Mediolanensium series historico-chronologica, vol. I (Milan, 1755), p. 69.], and that in the same place in the following century the body of St. Aurelius was laid, cannot be called into doubt. Of a translation under Heribert, however, there is no trace. For he established the monastery at the ancient church in which the bodies of the saints were resting.

[5] The beginnings of the veneration of St. Aurelius. From the inscription alone you would scarcely establish that St. Aurelius was venerated at Milan as a saint, not by Eusebia alone, but publicly. For nothing has been handed down about the beginnings of his cult. The Salzburg Itinerary lists him among the saints: There is also in another place beside the city of Milan… in one church, on the right side, there rest Valeria, mother of Saints Gervase and Protase, St. Dionysius, martyr, St. Aurelius, martyr De Rossi, Roma Sotterranea, vol. I, p. 140.. He believed him a martyr, or named him so carelessly; that it is not another Aurelius but this our own is made plain from the association with St. Dionysius. That the inscription was seen by the writer is probable, which may have been enough for him to judge Aurelius a saint. Certainly in the 11th century Aurelius was held in equal honour with Dionysius. For in the year 1023, as the Lesser Annals of Milan have it, Heribert, archbishop of Milan, built the monastery of Saint Dionysius M. G., Scr., vol. XVIII, p. 393., whose foundation he confirms by a diploma in this manner: I, Aribert, by the infinite mercy of almighty God archbishop of the Ambrosian church, for the salvation of my soul and also of the great H(enry), emperor augustus, and of the faithful of the whole city, living and dead, have arranged to bring under a rule and to order as a monastery, by the apostolic authority of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, the church in which rest the sacred bodies of the most blessed confessors Dionysius and Aurelius, with all that it now has or shall have… but the clerics who now hold an obedience in the same church I wish to be left undisturbed [I. P. Puricelli, De sanctis martyribus Arialdo Alciato et Herlembaldo Cotta (Milan, 1657), p. 485.]. And in the testament which he made in the year 1034 he bequeathed to the abbot and monks of the monastery of the holy confessors Dionysius and Aurelius, which I have newly built for the remedy of my soul, thirty solidi [Puricelli, Ambrosiane Mediolani basilicae ac monasterii monumenta (Milan, 1645), p. 370.].

[6] The Milanese translations At that time, therefore, the body of St. Aurelius was still believed to rest in the church of Saint Dionysius, nor was there any memory of the translation of the relics into Germany by the work of Notting, bishop of Vercelli, about the year 830. Of this translation, unjustly called into doubt by some, we shall soon have to treat. Certainly at the beginning of the 16th century, when the church of Saint Dionysius had been deserted through the calamity of the times, the relics both of St. Dionysius and of St. Aurelius were translated into the cathedral church, of which Francesco Castelli left a testimony. 1538, in the year 1538 on Friday, the first of March, note that on the day written above were laid the bodies of St. Dionysius, archbishop of Milan, and of Aurelius, bishop in the parts of Armenia, behind the high altar of the church of Milan, near the tomb of St. Galdinus, namely towards the southern sacristy, in the presence of the Rev. lord Giovanni Maria Tonso, archiepiscopal vicar Of Ippolito II d'Este, archbishop of Milan., and of the whole chapter and the officials of the church and a great multitude of the people of Milan: of which an instrument was requested from the respectable lords Giovanni Giorgio Castano, Giovanni Pietro Bernadigio, Giovanni Giacomo Moltena and Girolamo Seregni, public notaries of Milan, in the year and on the day written above. And so I, Francesco Castelli, ordinary of the church of Milan, who was present at all the aforesaid, have written this for the future memory of the event [I. A. Saxius, Archiepiscoporum Mediolanensium series historico-chronologica, vol. I (Milan, 1755), p. 72.].

[7] and in the year 1575. When the same relics and many others in various

places in the cathedral, St. Charles Borromeo judged, had not been laid up seemly enough, he laid them up in the altar of the underground church, in the year 1575 G. P. Giussano, Vita di S. Carlo Borromeo (Rome, 1610), p. 325.. Present was Carlo Bascapè, afterwards bishop of Novara, who had read Trithemius on the translation of the body into Germany and copies out his narrative. To which he adds: What he says, that the relics of St. Aurelius were translated from Milan, is not to be taken of all of them, but only of a part; for a part remained at Milan in the greater church, where we saw the head and certain other relics Historiae eccl. Mediolanen. Caroli episcopi Novarien (Novara, 1615), p. 79.. By what right he believed those to be relics of St. Aurelius which he testifies he saw, the distinguished man does not reveal. That in one porphyry vessel the body of St. Dionysius was once laid together with the body of St. Aurelius, which was afterwards assigned to keeping the baptismal water of the metropolitan basilica, Puricelli relates on the authority of Francesco Castelli In P. P. Bosca, Martyrologium Mediolanensis ecclesiae (Milan, 1695), p. 134..

[8] Commemoration. The name of St. Aurelius is not lacking in the Ambrosian calendar of the canonry of Valtravaglia on the fifth day before the Ides of November M. Magistretti, Manuale Ambrosianum, vol. I (Milan, 1905), p. 194., nor in Beroldus: Of St. Aurelius, bishop, at St. Dionysius [Id., Beroldus sive ecclesiae Ambrosianae kalendarium et ordines (Milan, 1904), p. 13.], nor in the litanies Id., Manuale Ambrosianum, op. cit., p. 159.. He seems, however, to have had no office before the times of St. Charles Borromeo (1588), who ordered it to be made from the common of pontiffs. In the Ambrosian breviary of the year 1635 he has a proper third lesson. His commemoration is still inscribed in the Ambrosian calendar.

§ II. On the cult of St. Aurelius among the people of Hirsau.

[9] The Lives of St. Aurelius, That in the times of the emperor Louis the body of St. Aurelius was carried into Alemannia by Notting, bishop of Vercelli, and laid up at Hirsau in a church of his name, various monuments testify. And in the first place are to be listed the Lives of St. Aurelius, of which the first is anonymous and excels the rest in antiquity BHL. 819.. The second was written by Williram, abbot of Ebersberg BHL. 820., from which Abbot Trithemius made a third, much shorter BHL. 821..

first the earlier anonymous one, The anonymous Life we publish from four codices.

S = Codex of the Stuttgart library (Landesbibliothek) HB. XIV. 13, formerly of Weingarten, parchment, written at the beginning of the 10th century. A Passional of the saints from the Kalends of January to the Kalends of July, to which is added, fol. 237v–242: the Life of St. Aurelius, confessor, renewed from the authentic, and the narrative of the exaltation of the Holy Cross, which was read on the same day, that is, the 18th before the Kalends of October. A prologue is prefixed to the Life. The codex was diligently examined, and the Life of Aurelius collated with our first edition, by Fr. E. Munding [Das Verzeichnis des St. Galler Heiligenleben und ihrer Handschriften in codex Sangall. n° 566 (Beuron, 1918), pp. 68–75, 162–66.]. The codex is not the best, and here and there needs emendation.

H = Codex of the library of the abbey of Heiligenkreuz (Sancrucensis) 13, parchment, written in the 12th century Anal. Boll., vol. XVII, p. 28.. It is part of the great Austrian legendary, comprising the months of July, August, September. Fol. 226–227: Life of St. Aurelius, to be read on 14 September.

L = Codex of the library of the abbey of Lilienfeld (Campililiensis) 60, parchment, written in the 13th century Anal. Boll., vol. XVII, p. 29.. Part of the same legendary, comprising the same months, and fol. 233–234, the Life of Aurelius.

M = Codex of the library of the abbey of Melk (Mellicensis) M. 7, parchment, written in the 15th century Anal. Boll., vol. XVII, p. 34.. It contains September and October of the same legendary, and fol. 72–74: the Life of St. Aurelius.

H, L, M lack the prologue, and have their own readings, which we note at the foot of the page where they do not manifestly emend codex S. In the same codices the passage, ch. 12, is omitted, where the writer girds himself to narrate the miracles of St. Aurelius, yet brings forward none. The anonymous writer promises that he will emend an older Life, which has perished. It was perhaps received from the Milanese; for if you except the commonplaces about his youth, our hagiographer is almost wholly occupied in narrating the Life of St. Dionysius and the Arian upheaval, using here and there the Ecclesiastical History of Rufinus. What he brings forward about the body of St. Dionysius carried back by Aurelius to Italy, and about the death and burial of Aurelius himself, flows beyond doubt from Milanese tradition. He adds a short history of the translation into Alemannia, to which he was thinking to join miracles, which he seems never to have done.

[10] then the second by Williram, The second Life, which is owed to Williram, and which apart from the prologue and the close is unpublished, is found in these codices.

B = Codex of Münster, University Library 23, formerly of Böddeken, parchment, written in the 15th century Anal. Boll., vol. XXVII, p. 318.. The month of September of the great Böddeken legendary. Fol. 83–85v: Life of St. Aurelius, bishop, at the 14th. Fr. Heinrich Prümm S. J. collated it for us. From the same codex we have a Bollandian transcript, sent in by Fr. Johannes Gamans, in the codex of the Royal Library of Brussels 8936–38, fol. 92, of the prologue only, however.

Z = Codex of the Stuttgart library Fol. 58, formerly of Zwiefalten, parchment, written in the 12th century [G. Waitz, in Archiv für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, vol. XI, p. 269; W. Levison, in M.G., Scr. rer. Merov., p. 682.]. Fol. 36–38v: Life of St. Aurelius, bishop and confessor, which is without the prologue. It was collated by the already mentioned Fr. Heinrich Prümm.

T = Codex of Trier, City Library 454, formerly of Saint Maximin, parchment, written in the 13th century B. Krusch, in Neues Archiv, vol. XVIII, p. 622.. It is part of the Great Legendary of Trier, containing the month of May. Fol. 94–96: Life of St. Aurelius, bishop, with the prologue omitted. Fr. B. Van Acken S. J. collated it for us. From this codex we have a Bollandian transcript in the Brussels codex 8936–38, fol. 94–97v.

Williram († 1085), after his "trifles" on the Song of Songs [W. Scherer, Leben Willirams Abtes von Ebersberg in Baiern, in Sitzungsberichte der philos.-hist. Classe der k. Akademie, Vienna, vol. LIII (1867), pp. 197–303.], at the request of William, who was abbot of Hirsau from the year 1069, undertook to extend into the form of a booklet the Life of St. Aurelius comprised in a very small abridgement. He is certainly more prolix than the anonymous writer, yet that one is not so short that it could be designated as his very small little work. If these words are not said rhetorically, Williram used a Life contracted from the anonymous one, which related his chief deeds in the same order. All these he extended either from commonplaces or from ecclesiastical history and various booklets, such as the laudation of St. Eusebius of Vercelli P. L., vol. XVII, p. 720., adding addresses or homilies. The narrative of the translation is very short.

[11] and also a third written by Trithemius Trithemius, finally, confesses that he used the old history of St. Aurelius, which is Williram's booklet, in such a way that he changed "very many of the words indeed, but of the sentiments either nothing or little" Annales Hirsaugienses, vol. I (1690), p. 7.. He may have believed that he dealt moderately with Williram; in reality he very freely contracted, amplified and interpolated what was narrated, after his fashion. Aurelius, whom Williram had called an Armenian, he asserted was born in Germany; that both Armenias, Greater and Lesser, were brought to the Catholic faith by him together with Dionysius; that Aurelius was forewarned by St. Dionysius of his imminent death; that three years after him, on the eighth day before the Kalends of June, in the year of the Lord's nativity 383, in the 11th indiction of the Romans, he died; that at his obsequies St. Ambrose delivered a homily to the people, whose exordium was: "We have lost a brother and a most sweet shepherd, nay rather we have sent ahead a loving advocate": these and other smaller things he added. Nor does he omit to give a specimen of his learning, as when he asserts that the city Riditio or Rhediciana is now called Orsa, and tries to reconcile with his own the opinion of those who wrote that the relics of St. Dionysius were sent from Cappadocia by St. Basil: It is to be noted, therefore, that Cappadocia is altogether contiguous to Lesser Armenia, in which the city Rhediciana is found, and the one is often written for the other. And St. Basil, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, as better known, may have given letters of recommendation to Aurelius for Ambrose, and for that reason may have been seen by the people to have sent the body of blessed Dionysius the prelate to Milan Ibid., p. 9.. The close is: He was famous for innumerable miracles at Milan and at Vercelli together, which too great an interval of time has buried in foul oblivion. After his translation to Hirsau almost infinite miracles were wrought at his relics, which are partly had in writing and partly have passed into the oblivion of men Ibid., p. 10.. Of the miracles which were handed down in writing no trace survives.

[12] they consist of two parts. All the treatises written in Alemannia on St. Aurelius have two parts: one about his life, the other about the carrying away of the relics from Italy. And the first depends wholly on the epigraphic poem wrongly understood. What is brought forward from the ecclesiastical histories pertains to the deeds of Dionysius, by no means to Aurelius, who lived more than a whole century after Dionysius; the rest is plainly invented. It remains that an inquiry be undertaken into the latter part, or the translation.

[13] On the translation into Swabia. We must first set out what is related in the letter given by Henry IV on 9 October 1075 about Hirsau, called Saint Aurelius's Cell from our saint having been carried to that place. Let the diligence of all the faithful of the holy church of God, present and future, know that in our kingdom there is situated a certain regular monastery, namely in the province called Teutonic Francia, in the bishopric of Speyer, in the district called Wiringowa Würmgau., in the county of Ingirisheim Ingersheim., in the forest called Black, beside the river called Nagaltha Nagold., which is called Hirsau, or Saint Aurelius's Cell, where the same saint also rests in the body. This was built in the time of the pious king Louis in honour of St. Peter and St. Aurelius, bishop, and honourably dedicated to God by a certain Erlefred, a noble senator and religious man, and by Notting his son, most reverend bishop of Vercelli, and by other kinsfolk of Adalbert, count of the castle of Calw, but afterwards it was dissipated by their descendants Wirttembergisches Urkundenbuch, vol. I (Stuttgart, 1849), p. 276..

[14] The Hirsau codex. In the so-called Hirsau codex, which is now kept in the Stuttgart archive [E. Schneider edited it, in Württembergische Geschichtsquellen, vol. I, Stuttgart, 1887. Cf. M. G., Scr., vol. XIV, p. 254.], the foundation of the monastery is narrated in two places, and first at the beginning of the book, fol. 2–3v: at what time the body of St. Aurelius was translated from Italy. This treatise, BHL. 822, which the Saxon Annalist seems to have used in the 12th century M. G., Scr., vol. III, p. 45., we shall give below. At fol. 25–25v of the same codex similar things are brought forward, and the chief donations of Erlefred are enumerated. The one who wrote this also mentions Pope Leo, uncle of Adalbert, count of Calw, who had the privilege of the monastery presented to him, and having read the letter and learned the truth, charged this same nephew of his, under threat of divine vengeance, to be zealous without delay to reform the monastic religion Schneider, op. cit., p. 25.. Some have denied that these are the true beginnings of the monastery of Hirsau [Let one be cited for the rest, A. Helmsdörfer, Forschungen zur Geschichte des Abtes Wilhelm von Hirschau (Göttingen, 1874), pp. 106–115, with whom G. Waitz agrees in M. G., Scr., vol. XIV, p. 254.]; they contended that the whole history of the translated body was invented in later years, that, in short, no Notting, bishop of Vercelli, ever lived, and that the first foundations of the monastery were laid not in the 9th century but in the middle of the 11th, when Pope Leo IX came (in the year 1049). These things are easily refuted [P. Weizsäcker, Urgeschichte des Klosters Hirsau, in Württembergische Vierteljahrshefte, vol. XXIII (1914), pp. 229–41. Cf. also E. Dümmler, Geschichte des Ostfränkischen Reiches, 2nd ed., vol. III, p. 655.]: for Aurelius is already inscribed in the Reichenau calendar of the 9th century at 14 September Act. SS., Nov. vol. II., p. [120; cf. p. XXXIV.], and the older Life was written in the 9th century, as is established from the very age of the principal codex; moreover it seems to have been read by Notker [Canisius-Basnage, Thesaurus monumentorum, vol. II, 3, p. 132: "in the same tomb with St. Dionysius, as they had agreed in life, (he was) buried."]. And of that church, spacious indeed but built without the support of columns, traces have recently been uncovered [Weizsäcker, op. cit., p. 239; A. Mettler, Die beiden romanischen Münster in Hirsau und verwandte Kirchenbauten in Württemberg, in Württembergische Vierteljahrshefte, vol. XXIV (1915), p. 67.]. Nor is there any reason for doubting about Notting, bishop of Vercelli. For in the letter which they assert was given by the emperor Charles III on 16 March of the year 882, there is confirmed to the church of Vercelli the possession of the bridge which Notting, bishop of the same church of Vercelli, wonderfully received by law by riding over it [Böhmer-Mühlbacher, Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter den Karolingern, 2nd ed., n. 1635.]. The opinion of the experts is that it has been tampered with. But since this was done in favour of the church of Vercelli, it is certain that the name of the bishop was not drawn from outside the series of the Vercelli bishops, which was well enough known. And if we recall the customs of that age, and the so many bodies of saints carried across the Christian world with or against the consent of bishops, we shall not wonder that the archbishop of Milan could have handed over the bones of St. Aurelius to Notting without the citizens' knowledge. And indeed the people of Hirsau were persuaded that they had the entire body of St. Aurelius. For when, on 7 March 1557, Catholic worship having been suppressed at Hirsau, the relics were carried to Castle Zimmern, Count Wilhelm Werner writes that he received: der gantz leyb sancti Aurelij des Hayligen Bischofs the whole body of St. Aurelius, the holy bishop In F. J. Mone, Quellensammlung der badischen Landesgeschichte, vol. II, p. 136.. I know indeed that the Milanese, long after the relics had been carried off, found them again [C. D. Christmann, Geschichte des Klosters Hirschau (Tübingen, 1782), pp. 11–14. Cf. above, p. 130, nos. 6, 7.]. If these truly are St. Aurelius's, Notting must have been deceived and have taken away the bones of another.

[15] Trithemius. The foundation of the monastery of Hirsau was also narrated by Trithemius, who used, so far as one may suspect, no other documents Ann. Hirsaug., vol. I (St. Gallen, 1690), pp. 1–3.. He embellishes the whole matter after the manner of hagiographers, and adds miracles of which there is no trace in the sources, for instance a twofold vision of St. Aurelius, and the miracle of a blind man given light. That the people of Vercelli were deceived by the bishop is read in Trithemius alone. He also noted in the Annals very many things about the history of the relics of St. Aurelius, which are to be received not without caution [What Godfrey of Viterbo tells as a fable about Hirsau, M. G., Scr., vol. XXII, p. 247, is foreign to our purpose. Cf. H. Bresslau, Jahrbücher des deutschen Reichs unter Konrad II, vol. II, p. 523.].

In the year 891: "Abbot Herderad, hearing that the Northmen had regained their strength, and fearing their future coming to the parts of the Rhine, as afterwards happened, and afraid lest they should destroy the place of St. Aurelius too at Hirsau, as they had done before with many other monasteries, following the wise counsel of the brethren made an underground vault in the church, in which he hid the body of the most holy prelate Aurelius, with a tablet containing an inscription of his name and dignity, with such subtlety that no mortal could at all perceive that anything had been laid up in that place Trithemius, p. 42.."

In the year 1050, or rather 1049: Leo IX, supreme pontiff, orders the relics once hidden to be sought; in his presence they found "the bones of the most holy prelate Aurelius wrapped in silk cloths and arranged in order in the manner of a human body, and at the head a leaden tablet containing this: The body of St. Aurelius, bishop, laid here in the time of King Arnulf under Abbot Harderad Ibid., p. 189.."

In the year 1091 the basilica of SS. Peter and Paul is consecrated Ibid., p. 292.. From the Hirsau codex, which notes that relics both of other saints and of St. Aurelius were deposited in the high altar Schneider, op. cit., pp. 21, 23; M. G., vol. XIV, p. 261.. That relics of him were enclosed in the altar of St. Nicholas in the year 1448, and in the altar of the oratory of All Saints in the year 1487 Schneider, op. cit., pp. 23, 24., Trithemius omitted.

In the year 1488, on 31 July, Abbot Blasius, "raising his sacred bones from the tomb, lest they should rot from excessive damp, placed them with the greatest piety in a drier and more seemly place Ann. Hirsaug., vol. II, p. 523.."

In the year 1498, on 31 July, Abbot Blasius "opened the tomb of St. Aurelius the pontiff, took out his bones with great reverence and showed them to the brethren to behold; then, (Mass)… having been celebrated, he laid the sacred remains back in the crypt behind the high altar, where they had lain before, the place having been cleansed and more beautifully adorned Ibid., p. 572.." I suspect that the same recognition of the relics is recorded by Trithemius in two places.

1502: there was consecrated by Conrad, bishop of Nicopolis, vicar in pontificals of the bishop of Metz, an altar in honour of St. Aurelius Ibid., p. 594..

[16] The translation in the year 1557. About the middle of the 16th century, the religion in Württemberg having been changed, the sacred body was removed from Hirsau. In the year 1557, on 7 March, it was translated to Castle Herrenzimmern Above, p. 132, no. 14., and in the year 1594 to Hechingen [A. Sulger, Annales imperialis monasterii Zwifaltensis, vol. II (Augsburg, 1698), p. 348.], and from there, on the 1st of April of the year 1690, to the monastery of Zwiefalten Ibid., p. 345.. "There was at once, from the first days after this saint was obtained by us," so the Zwiefalten Annalist, "a running to him of many suffering in the head or brain, who asked that liturgies of him be read for them and the sacred relics laid on them. And rightly; for that St. Aurelius was accustomed even long ago to lend a helping hand against infirmities of this kind we have learned from a tablet of ancient script and half-torn work, which was brought to us together with the sacred bones of the saint and was once written at Hirsau, inasmuch as there was inscribed on it in the vernacular tongue an antiphon with a prayer to God for averting, in regard of this holy pontiff, infirmities of head, body and soul; and this so pious supplication was printed for the use of the faithful and the increase of the cult of St. Aurelius and published among the people. Indeed, from the very front of the sacred skull, which appears more worn than the other parts of the cranium, it is to be gathered that this head was first exposed at Hirsau for public veneration separately from the body, was worn away by the frequent kisses, touchings and rubbing of rosaries of those seeking help, and was doubtless customarily laid on the sick heads of suppliants Ibid., pp. 345–46.." Long before, however, the monks of Zwiefalten had received relics of the holy bishop, for among the sacred treasures which were sent back to them in the year 1656 is counted an arm bone of St. Aurelius, bishop, formerly received from Prince Eitel Friedrich, lord of Zollern and Hechingen. Today in the church of Zwiefalten there is an altar sacred to St. Aurelius, in which his head is believed to be kept [O. Hafner, in Studien und Mitteilungen aus dem Benedictiner- und Cistercienser-Orden, vol. XVI (1895), p. 430, no. 3.]. In the catalogues of relics of Schaffhausen and St. Gallen the name of St. Aurelius is inscribed Which the distinguished E. A. Stückelberg wrote back to us..

I. THE EARLIER LIFE OF ST. AURELIUS

Aurelius, bishop of Riditio. (S.)

From the codices of the Stuttgart library HB. XIV. 13 (= S), of the Heiligenkreuz library 13 (= H), of the Lilienfeld library 60 (= L), of the Melk library (= M). Cf. Preliminary Commentary, no. 7.

Life of St. Aurelius, confessor, renewed from the authentic Vita S. Aurelii episcopi M; eodem die Aur. ep. H; lemma omits L..

[1] Prologue. The glory of holiness and the mighty works of miracles which Christ has deigned to show forth in His saints to the praise and glory of His name resound through almost the whole world, and the whole Catholic mother church exults over them. Of these quarum S. some, set down in writing by the labours of the Catholic fathers, remain preserved for the benefit of readers through countless ages, unshaken and unimpaired; but others, and, if I may so say, countless ones, have either been wholly crushed by silence, or, if perhaps brought forth in writing, have been published in such rustic usage that they bring the curious reader weariness rather than any profit. And of these quarum S., because very many have been corrupted by the fault of the writers, if the shrewd industry of perceptive men had been applied, examined with true reasoning and watchful care, they could, Christ being gracious, have been so drawn to the line of the right path that they would not stray far from the true and straight road. I have set these things forth for this reason, that I was lately asked by certain brethren to renew the life of St. Aurelius, confessor of Christ, which also in some such manner as we said before,

has been torn apart and corrupted not only in the composition of the words but also of the senses, I should begin with diligence to emend; which obedience I embraced with willing mind, trusting in the mercy of almighty God, because, the grace of Christ our Lord going before and the merits of His confessor supporting us, we strive so to correct the words which we have found in his deeds at variance in their cases or even discordant with the correct manner of speaking corrected, earlier loquendo S., that we may in no way incur the knot of faultiness and the charge of falsehood.

[2] St. Aurelius an Armenian. Blessed here H, L, M begin. Aurelius, then, was born and brought up in the province of Armenia [Those who devised these things wrongly interpreted the Milanese inscription. Preliminary Commentary n. 3, 4.]. For we believe without doubt that the nurture of his youth, which arrived at so happy a goal, was of the best. But quae H, L, M. because these things had not been inserted in our memory by any indication of writing, we pass them over in silence, recalling only those things which we have learned of the summit of his episcopate ep. ipsius apice H, L, M. or of the contest which he waged against the most perverse partly corrected above the line S. sect of the Arian heresy together with the rest who at that time qui earlier quid, tunc corrected above the line S. are known as invincible warriors of Christ earlier invicti modo nec, corrected: invicti experti sumus S.; and since we cannot set out clearly the deeds of this same holy man and the contests waged at that same time by the others for the faith of Christ Christi fide H, L, M. unless we try to unravel for the sagacity of the reader some indications of that same heresy, we shall take care to commit to memory a few things ideoque H, L, M. about the beginning of that same heresy, and also about its most fervent persecution.

[3] The Arian heresy In the times, then itaque H, L, M., of Constantine, the most Christian emperor, there arose at Alexandria a certain priest named Arius, who omits S. began to put forth certain depraved things about the faith of Christ Christi fide H, L, M., and omits H, L, M. such as had never before come into question; for he tried, namely omits S., to cut off and separate the Son from that eternal and ineffable substance or nature of the Godhead. This matter disturbed very many in the church in ecclesia plurimos H, L, M.. But when Alexander, bishop of the same city, desired by very many admonitions to call him back from his depraved undertaking, and the matter in no way turned out for him as he wished, and he had learned that very many had already etiam H, L, M. been corrupted by him, not only there but also through other cities, believing it would be pernicious if he concealed such things, he informs indicare H, L, M. very many fellow priests et sacerdotibus H, L, M. of the matter; and as the question became more widely known innotesceret M., word reached even the ears of the religious prince. Then tunc H, L, M. he, on the advice of the priests, convokes an episcopal council at the city of Nicaea Nixam H, L.; there he orders Arius (ibi Arrium) omits L. to be present, with three hundred and eighteen bishops sitting, and judgment to be given on his propositions and questions que adds a corrector L.. under Constantine; And when his assertions had been discussed in long debate, and it was sought with the greatest weighing what ought to be held or decreed against them omits L., after assiduous and very frequent debate it pleases all added above the line L., and as with one mouth and heart of all it is decreed that homoousion ought to be written omoysion L, M., that is, that the Son be confessed of the same substance with the Father; this is confirmed by the most firm sentence of all. The sentence of the priestly council is brought to Constantine. He venerates it as uttered by God. If any should try to resist it, he declares that he will at once drive them into exile exilio S.. Only six, therefore, suffer themselves to be expelled together with Arius; and thus the Catholic faith remained unshaken almost until the end of Constantine's life. But afterwards, devilish frauds stealing in, through a certain priest favouring the party of Arius the same heresy (eadem haer.) omits S. began to sprout pululare S. sharply again. Because it is long to unfold this in so short a little work corrected, earlier oposculo S., we omit it and try to return to that for the sake of which we began to narrate this account. If corrected, earlier sed S., however, anyone desires to know anything omits H, L, M. of this more fully, let him take the trouble to run through the tenth book of the Ecclesiastical History [On these and the following, read Rufinus, Hist. eccles., X; Sulpicius Severus, Chronic. II, 39.]

[4] after Constantine. After the death, then, of Constantine Augustus, when the supreme power summam H, L. was handed over tradider ///nt H; tradider L. to his sons, the most shameful sect which quod L, and above the line adds ut. we named above, raising its head as it were from the underworld with viperous seed, stained the face of the church with foul filth conluuiae S; colluvione H, L, M.. And when, after many things which it would be very long to unfold, Arius, recalled from exile, breathed out his spirit at Constantinople by a most shameful death, nonetheless, the wicked sect growing stronger invalescente L. every day, many of the saints were thrust into exile. At which time also Liberius, pope of the city of Rome, although soon recalled by order of the princes, was nevertheless delivered to exile. And because this same idem H, L, M. apostolic man, God being gracious, stood upon the most stable stabillimo S; stabilissima H. foundation in the firmness of the faith, we believe that the sentence which Christ had promised to the apostle Peter was confirmed in him: Behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as quasi L, M. wheat. Luke 22, 31. But I have prayed for thee pro te rogavi H, L, M., that thy faith fail not; and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren.

[5] The council of Milan. At that omits L. time, then, when the devilish whirlwind was staining maculavit H, L, M. the church with so foul a contagion, by the prince's principum H, L, M. order the Western corrected, earlier occidentalis S. bishops too began to be worn down into consent to the Arian omits S. heresy, and on account of this a council of bishops is assembled at Milan Mediolanum H, L, M., and several were deceived by the same faithlessness. But Dionysius omits H, L, M., Eusebius, Paulinus, Rhodanius and omits L. Lucifer, proclaiming that there was a fraud in the business, were thrust into exile. To these Hilary also was joined. Of these Dionysius Dionysius H, L, M and so onward., bishop of Milan, having been very greatly worn down by injuries, was at last delivered into the hands of the lictors, led away into the province of Armenia Armoeniam S; est adds H, L, M., and there banished religatus S. to a certain city, which is called Reditio [That the city of Riditio was situated in Armenia the hagiographers unskilfully deduced from the epitaph of Aurelius. Preliminary Commentary n. 3.]. St. Dionysius an exile It happened, to the great glory of Christ, that blessed Aurelius was vigorously governing that same church in the office of bishop at the very time when fervid violence, by order of the princes, drove blessed Dionysius, firmly standing in defence of the Catholic faith, from his own see and joined him, as one banished religatum S. to the territories of the province of Armenia Armoenie S., to the citizens of the aforesaid town.

[6] he is received by Aurelius. At length, when corrected, earlier vir L. the most happy priest of Christ Dei L. Aurelius heard of the arrival of the servant of God coming there omits L., he at once hastened to him with the greatest eagerness for the sake of visiting him. And when the athletes of Christ had begun to greet each other with the sweetest converse of life, amid mutual embraces they could not nequiverant S. restrain their tears for joy. For the same man Aurelius was so wholly filled, by the grant of Christ's grace, with the knowledge of the divine Scriptures, and so covered with the strong defence of the shield of Christian faith and the helmet of hope, that he afforded no entrance whatever de adds L. to the wolves lying in wait and desiring to plunder the sheepfold of Christ, although at that time the mad cruelty of the Arians was raging most of all maxima H, L, M.. But the strength tortitudo S. of the perverse perverse S. dogma prevailed nothing against the holy man, because he kept inviolate in his most pure heart the faith omits S. which the Catholic sancti adds H, L, M. fathers sanctioned in the most religious council of Nicaea con. Nic. H, L, M., and all que omits M. whom he found to be in any ullo H, L, M. way opposed to sound doctrine he strove to overcome vel vincere H, L, M. by the most firm assertion of the truth and by the authority of the divine utterances taken from the pages of both testaments, with the fullest reasoning; he had also, nonetheless, promised with stern threatening the most dreadful punishment plenam L and H before correction of Gehenna that would follow for those persisting in so (in tam) vitam L. depraved an obstinacy. O wonderful and ineffable dispensation dispositio L. of the supernal loving-kindness, which, to convict and overcome the depravity of the perverse, always binds together conectit S. in the minds of the elect a unanimous concord in faith and et H, L, M. love. For by such and so omits L. indissoluble a bond of charity were the priests of Christ, the most blessed Aurelius and Dionysius, joined in the love of the Saviour, that, persisting days and nights with untiring course in the praises of God and heavenly hymns, none of the faithful doubted that Christ dwelt in their hearts facerent adds another hand in H. and that they were the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit Sp. sancti H, L, M..

[7] Each shines with miracles. And now the fame of the virtue of the blessed prelates shone forth so greatly that, in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, they conferred on very many sick people, held by various sicknesses, the remedy medellam S. of their former health. And whoever had been communicants of the sacred Body and Blood of Christ consecrated by their hands, were thereafter free from every infirmity which they had previously felt in themselves sibimet H, L, M.. Finally, for some courses of years they shone with such wonderful and such illustrious denique tam miris tq. pr. per al. ann. curricula H, L, M. miracles, that all the provinces round about hastened to run together, and the mouths of very many burst forth in the praises of the Saviour, because He had destined such perfect and such wonderful craftsmen of heavenly medicine for the province of Armenia.

[8] They desire a common burial. Among the other miracles wrought at that time by the servants of Christ there is said to have been a certain wonderful compact between the fellow soldiers of Christ, that quatinus H, L, M. wherever, by the disposition of divine providence, they should send their spirit ahead to heaven premittente L., there illuc S. the earth too should cover their illorum H, L, M. bodies together, so that those whose hearts burned continually in the love on high with undivided charity, their dead bones too should in no way be separated in the tomb [St. Aurelius was laid in the place where St. Dionysius had already been resting, it is said, for more than a whole century. Preliminary Commentary n. 3.]. It happened, meanwhile, that, sickness falling upon him, blessed Dionysius felt sentisse H, L, M. through the spirit that his death was approaching, and the end of his course and contest

had been completed; which omits S. he does not conceal from his most happy [felicissimum H, L, M (cf. n. 10 felicissimus confessor); et adds L, M, and before correction H.] fellow priest sacerdotem H, L, M.. But blessed Aurelius, feeling that he would be bereft of such a comfort, struck with immense grief corrected S. and mourning, is said to have watered his face abundantly with streams of tears. Blessed Dionysius, however, not unmindful of his former see, and remembering the citizens for whose sake he had borne so much, asked the most blessed man Aurelius that, if it could be done, the body of St. Dionysius his poor body ipsius adds S. should be delivered to burial at Milan. Blessed Aurelius made no objection eius nihil obiciebat H, L, M. to his petition, except that he was awaiting a suitable time expectabat oportunum S., when without any danger of the sea pelagique adds S. he might carry back so precious a treasure to the parts added above the line L. of Italy.

[9] by Aurelius Meanwhile, as he awaits praestulatur S. a favourable outcome for the journey, some years intervening, Christ deigned to show through His servant Aurelius such great and such wonderful miracles omits H, L, M. that day and night the throng of peoples running together and bringing que omits L, erased in H. their sick or those possessed by demons in no way ceased to flow in. For since all coming from every side had recognized in the most holy man the medicine of heavenly comfort, both in the health of bodies and also in the recovery of minds, the throng of the people conc. p. caterva H, L, M. hastened daily to run together to him as little children to the bosom of their mother. But the man full of God, although he was unceasingly bound obsisteret L. by such holy occupations, he is brought to Milan. yet in no way consigned to oblivion the petition of his most holy fellow priest. For at length, the heavenly dispensation dispositione H, L, M. directing, searching out a fit time for the journey, having given the sailors their fee, which they call naulum, and having wrapped the sacred little body in linen cloths and placed it on the ship sacrumque corpusculum linteis involutum S., with a most prosperous course que adds L., Christ leading, having crossed the sea, he reached the Italian shore, and from there by a most direct path came to Milan Mediolanum H, L, M.. Hearing this, the citizens of that city hastened to meet him with immense joy, rendering proclamations of praise to Christ omits H, L, M. that they had not been deprived of their own patron; and taking the little body of the most blessed priest, they placed it with the greatest reverence diligentia S. in a sarcophagus sarcophagum H, L, M..

[10] At the request of St. Ambrose At that time blessed Ambrose, Auxentius Auxientio S., bishop of the heretics, having died, was discharging the office of the pontificate episcopatus L. and vigorously governing the same church. And when the most blessed priest of Christ Aurelius, after the commendation of blessed Dionysius, wished to return to his fatherland, the above-mentioned pontiff blessed Ambrose would not give assent; rather, being a most eloquent man adorned with every flower of learning, he exhorted him with coaxing counsels and sweet suavisque S. conversations to remain with him. "Do not," he said, "brother, desert us nor abandon us. It is in your power enim adds H, L, M. to fulfil what you long ago pledged, that we who amid so many dangers of contrary tot adversariorum discrimina H, L, M. dogmas and the variety of different diversarum S. schisms have kept with equal mind one and the same unshaken rule gloriam L. of the Catholic faith fidei catholicae H, L, M., Aurelius stays at Milan; may likewise, so long as Christ commands, hasten to join conferre L, or conserere added above the line together mutuo H, L, M. the proclamations of the heavenly life and the utterances of the eternal kingdom, sweeter than honey, in the praise of the Creator." And the most happy confessor of Christ Aurelius, ardently embracing the admonition of the most blessed Ambrose as though uttered by the mouth of Christ, spent the small space that remained superest L. of this unstable life with blessed Ambrose, sending ahead to heaven days and nights of hymns and continual praises of God, with very frequent prayers orationes creberrimas H. [The hagiographer did not perceive that Ambrose died in the year 397, but Aurelius in the year 475.].

[11] By the wonderful omits H, L, M., then, dispensation of almighty God Dei omn. H, L, M. and by His ineffable providence the course of events came about, that what the holy prelates of God, dwelling in the territories of Armenia, had once agreed about the commendation of their bodies, this was unexpectedly inprovisu S. fulfilled in the parts of Italy. his body For when the course of the year had come round in the same circuit as when he had arrived venerat H, L, M. there, as the anniversary anniversarius H, L, M. and day of deposition depositionis H, L, M. of St. Dionysius, confessor of Christ c. Christi D. H, L, M., was at hand, on that very same day the falling asleep and the calling of St. Aurelius to the perpetual kingdom of Christ omits H, L, M. took place. And then que omits H, L, M. all doubt of those dwelling round about circum H, L, M. was cut off abscisa S. and all the belief of the believers omits H, L, M. was strengthened, so that they in no way doubted that the little bodies of those should be joined iungi H, L, M. he is laid near St. Dionysius; whose souls Christ had deigned to call to His kingdom and glory at one and the same time. In one mound, then, and one lap of the earth, yet in two mausoleums mausuleis S., the bodies of the holy confessors of Christ were laid with immense glory. O sublime merit of the saints, whom the grace of Christ so crowned, who enjoyed an equal faith fide fr. H, L, M. and cherished each other in the world with a common and untiring charity, and who parili H, M; pariter L., joined also in joy in the heavenly in cael. H, L, M. seat, enjoy the everlasting fellowship omits S. of the angels, and que omits H, L, M. to all who ask with whole faith they bestow benefits through their patronage to this day actenus S., our Lord Jesus Christ granting it, who with the eternal Father and the Holy Spirit lives omits S. and reigns for ever and ever. Amen (qui - amen) omits H..

The translation of the same.

[12] Nor do I think that this is to be kept silent about St. Aurelius, which we have recently omits H, L, M. learned about the translation of his body in the times of Louis Ludewici L, M; Luduwici H., the most Christian emperor On these, Preliminary Commentary n. 14.. by Notting, bishop of Vercelli For a certain enim H, L, M. bishop of Vercelli named Notting [On Notting, cf. F. Savio, Gli antichi vescovi d' Italia, vol. I, p. 443; above, Preliminary Commentary n. 14. There are those who think Notting of Constance (920–935) should be written for the bishop of Vercelli. Unhappily enough; nor does A. Hauck agree with them, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. II, 3rd and 4th ed., p. 822, who nevertheless remains doubtful about the ancient history of the monastery of Hirsau.] obtained the body of St. Aurelius from the archbishop of Milan with great entreaties, and first carried vexit L. it to his own bishopric at Vercelli omits L.. And because the same aforesaid bishop was born and brought up of no ignoble stock in the parts of Germany, in the duchy of Alemannia, searching out a most pleasant place in a certain retreat of a certain forest of his territory, he strove to prepare a most worthy habitation, a dwelling large enough for so great an inhabitant. With the consent, therefore, of the aforesaid most Christian christiani S. emperor, peoples smitten with zeal for the faith and love of Christ, gathered together from et H, L, M. the parts of Germany, came together with the aforesaid bishop to Vercelli, and there, taking the little body of the most holy confessor Aurelius and placing it on a bier que omits H, L, M., he is carried into Germany. with a great choir of psalm-singers they flew over the ridges of the Alps, and with a most joyful course carried it with immense gladness to the aforesaid place 〈in I have supplied it.〉 the territories of Germany. How many signs and how many miracles the creator and restorer of all things deigned to show through his merits in that same place, after his most sacred body was 〈I have supplied it.〉 brought there, the human tongue does not suffice to narrate, because of the greatness of the matter. Yet lest they be passed over wholly untouched, we desire to insert into this little work, in succinct narration, a few out of many learned from the narrative of the faithful (quanta vero - inserere) omits H, L, M.. The deposition deposito S. of blessed Aurelius, in which he gave back earth to earth and joined his spirit to the angelic companies, took place on the 18th day before the Kalends of October.

II. THE LIFE OF ST. AURELIUS BY WILLIRAM

Aurelius, bishop of Riditio. (S.)

BHL Number: 0820

BY WILLIRAM

From the codices of the Münster library 23 (= B), of the Stuttgart library Fol. 58 (= Z), of the Trier library 454 (= T). Cf. Preliminary Commentary, no. 8.

Prologue to the Life of St. Aurelius, bishop, whose feast is on the 18th day before the Kalends of October.

[1] Prologue. To his most beloved brother Prologum omits T, Z. and most acute 〈in the interpretation supplied; omits B.〉 of the divine Scriptures, Abbot William, Wilram of Ebersberg, a worm and no man [On William, abbot of Hirsau († 1091), and Williram of Ebersberg († 1085), Preliminary Commentary n. 10; A. Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. III, pp. 860–63; 968–69.], most willing compliance in all the tasks of fraternal command. I know, brother and most beloved lord, that you share without envy your wisdom, which you have learned without pretence in the divine melodies and in the subtlety of computus, and therefore, as befits a wise man, you judge others not unequal to you in the profession of your art. Whence you wish to obtain even from me, an ignorant man, who only strive to emend cases and tenses in the divine books for the benefit of readers, as though from a most learned scribe, that I should send you, emended, my trifles which I have played over the Song of Songs [J. Seemüller edited it, Willirams deutsche Paraphrase des hohen Liedes, in Quellen und Forschungen zur Sprach- und Culturgeschichte der germanischen Völker, vol. XXVIII, Strassburg, 1878.], and extend into the form of a booklet the Life of St. Aurelius, learned by dim report from the ends of the earth and comprised in a very small abridgement. To a wise man, indeed, I judge it possible to produce many windings of words, as it were to hammer out long and broad plates from a very small weight of silver or gold; to an unlearned man, I do not say altogether impossible, but very difficult. But what is impossible to art is possible to charity. I shall therefore gladly obey you, whom I love from my very marrow, as you command, and, about to write, I shall apply to hammering out the matter of the sacred history a right hand not learned indeed, but nevertheless ready.

Here ends the prologue. Here begins the Life vita S. Aurelii episcopi et confessoris Z..

[2] Aurelius an Armenian. Blessed Aurelius, then, born of noble and religious parents in the province of Armenia, after he had been brought up at home with delightful caresses as the age of infancy infantulis T. requires, is entrusted by his parents to masters of the grammatical art omits T; artis gram. Z. to be imbued with the study of letters, and little by little, through the increase of time, by divine gift and natural talent, he is made perfect in all the studies of philosophy. Meanwhile the teachable docilis Z. youth began

to rest in sweet sleep between the two lots, that is, between the two testaments, the old and the new, and to hide away from the din of worldly things in meditation on the divine law. For, his eyes being opened, considering the wonderful things of the law of the Lord, not a forgetful reader but a doer of the work, he offered himself to others as an example of holiness exemplum sanct. T, Z. by a clean and undefiled religion. James 1, 25. For there reigned in his mind humility, mother and guardian of all the virtues, which was accompanied by seemly handmaids: peace, patience, long-suffering, goodness, kindness, meekness, generosity, continence, chastity. Ascending, then, through all the grades of the ecclesiastical order by the command of the elders, he is judged by all worthy of the priesthood. Finally, though he himself resisted with all his strength, yet, overcome by the consent of the people and obedient to the decrees of the ancient pontiffs, he is ordained pontiff praesul T, Z. in the city of Rediciana Reditiana Z.. And after taking up omits Z. the solicitude of pastoral care, in no way losing the custom of his former way of life, he is consecrated bishop of Rediciana. he set himself above no one, except perhaps one who was contrary to the divine laws, and, after the example of the high priest Jesus Christ, what he did, this he also taught. There shone in his countenance wisdom, the most prudent moderator of all the motions of the inner man int. hom. mot. T, Z., nor was there any other bearing of the body than that which reason the mistress had composed within comp. intus Z. in the secret of the heart; obeying the counsels of the apostle Peter, not lording it over the clergy but made a pattern to the Lord's flock, he showed himself irreproachable in all things, and renouncing the hidden things of dishonesty, nor gaping after human praises, he desired to please only the searcher of the heart; in providing outward things for his subjects he was busy with Martha in much serving, and likewise at fitting times he sat with Mary at the feet of the Lord to hear His word. 1 Pet. 5, 3, Luke 10, 40. And omits B. going through his diocese according to the custom of the fathers and the requirement of the canons canonicam T, Z., and searching out the detestable crimes of the wicked, contrary to the Christian religion contr. crim. perscrutans T, Z., he rooted out vices in the hearts of his hearers and planted virtues; for his speech was so seasoned with the salt of wisdom ita sapientie sale fuerat T, Z. that it seemed adapted to every sex, every age, every profession.

[3] The Arian heresy. At the same time the Arian heresy, which, taking its beginning from the detestable author Arius auctore Arrio Z., asserted that the Son was less than the Father, had so far prevailed that the emperors Constantine the Younger, Constantius and Constans and the other nobles of the realm favoured the wicked party and pressed the Catholic priests and the other et ceteros T, Z. followers of the true faith with threats, terrors and proscriptions to consent to the malignity; and not only in Italy but in almost all parts of the world true Christians were held in contempt and derision; what they believed in their heart they did not dare to speak with their mouth, they put a finger to their mouth for fear of the emperors, except only those who held cheap the loss of their goods, exile and the sacrifice of life itself for the Catholic faith. Nevertheless the holy Roman church, over which Pope Liberius then presided, a man unshaken in all things in apostolic doctrine and work apostolicus inconcussu MSS., stood firm at this juncture of dire omits T, Z. persecution, inasmuch as it was founded fundata, T, Z. upon the rock of the apostolic confession, against which also the gates of hell shall never prevail, according to the firmness of the Lord's promise. Matth. 16, 18. For by God's providence, the storm of most wicked error having been calmed and the serenity of the true faith laid open, under the same Pope Liberius, after some space of time, there was made for the whole world a reconciliation reconliciatio Z. of the Catholic and apostolic faith. By the command of the emperors, then, a council having been gathered in the city of Milan Mediolanensium Z., the Catholic bishops were compelled by signed documents, as is customarily done in synodal decrees fieri s. decr. Z., to assent to the Arians Above, p. 135, note 1..

[4] The subscription of Dionysius, Eusebius of Vercelli Among those who, compelled by force so as not to suffer proscriptions and exile from the emperors, gave assent to the Arians by their subscriptions, the bishop of Milan himself, Dionysius, also gave his assent by signed document, although unwillingly. But the venerable old man Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli, who was not yet there, arriving and learning that Dionysius had consented to the Arians, began to feel compassion for his fall, and subtly to plan in advance whether there were any remedy for rescuing him. When, then, in the synod questions arose about the faith of the holy Trinity, they came to the passage on which the assertion of the Arian falsehood ass. arrianae falsit. T, Z. chiefly relied, where the Lord says in the Gospel: "The Father is greater than I," speaking omits B. not indeed of the divinity but of the humanity He had assumed. John 14, 28. Here Eusebius, seizing accepta T. the occasion, said: "Since you, O Arian leaders, assert that the Father is greater than the Son, why do you not observe this among men also? Why have you preferred my son Dionysius to me in the document of assent? I pray you not to despise the grey hairs of long years. Delete his signature, so that I, out of reverence for age, may hold the precedence in subscription, and he who is younger minor qui minor B. in time may follow later in the subscription too." And when the Arians thought this was said in favour of their party, he contrives to have it deleted by a ruse. they at once joyfully deleted the signature of Dionysius, and demanded of Eusebius eo T, Z., as if with reverence, that he himself should subscribe first ipse prior T, Z.. Then he, with grave brow, said: "I neither communicate in your error myself, nor do I permit my son Dionysius to communicate with you filium m. D. vobis T, Z.." The Arians, seeing their faithlessness mocked, moved with the gall of bitterness, could not keep their hands off, but dragged the venerable old man Eusebius on his back by the feet from the top of the steps to the bottom, and again from the bottom to the top, nine times, tearing him with canine rage rabie eum T, Z. and asking whether he would consent to them [These things are also narrated both in the pseudo-Ambrosian homily on St. Eusebius, nos. 5–6, P. L., vol. XI, p. 720, and in the Life of St. Eusebius, BHL. 2748, Ughelli, 2nd ed., pp. 755–56.]. When by so many injurious treatments they could not soften him into consenting, shutting him up in a prison and allowing none of his own to minister to him, they sustained sustentarunt T, Z. him for seven days with the bread of tribulation and the water of distress; then by the mandates of the emperors they destined him omits T, Z. to exile in Egypt Egiptum B; Egyptum T, Z.. Dionysius banished to Armenia But Dionysius, bishop of the Milanese, whom Eusebius by divine art had separated from their faithlessness, after they could likewise idem T. in no way drag him into consent, circumventing him with every cunning, they banished relegerunt, T; rel. exilio T, Z. by public lictors to exile in the city Rediciana of Armenia, whose prelate was sanctus adds T, Z. Aurelius Above, p. 135, note 2.. 3 Kings 22, 27.

[5] Aurelius goes to meet him; When the same prelate had learned of his arrival and the cause of his arrival, as a Catholic man he went joyfully to meet the Catholic confessor, and when they had clasped each other ex T. in the embrace of their arms, they watered their faces with abundant tears. And so the two most learned men, conferring with omits T, Z. one another on the subtlety of the law of God omits T, Z., namely omits T, Z. of prophecy and the Gospel, composed in writing, to guard against the poison of the Arian heresy, a brilliant exhortation supported on every side by divine testimonies, which blessed Aurelius, having called together a multitude of the people, delivered most becomingly edidit decent. T, Z. in the proper Armenian tongue.

[6] he sets forth the Catholic faith. When, then, the ears of all were raised to hear ad aud. aur. T, Z., he said: "You have heard, dearest brethren, from the Gospel reading, that upon the good seed which the householder sowed cockle was sown over by an enemy while men slept, and you have learned agnovistis T, Z. from the divine interpretation that in the good seed are the children of light, in the cockle the children of darkness. Matth. 13, 26. Behold, as the Truth said predixit T, Z., the crop of the Christian faith flourishing through the whole world is stained by the cockle of the Arian heresy, for their depraved dogmas, by which they assert that the Son of God omits Z. is less than the Father, having sprung from the worst root, sprout evilly everywhere. But do not fear, for both for the sheaves of wheat which have sprung from the good seed the barns of the Lord's salvation are prepared, and for the bundles of cockle the furnace of divine vengeance is prepared. Consider, however, the root of their iniquity. For because the devil interprets the Scriptures wrongly, his children too do not fear, to the heaping up of their own damnation cum. s. T., to pervert the open and pure puras et ap. Z. sentences of the Gospel. For when the Lord iam adds T, Z., at the very moment of His Passion, said to His disciples: 'If you loved me, you would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I John 14, 28.,' they affirm that He referred this lessening immorationem T. to that divinity in which He is always equal to the Father; which certainly is clearer than light constat l. cl. Z. to all the children of the true faith to pertain to the humanity He assumed. But since no one becomes a heretic except by contentiousness, because of their obstinacy they do not deserve to penetrate the two natures in Christ, of divinity and humanity. We, however, who are faithful, confess two natures in Christ, believing Him equal to the Father in divinity, less in humanity. For of the equality of the divinity the first writer of the sacred books, Moses, testifies, saying: 'In the beginning God made heaven and earth. Gen. 1, 1.' Calling the Son of God, then utique T, Z., the Beginning, according to the approved testimony of the Gospel, that Jesus, when He was asked by the crowds who He was, answered: 'The Beginning, who also speak unto you. John 8, 25.' The very autem Z. Wisdom of God also, in the book of Solomon, professes its substance equal to the Father, saying: 'I, wisdom, came out of the mouth of the Most High, the firstborn before every creature. Ecclus. 24, 5, John 1, 1.' John likewise, at the beginning of his Gospel ev. s. init. Z., says: 'In the beginning was the Word, etc. usque adds T, Z. all things were made by him,' testifying indeed to distinct persons of the begetter and the begotten, but to one substance of both, according to what the same Son of God says in the following parts of the same Gospel: 'I and the Father are one. John 10, 30.' And since Paul most truly declares Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God, who would not detest detestatur T. and abhor the impudence of the Arians blaspheming the Son as less than the Father? 1 Cor. 1, 24 Which of the powerful of this world would be believed to bear it with equanimity if anyone said that he himself was indeed illustrious, strong

and prudent, and then professed that his wisdom was less than himself ipsius illo T, Z.? And to use a visible example, who, looking at the disc of the sun, if he confessed that its splendour was less than the sun itself, would not be called mad by all, since surely the disc of the sun can neither omits T, Z. be seen nor be recognized except through the light of its splendour? Since, then, the Truth itself and all the witnesses of that same Truth confirm the substance of the Father and the Son to be equal in divinity, do you, dearest ones, flee et adds T., abhor and detest the Arian heresy and all heresies which detract from the Word of truth, remembering the sentence of the apostle apostolicam T, Z. Paul: 'For there must be heresies, that they also omits T, Z. who are approved may be made manifest. 1 Cor. 11, 19' And though spiders have woven their webs, and though the words of the impious have prevailed for a time ad t. v. imp. T, Z., the holy Roman Church standing on the rock of the apostolic confession, they will soon suffer the penalties of public confusion and divine vengeance. And if etiamsi T, Z. it should befall the followers of the Catholic faith cath. f. sect. T, Z. to suffer proscriptions, exiles and torments, yet whoever perseveres to the end, he shall be saved, for the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, promised His faithful the joys not of the present but of the future life. Matth. 10, 22."

[7] Miracles of Aurelius and Dionysius. After ergo adds T, Z. the holy omits T. Eastern church had been fortified by blessed Aurelius with such exhortations of heavenly doctrine against the arguments of diabolical deception, almost all the worshippers of the true faith in that same region reg. ead. T. flocked to him and to omits T, Z. St. Dionysius, bringing offerebant T; afferebant Z. to them, in hope of health, those vexed by unclean spirits and the sick of every kind. Nor did their hope deceive them; for those to whom the grace of Christ abounded because of the merits of their life, the efficacy of signs too omits Z. assuredly accompanied. All Armenia rejoiced in their teaching and medicine: inasmuch as through them the Eastern peoples were illuminated with the light of the true faith as by two great luminaries, and were cured of every infirmity by the invocation of the name of Christ igitur adds T, Z.. And although omits T, Z. blessed Dionysius was held in public custody, St. Aurelius nevertheless enjoyed his converse daily, and because, as Solomon testifies: iron is sharpened by iron, and a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend et adds B, T., from omits T. the comely and pleasant sight of each other's presence each was strong with a great and, as it were, daily renewed aspect of virtues. Prov. 27, 17. And so igitur Z., with the passing of time and the frequency of holy affability, so great a friendship grew up between them i. e. c. Z; i. e. caluit T. that they desired to spend the span of the present life together in Christ, and also vero T. resolved that after the dissolution of their bodies their burial should be omits T, Z. undivided. And so autem Z, omits T., some years having been spent in the concord of most holy sancte T, Z. love dilectionis ////// Z., when the hour of his omits T, Z. calling had begun to approach blessed Dionysius cum iam b. D. immineret T, Z., Dionysius desires to be buried at Milan, it happened that he was seized with a violent heat of fevers, and the sickness increased from day to day so much in tantum aug. T, Z. that he testified that the moment of his omits B. dissolution was now iam T. about to come. Hearing this, the excellent omits T, Z. prelate Aurelius at once, dissolved wholly in tears, poured out effudit T, Z. sorrowful complaints from the inmost affection of his heart, that he was to be bereft of the comfort of so great a man, in whom the perfection of no virtue was lacking v. d. Z; esset v. deesset T.. But blessed Dionysius, now set at his last breath, because by the bounty of God's grace he foreknew the future, asked of his dearest [(quia — sibi) non mobilitate ingenii sponsionis oblitus sed futurorum prescius a beato T, Z.] Aurelius that he would assent to his last petition and take care to carry his body, although omits T, Z. lifeless, with the help of the King on high (cum — adiutorio) domino favente T, Z., back to Milan, where he had been prelate (e. r. c.) extitit reverteret T, Z.. To this supplication of the blessed man St. Aurelius assented out of brotherly charity, although he was not unaware that the greatest difficulty of navigation and journey stood in the way [(huic — diff.) sciebat quidem (omits T) vir sanctus ad explendam amici petitionem multum obsistere navigationis et itineris difficultatem sed de Dei misericordia etiam in mari longo (longe T) confisus annuit propter fraternam caritatem T, Z.]. So, after psalmodies and the offerings of Masses, he had the lifeless body of his friend embalmed with spices, waiting until, through the mildness of the springtime and the gentleness of the winds, the Lord should grant a prosperous voyage (dominus — prosperitatem) omits B..

[8] whither Aurelius brings his body; Meanwhile there was a huge concourse of peoples to blessed Aurelius (int.- Aurelium) interea ingens ad eum T, Z. for the curing of the sick; for whoever he laid his hands on i. m. T, Z. or ut B. marked with the sign of the cross were made whole of whatever infirmity held them; he also drove unclean spirits from possessed bodies in adds T, Z. by the power of the divine name. John 5, 4. To check, then igitur T, omits Z., the concourse of the peoples, and to escape the vainglory which could have crept in from the frequency of miracles, and above all to fulfil the petition of so great a friend, he sought a merchant honerariam Z. ship navem T, Z. bound for Italy, found one, paid the fare, and having venerably placed the sacred little body on board, he went up into the ship navem T, Z., and the winds having been made gentle mansuetis T, Z. by the grace of Christ, with a prosperous course he came to a port of Italy, then et hinc T; dehinc Z. by a direct route made tendit T, Z. for Milan. The fame of so great an arrival had gone before precedente T, Z.; every age and sex from the city and from the suburbs suburbanis T, Z. rushed to meet them; even St. beatus T, Z. Ambrose himself, then bishop of the same city, went out in haste to meet them with all the clergy, all with one voice praising the Son of God, who both strengthened His confessor Dionysius, while living, in the solidity of the true faith, and, when dead, restored him to the city and people over whom he had been prelate.

[9] he stays here, After omits T, Z. the venerable celebration of his obsequies and the laying of the most holy body in a marble sarcophagus, blessed Aurelius with his companions entered on a plan of hastening his return; but the above-mentioned pontiff Ambrose resisted restitit T, Z. him with such arguments of divine authority: "It is fitting," he said o adds Z., "brother Aurelius, that the space of lands should not divide from each other us confessors of the Catholic faith, who in the times of Arian faithlessness perfidei T; fidei B. have constantly asserted the Son of God (D. f.) T, Z. to be co-equal with the Father. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, that a way of life, not dissimilar but one, may join us living in Christ, and that not even burial itself may divide us dead in the Lord. Psalm. 132, 1." When, therefore, so great a pontiff urged him, by whose zeal and teaching the whole of Italy was converted to the Catholic faith after the Arian faithlessness, or rather Christ speaking to him through his mouth, blessed Aurelius gave assent, for he held it certain that nothing of the words of his mouth eius oris T. fell to the ground. From that day forward he did not withdraw far from blessed Ambrose, who cherished him in omits T, Z. all the offices of kindness; but, giving himself day and night to psalms, hymns and prayers, he bent his knees as a suppliant to the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, that, as they had agreed with each other in life, he might deserve to be buried with the faithful friend whom he had sustained as an exile for the name of Christ, and whose little body he had carried back through so many spaces of sea and land to his own see (cuiusque — reportavit) omits Z.. And this faithful prayer of his, because it flowed from the fountain of charity, obtained also the fulfilment of his wish, divine grace clementia T, Z. assenting nam adds T, Z.. For when the circle of the year had come round omits T, Z., and he is laid near Dionysius; as the day of the deposition of blessed Dionysius approached, a fever seized St. Aurelius, and on that same day, after receiving the Eucharist and commending his spirit into the hands of the blessed sancti Z. prelate omits T, Z. Ambrose, he departed happily to Christ. As he died morienti Z. the same prelate, bursting into tears, after the body had been honourably carried into the church, celebrated Masses with a great throng of clergy and people, and omits B, Z. about omits T. the merits of both he set forth so open a (a. s.) aperte Z. relation of the truth (rel. verit.) omits T, Z. that no doubt remained in the hearts of the hearers that those whom He had chosen elegerat Z. in unfeigned charity had been of equal merit before the Lord; to whom He granted one day of calling and an undivided burial, as they themselves, while living, had agreed with each other si condixerunt T.. They were placed, indeed, in twin mausoleums corrected Z. in one place, but at the tomb of each, benefits were granted sunt adds T. in equal measure to all who sought with their whole heart. And so great was the multitude of benefits and miracles that it became a solemn custom even for very many from more distant cities and provinces to visit the tombs of the holy confessors every year.

The translation of the same (tr. e.) omits Z..

[10] he is carried into Germany by Notting In the times vero adds T, Z. of Louis, the Christian christianissimi T, Z. emperor, when a certain cleric named Notting, born of no ignoble stock from Germany Above, p. 137, note 2., had been made bishop at Vercelli, he obtained the body of St. Aurelius from the archbishop of Milan with great and many prayers, and kept it venerably in his bishopric for some time. After this, having gathered no small non mod. coll. T. throng of clerics and household people, he placed the relics of the most sacred body (s. c.) sacratissimas T. on pack-saddles clittellis Z., and carried them honourably across the ridges of the Alps to a forest house which he had possessed by hereditary right in the Black Forest of Germany. There, building most gracefully an oratory worthy of so great an inhabitant, and dedicating it himself, he enriched it according to his means with estates, books, bells and the other ecclesiastical furnishings, and there the precious treasure of the body of the most holy s. c. T, Z. pontiff Aurelius (p. A.) omits T, Z., for the salvation of those present

and the protection of those to come f. pr. T, Z., he laid up.

III. ON THE TRANSLATION OF ST. AURELIUS TO HIRSAU

Aurelius, bishop of Riditio. (S.)

BHL Number: 0822

From the Hirsau codex. Cf. Preliminary Commentary, no. 12.

At what time the body of St. Aurelius was translated from Italy, or when Hirsau was founded.

The relics brought by Notting In the year of the Lord's incarnation eight hundred and thirty, and the seventeenth year of Louis the Pious, son of the emperor Charles the Great, the body of St. Aurelius, bishop and confessor, was translated from Italy, and Hirsau was first founded On these, Preliminary Commentary n. 14.. For Notting, son of Count Erlafrid, raised to the see of Vercelli, received by the grant of the archbishop of Milan, without the knowledge of the citizens, the bones of the venerable confessor, which had been laid up in the church of St. Dionysius, bishop of the same city, whose tomb is honourably venerated there to this day, and carried them to his father's estate, where Hirsau was afterwards founded, where at that time was the forest house of the same count. The sacred relics were first deposited in a little church which had been consecrated in honour of St. Nazarius the martyr, situated on the summit of a projecting hill, until a church should be built with fitting beauty at the foot of that hill; whence that same hill is named to this day from the name of St. Nazarius. The church having been built and adorned with various ornaments of beauty, it is consecrated in honour of St. Peter, prince of the apostles, they are placed in the church of St. Peter. and the sacred bones were placed in it; to which he gave the whole breadth of the surrounding forest, from the river called Deinaha Teinach. to the lower river, Richinbach, and not a few other estates, and he established the religion of the cenobitic life there; and this flourished for a long time in that same place under fathers appointed; but, the sins of men requiring it, which cause a kingdom to be transferred to a kingdom and render opulent cities uninhabitable, it came to such a diminution of the spiritual life that, the monks failing, clerics were substituted in their place; for, as it is written, God chose not men for the sake of the place, but the place for the sake of men; or, what may rather be supposed, that by divine providence that same place was being disposed, from this diminution, to be raised to a greater abundance of spiritual discipline. And this afterwards became plain. Under this change, then, some years having passed, the possessions of the church were scattered by wicked invaders, the charters too which had been made by the ancient princes for the stability of the place were torn up, and moreover the castle called Calw was built on the very estate of the church. This unjust inheritance passes by successions to wicked heirs, until by providence it came, as by hereditary right, to Count Adalbert the elder, who, letting loose the reins of avarice, without any regard for the fear of God seized very many things which the others, by sparing them, had left untouched. But when he had long possessed this ill-gotten inheritance, it happened that blessed Leo, ninth pope of that name, the uncle, namely, of the aforesaid Adalbert, having set out from Italy to visit the kingdom of the Teutons, turned aside to him for kinship's sake. Their recognition. He, hearing of the fame of St. Aurelius, desired to know for certain whether the relics of that holy man, as report had it, were kept in that same place. By his command and the count's, craftsmen having been summoned, a search was made with no small difficulty, and, matters being despaired of, the labour was abandoned in vain. But the diligence of a certain most skilled craftsman having been applied, who had come with his sons from the parts of Venice, and who afterwards also rendered many services to that same place by his art, he noticed from the rebound of the hammers that the place was hollowed out beneath, and not without great labour he at length found a small chamber lying hidden beneath, in which he found an adorned sarcophagus with the bones of the venerable confessor of Christ, the apostolic lord and all rejoicing together. When, therefore, the causes had been recognized by the apostolic lord from which this sacred place had come to so great a failure of the spiritual life, he admonished the aforesaid count under threat of the dreadful judgment of God to give up what he unjustly possessed and to take pains to restore observers of the holy rule in that same place. Terrified by this admonition, the old church having been destroyed, which had been built spacious indeed but in the manner of old churches without the support of columns, A new church is built. he ordered a new monastery to be built, which has lasted down to our times. In the year of the Lord's incarnation one thousand and fifty-nine the church of St. Aurelius began to be built, and in the year one thousand and seventy-one it was completed and dedicated on the day before the Nones of September by Henry, bishop of Speyer Henry v. Scharfenberg sat in the years 1067–1073.. Envoys having also been sent to the monastery of the Solitaries, which is commonly called Einsiedeln, he obtained an abbot with certain brethren.