Peregrina

ON ST. PEREGRINA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR, TRANSLATED FROM ROME TO LJUBLJANA IN CARNIOLA,

MORE PROBABLY BEFORE THE YEAR 312.

SYLLOGE.

Peregrina, virgin and martyr, translated from Rome to Ljubljana in Carniola. (S.)

BY C. B.

Although the Roman martyrs taken out of the sacred cemeteries in more recent memory, who have from time to time been translated for public veneration into various regions and thereafter honoured with an annual feast, The reason for which the Saint is given: contribute either nothing at all, or certainly little, to illustrating sacred antiquity, which is the end chiefly intended in our Work, and accordingly are not to be searched out too scrupulously, yet not all of them universally were passed over by our Predecessors, since they both offered themselves, as it were, of their own accord, and circumstances made the history of the translation, otherwise common to many, more notable and more worthy of relation. It has therefore seemed good to us, who are accustomed to follow in their footsteps when nothing prevents, not to pass over today St. Peregrina, virgin and martyr, taken out of the Roman cemetery of Priscilla and then venerated on the fifth day of October at Ljubljana, the metropolis of the duchy of Carniola, in the convent of the Discalced Augustinians, to which she was given in the year 1659; since both two most august and most pious princes, the emperor Leopold I and his uncle Leopold William, archduke of Austria, rendered by their presence more illustrious and more worthy of memory the solemn procession by which that holy Virgin, or rather her sacred remains, were brought in the year 1660 into the church of the aforementioned convent of Ljubljana dedicated to St. Joseph; and Johann Ludwig Schönleben, doctor of Sacred Theology and archdeacon of Lower Carniola, a man well enough known to the literary world through more than one published work, of his own accord submitted to our predecessors in the year 1677 a brief description of it, together with copies of two public instruments relating to St. Peregrina, of which one was brought from Rome to Ljubljana and the other was drawn up in this very city, gathered into a single instrument, likewise public, which he himself, being also a protonotary by Apostolic authority, drew up.

[2] her sacred remains These teach us, first, how the sacred remains of Peregrina, taken out of the Roman cemetery of Priscilla, situated on the Via Salaria, by order of the supreme Pontiff Alexander VII, by the most illustrious and most reverend lord Marco Antonio Oddo, abbot, vicegerent of the Most Eminent and most reverend lord Cardinal Vicar in the kindly City, were at length transferred into the house of the Discalced Hermits of St. Augustine at Ljubljana; and then, how the most eminent and most reverend lord Otto Friedrich, bishop of Ljubljana, duly approved the same when they had been brought to Ljubljana, and permitted them to be exposed to the public veneration of the faithful, at the petition of the Reverend Father Simplicianus of the Assumption, who then presided over the aforesaid convent of Ljubljana. It will be helpful to have transcribed both here, together with the aforesaid description which Schönleben supplied, both because they prove most of what has already been said and because they will still be of use below. That matters may be related in the order in which they were done, I begin from the copies, or rather from the said instrument in which Schönleben enclosed them. Its beginning is as follows: In the name of the Lord, amen. Let all and each who shall inspect, read or hear the present letters, or this public instrument and transumpt, know that I, Johann Ludwig Schönleben, doctor of Sacred Theology, protonotary by Apostolic authority, etc., have seen in the Original, held in my hand, read and diligently weighed the two public instruments inserted below, produced and exhibited to me by the very Reverend Father Joseph of St. Oswald, of the Order of Discalced Hermits of St. Augustine, sub-Prior and preacher of the convent of Ljubljana in the duchy of Carniola. And because I found the said instruments both sound, entire, and wholly free of every defect and suspicion, I have therefore caused them to be copied out and have reduced them to this public form of transumpt.

[3] When the archdeacon of Lower Carniola, already praised more than once, has said these things by way of preface, the Reverend Father John Gregory of Jesus Mary, Discalced Augustinian, the first of the two copies mentioned is immediately subjoined; its tenor, as the same archdeacon and protonotary says, is this: In the name of God. Amen. By the present public instrument let it be evidently manifest to all everywhere, and be known, that in the year from the nativity of the same Our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand six hundred and fifty-nine, in the twelfth Indiction, on the twenty-seventh day of May, and in the fifth year of the Pontificate of the Most Holy Father in Christ and Our Lord, the Lord Alexander, by divine providence Pope the seventh, the very Reverend Father Brother John Gregory of Jesus Mary, procurator general of the Reverend Fathers Discalced of St. Augustine of the Congregation of Italy, known to me, asserting and affirming, with his hand placed on his breast in the customary manner, that he had always kept in his possession, and still keeps, the sacred relics or bones of the body of St. Peregrina, virgin and martyr, given to him by virtue of an instrument drawn up in the Acts of Caesius, notary of the Most Eminent and most Reverend Lord Vicar of the kindly City, under the 16th of April last, by the most illustrious and very Reverend Lord Carlo Barbetta, priest of Senigallia, and received as a gift by the said most Reverend Lord Carlo from the most illustrious and most Reverend Lord Oddo, etc., vicegerent of the same most eminent Lord Vicar of the kindly City, by means of letters patent subscribed by his most illustrious Lordship on the 25th day of February 1656 as to the donation, and fortified with his seal, and inserted in the original in the aforesaid instrument of donation drawn up in the acts of the aforesaid Caesius.

[4] Which instrument indeed, with the aforesaid insertion, in public form, the said Reverend Father John Gregory, having it in his hands, handed over and consigned to me, the notary, to be attached to the present instrument, to him by the Reverend lord Carlo Barbetta as in the sheet of the following tenor, namely: In the name of the Lord. Amen. By the present public instrument let it be evidently manifest to all and be known that in the year from the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand six hundred and fifty-nine, in the 12th Indiction, on the 16th day of the month of April, and in the fifth year of the Pontificate of the Most Holy Father in Christ and our Lord, the Lord Alexander, by favour of the divine clemency Pope the seventh, in the presence of me, the public notary, and of the witnesses written below, there being present and personally constituted the most illustrious and very Reverend Lord Carlo Barbetta, priest of Senigallia, known to me, asserting, and affirming with his hand placed on his breast in the customary manner, that he had always kept, and keeps, in his possession the sacred relics or bones of St. Peregrina, virgin and martyr, given to him by the most illustrious and Reverend Lord Oddo, vicegerent of the Most Eminent Lord Cardinal Vicar of the kindly City, together with the bones of the body of St. Barbara, by means of letters patent subscribed by his most illustrious Lordship on the 25th day of February 1656 and fortified with his seal, which, holding them in the original in his hands, to me

the notary he handed over, to be inserted in the present instrument, of the tenor as below.

[5] Using therefore, and declaring that he wishes to use, the faculty granted to him by the same most illustrious lord vicegerent, priest of Senigallia, of giving the said sacred relics to others, for the greater glory and special honour of God almighty and of His Saints, etc., he gave and bestowed upon the said very Reverend Father Brother John Gregory of Jesus Mary, procurator general of the Discalced Brothers of St. Augustine of the Congregation of Italy, then absent, the Reverend Father Brother Maurice of St. Firmus, professed priest of the same Congregation, being present for him and receiving, the aforesaid sacred relics or bones of the body of St. Peregrina, virgin and martyr, laid up and placed in a certain white square wooden casket with cotton inside, and an inscription of the name of the said holy Virgin, about two palms in length, about nine fingers in height and about ten fingers in breadth, tied crosswise with a red silk ribbon, and fortified with the seal of the aforesaid Most Eminent vicar impressed in red Spanish wax; which casket, thus sealed and with the said sacred relics of St. Peregrina laid up in it, the same Reverend Father Brother Maurice, in the name of the above-said very Reverend Father Brother John Gregory, procurator general, received to himself with the greatest reverence and devotion he could, and gave infinite thanks to God, with the intention of carrying them forthwith to the said Reverend Father procurator general, and to the effect that the Father procurator general himself may and can keep the said sacred relics in his possession, give them to other persons, send them or cause them to be sent out of the City to any part of the world whatever, and expose them, or cause them to be exposed, to the public veneration of the faithful of Christ in any church, chapel or pious place whatever, in every better mode and form, etc. Upon all and each of which premises he made petition of me, the public notary written below, that I should draw up and deliver one or several public instrument or instruments, as shall be needful, and as I shall be required. Done at Rome in the house inhabited by the lord Martha Faccalumi, signed at the Campo di Fiori, there being present likewise the lord Giacomo Casinario of Leonessa, of the diocese of Spoleto, and the lord Felice de Felicibus of Lucca, witnesses called, had and asked for all the things expressed above. Marco, bishop of Hierapolis, vicegerent.

[6] who had received them from the vicegerent of the Cardinal Vicar in the City, The tenor of the above-said letters patent is such: Marco Antonio Oddo, abbot, referendary of both signatures, of the greater presidency of the abbreviators, and in the kindly City vicegerent of the Most Eminent and most Reverend lord Cardinal Vicar of the Most Holy Lord Our Lord Alexander, Pope the seventh, to all and each who shall inspect the present letters, we certify and attest that, for the greater glory and honour of almighty God and of His Saints, we have handed over and consigned to the very Reverend lord Carlo Barbetta of Senigallia the relics or bones of the bodies of Saints Peregrina and Barbara, virgins and martyrs, taken out of the cemetery of Priscilla on the Via Salaria by mandate of the Most Holy (Father), and to the same lord Carlo, that he may and can keep the aforesaid relics with himself, give them to others, send them out of the City, and expose and place them in any church, chapel or oratory whatever, and for the public veneration of the faithful, we grant and impart the present faculty in the Lord. In faith whereof, etc. Given at Rome from our residence on the 25th day of February 1656.

Marco Antonio Oddo, vicegerent.

Place ✠ of the seal.

Pietro Capillacio, secretary.

And because the lord Sebastiano Cesi, notary of the court of causes of the Most Eminent and most Reverend lord Cardinal Vicar, was asked concerning the premises, therefore I, Ovidio de Austrilles, a Sabine and Roman citizen, by the grace of God and by Apostolic authority public notary, administrator of the office of the lord Sebastiano Cesi, have subscribed the present instrument.

Place ✠ of the seal.

We, Marzio, by divine mercy bishop of Albano, Cardinal priest of the Holy Roman Church, called Ginetti, vicar general of the Most Holy Lord Our Pope and of the kindly City, and judge of the Roman court and its district, make known and attest to all that the above-said lords Sebastiano Cesi, who was asked concerning the premises, and Ovidio de Austrilles, who subscribed and published the present instrument for him, were and are such as they present themselves, and that full faith has always been given to their public and simple writings in court and outside it, and we testify that undoubted faith is to be given to all at present. In faith whereof, etc. Given at Rome from our residence on this 18th day of April 1656.

For the lord Lanno Pino, notary, Giacomo Tasso subscribed.

Place ✠ of the seal.

[7] Using therefore, and declaring that he wishes to use, the faculty granted to the aforesaid Reverend lord Carlo Barbetta by the same most illustrious and most reverend lord Oddo, etc., and imparted to himself by the lord Carlo himself, given as a gift, into the (convent) of Ljubljana of his Order of giving the said relics to others, for the greater glory and honour of God almighty and of His Saints, as is expressly read in the instrument inserted above, he specially, before all others, gave and bestowed upon the venerable convent of St. Joseph at Ljubljana of the Order of Discalced of St. Augustine, absent, the Reverend Father Brother Maurice of St. Firmus of the same Order of Discalced being present for it and receiving, the aforesaid sacred relics or bones of the body of St. Peregrina, virgin and martyr, laid up and placed in a certain wooden casket, white, square, with cotton inside, and an inscription of the name of the said holy Virgin, about two palms in length and ten fingers in breadth, tied with a red silk ribbon, and fortified with the seal of the aforesaid Most Eminent vicar impressed in red Spanish wax; which casket, thus sealed and with the said sacred relics of St. Peregrina laid up in it, the same Reverend Father Brother Maurice, in the name of the said venerable convent and of its Reverend Fathers, received to himself with the greatest reverence he could, and gave infinite thanks to God, with the intention of carrying them forthwith to the aforesaid venerable convent of St. Joseph at Ljubljana and its Reverend Fathers, to the effect that the said Reverend Fathers may and can expose them to the public veneration of the faithful of Christ in their church and in any chapel or altar of it, in every, etc.

[8] Upon all and each of which premises he made petition of me, the public notary written below, he transfers to the convent, that I should draw up and deliver one or several public instrument or instruments, and anything else whatever, if it shall be needful and I shall be required. Done at Rome in the district of my office, Pietro of Rieti, and the lord Giacomo Cablicano, son of the late Agostino, of Sassoferrato, of the diocese of Novara, being witnesses called, had and specially asked for all and each of the aforesaid things. For the lord Domenico Petrucciolo, notary of the court of causes of the Apostolic Chamber, who was asked concerning the premises, I, Tommaso Palutio, notary of the same court, have subscribed and published the present instrument. We, Odoardo Vecchiarelli, Apostolic protonotary, referendary of both signatures of the Most Holy lord Our Lord the Pope, and also general auditor of causes of the court of the Apostolic Chamber, and judge of the Roman court, certify and attest to all that the above-said lords, Tommaso Palutio, who subscribed and published the above-said instrument for the lord Domenico Petrucciolo, were asked, and are such as they present themselves, public, legal and authentic notaries, and that faith has always been given to their writings, public as well as private, in court and outside it, and that undoubted faith is to be given at present. In faith whereof, etc. Given at Rome from our residence on this 27th day of May 1659.

Bernardo, notary.

Place ✠ of the Seal.

[9] and these then brought to Ljubljana So far, from Schönleben's recension, the first instrument, or rather a copy of it, which, from what has been said, was brought from Rome to Ljubljana together with the relics of St. Peregrina; the latter, drawn up at Ljubljana, is couched in these words: Otto Friedrich, of the counts of Buchheim, bishop and prince of Ljubljana, privy councillor of His Sacred Imperial Majesty, domestic prelate of the Most Holy Lord Our Lord Alexander the seventh by divine providence, and assistant at the Pontifical throne, canon of the cathedral churches of Salzburg, Magdeburg and Passau, to all and each who shall see, read, or hear read this our public attestation, or recognition of the sacred relics of St. Peregrina, virgin and martyr, made by ordinary authority, greeting in the Lord, and to give undoubted faith to the present letters. Be it known, and let it be evidently manifest to all, that the very Reverend Father Brother Simplicianus of the Assumption, Prior for the time of the convent of St. Joseph at Ljubljana of the Order of Discalced of St. Augustine, offered to our episcopal and ordinary authority for recognition the relics of blessed Peregrina, virgin and martyr, newly acquired from Rome, and most humbly petitioned for a public attestation concerning them and for the faculty to expose them for veneration.

[10] duly by the bishop of Ljubljana Since therefore it is just to bear witness to the truth, and the Holy Council of Trent, session 25, on the veneration and relics of the Saints, most particularly provides and forbids that any relics of Saints be received unless the bishop recognizes and approves them, therefore on the 6th day of November of the year 1659, having taken with us our vicar general Philipp Terpin, etc., the very Reverend Father Brother Gabriel de Catanea of the Order of Conventuals of St. Francis, master of Sacred Theology, etc., and others, having personally entered the said monastery of St. Joseph, we inquired first concerning the authentic letters of these relics, namely whence and by whose licence they were taken, by whom they were first obtained, and by whom they were given to this convent of Ljubljana; upon which inquiries we attest that there were exhibited to us authentic letters, whose date is Rome, 27th May in the year 1659, subscribed by the public notary Tommaso Paulucci, notary of the court of causes of the Apostolic Chamber, and undersigned with the sign of his notariate; to whom, as public notary, faith is had and is to be had in court and outside it, as Odoardo Vecchiarelli, Apostolic protonotary, referendary of both signatures of our lord the Pope, and general auditor of causes of the court of the Apostolic Chamber, attests by his signature and by the impression of the great seal under the same date.

[11] are recognized, Secondly we attest, from the same authentic letters, that the aforesaid sacred relics were taken out of the cemetery of Priscilla on the Via Salaria, by mandate of the Most Holy Lord our Pope, by the most illustrious and most reverend lord Marco Antonio Oddo, abbot, vicegerent in the kindly City of the Most Eminent and most reverend lord, the lord Cardinal Vicar, and on the 25th of February in the year 1656 were handed over and consigned to the reverend lord Carlo Barbetta, then by him to the reverend father Brother John Gregory of Jesus Mary, procurator general of the Discalced Brothers of St. Augustine, and through the same to the venerable convent of St. Joseph at Ljubljana, of the same Order of Discalced of St. Augustine, in the same casket, closure, binding and sealing in which they had first been given. Thirdly we inquired concerning

the little chest itself and the sacred relics contained in it, and we found them reverently deposited in the worthier cell of the monastery itself, upon a table spread with a carpet, in a white, square wooden casket, with an inscription of the name of the said holy Virgin and Martyr, about two palms in length, about nine fingers in height, and ten fingers in breadth, tied crosswise with a silk ribbon, and very well fortified with the seal of the aforesaid Most Eminent lord, the lord Cardinal Vicar in the kindly City, impressed in red Spanish wax and entire, without any indication of its falsification or suspicion of any breaking or opening. Having therefore thus examined the little chest from the outside, we reverently opened it, and found the sacred bones wrapped in cotton above and below and at the sides, all and each as they are most accurately described in the authentic letters.

[12] To all and each of the faithful of Christ, therefore, of whatever state and condition, both our diocesans and any outsiders whatever, we certify by this public testimony are approved, are permitted to public veneration, that, from the diligent recognition made, we found the aforesaid sacred relics to be those very ones which the Most Eminent lord, the lord Cardinal Vicar in the kindly City, etc., took out of the cemetery of Priscilla by mandate of the Most Holy (Father). Therefore by our episcopal ordinary authority we approve these same to be relics of St. Peregrina, virgin and martyr, and we decree and declare that they may be exposed publicly to the veneration of the faithful in any church, chapel or oratory whatever, and by these our present letters we grant public faculty. Meanwhile, however, we have closed them in the little chest and tied them with the same ribbon, and for the interim, until the chapel of their own, in which they are to be exposed to public veneration, receives the completion of its construction, we have sealed them with our seal and have committed them there to be kept. Done at Ljubljana in the said monastery of St. Joseph, there being present, as above, our vicar general, etc., the Reverend Father Brother master Gabriel de Cattanea, Giovanni Battista Janonio of Pistoia, our prefect of the palace, and the Brothers of this convent, the reverend Father Brother Simplicianus of the Assumption, Prior, Father Brother Christopher of St. Michael, Father Brother Francis Wenceslaus of St. Mary, Father Brother of St. Wenceslaus, Father Brother Albert of the Most Holy Trinity, witnesses called, had and asked for all the things expressed above. In faith of all which we have caused these presents to be fortified with the subscription of our hand and the impression of our episcopal seal. On the 6th day of November in the year 1659.

Otto Friedrich, bishop of Ljubljana.

Place ✠ of the seal.

[13] So runs the copy of the second instrument which I mentioned at number 1, and into (the church) of the Discalced Augustinians, the emperor himself, after transcribing which entire Schönleben, praised above, subjoins: I therefore, the above-mentioned Apostolic protonotary Johann Ludwig Schönleben, certify and attest that the two public instruments inserted above, revised, reread by me, and collated with their originals, correspond and agree with them entirely, word for word, in all and each particular. In faith of all which I have confirmed this authentic copy with the impression of my seal. At Ljubljana on the 22nd day of October of the year 1672.

J. L. Schönleben.

Place ✠ of the seal.

To this clause, in which the archdeacon of Lower Carniola testifies that he compared the copies with the autographs and that these agree with them, there is subjoined also a testimony by which Johann Markus Rossetti, canon and parish priest of Ljubljana, attests that he is such as he names himself in it, an Apostolic protonotary, and deserves undoubted faith in court and outside it; but since it suffices for the end intended here to have transcribed here the entire instrument of Schönleben which comprises the two copies mentioned at number 1, I pass over that testimony and proceed to the description praised above, in which Schönleben narrates in this manner how the sacred remains of St. Peregrina were brought into the church of the Discalced Augustinians of Ljubljana:

While His Sacred Imperial Majesty, Leopold, Augustus, was visiting in the year 1660 his hereditary provinces, which we call Inner Austria, in order to receive homage from his Vassals, and, as it were a pilgrim through them, met Peregrina, virgin and Roman martyr, at Ljubljana, the metropolis of the duchy of Carniola.

[14] who had then come to Ljubljana, Styria had already been visited amid applause and triumphal arches erected by the most faithful estates; Carinthia had likewise been traversed, when on the 7th day of September, towards evening, amid a huge concourse and rejoicing of almost all Carniola, the emperor entered the city of Ljubljana in a most splendid retinue of all orders, and, having first rendered thanks at the shrines of the saints with a hymn of praise in the cathedral church dedicated to St. Nicholas, bishop, he turned aside to the episcopal palace. A very few days afterwards, while the solemnity of doing homage was being prepared, the sacred remains of St. Peregrina, virgin and martyr, were brought from Rome to the Reverend Fathers, the Discalced Augustinians; and in order that they might be placed with the most solemn pomp possible in the sacred church of St. Joseph, which the said Fathers serve, it was decided to defer for a while the triumph of the holy Virgin until His Majesty, after receiving the homage of Carniola, should arrive back from Gorizia and Trieste, whither a journey had likewise been planned. The day dedicated to St. Francis the Seraphic, the fourth of October, was sliding into evening when the emperor, weary from the difficult journey through the Julian Alps, came down from Nauportus to Ljubljana and again sought the episcopal palace. Meanwhile the people of Ljubljana, having testified their joy at the happy return of their prince by lights kindled in all the windows of the whole city, were preparing a solemn procession for the following day, which was the 5th of October.

[15] solemn, in which this is done, The sacred remains of St. Peregrina had been deposited in the middle of the cathedral church, enclosed in a chest of remarkable workmanship, transparent with crystal glass, and placed upon a precious bier. At earliest morning, the divine Offices having been performed according to custom by the clergy of the said cathedral, and the outside clergy too having assembled, almost the whole city, called by the full pealing of the bells, ran together, every age and order. Nor did the Augustus wish to be absent from so rare an act of piety, although weary, nor the most serene archduke Leopold, who was present with him, although ailing. There went before, as is usual in processions, the three trades of craftsmen with their labara and banners in a long line; then the archconfraternity of the Body of Christ, consisting of almost the leading men of the city and the merchants, also under their standards. These were followed by the religious families, first the Discalced Fathers themselves, whose solemnity was being celebrated, the Capuchin Fathers, the Observant Franciscans, the Calced Augustinians, carrying burning tapers in their hands. Next after these followed a great number of noble youths, who, crowned with garlands of laurel and furnished with white torches, surrounded the bier of the holy Virgin on every side. Besides these, a no smaller number of young boys, clothed in angelic dress, scattered flowers along the way. Eight priests, adorned with precious dalmatics, carried the bier upon their shoulders, somewhat raised and visible to the whole people. Separated from them by a small interval there proceeded in a very long line the clerics in surplices and the priests, then the canons of the cathedral church in their customary habit, and finally, in the absence of the ordinary bishop, the suffragan bishop of Pedena, who was also provost of Ljubljana, Lord Franz Maximilian Vaccano de S. Pass. This pomp might have seemed enough to excite piety in the people, who thronged most densely on both sides of the column of those proceeding, so that the eyes of many swam in pious tears and their knees sank to the ground.

[16] But the most august emperor, with his most serene uncle the archduke Leopold William, increased both the piety and the joy of all, the emperor accompanying the procession, they are brought into the church. for they chose to attend the procession, and to retrace on foot a quite long way outside the city from the cathedral to St. Joseph's, and to accompany it not without great weariness. Animated by the example of the princes, the whole court that was then present, three princes, Lobkowitz, Auersperg and Gonzaga, the prefects of the two courts, Porcia and Schwarzenberg, and with them the magnates of the renowned duchy of Carniola, and other counts and barons too who were visitors, drew after them a huge column of the mixed common people, so that scarcely a hundredth part could have access to the church in which the sacred pledge was to be placed. There a solemn Mass was sung by the suffragan bishop, with trumpets, drums and musicians sounding, at which His Sacred Imperial Majesty, together with the most serene archduke Leopold, assisted most devoutly to the very end. The sacred pledge was afterwards carried to the sacristy, until the oratory of the Congregation of the dead, contiguous to the church, should be built at the most liberal expense of His Sacred Imperial Majesty, and in it a special chapel for keeping the body of St. Peregrina, by a like gift of liberality of the most serene Leopold. This, indeed, finished a few years afterwards, now, while we write these things, displays the sacred remains set forth upon the altar, open to the veneration of the faithful, and daily receives increase from the votive offerings hung up.

[17] So far the doctor of sacred Theology and archdeacon of Lower Carniola, already so very often praised, An error in the time at which they are noted as first brought to Ljubljana. presently adding to this narrative a certain further notice about the Saint, her sacred remains, and the ecclesiastical cult introduced at Ljubljana among the sons of St. Augustine, the Discalced; but before I deal with this, we must stop here a little. The same archdeacon teaches, in the words recited at numbers 13 and 14, that the sacred remains of St. Peregrina were brought from Rome to the Discalced Augustinians of this city a few days after the emperor Leopold, visiting Inner Austria in the year 1660, had entered Ljubljana on the seventh day of September, so that, if only the testimony of that learned man is to be stood by, this did not happen before the year 1660, advanced as far as September. But that the sacred remains of our Saint had been brought to the monastery of the Discalced Augustinians of Ljubljana already from the year 1659 is most plainly clear from the public instrument transcribed here at number 9 and the three following, since by it the bishop of Ljubljana approved them, duly recognized, already then in this very monastery. He therefore undoubtedly committed an error, as regards the time at which St. Peregrina was translated from Rome to Ljubljana, in the description just recited here which Schönleben composed and sent to our Predecessors; at which I surely cannot but wonder, since he had in his hands not only that instrument, but also a Note, which he communicated to our Predecessors, written by Father Simplicianus, praised above, on the back of the autograph of the Roman instrument recited at number 3 and the five following, in which he testifies that he acquired from Rome the body of St. Peregrina, virgin and martyr, slain, as he says, with leaded whips, and that, brought to Ljubljana, he deposited it in the convent of the Discalced Augustinians of this city, over which he presided, in the year 1659, on the 13th day of August.

[18] A glass phial in her tomb, I come now to that notice which I just mentioned. It is couched in these words: The body (namely of St. Peregrina) is almost entire, with a glass phial in which is the blood of the holy Virgin, taken out, under Alexander VII, Pontiff, from the cemetery of Priscilla on the Via Salaria, together with the name of St. Peregrina, virgin and martyr, who, scourged with iron chains for the faith of Christ, gave back her spirit to God amid the torments: but under what emperor or governor she suffered is so far unknown. The day of the Translation, the 5th of October, is thereafter kept every year by the Discalced Fathers with an Office of a double of the first class. Surely in few, sufficiently

many things, which must be weighed a little more accurately, Schönleben here relates; and first, that a glass phial, in which is the blood of St. Peregrina, is joined to her body kept among the Discalced Augustinians at Ljubljana. But whence that phial filled with blood? Was it perhaps found beside the sacred body of the Saint in the same sarcophagus or tomb from which that body was taken out, or fixed to it?

[19] tinged or filled with blood. The very reverend father Simplicianus, again just praised, besides the Note written, from what has been said, on the back of the autograph of the Roman instrument, left moreover another, which Schönleben likewise communicated to our Predecessors, marked on the back of the autograph of the instrument drawn up at Ljubljana and already recited here at number 9 and the three following; and in this, in which he teaches besides that the sacred body of the Saint, enclosed in a wooden statue, was kept at Ljubljana in his time, he records as follows: The venerable head (namely of St. Peregrina), all bruised with leaded whips, is present under the head of the image formed of wood, together with other relics; in the remaining members of the wooden statue other bones are laid up, and in two sealed little bags of green silk, also from the body of the same Saint; so also the earth together with the blood of the Saint, sealed in paper, which was found in a glass cup, which cup is red with blood, is kept near the head: by which words surely, however inelegant, he indicates clearly enough that a glass phial, filled with blood, or at any rate tinged with it, was found near the sacred body of the Saint in the same sarcophagus or tomb from which that body was taken out. And indeed, since it is not credible that such a phial, taken from anywhere other than the Saint's tomb, was added at Rome to her sacred relics that were to be translated to Ljubljana, and since Father Simplicianus of the Assumption, already praised more than once, who examined the same relics most attentively, undoubtedly found among them that phial which he records, it certainly appears that assent is to be given him here, even though meanwhile no mention whatever occurs of a phial or glass cup tinged with blood, found in the Saint's tomb, either in the two instruments transcribed here above or in the testimonial letters of the vicegerent of the Most Eminent Cardinal Vicar in the City inserted in the second of them at number 6.

[20] and had an inscription joined to them, in which is the title of Virgin. Hence it further follows that, since phials or little glass vessels filled or at least tinged with blood, which are found joined to bodies in the cemeteries, are now held by all as the most certain indications of martyrdom, there seems to be no ground for doubting the martyrdom of our Saint. Let us now consider what is to be thought of her name, which Schönleben's notice, given at number 18, teaches was taken out of the Roman cemetery of Priscilla together with the sacred body. That the name of St. Peregrina was joined to the little chest in which the sacred body was carried from Rome to Ljubljana is plainly hinted in the two instruments transcribed here above; but that it was taken out of the cemetery of Priscilla together with the body is not hinted in the same instruments: yet since Peregrina, both in these and in the testimonial letters of the vicegerent of the Most Eminent Cardinal Vicar in the City, is constantly called Virgin, I bring myself to think that she bore this title either in an epitaph or in some inscription which was taken out of the cemetery of Priscilla together with the sacred body. For although the Saint could deservedly be held a martyr from the glass phial filled or at least tinged with blood, and at the same time it could be discerned, if only from the inspection of the bones alone, whether it was a man or a woman, yet that she was a virgin, or unmarried rather than married, could not be learned without the help of an inscription.

[21] But whether she also bore in it the name of Peregrina The kind of martyrdom with which the Saint was crowned, I should not dare to assert for certain. For Saints of a twofold kind are dug out of the ancient cemeteries of Rome, some of whom are found without any name or inscription, others with one or the other or even with both; and names are wont to be imposed upon the former, who are for that reason called baptized Saints, by the Cardinal Vicar or by the bishop who is prefect of the Pontifical sacristy: and hence it now comes about that it remains altogether doubtful whether our Martyr, being perhaps of the first kind of Saints listed here, bore the name of Peregrina in the same inscription in which she was called virgin, or in another epitaph too, and hence whether it is rightly noted in Schönleben's notice that this was taken out of the cemetery of Priscilla together with the Saint's body. Nor does what is further related in it appear more certain, that the Saint expired amid the torments, scourged with iron chains: for whence did either Schönleben, or also Father Simplicianus, who in the second of the notes mentioned above puts leaded whips for iron chains, learn that cruel kind of martyrdom which the Saint underwent? Was it perhaps noted in the inscription just mentioned, or were perhaps either iron chains, or leaded whips, or even both these instruments of martyrdom together, found in the Saint's sarcophagus or tomb? But neither is asserted by Father Simplicianus or by Schönleben, or can be proved from elsewhere. I should not indeed wish to deny what Simplicianus says at number 19, that the venerable head of the holy Virgin is all bruised; but whence did he learn that this was done with leaded whips, as he likewise affirms in the same place? Could the Saint's head not have been bruised with other instruments?

[22] Moreover, I know indeed that martyrdom of the Saint by leaded whips was believed not by Father Simplicianus alone: her kind and time are uncertain. for there exists with us a small booklet, which Schönleben, so very often already praised, sent to our Predecessors together with the documents adduced above, printed at Prague in the year 1660 under this title: The Solemnity of the translation of the sacred remains of St. Peregrina, Virgin and Martyr, taken out of the cemetery of Priscilla by order of the Most Holy Lord Our Lord Pope Alexander VII, celebrated at Ljubljana, metropolis of Carniola, by a public procession of clergy and people to the church of St. Joseph of the Reverend Fathers Discalced of St. Augustine, on the … day of the month of … in the year 1660, and sketched at Prague, triple city and metropolis of Bohemia, by P. F. Æ. of St. J. B. A. E., in metrical and anagrammatic style; and this little Work, in which, since it comprises for the most part only vague allusions to the name of Peregrina and anagrams formed from it, woven into very little polished verses, nothing at all worthy of note occurs besides, indicates clearly enough that the Saint was killed with leaded whips, both by the very image of her which it bears on its front, holding leaded whips in the left hand, and by three different distichs alluding to this very instrument of martyrdom with which it hints that Peregrina was slain. But what then? Did the author of that booklet perhaps have a sufficient foundation, which Father Simplicianus lacked, for believing in the Saint's martyrdom by leaded whips? That, indeed, I do not think can be proved even in any way at all. By what kind of martyrdom, then, the Saint flew away to those above appears altogether doubtful and uncertain. In like manner, further, must we speak of the time at which it happened, so that accordingly it is rightly written, at least in Schönleben's notice, that both the emperor and the governor under whom the Saint suffered are unknown. Yet since before the year 312, in which Constantine the Great vanquished the tyrant Maxentius, Christians were very frequently put to martyrdom at Rome, but after it very rarely, the Saint more probably, as I indicated above in the margin, shed her blood for Christ there before that year.

[23] although she is to be held and venerated as a true martyr. And let it suffice to have said this of the time at which Peregrina suffered; it remains now that I set forth a few things about her annual cult at Ljubljana among the Discalced Augustinians, which Schönleben's notice finally also teaches. That the fifth day of October, on which St. Peregrina was brought in the year 1660 with solemn pomp into the church of the Discalced Augustinians of Ljubljana, was thereafter kept by them every year, at least for a series of some years, with an Office of a double of the first class, I believe Schönleben when he asserts it: but whether those religious men continue to render this annual cult to the Saint even today, I am made to doubt by the general decree, approved by Innocent XII, by which it was forbidden by the sacred Congregation of rites in the year 1691 that Offices should thereafter be recited or Masses celebrated of Saints not described in the Roman Martyrology, even though their bodies or notable relics be kept in churches, unless a special concession of the holy See intervenes; whether the Discalced Augustinians of Ljubljana obtained this for our Saint, I am wholly ignorant. However the matter stands, Peregrina is indeed to be held for a Saint and Martyr, and her body can still be exposed to the public veneration of the faithful; nor is there any reason why it should raise a scruple for anyone that that sacred pledge was given not by the Most Eminent Cardinal Vicar but only by his vicegerent; for that Most Eminent man himself at least consented to this donation, as you will easily understand both from the Roman and from the Ljubljana instrument transcribed here above, and he is not wont to permit bodies to be taken out of the ancient Roman cemeteries and translated elsewhere for public veneration unless he has ascertained, from certain and undoubted indications, that they are truly those of Saints or Martyrs.