ON ST. LUKE OF ARMENTO, ABBOT AND CONFESSOR, IN LUCANIA,
In the year 993.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The Acts, deeds and sacred cult of the Saint.
Luke, abbot, confessor, at Armento in Lucania. (S.)
The Acts of St. Luke, likewise an abbot of the Order of St. Basil, which Henschen, in volume 2 of March, at the 9th day of that month, page 29, in the Annotations on the Acts of St. Vitalis, abbot, had promised were to be inserted in this Work at the 13th day St. Luke, not rightly referred somewhere to the 13th of September, of September, our predecessors rightly judged were to be deferred from the said day of the month of September to the 13th of October, on which the things to be said below will show that St. Luke both died and obtained sacred cult: occasion was given to the error, into which Castellanus likewise stumbled in the Universal Martyrology, by the fact that in Ottavio Gaetani, On the Sicilian Saints, volume 2, page 96, the 13th day of September was read marked in the margin as if sacred to St. Luke; which passage of Gaetani is to be emended from the Alphabetical Index prefixed to the Lives of the Saints contained in that Volume, where the 13th day of October is rightly marked as consecrated to the cult of St. Luke.
[2] with an anonymous Greek, his disciple, as author, St. Luke obtained as writer of his Life one anonymous indeed, but contemporary with him in age, a disciple and an eyewitness of the things he did; which is evident from these words of his at number 16: Fearing therefore that they would come upon us there with authority, we thought of fleeing into a fortified castle. But since it seemed shameful to us to live among secular men, our Master decided to make for a private place, fortified by nature. He wrote the life and deeds of his Master in the Greek idiom, whom Paolo Emilio Santoro cites at page 14 of the History of the Monastery of Carbone: another anonymous made the Greek text Latin, but in a style so very rude that Gaetani would not give this translator to the press unless moderately changed and polished by himself. We too have in our archives these Latin Acts of St. Luke, divided into various Lessons wont to be recited at Matins through the Octave; but written in the very worst characters, which indeed, although written in a style however rude, I would have subjoined to this Commentary, had I not judged it better to use those published by Gaetani than to expose myself repeatedly to the danger of erring by guessing. Otherwise, indeed, they have both certain blemishes to be indicated below, and such traces of Greek speech that it abundantly appears they were derived from this source into Latin.
[3] in Sicily, his native land, Paolo Emilio contends that St. Luke was a Calabrian by native land: but he says that those to whom he is called Sicilian were deceived by the barbarous appellation of the kingdom of Sicily on this side and beyond the Faro, which I think was said rather out of his love for Calabria than out of the truth: for the Greek writer and his Latin translator say that he was born in that Sicily in which SS. Euplius, Agatha, Lucia, Gregory and Vitalis were born: Euplius obtained his native soil at Catania according to the Menaea and the Basilian Menology, Agatha likewise at Catania or Palermo, Lucia at Syracuse, Gregory, bishop of Agrigento, near Agrigento, Vitalis at Castronovo in the Val di Mazara; nor, so far as I know, is there anyone who assigns these saints to Calabria: He also mentions indeed SS. Felix and his companion Martyrs, St. Pancras and Jerome, Doctor of the Church; but of these the first honoured Sicily properly so called with their chains, being brought there from Africa; and Pancras obtained the laurel of Martyrdom at Taormina: granted, he cannot be excused from error when he makes St. Ambrose, a Gaul, a Sicilian. And so, according to the mind of that Greek writer, St. Luke too was a Sicilian properly so called: nay, he even adds his native soil, namely Demena, a place of which kind is known neither to exist nor to have existed in Calabria: I confess indeed that neither in Sicily has a town or village of this name anywhere been found by me: but that it was at least a region of Sicily (perhaps so called from some ancient town of the same name) we learn from Fazello, On Sicilian Affairs, of the first decade, book 10, chapter 1, who writes thus: Sicily is today divided by the Treasury into three regions, which they call valleys: of which they call one of Demona, the second of Noto, and the third of Mazara. We read both in Histories and in public records that the Saracens first, then the Normans and the other kings of Sicily have used this partition up to now. And it is so recent that none either of the old Greeks or of the Latins has mentioned it. The region of Demona begins from the promontory of Peloro, and, embracing the upper and lower shore, is closed on this side by the river Teria, and on that by the river Himera, which flows into the Tyrrhenian sea. Further, in the region of Demona described by Fazello, not far from the source of the river Teria, is situated the ancient town of Menae, Menaenon or Menena, called in Greek Μέναι, and it may perhaps have been written by the Greek writer ἀπὸ Μενῶν, whence the translator, or copyists not sufficiently skilled in the Latin language, may perhaps have made Demena. There occurs besides in the same region of Sicily another town, akin in the termination of its appellation to Demena, which, lying upon a lofty and precipitous mountain, was anciently called Enna or the Castle of Enna, now corruptly called Castrogiovanni, where Rocco Pirri, in volume 2 of Sicilia Sacra, Notice I of the Church of Catania, page 99, judges that our St. Luke was brought forth into this light: which opinion or conjecture of Pirri's is indeed not without all likelihood; yet since that author brings forward no reason for his statement, the native town or village of St. Luke remains in doubt: this, however, is certain, that the name of that place has been corrupted by the fault either of the Latin translator of the Greek writer or of those copying him: for in our Apograph too Merina is read instead of Demena, and St. Vitalis, Abbot, born at Castronovo, is called De Merinita, a place of which kind likewise appears nowhere in Sicily.
[4] the monastic life which he had begun there under Abbot Sabbas, St. Luke had as father John, as mother Thedibia, most noble by birth, who took care that their offspring should be imbued from tender years with Christian virtues and precepts and the fear of the Lord: but that he should be polished in secular disciplines according to the brilliance of his birth was forbidden by the calamity of the time, namely the Saracens repeatedly making incursions into Sicily; which the biographer seems to have indicated when at number 2 he writes that he was harassed by bitter occasions. The love of chastity shone forth in him most of all: for although he was most observant of his parents, when he was pressed by them to marriage, he departed not only from their command or counsel, but also from home, carrying with him nothing at all except the name of Christ the saviour and the precepts written in the Gospel, and intending to serve Christ under monastic discipline. And so, setting out for Agira, he gave his name to the sacred warfare there in the monastery of the Order of St. Basil dedicated to St. Philip of Agira (wrongly called Largyrium in our manuscript): Agira, moreover, is a town of Sicily, set upon a lofty and sharp hill not far from the river Simeto, between the mountains Etna and Enna, commonly called San Filippo d'Agirò by the inhabitants, and famous for the dwelling, burial and miracles of St. Philip the priest, as may be seen more fully in volume 3 of May at the 12th day of that month. Further, how long he lived in that monastery the writer of the Life did not declare; but he says that he both excelled already in the prophetic spirit and in every kind of virtue, and was held to be such; which was most probably the reason why the humble Man decided, leaving Sicily, to migrate into Calabria, yet with the good leave of his abbot. Who that abbot was, the instructor of St. Luke in the solitary life, the writer of his Life indeed kept silent; but that it was Sabbas, most dear and most closely joined to Luke in all his life, is testified by the above-praised Paolo Emilio Santoro, page 15, from the Testament of Luke, abbot of Carbone, fourth from St. Luke, but the second of this name, which he drew up in the eleventh century. This Sabbas Ottavio Gaetani inserted with the title of Saint in volume 2 of the Lives of the Sicilian Saints, page 100, and ascribed to him in the margin the 5th day of December, as if sacred to him.
[5] in Calabria under Elias Spelaeotes Departing from him, St. Luke came to a most holy Man, living most religiously in a cave within the borders of the town of Reggio, Elias by name, called Spelaeotes, and another from Elias the Younger, who was so called not by comparison with the Elias who was abbot of our St. Luke, but with Elias the Prophet, and who was already taken from this life from about the year 960, whose Acts you have illustrated by Stilting in volume 3 of September at the 11th day of that month, page 843 and following: whence you will likewise learn where the cave which he inhabited and the monastery which St. Luke approached were situated; namely near the village or small town of Melicucca (to the Italians Melicoccha), situated a few Italian miles to the south of the town of Seminara. It is certain therefore that St. Luke was a monk under Elias Spelaeotes: further, of a certain Luke, a monk under the same abbot, surnamed Calvus, a great Man, as the anonymous disciple of Elias Spelaeotes speaks in his Life, repeated mention is made there; whence Stilting, in the volume of September just praised, in the Annotations on Chapter 7 of the life of St. Elias, raises the doubt whether this Luke mentioned here is the same as ours, or another.
[6] I plainly judge him another, and for these causes: (in whose Acts a Luke other than ours first indeed, because perhaps the writer of the Life of Elias added to him the surname of Calvus for this reason, that he might be distinguished from ours, to whom I have found that this surname was given neither in his Life, which we give, nor anywhere else. Then, because the Luke of whom the disciple of St. Elias speaks was, when he was younger, not very observant of obedience, as is clear from the things which are related about him in the same Chapter, number 48; namely that, having been sent by Elias Spelaeotes to carry a cask of wine to the neighbouring monks, he distributed it for the greater part to his friends, otherwise than he had in command from his abbot, and that on this account, as he was returning to his monastery, he was gravely injured and almost torn to pieces by a she-bear; which by no means befell our Luke, as one who, on the testimony of his biographer, in obedience to his parents up to the lawful
flower of age persevered, nor did he come from Sabbas, abbot of St. Philip of Agira, his first instructor, to Elias Spelaeotes, unless already well instructed in the monastic virtues and illustrious for the prophetic spirit. Thirdly, finally, the age of each shows that they were different: for since our Luke had Abbot Sabbas as his first instructor, and had the same, as is read below at the end of the Acts, standing by him as he died, it is necessary that our Luke numbered fewer years of monkhood than Sabbas.
[7] is mentioned) Let us suppose for a moment that St. Luke, abbot of Carbone, is mentioned in the praised Life of St. Elias Spelaeotes: Elias began to gather monks, as Stilting shows in the cited Volume, number 17 of the preliminary Commentary, about the year 906, and at the same time to be illustrious for miracles, on the testimony of his biographer, Chapter 7, at the first of which, by which Elias obtained wine from water, Luke was present: then the writer of the Life of Elias goes on, keeping, as it appears, the order of time, to recount other miracles of his abbot in the same chapter; and in Chapter 8 he narrates how Elias foresaw the death of the patrician Byzalo, a rebel while Constantine Porphyrogenitus was emperor, as Stilting proves from Liutprand in the Annotations; which event Stilting refers to about the year 920. Therefore, if not from the year 906, at least before the year 920, the Luke mentioned here would have embraced the monastic institute: hence count backwards the years, even few, which Luke probably spent with Sabbas: count likewise about 20 years, which he may easily have passed in the world when he was invited by his parents to enter into marriage; in this way indeed Luke would have been born before the year 900; and since he passed from this life in the year 993, on the testimony of his biographer, Luke would have died about a hundred years old, and Sabbas would have lived 70 years and more from his taking up of the abbatial crozier, which last at least I should not think would easily be admitted by the critics.
[8] proceeds to conduct himself excellently, And how much St. Luke, with this master, advanced in letters both sacred and humane, in which he had up to then been rude and unskilled, his biographer declares thus at number 8: He, as we have already said, instructed not in letters, but only in the manner of praying and in the psalter, came to Blessed Elias, and from that intercourse with the supreme anchorite he learned the whole rule and the monastic discipline, and, the grace of the holy Spirit overflowing in him, he arrived at such understanding of the Scriptures and such a summit of perfection that he discussed and laid bare with studious interpretation not only the plain Scriptures, but also the profound mysteries and the subtleties and hiding-places of the philosophers. And so the others were amazed how, though he had not learned letters, he opened them so perfectly and profoundly; so that the knowledge of things human and Divine in which he excelled seemed not so much acquired by human labour as divinely conferred upon him.
[9] departing from him, the Saracens threatening, And a specimen of the prophetic spirit with which he had already been presented by God at the time when he was still living with Sabbas the biographer relates at number 5, where he says that it came about, partly through the envy of the demon, partly through the depravation of morals, that Calabria was handed over into the hands of the Saracens; foreknowing which impending calamity, the grace of the Holy Spirit revealing it, St. Luke decided to migrate elsewhere. That the incursions of the Saracens into Calabria were indeed frequent in the tenth century historians commonly hand down, and that they happened more than once while St. Elias, who died about the year 960, was still surviving among the living, the writer of his Life teaches at Chapter 10, number 69, in these words: In the time of the incursions of the infidel Saracens the Man of quiet withdrew and hid himself in the mountains near the monastery: and again in these a little after: In the other subjugations of the province also he withdrew, and entered the castle. But he hands down that after his death the same calamity also fell upon his very monastery: Who (the monks of the monastery of St. Elias), after the death of the Saint, with a hireling pastor and not a true intercessor before God, betook themselves to the same castle, and, alas! suffered calamity. The people wasted away with thirst, the Saracens surrounding the castle, and, scattered like lost sheep, some indeed fell on the way, others fell into their hands. Whether St. Luke departed thence while St. Elias was alive or dead, the biographer does not indeed declare: But that he withdrew elsewhere while Elias was indeed alive, but already hastening to the end of life, that is, about the year 959, forewarned by God of the disaster impending over the very monastery in which he was staying, which seems to have happened not long after the death of Elias, is very likely, and the series of his subsequent deeds suggests it; as one who, after a seven-year stay at Noa, as will be said below, after the restoration of the monastery of St. Julian, finally fixed his seat at Armento about the year 969.
[10] soon Noa, Having therefore said farewell to St. Elias, about the year 959, by divine admonition, St. Luke withdrew to Noa, on the testimony of his biographer; not that which the Tables of Cluverius mark in Sicily not far from the sources of the river Helicon; but Noa (to the Italians Noia), situated in the borders of Lucania or Basilicata, as it is called today, where this faces present-day Calabria (for it was part of old Lucania). Here he spent seven years in healing the sick, helping the wretched, converting sinners to God, preaching the word of God to the inhabitants, up to about the year 966. The cause of departing thence again was that he might flee popular favour. For when, to use almost the words of the biographer, the fame of so great probity had in a short time filled the adjacent region, and all the neighbours came together to him as to an Apostle … he decided to withdraw to another place, where he might be unknown and private; fearing lest, having enjoyed human favour, he should hear the Lord saying to him: "Thou hast received thy reward."
[11] [then indeed he makes the monastery of St. Julian illustrious with virtues and miracles,] From Noa, further, he set out to the monastery of St. Julian, which, on the testimony of St. Luke's biographer, was situated beside the river Agrumentum: that river is in this age called Aciris or Agri, rising from the Apennine in Basilicata above Marsico Nuovo, and, having flowed past Marsico Vetere, Saponara and the town of Sant'Arcangelo, finally rolls down into the gulf of Taranto. Not far from the town of Sant'Arcangelo, towards the mouth of the Aciris or Agri, a castle occurs, called Agromento in the Geographical Map of Basilicata in Blaeu. A place likewise, Agromonte, is seen in Janssonius, near Noa; but since this is more remote from the Agri, while the former lies adjacent to the Agri, I think that the monastery of St. Julian, of which the biographer here, formerly existed in the former place: moreover, he accomplished many things excellently in this place, which the biographer narrates more fully: but he praises him most of all for his liberality towards the poor, which he exercised especially towards the neighbouring people of Marsico labouring with famine, experiencing the hand of God the more liberal towards himself the more he paid out to the needy; he was also illustrious there for many miracles, so much so that not only he himself, but also his disciples performed miracles with his garment, nay even with his name: but, although he had been made all things to all, he could not escape the envy of a certain powerful man, lord of the neighbouring villages, Landulf by name: for he reckoned that whatever accrued to St. Luke's monastery was taken from himself: stirred therefore by this, he was going to destroy it, had he not been so snatched into the air by the vengeance of God that he was seen by no one of men thereafter.
[12] and, the monastery of Carbone founded about that time, Likewise at this time he either founded or, as Paolo Emilio Santoro would have it, restored the monastery of Carbone, situated in the same tract of Basilicata between the Aciris and the Sinni, and sacred to St. Elias the Prophet, the Mother of God, and Anastasius, Martyr among the Persians: about which matter St. Luke's biographer has nothing indeed in express words; yet that he presided over more monasteries in Basilicata than that of Noa, that of St. Julian, and that of Armento, of which presently, he seems sufficiently to intimate, speaking thus at number 11: But after a little time so grave a disease fell upon all the monasteries alone that were subject to the most glorious Man that almost all the monks were sick unto death. Which served chiefly both to increase the dignity of Luke and for the patience and crown of the whole congregation. He had brought these back to their former splendour and holiness, and fortified them with holy laws, when, the sound of arms again resounding, he was compelled to migrate elsewhere.
[13] and, war again breaking out, Then indeed, says the writer of his Life at number 8, in the time of Nicephorus, emperor of Constantinople, a certain fierce man from the nations Beyond the Alps came into Italy, to plunder, and to storm atrociously the cities of the Greeks. Fearing therefore that they would come upon us there with authority, we thought of fleeing into a fortified castle. At that time the Calabrians and Lucanians obeyed Nicephorus Phocas, emperor of Constantinople, against whom and at the same time against the Saracens in Apulia and Calabria Otto the Great, emperor of the West, having suffered a repulse when he sought Theophano, daughter of Romanus the Younger, as wife for his son Otto, moved war; and this is the Otto whom the writer of the Life of St. Luke accuses of ferocity against the Greeks: the epoch of this war Lupus Protospata explains in these words in Muratori, volume 5 of the Italian Affairs, page 40: In the year 969 King Otho entered into Apulia in the month of March and besieged the city of Bari with vain effort, and in another year entered into Calabria in the month of October. Therefore, if one had to stand strictly by the words of Lupus, the flight of St. Luke from the monastery of St. Julian would have to be bound to the year 970; but since he adds, and the sun was darkened in the month of December, and it is admitted that that eclipse of the sun happened in the year 968, I should prefer to ascribe it to the year 969, in which the Saxon Annalist writes that Otto celebrated Easter in Calabria, so that only three or four years seem to have intervened between St. Luke's arrival at the monastery of St. Julian and his departure thence.
[14] [he drives the Saracens from the monastery of Armento, which he had recently founded,] Departing hence, he searched out a place not easily passable for enemies, where he might protect his own and his people's safety; and he found, not far from the left bank of the Aciris, between the town of Sant'Arcangelo and Marsico Vetere, a half-ruined castle (called at that time by the Calabrians the Rock Armos, but now the town of Armento), which, although strong and firm by its own situation, he girded with ramparts and walls, and adorned with a temple sacred to the Virgin Mother of God and to the prince of the Apostles. That Luke accomplished these things by divine rather than human counsel the outcome of events taught: for some while after the Saracens, as his biographer hands down at number 9, tried to break into that castle; and they had already profaned the sacred building of the Mother of God, near the castle, when, divine help having been invoked, and Christ admonishing, he, girt with arms together with the brethren, went forth to meet the enemies: Luke went before the rest, carried on a horse, and surrounded on every side by a certain remarkable light, terrified by whose brightness the Saracens were some turned to flight, some slain, some captured and stripped of their arms. This attack of the Saracens upon the castle of Armento and likewise upon the monastery (as these words of the biographer, with the brethren, indicate) seems to be referred either to the year 982 or to 989. For in the former of these Otto II against
the Greeks, to whom the Saracens had joined themselves, fought unsuccessfully in Calabria, as Hermann the Lame, Lambert of Hersfeld, Sigebert and others write: but in the latter Lupus Protospata testifies that the Saracens ravaged the whole of Calabria.
[15] and various monasteries and temples being founded or restored, Further, what specimens of virtues and also what miracles St. Luke went on to put forth the writer of the Life pursues at number 11 and following; consult him there: he adds one fact and another, about which it will suffice to have said a little: of these one is that, besides the monasteries and temples already mentioned, St. Luke either founded or restored several other temples, among which he names expressly the church of St. Laverius. Blessed Laverius, most holy Martyr of Christ, suffered on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of December in the year of the Incarnation 312, says Robert de Romana, a writer of the twelfth century, in his Acts in Ughelli, volume 7 of Italia Sacra, second edition, col. 488, namely at Grumentum, in which city there was formerly an episcopal see, thence transferred to Marsico Vetere, and lastly to Nuovo: and the same Robert explains the situation of Grumentum, which was destroyed long ago, when he says that St. Laverius was slain in almost these words: Not far outside the walls of the city (of Grumentum), in the place where the two rivers Acris and Sciagra are joined, and so not far from that place where the town of Saponara is now seen. The other is that St. Luke founded at Armento, besides a monastery of men, also a monastery of virgins, over which the first to preside was Catherine, St. Luke's sister, presented with the monastic habit; the writer of the Life hands down that she came there from Sicily, from which you will again learn that this author distinguishes Sicily from Calabria, and accordingly that Paolo Emilio Santoro wrongly contends that St. Luke was born in Calabria. Hence the biographer proceeds to his death, which we have deserted for a little while, in order that from the Acts of St. Vitalis, brought into volume 2 of March and written by an author almost contemporary, we may relate the meeting of St. Luke with Vitalis, omitted by our anonymous.
[16] (having likewise visited Thus it is read there at the 9th day of March, page [] 28: When therefore distinguished report everywhere spoke of the sanctity of this man, already known, it happened that a most famous rumour reached the great monastery which is called Armento. In that monastery, indeed, there was held as Prelate and Ruler a certain blessed and holy man, and very acceptable and dear to God, whose name was Luke. He, after he learned of the good works, report flying everywhere, and that the life of that man was hard, fell into great admiration, and thinking within himself that there was such great grace in him, soon taking the road which leads to the Saint, said within himself: I myself will go, and will see whether the things which they say of him are true: and Blessed Luke, rejoicing, upon a white mare, as he had arranged, arrived at the man by the will of God. Then, after the eulogy of salutation had been sent before, with the accustomed inclination of the head and bended knee, they rendered mutual reverence to each other. Then, sitting at the entrance of the cave, they brought forth sacred and useful discourses, speaking among themselves through the holy Spirit. And now the man of God, Luke, proved by experience of works the things which he had known about him from report as informant. The appointed hour then approaching, Vitalis orders his disciple, Go, he says, and for the welcome of the Brother who has come prepare for us some boiled wheat with a little bread. The swift servant hastens the words of the one commanding, and when the hour came, according to the regular custom, the aforesaid Fathers prayed together.*
[17] St. Vitalis) Then, the wheat having been set on the table by the disciple, and the food having been received together, Blessed Vitalis, compassionate, says to his disciple: Do you wish to acquire the blessing of the Fathers, Brother Elias, so great a man having come to us? Go and bring onions of the garden into the middle of the table: for St. Vitalis was wont to eat these with barley bread. The onions being at once brought, he cut one of them into four parts and set them out: and when that guest Luke saw it, Spare, he said, Father, spare; put this goat's food far from me, for it brings death to one who eats it. But St. Vitalis fearlessly, as he was accustomed, began to eat: and when Blessed Luke saw him doing so, he then took some with fear, and tasting it with his mouth and committing it to his throat at the same time, at once fell to the ground as if dead. And Blessed Vitalis, rising, prayed in these words: Lord Jesus Christ, who hast ordained all things for the salvation of Thy servants, and permittest those believing in Thee to be proved, so that they may be able to advance to a greater measure of good work; hear me unworthy, and show this Thy Servant sound and unharmed. Blessed Vitalis praying these things, and the sign of the Cross having been made over him, at once he who was lying rose up, and falling at his feet said: Spare me, Saint of God; since now I have known and seen great things in thee, and the things which I had learned by the report of many I do not doubt, supported by the strength of truth. Going forth, I myself shall be one of those preaching thy name, disclosing thy magnificent powers to all. Then St. Vitalis, raising him up and at the same time praying, let him go away in peace, glorifying the Lord, who works wonders in His Saints. From that meeting there was perpetual friendship between these Saints, as I think no one will fail easily to gather from what will be said a little later about the relics of St. Vitalis, afterwards translated to Armento. I return to our biographer.
[18] he closes his last day at Armento in the year 993, Three years had now flowed by since, like another Job, St. Luke, struck by the demon with a grievous disease in the calves, had been limping: yet he did not cease, as a father solicitous for his sons, from going round the monasteries over which he presided; whence, when once he was returning to Armento, rapt into ecstasy, he was taught by an angel that the end of his life and labours was impending over him. He hastened therefore his return, and as soon as he reached Armento, he lay down on his bed, and shortly after, having prayed well for his sons, by a happy departure passed to the Lord, on the third day before the Ides of October, says the anonymous, in the six thousand and ninety-third from the founding of the world, handed over to burial by St. Sabbas, by whom he had been imbued with the first precepts of the monastic life in the monastery of St. Philip of Agira. After Luke's death, the monastery of Carbone (perhaps also the others which Luke had ruled) was ruled by Blasius, whom Menas succeeded; him Stephen, surnamed Theodulus: and Stephen, Luke II, who in the Testament which he drew up in the year 1057 when about to set out for Jerusalem wove a catalogue of these abbots, on the testimony of Paolo Emilio, and had as successor his brother Blasius II. The remaining archimandrites or abbots of this monastery Paolo, already often praised, will give.
[19] where his body, The body of St. Luke is still preserved at Armento and religiously honoured in the temple dedicated to his name; and the inhabitants, who more than once experienced to their good him as patron and defender while he was still living on earth, thinking that, received into heaven, he would be no less propitious to them, elected him as tutelary patron of their town: and the piety and veneration of Luke II, abbot of Carbone, towards St. Luke shone forth most of all in the eleventh century, a temple having been founded at Armento under his invocation, into which, as Paolo Gualtieri, On the Saints of Calabria, book 1, chapter 36, is the authority, he translated the sacred remains of St. Luke on the 18th day of October, sacred to St. Luke the Evangelist; and he says that from that time it came about that his memory began to be honoured with the Ecclesiastical Office, which is still done today: which indeed I do not doubt was truly said by him; since the manuscript Life of St. Luke which is with us is distributed into various Lessons to be recited at Matins through the Octave, with this prayer added moreover at its end: Pour forth benignly upon us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy help, that, aided by the glorious prayers of blessed Luke, Thy Confessor and abbot, we may mercifully deserve to obtain the clemency of Thy goodness in heavenly glory. Nevertheless, to say it in passing, when Gualtieri says that St. Luke laid down his mortal remains at Agrumentum, he wrongly confuses this place with Armento.
[20] [as also some relics of his are religiously preserved among the people of Tricarico.] The cathedral church of Tricarico in Lucania likewise venerates relics of St. Luke, treating of which Ughelli, in the enlarged Italia Sacra, volume 7, col. 145 and following, has these words: In the cathedral basilica of this city, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, are preserved relics of the saints Luke, Vitalis, Hilary and John of Galasso, hermits, who led the Evangelical life in the neighbouring solitudes, and an arm of St. Luke covered with silver. The body of St. Vitalis (see volume 2 of March, page 32 and the two following), translated from Rapolla to Guardia, thence to Turi, was thence secretly carried off and placed at Armento in the temple of St. Luke; so that those whose souls had been joined while they were living, their bodies too might be joined after death: After three days, say the Acts of the Translation, St. Vitalis appeared in sleep to certain most reverend persons among the inhabitants of Turi, comforting them, and saying: Why is the city so moved on my account, why does it sigh daily? Do not, sons, be saddened henceforth, but rather exult and rejoice, because, although it has pleased, by a certain ineffable disposition of God, that my body should be with my brother Luke, yet I am not separated in spirit from your city. Since therefore it is abundantly established from what has been said concerning the sacred cult of St. Luke the abbot, not undeservedly did Ferrari, who wrongly places the monastery of Carbone at Armento, bring him into the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, Francesco Caraffa into the Sicilian Pantheon, Castellanus into the Universal Martyrology, Ottavio Gaetani into the Sicilian Martyrology. And this last indeed in these words: At Enna (where with Pirri he thinks he was born) St. Luke, abbot of the monastery of Carbone in Lucania, of the Order of St. Basil.
LIFE
OF ST. LUKE, ABBOT.
Luke, abbot, confessor, at Armento in Lucania. (S.)
BHL Number: 4978
BY AN ANONYMOUS CONTEMPORARY AUTHOR.
CHAPTER I.
St. Luke, a Sicilian, having spurned marriage, embraces the monastic life and makes various monasteries illustrious by the sanctity of his morals.
St. Luke, in Sicily This truly excellent and green branch of a precious tree Sicily a produced for us, from which there have frequently sprung up both flowers of Martyrs, as Felix and Januarius with their companions b, Pancras and Euplius c, and very many others; and of Virgins, as Blessed Agatha of Catania d, Lucia of Syracuse e; and also of Confessors, as Ambrose f, supreme Doctor of the western church, Philip of Agira g, Gregory of Agrigento h, Hilarion and John his brother i, Vitalis k, together with our venerable Father Luke, whose history we now pursue.
[2] His parents, therefore, most noble by birth, and in the world most gentle [*], flourished: sprung of a noble family, having spurned marriage, and his father indeed was called John, and his mother Thedibia, much adorned with the justice and grace of God. Begotten of these, Luke, and nourished in the faith of Christ, was imbued not with the knowledge of secular letters, but with divine discipline. For indeed, harassed by bitter and chance occasions, by which the incursions of the slippery are often rolled along, since he could not learn divine wisdom with the studies of letters,
with the love of God alone helping him, what he could not by letters he seized by the fear of Him. For it is written: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." l But he also persevered in obedience to his parents up to the flower of lawful age, not ignorant of that saying: "Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be long-lived upon the earth"; m by whom, when he was often pressed to marriage, he would not apply his ears to the words. For, trusting in the love of God alone, fleeing the sorrows and sighs not only of this but also of the future world, and following Christ the Saviour in mind, and carrying with him nothing at all except His name and the precepts written in the Gospel, he had founded his house not upon sand, but upon firm rock.
[3] having embraced the monastic life in Sicily, afterwards near Reggio in Calabria, Wherefore, coming from his native place Demena n to the monastery o of Blessed Philip of Agira, received most kindly by the Abbot [p] of the Monastery, and now confirmed and instructed by examples and precepts, he departed, carrying with him in place of provision for the way only the prayers of the Abbot. And the Man was distinguished by the prophetic spirit, and was held to be so both by these then and afterwards by others who heard his discourses. But indeed he obtained the grace indwelling in him, by which others afterwards have profited up to the present day. But just as a skilled painter, taking the examples and order of various histories, and wonderfully applying various colours to the images, strives to adorn a temple, so he, following the teachings, examples and works of the Holy Fathers, and taking them up as it were as various colours, decided to adorn the true temple of God, namely his own soul; and, adorned in this way, he came to a most holy man, living most religiously in a cave within the borders of the town of Reggio, Elias by name [q]; and not undeservedly; for, like the sun [r], he illuminated the whole region of Calabria with the splendour both of teaching and of example, surrounded by disciples as by a choir of stars. He, seeing the disposition of his guest, received the man most honourably; and from the gold received the most wise craftsman made a precious vessel. But who could either unfold in speech or embrace in thought the zeal of the most holy Luke to conform himself to the morals of his most wise preceptor, both in learning and in fulfilling his precepts? For our Eliseus was singing beforehand [s] that he should not be too far from the footsteps of his Elias.
[5] But the most hostile enemy of the human race, by no means bearing the form of so great religion, hence, at the movement of the Saracens, he makes for Noa; stirred up against us a most wicked nation. And on account of the innumerable multitude of our offences God handed us over into the hands of our enemies. Nevertheless He permitted us to be scourged for correction only, not according as we deserved. And all these things most Blessed Luke, the grace of the Holy Spirit revealing it, foreknowing as about to befall the Province of Calabria, and that it was to be devoured by the bites of dogs, at the same time because no virtue was cultivated in it, departed from that place of the cave which we have mentioned, trusting in the Lord, and knowing that no prayers were to be poured out for the impious who were to be scourged: as in the old Testament God says to Moses crying out: Do not entreat Me for this people, for I will not spare their bodies; and Solomon: The father who spares the rod hates his son; and whom he loves he carefully corrects. [t] And the Apostle of a certain impious man who abused his stepmother: I will deliver him to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh; it is not in the Apostle; perhaps his soul shall be saved in the day of judgment. [u] But as Moses, withdrawing from Egypt, carried away bodily ones [x], so he carried away with him the spiritual riches of the virtues, and came to the town which is called Noa [y]. And he found there a Basilica under the name of Peter the Apostle; rejoicing not so much in the new province as in the patronage of the Apostle; and he stayed there, having that word in his mouth: I am become with Thee as a stranger, as all my Fathers. [z]
[6] but, fleeing popular favour, Moreover, the fame of so great probity in a short time filled the adjacent region, and all the neighbours came together to him as to an Apostle: "for a city set upon a mountain cannot be hid." [aa] And "he was made all things to all," [bb] that he might gain all; wherefore he ministered both a physician to the sick and spiritual and bodily food to the hungry, for the Word of God is far better than any human gift. He was besides the conversion of sinners, the consolation of the afflicted, the helper of those labouring under necessity. Having stayed here seven years he decided to withdraw to another place, where he might be unknown and private; fearing lest, having enjoyed human favour, he should hear the Lord saying to him: "Thou hast received thy reward" [cc]; as the Egyptian Hilarion [dd] did, the disciple of that great Antony of Alexandria, who similarly, lest on account of popular favour he should lose eternal glory, fled from Alexandria into Africa; thence into Sicily, then to Ancona, a city of Galatia, finally into Cyprus, where he happily passed away; and as this Antony in ancient times was powerful with God and magnificent in deeds, so was most Blessed Luke in his age.
[7] the monastery of St. Julian with his virtues Setting out therefore from Noa [ee], he came to the old and now ruined monastery of St. Julian [ff], beside the river Agrumentum, which he rebuilt and enlarged. And there he remained like a treasure in a deserted field: and when a very great crowd of men flowed together to him, he clothed very many of them with the monastic habit, whose begetter he was according to the Gospel, following namely Him who took flesh of the Virgin that He might enlighten the blind and gather together the dispersed; instructing them by his institutions in hospitality, humility, abstinence, mutual and brotherly charity. And to touch upon all things briefly, he offered himself to all as an example for every virtue: for no one would suffice to unfold the prayers, alms, and innumerable multitude of good works which he performed privately and publicly, day and night, the others not knowing: nor can he be compared more rightly to anyone than to John the Almsgiver, Patriarch of Alexandria [gg]. For the riches of each were increased the more abundantly the more largely they were spent on all. For at the same time, when a strong famine invaded the whole Province of the Marsi [hh], and all ran together there, the most holy Luke commanded one of his men that he should furnish all things to all without sparing. Meanwhile the household goods increased by the largesse. But when he had one day received a price for the paying out of alms, the resources began to diminish, and the brethren began to complain before the most holy Abbot about their sustenance, that it would scarcely suffice them for a week, or two at the most. Wherefore the most gentle Father, rejecting him, substituted another to be in charge of that same business; and when he bestowed upon all according to custom, the provisions began again to increase. And so great an abundance followed that that very slender sustenance sufficed not only for two weeks but even for a year. Whence all, as many as were present, were greatly amazed. This man indeed was "the faithful and wise servant, whom the Lord set over His household, to give them food in its season" [ii].
[8] and, having drawn in the sciences divinely, he illustrates. From which very time it came about that God worked wonders through him. For he both drove demons from the possessed bodies of the brethren, and, after the manner of the Apostles, healed the sick by the mere touch of his handkerchief. Nor indeed by himself alone, but also through the brethren subject to him, sent with his garment, he worked the same things. And the matter went so far that they used the mere name of Luke in healing the sick. He, as we have already said, instructed not in letters, but only in the manner of praying and in the psalter, came to Blessed Elias, and from that intercourse with the supreme Anchorite he learned the whole rule and the monastic discipline; and, the grace of the holy Spirit overflowing in him, he arrived at such understanding of the scriptures and such a summit of perfection that he discussed and laid bare with studious interpretation not only the plain Scriptures, but also the profound mysteries and the subtleties and hiding-places of the philosophers. And so the others were amazed how, though he had not learned letters, he opened them so perfectly and profoundly. And since he was devoted with all zeal to the divine fear and love together, no less than Daniel was preserved in the den from the lions, he himself was feared by the nobles: and just as those who desired Daniel's destruction were devoured while he was preserved: whoever tried to disturb the most holy Abbot was punished, he himself being unharmed. For there was one of the chief men, lord of the villages neighbouring the monastery of St. Julian, Landulf by name, who, provoked by the devil with the goads of cupidity and envy, because he perhaps saw that his fields, services and revenues were being diminished on account of the increased possessions of the Monastery and the zealous religion of the neighbours, decided to go to destroy the Monastery. Which, when the most holy Abbot, the spirit revealing it, had foreknown and had foretold to the brethren, he consoled them in their terror. And he added that such great temerity would harm not them, but the man: the outcome proved the matter: for when he was coming to destroy the monastery, he vanished on the way, already snatched away, nor was he seen anywhere. And the holy Man, learning this, began to say with the prophet: "They will curse, and Thou wilt bless; let them that rise up against me be confounded, but Thy servant shall rejoice" [kk].
ANNOTATIONS.
l. Psalm 110, verse 10.
m. Exodus 20, verse 12.
p. St. Sabbas, the first instructor of St. Luke, as Paolo Emilio Santoro writes from the Testament of Luke II, abbot of the monastery of Carbone: the same stood by our St. Luke as he died, according to the Acts at the end.
q. He is other than St. Elias the Younger: see more at number 5 of the preliminary Commentary.
r. The writer here alluded to the affinity of the words Elias and ῆ᾽λιος, in Latin Sol.
s. Read: he was taking care beforehand.
t. He that spareth the rod hateth his son; but he that loveth his son correcteth him betimes. Proverbs 13, verse 24.
u. I have already judged … to deliver such a one to satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians, Chapter 5, verses 4 and 5. These words are to be deleted: it is not in the Apostle, wrongly intruded into the text of Scripture.
x. Vessels of silver and of gold, and very much raiment. Exodus 12, verse 35.
y. There is not one town only of this name: here Noa is indicated, which is situated between the river Agri and the roots of the Apennine, where it divides Lucania from Calabria. St. Luke went there about the year 959, according to number 9 of the preliminary Commentary.
z. For I am a stranger with Thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. Psalm 38, verse 13.
aa. Matthew 5, verse 14.
bb. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 22.
cc. Matthew 6, verse 2.
dd. St. Hilarion is honoured on the 21st of October: he was born in Palestine; yet he lived for a while in Egypt: St. Jerome, in Rosweyde's Lives of the Fathers, writes that he arrived from the Oasis, having traversed a vast solitude, at Paraetonium, a maritime city of Libya; and thence set out into Sicily, from Sicily into Dalmatia, and finally died in Cyprus.
ee. About the year 966, according to number 9 of the preliminary Commentary.
ff. On the site of this monastery see number 11 of the preliminary Commentary.
gg. Consult his Acts given by us at the 23rd day of January, on which he is honoured.
hh. Or of the people of Marsico, situated likewise on the river Agri.
ii. All expect of Thee that Thou give them food in season. Psalm 103, verse 27.
kk. Psalm [ ], verse 28.
[] Perhaps ditissimi*?
CHAPTER II.
He founds the monastery of Armento, and, illustrious for various prodigies, ends his day.
Then indeed, in the time of Nicephorus a, Emperor of Constantinople b, a certain fierce man c from the nations Beyond the Alps came into Italy, to plunder, and to storm atrociously the cities of the Greeks. for fear of Otto the Great withdrawing to Armento, he founds a monastery there, Fearing therefore that they would come upon us there with authority, we thought of fleeing into a fortified castle. But since it seemed shameful to us to live among secular men d, our master decided to make for a private place, fortified by nature, which would not need too much work either for the building of a castle or for fortification. Trying therefore various mountain places, he at length found a fitting one, suited to the safety not only of himself and his people, but also of those who lived in the neighbouring monasteries. Here first he built a Basilica under the name of the Virgin Mary and of Peter the Apostle e. Then he was helper and physician to all the afflicted and those needing his help. For he succoured not only the poor and whoever flowed there, but also all who were languishing with any sickness whatever and oppressed by the infestations of the demon, so that he might close the bowels of charity to no one, he furnished, the name of God being invoked, the effect of the health sought. But wishing to repel from himself the name of sanctity, and to flee the windy glory of the people, the corrupter of the eternal, he applied herbal poultices and plasters to the sick, so that he might be thought to do by the power of herbs what he worked by divine power and name.
[10] Now indeed that building of which we have already spoken, from which the Saracens called from the very beginning the Castle of Armento, and in the Calabrian idiom the rock Armos, he completed not by chance or rashly, but by a certain divine providence, for the safety and protection of the multitude running together there for refuge. For once the Agarenes, who are also called Saracens, coming into that same province f, and capturing a very great crowd, and plundering everywhere, ran as far as the neighbourhood of Armento, where the Man of God was staying with his brethren; and they encamped in the plain where the chapel of the Most Holy Virgin is situated. And now, running about through the plains and exulting, they were polluting the sacred place of the Mother of God with unclean feet, lying down, and nefarious crimes. Hearing of which injuries against the Virgin, and the calamities of the almost innumerable captives whom they held bound with chains, he, poured out into sobs, groans and a fountain of tears, recited the hymn which the three children sang in the furnace; and that one of David: "O God, the heathens are come into Thy inheritance, they have defiled Thy holy temple, they have made Jerusalem as a place to keep fruit." [g] Do these nations, O Lord, do such things to Thy servants? Of whom some they have slain, others they have scourged, others they hold shamefully and most cruelly captive, that they may lead them into captivity and servitude. And now, O Lord, we are diminished, afflicted and humbled above all on earth. Deal with us according to the multitude of Thy mercy, and free Thy servants from this captivity. For behold, O Lord, like wild beasts of the forest and lions they have risen up, and devoured Thy nurslings, saying: Where is their God? And what God will snatch them from our hands? "Be propitious, O Lord, and give not the blood of Thy servants up to reproach." h
[11] he keeps off with the help of God, Saying these things with weeping and tears, the Lord Luke kept vigils with the brethren. And as in the Old Testament God spoke to Moses, saying: Why criest thou to Me; lift up thy rod, and strike the sea, and thou shalt pass through, thou and the children of Israel, so He addressed the most blessed man also, saying: Why criest thou to Me? Speak with thy brethren, and let them all gird themselves. And do thou take thy staff; thou shalt go before to drive off these dogs; for they will not be able to stand before the face of the splendour of the grace of the spirit granted to thee; for thou hast found grace with Me i. Having heard these things, most Blessed Luke girded himself like a strong man, and stood in the gate, looking at all his people, and chose all the most robust, the rest being left in the Castle; and, fortified with the sign of the cross, like a leader of strenuous soldiers, with great spirit he exhorts the chosen outside the gate: and taking an example from Gideon, who chose a few out of a huge multitude, by whom he overcame infinite wedges of enemies; and from Joshua son of Nun, who likewise with a small band often routed the greatest forces, he says to his men: You too, who ought to lay down your lives for your brethren, go out in the hope of victory, and fight fiercely against the most hostile enemies of Christ and of the Christian cause. For God will deliver them into your hands; and saying these things, he stretched out his hand, and blessed them, and prayed, and sent them against the Agarenes: and these, while they were preparing themselves for defence, saw a great brightness of fire going round the most white horse on which the most holy Father was sitting: and when the flashing flame dulled their faces, they were turned to flight with excessive terror, and all fell in the battle. Very many, therefore, were slain by the sword, others led captive, others finally, escaping by shameful flight, were stripped of their arms. And the most holy Servant of God, having used this victory according to his will, began to sing this psalm: "Let God arise, and let all His enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Him flee from before His face." [k]
[12] and prodigies performed there, But after a little time so grave a disease fell upon all the monasteries alone that were subject to the most glorious Man that almost all the monks were sick unto death. Which served chiefly both to increase the dignity of Luke and for the patience and crown of the whole congregation. For he, visiting each monastery and each of the brethren, recalled very many to life and health by his prayers. And those whom he did not heal passed away so sweetly and cheerfully that they seemed not to die, but to pass from sickness now to health, from sadness to gladness, from death to life. And it happened, while he was visiting each in the monasteries in the manner we have said, that one of the brethren, Nicholas by name, died, and his soul was being led to the lower regions; and three Ethiopians in appearance dragged the body for three whole days and as many nights through the rough rocks of Armento, while he was awaiting the coming of Father Luke to free him, and cried out with frequent sighs and groans. Meanwhile, while he is so affected, behold, a certain most white old man, clothed in priestly vestments [l]; at whose approach those most black ones began to flee with horrible clamour and bellowing. And when he was being held by the hands of that old man and led upwards from the lower regions, behold, most Blessed Luke ran to meet them, his body dissolved in sweat from the vehement running; to whom the old man said: Is it thus you have left your flock to the wolves to be seized? To whom Luke said: I beseech thee, Lord, spare me, for I come from visiting the rest of the brethren, labouring with a most grievous sickness: and when he had received him from the old man's hands, the old man withdrew; and he who had been dead rose up, sat up, and found himself healthy in his bed, the Venerable Father Luke standing there, and praying with groaning and tears, and giving thanks to God. But Nicholas, when he had kept silent about these things for three days, afterwards narrated everything that had happened to him in the lower regions.
[13] with prodigies, Nor was this done once. Very often, like the Blessed Confessor Nicholas [m], our Luke appeared to many, before or after death, for help and salvation. For he was also present to a certain man besides, who had gone over a rock into a precipice, and helped him, bruised and wounded, so much that no sign of injury appeared in him. While he was doing these and almost innumerable things like them, he did not cease to admonish the brethren, taking examples both from the ancient fathers and from his brethren who had died; and at the same time that they should not imitate the vicious life of two who had lately died, but rather the admirable one of a certain most holy Antony n, who had then passed away. Who, although he had been Steward of the whole Congregation, was in no matter ever troublesome to anyone, but sweet, gentle, obedient to all, and, to embrace in a few words all things about his life and morals, was most like to that great Antony up to the last breath of life.
[14] several monasteries founded or restored, These things he preached in the discourses of the temples, of which in great part he was the builder, or also the restorer. For when he had found the church of Blessed Laverius o already ruined, he cut wood with his own hands, burned stones for lime, and finally rebuilt it. For he would not eat unless he worked with his hands, according to that saying of the Apostle: "If any man will not work, neither let him eat." [p] And let each one work with his own hands, that he may have something to eat. And when the plotter against the human race, against all excellent things
he envies, seeing him calling with good works, he likewise undertook to tempt him (as Job too is read to have done), and, striking him indeed in the calves, inflicted chronic wounds on him, from which, the disease lasting three years, he limped in his feet. Yet he never ceased from good hope or work. Nay, he mocked the devil who was mocking him and striving to call him away from the divine praises, and, after the manner of Blessed Job, the more the wound grew raw, the more constantly he praised the Lord.
[15] and moreover at Armento a convent of virgins, But since the pen of the narration now approaches the end, let us draw it back a little. A good and fertile tree has furnished among us very many and most useful fruits: namely Blessed Luke, and his sister Catherine, with her sons. This Catherine, therefore, the sister of Blessed Luke, having first been joined in marriage, and having received sons, namely the holy Antony, whom we have already mentioned, and the most glorious Theodore, another Angel; afterwards, being now a widow, came from Sicily to Armento, and, first supplicating the monks on bended knees, then pouring out prayers to her brother Luke that he would clothe herself and her sons with the monastic habit. The holy woman, having obtained her vow, instituted a society of Virgins, with whom she led a most honourable life in the church of the Holy Mother of God in the plain, which we have mentioned. And she arrived in a short time at such virtue, and shone before the Nuns with such a rule, that she seemed not unlike her brother. Why say much? Such was the holiness of all her Virgins that their pastors, instructed by them in religion and piety, were an example and a teaching to the other communities of other monasteries [q].
[16] he closes his day in the year 993, on the 13th day of October. But it happened one day to Luke, returning from visiting the monasteries, that on the way he was rapt into ecstasy, and saw an Angel, who made him certain of his death in these words: Man of God, Luke, go on quickly; hasten the journey, which you will accomplish as the last in this world. For now God calls you. But when Luke came back to himself, announcing the matter to a brother, he said: Let us hasten home; for now God calls me from this world, and this I have now learned, an Angel revealing it. And when he had gone on home, the holy Father lay down on his bed, and, like Jacob his sons, at the point of death he blessed each of the brethren, and, fortifying himself with the sign of the cross, happily passed to the Lord on the third day before the Ides of October, in the year from the founding of the world six thousand 493, from the Incarnation of the Lord 993 [r]. There was present at his death St. Sabbas [s], equal to Luke in morals and sanctity, who buried him with his own hands and with great honour, praising God in him, to whom be honour and glory for ever. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
g. Psalm 78, verse 1.
k. Psalm 67, verse 1.
p. To the Thessalonians 3, verse 10.
q. Those who are mentioned here are unknown to us from elsewhere.
r. Castellanus had marked the year 1000 at the 13th day of September; which he rightly changed to 993 at this day.
s. Abbot of the monastery of St. Philip of Agira, and the first instructor of St. Luke in the monastic life.