ON ST. ROGER OF CANNE, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR, AT BARLETTA IN APULIA,
Before the middle of the twelfth century.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The elogium of the Saint composed by Ferrarius: the Acts, of what kind: the time of the episcopate: the translation of the body: cult.
Rogerius, bishop and confessor, at Barletta in Apulia. (S.)
BHL Number: 7286, 7287
BY S. D.
Ughelli, in volume VII of the enlarged Italia Sacra col 887., in the archbishopric of Trani, describes Barolum or Barulum graphically in these words: St. Roger, by Ferrarius almost alone Barolum, commonly “Barletta,” at the seventh milestone from the Metropolis of Trani, is a maritime town of the royal dominion, to be numbered among the principal towns not only of Apulia and of the kingdom (of Sicily) but even of Italy, since it is inhabited by eighteen thousand souls, and is illustrious not only for buildings, nobility and pleasantness, but also for wealth and commerce… Here also are eight monasteries of men, five of Nuns; of which the principal is that of St. Stephen of the Order of St. Benedict, where lies St. Roger, bishop of Cannae, glorious for miracles. The memory of this Saint, which you would seek almost in vain elsewhere, Ferrarius in the Catalogue
of the Saints of Italy celebrates at this day, reporting his Acts, which are very brief, concisely from the records of the church of Barletta in this way: Rogerius, also Rugerius, born at Cannae in a neighbouring village, about the year of salvation five hundred made a cleric of the cathedral church of Cannae, was in his 18th year so endowed with uprightness of life and sweetness of character that, having obtained the highest praise among the citizens, he was singularly loved by all. For he was a stranger to the cupidities of this world, of wonderful continence, rendering diligent service to the church. Wherefore, when the bishop of Cannae died, he is elected in place of the deceased with the greatest consent of the whole people and clergy. And since, on account of his tender age, he was not yet a priest, and because he judged himself unworthy of so great an office, he not only did not assent to the election, but even, lest he be compelled to assent, fled. But, drawn back from flight, he is compelled to satisfy the desire of the whole city.
[2] celebrated Made bishop, therefore, and as if changed into another man, he seemed lofty and humble, rich and poor, embracing cheapness in clothing, harshness in life, sobriety in food and drink. He consoled the afflicted: he frequently visited the sick; he sustained the poor with his means; he cherished widows and orphans with his patronage, and, to say it in a word, he was to all a loving father and pastor. While still living he became famous for miracles. For to a certain Paschalis, labouring under a long-lasting infirmity of eyes and ears, he restored by prayer both healths entire; and no one approaching with confidence went away from him empty of benefit. At length the holy man, famous for virtues and merits, passing from this life into the other, rested in peace. On the Ides of October and on other days his memory is most celebrated by the people of Barletta, who have his body, translated thither from the city of Cannae. So indeed Ferrarius, from the Acts, an apograph of which, printed by Ughelli in volume VII col. 789, our Elders received from the archbishop of Nazareth. And it agrees in all things with another apograph of a very old MS. Breviary of the monastery of St. Stephen, where the Saint's body rests at Barletta; but besides the twelve Lessons into which it is divided there, you have other things pertaining to the history in the Antiphons, Hymns and Responsories, which, anciently accustomed to be read in the said monastery, we shall subjoin to this Commentary together with the Lessons. All these things lighted the way for Giovanni Paolo Grimaldi of Naples, S. J., theologian, and from them he published a Life of the Saint scraped together, in the Italian idiom, but much expanded in the manner usual to Italians.
[3] not in the year of the Lord 500, But since the said Lessons, or the proper Office, were written and arranged only after the year 1276, in which the Saint's body was translated to Barletta, its author is removed from the Saint's epoch (for he fixes this about the year of the Lord 500) by an interval of almost 800 years: it is therefore scarcely to be doubted that little or nothing more (for Apulia had meanwhile suffered many calamities and vicissitudes of affairs) became known about the Saint's deeds. Indeed this author was so unskilled in history that he seems plainly to have been ignorant about what time St. Roger occupied the chair of Cannae: for that he writes that he flourished in the year of the Lord five hundred rests on no other basis than the acts of St. Richard, bishop of Andria, an epitome of which Papebroch, on the 9th of June, when his feast is commemorated, transcribing from Ferrarius, at no. 9, interposes these remarks: Thus far swimming, as it were, on his own bark, the author (of the Life of St. Richard) further seeks help from the Lives of two holy bishops illustrated in our February, namely of St. Lawrence, bishop of Siponto, under whom took place the revelation of St. Michael on mount Gargano, as is reported on the 7th of February; and of St. Sabinus, bishop of Canosa, by whom, on the 9th of the same month, no. 5 of the Life, there are read as invited to the dedication of the church of Barletta, together with St. Gelasius, Pope, “Lawrence, pontiff of the church of Siponto, Palladius of Salpi, Eutychius of Trani, John of Ruvo, Austerius of Venosa.” With these two torches, as it were, lighting the way, the Life proceeds, and from it, briefly compressed, Ferrarius: “When St. Michael the Archangel had appeared on mount Gargano, having set out thither at the Pontiff's order, together with Lawrence, bishop of Siponto, Sabinus, bishop of Canosa, and Roger of Cannae, he consecrated the altars of the newly founded temple.”
[4] as is wrongly asserted in the Acts, But the Life of the aforesaid St. Lawrence (whose chapter III the author copies almost word for word and fits to his text) has nothing about altars consecrated, nothing about bishops as associates in that matter. Roger of Cannae is known neither by that Life nor by the Life of St. Sabinus, nor by any other ancient writing; indeed no bishops of Cannae are known before the ninth or tenth century, so that it is likely that this church is of much more recent institution than is believed; and likewise its first bishop and Patron Roger. From the Acts of St. Richard alone, therefore, which Papebroch refused to publish, there seems to have come forth the assertion that our Saint was present at the consecration of the altars of the church of St. Michael the Archangel on mount Gargano, and so lived about the year 500; and that Ughelli and Ferrarius had no other argument for asserting it, the latter below in his Annotations, the former after relating the Acts of the Saint, profess. But besides the fact that there are no ancient records which mention bishops of Cannae before the ninth or tenth century, it can not undeservedly be added here that it seems very strange, if the episcopate of Cannae had already been erected in the sixth century, that neither St. Roger nor any other bishop of that see is read to have subscribed any one of the six Roman Councils which, held at the end of the fifth century and the beginning of the sixth, are extant in Labbe with lengthy catalogues of the subscribing bishops both of Apulia and of the other regions of Italy.
[5] drawn from a corrupt source. Rightly, therefore, Papebroch, immediately after the text recited, proceeds thus at the same no. 9: This one surely (Roger) his name alone proves can and ought to be deferred to the dominion of the Lombards (rather, more probably, of the Normans, as Assemani, On the writers of the Hist. of Italy, Vol. I p. 410., and from him Tortora Status Eccl. Canus., p. 43 observe) in those parts; just as for the same cause neither can Richard, of whom we treat, be believed to belong to the fifth century, when the Anglo-Saxons had not yet begun to be converted. But more of this at the 15th of October, when this Roger is venerated, translated in the year 1276 to Barletta: after which time Lessons about his Life were composed, similarly stuffed, as these of Andria: whose, or rather whose Life's, author did not wish to pass over Roger in leading Richard to Gargano, both because Cannae and Andria are very neighbouring cities, and because he wished to make common to Richard the miracle ascribed to Roger, of heat and thirst relieved for those going by a spring and an eagle, which Ferrarius neglected. Then in the following number, having transcribed the remaining words of Ferrarius, he subjoins this: Ferrarius confesses these were taken “from the Offices of the church of Andria, where the Life is distributed into three Lessons”; which, if they are ever reformed, as would surely be fitting, their argument will be more fitly taken from the history of the Finding and Miracles, as the only certain and trustworthy one, and therefore we insert only that in this work. I would urge the same on those who use similar Lessons about St. Roger; founded on nothing but mere conjectures, and those unskilfully patched together; although to be pardoned to the century in which they were composed.
[6] but, as from the Ughellian Our proper Lessons, or legend, printed in Ughelli, do not indeed relate that St. Roger was present at the aforesaid dedication on mount Gargano, but since the author of these Lessons most probably arranged at the same time the whole Office of the Saint, which we saw above at no. 2 taken from the very old Breviary of Barletta, there scarcely remains doubt that from the presence of the Saint at the aforesaid dedication, which he had learned from the spurious Acts of St. Richard, he concluded that his other story, which he had received perhaps from vague tradition (for Grimaldi testifies in his Preface that the ancient records of the church of Cannae perished with its destruction), and which he was going to use in arranging the Lessons, must necessarily be referred to about that time at which this dedication had taken place. Deceived by these, as we said, Ughelli traces the beginnings of the episcopate of Cannae not only from the times of Pope Gelasius I, or the end of the fifth century, but, as has often been found to have been wrongly done elsewhere in our Work, from the very times of the Apostles: here are the first words of his Catalogue Vol. VII, col. 789.: N… The first bishop of Cannae sat when the Prince of the Apostles was hastening to Rome, these peoples having been taught the Gospel, in the year of salvation 44, from the Cartulary of the church of Siponto. No wonder the name is kept silent here, since the thing itself did not exist at that time. Ughelli proceeds and gives the second place to St. Liberalis, who, he says, adorned the pastoral office with the laurel of martyrdom about the year 112: but although Peter de Natalibus writes this very thing in book II, chapter XX, or makes St. Liberalis bishop of Cannae, both Ferrarius at the 30th day of December and the above-cited Tortora p. 15. number him among the bishops of Canosa, both from an accurate inquiry into the matter and from the constant and in no way interrupted tradition of the church of Canosa.
[7] in the Catalogue of the bishops of Cannae, The error more probably flowed from this, that very many writers (so Tortora speaks there) erred shamefully in this, that they confused Canosa and Cannae so much as to reckon them one and the same city; which, how foreign it is from the truth, Damadenus abundantly demonstrated. Led therefore by this false persuasion, Peter de Natalibus perhaps slipped into the error mentioned and confuted, unless we would rather ascribe this error to the drowsiness and unskilfulness of amanuenses, since the faults which, through their cause, creep into works are neither rare nor slight. Thus far Tortora; notwithstanding which, Ughelli, continuing, reckons St. Roger in the third place, but beguiled, as we said, by the spurious Acts of St. Richard: and in the fourth place Felix in these words: Felix, bishop of Siponto, and commendatory of this church (of Cannae) by institution of Gregory the Great, as in Letter 51, Book I: but that Ughelli is again deceived here is clear from the words of Gregory, which in Letter 51 to Felix are such: It has come to us that the church of Canosa is so destitute of the office of the Priesthood that neither penance can be given there to the dying nor baptism to infants. Moved therefore by the weight of so pious and so necessary a matter, we command thy beloved self that, admonished by the authority of the precept, thou go as visitor of the said church, and that thou ordain at least two parish presbyters, whom, however, thou shalt foresee to be worthy of such an office by the reverence of their life and the gravity of their character, and to whom the constitutions of canonical discipline in no way stand opposed, so that the holy church may be provided for with due caution. Ughelli therefore confuses the church of Canosa with that of Cannae, which error is common to very many writers, as Tortora notes above.
[8] up to the tenth century Felix is followed in the Ughellian Catalogue by Peter; but, as Nicolò Coleti says below in the Notes, no. 2, This one, however, either is none in this series, or is other than the one whom the same Ughelli supposes to be of Cannae in the description of the state of the church of Gravina, whom, while he repels him from the catalogue of Gravina, he throws back into this one of Cannae, deceived by a variant reading of the copyists. That Peter we shall number among those of Gabii in Latium in Vol. X of this work, whom we read as Gavensis, that is Gabensis, the letter V being used for b, numbered among the neighbouring bishops in the Roman Council of the year 869. Now Ughelli, having advanced beyond the middle of the ninth century, inserted in his Catalogue no prelate of Cannae who can claim a place there for himself by any plausible reason. Hence with full right did Papebroch say above at no. 4 that Roger of Cannae is known neither by that Life (of St. Lawrence) nor by the Life of St. Sabinus, nor by any other ancient writing; indeed no bishops of Cannae before the ninth or tenth century, so that it is likely that this church is of much more recent institution than is believed, and likewise its first bishop and Patron Roger. But Papebroch hints something more here, namely that St. Roger was the first bishop of the city of Cannae: that the church of Cannae boasts this very thing Tortora is witness p. 205; but that this is not likely will be given to be gathered from what is to be said presently.
[9] by an error, After the ninth century Ughelli proceeds more firmly in the sixth place, writing thus: Lucidus, bishop of Cannae, whom Baronius mentions at the year 963; for in this year Lucidus of Cannae, together with other prelates of Apulia, is read to have been present at the celebrated assembly of the Romans promising under oath to the emperor Otto the free election of the supreme Pontiff. After Lucidus he places John, who was present (the words are Ughelli's) at the consecration of the church of Monte Cassino celebrated in the year 1071 by Pope Alexander II, in the anonymous of Monte Cassino. With this agrees Leo of Ostia in the Chronicle of Monte Cassino, book III, chapter XXVIII, where among the forty-three bishops who were present at the said consecration he reckons also the one of Cannae, but expresses the names neither of him nor of the others. Ughelli proceeds finally in this way: N. … whose name is unknown, in the year 1105 obtained from Godfrey, count of Cannae and imperial senator, an ample privilege for his church. It is very probable, therefore, that the mentioned bishop, whose name escaped Ughelli, is one and the same with him who in the year 1102 presided over the church of Cannae; and that his name was Roger is invincibly proved by the Diploma (I shall use the words of the said Tortora p. 170.) containing the consecration of the church of Canosa in honour of St. Sabinus, its bishop, whose autograph is preserved in the Cartulary of the chapter of Canosa, and a copied exemplar is read on a very ancient marble publicly open to all in the same church, whose tenor is as follows: “To God the Best and Greatest.
[10] and from the inscription recited here it is clear, In the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1102, in the month of September, in the tenth indiction, this church of Canosa was dedicated in honour of St. Sabinus, confessor of Christ, by the universal Pope Paschal the second on the seventh day before the Ides of September, and for carrying out the business of this H. C. there were invited the bishop of Porto, the archbishop of Benevento, the archbishop of Capua, the archbishop of Salerno, the archbishop of Naples, the archbishop of Acerenza, the archbishop of Siponto, Bixantius, archbishop of Trani, Maraldus, archbishop of Taranto, Malcerius, archbishop of Conza, Roger, bishop of Cannae, William, bishop of Salpi, Mandus, bishop of Minervino, Gaudinus, bishop of Mottola, and the bishop of Conversano; but also many other archbishops, bishops, abbots and a copious gathering of many other clerics. Wherefore whoever shall come annually to its dedication on its feast, let them know that of all the sins which they shall have canonically confessed, forty-six years and forty-six quarantines are remitted to them.” Will not, then, the Roger who is named here be our Saint, whose date of episcopate neither Ughelli nor anyone else has hitherto been able to assign except from the fabulous Acts of Richard? Lest I seem here too headlong in answering or a lover of novelty, first hear what Tortora answers, namely whether St. Roger was the companion of SS. Sabinus and Lawrence of Siponto p. 205: For if we wish to confess how the matter stands, he says, this is most of all disputed by critics and historians of keen nose, who consequently contend that this St. Roger, prelate of Cannae, flourished under the Normans, and that he is the one who is found written in the inscription of the consecration of the basilica of Canosa carried out by Paschal II.
[11] he seems to have flourished only in the twelfth century. For when the people of Barletta had already been enriched with the Saint's body, they most probably began to search out his Acts; and since perhaps tradition held that the Saint was present at the dedication of a certain church, and at the same time the Acts of St. Richard were in hand, it was easy for the biographer, otherwise also ignorant of history, to invert the series of chronology, supposing that that tradition was to be interpreted of the dedication of the church of St. Michael, as he read it in the Acts of St. Richard. Since, I say, that was easy for the biographer, we judge that this Roger, prelate of Cannae, is no other than the one of whom we treat, until we are convinced by more solid arguments that another Roger (for I have not found a name of this kind in Apulia and Sicily before the eleventh century), bishop of the same church, existed either before or after him. Hence further it follows that the author of the Life was not so far from the Saint's age as he indeed imagined himself to be, and consequently that in those things which he collected from elsewhere than from the Acts of St. Richard he merits greater credit.
[12] In the year 1276 The ancient cult of the Saint is drawn out from the proper Office of the monastery of St. Stephen at Barletta, already often mentioned, which, because it comprises the Life of the Saint divided into twelve lessons, we shall give entire to the press with Notes: but since the cult became celebrated only after the translation of the body to Barletta had been made, it must first be premised how the said translation was carried out. We said above at no. 3 that it took place in the year 1276, at which time, while Theobald governed the church of Cannae, the following Record, communicated to us from the autograph of the church of Nazareth, and printed by Ughelli Ital. Sacr., vol. VII, col. 795., explains the affair in these words: In the year from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand two hundred and seventy-sixth, in the reign of our lord Charles, by the grace of God magnificent king of Sicily, of the duchy of Apulia and the principality of Capua, senator of the fostering City, count of the province of Anjou and of Forcalquier, and vicar general of the Roman Empire in Tuscany for the Holy Roman Church, and in the eleventh year of his reign, in the month of June, on the eighteenth day of the same, in the fourth indiction, at Barletta. We, Robert de Argintera, royal judge of Barletta, Nicholas de Raynerio, public notary of the same land, and the undersigned lettered witnesses of the same land, specially called and asked for this, confess by the present public writing that the venerable man the Lord Bivianus, bishop of Minervino, being established in our presence, showed us within the major church of Barletta an open mandate of the most holy Father the Lord Pope, the tenor of which mandate is in all things such.
[13] [the clerics of Barletta, accused before the Pontiff of the theft of the body of St. Roger,] “Innocent, bishop, servant of the servants of God, etc. To our venerable brother the bishop of Minervino, etc. Our venerable brother the bishop of Cannae has set forth to us that the clerics of the castle of Barletta, having joined to themselves certain laymen, their followers in this part, of the diocese of Trani, approaching the church of Cannae wickedly with armed hand, presumed, not without the audacity of much rashness, to violate the high altar of that church with sacrilegious daring, and to carry off violently certain relics of the Saints which were laid up in the same altar, and the body of blessed Roger, which was laid up in a certain sepulchre beside that altar, and also the stone placed upon the same altar, and to carry them thence with them to the aforesaid castle, together with many other things of the same church found there: the same clerics and laymen also detain against justice both the body, Relics and the aforesaid things, and some possessions pertaining to the same bishop and church, and unduly refuse to restore them to that church; wherefore we command thy fraternity by Apostolic writings that, if it be established to thee concerning such sacrilege, thou publicly announce the aforesaid clerics and laymen excommunicated, appeal being removed, and cause them to be more strictly avoided by all, until they have competently made satisfaction for such violation of the said altar, and the taking away and carrying off of the aforesaid body, Relics and stone, and come to the Apostolic see with the testimony of thy letters to be absolved; and that thou nevertheless constrain them by ecclesiastical censure, admonition having been given beforehand, appeal being removed, to restore to the mentioned bishop and church the body, Relics, stone and aforesaid possessions, as they are bound. Given at the Lateran on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of May, in the first year of our Pontificate.”
[14] the clerics of Barletta explain the manner, The same Lord bishop of Minervino, therefore, wishing to proceed reverently to the execution of the same mandate with that diligence and caution which is expedient, in our witness, according to the tenor of the same mandate, inquired with all diligence of very many and various men of Barletta, sufficient and upright, and above all exception, whether anything had come to their knowledge about such sacrilege; and they, bodily bound by oath, said one after another, and confessed in our presence, that nothing had come to their knowledge of the aforesaid things. And when the fame of this inquiry had suddenly come to the knowledge of the venerable man the archpriest of Barletta, and of the other clerics his associates, they unanimously and voluntarily, and as sons of obedience, betook themselves personally with all reverence to the presence of the aforesaid bishop of Minervino, we being present there, setting forth that a certain cleric, their associate, Andrew by name, archpriest and canon of the same church of Cannae, and Angelo, a special citizen of Barletta, procurator of that church of Cannae, came to the same archpriest and his aforesaid associates, requiring them that, for the reverence of God and in regard of the honour of the same bishop of Cannae and of themselves, they should betake themselves together with them to the same church of Cannae, to carry away and save for the use of the same church of Cannae certain things of all the aforesaid, lest those things should have been carried away thence stealthily in the night-time, just as many and various things of that church had been stealthily carried away and withdrawn from the same church by evil men.
[15] [by which they had translated certain things from the church of Cannae to Barletta;] But because the same archpriest and his aforesaid associates, effectively admitting the petition and requisition of the aforesaid Andrew, archpriest, and Angelo, the aforesaid procurator, with all devotion and solicitude, since it seemed that it would be the work of God and quite useful and necessary for that church of Cannae, if the aforesaid things were saved by them for the use of that church of Cannae, the same archpriest and his aforesaid associates unanimously and concordantly sent certain clerics of their associates together with the aforesaid Andrew and Angelo the procurator to the same church of Cannae, believing for this
to do good, and at their own expense, because the aforenamed archpriest of Cannae and the procurator promised the same archpriest of Barletta and his associates to restore those expenses, and they caused the things written below, of the things of that church of Cannae, to be carried to Barletta, to be preserved there, and to be deposited under the custody of the aforesaid archpriest of Cannae and of Angelo the aforesaid procurator, namely two altar-cloths of the altar, of marble stones, one bell, and other slabs of marble stones; which things, all carried by them, as is distinguished above, they forthwith and without any diminution, at the mandate of the aforesaid Lord bishop of Minervino, assigned to the same Andrew, archpriest, and the aforesaid Angelo, procurator, in the presence of the aforesaid Lord bishop, and in our witness, as voluntarily as willingly, and caused them to be wholly given back, although all those things had been deputed under the custody of the said archpriest of Cannae and of its procurator.
[16] whence also they are excused from theft. And we, the above-named Bivianus, bishop of Minervino, confess by the present public writing that all the aforesaid, as they are read above, were in our presence fully executed and likewise completed; and by this it was not needful for us to proceed to announcing excommunication, because the above-mentioned sacrilege could by no means be established to us. And we, the above-named Andrew, archpriest, and Angelo, special procurator, in the presence of the aforesaid judge, notary and witnesses undersigned, confess that all the aforesaid which are distinguished above are true, and assert by the series of the present writing that we have received the aforesaid things given back to us, as is foresaid. Whence, for future memory, and for the security of the archpriest of Barletta himself and his associates, the present public testimonial writing, as it was thereupon made by the hand of me the aforesaid Nicholas, public notary of Barletta, strengthened by my accustomed sign, the subscription of the aforesaid judge, and the subscriptions of the undersigned witnesses, etc. There is the sign, etc. Robert F. F., judge of Barletta. Pasqualis Uturberlongus attests. Nicholas de Caroangelo, witness, etc. Ambrose de Amicis, witness, etc.
That in the following year 1277 Theobald received from the people of Barletta the pious theft, except the body of St. Roger, is taught by another record which we have from the major church of Barletta, and which was published in Italian by Grimaldi Ital. Life of St. Roger, p. 30., of this tenor: In the year from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand two hundred and seventy-seventh, in the reign of our Lord Charles, by the grace of God magnificent king of Sicily, of the duchy of Apulia and the principality of Capua, senator of the fostering City, count of Anjou and Forcalquier, and vicar general of the Roman empire in Tuscany for the H. Roman Church, and in the Col. 074A twelfth year of his reign, in the month of July, on the twenty-second day of the same, in the fifth indiction, at Barletta.
[17] The things taken away We, Theobald, humble bishop of Cannae, and Achilles, archdeacon, Andrew, archpriest, Nicholas, primicerius, Lambert, subdeacon, Peter, subdeacon, canons of that church, in the presence of Solomon, royal judge of Barletta, Nicholas de Raynerio, public notary of the same land, and the undersigned lettered witnesses of the same land, specially called and asked for this, by the series of the present public writing make known and testify that, while, by divine vengeance permitting it, not without great contagion of sin on our part and the citizens', the city of Cannae was deserted by its people, so that how it sat and sits alone can be better weighed by the most true certification of the eyes than depicted by anyone's speech: what more? While the crop was being cut with the sickle, and the place where the city of Cannae was situated presented the likeness of a wood, and consequently our cathedral church of Cannae, founded within the aforesaid city, on account of the barrenness of the deserted place, lacked the support of lawful ministers and the security of guardians, and therefore some who do not fear to take the name of Christ in vain, setting aside the fear of God and despising the immunity of the church, breaking the door of the aforesaid church of Cannae with armed and rash hand, had carried off the body of Blessed Roggerius, the bell and very many other sacred things: and so, while that church was placed in the midst of a perverse nation, the security of guardians being despised, it suffered assaults from divers and various malefactors, and so the remaining things, namely the marbles written below, the tables of the altars, and the Relics of the Saints, and also the bell, were exposed to shipwreck and ruin, and had been made in some way the prey of plunderers; Andrew Gattus, archpriest of the aforesaid church of Cannae, and then procurator in spirituals of us, the above-named bishop of Cannae, Angelo, special citizen of Barletta, deputed by us as administrator in temporals, and we, Achilles, archdeacon, and the canons named above, seeing the aforesaid evident danger impending, and the manifest destruction of the aforesaid church, wished in such way as we could to meet the aforesaid evils.
[18] the people of Cannae receive back, except the body of St. Roger, Whence, with the intervening help of the Lord Paul, archpriest of Barletta, and of the clerics or canons of the major church of Barletta, asked by us and graciously obtained, we carried the things written below from the city and church of Cannae to Barletta, and took care to commend them to the aforesaid archpriest of Barletta and clerics, who should guard them for the utility of the aforesaid church of Cannae, and assign them, when it should be the will of the bishop who should be for the time and of the canons of the aforesaid church. Who, as has been said, preserving those things for the utility of the aforesaid church of Cannae, at our requisition, on the first day of the month of July of the present fifth indiction, the aforesaid archpriest and clerics both assigned the things written below to us entirely and without any diminution, and, regarding the poverty of the aforesaid church of Cannae, kindly caused them to be carried at their own expense to the aforesaid church of Cannae. Of all which we confess and acknowledge that we are bound to them for an antidata (remuneration); concerning those things we and our successors are bound by us, quitting them and defending them from every person moving a controversy or question against them about these; since those things were wholly assigned to us by them, as has been said; which things are these, namely: two marble tables of altars, all the marbles of the seat where the bishop was accustomed to sit while the solemnities of masses were being celebrated, one bell, and very many relics of saints. Whence, for future memory, and for the security of the aforesaid archpriest and clerics or canons, and that undoubted credit may be had of the things entrusted, we have caused the present public instrument to be thereupon made for them by the hand of the aforesaid Nicholas, public notary of Barletta, sealed with his accustomed seal, and strengthened with the subscription of us, the above-named bishop of Cannae, and the subscriptions of us, the above-named canons of that church of Cannae, the subscription of the aforesaid judge, and the subscriptions of the other witnesses written below: which I, the aforesaid Nicholas de Raynerio, public notary of Barletta, who was present, wrote and signed with my accustomed sign.
[19] which was laid up at Barletta among the nuns of St. Stephen. That the Saint's body, thus carried to Barletta, was deposited among the Benedictine nuns, and laid up in their church sacred to St. Stephen, Grimaldi is witness p. 34., saying this is established from the letters of indulgences which two Cardinal legates a latere (one of them was Louis, presbyter of the title of St. Lawrence in Damaso, the other Latino Orsini, of the title of SS. John and Paul), granting them to the same church in the year 1459, mentioned in express words, the body of St. Roger as resting there. Grimaldi writes further that his mausoleum, made of precious marble and ivory, once stood by the high altar of St. Stephen's at the Epistle horn, and opposite the main door of the church; but in the year 1512 it was translated into a new chapel fitted to the Eastern part of the church, together with the principal altar itself, and laid up under it; except, however, the head, which, kept outside, and enclosed in silver, is openly shown: likewise part of another bone, which the church of Andria possesses, similarly enclosed in a silver vessel. On the occasion of this translation, as the same proceeds, God willed the holiness of His Servant to be shown both by the sweet odour of his bones and by miracles; for, dust having been taken from the Saint's tomb, five sick were healed, besides not a few others who fled to his tomb for the sake of recovering health. Hence, therefore, the people of Barletta afterwards with most deserved right took the servant of God as their Patron and protector of the city, as is clear from the proper Office soon to be given. Moreover, if we believe Grimaldi p. 42., a church was erected at Barletta in the year 1361, and dedicated in honour of St. Roger, in that place of the city which is called la Piazzetta: Charles VIII, king of the Gauls, was likewise kindled with devotion to this very Saint; for in the year 1495, while he held the kingdom of Naples for the space of six months, he granted the monastery of St. Stephen a privilege of a certain donation, which, written on Parchment, the same Grimaldi p. 42. asserts is preserved in the said monastery. The feast is commemorated annually at Barletta twice, namely on the thirtieth of December, which they believe was the day of the Saint's death, and on the IInd Sunday after Easter, on which his body was translated from Cannae to Barletta, or from the old into the new sepulchre. These things too Grimaldi says p. 43.; but I judge this is to be taken of the major church of Barletta, or St. Mary's; among the nuns of St. Stephen too his feast is celebrated today, or the 15th of October; whether this, or the 30th of December, or another day was the Saint's last, as also in what year he died, we are not going to say.
PROPER OFFICE ON THE FEAST OF ST. ROGER,
Copied from a very old breviary of the monastery of St. Stephen at Barletta.
AT VESPERS.
Rogerius, bishop and confessor, at Barletta in Apulia. (S.)
BHL Number: 7285
FROM AN OLD BREVIARY.
He is present at the consecration of the church of St. Michael: Antiphon: Roger the deacon lived a wonderful life in the church of the Lord, and was made bishop: Psalm: Dixit Dominus: Ant.: In the church of Cannae a Roger, dweller of heaven, shone in virtues among all the prelates: Psalm: Confitebor: Antiphon: The most noble host, the eminent Roger, received the poor, the sick and the weak: Psalm: Beatus vir: Ant.: Roger is made a poor pastor, while he is sought by the people of Cannae, serving Christ the Lord: Psalm: Laudate pueri: Chapter: He gave him the blessing of all nations, and confirmed His covenant upon his head: Responsory: An eagle flying above, while he walked on foot, always made a shade, nor did he feel the heat of the sun while it shone: Verse: Obedient, he was going to the church of the Holy Angel to be consecrated b: Hymn: Let us rejoice and be glad on the feast of Roger, let us set forth his holiness, and to God the highest prelate, fleeing through the desert, keeping the humility of a pastor, and unwilling for the rank, chosen to the dignity, wasting himself with hair shirts, he tamed himself with disciplines, treading down his flesh, he fasted in restraint, he goes to consecrate the length of the way: and so he rises, not wishing the multitude, and likewise Richard of Andria is sent, together with him is joined Pelagius of Salpi; the most holy Roger walked on foot, he humbled himself wholly, most devoted to Michael: Glory to thee, O Lord, who wast born of the Virgin, with the Father and the Holy Spirit for everlasting ages. Amen. Verse: Pray for us, Blessed Roger, Resp.: that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Ant. at the Magnificat: O eternal pastor, Roger, merciful
receive, and do thou kindly take up the vows of those who pray, and hold out our prayers to Christ for us, and snatch this city from all evils, that we may merit with all the Saints all to be led to heavenly things. Alleluia. Canticle of the Magnificat. Prayer: Almighty everlasting God, who didst cause Blessed Roger, thy confessor and pontiff, to come from the city of Cannae to Barletta, grant us, we beseech thee, that we who recall his sacred feast may by his holy merits and virtues be rescued from all dangers.
[2] as a new star of the church Invitatory: Let us adore the Lord, who glorified Blessed Roger, and glorifies him: Psalm: Venite: Ant.: God brought forth a divine light upon the earth, when He gave Barletta a patron c against plague and war*: Psalm: Beatus vir, qui: Ant.: Roger was a Lily of Angelic purity, and a red rose of Seraphic charity: Psalm: Quare fremuerunt: Ant.: The Lord hears the innocent Roger when he prays for the people with his devout prayers: Psalm: Cum invocarem: Ant.: Let all rejoice who hope in Blessed Roger, since the Lord will hear him from His high holy place: Psalm: Verba mea: Ant.: A most perfect friend of God, whom the Lord crowned in the church of Cannae, the most holy Roger: Psalm: Domine Dominus noster: Ant.: He was a keeper of justice and equity among his people, while he presided humbly on his throne: Psalm: In Domino confido: Verse: The Lord chose him: Resp.: to offer sacrifice: First Lesson: The supreme ruler of the heavens brought forth a bright, white and comely radiance, namely Blessed Roger, the most beautiful star of holy mother Church and most splendid ornament, and comely necklace of the Christian faith, but especially now the help of the city of Barletta, and its most sufficient and devout intercessor, who, like a great pyre, was all aglow with charity, gleamed with uprightness, and shone with holiness. But thou. Resp.: While the most holy man of God stood with the shepherds, most devoted to God he gave himself to prayers, that he might not be elected to the pastoral rank, of which he was not worthy: Verse: And he fled the aforesaid by his perpetual humility with deliberate mind: That he might not be elected.
[3] he shines at Cannae, the episcopate of which city, Second Lesson: He, sprung from the city formerly of Cannae, or from the village which is called Petra d, flourished in the year of the Lord five hundred; and, made by his parents a cleric in the cathedral church of Cannae, he began as a boy of praiseworthy disposition to follow the admonitions and teachings of the upright. But thou. Resp.: He visited the houses of the sick and afflicted, sought out the homes of orphans with beneficent piety, because thus he dwelt as father of the poor among his people: Verse: Many ran back to him, and the languishing prostrated themselves at his feet: because. Third Lesson: And at length, running through his eighteenth year, he began to be redolent with the fragrance of all spiritual habits, so that he was dear to all and accepted; nor did he walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor did he follow the vanities and false madnesses of our wasting flesh. But thou. Resp.: He was borne towards God with such confidence that he trusted in the Lord to receive all things when he prayed, and God heard him mercifully in all things, considering his holiness, which shone in his body: Verse: In all things God heard him, because he asked in justice, and He loved him: considering. Fourth Lesson: But among thorns and the perverse habits of men he flourished like a white lily of Angelic purity, and like a red rose of Seraphic charity. And it happened that the church of Cannae lacked a prelate e, and when they were inquiring about a suitable prelate, all unanimously, priests as well as laymen, elected him as prelate: whence it plainly appears how great was the abundance of his virtues, and how great the grace of the Lord upon him. But thou. Resp.: He girded his loins with the girdle of chastity, and opened the hand of largesse to all the poor, because, namely, he loved all with heart and will, for love of the Crucified, while he was in dignity: Verse: All the poor and weak were running back to him; he loved orphans and the weeping: because.
[4] having resisted in various ways, he at last accepts: In the second nocturn, ant.: O Lord my God, from the bones of Roger an excellent odour goes forth, and through him the Lord healed many from their languors: Psalm: Domine quis habitabit: Ant.: A certain man, Paschalis by name, had lost the hearing of his ears, but by Roger's prayers the Lord healed him: Psalm: Domine in virtute: Ant.: Many languishing come to Roger's tomb, and when they receive what they ask, they return praising God: Psalm: Domini est terra: Ant.: All the poor and humble cried out, and Blessed Roger heard them: Psalm: Benedicam Dominum: Ant.: Blessed Roger, whom thou didst choose, O Lord, dwells in thy courts, and on the high throne of thy glory: Psalm: Te decet: Ant.: O most holy Roger, pray for us to God, that He may lead us on high to contemplate Him: Psalm: Bonum est: Verse: The Lord loved him: Resp.: He clothed him with the robe of glory. Fifth Lesson: But he, truly humble, since he was not yet a priest, nor of perfect age, renounced the election several times, and, being very often troubled, fled from the city of Cannae, and, leaving his house, went forward with some shepherds to another place. But thou. Resp.: Through Blessed Roger these divine mysteries are done, through his prayers lepers are cleansed, the blind are enlightened, and on his birthday demons are put to flight, and the sick are healed: Verse: In his examples the throng of clerics rejoices together, for the dust of the tomb being taken, five faithful are healed: and on his birthday. Sixth Lesson. But since there is no counsel against the Lord, therefore both the election of the priests and the acclamation of the peoples of every age and sex stood firm upon St. Roger, so much that all the citizens ran to the place where St. Roger was staying with those shepherds, and he, seeing the presence of the priests as well as of the rest of the people, and above all the will of the Lord, accepted. But thou. Resp.: An eagle flying above, while he walked on foot, always made a shade, nor did he feel the heat of the sun while it shone: Verse: Obedient, he was going to the church of the Holy Angel to be consecrated: nor the heat.
[5] thenceforth more famous for virtues, Seventh Lesson: And, made at once priest and bishop, he was immediately changed into another man, inasmuch as he was lofty in humility and rich in poverty; for he venerated all of the church, greater and lesser, with modest affection, so that he himself seemed the least of the church, and any least one greater than he. But thou. Resp.: When Apulia, his homeland, was once oppressed by very great drought, and all the fields and vineyards were being destroyed, and the hope of gathering fruits was slipping away, the most holy Roger prays for the people, that it may be freed from the drought: Verse: The Lord heard him on account of his holiness, and gave rain to the earth upon the drought: he prays for the people. Eighth Lesson: In garments he observed cheapness, in hair shirts harshness, in food and drink the hardest sobriety, in bed poverty, and he considered the penuries of all with loving affection, and venerated their presence with great applause, and him to whom he could not render a benefit he consoled with the ardour of charity. But thou. Resp.: In his days most Blessed Roger pleased God, while he stood always before Him most humble, obedient and loving, because he desired nothing but what pleased God, and loved: Verse: Pleasing God, he was beloved of Him, and living among sinners he was translated: because. At the canticles: While Roger prays, God hears, because he shines in virtues, who merited that God should give rain through all Apulia, alleluia: Psalm: Beatus vir qui: Verse: Thou art a priest for ever: Resp.: According to the order of Melchizedek.
[6] and more famous for miracles, Ninth Lesson: He visited the houses of the sick, consoled the afflicted, took up the causes of orphans and the needs of widows with fatherly piety, and as soon as he reached the summit of such perfect virtue, he began to flash with miracles and to shine with prodigies of holiness. But thou. Resp.: He shone with miracles in death and in life by his deep merits, power being attributed to him by God, and because he persevered to the end, therefore he merited sublime glory: Verse: He tamed himself with many disciplines, and by his examples preached to the people: therefore. Tenth Lesson: For a certain man among others, Paschalis by name, burdened with a long infirmity of eyes and ears, came as a suppliant to St. Roger, that he would deign to supplicate God mercifully for him; assenting to which petition, Roger, truly loving, having made a devout prayer, soon that man fully recovered the health of his eyes and the benefit of hearing which he had long lost. But thou. Resp.: Out of humility he renounced the election, considering his state and condition, because he was neither a priest nor had the age, wherefore he always fled hither and thither: Verse: O holy father, greatly pleasing to God, thou wast of the highest humility before God: wherefore. Eleventh Lesson: Moreover, the episcopal house was a public hospice of the poor; he was never hard to anyone, called upon, in word or in spirit, except perhaps to some wicked person, out of detestation of crimes and fraternal correction. But thou. Resp.: A magnificent raiser of the dead, he was a wonderful deliverer of the deaf and blind; the most holy Roger freed and healed the dumb and lame by his holy prayers: Verse: Many running to him from languors, and while they were weeping with various infirmities: he freed and healed.
[7] he falls asleep in the Lord. Twelfth Lesson: By all benefits and examples he strove to please in Christ; he was of such sincerity of spirit and rectitude of mind that you would think there had been in him a sincere nature, an immaculate will, and original justice preserved, which, God favouring, was declared by no slight *, f and so, famous for virtues and miracles, he ended his life in the Lord. But thou. Resp.: Let us all alike entreat Blessed Roger, that we may be helped by his loving merits, and that he may acquire for us the salvation of both lives: Verse: And by his holy prayers may we be rescued from all evils: and the salvation of both. Hymn: Te Deum laudamus. According to Mark: At that time Jesus said to his disciples: Take heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is: a certain man, going abroad, left his house, and gave authority to his servants over every work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch therefore; for ye know not when the Lord will come, at even or at midnight, or at cockcrow or in the morning: lest, coming suddenly, he find us sleeping: and what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. Prayer: Almighty everlasting God, who didst cause Blessed Roger, thy confessor and pontiff, to come from the city of Cannae to Barletta, grant us, we beseech thee, that we who keep his sacred feast may by his holy merits and virtues be rescued from all dangers, through our Lord … At lauds and all the hours: O crown of Barletta, ruler and governor, pray God for us: may the Crucified and Saviour through thy Holiness save and govern our city: Psalm: Dominus regnavit: Ant.: Before day Blessed Rugerius used to rise, he tamed his flesh, scourged many times: Psalm: Jubilate: Ant.: While he walked on foot, obedient and humble, an eagle cooled him on account of the heat of the sun: Psalm: Deus Deus meus.
NOTES.
* bellum (war)
* add miraculo or experimento (miracle or proof).