ON ST. GRATUS, WHOM THEY CALL A MARTYR, AND ON ST. ANSUTUS, HERMIT, BOTH VENERATED IN THE ROUERGUE IN GAUL,
BEFORE THE 12TH CENTURY.
HISTORICAL SYLLOGE.
Gratus, venerated in the Rouergue in Gaul. (S.)
Ansutus, venerated in the Rouergue in Gaul. (S.)
V. D. B.
The memory of SS. Gratus and Ansutus is celebrated on the day before; The most ancient memory of SS. Gratus and Ansutus
has been preserved for us by the Martyrology of the very old monastery
of the Benedictine fathers of St. Sabinus or
Savinus of Lavedan, formerly founded in the Pyrenees mountains
in the district of Tarbes,
written on parchment about, as Saussay said in the year 1637
Martyrol. Gallic., vol. II, p. 1247, five hundred years before.
Most fortunately Saussay preserved for us the very copious
names of Saints, mostly pertaining to Gaul,
which are marked in this book at their feast days;
since we understand that the codex itself has perished from this,
that the illustrious Gustave Bascle de Lacreze, procurator of the Republic at Aquæ Bigerronum
(Baguere de Bigorre),
in his learned Monograph on the monastery of St. Savin of Lavedan
Monographie de Saint-Savin de Lavedan, 1850, p. 95, was compelled to have recourse to Saussay.
Further, in this book at the
16th day of October these things were read Martyrol. Gallic., vol. II, p. 1250: In the castle
of Capdinacum, the birthday of Saints Gratus and Ansutus; and so
the cult of these Saints is to be referred at least to the beginning
of the 12th century. At the same day and in almost the same
words the Paris Martyrology
of Cardinal de Noailles, the Universal of Le Chastelain,
and another Universal of the illustrious de Saint-Allais remember them; and moreover
a feast is kept of them among the people of the Rouergue at the same day.
[2] wherefore we speak of them today with Ferrari; We ought, therefore, to have spoken of SS. Gratus and Ansutus
in the preceding volume of this work. And indeed this would have been done,
had not the hope shone upon us of obtaining
some Life or Passion of these Saints. For from
a manuscript codex of the royal or national Library
of Paris we had learned that the brave
deeds of these Saints had been written by Bernard Gui in the third
part of his Speculum Sanctorale. We therefore sent
letters to Avignon, since in Gustav Haenel
[Catalogi libr. Mss. qui in biblioth. Gall., Helvet., Belg., Britann., Hispan., Lusitan. asservantur, col. 60, Leipzig 1830] we had read that this speculum, formerly dedicated to Pope John XXII,
was to be found in the library of the city.
At once the most learned man in charge of this library
spent much labour in seeking out this perhaps only
surviving exemplar of the work; of how much importance it is
to hagiological matters becomes plain even from this, that
Bernard wrote it because the attempt of James of
Voragine, a man more inclined to fables, pleased the superiors of the sacred
Order of Preachers less Labbe, Biblioth. Mss. nov., vol. II, p. 512.
But the labour of the most diligent man was in vain; whence
there is place for suspecting that this book too clung to
the hands of the robbers who in recent times despoiled the libraries
of France. Meanwhile, however, it did not seem
that we should lose heart, and we hoped that the work would perhaps emerge
from elsewhere; wherefore we put off
speaking of these Saints to this day, because Ferrari
in the General Catalogue of Saints celebrates them at this day.
Nevertheless we must confess that within
that space of time nothing has become known to us about these Saints
which was not known before.
[3] a synopsis of the life; We can, therefore, show the reader only those things
which have been inserted in the Proper of the Saints of the cathedral church and
diocese of Rodez, printed in the years 1706 and 1824,
from the History of the holy church of Rodez So in the Proper,
and they run thus: Lesson IV. Gratus, a Roman by fatherland,
born of an illustrious line, having left his parents and
all these things which the world loves and embraces,
set out into Gaul and stayed among the people of the Rouergue;
and since, full of the Holy Spirit, he there kindled all to piety in every way
he could, having found a solitary place
not far removed from the city, with
his companion Ansutus he served the Lord day and night,
taming his wanton flesh with an iron chain of very great weight.
Lesson V. And he obtained from God so great holiness
and grace of miracles
that those who flocked to him, harassed by various kinds of diseases,
he sent back to their homes safe and
sound, the name of Jesus Christ being invoked. Envying him, the demon
armed his satellites against the soldier of Christ; by
whom, seized and entangled in bonds, then
struck with the axe, he obtained the palm of martyrdom with Ansutus his companion.
That these lessons were written by some man of
the Society of Jesus is probable
from these words: All these things which the world loves and embraces,
taken from rule XI of the Summary of the constitutions.
Saussay wove another encomium Martyrol. Gallic. Supplem., p. 1180,
which however comes to the same thing. At the end he adds: He is venerated
(St. Gratus) in the village of his name, where, fighting
in the last conflict for Christ, he triumphed. Fr. Giry has
the same things Les vies des Saints, 16 October, vol. II, col. 1444, most probably copying Saussay.
The Paris Martyrology adds a note of time to these things,
namely the 4th century.
[4] [many things uncertain; St. Gratus, perhaps the same as the first bishop of Oloron,] And all these things I would wish neither to deny nor to admit.
For since this narrative is rhetorically developed,
and words have been added where facts were lacking, it is doubtful
to me whether Gratus was a Roman by fatherland, or
rather a Roman Gaul, that is, of the nation conquered in Gaul by the Germanic
or Frankish peoples. The name of Ansutus
has a Germanic appearance, and seems to consist
of the word Ans, Hans, or Gens, which among
the ancient peoples of Germany signified comrade, companion
Wiarda, Über deutsche Vornamen und Geschlechtsnamen, p. 53, and of Wit (wise, prudent Ib., p. 52); so
that Ansutus or Answit would indicate a wise comrade.
But if it be so, in the 4th century men of a Germanic name were rarer
in Gaul. Besides, is not perhaps the association of Ansutus
and Gratus owed to their simultaneous cult
Cf. Ghesquière, Act. SS., vol. III, p. 264 c? The martyrdom raises especial doubts for me,
since in the Martyrology of St. Savin, where the feast of Martyrs
is commonly announced with the name of passion,
the birthday of SS. Gratus and Ansutus is spoken of, without even a word
added from which you would gather that they were crowned with martyrdom.
Nevertheless, if anyone wishes these Saints to be Martyrs,
let him go to Papebroch in the Commentary on St. Hilarian,
priest of Rodez Act. SS., vol. II of June, p. 1068 and following, where conjectures of every kind
are proposed about the time at which some Christians suffered martyrdom among the people of the Rouergue.
But if
it be judged that both were hermits, it must be known
that in the 12th and 13th centuries the eremitic life flourished greatly in these
regions, so that in very many charters and documents of this age
there is talk of seven hermits (for there were
as many hermitages scattered through the diocese, with an adjoining
chapel) Bosc, Mémoires pour servir à l'hist. du Rouërgue, vol. I, p. 189 and following. What prevents
SS. Gratus and Ansutus from having gone before these solitaries by their example in the 11th century?
What if Gratus was truly a martyr, and Ansutus
a hermit, and hence confusion arose
in their history? But another conjecture also comes to mind,
pertaining to St. Gratus; for Ansutus I will readily
grant to be a hermit. Every year at Oloron, formerly an episcopal
city in the Pyrenees mountains, now included in the diocese
of Bayonne, the feast of St. Gratus is celebrated on the 19th day
of the month of October. He is called the Apostle of Novempopulania,
and comes first in the catalogue of the bishops of Oloron.
Since, then, St. Gratus of the Rouergue
and of Oloron are venerated on almost the same day, it is an argument
of some weight indeed for holding them one and the same
Saint. It happens that the monastery of St. Savin,
whose Martyrology celebrates the memory of St. Gratus of Capdenac,
but by no means of the one of Oloron,
lies almost adjacent to Oloron: which forgetting of the one and
insertion of the other would be very wonderful, unless they were one
Saint. And these things I leave to the reader to weigh.
Meanwhile, however, we shall speak of St. Gratus, venerated at Oloron,
at the 19th day of this month.
[5] [he gave his name to a village among the people of the Rouergue already from the 12th century] But in the midst of this darkness this must be firmly
held, that St. Gratus was already venerated in the 12th century,
and so gave his name to a village or castle which
is still called St-Grat. For Loc-Dieu, an abbey of the diocese
of Rodez and of the Cistercian order,
very near the village of St. Gratus, received a donation in the year 1162
from Raymond of St. Gratus Gallia Christ. nova, vol. I, col. 263. That place, however,
does not appear to me elsewhere in more ancient documents.
Before the change of affairs of the last century it pertained
to the jurisdiction of the bailiwick of Villeneuve Bosc, Mémoires pour servir à l'hist. du Rouërgue, vol. III, p. 259, but now
to the district of Villefranche (cant. and arrond. of
Ville-Franche), and it is distant two leagues from this town,
twelve from Rodez Dictionn. univ. de la France, vol. IV, p. 536. Although it has only three hundred
inhabitants Ibid., loc. cit., it has nevertheless been reduced to the form of a parish or chapel-of-ease,
and it has its own church
Almanach du clergé de France, 1851, p. 529, which also appears in the topographical Maps of Cassini
Map, vol. II, H 17. But whether St. Gratus ever lived there,
or whether his name was attached to this place
because of a church built under his patronage,
there is nothing from which I could demonstrate it.
[6] he is venerated at Capdenac with Ansutus, Capdenac, however, to which the memory not of St. Gratus only
but also of St. Ansutus is attached, lies on
the other side of Villefranche, and indeed beyond the river Olt
(le Lot), below Figeac, an old abbey.
It pertained formerly to the diocese of Cahors and
to the civil province of the Rouergue Bosc, op. cit., vol. II, p. 203 and following, but now
to the diocese of Cahors and to the prefecture which
has its name from the Olt. It was formerly much disputed
whether it was the old Uxellodunum or not, and various men, as
is usual, went off into various opinions [Ibid., vol. I, p. 96. Cf. de Cathala-Coture, Hist. polit., eccles. et litt. du Quercy, vol. I, p. 17 and following]. However that may be, that place
has appeared in history for many centuries now, and it
now enjoys the rights of a town. But how it came about that
SS. Gratus and Ansutus obtained ecclesiastical veneration there
seems to be wholly unknown to all.
[7] and in the whole diocese of Rodez. In the whole diocese of Rodez the feast of SS. Gratus
and Ansutus is now kept under double rite. The lessons of the Second
Nocturn, namely IV and V, we have recited above. The sixth
is taken from the sermon of St. Maximus of Turin on
the Birthday of the holy Martyrs of Turin: Since of all
the Saints etc. For the rest, the office is from the common of many
Martyrs, with the Mass Salus, and the Gospel
Woe to you who build; and thence the lessons of the third
Nocturn from Bede, book IV on Luke II, ch. 51: Not
the monuments of the prophets. The proper Prayer is this:
O God, giver of faith and charity, who in the hearts of Thy holy
Martyrs Gratus and Ansutus didst kindle the flame
of Thy love, give to our minds
the same virtue of faith and charity, that
we may profit by the help of those in whose triumphs we rejoice.
Through.