ON ST. DESIDERIUS, ABBOT AND CONFESSOR,
AT THE END OF THE SEVENTH CENTURY.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
St. Desiderius to be carefully distinguished from another of the same name, the disciple of St. Barontus. His memory from the Martyrologies, and his cult. In what year he died. The Acts.
Desiderius, Abbot, Confessor, in Gaul. (S.)
B. B.
[St. Desiderius differs from another of the same name, the disciple of St. Barontus.] First of all, this Desiderius (commonly Didier) is to be carefully distinguished from another of the same name, the disciple of St. Barontus, who lived with his master in a monastery of the territory of Pistoia. Barontus [Compare Annales Benedictini, book XVI, n. LXXXIX, vol. I, p. 504. Lucca edition 1739.], namely, born of a noble lineage, after entering into marriage embraced the monastic discipline together with his son Aigloald, in the monastery of Longoretum, which St. Sigiramnus, abbot, had built in the district of Bourges towards the year 635. Once by chance, the morning lauds being finished, seized with a fever, he had a vision celebrated among the ancients, which read in our Acts at the XXV day of March, where with us SS. Barontus and Desiderius are treated together Acta SS., vol. III of March, p. 567 and following. After these things Barontus, with the permission of his abbot, is said to have set out for Italy, where, returning from Rome, he withdrew to a certain place of the territory of Pistoia, and between the roots of twin mountains built a small cell. While he was living there, a certain venerable man named Desiderius came to him, to be instructed by his example and teaching; to whom four other youths also joined themselves as companions. Barontus died about the year 679, and his tomb became illustrious with many miracles. In the eleventh century a monastery was erected in his honour, to which his relics were translated by Restaldus, bishop of Pistoia; and not so very long after, the body of St. Desiderius, who seems not to have survived his master long, was brought to the same place, with the bodies of his four companions, on the VI before the Kalends of April, MXVIII.
[2] a summary of the Life of our St. Desiderius, But the Life of St. Desiderius, whose festive memory recurs on this day, the XIX of October, our Labbe summarily comprises thus from the Acts Bibliotheca Manuscript. Librorum, vol. II, p. 367.: "St. Desiderius, sprung from the stronghold of Blavia on the Garonne, having been tonsured a monk by St. Sigiramnus in the monastery of Longoretum, when he was daily advancing in the study of holy conduct, was advanced to the honour of the priesthood, and was set over another monastery which St. Sigiramnus had built in the same territory of Bourges, where he built an oratory in honour of St. Martin. Some years having passed, from love of divine contemplation he so hid himself in a little cell that he nevertheless did not cast off the care of the monastery and of the poor. He restored sight to many blind by the sign of the cross, protected by which he himself drove off a monstrous apparition of a terrifying demon. Invited to the crown of immortal glory by SS. John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul, and having inflamed his disciples to mutual charity and the observance of the rule, on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of November he was carried over from this mire of the world to heaven, and was buried in the basilica of St. Mary of the same monastery, where he shone with many miracles. He is said to have lived under Dagobert, Clovis II and his sons." Thus far Labbe.
[3] from which it appears that he is far different from that other Desiderius. And from these things it sufficiently appears how far this our Desiderius Ann. Benedictin., book XVI, n. XC, vol. I, p. 506. differs from that other, who, sprung from Italy, at no time ever lived in the monastery of Longoretum. The authors of the New Gallia Christiana therefore err when Vol. II, col. 131., in the series of abbots of Saint-Cyran (for so the monastery of Longoretum was afterwards called from the name of its founder), they note at the life of Francardus, who succeeded St. Sigiramnus: "About that time there flourished in the monastery of Longoretum St. Desiderius, whose Life is published in the II century of the Benedictines, page 828." In the place cited SS. Barontus and Desiderius are treated together, both having died and been buried in the Pistoian territory of Etruria. This alone the said Desiderius has in common with ours, that both lived with St. Barontus. The former, when the latter had already left the monastery of Longoretum, nay had transferred his abode out of Gaul into Italy; but the latter, if ever he saw St. Barontus, it happened at Longoretum, nor, as it seems, did they remain long under the same roof together.
[4] The Martyrologies and the day of the cult. Our St. Desiderius was unknown to the ancient Martyrologists; nor is his name found in the Roman Martyrology. At this day Chastelain, Saussay, Bucelinus, and especially Hugues Ménard, both in the Benedictine Martyrology and in the Observations Book II, at the XIX of October., make mention of him. In these he weaves a splendid encomium, which is taken entire from the Acts which we shall presently subjoin; with this difference, however, that in the title of the Acts Desiderius is called abbot and confessor, whereas Hugues Ménard announces thus: "In the district of Bourges, St. Desiderius, confessor, disciple of St. Sigiramnus." But since Desiderius was sent by Sigiramnus from Longoretum to a place of the territory of Bourges, as Mabillon puts it Annales, book XVI, p. 506., called Rurriacus, to inhabit the oratory of the holy Mother of God the Virgin Mary and of blessed Gall, founded by the same holy Father; and indeed, according to H. Ménard, to preside over the monks serving God there, I do not see why the title of abbot should not be attributed to him with equal right as to many others.
[5] The day of death and cult. As regards the place of death or cult, Chastelain announces: "At Saint-Gall in Briona (Saint-Gal-en-Brenne), in the diocese of Bourges, St. Desiderius, abbot, disciple of St. Sigiramnus (Siran)." Now Briona, as Chastelain himself has it in his Geographical Index, is a tract in the district of Bourges. And Saint-Gall is nothing else than the oratory itself which, as the Acts relate, St. Sigiramnus had erected in honour of the blessed Mother of God the Virgin Mary and of St. Gall, to which St. Desiderius was afterwards sent to preside over the brothers. Afterwards, indeed, our Saint built another oratory in the same place, sacred to St. Martin of Tours, and next to it a little cell in which thenceforth he lived and died; but the Acts expressly have that he was translated from there to the oratory of St. Mary, which is also that of St. Gall: "Thence, having been washed with the highest honour and clothed in worthy garments, he was buried within the oratory of St. Mary, crowds of many bystanders looking on, and there he is seen buried, and to this very day it is proved by the peoples flocking together." And again: "And this most Blessed man on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of November, that is the nineteenth of October, lost on earth the deadly corpse": on which day indeed he is commemorated by all who have treated of him.
[6] On the time of his death. According to Chastelain St. Desiderius died towards the year 705. Mabillon refers his entry into the monastery of Longoretum to a little before the year 679; of his death he then writes this: "At length, worn out by many fasts and labours, he flew forth free from his cell to heaven on the XIV before the Kalends of November"; he does not add in what year. Bucelinus, Hugues Ménard, as also Labbe, put in general: "He flourished under Dagobert, Clovis II and his sons."
[7] A chronological discussion. Dagobert I, king of Austrasia from the year 622, succeeds his father Chlothar II in the year 628, his brother Charibert being excluded. To him, however, Dagobert granted part of the kingdom, which he did not long enjoy, since
he died in the year 631, from which time Dagobert alone presided over the whole monarchy of the Franks until the year 638, in which Clovis II was put in the place of his deceased father. He held the throne until the fifty-sixth year of the same century, and left three sons: Chlothar, Childeric and Theuderic. The first, Chlothar III, reigned in Neustria and Burgundy; and on his death his place was taken in the year 670 or 671 by Theuderic, likewise the III, who survived until the year 691. The second son of Clovis, namely Childeric II, held the sceptre of Austrasia from the year 660 to the year 673 or 674 Art de vérifier les dates, p. 429–532.. Authors vary as to the intermediate years, as may be seen in the Rationarium of our Petau; but they agree as to the two extreme limits (which are the chief ones for our matter), namely as to the beginning of the reign of Dagobert and the end of the reign of Theuderic III, son of Clovis II. "Chlothar dies," says Petau Rationarium temporum, part I, book VII, chapter XIV., "in the year 628 … whose kingdom Dagobert received in its entirety." And below Ibid., book VIII, chapter IV.: "Theuderic, son of Clovis II, dying about the year of Christ 690, left to his son Clovis, the III of that name, the empty possession of the royal name." From these it would follow that the death of St. Desiderius is to be put some years earlier, according to the mind of Hugues Ménard and others, than Chastelain would have it. Unless one should say that our Saint could have flourished chiefly under the aforesaid kings without his death necessarily being attached to their reign. Moreover, in such quasi-general indications of epochs, a discrepancy of some years is not to be made so much of. It must be confessed, however, that by formulas of this kind, "He flourished under Dagobert, Clovis II and his sons," it is of itself indicated that the life was not prolonged beyond those limits. It is more probable, accordingly, that the death of St. Desiderius took place, if not earlier, at least in the year 690. Compare what we have disputed at length in the Life of St. Aquilinus, above, pages 490–492.
[8] The Acts. Their origin and form. We have little to say about the Acts which we subjoin here. Labbe first of all made them public in his Bibliotheca, and testifies that he copied them from a transcript of the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend François Bosquet, bishop of Montpellier. The form of the Acts, as they occur in Labbe, has the appearance of Lessons arranged for the ecclesiastical office. Which appears from the way in which they are divided. They proceed abruptly, and not rarely an argument begun at the end of the preceding lesson is ended at the beginning of the following one. Whence, according to our custom, we have divided the narrative somewhat differently; and we undertook this the more easily because it is not established to us that Labbe's division by numbers is founded on the form of the manuscript which he used. There is no doubt that Hugues Ménard had these same Acts in his hands. The summary of the Life of St. Desiderius which is had in book 2 of the Observations clearly declares it; especially since he himself adds towards the end: "I composed this Life from a booklet transmitted to me from the abbey of Saint-Cyran, in the territory of Bourges, by the kindness of the venerable father Dom Jean de Bourges, prior of the same abbey."
THE LIFE OF ST. DESIDERIUS, ABBOT AND CONFESSOR.
From Labbe, vol. II of the Bibliotheca, page 367 and following.
Desiderius, Abbot, Confessor, in Gaul. (S.)
BHL Number: 2142
FROM LABBE.
The birth of St. Desiderius. His boyhood. The most blessed and glorious man Desiderius, then, sprung from a noble lineage in the territory of Blaye a, and given over to the service of God from his very boyhood, was made, by the Lord's favour, in every way effective in the first elements of letters in boyhood, as is customary. Whence it came about that he learned to imitate not only the apostles, but also the confessors, and also the martyrs and virgins.
[2] The eminent virtue of St. Sigiramnus Now there was at that time a monastery built by Bl. Sigiramnus in the district of Bourges, in a place whose name is Longoretus b, on the river called the Claise c, in which that glorious man was seen to serve the Lord assiduously with a flock of monks: and so glorious was the same Sigiramnus, and an eminent confessor of Christ, admirable in holy arts, and in holy conduct in every way pre-eminent, that in those places in which he had been born or had lived there could scarcely or by no means be found one who could have imitated his examples.
[3] St. Desiderius goes to St. Sigiramnus and is received by him. His life also, giving forth its fragrance far and wide on every side, was published in the ears of this St. Desiderius, who, approaching him devoutly and seeing his virtues, said within himself: "As it seems to me, it is better to serve Christ undefiled than through union with this world to be entangled in worldly contagion." Turning these things over within himself, falling down before the feet of blessed Sigiramnus, he disclosed with tears what he bore in his inmost heart. And he, as he was always full of charity, giving thanks to God for so great a petition of the boy, nay receiving him even as a gift of God, decided to place him in the number of the faithful monks, and appointed him thenceforth, as long as he lived, to be of one mind in the company of those dwelling there. And this beloved of God, Desiderius, remaining humble and devout in the holiness which he had begun, so studied by the grace of charity to make himself fit for all, that to all who saw him and conversed with him he seemed to be pleasing, and was cultivated and venerated by all with the greatest zeal as a near parent.
[4] Made a priest Blessed Sigiramnus, foreseeing his eminent holiness and gift of prayer, judged that he would be worthy to discharge the honour of the priesthood; but as he searched the inmost secrets of the heart, he studied to accomplish this work in the servant of God, and tonsured the hair of his head so that he might remain a Cleric perpetually in the lot of Christ, and, the Lord assenting, brought him to the order which he desired.
[5] he is sent to Ruriacus, For it happened that he was sent by blessed Sigiramnus himself into the parts of Nirsania d, in the territory of Bourges, to a place which is called Ruiriacus e, in which place Bl. Sigiramnus had built an oratory and consecrated it in honour of the holy Mother of God the Virgin and of blessed Gall, and had appointed monks there to the service of God. For nothing was held as one's own there except the worship of God, in which he remained unfailing.
[6] where he excels in every kind of virtue. For Desiderius was so given over to the service of God that scarcely could his like be found on earth, illustrious in charity, assiduous in obedience, pre-eminent in humility. For he was sparing in food, generous in alms, prompt in vigils, and very devout in prayers, ever assiduous in the work of God, with all his strength restraining wantonness by the bridle of abstinence and the struggle of frugality, lest it should be able to steal anything from him.
[7] He builds an oratory sacred to St. Martin. At the fame of so great a man men and devout women began to flock to him, desiring to be instructed in his disciplines. Then blessed Desiderius, foreseeing this, began to turn over in his mind how he might establish an oratory for continual application to the work of God. And as he thought, so also he carried it out in mind. In a word, he put up a very small cell in honour of the most glorious lord Martin, in which he wrought no small miracles.
[8] [He studies to withdraw himself from the multitude of the faithful flocking to him.] Ever loving that place which he had set up in honour of Bl. Martin, and ever desiring to embrace it, the blessed Man himself also, shining in the world like a beam of true light, assiduously drove away the diseases of infirmities by the efficacy of his miracles. But, the clemency of God inspiring him, who breathes where He will, he began to turn over in his mind that he should thrust himself into a prison on account of the excessive disquiet of the faithful who flocked to him.
[9] Shut up in a little cell, he distributes to the poor the alms offered him. But the Lord Himself, who is ever present to those who call upon Him, and looks upon the sons of men to see their works, who is understanding or seeking Him, showed him a place suitable for an oratory, which he had built in honour of St. Martin, on the left side as one enters, towards the north. Thenceforth, removed from the sight of the brothers, he shut himself up alone in a little cell, praying to God assiduously and persevering unceasingly without doubt in vigils and tears day and night. The devotion of the faithful, in short, often brought him money, but he stored it not in hidden coffers but in the purse of the poor, often recalling that oracle of the Lord: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where rust and moth consume, and where thieves dig through and steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" [f]. For he gave what he received, on account of God's commandment, in the various needs of the indigent, recalling that saying: "The alms of a man washes away sins" g.
[10] The grace of cures is given him by the Lord. At length the eternal Lord, who continually glorifies His Saints, willed that the man of God should lie long thus in hiding, and He began to work wonders in His servant, that He might show what manner of servant of His divinity he was, when He deigned to impart to him the grace of cures, fulfilling what He said, that a lamp ought not to be put under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that those who enter may see the light. Of his conduct, indeed, we have said little and passed over much. Now let us come to the miracles which the healing right hand of divine power deigned to work in him through him.
[11] He restores sight to a blind man. A certain blind man came to him, entreating him gently; and while he asked for some food, the kindly Desiderius prostrated himself in prayer, praying and beseeching that the Lord Himself would make manifest the heavenly mystery in this His servant. And at once the holy Man, approaching him and impressing the sign of salvation upon his eyes, he immediately received his sight, and he who had come to ask for food went away enlightened by him.
[12] He bestows the same benefit on a certain boy of Auvergne. Another boy also, from the territory of Auvergne, suffering from a disease of this kind, having heard of the works of the confessor of Christ, prays earnestly for the recovery of his sight: nor does he delay, but, having invoked the name of Christ, he set a cross with his finger against his eyes, and at once, a stream of blood flowing down, his eyes were opened and the light entered. O Man blessed in all things, whose signs and miracles also, which Christ did through him, are declared on every side in the world! But if you should keep silent about these things, conscience will cry out.
[13] The holy Man meanwhile continually yearns for the heavenly fatherland. But why should I say more? For the illusion of wicked persuasion could have no strength before him; but the athlete of Christ and the triumpher over the world, desiring to make the loss of this fleeting life, wished to tend to that life which abides in perpetual exultation, which is disturbed by no groaning nor shut in by any end; which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, and which has not ascended into the heart of man, whose light is never extinguished, whose serenity is covered by no obscurity.
[14] [He puts to flight with the sign of the cross a demon appearing in a horrible shape.] But that very lier-in-wait, who always envies the good,
wished perpetually to hurl some darts against the servant of God. For one day, while he was standing alone in his cell and praying, behold, there stands by him a most foul shade, tall in stature, mighty in bulk, black in colour; it had an immensity of flashing eyes after the manner of a wanton bull, with gaping mouth, as if ready to swallow the man of God. But he, having made the sign of the Cross against it, it vanished like ascending smoke, because it was a phantom. Therefore it is given to be clearly understood that it was the devil himself, the prince of wickedness, who as a roaring lion goes about seeking whom he may devour; but against the Servant of God he in no way prevailed; for in fasts, as we have said, he was strong.
[15] [The Apostle Paul and John the Baptist appear to him, announcing his death as near.] When he had recognized that the end of his life was near, he reported it to the brothers, saying: "A few days ago I saw Paul the Apostle with John the Baptist inviting me into everlasting rest: and they showed me a crown adorned with heavenly pearls, and said to me: 'With a crown decorated with such gems your soul must be crowned in the kingdom of God.' These things said, they were taken from my eyes": for already the time of his calling away and departure from the body was rolling on.
[16] His holy death. And when the hour of his calling was imminent, as it was already pressing for him to go forth from the body, the brothers and the whole household came together, and many from the neighbouring places were present, and they wept before him, saying: "Why, O Glorious one, do you sever yourself from us, or why do you forsake us?" And he, weeping a little, said: "If you follow peace and sanctification, Christ will be your protection, and I will not depart from you; but, when invoked, I will at once be present in the midst of your charity." With these and such words, the most Blessed man, strong in the grace of great virtues, the course of the present life being fulfilled, about to receive the eternal, the angelic choirs accompanying him, passed to Christ, and so great an odour of sweetness burst forth in his little cell that it surpassed the odours of all incense and spices.
[17] He is honourably buried in the Oratory of St. Mary. Thence, having been washed with the highest honour and clothed in worthy garments, he was buried within the oratory of St. Mary, crowds of many bystanders looking on, and there he is seen buried, and to this very day it is proved by the peoples flocking together.
[18] Many are healed at his tomb. And this most Blessed man on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of November lost on earth the deadly corpse; whose soul rejoicing exults with the Saints in heaven, whose tomb is very often rendered glorious by the effect of illustrious miracles. For an enemy demon besieged the mind of a servant of that monastery, who, raving at the tomb of the blessed Man, was at length, as we believe by his prayer, the demon having been cast out, cleansed, so that he lived thereafter many years with a sound mind. And a mute man coming from the same district, lying down in prayer before his hands, implored only with his heart, and not with his voice, beseeching the help of the blessed Confessor: into whose mouth a part of the said blessing having been poured, blood bursting out mixed with pus, the mute man merited to obtain speech h. Indeed, to speak of very many fever-stricken persons, here was the benefit of remedy, when they faithfully kissed the pall i of the tomb, the Lord being mindful of what He had foretold: "Whatever you shall ask faithfully, you shall receive" k. And this I thought by no means to be passed over in silence, that the multitudes flocking together from various parts bring kinds of diseases, and through the intervention of this Saint receive there the medicine of health.
[19] Epiphonema. Truly admirable is Jesus Christ our Lord, who deigns to work assiduously everywhere in His elect, who as craftsman deigned in the beginning to make the first-formed man: but the wickedness of the most malignant serpent, lying in wait, malignly circumvented and deceived him. But the mediator of God and men, our Lord Jesus Christ, coming, deigned to become man, issuing from an incorrupt Virgin, the most mighty Lion of the tribe of Juda, warring down the cruel ancient one, mercifully snatched us all from the yoke of servitude. Wherefore, as is fitting, let us give praises to God from the inmost heart, who, humbling Himself for our sakes, took the form of a servant, and promised us eternal joys; where all the elect exult with Him, among whom the chosen soldier Desiderius triumphs, who, despising the perishable life of this world, chose the solitary conversation on earth, so that afterwards he might triumph with the angelic choirs in heaven. Of such the Psalmist sings: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints" [l]. Let us pray, therefore, by the prayers of this Saint, that by his kindly intercessions he may obtain for us pardon from the merciful judge in the heavenly chambers, our Lord Jesus Christ bringing this about, who bestows eternal rewards on those who fear His holy Name, who willed this Glorious one to be associated in glory, that reigning he might rejoice with Him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
f. Matt. VI, XIX, XX.
l. Ps. CXI, verse XV.