Theofrid

ON ST. THEOFRID, ABBOT OF LE MONASTIER AND MARTYR, IN GAUL,

ABOUT THE YEAR 732.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Theofrid, Abbot of Le Monastier, Martyr, among the Velauni in Gaul. (S.)

B. B.

§ I. The deeds of St. Theofrid. The monastery of Le Monastier is laid waste by the Saracens. Their various irruptions into Gaul. In what year St. Theofrid suffered.

The beginnings of St. Theofrid. Hugues Ménard, in the second book of the Observations on the Benedictine Martyrology at the XVIII of Nov., presents the Life of St. Theofrid, commonly St. Chaffre, in this way: "St. Theofrid was born at the Colony of the Arausiones (Orange), and of his mother Lerlitris. He was the nephew of St. Eudo, first abbot of the monastery of Le Monastier, in the county of the Velauni. Moved by his holiness, he sent the world his notice of dismissal, and received the habit of holy conduct in the same monastery from his uncle; by whom also, when he had already given some proof of regular observance, he was made cellarer of the monastery, which office he discharged with the greatest charity. And St. Eudo having died, St. Theofrid was put in his uncle's place by the votes of all the monks.

[2] The Saracens invade the monastery; "At that time the Saracens, a wild and cruel nation, at the call of Eudo, duke of Aquitaine, bursting out of Spain with a numerous army against Charles Martel, were ravaging all Aquitaine. Which

St. Theofrid seeing, having called the monks together, foretold that the barbarians would invade the monastery, and persuaded them to seek hiding places in the woods. His dear sons were unwilling to desert so pious a father, but, overcome by his prayers, they betook themselves to the woods. But St. Theofrid, prostrate before the altar of St. Peter, prayed God to accept him as a worthy victim. Without delay the Ishmaelites invaded the monastery, and, running about hither and thither, found St. Theofrid praying in the same place, and, inflamed with excessive fury, beating him most atrociously with rods, they savagely threw him down; and desiring to pour out their fury likewise on the other monks, they asked him where they were, and to what purpose were the substructures of so many buildings in which no one lived? The Martyr of Christ answered that they had been withdrawn by the providence of God from their savagery, and that it was not in their power to harm them without the will of God. But they threatened that they would set everything on fire with flames, and would butcher him with a most bitter death, unless he disclosed his companions as soon as possible. The man of God answered that God was the defender of the place, and that he wished to lay down his life for the sheep. But they, embittered with excessive fury, beating him with sinews, left him half dead.

[3] and they inflict a deadly wound on the holy Abbot. "Then by chance a certain solemn day according to the rite of the nation had come round, on which they were performing certain impious rites. St. Theofrid, having recovered his strength by divine power, rose, and bursting into the midst of the crowd, rebuked them vehemently for such abominable rites. But the petty priest, gnashing at him, having thrown a stone, inflicted a grave wound on his head, from which he at once fell to the ground. Soon that whole place trembled; lightnings, thunders, a dark rainstorm and winds raging beyond measure follow. The Barbarians, struck with excessive terror, massed together and, their shields locked in the manner of a tortoise, crouched down, thinking that in this way they would escape the onset of this storm. But in vain; for very many were killed by the force of the thunderbolts.

[4] The death of St. Theofrid. "The rest having been put to flight, the monks, their fear being taken away, little by little came out of their hiding places; and having returned into the monastery, they found St. Theofrid lying on the ground, and saw the inner parts of the brain, the crown of his head having been crushed by the blow of the stone. They carry the holy Man with many lamentations into his cell. They kissed his feet and hands, which he nevertheless forbade with veneration of this kind. Having spoken gently for seven days to those afflicted by so many calamities, and exhorted them with his divine discourses to the observance of the rule and mutual charity, he died happily, adorned with the robe of the martyrs, on the XVIII of November, about the seven hundred and twenty-fifth year of the Lord, in which that deluge of foreigners was overflowing into Gaul."

[5] Whence Hugues Ménard drew his material Thus Hugues Ménard. Which we have set out at once at the beginning of this elucubration for this reason, namely that that writer at the same time testifies that these things were excerpted partly from the Ordinary of La Chaise-Dieu, partly from the chronicles of the monastery of Le Monastier, and from the Life and passion of St. Theofrid, and from other old monuments which the author had from that abbey.

[6] The heads of what we are to say. We do not, however, hold each and every thing that occurs in the summary of the Life set out to be certain on every side. Nay, there are some things to be corrected, others to be developed more, certain things too omitted, as will be made clear through the course of this commentary, in which, according to the plan of our undertaking, we shall treat of the various names of St. Theofrid, his birth, his deeds before and after taking the regular habit, his martyrdom, relics and cult. We shall add certain things about the Acts, to be set out in full at the end.

[7] The various names of St. Theofrid As regards the name, it is more commonly written among Latin authors Theofredus; so also in the document [Histoire générale de Languedoc, by two Benedictine Religious of the Congregation of St. Maur. Folio edition, Paris 1730, vol. I, among the Proofs (Preuves), col. 63, n. LXIX.] of Pippin, king of Aquitaine, of the year 845, where the following are read: "From the monastery which is called Calmilius, and is situated in the district of Velay, built in honour of blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, and of St. Theofrid." Mabillon uses the same manner of writing both in the Acts and in the Annals, as also our Labbe in the Bibliotheca. Others write: Theofridus, Theotfredus, Thietfridus, etc. In French: Theofroy, Thiefroy, Theofred, commonly and most usually Chaffre, a truly enormous alteration, which however Dom Vaissete insinuates is not contrary to the genius of the Occitan idiom Ibid., book VIII, n. XXI, vol. I, p. 395..

[8] His birth, It is agreed among all that St. Theofrid was sprung from the city of Orange, and that of a most noble lineage. He was the only son of Leofredus (among others he is called Theofredus), prince of the said city and territory, and numbered among the chief men of the whole region or province. Hugues Ménard, as we saw above, calls his mother Lerlitris; in the Life published by Mabillon Acta SS. Ordinis S. Benedicti, saec. III, part I, p. 479. she is called Leutilda, in the Proper of Le Puy Leotildes. In both parents virtue was equal to nobility, and they took care with the greatest solicitude that their son should be instructed, as being at once the only hope of propagating the name and heir of the dignities and wealth. But Theofrid already from infancy showed a mind inclined to piety beyond others, Philipp. III, v. VIII. making little of whatever did not pertain to the eminent knowledge of Jesus Christ.

[9] His uncle was Eudo, abbot of Le Monastier. Leofredus had a half-brother on the mother's side, named Eudo or Eodo, the first abbot of the monastery of Le Monastier. The boy Theofrid followed him with singular veneration; nor did talk of his virtues ever arise without his youthful mind being inflamed with the desire of imitating him. Which blazed up even much more vividly when once Eudo, returning from the monastery of Lérins, in which he had first professed the regular life, stayed for some space of time at Augusta Tricastinorum (Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux). Hither Leofredus came, to visit his brother, with his son, who, disclosing to his uncle the inclination of his mind towards the monastic life, flooded him with immense joy. The matter being then communicated to his father, after very many difficulties had been removed, especially from the fact that he was the only heir both of the name and of the dignities and wealth, Theofrid received the desired assent.

[10] Under him St. Theofrid professes the monastic life Without delay he betook himself with his uncle into the monastery of Le Monastier, in which he was very lovingly received by all the brothers. "And to him," says Mabillon Annales Benedictini, book XVII, n. XVI, vol. I, p. 518. Lucca edition 1739., "when he had been thoroughly instructed in the regular disciplines, he (Eudo) committed the external care of the monastery. He" (namely Theofrid), "while once travelling through the district of Auvergne in the course of his office, came upon a certain Meneleus of Anjou with two companions, Savinian and Constantius, and persuades them to follow him; who, after they had been instructed there" (in the monastery of Le Monastier) "for seven years, having returned to Auvergne, founded the monastery of Menat." Baillet writes in the Life of St. Theofrid, at the XIX of October, that he on a certain journey contributed to the conversion of St. Meneleus. Which word, if it is taken in its obvious sense, as seems to be the case, was put by mistake. For it is established that Meneleus betook himself into that Forest in which he was seen by St. Theofrid in order to decline the nuptials prepared for him by his father. For at seven years old he had vowed his virginity. See his Acts published by us at the XXII of July Acta SS., vol. V of July, p. 305.. Unless, which for the rest frequently occurs, conversion means the same as religious profession.

[11] Elected abbot, he presides most holily over his brothers. Eudo the abbot having died, Theofrid is put in his place by the unanimous consent of the brothers, who thus satisfied the wishes of the deceased: for Eudo when dying had designated him his successor. "Theofrid presided with solicitude, joining the prudence of the serpent with the simplicity of the dove. The very mildness of his face and look showed the kindness of his mind. He forbade women access to the basilica, yet so that the women's approaches had a seat at a distance around the door of the church… Finally, at a certain time, withdrawn from the attendance of his household, forging a Micrologus on the sixfold decline of the world, he finishes it in rhythmic discourse. Which, because we know it has been vitiated by the rot of false-speakers, if … God assents …, we shall restore to its former truth." These things are excerpted from the Acts, which we set out entire below.

[12] He is present at the dedication of the monastery of Menat. Asked by Meneleus to visit him, he was present at the dedication of the new monastery of Menat, made by Eusebius or Bonitus (for he had two names), bishop of Auvergne, in honour of the Saviour and of the holy Virgin Mary Mabillon, where above.. The Acts add that the bishop was asked by Theofrid on this occasion to consecrate and cut the hair of Meneleus; which would indicate that he then for the first time received the insignia of a monk. But these things are to be elucidated elsewhere. Compare the Acts of St. Meneleus, illustrated by our Pien Vol. V of July, Preliminary Commentary, n. 28, p. 306.. And these are the things which are had among various writers about the deeds of St. Theofrid up to his death or martyrdom, of which we must now treat, namely in what year it happened; for the rest we have already reported above from Hugues Ménard, and they will moreover be found below in the Acts.

[13] The martyrdom is more probably referred to the year 732, He seems to have suffered martyrdom in the year of Christ 732, and indeed on this very day, the XIX of October. Mabillon in the Life of St. Theofrid Acta SS. Ordinis S. Benedicti, saec. III, part I, p. 485, letter a. assigns the year 728, on the fourteenth before the Kalends of November, "as," he says, "it is marked in the Calendars of Le Monastier and the Benedictine." But afterwards the learned man changed his opinion. For in the Annals, which are later than the Acts, he has the year 732 Annales Benedictini, book XXI, n. VIII, vol. II, p. 83.. Le Cointe agrees at this year Annales ecclesiast. Francorum, at the year 732, n. LXXVII, vol. IV, p. 816., where he treats this question expressly against Hugues Ménard, who, as we saw above, judges that it happened about the seven hundred and twenty-fifth year of the Lord, in which that deluge of foreigners was overflowing into Gaul. Here Le Cointe subjoins: "Not only by these words, but also by others which he" (namely Hugues Ménard) "had put before, did he thus open his mind concerning the year in which Theofrid the abbot suffered martyrdom: 'At that time the Saracens, a wild and cruel nation, at the call of Eudo, duke of Aquitaine, against Charles Martel, bursting out of Spain with a numerous army, were ravaging all Aquitaine.' In both places he spoke in the opinion of the chronographer of Fulda, who wrote these things about the Saracens at the seven hundred and twenty-fifth year of Christ: 'The Saracens, called by Eudo to his help, with their king Abdirama reach the Garonne and Bordeaux, all places being laid waste and the churches burned with fire. They also set fire to the basilica of St. Hilary of Poitiers.'

[14] as Le Cointe undertook to show. "But," Le Cointe continues, "neither did Eudo, prefect of Aquitaine, call the Saracens from Spain to his help against Charles the Mayor of the Palace, nor did the same Saracens, under the leadership of Abdirama, arrive ravaging at Bordeaux or Poitiers in the seven hundred and twenty-fifth year of Christ. This irruption of the Arabs into Gascony and Aquitaine is to be referred later

The Moors, Bordeaux and Poitiers having been taken, when they wished to enter the territory of Tours, were vanquished by Charles and Eudo on a Saturday, in the month of October, in this seven hundred and thirty-second year after the birth of Christ, as was proved above from authors far older than the Annalist of Fulda. Then, worn down by a great defeat, they returned very swiftly into Septimania. And as they disfigured the territory of Limoges, of which we have just spoken, so also that of Le Puy. And nothing prevents those whom the Franks turned to flight near Poitiers on a Saturday in the month of October from having been near Le Puy on the eleventh day of the following November, on which Theofrid the abbot was so wounded that he died on the seventh day after, that is, on the eighteenth day of November already noted. The Martyrology of Le Puy has these words at that day: 'In the territory of Velay near the city of Le Puy, in the place which is called Calmelius, the passion of St. Theofrid, abbot and martyr.'" Thus Le Cointe [Annales ecclesiast. Francorum, at the year 732, n. LXXVII, vol. IV, p. 816 and 817.], whose statements, as they are not without their probability, so also do not claim complete certainty for themselves, as will appear from what is to be said.

[15] Various irruptions of the Saracens into Gaul at that time are numbered. For it is very difficult to define accurately the time or epoch of the various incursions by which the Saracens laid waste Gaul; which is sufficiently manifest even from the very disagreement of the learned among themselves. It is more likely to us to distinguish five principal incursions of this kind into various provinces of the said region, all from the year 719 to the year 738. Further, it is certain that the martyrdom of St. Theofrid is to be attached to those incursions; but to which? Here, namely, the whole difficulty is placed, which we do not indeed undertake to dissolve, but only to elucidate in some part, or rather to work out.

[16] The first irruption of the Saracens Zama, leader of the Saracens, in the ninth year after their coming into Spain, that is, towards 719, crossed the Pyrenees and subjected part of Septimania to himself. This chronology seems, among others, the more probable to the learned Dom Vaissete, who expressly undertook to demonstrate it in the Notes on the history of Languedoc Histoire de Languedoc, vol. I, note LXXXII, p. 686 and following. Namely, the Chronicle of Moissac relates: "Sema, king of the Saracens, in the IX year after that in which the Saracens entered Spain, besieges Narbonne, and, having besieged it, takes it" Pertz, Monumenta Germaniae, vol. I, p. 290.. Now, although the learned do not agree, the said writer judges it more probable, with Dom José Pérez, a Spanish Benedictine and professor of Salamanca, that the first incursion of the Saracens on the Spanish shores is to be referred to the year of Christ 711, and indeed after the 19th of October; but that the battle of the Guadalete happened on the XVII of July of the next following year. Most writers attach the coming of the Saracens to the year 713, and the battle at the Guadalete or Lethe, or, as Ferreras has it, the Xeres, to the following year. Mariana, treating of the first encounter of the Goths with the Saracens, says: "This first calamity fell in the thirteenth year of that century" (namely the eighth) [De Rebus Hispaniae, book VI, chapter XXII, vol. I, p. 244. The Hague edition 1733.]. And below, of the battle at the Guadalete: "On the eighth day" (from the beginning of the battle), "which was a Sunday, the ninth of the Arab month Xavel, the third before the Ides of November, on the very feast day of Martin, as we gather from the Chronicle of Albelda, and in the seven hundred and fourteenth year of salvation, the battle was fought with the whole strength and forces on both sides, etc." Ibid., chapter XXIII, p. 245.. The Marquis of Mondéjar, whom Pagi followed, puts the coming of the Saracens into Spain in the year 710, and in the month of July of the following year the slaughter of King Roderic in the battle at the river Guadalete in Andalusia. "But since Pérez seems to have refuted invincibly this whole Chronotaxis, therefore," says Dom Vaissete, "we do not hesitate to adhere to his opinion." Ferreras Histoire générale d'Espagne, part IV, century VIII, vol. II, p. 429, Paris 1742. also refers the battle at the Xeres (so he for the Guadalete or Lethe) and the death of King Roderic to the year 712, but puts the day on the feast of St. Martin, namely the XI of November. The writers of the work L'Art de vérifier les dates Page 803. admit the same year, without deciding between the two days: Pierre de Marca hesitates in doubt between the year 711 and the year 712. "This last and lamentable calamity" (the battle in which Roderic fell), he says, "fell, as is clear from Isidore of Beja, a writer of that age, from whom Rodrigo of Toledo took it, in the year of Christ DCCXI, or in the following year according to the old Nubian geographer. The common run of historians, however, refers it to the year DCCXIV" Marca Hispanica, sive Limes Hispanicus, col. 226 and 227, Paris 1688.. Whence Dom Vaissete does not err much, if indeed he errs, in establishing that the ninth year after the landing of the Saracens began on the XIX of October of the year DCCXIX, and ended on the same day of the following year In the place cited above, note LXXXII, n. III, p. 687.. Finally Flórez, who expressly undertook to refute the chronological system of the Marquis of Mondéjar España Sagrada, vol. II, part I, throughout., establishes indeed the battle in which Roderic fell at the end of the year 713 Ibid., part II, chapter 3, p. 187, n. 218., yet does not disagree with Vaissete as far as our matter is concerned: for he too puts the first coming of the Saracens into Spain in the year 711. "Three times," he says, "the Moors entered Spain, from the year 711 onwards" Ibid., p. 186, n. 217, at the beginning., and he contends that this is shown from the Chronicle of San Millán and others, nay that it is also insinuated by Isidore of Beja. From all these things we conclude that the aforesaid year 711 can be admitted, if not certainly, at least probably.

[17] it more probably falls in the year 719. Nay, the time of the siege of Narbonne can also be defined more accurately. There is read, on the testimony of Vaissete, in a charter which is reported in the Marca Hispanica: "in the time when Aumar reigned, Ibin-Aumar ruling Narbonne." But it is evident that in this place it is not a question of Omar I, who was the second successor of Muhammad from the year 634 to the year 644 L'Art de vérifier les dates, p. 392 and 393., nor accordingly did the Saracens land in Spain in his reign; but indeed of Omar II, who obtained the caliphate from the year 717 to the month of February 720. The Saracens therefore besieged and took Narbonne between the XIX of October 719 and the month of February of the following year, since Omar, when he died, held the said city under his dominion. Therefore Zama, having entered Gaul in the year 719, besieged and stormed Narbonne in the following year 720, then, advancing as far as Toulouse, he suffered an immense defeat in the year 721 at the hands of Eudo, duke of Aquitaine, and lost his life. And the remnants of the army fled across the Pyrenees.

[18] The martyrdom of St. Theofrid does not belong to this one. Further, from the chronicle of Isidore, bishop of Beja, it is easy to see that the Saracens wandered indeed far and wide through Septimania and the first Narbonensis, but by no means came as far as the Velauni, among whom Calmilius is found. Whence it is clear that the martyrdom of St. Theofrid is not to be referred to this first irruption of the Saracens. It will be helpful to have written down here the words of the man of Beja, a contemporary writer, and accordingly of great authority; his chronology, however, is not so limpid Flórez, España Sagrada, vol. VIII, p. 318 and following; and his style, in the judgment of Mariana Ibid., p. 167., so rude that he seems to speak not in Latin but rather in another tongue. After, therefore, he had said at n. 47 that Izit, on his brother's death, had fully received by succession the helm of the kingdom of the Saracens Ibid., p. 296., Isidore continues at n. 48 in this way: "Then in the parts of the west many prosperous things befall him" (namely Izit) "in fighting, and through a leader named Zama, who held the command in Spain a little less than three years, he describes further and hither Iberia with his own pen for the bringing in of taxes… Lastly he makes Narbonese Gaul his own, and goads the nation of the Franks with frequent wars, and suitably places picked soldiers of the Saracens in the aforesaid town of Narbonne to keep the garrisons: and with corresponding valour the said leader" (Zama) "came fighting as far as Toulouse, and, surrounding it with a siege, tried to storm it with slings and machines of various kinds; and thus the peoples of the Franks, informed of such news, are assembled at the leader of that nation, named Eudo: where, while the battle lines of both armies clash at Toulouse in heavy combat, they kill Zama, the leader of the army of the Saracens, with part of the assembled multitude. They pursue the rest of the army which escaped by flight" Flórez, España Sagrada, vol. VIII, p. 297.. Thus far Isidore of Beja, or bishop of Julia Pax (for the Spaniards, of Beja or even Badajoz), whose Chronicle Flórez published with Notes at the end of volume VIII of the España Sagrada. Now in these words Zama's incursion is manifestly circumscribed: it does not go beyond the Narbonese province: nay, it proceeds towards the west, as may be seen in geographical Maps from the situation of Narbonne and Toulouse; whereas the Velauni are found much higher up, ascending towards the North. Let the geographical Map annexed to volume I of the history of Languedoc be inspected: at once it will strike the eyes, from the words of Isidore of Beja, that the Saracens did not then come even remotely near the Velauni.

[19] Nor to the second, in the year 725. But neither to the second. This falls in the year 725. "Ambisa," (so the Chronicle of Moissac Pertz, Monumenta Germaniae, vol. I, p. 290.), "king of the Saracens, with an immense army in the fifth year after attacks Gaul, and storms and takes Carcassonne, and as far as Nîmes acquired it by peace, and sends their hostages to Barcelona." Since the battle of Toulouse, in which Zama perished, falls in the year 721, it follows that Ambisa entered Gaul in the year 725, which both ended the fourth from the death of Zama and at the same time began the fifth. Therefore, since the Saracens came only as far as Nîmes, and halted there, as the words just recited relate, "as far as Nîmes acquired it by peace," it is established again that they did not reach Calmelius, since the Velauni are far distant from Nîmes. Whence, even granting that one or another band wandered further, it is manifest that they did not come as far as the Velauni, both because these are far separated, and because most rugged ridges of mountains lie between. Let the geographical Map be looked at. Isidore of Beja, where he treats of that second incursion, speaks in an altogether vague manner. "Ambiza," he says España Sagrada, vol. VIII, p. 298., "aptly holds the principate of Spain for four and a half years, who himself also, planning battles with the nation of the Franks and pursuing them by satraps sent out, fights unhappily" (these things at any rate seem openly to conflict with other Chronicles), "but by stealthy surprises, through wedges of strong arms, goads them by mutilating some cities or strongholds: and thus, harassing the Christians with doubled taxes, he greatly triumphs in the fasces of honours in Spain.

Nor certainly would anyone say that, in such circumstances, those stealthy surprises extended as far as the Velauni. A little lower the man of Beja adds Ibid., p. 299.: "And while lastly the aforesaid Ambiza in person redoubles an expedition against the Franks, with the whole public force he at once plans an incursion against them. And while he flies on in his rage, he prepares the end of his life by his own death; and, placed at the extremity of life, he appoints Hodera consul of the country committed to him, or leader of the army as it returned, or as it were held back." These things are certainly altogether different from those which others relate, asserting that Ambiza restored the things lost by Zama Histoire générale de Languedoc, vol. I, p. 392, n. XV.. Nay, Dom Vaissete asserts that it is established from ancient chronicles that the Saracens at this time penetrated across the Rhône and stormed Augustodunum (Autun) in the year 725; but at the same time he blames Le Cointe and Pagi, who would have the Saracens wandering then much more widely still, but without any probable reason; nor yet, according to these too, would they have come to the Velauni Ibid., note LXXXIV, p. 695.. Wherefore also the said Vaissete refers the death of our holy Martyr to the following incursion. Neither, accordingly, does St. Theofrid seem to have been carried off by this second storm.

[20] [The third, in the year 729, to which the death of St. Theofrid is referred by some;] Bede makes mention of the third incursion in these words: "In the seven hundred and twenty-ninth year of the Lord's Incarnation two comets appeared around the sun, striking much terror into those who beheld them… At which time a most grievous plague of the Saracens was laying waste Gaul with miserable slaughter; and they themselves not long after paid in the same province the penalties worthy of their perfidy" Hist. ecclesiast., book V, chapter XXIII. Giles's edition, London 1843.. Bede adds nothing else; nor has mention of this incursion been made by any other writer. But what Bede meant when he says that the Saracens not long after paid the penalties is not sufficiently established. There are those who think that they were cut down at that time by Eudo, duke of Aquitaine; others with Pagi judge that Bede is regarding the battle of Poitiers, in which the barbarians were cut down to destruction by Charles Martel in the year 732. For although Bede ends at the year 731, and the battle was fought among the Pictavi in the following year, Bede, who died in the year 735, could have added those words to his history; which at any rate is neither inconsistent nor without its probability. Unless someone should prefer to say that Bede slipped in noting the year; or that, through the fault of copyists, an error crept into the codices. Nay, this irruption might conveniently be denied, and confused with the following one. But we wonder at Dom Vaissete, who confesses that Bede alone at all makes mention of this incursion, and that only in passing, without touching on anything about it in particular, and who nevertheless subjoins that the Saracens at this time raged far and wide; whence also he judges it probable that the martyrdom of St. Theofrid is to be attached to this year 729.

[21] [but it more probably regards the year 732, in which the fourth irruption was made,] Wherefore far more probable to us is the opinion of Mabillon in the Annals, and of Le Cointe, who put it in the year 732; namely under the fourth irruption of the Saracens into Gaul, when, under the leadership of Abderrahman, they stormed Bordeaux, and then at the river Duranius (others say the Garonne; but it matters nothing, since those two rivers flow together near Bordeaux) inflicted on Eudo an immense slaughter, so much indeed that, on the testimony of Isidore of Beja, a contemporary writer, "God alone knows the number of the dying or perishing." And to this, as it were the earlier part of the incursion under Abderrahman, Bede perhaps refers, as I have already insinuated above. The Annalist of Moissac briefly comprehends this whole matter thus: "In the year MCCXXXII Abderaman, king of Spain, crossing with a great army of Saracens through Pamplona and the Pyrenean mountains, besieges the city of Bordeaux. Then Eudo, prince of Aquitaine, having gathered an army, went out to meet them in battle on the river Garonne; but, battle being joined, the Saracens come out victors. And Eudo, fleeing, lost the greatest part of his army, and so at length the Saracens began to plunder Aquitaine. And Eudo, coming to Charles, prince of the Franks, asked for help. Then Charles, having gathered a great army, went out to meet them, and, battle being joined in the suburb of Poitiers, the Saracens were vanquished by the Franks; and there Abderaman himself fell with his army in the battle, and those of them who remained returned by flight to Spain. And Charles, having taken the spoils, returned with the triumph of glory into Francia" Pertz, Monumenta Germaniae, vol. I, p. 291.. Since, therefore, the Velauni belonged to Aquitaine, namely in its extreme eastern part, as may be seen in Vaissete's Map Histoire de Languedoc, vol. I, at the beginning; and the Saracens, after the battle of Bordeaux, ravaged Aquitaine; and finally the forces of Abderrahman were of incredible number, it is certainly natural to conclude that the devastation of the monastery of Le Monastier, and accordingly also the martyrdom of St. Theofrid, is to be referred to this rather than to the aforesaid incursions. Which indeed seems to us to be confirmed by the narrative of Isidore of Beja, which we therefore write down here.

[22] as the narrative of Isidore of Beja also seems to suggest. "Then Abderraman, seeing the land filled with the multitude of his army, cutting through the mountains of the Vaccaei, and treading the straits as if they were plains, thoroughly ravages the lands of the Franks within, and, penetrating them, so smites them with the sword, that, a battle having been prepared by Eudo beyond the rivers named Garonne or Dordogne, and he having slipped away in flight, God alone knows the number of the dying or perishing. Then Abderraman, pursuing the aforesaid duke Eudo, while he desires to plunder the church of Tours, demolishing palaces and burning churches, confronts the consul of inner Francia, of Austria, named Charles, a man warlike from his early age and experienced in military affairs, forewarned by Eudo. Where, while for nearly seven days both sides torment themselves over the clash of battle, at last they prepare themselves for the line of battle, and while they fight fiercely, the northern peoples, remaining immovable like a wall in the twinkling of an eye, and as it were held fast icily like a zone of frost, slay the Arabs with the sword. But when the people of Austria, mighty in the mass of their limbs, and striking breast-first with iron hand through the steep places, find the king and kill him. At once, night separating the battle, they raise their swords contemptuously, and on the next day, seeing the innumerable camps of the Arabs, they reserve themselves for battle, and rising from their sheath at dawn the Europeans look out upon the ordered tents of the Arabs and the pavilions where the camps had been placed, not knowing that all were quite empty, and thinking that the phalanxes of the Saracens were prepared within for battle, sending the services of scouts, they found that all the columns of the Ishmaelites had been put to flight, and that all the wedges, passing the night silently, had fled away, returning home. But the Europeans, fearing lest they, lurking along the paths, should make some ambushes, stupefied on every side, vainly regather themselves round about, and, being in no way watchful to pursue the said peoples, having fittingly divided only the spoils and booty, they betake themselves joyfully to their own countries" Flórez, España Sagrada, vol. VIII, p. 303..

[23] The fifth irruption finally had its end in the year 738. It remains that we add some words about the fifth incursion of the Saracens into the same regions, which had its beginning in the year 736. Charles Martel, hastening up with an army, almost completely drove them out of the province of Arles, and, pursuing them as far as Narbonne, routed them in battle. But in the following year, when Charles was detained in a distant war, Maurontius, who had taken refuge with his men in the mountains, recovered courage; and the Saracens began again to make sallies on every side; until Charles, joined by treaty with Liutprand, king of the Lombards, drove them out of the provinces and regions situated on the Rhône. These things were done in the year 738, after which the Saracens dared attempt nothing against Gaul while Charles lived. The martyrdom of St. Theofrid might also be referred to this irruption of theirs; more probably, however, it regards the preceding one. However, there is no doubt that it is to be referred to some one of the five incursions enumerated, and accordingly that it happened between the year 719 and the year 738, according to the chronology set out by us.

[24] The anonymous writer of the Life of St. Theofrid is mistaken. From these things one may conclude how far from the truth is the anonymous author of the Life of St. Theofrid, which may be seen printed below. It is worth the trouble to subjoin here what Mabillon thought on this matter: both because it confirms our opinion, and because it elucidates certain other things which were passed over by us in what has been said above. "The same storm," he says, "without doubt" (which we have called the fourth) "carried off Theotfred, abbot of Le Monastier; although it is read in his Acts, which are little accurate and in this matter do not agree with the old annals of the Franks, that it was done on another occasion. For in these" (namely the Acts) "it is read that Eudo, provoked more than once in war by Charles the mayor of the palace, called the Saracens from Spain to his help, a pact being made with Abdiraman, who, having been routed by Charles in two battles, seizing this occasion, avenged his injury, laying waste everything in his way from Bordeaux to the city of the Pictavi with sword and flames, nay crushing the whole of Septimania with the county of Gévaudan and Velay, at which time Theotfred was slain by the Saracens. As if Bordeaux and Poitiers belonged to Charles and not to Eudo, and Septimania itself were not subject to the rule of the Saracens. Far more probable is what is read in the little book on the Deeds of St. Pardulf the abbot, that the Saracens in this year (732) were cut down by Charles at the city of the Pictavi, and that the remnants of that defeat betook themselves into Gothia or Septimania, and ruined everything in their way with fire and sword; at which time perhaps they burst into the monastery of Le Monastier and killed Theotfred, the monks having been ordered to flee into the neighbouring mountains; or perhaps they were those who, the siege of the city of Sens having been raised, betook themselves into Septimania. Whichever of these be true, they relate that Theotfred, overwhelmed with stones, expired a little after, and that on the XIV before the Kalends of November, which time agrees not badly with the time of the battle of Poitiers, which was fought in the month of October. The book on the Life of St. Theofrid was written by an anonymous author of little diligence and accuracy" Annales Benedictini, book XXI, n. VIII, vol. II, p. 83..

[25] Mabillon's slip concerning the year of the siege of Sens. Which indeed we judge to have been rightly said by Mabillon; except, however, those words which refer to the siege of the city of Sens. For that siege, in Mabillon's mind, falls in the year 731, whereas in reality it is to be referred to the year 725, as Dom Vaissete shows in the Notes on the history of Languedoc Note LXXXIV, vol. I, p. 696.; where he blames both Le Cointe and our Fr. Daniel [Histoire de France, vol. X, p. 362 and following. According to the citation of Dom Vaissete.], because each would have it that the Saracens raged through Burgundy as far as Sens in the year 731, whereas it is established, among others from Isidore of Beja, a contemporary writer, that the barbarians

could not have made incursions of this kind at that time. Compare Dom Vaissete, loc. cit.

[26] At what year of his age St. Theofrid was crowned with martyrdom. Before we speak of the cult and relics of St. Theofrid, it will not be beside the point to subjoin something, though from conjecture, about the year of his age in which he suffered martyrdom. The anonymous author of his Life writes that a certain Calmilius flourished at the city of Auvergne in the reign of Theudebert and Theuderic, who ascended the throne in the year 592 and held it until about the year 612. Accordingly, towards the end of the sixth century or the beginning of the seventh, the said Calmelius laid the foundations of his monastery. Then he went to Rome, and returning thence obtains from the abbot of Lérins a venerable man named Eudo, lofty in stature, ADORNED WITH THE NEXT-TO-LAST AGE, to preside over the new monastery. Even if it be granted that Calmelius began the building of his monastery twenty years before Eudo's arrival, and accordingly that Eudo, already adorned with the next-to-last age, arrived there towards the year 630, it will follow that St. Theofrid received the crown of martyrdom very far advanced in years. Eudo at any rate is to be thought to have presided over the monastery not beyond twenty years; and accordingly Theofrid's raising to the abbatial mitre will fall in the year 650; and since he underwent death towards 732, he will have to be said to have presided for 60 years and more. To which if be added the age which he had when he was consecrated abbot, he died at least a nonagenarian. And these things from conjecture, founded on the statements of the anonymous writer, whose credit at any rate, especially in chronology, is not very certain, as will be evident from what is to be said. Moreover, Calmelius flourished, according to Le Cointe, in the six hundred and eighty-first year of Christ, at which he reviews his deeds Annales ecclesiastici Francorum, vol. IV, page 30 and following. If this in reality holds (for Le Cointe does not prove it, he only affirms it), it would follow that Theofrid received the palm of martyrdom when little advanced in age.

[27] On the place where he suffered martyrdom. There is a twofold tradition in the region itself about the place in which St. Theofrid suffered martyrdom. Some will have it that it happened next to the porch of the church, which is still seen today: not that this existed from the beginning; but it was built in the same place where the older church rose, destroyed in the course of time. Others relate that the holy Martyr was attacked by the barbarians in a certain small village, a quarter of a league distant from the monastery itself, which is commonly called le Villars, or also Villare. No document survives by which those traditions may be confirmed. The place which is said to be the witness of the martyrdom is an old and low vault, and has no mark suitable for defining its age: but it is now converted into a stable. Not far from each place of Martyrdom a spring is seen; each is believed to be endowed with wonderful power. So, namely, it was written back to us from Le Puy.

§ II. The Cult of St. Theofrid. The Relics; their translation and present state. The Liturgy.

His memory is celebrated on various days. The name of St. Theofrid, says Baillet Vies des Saints. XIX October., is not found in the older Martyrologies, nor even in the Roman. The Benedictine makes mention of him at the XIX of October, which is held as the day of his death; the Gallican of Saussay makes memory of him on the XVIII of November, yet not as though it were the feast of the translation, which is noted in certain Calendars at the XVII day of the same month. From which one may already conclude that the Martyrologists do not agree among themselves in assigning the festival. Bucelinus and Hugues Ménard, the latter in the Martyrology, the former in the Menology of the order of St. Benedict, have the XVIII day of November; which indeed is against Baillet's assertion. Likewise in the Martyrology of Le Puy there is read on the same day: "In the territory of Velay near the city of Le Puy, in the place which is called Calmelius, the passion of St. Theofrid, abbot and martyr." Hence the Gallia Christiana asserts universally Vol. II, col. 762.: "St. Theofrid is honoured on the XVIII day of November not only at Calmeliacum, but also in the whole diocese of Le Puy." But it is little consistent with itself; nay, the Gallia Christiana openly, which you would scarcely believe, contradicts itself: for in the following column, 763a, where, weaving the series of the abbots, it outlines the Life of St. Theofrid, it writes these things: "He is honoured on the XIV before the Kalends of November, not only in his own, but also in the neighbouring monastery of La Chaise-Dieu. The translation of the same is appointed in the Calendar of the monastery to be celebrated on the XV before the Kalends of December." An incredible hallucination, at any rate.

[29] Among most, however, on the XIX of October. However, far more stand for the XIX day of October, as being the day of his death and of his principal memory. And first of all Mabillon in the Annals At the year 732, n. X, vol. II, p. 84. at the year 732, where, treating of the martyrdom of St. Theofrid, he says: "Who is honoured not only in his own, but also in the neighbouring monastery of La Chaise-Dieu on the XIV before the Kalends of November. In the proper Calendar of Le Monastier is noted on the XV before the Kalends of December: The Translation of St. Theofrid, abbot." From which it appears that the words related above by us from the Gallia Christiana, since they are almost the same, were borrowed from Mabillon. He moreover adds in the same place that St. Theofrid expired on the XIV before the Kalends of November. On the same day in the Martyrology of Évreux there is read this Announcement: "In Velay, St. Theofrid, abbot, who, an incursion having been made by the Barbarians, was badly treated and gravely wounded by their false priest, died a martyr after six days, and, illustrious with many miracles, thenceforth gave his name to the town and monastery." Likewise in the Acts of the Saints of the order of St. Benedict Mabillon assigns that same day, the XIX of October or the XIV before the Kalends of November Saec. III, part I, p. 485.. Baillet agrees, and our Longueval, Chastelain, Dom Vaissete, who in his General History of Languedoc Vol. I, p. 395. says he expired on the XIX of October. So also in the ecclesiastical Calendar of all the Saints who lived under the rule of St. Benedict the same day is assigned. This work, written in German by a monk of the monastery of the Holy Cross on the island of the Danube (Donauwörth), came to light in the year 1786. And from these it will sufficiently be seen why we have placed the Acts of St. Theofrid in this place.

[30] The antiquity of the cult. Although no mention of him is made in the older Martyrologies, there is nevertheless no doubting the antiquity of the cult. Of this we have an authentic monument in the monastery of Le Monastier itself, which already from the ninth century began to be called after St. Theofrid. "This monastery," says Le Cointe Annales Ecclesiastici Francorum, at the year 812, n. XIII, vol. VII, p. 202., "is in the first Aquitaine and the diocese of Le Puy. It was called first Calminium or Calmeliacum from its founder St. Calminius or Calmelius (St. Carméry), who flourished in the six hundred and eighty-first year of Christ. It was plundered by the Saracens, who inflicted deadly wounds on Theotfrid or Theofrid, then abbot of that place, in the seven hundred and thirty-second year of Christ. It was afterwards repaired by Louis, and began to bear the name of the aforesaid martyr Theotfrid (St. Chaffre)." The old author, namely, who is commonly called the Astronomer, though according to Bouquet undeservedly, relates in the Life of the Emperor Louis the Pious that he, while, his father Charlemagne being alive, he held the kingdom of Aquitaine, to which he had been taken up from his birth, repaired very many monasteries in his dominion towards the year 812, nay built them from the foundations, of which he subjoins a catalogue, in which the monastery of St. Theotfrid is also named.

[31] Already from the ninth century, Although this is not expressed in the said Life of Louis, Le Cointe does not without reason affirm that the monastery of Le Monastier after the said restoration was called after St. Theofrid. Proofs are very many charters in which these or similar words occur almost perpetually: "The monastery of St. Theofrid," or "the monastery whose name is Calmilius, situated in the district of Velay, built in honour of St. Theofrid." Here we subjoin entire the charter of Pippin the younger or second; both because it confirms our matter, showing the antiquity of the cult, and also because it contains certain principal things pertaining to the monastery of Le Monastier. This charter bears the eighth year of Pippin II and likewise the eighth indiction, which is the year of Christ 845. Further, Pippin was proclaimed king of Aquitaine in the year 839, and reigned until the year 848, in which he was despoiled by Charles the Bald. Afterwards he tried many times to recover the lost kingdom. At length, in the year 865, he was shut up in prison, where he died a little after L'Art de vérifier les dates, p. 708..

[32] as is established from the Charter of Pippin, king of Aquitaine; His charter is of this kind: "Pippin, by the helping grace of the Divine Majesty, king of the Aquitanians. If we bestow suitable benefits on places given over to divine worship, for love of the life of those who serve Him in the same places, we trust that the reward of eternal remuneration will be repaid to us with the divine clemency. Let the sagacity of the prudence of all our faithful, then, know that the venerable man Galterius, abbot, coming from the monastery which is called Calmilius, and is situated in the district of Velay, built in honour of blessed Peter, prince of the Apostles, and of St. Theofrid, where he rests in body, offered to our sight a written authority, in which it was inserted that Count Berengar had offered that place to the lord Louis, the most pious Caesar Augustus, our grandfather, to have as his own, and that the pious Caesar himself afterwards, for the merit of perpetual life, delivered and consigned it by his own right to the monks living in the same place and to the venerable Bodo, namely the predecessor of this Galterius, and to their successors, to govern and to live perpetually according to rule. He also offered the authority of our reverend patron Charles" (namely the Bald), "the most invincible king, namely our uncle, how he received that holy place royally, just as his father the lord Emperor Louis had formerly done, as has been said, under his defence and mundiburdium" (patronage) "and the protection of immunity.

[33] in which the gifts of the preceding kings are confirmed "And therefore, for the sake of firmness, the aforesaid abbot Galterius besought that, as other kings did, so we also, following their memory, should receive under our defence and the protection of immunity the aforesaid monastery with all things belonging to it by right at the present time. To whose prayers we have gladly assented, and granted him what he asked; and through this precept we have confirmed it, by which we order and command that no public judge, nor anyone whatever of judicial power, nor any of our faithful, shall dare, against our precept, to enter the church or places or fields, or any possessions whatever, which it now justly and legally possesses within the dominion of our kingdom, or which the divine goodness shall hereafter grant to be increased in the right of that monastery, to hear causes or exact freda" (fines), "or make paratae, or distrain men, freeborn as well as slaves, dwelling on the land of the aforesaid monastery, or require any redhibitions or unlawful occasions, nor presume at all to exact the things which have been mentioned above. Whatever also from the aforesaid property of the monastery

the right of the fisc could exact, we grant to the same monastery for an eternal reward; and at all times let it profit, for the increase, the nourishment of the poor and the stipends of the monks serving the Lord there.

[34] and new things are added. "We grant this also, so that the place itself may be the more frequented and may grow in increase for all. And as in other places of the same region markets are gathered and held, so also in the place already named, next to the church of St. John, in present and future times, let a market be held on the fifth weekday; and let nothing be exacted from it by any count or count's envoy; nor let any man whatever in the same market be distrained by them; but whatever our fisc or the count could have, we grant the whole to the same church for an eternal reward. But if any guilty person whatever be found in the same market, let him be distrained by no one, unless the Prior, whoever he may be in that place, has given leave, or at least there has been an expulsion of the criminal out of the market itself. And when the aforesaid abbot Galterius shall have passed from this life, if they find among themselves such as are able to rule them according to the rule of St. Benedict, by this our authority let them have leave to elect abbots; so that it may delight the monks living there to entreat His mercy continually for us and for the salvation of our people, that is, for the stability of the kingdom granted to us by God. And that this our authority may always remain unshaken, we have taken care to insert our monogram, and have ordered it to be marked below with the impression of our ring. The sign of Pippin, the most excellent king, in the eighth year of his reign, in the VII indiction."

[35] Many other similar charters are had. From this charter it is established that already from the most remote times the monastery of Le Monastier was endowed with distinguished privileges, which are read thenceforth confirmed and enlarged in other charters, which may be seen in full in the compilers of the Gallia Christiana Vol. II, Documents of the church of Le Puy, col. 221–262., and in Dom Vaissete in the Proofs of the history of Languedoc Vol. I, at the end, col. 73 and following. In particular, in a certain Bull of Pope Adrian IV given to Bertrand, XX abbot of Le Monastier, at least 230 churches subject to the monastery of St. Theofrid are enumerated Gallia Christiana, vol. II, col. 768.. Adrian gave this Bull on the fifteenth before the Kalends of May, in the first year of his pontificate, that is in the year of Christ 1155. "Hadrian IV, an Englishman by nation … created at Rome on the Nones (v) of December 1154. He lived 4 years, 8 months, 28 days" [Magnum Bullarium Rom., vol. I, p. 40. Luxembourg edition 1727. Where there is nothing about Adrian IV except a very brief notice.]. A fragment of the aforesaid Bull is found among the Proofs of the history of Languedoc Vol. II, col. 549..

[36] The Relics, where at first. From these same charters we learn likewise what was done with the Relics of the holy Martyr. "The monastery which is called Calmilius, built in honour of blessed Peter, prince of the Apostles, and of St. Theofrid, where he rests in body." Since these words are copied from the above-praised document of Pippin the Younger of the year 845, it seems that it can legitimately be concluded that the body was from the beginning honourably laid up and preserved in the same monastery, though perhaps not in exactly the same place.

[37] Their translation, Then the translation was made, of which Mabillon speaks in the Annals at the year 981 Vol. IV, book XLIX, n. IV, p. 4.. "Up to this time," he says, "Wlfaldus or Golfaldus, abbot, presided over the monastery of St. Theotfrid at Calmelium among the Vellavi, who built a church of excellent workmanship in that place where the oratory of St. Martin was, and translated into it the bodies of the holy abbots Theotfrid and Eudo from the basilica of St. Peter, which thenceforth began to be neglected. Afterwards Wlfaldus was promoted to the bishopric of Die, yet so that he retained the name of abbot, the government of the abbey being committed to Arimannus, who from dean was made abbot, in the last years of Lothair." Mabillon does not determine the year in which this translation took place.

[38] before the year 974 Since, however, it was made before the episcopate of Wlfaldus, it is older than the year 974, in which, according to Dom Vaissete, he ascended the see of Die. In the New Gallia Christiana also Vol. II, col. 764. mention is made of the same translation: "Vulfaldus is praised for having built a church of excellent workmanship, into which he translated the bodies of the holy abbots Theotfrid and Eudo. And afterwards he was made bishop of Die about the 23rd year of King Lothair." In the charters the beginning of the reign of Lothair is not drawn from the same day and year. In most it is referred to the XII of November 954, when he was crowned; in others to the X of September of the same year; others, especially those given in Languedoc, suppose the beginning of the year 955; others the beginning of the following year; there are finally others, few however, which suppose the year 951, in which, as it seems, Lothair's father, lying gravely ill in Auvergne, ordered his son to be crowned L'Art de vérifier les dates, p. 542.. Keeping, therefore, to the more common chronology, the twenty-third year of Lothair will fall in the year of Christ 976 or 977, which indeed agrees well enough with Vaissete's chronotaxis. Estiennot puts the year 961 So the Gallia Christiana, ibid., in the margin.. It is to be noted moreover that in the first edition of the Gallia Christiana the name of Wlfaldus or Vulfaldus does not occur in the catalogue of the prelates of Die; and the later edition of the same Work (namely the New Gallia Christiana, far more enlarged, as is known) has not been carried as far as the metropolis of Vienne, of which the see of Die was a suffragan. These things, however, are not said as if any doubt remained whether Wlfaldus held the said see or not. Our mind is only to show this, that from the said Work no light is to be drawn out for our purpose. However that may be, from what has been disputed thus far it is certainly shown that the translation of which we are treating took place before the year 974.

[39] Perhaps towards the year 965. But one can also come nearer to the time of that translation. Mabillon in the Annals at the year 951 writes: "Not long after, Wlfaldus the abbot was put in the place of Dalmatius" Annal. Bened., vol. III, book XLV, n. L, p. 475.. And below at the year 956 Ibid., n. CIII, p. 497.: "Already at this time Wlfaldus the abbot, Dalmatius's successor, presided over the monastery of St. Theotfrid at Calmelium." But to this purpose especially is a charter which is found in Dom Vaissete Histoire générale de Languedoc, vol. II, col. 101, in the Proofs., and is of the following tenor: "To the most holy church of God of the monastery of Calmiliacum, which is built in the district of Velay, in the village of Amnoricum (sic), which is consecrated in honour of St. Peter and St. Martin, where St. Theotfrid the martyr is buried, and St. Eudo, and St. Fortunatus and two Innocents rest there in body, where the lord Wlfaldus the abbot is seen to preside over that same congregation serving God. On account of this, I, in the name of God, Guillaume, and my brother Armand, think of the mercy of God or of the eternal retribution of Christ…; therefore we cede or give to the aforesaid house of God something of our property, etc." This charter was given in the year of Christ 959. Since, therefore, on the testimony of Mabillon, whose words we have already recited above, Wlfaldus translated into the church built by himself the bodies of the holy abbots Theotfrid and Eudo from the basilica of St. Peter, which thenceforth began to be neglected, it appears from the very beginning of the said charter that a translation of this kind was not made except after the year 959, provided, however, that this is truly the year of the Lotharian charter; of which thing we have no surety except Dom Vaissete, who puts it towards the year 959. For the charter itself is mutilated in this place. It is noted thus: "this charter of alms was made on the V weekday, in the month of January, in the year DCCCC … King Lothair reigning." Admitting, therefore, Vaissete's date, since on the other hand it is quite probable that some years intervened until that new church was built and prepared, the translation could not absurdly be referred to roughly the year 965. And this beyond doubt is the translation which in the Calendar of Le Monastier is appointed to be celebrated on the XV before the Kalends of December. In general, wherever the memory of St. Theofrid is kept on the said day, we judge that it is to be interpreted of the translation; so that the principal feast is celebrated on the XIX of October; for which reason also we give his Acts on this day.

[40] The present state of the Relics. As regards the present state of the Relics, it will suffice to write down here an authentic testimony which the Rev. Fr. de Prunières, S.J., sent us from Le Puy, written in Latin, on the XXVI day of June of the current year 1848, and it is of this kind: "The bodies of SS. Eudo and Theofrid were preserved in a marble tomb behind the high altar of the church of the abbey of Le Monastier, then dedicated to the prince of the Apostles, until the French upheaval; then the bones of the Saints, snatched from the hands of the impious by pious faithful and secretly kept, were at length again exposed to the devotion of the faithful: now indeed, since the year 1822, in a chapel on the left side of the aforesaid church, but now dedicated to St. Fortunatus, martyr of Valence (formerly this Saint was patron of the ancient parish, now overthrown), the altar of which chapel was built from the marbles of the old monument. The holy Relics lie in a cupboard situated behind the altar, in five wooden caskets of square form: two, of St. Theofrid the martyr, the one the Head; the other keeps one of the shoulder-blades with the upper part of the leg and a fragment of a rib; and in the third casket is preserved the head of St. Eudo, which (what?) is recognized as being smaller in bulk than the head of St. Theofrid: in these three caskets the sacred Relics, covered on one side with a glass covering, are open to the eyes: but in the two others they are in no way seen. All the caskets, secured with the seal of the venerable bishop of Le Puy since the year 1822, keep inside the authentic documents of the proceedings. In faith of which we have subscribed these presents.

Le Monastier, the 14th day of June, 1848

Massardier

Pehus

And below are read the following:

We have seen and recognized as authentic the signature affixed here by M. Massardier, parish priest of the church commonly called Le Monastier.

At Anicium, commonly Le Puy, 24 June 1848.

Alirol

Place of the Seal of the bishopric. Canon, Secretary General."

[41] Certain things to be noted on the aforesaid testimony. The said Fr. de Prunières advises, however, that he did not inquire who those were who snatched away and secretly kept the holy Relics. But since in the year 1822 they were recognized by the bishop of Le Puy, there can be no doubt that all those things were performed which would be required to establish their authenticity certainly. It is to be noted moreover that the words of the aforesaid testimony, by which it is asserted that the church of the abbey of Le Monastier was dedicated to St. Peter, must be understood in this sense, namely that this held from the beginning, but did not persevere to the last times. For we have seen above that very church of the abbey, in

which the relics of St. Theofrid were preserved, was consecrated primarily under his invocation. Moreover, since of the five caskets in which the relics of the Saints are said to be contained there are two which cannot be looked into from outside, and the Rev. M. Massardier does not explain in the above testimony of what form or name the sacred remains hidden in them are, it is natural to judge that, when that sacred deposit was examined in the year 1822, their complete authenticity was not sufficiently established, and that therefore they were set apart in separate caskets, and those closed on every side. However, light would have to be sought from the documents which were without doubt drawn up before the Most Illustrious bishop permitted the relics to be restored to public veneration.

[42] The Office of St. Theofrid from an old Ms. Breviary. There is in the Museum of the cathedral church of Le Puy a Ms. Breviary, or Sanctorale, which however seems incomplete. At the beginning are placed some offices, namely of the dead, of the Bl. Virgin Mary, etc. After these the following title is read: "Here begins the sanctorale according to the use of Le Puy." There occur there not only legends, but also hymns and lengthy historical responsories, especially concerning the Saints of that region, chiefly in the month of November. The age of the aforesaid Breviary can partly be taken from the offices of St. Francis, St. Dominic, the Presentation of the Bl. Virgin Mary, and Bl. Mary of the Snows. There are also had offices of St. Timothy and St. Silas, who come under the name of Apostles. Moreover, a little note placed at the end of the office of St. Catherine indicates that the office of the Most Holy Trinity was recited on the last Sunday of Advent. As regards the form of the characters, the ornament of the capital letters, rather tasteless, nay even ridiculous, smacks of the XV century. There are those, however, who think one should go up a little higher. Whatever may be the case about it: in that Breviary there is had an office of St. Theofrid consisting of a collect and nine lessons; which lessons indeed are drawn word for word from the Elogium which is found in Labbe Nova Bibliotheca, vol. II, p. 684 and 685., of which we shall speak below at n. 57. Let it suffice here to have advised that Labbe's Elogium is also divided into nine numbers, but is at least twice as long; whence also the lessons which we subjoin scarcely take in half of it. Moreover, if you except the name of Theofrid, you would scarcely, nay not even scarcely, find anything which regards our holy Martyr. Nevertheless, since it is very short, we have thought that office should be written down in this place.

THE OFFICE OF ST. THEOFRID, ABBOT AND MARTYR.

Prayer. Almighty everlasting God, whom all the elements serve, Blessed Theofrid, Thy martyr, interceding for us, graciously hear our prayers and grant us Thy mercy, that whatever Thou commandest us to do, Thou Thyself mayest help us to be able to fulfil (sic). Through, etc.

Lessons. 1 Blessed Theofrid, then — his * parents, still Gentiles, believing error — hearing that the Christians confessed the Lord Jesus Christ, and desiring to free himself from the superstitions of the snares of the pagans,

2 Following the Gospel precept where it is said: whoever shall leave father or mother or sons or sisters for my sake, or lands, shall receive a hundredfold and shall possess eternal life; Matt. XIX, XXIX.

3 Having left his country and his parents, he delivered all his possessions to his parents, desiring continually to follow Christ the Lord.

4 And so, having departed from the city of the province regressum , namely of the city, having taken the road, he came as far as the county of Velay, to the village which is called Soleniacus . But Thou, O Lord, have mercy on us.

5 And there he found St. Laurence, a priest, a learned and religious man, and joining himself to his friendship and offering him as it were more familiar service, he led a tranquil life with him.

6 Now there was at that time a certain place nearby in the county of Velay which the rustic people in the vulgar (sic) tongue call Calmilius.

7 There was also next to that place a little stream which is called the Coleria, and further off a river which is called the Loire, in which place a certain idol was worshipped, which a multitude of rustics consecrates with profane rite.

8 Hearing these things, blessed Theofrid begged Laurence the priest that they should go to the place and destroy the shrine, that they might snatch the people from the perfidy of heathenism, that they might free them from the impulse of demons.

9 Laurence, assenting to his words, soon took the road; and when they had arrived at the place to which they were making, they found a very great crowd of people there sacrificing to the gods.

[43] Prose. In another Ms. codex, whose origin and age are unknown to us, there is had a Prose or Sequence on St. Theofrid, which it would be wrong to have passed over here: for by its native simplicity, nay and its uncommon elegance, it will without doubt delight the learned reader.

SEQUENCE IN HONOUR OF ST. THEOFRID, M.

Let a day worthy, worthy of praise, Run joyful: with joyful heart Let us sing in melody. Theofrid, born a prince, Forgetting his princely rank, Gives himself to God, a victim.

By word and example He teaches in the country and in the temple, And wondrous things lie open: The drowned obtain harbour, the blind sight, The deaf sound, the lame their step, The dead obtain life.

Proclaiming Christ he went fervent; Making light of clubs and scourges, That depravity might end. The heathen believe, error yields, Faith grows: so flourishes The holiness of Theofrid.

He treads the river like Moses With dry foot; then in the waters The drowned enemy is conquered. Diseases, plagues, the idols Of the gods cease, and their shrines: Christ the victor is worshipped.

"Flee, father, the enemy presses on; Behold, the enemy takes life away; Leave us not orphans." Let Theofrid be untroubled; About to die, he warns his sons That they keep themselves whole.

He rises, prays, and is heard; Safety is granted to the flock, The good pastor is known. The sheep withdraw at the father's command; They lie hid in the nearby glade; The pastor alone is set forth.

The enemies are present, who in a moment Would slay the Saint, unless the supreme Godhead should forbid it. Neither by death nor dire torments, Nor by threats nor blandishments, Did he spare his blood here;

But alas! fury slays the sheep; Praying for the savage wolves, The lamb is struck with stones. Heaven shudders, the earth * shudders, And nature groans While the slaughter is committed.

The blessed soul seeks heaven, Laurelled with martyrdom, And noble in virtue. Happy the temple, happy the place In which lies the sacred body Of this holy Martyr.

Through thee may the merciful God loose For the suppliants of this assembly The chains of sins. Protomartyr of the Velauni, And pattern of monks, Grant that we may enjoy glory. Amen.

[44] Lessons from the Proper of Le Puy. In the Proper of Le Puy, which the Rt. Rev. Juste de Serres, Prelate of that church from the year 1622 to the year 1641, caused in the year 1624 to be reduced to the form of the Roman Breviary, the feast of St. Theofrid is celebrated on the XVIII day of November. For the second nocturn Lessons are placed, taken, as is noted there, from a Ms. codex and the Breviary of Le Puy.

The fourth lesson. The holy martyr Theofrid, born of Leofredus, prince of Orange, and Leotildis his wife, was very zealous of praying almost from his very cradle, as, when a youth, he was very desirous of sending the world its notice of dismissal. To this Eudo, his uncle, a monk of Lérins, afterwards the first head of the monastery of Calmelium, added spurs. Wherefore, his friends and parents mourning, he bids farewell to the world, and, departing from the city of the province, Tregressis, he came to the county of Velay, to a village (whose name is Soliniacum), and there found Laurence, highly accomplished equally in virtue and in learning; by whom he was kindly and liberally received in hospitality; then, having set out to Calmelium (which is now commonly called Monasterium) and to Eudo, abbot and his uncle, he lived as a monk. And since he shone with every kind of virtue, Eudo threw part of his solicitude upon Theofrid; for he gave him the external affairs, and kept the domestic business for himself to manage. All of which, however, Eudo, being afterwards about to die, with all the cenobites willing, handed over to Theofrid to be managed and proclaimed him Abbot. And Eudo, the first abbot of Calmelium, died illustrious for holiness, and is honoured as a Saint at Calmelium.

(From these it would follow, at least if the words are taken in their obvious sense, that Theofrid was proclaimed abbot before the death of Eudo. Which indeed agrees well enough also with the Acts.)

The fifth lesson. Theofrid, when he took up the part of head of the monastery, applied himself first to providing for divine worship, to adorning the church, to forbidding women access to the monastery, and to monastic discipline. At that time, the ridges of the Pyrenees having been surmounted, an immense band of Saracens had poured itself, ravaging, into Gaul, laying waste everything with slaughter, sword and flames, until, three hundred and seventy-five thousand having been slain at Tours by Charles Martel, a most invincible prince, they were compelled to return to Spain. When they had before made sallies as far as the Velauni, and a spirit gliding down from above had informed Theofrid of their coming, of the slaughters and plunderings, and of his own martyrdom, he had ordered his men to betake themselves to the woods and caves: for it was his part, since he was the pastor, to await the wolves and keep them off from the sheep.

(These things fit exactly the year 732, in which, according to what has been said, the martyrdom of St. Theofrid more probably took place.)

The sixth lesson. The cenobites had scarcely set foot out of the monastery, when behold, the Saracens, ravaging, burst into the cells of Calmelium; they come upon Theofrid praying before the doors of the chapel sacred to blessed Peter; they make an attack on the man; they beat him with rods, they ask, they press him where the guests of so many little cells are lodged; they threaten death to him and flames to the roofs unless he reveal everything as soon as possible. Theofrid says he cannot reveal it. Wherefore he is again received with heavier blows, and is left half dead by the barbarians. When they had gone off to their wicked rites, Theofrid nevertheless rises, follows the barbarians, inveighs against their profane rites; whence the petty priest, mad with anger, throwing a huge stone, strikes Theofrid and dashes him half dead to the ground. Then the earth trembled far and wide with an earthquake; the impious flee in all directions; lightnings fall upon them as they flee; at the last, Theofrid, very gravely wounded, closed his last day among the hands of his disciples on the seventh day after.

[45] Likewise a Lesson from the Breviary of Le Puy of the year 1784. Finally, in the more recent Breviary of Le Puy, published at Paris in the year 1784, at the XVIII day of November again it is noted: "On the feast of St. Theofrid, abbot and martyr. Minor double. From the Common of one martyr." Then there follows:

Lesson II. Theofrid, born at Orange, excellently brought up by his father Leufredus, who held the prefecture of the province, gave, while still a boy, eminent proofs of piety. Already wholly given to the contemplation of heavenly things, he determined to tread underfoot the perishable delights of the world for Christ's sake. His father consenting very reluctantly, he attached himself to Eudo his uncle, first abbot of the monastery of Calmeliacum. Having embraced the monastic life under his rule, he so flourished in the praise of all virtues that, by Eudo when near death, with the greatest applause of the monks, he was set over the monastery. In that office he fulfilled all the parts of an excellent pastor. He forbade women access to the Basilica, and neglected nothing that the integrity of the regular discipline might be preserved to his monks. When the Saracens, laying waste everything with sword and flame, had occupied Velay, he ordered all his monks to betake themselves into the neighbouring wood, he himself alone intrepidly awaiting the onset of the raging enemies. Having found him prostrate before the doors of the church, they left him half dead, gravely beaten with blows, meanwhile hastening to their wicked sacrifices. But Theofrid, gathering courage and strength, follows them, vehemently rebuking the sacrilegious rites. Turned to rage by his reproaches, they rush upon the holy Abbot, and wound him with deadly wounds, worn out by which, a few days after, among his disciples'

hands he gave back his soul to God. He was buried in his monastery, which took its name from him. And this Lesson indeed is elegantly and neatly written in few words. After it follows Lesson III, on St. Odo, abbot of Cluny.

* Labbe: "having."

* It seems one should read "tregressum."

* Solignac.

* "roars," in another hand.

§ III. An account of the monastery of Le Monastier, or of St. Theofrid. Its various Acts.

Account of the Monastery of St. Theofrid. Since in our Commentary there has several times been question of matters regarding the monastery of St. Theofrid, it will be well here, as it were by way of appendix, to have briefly comprised its situation, origin and progress, and various vicissitudes.

[47] Situation. Calmeliacum, or St. Theofrid's, is a notable and old monastery of the Order of St. Benedict (commonly Monastier-Saint-Chaffre), on the stream Ansa or Colansa, which flows into the Loire, in a district called in the vernacular Colanse, one league distant from this celebrated abbey. It is placed in the diocese of Anicium (Le Puy) among the Velauni, at the foot of Mount Mesentius, from which the river Loire rises, and is three leagues distant from the city of Le Puy. It was founded in honour of the Prince of the Apostles by Calminius, duke of the Arverni, whence it is called in various ways: namely, the authors of both Lives of Calminius, Bernard Gui and Savaron, call it Calminium; others say Calmelium, as the fragment of the Life of Bl. Theofrid in the Life of St. Eudo; others finally the monastery of Calmiacum and Calmeliacum. "By which name indeed it is believed by some to have been called from Calmelius the founder, by others from Calmilius, a village of that place," says Mabillon Annales Benedict., book XVII, n. XVI, p. 518..

[48] Its origin wrapped in darkness. Dom Vaissete notes, and rightly indeed Histoire générale de Languedoc, vol. I, p. 364., that the ancient monuments which treat of the origin of that monastery are filled with so many and so great fables and anachronisms that scarcely anything certain can be drawn out of them. In the Life of St. Calminius or Calmelius, from an old codex of Moissac Acta Sanctorum, at the XIX day of August. Of this month, vol. III, p. 760, n. 7., we have these words: "When the distinguished man Calminius conducted himself honourably in the office of duke, and behaved mercifully, expending on the poor what was his own, a divine thought entered his mind, that he should liberally spend the remainder of his treasure on the work of God: he resolved in his mind to build at his own expense churches to be dedicated, where he would minister from his own revenues the stipends of daily food to those serving God. Animated by the divine spirit, Calminius built from the foundation, in the bishopric of Le Puy, the place which is called St. Theofrid's, and, wonderfully completing it in the execution of the work, the man devoted to the Lord, adorning that place with goods and revenues, heaped upon that church and its dwelling stipends sufficient for their food; he restored the place, enlarged the revenues, and, bestowing with true liberality ornaments suitable to the monastery, rendered the aforesaid place complete and perfect. And so that this place might obtain the memory of his work and also a share in his name, he called that monastery Calminiacum, so that what he had founded by his industry and completed by his labour should offer a memorial of his name to the posterity of those who should follow." In these words indeed there are contained neither anachronisms nor things openly fabulous; but neither would you scarcely find in them anything else than a mere farrago of very many words.

[49] What are the more likely facts about the foundation. The more likely things that are had about this foundation the said Dom Vaissete sets out thus, loc. cit.: "Calmilius, sprung from an illustrious birth among the Arverni, and of senatorial rank, conspicuous no less for piety than for lineage, ruled Auvergne under the title of duke. Towards the year 680 (Mabillon and Le Cointe agree) he built a church in honour of St. Peter, on an estate which he possessed among the Velauni, called Villarium (Villar), where he very often stayed. Next to the said church he then caused a monastery to be erected, which he also endowed with fitting revenues, and set out for Rome in order to place it under the patronage of St. Peter. Returned to his country, he goes to the monastery of Lérins, and asked the abbot for some men of his community to inhabit the newly founded monastery. He, satisfying Calmelius's requests, designated among others Eudo, and set him over the others whom he was sending with him. On Eudo's death Theofrid took up his place and dignity by the unanimous consent of all."

[50] The progress and vicissitudes of the Monastery. When towards the year 732 the monastery had been plundered by the Saracens, Louis the Pious restored it; from which time it began to be called after St. Theofrid; which name thenceforth so prevailed that it was no longer called otherwise in the vernacular than Monastier-Saint-Chaffre (the monastery of St. Theofrid). In the course of time it was enriched with many gifts and privileges, as is clear from a good many charters, which are found here and there among the compilers of French affairs. In the bull of Pope Adrian IV (who sat from the year 1154 to the year 1159) given to Abbot Bertrand, more than 230 churches subject to the monastery of St. Theofrid are enumerated. Hence in the second Elogium or passion of St. Theofrid in Labbe Nova Bibliotheca manuscript. librorum, vol. II, p. 687. is read:

[51] The fame of the Monastery is spread on every side, "After the death of the most holy Martyr, celebrated for miracles, the state of the monastery is tossed about according to either the variety or the unfairness of different times. It is wonderful, however, with how great religion both the abbots and the succeeding monks lived piously and laudably in the government of the monastery, the fragrance of whose religion and devotion penetrated all the places round about and foreign provinces. For not only among the Vivarienses" (the Velauni), "but among the Gabalitani, the Arverni, the Ruteni, and among the people of the Dauphiné, the Viennese and the Allobroges, the Rhône being crossed; and moreover in Lombardy and among many other nations they obtain very many churches, and most noble places are handed over to them, monasteries are founded, to be subject in perpetuity to the government of the abbots and other monks of the aforesaid monastery. Hence it comes about that the monastery is adorned with many royal and apostolic privileges, according to the privileges already long since obtained by Duke Calmelus. For it is exempted from the right and subjection of the ordinaries, bishops and metropolitans, and is subjected immediately to the holy Apostolic See, and in sign of the aforesaid immediate subjection it is bound to pay every year to the Lateran church five solidi of the money current in the country" (for they are the words of Pope Paschal in the Bull; probably Paschal II, who, elected on the XIII of August of the year 1099, died in the month of January of the year 1118). "Which privileges, obtained before the year one thousand, are confirmed by very many pontiffs. Likewise they are endowed with very many immunities by the kings of France, and the aforesaid monastery with its bounds is subject to the royal majesty in temporal things only, as may be seen in the rescripts of privileges issued by Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, and Pippin, prince of the Aquitanians."

[52] as shines out from the Elogium of St. Theofrid. Although, as we shall presently say, these things were written by a man whom Labbe calls a declaimer, and whose learning fails more than once; yet, since he relates here things which he almost saw with his own eyes, there is no reason why we should reject his testimony in this part, in so far as it regards the state of the monastery at the beginning of the twelfth century. But as to what concerns the Charters of Charlemagne, since they have perished (at least we have nowhere seen them), the author's credit in this matter may be called into doubt. Concerning the multitude of churches subject to the monastery of St. Theofrid, the testimony is confirmed from the bull of Paschal, of which we have already made mention: but whether those churches were placed in such different places and so distant regions as is asserted in the recited words we leave undecided. But this is established in general, that at the beginning of the twelfth century, in which (compare n. 58) the aforesaid author wrote, the monastery of St. Theofrid greatly flourished. Rightly, therefore, does Dom Vaissete declare Hist. de Languedoc, vol. I, p. 365: "This abbey was perpetually to be regarded among the others, and today (the year 1730) it has continued under the rule of St. Benedict."

[53] [The present state of the monastery. At the end of the XVIII century the monks dispersed.] And things remained in the same state until the end of the same XVIII century. For towards the year 1785 the monks who survived, fifteen in number, and quite zealous for regular discipline, foreseeing the whirlwind already closely threatening the whole of France, asked, as they say, for their secularization; which being obtained, and the property of the monastery divided among themselves, they were dispersed. Not long after, the impious crowd burst in, which here as elsewhere exercised its sacrilegious barbarity. Yet it did not go as far as destruction. Today there still survives the church together with the principal buildings. Formerly, not far from the monastery, there was a parish church under the name of St. Fortunatus. This, while civil discords were turning all France upside down, was levelled to the ground. Things having then been pacified, the title of the parish was transferred to the surviving church of the monastery: The Church. in this St. Theofrid is honoured only secondarily: the primary patron is St. Fortunatus, under whose invocation, as we have said, the ancient title had been consecrated. Fr. de Prunières, S.J., writes, however (who, living in the neighbourhood of the monastery, communicated to us the things pertaining to its present state), that the Rev. Parish Priest is labouring that St. Theofrid may be restored to the primary place. Further, this church is of remarkable structure, and therefore has been numbered by the government among the historic monuments, as they say. It seems to have been built in the XI or XII century. The choir or apse is of more recent age, and not older than the 15th century.

[54] The buildings. Next to the church on the left side may be seen the monastery, built in the year 1708, as is established from a document preserved in the archives. That part of the buildings has come into the possession not of one but of several private persons. Behind the church rises the Abbey properly so called, which is a square building of remarkable size, erected towards the 15th century. Today it is occupied by religious brothers, who instruct the boys of the district there. Of the Relics we have spoken above, § II.

[55] The Acts from an Anonymous writer. As regards the Acts, we first set out the Life of St. Theofrid published by Mabillon Acta SS. Ordinis S. Benedicti, saec. III, part I, p. 476 and following, of which he himself writes: "Various authors have written the Life of St. Theofrid or Theotfrid the abbot, among whom this Anonymous seems to be preferred, whose little book we now publish for the first time from a Ms. codex of Le Monastier. He indicates his age in some way at num. 9, where he says that the interdict, by which entry into the church of the monastery was denied to women, was still in force in his time. But that rite persevered in few monasteries beyond the X century. Whence it seems to be concluded that the writer flourished before the eleventh century." The words which are regarded here are: "He provided for the Oratory with such caution of decency that it was permitted to no one to do anything of superfluity in it: and the women's approaches had a seat at a distance around the door of the church."

[56] The author plainly sins in Chronology, This Life is written in a rather barbarous and inflated style. The author is little accurate both in other things and especially in Chronology. Which indeed shines out from the very beginning: "The dignity of the Roman empire," he says,

"Justin Caesar loftily disposing, and the reign of Theudebert and Theuderic, sons of King Ildebert (Childebert), in their apprenticeship, with the most savage Queen Brunhild, strongly subjugating the kingdom of the Franks … there flourishes … a renowned duke named Calmilius." For how can the empire of Justin coincide with the reign of Theudebert and Theuderic? Justin II, or the Younger, called Curopalates, obtained the empire on the XIV of November 565; and after he had held the throne twelve years, ten months, twenty-two days, he died on the V of October 578 L'Art de vérifier les dates, p. 360.. But Theudebert and Theuderic, the former ten years old, the latter nine, began to reign on the death of their father Childebert in the year 596, the former in Austrasia, the latter at Orléans and in Burgundy. And indeed both died at almost the same time, namely in the years 612 and 613 Ibid., p. 528.. Compare n. 26. Our Anonymous writer therefore slips in joining their reign with the empire of Justin; he should have said Maurice, who held power in the East from the year 582 to the year 602; or Phocas, who, Maurice having been cruelly killed, ruled until the year 610; or finally Heraclius, who, after Phocas, presided until the year 641 Ibid., p. 360.. Certain other things said less accurately you will find corrected in the Annotations to the Life.

[57] Two Elogia of St. Theofrid in Labbe. An account of the first; Two Elogia of St. Theofrid are had in Labbe Nova Biblioth., vol. II, p. 684 and following; in the first Theofrid is said to have had heathen parents (which altogether conflicts with what we related above from the most approved writers) at Tregressis (perhaps it is a corruption for the city of Troyes); that departing thence he came into the county of Velay, to the village which is called Sollemniacus (otherwise Soleviacus, in the vernacular Soulignac, two leagues distant from Anicium, in the vernacular Le Puy), and there attached himself to Laurence the priest, not far from the place which the common people in the rustic tongue call Calmilius; then, because he rebuked the inhabitants for worshipping an idol, he was attacked with stones and clubs, and at length, having received a wound on the head, poured out his life with his blood, which St. Savinian collected with Laurence the priest. These things were done under King Chlothar, and at that time there was a certain man named Ritilius, by nation of Velay, renowned prince of that country; and over the city of Auvergne presided Basilius; who, on account of the continual miracles of St. Theofrid, built in the place of burial a small Basilica in honour of St. Peter. All of which things indeed depart far from what the others have written about the life of the holy Martyr; and accordingly this narrative is to be put after the rest. Nay, if the name of Theofrid were suppressed, not one person would suspect that the narrative regards our Theofrid. This elogium Labbe testifies that he copied from the Transcript of the most illustrious and most reverend Lord, M. François Bosquet, bishop of Montpellier.

[58] likewise of the other. The other elogium in the same Labbe is inscribed: "Another passion, more copious indeed, but written by a more recent declaimer and infected with errors." As regards its age, the writer himself clearly indicates it towards the end: "And these," he says, "are nearly the things which can be briefly said about the old origin of the monastery of St. Theofrid, namely from the five hundred and seventieth year to the one thousand one hundredth, or about; to wit, from Calmelus, duke and founder of the Arverni, to Guillaume the fourth abbot" (who presided from the year 1087 to the month of April of the year 1108), "who strongly held his rights in temporal and spiritual things against the bishop of Le Puy and others." However, the things which are read about the martyrdom of St. Theofrid in the said passion for the most part agree almost word for word with the Acts of the anonymous writer which we here reprint from Mabillon. But everything is verbose. Nor without reason does Labbe call him a Declaimer, which might also be affirmed with almost equal reason of the Anonymous. It is not, therefore, worth the trouble to write down here either both or either of them. From the latter we have culled some things in the Account of the monastery of Le Monastier. The other things which occur worthy of mention will be found in the Annotations.

THE LIFE OF ST. THEOFRID, ABBOT OF LE MONASTIER AND MARTYR, AMONG THE VELAUNI IN GAUL.

By an anonymous author, who seems to have lived before the XI century.

From Mabillon, saec. III, part I.

Theofrid, Abbot of Le Monastier, Martyr, among the Velauni in Gaul. (S.)

BHL Number: 8102

FROM MABILLON.

Chapter I. The Foundation of the Monastery of Le Monastier. St. Eudo is set over it, whom St. Theofrid succeeds. His illustrious deeds. St. Meneleus, abbot of Menat.

Calmelius, duke of Auvergne, While Justin ^a Caesar loftily disposed the dignity of the Roman empire, and the apprenticeship of Theudebert and Theuderic, sons of King Ildebert ^b, with the most savage Queen Brunhild, strongly subjugated the kingdom of the Franks, there flourished and presided at the city of Auvergne a most Christian man, a renowned duke named Calmilius, under whose dominion was no small part of Aquitaine, and a numberless clientele of noble youths, towns, countryside, strongholds, and a copious abundance of other things; since also, supported by literary learning, he lacked no mercurial ^c business. And one day, deprived of the company of the people, content with a single companion, namely a very wise old man, he dwells in a village by name Villaris, where, while he reflected on many things concerning the gliding course of this world, he counts transitory advantages as nothing, and, filled with the divine spirit, climbs as it were spiritually to the seats of the heavens.

[2] founds the monastery of St. Peter. It pleases the aforesaid prince, therefore, that not far from the same place a house of prayer should be built for the lightening of his weighty sin, and dedicated in honour of Peter, the prince of the apostles, whose dedication-feast ^d he appointed to be repeated every year on the Ides of October. Then the aforesaid hero, running about on every side, brings in there such servants as he can and discerns fit, to invoke the heavenly mercy for bodily and spiritual safety: to whom, that they might be free from all trade, he grants very many villages and estates, from which those dwelling there might get their bodily necessities, and he becomes one of them, although he does not forsake secular things, but, continually consoling them, corrects them with fatherly chastisement and suggests to them the speech of the contemplative life.

[3] Returning from Rome, he seeks Lérins, These things being duly arranged, he revisits the threshold of Blessed Peter for the sake of prayer, where, overtaken on the road, he is consoled by a small band ^e of the faithful, who after many things testify that they are of the Forum Julii ^f congregation ^g. And as words not few were being tossed about, one introduces the monastery of Lérins, the reverence of whose supreme religion he teaches when asked by the prince himself, and how an immense flock of cenobites serves the supreme God there. Hearing which, the man of God Calmilius lays it up silently in the little chest of his mind, giving thanks to the divine mercy that he had been refreshed by such food. And the journey being finished, those accompanying him from whom he had a little before received words of pious consolation, he hastens as far as the most famous and aforesaid monastery. Now at that time Blessed Maximus ^h presided over the holy congregation, whose life flourished with great virtues, so much that he released three corpses from their dark bonds: and, as is had written in their annals, he also presided as eminent bishop of Riez. Having summoned him, Calmilius related all the secrets of his mind, both about the making of the small oratory, and said fully that he needed the help of a father whom he might set over it.

[4] he brings Eudo thence with him, These things being known, "The petition, son," said blessed Maximus, "is just, to which the supreme mercy of God and reverence for you have commanded us to consent without delay. I will commit to you, therefore, under the providence of the Most High, a man to be looked up to in lineage and beloved to me, very assiduous in letters, and a meditator of divine business. When you have received him, embrace him with all charity, and choose him as father of the aforesaid hut. For he is strong in good morals, adorned with holy virtues." Then out of the whole religious band of disciples he chose the venerable man named Eudo, lofty in stature, adorned with the next-to-last age, most approved in virtues and all uprightness; to whom the eminent father handed over certain brothers, among whom he ordered him to have the place of abbot, trusting very much in his religion, since he had most fully educated him under the discipline of Christ, and had fitted him to himself as a most devoted attendant. Bidding farewell, therefore, to all, he began to utter great groans at the brotherly departure: and calling together the oft-mentioned prince, he moves him concerning the guardianship of the holy man, and, the sign of peace having been given, commands them to take to the road.

[5] whom he sets over the Monastery. St. Eudo, therefore, having set out, hastens the appointed journey with the duke and the companions, until they come to the place which is called Calmilius from the name of its founder: and when they had arrived there, the prince showed the place to the blessed man, and handed it over with all the things which were seen to adjoin its jurisdiction, and appointed him head ⁱ over all. Which the man of God kindly receiving, marked out an oratory there, returning thanks to the giver for so great a benefit. And as long as he lived there declining the shipwrecks of the world, he manfully subdued the proud flesh, and, continually devoted to divine exercises, freed many by his divine example and pious religion from the deceit of hell.

[6] Eudo's lineage. If anyone does not know the line of his descent, let him lend us his ears for the interval of time, supported by true relation and written testimony. He was indeed the half-brother on the mother's side of Leotfredus, a most noble man of the city of Orange ^k, who, having undertaken while still of tender age very many endeavours of piety, when he was now perfect in age and in the study of letters, discharged the office of archdeacon of the see of Tragessina ^l. But making nothing of the heights of perfunctory pride, having become a monk, he manfully served God under the rule of Lérins, until the eminent father of that place sent him to be had in the parts of Aquitaine, as we have set out above in sequence. Let these things said thus far suffice for those who do not know how great and of what religion blessed Eudo was. Now we shall unfold the country and parents from which the most holy Theofrid, the nephew of the aforesaid man, draws his lineage.

[7] The very noble birth of St. Theofrid, and his piety from infancy. The most reverend Theofrid, then, adorned with the highest uprightness from his very boyhood, sprung from the once eminent city of Orange ^m, is said to have been begotten ⁿ of Leotfredus, the most noble prince of that city, and of his mother Leutilda; who, since they held the men of the whole kindred under fitting dominion, and went before many in the height of dignity and abundance of goods, thought themselves raised up rather by this happiness, that they had merited to beget offspring of such uprightness. Whence, when he had now reached five elapsed years of the sun, he is at length handed over to letters to be instructed among eminent schoolboys: where, sipping the innermost streams of the Pegasean liquor, he searches the volumes of the doctors for so long until he is seen among them, wisdom supporting him, as no mediocre scholar. And although, by often reading, he held fast with continual memory, yet the care of assiduous prayer was not absent. But since he was the only one of his father's inheritance, the hope of the subjects and the safety of so great a dignity, fitting buildings and numerous kinds of riches were being prepared for him. All these the boy devoted to God makes nothing of, and remains unmoved in the pious purpose, namely, of renouncing the world.

[8] He attaches himself to St. Eudo, his uncle, For already many times his ears had glowed at the fame of the most religious Eudo, whom it often came into his mind to imitate if in any way he could. Whence, when Eudo had a while before visited the flock of the monastery of Lérins, and was turning his steps through his native country for the sake of consoling his own, he determined to stay three days in the see of Tragessina,

where, being as yet less given to the final profession ^o, he was discharging the office of deacon. Hearing which, Leotfredus, who was staying at Orange, lest he should be defrauded of the solace often sought, having called together his son and a very great multitude of dear ones, hastens with all speed to visit his brother. Then you might see joys, with faith pledged, meet with tears, and every kind of love overflow amid brotherly embraces. The sight rejoices, affection groans, the brothers conversing very much with one another. Then the distinguished boy Theofrid turns over in a solicitous mind the holy admonitions, the manners, the habit and the conversation of the man, until, the crowd being removed, he addresses him thus: "Dearest one," he said, "whom I have often desired to see, I have decided, with you as leader, to serve as a soldier the Lord, the author of things. Whence, going into my father's presence, inform him of our purpose, and rebuke him lest he resist the divine will, although it be contrary to him. If he will not give his assent to these things, a perpetual discord will spring up between them."

[9] his father consenting reluctantly. The blessed man hastens with the salutary embassy, and reports these commands to the father. Hearing which, the old man is stunned, not knowing what to do, and, having had his son brought in, redoubles threats and continual roarings. "Boy," he said, "your father's dissolution is already imminent, and the whole band of youths continually urges that you be set over them. Do not allow, therefore, a foreign heir to steal your own seat and the throne owed to you." Thereupon the whole crowd repeats this very thing, indulging him if he will abandon his undertaking. But he, supported on the living stone, is neither moved by tears nor softened by the voice of affection, and resists all, adhering to his first undertaking, like an unmoved flint and a Marpesian crag with the gliding river barking around it. Which the father seeing to be irrevocable, though sorrowful for the offspring that was to go, acquiesces kindly, and offers assiduous prayer.

[10] Made a monk, he takes care of the external affairs of the monastery. Then, all things being finished, the company being placed before them, the father, weeping incessantly, commits the son to the uncle; each one marvels at the boyish courage, moistening his face with a copious stream; all of whom Theofrid addresses thus, that he might console them at least at the last parting: "Your griefs being restrained, brothers, let now the pious tears cease, and the groaning, etc." Then, a kiss having been given, he loosens the reins, the road being taken, whom the mourning crowd follows with the light of their eyes until sight is baffled by the intervening Alps [p] and the spaces of the air. What more? The blessed abbot Eudo happily enters the monastery of Calmiliacum with the boy: to whom, cutting off the hair of his head, he taught pious religion, and formed him in all holy conduct. And age advancing, when he was now strong in perfected morals, he committed to him entirely the external care of the monastery.

[11] He takes St. Meneleus with his companions with him Now at a certain time, the sun ascending into the constellation [q] of the Crab, when excessive heat presses and the Dog [r] brings plague to wretched mortals, namely at that part of the day when the Virgin [s] already draws her comely face over the earth, blessed Theofrid, having entered the district of Auvergne for the advantage of the monastery, wished to take refreshment with his fellow-soldiers under a thick oak at Vallis-Vaveris [t]: and while they were dining there, three men leap out of the adjoining glade, whom, when they had come nearer, Bl. Theofrid asks whence they came or whither they were going. The least of them, named Meneleus [u], answered thus to him with placid mouth: "I am of Anjou, I am called Meneleus by name, born of my father Amanulf, in the village of Pissiniacum, and of my mother Docula, as each testifies. And when I had reached the seventh year of my first age, I vowed chastity to the mighty God, which, as long as I live, with His help I will not make void. But a certain hero, Barontus, excessively supported by nobility of lineage and by riches, was urging upon me the lawful embraces of his daughter, my father also giving his assent. But, mindful of what I had vowed, leaving my parents and abandoning my country, as you yourself see, I wander through deserts, yet assiduously seeking one who may instruct me in the teachings of letters, so that when the time comes I may be able to give myself to divine study." To whom Theofrid: "Go on, you and your companions, with me, since I will satisfy your desire and petition."

[12] to be instructed for seven years. Meneleus is therefore made glad for so great a gift, and follows the holy Man as far as Eudo, father of the monastery of Calmiliacum. Whom he, as Theofrid made him known, kindly received, and gave him to more perfect men to be brought up, but ordered his companions Savinian and Constantius to be supplied with food through the huts of the same monastery. For seven years also Bl. Meneleus is instructed there, and is strengthened in both learnings, divine and literary. And the course of the aforesaid time having elapsed, in the last rest of a certain night, namely at the time when the rosy things flash with the chariots * of the sun, and hasten with flashing light to the heights with loosened reins [v], an angel, gliding from the ether, accosted him asleep in the oratory with these words: "With the companions who came here with you, return to the place where you found the most blessed Theofrid, and I will show you what you must do." Awakened, therefore, Meneleus sought Bl. Theofrid, and faithfully related the heavenly visions and the angelic admonitions. After this became known to the most religious father Eudo, he gave immense thanks to God for the heavenly vision, and, having called together Savinian and Constantius, committing them to the heavenly goodness, he allowed them to depart in peace.

[13] St. Eudo having died, St. Theofrid is put in his place, Worn out, then, by long old age, he is seized inwardly by a most savagely raging disease. Whence, the company of faithful disciples standing by, he put forth holy oracles in a most kindly discourse. "We have learned," he said, "brothers, that the dissolution of the body is present and often threatens us, and does not wish us to bear any longer the shipwrecks of the dangerous sea. Therefore, when we have laid down this burden of mortality, and shall be crowned with incorruption itself into the kingdom of perpetuity, we shall pray for your stability before the sight of the divine majesty. But lest so great a flock, dispersed without a pastor, begin to wander, let it have as father the fit servant of God Theofrid, who will both cut off depraved morals with a two-edged sword, and will furrow the hearts of the faithful with an assiduous ploughshare." These things said, the happy soul is received to be crowned by God, and the corpse, the divine obsequies having been duly performed, is laid under the sacred turf: whose deposition is commemorated on the nineteenth day of the month of November [x]. Meanwhile the servants, sad at their father's departure, submit their necks to the lawful yoke, the most holy Theofrid managing it: who, very assiduous towards them, invited them with all zeal, the father strengthening the sons with contemplative support, and, driving the invisible wolf far off, freed the holy sheepfolds from the jaws of hell.

[14] He rules the brothers holily and prudently. And since, strong in the highest discretion, he was great in morals, and a like face showed a kindly mind, he so merited the cunning of the serpent that the bird lacking gall also cleaved to him more perfectly in simplicity. For he so studied to live that, pleasing God, he was to men an example of justice. For he provided for the oratory with such caution of decency that it was permitted to no one to do anything of superfluity in it: and the women's approaches had a seat at a distance around the door of the church. Which observance, because many, making nothing of it, * judge it a former divine prohibition, will be kept incorruptible for ever [z]. But to commit these things to letters and memory at present is not our task. We have taken care to write how manfully the servant served the Lord while he still lived. Now, the embassy of Meneleus and the due consolation of so great a Father being interposed, we shall not keep silent how he came to the crown of martyrdom, poured out in his own blood.

[15] He composes a Micrologus, Finally, at a certain time, withdrawn from the attendance of his household, forging a Micrologus [aa] on the sixfold decline of the world, he finishes it in rhythmic discourse. Which, because we know it has been vitiated by the rot of false-speakers, if God assents to finishing the work begun, we will adorn it with its own beauty, and, to the praise of so great a Father, restore it to its former truth.

[16] He visits St. Meneleus, When he was now putting the last hand to it, and the pen, exhausted of the liquor of the mind, wished to rest, a courier [bb] of blessed Meneleus suddenly appears before his face, bearing holy letters and a continued prayer. "Receive," he said, "most holy father, the words of a son entreating you, and do not delay to console him whom you once satisfied with divine milk. Hasten, therefore, speedily; set in order the exercises of the obedient pupil and all his undertakings: for the charity which has coupled us in one faith has persuaded him to ask these things, though arduous." These things said, he rises quickly, and, preparing everything, is set on the appointed road. And when he had arrived at Vallis-Vaveris, which soon borrowed the name of Minae from the royal Minae, he found the man of God Meneleus building a house of prayer [cc] there. Having seen him, after holy embraces and kisses of peace, Theofrid began to inquire about his prosperities and troubles. And he, relating that, having departed from the monastery of Calmiliacum, in the middle of the course of the night just passed, when the rivers are quiet and the winds are silent in the world, he was admonished by an angel to prepare there a house for the supreme Author of things. The injuries also which he endured through the doing of Barontus, and how, seized by the divine spirit, he had joined himself in friendship to him, and the other things that happened, he told more fully. Which the preceptor hearing as the disciple narrated, joyfully returns thanks to God for so great a benefit, and they pass that whole day and night wakeful in the praise of God and in the planning of the construction of the monastery. While they were conversing with one another, Eusebius, bishop of Auvergne [dd], came upon them: whom St. Theofrid with kindly speech earnestly requests to consecrate and cut the hair of Meneleus, and so to teach him to live morally under a royal and pontifical kind.

[17] and he is present at the dedication of the church. The eminent prelate satisfied his wishes, and, the Basilica having been dedicated in honour of the Saviour and of the perpetual Virgin Mary, returned to his own house. And the aforesaid father is refreshed with his spiritual son with food: but solicitude for his own and the present familiarity suggest to him his return, and that he should break off all delays after the leisure granted. All things being arranged, therefore, he said a most salutary farewell to the brothers, seeking again with hasty step the seat whence he had a while before come when asked. How most religiously he lived there the foregoing account has related: and the following will explain, as we promised above, how he came to the crown of martyrdom.

ANNOTATIONS.

b. Childebert.

e. That is: company.

p. Mountains; the species is taken for the genus. Our Anonymous delights not a little in poetic diction.

q. In the month of June, towards the twenty-first day, the sun, according to the common manner of speaking (though astronomically now false), runs through the sign of the Crab.

r. The star.

The sign of the Virgin, which, with the Lion between, follows the sign of the Crab in the Zodiac, according to the little verses: "There are the Ram, the Bull, the Twins, the Crab, the Lion, the Virgin, and the Scales, the Scorpion, the Archer, the Goat, the Water-jar, the Fishes." Our Anonymous, then, a lover of astronomy no less than of poetry, indicates the days which the common people call the Dog-days, in the month of July, between the signs of the Crab and the Virgin.

t. The situation is determined from these words of Valois: "The Sicaula or Seulus … is a river among the Arverni, commonly called the Siole or Sioule, which touches Castellum Novum, Château-Neuf, the very old monastery of Menat, Menat … and flows into the Elaver (the Allier). The Sicaula receives the Bubula or Bulbula, the Bouble …, at Martiliacum, Martilly… The book on the Life of St. Meneleus, abbot of Menat, calls it the Sivolis in these words: 'In the Arvernian country, in the district of Vichy, between the river Sivolis and the Bulbula, he determined to put an end to his wandering.' Where one must read: between the rivers Sivolis and Bulbula. Herimbert the deacon, in the Life of St. Vincentianus (Saint Viance), has: 'Meneleus, going into the Arvernian parts, desired a hermitage in the wood of Vaveris above the river Seulo'" Ibid., at the word: Sicaula.. However, from what is to be said below it will shine out that the monastery of Menat was built in this very place, in which St. Meneleus first fell in with St. Theofrid.

u. St. Meneleus is honoured on the XXII day of July, on which we gave his Acts Acta SS., vol. V of July, p. 302–319..

v. He indicates the dawn.

x. On that very day, namely the XII before the Kalends of December, St. Eudo is honoured in his monastery, and is praised in the Acts of St. Meneleus and in the Benedictine Martyrology. (Mabillon Act. SS. Ord. S. Benedicti, saec. III, part I, p. 481, note a..)

z. These words are very obscure. This, however, is clear, namely that St. Theofrid kept women from entry into the church of the monastery. From which Mabillon concludes that the Anonymous by these words indicates his own age, since he asserts that the interdict by which entry into the church of the monastery was denied to women was still in force in his time. "But," Mabillon infers, "that rite persevered in few monasteries beyond the tenth century." Whence it would follow that our Anonymous wrote the Life of St. Theofrid before the XI century. And in very truth his words intimate that our Saint kept women away not from his own command, but from a law or custom already previously prevailing. But these words: "which observance, because many making nothing of it, etc.," if they have any sense, it seems to be that they indicate that that observance was already neglected or attacked by many; which indeed fits the tenth century excellently, since, on Mabillon's testimony, these things fell into disuse at that time. The reasoning of the learned man, by which he intends to define the age of the Anonymous, while it does not lack its probability, nevertheless does not seem to us so binding as to settle the matter certainly.

aa. That is, a Book in the form of an Epitome (abridgement). Du Cange in the Glossary at the word Micrologus, where he writes down the words from the Life of St. Theofrid, using other punctuation: "forging a Micrologus on the decline of the world, he finishes it in senarian rhythmic discourse," so that the word "senario" is referred to "sermone" and indicates senarian verses ending in the same sound, or rhyme; whereas in Mabillon, whom we give here word for word, the word "senario" is referred to lapsu and seems to indicate the six ages of the world.

bb. That is, a Messenger. "For the veredi," says Du Cange, "are horses destined for the public post; and those were called veredarii who used the public horses and carried the answers or commands of princes." He adds in the same place from a Latin Ms. Glossary, Royal codex 1013: "Veredarii are so called from carrying, who run in haste on horses, do not get down from the horse before they deliver their answers: they have feathers on the head, so that the haste of the journey may be understood thereby: a horse ready is always given them, nor do they eat, except on horseback, before they have finished" Glossarium, at the word: Veredi.. Whence here, as elsewhere, according to his custom, our Anonymous "throws out bombast and words a foot and a half long" Horace, Ars Poetica, v. 97., using a splendid word to signify a very ordinary thing.

cc. From these is proved what we said above at letter t, that the monastery of Menat was founded in the Valley of Vaveris, in the place where SS. Theofrid and Meneleus first met one another.

dd. "Otherwise," says Mabillon In the place cited above, p. 481, note b., "Bonitus; whose Acts we gave" (namely in the III Benedictine century) "at the year 709; and those of Meneleus at the year 720." The Acts of St. Bonitus or Bonus (who is here called Eusebius), in French St. Bon or St. Bonet, bishop of Clermont of the Arverni (afterwards a monk), Bolland illustrated at the XV day of January Acta SS., vol. I, p. 1069–1077.. "The Acts of St. Bonitus," says Mabillon [Preliminary Observations on the Life of St. Bonitus, n. 1, saec. III, part I, p. 89.], "François Lanovius illustrated with notes in the book on the holy Chancellors of France, and after him John Bolland. Wonderful is the silence in the work" (the words of themselves point to the Bollandist work) "about the chasuble of St. Bonitus, which he is said to have received as a gift from the Blessed Mother of God in Vincent of Beauvais, book VII, chapter 97, which also Dom Herbert, prelate of Norwich, who, on the testimony of Matthew, monk of Westminster, died in the year MCXIX, affirms he saw and touched with his hand, as is read in a certain rhythm published in Bolland." Which last words indicate that Lanovius, not Bolland, is censured somewhat more sharply by Mabillon. And in fact, Preliminary Commentary, n. 5 Vol. I of January, p. 1069.: "To this" (the Life of St. Bonitus), says Bolland, "we subjoin a twin narrative of the miracle which happened to the same holy bishop in the church of St. Michael, when he received a chasuble from the most blessed Virgin Mother of God."

* better: "vehicula" (chariots).

* perhaps: "a certain."

Chap. II. The Martyrdom of St. Theofrid.

An incursion of the Saracens into Gaul. After the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the year DCCXVII, otherwise DCCXVIII ^a, when Charles, son of Pippin the elder, had obtained the kingdom, and after many wars and contests had, with God's favour, taken the magistracy of the Franks from the apprenticeship of Duke Ramfrid, and, watching manfully over the business of war, had placed it under his own dominion, and had also conquered in two great battles the barbarous nation of the Ishmaelites, which was occupying all Gaul with its leader driven out; Eudo, duke of Aquitaine, who had been called together by the aforesaid tyrant and had once been put to flight with him, having entered Spain, behaved familiarly towards their king Abdirama, and, having appeased him with a gift and service, led him with him with an innumerable army of that most savage nation [b]. Whence, coming to avenge his injury from Bordeaux as far as the city of Poitiers, he consumed everything, and the fortresses also and churches which he could lay waste, by the ravaging sword and the burning flame, he made empty of hospitable support.

[19] They penetrate as far as the monastery of Calmeliacum. And since the army was copious and innumerable, running about on every side, it had trodden down all Provence and Septimania, and, coming into the county of Gévaudan and Velay, killed with a horrible death very many servants of God, a multitude of both sexes, sparing no age. Meanwhile also, while it was raging in these parts, still bloody with the blood of the pious, it learned by spreading rumour that in the hut of Calmiliacum there dwelt, often praising the Lord, a numerous and weak multitude of a holy flock. Which did not escape the athlete of God Theofrid, the most religious father of the aforesaid monastery. But, filled with a heavenly oracle, he discerns that the desolation of that very place would follow next. Therefore, having called forth the faithful company, he makes everything known, even that he himself would end his life poured out in his own blood.

[20] St. Theofrid exhorts his monks to flee; "Know," he said, "without doubt, most beloved brothers, that the Hagarene ^c people, who are ravaging our parts, sparing no flock, purpose to come after two days and to overthrow this place from its foundations; and we

being unwarlike, it plans to tear us to pieces with most ferocious rage, the spoils having been taken: therefore, dearest ones, who have submitted your necks under the laurel ^d of faith to us who command you, I beg you give assent to my orders, lest the most savage enemies, when they suddenly arrive, may be able to triumph over you. Let everything also which can be carried across by human or animal help be laid up in the many-chambered lodging of the inner wood. Then let each of you keep his own hiding place, hoping in the Lord, until you see what consolation the Lord prepares for His holy people. And when the most wicked people has departed from your dwellings, may you be able to return to your own, giving thanks to the Lord."

[21] The brothers say they will not abandon their holy Abbot. At these holy words of their most pious Father the pupils, weeping irrevocably, said: "Far be it, father, that you should teach flight when the adversary presses, but rather to serve manfully and undergo various torments for Christ the Lord." "There is no need," said the eminent Pastor, "but decline the madness of the persecutors, as the Lord Himself did." But they: "If you command us, confirmed by testimony, to yield to the fury of the raging ones, you too, seeking hiding places with us, will be saved." Whom the Father who was to be immolated at once restrains with a most salutary discourse: "You have heard, sons, the Lord confessing in the gospel that every shepherd led by hire deserts the sheep committed to him at the critical moment of the contest. Yield, therefore, to those who desire to destroy the holy sheepfolds, as the salvation of many and the present time demand. But we will neither enjoy life nor refuse the bonds of death."

[22] Towards night all come together at once to pray. When they were turning over these and such words for a whole day, behold, the orbit of the sun hastens to its setting, as the Wisdom of Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes indicates [e] is to be thought, and the return of the nights darkens the earth-born with blind gloom. And since the time forbidden to labour was pressing, he orders all to be gathered into one, to whom he said at the last: "Already you have heard, brothers, that the savage nation, whose coming deservedly makes you anxious, ravages the venerable thresholds of the Saints and the monasteries, and, pouring out innocent blood, spares the religion of no one. Therefore, asking with humble devotion, let us invoke the holy Trinity, that it may deign to keep this place unharmed, and grant a congregation of the faithful to serve it for ever. Nor may it suffer us to perish for the enormity of our crimes, but, looking upon us mercifully, protect us with ineffable goodness." Then, having entered the oratory of St. Peter, when they had prayed these things for a long time, and, rising from prayer, very many had sought their couches, the man of God remained with a small company, and passed that night sleepless in all spiritual praise.

[23] [On the following day the man of God presses more keenly that the brothers disperse;] And at the accustomed hour he celebrates the divine offices with the brothers: which being performed, he refreshes all anew with drink and spiritual food, and at once suggests that they seek the aforesaid hiding places, lest all should die when the enemy arrived. But when the sons took this ill, and, their Father being absent, pretended not to go out, the eminent man began to console them with conversations: "I wonder, brothers, and grieve greatly, why you still delay, emptied of the testimony of the holy fathers. For Paul, that he might escape the threats of the governor of Damascus, being let down, rejoices, free in flight. Peter also, the prince of the apostles, the foundation of the faith, would once have declined the roarings of Nero, had not the Lord, setting the contest in motion, come to meet him. Therefore, since these and more examples lie open to you, do not oppose the divine mercy, which teaches you to beware of future evils. For we, trusting in the Lord, will hold out in this place, and will meanwhile implore the heavenly patronage for the common safety: nor is it fitting that in time of persecution the pastor should flee, although he see the drawn sword of one brandishing it. But if necessity demands it, it is expedient to undergo a worthy death."

[24] who at length obey his admonitions. When he often said these things in repeated discourse, the whole company began to weep most vehemently. Then he, moved by the tears of his disciples, invokes the aids of divine protection: "Almighty God, immense and unerring king, fount and origin of all goodness, Thou, Lord, knowest what is lawful and expedient for us. Let it be done, therefore, as pleases the eyes of Thy majesty." Then, fortified by these prayers, going out they swiftly seek the thick of the woods, except two brothers, whom uprightness and virtue persuaded him to keep with him. And while they ascended the summit of the mountain situated next to the monastery, whence they could see the outcome of the matter more freely, he himself was prostrate in prayer before the venerable title of Bl. Peter.

[25] The Saracens, bursting in, beat St. Theofrid atrociously, Without delay there suddenly came the most ferocious crowd of the Ishmaelites, hoping to pour out innocent blood and to snatch much spoil. After it sees so many buildings empty of the provident inhabitant, it roars, it raves ^f, it cannot stand still. Then, leaping out on every side, it found the blessed Man, as we said above, given to prayer. The most wicked men, then, rushing upon him, beat him with sharp blows, and, putting him out ^g, ask where the people of so many buildings were hiding. To whose abominable orders he answers intrepidly: "I testify to you, brothers, in truth, that the Lord, the protector of all, has withdrawn all from your savagery, nor on account of His will shall it be lawful for you to destroy the holy companies of the faithful."

[26] who refuses to show where the brothers lie hid. "Unless," said the most savage people, "you disclose to us more quickly all the things you confess have been laid up, you will see the lofty roofs of the monastery fall, the flame prevailing, and then you yourself will perish by a most evil death." To whom the blessed Man answered: "Since our Lord is the most mighty defender of this place, the hands of adversaries cannot empty it, as you say. But if you wish to inflict death on me, it is worthy to suffer for the sheep, and in our destruction to save them." But they, inflamed with excessive fury, seeing that they profit nothing, beating him sharply, leave him half alive.

[27] St. Theofrid, while he reproaches the Saracens for their impious rites, But since a solemn day according to the rite of the heathen had come round, the most ferocious nation of the Ishmaelites celebrates sacrifices after their ancestral custom far from the church. Which the most holy Man perceiving, God assenting, having recovered his strength, hastening as far as them, in the midst of the people pouring libations he spoke these words of exhortation: "If you pay these sacrifices to demons with so devoted a mind, it would behove you, these ceremonies being renounced, to celebrate worthy libations to God, the author of things, whom all the elements serve, and whom all the spiritual hosts of the heavenly ones praise together." At these words the savage people rages, on account of the admonitions of the man whom it had thought dead, and of the contempt of its vows.

[28] He is struck with a deadly wound. But the chief of the libations, when he ought to have discerned these things reasonably, hurls a huge stone at his head, by which blow the most holy Man at once fell, and the earth, polluted by the blood poured out, is consecrated. And as the clod of his most pure body fell, that place trembled, and so great a sound and movement of the earth resounded in the ears of the impious as if the whole fabric of the monastery, moved with grief, wished to imitate the fall of the Father: and as the pagans swiftly fled, frequent lightnings and a dark cloud follow.

[29] A savage whirlwind arising, the enemies flee in all directions. Then, the strength of the winds advancing, they are struck in many ways, and are devastated by excessive horror, and, although unbelievers, they recognized the divine combat. Having cast away, therefore, the other insignia of warfare, their small shields packed together after the likeness of the lamp of Phoebus, they tried to defend the body placed beneath. But, carried away by the raging wind, they roll round in circles in the manner of a whirlwind, lest the wicked people, departing from the holy place, should seem unharmed. So it happened that those who had resolved unjustly to plunder others' goods, scarcely meriting a place of escape, lost their own ^h.

[30] The brothers, returning The aforesaid enemies, then, having been expelled, the rest, hearing this, turn back their steps from the very border. Finally, those brothers whom the man of God had told to ascend the summits of the mountain, and the company of very many who had meanwhile hidden in safer places and in higher rocks, seeing the unappeased Iberians terribly departing, perceive that they have been freed from the most wicked battle line by the intervention of Bl. Theofrid. Coming together, therefore, they found their Father, for the common safety, horribly prostrate on the ground, and the crown of his head wounded by a huge stone as far as the inner parts of the brain.

[31] They stand round their holy Father as he dies. Then, after excessive weeping and songs of lamentation, they providently carry back the sacred paternal pledges into his little cell. The others also, who, having entered the lairs of the woods, had been dispersed further, all seek again the dwelling of their Pastor, whose dangers seeing, falling on their knees, they often kiss his holy feet and hands. But the most holy Man restrains them from so familiar a service, and for seven days they are refreshed with the food of divine discourse. And as the moment of the seventh day was imminent, after he had arranged how honourably the present assembly should conduct itself, or how religiously it should serve the supreme Lord, while all round about were chanting divine praises, the happy soul passed to the Lord, to whom is honour, praise and glory through all ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

and would have killed him, had not that little stream, overflowing like a great river, afforded a safe road to the little servant of God and his companions, and swallowed up the pursuing barbarians in the midst of its whirlpools. What more? The Saracens, indignant, on the next day, having crossed the river Loire and the little stream of Columptia, arrive at the monastery of Calmeliacum, where, exposing everything to sword, fire and plunder, they attack the most invincible soldier of Christ Theofrid, the other monks having been sent away into the hiding places of the inner wilderness, and, believing him dead, almost overwhelmed with stones, they leave him half alive in the greatest alarm. For indeed the disturbed air and the shaken earth, as though God were fighting for His servant and coming at the sound of the trumpet, with hail and rain-clouds and horrible thunders, do not permit the barbarians to make delay in the said monastery, and, very many either failing or being struck by lightning, the remaining part at length fled. After the death, then, of the most holy Martyr, celebrated for miracles, the state of the monastery is tossed about according to either the variety or the unfairness of different times. It is wonderful, however, etc."

As we have given in the Preliminary Commentary, n. 51 and 58. The author of the Elogium, no differently from our Anonymous, is certainly not sparing of words. Each declaims almost equally, throws out bombast. The narrative of the Anonymous, however, seems to us the more likely. For, leaving aside the miraculous overflowing of the Colemptia, the flight of St. Theofrid does not agree with his lofty spirit.